five years of theosophy mystical, philosophical, theosophical, historical and scientific essays selected from "the theosophist" edited by george robert snow mead contents mystical the "elixir of life" is the desire to "live" selfish? contemplation chelas and lay chelas ancient opinions upon psychic bodies the nilgiri sannyasis witchcraft on the nilgiris shamanism and witchcraft amongst the kolarian tribes mahatmas and chelas the brahmanical thread reading in a sealed envelope the twelve signs of the zodiac the sishal and bhukailas yogis philosophical true and false personality chastity zorastrianism on the septenary constitution of man brahmanism on the sevenfold principle in man the septenary principle in esotericism personal and impersonal god prakriti and parusha morality and pantheism occult study some inquiries suggested by mr. sinnett's "esoteric buddhism" sakya muni's place in history inscriptions discovered by general a. cunningham discrimination of spirit and not-spirit was writing known before panini? theosophical what is theosophy? how a "chela" found his "guru" the sages of the himavat the himalayan brothers--do they exist? interview with a mahatma the secret doctrine historical the puranas on the dynasty of the moryas and on koothoomi the theory of cycles scientific odorigen and jiva introversion of mental vision "precipitation" "how shall we sleep?" transmigration of the life atoms "om" and its practical significance five years of theosophy mystical the "elixir of life" from a chela's* diary. by g---m---, f.t.s. "and enoch walked with the elohim, and the elohim took him." --genesis introduction [the curious information-for whatsoever else the world may think of it, it will doubtless be acknowledged to be that--contained in the article that follows, merits a few words of introduction. the details given in it on the subject of what has always been considered as one of the darkest and most strictly guarded of the mysteries of the initiation into occultism--from the days of the rishis until those of the theosophical society--came to the knowledge of the author in a way that would seem to the ordinary run of europeans strange and supernatural. he himself, however, we may assure the reader, is a most thorough disbeliever in the supernatural, though he has learned too much to limit the capabilities of the natural as some do. further, he has to make the following confession of his own belief. it will be apparent, from a careful perusal of the facts, that if the matter be really as stated therein, the author cannot himself be an adept of high grade, as the article in such a case would never have been written. nor does he pretend to be one. he is, or rather was, for a few years an humble chela. hence, the converse must consequently be also true, that as regards the higher stages of the mystery he can have no personal experience, but speaks of it only as a close observer left to his own surmises--and no more. he may, therefore, boldly state that during, and notwithstanding, his unfortunately rather too short stay with some adepts, he has by actual experiment and observation verified some of the less transcendental or incipient parts of the "course." and, though it will be impossible for him to give positive testimony as to what lies beyond, he may yet mention that all his own course of study, training and experience, long, severe and dangerous as it has often been, leads him to the conviction that everything is really as stated, save some details purposely veiled. for causes which cannot be explained to the public, he himself may he unable or unwilling to use the secret he has gained access to. still he is permitted by one to whom all his reverential affection and gratitude are due--his last guru--to divulge for the benefit of science and man, and specially for the good of those who are courageous enough to personally make the experiment, the following astounding particulars of the occult methods for prolonging life to a period far beyond the common.--g.m.] --------- * a. chela is the pupil and disciple of an initiated guru or master.--ed. --------- probably one of the first considerations which move the worldly-minded at present to solicit initiation into theosophy is the belief, or hope, that, immediately on joining, some extraordinary advantage over the rest of mankind will be conferred upon the candidate. some even think that the ultimate result of their initiation will perhaps be exemption from that dissolution which is called the common lot of mankind. the traditions of the "elixir of life," said to be in the possession of kabalists and alchemists, are still cherished by students of medieval occultism--in europe. the allegory of the ab-e hyat or water of life, is still credited as a fact by the degraded remnants of the asiatic esoteric sects ignorant of the real great secret. the "pungent and fiery essence," by which zanoni renewed his existence, still fires the imagination of modern visionaries as a possible scientific discovery of the future. theosophically, though the fact is distinctly declared to be true, the above-named conceptions of the mode of procedure leading to the realization of the fact, are known to be false. the reader may or may not believe it; but as a matter of fact, theosophical occultists claim to have communication with (living) intelligences possessing an infinitely wider range of observation than is contemplated even by the loftiest aspirations of modern science, all the present "adepts" of europe and america--dabblers in the kabala--notwithstanding. but far even as those superior intelligences have investigated (or, if preferred, are alleged to have investigated), and remotely as they may have searched by the help of inference and analogy, even they have failed to discover in the infinity anything permanent but--space. all is subject to change. reflection, therefore, will easily suggest to the reader the further logical inference that in a universe which is essentially impermanent in its conditions, nothing can confer permanency. therefore, no possible substance, even if drawn from the depths of infinity; no imaginable combination of drugs, whether of our earth or any other, though compounded by even the highest intelligence; no system of life or discipline though directed by the sternest determination and skill, could possibly produce immutability. for in the universe of solar systems, wherever and however investigated, immutability necessitates "non-being" in the physical sense given it by the theists-non-being which is nothing in the narrow conceptions of western religionists--a reductio ad absurdum. this is a gratuitous insult even when applied to the pseudo-christian or ecclesiastical jehovite idea of god. consequently, it will be seen that the common ideal conception of "immortality" is not only essentially wrong, but a physical and metaphysical impossibility. the idea, whether cherished by theosophists or non-theosophists, by christians or spiritualists, by materialists or idealists, is a chimerical illusion. but the actual prolongation of human life is possible for a time so long as to appear miraculous and incredible to those who regard our span of existence as necessarily limited to at most a couple of hundred years. we may break, as it were, the shock of death, and instead of dying, change a sudden plunge into darkness to a transition into a brighter light. and this may be made so gradual that the passage from one state of existence to another shall have its friction minimized, so as to be practically imperceptible. this is a very different matter, and quite within the reach of occult science. in this, as in all other cases, means properly directed will gain their ends, and causes produce effects. of course, the only question is, what are these causes, and how, in their turn, are they to be produced. to lift, as far as may be allowed, the veil from this aspect of occultism, is the object of the present paper. we must premise by reminding the reader of two theosophic doctrines, constantly inculcated in "isis" and in other mystic works--namely, (a) that ultimately the kosmos is one--one under infinite variations and manifestations, and (b) that the so-called man is a "compound being"-- composite not only in the exoteric scientific sense of being a congeries of living so-called material units, but also in the esoteric sense of being a succession of seven forms or parts of itself, interblended with each other. to put it more clearly we might say that the more ethereal forms are but duplicates of the same aspect,--each finer one lying within the inter-atomic spaces of the next grosser. we would have the reader understand that these are no subtleties, no "spiritualities" at all in the christo-spiritualistic sense. in the actual man reflected in your mirror are really several men, or several parts of one composite man; each the exact counterpart of the other, but the "atomic conditions" (for want of a better word) of each of which are so arranged that its atoms interpenetrate those of the next "grosser" form. it does not, for our present purpose, matter how the theosophists, spiritualists, buddhists, kabalists, or vedantists, count, separate, classify, arrange or name these, as that war of terms may be postponed to another occasion. neither does it matter what relation each of these men has to the various "elements" of the kosmos of which he forms a part. this knowledge, though of vital importance in other respects, need not be explained or discussed now. nor does it much more concern us that the scientists deny the existence of such an arrangement, because their instruments are inadequate to make their senses perceive it. we will simply reply--"get better instruments and keener senses, and eventually you will." all we have to say is that if you are anxious to drink of the "elixir of life," and live a thousand years or so, you must take our word for the matter at present, and proceed on the assumption. for esoteric science does not give the faintest possible hope that the desired end will ever be attained by any other way; while modern, or so-called exact science--laughs at it. so, then, we have arrived at the point where we have determined-- literally, not metaphorically--to crack the outer shell known as the mortal coil or body, and hatch out of it, clothed in our next. this "next" is not spiritual, but only a more ethereal form. having by a long training and preparation adapted it for a life in this atmosphere, during which time we have gradually made the outward shell to die off through a certain process (hints of which will be found further on) we have to prepare for this physiological transformation. how are we to do it? in the first place we have the actual, visible, material body--man, so called; though, in fact, but his outer shell--to deal with. let us bear in mind that science teaches us that in about every seven years we change skin as effectually as any serpent; and this so gradually and imperceptibly that, had not science after years of unremitting study and observation assured us of it, no one would have had the slightest suspicion of the fact. we see, moreover, that in process of time any cut or lesion upon the body, however deep, has a tendency to repair the loss and reunite; a piece of lost skin is very soon replaced by another. hence, if a man, partially flayed alive, may sometimes survive and be covered with a new skin, so our astral, vital body--the fourth of the seven (having attracted and assimilated to itself the second) and which is so much more ethereal than the physical one--may be made to harden its particles to the atmospheric changes. the whole secret is to succeed in evolving it out, and separating it from the visible; and while its generally invisible atoms proceed to concrete themselves into a compact mass, to gradually get rid of the old particles of our visible frame so as to make them die and disappear before the new set has had time to evolve and replace them. we can say no more. the magdalene is not the only one who could be accused of having "seven spirits" in her, though men who have a lesser number of spirits (what a misnomer that word!) in them, are not few or exceptional; they are the frequent failures of nature--the incomplete men and women.* ----------- * this is not to be taken as meaning that such persons are thoroughly destitute of some one or several of the seven principles--a man born without an arm has still its ethereal counterpart; but that they are so latent that they cannot be developed, and consequently are to be considered as non-existing.--ed. theos. ---------- each of these has in turn to survive the preceding and more dense one, and then die. the exception is the sixth when absorbed into and blended with the seventh. the "phatu" * of the old hindu physiologist had a dual meaning, the esoteric side of which corresponds with the tibetan "zung" (seven principles of the body). we asiatics, have a proverb, probably handed down to us, and by the hindus repeated ignorantly as to its esoteric meaning. it has been known ever since the old rishis mingled familiarly with the simple and noble people they taught and led on. the devas had whispered into every man's ear--thou only--if thou wilt--art "immortal." combine with this the saying of a western author that if any man could just realize for an instant, that he had to die some day, he would die that instant. the illuminated will perceive that between these two sayings, rightly understood, stands revealed the whole secret of longevity. we only die when our will ceases to be strong enough to make us live. in the majority of cases, death comes when the torture and vital exhaustion accompanying a rapid change in our physical conditions becomes so intense as to weaken, for one single instant, our "clutch on life," or the tenacity of the will to exist. till then, however severe may be the disease, however sharp the pang, we are only sick or wounded, as the case may be. ----------- * dhatu--the seven principal substances of the human body--chyle, flesh, blood, fat, bones, marrow, semen. ----------- this explains the cases of sudden deaths from joy, fright, pain, grief or such other causes. the sense of a life-task consummated, of the worthlessness of one's existence, if strongly realized, produced death as surely as poison or a rifle-bullet. on the other hand, a stern determination to continue to live, has, in fact, carried many through the crises of the most severe diseases, in perfect safety. first, then, must be the determination--the will--the conviction of certainty, to survive and continue.* without that, all else is useless. and to be efficient for the purpose, it must be, not only a passing resolution of the moment, a single fierce desire of short duration, but a settled and continued strain, as nearly as can be continued and concentrated without one single moment's relaxation. in a word, the would-be "immortal" must be on his watch night and day, guarding self against-himself. to live--to live--to live--must be his unswerving resolve. he must as little as possible allow himself to be turned aside from it. it may be said that this is the most concentrated form of selfishness,--that it is utterly opposed to our theosophic professions of benevolence, and disinterestedness, and regard for the good of humanity. well, viewed in a short-sighted way, it is so. but to do good, as in everything else, a man must have time and materials to work with, and this is a necessary means to the acquirement of powers by which infinitely more good can be done than without them. ---------- * col. olcott has epigrammatically explained the creative or rather the re-creative power of the will, in his "buddhist catechism." he there shows--of course, speaking on behalf of the southern buddhists--that this will to live, if not extinguished in the present life, leaps over the chasm of bodily death, and recombines the skandhas, or groups of qualities that made up the individual into a new personality. man is, therefore, reborn as the result of his own unsatisfied yearning for objective existence. col. olcott puts it in this way: q. . what is that, in man, which gives him the impression of having a permanent individuality? a. tanha, or the unsatisfied desire for existence. the being having done that for which he must be rewarded or punished in future, and having tanha, will have a rebirth through the influence of karma. q. . ....what is it that is reborn? a. a new aggregation of skandhas, or individuality, caused by the last yearning of the dying person. q. . to what cause must we attribute the differences in the combination of the five skandhas has which makes every individual different from every other individual? a. to the karma of the individual in the next preceding birth. q. . what is the force or energy that is at work, under the guidance of karma, to produce the new being? a. tanha--the "will to live." ---------- when these are once mastered, the opportunities to use them will arrive, for there comes a moment when further watch and exertion are no longer needed:--the moment when the turning-point is safely passed. for the present as we deal with aspirants and not with advanced chelas, in the first stage a determined, dogged resolution, and an enlightened concentration of self on self, are all that is absolutely necessary. it must not, however, be considered that the candidate is required to be unhuman or brutal in his negligence of others. such a recklessly selfish course would be as injurious to him as the contrary one of expending his vital energy on the gratification of his physical desires. all that is required from him is a purely negative attitude. until the turning-point is reached, he must not "lay out" his energy in lavish or fiery devotion to any cause, however noble, however "good," however elevated.* such, we can solemnly assure the reader, would bring its reward in many ways--perhaps in another life, perhaps in this world, but it would tend to shorten the existence it is desired to preserve, as surely as self-indulgence and profligacy. that is why very few of the truly great men of the world (of course, the unprincipled adventurers who have applied great powers to bad uses are out of the question)--the martyrs, the heroes, the founders of religions, the liberators of nations, the leaders of reforms--ever became members of the long-lived "brotherhood of adepts" who were by some and for long years accused of selfishness. (and that is also why the yogis, and the fakirs of modern india--most of whom are acting now but on the dead-letter tradition, are required if they would be considered living up to the principles of their profession--to appear entirely dead to every inward feeling or emotion.) notwithstanding the purity of their hearts, the greatness of their aspirations, the disinterestedness of their self-sacrifice, they could not live for they had missed the hour. -------- * on page of mr. sinnett's "occult world," the author's much abused, and still more doubted correspondent assures him that none yet of his "degree are like the stern hero of bulwer's" zanoni.... "the heartless morally dried up mummies some would fancy us to be" and adds that few of them "would care to play the part in life of a desiccated pansy between the leaves of a volume of solemn poetry." but our adept omits saying that one or two degrees higher, and he will have to submit for a period of years to such a mummifying process unless, indeed, he would voluntarily give up a life-long labour and--die.--ed. ---------- they may at times have exercised powers which the world called miraculous; they may have electrified man and subdued nature by fiery and self-devoted will; they may have been possessed of a so-called superhuman intelligence; they may have even had knowledge of, and communion with, members of our own occult brotherhood; but, having deliberately resolved to devote their vital energy to the welfare of others, rather than to themselves, they have surrendered life; and, when perishing on the cross or the scaffold, or falling, sword in hand, upon the battle-field, or sinking exhausted after a successful consummation of the life-object, on death-beds in their chambers, they have all alike had to cry out at last: "eli, eli, lama sabachthani!" so far so good. but, given the will to live, however powerful, we have seen that, in the ordinary course of mundane life, the throes of dissolution cannot be checked. the desperate, and again and again renewed struggle of the kosmic elements to proceed with a career of change despite the will that is checking them, like a pair of runaway horses struggling against the determined driver holding them in, are so cumulatively powerful, that the utmost efforts of the untrained human will acting within an unprepared body become ultimately useless. the highest intrepidity of the bravest soldier; the interest desire of the yearning lover; the hungry greed of the unsatisfied miser; the most undoubting faith of the sternest fanatic; the practiced insensibility to pain of the hardiest red indian brave or half-trained hindu yogi; the most deliberate philosophy of the calmest thinker--all alike fail at last. indeed, sceptics will allege in opposition to the verities of this article that, as a matter of experience, it is often observed that the mildest and most irresolute of minds and the weakest of physical frames are often seen to resist "death" longer than the powerful will of the high-spirited and obstinately-egotistic man, and the iron frame of the labourer, the warrior and the athlete. in reality, however, the key to the secret of these apparently contradictory phenomena is the true conception of the very thing we have already said. if the physical development of the gross "outer shell" proceeds on parallel lines and at an equal rate with that of the will, it stands to reason that no advantage for the purpose of overcoming it, is attained by the latter. the acquisition of improved breechloaders by one modern army confers no absolute superiority if the enemy also becomes possessed of them. consequently it will be at once apparent, to those who think on the subject, that much of the training by which what is known as "a powerful and determined nature," perfects itself for its own purpose on the stage of the visible world, necessitating and being useless without a parallel development of the "gross" and so-called animal frame, is, in short, neutralized, for the purpose at present treated of, by the fact that its own action has armed the enemy with weapons equal to its own. the force of the impulse to dissolution is rendered equal to the will to oppose it; and being cumulative, subdues the will-power and triumphs at last. on the other hand, it may happen that an apparently weak and vacillating will-power residing in a weak and undeveloped physical frame, may be so reinforced by some unsatisfied desire--the ichcha (wish)--as it is called by the indian occultists (for instance, a mother's heart-yearning to remain and support her fatherless children)--as to keep down and vanquish, for a short time, the physical throes of a body to which it has become temporarily superior. the whole rationale then, of the first condition of continued existence in this world, is (a) the development of a will so powerful as to overcome the hereditary (in a darwinian sense) tendencies of the atoms composing the "gross" and palpable animal frame, to hurry on at a particular period in a certain course of kosmic change; and (b) to so weaken the concrete action of that animal frame as to make it more amenable to the power of the will. to defeat an army, you must demoralize and throw it into disorder. to do this then, is the real object of all the rites, ceremonies, fasts, "prayers," meditations, initiations and procedures of self-discipline enjoined by various esoteric eastern sects, from that course of pure and elevated aspiration which leads to the higher phases of adeptism real, down to the fearful and disgusting ordeals which the adherent of the "left-hand-road" has to pass through, all the time maintaining his equilibrium. the procedures have their merits and their demerits, their separate uses and abuses, their essential and non-essential parts, their various veils, mummeries, and labyrinths. but in all, the result aimed at is reached, if by different processes. the will is strengthened, encouraged and directed, and the elements opposing its action are demoralized. now, to any one who has thought out and connected the various evolution theories, as taken, not from any occult source, but from the ordinary scientific manual accessible to all--from the hypothesis of the latest variation in the habits of species--say, the acquisition of carnivorous habits by the new zealand parrot, for instance--to the farthest glimpses backwards into space and eternity afforded by the "fire mist" doctrine, it will be apparent that they all rest on one basis. that basis is, that the impulse once given to a hypothetical unit has a tendency to continue; and consequently, that anything "done" by something at a certain time and certain place tends to repeat itself at other times and places. such is the admitted rationale of heredity and atavism. that the same things apply to our ordinary conduct is apparent from the notorious ease with which "habits,"--bad or good, as the case may be--are acquired, and it will not be questioned that this applies, as a rule, as much to the moral and intellectual, as to the physical world. furthermore, history and science teach us plainly that certain physical habits conduce to certain moral and intellectual results. there never yet was a conquering nation of vegetarians. even in the old aryan times, we do not learn that the very rishis, from whose lore and practice we gain the knowledge of occultism, ever interdicted the kshetriya (military) caste from hunting or a carnivorous diet. filling, as they did, a certain place in the body politic in the actual condition of the world, the rishis as little thought of interfering with them, as of restraining the tigers of the jungle from their habits. that did not affect what the rishis did themselves. the aspirant to longevity then must be on his guard against two dangers. he must beware especially of impure and animal* thoughts. for science shows that thought is dynamic, and the thought-force evolved by nervous action expanding outwardly, must affect the molecular relations of the physical man. the inner men,** however sublimated their organism may be, are still composed of actual, not hypothetical, particles, and are still subject to the law that an "action" has a tendency to repeat itself; a tendency to set up analogous action in the grosser "shell" they are in contact with, and concealed within. ---------- * in other words, the thought tends to provoke the deed.--g.m. ** we use the word in the plural, reminding the reader that, according to our doctrine, man is septenary.--g.m. ---------- and, on the other hand, certain actions have a tendency to produce actual physical conditions unfavourable to pure thoughts, hence to the state required for developing the supremacy of the inner man. to return to the practical process. a normally healthy mind, in a normally healthy body, is a good starting-point. though exceptionally powerful and self-devoted natures may sometimes recover the ground lost by mental degradation or physical misuse, by employing proper means, under the direction of unswerving resolution, yet often things may have gone so far that there is no longer stamina enough to sustain the conflict sufficiently long to perpetuate this life; though what in eastern parlance is called the "merit" of the effort will help to ameliorate conditions and improve matters in another. however this may be, the prescribed course of self-discipline commences here. it may be stated briefly that its essence is a course of moral, mental, and physical development, carried on in parallel lines--one being useless without the other. the physical man must be rendered more ethereal and sensitive; the mental man more penetrating and profound; the moral man more self-denying and philosophical. and it may be mentioned that all sense of restraint--even if self-imposed--is useless. not only is all "goodness" that results from the compulsion of physical force, threats, or bribes (whether of a physical or so-called "spiritual" nature) absolutely useless to the person who exhibits it, its hypocrisy tending to poison the moral atmosphere of the world, but the desire to be "good" or "pure," to be efficacious must be spontaneous. it must be a self-impulse from within, a real preference for something higher, not an abstention from vice because of fear of the law: not a chastity enforced by the dread of public opinion; not a benevolence exercised through love of praise or dread of consequences in a hypothetical future life.* ---------- * col. olcott clearly and succinctly explains the buddhist doctrine of merit or karma, in his "buddhist catechism." (question ).--g.m. ---------- it will be seen now in connection with the doctrine of the tendency to the renewal of action, before discussed, that the course of self-discipline recommended as the only road to longevity by occultism is not a "visionary" theory dealing with vague "ideas," but actually a scientifically devised system of drill. it is a system by which each particle of the several men composing the septenary individual receives an impulse, and a habit of doing what is necessary for certain purposes of its own free-will and with "pleasure." every one must be practiced and perfect in a thing to do it with pleasure. this rule especially applies to the case of the development of man. "virtue" may be very good in its way--it may lead to the grandest results. but to become efficacious it has to be practiced cheerfully not with reluctance or pain. as a consequence of the above consideration the candidate for longevity at the commencement of his career must begin to eschew his physical desires, not from any sentimental theory of right or wrong, but for the following good reason. as, according to a well-known and now established scientific theory, his visible material frame is always renewing its particles; he will, while abstaining from the gratification of his desires, reach the end of a certain period during which those particles which composed the man of vice, and which were given a bad predisposition, will have departed. at the same time, the disuse of such functions will tend to obstruct the entry, in place of the old particles, of new particles having a tendency to repeat the said acts. and while this is the particular result as regards certain "vices," the general result of an abstention from "gross" acts will be (by a modification of the well-known darwinian law of atrophy by non-usage) to diminish what we may call the "relative" density and coherence of the outer shell (as a result of its less-used molecules); while the diminution in the quantity of its actual constituents will he "made up" (if tried by scales and weights) by the increased admission of more ethereal particles. what physical desires are to be abandoned and in what order? first and foremost, he must give up alcohol in all forms; for while it supplies no nourishment, nor any direct pleasure (beyond such sweetness or fragrance as may be gained in the taste of wine, &c., to which alcohol, in itself, is non-essential) to even the grossest elements of the "physical" frame, it induces a violence of action, a rush so to speak, of life, the stress of which can only be sustained by very dull, gross, and dense elements, and which, by the operation of the well-known law of re-action (in commercial phrase, "supply and demand") tends to summon them from the surrounding universe, and therefore directly counteracts the object we have in view. next comes meat-eating, and for the very same reason, in a minor degree. it increases the rapidity of life, the energy of action, the violence of passions. it may be good for a hero who has to fight and die, but not for a would-be sage who has to exist and.... next in order come the sexual desires; for these, in addition to the great diversion of energy (vital force) into other channels, in many different ways, beyond the primary one (as, for instance, the waste of energy in expectation, jealousy, &c.), are direct attractions to a certain gross quality of the original matter of the universe, simply because the most pleasurable physical sensations are only possible at that stage of density. alongside with and extending beyond all these and other gratifications of the senses (which include not only those things usually known as "vicious," but all those which, though ordinarily regarded as "innocent," have yet the disqualification of ministering to the pleasures of the body--the most harmless to others and the least "gross" being the criterion for those to be last abandoned in each case)--must be carried on the moral purification. nor must it be imagined that "austerities" as commonly understood can, in the majority of cases, avail much to hasten the "etherealizing" process. that is the rock on which many of the eastern esoteric sects have foundered, and the reason why they have degenerated into degrading superstitions. the western monks and the eastern yogees, who think they will reach the apex of powers by concentrating their thought on their navel, or by standing on one leg, are practicing exercises which serve no other purpose than to strengthen the willpower, which is sometimes applied to the basest purposes. these are examples of this one-sided and dwarf development. it is no use to fast as long as you require food. the ceasing of desire for food without impairment of health is the sign which indicates that it should be taken in lesser and ever decreasing quantities until the extreme limit compatible with life is reached. a stage will be finally attained where only water will be required. nor is it of any use for this particular purpose of longevity to abstain from immorality so long as you are craving for it in your heart; and so on with all other unsatisfied inward cravings. to get rid of the inward desire is the essential thing, and to mimic the real thing without it is barefaced hypocrisy and useless slavery. so it must be with the moral purification of the heart. the "basest" inclinations must go first--then the others. first avarice, then fear, then envy, worldly pride, uncharitableness, hatred; last of all ambition and curiosity must be abandoned successively. the strengthening of the more ethereal and so-called "spiritual" parts of the man must go on at the same time. reasoning from the known to the unknown, meditation must be practiced and encouraged. meditation is the inexpressible yearning of the inner man to "go out towards the infinite," which in the olden time was the real meaning of adoration, but which has now no synonym in the european languages, because the thing no longer exists in the west, and its name has been vulgarized to the make-believe shams known as prayer, glorification, and repentance. through all stages of training the equilibrium of the consciousness--the assurance that all must be right in the kosmos, and therefore with you a portion of it--must be retained. the process of life must not be hurried but retarded, if possible; to do otherwise may do good to others-- perhaps even to yourself in other spheres, but it will hasten your dissolution in this. nor must the externals be neglected in this first stage. remember that an adept, though "existing" so as to convey to ordinary minds the idea of his being immortal, is not also invulnerable to agencies from without. the training to prolong life does not, in itself, secure one from accidents. as far as any physical preparation goes, the sword may still cut, the disease enter, the poison disarrange. this case is very clearly and beautifully put in "zanoni," and it is correctly put and must be so, unless all "adeptism" is a baseless lie. the adept may be more secure from ordinary dangers than the common mortal, but he is so by virtue of the superior knowledge, calmness, coolness and penetration which his lengthened existence and its necessary concomitants have enabled him to acquire; not by virtue of any preservative power in the process itself. he is secure as a man armed with a rifle is more secure than a naked baboon; not secure in the sense in which the deva (god) was supposed to be securer than a man. if this is so in the case of the high adept, how much more necessary is it that the neophyte should be not only protected but that he himself should use all possible means to ensure for himself the necessary duration of life to complete the process of mastering the phenomena we call death! it may be said, why do not the higher adepts protect him? perhaps they do to some extent, but the child must learn to walk alone; to make him independent of his own efforts in respect to safety, would be destroying one element necessary to his development--the sense of responsibility. what courage or conduct would be called for in a man sent to fight when armed with irresistible weapons and clothed in impenetrable armour? hence the neophyte should endeavour, as far as possible, to fulfill every true canon of sanitary law as laid down by modern scientists. pure air, pure water, pure food, gentle exercise, regular hours, pleasant occupations and surroundings, are all, if not indispensable, at least serviceable to his progress. it is to secure these, at least as much as silence and solitude, that the gods, sages, occultists of all ages have retired as much as possible to the quiet of the country, the cool cave, the depths of the forest, the expanse of the desert, or the heights of the mountains. is it not suggestive that the gods have always loved the "high places"; and that in the present day the highest section of the occult brotherhood on earth inhabits the highest mountain plateaux of the earth?* --------- * the stern prohibition to the jews to serve "their gods upon the high mountains and upon the hills" is traced back to the unwillingness of their ancient elders to allow people in most cases unfit for adeptship to choose a life of celibacy and asceticism, or in other words, to pursue adeptship. this prohibition had an esoteric meaning before it became the prohibition, incomprehensible in its dead-letter sense: for it is not india alone whose sons accorded divine honours to the wise ones, but all nations regarded their adepts and initiates as divine.-- g.m. --------- nor must the beginner disdain the assistance of medicine and good medical regimen. he is still an ordinary mortal, and he requires the aid of an ordinary mortal. "suppose, however, all the conditions required, or which will be understood as required (for the details and varieties of treatment requisite, are too numerous to be detailed here), are fulfilled, what is the next step?" the reader will ask. well if there have been no backslidings or remissness in the procedure indicated, the following physical results will follow:-- first the neophyte will take more pleasure in things spiritual and pure. gradually gross and material occupations will become not only uncraved for or forbidden, but simply and literally repulsive to him. he will take more pleasure in the simple sensations of nature--the sort of feeling one can remember to have experienced as a child. he will feel more light-hearted, confident, happy. let him take care the sensation of renewed youth does not mislead, or he will yet risk a fall into his old baser life and even lower depths. "action and re-action are equal." now the desire for food will begin to cease. let it be left off gradually--no fasting is required. take what you feel you require. the food craved for will be the most innocent and simple. fruit and milk will usually be the best. then as till now, you have been simplifying the quality of your food, gradually--very gradually--as you feel capable of it diminish the quantity. you will ask: "can a man exist without food?" no, but before you mock, consider the character of the process alluded to. it is a notorious fact that many of the lowest and simplest organisms have no excretions. the common guinea-worm is a very good instance. it has rather a complicated organism, but it has no ejaculatory duct. all it consumes--the poorest essences of the human body--is applied to its growth and propagation. living as it does in human tissue, it passes no digested food away. the human neophyte, at a certain stage of his development, is in a somewhat analogous condition, with this difference or differences, that he does excrete, but it is through the pores of his skin, and by those too enter other etherealized particles of matter to contribute towards his support.* otherwise, all the food and drink is sufficient only to keep in equilibrium those "gross" parts of his physical body which still remain to repair their cuticle-waste through the medium of the blood. later on, the process of cell-development in his frame will undergo a change; a change for the better, the opposite of that in disease for the worse--he will become all living and sensitive, and will derive nourishment from the ether (akas). but that epoch for our neophyte is yet far distant. --------- * he is in a state similar to the physical state of a fetus before birth into the world.--g.m. --------- probably, long before that period has arrived, other results, no less surprising than incredible to the uninitiated will have ensued to give our neophyte courage and consolation in his difficult task. it would be but a truism to repeat what has been again alleged (in ignorance of its real rationale) by hundreds and hundreds of writers as to the happiness and content conferred by a life of innocence and purity. but often at the very commencement of the process some real physical result, unexpected and unthought of by the neophyte, occurs. some lingering disease, hitherto deemed hopeless, may take a favourable turn; or he may develop healing mesmeric powers himself; or some hitherto unknown sharpening of his senses may delight him. the rationale of these things is, as we have said, neither miraculous nor difficult of comprehension. in the first place, the sudden change in the direction of the vital energy (which, whatever view we take of it and its origin, is acknowledged by all schools of philosophy as most recondite, and as the motive power) must produce results of some kind. in the second, theosophy shows, as we said before, that a man consists of several men pervading each other, and on this view (although it is very difficult to express the idea in language) it is but natural that the progressive etherealization of the densest and most gross of all should leave the others literally more at liberty. a troop of horses may be blocked by a mob and have much difficulty in fighting its way through; but if every one of the mob could be changed suddenly into a ghost, there would be little to retard it. and as each interior entity is more rare, active, and volatile than the outer and as each has relation with different elements, spaces, and properties of the kosmos which are treated of in other articles on occultism, the mind of the reader may conceive--though the pen of the writer could not express it in a dozen volumes--the magnificent possibilities gradually unfolded to the neophyte. many of the opportunities thus suggested may be taken advantage of by the neophyte for his own safety, amusement, and the good of those around him; but the way in which he does this is one adapted to his fitness--a part of the ordeal he has to pass through, and misuse of these powers will certainly entail the loss of them as a natural result. the itchcha (or desire) evoked anew by the vistas they open up will retard or throw back his progress. but there is another portion of the great secret to which we must allude, and which is now, for the first, in a long series of ages, allowed to be given out to the world, as the hour for it is come. the educated reader need not be reminded again that one of the great discoveries which has immortalized the name of darwin is the law that an organism has always a tendency to repeat, at an analogous period in its life, the action of its progenitors, the more surely and completely in proportion to their proximity in the scale of life. one result of this is, that, in general, organized beings usually die at a period (on an average) the same as that of their progenitors. it is true that there is a great difference between the actual ages at which individuals of any species die. disease, accidents and famine are the main agents in causing this. but there is, in each species, a well-known limit within which the race-life lies, and none are known to survive beyond it. this applies to the human species as well as any other. now, supposing that every possible sanitary condition had been complied with, and every accident and disease avoided by a man of ordinary frame, in some particular case there would still, as is known to medical men, come a time when the particles of the body would feel the hereditary tendency to do that which leads inevitably to dissolution, and would obey it. it must be obvious to any reflecting man that, if by any procedure this critical climacteric could be once thoroughly passed over, the subsequent danger of "death" would be proportionally less as the years progressed. now this, which no ordinary and unprepared mind and body can do, is possible sometimes for the will and the frame of one who has been specially prepared. there are fewer of the grosser particles present to feel the hereditary bias--there is the assistance of the reinforced "interior men" (whose normal duration is always greater even in natural death) to the visible outer shell, and there is the drilled and indomitable will to direct and wield the whole.* ----------- * in this connection we may as well show what modern science, and especially physiology has to say as to the power of the human will. "the force of will is a potent element in determining longevity. this single point must be granted without argument, that of two men every way alike and similarly circumstanced, the one who has the greater courage and grit will be longer-lived. one does not need to practice medicine long to learn that men die who might just as well live if they resolved to live, and that myriads who are invalids could become strong if they had the native or acquired will to vow they would do so. those who have no other quality favourable to life, whose bodily organs are nearly all diseased, to whom each day is a day of pain, who are beset by life-shortening influences, yet do live by will alone." --dr. george m. beard. ------------- from that time forward the course of the aspirant is clearer. he has conquered "the dweller of the threshold"--the hereditary enemy of his race, and, though still exposed to ever-new dangers in his progress towards nirvana, he is flushed with victory, and with new confidence and new powers to second it, can press onwards to perfection. for, it must be remembered, that nature everywhere acts by law, and that the process of purification we have been describing in the visible material body, also takes place in those which are interior, and not visible to the scientist by modifications of the same process. all is on the change, and the metamorphoses of the more ethereal bodies imitate, though in successively multiplied duration, the career of the grosser, gaining an increasing wider range of relations with the surrounding kosmos, till in nirvana the most rarefied individuality is merged at last into the infinite totality. from the above description of the process, it will be inferred why it is that "adepts" are so seldom seen in ordinary life; for, pari passu, with the etherealization of their bodies and the development of their power, grows an increasing distaste, and a so-to-speak, "contempt" for the things of our ordinary mundane existence. like the fugitive who successively casts away in his flight those articles which incommode his progress, beginning with the heaviest, so the aspirant eluding "death" abandons all on which the latter can take hold. in the progress of negation everything got rid of is a help. as we said before, the adept does not become "immortal" as the word is ordinarily understood. by or about the time when the death-limit of his race is passed he is actually dead, in the ordinary sense, that is to say, he has relieved himself of all or nearly all such material particles as would have necessitated in disruption the agony of dying. he has been dying gradually during the whole period of his initiation. the catastrophe cannot happen twice over. he has only spread over a number of years the mild process of dissolution which others endure from a brief moment to a few hours. the highest adept is, in fact, dead to, and absolutely unconscious of, the world; he is oblivious of its pleasures, careless of its miseries, in so far as sentimentalism goes, for the stern sense of duty never leaves him blind to its very existence. for the new ethereal senses opening to wider spheres are to ours much in the relation of ours to the infinitely little. new desires and enjoyments, new dangers and new hindrances arise, with new sensations and new perceptions; and far away down in the mist--both literally and metaphorically--is our dirty little earth left below by those who have virtually "gone to join the gods." and from this account too, it will be perceptible how foolish it is for people to ask the theosophist to "procure for them communication with the highest adepts." it is with the utmost difficulty that one or two can be induced, even by the throes of a world, to injure their own progress by meddling with mundane affairs. the ordinary reader will say: "this is not god-like. this is the acme of selfishness." .... but let him realize that a very high adept, undertaking to reform the world, would necessarily have to once more submit to incarnation. and is the result of all that have gone before in that line sufficiently encouraging to prompt a renewal of the attempt? a deep consideration of all that we have written, will also give the theosophists an idea of what they demand when they ask to be put in the way of gaining practically "higher powers." well, there, as plainly as words can put it, is the path .... can they tread it? nor must it be disguised that what to the ordinary mortal are unexpected dangers, temptations and enemies also beset the way of the neophyte. and that for no fanciful cause, but the simple reason that he is, in fact, acquiring new senses, has yet no practice in their use, and has never before seen the things he sees. a man born blind suddenly endowed with vision would not at once master the meaning of perspective, but would, like a baby, imagine in one case, the moon to be within his reach, and, in the other, grasp a live coal with the most reckless confidence. and what, it may be asked, is to recompense this abnegation of all the pleasures of life, this cold surrender of all mundane interests, this stretching forward to an unknown goal which seems ever more unattainable? for, unlike some of the anthropomorphic creeds, occultism offers to its votaries no eternally permanent heaven of material pleasure, to be gained at once by one quick dash through the grave. as has, in fact, often been the case many would be prepared willingly to die now for the sake of the paradise hereafter. but occultism gives no such prospect of cheaply and immediately gained infinitude of pleasure, wisdom and existence. it only promises extensions of these, stretching in successive arches obscured by successive veils, in an unbroken series up the long vista which leads to nirvana. and this too, qualified by the necessity that new powers entail new responsibilities, and that the capacity of increased pleasure entails the capacity of increased sensibility to pain. to this, the only answer that can be given is two-fold: ( st) the consciousness of power is itself the most exquisite of pleasures, and is unceasingly gratified in the progress onwards with new means for its exercise and ( ndly) as has been already said--this is the only road by which there is the faintest scientific likelihood that "death" can be avoided, perpetual memory secured, infinite wisdom attained, and hence an immense helping of mankind made possible, once that the adept has safely crossed the turning-point. physical as well as metaphysical logic requires and endorses the fact that only by gradual absorption into infinity can the part become acquainted with the whole, and that that which is now something can only feel, know, and enjoy everything when lost in absolute totality in the vortex of that unalterable circle wherein our knowledge becomes ignorance, and the everything itself is identified with the nothing. is the desire to "live" selfish? the passage "to live, to live, to live must be the unswerving resolve," occurring in the article on the elixir of life, is often quoted by superficial and unsympathetic readers as an argument that the teachings of occultism are the most concentrated form of selfishness. in order to determine whether the critics are right or wrong, the meaning of the word "selfishness" must first be ascertained. according to an established authority, selfishness is that "exclusive regard to one's own interest or happiness; that supreme self-love or self-preference which leads a person to direct his purposes to the advancement of his own interest, power, or happiness, without regarding those of others." in short, an absolutely selfish individual is one who cares for himself and none else, or, in other words, one who is so strongly imbued with a sense of the importance of his own personality that to him it is the crown of all thoughts, desires, and aspirations, and beyond which lies the perfect blank. now, can an occultist be then said to be "selfish" when he desires to live in the sense in which that word is used by the writer of the article on the elixir of life? it has been said over and over again that the ultimate end of every aspirant after occult knowledge is nirvana or mukti, when the individual, freed from all mayavic upadhi, becomes one with paramatma, or the son identifies himself with the father in christian phraseology. for that purpose, every veil of illusion which creates a sense of personal isolation, a feeling of separateness from the all, must be torn asunder, or, in other words, the aspirant must gradually discard all sense of selfishness with which we are all more or less affected. a study of the law of kosmic evolution teaches us that the higher the evolution, the more does it tend towards unity. in fact, unity is the ultimate possibility of nature, and those who through vanity and selfishness go against her purposes, cannot but incur the punishment of annihilation. the occultist thus recognizes that unselfishness and a feeling of universal philanthropy are the inherent laws of our being, and all he does is to attempt to destroy the chains of selfishness forged upon us all by maya. the struggle then between good and evil, god and satan, suras and asuras, devas and daityas, which is mentioned in the sacred books of all the nations and races, symbolizes the battle between unselfish and selfish impulses, which takes place in a man, who tries to follow the higher purposes of nature, until the lower animal tendencies, created by selfishness, are completely conquered, and the enemy thoroughly routed and annihilated. it has also been often put forth in various theosophical and other occult writings that the only difference between an ordinary man who works along with nature during the course of kosmic evolution and an occultist, is that the latter, by his superior knowledge, adopts such methods of training and discipline as will hurry on that process of evolution, and he thus reaches in a comparatively short time the apex which the ordinary individual will take perhaps billions of years to reach. in short, in a few thousand years he approaches that type of evolution which ordinary humanity attains in the sixth or seventh round of the manvantara, i.e., cyclic progression. it is evident that an average man cannot become a mahatma in one life, or rather in one incarnation. now those, who have studied the occult teachings concerning devachan and our after-states, will remember that between two incarnations there is a considerable period of subjective existence. the greater the number of such devachanic periods, the greater is the number of years over which this evolution is extended. the chief aim of the occultist is therefore to so control himself as to be able to regulate his future states, and thereby gradually shorten the duration of his devachanic existence between two incarnations. in the course of his progress, there comes a time when, between one physical death and his next rebirth, there is no devachan but a kind of spiritual sleep, the shock of death, having, so to say, stunned him into a state of unconsciousness from which he gradually recovers to find himself reborn, to continue his purpose. the period of this sleep may vary from twenty-five to two hundred years, depending upon the degree of his advancement. but even this period may be said to be a waste of time, and hence all his exertions are directed to shorten its duration so as to gradually come to a point when the passage from one state of existence into another is almost imperceptible. this is his last incarnation, as it were, for the shock of death no more stuns him. this is the idea the writer of the article on the elixir of life means to convey when he says: by or about the time when the death-limit of his race is passed he is actually dead, in the ordinary sense, that is to say, he has relieved himself of all or nearly all such material particles as would have necessitated in disruption the agony of dying. he has been dying gradually during the whole period of his initiation. the catastrophe cannot happen twice over, he has only spread over a number of years the mild process of dissolution which others endure from a brief moment to a few hours. the highest adept is, in fact, dead to, and absolutely unconscious of, the world; he is oblivious of its pleasures, careless of its miseries, in so far as sentimentalism goes, for the stern sense of duty never leaves him blind to its very existence.... the process of the emission and attraction of atoms, which the occultist controls, has been discussed at length in that article and in other writings. it is by these means that he gets rid gradually of all the old gross particles of his body, substituting for them finer and more ethereal ones, till at last the former sthula sarira is completely dead and disintegrated, and he lives in a body entirely of his own creation, suited to his work. that body is essential to his purposes; as the elixir of life says:-- to do good, as in every thing else, a man most have time and materials to work with, and this is a necessary means to the acquirement of powers by which infinitely more good can be done than without them. when these are once mastered, the opportunities to use them will arrive.... giving the practical instructions for that purpose, the same paper continues:-- the physical man must be rendered more ethereal and sensitive; the mental man more penetrating and profound; the moral man more self-denying and philosophical. losing sight of the above important considerations, the following passage is entirely misunderstood:-- and from this account too, it will be perceptible how foolish it is for people to ask the theosophist "to procure for them communication with the highest adepts." it is with the utmost difficulty that one or two can be induced, even by the throes of a world, to injure their own progress by meddling with mundane affairs. the ordinary reader will say: "this is not god-like. this is the acme of selfishness." ....but let him realize that a very high adept, undertaking to reform the world, would necessarily have to once more submit to incarnation. and is the result of all that have gone before in that line sufficiently encouraging to prompt a renewal of the attempt? now, in condemning the above passage as inculcating selfishness, superficial critics neglect many profound truths. in the first place, they forget the other extracts already quoted which impose self-denial as a necessary condition of success, and which say that, with progress, new senses and new powers are acquired with which infinitely more good can be done than without them. the more spiritual the adept becomes the less can he meddle with mundane gross affairs and the more he has to confine himself to spiritual work. it has been repeated, times out of number, that the work on the spiritual plane is as superior to the work on the intellectual plane as the latter is superior to that on the physical plane. the very high adepts, therefore, do help humanity, but only spiritually: they are constitutionally incapable of meddling with worldly affairs. but this applies only to very high adepts. there are various degrees of adept-ship, and those of each degree work for humanity on the planes to which they may have risen. it is only the chelas that can live in the world, until they rise to a certain degree. and it is because the adepts do care for the world that they make their chelas live in and work for it, as many of those who study the subject are aware. each cycle produces its own occultists capable of working for the humanity of the time on all the different planes; but when the adepts foresee that at a particular period humanity will he incapable of producing occultists for work on particular planes, for such occasions they do provide by either voluntarily giving up their further progress and waiting until humanity reaches that period, or by refusing to enter into nirvana and submitting to re-incarnation so as to be ready for work when the time comes. and although the world may not be aware of the fact, yet there are even now certain adepts who have preferred to remain in statu quo and refuse to take the higher degrees, for the benefit of the future generations of humanity. in short, as the adepts work harmoniously, since unity is the fundamental law of their being, they have, as it were, made a division of labour, according to which each works on the plane appropriate to himself for the spiritual elevation of us all--and the process of longevity mentioned in the elixir of life is only the means to the end which, far from being selfish, is the most unselfish purpose for which a human being can labour. (--h.p. blavatsky) contemplation a general misconception on this subject seems to prevail. one confines oneself for some time in a room, and passively gazes at one's nose, a spot on the wall, or, perhaps, a crystal, under the impression that such is the true form of contemplation enjoined by raj yoga. many fail to realize that true occultism requires a physical, mental, moral and spiritual development to run on parallel lines, and injure themselves, physically and spiritually, by practice of what they falsely believe to be dhyan. a few instances may be mentioned here with advantage, as a warning to over-zealous students. at bareilly the writer met a member of the theosophical society from farrukhabad, who narrated his experiences and shed bitter tears of repentance for his past follies--as he termed them. it appears from his account that fifteen or twenty years ago having read about contemplation in the bhagavad gita, he undertook the practice of it, without a proper comprehension of its esoteric meaning and carried it on for several years. at first he experienced a sense of pleasure, but simultaneously he found he was gradually losing self-control; until after a few years he discovered, to his great bewilderment and sorrow, that he was no longer his own master. he felt his heart actually growing heavy, as though a load had been placed on it. he had no control over his sensations the communication between the brain and the heart had become as though interrupted. as matters grew worse, in disgust he discontinued his "contemplation." this happened as long as seven years ago; and, although since then he has not felt worse, yet he could never regain his original healthy state of mind and body. another case came under the writer's observation at jubbulpore. the gentleman concerned, after reading patanjali and such other works, began to sit for "contemplation." after a short time he commenced seeing abnormal sights and hearing musical bells, but neither over these phenomena nor over his own sensations could he exercise any control. he could not produce these results at will, nor could he stop them when they were occurring. numerous such examples may be cited. while penning these lines, the writer has on his table two letters upon this subject, one from moradabad and the other from trichinopoly. in short, all this mischief is due to a misunderstanding of the significance of contemplation as enjoined upon students by all the schools of occult philosophy. with a view to afford a glimpse of the reality through the dense veil that enshrouds the mysteries of this science of sciences, an article, the elixir of life, was written. unfortunately, in too many instances, the seed seems to have fallen upon barren ground. some of its readers pin their faith to the following clause in that paper:-- reasoning from the known to the unknown meditation must be practiced and encouraged. but, alas! their preconceptions have prevented them from comprehending what is meant by meditation. they forget that the meditation spoken of "is the inexpressible yearning of the inner man to 'go out towards the infinite,' which in the olden time was the real meaning of adoration"-- as the next sentence shows. a good deal of light would be thrown upon this subject if the reader were to turn to an earlier part of the same paper, and peruse attentively the following paragraphs:-- so, then, we have arrived at the point where we have determined-- literally, not metaphorically--to crack the outer shell known as the mortal coil or body, and hatch out of it, clothed in our next. this 'next' is not a spiritual, but only a more ethereal form. having by a long training and preparation adapted it for a life in the atmosphere, during which time we have gradually made the outward shell to die off through a certain process .... we have to prepare for this physiological transformation. how are we to do it? in the first place we have the actual, visible, material body--man, so called, though, in fact, but his outer shell--to deal with. let us bear in mind that science teaches us that in about every seven years we change skin as effectually as any serpent; and this so gradually and imperceptibly that, had not science after years of unremitting study and observation assured us of it, no one would have had the slightest suspicion of the fact.... hence, if a man, partially flayed alive, may sometimes survive and be covered with a new skin, so our astral, vital body .... may be made to harden its particles to the atmospheric changes. the whole secret is to succeed in evolving it out, and separating it from the visible; and while its generally invisible atoms proceed to concrete themselves into a compact mass, to gradually get rid of the old particles of our visible frame so as to make them die and disappear before the new set has had time to evolve and replace them.... we can say no more. a correct comprehension of the above scientific process will give a clue to the esoteric meaning of meditation or contemplation. science teaches us that man changes his physical body continually, and this change is so gradual that it is almost imperceptible. why then should the case be otherwise with the inner man? the latter too is developing and changing atoms at every moment. and the attraction of these new sets of atoms depends upon the law of affinity--the desires of the man drawing to his bodily tenement only such particles as are necessary to give them expression. for science shows that thought is dynamic, and the thought-force evolved by nervous action expanding itself outwardly, must affect the molecular relations of the physical man. the inner men, however sublimated their organism may be, are still composed of actual, not hypothetical, particles, and are still subject to the law that an "action" has a tendency to repeat itself; a tendency to set up analogous action in the grosser "shell" they are in contact with, and concealed within.--"the elixir of life" what is it the aspirant of yog vidya strives after if not to gain mukti by transferring himself gradually from the grosser to the next less gross body, until all the veils of maya being successively removed his atma becomes one with paramatma? does he suppose that this grand result can be achieved by a two or four hours' contemplation? for the remaining twenty or twenty-two hours that the devotee does not shut himself up in his room for meditation is the process of the emission of atoms and their replacement by others stopped? if not, then how does he mean to attract all this time only those suited to his end? from the above remarks it is evident that just as the physical body requires incessant attention to prevent the entrance of a disease, so also the inner man requires an unremitting watch, so that no conscious or unconscious thought may attract atoms unsuited to its progress. this is the real meaning of contemplation. the prime factor in the guidance of the thought is will. without that, all else is useless. and, to be efficient for the purpose, it must be, not only a passing resolution of the moment, a single fierce desire of short duration, but a settled and continued strain, as nearly as can be continued and concentrated without one single moment's remission. the student would do well to take note of the italicized clause in the above quotation. he should also have it indelibly impressed upon his mind that: it is no use to fast as long as one requires food.... to get rid of the inward desire is the essential thing, and to mimic the real thing without it is barefaced hypocrisy and useless slavery. without realizing the significance of this most important fact, any one who for a moment finds cause of disagreement with any one of his family, or has his vanity wounded, or for a sentimental flash of the moment, or for a selfish desire to utilize the divine power for gross purposes--at once rushes into contemplation and dashes himself to pieces on the rock dividing the known from the unknown. wallowing in the mire of exotericism, he knows not what it is to live in the world and yet be not of the world; in other words, to guard self against self is an almost incomprehensible axiom for the profane. the hindu ought to know better from the life of janaka, who, although a reigning monarch, was yet styled rajarshi and is said to have attained nirvana. hearing of his widespread fame, a few sectarian bigots went to his court to test his yoga-power. as soon as they entered the court-room, the king having read their thoughts--a power which every chela attains at a certain stage--gave secret instructions to his officials to have a particular street in the city lined on both sides by dancing girls singing the must voluptuous songs. he then had some gharas (pots) filled with water up to the brim so that the least shake would be likely to spill their contents. the wiseacres, each with a full ghara (pot) on his head, were ordered to pass along the street, surrounded by soldiers with drawn swords to be used against them if even so much as a drop of water were allowed to run over. the poor fellows having returned to the palace after successfully passing the test, were asked by the king-adept what they had met with in the street they were made to go through. with great indignation they replied that the threat of being cut to pieces had so much worked upon their minds that they thought of nothing but the water on their heads, and the intensity of their attention did not permit them to take cognizance of what was going on around them. then janaka told them that on the same principle they could easily understand that, although being outwardly engaged in managing the affairs of his state, he could, at the same time, be an occultist. he too, while in the world, was not of the world. in other words, his inward aspirations had been leading him on continually to the goal in which his whole inner self was concentrated. raj yoga encourages no sham, requires no physical postures. it has to deal with the inner man whose sphere lies in the world of thought. to have the highest ideal placed before oneself and strive incessantly to rise up to it, is the only true concentration recognized by esoteric philosophy which deals with the inner world of noumena, not the outer shell of phenomena. the first requisite for it is thorough purity of heart. well might the student of occultism say with zoroaster, that purity of thought, purity of word, and purity of deed,--these are the essentials of one who would rise above the ordinary level and join the "gods." a cultivation of the feeling of unselfish philanthropy is the path which has to be traversed for that purpose. for it is that alone which will lead to universal love, the realization of which constitutes the progress towards deliverance from the chains forged by maya (illusion) around the ego. no student will attain this at once, but as our venerated mahatma says in the "occult world":-- the greater the progress towards deliverance, the less this will be the case, until, to crown all, human and purely individual personal feelings, blood-ties and friendship, patriotism and race predilection, will all give way to become blended into one universal feeling, the only true and holy, the only unselfish and eternal one, love, an immense love for humanity as a whole. in short, the individual is blended with the all. of course, contemplation, as usually understood, is not without its minor advantages. it develops one set of physical faculties as gymnastics does the muscles. for the purposes of physical mesmerism it is good enough; but it can in no way help the development of the psychological faculties, as the thoughtful reader will perceive. at the same time, even for ordinary purposes, the practice can never be too well guarded. if, as some suppose, they have to be entirely passive and lose themselves in the object before them, they should remember that, by thus encouraging passivity, they, in fact, allow the development of mediumistic faculties in themselves. as was repeatedly stated--the adept and the medium are the two poles: while the former is intensely active and thus able to control the elemental forces, the latter is intensely passive and thus incurs the risk of falling a prey to the caprice and malice of mischievous embryos of human beings, and the elementaries. it will be evident from the above that true meditation consists in the "reasoning from the known to the unknown." the "known" is the phenomenal world, cognizable by our five senses. and all that we see in this manifested world are the effects, the causes of which are to be sought after in the noumenal, the unmanifested, the "unknown world:" this is to be accomplished by meditation, i.e., continued attention to the subject. occultism does not depend upon one method, but employs both the deductive and the inductive. the student must first learn the general axioms, which have sufficiently been laid down in the elixir of life and other occult writings. what the student has first to do is to comprehend these axioms and, by employing the deductive method, to proceed from universals to particulars. he has then to reason from the "known to the unknown," and see if the inductive method of proceeding from particulars to universals supports those axioms. this process forms the primary stage of true contemplation. the student must first grasp the subject intellectually before he can hope to realize his aspirations. when this is accomplished, then comes the next stage of meditation, which is "the inexpressible yearning of the inner man to 'go out towards the infinite.'" before any such yearning can be properly directed, the goal must first be determined. the higher stage, in fact, consists in practically realizing what the first steps have placed within one's comprehension. in short, contemplation, in its true sense, is to recognize the truth of eliphas levi's saying:-- to believe without knowing is weakness; to believe, because one knows, is power. the elixir of life not only gives the preliminary steps in the ladder of contemplation but also tells the reader how to realize the higher stages. it traces, by the process of contemplation as it were, the relation of man, "the known," the manifested, the phenomenon, to "the unknown," the unmanifested, the noumenon. it shows the student what ideal to contemplate and how to rise up to it. it places before him the nature of the inner capacities of man and how to develop them. to a superficial reader, this may, perhaps, appear as the acme of selfishness. reflection will, however, show the contrary to be the case. for it teaches the student that to comprehend the noumenal, he must identify himself with nature. instead of looking upon himself as an isolated being, he must learn to look upon himself as a part of the integral whole. for, in the unmanifested world, it can be clearly perceived that all is controlled by the "law of affinity," the attraction of the one for the other. there, all is infinite love, understood in its true sense. it may now not be out of place to recapitulate what has already been said. the first thing to be done is to study the axioms of occultism and work upon them by the deductive and the inductive methods, which is real contemplation. to turn this to a useful purpose, what is theoretically comprehended must be practically realized. --damodar k. mavalaukar chelas and lay chelas a "chela" is a person who has offered himself to a master as a pupil to learn practically the "hidden mysteries of nature and the psychical powers latent in man." the master who accepts him is called in india a guru; and the real guru is always an adept in the occult science. a man of profound knowledge, exoteric and esoteric, especially the latter; and one who has brought his carnal nature under the subjection of the will; who has developed in himself both the power (siddhi) to control the forces of nature, and the capacity to probe her secrets by the help of the formerly latent but now active powers of his being--this is the real guru. to offer oneself as a candidate for chelaship is easy enough, to develop into an adept the most difficult task any man could possibly undertake. there are scores of "natural-born" poets, mathematicians, mechanics, statesmen, &c. but a natural-born adept is something practically impossible. for, though we do hear at very rare intervals of one who has an extraordinary innate capacity for the acquisition of occult knowledge and power, yet even he has to pass the self-same tests and probations, and go through the self-same training as any less endowed fellow aspirant. in this matter it is most true that there is no royal road by which favourites may travel. for centuries the selection of chelas--outside the hereditary group within the gon-pa (temple)--has been made by the himalayan mahatmas themselves from among the class--in tibet, a considerable one as to number--of natural mystics. the only exceptions have been in the cases of western men like fludd, thomas vaughan, paracelsus, pico di mirandolo, count st. germain, &c., whose temperament affinity to this celestial science, more or less forced the distant adepts to come into personal relations with them, and enabled them to get such small (or large) proportion of the whole truth as was possible under their social surroundings. from book iv. of kui-te, chapter on "the laws of upasanas," we learn that the qualifications expected in a chela were:-- . perfect physical health; . absolute mental and physical purity; . unselfishness of purpose; universal charity; pity for all animate beings; . truthfulness and unswerving faith in the law of karma, independent of the intervention of any power in nature: a law whose course is not to be obstructed by any agency, not to be caused to deviate by prayer or propitiatory exoteric ceremonies; . a courage undaunted in every emergency, even by peril to life; . an intuitional perception of one's being the vehicle of the manifested avalokiteswara or divine atma (spirit); . calm indifference for, but a just appreciation of, everything that constitutes the objective and transitory world, in its relation with, and to, the invisible regions. such, at the least, must have been the recommendations of one aspiring to perfect chelaship. with the sole exception of the first, which in rare and exceptional cases might have been modified, each one of these points has been invariably insisted upon, and all must have been more or less developed in the inner nature by the chela's unhelped exertions, before he could be actually "put to the test." when the self-evolving ascetic--whether in, or outside the active world--has placed himself, according to his natural capacity, above, hence made himself master of his ( ) sarira--body; ( ) indriya--senses; ( ) dosha--faults; ( ) dukkha--pain; and is ready to become one with his manas--mind; buddhi--intellection, or spiritual intelligence; and atma--highest soul, i.e., spirit; when he is ready for this, and, further, to recognize in atma the highest ruler in the world of perceptions, and in the will, the highest executive energy (power), then may he, under the time-honoured rules, be taken in hand by one of the initiates. he may then be shown the mysterious path at whose farther end is obtained the unerring discernment of phala, or the fruits of causes produced, and given the means of reaching apavarga--emancipation from the misery of repeated births, pretya-bhava, in whose determination the ignorant has no hand. but since the advent of the theosophical society, one of whose arduous tasks it is to re-awaken in the aryan mind the dormant memory of the existence of this science and of those transcendent human capabilities, the rules of chela selection have become slightly relaxed in one respect. many members of the society who would not have been otherwise called to chelaship became convinced by practical proof of the above points, and rightly enough thinking that if other men had hitherto reached the goal, they too, if inherently fitted, might reach it by following the same path, importunately pressed to be taken as candidates. and as it would be an interference with karma to deny them the chance of at least beginning, they were given it. the results have been far from encouraging so far, and it is to show them the cause of their failure as much as to warn others against rushing heedlessly upon a similar fate, that the writing of the present article has been ordered. the candidates in question, though plainly warned against it in advance, began wrong by selfishly looking to the future and losing sight of the past. they forgot that they had done nothing to deserve the rare honour of selection, nothing which warranted their expecting such a privilege; that they could boast of none of the above enumerated merits. as men of the selfish, sensual world, whether married or single, merchants, civilian or military employees, or members of the learned professions, they had been to a school most calculated to assimilate them to the animal nature, least so to develop their spiritual potentialities. yet each and all had vanity enough to suppose that their case would be made an exception to the law of countless centuries, as though, indeed, in their person had been born to the world a new avatar! all expected to have hidden things taught, extraordinary powers given them, because--well, because they had joined the theosophical society. some had sincerely resolved to amend their lives, and give up their evil courses: we must do them that justice, at all events. all were refused at first, col. olcott the president himself, to begin with: and he was not formally accepted as a chela until he had proved by more than a year's devoted labours and by a determination which brooked no denial, that he might safely be tested. then from all sides came complaints--from hindus, who ought to have known better, as well as from europeans who, of course, were not in a condition to know anything at all about the rules. the cry was that unless at least a few theosophists were given the chance to try, the society could not endure. every other noble and unselfish feature of our programme was ignored--a man's duty to his neighbour, to his country, his duty to help, enlighten, encourage and elevate those weaker and less favoured than he; all were trampled out of sight in the insane rush for adeptship. the call for phenomena, phenomena, phenomena, resounded in every quarter, and the founders were impeded in their real work and teased importunately to intercede with the mahatmas, against whom the real grievance lay, though their poor agents had to take all the buffets. at last, the word came from the higher authorities that a few of the most urgent candidates should be taken at their word. the result of the experiment would perhaps show better than any amount of preaching what chelaship meant, and what are the consequences of selfishness and temerity. each candidate was warned that be must wait for year in any event, before his fitness could be established, and that he must pass through a series of tests that would bring out all there was in him, whether bad or good. they were nearly all married men, and hence were designated "lay chelas"--a term new in english, but having long had its equivalent in asiatic tongues. a lay chela is but a man of the world who affirms his desire to become wise in spiritual things. virtually, every member of the theosophical society who subscribes to the second of our three "declared objects" is such; for though not of the number of true chelas, he has yet the possibility of becoming one, for he has stepped across the boundary-line which separated him from the mahatmas, and has brought himself, as it were, under their notice. in joining the society and binding himself to help along its work, he has pledged himself to act in some degree in concert with those mahatmas, at whose behest the society was organized, and under whose conditional protection it remains. the joining is then, the introduction; all the rest depends entirely upon the member himself, and he need never expect the most distant approach to the "favour" of one of our mahatmas or any other mahatmas in the world--should the latter consent to become known--that has not been fully earned by personal merit. the mahatmas are the servants, not the arbiters of the law of karma. lay-chelaship confers no privilege upon any one except that of working for merit under the observation of a master. and whether that master be or be not seen by the chela makes no difference whatever as to the result: his good thought, words and deeds will bear their fruits, his evil ones, theirs. to boast of lay chelaship or make a parade of it, is the surest way to reduce the relationship with the guru to a mere empty name, for it would be prima facie evidence of vanity and unfitness for farther progress. and for years we have been teaching everywhere the maxim "first deserve, then desire" intimacy with the mahatmas. now there is a terrible law operative in nature, one which cannot be altered, and whose operation clears up the apparent mystery of the selection of certain "chelas" who have turned out sorry specimens of morality, these few years past. does the reader recall the old proverb, "let sleeping dogs lie?" there is a world of occult meaning in it. no man or woman knows his or her moral strength until it is tried. thousands go through life very respectably, because they were never put to the test. this is a truism doubtless, but it is most pertinent to the present case. one who undertakes to try for chelaship by that very act rouses and lashes to desperation every sleeping passion of his animal nature. for this is the commencement of a struggle for mastery in which quarter is neither to be given nor taken. it is, once for all, "to be, or not to be;" to conquer, means adept-ship: to fail, an ignoble martyrdom; for to fall victim to lust, pride, avarice, vanity, selfishness, cowardice, or any other of the lower propensities, is indeed ignoble, if measured by the standard of true manhood. the chela is not only called to face all the latent evil propensities of his nature, but, in addition, the momentum of maleficent forces accumulated by the community and nation to which he belongs. for he is an integral part of those aggregates, and what affects either the individual man or the group (town or nation), reacts the one upon the other. and in this instance his struggle for goodness jars upon the whole body of badness in his environment, and draws its fury upon him. if he is content to go along with his neighbours and be almost as they are--perhaps a little better or somewhat worse than the average--no one may give him a thought. but let it be known that he has been able to detect the hollow mockery of social life, its hypocrisy, selfishness, sensuality, cupidity and other bad features, and has determined to lift himself up to a higher level, at once he is hated, and every bad, bigotted, or malicious nature sends at him a current of opposing will-power. if he is innately strong he shakes it off, as the powerful swimmer dashes through the current that would bear a weaker one away. but in this moral battle, if the chela has one single hidden blemish--do what he may, it shall and will be brought to light. the varnish of conventionalities which "civilization" overlays us all with must come off to the last coat, and the inner self, naked and without the slightest veil to conceal its reality, is exposed. the habits of society which hold men to a certain degree under moral restraint, and compel them to pay tribute to virtue by seeming to be good whether they are so or not--these habits are apt to be all forgotten, these restraints to be all broken through under the strain of chelaship. he is now in an atmosphere of illusions--maya. vice puts on its most alluring face, and the tempting passions attract the inexperienced aspirant to the depths of psychic debasement. this is not a case like that depicted by a great artist, where satan is seen playing a game of chess with a man upon the stake of his soul, while the latter's good angel stands beside him to counsel and assist. for the strife is in this instance between the chela's will and his carnal nature, and karma forbids that any angel or guru should interfere until the result is known. with the vividness of poetic fancy bulwer lytton has idealized it for us in his "zanoni," a work which will ever be prized by the occultist while in his "strange story" he has with equal power shown the black side of occult research and its deadly perils. chelaship was defined, the other day, by a mahatma as a "psychic resolvent, which eats away all dross and leaves only the pure gold behind." if the candidate has the latent lust for money, or political chicanery, or materialistic scepticism, or vain display, or false speaking, or cruelty, or sensual gratification of any kind the germ is almost sure to sprout; and so, on the other hand, as regards the noble qualities of human nature. the real man comes out. is it not the height of folly, then, for any one to leave the smooth path of commonplace life to scale the crags of chelaship without some reasonable feeling of certainty that he has the right stuff in him? well says the bible: "let him that standeth take heed lest he fall"--a text that would-be chelas should consider well before they rush headlong into the fray! it would have been well for some of our lay chelas if they had thought twice before defying the tests. we call to mind several sad failures within a twelve-month. one went wrong in the head, recanted noble sentiments uttered but a few weeks previously, and became a member of a religion he had just scornfully and unanswerably proven false. a second became a defaulter and absconded with his employer's money--the latter also a theosophist. a third gave himself up to gross debauchery, and confessed it, with ineffectual sobs and tears, to his chosen guru. a fourth got entangled with a person of the other sex and fell out with his dearest and truest friends. a fifth showed signs of mental aberration and was brought into court upon charges of discreditable conduct. a sixth shot himself to escape the consequences of criminality, on the verge of detection! and so we might go on and on. all these were apparently sincere searchers after truth, and passed in the world for respectable persons. externally, they were fairly eligible as candidates for chelaship, as appearances go; but "within all was rottenness and dead men's bones." the world's varnish was so thick as to hide the absence of the true gold underneath; and the "resolvent" doing its work, the candidate proved in each instance but a gilded figure of moral dross, from circumference to core. in what precedes we have, of course, dealt but with the failures among lay chelas; there have been partial successes too, and these are passing gradually through the first stages of their probation. some are making themselves useful to the society and to the world in general by good example and precept. if they persist, well for them, well for us all: the odds are fearfully against them, but still "there is no impossibility to him who wills." the difficulties in chelaship will never be less until human nature changes and a new order is evolved. st. paul (rom. vii. , ) might have had a chela in mind when he said "to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good i find not. for the good i would i do not; but the evil which i would not, that i do." and in the wise kiratarjuniyam of bharavi it is written:-- the enemies which rise within the body, hard to be overcome--the evil passions-- should manfully be fought; who conquers these is equal to the conqueror of worlds. (xi. .) (--h.p. blavatsky) ancient opinions upon psychic bodies it must be confessed that modern spiritualism falls very short of the ideas formerly suggested by the sublime designation which it has assumed. chiefly intent upon recognizing and putting forward the phenomenal proofs of a future existence, it concerns itself little with speculations on the distinction between matter and spirit, and rather prides itself on having demolished materialism without the aid of metaphysics. perhaps a platonist might say that the recognition of a future existence is consistent with a very practical and even dogmatic materialism, but it is rather to be feared that such a materialism as this would not greatly disturb the spiritual or intellectual repose of our modern phenomenalists.* given the consciousness with its sensibilities safely housed in the psychic body which demonstrably survives the physical carcase, and we are like men saved from shipwreck, who are for the moment thankful and content, not giving thought whether they are landed on a hospitable shore, or on a barren rock, or on an island of cannibals. it is not of course intended that this "hand to mouth" immortality is sufficient for the many thoughtful minds whose activity gives life and progress to the movement, but that it affords the relief which most people feel when in an age of doubt they make the discovery that they are undoubtedly to live again. to the question "how are the dead raised up, and with what body do they come?" modern spiritualism, with its empirical methods, is not adequate to reply. yet long before paul suggested it, it had the attention of the most celebrated schools of philosophy, whose speculations on the subject, however little they may seem to be verified, ought not to be without interest to us, who, after all, are still in the infancy of a spiritualist revival. --------- * "i am afraid," says thomas taylor in his introduction to the phaedo, "there are scarcely any at the present day who know that it is one thing for the soul to be separated from the body, and another for the body to be separated from the soul, and that the former is by no means a necessary consequence of the latter." ----------- it would not be necessary to premise, but for the frequency with which the phrase occurs, that the "spiritual body" is a contradiction in terms. the office of body is to relate spirit to an objective world. by platonic writers it is usually termed okhema--"vehicle." it is the medium of action, and also of sensibility. in this philosophy the conception of soul was not simply, as with us, the immaterial subject of consciousness. how warily the interpreter has to tread here, every one knows who has dipped, even superficially, into the controversies among platonists themselves. all admit the distinction between the rational and the irrational part or principle, the latter including, first, the sensibility, and secondly, the plastic, or that lower which in obedience to its sympathies enables the soul to attach itself to, and to organize into a suitable body those substances of the universe to which it is most congruous. it is more difficult to determine whether plato or his principal followers, recognized in the rational soul or nous a distinct and separable entity, that which is sometimes discriminated as "the spirit." dr. henry more, no mean authority, repudiates this interpretation. "there can be nothing more monstrous," he says, "than to make two souls in man, the one sensitive, the other rational, really distinct from one another, and to give the name of astral spirit to the former, when there is in man no astral spirit beside the plastic of the soul itself, which is always inseparable from that which is rational. nor upon any other account can it be called astral, but as it is liable to that corporeal temperament which proceeds from the stars, or rather from any material causes in general, as not being yet sufficiently united with the divine body--that vehicle of divine virtue or power." so he maintains that the kabalistic three souls--nephesh, ruach, neschamah--originate in a misunderstanding of the true platonic doctrine, which is that of a threefold "vital congruity." these correspond to the three degrees of bodily existence, or to the three "vehicles," the terrestrial, the aerial, and the ethereal. the latter is the augoeides--the luciform vehicle of the purified soul whose irrational part has been brought under complete subjection to the rational. the aerial is that in which the great majority of mankind find themselves at the dissolution of the terrestrial body, and in which the incomplete process of purification has to be undergone during long ages of preparation for the soul's return to its primitive, ethereal state. for it must be remembered that the preexistence of souls is a distinguishing tenet of this philosophy as of the kabala. the soul has "sunk into matter." from its highest original state the revolt of its irrational nature has awakened and developed successively its "vital congruities" with the regions below, passing, by means of its "plastic," first into the aerial and afterwards into the terrestrial condition. each of these regions teems also with an appropriate population which never passes, like the human soul, from one to the other--"gods," "demons," and animals.* as to duration, "the shortest of all is that of the terrestrial vehicle. in the aerial, the soul may inhabit, as they define, many ages, and in the ethereal, for ever." --------- * the allusion here is to those beings of the several kingdoms of the elements which we theosophists, following after the kabalists, have called the "elementals." they never become men. --ed. theos. --------- speaking of the second body, henry more says "the soul's astral vehicle is of that tenuity that itself can as easily pass the smallest pores of the body as the light does glass, or the lightning the scabbard of a sword without tearing or scorching of it." and again, "i shall make bold to assert that the soul may live in an aerial vehicle as well as in the ethereal, and that there are very few that arrive to that high happiness as to acquire a celestial vehicle immediately upon their quitting the terrestrial one; that heavenly chariot necessarily carrying us in triumph to the greatest happiness the soul of man is capable of, which would arrive to all men indifferently, good or bad, if the parting with this earthly body would suddenly mount us into the heavenly. when by a just nemesis the souls of men that are not heroically virtuous will find themselves restrained within the compass of this caliginous air, as both reason itself suggests, and the platonists have unanimously determined." thus also the most thorough-going, and probably the most deeply versed in the doctrines of the master among modern platonists, thomas taylor (introduction. phaedo):--"after this our divine philosopher informs that the pure soul will after death return to pure and eternal natures; but that the impure soul, in consequence of being imbued with terrene affections, will be drawn down to a kindred nature, and be invested with a gross vehicle capable of being seen by the corporeal eye.* for while a propensity to body remains in the soul, it causes her to attract a certain vehicle to herself; either of an aerial nature, or composed from the spirit and vapours of her terrestrial body, or which is recently collected from surrounding air; for according to the arcana of the platonic philosophy, between an ethereal body, which is simple and immaterial and is the eternal connate vehicle of the soul, and a terrene body, which is material and composite, and of short duration, there is an aerial body, which is material indeed, but simple and of a more extended duration; and in this body the unpurified soul dwells for a long time after its exit from hence, till this pneumatic vehicle being dissolved, it is again invested with a composite body; while on the contrary the purified soul immediately ascends into the celestial regions with its ethereal vehicle alone." ---------- * this is the hindu theory of nearly every one of the aryan philosophies.--ed. theos. ---------- always it is the disposition of the soul that determines the quality of its body. "however the soul be in itself affected," says porphyry (translated by cudworth), "so does it always find a body suitable and agreeable to its present disposition, and therefore to the purged soul does naturally accrue a body that comes next to immateriality, that is, an ethereal one." and the same author, "the soul is never quite naked of all body, but hath always some body or other joined with it, suitable and agreeable to its present disposition (either a purer or impurer one). but that at its first quitting this gross earthly body, the spirituous body which accompanieth it (as its vehicle) must needs go away fouled and incrassated with the vapours and steams thereof, till the soul afterwards by degrees purging itself, this becometh at length a dry splendour, which hath no misty obscurity nor casteth any shadow." here it will be seen, we lose sight of the specific difference of the two future vehicles--the ethereal is regarded as a sublimation of the aerial. this, however, is opposed to the general consensus of plato's commentators. sometimes the ethereal body, or augoeides, is appropriated to the rational soul, or spirit, which must then be considered as a distinct entity, separable from the lower soul. philoponus, a christian writer, says, "that the rational soul, as to its energie, is separable from all body, but the irrational part or life thereof is separable only from this gross body, and not from all body whatsoever, but hath after death a spirituous or airy body, in which it acteth--this i say is a true opinion which shall afterwards be proved by us.... the irrational life of the soul hath not all its being in this gross earthly body, but remaineth after the soul's departure out of it, having for its vehicle and subject the spirituous body, which itself is also compounded out of the four elements, but receiveth its denomination from the predominant part, to wit, air, as this gross body of ours is called earthy from what is most predominant therein."--cudworth, "intell. syst." from the same source we extract the following: "wherefore these ancients say that impure souls after their departure out of this body wander here up and down for a certain space in their spirituous vaporous and airy body, appearing about sepulchres and haunting their former habitation. for which cause there is great reason that we should take care of living well, as also of abstaining from a fouler and grosser diet; these ancients telling us likewise that this spirituous body of ours being fouled and incrassated by evil diet, is apt to render the soul in this life also more obnoxious to the disturbances of passions. they further add that there is something of the plantal or plastic life, also exercised by the soul, in those spirituous or airy bodies after death; they being nourished too, though not after the same manner, as those gross earthy bodies of ours are here, but by vapours, and that not by parts or organs, but throughout the whole of them (as sponges), they imbibing everywhere those vapours. for which cause they who are wise will in this life also take care of using a thinner and dryer diet, that so that spirituous body (which we have also at this present time within our proper body) may not be clogged and incrassed, but attenuated. over and above which, those ancients made use of catharms, or purgations to the same end and purpose also. for as this earthy body is washed by water so is that spirituous body cleansed by cathartic vapours--some of these vapours being nutritive, others purgative. moreover, these ancients further declared concerning this spirituous body that it was not organized, but did the whole of it in every part throughout exercise all functions of sense, the soul hearing, seeing and perceiving all sensibles by it everywhere. for which cause aristotle himself affirmeth in his metaphysics that there is properly but one sense and one sensory. he by this one sensory meaneth the spirit, or subtle airy body, in which the sensitive power doth all of it through the whole immediately apprehend all variety of sensibles. and if it be demanded to how it comes to pass that this spirit becomes organized in sepulchres, and most commonly of human form, but sometimes in the forms of other animals, to this those ancients replied that their appearing so frequently in human form proceeded from their being incrassated with evil diet, and then, as it were, stamped upon with the form of this exterior ambient body in which they are, as crystal is formed and coloured like to those things which it is fastened in, or reflects the image of them. and that their having sometimes other different forms proceedeth from the phantastic power of the soul itself, which can at pleasure transform the spirituous body into any shape. for being airy, when it is condensed and fixed, it becometh visible, and again invisible and vanishing out of sight when it is expanded and rarified." proem in arist. de anima. and cudworth says, "though spirits or ghosts had certain supple bodies which they could so far condense as to make them sometimes visible to men, yet is it reasonable enough to think that they could not constipate or fix them into such a firmness, grossness and solidity, as that of flesh and bone is to continue therein, or at least not without such difficulty and pain as would hinder them from attempting the same. notwithstanding which it is not denied that they may possibly sometimes make use of other solid bodies, moving and acting them, as in that famous story of phlegons when the body vanished not as other ghosts use to do, but was left a dead carcase behind." in all these speculations the anima mundi plays a conspicuous part. it is the source and principle of all animal souls, including the irrational soul of man. but in man, who would otherwise be merely analogous to other terrestrial animals--this soul participates in a higher principle, which tends to raise and convert it to itself. to comprehend the nature of this union or hypostasis it would be necessary to have mastered the whole of plato's philosophy as comprised in the parmenides and the timaeus; and he would dogmatize rashly who without this arduous preparation should claim plato as the champion of an unconditional immortality. certainly in the phaedo the dialogue popularly supposed to contain all plato's teaching on the subject--the immortality allotted to the impure soul is of a very questionable character, and we should rather infer from the account there given that the human personality, at all events, is lost by successive immersions into "matter." the following passage from plutarch (quoted by madame blavatsky, "isis unveiled," vol. ii. p. ) will at least demonstrate the antiquity of notions which have recently been mistaken for fanciful novelties. "every soul hath some portion of nous, reason, a man cannot be a man without it; but as much of each soul as is mixed with flesh and appetite is changed, and through pain and pleasure becomes irrational. every soul doth not mix herself after one sort; some plunge themselves into the body, and so in this life their whole frame is corrupted by appetite and passion; others are mixed as to some part, but the purer part still remains without the body. it is not drawn down into the body, but it swims above, and touches the extremest part of the man's head; it is like a cord to hold up and direct the subsiding part of the soul, as long as it proves obedient and is not overcome by the appetites of the flesh. the part that is plunged into the body is called soul. but the incorruptible part is called the nous, and the vulgar think it is within them, as they likewise imagine the image reflected from a glass to be in that glass. but the more intelligent, who know it to be without, call it a daemon." and in the same learned work ("isis unveiled ") we have two christian authorities, irenaeus and origen, cited for like distinction between spirit and soul in such a manner as to show that the former must necessarily be regarded as separable from the latter. in the distinction itself there is of course no novelty for the most moderately well-informed. it is insisted upon in many modern works, among which may be mentioned heard's "trichotomy of man" and green's "spiritual philosophy"; the latter being an exposition of coleridge's opinion on this and cognate subjects. but the difficulty of regarding the two principles as separable in fact as well as in logic arises from the senses, if it is not the illusion of personal identity. that we are particle, and that one part only is immortal, the non-metaphysical mind rejects with the indignation which is always encountered by a proposition that is at once distasteful and unintelligible. yet perhaps it is not a greater difficulty (if, indeed, it is not the very same) than that hard saying which troubled nicodemus, and which has been the key-note of the mystical religious consciousness ever since. this, however, is too extensive and deep a question to be treated in this paper, which has for its object chiefly to call attention to the distinctions introduced by ancient thought into the conception of body as the instrument or "vehicle" of soul. that there is a correspondence between the spiritual condition of man and the medium of his objective activity every spiritualist will admit to be probable, and it may well be that some light is thrown on future states by the possibility or the manner of spirit communication with this one. --c. c. massey the nilgiri sannyasis i was told that sannyasis were sometimes met with on a mountain called velly mallai hills, in the coimbatore district, and trying to meet with one, i determined to ascend this mountain. i traveled up its steep sides and arrived at an opening, narrow and low, into which i crept on all fours. going up some twenty yards i reached a cave, into the opening of which i thrust my head and shoulders. i could see into it clearly, but felt a cold wind on my face, as if there was some opening or crevice--so i looked carefully, but could see nothing. the room was about twelve feet square. i did not go into it. i saw arranged round its sides stones one cubit long, all placed upright. i was much disappointed at there being no sannyasi, and came back as i went, pushing myself backwards as there was no room to turn. i was then told sannyasis had been met with in the dense sholas (thickets), and as my work lay often in such places, i determined to prosecute my search, and did so diligently, without, however, any success. one day i contemplated a journey to coimbatore on my own affairs, and was walking up the road trying to make a bargain with a handy man whom i desired to engage to carry me there; but as we could not come to terms, i parted with him and turned into the lovedale road at p.m. i had not gone far when i met a man dressed like a sannyasi, who stopped and spoke to me. he observed a ring on my finger and asked me to give it to him. i said he was welcome to it, but inquired what he would give me in return, he said, "i don't care particularly about it; i would rather have that flour and sugar in the bundle on your back." "i will give you that with pleasure," i said, and took down my bundle and gave it to him. "half is enough for me," he said; but subsequently changing his mind added, "now let me see what is in your bundle," pointing to my other parcel. "i can't give you that." he said, "why cannot you give me your swami (family idol)?" i said, "it is my swami, i will not part with it; rather take my life." on this he pressed me no more, but said, "now you had better go home." i said, "i will not leave you." "oh you must," he said, "you will die here of hunger." "never mind," i said, "i can but die once." "you have no clothes to protect you from the wind and rain; you may meet with tigers," he said. "i don't care," i replied. "it is given to man once to die. what does it signify how he dies?" when i said this he took my hand and embraced me, and immediately i became unconscious. when i returned to consciousness, i found myself with the sannyasi in a place new to me on a hill, near a large rock and with a big shola near. i saw in the shola right in front of us, that there was a pillar of fire, like a tree almost. i asked the sannyasi what was that like a high fire. "oh," he said, "most likely a tree ignited by some careless wood-cutters." "no," i said, "it is not like any common fire--there is no smoke, nor are there flames--and it's not lurid and red. i want to go and see it." "no, you must not do so, you cannot go near that fire and escape alive." "come with me then," i begged. "no--i cannot," he said, "if you wish to approach it, you must go alone and at your own risk; that tree is the tree of knowledge and from it flows the milk of life: whoever drinks this never hungers again." thereupon i regarded the tree with awe. i next observed five sannyasis approaching. they came up and joined the one with me, entered into talk, and finally pulled out a hookah and began to smoke. they asked me if i could smoke. i said no. one of them said to me, let us see the swami in your bundle (here gives a description of the same). i said, "i cannot, i am not clean enough to do so." "why not perform your ablutions in yonder stream?" they said. "if you sprinkle water on your forehead that will suffice." i went to wash my hands and feet, and laved my head, and showed it to them. next they disappeared. "as it is very late, it is time you returned home," said my first friend. "no," i said, "now i have found you i will not leave you." "no, no," he said, "you must go home. you cannot leave the world yet; you are a father and a husband, and you must not neglect your worldly duties. follow the footsteps of your late respected uncle; he did not neglect his worldly affairs, though he cared for the interests of his soul; you must go, but i will meet you again when you get your fortnightly holiday." on this he embraced me, and i again became unconscious. when i returned to myself, i found myself at the bottom of col. jones' coffee plantation above coonor on a path. here the sannyasi wished me farewell, and pointing to the high road below, he said, "now you will know your way home;" but i would not part from him. i said, "all this will appear a dream to me unless you will fix a day and promise to meet me here again." "i promise," he said. "no, promise me by an oath on the head of my idol." again he promised, and touched the head of my idol. "be here," he said, "this day fortnight." when the day came i anxiously kept my engagement and went and sat on the stone on the path. i waited a long time in vain. at last i said to myself, "i am deceived, he is not coming, he has broken his oath"--and with grief i made a poojah. hardly had these thoughts passed my mind, than lo! he stood beside me. "ah, you doubt me," he said; "why this grief." i fell at his feet and confessed i had doubted him and begged his forgiveness. he forgave and comforted me, and told me to keep in my good ways and he would always help me; and he told me and advised me about all my private affairs without my telling him one word, and he also gave me some medicines for a sick friend which i had promised to ask for but had forgotten. this medicine was given to my friend and he is perfectly well now. a verbatim translation of a settlement officer's statement to --e.h. morgan witchcraft on the nilgiris having lived many years ( ) on the nilgiris, employing the various tribes of the hills on my estates, and speaking their languages, i have had many opportunities of observing their manners and customs and the frequent practice of demonology and witchcraft among them. on the slopes of the nilgiris live several semi-wild people: st, the "curumbers," who frequently hire themselves out to neighbouring estates, and are first-rate fellers of forest; nd, the "tain" ("honey curumbers"), who collect and live largely on honey and roots, and who do not come into civilized parts; rd, the "mulu" curumbers, who are rare on the slopes of the hills, but common in wynaad lower down the plateau. these use bows and arrows, are fond of hunting, and have frequently been known to kill tigers, rushing in a body on their game and discharging their arrows at a short distance. in their eagerness they frequently fall victims to this animal; but they are supposed to possess a controlling power over all wild animals, especially elephants and tigers; and the natives declare they have the power of assuming the forms of various beasts. their aid is constantly invoked both by the curumbers first named, and by the natives generally, when wishing to be revenged on an enemy. besides these varieties of curumbers there are various other wild tribes i do not now mention, as they are not concerned in what i have to relate. i had on my estate near ootacamund a gang of young badagas, some young men, whom i had had in my service since they were children, and who had become most useful handy fellows. from week to week i missed one or another of them, and on inquiry was told they had been sick and were dead! one market-day i met the moneghar of the village to which my gang belonged and some of his men, returning home laden with their purchases. the moment he saw me he stopped, and coming up to me, said, "mother, i am in great sorrow and trouble, tell me what i can do!" "why, what is wrong?" i asked. "all my young men are dying, and i cannot help them, nor prevent it; they are under a spell of the wicked curumbers who are killing them, and i am powerless." "pray explain," i said; "why do the curumbers behave in this way, and what do they do to your people?" "oh, madam, they are vile extortioners, always asking for money; we have given and given till we have no more to give. i told them we had no more money and then they said,--all right--as you please; we shall see. surely as they say this, we know what will follow--at night when we are all asleep, we wake up suddenly and see a curumber standing in our midst, in the middle of the room occupied by the young men." "why do you not close and bolt your doors securely?" i interrupted. "what is the use of bolts and bars to them? they come through stone walls.... our doors were secure, but nothing can keep out a curumber. he points his finger at mada, at kurira, at jogie--he utters no word, and as we look at him he vanishes! in a few days these three young men sicken, a low fever consumes them, their stomachs swell, they die. eighteen young men, the flower of my village, have died thus this year. these effects always follow the visit of a curumber at night." "why not complain to the government?" i said. "ah, no use, who will catch them?" "then give them the rupees they ask this once on a solemn promise that they exact no more" "i suppose we must find the money somewhere," he said, turning sorrowfully away. a mr. k---is the owner of a coffee estate near this, and like many other planters employs burghers. on one occasion he went down the slopes of the hills after bison and other large game, taking some seven or eight burghers with him as gun carriers (besides other things necessary in jungle-walking--axes to clear the way, knives and ropes, &c.). he found and severely wounded a fine elephant with tusks. wishing to secure these, he proposed following up his quarry, but could not induce his burghers to go deeper and further into the forests; they feared to meet the "mula curumbers" who lived thereabouts. for long he argued in vain, at last by dint of threats and promises he induced them to proceed, and as they met no one, their fears were allayed and they grew bolder, when suddenly coming on the elephant lying dead (oh, horror to them!), the beast was surrounded by a party of mulu curumbers busily engaged in cutting out the tusks, one of which they had already disengaged! the affrighted burghers fell back, and nothing mr. k--- could do or say would induce them to approach the elephant, which the curumbers stoutly declared was theirs. they had killed him they said. they had very likely met him staggering under his wound and had finished him off. mr. k---was not likely to give up his game in this fashion. so walking threateningly to the curumbers he compelled them to retire, and called to his burghers at the same time. the curumbers only said, "just you dare to touch that elephant," and retired. mr. k---thereupon cut out the remaining tusk himself, and slinging both on a pole with no little trouble, made his men carry them. he took all the blame on himself, showed them that they did not touch them, and finally declared he would stay there all night rather than lose the tusks. the idea of a night near the mulu curumbers was too much for the fears of the burghers, and they finally took up the pole and tusks and walked home. from that day those men, all but one who probably carried the gun, sickened, walked about like spectres, doomed, pale and ghastly, and before the month was out all were dead men, with the one exception! a few months ago, at the village of ebanaud, a few miles from this, a fearful tragedy was enacted. the moneghar or headman's child was sick unto death. this, following on several recent deaths, was attributed to the evil influences of a village of curumbers hard by. the burghers determined on the destruction of every soul of them. they procured the assistance of a toda, as they invariably do on such occasions, as without one the curumbers are supposed to be invulnerable. they proceeded to the curumber village at night and set their huts on fire, and as the miserable inmates attempted to escape, flung them back into the flames or knocked them down with clubs. in the confusion one old woman escaped unobserved into the adjacent bushes. next morning she gave notice to the authorities, and identified seven burghers, among whom was the moneghar or headman, and one toda. as the murderers of her people they were all brought to trial in the courts here,--except the headman, who died before he could be brought in--and were all sentenced and duly executed, that is, three burghers and the toda, who were proved principals in the murders. two years ago an almost identical occurrence took place at kotaghery, with exactly similar results, but without the punishment entailed having any deterrent effect. they pleaded "justification," as witchcraft had been practiced on them. but our government ignores all occult dealings and will not believe in the dread power in the land. they deal very differently with these matters in russia, where, in a recent trial of a similar nature, the witchcraft was admitted as an extenuating circumstance and the culprits who had burnt a witch were all acquitted. all natives of whatever caste are well aware of these terrible powers and too often do they avail themselves of them--much oftener than any one has an idea of. one day as i was riding along i came upon a strange and ghastly object--a basket containing the bloody head of a black sheep, a cocoanut, rupees in money, some rice and flowers. these smaller items i did not see, not caring to examine any closer; but i was told by some natives that those articles were to be found in the basket. the basket was placed at the apex of a triangle formed by three fine threads tied to three small sticks, so placed that any one approaching from the roads on either side had to stumble over the threads and receive the full effects of the deadly "soonium" as the natives call it. on inquiry i learnt that it was usual to prepare such a "soonium" when one lay sick unto death; as throwing it on another was the only means of rescuing the sick one, and woe to the unfortunate who broke a thread by stumbling over it! --e.h. morgan shamanism and witchcraft amongst the kolarian tribes having resided for some years amongst the mimdas and hos of singbhoom, and chutia nagpur, my attention was drawn at times to customs differing a good deal in some ways, but having an evident affinity to those related of the nilghiri "curumbers" in mrs. morgan's article. i do not mean to say that the practices i am about to mention are confined simply to the kolarian tribes, as i am aware both oraons (a dravidian tribe), and the different hindu castes living side by side with the kols, count many noted wizards among their number; but what little i have come to know of these curious customs, i have learnt among the mimdas and hos, some of the most celebrated practitioners among them being christian converts. the people themselves say, that these practices are peculiar to their race, and not learnt from the hindu invaders of their plateau; but i am inclined to think that some, at least, of the operations have a strong savour of the tantric black magic about them, though practiced by people who are often entirely ignorant of any hindu language. these remarks must he supplemented by a short sketch of kol ideas of worship. they have nothing that i have either seen or heard of in the shape of an image, but their periodical offerings are made to a number of elemental spirits, and they assign a genie to every rock or tree in the country, whom they do not consider altogether malignant, but who, if not duly "fed" or propitiated, may become so. the singbonga (lit., sun or light spirit) is the chief; buru bonga (spirit of the hills), and the ikhir bonga (spirit of the deep), come next. after these come the darha, of which each family has its own, and they may be considered in the same light as lares and penates. but every threshing, flour and oil mill, has its spirit, who must be duly fed, else evil result may be expected. their great festival (the karam) is in honour of singbonga and his assistants; the opening words of the priests' speech on that occasion, sufficiently indicate that they consider singbonga, the creator of men and things. munure singbonga manokoa luekidkoa (in the beginning singbonga made men). each village has its sarna or sacred grove, where the hereditary priest from time to time performs sacrifices, to keep things prosperous; but this only relates to spirits actually connected with the village, the three greater spirits mentioned, being considered general, are only fed at intervals of three or more years, and always on a public road or other public place, and once every ten years a human being was (and as some will tell you is sacrificed to keep the whole community of spirits in good train.) the pahans, or village priests, are regular servants of the spirits, and the najo, deona and bhagats are people who in some way are supposed to obtain an influence or command over them. the first and lowest grade of these adepts, called najos (which may be translated as practitioners of witchcraft pure and simple), are frequently women. they are accused, like the "mula curumbers," of demanding quantities of grain or loans of money, &c., from people, and when these demands are refused, they go away with a remark to the effect, "that you have lots of cattle and grain just now, but we'll see what they are like after a month or two." then probably the cattle of the bewitched person will get some disease, and several of them die, or some person of his family will become ill or get hurt in some unaccountable way. till at last, thoroughly frightened, the afflicted person takes a little uncooked rice and goes to a deona or mati (as he is called in the different vernaculars of the province)--the grade immediately above najo in knowledge--and promising him a reward if he will assist him, requests his aid; if the deona accedes to the request, the proceedings are as follows. the deona taking the oil brought, lights a small lamp and seats himself beside it with the rice in a surpa (winnower) in his hands. after looking intently at the lamp flame for a few minutes, he begins to sing a sort of chant of invocation in which all the spirits are named, and at the name of each spirit a few grains of rice are thrown into the lamp. when the flame at any particular name gives a jump and flares up high, the spirit concerned in the mischief is indicated. then the deona takes a small portion of the rice wrapped up in a sal (shorea robusta) leaf and proceeds to the nearest new white-ant nest from which he cuts the top off and lays the little bundle, half in and half out of the cavity. having retired, he returns in about an hour to see if the rice is consumed, and according to the rapidity with which it is eaten he predicts the sacrifice which will appease the spirit. this ranges from a fowl to a buffalo, but whatever it may include, the pouring out of blood is an essential. it must be noted, however, that the mati never tells who the najo is who has excited the malignity of the spirit. but the most important and lucrative part of a deona's business is the casting out of evil spirits, which operation is known variously as ashab and langhan. the sign of obsession is generally some mental alienation accompanied (in bad cases) by a combined trembling and restlessness of limbs, or an unaccountable swelling up of the body. whatever the symptoms may be the mode of cure appears to be much the same. on such symptoms declaring themselves, the deona is brought to the house and is in the presence of the sick man and his friends provided with some rice in a surpa, some oil, a little vermilion, and the deona produces from his own person a little powdered sulphur and an iron tube about four inches long and two tikli.* before the proceedings begin all the things mentioned are touched with vermilion, a small quantity of which is also mixed with the rice. three or four grains of rice and one of the tikli being put into the tube, a lamp is then lighted beside the sick man and the deona begins his chant, throwing grains of rice at each name, and when the flame flares up, a little of the powdered sulphur is thrown into the lamp and a little on the sick man, who thereupon becomes convulsed, is shaken all over and talks deliriously, the deona's chant growing louder all the while. suddenly the convulsions and the chant cease, and the deona carefully takes up a little of the sulphur off the man's body and puts into the tube, which he then seals with the second tikli. the deona and one of the man's friends then leave the hut, taking the iron tube and rice with them, the spirit being now supposed out of the man and bottled up in the iron tube. they hurry across country until they leave the hut some miles behind. then they go to the edge of some tank or river, to some place they know to be frequented by people for the purposes of bathing, &c., where, after some further ceremony, the iron is stuck into the ground and left there. this is done with the benevolent intention that the spirit may transfer its attentions to the unfortunate person who may happen to touch it while bathing. i am told the spirit in this case usually chooses a young and healthy person. should the deona think the spirit has not been able to suit itself with a new receptacle, he repairs to where a bazaar is taking place and there (after some ceremony) he mixes with the crowd, and taking a grain of the reddened rice jerks it with his forefinger and thumb in such a way that without attracting attention it falls on the person or clothes of some. this is done several times to make certain. then the deona declares he has done his work, and is usually treated to the best dinner the sick man's friends can afford. it is said that the person to whom the spirit by either of these methods is transferred may not be affected for weeks or even months. but some fine day while he is at his work, he will suddenly stop, wheel round two or three times on his heels and fall down more or less convulsed, from that time forward he will begin to be troubled in the same way as his dis-obsessed predecessor was. -------- * tikli is a circular piece of gilt paper which is stuck on between the eyebrows of the women of the province as ornament. -------- having thus given some account of the deona, we now come to the bhagat, called by the hindus sokha and sivnath. this is the highest grade of all, and, as i ought to have mentioned before, the 'ilm (knowledge) of both the deona and bhagat grades is only to be learned by becoming a regular chela of a practitioner; but i am given to understand that the final initiation is much hastened by a seasonable liberality on the part of the chela. during the initiation of the sokha certain ceremonies are performed at night by aid of a human corpse, this is one of the things which has led me to think that this part at least of these practices is connected with tantric black magic. the bhagat performs two distinct functions: ( st), a kind of divination called bhao (the same in hindi), and ( nd), a kind of shamanism called darasta in hindi, and bharotan in horokaji, which, however, is resorted to only on very grave occasions--as, for instance, when several families think they are bewitched at one time and by the same najo. the bhao is performed as follows:--the person having some query to propound, makes a small dish out of a sal leaf and puts in it a little uncooked rice and a few pice; he then proceeds to the bhagat and lays before him the leaf and its contents, propounding at the same time his query. the bhagat then directs him to go out and gather two golaichi (varieties of posinia) flowers (such practitioners usually having a golaichi tree close to their abodes); after the flowers are brought the bhagat seats himself with the rice close to the inquirer, and after some consideration selects one of the flowers, and holding it by the stalk at about a foot from his eyes in his left hand twirls it between his thumb and fingers, occasionally with his right hand dropping on it a grain or two of rice.* in a few minutes his eyes close and he begins to talk-- usually about things having nothing to do with the question in hand, but after a few minutes of this, he suddenly yells out an answer to the question, and without another word retires. the inquirer takes his meaning as he can from the answer, which, i believe, is always ambiguous. --------- * this is the process by which the bhagat mesmerizes himself. --------- the bharotan as i have above remarked is only resorted to when a matter of grave import has to be inquired about; the bhagat makes a high charge for a seance of this description. we will fancy that three or four families in a village consider themselves bewitched by a najo, and they resolve to have recourse to a bhagat to find out who the witch is; with this view a day is fixed on, and two delegates are procured from each of five neighbouring villages, who accompany the afflicted people to the house of the bhagat, taking with them a dali or offering, consisting of vegetables, which on arrival is formally presented to him. two delegates are posted at each of the four points of the compass, and the other two sent themselves with the afflicted parties to the right of the bhagat, who occupies the centre of the apartment with four or five chelas, a clear space being reserved on the left. one chela then brings a small earthenware-pot full of lighted charcoal, which is set before the bhagat with a pile of mango wood chips and a ball composed of dhunia (resin of shorea robusta), gur (treacle), and ghee (clarified butter), and possibly other ingredients. the bhagat's sole attire consists of a scanty lenguti (waist-cloth), a necklace of the large wooden beads such as are usually worn by fakeers, and several garlands of golaichi flowers round his neck, his hair being unusually long and matted. beside him stuck in the ground is his staff. one chela stands over the firepot with a bamboo-mat fan in his hand, another takes charge of the pile of chips, and a third of the ball of composition, and one or two others seat themselves behind the bhagat, with drums and other musical instruments in their hands. all being in readiness, the afflicted ones are requested to state their grievance. this they do, and pray the bhagat to call before him the najo, who has stirred up the spirits to afflict them, in order that he may be punished. the bhagat then gives a sign to his chelas, those behind him raise a furious din with their instruments, the fire is fed with chips, and a bit of the composition is put on it from time to time, producing a volume of thick greyish-blue smoke; this is carefully fanned over, and towards the bhagat, who, when well wrapped in smoke, closes his eyes and quietly swaying his body begins a low chant. the chant gradually becomes louder and the sway of his body more pronounced, until he works himself into a state of complete frenzy. then with his body actually quivering, and his head rapidly working about from side to side, he sings in a loud voice how a certain najo (whom he names) had asked money of those people and was refused, and how he stirred up certain spirits (whom he also names) to hurt them, how they killed so and so's bullocks, some one else's sheep, and caused another's child to fall ill. then he begins to call on the najo to come and answer for his doings, and in doing so rises to his feet--still commanding the najo to appear; meanwhile he reels about; then falls on the ground and is quite still except for an occasional whine, and a muttered, "i see him!" "he is coming!" this state may last for an hour or more till at last the bhagat sits up and announces the najo has come; as he says so, a man, apparently mad with drink, rushes in and falls with his head towards the bhagat moaning and making a sort of snorting as if half stifled. in this person the bewitched parties often recognize a neighbour and sometimes even a relation, but whoever he may be they have bound themselves to punish him. the bhagat then speaks to him and tells him to confess, at the same time threatening him, in case of refusal, with his staff. he then confesses in a half-stupefied manner, and his confession tallies with what the bhagat has told in his frenzy. the najo is then dismissed and runs out of the house in the same hurry as he came in. the delegates then hold a council at which the najo usually is sentenced to a fine--often heavy enough to ruin him--and expelled from his village. before the british rule the convicted najo seldom escaped with his life, and during the mutiny time, when no englishmen were about, the singbhoom hos paid off a large number of old scores of this sort. for record of which, see "statistical account of bengal," vol. xvii. p. . in conclusion i have merely to add that i have derived this information from people who have been actually concerned in these occurrences, and among others a man belonging to a village of my own, who was convicted and expelled from the village with the loss of all his movable property, and one of his victims, a relation of his, sat by me when the above was being written. --e.d. ewen mahatmas and chelas a mahatma is an individual who, by special training and education, has evolved those higher faculties, and has attained that spiritual knowledge, which ordinary humanity will acquire after passing through numberless series of re-incarnations during the process of cosmic evolution, provided, of course, that they do not go, in the meanwhile, against the purposes of nature and thus bring on their own annihilation. this process of the self-evolution of the mahatma extends over a number of "incarnations," although, comparatively speaking, they are very few. now, what is it that incarnates? the occult doctrine, so far as it is given out, shows that the first three principles die more or less with what is called the physical death. the fourth principle, together with the lower portions of the fifth, in which reside the animal propensities, has kama loka for its abode, where it suffers the throes of disintegration in proportion to the intensity of those lower desires; while it is the higher manas, the pure man, which is associated with the sixth and seventh principles, that goes into devachan to enjoy there the effects of its good karma, and then to be reincarnated as a higher personality. now an entity that is passing through the occult training in its successive births, gradually has less and less (in each incarnation) of that lower manas until there arrives a time when its whole manas, being of an entirely elevated character, is centred in the individuality, when such a person may be said to have become a mahatma. at the time of his physical death, all the lower four principles perish without any suffering, for these are, in fact, to him like a piece of wearing apparel which he puts on and off at will. the real mahatma is then not his physical body but that higher manas which is inseparably linked to the atma and its vehicle (the sixth principle)--a union effected by him in a comparatively very short period by passing through the process of self-evolution laid down by occult philosophy. when therefore, people express a desire to "see a mahatma," they really do not seem to understand what it is they ask for. how can they, with their physical eyes, hope to see that which transcends that sight? is it the body--a mere shell or mask--they crave or hunt after? and supposing they see the body of a mahatma, how can they know that behind that mask is concealed an exalted entity? by what standard are they to judge whether the maya before them reflects the image of a true mahatma or not? and who will say that the physical is not a maya? higher things can be perceived only by a sense pertaining to those higher things; whoever therefore wants to see the real mahatma, must use his intellectual sight. he must so elevate his manas that its perception will be clear and all mists created by maya be dispelled. his vision will then be bright and he will see the mahatma wherever he may be, for, being merged into the sixth and the seventh principles, which know no distance, the mahatma may be said to be everywhere. but, at the same time, just as we may be standing on a mountain top and have within our sight the whole plain, and yet not be cognizant of any particular tree or spot, because from that elevated position all below is nearly identical, and as our attention may be drawn to something which may be dissimilar to its surroundings--in the same manner, although the whole of humanity is within the mental vision of the mahatma, he cannot be expected to take special note of every human being, unless that being by his special acts draws particular attention to himself. the highest interest of humanity, as a whole, is the mahatma's special concern, for he has identified himself with that universal soul which runs through humanity; and to draw his attention one must do so through that soul. this perception of the manas may be called "faith" which should not be confounded with blind belief. "blind faith" is an expression sometimes used to indicate belief without perception or understanding; while the true perception of the manas is that enlightened belief which is the real meaning of the word "faith." this belief should at the same time be accompanied by knowledge, i.e., experience, for "true knowledge brings with it faith." faith is the perception of the manas (the fifth principle), while knowledge, in the true sense of the term, is the capacity of the intellect, i.e., it is spiritual perception. in short, the individuality of man, composed of his higher manas, the sixth and the seventh principle, should work as a unity, and then only can it obtain "divine wisdom," for divine things can be sensed only by divine faculties. thus a chela should be actuated solely by a desire to understand the operations of the law of cosmic evolution, so as to be able to work in conscious and harmonious accord with nature. --anon. the brahmanical thread i. the general term for the investiture of this thread is upanayana; and the invested is called upanita, which signifies brought or drawn near (to one's guru), i.e., the thread is the symbol of the wearer's condition. ii. one of the names of this thread is yajna-sutra. yajna means brahma, or the supreme spirit, and sutra the thread, or tie. collectively, the compound word signifies that which ties a man to his spirit or god. it consists of three yarns twisted into one thread, and three of such threads formed and knotted into a circle. every theosophist knows what a circle signifies and it need not be repeated here. he will easily understand the rest and the relation they have to mystic initiation. the yarns signify the great principle of "three in one, and one in three," thus:--the first trinity consists of atma which comprises the three attributes of manas, buddhi, and ahankara (the mind, the intelligence, and the egotism). the manas again, has the three qualities of satva, raja, and tama (goodness, foulness, and darkness). buddhi has the three attributes of pratyaksha, upamiti and anumiti (perception, analogy, and inference). ahankara also has three attributes, viz., jnata, jneya, and jnan (the knower, the known, and the knowledge). iii. another name of the sacred thread is tri-dandi. tri means three, and danda, chastisement, correction, or conquest. this reminds the holder of the three great "corrections" or conquests he has to accomplish. these are:--( ) the vakya sanyama;* ( ) the manas sanyama; and ( ) the indriya (or deha) sanyama. vakya is speech, manas, mind, and deha (literally, body) or indriya, is the senses. the three conquests therefore mean the control over one's speech, thought, and action. -------- * danda and sanyama are synonymous terms.--a.s. --------- this thread is also the reminder to the man of his secular duties, and its material varies, in consequence, according to the occupation of the wearer. thus, while the thread of the brahmans is made of pure cotton, that of the kshatriyas (the warriors) is composed of flax--the bow-string material; and that of vaishyas (the traders and cattle-breeders), of wool. from this it is not to be inferred that caste was originally meant to be hereditary. in the ancient times, it depended on the qualities of the man. irrespective of the caste of his parents, a man could, according to his merit or otherwise, raise or lower himself from one caste to another; and instances are not wanting in which a man has elevated himself to the position of the highest brahman (such as vishvamitra rishi, parasara, vyasa, satyakam, and others) from the very lowest of the four castes. the sayings of yudhishthira on this subject, in reply to the questions of the great serpent, in the arannya parva of the maha-bharata, and of manu, on the same point, are well known and need nothing more than bare reference. both manu and maha-bharata--the fulcrums of hinduism--distinctly affirm that a man can translate himself from one caste to another by his merit, irrespective of his parentage. the day is fast approaching when the so-called brahmans will have to show cause, before the tribunal of the aryan rishis, why they should not be divested of the thread which they do not at all deserve, but are degrading by misuse. then alone will the people appreciate the privilege of wearing it. there are many examples of the highest distinctive insignia being worn by the unworthy. the aristocracies of europe and asia teem with such. --a. sarman reading in a sealed envelope some years ago, a brahman astrologer named vencata narasimla josi, a native of the village of periasamudram in the mysore provinces, came to the little town in the bellary district where i was then employed. he was a good sanskrit, telugu and canarese poet, and an excellent master of vedic rituals; knew the hindu system of astronomy, and professed to be an astrologer. besides all this, he possessed the power of reading what was contained in any sealed envelope. the process adopted for this purpose was simply this:--we wrote whatever we chose on a piece of paper; enclosed it in one, two or three envelopes, each properly gummed and sealed, and handed the cover to the astrologer. he asked us to name a figure between and , and on its being named, he retired with the envelope to some secluded place for some time; and then he returned with a paper full of figures, and another paper containing a copy of what was on the sealed paper--exactly, letter for letter and word for word. i tried him often and many others did the same; and we were all satisfied that he was invariably accurate, and that there was no deception whatsoever in the matter. about this time, one mr. theyagaraja mudalyar, a supervisor in the public works department, an english scholar and a good sanskrit and telugu poet, arrived at our place on his periodical tour of inspection. having heard about the aforesaid astrologer, he wanted to test him in a manner, most satisfactory to himself. one morning handing to the astrologer a very indifferently gummed envelope, he said, "here, sir, take this letter home with you and come back to me with your copy in the afternoon." this loose way of closing the envelope, and the permission given to the astrologer to take it home for several hours, surprised the brahman, who said, "i don't want to go home. seal the cover better, and give me the use of some room here. i shall be ready with my copy very soon." "no," said the mudalyar, "take it as it is, and come back whenever you like. i have the means of finding out the deception, if any be practiced." so then the astrologer went with the envelope; and returned to the mudalyar's place in the afternoon. myself and about twenty others were present there by appointment. the astrologer then carefully handed the cover to the mudalyar, desiring him to see if it was all right. "don't mind that," the mudalyar answered; "i can find out the trick, if there be any. produce your copy." the astrologer thereupon presented to the mudalyar a paper on which four lines were written and stated that this was a copy of the paper enclosed in the mudalyar's envelope. those four lines formed a portion of an antiquated poem. the mudalyar read the paper once, then read it over again. extreme satisfaction beamed over his countenance, and he sat mute for some seconds seemingly in utter astonishment. but soon after, the expression of his face changing, he opened the envelope and threw the enclosure down, jocularly saying to the astrologer, "here, sir, is the original of which you have produced the copy." the paper lay upon the carpet, and was quite blank! not a word, nor a letter on its clean surface. this was a sad disappointment to all his admirers; but to the astrologer himself, it was a real thunderbolt. he picked up the paper pensively, examined it on both sides, then dashed it on the ground in a fury; and suddenly arising, exclaimed, "my vidya* is a delusion, and i am a liar!" --------- * secret knowledge, magic. --------- the subsequent behaviour of the poor man made us fear lest this great disappointment should drive him to commit some desperate act. in fact he seemed determined to drown himself in the well, saying that he was dishonoured. while we were trying to console him, the mudalyar came forward, caught hold of his hands, and besought him to sit down and calmly listen to his explanation, assuring him that he was not a liar, and that his copy was perfectly accurate. but the astrologer would not be satisfied; he supposed that all this was said simply to console him; and cursed himself and his fate most horribly. however, in a few minutes he became calmer and listened to the mudalyar's explanation, which was in substance as follows the only way for the sceptic to account for this phenomenon, is to suppose that the astrologer opened the covers dexterously and read their contents. "so," he said, "i wrote four lines of old poetry on the paper with nitrate of silver, which would be invisible until exposed to the light; and this would have disclosed the astrologer's fraud, if he had tried to find out the contents of the enclosed paper, by opening the cover, however ingeniously. for, if he opened it and looked at the paper, he would have seen that it was blank, resealed the cover, and declared that the paper enveloped therein bore no writing whatever; or if he had, by design or accident, exposed the paper to light, the writing would have become black; and he would have produced a copy of it as if it were the result of his own vidya; but in either case and the writing remaining, his deception would have been clear, and it would have been patent to all that he did open the envelope. but in the present case, the result proved conclusively that the cover was not opened at all." --p. sreeneevas row the twelve signs of the zodiac the division of the zodiac into different signs dates from immemorial antiquity. it has acquired a world-wide celebrity and is to be found in the astrological systems of several nations. the invention of the zodiac and its signs has been assigned to different nations by different antiquarians. it is stated by some that, at first, there were only ten signs, that one of these signs was subsequently split up into two separate signs, and that a new sign was added to the number to render the esoteric significance of the division more profound, and at the same time to conceal it more perfectly from the uninitiated public. it is very probable that the real philosophical conception of the division owes its origin to some particular nation, and the names given to the various signs might have been translated into the languages of other nations. the principal object of this article, however, is not to decide which nation had the honour of inventing the signs in question, but to indicate to some extent the real philosophical meaning involved therein, and the way to discover the rest of the meaning which yet remains undisclosed. but from what is herein stated, an inference may fairly be drawn that, like so many other philosophical myths and allegories, the invention of the zodiac and its signs owes its origin to ancient india. what then is its real origin, what is the philosophical conception which the zodiac and its signs are intended to represent? do the various signs merely indicate the shape or configuration of the different constellations included in the divisions, or, are they simply masks designed to veil some hidden meaning? the former supposition is altogether untenable for two reasons, viz.:-- i. the hindus were acquainted with the precession of the equinoxes, as may he easily seen from their work on astronomy, and from the almanacs published by hindu astronomers. consequently they were fully aware of the fact that the constellations in the various zodiacal divisions were not fixed. they could not, therefore, have assigned particular shapes to these shifting groups of fixed stars with reference to the divisions of the zodiac. but the names indicating the zodiacal signs have all along remained unaltered. it is to be inferred, therefore, that the names given to the various signs have no connection whatever with the configurations of the constellations included in them. ii. the names assigned to these signs by the ancient sanskrit writers and their exoteric or literal meanings are as follows:-- the names of the signs ....... their exoteric or literal meanings . mesha ........................... ram, or aries. . rishabha .......................bull, or taurus. . mithunam ................... twins, or gemini (male and female). . karkataka ...................... crab, or cancer. . simha .............................. lion, or leo. . kanya ............................. virgin or virgo.* . tula .......................... balance, or libra. . vrischika ..................... scorpion, or scorpio. . dhanus ....................... archer, or sagittarius. . makara ........... the goat, or capricornus (crocodile, in sanskrit). . kumbha .................. water-bearer, or aquarius. . meenam ................. fishes, or pisces. the figures of the constellations included in the signs at the time the division was first made do not at all resemble the shapes of the animals, reptiles and other objects denoted by the names given them. the truth of this assertion can be ascertained by examining the configurations of the various constellations. unless the shape of the crocodile** or the crab is called up by the observer's imagination, there is very little chance of the stars themselves suggesting to his idea that figure, upon the blue canopy of the starry firmament. -------- * virgo-scorpio, when none but the initiates knew there were twelve signs. virgo-scorpio was then followed for the profane by sagittarius. at the middle or junction-point where now stands libra and at the sign now called virgo, two mystical signs were inserted which remained unintelligible to the profane.--ed. theos. ** this constellation was never called crocodile by the ancient western astronomers, who described it as a horned goat and called it so-- capricornus.--ed. theos. -------- if, then, the constellations have nothing to do with the origin of the names by which the zodiacal divisions are indicated, we have to seek for some other source which might have given rise to these appellations. it becomes my object to unravel a portion of the mystery connected with these zodiacal signs, as also to disclose a portion of the sublime conception of the ancient hindu philosophy which gave rise to them. the signs of the zodiac have more than one meaning. from one point of view they represent the different stages of evolution up to the time the present material universe with the five elements came into phenomenal existence. as the author of "isis unveiled" has stated in the second volume of her admirable work, "the key should be turned seven times" to understand the whole philosophy underlying these signs. but i shall wind it only once and give the contents of the first chapter of the history of evolution. it is very fortunate that the sanskrit names assigned to the various divisions by aryan philosophers contain within themselves the key to the solution of the problem. those of my readers who have studied to some extent the ancient "mantra" and the "tantra sastras" * of india, would have seen that very often sanskrit words are made to convey a certain hidden meaning by means of well-known pre-arranged methods and a tacit convention, while their literal significance is something quite different from the implied meaning. --------- * works on incantation and magic. --------- the following are some of the rules which may help an inquirer in ferreting out the deep significance of ancient sanskrit nomenclature to be found in the old aryan myths and allegories: . find out the synonyms of the word used which have other meanings. . find out the numerical value of the letters composing the word according to the methods given in ancient tantrika works. . examine the ancient myths or allegories, if there are any, which have any special connection with the word in question. . permute the different syllables composing the word and examine the new combinations that will thus be formed and their meanings, &c. &c. i shall now apply some of the above given rules to the names of the twelve signs of the zodiac. i. mesha.--one of the synonyms of this word is aja. now, aja literally means that which has no birth, and is applied to the eternal brahma in certain portions of the upanishads. so, the first sign is intended to represent parabrahma, the self-existent, eternal, self-sufficient cause of all. ii. rishabham.--this word is used in several places in the upanishads and the veda to mean pranava (aum). sankaracharya has so interpreted it in several portions of his commentary.* -------- * example, "rishabhasya--chandasam rishabhasya pradhanasya pranavasya." -------- iii. mithuna.--as the word plainly indicates, this sign is intended to represent the first androgyne, the ardhanareeswara, the bisexual sephira--adam kadmon. iv. karkataka.--when the syllables are converted into the corresponding numbers, according to the general mode of transmutation so often alluded to in mantra shastra, the word in question will be represented by ////. this sign then is evidently intended to represent the sacred tetragram; the parabrahmadharaka; the pranava resolved into four separate entities corresponding to its four matras; the four avasthas indicated by jagrata (waking) avastha, swapna (dreaming) avastha, sushupti (deep sleep) avastha, and turiya (the last stage, i.e., nirvana) avastha (as yet in potentiality); the four states of brahma called vaiswanara, taijasa (or hiranyagarbha), pragna, and iswara, and represented by brahma, vishna, maheswara, and sadasiva; the four aspects of parabrahma, as sthula (gross), sukshma (subtle), vija (seed), and sakshi (witness); the four stages or conditions of the sacred word, named para, pasyanti, madhyama and vaikhari; nadam, bindu, sakti and kala. this sign completes the first quaternary. v. simha.--this word contains a world of occult meaning within itself; and it may not be prudent on my part to disclose the whole of its meaning now. it will be sufficient for the present purpose to give a general indication of its significance. two of its synonymous terms are panchasyam and hari, and its number in the order of the zodiacal divisions (being the fifth sign) points clearly to the former synonym. this synonym--panchasyam--shows that the sign is intended to represent the five brahmas--viz., isanam, aghoram, tatpurusham, vamadevam, and sadyojatam:--the five buddhas. the second synonym shows it to be narayana, the jivatma or pratyagatma. the sukarahasy upanishad will show that the ancient aryan philosophers looked upon narayana as the jivatma.* the vaishnavites may not admit it. but as an advaiti, i look upon jivatma as identical with paramatma in its real essence when stripped of its illusory attributes created by agnanam or avidya--ignorance. --------- * in its lowest or most material state, as the life-principle which animates the material bodies of the animal and vegetable worlds, &c. --ed. theos. --------- the jivatma is correctly placed in the fifth sign counting from mesham, as the fifth sign is the putrasthanam or the son's house according to the rules of hindu astrology. the sign in question represents jivatma-- the son of paramatma as it were. (i may also add that it represents the real christ, the anointed pure spirit, though many christians may frown at this interpretation.)* i will only add here that unless the nature of this sign is fully comprehended it will be impossible to understand the real order of the next three signs and their full significance. the elements or entities that have merely a potential existence in this sign become distinct separate entities in the next three signs. their union into a single entity leads to the destruction of the phenomenal universe, and the recognition of the pure spirit and their separation has the contrary effect. it leads to material earth-bound existence and brings into view the picture gallery of avidya (ignorance) or maya (illusion). if the real orthography of the name by which the sign in question is indicated is properly understood, it will readily be seen that the next three signs are not what they ought to be. -------- * nevertheless it is a true one. the jiv-atma in the microcosm (man) is the same spiritual essence which animates the macrocosm (universe), the differentiation, or specific difference between the two jivatmas presenting itself but in the two states or conditions of the same and one force. hence, "this son of paramatma" is an eternal correlation of the father-cause. purusha manifesting himself as brahma of the "golden egg" and becoming viradja--the universe. we are "all born of aditi from the water" (hymns of the maruts, x. , ), and "being was born from not-being" (rig-veda, mandala i, sukta ).--ed. theos. ----------- kanya or virgo and vrischika or scorpio should form one single sign, and thula must follow the said sign if it is at all necessary to have a separate sign of that name. but a separation between kanya and vrischika was effected by interposing the sign tula between the two. the object of this separation will be understood on examining the meaning of the three signs. vi. kanya.--means a virgin and represents sakti or mahamaya. the sign in question is the sixth rasi or division, and indicates that there are six primary forces in nature. these forces have different sets of names in sanskrit philosophy. according to one system of nomenclature, they are called by the following names*:--( ) parasakty; ( ) gnanasakti; ( ) itchasakti (will-power); ( ) kriytisakti; ( ) kundalinisakti; and ( ) matrikasakti. the six forces are in their unity represented by the astral light.** --------- * parasakti:--literally the great or supreme force or power. it means and includes the powers of light and heat. gnanasakti:--literally the power of intellect or the power of real wisdom or knowledge. it has two aspects. i. the following are some of its manifestations when placed under the influence or control of material conditions. (a) the power of the mind in interpreting our sensations; (b) its power in recalling past ideas (memory) and raising future expectation; (c) its power as exhibited in what are called by modern psychologists "the laws of association," which enables it to form persisting connections between various groups of sensations and possibilities of sensations, and thus generate the notion or idea of an external object; (d) its power in connecting our ideas together by the mysterious link of memory, and thus generating the notion of self or individuality. ii. the following are some of its manifestations when liberated from the bonds of matter:-- (a) clairvoyance. (b) pyschometry. itchasakti:--literally the power of the will. its most ordinary manifestation is the generation of certain nerve currents which set in motion such muscles as are required for the accomplishment of the desired object. kriyasakti:--the mysterious power of thought which enables it to produce external, perceptible, phenomenal results by its own inherent energy. the ancients held that any idea will manifest itself externally if one's attention is deeply concentrated upon it. similarly an intense volition will be followed by the desired result. a yogi generally performs his wonders by means of itchasakti and kriyasakti. kundalinisakti:--literally the power or force which moves in a serpentine or curved path. it is the universal life-principle which everywhere manifests itself in nature. this force includes in itself the two great forces of attraction and repulsion. electricity and magnetism are but manifestations of it. this is the power or force which brings about that "continuous adjustment of internal relations to external relations" which is the essence of life according to herbert spencer, and that "continuous adjustment of external relations to internal relations" which is the basis of transmigration of souls or punarjanmam (re-birth) according to the doctrines of the ancient hindu philosophers. a yogi must thoroughly subjugate this power or force before he can attain moksham. this force is, in fact, the great serpent of the bible. matrikasakti:--literally the force or power of letters or speech or music. the whole of the ancient mantra shastra has this force or power in all its manifestations for its subject-matter. the power of the word which jesus christ speaks of is a manifestation of this sakti. the influence of its music is one of its ordinary manifestations. the power of the mirific ineffable name is the crown of this sakti. modern science has but partly investigated the first, second and fifth of the forces or powers above named, but it is altogether in the dark as regards the remaining powers. ** even the very name of kanya (virgin) shows how all the ancient esoteric systems agreed in all their fundamental doctrines. the kabalists and the hermetic philosophers call the astral light the "heavenly or celestial virgin." the astral light in its unity is the th. hence the seven principles diffused in every unity or the and one--two triangles and a crown.--ed. theos. ----------- vii. tula.--when represented by numbers according to the method above alluded to, this word will be converted into . this sign, therefore, is evidently intended to represent the tatwams. (the number of tatwams is different according to the views of different philosophers but by sakteyas generally and by several of the ancient rishis, such as agastya, dvrasa and parasurama, &c., the number of tatwams has been stated to be ). jivatma differs from paramatma, or to state the same thing in other words, "baddha" differs from "mukta" * in being encased as it were within these tatwams, while the other is free. this sign prepares the way to earthly adam to nara. as the emblem of nara it is properly placed as the seventh sign. --------- * as the infinite differs from the finite and the unconditioned from the conditioned.--ed. theos. --------- viii. vrischika.--it is stated by ancient philosophers that the sun when located in this rasi or sign is called by the name of vishnu (see the th skandha of bhagavata). this sign is intended to represent vishnu. vishnu literally means that which is expanded--expanded as viswam or universe. properly speaking, viswam itself is vishnu (see sankaracharya's commentary on vishnusahasranamam). i have already intimated that vishnu represents the swapnavastha or the dreaming state. the sign in question properly signifies the universe in thought or the universe in the divine conception. it is properly placed as the sign opposite to rishabham or pranava. analysis from pranava downwards leads to the universe of thought, and synthesis from the latter upwards leads to pranava (aum). we have now arrived at the ideal state of the universe previous to its coming into material existence. the expansion of the vija or primitive germ into the universe is only possible when the "tatwams" * are interposed between the maya and jivatma. the dreaming state is induced through the instrumentality of these "tatwams." it is the existence of these tatwams that brings hamsa into existence. the elimination of these tatwams marks the beginning of the synthesis towards pranava and brahmam and converts hamsa into soham. as it is intended to represent the different stages of evolution from brahmam downwards to the material universe, the three signs kanya, tula, and vrischika are placed in the order in which they now stand as three separate signs. ix. dhanus (sagittarius).--when represented in numbers the name is equivalent to , and the division in question is the th division counting from mesha. the sign, therefore, clearly indicates the brahmas--the parajapatis who assisted the demiurgus in constructing the material universe. x. makara.--there is some difficulty in interpreting this word; nevertheless it contains within itself the clue to its correct interpretation. the letter ma is equivalent to number , and kara means hand. now in sanskrit thribhujam means a triangle, bhujam or karam (both are synonymous) being understood to mean a side. so, makaram or panchakaram means a pentagon.** ---------- * is three times , or tetraktis, or triads, the most sacred number in the kabalistic and pythagorean numerals.--ed. theos. ** the five-pointed star or pentagram represented the five limbs of man.--ed. theos. ---------- now, makaram is the tenth sign, and the term "dasadisa" is generally used by sanskrit writers to denote the faces or sides of the universe. the sign in question is intended to represent the faces of the universe, and indicates that the figure of the universe is bounded by pentagons. if we take the pentagons as regular pentagons (on the presumption or supposition that the universe is symmetrically constructed) the figure of the material universe will, of course, be a dodecahedron, the geometrical model imitated by the demiurgus in constructing the material universe. if tula was subsequently invented, and if instead of the three signs "kanya," "tula," and "vrischikam," there had existed formerly only one sign combining in itself kanya and vrischika, the sign now under consideration was the eighth sign under the old system, and it is a significant fact that sanskrit writers generally speak also of "ashtadisa" or eight faces bounding space. it is quite possible that the number of disa might have been altered from to when the formerly existing virgo-scorpio was split up into three separate signs. again, kara may be taken to represent the projecting triangles of the five-pointed star. this figure may also be called a kind of regular pentagon (see todhunter's "spherical trigonometry," p. ). if this interpretation is accepted, the rasi or sign in question represents the "microcosm." but the "microcosm" or the world of thought is really represented by vrischika. from an objective point of view the "microcosm" is represented by the human body. makaram may be taken to represent simultaneously both the microcosm and the macrocosm, as external objects of perception. in connection with this sign i shall state a few important facts which i beg to submit for the consideration of those who are interested in examining the ancient occult sciences of india. it is generally held by the ancient philosophers that the macrocosm is similar to the microcosm in having a sthula sariram and a suksma sariram. the visible universe is the sthula sariram of viswam; the ancient philosophers held that as a substratum for this visible universe, there is another universe-- perhaps we may call it the universe of astral light--the real universe of noumena, the soul as it were of this visible universe. it is darkly hinted in certain passages of the veda and the upanishads that this hidden universe of astral light is to be represented by an icosahedron. the connection between an icosahedron and a dodecahedron is something very peculiar and interesting, though the figures seem to be so very dissimilar to each other. the connection may be understood by the under-mentioned geometrical construction. describe a sphere about an icosahedron; let perpendiculars be drawn from the centre of the sphere on its faces and produced to meet the surface of the sphere. now, if the points of intersection be joined, a dodecahedron is formed within the sphere. by a similar process an icosahedron may be constructed from a dodecahedron. (see todhunter's "spherical trigonometry," p. , art. ). the figure constructed as above described will represent the universe of matter and the universe of astral light as they actually exist. i shall not now, however, proceed to show how the universe of astral light may be considered under the symbol of an icosahedron. i shall only state that this conception of the aryan philosophers is not to be looked upon as mere "theological twaddle" or as the outcome of wild fancy. the real significance of the conception in question can, i believe, be explained by reference to the psychology and the physical science of the ancients. but i must stop here and proceed to consider the meaning of the remaining two signs. xi. kumbha (or aquarius).--when represented by numbers, the word is equivalent to . it can be easily perceived then that the division in question is intended to represent the "chaturdasa bhuvanam," or the lokas spoken of in sanskrit writings. xii. mina (or pisces).--this word again is represented by when written in numbers, and is evidently intended to convey the idea of panchamahabhutams or the elements. the sign also suggests that water (not the ordinary water, but the universal solvent of the ancient alchemists) is the most important amongst the said elements. i have now finished the task which i have set to myself in this article. my purpose is not to explain the ancient theory of evolution itself, but to show the connection between that theory and the zodiacal divisions. i have herein brought to light but a very small portion of the philosophy imbedded in these signs. the veil that was dexterously thrown over certain portions of the mystery connected with these signs by the ancient philosophers will never be lifted up for the amusement or edification of the uninitiated public. now to summarize the facts stated in this article, the contents of the first chapter of the history of this universe are as follows: . the self-existent, eternal brahmam. . pranava (aum). . the androgyne brahma, or the bisexual sephira-adam kadmon. . the sacred tetragram--the four matras of pranava--the four avasthas--the four states of brahma--the sacred dharaka. . the five brahmas--the five buddhas representing in their totality the jivatma. . the astral light--the holy virgin--the six forces in nature. . the thirty-six tatwams born of avidya. . the universe in thought--the swapna avastha--the microcosm looked at from a subjective point of view. . the nine prajapatis--the assistants of the demiurgus.* . the shape of the material universe in the mind of the demiurgus-- the dodecahedron. . the fourteen lokas. . the five elements. -------- * the nine kabalistic sephiroths emanated from sephira the th and the head sephiroth are identical. three trinities or triads with their emanative principle form the pythagorean mystic decad, the sum of all which represents the whole kosmos.--ed. theos. -------- the history of creation and of this world from its beginning up to the present time is composed of seven chapters. the seventh chapter is not yet completed. --t. subba row triplicane, madras, september , the sishal and bhukailas yogis we are indebted to the kindness of the learned president of the adi brahmo samaji for the following accounts of two yogis, of whom one performed the extraordinary feats of raising his body by will power, and keeping it suspended in the air without visible support. the yoga posture for meditation or concentration of the mind upon spiritual things is called asana. there are various of these modes of sitting, such as padmasan, &c. &c. babu rajnarain bose translated this narrative from a very old number of the tatwabodhini patrika, the calcutta organ of the brahmo samaj. the writer was babu akkhaya kumar dalta, then editor of the patrika, of whom babu rajnarain speaks in the following high terms--"a very truth-loving and painstaking man; very fond of observing strict accuracy in the details of a description." sishal yogi a few years ago, a deccan yogi, named sishal, was seen at madras, by many hindus and englishmen, to raise his asana, or seat, up into the air. the picture of the yogi, showing his mode of seating, and other particulars connected with him, may be found in the saturday magazine on page . his whole body seated in air, only his right hand lightly touched a deer skin, rolled up in the form of a tube, and attached to a brazen rod which was firmly stuck into a wooden board resting on four legs. in this position the yogi used to perform his japa (mystical meditation), with his eyes half shut. at the time of his ascending to his aerial seat, and also when he descended from it, his disciples used to cover him with a blanket. the tatwabodhini patrika, chaitra, sakabda, corresponding to march . the bhukailas yogi the extraordinary character of the holy man who was brought to bhukailas, in kidderpore, about years ago, may still be remembered by many. in the month of asar, sakabda ( a.c.), he was brought to bhukailas from shirpur, where he was under the charge of hari singh, the durwan (porter) of mr. jones. he kept his eyes closed, and went without food and drink, for three consecutive days, after which a small quantity of milk was forcibly poured down his throat. he never took any food that was not forced upon him. he seemed always without external consciousness. to remove this condition dr. graham applied ammonia to his nostrils; but it only produced tremblings in the body, and did not break his yoga state. three days passed before he could be made to speak. he said that his name was dulla nabab, and when annoyed, he uttered a single word, from which it was inferred that he was a punjabi. when he was laid up with gout dr. graham attended him, but he refused to take medicine, either in the form of powder or mixture. he was cured of the disease only by the application of ointments and liniments prescribed by the doctor. he died in the month of chaitra sakabda, of a choleric affection.*--the tatwabodhini patrika, chaitra, sakabda, corresponding to march, a.c. -------- * the above particulars of this holy man have been obtained on unexceptionable testimony.--ed. t.b.p. -------------------- philosophical true and false personality the title prefixed to the following observations may well have suggested a more metaphysical treatment of the subject than can be attempted on the present occasion. the doctrine of the trinity, or trichotomy of man, which distinguishes soul from spirit, comes to us with such weighty, venerable, and even sacred authority, that we may well be content, for the moment, with confirmations that should be intelligible to all, forbearing the abstruser questions which have divided minds of the highest philosophical capacity. we will not now inquire whether the difference is one of states or of entities; whether the phenomenal or mind consciousness is merely the external condition of one indivisible ego, or has its origin and nature in an altogether different principle; the spirit, or immortal part of us, being of divine birth, while the senses and understanding, with the consciousness--ahankara--thereto appertaining, are from an anima mundi, or what in the sankhya philosophy is called prakriti. my utmost expectations will have been exceeded if it should happen that any considerations here offered should throw even a faint suggestive light upon the bearings of this great problem. it may be that the mere irreconcilability of all that is characteristic of the temporal ego with the conditions of the superior life--if that can be made apparent--will incline you to regard the latter rather as the redeemer, that has indeed to be born within us for our salvation and our immortality, than as the inmost, central, and inseparable principle of our phenomenal life. it may be that by the light of such reflections the sense of identity will present no insuperable difficulty to the conception of its contingency, or to the recognition that the mere consciousness which fails to attach itself to a higher principle is no guarantee of an eternal individuality. it is only by a survey of individuality, regarded as the source of all our affections, thoughts, and actions, that we can realize its intrinsic worthlessness; and only when we have brought ourselves to a real and felt acknowledgment of that fact, can we accept with full understanding those "hard sayings" of sacred authority which bid us "die to ourselves," and which proclaim the necessity of a veritable new birth. this mystic death and birth is the key-note of all profound religious teaching; and that which distinguishes the ordinary religious mind from spiritual insight is just the tendency to interpret these expressions as merely figurative, or, indeed, to overlook them altogether. of all the reproaches which modern spiritualism, with the prospect it is thought to hold out of an individual temporal immortality, has had to encounter, there is none that we can less afford to neglect than that which represents it as an ideal essentially egotistical and borne. true it is that our critics do us injustice through ignorance of the enlarged views as to the progress of the soul in which the speculations of individual spiritualists coincide with many remarkable spirit teachings. these are, undoubtedly, a great advance upon popular theological opinions, while some of them go far to satisfy the claim of spiritualism to be regarded as a religion. nevertheless, that slight estimate of individuality, as we know it, which in one view too easily allies itself to materialism, is also the attitude of spiritual idealism, and is seemingly at variance with the excessive value placed by spiritualists on the discovery of our mere psychic survival. the idealist may recognise this survival; but, whether he does so or not, he occupies a post of vantage when he tells us that it is of no ultimate importance. for he, like the spiritualist who proclaims his "proof palpable of immortality," is thinking of the mere temporal, self-regarding consciousness--its sensibilities, desires, gratifications, and affections--which are unimportant absolutely, that is to say, their importance is relative solely to the individual. there is, indeed, no more characteristic outbirth of materialism than that which makes a teleological centre of the individual. ideas have become mere abstractions; the only reality is the infinitely little. thus utilitarianism can see in the state only a collection of individuals whose "greatest happiness," mutually limited by nice adjustment to the requirements of "the greatest numbers," becomes the supreme end of government and law. and it cannot, i think, be pretended that spiritualists in general have advanced beyond this substitution of a relative for an absolute standard. their "glad tidings of great joy" are not truly religious. they have regard to the perpetuation in time of that lower consciousness whose manifestations, delights, and activity are in time, and of time alone. their glorious message is not essentially different from that which we can conceive as brought to us by some great alchemist, who had discovered the secret of conferring upon us and upon our friends a mundane perpetuity of youth and health. its highest religious claim is that it enlarges the horizon of our opportunities. as such, then, let us hail it with gratitude and relief; but, on peril of our salvation, if i may not say of our immortality, let us not repose upon a prospect which is, at best, one of renewed labours, and trials, and efforts to be free even of that very life whose only value is opportunity. to estimate the value of individuality, we cannot do better than regard man in his several mundane relations, supposing that either of these might become the central, actuating focus of his being--his "ruling love," as swedenborg would call it--displacing his mere egoism, or self-love, thrusting that more to the circumference, and identifying him, so to speak, with that circle of interests to which all his energies and affections relate. outside this substituted ego we are to suppose that he has no conscience, no desire, no will. just as the entirely selfish man views the whole of life, so far as it can really interest him solely in relation to his individual well-being, so our supposed man of a family, of a society, of a church, or a state, has no eye for any truth or any interest more abstract or more individual than that of which he may be rightly termed the incarnation. history shows approximations to this ideal man. such a one, for instance, i conceive to have been loyola; such another, possibly, is bismarck. now these men have ceased to be individuals in their own eyes, so far as concerns any value attaching to their own special individualities. they are devotees. a certain "conversion" has been effected, by which from mere individuals they have become "representative" men. and we--the individuals--esteem them precisely in proportion to the remoteness from individualism of the spirit that actuates them. as the circle of interests to which they are "devoted" enlarges--that is to say, as the dross of individualism is purged away--we accord them indulgence, respect, admiration and love. from self to the family, from the family to the sect or society, from the sect or society to the church (in no denominational sense) and state, there is the ascending scale and widening circle, the successive transitions which make the worth of an individual depend on the more or less complete subversion of his individuality by a more comprehensive soul or spirit. the very modesty which suppresses, as far as possible, the personal pronoun in our addresses to others, testifies to our sense that we are hiding away some utterly insignificant and unworthy thing; a thing that has no business even to be, except in that utter privacy which is rather a sleep and a rest than living. well, but in the above instances, even those most remote from sordid individuality, we have fallen far short of that ideal in which the very conception of the partial, the atomic, is lost in the abstraction of universal being, transfigured in the glory of a divine personality. you are familiar with swedenborg's distinction between discrete and continuous degrees. hitherto we have seen how man--the individual--may rise continuously by throwing himself heart and soul into the living interests of the world, and lose his own limitations by adoption of a larger mundane spirit. but still he has but ascended nearer to his own mundane source, that soul of the world, or prakriti, to which, if i must not too literally insist on it, i may still resort as a convenient figure. to transcend it, he must advance by the discrete degree. no simple "bettering" of the ordinary self, which leaves it alive, as the focus--the french word "foyer" is the more expressive--of his thoughts and actions; not even that identification with higher interests in the world's plane just spoken of, is, or can progressively become, in the least adequate to the realization of his divine ideal. this "bettering" of our present nature, it alone being recognized as essential, albeit capable of "improvement," is a commonplace, and to use a now familiar term a "philistine," conception. it is the substitution of the continuous for the discrete degree. it is a compromise with our dear old familiar selves. "and saul and the people spared agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them; but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly." we know how little acceptable that compromise was to the god of israel; and no illustration can be more apt than this narrative, which we may well, as we would fain, believe to be rather typical than historical. typical of that indiscriminate and radical sacrifice, or "vastation," of our lower nature, which is insisted upon as the one thing needful by all, or nearly all,* the great religions of the world. no language could seem more purposely chosen to indicate that it is the individual nature itself, and not merely its accidental evils, that has to be abandoned and annihilated. it is not denied that what was spared was good; there is no suggestion of a universal infection of physical or moral evil; it is simply that what is good and useful relatively to a lower state of being must perish with it if the latter is to make way for something better. and the illustration is the more suitable in that the purpose of this paper is not ethical, but points to a metaphysical conclusion, though without any attempt at metaphysical exposition. there is no question here of moral distinctions; they are neither denied nor affirmed. according to the highest moral standard, 'a' may be a most virtuous and estimable person. according to the lowest, 'b' may be exactly the reverse. the moral interval between the two is within what i have called, following swedenborg, the "continuous degree." and perhaps the distinction can be still better expressed by another reference to that book which we theosophical students do not less regard, because we are disposed to protest against all exclusive pretensions of religious systems. -------- * of the higher religious teachings of mohammedanism i know next to nothing, and therefore cannot say if it should be excepted from the statement. -------- the good man who has, however, not yet attained his "son-ship of god" is "under the law"--that moral law which is educational and preparatory, "the schoolmaster to bring us unto christ," our own divine spirit, or higher personality. to conceive the difference between these two states is to apprehend exactly what is here meant by the false, temporal, and the true, eternal personality, and the sense in which the word personality is here intended to be understood. we do not know whether, when that great change has come over us, when that great work* of our lives has been accomplished--here or hereafter--we shall or shall not retain a sense of identity with our past, and forever discarded selves. in philosophical parlance, the "matter" will have gone, and the very "form" will have been changed. our transcendental identity with the 'a' or 'b' that now is** must depend on that question, already disclaimed in this paper, whether the divine spirit is our originally central essential being, or is an hypostasis. now, being "under the law" implies that we do not act directly from our own will, but indirectly, that is, in willing obedience to another will. -------- * the "great work," so often mentioned by the hermetic philosophers, and which is exactly typified by the operation of alchemy, the conversion of the base metals to gold, is now well understood to refer to the analogous spiritual conversion. there is also good reason to believe that the material process was a real one. ** "a person may have won his immortal life, and remained the same inner self he was on earth, through eternity; but this does not imply necessarily that he must either remain the mr. smith or brown he was on earth, or lose his individuality."--isis unveiled, vol. . p. . ---------- the will from which we should naturally act--our own will--is of course to be understood not as mere volition, but as our nature--our "ruling love," which makes such and such things agreeable to us, and others the reverse. as "under the law," this nature is kept in suspension, and because it is suspended only as to its activity and manifestation, and by no means abrogated, is the law--the substitution of a foreign will-- necessary for us. our own will or nature is still central; that which we obey by effort and resistance to ourselves is more circumferential or hypostatic. constancy in this obedience and resistance tends to draw the circumferential will more and more to the centre, till there ensues that "explosion," as st. martin called it, by which our natural will is for ever dispersed and annihilated by contact with the divine, and the latter henceforth becomes our very own. thus has "the schoolmaster" brought us unto "christ," and if by "christ" we understand no historically divine individual, but the logos, word, or manifestation of god in us--then we have, i believe, the essential truth that was taught in the vedanta, by kapila, by buddha, by confucius, by plato, and by jesus. there is another presentation of possibly the same truth, for a reference to which i am indebted to our brother j.w. farquhar. it is from swedenborg, in the "apocalypse explained," no. :--"every man has an inferior or exterior mind, and a mind superior or interior. these two minds are altogether distinct. by the inferior mind man is in the natural world together with men there; but by the superior mind he is in the spiritual world with the angels there. these two minds are so distinct that man so long as he lives in the world does not know what is performing within himself in his superior mind; but when he becomes a spirit, which is immediately after death, he does not know what is performing in his mind." the consciousness of the "superior mind," as the result of mere separation from the earthly body, certainly does not suggest that sublime condition which implies separation from so much more than the outer garment of flesh, but otherwise the distinction between the two lives, or minds, seems to correspond with that now under consideration. what is it that strikes us especially about this substitution of the divine-human for the human-natural personality? is it not the loss of individualism? (individualism, pray observe, not individuality.) there are certain sayings of jesus which have probably offended many in their hearts, though they may not have dared to acknowledge such a feeling to themselves: "woman, what have i to do with thee?" and those other disclaimers of special ties and relationships which mar the perfect sympathy of our reverence. there is something awful and incomprehensible to us in this repudiation of individualism, even in its most amiable relations. but it is in the aryan philosophies that we see this negation of all that we associate with individual life most emphatically and explicitly insisted on. it is, indeed, the impossibility of otherwise than thus negatively characterizing the soul that has attained moksha (deliverance from bonds) which has caused the hindu consummation to be regarded as the loss of individuality and conscious existence. it is just because we cannot easily dissociate individuality from individualism that we turn from the sublime conception of primitive philosophy as from what concerns us as little as the ceaseless activity and germination in other brains of thought once thrown off and severed from the thinking source, which is the immortality promised by mr. frederick harrison to the select specimens of humanity whose thoughts have any reproductive power. it is not a mere preference of nothingness, or unconscious absorption, to limitation that inspires the intense yearning of the hindu mind for nirvana. even in the upanishads there are many evidences of a contrary belief, while in the sankhya the aphorisms of kapila unmistakably vindicate the individuality of soul (spirit). individual consciousness is maintained, perhaps infinitely intensified, but its "matter" is no longer personal. only try to realize what "freedom from desire," the favourite phrase in which individualism is negated in these systems, implies. even in that form of devotion which consists in action, the soul is warned in the bhagavad-gita that it must be indifferent to results. modern spiritualism itself testifies to something of the same sort. thus we are told by one of its most gifted and experienced champions, "sometimes the evidence will come from an impersonal source, from some instructor who has passed through the plane on which individuality is demonstrable." (m.a. (oxon.), "spirit identity," p. .) again, "and if he" (the investigator) "penetrates far enough, he will find himself in a region for which his present embodied state unfits him: a region in which the very individuality is merged, and the highest and subtlest truths are not locked within one breast, but emanate from representative companies whose spheres of life are interblended." (id., p. .) by this "interblending" is of course meant only a perfect sympathy and community of thought; and i should doubtless misrepresent the author quoted were i to claim an entire identity of the idea he wishes to convey, and that now under consideration. yet what, after all, is sympathy but the loosening of that hard "astringent" quality (to use bohme's phrase) wherein individualism consists? and just as in true sympathy, the partial suppression of individualism and of what is distinctive, we experience a superior delight and intensity of being, so it may be that in parting with all that shuts us up in the spiritual penthouse of an ego--all, without exception or reserve--we may for the first time know what true life is, and what are its ineffable privileges. yet it is not on this ground that acceptance can be hoped for the conception of immortality here crudely and vaguely presented ill contrast to that bourgeois eternity of individualism and the family affections, which is probably the great charm of spiritualism to the majority of its proselytes. it is doubtful whether the things that "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard," have ever taken stronghold of the imagination, or reconciled it to the loss of all that is definitely associated with the joy and movement of living. not as consummate bliss can the dweller on the lower plane presume to command that transcendent life. at the utmost he can but echo the revelation that came to the troubled mind in "sartor resartus," "a man may do without happiness, and instead thereof find blessedness." it is no sublimation of hope, but the necessities of thought that compel us to seek the condition of true being and immortality elsewhere than in the satisfactions of individualism. true personality can only subsist in consciousness by participation of that of which we can only say that it is the very negation of individuality in any sense in which individuality can be conceived by us. what is the content or "matter" of consciousness we cannot define, save by vaguely calling it ideal. but we can say that in that region individual interests and concerns will find no place. nay, more, we can affirm that only then has the influx of the new life a free channel when the obstructions of individualism are already removed. hence the necessity of the mystic death, which is as truly a death as that which restores our physical body to the elements. "neither i am, nor is aught mine, nor do i exist," a passage which has been well explained by a hindu theosophist (peary chand mittra), as meaning "that when the spiritual state is arrived at, i and mine, which belong to the finite mind, cease, and the soul, living in the universum and participating in infinity with god, manifests its infinite state." i cannot refrain from quoting the following passage from the same instructive writer:-- every human being has a soul which, while not separable from the brain or nerves, is mind or jivatma, or sentient soul, but when regenerated or spiritualized by yoga, it is free from bondage and manifests the divine essence. it rises above all phenomenal states--joy, sorrow, grief, fear, hope, and in fact all states resulting in pain or pleasure, and becomes blissful, realizing immortality, infinitude and felicity of wisdom within itself. the sentient soul is nervous, sensational, emotional, phenomenal, and impressional. it constitutes the natural life and is finite. the soul and the non-soul are thus the two landmarks. what is non-soul is prakriti, or created. it is not the lot of every one to know what soul is, and therefore millions live and die possessing minds cultivated in intellect and feeling, but not raised to the soul state. in proportion as one's soul is emancipated from prakriti or sensuous bondage, in that proportion his approximation to the soul state is attained; and it is this that constitutes disparities in the intellectual, moral, and religious culture of human beings and their consequent approximation to god.--spiritual stray leaves, calcutta, . he also cites some words of fichte, which prove that the like conclusion is reached in the philosophy of western idealism: "the real spirit which comes to itself in human consciousness is to be regarded as an impersonal pneuma--universal reason, nay, as the spirit of god himself; and the good of man's whole development, therefore, can be no other than to substitute the universal for the individual consciousness." that there may be, and are affirmed to be, intermediate stages, states, or discrete degrees, will, of course, be understood. the aim of this paper has been to call attention to the abstract condition of the immortalized consciousness; negatively it is true, but it is on this very account more suggestive of practical applications. the connection of the theosophical society with the spiritualist movement is so intimately sympathetic, that i hope one of these may he pointed out without offence. it is that immortality cannot be phenomenally demonstrated. what i have called psychic survival can be, and probably is. but immortality is the attainment of a state, and that state the very negation of phenomenal existence. another consequence refers to the direction our culture should take. we have to compose ourselves to death. nothing less. we are each of us a complex of desires, passions, interests, modes of thinking and feeling, opinions, prejudices, judgment of others, likings and dislikings, affections, aims public and private. these things, and whatever else constitutes, the recognizable content of our present temporal individuality, are all in derogation of our ideal of impersonal being--saving consciousness, the manifestation of being. in some minute, imperfect, relative, and almost worthless sense we may do right in many of our judgments, and be amiable in many of our sympathies and affections. we cannot be sure even of this. only people unhabituated to introspection and self-analysis are quite sure of it. these are ever those who are loudest in their censures, and most dogmatic in their opinionative utterances. in some coarse, rude fashion they are useful, it may be indispensable, to the world's work, which is not ours, save in a transcendental sense and operation. we have to strip ourselves of all that, and to seek perfect passionless tranquillity. then we may hope to die. meditation, if it be deep, and long, and frequent enough, will teach even our practical western mind to understand the hindu mind in its yearning for nirvana. one infinitesimal atom of the great conglomerate of humanity, who enjoys the temporal, sensual life, with its gratifications and excitements, as much as most, will testify with unaffected sincerity that he would rather be annihilated altogether than remain for ever what he knows himself to be, or even recognizably like it. and he is a very average moral specimen. i have heard it said, "the world's life and business would come to an end, there would be an end to all its healthy activity, an end of commerce, arts, manufactures, social intercourse, government, law, and science, if we were all to devote ourselves to the practice of yoga, which is pretty much what your ideal comes to." and the criticism is perfectly just and true. only i believe it does not go quite far enough. not only the activities of the world, but the phenomenal world itself, which is upheld in consciousness, would disappear or take new, more interior, more living, and more significant forms, at least for humanity, if the consciousness of humanity was itself raised to a superior state. readers of st. martin, and of that impressive book of the late james hinton, "man and his dwelling-place," especially if they have also by chance been students of the idealistic philosophies, will not think this suggestion extravagant. if all the world were yogis, the world would have no need of those special activities, the ultimate end and purpose of which, by-the-by, our critic would find it not easy to define. and if only a few withdraw, the world can spare them. enough of that. only let us not talk of this ideal of impersonal, universal being in individual consciousness as an unverified dream. our sense and impatience of limitations are the guarantees that they are not final and insuperable. whence is this power of standing outside myself, of recognizing the worthlessness of the pseudo--judgments, of the prejudices with their lurid colouring of passion, of the temporal interests, of the ephemeral appetites, of all the sensibilities of egoism, to which i nevertheless surrender myself so that they indeed seem myself? through and above this troubled atmosphere i see a being, pure, passionless, rightly measuring the proportions and relations of things, for whom there is, properly speaking, no present, with its phantasms, falsities, and half-truths; who has nothing personal in the sense of being opposed to the whole of related personalities: who sees the truth rather than struggles logically towards it, and truth of which i can at present form no conception; whose activities are unimpeded by intellectual doubt, un-perverted by moral depravity, and who is indifferent to results, because he has not to guide his conduct by calculation of them, or by any estimate of their value. i look up to him with awe, because in being passionless he sometimes seems to me to be without love. yet i know that this is not so; only that his love is diffused by its range, and elevated in abstraction beyond my gaze and comprehension. and i see in this being my ideal, my higher, my only true, in a word, my immortal self. --c.c. massey chastity ideal woman is the most beautiful work of the evolution of forms (in our days she is very often only a beautiful work of art). a beautiful woman is the most attractive, charming, and lovely being that a man can imagine. i never saw a male being who could lay any claims to manly vigour, strength or courage, who was not an admirer of woman. only a profligate, a coward or a sneak would hate women; a hero and a man admires woman, and is admired by her. women's love belongs to a complete man. then she smiles on him his human nature becomes aroused, his animal desires like little children begin to clamour for bread, they do not want to be starved, they want to satisfy their hunger. his whole soul flies towards the lovely being, which attracts him with almost irresistible force, and if his higher principles, his divine spirit, is not powerful enough to restrain him, his soul follows the temptations of his physical body. once again the animal nature has subdued the divine. woman rejoices in her victory, and man is ashamed of his weakness; and instead of being a representation of strength, he becomes an object of pity. to be truly powerful a man must retain his power and never for a moment lose it. to lose it is to surrender his divine nature to his animal nature; to restrain his desires and retain his power, is to assert his divine right, and to become more than a man--a god. eliphas levi says: "to be an object of attraction for all women, you must desire none;" and every one who has had a little experience of his own must know that he is right. woman wants what she cannot get, and what she can get she does not want. perhaps it is to the man endowed with spiritual power, that the bible refers, when it says: "to him who has much, more shall be given, and from him who has little, that little shall be taken away." to become perfect it is not required that we should be born without any animal desires. such a person would not be much above an idiot; he would be rightly despised and laughed at by every true man and woman; but we must obtain the power to control our desires, instead of being controlled by them; and here lies the true philosophy of temptation. if a man has no higher aim in life than to eat and drink and propagate his species; if all his aspirations and desires are centred in a wish of living a happy life in the bosom of his family; there can be no wrong if he follows the dictates of his nature and is satisfied with his lot. when he dies, his family will mourn, his friends will say he was a good fellow; they will give him a first-class funeral, and they will perhaps write on his tombstone something like what i once saw in a certain churchyard: here is the grave of john mcbride, he lived, got married, and died. and that will be the end of mr. john mcbride, until in another incarnation he will wake up again perhaps as mr. john smith, or ramchandra row, or patrick o'flannegan, to find himself on much the same level as he was before. but if a man has higher aims and objects in life, if he wants to avoid an endless cycle of re-incarnations, if he wants to become a master of his destiny, then must he first become a master of himself. how can he expect to be able to control the external forces of nature, if he cannot control the few little natural forces that reside within his own insignificant body? to do this, it is not necessary that a man should run away from his wife and family, and leave them uncared for. such a man would commence his spiritual career with an act of injustice,--an act that like banquo's ghost would always haunt him and hinder him in his further progress. if a man has taken upon himself responsibilities, he is bound to fulfill them, and an act of cowardice would be a bad beginning for a work that requires courage. a celibate, who has no temptation and who has no one to care for but himself, has undoubtedly superior advantages for meditation and study. being away from all irritating influences, he can lead what may be called a selfish life; because he looks out only for his own spiritual interest; but he has little opportunity to develop his will-power by resisting temptations of every kind. but the man who is surrounded by the latter, and is every day and every hour under the necessity of exercising his will-power to resist their surging violence, will, if he rightly uses these powers, become strong; he may not have as much opportunity for study as the celibate, being more engrossed in material cares; but when he rises up to a higher state in his next incarnation, his will-power will be more developed, and he will be in the possession of the password, which is continence. a slave cannot become a commander, until after he becomes free. a man who is subject to his own animal desires, cannot command the animal nature of others. a muscle becomes developed by its use, an instinct or habit is strengthened in proportion as it is permitted to rule, a mental power becomes developed by practice, and the principle of will grows strong by exercise; and this is the use of temptations. to have strong passions and to overcome them, makes man a hero. the sexual instinct is the strongest of all, and he who vanquishes it, becomes a god. the human soul admires a beautiful form, and is therefore an idolater. the human spirit adores a principle, and is the true worshiper. marriage is the union of the male spirit with the female soul for the purpose of propagating the species; but if in its place there is only a union of a male and a female body, then marriage becomes merely a brutal act, which lowers man and woman, not to the level of animals but below them; because animals are restricted to certain seasons for the exercise of their procreative powers; while man, being a reasonable being, has it in his power to use or abuse them at all times. but how many marriages do we find that are really spiritual and not based on beauty of form or other considerations? how soon after the wedding-day do they become disgusted with each other? what is the cause of this? a man and a woman may marry and their characters may differ widely. they may have different tastes, different opinions and different inclinations. all those differences may disappear, and will probably disappear; because by living together they become accustomed to each other, and become equalized in time. each influences the other, and as a man may grow fond of a pet snake, whose presence at first horrified him, so a man may put up with a disagreeable partner and become fond of her in course of time. but if the man allows full liberty to his animal passions, and exercises his "legal rights" without restraint, these animal cravings which first called so piteously for gratification, will soon be gorged, and flying away laugh at the poor fool who nursed them in his breast. the wife will come to know that her husband is a coward, because she sees him squirm under the lash of his animal passions; and as woman loves strength and power, so in proportion as he loses his love, will she lose her confidence. he will look upon her as a burden, and she will look upon him in disgust as a brute. conjugal happiness will have departed, and misery, divorce or death will be the end. the remedy for all these evils is continence, and it has been our object to show its necessity, for it was the object of this article. --f. hartmann zoroastrianism on the septenary constitution of man many of the esoteric doctrines given out through the theosophical society reveal a spirit akin to that of the older religions of the east, especially the vedic and the zendic. leaving aside the former, i propose to point out by a few instances the close resemblance which the doctrines of the old zendic scriptures, as far as they are now preserved, bear to these recent teachings. any ordinary parsi, while reciting his daily niyashes, gehs and yashts, provided he yields to the curiosity of looking into the meanings of what he recites, will, with a little exertion, perceive how the same ideas, only clothed in a more intelligible and comprehensive garb, are reflected in these teachings. the description of the septenary constitution of man found in the th chapter of the yasna, one of the most authoritative books of the mazdiasnian religion, shows the identity of the doctrines of avesta and the esoteric philosophy. indeed, as a mazdiasnian, i felt quite ashamed that, having such undeniable and unmistakable evidence before their eyes, the zoroastrians of the present day should not avail themselves of the opportunity offered of throwing light upon their now entirely misunderstood and misinterpreted scriptures by the assistance and under the guidance of the theosophical society. if zend scholars and students of avesta would only care to study and search for themselves, they would, perhaps, find to assist them, men who are in possession of the right and only key to the true esoteric wisdom; men, who would be willing to guide and help them to reach the true and hidden meaning, and to supply them with the missing links that have resulted in such painful gaps as to leave the meaning meaningless, and to create in the mind of the perplexed student doubts that finally culminate in a thorough unbelief in his own religion. who knows but they may find some of their own co-religionists, who, aloof from the world, have to this day preserved the glorious truths of their once mighty religion, and who, hidden in the recesses of solitary mountains and unknown silent caves, are still in possession of; and exercising, mighty powers, the heirloom of the ancient magi. our scriptures say that ancient mobeds were yogis, who had the power of making themselves simultaneously visible at different places, even though hundreds of miles apart, and also that they could heal the sick and work that which would now appear to us miraculous. all this was considered facts but two or three centuries back, as no reader of old books (mostly persian) is unacquainted with, or will disbelieve a priori unless his mind is irretrievably biassed by modern secular education. the story about the mobed and emperor akbar and of the latter's conversion, is a well-known historical fact, requiring no proof. i will first of all quote side by side the two passages referring to the septenary nature of man as i find them in our scriptures and the theosophist-- sub-divisions of septenary sub-divisions of septenary man according to the man according to yasna occultists. (chap. , para. i). . the physical body, com- . tanwas-i.e., body(the posed wholly of matter in its self ) that consists of bones grossest and most tangible -grossest form of matter. form. . the vital principle-(or jiva)- . ushtanas-vital heat a form of force indestructible, (or force). and when disconnected with one set of atoms, becoming attracted immediately by others. . the astral body (linga- . keherpas aerial form, sharira) composed of highly the airy mould, (per. kaleb). etherealized matter; in its habitual passive state, the perfect but very shadowy duplicate of the body; its activity, consolidation and form depending entirely on the kama-rupa. . the astral shape (kama- . tevishis-will, or where rupa or body of desire, a sentient consciousness is principle defining the con- formed, also fore-knowledge. figuration of-- . the animal or physical . baodhas (in sanskrit, intelligence or conscious- buddhi)-body of physical ness or ego, analogous to, consciousness, perception by though proportionally higher the senses or animal soul. in the senses or the animal degree than the reason, instinct, memory, imagination &c., existing in the higher animals. . the higher or spiritual . urawanem (per. rawan) intelligence or consciousness, -soul, that which gets its spiritual ego, in which or reward or punishment mainly resides the sense of after death. consciousness in the perfect man, though the lower dimmer animal consciousness co-exists in no. . . the spirit-an emanation from . frawashem or farohar- the absolute uncreated; eternal; spirit (the guiding energy a state rather than a being. which is with every man, is absolutely independent, and, without mixing with any worldly object, leads man to good. the spark of divinity in every being). the above is given in the avesta as follows:-- "we declare and positively make known this (that) we offer (our) entire property (which is) the body (the self consisting of) bones (tanwas), vital heat (ushtanas), aerial form (keherpas), knowledge (tevishis), consciousness (baodhas), soul (urwanem), and spirit (frawashem), to the prosperous, truth-coherent (and) pure gathas (prayers)." the ordinary gujarathi translation differs from spiegel's, and this latter differs very slightly from what is here given. yet in the present translation there has been made no addition to, or omission from, the original wording of the zend text. the grammatical construction also has been preserved intact. the only difference, therefore, between the current translations and the one here given is that ours is in accordance with the modern corrections of philological research which make it more intelligible, and the idea perfectly clear to the reader. the word translated "aerial form" has come down to us without undergoing any change in the meaning. it is the modern persian word kaleb, which means a mould, a shape into which a thing is cast, to take a certain form and features. the next word is one about which there is a great difference of opinion. it is by some called strength, durability, i.e., that power which gives tenacity to and sustains the nerves. others explain it as that quality in a man of rank and position which makes him perceive the result of certain events (causes), and thus helps him in being prepared to meet them. this meaning is suggestive, though we translate it as knowledge, or foreknowledge rather, with the greatest diffidence. the eighth word is quite clear. that inward feeling which tells a man that he knows this or that, that he has or can do certain things--is perception and consciousness. it is the inner conviction, knowledge and its possession. the ninth word is again one which has retained its meaning and has been in use up to the present day. the reader will at once recognize that it is the origin of the modern word rawan. it is (metaphorically) the king, the conscious motor or agent in man. it is that something which depends upon and is benefited or injured by the foregoing attributes. we say depends upon, because its progress entirely consists in the development of those attributes. if they are neglected, it becomes weak and degenerated, and disappears. if they ascend on the moral and spiritual scale, it gains strength and vigour and becomes more blended than ever to the divine essence--the seventh principle. but how does it become attracted toward its monad? the tenth word answers the question. this is the divine essence in man. but this is only the irresponsible minister (this completes the metaphor). the real master is the king, the spiritual soul. it must have the willingness and power to see and follow the course pointed out by the pure spirit. the vizir's business is only to represent a point of attraction, towards which the king should turn. it is for the king to see and act accordingly for the glory of his own self. the minister or spirit can neither compel nor constrain. it inspires and electrifies into action; but to benefit by the inspiration, to take advantage of it, is left to the option of the spiritual soul. if, then, the avesta contains such a passage, it must fairly be admitted that its writers knew the whole doctrine concerning spiritual man. we cannot suppose that the ancient mazdiasnians, the magi, wrote this short passage, without inferring from it, at the same time, that they were thoroughly conversant with the whole of the occult theory about man. and it looks very strange indeed, that modern theosophists should now preach to us the very same doctrines that must have been known and taught thousands of years ago by the mazdiasnians,--the passage is quoted from one of their oldest writings. and since they propound the very same ideas, the meaning of which has well-nigh been lost even to our most learned mobeds, they ought to be credited at least with some possession of a knowledge, the key to which has been revealed to them, and lost to us, and which opens the door to the meaning of those hitherto inexplicable sentences and doctrines in our old writings, about which we are still, and will go on, groping in the dark, unless we listen to what they have to tell us about them. to show that the above is not a solitary instance, but that the avesta contains this idea in many other places, i will give another paragraph which contains the same doctrine, though in a more condensed form than the one just given. let the parsi reader turn to yasna, chapter , and read the sixth paragraph, which runs as follows:-- we praise the life (ahum), knowledge (daenam), consciousness (baodhas), soul (urwanem), and spirit (frawashem) of the first in religion, the first teachers and hearers (learners), the holy men and holy women who were the protectors of purity here (in this world). here the whole man is spoken of as composed of five parts, as under:-- . the physical body. . ahum-existence, life. . the vital principle. it includes: . the astral body. . daenam-knowledge. . the astral shape or body of desire. . baodhas-consciousness. . the animal or physical intelligence or consciousness or ego. . urwanem-soul. . the higher or spiritual intelligence or consciousness, or spiritual ego. . frawashem-spirit. . the spirit. in this description the first triple group--viz., the bones (or the gross matter), the vital force which keeps them together, and the ethereal body, are included in one and called existence, life. the second part stands for the fourth principle of the septenary man, as denoting the configuration of his knowledge or desires.* then the three, consciousness (or animal soul), (spiritual) soul, and the pure spirit are the same as in the first quoted passage. why are these four mentioned as distinct from each other and not consolidated like the first part? the sacred writings explain this by saying that on death the first of these five parts disappears and perishes sooner or later in the earth's atmosphere. the gross elementary matter (the shell) has to run within the earth's attraction; so the ahum separates from the higher portions and is lost. --------- * modern science also teaches that certain characteristics of features indicate the possession of certain qualities in a man. the whole science of physiognomy is founded on it. one can predict the disposition of a man from his features,--i.e., the features develop in accordance with the idiosyncrasies, qualities and vices, knowledge or the ignorance of man. --------- the second (i.e., the fourth of the septenary group) remains, but not with the spiritual soul. it continues to hold its place in the vast storehouse of the universe. and it is this second daenam which stands before the (spiritual) soul in the form of a beautiful maiden or an ugly hag. that which brings this daenam within the sight of the (spiritual) soul is the third part (i.e., the fifth of the septenary group), the baodhas. or in other words, the (spiritual) soul has with it, or in it, the true consciousness by which it can view the experiences of its physical career. so this consciousness, this power or faculty which brings the recollection, is always with, in other words, is a part and parcel of, the soul itself; hence, its not mixing with any other part, and hence its existence after the physical death of man.* --a parsi f.t.s. --------- * our brother has but to look into the oldest sacred hooks of china-- namely, the yi king. or book of changes (translated by james legge) written , b.c., to find that same septenary division of man mentioned in that system of divination. zhing, which is translated correctly enough "essence," is the more subtle and pure part of matter-- the grosser form of the elementary ether; khi, or "spirit," is the breath, still material but purer than the zhing, and is made of the finer and more active form of ether. in the hwun, or soul (animus) the khi predominates and the zhing (or zing) in the pho or animal soul. at death the hwun (or spiritual soul) wanders away, ascending, and the pho (the root of the tibetan word pho-hat) descends and is changed into a ghostly shade (the shell). dr. medhurst thinks that "the kwei shans" (see "theology of the chinese," pp. - ) are "the expanding and contracting principles of human life!" "the kwei shans" are brought about by the dissolution of the human frame--and consist of the expanding and ascending shan which rambles about in space, and of the contracted and shrivelled kwei, which reverts to earth and nonentity. therefore, the kwei is the physical body; the shan is the vital principle the kwei shan the linga-sariram, or the vital soul; zhing the fourth principle or kama rupa, the essence of will; pho, the animal soul; khi, the spiritual soul; and hwun the pure spirit--the seven principles of our occult doctrine!--ed. theos. --------- brahmanism on the sevenfold principle in man it is now very difficult to say what was the real ancient aryan doctrine. if an inquirer were to attempt to answer it by an analysis and comparison of all the various systems of esotericism prevailing in india, he will soon be lost in a maze of obscurity and uncertainty. no comparison between our real brahmanical and the tibetan esoteric doctrines will be possible unless one ascertains the teachings of that so-called "aryan doctrine," and fully comprehends the whole range of the ancient aryan philosophy. kapila's "sankhya," patanjali's "yog philosophy," the different systems of "saktaya" philosophy, the various agamas and tantras are but branches of it. there is a doctrine, though, which is their real foundation, and which is sufficient to explain the secrets of these various systems of philosophy and harmonize their teachings. it probably existed long before the vedas were compiled, and it was studied by our ancient rishis in connection with the hindu scriptures. it is attributed to one mysterious personage called maha.*..... ---------- * the very title of the present chief of the esoteric himalayan brotherhood.--ed. theos. ---------- the upanishads and such portions of the vedas as are not chiefly devoted to the public ceremonials of the ancient aryans are hardly intelligible without some knowledge of that doctrine. even the real significance of the grand ceremonials referred to in the vedas will not be perfectly apprehended without its light being throw upon them. the vedas were perhaps compiled mainly for the use of the priests assisting at public ceremonies, but the grandest conclusions of our real secret doctrine are therein mentioned. i am informed by persons competent to judge of the matter, that the vedas have a distinct dual meaning--one expressed by the literal sense of the words, the other indicated by the metre and the swara (intonation), which are, as it were the life of the vedas. learned pundits and philologists of course deny that swara has anything to do with philosophy or ancient esoteric doctrines; but the mysterious connection between swara and light is one of its most profound secrets. now, it is extremely difficult to show whether the tibetans derived their doctrine from the ancient rishis of india, or the ancient brahrnans learned their occult science from the adepts of tibet; or, again, whether the adepts of both countries professed originally the same doctrine and derived it from a common source.* if you were to go to the sramana balagula, and question some of the jain pundits there about the authorship of the vedas and the origin of the brahmanical esoteric doctrine, they would probably tell you that the vedas were composed by rakshasas** or daityas, and that the brahmans had derived their secret knowledge from them.*** --------- * see appendix, note i. ** a kind of demons-devil. *** and so would the christian padris. but they would never admit that their "fallen angels" were borrowed from the rakshasas; that their "devil" is the illegitimate son of dewel, the sinhalese female demon; or that the "war in heaven" of the apocalypse--the foundation of the christian dogma of the "fallen angels" was copied from the hindu story about siva hurling the tarakasura who rebelled against the gods into andhahkara, the abode of darkness, according to brahmanical shastras. --------- do these assertions mean that the vedas and the brahmanical esoteric teachings had their origin in the lost atlantis--the continent that once occupied a considerable portion of the expanse of the southern and the pacific oceans? the assertion in "isis unveiled," that sanskrit was the language of the inhabitants of the said continent, may induce one to suppose that the vedas had probably their origin there, wherever else might be the birthplace of the aryan esotericism.* but the real esoteric doctrine, as well as the mystic allegorical philosophy of the vedas, were derived from another source again, whatever that may be-- perchance from the divine inhabitants (gods) of the sacred island which once existed in the sea that covered in days of old the sandy tract now called gobi desert. however that may be, the knowledge of the occult powers of nature possessed by the inhabitants of the lost atlantis was learnt by the ancient adepts of india, and was appended by them to the esoteric doctrine taught by the residents of the sacred island.** the tibetan adepts, however, have not accepted this addition to their esoteric doctrine; and it is in this respect that one should expect to find a difference between the two doctrines.*** ---------- * not necessarily. (see appendix, note ii.) it is generally held by occultists that sanskrit has been spoken in java and adjacent islands from remote antiquity.--ed. theos. ** a locality which is spoken of to this day by the tibetans, and called by them "scham-bha-la," the happy land. (see appendix, note iii.) *** to comprehend this passage fully, the reader must turn to vol. i. pp. - of "isis unveiled." -------- the brahmanical occult doctrine probably contains everything that was taught about the powers of nature and their laws, either in the mysterious island of the north or in the equally mysterious continent of the south. and if you mean to compare the aryan and the tibetan doctrines as regards their teachings about the occult powers of nature, you must beforehand examine all the classifications of these powers, their laws and manifestations, and the real connotations of the various names assigned to them in the aryan doctrine. here are some of the classifications contained in the brahmanical system: i. as appertaining to parabrahmam and existing in the macrocosm. ii. as appertaining to man and existing in the microcosm. iii. for the purposes of d taraka yog or pranava yog. iv. for the purposes of sankhya yog (where they are, as it were, the inherent attributes of prakriti). v. for the purposes of hata yog. vi. for the purposes of koula agama. vii. for the purposes of sakta agama. viii. for the purposes of siva aqama. ix. for the purposes of sreechakram (the sreechakram referred to in "isis unveiled" is not the real esoteric sreechakram of the ancient adepts of aryavarta).* -------- * very true. but who would be allowed to give out the "real" esoteric one?--ed. theos. -------- x. in atharvena veda, &c. in all these classifications subdivisions have been multiplied indefinitely by conceiving new combinations of the primary powers in different proportions. but i must now drop this subject, and proceed to consider the "fragments of occult truth" (since embodied in "esoteric buddhism"). i have carefully examined it, and find that the results arrived at (in the buddhist doctrine) do not differ much from the conclusions of our aryan philosophy, though our mode of stating the arguments may differ in form. i shall now discuss the question from my own standpoint, though, following, for facility of comparison and convenience of discussion, the sequence of classification of the sevenfold entities or principles constituting man which is adopted in the "fragments." the questions raised for discussion are ( ) whether the disembodied spirits of human beings (as they are called by spiritualists) appear in the seance-rooms and elsewhere; and ( ) whether the manifestations taking place are produced wholly or partly through their agency. it is hardly possible to answer these two questions satisfactorily unless the meaning intended to be conveyed by the expression "disembodied spirits of human beings" be accurately defined. the words spiritualism and spirit are very misleading. unless english writers in general, and spiritualists in particular, first ascertain clearly the connotation they mean to assign to the word spirit, there will be no end of confusion, and the real nature of these so-called spiritualistic phenomena and their modus occurrendi can never be clearly defined. christian writers generally speak of only two entities in man--the body, and the soul or spirit (both seeming to mean the same thing to them). european philosophers generally speak of body and mind, and argue that soul or spirit cannot be anything else than mind. they are of opinion that any belief in lingasariram* is entirely unphilosophical. these views are certainly incorrect, and are based on unwarranted assumptions as to the possibilities of nature, and on an imperfect understanding of its laws. i shall now examine (from the standpoint of the brahmanical esoteric doctrine) the spiritual constitution of man, the various entities or principles existing in him, and ascertain whether either of those entities entering into his composition can appear on earth after his death, and if so, what it is that so appears. -------- * the astral body, so called. -------- professor tyndall in his excellent papers on what he calls the "germ theory," comes to the following conclusions as the result of a series of well-planned experiments:--even in a very small volume of space there are myriads of protoplasmic germs floating in ether. if, for instance, say water (clear water) is exposed to them, and if they fall into it, some form of life or other will be evolved out of them. now, what are the agencies for the bringing of this life into existence? evidently-- i. the water, which is the field, so to say, for the growth of life. ii. the protoplasmic germ, out of which life or a living organism is to be evolved or developed. and lastly-- iii. the power, energy, force, or tendency which springs into activity at the touch or combination of the protoplasmic germ and the water, and which evolves or develops life and its natural attributes. similarly, there are three primary causes which bring the human being into existence. i shall call them, for the purpose of discussion, by the following names ( ) parabrahmam, the universal spirit. ( ) sakti, the crown of the astral light, combining in itself all the powers of nature. ( ) prakriti, which in its original or primary shape is represented by akasa. (really every form of matter is finally reducible to akasa.)* it is ordinarily stated that prakriti or akasa is the kshetram, or the basis which corresponds to water in the example we have taken brahmam the germ, and sakti, the power or energy that comes into existence at their union or contact.** -------- * the tibetan esoteric buddhist doctrine teaches that prakriti is cosmic matter, out of which all visible forms are produced; and akasa, that same cosmic matter, but still more subjective--its spirit, as it were. prakriti being the body or substance, and akasa sakti its soul or energy. ** or, in other words, "prakriti, swabhavat, or akasa, is space, as the tibetans have it; space filled with whatsoever substance or no substance at all--i.e., with substance so imperceptible as to be only metaphysically conceivable. brahman, then, would be the germ thrown into the soil of that field, and sakti, that mysterious energy or force which develops it, and which is called by the buddhist arahat of tibet, fohat. that which we call form (rupa) is not different from that which we call space (sunyata).... space is not different from form. form is the same as space; space is the same as form. and so with the other skandhas, whether vedana, or sanjna, or sanskara, or vijnana, they are each the same as their opposite." .... (book of sin-king, or the "heart sutra." chinese translation of the "maha-prajna-paramita-hridaya-sutra," chapter on the "avalokiteshwara," or the manifested buddha.) so that the aryan and tibetan or arhat doctrines agree perfectly in substance, differing but in names given and the way of putting it. --------- but this is not the view which the upanishads take of the question. according to them, brahamam* is the kshetram or basis, akasa or prakriti, the germ or seed, and sakti, the power evolved by their union or contact. and this is the real scientific, philosophical mode of stating the case. -------- * see appendix, note iv. -------- now, according to the adepts of ancient aryavarta, seven principles are evolved out of these three primary entities. algebra teaches us that the number of combinations of n things, taken one at a time, two at a time, three at a time, and so forth = (n)- . applying this formula to the present case, the number of entities evolved from different combinations of these three primary causes amounts to ( )- = - = . as a general rule, whenever seven entities are mentioned in the ancient occult science of india, in any connection whatsoever, you must suppose that those seven entities came into existence from three primary entities; and that these three entities, again, are evolved out of a single entity or monad. to take a familiar example, the seven coloured rays in the solar ray are evolved out of three primary coloured rays; and the three primary colours coexist with the four secondary colours in the solar rays. similarly, the three primary entities which brought man into existence co-exist in him with the four secondary entities which arose from different combinations of the three primary entities. now these seven entities, which in their totality constitute man, are as follows. i shall enumerate them in the order adopted in the "fragments," as far as the two orders (the brahmanical and the tibetan) coincide:-- corresponding names in esoteric buddhism. i. prakriti. sthulasariram (physical body). ii. the entity evolved out of the combination sukshmasariram or lingasariram of prakriti and sakti. (astral body). iii. sakti. kamarupa (the perispirit). iv. the entity evolved out of the combination of jiva (life-soul). brahmam, sakti and prakriti. v. the entity evolved out of the combination of physical intelligence (or brahmam and prakriti. animal soul). vi. the entity evolved out of the combination of spiritual intelligence (or soul). brahmam and sakti. vii. brahmam. the emanation from the absolute, &c. (or pure spirit.) before proceeding to examine these nature of these seven entities, a few general explanations are indispensably necessary. i. the secondary principles arising out of the combination of primary principles are quite different in their nature from the entities out of whose combination they came into existence. the combinations in question are not of the nature of mere mechanical juxtapositions, as it were. they do not even correspond to chemical combinations. consequently no valid inferences as regards the nature of the combinations in question can be drawn by analogy from the nature [variety?] of these combinations. ii. the general proposition, that when once a cause is removed its effect vanishes, is not universally applicable. take, for instance, the following example:--if you once communicate a certain amount of momentum to a ball, velocity of a particular degree in a particular direction is the result. now, the cause of this motion ceases to exist when the instantaneous sudden impact or blow which conveyed the momentum is completed; but according to newton's first law of motion, the ball will continue to move on for ever and ever, with undiminished velocity in the same direction, unless the said motion is altered, diminished, neutralized, or counteracted by extraneous causes. thus, if the ball stop, it will not be on account of the absence of the cause of its motion, but in consequence of the existence of extraneous causes which produce the said result. again, take the instance of subjective phenomena. now the presence of this ink-bottle before me is producing in me, or in my mind, a mental representation of its form, volume, colour and so forth. the bottle in question may be removed, but still its mental picture may continue to exist. here, again, you see, the effect survives the cause. moreover, the effect may at any subsequent time be called into conscious existence, whether the original cause be present or not. now, in the ease of the filth principle above mentioned-the entity that came into existence by the combination of brahmam and prakriti--if the general proposition (in the "fragments of occult truth") is correct, this principle, which corresponds to the physical intelligence, must cease to exist whenever the brahmam or the seventh principle should cease to exist for the particular individual; but the fact is certainly otherwise. the general proposition under consideration is adduced in the "fragments" in support of the assertion that whenever the seventh principle ceases to exist for any particular individual, the sixth principle also ceases to exist for him. the assertion is undoubtedly true, though the mode of stating it and the reasons assigned for it, are to my mind objectionable. it is said that in cases where tendencies of a man's mind are entirely material, and all spiritual aspirations and thoughts were altogether absent from his mind, the seventh principle leaves him either before or at the time of death, and the sixth principle disappears with it. here, the very proposition that the tendencies of the particular individual's mind are entirely material, involves the assertion that there is no spiritual intelligence or spiritual ego in him, it should then have been said that, whenever spiritual intelligence ceases to exist in any particular individual, the seventh principle ceases to exist for that particular individual for all purposes. of course, it does not fly off anywhere. there can never be any thing like a change of position in the case of brahmam.* the assertion merely means that when there is no recognition whatever of brahmam, or spirit, or spiritual life, or spiritual consciousness, the seventh principle has ceased to exercise any influence or control over the individual's destinies. -------- * true--from the standpoint of aryan exotericism and the upanishads, not quite so in the case of the arahat or tibetan esoteric doctrine; and it is only on this one solitary point that the two teachings disagree, as far as we know. the difference is very trifling, though, resting as it does solely upon the two various methods of viewing the one and the same thing from two different aspects. (see appendix, note iv.) -------- i shall now state what is meant (in the aryan doctrine) by the seven principles above enumerated. i. prakriti. this is the basis of sthulasariram, and represents it in the above-mentioned classification. ii. prakriti and sakti. this is the lingasariram, or astral body. iii. sukti. this principle corresponds to your kamarupa. this power or force is placed by ancient occultists in the nabhichakram. this power can gather akasa or prakriti, and mould it into any desired shape. it has very great sympathy with the fifth principle, and can be made to act by its influence or control. iv. brahmam and sakti, and prakriti. this again corresponds to your second principle, jiva. this power represents the universal life-principle which exists in nature. its seat is the anahatachakram (heart). it is a force or power which constitutes what is called jiva, or life. it is, as you say, indestructible, and its activity is merely transferred at the time of death to another set of atoms, to form another organism. v. brahma and prakriti. this, in our aryan philosophy, corresponds to your fifth principle, called the physical intelligence. according to our philosophers, this is the entity in which what is called mind has its seat or basis. this is the most difficult principle of all to explain, and the present discussion entirely turns upon the view we take of it. now, what is mind? it is a mysterious something, which is considered to be the seat of consciousness--of sensations, emotions, volitions, and thoughts. psychological analysis shows it to be apparently a congeries of mental states, and possibilities of mental states, connected by what is called memory, and considered to have a distinct existence apart from any of its particular states or ideas. now in what entity has this mysterious something its potential or actual existence? memory and expectation, which form, as it were, the real foundation of what is called individuality, or ahankaram, must have their seat of existence somewhere. modern psychologists of europe generally say that the material substance of brain is the seat of mind; and that past subjective experiences, which can he recalled by memory, and which in their totality constitute what is called individuality, exist therein in the shape of certain unintelligible mysterious impressions and changes in the nerves and nerve-centres of the cerebral hemispheres. consequently, they say, the mind--the individual mind--is destroyed when the body is destroyed; so there is no possible existence after death. but there are a few facts among those admitted by these philosophers which are sufficient for us to demolish their theory. in every portion of the human body a constant change goes on without intermission. every tissue, every muscular fibre and nerve-tube, and every ganglionic centre in the brain, is undergoing an incessant change. in the course of a man's lifetime there may be a series of complete tranformations of the substance of his brain. nevertheless, the memory of his past mental states remains unaltered. there may be additions of new subjective experiences and some mental states may be altogether forgotten, but no individual mental state is altered. the person's sense of personal identity remains the same throughout these constant alterations in the brain substance.* it is able to survive all these changes, and it can survive also the complete destruction of the material substance of the brain. -------- * this is also sound buddhist philosophy, the transformation in question being known as the change of the skandhas.--ed. theos. -------- this individuality arising from mental consciousness has its seat of existence, according to our philosophers, in an occult power or force, which keeps a registry, as it were, of all our mental impressions. the power itself is indestructible, though by the operation of certain antagonistic causes its impressions may in course of time be effaced, in part or wholly. i may mention in this connection that our philosophers have associated seven occult powers with the seven principles or entities above-mentioned. these seven occult powers in the microcosm correspond with, or are the counterparts of, the occult powers in the macrocosm. the mental and spiritual consciousness of the individual becomes the general consciousness of brahmam, when the barrier of individuality is wholly removed, and when the seven powers in the microcosm are placed en rapport with the seven powers in the macrocosm. there is nothing very strange in a power, or force, or sakti, carrying with it impressions of sensations, ideas, thoughts, or other subjective experiences. it is now a well-known fact, that an electric or magnetic current can convey in some mysterious manner impressions of sound or speech, with all their individual peculiarities; similarly, i can convey my thoughts to you by a transmission of energy or power. now, this fifth principle represents in our philosophy the mind, or, to speak more correctly, the power or force above described, the impressions of the mental states therein, and the notion of self-identity or ahankaram generated by their collective operation. this principle is called merely physical intelligence in the "fragments." i do not know what is really meant by this expression. it may be taken to mean that intelligence which exists in a very low state of development in the lower animals. mind may exist in different stages of development, from the very lowest forms of organic life, where the signs of its existence or operation can hardly be distinctly realized, up to man, in whom it reaches its highest state of development. in fact, from the first appearance of life* up to tureeya avastha, or the state of nirvana, the progress is, as it were, continuous. -------- * in the aryan doctrine, which blends brahmam, sakti, and prakriti in one, it is the fourth principle then, in the buddhist esotericisms the second in combination with the first. -------- we ascend from that principle up to the seventh by almost imperceptible gradations. but four stages are recognized in the progress where the change is of a peculiar kind, and is such as to arrest an observer's attention. these four stages are as follows:-- ( ) where life (fourth principle) makes its appearance. ( ) where the existence of mind becomes perceptible in conjunction with life. ( ) where the highest state of mental abstraction ends, and spiritual consciousness commences. ( ) where spiritual consciousness disappears, leaving the seventh principle in a complete state of nirvana, or nakedness. according to our philosophers, the fifth principle under consideration is intended to represent the mind in every possible state of development, from the second stage up to the third stage. iv. brahmam and sakti. this principle corresponds to your "spiritual intelligence." it is, in fact, buddhi (i use the word buddhi not in the ordinary sense, but in the sense in which it is used by our ancient philosophers); in other words, it is the seat of bodha or atmabodha. one who has atmabodha in its completeness is a buddha. buddhists know very well what this term signifies. this principle is described in the "fragments" as an entity coming into existence by the combination of brahmam and prakriti. i do not again know in what particular sense the word prakriti is used in this connection. according to our philosophers it is an entity arising from the union of brahmam and sakti. i have already explained the connotation attached by our philosophers to the words prakriti and sakti. i stated that prakriti in its primary state is akasa.* if akasa be considered to be sakti or power** then my statement as regards the ultimate state of prakriti is likely to give rise to confusion and misapprehension unless i explain the distinction between akasa and sakti. akasa is not, properly speaking, the crown of the astral light, nor does it by itself constitute any of the six primary forces. but, generally speaking, whenever any phenomenal result is produced, sakti acts in conjunction with akasa. and, moreover, akasa serves as a basis or adhishthanum for the transmission of force currents and for the formation or generation of force or power correlations.*** -------- * according to the buddhists, in akasa lies that eternal, potential energy whose function it is to evolve all visible things out of itself.--ed. theos. ** it was never so considered, as we have shown it. but as the "fragments" are written in english, a language lacking such an abundance of metaphysical terms to express ever minute change of form, substance and state as are found in the sanskrit, it was deemed useless to confuse the western reader, untrained in the methods of eastern expression, more than is necessary, with a too nice distinctions of proper technical terms. as "prakriti in its primary state is akasa," and sakti "is an attribute akasa," it becomes evident that for the uninitiated it is all one. indeed, to speak of the "union of brahmam and prakriti" instead of "brahmam and sakti" is no worse than for a theist to write that "that man has come into existence by the combination of spirit and matter," whereas, his word, framed in an orthodox shape, ought to read "man is a living soul was created by the power (or breath) of god over matter." *** that is to say, the aryan akasa is another word for buddhist space (in its metaphysical meaning).--ed. theos. --------- in mantrasastra the letter ha represents akasa, and you will find that this syllable enters into most of the sacred formula intended to be used in producing phenomenal results. but by itself it does not represent any sakti. you may, if you please, call sakti an attribute of akasa. i do not think that, as regards the nature of this principle, there can in reality exist any difference of opinion between the buddhist and brahmanical philosophers. buddhist and brahmanical initiates know very well that mysterious circular mirror composed of two hemispheres which reflects as it were the rays emanating from the "burning bush" and the blazing star--the spiritual sun shining in chidakasam. the spiritual impressions constituting this principle have their existence in an occult power associated with the entity in question. the successive incarnations of buddha, in fact, mean the successive transfers of this mysterious power, or the impressions thereof. the transfer is only possible when the mahatma* who transfers it has completely identified himself with his seventh principle, has annihilated his ahankaram, and reduced it to ashes in chidagnikundum, and has succeeded in making his thoughts correspond with the eternal laws of nature and in becoming a co-worker with nature. or, to put the same thing in other words, when he has attained the state of nirvana, the condition of final negation, negation of individual, or separate existence.** --------- * the highest adept. * in the words of agatha in the "maha-pari-nirvana sutra," "we reach a condition of rest beyond the limit of any human knowledge" --ed. theos. --------- vii. atma.--the emanation from the absolute, corresponding to the seventh principle. as regards this entity there exists positively no real difference of opinion between the tibetan buddhist adepts and our ancient rishis. we must now consider which of these entities can appear after the individual's death in seance-rooms and produce the so-called spiritualistic phenomena. now, the assertion of the spiritualists, that the "disembodied spirits" of particular human beings appear in seance-rooms, necessarily implies that the entity that so appears bears the stamp of some particular personality. so, we have to ascertain beforehand in what entity or entities personality has its seat of existence. apparently it exists in the person's particular formation of body, and in his subjective experiences (called his mind in their totality). on the death of the individual his body is destroyed; his lingasariram being decomposed, the power associated with it becomes mingled in the current of the corresponding power in the macrocosm. similarly, the third and fourth principles are mingled with their corresponding powers. these entities may again enter into the composition of other organisms. as these entities bear no impression of personality, the spiritualists have no right to say that the disembodied spirit of the human being has appeared in the seance-room whenever any of these entities may appear there. in fact, they have no means of ascertaining that they belonged to any particular individual. therefore, we must only consider whether any of the last three entities appear in seance-rooms to amuse or to instruct spiritualists. let us take three particular examples of individuals, and see what becomes of these three principles after death. i. one in whom spiritual attachments have greater force than terrestrial attachments. ii. one in whom spiritual aspirations do exist, but are merely of secondary importance to him, his terrestrial interests occupying the greater share of his attention. iii. one in whom there exists no spiritual aspirations whatsoever, one whose spiritual ego is dead or non-existent to his apprehension. we need not consider the case of a complete adept in this connection. in the first two cases, according to our supposition, spiritual and mental experiences exist together; when spiritual consciousness exists, the existence of the seventh principle being recognized, it maintains its connection with the fifth and sixth principles. but the existence of terrestrial attachments creates the necessity of punarjanmam (re-birth), the latter signifying the evolution of a new set of objective and subjective experiences, constituting a new combination of surrounding circumstances, or, in other words, a new world. the period between death and the next subsequent birth is occupied with the preparation required for the evolution of these new experiences. during the period of incubation, as you call it, the spirit will never of its own accord appear in this world, nor can it so appear. there is a great law in this universe which consists in the reduction of subjective experiences to objective phenomena, and the evolution of the former from the latter. this is otherwise called "cyclic necessity." man is subjected to this law if he do not check and counterbalance the usual destiny or fate, and he can only escape its control by subduing all his terrestrial attachments completely. the new combination of circumstances under which he will then be placed may be better or worse than the terrestrial conditions under which he lived; but in his progress to a new world, you may be sure he will never turn around to have a look at his spiritualistic friends. in the third of the above three cases there is, by our supposition, no recognition of spiritual consciousness or of spirits; so they are non-existing so far as he is concerned. the case is similar to that of an organ or faculty which remains unused for a long time. it then practically ceases to exist. these entities, as it were, remain his, or in his possession, when they are stamped with the stamp of recognition. when such is not the case, the whole of his individuality is centred in his fifth principle. and after death this fifth principle is the only representative of the individual in question. by itself it cannot evolve for itself a new set of objective experiences, or, to say the same thing in other words, it has no punarjanmam. it is such an entity that can appear in seance-rooms; but it is absurd to call it a disembodied spirit.* it is merely a power or force retaining the impressions of the thoughts or ideas of the individual into whose composition it originally entered. it sometimes summons to its aid the kamarupa power, and creates for itself some particular ethereal form (not necessarily human). -------- * it is especially on this point that the aryan and arahat doctrines quite agree. the teaching and argument that follow are in every respect those of the buddhist himalayan brotherhood.--ed. theos. -------- its tendencies of action will be similar to those of the individual's mind when he was living. this entity maintains its existence so long as the impressions on the power associated with the fifth principle remain intact. in course of time they are effaced, and the power in question is then mixed up in the current of its corresponding power in the macrocosm, as the river loses itself in the sea. entities like these may afford signs of there having been considerable intellectual power in the individuals to which they belonged; because very high intellectual power may co-exist with utter absence of spiritual consciousness. but from this circumstance it cannot be argued that either the spirits or the spiritual egos of deceased individuals appear in seance-rooms. there are some people in india who have thoroughly studied the nature of such entities (called pisacham). i do not know much about them experimentally, as i have never meddled with this disgusting, profitless, and dangerous branch of investigation. the spiritualists do not know what they are really doing. their investigations are likely to result in course of time either in wicked sorcery or in the utter spiritual ruin of thousands of men and women.* -------- * we share entirely in this idea.--ed. theos. -------- the views i have herein expressed have been often illustrated by our ancient writers by comparing the course of a man's life or existence to the orbital motion of a planet round the sun. centripetal force is spiritual attraction, and centrifugal terrestrial attraction. as the centripetal force increases in magnitude in comparison with the centrifugal force, the planet approaches the sun--the individual reaches a higher plane of existence. if, on the other hand, the centrifugal force becomes greater than the centripetal force, the planet is removed to a greater distance from the sun, and moves in a new orbit at that distance--the individual comes to a lower level of existence. these are illustrated in the first two instances i have noticed above. we have only to consider the two extreme cases. when the planet in its approach to the sun passes over the line where the centripetal and centrifugal force completely neutralize each other, and is only acted on by the centripetal force, it rushes towards the sun with a gradually increasing velocity, and is finally mixed up with the mass of the sun's body. this is the case of a complete adept. again, when the planet in its retreat from the sun reaches a point where the centrifugal force becomes all-powerful, it flies off in a tangential direction from its orbit, and goes into the depths of void space. when it ceases to be under the control of the sun, it gradually gives up its generative heat, and the creative energy that it originally derived from the sun, and remains a cold mass of material particles wandering through space until the mass is completely decomposed into atoms. this cold mass is compared to the fifth principle under the conditions above noticed, and the heat, light, and energy that left it are compared to the sixth and seventh principles. either after assuming a new orbit or in its course of deviation from the old orbit to the new, the planet can never go back to any point in its old orbit, as the various orbits lying in different planes never intersect each other. this figurative representation correctly explains the ancient brahmanical theory on the subject. it is merely a branch of what is called the great law of the universe by the ancient mystics. --t. subba row appendix note i. in this connection it will be well to draw the reader's attention to the fact that the country called "si-dzang" by the chinese, and tibet by western geographers, is mentioned in the oldest books preserved in the province of fo-kien (the headquarters of the aborigines of china) as the great seat of occult learning in the archaic ages. according to these records, it was inhabited by the "teachers of light," the "sons of wisdom" and the "brothers of the sun." the emperor yu the "great" ( b.c.), a pious mystic, is credited with having obtained his occult wisdom and the system of theocracy established by him--for he was the first one to unite in china ecclesiastical power with temporal authority--from si-dzang. that system was the same as with the old egyptians and the chaldees; that which we know to have existed in the brahmanical period in india, and to exist now in tibet--namely, all the learning, power, the temporal as well as the secret wisdom were concentrated within the hierarchy of the priests and limited to their caste. who were the aborigines of tibet is a question which no ethnographer is able to answer correctly at present. they practice the bhon religion, their sect is a pre-and anti-buddhistic one, and they are to be found mostly in the province of kam. that is all that is known of them. but even that would justify the supposition that they are the greatly degenerated descendants of mighty and wise forefathers. their ethnical type shows that they are not pure turanians, and their rites--now those of sorcery, incantations, and nature-worship--remind one far more of the popular rites of the babylonians, as found in the records preserved on the excavated cylinders, than of the religious practices of the chinese sect of tao-sse (a religion based upon pure reason and spirituality), as alleged by some. generally, little or no difference is made, even by the kyelang missionaries, who mix greatly with these people on the borders of british lahoul and ought to know better, between the bhons and the two rival buddhist sects, the yellow caps and the red caps. the latter of these have opposed the reform of tzong-ka-pa from the first, and have always adhered to old buddhism, so greatly mixed up now with the practices of the bhons. were our orientalists to know more of them, and compare the ancient babylonian bel or baal worship with the rites of the bhons, they would find an undeniable connection between the two. to begin an argument here, proving the origin of the aborigines of tibet as connected with one of the three great races which superseded each other in babylonia, whether we call them the akkadians (a name invented by f. lenormant), or the primitive turanians, chaldees, and assyrians, is out of the question. be it as it may, there is reason to call the trans-himalayan esoteric doctrine chaldeo-tibetan. and when we remember that the vedas came, agreeably to all traditions, from the mansarawara lake in tibet, and the brahmins themselves from the far north, we are justified in looking on the esoteric doctrines of every people who once had or still has it, as having proceeded from one and the same source; and to thus call it the "aryan-chaldeo-tibetan" doctrine, or universal wisdom-religion. "seek for the lost word among the hierophants of tartary, china, and tibet," was the advice of swedenborg the seer. note ii. not necessarily, we say. the vedas, brahmanism, and along with these, sanskrit, were importations into what we now regard as india. they were never indigenous to its soil. there was a time when the ancient nations of the west included under the generic name of india many of the countries of asia now classified under other names. there was an upper, a lower, and a western india, even during the comparatively late period of alexander; and persia (iran) is called western india in some ancient classics. the countries now named tibet, mongolia, and great tartary were considered by them as forming part of india. when we say, therefore, that india has civilized the world, and was the alma mater of the civilizations, arts, and sciences of all other nations (babylonia, and perhaps even egypt, included), we mean archaic, pre-historic india, india of the time when the great gobi was a sea, and the lost "atlantis" formed part of an unbroken continent which began at the himalayas and ran down over southern india, ceylon, and java, to far-away tasmania. note iii. to ascertain such disputed questions, one has to look into and study well the chinese sacred and historical records--a people whose era begins nearly , years back ( b.c.). a people so accurate, and by whom some of the most important inventions of modern europe and its so much boasted modern science were anticipated--such as the compass, gunpowder, porcelain, paper, printing, &c.--known and practiced thousands of years before these were rediscovered by the europeans, ought to receive some trust for their records. and from lao-tze down to hiouen-thsang their literature is filled with allusions and references to that island and the wisdom of the himalayan adepts. in the "catena of buddhist scriptures from the chinese," by the rev. samuel beal, there is a chapter "on the tian-ta'i school of buddhism" (pp. - ) which our opponents ought to read. translating the rules of that most celebrated and holy school and sect in china founded by chin-che-k'hae, called che-chay (the wise one), in the year of our era, when coming to the sentence which reads "that which relates to the one garment (seamless) worn by the great teachers of the snowy mountains, the school of the haimavatas" (p. ), the european translator places after the last sentence a sign of interrogation, as well he may. the statistics of the school of the "haimavatas," or of our himalayan brotherhood, are not to be found in the general census records of india. further, mr. beal translates a rule relating to "the great professors of the higher order who live in mountain depths remote from men," the aranyakas, or hermits. so, with respect to the traditions concerning this island, and apart from the (to them) historical records of this preserved in the chinese and tibetan sacred books, the legend is alive to this day among the people of tibet. the fair island is no more, but the country where it once bloomed remains there still, and the spot is well known to some of the "great teachers of the snowy mountains," however much convulsed and changed its topography by the awful cataclysm. every seventh year these teachers are believed to assemble in scham-bha-la, the "happy land." according to the general belief it is situated in the north-west of tibet. some place it within the unexplored central regions, inaccessible even to the fearless nomadic tribes; others hem it in between the range of the gangdisri mountains and the northern edge of the gobi desert, south and north, and the more populated regions of khoondooz and kashmir, of the gya-pheling (british india), and china, west and east, which affords to the curious mind a pretty large latitude to locate it in. others still place it between namur nur and the kuen-lun mountains, but one and all firmly believe in scham-bha-la, and speak of it as a fertile fairy-like land once an island, now an oasis of incomparable beauty, the place of meeting of the inheritors of the esoteric wisdom of the god-like inhabitants of the legendary island. in connection with the archaic legend of the asian sea and the atlantic continent, is it not profitable to note a fact known to all modern geologists-that the himalayan slopes afford geological proof that the substance of those lofty peaks was once a part of an ocean floor? note iv. we have already pointed out that, in our opinion, the whole difference between buddhistic and vedantic philosophies was that the former was a kind of rationalistic vedantism, while the latter might be regarded as transcendental buddhism. if the aryan esotericism applies the term jivatma to the seventh principle--the pure and per se unconscious spirit--it is because the vedanta, postulating three kinds of existence--( ) the paramarthika (the true, the only real one), ( ) the vyavaharika (the practical), and ( ) the pratibhasika (the apparent or illusory life)--makes the first life or jiva, the only truly existent one. brahma, or the one's self, is its only representative in the universe, as it is the universal life in toto, while the other two are but its "phenomenal appearances," imagined and created by ignorance, and complete illusions suggested to us by our blind senses. the buddhists, on the other hand, deny either subjective or objective reality even to that one self-existence. buddha declares that there is neither creator nor an absolute being. buddhist rationalism was ever too alive to the insuperable difficulty of admitting one absolute consciousness, as in the words of flint, "wherever there is consciousness there is relation, and wherever there is relation there is dualism." the one life is either "mukta" (absolute and unconditioned), and can have no relation to anything nor to any one; or it is "baddha" (bound and conditioned), and then it cannot be called the absolute; the limitation, moreover, necessitating another deity as powerful as the first to account for all the evil in this world. hence, the arahat secret doctrine on cosmogony admits but of one absolute, indestructible, eternal, and uncreated unconsciousness (so to translate) of an element (the word being used for want of a better term) absolutely independent of everything else in the universe; a something ever present or ubiquitous, a presence which ever was, is, and will be, whether there is a god, gods, or none, whether there is a universe, or no universe, existing during the eternal cycles of maha yugs, during the pralayas as during the periods of manvantara, and this is space, the field for the operation of the eternal forces and natural law, the basis (as mr. subba row rightly calls it) upon which take place the eternal intercorrelations of akasa-prakriti; guided by the unconscious regular pulsations of sakti, the breath or power of a conscious deity, the theists would say; the eternal energy of an eternal, unconscious law, say the buddhists. space, then, or "fan, bar-nang" (maha sunyata) or, as it is called by lao-tze, the "emptiness," is the nature of the buddhist absolute. (see confucius' "praise of the abyss.") the word jiva, then, could never be applied by the arahats to the seventh principle, since it is only through its correlation or contact with matter that fo-hat (the buddhist active energy) can develop active conscious life; and that to the question "how can unconsciousness generate consciousness?" the answer would be: "was the seed which generated a bacon or a newton self-conscious?" note v. to our european readers, deceived by the phonetic similarity, it must not be thought that the name "brahman" is identical in this connection with brahma or iswara, the personal god. the upanishads--the vedanta scriptures--mention no such god, and one would vainly seek in them any allusions to a conscious deity. the brahman, or parabrahm, the absolute of the vedantins, is neuter and unconscious, and has no connection with the masculine brahma of the hindu triad, or trimurti. some orientalists rightly believe the name derived from the verb "brih," to grow or increase, and to be in this sense the universal expansive force of nature, the vivifying and spiritual principle or power spread throughout the universe, and which, in its collectivity, is the one absoluteness, the one life and the only reality. --h.p. blavatsky septenary division in different indian systems we give below in a tabular form the classifications, adopted by buddhist and by vedantic teachers, of the principles in man:-- classification in vedantic classification in esoteric buddhism classification taraka raja yoga ( .) sthula sarira annamaya kosa sthulopadhi ( .) prana pranamaya kosa ( .)the vehicle of prana ( .) kama rupa (a) volitions manomaya kosa ( .) mind/& feelings &c. sukshmopadhi (b) vignanam vignanamayakosa ( .) spiritual soul anandamayakosa karanopadhi ( .) atma atma atma from the foregoing table it will be seen that the third principle in the buddhist classification is not separately mentioned in the vedantic division as it is merely the vehicle of prana. it will also be seen that the fourth principle is included in the third kosa (sheath), as the said principle is but the vehicle of will-power, which is but an energy of the mind. it must also be noticed that the vignanamayakosa is considered to be distinct from the manomayakosa, as a division is made after death between the lower part of the mind, as it were, which has a closer affinity with the fourth principle than with the sixth and its higher part, which attaches itself to the latter, and which is, in fact, the basis for the higher spiritual individuality of man. we may also here point out to our readers that the classification mentioned in the last column is for all practical purposes connected with raja yoga, the best and simplest. though there are seven principles in man, there are but three distinct upadhis (bases), in each of which his atma may work independently of the rest. these three upadhis can be separated by an adept without killing himself. he cannot separate the seven principles from each other without destroying his constitution. --t.s. the septenary principle in esotericism since the exposition of the arhat esoteric doctrine was begun, many who had not acquainted themselves with the occult basis of hindu philosophy have imagined that the two were in conflict. some of the more bigoted have openly charged the occultists of the theosophical society with propagating rank buddhistic heresy; and have even gone to the length of affirming that the whole theosophic movement was but a masked buddhistic propaganda. we were taunted by ignorant brahmins and learned europeans that our septenary divisions of nature and everything in it, including man, are arbitrary and not endorsed by the oldest religious systems of the east. it is now proposed to throw a cursory glance at the vedas, the upanishads, the law-books of manu, and especially the vedanta, and show that they too support our position. even in their crude exotericism their affirmation of the sevenfold division is apparent. passage after passage may be cited in proof. and not only can the mysterious number be found traced on every page of the oldest aryan sacred scriptures, but in the oldest books of zoroastrianism as well; in the rescued cylindrical tile records of old babylonia and chaldea, in the "book of the dead" and the ritualism of ancient egypt, and even in the mosaic books--without mentioning the secret jewish works, such as the kabala. the limited space at command forces us to allow a few brief quotations to stand as landmarks and not even attempt long explanations. it is no exaggeration to say that upon each of the few hints now given in the cited slokas a thick volume might be written. from the well-known hymn to time, in the atharva-veda (xix. ): "time, like a brilliant steed with seven rays, full of fecundity, bears all things onward. "time, like a seven-wheeled, seven-naved car moves on, his rolling wheels are all the worlds, his axle is immortality...." --down to manu, "the first and the seventh man," the vedas, the upanishads, and all the later systems of philosophy teem with allusions to this number. who was manu, the son of swayambhuva? the secret doctrine tells us that this manu was no man, but the representation of the first human races evolved with the help of the dhyan-chohans (devas) at the beginning of the first round. but we are told in his laws (book i. ) that there are fourteen manus for every kalpa or "interval from creation to creation" (read interval from one minor "pralaya" to another) and that "in the present divine age there have been as yet seven manus." those who know that there are seven rounds, of which we have passed three, and are now in the fourth; and who are taught that there are seven dawns and seven twilights, or fourteen manvantaras; that at the beginning of every round and at the end, and on and between the planets, there is "an awakening to illusive life," and "an awakening to real life," and that, moreover, there are "root-manus," and what we have to clumsily translate as the "seed-manus"--the seeds for the human races of the forthcoming round (a mystery divulged but to those who have passed the rd degree in initiation); those who have learned all that, will be better prepared to understand the meaning of the following. we are told in the sacred hindu scriptures that "the first manu produced six other manus (seven primary manus in all), and these produced in their turn each seven other manus" (bhrigu i. - ),* the production of the latter standing in the occult treatises as x . thus it becomes clear that manu--the last one, the progenitor of our fourth round humanity--must be the seventh, since we are on our fourth round, and that there is a root-manu on globe a and a seed-manu on globe g. just as each planetary round commences with the appearance of a "root-manu" (dhyan-chohan) and closes with a "seed-manu," so a root-and a seed-manu appear respectively at the beginning and the termination of the human period on any particular planet. ------- * the fact that manu himself is made to declare that he was created by viraj and then produced the ten prajapatis, who again produced seven menus, who in their turn gave birth to seven other manus (manu, i. - ), relates to other still earlier mysteries, and is at the same time a blind with regard to the doctrine of the septenary chain. --------- it will be easily seen from the foregoing statement that a manu-antaric period means, as the term implies, the time between the appearance of two manus or dhyan-chohans: and hence a minor manu-antara is the duration of the seven races on any particular planet, and a major manu-antara is the period of one human round along the planetary chain. moreover, that, as it is said that each of the seven manus creates x manus, and that there are root-races on the seven planets during each round, then every root-race has its manu. the present seventh manu is called "vaivasvata," and stands in the exoteric texts for that manu who represents in india the babylonian xisusthrus and the jewish noah. but in the esoteric books we are told that manu vaivasvata, the progenitor of our fifth race--who saved it from the flood that nearly exterminated the fourth (atlantean)--is not the seventh manu, mentioned in the nomenclature of the root, or primitive manus, but one of the "emanated from this 'root'--manu." for clearer comprehension we here give the names of the manus in their respective order and relation to each round:-- st st (root) manu on planet a.-swayambhuva round. st (seed) manu on planet g.-swarochi (or)swarotisha nd nd (r.) m. on planet a.-uttama round nd (s.) m. " " g.-thamasa rd rd (r.) m. " " a.-raivata round rd (s.) m. " " g.-chackchuska th th (r.) m. " " a.-vaivasvata (our progenitor) round th (s.) m. " " g.-savarni th th (r.) m. " " a.-daksha savarni round th (s.) m. " " g.-brahma savarni th th (r.) m. on planet a.-dharma savarni round th (s.) m. " " g.-rudra savarni th th (r.) m. " " a.-rouchya round th (s.) m. " " g.-bhoutya vaivasvata thus, though seventh in the order given, is the primitive root-manu of our fourth human wave (the reader must always remember that manu is not a man but collective humanity), while our vaivasvata was but one of the seven minor manus who are made to preside over the seven races of this our planet. each of these has to become the witness of one of the periodical and ever-recurring cataclysms (by fire and water in turn) that close the cycle of every root-race. and it is this vaivasvata--the hindu ideal embodiment called respectively xisusthrus, deukalion, noah, and by other names--who is the allegorical man who rescued our race when nearly the whole population of one hemisphere perished by water, while the other hemisphere was awakening from its temporary obscuration. the number seven stands prominently conspicuous in even a cursory comparison of the th tablet of the izdhubar legends of the chaldean account of the deluge and the so-called mosaic books. in both the number seven plays a most prominent part. the clean beasts are taken by sevens, the fowls by sevens also; in seven days, it is promised noah, to rain upon the earth; thus he stays "yet other seven days," and again seven days; while in the chaldean. account of the deluge, on the seventh day the rain abated. on the seventh day the dove is sent out; by sevens, xisusthrus takes "jugs of wine" for the altar, &c. why such coincidence? and yet we are told by, and bound to believe in, the european orientalists, when passing judgment alike upon the babylonian and aryan chronology they call them "extravagant and fanciful!" nevertheless, while they give us no explanation of, nor have they ever noticed, as far as we know, the strange identity in the totals of the semitic, chaldean, and aryan hindu chronology, the students of occult philosophy find the following fact extremely suggestive. while the period of the reign of the babylonian antediluvian kings is given as , years,* the duration of the postdiluvian kali-yug is also given as , , while the four ages or the divine maha-yug, yield in their totality , , years. why should they, if fanciful and "extravagant," give the identical figures, when neither the aryans nor the babylonians have surely borrowed anything from each other! we invite the attention of our occultists to the three figures given-- standing for the perfect square, for the triad (the seven universal and the seven individual principles), and the symbol of our illusionary world, a figure ignored and rejected by pythagoras. -------- * see "babylonia," by george smith, p. . here again, as with the manus and prajapatis and the sephiroths in the book of numbers-- they dwindle down to seven! -------- it is in the upanishads and the vedanta though, that we have to look for the best corroborations of the occult teachings. in the mystical doctrine the rahasya, or the upanishads--"the only veda of all thoughtful hindus in the present day," as monier williams is made to confess, every word, as its very name implies,* has a secret meaning underlying it. this meaning can be fully realized only by him who has a full knowledge of prana, the one life, "the nave to which are attached the seven spokes of the universal wheel." (hymn to prana, atharva-veda, xi. .) even european orientalists agree that all the systems in india assign to the human body: (a) an exterior or gross body (sthula-sarira); (b) an inner or shadowy body (sukshma), or linga-sarira (the vehicle), the two cemented with--(c), life (jiv or karana sarira, "causal body").** these the occult system or esotericism divides into seven, farther adding to these--kama, manas, buddhi and atman. the nyaya philosophy when treating of prameyas (by which the objects and subjects of praman are to be correctly understood) includes among the the seven "root principles" (see ixth sutra), which are , soul (atman), and its superior spirit jivatman; , body (sarira); , senses (indriya); , activity or will (pravritti); , mind (manas); , intellection (buddhi). the seven padarthas (inquiries or predicates of existing things) of kanada in the vaiseshikas, refer in the occult doctrine to the seven qualities or attributes of the seven principles. thus: , substance (dravya) refers to body or sthula-sarira; , quality or property (guna) to the life principle, jiv; , action or act (karman) to the linga, sarira; , community or commingling of properties (samanya) to kamarupa; , personality or conscious individuality (visesha) to manas; , co-inherence or perpetual intimate relation (samuvuya) to buddhi, the inseparable vehicle of atman; , non-existence or non-being in the sense of, and as separate from, objectivity or substance (abhava)--to the highest monad or atman. ------- * upa-ni-shad means, according to brahminical authority, "to conquer ignorance by revealing the secret spiritual knowledge." according to monier williams, the title is derived from the root sad with the prepositions upa and ni, and implies "something mystical that underlies or is beneath the surface." ** this karana-sarira is often mistaken by the uninitiated for linga-sarira, and since it is described as the inner rudimentary or latent embryo of the body, confounded with it. but the occultists regard it as the life (body) or jiv, which disappears at death; is withdrawn--leaving the st and rd principles to disintegrate and return to their elements. ---------- thus, whether we view the one as the vedic purusha or brahman (neuter) the "all-expanding essence;" or as the universal spirit, the "light of lights" (jyotisham jyotih) the total independent of all relation, of the upanishads; or as the paramatman of the vedanta; or again as kanada's adrishta, "the unseen force," or divine atom; or as prakriti, the "eternally existing essence," of kapila--we find in all these impersonal universal principles the latent capability of evolving out of themselves "six rays" (the evolver being the seventh). the third aphorism of the sankhya-karika, which says of prakriti that it is the "root and substance of all things," and no production, but itself a producer of "seven things, which produced by it, become also producers," has a purely occult meaning. what are the "producers" evoluted from this universal root-principle, mula-prakriti or undifferentiated primeval cosmic matter, which evolves out of itself consciousness and mind, and is generally called "prakriti" and amulam mulam, "the rootless root," and aryakta, the "unevolved evolver," &c.? this primordial tattwa or "eternally existing 'that,'" the unknown essence, is said to produce as a first producer, , buddhi-- "intellect"--whether we apply the latter to the th macrocosmic or microcosmic principle. this first produced produces in its turn (or is the source of) ahankara, "self-consciousness" and manas "mind." the reader will please always remember that the mahat or great source of these two internal faculties, "buddhi" per se, can have neither self-consciousness nor mind; viz., the th principle in man can preserve an essence of personal self-consciousness or "personal individuality" only by absorbing within itself its own waters, which have run through that finite faculty; for ahankara, that is the perception of "i," or the sense of one's personal individuality, justly represented by the term "ego-ism," belongs to the second, or rather the third, production out of the seven, viz., to the th principle, or manas. it is the latter which draws "as the web issues from the spider" along the thread of prakriti, the "root principle," the four following subtle elementary principles or particles--tanmatras, out of which "third class," the mahabhutas or the gross elementary principles, or rather sarira and rupas, are evolved-- the kama, linga, jiva and sthula-sarira. the three gunas of "prakriti"--the sattwa, rajas and tamas (purity, passionate activity, and ignorance or darkness)--spun into a triple-stranded cord or "rope," pass through the seven, or rather six, human principles. it depends on the th--manas or ahankara, the "i"--to thin the guna, "rope," into one thread--the sattwa; and thus by becoming one with the "unevolved evolver," win immortality or eternal conscious existence. otherwise it will be again resolved into its mahabhautic essence; so long as the triple-stranded rope is left unstranded, the spirit (the divine monad) is bound by the presence of the gunas in the principles "like an animal" (purusha pasu). the spirit, atman or jivatman (the th and th principles), whether of the macro-or microcosm, though bound by these gunas during the objective manifestation of universe or man, is yet nirguna--i.e., entirely free from them. out of the three producers or evolvers, prakriti, buddhi and ahankara, it is but the latter that can be caught (when man is concerned) and destroyed when personal. the "divine monad" is aguna (devoid of qualities), while prakriti, once that from passive mula-prakriti it has become avyakta (an active evolver) is gunavat--endowed with qualities. with the latter, purusha or atman can have nought to do (of course being unable to perceive it in its gunuvatic state); with the former--or mula-prakriti or undifferentiated cosmic essence--it has, since it is one with it and identical. the atma bodha, or "knowledge of soul," a tract written by the great sankaracharya, speaks distinctly of the seven principles in man (see th verse). they are called therein the five sheaths (panchakosa) in which is enclosed the divine monad--the atman, and buddhi, the th and th principles, or the individuated soul when made distinct (through avidya, maya and the gunas) from the supreme soul--parabrahm. the st sheath, called ananda-maya--the "illusion of supreme bliss"--is the manas or fifth principle of the occultists, when united with buddhi; the nd sheath is vjnana-maya-kosa, the case or "envelope of self-delusion," the manas when self-deluded into the belief of the personal "i," or ego, with its vehicle. the rd, the mano-maya sheath, composed of "illusionary mind" associated with the organs of action and will, is the kamarupa and linga-sarira combined, producing an illusive "i" or mayavi-rupa. the th sheath is called prana-maya, "illusionary life," our second life principle or jiv, wherein resides life, the "breathing" sheath. the th kosa is called anna-maya, or the sheath supported by food--our gross material body. all these sheaths produce other smaller sheaths, or six attributes or qualities each, the seventh being always the root sheath; and the atman or spirit passing through all these subtle ethereal bodies like a thread, is called the "thread-soul" or sutratman. we may conclude with the above demonstration. verily the esoteric doctrine may well be called in its turn the "thread-doctrine," since, like sutratman or pranatman, it passes through and strings together all the ancient philosophical religious systems, and, what is more, reconciles and explains them. for though seeming so unlike externally, they have but one foundation, and of that the extent, depth, breadth and nature are known to those who have become, like the "wise men of the east," adepts in occult science. --h.p. blavatsky personal and impersonal god at the outset i shall request my readers (such of them at least as are not acquainted with the cosmological theories of the idealistic thinkers of europe) to examine john stuart mill's cosmological speculations as contained in his examination of sir william hamilton's philosophy, before attempting to understand the adwaita doctrine; and i beg to inform them beforehand that in explaining the main principles of the said doctrine, i am going to use, as far as it is convenient to do so, the phraseology adopted by english psychologists of the idealistic school of thought. in dealing with the phenomena of our present plane of existence john stuart mill ultimately came to the conclusion that matter, or the so-called external phenomena, are but the creation of our mind; they are the mere appearances of a particular phase of our subjective self, and of our thoughts, volitions, sensations and emotions which in their totality constitute the basis of that ego. matter then is the permanent possibility of sensations, and the so-called laws of matter are, properly speaking, the laws which govern the succession and coexistence of our states of consciousness. mill further holds that properly speaking there is no noumenal ego. the very idea of a mind existing separately as an entity, distinct from the states of consciousness which are supposed to inhere in it, is in his opinion illusory, as the idea of an external object, which is supposed to be perceived by our senses. thus the ideas of mind and matter, of subject and object, of the ego and external world, are really evolved from the aggregation of our mental states which are the only realities so far as we are concerned. the chain of our mental states or states of consciousness is "a double-headed monster," according to professor bain, which has two distinct aspects, one objective and the other subjective. mr. mill has paused here, confessing that psychological analysis did not go any further; the mysterious link which connects together the train of our states of consciousness and gives rise to our ahankaram in this condition of existence, still remains an incomprehensible mystery to western psychologists, though its existence is but dimly perceived in the subjective phenomena of memory and expectation. on the other hand, the great physicists of europe are gradually coming to the conclusion* that mind is the product of matter, or that it is one of the attributes of matter in some of its conditions. it would appear, therefore, from the speculations of western psychologists that matter is evolved from mind and that mind is evolved from matter. these two propositions are apparently irreconcilable. -------- * see tyndall's belfast address.--s.r. -------- mill and tyndall have admitted that western science is yet unable to go deeper into the question. nor is it likely to solve the mystery hereafter, unless it calls eastern occult science to its aid and takes a more comprehensive view of the capabilities of the real subjective self of man and the various aspects of the great objective universe. the great adwaitee philosophers of ancient aryavarta have examined the relationship between subject and object in every condition of existence in this solar system in which this differentiation is presented. just as a human being is composed of seven principles, differentiated matter in the solar system exists in seven different conditions. these different states of matter do not all come within the range of our present objective consciousness. but they can be objectively perceived by the spiritual ego in man. to the liberated spiritual monad of man, or to the dhyan chohans, every thing that is material in every condition of matter is an object of perception. further, pragna or the capacity of perception exists in seven different aspects corresponding to the seven conditions of matter. strictly speaking, there are but six states of matter, the so-called seventh state being the aspect of cosmic matter in its original undifferentiated condition. similarly there are six states of differentiated pragna, the seventh state being a condition of perfect unconsciousness. by differentiated pragna, i mean the condition in which pragna is split up into various states of consciousness. thus we have six states of consciousness, either objective or subjective for the time being, as the case may be, and a perfect state of unconsciousness, which is the beginning and the end of all conceivable states of consciousness, corresponding to the states of differentiated matter and its original undifferentiated basis which is the beginning and the end of all cosmic evolutions. it will be easily seen that the existence of consciousness is necessary for the differentiation between subject and object. hence these two phases are presented in six different conditions, and in the last state there being no consciousness as above stated, the differentiation in question ceases to exist. the number of these various conditions is different in different systems of philosophy. but whatever may be the number of divisions, they all lie between perfect unconsciousness at one end of the line and our present state of consciousness or bahipragna at the other end. to understand the real nature of these different states of consciousness, i shall request my readers to compare the consciousness of the ordinary man with the consciousness of the astral man, and again compare the latter with the consciousness of the spiritual ego in man. in these three conditions the objective universe is not the same. but the difference between the ego and the non-ego is common to all these conditions. consequently, admitting the correctness of mill's reasoning as regards the subject and object of our present plane of consciousness, the great adwaitee thinkers of india have extended the same reasoning to other states of consciousness, and came to the conclusion that the various conditions of the ego and the non-ego were but the appearances of one and the same entity--the ultimate state of unconsciousness. this entity is neither matter nor spirit; it is neither ego nor non-ego; and it is neither object nor subject. in the language of hindu philosophers it is the original and eternal combination of purusha and prakriti. as the adwaitees hold that an external object is merely the product of our mental states, prakriti is nothing more than illusion, and purush is the only reality; it is the one existence which remains eternal in this universe of ideas. this entity then is the parabrahmam of the adwaitees. even if there were to be a personal god with anything like a material upadhi (physical basis of whatever form), from the standpoint of an adwaitee there will be as much reason to doubt his noumenal existence as there would be in the case of any other object. in their opinion, a conscious god cannot be the origin of the universe, as his ego would be the effect of a previous cause, if the word conscious conveys but its ordinary meaning. they cannot admit that the grand total of all the states of consciousness in the universe is their deity, as these states are constantly changing and as cosmic idealism ceases during pralaya. there is only one permanent condition in the universe which is the state of perfect unconsciousness, bare chidakasam (field of consciousness) in fact. when my readers once realize the fact that this grand universe is in reality but a huge aggregation of various states of consciousness, they will not be surprised to find that the ultimate state of unconsciousness is considered as parabrahmam by the adwaitees. the idea of a god, deity, iswar, or an impersonal god (if consciousness is one of his attributes) involves the idea of ego or non-ego in some shape or other, and as every conceivable ego or non-ego is evolved from this primitive element (i use this word for want of a better one) the existence of an extra-cosmic god possessing such attributes prior to this condition is absolutely inconceivable. though i have been speaking of this element as the condition of unconsciousness, it is, properly speaking, the chidakasam or chinmatra of the hindu philosophers which contains within itself the potentiality of every condition of "pragna," and which results as consciousness on the one hand and the objective universe on the other, by the operation of its latent chichakti (the power which generates thought). before proceeding to discuss the nature of parabrahmam. it is to be stated that in the opinion of adwaitees, the upanishads and the brahmasutras fully support their views on the subject. it is distinctly affirmed in the upanishads that parabrahmam, which is but the bare potentiality of pragna,* is not an aspect of pragna or ego in any shape, and that it has neither life nor consciousness. the reader will be able to ascertain that such is really the case on examining the mundaka and mandukya upanishads. the language used here and there in the upanishads is apt to mislead one into the belief that such language points to the existence of a conscious iswar. but the necessity for such language will perhaps be rendered clear from the following considerations. -------- * the power or the capacity that gives rise to perception. -------- from a close examination of mill's cosmological theory the difficulty will be clearly seen referred to above, of satisfactorily accounting for the generation of conscious states in any human being from the standpoint of the said theory. it is generally stated that sensations arise in us from the action of the external objects around us: they are the effects of impressions made on our senses by the objective world in which we exist. this is simple enough to an ordinary mind, however difficult it may be to account for the transformation of a cerebral nerve-current into a state of consciousness. but from the standpoint of mill's theory we have no proof of the existence of any external object; even the objective existence of our own senses is not a matter of certainty to us. how, then, are we to account for and explain the origin of our mental states, if they are the only entities existing in this world? no explanation is really given by saying that one mental state gives rise to another mental state, to a certain extent at all events, under the operation of the so-called psychological "laws of association." western psychology honestly admits that its analysis has not gone any further. it may be inferred, however, from the said theory that there would be no reason for saying that a material upadhi (basis) is necessary for the existence of mind or states of consciousness. as is already indicated, the aryan psychologists have traced this current of mental states to its source--the eternal chinmatra existing everywhere. when the time for evolution comes this germ of pragna unfolds itself and results ultimately as cosmic ideation. cosmic ideas are the conceptions of all the conditions of existence in the cosmos existing in what may be called the universal mind (the demiurgic mind of the western kabalists). this chinmatra exists as it were at every geometrical point of the infinite chidakasam. this principle then has two general aspects. considered as something objective it is the eternal asath--mulaprakriti or undifferentiated cosmic matter. from a subjective point of view it may be looked upon in two ways. it is chidakasam when considered as the field of cosmic ideation; and it is chinmatra when considered as the germ of cosmic ideation. these three aspects constitute the highest trinity of the aryan adwaitee philosophers. it will be readily seen that the last-mentioned aspect of the principle in question is far more important to us than the other two aspects; for, when looked upon in this aspect the principle under consideration seems to embody within itself the great law of cosmic evolution. and therefore the adwaitee philosophers have chiefly considered it in this light, and explained their cosmogony from a subjective point of view. in doing so, however, they cannot avoid the necessity of speaking of a universal mind (and this is brahma, the creator) and its ideation. but it ought not to be inferred therefrom that this universal mind necessarily belongs to an omnipresent living conscious creator, simply because in ordinary parlance a mind is always spoken of in connection with a particular living being. it cannot be contended that a material uphadi is indispensable for the existence of mind or mental states when the objective universe itself is, so far as we are concerned, the result of our states of consciousness. expressions implying the existence of a conscious iswar which are to be found here and there in the upanishads should not therefore be literally construed. it now remains to be seen how adwaitees account for the origin of mental states in a particular individual. apparently the mind of a particular human being is not the universal mind. nevertheless cosmic ideation is the real source of the states of consciousness in every individual. cosmic ideation exists everywhere; but when placed under restrictions by a material upadhi it results as the consciousness of the individual inhering in such upadhi. strictly speaking, an adwaitee will not admit the objective existence of this material upadhi. from his standpoint it is maya or illusion which exists as a necessary condition of pragna. but to avoid confusion, i shall use the ordinary language; and to enable my readers to grasp my meaning clearly the following simile may be adopted. suppose a bright light is placed in the centre with a curtain around it. the nature of the light that penetrates through the curtain and becomes visible to a person standing outside depends upon the nature of the curtain. if several such curtains are thus successively placed around the light, it will have to penetrate through all of them; and a person standing outside will only perceive as much light as is not intercepted by all the curtains. the central light becomes dimmer and dimmer as curtain after curtain is placed before the observer; and as curtain after curtain is removed the light becomes brighter and brighter until it reaches its natural brilliancy. similarly, universal mind or cosmic ideation becomes more and more limited and modified by the various upadhis of which a human being is composed; and when the action or influence of these various upadhis is successively controlled, the mind of the individual human being is placed en rapport with the universal mind and his ideation is lost in cosmic ideation. as i have already said, these upadhis are strictly speaking the conditions of the gradual development or evolution of bahipragna--or consciousness in the present plane of our existence--from the original and eternal chinmatra, which is the seventh principle in man, and the parabrahmam of the adwaitees. this then is the purport of the adwaitee philosophy on the subject under consideration, and it is, in my humble opinion, in harmony with the arhat doctrine relating to the same subject. the latter doctrine postulates the existence of cosmic matter in an undifferentiated condition throughout the infinite expanse of space. space and time are but its aspects, and purush, the seventh principle of the universe, has its latent life in this ocean of cosmic matter. the doctrine in question explains cosmogony from an objective point of view. when the period of activity arrives, portions of the whole differentiate according to the latent law. when this differentiation has commenced, the concealed wisdom or latent chichakti acts in the universal mind, and cosmic energy or fohat forms the manifested universe in accordance with the conceptions generated in the universal mind out of the differentiated principles of cosmic matter. this manifested universe constitutes a solar system. when the period of pralaya comes, the process of differentiation stops and cosmic ideation ceases to exist; and at the time of brahmapralaya or mahapralaya the particles of matter lose all differentiation, and the matter that exists in the solar system returns to its original undifferentiated condition. the latent design exists in the one unborn eternal atom, the centre which exists everywhere and nowhere; and this is the one life that exists everywhere. now, it will be easily seen that the undifferentiated cosmic matter, purush, and the one life of the arhat philosophers, are the mulaprakriti, chidakasam, and chinmatra of the adwaitee philosophers. as regards cosmogony, the arhat standpoint is objective, and the adwaitee standpoint is subjective. the arhat cosmogony accounts for the evolution of the manifested solar system from undifferentiated cosmic matter, and adwaitee cosmogony accounts for the evolution of bahipragna from the original chinmatra. as the different conditions of differentiated c osmic matter are but the different aspects of the various conditions of pragna, the adwaitee cosmogony is but the complement of the arhat cosmogony. the eternal principle is precisely the same in both the systems, and they agree in denying the existence of an extra-cosmic god. the arhats call themselves atheists, and they are justified in doing so if theism inculcates the existence of a conscious god governing the universe by his will-power. under such circumstance the adwaitee will come under the same denomination. atheism and theism are words of doubtful import, and until their meaning is definitely ascertained it would be better not to use them in connection with any system of philosophy. --t. subba row prakriti and parusha prakriti may be looked upon either as maya when considered as the upadhi of parabrahmam or as avidya when considered as the upadhi of jivatma ( th principle in man).* avidya is ignorance or illusion arising from maya. the term maya, though sometimes used as a synonym for avidya, is, properly speaking, applicable to prakriti only. there is no difference between prakriti, maya and sakti; and the ancient hindu philosophers made no distinction whatsoever between matter and force. in support of these assertions i may refer the learned hermit to "swetaswatara upanishad" and its commentary by sankaracharya. in case we adopt the fourfold division of the adwaitee philosophers, it will be clearly seen that jagrata,* swapna* and sushupti avasthas* are the results of avidya, and that vyswanara,* hiranyagarbha* and sutratma* are the manifestations of parabrahmam in maya or prakriti. in drawing a distinction between avidya and prakriti, i am merely following the authority of all the great adwaitee philosophers of aryavarta. it will be sufficient for me to refer to the first chapter of the celebrated vidantic treatise, the panchadasi. ---------- * upadhi--vehicle. jagrata--waking state, or a condition of external perception. swapna--dreamy state, or a condition of clairvoyance in the astral plane. sushupti--a state of extasis; and avastas--states or conditions of pragna. vyswanara--the magnetic fire that pervades the manifested solar system-- the root objective aspect of the one life. hiranyagarbha--the one life as manifested in the plane of astral light. sutratma--the eternal germ of the manifested universe existing in the field of mulaprakriti. --------- in truth, prakriti and purusha are but the two aspects of the same one reality. as our great sankaracharya truly observes at the close of his commentary on the rd sutra of the first chapter of the brahma sutras, "parabrahmam is karta (purush), as there is no other adhishtatha,* and parabrahmam is prakriti, there being no other upadanam." this sentence clearly indicates the relation between "the one life" and "the one element" of the arha-philosophers. this will elucidate the meaning of the statement so often quoted by adwaitees--"sarvam khalvitham brahma" ** and also of what is meant by saying that brahmam is the upadanakarnam (material cause) of the universe. --t subba row --------- * adishtatha--that which inheres in another principle--the active agent working in prakriti. ** everything in the universe is brahma. --------- morality and pantheism questions have been raised in several quarters as to the inefficiency of pantheism (which term is intended to include esoteric buddhism, adwaitee vedantism, and other similar religious systems) to supply a sound basis of morality. the philosophical assimilation of meum and teum, it is urged, must of necessity be followed by their practical confusion, resulting in the sanction of cruelty, robbery, &c. this line of argument points, however, most unmistakably to the co-existence of the objection with an all but utter ignorance of the systems objected to, in the critic's mind, as we shall show by-and-by. the ultimate sanction of morality, as is well known, is derived from a desire for the attainment of happiness and escape from misery. but schools differ in their estimate of happiness. exoteric religions base their morality on the hope of reward and fear of punishment at the hands of an omnipotent ruler of the universe by following the rules he has at his pleasure laid down for the obedience of his helpless subjects; in some cases, however, religions of later growth have made morality to depend on the sentiment of gratitude to that ruler for benefits received. the worthlessness, not to speak of the mischievousness, of such systems of morality is almost self-evident. as a type of morality founded on hope and fear, we shall take an instance from the christian bible: "he that giveth to the poor lendeth to the lord." the duty of supporting the poor is here made to depend upon prudential motives of laying by for a time when the "giver to the poor" will be incapable of taking care of himself. but the mahabharata says that "he that desireth a return for his good deeds loseth all merit; he is like a merchant bartering his goods." the true springs of morality lose their elasticity under the pressure of such criminal selfishness; all pure and unselfish natures will fly away from it in disgust. to avoid such consequences attempts have been made by some recent reformers of religion to establish morality upon the sentiment of gratitude to the lord. but it requires no deep consideration to find that, in their endeavours to shift the basis of morality, these reformers have rendered morality entirely baseless. a man has to do what is represented to be a thing "dear unto the lord" out of gratitude for the many blessings he has heaped upon him. but as a matter of fact he finds that the lord has heaped upon him curses as well as blessings. a helpless orphan is expected to be grateful to him for having removed the props of his life, his parents, because he is told in consolation that such a calamity is but apparently an evil, but in reality the all-merciful has underneath it hidden the greatest possible good. with equal reason might a preacher of the avenging ahriman exhort men to believe that under the apparent blessings of the "merciful" father there lurks the serpent of evil. the modern utilitarians, though the range of their vision is so narrow, have sterner logic in their teachings. that which tends to a man's happiness is good, and must be followed, and the contrary shunned as evil. so far so good. but the practical application of the doctrine is fraught with mischief. cribbed, cabined, and confined, by rank materialism, within the short space between birth and death, the utilitarians' scheme of happiness is merely a deformed torso, which cannot certainly be considered as the fair goddess of our devotion. the only scientific basis of morality is to be sought for in the soul-consoling doctrines of lord buddha or sri sankaracharya. the starting-point of the "pantheistic" (we use the word for want of a better one) system of morality is a clear perception of the unity of the one energy operating in the manifested cosmos, the grand result which it is incessantly striving to produce, and the affinity of the immortal human spirit and its latent powers with that energy, and its capacity to cooperate with the one life in achieving its mighty object. now knowledge or jnanam is divided into two classes by adwaitee philosophers--paroksha and aparoksha. the former kind of knowledge consists in intellectual assent to a stated proposition, the latter in the actual realization of it. the object which a buddhist or adwaitee yogi sets before himself is the realization of the oneness of existence, and the practice of morality is the most powerful means to that end, as we proceed to show. the principal obstacle to the realization of this oneness is the inborn habit of man of always placing himself at the centre of the universe. whatever a man might act, think, or feel, the irrepressible personality is sure to be the central figure. this, as will appear on reflection, is that which prevents every individual from filling his proper sphere in existence, where he only is exactly in place and no other individual is. the realization of this harmony is the practical or objective aspect of the grand problem. and the practice of morality is the effort to find out this sphere; morality, indeed, is the ariadne's clue in the cretan labyrinth in which man is placed. from the study of the sacred philosophy preached by lord buddha or sri sankara, paroksha knowledge (or shall we say belief?), in the unity of existence is derived, but without the practice of morality that knowledge cannot be converted into the highest kind of knowledge, or aproksha jnanam, and thus lead to the attainment of mukti. it availeth naught to intellectually grasp the notion of your being everything and brahma, if it is not realized in practical acts of life. to confuse meum and teum in the vulgar sense is but to destroy the harmony of existence by a false assertion of "i," and is as foolish as the anxiety to nourish the legs at the expense of the arms. you cannot be one with all, unless all your acts, thoughts, and feelings synchronize with the onward march of nature. what is meant by the brahmajnani being beyond the reach of karma, can be fully realized only by a man who has found out his exact position in harmony with the one life in nature; that man sees how a brahmajnani can act only in unison with nature, and never in discord with it: to use the phraseology of ancient writers on occultism, a brahmajnani is a real "co-worker with nature." not only european sanskritists, but also exoteric yogis, fall into the grievous mistake of supposing that, in the opinion of our sacred writers, a human being can escape the operation of the law of karma by adopting a condition of masterly inactivity, entirely losing sight of the fact that even a rigid abstinence from physical acts does not produce inactivity on the higher astral and spiritual planes. sri sankara has very conclusively proved, in his commentaries on the bhagavad gita, that such a supposition is nothing short of a delusion. the great teacher shows there that forcibly repressing the physical body from working does not free one from vasana or vritti--the inherent inclination of the mind to work. there is a tendency, in every department of nature, for an act to repeat itself; the karma acquired in the last preceding birth is always trying to forge fresh links in the chain, and thereby lead to continued material existence;--and this tendency can only be counteracted by unselfishly performing all the duties appertaining to the sphere in which a person is born; such a course alone can produce chitta suddhi, (purification of the mind), without which the capacity of perceiving spiritual truths can never be acquired. a few words must here be said about the physical inactivity of the yogi or the mahatma. inactivity of the physical body (sthula sarira) does not indicate a condition of inactivity either on the astral or the spiritual plane of action. the human spirit is in its highest state of activity in samadhi, (highest trance) and not, as is generally supposed, in a dormant, quiescent condition. and, moreover, it will be easily seen, by any one who examines the nature of occult dynamics, that a given amount of energy expended on the spiritual or astral plane is productive of far greater results than the same amount expended on the physical objective plane of existence. when an adept has placed himself en rapport with the universal mind he becomes a real power in nature. even on the objective plane of existence the difference between brain and muscular energy, in their capacity of producing widespread and far-reaching results, can he very easily perceived. the amount of physical energy expended by the discoverer of the steam-engine might not have been more than that expended by a hardworking day-labourer. but the practical results of the labourer's work can never be compared with the results achieved by the discovery of the steam-engine. similarly, the ultimate effects of spiritual energy are infinitely greater than those of intellectual energy. from the above considerations it is abundantly clear that the initiatory training of a true vedantin raj yogi must be the nourishing of a sleepless and ardent desire of doing all in his power for the good of mankind on the ordinary physical plane, his activity being transferred, however, to the higher astral and spiritual planes as his development proceeds. in course of time, as the truth becomes realized, the situation is rendered quite clear to the yogi, and he is placed beyond the criticism of any ordinary man. the mahanirvan tantra says:-- charanti trigunatite ko vidhir ko ishedhava. "for one, walking beyond the three gunas--satva (feeling of gratification), rajas (passional activity) and tamas (inertness)--what injunction or what restriction is there?"--in the consideration of men, walled in on all sides by the objective plane of existence. this does not mean that a mahatma can or will ever neglect the laws of morality, but that he, having unified his individual nature with great nature herself, is constitutionally incapable of violating any one of the laws of nature, and no man can constitute himself a judge of the conduct of the great one without knowing the laws of all the planes of nature's activity. (as honest men are honest without the least consideration of the) criminal law, so a mahatma is moral without reference to the laws of morality. these are, however, sublime topics: we shall before conclusion notice some other considerations which lead the ordinary "pantheist" to the true foundation of morality. happiness has been defined by john stuart mill as the state of absence of opposition. manu gives the definition in more forcible terms: sarvam paravasam duhkham sarva matmavasam sukham idam jnayo samasena lakshanam sukhaduhkhayo. "every kind of subjugation to another is pain, and subjugation to one's self is happiness: in brief, this is to be known as the characteristic marks of the two." now, it is universally admitted that the whole system of nature is moving in a particular direction, and this direction, we are taught, is determined by the composition of two forces--namely, the one acting from that pole of existence ordinarily called "matter" towards the other pole called "spirit," and the other in the opposite direction. the very fact that nature is moving shows that these two forces are not equal in magnitude. the plane on which the activity of the first force predominates is called in occult treatises the "ascending arc," and the corresponding plane of the activity of the other force is styled the "descending arc." a little reflection will show that the work of evolution begins on the descending arc and works its way upwards through the ascending arc. from this it follows that the force directed towards spirit is the one which must, though not without hard struggle, ultimately prevail. this is the great directing energy of nature, and, although disturbed by the operation of the antagonistic force, it is this that gives the law to her; the other is merely its negative aspect, for convenience regarded as a separate agent. if an individual attempts to move in a direction other than that in which nature is moving, that individual is sure to be crushed, sooner or later, by the enormous pressure of the opposing force. we need not say that such a result would be the very reverse of pleasurable. the only way, therefore, in which happiness might be attained is by merging one's nature in great mother nature, and following the direction in which she herself is moving: this again can only be accomplished by assimilating men's individual conduct with the triumphant force of nature, the other force being always overcome with terrific catastrophes. the effort to assimilate the individual with the universal law is popularly known as the practice of morality. obedience to this universal law, after ascertaining it, is true religion, which has been defined by lord buddha "as the realization of the true." an example will serve to illustrate the position. can a practical pantheist, or, in other words, an occultist, utter a falsehood? now, it will be readily admitted that life manifests itself by the power of acquiring sensation, temporary dormancy of that power being suspended animation. if a man receives a particular series of sensations and pretends they are other than they really are, the result is that he exercises his will-power in opposition to a law of nature on which, as we have shown, life depends, and thereby becomes suicide on a minor scale. space prevents further discussion, but all the ten deadly sins mentioned by manu and buddha can be satisfactorily dealt with in the light sought to be focused here. --mohini m. chatterji occult study the practical bearing of occult teaching on ordinary life is very variously interpreted by different students of the subject. for many western readers of recent books on the esoteric doctrine, it even seems doubtful whether the teaching has any bearing on practical life at all. the proposal which it is supposed sometimes to convey, that all earnest inquirers should put themselves under the severe ascetic regimen followed by its regular oriental disciples, is felt to embody a strain on the habits of modern civilization which only a few enthusiasts will be prepared to encounter. the mere intellectual charm of an intricate philosophy may indeed be enough to recommend the study to some minds, but a scheme of teaching that offers itself as a substitute for religious faith of the usual kind will be expected to yield some tangible results in regard to the future spiritual well-being of those who adopt it. has occult philosophy nothing to give except to those who are in a position and willing to make a sacrifice in its behalf of all other objects in life? in that case it would indeed be useless to bring it out into the world. in reality the esoteric doctrine affords an almost infinite variety of opportunities for spiritual development, and no greater mistake could be made in connection with the present movement than to suppose the teaching of the adepts merely addressed to persons capable of heroic self-devotion. assuredly it does not discourage efforts in the direction of the highest achievement of occult progress, if any western occultists may feel disposed to make them; but it is important for us all to keep clearly in view the lower range of possibilities connected with humbler aspirations. i believe it to be absolutely true that even the slightest attention seriously paid to the instructions now emanating from the indian adepts will generate results within the spiritual principles of those who render it--causes capable of producing appreciable consequences in a future state of existence. any one who has sufficiently examined the doctrine of devachan will readily follow the idea, for the nature of the spiritual existence which in the ordinary course of things must succeed each physical life, provides for the very considerable expansion of any aspirations towards real knowledge that may be set going on earth. i will recur to this point directly, when i have made clearer the general drift of the argument i am trying to unfold. at the one end of the scale of possibilities connected with occult study lies the supreme development of adeptship; an achievement which means that the person reaching it has so violently stimulated his spiritual growth within a short period, as to have anticipated processes on which nature, in her own deliberate way, would have spent a great procession of ages. at the other end of the scale lies the small result to which i have just alluded--a result which may rather be said to establish a tendency in the direction of spiritual achievement than to embody such achievement. but between these two widely different results there is no hard and fast line that can be drawn at any place to make a distinct separation in the character of the consequences ensuing from devotion to occult pursuits. as the darkness of blackest night gives way by imperceptible degrees to the illumination of the brightest sunrise, so the spiritual consequences of emerging from the apathy either of pure materialism or of dull acquiescence in unreasonable dogmas, brighten by imperceptible degrees from the faintest traces of devachanic improvement into the full blaze of the highest perfection human nature can attain. without assuming that the course of nature which prescribes for each human ego successive physical lives and successive periods of spiritual refreshment--without supposing that this course is altered by such moderate devotion to occult study as is compatible with the ordinary conditions of european life, it will nevertheless be seen how vast the consequences may ultimately be of impressing on that career of evolution a distinct tendency in the direction of supreme enlightenment, of that result which is described as the union of the individual soul with universal spirit. the explanations of the esoteric doctrine which have been publicly given, have shown that humanity in the mass has now attained a stage in the great evolutionary cycle from which it has the opportunity of growing upward towards final perfection. in the mass it is, of course, unlikely that it will travel that road: final perfection is not a gift to be bestowed upon all, but to be worked for by those who desire it. it may be put within the theoretical reach of all; there may be no human creature living at this moment, of whom it can be said that the highest possibilities of nature are impossible of attainment, but it does not follow by any means that every individual will attain the highest possibilities. regarding each individual as one of the seeds of a great flower which throws out thousands of seeds, it is manifest that only a few, relatively to the great number, will become fully developed flowers in their turn. no unjust neglect awaits the majority. for each and every one the consequences of the remote future will be precisely proportioned to the aptitudes he develops, but only those can reach the goal who, with persistent effort carried out through a long series of lives, differentiate themselves in a marked degree from the general multitude. now, that persistent effort must have a beginning, and granted the beginning, the persistence is not improbable. within our own observation of ordinary life, good habits, even though they may not be so readily formed as bad ones, are not difficult to maintain in proportion to the difficulty of their commencement. for a moment it may be asked how this may be applied to a succession of lives separate from each other by a total oblivion of their details; but it really applies as directly to the succession of lives as to the succession of days within one life, which are separated from each other by as many nights. the certain operation of those affinities in the individual ego which are collectively described in the esoteric doctrine by the word karma, must operate to pick up the old habits of character and thought, as life after life comes round, with the same certainty that the thread of memory in a living brain recovers, day after day, the impressions of those that have gone before. whether a moral habit is thus deliberately engendered by an occult student in order that it may propagate itself through future ages, or whether it merely arises from unintelligent aspirations towards good, which happily for mankind are more widely spread than occult study as yet, the way it works in each case is the same. the unintelligent aspiration towards goodness propagates itself and leads to good lives in the future; the intelligent aspiration propagates itself in the same way plus the propagation of intelligence; and this distinction shows the gulf of difference which may exist between the growth of a human soul which merely drifts along the stream of time, and that of one which is consciously steered by an intelligent purpose throughout. the human ego which acquires the habit of seeking for knowledge becomes invested, life after life, with the qualifications which ensure the success of such a search, until the final success, achieved at some critical period of its existence, carries it right up into the company of those perfected egos which are the fully developed flowers only expected, according to our first metaphor, from a few of the thousand seeds. now, it is clear that a slight impulse in a given direction, even on the physical plane does not produce the same effect as a stronger one; so, exactly in this matter of engendering habits required to persist in their operation through a succession of lives, it is quite obvious that the strong impulse of a very ardent aspiration towards knowledge will be more likely than a weaker one to triumph over the so called accidents of nature. this consideration brings us to the question of those habits in life which are more immediately associated in the popular views of the matter with the pursuit of occult science. it will be quite plain that the generation within his own nature by an occult student of affinities in the direction of spiritual progress, is a matter which has little if anything to do with the outer circumstances of his daily life. it cannot be dissociated from what may be called the outer circumstances of his moral life, for an occult student, whose moral nature is consciously ignoble, and who combines the pursuit of knowledge with the practice of wrong, becomes by that condition of things a student of sorcery rather than of true occultism--a candidate for satanic evolution instead of perfection. but at the same time the physical habits of life may be quite the reverse of ascetic, while all the while the thinking processes of the intellectual life are developing affinities which cannot fail in the results just seen to produce large ulterior consequences. some misconception is very apt to arise here from the way in which frequent reference is made to the ascetic habits of those who purpose to become the regular chelas of oriental adepts. it is supposed that what is practiced by the master is necessarily recommended for all his pupils. now this is far from being the case as regards the miscellaneous pupils who are gathering round the occult teachers lately become known to public report. certainly even in reference to their miscellaneous pupils the adepts would not discountenance asceticism. as we saw just now, there is no hard line drawn across the scale on which are defined the varying consequences of occult study in all its varying degrees of intensity--so with ascetic practice, from the slightest habits of self-denial, which may engender a preference for spiritual over material gratification, up to the very largest developments of asceticism required as a passport to chelaship, no such practices can be quite without their consequences in the all-embracing records of karma. but, broadly speaking, asceticism belongs to that species of effort which aims at personal chelaship, and that which contemplates the patient development of spiritual growth along the slow track of natural evolution claims no more, broadly speaking, than intellectual application. all that is asserted in regard to the opening now offered to those who have taken notice of the present opportunity, is, that they may now give their own evolution an impulse which they may not again have an opportunity of giving it with the same advantage to themselves if the present opportunity is thrown aside. true, it is most unlikely that any one advancing through nature, life after life, under the direction of a fairly creditable karma, will go on always without meeting sooner or later with the ideas that occult study implants. so that the occultist does not threaten those who turn aside from his teachings with any consequences that must necessarily be disastrous. he only says that those who listen to them must necessarily derive advantage from so doing in exact proportion to the zeal with which they undertake the study and the purity of motive with which they promote it in others. nor must it be supposed that those which have here been described as the lower range of possibilities in connection with occult study, are a mere fringe upon the higher possibilities, to be regarded as a relatively poor compensation accorded to those who do not feel equal to offering themselves for probation as regular chelas. it would be a grave misconception of the purpose with which the present stream of occult teaching has been poured into the world, if we were to think it a universal incitement to that course of action. it may be hazardous for any of us who are not initiates to speak with entire confidence of the intention of the adepts, but all the external facts concerned with the growth and development of the theosophical society, show its purpose to be more directly related to the cultivation of spiritual aspirations over a wide area, than to the excitement of these with supreme intensity in individuals. there are considerations, indeed, which may almost be said to debar the adepts from ever doing anything to encourage persons in whom this supreme intensity of excitement is possible, to take the very serious step of offering themselves as chelas. directly that by doing this a man renders himself a candidate for something more than the maximum advantages that can flow to him through the operation of natural laws--directly that in this way he claims to anticipate the most favourable course of nature and to approach high perfection by violent and artificial processes, he at once puts himself in presence of many dangers which would never beset him if he contented himself with a favourable natural growth. it appears to be always a matter of grave consideration with the adepts whether they will take the responsibility of encouraging any person who may not have it in him to succeed, to expose himself to these dangers. for any one who is determined to face them and is permitted to do so, the considerations put forward above in regard to the optional character of personal physical training fall to the ground. those ascetic practices which a candidate for nothing more than the best natural evolution may undertake if he chooses, with the view of emphasizing his spiritual karma to the utmost, become a sine qua non in regard to the very first step of his progress. but with such progress the present explanation is not specially concerned. its purpose has been to show the beneficial effects which may flow to ordinary people living ordinary lives, from even that moderate devotion to occult philosophy which is compatible with such ordinary lives, and to guard against the very erroneous belief that occult science is a pursuit in which it is not worth while to engage, unless adeptship is held out to the student as its ultimate result. --lay chela some inquiries suggested by mr. sinnett's "esoteric buddhism" the object of the following paper is to submit certain questions which have occurred to some english readers of "esoteric buddhism." we have had the great advantage of hearing mr. sinnett himself explain many points which perplexed us; and it is with his sanction that we now venture to ask that such light as is permissible may be thrown upon some difficulties which, so far as we can discover, remain as yet unsolved. we have refrained from asking questions on subjects on which we understand that the adepts forbid inquiry, and we respectfully hope that, as we approach the subject with a genuine wish to arrive at all the truth possible to us, our perplexities may be thought worthy of an authorized solution. we begin, then, with some obvious scientific difficulties. . is the nebular theory, as generally held, denied by the adepts? it seems hard to conceive of the alternate evolution from the sun's central mass of planets, some of them visible and heavy, others invisible,--and apparently without weight, as they have no influence on the movements of the visible planets. . and, further, the time necessary for the manvantara even of one planetary chain, much more of all seven, seems largely to exceed the probable time during which the sun can retain heat, if it is merely a cooling mass, which derives no important accession of heat from without. is some other view as regards the maintenance of the sun's heat held by the adepts? . the different races which succeed each other on the earth are said to be separated by catastrophes, among which continental subsidences occupy a prominent place. is it meant that these subsidences are so sudden and unforeseen as to sweep away great nations in an hour? or, if not, how is it that no appreciable trace is left of such high civilizations as are described in the past? is it supposed that our present european civilization, with its offshoots all over the globe, can be destroyed by any inundation or conflagration which leaves life still existing on the earth? are our existing arts and languages doomed to perish? or was it only the earlier races who were thus profoundly disjoined from one another? . the moon is said to be the scene of a life even more immersed in matter than the life on earth. are there then material organizations living there? if so, how do they dispense with air and water, and how is it that our telescopes discern no trace of their works? we should much like a fuller account of the adepts' view of the moon, as so much is already known of her material conditions that further knowledge could be more easily adjusted than in the case (for instance) of planets wholly invisible. . is the expression "a mineral monad" authorized by the adepts? if so, what relation does the monad bear to the atom, or the molecule, of ordinary scientific hypothesis? and does each mineral monad eventually become a vegetable monad, and then at last a human being? turning now to some historical difficulties, we would ask as follows:-- . is there not some confusion in the letter quoted on p. of "esoteric buddhism," where "the old greeks and romans" are said to have been atlanteans? the greeks and romans were surely aryans, like the adepts and ourselves: their language being, as one may say, intermediate between sanscrit and modern european dialects. . buddha's birth is placed (on p. ) in the year b.c.. is this date given by the adepts as undoubtedly correct? have they any view as to the new inscriptions of asoka (as given by general a. cunningham, "corpus inscriptionum indicanum," vol. i. pp. - ), on the strength of which buddha's nirvana is placed by barth ("religions of india," p. ), &c., about b.c., and his birth therefore at about b.c.? it would be exceedingly interesting if the adepts would give a sketch however brief of the history of india in those centuries with authentic dates. . sankaracharya's date is variously given by orientalists, but always after christ. barth, for instance, places him about a.d. in "esoteric buddhism" he is made to succeed buddha almost immediately (p. ). can this discrepancy be explained? has not sankaracharya been usually classed as vishnuite in his teaching? and similarly has not gaudapada been accounted a sivite? and placed much later than "esoteric buddhism" (p. ) places him? we would willingly pursue this line of inquiry, but think it best to wait and see to what extent the adepts may be willing to clear up some of the problems in indian religious history on which, as it would seem, they must surely possess knowledge which might be communicated to lay students without indiscretion. we pass on to some points beyond the ordinary range of science or history on which we should be very glad to hear more, if possible. . we should like to understand more clearly the nature of the subjective intercourse with beloved souls enjoyed in devachan. say, for instance, that i die and leave on earth some young children. are these children present to my consciousness in devachan still as children? do i imagine that they have died when i died? or do i merely imagine them as adult without knowing their life-history? or do i miss them from devachan until they do actually die, and then hear from them their life-history as it has proceeded between my death and theirs? . we do not quite understand the amount of reminiscence attained at various points in the soul's progress. do the adepts, who, we presume, are equivalent to sixth rounders, recollect their previous incarnations? do all souls which live on into the sixth round attain this power of remembrance? or does the devachan, at the end of each round bring a recollection of all the devachans, or of all the incarnations, which have formed a part of that particular round? and does reminiscence carry with it the power of so arranging future incarnations as still to remain in company with some chosen soul or group of souls? we have many more questions to ask, but we scruple to intrude further. and i will conclude here by repeating the remark with which we are most often met when we speak of the adepts to english friends. we find that our friends do not often ask for so-called miracles or marvels to prove the genuineness of the adepts' powers. but they ask why the adepts will not give some proof--not necessarily that they are far beyond us, but that their knowledge does at least equal our own in the familiar and definite tracks which western science has worn for itself. a few pregnant remarks on chemistry,--the announcement of a new electrical law, capable of experimental verification--some such communication as this (our interlocutors say), would arrest attention, command respect, and give a weight and prestige to the higher teaching which, so long as it remains in a region wholly unverifiable, it can scarcely acquire. we gratefully recognize the very acceptable choice which the adepts have made in selecting mr. sinnett as the intermediary between us and them. they could hardly have chosen any one more congenial to our western minds:--whether we consider the clearness of his written style, the urbanity of his verbal expositions, or the earnest sincerity of his convictions. since they have thus far met our peculiar needs with such considerate judgment, we cannot but hope that they may find themselves able yet further to adapt their modes of teaching to the requirements of occidental thought. --an english f.t.s. london, july . reply to an english f.t.s answers it was not in contemplation, at the outset of the work begun in fragments, to deal as fully with the scientific problems of cosmic evolution as now seems expected. a distinct promise was made, as mr. sinnett is well aware, to acquaint the readers with the outlines of esoteric doctrines and--no more. a good deal would be given, much more kept back. this seeming unwillingness to share with the world some of nature's secrets that may have come into the possession of the few, arises from causes quite different from the one generally assigned. it is not selfishness erecting a chinese wall between occult science and those who would know more of it, without making any distinction between the simply curious profane, and the earnest, ardent seeker after truth. wrong and unjust are those who think so; who attribute to indifference for other people's welfare a policy necessitated, on the contrary, by a far-seeing universal philanthropy; who accuse the custodians of lofty physical and spiritual though long rejected truths, of holding them high above the people's heads. in truth, the inability to reach them lies entirely with the seekers. indeed, the chief reason among many others for such a reticence, at any rate, with regard to secrets pertaining to physical sciences--is to be sought elsewhere.* it rests entirely on the impossibility of imparting that the nature of which is at the present stage of the world's development, beyond the comprehension of the would-be learners, however intellectual and however scientifically trained may be the latter. this tremendous difficulty is now explained to the few, who, besides having read "esoteric buddhism," have studied and understood the several occult axioms approached in it. it is safe to say that it will not be even vaguely realized by the general reader, but will offer the pretext for sheer abuse. nay, it has already. ------- * needless to remind an english f.t.s. that what is said here, applies only to secrets the nature of which when revealed will not be turned into a weapon against humanity in general, or its units--men. secrets of such class could not be given to any one but a regular chela of many years' standing and during his successive initiations; mankind as a whole has first to come of age, to reach its majority, which will happen but toward the beginning of its sixth race--before such mysteries can be safely revealed to it. the vril is not altogether a fiction, as some chelas and even "lay" chelas know. --------- it is simply that the gradual development of man's seven principles and physical senses has to be coincident and on parallel lines with rounds and root-races. our fifth race has so far developed but its five senses. now, if the kama or will-principle of the "fourth-rounders" has already reached that stage of its evolution when the automatic acts, the unmotivated instincts and impulses of its childhood and youth, instead of following external stimuli, will have become acts of will framed constantly in conjunction with the mind (manas), thus making of every man on earth of that race a free agent, a fully responsible being--the kama of our hardly adult fifth race is only slowly approaching it. as to the sixth sense of this, our race, it has hardly sprouted above the soil of its materiality. it is highly unreasonable, therefore, to expect for the men of the fifth to sense the nature and essence of that which will be fully sensed and perceived but by the sixth--let alone the seventh race--i.e., to enjoy the legitimate outgrowth of the evolution and endowments of the future races with only the help of our present limited senses. the exceptions to this quasi-universal rule have been hitherto found only in some rare cases of constitutional, abnormally precocious individual evolutions; or, in such, where by early training and special methods, reaching the stage of the fifth rounders, some men in addition to the natural gift of the latter have fully developed (by certain occult methods) their sixth, and in still rarer cases their seventh, sense. as an instance of the former class may be cited the seeress of prevorst; a creature born out of time, a rare precocious growth, ill adapted to the uncongenial atmosphere that surrounded her, hence a martyr ever ailing and sickly. as an example of the other, the count st. germain may be mentioned. apace with the anthropological and physiological development of man runs his spiritual evolution. to the latter, purely intellectual growth is often more an impediment than a help. an instance: radiant stuff--"the fourth state of matter"--has been hardly discovered, and no one--the eminent discoverer himself not excepted--has yet any idea of its full importance, its possibilities, its connection with physical phenomena, or even its bearing upon the most puzzling scientific problems. how then can any "adept" attempt to prove the fallacy of much that is predicated in the nebular and solar theories when the only means by which he could successfully prove his position is an appeal to, and the exhibition of, that sixth sense-- consciousness which the physicist cannot postulate? is not this plain? thus, the obstacle is not that the "adepts" would "forbid inquiry," but rather the personal, present limitations of the senses of the average, and even of the scientific man. to undertake the explanation of that which at the outset would be rejected as a physical impossibility, the outcome of hallucination, is unwise and even harmful, because premature. it is in consequence of such difficulties that the psychic production of physical phenomena--save in exceptional cases--is strictly forbidden. and now, "adepts" are asked to meddle with astronomy--a science which, of all the branches of human knowledge has yielded the most accurate information, afforded the most mathematically correct data, and of the achievements in which the men of science feel the most justly proud! it is true that on the whole astronomy has achieved triumphs more brilliant than those of most other sciences. but if it has done much in the direction of satisfying man's straining and thirsting mind and his noble aspirations for knowledge, physical as to its most important particulars, it has ever laughed at man's puny efforts to wrest the great secrets of infinitude by the help of only mechanical apparatus. while the spectroscope has shown the probable similarity of terrestrial and sidereal substance, the chemical actions peculiar to the variously progressed orbs of space have not been detected, nor proven to be identical with those observed on our own planet. in this particular, esoteric psychology may be useful. but who of the men of science would consent to confront it with their own handiwork? who of them would recognise the superiority and greater trustworthiness of the adept's knowledge over their own hypotheses, since in their case they can claim the mathematical correctness of their deductive reasonings based on the alleged unerring precision of the modern instruments; while the adepts can claim but their knowledge of the ultimate nature of the materials they have worked with for ages, resulting in the phenomena produced. however much it may he urged that a deductive argument, besides being an incomplete syllogistic form, may often be in conflict with fact; that their major propositions may not always be correct, although the predicates of their conclusions seem correctly drawn--spectrum analysis will not be acknowledged as inferior to purely spiritual research. nor, before developing his sixth sense, will the man of science concede the error of his theories as to the solar spectrum, unless he abjure, to some degree at least, his marked weakness for conditional and disjunctive syllogisms ending in eternal dilemmas. at present the "adepts" do not see any help for it. were these invisible and unknown profanes to interfere with--not to say openly contradict--the dicta of the royal society, contempt and ridicule, followed by charges of crass ignorance of the first elementary principles of modern science would be their only reward; while those who would lend an ear to their "vagaries," would be characterized immediately as types of the "mild lunatics" of the age. unless, indeed, the whole of that august body should be initiated into the great mysteries at once, and without any further ado or the preliminary and usual preparations or training, the f.r.s.'s could be miraculously endowed with the required sixth sense, the adepts fear the task would be profitless. the latter have given quite enough, little though it may seem, for the purposes of a first trial. the sequence of martyrs to the great universal truths has never been once broken; and the long list of known and unknown sufferers, headed with the name of galileo, now closes with that of zollner. is the world of science aware of the real cause of zollner's premature death? when the fourth dimension of space becomes a scientific reality like the fourth state of matter, he may have a statue raised to him by grateful posterity. but this will neither recall him to life, nor will it obliterate the days and months of mental agony that harassed the soul of this intuitional, far-seeing, modest genius, made even after his death to receive the donkey's kick of misrepresentation and to be publicly charged with lunacy. hitherto, astronomy could grope between light and darkness only with the help of the uncertain guidance offered it by analogy. it has reduced to fact and mathematical precision the physical motion and the paths of the heavenly bodies, and--no more. so far, it has been unable to discover with any approach to certainty the physical constitution of either sun, stars, or even cometary matter. of the latter, it seems to know no more than was taught , years ago by the official astronomers of old chaldea and egypt--namely, that it is vaporous, since it transmits the rays of stars and planets without any sensible obstruction. but let the modern chemist be asked to tell one whether this matter is in any way connected with, or akin to, that of any of the gases he is acquainted with; or again, to any of the solid elements of his chemistry. the probable answer received will be very little calculated to solve the world's perplexity; since, all hypotheses to the contrary notwithstanding, cometary matter does not appear to possess even the common law of adhesion or of chemical affinity. the reason for it is very simple. and the truth ought long ago to have dawned upon the experimentalists, since our little world (though so repeatedly visited by the hairy and bearded travelers, enveloped in the evanescent veil of their tails, and otherwise brought in contact with that matter) has neither been smothered by an addition of nitrogen gas, nor deluged by an excess of hydrogen, nor yet perceptibly affected by a surplus of oxygen. the essence of cometary matter must be--and the "adepts" say is--totally different from any of the chemical or physical characteristics with which the greatest chemists and physicists of the earth are familiar-- all recent hypotheses to the contrary notwithstanding. it is to be feared that before the real nature of the elder progeny of mula prakriti is detected, mr. crookes will have to discover matter of the fifth or extra radiant state; et seq. thus, while the astronomer has achieved marvels in the elucidation of the visible relations of the orbs of space, he has learnt nothing of their inner constitution. his science has led him no farther towards a reading of that inner mystery than has that of the geologist, who can tell us only of the earth's superficial layers, and that of the physiologist, who has until now been able to deal only with man's outer shell, or sthula sarira. occultists have asserted, and go on asserting daily, the fallacy of judging the essence by its outward manifestations, the ultimate nature of the life-principle by the circulation of the blood, mind by the gray matter of the brain, and the physical constitution of sun, stars and comets by our terrestrial chemistry and the matter of our own planet. verily and indeed, no microscopes, spectroscopes, telescopes, photometers, or other physical apparatuses can ever be focused on either the macro-or micro-cosmical highest principles, nor will the mayavirupa of either yield its mystery to physical inquiry. the methods of spiritual research and psychological observation are the only efficient agencies to employ. we have to proceed by analogy in everything to be sure. yet the candid men of science must very soon find out that it is not sufficient to examine a few stars--a handful of sand, as it were, from the margin of the shoreless, cosmic ocean--to conclude that these stars are the same as all other stars--our earth included; that, because they have attained a certain very great telescopic power, and gauged an area enclosed in the smallest of spaces when compared with what remains, they have, therefore, concurrently perfected the survey of all that exists within even that limited space. for, in truth, they have done nothing of the kind. they have had only a superficial glance at that which is made visible to them under the present conditions, with the limited power of their vision. and even though it were helped by telescopes of a hundred-fold stronger power than that of lord rosse, or the new lick observatory, the case would not alter. no physical instrument will ever help astronomy to scan distances of the immensity of which that of sirius, situated at the trifle of , , , , miles away from the outer boundary of the spherical area, or even that of (a) capella, with its extra trifle of , , , , * miles still farther away, can give them, as they themselves are well aware, the faintest idea. for, though an adept is unable to cross bodily (i.e., in his astral shape) the limits of the solar system, yet he knows that, far stretching beyond the telescopic power of detection, there are systems upon systems, the smallest of which would, when compared with the system of sirius, make the latter seem like an atom of dust imbedded in the great shamo desert. the eye of the astronomer, who thinks he also knows of the existence of such systems, has never rested upon them, has never caught of them, even that spectral glimpse, fanciful and hazy as the incoherent vision in a slumbering mind that he has occasionally had of other systems, and yet he verily believes he has gauged infinitude! and yet these immeasurably distant worlds are brought as clear and near to the spiritual eye of the astral astronomer as a neighbouring bed of daisies may be to the eye of the botanist. -------- * the figures are given from the mathematical calculations of exoteric western astronomy. esoteric astronomy may prove them false some day. -------- thus, the "adepts" of the present generation, though unable to help the profane astronomer by explaining the ultimate essence, or even the material constitution, of star and planet, since european science, knowing nothing as yet of the existence of such substances, or more properly of their various states or conditions, has neither proper terms for, nor can form any adequate idea of them by any description, they may, perchance, be able to prove what this matter is not--and this is more than sufficient for all present purposes. the next best thing to learning what is true is to ascertain what is not true. having thus anticipated a few general objections, and traced a limit to expectations, since there is no need of drawing any veil of mystery before "an english f.t.s.," his few questions may be partially answered. the negative character of the replies draws a sufficiently strong line of demarcation between the views of the adepts and those of western science to afford some useful hints at least. question .--do the adepts deny the nebular theory? answer:--no; they do not deny its general propositions, nor the approximative truths of the scientific hypotheses. they only deny the completeness of the present, as well as the entire error of the many so-called "exploded" old theories, which, during the last century, have followed each other in such rapid succession. for instance: while denying, with laplace, herschel and others, that the variable patches of light perceived on the nebulous background of the galaxy ever belonged to remote worlds in the process of formation; and agreeing with modern science that they proceed from no aggregation of formless matter, but belong simply to clusters of "stars" already formed; they yet add that many of such clusters, that pass in the opinion of the astro-physicists for stars and worlds already evoluted, are in fact but collections of the various materials made ready for future worlds. like bricks already baked, of various qualities, shapes and colour, that are no longer formless clay but have become fit units of a future wall, each of them having a fixed and distinctly assigned space to occupy in some forthcoming building, are these seemingly adult worlds. the astronomer has no means of recognizing their relative adolescence, except perhaps by making a distinction between the star clusters with the usual orbital motion and mutual gravitation, and those termed, we believe, irregular star-clusters of very capricious and changeful appearances. thrown together as though at random, and seemingly in utter violation of the law of symmetry, they defy observation: such, for instance, are m. lyrae, m. cephei, dumb-bell, and some others. before an emphatic contradiction of what precedes is attempted, and ridicule offered perchance, it would not be amiss to ascertain the nature and character of those other so-called "temporary" stars, whose periodicity, though never actually proven, is yet allowed to pass unquestioned. what are these stars which, appearing suddenly in matchless magnificence and splendour, disappear as mysteriously as unexpectedly, without leaving a single trace behind? whence do they appear? whither are they engulfed? in the great cosmic deep--we say. the bright "brick" is caught by the hand of the mason--directed by that universal architect which destroys but to rebuild. it has found its place in the cosmic structure and will perform its mission to its last manvantaric hour. another point most emphatically denied by the "adepts" is, that there exist in the whole range of visible heavens any spaces void of starry worlds. there are stars, worlds and systems within as without the systems made visible to man, and even within our own atmosphere, for all the physicist knows. the "adept" affirms in this connection that orthodox, or so-called official science, uses very often the word "infinitude" without attaching to it any adequate importance; rather as a flower of speech than a term implying an awful, a most mysterious reality. when an astronomer is found in his reports "gauging infinitude," even the most intuitional of his class is but too often apt to forget that he is gauging only the superficies of a small area and its visible depths, and to speak of these as though they were merely the cubic contents of some known quantity. this is the direct result of the present conception of a three-dimensional space. the turn of a four-dimensional world is near, but the puzzle of science will ever continue until their concepts reach the natural dimensions of visible and invisible space--in its septenary completeness. "the infinite and the absolute are only the names for two counter-imbecilities of the human (uninitiated) mind;" and to regard them as the transmuted "properties of the nature of things--of two subjective negatives converted into objective affirmatives," as sir w. hamilton puts it, is to know nothing of the infinite operations of human liberated spirit, or of its attributes, the first of which is its ability to pass beyond the region of our terrestrial experience of matter and space. as an absolute vacuum is an impossibility below, so is it a like impossibility above. but our molecules, the infinitesimals of the vacuum "below," are replaced by the giant-atom of the infinitude "above." when demonstrated, the four-dimensional conception of space may lead to the invention of new instruments to explore the extremely dense matter that surrounds us as a ball of pitch might surround--say, a fly, but which, in our extreme ignorance of all its properties save those we find it exercising on our earth, we yet call the clear, the serene, and the transparent atmosphere. this is no psychology, but simply occult physics, which can never confound "substance" with "centres of force," to use the terminology of a western science which is ignorant of maya. in less than a century, besides telescopes, microscopes, micrographs and telephones, the royal society will have to offer a premium for such an etheroscope. it is also necessary in connection with the question under reply that "an english f.t.s." should know that the "adepts" of the good law reject gravity as at present explained. they deny that the so-called "impact theory" is the only one that is tenable in the gravitation hypothesis. they say, that if all efforts made by the physicists to connect it with ether, in order to explain electric and magnetic distance-action have hitherto proved complete failures, it is again due to the race ignorance of the ultimate states of matter in nature, and, foremost of all, of the real nature of the solar stuff. believing but in the law of mutual magneto-electric attraction and repulsion, they agree with those who have come to the conclusion that "universal gravitation is a weak force," utterly incapable of accounting for even one small portion of the phenomena of motion. in the same connection they are forced to suggest that science may he wrong in her indiscriminate postulation of centrifugal force, which is neither a universal nor a consistent law. to cite but one instance this force is powerless to account for the spheroidal oblateness of certain planets. for if the bulge of planetary equators and the shortening of their polar axes is to be attributed to centrifugal force, instead of being simply the result of the powerful influence of solar electro-magnetic attraction, "balanced by concentric rectification of each planet's own gravitation achieved by rotation on its axis," to use an astronomer's phraseology (neither very clear nor correct, yet serving our purpose to show the many flaws in the system), why should there be such difficulty in answering the objection that the differences in the equatorial rotation and density of various planets are directly in opposition to this theory? how long shall we see even great mathematicians bolstering up fallacies to supply an evident hiatus! the "adepts" have never claimed superior or any knowledge of western astronomy and other sciences. yet turning even to the most elementary textbooks used in the schools of india, they find that the centrifugal theory of western birth is unable to cover all the ground. that, unaided, it can neither account for every spheroid oblate, nor explain away such evident difficulties as are presented by the relative density of some planets. how indeed can any calculation of centrifugal force explain to us, for instance, why mercury, whose rotation is, we are told, only "about one-third that of the earth, and its density only about one-fourth greater than the earth," should have a polar compression more than ten times greater than the latter? and again, why jupiter, whose equatorial rotation is said to be "twenty-seven times greater, and its density only about one-fifth that of the earth," should have its polar compression seventeen times greater than that of the earth? or, why saturn, with an equatorial velocity fifty-five times greater than mercury for centrifugal force to contend with, should have its polar compression only three times greater than mercury's? to crown the above contradictions, we are asked to believe in the central forces as taught by modern science, even when told that the equatorial matter of the sun, with more than four times the centrifugal velocity of the earth's equatorial surface and only about one-fourth part of the gravitation of the equatorial matter, has not manifested any tendency to bulge out at the solar equator, nor shown the least flattening at the poles of the solar axis. in other and clearer words, the sun, with only one-fourth of our earth's density for the centrifugal force to work upon, has no polar compression at all! we find this objection made by more than one astronomer, yet never explained away satisfactorily so far as the "adepts" are aware. therefore do they say that the great men of science of the west, knowing nothing or next to nothing either about cometary matter, centrifugal and centripetal forces, the nature of the nebulae, or the physical constitution of the sun, stars, or even the moon, are imprudent to speak so confidently as they do about the "central mass of the sun" whirling out into space planets, comets, and whatnot. our humble opinion being wanted, we maintain: that it evolutes out, but the life principle, the soul of these bodies, giving and receiving it back in our little solar system, as the "universal life-giver," the one life gives and receives it in the infinitude and eternity; that the solar system is as much the microcosm of the one macrocosm, as man is the former when compared with his own little solar cosmos. what are the proofs of science? the solar spots (a misnomer, like much of the rest)? but these do not prove the solidity of the "central mass," any more than the storm-clouds prove the solid mass of the atmosphere behind them. is it the non-coextensiveness of the sun's body with its apparent luminous dimensions, the said "body" appearing "a solid mass, a dark sphere of matter confined within a fiery prison-house, a robe of fiercest flames?" we say that there is indeed a "prisoner" behind, but that having never yet been seen by any physical, mortal eye, what he allows to be seen of him is merely a gigantic reflection, an illusive phantasma of "solar appendages of some sort," as mr. proctor honestly calls it. before saying anything further, we will consider the next interrogatory. question ii.--is the sun merely a cooling mass? such is the accepted theory of modern science: it is not what the "adepts" teach. the former says--the sun "derives no important accession of heat from without:"--the latter answer--"the sun needs it not." he is quite as self dependent as he is self-luminous; and for the maintenance of his heat requires no help, no foreign accession of vital energy; for he is the heart of his system, a heart that will not cease its throbbing until its hour of rest shall come. were the sun "a cooling mass," our great life-giver would have indeed grown dim with age by this time, and found some trouble to keep his watch-fires burning for the future races to accomplish their cycles, and the planetary chains to achieve their rounds. there would remain no hope for evoluting humanity; except perhaps in what passes for science in the astronomical textbooks of missionary schools--namely, that "the sun has an orbital journey of a hundred millions of years before him, and the system yet but seven thousand years old!" (prize book, "astronomy for general readers.") the "adepts," who are thus forced to demolish before they can reconstruct, deny most emphatically (a) that the sun is in combustion, in any ordinary sense of the word; or (b) that he is incandescent, or even burning, though he is glowing; or (c) that his luminosity has already begun to weaken and his power of combustion may be exhausted within a given and conceivable time; or even (d) that his chemical and physical constitution contains any of the elements of terrestrial chemistry in any of the states that either chemist or physicist is acquainted with. with reference to the latter, they add that, properly speaking, though the body of the sun--a body that was never yet reflected by telescope or spectroscope that man invented--cannot be said to be constituted of those terrestrial elements with the state of which the chemist is familiar, yet that these elements are all present in the sun's outward robes, and a host more of elements unknown so far to science. there seems little need, indeed, to have waited so long for the lines belonging to these respective elements to correspond with dark lines of the solar spectrum to know that no element present on our earth could ever be possibly found wanting in the sun; although, on the other hand, there are many others in the sun which have either not reached or not as yet been discovered on our globe. some may be missing in certain stars and heavenly bodies still in the process of formation; or, properly speaking, though present in them, these elements on account of their undeveloped state may not respond as yet to the usual scientific tests. but how can the earth possess that which the sun has never had? the "adepts" affirm as a fact that the true sun--an invisible orb of which the known one is the shell, mask, or clothing--has in him the spirit of every element that exists in the solar system; and his "chromosphere," as mr. lockyer named it, has the same, only in a far more developed condition, though still in a state unknown on earth; our planet having to await its further growth and development before any of its elements can be reduced to the condition they are in within that chromosphere. nor can the substance producing the coloured light in the latter be properly called solid, liquid, or even "gaseous," as now supposed, for it is neither. thousands of years before leverrier and padri secchi, the old aryans sung of surya .... "hiding behind his yogi,* robes his head that no one could see;" the ascetic's dress being, as all know, dyed expressly into a red-yellow hue, a colouring matter with pinkish patches on it, rudely representing the vital principle in man's blood--the symbol of the vital principle in the sun, or what is now called chromosphere. the "rose-coloured region!" how little astronomers will ever know of its real nature, even though hundreds of eclipses furnish them with the indisputable evidence of its presence. the sun is so thickly surrounded by a shell of this "red matter," that it is useless for them to speculate with only the help of their physical instruments, upon the nature of that which they can never see or detect with mortal eye behind that brilliant, radiant zone of matter. --------- * there is an interesting story in the puranas relating to this subject. the devas, it would appear, asked the great rishi vasishta to bring the sun into satya loka. the rishi requested the sun-god to do so. the sun-god replied that all the worlds would be destroyed if he were to leave his place. the rishi then offered to place his red-coloured cloth (kashay vastram) in the place of the sun's disk, and did so. the visible body of the sun is this robe of vasishta, it would seem. --------- if the "adepts" are asked: "what then, in your views, is the nature of our sun and what is there beyond that cosmic veil?"--they answer: beyond rotates and beats the heart and head of our system; externally is spread its robe, the nature of which is not matter, whether solid, liquid, or gaseous, such as you are acquainted with, but vital electricity, condensed and made visible.* --------- * if the "english f.t.s." would take the trouble of consulting p. of the "magia adamica" of eugenius philalethes, his learned compatriot, he would find therein the difference between a visible and an invisible planet is clearly hinted at as it was safe to do at a time when the iron claw of orthodoxy had the power as well as disposition to tear the flesh from heretic bones. "the earth is invisible," says he, .... "and which is more, the eye of man never saw the earth, nor can it be seen without art. to make this element visible is the greatest secret in magic .... as for this feculent, gross body upon which we walk, it is a compost, and no earth but it hath earth in it .... in a word, all the elements are visible but one, namely, the earth: and when thou hast attained to so much perfection as to know why god hath placed the earth in abscondito, thou hast an excellent figure whereby to know god himself, and how he is visible, how invisible," the italics are the author's, it being the custom of the alchemists to emphasize those words which had a double meaning in their code. here "god himself" visible and invisible, relates to their lapis philosophorum--nature's seventh principle. ---------- and if the statement is objected to on the grounds that were the luminosity of the sun due to any other cause than combustion and flame, no physical law of which western science has any knowledge could account for the existence of such intensely high temperature of the sun without combustion; that such a temperature, besides burning with its light and flame every visible thing in our universe, would show its luminosity of a homogeneous and uniform intensity throughout, which it does not; that undulations and disturbances in the photosphere, the growing of the "protuberances," and a fierce raging of elements in combustion have been observed in the sun, with their tongues of fire and spots exhibiting every appearance of cyclonic motion, and "solar storms," &c. &c.; to this the only answer that can be given is the following: the appearances are all there, yet it is not combustion. undoubtedly were the "robes," the dazzling drapery which now envelopes the whole of the sun's globe, withdrawn, or even "the shining atmosphere which permits us to see the sun" (as sir william herschel thought) removed so as to allow one trifling rent, our whole universe would be reduced to ashes. jupiter fulminator revealing himself to his beloved would incinerate her instantly. but it can never be. the protecting shell is of a thickness and at a distance from the universal heart that call hardly be ever calculated by your mathematicians. and how can they hope to see the sun's inner body once that the existence of that "chromosphere" is ascertained, though its actual density may be still unknown, when one of the greatest, if not the greatest, of their authorities--sir w. herschel--says the following: "the sun, also, has its atmosphere, and if some of the fluids which enter into its composition should be of a shining brilliancy, while others are merely transparent, any temporary cause which may remove the lucid fluid will permit us to see the body of the sun through the transparent ones." the underlined words, written nearly eighty years ago, embody the wrong hypothesis that the body of the sun might be seen under such circumstances, whereas it is only the far-away layers of "the lucid fluid" that would be perceived. and what the great astronomer adds invalidates entirely the first portion of his assumption: "if an observer were placed on the moon, he would see the solid body of our earth only in those places where the transparent fluids of the atmosphere would permit him. in others, the opaque vapours would reflect the light of the sun without permitting his view to penetrate to the surface of our globe." thus, if the atmosphere of our earth, which in its relation to the "atmosphere" (?) of the sun is like the tenderest skin of a fruit compared with the thickest husk of a cocoa-nut, would prevent the eye of an observer standing on the moon from penetrating everywhere "to the surface of our globe," how can an astronomer ever expect his sight to penetrate to the sun's surface, from our earth and at a distance of from to million miles,* whereas, the moon, we are told, is only about , miles! -------- * verily, "absolute accuracy in the solution of this problem (of distances between the heavenly bodies and the earth) is simply out of the question." ---------- the proportionately larger size of the sun does not bring it any the more within the scope of our physical vision. truly remarks sir w. herschel that the sun "has been called a globe of fire, perhaps metaphorically!" it has been supposed that the dark spots were solid bodies revolving near the sun's surface. "they have been conjectured to be the smoke of volcanoes the scum floating upon an ocean of fluid matter.... they have been taken for clouds .... explained to be opaque masses swimming in the fluid matter of the sun...." when all his anthropomorphic conceptions are put aside, sir john herschel, whose intuition was still greater than his great learning, alone of all astronomers comes near the truth--far nearer than any of those modern astronomers who, while admiring his gigantic learning, smile at his "imaginative and fanciful theories." his only mistake, now shared by most astronomers, was that he regarded the "opaque body" occasionally observed through the curtain of the "luminous envelope" as the sun itself. when saying in the course of his speculations upon the nasmyth willow-leaf theory--"the definite shape of these objects, their exact similarity one to another.... all these characters seem quite repugnant to the notion of their being of a vaporous, a cloudy, or a fluid nature"--his spiritual intuition served him better than his remarkable knowledge of physical science. when he adds: "nothing remains but to consider them as separate and independent sheets, flakes.... having some sort of solidity.... be they what they may, they are evidently the immediate sources of the solar light and heat"--he utters a grander physical truth than was ever uttered by any living astronomer. and when, furthermore, we find him postulating--"looked at in this point of view, we cannot refuse to regard them as organisms of some peculiar and amazing kind; and though it would be too daring to speak of such organization as partaking of the nature of life, yet we do know that vital action is competent to develop at once heat, and light, and electricity," sir john herschel gives out a theory approximating an occult truth more than any of the profane ever did with regard to solar physics. these "wonderful objects" are not, as a modern astronomer interprets sir j. herschel's words, "solar inhabitants, whose fiery constitution enables them to illuminate, warm and electricize the whole solar system," but simply the reservoirs of solar vital energy, the vital electricity that feeds the whole system in which it lives, and breathes, and has its being. the sun is, as we say, the storehouse of our little cosmos, self-generating its vital fluid, and ever receiving a much as it gives out. were the astronomers to be asked--what definite and positive fact exists at the root of their solar theory--what knowledge they have of solar combustion and atmosphere--they might, perchance, feel embarrassed when confronted with all their present theories. for it is sufficient to make a resume of what the solar physicists do not know, to gain conviction that they are as far as ever from a definite knowledge of the constitution and ultimate nature of the heavenly bodies. we may, perhaps, be permitted to enumerate:-- beginning with, as mr. proctor wisely calls it, "the wildest assumption possible," that there is, in accordance with the law of analogy, some general resemblance between the materials in, and the processes at work upon, the sun, and those materials with which terrestrial chemistry and physics are familiar, what is that sum of results achieved by spectroscopic and other analyses of the surface and the inner constitution of the sun, which warrants any one in establishing the axiom of the sun's combustion and gradual extinction? they have no means, as they themselves daily confess, of experimenting upon, hence of determining, the sun's physical condition; for (a) they are ignorant of the atmospheric limits; (b) even though it were proved that matter, such as they know of, is continuously falling upon the sun, being ignorant of its real velocity and the nature of the material it falls upon, they are unable "to discuss of the effect of motions wholly surpassing in velocity .... enormously exceeding even the inconceivable velocity of many meteors;" (c) confessedly--they "have no means of learning whence that part of the light comes which gives the continuous spectrum".... hence no means of determining how great a depth of the solar substance is concerned in sending out that light. this light "may come from the surface layers only;" and, "it may be but a shell" .... (truly!); and finally, (d) they have yet to learn "how far combustion, properly so-called, can take place within the sun's mass;" and "whether these processes, which we (they) recognize as combustion, are the only processes of combustion which can actually take place there." therefore, mr. proctor for one comes to the happy and prudent idea after all "that what had been supposed the most marked characteristic of incandescent solid and liquid bodies, is thus shown to be a possible characteristic of the light of the glowing gas." thus, the whole basis of their reasoning having been shaken (by frankland's objection), they, the astronomers, may yet arrive at accepting the occult theory, viz., that they have to look to the th state of matter, for divulging to them the true nature of their photospheres, chromospheres, appendages, prominences, projections and horns. indeed, when one finds one of the authorities of the age in physical science--professor tyndall--saying that "no earthly substance with which we are acquainted, no substance which the fall of meteors has landed on the earth--would be at all competent to maintain the sun's combustion;" and again:--".... multiplying all our powers by millions of millions, we do not reach the sun's expenditure. and still, notwithstanding this enormous drain in the lapse of human history, we are unable to detect a diminution of his store ...."--after reading this, to see the men of science still maintaining their theory of "a hot globe cooling," one may be excused for feeling surprised at such inconsistency. verily is that great physicist right in viewing the sun itself as "a speck in infinite extension--a mere drop in the universal sea;" and saying that, "to nature nothing can be added; from nature nothing can be taken away; the sum of her energy is constant, and the utmost man can do in the pursuit of physical truth, or in the applications of physical knowledge, is to shift the constituents of the never-varying total. the law of conservation rigidly excludes both creation and annihilation .... the flux of power is eternally the same." mr. tyndall speaks here as though he were an occultist. yet, the memento mori--"the sun is cooling .... it is dying!" of the western trappists of science resounds as loud as it ever did. no, we say; no, while there is one man left on the globe, the sun will not be extinguished. before the hour of the "solar pralaya" strikes on the watch-tower of eternity, all the other worlds of our system will be gliding in their spectral shells along the silent paths of infinite space. before it strikes, atlas, the mighty titan, the son of asia and the nursling of aether, will have dropped his heavy manvantaric burden and--died; the pleiades, the bright seven sisters, will have upon awakening hiding sterope to grieve with them--to die themselves for their father's loss. and, hercules, moving off his left leg, will have to shift his place in heavens and erect his own funeral pile. then only, surrounded by the fiery element breaking through the thickening gloom of the pralayan twilight, will hercules, expiring amidst a general conflagration, bring on likewise the death of our sun: he will have unveiled by moving off the "central sun"--the mysterious, the ever-hidden centre of attraction of our sun and system. fables? mere poetical fiction? yet, when one knows that the most exact sciences, the greatest mathematical and astronomical truths went forth into the world among the hoi polloi from the circle of initiated priests, the hierophants of the sanctum sanctorum of the old temples, under the guise of religious fables, it may not be amiss to search for universal truths even under the patches of fiction's harlequinade. this fable about the pleiades, the seven sisters, atlas, and hercules exists identical in subject, though under other names, in the sacred hindu books, and has likewise the same occult meaning. but then like the ramayana "borrowed from the greek iliad" and the bhagavat-gita and krishna plagiarized from the gospel--in the opinion of the great sanskritist, prof. weber, the aryans may have also borrowed the pleiades and their hercules from the same source! when the brahmins can be shown by the christian orientalists to be the direct descendants of the teutonic crusaders, then only, perchance, will the cycle of proofs be completed, and the historical truths of the west vindicated! question iii.--are the great nations to be swept away in an hour? no such absurdity was ever postulated. the cataclysm that annihilated the choicest sub-races of the fourth race, or the atlanteans, was slowly preparing its work for ages; as any one can read in "esoteric buddhism" (page ). "poseidonis," so called, belongs to historical times, though its fate begins to be realized and suspected only now. what was said is still asserted: every root-race is separated by a catastrophe, a cataclysm--the basis and historical foundation of the fables woven later on into the religious fabric of every people, whether civilized or savage, under the names of "deluges," "showers of fire," and such like. that no "appreciable trace is left of such high civilization" is due to several reasons. one of these may be traced chiefly to the inability, and partially to the unwillingness (or shall we say congenital spiritual blindness of this our age!) of the modern archeologist to distinguish between excavations and ruins , and , years old, and to assign to many a grand archaic ruin its proper age and place in prehistoric times. for the latter the archeologist is not responsible--for what criterion, what sign has he to lead him to infer the true date of an excavated building bearing no inscription; and what warrant has the public that the antiquary and specialist has not made an error of some , years? a fair proof of this we have in the scientific and historic labeling of the cyclopean architecture. traditional archeology bearing directly upon the monumental is rejected. oral literature, popular legends, ballads and rites, are all stifled in one word-- superstition; and popular antiquities have become "fables" and "folk-lore." the ruder style of cyclopean masonry, the walls of tyrius, mentioned by homer, are placed at the farthest end--the dawn of pre-roman history; the walls of epirus and mycenae--at the nearest. the latter are commonly believed the work of the pelasgi and probably of about , years before the western era. as to the former, they were hedged in and driven forward by the noachian deluge till very lately-- archbishop usher's learned scheme, computing that earth and man "were created , b.c.," having been not only popular but actually forced upon the educated classes until mr. darwin's triumphs. had it not been for the efforts of a few alexandrian and other mystics, platonists, and heathen philosophers, europe would have never laid her hands even on those few greek and roman classics she now possesses. and, as among the few that escaped the dire fate not all by any means were trustworthy-- hence, perhaps, the secret of their preservation--western scholars got early into the habit of rejecting all heathen testimony, whenever truth clashed with the dicta of their churches. then, again, the modern archeologists, orientalists and historians, are all europeans; and they are all christians, whether nominally or otherwise. however it may be, most of them seem to dislike to allow any relic of archaism to antedate the supposed antiquity of the jewish records. this is a ditch into which most have slipped. the traces of ancient civilizations exist, and they are many. yet, it is humbly suggested, that so long as there are reverend gentlemen mixed up unchecked in archaeological and asiatic societies; and christian bishops to write the supposed histories and religions of non-christian nations, and to preside over the meetings of orientalists--so long will archaism and its remains be made subservient in every branch to ancient judaism and modern christianity. so far, archeology knows nothing of the sites of other and far older civilizations, except the few it has stumbled upon, and to which it has assigned their respective ages, mostly under the guidance of biblical chronology. whether the west had any right to impose upon universal history the untrustworthy chronology of a small and unknown jewish tribe and reject, at the same time, every datum as every other tradition furnished by the classical writers of non-jewish and non-christian nations, is questionable. at any rate, had it accepted as willingly data coming from other sources, it might have assured itself by this time, that not only in italy and other parts of europe, but even on sites not very far from those it is accustomed to regard as the hotbed of ancient relics--babylonia and assyria--there are other sites where it could profitably excavate. the immense "salt valley" of dasht-beyad by khorasson covers the most ancient civilizations of the world; while the shamo desert has had time to change from sea to land, and from fertile land to a dead desert, since the day when the first civilization of the fifth race left its now invisible, and perhaps for ever hidden, "traces" under its beds of sand. times have changed, are changing. proofs of the old civilizations and the archaic wisdom are accumulating. though soldier-bigots and priestly schemers have burnt books and converted old libraries to base uses; though the dry rot and the insect have destroyed inestimably precious records; though within the historic period the spanish brigands made bonfires of the works of the refined archaic american races, which, if spared, would have solved many a riddle of history; though omar lit the fires of the alexandrian baths for months with the literary treasures of the serapeum; though the sybilline and other mystical books of rome and greece were destroyed in war; though the south indian invaders of ceylon "heaped into piles as high as the tops of the cocoanut trees" the ollas of the buddhists, and set them ablaze to light their victory--thus obliterating from the world's knowledge early buddhist annals and treatises of great importance: though this hateful and senseless vandalism has disgraced the career of most fighting nations--still, despite everything, there are extant abundant proofs of the history of mankind, and bits and scraps come to light from time to time by what science has often called "most curious coincidences." europe has no very trustworthy history of her own vicissitudes and mutations, her successive races and their doings. what with their savage wars, the barbaric habits of the historic goths, huns, franks, and other warrior nations, and the interested literary vandalism of the shaveling priests who for centuries sat upon its intellectual life like a nightmare, an antiquity could not exist for europe. and, having no past to record themselves, the european critics, historians and archeologists have not scrupled to deny one to others--whenever the concession excited a sacrifice of biblical prestige. no "traces of old civilizations" we are told! and what about the pelasgi--the direct forefathers of the hellenes, according to herodotus? what about the etruscans--the race mysterious and wonderful, if any, for the historian, and whose origin is the most insoluble of problems? that which is known of them only shows that could something more be known, a whole series of prehistoric civilizations might be discovered. a people described as are the pelasgi--a highly intellectual, receptive, active people, chiefly occupied with agriculture, warlike when necessary, though preferring peace; a people who built canals as no one else, subterranean water-works, dams, walls, and cyclopean buildings of the most astounding strength; who are even suspected of having been the inventors of the so-called cadmean or phoenician writing characters from which all european alphabets are derived--who were they? could they be shown by any possible means as the descendants of the biblical peleg (gen. x. ) their high civilization would have been thereby demonstrated, though their antiquity would still have to be dwarfed to "b.c.." and who were the etruscans? shall the easterns like the westerns be made to believe that between the high civilizations of the pre-roman (and we say--prehistoric) tursenoi of the greeks, with their twelve great cities known to history; their cyclopean buildings, their plastic and pictorial arts, and the time when they were a nomadic tribe "first descended into italy from their northern latitudes"--only a few centuries elapsed? shall it be still urged that the phoenicians with their tyre "b.c." (a chronology, accepted by western history), their commerce, fleet, learning, arts, and civilization, were only a few centuries before the building of tyre but "a small tribe of semitic fishermen"? or, that the trojan war could not have been earlier than b.c., and thus magna graecia must be fixed somewhere between the eighth and the ninth century "b.c.," and by no means thousands of years before, as was claimed by plato and aristotle, homer and the cyclic poems, derived from, and based upon, other records millenniums older? if the christian historian, hampered by his chronology, and the freethinker by lack of necessary data, feel bound to stigmatize every non-christian or non-western chronology as "obviously fanciful," "purely mythical," and "not worthy of a moment's consideration," how shall one, wholly dependent upon western guides get at the truth? and if these incompetent builders of universal history can persuade their public to accept as authoritative their chronological and ethnological reveries, why should the eastern student, who has access to quite different--and we make bold to say, more trustworthy-- materials, be expected to join in the blind belief of those who defend western historical infallibility? he believes--on the strength of the documentary evidence, left by yavanacharya (pythagoras) "b.c." in india, and that of his own national "temple records," that instead of giving hundreds we may safely give thousands of years to the foundation of cumaea and magna graecia, of which it was the pioneer settlement. that the civilization of the latter had already become effete when pythagoras, the great pupil of aryan masters went to crotone. and, having no biblical bias to overcome, he feels persuaded that, if it took the celtic and gaelic tribes britannicae insulae, with the ready-made civilizations of rome before their eyes, and acquaintance with that of the phoenicians whose trade with them began a thousand years before the christian era; and to crown all with the definite help later of the normans and saxons--two thousand years before they could build their medieval cities, not even remotely comparable with those of the romans; and it took them two thousand five hundred years to get half as civilized; then, that instead of that hypothetical period, benevolently styled the childhood of the race, being within easy reach of the apostles and the early fathers, it must be relegated to an enormously earlier time. surely if it took the barbarians of western europe so many centuries to develop a language and create empires, then the nomadic tribes of the "mythical" periods ought in common fairness--since they never came under the fructifying energy of that christian influence to which we are asked to ascribe all the scientific enlightenment of this age--about ten thousand years to build their tyres and their veii, their sidons and carthagenes. as other troys lie under the surface of the topmost one in the troad; and other and higher civilizations were exhumed by mariette bey under the stratum of sand from which the archeological collections of lepsius, abbott, and the british museum were taken; and six hindu "delhis," superposed and hidden away out of sight, formed the pedestal upon which the mogul conqueror built the gorgeous capital whose ruins still attest the splendour of his delhi; so when the fury of critical bigotry has quite subsided, and western men are prepared to write history in the interest of truth alone, will the proofs be found of the cyclic law of civilization. modern florence lifts her beautiful form above the tomb of etruscan florentia, which in her turn rose upon the hidden vestiges of anterior towns. and so also arezzo, perugia, lucca, and many other european sites now occupied by modern towns and cities, are based upon the relics of archaic civilizations whose period covers ages incomputable, and whose names echo has forgotten to even whisper through "the corridors of time." when the western historian has finally and unanswerably proven who were the pelasgi, at least, and who the etruscans, and the as mysterious iapygians, who seem also to have had an earlier acquaintance with writing--as proved by their inscriptions--than the phoenicians, then only may he menace the asiatic into acceptance of his own arbitrary data and dogmas. then also may he tauntingly ask "how it is that no appreciable trace is left of such high civilizations as are described in the past?" "is it supposed that the present european civilization with its offshoots .... can be destroyed by any inundation or conflagration?" more easily than was many another civilization. europe has neither the titanic and cyclopean masonry of the ancients, nor even its parchments, to preserve the records of its "existing arts and languages." its civilization is too recent, too rapidly growing, to leave any positively indestructible relics of either its architecture, arts or sciences. what is there in the whole europe that could be regarded as even approximately indestructible, without mentioning the debacle of the geological upheaval that follows generally such cataclysms? is it its ephemeral crystal palaces, its theatres, railways, modern fragile furniture: or its electric telegraphs, phonographs, telephones, and micrographs? while each of the former is at the mercy of fire and cyclone, the last enumerated marvels of modern science can be destroyed by a child breaking them to atoms. when we know of the destruction of the "seven world's wonders," of thebes, tyre, the labyrinth, and the egyptian pyramids and temples and giant palaces, as we now see slowly crumbling into the dust of the deserts, being reduced to atoms by the hand of time--lighter and far more merciful than any cataclysm--the question seems to us rather the outcome of modern pride than of stern reasoning. is it your daily newspapers and periodicals, rags of a few days; your fragile books bearing the records of all your grand civilization, withal liable to become annihilated after a few meals are made on them by the white ants, that are regarded as invulnerable? and why should european civilization escape the common lot? it is from the lower classes, the units of the great masses who form the majorities in nations, that survivors will escape in greater numbers; and these know nothing of the arts, sciences, or languages except their own, and those very imperfectly. the arts and sciences are like the phoenix of old: they die but to revive. and when the question found on page of "esoteric buddhism" concerning "the curious rush of human progress within the last two thousand years," was first propounded, mr. sinnett's correspondent might have made his answer more complete by saying: "this rush, this progress, and the abnormal rapidity with which one discovery follows the other, ought to be a sign to human intuition that what you look upon in the light of 'discoveries' are merely rediscoveries, which, following the law of gradual progress, you make more perfect, yet in enunciating, you are not the first to explain them." we learn more easily that which we have heard about, or learnt in childhood. if, as averred, the western nations have separated themselves from the great aryan stock, it becomes evident that the races that first peopled europe were inferior to the root-race which had the vedas and the pre-historic rishis. that which your far-distant forefathers had heard in the secrecy of the temples was not lost. it reached their posterity, which is now simply improving upon details. question iv.--is the moon immersed in matter? no "adept," so far as the writers know, has ever given to "lay chela" his "views of the moon," for publication. with selenography, modern science is far better acquainted than any humble asiatic ascetic may ever hope to become. it is to be feared the speculations on pp. and of "esoteric buddhism," besides being hazy, are somewhat premature. therefore, it may be as well to pass on to-- question v.--about the mineral monad. any english expression that correctly translates the idea given is "authorized by the adepts." why not? the term "monad" applies to the latent life in the mineral as much as it does to the life in the vegetable and the animal. the monogenist may take exception to the term and especially to the idea while the polygenist, unless he be a corporealist, may not. as to the other class of scientists, they would take objection to the idea even of a human monad, and call it "unscientific." what relation does the monad bear to the atom? none whatever to the atom or molecule as in the scientific conception at present. it can neither be compared with the microscopic organism classed once among polygastric infusoria, and now regarded as vegetable and ranked among algae; nor is it quite the monas of the peripatetics. physically or constitutionally the mineral monad differs, of course, from that of the human monad, which is neither physical, nor can its constitution be rendered by chemical symbols and elements. in short, the mineral monad is one--the higher animal and human monads are countless. otherwise, how could one account for and explain mathematically the evolutionary and spiral progress of the four kingdoms? the "monad" is the combination of the last two principles in man, the th and the th, and, properly speaking, the term "human monad" applies only to the spiritual soul, not to its highest spiritual vivifying principle. but since divorced from the latter the spiritual soul could have no existence, no being, it has thus been called. the composition (if such a word, which would shock an asiatic, seems necessary to help european conception) of buddhi or the th principle is made up of the essence of what you would call matter (or perchance a centre of spiritual force) in its th and th condition or state; the animating atman being part of the one life or parabrahm. now the monadic essence (if such a term be permitted) in the mineral, vegetable and animal, though the same throughout the series of cycles from the lowest elemental up to the deva kingdom, yet differs in the scale of progression. it would be very misleading to imagine a monad as a separate entity trailing its slow way in a distinct path through the lower kingdoms, and after an incalculable series of transmigrations flowering into a human being; in short, that the monad of a humboldt dates back to the monad of an atom of hornblende. instead of saying a mineral monad, the correcter phraseology in physical science which differentiates every atom, would of course have been to call it the monad manifesting in that form of prakriti called the mineral kingdom. each atom or molecule of ordinary scientific hypotheses is not a particle of something, animated by a psychic something, destined to blossom as a man after aeons. but it is a concrete manifestation of the universal energy which itself has not yet become individualized: a sequential manifestation of the one universal monas. the ocean does not divide into its potential and constituent drops until the sweep of the life-impulse reaches the evolutionary stage of man-birth. the tendency towards segregation into individual monads is gradual, and in the higher animals comes almost to the point. the peripatetics applied the word monas to the whole cosmos, in the pantheistic sense; and the occultists while accepting this thought for convenience' sake, distinguish the progressive stages of the evolution of the concrete from the abstract by terms of which the "mineral monad" is one. the term merely means that the tidal wave of spiritual evolution is passing through that arc of its circuit. the "monadic essence" begins to imperceptibly differentiate in the vegetable kingdom. as the monads are uncompounded things, as correctly defined by leibnitz, it is the spiritual essence which vivifies them in their degrees of differentiation which constitutes properly the monad--not the atomic aggregation which is only the vehicle and the substance through which thrill the lower and higher degrees of intelligence. and though, as shown by those plants that are known as sensitives, there are a few among them that may be regarded as possessing that conscious perception which is called by leibnitz apperception, while the rest are endowed but with that internal activity which may be called vegetable nerve-sensation (to call it perception would be wrong), yet even the vegetable monad is still the monad in its second degree of awakening sensation. leibnitz came several times very near the truth, but defined the monadic evolution incorrectly and often greatly blundered. there are seven kingdoms. the first group comprises three degrees of elementals, or nascent centres of forces--from the first stage of the differentiation of mulaprakriti to its third degree--i.e., from full unconsciousness to semi-perception; the second or higher group embraces the kingdoms from vegetable to man; the mineral kingdom thus forming the central or turning-point in the degrees of the "monadic essence"-- considered as an evoluting energy. three stages in the elemental side; the mineral kingdom; three stages in the objective physical side--these are the seven links of the evolutionary chain. a descent of spirit into matter, equivalent to an ascent in physical evolution; a re-ascent from the deepest depths of materiality (the mineral) towards its status quo ante, with a corresponding dissipation of concrete organisms up to nirvana--the vanishing point of differentiated matter. perhaps a simple diagram will aid us:-- [[diagram here]] the line a d represents the gradual obscuration of spirit as it passes into concrete matter; the point d indicates the evolutionary position of the mineral kingdom from its incipient (d) to its ultimate concretion (a); c, b, a, on the left-hand side of the figure, are the three stages of elemental evolution; i.e., the three successive stages passed by the spiritual impulse (through the elementals--of which little is permitted to be said) before they are imprisoned in the most concrete form of matter; and a, b, c, on the right-hand side, are the three stages of organic life, vegetable, animal, human. what is total obscuration of spirit is complete perfection of its polar antithesis--matter; and this idea is conveyed in the lines a d and d a. the arrows show the line of travel of the evolutionary impulse in entering its vortex and expanding again into the subjectivity of the absolute. the central thickest line, d d, is the mineral kingdom. the monogenists have had their day. even believers in a personal god, like professor agassiz, teach now that, "there is a manifest progress in the succession of beings on the surface of the earth. the progress consists in an increasing similarity of the living fauna, and among the vertebrates especially, in the increasing resemblance to man. man is the end towards which all the animal creation has tended from the first appearance of the first palaeozoic fishes" ("principles of zoology," pp. - ). the mineral "monad" is not an individuality latent, but an all-pervading force which has for its present vehicle matter in its lowest and most concrete terrestrial state; in man the monad is fully developed, potential, and either passive or absolutely active, according to its vehicle, the five lower and more physical human principles. in the deva kingdom it is fully liberated and in its highest state--but one degree lower than the one universal life.* ---------- * the above diagram represents a logical section of the scheme of evolution, and not the evolutionary history of a unit of consciousness. ---------- question viii.--sri sankaracharya's date it is always difficult to determine with precision the date of any particular event in the ancient history of india; and this difficulty is considerably enhanced by the speculations of european orientalists, whose labours in this direction have but tended to thicken the confusion already existing in popular legends and traditions, which were often altered or modified to suit the necessities of sectarian controversy. the causes that have produced this result will be fully ascertained on examining the assumptions on which these speculations are based. the writings of many of these orientalists are often characterized by an imperfect knowledge of indian literature, philosophy and religion, and of hindu traditions, and a contemptuous disregard for the opinions of hindu writers and pundits. very often, facts and dates are taken by these writers from the writings of their predecessors or contemporaries on the assumption that they are correct without any further investigation by themselves. even when a writer gives a date with an expression of doubt as to its accuracy, his follower frequently quotes the same date as if it were absolutely correct. one wrong date is made to depend upon another wrong date, and one bad inference is often deduced from another inference equally unwarranted and illogical. and consequently, if the correctness of any particular date given by these writers is to be ascertained, the whole structure of indian chronology constructed by them will have to be carefully examined. it will be convenient to enumerate some of the assumptions above referred to before proceeding to examine their opinions concerning the date of sankaracharya. i. many of these writers are not altogether free from the prejudices engendered by the pernicious doctrine, deduced from the bible, whether rightly or wrongly, that this world is only six thousand years old. we do not mean to say that any one of these writers would now seriously think of defending the said doctrine. nevertheless, it had exercised a considerable influence on the minds of christian writers when they began to investigate the claims of asiatic chronology. if an antiquity of five or six thousand years is assigned to any particular event connected with the ancient history of egypt, india or china, it is certain to be rejected at once by these writers without any inquiry whatever regarding the truth of the statement. ii. they are extremely unwilling to admit that any portion of the veda can be traced to a period anterior to the date of the pentateuch, even when the arguments brought forward to establish the priority of the vedas are such as would be convincing to the mind of an impartial investigator untainted by christian prejudices. the maximum limit of indian antiquity is, therefore, fixed for them by the old testament; and it is virtually assumed by them that a period between the date of the old testament on the one side, and the present time on the other, should necessarily be assigned to every book in the whole range of vedic and sanskrit literature, and to almost every event of indian history. iii. it is often assumed without reason that every passage in the vedas containing philosophical or metaphysical ideas must be looked upon as a subsequent interpolation, and that every book treating of a philosophical subject must be considered as having been written after the time of buddha or after the commencement of the christian era. civilization, philosophy and scientific investigation had their origin, in the opinion of these writers, within the six or seven centuries preceding the christian era, and mankind slowly emerged, for the first time, from "the depths of animal brutality" within the last four or five thousand years. iv. it is also assumed that buddhism was brought into existence by gautama buddha. the previous existence of buddhism, jainism and arhat philosophy is rejected as an absurd and ridiculous invention of the buddhists and others, who attempted thereby to assign a very high antiquity to their own religion. in consequence of this erroneous impression every hindu book referring to the doctrines of buddhists is declared to have been written subsequent to the time of gautama buddha. for instance, mr. weber is of opinion that vyasa, the author of the brahma sutras, wrote them in the fifth century after christ. this is indeed a startling revelation to the majority of hindus. v. whenever several works treating of various subjects are attributed to one and the same author by hindu writings or traditions, it is often assumed, and apparently without any reason whatever in the majority of cases, that the said works should be considered as the productions of different writers. by this process of reasoning they have discovered two badarayanas (vyasas), two patanjalis, and three vararuchis. we do not mean to say that in every case identity of name is equivalent to identity of personality. but we cannot but protest against such assumptions when they are made without any evidence to support them, merely for the purpose of supporting a foregone conclusion or establishing a favourite hypothesis. vi. an attempt is often made by these writers to establish the chronological order of the events of ancient indian history by means of the various stages in the growth or development of the sanskrit language and indian literature. the time required for this growth is often estimated in the same manner in which a geologist endeavours to fix the time required for the gradual development of the various strata composing the earth's crust. but we fail to perceive anything like a proper method in making these calculations. it will be wrong to assume that the growth of one language will require the same time as that of another within the same limits. the peculiar characteristics of the nation to whom the language belongs must be carefully taken into consideration in attempting to make any such calculation. the history of the said nation is equally important. any one who examines max muller's estimate of the so-called sutra, brahmana, mantra and khanda periods, will be able to perceive that no attention has been paid to these considerations. the time allotted to the growth of these four "strata" of vedic literature is purely arbitrary. we have enumerated these defects in the writings of european orientalists for the purpose of showing to our readers that it is not always safe to rely upon the conclusions arrived at by these writers regarding the dates of ancient indian history. in examining the various quotations and traditions selected by european orientalists for the purpose of fixing sankaracharya's date, special care must be taken to see whether the person referred to was the very first sankaracharya who established the adwaitee doctrine, or one of his followers who became the adhipathis (heads) of the various mathams (temples) established by him and his successors. many of the adwaitee mathadhipatis who succeeded him (especially of the sringeri matham) were men of considerable renown and were well known throughout india during their time. they are often referred to under the general name of sankaracharya. consequently, any reference made to any one of these mathadhipatis is apt to be mistaken for a reference to the first sankaracharya himself. mr. barth, whose opinion regarding sankara's date is quoted by "an english f.t.s." against the date assigned to that teacher in mr. sinnett's book on esoteric buddhism, does not appear to have carefully examined the subject himself. he assigns no reasons for the date given, and does not even allude to the existence of other authorities and traditions which conflict with the date adopted by him. the date which he assigns to sankara appears in an unimportant foot-note on page of his book on "the religions of india," which reads thus: "sankaracharya is generally placed in the eighth century; perhaps we must accept the ninth rather. the best accredited tradition represents him as born on the th of the month 'madhava' in a.d. other traditions, it is true, place him in the second and fifth centuries. the author of the dabistan, on the other hand, brings him as far down as the commencement of the fourteenth." mr. barth is clearly wrong in saying that sankara is generally placed in the eight century. there are as many traditions for placing him in some century before the christian era as for placing him in some century after the said era, and it will also be seen from what follows that in fact evidence preponderates in favour of the former statement. it cannot be contended that the generality of orientalists have any definite opinions of their own on the subject under consideration. max muller does not appear to have ever directed his attention to this subject. monier williams merely copies the date given by mr. wilson, and mr. weber seems to rely upon the same authority without troubling himself with any further inquiry about the matter. mr. wilson is probably the only orientalist who investigated the subject with some care and attention; and he frankly confesses that the exact period at which "he (sankara) flourished can by no means be determined" (p. of vol. i. of his "essays on the religion of the hindoos"). under such circumstances the foot-note above quoted is certainly very misleading. mr. barth does not inform his readers where he obtained the tradition referred to, and what reasons he has for supposing that it refers to the first sankaracharya, and that it is "the best accredited tradition." when the matter is still open to discussion, mr. barth should not have adopted any particular date if he is not prepared to support it and establish it by proper arguments. the other traditions alluded to are not intended, of course, to strengthen the authority of the tradition relied upon. but the wording of the foot-note in question seems to show that all the authorities and traditions relating to the subject are comprised therein, when in fact the most important of them are left out of consideration, as will be shown hereafter. no arguments are to be found in support of the date assigned to sankara in the other portions of mr. barth's book, but there are a few isolated passages which may be taken either as inferences from the statement in question or arguments in its support, which it will be necessary to examine in this connection. mr. barth has discovered some connection between the appearance of sankara in india and the commencement of the persecution of the buddhists, which he seems to place in the seventh and eighth centuries. in page of his book he speaks of "the great reaction on the offensive against buddhism which was begun in the deccan in the seventh and eighth centuries by the schools of kumarila and sankara;" and in page he states that the "disciples of kumarila and sankara, organized into military bands, constituted themselves the rabid defenders of orthodoxy." the force of these statements is, however, considerably weakened by the author's observations on pages and , regarding the absence of any traces of buddhist persecution by sankara in the authentic documents hitherto examined, and the absurdity of legends which represent him as exterminating buddhists from the himalaya to cape comorin. the association of sankara with kumarila in the passages above cited is highly ridiculous. it is well known to almost every hindu that the followers of purva mimamsa (kumarila commented on the sutras) were the greatest and the bitterest opponents of sankara and his doctrine, and mr. barth seems to be altogether ignorant of the nature of kumarila's views and purva mimamsa, and the scope and aim of sankara's vedantic philosophy. it is impossible to say what evidence the author has for asserting that the great reaction against the buddhists commenced in the seventh and eighth centuries, and that sankara was instrumental in originating it. there are some passages in his book which tend to show that this date cannot be considered as quite correct. in page he says that buddhist persecution began even in the time of asoka. such being the case, it is indeed very surprising that the orthodox hindus should have kept quiet for nearly ten centuries without retaliating on their enemies. the political ascendency gained by the buddhists during the reign of asoka did not last very long; and the hindus had the support of very powerful kings before and after the commencement of the christian era. moreover, the author says, in p. of his book, that buddhism was in a state of decay in the seventh century. it is hardly to be expected that the reaction against the buddhists would commence when their religion was already in a state of decay. no great religious teacher or reformer would waste his time and energy in demolishing a religion already in ruins. but what evidence is there to show that sankara was ever engaged in this task? if the main object of his preaching was to evoke a reaction against buddhism, he would no doubt have left us some writings specially intended to criticize its doctrines and expose its defects. on the other hand, he does not even allude to buddhism in his independent works. though he was a voluminous writer, with the exception of a few remarks on the theory advocated by some buddhists regarding the nature of perception, contained in his commentary on the brahma-sutras, there is not a single passage in the whole range of his writings regarding the buddhists or their doctrines; and the insertion of even these few remarks in his commentary was rendered necessary by the allusions contained in the sutras which he was interpreting. as, in our humble opinion, these brahma-sutras were composed by vyasa himself (and not by an imaginary vyasa of the fifth century after christ, evolved by mr. weber's fancy), the allusions therein contained relate to the buddhism which existed to the date of gautama buddha. from these few remarks it will be clear to our readers that sankaracharya had nothing to do with buddhist persecution. we may here quote a few passages from mr. wilson's preface to the first edition of his sanskrit dictionary in support of our remarks. he writes as follows regarding sankara's connection with the persecution of the buddhists:--"although the popular belief attributes the origin of the bauddha persecution to sankaracharya, yet in this case we have some reason to distrust its accuracy. opposed to it we have the mild character of the reformer, who is described as uniformly gentle and tolerant; and, speaking from my own limited reading in vedanta works, and the more satisfactory testimony of ram mohun roy, which he permits me to adduce, it does not appear that any traces of his being instrumental to any persecution are to be found in his own writings, all which are extant, and the object of which is by no means the correction of the bauddha or any other schism, but the refutation of all other doctrines besides his own, and the reformation or re-establishment of the fourth religious order." further on he observes that "it is a popular error to ascribe to him the work of persecution; he does not appear at all occupied in that odious task, nor is he engaged in particular controversy with any of the bauddhas." from the foregoing observations it will be seen that sankara's date cannot be determined by the time of the commencement of the buddhist persecution, even if it were possible to ascertain the said period. mr. barth seems to have discovered some connection between the philosophical systems of sankara, ramanuja and anandathirtha, and the arabian merchants who came to india in the first centuries of the hejira, and he is no doubt fully entitled to any credit that may be given him for the originality of his discovery. this mysterious and occult connection between adwaita philosophy and arabian commerce is pointed out in p. of his book, and it may have some bearing on the present question, if it is anything more than a figment of his fancy. the only reason given by him in support of his theory is, however, in my humble opinion, worthless. the hindus had a prominent example of a grand religious movement under the guidance of a single teacher in the life of buddha, and it was not necessary for them to imitate the adventures of the arabian prophet. there is but one other passage in mr. barth's book which has some reference to sankara's date. in page he writes as follows:--"the siva, for instance, who is invoked at the commencement of the drama of sakuntala, who is at once god, priest and offering, and whose body is the universe, is a vedantic idea. this testimony appears to be forgotten when it is maintained, as is sometimes done, that the whole sectarian vedantism commences with sankara." but this testimony appears to be equally forgotten when it is maintained, as is sometimes done by orientalists like mr. barth, that sankara lived in some century after the author of sakuntala. from the foregoing remarks it will be apparent that mr. barth's opinion regarding sankara's date is very unsatisfactory. as mr. wilson seems to have examined the subject with some care and attention, we must now advert to his opinion and see how far it is based on proper evidence. in attempting to fix amara sinha's date (which attempt ultimately ended in a miserable failure), he had to ascertain the period when sankara lived. consequently his remarks concerning the said period appear in his preface to the first edition of his sanskrit dictionary. we shall now reproduce here such passages from this preface as are connected with the subject under consideration and comment upon them. mr. wilson writes as follows:-- "the birth of sankara presents the same discordance as every other remarkable incident amongst the hindus. the kadali (it ought to be koodali) brahmins, who form an establishment following and teaching his system, assert his appearance about , years since; some accounts place him about the beginning of the christian era, others in the third or fourth century after; a manuscript history of the kings of konga, in colonel mackenzie's collection, makes him contemporary with tiru vikrama deva chakravarti, sovereign of skandapura in the dekkan, ad. ; at sringeri, on the edge of the western ghauts, and now in the mysore territory, at which place he is said to have founded a college that still exists, and assumes the supreme control of the smarta brahmins of the peninsula, an antiquity of , years is attributed to him, and common tradition makes him about , years old. the bhoja prabandha enumerates sankara among its worthies, and as contemporary with that prince; his antiquity will then be between eight and nine centuries. the followers of madhwacharya in tuluva seem to have attempted to reconcile these contradictory accounts by supposing him to have been born three times; first at sivuli in tuluva about , years ago, again in malabar some centuries later, and finally at padukachaytra in tuluva, no more than years since; the latter assertion being intended evidently to do honour to their own founder, whose date that was, by enabling him to triumph over sankara in a supposititious controversy. the vaishnava brahmins of madura say that sankara appeared in the ninth century of salivahana, or tenth of our era. dr. taylor thinks that, if we allow him about years, we shall not be far from the truth, and mr. colebroke is inclined to give him an antiquity of about , years. this last is the age which my friend ram mohun roy, a diligent student of sankara's works, and philosophical teacher of his doctrines, is disposed to concur in, and he infers that 'from a calculation of the spiritual generations of the followers of sankara swami from his time up to this date, he seems to have lived between the seventh and eighth centuries of the christian era,' a distance of time agreeing with the statements made to dr. buchanan in his journey through sankara's native country, malabar, and in union with the assertion of the kerala utpatti, a work giving art historical and statistical account of the same province, and which, according to mr. duncan's citation of it, mentions the regulations of the castes of malabar by this philosopher to have been effected about , years before . at the same time, it must be observed, that a manuscript translation of the same work in colonel mackenzie's possession, states sankaracharya to have been born about the middle of the fifth century, or between thirteen or fourteen hundred years ago, differing in this respect from mr. duncan's statement--a difference of the less importance, as the manuscript in question, either from defects in the original or translation, presents many palpable errors, and cannot consequently be depended upon. the weight of authority therefore is altogether in favour of an antiquity of about ten centuries, and i am disposed to adopt this estimate of sankara's date, and to place him in the end of the eighth and beginning of the ninth century of the christian era." we will add a few more authorities to mr. wilson's list before proceeding to comment on the foregoing passage. in a work called "the biographical sketches of eminent hindu authors," published at bombay in by janardan ramchenderjee, it is stated that sankara lived , years ago, and that, in the opinion of some people, , years ago. the records of the combaconum matham give a list of nearly mathadhipatis from sankara down to the present time, and show that he lived more than , years ago. the kudali matham referred to by mr. wilson, which is a branch of the sringeri matham, gives the same date as the latter matham, their traditions being identical. their calculation can safely be relied upon as far as it is supported by the dates given on the places of samadhi (something like a tomb) of the successive gurus of the sringeri matham; and it leads us to the commencement of the christian era. no definite information is given by mr. wilson regarding the nature, origin, or reliability of the accounts which place sankara in the third or fourth century of the christian era or at its commencement; nor does it clearly appear that the history of the kings of konga referred to unmistakably alludes to the very first sancharacharya. these traditions are evidently opposed to the conclusion arrived at by mr. wilson, and it does not appear on what grounds their testimony is discredited by him. mr. wilson is clearly wrong in stating that an antiquity of , years is attributed to sankara by the sringeri matham. we have already referred to the account of the sringeri matham, and it is precisely similar to the account given by the kudali brahmins. we have ascertained that it is so from the agent of the sringeri matham at madras, who has recently published the list of teachers preserved at the said matham with the dates assigned to them. and further, we are unable to see which "common tradition" makes sankara "about , years old." as far as our knowledge goes there is no such common tradition in india. the majority of people in southern india have, up to this time, been relying on the sringeri account, and in northern india there seems to be no common tradition. we have but a mass of contradictory accounts. it is indeed surprising that an orientalist of mr. wilson's pretensions should confound the poet named sankara and mentioned in bhoja prabandha with the great adwaitee teacher. no hindu would ever commit such a ridiculous mistake. we are astonished to find some of these european orientalists quoting now and then some of the statements contained in such books as bhoja prabandha, katha sarit sagara, raja-tarangini and panchatantra, as if they were historical works. in some other part of his preface mr. wilson himself says that this bhoja prabandha is altogether untrustworthy, as some of the statements contained therein did not harmonize with his theory about amarasimha's date; but now he misquotes its statements for the purpose of supporting his conclusion regarding sankara's date. surely, consistency is not one of the prominent characteristics of the writings of the majority of european orientalists. the person mentioned in bhoja prabandha is always spoken of under the name of sankara kavi (poet), and he is nowhere called sankaracharya (teacher), and the adwaitee teacher is never mentioned in any hindu work under the appellation of sankara kavi. it is unnecessary for us to say anything about the madhwa traditions or the opinion of the vaishnava brahmins of madurah regarding sankara's date. it is, in our humble opinion, hopeless to expect anything but falsehood regarding sankara's history and his philosophy from the madhwas and the vaishnavas. they are always very anxious to show to the world at large that their doctrines existed before the time of sankara, and that the adwaitee doctrine was a deviation from their preexisting orthodox hinduism. and consequently they have assigned to him an antiquity of less than , years. it does not appear why dr. taylor thinks that he can allow sankara about years, or on what grounds mr. colebrooke is inclined to give him an antiquity of about , years. no reliance can be placed on such statements before the reasons assigned therefore are thoroughly sifted. fortunately, mr. wilson gives us the reason for ram mohun roy's opinion. we are inclined to believe that ram mohun roy's calculation was made with reference to the sringeri list of teachers or gurus, as that was the only list published up to this time; and as no other matham, except perhaps the cumbaconum matham, has a list of gurus coming up to the present time in uninterrupted succession. there is no necessity for depending upon his calculation (which from its very nature cannot be anything more than mere guesswork) when the old list preserved at sringeri contains the dates assigned to the various teachers. as these dates have not been published up to the present time, and as ram mohun roy had merely a string of names before him, he was obliged to ascertain sankara's date by assigning a certain number of years on the average to every teacher. consequently, his opinion is of no importance whatever when we have the statement of the sringeri matham which, as we have already said, places sankara some centuries before the christian era. the same remarks will apply to the calculation in question even if it were made on the basis of the number of teachers contained in the list preserved in the cumbaconum matham. very little importance can be attached to the oral evidence adduced by some unknown persons before dr. buchanan in his travels through malabar; and we have only to consider the inferences that may be drawn from the accounts contained in kerala utpatti. the various manuscript copies of this work seem to differ in the date they assign to sankaracharya; even if the ease were otherwise, we cannot place any reliance upon this work, for the following among other reasons:-- i. it is a well-known fact that the customs of malabar are very peculiar. their defenders have been, consequently, pointing to some great rishi or some great philosopher of ancient india as their legislator. some of them affirm (probably the majority) that parasurama brought into existence some of these customs and left a special smriti for the guidance of the people of malabar; others say that it was sankaracharya who sanctioned these peculiar customs. it is not very difficult to perceive why these two persons were selected by them. according to the hindu puranas, parasurama lived in malabar for some time, and according to hindu traditions sankara was born in that country. but it is extremely doubtful whether either of them had anything to do with the peculiar customs of the said country. there is no allusion whatever to any of these customs in sankara's works. he seems to have devoted his whole attention to religious reform, and it is very improbable that he should have ever directed his attention to the local customs of malabar. while attempting to revive the philosophy of the ancient rishis, it is not likely that he should have sanctioned the customs of malabar, which are at variance with the rules laid down in the smritis of those very rishis; and as far as our knowledge goes, he left no written regulations regarding to the castes of malabar. ii. the statements contained in kerala utpatti are opposed to the account of sankara's life given in almost all the sankara vijayams (biographies of sankara) examined up to this time--viz., vidyaranya's sankara vijayam, chitsukhachary's sankara vijayavilasam, brihat sankara vijayam, &c. according to the account contained in these works, sankara left malabar in his eighth year, and returned to his native village when his mother was on her death-bed, and on that occasion he remained there only for a few days. it is difficult to see at what period of his lifetime he was engaged in making regulations for the castes of malabar. iii. the work under consideration represents malabar as the seat of bhattapada's triumphs over the buddhists, and says that this teacher established himself in malabar and expelled the buddhists from that country. this statement alone will be sufficient to show to our readers the fictitious character of the account contained in this book. according to every other hindu work, this great teacher of purva mimamsa was born in northern india; almost all his famous disciples and followers were living in that part of the country, and according to vidyaranya's account he died at allahabad. for the foregoing reasons we cannot place any reliance upon this account of malabar. from an examination of the traditions and other accounts referred to above, mr. wilson comes to the conclusion that sankaracharya lived in the end of the eighth and the beginning of the ninth century of the christian era. the accounts of the sringeri, kudali and cumbaconum mathams, and the traditions current in the bombay presidency, as shown in the biographical sketches published at bombay, place sankara in some century before the christian era. on the other hand, kerala utpatti, the information obtained by dr. buchanan in his travels through malabar, and the opinions expressed by dr. taylor and mr. colebrooke, concur in assigning to him an antiquity of about , years. the remaining traditions referred to by mr. wilson are as much opposed to his opinion as to the conclusion that sankara lived before christ. we shall now leave it to our readers to say whether, under such circumstances, mr. wilson is justified in asserting that "the weight of authority is altogether in favour" of his theory. we have already referred to the writings of almost all the european orientalists who expressed an opinion upon the subject under discussion; and we need hardly say that sankara's date is yet to be ascertained. we are obliged to comment at length on the opinions of european orientalists regarding sankara's date, as there will be no probability of any attention being paid to the opinion of indian and tibetan initiates when it is generally believed that the question has been finally settled by european sanskritists. the adepts referred to by "an english f.t.s." are certainly in a position to clear up some of the problems in indian religious history. but there is very little chance of their opinions being accepted by the general public under present circumstances, unless they are supported by such evidence as is within the reach of the outside world. as it is not always possible to procure such evidence, there is very little use in publishing the information which is in their possession until the public are willing to recognize and admit the antiquity and trustworthiness of their traditions, the extent of their powers, and the vastness of their knowledge. in the absence of such proof as is above indicated, there is every likelihood of their opinions being rejected as absurd and untenable; their motives will no doubt be questioned, and some people may be tempted to deny even the fact of their existence. it is often asked by hindus as well as by english men why these adepts are so very unwilling to publish some portion at least of the information they possess regarding the truths of physical science. but, in doing so, they do not seem to perceive the difference between the method by which they obtain their knowledge and the process of modern scientific investigation by which the facts of nature are ascertained and its laws are discovered. unless an adept can prove his conclusions by the same kind of reasoning as is adopted by the modern scientist they remain undemonstrated to the outside world. it is of course impossible for him to develop in a considerable number of human beings such faculties as would enable them to perceive their truth; and it is not always practicable to establish them by the ordinary scientific method unless all the facts and laws on which his demonstration is to be based have already been ascertained by modern science. no adept can be expected to anticipate the discoveries of the next four or five centuries, and prove some grand scientific truth to the entire satisfaction of the educated public after having discovered every fact and law of nature required for the said purpose by such process of reasoning as would be accepted by them. they have to encounter similar difficulties in giving any information regarding the events of the ancient history of india. however, before giving the exact date assigned to sankaracharya by the indian and tibetan initiates, we shall indicate a few circumstances by which his date may be approximately determined. it is our humble opinion that the sankara vijayams hitherto published can be relied upon as far as they are consistent with each other regarding the general outlines of sankara's life. we cannot, however, place any reliance whatever upon anandagiri's sankara vijaya published at calcutta. the calcutta edition not only differs in some very material points from the manuscript copies of the same work found in southern india, but is opposed to every other sankara vijayam hitherto examined. it is quite clear from its style and some of the statements contained therein, that it was not the production of anandagiri, one of the four chief disciples of sankara and the commentator on his upanishad bhashyam. for instance, it represents sankara as the author of a certain verse which is to be found in vidyaranya's adhikaranaratnamala, written in the fourteenth century. it represents sankara as giving orders to two of his disciples to preach the visishtadwaitee and the dwaitee doctrines, which are directly opposed to his own doctrine. the book under consideration says that sankara went to conquer mandanamisra in debate, followed by sureswaracharya, though mandanamisra assumed the latter name at the time of initiation. it is unnecessary for us here to point out all the blunders and absurdities of this book. it will be sufficient to say that in our opinion it was not written by anandagiri, and that it was the introduction of an unknown author who does not appear to have been even tolerably well acquainted with the history of the adwaitee doctrine. vidyaranya's (otherwise sayanachary, the great commentator of the vedas) sankara vijaya is decidedly the most reliable source of information as regards the main features of sankara's biography. its authorship has been universally accepted, and the information contained therein was derived by its author, as may be seen from his own statements, from certain old biographies of sankara existing at the time of its composition. taking into consideration the author's vast knowledge and information, and the opportunities he had for collecting materials for his work when he was the head of the sringeri matham, there is every reason to believe that he had embodied in his work the most reliable information he could obtain. mr. wilson, however, says that the book in question is "much too poetical and legendary" to be acknowledged as a great authority. we admit that the style is highly poetical, but we deny that the work is legendary. mr. wilson is not justified in characterizing it as such on account of its description of some of the wonderful phenomena shown by sankara. probably the learned orientalist would not be inclined to consider the biblical account of christ in the same light. it is not the peculiar privilege of christianity to have a miracle-worker for its first propagator. in the following observations we shall take such facts as are required from this work. it is generally believed that a person named govinda yogi was sankara's guru, but it is not generally known that this yogi was in fact patanjali--the great author of the mahabhashya and the yoga sutras-- under a new name. a tradition current in southern india represents him as one of the chelas of patanjali; but it is very doubtful if this tradition has anything like a proper foundation. but it is quite clear from the th, th, th, and th verses of the th chapter of vidyaranya's sankara vijayam that govinda yogi and patanjali were identical. according to the immemorial custom observed amongst initiates, patanjali assumed the name of govinda yogi at the time of his initiation by goudapada. it cannot be contended that vidyaranya represented patanjali as sankara's guru merely for the purpose of assigning some importance to sankara and his teaching. sankara is looked upon as a far greater man than patanjali by the adwaitees, and nothing can be added to sankara's reputation by vidyaranya's assertion. moreover, patanjali's views are not altogether identical with sankara's views; it may be seen from sankara's writings that he attached no importance whatever to the practices of hatha yog regarding which patanjali composed his yoga sutras. under such circumstances, if vidyaranya had the option of selecting a guru for sankara, he would no doubt have represented vyasa himself (who is supposed to be still living) as his guru. we see no reason therefore to doubt the correctness of the statement under examination. therefore, as sankara was patanjali's chela, and as goudapada was his guru, his date will enable us to fix the dates of sankara and goudapada. we may here point out to our readers a mistake that appears in p. of mr. sinnett's book on esoteric buddhism as regards the latter personage. he is there represented as sankara's guru; mr. sinnett was informed, we believe, that he was sankara's paramaguru, and not having properly understood the meaning of this expression, mr. sinnett wrote that he was sankara's guru. it is generally admitted by orientalists that patanjali lived before the commencement of the christian era. mr. barth places him in the second century before the christian era, accepting goldstucker's opinion, and monier williams does the same thing. weber, who seems to have carefully examined the opinions of all the other orientalists who have written upon the subject, comes to the conclusion that "we must for the present rest satisfied with placing the date of the composition of the bhashya between b.c. and a.d. , a result which considering the wretched state of the chronology of indian liturgy generally is, despite its indefiniteness, of no mean importance." and yet even this date rests upon inferences drawn from one or two unimportant expressions contained in patanjali's mahabhashya. it is always dangerous to draw such inferences, and especially so when it is known that, according to the tradition current amongst hindu grammarians, some portions of mahabhashya were lost, the gaps being filled up by subsequent writers. even supposing that we should consider the expression quoted as written by patanjali himself, there is nothing in those expressions which would enable us to fix the writer's date. for instance, the connection between the expression "arunad yavanah saketam" and the expedition of menander against ayodhya between b.c. and , relied upon by goldstucker is merely imaginary. there is nothing in the expression to show that the allusion contained therein points necessarily to menander's expedition. we believe that patanjali is referring to the expedition of yavanas against ayodhya during the lifetime of sagara's father described in harivamsa. this expedition occurred long before rama's time, and there is nothing to connect it with menander. goldstucker's inference is based upon the assumption that there was no other yavana expedition against ayodhya known to patanjali, and it will be easily seen from harivamsa (written by vyasa) that the said assumption is unwarranted. consequently the whole theory constructed by goldstucker on this weak foundation falls to the ground. no valid inferences can be drawn from the mere names of kings contained in mahabhashya, even if they are traced to patanjali himself, as there would be several kings in the same dynasty bearing the same name. from the foregoing remarks it will be clear that we cannot fix, as weber has done, b.c. as the maximum limit of antiquity that can be assigned to patanjali. it is now necessary to see whether any other such limit has been ascertained by orientalists. as panini's date still remains undetermined, the limit cannot be fixed with reference to his date. but it is assumed by some orientalists that panini must have lived at some time subsequent to alexander's invasion, from the fact that panini explains in his grammar the formation of the word yavanani. we are very sorry that european orientalists have taken the pains to construct theories upon this basis without ascertaining the meaning assigned to the word yavana, and the time when the hindus first became acquainted with the greeks. it is unreasonable to assume without proof that this acquaintance commenced at the time of alexander's invasion. on the other hand, there are very good reasons for believing that the greeks were known to the hindus long before this event. pythagoras visited india, according to the traditions current amongst indian initiates, and he is alluded to in indian astrological works under the name of yavanacharya. moreover, it is not quite certain that the word yavana was strictly confined to the greeks by the ancient hindu writers. probably it was originally applied to the egyptians and the ethiopians; it was probably extended first to the alexandrian greeks, and subsequently to the greeks, persians, and arabians. besides the yavana invasion of ayodhya described in harivamsa, there was another subsequent expedition to india by kala yavana (black yavana) during krishna's lifetime described in the same work. this expedition was probably undertaken by the ethiopians. anyhow, there are no reasons whatever, as far as we can see, for asserting that hindu writers began to use the word yavana after alexander's invasion. we can attach no importance whatever to any inferences that may be drawn regarding the dates of panini and katyayana (both of them lived before patanjali) from the statements contained in katha sarit sayara, which is nothing more than a mere collection of fables. it is now seen by orientalists that no proper conclusions can be drawn regarding the dates of panini and katyayana from the statements made by hiuan thsang, and we need not therefore say anything here regarding the said statements. consequently the dates of panini and katyayana still remain undetermined by european orientalists. goldstucker is probably correct in his conclusion that panini lived before buddha, and the buddhists' accounts agree with the traditions of the initiates in asserting that katyayana was a contemporary of buddha. from the fact that patanjali must have composed his mahabhashyam after the composition of panini's sutras and katyayana's vartika, we can only infer that it was written after buddha's birth. but there are a few considerations which may help us in coming to the conclusion that patanjali must have lived about the year b.c.; max muller fixed the sutra period between b.c. and b.c. we agree with him in supposing that the period probably ended with b.c. , though it is uncertain how far it extended into the depths of indian antiquity. patanjali was the author of the yoga sutras, and this fact has not been doubted by any hindu writer up to this time. mr. weber thinks, however, that the author of the yoga sutras might be a different man from the author of the mahabhashya, though he does not venture to assign any reason for his supposition. we very much doubt if any european orientalist can ever find out the connection between the first anhika of the mahabhashya and the real secrets of hatha yoga contained in the yoga sutras. no one but an initiate can understand the full significance of the said anhika; and the "eternity of the logos" or sabda is one of the principal doctrines of the gymnosophists of india, who were generally hatha yogis. in the opinion of hindu writers and pundits patanjali was the author of three works, viz., mahabhashya, yoga sutras, and a book on medicine and anatomy; and there is not the slightest reason for questioning the correctness of this opinion. we must, therefore, place patanjali in the sutra period, and this conclusion is confirmed by the traditions of the indian initiates. as sankaracharya was a contemporary of patanjali (being his chela) he must have lived about the same time. we have thus shown that there are no reasons for placing sankara in the eighth or ninth century after christ, as some of the european orientalists have done. we have further shown that sankara was patanjali's chela, and that his date should be ascertained with reference to patanjali's date. we have also shown that neither the year b.c. nor the date of alexander's invasion can be accepted as the maximum limit of antiquity that can be assigned to him, and we have lastly pointed out a few circumstances which will justify us in expressing an opinion that patanjali and his chela sankara belonged to the sutra period. we may, perhaps, now venture to place before the public the exact date assigned to sankaracharya by tibetan and indian initiates. according to the historical information in their possession he was born in the year b.c. (fifty-one years and two months after the date of buddha's nirvana), and we believe that satisfactory evidence in support of this date can be obtained in india if the inscriptions at conjeveram, sringeri, jaggurnath, benares, cashmere, and various other places visited by sankara, are properly deciphered. sankara built conjeveram, which is considered as one of the most ancient towns in southern india; and it may be possible to ascertain the time of its construction if proper inquiries are made. but even the evidence now brought before the public supports the opinion of the initiates above indicated. as goudapada was sankaracharya's guru's guru, his date entirely depends on sankara's date; and there is every reason to suppose that he lived before buddha. question vi.--"historical difficulty"--why? it is asked whether there may not be "some confusion" in the letter quoted on p. of "esoteric buddhism" regarding "old greeks and romans said to have been atlanteans." the answer is--none whatever. the word "atlantean" was a generic name. the objection to have it applied to the old greeks and romans on the ground that they were aryans, "their language being intermediate between sanskrit and modern european dialects," is worthless. with equal reason might a future th race scholar, who had never heard of the (possible) submergence of a portion of european turkey, object to turks from the bosphorus being referred to as a remnant of the europeans. "the turks are surely semites," he might say , years hence, and "their language is intermediate between arabic and our modern th race dialects." * -------- * this is not to be construed to mean that , years hence there will be yet any man of the th race, or that the th will be submerged. the figures are given simply for the sake of a better comparison with the present objection in the case of the greeks and atlantis. --------- the "historical difficulty" arises from a certain authoritative statement made by orientalists on philological grounds. professor max muller has brilliantly demonstrated that sanskrit was the "elder sister"--by no means the mother--of all the modern languages. as to that "mother," it is conjectured by himself and colleagues to be a "now extinct tongue, spoken probably by the nascent aryan race." when asked what was this language, the western voice answers: "who can tell?" when, "during what geological periods did this nascent race flourish?" the same impressive voice replies: "in prehistoric ages, the duration of which no one can now determine." yet it must have been sanskrit, however barbarous and unpolished, since "the ancestors of the greeks, the italians, slavonians, germans and kelts" were living within "the same precincts" with that nascent race, and the testimony borne by language has enabled the philologist to trace the "language of the gods" in the speech of every aryan nation. meanwhile it is affirmed by these same orientalists that classical sanskrit has its origin at the very threshold of the christian era; while vedic sanskrit is allowed an antiquity of hardly , years (if so much) before that time. now, atlantis, on the statement of the "adepts," sank over , years before the christian era.* how then can one maintain that the "old greeks and romans" were atlanteans? how can that be, since both nations are aryans, and the genesis of their languages is sanskrit? moreover, the western scholars know that the greek and latin languages were formed within historical periods, the greeks and latins themselves having no existence as nations , b.c.. surely they who advance such a proposition do not realize how very unscientific is their statement! ---------- * the position recently taken up by mr. gerald massey in light that the story of atlantis is not a geological event but an ancient astronomical myth, is rather imprudent. mr. massey, notwithstanding his rare intuitional faculties and great learning, is one of those writers in whom the intensity of research bent into one direction has biased his otherwise clear understanding. because hercules is now a constellation it does not follow that there never was a hero of this name. because the noachian universal deluge is now proved a fiction based upon geological and geographical ignorance, it does not, therefore, appear that there were not many local deluges in prehistoric ages. the ancients connected every terrestrial event with the celestial bodies. they traced the history of their great deified heroes and memorialized it in stellar configurations as often as they personified pure myths, anthropomorphizing objects in nature. one has to learn the difference between the two modes before attempting to classify them under one nomenclature. an earthquake has just engulfed over , people ( , ) in sunda straits. these were mostly malays, savages with whom but few had relations, and the dire event will be soon forgotten. had a portion of great britain been thus swept away instead, the whole world would have been in commotion, and yet, a few thousand years hence, even such an event would have passed out of man's memory; and a future gerald massey might be found speculating upon the astronomical character and signification of the isles of wight, jersey, or man, arguing, perhaps, that this latter island had not contained a real living race of men but "belonged to astronomical mythology," was a "man submerged in celestial waters." if the legend of the lost atlantis is only "like those of airyana-vaejo and jambu-dvipa," it is terrestrial enough, and therefore "the mythological origin of the deluge legend" is so far an open question. we claim that it is not "indubitably demonstrated," however clever the theoretical demonstration. --------- such are the criticisms passed, such the "historical difficulty." the culprits arraigned are fully alive to their perilous situation; nevertheless, they maintain the statement. the only thing which may perhaps here be objected to is, that the names of the two nations are incorrectly used. it may be argued that to refer to the remote ancestors and their descendants equally as "greeks and romans," is an anachronism as marked as would be the calling of the ancient keltic gauls, or the insubres, frenchmen. as a matter of fact this is true. but, besides the very plausible excuse that the names used were embodied in a private letter, written as usual in great haste, and which was hardly worthy of the honour of being quoted verbatim with all its imperfections, there may perhaps exist still weightier objections to calling the said people by any other name. one misnomer is as good as another; and to refer to old greeks and romans in a private letter as the old hellenes from hellas or magna graecia, and the latins as from latium, would have been, besides looking pedantic, just as incorrect as the use of the appellation noted, though it may have sounded, perchance, more "historical." the truth is that, like the ancestors of nearly all the indo-europeans (or shall we say indo-germanic japhetidae?), the greek and roman sub-races mentioned have to be traced much farther back. their origin must be carried far into the mists of that "prehistoric" period, that mythical age which inspires the modern historian with such a feeling of squeamishness that anything creeping out of its abysmal depths is sure to be instantly dismissed as a deceptive phantom, the mythos of an idle tale, or a later fable unworthy of serious notice. the atlantean "old greeks" could not be designated even as the autochthones--a convenient term used to dispose of the origin of any people whose ancestry cannot be traced, and which, at any rate with the hellenes, meant certainly more than simply "soil-born," or primitive aborigines; and yet the so-called fable of deukalion and pyrrha is surely no more incredible or marvelous than that of adam and eve--a fable that hardly a hundred years ago no one would have dared or even thought to question. and in its esoteric significance the greek tradition is possibly more truly historical than many a so-called historical event during the period of the olympiades, though both hesiod and homer may have failed to record the former in their epics. nor could the romans be referred to as the umbro-sabbellians, nor even as the itali. peradventure, had the historians learnt something more than they have of the italian "autochthones"--the iapygians--one might have given the "old romans" the latter name. but then there would be again that other difficulty: history knows that the latin invaders drove before them, and finally cooped up, this mysterious and miserable race among the clefts of the calabrian rocks, thus showing the absence of any race affinity between the two. moreover, western archeologists keep to their own counsel, and will accept of no other but their own conjectures. and since they have failed to make anything out of the undecipherable inscriptions in an unknown tongue and mysterious characters on the iapygian monuments, and so for years have pronounced them unguessable, he who would presume to meddle where the doctors muddle would be likely to be reminded of the arab proverb about proffered advice. thus, it seems hardly possible to designate "the old greeks and romans" by their legitimate, true name, so as to at once satisfy the "historians" and keep on the fair side of truth and fact. however, since in the replies that precede science had to be repeatedly shocked by most unscientific propositions, and that before this series is closed many a difficulty, philological and archeological as well as historical, will have to be unavoidably created--it may be just as wise to uncover the occult batteries at once and have it over with. well, then, the "adepts" deny most emphatically to western science any knowledge whatever of the growth and development of the indo-aryan race which, "at the very dawn of history," they have espied in its "patriarchal simplicity" on the banks of the oxus. before our proposition concerning "the old greeks and romans" can be repudiated or even controverted, western orientalists will have to know more than they do about the antiquity of that race and the aryan language; and they will have to account for those numberless gaps in history which no hypotheses of theirs seem able to fill up. notwithstanding their present profound ignorance with regard to the early ancestry of the indo-european nations, and though no historian has yet ventured to assign even a remotely approximate date to the separation of the aryan nations and the origins of the sanskrit language, they hardly show the modesty that might, under these circumstances, be expected from them. placing as they do that great separation of the races at the first "dawn of traditional history," with the vedic age as "the background of the whole indian world" (of which confessedly they know nothing), they will, nevertheless, calmly assign a modern date to any of the rik-vedic oldest songs, on its "internal evidence;" and in doing this, they show as little hesitation as mr. fergusson when ascribing a post-christian age to the most ancient rockcut temple in india, merely on its "external form." as for their unseemly quarrels, mutual recriminations, and personalities over questions of scholarship, the less said the better. "the evidence of language is irrefragable," as the great oxford sanskritist says. to which he is answered--"provided it does not clash with historical facts and ethnology." it may be--no doubt it is, as far as his knowledge goes--"the only evidence worth listening to with regard to ante-historical periods;" but when something of these alleged "prehistorical periods" comes to be known, and when what we think we know of certain supposed prehistoric nations is found diametrically opposed to his "evidence of language," the "adepts" may be, perhaps, permitted to keep to their own views and opinions, even though they differ with those of the greatest living philologist. the study of language is but a part--though, we admit, a fundamental part--of true philology. to be complete, the latter has, as correctly argued by bockt, to be almost synonymous with history. we gladly concede the right to the western philologist, who has to work in the total absence of any historical data, to rely upon comparative grammar, and take the identification of roots lying at the foundation of words of those languages he is familiar with, or may know of, and put it forward as the result of his study, and the only available evidence. but we would like to see the same right conceded by him to the student of other races; even though these be inferior to the european races, in the opinion of the paramount west: for it is barely possible that, proceeding on other lines, and having reduced his knowledge to a system which precludes hypothesis and simple affirmation, the eastern student has preserved a perfectly authentic record (for him) of those periods which his opponent regards as ante-historical. the bare fact that, while western men of science are referred to as "scholars" and scholiasts--native sanskritists and archeologists are often spoken of as "calcutta" and "indian sciolists"--affords no proof of their real inferiority, but rather of the wisdom of the chinese proverb that "self-conceit is rarely companion to politeness." the "adept" therefore has little, if anything, to do with difficulties presented by western history. to his knowledge--based on documentary records from which, as said, hypothesis is excluded, and as regards which even psychology is called to play a very secondary part--the history of his and other nations extends immeasurably beyond that hardly discernible point that stands on the far-away horizon of the western world as a landmark of the commencement of its history. records made throughout a series of ages, based on astronomical chronology and zodiacal calculations, cannot err. (this new "difficulty"-- palaeographical, t his time--that may be possibly suggested by the mention of the zodiac in india and central asia before the christian era, is disposed of in a subsequent article.) hence, the main question at issue is to decide which--the orientalist or the "oriental"--is most likely to err. the "english f.t.s." has choice of two sources of information, two groups of teachers. one group is composed of western historians with their suite of learned ethnologists, philologists, anthropologists, archeologists and orientalists in general. the other consists of unknown asiatics belonging to a race which, notwithstanding mr. max muller's assertion that the same "blood is running in the veins (of the english soldier) and in the veins of the dark bengalese," is generally regarded by many a cultured western as "inferior." a handful of men can hardly hope to be listened to, specially when their history, religion, language, origin and sciences, having been seized upon by the conqueror, are now disfigured and mutilated beyond recognition, and who have lived to see the western scholar claim a monopoly beyond appeal or protest of deciding the correct meaning, chronological date, and historical value of the monumental and palaeographic relics of his motherland. it has little, if ever, entered the mind of the western public that their scholars have, until very lately, worked in a narrow pathway obstructed with the ruins of an ecclesiastical, dogmatic past; that they have been cramped on all sides by limitations of "revealed" events coming from god, "with whom a thousand years are but as one day," and who have thus felt bound to cram millenniums into centuries and hundreds into units, giving at the utmost an age of , to what is , years old. all this to save the threatened authority of their religion and their own respectability and good name in cultured society. and even that, when free themselves from preconceptions, they have had to protect the honour of the jewish divine chronology assailed by stubborn facts; and thus have become (often unconsciously) the slaves of an artificial history made to fit into the narrow frame of a dogmatic religion. no proper thought has been given to this purely psychological but very significant trifle. yet we all know how, rather than admit any relation between sanskrit and the gothic, keltic, greek, latin and old persian, facts have been tampered with, old texts purloined from libraries, and philological discoveries vehemently denied. and we have also heard from our retreats, how dugald stewart and his colleagues, upon seeing that the discovery would also involve ethnological affinities, and damage the prestige of those sires of the world races--shem, ham and japhet--denied in the face of fact that "sanskrit had ever been a living, spoken language," supporting the theory that "it was an invention of the brahmins, who had constructed their sanskrit on the model of the greek and latin." and again we know, holding the proof of the same, how the majority of orientalists are prone to go out of their way to prevent any indian antiquity (whether mss. or inscribed monument, whether art or science) from being declared pre-christian. as the origin and history of the gentile world is made to move in the narrow circuit of a few centuries "b.c.," within that fecund epoch when mother earth, recuperated from her arduous labours of the stone age, begat, it seems without transition, so many highly civilized nations and false pretenses, so the enchanted circle of indian archeology lies between the (to them unknown) year of the samvat era, and the tenth century of the western chronology. having to dispose of an "historical difficulty" of such a serious character, the defendants charged with it can but repeat what they have already stated; all depends upon the past history and antiquity allowed to the indo-aryan nation. the first step to take is to ascertain how much history herself knows of that almost prehistoric period when the soil of europe had not been trodden yet by the primitive aryan tribes. from the latest encyclopedia down to professor max muller and other orientalists, we gather what follows; they acknowledge that at some immensely remote period, before the aryan nations got divided from the parent stock (with the germs of indo-germanic languages in them); and before they rushed asunder to scatter over europe and asia in search of new homes, there stood a "single barbaric (?) people as physical and political representative of the nascent aryan race." this people spoke "a now extinct aryan language," from which by a series of modifications (surely requiring more thousands of years than our difficulty-makers are willing to concede) there arose gradually all the subsequent languages now spoken by the caucasian races. that is about all western history knows of its genesis. like ravana's brother, kumbhakarna,--the hindu rip van winkle--it slept for a long series of ages a dreamless, heavy sleep. and when at last it awoke to consciousness, it was but to find the "nascent aryan race" grown into scores of nations, peoples and races, most of them effete and crippled with age, many irretrievably extinct, while the true origin of the younger ones it was utterly unable to account for. so much for the "youngest brother." as for "the eldest brother, the hindu," who, professor max muller tells us, "was the last to leave the central home of the aryan family," and whose history this eminent philologist has now kindly undertaken to impart to him,--he, the hindu, claims that while his indo-european relative was soundly sleeping under the protecting shadow of noah's ark, he kept watch and did not miss seeing one event from his high himalayan fastnesses; and that he has recorded the history thereof, in a language which, though as incomprehensible as the iapygian inscriptions to the indo-european immigrant, is quite clear to the writers. for this crime he now stands condemned as a falsifier of the records of his forefathers. a place has been hitherto purposely left open for india "to be filled up when the pure metal of history should have been extracted from the ore of brahmanic exaggeration and superstition." unable, however, to meet this programme, the orientalist has since persuaded himself that there was nothing in that "ore" but dross. he did more. he applied himself to contrast brahmanic "superstition" and "exaggeration" with mosaic revelation and its chronology. the veda was confronted with genesis. its absurd claims to antiquity were forthwith dwarfed to their proper dimensions by the , years b.c. measure of the world's age; and the brahmanic "superstition and fables" about the longevity of the aryan rishis, were belittled and exposed by the sober historical evidence furnished in "the genealogy and age of the patriarchs from adam to noah," whose respective days were and years; without mentioning methuselah, who died at the premature age of nine hundred and sixty-nine. in view of such experience, the hindu has a certain right to decline the offers made to correct his annals by western history and chronology. on the contrary, he would respectfully advise the western scholar, before he denies point-blank any statement made by the asiatics with reference to what is prehistoric ages to europeans, to show that the latter have themselves anything like trustworthy data as regards their own racial history. and that settled, he may have the leisure and capacity to help his ethnic neighbours to prune their genealogical trees. our rajputs, among others, have perfectly trustworthy family records of an unbroken lineal descent through , years "b.c." and more, as proved by colonel tod; records which are accepted by the british government in its official dealings with them. it is not enough to have studied stray fragments of sanskrit literature--even though their number should amount to , texts, as boasted of--allowed to fall into foreign hands, to speak so confidently of the "aryan first settlers in india," and assert that, "left to themselves, in a world of their own, without a past and without a future (!) before them, they had nothing but themselves to ponder upon," and therefore could know absolutely nothing of other nations. to comprehend correctly and make out the inner meaning of most of them, one has to read these texts with the help of the esoteric light, and after having mastered the language of the brahmanic secret code--branded generally as "theological twaddle." nor is it sufficient--if one would judge correctly of what the archaic aryans did or did not know; whether or not they cultivated the social and political virtues; cared or not for history--to claim proficiency in both vedic and classical sanskrit, as well as in prakrit and arya bhasha. to comprehend the esoteric meaning of ancient brahmanical literature, one has, as just remarked, to be in possession of the key to the brahmanical code. to master the conventional terms used in the puranas, the aranyakas and upanishads is a science in itself, and one far more difficult than even the study of the , aphoristical rules of panini, or his algebraical symbols. very true, most of the brahmans themselves have now forgotten the correct interpretations of their sacred texts. yet they know enough of the dual meaning in their scriptures to be justified in feeling amused at the strenuous efforts of the european orientalist to protect the supremacy of his own national records and the dignity of his science by interpreting the hindu hieratic text after a peremptory fashion quite unique. disrespectful though it may seem, we call on the philologist to prove in some more convincing manner than usual, that he is better qualified than even the average hindu sanskrit pundit to judge of the antiquity of the "language of the gods;" that he has been really in a position to trace unerringly along the lines of countless generations the course of the "now extinct aryan tongue" in its many and various transformations in the west, and its primitive evolution into first the vedic, and then the classical sanskrit in the east, and that from the moment when the mother-stream began deviating into its new ethnographical beds, he has followed it up. finally that, while he, the orientalist, can, owing to speculative interpretations of what he thinks he has learnt from fragments of sanskrit literature, judge of the nature of all that he knows nothing about--i.e., to speculate upon the past history of a great nation he has lost sight of from its "nascent state," and caught up again but at the period of its last degeneration--the native student never knew, nor can ever know, anything of that history. until the orientalist has proved all this, he can be accorded but small justification for assuming that air of authority and supreme contempt which is found in almost every work upon india and its past. having no knowledge himself whatever of those incalculable ages that lie between the aryan brahman in central asia, and the brahman at the threshold of buddhism, he has no right to maintain that the initiated indo-aryan can never know as much of them as the foreigner. those periods being an utter blank to him, he is little qualified to declare that the aryan, having had no political history "of his own...." his only sphere was "religion and philosophy.... in solitude and contemplation." a happy thought suggested, no doubt, by the active life, incessant wars, triumphs, and defeats portrayed in the oldest songs of the rik-veda. nor can he with the smallest show of logic affirm that "india had no place in the political history of the world," or that "there are no synchronisms between the history of the brahmans and that of other nations before the date of the origin of buddhism in india;" for he knows no more of the prehistoric history of those "other nations" than of that of the brahman. all his inferences, conjectures and systematic arrangements of hypotheses begin very little earlier than "b.c.," if even so much, on anything like really historical grounds. he has to prove all this before he can command our attention. otherwise, however "irrefragable the evidence of language," the presence of sanskrit roots in all the european languages will be insufficient to prove, either that (a) before the aryan invaders descended toward the seven rivers they had never left their northern regions; or (b) why the "eldest brother, the hindu," should have been "the last to leave the central home of the aryan family." to the philologist such a supposition may seem "quite natural." yet the brahman is no less justified in his ever-growing suspicion that there may be at the bottom some occult reason for such a programme. that in the interest of his theory the orientalist was forced to make "the eldest brother" tarry so suspiciously long on the oxus, or wherever "the youngest" may have placed him in his "nascent state" after the latter "saw his brothers all depart towards the setting sun." we find reasons to believe that the chief motive for alleging such a procrastination is the necessity to bring the race closer to the christian era. to show the "brother" inactive and unconcerned, "with nothing but himself to ponder on," lest his antiquity and "fables of empty idolatry," and perhaps his traditions of other people's doings, should interfere with the chronology by which it is determined to try him. the suspicion is strengthened when one finds in the book from which we have been so largely quoting--a work of a purely scientific and philological character--such frequent remarks and even prophecies as: "history seems to teach that the whole human race required a gradual education before, in the fulness of time, it could be admitted to the truths of christianity." or, again "the ancient religions of the world were but the milk of nature, which was in due time to be succeeded by the bread of life;" and such broad sentiments expressed as that "there is some truth in buddhism, as there is in every one of the false religions of the world, but...." * ----------- * max muller's "history of ancient sanskrit literature." ----------- the atmosphere of cambridge and oxford seems decidedly unpropitious to the recognition of either indian antiquity, or the merit of the philosophies sprung from its soil!* --------- * and how one-sided and biased most of the western orientalists are may be seen by reading carefully "the history of indian literature," by albrecht weber--a sanskrit scholiast classed with the highest authorities. the incessant harping upon the one special string of christianity, and the ill-concealed efforts to pass it off as the keynote of all other religions, is painfully pre-eminent in his work. christian influences are shown to have affected not only the growth of buddhism and krishna worship, but even that of the siva-cult and its legends; it is openly stated that "it is not at all a far-fetched hypothesis that they have reference to scattered christian missionaries!" the eminent orientalist evidently forgets that, notwithstanding his efforts, none of the vedic, sutra or buddhist periods can be possibly crammed into this christian period--their universal tank of all ancient creeds, and of which some orientalists would fain make a poor-house for all decayed archaic religions and philosophy. even tibet, in his opinion, has not escaped "western influence." let us hope to the contrary. it can be proved that buddhist missionaries were as numerous in palestine, alexandria, persia, and even greece, two centuries before the christian era, as the padris are now in asia. that the gnostic doctrines (as he is obliged to confess) are permeated with buddhism. basilides, valentinian, bardesanes, and especially manes were simply heretical buddhists, "the formula of abjuration of these doctrines in the case of the latter, specifying expressly buddha (bodda) by name." ---------- leaflets from esoteric history the foregoing--a long, yet necessary digression--will show that the asiatic scholar is justified in generally withholding what he may know. that it is not merely on historical facts that hangs the "historical difficulty" at issue; but rather on its degree of interference with time-honoured, long-established conjectures, often raised to the eminence of an unapproachable historical axiom. that no statement coming from our quarters can ever hope to be given consideration so long as it has to be supported on the ruins of reigning hobbies, whether of an alleged historical or religious character. yet pleasant it is, after the brainless assaults to which occult sciences have hitherto been subjected--assaults in which abuse has been substituted for argument, and flat denial for calm inquiry--to find that there remain in the west some men who will come into the field like philosophers, and soberly and fairly discuss the claims of our hoary doctrines to the respect due to a truth and the dignity demanded for a science. those alone whose sole desire is to ascertain the truth, not to maintain foregone conclusions, have a right to expect undisguised facts. reverting to our subject, so far as allowable, we will now, for the sake of that minority, give them. the records of the occultists make no difference between the "atlantean" ancestors of the old greeks and romans. partially corroborated and in turn contradicted by licensed or recognized history, their records teach that of the ancient latini of classic legend called itali; of that people, in short, which, crossing the apennines (as their judo-aryan brothers--let this be known--had crossed before them the hindoo-koosh) entered from the north the peninsula--there survived at a period long before the days of romulus but the name, and a nascent language. profane history informs us that the latins of the "mythical era" got so hellenized amidst the rich colonies of magna grecia that there remained nothing in them of their primitive latin nationality. it is the latins proper, it says, those pre-roman italians who by settling in latium had from the first kept themselves free from the greek influence, who were the ancestors of the romans. contradicting exoteric history, the occult records affirm that if, owing to circumstances too long and complicated to be related here, the settlers of latium preserved their primitive nationality a little longer than their brothers who had first entered the peninsula with them after leaving the east (which was not their original home), they lost it very soon, for other reasons. free from the samnites during the first period, they did not remain free from other invaders. while the western historian puts together the mutilated, incomplete records of various nations and people, and makes them into a clever mosaic according to the best and most probable plan and rejects entirely traditional fables, the occultist pays not the slightest attention to the vain self-glorification of alleged conquerors or their lithic inscriptions. nor does he follow the stray bits of so-called historical information, often concocted by interested parties and found scattered hither and thither in the fragments of classical writers, whose original texts themselves have not seldom been tampered with. the occultist follows the ethnological affinities and their divergences in the various nationalities, races and sub-races, in a more easy way; and he is guided in this as surely as the student who examines a geographical map. as the latter can easily trace by their differently coloured outlines the boundaries of the many countries and their possessions; their geographical superficies and their separations by seas, rivers and mountains; so the occultist can by following the (to him) well distinguishable and defined auric shades and gradations of colour in the inner-man unerringly pronounce to which of the several distinct human families, as also to what special group, and even small sub-group of the latter, belongs any particular people, tribe, or man. this will appear hazy and incomprehensible to the many who know nothing of ethnic varieties of nerve-aura, and disbelieve in any "inner-man" theory, scientific but to the few. the whole question hangs upon the reality or unreality of the existence of this inner-man whom clairvoyance has discovered, and whose odyle or nerve-emanations von reichenbach proves. if one admits such a presence and realizes intuitionally that being closer related to the one invisible reality, the inner type must be still more pronounced than the outer physical type, then it will be a matter of little, if any, difficulty to conceive our meaning. for, indeed, if even the respective physical idiosyncrasies and special characteristics of any given person make his nationality usually distinguishable by the physical eye of the ordinary observer--let alone the experienced ethnologist: the englishman being commonly recognizable at a glance from the frenchman, the german from the italian, not to speak of the typical differences between human root-families* in their anthropological division--there seems little difficulty in conceiving that the same, though far more pronounced, difference of type and characteristics should exist between the inner races that inhabit these "fleshly tabernacles." besides this easily discernible psychological and astral differences, there are the documentary records in their unbroken series of chronological tables and the history of the gradual branching off of races and sub-races from the three geological primeval races, the work of the initiates of all the archaic and ancient temples up to date, collected in our "book of numbers," and other volumes. --------- * properly speaking, these ought to be called "geological races," so as to be easily distinguished from their subsequent evolutions--the root-races. the occult doctrine has nothing to do with the biblical division of shem, ham and japhet, and admires, without accepting it, the latest huxleyan physiological division of the human races into their quintuple groups of australioids, negroids, mongoloids, xanthechroics, and the fifth variety of melanochroics. yet it says that the triple division of the blundering jews is closer to the truth, it knows but of three entirely distinct primeval races whose evolution, formation and development went pari passu and on parallel lines with the evolution, formation, and development of three geological strata; namely, the black, the red-yellow, and the brown-white races. --------- hence, and on this double testimony (which the westerns are quite welcome to reject if so pleased) it is affirmed that, owing to the great amalgamation of various sub-races, such as the iapygian, etruscan, pelasgic, and later--the strong admixture of the hellenic and kelto-gaulic element in the veins of the primitive itali of latium--there remained in the tribes gathered by romulus on the banks of the tiber about as much latinism as there is now in the romanic people of wallachia. of course if the historical foundation of the fable of the twins of the vestal silvia is entirely rejected, together with that of the foundation of alba longa by the son of aeneas, then it stands to reason that the whole of the statements made must be likewise a modern invention built upon the utterly worthless fables of the "legendary mythical age." for those who now give these statements, however, there is more of actual truth in such fables than there is in the alleged historical regal period of the earliest romans. it is to be deplored that the present statement should clash with the authoritative conclusion of mommsen and others. yet, stating but that which to the "adepts" is fact, it must be understood at once that all (but the fanciful chronological date for the foundation of rome-april, "b.c.") that is given in old traditions in relation to the paemerium, and the triple alliance of the ramnians, luceres and tities, of the so-called romuleian legend, is indeed far nearer truth than what external history accepts as facts during the punic and macedonian wars up to, through, and down the roman empire to its fall. the founders of rome were decidedly a mongrel people, made up of various scraps and remnants of the many primitive tribes; only a few really latin families, the descendants of the distinct sub-race that came along with the umbro-sabellians from the east remaining. and, while the latter preserved their distinct colour down to the middle ages through the sabine element, left unmixed in its mountainous regions, the blood of the true roman was hellenic blood from its beginning. the famous latin league is no fable, but history. the succession of kings descended from the trojan aeneas is a fact; and the idea that romulus is to be regarded as simply the symbolical representative of a people, as aeolus, dorius, and ion were once, instead of a living man, is as unwarranted as it is arbitrary. it could only have been entertained by a class of historiographers bent upon condoning their sin in supporting the dogma that shem, ham and japhet were the historical once living ancestors of mankind, by making a burnt-offering of every really historical but non-jewish tradition, legend, or record which might presume to a place on the same level with these three privileged archaic mariners, instead of humbly groveling at their feet as "absurd myths" and old wives' tales and superstitions. it will thus appear that the objectionable statements on pp. and of "esoteric buddhism," which are alleged to create an "historical difficulty," were not made by mr. sinnett's correspondent to bolster a western theory, but in loyalty to historical facts. whether they can or cannot be accepted in those particular localities where criticism seems based upon mere conjecture (though honoured with the name of scientific hypothesis), is something which concerns the present writers as little as any casual traveler's unfavourable comments upon the time-scarred visage of the sphinx can affect the designer of that sublime symbol. the sentences, "the greeks and romans were small sub-races of our own caucasian stock" (p. ), and they were "the remnants of the atlanteans (the modern belong to the fifth race)" (p. ), show the real meaning on their face. by the old greeks, "remnants of the atlanteans" the eponymous ancestors (as they are called by europeans) of the aeolians, dorians and ionians, are meant. by the connection together of the old greeks and romans without distinction, was meant that the primitive latins were swallowed by magna graecia. and by "the modern" belonging "to the fifth race"--both these small branchlets from whose veins had been strained out the last drop of the atlantean blood--it was implied that the mongoloid th race blood had already been eliminated. occultists make a distinction between the races intermediate between any two root-races: the westerns do not. the "old romans" were hellenes in a new ethnological disguise; and the still older greeks the real blood ancestors of the future romans. in direct relation to this, attention is drawn to the following fact--one of the many in close historical bearing upon the "mythical" age to which atlantis belongs. it is a fable and may be charged to the account of historical difficulties. it is well calculated, however, to throw all the old ethnological and genealogical divisions into confusion. asking the reader to bear in mind that atlantis, like modern europe, comprised many nations and many dialects (issues from the three primeval root-languages of the st, nd, and rd races), we may return to poseidonis, its last surviving remnant of , years ago. as the chief element in the languages of the th race is the aryan-sanskrit of the "brown-white" geological stock or race, so the predominating element in atlantis was a language which has now survived but in the dialects of some american red-indian tribes, and in the chinese speech of the inland chinamen, the mountainous tribes of kivang-ze--a language which was an admixture of the agglutinate and the monosyllabic, as it would be called by modern philologists. it was, in short, the language of the "red-yellow" second or middle geological stock (we maintain the term "geological"). a strong percentage of the mongoloid or th root-race was, of course, to be found in the aryans of the th. but this did not prevent in the least the presence at the same time of unalloyed, pure aryan races in it. a number of small islands scattered around poseidonis had been vacated, in consequence of earthquakes, long before the final catastrophe, which has alone remained in the memory of men-- thanks to some written records. tradition says that one of the small tribes (the aeolians) who had become islanders after emigrating from far northern countries, had to leave their home again for fear of a deluge. if, in spite of the orientalists and the conjecture of m.f. lenormant-- who invented a name for a people whose shadowy outline he dimly perceived in the faraway past as preceding the babylonians--we say that this aryan race that came from central asia, the cradle of the th race humanity, belonged to the "akkadian" tribes, there will be a new historico-ethnological difficulty created. yet it is maintained that these "akkads" were no more a "turanian" race than any of the modern british people are the mythical ten tribes of israel, so conspicuously present in the bible, and absent from history. with such remarkable pacta conventa between modern exact (?) and ancient occult sciences, we may proceed with the fable. belonging virtually, through their original connection with the aryan, central asian stock, to the th race, the old aeolians yet were atlanteans, not only in virtue of their long residence in the now submerged continent, covering some thousands of years, but by the free intermingling of blood, by intermarriage with them. perhaps in this connection mr. huxley's disposition to account for his melanochroi (the greeks being included under this classification or type)--as themselves "the result of crossing between the xanthochroi and the australioids," among whom he places the southern india lower classes and the egyptians to some extent--is not far off from fact. anyhow the aeolians of atlantis were aryans on the whole, as much as the basques-- dr. pritchard's allophylians--are now southern europeans, although originally belonging to the south indian dravidian stock (their progenitors having never been the aborigines of europe prior to the first aryan emigration, as supposed). frightened by the frequent earthquakes and the visible approach of the cataclysm, this tribe is said to have filled a flotilla of arks, to have sailed from beyond the pillars of hercules, and, sailing along the coasts, after several years of travel to have landed on the shores of the aegean sea in the land of pyrrha (now thessaly), to which they gave the name of aeolia. thence they proceeded on business with the gods to mount olympus. it may be stated here, at the risk of creating a "geographical difficulty," that in that mythical age greece, crete, sicily, sardinia, and many other islands of the mediterranean, were simply the far-away possessions, or colonies, of atlantis. hence, the "fable" proceeds to state that all along the coasts of spain, france, and italy the aeolians often halted, and the memory of their "magical feats" still survives among the descendants of the old massilians, of the tribes of the later carthago-nova, and the seaports of etruria and syracuse. and here again it would not be a bad idea, perchance, even at this late hour, for the archeologists to trace, with the permission of the anthropological societies, the origin of the various autochthones through their folk-lore and fables, as they may prove both more suggestive and reliable than their "undecipherable" monuments. history catches a misty glimpse of these particular autochthones thousands of years only after they had been settled in old greece--namely, at the moment when the epireans cross the pindus bent on expelling the black magicians from their home to boeotia. but history never listened to the popular legends which speak of the "accursed sorcerers" who departed, leaving as an inheritance behind them more than one secret of their infernal arts, the fame of which crossing the ages has now passed into history--or, classical greek and roman fable, if so preferred. to this day a popular tradition narrates how the ancient forefathers of the thessalonians, so renowned for their magicians, had come from behind the pillars, asking for help and refuge from the great zeus, and imploring the father of the gods to save them from the deluge. but the "father" expelled them from the olympus, allowing their tribe to settle only at the foot of the mountain, in the valleys, and by the shores of the aegean sea. such is the oldest fable of the ancient thessalonians. and now, what was the language spoken by the atlantean aeolians? history cannot answer us. nevertheless, the reader has only to be reminded of some of the accepted and a few of the as yet unknown facts, to cause the light to enter any intuitional brain. it is now proved that man was universally conceived in antiquity as born of the earth. such is now the profane explanation of the term autochthones. in nearly every vulgarized popular fable, from the sanskrit arya "born of the earth," or lord of the soil in one sense; the erechtheus of the archaic greeks, worshiped in the earliest days of the akropolis and shown by homer as "he whom the earth bore" ( il. ii. ); down to adam fashioned of "red earth," the genetical story has a deep occult meaning, and an indirect connection with the origin of man and of the subsequent races. thus, the fables of helen, the son of pyrrha the red--the oldest name of thessaly; and of mannus, the reputed ancestor of the germans, himself the son of tuisco, "the red son of the earth," have not only a direct bearing upon our atlantis fable, but they explain moreover the division of mankind into geological groups as made by the occultists. it is only this, their division, that is able to explain to western teachers the apparently strange, if not absurd, coincidence of the semitic adam--a divinely revealed personage--being connected with red earth, in company with the aryan pyrrha, tuisco, &c.--the mythical heroes of "foolish" fables. nor will that division made by the eastern occultists, who call the th race people "the brown-white," and the th race the "red-yellow," root-races--connecting them with geological strata--appear at all fantastic to those who understood verse iii. - of the veda and its occult meaning, and another verse in which the dasyus are called "yellow." hatvi dasyun pra aryam varanam avat is said of indra who, by killing the dasyus, protected the colour of the aryans; and again, indra "unveiled the light for the aryas and the dasyus was left on the left hand" (ii. iii ). let the student of occultism bear in mind that the greek noah, deukalion, the husband of pyrrha, was the reputed son of prometheus who robbed heaven of its fire (i.e., of secret wisdom "of the right hand," or occult knowledge); that prometheus is the brother of atlas; that he is also the son of asia and of the titan iapetus--the antetype from which the jews borrowed their japhet for the exigencies of their own popular legend to mask its kabalistic, chaldean meaning; and that he is also the antetype of deukalion. prometheus is the creator of man out of earth and water,* who after stealing fire from olympus--a mountain in greece--is chained on a mount in the far-off caucasus. from olympus to mount kazbek there is a considerable distance. the occultists say that while the th race was generated and developed on the atlantean continent--our antipodes in a certain sense--the th was generated and developed in asia. (the ancient greek geographer strabo, for one, calls by the name of ariana, the land of the aryas, the whole country between the indian ocean in the south, the hindu kush and parapamisis in the north, the indus on the east, and the caspian gates, karamania and the mouth of the persian gulf, on the west.) the fable of prometheus relates to the extinction of the civilized portions of the th race, whom zeus, in order to create a new race, would destroy entirely, and prometheus (who had the sacred fire of knowledge) saved partially "for future seed." but the origin of the fable antecedes the destruction of poseidonis by more than seventy thousand years, however incredible it may seem. the seven great continents of the world, spoken of in the vishnu purana (b. ii., cap. ) include atlantis, though, of course, under another name. ila and ira are synonymous sanskrit terms (see amarakosha), and both mean earth or native soil; and ilavrita is a portion of ila, the central point of india (jambudvipa), the latter being itself the centre of the seven great continents before the submersion of the great continent of atlantis, of which poseidonis was but an insignificant remnant. and now, while every brahmin will understand the meaning, we may help the europeans with a few more explanations. -------- * behold moses saying that it requires earth and water to make a living man. -------- if, in that generally tabooed work, "isis unveiled," the "english f.t.s." turns to page , vol. i., he may find therein narrated another old eastern legend. an island .... (where now the gobi desert lies) was inhabited by the last remnants of the race that preceded ours: a handful of "adepts"--the "sons of god," now referred to as the brahman pitris; called by another yet synonymous name in the chaldean kabala. "isis unveiled" may appear very puzzling and contradictory to those who know nothing of occult sciences. to the occultist it is correct, and while perhaps left purposely sinning (for it was the first cautious attempt to let into the west a faint streak of eastern esoteric light), it reveals more facts than were ever given before its appearance. let any one read these pages and he may comprehend. the "six such races" in manu refer to the sub-races of the fourth race (p. ). in addition to this the reader must turn to the paper on "the septenary principle in esotericism" (p. ante), study the list of the "manus" of our fourth round (p. ), and between this and "isis" light may, perchance, be focused. on pages - of the work mentioned above, he will find that atlantis is mentioned in the "secret books of the east" (as yet virgin of western spoliating hand) under another name in the sacred hieratic or sacerdotal language. and then it will be shown to him that atlantis was not merely the name of one island but that of a whole continent, of whose isles and islets many have to this day survived. the remotest ancestors of some of the inhabitants of the now miserable fisherman's hovel "aclo" (once atlan), near the gulf of uraha, were allied at one time as closely with the old greeks and romans as they were with the "true inland china-man," mentioned on p. of "esoteric buddhism." until the appearance of a map, published at basle in , wherein the name of america appears for the first time, the latter was believed to be part of india; and strange to him who does not follow the mysterious working of the human mind and its unconscious approximations to hidden truths--even the aborigines of the new continent, the red-skinned tribes, the "mongoloids" of mr. huxley, were named indians. names now attributed to chance: elastic word that! strange coincidence, indeed, to him who does not know--science refusing yet to sanction the wild hypothesis--that there was a time when the indian peninsula was at one end of the line, and south america at the other, connected by a belt of islands and continents. the india of the prehistoric ages was not only within the region at the sources of the oxus and jaxartes, but there was even in the days of history, and within its memory, an upper, a lower, and a western india: and still earlier it was doubly connected with the two americas. the lands of the ancestors of those whom ammianus marcellinus calls the "brahmans of upper india" stretched from kashmir far into the (now) deserts of schamo. a pedestrian from the north might then have reached--hardly wetting his feet--the alaskan peninsula, through manchooria, across the future gulf of tartary, the kurile and aleutian islands; while another traveler, furnished with a canoe and starting from the south, could have walked over from siam, crossed the polynesian islands and trudged into any part of the continent of south america. on pp. - of "isis," vol. i., the thevetatas--the evil, mischievous gods that have survived in the etruscan pantheon--are mentioned, along with the "sons of god" or brahman pitris. the involute, the hidden or shrouded gods, the consentes, complices, and novensiles, are all disguised relics of the atlanteans; while the etruscan arts of soothsaying their disciplina revealed by tages comes direct and in undisguised form from the atlantean king thevetat, the "invisible" dragon, whose name survives to this day among the siamese and burmese, as also, in the jataka allegorical stories of the buddhists as the opposing power under the name of devadat. and tages was the son of thevetat, before he became the grandson of the etruscan jupiter-tinia. have the western orientalists tried to find out the connection between all these dragons and serpents; between the "powers of evil" in the cycles of epic legends, the persian and the indian, the greek and the jewish; between the contests of indra and the giant; the aryan nagas and the iranian aji dahaka; the guatemalian dragon and the serpent of genesis--&c. &c. &c.? professor max muller discredits the connection. so be it. but the fourth race of men, "men" whose sight was unlimited and who knew all things at once, the hidden as the unrevealed, is mentioned in the popol-vuh, the sacred books of the guatemalians; and the babylonian xisuthrus, the far later jewish noah, the hindu vaivaswata, and the greek deukalion, are all identical with the great father of the thlinkithians, of popol-vuh who, like the rest of these allegorical (not mythical) patriarchs, escaped in his turn and in his days, in a large boat at the time of the last great deluge--the submersion of atlantis. to have been an indo-aryan, vaivaswata had not, of necessity, to meet with his saviour (vishnu, under the form of a fish) within the precincts of the present india, or even anywhere on the asian continent; nor is it necessary to concede that he was the seventh great manu himself (see catalogue of the manus, in the paper on "the septenary principle in esotericism" cited above), but simply that the hindu noah belonged to the clan of vaivaswata and typifies the fifth race. now the last of the atlantean islands perished some , years ago; and the fifth race headed by the aryans began its evolution, to the certain knowledge of the "adepts" nearer one million than , years ago. but the historian and the anthropologist with their utmost stretch of liberality are unable to give more than from twenty to one hundred thousand years for all our human evolution. hence we put it to them as a fair question: at what point during their own conjectural lakh of years do they fix the root-germ of the ancestral line of the "old greeks and romans?" who were they? what is known or even "conjectured" about their territorial habitat after the division of the aryan nations? and where were the ancestors of the semitic and turanian races? it is not enough for purposes of refutation of other peoples' statements to say that the latter lived separate from the former, and then come to a full stop--a fresh hiatus in the ethnological history of mankind. since asia is sometimes called the cradle of humanity, and it is an ascertained fact that central asia was likewise the cradle of the semitic and turanian races (for thus it is taught in genesis), and we find the turans agreeably to the theory evolved by the assyriologists preceding the babylonian semitists, where, at what spot of the globe, did these semito-turanian nations break away from the parent stock, and what has become of the latter? it cannot be the small jewish tribe of patriarchs; and unless it can be shown that the garden of eden was also on the oxus or the euphrates, fenced off from the soil inhabited by the children of cain, philologists who undertake to fill in the gaps in universal history with their made-up conjectures, may be regarded as ignorant of this detail as those they would enlighten. logically, if the ancestors of these various groups had been at that remote period massed together, then the self-same roots of a parent common stock would have been equally traceable in their perfected languages as they are in those of the judo-europeans. and so, since whichever way one turns, one is met with the same troubled sea of speculation, margined by the treacherous quicksands of hypothesis, and every horizon bounded by inferential landmarks inscribed with imaginary dates. again, the "adepts" ask why should any one be awed into accepting as final criterion that which passes for science of high authority in europe? for all this is known to the asiatic scholar--in every case save the purely mathematical and physical sciences--as little better than a secret league for mutual support, and, perhaps, admiration. he bows with profound respect before the royal societies of physicists, chemists, and, to a degree, even of naturalists. he refuses to pay the slightest attention to the merely speculative and conjectural so-called "sciences" of the modern physiologist, ethnologist, philologist, &c., and the mob of self-styling oedipuses to whom it is not given to unriddle the sphynx of nature, and who therefore throttle her. with an eye to the above, as also with a certain prevision of the future, the defendants in the cases under examination believe that the "historical difficulty" with reference to the non-historical statement, necessitated more than a simple reaffirmation of the fact. they knew that with no better claims to a hearing than may be accorded by the confidence of a few, and in view of the decided antagonism of the many, it would never do for them to say "we maintain" while western professors maintained to the contrary. for a body of, so to say, unlicensed preachers and students of unauthorized and unrecognized sciences to offer to fight an august body of universally recognized oracles, would be an unprecedented piece of impertinence. hence their respective claims had to be examined on however small a scale to begin with (in this as in all other cases) on other than psychological grounds. the "adepts" in occult arts had better keep silence when confronted with the "a.c.s.'s"--adepts in conjectural sciences--unless they could show, partially at least, how weak is the authority of the latter and on what foundations of shifting sands their scientific dicta are often built. they may thus make it a thinkable conjecture that the former may be right after all. absolute silence, moreover, as at present advised, would have been fatal. besides risking to be construed into inability to answer, it might have given rise to new complaints among the faithful few, and lead to fresh charges of selfishness against the writers. therefore have the "adepts" agreed to smooth in part at least a few of the most glaring difficulties and showing a highway to avoid them in future by studying the non-historical but actual, instead of the historical but mythical, portions of universal history. and this they have achieved, they believe (at any rate with a few of their querists), by simply showing, or rather reminding them, that since no historical fact can stand as such against the "assumption" of the "adepts"-- historians being confessedly ignorant of pre-roman and greek origins beyond the ghostly shadows of the etruscans and pelasgians--no real historical difficulty can be possibly involved in their statement. from objectors outside the society, the writers neither demand nor do they expect mercy. the "adept" has no favours to ask at the hands of conjectural science, nor does he exact from any member of the "london lodge" blind faith: it being his cardinal maxim that faith should only follow inquiry. the "adept" is more than content to be allowed to remain silent, keeping what he may know to himself, unless worthy seekers wish to share it. he has so done for ages, and can do so for a little longer. moreover, he would rather not "arrest attention" or "command respect" at present. thus he leaves his audience to first verify his statements in every case by the brilliant though rather wavering light of modern science: after which his facts may be either accepted or rejected, at the option of the willing student. in short, the "adept"--if one indeed--has to remain utterly unconcerned with, and unmoved by, the issue. he imparts that which it is lawful for him to give out, and deals but with facts. the philological and archeological "difficulties" next demand attention. philological and archeological "difficulties" two questions are blended into one. having shown the reasons why the asiatic student is prompted to decline the guidance of western history, it remains to explain his contumacious obstinacy in the same direction with regard to philology and archeology. while expressing the sincerest admiration for the clever modern methods of reading the past histories of nations now mostly extinct, and following the progress and evolution of their respective languages, now dead, the student of eastern occultism, and even the profane hindu scholar acquainted with his national literature, can hardly be made to share the confidence felt by western philologists in these conglutinative methods, when practically applied to his own country and sanskrit literature. three facts, at least, out of many are well calculated to undermine his faith in these western methods:-- . of some dozens of eminent orientalists, no two agree, even in their verbatim translation of sanskrit texts. nor is there more harmony shown in their interpretation of the possible meaning of doubtful passages. . though numismatics is a less conjectural branch of science, and when starting from well-established basic dates, so to say, an exact one (since it can hardly fail to yield correct chronological data, in our case, namely, indian antiquities); archeologists have hitherto failed to obtain any such position. on their own confession, they are hardly justified in accepting the samvat and salivahana eras as their guiding lights, the real initial points of both being beyond the power of the european orientalists to verify; yet all the same, the respective dates "of b.c. and a.d." are accepted implicitly, and fanciful ages thereupon ascribed to archeological remains. . the greatest authorities upon indian archeology and architecture-- general cunningham and mr. fergusson--represent in their conclusions the two opposite poles. the province of archeology is to provide trustworthy canons of criticism, and not, it should seem, to perplex or puzzle. the western critic is invited to point to one single relic of the past in india, whether written record or inscribed or uninscribed monument, the age of which is not disputed. no sooner has one archeologist determined a date--say the first century--than another tries to pull it forward to the th or perhaps the th century of the christian era. while general cunningham ascribes the construction of the present buddha gaya temple to the st century after christ--the opinion of mr. fergusson is that its external form belongs to the th century; and so the unfortunate outsider is as wise as ever. noticing this discrepancy in a "report on the archeological survey of india" (vol. viii. p. ), the conscientious and capable buddha-gaya chief engineer, mr. j.d. beglar, observes that "notwithstanding his (fergusson's) high authority, this opinion must be unhesitatingly set aside," and forthwith assigns the building under notice to the th century. while the conjectures of one archeologist are termed by another "hopelessly wrong," the identifications of buddhist relics by this other are in their turn denounced as "quite untenable." and so in the case of every relic of whatever age. when the "recognized" authorities agree--among themselves at least--then will it be time to show them collectively in the wrong. until then, since their respective conjectures can lay no claim to the character of history, the "adepts" have neither the leisure nor the disposition to leave weightier business to combat empty speculations, in number as many as there are pretended authorities. let the blind lead the blind, if they will not accept the light.* -------- * however, it will be shown elsewhere that general cunningham's latest conclusions about the date of buddha's death are not all supported by the inscriptions newly discovered.--t. subba row. --------- as in the "historical," so in this new "archeological difficulty," namely, the apparent anachronism as to the date of our lord's birth, the point at issue is again concerned with the "old greeks and romans." less ancient than our atlantean friends, they seem more dangerous inasmuch as they have become the direct allies of philologists in our dispute over buddhist annals. we are notified by prof. max muller, by sympathy the most fair of sanskritists as well as the most learned--and with whom, for a wonder, most of his rivals are found siding in this particular question--that "everything in indian chronology depends on the date of chandragupta,"--the greek sandracottus. "either of these dates (in the chinese and ceylonese chronology) is impossible, because it does not agree with the chronology of greece." ("hist. of the sans. lit.," p. .) it is then by the clear light of this new alexandrian pharos shed, upon a few synchronisms casually furnished by the greek and roman classical writers, that the "extraordinary" statements of the "adepts" have now to be cautiously examined. for western orientalists the historical existence of buddhism begins with asoka, though, even with the help of greek spectacles, they are unable to see beyond chandragupta. therefore, "before that time buddhist chronology is traditional and full of absurdities." furthermore, nothing is said in the brahmanas of the bauddhas--ergo, there were none before "sandracottus," nor have the buddhists or brahmans any right to a history of their own, save the one evoluted by the western mind. as though the muse of history had turned her back while events were gliding by, the "historian" confesses his inability to close the immense lacunae between the indo-aryan supposed immigration en masse across the hindoo kush, and the reign of asoka. having nothing more solid, he uses contradictory inferences and speculations. but the asiatic occultists, whose forefathers had her tablets in their keeping, and even some learned native pundits--believe they can. the claim, however, is pronounced unworthy of attention. of the late smriti (traditional history) which, for those who know how to interpret its allegories, is full of unimpeachable historical records, an ariadne's thread through the tortuous labyrinth of the past--has come to be unanimously regarded as a tissue of exaggerations, monstrous fables, "clumsy forgeries of the first centuries a.d." it is now openly declared as worthless not only for exact chronological but even for general historical purposes. thus by dint of arbitrary condemnations, based on absurd interpretations (too often the direct outcome of sectarian prejudice), the orientalist has raised himself to the eminence of a philological mantic. his learned vagaries are fast superseding, even in the minds of many a europeanized hindu, the important historical facts that lie concealed under the exoteric phraseology of the puranas and other smritic literature. at the outset, therefore, the eastern initiate declares the evidence of those orientalists who, abusing their unmerited authority, play ducks and drakes with his most sacred relics, ruled out of court; and before giving his facts he would suggest to the learned european sanskritist and archeologist that, in the matter of chronology, the difference in the sum of their series of conjectural historical events, proves them to be mistaken from a to z. they know that one single wrong figure in an arithmetical progression will always throw the whole calculation into inextricable confusion: the multiplication yielding, generally, in such a case, instead of the correct sum something entirely unexpected. a fair proof of this may, perhaps, be found in something already alluded to-- namely, the adoption of the dates of certain hindu eras as the basis of their chronological assumptions. in assigning a date to text or monument they have, of course, to be guided by one of the pre-christian indian eras, whether inferentially, or otherwise. and yet--in one case, at least--they complain repeatedly that they are utterly ignorant as to the correct starting-point of the most important of these. the positive date of vikramaditya, for instance, whose reign forms the starting point of the samvat era, is in reality unknown to them. with some, vikramaditya flourished "b.c." ; with others, ; with others again, in the th century of the christian era; while mr. fergusson will not allow the samvat era any beginning before the " th century a.d." in short, and in the words of dr. weber,* they "have absolutely no authentic evidence to show whether the era of vikramaditya dates from the year of his birth, from some achievement, or from the year of his death, or whether, in fine, it may not have been simply introduced by him for astronomical reasons." there were several vikramadityas and vikramas in indian history, for it is not a name, but an honorary title, as the orientalists have now come to learn. how then can any chronological deduction from such a shifting premise be anything but untrustworthy, especially when, as in the instance of the samvat, the basic date is made to travel along, at the personal fancy of orientalists, between the st and the th century? ----------- * "the history of indian literature," trubner's series, , p. . ----------- thus it appears to be pretty well proved that in ascribing chronological dates to indian antiquities, anglo-indian as well as european archeologists are often guilty of the most ridiculous anachronisms. that, in fine, they have been hitherto furnishing history with an arithmetical mean, while ignorant, in nearly every case, of its first term! nevertheless, the asiatic student is invited to verify and correct his dates by the flickering light of this chronological will-o-the-wisp. nay, nay. surely "an english f.t.s." would never expect us in matters demanding the minutest exactness to trust to such western beacons! and he will, perhaps, permit us to hold to our own views, since we know that our dates are neither conjectural nor liable to modifications. where even such veteran archeologists as general cunningham do not seem above suspicion, and are openly denounced by their colleagues, palaeography seems to hardly deserve the name of exact science. this busy antiquarian has been repeatedly denounced by prof. weber and others for his indiscriminate acceptance of that samvat era. nor have the other orientalists been more lenient; especially those who, perchance under the inspiration of early sympathies for biblical chronology, prefer in matters connected with indian dates to give head to their own emotional but unscientific intuitions. some would have us believe that the samvat era "is not demonstrable for times anteceding the christian era at all." kern makes efforts to prove that the indian astronomers began to employ this era "only after the year of grace ." prof. weber, referring sarcastically to general cunningham, observes that "others, on the contrary, have no hesitation in at once referring, wherever possible, every samvat or samvatsare-dated inscription to the samvat era." thus, e.g., cunningham (in his "arch. survey of india," iii. , ) directly assigns an inscription dated samvat to the year "b.c. ," &c., and winds up the statement with the following plaint: "for the present, therefore, unfortunately, where there is nothing else (but that unknown era) to guide us, it must generally remain an open question, which era we have to do with in a particular inscription, and what date consequently the inscription bears." * -------- * op. cit., p. . -------- the confession is significant. it is pleasant to find such a ring of sincerity in a european orientalist, though it does seem quite ominous for indian archeology. the initiated brahmans know the positive dates of their eras and remain therefore unconcerned. what the "adepts" have once said, they maintain; and no new discoveries or modified conjectures of accepted authorities can exert any pressure upon their data. even if western archeologists or numismatists took it into their heads to change the date of our lord and glorified deliverer from the th century "b.c." to the th century "a.d.," we would but the more admire such a remarkable gift for knocking about dates and eras, as though they were so many lawn-tennis balls. meanwhile, to all sincere and inquiring theosophists, we will say plainly, it is useless for any one to speculate about the date of our lord sanggyas's birth, while rejecting a priori all the brahmanical, ceylonese, chinese, and tibetan dates. the pretext that these do not agree with the chronology of a handful of greeks who visited the country years after the event in question, is too fallacious and bold. greece was never concerned with buddhism, and besides the fact that the classics furnish their few synchronistic dates simply upon the hearsay of their respective authors--a few greeks, who themselves lived centuries before the writers quoted--their chronology is itself too defective, and their historical records, when it was a question of national triumphs, too bombastic and often too diametrically opposed to fact, to inspire with confidence any one less prejudiced than the average european orientalist. to seek to establish the true dates in indian history by connecting its events with the mythical "invasion," while confessing that "one would look in vain in the literature of the brahmans or buddhists for any allusion to alexander's conquest, and although it is impossible to identify any of the historical events related by alexander's companions with the historical tradition of india," amounts to something more than a mere exhibition of incompetence in this direction: were not prof. max muller the party concerned--we might say that it appears almost like predetermined dishonesty. these are harsh words to say, and calculated no doubt to shock many a european mind trained to look up to what is termed "scientific authority" with a feeling akin to that of the savage for his family fetich. they are well deserved, nevertheless, as a few examples will show. to such intellects as prof. weber's--whom we take as the leader of the german orientalists of the type of christophiles--certainly the word "obtuseness" cannot be applied. upon seeing how chronology is deliberately and maliciously perverted in favour of "greek influence," christian interests and his own predetermined theories--another, and even a stronger term should be applied. what expression is too severe to signify one's feelings upon reading such an unwitting confession of disingenuous scholarship as weber repeatedly makes ("hist. ind. lit.") when urging the necessity of admitting that a passage "has been touched up by later interpellation," or forcing fanciful chronological places for texts admittedly very ancient--"as otherwise the dates would be brought down too far or too near!" and this is the keynote of his entire policy: fiat hypothesis, ruat caelum! on the other hand prof. max muller, enthusiastic indophile as he seems, crams centuries into his chronological thimble without the smallest apparent compunction.... these two orientalists are instances, because they are accepted beacons of philology and indian paleography. our national monuments are dated and our ancestral history perverted to suit their opinions; the pernicious evil has ensued, that as a result history is now recording for the misguidance of posterity the false annals and distorted facts which, upon their evidence, will be accepted without appeal as the outcome of the fairest and ablest critical analysis. while prof. max muller will hear of no other than a greek criterion for indian chronology, prof. weber (op. cit.) finds greek influence--his universal solvent--in the development of india's religion, philosophy, literature, astronomy, medicine, architecture, &c. to support this fallacy the most tortuous sophistry, the most absurd etymological deductions are resorted to. if one fact more than another has been set at rest by comparative mythology, it is that their fundamental religious ideas, and most of their gods, were derived by the greeks from religions flourishing in the north-west of india, the cradle of the main hellenic stock. this is now entirely disregarded, because a disturbing element in the harmony of the critical spheres. and though nothing is more reasonable than the inference that the grecian astronomical terms were inherited equally from the parent stock, prof. weber would have us believe that "it was greek influence that just infused a real life into indian astronomy" (p. ). in fine, the hoary ancestors of the hindus borrowed their astronomical terminology and learnt the art of star gazing and even their zodiac from the hellenic infant! this proof engenders another: the relative antiquity of the astronomical texts shall be henceforth determined upon the presence or absence in them of asterisms and zodiacal signs, the former being undisguisedly greek in their names, the latter are "designated by their sanskrit names which are translated from the greek" (p. ). thus "manu's law being unacquainted with the planets," is considered as more ancient than yajnavalkya's code, which "inculcates their worship," and so on. but there is still another and a better test found out by the sanskritists for determining with "infallible accuracy" the age of the texts, apart from asterisms and zodiacal signs any casual mention in them of the name "yavana," taken in every instance to designate the "greeks." this, apart "from an internal chronology based on the character of the works themselves, and on the quotations, &c., therein contained, is the only one possible," we are told. as a result the absurd statement that "the indian astronomers regularly speak of the yavanas as their teachers" (p. ). ergo, their teachers were greeks. for with weber and others "yavana" and "greek" are convertible terms. but it so happens that yavanacharya was the indian title of a single greek--pythagoras; as sankaracharya was the title of a single hindu philosopher; and the ancient aryan astronomical writers cited his opinions to criticize and compare them with the teachings of their own astronomical science, long before him perfected and derived from their ancestors. the honorific title of acharya (master) was applied to him as to every other learned astronomer or mystic; and it certainly did not mean that pythagoras or any other greek "master" was necessarily the master of the brahmans. the word "yavana" was a generic term employed ages before the "greeks of alexander" projected "their influence" upon jambudvipa, to designate people of a younger race, the word meaning yuvan "young," or younger. they knew of yavanas of the north, west, south and east; and the greek strangers received this appellation as the persians, indo-scythians and others had before them. an exact parallel is afforded in our present day. to the tibetans every foreigner whatsoever is known as a peling; the chinese designate europeans as "red-haired devils;" and the mussalmans call every one outside of islam a kuffir. the webers of the future, following the example now set them, may perhaps, after , years, affirm, upon the authority of scraps of moslem literature then extant, that the bible was written, and the english, french, russians and germans who possessed and translated or "invented" it, lived in kaffiristan shortly before their era under "moslem influence." because the yuga purana of the gargi sanhita speaks of an expedition of the yavanas "as far as pataliputra," therefore, either the macedonians or the seleuciae had conquered all india! but our western critic is ignorant, of course, of the fact that ayodhya or saketa of rama was for two millenniums repelling inroads of various mongolian and other turanian tribes, besides the indo-scythians, from beyond nepaul and the himalayas. prof. weber seems finally himself frightened at the yavana spectre he has raised, for he queries:--"whether by the yavanas it is really the greeks who are meant or possibly merely their indo-scythian or other successors, to whom the name was afterwards transferred." this wholesome doubt ought to have modified his dogmatic tone in many other such cases. but, drive out prejudice with a pitch fork it will ever return. the eminent scholar, though staggered by his own glimpse of the truth, returns to the charge with new vigour. we are startled by the fresh discovery that asuramaya:* the earliest astronomer, mentioned repeatedly in the indian epics, "is identical with 'ptolemaios' of the greeks." the reason for it given is, that "this latter name, as we see from the inscriptions of piyadasi, became in indian 'turamaya,' out of which the name 'asuramaya' might very easily grow; and since, by the later tradition, this 'maya' is distinctly assigned to romaka-pura in the west." had the "piyadasi inscription" been found on the site of ancient babylonia, one might suspect the word "turamaya" as derived from "turanomaya," or rather mania. since, however, the piyadasi inscriptions belong distinctly to india, and the title was borne but by two kings--chandragupta and dharmasoka--what has "'ptolemaios' of the greeks" to do with "turamaya" or the latter with "asuramaya," except, indeed, to use it as a fresh pretext to drag the indian astronomer under the stupefying "greek influence" of the upas tree of western philology? then we learn that, because "panini once mentions the yavanas, i.e., .... greeks, and explains the formation of the word 'yavanani,' to which, according to the varttika, the word lipi, 'writing,' must be supplied," therefore the word signifies "the writing of the yavanas" of the greeks and none other. would the german philologists (who have so long and so fruitlessly attempted to explain this word) be very much surprised if told that they are yet as far as possible from the truth? that--yavanani does not mean "greek writing" at all, but any foreign writing whatsoever? that the absence of the word "writing" in the old texts, except in connection with the names of foreigners, does not in the least imply that none but greek writing was known to them, or that they had none of their own, being ignorant of the art of reading and writing until the days of panini? (theory of prof. max muller). for devanagari is as old as the vedas, and held so sacred that the brahmans, first under penalty of death, and later on of eternal ostracism, were not even allowed to mention it to profane ears, much less to make known the existence of their secret temple libraries. so that by the word yavanani, "to which, according to the varttika, the word lipi, 'writing,' must he supplied," the writing of foreigners in general, whether phoenician, roman, or greek, is always meant. as to the preposterous hypothesis of prof. max muller that writing "was not used for literary purposes in india" before panini's time (again upon greek authority) that matter has been disposed of elsewhere. --------- * dr. weber is not probably aware of the fact that this distinguished astronomer's name was simply maya; the prefix "asura" was often added to it by ancient hindu writers to show that he was a rakshasa. in the opinion of the brahmans he was an "atlantean" and one of the greatest astronomers and occultists of the lost atlantis. --------- equally unknown are those certain other and most important facts, fable though they seem. first, that the aryan "great war," the mahabharata, and the trojan war of homer--both mythical as to personal biographies and fabulous supernumeraries, yet perfectly historical in the main-- belong to the same cycle of events. for the occurrences of many centuries, among them the separation of sundry peoples and races, erroneously traced to central asia alone, were in these immortal epics compressed within the scope of single dramas made to occupy but a few years. secondly, that in this immense antiquity the forefathers of the aryan greeks and the aryan brahmans were as closely united and intermixed as are now the aryans and the so-called dravidians. thirdly, that before the days of the historical rama, from whom in unbroken genealogical descent the oodeypore sovereigns trace their lineage, rajpootana was as full of direct post-atlantean "greeks," as the post-trojan, subjacent cumaea and other settlements of pre-magna graecia were of the fast hellenizing sires of the modern rajpoot. one acquainted with the real meaning of the ancient epics cannot refrain from asking himself whether these intuitional orientalists prefer being called deceivers or deceived, and in charity give them the benefit of the doubt.* --------- * further on, prof. weber indulges in the following piece of chronological sleight of hand. in his arduous endeavour "to determine accurately" the place in history of "the romantic legend of sakya buddha" (translation by beale), he thinks "the special points of relation here found to christian legends are very striking. the question which party was the borrower deals properly leaves undetermined. yet in all likelihood (!!) we have here simply a similar case to that of the appropriation of christian legend by this worshipers of krishna" (p. ). now it is this that every hindu and buddhist has the right to brand as "dishonesty," whether conscious or unconscious. legends originate earlier than history and die out upon being sifted. neither of the fabulous events in connection with buddha's birth, taken exoterically, necessitated a great genius to narrate them, nor was the intellectual capacity of the hindus ever proved so inferior to that of the jewish and greek mob that they should borrow from them even fables inspired by religion. how their fables, evolved between the second and third centuries after buddha's death, when the fever of proselytism and the adoration of his memory were at their height, could be borrowed and then appropriated from the christian legends written during the first century of the western era, can only be explained by a german orientalist. mr. t.w. rhys davids (jataka book) shows the contrary to have been true. it may be remarked in this connection that, while the first "miracles" of both krishna and christ are said to have happened at a mathura, the latter city exists to this day in india--the antiquity of its name being fully proved--while the mathura, or matures in egypt, of the "gospel of infancy," where jesus is alleged to have produced his first miracle, was sought to be identified, centuries ago, by the stump of an old tree in thee desert, and is represented by an empty spot! ---------- what can be thought of prof. weber's endeavour when, "to determine more accurately the position of ramayana (called by him the 'artificial epic') in literary history," he ends with an assumption that "it rests upon an acquaintance with the trojan cycle of legend .... the conclusion there arrived at is that the date of its composition is to be placed at the commencement of the christian era in an epoch when the operation of the greek influence upon india had already set in!" (p. .) the case is hopeless. if the "internal chronology" and external fitness of things, we may add presented in the triple indian epic, did not open the eyes of the hypercritical professors to the many historical facts enshrined in their striking allegories; if the significant mention of "black yavanas," and "white yavanas," indicating totally different peoples, could so completely escape their notice;* and the enumeration of a host of tribes, nations, races, clans, under their separate sanskrit designations in the mahbharata, had not stimulated them to try to trace their ethnic evolution and identify them with their now living european descendants, there is little to hope from their scholarship except a mosaic of learned guesswork. the latter scientific mode of critical analysis may yet end some day in a consensus of opinion that buddhism is due wholesale to the "life of barlaam and josaphat," written by st. john of damascus; or that our religion was plagiarized from that famous roman catholic legend of the eighth century in which our lord gautama is made to figure as a christian saint, better still, that the vedas were written at athens under the auspices of st. george, the tutelary successor of theseus. --------- * see twelfth book of mahabharata, krishnas fight with kalayavana. --------- for fear that anything might be lacking to prove the complete obsession of jambudvipa by the demon of "greek influence," dr. weber vindictively casts a last insult into the face of india by remarking that if "european western steeples owe their origin to an imitation of the buddhist topes* .... on the other hand in the most ancient hindu edifices the presence of greek influence is unmistakable" (p. ). well may dr. rajendralala mitra "hold out particularly against the idea of any greek influence whatever on the development of indian architecture." if his ancestral literature must be attributed to "greek influence," the temples, at least, might have been spared. one can understand how the egyptian hall in london reflects the influence of the ruined temples on the nile; but it is a more difficult feat, even for a german professor, to prove the archaic structure of old aryavarta a foreshadowing of the genius of the late lamented sir christopher wren! the outcome of this paleographic spoliation is that there is not a tittle left for india to call her own. even medicine is due to the same hellenic influence. we are told--this once by roth--that "only a comparison of the principles of indian with those of greek medicine can enable us to judge of the origin, age and value of the former;" .... and "a propos of charaka's injunctions as to the duties of the physician to his patient," adds dr. weber, "he cites some remarkably coincident expressions from the oath of the asklepiads." it is then settled. india is hellenized from head to foot, and even had no physic until the greek doctors came. ---------- * of hindu lingams, rather. ---------- sakya muni's place in history no orientalist, save perhaps, the same wise, not to say deep, prof. weber, opposes more vehemently than prof. max muller hindu and buddhist chronology. evidently if an indophile he is not a buddhophile, and general cunningham, however independent otherwise in his archeological researches, agrees with him more than would seem strictly prudent in view of possible future discoveries.* we have then to refute in our turn this great oxford professor's speculations. --------- * notwithstanding prof. m. muller's regrettable efforts to invalidate every buddhist evidence, he seems to have ill-succeeded in proving his case, if we can judge from the openly expressed opinion of his own german confreres. in the portion headed "tradition as to buddha's age" (pp. - ) in his "hist. of ind. lit.," prof. weber very aptly remarks, "nothing like positive certainty, therefore, is for the present attainable. nor have the subsequent discussions of this topic by max muller ( ) ('hist. a.s.l.' p. ff), by westergaard ( ), 'ueber buddha's todesjahr,' and by 'kern over de jaartelling der zuidel buddhisten' so far yielded any definite results." nor are they likely to. --------- to the evidence furnished by the puranas and mahavansa, which he also finds hopelessly entangled and contradictory (though the perfect accuracy of that sinhalese history is most warmly acknowledged by sir emerson tennant, the historian), he opposes the greek classics and their chronology. with him, it is always "alexander's invasion" and "conquest," and "the ambassador of seleucus nicator-megasthenes," while even the faintest record of such "conquest" is conspicuously absent from brahmanic record; and although in an inscription of piyadasi are mentioned the names of antiochus, ptolemy, magus, antigonus, and even of the great alexander himself, as vassals of the king piyadasi, the macedonian is yet called the "conqueror of india." in other words, while any casual mention of indian affairs by a greek writer of no great note must be accepted unchallenged, no record of the indians, literary or monumental, is entitled to the smallest consideration. until rubbed against the touch-stone of hellenic infallibility it must be set down, in the words of professor weber, as "of course mere empty boasting." oh, rare western sense of justice! * ---------- * no philaryan would pretend for a moment on the strength of the piyadasi inscriptions that alexander of macedonia, or either of the other sovereigns mentioned, was claimed as an actual "vassal" of chandragupta. they did not even pay tribute, but only a kind of quit-rent annually for lands ceded in the north: as the grant-tablets could show. but the inscription, however misinterpreted, shows most clearly that alexander was never the conqueror of india. --------- occult records show differently. they say--challenging proof to the contrary--that alexander never penetrated into india farther than taxila; which is not even quite the modern attock. the murmuring of the macedonian's troops began at the same place, and not as given out, on the banks of the hyphasis. for having never gone to the hydaspes or jhelum, he could not have been on the sutlej. nor did alexander ever found satrapies or plant any greek colonies in the punjab. the only colonies he left behind him that the brahmans ever knew of, amounted to a few dozens of disabled soldiers, scattered hither and thither on the frontiers; who with their native raped wives settled around the deserts of karmania and drangaria--the then natural boundaries of india. and unless history regards as colonists the many thousands of dead men and those who settled for ever under the hot sands of gedrosia, there were no other, save in the fertile imagination of the greek historians. the boasted "invasion of india" was confined to the regions between karmania and attock, east and west; and beloochistan and the hindu kush, south and north: countries which were all india for the greek of those days. his building a fleet on the hydaspes is a fiction; and his "victorious march through the fighting armies of india," another. however, it is not with the "world conqueror" that we have now to deal, but rather with the supposed accuracy and even casual veracity of his captains and countrymen, whose hazy reminiscences on the testimony of the classical writers have now been raised to unimpeachable evidence in everything that may affect the chronology of early buddhism and india. foremost among the evidence of classical writers, that of flavius arrianus is brought forward against the buddhist and chinese chronologies. no one should impeach the personal testimony of this conscientious author had he been himself an eye-witness instead of megasthenes. but when a man comes to know that he wrote his accounts upon the now lost works of aristobulus and ptolemy; and that the latter described their data from texts prepared by authors who had never set their eyes upon one line written by either megasthenes or nearchus himself; and that knowing so much one is informed by western historians that among the works of arrian, book vii. of the "anabasis of alexander," is "the chief authority on the subject of the indian invasion--a book unfortunately with a gap in its twelfth chapter"--one may well conceive upon what a broken reed western authority leans for its indian chronology. arrian lived over years after buddha's death; strabo, ( "b.c."); diodorus siculus--quite a trustworthy compiler!--about the first century; plutarch over anno buddhae, and quintus curtius over , years! and when, to crown this army of witnesses against the buddhist annals, the reader is informed by our olympian critics that the works of the last-named author--than whom no more blundering (geographically, chronologically, and historically) writer ever lived--form along with the greek history of arrian the most valuable source of information respecting the military career of alexander the great--then the only wonder is that the great conqueror was not made by his biographers to have--leonidas-like--defended the thermopylean passes in the hindu kush against the invasion of the first vedic brahmins "from the oxus." withal the buddhist dates are either rejected or only accepted pro tempore. well may the hindu resent the preference shown to the testimony of greeks--of whom some, at least, are better remembered in indian history as the importers into jambudvipa of every greek and roman vice known and unknown to their day--against his own national records and history. "greek influence" was felt, indeed, in india, in this, and only in this, one particular. greek damsels mentioned as an article of great traffic for india--persian and greek yavanis--were the fore-mothers of the modern nautch-girls, who had till then remained pure virgins of the inner temples. alliances with the autiochuses and the seleucus nicators bore no better fruit than the rotten apple of sodom. pataliputra, as prophesied by gautama buddha, found its fate in the waters of the ganges, having been twice before nearly destroyed, again like sodom, by the fire of heaven. reverting to the main subject, the "contradictions" between the ceylonese and chino-tibetan chronologies actually prove nothing. if the chinese annalists of saul in accepting the prophecy of our lord that "a thousand years after he had reached nirvana, his doctrines would reach the north" fell into the mistake of applying it to china, whereas tibet was meant, the error was corrected after the eleventh century of the tzina era in most of the temple chronologies. besides which, it may now refer to other events relating to buddhism, of which europe knows nothing, china or tzina dates its present name only from the year of the buddhist era* (vulgar chronology having assumed it from the first hoang of the tzin dynasty): therefore the tathagata could not have indicated it by this name in his well-known prophecy. if misunderstood even by several of the buddhist commentators, it is yet preserved in its true sense by his own immediate arhats. the glorified one meant the country that stretches far off from the lake mansorowara; far beyond that region of the himavat, where dwelt from time immemorial the great "teachers of the snowy range." these were the great sraman-acharyas who preceded him, and were his teachers, their humble successors trying to this day to perpetuate their and his doctrines. the prophecy came out true to the very day, and it is corroborated both by the mathematical and historical chronology of tibet--quite as accurate as that of the chinese. arhat kasyapa, of the dynasty of moryas, founded by one of the chandraguptas near ptaliputra, left the convent of panch-kukkutarama, in consequence of a vision of our lord, for missionary purpose in the year of the tzin era ( western era) and had reached the great lake of bod-yul in the same year. it is at that period that expired the millennium prophesied. -------- * the reference to chinahunah (chinese and huns) in the vishma parva of the mahabharata is evidently a later interpolation, as it does not occur in the old mss. existing in southern india. -------- the arhat carrying with him the fifth statue of sakya muni out of the seven gold statues made after his bodily death by order of the first council, planted it in the soil on that very spot where seven years later was built the first gunpa (monastery), where the earliest buddhist lamas dwelt. and though the conversion of the whole country did not take place before the beginning of the seventh century (western era), the good law had, nevertheless, reached the north at the time prophesied, and no earlier. for, the first of the golden statues had been plundered from bhikshu sali suka by the hiong-un robbers and melted, during the days of dharmasoka, who had sent missionaries beyond nepaul. the second had a like fate, at ghar-zha, even before it had reached the boundaries of bod-yul. the third was rescued from a barbarous tribe of bhons by a chinese military chief who had pursued them into the deserts of schamo about buddhist era ( "b.c.") the fourth was sunk in the third century of the christian era, together with the ship that carried it from magadha toward the hills of ghangs-chhen-dzo-nga (chitagong). the fifth arriving in the nick of time reached its destination with arhat kasyapa. so did the last two.* --------- * no doubt, since the history of these seven statues is not in the hands of the orientalists, it will be treated as a "groundless fable." nevertheless such is their origin and history. they date from the first synod, that of rajagriha, held in the season of war following the death of buddha, i.e., one year after his death. were this rajagriha council held years after, as maintained by some, it could not have been presided over by mahakasyapa, the friend and brother arhat of sakyamuni, as he would have been years old. the second council or synod, that of vaisali, was held , not or years as some would have it, after the nirvana, for the latter took place at a time a little over years before the physical death of tathagata. it was held at the great saptapana cave (mahavansa's sattapanni), near the mount baibhar (the webhara of the pali manuscripts), that was in rajagriha, the old capital of magadha. memoirs exist, containing the record of his daily life, made by the nephew of king ajatasatru, a favourite bikshu of the mahacharya. these texts have ever been in the possession of the superiors of the first lamasery built by arhat kasyapa in bod-yul, most of whose chohans were the descendants of the dynasty of the moryas, there being up to this day three of the members of this once royal family living in india. the old text in question is a document written in anudruta magadha characters. (we deny that these or any other characters--whether devanagari, pali, or dravidian--ever used in india, are variations of, or derivatives from, the phoenician.) to revert to the texts it is therein stated that the sattapanni cave, then called "sarasvati" and "bamboo-cave," got its latter name in this wise. when our lord first sat in it for dhyana, it was a large six-chambered natural cave, to feet wide by deep. one day, while teaching the mendicants outside, our lord compared man to a saptaparna (seven-leaved) plant, showing them how after the loss of its first leaf every other could be easily detached, but the seventh leaf--directly connected with the stem. "mendicants," he said, "there are seven buddhas in every buddha, and there are six bikshus and but one buddha in each mendicant. what are the seven? the seven branches of complete knowledge. what are the six? the six organs of sense. what are the five? the five elements of illusive being. and the one which is also ten? he is a true buddha who develops in him the ten forms of holiness and subjects them all to the one--'the silent voice' (meaning avolokiteswara). after that, causing the rock to be moved at his command, the tathagata made it divide itself into a seventh additional chamber, remarking that a rock too was septenary, and had seven stages of development. from that time it was called the sattapanni or the saptaparna cave. after the first synod was held, seven gold statues of the bhagavat were cast by order of the king, and each of them was placed in one of the seven compartments." these in after times, when the good law had to make room to more congenial because more sensual creeds, were taken in charge by various viharas and then disposed of as explained. thus when mr. turnour states on the authority of the sacred traditions of southern buddhists that the cave received its name from the sattapanni plant, he states what is correct. in the "archeological survey of india," we find that gen. cunningham identifies this cave with one not far away from it and in the same baihbar range, but which is most decidedly not our saptaparna cave. at the same time the chief engineer of buddha gaya, mr. beglar, describing the chetu cave, mentioned by fa-hian, thinks it is the saptaparna cave, and he is right. for that, as well as the pippal and the other caves mentioned in our texts, are too sacred in their associations--both having been used for centuries by generations of bhikkhus, unto the very time of their leaving india--to have their sites so easily forgotten. --------- on the other hand, the southern buddhists, headed by the ceylonese, open their annals with the following event:-- they claim according to their native chronology that vijaya, the son of sinhabahu, the sovereign of lala, a small kingdom or raj on the gandaki river in magadha, was exiled by his father for acts of turbulence and immorality. sent adrift on the ocean with his companions after having their heads shaved, buddhist-bhikshu fashion, as a sign of penitence, he was carried to the shores of lanka. once landed, he and his companions conquered and easily took possession of an island inhabited by uncivilized tribes, generically called the yakshas. this--at whatever epoch and year it may have happened--is an historical fact, and the ceylonese records, independent of buddhist chronology, give it out as having taken place years before dushtagamani (i.e., in before the christian era). now, the buddhist sacred annals record certain words of our lord pronounced by him shortly before his death. in mahavansa he is made to have addressed them to sakra, in the midst of a great assembly of devatas (dhyan chohans), and while already "in the exalted unchangeable nirvana, seated on the throne on which nirvana is achieved." in our texts tathagata addresses them to his assembled arhats and bhikkhuts a few days before his final liberation:--"one vijaya, the son of sinhabahu, king of the land of lala, together with attendants, has just landed on lanka. lord of dhyan buddhas (devas)! my doctrine will be established on lanka. protect him and lanka!" this is the sentence pronounced which, as proved later, was a prophecy. the now familiar phenomenon of clairvoyant prevision, amply furnishing a natural explanation of the prophetic utterance without any unscientific theory of miracle, the laugh of certain orientalists seems uncalled for. such parallels of poetico-religious embellishments as found in mahavansa exist in the written records of every religion--as much in christianity as anywhere else. an unbiased mind would first endeavour to reach the correct and very superficially hidden meaning before throwing ridicule and contemptuous discredit upon them. moreover, the tibetans possess a more sober record of this prophecy in the notes, already alluded to, reverentially taken down by king ajatasatru's nephew. they are, as said above, in the possession of the lamas of the convent built by arhat kasyapa--the moryas and their descendants being of a more direct descent than the rajput gautamas, the chiefs of nagara--the village identified with kapilavastu--are the best entitled of all to their possession. and we know they are historical to a word. for the esoteric buddhist they yet vibrate in space; and these prophetic words, together with the true picture of the sugata who pronounced them, are present in the aura of every atom of his relics. this, we hasten to say, is no proof but for the psychologist. but there is other and historical evidence: the cumulative testimony of our religious chronicles. the philologist has not seen these; but this is no proof of their non-existence. the mistake of the southern buddhists lies in dating the nirvana of sanggyas pan-chhen from the actual day of his death, whereas, as above stated, he had reached it over twenty years previous to his disincarnation. chronologically, the southerners are right, both in dating his death in "b.c.," and one of the great councils at years after the latter event. but the tibetan chohans, who possess all the documents relating to the last twenty-four years of his external and internal life--of which no philologist knows anything--can show that there is no real discrepancy between the tibetan and the ceylonese chronologies as stated by the western orientalists.* for the profane, the exalted one was born in the sixty-eighth year of the burmese eeatzana era, established by eeatzana (anjana), king of dewaha; for the initiated--in the forty-eighth year of that era, on a friday of the waxing moon, of may. and it was in before the christian chronology that tathagata reached his full nirvana, dying, as correctly stated by mahavana--in , on the very day when vijaya landed with his companions in ceylon--as prophesied by loka-ratha, our buddha. --------- * bishop bigandet, after examining all the burmese authorities accessible to him, frankly confesses that "the history of buddha offers an almost complete blank as to what regards his doings and preachings during a period of nearly twenty-three years." (vol. i. p. .) --------- professor max muller seems to greatly scoff at this prophecy. in his chapter ("hist. s. l.") upon buddhism (the "false" religion), the eminent scholar speaks as though he resented such an unprecedented claim. "we are asked to believe"--he writes--"that the ceylonese historians placed the founder of the vijyan dynasty of ceylon in the year in accordance with their sacred chronology!" (i.e., buddha's prophecy), "while we (the philologists) are not told, however, through what channel the ceylonese could have received their information as to the exact date of buddha's death." two points may be noticed in these sarcastic phrases: (a) the implication of a false prophecy by our lord; and (b) a dishonest tampering with chronological records, reminding one of those of eusebius, the famous bishop of caesarea, who stands accused in history of "perverting every egyptian chronological table for the sake of synchronisms." with reference to charge one, he may be asked why our sakyasinha's prophecies should not be as much entitled to his respect as those of his saviour would be to ours--were we to ever write the true history of the "galilean" arhat. with regard to charge two, the distinguished philologist is reminded of the glass house he and all christian chronologists are themselves living in. their inability to vindicate the adoption of december as the actual day of the nativity, and hence to determine the age and the year of their avatar's death-- even before their own people--is far greater than is ours to demonstrate the year of buddha to other nations. their utter failure to establish on any other but traditional evidence the, to them, historically unproved, if probable, fact of his existence at all--ought to engender a fairer spirit. when christian historians can, upon undeniable historical authority, justify biblical and ecclesiastical chronology, then, perchance, they may be better equipped than at present for the congenial work of rending heathen chronologies into shreds. the "channel" the ceylonese received their information through, was two bikshus who had left magadha to follow their disgraced brethren into exile. the capacity of siddhartha buddha's arhats for transmitting intelligence by psychic currents may, perhaps, be conceded without any great stretch of imagination to have been equal to, if not greater than, that of the prophet elijah, who is credited with the power of having known from any distance all that happened in the king's bed chamber. no orientalist has the right to reject the testimony of other people's scriptures, while professing belief in the far more contradictory and entangled evidence of his own upon the self-same theory of proof. if professor muller is a sceptic at heart, then let him fearlessly declare himself; only a sceptic who impartially acts the iconoclast has the right to assume such a tone of contempt towards any non-christian religion. and for the instruction of the impartial inquirer only, shall it be thought worth while to collate the evidence afforded by historical--not psychological--data. meanwhile, by analyzing some objections and exposing the dangerous logic of our critic, we may give the theosophists a few more facts connected with the subject under discussion. now that we have seen professor max muller's opinions in general about this, so to say, the prologue to the buddhist drama with vijaya as the hero--what has he to say as to the details of its plot? what weapon does he use to weaken this foundation-stone of a chronology upon which are built and on which depend all other buddhist dates? what is the fulcrum for the critical lever he uses against the asiatic records? three of his main points may be stated seriatim with answers appended. he begins by premising that-- st.--"if the starting-point of the northern buddhist chronology turns out to be merely hypothetical, based as it is on a prophecy of buddha, it will be difficult to avoid the same conclusion with regard to the date assigned to buddha's death by the buddhists of ceylon and of burmah" (p. ). "the mahavansa begins with relating three miraculous visits which buddha paid to ceylon." vijaya, the name of the founder of the first dynasty (in ceylon), means conquest, "and, therefore, such a person most likely never existed" (p. ). this he believes invalidates the whole buddhist chronology. to which the following pendant may be offered:-- william i., king of england, is commonly called the conqueror; he was, moreover, the illegitimate son of robert, duke of normandy, surnamed le diable. an opera, we hear, was invented on this subject, and full of miraculous events, called "robert the devil," showing its traditional character. therefore shall we be also justified in saying that edward the confessor, saxons and all, up to the time of the union of the houses of york and lancaster under henry vii.--the new historical period in english history--are all "fabulous tradition" and "such a person as william the conqueror most likely never existed?" nd.--in the chinese chronology--continues the dissecting critic --"the list of the thirty-three buddhist patriarchs .... is of a doubtful character. for western history the exact ceylonese chronology begins with b.c." extending beyond that date there exists but "a traditional native chronology. therefore .... what goes before .... is but fabulous tradition." the chronology of the apostles and their existence has never been proved historically. the history of the papacy is confessedly "obscure." ennodius of pavia (fifth century) was the first one to address the roman bishop (symmochus), who comes fifty-first in the apostolic succession, as "pope." thus, if we were to write the history of christianity, and indulge in remarks upon its chronology, we might say that since there were no antecedent popes, and since the apostolic line began with symmochus ( a.d.), all christian records beginning with the nativity and up to the sixth century are therefore "fabulous traditions," and all christian chronology is "purely hypothetical." rd.--two discrepant dates in buddhist chronology are scornfully pointed out by the oxford professor. if the landing of vijaya, in lanka--he says--on the same day that buddha reached nirvana (died) is in fulfilment of buddha's prophecy, then "if buddha was a true prophet, the ceylonese argue quite rightly that he must have died in the year of the conquest, or b.c." (p. ). on the other hand, the chinese have a buddhist chronology of their own; and it does not agree with the ceylonese. "the lifetime of buddha from to rests on his own prophecy that a millennium would elapse from his death to the conversion of china. if, therefore, buddha was a true prophet, he must have lived about b.c." (p. ). but the date does not agree with the ceylonese chronology--ergo, buddha was a false prophet. as to that other "the first and most important link" in the ceylonese as well as in the chinese chronology, "it is extremely weak." .... in the ceylonese "a miraculous genealogy had to be provided for vijaya," and, "a prophecy was therefore invented" (p. ). on these same lines of argument it may be argued that: since no genealogy of jesus, "exact or inexact," is found in any of the world's records save those entitled the gospels of ss. mathew (i-- - ), and luke (iii. -- ); and, since these radically disagree--although this personage is the most conspicuous in western history, and the nicest accuracy might have been expected in his case; therefore, agreeably with professor max muller's sarcastic logic, if jesus "was a true prophet," he must have descended from david through joseph (matthew's gospel); and "if he was a true prophet," again, then the christians "argue quite rightly that he must have" descended from david through mary (luke's gospel). furthermore, since the two genealogies are obviously discrepant and prophecies were, in this instance, truly "invented" by the post-apostolic theologians [or, if preferred, old prophecies of isaiah and other old testament prophets, irrelevant to jesus, were adapted to suit his case--as recent english commentators (in holy orders), the bible revisers, now concede]; and since, moreover-- always following the professor's argument, in the cases of buddhist and brahmanical chronologies--biblical chronology and genealogy are found to be "traditional and full of absurdities .... every attempt to bring them into harmony having proved a failure." (p. ): have we or have we not a certain right to retort, that if gautama buddha is shown on these lines a false prophet, then jesus must be likewise "a false prophet?" and if jesus was a true prophet despite existing confusion of authorities, why on the same lines may not buddha have been one? discredit the buddhist prophecies and the christian ones must go along with them. the utterances of the ancient pythoness now but provoke the scientific smile: but no tripod ever mounted by the prophetess of old was so shaky as the chronological trinity of points upon which this orientalist stands to deliver his oracles. moreover, his arguments are double-edged, as shown. if the citadel of buddhism can be undermined by professor max muller's critical engineering, then pari passu that of christianity must crumble in the same ruins. or have the christians alone the monopoly of absurd religious "inventions" and the right of being jealous of any infringement of their patent rights? to conclude, we say, that the year of buddha's death is correctly stated by mr. sinnett, "esoteric buddhism" having to give its chronological dates according to esoteric reckoning. and this reckoning would alone, if explained, make away with every objection urged, from professor max muller's "sanskrit literature" down to the latest "evidence"--the proofs in the "reports of the archeological survey of india." the ceylonese era, as given in mahavansa, is correct in everything, withholding but the above given fact of nirvana, the great mystery of samma-sambuddha and abhidina remaining to this day unknown to the outsider; and though certainly known to bikshu mahanama--king dhatusena's uncle--it could not be explained in a work like the mahavansa. moreover, the singhalese chronology agrees in every particular with the burmese chronology. independent of the religious era dating from buddha's death, called "nirvanic era," there existed, as now shown by bishop bigandet ("life of guadama"), two historical eras. one lasted years, its last year corresponding with of the christian era: the other, broken in two small eras, the last, succeeding immediately the other, exists to the present day. the beginning of the first, which lasted years, coincides with the year a.d. and the indian saka era. consequently, the learned bishop, who surely can never be suspected of partiality to buddhism, accepts the year of buddha's nirvana. so do mr. tumour, professor lassen, and others. the alleged discrepancies between the fourteen various dates of nirvana collected by csoma corosi, do not relate to the nyr-nyang in the least. they are calculations concerning the nirvana of the precursors, the boddhisatwas and previous incarnations of sanggyas that the hungarian found in various works and wrongly applied to the last buddha. europeans must not forget that this enthusiast acted under protest of the lamas during the time of his stay with them: and that, moreover, he had learned more about the doctrines of the heretical dugpas than of the orthodox gelugpas. the statement of this "great authority (!) on tibetan buddhism," as he is called, to the effect that gautama had three wives whom he names--and then contradicts himself by showing ("tibetan grammar," p. , see note) that the first two wives "are one and the same," shows how little he can be regarded as an "authority." he had not even learned that "gopa, yasodhara and utpala varna" are the three names for three mystical powers. so with the "discrepancies" of the dates. out of the sixty-four mentioned by him but two relate to sakya muni--namely, the years and --and these two err in their transcription; for when corrected they must stand and . as for the rest they concern the seven ku-sum, or triple form of the nirvanic state and their respective duration, and relate to doctrines of which orientalists know absolutely nothing. consequently from the northern buddhists, who, as confessed by professor weber, "alone possess these (buddhist) scriptures complete," and have "preserved more authentic information regarding the circumstances of their redaction"--the orientalists have up to this time learned next to nothing. the tibetans say that tathagata became a full buddha--i.e., reached absolute nirvana--in of the kali era (according to souramana), and thus lived indeed but eighty years, as no nirvanee of the seventh degree can be reckoned among the living (i.e., existing) men. it is no better than loose conjecture to argue that it would have entered as little into the thoughts of the brahmans to note the day of buddha's birth "as the romans or even the jews (would have) thought of preserving the date of the birth of jesus before he had become the founder of a religion." (max muller's "hist. s. l.") for, while the jews had been from the first rejecting the claim of messiah-ship set up by the chelas of the jewish prophet and were not expecting their messiah at that time, the brahmans (the initiates, at any rate) knew of the coming of him whom they regarded as an incarnation of divine wisdom, and therefore were well aware of the astrological date of his birth. if, in after times, in their impotent rage they destroyed every accessible vestige of the birth, life and death of him, who in his boundless mercy to all creatures had revealed their carefully concealed mysteries and doctrines in order to check the ecclesiastical torrent of ever-growing superstitions, yet there had been a time when he was met by them as an avatar. and, though they destroyed, others preserved. the thousand and one speculations and the torturing of exoteric texts by archeologist or paleographer will ill repay the time lost in their study. the indian annals specify king ajatasatru as a contemporary of buddha, and another ajatasatru helped to prepare the council years after his death. these princes were sovereigns of magadha and have naught to do with ajatasatru of the brihad-aranyaka and the kaushitaki-upanishad, who was a sovereign of the kasis; though bhadrasena, "the son of ajatasatru" cursed by aruni, may have more to do with his namesake the "heir of chandragupta" than is generally known, professor max miller objects to two asokas. he rejects kalasoka and accepts but dharmasoka--in accordance with "greek" and in utter conflict with buddhist chronology. he knows not--or perhaps prefers to ignore--that besides the two asokas there were several personages named chandragupta and chandramasa. plutarch is set aside as conflicting with the more welcome theory, and the evidence of justin alone is accepted. there was kalasoka, called by some chandramasa and by others chandragupta, whose son nanda was succeeded by his cousin the chandragupta of seleucus, and under whom the council of vaisali took place "supported by king nanda" as correctly stated by taranatha. (none of them were sudras, and this is a pure invention of the brahmans.) then there was the last of the chandraguptas who assumed the name of vikrama; he commenced the new era called the vikramaditya or samvat and began the new dynasty at pataliputra, (b.c.)--according to some european "authorities;" after him his son bindusara or bhadrasena--also chandragupta, who was followed by dharmasoka chandragupta. and there were two piyadasis--the "sandracottus" chandragupta and asoka. and if controverted, the orientalists will have to account for this strange inconsistency. if asoka was the only "piyadasi" and the builder of the monuments, and maker of the rock-inscriptions of this name; and if his inauguration occurred as conjectured by professor max muller about b.c., in other words, if he reigned sixty or seventy years later than any of the greek kings named on the piyadasian monuments, what had he to do with their vassalage or non-vassalage, or how was he concerned with them at all? their dealings had been with his grandfather some seventy years earlier--if he became a buddhist only after ten years occupancy of the throne. and finally, three well-known bhadrasenas can be proved, whose names spelt loosely and phonetically, according to each writer's dialect and nationality, now yield a variety of names, from bindusara, bimbisara, and vindusara, down to bhadrasena and bhadrasara, as he is called in the vayu purana. these are all synonymous. however easy, at first sight, it may seem to be to brush out of history a real personage, it becomes more difficult to prove the non-existence of kalasoka by calling him "false," while the second asoka is termed "the real," in the face of the evidence of the puranas, written by the bitterest enemies of the buddhists, the brahmans of the period. the vayu and matsya puranas mention both in their lists of their reigning sovereigns of the nanda and the morya dynasties. and, though they connect chandragupta with a sudra nanda, they do not deny existence to kalasoka, for the sake of invalidating buddhist chronology. however falsified the now extant texts of both the vaya and matsya puranas, even accepted as they at present stand "in their true meaning," which professor max muller (notwithstanding his confidence) fails to seize, they are not "at variance with buddhist chronology before chandragupta." not, at any rate, when the real chandragupta instead of the false sandrocottus of the greeks is recognized and introduced. quite independently of the buddhist version, there exists the historical fact recorded in the brahmanical as well as in the burmese and tibetan versions, that in the year of buddha, susinago of benares was chosen king by the people of pataliputra, who made away with ajatasatru's dynasty. susinago removed the capital of magadha from rajagriha to vaisali, while his successor kalasoka removed it in his turn to pataliputra. it was during the reign of the latter that the prophecy of buddha concerning patalibat or pataliputra--a small village during his time--was realized. (see mahaparinibbana sutta). it will be easy enough, when the time comes, to answer all denying orientalists and face them with proof and document in hand. they speak of the extravagant, wild exaggerations of the buddhists and brahmans. the latter answer: "the wildest theorists of all are they who, to evade a self-evident fact, assume moral, anti-national impossibilities, entirely opposed to the most conspicuous traits of the brahmanical indian character--namely, borrowing from, or imitating in anything, other nations. from their comments on rig veda, down to the annals of ceylon, from panini to matouan-lin, every page of their learned scholia appears, to one acquainted with the subject, like a monstrous jumble of unwarranted and insane speculations. therefore, notwithstanding greek chronology and chandragupta--whose date is represented as 'the sheet-anchor of indian chronology' that 'nothing will ever shake'--it is to be feared that as regards india, the chronological ship of the sanskritists has already broken from her moorings and gone adrift with all her precious freight of conjectures and hypotheses. she is drifting into danger. we are at the end of a cycle--geological and other--and at the beginning of another. cataclysm is to follow cataclysm. the pent-up forces are bursting out in many quarters; and not only will men be swallowed up or slain by thousands, 'new' land appear and 'old' subside, volcanic eruptions and tidal waves appal; but secrets of an unsuspected past will be uncovered to the dismay of western theorists and the humiliation of an imperious science. this drifting ship, if watched, may be seen to ground upon the upheaved vestiges of ancient civilizations, and fall to pieces. we are not emulous of the prophet's honours: but still, let this stand as a prophecy." inscriptions discovered by general a. cunningham we have carefully examined the new inscription discovered by general a. cunningham on the strength of which the date assigned to buddha's death by buddhist writers has been declared to be incorrect; and we are of opinion that the said inscription confirms the truth of the buddhist traditions instead of proving them to be erroneous. the above-mentioned archeologist writes as follows regarding the inscription under consideration in the first volume of his reports:--"the most interesting inscription (at gaya) is a long and perfect one dated in the era of the nirvana or death of buddha. i read the date as follows:--bhagavati parinirvritte samvat karttike badi i budhi--that is, 'in the year of the emancipation of bhagavata on wednesday, the first day of the waning moon of kartik.' if the era here used is the same as that of the buddhists of ceylon and burmah, which began in b.c., the date of this inscription will be -- = a.d. . the style of the letters is in keeping with this date, but is quite incompatible with that derivable from the chinese date of the era. the chinese place the death of buddha upwards of years before christ, so that according to them the date of this inscription would be about a.d. , a period much too early for the style of character used in the inscription. but as the day of the week is here fortunately added, the date can be verified by calculation. according to my calculation, the date of the inscription corresponds with wednesday, the th of september, ad. . this would place the nirvana of buddha in b.c., which is the very year that was first proposed by myself as the most probable date of that event. this corrected date has since been adopted by professor max muller." the reasons assigned by some orientalists for considering this so-called "corrected date" as the real date of buddha's death have already been noticed and criticized in the preceding paper; and now we have only to consider whether the inscription in question disproves the old date. major-general cunningham evidently seems to take it for granted, as far as his present calculation is concerned, that the number of days in a year is counted in the magadha country and by buddhist writers in general on the same basis on which the number of days in a current english year is counted; and this wrong assumption has vitiated his calculation and led him to a wrong conclusion. three different methods of calculation were in use in india at the time when buddha lived, and they are still in use in different parts of the country. these methods are known as souramanam, chandrarmanam and barhaspatyamanam. according to the hindu works on astronomy a souramanam year consists of days ghadias and vighadias; a chandramanam year has days, and a year on the basis of barhaspatyamanam has days and ghadias nearly. such being the case, general cunningham ought to have taken the trouble of ascertaining before he made his calculation the particular manam (measure) employed by the writers of magadha and ceylon in giving the date of buddha's death and the manam used in calculating the years of the buddhist era mentioned in the inscription above quoted. instead of placing himself in the position of the writer of the said inscription and making the required calculation from that standpoint, he made the calculation on the same basis of which an english gentleman of the nineteenth century would calculate time according to his own calendar. if the calculation were correctly made, it would have shown him that the inscription in question is perfectly consistent with the statement that buddha died in the year b.c. according to barhaspatyamanam (the only manam used in magadha and by pali writers in general). the correctness of this assertion will be clearly seen on examining the following calculation. years according to barhaspatyamanam are equivalent to years and months (nearly) according to souramanam. similarly, years according to the former manam are equivalent to years (nearly) according to the latter manarn. as the christian era commenced on the nd year of kaliyuga (according to souramanam), buddha died in the year of kaliyuga and the inscription was written in the year of kaliyuga (according to souramanam). and now the question is whether according to the hindu almanack, the first day of the waning moon of kartik coincided with a wednesday. according to suryasiddhanta the number of days from the beginning of kaliyuga up to midnight on the th day of increasing moon of aswina is , , , the number of adhikamasansas (extra months) during the interval being and the number of kshayathithis , . if we divide this number by the remainder would be . as kaliyuga commenced with friday, the period of time above defined closed with tuesday, as according to suryasiddhanta a weekday is counted from midnight to midnight. it is to be noticed that in places where barhaspatyamanam is in use krishnapaksham (or the fortnight of waning moon) commences first and is followed by suklapaksham (period of waxing moon). consequently, the next day after the th day of the waxing moon of aswina will be the st day of the waning moon of kartika to those who are guided by the barhaspatyamanam calendar. and therefore the latter date, which is the date mentioned in the inscription, was wednesday in the year of kaliyuga. the geocentric longitude of the sun at the time of his meridian passage on the said date being deg. ' " and the moon's longitude being deg ' " (according to suryasiddhanta) it can be easily seen that at gaya there was padyamitithi (first day of waning moon) for nearly ghadias and vighadias from the time of sunrise. it is clear from the foregoing calculation that "kartik i badi" coincided with wednesday in the year of kaliyuga or the year of the christian era, and that from the standpoint of the person who wrote the inscription the said year was the th year of the buddhist era. and consequently this new inscription confirms the correctness of the date assigned to buddha's death by buddhist writers. it would have been better if major-general cunningham had carefully examined the basis of his calculation before proclaiming to the world at large that the buddhist accounts were untrustworthy. discrimination of spirit and not spirit (translated from the original sanskrit of sankara acharya.) by mohini m. chatterji [an apology is scarcely needed for undertaking a translation of sankara acharya's celebrated synopsis of vedantism entitled "atmanatma vivekah." this little treatise, within a small compass, fully sets forth the scope and purpose of the vedanta philosophy. it has been a matter of no little wonder, considering the authorship of this pamphlet and its own intrinsic merits, that a translation of it has not already been executed by some competent scholar. the present translation, though pretending to no scholarship, is dutifully literal, excepting, however, the omission of a few lines relating to the etymology of the words sarira and deha, and one or two other things which, though interesting in themselves, have no direct bearing on the main subject of treatment. --t.r.] nothing is spirit which can be the object of consciousness. to one possessed of right discrimination, the spirit is the subject of knowledge. this right discrimination of spirit and not-spirit is set forth in millions of treatises. this discrimination of spirit and not-spirit is given below: q. whence comes pain to the spirit? a. by reason of its taking a body. it is said in the sruti: * "not in this (state of existence) is there cessation of pleasure and pain of a living thing possessed of a body." q. by what is produced this taking of a body? a. by karma.** q. why does it become so by karma? a. by desire and the rest (i.e., the passions). q. by what are desire and the rest produced? a. by egotism. q. by what again is egotism produced? a. by want of right discrimination. q. by what is this want of right discrimination produced? a. by ignorance. q. is ignorance produced by anything? a. no, by nothing. ignorance is without beginning and ineffable by reason of its being the intermingling of the real (sat) and the unreal (asat.)*** it is a something embodying the three qualities**** and is said to be opposed to wisdom, inasmuch as it produces the concept "i am ignorant." the sruti says, "(ignorance) is the power of the deity and is enshrouded by its own qualities." ***** ---------- * chandogya upanishad. ** this word it is impossible to translate. it means the doing of a thing for the attainment of an object of worldly desire. *** this word, as used in vedantic works, is generally misunderstood. it does not mean the negation of everything; it means "that which does not exhibit the truth," the "illusory." **** satva (goodness), rajas (foulness), and tamas (darkness) are the three qualities; pleasure, pain and indifference considered as objective principles. ***** chandogya upanishad. -------- the origin of pain can thus be traced to ignorance and it will not cease until ignorance is entirely dispelled, which will be only when the identity of the self with brahma (the universal spirit) is fully realized.* anticipating the contention that the eternal acts (i.e., those enjoined by the vedas) are proper, and would therefore lead to the destruction of ignorance, it is said that ignorance cannot be dispelled by karma (religious exercises). -------- * this portion has been condensed from the original. -------- q. why is it so? a. by reason of the absence of logical opposition between ignorance and act. therefore it is clear that ignorance can only be removed by wisdom. q. how can this wisdom be acquired? a. by discussion--by discussing the nature of spirit and non-spirit. q. who are worthy of engaging in such discussion? a. those who have acquired the four qualifications. q. what are the four qualifications? a. ( ) true discrimination of permanent and impermanent things. ( ) indifference to the enjoyment of the fruits of one's actions both here and hereafter. ( ) possession of sama and the other five qualities. ( ) an intense desire of becoming liberated (from conditional existence). ( .) q. what is the right discrimination of permanent and impermanent things? a. certainty as to the material universe being false and illusive, and brahman being the only reality. ( .) indifference to the enjoyment of the fruits of one's actions in this world is to have the same amount of disinclination for the enjoyment of worldly objects of desire (such as garland of flowers, sandal-wood paste, women and the like) beyond those absolutely necessary for the preservation of life, as one has for vomited food, &c. the same amount of disinclination to enjoyment in the society of rambha, urvasi, and other celestial nymphs in the higher spheres of life beginning with svarga loka and ending with brahma loka.* -------- * these include the whole range of rupa loka (the world of forms) in buddhistic esoteric philosophy. -------- ( ) q. what are the six qualities beginning with sama? a. sama, dama, uparati, titiksha, samadhana and sraddha. sama is the repression of the inward sense called manas--i.e., not allowing it to engage in any other thing but sravana (listening to what the sages say about the spirit), manana (reflecting on it), nididhyasana (meditating on the same). dama is the repression of the external senses. q. what are the external senses? a. the five organs of perception and the five bodily organs for the performance of external acts. restraining these from all other things but sravana and the rest, is dama. uparati is the abstaining on principle from engaging in any of the acts and ceremonies enjoined by the shastras. otherwise, it is the state of the mind which is always engaged in sravana and the rest, without ever diverging from them. titiksha (literally the desire to leave) is the bearing with indifference all opposites (such as pleasure and pain, heat and cold, &c.) otherwise, it is the showing of forbearance to a person one is capable of punishing. whenever a mind, engaged in sravana and the rest, wanders to any worldly object of desire, and, finding it worthless, returns to the performance of the three exercises--such returning is called samadhana. sraddha is an intensely strong faith in the utterances of one's guru and of the vedanta philosophy. ( .) an intense desire for liberation is called mumukshatva. those who possess these four qualifications, are worthy of engaging in discussions as to the nature of spirit and not-spirit, and, like brahmacharins, they have no other duty (but such discussion). it is not, however, at all improper for householders to engage in such discussions; but, on the contrary, such a course is highly meritorious. for it is said--whoever, with due reverence, engages in the discussion of subjects treated of in vedanta philosophy and does proper service to his guru, reaps happy fruits. discussion as to the nature of spirit and not-spirit is therefore a duty. q. what is spirit? a. it is that principle which enters into the composition of man and is not included in the three bodies, and which is distinct from the five sheaths (koshas), being sat (existence),* chit (consciousness),** and ananda (bliss),*** and witness of the three states. -------- * this stands for purusha. ** this stands for prakriti, cosmic matter, irrespective of the state we perceive it to be in. *** bliss is maya or sakti, it is the creative energy producing changes of state in prakriti. says the sruti (taittiriya upanishad): "verily from bliss are all these bhutas (elements) born, and being born by it they live, and they return and enter into bliss." -------- q. what are the three bodies? a. the gross (sthula), the subtile (sukshma), and the causal (karana). q. what is the gross body? a. that which is the effect of the mahabhutas (primordial subtile elements) differentiated into the five gross ones (panchikrita),* is born of karma and subject to the six changes beginning with birth.** it is said:-- what is produced by the (subtile) elements differentiated into the five gross ones, is acquired by karma, and is the measure of pleasure and pain, is called the body (sarira) par excellence. q. what is the subtile body? a. it is the effect of the elements not differentiated into five and having seventeen characteristic marks (lingas). q. what are the seventeen? a. the five channels of knowledge (jnanendriyas), the five organs of action, the five vital airs, beginning with prana, and manas and buddhi. ------- * the five subtile elements thus produce the gross ones--each of the five is divided into eight parts, four of those parts and one part of each of the others enter into combination, and the result is the gross element corresponding with the subtile element, whose parts predominate in the composition. ** these six changes are--birth, death, existence in time, growth, decay, and undergoing change of substance (parinam) as milk is changed into whey. -------- q. what are the jnandendriyas? a. [spiritual] ear, skin, eye, tongue and nose. q. what is the ear? a. that channel of knowledge which transcends the [physical] ear, is limited by the auricular orifice, on which the akas depends, and which is capable of taking cognisance of sound. q. the skin? a. that which transcends the skin, on which the skin depends, and which extends from head to foot, and has the power of perceiving heat and cold. q. the eye? a. that which transcends the ocular orb, on which the orb depends, which is situated to the front of the black iris and has the power of cognising forms. q. the tongue? a. that which transcends the tongue, and can perceive taste. q. the nose? a. that which transcends the nose, and has the power of smelling. q. what are the organs of action? a. the organ of speech (vach), hands, feet, &c. q. what is vach? a. that which transcends speech, in which speech resides, and which is located in eight different centres* and has the power of speech. -------- * the secret commentaries say seven; for it does not separate the lips into the "upper" and "nether" lips. and, it adds to the seven centres the seven passages in the head connected with, and affected by, vach-- namely, the mouth, the two eyes, the two nostrils and the two ears. "the left ear, eye and nostril being the messengers of the right side of the head; the right ear, eye and nostril, those of the left side." now this is purely scientific. the latest discoveries and conclusions of modern physiology have shown that the power or the faculty of human speech is located in the third frontal cavity of the left hemisphere of the brain. on the other hand, it is a well known fact that the nerve tissues inter-cross each other (decussate) in the brain in such a way that the motions of our left extremities are governed by the right hemisphere, while the motions of our right limbs are subject to the left hemisphere of the brain. --------- q. what are the eight centres? a. breast, throat, head, upper and nether lips, palate ligature (fraenum), binding the tongue to the lower jaw and tongue. q. what is the organ of the hands? a. that which transcends the hands, on which the palms depend, and which has the power of giving and taking.... (the other organs are similarly described.) q. what is the antahkarana? * a. manas, buddhi, chitta and ahankara form it. the seat of the manas is the root of the throat, of buddhi the face, of chitta the umbilicus, and of ahankara the breast. the functions of these four components of antahkarana are respectively doubt, certainty, retention and egotism. q. how are the five vital airs,** beginning with prana, named? -------- * a flood of light will be thrown on the text by the note of a learned occultist, who says:--"antahkarana is the path of communication between soul and body, entirely disconnected with the former, existing with, belonging to, and dying with the body." this path is well traced in the text. ** these vitals airs and sub-airs are forces which harmonize the interior man with his surroundings, by adjusting the relations of the body to external objects. they are the five allotropic modifications of life. ------- a. prana, apana, vyana, udana and samana. their locations are said to be:--of prana the breast, of apana the fundamentum, of samana the umbilicus, of udana the throat, and vyana is spread all over the body. functions of these are:--prana goes out, apana descends, udana ascends, samana reduces the food eaten into an undistinguishable state, and vyana circulates all over the body. of these five vital airs there are five sub-airs--namely, naga, kurma, krikara, devadatta and dhananjaya. functions of these are:--eructations produced by naga, kurma opens the eye, dhananjaya assimilates food, devadatta causes yawning, and krikara produces appetite--this is said by those versed in yoga. the presiding powers (or macrocosmic analogues) of the five channels of knowledge and the others are dik (akas) and the rest. dik, vata (air), arka (sun), pracheta (water), aswini, bahni (fire), indra, upendra, mrityu (death), chandra (moon), brahma, rudra, and kshetrajnesvara,* which is the great creator and cause of everything. these are the presiding powers of ear, and the others in the order in which they occur. all these taken together form the linga sarira.** it is also said in the shastras:-- the five vital airs, manas, buddhi, and the ten organs form the subtile body, which arises from the subtile elements, undifferentiated into the five gross ones, and which is the means of the perception of pleasure and pain. q. what is the karana sarira? --------- * the principle of intellect (buddhi) in the macrocosm. for further explanation of this term, see sankara's commentaries on the brahma sutras. ** linga means that which conveys meaning, characteristic mark. -------- a. it is ignorance [of different monads] (avidya), which is the cause of the other two bodies, and which is without beginning [in the present manvantara],* ineffable, reflection [of brahma] and productive of the concept of non-identity between self and brahma. it is also said:-- "without a beginning, ineffable avidya is called the upadhi (vehicle)-- karana (cause). know the spirit to be truly different from the three upadhis--i.e., bodies." q. what is not-spirit? a. it is the three bodies [described above], which are impermanent, inanimate (jada), essentially painful and subject to congregation and segregation. -------- * it must not be supposed that avidya is here confounded with prakriti. what is meant by avidya being without beginning, is that it forms no link in the karmic chain leading to succession of births and deaths, it is evolved by a law embodied in prakriti itself. avidya is ignorance or matter as related to distinct monads, whereas the ignorance mentioned before is cosmic ignorance, or maya-avidya begins and ends with this manvantara. maya is eternal. the vedanta philosophy of the school of sankara regards the universe as consisting of one substance, brahman (the one ego, the highest abstraction of subjectivity from our standpoint), having an infinity of attributes, or modes of manifestation from which it is only logically separable. these attributes or modes in their collectivity form prakriti (the abstract objectivity). it is evident that brahman per se does not admit of any description other than "i am that i am." whereas prakriti is composed of an infinite number of differentiations of itself. in the universe, therefore, the only principle which is indifferentiable is this "i am that i am" and the manifold modes of manifestation can only exist in reference to it. the eternal ignorance consists in this, that as there is but one substantive, but numberless adjectives, each adjective is capable of designating the all. viewed in time the most permanent object or mood of the great knower at any moment represents the knower, and in a sense binds it with limitations. in fact, time itself is one of these infinite moods, and so is space. the only progress in nature is the realization of moods unrealized before. -------- q. what is impermanent? a. that which does not exist in one and the same state in the three divisions of time [namely, present, past and future.] q. what is inanimate (jada)? a. that which cannot distinguish between the objects of its own cognition and the objects of the cognition of others.... q. what are the three states (mentioned above as those of which the spirit is witness)? a. wakefulness (jagrata), dreaming (svapna), and the state of dreamless slumber (sushupti). q. what is the state of wakefulness? a. that in which objects are known through the avenue of [physical] senses. q. of dreaming? a. that in which objects are perceived by reason of desires resulting from impressions produced during wakefulness. q. what is the state of dreamless slumber? a. that in which there is an utter absence of the perception of objects. the indwelling of the notion of "i" in the gross body during wakefulness is visva (world of objects),* in subtile body during dreaming is taijas (magnetic fire), and in the causal body during dreamless slumber is prajna (one life). q. what are the five sheaths? a. annamaya, pranamaya, manomaya, vjjnanamaya, and anandamaya. annamaya is related to anna** (food), pranamaya of prana (life), manomaya of manas, vijnanamaya of vijnana (finite perception), anandamaya of ananda (illusive bliss). ------- * that is to say, by mistaking the gross body for self, the consciousness of external objects is produced. ** this word also means the earth in sanskrit. ------- q. what is the annamaya sheath? a. the gross body. q. why? a. the food eaten by father and mother is transformed into semen and blood, the combination of which is transformed into the shape of a body. it wraps up like a sheath and hence so called. it is the transformation of food and wraps up the spirit like a sheath--it shows the spirit which is infinite as finite, which is without the six changes, beginning with birth as subject to those changes, which is without the three kinds of pain* as liable to them. it conceals the spirit as the sheath conceals the sword, the husk the grain, or the womb the fetus. q. what is the next sheath? a. the combination of the five organs of action, and the five vital airs form the pranamaya sheath. by the manifestation of prana, the spirit which is speechless appears as the speaker, which is never the giver as the giver, which never moves as in motion, which is devoid of hunger and thirst as hungry and thirsty. q. what is the third sheath? a. it is the five (subtile) organs of sense (jnanendriya) and manas. -------- * the three kinds of pain are:-- adhibhautika, i.e., from external objects, e.g., from thieves, wild animals, &c. adhidaivika, i.e., from elements, e.g., thunder, &c. adhyatmika, i.e., from within one's self, e.g., head-ache, &c. see sankhya karika, gaudapada's commentary on the opening sloka. ------- by the manifestation of this sheath (vikara) the spirit which is devoid of doubt appears as doubting, devoid of grief and delusion as grieved and deluded, devoid of sight as seeing. q. what is the vijnanamaya sheath? a. [the essence of] the five organs of sense form this sheath in combination with buddhi. q. why is this sheath called the jiva (personal ego), which by reason of its thinking itself the actor, enjoyer, &c., goes to the other loka and comes back to this?* a. it wraps up and shows the spirit which never acts as the actor, which never cognises as conscious, which has no concept of certainty as being certain, which is never evil or inanimate as being both. q. what is the anandamaya sheath? a. it is the antahkarana, wherein ignorance predominates, and which produces gratification, enjoyment, &c. it wraps up and shows the spirit, which is void of desire, enjoyment and fruition, as having them, which has no conditioned happiness as being possessed thereof. q. why is the spirit said to be different from the three bodies? a. that which is truth cannot be untruth, knowledge ignorance, bliss misery, or vice versa. q. why is it called the witness of the three states? a. being the master of the three states, it is the knowledge of the three states, as existing in the present, past and future.** ------- * that is to say, flits from birth to birth. ** it is the stable basis upon which the three states arise and disappear. ------- q. how is the spirit different from the five sheaths? a. this is being illustrated by an example:--"this is my cow," "this is my calf," "this is my son or daughter," "this is my wife," "this is my anandamaya sheath," and so on*--the spirit can never be connected with these concepts; it is different from and witness of them all. for it is said in the upanishad--[the spirit is] "naught of sound, of touch, of form, or colour, of taste, or of smell; it is everlasting, having no beginning or end, superior [in order of subjectivity] to prakriti (differentiated matter); whoever correctly understands it as such attains mukti (liberation)." the spirit has also been called (above) sat, chit, and ananda. q. what is meant by its being sat (presence)? a. existing unchanged in the three divisions of time and uninfluenced by anything else. q. what by being chit (consciousness)? a. manifesting itself without depending upon anything else, and containing the germ of everything in itself. q. what by being ananda (bliss)? a. the ne plus ultra of bliss. whoever knows without doubt and apprehension of its being otherwise, the self as being one with brahma or spirit, which is eternal, non-dual and unconditioned, attains moksha (liberation from conditioned existence.) -------- * the "heresy of individuality," or attavada of the buddhists. -------- was writing known before panini? i am entrusted with the task of putting together some facts which would support the view that the art of writing was known in india before the time of our grammarian--the siva-taught panini. professor max muller has maintained the contrary opinion ever since , and has the approbation of other illustrious western scholars. stated briefly, their position is that the entire absence of any mention of "writing, reading, paper, or pen" in the vedas, or during the whole of the brahmana period, and the almost, if not quite, as complete silence as to them throughout the sutra period, "lead us to suppose that even then [the sutra period], though the art of writing began to be known, the whole literature of india was preserved by oral tradition only." ("hist. sans. lit.," p. .) to support this theory, he expands the mnemonic faculty of our respected ancestors to such a phenomenal degree that, like the bull's hide of queen dido, it is made to embrace the whole ground needed for the proposed city of refuge, to which discomfited savants may flee when hard pressed. considering that professor weber--a gentleman who, we observe, likes to distil the essence of aryan aeons down into an attar of no greater volume than the capacity of the biblical period--admits that europe now possesses , of our sanscrit texts; and considering that we have, or have had, many other tens of thousands which the parsimony of karma has hitherto withheld from the museums and libraries of europe, what a memory must have been theirs! under correction, i venture to assume that panini, who was ranked among the rishis, was the greatest known grammarian in india, than whom there is no higher in history, whether ancient or modern; further, that contemporary scholars agree that the sanskrit is the most perfect of languages. therefore, when prof. muller affirms that "there is not a single word in panini's terminology which presupposes the existence of writing" (op. cit. ), we become a little shaken in our loyal deference to western opinion. for it is very hard to conceive how one so pre-eminently great as panini should have been incapable of inventing characters to preserve his grammatical system--supposing that none had previously existed--if his genius was equal to the invention of classical sanskrit. the mention of the word grantha, the equivalent for a written or bound book in the later literature of india--though applied by panini (in b. i. , ) to the veda; (in b. iv. , ) to any work; (in b. iv. , ) to the work of any individual author; and (in b. iv. , ) to any work that is studied, do not stagger prof. muller at all. grantha he takes to mean simply a composition, and this may be handed down to posterity by oral communication. hence, we must believe that panini was illiterate; but yet composed the most elaborate and scientific system of grammar ever known; recorded its , rules only upon the molecular quicksands of his "cerebral cineritious matter," and handed them over to his disciples by atmospheric vibration, i.e., oral teaching! of course, nothing could be clearer; it commends itself to the simplest intellect as a thing most probable! and in the presence of such a perfect hypothesis, it seems a pity that its author should (op. cit. ) confess that "it is possible" that he "may have overlooked some words in the brahmanas and sutras, which would prove the existence of written books previous to panini." that looks like the military strategy of our old warriors, who delivered their attack boldly, but nevertheless tried to keep their rear open for retreat if compelled. the precaution was necessary: written books did exist many centuries before the age in which this radiant sun of aryan thought rose to shine upon his age. they existed, but the orientalist may search in vain for the proof amid the exoteric words in our earlier literature. as the egyptian hierophants had their private code of hieratic symbols, and even the founder of christianity spoke to the vulgar in parables whose mystical meaning was known only to the chosen few, so the brahmans had from the first (and still have) a mystical terminology couched behind ordinary expressions, arranged in certain sequences and mutual relations, which none but the initiate would observe. that few living brahmans possess this key but proves that, as in other archaic religious and philosophical systems, the soul of hinduism has fled (to its primal imparters--the initiates), and only the decrepit body remains with a spiritually degenerate posterity.* ------- * not only are the upanishads a secret doctrine, but in dozens of other works as, for instance, in the aitareya aranyaka, it is plainly expressed that they contain secret doctrines, that are not to be imparted to any one but a dwija (twice-born, initiated) brahman. -------- i fully perceive the difficulty of satisfying european philologists of a fact which, upon my own statement, they are debarred from verifying. we know that from the present mental condition of our brahmans. but i hope to be able to group together a few admitted circumstances which will aid, at least, to show the western theory untenable, if not to make a base upon which to rest our claim for the antiquity of sanskrit writing. three good reasons may be adduced in support of the claim--though they will be regarded as circumstantial evidence by our opponents. i.--it can be shown that writing was known in phoenicia from the date of the acquaintance of western history with her first settlements; and this may be dated, according to european figures, b.c., the age of the tyrian settlement. ii.--our opponents confess to ignorance of the source whence the phoenicians themselves got their alphabet. iii.--it can be proved that before the final division and classification of languages, there existed two languages in every nation: (a) the profane or popular language of the masses; (b) the sacerdotal or secret language of the initiates of the temples and mysteries--the latter being one and universal. or, in other, words, every great people had, like the egyptians, its demotic and its hieratic writing and language, which had resulted first in a pictorial writing or the hieroglyphics, and later on in a phonetic alphabet. now it requires a stretch of prejudice, indeed, to assert upon no evidence whatever that the brahman aryans--mystics and metaphysicians above everything--were the only ones who had never had any knowledge of either the sacerdotal language or the characters in which it was recorded. to contradict this gratuitous assumption, we can furnish a whole array of proofs. it can be demonstrated that the aryans no more borrowed their writing from the hellenes, or from the phoenicians, than they were indebted to the influence of the former for all their arts and sciences. (even if we accept mr. cunningham's "indo-grecian period," for it lasted only from - b.c., as he states it.) the direct progenitor of the vedic sanskrit was the sacerdotal language (which has a distinct name among the initiates). the vach--its alter ego or the "mystic self," the sacerdotal speech of the initiated brahman--became in time the mystery language of the inner temple, studied by the initiates of egypt and chaldea; of the phoenicians and the etruscans; of the pelasgi and palanquans; in short, of the whole globe. the appellation devanagari is the synonym of, and identical with, the hermetic and hieratic neter-khari (divine speech) of the egyptians. as the discussion divides naturally into two parts as to treatment-- though a general synthesis must be the final result--we will proceed to examine the first part--namely, the charge that the sanskrit alphabet is derived from the phoenicians. when a western philologer asserts that writing did not exist before a certain period, we assume that he has some approximate certitude as to its real invention. but so far is this from the truth, that admittedly no one knows whence the phoenicians learned the characters, now alleged (by gesenius first) to be the source from which modern alphabets were directly derived. de rouge's investigations make it extremely probable that "they were borrowed, or rather adapted from certain archaic hieroglyphics of egypt:" a theory which the prisse papyrus, "the oldest in existence," strongly supports by its "striking similarities with the phoenician characters." but the same authority traces it back one step farther. he says that the ascription (by the myth-makers) of the art of writing to thoth, or to kadmos, "only denotes their belief in its being brought from the east (kedem), or being perhaps primeval." there is not even a certainty whether, primevally or archaically, "there were several original alphabetical systems, or whether one is to be assumed as having given rise to the various modes of writing in use." so, if conjecture has the field, it is no great disloyalty to declare one's rebellion against the eminent western gentlemen who are learnedly guessing at the origin of things. some affirm that the phoenicians derived their so-called kadmean or phoenician writing-characters from the pelasgians, held also to have been the inventors, or at least the improvers, of the so-called kadmean characters. but, at the same time, this is not proven, they confess, and they only know that the latter were in possession of the art of writing "before the dawn of history." let us see what is known of both phoenicians and pelasgians. if we inquire who were the phoenicians, we learn as follows:--from having been regarded as hamites on bible testimony, they suddenly became semites--on geographical and philological evidence(?). their origin begins, it is said, on the shores of the erythrian sea; and that sea extended from the eastern shores of egypt to the western shores of india. the phoenicians were the most maritime nation in the world. that they knew perfectly the art of writing no one would deny. the historical period of sidon begins b.c. and it is well ascertained that in sanchoniathon had already compiled from annals and state documents, which filled the archives of every phoenician city, the full records of their religion. sanchoniathon wrote in the phoenician language, and was mis-translated later on into greek by philo of byblus, and annihilated bodily--as to his works--except one small fragment preserved by eusebius, the literary siva, the destroyer of nearly all heathen documents that fell in his way. to see the direct bearing of the alleged superior knowledge of the phoenicians upon the alleged ignorance of the aryan brahmans, one has but to turn to "european universal history," meagre though its details and possible knowledge, yet i suppose no one would contradict the historical facts given. some fragments of dius, the phoenician who wrote the history of tyre, are preserved in josephus; and tyre's activity begins b.c., in the earlier part of the third period of phoenician history, so called. and in that period, as we are told, they had already reached the height of their power; their ships covered all seas, their commerce embraced the whole earth, and their colonies flourished far and near. even on biblical testimony they are known to have come to the indies by the red sea, while trading on solomon's account about a millennium before the western era. these data no man of science can deny. leaving entirely aside the thousand-and-one documentary proofs that could be given on the evidence of our most ancient texts on occult sciences, of inscribed tablets, &c., those historical events that are accepted by the western world are alone here given. turning to the mahabharata, the date of which--on the sole authority of the fancy lore drawn from the inner consciousness of german scholars, who perceive in the great epic poem proofs of its modern fabrication in the words "yavana" and others--has been changed from years to the first centuries after christ (!!), we find: ( ) ample evidence that the ancient hindus had navigated (before the establishment of the caste system) the open seas to the regions of the arctic ocean and held communication with europe; and ( ) that the pandus had acquired universal dominion and taught the sacrificial mysteries to other races (see mahabharata, book xiv,). with such proofs of international communication, and more than proved relations between the indian aryans and the phoenicians, egyptians and other literate people, it is rather startling to be told that our forefathers of the brahmanic period knew nothing of writing. admitting, for the argument only, that the phoenician were the sole custodians of the glorious art of writing, and that as merchants they traded with india, what commodity, i ask, could they have offered to a people led by the brahmans so precious and marketable as this art of arts, by whose help the priceless lore of the rishis might be preserved against the accidents of imperfect oral transmission? and even if the aryans learned from phoenicians how to write--to every educated hindu an absurdity--they must have possessed the art , or at least , years earlier than the period supposed by western critics. negative proof, perhaps? granted: yet no more so than their own, and most suggestive. and now we may turn to the pelasgians. notwithstanding the rebuke of niebuhr, who, speaking of the historian in general, shows him as hating "the spurious philology, out of which the pretences to knowledge on the subject of such extinct people arise," the origin of the pelasgians is conjectured to have been from--(a) swarthy asiatics (pellasici) or from some (b) mariners--from the greek pelagos, the sea; or again to be sought for in the (c) biblical peleg! the only divinity of their pantheon well known to western history is orpheus, also the "swarthy," the "dark-skinned;" represented for the pelasgians by xoanon, their "divine image." now if the pelasgians were asiatics, they must have been turanians, semites or aryans. that they could not have been either of the two first, and must have been the last named, is shown on herodotus' testimony, who declared them the forefathers of the greeks-- though they spoke, as he says, "a most barbarous language." further, unerring philology shows that the vast number of roots common both to greek and latin, are easily explained by the assumption of a common pelasgic linguistic and ethnical stock in both nationalities. but then how about the sanskrit roots traced in the greek and latin languages? the same roots must have been present in the pelasgian tongues? we who place the origin of the pelasgian far beyond the biblical ditch of historic chronology, have reasons to believe that the "barbarous language" mentioned by herodotus was simply "the primitive and now extinct aryan tongue" that preceded the vedic sanskrit. who could they be, these pelasgians? they are described generally on the meagre data in hand as a highly intellectual, receptive, active and simple people, chiefly occupied with agriculture; warlike when necessary, though preferring peace. we are told that they built canals, subterranean water-works, dams, and walls of astounding strength and most excellent construction. and their religion and worship originally consisted in a mystic service of those natural powers--the sun, wind, water, and air (our surya, maruts, varuna, and vayu), whose influence is visible in the growth of the fruits of the earth; moreover, some of their tribes were ruled by priests, while others stood under the patriarchal rule of the head of the clan or family. all this reminds one of the nomads, the brahmanic aryas of old under the sway of their rishis, to whom were subject every distinct family or clan. while the pelasgians were acquainted with the art of writing, and had thus "a vast element of culture in their possession before the dawn of history," we are told (by the same philologists) that our ancestors knew of no writing until the dawn of christianity! thus the pelasgianic language, that "most barbarous language" spoken by this mysterious people, what was it but aryan; or rather, which of the aryan languages could it have been? certainly it must have been a language with the same and even stronger sanskrit roots in it than the greek. let us bear in mind that the aeolic was neither the language of aeschylus, nor the attic, nor even the old speech of homer. as the oscan of the "barbarous" sabines was not quite the italian of dante nor even the latin of virgil. or has the indo-aryan to come to the sad conclusion that the average western orientalist will rather incur the blame of ignorance when detected than admit the antiquity of the vedic sanskrit and the immense period which separated this comparatively rough and unpolished language, compared with the classical sanskrit, and the palmy days of the "extinct aryan tongue?" the latium antiquum of pliny and the aeolic of the autochthones of greece present the closest kinship, we are told. they had a common ancestor--the pelasgian. what, then, was the parent tongue of the latter unless it was the language "spoken at one time by all the nations of europe--before their separation?" in the absence of all proofs, it is unreasonable that the rik-brahmanas, the mahabharata and every nirukti should be treated as flippantly as they now are. it is admitted that, however inferior to the classical sanskrit of panini, the language of the oldest portions of rig veda, notwithstanding the antiquity of its grammatical forms, is the same as that of the latest texts. every one sees--cannot fail to see and to know--that for a language so old and so perfect as the sanskrit to have survived alone, among all languages, it must have had its cycles of perfection and its cycles of degeneration. and, if one had any intuition, he might have seen that what they call a "dead language" being an anomaly, a useless thing in nature, it would not have survived, even as a "dead" tongue, had it not its special purpose in the reign of immutable cyclic laws; and that sanskrit, which came to be nearly lost to the world, is now slowly spreading in europe, and will one day have the extension it had thousands upon thousands of years back--that of a universal language. the same as to the greek and the latin: there will be a time when the greek of aeschylus (and more perfect still in its future form) will be spoken by all in southern europe, while sanskrit will be resting in its periodical pralaya; and the attic will be followed later by the latin of virgil. something ought to have whispered to us that there was also a time--before the original aryan settlers among the dravidian and other aborigines, admitted within the fold of brahmanical initiation, marred the purity of the sacred sanskrita bhasha--when sanskrit was spoken in all its unalloyed subsequent purity, and therefore must have had more than once its rise and fall. the reason for it is simply this: classical sanskrit was only restored, if in some things perfected, by panini. panini, katyayana or patanjali did not create it; it has existed throughout cycles, and will pass through other cycles still. professor max miller is willing to admit that a tribe of semitic nomads--fourteen centuries before the year of the westerns--knew well the art of writing, and had their historically and scientifically proven "book of the covenant and the tables 'with the writing of god upon them.'" yet the same authority tells us that the aryans could neither read nor write until the very close of the brahmanic period. "no trace of writing can be discovered (by the philologists) in the brahmanical literature before the days of panini." very well, and now what was the period during which this siva-taught sage is allowed to have flourished? one orientalist (bohtlingk) refers us to b.c., while less lenient ones, like professor weber, land the grammarian right in the middle of the second century of the christian era! only, after fixing panini's period with such a remarkable agreement of chronology (other calculations ranging variously between b.c. and a.d.), the orientalists place themselves inextricably between the horns of a dilemma. for whether panini flourished b.c. or a.d., he could not have been illiterate; for firstly, in the lalita vistara, a canonical book recognized by the sanskritists, attributed by max muller to the third buddhist council (and translated into tibetan), our lord buddha is shown as studying, besides devanagari, sixty-three other alphabets specified in it as being used in various parts of india; and secondly, though megasthenes and nearchus do say that in their time the laws of manu were not (popularly) reduced to writing (strabo, xv. and ) yet nearchus describes the indian art of making paper from cotton. he adds that the indians wrote letters on cotton twisted together (strabo, xv. and ). this would be late in the sutra period, no doubt, according to professor miller's reasoning. can the learned gentleman cite any record within that comparatively recent period showing the name of the inventor of that cotton-paper, and the date of his discovery? surely so important a fact as that, a novelty so transcendently memorable, would not have passed without remark. one would seem compelled, in the absence of any such chronicle, to accept the alternative theory--known to us aryan students as a fact--that writing and writing materials were, as above remarked, known to the brahmans in an antiquity inconceivably remote--many centuries before the epoch made illustrious by panini. attention has been asked above to the interesting fact that the god orpheus, of "thracia" (?) is called the "dark-skinned." has it escaped notice that he is "supposed to be the vedic ribhu or abrhu, an epithet both of indra and the sun."* and if he was "the inventor of letters," and is "placed anterior to both homer and hesiod," then what follows? that indra taught writing to the thracian pelasgians under the guise of orpheus,** but left his own spokesmen and vehicles, the brahmans, illiterate until "the dawn of christianity?" or, that the gentlemen of the west are better at intuitional chronology than conspicuous for impartial research? ------- * "chamber's encyclopedia," vii. . ** according to herodotus the mysteries were actually brought from india by orpheus. ------- orpheus was--in greece--the son of apollo or helios, the sun-god, according to corrected mythology, and from him received the phorminx or lyre of seven strings, i.e.--according to occult phraseology--the sevenfold mystery of the initiation. now indra is the ruler of the bright firmament, the disperser of clouds, "the restorer of the sun to the sky." he is identified with arjuna in the samhita satapatha brahmana (although prof. weber denies the existence of any such person as arjuna, yet there was indeed one), and arjuna was the chief of the pandavas;* and though pandu the white passes for his father, he is yet considered the son of indra. as throughout india all ancient cyclopean structures are even now attributed to the pandavas, so all similar structures in the west were anciently ascribed to the pelasgians. moreover, as shown well by pococke--laughed at because too intuitional and too fair though, perchance less, philologically learned--the pandavas were in greece, where many traces of them can be shown. ------- * another proof of the fact that the pandavas were, though aryans, not brahmans, and belonged to an indian tribe that preceded the brahmans, and were later on brahmanized, and then out-casted and called mlechhas, yavanas (i.e., foreign to the brahmans), is afforded in the following: pandu has two wives; and "it is not kunti, his lawful wife, but madri, his most beloved wife," who is burnt with the old king when dead, as well remarked by prof max muller, who seems astonished at it without comprehending the true reason. as stated by herodotus (v. ), it was a custom amongst the thracians to allow the most beloved of a man's wives to be sacrificed upon his tomb; and herodotus (iv. ) asserts a similar fact of the scythians, and pausanias (iv. ) of the greeks. ("hist. sans. lit." p. ). the pandavas and the kauravas are called esoterically cousins in the epic poem because they were two distinct yet aryan tribes, and represent two peoples, not simply two families. -------- in the mahabharata, arjuna is taught the occult philosophy by krishna (personification of the universal divine principle); and the less mythological view of orpheus presents him to us as "a divine bard or priest in the service of zagreus .... founder of the mysteries .... the inventor of everything, in fact, that was supposed to have contributed to the civilization and initiation into a more humane worship of the deity." are not these striking parallels; and is it not significant that, in the cases of both arjuna and orpheus, the sublimer aspects of religion should have been imparted along with the occult methods of attaining it by masters of the mysteries? real devanagari--non-phonetic characters--meant formerly the outward symbols, so to say, the signs used in the intercommunication between gods and initiated mortals. hence their great sacredness and the silence maintained throughout the vedic and the brahmanical periods about any object concerned with, or referring to, reading and writing. it was the language of the gods. if our western critics can only understand what the ancient hindu writers meant by rhutaliai, so often mentioned in their mystical writings, they will be in a position to ascertain the source from which the hindus first derived their knowledge of writing. a secret language, common to all schools of occult science once prevailed throughout the world. hence orpheus learnt "letters" in the course of his initiation. he is identified with indra; according to herodotus he brought the art of writing from india; his complexion swarthier than that of the thracians points to his indo-aryan nationality--supposing him to have been "a bard and priest," and not a god; the pelasgians are said to have been born in thracia; they are believed (in the west) to have first possessed the art of writing, and taught the phoenicians; from the latter all modern alphabets proceed. i submit, then, with all these coincidences and sequences, whether the balance of proof is on the side of the theory that the aryans transmitted the art of writing to the people of the west; or on the side which maintains that they, with their caste of scholarly brahmans, their noble sacerdotal tongue, dating from high antiquity, their redundant and splendid literature, their acquaintance with the most wonderful and recondite potentialities of the human spirit, were illiterate until the era of panini, the grammarian and last of the rishis. when the famous theorists of the western colleges can show us a river running from its mouth back to its source in the feeble mountain spring, then may we be asked to believe in their theory of aryan illiteracy. the history of human intellectual development shows that humanity always passes through the stage of ideography or pictography before attaining that of cursive writing. it therefore remains with the western critics who oppose the antiquity of aryan scriptures to show us the pictographic proofs which support their position. as these are notoriously absent, it appears they would have us believe that our ancestors passed immediately from illiteracy to the devanagari characters of panini's time. let the orientalists bear in mind the conclusions drawn from a careful study of the mahabharata by muir in his "sanskrit texts" (vol. i. pp. , and ). it may be conclusively proven on the authority of the mahabharata that the yavanas (of whom india, as alleged, knew nothing before the days of alexander!) belong to those tribes of kshatriyas who, in consequence of their non-communication with, and in some cases rejection by, the brahmins, had become from twice-born, "vrishalas,"-- i.e., outcasts (mahabharata anusasanaparvam, vv. f.): "sakah yavana-kambojas tastah kshattriya jatayah vrishalatvam parigatah brahmananam adarsana. dravidas cha kalindas cha pulindas chapy usinarah kalisarpa mahishakas tastah kshattriya jatayah," &c. &c. the same reference may be found in verses - . the mahabharata shows the yavanas descended from turvasu--once upon a time kshatriya, subsequently degraded into vrishala. harivamsa shows when and how the yavanas were excommunicated. it may be inferred from the account therein contained of the expedition against ayodhya by the yavanas, and the subsequent proceedings of sagara, that the yavanas were, previous to the date of the expedition, kshatriyas subject to the government of the powerful monarchs who reigned at ayodhya. but on account of their having rebelled against their sovereign, and attacked his capital, they were excommunicated by sagara who successfully drove them out of ayodhya, at the suggestion of vasishtha who was the chief minister and guru of sagara's father. the only trouble in connecting the pelasgians with, and tracing their origin to, the kshatriyas of rajputana, is created by the orientalist who constructs a fanciful chronology, based on no proof, and showing only unfamiliarity with the world's real history, and with indian history even within historical periods. the value of that chronology--which places virtually the "primitive indo-germanic-period" before the ancient vedic period (!)--may, in conclusion, be illustrated by an example. rough as may be the calculations offered, it is impossible to go deeper into any subject of this class within the narrow limits prescribed, and without recourse to data not generally accessible. in the words of prof. max muller:--"the code of manu is almost the only work in sanskrit literature which, as yet, has not been assailed by those who doubt the antiquity of everything indian. no historian has disputed its claim to that early date which had from the first been assigned to it by sir william jones" ("hist. sans, lit." p. ). and now, pray, what is this extremely "early date?" "from to b.c.," we are told. we will then, for the present purpose, accept this authoritative conclusion. several facts, easily verifiable, have to be first of all noticed:--( ) manu in his many enumerations of indian races, kingdoms and places, never once mentions bengal; the aryan brahmans had not yet reached, in the days when his code was compiled, the banks of the ganges nor the plains of bengal. it was arjuna who went first to banga (bengal) with his sacrificial horse. [yavanas are mentioned in rajdharma anasasanika parva as part of the tribes peopling it.] ( ) in the ayun a list of the hindu kings of bengal is given. though the date of the first king who reigned over banga cannot be ascertained, owing to the great gaps between the various dynasties; it is yet known that bengal ceased to be an independent hindu kingdom from after christ. now if, disregarding these gaps, which are wide and many, we make up the sum of only those chronological periods of the reign of the several dynasties that are preserved by history, we find the following:-- kshatriya families of kings reigned for a period of , years kaista kings " " " " " of the adisur families " " " " of the bhopal family " " " " of the pala dynasty (from to a.d.) " " " the vaidya rajahs reigned for a period of " " " -------- years . . . . , " if we deduct from this sum , , we have , years b.c. of successive reigns. if it can be shown on the unimpeachable evidence of the sanskrit texts that some of the reigns happened simultaneously, and the line cannot therefore be shown as successive (as was already tried), well and good. against an arbitrary chronology set up with a predetermined purpose and theory in view, there will remain but little to be said. but if this attempt at reconciliation of figures and the surrounding circumstances are maintained simply upon "critical, internal evidence," then, in the presence of these , years of an unbroken line of powerful and mighty hindu kings, the orientalists will have to show a very good reason why the authors of the code of manu seem entirely ignorant even of the existence of bengal--if its date has to be accepted as not earlier than b.c.! a scientific rule which is good enough to apply to the case of panini ought to be valid in other chronological speculations. or, perhaps, this is one of those poor rules which will not "work both ways?" --a chela theosophical what is theosophy? according to lexicographers, the term theosophia is composed of two greek words--theos "god," and sophas "wise." so far, correct. but the explanations that follow are far from giving a clear idea of theosophy. webster defines it most originally as "a supposed intercourse with god and superior spirits, and consequent attainment of superhuman knowledge by physical processes, as by the theurgic operations of some ancient platonists, or by the chemical processes of the german fire-philosophers." this, to say the least, is a poor and flippant explanation. to attribute such ideas to men like ammonius saccas, plotinus, jamblichus, porphyry, proclus, shows either intentional misrepresentation, or ignorance of the philosophy and motives of the greatest geniuses of the later alexandrian school. to impute to those, whom their contemporaries as well as posterity styled "theodidaktoi," god-taught, a purpose to develop their psychological, spiritual perceptions by "physical processes," is to describe them as materialists. as to the concluding fling at the fire-philosophers, it rebounds from them upon some of the most eminent leaders of modern science; those in whose mouths the rev. james martineau places the following boast: "matter is all we want; give us atoms alone, and we will explain the universe." vaughan offers a far better, more philosophical definition. "a theosophist," he says, "is one who gives you a theory of god or the works of god, which has not revelation, but inspiration of his own for its basis." in this view every great thinker and philosopher, especially every founder of a new religion, school of philosophy, or sect, is necessarily a theosophist. hence, theosophy and theosophists have existed ever since the first glimmering of nascent thought made man seek instinctively for the means of expressing his own independent opinions. there were theosophists before the christian era, notwithstanding that the christian writers ascribe the development of the eclectic theosophical system to the early part of the third century of their era. diogenes laertius traces theosophy to an epoch antedating the dynasty of the ptolemies; and names as its founder an egyptian hierophant called pot-amun, the name being coptic, and signifying a priest consecrated to amun, the god of wisdom. but history shows its revival by ammonius saccas, the founder of the neo-platonic school. he and his disciples called themselves "philaletheians"--lovers of the truth; while others termed them the "analogists," on account of their method of interpreting all sacred legends, symbolical myths, and mysteries, by a rule of analogy or correspondence so that events which had occurred in the external world were regarded as expressing operations and experiences of the human soul. it was the aim and purpose of ammonius to reconcile all sects, peoples, and nations under one common faith--a belief in one supreme, eternal, unknown, and unnamed power, governing the universe by immutable and eternal laws. his object was to prove a primitive system of theosophy, which, at the beginning, was essentially alike in all countries: to induce all men to lay aside their strifes and quarrels, and unite in purpose and thought as the children of one common mother; to purify the ancient religions, by degrees corrupted and obscured, from all dross of human element, by uniting and expounding them upon pure philosophical principles. hence, the buddhistic, vedantic and magian, or zoroastrian systems were taught in the eclectic theosophical school along with all the philosophies of greece. hence also, that pre-eminently buddhistic and indian feature among the ancient theosophists of alexandria, of due reverence for parents and aged persons, a fraternal affection for the whole human race, and a compassionate feeling for even the dumb animals. while seeking to establish a system of moral discipline which enforced upon people the duty to live according to the laws of their respective countries, to exalt their minds by the research and contemplation of the one absolute truth; his chief object, in order, as he believed, to achieve all others, was to extract from the various religious teachings, as from a many-chorded instrument, one full and harmonious melody, which would find response in every truth-loving heart. theosophy is, then, the archaic wisdom-religion, the esoteric doctrine once known in every ancient country having claims to civilization. this "wisdom" all the old writings show us as an emanation of the divine principle; and the clear comprehension of it is typified in such names as the indian buddh, the babylonian nebo, the thoth of memphis, the hermes of greece; in the appellations, also, of some goddesses--metis, neitha, athena, the gnostic sophia; and, finally, the vedas, from the word "to know." under this designation, all the ancient philosophers of the east and west, the hierophants of old egypt, the rishis of aryavart, the theodidaktoi of greece, included all knowledge of things occult and essentially divine. the mercavah of the hebrew rabbis, the secular and popular series, were thus designated as only the vehicle, the outward shell, which contained the higher esoteric knowledges. the magi of zoroaster received instruction and were initiated in the caves and secret lodges of bactria; the egyptian and grecian hierophants had their apporiheta, or secret discourses, during which the mysta became an epopta--a seer. the central idea of the eclectic theosophy was that of a single supreme essence, unknown and unknowable; for "how could one know the knower?" as inquires brihadaranyaka upanishad. their system was characterized by three distinct features, the theory of the above-named essence: the doctrine of the human soul; an emanation from the latter, hence of the same nature; and its theurgy. it is this last science which has led the neo-platonists to be so misrepresented in our era of materialistic science. theurgy being essentially the art of applying the divine powers of man to the subordination of the blind forces of nature, its votaries were first decisively termed magicians--a corruption of the word "magh," signifying a wise or learned man. sceptics of a century ago would have been as wide of the mark if they had laughed at the idea of a phonograph or telegraph. the ridiculed and the "infidels" of one generation generally become the wise men and saints of the next. as regards the divine essence and the nature of the soul and spirit, modern theosophy believes now as ancient theosophy did. the popular dev of the aryan nations was identical with the iao of the chaldeans, and even with the jupiter of the less learned and philosophical among the romans; and it was just as identical with the jahve of the samaritans, the tiu or "tiusco" of the northmen, the duw of the britons, and the zeus of the thracians. as to the absolute essence, the one and all, whether we accept the greek pythagorean, the chaldean kabalistic, or the aryan philosophy in regard to it, it will all lead to one and the same result. the primeval monad of the pythagorean system, which retires into darkness and is itself darkness (for human intellect), was made the basis of all things; and we can find the idea in all its integrity in the philosophical systems of leibnitz and spinoza. therefore, whether a theosophist agrees with the kabala which, speaking of en-soph, propounds the query; "who, then, can comprehend it, since it is formless, and non-existent?" or, remembering that magnificent hymn from the rig veda (hymn , book x.), inquires: "who knows from whence this great creation sprang? whether his will created or was mute. he knows it--or perchance even he knows not." or, again, he accepts the vedantic conception of brahma, who, in the upanishads, is represented as "without life, without mind, pure," unconscious, for brahma is "absolute consciousness." or, even finally, siding with the svabhavikas of nepaul, maintains that nothing exists but "svabhavat" (substance or nature) which exists by itself without any creator--he is the true follower of pure and absolute theosophy. that theosophy which prompted such men as hegel, fichte and spinoza to take up the labours of the old grecian philosophers and speculate upon the one substance--the deity, the divine all proceeding from the divine wisdom--incomprehensible, unknown and unnamed by any ancient or modern religious philosophy, with the exception of judaism, including christianity and mohammedanism. every theosophist, then, holding to a theory of the deity "which has not revelation but an inspiration of his own for its basis," may accept any of the above definitions or belong to any of these religions, and yet remain strictly within the boundaries of theosophy. for the latter is belief in the deity as the all, the source of all existence, the infinite that cannot be either comprehended or known, the universe alone revealing it, or, as some prefer it, him, thus giving a sex to that, to anthropomorphize which is blasphemy. true theosophy shrinks from brutal materialization; it prefers believing that, from eternity retired within itself, the spirit of the deity neither wills nor creates; but from the infinite effulgence everywhere going forth from the great centre, that which produces all visible and invisible things is but a ray containing in itself the generative and conceptive power, which, in its turn, produces that which the greeks called macrocosm, the kabalists tikkun or adam kadmon, the archetypal man, and the aryans purusha, the manifested brahm, or the divine male. theosophy believes also in the anastasis, or continued existence, and in transmigration (evolution) or a series of changes of the personal ego, which can be defended and explained on strict philosophical principles by making a distinction between paramatma (transcendental, supreme spirit) and jivatma (individual spirit) of the vedantins. to fully define theosophy, we must consider it under all its aspects. the interior world has not been hidden from all by impenetrable darkness. by that higher intuition acquired by theosophia, or god-knowledge, which carries the mind from the world of form into that of formless spirit, man has been sometimes enabled, in every age and every country, to perceive things in the interior or invisible world. hence, the "samadhi," or dhyan yog samadhi, of the hindu ascetics; the "daimonlonphoti," or spiritual illumination of the neo-platonists; the "sidereal confabulation of soul," of the rosicrucians or fire-philosophers; and, even the ecstatic trance of mystics and of the modern mesmerists and spiritualists, are identical in nature, though various as to manifestation. the search after man's diviner "self," so often and so erroneously interpreted as individual communion with a personal god, was the object of every mystic; and belief in its possibility seems to have been coeval with the genesis of humanity, each people giving it another name. thus plato and plotinus call "noetic work" that which the yogi and the shrotriya term vidya. "by reflection, self-knowledge and intellectual discipline, the soul can be raised to the vision of eternal truth, goodness, and beauty--that is, to the vision of god. this is the epopteia," said the greeks. "to unite one's soul to the universal soul," says porphyry, "requires but a perfectly pure mind. through self contemplation, perfect chastity, and purity of body, we may approach nearer to it, and receive, in that state, true knowledge and wonderful insight." and swami dayanund saraswati, who has read neither porphyry nor other greek authors, but who is a thorough vedic scholar, says in his "veda bhashya" (opasna prakaru ank. )--"to obtain diksha (highest initiation) and yog, one has to practise according to the rules..... the soul in the human body can perform the greatest wonders by knowing the universal spirit (or god) and acquainting itself with the properties and qualities (occult) of all the things in the universe. a human being (a dikshit or initiate) can thus acquire a power of seeing and hearing at great distances." finally, alfred r. wallace, f.r.s., a spiritualist and yet a confessedly great naturalist, says, with brave candour: "it is spirit that alone feels, and perceives, and thinks, that acquires knowledge, and reasons and aspires..... there not unfrequently occur individuals so constituted that the spirit can perceive independently of the corporeal organs of sense, or can, perhaps, wholly or partially quit the body for a time and return to it again; the spirit communicates with spirit easier than with matter." we can now see how, after thousands of years have intervened between the age of the gymnosophists* and our own highly civilized era, notwithstanding, or, perhaps, just because of such an enlightenment which pours its radiant light upon the psychological as well as upon the physical realms of nature, over twenty millions of people today believe, under different form, in those same spiritual powers that were believed in by the yogis and the pythagoreans, nearly , years ago. -------- * the reality of the yog-power was affirmed by many greek and roman writers, who call the yogis indian gymnosophists--by strabo, lucan, plutarch, cicero (tusculum), pliny (vii. ), &c. -------- thus, while the aryan mystic claimed for himself the power of solving all the problems of life and death, when he had once obtained the power of acting independently of his body, through the atman, "self," or "soul;" and the old greeks went in search of atmu, the hidden one, or the god-soul of man, with the symbolical mirror of the thesmophorian mysteries; so the spiritualists of today believe in the capacity of the spirits, or the souls of the disembodied persons, to communicate visibly and tangibly with those they loved on earth. and all these, aryan yogis, greek philosophers, and modern spiritualists, affirm that possibility on the ground that the embodied soul and its never embodied spirit--the real self--are not separated from either the universal soul or other spirits by space, but merely by the differentiation of their qualities, as in the boundless expanse of the universe there can be no limitation. and that when this difference is once removed--according to the greeks and aryans by abstract contemplation, producing the temporary liberation of the imprisoned soul, and according to spiritualists, through mediumship--such a union between embodied and disembodied spirits becomes possible. thus was it that patanjali's yogis, and, following in their steps, plotinus, porphyry and other neo-platonists, maintained that in their hours of ecstasy, they had been united to, or rather become as one with, god several times during the course of their lives. this idea, erroneous as it may seem in its application to the universal spirit, was, and is, claimed by too many great philosophers to be put aside as entirely chimerical. in the case of the theodidaktoi, the only controvertible point, the dark spot on this philosophy of extreme mysticism, was its claim to include that which is simply ecstatic illumination, under the head of sensuous perception. in the case of the yogis, who maintained their ability to see iswara "face to face," this claim was successfully overthrown by the stern logic of the followers of kapila, the founder of the sankhya philosophy. as to the similar assumption made for their greek followers, for a long array of christian ecstatics, and, finally, for the last two claimants to "god-seeing" within these last hundred years--jacob bohme and swedenborg--this pretension would and should have been philosophically and logically questioned, if a few of our great men of science, who are spiritualists, had had more interest in the philosophy than in the mere phenomenalism of spiritualism. the alexandrian theosophists were divided into neophytes, initiates and masters, or hierophants; and their rules were copied from the ancient mysteries of orpheus, who, according to herodotus, brought them from india. ammonius obligated his disciples by oath not to divulge his higher doctrines, except to those who were proved thoroughly worthy and initiated, and who had learned to regard the gods, the angels, and the demons of other peoples, according to the esoteric hyponia, or under-meaning. "the gods exist, but they are not what the hoi polloi, the uneducated multitude, suppose them to be," says epicurus. "he is not an atheist who denies the existence of the gods, whom the multitude worship, but he is such who fastens on these gods the opinions of the multitude." in his turn, aristotle declares that of the "divine essence pervading the whole world of nature, what are styled the gods are simply the first principles." plotinus, the pupil of the "god-taught" ammonius, tells us that the secret gnosis or the knowledge of theosophy, has three degrees-opinion, science, and illumination. "the means or instrument of the first is sense, or perception; of the second, dialectics; of the third, intuition. to the last, reason is subordinate; it is absolute knowledge, founded on the identification of the mind with the object known." theosophy is the exact science of psychology, so to say; it stands in relation to natural, uncultivated mediumship, as the knowledge of a tyndall stands to that of a school-boy in physics. it develops in man a direct beholding; that which schelling denominates "a realization of the identity of subject and object in the individual;" so that under the influence and knowledge of hyponia man thinks divine thoughts, views all things as they really are, and, finally, "becomes recipient of the soul of the world," to use one of the finest expressions of emerson. "i, the imperfect, adore my own perfect," he says in his superb "essay on the oversoul." besides this psychological, or soul state, theosophy cultivated every branch of sciences and arts. it was thoroughly familiar with what is now commonly known as mesmerism. practical theurgy or "ceremonial magic," so often resorted to in their exorcisms by the roman catholic clergy, was discarded by the theosophists. it is but jamblichus alone who, transcending the other eclectics, added to theosophy the doctrine of theurgy. when ignorant of the true meaning of the esoteric divine symbols of nature, man is apt to miscalculate the powers of his soul, and, instead of communing spiritually and mentally with the higher celestial beings, the good spirits (the gods of the theurgists of the platonic school), he will unconsciously call forth the evil, dark powers which lurk around humanity, the undying, grim creations of human crimes and vices, and thus fall from theurgia (white magic) into goetia (or black magic, sorcery). yet, neither white nor black magic are what popular superstition understands by the terms. the possibility of "raising spirits," according to the key of solomon, is the height of superstition and ignorance. purity of deed and thought can alone raise us to an intercourse "with the gods" and attain for us the goal we desire. alchemy, believed by so many to have been a spiritual philosophy as well as a physical science, belonged to the teachings of the theosophical school. it is a noticeable fact that neither zoroaster, buddha, orpheus, pythagoras, confucius, socrates, nor ammonius saccas, committed anything to writing. the reason for it is obvious. theosophy is a double-edged weapon and unfit for the ignorant or the selfish. like every ancient philosophy it has its votaries among the moderns; but, until late in our own days, its disciples were few in numbers, and of the most various sects and opinions. "entirely speculative, and founding no schools, they have still exercised a silent influence upon philosophy; and no doubt, when the time arrives, many ideas thus silently propounded may yet give new directions to human thought," remarks mr. kenneth r. h. mackenzie, himself a mystic and a theosophist, in his large and valuable work, "the royal masonic cyclopaedia" (articles "theosophical society of new york," and "theosophy," p. ).* since the days of the fire-philosophers, they had never formed themselves into societies, for, tracked like wild beasts by the christian clergy, to be known as a theosophist often amounted, hardly a century ago, to a death-warrant. ---------- * "the royal masonic cycloptedia of history, rites, symbolism, and biography." edited by kenneth r. h. mackenzie ix. (cryptonymus) hon. member of the canongate kilwinning lodge, no. , scotland. new york j. w. bouton, , broadway. . -------- the statistics show that, during a period of years, no less than , men and women were burned in europe for alleged witchcraft. in great britain only, from a.d. to , but twenty years, , persons were put to death for compact with the "devil." it was but late in the present century--in --that some progressed mystics and spiritualists, unsatisfied with the theories and explanations of spiritualism started by its votaries, and finding that they were far from covering the whole ground of the wide range of phenomena, formed at new york, america, an association which is now widely known as the theosophical society. (--h.p. blavatsky) how a "chela" found his "guru" [being extracts from a private letter to damodar k. mavalankar, joint recording secretary of the theosophical society.] ....when we met last at bombay i told you what had happened to me at tinnevelly. my health having been disturbed by official work and worry, i applied for leave on medical certificate and it was duly granted. one day in september last, while i was reading in my room, i was ordered by the audible voice of my blessed guru, m---maharsi, to leave all and proceed immediately to bombay, whence i was to go in search of madame blavatsky wherever i could find her and follow her wherever she went. without losing a moment, i closed up all my affairs and left the station. for the tones of that voice are to me the divinest sound in nature, its commands imperative. i traveled in my ascetic robes. arrived at bombay, i found madame blavatsky gone, and learned through you that she had left a few days before; that she was very ill; and that, beyond the fact that she had left the place very suddenly with a chela, you knew nothing of her whereabouts. and now, i must tell you what happened to me after i had left you. really not knowing whither i had best go, i took a through ticket to calcutta; but, on reaching allahabad, i heard the same well-known voice directing me to go to berhampore. at azimgunge, in the train, i met, most providentially i may say, with some bengali gentlemen (i did not then know they were also theosophists, since i had never seen any of them), who were also in search of madame blavatsky. some had traced her to dinapore, but lost her track and went back to berhampore. they knew, they said, she was going to tibet and wanted to throw themselves at the feet of the mahatmas to permit them to accompany her. at last, as i was told, they received from her a note, permitting them to come if they so desired it, but saying that she herself was prohibited from going to tibet just now. she was to remain, she said, in the vicinity of darjiling and would see the mahatma on the sikkhim territory, where they would not be allowed to follow her .... brother nobin k. bannerji, the president of the adhi bhoutic bhratru theosophical society, would not tell me where madame blavatsky was, or perhaps did not then know himself. yet he and others had risked all in the hope of seeing the mahatmas. on the rd, at last he brought me from calcutta to chandernagore, where i found madame blavatsky, ready to start by train in five minutes. a tall, dark-looking hairy chela (not chunder cusho), but a tibetan i suppose by his dress, whom i met after i had crossed the river hugli with her in a boat, told me that i had come too late, that madame blavatsky had already seen the mahatmas and that he had brought her back. he would not listen to my supplications to take me with him, saying he had no other orders than what he had already executed--namely, to take her about twenty-five miles beyond a certain place he named to me, and that he was now going to see her safe to the station and return. the bengali brother theosophists had also traced and followed her, arriving at the station half an hour later. they crossed the river from chandernagore to a small railway station on the opposite side. when the train arrived, she got into the carriage, upon entering which i found the chela! and, before even her own things could be placed in the van, the train, against all regulations and before the bell was rung, started off, leaving the bengali gentlemen and her servant behind, only one of them and the wife and daughter of another--all theosophists and candidates for chelaship--having had time to get in. i myself had barely the time to jump into the last carriage. all her things, with the exception of her box containing theosophical correspondence, were left behind with her servant. yet, even the persons that went by the same train with her did not reach darjiling. babu nobin banerjee, with the servant, arrived five days later; and those who had time to take their seats, were left five or six stations behind, owing to another unforeseen accident (?), reaching darjiling also a few days later. it required no great stretch of imagination to conclude that madame blavatsky was, perhaps, being again taken to the mahatmas, who, for some good reasons best known to them, did not want us to be following and watching her. two of the mahatmas, i had learned for a certainty, were in the neighbourhood of british territory; and one of them was seen and recognized, by a person i need not name here, as a high chutukla of tibet. the first days of her arrival madame blavatsky was living at the house of a bengali gentleman, a theosophist, refusing to see any one, and preparing, as i thought, to go again somewhere on the borders of tibet. to all our importunities we could get only this answer from her: that we had no business to stick to and follow her, that she did not want us, and that she had no right to disturb the mahatmas with all sorts of questions that concerned only the questioners, for they knew their own business best. in despair, i determined, come what might, to cross the frontier, which is about a dozen miles from here, and find the mahatmas or--die. i never stopped to think that what i was going to undertake would be regarded as the rash act of a lunatic. i had no permission, no "pass" from the sikkhim rajah, and was yet decided to penetrate into the heart of a semi-independent state where, if anything happened, the anglo-indian officials would not--if even they could--protect me, since i should have crossed over without their permission. but i never even gave that a thought, but was bent upon one engrossing idea--to find and see my guru. without breathing a word of my intentions to any one, one morning, namely, october , i set out in search of the mahatma. i had an umbrella and a pilgrim's staff for sole weapons, with a few rupees in my purse. i wore the yellow garb and cap. whenever i was tired on the road, my costume easily procured for me for a small sum a pony to ride. the same afternoon i reached the banks of the rungit river, which forms the boundary between british and sikkhimese territories. i tried to cross it by the aerial suspension bridge constructed of canes, but it swayed to and fro to such an extent that i, who have never known in my life what hardship was, could not stand it. i crossed the river by the ferry-boat, and this even not without much danger and difficulty. that whole afternoon i traveled on foot, penetrating further and further into the heart of sikkhim, along a narrow footpath. i cannot now say how many miles i traveled before dusk, but i am sure it was not less than twenty or twenty-five miles. throughout, i saw nothing but impenetrable jungles and forests on all sides of me, relieved at very long intervals by solitary huts belonging to the mountain population. at dusk i began to search around me for a place to rest in at night. i met on the road, in the afternoon, a leopard and a wild cat; and i am astonished now to think how i should have felt no fear then nor tried to run away. throughout, some secret influence supported me. fear or anxiety never once entered my mind. perhaps in my heart there was room for no other feeling but an intense anxiety to find my guru. when it was just getting dark, i espied a solitary hut a few yards from the roadside. to it i directed my steps in the hope of finding a lodging. the rude door was locked. the cabin was untenanted at the time. i examined it on all sides and found an aperture on the western side. it was small indeed, but sufficient for me to jump through. it had a small shutter and a wooden bolt. by a strange coincidence of circumstances the hillman had forgotten to fasten it on the inside when he locked the door. of course, after what has subsequently transpired, i now, through the eye of faith, see the protecting hand of my guru everywhere around me. upon getting inside i found the room communicated, by a small doorway, with another apartment, the two occupying the whole space of this sylvan mansion. i laid down, concentrating every thought upon my guru as usual, and soon fell into a profound sleep. before i went to rest, i had secured the door of the other room and the single window. it may have been between ten and eleven, or perhaps a little later, that i awoke and heard sounds of footsteps in the adjoining room. i could plainly distinguish two or three people talking together in a dialect unknown to me. now, i cannot recall the same without a shudder. at any moment they might have entered from the other room and murdered me for my money. had they mistaken me for a burglar the same fate awaited me. these and similar thoughts crowded into my brain in an inconceivably short period. but my heart did not palpitate with fear, nor did i for one moment think of the possibly tragical chances of the moment. i know not what secret influence held me fast, but nothing could put me out or make me fear; i was perfectly calm. although i lay awake staring into the darkness for upwards of two hours, and even paced the room softly and slowly without making any noise, to see if i could make my escape, in case of need, back to the forest by the same way i had effected my entrance into the hut--no fear, i repeat, or any such feeling ever entered my heart. i recomposed myself to rest. after a sound sleep, undisturbed by any dream, i awoke at daybreak. then i hastily put on my boots, and cautiously got out of the hut through the same window. i could hear the snoring of the owners of the hut in the other room. but i lost no time, and gained the path to sikkhim (the city) and held on my way with unflagging zeal. from the inmost recesses of my heart i thanked my revered guru for the protection he had vouchsafed me during the night. what prevented the owners of the hut from penetrating to the second room? what kept me in the same serene and calm spirit, as if i were in a room of my own house? what could possibly make me sleep so soundly under such circumstances,--enormous, dark forests on all sides abounding in wild beasts, and a party of cut-throats--as most of the sikkhimese are said to be--in the next room, with an easy and rude door between them and me? when it became quite light, i wended my way on through hills and dales. riding or walking, the journey was not a pleasant one for any man not as deeply engrossed in thought as i was then myself, and quite oblivious to anything affecting the body. i have cultivated the power of mental concentration to such a degree of late that, on many an occasion, i have been able to make myself quite unconscious of anything around me when my mind was wholly bent upon the one object of my life, as several of my friends will testify; but never to such an extent as in this instance. it was, i think, between eight and nine a.m. i was following the road to the town of sikkhim, whence, i was assured by the people i met on the road, i could cross over to tibet easily in my pilgrim's garb, when i suddenly saw a solitary horseman galloping towards me from the opposite direction. from his tall stature and skill in horsemanship, i thought he was some military officer of the sikkhim rajah. now, i thought, i am caught! he will ask me for my pass and what business i have in the independent territory of sikkhim, and, perhaps, have me arrested and sent back, if not worse. but, as he approached me, he reined up. i looked at and recognized him instantly.... i was in the awful presence of him, of the same mahatma, my own revered guru, whom i had seen before in his astral body on the balcony of the theosophical headquarters. it was he, the "himalayan brother" of the ever-memorable night of december last, who had so kindly dropped a letter in answer to one i had given but an hour or so before in a sealed envelope to madame blavatsky, whom i had never lost sight of for one moment during the interval. the very same instant saw me prostrated on the ground at his feet. i arose at his command, and, leisurely looking into his face, forgot myself entirely in the contemplation of the image i knew so well, having seen his portrait (the one in colonel olcott's possession) times out of number. i knew not what to say: joy and reverence tied my tongue. the majesty of his countenance, which seemed to me to be the impersonation of power and thought, held me rapt in awe. i was at last face to face with "the mahatma of the himavat," and he was no myth, no "creation of the imagination of a medium," as some sceptics had suggested. it was no dream of the night; it was between nine and ten o'clock of the forenoon. there was the sun shining and silently witnessing the scene from above. i see him before me in flesh and blood, and he speaks to me in accents of kindness and gentleness. what more could i want? my excess of happiness made me dumb. nor was it until some time had elapsed that i was able to utter a few words, encouraged by his gentle tone and speech. his complexion is not as fair as that of mahatma koothoomi; but never have i seen a countenance so handsome, a stature so tall and so majestic. as in his portrait, he wears a short black beard, and long black hair hanging down to his breast; only his dress was different: instead of a white, loose robe he wore a yellow mantle lined with fur, and on his head, instead of the turban, a yellow tibetan felt cap, as i have seen some bhootanese wear in this country. when the first moments of rapture and surprise were over, and i calmly comprehended the situation, i had a long talk with him. he told me to go no further, for i should come to grief. he said i should wait patiently if i wanted to become an accepted chela; that many were those who offered themselves as candidates, but that only a very few were found worthy; none were rejected, but all of them tried, and most found to fail signally, as for example---and---. some, instead of being accepted and pledged this year, were now thrown off for a year. the mahatma, i found, speaks very little english--or at least it so seemed to me--and spoke to me in my mother-tongue--tamil. he told me that if the chohan permitted madame blavatsky to visit parijong next year, then i could come with her. the bengali theosophists who followed the "upasika" (madame blavatsky) would see that she was right in trying to dissuade them from following her now. i asked the blessed mahatma whether i could tell what i saw and heard to others. he replied in the affirmative, and that moreover i would do well to write to you and describe all. i must impress upon your mind the whole situation, and ask you to keep well in view that what i saw was not the mere "appearance" only, the astral body of the mahatma, as we saw him at bombay, but the living man, in his own physical body. he was pleased to say when i offered my farewell namaskarams (prostration) that he approached the british territory to see the upasika. before he left me, two more men came on horseback, his attendants i suppose, probably chelas, for they were dressed like lama-gylungs, and both, like himself, with long hair streaming down their backs. they followed the mahatma, when he left, at a gentle trot. for over an hour i stood gazing at the place that he had just quitted, and then i slowly retraced my steps. now it was that i found for the first time that my long boots had pinched my leg in several places, that i had eaten nothing since the day before, and that i was too weak to walk further. my whole body was aching in every limb. at a little distance i saw petty traders with country ponies, carrying burdens. i hired one of these animals. in the afternoon i came to the rungit river and crossed it. a bath in its cool waters revived me. i purchased some fruit in the only bazaar there and ate heartily. i took another horse immediately and reached darjiling late in the evening. i could neither eat, nor sit, nor stand. every part of my body was aching. my absence had seemingly alarmed madame blavatsky. she scolded me for my rash and mad attempt to try to go to tibet after that fashion. when i entered the house i found with madame blavatsky, bahu parbati churn roy, deputy collector of settlements and superintendent of dearah survey, and his assistant, babu kanty bhushan sen, both members of our society. at their prayer and madame blavatsky's command, i recounted all that had happened to me, reserving of course my private conversation with the mahatma. they were all, to say the least, astounded. after all, she will not go this year to tibet; for which i am sure she does not care, since she has seen our masters and thus gained her only object. but we, unfortunate people! we lose our only chance of going and offering our worship to the "himalayan brothers," who, i know, will not soon cross over to british territory, if ever, again. and now that i have seen the mahatma in the flesh, and heard his living voice, let no one dare say to me that the brothers do not exist. come now whatever will, death has no fear for me, nor the vengeance of enemies; for what i know, i know! --s. ramaswamier, f.t.s. the sages of the himavat while on my tour with col. olcott several phenomena occurred, in his presence as well as in his absence, such as immediate answers to questions in my master's handwriting, and over his signature, put by a number of our fellows. these occurrences took place before we reached lahore, where we expected to meet in the body my master. there i was visited by him in the body, for three nights consecutively, for about three hours every time, while i myself retained full consciousness, and, in one case, even went to meet him outside the house. to my knowledge there is no case on the spiritualist records of a medium remaining perfectly conscious, and meeting, by previous arrangement, his spirit-visitor in the compound, re-entering the house with him, offering him a seat, and then holding a long converse with the "disembodied spirit" in a way to give him the impression that he is in personal contact with an embodied entity. moreover, him whom i saw in person at lahore was the same i had seen in astral form at the headquarters of the theosophical society, and again, the same whom i had seen in visions and trances at his house, thousands of miles off, which i reached in my astral ego by his direct help and protection. in those instances, with my psychic powers hardly yet developed, i had always seen him as a rather hazy form, although his features were perfectly distinct and their remembrance was profoundly graven on my soul's eye and memory, while now at lahore, jummoo, and elsewhere, the impression was utterly different. in the former cases, when making pranam (salutation) my hands passed through his form, while on the latter occasions they met solid garments and flesh. here i saw a living man before me, the original of the portraits in madame blavatsky's possession and in mr. sinnett's, though far more imposing in his general appearance and bearing. i shall not here dwell upon the fact of his having been corporeally seen by both col. olcott and mr. brown separately for two nights at lahore, as they can do so better, each for himself, if they so choose. at jummoo again, where we proceeded from lahore, mr. brown saw him on the evening of the third day of our arrival there, and from him received a letter in his familiar handwriting, not to speak of his visits to me almost every day. and what happened the next morning almost every one in jummoo is aware of. the fact is, that i had the good fortune of being sent for, and permitted to visit a sacred ashrum, where i remained for a few days in the blessed company of several of the mahatmas of himavat and their disciples. there i met not only my beloved gurudeva and col. olcott's master, but several others of the fraternity, including one of the highest. i regret the extremely personal nature of my visit to those thrice blessed regions prevents my saying more about it. suffice it that the place i was permitted to visit is in the himalayas, not in any fanciful summer land, and that i saw him in my own sthula sarira (physical body) and found my master identical with the form i had seen in the earlier days of my chelaship. thus, i saw my beloved guru not only as a living man, but actually as a young one in comparison with some other sadhus of the blessed company, only far kinder, and not above a merry remark and conversation at times. thus on the second day of my arrival, after the meal hour, i was permitted to hold an intercourse for over an hour with my master. asked by him smilingly what it was that made me look at him so perplexed, i asked in my turn:--"how is it, master, that some of the members of our society have taken into their heads a notion that you were 'an elderly man,' and that they have even seen you clairvoyantly looking an old man past sixty?" to which he pleasantly smiled and said that this latest misconception was due to the reports of a certain brahmachari, a pupil of a vedantic swami in the punjab,* who had met last year in tibet the chief of a sect, an elderly lama, who was his (my master's) traveling companion at that time. the said brahmachari, having spoken of the encounter in india, had led several persons to mistake the lama for himself. as to his being perceived clairvoyantly as an "elderly man," that could never be, he added, as real clairvoyance could lead no one into such mistaken notions; and then he kindly reprimanded me for giving any importance to the age of a guru, adding that appearances were often false, &c., and explaining other points. -------- * see infra. rajani kanta brahmachai's "interview with a mahatma." -------- these are all stern facts, and no third course is open to the reader. what i assert is either true or false. in the former case, no spiritualistic hypothesis can hold good, and it will have to be admitted that the himalayan brothers are living men, and neither disembodied spirits nor creations of the over-heated imagination of fanatics. of course i am fully aware that many will discredit my account; but i write only for the benefit of those few who know me well enough to see in me neither a hallucinated medium, nor attribute to me any bad motive, and who have ever been true and loyal to their convictions and to the cause they have so nobly espoused. as for the majority who laugh at and ridicule what they have neither the inclination nor the capacity to understand, i hold them in very small account. if these few lines will help to stimulate even one of my brother-fellows in the society, or one right-thinking man outside of it, to promote the cause of truth and humanity, i shall consider that i have properly performed my duty. --damodar k. mavalankar the himalayan brothers--do they exist? "ask and it shall be given unto you; knock and it shall be opened," this is an accurate representation of the position of the earnest inquirer as to the existence of the mahatmas. i know of none who took up this inquiry in right earnest and were not rewarded for their labours with knowledge, certainty. in spite of all this there are plenty of people who carp and cavil but will not take the trouble of proving the thing for themselves. both by europeans and a section of our own countrymen--the too europeanized graduates of universities--the existence of the mahatmas is looked upon with incredulity and distrust, to give it no harder name. the position of the europeans is easily intelligible, for these things are so far removed from their intellectual horizon, and their self-sufficiency is so great, that they are almost impervious to these new ideas. but it is much more difficult to conceive why the people of india, who are born and brought up in an atmosphere redolent with the traditions of these things, should affect such scepticism. it would have been more natural for them, on the other hand, to hail such proofs as those i am now laying before the public with the same satisfaction as an astronomer feels when a new star, whose elements he has calculated, swims within his ken. i myself was a thorough-going disbeliever only two years back. in the first place i had never witnessed any occult phenomena myself, nor did i find any one who had done so in that small ring of our countrymen for whom only i was taught to have any respect--the "educated classes." it was only in the month of october, , that i really devoted any time and attention to this matter, and the result is that i have as little doubt with respect to the existence of the mahatmas as of mine own. i now know that they exist. but for a long time the proofs that i had received were not all of an objective character. many things which are very satisfactory proofs to me would not be so to the reader. on the other hand, i have no right to speak of the unimpeachable evidence i now possess. therefore i must do the best i can with the little i am permitted to give. in the present paper i have brought forward such evidence as would be perfectly satisfactory to all capable of measuring its probative force. the evidence now laid before the public was collected by me during the months of october and november, , and was at the time placed before some of the leading members of the theosophical society, mr. sinnett among others. the account of bro. ramaswamier's interview with his guru in sikkhim being then ready for publication, there was no necessity, in their opinion, for the present paper being brought to light. but since an attempt has been made in some quarters to minimize the effect of mr. ramaswamier's evidence by calling it most absurdly "the hallucinations of a half-frozen strolling registrar," i think something might be gained by the publication of perfectly independent testimony of, perhaps, equal, if not greater, value, though of quite a different character. with these words of explanation as to the delay in its publication, i resign this paper to the criticism of our sceptical friends. let them calmly consider and pronounce upon the evidence of the tibetan pedlar at darjiling, supported and strengthened by the independent testimony of the young brahmachari at dehradun. those who were present when the statements of these persons were taken, all occupy very respectable positions in life--some in fact belonging to the front ranks of hindu society, and several in no way connected with the theosophical movement, but, on the contrary, quite unfriendly to it. in those days i again say i was rather sceptical myself. it is only since i collected the following evidence and received more than one proof of the actual existence of my venerated master, mahatma koothoomi, whose presence-- quite independently of madame blavatsky, colonel olcott or any "alleged" chela--was made evident to me in a variety of ways, that i have given up the folly of doubting any longer. now i believe no more--i know; and knowing, i would help others to obtain the same knowledge. during my visit to darjiling i lived in the same house with several theosophists, all as ardent aspirants for the higher life, and most of them as doubtful with regard to the himalayan mahatmas as i was myself at that time. i met at darjiling persons who claimed to be chelas of the himalayan brothers and to have seen and lived with them for years. they laughed at our perplexity. one of them showed us an admirably executed portrait of a man who appeared to be an eminently holy person, and who, i was told, was the mahatma koothoomi (now my revered master), to whom mr. sinnett's "occult world" is dedicated. a few days after my arrival, a tibetan pedlar of the name of sundook accidentally came to our house to sell his things. sundook was for years well-known in darjiling and the neighbourhood as an itinerant trader in tibetan knick-knacks, who visited the country every year in the exercise of his profession. he came to the house several times during our stay there, and seemed to us, from his simplicity, dignity of bearing and pleasant manners, to be one of nature's own gentlemen. no man could discover in him any trait of character even remotely allied to the uncivilized savages, as the tibetans are held in the estimation of europeans. he might very well have passed for a trained courtier, only that he was too good to be one. he came to the house while i was there. on the first occasion he was accompanied by a goorkha youth, named sundar lall, an employee in the darjiling news office, who acted as interpreter. but we soon found out that the peculiar dialect of hindi which he spoke was intelligible to some of us without any interpreter, and so there was none needed on subsequent occasions. on the first day we put him some general questions about tibet and the gelugpa sect, to which he said he belonged, and his answers corroborated the statements of bogle, turnour and other travelers. on the second day we asked him if he had heard of any persons in tibet who possessed extraordinary powers besides the great lamas. he said there were such men; that they were not regular lamas, but far higher than they, and generally lived in the mountains beyond tchigatze and also near the city of lhassa. these men, he said, produce many and very wonderful phenomena or "miracles," and some of their chelas, or lotoos, as they are called in tibet, cure the sick by giving them to eat the rice which they crush out of the paddy with their hands, &c. then one of us had a glorious idea. without saying one word, the above-mentioned portrait of the mahatma koothoomi was shown to him. he looked at it for a few seconds, and then, as though suddenly recognizing it, he made a profound reverence to the portrait, and said it was the likeness of a chohan (mahatma) whom he had seen. then he began rapidly to describe the mahatma's dress and naked arms; then suiting the action to the word, he took off his outer cloak, and baring his arms to the shoulder, made the nearest approach to the figure in the portrait, in the adjustment of his dress. he said he had seen the mahatma in question accompanied by a numerous body of gylungs, about that time of the previous year (beginning of october ) at a place called giansi, two days' journey southward of tchigatze, whither the narrator dad gone to make purchases for his trade. on being asked the name of the mahatma, he said to our unbounded surprise, "they are called koothum-pa." being cross-examined and asked what he meant by "they," and whether he was naming one man or many, he replied that the koothum-pas were many, but there was only one man or chief over them of that name; the disciples being always called after the names of their guru. hence the name of the latter being koot-hum, that of his disciples was "koot-hum-pa." light was shed upon this explanation by a tibetan dictionary, where we found that the word "pa" means "man;" "bod-pa" is a "man of bod or thibet," &c. similarly koothum-pa means man or disciple of koothoom or koothoomi. at giansi, the pedlar said, the richest merchant of the place went to the mahatma, who had stopped to rest in the midst of an extensive field, and asked him to bless him by coming to his house. the mahatma replied, he was better where he was, as he had to bless the whole world, and not any particular man. the people, and among them our friend sundook, took their offerings to the mahatma, but he ordered them to be distributed among the poor. sundook was exhorted by the mahatma to pursue his trade in such a way as to injure no one, and warned that such was the only right way to prosperity. on being told that people in india refused to believe that there were such men as the brothers in tibet, sundook offered to take any voluntary witness to that country, and convince us, through him, as to the genuineness of their existence, and remarked that if there were no such men in tibet, he would like to know where they were to be found. it being suggested to him that some people refused to believe that such men existed at all, he got very angry. tucking up the sleeve of his coat and shirt, and disclosing a strong muscular arm, he declared that he would fight any man who would suggest that he had said anything but the truth. on being shown a peculiar rosary of beads belonging to madame blavatsky, the pedlar said that such things could only be got by those to whom the tesshu lama presented them, as they could be got for no amount of money elsewhere. when the chela who was with us put on his sleeveless coat and asked him whether he recognized the latter's profession by his dress, the pedlar answered that he was a gylung and then bowing down to him took the whole thing as a matter of course. the witnesses in this case were babu nobin krishna bannerji, deputy magistrate, berhampore, m.r. ry. ramaswamiyer avergal, district registrar, madura (madras), the goorkha gentleman spoken of before, all the family of the first-named gentleman, and the writer. now for the other piece of corroborative evidence. this time it came most accidentally into my possession. a young bengali brahmachari, who had only a short time previous to our meeting returned from tibet and who was residing then at dehradun, in the north-western provinces of india, at the house of my grandfather-in-law, the venerable babu devendra nath tagore of the brahmo samaj, gave most unexpectedly, in the presence of a number of respectable witnesses, the following account:-- on the th of the bengali month of asar last ( ). being the th day of the waxing moon, he met some tibetans, called the koothoompas, and their guru in a field near taklakhar, a place about a day's journey from the lake of manasarawara. the guru and most of his disciples, who were called gylungs, wore sleeveless coats over under-garments of red. the complexion of the guru was very fair, and his hair, which was not parted but combed back, streamed down his shoulders. when the brahmachani first saw the mahatma he was reading in a book, which the brahmachari was informed by one of the gylungs was the rig veda. the guru saluted him, and asked him where he was coming from. on finding the latter had not had anything to eat, the guru commanded that he should be given some ground gram (sattoo) and tea. as the brahmachari could not get any fire to cook food with, the guru asked for, and kindled a cake of dry cow-dung--the fuel used in that country as well as in this--by simply blowing upon it, and gave it to our brahmachari. the latter assured us that he had often witnessed the same phenomenon, produced by another guru or chohan, as they are called in tibet, at gauri, a place about a day's journey from the cave of tarchin, on the northern side of mount kailas. the keeper of a flock, who was suffering from rheumatic fever came to the guru, who gave him a few grains of rice, crushed out of paddy, which the guru had in his hand, and the sick man was cured then and there. before he parted company with the koothumpas and their guru, the brahmachari found that they were going to attend a festival held on the banks of the lake of manasarawara, and that thence they intended to proceed to the kailas mountains. the above statement was on several occasions repeated by the brahmachari in the presence (among others) of babu dwijender nath tagore of jorasanko, calcutta; babu cally mohan ghose of the trigonometrical surcey of india, dehradun; babu cally cumar chatterij of the same place; babu gopi mohan ghosh of dacca; babu priya nath sastri, clerk to babu devender nath tagore, and the writer. comments would here seem almost superfluous, and the facts might very well have been left to speak for themselves to a fair and intelligent jury. but the averseness of people to enlarge their field of experience and the wilful misrepresentation of designing persons know no bounds. the nature of the evidence here adduced is of an unexceptional character. both witnesses were met quite accidentally. even if it be granted, which we certainly do not for a moment grant, that the tibetan pedlar, sundook, had been interviewed by some interested person, and induced to tell an untruth, what can be conceived to have been the motive of the brahmachari, one belonging to a religious body noted for their truthfulness, and having no idea as to the interest the writer took in such things, in inventing a romance, and how could he make it fit exactly with the statements of the tibetan pedlar at the other end of the country? uneducated persons are no doubt liable to deceive themselves in many matters, but these statements dealt only with such disunited facts as fell within the range of the narrator's eyes and ears, and had nothing to do with his judgment or opinion. thus, when the pedlar's statement is coupled with that of the dehradun brahmachari, there is, indeed, no room left for any doubt as to the truthfulness of either. it may here be mentioned that the statement of the brahmachari was not the result of a series of leading questions, but formed part of the account he voluntarily gave of his travels during the year, and that he is almost entirely ignorant of the english language, and had, to the best of my knowledge, information and belief, never even so much as heard of the name of theosophy. now, if any one refuses to accept the mutually corroborative but independent testimonies of the tibetan pedlar of darjiling and the brahmachari of dehradun on the ground that they support the genuineness of facts not ordinarily falling within the domain of one's experience, all i can say is that it is the very miracle of folly. it is, on the other hand, most unshakably established upon the evidence of several of his chelas, that the mahatma koothoomi is a living person like any of us, and that moreover he was seen by two persons on two different occasions. this will, it is to be hoped, settle for ever the doubts of those who believe in the genuineness of occult phenomena, but put them down to the agency of "spirits." mark one circumstance. it may be argued that during the pedlar's stay at darjiling, madame blavatsky was also there, and, who knows, she might have bribed him (!!) into saying what he said. but no such thing can be urged in the case of the dehradun brahmachari. he knew neither the pedlar nor madame blavatsky, had never heard of colonel olcott, having just returned from his prolonged journey, and had no idea that i was a fellow of the society. his testimony was entirely voluntary. some others, who admit that mahatmas exist, but that there is no proof of their connection with the theosophical society, will be pleased to see that there is no a priori impossibility in those great souls taking an interest in such a benevolent society as ours. consequently it is a gratuitous insult to a number of self-sacrificing men and women to reject their testimony without a fair hearing. i purposely leave aside all proofs which are already before the public. each set of proofs is conclusive in itself, and the cumulative effect of all is simply irresistible. --mohini m. chatterji interview with a mahatma at the time i left home for the himalayas in search of the supreme being, having adopted brahmacharyashrama (religious mendicancy), i was quite ignorant of the fact that there was any such philosophical sect as the theosophists existing in india, who believed in the existence of the mahatmas or "superior persons." this and other facts connected with my journey are perfectly correct as already published, and so need not be repeated or contradicted. now i beg to give a fuller account of my interview with the mahatmas. before and after i met the so-called mahatma koothum-pa, i had the good fortune of seeing in person several other mahatmas of note, a detailed account of whom, i hope, should time allow, to write to you by-and-by. here i wish to say something about koothum-pa only. when i was on my way to almora from mansarowar and kailas, one day i had nothing with me to eat. i was quite at a loss how to get on without food. there being no human habitation in that part of the country, i could expect no help, but pray to god, and take my way patiently on. between mansarowar and taklakhal, by the side of a road, i observed a tent pitched and several sadhus (holy men), called chohans, sitting outside it who numbered about seventeen in all. as to their dress, &c., what babu m.m. chatterji says is quite correct. when i went to them they entertained me very kindly, and saluted me by uttering, "ram ram." returning their salutations, i sat down with them, and they entered upon conversation with me on different subjects, asking me first the place i was coming from and whither i was going. there was a chief of them sitting inside the tent, and engaged in reading a book. i inquired about his name and the book he was reading from, one of his chelas, who answered me in rather a serious tone, saying that his name was guru koothum-pa, and the book he was reading was rig veda. long before, i had been told by some pundits of bengal that the tibetan lamas were well-acquainted with the rig veda. this proved what they had told me. after a short time, when his reading was over, he called me in by one of his chelas, and i went to him. he, also bidding me "ram ram," received me very gently and courteously, and began to talk with me mildly in pure hindi. he addressed me in words such as follows:--"you should remain here for some time and see the fair at mansarowar, which is to come off shortly. here you will have plenty of time and suitable retreats for meditation, &c. i will help you in whatever i can." he spoke as above for some time, and i replied that what he said was right, and that i would gladly have stayed, but there was some reason which prevented me. he understood my object immediately, and then, having given me some private advice as to my spiritual progress, bade me farewell. before this he had come to know that i was hungry, and so wished me to take some food. he ordered one of his chelas to supply me with food, which he did immediately. in order to get hot water ready for my ablutions, he prepared fire by blowing into a cow-dung cake, which burst into flames at once. this is a common practice among the himalayan lamas. it is also fully explained by m.m. chatterji, and so need not be repeated. as long as i was there with the said lama, he never persuaded me to accept buddhism or any other religion, but only said, "hinduism is the best religion; you should believe in the lord mahadeva--he will do good to you. you are still quite a young man--do not be enticed away by the necromancy of anybody." having had a conversation with the mahatma as described above for about three hours, i at last took leave and resumed my journey. i am neither a theosophist nor a sectarian, but am the worshipper of the only om. as regards the mahatma i personally saw, i dare say that he is a great mahatma. by the fulfilment of certain of his prophecies, i am quite convinced of his excellence. of all the himalayan mahatmas with whom i had an interview, i never met a better hindi speaker than he. as to his birth-place and the place of his residence, i did not ask him any question. neither can i say if he is the mahatma of the theosophists. as to the age of the mahatma koothum-pa, as i told babu m. m. chatterji and others, he was an elderly looking man. --rajani kant brahmachari the secret doctrine few experiences lying about the threshhold of occult studies are more perplexing and tormenting than those which have to do with the policy of the brothers as to what shall, and what shall not, be revealed to the outer world. in fact, it is only by students at the same time tenacious and patient--continuously anxious to get at the truths of occult philosophy, but cool enough to bide their time when obstacles come in the way--that what looks, at first sight, like a grudging and miserly policy in this matter on the part of our illustrious teachers can be endured. most men persist in judging all situations by the light of their own knowledge and conceptions, and certainly by reference to standards of right and wrong with which modern civilization is familiar a pungent indictment may be framed against the holders of philosophical truth. they are regarded by their critics as keeping guard over their intellectual possessions, declaring, "we have won this knowledge with strenuous effort and at the cost of sacrifice and suffering; we will not make a present of it to luxurious idlers who have done nothing to deserve it." most critics of the theosophical society and its publications have fastened on this obvious idea, and have denounced the policy of the brothers as "selfish" and "unreasonable." it has been argued that, as regards occult powers, the necessity for keeping back all secrets which would enable unconscientious people to do mischief, might be granted, but that no corresponding motives could dictate the reservation of occult philosophical truth. i have lately come to perceive certain considerations on this subject which have generally been overlooked; and it seems desirable to put them forward at once; especially as a very considerable body of occult philosophical teaching is now before the world, and as those who appreciate its value best, will sometimes be inclined to protest all the more emphatically against the tardiness with which it has been served out, and the curious precautions with which its further development is even now surrounded. in a nutshell, the explanation of the timid policy displayed is that the brothers are fully assured that the disclosure of that actual truth (which constitutes the secret doctrine) about the origin of the world and of humanity--of the laws which govern their existence, and the destinies to which they are moving on--is calculated to have a very momentous effect on the welfare of mankind. great results ensue from small beginnings, and the seeds of knowledge now being sown in the world may ultimately bear prodigious harvest. we, who are present merely at the sowing, may not realize the magnitude and importance of the impulse we are concerned in giving, but that impulse will roll on, and a few generations hence will be productive of tremendous consequences one way or the other. for occult philosophy is no shadowy system of speculation like any of the hundred philosophies with which the minds of men have been overwhelmed; it is the positive truth, and by the time enough of it is let out, it will be seen to be so by thousands of the greatest men who may then be living in the world. what will be the consequence? the first effect on the minds of all who come to understand it, is terribly iconoclastic. it drives out before it everything else in the shape of religious belief. it leaves no room for any conceptions belonging even to the groundwork or foundation of ordinary religious faith. and what becomes then of all rules of right and wrong, of all sanctions for morality? most assuredly there are rules of right and wrong thrilling through every fibre of occult philosophy really higher than any which commonplace theologies can teach; far more cogent sanctions for morality than can be derived at second-hand from the distorted doctrines of exoteric religions; but a complete transfer of the sanction will be a process involving the greatest possible danger for mankind at the time. bigots of all denominations will laugh at the idea of such a transfer being seriously considered. the orthodox christian--confident in the thousand of churches overshadowing all western lands, of the enormous force engaged in the maintenance and propagation of the faith, with the pope and the protestant hierarchy in alliance for this broad purpose, with the countless clergy of all sects, and the fiery salvation army bringing up the rear--will think that the earth itself is more likely to crumble into ruin than the irresistible authority of religion to be driven back. they are all counting, however, without the progress of enlightenment. the most absurd religions die hard; but when the intellectual classes definitively reject them, they die, with throes of terrible agony, may be, and, perhaps, like samson in the temple, but they cannot permanently outlive a conviction that they are false in the leading minds of the age. just what has been said of christianity may be said of mahomedanism and brahminism. little or no risk is run while occult literature aims merely at putting a reasonable construction on perverted tenets--in showing people that truth may lurk behind even the strangest theologic fictions. and the lover of orthodoxy, in either of the cases instanced, may welcome the explanation with complacency. for him also, as for the christian, the faith which he professes-- sanctioned by what looks like a considerable antiquity to the very limited vision of uninitiated historians, and supported by the attachment of millions grown old in its service and careful to educate their children in the convictions that have served their turn--is founded on a rock which has its base in the foundations of the world. fragmentary teachings of occult philosophy seem at first to be no more than annotations on the canonical doctrine. they may even embellish it with graceful interpretations of its symbolism, parts of which may have seemed to require apology, when ignorantly taken at the foot of the letter. but this is merely the beginning of the attack. if occult philosophy gets before the world with anything resembling completeness, it will so command the assent of earnest students that for them nothing else of that nature will remain standing. and the earnest students in such eases must multiply. they are multiplying now even, merely on the strength of the little that has been revealed. true, as yet--for some time to come--the study will be, as it were, the whim of a few; but "those who know," know among other things that, give it fair-play, and it must become the subject of enthusiasm with all advanced thinkers. and what is to happen when the world is divided into two camps--the whole forces of intellectuality and culture on the one side, those of ignorance and superstitious fanaticism on the other? with such a war as that impending, the adepts, who will be conscious that they prepared the lists and armed the combatants, will require some better justification for their policy before their own consciences than the reflection that, in the beginning, people accused them of selfishness, and of keeping a miserly guard over their knowledge, and so goaded them with this taunt that they were induced to set the ball rolling. there is no question, be it understood, as to the relative merits of the moral sanctions that are afforded by occult philosophy and those which are distilled from the worn-out materials of existing creeds. if the world could conceivably be shunted at one coup from the one code of morals to the other, the world would be greatly the better for the change. but the change cannot be made all at once, and the transition is most dangerous. on the other hand, it is no less dangerous to take no steps in the direction of that transition. for though existing religions may be a great power--the pope ruling still over millions of consciences if not over towns and states, the name of the prophet being still a word to conjure with in war, the forces of brahmanical custom holding countless millions in willing subjection--in spite of all this, the old religions are sapped and past their prime. they are in process of decay, for they are losing their hold on the educated minority; it is still the case that in all countries the camps of orthodoxy include large numbers of men distinguished by intellect and culture, but one by one their numbers are diminishing. five-and-twenty years only, in europe, have made a prodigious change. books are written now that pass almost as matters of course which would have been impossible no further back than that. no further back, books thrilled society with surprise and excitement, which the intellectual world would now ignore as embodying the feeblest commonplaces. the old creeds, in fact, are slowly losing their hold upon mankind--more slowly in the more deliberately moving east than europe, but even here by degrees also--and a time will come, whether occult philosophy is given out to take their place or not, when they will no longer afford even such faulty sanctions for moral conduct and right as they have supplied in times gone by. therefore it is plain that something must be given out to take their place, and hence the determinations of which this movement in which we are engaged is one of the undulations--these very words some of the foremost froth upon the advancing wave. but surely, when something which must be done is yet very dangerous in the doing, the persons who control the operations in progress may be excused for exercising the utmost caution. readers of theosophical literature will be aware how bitterly our adept brothers have been criticized for choosing to take their own time and methods in the task of partially communicating their knowledge to the world. here in india these criticisms have been indignantly resented by the passionate loyalty to the mahatmas that is so widely spread among hindus--resented more by instinct than reason in some cases perhaps, though in others, no doubt, as a consequence of a full appreciation of all that is being now explained, and of other considerations beside. but in europe such criticisms will have seemed hard to answer. the answer is really embodied, however imperfectly, in the views of the situation now set forth. we ordinary mortals in the world work as men traveling by the light of a lantern in an unknown country. we see but a little way to the right and left, only a little way behind even. but the adepts work as men traveling by daylight, with the further advantage of being able at will to get up in a balloon and survey vast expanses of lake and plain and forest. the choice of time and methods for communicating occult knowledge to the world necessarily includes the choice of intermediary agent. hence the double set of misconceptions in india and europe, each adapted to the land of its origin. in india, where knowledge of the brothers' existence and reverence for their attributes is widely diffused, it is natural that persons who may be chosen for their serviceability rather than for their merits, as the recipients of their direct teaching, should be regarded with a feeling resembling jealousy. in europe, the difficulty of getting into any sort of relations with the fountain-head of eastern philosophy is regarded as due to an exasperating exclusiveness on the part of the adepts in that philosophy, which renders it practically worth no man's while to devote himself to the task of soliciting their instruction. but neither feeling is reasonable when considered in the light of the explanations now put forward. the brothers can consider none but public interests, in the largest sense of the words, in throwing out the first experimental flashes of occult revelation into the world. they can only employ agents on whom they can rely for doing the work as they may wish it done--or, at all events, in no manner which may be widely otherwise. or they can only protect the task on which they are concerned in another way. they may consent sometimes to a very much more direct mode of instruction than that provided through intermediary agents for the world at large, in the cases of organized societies solemnly pledged to secrecy, for the time being at all events, in regard to the teaching to be conveyed to them. in reference to such societies, the brothers need not be on the watch to see that the teaching is not worked up for the service of the world in a way they would consider, for any reasons of their own, likely to be injurious to final results or dangerous. different men will assimilate the philosophy to be unfolded in different ways: for some it will be too iconoclastic altogether, and its further pursuit, after a certain point is reached, unwelcome. such persons, entering too hastily on the path of exploration, will be able to drop off from the undertaking whenever they like, if thoroughly pledged to secrecy in the first instance, without being a source of embarrassment afterwards, as regards the steady prosecution of the work in hand by other more resolute, or less sensitive, labourers. it may be that in some such societies, if any should be formed in which occult philosophy may be secretly studied, some of the members will be as well fitted as, or better than, any other persons employed elsewhere to put the teachings in shape for publication, but in that case it is to be presumed that special qualifications will eventually make themselves apparent. the meaning and good sense of the restrictions, provisionally imposed meanwhile, will be plain enough to any impartial person on reflection, even though their novelty and strangeness may be a little resented at the first glance. --lay chela historical the puranas on the dynasty of the moryas and on koothoomi it is stated in matsya puran, chapter cclxxii., that ten moryas would reign over india, and would be succeeded by the shoongas, and that shata dhanva will be the first of these ten maureyas (or moryas). in vishnu purana (book iv. chapter iv.) it is stated that there was in the soorya dynasty a king called moru, who through the power of devotion (yoga) is said to be still living in the village called katapa, in the himalayas (vide vol. iii. p. , by wilson), and who, in a future age, will be the restorer of the kshatriya race, in the solar dynasty, that is, many thousands of years hence. in another part of the same purana (book iv. chapter xxiv.) it is stated that, "upon the cessation of the race of nanda, the moryas* will possess the earth, for kautilya will place chandragupta on the throne." col. tod considers morya, or maurya, a corruption of mori, the name of a rajput tribe. ------- * the particulars of this legend are recorded in the atthata katha of the uttaraviharo priests. ------- the commentary on the mahavanso thinks that the princes of the town mori were thence called mauryas. vachaspattya, a sanskrit encyclopaedia, places the village of katapa on the northern side of the himalayas-- hence in tibet. the same is stated in chapter xii. (skanda) of bhagavat, vol. iii. p. . the vayu purana seems to declare that moru will re-establish the kshatriyas in the nineteenth coming yuga. in chapter vi. book iii. of vishnu purana, a rishi called koothoomi is mentioned. will any of our brothers tell us how our mahatmas stand to these revered personages? --r. ragoonath row editor's note in the buddhist mahavanso, chandagatto, or chandragupta, asoka's grandfather, is called a prince of the moryan dynasty as he certainly was--or rather as they were, for there were several chandraguptas. this dynasty, as said in the same book, began with certain kshatriyas (warriors) of the sakya line closely related to gautama buddha, who crossing the himavanto (himalayas) "discovered a delightful location, well watered, and situated in the midst of a forest of lofty bo and other trees. there they founded a town, which was called by its sakya lords, morya-nagara." prof. max muller would see in this legend a made-up story for two reasons: ( ) a desire on the part of buddhists to connect their king asoka, "the beloved of gods," with buddha, and thus nullify the slanders set up by the brahmanical opponents of buddhism to the effect that asoka and chandragupta were sudras; and ( ) because this document does not dovetail with his own theories and chronology based on the fanciful stories of the greek-megasthenes and others. it was not the princes of morya-nagara who received their name from the rajput tribe of mori, but the latter that became so well known as being composed of the descendants of the moryan sovereign of morya-nagara. some light is thrown on the subsequent destiny of that dynasty in "replies to an english f.t.s." (see ante.) the name of rishi koothoomi is mentioned in more than one purana, and his code is among the eighteen codes written by various rishis, and preserved at calcutta in the library of the asiatic society. but we have not been told whether there is any connection between our mahatma of that name and the rishi, and we do not feel justified in speculating upon the subject. all we know is, that both are northern brahmans, while the moryas are kshatriyas. if any of our brothers know more, or can discover anything relating to the subject in the sacred books, we shall hear of it with pleasure. the words: "the moryas will possess the earth, for kautilya will place chandragupta on the throne," have in our occult philosophy a dual meaning. in one sense they relate to the days of early buddhism, when a chandragupta (morya) was the king "of all the earth," i.e., of brahmans, who believed themselves the highest and only representatives of humanity for whom earth was evolved. the second meaning is purely esoteric. every adept or genuine mahatma is said to "possess the earth," by the power of his occult knowledge. hence, a series of ten moryas, all initiated adepts, would be regarded by the occultists, and referred to as "possessing all the earth," or all its knowledge. the names of "chandragupta" and "kautilya" have also an esoteric significance. let our brother ponder over their sanskrit meaning, and he will perhaps see what bearing the phrase--"for kautilya will place chandragupta upon the throne"--has upon the moryas possessing the earth. we would also remind our brother that the word itihasa, ordinarily translated as "history," is defined by sanskrit authorities to be the narrative of the lives of some august personages, conveying at the same time meanings of the highest moral and occult importance. the theory of cycles it is now some time since this theory--which was first propounded in the oldest religion of the world, vedaism--has been gradually coming into prominence again. it was taught by various greek philosophers, and afterwards defended by the theosophists of the middle ages, but came to be flatly denied by the wise men of the west, the world of negations. contrary to the rule, it is the men of science themselves who have revived this theory. statistics of events of the most varied nature are fast being collected and collated with the seriousness demanded by important scientific questions. statistics of wars and of the periods (or cycles) of the appearance of great men--at least those who have been recognized as such by their contemporaries; statistics of the periods of development and progress of large commercial centres; of the rise and fall of arts and sciences; of cataclysms, such as earthquakes, epidemics; periods of extraordinary cold and heat; cycles of revolutions, and of the rise and fall of empires, &c.: all these are subjected in turn to the analysis of the minutest mathematical calculations. finally, even the occult significance of numbers in names of persons and cities, in events, and like matters, receives unwonted attention. if, on the one hand, a great portion of the educated public is running into atheism and scepticism, on the other hand, we find an evident current of mysticism forcing its way into science. it is the sign of an irrepressible need in humanity to assure itself that there is a power paramount over matter; an occult and mysterious law which governs the world, and which we should rather study and closely watch, trying to adapt ourselves to it, than blindly deny, and dash ourselves vainly against the rock of destiny. more than one thoughtful mind, while studying the fortunes and reverses of nations and great empires, has been struck by one identical feature in their history--namely, the inevitable recurrence of similar events, and after equal periods of time. this relation between events is found to be substantially constant, though differences in the outward form of details no doubt occur. thus the belief of the ancients in their astrologers, soothsayers and prophets might have been warranted by the verification of many of their most important predictions, without these prognostications of future events implying of necessity anything very miraculous. the soothsayers and augurs having occupied in days of the old civilizations the very same position now occupied by our historians, astronomers and meteorologists, there was nothing more wonderful in the fact of the former predicting the downfall of an empire or the loss of a battle, than in the latter predicting the return of a comet, a change of temperature, or perhaps the final conquest of afghanistan. both studied exact sciences; for, if the astronomer of today draws his observations from mathematical calculations, the astrologer of old also based his prognostication upon no less acute and mathematically correct observations of the ever-recurring cycles. and, because the secret of this ancient science is now being lost, does that give any warrant for saying that it never existed, or that to believe in it, one must be ready to swallow "magic," "miracles" and the like? "if, in view of the eminence to which modern science has reached, the claim to prophesy future events must be regarded as either child's play or a deliberate deception," says a writer in the novoye vremja, "then we can point at science which, in its turn, has now taken up and placed on record the question, whether there is or is not in the constant repetition of events a certain periodicity; in other words, whether these events recur after a fixed and determined period of years with every nation; and if a periodicity there be, whether this periodicity is due to blind chance, or depends on the same natural laws which govern the phenomena of human life." undoubtedly the latter. and the writer has the best mathematical proof of it in the timely appearance of such works as that of dr. e. zasse, and others. several learned works treating upon this mystical subject have appeared of late, and to some of these works and calculations we shall presently refer. a very suggestive work by a well-known german scientist, e. zasse, appears in the prussian journal of statistics, powerfully corroborating the ancient theory of cycles. these periods which bring around ever-recurring events, begin from the infinitesimally small--say of ten years--rotation, and reach to cycles which require , , , and years to effect their revolutions around themselves, and within one another. all are contained within the maha-yug, the "great age" or cycle of manu's calculation, which itself revolves between two eternities--the "pralayas" or nights of brahma. as, in the objective world of matter, or the system of effects, the minor constellations and planets gravitate each and all around the sun, so in the world of the subjective, or the system of causes, these innumerable cycles all gravitate between that which the finite intellect of the ordinary mortal regards as eternity, and the still finite, but more profound, intuition of the sage and philosopher views as but an eternity within the eternity. "as above, so it is below," runs the old hermetic maxim. as an experiment in this direction, dr. zasse selected the statistical investigations of all the wars recorded in history, as a subject which lends itself more easily to scientific verification than any other. to illustrate his subject in the simplest and most easily comprehensible manner, dr. zasse represents the periods of war and the periods of peace in the shape of small and large wave-lines running over the area of the old world. the idea is not a new one, for the image was used for similar illustrations by more than one ancient and medieval mystic, whether in words or pictures--by henry kunrath, for example. but it serves well its purpose, and gives us the facts we now want. before he treats, however, of the cycles of wars, the author brings in the record of the rise and fall of the world's great empires, and shows the degree of activity they have played in the universal history. he points out the fact that if we divide the map of the old world into six parts--into eastern, central, and western asia, eastern and western europe, and egypt--then we shall easily perceive that every years an enormous wave passes over these areas, bringing to each in its turn the events it has brought to the one next preceding. this wave we may call "the historical wave" of the years' cycle. the first of these waves began in china years b.c., in the "golden age" of this empire, the age of philosophy, of discoveries, of reforms. "in b.c. the mongolians of central asia establish a powerful empire. in , egypt rises from its temporary degradation and extends its sway over many parts of europe and asia; and about , the historical wave reaches and crosses over to eastern europe, filling it with the spirit of the argonautic expedition, and dies out in b.c. at the siege of troy." the second historical wave appears about that time in central asia. "the scythians leave her steppes, and inundate towards the year b.c. the adjoining countries, directing themselves towards the south and west; about the year , in western asia begins an epoch of splendour for ancient persia; and the wave moves on to the east of europe, where, about b.c., greece reaches her highest state of culture and civilization--and further on to the west, where, at the birth of christ, the roman empire finds itself at its apogee of power and greatness." again, at this period we find the rising of a third historical wave at the far east. after prolonged revolutions, about this time, china forms once more a powerful empire, and its arts, sciences and commerce flourish again. then years later, we find the huns appearing from the depths of central asia; in the year a.d., a new and powerful persian kingdom is formed; in --in eastern europe--the byzantine empire; and in the year --on its western side--springs up the second roman power, the empire of the papacy, which soon reaches an extraordinary development of wealth and brilliancy. at the same time the fourth wave approaches from the orient. china is again flourishing; in , the mongolian wave from central asia has overflowed and covered an enormous area of land, including russia. about , in western asia the ottoman empire rises in all its might, and conquers the balkan peninsula; but at the same time, in eastern europe, russia throws off the tartar yoke; and about , during the reign of empress catherine, rises to an unexpected grandeur, and covers itself with glory. the wave ceaselessly moves further on to the west; and beginning with the middle of the past century, europe is living over an epoch of revolutions and reforms, and, according to the author, "if it is permissible to prophesy, then about the year , western europe will have lived through one of those periods of culture and progress so rare in history." the russian press taking the cue believes, that "towards those days the eastern question will be finally settled, the national dissensions of the european peoples will come to an end, and the dawn of the new millennium will witness the abolition of armies and an alliance between all the european empires." the signs of regeneration are also fast multiplying in japan and china, as if pointing to the rise of a new historical wave in the extreme east. if from the cycle of two-and-a-half centuries we descend to that which leaves its impress every century, and, grouping together the events of ancient history, mark the development and rise of empires, then we shall find that, beginning from the year b.c., the centennial wave pushes forward, bringing into prominence the following nations, each in its turn--the assyrians, the medes, the babylonians, the persians, the greeks, the macedonians, the carthagenians, the romans, and the teutons. the striking periodicity of the wars in europe is also noticed by dr. e. zasse. beginning with a.d., every ten years have been signalized by either a war or a revolution. the periods of the strengthening and weakening of the warlike excitement of the european nations represent a wave strikingly regular in its periodicity, flowing incessantly, as if propelled onward by some fixed inscrutable law. this same mysterious law seems also to connect these events with the astronomical wave or cycle, which governs the periodicity of solar spots. the periods when the european powers have shown the most destructive energy are marked by a cycle of fifty years' duration. it would be too long and tedious to enumerate them from the beginning of history. we may, therefore, limit our study to the cycle beginning with the year , when all the european nations were fighting each other in the northern, and the turkish wars, and the war for the throne of spain. about , the "seven years' war"; in , the wars of napoleon i. towards , the wave has been a little deflected from its regular course; but, as if to compensate for it, or propelled, perhaps, with unusual force, the years directly preceding, as well as those which followed it, left in history the records of the most fierce and bloody wars--the crimean war in the former, and the american civil war in the latter period. the periodicity in the wars between russia and turkey appears peculiarly striking, and represents a very characteristic wave. at first the intervals between the cycles of thirty years' duration-- , , then these intervals diminish, and we have a cycle of twenty years-- , , - ; then the intervals widen again-- and . but if we take note of the whole duration of the in-flowing tide of the war-like cycle, then we shall have at the centre of it--from to --three wars of seven years' duration each, and at both ends, wars of two years. finally, the author comes to the conclusion that, in view of facts, it becomes thoroughly impossible to deny the presence of a regular periodicity in the excitement of both mental and physical forces in the nations of the world. he proves that in the history of all the peoples and empires of the old world, the cycles marking the millenniums, the centennials as well as the minor ones of fifty and ten years' duration, are the most important, inasmuch as neither of them has ever yet failed to bring in its train some more or less marked event in the history of the nation swept over by these historical waves. the history of india is one which, of all histories, is the most vague and least satisfactory. yet were its consecutive great events noted down, and its annals well searched, the law of cycles would be found to have asserted itself here as plainly as in every other country in respect of its wars, famines, political exigencies, and other matters. in france, a meteorologist of paris went to the trouble of compiling the statistics of the coldest seasons, and discovered that those years which had the figure in them had been marked by the severest winters. his figures run thus:--in a.d., the northern part of the adriatic sea was frozen, and was covered for three months with ice. in , in the most moderate zones, the earth was covered with several feet of snow. in , in france the depth of snow and the bitter cold caused such a scarcity of fodder that most of the cattle perished in that country. in , the baltic sea between russia, norway and sweden remained frozen for many months, and communication was kept up by sleighs. in , there was such a terrific winter in england, that vast numbers of people died of starvation and exposure. in , the river danube was frozen from its sources to its mouth in the black sea. in , all the vineyards and orchards perished in consequence of the frost. in , in france, switzerland and upper italy, people had to thaw their bread and provisions before they could use them. in , the harbour of marseilles was covered with ice to a great distance. in , all the rivers in italy were frozen. in , the winter in france and italy proved the severest and longest of all. the prices for articles of food were so much raised that half of the population died of starvation. in , the winter was no less terrible. the ground was frozen in france, italy and switzerland to the depth of several feet; and the sea, south as well as north, was covered with one compact and thick crust of ice, many feet deep, and for a considerable distance in the usually open sea. numbers of wild beasts, driven out by the cold from their dens in the forests, sought refuge in villages and even cities; and the birds fell dead to the ground by hundreds. in , and (cycles of twenty years' duration), all the rivers and streams were ice-bound all over france for many weeks, and all the fruit trees perished. in , france was again visited by a very severe winter. in paris, the thermometer stood at nineteen degrees of frost. but the severest of all winters proved that of . for fifty-four consecutive days all the roads in france were covered, with snow several feet deep, and all the rivers were frozen. famine and misery reached their climax in the country in that year. in , there was again in france a most terrific and trying cold season. and the winter of has asserted its statistical rights, and proved true to the fatal influence of the figure . the meteorologists of other countries are invited to follow suit, and make their investigations likewise, for the subject is certainly most fascinating as well as most instructive. enough has been shown, however, to prove that neither the ideas of pythagoras on the mysterious influence of numbers, nor the theories of the ancient world-religions and philosophies are as shallow and meaningless as some too forward thinkers would have had the world to believe. --h.p.b. scientific odorigen and jiva professor yaeger of stuttgart has made a very interesting study of the sense of smell. he starts from the fact well known in medical jurisprudence, that the blood of an animal when treated by sulphuric, or indeed by any other decomposing acid, smells like the animal itself to which it belongs. this holds good even after the blood has been long dried. let us state before all what is to be understood by the smell of a certain animal. there is the pure, specific smell of the animal, inherent in its flesh, or, as we shall see hereafter, in certain portions of its flesh. this smell is best perceived when the flesh is gently boiling in water. the broth thereby obtained contains the specific taste and smell of the animal--i call it specific, because every species, nay every variety of species, has its own peculiar taste and smell. think of mutton broth, chicken broth, fish broth, &c. &c. i shall call this smell, the specific scent of the animal. i need not say that the scent of an animal is quite different from all such odours as are generated within its organism, along with its various secretions and excretions: bile, gastric juice, sweat, &c. these odours are again different in the different species and varieties of animals. the cutaneous exhalation of the goat, the sheep, the donkey, widely differ from each other; and a similar difference prevails with regard to all the other effluvia of these animals. in fact, as far as olfactory experience goes, we may say that the odour of each secretion and excretion of a certain species of animals is peculiar to itself, and characteristically different in the similar products of another species. by altering the food of an animal we may considerably alter all the above-mentioned odours, scents, as well as smells; yet essentially they will always retain their specific odoriferous type. all this is matter of strict experience. strongly diffusive as all these odorous substances are, they permeate the whole organism, and each of them contributes its share to what in the aggregate constitutes the smell of the living animal. it is altogether an excrementitious smell tempered by the scent of the animal. that excrementitious smell we shall henceforth simply call the smell, in contradistinction to the scent of the animal. to return after this not very pleasant, but nevertheless necessary digression, to our subject. professor yaeger found that blood, treated by an acid, may emit the scent or the smell of the animal, according as the acid is weak or strong. a strong acid, rapidly disintegrating the blood, brings out the animal's smell; a weak acid, the animal's scent. we see, then, that in every drop of blood of a certain species of animal, and we may as well say, in each of its blood corpuscles, and in the last instance, in each of its molecules, the respective animal species is fully represented, as to its odorant speciality, under both aspects of scent and smell. we have, then, on the one side, the fact before us that wherever we meet in the animal kingdom with difference of shape, form, and construction, so different as to constitute a class, a genus, or a family of its own, there we meet at the same time with a distinct and specific scent and smell. on the other hand, we know that these specific odours are invariably interblended with the very life-blood of the animal. and lastly, we know that these specific odours cannot be accounted for by any agents taken up in the shape of food from the outer world. we are, then, driven to the conclusion that they are properties of the inner animal; that they, in other words, pertain to the specific protoplasm of the animal concerned. and thus our conclusion attains almost certainty, when we remember that it stands the crucial test of experiment--that we need only decompose the blood in order to find there what we contend to be an essential ingredient of it. i must now say a few words in explanation of the term protoplasm. protoplasm is a soft, gelatinous substance, transparent and homogeneous, easily seen in large plant-cells; it may be compared to the white of an egg. when at rest all sorts of vibratory, quivering and trembling movements can be observed within its mass. it forms the living material in all vegetable and animal cells; in fact, it is that component of the body which really does the vital work. it is the formative agent of all living tissues. vital activity, in the broadest sense of the term, manifests itself in the development of the germ into the complete organism, repeating the type of its parents, and in the subsequent maintenance of that organism in its integrity and both these functions are exclusively carried on by the protoplasm. of course, there is a good deal of chemical and mechanical work done in the organism, but protoplasm is the formative agent of all the tissues and structures. of tissues and structures already formed, we may fairly say that they have passed out of the realms of vitality, as they are destined to gradual disintegration and decay in the course of life; it is they that are on the way of being cast out of the organism, when they have once run through the scale of retrograde metamorphosis; and it is they that give rise to what we have called the smell of the animal. what lives in them is the protoplasm. in the shape of food the outer world supplies the organism with all the materials necessary for the building up of the constantly wasting organic structures; and, in the shape of heat, there comes from the outer world that other element necessary for structural changes, development and growth--the element of force. but the task of directing all the outward materials to the development and maintenance of the organism--in other words, the task of the director-general of the organic economy falls to the protoplasm. now this wonderful substance, chemically and physically the same in the highest animal and in the lowest plant, has been all along the puzzle of the biologist. how is it that in man protoplasm works out human structure; in fowl, fowl structure, &c. &c., while the protoplasm itself appears to be everywhere the same? to professor yaeger belongs the great merit of having shown us that the protoplasms of the various species of plants and animals are not the same; that each of them contains, moreover, imbedded in its molecules, odorant substances peculiar to the one species and not to the other. that, on the other hand, those odorous substances are by no means inactive bodies, may be inferred from their great volatility, known as it is in physical science that volatility is owing to a state of atomic activity. prevost has described two phenomena that are presented by odorous substances. one is that, when placed on water, they begin to move; and the other is, that a thin layer of water, extended on a perfectly clean glass plate, retracts when such an odorous substance as camphor is placed upon it. monsieur ligeois has further shown that the particles of an odorous body, placed on water, undergo a rapid division, and that the movements of camphor, or of benzoic acid, are inhibited, or altogether arrested, if an odorous substance be brought into contact with the water in which they are moving. seeing, then, that odorous substances, when coming in contact with liquid bodies, assume a peculiar motion, and impart at the same time motion to the liquid body, we may fairly conclude that the specific formative capacity of the protoplasm is owing, not to the protoplasm itself, since it is everywhere alike, but to the inherent, specific, odoriferous substances. i shall only add that professor yaeger's theory may be carried farther yet. each metal has also a certain taste and odour peculiar to itself; in other words, they are also endowed with odoriferous substances. and this may help us to explain the fact that each metal, when crystallizing out of a liquid solution, invariably assumes a distinct geometrical form, by which it may be distinguished from any other. common salt, for instance, invariably crystallizes in cubes, alum in octohedra, and so on. professor yaeger's theory explains further to us that other great mystery of nature--the transmission from parent to offspring of the morphological speciality. this is another puzzle of the biologist. what is there in the embryonal germ that evolves out of the materials stored up therein a frame similar to the parents? in other words, what is there that presides over the preservation of the species, working out the miniature duplicate of the parents' configuration and character? it is the protoplasm, no doubt; and the female ovum contains protoplasm in abundance. but neither the physicist nor the chemist can detect any difference between the primordial germ, say of the fowl, and that of a female of the human race. in answer to this question--a question before which science stands perplexed--we need only remember what has been said before about the protoplasmic scent. we have spoken before of the specific scent of the animal as a whole. we know, however, that every organ and tissue in a given animal has again its peculiar scent and taste. the scent and taste of the liver, spleen, brain, &c., are quite different in the same animal. and if our theory is correct, then it could not be otherwise. each of these organs is differently constructed, and as variety of organic structure is supposed to be dependent upon variety of scent, there must necessarily be a specific cerebral scent, a specific splenetic scent, a specific hepatic scent, &c. &c. what we call, then, the specific scent of the living animal must, therefore, be considered as the aggregate of all the different scents of its organs. when we see that a weak solution of sulphuric acid is capable of disengaging from the blood the scent of the animal, we shall then bear in mind that this odorous emanation contains particles of all the scents peculiar to each tissue and organ of the animal. when we further say that each organ in a living animal draws by selective affinity from the blood those materials which are necessary for its sustenance, we must not forget that each organ draws at the same time by a similar selective affinity the specific odorous substances requisite for its constructive requirements. we have now only to suppose that the embryonal germ contains, like the blood itself, all the odorous substances pertaining to the various tissues and organs of the parent, and we shall understand which is the moving principle in the germ that evolves an offspring, shaped in the image and after the likeness of the parents. in plants it is the blossom which is entrusted with the function of reproduction, and the odorous emanations accompanying that process are well known. there is strong reason to believe that something similar prevails in the case of animals, as may be seen from an examination of what embryologists call the aura seminalis. let us now inquire what the effects are of odours generated in the outer world on animals. the odorous impressions produced may be pleasant or unpleasant, pleasant to one and unpleasant to another animal. what is it that constitutes this sensation of pleasure or displeasure? professor yaeger answers, it is harmony or disharmony which makes all the difference. the olfactory organs of each animal are impregnated by its own specific scent. whenever the odorous waves of a substance harmonize in their vibration with the odorous waves emanating from the animal; in other words, whenever they fall in and agree with each other, an agreeable sensation is produced; whenever the reverse takes places, the sensation is disagreeable. in this way it is that the odour regulates the choice of the food on the part of the animal. in a similar way the sympathies and antipathies between the various animals are regulated. for every individual has not only its specific but also its individual scent. the selection between the sexes, or what, in the case of the human race, is called love, has its mainspring in the odorous harmony subsisting in the two individuals concerned. this individual scent--a variation of the specific odorous type--alters (within the limits of its speciality) with age, with the particular mode of occupation, with the sex, with certain physiological conditions and functions during life, with the state of health, and last, but not least, with the state of our mind. it is to be remembered that every time protoplasm undergoes disintegration, specific odours are set free. we have seen how sulphuric acid, or heat, when boiling or roasting meat, brings out the specific animal odour. but it is an established fact in science, that every physical or mental operation is accompanied by disintegration of tissue; consequently we are entitled to say that with every emotion odours are being disengaged. it can be shown that the quality of those odours differ with the nature of the emotion. the prescribed limits prevent further pursuit of the subject; i shall, therefore, content myself by drawing some conclusions from professor yaeger's theory in the light of the esoteric doctrine. the phenomena of mesmeric cures find their full explanation in the theory just enunciated. for since the construction and preservation of the organism, and of every organ in particular, is owing to specific scents, we may fairly look upon disease in general as a disturbance of the specific scent of the organism, and upon disease of a particular organ of the body, as a disturbance of the specific scent pertaining to that particular organ. we have been hitherto in the habit of holding the protoplasm responsible for all phenomena of disease. we have now come to learn that what acts in the protoplasm are the scents; we shall, therefore, have to look to them as the ultimate cause of morbid phenomena. i have mentioned before the experiment of mons. ligeois, showing that odoriferous substances, when brought in contact with water, move; and that the motion of one odoriferous substance may be inhibited, or arrested altogether, by the presence of another odoriferous substance. epidemic diseases, and the zymotic diseases in particular, have, then, most likely their origin in some local odours which inhibit the action of our specific organic odours. in the case of hereditary diseases, it is most likely the transmission of morbid specific odours from parent to offspring that is the cause of the evil, knowing, as we do, that in disease the natural specific odour is altered, and must, therefore, have been altered in the diseased parent. now comes the mesmeriser. he approaches the sick with the strong determination to cure him. this determination, or effort of the will, is absolutely necessary, according to the agreement of all mesmerisers, for his curative success. now an effort of the will is a mental operation, and is, therefore, accompanied by tissue disintegration. the effort being purely mental, we may say it is accompanied by disintegration of cerebral and nervous tissue. but disintegration of organic tissue means, as we have seen before, disengagement of specific scents; the mesmeriser emits, then, during his operation, scents from his own body. and as the patient's sufferings are supposed to originate from a deficiency or alteration of his own specific scent, we can well see how the mesmeriser, by his mesmeric or odoriferous emanations, may effect a cure. he may supply the want of certain odoriferous substances in the patient, or he may correct others by his own emanations, knowing, as we do, from the experiment of mons. ligeois, that odorant matter does act on odorant matter. one remark more and i have done. by the esoteric doctrine we are told that the living body is divided into two parts: . the physical body, composed wholly of matter in its grossest and most tangible form. . the vital principle (or jiva), a form of force indestructible, and, when disconnected with one set of atoms, becoming attracted immediately by others. now this division, generally speaking, fully agrees with the teachings of science. i need only remind you of what i have said before with regard to the formed tissues and structures of the body and its formative agent the protoplasm. formed structure is considered as material which has already passed out of the realms of life; what lives in it is the protoplasm. so far the esoteric conception fully agrees with the result of the latest investigations of modern science. but when we are told by the esoteric doctrine that the vital principle is indestructible, we feel we move on occult, incomprehensible ground, for we know that protoplasm is, after all, as destructible as the body itself. it lives as long as life lasts, and, it may be said, it is the only material in the body that does live as long as life lasts. but it dies with the cessation of life. it is true it is capable of a sort of resuscitation. for that very dead protoplasm, be it animal or vegetable, serves again as our food, and as the food of all the animal world, and thus helps to repair our constantly wasting economy. but for all that it could hardly be said to be indestructible; it is assimilable--that is to say, capable of re-entering the domain of life, through its being taken up by a living body. but such an eventual chance does by no means confer upon it the attribute of indestructibility; for we need only leave the dead animal or plant containing the protoplasm alone, and it will rot and decay--organs, tissues, and protoplasm altogether. to our further perplexity the esoteric doctrine tells us that the vital principle is not only indestructible, but it is a form of force, which, when disconnected with one set of atoms, becomes attracted immediately by others. the vital principle to the esoteric doctrine would then appear to be a sort of abstract force, not a force inherent in the living protoplasm--this is the scientific conception--but a force per se, independent altogether of the material with which it is connected. now i must confess this is a doctrine which puzzles one greatly, although one may have no difficulty in accepting the spirit of man as an entity, for the phenomena of ratiocination are altogether so widely different from all physical phenomena that they can hardly be explained by any of the physical forces known to us. the materialist, who tells us that consciousness, sensation, thought, and the spontaneous power of the will, so peculiar to man and to the higher animals, are altogether so many outcomes of certain conditions of matter and nothing else, makes at best merely a subjective statement. he cannot help acknowledging that spontaneity is not a quality of matter. he is then driven to the contention that what we believe to be spontaneous in us, is, after all, an unconscious result of external impulses only. his contention rests then on the basis of his own inner experience, or what he believes to be such. this contention of his is, however, disputed by many, who no less appeal to their own inner experience, or what they believe to be their experience. it is then a question of inner experience of the one party versus inner experience of the other. and such being the case, the scientific materialist is driven to admit that his theory, however correct it may be, rests, after all, on subjective experience, and can, as such, not claim the rank of positive knowledge. there is then no difficulty in accepting the entity of the spirit in man, the materialistic assertion to the contrary notwithstanding. but the vital force is exclusively concerned with the construction of matter. here we have a right to expect that physical and chemical forces should hold the whole ground of an explanation, if an explanation is possible at all. now, physical and chemical forces are no entities; they are invariably connected with matter. in fact, they are so intimately connected with matter that they can never be dissevered from it altogether. the energy of matter may be latent or patent, and, when patent, it may manifest itself in one form or the other, according to the condition of its surroundings; it may manifest itself in the shape of light, heat, electricity, magnetism, or vitality; but in one form or the other energy constantly inheres in matter. the correlation of forces is now a well-established, scientific fact, and it is more than plausible that what is called the vital principle, or the vital force, forms a link in the chain of the other known physical forces, and is, therefore, transmutable into any of them; granted even that there is such a thing as a distinct vital force. the tendency of modern biology is then to discard the notion of a vital entity altogether. if vital force is to be indestructible, then so are also indestructible heat, light, electricity, &c.; they are indestructible in this sense, that whenever their respective manifestation is suspended or arrested, they make their appearance in some other form of force; and in this very same sense vital force may be looked upon as indestructible: whenever vital manifestation is arrested, what had been acting as vital force is transformed into chemical, electrical forces, &c., taking its place. but the esoteric doctrine appears to teach something quite different from what i have just explained, and what is, as far as i understand, a fair representation of the scientific conception of the subject. the esoteric doctrine tells us that the vital principle is indestructible, and, when disconnected with one set of atoms, becomes attracted by others. he then evidently holds that, what constitutes the vital principle is a principle or form of force per se, a form of force which can leave one set of atoms and go over as such to another set, without leaving any substitute force behind. this, it must be said, is simply irreconcileable with the scientific view on the subject as hitherto understood. by the and of professor yaeger's theory this difficulty can be explained, i am happy to say, in a most satisfactory way. the seat of the vital principle, according to professor yaeger's theory, is not the protoplasm, but the odorant matter imbedded in it. and such being the case, the vital principle, as far as it can be reached by the breaking up of its animated protoplasm, is really indestructible. you destroy the protoplasm by burning it, by treating it with sulphuric acid, or any other decomposing agent--the odoriferous substances, far from being destroyed, become only so much the more manifest; they escape the moment protoplasmic destruction or decomposition begins, carrying along with them the vital principle, or what has been acting as such in the protoplasm. and as they are volatile, they must soon meet with other protoplasms congenial to their nature, and set up there the same kind of vital activity as they have done in their former habitat. they are, as the esoteric doctrine rightly teaches, indestructible, and when disconnected with one set of atoms, they immediately become attracted by others. --l. salzer, m.d. odorigen and jiva (ii.) there is a well-known sanskrit treatise, where most of the deductions of dr. yaeger are anticipated and practically applied to sexual selection in the human species. the subject of aura seminalis finds a pretty full treatment there. the connection between what dr. yaeger calls "odorigen" and jiva or prana, as it is differently called in different systems of indian philosophy, has been well traced. but his remarks on this subject, able as they no doubt are, call for a few observations from the point of view of occult philosophy. jiva has been described by a trustworthy authority as a "form of force indestructible, and, when disconnected with one set of atoms, is immediately attracted by another set." dr. salzer concludes from this that occult philosophy looks upon it as an abstract force or force per se. but surely this is bending too much to the procrustean phraseology of modern science, and if not properly guarded will lead to some misapprehension. matter in occult philosophy means existence in the widest sense of that word. however much the various forms of existence, such as physical, vital, mental, spiritual, &c., differ from each other, they are mutually related as being parts of the one universal existence, the parabrahma of the vedantist. force is the inherent power or capacity of parabrahma, or the "matter" of occultism, to assume different forms. this power or capacity is not a separate entity, but is the thing itself in which it inheres, just as the three-angled character of a triangle is nothing separate from the triangle itself. from this it will be abundantly clear that, accepting the nomenclature of occult science, one cannot speak of an abstract force without being guilty of a palpable absurdity. what is meant by jiva being a "form of force," &c., is that it is matter in a state in which it exhibits certain phenomena, not produced by it in its sensuous state; or, in other words, it is a property of matter in a particular state, corresponding with properties called, under ordinary circumstances, heat, electricity, &c., by modern science, but at the same time without any correlation to them. it might here be objected that if jiva was not a force per se, in the sense which modern science would attach to the phrase, then how can it survive unchanged the grand change called death, which the protoplasms it inheres in undergo? and even granting that jiva is matter in a particular state, in what part of the body shall we locate it, in the teeth of the fact that the most careful examination has not been successful in detecting it? jiva, as has already been stated, is subtle supersensuous matter, permeating the entire physical structure of the living being, and when it is separated from such structure life is said to become extinct. it is not reasonable therefore to expect it to be subject to detection by the surgeon's knife. a particular set of conditions is necessary for its connection with an animal structure, and when those conditions are disturbed, it is attracted by other bodies, presenting suitable conditions. dr. yaegar's "odorigen" is not jiva itself, but is one of the links which connects it with the physical body; it seems to be matter standing between sthula sarira (gross body) and jiva. --dharanidar kauthumi introversion of mental vision some interesting experiments have recently been tried by mr. f.w.h. myers and his colleagues of the psychic research society of london, which, if properly examined, are capable of yielding highly important results. with the details of these we are not at present concerned: it will suffice for our purpose to state, for the benefit of readers unacquainted with the experiments, that in a very large majority of cases, too numerous to be the result of mere chance, it was found that the thought-reading sensitive obtained but an inverted mental picture of the object given him to read. a piece of paper, containing the representation of an arrow, was held before a carefully blindfolded thought-reader, who was requested to mentally see the arrow as it was turned round. in these circumstances it was found that when the arrow-head pointed to the right, it was read off as pointing to the left, and so on. this led some to imagine that there was a mirage in the inner as well as on the outer plane of optical sensation. but the real explanation of the phenomenon lies deeper. it is well known that an object as seen by us and its image on the retina of the eye, are not exactly the same in position, but quite the reverse. how the image of an object on the retina is inverted in sensation, is a mystery which physical science is admittedly incapable of solving. western metaphysics, too, with regard to this point, hardly fares any better; there are as many theories as there are metaphysicians. the only philosopher who has obtained a glimpse of the truth is the idealist berkeley, who says that a child does really see a thing inverted from our standpoint; to touch its head it stretches out its hands in the same direction of its body as we do of ours to reach our feet. repeated failures give experience and lead to the correction of the notions born of one sense by those derived through another; the sensations of distance and solidity are produced in the same way. the application of this knowledge to the above mentioned experiments of the psychic research society will lead to very suggestive results. if the trained adept is a person who has developed all his interior faculties, and is on the psychic plane in the full possession of his senses, the individual, who accidentally, that is, without occult training, gains the inner sight, is in the position of a helpless child--a sport of the freaks of one isolated inner sense. such was the case with the sensitives with whom mr. myers and his colleagues experimented. there are instances, however, when the correction of one sense by another takes place involuntarily and accurate results are brought out. when the sensitive reads the thoughts in a man's mind, this correction is not required, for the will of the thinker shoots the thoughts, as it were, straight into the mind of the sensitive. the introversion under notice will, moreover, be found to take place only in the instance of such images which cannot be corrected by the already acquired sense-experience of the sensitive. a difficulty may here suggest itself with regard to the names of persons or the words thought of for the sensitive's reading. but allowance must in such cases be made for the operation of the thinker's will, which forces the thought into the sensitive's mind, and thereby obviates introversion. it is abundantly clear from this that the best way of studying these phenomena is when only one set of inner faculties, that of the sensitive, is in play. this takes place always when the object the sensitive has to abnormally perceive is independent of the will of any other person, as in the case of its being represented on paper. applying the same law to dreams, we can find the rationale of the popular superstition that facts are generally inverted in dreams. to dream of something good is generally taken to be the precursor of something evil. in the exceptional cases in which dreams have been found to be prophetic, the dreamer was either affected by another's will or under the operation of some disturbing forces, which cannot be calculated except for each particular case. in this connection another very important psychic phenomenon may be noticed. instances are too numerous and too well authenticated to be amenable to dispute, in which an occurrence at a distance--for instance, the death of a person--has pictured itself to the mental vision of one interested in the occurrence. in such cases the double of the dying man appears even at a great distance, and becomes visible usually to his friend only, but instances are not rare when the double is seen by a number of persons. the former case comes within the class of cases under consideration, as the concentrated thought of the dying man is clairvoyantly seen by the friend, and the incidents correctly reproduced by the operation of the dying man's will-energy, while the latter is the appearance of the genuine mayavirupa, and therefore not governed by the law under discussion. --mohini m. chatterji "precipitation" or all phenomena produced by occult agency in connection with our society, none have been witnessed by a more extended circle of spectators, or more widely known and commented on through recent theosophical publications, than the mysterious production of letters. the phenomenon itself has been so well described in the "occult world" and elsewhere, that it would be useless to repeat the description here. our present purpose is more connected with the process than the phenomenon of the mysterious formation of letters. mr. sinnett sought for an explanation of the process, and elicited the following reply from the revered mahatma, who corresponds with him:--"....bear in mind these letters are not written, but impressed, or precipitated, and then all mistakes corrected .... i have to think it over, to photograph every word and sentence carefully in my brain, before it can be repeated by precipitation. as the fixing on chemically-prepared surfaces of the images formed by the camera requires a previous arrangement within the focus of the object to be represented, for, otherwise--as often found in bad photographs--the legs of the sitter might appear out of all proportion with the head, and so on--so we here to first arrange our sentences, and impress every letter to appear on paper in our minds, before it becomes fit to be read. for the present, it is all i can tell you." since the above was written, the masters have been pleased to permit the veil to be drawn aside a little more, and the modus operandi can thus be explained now more fully to the outsider. those having even a superficial knowledge of the science of mesmerism know how the thoughts of the mesmeriser, though silently formulated in his mind, are instantly transferred to that of the subject. it is not necessary for the operator, if he is sufficiently powerful, to be present near the subject to produce the above result. some celebrated practitioners in this science are known to have been able to put their subjects to sleep even from a distance of several days' journey. this known fact will serve us as a guide in comprehending the comparatively unknown subject now under discussion. the work of writing the letters in question is carried on by a sort of psychic telegraphy; the mahatmas very rarely write their letters in the ordinary way. an electro-magnetic connection, so to say, exists on the psychic plane between a mahatma and his chelas, one of whom acts as his amanuensis. when the master wants a letter to be written in this way, he very often draws the attention of the chela, whom he selects for the task, by causing an astral bell (heard by so many of our fellows and others) to be rung near him, just as the despatching telegraph office signals to the receiving office before wiring the message. the thoughts arising in the mind of the mahatma are then clothed in words, pronounced mentally, and forced along currents in the astral light impinge on the brain of the pupil. thence they are borne by the nerve-currents to the palms of his hands and the tips of his fingers, which rest on a piece of magnetically-prepared paper. as the thought waves are thus impressed on the tissue, materials are drawn to it from the ocean of akas (permeating every atom of the sensuous universe) by an occult process, out of place here to describe, and permanent marks are left. from this it is abundantly clear that the success of such writing, as above described, depends chiefly upon two conditions:--( ) the force and clearness with which the thoughts are propelled; and ( ) the freedom of the receiving brain from disturbance of every description. the case with the ordinary electric telegraph is exactly the same. if, for some reason or other, the battery supplying the electric power falls below the requisite strength on any telegraph line, or there is some derangement in the receiving apparatus, the message transmitted becomes either mutilated or otherwise imperfectly legible. inaccuracies, in fact, do very often arise, as may be gathered from what the mahatma says in the above extract. "bear in mind," says he, "that these letters are not written, but impressed, or precipitated, and then all mistakes corrected." to turn to the sources of error in the precipitation. remembering the circumstances under which blunders arise in telegrams, we see that if a mahatma somehow becomes exhausted, or allows his thoughts to wander during the process, or fails to command the requisite intensity in the astral currents along which his thoughts are projected, or the distracted attention of the pupil produces disturbances in his brain and nerve-centres, the success of the process is very much interfered with. it is to be regretted that illustrations of the above general principles are not permitted to be published. enough, however, has been disclosed to give the public a clue to many apparent mysteries in regard to precipitated letters, and to draw all earnest and sincere inquirers strongly to the path of spiritual progress, which alone can lead to the comprehension of occult phenomena. --anon. "how shall we sleep?" it appears that the opinion of mr. seeta nath ghose and of baron von reichenbach are in direct conflict on the subject of this paper, the latter recommending the head of the sleeper to be northward, the former entirely condemning that position. it is my humble opinion that both writers are right, each from his own standpoint, as i shall try to show. what is the reason that our position in sleep should be of any consequence? because our body must be in a position at harmony with the main magnetic currents of the earth; but as these currents are not the same in all parts of the world the positions of the sleeper must, therefore, vary. there are three main magnetic currents on our earth--viz., in the northern hemisphere, from north pole towards the equator; in the southern hemisphere, from south pole towards the equator; these two currents meeting in the torrid zone continue their combined course from east to west. so the position of the sleeper must vary according as he finds himself to the north or south of the torrid zone or within it. in the north frigid or temperate zone, he has to lie with his head northward; in the southern, southward; in the torrid zone, eastward-- in order that the magnetic current may pass through him from head to foot without disturbance, as this is the natural position for magnetization. the following diagram may give a clearer view of the case, and thus help us to answer the second part of the question, whether and when we ought to lie on the right or the left side, on the stomach or on the back:-- [[diagram here]] the able writer of "how shall we sleep?" shows, in his cross diagram, that he thinks the head to be entirely positive and both feet negative. i think that this is not the case, but that the right side of the head and the left foot are positive, and the left side of the head and the right foot negative, and similarly the right hand is negative and the left hand is positive. as the north pole is positive and the left side of the head negative, the natural position in sleep for those living within the northern zones would be on the right side, head northward; and it is obvious that in the southern zones the position must be exactly the reverse. as to those who live under the tropics, lying on the stomach seems to me to be the most natural position, since the left, or negative side of the head, is turned to the north or positive current, and vice versa. for many years i and my family have been sleeping with our heads either to the north or the west (the right position in our hemisphere, in my opinion), and we had no occasion to regret it; for from that time forward the physician has become a rare visitor in our house. mr. seeta nath ghose says, in his interesting paper on "medical magnetism," that mandulies (metallic cells) are worn to great advantage in india on diseased parts of the body. the curative properties of these cells i have seen verified in authentic instances. when, years ago (i believe about ), cholera was devastating some parts of europe, it was remarked at munich (bavaria) that among the thousands of its victims there was not a single coppersmith. hence, it was recommended by the medical authorities of that town to wear disks of thin copperplate (of about / inch diameter) on a string, on the pit of the stomach, and they proved to be a powerful preventive of cholera. again, in , cholera visited odessa. i and my whole family wore these copper disks; and while all around there were numerous cases of cholera and dysentery, not one of us was attacked. i propose that serious experiments should be made in this direction, and specially in those countries which are periodically devastated by that disease: as india, for instance. it is my conviction that one disk of copper on the stomach, and another of zinc on the spine, opposite the former, will be of still better service, the more so if the disks are joined by a thin copper chain. --gustave zorn in the first place it is necessary to say that the rules laid down by garga, markandeya and others on the above subject, refer to the inhabitants of the plains only, and not to dwellers on mountains. the rule is that on retiring a man should first lie on his right side for the period of sixteen breathings, then turn on his left for double that time, and after that he can sleep in any position. further, that a man must not sleep on the ground, on silken or woollen cloth, under a solitary tree, where cross-roads meet, on mountains, or on the sky (whatever that may mean). nor is he to sleep with damp clothes, wet feet, or in a naked state; and, unless an initiate, should not sleep on kusha grass or its varieties. there are many more such rules. i may here notice that in sanskrit the right hand or side and south are signified by the same term. so also the front and north have one and the same name. the sun is the great and chief source of life and magnetism in the solar system. hence to the world the east is positive as the source of light and magnetism. for the same reason, to the northern hemisphere the south (the equator and not the north) is positive. under the laws of dynamics the resultant of these two forces will be a current in the directed from s.e. to n.w. this, i think, is one of the real causes of the prevailing south-east wind. at any rate, i do not think the north pole to be positive, as there would be no snow there in such a case. the aurora cannot take place at the source of the currents, but at their close. hence the source must be towards the equator or south. the course of life, civilization, light, and almost everything seems to be from e. to w. or s.e. to n.w. the penalty for sleeping with the head to the west is said to be anxiety of mind, while sleeping with the head to the north is considered fatal. i beg to invite the attention of the hindus to a similar penalty of death incurred by any but an initiate (brahman) pronouncing the sacred pranava (om). this does not prove that pranava is really a mischievous bad word, but that, with incompetent men, it is fraught with danger. so also, in the case of ordinary men of the plains, there may be unknown dangers which it would not be prudent for them to risk so long as they do not know how to meet them, or so long as they are not under the guidance of men who can protect them. in short, ordinary men should move on in their beaten course, and these rules are for them only. as an instance of the infringement of the rule the following anecdote is given:-- after ganesha (siva's son) was born, all the devas (gods) came to congratulate the family and bless the child. sani or saturn, was the last to come, and even then he came after he had been several times inquired after. when he went to see the infant, it appeared headless! this at once created a sensation, and all the devas were at their wits' end. at last saturn himself approached mahadeva with folded hands and reminded him that it was due to his presence, and the child having been kept in a bed with its head to the north. for such was the law. then the devas consulted together and sent out messengers to find out who else was sleeping with the head to the north. at last they discovered an elephant in that position. its head was immediately cut off and placed on the shoulders of ganesha. it need not be said that ganesha became afterwards so learned and wise that if he had not had an elephant's head, a human head would never have been sufficient to hold all he knew. this advantage he owed to the circumstance of his sleeping with head to the north, and the blessing of the devas. to the elephant, the same position but minus the blessing of the devas proved absolute death. --nobin k. bannerji reading mr. seeta nath ghose's paper on "medical magnetism" and having studied long ago baron von reichenbach's "researches in magnetism," i am sorely puzzled, inasmuch as these two authorities appear to clash with each other most completely--the one asserting "head to north never, under no circumstances," the other "head to north ever and under all circumstances." i have pursued the advice of the latter, not knowing of the former for many years, but have not found the effect on my health which i had hoped for, and what is of more importance, i have not found a law of certain application to humanity and bringing health to all. it seems to me on carefully reading this article that a most important point has been omitted or passed over--i.e., the position of the sleeper, whether on his face or on his back? this is most important, for a correct answer may go far to reconcile the two theories, which, be it remembered, claim both to be supported by experiment and by observation. i cannot conceive that a one-sided position is a natural one for man, and thus leave two alternatives. is the proper position in sleep lying on the back or on the stomach? not one word has been said as to the position in which experiments were tried on either side. now the one thing which seems clear in all this is, that positive should be toward negative and negative toward positive. let us then draw a diagram and these positions will follow with these results--taking the north as positive and south as negative, east as negative and west as positive. position i.--lying on the back. a. head to east ............ accord in all b. head to north .......... discord--head and feet accord--hands. c. head to south ........... accord--head and feet. discord--hands. d. head to west ............ discord in all. --- [[diagram here]] position ii.--lying on stomach a'. head to east ........ accord--in head and feet discord--in hands b'. head to north ....... discord in all c'. head to south ....... accord in all d'. head to west ........ discord--head and feet accord--hands now, from this will come some light, i think on the apparently contradictory theories, if we could ascertain: ( ) which position did the renowned garga and markandeya contemplate as the proper position for men to sleep in? ( ) in which position did those on whom baron von reichenbach experimented lie? this is a most important question for all who value the gift of health, as well as for those who would be wise. in my sojourn in southern countries i have noticed that the natives of the lower classes at least always sleep on their stomachs, with their back turned to the sun, and all animals do the same, while sleeping on the back is most dangerous, at least in the sun. is not this a guide or hint as to the true position? transmigration of the life-atoms it is said that "for three thousand years at least the 'mummy,' not withstanding all the chemical preparations, goes on throwing off to the last invisible atoms, which, from the hour of death, reentering the various vortices of being, go indeed through every variety of organized life-forms. but it is not the soul, the fifth, least of all the sixth principle, but the life-atoms of the jiva, the second principle. at the end of the , years, sometimes more, and sometimes less, after endless transmigrations, all these atoms are once more drawn together, and are made to form the new outer clothing or the body of the same monad (the real soul) which they had already clothed two or three thousand years before. even in the worst case, that of the annihilation of the conscious personal principle, the monad or individual soul is ever the same, as are also the atoms of the lower principles, which, regenerated and renewed in this ever-flowing river of being, are magnetically drawn together owing to their affinity, and are once more reincarnated together." this little passage is a new instalment of occult teaching given to the public, and opens up a vast field for thought. it suggests, in the first instance, that the exoteric doctrine of the transmigration of the soul through lower forms of existence--so generally believed in by the hindus, though incorrect as regards the soul (fifth principle)--has some basis of truth when referred to the lower principles. it is stated further that the mummy goes on throwing off invisible atoms, which go through every variety of organized life-forms, and further on it is stated that it is the life-atoms of the jiva, the second principle, that go through these transmigrations. according to the esoteric teaching, the jiva "is a form of force indestructible, and, when disconnected with one set of atoms, becoming attracted immediately by others." what, then, is meant by the life-atoms, and their going through endless transmigrations? the invisible atoms of the mummy would mean the imperceptibly decaying atoms of the physical body, and the life-atoms of the jiva would be quite distinct from the atoms of the mummy. is it meant to imply that both the invisible atoms of the physical body, as well as the atoms of the jiva, after going through various life-forms, return again to re-form the physical body, and the jiva of the entity that has reached the end of its devachanic state and is ready to be reincarnated again? it is taught, again, that even in the worst case (the annihilation of the personal ego) the atoms of the lower principles are the same as in the previous birth. here, does the term "lower principles" include the kama rupa also, or only the lower triad of body, jiva, and lingasarira? it seems the kama rupa in that particular case cannot be included, for in the instance of the annihilation of the personal soul, the kama rupa would be in the eighth sphere. another question also suggests itself. the fourth principle (kama rupa) and the lower portion of the fifth, which cannot be assimilated by the sixth, wander about as shells, and in time disperse into the elements of which they are made. do the atoms of these principles also reunite, after going through various transmigrations, to constitute over again the fourth and the lower fifth of the next incarnation? --n.d.k. note we would, to begin with, draw attention to the closing sentence of the passage quoted above: "such was the true occult theory of the egyptians," the word "true" being used there in the sense of its being the doctrine they really believed in, as distinct from both the tenets fathered upon them by some orientalists, and that which the modern occultists may be now teaching. it does not stand to reason that, outside those occult truths that were known to, and revealed by, the great hierophants during the final initiation, we should accept all that either the egyptians or any other people may have regarded as true. the priests of isis were the only true initiates, and their occult teachings were still more veiled than those of the chaldeans. there was the true doctrine of the hierophants of the inner temple; then the half-veiled hieratic tenets of the priest of the outer temple; and, finally, the vulgar popular religion of the great body of the ignorant, who were allowed to reverence animals as divine. as shown correctly by sir gardner wilkinson, the initiated priests taught that "dissolution is only the cause of reproduction .... nothing perishes which has once existed, but things which appear to be destroyed only change their natures and pass into another form." to the present case, however, the egyptian doctrine of atoms coincides with our own occult teachings. in the above remarks the words, "the life-atoms of the jiva," are taken in a strictly literal sense. without any doubt jiva or prana is quite distinct from the atoms it animates. the latter belong to the lowest or grossest state of matter--the objectively conditioned; the former, to a higher state--that state which the uninitiated, ignorant of its nature, would call the "objectively finite," but which, to avoid any future misunderstanding, we may, perhaps, be permitted to call the subjectively eternal, though, at the same time and in one sense, the subsistent existence, however paradoxical and unscientific the term may appear.* life, the occultist says, is the eternal uncreated energy, and it alone represents in the infinite universe, that which the physicists have agreed to name the principle, or the law of continuity, though they apply it only to the endless development of the conditioned. but since modern science admits, through her most learned professors, that "energy has as much claim to be regarded as an objective reality as matter itself"** and as life, according to the occult doctrine, is the one energy acting, proteus-like, under the most varied forms, the occultists have a certain right to use such phraseology. life is ever present in the atom or matter, whether organic or inorganic--a difference that the occultists do not accept. their doctrine is that life is as much present in the inorganic as in the organic matter: when life-energy is active in the atom, that atom is organic; when dormant or latent, then the atom is inorganic. -------- * though there is a distinct term for it in the language of the adepts, how can one translate it into a european language? what name can be given to that which is objective yet immaterial in its finite manifestations, subjective yet substantive (though not in our sense of substance) in its eternal existence? having explained it the best we can, we leave the task of finding a more appropriate term for it to our learned english occultists. ** "unseen universe." ---------- therefore, the expression "life-atom," though apt in one sense to mislead the reader, is not incorrect after all, since occultists do not recognize that anything in nature can be inorganic, and know of no "dead atoms," whatever meaning science may give to the adjective. the law of biogenesis, as ordinarily understood, is the result of the ignorance of the man of science of occult physics. it is accepted because the man of science is unable to find the necessary means to awaken into activity the dormant life inherent in what he terms an inorganic atom; hence the fallacy that a living thing can only be produced from a living thing, as though there ever was such a thing as dead matter in nature! at this rate, and to be consistent, a mule ought to be also classed with inorganic matter, since it is unable to reproduce itself and generate life. we dwell so much upon the above as it meets at once all future opposition to the idea that a mummy, several thousand years old, can be throwing off atoms. nevertheless, the sentence would perhaps have gained in clearness if we had said, instead of the "life-atoms of jiva," the atoms "animated by dormant jiva or life-energy." again, the definition of jiva quoted above, though quite correct on the whole, might be more fully, if not more clearly, expressed. the "jiva," or life, principle, which animates man, beast, plant, and even a mineral, certainly is "a form of force indestructible," since this force is the one life, or anima mundi, the universal living soul, and that the various modes in which objective things appear to us in nature in their atomic aggregations, such as minerals, plants, animals, &c., are all the different forms or states in which this force manifests itself. were it to become--we will not say absent, for this is impossible, since it is omnipresent--but for one single instant inactive, say in a stone, the particles of the latter would lose instantly their cohesive property, and disintegrate as suddenly, though the force would still remain in each of its particles, but in a dormant state. then the continuation of the definition, which states that when this indestructible force is "disconnected with one set of atoms, it becomes attracted immediately by others," does not imply that it abandons entirely the first set, but only that it transfers its vis viva, or living power--the energy of motion--to another set. but because it manifests itself in the next set as what is called kinetic energy, it does not follow that the first set is deprived of it altogether; for it is still in it, as potential energy, or life latent.* this is a cardinal and basic truth of occultism, on the perfect knowledge of which depends the production of every phenomenon. unless we admit this point, we should have to give up all the other truths of occultism. thus what is "meant by the life-atom going through endless transmigration" is simply this: we regard and call, in our occult phraseology, those atoms that are moved by kinetic energy as "life-atoms," while those that are for the time being passive, containing but imperceptible potential energy, we call "sleeping atoms;" regarding, at the same time, these two forms of energy as produced by one and the same force or life. ------- * we feel constrained to make use of terms that have become technical in modern science--though they do not always fully express the idea to be conveyed--for want of better words. it is useless to hope that the occult doctrine may be ever thoroughly understood, even the few tenets that can be safely given to the world at large, unless a glossary of such words is edited; and, what is of a still greater importance, until the full and correct meaning of the terms therein taught is thoroughly mastered. --------- now to the hindu doctrine of metempsychosis. it has a basis of truth; and, in fact, it is an axiomatic truth, but only in reference to human atoms and emanations, and that not only after a man's death, but during the whole period of his life. the esoteric meaning of the laws of manu (sec. xii. , and xii. and ), of the verses asserting that "every act, either mental, verbal or corporeal, bears good or evil fruit (karma)," that "the various transmigrations of men (not souls) through the highest, middle and lowest stages, are produced by their actions," and again that "a brahman-killer enters the body of a dog, bear, ass, camel, goat, sheep, bird, &c.," bears no reference to the human ego, but only to the atoms of his body, his lower triad and his fluidic emanations. it is all very well for the brahmans to distort, in their own interest, the real meaning contained in these laws, but the words as quoted never meant what they were made to yield later on. the brahmans applied them selfishly to themselves, whereas by "brahman," man's seventh principle, his immortal monad and the essence of the personal ego were allegorically meant. he who kills or extinguishes in himself the light of parabrahm--i.e., severs his personal ego from the atman, and thus kills the future devachanee, becomes a "brahman killer." instead of facilitating, through a virtuous life and spiritual aspirations, the union of the buddhi and the manas, he condemns, by his own evil acts, every atom of his lower principles to become attracted and drawn in virtue of the magnetic affinity, thus created by his passions, into the bodies of lower animals. this is the real meaning of the doctrine of metempsychosis. it is not that such amalgamation of human particles with animal or even vegetable atoms can carry in it any idea of personal punishment per se, for of course it does not. but it is a cause, the effects of which may manifest themselves throughout succeeding re-births, unless the personality is annihilated. otherwise, from cause to effect, every effect becoming in its turn a cause, they will run along the cycle of re-births, the once given impulse expending itself only at the threshold of pralaya. but of this anon. notwithstanding their esoteric meaning, even the words of the grandest and noblest of all the adepts, gautama buddha, are misunderstood, distorted and ridiculed in the same way. the hina-yana, the lowest form of transmigration of the buddhist, is as little comprehended as the maha-yana, its highest form; and, because sakya muni is shown to have once remarked to his bhikkhus, while pointing out to them a broom, that "it had formerly been a novice who neglected to sweep out" the council-room, hence was re-born as a broom (!), therefore, the wisest of all the world's sages stands accused of idiotic superstition. why not try and find out, before condemning, the true meaning of the figurative statement? why should we scoff before we understand? is or is not that which is called magnetic effluvium a something, a stuff, or a substance, invisible, and imponderable though it be? if the learned authors of "the unseen universe" object to light, heat and electricity being regarded merely as imponderables, and show that each of these phenomena has as much claim to be recognized as an objective reality as matter itself, our right to regard the mesmeric or magnetic fluid which emanates from man to man, or even from man to what is termed an inanimate object, is far greater. it is not enough to say that this fluid is a species of molecular energy like heat, for instance, though of much greater potency. heat is produced when ever kinetic energy is transformed into molecular energy, we are told, and it may be thrown out by any material composed of sleeping atoms, or inorganic matter as it is called; whereas the magnetic fluid projected by a living human body is life itself. indeed it is "life-atoms" that a man in a blind passion throws off unconsciously, though he does it quite as effectively as a mesmeriser who transfers them from himself to any object consciously and under the guidance of his will. let any man give way to any intense feeling, such as anger, grief, &c., under or near a tree, or in direct contact with a stone, and after many thousands of years any tolerable psychometer will see the man, and perceive his feelings from one single fragment of that tree or stone that he had touched. hold any object in your hand, and it will become impregnated with your life-atoms, indrawn and outdrawn, changed and transferred in us at every instant of our lives. animal heat is but so many life atoms in molecular motion. it requires no adept knowledge, but simply the natural gift of a good clairvoyant subject to see them passing to and fro, from man to objects and vice versa like a bluish lambent flame. why, then, should not a broom, made of a shrub, which grew most likely in the vicinity of the building where the lazy novice lived, a shrub, perhaps, repeatedly touched by him while in a state of anger provoked by his laziness and distaste for his duty--why should not a quantity of his life-atoms have passed into the materials of the future besom, and therein have been recognized by buddha, owing to his superhuman (not supernatural) powers? the processes of nature are acts of incessant borrowing and giving back. the materialistic sceptic, however, will not take anything in any other way than in a literal, dead-letter sense. to conclude our too long answer, the "lower principles" mentioned before are the first, second and the third. they cannot include the kama rupa, for this "rupa" belongs to the middle, not the lower principles. and, to our correspondent's further query, "do the atoms of these (the fourth and the fifth) also re-form, after going through various transmigrations, to constitute over again the fourth and the lower fifth of the next incarnation?" we answer, "they do." the reason why we have tried to explain the doctrine of the "life-atoms" at such length, is precisely in connection with this last question, and with the object of throwing out one more fertile hint. we do not feel at liberty at present, however, to give any further details. --h.p. blavatsky "om," and its practical significance i shall begin with a definition of om, as given by the late professor theodore goldstucker:-- "om is a sanskrit word which, on account of the mystical notions that even at an early date of hindu civilization were connected with it, acquired much importance in the development of hindu religion. its original sense is that of emphatic or solemn affirmation or assent. thus, when in the white yajur veda the sacrificer invites the gods to rejoice in his sacrifice, the goddess savitri assents to his summons by saying, 'om' (i.e., be it so); proceed!" or, when in the brihadaranyaka upanishad, prajapati, the father of gods, men and demons, asks the gods whether they have understood his instructions, he expresses his satisfaction with their affirmative reply in these words, "om, you have fully comprehended it;" and in the same upanishad, pravahana answers the question of swetaketu, as to whether his father has instructed him, by uttering the word "om"--i.e., "forsooth (i am)." a portion of the rig veda called the aitareya brahmana, where, describing a religious ceremony at which verses from the rig veda, as well as songs called gathas, were recited by the priest called hotri, and responses given by another priest, the adhwaryu, says: om is the response of the adhwaryu to the rig veda verses (recited by the hotri), and likewise tatha (i.e., thus) his response to the gathas, for om is (the term of assent) used by the gods, whereas tatha is (the term of assent) used by men (the rig veda verses being, to the orthodox hindu, of divine and the gathas of human authorship). in this, the original sense of the word, it is little doubtful that om is but an older and contracted form of the common sanskrit word evam ("thus"), which, coming from the pronominal base "a," in some derivations changed to "e," may have at one time occurred in the form avam, when, by the elision of the vowel following a, for which there are numerous analogies in sanskrit, vum would become aum, and hence, according to the ordinary phonetic laws of the language, om. this etymology of the word, however, seems to have been lost even at an early period of sanskrit literature; for another is met with in the ancient grammarians, enabling us to account for the mysticism which many religious and theological works of ancient and medieval india suppose to inhere in it. according to this latter etymology, om would come from a radical av; by means of an affix man, when om would be a curtailed form of avman or oman, and as av implies the notion of "protect, preserve, save," om would be a term implying "protection or salvation," its mystical properties and its sanctity being inferred from its occurrence in the vedic writings and in connection with sacrificial acts, such as are alluded to before. hence om became the auspicious word with which the spiritual teacher had to begin and the pupil to end each lesson of his reading of the veda. "let this syllable," the existing prati-sakhya, or a grammar of the rig veda, enjoins, "be the head of the reading of the veda; for alike to the teacher and the pupil it is the supreme brahman, the gate of heaven." and manu ordains: "a brahman at the beginning and end (of a lesson on the veda) must always pronounce the syllable om; for unless om precede, his learning will slip away from him; and unless it follows, nothing will be long retained." at the time when another class of writings (the puranas) were added to the inspired code of hinduism, for a similar reason om is their introductory word. that the mysterious power which, as the foregoing quotation from the law-book of manu shows, was attributed to this word must have been the subject of early speculation, is obvious enough. a reason assigned for it is given by manu himself. "brahma," he says, "extracted from the three vedas the letter a, the letter u, and the letter m (which combined result in om), together with the (mysterious) words bhuh (earth), bhuva (sky), and swah (heaven);" and in another verse: "these three great immutable words, preceded by the syllable om, and (the sacred rig veda verse called) gayatri, consisting of three lines, must be considered as the mouth (or entrance) of brahman (the veda)," or, as the commentators observe, the means of attaining final emancipation; and "the syllable om is the supreme brahman. (three) regulated breathings, accompanied with the mental recitation of om, the three mysterious words bhuh, bhuvah, swah and the gayatri, are the highest devotion." "all rites ordained in the veda, such as burnt and other sacrifices, pass away, but the syllable om must be considered as imperishable; for it is (a symbol of) brahman (the supreme spirit) himself, the lord of creation." in these speculations manu bears out, and is borne out by, several upanishads. in the katha-upanishad for instance, yama, the god of death, in replying to a question of nachiketas, says: "the word which all the vedas record, which all the modes of penance proclaim, desirous of which religious students perform their duties, this word i will briefly tell thee--it is om. this syllable means the (inferior) brahman and the supreme (brahman). whoever knows this syllable obtains whatever he wishes." and in the pras'na-upanishad the saint pippalada says to satyakama: "the supreme and the inferior brahman are both the word om; hence the wise follow by this support the one or the other of the two. if he meditates upon its one letter (a) only, he is quickly born on the earth; is carried by the verses of the rig veda to the world of man; and, if he is devoted there to austerity, the duties of a religious student and faith, he enjoys greatness. but if he meditates in his mind on its two letters (a and u), he is elevated by the verses of the yajur veda to the intermediate region; comes to the world of the moon and, having enjoyed there power, returns again (to the world of man). if, however, he meditates on the supreme spirit by means of its three letters (a, u, and m) he is produced in light in the sun; as the snake is liberated from its skin, so is he liberated from sin." according to the mandukya-upanishad the nature of the soul is summarized in the three letters a, u, and m in their isolated and combined form--a being vaiswanara, or that form of brahman which represents the soul in its waking condition; a, taijasa, or that form of brahman which represents it in its dreaming state; and m, piajna, or that form of brahman which represents it in its state of profound sleep (or that state in which it is temporarily united with the supreme spirit); while a, u, m combined (i.e., om), represent the fourth or highest condition of brahman, "which is unaccountable, in which all manifestations have ceased, which is blissful and without duality. om therefore, is soul, and by this soul, he who knows it, enters into (the supreme) soul." passages like these may be considered as the key to the more enigmatic expressions used; for instance, by the author of the yoga philosophy where, in three short sentences, he says his (the supreme lord's) name is pranava (i.e., om); its muttering (should be made) and reflection on its signification; thence comes the knowledge of the transcendental spirit and the absence of the obstacles (such as sickness, languor, doubt, &c., which obstruct the mind of an ascetic). but they indicate, at the same time, the further course which superstition took in enlarging upon the mysticism of the doctrine of the upanishads. for, as soon as every letter of which the word om consists was fancied to embody a separate idea, it is intelligible that other sectarian explanations were grafted on them to serve special purposes. thus, while sankara, the great theologian and commentator on the upanishads, is still contented with an etymological punning by means of which he transforms a into an abbreviation of apti (pervading), since speech is pervaded by vaiswanara; u into an abbreviation of utkartha (superiority), since taijasa is superior to vaiswanara; and m into an abbreviation of miti (destruction), vaiswanara and taijasa, at the destruction and regeneration of the world, being, as it were, absorbed into prajna--the puranas make of a, a name of vishnu; of u, a name of his consort "sri;" and of m, a designation of their joint worshipper; or they see in a, u, m, the triad--brahm, vishnu, and siva; the first being represented by a, the second by u, and the third by m--each sect, of course, identifying the combination of these letters, or om with their supreme deity. thus, also, in the bhagavadgita, which is devoted to the worship of vishnu in his incarnation as krishna, though it is essentially a poem of philosophical tendencies based on the doctrine of the yoga, krishna in one passage says of himself that he is om; while in another passage he qualifies the latter as the supreme spirit. a common designation of the word om--for instance, in the last-named passages of the bhagavadgita is the word pranava, which comes from a so-called radical nu, "praise," with the prefix pra amongst other meanings implying emphasis, and, therefore, literally means "eulogium, emphatic praise." although om, in its original sense as a word of solemn or emphatic assent, is, properly speaking, restricted to the vedic literature, it deserves notice that it is now-a-days often used by the natives of india in the sense of "yes," without, of course, any allusion to the mystic properties which are ascribed to it in the religious works. monier williams gives the following account of the mystic syllable om: "when by means of repeating the syllable om, which originally seems to have meant 'that' or 'yes,' they had arrived at a certain degree of mental tranquillity, the question arose what was meant by this om, and to this various answers were given according as the mind was to be led up to higher and higher objects. thus, in one passage, we are told at first that om is the beginning of the veda, or as we have to deal with an upanishad of the shama veda, the beginning of the shama veda; so that he who meditates on om may be supposed to be meditating on the whole of the shama veda. "om is the essence of the shama veda which, being almost entirely taken from the rig veda, may itself be called the essence of the rig veda. the rig veda stands for all speech, the shama veda for all breath or life; so that om may be conceived again as the symbol of all speech and all life. om thus becomes the name not only of all our mental and physical powers, but is especially that of the living principle of the pran or spirit. this is explained by the parable in the second chapter, while in the third chapter that spirit within us is identified with the spirit in the sun. "he, therefore, who meditates on om, meditates on the spirit in man as identical with the spirit in nature or in the sun, and thus the lesson that is meant to be taught in the beginning of the khandogya upanishad is really this that none of the vedas, with their sacrifices and ceremonies, could ever secure the salvation of the worshipers. that is, the sacred works performed, according to the rules of the vedas, are of no avail in the end, but meditation on om, or that knowledge of what is meant by om, alone can procure true salvation or true immortality. "thus the pupil is led on step by step to what is the highest object of the upanishads--namely, the recognition of the self in man as identical of the highest soul. "the lessons which are to lead up to that highest conception of the universe, both subjective and objective, are, no doubt, mixed up with much that is superstitious and absurd. still the main object is never lost sight of. thus, when we come to the eighth chapter, the discussion, though it begins with om ends with the question of the origin of the world, and the final answer--namely, that om means akasa, ether, and that ether is the origin of all things." dr. lake considers electricity as the akas, or the fifth element of the hindus. i shall now give my own opinion on the mystic syllable om. breath consists of an inspiration termed puraka, an interval termed kumbhaka, and an expiration called rechaka. when the respiration is carried on by the right nostril, it is called the pingala; when it is carried on by the two nostrils, it is named the susumna; and when it is carried on by the left nostril, it is called ida. the right respiration is called the solar respiration, from its heating nature; while the left respiration is termed the lunar respiration, from its cooling character. the susumna respiration is called the shambhu-nadi. during the intermediate respiration the human mind should be engaged in the contemplation of the supreme soul. the breath takes its origin from the "indiscreet" or unreflecting form, and the mind from the breath. the organs of sense and action are under the control of the mind. the yogis restrain their mind by the suspension of breath. breath is the origin of all speech. the word soham is pronounced by a deep inspiration followed by expiration carried on by the nostrils.... this word means, "god is in us." there is another word called hangsha. this is pronounced by a deep expiration followed by inspiration. its meaning is "i am in god." the inspiration is sakti, or strength. the expiration is siva, or death. the internal or kumbhaka is a promoter of longevity. when the expiration is not followed by inspiration death ensues. a forcible expiration is always the sure and certain sign of approaching dissolution or death. both these words soham and hanysha cause the waste of the animal economy, as they permit the oxygen of the inspired air to enter the lungs where the pulmonary changes of the blood occur. according to lavoissier, an adult frenchman inhales daily , grains of oxygen from the atmosphere, at the rate of . grains nearly per minute. the word om is pronounced by the inspiration of air through the mouth and the expiration of the same by the nostrils. when a man inspires through the mouth and expires through the nostrils, the oxygen of the inspired air does not enter the lungs where the pulmonary changes of the blood take place. the monosyllable om thus acts as a substitute for the suspension of the breath. the waste of the body is proportionate to the quantity of oxygen taken into the system by the respiration. the waste of a man who breathes quickly is greater than that of one who breathes slowly. while tranquillity of mind produces slow breathing, and causes the retardation of the bodily waste, the tranquil respiration has a tendency to produce calmness of mind. the yogis attain to nirvana by suspending or holding the breath. the vedantists obtain moksha, or emancipation of the soul, by holding the mind (mental abstraction). thus om is the process of separating the soul from the body. it is the product of the gasping breath which precedes the dissolution of our body. the ancient hindus utilized the gasping breath of the dying man by discovering the syllable om. the syllable om protects man from premature decay and death, preserves him from worldly temptations, and saves him from re-birth. it causes the union of the human soul to the supreme soul. om has the property of shortening the length of respiration. siva is made to say in a work on "sharodaya" (an excellent treatise on respiration) that the normal length of the expiration is inches. during meals and speaking the length of the expiration becomes . inches. in ordinary walking the expiration is lengthened to inches. running lengthens the expiration to . inches. in sexual intercourse the extent of respiration becomes . inches. during sleep the respiration becomes inches long. as sleep causes a great waste of the body and invites disease, premature decay and death, the yogi tries to abstain from it. he lives upon the following dietary:--rice, ounces troy; milk, ounces troy. he consumes daily: carbon, . grains; nitrogen, . grains. under this diet he is ever watchful, and spends his time in the contemplation of om. from the small quantity of nitrogen contained in his diet he is free from anger. the yogi next subdues his carnal desire or sexual appetite. he diminishes day by day his food until it reaches the minimum quantity on which existence is maintained. he passes his life in prayer and meditation. he seeks retirement. he lives in his little cell; his couch is the skin of tiger or stag; he regards gold, silver, and all precious stones as rubbish. he abstains from flesh, fish, and wine. he never touches salt, and lives entirely on fruits and roots. i saw a female mendicant who lived upon a seer of potatoes and a small quantity of tamarind pulp daily. this woman reduced herself to a skeleton. she led a pure, chaste life, and spent her time in the mental recitation of om. one seer of potatoes contains , grains of solid residue, which is exactly / ounces troy. the solid residue of one seer of potatoes consists of the following ultimate ingredients:-- carbon .............. . grains hydrogen ............ . " nitrogen ............. . " oxygen .............. . " salts ................. . " -------- . " i saw a brahman (brahmachari) who consumed daily one seer of milk, and took no other food. analysis of one seer of cow's milk by boussingault. water ....................... , . grains carbon ...................... , . " hydrogen ...................... . " nitrogen ....................... . " oxygen ......................... . " salts ........................... . " ----------- , . " now, one seer of cow's milk requires for combustion within the animal economy . grains of oxygen. the brahmachari inhaled . grains of oxygen per minute. this brahmachari spent his life in the contemplation of om, and led a life of continence. the french adult, who is a fair specimen of well-developed sensuality, inhaled from the atmosphere . grains of oxygen every minute of his existence. a retired, abstemious, and austere life is essentially necessary for the pronunciation of om, which promotes the love of rigid virtue and a contempt of impermanent sensuality. siva says "he who is free from lust, anger, covetousness and ignorance is qualified to obtain salvation, or moksha," or the nirvana of the buddhists. the solid residue of one seer of cow's milk is . grains. "in a student of physic at edinburgh confined himself for a long space of time to a pint of milk and half a pound of white bread." the diet of this student contained . grains of carbon and . grains of nitrogen. this food required , grains of oxygen for the complete combustion of its elements. he inspired . grains of oxygen per minute. in this instance the intense mental culture diminished the quantity of oxygen inspired from the atmosphere. the early christian hermits, with a view to extinguish carnal desire and overcome sleep, lived upon a daily allowance of ounces of bread and water. they daily consumed . grains of oxygen. they inhaled oxygen at the rate of . grains per minute. according to m. andral, the great french physiologist, a french boy years old, before the sexual appetite is developed, exhales . grains of carbon in the twenty-four hours. he who wishes to curb his lust should consume . grains of carbon in his daily diet. now, , grains of household bread contain grains of carbon, according to dr. edward smith. this quantity of bread is equal to ounces avoirdupois and grains, but the early christian hermits who lived upon oz. of bread (avoirdupois) consumed daily . grains of carbon. this quantity of carbon was less than that which the french boy consumed daily by . grains. the french boy consumed . grains of carbon in his diet, but the hindu female mendicant, who led a life of continence, consumed in her daily ration of potatoes . grains of carbon. hence it is evident that the french boy consumed . grains of carbon more than what was consumed by the female hindu yogi. there lived in brindavana a sannyasi, who died at the age of years, and who subsisted for forty years upon the daily diet of four chuttacks of penda and four chuttacks of milk. his diet contained , grains of carbon and . grains of nitrogen. abstemiousness shortens the length of respiration, diminishes the waste of the body, promotes longevity, and engenders purity of heart. abstemiousness cures vertigo, cephalalgia, tendency to apoplexy, dyspnoea, gout, old ulcers, impetigo, scrofula, herpes, and various other maladies. cornaro, an italian nobleman, who was given up by all his physicians, regained health by living upon ounces of bread and ounces of water, and lived to a great age. he consumed less than an ounce of flesh-formers in his diet. according to edward smith . grains of bread contain ounce of flesh-formers. he who wishes to lead a life of chastity, honesty, meekness, and mercy, should consume daily one ounce of flesh-formers in his diet. as an ounce of nitrogenous matter contains grains of nitrogen, one should take such food as yields only grains of azote. murder, theft, robbery, cruelty, covetousness, lust, slander, anger, voluptuousness, revenge, lying, prostitution, and envy are sins which arise from a consumption of a large quantity of aliments containing a higher percentage of azote. he who intends to be free from every earthly thought, desire and passion should abstain from fish, flesh, woman, and wine, and live upon the most innocent food. the following table shows approximately the quantities of various aliments furnishing grains of nitrogen: wheat dried in vacuo ............ . grains oats ............................ . " barley .......................... . " indian corn ..................... " rye dried ........................ . " rice dried ....................... " milk dried ....................... " peas dried ....................... . " white haricots dried ..... ....... . " horse beans dried ................ . " cabbage dried .................... . " carrots dried .................... . " jerusalem artichokes ............. " turnips dried .................... . " bread ............................ . " locust beans ..................... " figs ............................. . " cow's milk fresh ................. . " abstemiousness begets suspension of breath. from the suspension of breath originates tranquillity of mind, which engenders supersensuous knowledge. from supersensuous knowledge originates ecstasy which is the samadhi of the ancient hindu sages. instead of walking and running, which lengthen the respiration, the devotees of om should practice the two tranquil postures termed the padmasana and siddhasana, described in my mystic tract called "the yoga philosophy." according to siva the normal length of expiration is inches. he says that one can subdue his lust and desire by shortening his expiration to . inches, whether by the inaudible pronunciation of om or by the suspension of breath (pranayama); that one can enjoy ecstasy by diminishing the length of his expiration to . inches. one acquires the power of writing poetry by reducing his expiration to . inches. when one can reduce his expiration to inches long he acquires the power of foretelling future events. when one reduces the length of his expiration to . inches he is blessed with the divine eye. he sees what is occurring in the distant worlds. when the inaudible pronunciation of om reduces the length of the expiration to . inches it enables its votary to travel to aerial regions. when the length of expiration becomes . inches, the votary of om travels in the twinkling of an eye through the whole world. when by the inaudible muttering of om a man reduces his expiration to inches, he acquires ashta siddhis or consummations (or superhuman powers). when the expiration is reduced to . inches, the votary of om can acquire the nine precious jewels of the world (nava nidhi). such a man can attract the wealth of the world to him.* -------- * supposing he had any care or use for it--ed. theos. -------- when the expiration becomes . inches long from the above practice, he sees the celestial sphere where the supreme soul resides. when the inaudible pronunciation of om reduces the length of expiration to . inch, the votary becomes deified and casts no shadow. "om amitaya! measure not with words the immeasurable; nor sink the string of thought into the fathomless! who asks doth err; who answers errs. say nought!" "om mani padma hum. om the jewel in the lotus." by the muttering of the above formula the great buddha freed himself from selfishness, false faith, doubt, hatred, lust, self-praise, error, pride, and attained to nirvana. "and how man hath no fate except past deeds, no hell but what he makes, no heaven too high for those to reach whose passions sleeps subdued." according to siva a man acquires nirvana when his breathing becomes internal and does not come out of the nostrils. when the breathing becomes internal--that is, when it is contained within the nostrils, the yogi is free from fainting, hunger, thirst, languor, disease and death. he becomes a divine being, he feels not when he is brought into contact with fire; no air can dry him, no water can putrefy him, no poisonous serpent can inflict a mortal wound. his body exhales fragrant odours, and can bear the abstinence from air, food, and drink. when the breathing becomes internal, the yogi is incapable of committing any sin in deed, thought, and speech, and thereby inherits the kingdom of heaven, which is open to sinless souls. --n.c. paul ------------------- glossary ab-e-hyat, water of life, supposed to give eternal youth. abhava, negation or non-being of individual objects; the substance, the abstract objectivity. adam kadmon, the bi-sexual sephira of the kabalists. adept, one who, through the development of his spirit, has attained to transcendental knowledge and powers. adhibhautika, arising from external objects. adhidaivika, arising from the gods, or accidents. adhikamasansas, extra months. adhishthanum, basis a principle in which some other principle inheres. adhyatmika, arising out of the inner-self. advaiti, a follower of the school of philosophy established by sankaracharya. ahankara, personality; egoism; self identity; the fifth principle. ahriman, the evil principle of the universe; so called by the zoroastrians. ahum, the first three principles of septenary human constitution; the gross living body of man according to the avesta. a'kasa, the subtle supersensuous matter which pervades all space. amulam mulam (lit. "the rootless root"); prakriti; the material of the universe. anahatachakram, the heart, the seat of life. a'nanda, bliss. a'nanda-maya-kosha, the blissful; the fifth sheath of the soul in the vedantic system; the sixth principle. anastasis, the continued existence of the soul. anima mundi, the soul of the world. annamaya kosha, the gross body; the first sheath of the divine monad (vedantic). antahkarana, the internal instrument, the soul, formed by the thinking principle and egoism. anumiti, inference. aparoksha, direct perception. apavarya, emancipation from repeated births. apporrheta, secret discourses in egyptian and grecian mysteries. arahats (lit."the worthy ones"), the initiated holy men of the buddhist and jain faiths. aranyakas, holy sages dwelling in forests. ardhanariswara, (lit. "the bisexual lord"); the unpolarized state of cosmic energy; the bi-sexual sephira, adam kadmon. arka, sun. aryavarta, the ancient name of northern india where the brahmanical invaders first settled. a'sana, the third stage of hatha yoga; the posture for meditation. asat, the unreal, prakriti. a'shab and laughan, ceremonies for casting out evil spirits, so called among the kolarian tribes. ashta siddhis, the eight consummations of hatha yoga. asoka (king), a celebrated conqueror, monarch of a large portion of india, who is called "the constantine of buddhism," temp. circa b.c. astral light, subtle form of existence forming the basis of our material universe. asuramaya, an atlantean astronomer, well known in sanskrit writings. asuras, a class of elementals considered maleficent; demons. aswini, the divine charioteers mystically they correspond to hermes, who is looked upon as his equal. they represent the internal organ by which knowledge is conveyed from the soul to the body. atharva veda, one of the four most ancient and revered books of the ancient brahmans. atlantis, the continent that was submerged in the southern and pacific oceans. atmabodha (lit. "self-knowledge"), the title of a vedantic treatise by sankaracharya. atman, &c atma. a'tma, the spirit; the divine monad; the seventh principle of the septenary human constitution. a'ttavada, the sin of personality (pali). aum, the sacred syllable in sanskrit representing the trinity avalokitesvara, manifested wisdom, or the divine spirit in man. avasthas, states, conditions, positions. avatar, the incarnation of an exalted being, so called among the hindus. avesta, the sacred books of the zoroastrians. avyakta, the unrevealed cause. baddha, bound or conditioned; the state of an ordinary human being who has not attained nirvana. bahihpragna, the present state of consciousness. baodhas, consciousness; the fifth principle of man. barhaspatyamanam, a method of calculating time prevalent during the later hindu period in north-eastern india. bhadrasena, a buddhist king of magadha. bhagats (or called sokha and sivnath by the hindus), one who exorcises an evil spirit. bhagavad gita (lit, the "lord's song"), an episode of the maha-bharata, the great epic poem of india. it contains a dialogue between krishna and arjuna on spiritual philosophy. bhao, ceremony of divination among the kolarian tribes of central india. bhashya, commentary. bhon, religion of the aborigines of tibet. bikshu, a religious mendicant and ascetic who suppresses all desire and is constantly occupied in devotion; a buddhist monk. boddhisatwas, egos evolving towards buddhahood. brahma, the hindu deity which personifies the active cosmic energy. brahmachari, a bushman ascetic. brahmagnani, one possessed of complete illumination. brahman, the highest caste in india; brahman, the absolute of the vedantins. brahmana period, one of the four periods into which the vedic literature has been divided. brihadranyaka upanishad, one of the sacred books of the brahmins; an aranyaka is a treatise appended to the vedas, and considered the subject of special study by those who have retired to the forest for purposes of religious meditation. buddha, the founder of buddhism; he was a royal prince, by name siddhartha, son of suddhodhana, king of the sakyas, an aryan tribe. buddhi, the spiritual ego. buru bonga, spirit of the hills worshiped by the kolarian tribes of central india. canarese, one of the dravidian tongues, spoken in southern india. chandragupta, one of the kings of magadha, an ancient province of india. chandramanam, the method of calculating time by the movements of the moon. charaka, the most celebrated writer on medicine among the hindus. chaturdasa bhuvanam, the fourteen lokas or states. chela, a pupil of an adept in occultism; a disciple. chichakti, the power which generates thought. chidagnikundum (lit. "the fireplace in the heart"), the seat of the force which extinguishes all individual desires. chidakasam, the field of consciousness. chinmatra, the germ of consciousness, abstract consciousness. chit, the abstract consciousness. chitta suddhi (chitta, mind, and suddi, purification), purification of the mind. chutuktu, the five chief lamas of tibet. daemon, the incorruptible part of man; nous; rational soul. daenam (lit. "knowledge"), the fourth principle in man, according to the avesta. daimonlouphote, spiritual illumination. daityas, demons, titans. dama, restraint of the senses. darasta, ceremonial magic practised among the kolarian tribes of central india. darha, ancestral spirits of the kolarian tribes of central india. deona or mati, one who exercises evil spirits (kolarian). deva, god; beings of the subjective side of nature. devachan, a blissful condition in the after-life; heavenly existence. devanagari, the current sanskrit alphabet. dharmasoka, one of the kings of magadha. dhatu, the seven principal substances of the human body --chyle, flesh, blood, fat, bones, marrow, semen. dhyan, contemplation. there are six stages of dhyan, varying in the degrees of abstraction of the ego from sensuous life. dhyan chohans, devas or gods planetary spirits. dik, space. diksha, initiation. dosha, fault. dravidians, a group of tribes inhabiting southern india. dravya, substance. dugpas, the "red caps," evil magicians, belonging to the left-hand path of occultism, so called in tibet. dukkhu, pain. dwija brahman, twice born; the investiture with the sacred thread constitutes the second birth. elementals, generic name for all subjective beings other than disembodied human creatures. epopta, greek for seer. fakir, a mahomedan recluse or yogi. fan, bar-nang, space, eternal law. fohat, tibetan for sakti; cosmic force or energizing power of the universe. fravashem, absolute spirit. gaudapada, a celebrated brahmanical teacher, the author of commentaries on the sankhya karika, mundukya upanishad, &c. gayatri, the holiest verse of the vedas. gehs, parsi prayers. gelugpas, "yellow caps," the true magi and their school, so called in tibet. gnansaki, the power of true knowledge, one of the six forces. gujarathi, the vernacular dialect of gujrat, a province of western india. gunas, qualities, properties. gunava, endowed with qualities. guru, spiritual preceptor. ha, a magic syllable used in sacred formula; represents the power of akasa sakti. hangsa, a mystic syllable standing for evolution, it literally means "i am he." hatha yog, a system of physical training to obtain psychic powers, the chief feature of this system being the regulation of breath. hierophants, the high priests. hina-yana, lowest form of transmigration of the buddhist. hiong-thsang, the celebrated chinese traveler whose writings contain the most interesting account of india of the period. hwun, spirit; the seventh principle in man (chinese). ikhir bongo, spirit of the deep of the kolarian tribes. indriya, or deha sanyama, control over the senses. "isis" ("isis unveiled"), book written by madame blavatsky on the esoteric doctrine. iswara, personal god, lord, the spirit in man, the divine principle in its active nature or condition, one of the four states of brahma. itchasakti, will power; force of desire; one of the six forces of nature. itchcha, will. ivabhavat, the one substance. jagrata, waking. jagrata avasta, the waking state; one of the four aspects of pranava. jains, a religious sect in india closely related to the buddhists. jambudvipa, one of the main divisions of the world, including india, according to the ancient brahminical system. janaka, king of videha, a celebrated character in the indian epic of ramayana. he was a great royal sage. janwas, gross form of matter. japa, mystical practice of the yogi, consisting of the repetition of certain formula. jevishis, will; karma rupa; fourth principle. jiva or karana sarira, the second principle of man; life. jivatma, the human spirit, seventh principle in the microcosm. jnanam, knowledge. jnanendrayas, the five channels of knowledge. jyotisham jyotih, the light of lights, the supreme spirit, so called in the upanishads. kabala, ancient mystical jewish books. kaliyuga, the last of the four ages in which the evolutionary period of man is divided. it began , years b.c. kalpa, the period of cosmic activity; a day of brahma, , million years. kama loka, abode of desire, the first condition through which a human entity passes in its passage, after death, to devachan. it corresponds to purgatory. kama, lust, desire, volition; the hindu cupid. kamarupa, the principle of desire in man; the fourth principle. kapila, the founder of one of the six principal systems of indian philosophy--viz., the sankhya. karans, great festival of the kolarian tribes in honour of the sun spirit. karana sarira, the causal body; avidya; ignorance; that which is the cause of the evolution of a human ego. karma, the law of ethical causation; the effect of an act for the attainment of an object of personal desire, merit and demerit. karman, action; attributes of linga sarira. kartika, the indian god of war, son or siva and parvati; he is also the personification of the power of the logos. kasi, another name for the sacred city of benares. keherpas, aerial form; third principle. khanda period, a period of vedic literature. khi (lit, breath); the spiritual ego; the sixth principle in man (chinese). kiratarjuniya of bkaravi, a sanskrit epic, celebrating the encounters of arjuna, one of this heroes of the maha-bharata with the god siva, disguised as a forester. kols, one of the tribes in central india. kriyasakti, the power of thought; one of the six forces in nature. kshatriya, the second of the four castes into which the hindu nation was originally divided. kshetrajnesvara, embodied spirit, the conscious ego in its highest manifestation. kshetram, the great abyss of the kabbala; chaos; yoni, prakriti; space. kumbhaka, retention of breath, regulated according to the system of hatha yoga. kundalinisakti, the power of life; one of the six forces of nature. kwer shans, chinese for third principle; the astral body. lama-gylongs, pupils of lamas. lao-teze, a chinese reformer. macrocosm, universe. magi, fire worshippers; the great magicians or wisdom- philosophers of old. maha-bharata, the celebrated indian epic poem. mahabhashya, a commentary on the grammar of panini by patanjali. mahabhautic, belonging to the macrocosmic principles. mahabhutas, gross elementary principles. mahaparinibbana sutta, one of the most authoritative of the buddhist sacred writings. maha sunyata, space or eternal law; the great emptiness. mahat, buddhi; the first product of root-nature and producer of ahankara (egotism), and manas (thinking principle). mahatma, a great soul; an adept in occultism of the highest order. mahavanso, a buddhist historical work written by the bhikshu mohanama, the uncle of king dhatusma. maha-yug, the aggregate of four yugas, or ages-- , , years--in the brahmanical system. manas, the mind, the thinking principle; the fifth principle in the septenary division. manas sanyama, perfect concentration of the mind; control over the mind. manomaya kosha, third sheath of the divine monad, vedantic equivalent for fourth and fifth principles. mantra period, one of the four periods into which vedic literature has been divided. mantra sastra, brahmanical writings on the occult science of incantations. mantra tantra shastras, works on incantation and magic. manu, the great indian legislator. manvantara, the outbreathing of the creative principle; the period of cosmic activity between two pralayas. maruts, the wind gods. mathadhipatis, heads of different religious institutions in india. matras, the quantity of a sanskrit syllable. matrikasakti, the power of speech, one of six forces in nature. matsya puranas, one of the puranas. maya, illusion, is the cosmic power which renders phenomenal existence possible. mayavic upadhi, the covering of illusion, phenomenal appearance. mayavirupa, the "double;" "doppelganger;" "perisprit." mazdiasnian, zoroastrian (lit. "worshiping god"). microcosm, man. mobeds, zoroastrian priests. monad, the spiritual soul, that which endures through all changes of objective existence. moneghar, the headman of a village. morya, one of time royal houses of magadha; also the name of a rajpoot tribe. mukta, liberated; released from conditional existence. mukti. see mukta. mula-prakriti, undifferentiated cosmic matter; the unmanifested cause and substance of all being. mumukshatwa, desire for liberation. nabhichakram, the seat of the principle of desire, near the umbilicus. najo, witch. nanda (king), one of the kings of magadha. narayana, in mystic symbology it stands for the life principle. nava nidhi, the nine jewels, or consummation of spiritual development. neophyte, a candidate for initiation into the mysteries of adeptship. nephesh, one of the three souls, according to the kabala; first three principles in the human septenary. neschamah, one of the three souls, according to the kabala; seventh principle in the human septenary. nirguna, unbound; without gunas or attributes; the soul in its state of essential purity is so called. nirvana, beautitude, abstract spiritual existence, absorption into all. niyashes, parsi prayers. noumena, the true essential nature of being, as distinguished from the illusive objects of sense. nous, spirit, mind; platonic term, reason. nyaya philosophy, a system of hindu logic founded by gautuma. occultism, the study of the mysteries of nature and the development of the psychic powers latent in man. okhema, vehicle; platonic term for body. padarthas, predicates of existing things, so called in the "vaiseshikha," or atomic system of philosophy, founded by kanad (sanskrit). padma sana, a posture practised by some indian mystics it consists in sitting with the legs crossed one over the other and the body straight. pahans, village priests. panchakosha, the five sheaths in which is enclosed the divine monad. panchikrita, developed into the five gross elements. parabrahm, the supreme principle in nature; the universal spirit. paramarthika, one of the three states of existence according to vedanta; the true, the only real one. paramatma, time supreme spirit, one of the six forces of nature; the great force. parasakti, intellectual apprehension of a truth. pataliputra, the ancient capital of the kingdom magadha, in eastern india, a city identified with the modern patna. patanjali, the author of "yoga philosophy," one of the six orthodox systems of india and of the mahabhashya. peling, the name given to europeans in tibet. phala, retribution; fruit or results of causes. pho, animal soul. pisacham, fading remnants of human beings in the state of kama loka; shells or elementaries. piyadasi, another name for asoka (q.v.) plaster or plantal, platonic term for the power which moulds the substances of the universe into suitable forms. popol-vuh, the sacred book of the guatemalans. poseidonis, the last island submerged of the continent of atlantis. pracheta, the principle of water. pragna, consciousness. prajapatis, the constructors of the material universe. prakriti, undifferentiated matter; the supreme principle regarded as the substance of the universe. pralaya, the period of cosmic rest. prameyas, things to be proved, objects of pramana or proof. prana, the one life. pranamaya kosha, the principle of life and its vehicle; the second sheath of the divine monad (vedantic). pranatman, the eternal or germ thread on which are strung, like beads, the personal lives. the same as sutratma. pratibhasika, the apparent or illusory life. pratyaksha, perception. pretya-bhava, the state of an ego under the necessity of repeated births. punarjanmam, power of evolving objective manifestation; rebirth. puraka, in-breathing, regulated according to the system of hatha yoga. puranas (lit. "old writings"). a collection of symbolical brahmanical writings. they are eighteen in number, and are supposed to have been composed by vyasa, the author of the mahabharata. purusha, spirit. rajas, the quality of foulness; passionate activity. rajarshi, a king-adept. raj yoga, the true science of the development of psychic powers and union with the supreme spirit. rakshasas, evil spirits; literally, raw-eaters. ramayana, an epic poem describing the life of rama, a deified indian hero. ram mohun roy, the well-known indian reformer, died . rechaka, out-breathing, regulated according to the system of hatha yoga. rig veda, the first of the vedas. rishabham, the zodiacal sign taurus, the sacred syllable aum. rishis (lit. "revealers"), holy sages. ruach, one of the souls, according to the kabala; second three principles in the human septenary. sabda, the logos or word. saketa, the capital of the ancient indian kingdom of ayodhya. sukshma sariram, the subtile body. sakti, the crown of the astral light; the power of nature. sakuntala, a sanskrit drama by kalidasa. samadhana, incapacity to diverge from the path of spiritual progress. sama, repression of mental perturbations. samadhi, state of ecstatic trance. samanya, community or commingling of qualities. samma-sambuddha, perfect illumination. samvat, an indian era which, is usually supposed to have commenced b.c. sankaracharya, the great expositor of the monistic vedanta philosophy, which denies the personality of the divine principle, and affirms its unity with the spirit of man. sankhya karika, a treatise containing the aphorisms of kapila, the founder of the sankhya system, one of the six schools of hindu philosophy. sankhya yog, the system of yog as set forth by sankhya philosophers. sannyasi, a hindu, ascetic whose mind is steadfastly fixed upon the supreme truth. sarira, body. sat, the real, purusha. sattwa, purity. satva, goodness. satya loka, the abode of truth, one of the subjective spheres in our solar system. shamanism, spirit worship; the oldest religion of mongolia. siddhasana, one of the postures enjoined by the system of hatha yoga. siddhi, abnormal power obtained by spiritual development. sing bonga, sun spirit of the kolarian tribes. siva, one of the hindu gods, with brahma and vishnu, forming the trimurti or trinity; the principle of destruction. sivite, a worshipper of siva, the name of a sect among the hindus. skandhas, the impermanent elements which constitute a man. slokas, stanzas (sanskrit). smriti, legal and ceremonial writings of the hindus. soham, mystic syllable representing involution; lit. "that am i." soonium, a magical ceremony for the purpose of removing a sickness from one person to another. soorya, the sun. souramanam, a method of calculating time. space, akasa; swabhavat (q.v.) sraddha, faith. sravana, receptivity, listening. sthula-sariram, the gross physical body. sukshmopadhi, fourth and fifth principles (raja yoga.) sunyata, space; nothingness. suras, elementals of a beneficent order; gods. surpa, winnower. suryasiddhanta, a sanskrit treatise on astronomy. sushupti avastha, deep sleep; one of the four aspects of pranava. sutra period, one of the periods into which vedic literature has been divided. sutratman, (lit. "the thread spirit,") the immortal individuality upon which are strung our countless personalities. svabhavat, akasa; undifferentiated primary matter; prakriti. svapna, dreamy condition, clairvoyance. swami (lit. "a master"), the family idol. swapna avastha, dreaming state; one of the four aspects of pranava. tama, indifference, dullness. tamas, ignorance, or darkness. tanha, thirst; desire for life, that which produces re-birth. tanmatras, the subtile elements, the abstract counterpart of the five elements, earth, water, fire, air and ether, consisting of smell, taste, feeling, sight and sound. tantras, works on magic. tantrika, ceremonies connected with the worship of the goddess sakti, who typifies force. taraka yog, one of the brahmanical systems for the development of psychic powers and attainment of spiritual knowledge. tatwa, eternally existing "that;" the different principles in nature. tatwams, the abstract principles of existence or categories, physical and metaphysical. telugu, a language spoken in southern india. tesshu lama, the head of the tibetan church. the laws of upasanas, chapter in the book iv. of kui-te on the rules for aspirants for chelaship. theodidaktos (lit. "god taught "), a school of philosophers in egypt. theosophy, the wisdom-religion taught in all ages by the sages of the world. tikkun, adam kadmon, the ray from the great centre. titiksha, renunciation. toda, a mysterious tribe in india that practise black magic. tridandi, (tri, "three," danda, "chastisement"), name of brahmanicai thread. trimurti, the indian trinity--brahma, vishnu and siva, creator, preserver and destroyer. turiya avastha, the state of nirvana. tzong-ka-pa, celebrated buddhist reformer of tibet, who instituted the order of gelugpa lamas. universal monas, the universal spirit. upadana karnam, the material cause of an effect. upadhis, bases. upamiti, analogy. upanayana, investiture with the brahmanical thread. upanishads, brahmanical scriptures appended to the vedas, containing the esoteric doctrine of the brahmans. upanita, one who is invested with the brahmanical thread (lit. "brought to a spiritual teacher"). uparati, absence of out-going desires. urvanem, spiritual ego; sixth principle. ushtanas, vital force; second principle. vach, speech; the logos; the mystic word. vaishyas, cattle breeders artisans; the third caste among the hindus. vakya sanyama, control over speech. varuna or pracheta, the neptune of india. vasishta, a great indian sage, one of those to whom the rig veda was revealed in part. vata, air. vayu, the wind. vayu puranas, one of the puranas. vedantists, followers of the vedanta school of philosophy, which is divided into two branches, monists and dualists. vedas, the most authoritative of the hindu scriptures. the four oldest sacred books--rig, yajur, sama and atharva--revealed to the rishis by brahma. vedic, pertaining to the vedas. vidya, secret knowledge. vija, the primitive germ which expands into the universe. vijnana-maya-kosha, the sheath of knowledge; the fourth sheath of the divine monad; the fifth principle in man (vedanta). viraj, the material universe. vishnu, the second member of the hindu trinity; the principle of preservation. vishnuite or vishuvite, a worshiper of vishnu, the name of a sect among the hindus. vrishalas, outcasts. vyasa, the celebrated rishi, who collected and arranged the vedas in their present form. vyavaharika, objective existence; practical. yajna sutra, the name of the brahmanical thread. yama, law, the god of death. yashts, the parsi prayer-books. yasna, religious book of the parsis. yasodhara, the wife of buddha. yavanacharya, the name given to pythagoras in the indian books. yavanas, the generic name given by the brahmanas to younger peoples. yoga sutras, a treatise on yoga philosophy by patanjali. yog vidya, the science of yoga; the practical method of uniting one's own spirit with the universal spirit. yogis, mystics, who develop themselves according to the system of patanjali's "yoga philosophy." yudhishthira, the eldest of the five brothers, called pandavas, whose exploits are celebrated in the great sanskrit epic "mahabharata." zend, the sacred language of ancient persia. zhing, subtle matter; kama rupa, or fourth principle (chinese). zoroaster, the prophet of the parsis. the crest-wave of evolution a course of lectures in history, given to the graduates' class in the raja-yoga college, point loma, in the college-year - .* by kenneth morris contents i. introduction ii. homer iii. greeks and persians iv. aeschylus and athens v. some periclean figures vi. socrates and plato vii. the mauryas of india viii. the black-haired people ix. the dragon and the blue pearl x. "such a one" xi. confucius the hero xii. tales from a taoist teacher xiii. mang the philosopher, and butterfly chwang xiv. the manvantara opens xv. some possible epochs in sanskrit literature xvi. the beginnings of rome xvii. rome parvenue xviii. augustus xix. an imperial sacrifice xx. china and rome: the see-saw xxi. china and rome: the see-saw (continued) xxii. eastward ho! xxiii. "the dragon, the apostate, the great mind" xxiv. from julian to bodhidharma xxv. towards the islands of the sunset xxvi. "sacred ierne of the hibernians" xxvii. the irish illumination ------------ * serialized in _theosophical path_ in chapters from march, through july, . ----------- i. introductory these lectures will not be concerned with history as a record of wars and political changes; they will have little to tell of battles, murders, and sudden deaths. instead, we shall try to discover and throw light on the cyclic movements of the human spirit. back of all phenomena, or the outward show of things, there is always a noumenon in the unseen. behind the phenomena of human history, the noumenon is the human spirit, moving in accordance with its own necessities and cyclic laws. we may, if we go to it intelligently, gain some inkling of knowledge as to what those laws are; and i think that would be, in its way, a real wisdom, and worth getting. but for the most part historical study seeks knowledge only; and how it attains its aim, is shown by the falseness of what passes for history. in most textbooks you shall find, probably, a round dozen of lies on as many pages. and these in themselves are fruitful seeds of evil; they by no means end with the telling, but go on producing harvests of wrong life; which indeed is only the lie incarnate on the plane of action. the eternal _right thing_ is what is called in sanskrit sat, the true; it opposite is the lie, in one fashion or another, always; and what we have to do, our mission and _raison d'etre_ as students of theosophy, is to put down the lie at every turn, and chase it, as far as we may, out of the field of life. for example, there is the superior-race lie: i do not know where it shall not be found. races a, b, c, and d go on preaching it for centuries; each with an eye to its sublime self. in all countries, perhaps, history is taught with that lie for mental background. then we wonder that there are wars. but theosophy is called onto provide a true mental background for historical study; and it alone can do so. it is the mission of point loma, among many other things, to float a true philosophy of history on to the currents of world-thought: and for this end it is our business to be thinkers, using the divine manasic light within us to some purpose. h.p. blavatsky supplied something much greater than a dogma: she--like plato --gave the world a method and a spur to thought: pointed for it a direction, which following, it might solve all problems and heal the wounds of the ages. a false and foolish notion in the western world has been, tacitly to accept the greeks and hebrews of old for the two fountains of all culture since; the one in secular matter, the other in religion and morality. of the hebrews nothing need be said here; but that true religion and morality have their source in the ever-living human spirit, not in any sect, creed, race, age, or bible. i doubt there has been any new discovery in ethics since man was man; or rather, all discoveries have been made by individuals for themselves; and each, having discovered anything, has found that that same principle was discovered a thousand times before, and written a thousand times. there is no platitude so platitudinous, but it remains to burst upon the perceptions of all who have not yet perceived it, as a new and burning truth; and on the other hand, there is no startling command to purity or compassion, that has not been given out by teachers since the world began.--as for greece, there was a brilliant flaming up of the spirit there in the fourth and fifth centuries b.c.; and its intensity, like the lights of an approaching automobile, rather obscures what lies beyond. it is the first of which we have much knowledge; so we think it was the first of all. but in fact civilization has been traveling its cyclic path all the time, all these millions of years; and there have been hundreds of ancient great empires and cultural epochs even in europe of which we know nothing. i had intended to begin with greece; but these unexplored eras of old europe are too attractive, and this first lecture must go to them, or some of them. not to the antecedents of greece, in crete and elsewhere; but to the undiscovered north; and in particular to the celtic peoples; who may serve us as an example by means of which light may be thrown on the question of racial growth, and on the racial cycles generally. the celtic empire of old europe affects us like some mysterious undiscovered planet. we know it was there by its effects on other peoples. also, like many other forgotten histories, it has left indications of its achievement in a certain spirit, an uplift, the breath of an old traditional grandeur that has come down. but to give any historical account of it--to get a telescope that will reach and reveal it--we have not to come to that point yet. still, it may be allowed us to experiment with all sorts of glasses. to penetrate that gloom of ancient europe may be quite beyond us; but guessing is permitted. now the true art of guessing lies in an intuition for guiding indications. there is something in us that knows things directly; and it may deign at times to give hints, to direct the researches, to flash some little light on that part of us which works and is conscious in this world, and which we call our brain-minds. so although most or all of what i am going to say would be called by the scientific strictly empirical, fantastic and foolish, yet i shall venture; aware that their aristotelio-baconian method quite breaks down when it comes to such a search into the unknown; and that this guessing, guided by what seems to be a law, would not, perhaps, have been sneered at by plato. guided by what seems to be a law;--guided, at any rate, by the knowledge that there are laws; that "god geometrizes," as plato says: that which is within flows outward upon a design; that life precipitates itself through human affairs as it does through the forms of the crystals; that there is nothing more haphazard about the sequence of empires and civilizations, than there is about the unfolding of petals of a flower. in both cases it is the eternal rhythm, the poetry of the infinite, that manifests; our business is to listen so carefully as to hear, and apprehend the fact that what we hear is a poetry, a vast music, not a chaotic cacophony: catch the rhythms--perceive that there is a design--even if it takes us long to discover what the design may be. you know plato's idea that the world is a dodecahedron or twelve-sided figure. now in plato's day, much that every schoolboy knows now, was esoteric--known only to the initiated. so i think plato would have known well enough that this physical earth is round; and that what he meant when he spoke of the dodecahedron, was something else. this, for example: that on the plane of causes--this outer plane being that of effects --there are twelve (geographical) centers, aspects, foci, facets, or what you like to call them: twelve _laya centers,_ as i think the secret doctrine would say: through which the forces from within play on the world without. you have read, too, in _the secret doctrine,_ professor crooke's theory, endorsed by h.p. blavatsky, as to how the chemical elements were deposited by a spiral evolutive force, a creative impulse working outward in the form of a caduceus or lemniscate, or figure ' .' now suppose we should discover that just as that force deposited in space, in its spiral down-working, what crookes calls the seeds of potassium, beryllium, boron, and the rest--so such another creative force, at work on the planes of geographical space and time, rouses up or deposits in these, according to a definite pattern, this nation and that in its turn, this great age of culture after that one; and that there is nothing hap-hazard about the configuration of continents and islands, national boundaries, or racial migrations? h.p. blavatsky tells us that the whole past history of the race is known to the guardians of the secret wisdom; that it is all recorded, nothing lost; down to the story of every tribe since the lords of mind incarnated. and that these records are in the form of a few symbols; but symbols which, to those who can interpret or disintegrate them, can yield the whole story. what if the amount of the burden of history, which seems so vast to us who know so very little of it, were in reality, if we could know it all, a thing that would put but slight tax on the memory; a thing we might carry with us in a few slight formulae, a few simple symbols? i believe that it is so; and that we may make a beginning, and go some little way towards guessing what these formulae are. as thus: a given race flowered and passed; it had so many centuries of history before its flowering; it died, and left something behind. greece, for example. we may know very little --you and i may know very little--of the details of greek history. we cannot, perhaps, remember the date of aegospotami, or what happened at plataea: we may have the vaguest notion of the import of aeschylus, or sophocles, or plato. but still there is a certain color in our conscious perceptions which comes from greece: the 'glory that was greece' means something, is a certain light within the consciousness, to everyone of us. the greeks added something to the wealth of the human spirit, which we all may share in, and do. an atmosphere is left, which surrounds and adheres to the many tangible memorials; just as an atmosphere is left by the glories of the cinquecento in italy, with its many tangible memorials. but indeed, we may go further, and say that an atmosphere is left, and that we can feel it, by many ages and cultures which have left no tangible memorials at all; or but few and uninterpretable ones, like the celtic. and that each has developed some mood, some indefinable inward color--which we perceive and inherit. each different: you cannot mistake the chinese or the celtic color for the greek; thought it might be hard to define your perception of either, or of their difference. it would be hard to say, for instance, that this one was crimson, the other blue; not quite so hard to say that this one affects us as crimson does, that other as blue does. and yet we can see, i think, that by chasing our impressions to their source, there might be some way of presenting them in symbolic form. there might be some way of reducing what we feel from the greeks, or chinese, or celts, into a word, a sentence; of writing it down even in a single hieroglyph, of which the elements would be such as should convey to something in us behind the intellect just the indefinable feeling either of these people give us. in the chinese writing, with all its difficulty, there is something superior to our alphabets: an element that appeals to the soul directly, or to the imagination directly, i think. suppose you found a chinese ideogram--of course there is no such a one--to express the forgotten celtic culture; and it proved in analysis, to be composed of the signs for twilight, wind, and pine trees; or wind, night, and wild waters; with certain other elements which not the brain-mind, but the creative soul, would have to supply. in such a symbol there would be an appeal to the imagination--that great wizard within us--to rise up and supply us with quantities of knowledge left unsaid. indeed, i am but trying to illustrate an idea, possibilities.... i think there is a power within the human soul to trace back all growths, the most profuse and complex, to the simple seed from which they sprung; or, just as a single rose or pansy bloom is the resultant, the expression, of the interaction and interplay of innumerable forces--so the innumerable forces whose interaction makes the history of one race, one culture, could find their ultimate expression in a symbol as simple as a pansy or rose bloom--color, form and fragrance. so each national great age would be a flower evolved in the garden of the eternal; and once evolved, once bloomed, it should never pass away; the actual blossom withers and falls; but the color, the form, the fragrance,--these remain in the world of causes. and just as you might press a flower in an album, or make a painting of it, and preserve its scent by chemical distillation or what not--and thereby preserve the whole story of all the forces that went to the production of that bloom--and they are, i suppose, in number beyond human computation--so you might express the history of a race in a symbol as simple as a bloom... and that there is a power, an unfolding faculty, in the soul, which, seeing such a symbol, could unravel from it, by meditation, the whole achievement of the race; its whole history, down to details; yes, even down to the lives of every soul that incarnated in it: their personal lives, with all successes, failures, attempts, everything. because, for example, the light which comes down to us as that of ancient greece is the resultant, the remainder of all the forces in all the lives of all individual greeks, as these were played on by the conditions of place and time. time:--at such and such a period, the mood of the oversoul is such and such. place:--the temporal mood of the oversoul, playing through that particular facet of the dodecahedron, which is greece. the combinations and interplay of these two, plus the energies for good or evil of the souls there incarnate, give as their resultant the whole life of the race. there is perhaps a high algebra of the soul by which, if we understood its laws, we could revive the history of any past epoch, discover its thought and modes of living, as we discover the value of the unknown factor in an equation. pythagoras must have his pupils understand music and geometry; and by music he intended, all the arts, every department of life that came under the sway of the nine muses. why?--because, as he taught, god is poet and geometer. chaos is only on the outer rim of existence; as you get nearer the heart of thing, order and rhythm, geometry and poetry, are more and more found. chaos is only in our own chaotic minds and perceptions: train these aright, and you shall hear the music of the spheres, perceive the reign of everlasting law. these impulses from the oversoul, that create the great epochs, raising one race after another, have perfect rhythm and rhyme. god sits harping in the cycle of infinity, and human history is the far faint echo of the tune he plays. why can we not listen, till we hear and apprehend the tune? or history is the sound heard from far, of the marching hosts of angels and archangels; the cyclic tread of their battalions; the thrill and rumble and splendor of their drums and fifes:--why should we not listen till the whole order of their cohorts and squadrons is revealed?--i mean to suggest that there are laws, undiscovered, but discoverable--discoverable from the fragments of history we possess--by knowing which we might gain knowledge, even without further material discoveries, of the lost history of man. without moving from point loma, or digging up anything more important that hard-pan, we may yet make the most important finds, and throw floods of light on the whole dark problem of the past. h.p. blavatsky gave us the clews; we owe it to her to use them. now i want to suggest a few ideas along these lines that may throw light on ancient europe; of which orthodox history tells us of nothing but the few centuries of greece and rome. as if the people of three thousand years hence should know, of the history of christendom, only that of italy from garibaldi onward, and that of greece beginning, say, at the second balkan war. that is the position we are in with regard to old europe. very like spain, france, britain, germany and scandinavia played as great parts in the millennia b.c., as they have done in the times we know about. all analogy from the other seats of civilization is for it; all racial memories and traditions--tradition is racial memory--are for it; and i venture to say, all reason and common sense are for it too. now i have to remind you of certain conclusions worked out in an article 'cyclic law in history,' which appeared some time back in _the theosophical path:_--that there are, for example, three great centers of historical activity in the old world: china and her surroundings; west asia and egypt; europe. perhaps these are major facets of the dodecahedron. perhaps again, were the facts in our knowledge not so desperately incomplete, we should find, as in the notes and colors, a set of octaves: that each of these centers was a complete octave, and each phase or nation a note. do you see where these leads? supposing the note _china_ is struck in the far eastern octave; would there not be a vibration of some corresponding note in the octave europe? supposing the octave _west asia_ were under the fingers of the great player, would not the corresponding note in europe vibrate? now let us look at history. right on the eastern rim of the old world is the chino-japanese field of civilization. it has been, until lately, under pralaya, in a night or inactive period of its existence, for something over six centuries: a beautiful pralaya in the case of japan; a rather ugly one, recently, in the case of china. right on the western rim of the old world are the remnants of the once great celtic people. europe at large has been very much in manvantara, a day or waking period, for a little over six hundred years. yet of the four racial roots or stocks of europe, the greco-latin, teutonic, slavic, and celtic, the last-named alone has been under pralaya, sound asleep, during the whole of this time. let me interject here the warning that it is no complete scheme that is to be offered; only a few facts that suggest that such a scheme may exist, could we find it. before europe awoke to her present cycle of civilization and progress, before the last quarter of the thirteenth century, the chinese had been in manvantara, very much awake, for about fifteen hundred years. when they went to sleep, the celts did also. i pass by with a mere note of recognition the two dragons, the one on the chinese, the other on the welsh flag; just saying that national symbols are not chose haphazard, but are an expression of inner things; and proceed to give you the dates of all the important events in chinese and celtic, chiefly welsh, history during the last two thousand years. in the chinese threw off the manchu yoke and established a native republic. in the british government first recognized wales as a separate nationality, when the heir to the throne was invested as prince of wales at carnarvon. within a few years a bill was passed giving home rule to ireland; and national parliaments at dublin and at cardiff are said to be among the likelihoods of the near future. the eighteenth century, for manvantara, was a singularly dead time in europe; but in china, for pralaya, it was a singularly living time, being filled with the glorious reigns of the manchu emperors kanghu and kien lung. in wales it saw the religious revival which put a stop to the utter anglicization of the country, saved the language from rapid extinction, and awakened for the first time for centuries a sort of national consciousness. going back, the first great emperor we come to in china before the manchu conquest, was ming yunglo, conqueror of half asia. his contemporary in wales was owen glyndwr, who succeeded in holding the country against the english for a number of years; there had been no welsh history between glyndwr and the religious revival. in or thereabouts the mongols completed the conquest of china, and dealt her then flourishing civilization a blow from which it never really recovered. about twenty years later the english completed the conquest of wales, and dealt her highly promising literary culture a blow from which it is only now perhaps beginning to recover. in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries the great sung artists of china were painting infinity or their square feet of silk: painting natural magic as it has never been painted or revealed since. in those same centuries the welsh bards were writing the natural magic of the mabinogion, one of the chief european repositories of natural magic; and filling a remarkable poetical literature with the same quality:--and that before the rest of europe had, for the most part, awakened to the spiritual impulses that lead to civilization. in the seventh and eighth centuries, when continental europe was in the dead vast and middle of pralaya, chinese poetry, under tang hsuan-tsong and his great predecessors, was in its golden age--a golden age comparable to that of pericles in athens. in the seventh and eighth centuries, ireland was sending out scholars and thinkers as missionaries to all parts of benighted europe: ireland in her golden age, the one highly cultured country in christendom, was producing a glorious prose and poetry in the many universities that starred that then by no means distressful island. in , china, after a couple of centuries of anarchy, began to re-establish her civilization on the banks of the yangtse. in , the britons finally threw off the roman yoke, and the first age of welsh poetry, the epoch of arthur and taliesin, which has been the light of romantic europe ever since, began. does it not seem as if that great far eastern note could not be struck without this little far western note vibrating in sympathy? very faintly; not in a manner to be heard clearly by the world; because in historical times the celtic note has been as it were far up on the keyboard, and never directly under the master-musician's fingers. and when you add to it all that this celtic note has come in the minds of literary critics rather to stand as the synonym for natural magic--you all know what is meant by that term;--and that now, as we are discovering the old chinese poetry and painting, we are finding that natural magic is really far more chinese than celtic--that where we celts have vibrated to it minorly, the great chinese gave it out fully and grandly--does it not add to the piquancy of the 'coincidence?' now there is no particular reason for doubting the figures of chinese chronology as far back as b.c. our western authorities do doubt all before about ; but it is hard to see why, except that 'it is their nature to.' the chinese give the year as the date of the accession of the emperor yao, first of the three canonized rulers who have been the patriarchs, saints, sages, and examples for all ages since. in that decade a manvantara of the race would seem to have begun, which lasted through the dynasties of hia and shang, and halfway through the chow, ending about . during this period, then, i think presently we shall come to place the chief activities and civilization of the celts. from to --all these figures are of course approximations: there was pralaya in china; on the other side of the world, it was the period of celtic eruptions--and probably, disruption. while tsin shi hwangti, from to , was establishing the modern chinese empire, the gauls made their last incursion into italy. the culmination of the age shi hwangti inaugurated came in the reign of han wuti, traditionally the most glorious in the chines annals. it lasted from to b.c.; nor was there any decline under his successor, who reigned until . in the middle of that time--the last decade of the second century--the cimbri, allied with the teutones, made their incursion down into spain. opinion is divided as to whether this people was celtic or teutonic; but probably the old view is the true one, that the word is akin to cimerii, crimea, and cymry, and that they were welshmen in their day. when caesar was in gaul, the people he conquered had much to say about their last great king. diviciacos, whose dominions included gaul and britain; they looked back to his reign as a period of great splendor and national strength. he lived, they said, about a hundred years before caesar's coming--or was contemporary with han wuti. but the empire of the celtic kings was already far fallen, before it was confined to gaul, britain, and perhaps ireland. when first we see this people they were winning a name for fickleness of purpose: making conquests and throwing them away; which things are the marks of a race declining from a high eminence it had won of old through hard work and sound policy. we shall come to see that personal or outward characteristics can never be posited as inherent in any race. such things belong to ages and stages in the race's growth. whatever you can say of englishmen, frenchmen, germans, now, has been totally untrue of them at some other period. we think of the italians as passionate, subtle of intellect, above all things artistic and beauty-loving. now look at them as they were three centuries b.c.: plodding, self- contained and self-mastered, square-dealing and unsubtle, above all things contemning beauty, wholly inartistic. but a race may retain the same traits for a very long time, if it remains in a back-water, and is unaffected by the currents of evolution. so we may safely say of the celts that the fickleness for which they were famed in roman times was not a racial, but a temporal or epochal defect. they were not fickle when they held out (in wales) for eight centuries against the barbarian onslaughts which brought the rest of the roman empire down in two or three; or when they resisted for two hundred years those normans who had conquered the anglo-saxons in a decade. this very quality, in old welsh literature, is more than once given as a characteristic of extreme age; "i am old, bent double; i am fickly rash." says llywarch hen. i think that gives the clew to the whole position. the race was at the end of its manvantaric period; the race soul had lost control of the forces that bound its organism together; centrifugalism had taken the place of the centripetal impulse that marks the cycles of youth and growth. it had eaten into individual character; whence the tendency to fly off at tangents. we see the same thing in any decadent people; by which i mean, any people at the end of one of its manvantaras, and on the verge of a pralaya. and remember that a pralaya, like a night's rest or the devachanic sleep between two lives, is simply a means for restoring strength and youth. how great the celtic nations had been in their day, and what settled and civilized centuries lay behind them, one may gather from two not much noticed facts. first: caesar, conqueror of the roman world and of pompey, the greatest roman general of the day, landed twice in britain, and spent a few weeks there without accomplishing anything in particular. but it was the central seat and last stronghold of the celts; and his greatest triumph was accorded him for this feat; and he was prouder of it than anything else he ever did. he set it above his victories over pompey. second: the gauls, in the first century b.c., were able to put in the field against him three million men: not so far short of the number france has been able to put in the field in the recent war. napoleon could hardly, i suppose, have raised such an army--in france. caesar is said to have killed some five million gauls before he conquered them. by ordinary computations, that would argue a population of some thirty millions in the gaulish half of the kingdom of diviciacos a century after the latter's death; and even if that computation is too high, it leaves the fact irrefutable that there was a very large population; and a large population means always a long and settled civilization. diviciacos ruled only gaul and britain; possible ireland as well; he may have been a gaul, a briton, or an irishman; very likely there was not much difference in those days. it will be said i am leaving out of account much that recent scholarship has divulged; i certainly am leaving out of account a great many of the theories of recent scholarship, which for the most part make confusion worse confounded. but we know that the lands held by the celts--let us boldly say, with many of the most learned, the celtic empire--was vastly larger in its prime than the british isles and france. its eastern outpost was galatia in asia minor. you may have read in _the outlook_ some months ago an article by a learned serbian, in which he claims that the jugo-slavs of the balkans, his countrymen, are about half celtic; the product of the fusion of slavic in-comers, perhaps conquerors, with an original celtic population. bohemia was once the land of the celtic boii; and we may take it as an axiom, that no conquest, no racial incursion, ever succeeds in wiping out the conquered people; unless there is such wide disparity, racial and cultural, as existed, for example, between the white settlers in america and the indians. there are forces in human nature itself which make this absolute. the conquerors may quite silence the conquered; may treat them with infinite cruelty; may blot out all their records and destroy the memory of their race; but the blood of the conquered will go on flowing through all the generation of the children of the conquerors, and even, it seems probable, tend ever more and more to be the prevalent element. the celts, then, at one time or another, have held the following lands: britain and ireland, of course; gaul and spain; switzerland and italy north of the po; germany, except perhaps some parts of prussia; denmark probably, which as you know was called the cimbric chersonese; the austrian empire, with the balkan peninsula north of macedonia, epirus and thrace, and much of southern russia and the lands bordering the black sea. further back, it seems probable that they and the italic people were one race; whose name survives in that of the province of liguria, and in the welsh name for england, which is lloegr. so that in the reign of diviciacos their empire had already shrunk to the meerest fragment of its former self. it had broken and shrunk before we get the first historical glimpses of them; before they sacked delphi in b.c.: before their ambassadors made a treaty with alexander; and replied to his question as to what they feared: "nothing except that the skies should fall." before they sacked rome in . all these historic eruptions were the mere sporadic outburst of a race long past its prime and querulous with old age, i think two thousand years of severe pralaya, almost complete extinction, utter insignificance and terrible karma awaited them; and we only see them, pardon the expression, kicking up their heels in a final plunge as a preparation for that long silence. some time back i discussed these historical questions, particularly the correspondence between celtic and chinese dates, with dr. siren and professor fernholm; and they pointed out to me a similar correspondence between the dates of scandinavian and west asian history. i can remember but one example now: gustavus vasa, father of modern sweden, founder of the present monarchy, came to the throne in and died in . the last great epoch of the west asian cycle coincides, in the west, and reign of suleyman the magnificent in turkey, from to . at its eastern extremity, babar founded the mogul empire in india in ; he reigned until . on the death of aurangzeb in , the moguls ceased to be a great power; the battle of pultowa, in , put an end to sweden's military greatness. it is interesting to compare the earliest celtic literature we have, with the earliest literature of the race which was to be the main instrument of celtic bad karma in historical times--the teutons. here, as usual, common impressions are false. it is the latter, the teutonic, that is in the minor key, and full of wistful sadness. there is an earnestness about it: a recognition of, and rather mournful acquiescence in, the mightiness of fate, which is imagined almost always adverse. i quote these lines from william morris, who, a celt himself by mere blood and race, lived in and interpreted the old teutonic spirit as no other english writer has attempted to do, mush less succeeded in doing: he is the one teuton of english literature. he speaks of the "haunting melancholy" of the northern races--the "thought of the otherwhere" that "waileth weirdly along through all music and song from a teuton's voice or string: ..." withal it was a brave melancholy that possessed them; they were equal to great deeds, and not easily to be discouraged; they could make merry, too; but in the midst of their merriment, they could not forget grim and hostile fate:-- "there dwelt men merry-hearted and in hope exceeding great, met the good days and the evil as they went the ways of fate." it is literature that reveals the heart of a people who had suffered long, and learnt from their suffering the lessons of patience, humility, continuity of effort: those qualities which enable them, in their coming manvantaric period, to dominate large portions of the world. but when we turn to the celtic remains, the picture we find is altogether different. their literature tells of a people, in the biblical phrase, "with a proud look and a high stomach." it is full of flashing colors, gaiety, titanic pride. there was no grayness, no mournful twilight hue on the horizon of their mind; their 'other-world' was only more dawn-lit, more noon-illumined, than this one; ireland of the living was sun-bright and sparkling and glorious; but the 'great plain' of the dead was far more sun-bright and sparkling than ireland. it is the literature of a people accustomed to victory and predominance. when they began to meet defeat they by no means acquiesced in it. they regarded adverse fate, not with reverence, but with contempt. they saw in sorrow no friend and instructress of the human soul; were at pains to learn no lesson from her; instead, they pitted what was their pride, but what they would have called the glory of their own souls, against her; they made no terms, asked no truce; but went on believing the human--or perhaps i should say the celtic--soul more glorious than fate, stronger to endure and defy than she to humiliate and torment. in many sense it was a fatal attitude, and they reaped the misery of it; but they gained some wealth for the human spirit from it too. the aged oisin has returned from fairyland to find the old glorious order in ireland fallen and passed during the three centuries of his absence. high paganism has gone, and a religion meek, inglorious, and unceltic has taken its mission thereto: tells him the gods are conquered and dead, and that the omnipotent god of the christians reigns alone now.--"i would thy god were set on yonder hill to fight with my son oscar!" replies oisin. patrick paints for him the hell to which he is destined unless he accepts christianity; and oisin answers: "put the staff in my hands! for i go to the fenians, thou cleric, to chant the warsongs that roused them of old; they will rise, making clouds with their breath. innumerable, singing, exultant; and hell underneath them shall pant, and demons be broken in pieces, and trampled beneath them in death." "no," says patrick; "none war on the masters of hell, who could break up the world in their rage"; and bids him weep and kneel in prayer for his lost soul. but that will not do for the old celtic warrior bard; no tame heaven for him. he will go to hell; he will not surrender the pride and glory of his soul to the mere meanness of fate. he will "go to caolte and conan, and bran, sgeolan, lomair and dwell in the house of the fenians, be they in flames or at feast." so with llywarch hen, prince of cumberland, in his old age and desolation. his kingdom has been conquered; he is in exile in wales; his four and twenty sons, "wearers of golden torques, proud rulers of princes," have been slain; he is considerably over a hundred years old, and homeless, and sick; but no whit of his pride is gone. he has learnt no lesson from life excepts this one: that fate and karma and sorrow are not so proud, not so skillful to persecute, as the human soul is capable of bitter resentful endurance. he is titanically angry with destiny; but never meek or acquiescent. then if you look at their laws of war, you come to know very well how this people came to be almost blotted out. if they had a true spiritual purpose, instead of mere personal pride, i should say the world would be celtic-speaking and celtic-governed now. yet still their reliance was all on what we must call spiritual qualities. the first notice we get in classical literature of celts and teutons--i think from strabo--is this: "the celts fight for glory, the teutons for plunder." instead of plunder, let us say material advantage; they knew why they were fighting, and went to get it. but the celtic military laws--don quixote in a fit of extravagance framed them! there must be no defensive armor; the warrior must go bare-breasted into battle. there are a thousand things he must fear more than defeat or death--all that would make the glory of his soul seem less to him. he must make fighting his business, because in his folly it seemed to him that in it he could best nourish that glory; not for what material ends he could gain. pitted against a people--with a definite policy, he was bound to lose in the long run. but still he endowed the human spirit with a certain wealth; still his folly had been a true spiritual wisdom at one time. the french at fontenoy, who cried to their english enemies, when both were about to open fire: _"apres vous, messieurs! "_ were simply practicing the principles of their gaulish forefathers; the thrill of honor, of _'pundonor'_ as the spaniard says, was much more in their eyes than the chance of victory. now, in what condition does a race gain such qualities? not in sorrow; not in defeat, political dependence or humiliation. the virtues which these teach are of an opposite kind; they are what we may call the plebeian virtues which lead to success. but the others, the old celtic qualities, are essentially patrician. you find them in the turks; accustomed to sway subject races, and utterly ruthless in their dealings with them; but famed as clean and chivalrous fighters in a war with foreign peoples. see how the samurai, the patricians of never yet defeated japan, developed them. they are the qualities the law teaches us through centuries of domination and aristocratic life. they are developed in a race accustomed to rule other races; a race that does not engage in commerce; in an aristocratic race, or in an aristocratic caste within a race. here is the point: the law designs periods of ascendency for each people in its turn, that it may acquire these qualities; and it appoints for each people in its turn periods of subordination, poverty and sorrow, that it may develop the opposite qualities of patience, humility, and orderly effort. would it not appear then, that in those first centuries b. c. when celts and teutons were emerging into historical notice, the teutons were coming out of a long period of subordination, in which they had learnt strength--the celts out of a long period of ascendency, in which they had learnt other things? the teuton, fresh from his pralayic sleep, was unconquerable by rome. the celt, old, and intoxicated with the triumphs of a long manvantara, could not repel roman persistence and order. rome. too, was rising, or in her prime; had patience, and followed her material plans every inch of the way to success. where she conquered, she imposed her rule. but whatever material plan were set before the celt, some spiritual red-herring, some notion in his mind, was sure to sidetrack him before he had come half way to its accomplishment. he had enough of empire-building; and thirsted only after dreams. brennus turned from a burnt rome, his pride satisfied. vercingetorix, decked in all his gold, rode seven times--was it seven times?--round the camp of caesar: defeat had come to him; death was coming; but he would bathe his soul in a little pomp and glory first. whether you threw your sword in the scales, or surrendered to infamous caesar, the main thing was that you should kindle the pride in your eye, and puff up the highness of your stomach. . . . so the practical roman despised him, and presently conquered him. here is another curious fact: the greater number, if not all, of the words in the teutonic languages denoting social order and the machinery of government, are of celtic derivation. words such as _reich_ and _amt,_ to give two examples i happen to remember out of a list quoted by mr. t. w. rollestone in one of his books. and now i think we have material before us wherewith to reconstruct a sketch or plan of ancient european history. let me remind you again that our object is simply the discovery of laws. that, in the eyes of the law, there are no most favored nations. that there are no such things as permanent racial characteristics; but that each race adopts the characteristics appropriate to its stage of growth. it is a case of the pendulum swing, of ebb and flow. for two thousand years the teutons have been pressing on and, dominating the celts. they started at the beginning of that time with the plebeian qualities--and have evolved, generally speaking, a large measure of the patrician qualities. the celts, meanwhile, have been pushed to the extremities of the world; their history has been a long record of disasters. but in the preceding period the case was just the reverse. then the celts held the empire. they ruled over large teutonic populations. holding all the machinery of government in their hands, they imposed on the languages of their teuton subjects the words concerned with that machinery; just as in welsh now our words of that kind are mostly straight from the english. it does not follow that there was any sudden rising of teutons against dominant celts; more probably the former grew gradually stronger as the latter grew gradually weaker, until the forces were equalized. we find the cimbri and teutones allied on equal terms against rome. according to an old welsh history, the _brut tyssilio,_ there were anglo-saxons in britain before caesar's invasion; invited there by the celts, and living in peace under the celtic kings. to quote the _brut tyssilio_ a short time ago would have been to ensure being scoffed at on all sides; but recently professor flinders petrie has vindicated it as against both the anglo-saxon chronicle and caesar himself. english teutonic was first spoken in britain probably, some two or three centuries b.c.; and it survived there, probably, in remote places, through the whole of the roman occupation; then, under the influence of the rising star of the teutons, and reinforced by new incursions from the continent, finally extinguished the latin of the roman province, and drove celtic into the west. but go back from those first centuries b.c. and you come at last to a time when the celtic star was right at the zenith, the teutonic very low. free teutons you should hardly have found except in scandinavia; probably only in southern sweden: for further north, and in most of norway, you soon came to ice and the lapps and _terra incognita._ and even sweden may have been under celtic influence--for the celtic words survive there --but hardly so as to affect racial individuality; just as wales and ireland are under english rule now, yet retain their celtic individuality. and then go back a few more thousand years again, and you would probably find the case again reversed; and teutons lording it over celts, and our present conditions restored. it is by suffering these poles of experience, now pride and domination, now humiliation and adversity, that the races of mankind learn. europe is not a new sort of continent. man, says one of the teachers, has been much what he is any time these million years. history has been much what it is now, ebbing and flowing. knowledge, geographical and other, has receded, and again expanded. europe has been the seat of empires and civilizations, all europe, probably, for not so far short of a million years; there has been plenty of time for it to multiply terrible karma-- which takes the occasion to expend itself sometimes--as now. i mistrust the theory of recent aryan in-pourings from asia. the huns came in when the chinese drove them; and the turks and mongols have come in since; but there is nothing to show that the slavs, for example, when they first appear in history, had come in from beyond the urals and the caspian. slavs and greco- latins, teutons and celts, i think they were probably in europe any time these many hundreds of thousands of years. or rather, i think there were europeans--indo-europeans, aryans, call them what you will--where they are now at any time during such a period. because race is a thing that will not bear close investigation. it is a phase; an illusion; a temporary appearance taken on by sections of humanity. there is nothing in it to fight about or get the least hot over. it is a camouflage; there you have the very word for it. what we call celts and teutons are simply portions of the one race, humanity, camouflaged up upon their different patterns. so far as flood and ultimate physical heredity are concerned, i doubt there is sixpenny-worth of difference between any two of the lot. "oi mesilf," said mr. dooley, speaking as a good american citizen, "am the thruest and purest anglo-saxon that iver came out of anglo-saxony." we call ourselves anglo-saxons because we speak english (a language more than half latin); when in reality we are probably jews, turks, infidels or heretics, if all were known. what is a spaniard? a latin, you answer pat. yes; he speaks a latin-derived language; and has certain qualities of temperament which seem to mark him as more akin to the french and italians, than to those whom we, just as wisely, dub 'teutonic' or 'slavic.' but in fact he may have in his veins not a drop of blood that is not celtic, or not a drop that is not teutonic, or moorish, or roman, or phoenician, or iberian, or god knows what. suppose you have four laya centers in europe: four foci through which psychic impulses from the oversoul pour through into this world. a mediterranean point, perhaps in italy; a teutonic point in sweden; a celtic point in wales-ireland (formerly a single island, before england rose out of the sea); and a slavic point, probably in russia. the moment comes for such and such a 'race' to expand; the mediterranean, for example. the italian laya center, rome, quickens into life. rome conquers italy, gaul, spain, britain, the east; becomes _caput mundi._ countries that shortly before were celtic in blood, become, through no material change in that blood, latin; by language, and, as we say, by race. the moment comes for a teutonic expansion. the laya center in sweden quickens; there is a swedish or gothic invasion of celtic lands south of the baltic; the continental teutons presently are freed. it is the expansion of a spirit, of a psychic something. people that were before celts (just as mr. dooley is an anglo-saxon) become somehow teutons. the language expands, and carries a tradition with it. head measurements show that neither southern germany nor england differs very much towards teutonicism from the mediterranean type; yet the one is thoroughly teutonic, the other anglo-saxon. sometimes the blood may be changed materially; often, i suppose, it is changed to some extent; but the main change takes place in the language and tradition; sometimes in tradition alone. there was a minor celtic quickening in the twelfth century a. d.; then wales was in a fervor of national life. she had not the resources, or perhaps the will, for outside conquest. but her authurian legend went forth, and drove beowulf and child horn out of the memory of the english, charlemagne out of the memory of the french; invaded germany, italy, even spain: absolutely installed welsh king arthur as the national hero of the people his people were fighting; and infused chivalry with a certain uplift and mysticism through-out western europe. or again, in the cinquecento and earlier, the italian center quickened; and learning and culture flowed up from italy through france and england; and these countries, with spain, become the leaders in power and civilization. england since that teutonic expansion which made her english was spent, has grown less and less teutonic, more and more latin; the italian impulse of the renaissance drove her far along that path. in the middle of the eleventh century, her language was purely teutonic; you could count on the fingers of your hand the words derived from latin or celtic. and now? sixty percent of all english words are latin. at the beginning of the fifth century, after nearly three hundred years of roman occupation, one can hardly doubt that latin was the language of what is now england. celtic, even then i imagine, was mainly to be heard among the mountains. see how that situation is slowly coming back. and the tendency is all in the same direction. you have taken, indeed, a good few words from dutch; and some two dozen from german, in all these centuries; but a latin word has only to knock, to be admitted and made welcome. teachers of composition must sweat blood and tears for it, alas, to get their pupils to write english and shun latin. in a thousand years' time, will english be as much a latin language as french is? quite likely. the saxon words grow obsolete; french ones come pouring in. and americans are even more prone to latinisms than englishmen are: they 'locate' at such and such a place, where an english man would just go and live there. before latin, celtic was the language of britain. finally, says w.q. judge, sanskrit will become the universal language. that would mean simply that the fifth root race will swing back slowly through all the linguistic changes that it has known in the past, till it reaches its primitive language condition. then the descendants of latins, slavs, celts, and teutons will proudly boast their unadulterated aryan-sanscrit heredity, and exult over their racial superiority to those barbarous teutons, celts, slavs, and latins of old, of whom their histories will lie profusely. ii. homer when the law designs to get tremendous things out of a race of men, it goes to work this way and that, making straight the road for an inrush of important and awakened souls. having in mind to get from greece a startling harvest presently, it called one homer, surnamed maeonides, into incarnation, and endowed him with high poetic genius. or he had in many past lives so endowed himself; and therefore the law called him in. this evening i shall work up to him, and try to tell you a few things about him, some of which you may know already, but some of which may be new to you. what we may call a european manvantara or major cycle of activity--the one that preceded this present one--should have begun about b. c. its first age of splendor, _of which we know anything,_ began in greece about years afterwards; we may conveniently take , the year athens attained the hegemony, as the date of its inception. our present european manvantara began while frederick ii was forcing a road for civilization up from the moslem countries through italy; we may take as a central and convenient date. the first years of it--from to --saw dante and all the glories of the cinquecento in italy; camoens and the era of the great navigators in portugal; cervantes and his age in spain; elizabeth and shakespeare in england. that will suggest to us that the periclean was not the first age of splendor in europe in that former manvantara; it will suggest how much we may have lost through the loss of all records of cultural effort in northern and western europe during the four centuries that preceded pericles. of course we cannot certainly say that there were such ages of splendor. but we shall see presently that during every century since pericles--during the whole historical period--there has been an age of splendor somewhere; and that these have followed each other with such regularity, upon such a definite geographical and chronological plan, that unless we accept the outworn conclusion that at a certain time--about b. c.--the nature of man and the laws of nature and history underwent radical change, we shall have to believe that the same thing had been going on--the recurrence of ages of splendor--back into the unknown night of time. and that geographical and chronological plan will show us that such ages were going on in unknown europe during the period we are speaking of. in the manvantara to b.c., did the western laya center play the part in europe, that the southern one did in the manvantara b.c. to a.d.? was the celtic empire then, what the roman empire became in the later time? if so, their history after the pralaya to may have been akin to that of the latin, in this present cycle; no longer a united empire, they may have achieved something comparable to the achievements of france, spain, and italy in the later middle ages. at least we hear the rumblings of their marches and the far shoutings of their aimless victories until within a century or two of the christian era. then, what was italy like in the heyday of the etruscans, or under the roman kings? the fall of tarquin--an etruscan--was much more epochal, much more disastrous, than livy guessed. there were more than seven kings of rome; and their era was longer than from to ; and rome--or perhaps the etruscan state of which it formed a part--was a much greater power then, than for several centuries after their fall. the great works they left are an indication. but only the vaguest traditions of that time came down to livy. the celts sacked rome in b.c., and all the records of the past were lost; years of confusion followed; and a century and a half and more before roman history began to be written by ennius in his epic _annales._ it was a break in history and blotting out of the past; such as happened in china in b.c., when the ancient literature was burnt. such things take place under the law. race-memory may not go back beyond a certain time; there is a law in nature that keeps ancient history esoteric. as we go forward, the horizon behind follows us. in the ages of materialism and the low places of racial consciousness, that horizon probably lies near to us; as you see least far on a level plain. but as we draw nearer to esotericism, and attain elevations nearer the spirit, it may recede; as the higher you stand, the farther you see. not so long ago, the world was but six thousand years old in european estimation. but ever since theosophy has been making its fight to spiritualize human consciousness, _pari passu_ the horizon of the past has been pushed back by new and new discoveries. what comes down to us from old europe between its waking and the age of pericles? some poetry, legends, and unimportant history from greece; some legends from rome; the spirit or substance of the norse sagas; the spirit or substance of the welsh mabinogi and the arthurian atmosphere; and of the irish tales of the red branch and fenian cycles. the actual tales as we get them were no doubt retold in much later times; and it is these late recensions that we have. what will remain of england in the memory of three or four thousand years hence? unless this theosophical movement shall have lifted human standards to the point where that which has hitherto been esoteric may safely be kept public, this much:--an echo only of what england has produced of eternal truth;--something from shakespeare; something from milton; and as much else in prose and poetry from the rest. but all the literature of this and all past ages is and will then still be in being; in the hidden libraries of the guardians of esoteric science, from which they loose fragments and hints on the outer world as the occasion cyclically recurs, and as their wisdom directs. how do they loose such fragments of old inspiration? it may be by putting some manuscript in the way of discovery; it may be by raising up some man of genius who can read the old records on inner planes, and reproduce in epic or drama something of a long past splendor to kindle the minds of men anew. in that way greece was kindled. troy fell, says h. p. blavatsky, nearly five thousand years ago. now you will note that a european manvantara began in b. c.; which is very nearly five thousand years ago. and that this present european manvantara or major cycle was lit up from a west asian cycle; from the moors in spain; from egypt through sicily and italy; and, in its greatest splendor; when constantinople fell, and refugees therefrom came to light the cinquecento in italy. now constantinople is no great way from troy; and, by tradition, refugees came to italy from troy, once. was it they in part, who lit up that ancient european cycle of from to b. c.? in the homeric poems a somewhat vague tradition seems to come down of the achievements of one of the european peoples in that ancient cycle. sometime then greece had her last pre-periclean age of greatness. what form it took, the details of it, were probably as much lost to the historic greeks as the details of the celtic age are to us. but homer caught an echo and preserved the atmosphere of it. as the celtic age bequeaths to us, in the irish and welsh stories, a sense of style--which thing is the impress of the human spirit triumphant over all hindrances to its expression;--so that long past period bequeathed through homer a sense of style to the later greeks. it rings majestically through his lines. his history is perhaps not actual history in any recognizable shape. legends of a long lost glory drifted down to a poet of mightiest genius; and he embodied them, amplified them, told his message through them; perhaps reinvented half of them. even so geoffrey of monmouth (without genius, however) did with the rumors that came down to him anent the ancient story of his own people; and spenser followed him in the _faery queen,_ malory in his book, and tennyson in the _idylls of the king._ even in that last, from the one poem _morte d'arthur_ we should get a sense of the old stylish magnificence of the celtic epoch; for the sake of a score of lines in it, we can forgive tennyson the rest of the idylls. but tennyson was no celt himself; only, like spenser and malory, an anglicizer of things celtic. how much more of the true spirit would have come down to homer, a greek of genius, writing of traditional greek glory, and thrilled with racial uplift. where did he live? oh, goodness knows! when? goodness knows again. (though we others may guess a little, i hope.) we have herodotus for it, that homer lived about four hundred years before his own time; that is to say, to give a date, in ; and i like the figure well; for if dante came in as soon as possible after the opening of this present manvantara, why not homer as soon as possible after the opening of the last one? at such times great souls do come in; or a little before or a little after; because they have a work of preparation to do; and between dante and homer there is much parallelism in aims and aspirations: what the one sought to do for italy, the other sought to do for greece. but this is to treat homer as if he had been one real man; whereas everybody knows 'it has been proved' (a) that there was no such person; (b) that there were dozens of him; (c) that black is white, man an ape, and the soul a fiction. admitted. a school of critics has cleaned poor old blind maeonides up very tidily, and left not a vestige of him on god's earth--just as they have, or their like have, cleaned up the human soul. but there is another school, who have preserved for him some shreds at least of identity. briefly put, you can 'prove up what may be classed as brain-mind evidence--grammar, microscopic examination of text and forms and so on--that homer is a mere airy myth; but to do so you must be totally oblivious of the spiritual facts of style and poetry. take these into account, and he rises with wonderful individuality from the grave and nothingness into which you have relegated him. the illiad does not read like a single poem; there are incompatibilities between its parts. on the other hand, there is, generally speaking, the impress of a single creative genius. one master made the homeric style. the iliad, as we know it, may contain passages not his; but--_he wrote the iliad._ what does not follow is, that he ever sat down and said: "now let us write an epic." conditions would be against it. a wandering minstrel makes ballads, not epics; for him poe's law applies: that is a poem which can be read or recited at a single sitting. the unity of the iliad is one not of structure, but of spirit; and the chances are that the complete works of any great poet will be a unity of spirit. why should we not suppose that in the course of a long life a great poet--whose name may not have been homer--that may have been only _what he was called_--his real name may have been (if the critics will have it so) the greek for smith, or jones, or brown, or robinson--but he was _called_ homer anyhow--why should we not suppose that he, filled and fascinated always with one great traditionary subject, wrote now one incident as a complete poem; ten years later another incident; and again, after an interval, another? each time with the intention to make a complete and separate poem; each time going to it influenced by the natural changes of his mood; now preoccupied with one hero or god, now with another. the tennyson in his twenties, who wrote the fairylike _lady of shalott,_ was a very different man in mood and outlook from the mid-victorian tennyson who wrote the execrable _merlin and vivien;_ but both were possessed with the arthurian legend. at thirty and at fifty you may easily take different views of the same men and incidents. the iliad, i suggest, may be explained as the imperfect fusion of many poems and many moods and periods of life of a single poet. it was not until the time of pisistratus, remember, that it was edited into a single epic. now these many poems, before pisistratus took them in hand, had been in the keeping for perhaps three centuries of wandering minstrels--rhapsodoi, aoidoi, citharaedi and homeridae, as they were called--who drifted about the isles of greece and asiatic mainland during the long period of greek insignificance and unculture. the first three orders were doubtless in existence long before homer was born; they were the bards, trouveurs and minnesingers of their time; their like are the instruments of culture in any race during its pralayas. so you find the professional story-tellers in the east today. but the homeridae may well have been--as de quincey suggests--an order specially trained in the chanting of homeric poems; perhaps a single school founded in some single island by or for the sake of homer. we hear that lycurgus was the first who brought homer--the works, not the man--into continental greece; importing them from crete. that means, probably, that he induced homeridae to settle in sparta. european continental greece would in any case have been much behind the rest of the greek world in culture; because furthest from and the least in touch with west asian civilization. crete was nearer to egypt; the greeks of asia minor to lydia; as for the islanders of the cyclades and sporades, the necessity of gadding about would have brought them into contact with their betters to the south and east, and so awakened them, much sooner than their fellow greeks of attica, boeotia, and the peloponnese. where did homer live? naturally, as a wandering bard, all over the place. we know of the seven cities that claimed to be his birthplace: _smyrna, chias, colophon, salamis, rhodos, argos, athenae orbis de patria certat, homere, tua._ of these smyrna probably has the best chance of it; for he was maeonides, the son of maeon, and maeon was the son of meles; and the maeon and the meles are rivers by smyrna. but de quincey makes out an excellent case for supposing he knew crete better than any other part of the world. many of the legends he records; many of the superstitions--to call them that;--many of the customs he describes: have been, and are still, peculiar to crete. neither the smaller islands, nor continental greece, were very suitable countries for horse-breeding; and the horse does not figure greatly in their legends. but in crete the friendship of horse and man was traditional; in cretan folk-lore, horses still foresee the doom of their masters, and weep. so they do in homer. there is a certain wild goat found only in crete, of which he give a detailed description; down the measurement of its horns; exact, as sportsmen have found in modern times. he mentions the _kubizeteres,_ cretan tumblers, who indulge in a 'stunt' unknown elsewhere. they perform in couples; and when he mentions them, it is in the dual number. preternatural voices are an homeric tradition: stentor "spoke loud as fifty other men"; when achilles roared at the trojans, their whole army was frightened. in crete such voices are said to be still common: shepherds carry on conversations at incredible distances--speak to, and are answered by, men not yet in sight.--dequincey gives several other such coincidences; none of them, by itself, might be very convincing; but taken all together, they rather incline one to the belief that smith, or brown, or jones, _alias_ homer, must have spent a good deal of his time in crete;--say, was brought up there. now crete is much nearer egypt than the rest of greece is; and may very likely have shared in a measure of egyptian culture at the very beginning of the european manvantara, and even before. of course, in past cycles it had been a great center of culture itself; but that was long ago, and i am not speaking of it. in the tenth century a.d., three hundred years before civilization, in our own cycle, had made its way from the west asian moslem world into christendom, sicily belonged to egypt and shared in its refinement--was moslem and highly civilized, while europe was christian and barbarous; later it became a main channel through which europe received enlightenment. may not crete have played a like part in ancient times? i mean, is it not highly probable? may it not have been--as sicily was to be--a mainly european country under egyptian influence, and a seat of egyptianized culture? let us, then, suppose homer a greek, born early in the ninth century b.c., taken in childhood to crete, and brought up there in contact with cultural conditions higher than any that obtained elsewhere among his own people. but genius stirs in him, and he is greek altogether in the deep enthusiasms proper to genius: so presently he leaves crete and culture, to wander forth among the islands singing.-- _en delo tote proton ego kai homeros aoidoi melpomen,_ says hesiod: "then first in delos did i and homer, two aoidoi, perform as musical reciters." delos, of course, is a small island in the cyclades. he would have had some training, it is likely, as an aoidos: a good founding in the old stories which were their stock in trade, and which all pointed to the past glory of his race. in crete he had seen the culture of the egyptians; in asia minor, the strength and culture of the lydians; now in his wanderings through the isles he saw the disunion and rudeness of the greeks. but the old traditions told him of a time when greeks acted together and were glorious: when they went against, and overthrew, a great west asian power strong and cultured like the lydians and egyptians. why should not he create again the glory that once was greece? _menin aeide, thea, peleiadeo achileos!_ --goddess, aid me to sing the wrath (and grandeur) of a greek hero!--let the muses help him, and he will remind his people of an ancient greatness of their own: of a time when they were united, and triumphed over these now so much stronger peoples! so dante, remembering ancient rome, evoked out of the past and future a vision of united italy; so in the twelfth century a hundred welsh bards sand of arthur. i think he would have created out of his own imagination the life he pictures for his brazen-coated achaeans. it does not follow, with any great poet, that he is bothering much with historical or other accuracies, or sticking very closely even to tradition. enough that the latter should give him a direction; as poet-creator, he can make the details for himself. homer's imagination would have been guided, i take it, by two conditions: what he saw of the life of his semi-barbarous greek country men; and what he knew of civilization in egyptianized crete. he was consciously picturing the life of greeks; but greeks in an age traditionally more cultured than his own. floating legends would tell him much of their heroic deed, but little of their ways of living. such details he would naturally have to supply for himself. how would he go to work? in this way, i think. the greeks, says he, were in those old ages, civilized and strong, not, as now, weak, disunited and half barbarous. now what is strength like, and civilization? why, i have them before me here to observe, here in crete. but crete is egyptianized; i want a greek civilization; culture as it would appear if home-grown among greeks.--i do not mean that he consciously set this plan before himself; but that naturally it would be the course that he, or anyone, would follow. civilization would have meant for him cretan civilization: the civilization he knew: that part of the proposition would inhere in his subconsciousness. but in his conscious mind, in his intent and purpose, would inhere a desire to differentiate the greek culture he wanted to paint, from the egyptianized culture he knew. so i think that the conditions of life he depicts were largely the creation of his own imagination, working in the material of greek character, as he knew it, and cretan-egyptian culture as he knew that. he made his people essentially greeks, but ascribed to them also non-greek features drawn from civilized life. one sees the same thing in the old welsh romances: tales from of old retold by men fired with immense racial hopes, with a view to fostering such hopes in the minds of their hearers. the bards saw about them the rude life and disunion of the welsh, and the far greater outward culture of the normans; and their stock in trade was a tradition of ancient and half-magical welsh grandeur. when they wrote of cai--sir kay the seneschal--that so subtle was his nature that when it pleased him he could make himself as tall as the tallest tree in the forest, they were dealing in a purely celtic element: the tradition of the greatness of, and the magical powers inherent in, the human spirit; but when they set him on horseback, to ride tilts in the tourney ring, they were simply borrowing from, to out do, the normans. material culture, as they saw it, included those things; therefore they ascribed them to the old culture they were trying to paint. lying was traditionally a greek vice. the greek lied as naturally as the persian told the truth. homer wishes to set forth ulysses, one of his heroes, adorned with all heroic perfections. he was so far greek as not to think of lying as a quality to detract; he proudly makes ulysses a "lord of lies." perhaps nothing in crete itself would have taught him better; if we may believe epimenides and saint paul. on the other hand, he was a great-hearted and compassionate man; compassionate as shakespeare was. now the position of women in historical greece was very low indeed; the position of women in egypt, as we know, was very high indeed. this was a question to touch such a man to the quick; the position he gives women is very high: very much higher than it was in periclean athens, with all the advance that had been made by that time in general culture. andromache, in homer, is the worthy companion and helpmeet of hector; not a greek, but egyptian idea. homer's contemporary, hesiod, tells in his _works and days_ of the plebeian and peasant life of his time. hesiod had not the grace of mind or imagination to idealize anything; he sets down the life of the lower orders with a realism comparable to that of the english crabbe. it is an ugly and piteous picture he gives. homer, confining himself in the main to the patrician side of things, does indeed give hints that the lot of the peasant and slave was miserable; he does not quite escape some touches from the background of his own day. nor did shakespeare, trying to paint the life of ancient athens, escape an english elizabethan background; bully bottom and his colleagues are straight from the wilds of warwickshire; the roman mob is made up of london prentices, cobblers and the like. learned ben, on the other hand, contrives in his _sejanus_ and his _catiline,_ by dint and sheer intellect and erudition, to give us correct waxwork and clockwork romans; there are no anachronisms in ben johnson; never a pterodactyl walks down _his_ piccadilly. but shakespeare rather liked to have them in his; with his small latin and less greek, he had to create his human beings--draw them from the life, and from the life he saw about him. the deeper you see into life, the less the costumes and academic exactitudes matter; you keep your imagination for the great things, and let the externals worry about themselves. now homer was a deal more like shakespeare than ben; but there was this difference: he was trying to create greeks of a nobler order than his contemporaries. men in those days, he says, were of huger stature than they are now. and yet, when his imagination is not actually at work to heighten and ennoble the portrait of a hero, real greek life of his own times does not fail sometimes--to obtrude on him. so he lets in bits now and again that belong to the state of things hesiod describes, and confirm the truth of hesiod's dismal picture. well, he wandered the islands, singing; "laying the nexus of his songs," as hesiod says in the passage from which i quoted just now, "in the ancient sacred hymns." as shakespeare was first an actor, then a tinkerer of other men's plays, then a playwright on his own account; so perhaps homer, from a singer of the old hymns, became an improver and restorer of them, then a maker of new ones. he saw the wretched condition of his people, contrasted it with the traditions he found in the old days, and was spurred up to create a glory for them in his imagination. his feelings were hugely wrought upon by compassion working as yoke-fellow with race-pride. you shall see presently how the intensity of his pity made him bitter; how there must have been something dantesque of grim sadness in his expression: he had seen suffering, not i think all his own, till he could allow to fate no quality but cruelty. impassioned by what we may call patriotism, he attacked again and again the natural theme for greek epic: the story of a greek contest with and victory over west asians; but he was too great not to handle even his west asians with pity, and moves us to sympathy with hector and andromache often, because against them too was stretched forth the hand of the great enemy, fate. in different moods and at different times, never thinking to make an epic, he produced a large number of different poems about the siege of troy. and the odyssey? well, the tradition was that he wrote it in his old age. its mood is very different from that of the iliad; and many words used in it are used with a different meaning; and there are words that are not used in the iliad at all. someone says, it comes from the old age of the greek epic, rather than from that of homer. i do not know. it is a better story than the iliad; as if more nearly cast at one throe of a mind. yet it, too, must be said not to hang together; here also are discrepant and incompatible parts. there is all tradition for it that the homeric poems were handed down unwritten for several centuries. well; i can imagine the aoidoi and citharaoidoi and the rest learning poems from the verbal instruction of other aoidoi and citharaoidoi, and so preserving them from generation to generation to generation. but i cannot imagine, and i do think it is past the wit of man to imagine, long poems being composed by memory; it seems to me homer must have written or dictated them at first. writing in greece may have been an esoteric science in those times. it is now, anywhere, to illiterates. in caesar's day, as he tells us, it was an esoteric science among the druids; they used it, but the people did not. it seems probable that writing was not in general use among the greeks until long after homer; but, to me, certain that homer used it himself, or could command the services to those who did. but there was writing in crete long before the greco-phoenician alphabet was invented; from the time of the first egyptian dynasties, for example. and here is a point to remember: alphabets are invented; systems of writing are lost and reintroduced; but it is idle to talk of the invention of writing. humanity has been writing, in one way or another, since lemurian days. when the manasaputra incarnated, man became a poetizing animal; and before the fourth race began, his divine teachers had taught him to set his poems down on whatever he chanced at the time to be using as we use paper. now, what more can we learn about the inner and real homer? what can i tell you in the way of literary criticism, to fill out the picture i have attempted to make? very little; yet perhaps something. i think his historical importance is greater, for us now, than his literary importance. i doubt you shall find in him as great and true thinking, as much theosophy or light upon the hidden things, as there is in virgil for example. i doubt he was an initiate, to understand in that life and with his conscious mind the truths that make men free. plato did not altogether approve of him; and where plato dared lead, we others need not fear to follow. i think the great master-poets of the world have been such because, with supreme insight into the hidden, they presented a great master-symbol of the human soul. i believe that in the iliad homer gives us nothing of that sort; and that therefore, in a certain sense, he is constantly over-rated. he pays the penalty of his over-whelming reputation: his fame is chiefly in the mouths of those who know him not at all, and use their hats for speaking-trumpets. we have in english no approximately decent translation of him. someone said that pope served him as puck served bully bottom, what time peter quince was moved to cry: "bless thee bottom, how thou art translated!" it is not so; to call pope an ass would be to wrong a faithful and patient quadruped; than which pope was as much greater in intellect as he was less in all qualities that call for true respect. yet often we applaud homer, only upon a knowledge of pope; and it is safe to say that if you love pope you would loathe homer. pope held that water should manifest, so to say, through kew or versailles fountains; but it was essentially to be from the kitchen-tap--or even from the sewer. homer was more familiar with it thundering on the precipices, or lisping on the yellow sands of time-forgotten mediterranean islands. which pronunciation do you prefer for his often-recurring and famous sea-epithet: the thunder-on-the-precipices of _poluphloisboio thalasses,_ or the lisping-on-the-sands of _ poluphleesbeeo thalassace?_ (pardon the attempted phonetics).--for truly there are advocates of either; but neither i suppose would have appealed much to mr. pope. as to his style, his manner or movement: to summarize what mathew arnold says of it (the best i can do): it is as direct and rapid as scott's; as lucid as wordsworth's could be; but noble like shakespeare's or milton's. there is no dantesque periphrasis, nor miltonian agnostic struggle and inversion; but he calls spades, spades, and moves on to the next thing swiftly, clearly, and yet with exultation. (yet there is retardation often by long similes.) and he either made a language for himself, or found one ready to his hand, as resonant and sonorous as the loll and slap of billows in the hollow caverns of the sea. as his lines swing in and roll and crash, they swell the soul in you, and you hear and grow great on the rhythm of the eternal. this though we really, i suppose, are quite uncertain as to the pronunciation. but give the vowels merely a plain english value, certain to be wrong, and you still have grand music. perhaps some of you have read mathew arnold's great essay _on translating homer,_ and know the arguments wherewith wise matthew exalts him. a mr. newman had translated him so as considerably to out-bottom bottom; and arnold took up the cudgels--to some effect. newman had treated him as a barbarian, a primitive; arnold argued that it was homer, on the contrary, who might have so looked on us. there is, however, perhaps something to be said on mr. newman's side. homer's huge and age-long fame, and his extraordinary virtues, were quite capable of blinding even a great critic to certain things about him which i shall, with great timidity, designate imperfections: therein following de quincey, who read greek from early childhood as easily as english, and who, as a critic, saw things sometimes. _bonus dormitat homerus,_ says horace; like the elder gobbo, he "something smacked." he was the product of a great creative force; which did not however work in a great literary age: and all i am going to say is merely a bearing out of this. first there is his poverty of epithets. he repeats the same ones over and over again. he can hardly mention hector without calling him _megas koruthaiolos hector,_--"great glittering- helmeted hector"; or (in the genitive) _hectoros hippodamoio_-- "of hector the tamer of war-steeds." over and over again we have _anax andron agamemnon;_ or "swift-footed achilles." over and over again is the sea _poluphloisbois-terous,_ as if he could say nothing new about it. having discovered one resounding phrase that fits nicely into the hexameter, he seems to have been just content with the splendor of sound, and unwilling so to stir his imagination as to flash some new revelation on it. as if hamlet should never be mentioned in the play, without some such epithet as "the hesitating dane."...... but think how the myriad-minded one positively tumbles over himself in hurling and fountaining up new revelatory figures and epithets about everything: how he could not afford to repeat himself, because there were not enough hours in the day, days in the year, nor years in one human lifetime, in which to ease his imagination of its tremendous burden. he had golconda at the root of his tongue: let him but pass you the time of day, and it shall go hard but he will pour you out the wealth of ormus or of ind. a plethora, some have said: never mind; wealth was nothing to him, because he had it all. or note how severe milton, almost every time he alludes to satan, throws some new light of majestic gloom, inner or outer, with a new epithet or synonym, upon his figure or his mind. even of mere ancillaries and colorless lines, homer will make you a resounding glory. what means this most familiar one, think you: _ten d'apameibomenos prosephe koruthaiolos hector?_ --surely here some weighty splendid thing is being revealed? but no; it means: "answering spake unto her great glittering-helmeted hector;" or _tout simplement,_ 'hector answered.' and hardly can anyone open his lips, but it must be brought in with some variation of that sea-riding billow, or roll of drums: _ton d'emeibet epeita anax andron agamemnon. hos phato. ten d'outi prosephe nephelegereta zeus_ --whereafter at seven lines down we get again: _ten de meg' ochthesas prosephe nephelegereta zeus;_ --in all of which i think we do get something of primitivism and unskill. it is a preoccupation with sound where there is no adequate excuse for the sound; after the fashion of some orators, whom, to speak plainly, it is a weariness to hear. but you will remember how shakespeare rises to his grandest music when he has fatefullest words to utter; and how milton rolls in his supreme thunders each in its recurring cycle; leads you to wave-crest over wave-trough, and then recedes; and how the crest is always some tremendous thing in vision, or thought as well as sound. so he has everlasting variation; manages his storms and billows; and so i think his music is greater in effect than homer's--would still be greater, could we be sure of homer's tones and vowel- values; as i think his vision goes deeper into the realm of the soul and the eternal. yet is homer majestic and beautiful abundantly. if it is true that his reputation gains on the principle of _omne ignotum pro magnifico_--because he is unknown to most that praise him--let none imagine him less than a wonderful reservoir of poetry. his faults--to call them that--are such as you would expect from his age, race, and peculiar historic position; his virtues are drawn out of the grandeur of his own soul, and the current from the unfathomable that flowed through him. he had the high serious attitude towards the great things, and treated them highly, deeply and seriously. we may compare him to dante: who also wrote, in an age and land not yet literary or cultured, with a huge racial inspiration. but dante had something more: a purpose to reveal in symbol the tremendous world of the soul. matthew arnold speaks of the homeric poems as "the most important poetical monument existing." well; cultured tom, dick and harry would say much the same thing; it is the orthodox thing to say. but with great deference to matthew, i believe they are really a less important monument than the poems of aeschylus, dante, shakespeare, or milton, or i suppose goethe--to name only poets of the western world; because each of these created a soul- symbol; which i think the iliad at any rate does not. here, to me, is another sign of primitivism. if there is paucity of imagination in his epithets, there is none whatever in his surgery. i do not know to what figure the casualty list in the iliad amounts; but believe no wound or death of them all was dealt in the same bodily part or in the same way. now poetry essentially turns from these physical details; her preoccupations are with the soul. "from homer and polygnotus," says goethe, "i daily learn more and more that in our life here above the ground we have, properly speaking, to enact hell." a truth, so far as it goes: this earth is hell; there is no hell, says h.p. blavatsky, but a man- bearing planet. but we demand of the greatest, that they shall see beyond hell into heaven. homer achieves his grandeur oftenest through swift glimpses of the pangs and tragedy of human fate; and i do not think he saw through the gloom to the bright reality. watching the greek host from the walls of troy, helen says: "clearly the rest i behold of the dark-eyed sons of achaia; known to me well are the faces of all; their names i remember; two, two only remain whom i see not among the commanders, castor, fleet in the car, polydeukes, brave with the cestus-- own dear brethren of mine,--one parent loved us as infants. are they not here in the host, from the shores of loved lacedaimon? or, though they came with the rest in the ships that bound through the waters, dare they not enter the fight, or stand in the council of heroes, all for fear of the shame and the taunts my crime has awakened?" and then: _hos phato. tous d'ede kalechen phusizoos aia, en lakedaimoni authi, phile en patridi gaie._ "--so spake she; but they long since under earth were reposing there in their own dear land, their fatherland, lacedaimon." [from dr. hawtrey's translation, quoted by matthew arnold in _on translating homer._] there it is the sudden antithesis from her gentle womanly inquiry about her brothers to the sad reality she knows nothing, that strikes the magical blow, and makes the grand manner. then there is that passage about peleus and cadmos: "not even peleus aiacides, nor godlike cadmos, might know the happiness of a secure life; albeit the highest happiness known to mortals was granted them: the one on the mountain, the other in seven-gated thebes, they heard the gold-snooded muses sing." you hear the high pride and pathos in that. to be a poet, he says: to have heard the gold-snooded muses sing: is the highest happiness a mortal can know; he is mindful of the soul, the poet-creator in every man, and pays it magnificent tribute; he acknowledges what glory, what bliss, have been his own; but not the poet, he says, not even he, may enjoy the commonplace happiness of feeling secure against dark fate. it is the same feeling that i spoke of last week as so characteristic of the early teutonic literature; but there it appears without the swift sense of tragedy, without the sudden pang, the grand manner. the pride is lacking quite: the intuition for a divinity within man. but homer sets the glory of soul-hood and pet-hood against the sorrow of fate: even though he finds the sorrow weighs it down. caedmon or cynewulf might have said: "it is given to none of us to be secure against fate; but we have many recompenses." how different the note of milton: "those other two, equal with me in fate, so were i equal with them in renown--" or: "unchanged, though fallen on evil days; on evil days though fallen, and evil tongues, in darkness, and by dangers compassed round." and llywarch, or oisin, would never have anticipated the blows of fate; when the blows fell, they would simply have been astonished at fate's presumption. we might quote many instances of this proud pessimism in homer: _kai se, geron, to prin men, akouomen, olbion einai_-- "thou to, we hear, old man, e'en thou was at once time happy;" _hos gar epeklosanto theoi deiloisi brotoisin zoein achnumenous. autoi de l'akedees eisin_-- "the gods have allotted to us to live thus mortal and mournful, mournful; but they themselves live ever untouched by mourning." proud--no; it is not quite proud; not in an active sense; there is a resignation in it; and yet it is a kind of haughty resignation. as if he said: we are miserable; there is nothing else to be but miserable; let us be silent, and make no fuss about.--it is the restraint--a very greek quality--the depth hinted at, but never wailed over or paraded at all--that make in these cases his grand manner. his attitude is, i think, nearer the teutonic than the celtic:--his countrymen, like the teutons, were accustomed to the pralaya, the long racial night. but he and the celts achieved the grand manner, which the teutons did not. his eyes, like llywarch's or oisin's, were fixed on a past glory beyond the nightfall. but where does this homeric mood lead us? to no height of truth, i think. katherine tingley gave us a keynote for the literature of the future and the grandest things it should utter,--for the life, the art, the poetry of a coming time that shall be theosophical, that is, lit with the splendor and beauty of the soul--when she spoke that high seeming paradox that "life is joy." let us uncover the real life; all this sorrow is only the veil that hides it. god knows we see enough of the veil; but the poet's business is to tear it down, rend it asunder, and show the brightness which it hides. if the personality were all, and a man's whole history were bounded by his cradle and his grave; then you had done all, when you had presented personalities in all their complexity, and made your page teem with the likenesses of living men, and only shown the beyond, the governance, as something unknowable, adverse and aloof. but the greater part of a man is eternal, and each of his lives and deaths but little incidents in a vast and glorious pilgrimage; and when it is understood that this is the revelation to be made, this grandeur the thing to be shadowed forth, criticism will have entered upon its true path and mission. i find no such soul-symbol in the iliad: the passion and spiritual concentration of whose author, i think, was only enough to let him see this outward world: personalities, with their motive-springs of action within themselves: his greatness, his sympathy, his compassion, revealed all that to him; but he lacked vision for the meanings. i found him then less than shakespeare: whose clear knowledge of human personalities-- ability to draw living men--was but incidental and an instrument; who but took the tragedy of life by the way, as he went to set forth the whole story of the soul; never losing sight of karma, and that man is his own adverse destiny; finishing all with the triumph of the soul, the magician, in _the tempest._ and i count him less than that blind titan in bardism, who, setting out to justify the ways of god to men, did verily justify the ways of fate to the soul; and showed the old, old truth, so dear to the celtic bards, that in the very depths of hell the soul has not yet lost all her original brightness; but is mightily superior to hell, death, fate, sorrow and the whole pack of them;--i count him less than the "evening dragon" of _samson agonistes,_ whose last word to us is "nothing is here for tears; nothing to wail or knock the breast; no weakness or contempt." and i found him less that one with the grand tragic visage, whose words so often quiver with unshed tears, who went forth upon his journey .... _pei dolci pomi promessi a me per lo verace duca; ma fino al centro pria convien ch'io tomi:_-- "to obtain those sweet apples (of paradise) promised me by my true leader; but first is"--convien--how shall you translate the pride and resignation of that word?--"it behoves," we must say, "it convenes"--"first it is convenient that i should fall as far as to the center (of hell);"--who must end the gloom and terror of that journey, that fall, with _e quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle,_ "and then we came forth to behold again the stars;" and who came from his ascent through purifying purgatory with _rifatto si, come piante novelle rinnovellate di novella fronda, puro e disposto a salire alle stelle_-- "so made anew, like young plants in spring with fresh foliage, i was pure and disposed to come forth among the stars;"--and who must end his _paradiso_ and his life-work announcing _l'amor che muove il sole e le altre stelle,_ "the love that moves the sun and the other stars." ah, glory to this dante! glory to the man who would end nothing but with the stars! iii. greeks and persians now to consider what this blind maeonides did for greece. sometime last century a black potentate from africa visited england, and was duly amazed at all he saw. being a very important person indeed, he was invited to pay his respects to queen victoria. he told her of the many wonders he had seen; and took occasion to ask her, as the supreme authority, how such things came to be. what was the secret of england's greatness? --she rose to it magnificently, and did precisely what a large section of her subjects would have expected of her. she solemnly handed him a copy of the bible, and told him he should find his answer in that. she was thinking, no doubt, of the influence of christian teaching; if called on for the exact passage that had worked the wonder, very likely she would have turned to the sermon on the mount. well; very few empires have founded their material greatness on such texts, as _the meek shall inherit the earth._ they take a shorter road to it. if a man ask of thee thy coat, and thou give him thy cloak also, thou dost not (generally) build thyself a world-wide commerce. when he smiteth thee on they left cheek, and thou turnest to him thy right for the complementary buffet, thou dost not (as a rule) become shortly possessed of his territories. queen victoria lived in an age when people did not notice these little discrepancies; so did mr. podsnap. and yet there was much more truth in her answer than you might think. king james's bible is a monument of mighty literary style; and one that generations of englishmen have regarded as divine, a message from the ruler of the stars. they have been reading it, and hearing it read in the churches, for three hundred years. its language has been far more familiar to them than that of any other book whatsoever; more common quotations come from it, probably, than from all other sources combined. the puritans of old, like the nonconformists now, completely identified themselves with the folk it tells about: cromwell's armies saw in the hands of their great captain "the sword of the lord and of gideon." when the roundhead went into battle, or when the revivalist goes to prayer meeting, he heard and hears the command of jehovah to "go up to ramoth gilead and prosper"; to "smite amalek hip and thigh." phrases from the old testament are in the mouths of millions daily; and they are phrases couched in the grand literary style. now the grand style is the breathing of a sense of greatness. when it occurs you sense a mysterious importance lurking behind the words. it is the accent of the eternal thing in man, the soul; and one of the many proofs of the soul's existence. so you cannot help being reminded by it of the greatness of the soul. there are periods when the soul draws near its racial vehicle, and the veils grow thin between it and us: through all the utterances of such times one is apt to hear the thunder from beyond. although the soul have no word to say, or although it message suffer change in passing through the brain-mind, so that not high truth, but even a lie may emerge--it still comes, often, ringing with the grand accents. such a period was that which gave us shakespeare and milton, and the bible, and brown, and taylor, and all the mighty masters of english prose. even when their thought is trivial or worse, you are reminded, by the march and mere order of their words, of the majesty of the soul. when deborah sings of that treacherous murderess, jael the wife of heber the kenite, that before she slew her guest and ally sisera, "he asked water and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish,"--you are aware that, to the singer, no question of ethics was implied. nothing common, nothing of this human daily world, inheres in it; but sacrosanct destinies were involved, and the martialed might of the invisible. it was part of a tremendous drama, in which omnipotence itself was protagonist. little israel rose against the mighty of this world; but the unseen is mightier than the mighty; and the unseen was with little israel. the application is false, unethical, abominable--as coming through brain-minds of that kind. but you must go back behind the application, behind the brain-mind, to find the secret of the air of greatness that pervades it. it is a far-off reflection of this eternal truth: that the soul, thought it speak through but one human being, can turn the destinies and overturn the arrogance of the world. when david sang, "let god arise, and let his enemies be scattered; yea, let all his enemies be scattered!" he, poor brain-mind, was thinking of his triumphs over philistines and the like; with whom he had better have been finding a way to peace;--but the soul behind him was thinking of its victories over him and his passions and his treacheries. so such psalms and stories, though their substance be vile enough, do by their language yet remind us somehow of the grandeur of the spirit. that is what style achieves. undoubtedly this grand language of the bible, as that of milton and shakespeare in a lesser degree--lesser in proportion as they have been less read--has fed in the english race an aptitude, an instinct, for action on a large imperial scale. it is not easy to explain the effect of great literature; but without doubt it molds the race. now the ethic of the old testament, its moral import, is very mixed. there is much that is true and beautiful; much that is treacherous and savage. so that its moral and ethical effects have been very mixed too. but its style, a subtler thing than ethics, has nourished conceptions of a large and seeping sort, to play through what ethical ideas they might find. the more spiritual is any influence--that is, the less visible and easy to trace--the more potent it is; so style in literature may be counted one of the most potent forces of all. through it, great creative minds mold the destinies of nations. let theosophy have expression as noble as that of the bible--as it will--and of that very impulse it will bite deep into the subconsciousness of the race, and be the nourishment of grand public action, immense conceptions, greater than any that have come of bible reading, because pure and true. our work is to purify the channels through which the soul shall speak; the teachers have devoted themselves to establishing the beginnings of this movement in right thought and right life. but the great literary impulse will come, when we have learned and earned the right to use it. now, what the bible became to the english, homer became to the greeks--and more also. they heard his grand manner, and were billed by it with echoes from the supermundane. _anax andron agamemnon_--what greek could hear a man so spoken of, and dream he compounded of common clay? never mind what this king of men did or failed to do; do but breathe his name and titles, and you have affirmed immortality and the splendor of the human soul! the _human_ soul? "tush!" said they, "the greek soul! he was a greek as we are!".... and so tomides, dickaion and harryotatos, athenian tinkers and cobblers, go swaggering back to their shops, and dream grand racial dreams. for this is a much more impressionable people than the english; any wind from the spirit blows in upon their minds quickly and easily. homer in greece --once solon, or pisistratus, or hopparchus, had edited and canonized him, and arranged for his orderly periodical public reading (as the bible in the churches)--had an advantage even over the bible in england. when cromwell and his men grew mighty upon the deeds of the mighty men of israel, they had to thrill to the grand rhythms until a sort of miracle had been accomplished, and they had come to see in themselves the successors and living representatives of israel. but the greek, rising on the swell of homer's roll and boom, had need of no such transformation. the uplift was all for him; his by hereditary right; and no pilfering necessary, from alien creed or race. we have seen in homer an inspired race-patriot, a mighty poet saddened and embittered by the conditions he saw and his own impotence to change them.--yes, he had heard the golden-snooded sing; but greeks were pygmies, compared with the giants who fought at ilion! there was that eternal contrast between the glory he had within and the squalor he saw without. yes, he could sing; he could launch great songs for love of the ancients and their magnificence. but what could a song do? had it feet to travel hellas; hands to flash a sword for her; a voice and kingly authority to command her sons into redemption?--ah, poor blind old begging minstrel, it had vastly greater powers and organs than these! lycurgus, it is said, brought singers or manuscripts of your poems into sparta; because, blind minstrel, he had a mind to make sparta great-souled; and he knew that you were the man to do it, if done it could be. then for about two hundred and sixty years, without much fuss to come into history, you were having your way with your greeks. your music was ringing in the ears of mothers; their unborn children were being molded to the long roll of your hexameters. there came to be manuscripts of you in every city: corrupt enough, many of them, forgeries, many of them; lays fudged up and fathered on you by venal rhapsodoi, to chant in princely houses whose ancestors it was a good speculation to praise. you were everywhere in greece: a great and vague tradition, a formless mass of literature: by the time solon was making laws for athens, and pisistratus was laying the foundations of her stable government and greatness. and then you were officially canonized. solon, pisistratus, or one of the pisistratidae, determined that you should be, not a vague tradition and wandering songs any longer, but the bible of the hellenes. from an obscure writer of the alexandrian period we get a tale of pisistratus sending to all the cities of greece for copies of homeric poems, paying for them well; collating them, editing them out of a vast confusion; and producing at last out of the matter thus obtained, a single more or less articulate iliad. from plato and others we get hints leading to the supposition that an authorized state copy was prepared; that it was ordained that the whole poem should be recited at the panathenaic festivals by relays of rhapsodoi; this state copy being in the hands of a prompter whose business it was to see there should be no transgression by the chanters.* the wandering songs of the old blind minstrel have become the familiar sacred book of the brightest-minded people in greece. ------ * for a detailed account of all this see de quincey's essay homer and the homeridae. ------ some sixty years pass, and now look what happens. a mighty power in asia arranges a punitive expedition against turbulent islanders and coast-dwellers on its western border. but an old blind minstrel has been having his way with these: and the punitive expedition is to be of the kind not where you punish, but where you are punished;--has been suggesting to them, from the olympus of his sacrosanct inspiration, the idea of great racial achievement, till it has become a familiar thing, ideally, in their hearts.--the huge armies and the fleets come on; egypt has gone down; lydia has gone down; the whole world must go down before them. but there is an old blind minstrel, long since grown olympian in significance, and throned aloft beside nephelegereta zeus, chanting in every greek ear and heart. greeks rise in some sort to repel the persian: athens and sparta, poles apart in every feeling and taste, find that under the urge of archaic hexameters and in the face of this common danger, they can co-operate after a fashion. the world is in a tumult and threatens to fall; but behind all the noise and ominous thunder, by heaven, you can hear the roll of hexameters, and an old blind sorrow-stricken bard chanting. the soul of a nation is rising, the beat of her wings keeping time to the music of olden proud resounding lines. who led the grecian fleet at salamis?--not spartan eurygiades, but an old blind man dead these centuries. who led the victors at marathon? not sly athenian miltiades, but an old dead man who had only words for his wealth: blind maeonides chanting; and with his chanting marshaling on the roll of his hexameters mightier heroes than ever a persian eye could see: the host that fought at ilion; the creatures of his brain; polymechanos odysseus, and diomedes and aias; podargos achilles; anas andron agamemnon. the story of the persian wars comes to us only from the greek side; so all succeeding ages have been enthusiastically prohellene. we are to think that europe since has been great and free and glorious, because free and cultured greeks then held back a huge and barbarous asian despotism. all of which is great nonsense. europe since has not been great and free and glorious; very often she has been quite the reverse. she has, at odd times, been pottering around her ideal schemes of government; which asia in large part satisfied herself that she had found long ago. as for culture and glory, the trumps have now been with the one, now with the other. and the persians were not barbarians by any means. and when you talk of asia, remember that it is as far a cry from persia to china, as from persian to england. let us have not more of this preoccupation with externals, and blind eyes to the spirit of man. i suppose ballot-boxes and referenda and recalls and the like were specified, when it was said _of such is the kingdom of heaven?_... but persia would not have flowed out over europe, if marathon, salamis, and plataea had gone the other way. empires wax and wane like the moon; they ebb and flow like the tides; and are governed by natural law as these are; and as little depend, ultimately, upon battle, murder, and sudden death; which are but effects that wisdom would evitate; we are wrong in taking them for causes. two things you can posit about any empire: it will expand to its maximum; then ebb and fall away. though the daily sun sets not on its boundaries, the sun of time will set on its decay; because all things born in time will die; and no elixer of life has been found, nor ever will be. there is an impulse from the inner planes; it strikes into the heart of a people; rises there, and carries them forward upon an outward sweep; then recedes, and leaves them to their fall. its cycle may perhaps be longer or shorter; but in the main its story is always the same, and bound to be so; you cannot vote down the cycles of time. what hindered rome from mastery of europe; absolute mastery; and keeping it forever? nothing--but the eternal cyclic law. so persia. she was the last phase of that west asian manvantara which began in and was due to end in b. c. as such a phase, a splendor-day of thirteen decades should have been hers; that, we find, being always the length of a national illumination. she began under cyrus in ; flowed out under cambyses and darius to her maximum growth--for half the thirteen decades expanding steadily. then she touched greece, where a younger cycle was rising, and recoiled. she should have been at high tide precisely three years before-marathon--a half-cycle after the accession of cyrus, or in ;--and was. then the law-pronounced its _thus far and no further;_ and enforced it with homer's songs, and greek valor, and darius' death, and xerxes' fickle childishness (he smacked the hellespont because it was naughty). these things together brought to naught the might and ambition and bravery of iran; but had they been lacking, the law would have found other means. though xerxes and themistocles had both sat at home doing nothing, alexander would still have marched east in his time, and rome conquered the world. so discount all talk of greece's having saved europe, which was never in danger. but you may say persia saved greece: that her impact kindled the fires--was used by the law for that purpose--which so brilliantly have illumined europe since. persia rose in the evening of that west asian manvantara; the empires of its morning and noon, as assyria chiefly, had been slower of growth, longer of life, smaller of expanse; and for her one, had several periods of glory. a long habit of empire -building had been formed there, which carried persia rapidly and easily to her far limits. assyria, the _piece de resistance_ of the whole manvantara, with huge and long effort had created, so to say, an astral mold; of which persia availed herself, and overflowed its boundaries, conquering regions east and west assyria never knew. but if she found the mold and the habit there to aid her, she came too late for the initial energies of the morning, or the full forces of the manvantaric noon. those had been wielded by the great tiglath pilesers and assurbanipals of earlier centuries; fierce conquerors, splendid builders, ruthless patrons of the arts. what was left for the evening and persia could not carry her outward her full thirteen decades, but only half of them: sixty-five years her tides were rising, and then she touched greece. thence-forward she remained stationary within her borders, not much troubled internally, until the four -twenties. to a modern eye, she seems on the decline since marathon; to a persian of the time, probably, that failure on the greek frontier looked a small matter enough. a pancho villa to chase; if you failed to catch him, pooh, it was nothing! xerxes is no darius, true: artaxerxes i, no cyrus, nor nothing like. but through both their reigns there is in the main good government in most of the provinces; excellent law and order; and a belief still in the high civilizing mission of the persians. peace, instead of the old wars of conquest; but you would have seen no great falling off. hystaspes himself had been less conqueror than consolidator; the augustus of the achaemenids, greater at peace than at war;--though great at that too, but not from land-frontiers; and indeed, had ample provocation, as those things go, for his punitive expedition that failed. for the rest, he had strewn the coast with fine harbors, and reclaimed vast deserts with reservoirs and dikes; had explored the indus and the ocean, and linked egypt and persia by a canal from the red sea to the nile. well; and xerxes carried it on; he too played the great achaemenid game; did he not send ships to sail round africa? if there was no more conquering, it was because there was really nothing left to conquer; who would bother about that greece?--darius hystaspes was the last strong kind, yes; but datius nothus was the first gloomy tyrant, or at least his queen, bloodthirsty parysatis, was; which was not til . so that persia too had her good thirteen decades of comfortable, even glorious, years. whereafter we see her wobbling under conflicting cyclic impulses down to her final fall. for lack of another to take her place, she was still in many ways the foremost power; albeit here and there obstreperous satraps were always making trouble. when lysander laid athens low in , it was persian financial backing enabled him to do it; but cyrus might march in to her heart, and xenophon out again, but two years later, and none to say them effectually nay. had there been some other west asian power, risen in or thereabouts, to outlast persia and finish its day with the end of the great cycle in , one supposes the achaemenids would have fallen in the four-twenties, and left that other supreme during the remaining years. but there was none. the remains of nineveh and babylon slept securely in the persian central provinces; there was nothing there to rise; they had their many days long since. egypt would have done something, if she could; would have like to;--but her own cycles were against her. she had the last of her cyclic days under the xxvith dynasty. in psamtik i reunited and resurrected her while his overlord assurbanipal was wrecking his--assurbanipal's--empire elsewhere; thirteen decades afterwards, in , she fell before cambyses. thirteen decades, nearly, of persian rule followed, with interruptions of revolt, before she regained her independence in ;--stealing, you may say, the nine years short from the weakness of persia. then she was free for another half -cycle, less one year; a weak precarious freedom at best, lost to artaxerxes ochus in . all but the first fourteen years of it fell beyond the limits of the manvantara; the west asian forces were spent. egypt was merely waiting til the greek cycle should have sunk low enough and on to the military plane; and had not long to wait. she paid back most of her nine years to persia; then hailed alexander as her savior; and was brought by him, to some extent, under the influence of european cycles; to share then in what uninteresting twilight remained to greece, and presently in the pomps and crimsons of rome. persia, too, was waiting for that greek military cycle; until it should rise, however, something had to be going on in west asia. the athenian first half-cycle--sixty-five years from the inception of the hegemony--ended in , when the peloponnesian war entered its last, and for athens, disastrous, phase. another half-cycle brings us to the rise of philip; who about that time became dominant in greece. but not yet had a power consolidated, which could contest with persia the hegemony of the world. having enabled sparta to put down athens, the western satraps turned their attention to finding those who should put down sparta. corinth, thebes, argos and athens were willing; and pharnabazus financed them for war in . a year after, he and conon destroyed the spartan fleet. in came the peace of antalicidas, by which persia won what xerxes had fought for of old; the suzerainty of greece. but she was not strong; her cycle was long past; she stood upon the wealth and prestige of her better days, and the weakness of her contemporaries. internally she was falling to pieces until artaxerxes ochus, between and , wading through blood and cruelty, restored her unity, wore out her resources, and left her apparently as great as under xerxes, but really ready to fall at a touch. he prepared the way for alexander. so ended an impulse that began, who knows when? on a high spiritual plane in the pure religion of the teacher we call zoroaster; a high system of ethics expressed in long generations of clean and noble lives. from that spirituality the impulse descending reached the planes of intellect and culture; with results we cannot measure now; nothing remains but the splendor of a few ruins in the wilderness--the course the lion and the lizard keep. it reached the plane of military power, and flowed over all the lands between the indus and the nile; covering them with a well-ordered, highly civilized and wisely governed empire. then it began to ebb; meeting a counter-impulse arising in eastern europe. which, too, had it source on spiritual planes; in the heart and on the lyre of blind maeonides; and worked downward and outward, till it had wrought on this plane a stable firmness in sparta, an alertness in athens. it contacted then the crest of the persian wave, and received from the impact huge accession of vigor. it blossomed in the age of pericles on the plane of mind and creative imagination. it came down presently on to the plane of militarism, and swelled out under alexander as far as to the eastern limits of the persian empire he overthrew. where it met a tide beginning to rise in india; and receded or remained stationary before that. and at last it was spent, and itself overthrown by a new impulse arisen in italy; which took on impetus from contact with greece, as greece had done from contact with persia. the greeks of homer's and hesiod's time, before the european manvantara, elsewhere begun, had reached or quickened them, were uncouth and barbarous enough; they may have stood, to their great west asian neighbors, as the moors of today to the nations of europe; they may have stood, in things cultural, to the unknown nations of the north or west already at that time awakened, as the chinese now and recently to the japanese. like moors, like chinese, they had behind them traditions of an ancient greatness; but pralaya, fall, adversity, squalor, had done their work on them, developing the plebeian qualities. now that they have emerged into modern history, as then when they were emerging into ancient, we find them with many like characteristics; a turn for democracy, for example; the which they assuredly had not when they were passing into pralaya under the byzantine empire. a turn for democracy; plebeian qualities; these are the things one would expect after pralaya, if that pralaya had been at all disastrous. with the ancient greeks, the plebeian qualities were not all virtues by any means; they retained through their great age many of the vices of plebeianism. they won their successes for the most part on sporadic impulses of heroism; shone by an extraordinary intellectual and artistic acumen. but taking them by and large, they were too apt to ineffectualize those successes, in the fields of national and political life, by extraordinary venality and instability of character. i shall draw here deeply on professor mahaffy, who very wisely sets out to restore the balance as between greeks and persians, and burst bubble-notions commonly held. greek culture was extremely varied, and therein lay its strength; you can find all sorts of types there; and there are outstanding figures of the noblest. but on the whole, says mahaffy--i think rightly--there was something sordid, grasping, and calculating: _noblesse oblige_ made little appeal to them--was rather foreign to their nature. patricianism did exist; in sparta; perhaps in thebes. of the two thebans we know best, pindar was decidedly a patrician poet, and epaminondas was a very great gentleman; now thebes, certainly, must have been mighty in foregone manvantaras, as witness her five cycles of myths, the richest in greece. in her isolation she had doubtless carried something of that old life down; and then, too, she had pindar. nor was sparta any upstart;--of her we have only heard athenians speak. but outside of these two, you hardly find a greek _gentleman_ in public life; hardly that combination of personal honor, contempt of commerce, class-pride, leisured and cultured living;--with, very often, ultra-conservatism, narrowness of outlook, political ineptitude and selfishness. the spartans had many of these instincts, good and bad. they reached their cultural zenith in the seventh century or earlier; probably lycurgus had an eye to holding off that degeneration which follows on super-refinement; and hence the severe life he brought in. my authority makes much of the adoration the other greeks accorded them; who might hate and fight with sparta, but took infinite pride in her nonetheless. thus they told those tales of the spartan mothers, and the spartan boy the fox nibbled; thus their philosophers, painting an utopia, took always most of its features from lacedaemon. all of which i quote for the light's sake it throws on the past of greece: the past of her past, and the ages before her history. or really, on the whole history of the human race; for i think it is what you shall find always, or almost always. i spoke of the celtic qualities as having been of old patrician; they are plebeian nowadays, after the long pralaya and renewal. as a pebble is worn smooth by the sea, so the patrician type, with its refinements and culture, is wrought out by the strong life currents that play through a race during its manvantaric periods. pralaya comes, with conquest, the overturning of civilization, mixture of blood; all the precious results obtained hurled back into the vortex;--and then to be cast up anew with the new manvantara, a new uncouth formless form, to be played on, shaped and infused by the life-currents again. in greece an old manvantara had evolved patricianism and culture; which the pralaya following swept all away, except some relics perhaps in thebes the isolated and conservative, certainly in sparta. lycurgus was wise in his generation when he sought by a rigid system to impose the plebeian virtues on spartan patricianism. wise in his generation, yes; but he could work no miracle. spartan greatness, too, was ineffectual: there is that about pouring new wine into old bottles. sparta was old and conservative; covered her patrician virtues with a rude uncultural exterior; was inept politically--as old aristocracies so commonly are; she shunned that love of the beautiful and the things of the mind which is the grace, as bushido--to use the best name there is for it--is the virtue, of the patrician. you may say she was selfish and short-sighted; true; and yet she began the peloponnesian war not without an eye to freeing the cities and islands from the soulless tyranny an athenian democracy had imposed on them: when there is a war, some men will always be found, who go in with unselfish high motives.-- being the patrician state, and the admired of all, it was she naturally who assumed the hegemony when the persian came. but she had foregone the graces of her position, and her wits, through lack of culture, were something dull. she lost that leadership presently to a young democratic athens endowed with mental acumen and potential genius; who, too, gained immeasurably from sparta, because she knew how to turn everything to the quickening of her wits--this having at her doors so contrasting a neighbor, for example.--young? well, yes; i suspect if there had ever been an athenian glory before, it was ages before troy fell. she plays no great part in the legends of the former manvantara; homer has little to say about her. she had paid tribute at one time to minos, king of crete; her greatness belonged not to the past, but to the future. as all greeks admired the spartans--what we call a 'sneaking' admiration--so too they admired the persians; who were gentleman in a great sense, and in most moral qualities their betters. who was _ho basileus, the king_ par excellence? always 'the great king, the king of the persians.' others were mere kings of sparta, or where it might be. and this great king was a far-way, tremendous, golden figure, moving in a splendor as of fairy tales; palaced marvelously, so travelers told, in cities compared with which even athens seemed mean. greek drama sought its subjects naturally in the remote and grandiose; always in the myths of prehistory, save once--when aeschylus found a kindred atmosphere, and the material he wanted, in the palace of the great king. to whom, as a matter of history, not unrecorded by herodotus, his great chivalrous barons accorded a splendid loyalty,--and loyalty is always a thing that lies very near the heart of bushido. most greeks would cheerfully sell their native city upon an impulse of chagrin, revenge, or the like. xerxes' ships were overladen, and there was a storm; the persian lords gaily jumped into the sea to lighten them. such samurai action might not have been impossible to greeks,--spartans especially; but in the main their eyes did not wander far from the main chance. you will think of many exceptions; but this comes as near truth, probably, as a generalization may. we should understand their temperament; quick and sensitive, capable of inspiration to high deeds; but, en masse, rarely founded on enduring principles. that jumping into the seas was nothing to the persians; they were not sung to it; it was not done in defense of home, or upon a motive of sudden passion, as hate or the like; but permanent elements in their character moved them to it quietly, as to the natural thing to do. but if greeks had done it, with what kudos, like thermopylae, it would have come down! they were great magnificoes, very lordly gentlemen, those persian nobles; _hijosdalgo,_ as they say in spain; men of large lives, splendor and leisure, scorning trade; mighty huntsmen before the lord. of the greeks, only the spartans were sportsmen; but where the spartans hunted foxes and such-like small fry, the persians followed your true dangerous wild-fowl: lions, leopards, and tigers. a great satrap could buy up greece almost at any time; could put the greeks to war amongst themselves, and finance his favorite side out of his own pocket. on such a scale they lived; and travelers and mercenaries brought home news of it to greece; and greeks whose wealth might be fabulous strove to emulate the splendor they heard of. the greeks made better heavy armor--one cause of the victories; but for the most part the persian crafts and manufactures outshone the greek by far. all these things i take from mahaffy, who speaks of their culture as "an ancestral dignity for superior to, and different from, the somewhat mercantile refinement of the greeks." the secret of the difference is this: the west asian manvantara, to which the persians belonged, was more than a thousand years older than the european manvantara, to which the greeks belonged; so the latter, beside the former, had an air of _parvenu._ the greeks dwelt on the persian's borders; and fought him when they must; intrigued with or against him when they might; called him barbarian for self-respect's sake--and admired and envied him always. had he been really a barbarian, in contact with their superior civilization, he would have become degraded by the contact; in such cases it always happens that the inferior sops up the vices only of his betters. but alexander found the persians much the same courtly-mannered, lordly-living, mighty huntsmen they had been when herodotus described them; and was ambitious that his europeans should mix with them on equal terms and learn their virtues. where and when did this high tradition grow up? there was not time enough, i think, in that half cycle between the rise of cyrus and marathon. in truth we are to see in these regions vistas of empires receding back into the dimness, difficult to sort out and fix their chronology. cyrus overthrew the assyrian; from whose yoke his people had freed themselves some fifteen years or so before. the medes had been rising since the earlier part of that seventh century; sometime then they brought the kindred race of persians under their sway. sometime then, too, i am inclined to think, lived the teacher zoroaster: about whose date there is more confusion than about that of any other world reformer; authorities differ within a margin of years. but taoism, confucianism, jainism, buddhism, and pythagoreanism all had their rise about this time; the age of religions began then; it was not a thing of chance, but marked a definite change in the spiritual climate of the world. the _bundahish,_ the parsee account of it, says that he lived years before alexander; almost all scholars reject the figure--once more, "it is their nature to." but you will note that is about as much as to say , which is twice the cycle of thirteen decades; i think the probabilities are strong that the _bundahish_ is right. the chief grounds for putting him much earlier are these: greek accounts say, six thousand years before the greek time; and there are known to have been kings in those parts, long before cyrus, by the name or title of mazdaka,--which word is from mazda, the name of the god-principle in zoroastrianism. the explanation is this: you shall find it in h.p. blavatsky: there were many zoroasters; this one we are speaking of was the last (as gautama was the last of the buddhas); and of course he invented nothing, taught no new truth; but simply organized as a religion ideas that had before belonged to the mysteries. where then did his predecessors teach?--where zal and rustem thundered as they might; in the old iran of the _shah nameh,_ the land of kaikobad the great and kaikhusru. too remote for all scholars even to agree that it existed; set by those who do believe in it at about b.c.--we hear of a "powerful empire in bactria"-- which is up towards afghanistan; i take it that it was from this the persian tradition came--last down to, and through, the period of the achaemenidae. what arts, what literature, these latter may have had, are lost; nothing is known of their creative and mental culture; but, to quote mahaffy once more, it is exceedingly unlikely they had none. dio chrysostom, in the first century b.c., says that "neither homer nor hesiod sang of the chariots and horses of zeus so worthily as zoroaster"; which may mean, perhaps, that a tradition still survived in his time of a great achaemenian poetry. why then is this culture lost, since if it existed, it was practically contemporary with that of the greeks? because contemporaneity is a most deceiving thing; there is nothing in it. persia now is not contemporary with japan; nor modern china with europe or america. the achaemenians are separated from us by two pralayas; while between us and the greeks there is but one. when our present europe has gone down, and a new barbarism and middle ages have passed over france, britain and italy, and given place in turn to a new growth of civilization--what shall we know of this paris, and florence, and london? as much and as little as we know now of greece and rome. we shall dig them up and reconstruct them; found our culture on theirs, and think them very wonderful for mere centers of (christian) paganism; we shall marvel at their genius, as shown in the fragments that go under the names of those totally mythological poets, dante and milton; and at their foul cruelty, as shown by their capital punishment and their wars. and what shall we know of ancient athens and rome? our scholars will sneer at the superstition that they ever existed; our theologians will say the world was created somewhat later. or indeed, no; i think it will not be so. i think we shall have established an abiding perception of truth: theosophy will have smashed the backbone of this foolish kali-yuga as a little, before then. so that creasy is all out in his estimate of the importance of marathon and the other victories. wars are only straws to show which way the current flows; and they do that only indifferently. they are not the current themselves, and they do not direct it; and were men wise enough to avoid them, better than the best that was ever won out of war would be won by other means that the law would provide. and yet the human spirit will win something out of all eventualities, even war, if kama and the cycles permit. in a non-political sense the persian wars bore huge harvest for greece; the law used them to that end. the great effort brought out all the latent resources of the athenian mind: the successes heightened greek racial feeling to a pitch. --what! we could stand against huge persia?--then we are not unworthy of the men that fought at ilion, our fathers; the race and spirit of _anax andron agamemnon_ is not dead! ha, we can do anything; there are no victories we may not win! and here is the dead weight and terror of the war lifted from us; and there is no anxiety now to hold our minds. we may go forth conquering and to conquer; we may launch our triremes on immaterial seas, and subdue unknown empires of the spirit!--and here is athens the quick-witted, hegemon of greece; her ships everywhere on the wine-dark seas; her citizens everywhere; her natural genius swelled by an enormous sense of achievement; her soul, grown great under a great stress, now freed from the stress and at leisure to explore:--in contact with opposite-minded sparta; in contact with conservative and somewhat luxuriously-living slow thebes;--with a hundred other cities;--in contact with proud persia; with egypt, fallen, but retaining a measure of her old profound sense of the mysteries and the reality of the unseen; --from all these contacts and sources a spirit is born in athens that is to astonish and illumine the world. and egypt is now in revolt from the persian; and intercourse with her is easier than ever before in historical times; and the triremes, besides what spiritual cargoes they may be bringing in from her, are bringing in cargoes of honest material papyrus to tempt men to write down their thoughts.--so the flowering of greece became inevitable; the law intended it, and brought about all the conditions. iv--aeschylus and his athens greece holds such an eminence in history because the crest-wave rolled in there when it did. she was tenant of an epochal time; whoever was great then, was to be remembered forever. but the truth is, greece served the future badly enough. the sixth and fifth centuries b. c. were an age of transition, in which the world took a definite step downward. there had been present among men a great force to keep the life of the nations sweet: that which we call the mysteries of antiquity. whether they had been active continuously since this fifth root race began, who can say? very possibly not; for in a million years cycles would repeat themselves, and i dare say conditions as desolate as our own have obtained. there may have been withdrawals, and again expansions outward. but certainly they were there at the dawn of history, and for a long time before. what their full effect may have been, we can only guess; for when the history that we know begins, they were already declining:--we get no definite news, except of the iron age. the mysteries were not closed at eleusis until late in the days of the roman empire; and we know that such a great man as julian did not disdain to be initiated. but they were only a remnant then, an ever-indrawing source of inspiration; already a good century before pericles they must have ceased to rule life. pythagoras--born, probably, in the five-eighties--had found it necessary, to obtain that with which spirituality might be reawakened, to travel and learn what he could in india, egypt, chaldaea, and, according to porphyry and tradition, among the druids in gaul--and very likely britain, their acredited headquarters. from these countries he brought home theosophy to greek italy; and all this suggests that he--and the race--needed something that eleusis could no longer give. about the same time buddha and the founder of jainism in india, laotse and confucius in china, and as we have seen, probably also zoroaster in persia, all broke away from the official mysteries, more or less, to found theosophical movements of their own; --which would indicate that, at least from the tyrrhenian to the yellow sea, the mysteries had, in that sixth century, ceased to be the efficient instrument of the white lodge. the substance of the ancient wisdom might remain in them; the energy was largely gone. pisistratus did marvels for athens; lifting her out of obscurity to a position which should invite great souls to seek birth in her. he died in ; two years later a son was born to the eupatrid euphorion at eleusis; and i have no doubt there was some such stir over the event, on olympus or on parnassus, as happened over a birth at stratford-on-avon in , and one in florence in the may of . in , hippias, grown cruel since the assassination of his brother, was driven out from an athens already fomenting with the yeast of new things. about that time this young eleusinian eupatrid was set to watch grapes ripening for the vintage, and fell asleep. in his dream dionysos, god of the mysteries, appeared to him and bade him write tragedies for the dionysian festival. on waking, he found himself endowed with genius: beset inwardly with tremendous thoughts, and words to clothe them in; so that the work became as easy to him as if he had been trained to it for years. he competed first in --against choerilos and pratinas, older poets--and was defeated; and soon afterwards sailed for sicily, where he remained for seven years. the dates of pythagoras are surmised, not known; plumptre, with a query, gives for his death. i wonder whether, in the last years of his life, that great teacher met this young aeschylus from athens; whether the years the latter spent in sicily on this his first visit there, were the due seven years of his pythagorean probation and initiation? "veniat aeschylus," says cicero, "non poeta solum, sed etiam pythagoreus: sic enim accepimus ";--and we may accept it too; for that was the theosophical movement of the age; and he above all others, pythagoras having died, was the great theosophist. they had the eleusinian mysteries at athens, and most of the prominent athenians must have been initiated into them--since that was the state religion; but aeschylus alone in athens went through life clothed in the living power of theosophy. go to the life of such a man, if you want big clues as to the inner history of his age;--the life of aeschylus, i think, can interpret for us that of athens. there are times when the movement of the cycles is accelerated, and you can see the great wheel turning; this was one. aeschylus had proudly distinguished himself at marathon; and athens, as the highest honor she could do him for that, must have his portrait appear in the battle-picture painted for a memorial of the victory. he fought, too, at artemisium and salamis; with equal distinction. in he won the first of thirteen annual successes in the dramatic competitions. these were the years during which athens was really playing the hero; the years of aristides' ascendency. in xerxes burned the city; but the people fought on, great in faith. in came plataea, aeschylus again fighting. throughout this time, he, the esotericist and messenger of the gods, was wholly at one with his athens--an athens alive enough then to the higher things to recognize the voice of the highest when it spoke to her--to award aeschylus, year after year, the chief dramatic prize. then in or she found herself in a new position: her heroism and intelligence had won their reward, and she was set at the head of greece. six years later aeschylus produced _the persians,_ the first of the seven extant out of the seventy or eighty plays he wrote; in it he is still absolutely the patriotic athenian. in came the _seven against thebes;_ from which drama, i think, we get a main current of light on the whole future history of athens. two men, representing two forces, had guided the city during those decades. on the one hand there was aristides, called the just--inflexible, incorruptible, impersonal and generous; on the other, themistocles--precocious and wild as a boy; profligate as a youth and young man; ambitious, unscrupulous and cruel; a genius; a patriot; without moral sense. the policy of aristides, despite his so-called democratic reforms, was conservative; he persuaded greece, by sound arguments, to the side of athens: he was for athens doing her duty by greece, and remaining content. that of themistocles was that she should aim at empire by any means: should make herself a sea-power with a view to dominating the greek world. oh, to begin with, doubtless with a view to holding back the persians; and so far his policy was sane enough; but his was not the kind of mind in which an ambitious idea fails to develop in ambitious and greedy directions; and that of mastery of the seas was an idea that could not help developing fatally. he had been banished for his corruption in ; but he had set athens on blue water, and bequeathed to her his policy. henceforward she was to make for supremacy, never counting the moral cost. she attacked the islands at her pleasure, conquered them, and often treated the conquered with vile cruelty. the _seven against thebes_ was directed by aeschylus against the themistoclean, and in support of the aristidean, policy. imperialistic ambitions, fast ripening in that third decade of the fifth century, were opposed by the messenger of the gods. his valor in four battles had set him among the national heroes; he had been, in _the persians,_ the laureate of salamis; by the sheer grandeur of his poetry he had won the prize thirteen times in succession.--and by the bye, it is to the eternal credit of athenian intelligence that athens, at one hearing of those obscure, lofty and tremendous poems, should have appreciated them, and with enthusiasm. try to imagine _samson agonistes_ put on the stage today; with no academical enthusiasts or eclat of classicism to back it; but just put on before thirty thousand sight-seers, learned and vulgar, statesman and cobbler, tinker and poet; the mob all there; the groundlings far out-numbering the elite:--and all not merely sitting out the play, but roused to a frenzy of enthusiasm; and milton himself, present and acting, the hero of the day. that, despite mr. whistler and the _ten o'clock_--seems really to have been the kind of thing that happened in athens. tomides was there, with his companions-- little tomides, the mender of bad soles--and intoxicated by the grand poetry; understanding it, and never finding it tedious;-- poetry they had had no opportunity to study in advance, they understood and appreciated wildly at first hearing. one cannot imagine it among moderns.--and milton is clear as daylight beside remote and difficult aeschylus. to catch the latter's thought, we need the quiet of the study, close attention, reading and re-reading; and though of course time has made him more difficult; and we should have understood him better, with no more than our present limited intelligence, had we been his countrymen and contemporaries; yet it remains a standing marvel, and witness to the far higher general intelligence of the men of athens. the human spirit was immensely nearer this plane; they were far more civilized, in respect to mental culture, than we are. why?--the cycles have traveled downward; our triumphs are on a more brutal plane; we are much farther from the light of the mysteries than they were. and yet they were going wrong: the great cycle had begun its down-trend; they were already preparing the way for our fool-headed materialism. in the _seven against thebes_ aeschylus protested against the current of the age. three years later, athens, impatient of criticism, turned on him. he is acting in one of his own plays--one that been lost. he gives utterance, down there in the arena, to certain words-- tremendous words, as always, we must suppose: words hurled out of the heights of an angry eternity-- _"aeschylus' bronze-throat eagle-bark for blood,"_ --and athens, that used to thrill and go mad to such tones when they proclaimed the godlike in her own soul and encouraged her to grand aspirations--goes mad now in another sense. she has grown used to hear warning in them, and something in alliance with her own stifled conscience protesting against her wrong courses; and such habituation rarely means acquiescence or soothed complacency. now she is smitten and stung to the quick. a yell from the mob; uproar; from the tiers above tiers they butt, lurch, lunge, pour forward and down: the tinkers and cobblers, demagogs and demagoged: intent--yes--to kill. but he, having yet something to say, takes refuge at the altar; and there even a maddened mob dare not molest him. but the prize goes to a rising star, young sophocles; and presently the gods' messenger is formally accused and tried for "profanation of the mysteries." revealing secrets pertaining to them, in fact. and now note this: his defense is that he did not know that his lines revealed any secret--was unaware that what he had said pertained to the mysteries. could he have urged such a plea, had it not been known he was uninitiated? could he have known the teachings, had he not been instructed in a school where they were known? he, then, was an initiate of the pythagoreans, the new theosophical movement upon the new method; not of orthodox eleusis, that had grown old and comatose rather, and had ceased to count.--well, the judges were something saner than the mob; memory turned again to what he had done at marathon, what at arternisium and plataea; to his thirteen solid years of victory (national heroism on poetico-dramatic fields); and to that song of his that "saved at salamis": _"o sons of greeks, go set your country free!"_ --and he was acquitted: athens had not yet fallen so low as to prepare a hemlock cup for her teacher. but meanwhile he would do much better among his old comrades in sicily than at home; and thither he went. he returned in , to find the age of pericles in full swing; with all made anew, or in the making; and the time definitely set on its downward course. 'reform' was busy at abolishing institutions once held sacred; was the rage;--that funeral speech of pericles, with its tactless vaunting of athenian superiority to all other possible men and nations, should tell us something. when folk get to feel like that, god pity and forgive them!--it is hard enough for mere men to. aeschylus smote at imperialism in the _agamemnon_--the first play of this last of his trilogies; and at the mania for reforming away sacred institutions in the _eumenides_--where he asserts the divine origin of the threatened areopagus. popular feeling rose once more against him, and he returned to sicily to die. like so many another of his royal line, apparently a failure. and indeed, a failure he was, so far as his athens was concerned. true, athenian artistic judgment triumphed presently over the athenian spite. though it was the rule that no successful play should be performed more than once, they decreed that 'revivals' of aeschylus should always be in order. and aristophanes testifies to his lasting popularity--when he shows little tomides with a bad grouch over seeing a play by theognis, when he had gone to the theater "expecting aeschylus";--and when he shows aeschylus and euripides winning, because his poetry had died with him, and so he had it there for a weapon--whereas aeschylus's was still alive and on earth. yes; athens took him again, and permanently, into favor: took the poet, but not the messenger and his message. for she had gone on the wrong road in spite of him: she had let the divine force, the influx of the human spirit which had come to her as her priceless cyclic opportunity, flow down from the high planes proper to it, on to the plane of imperialism and vulgar ambition; and his word had been spoken to the greeks in vain--as all greek history and karma since has been proclaiming. but in sooth he was not merely for an age, but for all time; and his message, unlike pindar's whom all greece worshiped, and far more than homer's or that of sophocles--is vital today. aeschylus, and plato, and socrates who speaks through plato, and pythagoras who speaks through all of them, are the greeks whose voices are lifted forever for the soul. even the political aspect of his message--the only one i have touched on--is vital. it proclaims a truth that underlies all history: one, i suspect, that remains for our theosophical movement to impress on the general world-consciousness so that wars may end: namely, that the impulse of nationalism is a holy thing, foundationed upon the human spirit: a means designed by the law for humanity's salvation. but like all spiritual forces, it must be kept pure and spiritual, or instead of saving, it will damn. in its inception, it is vision of the soul: of the racial or national soul--which is a divine light to lure us away from the plane of personality, to obliterate our distressing and private moods; to evoke the divine actor in us, and merge us in a consciousness vastly greater than out own. but add to that saving truth this damning corolary: _i am better than thou; my race than thine; we have harvests to reap at your expense, and our rights may be your wrongs:_--and you have, though it appear not for awhile, fouled that stream from godhood:--you have debased your nationalism and made it hellish. upon your ambitions and your strength, now in the time of your national flowering, you may win to your desire, if you _will;_ because now the spirit is quickening the whole fiber of your national self; and the national will must become, under that pressure, almost irresistibly victorious. the peoples of the earth shall kneel before your throne; you shall get your vulgar empire;--but you shall get it presently, as they say, "where the chicken got the axe": _vengeance is mine, saith the law; i will repay._ the cycle, on the plane to which you have dragged it down, will run its course; your high throne will go down with it, and yourself shall kneel to races you now sniff at for 'inferior.' you have brought it on to the material plane, and are now going upward on its upward trend there gaily-- "ah, let no evil lust attack the host conquered by greed, to plunder what they ought not; for yet they need return in safety home, doubling the goal to run their backward race" [_agamemnon,_ plumtre's translation] the downtrend of the cycle awaits you--the other half--just as the runner in the foot-races to win, must round the pillar at the far end of the course, and return to the starting-place.--that is among the warnings aeschylus spoke in the _agamemnon_ to an athens that was barefacedly conquering and enslaving the isles of greece to no end but her own wealth and power and glory. the obvious reference is of course to the conquerors of troy. i have spoken of this oresteian trilogy as his _hamlet;_ with the _prometheus bound_--another tremendous soul-symbol--it is what puts him in equal rank with the four supreme masters of later western literature. i suppose it is pretty certain that shakespeare knew nothing of him, and had never heard of the plot of his _agamemnon._ but look here:-- there was one hamlet king of denmark, absent from control of his kingdom because sleeping within his orchard (his custom always of an afternoon). and there was one agamemnon king of men, absent from control of his kingdom because leading those same men at the siege of troy. hamlet had a wife gertrude; agamemnon had a wife clytemnestra. hamlet had a brother claudius; who became the lover of gertrude. agamemnon had a cousin aegisthos, who became the paramour of clytemnestra. claudius murdered hamlet, and thereby came by his throne and queen. clytemnestra and aegisthos murdered agamemnon, and aegisthos thereby became possessed of his throne and queen. hamlet and gertrude had a son hamlet, who avenged his father's murder. agamemnon and clytemnestra had a son orestes, who avenged his father's murder. there, however, the parallel ends. shakespeare had to paint the human soul at a certain stage of its evolution: the 'moment of choice,' the entering on the path: and brought all his genius to bear on revealing that. he had, here, to teach karma only incidentally; in _macbeth,_ when the voice cried 'sleep no more!' he is more aeschylean in spirit. that dreadful voice rings through aeschylus; who was altogether obsessed with the majesty and awfulness of karma. it is what he cried to athens then, and to all ages since, reiterating _karma_ with terrible sleep-forbidding insistency from dark heights.--i have quoted the wonderful line in which browning, using similes borrowed from aeschylus himself, sums up the effect of his style: 'aeschylus' bronze-throat eagle-bark for blood,' which compensates for the more than greek--unintelligibility of browning's version of the _agamemnon:_ it gives you some color, some adumbration of the being and import of the man. how shall we compare him with those others, his great compeers on the mountain of song? shakespeare--as i think--throned upon a peak where are storms often, but where the sun shines mostly; surveying all this life, and with an eye to the eternal behind: dante--a prophet, stern, proud, glad and sorrowful; ever in a great pride of pain or agony of bliss; surveying the life without,--only to correlate it with and interpret it by the vaster life within that he knew better;--this universe for him but the crust and excoriata of the universe of the soul. milton--a titan soul hurled down from heaven, struggling with all chaos and the deep to enunciate--just to proclaim and put on everlasting record-- those two profound significant words, _titan_ and _soul,_ for a memorial to man of the real nature of man. aeschylus--the barking of an eagle--of zeus the thunderer's own eagle out of ominous skies above the mountains: a thing unseen as karma, mysterious and mighty as fate, as disaster, as the final triumph of the soul; sublime as death; a throat of bronze, superhumanly impersonal; a far metallic clangor of sound, hoarse or harsh, perhaps, if your delicate ears must call him so; but grand; immeasurably grand; majestically, ominously and terribly grand;-- ancestral voices prophesying war, and doom, and all dark tremendous destinies;--and yet he too with serenity and the prophecy of peace and bliss for his last word to us: he will not leave his avenging erinyes until by pallas' wand and will they are transformed into eumenides, bringers of good fortune. something like that, perhaps, is the impression aeschylus leaves on the minds of those who know him. they bear testimony to the fact that, however grand his style--like a milton carlylized in poetry--thought still seems to overtop it and to be struggling for expression through a vehicle less than itself. says lytton, not unwisely perhaps: "his genius is so near the verge of bombast, that to approach his sublime is to rush into the ridiculous"; and he goes on to say that you might find the nearest echo of his diction in shelley's _prometheus;_ but of his diction alone; for "his power is in concentration--that of shelley in diffuseness." "the intellectuality of shelley," he says, "destroyed; that of aeschylus only increased his command over the passions. the interest he excites is startling, terrible, intense." browning tried to bring over the style; but left the thought, in an english _double-dutched,_ far remoter than he found it from our understanding. the thought demands in english a vehicle crystal-clear; but aeschylus in the greek is not crystal-clear: so close-packed and vast are the ideas that there are lines on lines of which the best scholars can only conjecture the meaning.--in all this criticism, let me say, one is but saying what has been said before; echoing professor mahaffy; echoing professor gilbert murray; but there is a need to give you the best picture possible of this man speaking from the eternal.--unless milton and carlyle had co-operated to make it, i think, any translation of the _agamemnon_--which so many have tried to translate--would be fatiguing and a great bore to read. it may not be amiss to quote three lines from george peel's _david and bethsabe,_ which have been often called aeschylean in audacity:-- "at him the thunder shall discharge his bolt, and his fair spouse, with bright and fiery wings, sit ever burning on his hateful wings;" his--the thunder's--fair spouse is the lightning. imagine images as swift, vivid and daring as that, hurled and flashed out in language terse, sudden, lofty--and you may get an idea of what this eagle's bark was like. and the word that came rasping and resounding on it out of storm-skies high over olympus, for athens then and the world since to hear, was karma. he took that theme, and drove it home, and drove it home, and drove it home. athens disregarded the rights and sufferings of others; was in fact abominably cruel. well; she should hear about karma; and in such a way that she should--no, but she _should_-- give ear. karma punished wrong-doing. it was wrong-doing that karma punished. you could not do wrong with impunity.--the common thought was that any extreme of good fortune was apt to rouse the jealousy of the gods, and so bring on disaster. this was what pindar taught--all-worshiped prosperous pindar, aeschylus' contemporary, the darling poet of the greeks. the idea is illustrated by herodotus' story of the ring of polycrates. you remember how the latter, being tyrant of samos, applied to amasis of egypt for an alliance. but wary amasis, noting his invariable good luck, advised him to sacrifice something, lest the gods should grow jealous: so polycrates threw a ring into the sea, with the thought thus to appease nemesis cheaply; but an obliging fish allowed itself to be caught and served up for his supper with the ring in its internal economy; on hearing of which, wary amasis foresaw trouble, and declined the alliance with thanks. such views or feelings had come to be greek orthodoxy; you may take it that whatever pindar said was not far from the orthodoxies--hence his extreme popularity: we dearly love a man who tells us grandly what we think ourselves, and think it right to think. but such a position would not do for aeschylus. he noted his doctrine only to condemn it. "there live an old saw framed in ancient days in memories of men, that high estate, full grown, brings forth its young, nor childless dies, but that from good success springs to the race a woe insatiable. but i, apart from all, hold this my creed alone: ill deeds along bring forth offspring of ill like to their parent stock." needless to say the translation--dean plumptre's in the main-- fails to bring out the force of the original. we must remember that for his audiences the story he had to tell was not the important thing. they knew it in advance; it was one of their familiar legends. what they went to hear was aeschylus' treatment of it; his art, his poetry, his preaching. that was what was new to them: the thing for which their eyes and ears were open. we go to the theater, as we read novels, for amusement; the athenians went for aesthetic and religious ends. so aechylus had ready for him an efficient pulpit; and was not suspect for using it. we like movies shows because they are entertaining and exciting; the athenian would have damned them because they are inartistic. i said, he had a pulpit ready for him; yet, as nearly as such a statement can come to truth, it was he himself who invented the drama. it was, remember, an age of transition: things were passing out from the inner planes: the mysteries were losing their virtue. the egyptian mysteries had been dramatic in character; the eleusinian, which were very likely borrowed or copied or introduced from egypt, were no doubt dramatic too. then there had been festivals among the rustics, chiefly in honor of dionysos not altogether in his higher aspects, with rudimentary plays of a coarse buffoonish character. by , in athens, these had grown to something more important; in that year the wooden scaffolding of the theater in which they were given broke down under the spectators; and this led to the building of a new theater in stone. it was in aeschylus first competed; the show was still very rudimentary in character. then he went off to sicily; and came back with the idea conceived of greek tragedy as an artistic vehicle or expression--and something more. he taught the men who had at first defeated him, how to do their later and better work; and opened the way for all who came after, from sophocles to racine. he took to sailing this new ship of the drama as near as he might to the shore-line of the mysteries themselves;--indeed, he did much more than this; for he infused into his plays that wine of divine life then to be found in its purity and vigor only or chiefly in the pythagorean brotherhood.--and now as to this new art-form of his. de quincey, accepting the common idea that the dionysian theater was built to seat between thirty and forty thousand spectators (every free athenian citizen), argues that the formative elements that made greek tragedy what it was were derived from these huge dimensions. in such a vast building (he asks) how could you produce such a play as _hamlet?_--where the art of the actor shows itself in momentary changes of expression, small byplay that would be lost, and the like. the figures would be dwarfed by the distances; stage whispers and the common inflexions of the speaking voice would be lost. so none of these things belonged to greek tragedy. the mere physical scale necessitated a different theory of art. the stature of the actors had to be increased, or they would have looked like pygmies; their figures had to be draped and muffled, to hide the unnatural proportions thus given them. a mask had to be worn, if only to make the head proportionate to the body; and the mask had to contain an arrangement for multiplying the voice, that it might carry to the whole audience. that implied that the lines should be chanted, not spoken;--though in any case, chanted they would be, for they were verse, not prose; and the greeks had not forgotten, as we have, that verse is meant to be chanted. so here, to begin with, the whole scheme implied something as unlike actual life as it well could be. and then, too, there was the solemnity of the occasion--the religious nature of the whole festival. thus, in substance de quincey; who makes too little, perhaps, of the matter of that last sentence; and too much of what goes before. we may say that it was rather the grand impersonal theory of the art that created the outward condition; not the conditions that created the theory. mahaffy went to athens and measured the theater; and found it not so big by any means. they could have worked out our theories and practice in it, had they wanted to, so far as that goes. coarse buffoonish country festivals do not of themselves evolve into grand art or solemn occasions; you must seek a cause for that evolution, and find it in an impulse arisen in some human mind. or minds indeed; for such impulses are very mysterious. the gods sow their seed in season; we do not see the sowing, but presently mark the greening of the brown earth. the method of the mysteries--drama serious and religious--had been drifting outwards: things had been growing to a point where a great creative soul could take hold of them and mold them to his wish. if aeschylus was not an initiate of eleusis, he had learnt, with the pythagoreans, the method of the mysteries of all lands. he knew more, not less, than the common pillars of the athenian church and state. i imagine it was he, in those thirteen consecutive years of his victories, who in part created, in part drew from his pythagorean knowledge, those conventions and circumstances for tragedy which suited him--rather than that conventions already existing imposed formative limits on him. his genius was aloof, impersonal, severe, and of the substance of the eternal; such as would need precisely those conventions, and must have created them had they not been there. briefly, i believe that this is what happened. sent by pythagoras to do what he could for athens and greece, he forged this mighty bolt of tragedy to be his weapon. the theory of modern drama is imitation of life. it has nothing else and higher to offer; so, when it fails to imitate, we call it trash. but the theory of aeschylean tragedy is the illumination of life. illumination of life, through a medium quite unlike life. art begins on a spiritual plane, and works down to realism in its decadence; then it ceases to be art at all, and becomes merely copying what we imagine to be nature,--nature, often, as seen through a diseased liver and well-atrophied pineal gland. true art imitates nature only in a very selective and limited way. it chooses carefully what it shall imitate, and all to the end of illumination. it paints a flower, or a sunset, not to reproduce the thing seen with the eyes, but to declare and set forth that mood of the oversoul which the flower or the sunset expressed. flower-colors or sunset-colors cannot be reproduced in pigments; but you can do things with pigments and a brush that can tell the same story. or it can be done in words, in a poem; or with the notes of music;--in both of which cases the medium used is still more, and totally, unlike the medium through which the oversoul said its say in the sky or the blossom. nature is always expressing these moods of the oversoul; but we get no news of them, as a rule, from our own sight and hearing; we must wait for the poets and artists to interpret them. life is always at work to teach us life; but we miss the grand lessons, usually, until some human teacher enforces them. his methods are the same as those of the artists: between whose office and his there was at first no difference;--_bard_ means only, originally, an adept teacher. such a one selects experiences out of life for his pupils, and illumines them through the circumstances under which they are applied; just as the true artist selects objects from nature, and by his manner of treating them, interprets the greatness that lies beyond. so the drama-theory of aeschylus. he took fragments of possible experience, and let them be seen through a heightened and interpretative medium; with a light at once intense and somber- portentous thrown on them; and this not to reproduce the externalia and appearance of life, but to illumine its inner recesses; to enforce, in plays lasting an hour or so, the lessons life may take many incarnations to teach. this cannot be done by realism, imitation or reproduction of the actual; than which life itself is always better. what keeps us from seeing the meanings of life? personality. not only our own, but in all those about us. personality dodges and flickers always between our eyes and the solemn motions, the adumbrations of the augustness beyond. we demand lots of personality in our drama; we call it character-drawing. we want to see fellows like ourselves lounging or bustling about, and hear them chattering as we do;--fellows with motives (like our own) all springing from the personality. human life is what interests us: we desire to drink deep of it, and drink again and again. the music that we wish to hear is the "still, sad music of humanity";--that is, taking our theory at its best, and before you come down to sheer 'jazz' and ragtime. but what interested aeschylus was that which lies beyond and within life. he said: 'you can get life in the agora, on the acropolis, any day of the week; when you come to the theater you shall have something else, and greater.' so he set his scenes, either in a vast, remote, and mysterious antiquity, or--in _the persians_--at susa before the palace of the great king: a setting as remote, splendid, vast, and mysterious, to the greek mind of the day, as the other. things should not be as like life, but as unlike life, as possible. the plays themselves, as acted, were a combination of poetry, dance, statuesque poses and motions and groupings; there was no action. all the action was done off the scenes. they did not portray the evolution of character; they hardly portrayed character--in the personal sense--at all. the _dramatis personae_ are types, symbols, the expression of natural forces, or principles in man. in our drama you have a line, an extension forward in time; a progression from this to that point in time;--in greek tragedy you have a cross-section of time--a cutting through the atom of time that glimpses may be caught of eternity. there was no unfoldment of a story; but the presentation of a single mood. in the chanted poetry and the solemn dance-movements a situation was set forth; what led up to it being explained retrospectively. the audience knew what was coming as well as the author did: that agamemnon, for instance, was to be murdered. so all was written to play on their expectations, not on their surprise. there was a succession of perfect pictures; these and the poetry were to hold the interest, to work it up: to seize upon the people, and lead them by ever-heightening accessions of feeling into forgetfulness of their personal lives, and absorption in the impersonal harmony, the spiritual receptivity, from which the grand truths are visible. the actors' masks allowed only the facial expression of a single mood; and it was a single mood the dramatist aimed to produce: a unity; one great word. there could be no grave-diggers; no quizzing of polonious; no clouds very like a whale. the whole drama is the unfoldment of a single moment: that, say, in which hamlet turns on caudius and kills him--rather, leads him out to kill him. to that you are led by a little sparse dialog, ominous enough, and pregnant with dire significance, between two or three actors; many long speeches in which the story is told in retrospect; much chanting by the chorus--horatio multiplied by a dozen or so--to make you feel hamlet's long indecision, and to allow you no escape from the knowledge that claudius' crime would bring about its karmic punishment. it is a unity: one thunderbolt from zeus;--first the growl and rumbling of the thunders; then the whirr of the dread missile,--and lo, the man dead that was to die. and through the bolt so hurled, so effective, and with it--the eagle-bark--aeschylus crying _karma!_ to the athenians. so it has been said that aeschylean tragedy is more nearly allied to sculpture; shakespearean tragedy to the epic. think how that unchanging mask, that frozen moment of expression, would develop the quality of tragic irony. in it clytemnestra comes out to greet the returning agamemnon. she has her handmaids carpet the road for him with purple tapestries; she makes her speeches of welcome; she alludes to the old sacrifice of iphigenia; she tells him how she has waited for his return;-- and all the while the audience knows she is about to kill him. they listen to her doubtful words, in which she reveals to them, who know both already, her faithlessness and dire purpose; but to her husband, seems to reveal something different altogether. with agamemnon comes cassandra from fallen troy: whose fate was to foresee all woes and horror, and to forthtell what she saw-- and never to be believed; so now when she raises her dreadful cry, foreseeing what is about to happen, and uttering warning-- none believe her but the audience, who know it all in advance. and then there are the chantings of the chorus, a group of argive elders. they know or guess how things stand between the queen and her lover; they express their misgiving, gathering as the play goes on; they recount the deeds of violence of which the house of atreus has been the scene, and are haunted by the foreshadowings of karma. but they many not understand or give credence to the warnings of cassandra: karma disallows fore-fending against the fall of its bolts. troy has fallen, they say: and that was karma; because paris, and troy in supporting him, had sinned against zeus the patron of hospitality,--to whom the offense rose like vultures with rifled nest, wheeling in mid-heaven on strong oars of wings, screaming for retribution. --you may not that aeschylus' freedom from the bonds of outer religion is like shakespeare's own: here zeus figures as symbol of the lords of karma; from him flow the severe readjustments of the law;--but in the _prometheus bound_ he stands for the lower nature that crucifies the higher. troy, then, had sinned, and has fallen; but (says the chorus) let the conquerors look to it that they do not overstep the mark; let there be no dishonoring the native gods of troy; (the athenians had been very considerably overstepping the mark in some of their own conquests recently;)--let there be no plundering or useless cruelty; (the athenians had been hideously greedy and cruel;)--or karma would overtake it own agents, the greeks, who were not yet out of the wood, as we say--who had not yet returned home. this was when the beacons had announced the fall of troy, and before the entry of agamemnon. clytemnestra is not like gertrude, but a much grander and more tragical figure. shakespeare leaves you in no doubt as to his queen's relation to claudius; he enlarges on their guilty passion _ad lib._ aeschylus never mentions love at all in any of his extant plays; only barely hints at it here. it may be supposed to exist; it is an accessory motive; it lends irony to clytemnestra's welcome to agamemnon--in which only the audience and the chorus are aware that the lady does protest too much. but she stands forth in her own eyes as an agent of karma-nemesis; there is something very terrible and unhuman about her. early in the play she reminds the chorus how agamemnon, is setting out for troy, sacrificed his and her daughter iphigenia to get a fair wind: a deed of blood whose consequences must be feared--something to add to the chorus's misgivings, as they chant their doubtful hope that the king may safely return. in reality artemis had saved igphigenia; and though clytemnestra did not know this, in assuming the position of her daughter's avenger she put herself under the karmic ban. and agamemnon did not know it: he had intended the sacrifice: and was therefore, and for his supposed ruthlessness at troy, under the same ban himself. hence the fate that awaited him on his return; and hence because of clytemnestra's useless crime--when she and aegisthos come out from murdering him, and announce what they have done, the chorus's dark foretellings--to come true presently --of the karma that is to follow upon it. and here we must guard ourselves against the error--as i think it is that aeschylus set himself to create the perfect and final art-form as such. i think he was just intent on announcing karma to the athenians in the most effective way possible: bent all his energies to making that--and that the natural result of that high issue clear and unescapable; purpose was this marvelous art-form--which sophocles took up later, and in some external ways perhaps perfected. then came aristotle after a hundred years, and defining the results achieved, tried to make shakespeare impossible. the truth is that when you put yourself to do the soul's work, and have the great forces of the soul to back you therein, you create an art-form; and it only remains for the aristotelian critic to define it. then back comes the soul after a thousand years, makes a new one, and laughs at the aristotles. the grand business is done by following the soul--not by conforming to rules or imitating models. but it must be the soul; rules and models are much better than personal whims; they are a discipline good to be followed as long as one can.-- you will note how aeschylus stood above the possibilities of actualism with which we so much concern ourselves; in the course of some sixteen hundred lines, and without interval or change of act or scene, he introduces the watchman on the house-top who first sees the beacons that announce the fall of troy, on the very night that troy fell,--and the return of agamemnon in his chariot to argos. in the _choephori_ or _libation-pourers,_ the second play of the trilogy, orestes returns from his wittenberg, sent by apollo to avenge his father. the scene again is in front of the house of atreus. having killed aegistlios within, orestes comes out to the chorus; then clytemnestra enters; he tells her what he has done, and what he intends to do; and despite her pleadings, leads her in to die beside her paramour. he comes out again, bearing (for his justification) the blood-stained robe of agamemnon;--but he comes out distraught and with the guilt of matricide weighing on his soul. the chorus bids him be of good cheer, reminding him upon what high suggestion he has acted; but in the background he, and he alone, sees the furies swarming to haunt him, "like gorgons, dark-robed, and all their tresses hang entwined with many serpents; and from their eyes is dropping loathsome blood." he must wander the world seeking purification. in the _eumenides_ we find him in the temple of loxias (the apollo) at delphi, there seeking refuge with the god who had prompted him to the deed. but even there the furies haunt him-- though for weariness--or really because it is the shrine of loxias--they have fallen asleep. from them even loxias may not free him; only perhaps pallas at athens may do that; loxias announces this to him and bids him go to athens, and assures him meanwhile of his protection. to athens then the scene changes, where orestes' case is tried: apollo defends him; pallas is the judge; the furies the accusers; the court of the areopagus the jury. the votes of these are equally divided; but athene gives her casting vote in his favor; and to compensate the erinyes, turns them into eumenides--from furies to goddesses of good omen and fortune. orestes is free, and the end is happy. no doubt very pretty and feeble of the bronze-throated eagle- barker to make it so. what! clap on an exit to these piled-up miseries?--he should have plunged us deeper in woe, and left us to stew in our juices; he should have shunned this detestable effeminacy, worthy only of the dantes and shakespeares. but unfortunately he was an esotericist, with the business of helping, not plaguing, mankind: he must follow the grand symbolism of the story of the soul, recording and emphasizing and showing the way to its victories, not its defeats. he had the eye to see deep into realities, and was not to be led from the path of truth eternal by the cheap effective expedients of realism. he must tell the whole truth: building up, not merely destroying; and truth, at the end, is not bitter, but bright and glorious. it is the triumph and purification of the soul; and to that happy consummation all sorrow and darkness and the dread furies themselves, whom he paints with all the dark flame-pigments of sheerest terror, are but incidental and a means. and the meaning of it all? well, the meaning is as vast as the scheme of evolution itself, i suppose. it is _hamlet_ over again, and treated differently; that which wrote _hamlet_ through shakespeare, wrote this trilogy through aeschylus. i imagine you are to find in the _agamemnon_ the symbol of the spirit's fall into matter--of the incarnation (and obscuration) of the lords of mind--driven thereto by ancient karma, and the result--of the life of past universes. shakespeare deals with this retrospectively, in the ghost's words to hamlet on the terrace. the 'death' of the spirit is its fall into matter. and just as the ghost urges hamlet to revenge, so apollo urges orestes; it is the influx, stir, or impingement of the supreme self, that rouses a man, at a certain stage in his evolution, to lift himself above his common manhood. this is the most interesting and momentous event in the long career of the soul: it takes the place, in that drama of incarnations, that the marriage does in the modern novel. shakespeare, whose mental tendencies were the precise opposite of aeschylus's--they ran to infinite multiplicity and complexity, where the other's ran to stern unity and simplicity (of plot)--made two characters of polonius and gertrude: polonius,--the objective lower world, with its shallow wisdom and conventions; gertrude,--nature, the lower world in it subjective or inner relation to the soul incarnate in it. aeschylus made no separate symbol for the former. shakespeare makes the killing of polonius a turning-point; thenceforth hamlet must, will he nill he, in some dawdling sort sweep to his revenge. aeschylus makes that same turning-point in the killing of clytemnestra, whereafter the furies are let loose on orestes. if you think well what it means, it is that "leap" spoken of in _light on the path,_ by which a man raises himself "on to the path of individual accomplishment instead of mere obedience to the genii which rule our earth." he can no longer walk secure like a sheep in the flock; he has come out, and is separate; he has chosen a captain within, and must follow the soul, and not outer convention. that step taken, and the face set towards the spirit-sun--the life of the world forgone, that a way may be fought into the life of the soul:--all his past lives and their errors rise against him; his passions are roused to fight for their lives, and easy living is no longer possible. he must fly then for refuge to loxias the sun-god, the supreme self, who can protect him from these erinyes--but it is pallas, goddess of the inner wisdom, of the true method of life, that can alone set him free. and it is thus that apollo pleads before her for orestes who killed his mother (nature) to avenge his father (spirit):--a man, says he, is in reality the child of his father, not of his mother:--this lower world in which we are incarnate is not in truth our parent or originator at all, but only the seed-plot in which we, sons of the eternal, are sown, the nursery in which we grow to the point of birth;--but we ourselves are in our essence flame of the flame of god. so pallas--and you must think of all she implied--theosophy, right living, right thought and action, true wisdom--judges orestes guiltless, sets him free, and transforms his passions into his powers. v. some periclean figures yoshio markino (that ever-delightful japanese) makes an illuminating comparison between the modern western and the ancient eastern civilizations. what he says amounts to this: the one is of science, the other of the human spirit; the one of intellect, the other of intuition; the one has learnt rules for carrying all things through in some shape that will serve--the other worked its wonders by what may be called a transcendental rule of thumb. but in fact it was a reliance on the human spirit, which invited the presence thereof;--and hence results were attained quite unachievable by modern scientific methods. what yoshio says of the chinese and japanese is also true of all the great western ages of the past. we can do a number of things,-- that is, have invented machinery to do a number of things for us,--but with all our resources we could not build a parthenon: could not even reproduce it, with the model there before our eyes to imitate.* ------ * i quote prof. mahaffy in his _problems of greek history._ he also points out that it is beyond the powers of modern science in naval architecture to construct a workable model of a greek trireme. ------ it stands as a monument of the human spirit: as an age-long witness to the presence and keen activity of that during the age of pericles in athens. it was built at almost break-neck speed, yet remains a thing of permanent inimitable beauty, defying time and the deliberate efforts of men and gunpowder to destroy it. the work in it which no eye could see was as delicate, as exquisite, as that which was most in evidence publicly; every detail bore the deliberate impress of the spirit, a direct spiritual creation. there is no straight line in it; no two measurements are the same; but by a divine and direct intuition, every difference is inevitable, and an essential factor in the perfection of the whole. as if the same creative force had made it, as makes of the sea and mountains an inescapable perfection of beauty. it is one of the many mighty works wherewith pericles and his right-hand man pheidias, and his architects ictinus and callicrates, adorned athens. it would serve no purpose to make a list of the great names of the age; which you know well enough already. the simple fact to note is this: that at a certain period in the fifth and fourth centuries b. c. the crest-wave of evolution was, so far as we can see, flowing through a very narrow channel. the far eastern seats of civilization were under pralaya; the life-forces in west asia were running towards exhaustion, or already exhausted; india, it is true, is hidden from us; we cannot judge well what was going on there; and so was most of europe. any scheme of cycles that we can put forward as yet must necessarily be tentative and hypothetical; what we do not know is, to what we do know, as a million to one; i may be quite wrong in giving europe as long a period for its manvantaras as china; possibly there were no manvantaric activities in europe, in that period, before the rise of greece. but whether or no, this particular time belongs, of all european countries, to greece: the genius of the world, the energy of the human spirit, was mainly concentrated there; and of greece, in the single not too large city of athens. it is true i am rather enamored of the cycle of a hundred and thirty years; prejudiced, if you like, in its favor; it is also true that genius was speaking through at least one world-important athenian voice-- that of aeschylus--before the age of pericles began. still, these dates are significant: , in which year athens attained the hegemony of greece, and , in which plato died. it was after that aeschylus eagle-barked the grandest part of his message from the soul, and that the great periclean figures appeared; and though athenians of genius out-lived plato, he was the last world-figure and great soul-prophet; the last athenian equal in standing to aeschylus. when those thirteen decades had passed, the soul had little more to say through athens.-- aristotle?--i said, _the soul_ had little more to say. . . . about midway through that cycle came aegospotami, and the destruction of the long walls and of the empire; but these did not put an end to athenian significance. mahaffy very wisely goes to work to dethrone the peloponnesian war--as he does, too, the persian--from the eminence it has been given in the textbooks ever since. as usual, we get a lopsided view from the historians: in this case from thucydides, who slurred through a sort of synopsis of the far more important and world-interesting mid-fifth century, and then dealt microscopically with these twenty-five years or so of trumpery raidings, petty excursions and small alarms. that naval battle at syracuse, which creasy puts with marathon in his famous fifteen, was utterly unimportant: tardy nicias might have won all through, and still athens would have fallen. her political foundations were on the sand. under persia you stood a much better chance of enjoying good government and freedom: persian rule was far less oppressive and cruel. the states and islands subject to athens had no self-government, no representation; they were at the mercy of the athenian mob, to be taxed, bullied, and pommeled about as that fickle irresponsible tyranny might elect or be swayed to pommel, tax, and bully them. thucydides was a great master of prose style, and so could invest with an air of importance all the matter of his tale. besides, he was the only contemporary historian, or the only one that survives. so the world ever since has been tricked into thinking this peloponnesian war momentous; whereas really it was a petty family squabble among that most family-squabblesome of peoples, the greeks.--in most of which i am only quoting mahaffy; who, whether intentionally or not, deals with greek history in such a way as to show the utter unimportance, irrelevance, futility, of war. greek history is merely a phase of human history. we have looked for its significance exclusively in political and cultural regions; but this is altogether a mistake. the greeks did not invent culture; there had been greater cultures before, only they are forgotten. all that about the "evolution of political freedom," of the city state, republicanism, etc., is just nonsense. as far as i can see, the importance of greece lies in this: human history, the main part of it, flowing in that age through the narrow channel of greece, came down from sacred to secular; from the last remnants of a state of affairs in which the lodge, through the mysteries, had controlled life and events, to the beginnings of one in which things were to muddle through under the sweet guidance of brain-minds and ordinary men. the old order had become impossible; the world had drifted too far from the gods. so the gods tried a new method: let loose a new great force in the world; sent teachers to preach openly (sow broadcast, and let the seed take its chances) what had before been concealed and revealed systematically within the established mysteries. what athens did with that new force has affected the whole history of europe since; apparently mostly for weal; really, nearly altogether for woe. aristides, with convincing logic, had been able to persuade all greece to act against a common danger under an athens then morally great, and feeling this new force from the god-world as a wine in the air, a mental ozone, an inspiration from the subliminal to heroic endeavor. but his policy perished when the visible need for it subsided; it gave way to the themistoclean, which passed into the periclean policy; and that, says mahaffy, "was so dangerous and difficult that no cautious and provident thinker could have called it secure." which also was plato's view of it; who went so far as to say that pericles had made the athenians lazy, sensual, and frivolous. when we find aeschylus at the start at odds with it, and plato at the end condemning it wholesale,--for my part i think we hardly need bother to argue about it further. both were men who saw from a standpoint above the enlightenment of the common brain-mind. it is not the present purpose to treat history as a matter of wars and politics; details of which you can get from any textbook; our concern is with the motions of the human spirit, and the laws that work from behind. as to these motions, and the grand influxes, there is this much we can rely on: they come by law, in their regular cycles; and we can invite their coming, and insure their stability when they do come. the more i study history, the more the significance of my present surroundings impresses me. we stand here upon a marvelous isthmus in time; behind us lies a world of dreary commonplaces called the civilization of christendom; before us--who knows what possibilities? nothing is certain about the future--even the near future;--except that it will be immensely unlike the past. whatever we have learned or failed to learn, large opportunities are given us daily for discovering those inward regions whence all light shines down into the world. genius is one method of the soul's action; one aspect of its glory made manifest. we are given opportunities to learn what invites and what hinders its outflow. to all common thinking, it is a thing absolutely beyond control of the will; that cannot be called down, nor its coming in anywise foretold. but we know that the divine self would act, were the obstructions to its action removed; and that the obstructions are all in the lower nature of man. worship the soul in all thoughts and deeds, and sooner or later the soul will pour down through the channel thus made for it; and its inflow will not be fitful and treacherous, but sure, stable, equable and redeeming. this is where all past ages of brilliance have failed. cyclically they were bound to come: the fields ripened in due season; but the wealth of the harvest depended on the reapers. the elizabethan age, with all its splendid quickening of the english mind, was coarse and wicked to a degree. all through the wonderful cinquecento, when each of a dozen or more little italian city-states was producing genius enough to furnish forth a good average century in modern europe or america, italy was also a hotbed of unnatural vices, lurid crimes, wickedness to stock the nine circles of malebolge. so too athens at the top of her glory became selfish, grasping, conscienceless and cruel; and those nameless vices grew up and grew common in her which probably account for the long dark night that has spread itself over greece ever since. it is a strange situation, that looks like an anomaly: that wherever the human spirit presses in most, and raises up most splendor of genius, there, and then the dark forces that undermine life are most at work. but we should have no difficulty in understanding it. at such times, by such influxes, the whole inner kingdom of man is roused and illumined; and not only the intellect and all noble qualities are quickened, but the passions also. the race, and the individual, are stirred to the deepest depths, and no part of you may have rest. what then will happen, unless you have the surest moral training for foundation? the force which rouses up the highest in you, rouses up also the lowest; and there must be battle-royal and victory at last, or surrender to hell. through lack of training, and ignorance of the laws of the inner life, the higher will be handicapped; the lower will have advantage through its own natural impulse downward, increased by every success it is allowed to gain. and so all these ages of creative achievement exhaust themselves; every victory of the passions drawing down the creative force from the higher planes, to waste it on the lower; till at last what had been an attempt of the spirit to lift humanity up on to nobler lines of evolution, and to open a new order of ages, expires in debauchery, weakness, degeneracy, physical and moral death. the worst fate you could wish a man is genius without moral strength. it wrecks individuals, and it wrecks nations. i said we stand now on an isthmus of time; fifth-century greece stood on such another. for reasons that we have seen, there was to be a radical difference between the ages that preceded, and the ages that followed it; its influence was not to wear out, in the west, for twenty-five hundred years. it was to give a keynote, in cultural effort, to a very long future. so all western ages since have suffered because of its descent from lofty ideals to vulgar greed and ambition; from aristides to themistocles and pericles. we shall see this athenian descent in literature, in art, in philosophy. if athens had gone up, not down, european history would have been a long record of the triumphs of the spirit:--not, as it has been in the main, one of sorrow and disaster. at the beginning of the greek age in literature, we find the stupendous figure of aeschylus. for any such a force as he was, there is--how shall i say?--a twofold lineage or ancestry to be traced: there are no sudden creations. take shakespeare, for example. there was what he found read to his hand in english literature; and what he brought into england out of the unknown. in his outwardness, the fabric of his art--we can trace this broad river back to a thinnish stream by the name of chaucer; or he was growth, recognizably, of the national tree of which chaucer was the root, or lay at the root. the unity called english poetry had grown naturally from that root to this glorious flower: the sparkle, with, brightness, and above all large hold upon the other life that one finds in shakespeare--one finds at least the rudiments of them in chaucer also. but there is another, an exoteric element in him which one finds nowhere in english literature before him: the grandeur from within, the high soul symbol. in him suddenly that portentous thing appears, like a great broad river emerging from the earth.--of which we do not say, however, that they have had no antecedent rills and fountain; we know that they have traveled long beneath the mountains, unseen; they sank under the earth-surface somewhere, and are not special new creations. looking back behind shakespeare, from this our eminence in time, we can see beyond the intervening heights this broad water shine again over the plain in dante; and beyond him some glimmer of it in virgil; until at last we see the far-off sheen of it in aeschylus, very near the backward horizon of time. we can catch no glimpse of it farther, because that horizon is there. we can trace aeschylus' outward descent--as shakespeare's from chaucer--from the nascent greek drama and the rudimentary plays at the rustic festivals; but the grand river of his esotericism --there it shines, as large and majestic, at least, as in shakespeare; and it was, no more than his, a special creation or new thing. our horizon lies there, to prevent our vision going further; but from some higher time-eminence in the future, we shall see it emerge again in the backward vastnesses of pre-history; again and again. the grandeur of aeschylus his no parent in greek, or in western extant literature; or if we say that it has a parent in homer (which i doubt, because not seeing the soul symbols in homer), it is only putting matters one step further back.... but behind greece, there were the lost literatures of babylonia, assyria, egypt, of which we know nothing; aye, and for a guess, lost and mighty literatures from all parts of europe too. if i could imagine it otherwise, i would say so. almost suddenly, during aeschylus' lifetime, another greek art came into being. when he was a boy, sculpture was still a very crude affair; or perhaps just beginning to emerge from that condition. the images that come down to us, say from pisistratus' time and earlier, are not greatly different from the 'primitive' carvings of many so-called savage peoples of our own day. that statement is loose and general; but near enough the mark to serve our purpose. you may characterize them as rude imitations of the human form, without any troublesome realism, and with a strong element of the grotesque. says the _encyclopeadia britannica_ (from which the illustration is taken): "the statues of the gods began either with stiff and ungainly figures roughly cut out of the trunk of a tree, or with the monstrous and symbolical representations of oriental art.... in early decorations of vases and vessels one may find greek deities represented with wings, carrying in their hands lions or griffins, bearing on their heads lofty crowns. but as greek art progressed it grew out of this crude symbolism... what the artists of babylonia and egypt express in the character of the gods by added attribute or symbol, swiftness by wings, control of storms by the thunderbolt, traits of character by animal heads, the artists of greece work more and more fully into the scultptural type; modifying the human subject by the constant addition of something which is above the ordinary levels of humanity, until we reach the zeus of pheidias or the dimeter of cnidus. when the decay of the high ethical art of greece sets in, the gods become more and more warped to the merely human level. they lose their dignity, but they never lose their charm." in which, i think, much light is once more thrown on the inner history of the race, and the curious and fatal position greece holds in it. for here we see art emerging from its old position as a hand-maid to the mysteries and recognized instrument of the gods or the soul; from sacred becoming secular; from impersonal, personal. there is, perhaps, little enough in pre-pheidian greek sculpture that belongs to the history of art at all (i do not speak of old cycles and manvantaras, the ages of troy and mycenae, but of historical times; i cast no glance now behind the year b. c.). for the real art that came next before the pheidian greek, we have to look to egypt and mesopotamia. take egypt first. there the sculptor thinks of himself far less as artist than as priest and servant of the mysteries: that is, of the great divine heart of existence behind this manifested world, and the official channel which connected it with the latter. the gods, for him, are frankly unhuman--superhuman-- unlike humanity. we call them 'forces of nature'; and think ourselves mighty wise for having camouflaged our ignorance with this perfectly meaningless term. we have dealt so wisely with our thinking organs, that do but give us a sop of words, and things in themselves we shall never bother about:--like the grave-digger, who solved the whole problem of ophelia's death and burial with his three branches of an act. but the egyptian, with mental faculties unrotted by creedal fatuities like our own, would not so feed 'of the chameleon's dish,'--needed something more than words, words, and words. he knew also that there were elements in their being quite unlike any we are conscious of in ours. so he gave them purely symbolic forms: a human body, for that which he could posit as common to themselves and humanity; and an animal mask, to say that the face, the expression of their consciousness, was hidden, and not to be expressed in terms of human personality. while affirming that they were conscious entities, he stopped short of personalizing them. what was beneath the mask or symbol belonged to the mysteries, and was not to be publicly declared. but when he came to portraying men, especially great kings, he used a different method. the king's statue was to remain through long ages, when the king himself was dead and osirified. the artist knew--it was the tradition of his school--what the osirified dead looked like. not an individual sculptor, but a traditional wisdom, was to find expression. what sculptor's name is known? who wrought the vocal memnon?--not any man; but the soul and wisdom and genius of egypt. the last things bothered about were realism and personality. there were a very few conventional poses; the object was not to make a portrait, but to declare the universal human soul;--it was hardly artistic, in any modern acceptation of the word; but rather religious. artistic it was, in the highest and truest sense: to create, in the medium of stone, the likeness or impression of the human soul in its grandeur and majesty; to make hard granite or syenite proclaim the eternal peace and aloofness of the soul.--plato speaks of those glimpses of "the other side of the sky" which the soul catches before it comes into the flesh;--the egyptian artist was preoccupied with the other side of the sky. how wonderfully he succeeded, you have only to drop into the british museum to see. there is a colossal head there, hung high on the wall facing the stairs at the end of the egyptian gallery; you may view it from the ground, or from any point on the stairs; but from whatever place you look at it, if you have any quality of the soul in you, you go away having caught large glimpses of the other side of the sky. you are convinced, perhaps unconsciously, of the grandeur and reality of the soul. having watched eternity on that face many times, i rejoiced to find this description of it in de quincey;--if he was not speaking of this, what he says fits it admirably: "that other object which for four and twenty years in the british museum struck me as simply the sublimest sight which in this sight-seeing world i had seen. it was the memnon's head, then recently brought from egypt. i looked at it, as the reader must suppose in order to understand the depth which i have here ascribed to the impression, not as a human but as a symbolic head; and what it symbolized to me were: ( ) the peace which passeth understanding. ( ) the eternity which baffles and confounds all faculty of computation--the eternity which had been, the eternity which was to be. ( ) the diffusive love, not such as rises and falls upon waves of life and mortality, not such as sinks and swells by undulations of time, but a procession, an emanation, from some mystery of endless dawn. you durst not call it a smile that radiated from those lips; the radiation was too awful to clothe itself in adumbrations of memorials of flesh." art can never reach higher than that,--if we think of it as a factor in human evolution. what else you may say of egyptian sculpture is of minor importance: as, that it was stiff, conventional, or what not; that each figure is portrayed sitting bolt upright, hands out straight, palms down, upon the knees, and eyes gazing into eternity. ultimately we must regard art in this egyptian way: as a thing sacred, a servant of the mysteries; the revealer of the soul and the other side of the sky. you may have enormous facility in playing with your medium; may be able to make your marble quite fluidic, and flow into innumerable graceful forms; you may be past master of every intricacy, multiplying your skill to the power of n;--but you will still in reality have made no progress beyond that unknown carver who shaped his syenite, or his basalt, into the "peace which passeth understanding"--"the eternity which baffles and confounds all faculty of computation." if we turn to assyria, we find much the same thing. this was a people far less spiritual than the egyptians: a cruel, splendid, luxurious civilization deifying material power. but you cannot look at the great winged bulls without knowing that there, too, the motive was religious. there is an eternity and inexhaustible power in those huge carvings; the sculptors were bent on one end:--to make the stone speak out of superhuman heights, and proclaim the majesty of the everlasting.--in the babylonian sculptures we see the kings going into battle weaponless, but calm and invincible; and behind and standing over, to protect and fight for them, terrific monsters, armed and tiger-headed or leopard-headed--the 'divinity that hedges a king' treated symbolically. as always in those days, though many veils might hide from the consciousness of assyria and later babylon the beautiful reality of the soul of things, the endeavor, the _raison d'etre,_ of art was to declare the might, power, majesty, and dominion which abide beyond our common levels of thought. now then: that great memnon's head comes from behind the horizon of time and the sunset of the mysteries; and in it we sample the kind of consciousness produced by the teaching of the mysteries. go back step by step, from shakespeare's "glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore cawdor shall sleep no more."; to dante's "the love that moves the sun and the other stars"; to talesin's "my original country is the region of the summer stars"; to aeschylus's bronze-throat eagle-bark at blood;--and the next step you come to beyond (in the west)--the next expression of the human soul--marked with the same kind of feeling--the same spiritual and divine hauteur--is, for lack of literary remains, this egyptian sculpture. the grand manner, the majestic note of esotericism, the highest in art and literature, is a stream flowing down to us from the sacred mysteries of antiquity. it is curious that a crude primtivism in sculpture--and in architecture too--should have gone on side by side, in greece, during the seventh and sixth centuries b. c., with the very finished art of the lyricists from sappho to pindar; but apparently it did. (they had wooden temples, painted in bright reds and greens; i understand without pillared facades.) i imagine the explanation to be something like this: you are to think of an influx of the human spirit, proceeding downward from its own realms towards these, until it strikes some civilization --the greek, in this case. now poetry, because its medium is less material, lies much nearer than do the plastic arts to the spirit on its descending course; and therefore receives the impulse of its descent much sooner. perhaps music lies higher again; which is why music was the first of the arts to blossom at all in this nascent civilization of ours at point loma. let me diverge a little, and take a glance round.--at any such time, the seeds of music may not be present in strength or in a form to be quickenable into a separately manifesting art; and this may be true of poetry too; yet where poetry is, you may say music has been; for every real poem is born out of a pre-existing music of its own, and is the _inverbation_ of it. the greek melic poets (the lyricists) were all musicians first, with an intricate musical science, on the forms of which they arranged their language; i do not know whether they wrote their music apart from the words. after the greek, the italian illumination was the greatest in western history; there the influx, beginning in the thirteenth century, produced first its chief poetic splendor in dante before that century had passed; not raising an equal greatness in painting and sculpture until the fifteenth. in england, the breath that kindled shakespeare never blew down so far as to light up a great moment in the plastic arts: there were some few figures of the second rank in painting presently; in sculpture, nothing at all (to speak of). painting, you see, works in a little less material medium than sculpture does. dante's italy had not quite plunged into that orgy of vice, characteristic of the great creative ages, which we find in the italy of the cinquecento. but england, even in shakespeare's day, was admiring and tending to imitate italian wickedness. james i's reign was as corrupt as may be; and though the puritan reaction followed, the creative force had already been largely wasted: notice had been served to the spirit to keep off. puritanism raised itself as a barrier against the creative force both in its higher and lower aspects: against art, and against vice;--probably the best thing that could happen under the circumstances; and the reason why england recovered so much sooner than did italy.--on the other hand, when the influx came to holland, it would seem to have found, then, no opportunities for action in the non-material arts: to have skipped any grand manifestation in music or poetry: and at once to have hit the dutchman 'where he lived' (as they say),--in his paintbox.--but to return:- sculpture, then, came later than poetry to greece; and in some ways it was a more sudden and astounding birth. unluckily nothing remains--i speak on tenterhooks--of its grandest moment. progress in architecture seems to have begun in the reign of pisistratus; some time in the next sixty years or so the soul first impressed its likeness on carved stone. i once saw a picture--in a lantern lecture in london--of a pre-pheidian statue of athene; dating, i suppose, from the end of the sixth century b. c. she is advancing with upraised arm to protect--someone or something. the figure is, perhaps, stiff and conventional; and you have no doubt it is the likeness of a goddess. she is not merely a very fine and dignified woman; she is a goddess, with something of egyptian sublimity. the artist, if he had not attained perfect mastery of the human form--if his medium was not quite plastic to him--knew well what the soul is like.--the greek had no feeling, as the egyptian had, for the _mystery_ of the gods; at his very best (once he had begun to be artistic) he personalized them; he tried to put into his representations of them, what the egyptian had tried to put into his representations of men; and in that sense this athene is, after all, only a woman;--but one in whom the soul is quite manifest. i have never been able to trace this statue since; and my recollections are rather hazy. but it stands, for me, holding up a torch in the inner recesses of history. it was the time when pythagoras was teaching; it was that momentous time when (as hardly since) the doors of the spiritual were flung open, and the impulse of the six great teachers was let loose on the world. hithertoo greek carvers had been making images of the gods, symbolic indeed--with wings, thunderbolts and other appurtenances;--but trivially symbolic; mere imitation of the symbolism, without the dignity or religious feeling, of the egyptians and babylonians; as if their gods and worship had been mere conventions, about which they had felt nothing deep;--now, upon this urge from the god-world, a sense of the grandeur of the within comes on them; they seek a means of expressing it: throw off the old conventions; will carve the gods as men; do so, their aspiration leading them on to perfect mastery: for a moment achieve egyptian sublimity; but--have personalized the gods; and dear knows what that may lead to presently. the came pheidias, born about . nothing of his work remains for us; the elgin marbles themselves, from the parthenon, are pretty certainly only the work of his pupils. but there are two things that tell us something about his standing: ( ) all antiquity bears witness to the prevailing quality of his conceptions; their sublimity. ( ) he was thrown into prison on a charge of impiety, and died there, in . here you will note the progress downward. aeschylus had been so charged, and tried--but acquitted. pheidias, so charged, was imprisoned. forty-three years later socrates, so charged, was condemned to drink the hemlock. of aeschylus and socrates we can speak with certainty: they were the soul's elect men. was pheidias too? athens certainly was turning away from the soul; and his fate is a kind of half-way point between the fates of the others. he appears in good company. and that note of sublimity in his work bears witness somewhat. we have the work of his pupils, and know that in their hands the marble--pheidias himself worked mostly in gold and ivory--had become docile and obedient, to flow into whatever forms they designed for it. we know what strength, what beauty, what tremendous energy, are in those elgin marbles. all the figures are real, but idealized: beautiful men and horses, in fullest most vigorous action, suddenly frozen into stone. the men are more beautiful than human; but they are human. they are splendid unspoiled human beings, reared for utmost bodily perfection; athletes whose whole training had been, you may say, to music: they are music expressed in terms of the human body. yes; but already the beauty of the body outshone the majesty of the soul. it was the beauty of the body the artists aimed at expressing: a perfect body--and a sound mind in it: a perfectly healthy mind in it, no doubt (be cause you cannot have a really sound and beautiful body without a sound healthy mind)--was the ideal they sought and saw. very well, so far; but, you see, art has ceased to be sacred, and the handmaid of the mysteries; it bothers itself no longer with the other side of the sky. in pheidias' own work we might have seen the influx at that moment when, shining through the soul plane, its rays fell full on the physical, to impress and impregnate that with the splendor of the soul. we might have seen that it was still the soul that held his attention, although the body was known thoroughly and mastered: that it was the light he aimed to express, not the thing it illumined. in the work of his pupils, the preoccupation is with the latter; we see the physical grown beautiful under the illumination of the soul; not the soul that illumines it. the men of the egyptian sculptors had been gods. the gods of these greek sculptors were men. perfect, glorious, beautiful men --so far as externals were concerned. but men--to excite personal feeling, not to quell it into nothingness and awe. the perfection, even at that early stage and in the work of the disciples of pheidias, was a quality of the personality. it was indeed marvelously near the point of equilibrium: the moment when spirit enters conquered matter, and stands there enthroned. in pheidias himself i cannot but think we should have found that moment as we find it in aeschylus. but you see, it is when that has occurred: when spirit has entered matter, and made the form, the body, supremely beautiful; it is precisely then that the moment of peril comes--if there is not the wisdom present that knows how to avoid the peril. the next and threatening step downward is preoccupation with, then worship of, the body. the age of pericles came to worship the body: that was the danger into which it fell; that was what brought about the ruin of greece. that huge revelation of material beauty; and that absence of control from above; the lost adequacy of the mysteries, and the failure of the pythagorean movement;--the impatience of spiritual criticism, heedlessness of spiritual warning;--well, we can see what a turning-point the time was in history. on the side of politics, selfishness and ambition were growing; on the side of personal life, vice. . . . it is a thing to be pondered on, that what has kept greece sterile these last two thousand years or so is, i believe, the malaria; which is a thing that depends for its efficacy on mosquitos. great men simply will not incarnate in malarial territory; because they would have no chance whatever of doing anything, with that oppression and enervation sapping them. greece has been malarial; rome, too, to some extent; the roman campagna terribly; as if the disease were (as no doubt it is) a karma fallen on the sites of old-time tremendous cultural energies; where the energies were presently wrecked, drowned and sodden in vice. here then is a pretty little problem in the workings of karma: on what plane, through what superphysical links or channels, do the vices of an effete civilization transform themselves into that poor familiar singer in the night-time, the mosquito? greece and rome, in their heyday, were not malarial; if they had been, no genius and no power would have shone in them. in the middle ages, before people knew much about sanitary science and antiseptics and the like, a great war quickly translated itself into a great pestilence. then we made advances and discovered listerian remedies and things, and said: come now; we shall fight this one; we shall have slaughtered millions lying about as we please, and get no plague out of it; we are wise and mighty, and karma is a fool to us; we are the children of modern civilization; what have nature and its laws to do with us? our inventions and discoveries have certainly put them out of commission.--and sure enough, the mere foulness of the battlefield, the stench of decay, bred no pest; our science had circumvented the old methods through which natural law (which is only another way of saying karma) worked; we had cut the physical links, and blocked the material channels through which wrong-doing flowed into its own punishment.--whereupon nature, wrathful, withdrew a little; took thought for her astral and inner planes; found new links and channels there; passed through these the causes we had provided, and emptied them out again on the physical plane in the guise of a new thing, spanish influenza;--and spread it over three continents, with greater scope and reach than had ever her old-fashioned stench-bred plagues that served her well enough when we were less scientific. whereof the moral is: _he laughs loudest who laughs last;_ and just now, and for some time to come, the laugh is with karma. say until the end of the maha-manvantara; until the end of manifested time. when shall we stop imagining that any possible inventions or discoveries will enable us to circumvent the fundamental laws of nature? not the printing-press, nor steam, nor electricity, nor aerial navigation, nor _vril_ itself when we come to it, will serve to keep civilizations alive that have worn themselves out by wrong-doing--or even that have come to old age and the natural time when they must die. but their passings need not be ghastly and disastrous, or anything but honorable and beneficial, if in the prime and vigor of their lifetimes they would learn decently to live. but to return to our muttons, which is greece; and now to the literature again:-- after aeschylus, sophocles. the former, a messenger of the gods, come to cry their message of _karma_ to the world; and in doing so, incidentally to create a supreme art-form;--the latter, a "good easy soul who lives and lets live, founds no anti-school, upsets no faith."--thus browning sums him up. a "faultless" artist enamored of his art; in which, thinks he (and most academic critics with him) he can improve something on old aeschylus; a man bothered with no message; a beautiful youth; a genial companion, well-loved by his friends--and who is not his friend?--all through his long life; twenty times first-prize winner, and never once less than second.--why, solely on the strength of his _antigone,_ the athenians appointed him a strategos in the expedition against samos; with the thought that one so splendidly victorious in the field of drama, could not fail of victory in mere war. but don't lose hope!--upon an after-thought (perhaps) they appointed pericles too; who suggested to his poet-colleague that though master of them all in his own line, he had better on the whole leave the sordid details of command to himself, pericles, who had more experience of that sort. what more shall we say of sophocles?--a charming brilliant fellow in his cups--of which, as of some other more questionable pleasures, report is he was too fond; a man worshiped during his life, and on his death made a hero with semi-divine honors;--does that sound like the story of a messenger of the gods? he was born at colonos in attica, in ; of his hundred or so of dramas, seven come down to us. his age saw in him the very ideal of a tragic poet; aristotle thought so too; so did the alexandrian critics, and most moderns with them. "indeed," says mahaffy, "it is no unusual practice to exhibit the defects of both aeschylus and euripides by comparison with their more successful rival." without trying to give you conclusions of my own, i shall read you a longish passage from gilbert murray, who is not only a great greek scholar, but a fine critic as well, and a poet with the best translations we have of greek tragedy to his credit; he has made euripides read like good english poetry. comparing the _choephori_ of aeschylus, the second play in the oreseian trilogy, with the _electra_ of sophocles, which deals with the same matter, he says: "aeschylus... had felt vividly the horror of his plot; he carries his characters to the deed of blood on a storm of confused, torturing, half-religious emotion; the climax is of course, the mother-murder, and orestes falls into madness after it. in the _electra_ this element is practically ignored. electra has no qualms; orestes shows no signs of madness; the climax is formed not by the culminating horror, the matricide, but by the hardest bit of work, the slaying of aegisthos! aeschylus has kept electra and clytemnestra apart; here we see them freely in the hard unloveliness of their daily wrangles. above all, in place of the cry of bewilderment that closes the _choephori_--'what is the end of all this spilling of blood for blood?'--the _electra_ closes with an expression of entire satisfaction... aeschylus takes the old bloody saga in an earnest and troubled spirit, very different from homer's, but quite as grand. his orestes speaks and feels as aechylus himself would... sophocles... takes the saga exactly as he finds it. he knows that those ancient chiefs did not trouble about their consciences; they killed in the fine old ruthless way. he does not try to make them real to himself at the cost of making them false to the spirit of the epos... "the various bits of criticism ascribed to him--'i draw men as they ought to be drawn; euripides draws them as they are'; 'aeschylus did the right thing, but without knowing it'--all imply the academic standpoint... even his exquisite diction, which is such a marked advance on the stiff magnificence of his predecessor, betrays the lesser man in the greater artist. aeschylus's superhuman speech seems like natural superhuman speech. it is just the language that prometheus would talk, that an ideal agamemnon or atossa might talk in the great moments. but neither prometheus nor oedipus nor electra, nor anyone but an attic poet of the highest culture, would talk as sophocles makes them. it is this which has established sophocles as the perfect model, not only for aristotle, but in general for critics and grammarians; while the poets have been left to admire aeschylus, who 'wrote in a state of intoxication,' and euripedes, who broke himself against the bars of life and poetry." you must, of course, always allow for a personal equation in the viewpoint of any critic: you must here weight the "natural superhuman diction" against the "stiff magnificence" professor murray attributes to aeschylus; and get a wise and general view of your own. what i want you to see clearly is, the descent of the influx from plane to plane, as shown in these two tragedians. the aim of the first is to express a spiritual message, grand thought. that of the second is to produce a work of flawless beauty, without regard to its spiritual import. what was to aeschylus a secondary object; the purely artistic--was to sophocles the whole thing. aeschylus was capable of wonderful psychological insight. clytemnestra's speech to the chorus, just before agamemnon's return, is a perfect marvel in that way. but the tremendous movement, the august impersonal atmosphere as ".... gorgeous tragedy in sceptered pall comes sweeping by." --divests it of the personal, and robes it in a universal symbolic significance: because he has built like a titan, you do not at first glance note that he has labored like a goldsmith, as someone has said. but in sophocles the goldsmithry is plain to see. his character-painting is exquisite: pathetic often; just and beautiful almost always. i put in the almost in view of that about the "hard unloveliness" of electra's "daily wrangles" with her mother. the mantle of the religious egyptians had fallen on aeschylus: but sophocles' garb was the true fashionable athenian chiton of his day. he was personal, where the other had been impersonal; faultless, where the other had been sublime; conventionally orthodox, where through aeschylus had surged the super-credal spirit of universal prophecy. and then we come to third of the trio: euripides, born in . "he was," says professor murray, "essentially representative of his age, yet apparently in hostility to it; almost a failure of the stage--he won only four prizes in fifty years of production-- yet far the most celebrated poet in greece." athens hated, jeered at, and flouted him just as much as she honored and adored sophocles; yet you know what happened to those athenian captives at syracuse who could recite euripides. where, in later greek writings, we come on quotations from the other two once or twice, we come on quotations from euripides dozens of times. the very fact that eighteen of his plays survive, to seven each of aeschylus' and sophocles', is proof of his larger and longer popularity. he had no certain message from the gods, as aeschylus had; his intensely human heart and his mighty intellect kept him from being the 'flawless artist' that sophocles was. he questioned all conventional ideas, and would not let the people rest in comfortable fat acquiescence. he came to make men 'sit up and think.' he did not solve problems, but raised them, and flung them at the head of the world. he must stir and probe things to the bottom; and his recurrent unease, perhaps, mars the perfection of his poetry. admetus is to die, unless someone will die for him; recollect that for the greekish mob, death was the worst of all possible happenings. alcestis his wife will die for him; and he accepts her sacrifice. now, that was the old saga; and in greek conventional eyes, it was all right. woman was an inferior being, anyhow; there was nothing more fitting that alcestis should die for her lord.--here let me make a point plain: you cannot look back through greece to a golden age in greece; it is not like egypt, where the farther you go into the past, the greater things you come to;--although in egypt, too, there would have been rises and falls of civilization. in homer's days, in euripides', they had these barbarous ideas about women; and these foolish exoteric ideas about death; historic greece, like modern europe from the middle ages, rises from a state of comparative barbarism, lightlessness; behind which, indeed, there were rumors of a much higher past. these great greeks, aeschylus, euripides, plato, brought in ideas which were as old as the hills in egypt, or in india; but which were new to the greece of their time--of historic times; they were, i think, as far as their own country was concerned, innovators and revealers; not voicers of a traditional wisdom; it may have been traditional once, but that time was much too far back for memory. i think we should have to travel over long, long ages, to get to a time when eleusis was a really effective link with the lodge--to a period long before homer, long before troy fell.--but to return to the story of alcestis:-- you might take it on some lofty impersonal plane, and find a symbol in it; aeschylus would have done so, somehow; though i do not quite see how. sophocles would have been aware of nothing wrong in it; he would have taken it quite as a matter of course. euripides saw clearly that admetus was a selfish poltroon, and rubbed it in for all he was worth. and he could not leave it at that, either; but for pity's sake must bring in hercules at the end to win back alcestis from death. so the play is great-hearted and tender, and a covert lash for conventional callousness; and somehow does not quite hang together:--leaves you just a little uncomfortable. browning calls him, in _balaustion's adventure,_ ".... euripides the human, with his droppings of warms tears"; --it is a just verdict, perhaps. without aeschylus' divine wisdom, or sophocles' worldly wisdom, he groped perpetually after some means to stay the downward progress of things; he could not thunder like the one, nor live easily and let live, like the other.--i do not give you these scraps of criticism (which are not my own, but borrowed always i think), for the sake of criticism; but for the sake of history;--understand them, and you have the story of the age illumined. you can read the inner athens here, in the aspirations and in the limitations of euripides, and in the contempt in which athens held him; as you can read it in the grandeur of aeschylus, and the athenian acceptance of, and then reaction against, him; and in the character of sophocles and his easy relations with his age. when euripides came, the light of the gods had gone. he was blindish; he would not accept the gods without question. yet was he on the side of the gods whom he could not see or understand; we must count him on their side, and loved by them. he was not panoplied, like aeschylus or milton, in their grim and shining armor; yet what armor he wore bore kindred proud dints from the hellions' batterings. or perhaps mostly he wore such marks as wounds upon his own flesh. . . . not even a total lack of humor, which i suppose must be attributed to him, can make him appear less than a most sympathetic, an heroic figure. he was the child and fruitage and outcast of his age, belonging as much to an athens declining and inwardly hopeless, as did aeschylus (at first) to athens in her early glory. he was not so much bothered (like sophocles) with no message, as bothered with the fact that he had no clear and saving message. his realism--for compared with the other two, he was a sort of realist--was the child of his despair; and his despair, of the atmosphere of his age. he was, or had been, in close touch with socrates (you might expect it); lived a recluse somewhat, taking no part in affairs; married twice, unfortunately both times; and his family troubles were among the points on which gentlemanly athens sneered at him. a lovely lyricist, a restless thinker; tender-hearted; sublime in pity of all things weak and helpless and defeated:--women especially, and conquered nations. prof. murray says: "in the last plays dying athens is not mentioned, but her death- struggle and her sins are constantly haunting us; the joy of battle is mostly gone; the horror of war is left. well might old aeschylus pray, 'god grant that i may sack no city!' if the reality of conquest is what it appears in the last plays of euripides. the conquerors there are as miserable as the conquered; only more cunning, and perhaps more wicked." he died the year before aegospotami, at the court of archelaus of macedon. one is glad to think he found peace and honor at last. athens heard with a laugh that some courtier there had insulted him; and with astonishment that the good barbarous archelaus had handed said courtier over to euripides to be scourged for his freshness. i don't imagine that euripides scourged him though-to amount to anything. vi. socrates and plato by this time you should have seen, rather than any picture of greece and athens in their heyday, an indication of certain universal historical laws. as thus (to go back a little): an influx of the spirit is approaching, and a cycle of high activities is about to begin. a great war has cleared off what karmic weight has been hanging over athens;--xerxes, you will remember, burnt the town. hence there is a clearness in the inner atmosphere; through which a great spiritual voice may, and does, speak a great spiritual message. but human activities proceed, ever increasing their momentum, until the atmosphere is no longer clear, but heavy with the effluvia of by no means righteous thought and action. the spirit is no more visibly present, but must manifest if at all through a thicker medium; and who speaks now, speaks as artist only,--not as poet--or artist-prophet. time goes on, and the inner air grows still thicker; till men live in a cloud, through which truths are hardly to be seen. then those who search for the light are apt to cry out in despair; they become realists struggling to break the terrible molds of thought:--and if you can hear the spiritual in them at all, it is not in a positive message they have for men, but in the greatness of their heart and compassion. they do not build; they seek only to destroy. there seems nothing else for them to do. so in england, wordsworth opened this last cycle of poetry; coming when there was a clear atmosphere, and speaking more or less clearly through it his message from the gods. you hear a like radiant note of hope in shelley; and something of it in keats, who stood on the line that divides the poet-prophet from the poet-artist. then you come to the ascendency of tennyson, whose business in life was to be the latter. he tried the role of prophet; he lived up to the highest he could: strove towards the light much more gallantly than did sophocles, his athenian paradigm. but the atmosphere of his age made him something of a failure at it: no clear light was there for him to find, such as could manifest through poetry. then you got men like matthew arnold with his cry of despair, and william morris with his longing for escape; then the influence of realism. so many poets recently have an element of euripides in them; a will to do well, but a despair of the light; a tendency to question everything, but little power to find answers to their questions. then there were some few who, influenced (consciously or not) by h.p. blavatsky, that great dawn-herald, caught glimpses of the splendor of a dawn--which yet we wait for. euripides, with the soul stirring within and behind him, "broke himself on the bars of life and poetry," as professor murray says. he was so hemmed in by the emanations of the time that he could never clearly enunciate the soul. not, at any rate, in an unmixed way, and with his whole energies. perhaps his favorite device of a _deus ex machina_--like hercultes in the _alcestis_ --is a symbolical enunciation of it, and intended so to be. perhaps the cause of the unrest he makes us feel is this: he knew that the highest artistic method was the old aeschylean symbolic one, and tried to use it; but at the same time was compelled by the gross emanations of the age, which he was not quite strong enough to rise above, to treat his matter not symbolically, but realistically. he could not help saying: "here is the epos you athenians want me to treat,--that my artist soul forces me to treat; here are the ideas that make up your conventional religion;--now look at them!" and forth-with he showed them, in there exoteric side, sordid, ugly and bloody;-- and then, on the top of that showing, tried to twist them round to the symbolic impersonal plane again; and so left a discord not properly solved, an imperfect harmony; a sense of loss rather than gain; of much torn down, and nothing built up to take its place. the truth was that the creative forces had flowed downward until the organs of spiritual vision were no longer open; and poetry and art, the proper vehicles of the higher teaching in any age approximately golden, could no longer act as efficient channels for the light. to turn to england again: tennyson was, generally speaking, most successful when most he was content to be merely the artist in words, and least so when he assumed the office of teacher; because almost all he found to teach was brain-mind scientific stuff; which was what the age called for, and the desired diet of mid-victorian england. carlyle, who was a far greater poet essentially, and a far greater teacher actually, fitted himself to an age when materialism had made unpoetic; and eschewed poetry and had no use for it; and would have had others eschew it also. in our own time we have realists like mr. masefield. they are called realists because they work on the plane which has come, in the absence of anything spiritual, to seem that of the realities; the region of outside happenings, of the passions in all their ugly nakedness, of sorrow, misery, and despair. such men may be essentially noble; we may read in them, under all the ugliness and misery they write down, just one quality of the soul;--its unrest in and distaste for those conditions; but the mischief of it is that they make the sordidness seem the reality; and the truth about them is that their outlook and way of writing are simply the result of the blindness of the soul;--its temporary blindness, not its essential glory. but the true business of poetry never changes; it is to open paths into the inner, the beautiful, the spiritual world. just when things were coming to this pass h. p. blavatsky went to england; and though she did not touch the field of creative literature herself, brought back as you know a gleam of light and beauty into poetry that may yet broaden out and redeem it. she was born when the century was thirty-one years old; and, curiously enough, there was a man born in attica about , or when _his_ century was thirty-one years old, who, though he did not himself touch the field of literature, was the cause why that light rose to shine in it which has shone most brilliantly since all down the ages; that light which we could not afford to exchange even for the light of aeschylus. if one of the two were about to be taken from us, and we had our choice which it should be, we should have to cry, _take aeschylus, but leave us this!_ --ay, and take all other greek literature into the bargain!--but to return to the man born in . he was the son of humble people; his father was a stone-cutter in a small way of business; his mother a midwife. he himself began life as a sculptor,--a calling, in its lower reaches, not so far above that of his father. a group of the graces carved by him was still to be seen on the road to the acropolis two hundred years after; and they did not adorn athens with mean work, one may guess; the athens of pericles and pheidias. but, successful or not, he seems soon to have given it up. of his youth we know very little. spintharus, one of the few that knew him then and also when he had become famous, said that he was a man of terrible passions: anger hardly to be governed, and vehement desires; "though," he added, "he never did anything unfair." * by 'unfair' you may understand 'not fitting'--a transgression of right action. he set out to master himself: a tremendous and difficult realm to master. ------ * gilbert murray: _ancient greek literature_ ------ we hardly begin to know him till he was growing old; and then he was absolute monarch of that realm. we do not know when he abandoned his art; or how long it was before he had won some fame as a public teacher. we catch glimpse of him as a soldier: from to he served at the siege of potidaea; at delium in ; and at amphipolis in . thus to do the hoplite, carrying a great weight of arms, at forty-seven, he needed to have some constitution; and indeed he had;--furthermore, he played the part with distinguished bravery--though wont to fall at times into inconvenient fits of abstraction. beyond all this, for the outside of the man, we may say that he was of fascinating, extreme and satyr-like ugliness and enormous sense of humor; that he was a perpetual joke to the comic poets, and to himself; an old fellow of many and lovable eccentricities; and that you cannot pick one little hole in his character, or find any respect in which he does not call for love. and men did love him; and he them. he saw in the youth of athens, whose lives so often were being wasted, souls with all the beautiful possibilities of souls; and loved them as such, and drew them towards their soulhood. such love and insight is the first and strongest weapon of the teacher: who sees divinity within the rough-hewn personalities of men as the sculptor sees the god within the marble; and calls it forth. he was wont to joke over his calling; his mother, said he, had been a midwife, assisting at the birth of men's bodies; he himself was a midwife of souls. how he drew men to him--of the power he had--let alcibiades bear witness. "as for myself," says alcibiades, "were i not afraid you would think me more drunk than i am, i would tell you on oath how his words have moved me--ay, and how they move me still. when i listen to him my heart beats with a more than corybantic excitement; he has only to speak and my tears flow. orators, such as pericles, never moved me in this way-- never roused my soul to the thought of my servile condition: but this man makes me think that life is not worth living so long as i am what i am. even now, if i were to listen, i could not resist. so there is nothing for me but to stop my ears against this siren's song and fly for my life, that i may not grow old sitting at his feet. no one would ever think that i had shame in me; but i am ashamed in the presence of socrates." poor alciabes! whom socrates loved so well, and tried so hard to save; and who could only preserve his lower nature for its own and for his city's destruction by stopping his ears against his teacher! alcibiades, whose genius might have saved athens... only athens would not be saved... and he could not have saved her, because he had stopped his ears against the man who made him ashamed; and because his treacherous lower nature was always there to thwart and overturn the efficacy of his genius;--what a picture of duality it is! socrates gave up his art; because art was no longer useful as an immediate lever for the age. he knew poetry well, but insisted, as professor murray i think says, on always treating it as the baldest of prose. there was poetry about, galore; and men did not profit by it: something else was needed. his mission was to the athens of his day; he was going to save athens if he could. so he went into the marketplace, the agora, and loafed about (so to say), and drew groups of young men and old about him, and talked to them. the delphic oracle had made pronouncement: _sophocles is wise; euripides is wiser; but socrates is the wisest of mankind._ sometimes, you see, the delphic oracle could get off a distinctly good thing. but socrates, with his usual sense of humor, had never considered himself in that light at all; oldish, yes; and funny, and ugly, by all means;--but wise! he thought at first, he used to say, that the oracle must be mistaken, or joking; for athens was full of reputed wise men, sophists and teachers of philosophy like prodicus and protagoras; whereas he himself, heaven knew--. well, he would go out and make a trial of it. so he went, and talked, and probed the wisdom of his fellow-citizens; and slowly came round to the belief that after all the delphic oracle might not have been such a fool. for he knew his ignorance; but the rest were ignorant without knowing it. this was his own way of telling the story; and you can never be sure how much camouflage was in it;--and yet, too, he was a giant humorist. anyhow, he did show men their ignorance; and you all know his solemn way of doing it. he drew them on with sly questionings to see what idiots they were; and then drew them on with more sly questionings to perceive at least a few sound ethical truths. he took that humble patient means of saving athens: by breaking down false opinions and instilling true ones. it was beginning quite at the bottom of things. where we advertise a public lecture, he button-holed a passer-by; and by the great power of his soul won a following presently. to rouse up a desire for right living in the youth of athens: if he could do that, thought he, he might save athens for the world. i wonder what the cycles of national glory would come to, how long they might last, if only the teachers that invade to save them could have their way. always we see the same picture: the tremendous effort of the gods to redeem these nations in the times of their creative greatness; to lift them on to a spiritual plane, that the greatness may not wane and become ineffective. there is the figure that stands before the world, about whose perfection or whose qualities you may wrangle if you will; he is great; he is wonderful; he stirs up love and animosity;--but behind him are the depths, the hierarchies, the pantheons. socrates' warning voice, the daimon that counseled him in every crisis, has always been a hard nut for critics to crack. he was an impostor, was he? away with you for a double fool! his life meets you so squarely at every point; there was no atom in his being that knew how to fear or lie.... well, no; but he was deluded; he mistook--. man, there is more value in the light word of socrates affirming, than in a whole world full of evidence denying, of such maunderers as you! see here; he was the most sensible of men; balanced; keeping his head always;--a mind no mood or circumstances could deflect from rational self-control, either towards passion or ecstasy. one explanation remains--as in the case of joan, or of h.p. blavatsky;--he was neither deceiving nor deceived, but what he claimed to hear, he did hear; and it was the voice of one that stood behind him, and might not appear in history at all, or in the outer world at all: a greater than he, and his teacher; whose bodily presence might have been in greece the while, or anywhere else. how dare we pretend, because we can do a few things with a piston or a crucible, that we know the limits of natural and spiritual law? it is a strange figure to find in greece; drawn thither, one would say, by the attraction of opposites. he must have owed some of his power to his being such a contrast to all things familiar. personal beauty was extremely common, and he was comically ugly. the athenians were one of the best-educated populations of ancient or modern times--far ahead of ourselves; and he was ill-educated, and acted as a public teacher. he was hen-pecked at home, in an age when the place of woman was a very subordinate and submissive one; and he was the butt of all joke-lovers abroad, and himself enjoyed the joke most of all. and he quietly stood alone, against the mob and his fellow-judges, for the hapless victors of arginusae in ; and he quietly stood alone against the thirty tyrants during their reign of terror in , disobeying them at peril of his life. but strip him of the "thing of sinews and muscles," as he called his outer self; forget the queer old personality that appears in the _clouds_ of aristophanes, or for that matter in the _memorabilia_ of xenophon--and what kind of picture of socrates should we see? the humor would not go, for it is a universal quality; it has been said no adept was ever without it; could you draw aside the veil of mother isis herself, and draw it suddenly, i suspect you should surprise a laugh vanishing from her face. so the humor would remain; and with it there would be ... something calm, aloof, unshakable, yet vitally affectioned towards athens, the athenians, humanity; something unsurprised at, far less hoping or fearing anything from, life or death; in possession of "the peace which passeth understanding"; native to "the eternity that baffles all faculty of computation";--something that drew all sorts and conditions of athenians to him, good and bad, plato and alcibiades, by "that diffusive love, not such as rises and falls upon waves of life and mortality, not such as sinks and swells by undulations of time, but a procession, an emanation, from some mystery of endless dawn."--in point of fact, to get a true portrait of socrates you have to look at the memnon's head. the egyptian artists carved it to be the likeness of the perfect man, the soul, always in itself sublime, absolute master of its flesh and personality. that was what socrates was. well; the century ended, with that last quarter of it in which the lodge makes always its outward effort. socrates for the lodge had left no stone unturned; he had made his utmost effort dally. the democracy had been reinstated, and he was understood to be a moderate in politics. and the democracy was conventional-minded in religion; and he was understood to be irreligious, a disturber and innovator. and the democracy was still smarting from the wound; imposed on it by critias and charmides, understood to have been his disciples; and could not forget the treacheries of alcibiades, another. and there were vicious youths besides, whom he had tried and failed to save; they had ruined themselves, and their reputable parents blamed and hated him for the ruin, not understanding the position. and he himself had seen so many of his efforts come to nothing: alcibiades play the traitor; critias and charmides, the bloody tyrant;--he had seen many he had labored for frustrate his labors; he had seen athens fallen. he had done all he could, quietly, unfailingly and without any fuss; now it was time for him to go. but going, he might yet strike one more great blow for the light. so with quiet zest and humor he entered upon the plans of his adversaries, accepting his trial and sentence like--_like socrates;_ for there is no simile for him, outside himself. he turned it all masterfully to the advantage of the light he loved. you all know how he cracked his grand solemn joke when the death sentence was passed on him. by athenian law, he might suggest an alternative sentence; as, to pay a fine, or banishment. well, said he; death was not certainly an evil; it might be a very good thing; whereas banishment was certainly an evil, and so was paying a fine. and besides, he had no money to pay it. so the only alternative he could suggest was that athens should support him for the rest of his life in the prytaneum as a public benefactor. not a smile from him; not a tremor. he elected deliberately; he chose death; knowing well that, as things stood, he could serve humanity in no other way so well. so he put aside crito's very feasible plan for his escape, and at the last gathered his friends around him, and discoursed to them. on reincarnation. it was an old tradition, said he; and what could be more reasonable than that the soul, departing to hades, should return again in its season:--the living born from the dead, as the dead are from the living? did not experience show that opposites proceed from opposites? then life must proceed from, and follow, death. if the dead came from the living, and not the living from the dead, the universe would at last be consumed in death. then, too, there was the doctrine that knowledge comes from recollection; what is recollected must have been previously known. our souls must have existed then, before birth. . . . why did he talk like that: thus _reasoning_ about reincarnation, and not stating it as a positive teaching? well; there would be nothing new and startling about it, to the greeks. they knew of it as a teaching both of pythagoras and of the orphic mysteries: that is, those did who were initiates or pythagoreans. but it was not public teaching, known to the multitude; and except among the pythagoreans, sophistry and speculation had impaired its vitality as a matter of faith or knowledge. (so scientific discovery and the spread of education have impaired the vitality now of christian presentations of ethics.) so that to have announced it positively, at that time, would have served his purpose but little: men would have said, "we have heard all that before; had he nothing better to give us than stale ideas from the mysteries or pythagoras?" what he wanted to do was to take it out of the region of religion, where familiarity with it had bread an approach to contempt; and restate it robbed of that familiarity, and clothed anew in a garb of sweet reasonableness. so once more, and as ususal, he assumed ignorance, and approached the whole subject in a quiet and rational way, thus: i do not say that this is positively so; i do not announce it as a dogma. dogmas long since have lost their efficacy, and you must stand or fall now by the perceptions of your own souls, not by what i or any authority may tell you. but as reasoning human beings, does it not appeal to you? and the very spirit in which he approached it and approached his death was precisely the one to engrave his last spoken ideas on the souls of his hearers as nothing else could. no excitement; no uplift or ecstasy of the martyr; quiet reasoning only; full, serene, and, for him, common-place command of the faculties of his mind. the shadow of death made no change in socrates; how then should they misunderstand or magnify the power of the shadow of death?--"how shall we bury you?" asks crito. socrates turns to the others present, and says: "i cannot persuade crito that i here am socrates--i who am now reasoning and ordering discourse. he imagines socrates to be that other, whom he will see by and by, a corpse."--so the scene went on until the last moment, when "phaedo veiled his face, and crito started to his feet, and apollodorus, who had never ceased weeping all the time, burst out into a loud and angry cry which broke down everyone but socrates." someone has said that there is nothing in tragedy or history so moving as this death of socrates, as plato tells it. and yet its tragic interest, its beauty, is less important, to my thinking, than the insight it gives us into the methods and mental workings of an adept. put ourselves into the mind of socrates. he is going to his death; which to him is about the same as, to us, going to south ranch or san diego. you say i am taking the beauty and nobility out of it; but no; i am only trying to see what beauty and nobility look like from within. to him, then, his death is in itself a matter of no personal moment. but the habit of his lifetime has been to turn every moment into a blow struck for the soul, for the light, for the cause of sublime perfection. and here now is the chance to strike the most memorable blow of all. with infinite calmness he arranges every detail, and proceeds to strike it. he continues to play the high part of socrates,--that is all. you might go to death like a poet, in love with death's solemn beauty, you might go to her like a martyr, forgetting the awe of her in forevision of the splendor that lies beyond. but this man broadly and publicly goes to her like socrates. he will allow her no fascination, no mystery; not even, nor by any means, equality with the soul of man. . . . and apollodorus might weep then, and burst into an angry cry; and crito and phaedo and the rest might all break down--_then;_ but what were they to think afterwards? when they remembered how they had seen death and socrates, those two great ones, meet; and how the meeting had been as simple, as unaffected, as any meeting between themselves and socrates, any morning in the past, in the athenian _agora?_ and when death should come to them, what should they say but this: 'there is nothing about you that can impress me; formerly i conversed with one greater than you are, and i saw you pay your respects to socrates.' could he, could any man have proclaimed the divinity in man, its real and eternal existence, in any drama, in any poem, in any glorious splendor of rhetoric with what fervor soever of mystical ecstasy endued--with such deadly effectiveness, such inevitable success, as in this simple way he elected? there are men whose actions seem to spring from a source super-ethical: it is cheap to speak of them as good, great, beautiful or sublime: these are but the appearances they assume as we look upwards at them. what they are in themselves is: ( ) compassionate;--it is the law of their being to draw men upwards towards the spirit; ( ) impersonal;--there is a non-being or vacuity in them where we have our passions, likings, preferences, dislikes and desires. they are, in the chinese phrase, "the equals of heaven and earth"; "earth, heaven, and time, death, life and they endure while they shall be to be." so socrates, having failed in his life-attempt to save athens, entered with some gusto on that great _coup de main_ of his death: to make it a thing which first a small group of his friends should see; then that greece should see; then that thirty coming centuries and more should see; presented it royally to posterity, for what, as a manifestation of the divine in man, it might be worth. and look! what is the result? scarcely is the 'thing of muscles and sinews' cold: scarcely has high socrates forgone his queer satyr-like embodiment: when a new luminary has risen into the firmament,--one to shine through thirty centuries certainly, "brighter than jupiter--a blazing star brighter than hesper shining out to sea" --one that is still to be splendid in the heavens wherever in europe, wherever in america, wherever in the whole vast realm of the future men are to arise and make question and peer up into the beautiful skies of the soul. a phoenix in time has arisen from the ashes of socrates: from the glory and solemnity of his death a voice is mystically created that shall go on whispering _the soul_ wherever men think and strive towards spirituality. --ah indeed, you were no failure, socrates--you who were disappointed of your critias, your charmides, your alcibiades, your whole athens; you were not anything in the very least like a failure; for there was yet one among your disciples-- he says, that one, that he was absent through illness during that last scene of his teacher's life. i do not know; it has been thought that may have been merely a pretense, an artistic convention, to give a heightened value of impersonality to his marvelous prose:--for it was he who wrote down the account of the death of socrates for us: that tragedy so transcendent in its beauty and lofty calm. but this much is certain: that day he was born again: became, from a gilded youth of athens, an eternal luminary in the heavens, and that which he has remained these three-and-twenty hundred years: the poet-philosopher of the soul, the beacon of the spirit for the western world.... he had been a brilliant young aristocrat among the crowd that loved to talk with socrates: the very best thing that athens could produce in the way of birth, charm, talent, and attainments;--it is a marvel to see one so worshiped of fortune in this world, turn so easily to become her best adored in the heaven of the soul. on his father's side he was descended from codrus, last king of athens; on his mother's, from solon: you could get nothing higher in the way of family and descent. in himself, he was an accomplished athlete; a brilliant writer of light prose; a poet of high promise when the mood struck him-- and he had ideas of doing the great thing in tragedy presently; trained unusually well in music, and in mathematics; deeply read; with a taste for the philosophies; a man, in short, of culture as deep and balanced as his social standing was high. but it seemed as though the law had brought all these excellencies together mainly to give the fashionable athenian world assurance of a man; for here he was in his thirty-first year with nothing much achieved beyond--his favorite pursuit--the writing of _mimes_ for the delectation of his set: "close studies of little social scenes and conversations, seen mostly in the humorous aspect." * he had consorted much with socrates; at the trial, when it was suggested that a fine might be paid, and the hemlock evitated, it was he who had first subscribed and gone about to raise a sum. but now the death of his friend and teacher struck him like a great gale amidships; and he was transformed, another man; and the great star plato rose, that shines still; the great voice plato was lifted to speak for the soul and to be unequaled in that speaking, in the west, until h.p. blavatsky came. ------ * murray: _ancient greek literature:_--whence all this as to plato's youth. ------ but note what a change had taken place with the ending of the fifth century. hitherto all the great athenians had been great athenians. aeschylus, witness of eternity, had cried his message down to athens and to his fellow-citizens; he had poured the waters of eternity into the vial of his own age and place. i speak not of sophocles, who was well enough rewarded with the prizes athens had to give him. euripides again was profoundly concerned with his athens; and though he was contemned by and held aloof from her, it was the problems of athens and the time that ate into his soul. socrates came to save athens; he did not seek political advancement, but would hold office when it came his way; was enough concerned in politics to be considered a moderate-one cause of his condemnation; but above all devoted himself to raising the moral tone of the athenian youth and clearing their minds of falsity. finally, he gave loyalty to his city and its laws as one reason for rejecting crito's plan for his escape. what he hoped and lived for was, to save athens; and he was the more content to die, when he saw that this was no longer possible. but plato had no part nor lot in athens. he loathed her doctrine of democracy, as knowing it could come to no good. he had affiliations, like aeschylus, in sicily, whither he made certain journeys; and might have stayed there among his fellow pythagoreans, but for the irascible temper of dionysius. but much more, and most of all, his affiliations were in the wide cosmos and all time: as if he foresaw that on him mainly would devolve the task of upholding spiritual ideas in europe through the millenniums to come. he dwelt apart, and taught in the groves of academe outside the walls. let athens' foolish politics go forward as they might, or backward--he would meddle with nothing. it has been brought against him that he did nothing to help his city 'in her old age and dotage'; well, he had the business of thousands of coming years and peoples to attend to, and had no time to be accused, condemned, and executed by a parcel of obstreperous cobblers and tinkers hot-headed over the petty politics of their day. the gods had done with athens, and were to think now of the great age of darkness that was to come. he was mindful of a light that should arise in egypt, after some five hundred years; and must prepare wick and oil for the neo-platonists. he was mindful that there should be a thing called the renaissance in italy; and must attend to what claims pico di mirandola and others should make on him for spiritual food. he must consider holland of the seventeenth century, and england: the platonists of cambridge and amsterdam;--must think of van helmont; and of a vaughan who 'saw eternity the other night'; of a traherne, who should never enjoy the world aright without some illumination from his star; of a young milton, _penseroso,_ out watching the bear in some high lonely tower with thrice-great hermes, who should unsphere his spirit, "..... to unfold what worlds and what vast regions hold the immortal mind that hath forsook her mansion in this fleshy nook"; --no, but he must think of all times coming; and how, whenever there should be any restlessness against the tyranny of materialism and dogma, a cry should go up for _plato._--so let isocrates, the 'old man eloquent,'--let a many-worded not unpeculant patriotic demosthenes who knew nothing of the god-world--attend to an athens wherein the gods were no longer greatly interested;--the great star plato should rise up into mid-heaven, and shine not in, but high over athens and quite apart from her; drawing from her indeed the external elements of his culture, but the light and substance from that which was potent in her no longer. i said greece served the future badly enough. consider what might have been. the pivot of the mediterranean world, in the sixth century, was not athens, but in magna graecia: at croton, where pythagoras had built his school. but the mob wrecked croton, and smashed the pythagorean movement as an organization; and that, i take it, and one other which we shall come to in time, were the most disastrous happenings in european history. yes; the causes why classical civilization went down; why the dark ages were dark; why the god in man his been dethroned, and suffered all this crucifixion and ignominy the last two thousand years. aeschylus, truly, received some needed backing from the relics of the movement which he found still existent in sicily; but what might he not have written, and what of his writings might not have come down to us, preserved there in the archives, had he had the peace and elevation of a croton, organized, to retire to? whither, too, socrates might have gone, and not to death, when athens became impossible; where plato might have dwelt and taught; revealing, to disciples already well-trained, much more than ever he did reveal; and engraving, oh so deeply! on the stuff of time, the truths that make men free. and there he should have had successors and successors and successors; a line to last perhaps a thousand or two thousand years; who never should have let european humanity forget such simple facts as karma and reincarnation. but only at certain times are such great possibilities presented to mankind; and a seed-time once passed, there can be no sowing again until the next season comes. it is no good arguing with the law of cycles. plato may not have been less than pythagoras; yet, under the law, he might not attempt-- it would have been folly for him to have attempted--that which pythagoras had attempted. so he had to take another line altogether; to choose another method; not to try to prevent the deluge, which was certain now to come; not even to build an ark, in which something should be saved; but, so to say, to strew the world with tokens which, when the great waters had subsided, should still remain to remind men of those things it is of most importance they should know. this is the way he did it. he advanced no dogma, formulated no system; but what he gave out, he gave rather as hypotheses. his aim was to set in motion a method of thinking which should lead always back to the spirit and divine truth. he started no world- religion; founded no church--not even such a quite unchurchly church as that which came to exist on the teachings of confucius. he never had the masses practicing their superstitions, nor a priesthood venting its lust of power, in his name. instead, he arranged things so, that wherever fine minds have aspired to the light of the spirit, plato has been there to guide them on their way. so you are to see star-plato shining, you are to hear that voice from the spheres at song, when shelley, reaching his topmost note, sang: "the one remains, the many change and pass; heaven's light forever shines, earth's shadows fly; life like a dome of many-coloured glass stains the white radiance of eternity";-- and when swinburne sings of time and change that: "songs they can stop that earth found meet, but the stars keep their ageless rhyme; flowers they can slay that spring thought sweet, but the stars keep their spring sublime, actions and agonies control, and life and death, but not the soul." in a poetic age--in the time of aeschylus, for example--plato would have been a poet; and then perhaps we should have had to invent another class of poets, one above the present highest; and reserve it solely for the splendor of plato. because platonism is the very theosophic soul of poetry. but he came, living when he did, to loathe the very name of poetry: as who should say: "god pity you! i give you the way, the truth, and the life, and you make answer, 'charming plato, how exquisitely poetic is your prose!'" so his bitterness against poetry is very natural. poetry is the inevitable vehicle of the highest truth; spiritual truth is poetry. but the world in general does not know this. like bacon, it looks on poetry as a kind of pleasurable lying. plato went through the skies mercury to the sun of truth, its nearest attendant planet; and therefore was, and could not help being, very-poet of very-poets. but homer and others had lied loudly about the gods; and, thought plato, the gods forbid that the truth he had to declare--a vital matter-- should be classed with their loud lying. he masked the batteries of his theosophy; camouflaged his great theosophical guns; but fired them off no less effectively, landing his splendid shells at every ganglionic point in the history of european thought since. let a man soak his soul in plato; and it shall go hard but the fair flower theosophy shall spring up there presently and bloom. he prepares the soil: suggesting the way to, rather than precisely formulating, the high teachings. the advantage of the grand platonic camouflage has been twofold: on the one hand you could hardly dwarf your soul with dogmatic acceptation of platonism, because he gave all his teachings--even reincarnation--as hypotheses,--and men do not as a rule crucify their mental freedom on an hypothesis. on the other hand, how was any church eager to burn out heresy and heretics to deal with him? he was not to be stamped out; because his influence depended on no continuity of discipleship, no organization; because he survived merely as a tendency of thought. no churchly fulminations might silence his batteries; because he had camouflaged them, and they were not to be seen. of course he did not invent his ideas; they are as old as theosophy. the lodge sent him to proclaim them in the way he did: the best way possible, since the pythagorean effort had failed of its greatest success. what we owe to him--his genius and inestimable gift to the world--is precisely that matchless camouflage. it has been effective, in spite of efforts-- that, for instance, of a forward youth who came to athens and studied under him for twenty years, and whom plato called the intellect of the school, saying that he spurned his teacher as colts do their mothers. a youth, it is said, who revered plato always; and only gradually grew away from thinking of himself as a platonist. but he never could have understood the inwardness of plato or platonism, for his mind turned as naturally to scientific or brain-mind methods, as plato's did to mysticism and the illumination of the soul. he adopted much of the teaching, but gave it a twist brain-mindwards; yet not such a twist, either, but that the neo-platonists in their day, and certain of the arab and turkish philosophers after them, could re-platonize it to a degree and admit him thus re-platonized into their canon. i am not going to trouble you much with aristotle; let this from the encyclopedia suffice: "philosophic differences" it says "are best felt by their practical effects: philosophically, platonism is a philosophy of universal forms, aristotelianism is a philosophy of individual substances: practically, plato makes us think first of the supernatural and the kingdom of heaven, aristotle of the natural and the whole world." or briefly, aristotle took what he could of plato's inspiration, and turned it from the direction of the soul to that of the brain-mind. the most famous of plato's disciples, he did what he could, or what he could not help doing, to spoil plato's message. but plato's method had guarded that, so that for mystics it should always be there, aristotle or no. but for mere philosophers, seeming to improve on it, he had something tainted it. it descended, as said, through the neo-platonists--who turned it back plato-ward--to the moslems: through avicenna, who aristotelianized, to averroes, who platonized it again; and from him to europe; where bacon presently gave it another twist to out-aristotle aristotle (as someone said) to stagger the stagirite--and passed it on as the scientific method of today. according to coleridge, every man is by nature either a platonist or an aristotelian; and there is some truth in it. and meanwhile, though the huge greek illumination could die but slowly, greece was growing uninteresting. for pheidias of the earlier century, we have in plato's time praxiteles, whose carved gods are lounging and pretty nincom--- well, mortals; "they sink," says the encyclopedia, "to the human level, or indeed, sometimes almost below it. they have grace and charm in a supreme degree, but the element of awe and reverence is wanting."--we have an aphrodite at the bath, a 'sweet young thing' enough, no doubt; an apollo sauroctonos, "a youth leaning against a tree, and idly striking with an arrow at a lizard." a certain natural magic has been claimed for praxiteles and his school and contemporaries; but if they had it, they mixed unholy elements with it.--and then came alexander, and carried the dying impetus eastward with him, to touch india with it before it quite expired; and after that hellenism became hellenisticism, and what remained of the crest-wave in greece was nothing to lose one little wink of sleep over. vii. the mauryas of india "some talk of alexander" may be appropriate here; but not much. he was aristotle's pupil; and apart from or beyond his terrific military genius, had ideas. genius is sometimes, perhaps more often than we suspect, an ability to concentrate the mind into a kind of impersonality; almost non-existence, so that you have in it a channel for the great forces of nature to play through. we shall find that mr. judge's phrase 'the crest-wave of evolution' is no empty one: words were things, with him and in fact, as he says; and it is so here. for this crest-wave is a force that actually rolls over the world as a wave over the face of the sea, raising up splendors in one nation after another in order _geographically,_ and with no haphazard about it. its first and largest movement is from east to west; producing (as far as i can see) the great manvantaric periods (fifteen hundred years apiece) in east asia, west asia, and europe; each of these being governed by its own cycles. but it has a secondary movement as well; a smaller motion within the larger one; and this produces the brilliant days (thirteen decades long for the most part) that recur in the manvantaras. thus: china seems to have been in manvantara from to b. c.; west asia, from to ; europe, from b. c. to a. d. so in the time of alexander west asia was newly dead, and china waiting to be reborn. the crest-wave, in so far as it concerned the european manvantara, had to roll westward from greece (in its time) to awaken italy; but in its universal aspect--in its strongest force--it had to roll eastward, that its impulse might touch more important china when her time for awaking should come. it is an impetus, of which sometimes we can see the physical links and lines along which it travels, and sometimes we cannot. the line from greece to china lies through persia and india. but persia was dead, in pralaya; you could expect no splendor, no mark of the crest-wave's passing, there. so alexander, rising by his genius and towering ideas to the plane where these great motions are felt, skips you lightly across dead persia, knocks upon the doors of india to say that it is dawn and she must be up and doing; and subsides. i doubt he carried her any cultural impulse, in the ordinary sense; it is _our_ euro-american conceit to imagine the greek was the highest thing in civilization in the world at that time. we may take it that indian civilization was far higher and better in all esentials; certainly the greeks who went there presently, and left a record, were impressed with that fact. you shall see; out of their own mouths we will convict them. it is the very burden of megasthenes' song. alexander had certain larger than greek conceptions, which one must admire in him. though he overthrew the persians, he never made the mistake of thinking them an inferior race. on the contrary, he respected them highly; and proposed to make of them and his greeks and mecedoinians one homogeneous people, in which the persian qualities of aristocracy should supply a need he felt in europeans. the law made use of his intention, partially, and to the furtherance of its own designs.--his method of treating the conquered was (generally) far more persian or asiatic than greek; that is to say, far more humane and decent than barbarous. he took a short cut to his broad ends, and married all his captains to persian ladies, himself setting the example; whereas most greeks would have dealt with the captive women very differently. so that it was a kind of enlightenment he set out with, and carried across persia, through afghanistan, and into the punjab,--which, we may note, was but the outskirts of the real india, into which he never penetrated; and it may yet be found that he went by no means so far as is supposed; but let that be. so now, at any rate, enough of him; he has brought us where we are to spend this evening. for a student of history, there is something mysterious and even --to use a very vile drudge of a word--'unique' about india. go else where you will, and so long as you can posit certainly a high civilization, and know anything of its events, you can make some shift to arrange the history. none need boggle really at any chinese date after about b.c.; babylon is fairly settled back to about ; and if you cannot depend on assigned egyptian dates, at least there is a reasonably know sequence of dynasties back through four or five millennia. but come to india, and alas, where are you? all out of it, chronologically speaking; enough; very likely, the flotsam and jetsam of several hundred thousand years. i have no doubt the puranas are crowded with history; but how much of what is related is to be taken as plain fact; how much as 'blinds'; how much as symbolism--only the adepts know. the three elements are mingled beyond the wit of man to unravel them; so that you can hardly tell whether any given thing happened in this or that millennium, root-race period, or round of worlds, or day of brahma. you are in the wild jungles of fairyland; where there are gorgeous blooms, and idylls, dreamlit, beautiful and fantastical, all in the deep midwood lonliness; and time is not, and the computations of chronology are an insult to the spirit of your surroundings. history, in india, was kept an esoteric science, and esoteric all the ancient records remain now; and i dare say any twice-born brahmin not oxfordized knows far more about it than the best max mullers of the west, and laughs at them quietly. until someone will voluntarily lift that veil of esotericism, the speculations of western scholars will go for little. why it should be kept esoteric, one can only guess; i think if it were known, the cycles and patterns of human history would cease to be so abstruse and hidden from us: we should know too much for our present moral or spiritual status. as usual, our own _savants_ are avid to dwarf all dates, and bring everything within the scope of a few thousand years; as for the native authorities, they simply try confusions with us; if you should trust them too literally, or some of them, events such as the moslem conquest will not take place for a few centuries yet. they do not choose that their ancient history should be known; so all things are in a hopeless muddle. one thing to remember is this: it is a continent, like europe; not a country, like france. the population is even more heterogeneous than that of europe. only one sovereign, aurangzeb --at least for many thousands of years--was ever even nominally master of the whole of it. there are two main divisions, widely different: hindustan or aryavarta, north of the vindhya mountains and the river nerbudda; and dakshinapatha or the deccan, the peninsular part to the south. the former is the land of the aryans; the people of the latter are mainly non-aryan--a race called the dravidians whom, apparently, the aryans conquered in hindustan, and assimilated; but whom in the deccan, though they have influenced them largely, and in part molded their religion, they never quite conquered or supplanted. well; never is a long day; dear knows what may have happened in the long ages of pre-history. the aryans came down into india through its one open door--that in the northwest. but when?--oh, from about to b.c., says western scholarship; which has spent too much ingenuity altogether over discovering the original seat of the aryans, and their primal civilization. after sir william jones and others had introduce sanskrit to western notice, and its affinity had been discovered to that whole chain of languages which is sometimes called indo-european, the theory long held that sanskrit was the parent of all these tongues, and that all their speakers had emigrated at different times from somewhere in central asia. but in the scientific orthodoxies fashion reigns and changes as incontinently as in dress. scholars rose to launch a new name for the race: _indogermanic;_ and to prove middle-europe the eden in which it was created. then others, to dodge that eden about through every corner of europe; which at least must have the honor;--it could not be conceded to _inferior_ asia. all the languages of the group were examined and worried for evidence. men said, 'by the names of trees we shall run it to earth'; and this was the doxy that was ortho-for some time. light on a tree-name common to all the languages, and find in what territory that tree is indigenous: that will certainly be the place. as thus; i will work out for you a suggestion given in the encyclopaedia, that you may see what strictly scientific methods of reasoning may lead to:-- perhaps the two plant names most universally met with in all aryan languages, european or asiatic, are _potato_ and _tobacco._ 'from greenland's icy mountains to ceylon's sunny isle, whereever prospect pleases, and only man is vile.'--you shall nearly always hear the vile ones calling the humble tuber of their mid-day meal by some term akin to _potato,_ and the subtle weed that companions their meditations, by some word like _tobacco._ _argal,_ the aryan race used these two words before their separation; and if the two words, the two plants also. you follow the reasoning?--now then, seek out the land where these plants are indigenous; and if haply it shall be found they both have one original habitat, why, there beyond doubt you shall find the native seat of the primitive aryans. and, glory be to science! they do; both come from virginia. virginia, then, is the aryan garden of eden. ah but, strangely enough, we do find one great branch of the race--the teutons--unacquainted with the word _potato._ you may argue that the french are too: but luckily, science has the seeing eye; science is not to be cheated by appearances. the french say _pomme de terre;_ but this is evidently only a corruption--_potater, pomdeter_--twisted at some late period by false analogy into _pomme de terre,_ ('apple of the earth'.) but the teuton has _kartoffel,_ utterly different; argal again, the teutons must have separated from the parent stem before the aryans had discovered that the thing was edible and worth naming. they, therefore, were the first to leave virginia: paddle their own canoes off to far-away deutschland before ever the mild hindoo set out for hindustan, the greek for greece, or the anglo-saxon for anglo-saxony. but even the teutons have the word _tobacco._ come now, what a light we have here thrown on the primitive civilization of our forefathers! they knew, it seems, the virtures of the weed or ever they had boiled or fried a single murphy; they smoked first, and only ate long afterwards: and the germans who led that first expedition out from the fatherland of the race, must have gone with full tobacco-pouches and empty lunch-bags. what a life-like picture rises before our eyes! these first aryans were a dreamy contemplative people; tobacco was the main item in their lives, the very basis of their civilization.--then presently, after the teutons had gone, someone must have let his pipe go out for a few minutes--long enought to discover that he was hungry, and that a fair green plant was growing at his door, with a succulent tuber at the root of it which one could eat. think of the joy, the wonder, of that momentous discovery! did he hide it away, lest others should be as happy as himself? were ditectives set to watch him, to spy out the cause of a habit of sleek rotundity that was growing upon him at last visibly? we shall never know. or did he call in his neighbors at once and annouce it? did someone ask: 'what shall we name this god-given thing?'--and did another reply: 'it looks to me like a _potato;_ let's call it that!'? that at least must have been how it came by it name. they received the suggestion with acclamations: and all future out-going expeditions took sacks of it with them; and their descendants have continued to call it _potato_ to this day. for you must not that being the only food with a name common to all the languages--or almost all --it must be supposed to have been the only food they knew of before their separation. even the words for _father, mother, fire, water,_ and the like, have a greater number of different roots in the aryan languages than have these blessed two. to say the truth, a dawning perception of the possibilities of this kind of reasoning chilled the enthusiasm of the aryan-hunters a good deal; it was the bare bodkin that did quietus make for much philological pother and rout. no; if you are to prove racial superiority or exclusiveness, you had much better avail yourself of the simplicity of a stout bludgeon, than rely upon the subtleties of brain-mind argumentation; for time past is long, and mostly hidden; and lots of things have happened to account for your proofs in ways you would never suspect. the long and short of it is, that after pursuing the primitive aryans up hill and down dale through all parts of europe, science is forced to pronouce her final judgement thus: _we really know nothing about it._ the ancestors of this fifth root-race emigrated to central asia to escape the fate of atlantis; whither too went several atlantean peoples, such as the forefathers of the chinese,--who were not destined to be destroyed. it is a vast region, and there was room for them all. that emigration may have been as long a process as that of the europeans in our own time to america; probably it was; or longer. but it happened, at any rate, a million years ago; and in a million years a deal of water will flow under the bridges. you may call english a universal language now; it might conceivably become so absolutely, after a few centuries. but history will go on and time, and the cyclic changes inherent in natural law. these are not to be dodged by railways, turbines, aeroplanes; you cannot evitate their action by inventing printing-presses;--which, i suppose, have been invented and forgotten dozens of times 'since created man.' in a million years from now the world will have contracted and expanded often. we have seen, in our little period called historical, hardly anything but expansion; though there have been contractions, too. but contractions there will be, major ones; it is quite safe to foretell that; because action and reaction are equal and opposite: it is a fundamental law. geography will re-become, what it was in the times we call ancient, an esoteric science; the races will be isolated, and there will be no liners on the seas, and europe and asia will be fabulous realms of faerie for our more or less remote descendants. then what will have become of the once universal english language?--it will have split into a thousand fragment tongues, as unlike as dutch and sanskrit; and philology--the great expansion having happened again--will have as much confusion to unravel in the brito-yankish, as it has now in the indo-european.--in a million years?--bless my soul, in a poor little hundred thousand! the aryan languages, since they began to be, have been spreading out and retreating, mixing and changing and interchanging; one imposed on another, hidden under another, and recrudescing through another; through ten or a hundred thousand years,--or however long it may be; just as they have been doing in historical times. you find persian half arabicized; armenian come to be almost a dialect of persian; latin growing up through english; greek almost totally submerged under latin, slavonic, and turkish, and now with a tendency to grow back into greek; celtic preserving in itself an older than aryan syntax, and conveying that in its turn to the english spoken by celts. language is, to say the truth, a shifting kaleidoscopic thing: a momentary aspect of racial expression. in a thousand years it becomes unintelligible; we are modifying ours every day, upon laws whose nature can be guessed. yet ultimately all is a symphony and ordered progression, with regular rhythms recurring; it only seems a chaos, and unmusical, because we hear no more than the fragment of a bar. you all know the teaching of _the secret doctrine_ about the root-races of humanity, of which this present one, generally called the aryan, is the fifth; and how each is divided into seven sub-races; each sub-race into seven family-races; and each family-race into innumerable nations and tribes. according to that work, this fifth root-race has existed a million years. the period of a sub-race is said to be about , years; and that of a family-race, about , . so then, four sub-races would have occupied the first , years of the fifth race's history; and our present fifth sub-race would have been in being during the last , years; in which time five family-races would have flourished and passed; and this present sixth family-race would be about ten millenniums old. now, no single branch of the aryans: by which term i mean the sixth family-race; i shall confine it to that, and not apply it to the fifth root-race as a whole,--no single race among the aryans has been universal, or dominant, or prominent even, during the whole of the last ten thousand years. the teutons (including anglo-saxons), who loom so largely now, cut a very small figure in the days when latin was, in its world, something more universal than english is in ours; and a few centuries before that, you should have heard celtic, and little else, almost anywhere in europe. this shows how fleeting a thing is the sovereignty of any language; within the three thousand years we know about, three at least of the aryan language-groups have been 'universal'; within the last ten milleniums there has been time enough, and to spare, for a 'universality' each of sanskrit, persian, greek, slavonic, latin, teutonic, and celtic. so evidently none of these is the language of the family-race: we may speak of the aryan family-race; not of the celtic or slavonic. but it does not follow that the whole sub-race is not aryan too. mr. judge says somewhere that sanskrit will be the universal language again. supposing that there were some such scheme of evolution here, as in the world-chain? you know the diagram in _the secret doctrine,_ with the teaching as to the seven rounds. _as above, so below;_ when h. p. blavatsky seems to be giving you a sketch of cosmic evolution, often she is at the same time, if you can read it, telling you about the laws that govern your own and the race's history. i suspect some such arrangement as this: when the sub-race began, , years ago, sanskrit was its 'universal' language; spoken by all the aryans that moved out over europe and into india. an unaccountable sanskrit inscription has been found in asia minor;* and there is lithuania, a little speech-island in northeastern central europe, where a nearly sanskrit language, i believe, survives. then sanskrit changed imperceptibly (as american is changing from english) into the parent language of the persian group, which became the general speech of the sub-race except in india, where sanskrit survived as a _seed-speech_ for future resurrection. then, perhaps _pari passu_ with further westward expansion, persian changed into the parent of the slavonic group, itself living on as a seed-speech in iran; and so on through all the groups; in each case the type-language of a group remaining, to expand again after the passage of ages and when its cycle should return, in or about its corresponding psychic center on the geographical plane. then this evolution, having reached its farthest limit, began to retrace its course; i would not attempt to say in what order the language groups come: which is globe a in the chain, which globe d, and so on; but merely suggest that a 'family race' may represent one round from sanskrit to sanskrit; and the whole fifth sub-race, seven such complete rounds. ------ * _ancient india,_ by e. j. rapson ------ what came before? what was the fourth sub-race? well: i imagine we may have the relic, the _sishta_ or seed of it, in the hamitic peoples and languages: the libyans, numidians, egyptians, iberians, and pelasgians of old; the somalis, gallas, copts, berbers, and abyssinians of today. we are almost able to discern a time--but have not guessed when it was--when this iberian race, having perhaps its central seat in egypt, held all or most lands as far as ireland to the west, and japan and new zealand eastward; we find them surviving, mixed with, but by no means submerged under, aryan celts in spain--which is iberia; we find their name (i imagine) in that of iverne, ierine, hibernia, or ireland; we know that they gave the syntax of their language to that of the celts of the british isles; and that the celtic races of today are mainly iberian in blood--i daresay all europe is about half iberian in blood, as a matter of fact;--that the greeks found them in greece: i suspect that the main difference between sparta and athens lay in the fact that sparta was pure aryan, athens mainly iberian.--it seems to me then that we can almost get a glimpse of the sub-race preceding our own. some have been puzzled by a seeming discrepancy between katherine tingley's statement that egypt is older than india, and h. p. blavatsky's, that menes, founder of the egyptian monarchy, went from india to egypt to found it. but now suppose that something like this happened--would it not solve the problem?--in , b. c., or at the time this present aryan sub-race began, egypt, one state in the huge iberian series, was already a seat of civilization as old as the iberian race. there may have been an iberian empire, almost world-wide; which again may have split into many kingdoms; and as the star of the whole race was declining, we may suppose egypt in some degree of pralaya; or again, that it may have been an outlying and little-considered province _at that time._ in central asia the sanskrit-speaking tribe begins to increase and multiply furiously. they pour down into iberian hindustan. they are strong, and the gods are leading them; the iberians have grown world-weary with the habit of long empire. the iberian power goes down before them; the iberians become a subject people. but there is one menes among the latter, of the royal house perhaps, who will not endure subjection. he stands out as long as he may; then sails west with his followers for iberian lands that the aryans have not disturbed, and are not likely to. in their contests with the invaders of india, they have thrown off all world-weariness, and become strong; prince menes is hailed in egypt (as the last of the ommevads, driven out from the east by the abbasids, was hailed in spain); he wakens egypt, and founds a new monarchy there.--i am telling the tale of very ancient and unknown conditions in terms of historic conditions we know about and can understand; it is only the skeleton of the story i would stand for. and to put menes back at , years ago--what an amusing idea that will seem!--but the truth is we must wage war against this mischievous foreshortening of history. i have no doubt there have been empires going, from time to time, in egypt, since before atlantis fell; people have the empire-building instinct, and it is an eminently convenient place for empire-building. i have no doubt there have been dozens of different meneses--that is, founders of egyptian monarchies,--with thousands of years between each two. but i think probably the one that came from india to do it, came about the time when the fifth sub-race rose to supplant the fourth as that section of humanity in which evolution was chiefly interested. which last phrase in itself is rank heresy, and smacks of the 'white man's burden,' and all such nonsense as that. we might learn a lesson here. think: since that time, during how many thousands of years, off and on, has not that old sub-race been the darling of evolution, the seat of the crest-wave, and place where all things were doing? all the setis, the grand rameseses and thothmeses came since then; all the historic might and glory of egypt. you never know rightly when to say that the life of a sub-race is ended; the two-hundred-and-ten-century period cannot, i imagine, include it from birth to death; but can only mark the time between the rise of one, and the rise of another.-- but now to india. we have no knowledge of the last time when sanskrit was spoken: it has always been, in historic or quasi-historic ages, what it is now--literary language preserved by the high castes. in the days of the buddha it had long given place to various vernaculars grown out of it: pali, and what are called the prakrits.--we have lost memory of what i may call the archetypal languages of europe: the common ancestor of the celtic group, for instance; or that italian from which latin and the lost oscan and savellian and the rest sprang. no matter; they remain in the ideal world, and i doubt not in the course of our cyclic evolution we shall return to them, take them up, and pass through them again. but it seems to me that in the land of esoteric history, where manu provided in advance against the main destructiveness of war, the archetypal language of the whole sub-race has been preserved. the aryans went down into india, and there, at the extreme end of the aryan world, enjoyed some of the advantages of isolation: they were in a backwater, over which the tides of the languages did not flow. by esotericizing their history, i imagine they have really kept it intact, continuous, and within human memory; as we have not done with ours. as if that which is to be preserved forever, must be preserved in secret; and silence were the only durable casket for truth. the greeks, they say, were very gifted liars; but i do not see why we should suppose them lying, when they sang the superiorities of indian things and people;--_as they did._ the indians, says megasthenes, were taller than other men, and of greater distinction and prouder bearing. the air and water of their land were the purest in the world; so you would expect in the people, the finest culture and skill in the arts. almost always they gathered two harvests in the years; and _famine had never visited india._--you see, railways, quick communications, and all the appliances of modern science and invention cannot do as much for india in pralaya, as her own native civilization could do for her in manvantara.--then he goes on to show how that civilization guarded against famine and many other things; and incidentally to prove it not only much higher than the greek, but much higher than our own. i said manu provided in advance against the main destructiveness of war: here was the custom, which may have been dishonored in the breach sometimes, but still _was the custom._--the whole continent was divided into any number of kingdoms; mutually antagonistic often, but with certain features of homogeneity that made the name aryavarta more than a geographical expression. i am speaking of the india megasthenes saw, and as it had been then for dear knows how long. it had made concessions to human weakness, yes; had fallen, as i think, from an ancient unity; it had not succeeded in abolishing war. it was open to any king to make himself a chakravartin, or world-sovereign, if he disposed of the means for doing so: which means were military. as this was a well-recognised principle, wars were by no means rare. but with them all, what a utopia it was, compared to christendom! there was never a draft or conscription. of the four castes, the kshatriya or warrior alone did the fighting. while the conches brayed, and the war- cars thundered over kurukshetra; while the pantheons held their breath, watching arjun and mightiest karna at battle--the peasants in the next field went on hoeing their rice; they knew no one was making war on them. they trusted gandiva, the goodly bow, to send no arrows their way; their caste was inviolable, and sacred to the tilling of the soil. megasthenes notes it with wonder. war implied no ravaging of the land, no destruction of crops, no battering down of buildings, no harm whatever to non-combatants. kshatriya fought kshatriya. if you were a brahmin: which is to say, a theological student, or a man of letters, a teacher or what not of the kind--you were not even called up for physical examination. if you were a merchant, you went on quietly with your 'business as usual.' a mere patch of garden, or a peddler's tray, saved you from all the horrors of a questionnaire. kshatriya fought kshatriya, and no one else; and on the battlefield, and nowhere else. the victor became possessed of the territory of the vanquished; and there was no more fuss or botheration about it. and the vanquished king was not dispossessed, saint helenaed, or beheaded. simply, he acknowledged his conqueror as his overlord, paid him tribute; perhaps put his own kshatriya army at his disposal; and went on reigning as before. so porus met alexander without the least sense of fear, distrust, or humiliation at his defeat. "how shall i treat you?" said the macedonian. porus was surprised.--"i suppose," said he in effect, "as one king would treat another"; or, "like a gentleman." and alexander rose to it; in the atmosphere of a civilization higher than anything he knew, he had the grace to conform to usage. manu imposed his will on him. porus acknowledged him for overlord, and received accretions of territory.--this explains why all the changes of dynasty, and the many conquests and invasions have made so little difference as hardly to be worth recording. they effected no change in the life of the people. even the british raj has been, to a great degree, molded to the will of manu. each strong native state is ruled by its own maharaja, who acknowledges the kaiser-i-hind at london for his overlord, and lends him at need his moslem or kshatriya army.--all of which proves, i think, the extreme antiquity of the svstem: which is so firmly engraved in the prototypal world--the astral molds are so strong--that no outside force coming in has been able materially to change it. the greek invasion goes wholy unnoticed in indian literature. which brings us back to alexander. if he got as far as to the indus;--he got no farther. there were kingdoms up there in the northwest--perhaps no further east than afghanistan and baluchistan--which had formed part of the empire of darius hystaspes, and sent contingents to fight under xerxes in greece; and these now alexander claimed as darius codomannus's successor. but even in these outlying regions, he found conditions very different from those in persia: there was no "unquestionable superiority of the european to the asiatic," nor nothing like. had he gone further, and into the real india of the ganges valley, his name, it is likely, would not have come down synonymous with victory; presentlv we will call megasthenes to witness again as to the "unquestionable superiority of the asiatic to the european." but thither the macedonians refused to follow their king; and i suppose he wept rather over their insubordination, than for any overwhelmment with a sense of terrene limits. for he knew well that there was plenty more world to conquer, could one conquer it: rich and mighty kingdoms beyond that thar desert his soldiers are said to have refused to cross. he knew, because there were many to tell him: exiled princes and malcontents from this realm and that, each with his plan for self-advancement, and for using the macedonia as a catspaw. among them one in particular: as masterful a man as alexander, and a potential world-conqueror himself. he was (probably) a more or less illegitimate scion of the house of nanda, then reigning in magadha; which country, now called behar, had been growing at the expense of its gangetic neighbors for some centuries. king suddhodana, the buddha's father, had reigned over the sakyas in nepaul as a tributary under the king of magadha; which statement i let pass, well aware that the latest western scholarship has revolutionized the sakyas into a republic--perhaps with soviets,--and king suddhodana himself into a mere ward politician. this sandrakottos, as the greeks called him, had many tales to tell of the wealth of his kinsman's kingdom, and of the extreme unpopularity of its ruler:-and therefore of the ease with which alexander might conquer it and hand it over to him. but two of a trade seldom agree; both he and his host were born to rule empires; and presently he offended susceptibilities, and had to flee the camp. whereupon he shortly sharked up a list of landless reprobates, kshatriyas at a loose end, for food and diet; and the enterprise with a stomach in't was, as soon as alexander's back was turned, to drive out the macedonian garrisons. this done, he marched eastward as king of the indus region, conquered magadha, slew his old enemy the nanda king with all male members of the family, and reigned in his stead as chandragupta i, of the house of maurya. that was in . master then of a highly trained army of about , , he spread his empire over all hindustan. in , seleucus nicator, alexander's successor in asia, crossed the indus with an army, and was defeated; and in the treaty which followed, gave up to chandragupta all claim to the indian provinces, together with the hand of his daughter in marriage.--and received by way of compensation elephants that might come in useful in his wars elsewhere. also he sent megisthenes to be his ambassador at pataliputra, chandragupta's capital; and megasthenes wrote; and in a few quotations from his lost book that remain, chiefly in arrian,--we get a kind of window wherethrough to look into india: the first, and perhaps the only one until chinese travelers went west discovering. here let me flash a green lantern. if at some future time it should be shown that the chandragupta maurya of the sanskrit books was not the same person as the sandacottos of megasthenes; nor his son bindusara amitraghata, the amitrochidas of the greeks; nor his son and successor, asoka, the devanampiya piadasi whose rock-cut inscriptions remain scattered over india; nor the amtiyako yonaraja--the "ionian king antiochus" apparently,--atiochus theos, selecus nicator's granson: as is supposed; nor yet the other four kings mentioned in the same instricption in a sanskrit disguise as contemporaries, ptolemy philadelphos of egypt ( - ); magas of cyrene ( - ); antigonus gonatas of macedon ( - ), and alexander of epirus, who began to reign in ;--if all these identifications should fall to the ground, let no one be surprised. there are passages in the writings of h. p. blavatsky that seem to suggest there is nothing in them; and yet, after studying those passages, i do not find that she says so positively: her attitude seems rather one of withholding information for the time being; she supplies none of a contrary sort. the time may not have been ripe then for unveiling so much of indian history; nor indeed, in those days, had the pictures of these kings, and particularly of asoka, so clearly emerged: inscriptions have been deciphered since, which have gone to fill out the outline; and the story, as it his been pieced together now, has an air of verisimilitude, and hangs together. without the greek identifications, and the consequent possibility of assigning dates to chandragupta and his son, we should know indeed that there was a great maurya empire, which lasted a matter of thirteen decades and a few odd years; but we should hardly know when to place it. accepting the greek identifications, and placing the mauryas where we do in time--you shall see how beautifully the epoch fits into the universal cycles, and confirms the teaching as to cyclic law. so, provisionally, i shall accept them, and tell the tale. first a few more items from megasthenes as to india under chandragupta. there was no slavery, he notes; all indians were free, and not even were there aliens enslaved. crime of any kind was rare; the people were thoroughly law-abiding. thievery was so little known, that doors went unlocked at all times; there was no usury, and a general absence of litigation. they told the truth: as a greek, he could not help noticing that. the men were exceptionally brave; the women, chaste and virturous. but "in contrast to the general simplicity of their style, they loved finery and ornaments. their robes were worked in gold, adorned with precious stones, and they wore flowered garments of the finest muslin. attendants walking behind held umbrellas over them...." the system of government was very highly and minutely evolved. "of the great officers of state, some have charge of the markets, others of the city, others of the soldiers; others superintend the canals, and measure the land, or collect the taxes; some construct roads and set up pillars to show the by-roads and distances from place to place. those who have charge of the city are divided into six boards of five members apiece: the first looks after industrial art. the second attends to the entertainment of strangers, taking care of them, sound or sick, and in the event of their death, burying them and sending their property to their relatives." the third board registered births and deaths; the fourth, fifth and sixth had supervision of things commercial. military affairs were as closely organized: there were boards of infantry, cavalry, war chariots, elephants, navy, and bullock transport. and behind all these stood chandragupta himself, the superman, ruthless and terrifically efficient; and chanakya, his macchiavellian minister: a combination to hurry the world into greatness. and so indeed they did. under asoka, chandragupta's grandson, the age culminated. h. p. blavatsky says positively that he was born into buddhism; this is not the general view; but one finds nothing in his edicts, really, to contradict it. his father bindusara, of whom we know nothing, may have been a buddhist. but it would appear that asoka in his youth was the most capable, and also the most violent and passionate of bindusara's sons. during his father's lifetime, he held one of the great vice-royalties into which the empire was divided; he succeeded to the throne in . his domains at that time included all aryavarta, with baluchistan, and as much of afghanistan as lies south of the hindoo koosh; and how much of the deccan it is difficult to determine. nine years later he extended this realm still further, by the conquest of the kalingas, whose country lay along the coast northward from madras. at the end of that war he was master of all india north of a line drawn from pondicherry to cannanore in the south; while the tip of the deccan and ceylon lay at least within his sphere of influence. he was easily the strongest monarch of his day. in china--between which country and india there was no communication: they had not discovered each other, or they had lost sight of each other for ages--an old order was breaking to pieces, and all was weakness and decay. in the west, greek civilization was in decadence, with the successors of alexander engaged in profitless squabbles. rome, a power only in italy, was about to begin her long struggle with carthage; overseas nobody minded her. the crest-wave was in india, the strongest power and most vigorous civilization, so far as we can tell, in the world, and at the head of india stood this chakravartin, victorious asoka, flushed with conquest, and a whole world tempting him out to conquer.-- he never went to war again. for twenty-nine years after that conquest of the kalingas, until his death in , he reigned in unbroken peace. he left his heart to posterity in many edicts and inscriptions cut on rocks and pillars; thirty-five of these remain, or have so far been discovered and read. in , or five years after the kalinga war, he published this: "devanamipiya piadasi"-- it means literally 'the beloved of the gods, the beautiful of countenance'; but it is really a title equivalent to "his gracious majesty,' and was borne by all the maurya kings;-- "devanampiya piadasi feels remorse on account of the conquest of the kalingas; because, during the subjugation of a preciously unconquered country slaughter, death, and taking away captives of the people necessarily occur; whereat his majesty feels profound sorrow and regret..." it would be in keeping with the southern buddhist tradition as to the ungovernable violence of asoka's youth, that he should have introduced into war horrors quite contrary to manu and indian custom; but here i must say that h. p. blavatsky, though she does not particularize, says that there were really two asokas, two 'devanampiya piadasis,' the first of whom was chandragupta himself, from whose life the tradition of the youthful violence may have been drawn; and there remains the possibility that this kalinga war was waged by chandragupta, not asoka; and that it was he who made this edict, felt the remorse, and became a buddhist. however, to continue (tentatively):-- "the loss of even the hundredth or the thousandth part of the persons who were then slain, carried away captive, or done to death in kalinga would now be a matter of deep regret to his majesty. although a man should do him any injury, devanampiya piadasi holds that it must patiently be borne, so far as it possibly can be borne... for his majesty desires for all animate beings security, control over the passions, peace of mind, and joyousness. and this is the chief of conquests, in his majesty's opinion: the conquest of duty." some time later he took the vows of a buddhist monk, 'entered the path'; and, as he says, 'exerted himself strenuously.' he has been called the 'constantine of buddhism'; there is much talk among the western learned, about his support of that movement having contributed to its decay. they draw analogy from constantine; even hint that asoka embraced buddhism, as the latter did christianity, from political motives. but the analogy is thoroughlv false. constantine was a bad man, a very far-gone case; and there was little in the faith he adopted, or favored, as it had come to be at that time, to make him better;--even if he had really believed in it. and it was a defined religio- political body, highly antagonistic to the old state religion of rome, that he linked his fortunes with. but no sovereign so mighty in compassion is recorded in history as having reigned, as this asoka. he was the most unsectarian of men. buddhism as it came to him, and as he left it, was not a sect, but a living spiritual movement. for what is a sect?--something _cut off_-- from the rest of humanity, and the sources of inner life. but for asoka, as for the modern theosophical movement, there was no religion higher than--_dharma_--which word may be translated, 'the (higher) law,' or 'truth.' or 'duty.' he never ceased to protect the holy men of brahminism. edict after edict exhorts his people to honor them. he preached the good law; he could not insist too often that different men would have different conceptions as to this _dharma._ each, then, must follow his own conception, and utterly respect his neighbors'. the good law, the doctrine of the buddhas, was universal; because the objective of all religions was the conquest of the passions and of self. all religions must manifest on this plane as right action and life; and that was the evangel he proclaimed to the world. there was no such sharp antagonism of sects and creeds. there is speculation as to how he managed, being a world-sovereign --and a highly efficient one--to carry out the vows of a buddhist monk. as if the begging bowl would have been anything of consequence to such an one! it is a matter of the status of the soul; not of outward paraphernalia. he was a practical man; intensely so; and he showed that a chakravartin could tread the path of the buddhas as well as a wandering monk. one can imagine no tolstoyan playing at peasant in him. his business in life was momentous. "i am never satisfied with my exertions and my dispatch of business," he says. "work i must for the public benefit,--and the root of the matter is in exertion and dispatch of business, than which nothing is more efficacious for the public welfare. and for what end do i toil? for no other end than that i may discharge my debt to animate beings." and again: "devanampiya piadasi desires that in all places men of all religions may abide, for they all desire purity of mind and mastery over the senses." well; for nine and twenty years he held that vast empire warless; even though it included within its boundaries many restless and savage tribes. certainly only the greatest, strongest, and wisest of rulers could do that; it has not been done since (though akbar came near it). we know nothing as to how literature may have been enriched; some think that the great epics may have come from this time. if so, it would only have been recensions of them, i imagine. but in art and architecture his reign was everything. he built splendid cities, and strewed the land with wonderful buildings and monoliths. patna, the capital, in megasthenes' time nine miles long by one and a half wide, and built of wood, he rebuilt in stone with walls intricately sculptured. education was very widespread or universal. his edicts are sermons preached to the masses: simple ethical teachings touching on all points necessary to right living. he had them carved on rock, and set them up by the roadsides and in all much-frequented places, where the masses could read them; and this proves that the masses could read. they are all vibrant with his tender care, not alone for his human subjects, but for all sentient beings. "work i must.... that i may discharge my debt to all things animate." and how he did work without one private moment in the day or night, as his decrees show, in which he should be undisturbed by the calls of those who needed help. he specifies; he particularizes; there was no moment to be considered private, or his personal own. and even then he was not content. there were foreign lands; and those, too, were entitled to his care. i said that the southern tip of india, with ceylon, were within his sphere of influence: his sphere of influence was much wider than that, however. saying that a king's sphere of influence is wherever he can get his will done, asoka's extended westward over the whole greek world. here was a king whose will was benevolence; who sought no rights but the right to do good; whose politics were the service of mankind:--it is a sign of the brotherhood of man, that his writ ran, as you may say--the writ of his great compassion,--to the mediterranean shore:-- "everywhere in the dominions of devanampiya piadasi, and likewise in the neighboring realms, such as those of the chola, pandya, satiyaputra and keralaputra, in ceylon, in the dominions of the greek king antiochus, and in those of the other kings subordinate to that antiochus--everywhere, on behalf of his majesty, have two kinds of hospitals been founded: hospitals for men, and hospitals for beasts. healing herbs, medicinal for man and medicinal for beasts, wherever they were lacking, have been imported and planted. on the roads, trees have been planted, and wells have been dug for the use of men and beasts." and everywhere, in all those foreign realms, he had his missionaries preaching the good law. and some of these came to palestine, and founded there for him an order at nazareth called the essenes; in which, some century or two later, a man rose to teach the good law--by name, jesus of nazareth.--now consider the prestige, the moral influence, of a king who might keep his agents, unmolested, carrying out his will, right across asia, in syria, greece, macedonia, and egypt; the king of a great, free, and mighty people, who, if he had cared to, might have marched out world-conquering; but who preferred that his conquests should be the conquests of duty. devanampiya piadasi: the gracious of mien, the beloved of the gods: an adept king like them of old time, strayed somehow into the scope and vision of history. viii. the black-haired people greece shone between and ,--to give the thirteen decades of her greatest spiritual brightness. then came india in ; we lose sight of her after the death of asoka in the two-thirties, but know the maurya empire lasted its thirteen decades (and six years) until . then china flamed up brilliantly under the western house of han from to ;--at which time, however, we shall not arrive for a few weeks yet. between these three national epochs there is this difference: the greek age came late in its manvantara; which opened (as i guess), roughly speaking, some three hundred and ninety years before:--three times thirteen decades, with room for three national flowerings in europe--among what peoples, who can say?-- we cannot tell where in its manvantara the indian age may have come: whether near the beginning, or at the middle. but in china we are on firm ground, and the firmest of all. a manvantara, a fifteen-century cycle, began in the two-forties b. c.; this age of han was its first blossom and splendid epoch; and we need feel no surprise that it was not followed by a night immediately, but only by a twilight and slight dimming of the glories for about thirteen decades again, and then the full brilliance of another day. such things are proper to peoples new-born after their long pralaya; and can hardly happen, one would say, after the morning of the manvantara has passed. thus in our own european cycle, italy the first-born was in full creative energy from about to : twenty-six decades;--whereas the nations that have held hegemony since have had to be content each with its thirteen. and now to take bird's-eye views of china as a whole; and to be at pains to discover what relation she bears, historically, to ourselves and the rest of the globe. do you remernber how abraham haggled with the lord over the cities of the plain? yahveh was for destroying them off hand for their manifold sins and iniquities; but abraham argued and bargained and brought him down till if peradventure there should be found ten righteous in sodom and gomorrah, the lord promised he would spare them. but ten righteous there were not, nor nothing near; so the cities of the plain went down. i suppose the crest-wave rarely passes from a race without leaving a wide trail of insanity in its wake. the life forces are strong; the human organisms through which they play are but--as we know them. commonly these organisms are not directed by the divine soul, which has all too little of the direction of life in its hands; so the life-currents drift downward, instead of fountaining up; and exhaust these their vehicles, and leave them played out and mentally--because long since morally--deficient. so come the cataclysmic wars and reigns of terror that mark the end of racial manvantaras: it is a humanity gone collectively mad. on the other hand, none can tell what immense safeguarding work may be done by the smallest sane co-ordinated effort upwards. if peradventure the ten righteous shall be found--but they must be righteous, and know what they are doing--i will spare, and not destroy, saith the lord. (he said nothing about respectabilities. i dare say there was quite a percentage of respectable chapel-going sabbath-observing folk in the cities of the plain.) and yet there must be always that dreadful possibility--which perhaps has never become actual since the fall of atlantis--that a whole large section of mankind should go quite mad, and become unfit to carry on the work of evolution. it is a matter of corrupting the streams of heredity; which is done by vice, excess, wrong living; and these come of ignorance. heaven knows how near it we may be today; i do not think christendom stands, or has stood, so very far, from the brink. and yet it is from the white race, we have supposed, that the coming races will be born; this is the main channel through which human evolution is intended to flow.--we are in kall-yuga; the mysteries are dead, and the religions have taken their place: there has been no sure and certain link, organized on this plane, between the world and its higher self. each succeeding civilization, under these circumstances, has run a greater risk. of what race are we? i say, of no race at all, but can view the matter as human souls, reincarnating egos, prepared to go where the law bids us. races are only temporary institutions set up for the convenience of the host of souls. we see, i suppose, the results of such a breakdown in africa. atlanteans were segregated there; isolated; and for a million years degenerated in that isolation to what they are. but their ancestors, before that segregation began, had better airships than we have; were largely giants, in more respects than the physical, were we are pygmies. now they are--whatever may be their potentialities, whatever they may become--actually an inferior reace. and it is a racial stock that shows no signs of dying out. what then?--i suppose indeed there must be backward races, to house backward egos;--though for that matter you would think that our londons and chicagos and the rest, with their slums, would provide a good deal of accommodation. or consider the redskins, here and in south america: whether atlanteans, or of some former subrace of the fifth, at least not aryans. take the finest tribes among them, such as the navajos. here is a very small hereditary stream, kept pure and apart: of fine physique; potentially of fine mentality; unsullied with vices of any sort: a people as much nearer than the white man to natural spirituality, as to natural physical health. it is no use saying they are so few. two millenniums ago, how many were the anglo-saxons? three millenniums ago, how many were the latins? supposing the white race in america failed. the statistics of lunacy--of that alone--are a fearful _mene, tekel upharsin_ written on our walls, for any daniel with vision to read. i think naure must also take into account these possibilities. does she keep in reserve hereditary streams and racial stocks other than her great and main ones, _in case of accidents?_ are the redskins among these? _the secret doctrine_ seems to hint sometimes that the founders of our fifth root race were of lemurian rather than atlantean descent. nowhere is it actually said so; but there are a number of passages that read, to me, as if they were written with that idea, or theory, or fact, in mind. is it, possibly, that a small pure stream of lemurian heredity had been kept aloof through all the years of atlantis, in reserve;--some stream that may have been, at one time, as narrow as the tribe of navajos?--this may be a very bold conclusion to draw from what is said in _the secret doctrine;_ it may have no truth in it whatever: other passages are to be found, perhaps, that would at least appear to contradict it. but if it is true, it would account for what seems like a racial anomaly--or more than one. science leans to the conclusion that the australian aborigines are aryan: they are liker aryans than anything else. but we know from _the secret doctrine_ that they are among the few last remnants of the lemurians. again, the ainos of japan are very like europeans: they have many physical features in common with the caucasians, and none in common with the peoples of east asia. yet they are very low down in the scale of evolution:--not so low as the australian blackfellow, but without much occasion for giving themselves airs. a thousand years of contact with the much- washing japanese have never suggested to them why god made soap and water. like many other people, they have the legend of the flood: remember, as you may say, the fall of atlantis; but unlike us upstarts of the fourth and fifth races, they have also a legend of a destruction of the world by fire and earthquake--a cataclysm that lasted, they say, a hundred days. is it a memory of the fate of lemuria? is a new root-race developed, not from the one immediately preceding it, but from the one before? is mercury's caduceus, here too, a symbol of the way evolution is done? did the law keep in reserve a sishta or seed-race from lemuria, holding it back from atlantean development during the whole period of the atlanteans;--holding it, all that while, in seclusion and purity --and therefore in a kind of pralaya;--at the right moment, to push its development, almost suddenly, along a new line, not parallel to the atlantean, but _sui generis,_ and to be aryan fifth presently?--is the law keeping in reserve a _sishta_ or seed-race of atlantean stock, holding that in reserve and apart all through our aryan time, to develop from it at last the beginnings of the sixth, on the new continent that will appear? or to do so, at any rate, should the main aryan stock fail at one of the grand crises in its evolution, and become of too corrupt heredity to produce fitting vehicles for the egos of the sixth to inhabit? when we have evolved back to sanskrit for the last time: when the forces of civilization have played through and exhausted for the last time the possibilities of each of the groups of aryan languages, so that it would be impossible to do anything more with them--for languages do become exhausted: we cannot write english now as they could in the days of milton and jeremy taylor; not necessarily because we are smaller men, but because the fabric of our speech is worn much thinner, and will no longer take the splendid dyes;--and when that final flowering of sanskrit is exhausted too--will the new sixth race language, as a type, be a derivation from the aryan? then how?--or will it, possibly, be as it were a new growth sprung out of the grave of fourth race chinese, or of one of that atlantean group through which, during all these millions of years, such great and main brain-energies have not on the whole been playing as they have been through the aryans; and which might therefore, having lain so long fallow, then be fit for new strange developments and uses? all of which may be, and very likely is, extremely wide of the mark. such ideas may be merest wild speculation, and have no truth in them at all. and yet i think that if they were true, they would explain a thing to me otherwise inexplicable: china. we are in the fifth root-race, and the fifth sub-race thereof: that is, beyond the middle point. and yet one in every four of the inhabitants of the globe is a fourth race chinaman; and i suppose that if you took all the races that are not caucasian, or fifth race, you would find that about half the population of the world is atlantean still. take the languages. a sanskrit word, or a greek, or old gothic, or latin, is a living organism, a little articulate being. there is his spine, the root; his body, the stem; his limbs and head, the formative elements, prefixes and suffixes, case-endings and what not. let him loose in the sentence, and see how he wriggles gaily from state to state: with a flick of the tail from nominative to genitive, from singular to plural: declaring his meaning, not by means of what surroundings you put about him, but by motions, changes, volitions so to say, of his own. 'now,' says he, 'i'm _pater,_ and the subject; set me where you will, and i am still the subject, and you can make nothing else of me.' or, 'now,' says he, 'i'm _patrem,_ and the object; go look for my lord the verb, and you shall know what's done to me; be he next door, or ten pages away, i am faithful to him.' _patrem filius amat,_ or _filius amat patrem,_ or in whatever order it may be, there is no doubt who does, and who (as they say) _suffers_ the loving.--but now take a word in english. you can still recognise him for the same creature that was once so gay and jumpy-jumpy: _father_ is no such far cry from _pater:_--but oh what a change in sprightliness of habits is here! time has worn away his head and limbs to almost unrecognisable blunt excrescences. bid him move off into the oblique cases, and if he can help it, he will not budge; you must shove him with a verb; you must goad him with a little sharp preposition behind; and then he just _lumps_ backward or forward, and there is no change for the better in him, as you may say. no longer will he declare his meaning of himself; it must depend on where you choose to put him in the sentence.--among the mountains of europe, the grand alps are the parvenus; the pyrenees look down on them; and the vosges on the pyrenees; and--pardon me!--the little old time-rounded tiny welsh mountains look down on them all from the heights of a much greater antiquity. they are the smallest of all, the least jagged and dramatic of all; time and the weather have done most to them. the storm, like the eagle of gwern abwy in the story, has lighted on their proud peaks so often, that that from which once she could peck at the stars in the evening, rises now but a few thousand feet from the level of the sea. time and springs and summers have silenced and soothed away the startling crags and chasms, the threatening gestures of the earth at infinity, and clothed them over with a mantle of quietness and green fern and heather and dreams. when the fifth race was younger, its language was alpine: in gothic, in sanskrit, in latin, you can see the crags and chasms. french, spanish and italian are pyrenean, much worn down. english is the vosges. chinese is hardly even the welsh mountains. every word is worn perfectly smooth and round. there is no sign left at all of prefix or suffix, root or stem. there are no parts of speech: any word without change can do duty for any part of speech. there is no sign of case or number: all has been reduced to an absolute simplicity, beyond which there is no going. words can end with no consonant but the most rounded of all, the nasal liquids _n_ and _ng._ there is about as much likeness to the aryan and semitic languages--you can trace about as much analogy between them--as you can between a centipede and a billiard-ball. there are definite laws governing the changes of language. you know how the latin _castrum_ became in english _ciaster_ and then _chester;_ the change was governed by law. the same law makes our present-day vulgar say _cyar_ for _car;_ that word, in the american of the future, will be something like chair. the same law makes the same kind of people say _donchyer_ for _don't you;_ some day, alas! even that will be classical and refined american. well; we know that that law has been at work in historic times even on the chinese billiard-ball: where confucius said _ts'in_ like a gentleman, the late yuan shi kai used to say _ch'in._ so did the dowager empress; it was eminently the refined thing to do. so we ourselves have turned _ts'in_ into _china._--and that is the one little fact--or perhaps one of the two or three little facts--that remain to convince us that chinese and its group of kindred languages grew up on the same planet, and among the same humankind, that produced sanskrit and latin. but does not that suggest also the possibility that alpine aryan might some day--after millions of years--wear down or evolve back even into billiard-ball chinese? that human language is _one thing;_ and all the differences, the changes rung on that according to the stages of evolution? in the aryan group of languages, the bond of affinity is easily recognisable: the roots of the words are the same: _pitri, pater, vater,_ are clearly but varying pronunciations of the same word. in the turanic group, however--finnish, hungarian, turkish, tatar, mongol and manchu--you must expect no such well-advertised first-cousinship. they are grouped together, not because of any likeness of roots: not because you could find one single consonant the same in the lappish or hungarian, say, and in the mongol or manchu words for _father_--you probably could not;--but because there may be syntactical likenesses, or the changes and assimilations of sounds may be governed by the same laws. thus in turkic--i draw upon the _encyclopaedia britannica_--there is a suffix z, preceded by a vowel, to mean your: _pederin_ is 'father'; 'your father' becomes _pederiniz;_ _dostun_ means 'friend'; 'your friend' becomes not _dostuniz,_ but _dostunus;_ and this trick of assimilating the vowel of the suffix is the last one in the stem is an example of the kind of similarities which establish the relationship of the group. as for likeness of roots, here is a specimen: _gyordunus_ is the turkish for the finnish _naikke._--so here you see a degree of kinship much more remote than that you find in the aryan. where, say, dutch and gaelic are brothers--at least near relations and bosom friends,--turkish and mongol are about fifteenth cousins by marriage twice removed, and hardly even nod to each other in passing. and yet turks and mongols both claim descent from the sons of a common father: according to legends of both peoples, the ancestor of the turks was the brother of the ancestor of the mongols. (always remember that in speaking of turks thus scientifically, one does not mean the ottomans, who inherit their language, but are almost purely caucasian or even aryan, in blood.) now take the monosyllabic or south-eastern asiatic group: chinese, burmese, siamese, annamese, and tibetan. here there are only negatives, you might say, to prove a relationship. they do not meet on the street; they pass by on the other side, noses high in the air; each sublimely unaware of the other's existence. they suppose they are akin--through adam; but whould tell you that much has happened since then. their kinship consists in this: the words are each are billiard-balls--and yet, if you will allow the paradox, of quite different shapes. thus i should call a tibetan name like _ngamri-srong-btsan_ a good jagged angular sort of billiard-ball; and a chinese one like _t'ang tai-tsong_ a perfectly round smooth one of the kind we know.--the languages are akin, because each say, where we should say 'the horse kicked the man,' _horse agent man kicking completion,_ or words to that effect,--dapped out nearly in spherical or angular disconnected monosyllables. but the words for _horse_ and _man,_ in chinese and tibetan, have respectively as much phonetic likeness as _geegee_ and _equus,_ and _smith_ and _jones._ as to the value and possibilities of such languages, i will quote you two pronouncements, both from writers in the _encyclopaedia britannica._ one says: "chinese has the greatest capacity of any language ever invented"; the other, "the chinese tongue is of unsurpass jejuneness." in the whole language there are only about four or five hundred sounds you could differentiate by spelling, as to say, _shih,_ pronounced like the first three letters in the word _shirt_ in english. that vocable may mean: _history,_ or _to employ,_ or _a corpse, a market, a lion, to wait on, to rely upon, time, poetry, to bestow, to proclaim, a stone, a generation, to eat, a house,_ and all such things as that;--i mention a few out of the list by way of example.* now of course, were that all to be said about it, chinamen would no doubt sometimes get confused: would think you meant a corpse, when you were really talking about poetry, and so on. but there is a way of throwing a little breathing in, a kind of hiatus: thus _ts'in_ meant one country, and _tsin_ another one altogether; and you ought not to mix them, for they were generally at war, and did not mix at all well. that would potentially extend the number of sounds, or words, or billiard-balls, from the four hundred and twenty in modern polite pekinese, or the twelve hundred or so in the older and less cultured cantonese, to twice as many in each case. still that would be but a poor vocabulary for the language with the vastest literature in the world, as i suppose the chinese is. then you come to the four tones, as a further means of extending it. you pronounce _shih_ one tone--you sing it on the right note, so to say, and it means _poetry;_ you take that tone away, and give it another, the dead tone, and very naturally it becomes _a corpse:_--as, one way, and another i have often tried to impress on you it really does.--of course the hieroglyphs, the written words, run into hundreds of thousands; for the literature, you have a vocabulary indeed. but you see that the spoken language depends, to express its meaning, upon a different kind of elements from those all our languages depend on. we have solid words that you can spell: articles built up with the bricks of sound-stuff we call letters: _c-a-t_ cat, _d-o-g_ dog, and so on;--but their words, no; nothing so tangible: all depends on little silences, small hiatuses in the vocalizition,--and above all, _musical tones._ now then, which is the more primitive? which is nearer the material or intellectual, and which, the spiritual, pole? ------- * _encyclopaedia britannica:_ article, china: language. ------- more primitive--i do not know. only i think when the stars of morning sang together, and all the sons of god shouted for joy; when primeval humanity first felt stirring within it the divine fire and essence of the lords of mind; when the sons of the fire mist came down, and found habitation for themselves in the bodies of our ancestors; when they saw the sky, how beautiful and kindly it was; and the wonder of the earth, and that blue jewel the sea; and felt the winds of heaven caress them, and were aware of the spirit, the great dragon, immanent in the sunlight, quivering and scintillant in the dim blue diamond day; "they prayed, but their worship was only the wonder of nights and of days," --when they opened their lips to speak, and the first of all the poems of the earth was made:--it was song, it was tone, it was music they uttered, and not brute speech such as we use, it was intoned vowels, as i imagine, that composed their language: seven little vowels, and seven tones or notes to them perhaps: and with these they could sing and tell forth the whole of the glory of god. and then--was it like this?--they grew material, and intellectual, and away from the child-state of the spirit; and their tones grew into words; and consonants grew on to the vowels, to make the vast and varied distinctions the evolving intellect needed for its uses; and presently you had atlantis with its complex civilization--its infinitely more complex civilization even than our own; and grammar came ever more into being, ever more wonderful and complex, to correspond with the growing curves and involutions of the ever more complex-growing human brain; and a thousand languages were formed--many of them to be found still among wild tribes in mid-africa or america--as much more complex than sanskrit, as sanskrit is than chinese: highly declensional, minutely syntactical, involved and worked up and filigreed beyond telling;--and that was at the midmost point and highest material civilization of atlantis. and then the fourth race went on, and its languages evolved; back, in the seventh sub-race, to the tonalism, the chanted simplicity of the first sub-race;--till you had something in character not intellectual, but spiritual:--chinese. and meanwhile--i am throwing out the ideas as they come, careless if the second appears to contradict the first: presently a unity may come of them;--meanwhile, for the purposes of the fifth root-race, then nascent, a language-type had grown up, intellectual as any in atlantis, because this fifth race was to be intellectual too,-- but also spiritual: not without tonalistic elements: a thing to be chanted, and not dully spoken:--and there, when the time came for, it to be born, you had the sanskrit. but now for the sixth root-race: is that to figure mainly on the plane of intellect? or shall we then take intellectual things somewhat for granted, as having learnt them and passed on to something higher? look at those diagrams of the planes and globes in _the secret doctrine,_ and see how the last ones, the sixth and seventh, come to be on the same level as the first and second. shall we be passing, then, to a time when, in the seventh, our languages will have no need for complexity: when our ideas, no longer personal but universal and creative, will flow easily from mind to mind, from heart to heart on a little tone, a chanted breath of music; when mere billiard-balls of syllables will serve us, so they be rightly sung:--until presently with but seven pure vowel sounds, and seven tones to sing them to, we shall be able to tell forth once more the whole of the glory of god? now then, is chinese primitive, or is it an evolution far away and ahead of us? were there first of all billiard-balls; and did they acquire a trick of coalescing and running together; this one and that one, in the combination, becoming subordinate to another; until soon you had a little wriggling creature of a word, with his head of prefix, and his tail of suffix, to look or flicker this way or that according to the direction in which he wished to steer himself, the meaning to be expressed;--from monosyllabic becoming agglutinative, synthetic, declensional, complex--alpine and super-sanskrit in complexity;--then pyrenean by the wearing down of the storms and seasons; then vosges, with crags forest-covered; then green soft round welsh mountains; and then, still more and more worn down by time and the phonetic laws which decree that men shall (in certain stages of their growth) be always molding their languages to an easier and easier pronunciation,--stem assimilating prefix and suffix, and growing intolerant of changes within itself;--fitting itself to the weather, rounding off its angles, coquetting with euphony;-- dropping harsh consonants; tending to end words with a vowel, or with only the nasal liquids n and ng, softest and roundest sounds there are;--till what had evolved from a billiard-ball to an alpine crag, had evolved back to a billiard-ball again, and was chinese? is it primitive, or ultimate? i am almost certain of this, at any rate: that as a language-type, it stands somewhere midway between ours and spiritual speech. how should that be; when we are told that this people is of the fourth, the most material of the races; while we are on the proud upward arc of the fifth? and how is it that h. p. blavatsky speaks of the chinese civilization as being younger than that of the aryans of india, the sanskrit speakers,--fifth certainly? is this, possibly, the explanation: that the ancestors of the chinese, a colony from atlantis some time perhaps long before the atlantean degeneration and fall, were held under major pralaya apart from the world-currents for hundreds of thousands of years, until some time later than , years ago--the time of the beginning our our sub-race? a pralaya, like sleep, is a period of refreshment, spiritual and physical; it depends upon your mood as you enter it, to what degree you shall reap its benefits: whether it shall regenerate you; whether you shall arise from it spiritually cleansed and invigorated by contact with the bright immortal self within. africa entered such a rest-period from an orgy of black magic, and her night was filled with evil dreams and sorceries, and her people became what they are. but if china entered it guided by white atlantean adepts, it would have been for her fairyland; it would have been the fortunate islands; it would have been the garden of siwang mu, the paradise of the west; and when she came forth it would have been--it might have been--with a bent not towards intellectual, but towards spiritual achievements. compare her civilization, in historic times, with that of the west. historic times are very little to go by, but they are all we have at present.--she attained marvelous heights; but they were not the same kind of heights the west has attained. through her most troublous, stirring, and perilous times, she carried whole provinces of devachan with her. it was while she was falling to pieces, that ssu-k'ung t'u wrote his divinely delicate meditations. when the iron most entered her soul, she would weep, but not tear her hair or rage and grow passionate; she would condescend to be heart-broken, but never vulgar. in her gayest moments, wine-flushed and spring-flushed, she never forgot herself to give utterance to the unseemly. there is no line in her poetry to be excused or regretted on that score. she worshipped beauty, as perhaps only greece and france in the west have done; but unlike greece or france, she sought her divinity only in the impersonal and dispassionate: never mistook for its voice, the voices of the flesh. she sinned much, no doubt; but not in her pursuit of the beautiful; not in her worship of art and poetry. she was faithful to the high gods there. she never produced a figure comparable to, nor in the least like, our homers and aeschyluses, dantes and miltons and shakespeares. but then, the west has never, i imagine, produced a figure comparable to her li pos, tu fus, po chu-is or ssu-k'ung t'us: giants in lyricism--one might name a hundred of them--beside whom our hugos and sapphos and keatses were pygmies. nor have we had any to compare with her masters of landscape-painting: even the _encyclopaedia britannica_ comes down flat-footed with the statement that chinese landscape-painting is the highest the world has seen.--and why?--because it is based on a knowledge of the god-world; because her eyes were focused for the things 'on the other side of the sky'; because this world, for her, was a mere reflexion and thin concealment of the other, and the mists between her and the divine 'defecate' constantly, in coleridge's curious phrase, 'to a clear transparency.' things seen were an open window into the infinite; but with us, heaven knows, that window is so thick filthy with selfhood, so cobwebbed and begrimed with passion and egotism and individualism and all the smoke and soot of the brain-mind, that given an artist with a natural tendency to see through, he has to waste half his life first in cleaning it with picks and mattocks and charges of dynamite. so it becomes almost inevitable that when once you know chinese painting, all western painting grows to look rather coarse and brutal and materialistic to you. but, you say, no aeschylus or shakespeare? no dante or homer? no epic--no great drama! pooh! you say, where is the great creative energy? where is the sheer brain force?-- it is to us a matter of course that the type of our great ones is the highest possible type. well; it may be: but the deeper you go into thinking it over, the less certain you are likely to become as to the absoluteness of standards. the time to award the prizes is not yet; all we can do is to look into the nature of the differences. warily let us go to work here! where, you asked, are the great creative energies? well; in the west, certainly, they have flowed most where they can most be seen as _energies._ i think, through channels nearer this material plane: nearer the plane of intellect, at any rate.--no: there is no question where the sheer brain force has been: it has been in the west. but then, where was it more manifest, in pope or in keats? in pope most emphatically. but off with your head if you say he gave the greater gift.--or i will leave pope, and go to his betters; and say that keats, when he caught in his net of words the fleeting beauty of the world, was far nearer the spirit than was bacon when with tremendous intellectual energy he devised his philosophy: there was a much longer evolution behind the ease and effortless attainment of the one, than behind the other's titanic brain-effort. yet, so far as the putting forth of brain energies is concerned, there is no question: bacon was much the greater man. so in all creative work, in all thought, we must call the west incomparably greater in brain energy. and i am not making such a foolish comparison as between modern or recent conditions in the two races. you see it if you set the greatest eastern ages, the han, the t'ang, the sung, or the fujiwara, against the periclean, augustan, medicean, elizabethan, or louis quatorze. in the west, the spiritual creative force came down and mingled itself more forcefully with the human intellect: had a much more vigorous basis in that, i think, to work in and upon. it has reached lower into the material, and played on matter more powerfully-- and, be it said, on thought and intellection too. we are so accustomed to thinking of spirituality as something that, outside the plane of conduct, can only play through thought and intellection, or perhaps religious emotion, that to speak of the high spirituality of china will sound, to most, absurd. on the whole, you must not go to china for thought or intellection. least of all you must go there for what we commonly understand by religious emotion;--they don't readily gush over a personal god. it will seem entirely far-fetched to say that in china the creative forces have retained much more of their spirituality: have manifested perhaps not less greatly than in the west, but on planes less material, nearer their spiritual source. it will seem so the more because until very recently china has been constantly misrepresented to us. and yet i think it is pretty much the truth. in all their creative art the spirit has been busy suggesting itself, not through ideas, or the forms of intellection, but through the more subtle perceptions and emotions that lie behind. it gives us, if we are at all gifted or educated to see, pure vistas of itself. compare michelangelo's moses with the dai butsu at kamakura:--as i think dr. siren does in one of his lectures. the former is a thing of titanic, even majestic energies; but they are energies physical and mental: a grand triumph on what is called in sanskrit philosophy the rajasic plane. the second suggests, not energy and struggle, but repose and infinite calm. in the moses, we sense warfare, with victory, to attain and to hold its attainment; in the dai butsu, something that has passed through all that aeons ago. in which is the greater sum of energies included? in the dai butsu certainly; wherein we see no sign of what we commonly call energies at all. the one is human struggling up towards godhood; the other, godhood looking down with calm limitless compassion upon man. such need no engines and dynamics to remove the mountains: they bid them rise up, and be cast into the sea; and are obeyed. or take a great chinese landscape and a great western one: a ma yuan, say, and a--whom you please. to the uninstructed it seems ridiculous to compare them. this took a whole year to paint; it is large; there is an enormous amount of hard work in it; huge creative effort, force, exertion, went to make it. that--it was done perhaps in an hour. that mountain is but a flick of the brush; yonder lake but a wash and a ripple. it is painted on a little trumpery fan--a mere square foot of silk. yes; but on that square foot, by the grace of the everlasting spirit, are 'a thousand miles of space': much more--there is infinity itself. watch; and that faint gray or sepia shall become the boundless blue; and you shall see dim dragons wandering: you shall see eternal mystery brooding within her own limitless home. far, far more than in the western work, there is an open window into the infinite: that which shall remind us that we are not the poor clay and dying embers we seem, but a pat of the infinite mystery. the spirit is here; not involved in human flesh and intellection, but impersonal and universal. what do you want:--to be a great towering personality; or to remember that you are a flame of the fire which is god? oh, out upon these personal deities, and most ungodly personalities of the west! i thank china for reminding me that they are cheap and nasty nothingnesses at the best! we rather demand of our art, at its highest, that it shall be a stimulant, and call to our minds the warfare in which we are engaged: the hopeless-heroic gay and ever mournful warfare of the soul against the senses. well; that battle has to be fought; there is nothing better than fighting it--until it is won. let us by all means hear the snarling of the trumpets; let us heed the battle-cries of the soul. but let us not forget that somewhere also the spirit is at peace: let us remember that there is peace, beyond the victory. in chinese art and poetry we do not hear the war-shouts and the trumpets: broken, there, are the arrow and the bow; the shield, the sword, the sword and the battle.--but--_the day-spring from on high hath visited us._ what element from the divine is in it, does not concern itself with this earth-life; tells you nothing in criticism of life. there is naught in it of the soul as thinker, nor of the soul as warrior. but surely it is something for us, immersed here in these turbid rajasika regions, to be reminded sometimes that the sattvic planes exist; it is something for us to be given glimpses of the pure quietudes of the spirit in its own place. i am the better, if i have been shown for an instant the delicate imperishable beauty of the eternal. "we are tired who follow after truth, a phantasy that flies; you with only look and laughter stain our hearts with richest dyes."-- they do indeed; with look and laughter--or it may be tears. now, what does it all mean? simply this, i think: that the west brings down what it can of the spirit into the world of thought and passion; brings it down right here upon this bank and shoal of time; but china rises with you into the world of the spirit. we do not as a rule allow the validity of the chinese method. we sometimes dub keats, at his best a thorough chinaman, 'merely beautiful.' i have rather put the case for china; because all our hereditary instincts will rise with a brief for the west. but the truth is that the spirit elects its own methods and its own agents, and does this through the one, that through the other. when i read _hamlet,_ i have no doubt shakespeare was the greatest poet that ever lived. when i read li po, i forget shakespeare, and think that among those who sing none was ever so wonderful as this banished angel of the hills of tang. i forget the voice that cried 'sleep no more!' and poetry seems to me to have spoken her final word in what you would perhaps call trivialities about the cold clear spring or the white foam rapid: she seems to me to have accomplished all she can in such bits of childlike detachment and wonder as this: "the song-birds, the pleasure-seekers, have flown long since; but this lonely cloud floats on, drifting round in a circle. he and ching-ting mountain gaze and gaze at each other, and never grow weary of gazing"; --the 'lonely cloud' being, of course, li po himself. he has shown me man the brother of the mountains, and i ask no more of him. the mountains can speak for themselves. he had no moral purpose, this banished angel for whose sake the hills of t'ang are a realm in the spirit, inerasible, and a beautiful dream while the world endures. po chu-i, says mr. arthur waley, blamed him for being deficient in _feng_ and _ya,_--by which we may understand, for present purposes, much what matthew arnold meant by 'criticism of life.' but does it not serve a spiritual purpose that our consciousness should be lifted on to those levels where personality is forgotten: that we should be made to regain, while reading, the child-state we have lost? li po died a child at sixty: a magical child: always more or less naughty, if we are to believe all accounts, especially his own; but somehow never paying the penalty we pay for our naughtiness,--exile from the wonder-world, and submersion in these intolerable personalities. you read milton, and are cleaned of your personality by the fierce exaltation of the spirit beating through. you read li po-type of hundreds of others his compatriots--and you are also cleaned of your personality; but by gentle dews, by wonderment, by being carried up out of it into the diamond ether. it seems to me that both affirmed the divine spirit. milton waged grand warfare in his affirmation. li po merely said what he saw. so i think that among the aryans the spirit has been fighting in and into the great turbid current of evolution; and that among the chinese it has not been so much concerned with that stream, but rather to sing its own untrammeled expression. a great drama or epic comes of the presence and energy of the spirit working in a human mind. a great lyric comes of the escape of the consciousness from the mind, and into the spirit. the west has produced all the great dramas and epics, and will persist in the view that the spirit can have no other expression so high as in these forms. very likely the west is right; but i shall not think so next time i am reading li po or ssu-k'ung t'u--or keats. and i have seen small mild japanese jujitsu men 'put it all over,' as they say, big burly english wrestlers without seeming to exert themselves in any way, or forgoing their gentle methods and manner; and if you think of jujitsu rightly, it is, to our wrestling and boxing, much what wu taotse and ku kai-chih are to rembrandt and michelangelo, or the chinese poets to ours. if we go into the field of philosophy, we find much the same thing. take confucianism. it is inappropriate, in some ways, to call confucius a great thinker (but we shall see that he was something very much more than that). he taught no religion; illuminated in nowise the world of mind; though he enabled millions to illumine it for themselves. he made hardly a ripple in his own day; and yet, so far as i can see, only the buddha and mohammed, of the men whose names we know, have marshaled future ages as greatly as he did. _flow his way!_ said he to history; and, in the main, it did. he created an astral mold for about a quarter of humanity, which for twenty-four centuries has endured. he did it by formulating a series of rules for the conduct of personal and national life; or rather, by showing what kind of rules they should be, and leaving others to formulate them;--and so infused his doctrine with his will and example, that century after century flowed into the matrix he had made for them. to create such a stable matrix, the aryan mind, in india, worked through long spiritual-intellectual exploration of the world of metaphysics: an intensive culture of all the possibilities of thought. we in the west have boggled towards the same end through centuries of crass political experiment. confucius, following his ancient models, ignored metaphysics altogether: jumped the life to come, and made his be-all and his end-all here:--in what was necessary, in deeds and thought and speech, to make individual, social, and political life staid, sincere, orderly, quiet, decent, and happy. he died a broken- hearted failure; than whom perhaps no man except the lord buddha ever succeeded more highly. laotse is his complement. laotse's aim is not the activity, but the quiescence of mind, self, intellect: "in the no thing seeking the lonely way." you forgo everything--especially selfhood;--you give up everything; you enter upon the heritage of no thing;--and you find yourself heir to the universe, to wonder, to magic. you do with all your complicated egoity as the camel did with his cameltiness before he could enter the needle's eye; then--heigh presto!--it is the elixir of life you have drunk; it is freedom you have attained of the roaming-place of dragons!--it amounts, truly, to the same thing as aryan theosophy; but where the latter travels through and illuminates immense realms of thought and metaphysic, taoism slides gently into the absolute; as who should laugh and say, _you see how easy it is!_ and you do not hear of the path of sorrow, as with the aryans; tao is a path of sly laughter and delight. then from japan we get shinto; still less a system of metaphysics or dogma. the shinto temple, empty but for air, is symbolic of the creed whose keynotes are purity and simplicity. taoism, confucianism, and shinto are the three great native creations, in religion, of what i shall call the altaic mind. there have been, indeed, profound thinkers and metaphysicians both in japan and china; but their mental activities have been for the most part fruitage from the aryan seed of buddhism. a word here as to that phrase 'altaic mind.' what business has one to class the chinese and japanese together, and to speak of them (as i shall) as 'altaic'--the _altaic race?_ in the first place this term, like 'latin' or 'anglo-saxon,' has the virtue of being quite meaningless. it is utterly silly and inappropriate from every standpoint; but as i need a term to include china and all the peoples that have derived their historic culture from her, i shall beg leave to use it. neither japanese nor corean belong to the billiard-ball group of languages. there is a syntactical likeness between these two, but none in vocabulary; where the japanese vocabulary came from, omniscience perhaps may know.--a syntax outlasts a vocabulary by many ages: you may hear celts now talk english with a syntax that comes from the sub-race before our own: iberian, and not aryan. so we may guess here a race akin to the coreans conquered at some time by a race whose vocables were japanese--whence they came, god knows. only one hears that in south america the japanese pick up the indian languages a deal more easily than white folk do, or than they do spanish or english. but this is a divergence; we should be a little more forward, perhaps, if we knew who were the coreans, or whence they came. but we do not. they are not turanic--of the finno-turko-mongol stock (by language); they are not speakers of billiard-balls, allied to the chinese, burmese, and tibetans. but the fact is that neither blood-affinity nor speech-affinity is much to the purpose here; we have to do with affinities of culture. during the period b. c.-- a. d. a great civilization rose, flowered, and waned in the far east; it had its origin in china, and spread out to include in its scope japan, corea, and tibet; probably also annam and tonquin, though we hear less of them;--while burma, assam, and siam, and those southerly regions, though akin to china in language, seem to have been always more satellite to india. mongols and manchus, though they look rather like chinese, and have lived rather near china, belong by language and traditionally by race to another group altogether--to that, in fact, which includes the very caucasian-looking turks and hungarians; as to what culture they have had, they got it from china after the chinese manvantara had passed. the chinese themselves are only homogeneous in race in the sense that europe might be if the romans had conquered it all, and imposed their culture and language on the whole continent. the staid, grave, dignified, and rather stolid northern chinaman differs from the restless and imaginative cantonese not much less than the japanese does from either. this much you can say: chinese, japanese, and coreans have been molded into a kind of loose unity by a common culture; the peoples of china into a closer homogeneity by a common culture-language, written and spoken,--and by the fact that they have been, off and on during the last two thousand years, but most of the time, under the same government. as to corea, though in the days of confucius it was unknown to the chinese, the legends of both countries ascribe the founding of its civilization and monarchy to a chinese minister exiled there during the twelfth century b. c. japanese legendary history goes back to b. c.;--that is, to the closing of the age of the mysteries, and the opening of that of the religions:-- i imagine that means that about that time a break with history occurred, and the past was abolished: a thing we shall see happen in ancient china presently. but i suppose we may call shotoku daishi the father of historical japan;--he who, about the end of the sixth century a. d., brought in the culture impetus from the continent. about that time, too, siam rose to power; and soon afterwards t'ang taitsong imposed civilization on tibet.--so there you have the 'altaic' race; altaic, as mr. dooley is anglo-saxon. to speak of them as 'mongolian' or 'mongoloid,' as is often done, is about as sensible as to speak of europeans and americans as 'hunnoid,' because the huns once conquered part of europe. it conveys derogation--which altaic does not. i have compared their achievement with that of the west: we have one whole manvantara and a pralaya of theirs to judge by, as against two fragments of western manvantaras with the pralaya intervening. it is not much; and we should remember that there are cycles and epicycles; and that japan, or old china herself, within our own lifetime, may give the lie to everything. but from the evidence at hand one is inclined to draw this conclusion: that in the far east you have a great section of humanity in reserve;--in a sense, in a backwater of evolution: nearer the spirit, farther from the hot press and conflict of the material world;--even in its times of highest activity, not in the van of the down-rush of spirit into matter, as the western races have been in theirs;--but held apart to perform a different function. as if the crest-wave of evolution needed what we might call devachanic cycles of incarnation, and found them there during the altaic manvantaras of manifestation. not that their history has been empty of tragedies; it has been very full of them; and wars--some eight or nine napoleons in their day have sat on the dragon throne. but still, the worlds of poetry, delight, wonder, have been nearer and more accessible to the chinaman, in his great ages, than to us in ours; as they have been, and probably are now, nearer to the japanese. and i do not know how that should be, unless the law had taken those atlanteans away, kept them apart from the main stream--not fighting the main battle, but in reserve--for purposes that the long millenniums of the future are to declare. ix. the dragon and the blue pearl the horizon of chinese history lies near the middle of the third millennium b. c. the first date sinologists dare swear to is ; in which year an eclipse of the sun is recorded, that actually did happen: it is set down, not as a thing interesting in itself, but as ominous of the fall of wicked kings. here, then, in the one place where there is any testing the annals, it appears they are sound enough; which might be thought to speak well for them. but our scholars are so damnebly logical, as mr. mantalini would say, that to them it only proves this: you are to accept no date earlier. one general solar indorsement will not do; you must have an eclipse for everything you believe, and trust nothing unless the stars in their courses bear witness. well; we have fortunately halley's comet in the bayeux tapestry for our familiar ; but beware! everything before that is to be taken as pure fudge! the fact is there is no special reason for doubting either chronology or sequence of events up to about b. c., in which year the patriarch yao came to the throne. he was the first of those three, yao, shun, and yu, who have been ever since the patterns for all chinese rulers who have aspired to be confucianly good. "be like yao, shun, and yu; do as they did";-- there you have the word of confucius to all emperors and governors of states. yao, it is true, is said to have reigned a full century, or but one year short of it. this is perhaps the first improbability we come to; and even of this we may say that some people do live a long time. none of his successors repeated the indiscretion. before him came a line of six sovereigns with little historic verisimilitude: they must be called faint memories of epochs, not actual men. the first of them, fo-hi ( - ), was half man, half dragon; which is being interpreted, of course, an adept king;--or say a line of adept kings. as for the dates given him, i suppose there is nothing exact about them; that was all too far back for memory; it belongs to reminiscence. before fo- hi came the periods of the nest-builders, of the man-kings, the earth-kings, and the heaven-kings; then p'an k'u, who built the worlds; then, at about two and a quarter million years before confucius, the emanation of duality from the primal one. all this, of course, is merely the exoteric account; but it shows at least that--the chinese never fell into such fatuity as we of the west, with our creation six trumpery millenniums ago. this much we may say: about the time when yao is said to have come to the throne a manvantara began, which would have finished its course of fifteen centuries in or so b. c. it is a period we see only as through a glass darkly: what is told about it is, to recent and defined history, as a ghost to a living man. there is no reason why it should not have been an age of high civilization and cultural activities; but all is too shadowy to say what they were. to its first centuries are accredited works of engineering that would make our greatest modern achievements look small: common sense would say, probably the reminiscence of something actual. certainly the chinese emerged from it, and into daylight history, not primitive but effete: senile, not childlike. that may be only a racial peculiarity, a national prejudice, of course. and where should you look, back of b. c., to find actual history--human motives, speech and passions--or what to our eyes should appear such? as things near the time-horizon, they lose their keen outlines and grow blurred and dim. the setis and thothmeses are names to us, with no personality attaching; though we have discovered their mummies, and know the semblance of their features, our imagination cannot clothe them with life. we can hear a near napoleon joking, but not a far-off rameses. we can call justinian from his grave, and traverse the desert with mohammed; but can bold no converse with manu or hammurabi;-- because these two dwell well this side of the time-horizon, but the epochs of those are far beyond it. the stars set: the summer evenings forget orion, and the nights of winter the beauty of fomalhaut: though there is a long slope between the zenith _now_ and the sea-rim, what has once gone down beyond the west of time we cannot recall or refashion. so that old chinese manvantara is gone after the dragon fo-hi and the yellow emperor, after the man-kings and the earth-kings and the heaven-kings; and yao, shun, and yu the great, and the kings of hia, and shang, and even chow, are but names and shadows, _quo pater, aeneas, quo dires tullus et ancus,_ --we cannot make them interestingly alive. but it does not follow that they did not live when they are supposed to have lived, or do the things attributed to them. their architecture was ephemeral, and bears no witness to them; they built no pyramids to flout time; they raised no monument but a people, a culture, an idea, that still endures. then, too, we shall see that at the beginning of the last chinese manvantara a conscious attempt was made to break wholly with the past,--to wipe it from human memory, and begin all anew. such a thing happened in babylon once; there had been a sargon in remote antiquity with great deeds to his credit; thousands of years after, another sargon arose, who envied his fame; and, being a kind, and absolute, decreed that all the years intervening should never have existed--merged his own in the personality of his remote predecessor, and so provided a good deal of muddlement for archaeologists to come. indeed, such a thing almost happened in france at the revolution. it is said that in some french schools now you find children with a vague idea that things more or less began with the taking of the bastille: that there was a misty indefinable period between the th of october (or on whatever day it was eve's apple ripened) and the glorious th of july:--an age of prehistory, wandered through by unimportant legendary figures such as jeanne darc, henri quatre, louis quatorze, which we may leave to the superstitious--and come quickly to the real flesh and blood of m. de mirabeau and citizen danton.--even so, in our own time, china herself, wearied with the astral molds and inner burdens of two millenniums, has been writhing in a fever of destruction: has burnt down the hanlin college, symbol and center of a thousand years of culture; destroyed old and famous cities; sent up priceless encyclopaedias in smoke; replaced the empire with a republic, and the dragon of wisdom with five meaningless stripes;--breaking with all she was in her brilliant greatness, and all she has been since in her weakness and squalid decline.-- we ask why history is not continuous; why there are these strange hiatuses and droppings out?--the answer is simple enough. it is because karma, long piled up, must sometime break out upon the world. the inner realms become clogged with the detritus of ages and activity, till all power to think and do is gone: there is no room nor scope left for it. the weight of what has been thought and done, of old habit, presses down on men, obstructs and torments them, till they go mad and riot and destroy. the manvantara opens: the crest-wave, the great tide of life, rushes in. it finds the world of mind cluttered up and encumbered; there is an acute disparity between the future and the past, which produces a kind of psychic maelstrom. blessed is that nation then, which has a man at its head who can guide things, so that the good may not go with the bad, the useful with the useless! the very facts that ts'in shi hwangti, when the manvantara opened at the beginning of the third century b.c., was driven (you may say) to do what ruthless drastic things he did.-- and that his action was followed by such wonderful results--are proof enough that a long manvantara crowded with cultureal and national activities had run it course in the past, and clogged the astral, and made progress impossible. but what he did do, throws the whole of that past manvantara, and to some extent the pralaya that followed it, into the realm of shadows.--he burnt the literature. in a few paragraphs let me summarize the history of that past age whose remnants ts'in shi hwangti thus sought to sweep away.--yao adopted shun for his successor; in whose reign for nine years china's sorrow, that mad bull of waters, the hoangho, raged incessantly, carrying the world down towards the sea. then ta yu, who succeeded shun on the throne presently, devised and carried through those great engineering works referred to above: --cut through mountains, yoked the mad bull, and saved the world from drowning. he was, says h. p. blavatsky, an adept; and had learnt his wisdom from the teachers in the snowy range of sidzang or tibet. his dynasty, called the hia, kept the throne until ; ending with the downfall of a cruel weakling. followed then the house of shang until ; set up by a wise and merciful tang the completer, brought to ruin by a vicious tyrant chousin. it was ki-tse, a minister of this last, and a great sage himself, who, fleeing from the persecutions of his royal master, established monarchy, civilization, and social order in corea. another great man of the time was won wang, duke of the palatinate of chow, a state on the western frontier whose business was to protect china from the huns. really, those huns were a thing to marvel at: we first hear of them in the reign of the yellow emperor, two or three centuries before yao; they were giving trouble then, a good three millenniums before attila. won wang, fighting on the frontier, withstood these kindly souls; and all china looked to him with a love he deserved. which of course roused king chousin's jealousy; and when a protest came from the great soldier against the debaucheries and misgovernment at the capital, the king roused himself and did what he could; imprisoned the protestant, as he dared not kill him. during the three years of his imprisonment won wang compiled the mysterious i-king, of book of changes; of which confucius said, that were another half century added to his life, he would spend them all in studying it. no western scholar, one may safely say, has ever found a glimmer of meaning in it; but all the ages of china have held it profounder than the profound. his two sons avenged won wang; they roused the people, recruited an army in their palatinate--perhaps enlisted huns too--and swept away chousin and his dynasty. they called their new royal house after their native land, chow; wu wang, the elder of the two, becoming its first king, and his brother the duke of chow, his prime minister. i say _king;_ for the title was now _wang_ merely; though there had been _hwangtis_ or emperors of old. won wang and his two sons are the second holy trinity of china; yao, shun, and ta yu being the first. they figure enormously in the literature: are stars in the far past, to which all eyes, following the august example of confucius, are turned. there is a little to be said about them: they are either too near the horizon, or too little of their history has been englished, for us to see them in their habit as they lived; yet some luster of real greatness still seems to shine about them. it was the duke of chow, apparently, who devised or restored that whole chinese religio-political system which confucius revivified and impressed so strongly on the stuff of the ideal world--for he could get no ruler of his day to establish it in the actualities--that it lasted until the beginning of a new manvantara is shatter it now. that it was based on deep knowledge of the hidden laws of life there is this (among a host of other things) to prove: music was an essential part of it. when, a few years ago, the tiny last of the manchu emperors came to the throne, an edict was published decreeing that, to fit him to govern the empire, the greatest care should be taken with his education in music. a wisdom, truly, that the west has forgotten! when william of normandy conquered england, he rewarded his followers with fiefs: in england, while english land remained so to be parceled out; afterwards (he and his successors) with unconquered lands in wales, and then in ireland. they were to carve out baronies and earldoms for themselves; and the celtic lands thus stolen became known as the marches: their rulers, more or less independent, but doing homage to the king, as lords marchers. the kings of chow adopted the same plan. their old duchy palatinate became the model for scores of others. china itself--a very small country then--southern shansi, northern homan, western shantung--was first divided up under the feudal system; the king retaining a domain, known as chow, in homan, for his own. then princes and nobles--some of the blood royal, some of the old shang family, some risen from the ranks--were given warrant to conquer lands for themselves from the barbarians beyond the frontier: so you go rid of the ambitious, and provided chow with comfortable buffers. they went out, taking a measure of chinese civilization with them, and conquered or cajoled huns, turks, tatars, laos, shans, annamese, and all that kind of people, into accepting them for their rulers. it was a work, as you may imagine, of centuries; with as much history going forward as during any centuries you might name. the states thus formed were young, compared to china; and as china grew old and weak, they grew into their vigorous prime. the infinity of human activities that has been! these chow ages seem like the winking of an eye; but they were crowded with great men and small, great deeds and trivialities, like our own. the time will come when our 'anglo-saxon' history will be written thus: england sent out colonies, and presently the colonies grew stronger and more populous than england;--and it will be enough, without mention of the pitts and lincolns, the washingtons and gladstones, that now make it seem so full and important. by the balance of power had left or was leaving the chow king at honanfu. his own subjects had grown unwarlike, and he could hardly command even their allegiance; for each man's feudal duty was first to his own duke, marquis, earl, viscount, or baron;-- strangely enough, there were those five degrees of nobility in ancient china as in modern england. of these nobles, each with his court and feudal dominion, there were in what we may call china proper some unascertainable number between thirteen and a hundred and fifty: mostly small and insignificant, but mostly, too, full of schemes and ambitions. but it was the lords marchers that counted. one after another of them had wrested from the chow the title of _wang_ or king; it was not enough for them to be dukes and marquises. then came a time when a sort of bretwalda-ship was established; to be wielded by whichever of them happened to be strongest--and generally to be fought for between whiles: a glorious and perpetual bone of contention. international law went by the board. the chow domain, the duchies and marquisates, lay right in the path of the contestants--midmost of all, and most to be trampled. was tsin to march all round the world, when a mere scurry across neutral (and helpless) chow would bring it at the desired throat of ts'u?--a question not to be asked!--there at honanfu sat the chow king, head of the national religion, head of the state with its feudatories, receiving (when it suited them to pay it) the annual homage of all those loud and greedy potentates, who for the rest kicked him about as they pleased, and ordered each other to obey him,--for was he not still the son of heaven, possessor of the nine tripods of sovereignty, the tripods of ta yu?--so the centuries passed, growing worse and worse ever, from the ninth to the sixth: an age of anarchy, bad government, disorder, crime and clash of ambitions: when there was a decline of virtue and an insurrection of vice and injustice in the world;--and we know what manner of incarnation, at such times, is likely to happen. conditions had outgrown the astral molds made for them in the last manvantara: the molds that had been made for a small homogeneous china. the world had expanded, and was no longer homogeneous: china herself was not homogeneous; and she found on all sides of her very heterogeneous ts'ins, tsins, ts'is, ts'us, wus and yuehs; each of whom, like so many great powers of our own times, had the best of intentions to partake of her sacramental body when god's will so should be.--indeed, the situation was very much as we have seen it. then, as now (or recently), china was old, inert, tired, and unwarlike; must depend on her cunning, and chiefly on their divisions, for what protection she might get against the rapacious and strong. she was dull, sleepy and unimaginative, and wanted only to be left alone; yet teemed, too, with ambitious politicians, each with his sly wires to pull. her culture, ancient and decrepit, was removed by aeons from all glamor of beginnings.--for a good european parallel, in this respect, you might go to constantinople in the middle ages, when it hung ripe on the bough, so to say, and waiting to fall into latin, turkish, bulgar, or even russian jaws, whichever at the psychic moment should be gaping and ready beneath. there too was the sense of old age and sterility; of disillusionment; of all fountains and inspirations run dry.--in ancient grecce, it was no such far cry back from the essential modernity of pericles' or of plato's time to the antiquity of homer's. in india, the faery light of an immemorial dawn mingles so with the facts of history that there is no disentangling myth from matter-of-fact; if you should prove almost any king to have reigned quite recently, his throne would still be somehow set in the mellow past and near the fountains of time. augustan rome, modern in all its phases, stands not so far in front of a background peopled with nymphs and sibyls: a past in which the great twin brothers might fight at lake regillus, and stern heroes make fantastic sacrifices for rome. even modern europe is much less modern than medieval constantinople or chow china. we can breathe still the mysterious atmosphere of the middle ages; you shall find still, and that not in remote countries only, fairy-haunted valleys; a few hours out from london, and you shall be in the heart of druidry, and among peoples whose life is very near to poetry. but china, in those first pre-confucian centuries, was desperately prosaic: not so much modern, as pertaining to an ugly not impossible future. antiquity was far, far away. the dawn with its glow and graciousness; noon and the prime with their splendor, were as distant and unimaginable as from our amercan selves the day when charlemain with all his peers went down. if you can imagine an american several hundred years from now--one in which point loma had never been; several hundred years more unromantic than this one; an america fallen and grown haggard and toothless; with all impulse to progress and invention gone; with centrifugal tendencies always loosening the bond of union; advancing, and having steadily advanced, further from all religious sanctions, from anything she may retain of the atmosphere of mystery and folklore and the poetry of racial childhood; you may get a picture of the mental state of that china. a material civilization, with (except in war areas) reasonable security of life and goods, remained to her. her people lived in good houses, wore good clothes, used chairs and tables, chopsticks, plates and dishes of pottery; had for transit boats, carts and chariots,* wheelbarrows i suppose, and "cany wagons light." they had a system of writing, the origin of which was lost in remote antiquity; a large literature, of which fragments remain. they were home-loving, war-hating, quiet, stagnant, cunning perhaps, quite un-enterprising; they lived in the valley of the hoangho, and had not discovered, or had forgotten, the yangtse to the south of them, and the sea to the east. they might have their local loyalties and patriotism of the pork-barrel, and a certain arrogance of race: belief in the essential superiority of the black-haired people to the barbarians on their borders; but no high feeling for chu hia-- all the chinas;--no dream of a possible national union and greatness. some three hundred of their folk-ballads come down to us, which are as unlike the folk-ballads of europe as may be. they do not touch on the supernatural; display no imagination; there are no ghosts or fairies; there is no glory or delight in war; there is no glory in anything;--but only an intense desirability in _home,_--in staying at home with your family, and doing your i work in the fields. and nothing of what we should call romance, even in this home-love: the chief tie is that between parents and children, not that between husband and wife, and still less that between lovers. there is much moralizing and wistful sadness.--such was the life of the peasants; at the other pole was the life of the courts: intrigue and cunning, and what always goes with cunning--ineptitude; a good measure of debauchery; some finicking unimportant refinement; each man for self and party, and none for gods and men. we have to do, not with the bright colors of the childhood of a race, but with the grayness of its extreme old age. those who will may argue that you can have old age with never a prime, youth, or childhood behind it. some say that laotse was born at sixty-one, or seventy, or eighty-two years old--a few decades more or less are not worth bothering about--whence his name _lao tse,_ the _old son_ (but _tse_ may also mean teacher or philosopher). but i misdoubt the accuracy of such accounts, myself. i think it likely he was a baby to begin with, like the majority of us. and i imagine his country had been young, too, before she grew old;--as young as america, and as vigorous. ------ * _chinese literature:_ giles;--whence also much else in these articles. ------ among such a people, how much should you expect to find of the sacred mysteries?--there were the nine tripods of ta yu with the king at honanfu, to say that his kinghood had behind it symbolic sanctions; there was the book of changes; there was the system of the duke of chow, more dishonored in the breach than honored in the observance.... for the rest, you might as well look for the eleusinia in chicago. who could believe in religion, those days?--well; it was the pride of some of the little duchies and marquisates to keep up a reputa-tion for orthodoxy: there was lu in shantung, for example,-very strict.* (as strictness went, we may say.) and if you wished to study ritual, you went up to honanfu to do so; where, too, was the national or royal library, where profitable years might be spent. but who, except enthusiasts, was to treat religion seriously? --when one saw the doddering head of religion yearly flouted, kicked about and hustled in his own capital by his barbarian highness the 'king'--so he must now style himself and be styled, where in better days 'count palatine' or 'lord marcher' would have served his turn well enough--of ts'in or tsin or ts'i or ts'u, who would come thundering down with his chariots when he pleased, and without with-your-leave or by-your-leave, march past the very gates of honanfu;--and lucky if he did march past, and not come in and stay awhile; --on his way to attacking his barbarian highness the 'king' of somewhere else. the god that is to be sincerely worshiped must, as this world goes, be able now and then to do some little thing for his vicegerent on earth; and heaven did precious little in those days for the weakling king-pontiff puppets at honanfu. a mad world, my masters! ------ * _ancient china simplified:_ e. harper parker;--also much drawn on. ------ wherein, too, we had our symbols:--the dragon, the sky-wanderer, with something heavenly to say; but alas! the dragon had been little visible in our skies of chu hia these many years or centuries;--the tiger, brute muscularity, lithe terrible limbs, fearful claws and teeth,--we knew him much better! this, heaven knew, was the day of the tiger of earthly strength and passions; were there not those three great tigers up north, ts'in, tsin, and ts'i; and as many more southward; and all hungry and strong?--and also, some little less thought of perhaps, the phoenix, secular bird, that bums itself at the end of each cycle, and arises from its ashes young and dazzling again: the phoenix --but little thought of, these days; for was not the world old and outworn, and toppling down towards a final crash? the days of chu hia were gone, its future all in the long past; no one dared dream of a time when there should be something better than yen diddling lu, or ts'u beating ts'i at a good set-to with these new sixty-warrior-holding chariots. who should think of the phoenix--and of a new age to come when there should be no more yen and lu and chow and tsin and ts'in, but one broad and mighty realm, a middle, a celestial kingdom,--such a chu hia as time had no memory of;--to whose throne the hun himself should bow, or whose hosts should drive him out of asia;--a chu hia to whom tribute should come from the uttermost ends of the earth? who should dream of the secular bird now,-- as improbable a creature, in these dark days of the tiger, as that old long-lost sky-wanderer the dragon himself? let be; let three little centuries pass; let the funeral pyre but be kindled, and quite burn itself out; and let the ashes grow cold-- and behold you now, this phoenix of the world, bright and dazzling, rising up from them! behold you now this same black-haired people, young, strong, vigorous, gleaming with all the rainbow hues of romance and imagination; conquering and creative, and soon to strew the jewels of faerie over all the eastern world. . . . but this is to anticipate: to take you on to the second century b. c.; whereas i want you now in the sixth.--i said that you should find better chances for study in the royal library at honanfu, could you get together the means for journeying thither, than anywhere else in chu hia. that was particularly true in the latter part of that sixth century: because there was a man by the name of li urh, chief librarian there, from whom, if you cared to, you might hear better things than were to be found in the books in his charge. his fame, it appears, has gone abroad through the world; although his chief aim seems to be to keep in the shadows and not be talked about. scholars resort to him from far and near; one of them, the greatest of all, who came to him in the year and was (if we are to believe accounts) treated without too much mercy, came out awestruck, and said: "today i have seen the dragon."--what! that little old man with the bald head and straggly lank chirese beard?--like enough, like enough! --they are not all, as you look at them with these physical eyes, to be seen winged and wandering the heavens. . . . but wandering the heavens, this one, yes! he has the blue ether about him, even there in the library among the books.--he has a way of putting things in little old quiet paradoxes that seem to solve all the problems,--to take you out of the dust and clatter of this world, into the serenity of the dragon-world where all problems are solved, or non-existent. chu hia is all a fuss and turmoil, and running the headlong gadarene road; but the old philosopher--as he has come to be called--has anchorage right outside of and above it, and speaks from the calmness of the peaks of heaven. a kind of school forms itself around him; his wisdom keeps provincials from returning home, and the young men of the capital from commonplace courses. though he has been accredited with much authorship, i think he wrote nothing; living among books, he had rather a contempt for them,--as things at the best for patching up and cosseting life, new windings and wrappings for its cocoon;--whereas he would have had the whole cocoon stripped away, and the butterfly beautifully airing its wings. be that as it may, there are, shall we say, stenographers among his disciples, and his sayings come down to us. they have to do with the way, the truth, and the life; which things, and much else, are included in chinese in the one word _tao._ "the main purpose of his studies" says ssema tsien (the 'father of chinese history'), "was to keep himself concealed and unknown." in this he succeeded admirably, so far as all future ages were to concerned; for ssema himself, writing in the reign of han wuti some four centuries later, could be by no means sure of his identity. he tells us all we know, or think we know, about laotse:--that he was born in a village in southern honan; kept the royal library at honanfu; met confucius there in ; and at last rode away on his ox into the west, leaving the _tao teh king_ with the keeper of the pass on the frontier;--and then goes on to say that there were two other men "whom many regarded as having been the real laotse"; one of the lao lai, a contemporary of confucius, who wrote fifteen treatises on the practices of the school of tao; the other, a "grand historiographer of chow," tan by name, who lived some century and a quarter later. to me this is chiefly interesting as a suggestion that the 'school of tao' was a thing existent and well-established at that time, and with more than one man writing about it. it may we'll have been. taoists ascribe the foundation of their religion to the yellow emperor, twenty-eight centuries b. c.; but there never was time tao was not; nor, i suppose, when there was quite no knowledge of it, even in china. in the old manvantara, past now these three hundred years, the black-haired people had wandered far enough from such knowledge;--with the accumulation of complexities, with the piling up of encumberments of thought and deed during fifteen hundred busy years of intensive civilization. as long as that piling up had not entirely covered away tao, the supreme simplicity, the clear air;--as long as men could find scope to think and act and accomplish things;--so long the manvantara lasted; when nothing more that was useful could be accomplished, and action could no longer bring about its expectable results (because all that old dead weight was there to interpose itself between new causes set in motion and their natural outcome)--then the pralaya set in. you see, that is why pralayas do set in; why they must;--why no nation can possibly go on at a pitch of greatness and high activity beyond a certain length of time.--and all that activity of the manvantara--all that fuss and bustle to achieve greatness and fortune--it had all been an obscuration of and moving away from tao. the great teachers come into this world out of the unknown, bringing the essence of their truth with them. we know well what they will teach: in some form or another it will be theosophy; it will be the old self-evident truths about karma and the two natures of man. but how they will teach it: what kind of sugar-coating or bitter aloes they will prescribe along with it: --that, i think, depends on reactions from the age they come in and the people whom they are to teach. it is almost certain, as i said, that li urh the old philosopher left no writings. "who knows, does not tell," said he; and po chu-i quotes this, and pertinently adds: "what then of his own five thousand words and more.--the _tao teh king._" that book was proved centuries ago, in china, not to have come, as it stands, even from laotse's age; because there are characters in it that were invented long afterwards. the wisest thing to believe is that it is made up mostly of his sayings, taken down by his disciples in the pitman of the time; and surviving, with accretions and losses perhaps, through the disquiet of the next two centuries, and the burning of the books, and everything. because whatever vicissitudes may have befallen it, one does hear in its maxims the tones of a real voice: one man's voice, with a timbre in it that belongs to the lords of wisdom. and to me, despite lao lai and tan the grand historiographer, it is the voice of an old man in the seclusion of the royal library: a happy little bald-headed straggly-bearded old man anxious to keep himself unknown and unapplauded; it is a voice attuned to quietness, and to mental reactions from the thunder of the armies, the drums and tramplings and fuss and insolence of his day. i thoroughly believe in the old man in the royal library, and the riding away on oxback at last into the west,--where was si wang mu's faery garden, and the gobi desert, with sundry oases therein whereof we have heard. i can hear that voice, with childlike wonder in it, and adept-like seriousness, and childlike and adept-like laughter not far behind, in such sayings as these: "tao is like the emptiness of a vessel; and the use of it, we may say, must be free from all self-sufficiency. how deep and mysterious it is, as if it were the author of all things! we should make our sharpness blunt, and unravel the complications of things. . . . how still and clear is tao, a phantasm with the semblance of permanence! i do not know whose son it is. it might appear to have been before god." we see in christendom the effects of belief in a personal god, and also the inefficacy of mere ethics. believers make their god in their own image, and nourish their personalities imitating an imitation of themselves. at the best of times they take their new testament ethics, distil from these every virtue and excellent quality, and posit the result as the characteristics of their deity:--the result, plus a selfhood; and therefore the great delusion and heresy, separateness, is the link that binds the whole together. it is after all but a swollen personality; and whether you swell your personalitv with virtues or vices, the result is an offense. there is a bridge, razor-edged, between earth and heaven; and you can never carry that load across it. laotse, supremely ethical in effect, had a cordial detestation-- take this gingerly!--of un-re-enforced ethics. "when the great tao is lost," says he, "men follow after charity and duty to one's neighbor." again: "when tao is lost, virtue takes its place. when virtue is lost, benevolence succeeds to it. when benevolence is lost, justice ensues. when justice is lost, then we have expediency." he does not mean, of course, that these things are bad; but simply that they are the successive stages of best, things left when tao is lost sight of; none of them in itself a high enough aim. they are all included in tao, as the less in the greater. he describes to you the character of the man of tao; but your conduct is to be the effect of following tao; and you do not attain tao by mere practice of virtue; though you naturally practise virtue, without being aware of it, while following tao. it all throws wonderful light on the nature of the adept; about whom you have said nothing at all when you have accredited him with all the virtues. joan was blemishless; but not thereby did she save france;--she could do that because, as laotse would have said, being one with tao, she flowed out into her surroundings, accomplishing absolutely her part in the universal plan. no compilation of virtues would make a teacher (such as we know): it is a case of the total absence of everything that should prevent the natural divine part of man from functioning in this world as freely and naturally as the sun shines or the winds blow. the sun and the stars and the tides and the wind and the rain--there is that perfect glowing simplicity in them all: the original, the root of all things, tao. _be like them,_ says laotse, impersonal and simple. "i hold fast to and cherish three precious things," he says: "gentleness, economy, humility." why? so, you would say, do the ethics of the new testament; such is the preaching of the christian churches. but (in the latter case) for reasons quite unlike laotse's. for we make of them too often virtues to be attained, that shall render us meek and godly, acceptable in the eyes of the lord, and i know not what else: riches laid up in heaven; a pamperment of satisfaction; easily to become a cloak for self- righteousness and, if worse can be, worse. but _tut!_ laotse will not be bothered with riches here or elsewhere. with him these precious things are simply absences that come to be when obstructive presences are thrown off. no sanctimoniousness for the little old man in the royal library! he would draw minds away to the silence of the great mystery, which is the fountain of laughter, of life, the unmarred; and he would have them abide there in absolute harmony. understand him, and you understand what he did for china. it is from that inner thing, that tao, that all nourishment comes and all greatness. you must go out with your eyes open to search for it: watch for dragons in the sky; for the laugher, the golden person, in the sun: watch for tao, ineffably sparkling and joyous--and quiet-- in the trees; listen for it in the winds and in the sea-roar; and have nothing in your own heart but its presence and omnipresence and wonder-working joy. how can you flow out to the moments, and capture the treasure in them; how can you flow out to tao, and inherit the stars, and have the sea itself flowing in your veins;--if you are blocked with a desire, or a passion for things mortal, or a grudge against someone, or a dislike? beauty is tao: it is tao that shines in the flowers: the rose, the bluebell, the daffodil--the wistaria, the chrysanthemum, the peony--they are little avatars of tao; they are little gateways into the kingdom of god. how can you know them, how can you go in through them, how can you participate in the laughter of the planets and the angelic clans, through their ministration, if you are preoccupied with the interests or the wants of contemptible you, the personality? laotse went lighting little stars for the black-haired people: went pricking the opacity of heaven, that the light of lights might filter through. if you call him a philosopher, you credit him with an intellectualism that really he did not bother to possess. rather he stood by the wells of poetry, and was spiritual progenitor of thousands of poets. there is no way to poetry but laotse's way. you think you must go abroad and see the world; you must not; that is only a hindrance: a giving the eyes too many new externals, to hinder them from looking for that which you may see, as he says, 'through your own window.' if you traverse the whole world seeking, you will never come nearer to the only thing that counts, which is here, and now. seek to feed your imagination on outward things, on doings and events, and you will perhaps excite, but surely soon starve it. but at the other pole, the inner "how deep and mysterious is tao, as if it were the author of all things!" and then i hear someone ask him whence it originated--someone fishing for a little metaphysics, some dose of philosophy. what! catch laotse? "i know," said confucius, "how birds fly, beasts run, fishes swim. but the runner may be snared, the swimmer hooked, the flyer shot with an arrow. but there is the dragon; i cannot tell how he mounts on the wind through the clouds and rises into heaven." no; you cannot hook, snare, or shoot the dragon. "i do not know whose son tao is," says laotse. "it might appear to have been before god." so i adhere to the tale of the old man in the royal library, holding wonderful quiet conversations there; that "it might appear to have been before god" is enough to convince me. there was a man once*--i forget his name, but we may call him cho kung for our purposes; he was of affable demeanor, and an excellent flautist; and had an enormous disbelief in ghosts, bogies, goblins, and 'supernatural' beings of every kind. it seized him with the force of a narrow creed; and he went forth to missionarize, seeking disputants. he found one in the chief librarian of some provincial library; who confessed to a credulousness along that line, and seemed willing to talk. here then were grand opportunities--for a day's real enjoyment, with perchance a creditable convert to be won at the end of it. behold them sitting down to the fray, in the shadows among the books: the young cho kung, affable (i like the word well), voluble and earnest; the old librarian, mild, with little to say but _buts_ and _ifs,_ and courteous even beyond the wont in that "last refuge of good manners," china. all day long they sat; and affable cho, like sir macklin in the poem, "argued high and argued low, and likewise argued round about him"; --until by fall of dusk the librarian was fairly beaten. so cogent were cho's arguments, so loud and warm his eloquence, so entirely convincing his facts adduced--his modern instances, as you may say--that there really was nothing for the old man to answer. ghosts were not; genii were ridiculously unthinkable; supernatural beings could not exist, and it was absurd to think they could. the librarian had not a leg to stand on; that was flat. accordingly he rose to his feet--and bowed.--"sir," said he, with all prescribed honorifics, "undoubtedly you are victorious. the contemptible present speaker sees the error of his miserable ways. he is convinced. it remains for him only to add"--and here something occurred to make cho rub his eyes--"that he is himself a supernatural being."--and with that his form and limbs distend, grow misty--and he vanishes in a cloud up through the ceiling.--you see, those old librarians in china had a way of doing things which was all their own. ------ * the story is told in dr. h. h. giles' _dictionary of chinese biography._ ------ so li urh responded to the confusions of his day. arguments?-- you could hardly call them so; there is very little arguing, where tao is concerned. the tiger was abroad, straining all those lithe tendons,--a tense fearful symmetry of destruction burning bright through the night-forests of that pralaya: grossest and wariest energies put forth to their utmost in a race between the cunning for existence, a struggle of the strong for power.--"it is the way of tao to do difficult things when they are easy; to benefit and not to injure; to do and not to strive." come out, says laotse, from all this moil and topsey- turveydom; stop all this striving and botheration; give things a chance to right themselves. there is nothing flashy or to make a show about in tao; it vies with no one. let go; let be; find rest of the mind and senses; let us have no more of these fooleries, war, capital punishment, ambition; let us have self- emptiness. just be quiet, and this great chu hia will come right without aid of governing, without politics and voting and canvassing and such.--_here and now_ and _what comes by_ were his prescriptions. he was an advocate of the small state. aristotle would have had no government ruling more than ten thousand people; laotse would have had his state of such a size that the inhabitants could all hear the cocks crowing in foreign lands; and he would have had them quite uneager to travel abroad. what he taught was a total _bouleversement_ of the methods of his age. "it is the way of tao not to act from personal motives, to conduct affairs--without feeling the trouble of them, to taste without being aware of the flavor, to account the great as the small and the small as the great, to recompense injury with kindness." the argument went all against him. their majesties of ts'in and tsin and ts'i and ts'u were there with their drums and tramplings; the sixty warrior-carrying chariots were thundering past;--who should hear the voice of an old quiet man in the royal library? minister this and secretary that of lu and chao and cheng were at it with their wire-pullings and lobbyings and petty diddlings and political cheateries--(it is all beautifully modern); what had the world to do with self-emptiness and tao? the argument was all against him; he hadn't a leg to stand on. there was no tao; no simplicity; no magic; no garden of si wang mu in the west; no azure birds of compassion to fly out from it into the world of men. very well then; he, being one with that non-existent tao, would ride away to that imaginary garden; would go, and leave-- a strand torn out of the rainbow to be woven into the stuff of chinese life. you could not tell it at the time; you never would have guessed it--but this old dull tired squalid china, cowering in her rice-fields and stopping her ears against the drums and tramplings, had had something--some seed of divinity, thrown down into her mind, that should grow there and be brooded on for three centuries or so, and then-- there is a blue pearl, immortality; and the dragon, wandering the heavens, is forever in pursuit or quest of it. you will see that on the old flag of china, that a foolish republicanism cast away as savoring too much of the manchu. (but it was laotse and confucius, han wuti and tang taitsong, and wu taotse and the banished angel that it savored of really.) well, it was this blue pearl that the old philosopher, riding up through the pass to the western gate of the world, there to vanish from the knowledge of men;--it was this blue pearl that, stopping and turning a moment there so high up and near heaven, he tossed back and out into the fields of china;--and the dragon would come to seek it in his time.--you perhaps know the picture of laotse riding away on his ox. i do not wonder that the beast is smiling. for it really was the blue pearl: and the lord knew what it was to do in china in its day. it fell down, you may say, from the clear ether of heaven into the thick atmosphere of this world; and amidst the mists of human personality took on all sorts of iridescences; lit up strange rainbow tints and fires to glow and glisten more and more wonderfully as the centuries should pass; and kindle the chinese imagination into all sorts of opal glowings and divine bewilderments and wonderments;--and by and by the wonder-dyed mist-ripples floated out to japan, and brought to pass there all sorts of nice japanese cherry-blossomy and plum- blossomy and peonyish things, and urashima-stories and bushido- ish and lafcadioish and badger-teakettle things:--reawakened, in fact, the whole of the faery glow of the eastern world. it is not to be thought that here among the mists and personalities the pearl could quite retain all its pure blueness of the ether. it is not to be thought that taoism, spread broadcast among the people, could remain, what it was at the beginning, an undiluted theosophy. the lower the stratum of thought into which it fell, the less it could be thought-spiritual, the stuff unalloyed of manas-taijasi. nevertheless, it was the pearl immortality, with a vigor and virtue of its own, and a competence for ages, on whatever plane it might be, to work wonders. among thinking and spiritual minds it remained a true way of salvation. among the masses it came to be thought of presently as personal immortality and the elixir of life. regrettable, you may say; but this is the point: nothing was ever intended to last forever. you must judge taoism by what it was in its day, not by what it may be now. laotse had somehow flashed down into human consciousness a vision of infinity: had confronted the chinese mind with a conviction of the great mystery, the divine silence. it is simply a fact that that is the fountain whose waters feed the imagination and make it grow and bloom. search for the secret in chatter and outward sights and deeds, and you soon run to waste and nothingness; but seek here, and you shall find what seemed a void, teeming with lovely forms. he set the chinese imagination, staggered and stupefied by the so long ages of manvantara, and then of ruin, into a glow of activity, of grace, of wonder; men became aware of the vast world of the within; as if a thousand americas had been discovered. it supplied the seed of creation for all the poets and artists to come. it made a new folklore; revivified the inner atmosphere of mountains and forests; set the fairies dancing; raised yellow crane pagodas to mark the spot where wang tzu-chiao flew on the crane to heaven in broad daylight. it sent out the ships of ts'in shi hwangti presently to seek the golden islands of peng-lai, where the immortals give cups of the elixir to their votaries; in some degree it sent the armies of han wuti in search of the garden of si wang mu. the ships found (perhaps) only the golden islands of japan; the armies found certainly persia, india, and even the borders of rome;--and withal, new currents, awakening and inter-national, to flow into china and make splendid the golden age of han. x. "such a one" "i produce myself among creatures, o son of bharata, whenever there is a decline of virtue and an insurrection of vice and injustice in the world: and thus i incarnate from age to age for the preservation of the just, the destruction of the wicked, and the establishment of righteousness."--_bhagavad-gita_ "the world had fallen into decay, and right principles had perished. perverse discourses and oppressive deeds had grown rife; ministers murdered their rulers and sons their fathers. confucius was frightened at what he saw, and undertook the work of reformation."--mencius men were expecting an avatar in old judaea; and, sure enough, one came. but they were looking for a national leader, a messiah, to throw off for them the roman yoke; or else for an ascetic like their prophets of old time: something, in any case, out of the way;--a personality wearing marks of avatarship easily recognisable. the one who came, however, so far from leading them against the romans, seemed to have a good deal of sympathy with the romans. he consorted with centurions and tax-gatherers, and advised the jews to render unto roman caesar the things which were his: which meant, chiefly, the tribute. and he was not an ascetic, noticeably; bore no resemblance to their prophets of old time; but came, as he said, 'eating and drinking'; even went to marriage-feasts, and that by no means to play killjoy;-- and they said, 'behold, a gluttonous man and a winebibber!' (which was a lie).--instead of supporting the national religion, as anyone with half an eye to his interests would have done, he did surprising things in the temple with a whip of small cords.-- "here," said they, "let us crucify this damned fellow!" and they did. aftertimes, however, recognised him as an avatar; and then so perverse is man!--as the one and only possible avatar. if ever another should appear, said our western world, it could but be this one come again; and, because the doctrine of avatars is a fundamental instinct in human nature, they expected that he would come again. so when the pressure of the times and the intuition of men warned them that a great incarnation was due, they began to look for his coming. that was in our own day, say in the last half-century; during which time a mort of books have been written about a mysterious figure turning up in some modern city, whom you could not fail to recognise by certain infallible signs. generally speaking, the chief of these were: long hair, and a tendency to make lugubrious remarks beginning with _verily, verily i say unto you._ in actual life, too, lots of men did grow their hair long and cultivate the _verily-verily_ habit; hoping that, despite their innate modesty, their fellow-men might not fail to take the hint and pierce the disguise afforded, often by a personal morality you might call _oblique._ but if an avatar had come, it is fairly certain that he or she would have followed modern fashions in hair and speech; first, because real avatars have a sense of humor; and secondly, because his or her business would have been to reform, not the language or style of hair-dressing, but life.--'he or she' is a very vile phrase; for the sake of novelty, let us make the feminine include the masculine, and say 'she' simply.--her conversation, then, instead of being peppered with archaic _verilies_ and _peradventures,_ would have been in form much like that of the rest of us. it is quite unlikely she would have shone at pleasant sunday afternoons, or bazaars of the young women's christian association; quite unlikely that she would have been in any sense whatever a pillar of the orthodoxies. as she would have come to preach _truth,_ you may suppose truth needed, and therefore lacking; and so, that her teachings would have been at once dubbed vilest heterodoxy, and herself a charlatan. "below with eddy and flow the white tides creep on the sands." says ssu-k'ung t'u,-- "..... in no one form may tao abide. but changes and shifts like the wide wing-shadows asweep on the mountainside"; --the sea is one, but the tides drift and eddy; the roc, or maybe the dragon, is one, but the shadow of his wings on the mountain sward shifts and changes and veers. when you think you have set up a standard for tao: when you imagine you have grasped it in you hands:--how fleet it is to vanish! "the man of tao," said the fisherman of the mi-lo to ch'u yuan, "does not quarrel with his surroundings, but adapts himself to them";--and perhaps there you have the best possible explanation of the nature of those great souls who come from time to time to save the world. i think we take the buddha as the type of them; and expect not only a life and character that _we can recognise_ as flawless, but also a profundity of revelation in the philosophy and ethics. but if no two blades of grass are alike, much less are two human souls; and in these great ones, it is the picture of souls we are given. when we think that if all men were perfect, all would be alike, we err with a wide mistake. the nearer you get to the soul, and the more perfect is the expression of it, the less is there monotony or similarity; and almost the one thing you may posit about any avatar is, that he will be a surprise. tom and dick and harry are alike: 'pipe and stick young men'; 'pint and steak young men'; they get born and marry and die, and the grass grows over them with wondrous alikeness; but when the masters of men come, all the elements are cast afresh. everyone has a place to fill in the universal scheme; he has a function to perform, that none else can perform; a _just what he can do,_--which commonly he falls far short of doing. when he does it, fully and perfectly, then he is on the road of progress; that road opens up to him; and presently, still exercising the fulness of his being, he becomes a completeness, like heaven and earth; their 'equal,' in the chinese phrase; or as we say, a perfect man or adept. does anyone know what place in history he is to fill? i cannot tell; i suppose an adept, incarnated, would be too busy filling it to have time or will to question. but here perhaps we have the nearest thing possible to a standard for measuring them; and here the virtue of taoism, and one greatest lesson we may learn from it. are we to judge by the impressiveness of the personality? no; the man of tao is not a personality at all. he makes one to use, but is not identified with it; his personality will not be great or small, or enchanting or repellent, but simply adapted to the needs.--is it the depth and fulness of the philosophv he gives out? no; it may be wiser and also more difficult to keep silent on main points, than to proclaim them broadcast; and for this end he may elect even not to know (with conscious brain-mind) too much;--not to have the deep things within his normal consciousness. but he comes into the world to meet a situation; to give the course of history a twist in a desired direction; and the sign and measure of his greatness is, it seems to me, his ability to meet the situation at all points, and to do just what is necessary for the giving of the twist,--no more and no less. and then, of course, it takes a thousand years or so before you can judge. one is not speaking of common statesmen, who effect quick changes that are no changes at all, but of the men who shepherd the host of souls. i like to imagine, before the birth of such a one, a consultation of the gods upon the mountain of heaven. a synod of the kind (for china) would have taken place in the sixth century b. c., no doubt; because in those days certainly there was a "decline of virtue and an insurrection of vice and injustice in the world." transport yourselves then, say in the year , to the peaks of tien shan of kuen lun, or high tai-hsing, or the grand south mountain; and see the pantheon assembled. they look down over chu hia; they know that in three centuries or so a manvantara will be beginning there, and grow anxious lest anything has been left undone to insure its success. they note laotse (whom they sent some fifty years earlier) at his labors; and consider, what those labors would achieve for the black- haired people. he would bring light to the most excellent minds; the god of light said, "i have seen to that." he would in time waken the lute-strings of the spirit, and set chu hia all a-song; the god of music said, "i have seen to that." they foresaw wu taotse and ma yuan; they foresaw ssu-k'ung t'u and the banished angel; and asked "is it not enough?" and the thought grew on them that it was not enough, till they sighed with the apprehensions that troubled them. only a few minds among the millions, they foresaw, would have proper understanding of tao. now, gods of whatever land they may be, there are those three bardic brothers amongst them: he of light, who awakens vision; he of song, who rouses up the harmonies and ennobling vibrations; and he of strength, whose gloves hold all things fast, and neither force nor slipperiness will avail against them. it was this third of them, gwron, who propounded the plan that satisfied the pantheon. i will send one among them, with the "gloves for his treasure," said he. they considered how it would be with such a one: going among men as the gods' messenger, and with those two gloves for his treasure.--"this way will it be," they said. "not having the treasure of the god of light, he will seem as one without vision of the god-world or remembrance whence he came. not having the treasure of the god of music, he will awaken little song with the bards. but having the gloves, he will hold the gates of hell shut, so far as shut they may be, through all the cycle that is coming." with that the council ended. but plenydd god of light and vision thought: "though my treasure has gone with the old philosopher, and i cannot endow this man with it, i will make him such a one as can be seen by all men; i will throw my light on him, that he may be an example through the age of ages." and alawn god of music thought: "though my lute has gone with laotse, i will confer boons on this one also. such a one he shall be, as draws no breath but to tunes of my playing; the motions of his mind, to my music, shall be like the motions of the ordered stars."-- and they both thought: "it will be easy for me to do as much as this, with his having the gloves of gwron on his hands." at that time k'ung shuhliang heih, commander of the district of tsow, in the marquisate of lu in shantung, determined to marry again. now china is a vast democracy: the most democratic country in the world. perhaps i shall come to proving that presently; for the moment i must ask you to let it pass on the mere statement, satisfied that it is true. despite this radical democracy, then, she has had two noble families. one is descended from a famous patriot-pirate of recent centuries, known to westerners as koxinga; with it we have no concern. the other is to be found in the town of k'iuh-fow in shantung, in the ancient marquisate of lu. there are about fifty thousand members of it, all bearing the surname k'ung; its head has the title of 'duke by imperial appointment and hereditary right'; and, much prouder still, 'continuator of the sage.' dukes of england sometimes trace their descent from men who came over with william the conqueror: a poor eight centuries is a thing to be proud of. there may be older families in france, italy, and elsewhere. duke k'ung traces his, through a line of which every scion appears more of less in history, to the son of this k'ung shuhliang heih in the sixth century b.c.; who in turn traced his, through a line of which every scion appeared in history, and all, with one possible exception, very honorably, to a member of the imperial house of shang who, in b.c., on the fall of that house, was created duke of sung in honan by the first of the chows. the house of shang held the throne for some five centuries, beginning with tang the comnpleter in , who traced his descent from the yellow emperor in mythological times. duke k'ung, then, is descended in direct male line from sovereigns who reigned beyond the horizon of history,--at the latest, near the beginning of the third millennium b.c. the family has been distinguished for nearly five thousand years. the matter is not unimportant; since we are to talk of a member of this family. we shall understand him better for remembering the kind of heredity that lay behind him: some seventy generations of nobility, all historic. only one royal house in the world now is as old as his was then: that of japan. some generations before, the k'ung family had lost their duchy of sung and emigrated to lu; where, in the early part of the sixth century, its head, this shuhliang heih, had made a great name for himself as a soldier. he was now a widower, and seventy years old; and saw himself compelled to make a second marriage, or the seventy illustrious generations of his ancestors would be deprived of a posterity to offer them sacrifices. so he approached a gentlman of the yen family, who had three eligible daughters. to these yen put the case, leaving to them to decide which should marry k'ung.--"though old and austere," said he, "he is of the high descent, and you need have no fear of him." chingtsai, the youngest, answered that it was for their father to choose.--"then you shall marry him," said yen. she did; and when her son was to be born, she was warned in a dream to make pilgrimage to a cave on mount ne. there the spirits of the mountain attended; there were signs and portents in the heavens at the nativity. the _k'e-lin,_ a beast out of the mythologies, appeared to her; and she tied a white ribbon about its single horn. it is a creature that appears only when things of splendid import are to happen. three years after, the father died, leaving his family on the borders of poverty. at six, ch'iu, the child, a boy of serious earnest demeanor, was teaching his companions to play at arranging, according to the rites, toy sacrificial vessels on a toy altar. beyond this, and that they were poor, and that he doted on his mother--who would have deserved it,--we know little of his boyhood. "at fifteen," he tells us himself, "his mind was bent on learning." nothing in the way of studies, seems to have come amiss to him; of history, and ritual, and poetry, he came to know all that was to be known. he loved music, theory and practice; held it to be sacred: "not merely one of the refinements of life, but a part of life itself." it is as well to remember this; and that often, in after life, he turned dangerous situations by breaking into song; and that his lute was his constant companion. he used to say that a proper study of poetry--he was not himself a poet, though he compiled a great anthology of folk-poems later--would leave the mind without a single depraved thought. once he said to his son: "if you do not learn the odes, you will not be fit to talk to." "poetry rouses us," said he, "courtesy upholds us; music is our crown." you are, then, to see in him no puritan abhorring beauty, but a man with artistic perceptions developed. at what you might call the other pole of knowledge, he was held to know more about the science of war than any man living; and i have no doubt he did. if he had consented to use or speak about or let others use that knowledge, he might have been a great man in his day; but he never would. at nineteen, according to the custom, he married; and soon afterwards accepted minor official appointments: keeper of the granaries, then superintendent of the public parks in his native district. he made a name for himself by the scrupulous discharge of his duties, that came even to the ears of the marquis; who, when his son was born, sent the young father a complimentary present of a carp.--it would have been two or three years before the beginning of the last quarter of the century when he felt the time calling to him, and voices out of the eternal; and threw up his superintendentship to open a school. not an ordinary school by any means. the pupils were not children, but young men of promise and an inquiring mind; and what he had to teach them was not the ordinary curriculum, but right living, the right ordering of social life, and the right government of states. they were to pay; but to pay according to their means and wishes; and he demanded intelligence from them; --no swelling of the fees would serve instead.--"i do not open the truth," said he, "to one not eager after knowledge; nor do i teach those unanxious to explain themselves. when i have presented one corner of a subject, and the student cannot learn from it the other three for himself, i do not repeat the lesson." he lectured to them, we read, mainly on history and poetry, deducing his lessons in life from these. his school was a great success. in five years he had acquired some two thousand pupils: seventy or eighty of them, as he said, "men of extraordinary ability." it was that the doors of the lodge had opened, and its force was flowing through him in lu, as it was through the old philosopher in honanfu.--by this time he had added archery to his own studies, and (like william q. judge) become proficient. also he had taken a special course in music theory under a very famous teacher. "at thirty he stood firm." two of his disciples were members of the royal family; and marquis chao regarded him with favor, as the foremost educationist in the state. he had an ambition to visit the capital (of china); where, as no where else, ritual might be studied; where, too, was laotse, with whom he longed to confer. marquis chao, hearing of this, provided him with the means; and he went up with a band of his pupils. there at loyang, which is honanfu, we see him wandering rapt through palaces and temples, examining the sacrificial vessels, marveling at the ancient art of shang and chow. but for a few vases, it is all lost. he did interview laotse; we cannot say whether only once or more often. nor, i think, do we know what passed; the accounts we get are from the pen of honest _ben trovato; vero,_ the modest, had but little hand in them. we shall come to them later. and now that he stands before the world a teacher, we may drop his personal name, k'ung ch'iu, and call him by the title to which paeans of praise have been swelling through all the ages since: k'ung futse, k'ung the master; latinized, confucius. it is a name that conveys to you, perhaps, some associations of priggishness and pedantry: almost whereever you see him written of you find suggestions of the sort. forgo them at once: they are false utterly. missionaries have interpreted him to the west; who have worked hard to show him something less than the nazarene. they have set him in a peculiar light; and others have followed them. perhaps no writer except and until dr. lionel giles (whose interpretation, both of the man and his doctrine, i shall try to give you), has shown him to us as he was, so that we can understand why he has stood the naional hero, the savior and ideal man of all those millions through all these centuries. we have been told again and again that his teaching was wholly unspiritual; that he knew nothing of the inner worlds; never mentions the soul, or 'god'; says no word to lighten for you the "dusk within the holy of holies." he was all for outwardness, they say: a thorough externalist; a ritualist cold and unmagnetic.--it is much what his enemies said in his own day; who, and not himself, provide the false-interpreters with their weapons. but think of the times, and you may understand. how would the missionaries feel, were jesus translated to the chinese as a fine man in some respects--considering--but, unfortunately! too fond of the pleasures of the table; "a gluttonous man and a winebibber "? they were stirring times, indeed; when all boundaries were in flux, and you needed a new atlas three times a year. robbers would carve themselves new principalities overnight; kingdoms would arise, and vanish with the waning of a moon. what would this, or any other country, become, were law, order, the police and every restraining influence made absolutely inefficient? were california one state today; a dozen next week; in july six or seven, and next december but a purlieu to arizona?--things, heaven knows, are bad enough as they are; there is no dearth of crime and cheatery. still, the police and the legal system do stand between us and red riot and ruin. in china they did not; the restraints had been crumbling for two or three centuries. human nature, broadly speaking, is much of a muchness in all lands and ages: i warrant if you took the center of this world's respectability, which i should on the whole put in some suburb of london;--i warrant that if you relieved clapham,--whose crimes, says kipling very wisely, are 'chaste in martaban,'--of police and the pax britannica for a hundred years or so, lurid martaban would have little pre-eminence left to brag about. the class that now goes up primly and plugly to business in the city day by day would be cutting throats a little; they would be making life quite interesting. their descendants, i mean. it would take time; mother grundy would not be disthroned in a day. but it would come; because men follow the times, and not the soul; and are good as sheep are, but not as heroes. so in chow china. but the young confucius knew his history. he looked back from that confusion to a wise wu wang and duke of chow; to a tang the completer, whose morning bath-tub was inscribed with this motto from _the new way:_ "if at any time in his life a man can make a new man of himself, why not every morning?" most of all he looked back to the golden and sinless age of yao and shun and yu, as far removed from him, nearly, as pre-roman britain is from us: he saw them ruling their kingdom as a strong benevolent father rules his house. in those days men had behaved themselves: natural virtue had expressed itself in the natural way. in good manners; in observation of the proprieties, for example.--in that wild martaban of chow china, would not a great gentleman of the old school (who happened also to be a great teacher) have seen a virtue in even quiet claphamism, that we cannot? it was not the time for such a one to slight the proprieties and 'reasonable conventions of life.' the truth is, the devotion of his disciples has left us minute pictures of the man, so that we see him ... particular as to the clothes he wore; and from this too the west gathers material for its charge of externalism. well; and if he accepted the glossy top-hats and black prince albert coats;--only with him they were caps and robes of azure, carnation, yellow, black, or white; this new fashion of wearing red he would have none of:--i can see nothing in it but this: the great soul had chosen the personality it should incarnate in, with an eye to the completeness of the work it should do; and seventy generations of noble ancestry would protest, even in the matter of clothing, against red riot and ruin and martaban. he is made to cite the 'superior man' as the model of excellence; and that phrase sounds to us detestably priggish. in the _harvard classics_ it is translated (as well as may be) 'true gentleman,' or 'princely man'; in which is no priggish ring at all. again, he is made to address his disciples as "my children," at which, too, we naturally squirm a little: what he really called them was 'my boys,' which sounds natural and affectionate enough. supposing the gospels were translated into chinese by someone with the gluttonous-man-and-winebibber bias; --what, i wonder, would he put for _amen, amen lego humin?_ not "verily, verily i say unto you"! but i must go on with his life. things had gone ill in in lu during his absence: threee great clan chieftains had stopped fighting among themselves to fight instead against their feudal superior, and marquis chao had been exiled to ts'i. it touched confucius directly; his teaching on such matters had been peremptory: he would 'rectify names': have the prince prince, and the people his subjects:--he would have law and order in the state, or the natural harmony of things was broken. as suggested above, he was very much a man of mark in lu; and a protest from him,--which should be forth-coming-- could hardly go unnoticed. with a band of disciples he followed his marquis into ts'i: it is in chihli, north of lu, and was famous then for its national music. on the journey he heard ts'i airs sung, and 'hurried forward.' one of the first things he did on arriving at the capital was to attend a concert (or something equivalent); and for three months thereafter, as a sign of thanksgiving, he ate no flesh. "i never dreamed," said he, "that music could be so wonderful." the fame of his raja-yoga school (that was what it was) had gone abroad, and duke ching of ts'i received him well;--offered him a city with its revenues; but the offer was declined. the duke was impressed; half inclined to turn confucianist; wished to retain him with a pension, to have him on hand in case of need;-- but withal he was of doubtful hesitating mind about it, and allowed his prime minister to dissuade him. "these scholars," said the latter, "are impractical, and cannot be imitated. they are haughty and self-opinionated, and will never rest content with an inferior position. confucius has a thousand peculiarities";--this is the gluttonous-man-and-winebibber saying, which the missionary interpreters have been echoing since;--"it would take ages to exhaust all he knows about the ceremonies of going up and down. this is not the time to examine into his rules of propriety; your people would say you were neglecting them."--when next duke ching was urged to follow confucius, he answered: "i am too old to adopt his doctrines." the master returned to lu; lectured to his pupils, compiled the books of odes and of history; and waited for the disorders to pass. which in time they did, more or less. marquis ting came to the throne, and made him chief magistrate of the town of chungtu. now was the time to prove his theories, and show whether he was the man to the core, that he had been so assiduously showing himself, you may say, on the rind. ah ha! now surely, with hard work before him, this scholar, theorist, conventional formalist, ritualist, and what else you may like to call him, will be put to shame,--shown up empty and foolish before the hard-headed men of action of his age. who, indeed,--the hard-headed men of action-- have succeeded in doing precisely nothing but to make confusion worse confounded; how much less, then, will this impractical one do! let us watch him, and have our laugh...--on the wrong side of your faces then; for lo now, miracles are happening! he takes control; and here at last is one city in great chu hia where crime has ceased to be. how does he manage it? the miracle looks but the more miraculous as you watch. he frames rules for everything; insists on the proprieties; morning, noon, and night holds up an example, and, says he, relies on the power of that.--example? tush, he must be beheading right and left!--nothing of the sort; he is all against capital punishment, and will have none of it. but there is the fact: you can leave your full purse in the streets of chung-tu, and pick it up unrifled when you pass next; you can pay your just price, and get your just measure for it, fearing no cheateries; high cost of living is gone; corners in this and that are no more; graft is a thing you must go elsewhere to look for;--there is none of it in chung-tu. and graft, let me say, was a thing as proper to the towns of china then, as to the graftiest modern city you might mention. the thing is inexplicable--but perfectly attested. not quite inexplicable, either: he came from the gods, and had the gloves of gwron on his hands: he had the wisdom you cannot fathom, which meets all events and problems as they come, and finds their solution in its superhuman self, where the human brain-mind finds only dense impenetrability.--marquis ting saw and wondered.--"could you do this for the whole state?" he asked.--"surely; and for the whole empire," said confucius. the marquis made him, first assistant-superintendent of works, then minister of crime. and now you shall hear chapter x of the _analects,_ to show you the outer man. all these details were noted down by the love of his disciples, for whom nothing was too petty to be recorded; and if we cannot read them without smiling, there is this to remember: they have suffered sea-change on their way to us: sea-change and time-change. what you are to see really is: ( ) a great minister of state, utterly bent on reproving and correcting the laxity of his day, performing the ritual duties of his calling--as all other duties--with a high religious sense of their antiquity and dignity; both for their own sake, and to set an example. what would be thought of an english archbishop of canterbury who behaved familiarly or jocularly at a coronation service?--( ) a gentleman of the old school, who insists on dressing well and quietly, according to his station. that is what he would appear now, in any grade of society, and among men the least capable of recognising his inner greatness: 'race' is written in every feature of his being; set him in any modern court, and with half an eye you would see that his family was a thousand years or so older than that of anyone else present, and had held the throne at various times. here is a touch of the great gentleman: he would never fish with a net, or shoot at a bird on the bough; it was unsportsmanlike. ( ) a very natural jovial man, not above "changing countenance" when fine meats were set on his table:--a thing that directly contradicts the idea of a cold, ever play-acting confucius. a parvenu must be very careful; but a scion of the house of shang, a descendant of the yellow emperor, could unbend and be jolly without loss of dignity;--and, were he a confucius, would. "a gentleman," said he, "is calm and spacious"; he was himself, according to the _analects,_ friendly, yet dignified; inspired awe, but not fear; was respectful, but easy. he divided mankind into three classes: adepts or sages; true gentlemen; and the common run. he never claimed to belong to the first, though all china knows well that he did belong to it. he even considered that he fell short of the ideal of the second; but as to that, we need pay no attention to his opinion. here, then, is chapter x: "amongst his own countryfolk confucius wore a homely look, like one who has no word to say. in the ancestral temple and at court his speech was full, but cautious. at court he talked frankly to men of low rank, winningly to men of high rank. in the marquis's presence he looked intent and solemn. "when the marquis bade him receive guests, his face seemed to change, his knees to bend. he bowed left and right to those behind him, straightened his robes in front and behind, and sped forward, his elbows spread like wings. when the guest had left, he always reported it, saying: 'the guest has ceased to look back.' "entering the palace gate he stooped, as though it were too low for him. he did not stand in the middle of the gate, nor step on the threshold. passing the throne, his face seemed to change, his knees to bend; and he spoke with bated breath. mounting the royal dais, he lifted his robes, bowed his back and masked his breathing till it seemed to stop. coming down, his face relaxed below the first step, and bore a pleased look. from the foot of the steps he sped forward, his elbows spread like wings; and when again in his seat, he looked intent as before. he held his hands not higher than in bowing, nor lower than in giving a present. he wore an awed look and dragged his feet, as though they were fettered." which means that he felt the royal office to be sacred, as the seat of authority and government, the symbol and representative of heaven, the fountain of order: in its origin, divine. he treated marquis ting as if he had been yao, shun, or yu; or rather, the marquis's throne and office as if one of these had held them. there is the long history of china to prove he was wise in the example he set. "when presenting royal gifts his manner was formal; but he was cheerful at the private audience.--this gentleman was never arrayed in maroon or scarlet; even at home he would not wear red or purple. in hot weather he wore unlined linen clothes, but always over other garments. over lambskin he wore black; over fawn he wore white; over fox-skin he wore yellow. at home he wore a long fur robe with the right sleeve short. he always had his night-gown half as long again as his body. in the house he wore fox- or badger-skin for warmth. when out of mourning there was nothing wanting from his girdle. except for court-dress, he was sparing of stuff. he did not wear lamb's wool, or a black cap, on a visit of condolence. on the first day of the moon he always went to court in court dress. on fast days he always donned clothes of pale hue, changed his food, and moved from his wonted seat. he did not dislike his rice cleaned with care, nor his hash copped small. he would not eat sour or mouldy rice, putrid fish, or tainted meat. aught discolored or high, badly cooked, or out of season, he would not eat. he would not eat what was badly cut, or a dish with the wrong sauce. a choice of meats could not tempt him to eat more than he had a relish for. to wine alone he set no limit; but he never drunk more than enough. he did not drink brought wine, or eat ready-dried meat. he did not eat much. ginger was never missing at his table. "after sacrifice at the palace he would not keep the meat over-night; at home, not more than three days. if kept longer, it was not eaten. he did not talk at meals, nor in bed. though there were but coarse rice and vegetables, he made his offering with all reverence. if his mat were not straight, he would not sit down. when drinking with the villagers, when those with slaves left, he left too. at the village exorcisms he donned court dress, and stood on the eastern steps. "when sending inquiries to another land, he bowed twice and saw his messenger out. on k'ang's making him a present of medicine, he accepted it with a low bow, saying: 'i do not know; i dare not taste it.' his stables having been burnt, the master, on his return from court, said: 'is anyone hurt?' he did not ask after the horses." set down in perfect good faith to imply that his concern was for the sufferings of others, not for his personal loss: and without perception of the fact that it might imply callousness as to the suffering of the horses. we are to read the recorder's mind, and not the master's, in that omission.-- "when the marquis sent him baked meat, he set his mat straight, and tasted it first. when the marquis sent him raw meat, he had it cooked for sacrifice. when the marquis sent him a living beast, he had it reared. when dining in attendance on the marquis, the latter made the offering; confucius ate of things first. on the marquis coming to see him in sickness, he turned his face to the east and had his court dress spread across him, with the girdle over it. when summoned by the marquis, he walked, without waiting for his carriage. on entering the great temple, he asked how each thing was done. when a friend died who had no home, he said: 'it is for me to bury him.' when a friend sent a gift, even of a carriage and horses, he did not bow. he only bowed for sacrificial meat. he would not lie in a bed like a corpse. at home he unbent. "on meeting a mourner, were he a friend, his face changed. even in every-day clothes, when he met anyone in full dress, or a blind man, his face grew staid. when he met men in mourning, he bowed over the cross-bar. before choice meats he rose with a changed look. at sharp thunder or fierce wind, his countenance changed. in mounting his chariot he stood straight and grasped the cord. when in his chariot, he did not look round, speak fast, or point." there you have one side of the outer man; and the most has been made of it. "always figuring, always posturing," we hear. i merely point to the seventy noble generations, the personality made up of that courtly heredity, whose smallest quite spontaneous acts and habits seemed to men worth recording, as showing how the perfect gentleman behaved: a model. another side is found in the lover of poetry, the devotee of music, the man of keen and intense affections. surely, if a _poseur,_ he might have posed when bereavement touched him; he might have assumed a high philosophic calm. but no; he never bothered to; even though reproached for inconsistency. his mother died when he was twenty-four; and he broke through all rites and customs by raising a mound over her grave; that, as he said, he might have a place to turn to and think of as his home whereever he might be on his wanderings. he mourned for her the orthodox twenty-seven months; then for five days longer would not touch his lute. on the sixth day he took it and began to play; but when he tried to sing, broke down and wept. one is surprised; but there is no posing about it. yen hui was his saint john, the beloved disciple. "when yen hui died," we read, "the master cried, 'woe is me! i am undone of heaven! i am undone of heaven!' when yen hui died the master gave way to grief. the disciples said: 'sir, you are giving way.'--'am i giving way?' said he. 'if for this man i do not give way, for whom shall i give way?... hui treated me as a son his father; i have failed to treat him as a father his son.'" confucius was old then, and near his own death... but what i think you will recognise in his speech, again and again, is the peculiarly spontaneous... indeed impetuous ... ring of it. he had that way of repeating a sentence twice that marks a naturally impetuous man.--of his sense of humor i shall speak later. he dearly loved his disciples, and was homesick when away from them.--"my batch of boys, ambitious and hasty--i must go home to them! i must go home to them!" said he. once when he was very ill, tse lu "moved the disciples to act as ministers":--to behave to him as if he were a king and they his ministers.--"i know, i know!" said confucius; "tse lu has been making believe. this show of ministers, when i have none,--whom will it deceive? will it deceive heaven? i had rather die in your arms, my boys, than be a king and die in the arms of my ministers."--"seeing the disciple min standing at his side in winning strength, tse lu with warlike front, jan yu and tse kung fresh and strong, the master's heart was glad," we read. he considered what he calls 'love' the highest state,--the condition of the adept or sage; but that other thing that goes by the same name,--of that he would not speak;--nor of crime,--nor of feats of strength, --nor of doom,--nor of ghosts and spirits. anything that implied a forsaking of middle lines, a losing of the balance, extravagance,--he abhorred.--and now back to that other side of him again: the man of action. the task that lay before him was to reform the state of lu. something was rotten in it; it needed some reforming.--the rotten thing, to begin with, was marquis ting himself; who was of such stuff as confucius referred to when he said: "you cannot carve rotten wood." but brittle and crumbling as it was, it would serve his turn for the moment; it would give him the chance to show twenty-five chinese centuries the likeness of an adept at the head of a state. so it should be proved to them that such a one--they call him _such a one_ generally, i believe, to avoid the light repetition of a name grown sacred--is no impractical idealist merely, but a master of splendid successes here in this world: that the way of heaven is the way that succeeds on earth--if only it be honestly tried. ting was by no means master in his own marquisate. as in england under stephen, bold bad robber barons had fortified their castles everywhere, and from these strongholds defied the government. the mightiest magnate of all was the chief of clan chi, who ordered things over his royal master's head, and was very much a power for the new minister of crime to reckon with. a clash came before long. ex-marquis chao--he that had been driven into exile--died in ts'i; and his body was sent home for burial with his ancestors. chi, who had been chief among those responsible for the dead man's exile, by way of insulting the corpse, gave orders that it should be buried outside the royal cemetery; and his orders were carried out. confucius heard of it, and was indignant. to have had the corpse exhumed and reburied would have been a new indignity, i suppose; therefore he gave orders that the cemetery should be enlarged so as to include the grave; --and went down and saw it done.--"i have done this on your behalf," he informed chi, "to hide the shame of your disloyalty. to insult the memory of a dead prince is against all decency." the great man gnashed his teeth; but the minister of crime's action stood. he turned his attention to the robber-barons, and reduced them. i do not know how; he was entirely against war; but it is certain that in a very short time those castles were leveled with the ground, and the writ of the marquis ran through lu. he hated capital punishment; but signed the death warrant for the worst of the offenders;--and that despite the protest of some of his disciples, who would have had him consistent above all things. but his back was up, and the man was executed. one makes no excuse for it; except perhaps, to say that such an action, isolated, and ordained by such a one, needs no excuse. he was in the habit of fulfilling his duty; and duty may at times present itself in strange shapes. it was a startling thing to do; and lu straight-way, as they say, sat right up and began to take concentrated notice of a situation the like of which had not been seen for centuries. he had the final decision in all legal cases. a father brought a charge against his son; relying on the bias of the minister whose life had been so largely given to preaching filial piety. "if you had brought up your son properly," said confucius, "this would not have happened"; and astounded plaintiff, defendant, and the world at large by putting both in prison for three months. in a year or so he had done for lu what he had done for chung-tu during his magistracy. by this time ts'i and sung and wei and the whole empire were taking notice too. there was actually a state where crime was unknown; where law ruled and the government was strong, and yet, the people more than contented; a state--and such a state!-- looming ahead as the probable seat of a bretwalda. lu with the hegemony! this old orthodox strict lu!--this home of lost causes!--this back number, and quaint _chinoiserie_ to be laughed at!--as if morgan shuster had carried on his work in persia until persia had become of a strength to threaten the world. lu was growing strong; and ts'i--renowned military ts'i--thought she ought to be doing something. thus in our own time, whenever somnolent obsolete turkey tried to clean her house, russia, land-hungry and looking to a thanksgiving dinner presently, felt a call to send down emissaries, and--see that the cleaning should not be done. duke ching of ts'i, at the first attempt, bungled his plans badly. he would not strike at the root of things, confucius; perhaps retained too much respect for him; perhaps simply did not understand; but at that harmless mutton marquis ting who confucius had successfully camouflaged up to look like a lion. to that end he formally sought an alliance with lu, and the lu minister of crime concurred. he intended that there should be more of these alliances. an altar was raised on the frontier, where the two princes were to meet and sign the treaty. duke ching had laid his plans; but they did not include the presence of confucius at the altar as master or the ceremonies on the side of lu. there he was, however; and after all, it could hardly make much difference. the preliminary rites went forward. suddenly, a roll of drums; a rush of 'savages' out of ambush;--there were savage tribes in those parts;--confusion; the marquis's guard, as the duke's, is at some little distance; and clearly it is for the marquis that these 'savages' are making. but confucius is there. he steps between the kidnappers and his master, "with elbows spread like wings" hustles the latter off into safety; takes hold of the situation; issues sharp orders to the savages--who are of course ts'i troops in disquise: _attention! about face!--double march!_--snaps out the words of command in right military style, right in the presence of their own duke, who stands by amazed and helpless;--and off they go. then spaciously clears the matter up. finds, no doubt, that it is all a mistake; supplies, very likely, an easy and acceptable explanation to save ching's face; shortly has all things peaceably _in status quo._ then brings back his marquis, and goes forward with the treaty; but now as master of the ceremonies and something more. there had been a land question between lu and ts'i: lu territory seized some time since by her strong neighbor, and the cause of much soreness on the one hand and exultation on the other. by the time that treaty had been signed duke ching of ts'i had ceded back the land to marquis ting of lu,--a thing assuredly he had never dreamed of doing; and an alliance had been established between the two states. since the duke of chow's time, lu had never stood so high. was our man a prig at all? was he a pedant? have those who have sedulously spread that report of him in the west told the truth about him? or--hath a pleasant little lie or twain served their turn? duke ching went home and thought things over. he had learned his lesson: that ting was but a camouflage lion, and by no means the one to strike at, if business was to be done. he devised a plan, sweet in it simplicity, marvelous in its knowledge of what we are pleased to call 'human' nature. he ransacked his realm for beautiful singing and dancing girls, and sent the best eighty he could find to his dear friend and ally of lu. not to make the thing too pointed, he added a hundred and twenty fine horses-- with their trappings. what could be more appropriate than such a gift? it worked. ting retired to his harem, and day after day passed over a lu unlighted by his countenance. government was at a standstill; the great minister of crime could get nothing done. the annual sacrifice was at hand; a solemnity confucius hoped would remind ting of realities and bring him to his right mind. according to the ritual, a portion of the offering should be sent to each high official of the state: none came to confucius. day after day he waited; but ting's character was quite gone: the lion-skin had fallen off, and the native egregious muttonhood or worse stood revealed.--"master," said tse lu, "it is time you went." but he was very loath to go. at last he gathered his disciples, and slowly went out from the city. he lingered much on the way, looking back often, still hoping for sight of the messenger who should recall him. but none came. that was in . the old century had ended about the time he took office; and with it, of course, the last quarter in which, as always, the doors of the lodge were open, and the spiritual influx pouring into the world. so the effort of that age had its consummation and fine flower in the three years of his official life: to be considered a triumph. now, laotse had long since ridden away into the west; the doors were shut; the tides were no longer flowing; and the god's great confucius remained in a world that knew him not. as for holding office and governing states, he had done all that was necessary. xi. confucius the hero he had done enough in the way of holding office and governing states. laotse had taught that of old time, before tao was lost, the yellow emperor sat on his throne and all the world was governed without knowing it. confucius worked out the doctrine thus: true government is by example; given the true ruler, and he will have the means of ruling at his disposal, and they will be altogether different from physical force. 'example' does not covey it either: his thought was much deeper. there is a word _li_--i get all this from dr. lionel giles--which the egregious have been egregiously translating 'the rules of propriety'; but which confucius used primarily for a state of harmony within the soul, which should enable beneficent forces from the infinite to flow through into the outer world;--whereof a result would also be, on the social plane, perfect courtesy and politeness, these the most outward expression of it. on these too confucius insisted which is the very worst you can say about him.--now, the ruler stands between gods and men; let his _li_ be perfect--let the forces of heaven flow through him unimpeded,--and the people are regenerated day by day: the government is by regeneration. here lies the secret of all his insistence on loyalty and filial piety: the regeneration of society is dependent on the maintenance of the natural relation between the ruler who rules-- that is, lets the _li_ of heaven flow through him--and his people. they are to maintain such an attitude towards him as will enable them to receive the _li._ in the family, he is the father; in the state, he is the king. in very truth, this is the doctrine of the golden age, and proof of the profound occult wisdom of confucius: even the (comparatively) little of it that was ever made practical lifted china to the grand height she has held. it is hinted at in the _bhagavad-gita:_--"whatsoever is practised by the most excellent men"; again, it is the aryan doctrine of the guruparampara chain. the whole idea is so remote from modern practice and theory that it must seem to the west utopian, even absurd; but we have asoka's reign in india, and confucius's ministry in lu, to prove its basic truth. during that ministry he had flashed the picture of such a ruler on to the screen of time: and it was enough. china could never forget. but if, knowing it to have been enough,--knowing that the hour of the open door had passed, and that he should never see success again,--he had then and there retired into private life, content to teach his disciples and leave the stubborn world to save or damn itself:--enough it would not have been. he had flashed the picture on to the screen of time, but it would have faded. twenty years of wandering, of indomitability, of disappointment and of ignoring defeat and failure, lay before him: in which to make his creation, not a momentary picture, but a carving in jade and granite and adamant. it is not the ever-victorious and successful that we take into the adyta of our hearts. it is the poignancy of heroism still heroism in defeat,-- "unchanged, though fallen on evil years," --that wins admittance there. someone sneered at confucius, in his latter years, as the man who was always trying to do the impossible. he was; and the sneerer had no idea what high tribute he was paying him. it is because he was that: the hero, the flaming idealist: that his figure shines out so clear and splendidly. his outer attempts--to make a man of marquis this or duke that, and a model state of lu or wei--these were but carvings in rotten wood, foredoomed to quick failure. all the material of the world was rotten wood: he might have learned that lesson;--only there are lessons that such a one never learns. well; we in turn may learn a lesson from him: applicable now. the rotten wood crumbled under his hands time and again: under his bodily hands;--but it made no difference to him. he went on and on, still hoping to begin his life's work, and never recognising failure; and by reason and virtue of that, the hands of his spirit were carving, not in rotten wood, but in precious jade and adamant spiritual, to endure forever. on those inner planes he was building up his raja-yoga; which time saw to it should materialize and redeem his race presently. confucius in the brief moment of his victory illuminated the world indeed; but confucius in the long years of his defeat has bowed the hearts of twenty-five centuries of the black-haired people. we can see this now; i wonder did he see it then? i mean, had that certain knowledge and clear vision in his conscious mind, that was possessed in the divinity of his soul--as it is in every soul. i imagine not; for in his last days he--the personality-- could give way and weep over the utter failure of his efforts. one loves him the more for it: one thinks his grandeur only the more grand. it is a very human and at last a very pathetic figure--this man that did save his people. due west from lu, and on the road thence to honanfu the chow capital, lay the duchy of wei; whither now he turned his steps. he had no narrow patriotism: if his own lu rejected him, he might still save this foreign state, and through it, perhaps, all the chinas. he was at this time one of the most famous men alive; and his first experience in wei might have been thought to augur well. on the frontier he was met by messengers from a local wei official, begging for their master an interview:-- "every illustrious stranger has granted me one; let me not ask it of you, sir, in vain." confucius complied; was conducted to the yamen, and went in, leaving his disciples outside. to these the magistrate came out, while the master was still resting within.--"sirs," said he, "never grieve for your teacher's fall from office. his work is but now to begin. these many years the empire has been in perilous case; but now heaven has raised up confucius, its tocsin to call the people to awakenment."--a wise man, that wei official! at the capital, duke ling received him with all honor, and at once assigned him a pension equal to the salary he had been paid as minister of crime in lu. he even consulted him now and again; but reserved to himself liberty to neglect the advice asked for. however, the courtiers intrigued; and before the year was out, confucius had taken to his wanderings again: he would try the state of ch'in now, in the far south-east. "if any prince would employ me," said he, "within a twelvemonth i should have done something considerable; in three years the government would be perfect." he was to pass through the town of kwang, in sung; it had lately been raided by a robber named yang hu, in face and figure resembling himself. someone who saw him in the street put it abroad that yang hu was in the town, and followed him to the house he had taken for the night. before long a mob had gathered, intent on vengeance. the situation was dangerous; the mob in no mood to hear reason;--and as to that, yang hu also would have said that he was not the man they took him for,--very likely would have claimed to be the renowned confucius. the disciples, as well they might be, were alarmed: the prospect was, short shrift for the whole party.--"boys," said the master, "do you think heaven entrusted the cause of truth to me, to let me be harmed by the towns-men of kwang? "--the besiegers looked for protests, and then for a fight. what they did not look for was to hear someone inside singing to a lute;--it was that great musician confucius. when he sang and played you stopped to listen; and so did the kwang mob now. they listened, and wondered, and enjoyed their free concert; then made reasonable inquiries, and apologies,--and went their ways in peace. in those south-eastern states there was no prospect for him, and after a while he returneci to wei. he liked duke ling personally, and the liking was mutual; time and again he went back there, hoping against hope that something might be done,--or seeing no other horizon so hopeful. now ling had a consort of some irregular kind: nantse, famed for her beauty and brilliance and wickedness. perhaps _ennuyee,_ and hoping for contact with a mind equal to her own, she was much stirred by the news of confucius' return, and sent to him asking an interview. such a request was a characteristic flouting of the conventions on her part; for him to grant it would be much more so on his. but he did grant it; and they conversed, after the custom of the time, with a screen between, neither seeing the other. tse lu was much disturbed; considering it all a very dangerous innovation, inconsistent in confucius, and improper. so in the eyes of the world it would have seemed. but nantse held the duke, and confucius might influence nantse. he never let conventions stand in his way, when there was a chance of doing good work by breaking them. one suspects that the lady wished to make her vices respectable by giving them a seeming backing by incarnate virtue; and that to this end she brought about the sequel. duke ling was to make a progress through the city; and requested confucius to follow his carriage in another. he did so; not knowing that nantse had seen to it that she was to be sitting at the duke's side. her position and reputation even in those days needed some regularizing; and she had chosen this means to do it. but to the people, the spectacle was highly symbolic; and confucius heard their jeers as he passed:--flaunting vice in front, slighted virtue in the rear.--"i have met none," said he, "who loves virtue more than women." it was time for him to go; and now he would try the south again. in reality, perhaps, it matter little whither he went or where he stayed: there was no place for him anywhere. all that was important was, that he should keep up the effort. an official in sung, one hwan tuy, held the roads against him, accusing him of "a proud air and many desires; an insinuating habit and a wild will." from this time on he was subject to persecution. the "insinuating habit" reminds one of an old parrot-cry one has heard: "she hypnotizes them." he turned westward from this opposition, and visited one state, and then another; in neither was there any disposition to use him. he had found no more likely material than duke ling of wei, who at least was always glad to see and talk with him:--might not be jade to carve, but was the wood least rotten at hand. but at wei, as usual, there was nothing but disappointment in store. pih hsih, a rebel, was holding a town in tsin, modern shansi, against the king of that state; and now sent messengers inviting confucius to visit him. tse lu protested: had he not always preached obedience to the powers that were, and that the true gentleman did not associate with rebels?--"am i a bitter gourd," said confucius, "to be hung up out of the way of being eaten?" he was always big enough to be inconsistent. he had come to see that the powers that were were hopeless, and was for catching at any straw. but something delayed his setting out; and when he reached the yellow river, news came of the execution of tsin of two men whom he admired. "how beautiful they were!" said he; "how beautiful they were! this river is not more majestic! and i was not there to save them!" the truth seems to be that he would set out for any place where the smallest opening presented itself; and while that opening existed, would not be turned aside from his purpose; but if it vanished, or if something better came in sight, he would turn and follow that. thus he did not go on into tsin when he heard of these executions; but one, when he was on the road to wei and a band of roughs waylaid him and made him promise never to go there again, he simply gave the promise and went straight on. at wei now duke ling was really inclined to use him;--but as his military adviser. it was the last straw; he left, and would not return in ling's lifetime. he was in ch'in for awhile; and then for three years at ts'ae, a new state built of the rebellion of certain subjects or vassals of the great sourthern kingdom of ts'u. on hearing of his arrival, the duke of ts'ae had the idea to send for tse lu, who had a broad reputation of his own as a brave and practical man, and to inquire of him what kind of man the master really was. but tse lu, as we have seen, was rigid as to rebels, and vouchsafed no answer.--"you might have told him," said confucius, "that i am simply one who forgets his food in the pursuit of wisdom, and his sorrows in the joys of attaining it, and who does not perceive old age coming on." missionary writers have cast it at him, that were of old he had preached against rebellion, now he was willing enough to "have rebels for his patrons";--"adversity had not stiffened his back, but had made him pliable." which shows how blind such minds are to real greatness. "they have nothing to draw with, and this well is deep." he sought no "patrons," now or at another time; but tools with which to work for the redemption of china; and he was prepared to find them anywhere, and take what came to hand. his keynote was _duty._ the world went on snubbing, ignoring, insulting, traducing, and persecuting him; and he went on with the performance of his duty;--rather, with the more difficult task of searching for the duty he was to perform. this resorting to rebels, like that conversing with nantse, shows him clearly not the formalist and slave of conventions he has been called, but a man of highest moral courage. what he stood for was not forms, conventions, reules, proprieties, or anything of the sort; but the liens of least resistance in his high endeavor to lift the world: lines of least resistance; middle lines; common sense.--as ususal, there was nothing to be done with the duke of ts'ae. wandering from state to state, he came on recluses in a field by the river, and sent tse lu forward to ask one of them the way to the ford. said the hermit:--"you follow one who withdraws from court to court; it would be better to withdraw from the world altogether."--"what!" said confucius when it was told him; "shall i not associate with mankind? if i do not associate with mankind, with whom shall i associate?" in which answer lies a great key to confucianism; turn it once or twice, and you get to the import of his real teaching. he never would follow the individual soul into its secrecies; he was concerned with man only as a fragment of humanity. he was concerned with man _as_ humanity. all that the west calls (personal) religion he disliked intensely. any desire or scheme to save your own soul; any right-doing for the sake of a reward, either here or hereafter, he would have bluntly called wrong- doing, anti-social and selfish. (i am quoting in substance from dr. lionel giles.) he tempted no one with hopes of heaven; frightened none with threats of hell. it seemed to him that he could make a higher and nobler appeal,--could strike much more forcibly at the root of evil (which is selfishness), by saying nothing about rewards and punishments at all. the one inducement to virtue that he offered was this: by doing right, you lead the world into right-doing. he was justified in saying that man is divine; because this divine appeal of his was effective; not like the west's favorite appeal to fear, selfish desire, and the brutal side of our nature. "do right to escape a whipping, or a hanging, or hell-fire," says christendom; and the nations reared on that doctrine have risen and fallen, risen and fallen; a mad riot of people struggling into life, and toppling back into death in a season; so that future ages and the far reaches of history will hardly remember their names, too lightly graven upon time. but china, nourished on this divine appeal, however far she may have fallen short of it, has stood, and stood, and stood. in the last resort, it is the only inducement worth anything; the only lever that lifts.--there is that _li,_--that inevitable rightness and harmony that begins in the innermost _when there is the balance_ and duty is being done, and flows outward healing and preserving and making wholesome all the phases of being;--let that harmony of heaven play through you, and you are bringing mankind to virtue; you are pouting cleansing currents into the world. how little of the tortuosity of metaphysics is here;--but what grand efficacity of super-ethics! you remember what _light on the path_ says about the man who is a link between the noise of the market-place and the silence of the snow-capped himalayas; and what it says about the danger of seeking to sow good karma for oneself,--how the man that does so will only be sowing the giant weed of selfhood. in those two passages you find the essence of confucianism and the wisdom and genius of confucius. it is as simple as a b c; and yet behind it lie all the truths of metaphysics and philosophy. he seized upon the pearl of theosophic thought, the cream of all metaphysics, where metaphysics passes into action,--and threw his strength into insisting on that: pursue virtue because it is virtue, and that you may (as you will,--it is the only way you can) bring the world to virtue; or negatively, in the words of _light on the path:_ "abstain (from vice) because it is right to abstain--not that yourself shall be kept clean." and now to travel back into the thought behind, that you may see if confucius was a materialist; whether or not he believed in the soul;--and that if he was not a great original thinker, at least he commanded the ends of all great, true and original thinking. man, he says, is naturally good. that is, collectively. _man_ is divine and immortal; only _men_ are mortal and erring. were there a true brotherhood of mankind established, a proper relation of the parts to the whole and to each other,--you would have no difficulty with what is evil in yourself. the lower nature with its temptations would not appear; the world-old battle with the flesh would be won. but separate yourself in yourself,--consider yourself as a selfhood, not as a unit in society;--and you find, there where you have put yourself, evil to contend with a-plenty. virtue inheres in the brotherhood of man; vice in the separate personal and individual units. virtue is in that which is no man's possession, but common to all: namely, the soul--though he does not enlarge upon it as that; perhaps never mentions it as the soul at all;--vice is in that which each has for himself alone: the personality. hence his hatred of religiosity, of personal soul-saving. you were to guard against evil in the simplest way: by living wholly in humanity, finding all you motives and sources of action there. if you were, in the highest sense, simply a factor in human society, you were a good man. if you lived in yourself alone,--having all evil to meet there, you were likely to succumb to it; and you were on the wrong road anyway. come out, then; think not of your soul to be saved, nor of what may befall you after death. you, as you, are of no account; all that matters is humanity as a whole, of which you are but a tiny part.--now, if you like, say that confucius did not teach theosophy, because, _so far as we know,_ he said nothing about karma or reincarnation. i am inclined to think him one of the two or three supreme historical teachers of theosophy; and to say that his message, so infinitely simple, is one of the most wonderful presentations of it ever given. it is this entire purity from all taint of personal religion; this distaste for prayer and unrelish for soul-salvation; this sweet clean impersonality of god and man, that makes the missionary writers find him so cold and lifeless. but when you look at him, it is a marvelously warm-hearted magnetic man you see: such a one as wins hearts to endless devotion. many of the disciples were men who commanded very much the respect of the world. the king of ts'u proposed to give confucius an independent duchy: to make a sovereign prince of him, with territories absolutely his own. but one of his ministers dissuaded him thus: "has your majesty," said he, "any diplomatist in your service like tse kung? or anyone so fitted to be prime minister as yen huy? or a general to compare with tse lu? . . . if k'ung ch'iu were to acquire territory, with such men as these to serve him, it would not be to the prosperity of ts'u."--and yet those three brilliant men were content--no, proud--to follow him on his hopeless wanderings, sharing all his long sorrow; they were utterly devoted to him. indeed, we read of none of his disciples turning against him;--which also speaks mighty well for the stuff that was to be found in chinese humanity in those days. tse kung was told that some prince or minister had said that he, tse kung, was a greater man than confucius. he answered: "the wall of my house rises only to the height of a man's shoulders; anyone can look in and see whatever excellence is within. but the master's wall is many fathoms in height; so that who fails to find the gateway cannot see the beauties of the temple within nor the rich apparel of the officiating priests. it may be that only a few will find the gate. need we be surprised, then, at his excellency's remark?" yen huy said:--"the master knows how to draw us after him by regular steps. he broadens our outlook with polite learning, and restrains our impulses by teaching us self-control." only once, i think, is he recorded to have spoken of prayer. he was very ill, and tse lu proposed to pray for his recovery. said confucius: "what precedent is there for that?"--there was great stuff in that tse lu: a bold warriorlike nature; not very pliable; not too easy to teach, i imagine, but wonderfully paying for any lesson taught and learned. he figures often as the one who clings to the letter, and misses vision of the spirit of the teaching; so now the master plays him a little with this as to precedent,--which weighed always more strongly with tse lu than with confucius.--"in the _eulogies,"_ said tse lu, (it is a lost work), "it is written: 'we pray to you, o spirits of heaven and earth."--"ah!" said confucius, "my prayers began long, long ago." but he never did pray, in the western sense. his _life_ was one great intercession and petition for his people. as to his love of ritual: remember that there are ceremonies and ceremonies, some with deep power and meaning. those that confucius upheld came down to him from adept teachers of old; and he had an eye to them only as outward signs of a spiritual grace, and means to it. "ceremonies indeed!" said he once; "do you think they are a mere matter of silken robes and jade omaments? music forsooth! can music be a mere thing of drums and bells?"--or of harps, lutes, dulcimers, sackbuts, psalteries, and all kinds of instruments, he might have added; all of which, together with all rites, postures, pacings, and offerings, were nothing to him unless channels through which the divine _li_ might be induced to flow. yet on his wanderings, by the roadside, in lonely places, he would go through ceremonies with his disciples. why?--why is an army drilled? if you go to the root of the matter, it is to make _one_ the consciousness of the individual soldiers. so confucius, as i take it, in his ceremonies sought to unify the consciousness of his disciples, that the _li_ might have passage through them. i say boldly it was a proof of that deep occult knowledge of his,--which he never talked about. they asked him once if any single ideogram conveyed the whole law of life.--"yes," he said; and gave them one compounded of two others, which means 'as heart':--the missionaries prefer to render it 'reciprocity.' his teaching--out of his own mouth we convict him--was the doctrine of the heart. he was for the glow in the heart always; not as against, but as the one true cause of, external right action. but the heart doctrine cannot be defined in a set of rules and formulae; so he was always urging middle lines, common sense. that is the explanation of his famous answer when they asked him whether injuries should be repaid with kindness. what he said amounts to this: "for goodness sake, use common sense! i have given you 'as heart' for your rule."--we know katherine tingley's teaching: not one of us but has been helped and saved by it a thousand times. i can only say that, in the light of that, the more you study confucius, the greater he seems; the more extraordinary the parallelisms you see between her method and his. perhaps it is because his method has been so minutely recorded. we do not find here merely ethical precepts, or expositions of philosophic thought: what we see is a teacher guiding and adjusting the lives of his disciples. when he had been three years at ts'ae, the king of ts'u invited him to his court. ts'u, you will remember, lay southward towards the yangtse, and was, most of the time, one of the six great powers.* here at last was something hopeful; and confucius set out. but ts'ae and ch'in, though they had neglected him, had not done so through ignorance of his value; and were not disposed to see his wisdom added to the strength of ts'u. they sent out a force to waylay him; which surrounded him in the wilderness and held him besieged but unmolested for seven days. food ran out, and the confucianists were so enfeebled at last that they could hardly stand. we do not hear that terms were offereed, as that they should turn back or go elsewhere: the intention seems to have been to make an end of confucius and confucianism altogether,--without bloodshed. even tse lu was shaken.--"is it for the princely man," said he, "to suffer the pinch of privation?"--"privation may come his way," confucius answered; "but only the vulgar grow reckless and demoralized under it." so saying he took his lute and sang to them, and hearing him they forgot to fear. meanwhile one of the party had won through the lines, and brought word to ts'u of the master's plight; whereat the king sent a force to his relief, and came out from the capital to receive him in state. the king's intentions were good; but we have seen how his ministers intrigued and diverted them. in the autumn of that year he died, having become somewhat estranged from the master. his successor was one from whom no good could be expected, and confucius returned to wei. ------- * _ancient china simplified:_ by prof. e. harper parker; from which book the account of the political condition and divisions of the empire given in these lectures is drawn. ------ duke ling was dead, and his grandson, chuh, was on the throne. there had been a complication of family crimes plottings: chuh had driven out his father, who in turn had attempted the life of his own mother, nantse. chuh wished to employ confucius, but not to forgo his evil courses: it was a situation that could not be sanctioned. for six years the master lived in retirement in wei, watching events, and always sanguine that his chance would come. he was not sixty-nine years old; but hoped to begin his life's work presently. then suddenly he was in demand,--in two quarters. there was a sort of civil war in wei, and the chief of one of the factions came to him for advice as to the best means of attacking the other. confucius was disgusted. meanwhile lu had been at war with ts'i; and yen yu, a confucianist, put in command of the lu troops, had been winning all the victories in sight. marquis ting now slept with his fathers, and marquis gae reigned in his stead; also there was a new chief of clan chi to run things:-- gae to reign, chi to rule. they asked yen yu where he had learned his so victorious generalship; and he answered, "from confucius."--if a mere disciple could do so much, they thought, surely the master himself could do much more: as, perhaps, lead the lu armies to universal victory. so they sent him a cordial invitation, with no words as to the warlike views that prompted it. high in hope, confucius set out; these fourteen years his native country had been pulling at his heart-strings, and latterly, more insistently than ever. but on his arrival he saw how the land lay. chi consulted him about putting down brigandage: chi being, as you might say, the arch-brigand of lu.--"if you, sir, were not avaricious," said confucius, "though you offered men rewards for stealing, they would cleave to their honesty." there was nothing to be done with such men as these; he went into retirement, having much literary work to finish. that was in . in his son li died; and a year later yen huy, dearest of his disciples. we have seen how he gave way to grief. there is that strange mystery of the dual nature; even in such a one. there is the human personality that the great soul must work through. he had performed his function; he had fulfilled his duty; all that he owed to the coming ages he had paid in full. but the evidence goes to show that he was still looking forward for a chance to begin, and that every disappointmtnt hurt the outward man of him: that it was telling on him: that it was a sad, a disappointed, even a heart-broken old man that wept over yen huy.--in , we read, a servant of the chief of clan chi caught a strange one-horned aninial, with a white ribbon tied to its horn. none had seen the like of it; and confucius, being the most learned of men, was called in to make pronouncement. he recognised it at once from his mother's description: it was the _k'e-lin,_ the unicorn; that was the ribbon chingtsai had decked it with in the cave on mount ne the night of his birth. he burst into tears. "for whom have you come?" he cried; "for whom have you come?" and then: "the course of my doctrine is run, and wisdom is still neglected, and success is still worshiped. my principles make no progress: how will it be in the after ages?" --ah, could he have know!--i mean, that old weary mind and body; the soul which was confucius knew. yen huy, tse lu, and tse kung: those were the three whom he had loved and trusted most. yen huy was dead; tse lu, with tse kao, another disciple, he had left behind in wei holding office under the duke. now news came that a revolution had broken out there. "tse kao will return," said he; "but tse lu will die." so it fell. tse kao, finding the duke's cause hopeless, made his escape; but tse lu fought the forlorn hope to the end, and died like a hero. only tse kung, of the three, was left to him. who one morning, when he went to the master's house, found him walking to and fro before the door crooning over this verse: "the great mountain must crumble, the strong beam must break. the wise man must wither like a flower." heavy-hearted, tse kung followed him in.--"what makes you so late?" said confucius; and then: "according to the rites of hia, the dead lay in state at the top of the eastern steps, as if he were the host. under the shangs, it was between the two pillars he lay, as if he were both host and guest. the rite of the chows is for him to lie at the top of the western steps, as if he were the guest. i am a man of shang,"--it will be remembered that he was descended from that royal house; "and last night i dreamed that i was sitting between the pillars, with offerings set out before me. no intelligent monarch arises; no prince will make me his teacher. my time has come to die."--that day he took to his bed; his passing was a week later. on the banks of the sze his disciples buried him; and for three years mourned at his grave. but tse kung built himself a cabin at the graveside, and remained there three years longer. "all my life," said he, "i have had heaven above my head, but i do not know its height. i have had earth beneath my feet, but i have not known its magnitude. i served confucius: i was like a thirsty man going with his pitcher to the river. i drank my fill, but i never knew the depth of the water." and tse kung was right; and what he felt then, one feels now. you read boswell, and have your johnson in the hollow of your hand: body, soul, and spirit: higher triad and lower quaternary. of confucius we have a picture in some respects even more detailed than boswell's of johnson; but when we have said everything, we still feel that nothing has been said. boswell lets you in through his master's church-door; shows you nave and aisle, vault and vestry; climbs with you to the belfry; stands with you at the altar and in the pulpit; till you have seen everything there is to see. but with confucius as with every adept the case is quite different. "the master's wall is fathomless," said tse kung; but he and the other disciples took care that china at least should find the gate of entry; and it is still possible for us to go in, and "see the beauty of the temple, the richness of the robes of the officiating priests." you go through everything; see him under all sorts of circumstances; and ask at last: "is this all?"--no, says your guide; "see here!" and flings one last door open. and that, like the door in lord dunsaney's play, opens on to the vastness of the stars. what is it that baffles us and remains undefined and undefinable? just this: tao: the infinite nature. you can survey the earth, and measure it with chains; but not space, in which a billion leagues is nowise different from an inch or two, --it bears the same proportion to the whole. there was his infinite trust;--and his unbroken silence as to the things he trusted in. time and the world went proving to him year by year that his theories were all impracticable, all wrong; that he was a failure; that there was not anything for him to do, and never would be a chance for him to do it;--and all their arguments, all the sheer dreadful tyranny of fact, had no weight with him at all: he went on and on. what was his sword of strength? where were the allies in whom he trusted? how dared he pit k'ung ch'iu of lu against time and the world and me?--the unseen was with him, and the silence; and he (perhaps) lifted no veil from the unseen, and kept silent as to the silence;--and yet maintained his movement, and held his disciples together, and saved his people,--as if he himself had been the unseen made visible, and the silence given a voice to speak. and with it all there was the human man who suffered. i think you will love him the more for this, from the _analects:_ "the minister said to tse lu, tseng hsi, jan yu, and kung-hsi hua as they sat beside him: 'i may be a day older than you are, but forget that. you are wont to say, "we are unknown." well; had ye a name in the world, what would ye do?'" "tse lu answered lightly: 'give me charge of a land of a thousand chariots, crushed between great neighbors, overrun by soldiery and oppressed by famine; in three years' time i should have put courage and high purpose into the people.'" "the master smiled,--'what wouldst thou do, ch'iu?' he said." "jan yu answered: 'had i charge of sixty or seventy square miles, or from fifty to sixty, in three years' time i would give the people plenty. as for courtesy, music and the like, they could wait for these for the rise of a princely man.'" "'and what wouldst thou do, chih?' said the master." "kung-hsi hua answered: 'i would speak of the things i fain would learn, not of what i can do. at service in the ancestral temple, or at the grand audience, clad in black robe and cap, i fain would fill a small part.'" "'and thou, tien?' said the master." "tseng hsi stopped playing, pushed away his still sounding lute, rose up, and made answer: 'my choice would be unlike those of the other three.'" "'what harm in that?' said the master. 'each but speaks his mind.'" "tseng hsi said: 'in the last days of spring, and clad for the season, with five or six grown men and six or seven lads, i would bathe in the waters of yi, all fanned by the breeze in the rain god's glade, and wander home with song.'" "the master sighed.--'i hold with tien,' said he." very, very human, i say; very chinese. but here is that which was not human but divine: he never turned from his path to satisfy these so human and chinese longings; the breeze in the rain god's glade never blew for him. it is just as well to remember, when you read of the ceremonies, the body bent under the load of the scepter, the carefully chosen (as it may seem) and habitually worn expression of face on passing or approaching the throne, the "elbows spread like wings":--all the formal round of proprieties;--that it was the last days of spring, and the waters of yi, and the breeze in the rain god's glade, that were calling to his chinese heart. yes; he was very human; listen to this:--yuan jang awaited the master squatting on the ground. "the master said:--'unruly when young, unmentioned as man, undying when old,--this spells _good-for-nothing';_ and hit him on the leg with his staff." which brings one naturally to his sense of humor. once he was passing through a by-street when a man of the district shouted:--"great is confucius the philosopher! yet for all his wide learning he has nothing which can bring him fame!" the master turned to his disciples and said:--"what shall i take up? shall i take up charioteering?--or archery?--i must certainly take up charioteering!" his disciples once were expecting him at the city of ch'ing; and tse kung asked a man who was coming from the east gate if he had seen him there.--"well," said the man, "there is a man there with a forehead like yao, a neck like kao yao, his shoulders on a level with those of tse-ch'an, but wanting below the waist three inches of the height of yu;--and altogether having the forsaken appearance of a stray dog." tse kung recognised the description and hurried off to meet the master, to whom he reported it _verbatim._ confucius was hugely delighted. "a stray dog!" said he; "fine! fine!" unluckily, no contemporary photographs of yao and yu and the others have come down; so the description is not as enlightening now as it may have been then. "tse kung," we read, "would compare one man with another." the master said:--"what talents tse has! now i have no time for such things!" i keep on hearing in his words accents that sound familiar. when he was at loyang--honanfu--one of the things that struck him most was a bronze statue in the temple of the imperial ancestors, with a triple, clasp on its mouth. one does not wonder. a great soul from the god world, he kept his eyes resolutely on the world of men; as if he remembered, nothing of the splendor, and nothing foresaw. . . . indeed, i cannot tell; one would give much to know what really passed between him and laotse. if you say that no word of his lightens, for you that 'dusk within the holy of holies',--at least he gives you the keys, and leaves you to find and open the 'holy of holies' for yourself if you can. there are lost chapters, that went at the burning of the books; and an old-fashioned chinaman would often tell you of any western idea or invention his countrymen may not have known, that you should have found all in the lost chapters of confucius. it may be;--and that you should have found there better things, too, than western ideas and inventions. there is a passage in the _analects_ that tells how the disciples thought he was 'keeping back from them some part of his doctrine: "no, no," he answered; "if i should not give it all to you, to whom should i give it?" distinctly, then, this suggests that there was an esotericism, a side not made public; and there is no reason to suppose that it has been made public since. but it is recorded that he would lift no veils from the other-worlds. "if you do not understand life," said he, "how can you understand death?" well; we who are stranded here, each on his desert island of selfhood, thrust out after knowledge: peer for signs at all the horizons;--are eager to inquire, and avid of the unknown--which also we imagine to be something outside of our own being. but suppose a man, as they say one with tao, in which all knowledge rests in solution: what knowledge would he desire? after what would he be inquisitive? and how much, desiring it, would he possess? what is the end of being, after all? to perform your function, your duty; what men and the world,--ay, and the far suns and stars,--are requiring of you:--that is all. not to gain infinite knowledge; but to have at, every step what knowledge you need; that so you may fill your place in the universe, meeting all contours and flowing into them; restoring and maintaining the harmony of things. so we hear much about this performance of duty. but in reality, to do one's duty is to sing with the singing spheres; to have the top of infinity for the roof of one's skull, and the bottom of the great deep for one's footsoles: to be a compendium, and the equal, of heaven and earth. the password into the tao of laotse is silence; confucius kept the great silence more wonderfully than laotse did--or so it seems to me now. laotse said: _sing with the singing spheres, and behold, your duty is doing itself uder your hands._ the password into the tao of confucius is _duty:_ he said merely _do that, and,_--the rest is silence. he may have played that _rest_ on his lute; we are not to hear it in his words. there was a knowledge that laotse, enthroned in his silence, had no means of using; that confucius riding the chariot of duty, had no occasion to possess. now whether you call tao _duty,_ or _silence,_--what should the man of tao desire beyond the fulness of it? all the light is there for him; all the suns are kindled for him;--why should he light wax candles? that is, for himself: he will light them fast enough where others may be in need. to us, a great poem may be a great thing: but to them who have the fulness of which the greatest poem is but a little glimpse--what should it matter to them? and of the infinite knowledge at his disposal, would the man of tao choose to burden himself with one little item of which there was no present need? so when they say, "confucius was nobody; there is no evidence that he knew the great secrets"; answer them:--"yes, there is. he knew that supreme secret, how to _teach,_ which is the office of a teacher: he knew how to build up the inner life of his disciples; to coax, train, lure the hidden god into manifestation in them." and for evidence you can give them this: tse kung--who, you remember, was always comparing this man with that--asked which was the better, shih or shang. (they were two disciples.) confucius answered: "shih goes too far; shang not far enough." said tse kung (just as you or i would have done):-- "then shih is the better man?"--"too far," replied confucius, "is not better than not far enough."--to my ears there is more occultism in that than in a thousand ethical injunctions.--or answered;--"whilst thy father and they elder brother are alive, how canst thou do all thou art taught?" jan yu said:--"shall i do all i am taught?" the master said:--"do all thou art taught." kung-hsi hua said: "yu asked, 'shall i do all i am taught?' and you spoke, sir, of father and elder brother. ch'iu asked, 'shall i do all i am taught?' and you answered: 'do all thou art taught.' i am puzzled, and make bold to ask you, sir." the master said:--"ch'iu is bashful, so i egged him on. yu has the pluck of two, so i held him back." think it over! think it over! this though occurs to me: was that sadness of his last days caused by the knowledge that the school could not continue after his death; because the one man who might have succeeded him as the teacher, yen huy, was dead? so far as i know, it did not go on; there was no one to succeed him. that supreme success, that grand capture of future ages for the gods, was denied him; or i daresay our own civilization might have been confucian--balanced --now. but short of that--how sublime a figure he stands! if he had known that for twenty-five centuries or so he was to shine within the vision of the great unthinking masses of his countrymen as their supreme example; their anchor against the tides of error, against abnormalities, extravagances, unbalance; a bulwark against invading time and decay; a check on every bad emperor, so far as check might be set at all; a central idea to mold the hundred races of chu hia into homogeneity; a stay, a prop, a warning against headlong courses at all times of cyclic downtrend;--if he had known all this, he would, i think, have ordered his life precisely as he did. is there no strength implied, as of the universal, and not of any personal, will, however titanic, in the fact that moment after moment, day after day, year after year, he built up this picture, gave the world this wonderful assurance of a man? in his omissions, no less than in his fulfilments. he taught,--so far as we know,--nothing but what the common mind might easily accept; nothing to miss the mark of the intelligence of dull li or ching toiling in the rice-field;--nor yet too paltry for the notice of the hwangti on the dragon throne. laotse had come in the spirit of plenydd the light-bringer; in the spirit of alawn, to raise up presently sweet profusions of song. he illuminated the inner worlds; his was the urge that should again and again, especially later when reinforced by buddhism, prick up the black-haired people to heights of insight and spiritual achievement.--but the cycles of insight and spiritual achievement, these too, must always run their course and fall away; there is no year when it is always spring. dark moments and seasons come; and the spirit becomes hidden; and what you need most is not illumination,--which you cannot get; or if you could, it would be hell, and not heaven, that would be illuminated for you; not a spur to action,--for as things are constituted, any spur at such a time would drive you to wrong and exorbitant action:--what you need is not these, but simply stability to hold on; simply the habit of propriety, the power to go on at least following harmless conventions and doing harmless things; not striking out new lines for yourself, which would certainly be wrong lines, but following as placidly as may be lines that were laid down for you, or that you yourself laid down, in more righteous and more luminous times. a strong government, however tyrannical, is better than an anarchy in which the fiend in every man is let loose to run amuck. under the tyranny, yes, the aspiring man will find himself hindered and thwarted; but under the anarchy, since man is no less hell than heaven, the gates of hell will be opened, and the soul, normally speaking, can only retire and wait for better times:--unless it be the soul of a confucius, it can but wait till karma with ruthless hands has put down the anarchy and cleared things up. unless it be the soul of a confucius; and even such a one is bound to be a failure in his own day. but see what he did. the gates of hell were swung wide, and for the time being, not the hosts of the seraphim and cherubim,--not the armed bodhisatvas and dhyanis,--could have forced them back on their hinges: "the ripple of effect," we read, "thou shalt let run its course." but in the ideal world he erected a barrier against them. he set up a colossal statue with arms outthrown to bar the egress; the statue of confucius preaching the balanced life. with time it materialized, so to say, and fell into place. you can never certainly stop the gates of hell,--in this stage of our evolution. but perhaps as nearly as it can be done, he did it. rome fell, and christendom made a mess of things; it has never yet achieved that union which is the first condition of true civilization. but china, older than rome, despite her sins and vicissitudes, has made a shift to stand. i shall come to comparing the two histories presently; then you will see. when the pralaya came on her, and the forces of life all went elsewhere--as they do and must from every civilization in their season,--china lost two of her treasures: plenydd's vision, and alawn's gift of song, were taken from her. but this stability; these gloves of gwron; this instinct for middle courses and the balance, this doctrine of the mean and love of plain sane doings: she has retained enough of this to keep her in being. and it was k'ung ch'iu of lu that gave it to her. shall we not call him such a one as only the gods send? someone told me the other day what he had seen a couple of chinamen do in a californian garden. they had a flower-bed to plant, about forty feet long; and each a basket of seedlings to plant it with, and a slip of wood for a model, with mystic unintelligible signs inscribed thereon: welcome home in english capitals. one went to one end of the bed and the other to the other, and they began their planting. they made no measurements or calculations; used no rod or line; but just worked ahead till they met in the middle. when that happened, and the job was done, the bed was inscribed, in perfectly formed and proportioned english capitals made of young plants, welcome home. there was no crowding or omission. to account for it you have twenty-four centuries of confucianism,--of katherine tingley's doctrine of middle lines, the balanced life. it is a very small thing; but it may help us to understand. xii. tales from a taoist teacher confucius died in : the year, it may be noted, in which athens attained her hegemony: or just when the greek cycle thirteen decades was opening. looking backward thirteen decades from that, we come to b.c.; four years after which date, according to the usually accepted tradition, laotse was born. thus we find the cycle preceding that of greece mainly occupied, in china, by the lives of the two great teachers. we should have seen by this time that these two lives were, so to say, parts of a single whole: co-ordinated spiritually, if not in an organization on this plane. laotse, like h.p. blavatsky, brought the teachings; he illuminated the inner worlds. that was his work. we can see little of him as he accomplished it: and only the smallest fragment of his doctrine remains:--five thousand words, out of his whole long life. but since we have had in our own time an example of how these things are done, we may judge him and his mission by this analogy; also by the results. then came confucius, like katherine tingley, to link this wisdom with individual and national life. the teachings were there; and he had no need to restate them: he might take the great principles as already enounced. but every teacher has his own method, and his need to accentuate this or that: so time and history have had most to say about the differences between these two. what confucius had to do, and did, was to found his school, and show in the lives of his disciples, modeled under his hands, how the wisdom of the ages (and of laotse) can be made a living power in life and save the world. contrasting the efforts of that age and this, we may say that then, organization, such as we have now, was lacking. confucius did not come as the official successor of laotse; laotse, probably, had had no organized school that he could hand over to confucius. he had taught, and his influence had gone far and wide, affecting the thought of the age; but he had had no trained and pledged body of students to whom he could say: 'follow this man when i am gone; he is my worthy successor.'-- all of which will be laughed at: i firmly believe, however, that it is an accurate estimate of things. when you come to think of it, it was by the narrowest margine that h. p. blavatsky, through mr. judge--and his heroism and wisdom alone to be thanked for it!--had anything beyond the influence of her ideas and revelation to hand on to katherine tingley. in the way of an organization, i mean. very few among her disciples had come to have any glimmering of what discipleship means, or were prepared to follow her accredited successors. and confucius, in his turn, had no established center for his school; it was a thing that wandered the world with him, and ceased, as in organization (however hazy) to exist when he died. nothing remained, then, of either teacher for posterity except the ideas and example. and yet i have hinted, and shall try to show, that tremendous results for good followed: that the whole course of history was turned in an upward direction. you may draw what inferences you will. the matter is profoundly significant. thirteen decades after the death of confucius, plato died in greece; and about that time two men arose in china to carry forward, bring down, and be the expositors of, the work of the two great teachers of the sixth and seventh centuries. these were chwangtse for taoism, and mangtse or mencius for confucius: the one, the channel through which spiritual thought flowed to the quickening of the chinese imagination; the other, the man who converted the spiritual thought of confucius into the chinese constitution. alas! they were at loggerheads: a wide breach between the two schools of thought had come to be by their time; or perhaps it was they who created it. we shall arrive at them next week; tonight, to introduce you to liehtse, a taoist teacher who came sometime between laotse and chwangtse;--perhaps in the last quarter of the fifth century, when socrates was active in greece. professor de groot, of holland, speaks boldly of confucius as a taoist; and though i dislike many of this learned dutchman's ideas, this one is excellent. his thesis is that laotse was no more an innovator than confucius; that both but gave a new impulse to teachings as old as the race. before laotse there had been a teacher quan, a statesman-philosopher of the seventh century, who had also taught the tao. the immemorial chinese idea had been that the universe is made of the interplay of two forces, _yang_ and _yin,_ positive and negative;--or simply the higher and the lower natures. to the yang, the higher, belong the _shen_ or gods,--all conscious beneficent forces within and without man. to the yin or lower belong the _kwei,_ the opposite of gods: _fan_ means foreign; and _fan kwei_ is the familiar chinese term for white men. from shen and tao we get the term _shentao,_ which you know better as _shinto,_--the way of the gods; or as well, the wisdom of the gods; as good an equivalent of our term _theosophy_ as you should find; perhaps indeed better than _theosophy_ itself; for it drives home the idea that the _wisdom_ is a practical _way of life._ shentao, the taoism of the higher nature, then, was the primeval religion of the chinese;--dr. de groot arrives at this, though perhaps hardly sees how sensible a conclusion he has reached. in the sixth century b.c. it was in a fair way to becoming as obsolete as neoplatonism or gnosticism in the nineteenth a.d.; and laotse and confucius simply restated some aspects of it with a new force and sanction;--just as h.p. blavatsky, in the _key to theosophy,_ begins, you will remember, with an appeal to and restatement of the theosophy of the gnostics and neoplatonists of alexandria. it may seem a kind of divergence from our stream of history, to turn aside and tell stories from the _book of liehtse;_ but there are excuses. chinese history, literature, thought-- everything--have been such a closed book to the west, that those scholars who have opened a few of its pages are to be considered public benefactors; and there is room and to spare for any who will but hold such opened pages up;--we are not in the future to dwell so cut off from a third of mankind. also it will do us good to look at theosophy from the angle of vision of another race. i think liehtse has much to show us as to the difference between the methods of the chinese and western minds: the latter that must bring most truths down through the brain-mind, and set them forth decked in the apparel of reason; the former that is, as it seems to me, often rather childlike as to the things of the brain-mind; but has a way of bringing the great truths down and past the brain-mind by some circuitous route; or it may be only by a route much more direct than ours. the west presents its illuminations so that they look big on the surface; you say, this is the work of a great mind. a writer in the _times literary supplement_ brought out the idea well, in comparing the two poetries. what he said was, in effect, as follows:--the western poet, too often, dons his singing robe before he will sing; works himself up; expects to step out of current life into the grand manner;--and unless the soul happens to be there and vocal at the time, achieves mostly _pombundle._ the chinaman presents his illumination as if it were nothing at all,--just the simplest childish-foolish thing; nothing in the world for the brain-mind to get excited about. you take very little notice at the time: more of their quaint punchinello _chinoiserie,_ you say. three weeks after, you find that it was a clear voice from the supermundane, a high revelation. the chinese poet saunters along playing a common little tune on his pan-pipes. singing robes?-- none in the world; just what he goes to work in. grand manner?-- 'sir,' says he, 'the contemptible present singer never heard of it; wait for that till the coming of a superior man.'--'well,' you say, 'at least there is no danger of _pombundle';_ and indeed there is not. but you rather like the little tune, and stop to listen . . . and then . . . oh god! the wonder of wonders has happened, and the universe will never be quite the dull, fool, ditchwater thing it was to you before . . . liehtse gives one rather that kind of feeling. we know practically nothing about him.--i count three stages of growth among the sinologists: the first, with a missionary bias; the second, with only the natural bias of pure scholarship and critical intellectualism, broad and generous, but rather running at times towards tidying up the things of the soul from off the face of the earth; the third, with scholarship plus sympathy, understanding, and a dash of mystical insight. the men of the first stage accepted liehtse as a real person, and called him a degenerator of taoism, a teacher of immoral doctrine;--in the _book of liehtse,_ certainly, such doctrine is to be found. the men of the second stage effectually tidied liehtse up: dr. h. a. giles says he was an invention of the fertile brain of chwangtse, and his book a forgery of han times. well; people did forge ancient literature in those days, and were well paid for doing so; and you cannot be quite certain of the complete authenticity of any book purporting to have been written before ts'in shi hwangti's time. also chwangtse's brain was fertile enough for anything;--so that there was much excuse for the men of the second stage. but then came dr. lionel giles* who belongs to the third stage, and perhaps _is_ the third stage. he shows that though there is in the _book of liehtse_ a residue or scum of immoral teaching, it is quite in opposition to the tendency of the teaching that remains when this scum is removed; and deduces from this fact the sensible idea that the scum was a later forgery; the rest, the authentic work of a true philosopher with an original mind and a style of his own. such a man, of course, might have lived later than chwangtse, and taken his nom de plume of liehtse from the latter's book; but against this there is the fact that liehtse's teaching forms a natural link between chtangtse's and that of their common master laotse; and above all--and herein lies the real importance of him--the real liehtse treats confucius as a teacher and man of tao. but by chwangtse's time the two schools had separated: confucius was chwangtse's butt;--we shall see why. and in the scum of liehtse he is made fun of in chwangtse's spirit, but without changtse's wit and style. ------ * whose translation of parts of the _book of liehtse,_ with an invaluable preface, appears in the _wisdom of the east series;_ from which translation the passages quoted in this lecture are taken;--as also are many ideas from the preface. ------ so that whoever wrote this book,--whether it was the man referred to by chwangtse when he says: "there was liehtse again; he could ride upon the wind and go wheresoever he wished, staying away as long as thirteen days,"--or someone else of the same name, he did not take his non de plume from that passage in chwangtse, because he was probably dead when chwangtse wrote it. we may, then, safely call him a taoist teacher of the fifth century,--or at latest of the early fourth. the book's own account of itself is, that it was not written by liehtse, but compiled from his oral teaching by his disciples. thus it begins: "our master liehtse live in the cheng state for forty years, and no man knew him for what he was. the prince, his ministers, and the state officials looked upon him as one of the common herd. a time of dearth fell upon the state, and he was preparing to emigrate to wei, when his disciples said to him: 'now that our master is going away without any prospect of returning, we have ventured to approach him, hoping for instruction. are there no words from the lips of hu-ch'iu tsu-lin that you can impart to us?'--lieh the master smiled and said: 'do you suppose that hu tzu dealt in words? however, i will try to repeat to you what my teacher said on one occasion to po-hun moujen. i was standing by and heard his words, which ran as follows.'" then come some rather severe metaphysics on cosmogony: really, a more systematic statement of the teaching thereon which laotse referred to, but did not (in the _tao teh king_) define. 'more systematic,'--and yet by no means are the lines laid down and the plan marked out; there is no cartography of cosmogenesis; . . . but seeds of meditation are sown. of course, it is meaningless nonsense for the mind to which all metaphysics and abstract thought are meaningless nonsense. mystics, however, will see in it an attempt to put the unutterable into words. one paragraph may be quoted: "there is life, and that which produces life; form, and that which imparts form; sound, and that which causes color; taste, and that which causes taste. the source of life is death; but that which produces life never comes to an end." remember the dying socrates: 'life comes from death, as death from life.' we appear, at birth, out of that unseen into which we return at death, says liehtse; but that which produces life, --which is the cause of this manifestation (you can say, the soul),--is eternal. "the origin of form is matter; but that which imparts form has no material existence." no; because it is the down-breathing spirit entering into matter; matter being the medium through which it creates, or to which it imparts, form. "the form to which the clay is modeled is first united with"--or we may say, projected from--"the potter's mind." "the genesis of sound lies in the sense of hearing; but that which causes sound is never audible to the ear. the source of color"--for 'source' we might say, the 'issuing-point'--"is vision; but that which produces color never manifests to the eye. the origin of taste lies in the palate; but that which causes taste is never perceived by that sense. all these pehnomena are functions of the principle of inaction--the inert unchanging tao." one is reminded of a passage in the _talavakara-upanishad:_ "that which does not speak by speech, but by which speech is expressed: that alone shalt thou know as brahman, not that which they here adore. "that which does not think by mind, but by which mind is itself thought: that alone shalt thou know as brahman, not that which they here adore." and so it continues of each of the sense-functions. after this, liehtse for the most wanders from story to story; he taught in parables; and sometimes we have to listen hard to catch the meaning of them, he rarely insists on it, or drives it well home, or brings it down to levels of plain-spokenness at which it should declare itself to a westem mind. here, again, is the chinese characteristic: the touch is lighter; more is left to the intuition of the reader; the lines are less heavily drawn. they rely on a kind of intelligence in the readers, akin to the writers', to see those points at a glance, which we must search for carefully. where each word has to be drawn, a little picture taking time and care, you are in no danger of overlavishness; you do not spill and squander your words, "intoxicated," as they say, "with the exuberance of your verbosity." style was forced on the chinese; ideograms are a grand preventive against pombundle.--i shall follow liehtse's method, and go from story to story at random; perhaps interpreting a little by the way. we saw how confucius insisted on balance: egging on jan yu, who was bashful, and holding back tse lu, who had the pluck of two;-- declaring that shih was not a better man than shang, because too far is not better than not far enough. the whole chinese idea is that this balance of the faculties is the first and grand essential. your lobsided man can make no progress really;--he must learn balance first. an outstanding virtue, talent, or aptitude, is a deterrent, unless the rest of the nature is evolved up to it;--that is why the greatest men are rarely the most striking men; why a napoleon catches the eye much more quickly than a confucius; something stands out in the one,--and compels attention; but all is even in the other. you had much better not have genius, if you are morally weak; or a very strong will, if you are a born fool. for the morally weak genius will end in moral wreck; and the strong-willed fool--a plague upon him! this is the truth, knowledge of which has made china so stable; and ignorance of which has kept the west so brilliant and fickle,--of duality such poles apart,--so lobsided and, i think, in a true sense, so little progressive. for see how many centuries we have had to wait while ignorance, bigotry, wrong ideas, and persecution, have prevented the establishment on any large scale of a theosophical movement--and be not too ready to accept a whirl of political changes, experiment after experiment,--and latterly a spurt of mechanical inventions,--for true progress: which i take to mean, rightly considered, the growth of human egos, and freedom and an atmosphere in which they may grow. but these they had in china abundantly while china was in manvantara; do not think i am urging as our example the fallen china of these pralayic times. balance was the truth confucius impressed on the chinese mentality: the saving truth of truths, i may say; and it is perhaps the truth which most of all will stand connected with the name of katherine tingley in the ages to come:--the saving truth of truths, which will make a new and better world for us. you must have it, if you are to build solidly; it is the foundation of any true social order; the bedrock on which alone a veritable civilization can be built. oh, your unbalanced genius can produce things of startling beauty; and they have their value, heaven knows. the soul watches for its chances, and leaps in at surprising moments: the arm clothed in white samite may reach forth out of the bosom of all sorts of curious quagmires; and when it does, should be held in reverence as still and always a proof of the underlying divinity of man. but--there where the basis of things is not firmly set: where that mystic, wonderful reaching out is not from the clear lake, but from turbidity and festering waters-- where the grand balance has not been acquired:--you must look to come on tragedy. the world has gained something from the speech of the soul there; but the man through whom it spoke;--it has proved too much for him. the vibrations were too strong, and shattered him. think of keats . . . and of thousands of others, poets, musicians, artists. where you get the grand creations, the unfitful shining,--there you get evidence of a balance: with genius--the daimonic force--no greater than, perhaps not so keen as, that of those others, you find a strong moral will. dante and milton suffered no less than others from those perils to which all creative artists are subject: both complain bitterly of inner assailments and torment; but they had, to balance their genius, the strong moral urge to fight their weaknesses all through life. it could not save their personalities from suffering; but it gave the soul in each of them a basis on which to build the grand steadfast creations.--all of which chinese liehtse tells you without comment, and with an air of being too childish-foolish for this world, in the following story:-- kung-hu and chi-ying fell ill, and sought the services of the renowned doctor, pien-chiao. he cured them with his drugs; then told them they were also suffering from diseases no drugs could reach, born with them at their birth, and that had grown up with them through life. "would you have me grapple with these?" said he.--"yes," said they; but wished first to hear the diagnosis.-- "you," he said to kung-hu, "have strong mental powers, but are weak in character; so, though fruitful in plans, you are weak in decision." "you," he said to chi-ying, "are stong of will, though stupid; so there is a narrowness in your aims and a want of foresight. now if i can effect an exchange of hearts between you, the good will be equally balanced in both." they agreed at once: kung-hu, with the weaker will, was to get the smaller mental powers to match it; chi-ying was to get a mentality equal to his firm will. we should think kung-hu got very much the worst of the bargain; but he, and dr. pien-chiao, and liehtse, and perhaps chinamen generally, thought and would think nothing of the kind. to them, to have balanced faculties was far better than to have an intellect too big for one's will-power; because such balance would afford a firm basis from which will and intellect might go forward in progress harmoniously. so pien-chiao put both under a strong anaesthetic, took out their hearts, and made the exchange (the heart being, with the chinese, the seat of mentality); and after that the health of both was perfect.--you may laugh; but after all there is a grandeur in the recognition implied, that the intellect is not the man, but only one of his possessions. the story is profoundly characteristic: like ah sin's smile in the poem, "childlike and bland"; but hiding wonderful depths of philosophy beneath. laotse showed his deep occult wisdom when he said that the man of tao "does difficult things while they are still easy." liehtse tells you the story of the assitant to the keeper of the wild beasts at loyang. his name was lian yang, and his fame went abroad for having a wonderful way with the creatures in his charge. hsuan wang, the chow king, heard of it; and sent orders to the chief keeper to get the secret from liang, lest it should die with him.--"how is it," said the keeper, "that when you feed them, the tigers, wolves, eagles, and ospreys all are tame and tractable? that they roam at large in the park, yet never claw and bite one another? that they propagate their species freely, as if they were wild? his majesty bids you reveal to me the secret." a touch of nature here: all zoologists know how difficult it is to get wild beasts to breed in captivity. lian yang answered: "i am only a humble servant, and have really no secret to tell. i fear the king has led you to expect something mysterious. as to the tigers: all i can say is that, like men, when yielded to they are pleased and when opposed they are angry. nothing gives way either to pleasure or to anger without a cause; and anger, by reaction, will follow pleasure, and pleasure anger. i do not excite the tigers' joy by giving them live creatures to kill, or whole carcasses to tear up. i neither rouse their anger by opposing them, nor humor them to make them pleased. i time their periods of hunger and anticipate them. it is my aim to be neither antagonistic nor compliant; so they look upon me as one of themselves. hence they walk about the parks without regretting the tall forests and broad marshes, and rest in the enclosure without yearning for lonely mountain or dark vale. it is merely using common sense." and there liehtse leaves it in all its simplicity; but i shall venture to put my spoke in, and add that he has really given you a perfect philosophy for the conduct of life: for the government of that other and inner tiger, the lower nature, especially; it is always that, you will remember, for which the tiger stands in chinese symbology;--and also for education, the government of nations--everything. balance,--middle lines,--avoidance of extremes,--lines of least resistance:--by whom are we hearing these things inculcated daily? did they not teach raja-yoga in ancient china? have not our school and its principles a chinese smack about them? well; it was these principles made china supremely great; and kept her alive and strong when all her contemporaries had long passed into death; and, i hope, have ingrained something into her soul and hidden being, which will make her rise to wonderful heights again. you can hear laotse in them; it is the practical application of laotse's doctrine. but can you not equally hear the voice of confucius: "too far is not better than not far enough"? western ethical teaching has tended towards inculcating imitation of the soul's action: this chinese teaching takes the soul for granted; says very little about it; but shows you how to provide the soul with the conditions through and in which it may act. "love your enemies;"--yes; that is fine; it is what the soul, the divine part of us, does;--but we are not in the least likely to do it while suffering from the reaction from an outburst of emotion; ethics grow rather meaningless to us when, for example, we have toppled over from our balance into pleasure, eaten not wisely but too well, say; and then toppled back into the dumps with an indigestion. but where the balance is kept you need few ethical injunctions; the soul is there, and may speak; and sees to all that. hu-chiu tzu-lin, we read, taught liehtse these things. said he: "you must familiarize yourself with the theory of consequents before you can talk of regulating conduct." liehtse said:--"will you explain what you mean by the theory of consequents?" "look at your shadow," said his teacher; "and you will know." liehtse turned his head and looked at his shadow. when his body was bent the shadow was crooked; when upright, it was straight. thus it appeared that the attributes of straightness and crookedness were not inherent in the shadow, but corresponded to certain positions in the body . . . . "holding this theory of consequents," says liehtse, "is to be at home in the antecedent." now the antecedent of the personality is the soul; the antecedent of the action is the motive; the antecedent of the conduct of life is the relation in which the component faculties of our being stand to each other and to the soul. if the body is straight, so is the shadow; if the inner harmony or balance is attained and held to--well; you see the point. "the relative agrees with its antecedent," say the grammar books, very wisely. it is karma again: the effect flowing from the cause. "you may consider the virtues of shennung and yuyen," says liehtse; "you may examine the books of yu, kia, shang, and chow,"--that is, the whole of history;--"you may weight the utterances of the great teachers and sages; but you will find no instance of preservation or destruction, fulness or decay, which has not obeyed this supreme law of causality." where are you to say that liehtse's confucianism ends, and his taoism begins? it is very difficult to draw a line. confucius, remember, gave _"as-the-heart"_ for the single character that should express his whole doctrine. liehtse is leading you inward, to see how the conduct of life depends upon balance, which also is a word that may translate _tao._ where the balance is, there we come into relations with the great tao. there is nothing supra-confucian here; though soon we may see an insistence upon the inner which, it may be supposed, later confucianism, drifting toxards externalism, would hardly have enjoyed.--a man in sung carved a mulberry-leaf in jade for his prince. it took three years to complete, and was so well done, so realistic in its down and glossiness, that if placed in a heap of real mulberry-leaves, it could not be distinguished from them. the state pensioned him as a reward; but liehtse, hearing of it, said: "if god almighty took three years to complete a leaf, there would be very few trees with leaves on them. the sage will rely less on human skill and science, than on the evolution of tao." lung shu came to the great doctor wen chih, and said to him: "you are the master of cunning arts. i have a disease; can you cure it, sir?" "so far," said wen chih, "you have only made known your desire. please let me know the symptoms of your disease." they were, utter indifference to the things and events of the world. "i hold it no honor to be praised in my own village, nor disgrace to be decried in my native state. gain brings me no joy, loss no sorrow. i dwell in my home as if it were a mere caravanserai, and regard my native district as though it were one of the barbarian kingdoms. honors and rewards fail to rouse me, pains and penalties to overawe me, good or bad fortune to influence me; joy or grief to move me. what disease is this? what remedy will cure it?" * ------ * i may say here that though i am quoting the speeches more or less directly from dr. lionel giles' translation, too many liberties are being taken, verbally, with the narative parts of these stories, to allow quotation marks and small type. one contracts and expands (sparingly, the latter); but gives the story. ------ wen chih examined his heart under x-rays;--really and truly that is in effect what liehtse says.--"ah," said he, "i see that a good square inch of your heart is hollow; you are within a little of being a true sage. six of the orifices are open and clear, and only the seventh is blocked up. this last is doubtless due to the fact that you are mistaking for a disease what is in reality an approach to divine enlightenment. it is a case in which my shallow art is of no avail." i tell this tale, as also that other about the exchange of hearts, partly to suggest that liehtse's china may have had the actuality, or at least a reminiscence, of scientific knowledge since lost there, and only discovered in europe recently. in the same way one finds references to automatic oxen, self-moving chariots, traveling by air, and a number of other things which, as we read of them, sound just like superstitious nonsense. there are old chinese drawings of pterodactyls, and suchlike unchancey antediluvian wild fowl. _argal,_ (you would say) the chinese knew of these once; although ptero and his friends have been extinct quite a few million years, one supposes. or was it superstition again? then why was it not superstition in professor so-and-so, who found the bones and reconstructed the beastie for holiday crowds to gaze upon at the crystal palace or the metropolitan museum? knowledge does die away into reminiscence, and then into oblivion; and the chances are that liehtse's time retained reminiscences which have since become oblivion-hidden;--then rediscovered in the west.--but i tell the tale also for a certain divergence marked in it, between taoist and confucian thought. laotse would have chuckled over it, who brooded much on 'self-emptiness' as the first step towards illumination. confucius would have allowed it; but it would not have occurred to him, unsuggested. now here is something still further from confucianism; something prophetic of later taoist developments, though it still contains laotse's thought, and--be it said--deep wisdom. fan tsu hua was a bully and a charlatan, who by his trickery had won such hold over the king of tsin that anyone he might recommend was surely advanced to office, and anyone he cried down would lose his all. so it was said he had magic to make the rich poor and the poor rich. he had many disciples, who were the terror of the peaceably disposed. one day they saw an old weak man approaching, 'with weather-beaten face and clothes of no particular cut.' a chance for sport not to be neglected, they thought; and began to hustle him about in their usual fashion, 'slapping him on the back, and what not.' but he--shang ch'iu k'ai was his name--seemed only full of joy and serenity, and heeded nothing. growing tired of their fun at last, they would make an end of it; and led him to the top of a high cliff. "whoever dares throw himself over," said one of them, "will find a hundred ounces of silver," which certainly he had not had with him at the top, and none of them had put there. it was a wonder; and still more a wonder his being unhurt; but you can make chance account for most things, and they meant to get rid of him. so they brought him to the banks of the river, saying: "a pearl of great price is here, to be had for the diving." in he went without a word, and disappeared duly; and so, thought they, their fun had come to a happy end. but no: as they turned to go, up he came, serene and smiling, and scrambled out. "well; did you find the pearl?" they asked. "oh yes," said shang; "it was just as your honors said." he showed it to them; and it was indeed a pearl of great price. here was something beyond them; the old man, clearly, was a favorite of fortune; fan their master himself must deal with him. so they sent word ahead, and brought him to the palace of fan. who understood well the limitations of quack magic: if he was to be beaten at these tricks, where would his influence be? so he heaped up riches in the courtyard, and made a great fire all round.--"anyone can have those things," he announced, "who will go in and get them." shang quietly walked through the flames, and came out with his arms full; not a hair of his head was singed. and now they were filled with consternation; they had been making a mock of tao these years; and here evidently was a real master of tao, come to expose them.--"sir," they said, "we did not know that you posessed the secret, and were playing you tricks. we insulted you, unaware that you were a divine man. but you have leaped from the cliff, dived into the yellow river, and walked through the flames without injury; you have shown us our stupidity, blindness, and deafness. we pray you to forgive us, and to reveal to us the secret." he looked at them in blank amazement.--"what is this you are telling me?" said he. "i am only old shang ch'iu k'ai the peasant. i heard that you, sir, by your magic could make the poor rich. i wanted to be rich, so i came to you. i believed in you absolutely, and in all your disciples said; and so my mind was made one; i forgot my body; i saw nothing of cliffs or fire or water. but now you say you were decieving me, my soul returns to its perplexity, and my eyes and ears to their sight and hearing. what terrible dangers i have escaped! my limbs freeze with horror to think of them." tsai wo, continues liehtse, told this story to confucius.--"is this so strange to you?" said the latter. "the man of perfect faith can move heaven and earth, and fly to the six cardinal points without hindrance. his powers are not confined to walking in perilous places and passing through water and fire. if shang ch'iu k'ai, whose motive was greed and whose belief was false, found no obstacle in external things, how much more certainly will it be so when the motive is pure and both parties sincere?" i will finish it with what is really another of liehtse's stories,--also dealing with a man who walked through fire uninjured, unconscious of it because of the one-pointedness of his mind. the incident came to the ears of marquis wen of wei, who spoke to tsu hsia, a disciple of confucius, about it.--"from what i have heard the master say," said tsu hsia, "the man who achieves harmony with tao enters into close relations with outer objects, and none of them has power to harm or hinder him."--"why, my friend," said the marquis, "cannot you do all these marvels?"--"i have not yet succeeded," said tsu hsia, "in cleansing my heart from impurities and discarding brainmind wisdom."--"and why," said the marquis, "cannot the master himself" (confucius, of course) "perform such feats?"--"the master," said tsu hsia, "is able to perform them; but _he is also able to refrain from performing them."_--which, again, he was. here is another example: hui yang went to visit prince k'ang of sung. the prince, however, stamped his foot, rasped his throat, and said angrily:-- "the things i like are courage and strength. i am not fond of your good and virtuous people. what can a stranger like you have to teach me?" "i have a secret," said hui yang, "whereby my opponent, however brave or strong, can be prevented from harming me either by thrust or blow. would not your highness care to know that secret?" "capital!" said the prince; "that is certainly something i should like to hear about." "true," said hui yang, "when you render his stabs or blows ineffectual, you cover your opponent with shame. but my secret will make him, however brave or strong, afraid to stab or strike at all." "better still," said the prince; "let me hear about it." "it is all very well for him to be afraid to do it." said hui yang; "but that does not imply he has no will to do it. now, my secret would deprive him even of the will." "better and better," said prince k'ang; "i beseech you to reveal it to me." "yes," said hui yang; "but this not having the will to injure does not necessarily connote a desire to love and do good. but my secret is one whereby every man, woman, and child in the empire shall be inspired with the friendly desire to love and do good to each other. this is much better than the possession of mere courage and strength. has your highness no mind to acquire such a secret as this?" the prince confessed that, on the contray, he was most anxious to learn it. "it is nothing else than the teachings of confucius and mo ti," said hui yang. a main idea of taoism--one with which the confucius of orthodox confucianism did not concern himself--is the possibility of creating within one's outer and mortal an inner and immortal self; by subduing desire, by sublimating away all impurities, by concentration. the seed of that immortality is hidden in us; the seed of mastery of the inner and outer worlds. faith is the key. shang ch'iu k'ai, whose "faith had made him whole," walked through fire. "whoso hath faith as a grain of mustard-seed," said jesus, can move mountains. it sounds as if he had been reading the _book of liehtse;_ which is at pains to show how the thing is done. t'ai-hsing and wang-wu, the mountains, stood not where they stand now, but in the south of the chi district and north of ho-yang. i like the tale well, and shall tell it for its naive chinesity. the simpleton of the north mountain, an old man of ninety, dwelt opposite to them, and was vexed in spirit because their northern flanks blocked the way for travelers, who had to go round. so he called his family together and broached a plan.--"let us put forth our utmost strength and clear away this obstacle," said he; "let us cut right through the mountains till we come to han-yin." all agreed except his wife. "my goodman," said she, "has not the strength to sweep away a dung-hill, let alone such mountains as t'ai-hsing and wang-wu. besides, where will you put the earth and stones?" they answered that they would throw them on the promontory of p'o-hai. so the old man, followed by his son and grandson, sallied forth with their pickaxes, and began hewing away at the rocks and cutting up the soil, and carting it away in baskets to the promontory. a widow who lived near by had a little boy who, though he was only just shedding his milk-teeth, came skipping along to give them what help he could. engrossed in their toil they never went home except once at the turn of the season. the wise old man of the river-bend burst out laughing and urged them to stop. "great indeed is your witlessness!" said he. "with the poor remaining strength of your declining years you will not succeed in removing a hair's-breadth of the mountains, much less the whole vast mass of rock and soil." with a sigh the simpleton of the north mountain answered:--"surely it is you who are narrow-minded and unreasonable. you are not to be compared with the widow's son, despite his puny strength. though i myself must die, i shall leave my son behind me, and he his son. my grandson will beget sons in his turn, and those sons also will have sons and grandsons. with all this posterity my line will not die out; while on the other hand the mountains will receive no increment or addition. why then should i despair of leveling them to the ground at last?"--the wise old man of the river-bend had nothing to say in reply. chinese! chinese!--from whatever angle you look at it, it smacks of the nation that saw babylon fall, and rome, and may yet-- but look now, at what happened. there was something about the project and character of the simpleton of the north mountain, that attracted the attention of the serpent-brandishing deities. they reported the matter to almighty god; who was interested; and perhaps was less patient than the simpleton.--i do not quite know who this person translated 'almighty god' may be; i think he figures in the taoist hierarchy somewhere below laotse and the other adepts. at any rate he was in a position to order the two sons of k'ua o--and i do not know who k'ua o and his sons were-- to expedite matters. so the one of them took up t'ai-hsing, and the other wu-wang, and transported them to the positions where they remain to this day to prove the truth of liehtse's story. further proof:--the region between ts'i in the north and han in the south--that is to say, northern homan--is still and has been ever since, an unbroken plain. and perhaps, behind this naive chinesity, lie grand enunciations of occult law. . . . i will end with what is probably liehtse's most famous story-- and, from a purely literary standpoint, his best. it is worthy of chwangtse himself; and i tell it less for its philosophy than for its fun. one morning a fuel-gatherer--we may call him li for convenience, though liehtse leaves him nameless--killed a deer in the forest; and to keep the carcass safe till he went home in the evening, hid it under a pile of brushwood. his work during the day took him far and when he looked for the deer again, he could not find it. "i must have dreamed the whole thing," he said;--and satisfied himself with that explanation. he made a verse about it as he trudged home through the woods, and went crooning: at dawn in the hollow, beside the stream, i hid the deer i killed in the dream; at eve i sought for it far and near; and found 'twas a dream that i killed the deer. he passed the cottage of yen the woodman--yen we may call him, though liehtse calls him nothing.--who heard the song, and pondered. "one might as well take a look at the place," thought he; it seemed to him it might be such and such a hollow, by such and such a stream. thither he went, and found the pile of brushwood; it looked to him a likely place enough to hide a deer under. he made search, and there the carcass was. he took it home and explained the matter to his wife. "once upon a time," said he, "a fuel-gatherer dreamed he had killed a deer and forgotten where he had hidden it. now i have got the deer, and here it is; so his dream came true, in a way."--"rubbish!" she answered. "it was you must have dreamed the fuel-gatherer and his dreim. you must have killed the deer yourself, since you have it there; but where is your fuel-gatherer?" that night li dreamed again; and in his dream saw yen fetch the deer from its hiding-place and bring it home. so in the morning he went to yen's house and there, sure enough, the deer was. they argued the matter out, but to no purpose. then they took it before the magistrate, who gave judgment as follows: "the plaintiff began with a real deer and an alleged dream; and now comes forward with a real dream and an alleged deer. the defendant has the deer the plaintiff dreamed, and wants to keep it. according to his wife, however, the plaintiff and the deer are both but figments of the defendant's dream. meanwhile, there is the deer; which you had better divide between you." the case was reported to the prince of cheng, whose opinion was that the magistrate had dreamed the whole story, himself. but his prime minister said: "if you want to distinguish between dream and waking, you would have to go back to the yellow emperor or confucius. as both are dead, you had better uphold the magistrate's decision." * ------ * the tale is told both in dr. lionel giles's translation mentioned above, and also, with verbal differences, in dr. h. a. giles's work on _chinese literature._ the present telling follows now one, now the other version, now goes its own way;-- and pleads guilty to adding the verse the woodman crooned. ------ xiii. mang the philosopher, and butterfly chwang liehtse's tale of the dream and the deer leads me naturally to this characteristic bit from chwangtse:*-- "once upon a time, i, chwangtse, dreamed i was a butterfly fluttering hither and thither; to all intents and purposes a veritable butterfly. i followed my butterfly fancies, and was unconscious of my individuality as a man. suddenly i awoke, and there i lay, a man again. now how am i to know whether i was then, chwangtse dreaming i was a butterfly, or whether i am now a butterfly dreaming i am chwang?" ------ * which, like nearly all the other passages from him in this lecture, is quoted from dr. h. a. giles's _chinese literature,_ in the literatures of the world series; new york, appleton. ------ for which reason he is, says dr. giles, known to this day as "butterfly chwang"; and the name is not all inappropriate. he flits from fun to philosophy, and from philosoply to fun, as if they were dark rose and laughing pansy; when he has you in the gravest depths of wisdom and metaphysic, he will not be content till with a flirt of his wings and an aspect gravely solemn he has you in fits of laughter again. his is really a book that belongs to world-literature; as good reading, for us now, as for any ancient chinaman of them all. i think he worked more strenuously in the field of sheer intellect--stirred the thought stuff more--than most other chinese thinkers,--and so is more akin to the western mind; he carves his cerebrations more definitely, and leaves less to the intuition. the great lack in him is his failure to appreciate confucius; and to explain that, before i go further with butterfly chwang, i shall take a glance at the times he lived in. they were out of joint when confucius came; they were a couple of centuries more so now. still more was the tiger stalking abroad: there were two or three tigers in particular, among the great powers, evidentlv crouching for a spring--that should settle things. time was building the funeral pyre for the phoenix, and building it of the debris of ruined worlds. in the early sixth century, the best minds were retiring in disgust to the wilds;--you remember the anchorite's rebuke to tse-lu. but now they were all coming from their retirement--the most active minds, whether the best or not--to shout their nostrums and make confusion worse confounded. all sorts of socialisms were in the air, raucously bellowed by would-be reformers. a "loud barbarian from the south" (as mencius called him--i do not know who he was) was proclaiming that property should be abolished, and all goods held in common. one yang chu was yelling universal egoism: "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." against him, one mo ti had been preaching universal altruism;--but i judge, not too sensibly, and without appeal to philosophy or mysticism. thought of all kinds was in a ferment, and the world filled with the confused noise of its expression; clear voices were needed, to restate the message of the teachers of old. then mencius arose to speak for confucius in this china so much further progressed along the gadarene road. a strong and brilliant man, he took the field strongly and brilliantly, and filled the courts of dukes and kings with a roll of confucian drums. confucius, as i have tried to show you, had all mysticism divinely behind and backing him, though he said little about it; mencius, i think, had none. mencius remade a confucius of his own, with the mystical elements lacking. he saw in him only a social reformer and teacher of ethics; and it is the easiest thing in the world to see confucius only through mencian spectacles. i would not fall into the mistake of undervaluing mencius. he was a very great man; and the work he did for china was enormous, and indispensable. you may call him something between the st. paul and the constantine of confucianism. unlike constantine, he was not a sovereign, to establish the system; but he hobnobbed with sovereigns, and never allowed them to think him their inferior; and it was he who made of confucianism a system that could be established. unlike st. paul, he did not develop the inner side of his master's teachings; but he so popularized them as to ensure their triumph. he took the ideas of confucius, such of them as lay within his own statesmanlike and practical scope of vision, restated and formulated them, and made of them what became the chinese constitution. a brave and honest thinker, essentially a man of action in thought, he never consciously deteriorated or took away from confucius' doctrine. it is more as if some great president or prime minister, at some future time, should suddenly perceive that h.p. blavatsky had brought that which would save his nation; and proceed to apply that saving thing, as best he might, in the field of practical politics and reform--or rather to restate it in such a way that (according to his view) it might be applied. he put the constituents parts of society in order of importance as follows: the people; the gods; the sovereign: and this has been a cardinal principle in chinese polity. he saw clearly that the chow dynasty could never be revived; and arrived at the conclusion that a dynasty was only sacred while it retained the "mandate of heaven." chow had lost that; and therefore it was within the rights of heaven, as you may say, to place its mandate elsewhere;--and within the rights of the subject--as the logic of events so clearly proved chow had lost the mandate--to rebel. confucius had hoped to revivify chow--had begun with that hope, at any rate: mencius hoped to raise up some efficient sovereign who should overturn chow. the right of rebellion, thus taught by him, is another fundamental chinese principle. it works this way: if there was discontent, there was misrule; and it was the fault of the ruler. if the latter was a local magistrate, or a governor, prefect, or viceroy, you had but to make a demonstration, normally speaking, before his yamen: this was technically a 'rebellion' within mencius' meaning; and the offending authority must report it to pekin, which then commonly replaced him with another. (it would get to pekin's ears anyway; so you had better--and ususally did--report it yourself.) if the offender was the son of heaven, with all his dynasty involved-- why, then one had to rebel in good earnest; and it was to be supposed that if heaven had really given one a mandate, one would win. the effect was that, although nominally absolute, very few emperors have dared or cared to fly quite in the face of confucius, or mencius, of their religio-political system, of the board of censors whose business it was to criticize the throne, and of a vast opinion. there was the tradition an emperor ruled for the people. the office of ruler was divine; the man that held it was kept an impersonality as much as possible. he changed his name on coming to the throne, and perhaps several times afterwards: thus we speak of the great emperors han wuti and tang taitsong; who might, however, be called more exactly, liu ch'e, who was emperor during the period _wuti_ of the han dynasty; li shihmin, who filled the throne during the t'ang period called _taitsong._ again, there was the great idea, confucio-mencian, that the son of heven must be 'compliant': leading rather than driving. he promulgated edicts, but they were never rigidly enforced; a certain voluntaryism was allowed as to the carrying out of them: if one of them was found unsuccessful, or not to command popular approval, another could be--and was--issued to modify or change it. so that the whole system was far removed from what we think of as an 'oriental despotism'; on the contrary, there was always a large measure of freedom and self-government. you began with the family: the head of that was its ruler, and responsible for order in his little realm. but he governed by consent and affection, not by force. each village-community was self-governing; the headman in it taking the place of the father in the family; he was responsible for order, so it was his business to keep the people happy;--and the same principle was extended to fit the province, the viceroyalty, the empire. further, there was the absence of any aristocracy or privileged class; and the fact that all offices were open to all chinamen (actors excepted)--the sole key to open it being merit, as attested by competitive examinations. the system is mencian; the inspiration behind it from confucius. it is the former's working out of the latter's superb idea of the _li._ the mencian system has broken down, and been abolished. it had grown old, outworn and corrupt. but it was established a couple of centuries before that of augustus, and has been subject to the same stress of time and the cycles; and only broke down the other day. time will wear out anything made by man. there is no garment, but the body will out-grow or out-wear it; no body, but the soul will outlive it and cast it away. mencius, inspired by his master confucius, projected a system that time took two thousand years and more to wear out in china. it was one that did much or everything to shield the people from tyranny. whether a better system has been devised, i do not know; but should say not--in historical times. as to the inspiration behind it--well, lest you should doubt the value of confucius, compare the history of europe with that of china. we have disproportioned ideas, and do not see these things straight. the chinese empire was founded some two centuries before the roman: both composed of heterogeneous elements. both, after about four centuries, fell; but china, after about four centuries more, came together and was great again. fifteen hundred years after ts'in shi hwangti had founded china, her manvantara then having ended, and her whole creative cycle run through, she fell to the mongols. fifteen hundred years after julius caesar had founded his empire, the last wretched remnant of it fell to the turks. but china first compelled her conquerors to behave like chinamen, and then, after a century, turned them out. the turks never became greek or roman, and so far have not quite been turned out. the roman empire disappeared, and never reunited;--that is what has been the matter with europe ever since. europe, in her manvantara, has wasted three parts of her creative force in wars and disunion. but china, even in her pralaya, became a strong, united power again under the mings ( - )--the first of them--a native dynasty. conquered again, now by the manchus, she mader her conquerors behave like chinamen,--imposed on them her culture;--and went forth under their banners to conquer. the european pralaya ( - ) was a time barren of creation in art and literature, and in life uttterly squalid and lightless the chinese pralaya, after the mongol conquest, took a very long time to sink into squalidity. the arts, which had died in europe long before rome fell, lived on in china, though with ever-waning energy, through the mongol and well into the ming time: the national stability, the force of custom, was there to carry them on. what light, what life, what vigor was there in rome or constantinople a century and a half after alaric or heraclius? but ming yunglo, a century and a half after the fall of sung, reigned in great splendor; sent his armies conquering to the caspian, and his navies to the conquest of ceylon, the discovery of africa, the gathering in of the tribute of the archipelago and the shores of the indian ocean. until the end of the eighteenth century the minor arts and crafts--pottery and bronzes--of which there was nothing to speak of in europe in the corresponding european age--were flourishing wonderfully; and in the seventeenth and eighteeenth centuries, under kanghi and kienlung, china was once more a great military power. she chased and whipped the goorkhas down through the himalays and into india, only twenty years before england fought difficult and doubtful campaigns with those fierce little mountaineers. you may even say she has been better off in her pralaya, in many ways, and until recently, than most of europe has been in most of _her_ manvantara. in kienlung's reign, for example ( - ) there were higher standards of life, more security, law, and order, than in the europe of catherine of russia, frederick the great, louis xv and the revolution, and the english georges. there was far less ferment of the spirit, true; less possibility of progress;--but that is merely to say that china was in pralaya, europe in high manvantara. the explanation is that a stability had been imparted to that far eastern civilization, which europe has lacked altogether; whose history, for all its splendid high- lights, has had thousands of hideous shadows; has not been so noble a thing as we tacitly and complacently assume; but a long record of wars, confusions, disorder, and cruelities, with only dawning now the possibility of that union which is the first condition of true progress, as distinguished from the riot of material inventions and political experiments that has gone by that name.--but now, back to mencius again. in all things he tried to follow confucius; beginning early by being born in the latter's own district of tsow in shantung, and having a woman in ten thousand for his mother;--she has been the model held up to all chinese mothers since. he grew up strong in body and mind, thoughtful and fearless; a tireless student of history, poetry, national institutions, and the lives of great men. like confucius, he opened a school, and gathered disciples about him: but there was never the bond of love here, that there had been between confucius and tse lu, yen huy, and the others. these may have heard from their master the pure deep things of theosophy; one would venture the statement that none of mencius' following heard the like from him. he saw in confucius that which he himself was fitted to be, and set out to become. he went from court to court, and everywhere, as a great scholar, was received with honor. (you will note as one more proof of an immemorial culture, that then, as now the scholar, as such, was at the very top of the social scale. there was but one word for _scholar_ and _official._)--he proposed, like confucius, that some king should make him his minister; and like confucius, he was always disappointed. but in him we come on none of the soft lights and tones that endear confucius to us; he fell far short of being such a one. a clear, bold mind, without _atmosphere,_ with all its lines sharply defined.... he made free to lecture the great ones of the earth, and was very round with them, even ridiculing them at his pleasure. he held the field for confucius--not the taoist, but the mencian confucius--against all comers; smote yang chu the egotist hip and thigh; smote gentle mo ti, the altruist; preached fine and practical ethics; and had no patience with those dreamers of the house of laotse.--a man sent from the gods, i should say, to do a great work; even though-- and then there was that dreamer of dreams, of butterfly dreams,-- subtle mystical humorous chwangtse: how could it be otherwise than that clear-minded clarion-throated philosopher mang should afford him excellent play? philosopher mang (philosopher of the second class, so officially entitled), in the name of his master k'ung ch'iu, fell foul of dreamer chwang; how could it be otherwise than that dreamer chwang should aim his shafts, not a mang merely, but (alas!) at the one whose name was always on mang's lips?--"confucius says, confucius says, confucius says"-- cries philosopher mang.--"oh hang your confucius!" thinks chwang the mystic; "let us have a little of the silence and splendor of the within!" (well, confucius would have said the same thing, i think.) "let me tell you a tale," says chwang; and straight goes forward with it. "it was the time of the autumn floods. every stream poured into the river, which swelled in its turbid course. the banks were so far apart that from one to the other you could not tell a cow from a horse. "then the spirit of the river laughed for joy that all the beauty of the earth was gathered to himself. down with the current he journeyed east, until he reached the ocean. there looking eastward, and seeing no limit to its expanse of waves, his countenance changed. as he gazed out, he sighed, and said to the spirit of the ocean: 'a vulgar proverb says that he who has heard but a part of the truth thinks no one equal to himself. such a one am i. "'when formerly i heard people detracting from the learning of confucius, or underrating the heroism of po i. i did not believe. but now that i have looked on your inexhaustibility-- alas for me had i not reached your abode! i should have been forever a laughing-stock to those of comprehensive enlightenment.' "to which the spirit of the ocean answered: 'you cannot speak of ocean to a well-frog,--the creature of a narrower sphere. you cannot speak of ice to a summer insect,--the creature of a season. you cannot speak of tao to a pedant; his scope is too restricted. but now that you have emerged from your narrow sphere, and have seen the great sea, you know your own insignificance, and i can speak of great principles. "have you never heard of the frog of the old well? the frog said to the turtle of the eastern sea, 'happy indeed am i! i hop on the rail around the well. i rest in the hollow of some broken brick. swimming, i gather the water under my arms and shut my mouth tight. i plunge into the mud, burying my feet and toes. not one of the cockles, crabs, or tadpoles i see around me is my match. why do you not come, sir, and pay me a visit?'" "now the turtle of the eastern sea had not got its left leg down ere its right leg had stuck fast, so it shrank back and begged to be excused. it then described the sea, saying, 'a thousand leagues would not measure its breadth, nor a thousand fathoms its depth. in the days of yu the great there were nine years of flood out of ten; but this did not add to its contents. in the days of t'ang there were seven years of drought out of eight, but this did not narrow its span. not to be affected by volume of water, not to be affected by duration of time--this is the happiness of the eastern sea.' at this the frog of the old well was considerably astonished, and knew not what to say next. and for one whose knowledge does not reach to the positive-negative domain the attempt to understand me is like a mosquito trying to carry a mountain, or an ant to swim the yellow river,--they cannot succeed." if chwangtse had lived before mencius, or mencius after chwangtse, chwangtse could have afforded to see confucius in his true light, as liehtse did; but the power and influence of the mind of mencius were such that in his time there was no looking at the master except through his glasses. we do not know what happened when laotse and confucius met; but i suspect it was very like what happened when mr. judge met madame blavatsky. but butterfly chwang, the rascal, undertook to let us know; and wrote it out in full. he knew well enough what would happen if he met mencius; and took that as his model. he wanted mencius to know it too. he itched to say to him, "put away, sir, your flashy airs," and the rest; and so made laotse say it to confucius. it shows how large philosopher mang had come to loom, that anyone could attribute "flashy airs" to that great-hearted simple gentleman k'ung ch'iu. one thing only i believe in about that interview: confucius' reputed speech on coming forth from it to his disciples:--"there is the dragon; i do not know how he mounts upon the wind and rises about the clouds. today i have seen laotse, and can only compare him to the dragon." he _would have said_ that; it has definite meaning; the dragon was the symbol of the spirit, and so universally recognised.--confucius appears to have taken none of his disciples into the library; and confucianist writers have had nothing to say about the incident, except that it occurred, i believe. chwangtse, and all taoist writers after him, show confucius taking his rating very quietly;--as indeed, he would have done, had laotse been in a mood for quizzing. for confucius never argued or pressed his opinions; where his words were not asked for and listened to, he retired. but it is not possible the recognition should have been other than mutual: the great laotse would have known a man when he saw him. i like the young imperturbable k'ung jung, precocious ten-year-old of some seven centuries later. his father took him up to the capital when the dragon statesman li ying was the height of his power; and the boy determined on gaining an interview with li. he got admission to the latter's house by claiming blood-relationship. asked by the great man wherein it lay, says he very sweetly: "your ancestor laotse and my ancestor confucius were friends engaged in the search for truth; may we not then be said to be of the same family?"-- "cleverness in youth," sneered a bystander, "does not mean brilliancy in later life."--"you, sir," says ten-years-old, turning to him, "must have been a very remarkable boy." * ------- * giles: _chinese literature._ ------- the truth is, both mencius and chwangtse stood a step lower and nearer this world than had the two they followed: whose station had been on the level platform at the top of the altar. but mencius descending had gone eastward; chwangtse towards the west. he was all for getting at the mean, the absolute life, beyond the pairs of opposites;--which is, indeed, the central chinese thought, confucian or taoist, the _raison d'etre_ of chinese longevity, and the saving health of china. but unfortunately he --chwangtse--did not see that his own opposite, philosopher mang, was driving him an inch or two away from the middle line. so, with a more brilliant mind (a cant phrase that!) he stands well below laotse; just as mencius stands below k'ung ch'iu. the spiritual down-breathing had reached a lower plane: soon the manvantara was to begin, and the crest-wave to be among the black-haired people. for all these teachers and half-teachers were but early swallows and forerunners. laotse and confucius had caught the wind at its rising, on the peaks where they stood very near the spirit; chwangtse and mangtse caught it in the region of the intellect: the former in his wild valley, the latter on his level prosaic plain. they are both called more daring thinkers than their predecessors; which is merely to say that in them the spirit figured more on the intellectual, less on its own plane. they were lesser men, of course. mencius had lost confucius' spirituality; chwangtse, i think, something of the sweet sanifying influence of laotse's universal compassion. well, now: three little tales from chwangtse, to illustrate his wit and daring; and after then, to the grand idea he bequeathed to china. "chwangtse one day saw an empty skull, bleached, but still preserving its shape. striking it with his riding-whip, he said: 'was thou once some ambitious citizen whose inordinate yearnings brought him to this pass?--some statesman who plunged his country in ruin, and perished in the fray?--some wretch who left behind him a legacy of shame?--some beggar who died in the pangs of hunger and cold? or didst thou reach this state by the natural course of old age?' "he took the skull home, and slept that night with it under his head for a pillow, and dreamed. the skull appeared to him in his dream, and said: 'you speak well, sir; but all you say has reference to the life of mortals, and to mortal troubles. in death there are none of these things. would you like to hear about death?' "cwangtse, however, was not convinced, and said: 'were i to prevail upon god to let your body be born again, and your bones and flesh be renewed, so that you could return to your parents, to your wife and to the friends of your youth--would you be willing?' "at this the skull opened its eyes wide and knitted its brows and said: 'how should i cast aside happiness greater than that of a king, and mingle once again in the toils and troubles of mortality?'" here is the famous tale of the grand augur and the pigs:-- "the grand augur, in his ceremonial robes, approached the shambles and thus addressed the pigs:-- "'why,' said he, 'should you object to die? i shall fattan you for three months. i shall discipline myself for ten days and fast for three. i shall strew fine grass, and place you bodily upon a carved sacrificial dish. does not this satisfy you? "'yet perhaps after all,' he continued, speaking from the pigs' point of view, 'it is better to live on bran and escape the shambles... "'no,' said he; speaking from his own point of view again. 'to enjoy honor when alive one would readily die on a war-shield or in the haeadsman's basket.' "so he rejected the pigs' point of view and clung to his own. in what sense, then, was he different from the pigs?" and here, the still more famous tale of the sacred tortoise:-- "chwantse was fishing in the river p'u when the prince of ch'u sent two high officials to ask him to take charge of the administration. "chwangtse went on fishing, and without turning his head said: 'i have heard that in ch'u there is a sacred tortoise which has been dead now some three thousand years. and that the prince keeps this tortoise carefully enclosed in a chest on the altar of his ancestral temple. now if this tortoise had its choice, which would it prefer: to be dead, and have its remains venerated; or to be alive, and wagging its tail in the mud?' "'sir,' replied the two officials, 'it would rather be alive, and wagging its tail in the mud.' "'begone!' cried chwangtse. 'i too will wag my tail in the mud!'" well; so much for _butterfly;_ now for _chwang_--and to introduce you to some of his real thought and teaching. you will not have shot so wide of the mark as to see in his story of the skull traces of pessimism: chwantse had none of it; he was a very happy fellow; like the policeman in the poem, ".....a merry genial wag who loved a mad conceit." but he was by all means and anyhow for preaching the inner as against the outer. yet he did not dismiss this world, either, as a vain delusion and sorrowful mockery;--the gist of his teaching is this: that men bear a false relation to the world; and he desired to teach the true relation. he loved the universe, and had a sublime confidence in it as the embodiment and expression of tao; and would apply this thought as a solvent to the one false thing in it: the human personality, with its heresy of separateness. dissolve that,--and it is merely an idea; in the words of a modern philosopher, _all in the mind,_--and you have the one true elixir flowing in your veins, the universal harmony; are part of the solemn and glorious pageant of the years. the motions of the heavenly bodies, the sweetness of spring and the wistfulness of autumn, flaunting summer and winter's beauty of snow--all are parcel of yourself, and within the circle of your consciousness. often he rises to a high poetic note;--it is largely the supreme beauty of his style which keeps his book, so thouroughly unorthodox, still alive and wagging its tail among his countrymen. chwangtse will not help you through the examinations; but he is mighty good to read when your days of competing are over; as i think it is dr. giles who says. like his contemporary diogenes, he would have his dead body cast out to the vultures; but the spirit of his wish was by no means cynical. "when chwangtse was about to die," he writes (anticipating things pleasantly), "his disciples expressed a wish to give him a splendid funeral. but he said: 'with heaven and earth for my coffin and shell, and the sun, moon, and stars for my burial regalia; with all creation to escort me to the grave-- is not my funeral already prepared?'" he speaks of the dangers of externalism, even in the pursuit of virtue; then says: "the man who has harmony within, though he sit motionless like the image of a dead man at a sacrifice, yet his dragon self will appear; though he be absorbed in silence, his thunder will be heard; the divine power in him will be at work, and heaven will follow it; while he abides in tranquillity and inaction, the myriads of things and beings will gather under his influence."--"not to run counter to the natural bias of things," he says, "is to be perfect." it is by this running counter--going aginst the law, following our personal desires and so forth,--that we create karma,--give the universe something to readjust,--and set in motion all our troubles. "he who fully understands this, by storing it within enlarges the heart, and with this enlargement brings all creation to himself. such a man will bury gold on the hillside, and cast pearls into the sea."-- sink a plummet into that, i beseech you; it is one of the grand utterances of wonder and wisdom.--"he will not struggle for wealth or strive for fame; rejoice over longevity, or grieve at an early death. he will get no elation from success, nor chagrin from failure; he will not account the throne his private gain, no look on the empire of the world as glory personal. his glory is to know that all thigns are one, and life and death but phases of the same existence." why call that about burying gold and casting pearls into the sea one of the supreme utterances?--well; chwangtse has a way of putting a whole essay into a sentence; this is a case in point. we have discussed natural magic together many times; we know how the ultimate beauty occurs when something human has flowed out into nature, and left its mysterious trace there, upon the mountains, or by the river-brink, "by paved fountain, or by rushy brook. or on the beached margent of the sea." tu fu saw in the blues and purples of the morning-glory the colors of the silken garments of the lost poet ssema hsiangju, of a thousand years before--that is, of the silken garments of his rich emotion and adventures. china somehow has understood this deep connexion between man and nature; and that it is human thought molds the beauty and richness, or hideousness and sterility of the world. are the mountains noble? they store the grandeur and aspirations of eighteen millions of years of mankind. are the deserts desolate and terrible? it was man made the deserts: not with his hands, but with his thought. man is the fine workshop and careful laboratory wherein nature prepares the most wonderful of her wonders. it is an instinct for this truth that makes chinese poetry the marvel that it is.--so the man of tao is enriching the natural world: filling the hills with gold, putting pearls in the sea. i do not know where there is a more pregnant passage than this following,--a better acid (of words) to corrode the desperate metal of selfhood; listen well, for each clause is a volume. "can one get tao to possess it for one's own?" asks chwangtse; and answers himself thus: "your very body is not your own; how then should tao be?--if my body is not my own, whose is it, pray?--it is the delegated image of god. your posterity is not your own; it is the delegated exuviae of god. you move, but know not how; you are at rest, but know not why; you taste, but know not the cause; these are the operations of universal law. how then should you get tao so as to possess it for your own?" now then, i want to take one of those clauses, and try to see what chwangtse really meant by it. "your individuality is not your own, but the delegated adaptability of god."--there is a certain position in the scheme of things entire,--a point, with a relation of its own to the rest of the scheme, to the universe;-- as the red line has a relation of its own to the rest of the spectrum and the ray of light as a whole..... from that point, from that position, there is a work to be done, which can be done from no other. the lonely eternal looks out through these eyes, because it must see all things; and there are things no eyes can see but these, no other hands do. this point is an infinitesimal part of the whole; but without its full and proper functioning, the whole falls short in that much:--because of your or my petty omissions, the universe limps and goes lame.--into this position, as into all others impartially, the one life which is tao flows, adapting itself through aeons to the relations which that point bears to the whole: and the result and the process of this adaptation is--your individuality or mine. _you_ are not the point, the position: because it is merely that which you hold and through which you function; it is yours, but not you. what then are _you?_ that which occupies and adapts itself to the point? but that is tao, the universal. you can only say it is you, if from _you_ you subtract all _you_-ness. your individuality, then, is a temporary aspect of tao in a certain relation to the totality of tao, the one thing which is the no thing:--or it is the "delegated adaptability of god." how and wherein adaptable?--the infinite, occupying this position, has formed therein all sorts of attachments and dislikes; and each one of them hinders it adaptability. your surroundings have reflected themselves on you: and the sum of the reflexions is your personality,--the little cage of i-am-ness from which it is so hard to escape. every reflected image engraves itself on the stuff of yourself by the sensation of attachment or repulsion which it arouses. when it says, "the one becomes the two"--which is the way in one form or another all ancient philosophy sums up the beginning of things;--this is what is meant: the 'one' is tao; the 'two' is this conditioned world, whose nature and essence is to appear as pairs of opposites--to be attractive, or to repel. the pigs' point of view was that it was better to live on bran and escape the shambles; the grand augur's, that the pomp and ceremony of the sacrifice, the public honor, ought more than to compensate them for the momentary inconvenience of being killed. opposite ways of thinking; points of view: which cherishing, grand augur and pigs alike dwelt on the plane of externals; and so there was no real difference between them. when you stand for you, and i for myself, it is six of one and half a dozen of the other; but when either of us stand for that which is both of us, and all else,-- then we touch reality; then there is no longer conflict, or opposites; no longer false appearances,--but the presence and cognition of the true. here let me note what seems to me a radical superiority in chinese methods of thought. you may take the _bhagavad-gita,_ perhaps, as the highest expression of aryan religio-philosophic thinking. there we have the spirit, the one, shown as the self of the universe, but speaking through, and as, krishna, a human personality. heaven forbid that i should suggest there is anthropomorphism in this. still, i think our finest mystical and poetic perceptions of the light beyond all lights do tend to crystallize themselves into the shape of a _being;_ we do tend to symbolize and figure that wonder as ..... an individuality .....in some indefinable splendid sort. often you find real mystics, men who have seen with their own eyes so to say, talking about _god, the lord,_ the _great king,_ and what not of the like; and though you know perfectly well what they mean, there was yet that necessity on them to use those figures of speech. but in china, no. there, they begin from the opposite end. neither in laotse nor in confucius, nor in their schools, can you find a trace of personalism. gods many, yes; as reason and common sense declare; but nothing you can call a god is so ancient, constant, and eternal as tao, "which would appear to have been before god." go to their poets, and you find that the rage is all for beauty as the light shining through things. the grass-blade and the moutain, the moonlit water and the peony, are lit from within and utterly adorable: not because god made them; not as reminding you of the topmost of any hierarchy of being; but, if you really go to the bottom of it, because there is no personality in them,--and so nothing to hinder the eternal wonder, impersonal tao, from shining through.--as if _we_ came through our individuality to a conception of the divine; but _they,_ through a perception of the divine, to a right understanding of their individuality. it amounts to _us_ to fall into gross hideous anthropomorphism; the worst of them into superstitions of their own.--when one quotes chwangtse as speaking of "the delegated adaptability of _god,_" one must remember that one has to use some english word for his totally impersonal _tao_ or _tien,_ or even _shangti,_ or whatever it may be. this tao, you say, something far off,--a principle in philosophy or a metaphysical idea,--may be very nice to discuss in a lecture or write poetry about; but dear me! between whiles we have a great deal to do, and really--but no! it is actually, as mohammed said, "nearer to thee than thy jugular vein." it is a simple adjustment of oneself to the universe,--of which, after all, one cannot escape being a part; it is the attainment of a true relationship to the whole. what obscures and hinders that, is simply our human brain-mind consciousness. "consider the lilies of the field," that attain a perfection of beauty. the thing that moves us, or ought to move us, in flowers, trees, seas and mountains, is this: that lacking this fretting, gnawing sense of i-am-ness, their emanations are pure tao, and may reach us along the channel we call beauty: may flood our being through "the gateway of the eyes." beauty is tao made visible. the rose and peony do not feel themselves 'i,' distinct from 'you' and the rest; they are in opposition to nothing; they do not fall in love, and have no aversions: they simply worship heaven and are unanxious, and so beautiful. when we know this, we see what beauty means; and that it is not something we can afford to ignore and treat with stoic indifference or puritan dislike. it is tao visible; i call every flower an avatar of god. now you see how taoism leads to poetry; is the philosophy of poetry; is indeed _poetics,_ rather than _metephysics._ think of all the little jewels you know in keats, in shelley, or wordsworth: the moments when the mists between those men and the divine "defecated to a thin transparency";--those were precisely the moments when the poets lost sight of their i-am-ness and entered into true relations with the universe. a daffodil, every second of its life, holds within itself all the real things poets have ever said, or will ever say, about it; and can reach our souls directly with edicts from the dragon throne of the eternal.--i watched the linarias yesterday, and their purple delicacy assured me that all the filth, all the falsehood and tragedy of the world, should pass and be blown away; that the garden was full of dancing fairies, joy moving them to their dancing; that it was my own fault if i could not see apollo leaning down out of the sun; and my own fatuity, and that alone, if i could not hear the stars of morning singing together, and all the sons of god shouting for you. and it was the truth they were telling; the plain, bald, naked truth;--they have never learned to lie, and do not know what it means. there is no sentimentalism in this; only science. we live in a universe absolutely soaked through with god,--or with poetry, which is perhaps a better name for it; a universe peopled thick with gods. but it is all very far from our common thoughts and conceptions; that is why it sounds to most people like sentimental nonsense and 'poetry.' no wonder plato hated that word;--since it is made a hand-grenade, in the popular mind, to fling at every truth. and yet poetry 'gets in on us,' too, occasionally, and accomplishes for "the woods and waters wild" the work they cannot do for themselves;--the work they cannot do, cause we will not look at them, cannot see them, and have forgotten their ancient language, being too much immersed in a rubbishing gabble of our own. what toism, and especially chwangtse as i think, did for the chinese was to publish the syntax and vocabulary of that ancient language; to make people understand how to take these grand protagonists of tao; how to communicate familiarly with these selfless avatars of the most high. listen to this: the thought is close-packed, but i think you will follow it:-- "the true sage rejects all distinction of this and that," that is to say, of subjective, or that which one perceives within one's own mind and consciousness, and objective, or that which is perceived as existing outside of them;--he does not look upon the mountain or the daffodil as things different or apart from his own conscious being. "he takes his refuge in tao, and places himself in subjective relations with all things"; he keeps the mountain within him; the scent of the daffodil, and her yellow candle-flame of beauty, are within the sphere and circle of himself; "...the little wave of breffny goes stumbling through his soul." "hence it is said"--this is chwangtse again--"that there is nothing like the light of nature. "only the truly intelligent understand this principle of the identity of things. they do not view things as apprehended by themselves, but transfer themselves into the position of the things viewed."--and there, i may say, you have it: the last is the secret of the wonder-light in all far eastern poetry and art; more, it is the explanation of all poetry everywhere. it is the doctrine, the archeus, the _open sesame,_ the thyme- and lavender- and sweetwilliam-breathed secret garden of this old wizardly science of song;--who would go in there, and have the dark and bright blossoms for his companions, let him understand this. for poetry is the revelation of the great life beyond the little life of this human personality; to tap it, you must evict yourself from the personal self; "transfer yourself into the position of the things viewed," and not see, but _be,_ the little stumbling wave or the spray of plum-blossom, thinking its thoughts.--"viewing things thus," continues our chwangtse, "you are able to comprehend and master them. so it is that to place oneself in inner relation with externals, without consciousness of their objectivity,--this is tao. but to wear out one's intellect in an obstinate adherence to the objectivity--the apartness--of things, not recognizing that they are all one--this is called _three in the morning._--'what do you mean by _three in the morning?'_ asked tse yu.--'a keeper of monkeys,' tse chi replied, 'said with regard to their daily ration of chestnuts that each monkey should have three in the morning and four at night. at this the monkeys were very angry; so he said that they might have four in the morning and three at night; whereat they were well pleased. the number of nuts was the same; but there was an adaptation to the feelings of those concerned.'"-- which, again, means simply that to follow tao and dodge until it is altogether sloughed off the sense of separateness, is to follow the lines of least resistance. all these ideas are a natural growth from the teachings of laotse; but butterfly chwang, in working them out and stating them so brilliantly, did an inestimable service to the ages that were to come. xiv. the manvantara opens laotse's blue pearl was already shining into poetry. ch'u yuan, the first great poet, belongs to this same fourth century; it is a long step from the little wistful ballads that confucius gathered to the "wild irregular meters," * splendid imagery, and be it said, deep soul symbolism of his great poem the li sao (falling into trouble). the theme of it is this: from earliest childhood ch'u yuan had sought the tao, but in vain. at last, banished by the prince whose minister he had been, he retired into the wilds, and was meditating at the tomb of shun in hupeh, in what was then the far south. there the phoenix and the dragon came to him, and bore him aloft, past the west pole, past the milky way, past even the source of the hoangho, to the gates of heaven. where, however, there was no admittance for him; and full of sorrow he returned to earth. ------ * _chinese literature,_ by dr. h. a. giles. what is said about the _li sao_ here comes from that work--except the suggestions as to its inner meaning. ------ on the banks of the mi-lo a fisherman met him, and asked him the cause of his trouble.--"all the world is foul," answered ch'u yuan, "and i alone am clean."--"if that is so," said the fisherman, "why not plunge into the current, and make its foulness clean with the infection of your purity? the man of tao does not quarrel with his surroundings, but adjusts himself to them." ch'u yuan took the hint: leaped into the mi-lo;--and yearly since then they have held the dragon-boat festival on the waters of middle china to commemorate the search for his body.-- just how much of this is in the _li sao,_--where the poem ends,-- i do not clearly gather from professor giles's account; but the whole story appears to me to be a magnificent soul symbol: of that path which leads you indeed on dragon flights to the borders of the infinite, but whose end, rightly considered, is in this world, and to be as it were drowned in the waters of this world, with your cleanness infecting them to be clean,--and lighting them for all future ages with beauty, as with little dragon-boats luminous with an inner flame. ch'u yuan had followers in that and the next century; but perhaps his greatness was hardly to be approached for a thousand years. but we were still in tiger-time, and with quite the worst of it to come. here lay the blue pearl scintillating rainbows up through the heavy atmosphere; but despite its flashing and up-fountaining those strange dying-dolphin hues and glories, you could never have told, in tiger-time, what it really was. the dragon was yet a long way off; though indeed it must be allowed that flight, when chwangtse wrote and ch'u yuan sung, was surprised with the far churr of startling wings under the stars. ears intent to listen were surprised; but only for a moment;-- there was that angry howling again from the northern hills and the southern forests: the two great tigers of the world face to face, tails lashing;--and between them and in their path, chow quite prone,--the helpless black-haired people trembling or chattering frivolously. not for such an age as that chwangtse and ch'u yuan wrote, but indeed you may say for all time. what light from the blue pearl could then shine forth and be seen, would, in the thick fog and smoke-gloom, take on wild fantastic guise; which, as we shall see, it did:--but what chwangtse had written remained, pure immortality, to kindle up better ages to come. when china should be ready, chwangtse and the pearl would be found waiting for her. the manvantara had not yet dawned; but we may hurry on now to its dawning. the crest-wave was still in india when china plunged into the abyss from which her old order of ages never emerged. soon after asoka came to the throne of magadha, in b.c., su tai, wise prime minister to the lord of chao, took occasion to speak-- seriously to his royal master as to the latter's perennial little wars with yen.* "this morning as i crossed the river," said he, "i saw a mussel open its shell to the sun. straight an oyster-catcher thrust in his bill to eat the mussel; which promptly snapped the shell to and held the bird fast.--'if it doesn't rain today or tomorrow,' said the oyster-catcher, 'there'll be a dead mussel here.'--'and if you don't get out of this by today or tomorrow,' said the mussel, 'there'll be a dead oyster-catcher.' meanwhile up came a fisherman and carried them both off. i fear ts'in will be our fisherman." ------ * the tale is taken from dr. h.a. gile's _chinese literature._ ------ which duly came to pass. even in liehtse's time ts'in characteristics were well understood: he tells a sly story of a neighboring state much infested by robbers. the king was proud of a great detective who kept them down; but they soon killed the pinkerton, and got to work again. then he reformed himself,--and the robbers found his kingdom no place for them. in a body they crossed the hoangho into ts'in;--and bequeathed to its policy their tendencies and aptitudes. ts'in had come to be the strongest state in china. next neighbor to the huns, and half hun herself, she had learned warfare in a school forever in session. but she had had wise rulers also, after their fashion of wisdom: who had been greatly at pains to educate her in all the learning of the chinese. so now she stood, an armed camp of a nation, enamored of war, and completely civilized in all external things. ts'u, her strongest rival, stretching southward to the yangtse and beyond, had had to deal with barbarians less virile than the huns; and besides, dwelling as ts'u did among the mountains and forests of romance, she had some heart in her for poetry and mysticism, whereas ts'in's was all for sheer fighting. laotse probably had been a ts'u man; and also chwangtse and ch'u yuan; and in after ages it was nearly always from the forests of ts'u that the great winds of poetry were blown. still--he had immense territories and resources, and the world looked mainly to her for defense against the northern tiger ts'in. soon after su tai told his master the parable of the mussel and the oyster-catcher the grand clash came, and the era of petty wars and raidings was over. ts'u gathered to herself most of the rest of china for her allies, and there was a giant war that fills the whole horizon, nearly, of the first half of the third century b. c. new territories were involved: the world had expanded mightily since the days of confucius. "first and last," says ssema tsien, "the allies hurled a million men against ts'in." but to no purpose; one nation after another went down before those hun-trained half-huns from the north-west. in chau tsiang king of ts'in took the chow capital, and relieved nan wang, the last of the chows, of the nine tripods of ta yu, the symbols of his sacred sovereignty; --the mantle of the caliphate passed from the house of wen wang and the duke of chow. the world had crumbled to pieces: there had been changes of dynasty before, but never (in known history) a change like this. the chows had been reigning nearly nine hundred years; but their system had been in the main the same as that of the shangs and hias, and of yao, shun, and ta yu: it was two millenniums, a century, and a decade old. a chinaman, in chau tsiang's place, would merely have reshaped the old order and set up a new feudal-pontifical house instead of chow; which could not have lasted, because old age had worn the old system out. but these barbarians came in with new ideas. a new empire, a new race, a new nation was to be born. chau tsiang died in ; and even then one could not clearly foresee what should follow. in he had performed the significant sacrifice to heaven, a prerogative of the king-pontiff: but he had not assumed the title. resistance was still in being. his son and successor reigned three days only; and _his_ son, another nonentity, five years without claiming to be more than king of ts'in. but when this man died in , he left the destinies of the world in the hands of a boy of thirteen; who very quickly showed the world in whose hands its destinies lay. not now a king of ts'in; not a king-pontiff of chow;--not, if you please, a mere _wang_ or king at all;--but hwangti, like that great figure of mythological times, the yellow emperor, who had but to sit on his throne, and all the world was governed and at peace. the child began by assuming that astounding title: _ts'in shi hwangti,_ the first august emperor: peace to the ages that were past; let them lie in their tomb; time now should begin again!--childish boyish swank and braggadocio, said the world; but very soon the world found itself mistaken. _hwangti;_--but no sitting on his throne in meditation, no letting the world be governed by tao, for him! if you have read that delightful book _through hidden shensi,_ by mr. f. a. nichols, the city of hienfang, or changan, or, by its modern name, singanfu or sian-fu in shensi, will be much more than a name to you. thither it was that the dowager empress fled with her court from pekin at the time of the boxer rebellion; there, long ago, han wuti's banners flew; there tang taitsong reigned in all his glory and might; there the banished angel sang in the palace gardens of tang hsuantsong the luckless: history has paid such tribute of splendor to few of the cities of the world. at hienfang now this barbarian boy and attila-napoleon among kings built his capital;--built it right splendidly, after such ideas of splendor as a young half-hun might cherish. for indeed, he had but little and remote chinese heredity in him; was of the race of attila and genghiz, of mahmoud of ghazna, tamerlane, and all the world-shaking turkish conquerors. --well, but these people, though by nature and function destroyers, have been great builders too: building hugely, monumentally, and to inspire awe, and not with the faery grace and ephemeral loveliness of the chinese;--though they learned the trick of that, too,--as they learned in the west kindred qualities from the saracens. grand pekin is of their architecture; which is chinese with a spaciousness and monumental solemnity added. such a capital ts'in she hwangti built him at hien fang or changan. in the hall of audience of his palace within the walls he set up twelve statues, each (i like this barbarian touch) weighing twelve thousand pounds. well; _we_ should say, each costing so many thousand dollars; you need not laugh; i am not sure but that the young hun had the best of it. and without the walls he built him, too, a palace of delight with many halls and courtyards; in some of which (i like this too) he could drill ten thousand men. all of this was but the trappings and the suits of his sovereignty: he let it be known he had the substance as well. no great strategist himself, he commanded the services of mighty generals: one meng-tien in especial, a bright particular star in the war-god's firmament. an early step to disarm the nations, and have all weapons sent to changan; then, with these, to furnish forth a great standing army, which he sent out under meng-tien to conquer. the middle kingdom and the quondam great powers were quieted; then south of the yangtse the great soldier swept, adding unknown regions to his master's domain. then rorth and west, till the huns and their like had grown very tame and wary;--and over all these realms the emperor spread his network of fine roads and canals, linking them with changan: what the romans did for europe in road-building, he did for china. he had, of course, a host of relatives; and precedent loomed large to tell him what to do with them: the precedent of the dynasty-founders of old. nor were they themselves likely to have been backward in reminding him. wu wang had come into possession of many feudal dominions, and had made of the members of his family dukes and marquises to rule them. ts'in shi hwangti's empire was many times the size of wu wang's; so he was in a much better position to reward the deserving. we must remember that he was no heir to a single sovereignty, but a napoleon with a europe at his feet. ts'in and ts'u and tsin and the others were old-established kingdoms, with as long a history behind them as france or england has now; and that history had been filled with wars, mutual antagonisms and hatreds. chow itself was like an italy before garibaldi;--with a papacy more inept, and holding vaguer sway:--it had been at one time the seat of empire, and it was the source of all culture. he had to deal, then, with a heterogeneity as pronounced as that which confronted napoleon; but he was not of the stuff for which you prepare waterloos. no one dreamed that he would treat the world other than as such a heterogeneity. his relations expected to be made the jeromes, eugenes, and murats of the hollands, spains, and sicilies to hand. the world could have conceived of no other way of dealing with the situation. but ts'in shi hwangti could, very well. he abolished the feudal system. he abolished nationalities and national boundaries. there should be no more ts'in and tsin and ts'u; no more ruling dukes and marquises. instead, there should be an entirely new set of provinces, of which he would appoint the governors, not hereditary; and they should be responsible to him: promotable when good, dismissable and beheadable on the first sign of naughtiness. it was an idea of his own; he had no foreign history to go to for models and precedents, and there had been nothing like it in chinese history. napoleon hardly conceived such a tremendous idea, much less had he the force to carry it out. even the achievement of augustus was smaller; and augustus had before him models in the history of many ancient empires. now what was the ferment behind this man's mind;--this barbarian --for so he was--of tremendous schemes and doings? the answer is astonishing, when one thinks of the crude ruthless human dynamo he was. it was simply _taoism:_ it was laotse's blue pearl;-- but shining, of course, as through the heart of a very london particular of hunnish-barbarian fogs. no subtleties of mysticism; no chwangtsean spiritual and poetry-breeding ideas, for him!--it has fallen, this magical pearl, into turbid and tremendous waters, a natural potential niagara; it has stirred, it has infected their vast bulk into active niagarahood. he was on fire for the unknown and the marvelous; could conceive of no impossible--it should go hard, he thought, but that the subtler worlds that interpenetrate this one should be as wonderful as this world under ts'in shi hwangti. don't argue with him; it is dangerous!--certainly there was an elixir of life, decantable into goblets, from which ts'in shi hwangti might drink and become immortal,--the first august emperor, and the only one forever! certainly there were those golden islands eastward, where gods dispensed that nectar to the fortunate;--out in your ships, you there, and search the waves for them! and certainly, too, there were god knew what of fairylands and paradises beyond the western desert; out, you general meng-tien, with your great armies and find them! he did tremendous things, and all the while was thus dreaming wildly. from the business of state he would seize hours at intervals to lecture to his courtiers on tao;--i think _not_ in a way that would have been intelligible to laotse or chwangtse. those who yawned were beheaded, i believe. how would such a prodigy in time appear to his own age? such cataclysmic wars as ts'in had been waging for the conquest of china take society first, so to say, upon its circumference, smash that to atoms, and then go working inwards. the most conservative and stable elements are the last and least affected. the peasant is killed, knocked about, transported, enclaved; but when the storm is over, and he gets back to his plough and hoe and rice-field again, sun and wind and rain and the earth-breath soothe him back to and confirm in what he was of old: only some new definite spiritual impulse or the sweep of the major cycles can change him much,--and then the change is only modification. at the other end of society you have the intellectuals. in england, oxford is the home and last refuge of lost causes. a literary culture three times as old as modern oxford's, as china's was then, will be, you may imagine, fixed and conservative. it is a mental mold petrified with age; the minds participating must conform to it, solidify, and grow harder in the matrix it provides than granite or adamant. we have seen how in recent times the confucian literati resisted the onset of westernism. all these steam-engines and telegraphs seemed to them fearfully crude and vulgar in comparison with the niceties of literary style, the finesses of time-taking ceremonious courtesies, that had been to them and to their ancestors time out of mind the true refinements of life, and even the realities. china rigid against the west was not a semi-barbarism resisting civilization, but an excessively perfected culture resisting the raw energies of one still young and, in its eyes, still with the taint of savagery: brusque manners, materialistic valuations. ts'in shi hwangti in his day had to meet a like opposition. the wars had broken up the structure of society, but not the long tradition of refined learning. that had always seemed the quarter from which light and leading must come; but it had long ceased to be a quarter from which light or leading could come. mencius had been used to rate and ridicule the ruling princes; and scholars now could not understand that mencius and his ruling princes and all their order were dead. they could not understand that they were not menciuses, nor ts'in shi hwangti a kinglet such as he had dealt with. now mencius had been a great man,--a man's son, as they say;--and very likely he and ts'in shi hwangti might have hit it off well enough. but there was no mencius, no man's son, among the literati now. the whole class was wily, polite, sarcastic, subtle, unimaginative, refined to a degree, immovable in conservatism. the taoist teachers had breathed in a new spirit, but it had not reached them. how would ts'in shi hwangti, barbarian, wild taoist, and man of swift great action, appear to them? of course they could not abide him; and had not the sense to fear. they were at their old game of wire-pulling: would have the feudal system back, with all the old inefficiency; in the name of ta yu and the duke of chow they would do what they might to undo the strivings of this ts'in upstart. so all the subtleties of the old order were arrayed against him,--pull devil, pull baker. he knew it; and knew the extreme difficulty of striking any ordinary blow to quiet them. he had challenged time past to the conflict, and meant to win. time future was knocking at the doors of the empire, and he intended it should come in and find a home. his armies had crossed the gobi, and smelt out unending possibilities in the fabulous west; they had opened up the fabulous south, the abode of romance and genii and dragons. it was like the discovery of the americas: a new world brought over the horizon. his great minister, li ssu had invented a new script, the lesser seal, easier and simpler than the old one; meng-tien, conqueror of the gobi, had invented the camel's-hair brush wherewith to write gracefully on silk or cloth, instead of difficultly with stylus on bamboo-strips as of old. it was the morning stir of the new manvantara; and little as the emperor might care for culture, he heard the future crying to him. he heard, too, the opposing murmur of the still unconquered past. the literati stood against him as the papacy against frederick ii of sicily: a less open opposition, and one harder to meet. he did not solve the problem till near the end of his reign. in he called a great meeting in the hall of audience at changan. see the squat burly figure enthroned in grand splendor; the twelve weighty statues arranged around; the chief civil and military officers of the empire, thorough taoists like himself, gathered on one side; the academies and censorates, all the leaders of the literati, on the other. the place was big enough for a largish meeting. minister li ssu rises to describe the work of the emperor; whereafter the latter calls for expressions of opinion. a member of his household opines that he "surpasses the very greatest of his predecessors": which causes a subdued sneer to run through the ranks of scholars. one of them takes the floor and begins to speak. deprecates flattery guardedly, as bad for any sovereign; considers who the greatest of these predecessors were:--yao, shun, and yu, 'tang the completer, wu wang; and--implies a good deal. warms to his work at last, and grows bitter; almost openly pooh poohs all modern achievements; respectfully--or perhaps not too respectfully--advocates a return to the feudal-- "silence!" roars attila-napoleon from his throne; and motions li ssu to make answer. the answer was predetermined, one imagines. it was an order that five hundred of the chief literati present should retire and be beheaded, and that thousands more should be banished. and that all books should be burned. attila-napoleon's orders had a way of being carried out. this was one. he had meanwhile been busy with the great material monument of his reign: the wall of china; and with cautious campaigns yearly to the north of it; and with personal supervision of the commissariat department of all his armies everywhere; and with daily long _hikes_ to keep himself in trim. now the wall came in useful. to stretch its fifteen hundred miles of length over wild mountains and valleys in that bleak north of the world, some little labor was needed; and scholars and academicians were many and, for most purposes, useless; and they needed to be brought into touch with physical realities to round out their characters;--then let them go and build the wall. he buried enough of them--alive, it is to be feared: an ugly ts'in custom, not a chinese,--to make melons ripen in mid-winter over their common grave; the rest he sentenced to four years of wall-building,--which meant death. that, too, was the penalty for concealing books. he was now in dead earnest that the past should go, and history begin again; to be read forever afterwards in this order,--the creation, the reign of ts'in shi hwangti. but he spared books on useful subjects: that is to say, on medicine, agriculture, and magic. so ancient china is to be seen now only as through a glass darkly; if his great attempt had been quite successful, it would not be to be seen at all. his crimes made no karma for china; they are not a blot on her record;--since they were done by an outside barbarian,--a mere publican and ts'inner. from our standpoint as students of history, he was a malefactor of the first order; even when you take no account of his ruthless cruelty to men;--and so china has considered him ever since. yet karma finds ruthless agents for striking its horrible and beneficial blows; (and woe unto them that it finds!). it seems that ts'in shi hwangti did draw the bowstring back--by this very wickedness,--far back--that sent the arrow china tearing and blazing out through the centuries to come. the fires in which the books were burned were the pyre of the phoenix,--the burning of the astral molds,--the ignition and annihilation of the weight and the karma of two millenniums. the secular bird was to burn and be consumed to the last feather, and be turned to ashes utterly, before she might spring up into the ether for her new flight of ages. one wonders what would happen if a ts'in shi hwangti were to arise and do by modern christendom what this one did by ancient china. i say nothing about the literati, but only about the literature. would burning it be altogether an evil? nearly all that is supremely worth keeping would live through; and its value would be immensely enhanced. first the newspapers would go, that sow lies broadcast, and the seeds of national hatreds. the light literature would go, that stands between men and thought. the books of theology would go, and the dust of creedalism that lies so thick on men's minds. a thousand bad precedents that keep us bound to medievalism would go with the law-books: there would be a chance to pronounce, here and now as human beings, on such things as capital punishment;--which remains, though we do not recognise the fact, solely because it has been in vogue all these centuries, and is a habit hard to break with. history would go; yes;--but a mort of pernicious lies would go with it. well, well; one speaks of course in jest (partly). but when all is said, china was not unfortunate in having a strong giant of a man, a foreigner withal, at her head during those crucial decades. ts'in shi hwangti guarded china through most of that perilous intermission between the cycles. it was the good that he did that mostly lived after him. in he fell ill, took no precautions, and died,--in his fiftieth year. a marvelous mausoleum was built for him: a palace, with a mountain heaped on top, and the floor of it a map of china, with the waters done in quicksilver. whether his evil deeds were interred with his bones, who can say?--certainly his living wives were, and the thousands of living workmen who had built the mausoleum. ts'innish doings, not chinese. in the _book of odes,_ confucius preserved a ts'in ballad mourning over men so buried alive with their dead king. the strong hand lifted, rebellion broke out, and for awhile it looked as if chu hia must sink into the beast again. his feeble son got rid of meng-tien, poisoned li ssu, offered the feeblest resistance to the rebels, and then poisoned himself. after four years of fighting,--what you might call "unpleasantness all round,"--one liu pang achieved the throne. he had started life as a beadle; joined ts'in shi hwangti's army, and risen to be a general; created himself after the emperor's death prince of han; and now had the honor to inaugurate, as emperor kaotsu, the greatest of the chinese dynasties. in the two-fifties strong barbarous ts'in had swallowed unmanly worn-out china, and for half a century had been digesting the feast. then--to mix my metaphors a little--china flopped up to the surface again, pale, but smiling blandly. in the sunlight she gathered strength and cohesion, and proceeded presently to swallow ts'in and everything else in sight; and emerged soon young, strong, vigorous, and glowing-hearted to the conquest of many worlds in the unknown. what was ts'in, now is shensi province, the very heart of han: the shensi man today is the son of han, _ts'in_ englished; but in shensi, the old ts'in, in their tenderest moods, they call it _han_ still,--the proudest most patriotic name there is for it. not at once was the golden age of han to dawn: half a thirteen-decade cycle from the opening of the manvantara in the two-forties had to pass first. ts'in shi hwangti had mapped out a great empire; it fell to the hans to consolidate it. han kaotsu followed somewhat in the footsteps of his predecessor, less the cruelty and barbarism, and most of the strength. the sentiment of the empire was chinese, not ts'innish; so, though not a brilliant or always a fortunate soldier, he was able to assert his sway over the greater part of china proper. chinesism had spread over territories never before chinese, and wherever it had spread, the people were glad of a chinese dynasty; besides, his rule was tactful and kindly. they were glad that the gods of the soil of han were to be worshipped now, and those of ts'in disthroned; and that the ts'in edicts were annulled;--as they were with one important exception: those relating to literature. a cultureless son of the proletariat himself. han kaotsu felt no urge towards resurrecting that; and perhaps it was as well that the sleeping dogs should be let lie awhile. the wonder is that the old nationalities did not reassert themselves; but they did not, to any extent worth mentioning; and perhaps this is the best proof of han kaotsu's real strength. ts'in shi hwangti had dealt soundly with the everlasting hun in his time; but when he died, the hun recovered. they kept han kaotsu busy, so that his saddle, as he said, was his throne. they raided past the capital and down into ssechuan; once very nearly captured the emperor; and had to be brought out at last with a chinese princess for the hun king. generally speaking, the hans would have lived at peace with them if they could, and were ready to try better means of solving the problem than war. but it certainly was a problem; for in these huns we find little traces of human nature that you could work upon. but china was a big country by that time, and only a part of it, comparatively small, suffered from the huns. for the rest, han kaotsu was popular, his people were happy, and his reign of twelve years was a breathing-time in which they gathered strength. he kept a hundred thousand workmen busy on public works, largely road- and bridge-building: a suspension bridge that he built, a hundred and fifty yards long, and crossing a valley five hundred feet below, is still in use,--or was during the last century. he died in . he was succeeded, nominally, by his son han hweiti; really by his widow, the empress liu chi: one of the three great women who have ruled china. at this time the huns, under their great khan mehteh, were at the height of their power. khan mehteh made advances to the empress: "i should like," said he, "to exchange what i have for what i have not." you and i may think he meant merely a suggestion for mutual trade; but she interpreted it differently, thanked him kindly, but declined the flattering proposal on the score of her age and ugliness. her hair and teeth, she begged him to believe, were quite inadequate, and made it impossible for her to think of changing her condition.--i do not know whether it was vanity or policy. but it was she, or perhaps her puppet son the emperor, who started the great renaissance. a commission was appointed for restoring the literature: among its members, k'ung an-kuo, twelfth in descent from confucius. books were found, that devotion had hidden in dry wells and in the walls of houses; one fu sheng, ninety years old, repeated the classics word for word to the commissioner, all from his memory. the restrictions gone, a mighty reaction set in; and china was on fire to be her literary self again. a great ball was set rolling; learning went forward by leaps and bounds. the enthusiasm, it must be said, took directions legitimate and the reverse;--bless you, why should any written page at all be considered lost, when there were men in han with inventive genius of their own, and a pretty skill at forgery? the son of heaven was paying well; to it, then, minds and calligraphic fingers! so there are false chapters of chwangtse, while many true ones have been lost. and i can never feel sure of confucius' own _spring and autumn annals,_ wherein he thought lay his highest claim to human gratitude, and the composition of which the really brilliant-minded mencius considered equal to the work of ta yu in bridling china's sorrow;--but which, as they come down to us, are not impressive.--the tide rolled on under han wenti, from to : a poet himself, a man of peace, and a reformer of the laws in the direction of mercy. another prosperous reign followed; then came the culmination of the age in the golden reign of han wuti, from to . the cyclic impulse had been working mainly on spiritual and intellectual planes: ssema tsien, the father of chinese history, gives gloomy pictures of things economic.* "when the house of han arose," says ssema, "the evils of their predecessors had not passed away. husbands still went off to the wars; old and young were employed in transporting food, production was almost at a standstill, and money was scarce. the son of heaven had not even carriage horses of the same color; the highest civil and military authorities rode in bullock carts; the people at large knew not where to lay their heads. the coinage was so heavy and cumbersome that the people themselves started a new issue at a fixed standard of value. but the laws were lax, and it was impossible to prevent the grasping from coining largely, buying largely, and then holding for a rise in the market. prices went up enormously:"--it sounds quite modern and civilized, doesn't it?--"rice sold at a thousand cash per picul; a horse cost a hundred ounces of silver." ------ * the passages quoted are taken from dr. giles's work on _chinese literature._ ------ under the empress liu chi and her successors these conditions were bettered; until, when a half cycle had run its course, and han wuti had been some twenty years on the throne, prosperity came to a culmination. says ssema tsien: "the public granaries were well-stocked; the government treasuries full... the streets were thronged with the horses of the people, and on the highroads, whole droves were to be seen, so that it became necessary to forbid the public use of mares. village elders ate meat and drank wine. petty government clerkships lapsed from father to son, and the higher offices of state were treated as family heirlooms. for a spirit of self-respect and reverence for the law had gone abroad, and a sense of charity and duty towards one's neighbor kept men aloof from disgrace and crime." there had been in kansuh, the north-westernmost province of china proper, a people called the yueh chi or white scythians, whom the huns had driven into the far west; by this time they were carving themselves an empire out of the domains of the parthians, and penetrating into north-west india, but han wuti knew nothing of that. all that was known of them was, that somewhere on the limits of the world they existed, and were likely to be still at loggerheads with their ancient foes the huns. han wuti had now been on the throne seven years, and was and had been much troubled by the hun problem: he thought it might help to solve it if those lost yueh chi could be raked up out of the unknown and made active allies. to show the spirit of the age, i will tell you the story of chang ch'ien, the general whom he sent to find them. chang ch'ien set out in ; traversed the desert, and was duly captured by the huns. ten years they held him prisoner; then he escaped. during those ten years he had heard no news from home: a new emperor might be reigning, for aught he knew; or han wuti might have changed his plans. such questions, however, never troubled him: he was out to find the yueh chi for his master, and find them he would. he simply went forward; came presently to the kingdom of tawan, in the neighborhood of yarkand; and there preached a crusade against the huns. unsuccessfully: the men of tawn knew the huns, but not han wuti, who was too far away for a safe ally; and they proposed to do nothing in the matter. chang ch'ien considered. go back to china?--oh dear no! there must be real yueh c'hi somewhere, even if these tawanians were not they. on he went, and searched that lonely world until he did find them. they liked the idea of hun-hurting; but again, considered china too far away for practical purposes. he struck down into tibet; was captured again; held prisoner a year; escaped again,--and got back to changan in . a sadder and a wiser man, you might suppose; but nothing of the kind! full, on the contrary, of brilliant schemes; full of the wonder and rumor of the immense west. these he poured into han wuti's most sympathetic ears; and the emperor started now in real earnest upon his napoleonic career. the frontier was no longer at the great wall. only the other day sir aurel stein discovered, in the far west, the long straight furrows traced by the feet of han wuti's sentinels on guard; the piles of reed-stalks, at regular intervals, set along the road for fire-signals; documents giving details as to the encampments, the clothes and arrows served out to the soldiers, the provisions made for transforming armies of conquest into peaceful colonies. all these things the sands covered and preserved. and behind these outposts was a wide empire full of splendor outward and inward; full of immense activities, in literature, in engineering, in commerce. new things and ideas came in from the west: international influences to reinforce the flaming up of chinese life. the moving force was still taoism; the blue pearl, sunk deep in the now sunlit waters of the common consciousness, was flashing its rainbows. ts'in shi hwangti, for all his greatness, had been an uncouth barbarian; han wuti was a very cultured gentleman of literary tastes,--a poet, and no mean one. he too was a taoist; an initiate of the taoism of the day; which might mean in part that he had an eye to the elixir of life; but it also meant (at least) that he had a restless, exorbitant, and gorgeous imagination. such, indeed, inflamed the whole nation; which was rich, prosperous, energetic, progressive, and happy. ts'in ideas of bigness in architecture had taken on refinement in chinese hands; the palaces and temples of han wuti are of course all lost, but by all accounts they must have been wonderful and splendid. very little of the art comes down: there are some bas-reliefs of horses, fine and strong work, realistic, but with redeeming nobleness. how literature had revived may be gathered from this: in han wuti's imperial library there were volumes of the classics and commentaries thereupon; on philosophy; of poetry; on mathematics; on medicine; on the science of war. his gardens at changan were famous; he had collectors wandering the world for new and ornamental things to stock them; very likely we owe many of our garden plants and shrubs to him. he consecrated mountains and magnificent ceremonies; and for the sake of the gods and genii appeared as flaming splendors over tai-hsing and the other sacred heights. for the light of romance falls on him; he is a shining half faery figure.--outwardly there was pomp, stately manners, pageantry, high magnificence; inwardly, a burning-up of the national imagination to ensoul it. the unseen, with all its mystery and awe or loveliness, was the very nearly visible: not a pass nor lake nor moor nor forest but was crowded with the things of which wonder is made. muh wang, the chow king, eight centuries before, had ridden into the west and found the garden of that faery queen whose azure birds of compassion fly out into this world to sweeten the thoughts of men. bless you, han wuti married the lady, and had her to abide peaceably in his palace, and to watch with him "the lanterns glow vermeil and gold, azure and green, the spring nights through, when loud the pageant galeons drew to clash in mimic combating, and their dark shooting flames to strew over the lake at kouen ming." from about to han wuti was napoleonizing: bringing in the north-west; giving the huns a long quietus in ; conquering the south with tonquin; the southern coast provinces, and the lands towards tibet. ssema tsien tells us that "mountains were hewn through for many miles to establish a trade-route through the south-west and open up those remote regions"; that was a scheme of chang ch'ien's, who had ever an eye to penetrating to india. there was a dark side to it. vast sums of money were eaten up, and estravagance in private life was encouraged. says ssema: "from the highest to the lowest, everyone vied with his neighbor in lavishing money on houses and appointments and apparel, altogether beyond his means. such is the everlasting law of the sequence of prosperity and decay.... merit had to give way to money; shame and scruples of conscience were laid aside; laws and punishments were administered with severer hand." it is a very common thing to see signs of decline and darkness in one's own age; and ssema himself had no cause to love the administration of han wuti; under which he had been punished rather severely for some offense. still, what he says is more or less what you would expect the truth to be. and you will note him historian of the life of the people; not mere recounter of court scandals and chronicler of wars: conscious, too, of the law of cycles;--all told, something a truer historian than we have seen too much of in the west.--where, indeed, we are wedded to politics, and must have our annalists chronicle above all things what we call political growth; not seeing that it is but a circle, and squirreling round valiantly in a cage to get perpetually in high triumph to the place you started from; a foolish externality at best. but real history mirrors for us the motions of the human spirit and the eternal. i said that what ssema tells us is what you would expect the truth to be; this way:--after half a cycle of that adventurous and imaginative spirit, eyes jaundiced a little would surely find excuse enough for querulous vision. there is, is there not, something elizabethan in that chang ch'ien, taking the vast void so gaily, and not to be quenched by all those fusty years imprisoned among the huns, but returning only the more fired and heady of imagination? if he was a type of han wuti's china, we may guess ssema was not far out, and that vaulting ambition was overleaping itself a little; that men were buying automobiles who by good rights should have ridden in a wheelbarrow. things did not go quite so well with the great emperor after his twenty flaming napoleonic years; his vast mountain-cleaving schemes were left unfinished; central asia grew more troublesome again, and he had to call off chang ch'ien from an expedition into india by way of yunnan and tibet and the half-cleaved mountains, to fight the old enemy in the north-west. but until the thirteen decades were passed, and han chaoti, his successor, had died in b.c., the vast designs were still upspringing; high and daring enterprise was still the characteristic of the chinese mind. the thirteen decades, that is, from the accession of han hueiti and the beginning of the revival of literature in . xv. some possible epochs in sanskrit literature han chaoti died in b.c.; his successor is described as a "boor of low tastes";--from that time the great han impetus goes slowing down and quieting. china was recuperating after han wuti's flare of splendor; we may leave her to recuperate, and look meanwhile elsewhere. and first to that most tantalizing of human regions, india; where you would expect something just now from the cyclic backwash. as soon as you touch this country, in the domain of history and chronology, you are certain, as they say, to get 'hoodooed.' kali-yuga began there in b.c., and ever since that unfortunate event, not a single soul in the country seems to have had an idea of keeping track of the calendar. so-and-so, you read, reigned. when?--oh, in a.d. or in a.d. or in a.d. or in a few million b.c., or a.d. or he did not reign at all. after all, what does it matter?--this is kali-yuga, and nothing can go right.--you fix your eyes on a certain spot in time, which, according to your guesses at the cycles, should be important. nothing doing there, as we say. oh no, nothing at all: this is kali-yuga, and what should be doing? .... well, if you press the point, no doubt somebody was reigning, somewhere.--but, pardon my insistence, if seems--. quite so, quite so! as i said, somebody must have been reigning.--you scrutinze; you bring your lenses to bear; and the somebody begins to emerge. and proves to be, say, the great samundragupta, emperor of all india (nearly); for power and splendor, almost to be mentioned with asoka. and it was the golden age of music, and perhaps some other things.--yes, certainly; the guptas were reigning then, i forgot. but why bother about it? this is kali-yuga, and what does anything matter?--and you come away with the impression that your non-informant could reveal enough and plenty, if he had a mind to. which is, indeed, probably the case. all this nonchalant indefiniteness means nothing more, one suspects, than that the brahmans have elected to keep the history of their country unknown to us poor mlechhas. then there are others, too: the guardians of esotericism in a greater sense; who have not chosen so far that indian history should be known. so we can only take dim foreshadowings, and make guesses. we saw the maurya dynasty,--that one seemingly firm patch to set your feet on in the whole morass of the indian past,--occupy the thirteen decades from to b.c., (or we thought we did); now the question is, from that _pied-a-terre_ whither shall we jump? if you could be sure that the ebb of the wave would be equal in length to its inrush,--the night to the day:--that the minor pralaya would be no longer or shorter than the little manvantara that preceded it--why, then you might leap out securely for b.c., with a comfortable feeling that there would be some kind of turning-point in indian history there or thereabouts. sometimes things do happen so, beautifully, as if arranged by the clock. but unfortunately, enough mischief may be done in thirteen decades to take a much longer period to disentangle; and again, it is only when you strike an average for the whole year, that you can say the nights are equal to the days. we are trying to see through to the pattern of history; not to dogmatize on such details as we may find, nor claim on the petty strength of them to be certain of the whole. so, our present leap (for we shall make it), while not quite in the dark, must be made in the dusk of an hour or so after sunset. there must be an element of faith in it: very likely we shall splash and sink gruesomely. well, here goes then! from b.c. thirteen decades forward to b.c., and,--squish! but, courage! throw out your arm and clutch--at this trailing root, _ b. c.,_ here within easy reach; and haul yourself out. so; and see, now you are standing on something. what it is, _dios lo sabe!_ but there is an indian era that begins in b.c.; for a long time, dates were counted from that year. that era rises in undefined legendary splendor, and peters out ineffectually you don't just know where. there is nothing to go upon but legends, with never a coin nor monument found to back them;--never mind; dates you count eras from are generally those in which important cycles begin. the legends relate to vikramaditya king of ujjain,--which kingdom is towards the western side of the peninsula, and about where hindoostan and the deccan join. he is the arthur-charlemain of india, the golden monarch of romance. in the lakes of his palace gardens the very swans sang his praises daily-- "glory be to vikramajeet who always gives us pearls to eat"; and when he died, the four pillars that supported his throne rose up, and wandered away through the fields and jungle disconsolate: they would not support the dignity of any lesser man.* such tales are told about him by every indian mother to her children at this present day, and have been, presumably, any time these last two thousand years. ------ * _india through the ages,_ by mrs. flora annie steel. ------ of his real existence historical research cannot satisfy itself at all;--or it half guesses it may have discovered his probable original wandering in disguise through the centuries of a thousand years or so later. but you must expect that sort of thing in india. at his court, says tradition, lived the "nine gems of literature," --chief among them the poet-dramatist kalidasa; whom historical research (western) rather infers lived at several widely separated epochs much nearer our own day. well; for the time being let us leave historical research (western) to stew in its own (largely poisonous) juices, and see how it likes it,--and say that there are good cyclic chances of something large here, in the half-cycle between the ages of han wuti and augustus. we may note that things indian must be dealt with differently from things elsewhere. you take, for example, the old story about the moslem conquerors of egypt burning the alexandrian library. the fact that this is mentioned for the first time by a christian who lived six hundred years after the supposed event, while we have many histories written during those six hundred years which say nothing about it at all,--is evidence amounting to proof that it never happened; especially when you take into account the known fact that the alexandrian library had already been thoroughly burnt several times. but you can derive no such negativing certainty, in india, from the fact that vikramaditya and ujjain and kalidasa may never have been mentioned together, not associated with the era of b.c., in any extant writing known to the west that comes from before several centuries later. because the brahman were a close corporation that kept the records of history, and kept them secret; and gave out bits when it suited them. say that in (or whenever else it may have been) they first allowed it to be published that kalidasa flourished at vikrmaditya's court:--they may have been consciously lying, but at least they were talking about what they knew. they were not guessing, or using their head-gear wrongfully, their lying was intentional, or their truth warranted by knowledge. and no motive for lying is apparent here.--it would be very satisfactory, of course, were a coin discovered with king vikrmaditya's image and superscription nicely engraved thereon: _vikramaditya de gratia: uj. imp.; fid. def.; b.c._ but in this wicked world you cannot have everything; you must be thankful for what you can get. you may remember that han wuti, to solve the hun problem, sent chang ch'ien out through the desert to discover the yueh chi' and that chang found them at last in bactria, which they had conquered from greeks who had held it since alexander's time. he found them settled and with some fair degree of civilization; spoke of bactria under their sway as a "land of a thousand cities";--they had learned much since they were nomads driven out of kansuh by the huns. also they were in the midst of a career of expansion. within thirty years of his visit to them, or by b.c., they had spread their empire over eastern persia, at the expense of the parthians; and thence went down into india conquering. by b.c. they held the punjab and generally the western parts of hindoostan; then, since they do not seem to have got down into the deccan, i take it they were held up. by whom?--truly this is pure speculation. but the state of malwa, of which ujjain was the capital, lay right in their southward path; if held up they were, it would have been, probably, by some king of ujjain. was this what happened?--that the peril of these northern invaders roused malwa to exert its fullest strength; the military effort spurring up national feeling; the national feeling, creative energies spiritual, mental and imaginative;--until a great age in ujjain had come into being. it is what we often see. the menace of spain roused england to elizabethanism; the persian peril awakend athens. so king vikramaditya leads out his armies, and to victory; and the nine gems of literature sing at his court. it is a backwash from han wuti's china, that goes west with chang ch'ien to the yueh chi, and south with them into india. and we can look for no apex of literary creation at this time, either in china or europe. in the roman literature of that cycle it is the keen creative note we miss: virgil, the nearest to it, cannot be said to have possessed quite; and han literature was probably its first culmination under han wuti, and its second under the eastern hans. one suspects that great creation is generally going on somewhere, and is not displeased to find hints of its presence in india; is inclined to think this may have been, after all, the golden age of the sanskrit drama.--at which there can be at any rate no harm in taking a glance at this point; and, retrospectively, at sanskrit literature as a whole;--a desperately inadequate glance, be it said. i ask you here to remember the three periods of english poetry, with their characteristics; and you must not mind my using my welsh god-names in connexion with them. first, then, there was the period of plenydd,--of the beginnings of _vision;_ when the eyes of chaucer and his lyricist predecessors were opened to the world out-of-doors; when they began to see that the skies were blue, fields and forests green; that there were flowers in the meadows and woodlands; and that all these things were delectable. then there was the period of gwron, strength; when marlowe and shakespeare and milton evolved the grand manner; when they made the great march-music, unknown in english before, and hardly achieved by anyone since:--the era of the great warrior-poetry of the tragedies and of _paradise lost._ then came, with wordsworth and keats and shelley, the age of alawn, lasting on until today; when the music of intonation brought with it romance and mystery and natural magic with its rich glow and wizard insight. and you will remember how english poetry, on the uptrend of a major cycle, is a reaching from the material towards the spiritual, a growth toward that. though milton and shakespeare made their grand soul-symbols,--by virtue of a cosmic force moving them as it has moved no others in the language,--you cannot find in their works, or in any works of that age, such clear perceptions or statements of spiritual truth as in swinburne's _songs before sunrise;_ nor was the brain-mind of either of those giants of the middle period capable of such conscious mystic thought as wordsworth's. there was an evolution upward and inward; from chaucer's school-boy vision, to swinburne's (in that one book) clear sight of the soul. we appear to find in sanskrit literature,--i speak in a very general sense,--also such great main epochs or cycles. first a reign of plenydd, of vision,--in the age of the sacred books. then a reign of gwron,--in the age of the heroic epics. then a reign of alawn, in the age of the drama. but the direction is all opposite. the cycle is not upward, from the sough of a beastly iron age towards the luminance of a coming golden; but downward from the peaks and splendors of the age of gold to where the outlook is on to this latter hell's-gulf of years. plenydd, when he first touched english eyes, he was plenydd the lord of spiritual vision, the seer into the eternities. wordsworth at his highest only approaches,-- swinburne in _hertha_ halts at the portals of, the upanishads. now, what may this indicate? to my mind, this: that you are not to take these sanskrit sacred books as the fruitage of a single literary age. they do not correspond with, say, the elizabethan, or the nineteenth-century, poetry of england; but are rather the cream of the output of a whole period as long (at least) as that of all english literature; the blossoming of a racial mind during (at least) a manvantara of fifteen hundred years. i do not doubt that the age that gave birth to the _katha-upanishad,_ gave birth to all manner of other things also; flippancies and trivialities among the rest;--just as in the same england, and in the same years, milton was dictating _samson agonistes,_ and butler was writing the stinging scurrilities of _hudibras._ but the sanskrit hudibrases are lost; as the english one will be, even if it takes millenniums to lose it. full-flowing time has washed away the impermanencies of that ancient age, and left standing but the palaces built upon the rock of the soul. the soul made the upanishads, as it mide _paradise lost;_ it made the former in the golden age, and the latter in this age of iron; the former through men gifted with superlative vision; the latter through a blind old bard. therein lies the difference: all our bards, our very greatest, have been blind,--dante and shakespeare, no less than milton. full-flowing time washed away the impermanencies of that ancient age, and left standing but the rock-built palaces of the soul; and these,--not complete, perhaps;--repaired to a degree by hands more foolish;--a little ruinous in places,--but the ruins grander and brighter than all the pomps, all the new-fangled castles of genii, of later times, --come down to us as the sacred books of india, the oldest extant literature in the world. how old? we may put their epoch well before the death of krishna in b. c.,--well before the opening of the kali-yuga; we may say that it lasted a very long time;--and be content that if all scholarship, all western and modern opinion, laughs at us now,--the laugh will probably be with us when we have been dead a long time. or perhaps sooner. they count three stages in this vedic or pre-classical literature, wherefrom also we may infer that it was the output of a great manvantara, not of a mere day of literary creation. these three, they say, are represented by the vedas, the brahmanas, and the upanishads. the vedas consist of hymns to the gods; and in a golden age you might find simple hymns to the gods a sufficient expression of religion. where, say, reincarnation was common knowledge; where everybody knew it, and no one doubted it; you would not bother to make poems about it: --you do not make poems about going to bed at night and getting up in the morning--or not as a rule. you make poems upon a reaction of surprise at perceptions which seem wonderful and beautiful,-- and in a golden age, the things that would seem wonderful and beautiful would be, precisely, the sky, the stars, earth, fire, the winds and waters. our senses are dimmed, or we should see in them the eternally startling manifestations of the lords of eternal beauty. it is no use arguing from the vedic hymns, as some folk do, a 'primitive' state of society; we have not the keys now to the background, mental and social, of the people among whom those hymns arose. poetry in every succeeding age has had to fight harder to proclaim the spiritual truth proper to her native spheres: were all spiritual truth granted, she would need do nothing more than mention the sky, or the earth, and all the wonder, all the mystery and delight connoted by them would flood into the minds of her hearers. but now she must labor difficultly to make those things cry through; she gains in glory by the resistance of the material molds she must pierce. so the vedas tell us little unless we separate ourselves from our preconceptions about 'primitive aryans'; whose civilization may have been at once highly evolved and very spiritual. the _brahmanas_ are priest-books; the _upanishads,_ it is reasonable to say are kshattriya-books;--you often find in them brahmans coming to kshattriyas to learn the inner wisdom. the _brahmanas_ are books of ritual; the _upanishads_ came much later that the _brahmanas:_ that they represent a reaction towards spirituality from the tyranny of a priestly caste. but probably the day of the kshattriyas was much earlier than that of the priests. the marlow-shakespear-milton time was the kshattriya period in english poetry; also the period during which the greatest souls incarnated, and produced the greatest work. so, perhaps, in this manvantara of the pre-classical sanskrit literature, the rig-veda with its hymns represents the first, the chaucerian period; but a golden age chaucerian, simple and pure,--a time in which the mysteries really ruled human life, and when to hymn the gods was to participate in the wonder and freeddom of their being. think, perhaps, as the cycle mounted to its hour of noon, esotericism opened its doors to pour forth an illumination yet stronger and more saving: mighty egos incarnated, and put in writing the marvelous revelations of the _upanishads:_ there may have been a descent towards matter, to call forth these more explicit declarations of the spirit. the exclusive caste-system had not been evolved by any means, nor was to be for many ages: the kings are at the head of things; and they, not the priests, the chief custodians of the deeper wisdom.--and then, later, the priest-cast made its contribution, evolving in the _brahmanas_ the ritual of their order; with an implication, ever growing after the beginning of the kali-yuga, that only by this ritual salvation could be attained. not that it follows that this was the idea at first. ritual has its place: hymns and chantings, so they be the right ones, performed rightly, have their decided magical value; we can understand that in its inception and first purity, this brahmana literature may have been a growth or birth, under the aegis of alawn of the harmonies, of the magic of chanted song. and having said all this, and reconsidering it, one feels that to attribute these three branches of literature to a single manvantara is a woeful foreshortening. i suppose the rig-veda is as old as the aryan sub-race, which, according to our calculations, must have begun some , years ago. the _upanishads_ affect us like poetry; even in max muller's translation, which is poor prose, they do not lose altogether their uplift and quality of song. they sing the philosophy of the divine in man; i suppose we may easily say they are the highest thing in extant literature. they do not come to us whole or untainted. we may remember what the swami dayanand sarasvati said to h. p. blavatsky: that he could show the excellent "moksh mooller" that "what crossed the kalapani from india to europe were only the bits of rejected copies of some passages from our sacred books." again, madame blavatsky says that the best part of the upanishads was taken out at the time buddha was preaching; the brahmans took it out, that he might not prove too clearly the truth of his teachings by appeals to their sacred books. also the buddha was a kshattriya; so the ancient eminence of the kshattriyas had to be obscured a little;--it was the brahmans, by that time, who were monopolizing the teaching office. and no doubt in the same way from time to time much has been added: the brahmans could do this, being custodians of the sacred literature. yet in spite of all we get in them a lark's song,-- but a spiritual lark's song, floating and running in the golden glories of the spiritual sun; a song whose verve carries us openly up into the realms of pure spirit; a wonderful radiance and sweetness of dawn, of dawn in its fresh purity, its holiness,--haunted with no levity or boisterousness of youth, but with a wisdom gay and ancient,--eternal, laughter-laden, triumphant,--at once hoary and young,--like the sparkle of snows on himalaya, like the amber glow in the eastern sky. here almost alone in literature we get long draughts of the golden age: not a golden age fought for and brought down into our perceptions (which all true poetry gives us), but one actually existing, open and free;--and not merely the color and atmosphere of it, but the wisdom. one need not wonder that madame blavatsky drew so freely on india for the nexus of her teachings. that country has performed a marvelous function, taking all its ages together, in the life of humanity; in preserving for us the poetry and wisdom of an age before the mysteries had declined; in keeping open for us, in a semi-accessible literature, a kind of window into the golden age.--well; each of the races has some function to fulfil. and it is not modern india that has done this; she has not done it of her own good will,--has had no good will to do it. it is the akbars the anquetil duperrons and sir william joneses, --and above all, and far above all, h. p. blavatsky,--whom we have to thank. so much, then, for the age of the vedic literature. it passed, and we come to an age when that literature had become sacred. it seems to me that in the natural course of things it would take a very long time for this to happen. you may say that in the one analogy we have whose history is well known,--the _koran,_--we have an example of a book sacred as soon as written. but i do not believe the analogy would hold good here. the _koran_ came as the rallying-standard of a movement which was designed to work quick changes in the outer fabric of the world; it came when the cycles had sunk below any possibility of floating spiritual wisdom on to the world-currents;--and there were the precedents of judaism and christianity, ever before the eyes of mohammed, for making the new religious movement center about a book. but in ancient india, i take it, you had some such state of affairs as this: classes there would be, according to the natural differences of egos incarnating; but no castes; religion there was,--that is to say, an attention to, an aspiration towards, the spiritual side of life; but no religions,--no snarling sects and jangling foolish creeds. those things (a god's mercy!) had not been invented then, nor were to be for thousands of years. the foremost souls, the most spiritual, gravitated upward to the headship of tribes and nations; they were the _kings,_ as was proper they should be: king-initiates, teachers as well as rulers of the people. and they ordained public ceremonies in which the people, coming together, could invoke and participate in the life from above. so we read in the upanishads of those great kshattriya teachers to whom brahmans came as disciples. poets made their verses; and what of these were good, really inspired, suitable--what came from the souls of poet-initiates,-- would be used at such ceremonies: sung by the assembled multitudes; and presently, by men specially trained to sing them. so a class rose with this special function; and there were other functions in connexion with these ceremonies, not proper to be performed by the kings, and which needed a special training to carry out. here, then, was an opening in life for men of the right temperament;--so a class arose, of _priests:_ among whom many might be real initiates and disciples of the adept-kings. they had the business of taking care of the literature sanctioned for use at the sacrifices,--for convenience we may call all the sacred ceremonies that,--at which they performed the ritual and carried out the mechanical and formal parts. it is very easy to imagine how, as the cycles went on and down, and the adept-kings ceased to incarnate continuously, these religious officials would have crystallized themselves into a close corporation, an hereditary caste; and what power their custodianship of the sacrificial literature would have given them;--how that literature would have come to be not merely sacred in the sense that all true poetry with the inspiration of the soul behind it really is;--but credited with an extra-human sanction. but it would take a long time. when modern creeds are gone, to what in literature will men turn for their inspiration? --to whatever in literature contains real inspiration, you may answer. they will not sing dr. watts's doggerel in their churches; but such things perhaps as wordsworth's _the world is too much with us,_ or henley's _i am the captain of my soul._ and then, after a long time and many racial pralayas, you can imagine such poems as these coming to be thought of as not merely from the human soul, an ever-present source of real inspiration, --but as revelations by god himself, from which not one jot or tittle should be taken without blasphemy; given by god when he founded his one true religion to mankind. we lose sight of the spirit, and exalt the substance; then we forget the substance, and deify the shadow. we crucify our saviors when they are with us; and when they are gone, we crucify them worse with our unmeaning worship and dogmas made on them. well, the age of the vedas passed, and pralayas came, and new manvantaras; and we come at last to the age of classical sanskrit; and first to the period of the epics. this too is a kshattriya age. whether it represents a new ascendency of the kshattriyas, or simply a continuance of the old one: whether the priesthood had risen to power between the vedas and this, and somewhat fallen from it again,--or whether their rise was still in progress, but not advanced to the point of ousting the kings from their lead,--who can say? but this much, perhaps, we may venture without fear: the kshattriyas of the epic age were not the same as those of the upanishads. they were not adept-kings and teachers in the same way. by epic age, i mean the age in which the epics were written, not that of which they tell. and neither the _mahabharata_ nor the _ramayana_ was composed in a day; but in many centuries;--and it is quite likely that on them too brahmanical hands have been tactfully at work. some parts of them were no doubt written in the centuries after christ; there is room enough to allow for this, when you think that the one contains between ninety and a hundred thousand, the other about twenty-four thousand couplets;--the _mahabharata_ being about seven times, the _ramayana_ about twice as long as the _iliad_ and the _odyssey_ combined. so the age of the epics must be narrowed down again, to mean the age that gave birth to the nuclei of them. as to when it may have been, i do not know that there is any clue to be found. modern criticism has been at work, of course, to reduce all things to as commonplace and brain-mind a basis as possible; but its methods are entirely the wrong ones. mr. romesh dutt, who published abridged translations of the two poems in the late nineties, says of the _mahabharata_ that the great war which it tells of "is believed to have been fought in the thirteenth or fourteenth century before christ"; and of the _ramayana,_ that it tells the story of nations that flourished in northern india about a thousand years b. c.--is believed by whom, pray? it is also believed, and has been from time immemorial, in india, that krishna, who figures largely in the _mahabharata,_ died in the year b.c.; and that he was the eighth avatar of vishnu; and that rama, the hero of the _ramayana,_ was the seventh. now brain-mind criticism of the modern type is the most untrustworthy thing, because it is based solely on circumstantial evidence; and when you work upon that, you ought to go very warily;--it is always likely that half the circumstances remain un-discovered; and even if you have ninety and nine out of the hundred possible, the hundredth, if you had it, might well change the whole complexion of the case. and this kind of criticism leads precisely nowhere, does not build anything, but pulls down what was built of old. so i think we must be content to wait for real knowledge till those who hold it may choose to reveal it; and meanwhile get back to the traditional starting-point; --say that the war of the kuravas and pandavas happened in the thirty-second century b.c.; rama's invasion of lanka, ages earlier; and that the epics began to be written, as they say, somewhere between the lives of krishna and buddha,--somewhere between and years ago. why before buddha?--because they are still kshattriya works; written before the brahman ascendency, though after the time when the kshattriyas were led by their adept-kings;--and because buddha started a spiritual revolt (kshattriya) against a brahman ascendency well established then,--a revolt that by asoka's time had quite overthrown the brahman power. why, then, should we not ascribe the epics to this buddhist kshattriya period? to asoka's reign itself, for example?--well, it has been done; but probably not wisely. panini in his _grammar_ cites the mahabharata as an authority for usage; and even the westernest of criticism is disinclined, on the evidence, to put panini later than b.c. goldstucker puts him in the seventh century b.c. _en passant,_ we may quote this from the _encyclopaedia britannica_ as to panini's _grammar:_ "for a comprehensive grasp of linguistic facts, and a penetrating insight into the structure of the vernacular language, this work stands probably unrivalled in the literature of any language."--panini, then, cites the _mahabharata;_ panini lived certainly before asoka's time; the greatness of his work argues that he came in a culminating period of scholarship and literary activity, if not of literary creation; the reign of asoka we may surmise was another such period;--and from all this i think we may argue without much fear that the the nucleus and original form of it, was written long before the reign of asoka. besides, if it had been written during the buddhist ascendency, one fancies we should find more buddhism in it than we do. there is some;--there are ideas that would be called buddhist; but that really only prove the truth of the buddha's claim that he taught nothing new. but a poem written in asoka's reign, one fancies, would not have been structurally and innately, as the _mahabharata_ is, martial. there is this difference between the two epics,--i speak of the nucleus-poems in each case;--the _mahabharata_ seems much more a natural growth, a national epic,--the work not of one man, but of many poets celebrating through many centuries a tradition not faded from the national memory;--but the _ramayana_ is more a structural unity; it bears the marks of coming from one creative mind: even western criticism accepts valmiki (whoever he may have been) as its author. to him it is credited in indian tradition; which ascribes the authorship of the _mahabharata_ to vyasa, the reputed compiler of the _vedas;_--and this last is manifestly not to be taken literally; for it is certain that a great age elapsed between the _vedas_ and the epics. so i think that the _mahabharata_ grew up in the centuries, many or few, that followed the great war,--or, say, during the second millennium b.c.; that in that millennium, during some great 'day' of literary creation, it was redacted into a single poem;-- and that, the epic habit having thus been started, a single poet, valmiki, in some succeeding 'day,' was prompted to make another epic, on the other great traditional saga-cycle, the story of rama. but since that time, and all down through the centuries, both poems have been growing _ad lib._ this is an endeavor to take a bird's-eye view of the whole subject; not to look at the evidence through a microscope, in the modern critical way. it is very unorthodox, but i believe it is the best way: the bird's eye sees most; the microscope sees least; the former takes in whole landscapes in proportion; the latter gets confused with details that seem, under that exaggeration, too highly important,--but which might be negatived altogether could you see the whole thing at once. a telescope for that kind of seeing is not forthcoming; but the methods of thought that h. p. blavatsky taught us supply at least the first indications of what it may be like: they give us the first lenses. as our perceptions grow under their influence, doubtless new revelations will be made; and we shall see more, and further. all we can do now is to retire from the confusion brought about by searching these far stars with a microscope; to look less at the results of such searching, than at the old traditions themselves, making out what we can of them through what theosophic lenses we have. we need not be misled by the ridiculous idea that civilization is a new thing. it is only the bias of the age; the next age will count it foolishness.--but to return to our epics.-- first to the _mahabharata._ it is, as it comes down to us, not one poem, but a large literature. mr. dutt compares it, both for length and variety of material, to the sermons of jeremy taylor and hooker, locke's and hobbes's books of philosophy, blackstone's _commentaries,_ percy's ballads, and the writings of newman, pusey, and keble,--all done into blank verse and incorporated with _paradise lost._ you have a martial poem like the _iliad,_ full of the gilt and scarlet and trumpetings and blazonry of war;--and you find the _bhagavad-gita_ a chapter in it. since it was first an epic, there have been huge accretions to it: whosever fancy it struck would add a book or two, with new incidents to glorify this or that locality, princely house, or hero. and it is hard to separate these accretions from the original,--from the version, that is, that first appeared as an epic poem. some are closely bound into the story, so as to be almost integral; some are fairly so; some might be cut out and never missed. hence the vast bulk and promiscuity of material; which might militate against your finding in it, as a whole, any consistent soul-symbol. and yet its chief personages seem all real men; they are clearly drawn, with firm lines;--says mr. dutt, as clearly as the trojan and achaean chiefs of homer. yudhishthira and karna and arjuna; bhishma and drona and the wild duhsasan, are very living characters;--as if they had been actual men who had impressed themselves on the imagination of the age, and were not to be drawn by anyone who drew them except from the life. that might imply that poets began writing about them not so long after they lived, and while the memory of them and of their deeds was fresh. we are to understand, however,--all india has so understood, always,--that the poem is a soul-symbol, standing for the wars of light and darkness; whether this symbol was a tradition firmly in the minds of all who wrote it, or whether it was imposed by the master-hand that collated their writings into an epic for the first time. for it would seem that of the original writers, some had been on the kurava, some on the pandava side; though in the symbol as it stands, it is the pandavas who represent the light, the kurava,-- the darkness. there are traces of this submerged diversity of opinion. just as in the _iliad_ it is the trojan hector who is the most sympathetic character, so in the _mahabharata_ it is often to some of the kurava champions that our sympathies unavoidably flow. we are told that the kurava are thoroughly depraved and villainous; but not seldom their actions belie the assertion,--with a certain kshattriya magnamity for which they are given no credit. krishna fights for the sons of pandu; in the _bhagavad-gita_ and elsewhere we see him as the incarnation of vishnu,--of the deity, the supreme self. as such, he does neither good nor evil; but ensures victory for his protegees. philosophically and symbolically, this is sound and true, no doubt, but one wonders whether the poem (or poems) ran so originally; whether there may not be passages written at first by kuravist poets; or a brahminical superimposition of motive on a poem once wholly kshattriya, and interested only in showing forth the noble and human warrior virtues of the kshattriya caste. i imagine that in that second millennium b. c., in the early centuries of kali-yuga, you had a warrior class with their bards, inspired with high bushido feeling,--with chivalry and all that is fine in patricianism--but no longer under the leadership of adept princes;--the esoteric knowledge was now mainly in the hands of the priest-class. the kshattriya bards made poems about the great war, which grew and coalesced into a national epic. then in the course of the centuries, as learning in its higher branches became more and more a possession of the brahmans,--and since there was no feeling against adding to this epic whatever material came handy,--brahmin esotericists manipulated it with great tact and finesse into a symbol of the warfare of the soul. there is the story of the death of the kurava champion bhishma. the pandavas had been victorious; and duryodhana the kurava king appealed to bhishma to save the situation. bhishma loved the pandava princes like a father; and urged duryodhana to end the war by granting them their rights,--but in vain. so next day, owing his allegiance to duryodhana, he took the field; and "as a lordly tusker tramples on a field of feeble reeds, as a forest conflagration on the parched woodland feeds, bhishma rode upon the warriors in his mighty battle car. god nor mortal chief could face him in the gory field of war." * ------ * the quotations are from mr. romesh dutt's translation. ------ thus victorious, he cried out to the vanquished that no appeal for mercy would be unheard; that he fought not against the defeated, the worn-out, the wounded, or "a woman born." hearing this, krishna advised arjuna that the chance to turn the tide had come. the young sikhandin had been born a woman, and changed afterwards by the gods into a man. let sikhandin fight in the forefront of the battle, and the pandavas would win, and bhishma be slain.--arjuna, who loved bhishma as dearly as bhishma loved him and his brothers, protested; but krishna announced that bhishma was so doomed to die, and on the following day; a fate decreed, and righteously to be brought about by the stratagem. so it happened: "bhishma viewed the pandav forces with a calm unmoving face; saw not arjun's bow gandiva, saw not bhima's mighty mace; smiled to see the young sikhandin rushing to the battle's fore like the white foam on the billow when the mighty storm winds roar; thought upon the word he plighted, and the oath that he had sworn, dropt his arms before the warrior that was, but a woman born;" --and so, was slain.... and the chiefs of both armies gathered round and mourned for him.--now it seems to me that the poets who viewed sympathetically the magnanimity of bhishma, which meets you on the plane of simple human action and character, would not have viewed sympathetically, or perhaps conceived, the strategem advised by krishna,--which you have to meet, to find it acceptable, on the planes of metaphysics and symbolism. there is a quality in it you do not find in the _illiad._ greek and trojan champions, before beginning the real business of their combats, do their best to impart to each other a little valuable self-knowledge: each reveals carefully, in a fine flow of hexameters, the weak points in his opponent's character. they are equally eloquent about their own greatnesses, which stir their enthusiasm highly;--but as to faults, neither takes thought for his own; each concentrates on the other's; and a war of words is the appetiser for the coming banquet of deeds. before fighting hector, achilles reviled him; and having killed him, dragged his corpse shamefully round the walls of troy. but bhishma, in his victorious career, has nothing worse to cry to his enemies than--_valiant are ye, noble princes!_ and if you think of it on the unsymbolic plane, there is a certain nobility in the despondency of arjuna in the _bhagavad-gita._ says the _encyclopaedia brittanica:_ "to characterize the indian epics in a single word: though often disfigured by grotesque fancies and wild exaggerations, they are yet noble works, abounding in passages of remarkable descriptive power; and while as works of art they are far inferior to the greek epics, in some respects they appeal far more strongly to the romantic mind of europe, namely, by the loving appreciation of natural beauty, their exquisite delineation of womanly love and devotion, and their tender sentiment of mercy and forgiveness." --precisely because they come from a much higher civilization that the greek. from a civilization, that is to say, older and more continuous. before rome fell, the romans were evolving humanitarian and compassionate ideas quite unlike their old-time callousness. and no, it was not the influence of christianity; we see it in the legislation of hadrian for example, and especially in the anti-christian marcus aurelius. these feeling grow up in ages unscarred by wars and human cataclysms; every war puts back their growth. the fall of rome and the succeeding pralaya threw europe back into ruthless barbarity. in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries humanism began to grow again; and has been gaining ground especially since h. p. blavatsky began her teaching. but not much more than a century ago they were publicly hanging, drawing, and quartering people in england; crowds were gathering at tyburn or before the old bailey to enjoy an execution. we have hardly had four generations in western europe in which men have not been ruthless and brutal barbarians with a sprinkling of fine spirits incarnate among them; no european literature yet has had time to evolve to the point where it could portray a yudhishthira, at the end of a national epic, arriving at the gates of heaven with his dog,--and refusing to enter because the dog was not to be admitted. there have been, with us, too great ups and downs of civilization; too little continuity. we might have grown to it by now, had that medieval pralaya been a quiet and natural thing, instead of what it was:-- a smash-up total and orgy of brutalities come as punishment for our sins done in the prime of manvantara. a word or two as to the _ramayana._ probably valmiki had the other epic before his mental vision when he wrote it; as virgil had homer. there are parallel incidents; but his genius does not appear in them;--he cannot compete in their own line with the old kshattriya bards. you do not find here so done to the life the chargings of lordly tuskers, the gilt and crimson, the scarlet and pomp and blazonry, of war. the braying of the battle conches is muted: all is cast in a more gentle mold. you get instead the forest and its beauty; you get tender idylls of domestic life.--this poem, like the _mahabharata,_ has come swelling down the centuries; but whereas the latter grew by the addition of new incidents, the _ramayana_ grew by the re-telling of old ones. thus you may get book after book telling the same story of rama's life in the forest-hermitage by the godavari; each book by a new poet in love with the gentle beauty of the tale and its setting, and anxious to put them into his own language. india never grows tired of these ramayanic repetitions. sita, the heroine, rama's bride, is the ideal of every good woman there; i suppose shakespeare has created no truer or more beautiful figure. to the _mahabharata,_ the _ramayana_ stands perhaps as the higher wordsworth to milton; it belongs to the same great age, but to another day in it. both are and have been wonderfully near the life of the people: children are brought up on them; all ages, castes, and conditions make them the staple of their mental diet. both are semi-sacred; neither is quite secular; either relates the deeds of an avatar of vishnu; ages have done their work upon them, to lift them into the region of things sacrosanct. and now at last we come to the age of king vikramaditya of ujjain,--to the nine gems of literature,--to a secular era of literary creation,--to the sanskrit drama, and to kalidisa, its shakespeare;--and to his masterpiece, _the ring of sakoontala._ there is a tendency with us to derive all things indian from greek sources. some greek writer says the indians were familiar with homer; whereupon we take up the cry,--the _ramayana_ is evidently a plagiarism from the _iliad;_ the abduction of sita by ravan, of the abduction of helen by paris; the siege of lanka, of the siege of troy. and the _mahabharata_ is too; because,--because it must be; there's a deal of fighting in both. (so macedon plagiarized its river from monmouth.) we believe a greek at all times against an indian; forgetting that the greeks themselves, when they got to india, were astounded at the truthfulness of the people they found there. such strained avoidance of the natural lie,--the harmless, necessary lie that came so trippingly to a greek tongue,--seemed to them extraordinary.--so too our critics naturally set out from the position that the indian drama must have been an offshoot or imitation of the greek. but fortunately that position had to be quitted _toute de suite;_ for the indian theory is much nearer the english than the greek;--much liker shakespeare's than aeschylus's. _sakoontal_ is romantic; it came in a third or alawn period; of all englishmen, keats might most easily have written it; if _endymion_ were a play, _endymion_ would be the likest thing to it in english. you must remember that downward trend in the great cycle; that make each succeeding period in sanskrit literature a descent from the heights of esotericism towards the personal plane. that is what brings kalidasa on to a level with keats. behind _sakoontala,_ as behind _endymion,_ there is a soul-symbol; only kalidasa, like keats, is preoccupied in his outer mind more with forest beauty and natural magic and his romantic tale of love. it marks a stage in the descent of literature from the old impersonal to the modern personal reaches: from tales told merely to express the soul-symbol, to tales told merely for the sake of telling them. the stories in the _upanishads_ are glyphs pure and simple. in the epics, they have taken on much more human color, though still exalting and ennobling,--and all embodying, or molded to, the glyph. now, in _the ring of sakoontala,_--and it is typical of its class,--we have to look a little diligently for the glyph; what impresses us is the stillness and morning beauty of the forest, and,--yes, it must be said.--the emotions, quite personal, of king dushyanta and sakoontala, the hero and heroine. she is a fairy's child, full beautiful; and has been brought up by her foster-father, the yogi kanwa, in his forest hermitage. while kanwa is absent, dushyanta, hunting, follows an antelope into that quiet refuge; finds sakoontala, loves and marries her. here we are amidst the drowsy hum of bees, the flowering of large indian forest blossoms, the scent of the jasmine in bloom; it is what keats would have written, had his nightingale sung in an indian jungle.--the king departs for his capital, leaving with sakoontala a magical ring with power to reawaken memory of her in his heart, should he ever forget. but durvasas, a wandering ascetic, passes by the hermitage; and sakoontala, absorbed in her dreams, fails to greet him; for which he dooms her to be forgotten by her husband. she waits and waits, and at last seeks the unreturning dushyanta at his court; who, under the spell of durvasas, fails to recognise her. if what she claims is true, she can produce the ring?--but no; she has lost it on her journey through the forest. he repudiates her; whereupon she is caught up by the gods into the grove of kasyapa beyond the clouds. but the ring had fallen into a stream in the forest, and a fish had swallowed it, and a fisherman had caught the fish, and the police had caught the fisherman .... and so it came into the hands of dushyanta again; who, at sight of it, remembered all, and was plunged in grief over his lost love. years pass, and indra summons him at last to fight a race of giants that threaten the sovereignty of the gods. in the course of that warfare, mounting to heaven in the car of indra, dushyanta comes to the grove of kasyapa, and is reunited with sakoontala and with their son, now grown into an heroic boy. as in _the tempest_ a certain preoccupation with the magical beauty of the island dims the character-drawing a little, and perhaps thereby makes the symbol more distinct,--so in sakoontala. it is a faery piece: begining in the morning calm and forest magic; then permitting passion to rise, and sadness to follow; ending in the crystal and blue clearness of the upper air. in this we see the basic form of the soul-symbol, which is worked out in the incidents and characters. dushyanta, hunting in the unexplored forest, comes to the abode of holiness, finds and loves sakoontala;--and from their union is born the perfect hero,--sarva-damana, the 'all-tamer.'--searching in the impersonal and unexplored regions within us, we do at some time in our career of lives come to the holy place, get vision of our immortal self; from the union of which with this, our human personality is to be born some time that new being we are to become,--the perfect man or adept. but that first vision may be lost; i suppose almost always is;--and there are wanderings and sorrows, forgetfulness and above all heroic services to be performed, before the final reunion can be attained. xvi. the beginnings of rome we have seen an eastward flow of cycles: which without too much procrusteanizing may be given dates thus:--greece, to ; maurya india, to ; western han china, to ; in this current, west asia, being then in long pralaya, is overleaped. we have also seen a tide in the other direction; it was first persia that touched greece to awakenment; and there is that problematical indian period (if it existed), thirteen decades after the fall of the mauryas, and following close upon the waning of the first glory of the hans. so we should look for the greek age to kindle something westward again, sooner or later;-- which of course it did. to ; to ; to b.c.; b.c. to a. d.: we shall see presently the significance of those latter dates in roman history. meanwhile to note this: whereas persia woke greece at a touch, thirteen decades elapsed before greece began to awake italy. it waited to do so fully until the crest-wave had sunk a little at the eastern end of the world; for you may note that the year b.c., in which han chaoti died, was the year in which augustus was born. with him in the same decade came most of the luminaries that made his age splendid: virgil in ; horace in ; vipsanius agrippa in ; cilnius maecenas in what precise year we do not know. the fact is that the influx of vigorous light-bearing egos, as it decreased in china, went augmenting in italy: which no doubt, if we could trace it, we should find to be the kind of thing that happens always. for about four generations the foremost souls due to incarnate crowd into one race or quarter of the globe; then, having exhausted the workable heredity to be found there,--_used up_ that racial stream,--they must go elsewhere. there you have the _raison d'etre,_ probably, of the thirteen-decade period. it takes as a rule about four generations of such high life to deplete the racial heredity for the time being,--which must then be left to lie fallow. so now, america not being discovered, and there being no further eastward to go, we must jump westward the width of two continents (nearly), and (that last lecture being parenthetical as it were) come from han chaoti's death to augustus' birth, from china to rome. but before dealing with augustus and the roman prime, we must get some general picture of the background out of which he and it emerged: this week and next we must give to early and to republican rome. and here let me say that these two lectures will be, for the most part, a very bare-faced plagiarism; summarizing facts and conclusions taken from a book called _the grandeur that was rome,_ by mr. j. c. stobart, of the english cambridge. one greatest trouble about historical study is, that it allows you to see no great trends, but hides under the record of innumerable fidgety details the real meanings of things. mr. stobart, with a gift of his own for taking large views, sees this clearly, and goes about to remedy it; he does not wander with you through the dark of the undergrowth, labeling bush after bush; but leads you from eminence to eminence, generalizing, and giving you to understand the broad lie of the land: he makes you see the forest in spite of the trees. as this is our purpose, too, we shall beg leave to go with him; only adding now and again such new light as theosophical ideas throw on it;--and for the most part, to avoid a tautology of acknowledgments, or a plethora of footnotes in the path presently, letting this one confession of debt serve. the learning, the pictures, the marshaling of facts, are all mr. stobart's. in the fifth and sixth centuries a. d., when the old manvantara was closing, europe was flung into the cauldron of regeneration. nations and fragments of nations were thrown in and tossing and seething; the broth of them was boiling over, and,--just as the the story of taliesin, flooding the world with poison and destruction: and all that a new order of ages might in due time come into being. one result that a miscellany of racial heterogeneities was washed up into the peninsular and island extremities of the continent. in the british you had four celtic and a pictish remnant,--not to mention latins galore,--pressed on by three or four sorts of teutons. in spain, though it was less an extremity of europe than a highway into africa, you had a fine assortment of odds and ends: suevi, vandals, goths and what not; superimposed on a more or less homogenized collection of iberians, celts, phoenicians, and italians;--and in italy you had italians broken up into numberless fragments, and overrun by all manner of lombards, teutons, slavs, and huns. welded by cyclic stress, presently first england, then spain, and lastly italy, became nations; in all three varying degrees of homogeneity being attained. but the next peninsula, the balkan, has so far reached no unity at all; it remains to this day a curious museum of racial oddments, to the sorrow of european peace; and each of them represents some people strong in its day, and perhaps even cultured. what the balkan peninsula has been in our own time, the apennine peninsula was after the fall of rome, and also before the rise of rome: a job-lot of race-fragments driven into that extremity of europe by the alarms and excursions of empires in dissolution whose history time has hidden. the end of a manvantara, the break-up of a great civilization and the confusion that followed, made the balkans what they are now, and italy what she was in the middle ages. the end of an earlier manvantara, the break-up of older and forgotten civilizations, made italy what she was in the sixth century b.c. both peninsulas, by their mere physical geography, seem specially designed for the purpose. italy is divided into four by the apennines, and is mostly apennines. everyone goes there: conquerors, lured by the _dono fatale,_ and for the sake of the prizes to be gathered; the conquered, because it is the natural path of escape out of central europe. the way in is easy enough; it is only the way out that is difficult. the alps slope up gently on the northern side; but sharply fall away in grand precipices on the southern. there, too, they overlook a region that would always tempt invaders: the great rich plain the po waters; a land no refugees could well hope to hold. it has been in turn cisalpine gaul, the plain of the lombards, and the main part of austrian italy; this thrice a possession of conquerors from the north. it is the first of the four divisions. there never would be safety in it for refugees; you would not find in it a great diversity of races living apart; conquerors and conquered would quickly homogenize,--unless the conquerors had their main seat in, and remained in political union with, transalpine realms. refugees would still and always have to move on, if they desired to keep their freedom. three ways would be open to them, and three destinies, according to which way they chose. they might go down into the long strip of adriatic coastland, where there are no natural harbors--and remain isolated and unimportant between the mountain barrier and the sea. those who occupied this _cul de sac_ have played no great part in history: the isolated never do.--or they might cross the apennines and pour down into the lowlands of etruria and latium, where are rich lands, some harbors, and generally, fine opportunities for building up a civilization. draw-backs also, for a defeated remnant: etruria is not too far from lombardy to tempt adventurers from the north, the vanguard of the conquering people;--although again, the apennine barrier might make their hold on that middle region precarious. they might come there conquering; but would form, probably, no very permanent part of the northern empire: they would mix with the conquered, and at any weakening northward, the mixture would be likely to break away. so austria had influence and suzerainty and various crown appanages in tuscany; but not such settled sway as over the lombard plain. then, too, this is a region that, in a time of west asian manvantara and european pralaya, might easily tempt adventurers from the near east. but the main road for true refugees is the high apennines; and this is the road most of them traveled. their fate, taking it, would be to be pressed southward along the backbone of italy by new waves and waves of peoples; and among the wild valleys to lose their culture, and become highlandmen, bandit tribes and raiding clans; until the first comers of them had been driven down right into the hot coastlands of the heel and toe of italy. great material civilizations rarely originate among mountains: outwardly because of the difficulty of communications; inwardly, i suspect, because mountain influences pull too much away from material things. nature made the mountains, you may say, for the special purpose of regenerating effete remnants of civilizations. sabellians and oscans, samnites and volscians and aequians and dear knows what all:--open your roman histories, and in each one of the host of nation-names you find there, you may probably see the relic of some kingdom once great and flourishing north or south of the alps;--just as you can in the serbians, roumanians, bulgars, vlachs, and albanians in the next peninsula now. one more element is to be considered there in the far south. our lucanian and bruttian and iapygian refugees,--themselves, or some of them, naturally the oldest people in italy, the most original inhabitants,--would find themselves, when they arrived there, very much de-civilized; but, because the coast is full of fine harbors, probably sooner or later in touch with settlers from abroad. it is a part that would tempt colonists of any cultured or commercial peoples that might be spreading out from greece or the west asian centers or elsewhere; and so it was magna graecia of old, and a mixing-place of greek and old italian blood; and so, since, has been held by saracens, normans, byzantines, and spaniards. the result of all this diversity of racial elements would be that italy could only difficultly attain national unity at any time; but that once such unity was attained, she would be bound to play an enormous part. no doubt again and again she has been a center of empire; it is always your ex-melting-pot that is. who were the earliest italians? the earliest, it least, that we can guess at?--once on a time the peninsula was colonized by folk who sailed in through the straits of gibraltar from ruta and daitya, those island fragments of atlantis; and (says madame blavatsky) you should have found a pocket of these colonists surviving in latium, strong enough for the most part to keep the waves of invaders to the north of them, and the refugees to the high apennines. another relic of them you would have found, probably, driven down into the far south; and such a relic, i understand, the iapygians were. one more ethnic influence,--an important one. round about the year b.c., all europe was in dead pralaya, while west asia was in high manvantara: under which conditions, as i suggested just now, such parts as the lombard plain and tuscany might tempt west asians of enterprise;--as spain and sicily tempted the moslems long afterwards. supposing such a people came in; they would be, while the west asian manvantara was in being, much more cultured and powerful than their italian neighbors; but the waning centuries of their manvantara would coincide with the first and orient portion of the european one; so, as soon as that should begin to touch italy, things would begin to equalize themselves; till at last, as europe drew towards noon and west asia towards evening, these west asians of etruria would go the way of the spanish moors. there you have the probable history of the etruscans. all roman writers say they came from lydia by sea; which statement could only have been a repetition of what the etruscans said about themselves. the matter is much in dispute; but most likely there is no testimony better than the ancient one. some authorities are for lydia; some are for the rhaetian alps; some are for calling the etruscans 'autochthonous,'--which i hold to be, like _mesopotamia,_ a 'blessed word.' certainly the gauls drove them out of lombardy, and some of them, as refugees, up into the rhaetian alps,--sometime after the european manvantara began in . we cannot read their language, and do not know enough about it to connect it even with the turanian group; but we know enough to exclude it, perhaps, from every other known group in the old world,--certainly from the aryan. there is something absolutely un-aryan (one would say) about their art, the figures on their tombs. great finish; no primitivism; but something queer and grotesque about the faces.... however, you can get no racial indications from things like that. there is a state of decadence, that may come to any race,--that has perhaps in every race cycles of its own for appearing,--when artists go for their ideals and inspiration, not to the divine world of the soul, but to vast elemental goblinish limboes in the sub-human: realms the insane are at home in, and vice-victims sometimes, and drug-victims i suppose always. denizens of these regions, i take it, are the models for some of our cubists and futurists. . . . i seem to see the same kind of influence in these etruscan faces. i think we should sense something sinister in a people with art-conventions like theirs;--and this accords with the popular view of antiquity, for the etruscans had not a nice reputation. the probability appears to be that they became a nation in their italian home in the tenth or eleventh century b.c.; were at first war-like, and spread their power considerably, holding tuscany, umbria, latium, with lombardy until the gauls dispossessed them, and presently corsica under a treaty with carthage that gave the carthaginians sardinia as a _quid pro quo._ tuscany, perhaps, would have been the original colony; when lombardy was lost, it was the central seat of their power; there the native population became either quite merged in them, or remained as plebeians; umbria and latium they possessed and ruled as suzerains. the tuscan lands are rich, and the _rasenna,_ as they called themselves, made money by exporting the produce of their fields and forests; also crude metals brought in from the north-west,--for etruria was the clearing-house for the trade between gaul and the lands beyond, and the eastern mediterranean. from egypt, carthage, and asia, they imported in exchange luxuries and objects of art; until in time the old terror of their name,--as pirates, not unconnected with something of fame for black magic; one finds it as early as in hesiod, and again in the _medea _of euripides,--gave place to an equally ill repute for luxurious living and sensuality. we know that in war it was a poor thing to put your trust in etruscan alliances. according to their own account of it, they were destined to endure as a distinct people for about nine centuries; which is probably what they did. their power was at its height about b.c. as they began to decline, certain small italian cities that had been part of their empire broke away and freed themselves; particularly in latium, where lived the descendants of those old-time colonists from ruta and daitya,--priding themselves still on their ancient descent, and holding themselves patricians or nobles, with a serf population of conquered italians to look down upon. or, of course, it may have been _vice versa:_ that the atlanteans were the older stock, nearer the soil, and plebeians; and that the patricians were later conquerors lured or driven down from central europe. at any rate, as their empire diminished, etruria stood like some alien civilized granada in the midst of surrounding medieval barbarism; for italy, in b.c., was simply medieval. up in the mountains were war-like highlanders: each tribe with its central stronghold,--like beneventum in samnium, which you could hardly call a city, i suppose: it was rather a place of refuge for times when refuge was needed, than a group of homes to live in; in general, the mountains gave enough sense of security, and you might live normally in your scattered farms.--but down in the lowlands you needed something more definitely city-like: at once a group of homes and a common fortress. so latium and campania were strewn with little towns by river and seashore, or hill-top built with more or less peaceful citadel; each holding the lands it could watch, or that its citizen armies could turn out quickly to defend. each was always at war or in league with most of the others; but material civilization had not receded so far as among the mountaineers. the latter raided them perpetually, so they had to be tough and abstemious and watchful; and then again they raided the mountaineers to get their own back, (with reasonable interest); and lastly, lest like hotspur they should find such quiet life a plague, and want work, it was always their prerogative, and generally their pleasure, to go to war with each other.--a hard, poor life, in which to be and do right was to keep in fit condition for the raidings and excursions and alarms; ethics amounted to about that much; art or culture, you may say, there was none. their civilization was what we know as balkanic, with perpetual balkanic eruptions, so to speak. their conception of life did not admit of the absence of at least one good summer campaign. mr. stobart neatly puts it to this effect: no man is content to live ambitionless on a bare pittance and the necessaries; he must see some prospect, some margin, as well; and for these folk, now that they had freed themselves from the etruscans, the necessaries were from their petty agriculture, the margin was to be looked for in war. among these cities was one on the tiber, about sixteen miles up from the mouth. it had had a great past under kings of its own, before the etruscan conquest; very likely had wielded wide empire in its day. a tradition of high destiny hung about it, and was ingrained in the consciousness of its citizens; and i believe that this is always what remains of ancient greatness when time, cataclysms, and disasters have wiped all actual memories thereof away. but now, say in b.c., we are to think of it as a little peasant community in an age and land where there was no such wide distinction between peasant and bandit. it had for its totem, crest, symbol, what you will, very appropriately, a she-wolf.... art or culture, i said, there was none;--and yet, too, we might pride ourselves on certain great possessions to be called (stretching it a little), _in that line;_ which had been left to us by our erstwhile etruscan lords, or executed for us by etruscan artists with their tongues in their cheeks and sides quietly shaking.--ha, you men of praeneste! you men of tibur! sing small, will you? _we_ have our grand jupiter on the capitoline, resplendent in vermilion paint; what say you to that? paid for him, too, (a surmise, this!) with cattle raided from your fields, my friends! everything handsome about us, you see; but not for this must you accuse us of the levity of culture. we might patronize; we did not dabble.--one seems to hear from those early ages, echoes of tones familiar now. ours is the good old roast beef and common sense of--i mean, the grand old _gravitas_ of rome. what! you must have a jupiter to worship, mustn't you? no sound as by parliament-established-religion of numa pompilius, sir, and the world would go to the dogs! and, of course, vermilion paint. it wears well, and is a good bloody color with no levity about it; besides, can be seen a long way off--whereby it serves to keep you rascals stirred up with jealousy, or should. so: we have our vermilion jupiter and think of ourselves very highly indeed. yes; but there is a basis for our boasting, too;--which boasting, after all, is mainly a mental state; we aim to be taciturn in our speech, and to proclaim our superiority with sound thumps, rather than like wretched greeks with poetry and philosophy and such. we do possess, and love,--at the very least we aim at,--the thing we call _gravitas;_ and--there are points to admire in it. the legends are full of revelation; and what they reveal are the ideals of rome. stern discipline; a rigid sense of duty to the state; unlimited sacrifice of the individual to it; stoic endurance in the men; strictest chastity in the women:--there were many and great qualities. something had come down from of old, or had been acquired in adversity: a saving health for this nation. war was the regular annual business; all the male population of military age took part in it; and military age did not end too early. it was an order that tended to leave no room in the world but for the fittest, physically and morally, if not mentally. there was discipline, and again and always discipline: _paterfamilias_ king in his household, with power of life and death over his children. it was a regime that gave little chance for loose living. a sterile and ugly regime, nevertheless; and, later, they fell victims to its shortcomings. vice, that wrecks every civilization in its turn, depend upon it had wrecked one here: that one of which we get faint reminiscences in the stories of the roman kings. then these barren and severe conditions ensued, and vice was (comparatively speaking) cleaned out. what were the inner sources of this people's strength? what light from the spirit shone among them? of the sacred mysteries, what could subsist in such a community?--well; the mysteries had, by this time, as we have seen, very far declined. pythagoras had made his effort in this very italy; he died in the first year of the fifth century soon after the expulsion of the kings, according to the received chronology;--in reality, long before there is dependable history of rome at all. there had been an italian golden age, when saturn reigned and the mysteries ruled human life. there were reminiscences of a long past splendor; and an atmosphere about them, i think, more mellow and peace-lipped than anything in hesiod or homer. i suppose that from some calmer, firmer, and more benignant roman empire manvantaras back, when the mysteries were in their flower and theosophy guided the relations of men and nations, some thin stream of that divine knowledge flowed down into the pralaya; that an echo lingered,--at cumae, perhaps, where the sibyl was,-- or somewhere among the oscan or sabine mountains. certainly nothing remained, regnant and recognised in the cities, to suggest a repugnance to the summer campaigns, or that other nations had their rights. yet there was something to make life sweeter than it might have been. they said that of old there had been a king in rome who was a messenger of the gods and link between earth and heaven; and that it was he had founded their religion. was numa pompilius, a real person?--by no means, says modern criticism. i will quote you mr. stobart:-- "the seven kings of rome are for the most part mere names which have been fitted by rationalizing historians, presumably greek, with inventions appropriate to them. tomulus is simply the patron hero of rome called by her name. numa, the second, whose name suggests _numen,_ was the blameless sabine who originated most of the old roman cults, and received a complete biography largely borrowed from that invented for solon." --he calls attention, too, to the fact that tarquin the proud is made a typical greek tyrant, and is said to have been driven out of rome in ,--the very year in which that other typical greek tyrant, hippias, was driven out of athens;--so that on the whole it is not a view for easy unthinking rejection. but madame blavatsky left a good maxim on these matters: that tradition will tell you more truth than what goes for history will; and she is quite positive that there is much more truth in the tales about the kings than in what comes down about the early republic. only you must interpret the traditions; you must understand them. let us go about, and see if we can arrive at something. before the influx of the crest-wave began, rome was a very petty provincial affair, without any place at all in the great sweep of world-story. her annals are about as important as those of the samnium of old, of which we know nothing; or those, say, of andorra now, about which we care less. our school histories commonly end at the battle of acium; which is the place where roman history becomes universal and important: a point wisely made and strongly insisted on by mr. stobart. i shows how thoroughly we lack any true sense of what history is and is for. we are so wrapped up in politics that our vision of the motions of the human spirit is obscured. there were lots of politics in republican rome, and you may say none in the empire; so we make for the pettiness that obsesses us, and ignore the greatness whose effects are felt yet. rome played at politics: old-time conqueror-race patricians against old-time conquered-race plebians: till the two were merged into one and she grew tired of the game. she played at war until her little raidings and conquests had carried her out of the sphere of provincial politics, and she stood on the brink of the great world. then the influx of important souls began; she entered into history, presently threw up politics forever, and performed, so far as it was in her to do so, her mission in the world. what does history care for the election results in some village in montenegro? or for the passage of the licinian rogations, or the high exploits of terentilius harsa? yet, too, we must get a view of this people in pralaya, that we may understand better the workings of the human spirit in its fulness. but we must see the forest, and not lose sight and sense of it while botanizing over individual trees. we must forget the interminable details of wars and politics that amount to nothing; that so we may apprehend the form, features, color, of this aspect of humanity. here is a mighty river: the practical uses of mankind are mainly concerned with it as far up as it may be navigable; or at most, as far up as it may be turning mills and watering the fields of agriculture. there may be regions beyond when poets and mythologists may bring great treasures for the human spirit; but do you do well to treat such treasures as plug material for exchange and barter? they call for another kind of treatment. the sober science of history may be said to start where the nations become navigable, and begin to affect the world. you can sail your ships up the river rome to about the beginning of the third century b.c., when she began to ermerge from italian provincialism and to have relations with foreign peoples: pyrrhus came over to fight her in . what is told of the century before may be true or not; as a general picture it is probably true enough, and only as a general picture does it matter; its details are supremely unimportant. the river here is pouting through the gorges, or shallowly meandering the meads. it is watering farmer balbus's fields; grazier ahenobarbus's cows drink at it; idle dolabell angles in its quiet reaches: there are bloody tribal affrays yearly at its fords. it is important, certainly, to babbus and dolabella, and the men slain in the forays;--but to us others--. and then at there are falls and dangerous rapids; you will get no ships beyond these. the gauls poured down and swept away everything: the records were burnt; and rome, such as it was, had to be re-founded. here is a main break with the past; something like ts'in shi hwangti's book-burning; and it serves to make doubly uncertain all that went before. go further now, and you must take to the wild unmapped hills. there are no fields beyond this; the kine keep to the lush lowland meadows; rod and line must be left behind,--and angler too, unles he is prepared for stiff climbing, and no marketable recompense. nor yet, perhaps, for some time, much in things unmarketable: i will not say there is any great beauty of scenery in these rather stubborn and arid hills. as to the fourth century, then (or from to )--we need not care much which of ahenobarbus's cows was brindled, or which had the crumpled horn, or which broke off the coltsfoot bloom with lazy ruthless hoof. as to the fifth,--we need not try to row the quinqueremes of history beyond that gaulish waterfall. we need not bother with the weight dolabella claims for the trout he says he caught up there: that trout has been cooked and eaten these twenty-three hundred years. away beyond, in the high mountains, there may be pools haunted by the nymphs; you cannot sail up to them, that is certain; but there may be ways round..... here, still in the foot-hills, is a pool that does look, if not _nymphatic,_ at least a little fishy, as they say; the story of rome's dealings with lars porsenna. it even looks as if something historical might be caught in it. the roman historians have been obviously camouflaging: they do not want you to examine this too closely. remember that all these things came down by memory, among a people exceedingly proud, and that had been used to rely on records,--which records had been burnt by the gauls. turn to your english history, and you shall probably look in vain in it for any reference to the battle of patay; you shall certainly find agincourt noised and trumpted _ad lib._ now battles are never decisive; they never make history; the very best of them might just as well not have been fought. but at patay the forces which made it inevitable france should be a nation struck down into the physical plane and made themselves manifest: as far as that plane is concerned, the centuries of french history flow from the battlefield of patay. but what made trumpery agincourt was only the fierce will of a cruel, ambitious fighting king; and what flowed from it was a few decades of war and misery. that by way of illustration how history is envisaged and taught: depend upon it, by every people; it is not peculiar to this one or that.--well then, the fish we are at liberty to catch in this particular roman pool is a period during which rome was part of the etruscan empire. the fact is generally accepted, i believe; and is, of course, the proposition we started from. how long the period was, we cannot say. the tarquins were from tarquinii in etruria; perhaps a line of etruscan governors. the gentleman from clusium who swore by the nine gods was either a king who brought back a rebellious rome to temporary submission, or the last etruscan monarch in whose empire it was included. but here is the point: whether fifty or five hundred years long--and perhaps more likely the former than the latter--this period of foreign rule was long enough to make a big break in the national tradition, and to throw all preceding events out of perspective. at the risk of _longueurs_--and other things--let me take an illustration from scenes i know. i have heard peasants in wales talking about events before the conquest;--people who have never learnt welsh history out of books, and have nothing to go on but local legends;--and placing the old unhappy far-off things and battles long ago at "over a hundred years back, i shouldn' wonder." it is the way of tradition to foreshorten things like that,--nothing much has happened in wales since those ancient battles with the english; so the six or seven centuries of english rule are dismissed as "over a hundred years." rome under the etruscans, like wales under the english, would have had no history of her own: there would have been nothing to impress itself on the race-memory. such times fade out easily: they seem to have been very short, or are forgotten altogether. but this same welsh peasant, who thus forgets and foreshortens recent history, always remembers that there were kings of wales once. perhaps, if he were put to it to write a history, with no books to guide him, he would name you as many as seven of them, and supply each with more or less true stories. in reality, of course, there were eight centuries of welsh kings; and before them, the roman occupation,--which he also remembers, but very vaguely; and before that, he has the strongest impression that there were ages of wide sovereignty and splendor. the kings he would name, naturally, are the ones that made the most mark.--i think the romans, in constructing or making greeks construct for them their ancient history, did very much the same kind of thing. they remembered the names of seven kings, with tales about them, and built on those. there were the kings who had stood out and stood for most; and the romans remembered what they stood for. so here i think we get real history; whereas in the stories of republican days we may see the efforts of great families to provide themselves with a great past. but i doubt we could take anything _aupied de la lettre;_ or that it would profit us to do so if we could. here is a pointer: we have seen how in india a long age of kshattriya supremacy preceded the supremacy of the brahmins. now observe kshattriya romulus followed by brahmin numa. i do not see why madame blavatsky shold have so strongly insisted on the truth of the story of the roman kings unless there were more in it than mere pralayic historicity. unless it were of bigger value, that is, than andorran or montenegrin annals. rome, after the etruscan domination, was a meanly built little city; but there were remains from pre-etruscan times greater than anything built under the republic. rome is a fine modern capital now; but there were times in the age of papal rule, when it was a miserable depopulated village of great ruins, with wolves prowling nightly through the weed-grown streets. yet even then the tradition of _roma caput mundi_ reigned among the wretched inhabitants,--witness rienzi: it was the one thing, besides the ruins, to tell of ancient greatness. some such feeling, borne down out of a forgotten past, impelled republican rome on the path of conquest. it was not even a tradition, at that time; but the essence of a tradition that remained as a sense of high destinies. who, then, was romulus?--some king's son from ruta or daitya, who came in his lordly atlantean ships, and builded a city on the tiber? very likely. that would be, at the very least, as far back as nine or ten thousand b.c.; which is contemptibly modern, when you think of the hundred and sixty thousand years of our present sub-race. the thing that is in the back of my mind is, that rome is probably as old as that sub-race, or nearly so; but wild horses should not drag from me a statement of it. rome, london, paris,--all and any of them, for that matter.--but a hundred and sixty thousand or ten thousand, no man's name could survive so long, i think, as a peg on which to hang actual history. it would pass, long before the ten millenniums were over, into legend; and become that of a god or demigod,--whose cult, also, would need reviving, in time, by some new avatar. now (as remarked before) humanity has a profound instinct for avatars; and also (as you would expect) for reincarnation. the sixth-century britons were reminded by one of their chieftains of some mighty king or god of prehistory; the two got mixed, and the mixture came down as the arthur of the legend. this is what i mean by 'reviving the cult.' now then, who was romulus?--some near or remote descendant of heroic refugees from fallen troy, who rebuilt rome or reestablished its sovereignty?--very likely, again;--i mean, very likely both that and the king's son from ruta or daitya. and lastly, very likely some tough little peasant-bandit restorer, not so long before the etruscan conquest, whom the people came to mix up witl mightier figures half forgotten. . . . . we see his history, as the romans did, through the lens of a tough little peasant-bandit city; through the lens of a pralaya, which makes pralayic all objects seen. it is like the irish peasant-girl who has seen the palace of the king of the fairies; she describes you something akin to the greatest magnificence she knows,--which happens to be the house of the local _squireen._ now the etruscan domination, as we have noted, could probably not have begun before b.c.; at which time, to go by our hypothesis as to the length and recurrence of the cycles, europe was in dead pralaya, and had been since . so that, possibly, you would have had between and a rome in pralaya, but independent--like andorra now, or montenegro. the stories we get about the seven kings would fit such a time admirably. they tell of pralayic provincials; and rome, during that second half of the second millennium b.c., would have been just that. but again, if the seven kings had been just that and nothing more, i cannot see why h. p. blavatsky should have laid such stress on the essential truth of their stories. she is particular, too, about the arthurian legend:--saying that it is at once symbolic and actually historical,--which latter, as concerns the sixth-century arthur, it is not and she would not have considered it to be: no briton prince of that time went conquering through europe. so there must be some further value to the tales of the roman kings; else why are they so much better than the republican annals? why?--unless all history except the invented kind or the distorted-by-pride-or-politics kind is symbolic; and unless we could read in these stories the record, not merely of some pre-etruscan pralayic centuries, but of great ages of the past and of the natural unfoldment of the human spirit in history through long millenniums? evolution is upon a pattern; understand the drift of any given thousand years in such a way that you could reduce it to a symbol, and probably you have the key to all the past. so i imagine there would be seven interpretations to these kings, as to all other symbols. romulus may represent a kshattriya, and numa a brahmin domination in the early ages of the sub-race. actual men, there may yet be mirrored in them the history--shall we say of the whole sub-race? or root-race? or the whole natural order of human evolution? it is business for imaginative meditation,--which is creative or truth-finding meditation. but now let us try, diffidently, to search out the last, the historic, pre-etruscan numa. if you examined the mohammedan east, now in these days of its mid-pralaya and disruption: turkey especially, or egypt: you should find constantly the tradition of men lifted by holiness and wisdom and power above the levels of common humanity: unseen guardians of the race,--a great lodge or order of them. in christendom, in its manvantara, you find no trace of this knowledge; but it may surprise you to know that it is so common among the moslems, that according to the turkish popular belief, there is always a white adept somewhere within the mosque of st. sophia,--hidden under a disguise none would be likely to penetrate. there are hundreds of stories. the common thought is that representatives of this lodge, or their disciples, often appear; are not so far away from the world of men; may be teaching, quite obscurely, or dropping casual seeds of the secret wisdom, in the next village. well; i imagine pralayic conditions may allow benign spiritual influences to be at work, sometimes, nearer the surface of life than in manvantara. the brain-mind is less universally dominant; there is not the same dense atmosphere of materialism. you get on the one hand a franker play of the passions, and no curbs imposed either by a sound police system or a national conscience; in pralaya time there is no national conscience, or, i think, national consciousness,--no feeling of collective entity, of being a nation,--at all; perhaps no public opinion. as it is with a man when he sleeps: the soul is not there; there is nothing in that body that feels then 'i am i'; nothing (normally) that can control the disordered dreams. . . . hence, in the sleeping nation, the massacres, race-wars, mob-murders, and so on; which, we should remember, affect parts, not the whole, of the race. but on the other hand that very absence of brain-mind rule may imply buddhic influences at work in quiet places; and one cannot tell what unknown graciousnesses may be happening, that our manvantaric livelinesses and commercialism quite forbid. . . . believe me, if we understood the laws of history, we should waste a deal less time and sanity in yelling condemnations. italy then was something like turkey is now. dear knows whom you might chance on, if you watched with anointed eyes . . . in st. sophia . . . or among the sabine hills. somewhere or other, as i said just now, reminiscences of the mysteries would have survived. i picture an old wise man, one of the guardians of those traditions, coming down from the mountains, somewhere between and b. c., to the little city on the tiber; touching something in the hearts of the people there, and becoming,--why not?--their king. for i guess that this one was not so different from a hundred little cities you should have found strewn over italy not so long ago. the ground they covered,--and this is still true,--would not be much larger than the academy garden; their streets but six or seven feet across. their people were a tough, stern, robberish set; but with a side, too, to which saintliness (in a high sense) could make quick appeal. intellectual culture they had none; the brain-mind was the last thing you should look for (in ancient rome at least);--and just because it was dormant, one who knew how to go about it could take hold upon the buddhic side. that was perhaps what this numa pompilius achieved doing. there would be nothing extraordinary in it. the same thing may be going on in lots of little cities today, in pralayic regions: news of the kind does not emerge. we have a way of dividing time into _ancient and modern;_ and think the one forever past, the other forever to endure. it is quite silly. there are plenty of places now where it is b.c.; and no doubt there were plenty then where it was pompous .--can anyone tell me, by the bye, what year it happens to be in europe now? how much numa may have given his romans, who can say? most of it may have worn away, before historic times, under the stress of centuries of summer campaigns. but something he did ingrain into their being; and it lasted, because not incompatible with the life they knew. it was the element that kept that life from complete vulgarity and decay. you have to strip away all greekism from your conceptions, before you can tell what it was. the greek conquest was the one rome did not survive. conquered greece overflowed her, and washed her out; changed her traditions, her religion, the whole color of her life. if greece had not stepped in, myth-making and euhemerizing, who would have saved the day at lake regillus? _not_ the great twin brothers from lordly lace-daemon, be sure. who then? some queer uncouth italian nature-spirit gods? one shakes one's head in doubt: the romans did not personalize their deities like the greeks. cato gives the ritual to be used at cutting down a grove; says he--"this is the proper roman way to cut down a grove. sacrifice with a pig for a peace-offering. this is the verbal formula: 'whether thou art a god or a goddess to whom that grove is sacred,' "--and so on. their gods were mostly like that: potentialities in the unseen, with whom good relations must be kept by strict observance of an elaborate ritual. there were no stories about them; they did not marry and have families like the good folk at olympus. which is perhaps a sign of this: that numa's was a religion, the teaching of a (minor) teacher who came long after the mysteries had disappeared. because in the mysteries, cosmogenesis was taught through dramas which were symbolic representations of its events and processes; and out of these dramas grew the stories about the gods. but when the real spiritual teaching has ceased to flow through the mysteries, and the stones are accepted literally, and there is nothing else to maintain the inner life of the people,--a teacher of some kind must come to state things in plainer terms. this, i take it, is what happened here; and the very worn-outness of conditions that this implies, implies also tremendous cultural and imperial activities in forgotten time; i imagine italy, then, at two or three thousand b.c., was playing a part as much greater outwardly than greece was, as her part now is greater than greece's, and has been during recent centuries. this, then, is what numa's religion did for rome:--it peopled the woods and fields and hills with these impersonal divinities; it peopled the moments of the day with them; so that nothing in space or time, no near familiar thing or duty, was material wholly, or pertained to this world alone;--there was another side to it, connected with the unseen and the gods. there were great gods in the pantheon; but your early roman had no wide-traveling imagination; and they seemed to him remote and uncongenial rather,--and quickly took on greekishness when the greek influence began. minerva, vaguely imagined, assumed soon the attributes of the very concretely imagined pallas; and so on. but he had nearer and numaish divinities much more a part of his life,--which indeed largely consisted of rituals in their honor. there were lares and penates and manes, who made his home a kind of temple, and the earth a kind of altar; there were deities presiding over all homely things and occasions; formless impersonal deities; presences to be felt and remembered, not clothed imaginatively with features and myths:--cuba, who gave the new-born child its first breath; anna perenna of the recurring year; hosts of agricultural gods without much definition, and the unseen genii of wood, field, and mountain. everything, even each individual man, had a god-side: there was something in it or him greater, more subtle, more enduring, than the personality or outward show.--to the folk-lorist, of course, it is all 'primitive mediterranean' religion or superstition; but the inner worlds are wonderful and vast, if you begin to have the smallest inkling of an understanding of them. i think we may recognise in all this the hand of a wise old pompilius from the sabine hills, at work to keep the life of his romans, peasant-bandits as they were, clean in the main and sound. yes, there were gross elements: among the many recurring festivals, some were gross and saturnalian enough. the romans kept near nature, in which are, both animal and cleansing forces; but the high old _gravitas_ was the virtue they loved. and supposing numa established their religion, it does not follow that he established what there came to be of grossness in it. they kept near nature; very near the land, and the earth breath, and the earth divinities, and the italian soil,--and that southern laya center and gateway into the inner world which, i am persuaded, is in italy. there are many didactic poems in world-literature,--poems dealing with the operations of agriculture;-- and they are mostly as dull as you would expect, with that for their subject; but one of them, and one only, is undying poetry. that one is the roman one. its author was a celt, and his models were greek; and he was rather a patient imitative artist than greatly original and creative;--but he wrote for rome, and with the italian soil and weather for his inspiration; and their forces pouring through him made his didactics poetry, and poetry they remain after nineteen centuries. nothing of the kind comes from greece. as if whenever you broke the italian soil, a voice sang up to you from it: _once saturn reigned in italy!_ it is this that brings cincinnatus back to his cabbage-field from the war,--and politics, as to something sacred, a fountain at which life may be renewed. plug souls; no poetry in them;--but the earth breath cleanses and heals and satisfies them. in place of a literature, they have wild unpoetical chants to their mayors to raise as they go into battle; for art and culture, they have that bright vermilion jove; nothing from the spirit to comfort them in these! but put the ex-dictator to hoe his turnips, and he is in a dumb sort of way in communication at once with the spirit and all deepest sources of comfort.--what is samnite gold to me, when i have my own radishes to toast,--sacred things out of my own sacred soil? the italian sun shines down on me, and warms more than my physicality and limbs. see, i strike my hoe into italy, and the sacred essences of earth our mother flow up to me, and quiet my mind from anxious and wasting thought, and fill me with calmness and vigor and italy, and her old quaint immemorial gods! not that the roman had any conception, patriotically speaking, about italy; it was simply the soil he was after,--which happened to be italian. not for him, in the very slightest, filicaia's or mazzini's dream! good practical soul, what would he have done with dreaming?--but he had his feet on the ground, and was soaked through, willy nilly, with its forces; he lived in touch with realities, with the seasons and the days and nights,--how we do forget those great, simple, life-giving, cleansing things!--and his mind was molded to what he owed to the soil, to the realities, to _dea roma;_--and duty became a great thing in his life. out of all this comes something that makes this narrow little cultureless bandit city almost sympathetic to us,--and very largely indeed admirable. they knew how to keep their heads. there were those two races among them,--races or orders;--and a mort of politics between the two. greek cities, in like manner but generally less radically divided, knew no method but for one side to be perpetually banishing the other, turn and turn about, and wholesale; but these spare, tough romans effect compromise after compromise, till patricians and plebs are molten down into one common type. they are not very brilliant, even at their native game of war: given a good general, their enemies are pretty sure to trounce them. pyrrhus, a fine tactician but no great strategist, does so several times;--and then they reply to his offers of peace, that they make no peace with enemies still camped on italian soil.-- comes next a real master-strategist, hannibal; and senate and people, time after time, are forced (like balbus in the poem) "with a frankness that i'm sure will charm ye to own it is all over with the army." he wipes them out in a most satisfactory and workmanlike manner. their leading citizens, _ipso facto_ their generals (amateur soldiers always cabbage-hoers at heart) afford him a good deal of amusement; as if you should send out the mayor of jonesville, arkansaw, against a foch or a hindenburg. one of them, a fool of a fellow, blunders into a booby-trap and loses the army which is almost the sole hope of rome; and comes home, utterly defeated, --to be gravely thanked by the senate for not committing suicide after his defeat: "for not despairing of the republic." ah, there is real great stuff in that; they are admirable peasant bandits after all! most people would have straight court martialed and beheaded the man; as england hanged poor admiral byng _pour encourager les autres._ and all the while they have been having the sublime impudence to keep an army in spain conquering there. how to account for this unsubduability? well; there is numa's teaching; and what you might call a latent habit of _caput-mundi-ship:_ imperial seeds in the soil. there is that indestructible god-side to everything; especially, behind and above this city on the seven hills, there is divine eternal rome. so, after the gaulish conquest, they rejected proffered and more desirable etruscan sites, and came back and provided _dea roma_ with a new out-ward being; the imperial seeds, molds of empire, were on the seven hills, not at veii. so, when this still greater peril of hannibal so nearly submerged them, they took final victory for granted,--could conceive of no other possibility,--and placidly went forward while being whipped in italy with the adventure in spain. there was one thing they could not imagine: ultimate defeat. it was a kind of stupidity with them. they were a stupid people. you might thrash them; you might give them their full deserts (which were bad), and fairly batter them to bits; all the world might think them dead; dozens of doctors might write death-certificates; you might have rome coffined and nailed down, and be riding gaily to the funeral;--but you could not convince _her_ she was dead; and at the very graveside, sure enough, the 'pesky critter' (as they say) would be bursting open the coffin lid; would finish the ceremony with you for the corpse, and then ride home smiling to enjoy her triumph, thank god for his mercies,--and get back to her hoe and her cabbages as quickly as might be. it is this that to my mind makes it philosophically certain that she had had a vast antiquity as the seat of empire; i mean, before the etruscan domination. _dea roma,_--the idea of rome,-- was an astral mold almost cast in higher than astral stuff: it was so firmly fixed, so unalterably there, that i cannot imagine a few centuries of peasant-bandits building it,--unimaginative tough creatures at the best. no; it was a heritage; it was built in thousands of years, and founded upon forgotten facts. there was something in the ideal world, the deposit of long ages of thinking and imagining. how, pray, are nations brought into being? by men thinking and willing and imagining them into being. such men create an astral matrix; with walls faint and vague at first, but ever growing stronger as more and more men reinforce them with new thought and will and imagination. but in rome we see from the first the astral mold so strong that the strongest party feelings, the differences of a conqueror and a conquered race, are shaped by it into compromise after compromise. and then, too, an instinct among those peasant-bandits for empire: an instinct that few european peoples have possessed; that it took the english, for example, a much longer time to learn than it took the romans. for let us note that even in those early days it was not such a bad thing to come under roman sway; if you took it quietly, and were misled by no patriotic notions. that is, as a rule. unmagnanimous always to men, rome was not without justice, and even at times something quite like magnanimity, to cities and nations. she was no athens, to exploit her subject peoples ruthlessly with never a troubling thought as to their rights. she had learned compromise and horse sense in her politics it home: if her citizens owed her a duty, --she assumed a responsibility towards them. it took her time to learn that; but she learned it. she went conquering on the same principle. her plebeians had won their rights; in other towns, mostly, the plebeians had not. roman dominion meant usually a betterment of the conditions of the plebs in the towns annexed, and their entering in varying degrees upon the rights the plebs had won at rome. she went forward taking things as they came, and making what arrangements seemed most feasible in each case. she made no plans in advance; but muddled trough like an englishman. she had no greek or french turn for thinking things out beforehand; her empire grew, in the main, like the british, upon a subconscious impulse to expand. she conquered italy because she was strong; much stronger inwardly in spirit than outwardly in arms; and because (i do but repeat what mr. stobart says: the whole picture really is his) what should she do with her summer holidays, unless go on a campaign?--and because while she had still citizens without land to hoe cabbages in, she must look about and provide them with that prime necessity. all of which amounts to saying that she began with a habit of empire-winning,--which must have been created in the past. on her toughness the spirited gaul broke as a wave, and fell away. on her narrow unmagnanimity the chivalrous mountain samnite bore down, and like foam vanished. she had none of the spiritual possibilities of the gaul; but the crest-wave was coming, and the future was with italy. she had none of the high-souled chivalry of the samnite; but she was the heart of italy, and the point from which italy must expand. she was hard, tough, and based on the soil; and that soil, as it happened, the laya center,--a sort of fire-fountain from within and the unseen. you stood on the seven hills, and let heaven and hell conspire together, you _could not_ be defeated. gauls, samnites, latins,--all that ever attacked her,--were but taking a house-cloth to dry up a running spring. the crest-wave was coming to italy; whose vital forces, all centrifugal before, must now be made to turn and flow towards the center. that was rome; and as they would not flow to her of their own good will, out she must go and gather them in. long afterwards, when the caesars and augusti of the west left her for milan and ravenna, it was because the crest-wave was departing, the forces turning centrifugal, and italy breaking to pieces; long afterwards again, in the eighteen-seventies, when the crest-wave was returning, italy must flow in centripetally to rome; no turin, no florence would do. so, by b.c., she had conquered italy. then, still land-hungry, she stepped over into sicily, invited by certain rascals in messana, and light-heartedly challenged the mistress of the western seas. at this point the stream is leaving balbus's fields and ahenobarbus's cattle, and coming to the broad waters, where the ships of the world ride in. xvii. rome parvenue * the punic war was not forced on rome. she had no good motive for it; not even a decent excuse. it was simply that she was accustomed to do the next thing; and carthage presented itself as the next thing to fight,--sicily, the next thing to be conquered. the war lasted from to ; and at the end of it rome found herself out of italy; mistress of sicily, sardinia, and corsica. the italian laya center had expanded; italy had boiled over. it was just the time when ts'in at the other end of the world was conquering china, and the far eastern manvantara was beginning. manvantaras do not begin or end anywhere, i imagine, without some cyclic event marking it in all other parts of the world. --------- * this lecture, like the preceding one, is based on mr. j. h. stobart's, _the grandeur that was rome._ --------- we have heard much talk of how disastrous the result would have been if carthage, not rome, had won. but carthage was a far and belated outpost of west asia and of a manvantara that had ended over a century before:--there was no question of her winning. though we see her only through roman eyes, we may judge very well that no possibility of expansion was left in her. there was no expansive force. she threw out tentacles to suck in wealth and trade, but was already dead at heart. all the greatness of old west asia was concentrated, in her, in two men: hamilcar barca and his son: they shed a certain light and romantic glory over her, but she was quite unworthy of them. her prowess at any time was fitful: where money was to be made, she might fight like a demon to make it; but she was never a fighting power like rome. she won her successes at first because her seat was on the sea, and the war was naval, and sea-battles were won not by fighting but by seamanship. if carthage had won, they say;--but carthage could not have won, because the cycles were for rome. you will note how that north african rim is tossed between european and west asian control, according to which is in the ascendant. now that europe's up, and west asia down, france, italy, and england hold it from egypt to the atlantic; and in a few centuries' time, no doubt it will be quite europeanized. but west asia, early in its last manvantara, flowed out over it from arabia, drove out all traces of europeanism, and made it wholly asiatic. before that, while a european manvantara was in being, it was european, no less roman than italy; and before that again, while the crest-wave was in west asia, it was west asian, under egypt and phoenician colonies. as for its own native races, they belong, i suppose, to the fourth, the iberian sub-race; and now in the days of our fifth sub-race (the aryan), seem out of the running for wielding empires of their own. so if carthage had won then, things would only have been delayed a little; the course of history would have been much the same. rome might have been destroyed by hannibal; she would have been rebuilt when hannibal had departed; then gone on with her expansion, perhaps in other directions,--and presently turned, and come on carthage from elsewhere; or absorbed her quietly, and let her do the carrying trade of the mediterranean 'under the roman flag' as you might say,--or something of that sort. rome eradicated carthage for the same reason that the spaniards eradicated the moors: because the west asian tide, to which moors and carthaginians belonged, had ebbed or was ebbing, and the european tide was flowing high. hamilcar indeed, and hannibal, seem to have been touched by cyclic impulses, and to have felt that a spanish empire might have received the influx which a west asian town in africa could not. but italy's turn came before spain's; and all hamilcar's haughty heroism, and hannibal's magnanimous genius, went for nothing; and rome, the admirable and unlovely, that had suffered the caudine forks, and then conquered samnium and beheaded that noble generous samnite gaius pontius, conquered in turn the conqueror at cannae, and did for his reputation what she had done with the samnite hero's person: chopped its head off, and dubbed him in perfect sincerity 'perfidus hannibal.' over that corpse she stood, at the end of the third century b.c., mistress of italy and the italian islands; with proud carthage at her feet; and the old cultured east, that had known of her existence since the time of aristotle at least, now keenly aware of her as the strongest thing in the mediterranean world. now while she had been a little provincial town in an italy deep in pralaya, numa's religion, what remained of it, had been enough to keep her life from corruption. each such impulse from the heaven-world's, in its degree, an elixiral tincture to sweeten life and keep it wholesome; some, like buddhism, being efficient for long ages and great empires; some only for tiny towns like early rome. what we may call the exoteric basis of numaism was a ritual of many ceremonies connected with home-life and agriculture, and designed to keep alive a feeling for the sacredness of these. it was calculated for its cycle: you could have given no high metaphysical system to peasant-bandits of that type;--you could not take the upanishads to afghans or abyssinians today. but as soon as that cycle was ended, and rome was called on to come out into the world, there was need of a new force and a new sanction. has it occurred to you to wonder why, in that epochal sixth century b.c., when in so many lands the messengers of truth were turning away from the official mysteries, and preaching their theosophy upon a new plan broadcast among the peoples, pythagoras, after wandering the east and west to gather up the threads of wisdom, should have elected not to return to greece, but to settle in italy and found his movement there? i suppose the reason was this: he knew in what direction the cycles should flow, and that the greatest need of the future ages would be for a redeemed italy; he foresaw, or those who sent him foresaw, that it was italy should mold the common life of europe for a couple of thousand years. greece was rising then, chiefly on the planes of intellect and artistic creation; but italy was to rise after a few centuries on planes much more material, and therefore with a force much more potent and immediate in its effects in this world. the age of greece was nearer to the mysteries; which might be trusted to keep at least some knowledge of truth alive; the age of italy, farther away and on a lower plane, would be in need of a religion. so he chose croton, a greek city, because if he had gone straight to the barbarous italians, he could have said nothing much at that time,--and hoped that from a living center there, the light might percolate up through the whole peninsula, and be ready for rome when rome was ready for it. he left athens to take care of itself;--much as h. p. blavatsky chose new york at first, and not immediately the then world-capitals paris and london;--i suppose we may say that magna graecia stood to old greece in his time as america did to western europe forty years ago. had his movement succeeded; had it struck well up into the italian lands; how different the whole after-history of europe might have been! might?--certainly would have been! but we know that a revolution at croton destroyed, at the end of the sixth century, the pythagorean school; after which the hope and messengers of the movement-- aeschylus, plato--worked in greece; and that although the pythagorean individual lucanians, iapygians, and even samnites-- that noble gaius pontius of the caudin forks was himself a pythagorean and a pupil of the pythagorean archytas,--it was, in the teacher's own lifetime, practically broken up and driven out into sicily, where those two great athenians contacted it. we have seen that it was not effectless; and, what glimmer of it came down, through plato, into the middle ages. but its main purpose: to supply nascent italy with a saving world-religion; had been defeated. of all the theosophical movements of the time, this so far as we know was the only one that failed. buddhism, taoism, confucianism, each lasted on as a grand force for human upliftment; but pythagoreanism, as an organized instrument of the spirit, passed. when aeschylus made his protests in athens, the center of the movement to which he belonged had already been smashed. plato did marvels; but the cycle had gone by and gone down, and it was too late for him to attempt that which pythagoras had failed to accomplish. so rome, when she needed it most, lacked divine guidance; so drifted out on to the high seas of history pilotless and rudderless;--so _weltpolitik_ only corrupted and vulgarized her. she had no blue pearl of laotse to render her immortal; no confucian doctrine of the mean to keep her sober and straight; and hence it came that, though later a new start was made, and great men arose, once, twice, three times, to do their best for her, she fell to pieces at last, a humpty-dumpty that all the king's horses and all the king's men could never reweld into one;--and the place she should have filled in history as unifier of europe was only filled perfunctorily and for a time; and her great duty was never rightly done. _hinc lacrimae aetatum_--hence the darkness and miseries of the christian era! take your stand here, at the end of the punic war, on the brink of the age of rome; and you feel at once how fearfully things have gone down since you stood, with plato, looking back over the age of grecce. there is nothing left now of the high possibilities of artistic creation. of the breath of spirituality that still remained in the world then, now you can find hardly a trace. a cicero presently, for a socrates of old; it is enough to tell you how the world has fallen. some fall, i suppose, was implied in the cycles; still rome might have gone to her more material duties with clean heart, mind, and hands; she might have built a structure, as ts'in shi hwangti and han wuti did, to endure. it would not be fair to compare the age of han with the augustan; the morning glory of the east asian, with the late afternoon of the european manvantara; and yet we cannot but see, if we look at both dispassionately and with a decent amount of knowledge, how beneficently, the eastern teachers had affected their peoples, and what a dire thing it was for europe that the work of the western teacher had failed. chow china and republican rome fell to pieces in much the same way: in a long orgy of wars and ruin;--but the rough barbarian who rebuilt china found bricks to his hand far better than he knew he was using,-- material with a true worth and vitality of its own,--a race with elements of redemption in its heredity; whereas the great statesman, the really great soul who rebuilt rome, had to do it, if the truth should be told, of materials little better than stubble and rottenness. roman life, when augustus came to work with it for his medium, was fearfully infected with corruption; one would have said that no power human or divine could have saved it. that he did with it as much as he did, is one of the standing wonders of time. but now back to the place where we left rome: in b.c., at the end of the carthaginian war. no more now of farmer balbus's fields; no more of the cows of ahenobarbus; dolabella's rod and line, and his fish-stories, shall not serve us further. it is the navigable river now; on which we must sail down and out on to the sea. already the little italian city is being courted by fabulously rich egypt, the doyen of culture since athens declined; and soon she is to be driven by forces outside her control into conquest of all the old seats of mediterranean civilization;--and withal she is utterly unfitted for the task in any spiritual or cultural sense: she is still little more than the same narrow little provincial half-barbarous rome she has always been. no grand conceptions have been nourished in her by a literature of her own with high lights couched in the grand-manner; no olden homer has sung to her, with magnificent roll of hexameters to set the wings of her soul into magnificent motion. beyond floating folk ballads she has had no literature at all; though latterly, she is trying to supply the place of one with a few slave-made translations from the greek, and a few imitations of the decadent greek comedy of alexandria;--also there has been a poet naevius, whom--she found altogether too independent to suit her tastes; and a father ennius,--uncouth old bone of her bone, (though he too greek by race) who is struggling to mold her tough inflexible provincial dialect into greek meter of sorts,--and thereby doing a real service for poets to come. and there is a cato the censor, writing prose; cato, typical of roman breadth of view; with, for the sum of a truly national political wisdom, yelping at rome continually that fool's jingo cry of his:--your finest market in the western seas, your richest potential commercial asset, must be destroyed. there you have the high old roman conception of _weltpolitik;_ whereby we may understand how little fitted rome was for _weltpolitik_ at all; how hoeing cabbages and making summer campaigns,--as mr. stobart says, with a commissariat put up for each soldier in a lunch-bag by his wife,--were still her metier,--the italian soil, whether in actual or only potential possession--held already, or by the grace of god soon to be stolen--still her inspiration. and this italian soil she was now about to leave forever. the forces that led her to world-conquest were twofold, inner and outer. the inner one was the summer campaign habit, formed during several centuries; and the fact that she could form no conception of life that did not include it: the impulse to material expansion was deep in her soul, and ineradicable. she might have followed it, perhaps, north and westward; finished with spain; gone up into gaul (though in gaul she might have found, even at that time, possibly, an unmanageable strength); she might even have carried her own ultimite salvation up into germany. but we have seen darius flow victorious eastward towards india, but unsuccessful when he tried the passes of the west; and alexander follow him in the same path, and not turn westward at all. so you may say an eastward habit had been formed, and inner-channels were worn for conquest in that direction, but none in the other. besides,--and this was the outer of the two forces,--the east was crying out to rome. there were pirates on the other side of the adriatic; and for the safety of her own eastern littoral she had been dealing with them, as with spain, during and before the terrible hannibalic time. to sit securely at home she must hold the illyrian coast: and, she thought, or events proved it to her, to hold that coast safely, she must go conquering inland. then again egypt had courted her alliance, for regions. the ptolemy of the time was a boy; and philip of macedon ind antiochus of syria had hatched a plan to carve up his juicy realm for their own most delectable feasting. it was the very year after peace--to call it that--had been forced on prostrate carthage; and you might think an exhausted rome would have welcomed a breathing time, even at the expense of losing her annual outing. and so indeed the people were inclined to do. but the summer was icumen in; and what were consuls and senate for? should they be as these irresponsibles of the comitia? should they fail to look about them and take thought?--as if someone should offer you a cottage (with all modern appointments) by the seaside, or farmhouse among the mountains, free of rent for july and august, here were all the respectabilities of the east cooingly inviting rome to spend her summer with them; they to provide all accessories for a really enjoyable time. in this way eastern politics assorted themselves,--thus was the levant divided: on the one hand you had the traditional seats of militariasm; on the other, famous names--and the heirs to the glory (a good deal tarnished now) that once had been greece. the former were macedon and syria, or macedon with syria in the background; what better could you ask that a good square se-to with these? oh, one at a time; that was the fine old roman way; _divide et impera;_ mecedon now, and, a-grace of god, syria--but let be; we are talking of this summer; for next, the lord (painted bright vermilion) it may be hoped will provide. so for the present philip of mecedon figures as the desired enemy.--as to the other side, the famous names to be our allies, they are: egypt, chief seat in recent centuries of culture and literature, and incidentally the golconda of the time, endowed past dreaming of with commerce, wealth, and industries; and rhodes, rich and republican, and learned too; and the sacred name of athens; and pergamum in asia, cultured attalus's kingdom. are we not to ally ourselves with the arts and humanities, with old fame, with the most precious of traditions?--for rome, it must be said, was not all catos: there was something in her by this time that could thrill to the name of greece. and philip had been in league with hannibal, though truly he had left him shamefully unsupported. _philip had been in league with hannibal--with hannibal!_--why, it was a glorious unsought fight, such as only fortune's favored soldiers might attain. the comitia vote against it? they say hannibal has made them somewhat tired?--nonsense! let 'em vote again! let 'em vote again!--they do so; assured pithily that it is only a question whether we fight philip in macedon, or he us on our own italian soil. of course, if you put it that way, it is hobson's choice: the voting goes all right this time. so we are embarked on the great eastern adventure; and flamininus sets out for greece. now your simple savage is often a gentleman. i don't mean your congo quashi or borria bungalee from the back-country blocks of new south wales--our roman bore no resemblance to them; but say your morocco kaid, your desert chieftain from tunis or algiers. though for long generations he has lost his old-time civilized attainments, he retains in full his manners, his native dignity, his wild saharan grace. but banish him to paris, and see what happens. he buys up automobiles,--and poodles,--and astrolabes, --and patent-leather boots,--and a number of other things he were much better without. he exchanges his soul for a pass into the _demi-monde;_ and year by year sees him further sunk into depths of vulgarism. this is precisely what in a few generations happened to rome. but meanwhile she was at an apex; touched by some few luminous ideals here and there, and producing some few great gentlemen. unprovincial egos; like scipio africanus had been edging their way into roman incarnation; they were swallows of a still far-off summer; they stood for hellenization, and the modification of roman rudeness with a little imported culture. rome had conquered magna graccia, and had seen something there; had felt a want in herself, and brought in slaves like livius andronicus to supply it. flamininus himself was really a very great gentleman: a patrician, type of the best men there were in rome. he went to greece thrilled with generous feelings, as to a sacred land. when he restored to the greek cities their freedom,-- handed them back to their own uses and devices, after freeing them from philip,--it was with an infinite pride and a high simplicity. we hear of him overcome in his speech to their representatives on that occasion, and stopping to control the lump in his throat: conqueror and master of the whole peninsula and the islands, he was filled with reverence, as a great simple-hearted gentleman might be, for the ancient fame and genius of the peoples at his feet. he and his officers were proud to be admitted to the games and initiated at eleusis. i think this is the finest chapter in early roman history. there is the simplicity, pride, and generosity of the roman gentleman, confronted with a culture he was able to admire, but conscious he did not possess;--and on the other hand the fine flow of greek gratitude to the liberator of greece, in whom the greeks recognised that of old time, and which had been so rare in their own life. at this moment rome blossomed: a beautiful bloom, we may say. but it was a fateful moment for her, too. the greeks had long lost what capacity they had ever had for stable politics. flamininus might hand them back their liberties with the utmost genuineness of heart; but they were not in a condition to use the gift. rome soon found that she had no choice but to annex them, one way or another. they were her proteges; and antiochus attacked them;--so then antiochus had to be fought and conquered. that fool had great hannibal with him, and resources with which hannibal might have crushed rome; but it did not suit antiochus that the glory should be hannibal's. then presently attalus bequeathed pergamum to the senate; which involved rome in asia minor. so step by step she was compelled to conquer the east. now there was a far greater disparity of civilization between rome and this hellenistic orient and half-orientalized greece, than appeared afterwards between the romans and spaniards and gauls. spain, very soon after augustus completed its conquest, was producing most of the brightest minds in latin literature: the influx of important egos had hardly passed from italy before it began to appear in spain. had not rome become the world metropolis, capable of attracting to herself all elements of greatness from every part of the mediterranean world, we should think of the first century a.d., as a great spanish age. gaul, too, within a couple of generations of ceasar's devastating exploits there, had become another egypt for wealth and industries. the grandson's of the vercingetorixes and dumnorixes were living more splendidly, and as culturedly, in larger and better villas than the patricians of italy; as ferrero shows. we may judge, too, that there was a like quick rise of manvantaric conditions in britain after the claudian conquest: we have news of agricola's speaking of the "labored studies of the gauls," as if that people were then famed for learning,--to which, he said, he preferred the "quick wits and natural genius of the britons." and here i may mention that, even before the conquest of gaul, caesar's own tutor was a man of that nation, a master of greek and latin learning;--but try to imagine a roman tutoring epaminondas or pelopidas! so we may gather that a touch from italy--by that time highly cultured,--was enough to light up those celtic countries at once; and infer from that that no such long pralayic conditions had obtained in them as had obtained in italy during the centuries preceding the punic wars. spain at thirteen decades before scipio, gaul at as much before caesar, britain at as much before caesar or claudius, may well have been strong and cultured countries: because you wake quickly after the thirteen decade period of rest, but slowly after the long pralayas. roman italy woke very slowly at the touch of greece; and woke, not like spain and gaul afterwards at rome's touch, to culture; not to learning or artistic fertility. what happened was what always does happen when a really inferior civilization comes in contact with a really superior one. rome did not become civilized in any decent sense: she simply forwent roman virtues and replaced them with greek vices; and made of these, not the vices of a degenerate culture, but the piggishness of cultureless boors.--behold her gadarene stations, after flamininus's return:-- millions of money, in indemnities, loot, and what not,--in bribes before very long,--are flowing in to her. where not so long since she was doing all her business with stamped lumps of bronze or copper, a pound or so in weight, in lieu of coinage, nor feeling the need of anything more handy,--now she is receiving yearly, monthly, amounts to be reckoned in millions sterling; and has no more good notion what to do with them than ever she had of old. if the egos (of crest-wave standing) had come in as quickly as did the shekels, things might have gone manageably; but they did not by any means. her great misfortune was to enter the world-currents only on the material plane; to find her poor little peasant-bandit-souled self mistress of the world and its money, and still provincial to the core and with no ideas of bigness that were not of the earth earthy; with nothing whatever that was both spiritual and roman to thrill to life the higher side of her;--a multimillionaire that could hardly read or write, and knew no means of spending her money that was not essentially vulgar. she had given up her sole means of salvation--which was hoeing cabbages; her slaves did all that for her now;--and so was at a loss for employment; and satan found plenty of mischief for her idle hands to do. there were huge all-day-long banquets, where you took your emetic from time to time to keep you going. there were slaves,--armies of them; to have no more than a dozen personal attendants was poverty. there were slaves from the east to minister to your vices; some might cost as much as five thousand dollars; and there were dirt-cheap sardinians and 'barbarians' of all sorts to run your estates and farms. all the work of italy was done by slave labor; and the city swarmed with an immense slave population; the country slaves with enough of manhood left in them to rise and butcher and torture their masters when they could; the city slaves, one would say, in no condition to keep the semblance of a soul in them at all,--living dead. for the most part both were shamefully treated; cato,-- high old republican cato, type of the free and nobly simple roman--used to see personally to the scourging of his slaves daily after dinner, as a help to his digestion.--so the rich wasted their money and their lives. they bought estates galore, and built villas on them; cicero had--was it eighteen?-- country-houses. they bought up greek art-treasures, of which they had no appreciation whatever,--and which therefore only helped to vulgarize them. such things were costly, and thought highly of in greece; so rome would have them for her money, and have them _en masse._ mummius brought over a shipload; and solemnly warned his sailors that they would have to replace any they might break or lose. the originals, or such substitutes as the sailors might supply,--it was all one to him. as to literature,--well, we have seen how it began with translations made by a greek slave, livius andronicus, who put certain hellenistic comedies and the odyssey into latin ballad meters; the kind of verse you would expect from a slave ordered promiscuously by his master to get busy and do it. then came father ennius; and here i shall diverge a little to try to show you what (as i think) really happened to the soul of rome. it was a queer set-out, this job that ennius attempted,--of making a real roman poem, an epic of roman history. between old latin and greek there was the same kind of difference as between french and english: one fundamental in the rhythm of the languages. i am giving my own explanation of a very puzzling problem; and needless to say, it may be wrong. the ancient roman ballads were in what is called saturnian meter, which depends on stress and accent; it is not unlike the meter of the scotch and english ballads. that means that old latin was spoken like english is, with syllabic accent. but greek was not. in that, what counted, what made the meters, was tone and quantity. now we have that in english too; but it is a subtler and more occult influence in poetry than accent is. in english, the rhythm of a line of verse depends on the stresses; but where there is more than rhythm,--where there is music,--quantity is a very important factor. for example, in the line "that carried the take to sligo town to be sold," you can hear how the sound is held up on the word _take,_ because the _k_ is followed by the _t_ in _to;_ and what a wonderful musical effect is given thereby to the line. all the swing and lilt and rhythm of greek poetry came in that way; there were no stresses, no syllabic accents; the accents we see written were to denote the tones the syllables should be--shall i say _sung on?_ now french is an example of a language without stresses; you know how each syllable falls evenly, all taking an unvarying amount of time to enounce. i imagine the basic principle of greek was the same; only that you had to add to the syllables a length of sound where two consonants combining after a vowel retarded the flow of tone, as in _take to_ in the line quoted just now. now if you try to write a hexameter in english on the greek principle, you get something without the least likeness either to a greek hexameter or to music; because the language is one of stresses, not, primarily, of tones. "this is the forest pimeval; the murmuring pines and the hemlocks." will not do at all; there is no greek spondee in it but--_rest prime_--; and longfellow would have been surprised if you had accused that of spondeeism. what you would get would be something like these--i forget who was responsible for them: "procession, complex melodies, pause, quantity, accent, after virgilian precedent and practice, in order." lines like these could never be poetry; poetry could never be couched in lines like these;--simply because poetry is an arrangement of words upon a frame-work of music: the poet has to hear the music within before his words can drop naturally into the places in accordance with it. you could not imitate a french line in english, because each of the syllables would have to be equally stressed; you could not imitate an english line in french, because in that language there are none of the stresses on which an english line depends for its rhythm. but when i read chaucer i am forced to the conclusion that what he tried to do was precisely that: to imitate french music; to write english without regard to syllabic accent. the english lyrics of his time and earlier depend on the principle of accent: sum'--mer is'--i-cum'--en in, loud'--e sing'--cuccu'; --but time and again in chaucer's lines we find that if we allow the words their natural english stresses, we break up the music altogether; whereas if we read them like french, without syllabic accent, they make a very reasonable music indeed. now french had been in england the language of court and culture; it was still spoken in polite circles at stratforde-at-le-bowe; and chaucer was a courtier, anglo-french, not anglo-saxon; and he had gone to france for his first models, and had translated a great french poem; and anglo-saxon verse-methods were hardly usable any longer. so it may well have appeared to him that serious poetry was naturally french in meter and method. there was no model for what he wanted to do in english; the english five-iambic line had not been invented, and only the popular lyricists, of the proletariat, sang in stresses. and anyhow, as the upper classes, to which he belonged more or less, were only growing out of french into english, very likely they pronounced their english with a good deal of french accent. now it seems to me that something of the same kind, with a difference, is what happened with ennius. you are to understand him as, though greek by birth, _romanior ipsis romanis:_ greek body, but ultra-roman ego. one may see the like thing happen with one's own eyes at any time: men european-born, who are quite the extremest americans. in his case, the spark of his greek heredity set alight the roman conflagration of his nature. he was born in calabria, a roman subject, in ; and had fought for rome before cato, then quaestor, brought him in his train from sardinia in . a glance at the cycles, and a measuring-up of things with our thirteen-decade yardstick, will suggest the importance of the time he lived in. the _encyclopaedia britannica_ gives a.d. as the date for the end of the golden age of latin literature. its first great names are those of cicero, caesar, and lucretius. thirteen decades before a.d., or in b.c., these three were respectively eighteen, fourteen, and eight years old; so we may fairly call that golden age thirteen decades long, and beginning in . thirteen decades back from that bring us to ; and as much more from that, to . you will remember as the year of the death of plato, which we took as marking the end of the golden age of greek. in ennius was twenty-one. he was the father of latin poetry; as cato the censor, seven years his junior, was the father of latin prose. so you see, he came right upon a greek cycle; right upon the dawn of what should have been a new greek day, with the night of hellenisticism in between. and he took, how shall i put it?--the forces of that new day, and transmuted them, in himself as crucible, from greek to roman... a sort of channel through which the impulse was deflected from greek to latin... i think that, thtilled with a patriotism the keener-edged because it was acquired, he went to work in this way:--he was going to make one of these long poems, like those (inferior) greek fellows had; and he was going to make it in latin. (i do not know which was his native language, or which tradition he grew up in.) he didn't see why we romans should not have our ancient greatness sung in epic; weren't we as good as homer's people, anyhow? certainly we were; and a deal better! well, of course there was our old saturnian meter; but that wasn't the kind of way serious poetry was written. serious poetry was written in hexameters. if greek was his native tongue, he may have spoken latin all his life, of course, with a greek accent; and the fact that he was sitting down to make up his 'poem' in a meter which no native-born latin speaker could hear as a meter at all, may have been something of which he was profoundly unconscious. but that is what he did. he ignored (mostly) the stresses and accents natural to latin, and with sweet naivete made a composition that would have scanned if it had been greek, and that you could make scan by reading with a greek rhythm or accent. the romans accepted it. that perhaps is to say, that he had no conception at all of poetry as words framed upon an inner music. i think he was capable of it; that most romans of the time, supposing they had had the conviction of poethood, would have been capable of it. it was the kind of people they were. but that was not all there was to ennius, by any means. a poet-soul had incarnated there; he had the root of the matter in him; it was only the racial vehicle that was funny, as you may say. he was filled with a high conception of the stern grandeur romans admired; and somehow or other, his lines carry the impress of that grandeur at times: there is inspiration in them. and now comes the point i have fetched all this compass to arrive at. by spenser's time, or earlier, in england, all traces of chaucer's french accent had gone; the language and the poetry had developed on lines of their own, as true expressions of the national soul. but in rome, not so. two centuries later great roman poetry was being written: a major poet was on the scenes, --virgil. he, i am certain, wrote with genuine music and inspiration. we have accounts of his reading of his own poems; how he was carried along by the music, chanting the lines in a grand voice that thrilled all who heard. he chanted, not spoke, them; poets always do. they formed themselves, grew in his mind, to a natural music already heard there, and existent before the words arose and took shape to it. that music is the creative force at work, the whirr of the loom of the eternal; it is the golden-snooded muses at song. and therefore he was not, like ennius, making up his lines on an artificial foreign plan; to my mind that is unthinkable;--he was writing in the latin spoken by the cultured; in latin as all cultured romans spoke it. but, _mirabile dictu,_ it was latin as ennius had composed it: he was writing in ennius' meter. i can only understand that greek had so swamped the latin soul, that for a century or more cultured latin had been spoken in quantity, not in accent; in the greek manner, and with the greek rhythm. ennius had come to be appreciable as meter and music to roman ears; which he certainly could not have been in his own day. so we may say that there is in a sense no roman literature at all. nothing grew out of the old saturnian ballad-meter,--except perhaps catullus, who certainly had no high inspiring impersonal song to sing. the roman soul never grew up, never learned to express itself in its own way; before it had had time to do so, the greek impulse that should have quickened it, swamped it. you may think of japan, swamped by chinese culture in the sixth century a.d., as a parallel case; but no; there buddhism, under real spiritual teachers, came in at the same time, and fostered all that was noblest in the japanese soul, so that the result was fair and splendid. a more cognate case is that of the turks, who suffered through suddenly conquering persia while they were still barbarous, and taking on, outwardly, persian culture wholesale; turkish and latin literature are perhaps on a par for originality. but if the greek impulse had touched and wakened rome under the aegis of pythagoreanism,--rome might have become, possibly, as fine a thing as japan. true, the crest-wave had to roll in to rome presently, and to raise up a great literature there. but whose is the greatest name in it? a gaul's, who imitated greek models. there is something artificial in the combination; and you guess that whatever most splendid effort may be here, the result cannot be supreme. the greatest name in latin prose, too,--livy's--was that of a gaul. and herefrom we may gather what mingling of forces is needed to produce the great ages and results in literature. you have a country; a tract of earth with the earth-breath playing up through the soil of it; you have the components or elements of a race mixed together on that soil, and molded by that play of the earth-breath into homogeneity, and among them, from smallest beginnings in folk-verse, the body of a literature must grow up. then in due season it must be quickened: on the outer plane by an impulse from abroad,--intercourse with allies, or resistance to an invader; and on the inner, by an inrush of crest-wave egos. there must be that foreign torch applied,--that spark of inter-nationalism; and there must be the entry of the vanguard of the host of souls with its great captains and marshals, bringing with them, to exhibit once more in this world, the loot of many lands and ages and old incarnations; which thing they shall do through a sudden efflorescence of the literature that has grown up slowly to the point of being ready for them. such natural growth happened in greece, in china; in our own cycle, in france, italy, england: where the trees of the nation literatures received buddings and manurings from abroad, but produced always their own natural national fruit:--shakespeare was your true english apple, grown from the chaucer stock; although in him flower for juices the sweetness and elixir of all the world and the ancient ages. but in rome, before the stock was more than a tiny seedling, a great branch of greece was grafted on it,--and a degenerate greece at that--and now we do not know even what kind of fruit-tree that roman stock should have grown to be. how, then, did this submersion and obliteration of the roman soul come to pass? it is not difficult to guess. greek meant culture: if you wanted culture you learnt greek. all education was in greek hands. the greek master spoke latin to his boys; no doubt with a greek accent. so cultured speech, cultured latin, came to mean latin without its syllabic stresses; spoken, as nearly as might be, with greek evenness and quantity.--as if french should so submerge us, that we spoke our united states dapping out syllable by syllable like frenchmen. but it is a fearful thing for a nation to forgo the rhythm evolved under the stress of its own soul,--especially when what it takes on instead is the degenerate leavings of another: alexandria, not athens. this rome did. she gained the world, and lost her own soul; and the exchange profited her as little as you might expect. imitation of culture is often the last touch that makes the parvenu unbearable; it was so in rome. one likes better in some ways cato's stult old roman attitude: who scorned greek all his life for sheer foppery, while he knew of nothing better written in it than such trash as poetry and philosophy; but at eighty came on a greek treatise on manure and straightway learned the language that he might read and enjoy something profitable and thoroughly roman in spirit.--greek artists flocked to rome; and doubtless the more fifth-rate they were the better a thing they made of it: but it was risky for good men to rely on roman appreciations. two flute-players are contending at a concert; greek and perhaps rather good. their music is soon drowned in catcalls: what the dickens do we romans want with such _footling tootlings?_ then the presiding magistrate has an idea. he calls on them to quit that fooler and get down to business:--give us our money's worth, condemn you to it, ye naughty knaves: _fight!_--and fight they must, poor things, while the audience, that but now was bored to death, howls with rapture. so rome passed away. where now is the simple soul who, while his feet were on his native soil and he asked nothing better than to hoe his cabbages and turn out yearly for patriotic throat-cuttings, was reputable--nay, respect-worthy,--and above all, not a little picturesque? alas! he is no more.--you remember kelly,--lovable kelly, who in his youth, trotting the swate ould bogs of cohhacht, heard poetry in every sigh of the wind,--saw the hosts of the danaan sidhe riding their flamey steeds through the twilight,--listened, by the cabin peat-fire in the evenings, to tales of finn maccool and cuculain and the ancient heroes and gods of ireland?--behold this very kelly now!--what! is this he?--this raucous, pushing, red-haired, huge-handed, green-necktied vulgarian who has made his pile bricklaying in chicago;--this ward-politician; this--well, well; _sic transit gloria mundi!_ and the roman cad of the second century b.c. was worse than a thousand kellys. he had learned vice from past-masters in the levant; and added to their lessons a native brutality of his own. his feet were no longer on the italian soil; _that_ was nothing sacred to him now. his moral went as his power grew. his old tough political straightforwardness withered at the touch of levantine trickery; his subjects could no longer expect a square deal from him. he sent out his gilded youth to govern the provinces, which they simply fleeced and robbed shamelessly; worse than athens of old, and by much. the old predatory instinct was there still: hellenisticism had supplied no civilizing influence to modify that. but it was there minus whatever of manliness and decency had once gone with it. karma travels by subtle and manifold links from the moral cause to the physical effect. there are historians who will prove to you that the ruin of rome came of economic causes: which were, in fact, merely some of the channels through which karma flowed. they were there, of course; but we need not enlarge on them too much. the secret of it all is this: a people without the balance of the faculties, without the saving doctrine of the mean, with but one side of their character developed, was called by cyclic law, while still semi-barbarian, to assume huge responsibilities in the world. their qualities were not equal to the task. the sense of the beautiful, their feeling for art and poetry, had not grown up with their mateial strength. why should it? some may ask; are not strength and moral enough?--no; they are not: because it is only the balance which can keep you on the right path; strength without the beauty sense,--yes, even fortitude, strength of will,--turns at the touch of quickening time and new and vaster conditions, into gaucherie, disproportion, brutality; ay, it is not strength:--the saving quality of strength, morale, dribbles out and away from it: only the balance is true strength. the empires that were founded upon uncompassion, through they swept the world in a decade, within a poor century or so were themselves swept away. rome, because she was only strong, was weak; her virtues found no exit into life except in things military; the most material plane, the farthest from the spirit. her people were not called, like the huns or mongols, to be a destroyer race: the law designed them for builders. but to build you must have the balance, the proportionate development spiritual, moral, mental, and physical: it is the one foundation. rome's grand assets at the start were a sense of duty, a natural turn for law and order: grand assets indeed, if the rest of the nature be not neglected or atrophied. in rome it was, largely. to be strong-willed and devoted to duty, and without compassion: --that means that you are in train to grow a gigantic selfhood, which nature abhors; emptiness of compassion is the vacuum nature most abhors. you see a strong man with his ambitions: scorning vices, scorning weakness; scorning too, and lashing with his scorn, the weak and vicious; bending men to his will and purposes. prophesy direst sorrow for that man! nature will not be content that he shall travel his chosen path till a master of selfishness and a great scourge for mankind has been evolved in him. she will give him rope; let him multiply his wrong-doings; because, paradoxically, in wrong-doing is its own punishment and cure. his selfishness sinks by its own weight to the lowest levels; prophesy for him that in a near life he shall be the slave of his body and passions, yet keeping the old desire to excel;--that common vice shall bring him down to the level of those he scorned, while yet he forgets not the mountain-tops he believed his place of old. then he shall be scourged with self-contempt, the bitterest of tortures; and the quick natural punishments of indulgence shall be busy with him, snake-locked erinyes with whips of wire. in that horrible school, struggling to rise from it, he shall suffer all that a human being can in ignominy, sorrow and shame;--and at last shall count it all well worth the while, if it has but taught him that which is no atribute, but alaya's self,--compassion. so karma has its ministrants within ourselves; and the dreadful tyrants within are to be disthroned by working and living, not for self, but for man. this is why brotherhood is the doctrine and practice that could put a stop to the awful degeneratioin of mankind. rome was strong without compassion; so her strength led her on to conquests, and her conquests to vices, and her vices to hideous ruin and combustion. she loved her _gravitas,_--which implied great things;--but contemned the beautiful; and so, when a knowledge of the beautiful would have gone far to save her, by maintaining in her a sense of proportion and the fitness of things--she lost her morale and became utterly vulgarian. but think of china, taking it as a matter of course that music was an essential part of government; or of france, with her _ministre des beaux arts_ in every cabinet. perhaps; these two, of all historical nations, have made the greatest achievements; for you must say that neither india nor greece was a nation.--as for rome, with all her initial grandeur, it would be hard to find another nation of her standing that made such an awful mess of it as she did; one refers, of course, to republican rome; when augustus had had his way with her, it was another matter. she took the gadarene slope at a hand-gallop; and there you have her history during the second century b.c. not till near the end of that century did the egos of the crest-wave begin to come in in any numbers. from the dawn of the last quarter, there or thereabouts, all was an ever-growing rout and riot; the hideous toppling of the herd over the cliff-edge. it was a time of wars civil and the reverse; of huge bloody conscriptions and massacre; reforms and demagogism and murder of the gracchi:-- marius and sulla cat and dog;--the original spartican movement, that wrecked italy and ended with six thousand crucifixions along the road to capua;--ended so, and not with a slave conquest and wiping-out of rome, simply because spartacus's revolted slave-army was even less disciplined than the legions that beast-crassus decimated into a kind of order and finally conquered them with. it was decade after decade of brutal devasting wars, --wars chronic and incurable, you would say: the untimely wreck and ruin of the world. it is a strange gallery of portraits that comes down to us from this time: man after notable man arising without the qualities that could save rome. here are a few of the likenesses, as they are given dr. stobart: there were the gracchi, with so much that was fine in them, but a ruining dash of the demagog,--an idea that socialism could accomplish anything real;--and no wisdom to see through to ultimite causes. there was marius, simple peasant with huge military genius: a wolf of a soldier and foolish lamb of a politician; a law-maker who, captured by the insinuations and flatteries of the opposite side, swears to obey his own laws "so far as they may be legal." there was sulla, of the class of men to which alcibiades and alexander belonged, but an inferior specimen of the class and unscrupulous rip, and a brave successful commander; personally beautiful, till his way of living made his face "like a mulberry sprinkled with flour";-- with many elements of greatness always negatived by sudden fatuities; much of genius, more of fool, and most of rake-helly demirep; highly cultured, and plunderer of athens and delphi; great general, who maintained his hold on his troops by unlimited tolerance of undiscipline. there was crassus the millionaire, and all his millions won by cheatery and ugly methods; the man with the slave fire-brigade, with which he made a pretty thing out of looting at fires. there was cicero, with many noble and roman qualities and a large foolish vanity: thundering orator with more than a _soupcon_ of the vaudeville favorite in him: a hamlet who hardly showed his real fineness until he came to die. and there was pompey;--real honesty in pompey, perhaps the one true-hearted gentleman of the age: a man of morale, and a great soldier,--who might have done something if his general intelligence had been as great as his military genius and his sense of honor:--surely pompey was the best of the lot of them; only the cursed spite was that the world was out of joint, and it needed something more than a fine soldier and gentleman to set it right.--and then caesar--could he not do it? caesar, the superman,--the brilliant all-round genius at last,--the man of scandalous life--scandalous even in that cesspool rome,--the epileptic who dreamed of world-dominion,--the conqueror of gaul, says h.p. blavatsky, because in gaul alone the sacred mysteries survived in their integrity, and it was his business, on behalf of the dark forces against mankind, to quench their life and light for ever;--could not this caesar do it? no; he had the genius; but not that little quality which all greatest personalities,--all who have not passed beyond the limits of personality: tact, impersonality, the power that the disciple shall covet, to make himself as nothing in the eyes of men:-- and because he lacked that for armor, there were knives sharpened which should reach his heart before long.--and then, in literature, two figures mentionable: lucretius, thinker and philosopher in poetry: a high roman type, and a kind of materialist, and a kind of god's warrior, and a suicide. and catullus: no noble type; neither roman nor greek, but italian perhaps; singing in the old saturnian meters with a real lyrical fervor, but with nothing better to sing than his loves.--and then, in politics again, brutus: type, in sentimental history of the republican school, of the high old roman and republican virtues; brutus of the "blood-bright splendor," the tyrant-slayer and roman harmodios-aristogeiton; the adored of philosophic french liberty-equality-fraternity adorers; shakespeare's "noblest roman of them all";--o how featly cassius might have answered, when brutus accused him of the "itching palm," if he had only been keeping _au fait_ with the newspapers through the preceding years! _"et tu, brute,"_ i hear him say, quoting words that should have reminded his dear friend of the sacrd ties of friendship,-- "art thou the man will rate thy cassius thus? this is the most unkindest cut of all; for truly i have filched a coin or two:-- have been, say, _thrifty;_ gathered here and there _pickings,_ we'll call them; but, my brutus, thou-- didst thou not shut the senators of rhodes (i think 'twas rhodes) up in their senate-house, and keep them there unfoddered day by day. until starvation forced them to disgorge all of their million to thee? didst not thou--" brutus is much too philosophical, much to studious, to listen to qualities of that kind, and cuts the conversation short right there. cassius was right: that about starving the senators of his province that surrendered their wealth was precisely what our brutus did.--then there was anthony, the rough brave soldier,--a kind of man of the unfittest when the giants pompey and caesar had been in; anthony, master of rome for awhile,--and truly, god knows rome will do with bluff mark anthony for her master!--it is a very interesting list; most of them queer lobsided creatures, fighting with own hands or for nothing in particular; most with some virtues: then that might have saved rome, if, as mrs poyser said, "they are hatched again, and hatched different." xviii. augustus we left rome galloping down the gadarene slope, and scrimmaging for a vantage point whence to hurl herself headlong. down she came; a riot and roaring ruin: doing those things she ought not to have done, and leaving undone those things she ought to have done, and with no semblance of health in her. there was nothing for it but the downfall of the world; good-bye civilization and all that was ever upbuilded of old. come now; we should become good congo forester in our time, with what they call 'long pig' for our daintiest diet. it is a euphemism for your brother man. but supposing this mist-filled gadarene gulf were really bridgable: supposing there were another side beyond the roar of hungry waters and the horror; and that mankind,--european mankind,--might pass over, and be saved, were there but staying the rout for a moment, and affording a means to cross? there is a bardic proverb in the welsh: _a fo ben, bydded bont:_--'he who is chief, let him be the bridge': bran the blessed said it, when he threw down his giant body over the gulf, so that the men of the island of the mighty might pass over into ireland. and the end of an old cycle, and the beginning of a new, when there is--as in our rome at that time--a sort of psychic and cyclic impasse, a break-down and terrible chasm in history, if civilization is to pass over from the old conditions to the new, a man must be found who can be the bridge. he must solve the problems within himself; he must care so little for, and have such control of, his personality, that he can lay it down, so to speak, and let humanity cross over upon it. history may get no news of him at all; although he is then the chief of men, and the greatest living;--or it may get news, only to belittle him. his own and the after ages may think very little of him; he may possess no single quality to dazzle the imagination:--he may seem cold and uninteresting, a crafty tyrant;--or an uncouth old ex-rail-splitter to have in the white house;--or an illiterate peasant-girl to lead your armies; yet because he is the bridge, he is the chief; and you may suspect someone out of the pantheons incarnate in him. for the truth of all which, humanity has a sure instinct. when there is a crisis we say, _look for the man._ rome thought (for the most part) that she had found him when caesar, having conquered pompey, came home master of the world. if this phoenix and phenomenon in time, now with no competitor above the horizons, could not settle affairs, only omnipotence could. every thinking (or sane) roman knew that what rome needed was a head; and now at last she had got one. pompey, the only possible alternative, was dead; caesar was lord of all things. pharsalus, the deciding battle, was fought in ; he returned home in . from the year between, in which he put the finishing touches to his supremacy, you may count the full manvantara of imperial rome: fifteen centuries until and the fall of the eastern empire. all opinion since has been divided as to the character of caesar. to those whose religion is democracy, he is the grand destroyer of freedom; to the worshipers of the superman, he is the chief avatar of their god. mr. stobart,* who deals with him sanely, but leaning to the favorable view, says he was "not a bad man, for he preferred justice and mercy to tyranny and cruelty, and had a passion for logic and order"; and adds, "he was a man without beliefs or illusions or scruples." he began by being a fop and ultra-extravagant; and was always, if we may believe accounts, a libertine of the first water. he was, of course, an epileptic. in short, there is nothing in history to give an absolutely sure clue to his real self. but there is that passage in madame blavatsky, which i have quoted before, to the effect that he was an agent of the dark forces, and conquered gaul for them, to abolish the last effective mysteries; and i think in the light of that, his character, and a great deal of history besides, becomes intelligible enough.--i will be remembered that he stood at the head of the roman religion, as potifex maximus. ------ * on whose book, _the grandeur that was rome,_ this paper also largely leans. ------ but it was not the evil that he did that (obviously) brought about his downfall. caesar was fortified against karma by the immensity of his genius. whom should he fear, who had conquered pompeius magnus? none in the roman world could reach so high as to his elbow;--for sheer largeness of mind, quickness and daring, he stoood absolutely the superman among pygmies. he knew his aim, and could make or wait for it; and it was big and real. other men crowed or fumbled after petty and pinch-beck ends; impossible rhetorical republicanisms; vain senatorial prestiges; --or pleasure pure and simple--say rather, very complex and impure. let them clack, let them fumble! caesar would do things and get things done. he wore the whole armor of his greatness, and could see no chink or joint in it through which a hostile dagger might pierce. even his military victories were won by some greater than mere military greatness.--karma, perhaps, remembering the mysteries at gaulish bibracte, and the world left now quite lightless, might have a word to say; might even be looking round for shafts to speed. but what, against a man so golden-panoplied? "tush!" saith caesar, "there are no arrows now but straws." one such straw was this: (a foolish one, but it may serve)-- rome for centuries has been amusing herself on all public occasions with fourth of july rhetoric against kings, and in praise of tyrannicides. rome for centuries has been cherishing in her heart what she calls a love of freedom,--to scourge your slaves, steal from your provincials, and waste your substance in riotous living. all of which julius caesar,--being a real man, mind you,--holds in profoundest contempt for driveling unreality; which it certainly is. but unrealities are awfully real at times. unluckily, with all his supermannism, he retained some traces of personality. he was bald, and sensitive about it; he always had been a trifle foppish. so when they gave him a nice laurel wreath for his triumph over pompey, he continued, against all precedent, to wear it indefinitely,--as hiding certain shining surfaces from the vulgar gaze.... "h'm," said rome, "he goes about the next thing to crowned!" and here is his statue, set up with those of the seven kings of antiquity; he allowing it, or not protesting.--they remembered their schoolboy exercises, their spoutings on many latins for glorious fourth; and felt very badly indeed. then it was unlucky that, being too intent on realities, he could not bother to rise when those absurd old piccadilly pterodactyls the senators came into his presence; that he filled up their ridiculous house promiscuously with low-born soldiers and creatures of his own. and that there was a crowd of foolish prigs and pedants in rome to take note of these so trivial things, and to be more irked by them than by all the realities of his power:--a lean hungry cassius; an envious brusque detractor casca; a brutus with a penchant for being considered a philosopher, after a rather maiden-auntish sort of conception of the part,--and for being considered a true descendant of his well-known ancestor: a cold soul much fired with the _ignis fatuus_ of republican slave-scourging province-fleecing freedom. an unreal lot, with not the ghost of a man between them;--what should the one great man of the age find in them to disturb the least ofhis dreams? came, however, the ides of march in b.c. ; and the laugh once more was with karma,--the one great final laugher of the world. caesar essayed to be chief of the romans: he who is chief, let him be the bridge;--this one, because of a few ludicrous personal foibles, has broken down now under the hurry and thunder of the marching cycles. the fact being that your true chief aspires only to the bridgehood; whereas this one overlooked that part of it, intent on the chieftaincy.--and now, god have mercy on us! there is to be all the round of wars and proscriptions and massacres over again: _roma caput mundi_ herself piteously decapitate; and with every booby and popinjay rising in turn to kick her about at his pleasure;--and here first comes mark anthony to start the game, it seems. well; mark anthony managed wisely enough at that crisis; you would almost have said, hearing him speak at caesar's funeral, that there was at least a ha'porth of brains hidden somewhere within that particularly thick skull of his. half an hour changes him from a mere thing alive on sufferance--too foolish to be worth bothering to kill--into the master of rome. and yet probably it was not brains that did it, but the force of genuine feeling: he loved dead caesar; he was trying now to be cautious, for his own skin's sake: was repressing himself;--but his feelings got the better of him,--and were catching,-- and set the mob on fire. your lean and hungry ones; your envious detractors; your thin maiden-auntish prig republican philosophers:--all very wisely sheer off. your grand resounding cicero,--_vox et praeterea almost nihil_ (he had yet to die and show that it was _almost,_ not _quite,_) sheers off too, into the country, there to busy himself with an essay on the _nature of the gods_ (to contain, be sure, some fine eloquence), and with making up his mind to attack anthony on behalf of republican freedom.--anthony's next step is wise too: he appoints himself caesar's executor, gets hold of the estate, and proceeds to squander it right and left buying up for himself doubtful support.--all you can depend on is the quick coming-on of final ruin and dismay: of all impossibilities, the most impossible is to imagine mark anthony capable of averting it. as to caesar's heir, so nominated in the will--the persona from whom busy anthony has virtually stolen the estate,--no one gives him a thought. seeing who he was, it would be absurd to do so. and then he turned up in rome, a sickly youth of eighteen; demanded his moneys from anthony; dunned him till he got some fragment of them;--then borrowed largely on his own securities, and proceeded to pay--what prodigal anthony had been much too thrifty to think of doing--ceasar's debts. rome was surprised. this was caesar's grand-nephew, octavius; who had been in camp at apollonia in illyricum since he had coolly proposed to his great-uncle that the latter, being dictator, and about to start on his parthian campaign, should make him his master of the horse. he had been exempted from military service on account of ill-health; and julius had a sense of humor; so he packed him off to apollonia to 'finish' a military training that had never begun. there he had made a close friend of a rising young officer by the name of vipsanius agrippa; a man of high capacities who, when the news came of caesar's death, urged him to lose no time, but rouse the legions in their master's name, and march on rome to avenge his murder.--"no," says octavius, "i shall go there alone." landing in italy, he heard of the publication of the will, in which he himself had been named heir. that meant, to a very vast fortune, and to the duty of revenge. of the fortune, since it was now in mark anthony's hands, you could predict nothing too surely but its vanishment; as to the duty, it might also imply a labor for which the mariuses and sullas, the caesars and pompeys, albeit with strong parties at their backs, had been too small men. and octavius had no party, and he was no soldier, and he had no friends except that vipsanius back in apollonia. his mother and step-father, with whom he stayed awhile on his journey, urged him to throw the whole matter up: forgo the improbably fortune and very certain peril, and not rush in where the strongest living might fear to tread. why, there was mark anthony, caesar's lieutenant--the hercules, mailed bacchus, roman anthony--the great dashing captain whom his soldiers so adored-- even he was shilly-shallying with the situation, and not daring to say _caesar shall be avenged._ and anthony, you might be sure, would want no competitor--least of all in the boy named heir in caesar's will.--"oh, i shall go on and take it up," said octavius; and went. and paid caesar's debts, as we have seen, presently: thereby advertising his assumption of all responsibilities. anthony began to be uneasy about him; the senatorial party to make advances to him; people began to suspect that, possibly, this sickly boy might grow into a man to be reckoned with. i am not going to follow him in detail through the next thirteen years. it is a tortuous difficult story; to which we lack the true clues, unless they are to be found in the series of protrait-busts of him taken during this period. the makers of such busts were the photographers of the age; and, you may say, as good as the best photographers. every prominent roman availed himself of their services. mr. baring-gould, in his _tragedy of the caesars,_ arranges, examines, and interprets these portraits of augustus; i shall give you the gist of his conclusions, which are illuminating.--first we see a boy with delicate and exceedingly beautiful features, impassive and unawakend: octavius when he came to rome. a cloud gathers on his face, deepening into a look of intense anguish; and with the anguish grows firmness and the clenched expression of an iron will: this is octavian in the dark days of the thirties.--the anguish passes, but leaves the firmness behind: the strength remains, the beauty remains, and a light of high serenity has taken the place of the aspect of pain: this is augustus the emperor. the same writer contrasts this story with that revealed by the busts of julius: wherein we see first a gay insouciant dare-devil youth, and at last a man old before his time; a face sinister (i should say) and haunted with ugly sorrow. we get no contemporary account of augustus; no interpeting biography from the hand of any one who knew him. we have to read between the lines of history, and with what intuition we can muster: and especially the story of that lonely soul struggling through the awful waters of the years that followed caesar's death. we see him allying himself first with one party, then with another; exercising (apparently) no great or brilliant qualities, yet by every change thrown nearer the top; till with anthony and lepidus he is one of the triumvirate that rules the world. then came those cruel proscriptions. this is the picture commonly seen:--a cold keen intellect perpetually dissembling; keen enough to deceive anthony, to decieve the senate, to decieve cicero and all the world; cruel for policy's sake, without ever a twinge of remorse or compunciton: a marble-cold impassive _mind,_ and no heart al all, with master-subtlety achieving mastery of the world.--alas! a boy in his late teens and early twenties, so nearly friendless, and with enemies so many and so great... a boy "up aginst" so huge and difficult circumstances always, that (you would say) there was no time, no possibility, for him to look ahead: in every moment the next agonizing perilous step that must be taken vast enough to fill the whole horizon of his mind, of any human mind perhaps;--ay, so vast and compelling that every day with wrenches and torsion that horizon must be pushed back and back to contain them,--a harrowing painful process, as we may read on his busts... as to the proscriptions, dio, a writer, as mr. baring-gould says, "never willing to allow a good quality to one of the caesars, or to put their conduct in other than an unfavorable light," says that they were brought about mainly--"by lepidus and anthony, who, having been long in honor under julius caesar, and having held many offices in state and army, had acquired many enemies. but as octavian was associated with them in power, an appearance of complicity attached to him. but he was not cruel by nature, and he had no occasion for putting many to death; moreover, he had resolved to imitate the example of his adoptive father. added to this, he was young, was just entering on his career, and sought rather to gain hearts than to alienate them. no sooner was he in sole power than he showed no signs of severity, and at that time he caused the death of very few, and saved very many. he proceeded with the utmost severity against such as betrayed their [proscribed?] masters or friends; but was most favorable to such as helped the proscribed to escape." it was that "appearance of complicity" that wrote the anguish on his face: the fact that he could not prevent, and saw no way but to have a sort of hand in, things his nature loathed. in truth he appears to us now rather like a pawn, played down the board by some great chess-player in the unseen: moving by no volition or initiative of its own through perils and peace-takings to queenhood on the seventh square. but we know that he who would enter the path of power must use all the initiative, all the volition, possible in any human being, to attain the balance, to master the personality, to place himself wholly and unreservedly in the power, under the control, of the higher thing that is "within and yet without him"' the voice of his soul, that speaks also through the lips of his teacher; whether that teacher be embodied visibly before men or not. he obeys; he follows the gleam; he sufferes, and strives, and makes no question; and his striving is all for more power to obey and to follow. in this, i think, we have our clue to the young octavian.--'luck' always favored him; not least when, in dividing the world, anthony chose the east, gave lepidus africa, and left the most difficult and dangerous italy to the youngest partner of the three. he had two friends, men of some genius both: vipsanius agrippa the general, and cilnius maecenas the statesman. both appear to us as great personalities; the master whom they served so loyally and splendidly remains and impersonality,--which those who please may call a 'cold abstraction.' while octavian was away campaigning, maecenas, with no official position, ruled rome on his behalf; and so wisely that rome took it and was well content. as for those campaigns, 'luck' or agrippa won them for him; in octavian himself we can see no qualities of great generalship. and indeed, it is likely he had none; for he was preeminently a man of peace. but they always were won. suetonius makes him a coward; yet he was one that, when occasion arose, would not think twice about putting to sea in an open boat during a storm; and once, when he heard that lepidus was preparing to turn against him, he rode alone into that general's camp, and took away the timid creature's army without striking a blow: simply ordered the soldiers to follow him, and they did. if he seems now a colorless abstraction, he could hardly have seemed so then to lepidus' legions, who deserted their own general--and paymaster--at his simple word of command. or to agrippa, or to maecenas, great men who desired nothing better than to serve him with loyal affection. maecenas was an etruscan; a man of brilliant mind and culture; reputed somewhat luxurious when he had nothing to do, but a very dynamo when there was work.--a man, be it said, of great ideals on his own account: we see it in his influence on virgil and horace. in his last years some coldness, unexplained, sprung up between him and his master; yet when maecenas died, it was found he had made augustus his sole heir.--but now augustus is still only octavian, moving impassively and impersonally to his great destiny; as if no thing of flesh and blood and common human impulses, but a cosmic force acting;--which indeed the impersonal man always is. what he did, seems to have done, or could not help doing, always worked out right, whether it carries for us an ethical look or no. the problems and difficulties that lay between that time and peace flowed to him: and as at the touch of some alchemical solvent, received their solution. we get one glimpse of the inner man of him, of his beliefs or religion. he believed absolutely in his _genius_ (in the roman sense); his luck, or his karma, or--and perhaps chiefly--that god-side of a man which numaism taught existed:--what we should call, the higher law, the warrior, and the higher self. there, as i think, you have the heart of his mystery; he followed that, blindly,--and made no mistakes. in the year b.c. it led him back to rome in triumph, having laid the world at his feet. he had been the bridge over that chasm in the cycles; the path through all the tortuosities of that doubtful and wayward time; over which the purposes of the gods had marched to their fulfilment. he had been strong as destiny, who seemed to have little strength in his delicate body. with none of caesar's dash and brilliance, he had repeated caesar's achievement; and was to conquer further in spiritual "regions caesar never knew." with none of anthony's soldiership, he had easily brought anthony down.--why did cleopatra lose actium for anthony? we face the almost inexplicable again in the whole story of octavian's dealings with cleopatra. she is one of the characters history has most venomously lied about. mr. wiegand has shown some part of the truth about her in his biography; but i do not think he has solved the whole problem; for he takes the easy road of making octavian a monster. now augustus, beyond any question, was one of the most beneficent forces that ever appeared in history; and no monster can be turned, by the mere circumstance of success achieved, into that. cleopatra had made a bid to solve the world-problem on an egyptian basis: first through caesar, then through anthony. we may dismiss the idea that she was involved in passionate attachments; she had a grand game to play, with world-stakes at issue. the problem was not to be solved through caesar, and it was not to be solved through anthony; but it had been solved by octavian. there was nothing more for her to do, but step aside and be no hindrance to the man who had done that work for the gods that she had tried and been unable to do. so she sailed away from actium. julius caesar in his day had married her; and young caesarion their son was his heir by egyptian, but not by roman, law. when, in the days of caesar's dictatorship, she brought the boy to rome, caesar refused to recognise her as his wife, or to do the right thing by caesarion. to do either would have endangered his position in rome; where by that time he had another wife, the fourth or fifth in the series. he feared the romans; and they feared egypt and its queen. it seemed very probably at that time that the headship of the world might pass to egypt; which was still a sovereign power, and immensely rich, and highly populated, and a compact kingdom;--whereas the roman state was everywhere ill-defined, tenebrous, and falling to pieces. at this distance it is hard to see in egypt anything of strength or morale that would have enable it to settle the world's affairs; as hard, indeed, as it is to see anything of the kind in rome. but rome was haunted with the bogey idea; and terribly angry, aftewards, with anthony for his egyptian exploits; and hugely relieved when actium put an end to the egyptian peril. egypt, it was thought, if nothing else, might have starved italy into submission. but in truth the cycles were all against it: cleopatra was the only egyptian that counted,--the lonely spacious soul incarnate there. when octavian reached alexandria, all he did was to refuse to be influenced by the queen's wonderfully magnetic personality. he appears to me to have been uncertain how to act: to have been waiting for clear guidance from the source whence all his guidance came. he also seems to have tried to keep her from committing suicide. it is explained commonly on the supposition that he intended she should appear in his triumph in rome; and that she killed herself to escape that humiliation. i think it is one of those things whose explanation rests in the hands of the gods, and is not known to men. you may have a mass of evidence, that makes all humanity certain on some point; and yet the gods, who have witnessed the realities of the thing, may know that those realities were quite different. then her two elder children were killed; and no one has suggested, so far as i know, that it was not by octavians's orders. it is easy, even, to supply him with a motive for it; one in keeping with accepted ideas of his character:--as he was caesar's heir, he would have wished caesar's own children out of the way;--and caesar's children by that (to roman ideas) loathed egyptian connexion. his family honor would have been touched.... up to this point, then, such a picture as this might be the true portrait of him:--a sickly body, with an iron will in it; a youth with no outstanding brilliancies, who never lost his nerve and never made mistakes in policy; with no ethical standars above those of his time:--capable of picking his names coldly on the proscription lists; capable of having cleopatra's innocent children killed;--one, certainly, who had followed the usual custom of divorcing one wife and marrying another as often as expediency suggested. above all, following the ends of his ambition unerringly to the top of success. the ends of his ambition?--that is all hidden in the intimate history of souls. how should we dare say that julius was ambitious, augustus not? both apparently aimed at mastery of the world; from this human standpoint of the brain-mind there is nothing to choose, and no means of discrimination. but what about the standpoint of the gods? is there no difference, as seen from their impersonal altitudes, between reaching after a place for your personality, and supplying a personality to fill a place that needs filling? there is just that difference, i think, between the brilliant julius and the staid octavian. the former might have settled the affairs of the world,--as its controller and master and the dazzling obvious mover of all the pieces on the board. i do not believe octavian looked ahead at all to see any shining pinnacle or covet a place on it; but time and the law hurled one situation after another at him, and he mastered and filled them as they came because it was the best thing he could do.... if we say that the two men were as the poles apart, there are but tiny indications of the difference: the tactlessness and small vanities that advertise personality in the one; the supreme tact and balance that affirm impersonality in the other. the personality of julius must tower above the world; that of augustus was laid down as a bridge for the world to pass over. julius gave his monkeys three chestnuts in the morning and four at night;--you remember chwangtse's story;--and so they grew angry and killed him. augustus adjusted himself; decreed that they should have their four in the morning. his personality was always under command, and he brought the world across on it. it never got in the way; it was simply the instrument wherewith he (or the gods) saved rome. he--we may say he--did save rome. she was dead, this time; dead as lazarus, who had been three days in the tomb, etc. he called her forth; gave her two centuries of greatness; five of some kind of life in the west; fifteen, all told, in west and east. julius is always bound to make on the popular eye the larger impression of greatness. he retains his personality with all its air of supermanhood; it is easy to see him as a live human being, to imagine him in his habit as he lived,--and to be astounded by his greatness. but augustus is hidden; the real man is covered by that dispassionate impersonality that saved rome. if all that comes down about the first part of his life is true, and has been truly interpreted, you could not call him _then_ even a good man. but the record of his reign belies every shadow that has been cast on that first part. it is altogether a record of beneficence. h.p. blavatsky speaks of julius as an agent of the dark forces. elsewhere she speaks of augustus as an initiate. did she mean by that merely an initiate of the official mysteries as they still existed at eleusis and elsewhere? many men, good, bad and indifferent, were that: cicero,--who was doubtless, as he says, a better man for his initiation: glamininus and his officers; most of the prominent athenians since the time of pericles and earlier. i dare say it had come to mean that though you might be taught something about karma and reincarnation, you were not taught to make such teachings a living power in your own life or that of the world. there is nothing of the occultists, nothing of the master soul, in the life and actions of cicero; but there was very much, as i shall try to show, in the life and actions of augustus. and, we gather from h.p. blavatsky, the only mysteries that survived in their integrity to anything like this time had been those at bibracte which caesar destroyed. (which throws light, by the bye, on lucan's half-sneering remark about the druids,--that they alone had real knowledge about the gods and the things beyond this life.) so it seems to me that augustus' initiation implied something much more real,--much more a high status of the soul,--than could have been given him by any semi-public organized body within the roman world. virgil, in the year b.c., being then a pastoral poet imitating theocritus,--nothing very serious,--wrote a strange poem that stands in dignity and depth of purpose far above anything in his model. this was the fourth eclogue of his bucolics, called the _pollio._ in it he invokes the "sicilian muse" to inspire him to loftier strains; and proceeds to sing of the coming of a new cycle, the return of a better age, to be ushered in, supposedly, by a 'child' born in that year:-- _ultima cumaci venit jam carminis aetas; magnus ab integro saeclorum nascitur ordo; jam redit et virgo, redeunt saturnia regna; jam nora progenies coelo demittitur alto._ this was taken in the middle ages as referring to the birth of jesus; and on the strength of having thus prophesied, virgil came to be looked on as either a true prophet or a black magician. hence his enormous reputation all down the centuries as a master of the secret sciences. the chemist is the successor to the alchemist; and in wales we still call a chemist _fferyll,_ which is _virgil_ cymricized. well; his reputation was not altogether undeserved; he did know much; you can find karma, reincarnation, devachan, kama-loka--most of the theosophical teachings as to the postmortem-prenatal states,-- taught in the sixth book of the _aeneid._ but as to this _pollio_ eclogue: even in modern textbooks one often sees it asserted that he must have been familiar with the hebrew scriptures;--because in the book of isaiah the coming of a messiah to the jews is prophesied in terms not very unlike those he used. to my mind this is far-fetched: virgil had gaul behind him, if you must look for explanations in outside things; and at least in after ages celtic messianism was as persistent a doctrine as jewish. a survival, of course; in truth the initiated or partly initiated among all ancient peoples knew that avatars come. virgil, if he understood as much about theosophy as he wrote into the sixth aeneid, would also have known, from whatever source he learnt it, the truth about cycles and adept messengers. there has been much speculation as to who the child born in the year of pollio's consulship, who was to bring in the new order of ages, could have been. but we may note that in the language of occultism (and think of virgil as an occultist), the 'birth of a child' had always been a symbolical way of speaking of the inititation of a candidate into the (true) mysteries. so that it does not follow by any means that he meant an actual baby born in that year; he may have intended, and probably did intend, some adept then born into his illumination,--or that, according to virgil's own ideas, might be thought likely soon to be. one cannot say; he was a very wise man, virgil. at least it indicates a feeling,--perhaps peculiar to himself, perhaps general,--that the world stood on the brink of a great change in the cycles, and that an adept leader might be expected, who should usher the new order in. his eyes may have been opened to the possibilities of the young octavian. it is possible that the two were together at school in rome, studying rhetoric under epidius, in the late fifties; and certainly virgil had recently visited rome and there interviewed the triumvir octavian; and had obtained from him an order for the restitution of his parental farm near mantua, which had been given to one of the soldiers of philippi after that battle. two or three of the eclogues are given to the praises of octavian; whom, even as early as that, virgil seems to have recognised as the future or potential savior of rome. the points to put side by side are these: virgil, a theosophist, expected the coming of an avatar, an initiate who should save rome;--h.p. blavatsky speaks of augustus as an initiate;--augustus did save rome. when did he become an initiate? was there, at some time, such a change in his life that it was as if a new soul had come in to take charge of that impersonal unfailing personality? there are tremendous mysteries connected with incarnation; the possibility of a sudden accession of entity, so to say,--a new vast increment of being. as octavius and octavian, the man seems like one without will or desires of his own, acting in blind obedience to impersonal forces that aimed at his supremacy in the roman world. as augustus, he becomes another man altogether, almost fathomlessly wise and beneficient; a master of peace and wisdom. he gave rome peace, and taught her to love peace. he put _peace_ for a legend on the coinage; and in the west _pax,_ in the east _irene,_ became favorite names to give you children. he did what he could to clean roman life; to give the people high ideals; to make the empire a place,--and in this he succeeded,--where decent egos could incarnate and hope to progress; which, generally speaking, they cannot in a chaos. his fame as a benefactor of the human race spread marvelously: in far-away india (where at that time the secret wisdom and its masters were much more than a tradition), they knew of him, and struck coins in his honor; coins bearing the image and superscription of this roman caesar. i said that he went to work like an occultist: like one with an understanding of the inner laws of life, and power to direct outward things in accordance with that knowledge. thus:--the task that lay before him was to effect a complete revolution. rome could not go on under the old system any longer. that system had utterly broken down; and unless an efficient executive could be evolved, there was nothing for it but that the world should go forward kilkenny-catting itself into non-existence. now an efficient executive meant one-man rule; or a king, by whatsoever name he might be called. but the tradition of centureis made a king impossible. there were strongly formed astral molds; and whoever should attempt to break them would, like caesar, ensure his own defeat. whoever actually should break them,--well, the result of breaking astral molds is always about the same. h.p. blavatsky said that she came to break molds of mind; and so she did; but it was not in politics; and the while she was laying her trains of thought-dynamite, and exploding them gloriously, she was also building up fair and glorious mansions of thought to house those made homeless. the situation we are looking at here is on a different plane, the political. you break the astral molds there; and they may be quite worthless, quite effete and contemptible,--yet they are the things which alone keep the demon in man under restraint. it is the old peril of revolutions. they may be started with the best of intentions, in the name of the highest ideals; but, unless there be super-human strength (like ts'in shi hwangti's) or superhuman wisdom (like augustus') to guide them, as surely as they succeed in breaking the old molds, they degenerate into orgies,--blood, vice, and crime. augustus effected his revolution and kept all that out; he substituted peace and prosperity for the blood and butchery of a century. and it was because he went to work with the knowledge of an occultist that he was able to do so. he carefully abstained from breaking the molds. he labored to keep them all intact,--for the time being, and until new ones should have been formed. gently and by degrees he poured a new force and meaning into them; which, in time, would necessarily destroy them; but mean-while others would have been growing. he took no step without laboriously ascertaining that there were precedents for it. rome had been governed by consuls and tribunes; well, he would accept the consulate, and the tribuniciary power; because it was necessary now, for the time being at any rate, that rome should be governed by augustus. it is as well to remember that it was the people who insisted on this last. the republican party might subsist among the aristocracy, the old governing class; but augustus was the hero and champion of the masses. time and again he resigned: handed back his powers to the senate, and what not;--whether as a matter of form only, and that he might carry opinion along with him; or with the real hope that he had taught things at last to run themselves. in either case his action was wise and creditable; you have to read into him mean motives out of your own nature, if you think otherwise. let there be talk of tyrants, and plots arising, with danger of assassination,--and what was to become of re-established law, order, and the augustan peace? the fact was that the necessities of the case always compelled the senate to reinstate him: it was too obvious that things could not run themselves. if there had been any practicable opposition, it could always have made those resignations effectual; or at least it could have driven him to a show of illegalism, and so, probably, against the point of some fanatic theorist's dagger. in b.c. there was a food shortage; and the mob besieged the senate house, demanding that new powers should be bestowed on the caesar: they knew well what mind and hands could save them. but he would run up no new (corrugated iron or reinforced concrete) astral molds, nor smash down any old ones. there should be no talk of a king, or, perpetual dictator. chief citizen, as you must have a chief,--since a hundred years had shown that haphazard executives would not work. _primus inter pares_ in the senate: _princeps,_--not a new title, nor one that implied royalty,--or meant anything very definite; why define things, anyhow, now while the world was in flux? mr. stobart, who i think comes very near to showing augustus as he really was, still permits himself to speak of him as "chilly and statuesque." but can you imagine the mob so in love with a chilly and statuesque--tyrant, or statesman, or politician,--as to besiege the senate-house and clamor for an extension of his powers? and this chilly statuesque person was the man who delighted in sharing in their games with children! another reason why there was no talk of a king: he was no leader of a spiritual movement, but merely dealing with politics, with which the cycles will have their way: a world of ups and downs, not stable because linked to the heart of things. supposing he should find one to appoint as his worthy successor: with the revolutions of the cycles, could that one hope to find another to succeed him? political affairs move and have their being at best in a region of flux, where the evils, and especially the duties, of the day are sufficient therefor. in attending to these,-- performing the duties, fighting the evils,--augustus laid down the lines for the future of rome. he tried to revive the patriciate; he wanted to have, cooperating with him, a governing class with the ancient sense of responsibility and turn for affairs. but what survived of the old aristocracy was wedded to the tradition of republicanism, which meant oligarchy, and doing just what you liked or nothing at all. the one thing they were not prepared to do was to cooperate in saving rome. at first they showed some eagerness to flatter him; but found that flattery was not what he wanted. then they were inclined to sulk, and he had to get them to pass a law making attendance at the senate compulsory. mean views as to his motives have become traditional; but the only view the facts warrant is this: he lent out his personality, not ungrudgingly, to receive the powers and laurels that must fall upon the central figure in the state, while ever working to vitalize what lay outward from that to the circumference, that all romans might share with him the great roman responsibility of running and regenerating the world. where there was talent, he opened a way for it. he made much more freedom than had ever been under the republic; gave all classes functions to perform; and curtailed only the freedom of the old oligarchy to fleece the provinces and misdirect affairs. and meanwhile the old rome that he found on his return in ,-- brick-built ignobly at best, and now decaying and half in ruins, --was giving place to a true imperial city. in , eighty-two temples were built or rebuilt in marble; among the rest, one to apollo on the palatine, most magnificent, with a great public library attached. the first public library in rome had been built by asinius pollio nine years before; soon they became common. agrippa busied himself building the pantheon; also public baths, of which he was responsible for a hundred and seventy within the limits of the city. fair play to the romans, they washed. all classes had their daily baths; all good houses had hot baths and swimming-tanks. the outer rome he found in brick and left in marble:--but the inner rome he had to rebuild was much more ruinous than the outer; as for the material he found it built of--well, it would be daring optimism and euphemism to call those romans _bricks_--says someone. time had brought southern europe to the point where national distinctions were disappearing. no nation could now stand apart. greek or egyptian or gaul, all were, or might be, or soon would be, romans; and if any ego with important things to say should incarnate anywhere, what he said should be heard all round the middle sea. this too is a part of the method of natural law; which now splits the world into little fragments, the nations, and lets them evolve apart, bringing to light by the intensive culture of their nationalisms what hidden possibilities lie latent in their own soils and atmospheres;--an anon welds them into one, that all these accomplished separate evolutions may play upon each other, interact,--every element quickening and quickened by the contact. in the centrifugal or heterogenizing cycles national souls are evolved; in the centripetal or homogenizing they are given freedom to affect the world. we have seen what such fusion meant for china; perhaps some day we may see what such fusion may mean for the world entire. in augustus' time, fusion was to do something for the mediterranean basin. if he had been an occultist, to know it, his great cards lay in italy and spain: the former with her cycle of productiveness due to continue, shall we say until about a.d.?--the latter with hers due soon to begin. well, it does look rather as if he knew it. we shall see presently how he dealt with italy; within two years of his triumph he was turning his attention to spain, still only partly conquered. we may picture that country, from its first appearance in history until this time we are speaking of, as in something like modern balkan conditions. hamilcar barca, a great proud gentlman, the finest fruit of an ancient culture, had thought no scorn to marry a spanish lady; as a king of italy nowadays found it nowise beneath him to marry a montenegrin princess. in either case it meant no unbridgable disparity in culture. among any of the spanish people you should have found men who would have been at home in greek or carthaginian drawing-rooms, so to say; though the break-up of a forgotten civilization there had left the country in fragments and small warfares and disorder. if you read the earliest spanish accounts of their conquests in the new world, you cannot escape the feeling that, no such long ages ago, spain was in touch with america; not so many centuries, say, before hamilcar went to spain. such accounts are no doubt unscientific; but may be the more intuitional and true and indicative for that. when augustus turned his eyes on spain, basque and celtic chieftains in the northern mountains and along the shores of biscay, the semi-decivilized _membra disjecta_ of past civilizations, were always disposed to make trouble for the roman south. he could not have left them alone, except at the cost of keeping huge garrisons along the border, with perpetual alarms for the province. so he went there in person, and began the work of conquering those mountains in b.c. . it was a long and difficult war with hideous doings on both sides: the romans crucified the spaniards, and the spaniards jeered at them from their crosses. this because augustus was too sick to attend to things himself; half the time he was at death's door. not till he could afford to take agrippa from work elsewhere was any real progress made. but at one point we see his own hand strike into it; and the incident is very instructive. spain had her vercingetorix in one corocotta, a celt who kept all roman efforts useless and all roman commanders tantalized and nervous till a reward of fifty thousand dollars was offered for his capture. augustus, recovered a little, was in camp; and things were going ill with the spainiards. one day an important-looking celt walked in, and demanded to see the caesar upon business connected with the taking of corocotta. led into the caesar's presence, he was asked what he wanted.--"fifty-thousand dollars," said he; "i am corocotta." augustus laughed long and loud; shook hands with him heartily; paid him the money down, and gave him his liberty into the bargain; whereafter soon this _quijote espanol_ married a roman wife, and as caius julius corocottus "lived happily ever after." it was a change from the 'generous' julius' treatment of vercingetorix; but that rome profited by the precedent thus established, we may judge from claudius' treatment of the third celtic hero who fell into roman hands,--caradoc of wales. spain was only one of the many places where the frontier had to be settled. the empire was a nebulous affair; you could not say where it began and ended; and to bring all out of this nebulosity was one of the labors that awaited augustus. even a messenger of the gods is limited by the conditions he finds in the world; and is as great as his age will allow him to be. though an absolute monarch, he cannot change human nature. he must concentrate on points attackable, and do what he can; deflect currents in the right direction; above all, sow ideals, and wait upon the ministrations of time. he must take conditions as he finds them, following the lines of least resistance. it is nothing to him that posterity may ask, why did he not change this or that?--and add he was no better than he should be. at once to change outer things and ways of feeling that have grown up through centuries is not difficult but impossible; and sometimes right courses, violently taken, are wronger than wrong ones. augustus was a man of peace, if anybody ever was, yet (as in spain) made many wars. the result of this spanish conquest was that the pax romana came into spain, bringing with it severa centuries of high prosperity; the world-currents flowed in there at once and presently the light of spain, such as it was at that time, shone out over the roman world. most of the great names of the first century a.d. are those of spaniards. after spain, the most immediate frontier difficulty was with parthia; and there augustus won his greatest victory. at carrhae the parthians had routed crassus and taken the roman eagles. rome was responsible for the provinces of asia; and she was nominally at war with parthia,--so those provinces were in trim to be overrun at any time. the war, then, must be finished; and could rome let it end on terms of a parthian victory? where (it would be argued) would then be roman prestige? where roman authority (a more real and valuable thing)? where the pax romana?--all very true and sound; everybody knew that for the war to reopen was only a question of time;--julius had been on the point of marching east when the liberators killed him. yes, said augustus; the matter must be attended to. but parthia was a more of less civilized power: a state at least with an established central government; and when you have that, there is generally the chance to settle things by tact instead of by fighting. he found a means. he opened negotiations, and brought all his tact to bear. he was the chief, and a bridge again. over which presently came phraates king of parthia, amenable and well-disposed, to return the eagles and such of the prisoners as were still alive. rome had won back her prestige; parthia was undegraded; peace had won a victory that war would have spent itself in vain striving after. but the frontier was enormous, and nowhere else marched with that of an established power. there was no winning by peace along that vast northern line from the black to the north sea, at the most vital spot of which an unlucky physical geography makes italy easily invadable and rather hard to defend. negotiations would not work here, since there was no union to negotiate with; only ebullient german tribes whose game was raiding and whose trade plunder. so the alps had to be held, and a line drawn somewhere north of them,--say along the danube and the rhine or elbe; a frontier that could be made safe with a minimum of soldiers. all this he did; excluding adventurous schemes: leaving britain, for example, alone;--and was able to reduce the army, before he died, to a mere handful of , men.--varus and his lost legions? well; there is something to be said about that. augustus was old, and the generals of the imperial family, who knew their business, were engaged elsewhere. and germany was being governed by a good amiable soul by the name of quintilius varus, who persisted in treating the germans as if they had been civilized italians. and there was a young cheruscan who had become a roman citizen, spoke latin fluently, and had always been a good ally of rome. his latin cognomen was arminius; of which german patriotism has manufactured a highly improbable _hermann._ the trustful varus allowed himself to be lured by this seemingly so good friend into the wilds of the saltus teutobergiensis, where the whole power of the cheruscans fell on and destroyed him. then tiberius came, and put the matter right; but there was an ugly half hour of general panic first. there had been no thought of adding germany to the empire but only as to whether the frontier should be on the elbe or the rhine. varus' defeat decided augustus for the rhine. now we come to what he did for italy: his second trump card, if we call spain his first. spain belonged to the future, italy to the present. her cycle was half over, and she had done nothing (in b.c. ) very worthy with it. first, an effort should be made towards the purificatior of family-life: a pretty hopeless task, wherein at last he was forced to banish his own daughter for notorious evil-living. he made laws; and it may be supposed that they had some effect _in time._ a literary impulse towards high dignified ideals, however, may be much more effective than laws. he had maecenas with his circle of poets. of course, poetry written to order, or upon imperial suggestion, is not likely to be of the highest creative kind. but the high creative forces were not flowing in that age; and we need not blame augustan patronage for the limitations of augustan literature. there is no time to argue the question; this much we may say: the two poets who worked with the emperor, and wrote under his influence and sometimes at his suggestion, left work that endures in world-literature; that is noble and beautiful, and still interesting. i mean virgil and horace, of course. ovid, who was not under that influence, but of the faction opposed to it, wrote stuff that it would be much better were lost entirely. the poet's was the best of pulpits, in those days: poets stood much nearer the world then than for all the force of the printing-press they can hope to do now. so, if they could preach back its sacredness to the soil of italy; if they could recreate the ideal of the old agricultural life; something might be done towards (among other things) checking the unwholesome crowding to the capital,--as great an evil then as now. through maecenas and directly augustus influenced virgil, the laureate; who responded with his _georgics._ it is a wonderful work. virgil was a practical farmer; he tells you correctly what to do. but he makes a work of art of it all poetical. he suffuses his directions for stock-raising and cabbage-hoeing with the light of mythology and poetry. he gives you the golden age and saturn's italy, and makes the soil seem sacred. he had the gaul's feeling for grace and delicacy, and brought in celtic beauty to illumine the italian world. the lines are impregnated with the soul, the inner atmosphere, of the italian land; full of touches such as that lovely _muscosi fontes et somno mollior herba,_ of violets and popies and narcissus; quinces and chestnut trees. all that is of loveliness in rural (and sacred) italy is there; the landscapes are there, still beautiful; and the dignity and simplicity of the old agricultural life. it is a practial treatise on farming; yet a living poem. horace too played up for his friend maecenas and for caesar. maecenas gave him that sabine farm; and horace made latin songs to greek meters about it: made music that is a marvel to this day, so that it remains a place of pilgrimage, and you can still visit, i believe, that _fons bandusia splendidiot vitro_ that he loved so well and set such sweet music to. he give you that country as virgil gives you the valley vistas, not unfringed with mystery, of appenines and the north. between them, italy is there, as it had never been interpreted before. if--in virgil at least--there is a direct practical purpose, there is no less marvelous art and real vision of nature. and then augustus set both of them to singing the grandeur of rome; to making a new patriotism with their poetry; to inspiring roman life with a sense of dignity,--a thing it needed sorely: virgil in the _aeneid_ (where also, as we have seen, he taught not a little theosophy); horace in the _carmen saeculare_ and some of the great odes of the third and fourth books. the lilt of his lines is capable of ringing, and does so again and again, into something very like the thrill and resonance of the grand manner. listen for it especially in the third and fourth lines of this: _quid debeas, o roma, neronibus testis metaurum flumen et hasdrubal devictus, et pulcher fugatis ille dies latio tenebris._ i am not concerned here to speak of his limitations; nor of virgil's; who, in whatever respect the _aeneid_ may fall short, does not fail to cry out in it to the romans. remember the dignity and the high mission of rome!--by all these means augustus worked towards the raising of roman ideals. to that end he wrote, he studied, he made orations. he searched the latin and greek literatures; and any passage he came on that illumined life or tended towards upliftment, he would copy out and send to be read in the senate; or he would read it there himself to the senators; or publish it as an edict. there is a touch of the teacher in this, i think. he has given rome peace; he is master of the world, and now has grown old. he enjoys no regal splendor, no pomp or retinue; his life is as that of any other senator, but simpler than most. and his mind is ever brooding over rome, watchful for the ideas that may purify roman life and raise it to higher levels. many things occurred to sadden his old age. his best friends were dead; varus was lost with his legions; there had been the tragedy of julia, whom he had loved well, and the deaths of the young princes, her sons. he was a man of extraordinarily keen affections, and all these losses came home to him sorely. but against every sadness he had his own achievements to set. there was rome in its marble visibly about him, that he had found in brick and in ruins; rome now capable of centuries of life, that had been, when he came to it, a ghastly putridity. xix. an imperial sacrifice "render unto caesar the things that are caesar's" this is the secret of writing: look at the external things until you see pulsating behind them the rhythm and beauty of the eternal. only look for it, and persist in your search, and presently the universal will be revealed shining through the particular, the sweep of everlasting law through the little object, and happenings of a day. come to history with the same intent and method, and at last things appear in their true light. here, too, as in a landscape, is the rhythm of the eternal; here are the basic forms. i doubt if the evidence of the annalists is ever worth much, unless they had an eye to penetrate to these. when one sees behind the supposed fact narrated and the judgments pronounced the glimmering up of a basic form, one guesses one is dealing with a true historian. recently i read a book called _the tragedy of the caesars,_ by the novelist baring-gould; and in it the life of a certain man presented in a sense flatly contradictory to the views of nineteen centuries anent that man; but it seemed to me at last an account that had the rhythm, the basic form, showing through. so in this lecture what i shall try to give you will be mr. baring-gould's version of this man's life, with efforts of my own to go further and make quite clear the basic form. what does one mean by 'basic form'? in truth it is hard to define. only, this world, that seems such a heterogeneous helter-skelter of mournful promiscuities, is in fact the pattern that flows from the loom of an eternal weaver: a beautiful pattern, with its rhythms and recurrences; there is no haphazard in it; it is not mechanical,--yet still flawless as the configuarations of a crystal or the petals of a perfect flower. the name of the man we are to think of tonight has come down as a synonym for infamy: we imagine him a gloomy and bloodthirsty tyrant; a morose tiger enthroned; a gross sensualist;--well, i shall show you portraits of him, to see whether you can accept him for that. the truth is that aristocratic rome, degenerate and frivolous, parrot-cried out against the supposed deneracy of the imperial, and for the glories of the old republican, regime; for the days when romans were romans, and 'virtuous.' one came to them in whom the (real) ancient roman honor more appeared than in another man in italy, perhaps before or since;--and they could not understand the honor, and hated the man. they captured his name in a great net of lies; they breathed a huge fog of lies about him, which come down to us as history. now to see whether a plain tale may not put them down. once more take your stand, please, on the mountain of the gods: the time, in or about the year b.c.:--and thence try to envisage the world as those do who guide but are not involved in the heats and dusts of it. the western world; in which rome, _caput mundi,_ was the only thing that counted. _caput mundi;_ but a kind of idiot head at that: inchoate, without co-ordination; maggots scampering through what might have been the brain; the life fled, and that great rebellion of the many lives which we call decay having taken its place. and yet, it was no true season for rome to be dead; it was no natural death; not so much decent death at all as the death in life we call madness. for the crest-wave men were coming in; it was the place where they should be. the cycle of italy had begun, shall we say, in b.c., and would end in a.d.; --for convenience one must give figures, though one means only approximations by them;--and not until after that latter date would souls of any caliber cease to be incarnate in roman bodies. before that time, then, the madness had to be cured and rome's mission had to be fulfilled. the mission was, to homogenize the world. that was the task the law had in mind for rome; and it had to be done while the crest-wave remained in italy and important egos were gathered in rome. some half dozen strong souls, under the gods' special agent octavian, had gone in there to do the work; but the crest-wave had flowed into rome when rome was already vice-rotten; and how could she expect to run her whole thirteen decades a great and ruling people? none of those strong souls could last out the whole time. octavian himself, should he live to be eighty, would die and not see the cycle finished: twenty years of it would remain--to be filled by one worthy to succeed him, or how should his work escape being undone? the world must be made homogensous, and rome not its conqueror and cruel mistress, but its well-respected heart and agreed-on center; and all this must be accomplished, and established firmly, before her cyclic greatness had gone elsewhere:--that is, before a.d. the republic, as we have seen, had had its method of ruling the provinces: it was to send out young profligates to fleece and exploit them, and make them hate rome. this must be changed, and a habit formed of ruling for the benefit of the subject peoples. two or three generations of provincials must have grown up in love with rome before the end of the cycle, or the empire would then inevitably break. by a.d., the crest-wave would have left italy, and would be centering in spain. spain, hating rome, would shake off the roman yoke; she would have the men to do it;--and the rest of the world would follow suit. even if spain should set herself to the gods' work of union-making, what path should she take towards it? only that of conquest would be open; and how should she hope to conquer, and then wipe out the evil traces of her conquering, and create a homogeneity, all within her possible cycle of thirteen decades? rome's great opportunity came, simply because rome had done the conquering before ever the crest-wave struck her; in days when the crest-wave was hardly in europe at all. even so, it would be a wonder if all could be finished in the few years that remained. by rome it never could have been done at all: it was the office of a man, not of a state or nation. the man who should do it, must do it from rome: and rome had first to be put into such condition as to be capable of being used. it devolved upon augustus to do that first, or his greater work would be impossible. he had to win rome to acquiescence in himself as princeps. so his primary need was a personality of infinite tact; and _that_ he possessed. he was the kind of man everybody could like; that put everyone at ease; that was friendly and familiar in all sorts of society; so he could make that treacherous quagmire rome stable enough to be his _pied-a-terre._ that done, he could stretch out his arms thence to the provinces, and begin to weld them into unity. for this was the second part and real aim of his work: to rouse up in the empire a centripetalism, with rome for center, before centripetalism, in rome itself, should have given place to the centrifugal forces of national death. rome ruled the world, and augustus rome, by right of conquest; and that is the most precarious right of all, and must always vanish with a change in the cycles. he had to, and did, transmute it into a stable right: first with respect to his own standing in rome,--which might be done, with _tact_ for weapon,-- in a few years; then with respect to rome's standing in the world,--which could not be done in less than a couple of lifetimes, and with the best of good government as means. if the work should be interrupted too early it would all fall to pieces. so then he must have one successor at least, a soul of standing equal to his own: one that could live and reign until a.d. let the empire until that year be ruled continuously from rome in such a manner as to rouse up roman--that is, world, --patriotism in all its provinces, and the appearance of the crest-wave in a new center would not be the signal for a new break-up of the world. the problem was, then, to find the man able to do this. the child: for he must not be a man yet. and seeing what was at stake, he must be better equipped than augustus: he must be trained from childhood by augustus. because he was to work in the midst of much more difficult conditions. augustus had real men to help him: the successor probably would have none. when the crest-wave struck it, rome was already mean and corrupt and degenerate. augustus, not without good human aid, might hope to knock it into some kind of decency during the apex-time of the thirteen decades. his reign would fall, roughly, in the third quarter of the cycle, which is the best time therein; but his successor would have to hold out through the last quarter, which is the very worst. the crest-wave would then be passing from italy: rome would be becoming ever a harder place for a real man to live and work in. meaner and meaner egos would be sneaking into incarnation; decent gentlemanly souls would be growing ever more scarce. by 'mean egos' i intend such as are burdened with ingrate personalities: creatures on whom sensuality has done its disintegrating work; whose best pleasure is to exempt themselves from any sense of degradation caused by fawning on the one strong enough to be their master, by tearing down as they may his work and reputation, circulating lies about him, tormenting him in every indirect way they can. among such as these, and probably quite lonely among the, the successor of augustus would lave to live, fulfilling heaven's work in spite of them. where to find a soul capable, or who would dare undertake the venture? well; since it was to be done, and for the gods,--no doubt the gods would have sent their qualified man into incarnation. in b.c. octavian proclaimed a general amnesty; and among these who profited by it was a certain member of the claudian gens,--one of that nero family to which rome owed so much-- _testis metaurum flumen et hasdrubal devictus_ he had been a friend of caesar's and an enemy of octavian's; and had been spending his time recently in fleeing from place to place in much peril; as had also his wife, aged eighteen, and their three-year-old son. on one occasion this lady was hurrying by night through a forest, and the forest took fire; she escaped, but not until the heat singed the cloak in which the baby boy in her arms was wrapped. now they returned, and settled in their house on the palatine not far from the house of octavian. in rome at that time marriage was not a binding institution. to judge by the lives of those prominent enough to come into history, you simply married and divorced a wife whenever convenient. octavian some time before had married scribonia, to patch up an alliance with her kins-man sextus pompey, then prominent on the high seas in the role--i think the phrase is mr. stobart's--of gentleman-pirate. as she was much older than himself, and they had nothing in common, it occurred to no one that, now the utility of the match had passed, he would not follow the usual custom and divorce her. he met livia, the wife of this tiberius claudius nero, and duly did divorce livia. a new wedding followed, in which claudius nero acted the part of father to his ex-wife, and gave her away to octavian. it all sounds very disgraceful; but this must be said: the great augustus could never have done his great work so greatly had he not had at his side the gracious figure of the empress livia,-- during the fifty-two years that remained to him his serenest counselor and closest friend. and then--there was the boy: i believe the most important element in the transaction. his father died soon afterwards, and he came to live in the palace, under the care of his mother,--and of augustus; who had now within his own family circle the two egos with whom he was most nearly concerned, and without whom his work would have been impossible. so i think we may put aside the idea that the marriage with livia was an 'affair of the heart,' as they call it:--a matter of personal and passional atraction. he was guided to it, as always, by his _genius,_ and followed the promptings of the gods. but,--hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. the divorced scribonia never forgave augustus. she became the center of a faction in society that hated him, hated livia, loathed and detested the whole claudian line. there must have been bad blood in scribonia. her daughter julia became profligate. of julia's five children, agrippa postumus went mad through his vices; julia inherited her mother's tendencies, and came to a like end. agrippina, a bitter and violent woman, became the evil genius of the next reign. of this agrippina's children, drusus and caligula went mad and her daughter was the mother of the madman nero. to me the record suggest this: that the marriage with, not the divorce of, scribonia was a grave mistake on the part of octavian; bringing down four generations of terible karma. he was afloat in dangerous seas at that time, and a mere boy to take arms against them: did he, trusting in material alliances and the aid of sextus pirate, forget for once to trust in his _genius_ within? we have seen how the lines of pain became deeply graven on his face during the years that followed caesar's death. a high soul, incarnating, must take many risks; and before it has found itself and tamed the new personality, may have sown griefs for itself to be reaped through many lives. the descendants of augustus and scribonia were the bane of augustus and of rome. but livia was his good star, and always added to his peace. but now, back to the household on the palatine, in the thirties b.c. julia (scribonia's daughter), pert, witty, bold, and daring, was the darling of her father, whom she knew well how to amuse. drusus, the younger son of livia and claudius nero, was a bold handsome boy of winning manners and fine promise, generally noticed and loved. to these two you may say augustus stood in only human relations: the loving, careful, and _jolly_ father, sharing in all their games and merriment. he always liked playing with children: as emperor, would often stop in his walks through the streets to join in a game with the street-boys. but with livia's elder son, tiberius, he was different. tiberius had no charm of manner: drusus his brother quite put him in the shade. he carried with him the scars of his babyhood's perilous adventures, and the terror of that unremembered night of fire. he was desperately shy and sensitive; awkward in company; reserved, timid, retiring, silent. within the nature so pent up were tense feelings; you would say ungovernable, only that he always did govern them. he went unnoticed; drusus was the pet of all; under such conditions how much harmony as a rule exists between two brothers? but tiberius loved drusus with his whole heart; his thoughts knew no color of jealousy; unusual harmony was between them until drusus died.--the world said augustus disliked the boy: we shall see on what appearances that opinion was based. but tiberius, then and ever afterwards, held for augustus a feeling deeper and stronger than human or filial affection: it was that, with the added reverence of a disciple for his teacher.--you shall find these intense feelings sometimes in children of his stamp; though truly children of the stamp of tiberius are rare enough; for with all his tenderness, his over-sensitiveness and timidity, put him to some task, whisper to him _duty!_--and the little tiberius is another child altogether: unflinching, silent, determined, pertinacious, ready to die rather than give in before the thing is most whole-souledly done. augustus, merriest and most genial of men, never treated him as he did julia and drusus: there were no games and rompings with tiberius. let this grave child come into the room, and all ended; as if the princeps were a school-boy caught at it by some stern prowling schoolmaster. indeed, it was common talk that augustus, until the last years of his life, never smiled in tiberius' presence; that his smile died always on his stepson's entry; the joke begun went unfinished; he became suddenly grave and restrained;--as, i say, in the presence of a soul not to be treated with levity, but always upon a considered plan. the children grew up, and people began to talk of a successorship to augustus in the principate. it would be, of course, through julia, his daughter. he married her to marcellus, aged seventeen, his sister octavia's son, who he adopted. marcellus and julia, then, would succeed him; no one thought of retiring tiberius. marcellus, however, died in a couple of years; and folk wondered who would step into his place. augustus gave julia to vipsanius agrippa, the man who had won so many campaigns for him. agrippa was as old as the princeps, but of much stronger constitution; and so, likely to outlive him perhaps a long while. very appropriate, said rome: agrippa will reign next: an excellent fellow. no one thought of shy tiberius.--agrippa, by the way, was a strong man and a strict disciplinarian,--with soldiers, at any rate: it might be hoped also with wives. it was just as well for lady julia to be under a firm hand. ten years later agrippa died, and the heirship presumptive passed to his two eldest children by julia: the princes caius and lucius. augustus adopted them in due course. heirship presumptive means here, that they were the ones rome presumed would be the heirs: a presumption which augustus, without being too definite, encouraged. the initiate leaders and teachers of the world do not, as a rule, as far as one can judge, advertise well beforehand the identity of their successors.--as for tiberius;--why, said rome, his stepfather does not even like him. drusus, now, and _his_ children,--ah, that might be a possibility. for the marriages of the two brothers told a tale. drusus had married into the sacred julian line: a daughter of octavia and mark anthony; his son germanicaus was thus a grand-nephew of augustus, and a very great pet. but tiberius had made a love-match, with a mere daughter of agrippa by some former wife: an alliance that could not advance him in any way. her name was vipsania; the whole intensity of his pent-up nature went into his feeling for her; he was remarkably happily married;--that is, for the human, the tender, sensitive, and affectionate side of him. meanwhile both brothers had proved their worth. at twenty-two, tiberius set up a kind in armenia, and managed for augustus the parthian affair, whereby the standards of crassus were returned. there were swiss and german campaigns: in which drusus was rather put where he might shine,--and he did shine;--and tiberius a little in the shade. but drusus in germany fell from his horse, and died of his injuries; and then tiberius was without question the first general of his age, and ablest man under the princeps. as a soldier he was exceedingly careful of the welfare of his men; cautious in his strategy, yet bold; reserved; he made his own plans, and saw personally to their carrying out;-- above all, he never made mistakes and never lost a battle. his natural shyness and timidity and awkwardness vanished as soon as there was work to be done: in camp, or on the battlefield, he was a very different man from the shy tiberius of roman society. gossip left his name untouched. it took advantage of augustus; natural _bonhomie,_ and whispered tales agains _him_ galore: even said that livia retained her hold on him by taking his indiscretions discreetly;--which is as much as to say that an utterly corrupt society judged that great man by its own corrupt standards. but tiberius was too austere; his life chilled even roman gossip into silence. there was also his patent devotion to vipsania..... you could only sneer at him, if at all, for lack of spirit. he had, then, great and magnificent qualities; but the scars of his babyhood peril remained. there was that timid and clinging disposition; that over-sensitiveness that came out when he was away from camp, or without immediate business to transact, or in any society but that of philosophers and occultists:--for we do know that he was a student of occult philosophy. he had grand qualities; but felt, beneath his reserve, much too strongly; had a heart too full of pent-up human affections. but it is written: _"before the soul can stand in the prescence of the masters, its feet must be washed in the blood of the heart."_ it devolved upon his teacher to break that heart for him; so that he might stand in the presence of the masters. agrippa had died; and for julia's sake it was wise and better to provide her with a husband. augustus hesitated long before he dared take the tremendous step he did: as one doubtful whether it would accomplish what he hoped, or simply kill at once the delicate psychic organism to be affected by it. then he struck, --hurled the bolt. let tiberius put away vipsania and marry julia. put away that adored vipsania:--marry that julia,--whom every single instinct in his nature abhorred! incompatible:--that is the very least and mildest thing you can say about it;--but he must say nothing, for he is speaking to her father. he resists a long time, in deep anguish; but there is one word that for tiberius was ever a clarion call to his soul. what, cries he, is this terrible thing you demand of me?--and his teacher answers: _duty._ duty to rome, that the julian and claudian factions may be united; duty to the empire, that my successors, caius and lucius, may have, after i am gone, a strong man for their guardian.--you will note that, if you please. augustus had just adopted these two sons of julias; they were, ostensibly, to be his successors; there was no bait for ambition in this sacrifice tiberius was called on to make; he would not succeed to the principate; the marriage would not help him; there was to be nothing in it for him but pure pain. in the name of duty he was called on to make a holocaust of himself. he did it; and the feet of his soul were indeed washed in the blood of his heart. he said no word; he divorced vipsania and explained nothing. but for months afterwards, if he should chance to meet her, or see her in the street far off, he could not hide the fact that his eyes filled with tears.--then rome in its own kindly way took upon itself the duty or pleasure of helping him out a little: gossip got to work to soothe the ache of his wound. "vipasania," said gossip;--"you are well rid of her; she was far from being all that you thought her." probably he believed nothing of it; but the bitterness lay in its being said. a shy man is never popular. his shyness passes for pride, and people hate him for it. tiberius was very shy. so society was always anxious to take down his pride a little. the truth was, he was humble to the verge of self-distrust. he did his best for julia: lived under the same roof with her for a few agonized months, and discovered what everyone knew or suspected about her. the cup of his grief was now quite full; and indeed, worse things a man could hardly suffer. austere, reserved, and self-controlled as he was, at sight of vipsania he could not hide his tears. but it is written: _"before the eyes can see, they must become incapable of tears."_ --he was the butt of roman gossip: in all rancorous mouths because of the loved vipsania; in all tattling mouths because of the loathed julia; laughed at on both accounts; sympathized with by nobody; hearing all whispers, and fearfully sensitive to them. but _"before the ear can hear, it must have lost its sensitiveness."_ the storm was upon him; the silence was ahead; he was rocked and shaken and stunned by the earthquakes and thunders of initiation: when a man has to be hopeless, and battered, and stripped of all things: a naked soul afflicted with fiery rains and torments; and to have no pride to back him; and no ambition to back him; and no prospect before him at all, save such as can be seen with the it may be unopened eyes of faith. this is the way tiberius endured his trials:-- all rome knew what julia was, except augustus. so it is said; and perhaps truly; for here comes in the mystery of human duality: a thing hard enough to understand in ourselves, that are common humanity; how much harder the variety that appears in one such as augustus! you may say, he must have known. well, there was the adept soul; that, i doubt not, would have known. but perhaps it is that those who have all knowledge at their beck and call, have the power to know or not know what they will?--to know what shall help, not to know what shall hinder their work? julia was not to be saved: was, probably, tainted with madness like so many of her descendants:--then what the adept soul could not forfend, why would the human personality, the warn-hearted father, be aware of? had that last known, how should he escape being bowed down with grief: then in those years when all his powers and energies were needed? octavian had gone through storm and silence long since: in the days of the triumvirate, and his enforced partnership in its nefarious deeds;--now his personal mind and his hands were needed to guide the empire: and needed clear and untrammeled with grief... until tiberius should be ready; at least until tiberius.... so i imagine it possible that the soul of augustus kept from its personality that wounding knowledge about julia. tiberius was not the one to interfere with its purposes. why did he not get a divorce? the remedy was clear and easy; and he would have ceased to be the laughing stock of rome. he did not get a divorce; or try to; he said no word; he would not lighten his own load by sharing it with the teacher he loved. he would not wound that teacher to save himself pain or shame. augustus had made severe laws for punishing such offenses as julia's; and--well, tiberius would bear his griefs alone. no sound escaped him. but, as no effort of his could help or save her, live with julia, or in rome, he could not. his health broke down; he threw up all offices, and begged leave to retire to rhodes. augustus was (apparently) quite unsympathetic; withheld the permission until (they say) tiberius had starved himself for four days to show it was go or die with him. and no, he would not take julia; and he would give no reason for not taking her. well; what was augustus to do, having to keep up human appearances, and suit his action to the probabilities? what, but appear put out, insulted, angry? estrangement followed; and tiberius went in (apparent) disgrace. i find the explanation once more in _light on the path;_ thus-- "in the early state in which a man is entering upon the silence he loses knowledge of his friends, of his lovers, of all who have been near and dear to him: _and also loses sight of his teachers._" so in this case. "scarce one passes through," we read, "without bitter complaint." but i think tiberius did. how else to explain the incident i cannot guess. or indeed, his whole life. tacitus' account does not hang together at all; the contraditions trip each other up, and any mud is good enough to fling. mr. baring-gould's version goes far towards truth; but the well is deep for his tackle, and only esotericism, i think, can bring up the clear water. whether augustus knew all personally, or was acting simply on the promptings of his inner nature, or of those who stoood behind him,--he took the course, it seems to me, which as an occult teacher he was bound to take. his conduct was framed in any case to meet the needs of his disciple's initiation. he, for the law, had to break that disciple's outer life; and then send him lonely into the silence to find the greater life within. truly these waters are deep; and one may be guessing with the utmost presumption. but hear _light on the path_ again; and judge whether the picture that emerges is or is not consistent. it says: "your teacher or your predecessor, may hold your hand in his, and give you the utmost sympathy the human heart is capable of. but when the silence and the darkness come, you lose all knowledge of him: you are alone, and he cannot help you; not because his power is gone, but because you have invoked your great enemy." --tiberius was alone, and augustus could not help him; and he went off, apparently quite out of favor, to seven years of voluntary exile in rhodes, there to don the robe of a philosopher, and study philosophy and "astrology," as they say. let us put it, the esoteric wisdom; i think we may. the truth about julia could not be kept from augustus forever. it came to his ears at last; when his work was by so much nearer completion, and when tiberius was by so much nearer his illumination. the princeps did his duty, thought it made an old man of him: he banished julia according to his own law. then it was the wronged husband who stepped in and interceded; who wrote pleading letters to his stepfatehr, imploring him to have mercy on the erring woman: to lighten her punishment; to let her mother, at least, be with her in her exile. he knew well what tales julia had been telling her father about him; and how augustus had seemed to believe them; but "a courageous endurance of personal injustice" is demanded of the disciple; and very surely it was found in him. rome heard of his intercession, and sneered at him for his weak-spiritedness; as kindly letter-writers failed not to let him know. "look for the flower to bloom in the silence that follows the storm, not till then." the flower bloomed in this case during those seven years at rhodes; then tiberius was fit to return. outer events shaped themseves to fit inner needs and qualifications: here now at last was the man who was to succeed augustus, duly and truly prepared, worthy and well-qualified: initiated, and ready to be named before the world heir to the principate. within a few months of each other caius and lucius, the hitherto supposed successors designate, died; their brother agrippa postumus was already showing signs of incipient madness. true, there were many of the julian line still alive and available, were augustus (as had been thought) bent on making julian blood the qualification necessary: there was germanicus, married to agrippina; he the son of drusus and antonia, octavia's daughter; she the daughter of julia, and so grand-daughter of augustus himself: there were these two with their several children. but all else might wait upon the fact that tiberius, the real man, was now ready. the princeps adopted him, and no one was left to doubt who was to be the successor. the happiest years in tiberius's life began: he had at last the full, unreserved, and undisguised friendship of his teacher. his portarait-busts taken at this period show for the fist and only time a faint smile on his gravely beautiful face. also he was given plenty of work. his great german campaigns followed quickly; and the quelling of the pannanian insurrection that called him back from the rhine; and varus' defeat while tiberius was in pannonia; and tiberius's triumphant saving of the situation. it was then, when the frontier was broken and all the world aquake with alarm, that he consulted his generals; the only time he ever did so. says velleius paterculus, who served uner him:--"there was no ostentation in his conduct; it was marked by solid worth, practicality, humaneness. he took as much care of any one of us who happened to be sick, as if that one's health were the main object of his concern." ambulances, he continues, were always in attendance, with a medical staff, warm baths, suitable food, etc., for the sick. "the general often admonished, rarely punished; taking a middle part, dissembling his knowledge of most faults, and preventing the commission of others.... he preferred the approval of his own conscience to the acquisition of renown." he returned to rome in triumph in the autumn of a.d. ; and dismissed his chief captives with present, instead of butchering them in the fine old roman way. he was at the height of his fame; undeniably rome's savior, and surely to be princeps on his teacher's death. augustus, in letters that remain, calls him "the only strength and stay of the empire." "all who were with you," says he, "admit that this verse suits you:" 'one man by vigilance has restored the state.' whenever anything happens that requires more than ordinary consideration, or when i am out of humor, then, by hercules, i long for the presence of my dear tiberius; and homer's lines rise in my mind: 'bold from his prudence, i could e'en aspire to dare with him the burning rage of fire.' "when i hear that you are worn out with incessant fatigue, the gods confound me if i am not all in a quake. so i entreat you to spare yourself, lest, should we hear of your being ill, the news prove fatal to your mother and myself, and the roman people be alarmed for the safety of the empire. i pray heaven to preserve you for us, and bless you with health now and ever,--if the gods care a rush for the roman people. ....farewell, my dearest tiberius; may good success attend you, you best of all generals, in all that you undertake for me and for the muses." two years later augustus died, and tiberius became emperor; and the persecution broke out that was not to end till his death. let us get the whole situation firmly in mind. there was that clique in high society of men who hated the principate because it had robbed them of the spoils of power. it gathered first round scribonia, because she hated augustus for divorcing her; then round julia, because she was living in open contempt of the principles her father stood for. its chief bugbear of all was tiberius, because he was the living embodiment of those principles; and because julia, the witty and brilliant, hated him above all things and made him in the salons the butt for her shafts. its darling poet was ovid; whose poetic mission was, in mr. stobart's phrase, "to gild uncleannes with charm." presently augustus sent him into exile: whiner over his own hard lot. but enough of unsavory him: the clique remained and treasured his doctrine. when caius and lucius died, it failed not to whisper that of course tiberius had poisoned them; and during the next twenty-five years you could hardly die, in rome, without the clique's buzzing a like tale over your corpse.--a faction that lasted on, handing down its legends, until suetonius and tacitus took them up and immortalized them; thus creating the tiberius of popular belief and "history," deceiving the world for twenty centuries. the augustan system implied no tyranny; not even absolutism:--it was through no fault of its founder, or of his successor, that the constitutional side of it broke down. remember the divine aim behind it all: to weld the world into one. so you must have the provinces, the new ones that retaineed their national identity, under adept rule; there must be no monkeying by incompetents there. those provinces were, absolutely all in the hands of caesar. but in rome, and italy, and all quiet and long-settled parts, the senate was to rule; and augustus' effort, and especially tiberius' effort, was to make it do so. but by this time, you may say, there was nothing resembling a human ego left among the senators: when the manasaputra incarnated, these fellows had been elsewhere. they simply could not rule. augustus had had constantly to be intervening to pull them out of scrapes; to audit their accounts for them, because they could not do the sums themselves; to send down men into their provinces to put things right whenever they went wrong. tiberius was much more loath to do this. at times one almost suspects him of being at heart a republican, anxious to restore the republic the first moment it might be practicable. that would be, when the whole empire was one nation and some few souls to guide things should have appeared. at any rate (in his latter years) it must have seemed still possible that the principate should continue: there was absolutely no one to follow him in it. so the best thing was to leave as much as possible the senate's duty to the senate, that responsibility might be aroused in them. for himself, he gave his whole heart and mind to governing the provinces of caesar. he went minutely into finances; and would have his sheep sheared, not flayed. his eyes and hands were everywhere, to bring about the brotherhood of man. there is, perhaps, evidence in the christian evangels: where we see the jewish commonalty on excellent good terms with the roman soldier, and jesus consorting freindily with tiberius' centurions and tax-gatherers; but the jewish national leaders as the enemies of both--of the romans, and of the democratic nazarene. if this emperor's life had come down through provincial, and not metropolitan, channels, we should have heard of him as the most beneficent of men. indeed, mr. baring-gould argues that among the christians a tradition came down of him as of one "very near the kingdom of god." it may be so; and such a view may even be the reflexion of the nazarene master's own opinion as to tiberius. at any rate, we must suppose that at that time the christian movement was still fairly pure: its seat was in the provinces, far from rome; and its strength among humble people seeking to live the higher life. but those who were interested to lie against tiberius, and whose lies come down to us for history, were all metropolitans, and aristocrats, and apostles of degeneracy. i do not mean to include tacitus under the last head; but he belonged to the party, and inherited the tradition. it was on the provinces that tiberius had his hand, not on the metropolis. he hoped the senators would do their duty, gave them every chance to; he rather turned his eyes away from their sphere, and kept them fixed on his own. we must understand this well: the histories give but accounts of roman and home affairs; with which, as they were outside his duty, tiberius concerned himself as little as he might. but the senate's conception of duty-doing was this: flatter the caesar in public with all the ingenuity and rhetoric god or the devil has given you; but for the sake of decency slander him in private, and so keep your self-respect.--i abased my soul to caesar, i? yes, i know i licked his shoes in the senate house; but that was merely camouflage. at agrippina's _at home_ i made up for it; was it not high-souled i who told that filthy story about him?--which, (congratulate me!) i invented myself. how dare you then accuse me of being small-spirited, or one to reverence any man soever?--so these maggots crawled and tumbled; untill they brought down their own karma on their heads like the assyrian in the poem, or a thousand of bricks. constitutuionalism broke down, and tyranny came on awfully in its place; and those who had not upheld the constitution suffered from the tyranny. but it was not heroic tiberius who was the tyrant. he was unpopular with the crowd, because austere and taciturn; he would not wear the pomps and tinsels, or swagger it in public to their taste. he was too reserved; he was not a good mixer: if you fell on your knees to him, he simply recoiled in disgust. he would not witness the gladiatorial games, with their sickening senseless bloodshed; nor the plays at the theatre, with their improprieties. in these things he was an anomaly in his age, and felt about them as would any humane gentleman today. so it was easy for his enemies to work up popular feeling aginst him. at the funeral of augustus he had to read the oration. a lump in his throat prevented him getting through with it, and he handed the paper to his son drusus to finish. "oh!" cried his enemies then and tacitus after them, "what dissimulation! what rank hypocrisy! when in reality he must be overjoyed to be in the dead man's shoes." when that same drusus (his dear son and sole hope) died some years later, he so far controlled his feelings that none saw a muscle of his face moved by emotion while he read the oration. "oh!" cried his enemies then and tacitus after them, "what a cold unfeeling monster!" tiberius, with an absolute eye for reading men's thoughts, knew well what was being said on either occasion. when augustus died, his one surviving grandson, agrippa postumus, was mad and under restraint in the island of planasia, near elba. a plot was hatched to spirit him away to the rhine, and have him there proclaimed as against tiberius by the legions. one clemens was deputed to do this; but when clemens reached planasia, he found agrippa murdered. says suetonius: "it remained doubtful whether augustus left the order (for the murder) in his last moments, to prevent any public disturbance after his death; or whether livia issued it in the name of augustus, or whether it was issued with or without the knowledge of tiberius."--tacitus in the right,--though truly this agrippa postumus was a peculiarly violent offensive idiot, and augustus knew well what the anti-claudian faction was capable of. nor can one credit that gracious lady livia with it; though it was she who persuaded tiberius to hush the thing up, and rescind his order for a public senatorial investigation. for an order to that effect he issued; and tacitus, _more suo,_ puts it down to his hypocrisy. tacitus' method with tiberius is this: all his acts of mercy are to be attributed to weak-spiritedness; all his acts of justice, to blood-tyranny; everything else to hypocrisy and dissimulation. neither augustus, nor yet livia, then, had agrippa killed; must we credit it to tiberius? less probably, i think, it was he than either of the others: i can just imagine augustus taking the responsibility for the sake of rome, but not tiberius criminal for his own sake. here is an explanation which incriminates neither: it may seem far-fetched; but then many true things do. we know how the children of darkness hate the messengers of light. tiberius stood for private and public morality; the julian-republican clique for the opposite. he stood for the nations welded into one, the centuries to be, and the high purposes of the law. they stood for anarchy, civil war, and the old spoils system.--down him then! said they. and how?--fish up mad postumus, and let's have a row with the legions of the rhine.--yes; that sounds pretty--for you who are not in the deep know of the thing. but how far do you think the legions of the rhine are going to support this young revolting-habited madman against the first general of the age? you are green; you are crude, my friends;--but go to it; your plot shall do well. but we, the cream and innermost of the party,--we have another. let the madman be murdered,--and who shall be called the murderer? i believe they argued that way;--and very wisely; for tiberius still carries the odium of the murder of agrippa postumus. why did he allow himself to be dissuaded from the public investigation? was it weakness? his perturbation when he heard of the murder, and his orders for the investigation, were natural enough. one can perhaps understand livia, shaken with the grief of her great bereavement, fearing the unknown, fearing scandal, fearing to take issue with the faction whose strength and bitterness she knew, pleading with her son to let the matter be. was it weakness on his part, that he concurred? this much must be allowed: tiberius was always weak at self-defense. had he taken prompt steps against his personal enemies, it might have been much better for him, in a way. but then and always his eyes were upon the performance of his duty; which he understood to be the care of the empire, not the defense of himself. we called augustus the bridge; tiberius was the shield. he understood the business of a shield to be, to take shafts, and make no noise about it. proud he was; with that sublime pride that argues itself capable of standing all things, so that the thing it cares for--which is not its own reputation--is unhurt. you shall see. we might call it unwisdom, if his work had suffered by it; but it was only his peace, his own name--and eventually his enemies-- that suffered. he brought the world through. detail by detail, mr. baring-gould takes the incidents of his reign, and show how the plot was worked up against him, and every happening, all his deeds and motives, colorless or finely colored, given a coat of pitch. we can only glance at one or two points here: his relations with germanicus, and with agrippina; the rise and fall of sejanus. germanicus, his nephew, was fighting on the rhine when tiberius came to the throne. there was a mutiny; which germanicus quelled with much loss of dignity and then with much bloodshed. to cover the loss of dignity, he embarked on gay adventures against the germans; and played the fool a little, losing some few battles. tiberius, who understood german affairs better than any man living, wanted peace in that quarter; and recalled germanicus; then, lest there should be any flavor of disgrace in the recall, sent him on a mission to the east. your textbooks will tell you he recalled him through jealousy of his brilliant exploits. germanicus being something flighty of disposition, the emperor sent with him on his new mission a rough old fellow by the name of calpurnius piso to keep a weather eye open on him, and neutralize, as far as might be, extravagant actions. the choice, it must be said, was a bad one; for the two fought like cat and dog the better part of the time. then germanicus died, supposing that piso had poisoned him; and agrippina his wife came home, an ate shrieking for revenge. she had exposed her husband's naked body in the marketplace at antioch, that all might see he had been poisoned; which shows the kind of woman she was. germanicus was given a huge funeral at rome; he was the darling of the mob, and the funeral was really a demonstration against tiberius. then piso was to be tried for the murder: a crabbed but honest old plebeian of good and ancient family, who tiberius knew well enough was innocent. there were threats of mob violence if he should be acquitted; and the suggestion studiously sown that piso, guilty, had been set on to the murder by the princeps. tiberius, knowing the popular feeling, did not attend the funeral of his nephew. it was a mistake in policy, perhaps; but his experience had been unpleasant enought at the funeral of augustus. tacitus says he stayed away fearing lest the public, peering into his face thus from close to, might see the marks of dissimulation in it, and realize that his grief was hypocrisy. how the devil did tacitus know? yet what he says comes down as gospel. this sort of thing went on continually, and provided him a poor atmosphere in which to do his great and important work. as he grew older, he retired more and more. he trusted in his minister sejanus who had once heroically save his life: an exceedingly able, but unfortunately also an exceedingly wicked man. sejanus became his link with rome and the senate; and used that position, and the senate's incompetence, to gather into his own hands a power practically absolute in home affairs. home affairs, be it always remembered, were what the princeps expected the senate to attend to: their duty, under the constitution. instead, however, they fawned on sejanus _ad lib._ sejanus murdered tiberius' son drusus, and aspired to the hand of livilla, his widow: she was the daughter of germanicus and agrippina; and she certainly, and agrippina probably, were accessories to the murder of drusus. for agrippina was obsessed with hatred for tiberius: with the idea that he had murdered her husband, and with thirst for revenge. sejanus was thus in a fair way to the ends of his ambition: to be named the successor to the principate. then tiberius found him out; and sent a message to a senate engaged in sejanus-worship, demanding the punishment of the murderers of drusus. sejanus had built up his power by fostering the system of delation. there was no public prosecutor in the roman system: when any wrong had been done, it was anyone's business to prosecute. the end of education was rhetoric, that you might get on in life. the first step was to bring an accusation against some public man, and support it with a mighty telling speech. if you succeeded, and killed your man,--why, then your name was made. on this system, with developments of his own, sejanus had built; had employed one half of rome informing against the other. it took time to bring about; but he had worked up by degrees a state of things in which all went in terror of him; and the senate was eager perpetually to condemn any one he might recommend for condemnation. when tiberius found him out, they lost their heads entirely, and simply tumbled over themselves in their anxiety to accuse, condemn, and execute each other. everyone was being informed against as having been a friend of sejanus, and therefore an enemy of their dear princeps; who was away at capri attending to his duty; and whose ears, now sejanus was gone, they might hope to reach with flatteries. you supped with your friend overnight; did your best to diddle him into saying something over the wine-cups;--then rose betimes in the morning to accuse him of saying it: only too often to find that he, (traitorly wretch!) had risen half an hour earlier and accused you; so you missed your breakfast for nothing; and dined (we may hope) in a better world. thus during the last years of the reign there was a terror in rome: in the senate's sphere of influence; the senatorial class the sufferers and inflictors of the suffering. meanwhile tiberius in his retirement was still at his duty; his hold on his provinces never relaxed. when the condemned appealed to him, the records show that in nearly every case their sentences were commuted. tiberius' enemies were punishing themselves; but the odium of it has been fastened on tiberius. he might have interfered, you say?--what! with karma? i doubt. his sane, balanced, moderate character comes out in his own words again and again: he was a wonderful anomaly in that age. rome was filled with slanders against him; and the fulsome senate implored him to punish the slanderers. "we have not much time to spare," tiberius answered; "we need not involve ourselves in this additional business." "if any man speaks ill of me, i shall take care so to behave as to be able to give a good accound of my words and acts, and so confound him. if he speaks ill of me after that, it will be time enough for me to think about hating him." permission was asked to raise a temple to him in spain; he refused to grant it, saying that if every emperor was to be worshiped, the worship of augustus would lose its meaning. "for myself, a mere mortal, it is enough for me if i do my duties as a mortal; i am content if posterity recognises that... this is the only temple i desire to have raised in my honor,--and this only in men's hearts."--the senate, in a spasm of flattery, offered to swear in advance to all his acts. he forbade it, saying in effect that he was doing and proposed to do his best; but all things human were liable to change, and he would not have them endorsing the future acts of one who by the mere failure of his faculties might do wrong. in those sayings, i think, you get the man: perhaps a disciple only, and never actually a master; perhaps never absolutely sure of himself, but only of his capacity and determination to do his duty day by day: his own duty, and not other men's:--never setting himself on a level with his teacher; or thinking himself able, of his own abilities, to run the world, as augustus had had the power and the mission to do,--but as probably no man might have had the power to do in tiberius' time;--and by virtue of that faith, that high concentration on duty, carrying the world (but not rome) through in spite of rome, which had become then a thing incurable, nothing more than an infection and lamentable scab. he left it altogether in his last years; its atmosphere and bitterness were too much for him. form the quiet at capri he continued to rule his provinces until the end; ever hoping that if he did his duty, someone or some spirit might arise in the senate to do theirs. tacitus explains his retirement--as roman society had explained it when it happened,--thus: being then seventy-two years old, tiberius, whose life up to that time had been irreproachable and untouched by gossip, went to capri to have freedom and privacy for orgies of personal vice. but why did he not stay at rome for his orgies: doing at rome as the romans did, and thereby perhaps earning a measure of popularity? over the bridge augustus, western humanity had made the crossing; but on the further shore, there had to be a sacrifice to the fates. tiberius was the sacrifice. and that sacrifice was not in vain. we get one glimpse through provincial (and therefore undiseased) eyes of the empire he built up in the provinces. it is from philo judaeus, a jewish theosophist of alexandria, who came to rome in the reign of caligula, tiberius' successor. (tiberius, it must be said, appointed no successor; there was none for him to appoint.) caligula, says philo, "....succeeded to an empire that was well organized, tending everywhere to conceed--north, south, east, and west brought into friendship; greeks and barbarians routed, soldiers and civilians linked together in the bonds of a happy peace." that was the work of tiberius. in the gospel narrative, jesus is once made to allude to him; in the words quoted at the head of this paper: "render unto caesar"--who was tiberius--"the things which are caesar's" i think it is about time it should be done: that the wreath of honor should at last be laid on the memory of this brave, just, sane, and merciful man; this silent duty-doer, who would speak no word in his own defense; this agent of the gods, who endured all those years of crucifixion, that he might build up the unity of mankind. says mr. baring-gould: "in the galleries of rome, of naples, florence, paris, one sees the beautiful face of tiberius, with that intellectual brow and sensitive mouth, looking pleadingly at the passer-by, as though seeking for someone who would unlock the secret of his story and vindicate his much aspersed memory." xx. china and rome: the see-saw that mankind is a unit;--that the history of the world, however its waters divide,--whatever islands and deltas appear,--is one stream;--how ridiculous it is to study the story of one nation or group of nations, and leave the rest ignored, coming from your study with the impression (almost universal,) that all that counts of the history of the world is the history of your own little corner of it:--these are some of the truths we should have gathered from our survey of the few centuries we have so far glanced at. for take that sixth century b.c. the world seems all well split up. no one in china has ever heard of greece; no one in italy of india. what do the greeks know about northern europe, or the chinese about the indians or persians?--and yet we find in italy, in persia, in india, in china, men appearing,-- phenomenal births,--evolved far above their fellows: six of them, to do the same work: founders of religions, all contemporary more or less; all presenting to the world and posterity the same high passwords and glorious countersigns. can you conceive that their appearance, all in that one epoch, was a matter of chance? is not some prearrangement suggested,--a _put-up job,_ as they say: a definite plan formed, and a definite end aimed at? then by whom? can you escape the conclusion that, behind all this welter of races and separate histories aloof or barking at each other, there is yet somewhere, within the ringfence of humankind, incarnate or excarnate, one center from which all the threads and currents proceed, and all the great upward impulses are directed? those six teachers came, and did their work; then two or three centuries passed; time enough for the seeds they sowed to sprout a little; and we come to another phase of history, a new region in time. high spiritual truth has been ingeminated in all parts of the world where the ancient vehicle of truth-dissemination (the mysteries) has declined; a teacher, a savior, has failed to appear only in the lands north and west of italy, because there among the celts, and there alone, the mysteries are still effective:--so you may say the seeds of spirituality have been well sown along a great belt stretching right across the old world. why? in preparation for what? for something, we may suppose. certainly for something: for example, for the next two thousand five hundred years,--the last quarter, i would say, of a ten-millennium cycle, which was to end with a state of things in which every part of the world should be know to, and in communication with, every other part. so now in the age that followed that of the six teachers, in preparation for that coming time (our own), the attempt must be made to weld nations into unities. nature and law compel it: whose direction now is towards grand centripetalism, where before they had ordained heterogeneity and the scattering and aloofness of peoples. but those who sent out the great six teachers have a hand to play here: they have to put the welding process through upon their own designs. they start at the fountain of the cyclic impulses, on the eastern rim of the world: as soon as the cycle rises there, they strike for the unification of nations. then they follow the cycle westward. to west asia?--nothing could be done there, because this was the west asian pralaya; those parts must wait for mohammed. in europe then,--greece?--no; its time and vigor had passed; and the greeks are not a building people. they must bide their time, then, till the wave hits italy, and what they have done in china, attempt to do there. only, what they had done in china was a mere ts'in shi hwangti,-- because laotse and confucius had not failed spiritually to prepare the ground,--they must send forth adept-souled augustus and tiberius to do,--if human wisdom and heroism could do it,--in italy;--because pythagoras' movement had failed. the roman empire was the european attempt at a china; china was the asiatic creation of a rome. we call the asiatic creation, _china, ts'in-a;_ it may surprise you to know that they called the european attempt by the same name: ta _ts'in,_ 'the great ts'in.' put the words _augustus primus romae_ into chinese, and without much straining they might read, _ta ts'in shi hwangti._ the whole period of the chinese manvantara is, from the two-forties b.c. to the twelve-sixties a.d., fifteen centuries. the whole period of the roman empire, western and eastern, is from the forties b.c. to the fourteen-fifties a.d., fifteen centuries. the first phase of the chinese empire, from ts'in shi hwangti to the fall of han, lasted about years; the western roman empire, from pharsalus to the death of honorius, lasted about as long. both were the unifications of many peoples; both were overturned by barbarians from the north: teutons in the one case, tatars in the other. but after that overturnment, china, unlike rome, rose from her ashes many times, and still endures. thank the success of confucius and laotse; and blame the failure of pythagoreanism, for that! but come now; let me draw up their histories as it were in parallel columns, and you shall see the likeness clearly; you shall see also, presently, how prettily time and the laws that govern human incarnation played battledore and shuttlecock with the two: what a game of see-saw went on between the east and west. from to b.c. there was an orgy of war in which old feudal china passed away forever, and from which ts'in emerged mistress of the world. from to b. c. there was an orgy of war in which republican rome passed away forever, and out of which caesar emerged world-master. caesar's triumph came just two centuries after ts'in shi hwangti's accession; kublai khan the turanian, who smashed china, came just about as much before mohammed ii the turanian, who swept away the last remnant of rome. in the first cycles of the two there is a certain difference in procedure. in china, a dawn twilight of half a cycle, sixty-five years, from the fall of chow to the revival of literature under the second han, preceded the glorious age of the western hans. in rome, the literary currents were flowing for about a half-cycle before the accession of augustus: that half-cycle formed a dawn-twilight preceding the glories of the augustan age. it was just when the reign of han wuti was drawing towards a sunset a little clouded,--you remember ssema ts'ien's strictures as to the national extravagance and its results,--that the crest-wave egos began to come in in rome. cicero, eldest of the lights of the great cycle of latin literature, would have been about twenty when han wuti died in . we counted the first "day" of the hans as lasting from (the revival of the literature) to the death of han wuti's successor in ; in which year, as we saw, augustus was born. during the next twenty years the crest-wave was rolling more and more into rome: where we get julius caesar's career of conquest;-- it was a time filled with wine of restlessness, and, you may say, therewith 'drunk and disorderly.' meanwhile (from to ) han suenti the just was reigning in china. his "troops of justice" became, after a while, accustomed to victory; but in defensive wars. here it was a time of sanity and order, as contrasted with the disorder in rome; of pause and reflexion compared with the action and extravagance of the preceding chinese age. it was confucian and ethical; no longer taoist and daringly imaginative; confucianism began to consolidate its position as the state system. so in england puritan sobriety followed elizabethanism. han wuti let nothing impede the ferment of his dreams: han suenti retrenched, and walked quietly and firmly. his virtues commanded the respect of central asia: the tatars brought him their disputes for arbitration, and all the regions west of the caspian sent him tribute. china forwent her restless and gigantic designs, and took to quietude and grave consideration.--so we may perhaps distribute the characteristics of these two decades thus between the three great centers of civilization: in china, the stillness that follows an apex time; in india, creation at its apex; in rome, the confusion caused by the first influx of crest-wave souls. as octavian rose to power, the house of han declined. we hear of a gorging vitellius on the throne in the thirties; then of several puppets and infants during the last quarter of the century; in a.d. , of the dynasty overthrown by a usurper, mang wang, who reigned until a.d. . thus the heyday of augustan rome coincides with the darkest penumbra of china. then kwang-wuti, the eldest surviving han prince, was reinstated; but until two years before the death of tiberius, he had to spend his time fighting rebels. now turn to rome. while han kwang-wuti was battling his way towards the restitution of han glories, tiberius, last of the roman crest-wave souls, was holding out grimly for the gods until the cycle should have been completed, and he could say that his and their work was done. for sixty-five years he and his predecessor had been welding the empire into one: now, that labor had been so far accomplished that what dangerous times lay ahead could hardly imperil it. so far it had been a case of initiate appointing initiate to succeed him: augustus, tiberius;--but whom should tiberius appoint? there was no one. the cycle was past, and for the present rome was dead; and on the brink of that unfortunate place to which (they say) the wicked dead must go. tiberius finally had had to banish agrippina, her mischief having become too importunate. you remember she was the daughter of julia and agrippa, and germanicus' widow. his patience with her had been marvelous. once, at a public banquet, to do her honor he had picked a beautiful apple from the dish, and handed it to her: with a scowl and some ostentation, she gave it to the attendant behind her, as who should say: 'i know your designs; but you do not poison me this time'; all present understood her meaning well. once, when he met her in the palace, and she passed him with some covert insult, he stopped, laid a hand on her shoulder, and said: "my little woman, it is no hurt to you that you do not reign." but his patience only encouraged her in her machinations; and at last he was compelled to banish her. also to keep one of her sons in strictest confinement; of which the historians have made their for him discreditable tale: the truth is, it was an heroic effort on his part to break the boy of his vices by keeping him under close and continuous supervision. but that is more easily said than done, sometimes; and this drusus presently died a madman. he then took the youngest son of agrippina to live with him at capri; that he, tiberius, might personally do the best with him that was to be done; for he foresaw that this youth caius would succeed him; his own grandson, tiberius gemellus, being much younger. he foresaw, too, that caius, once on the throne, would murder gemellus; which also happened. but there was nothing to be done. had he named his grandson his successor, a strong regent would have been needed to carry things through until that successor's majority, and to hold the empire against the partisans of caius. there was no such strong man in sight; so, what had to come, had to come. _apres lui le deluge:_ tiberius knew that. _le deluge_ was the four years' terror of the reign of caius, known as caligula; who, through no good will of his own, but simply by reason of his bloodthirsty mania, amply revenged the wrongs done his pedecessor. karma put caligula on the throne to punish rome. the reign was too short, even if caligula had troubled his head with the provinces, for him to spoil the good work done in them during the preceding half-cycle. he did not so trouble his head; being too busy murdering the pillars of roman society. then a gentleman who had been spending the afternoon publicly kissing his slippers in the theater, experienced, as they say, a change of heart, and took thought to assassinate him on the way home; whereupon the praetorians, let loose and having a thoroughly good time, happened on a poor old buffer of the royal house by the name of claudius; and to show their sense of humor, made him emperor _tout de suite._ the senate took a high hand, and asserted _its_ right to make those appointments; but claudius and the praetorians thought otherwise; and the senate, after blustering, had to crawl. they besought him to allow them the honor of appointing him.--what a difference the mere turn of a cycle had made: from augustus bequeathing the empire to tiberius, ablest man to ablest man, and all with senatoral ratification; to the jocular appointment by undisciplined soldiery of a sad old laughingstock to succeed a raging maniac. claudius was a younger brother of germanicus; therefore tiberius' nephew, caligula's uncle, and a brother-in-law to agrippina. mr. baring-gould says that somewhere deep in him was a noble nature that had never had a chance: that the soul of him was a jewel, set in the foolish lead of a most clownish personality. i do not know; certainly some great and fine things came from him; but whether they were motions of his own soul (if he had one), or whether the gods for rome's sake took advantage of his quite negative being, and prompted it to their own purposes, who can say?--sitting down, and keeping still, and saying nothing, the old man could look rather fine, even majestic; one saw traces in him of the claudian family dignity and beauty. but let hm walk a few paces, and you noted that his feet dragged and his knees knocked together, and that he had a paunch; and let him get interested in a conversation, and you heard that he first spluttered, and then roared. physical wakness and mental backwardness had made him the despair of augustus: he was the fool of the family, kept in the background, and noticed by none. tiberius, in search of a successor, had never thought of him; had rather let things go to mad caligula. he had never gone into society; never associated with men of his own rank; but chose his companions among small shopkeepers and the 'arries and 'arriets of rome, who, 'tickled to death' at having a member of the reigning family to hobnob with them in their back-parlors, would refrain from making fun of his peculiatities. caligula had enjoyed using him as a butt, and so had spared his life. he had never even learned to behave at table: and so, when he came to the throne, made a law that table-manners should no longer be incumbent on a roman gentleman. all this is recorded of him; one would hardly believe it, but that his portraits bear it out.* ------ * the accounts of claudius and nero are from _the tragedy of the caesars,_ by s. baring-gould. ------ for all that he did well at first. he made himself popular with the mob, cracking poor homely jokes with them at which they laughed uproariously. he paid strict attention to business: made some excellent laws; wisely extended roman citizenship among the subject peoples; undertook and pushed through useful public works. rome was without a decent harbor: corn from egypt had to be transshipped at sea and brought up the tiber in lighters; which resulted in much inconvenience, and sometimes shortage of food in the city. claudius went down to ostia and looked about him; and ordered a harbor dredged out and built there on a large scale. the best engineers of the day said it was impossible to do, and would not pay if done. but the old fool stuck to his views and made them get to work; and they found it, though difficult and costly, quite practicable; and when finished, it solved the food problem triumphantly. this is by way of example.--poor old fool! it was said he never forgot a kindness, or remembered an injury. he came soon, however, to be managed by various freedmen and rascals and wives; all to the end that aristocratic rome should be well punished for its sins. one day when he was presiding in the law courts, someone cried out that he was an old fool,--which was very true.--and threw a large book at him that cut his face badly,--which was very unkind. and yet, all said, through him and through several fine and statesmanlike measures he put through, the work of augustus and tiberius in the empire at large was in many ways pushed forward: he did well by the provinces and the subject races, and carried on the grand homogenization of the world. he reigned thirteen years; then came nero. if one accepts the traditional view of him, it is not without evidence. his portraits suggest one ensouled by some horrible elemental; one with no human ego in him at all. the accounts given of his moods and actions are quite credible in the light of the modern medical knowledge as to insanity; you would find men like tacitus nero in most asylums. neither tacitus nor suetonius was in the habit of taking science as a guide in their transcriptions; they did not, in dealing with tiberius for example, suit their facts to the probabilities, but just set down the worst they had heard said. what they record of him is unlikely, and does not fit in with his known actions. but in drawing nero, on the contrary, they made a picture that would surprise no alienist. besides, tacitus was born some seventeen years after tiberius died; but he was fourteen years old at the death of nero, and so of an age to have seen for himself, and remembered. nero did kill his mother, who probably tried to influence him for good; and he did kill seneca, who certainly did. his reign is a monument to the rottenness of rome; his fall, a proof, perhaps, of the soundness of the provinces. for when _they_ felt the shame of his conduct, they rose and put him down; roman gaul and germany and spain and the east did. here is a curious indication: galba, otho, and vitellius, who made such a sorry thing of the two years ( and ) they shared in the principate, had each done well as a provincial governor. in the provinces, then, the tiberian tradition of honest efficient government suffered not much, if any, interruption. the fact that rome itself stood the nine years of nero's criminal insanity,--and even, so far as the mob was concerned, liked it (for his grave was long kept strewn with flowers)--shows what a people can fall to, that the crest-wave had first made rotten, and then left soulless. by the beginning of , things were comfortably in the hands of vespasian, another provincial governor; under whom, and his son titus after him, there were twelve years of dignified government; and seven more of the same, and then seven or eight of tyranny, under his second son, domitian. against the first two of these flavians nothing is to be said except that the rise of their house to the principate was by caprice of the soldiery. vespasian was an honest sabine, fond of retiring to his native farm; he brought in much good provincial blood with him into roman society.--then in came a revolution which placed the aged senator nerva on the throne; who set before himself the definite policy--as it was intended he should--of replacing personal caprice by legality and constitutionalism as the instrument of government. he reigned two years, and left the empire to trajan; who was strong enough as a general to hold his position, and as a statesman, to establish the principles of nerva. and so things began to expand again; and a new strength became evident, the like of which had not been seen since (at least) the death of tiberius. octavian returned to rome, sole master of the world, in b.c. . a half-cycle on from that brings us to a.d., the year before tiberius died: that half-cycle was one, for the empire all of it, and for rome most of it, of bright daylight. the next half-cycle ends in , in the third year of trajan: a time, for the most part, of decline, of twilight. you will notice that the han day lasted the full thirteen decades before twilight came; the roman, but six decades and a half. we ought to understand just how far this second roman half-cycle was an age of decline: just how much darkneww suffused the twilight it was. we talk of representative government; as if any government were ever really anything else. men get the government that represents them; that represent their intelligence, or their laxity, or their vices:--whether it be sent in by the ballot or by a praetorian guard with their caprice and spears. in a pralayic time there is no keen national consciousness, no centripetalism. there was none in rome in those days; or not enough to counteract the centrifugalism that simply did not care. the empire held together, because augustus and tiberius had created a centripetalism in the provinces; and these continued in the main through it all to enjoy the good government the first two emperors had made a tradition in them, and felt but little the hands of the fools or madmen reigning in rome. and then, blood from the provinces was always flowing into rome itself; particularly in the flavian time; and supplied or fed a new centripetalism there which righted things in the next half-cycle. it was rome, not the provinces, that nero and caligula represented in their day; the time was transitional; you may call otho and vitellius the first bungling shots of the provinces at having a hand in things at the center; wholesome vespasian was their first representative emperor: nerva and those that followed him represented equally the provinces and a regenerated rome.--this tells you what nero's rome was, and how it came to tolerate nero; when vitellius came in with his band of ruffians from the rhine, and the streets flowed with blood day after day, the places of low resort were as full as ever through it all; while carnage reigned in the forums, riotous vice reigned within doors. but look outside of rome, and the picture is very different. the spaniard, gaul, illyrian, asiatic and the rest, were enjoying the roman peace. there was progress; if not at the center, everywhere between that and the periphery of civilization. life, even in italy (in the country parts) was growing steadily more cultured, serious, and dignified; and in all remote regions was assimilating its standards to the best in italy. from the scottish lowlands to the cataracts of the nile a single people was coming into being; it was a wide and well-tilled field in which incarnate souls might grow. the satirists make lurid pictures of the evils rome; and the evils were there, with perhaps not much to counter-balance them, _in rome._ paris has been latterly the capital of civilization; and one of its phases as such has been to be the capital of the seven deadly sins. the sins are or were there: paris provided for the sinners of the world, in her capacity of world-metropolis; just as she provided for the artists, the _litteratuers,_ and so on. foolish people drew from that the conclusion that therefore frenchmen were more wicked than other people: whereas in truth the life of provincial france all along has probably been among the soundest of any. so we must offset martial's and juvenal's pictures of the calm and gracious life in the country: virtuous life, often, with quiet striving after usefulness and the higher things. he reveals to us, in the last quarter of the century, interiors in northern italy, by lake como; you should have found the like anywhere in the empire. and where, since rome fell, shall you come on a century in which britain, gaul, spain, italy, the balkans, asia and africa, enjoyed a roman or any kind of peace? be not deceived: there has been no such success in europe since as the empire that augustus the initiate made, and for which tiberius his disciple was crucified. yet they captured it, as i find things, out of the jaws of failure and disaster. failure: that of pythagoreanism six centuries before;--disaster: caesar's conquest of gaul and destruction of the mysteries there. men come from the masters of the world to work on this plane or on that: to found an empire perhaps, or to start a spiritual movement. augustus came commissioned to the former, not to the latter, work. supposing in his time the gaulish mysteries had been intact. we may trust him to have established relations somehow: he would have had close and friendly relations with the gaulish hierophants; even if he had conquered the people, he would not have put out their light. but i imagine he would have found a means to union without conquest. then what would have happened? we have seen that the cyclic impulse did touch gaul at that time; it made her vastly rich, hugely industrial;--as ferero says, the egypt of the west. that, and nothing better than that, because she had lost her spiritual center, and might not figure as the world teacher among nations. but, you say, augustus proscribed druidism--which sounds like carrying on julius' nefarious work. he did, i believe;--but why? because julius had seen to it that the white side of druidism had perished. the druids were magicians; and now it was the dark magic and its practitioners that remained among them,--at least in gaul. so of course augustus proscribed it. remember how france has stood, these last seven centuries, as the teacher of the arts and civilization to europe; and this idea that she might have been, and should have been, something far higher to the roman world, need not seem at all extravagant. i think it was a possibility; which caesar had been sent by the kings of night to forestall. and so, that augustus lacked that reinforcement by which he might have secured for europe a unity as enduring as the chinese teachers secured for the far east. and yet the lodge did not leave rome lightless; there was much spiritual teaching in the centuries of the empire; indeed, a new out-breathing in each century, as an effort to retrieve the great defeat;--and this has been the inner history of europe ever since. this: raidings from the godworld: swift cavalry raidings, that took no towns as a rule, nor set up strongholds here on hell's border; yet did each time, no doubt, carry off captives. set up no strongholds;--that is, until our own times; so what we have missed is the continuous effort; the established base 'but here upon this bank and shoal,' from which the shining squadrons of the gods might ride. such a base was lost when caesar conquered gaul; then some substitute for gaul had to be found. it was greece and the east; where, as you may say, abjects and orts of truth came down; not the live mysteries, but the _membra disjecta_ of the vanished mysteries of a vanished age. with these the teachers of the roman world had to work, distilling out of them what they might of the ancient theosophy. so latterly h.p. blavasky must gather up fragments in the east for the nexus of her teaching; she must find seeds in old sarcophagi, and plant and make them grow in this soil so uncongenial; because there was no well-grown tree patent to the world, with whose undeniable fruitage she might feed the nations. this was one great difficulty in her way; whe had to introduce theosphy into a world that had forgotten it ever existed. so,--but with a difference,--in that first century. the difference was that pythagoreanism, the nexus, was only six hundrd years away, and the memory of it fairly fresh. stoicism was the most serious living influence within the empire; a system that concerned itself with right and brave living, and was so far spiritual; but perhaps not much further. the best in men reacted against the sensuality of the mid-century, and made stoicism strong; but this formed only a basis of moral grit for the higher teaching; of which, while we know it was there, there is not very much to say. i shall come to it presently; meanwhile, to something else.--in literature, this was the cycle of spain: the crest-wave was largely there during the first thirteen decades of the christian era. seneca was born in cordova about b. c.; hadrian, the last greatman of spanish birth (though probably of italian race), died in . seneca was a stoic: a man with many imperfections, of whom history cannot make up its mind wholly to approve. he was nero's tutor and minister during the first five golden years of the reign; his government was wise and beneficent, though, it is said, sometimes upheld by rather doubtful means. in the growing gloom and horror of the nightmare reign of nero, he wrote many counsels of perfection; his notes rise often, someone has said, to a sort of falsetto shriek; but then, the wonder is he could sing at all in such a hell's cacophony. a man with obvious weaknesses, perhaps; but fighting hard to be brave and hopeful where there was nothing in sight to encourage bravery or foster hope; when every moment was pregnant with ghastly possibilities; when death and abominable torture hobnobbed in the roman streets with riots of disgusting indulgence, abnormal lusts, filthiness parading unabashed. he speaks of the horrors, the gruesome impalings; deprecating them in a general way; not daring to come down to particulars, and rebuke nero. well; nero commanded the legions, and was kittle cattle to rebuke. if sometimes you see tinsel and tawdriness about poor seneca, look a little deeper, and you seem to see him writing it in agony and bloody sweat. . . . he was among the richest men in rome, when riches were a deadly peril: he might even, had he been another man, have made himself emperor; perhaps the worst thing against him is that he did not. his counsels and aspirations were much better than his deeds;--which is as much as to say his higher self than his lower. he stood father-confessor to roman society: a stoic philosopher in high, luxurious, and most perilous places: he cannot escape looking a little unreal. someone in some seemingly petty difficulties, writes asking him to sue his influence on his behalf; and he replies with a dissertation on death, and what good may lie in it, and the folly of fearing it. cold comfort for his correspondent; a tactless, strained, theatrical thing to do, we may call it. but what strain upon his nerves, what hideous knowledge of the times and of evils he did not see his way to prevent, what haunting sense of danger, must have driven him to that fervid hectic eloquence that now seems so unnatural! one guesses there may be a place in the pantheons or in valhalla of the heroes for this poor not untawdry not unheroic seneca. one sees in him a kind of hamlet, hitting in timorous indecision on the likely possibility of converting his claudius by a string of moral axioms and eloquence to a condition that should satisfy the ghost and undo the something rotten in the state.... yet the gods must have been grateful to him for the work he did in holding for stoicism and aspiration a center in rome during that dreadful darkness. perhaps only the very strongest, in his position, could have done better; and then perhaps only by killing nero.* ------ * dill: _roman society from nero to marcus aurelius._ ------ but there was a greater than seneca in rome, even in nero's reign;--there intermittently, and not to abide: appollonius of tyana, presumably the real messenger of the age:--and by the change that had come over life by the second century, we may judge how great and successful. but there is not getting at the reality of the man now. we have a _life_ of him, written about a hundred years after his death by philostratus, a greek sophist, for the learned empress julia domna, septimius severus' wife; who, no doubt, chose for the work the best man to hand; but the age of great literature was past, and philostratus resurrects no living soul. the account may be correct enough in outline; the author was painstaking; visited the sites of his subject's exploits, and pressed his inquiries; he claims to have based his story on the work of damis of neneveh, a disciple of apollonius who accompanied him everywhere. but much is fabulous: there is a gorgeous account of dragons' in india, and the methods used in hunting them; and you know nothing of the real apollonius when you have read it all. here, in brief, is the outline of the story: apollonius was born at tyana in cappodocia somewhere about the year a.d., and died in the reign of nerva at nearly a hundred: tradition ascribed to his birth its due accompaniment of signs and portents. at sixteen he set himself under pythagorean discipline; kept silence absolute for five years; traveled, healing and teaching, and acquired a great renown throughout asia minor. he went by babylon and parthia to india; spent some time there as the pupil of certain teachers on a sacred mountain; they, it appears, expected his coming, received him and taught him; ever afterwards he spoke of himself as a disciple of the indian master iarchus. nothing in the book is more interesting than the curious light it throws on popular beliefs of the time in the roman world as to the existence of these indian masters of the secret wisdom;--india, of course, included the region north of the himalayas. later he visited the gymnosophists of the tebaid in egypt; according to the account, these were of a lower standing than the indian adepts; and apollonius came among them not as a would-be disciple, but as an equal, or superior.--he was persecuted in rome by nero; but over awed tigellinus, nero's minister, and escaped. he met vespasian and titus at alexandria, soon after the fall of jerusalem; and was among those who urged vespasian to take the throne. he was arrested in rome by domitian, and tried on charges of sorcery and treason; and is said to have escaped his sentence and execution by the simple expedient of vanishing in broad daylight in court. one wonders why this from his defense before domitian, as philostratus gives it, has not attracted more comment; he says: "all unmixed blood is retained by the heart, which through the blood-vessels sends it flowing as if through canals over the entire body."--according to tradition, he rose from the dead, appeared to several to remove their doubts as to a life beyond death, and finally bodily ascended into heaven. reincarnation was a very cardinal point in his teaching; perhaps the name of neo-pythagoreanism, given to his doctrine, is enough to indicate in what manner it illuminated the inner realms and laws which stoicism, intent only on brave conduct and the captaincy of one's own soul, was unconcerned to inquire into. another first century neo-pythagorean teacher was moderatus of gades in spain. the period of apollonius's greatest influence would have corresponded with the reigns of vespasian and titus, from to ; the former, when he came to the throne, checked the orgies of vice and brought in an atmosphere in which the light of thesophy might have more leave to shine. the certainty is that the last third of the first century wrought an enormous change: the period that preceded it was one of the worst, and the age that followed it, that of the five good emperors, was the best, in known european history.--under the flavians, from to ,--or roughly, during the last quarter,--came the silver age, the second and last great day of latin literature: with several spanish and some italian names,--foam of the crest-wave, these latter, as it passed over from spain to the east. it will, by the way, help us to a conception of the magnitude of the written material at the disposal of the roman world, to remember that pliny the elder, in preparing his great work on natural history, consulted six thousand published authorities. that was in the reign of nero; it makes one feel that those particular ancients had not so much less reading matter at their command than we have today. of the great flavian names in literature, we have tacitus; pliny the younger, with his bright calm pictures of life; juvenal, with his very dark ones: these were italians. juvenal was a satirist with a moral purpose; the spaniard martial, contemporary, was a satirist without one. martial drew from life, and therefore his works, though coarse, are still interesting. we learn from him what enormous activity in letters was to be found in those days in his native spain; where every town had its center of learning and apostles and active propaganda of culture. such things denote an ancient cultural habit, lapsed for a time, and then revived. another great spainiard, and the best man in literature of the age, was quintilian: gracious, wise, and of high theosophic ideals, especially in education. he was born in a.d. ; and was probably the greatest literary critic of classical antiquity. for twenty years, from until his death, he was at the head of the teaching profession in rome. the "teaching" was, of course, in rhetoric. rome resounded with speech-makings; and gaul, spain, and africa were probably louder with it than rome. though the end of education then was to turn out speech-makers,--as it is now to turn out money-makers,--i do not see but that the romans had the best of it,--quintilian saw through all to fundamental truths; he taught that your true speech-maker must be first a true man. he went thoroughly into the training of the orator,--more thoroughly, even from the standpoint of pure technique, than any other greek or roman writer;--but would base it all upon character, balance of the faculties,--in two words, raja-yoga. pliny the younger was among his pupils, and owed much to him; also is there to prove the value of quintilian's method;--for quintilian turned out pliny a true gentlman. prose in those days,--that is, rhetoric,--was tending ever more to flamboyancy and extravagance: a current which quintilian stood against valiantly. we find in him, as critic, just judgment, sane good taste, wide and generous sympathies;--a tendency to give the utmost possible credit even where compelled in the main to condemn;--as he was in the case of senaca. he had the faculty of hitting off in a phrase the whole effect of a man's style; as when he speaks of the "milky richness of livy," and the "immortal swiftness of sallust." * ------ * _encyclopaedia britannica;_ article 'quintilian' ------ so then, to sum up a little: i think we gain from these times a good insight into cyclic workings. first, we shall see that the cycles are there, and operative: action and reaction regnant in the world,--a tide in the affairs of men; and strong souls coming in from time to time, to manipulate reactions, to turn the currents at strategic points in time; making things, despite what evils may be ahead, flow on to higher levels than their own weight would carry them to: thus did augustus and tiberius; --or throwing them down, as the merry julius did, from bright possibilities to a sad and lightless actuality. for perhaps we have been suffering because of julius' exploit ever since; and certainly, no matter what neros and caligulas followed them, the world was a long time the better for the ground the great first two principes captured from hell.--and next, we shall learn to beware of being too exact, precise, and water-tight with out computations and conceptions of these cycles: we shall see that nature works in curves and delicate wave-lines, not in broken off bits and sudden changes. rome was going down in tiberius' reign: she was bad enough then, heaven knows; though we may put her passing below the meridian at or near the end of it;-- conveniently, in the year . and then, what with ( ) the tenseness of the gloom and the severity of suffering in the reigns of caligula, nero, and domitian;--and ( ) the inflow of new and cleaner blood from the provinces at all times but especially under vespasian; and above all, ( ) the theosophic impulse whose outward visible sign is the mission of apollonius and moderatus:--we find her ready to emerge into light in , when nerva came to the throne, instead of having to wait the five more years for the end of the half-cycle;--although we may well suppose it took that time at least for nerva and trajan to clear things up and settle them. so we may keep this scheme of dates in memory as indicative: a (rough) half-cycle before b.c., that of dawn and darkest hour preceding it; b.c. to a.d. daylight; to , night and the beginnings of a new dawn. and now we must turn to china. dusk came on in rome with the death of tiberius in a.d. ; but what is dusk in the west is dawn in the east of the world. in han kwang-wuti had put down the crimson-eyebrow rebellion, and seated himself firmly on the throne. the preceding half-cycle, great in rome under augustus and tiberius, had been a time, first of puppet emperors, then of illegalism and usurpation, then of civil war. han kwang-wuti put an end to all that, and opened, in , a new cycle of his own. but there is also an old cycle to be taken into account: the original thirteen-decade period of the hans, that began in , and ended its first "day" in or so,--to name convenient dates. i should, if i believed in this cyclic law, look for a recurrence of that: a new day to dawn, under its influence, in or a.d., thirteen decades after the old one ended,--and to last until or . but on the other hand, here is han kwang-wuti starting things going in , a matter of thirty-two years ahead of time,--catching the flow of force just as it diminished in rome.--and this thirty-two years, you may note, with what odd months we may suppose thrown in, is in itself a quarter-cycle. now cyclic impulses waste; a second day of splendor will commonly be found a silver age, where the first was golden: it will often be more perfect and refined, but much less vigorous, than the first. so i should look for the second "day" of the hans to come on the whole with less light to shine and less strength to endure than its predecessor; i should expect a gentleness as of late afternoon in place of the old noontide glory. but then there is the complication induced by han kwang-wuti, who started his cycle in .... or more probably his half-cycle;--i should look for it to be no more than that, on account of this same wastage of the forces;--this also has to be taken into consideration. brooding over the whole situation, i should foretell the history of this second han dynasty in this way: from to ,--the latter date the point where the old and new cycles intersect,-- would be a static time: of consolidation rather than expansion; of the gathering of the wave, not of its outburst into any splendor of foam. between and , or when the two cycles coincide, i should look for great things and doings; for some echo or repetition of the glories of han wuti,--perhaps for a finishing and perfecting of his labors. from then on till i should expect static, but weakening conditions: static mainly till , weakening rapidly after. advise me, please, if this is clear.--well, if you have followed so far, you have a basis for understanding what is to come. the dynasty, as thus re-established by kwang-wuti, is known as that of the eastern hans; for this reason:--just as late in the days of the roman empire, diocletian was stirred by cyclic flowing east-ward to move his capital from rome to nicomedia,-- constantine changed it afterwards to byzantium,--so was han kwang-wuti to move his from changan in shensi, in the west, eastward to loyang or honanfu,--the old chow capital,--in honan. while rome was weltering under caligula, claudius, and nero, china was recovering herself, getting used to a calm equanimity, under haii kwang-wuti: the conditions in the two were as opposite as the poles. she dwelt in quietness at home, and held her own, and a little more, on the frontiers. in , two years before nero went mad and took the final plunge into infamy, han kwang-wuti died, and han mingti succeeded him. as nero went down, han mingti went up. his ninth or tenth year, remember, was to be that of the recurrence of the old han cycle. it was the year in which the provinces rose against nero,--the lowest point of all in rome. i do not know that it was marked by anything special in china; the fact being that all the chinese sixties were momentous. in the third year of his reign han mingti dreamed a dream: he saw a serene and "golden man" descending towards him out of the western heavens. it would mean, said his brother, to whom he spoke of it, the golden god worshiped in the west,--the buddha. buddhism had first come into china in the reign of tsin shi hwangti; but that imperial ruffian had made short work of it:-- he threw the missionaries into prison, and might have dealt worse with them, but that a "golden man" appeared in their cell in the night, and opened all doors for their escape. buddhist scriptures, probably, were among the books destroyed at the great burning. so there may have been buddhists in china all through the han time; but if so, they were few, isolated and inconspicuous; it is han mingti's proper glory, to have brought buddhism in. he liked well his brother's interpretation, and sent inquirers into the west. in they returned, with scriptures, and an indian missionary, kashiapmadanga,--who was followed shortly by gobharana, another. a temple was built at loyang, and under the emperor's patronage, the work of translating the books began.--we have seen before how some touch from abroad is needed to quicken an age into greatness: such a touch came now to china with these indian buddhists;--who, in all likelihood, may also have been in their degree messengers of the lodge. in the usual vague manner of indian chronology, the years and a.d. are connected with the name of a great king of the yueh chi, kanishka, whose empire covered northern india. almost every authority has a favorite point in time for his habitat; but these dates, not so far apart but that he may well have been reigning in both, will do as well as another. you will note that a.d. (which falls between them) is a matter of thirteen decades from b.c., the date sometimes ascribed to that much-legended vikramaditya of ujjain. or, if we go back to the (fairly) settled b.c. of chandragupta maurya, and count forward thirteen-decade periods from that, we get for the end of the mauryas (it happened about then); for vikramaditya (which may well be); for kanishka,--which also is likely enough, and would make him contemporary with han mingti. as the years and are both ascribed to him, it may possibly be that they mark the beginning and end of his reign respectively. we know very little about him, except that he was a very great king, a great buddhist, a man of artistic tastes, and a great builder; that he loved the beautiful hills and valleys of cashmere; and that his reign was a wonderful period in sculptue, --that of the gandhara or greco-buddhist school. again, he is credited (by hiuen tsang) with convening the fourth buddhist council: following in this, as in other matters, the example of asoka. we are at liberty i suppose, if we like, to assign that cyclic year to the meeting of this council: this year or its neighborhood. so that all this may have had something to do with the missionary activity that responded to han mingti's appeal. but there is something else to remember; something of far higher importance; namely, that during all this period of her most uncertain chronology, india was in a peculiar position: the successors of the buddha were more or less openly at work there;--a long line of adept leaders and teachers that can be traced (i believe) through some thirteen centuries from sakya-muni's death. we may suppose, not unreasonably, that kashiapmadanga and gobharana were disciples and emissaries of the then successor. it is, so far, and with so little translated, extremely hard to get at the undercurrents in these old chinese periods; but i suspect a strong spiritual influence, buddhist at that, in the great events of the years that followed. for china proceeded to strike into history in such a way that the blow resounded, if not round the world, at least round as much of it as was discovered before columbus; and she did it in such a nice, clean, artistic and quiet way, and withal so thoroughly, that i cannot help feeling that that glorious warriorlike northern buddhism of the mahayana had something to do with it. it was not han mingti himself who did it, but one of his sevants; of whom, it is likely, you have never heard; although east or west there have been, probably, but one or two of his trade so great as he, or who have mattered so much to history. his name was pan chow; his trade, soldiering. he began his career of conquest about the time the major han cycle was due to recur,--in the sixties; maintained it through three reigns, and ended it at his death about when the eastern han half-cycle, started in , was due to close;--somewhere, that is, about a.d., while trajan was beginning a new day and career of conquest in rome. xxi. china and rome: the see-saw (continued) during the time of chinese weakness central asia had relapsed from the control the great han wuti had imposed on it, and that han suenti had maintained by his name for justice; and the huns had recovered their power. one wonders what these people were; of whom we first catch sight in the reign of the yellow emperor, nearly b.c.; and who do not disappear from history until after the death of attila. during all those three millenniums odd they were predatory nomads, never civilized: a curse to their betters, and nothing more. and their betters were, you may say, every race they contacted. it seems as if, as in the human blood, so among the races of mankind, there were builders and destroyers. i speculate as to the beginnings of the latter: they cannot be . . . races apart, of some special creation;--made by demons, where it was the gods made men. . . . "to the huns," says gibbon, "a fabulous origin was assigned worthy of their form and manners,--that the witches of scythia, who for their foul and deadly practices had been driven from society, had united in the desert with infernal spirits, and that the huns were the offspring of this execrable conjunction." but it seems to me that it is in times of intensive civilization, and in the slums of great cities, that nature--or anti-nature--originates noxious human species. i wonder if their forefathers were, once on a time, the hooligans and yeggmen of some very ancient babylon bowery or the east end of some pre-nimrodic nineveh? babylon was a great city,--or there were great cities in the neighborhood of babylon, before the yellow emperor was born. one of these may have had, god knows when, its glorious freedom-establishing revolution, its up-fountaining of sansculottes,--patriots whose predatory proclivities had erstwhile been checked of their free brilliance by busy-body tyrannical police;--and then this revolution may have been put down, and the men of the underworld who made turned out now from their city haunts, driven into the wilderness and the mountains,--may have taken,--would certainly have taken, one would say,--not to any industry, (they knew none but such as are wrought by night unlawfully in other men's houses); not to agriculture, which has ever had, for your free spirit, something of degradation in it;--but to pure patriotism, freedom and liberty, as their nature was: first to cracking such desultory cribs as offered,--knocking down defenseless wayfarers and the like: then to bolder raidings and excursions;--until presently, lo, they are a great people; they have ridden over all asia like a scirocco; they have thundered rudely at the doors of proud princes,--troubling even the peace of the yellow emperor on his throne. well,--but isn't the stature stunted, physical, as well as mental and moral, when life is forced to reproduce itself, generation after generation, among the unnatural conditions of slums and industrialism? . . . can you nourish men upon poisons century by century, and expect them to retain the semblance of men? they had bothered han kwang-wuti; who could do little more than hold his own against them, and leave them to his successor to deal with as karma might decree. karma, having as you might say one watchful eye on rome and europe, and what need of chastisement should arise after awhile at that western end of the world, provided han mingti with this pan chow; who, being a soldier of promise, was sent upon the hun war-path forthwith. then the miracles began to happen. pan chow strolled through central asia as if upon his morning's constitutional: no fuss; no hurry; little fighting,--but what there was, remarkably effective, one gathers. presently he found himself on the caspian shore; and if he had left any huns behind him, they were hardly enough to do more than pick an occasional pocket. he started out when the roman provinces were rising to make an end of nero; in the last year of domitian, from his caspian headquarters he determined to discover rome; and to that end sent an emissary down through parthia to take ship at the port of babylon for the unknown west. the parthians (who were all against the two great empires becoming acquainted, because they are making a good thing of it as middle-men in the roman-chinese caravan trade), knew better, probably, than to oppose pan chow's designs openly; but their agents haunted the quays at babylon, tampered with west-going skippers, and persuaded the chinese envoy to go no farther. but i wonder whether some impulse achieved flowing across the world from east to west at that time, even though its physical link or channel was thus left incomplete? it was in that very year that nerva re-established constitutionalism and good government in rome. pan chow worked as if by magic: seemed to make no effort, yet accomplished all things. for nearly forty years he kept that vast territory in order, despite the huge frontier northward, and the breeding-place of nomad nations beyond. all north of tibet is a region of marvels. where you were careful to leave only the village blacksmith under his spreading chestnut-tree, or the innkeeper and his wife, for the sake of future travelers, let a century or two pass, and their descendants would be as the sea-sands for multitude; they would have founded a power, and be thundering down on an empire-smashing raid in persia or china or india: whether huns, sienpi, jiujen, turks, tatars, tunguses, mongols, manchus: god knows what all, but all destroyers. but as far as the old original huns were concerned, pan chow settled their hash for them. bag and baggage he dealt with them; and practically speaking, the land of their fathers knew them no more. dry the starting tear! here your pity is misplaced. think of no vine-covered cottages ruined; no homesteads burned; no fields laid waste. they lived mainly in the saddle; they were as much at home fleeing before the chinese army as at another time. a shunt here; a good kick off there: so he dealt with them. it is in european veins their blood flows now;--and prides itself on its pure undiluted aryanism and nordicism, no doubt. i suppose scarcely a people in continental europe is without some mixture of it; for they enlisted at last in all foraying armies, and served under any banner and chief. pan chow felt that they belonged to the (presumably) barbarous regions west of the caspian. ta ts'in in future might deal with them; by god's grace, han never should. he gently pushed them over the brink; removed them; cut the cancer out of asia. next time they appeared in history, it was not on the hoangho, but on the danube. meanwhile, they established themselves in russia; moved across central europe, impelling quadi and marcomans against marcus aurelius, and then teutons of all sorts against the whole frontier of rome. in the sixties, for han mingti, pan chow set that great wave in motion in the far east of the world. three times thirteen decades passed, and it broke and wasted in foam in the far west: in what we may call the very first battle of the marne, when aetius defeated attila in . i can but think of one thing better he might have done: shipped them eastward to the remote pacific islands; but it is too late to suggest that now. but i wonder what would have happened if pan chow had succeeded in reaching his arm across, and grasping hands with trajan? he had not died; the might of china had not begun to recede from its westward limits, before the might of rome under that great spaniard had begun to flow towards its limits in the east. through the bulk of the second century china remained static, or weakening. her forward urge seems to have ended with the death of pan chow, or at the end of the half-cycle han kwang-wuti began in . we might tabulate the two concurrent han cycles, for the sake of clearness, and note their points of intersection, thus: --western han cycle, years --eastern han half-cycle, yrs -- a.d. opened by han kwang-wuti. --a static and consolidating time until a.d., thirteen decades from the death of han chaoti. introduction of buddhism in . --the period of pan chao's victories; the golden age of the eastern hans, lasting until (about): -- a. d. the end of the eastern han 'day'; death of pan chow. --continuance of day under this, and supervention of night under this cycle, produce: --a static, but weakening period until: -- , the year in which a new eastern han day should begin. a weak recrudescence should be seen. -- : the year in which the main or original han cycle should end. we should expect the beginnings of a downfall. by or before: -- , the end of the second, feeble, eastern han day, the downfall would have been completed. now to see how this works out. the first date we have to notice is . well; in the very scant notices of chinese history i have been able to come on, two events mark this date; or rather, one marks , and the other . to take the latter first: we saw that at a momentous point in roman history,--in the year of nerva's accession, ,--china tried to discover rome. in rome actually succeeded in discovering china. this year too, as we shall see, was momentous in roman history. you may call it a half cycle after the other; for probably the ambassadors of king an-tun of ta ts'in who arrived at the court of han hwanti at loyang in , had been a few years on their journey. you know king an-tun better by his latin name of marcus aurelius antoninus. the event for is the foundation of the taoist church, under the half-legendary figure of its first pope, chang taoling; whose lineal descendants and successors have reigned popes of taoism from their vatican on the dragon-tiger mountain in kiangsi ever since. they have not adverertised their virtues in their names, however: we find no innocents and piuses here: they are all plain changs; his reigning holiness being chang the sixth-somethingth. it was from buddhism that the taoists took the idea of making a church of themselves. taoism and buddhism from the outset were fiercely at odds; and yet the main splendor of china was to come from their inner coalescence. chu hsi, the greatest of the sung philosophers of the brilliant twelfth century a.d., says that "buddhism stole the best features of taoism; taoism stole the worst features of buddhism: as if the one took a jewel from the other, and the other recouped the loss with a stone." * this is exact: the jewel stolen by buddhism was laotse's blue pearl,--wonder and natural magic; the stone that taoism took instead was the priestly hierarchy and church organization, imitated from the buddhists, that grew up under the successors of chang taoling. ------ * _chinese literature:_ h.a. giles ------ if laotse founded any school or order at all, it remained quite secret. i imagine his mission was like plato's, not buddha's: to start ideas, not a brotherhood. by ts'in shi hwangti's time, any notions that were wild, extravagant, and gorgeous were taoism; which would hardly have been, perhaps, had there been a taoist organization behind them;--although it is not safe to dogmatize. it was, at any rate, mostly an inspiration to the heights for the best minds, and for the masses (including ts'in shi hwangti) a rumor of tremendous things. after han wuti's next successor, the best minds took to thinking confucianly: which was decidedly a good thing for china during the troublous times before and after the fall of the western hans. then when buddhism came in, taoism came to the fore again, spurred up to emulation by this new rival. i take it that chang taoling's activities round about this year represent an impulse of the national soul to awakenment under the influence of the recurrence of the eastern han day half-cycle. what kind of reality chang taoling represents, one cannot say: whether a true teacher in his degree, sent by the lodge, around whom legends have gathered; or a mere dabbler in alchemy and magic. here is the story told of him; you will note an incident or two in it that suggest the former possibility. he retired to the mountains of the west to study magic, cultivate purity of life, and engage in meditation; stedfastly declining the offers of emperors who desired him to take office. laotse appeared to him in a vision, and gave him a treatise in which were directions for making the 'elixir of the dragon and the tiger.' while he was brewing this, a spirit came to him and said: "on the pesung mountain is a house of stone; buried beneath it are the books of the three emperors (yao, shun, and yu). get these, practise the discipline they enjoin, and you will attain the power of ascending to heaven." he found the pesung mountain; and the stone house; and dug, and discovered the books; which taught him how to fly, to leave his body at will, and to hear all sounds the most distant. during a thousand days he disciplined himself; a goddess came to him, and taught him to walk among the stars; then he learned to cleave the seas and the mountains, and command the thunder and the winds. he fought the king of the demons, whose hosts fled before him "leaving no trace of their departing footsteps." so great slaughter he wrought in that battle that, we are told, "various divinities came with eager haste to acknowledge their faults." in nine years he gained the power of ascending to heaven. his last days were spent on the dragon-tiger mountain; where, at the age of a hundred and twenty-three, he drank the elixir, and soared skyward in broad daylight;--followed (i think it was he) by all the poultry in his barnyard, immortalized by the drops that fell from the cup as he drank. he left his books of magic, and his magical sword and seal, to his descendants; but i think the dragon-tiger mountain did not come into their possession until some centuries later. i judge that the tales of the taoist _sennin_ or adepts, if told by some chinese-enamored lafcadio, would be about the best collection of fairy-stories in the world; they reveal a universe so deliciously nooked and crannied with bewildering possibilities:--as indeed this our universe is;--only not all its byways are profitable traveling. it is all very well to cry out against superstition; but we are only half-men in the west: we have lost the faculty of wonder and the companionship of extrahuman things. we walk our narrow path to nowhere safely trussed up in our personal selves: or we not so much walk at all, as lie still, chrysalissed in them:--it may be just as well, since for lack of the quality of balance, we are about as capable of walking at ease and dignity as is a jellyfish of doing blondin on the tight-rope. china, in her pralaya and dearth of souls, may have fallen into the perils of her larger freedom, and some superstition rightly to be called degrading: in our middle ages, when we were in pralaya, we were superstitious enough; and being unbalanced, fell into other evils too such as china never knew: black tyrannies of dogmatism, burnings of heretics wholesale. but when the crest-wave egos were in china, that larger freedom of hers enabled her, among other things, to achieve the highest heights in art: the yellow crane was at her disposal, and she failed not to mount the heavens; she had the glimpses wordsworth pined for; she was not left forlorn. this merely for another blow at that worst superstition of all: unbrotherliness, and our doctrine of superior racehood.--many of the tales are mere thaumatolatry: as of the man who took out his bones and washed them once every thousand years; or of the man who would fill his mouth with rice-grains, let them forth as a swarm of bees to gather honey in the valley,--then readmit them into his mouth as to a hive, where they became rice again,--presumably "sweetened to taste." but in others there seems to be a core of symbolism and recognition of the fundamental things. there was a man once,--the tale is in giles's dictionary of chinese biography, but i forget his name--who sought out the sennin ho kwang (his name might have been ho kwang); and found him at last in a gourd-flask, whither he was used to retire for the night. in this retreat ho kwang invited our man to join him; and he was enabled to do so; and found it, once he had got in, a fair and spacious palace enough. three days he remained there learning; while fifteen years were passing in china without. then ho kwang gave him a rod, and a spell to say over it; and bade him go his ways. he would lay the rod on the ground, stand astride of it, and speak the spell; and straight it became a dragon for him to mount and ride the heavens where he would. thenceforth for many years he was a kind of guardian spirit over china: appearing suddenly wherever there was distress or need of help: at dawn in mountain chungnan by changan town in the north; at noon, maybe, by the southern sea; at dusk he might be seen a-dragon-back above the sea-mists rolling in over yangtse;--and all in the same day. but at last, they say, he forgot the spell, and found himself riding the clouds on a mere willow wand;--and the wand behaving as though newton had already watched that aggravating apple;--and himself, in due course dashed to pieces on the earth below.--there is some fine symbolism here; the makings of a good story. and now we come to , "the year in which (to quote our tabulation above) the main or original han cycle should end," and in which "we should expect the beginnings of a downfall." the empire, as empires go, is very old now: four hundred and forty odd years since ts'in shi hwangti founded it; as old as rome was (from julius caesar's time) when the east and west split under arcadius and honorius; nearly three centuries older than the british empire is now;--the cyclic force is running out, centripetalism very nearly wasted. in these one-nineties we find two non-entitous brothers quarreling for the throne: who has eyes to see, now, can see that the days of han are numbered. all comes to an end in , ten years before the third half-cycle (and therefore second 'day') of the eastern han series; there is not force enough left to carry things through till . han hienti, the survivor of the two brothers aforesaid, retired into private life; the dynasty was at an end, and the empire split in three. in ssechuan a han prince set up a small unstable throne; another went to armenia, and became a great man there; but in loyang the capital, ts'ao ts'ao, the man who engineered the fall of the hans, set his son as wei wenti on the throne. he was a very typical figure, this ts'ao ts'ao: a man ominous of disintegration. you cannot go far in chinese poetry without meeting references to him. he rose during the reign of the last han,--the chien-an period, as it is called, from to ,--by superiority of energies and cunning, from a wild irregular youth spent as hanger-on of no particular position at the court,--the son of a man that had been adopted by a chief eunuch,--to be prime minister, commander of vast armies (he had at one time, says dr. h. a. giles, as many as a million men under arms), father of the empress; holder of supreme power; then overturner of the han, and founder of the wei dynasty. civilization had become effete; and such a strong wildling could play ducks and drakes with affairs. but he could not hold the empire together. centrifugalism was stronger than ts'ao ts'ao. the cycles and all else here become confused. the period from to --about a half-cycle, you will note, from and the beginning of the chien-an time, or the end of the main han cycle,--is known as that of the san koue or three kingdoms: its annals read like froissart, they say; gay with raidings, excursions, and alarms. it was the riot of life disorganized in the corpse, when organized life had gone. a great historical novel dealing with this time,--one not unworthy, it is said, of scott,--remains to be translated. then, by way of reaction, came another half-cycle (roughly) of reunion: an unwarlike period of timid politics and a super-refined effeminate court; it was, says professor harper parker, "a great age of calligraphy, belles lettres, fans, chess, wine-bibbing and poetry-making." then, early in the fourth century, china split up again: crafty ladylike chinese houses ruling in the south; and in the north a wild medley of dynasties, turkish, tungus, tatar, and tibetan,-- even some relics of the huns: sometimes one at a time, sometimes half a dozen all together. each barbarian race took on hastily something of chinese culture, and in turn imparted to it certain wild vigorous qualities which one sees very well in the northern art of the period: strong, fierce, dramatic landscapes: nature painted in her sudden and terrific moods. china was still in manvantara, though under obscuration; she still drew her moiety of crest-wave souls: there were great men, but through a lack of co-ordination, they failed to make a great empire or nation. so here we may take leave of her for a couple of centuries. just why the vigor of the crest-wave was called off in the two-twenties, causing her to split then, we shall see presently. back now to rome, at the time of the death of pan chow the hun-expeller and the end of the one glorious half-cycle of the eastern hans. as china went down, rome came up. pan chow died early in the reign of trajan, the first great roman conqueror since julius caesar; and only the caspian sea, and perhaps a few years, divided trajan's eastern outposts from the western outposts of the hans. we need not stay with this spaniard longer than to note that here was a case where grand military abilities were of practical value: trajan used his to subserve the greatness of his statesmanship; only a general of the first water could have brought the army under the new constitutional regime. the soldiers had been setting up caesars ever since the night they pitched on old claudius in his litter; now came a caesar who could set the soldiers down.--his nineteen years of sovereignty were followed by the twenty-one of hadrian: a very great emperor indeed; a master statesman, and queer mass of contradictions whose private life is much better uninquired into. he was a mighty builder and splendid adorner of cities; all that remained unsystematized in the augustan system, he reduced to perfect system and order. his laws were excellent and humane; he introduced a special training for the civil service, which wrought enormous economies in public affairs: officials were no longer to obtain their posts by imperial appointment, which might be wise or not, but because of their own tested efficiency for the work.--then came the golden twenty-three years of antoninus pius, from to : a time of peace and strength, with a wise and saintly emperor on the throne. the flower rome now was in perfect bloom: an urbane, polished, and ordered civilization covered the whole expanse of the empire. hadrian had legislated for the down-trodden: no longer had you power of life and death over your slaves; they were protected by the law like other men; you could not even treat them harshly. true, there was slavery, --a canker; and there were the gladiatorial games; we may feel piously superior if we like. but there was much humanism also. there was no proletariat perpetually on the verge of starvation, as in nineteenth and twentieth century europe. if we can look back now and say, there this, that, or the other sign of oncoming decay; the thing could not last;--it will also be remarkably easy for us, two thousand years hence, to be just as wise about these present years 'of grace.' it is perhaps safe to say, --as i think gibbon says--that there was greater happiness among a greater number then than there has been at any time in christendom since. gibbon calculates that there were twice as many slaves as free citizens: we do know that their number was immense,--that it was not unusual for one man to own several thousand. but they were well treated: often highly educated; might become free with no insuperable difficulty:--their position was perhaps comparable with that of slaves in turkey now, who are insulted if you call them servants. gibbon estimates the population at a hundred and twenty millions; many authorities think that figure too high; but gibbon may well be right, or even under the mark,--and it may account for the rapid decline that followed the age of the antonines. for i suspect that a too great population is a great danger, that hosts at such times pour into incarnation, besides those that have good right to call themselves human souls;--that the maxim "fewer children and better ones" is based upon deep and occult laws. china in her great days would never appear to have had more than from fifty to seventy millions: the present enormous figures have grown up only since the manchu conquest. there was no great stir of creative intellect and imagination in second century rome: little noteworthy production in literature after trajan's death. the greatest energies went into building; especially under hadrian. the time was mainly static,--though golden. there were huge and opulent cities, and they were beautiful; there was enormous wealth; an even and widespread culture affecting to sweetness and light the lives of millions-- by race britons, gauls, moors, asiatics or what not, but all proud to be romans; all sharing in the blessings of the roman citizenship and peace. not without self-government, either, in local affairs: thus we find welsh clans in britain still with kings, and stranger still, with senates, of their own. it was the quiet and perfect moment at the apex of a cycle: the moment that precedes descent. the old impulse of conquest flickered up, almost for the last time, under trajan, some of whose gains wise hadrian wisely abandoned. under whom it was, and under the first antonine, that the empire stood in its perfect and final form: neither growing nor decreasing; neither on the offensive nor actively on the defensive. now remember the cycles: sixty-five years of manvantara under augustus and tiberius,--b.c. to a. d. . then sixty-five mostly of pralaya from to ; and now sixty-five more of mnavantara under the five good emperors (or three of them), from to . but why stop at , you ask. had not marcus aurelius, the best of them all, until to reign?--he had; and yet the change came in ; after that year rome stood on the defensive until she fell. it was in that year, you will remember, that king an-tun aurelius's envoys reached loyang by way of bumiah and the sea. but note this: domitian was killed, and nerva came to the throne, and rome had leave to breathe freely again, in five years before the half-cycle of shadows should have ended: the two years of nerva, and the first three of trajan, we may call borrowed by the dawning manvantara from the dusk of the pralaya that was passing. now if we took the strictness of the cycles _au_ very _pied de lettre,_ we should be a little uneasy about the last five years of that manvantara; we should expect them at least to be filled with omens of coming evil; we should expect to find in them a dark compensation for the five bright years at the tail of the old pralaya.--well, cycles have sometimes a pretty way of fulfilling expectations. for see what happened:-- marcus aurelius came to the throne in : a known man, not untried; one, certalnly, to keep the golden age in being,--if kept in being it might be. greatly capable in action, saintly in life and ideals: what could rome ask better? or what had she to fear?--the king is the representative man: it must have been a wonderful rome, we may note in passing, that was ruled by and went with and loved well those two saintly philosophic antonines enthroned.--nothing, then, could seem more hopeful. under the circumstances it was rather a mean trick on the part of father tiber (to whom the romans pray), that before a year was out he must needs be breeding trouble for his votaries: overflowing, the ingrate, and sweeping away large parts of his city; wasting fields and slaughtering men (to quote macaulay again); drowning cattle wholesale, and causing shortage of supplies. and he does but give the hint to the other gods, it seems; who are not slow to follow suit. earthquakes are the next thing; then fires; then comes in beelzebub with a plague of insects. there is no end to it. the legions in britain,--after all this long peace and good order,--grow frisky: mind them of ancient and profitable times when you might catch big fish in troubled waters;--and try to induce their general to revolt. then parthian vologaeses sees his chance; declares war, annihilates a roman army, and overruns syria. verus, co-emperor by a certain too generous unwisdom that remains a kind of admirable fly in the ointment of the character of aurelius, shows his mettle against the parthians,--taking his command as a chance for having a luxurious fling beyond the reach and supervision of his severe colleague;--and things would go ill indeed in the east but for avidius cassius, verus' second in command. this cassius returns victorious in , and brings in his wake disaster worse than any parthians:--after battle, murder, and sudden death come plague, pestilence, and famine. in the first of these latter three broke out, devastated rome, italy, the empire in general; famine followed;--it was thought the end of all things was at hand. it was the first stroke of the cataclysm that sent rome down. . . . then came quadi and marcomans, hun-impelled, thundering on the doors of pannonia; and for the next eleven years aurelius was busy fighting them. then avidius cassius revolted in asia;--but was soon assassinated. then the christians emerged from their obscurity, preachers of what seemed anti-national doctrine; and the wise and noble emperor found himself obliged to deal with them harshly. he _was_ wise and noble,--there is no impugning that; and he _did_ deal with them harshly: we may regret it; as he must have regretted it then. so the reign marks a definite turning-point: that at which the empire began to go down. in it the three main causes of the ruin of the ancient world appeared: the first of the pestilences that depopulated it; the first incursion of the barbarians that broke it down from without; the new religion that, with its loyalty primarily to a church, an _imperium in imperior,_ undermined roman patriotism from within. nero's persecution of the christians had been on a different footing: a madman's lust to be cruel, the sensuality that finds satisfaction in watching torture: there was neither statecraft nor religion in it; but here the roman state saw itself threatened. it was threatened; but it is a pity aurelius could find no other way. in himself he was the culmination of all the good that had been roman: a stoic, and the finest fruit of stoicism,--which was the finest fruit of philosophy unillumined (as i think) by the spiritual light of mysticism. he practised all the virtues; but (perhaps) we do not find in him that knowledge of the inner laws and worlds which alone can make practise of the virtues a saving energy in the life of nations, and the imspiration of great ages and awakener of the hidden god in the creative imagination of man. the burden of his _meditations_ is self-mastery: a reasoning of himself out of the power of the small and great annoyances of life;--this is to stand on the defensive; but the spiritual world-conqueror must march out, and flash his conquering armies over all the continents of thought. an underlying sadness is to be felt in aurelius's writings. he lived greatly and nobly for a world he could not save... that could not be saved, so far as he knew. he died in ; and another nero, without nero's artistic instincts, came to the throne in his son commodus; pralaya, military rule, disruption, had definitely set in. now anciently a manvantara had begun in western asia somewhere about b.c.; had lasted fifteen centuries, as the wont of them appears to be; and had given place to pralaya about ; and that, in turn, was due to end in or about a.d. we should, if we had confidence in these cycles, look for what remained of the crest-wave in europe to be wandering flickeringly eastward about this time. hitherto it had been in two of the three world-centers of civilization: in china and in europe; now for a few centuries it was to be divided between three.--i am irrigating the garden, and get a fine flow from the faucet, which gives me a sense of inward peace and satisfaction. suddenly the fine flow diminishes to a miserable dribble, and all my happiness is gone. i look eastward, to the next garden below on the slope; and see my neighbors busy there: their faucet has been turned on, and is flowing royally; and i know where the water is going. the west-asian faucet was due to be turned on in the two-twenties; now watch the spray from the sprinklers in the chinese and roman gardens. in those two-twenties we saw china split into three; and it rather looked as if the manvantara had ended. i shall not look at west asia yet, but leave it for a future lecture. but in europe, with marcus aurelius died almost the last italian you could call a crest-wave ego. the cyclic forces, outworn and old, produced after that no order that you can go upon: events followed each other higgledipiggledy and inertly;-- but it was the illyrian legions that put him on the throne. note that illyria: it is what we shall soon grow accustomed to calling _jugoslavia._ severus's reign of eighteen years, from to , was the only strong one, almost the only one not disgraceful, until ; by which time the roman world was in anarchy, split into dozens, with emperors springing up like mushrooms everywhere. then came a succession of strong soldiers who reestablished unity: claudius gothicaus, an illyrian peasant; aurelian, an illyrian peasant; tacitus, a roman senator, for one year only; probus, an illyrian peasant; caus, an illyrian; then the greatest of all statesmen since hadian, who refounded the empire on a new plan,--the illyrian who began life as docles the slave, rose to be diocles the soldier, and finally, in , tiaraed diocletian reigning with all the pomp and mystery and magnificence of an eastern king of kings. he it was who felt the cyclic flow, and moved his capital to nicomedia, which is about fifty miles south and east from constaintinople. one can speak of no illyrian cycle; rather only of the crest-wave dropping a number of strong men there as it trailed eastward towards west asia. the intellect of the empire, in that third century, and the spiritual force, all incarnated in the roman west-asian seats; in egypt, asia minor, and syria, as we shall see in a moment. but you not how bueautifully orderly, in a geographical sense, are the movements of the wave in roman world and epoch: beginning in italy in the first century b.c.; going west to spain about a.d. ,--and to gaul too, though there kindling chiefly material and industrial greatness; passing through italy again in the late first and in the second century, in the time of the glavians and the five good emperors; then in the third like a swan flying eastward, with one wing, the material one, stretched over illyria raising up mighty soldiers and administrators there, and the other, the spiritual wing, over egypt, there fanning (as we shall see) the fires of esotericism to flame. for it was in that third century, while disaster on disaster was engulfing the power and prestige of rome, that the strongest spiritual movement of all the roman period came into being. history would not take much note of the year in which a porter in alexandria was born; so the birth-date of the man we come to now is unknown. it would have been, however, not later than ; since he had among his pupils one man at least born not later than . according to eusebius, he was born a christian; and h.p. blavatsky, in _the key to theosophy,_ seems to accept, or at least not to contradict, this view. i think she often did allow popular views on non-essentials to pass, for lack of time and immediate need to contradict them. but eusebius (of who she has much to say, and none of it complimentary to his truthfulness) is, i believe, the sole authority for it; and scholars since have found good reason for supposing that he was mixing this man with another of the same name, who _was_ a christian; whereas (it is thought) this man was not. be that as it may, we know almost nothing about him; except that he began life as a porter, with the job of carrying goods in sacks; whence he got the surname sakkophoros, latter shortened to saccas;--from which you will have divined by this time that his personal name was ammonius. we know also that early in the third century he had gathered disciples about him, and was teaching them a doctrine he called _theosophy;_ very properly, since it was and is the wisdom of the gods or divine wisdom. an eclectic system, as they say; wherein the truths in all such philosophies and religions as come handy were fitted together and set forth. but in truth all this was but the nexus of his teaching: theosophy, then as now, is eclectic only in this sense: that some truth out of it underlies all religions and systems; which they derive from it, and it from them nothing. all through the long west-asian pralaya,--west-asian includes egyptian,--the seeds of the esoteric wisdom remained in those parts; they lacked vitalization, because the world-currents were not playing there then; but they survived in egypt from the egyptian mysteries of old; and as in india you might have found men who knew about them, but not how to use them for the uplifting of the world,--so doubtless you should have found such men in egypt during the ptolemaic and roman periods. hence the statement of diogenes laertius, that the theosophy of ammonius saccas originated with one pot ammun, a priest of ptolemaic times: who, perhaps, was one of those who transmitted the doctrine in secret. the seeds were there, then; and how that the crest wave was coming back to west asia, it was possible for ammonius to quicken them; and this he did. but it had not quite come back; so he made nothing public. he wrote nothing; he had his circle of disciples, and what he taught is to be know from them. among them was origen, who was born, or became, a christian; but who introduced into, or emphasized in, his christianity much sound theosophical teaching; very likely he was deputed to capture christianity, or some part of it, for truth. here i may offer a little explanation of something that may have puzzled some of us: it will be remembered that mr. judge says somewhere that reincarnation was condemned by the council of constantinople; and that in a series of learned articles which appeared in the theosophical path recently, the late rev. s.j. neill contradicted this asserion. the truth seems to be this: origen taught, if not reincarnation, at least the pre-existence of souls; and, says the _encyclopaedia britannica:_ "it is true that many scholars deny that origen [read, his teachings] was condemned by this council [of constantinople, a.d. ]; but moller rightly holds that the condemnation is proved." another pupil of ammonius was cassius longinus, born in at emessa (homs) in asia minor. later he taught platonism for thirty years at athens; then in the two-sixties went east to the court of zenobia at palmyra,--whose brilliant empire, though it fell before the illyrian aurelian, was a sign in its time that the crest-wave had come back to west asia. longinus became her chief counselor; it was by his advice that she resisted aurelian;--who pardoned the arab queen, and, after she had paraded rome in his triumph, became very good friends with her; but condemned her counselor to death. but longinus i think had failed to follow in the paths laid down for him by his teacher: we find him in disagreement with that teacher's successor. who was plotinus, born of roman parents at lycopolis in egypt. it is from his writings we get the best account of ammonius' doctrine. he was with the latter until ; then joined gordian iii's expedition against persia, with a view to studying persian and indian philosophies at their source. but gordian was assassinated; and plotinus, after a stay at antioch, made his way to rome and opened a school there. this was in the so-called age of the thirty tyrants, when the central government was at its weakest. gallienus was emperor in rome, and every province had an emperorlet of its own;--it was before the illyrian peasant-soldiers had set affairs on their feet again. a lazy erratic creature, this gallienus; says gibbon: "in every art that he attempted his lively genius enable him to succeed; and, as his genius was destitute of judgement, he attempted every art, except the important ones of war and government. he was master of several curious but useless sciences, a ready orator, an elegant poet, a skilful gardener, an excellent cook, and a most contemptible prince." yet he had a curious higher side to his nature, wherewith he might have done much for humanity,--if he had ever bothered to bring it to the fore. he, and his wife, were deeply interested in the teachings of plotinus. such a man may sometimes be 'run,' and made the instrument of great accomplishment: a morass through which here and there are solid footholds; if you can find them, you may reach firm ground, but you must walk infinitely carefully. it is the old tale of the prince with the dual nature, and the initiate who tries to use him for the saving of the world,--and fails. plotinus knew what he was about. was it last week we were talking of the endless need of the ages: a stronghold of the gods to be established in this world, whence they might conduct their cyclic raidings? what had pythagoras tried to do in his day?--found a center of learning in the west, in which the laws of life, physical, mental, moral, and spiritual, should be taught. he did found it,--at croton; but croton was destroyed, and all the history of the next seven centuries suffered from the destruction. then--it was seven centuries after his death,-- ammonius saccas arose, and started things again; and left a successor who was able to carry them forward almost to the point where pythagoras left them. for the fame of this neo-platonic theosophy had traveled by this time right over the empire; and plotinus in rome, and in high favor with gallienus, was a man on whom all eyes were turned. he proposed to found a point loma in campania; to be called platonopolis. things were well in hand; the emperor and empress were enthusiastic:--as your gallieneuses will be, for quarter of an hour at a time, over any high project. but certain of his ministers were against it; and he wobbled; and delayed; and thought of something else; and hung fire; and presently was killed. and claudius, the first of the illyrian emperors, who succeeded him, was much to busy defeating the goths to come to rome even,--much less could he pay attention to spiritual projects. two years later plotinus died, in ;--and the chance was not to come again for more than sixteen centuries. but neo-platonism was not done with yet, by any means. plotinus left a successor in his disciple porphyry, born at tyre or at batanea in syria in . you see they were all west asians, at least by birth: the first spiritual fruits of the crest-wave's influx there. porphyry's name was originally malchus (the arabic _malek,_ meaning _king_); but as a king was a wearer of the purple, someone changed it for him to porphyry or 'purple.' in he went to rome to study under plotinus, and was with him for six years; then his health broke down, and he retired to sicily to recover. in he returned,--plotinus had died three years before, and opened a neo-platonic school of his own. he taught through the last quarter of that century, while the illyrian emperors were smashing back invaders on the frontiers or upstart emperors in the provinces. without imperial support, no platonopolis could have been founded; and there was no time for any of those illyrians to think of such things.--even if they had had it in them to do so, as they had not:--witness aurelian's execution of longinus. the time had gone by for that highest of all victories: as it might have gone by in our own day, but for events in chicago, in february, . when porphyry died in , he left a successor indeed; but now one that did not concern himself with rome. it was iamblichus, born in the lebanon region; we do not know in what year; or much about him at all, beyond that he was an aristocrat, and well-to-do; and that he conducted his theosophic activities mainly from his native city of chalcis. he died between and ; thus through thirteen decades, from the beginning of the third century, these four great neo-platonist adepts were teaching theosophy in the roman world;--ammonius in egypt; plotinus and porphyry,--the arm of the movement stretched westward to save, if saved they might be, the roman west europe, --in rome itself; then, since that was not be done, iamblichus in syria. we hear of no man to be named as successor to iamblichus; i imagine the great line of teachers came to an end with him. yet, as we shall see, their impulse, or movement, or propaganda, did not cease then: it did not fail to reach an arm down into secular history, and to light up one fiery dynamic soul on the imperial throne, who did all that a god-ensouled man could do to save the dying roman world. diocletian, that great but quite unillumined pagan, was dead; the new order, that subverted rome at last, had been established by constantine; and the house of constantine, with all that it implied, was in power. but a year or two before the death of iamblichus it chanced that a great soul stole a march on the house of constantine, and (as you may say) surreptitiously incarnated in it, for the cause of the gods and sublime perfection. and to him, in his lonely and desolate youth, kept in confinement or captivity by the christian on the throne, came one maximus of smyrna, a disciple of iamblichus;-- and lit in the soul of prince julian that divine knowledge of theosophy wherewith afterwards he made his splendid and tragic effort for heaven. xxii. eastward ho! the point we start out from this evening is, in time, the year a.d., in place, west asia: , or you may call it ,-- sixty-five years, a half-cycle, after and the accession of marcus aurelius; and therewith, in rome, the beginning of the seasons prophetic of decline. so now we are in ; look well around you; note your whereabouts;--for there is no resting here. you have seen? you have noted? on again then, i beseech you; and speedily. and, please, backwards: playing as it were the crab in time; and not content till the whole pralaya is skipped, and you stand on the far shore, in the sunset of an elder day: looking now forward, into futurity, from , perhaps b.c.; over first a half-cycle of persian decline,--long melancholy sands and shingle, to--there on the edge of the great wan water,--that july in when mean satrap bessus killed his king, codomannus, last of the achaemenidae, then in flight from alexander;--and the house of cyrus and darius came to an end. what a time it was that drifted into limbo then! one unit of history; one phase of the world's life-story! it had seen all those world-shaking tiglath-pilesers eastward; all those proud osirified kings by the nile;--and now it was over; had died in its last stronghold, persia, and there was nowhere else for it to be reborn; and, after a decent half-cycle of lying in state under degenerate descendants of the great darius, had been furied (cataclysmal obsequies!) beneath a landslide of hellenistic macedonianism. its old civilization, senile long since, was gone, and a new kind from the west superimposed;--babylon was a memory vague and splendid;--the assyrian had gone down, and should never re-arise:--egypt of the pharaohs had fallen forever and ever;--aryan persia was over-run;-- "iran indeed had gone, with all his rose, and jamshyd's seven-ringed cup, where no one knows:" --and the angel that recorded their deeds and misdeed had written _tamam_ on the last page, sprinkled sand over the ink,--shut the volume, and put it away on the shelf;--and with a _thank god that's done with!_ settled down to snooze for six hundred years and ten. for what had he to do with what followed? with alexander's wedding-feast in ,--when upwards of ten thousand couples, the grooms all macedonian, the brides all persian, were united: what had he to do with the new race young achilles redivivus thus proposed to bring into being? these were mere macedonian doings, to be recorded by his brother angel of europe; as also were the death of alexander, and his grand schemes that came to nothing. there was no west asia now; only europe: all was european and hellenized to the borders of india, with periodical overflowings beyond;--just as, long afterwards, spain was a province of west asia; and just as egypt now is submerged under a european power. only the trouble is that the seed of something native always remains in regions so overflowed with an alien culture; and alexander dreamed never of what might lie quiescent, resurrectable in time, in the mountains of persis, the achaemenian land, out of the path of the eastward march of his phalanxes;--or indeed, in those wide deserts southward, parched araby, that none but a fool--and such was not alexander--would trouble to invade or think of conquering: something that should in its time reassert west asia over all hellenedom, in macedonia itself, and west beyond the pillars of hercules and the limits of the world. but let that be: it need trouble no one in this year of b.c.! only remember that "that which hath been shall be again, and there is nothing new under the sun." in this study of comparative history one finds after awhile that there are very few dates that count, and they are very easy to keep in mind. the same decades are important everywhere; and this because humanity is one, and however diversified on the outside, inwardly all history is the history of the one host of souls. take b.c. alexander is dead three years, but the world is still vibrating with him. chandragupta maurya has just started his dynasty and great age in india, which is to last its thirteen decades until the neighborhood of . seleucus nicataor, the only one of the macedonian _diadochi_ who has not divorced his persian bride, is about to set up for himself a sovereignty in babylon,--which scipio africanus, thirteen decades afterwards, struck from the list of the great powers when he defeated seleucus' descendant antiochus at magnesia,--in again; at which time the romans first broke into asia. and it was in the one-nineties, too, that the second han emperor came to the dragon thone, and the glorious age of the western hans began. though the seleucidae possessed for some time a great part of darius hystaspes' empire,--and, except egypt, all the old imperial seats of the foregone manvantara,--they do not belong to west asia at all; their history is not west-asian, but european; they are a part of that manvantara whose forces were drifting west from greece to italy. the history of all the macedonian kingdoms is profoundly uninteresting. there was enough of greek in them to keep them polished; enough of macedonian to keep them essentially barbarous; they sopped up some of the effeteness of the civilizations they had displaced, egyptian and asiatic; but the souls of those old civilizations remained aloof. there was mighty little egypt in the egypt of the ptolemies: what memories and atmosphere of a grand antiquity survived, hid in the crypts and pyramids; all one saw was a sullen fanatic people scorning their conquerors. so too in seleucus' babylon there was little evidence of the old childacan wisdom, or the assyrian power, or the pride and chivalry of the persian. it was europe occupying west asia; and not good europe at that; and only able to do so (as is always the case) because the soul of west asia was temporarily absent. the seleucidae maintained a mimic greatness in tinsels until and scipio and magnesia; then a mere rising-tide-lapped sand-castle of a kingdom until, in b.c., pompey made what remained of it a roman province,--just twice thirteen decades after the marriage-feast at babylon; just when the great age of the western hans was ending, and when augustus was thinking of being born, and (probably or possibly) vikramaditya of starting up a splendor at ujjain. what pompey took,--what remained for him to take,--consisted only of syria; all the eastern part of the seleucid empire had gone long since. in diodotus, the seleucid satrap of bactria, rebelled and made himself a kingdom; and that the kingdom might become an empire, went further on the war-path. on the eastern shores of the caspian he defeated one of the myriad nomad tribes of turanian stock that haunt those parts,--first cousins, a few times removed perhaps, to our friends the huns; a few more times removed, to that branch of their race that had, so to say, married above them and become thus a sort of poor relations to the aristocracy,--the ts'inners who were at that time finishing up their conquest of china. thus while the far eastern branch of the family was prospering mightily, the far western was getting into trouble: i may mention that they were known, these far westerners, as the _parni;_ and that their chief had tickled his pride with assumption of the persian name of arsaces;--just as i dare say you should find various george washingtons and pompey the greats now swaying empire in the less explored parts of africa. south of this parnian country lies what is now the province of khorasan, mountainous; then a seleucan satrapy known as parthia;--also inhabited by turanians, but of a little more settled sort; the satrap was andragoras, who, like diodotus in bactria (only not quite so much so), had made himself independent of the reigning antiochus (ii). with him arsaces found refuge after his defeat by diodotus, and there spent the next seven years:--whether enjoying andragoras' hospitality, or making trouble for him, this deponent knoweth not. in , however, he proceeeded to slay him and to reign in his stead. two years later, arsaces died, and his brother tiridates succeeded him and carried on the good work; he was driven out by seleucus ii in , but returned to it when the latter was called westward by rebellions soon after. thenceforward the parthian kingdom was, as you might say, a fact in nature; though until a half-cycle had passed, a small and unimportant one, engaged mostly in reinvogorating the native turanianism of the parthians with fresh parnian importations from the northern steppes. then, in , mithradates i came to the throne, and seriously founded an empire. he fought eucratidas of bactria, and won some territory from him. he fought eastward as far as to the indus; then conquered meida and babylonia in the west. in demetrius ii nicator, the reigning seleucid, attacked mithradates' son, phraates ii, and was defeated; and the lands east of the euphrates definitely passed from seleucid to parthian control. why not, then, count as manvantaric doings in west asia this rise of the parthians to power? why relegate them and their activities to the dimness of pralaya? says the _encyclopaedia britannica:_ "the parthian empire as founded by the conquests of mithradates i and restored, once by mithradates ii (the great, c. to b.c.), and again by phraates ii (b.c. to ), was, to all exterior appearances, a continuation of the achaemenid dominion. thus the arsacids now began to assume the old title 'king of kings' (the shahanshah of modern persia), though previously their coins as a rule had borne only the legend 'great king.' the official version preserved by arrian in his _parthica,_ derives the line of these parnian nomads from [the achaemenian] artaxerxes ii. in reality however the parthian empire was totally different from its predecessor, both externally and internally. it was anything rather than a world empire. the countries west of the euphrates never owned its dominion, and even of iran itself not one half was subject to the arsacids. there were indeed vassal states on every hand, but the actual possessions of the kings--the provinces governed by their satraps--consisted of a rather narrow strip of land stretching from the euphrates and north babylonia through southern media and parthia as far as north-western afghanistan... round these provinces lay a ring of minor states which as a rule were dependent on the arsacids. they might, however, partially transfer their allegiance on the rise of a new power (e.g. tigranes in armenia) or a roman invasion. thus it is not without justice that the arsacid period is described, in the later persian and arabian tadition, as the period of the 'kings of the part-kingdoms'--among which the ashkanians (i.e. the arsacids) had won the first place.... "it may appear surprising that the aracids made no attempt to incorporate the minor states in the empire and create a great and united dominion, such as existed under the achaemenids and was afterwards restored by the sassanians. this fact is the clearest symptom of the weakness of their empire and of the small power wielded by their king of kings. in contrast alike with its predecessors and successors the arsacid dominion was peculiarly a chance formation--a state which had come into existence through fortuitous external circumstances, and had no firm foundation within itself, or any intrinsic _raison d'etre._" a turanian domination over iran, it had leave to exist only because the time was pralaya. when a man dies, life does not depart from his body; but only that which sways and organizes life; then life, ungoverned and disorganized, takes hold and riots. so with the seats of civilization. one generally finds that at such times some foreign power receives, as we are getting to say, a mandate (but from the law) to run these dead or sleeping or disorganized regions,--until such time as they come to life again, and proceed to evict the mandataries.--as well to remember this, now that we are proposing, upon a brain-mind scheme, to arrange for ourselves what formerly the law saw to:-- the nations that are now to be great and proud manditaries, shall sometime themselves be mandataried; and those that are mandataried now, shall then arrange their fate for them; there is no help for it: you cannot catch spring in a trap, or cage up summer lest he go.--it seems now we must believe in a new doctrine: that certain 'nordics' are the superior race, and you must be blue-eyed and large and blond, or you shall never pass peter's wicket. one of these days we shall have some learned ingenious hottentot arising, to convince us poor others of the innate superiority of hottentottendom, and that we had better bow down! . . . but to return: the parthians remained little more than central-asian nomads: something between the huns who destroved civilization, and the turks who cultivated it for all they were worth (in a central asian-nomad sort of way). all their magnates were turanian; they retained a taste for tent-life; their army and fighting tactics where of the desert-horseman type: mounted bowmen, charging and shooting, wheeling and scattering in flight,--which put not your trust in, or 'ware the "parthian shot." they were not armed for close combat; and were quite defenseless in winter, when the weather slackened their bow-string. true, aryan iran put its impress on them: so that presently their kings wore long beards in the achaemenian fashion, made for themselves an achaemenian descent, called themselves by achaemenian names. they took on, too, the achaemenian religion of zoroaster:--so, but much more earnestly and adventurously and _opera-bouffe_ grimly. ts'in shi hwangti took on the quest of tao. there was also a stratum of hellenistic culture in their domains, and they took on something of that. when they conquered babylonia, it was inevitable that they should move their headquarters down into that richest and most thickly-populated part of their realm--to seleucia, the natural capital, one might suppos?--a huge hellenistic city well organized for world-commerce.--but let these nomad kings come into it with their horde, and what would become of the ordered civic life? nomads do not take well to life in great cities; they love the openness of their everlasting plains, and the narrrow streets and high buildings irk their sensibilities. for this reason, and perhaps because they recognised their deficienceies, they shunned seleucia; and built themselves lumbering straggling gawky ctesiphon across the tigris to be their chief capital;--for they had many; not abiding to be long in one place, but gadding about as of old. still, greek culture was not to be denied. they coined money, copying the inscriptions on the coins of the seleucids, and copyting them ever worse and worse. not until after a.d., and then only occasionally, do parthian coins bear inscriptions in aramaic. yet sometimes we hear of their being touched more deeply with greekness. orodes i,--he who defeated crassus,-- spoke good greek, and greek tragedies were played at his court.-- as with nomads generally, it was always easy for a parthian king to shark up a great army and achieve a striking victory; but as a rule impossible to keep the horde so sharked up thogether for solid conquests; and above all, it was impossible to organize anything. but they played their part in history: striking down to cut off the flow of greek culture eastward. it had gone, upon alexander's impulse, up into afghanistan and down into india; may even have touched han china,--probably did. i do not suppose that the touch could have done anything but good in india and china; where culture was well-established, older, and in all essentials higher, than in greece. but in persia itself the case was different. persia was under pralaya, in retreat among its original mountains; and submergence under hellenisticism might have meant for its oblivion of its own native persianism. consder: of the two great centers of west-asian culture, egypt fell under greek, and then under roman, dominion; and the old egyptian civilization became, so far as we can tell, utterly a thing of the past. when egypt rose again, under the esotericist sultans of the tenth century a.d., i dare not quite say that her new glory was linked by nothing whaterver to the ancient glory of the pharaohs; but that would be the general--as it is the obvious--view. fallen into pralaya, she had no positive strength of her own to oppose to the active manvantaric influence of greekism under the ptolemies; and in roman days it was her imported greekism that she opposed to the romans, not her own old and submerged khemism. her soul was buried very deep indeed, if it remained with her at all. in persia, on the other hand, west asia retained much more clearly its cultural identity. persianism was submerged for about thirteen decades under the seleucids; then the parthians cut in, and the drowning waters were drained away. the parthians had no superior culture to impose on the persians; whereas the greeks had,--because theirs was active and in manvantara, while that of the persians themselves was negative, because in pralaya. one might say roughly that a nation under the dominance of a people more highly or actively cultured than itself, tends to lose the integrity of its own culture,--as has happened in ireland and wales under english rule:--they take on, not advantageously, an imitation of the culture of their rulers. but under the dominance of a stronger, but less advanced, people, they tend to seek refuge the more keenly in their own cultural sources: as the finns and poles have done under the russians. this explains in part the difference between egypt and persia it the dawn of the new west-asian manvantara. we have seen that in the former the seeds were ready to sprout, and did,--in ammonius saccas and his movement. they were egyptian seeds; but the soil and fertilizers were so greek that the blossom when it appeared seemed not egyptian, not west-asian, but neo-greek; and turned not to the rising, but to the setting sun. the new growth affiliated itself to the european manvantara that was passing, not to the west-asian one that was to begin. persia was in a different position. certain events went to quicken the persian seed within the parthian empire. one was the rise of the yueh chi. during the period between the end of the brilliance of the western, and the beginning of that of the eastern hans, these people were consolidating an empire in northern india, and figuring there as the kushan dynasty: their power culminated, probably, in the reign of kanishka. they had wrested from the parthians some of their eastern provinces;--really, the overlordship of these rather than the sovereignty, for the parthians held all things lightly except the ground they happened to be camping on; and this made a change in the center of parthian gravity which was of enormous help to the persians. the heart of persiandom was the province of fars or persis, the mountain-land lying to the east of the persian gulf, and between it and the great persian desert. mesopotamia, where were ctesiphon, the parthian's chief capital, and seleucia, their greatest city,--the richest and most populated part of their empire, stretches northward from the very top of the gulf, a long way from fars; and the main routes eastward from mesopotamia run well to the north of the latter avoiding its mountains and desert beyond. so this province is remote, and well calculated to maintain appreciable independence of any empire not born in itself. the parthian writ had never run there much; nor had the median in the days when the medes were in power; though of that empire, as of the parthian, it had been more or less nominally a dependent province. it was from these mountains that a chieftain came, in the five-fifties b.c., to over turn astyages the mede's sovereignty, and replace it with his own achaemenian persian; and to take persianism out of mountain fars, and spread it over all west asia. back to fars, when the achaemenians fell, that persianism receded; there to maintain itself unimportantly aloof through the seleucid and arsacid ages; probably never very seriously menaced by greekism, even in seleucid times, because so remote from the routes of trade and armies. the conquests of the yueh chi put fars still nearer the circumference of parthia: threw the center of that more definitely into mesopotamia, and closed the avenues eastward. the change made fars the more conscious of herself. but there were persians all over the parthian domain; and had been ever since they first went down out of their mountains under cyhrus to conquer. it was in accordance with what i may call the law of cyclic backwashes, that the rise of yueh chi should have stirred up persian feeling in them everywhere. thus: the impulse of han wuti's westward activities passed as a quickening into the yueh chi; and on from them, not into the parthians, who were but an unreality and mirage of empire, but into these persians, the true possessors of the land whose turn it was to be quickened. they began remembering, now, their ancient greatness; and turning their eyes to their still half-independent ancestral mountains, whence--dared they hope it?--another cyrus might appear. then came another psychic impulse, from the west: when trajan's eastward victories shook the parthian power again. then,--you will remember how the roman world was shaken at the time of marcus aurelius' accession: how vologaeses seized the opportunity to attack; how verus the co-emperor went against him, and made a mess of things; how avidius casius (who brought back the plague to rome) saved the situation. in doing so, he conferred unwittingly untold benefits on the persian subjects of parthia. he destroyed seleucia as a punitive measure. now seleucia had been the cultureal capital of the parthian empire; and it was a greek city. its culture was greek; and greek culture had ever been, for persianism, a graver danger and more present check than parthian ignorance; or it submerged and abashed, where the other only ignore, the persian spirit. so when seleucia was wiped out, in , the chief and real enemy of the national soul had vanished. the persians might no longer look to hellenism for their cultural inspiration; might no more set up _its_ light against the parthian darkness; they must find a light instead proper to their own souls;--and must look towards mountain fars to find it. within a half-cycle they were up. they were due to be up, as you will remember, in the two-twenties: the decade in which we saw the stream in china, as in rome, diminish. troubles had begun in rome in , the second year of aurelisus. plus are . in persia rose and parthia vanished. in the second century a.d. there had been a man in fars named papak the son of sassan, who took as his motto the well-known lines from marlowe: "is it not passing brave to be a king and ride in triumph through persepolis?" --persepolis, indeed, was gone, and only its vast and pillared ruins remained in the wilderness; but near by the town of istakhr had grown up, to be what persepolis had been in the old achaemenian days,--the heart and center of fars, which is spiritually, the heart and center of all iran. papak thought he would make istakhr serve his purpose; and did;--and reigned there in due course without ever a parthian to say him nay. in he died; and what he had been and desired to be, that his son ardashir would be in turn, and much more also. this ardashir was very busy remembering the story of the achaemenidae: men, like himself, of fars; men, like himself, of the one and only true religion: but further, conquerors of the world and kings of the kings of iran and turan. and if they, why not he?--so he goes to it, and from king of istakhr becomes king of fars; and then unobtrusively takes in karmania eastward;--until news of his doings comes to the ears of his suzerain artabanus king of parthis, who does not like it. artabanus has recently ( ) received in indemnity a matter of seven and a half million dollars from a well-whipped roman emperor; and is not prepared to see his own uderlings give themselves airs;--so whistles up his horde of cavalry, and marches south and east to settle things. three battles, and the parthian empire is a thing of the past; and ardashir (which is artaxerxes) the son of papak the son of sassan sits in the great seat of the achaemenidae. now this is the key to all the history of the west in those times; and we may include west asia in the west:--the world was going down, and each new phase of civilization was something worse than the one before. i cannot but see degeneracy, and with every age a step further from ancient truth: rome with less light than greece; the sassanians a feebble copy of the achaemenians:--knowledge of the realities receding ever into the past. a new spirit had been coming in since the beginning of the christian era, or since the living flame of the last-surviving mysteries was quenched. it is one we are but painfully struggling away from now; it has tainted all life west of china since. china, with her satellite nations, alone in the main escaped it: i mean, the spirit of religious intolerance. the odium of introducing it belongs not (as you might think) to one particular religious body, but to the evil in humanlty; on which, since the mysteries were destroyed, there had been no effective check. the corner-stone of true religion is the divine spirit omnipresent in nature; the divine soul in man. as well forbid the rest of men to breathe the air you breathe, or walk under your private stretches of sky, as try to peg yourself out a special claim in these! you cannot do it, and the first instinct of man should be that you cannot do it. but lose sight of these divine things; lose the sense that perceives them, their essential universality, their inevitable universality;--and where are you? what are you to do about the inner life?--why, for lack of reality, you shall take a sham: you shall hatch up some formula of words; or better still, take the formula already hatched that comes handiest; call it your creed or confession of faith; fix your belief on that, as supreme and infallible, the sure and certain key to the mysteries within and around you;-- then you may cease to think of those mysteries altogether; the word-formula will be enough; it is that, not thought, not action, that saves. i believe in--such and such an arrangement of consonants and vowels;--and therefore i am saved, and highly superior; and you, poor reptile, who possess not this arrangement, but some other and totally false one;--you, thank god, are damned. you are lost; you shall go to hell; i scorn and look down on you from the heights of the special favor of the maker of the stars and suns: as if i lay already snug in abraham's bosom, and watched you parched and howling.--the mysteries were gone; there was no center of light in the west, from which the thought-essence of common sense might seep out purifying year by year into men's minds; theosophy the grand antiseptic was not; so such tomfoolery as this came in to take its place. you must react to this from indifference, and to indifference from this;--two poles of inner darkness, and wretched unthinking humanity wobbling between them;--so long as you have no light. what then is the light?--why, simply something you cannot confine in a church or bottle in a creed: and this is a proposition that needs no proving at all, because it is self-evident. there was a fellow in english wiltshire once, they say, who planted a hedge about his field to keep in the cuckoo from her annual migration. the spirit of cuckoo-hedging came in, in the first centuries a. d. it was totally unknown to the roman polity. whatever inner things any man or nation chose to bear witness to, said the roman state, were to be supposed to exist; and might be proclaimed, were they not subversive of the public order, for the benefit of any that needed them. there were two exceptions: druidism; we have glanced at a possible reason why it was proscribed in gaul by augustus; another reason may been that the druids clung to the memories of celtic--and so anti-roman--great things forelost. the other exception was the first historical world-religion that proclaimed the doctrine,--_believe or be damned!_ over the portals of the first century a.d., says h.p. blavatsky, the words "the karma of israel" are written. judaism had never tried to impress itself on the world, as the religion that was born from it did.--it is rarely that one finds sane views taken as to jewish history; it is a history, and a race, that provoke extreme feelings. a small people, originally exiled from india, that had had eight thousand years of vicissitudes since; sometimes, it is necessary to think, high fortunes;--no doubt an age of splendor once under their great king solomon, or some one else for whom the traditional solomon stands; oftenest, perhaps, subjected to their powerful neighbors in egypt, babylon, or assyria, and latterly rome: you may say that no doubt they were in the long run no better and no worse than the rest of mankind. they had great qualities, and the failings correspondent. they had, like all other races, their champions of the light, their prophets and wise rabbis; and in ages of darkness their stiff necked fierce materialism incased in dogma and inthroned in high places in the national religion. their history has been lifted to a bad eminence,--bad for them and the rest of us,--by the ignorance of the last two millenniums; in reality, that history, sanely understood, and not gathered too much from their own records, amply explains their failings and their virtues, and should leave us not unduly admiring, nor unfraternally the reverse. they were human; which means, subject to human duality, to cycles of light, and cycles of darkness. the centuries after the sixth b.c. were, as we have seen, a cycle of growing darkness for most of the world. the position of the jews, a small people surrounded by great ones, and therefore always liable to be trampled on, had intensified their national feeling to an extraordinary pitch; and their religion was the one lasting bond of their nationality. so, at the beginning of the christian era, they were notoriously the most difficult people to govern in the roman world. the passing of the egyptian mysteries had left those egyptians who still were egyptian sullenly fanatical; but the reaction from ancient greatness kept that fanaticism aloof,--the energies were dormant: egypt, thoroughly conquered, turned her face from the world, and hoped for nothing. but the jews maintained an inextinguishable hope; they nourished on it a fighting spirit which entered fiercely into the religion that was for them the one and only truth, and that lifted them in their own estimation high above the rest of mankind. romans and egyptians alike worshiped the gods, though they called them by different names; but the jews abhorred the gods. the maker of sirius and canopus and the far limits of the galaxy was a good jew like themselves, their peculiar property; he had his earthly headquarters in jerusalem; spoke, i suppose, only hebrew, and considered other languages gibberish; of all this earth, was only interested in a tiny corner at the south-east end of the mediterrancan; and of all the millions of humanity only in the million or two of his chosen people. i say at once that, considering their history, and the universal decline of the mysteries, and the gathering darkness of the age, there is nothing surprising in their attitude. much oppression, many conquests,--never accepted by themselves,--had driven them in on themselves and kept their racial self-consciousness at a perpetual boiling-point; and it all went into their religion, which compensated them with unearthly dignities for the indignities they suffered on earth .... _them_.... the chosen people of the lord! it bred in them scorn of the gentiles, for which there was no solvent in the roman polity, the roman citizenship, the roman peace.--there must have been always noble protest-ants among them. the common people,--as the picture in the gospels shows,--were ready enough to fraternize humanly with gentiles and romans; but the fact remains that at the time judaism gave birth to christianity, this narrow fierce antagonism to all other religions was the official attitude of the jewish church. it was, perhaps, the darkest moment in jewish spiritual history; and it was the moment chosen by a teacher as that in which he should be born a jew. the story in the gospels cannot, i suppose, be taken as _au pied de lettre_ historical; but no doubt it gives a general picture which is true enough. and the picture it gives shows the jewish proletariat in very favorable contrast with the officials heads of the church and state. they, the common people, received the teacher well; to them, he was a gracious figure whom they came in multitudes to hear. he was in fierce opposition to the hierarchic aristocracy,--the "scribes and pharisees, hypocrites," as he called them: the body that nourished the tradition of exclusiveness and intolerance. he preached pure ethics to the people, and they loved him for it. he gathered round him disciples,--men eager to learn from him that which it would have been ridiculous to have tried to teach the mob: the secret wisdom, without which to keep them sweet, ethics become sentimentalism, and philosophy a cold corpse. it is a law in the schools of this wisdom that seven years of training are necessary before the disciple can reach that grade of insight and self-mastery which will enable him in turn to become a teacher: seven years at the very least. within four years of the beginning of his mission, before, in the nature of things, one single disciple could have been more than half-trained, the hierarchic aristrocracy had had this teacher crucified. who, then, was to transmit his doctrine? he wrote nothing of it down; in the truest sense it never can be written down: had never had time to teach it; from any writings whatsoever each student can only gain the nexus of what he is to learn from life; for teaching does not mean giving dissertations, arguments, proofs; enunciating principles, and explaining them, or the like. it means, so far as one dare try to express it, bringing such experiences to bear on the lives of those who are to be taught, as shall awaken their own inner perceptions to truth. so this man's doctrine _was never transmitted._ his disciples, good and earnest men, as we may imagine, had not the weapons spiritual wherewith to wage effective warfare for the light. supposing h.p. blavatsky had died in ....? the next step was, the inevitable materialization of the whole movement. it followed the course all such movements must follow, that are without spiritual leadership at the head, spiritual wisdom at the core. it reacted against the exclusiveness of judaism,--and at the same time inherited it. feelings of that sort lie far deeper than the articles of belief; a change of creed will not remove them; it needs special, defined, and herculean efforts to remove them. you might, for example, react from a bigoted creed to one whose sole proclaimed article was universal toleration, and become a fierce bigot in that,--for the creed, not the idea; because creeds always obscure ideas: when a creed is formulated, it means that ideas are shelved. so now chrisitianity inherited the chosen people dogma, but transferred it from a racial-ecclesiastical to a wholly ecclesiastical basis; and, since every teacher comes upon a cyclic impusle outward, took on a missionary spirit. the chosen people now were the members of the church, who might belong to any race. within that churchly pale you were saved; you were a special protege of the maker of sirius and canopus and the far limits of the galaxy; who had--for a dogma had to be invented to explain the untimely disastrous death of the teacher,--incarnated and been crucified in judea. outside that pale you were damned,--from caesar on his throne to the smallest newsboy yelling false news in the forum. while such a spirit had been confined to the jews, it had been comparatively harmless; now it was spreading broadcast through the roman world, an entirely new thing, and the darkest and most ominous yet. whom, then, shall we blame? these sectarians?--no: to understand is to forgo the imagined right apportioning blame. it was that humanity had entered on a dark region in time: a region whose terrors had not been forefended; to be entered perforce by a humanity, or section of humanity, that had no center of light established in its midst. had croton of pythagoras survived; or the mysteries at gaulish bibracte: had there been but one firm foothold for the lodge in the world of men;--i think none of these things could have come about; and that for the same reason that you cannot have total darkness in a room in which a lamp is lighted. but this darkness was total: intolerance is the negation of spiritual light. of all the various movements in the roman world that had not actual members of the lodge behind and moving them, christianity had the greatest impetus; and it was the one that first entered into this murk and deadly gloom. so that it may seem, to an impartial but not too deeply-seeing eye, as if it were christianity that invented the gloom. not so; nor judaism neither; nor any christians nor jews. it was the men who burned croton; the man who killed the mysteries in gaul. for every disaster there are causes far and far back. christianity had spread, by this third century, perhaps as much through the parthian empire as through the roman. the zoroastrians had been as tolerant as the romans; much more so to christianity;--though the motive of their toleration had been pure indifference to everything religious; whereas in rome there was statesmanship and wisdom behind theirs. the persians reacted against parthianism in all its manifestations. they were shocked at parthian indifference. the persian is as naturally religious as the hindoo: and has the virtues and vices of the religious temperament. the virtues are a tendency to mysticism, a need to concern oneself with the unseen; the vices, a non-immunity to fanaticism and bigotry. they came down now from their mountains determined to combat the slackness; the indifference, the materialism of the world. the virus of intolerance was in the air,--a spirit like the germ of plague or any epidemic; one religion catches it from another. let it be about, and you are in danger of catching it, unless your faith is based on actual inner enlightenment, and not faith at all, but knowledge; or unless you have a teacher so enlightened to adjust you, and keep you too busy to catch it;--or unless you are totally heedless of the unseen. the persians were not indifferent, but very much in earnest; and they had no knowledge, but only faith: so they stood in peculiar danger. and presently a teacher came to them, and they rejected him. his name was mani; he was born in ctesiphon, of noble persian family, probably in ; and came forward as a teacher (according to the mohammedan tradition, which is the most trustworthy) at the coronation of sapor i, ardashir's successor, in . sapor at first was disposed to hear him; but the magi moved heaven and earth to change that disposition. ardashir had bound church and state together in the closest union: no worship but the zoroastrian was allowed in his dominions. this was mainly aimed at the christians, and must have caused them much discomfort. but mani, it would seem, rose against all this narrow-ness. it has been said that he taught reincarnation, and again denied;--this much he taught certainly,--that all religions are founded on one body of truth. he drew his own doctrine from zoroistrianism, christianity (chiefly gnostic), and buddhism; taking from each what he found to be true. manichaeism spread quickly, through the roman world as well as through persia; in the former it replaced mithraism, another persian growth, that had come to be preeminently the religion of the roman soldier. sapor looked on him favorably; hormizd, the heir apparent, was more or less a disciple; but the magi agitated. they arranged a great debate before the king, and therein convinced him; persuaded him, at least, to withdraw from the teacher the light of his countenance;--and mani found it expedient, or perhaps was compelled, to go into exile. in china; where the fimily of the ts'ao ts'ao who expelled the eastern hans, was reigning as the house of wei in the north. there mani busied himself, less in teaching his religion than in studying chinese civilization,-- especially its arts and crafts, and most of all, carpet-weaving. presently he ventured back to persia, with a large knowledge of chinese methods and a large collection of specimens;--with which he gave a new impetus to persian art and manufactures. hormizd came to the throne in , and befriended him and his doctrine; but reigned only a single year. his successor bahram i in the name of zoroastrianism had him flayed and crucified. so sassanian history is, on the whole, uninteresting. their culture stood for no great ideas; only for a narrow persecuting church. west asia was not ready yet for great and world-important doings; it must wait for these till mohammed, who struck into the very least promising quarter of it, and kindled in the barbarous wilderness a light to redeem the civilization of the western world. i shall hardly have to turn to the sassanians again; so will say here what is to be said. we have seen that their empire was quite unlike the parthian; it was a reversion to, and copy in small of, the achaemenian of cyrus and darius. it never attained the size of that; and only late in its existence, and to a small degree, overflowed the parthian limits. but it was a well-organized state, with a culture of its own; and enough military power to stand throughout its existence the serious rival of rome. its arts and crafts became famous, --thanks largely to mani; in architecture it revived the achaemenian tradition, with modifications of its own; and passed the result on to the arabs when they rose, to be the basis of the saracenic style. there was a fairly extensive literature: largely religious, but with much also in _belles lettres,_ re-tellings of the old iranian sagas, and the like. its history is mainly the record of gigantic wars with rome; these were diversified later by tussles with the turks, ephthalites or white huns, _et hoc genus omne._ its whole period of existence lasted from to ; years;--which we may compare with the of the hans, and the roman from the accession of augustus to the final division of the empire. of its cycles, there is a little information forthcoming; but we may say this: sapor i came to the throne in , succeeding his father ardashir; he had on the whole a broad outlook; favored mani at first; was at pains to bring in teachers of civilization from all possible sources;--with his reign the renaissance of the arts and learning, such as it was,--and it was by no means contemptible,-- began. three times thirteen decades from that, and we are at . the thirteen decades (less a year) from to are mainly filled with the reigns of kavadh i and the two chosroeses,-- "kai-kobad the great and kai-khusru," --all three strong kings and conquerors. when chosroes ii was killed in , after a war with heraclius that began brilliantly and ended in disaster,--the empire practically fell: split up under several pretenders, to be an easy prey for the moslems a few years later. was the whole sassanian period divisible into a day, a night, and a day? information is not at hand whereby one might gauge the life of the people, and say. the last thirteen decades, certainly, seem to have left their mark as an age of glory on the persian imagination, and to have been remembered as such in the days of omar khayyam.--and here we must leave the sassanians, having other fish to fry. we saw the crest-wave strike rome (at nerva's accession) in ; then, years later, raise up ardashir and persia in ; --and so, i suppose, should incline to look east again, and jump another thirteen decades, and land in india, in or thereabouts,--praying god to keep us from a bad fall. _india_ i allow; but look before you leap;--or, if you will, in mid-air turn over in your minds the old indian cycles, as far as you know them, and see if they offer you any prospect of a landing-place. as thus: there were the mauryas, to b. c.; thence on thirteen decades to b.c.,--and near enough to the reputed of the reputed vikramaditya of ujjain. on again (thirteen decades as usual) to the seventies a.d.--and good enough in all conscience for that slippery kanishka who so dodges in and out among the early centuries, and is fitted with a new date by everyone who has to do with him. on again, from to ; nothing doing there, i regret to say, (that we know about). never mind; on thence to ,--the nearest point to our ; let us land in the three-twenties then, and see what happens. on solid ground: for india, remarkably solid. there actually was a golden age there at that time; and everybody seems to agree that it lasted, say, one hundred and twenty-nine years; from to . this you will note, was the period of the last phase of the roman empire: that of its rapid decline. in constantine came to the throne, and began making chrisitianity the state religion; in he moved his capital. after , no emperor ruled in the west but for puppets set up by the german ricimer, two set up by constantinople, and romulus augustulus, the last,--and all within twenty years. there is no bright spot within the whole thirteen decades, except the two years of julian. the faucet was turned on in india; and the roman garden went waterless, and wilted. what happened was this: in , one chandragupta gupta married the pincess of magadha; and an era was dated from their coronation on the th of february in that year. their son samudragupta succeeded his father in , and reigned until . it is characteristic of india that this, probably the greatest monarch since asoka, is absolutely unmentioned in any history or contemporary literature: the sole evidence for his reign and greatness comes from coins and inscriptions. one of the latter is to be found on a pillar originally set up and inscribed by asoka, now in the fort at allahabad. it shows him a mighty conqueror, reigning over all hindustan; victorious in the deccan; and, by influence and alliances, dominant from ceylon to the oxus. his coins picture him playing on the lyre; the inscriptions speak of him as a poet and musician; in his reign began a great renaissance in art, architecture, literature, and perhaps especially in music,--a renaissance which reached its culmination in the reign of his successor. another thing to note: when of old time pushyamitra overturned the buddhist mauryas, he showed his brahmin orthodoxy by performing the great horse sacrifice;--a sign that the ancient religion had come back in triumph. they let loose a horse to wander where it would, and followed it with an army for a whole year; then sacrificed it. samudragupta performed the same rites;--and it is known that the gupta age was one of strong reaction against buddhism. i know that it is disputed now that there was ever a persecution of the buddhists in india; but the tradition remains; and one of the teachers, in a letter that appears either in the _occult world_ or _esoteric buddhism,_ speaks of india as a land from which the light of the lodge had been driven with the followers of the buddha. certainly there were buddhists in india long after this time: even a great buddhist king in the seventh century: but it seems more than probably that the spirit of intolerance went east with the eastward cyclic flow we have noted this evening: from christianity to zoroastrianism: from zoroastrianism under the sassanids to brahminism under the guptas. not, perhaps, that there was actual persecution, yet. emissaries from the king of ceylon found the shrine at buddhagaya fallen into decay; and they themselves were not well treated at the site. the buddhist kind, however, determined to remedy things as well as he could. he sent ambassadors with rich gifts to samundragupta; who called the gifts tribute, and permitted him, on consideration thereof, to restore the shrine. the monastery then built by the sinhalese was afterwards visited by hiuen tsang; who describes it as having three storeys, six halls, three towers, and accommodation for a thousand monks. "on it," says hiuen tsang, "the utmost skill of the artist has been employed; the ornamentation is in the richest colors, and the statue of buddha is cast in gold and silver, decorated with gems and precious stones." a revolution took place in architecture in this age: the buddhist style was abandoned, for something which, says mrs. flora annie steel: * ".....more ornate, less self-evident, served to reflect the new and elaborate pretensions of the priesthood." ------ * to whose book _india through the ages,_ i am indebted for these facts concerning the gupta age. ------ it is summed up, says mrs. steel, in the words: "...._cucumber and gourd_... tall curved vimanas or towers, exactly like two thirds of a cucumber stuck in the ground and surmounted by a flat gourd-like 'amalika.' .... exquisite in detail, perfect in the design and execution of their ornamentation, the form of these temples leaves much to be desired. the flat blob at the top seems to crush down the vague aspirings of the cucumber, which, even if unstopped, must erelong have ended in an earthward curve again." the age culminated in the next reign, that of chandragupta ii vikramaditya. heaven knows how to distingusih between him and his half-mythological namesake of b.c. and ujjain. very possibly the nine gems of literature and kalidasa and _the ring of sakoontala_ belong to this reign really. at any rate it was a wonderful time. fa-hien, the chinese buddhist traveler, obligingly visited india during its process, and left a picture of conditions. personal liberty, says mrs. steel, was the keynote feature. there was no capital punishment; no hard pressure of the laws; there were excellent hospitals and charitable institutions of all sorts.--we are to see in the whole age, i imagine, a period of great brilliance, and of humaneness resulting from eight centuries of the really civilizing influence of buddhism: far higher conditions than you should have found elsewhere to east or west at that time;--and also, the moment when the impulse of culture had reached its outward limit, and the reaction against the spiritual sources of culture began. chandragupta vikramaditya reigned until ; kumaragupta, great and successful also, until . then, thirteen decades after samudragupta's accession, came skandagupta; and with him, the white huns. he defeated them on a large scale in the fifties; but they returned again and again to the attack; during the next thirty years their pressure was breaking up the empire; till when skandagupta died in , it fell to pieces. xxiii. "the dragon, the apostate, the great mind" the time is the middle of the fourth century a.d. the top of the crest-wave is in india, now the greatest country in the world. the young samudragupta, about thirty years old now, has been filling the whole peninsula with his renown as warrior, poet, conqueror, patron of arts and letters, musician. the hindus are a busy and efficient people, masterly in this material world. their colonies are spread over java, sumatra, and the other islands; formosa (think where it lies) has a sanskrit, but not yet (so far as we know) a chinese, name; all those seas are filled with indian shipping.--and with arab shipping, too, by the way; or are coming to be so; and spray of the wave (in the shape of indian and arab ships) is falling in the port of canton. but china as a whole is in a deep trough of sea: an intriguing, ceremonious, ultra-elegant, and wily-weak court and dynasty have lately been expelled from precarious sovereignty at changan in the north to nankin south of the yangtse; there to abide a little while un-overturned, looking down in lofty impotent contempt on the uncouth wether huns, tunguses, and tibetans who are sharing and quarreling over the ancient seats of the black-haired people in the hoangho basin, after driving this same precious house of tsin into the south.--persia is on the back of the wave, something lower than the crest: sapor ii, a dozen or so years older than samudragupta, has been on the throne since some months before his (sapor's) birth; and has now grown up into a particularly vigorous monarch; conquering here and there; persecuting the christians with renewed energy since constantine took them into favor;--and of late years unmercifully banging about constantius son of constantine in the open field, and besieging and sometimes taking his fortresses. this, you may say, with one hand: with the other he has been very busy with his neighbors in the north-east, the nomads; he has been punishing them a little; and incidentally founding, as a protection against their in roads, the city of new sapor in khorassan,--famed later as nai-shapur, and the birthplace of a certain tent-maker of song-rich memory. in armenia an arsacid-- that is, parthian--house has survived and holds sovereignty: and armenia is a sort of weak belgium between persia and rome; inclining to the latter, of course, because ruled by arsacids, who are the natural dynastic enemies of the sassanids of persia. rome has turned christian; so, to cement his alliance with rome and insure roman aid against powerful persia, the armenian king has had himself coverted likewise, and his people follow suit with great piety;--which sends shah sapor, king of the kings of iran and turan, brother of the sun and moon, to it with a missionary as well as a dynastic zeal; and a war that is to be of nearly thirty years' duration has been in process along the frontier since . persia, better called a kingdom, perhaps, than an empire, commands about forty millions of subjects; as against imperial rome's--who can say? the population there must have gone down by many millions since the days of the antonines, with all the civil wars, plagues, pestilences, and famines that have harrowed the years between. the sons of constantine have succeeded to the throne of their father; and the portions of constantine ii, the eldest of the three, and constans, the youngest, have at last fallen into the hands, or the web, of constantius,--a sort of cross between a spider, an octopus, and an elderly maiden aunt,--and in general about as unpleasant a creature as ever sat on a throne. constantine the great, indeed, had willed the succession into the hands of a much larger number of his relatives; but this constantius, his father once decently buried, had taken time by the forelock, and insured things to his two brothers and himself by killing out two of his uncles and seven of their sons; so that now, constantine ii and constans being dead, no male scions of the house of constantius chlorus remain as possible rivals to him, except two boys who had been at the time of the massacre, the one too young, and the other too sickly, to count. we shall come to them by and by. christianity is well established; though constantius, followed his father's wise example, is deferring his baptism until the last possible moment: he partly knows the weakness of his nature, and desires to have license for a little pleasant sinning until the end, with the certainty of a glorious resurrection to follow in despite of it.--dismiss your kindly apprehensions; god was good to constantius; no untimely accident cut him off unbaptized; his plan worked excellently, and providing an arian heretic may go to heaven, in heaven he is to this day, singing his alleluias with the best of them,--and perhaps between whiles arguing it out with the various uncles and cousins he murdered. meanwhile, however, priests and bishops are the great men of his empire; and they enjoy immunities from duties and taxation to an extent that throws the whole rational order of government out of gear. thus, for example, the upkeep of the great roads and posts system,--the lines of communication,--falls upon a certain class called the decurions, who in each district at their own expense have to maintain all in order. but churchmen,--an enormous class now,--are immune from the decurionship; and are allowed further the use of the post-horses and inns free of cost;--with the result that, practically speaking, no one else can use them at all. because these churchmen are forever hurrying hither and thither to conference, council, or synod; there each sect,-- arian and athanasian chiefly,--to damn to eternal perdition (and temporal excommunication when possible) the vile heretics of the other: homoiousian to thunder against homoousian, homoousian against homoiousian: _arius contra athanasium,_ and _athanasius contra mundum:_--till the air of the whole roman world is thick with the fumes of brimstone and the stench of the nether pit. taxation, on those left to tax, falls an intolerable burden; --we have seen how shah sapor is dealing with one end of the empire;--at the other end, in gaul, one magnentius rose against constantius, and the latter thoughtfully invited in the germans to put him down and help themselves to what they found handy;-- and a certain chnodomar, a king in those trans-rhenish regions, has taken him much at his word. result: a strip forty miles wide along the left bank of the rhine from source to mouth has been conquered and annexed; three times as much this side is a perfectly desolate no-man's land; forty-five important cities, including cologne and strasbourg, have been reduced to ashes, with innumerable smaller towns and villages; all open towns in north-eastern gaul have been abandoned; the people of the walled cities are starving on what corn they can grow on vacant corner lots and in their own back-gardens; hundreds of thousands have been killed out, or carried off into slavery in germany; and king chnodomar has every reason to think that god is behaving in a very reasonable manner.--as for the rest of the empire, whatever may be its population in human bodies, there is a plentiful lack of human souls to inhabit them; the roman world has fallen on evil years, truly, but is by no means unchanged;-- and the one thing you can prophesy with any decent security is that affairs cannot go on in this way much longer. rome has conducted a number of funerals in her day, of this nation and that conquered and put an end to; not much intuition is required now, to foresee that the next funeral will be her own.--(though indeed, i doubt you should have found half-a-dozen in the roman world who could foresee it.) now there is a way, narrow and most difficult to find,--a way of conducting the affairs of this life and this world, in balance, in equilibrium; in that fine i condition through which alone the life-renewing forces from the vaster worlds within may flow down, and keep existence here in harmony, and forefend decay. this was, of course, the essence of chinese thought, confucian and taoist. you maintained the inner harmony, and the forces of heaven might use you as their channel. you found tao (the way), and grew never old; you succeeded in all enterprises; walked through life unruffled,--duty flowing, beautifully accomplished, at every moment from your hands. you met with no snags or adjusted yourself always to conditions as they arose, and over-rode them in quietest triumph.--they said that, possessing tao, one might live on many times the common threescore years and ten; very likely there is some truth in it; it seems as if it were true at any rate, of the life of nations. china caught glimpses, and lived on and on; grew old, and reviewed her youth time and again. but normally, what do we find with these un-taoist nations of the west?--they go easily for some period; then it becomes harder and harder for them to adjust theniselves to conditions. they become clogged with the detritus of old thought and action. what is the meaning of the incessant need we see for reform? under whatever form of government a nation may be, it arises perpetually; it carries us around the ring of the-archies and-cracies, and there is no finality anywhere.--no; there is no straight line of political progress; but round in a ring you go! you turn out your kings, because they are tyrannical: which means that their government is no longer efficient, and cannot cope with affairs; there is a lack of adjustment between the inner and the outer, between the needs and the provision made to meet them. the monarchy, which was at first representative and the true expression of the nation,--because it, or anything else, when there was no detritus, but things were new and the inner air uncluttered, gave freedom to the national aspirations to pour themselves out in action,--gives such freedom no longer; it irks; it misfits; you feel it chafing everywhere. and yet it has not ceased by any means to be representative: it represents now a nation which has lost its adjustment to the inner things and is clogged up by the detritus of old thought and action, and it is that detritus that irks and misfits and chafes you. so you rise and smash an astral mold or two; turn out your kings; shout freedom and liberty, and are very glorious for a time under a totally free and independent republic;--which means, at once or after a while, government by a class. and this succeeds just as well and badly as its predecessor; neither has found tao, the way,--following which, your detritus should be consumed as it goes, and life lifted above the sway of karma. so once more the detritus accumulates, and blocks the channels; and the life of the nation labors and is oppressed. need arises for reforms; and the reforms are difficultly carried through; the franchise is extended, and there is loud talk about political growth and what not; we see the millennium at hand, and ourselves its predestined enjoyers. and the old process repeats itself, till you have a very full-fledged democracy:--you make all the men vote, and all the women; and presently no doubt all the children; but even when you have all adult dogs and cats and cows voting as well,--you will not find that that order is tao, the way, any more than the others were. the presence of a cow or two, or an ass or two, more or less, in your parliament will not really insure efficiency of administration. the detritus grows again, under the most democratic of democracies; and weighs things down;--and you cast about for new methods of reform. democratic government, somehow, does nothing of what was expected of it; is not the panacea;--you see that, to bring the chaos of affairs into order, you must stop all this jabber and tinkering, and set up some undivided council,--some man, for god's sake!--a dictator who can keep his own and other people's mouths shut and hands busy, and get things done unimpeded. so you make one more grand reform for the sake of efficiency, and set up your imperator, and have peace, and decent government; and you have, wittingly or not, started up old bugbear monarchy again; and things go well for a time. but, bless you, you have not found the way; you know nothing about tao, which is not to be discovered in the fields of politics, and has nothing whatever to do with forms of government. so you go in search once more for a political method of dealing with that one and only oppressing thing, the detritus,--your karma;--and away you go squirreling round the changes again; and all this you call political evolution, as i dare say the squirrel does his own gyrations in his cage;--whereas if you found tao,--if you lived balancedly,-- if you kept open the channels between this and the god-world,-- there would be no political evolution at all--no squirreling,-- but only calm, untrammeled beautiful life. all the claptrap about western superiority to the orient, and the growth of freedom in the west, in contrast with eastern political immobility, simply means that the orient is less fond of squirreling than we are; taking its aces by and large, there has been a little more tao with them than with us: more consuming the detritus as they went; more balanced living, and thus more keeping the channels open.--at least, i imagine so. now rome was very old; and, since augustus' day, the detritus had grown and grown. diocletian had devoted a political sagacity amounting in some respects to genius to setting things right, and had accomplished something. he had moved out of rome itself, where the psychic atmosphere was too thickly encumbered; had gone eastward, where the air, after long pralaya, was clearer; had propped up imperial authority, now for the first time, with the definite insignia of imperial state: wore a tiara, was to be kneeled to, addressed as _dominus,_ and so forth:--all outward expedients, and brummagem substitutes for that inner adjustment which laotse called tao: the way that you are to seek by retreating within, and by advancing boldly without; and not by any one road, because it is not found by devotion alone, nor by religous contemplation alone, or by ardent progress, self-sacrificing labor, or studious observation of life, alone; but the whole nature of man must be used wisely by the one who desire to enter it. diocletian knew nothing of this; so, great statesman as he was, his methods were effective only while he sat on the throne; in his old age and retirement he had to watch, from his palace at spalato, the empire he had piloted banging about in a thousand storms again; and to plead in vain to those to whom he had given their thrones for the safety and life of his own wife and daughter;--the total failure of his life and labors thus miserably brought home to him before he died. "where there is no vision the people perish," said that learned hebrew of old, king solomon; and by that one saying proclaimed his right to his title of 'the wise.' look into it, and you have almost the whole philosophy of history. the incessant need of humanity is this thing _vision:_ men and nations go mad for lack of it: they seek in hell the joys of heaven which should be theirs, and which they cannot see. it means vision of the inner worlds, of the heaven that lies around us. oh, nothing spooky or foolish; one is far from meaning the astral light. people who go burrowing into that are again seeking a substitute for vision, and a very poisonous one.--if i may speak of a personal experience: coming to point loma from london was like coming from the bottom of the sea into the upper ether. there, in the heart of that old civilization, the air is thick with detritus; here--if only because a long pralaya and fallow time have made the land new,--the detritus is negligible; perhaps it is not even forming, but consumed as we go; because at least we have glimpses of the way. result: the mental outlook that extended there, in visionary moments, to some six inches, before one's nose, here has broadened out to take in some seas and mountains; in comparison, it runs to far horizons. i take it that this is the experience of us all. so this is what that wise solomon meant: "when the detritus has accumulated to the point where, like a thick fog, it shuts away all vision of the true, then the nation must go into abeyance; it must fall."--rome was very near that point. one wishes one could say something about those inner worlds of beauty. when the voices of self are silenced, and desires abashed and at peace,--how they shine through! this outer world, truly, reflects them; but another and ugly world of our own making. .....is too much with us; late and soon, getting and spending, we lay waste our powers. little we see in nature that is ours; we have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! the sea that bares her bosom to the moon, the winds that will be howling at all hours, and are upgathered now like sleeping flowers,-- for this, for everything, we are out of tune. sometimes; not always, thank god! look again: there are the mountains, and above them the mournful glories of the anti-sunset; the mute and golden trumpetings of the dawn; --there is the sea, and over it the wistfulness and pomp and pageantry of the setting sun, and the gentleness of heaven at evening;--there is the whole drama of day with its tremendous glories; and the huge mystery of night-time: niobe night, silent in the heavens, "glittering magnificently unperturbed;" --and there are the flowers in the garden, those _praelarissimi_ and _nobilisimi_ in the court of god, the pansy, the blue larkspur, the purple anemone;--and what are all these things?-- just symbols; just mirrorings of a beauty in the world of ideas within; just places where the spirit has touched matter, and matter, at that fiery and creative touch, has flamed up into the likeness of god, which is beauty.--what is vision?--it is to have luminous forms rising in the imagination, like wordsworth had, like shelley; it is with shut eyes to see the beauty and wonder of the gods; it is to have no grayness or dearth or darkness within; but to have the 'bliss of solitude' crowded with beautiful squadrons of deities, trembling with the light of legions on legions of suns. for: not all we are here where this darkness oppresses us; not this oblivion of beauty expresses us. gaze not on it, to be stained with its stain; the lonely all-beautiful calls us again. in galleried palaces, turquoise blue, with the sweetness of many suns filtering through,-- in the suns's own garden, where galaxies flame for lilac and daffodil, each on his stem,-- where apple-bloom capricorn hangs from his tree, glittering dim o'er the dim blue sea,-- and billowing dim o'er the dim blue lawns of heaven come the nebular sunsets and dawns,-- we too have the regallest part of our being, far beyond dreaming of, hearing of, seeing. and the lonely all-beautiful calls to us here:-- "my knights, my commissioned, my children dear! "the hell where affrighted, enchanted, ye roam,-- ye set forth to make it a heaven for my home!" --and it is vision, not to mistake mankind for less or other than deific essence cruelly encumbered over with oblivion; it is to see the flame of eternal beauty and valiant godhood in all men; and not to rest or sit content without doing something to uncover that beauty, to rescue that godhood.--you go into the slums of a great city; and you do not wonder that the god-essence, inmingling and involved in the clay which is (the lower) man, goes there quite distraught and unrecognizable; where life is so far from the great reflexion of the worlds of beauty; where the sun is no bright brother and confidential friend, but a breeder up of pestilences; where the sky is shut away and there are no flowers to bloom;--whether we like it or no, these things, the unperverted manifestations of the formative pressure of the spirit, are needed to keep men sane. beauty you must have, to nourish the divine within you; alas for him that thinks he may attain to the good or the true, and in a thin meager or puritan spirit, strives to shut out their divine sister from his needs and aspirations!--but there, in our hideous modern conditions, there is no vision, without or within; so men go mad with fearful lusts and despairs; and it is the van of the battle, in one sense, between godhood and chaos; and reeks with the slaughter and bloodshed and the madness of that conflict; there too the holy spirit of man is incarnate; there the host of souls;--but in the shock and din and the carnage, there on the slippery brink of yet unconquered hell,--all the divine descent and ancient glory of the host is forgotten:--_there is no vision, and the people perish._ (it may seem i go a long way round to come to him; but in reality i am already trying to draw you a character-sketch of the subject of this evening's lecture: to present you the permanent part and significance of a strange incarnation of vision that appeared in rome's dark and dying days: the man to whom saint gregory nazianzen, in his grand attack, applied that ringing triplet of epithets i have taken for the title of the lecture: "the dragon, the apostate, the great mind." know him first in his impersonality thus: a great white flame of vision; a tremendous poet of the gods in action;--and then, when you come to his personality, with what it might have retained of personality, of hereditary impairments, perhaps, that should have vanished had he lived past his young manhood, these will not hinder you from understanding the greatness and beauty and tragedy of that life apparently wasted. but we shall come to him in our time.) back in the sixth century b. c., when all those great teachers came: when the forces that until then had been pent up in the mysteries were suddenly let loose upon the world,--and the more vehement for their having been so pent up, and their now being so let loose;--what a flood of vision they brought with them! in greece, to rouse up almost at once that wonderful wave of artistic creation; in persia, to create quickly a splendid and chivalrous empire; in india, (so far as we know) to pervade as an ethical illumination the life of the people for some centuries before manifesting in art or empire; in china, to work in a twofold current, on one side upon the imagination, on the other upon the moral conceptions of the race, until the chinese manvantara began. its effect in each case was according to the cyclic position of the country at the time: those, seemingly, being the most fortunate, that had to wait longest for the full fruition. thus it struck china in the midst of pralaya, and lay in the soil fructifying until the pralaya had passed; then, appearing and re-appearing according to cyclic law, was a saving health in the nation for fifteen centuries at least;--india, i imagine, when the manvantara there some five centuries old, and under a minor shadow; which shadow once passed, it produced its splendors in the maurya time; and was in all effective for a thousand years. but it came to persia in the autumn of the great cycle, when the forces it brought had to ripen quickly, and descend at once on to the military (the lowest) plane;--and to greece just at noon or early summer,--just before the most intellectual moment,--and so there, too, had no time to ripen, but must burst out at once in artistic creation without ever a chance first to work in and affect the moral life of the race. this last is what pythagoras at croton had in mind to do: had croton endured, there would have been a stable moral basis for the intellectual spendors.--i believe that you have here the very archeus and central clue to history. in china, it was enough for laotse to float his magical ideas, and for confucius to give out his extremely simple (but highly efficient) philosophy, and to provide his grand example; in india it was enough for the lord buddha to teach his wisdom and to found his order; he might trust the future to them;--for persia, one cannot say: the facts as to zoroaster are not enough known; there might seem to have been some failure there too;--but in greece, it was imperative that pythagoras should establish his lomaland; nothing else could save the forces from squandering themselves at once, in that momentous time, on the intellectual and artistic planes, and leaving life unredeemed and unaffected. which indeed they did; and thence on it europe we see century by century vision waning and the world on a downward path, until the moment comes when a new effort may be made. augustus calls a halt then; moves heaven and earth; works like ten herculeses, along all lines, to bring about an equilibrium in outer affairs; and so far succeeds that in his time one or two men may have the vision, at any rate:--virgil may catch more than glimpses of the inner beauty, and leave the outer world a litle less forlorn. but in place of the rush and fine flow of the grecian age, what painful strivings we find in the augustan!--when too, teachers labor to illumine the vastnesses within; apollonius; moderatus; shall we add, the nazarene?--so the downward tendency is checked; in the following centuries we see a slow pushing upward,--in the heroic effort of the stoics, not after vision--that was beyond their scope and ken,--but after at least that which should bring it back,--a noble method of life. and then, at last, a dawn eastward: and the bugles of the spirits of the dawn heard above the pyramids, heard over the shadowy plains where babylon was of old;--and out of that yellow glow in the sky come, now that the cycle permits them, masters of the splendid vision. they come with something of light from the ancient mysteries of egypt; with some shining from star plato, and from pythagoras; and at their coming light up the dark worlds and the intense blue deeps of the sky,--wherein you can see now, under their guidance, immeasurable and beautiful things to satisfy the highest cravings of your heart: winged aeons on aeons, ring above ring,--mystery emanating mystery, beauty, beauty, from here up to the throne of the lonely all-beautiful.-- what growth there had been in roman europe, to prepare the way for the spread of neo-platonism, i cannot say; but imagine gnosticism had something to do with it; and that gnosticism was a graft on the parent stem of christianity set there by some real teacher who came later than jesus. if we knew more of the realities about simon magus on the one hand, and paul of tarsus on the other, we might have clearer light on the whole problem; at present must be content with saying this much:--that gnosticism, with its deep mystical truths, emerges into the light of well-founded history about neck and neck with orthodox christianity; was considered a branch of the same movement, equally christian; but was at least tinged with esoteric truth, and deeply hellenized, and perhaps persianized;--whereas the orthodox branch was the legitimate heir of exoteric judaism. how much of real vision there may have been in gnosticism; how much of mere speculation, which is but a step towards vision,--i am not prepared to guess; but have little doubt that gnostic activities made ready the ground for neo-platonism; so that when the latter's manasaputric light incarnated, it found fit rupas to inhabit. this was the lodge's most important effort to sow truth in europe since pythagoras. says even the _enyclopaedia britannica_ (without help from esotericism): "neo-platonism is in one aspect ... the consummation of ancient philosophy. never before in greek or roman speculation had the consciousness of man's dignity and superiority to nature received such adequate expression.... from the religious and moral point of view, it must be admitted that the ethical 'mood' which neo-platonisni endeavored to create and maintain is the highest and purest ever reached by antiquity.... it is a proof of the strength of the moral instincts of mankind that the only phase of culture which we can survey in all its stages from beginning to end culminated not in materialism but in the highest idealism." it asserted the gods, the great stars and luminaries of the inner world; it asserted the divinity of man,--superior, truly, as the _encyclopaedia_ says to (the lower) nature, but of the higher, one part or factor in the whole. it came into europe trailing clouds of splendor and opening the heavens of vision. the huge menace and perils of the age, the multiplying disasters, were driving men to seek spiritual refuge of some kind; and there were, in the main, two camps that offered it:--this of neo-platonism, proclaiming human divinity and strong effort upward in the name of that; and that other which proclaimed human helplessness, and that man is a poor worm and weakling, originally sinful, and with nothing to hope from his own efforts, but all from the grace, help, or mercy of extracosmic intervention. it was a terribly comfortable doctrine, this last, for a race staggering towards the end of its manvantara under a fearful load of detritus, a culture old and thoroughly tired. no wonder europe chose this path, and not the neo-platonist path of flaming idealism and endeavor. ammonius, plotinus, porphyry, iamblichus,--they had worked wonders; but not the crowning wonder of that which could save the age and the age to come: plotinus had failed of that, because there no tool at hand for the gods, but a silly, weak gallienus.--so now constantine has made the great change; and the empire that was roman is now roman no longer: you owe your first allegiance now, not to the state or to the emperor at its head, but to an _imperium_ within the state which claims immunity from laws and duties: the kingdom is divided within itself, and must look for the fate of divided kingdoms. zeus on olympus now weighs the roman empire in his scales,--and finds the fate is death, and no help for it: there are to be thirteen decades of moribundity, and then christian burial, with odoacer and sundry other the like barbarians to be mourners and heirs; and then,--blackest night over the western world for god knows how long: night, with nightmare and horror, and no vision, no beautiful dreams, no refreshment, no peace. for the party that constantine has now made dominant despises cordially all the ancient light of hellenism; aeschylus, homer, plato, sophocles, euripides,-- everyone you could in any sense a light-bearer that came of old, to bring mankind even the merest brain-mind culture,--these people condemn and abhor for heathen, and take pleasure in the thought that they are now, and have been since they died, and shall be forever, frizzling in the nether fires: they condemn the substance of their writings, and will draw no ideas, no saving grace, from them whatever;--will learn from them nothing in the world but grammar and eloquence with which to thunder at them and all their like from barren raucous pulpits. so, vision having gone, culture is to go too, and all you can call civilization; and therewith law and order, and the decencies of life: all that _soap_ stands symbol for is to be anathema maranatha; all that the soul stands symbol for is to be anathema maranatha;--a pretty prospect! zeus sighs in heaven, and his sigh is a doleful thunder prophetic of the gloom that is to overspread all the western skies for many centuries to come. --and then comes helios, the unconquered sun, and lays a hand on his arm, and says: "not so fast!; never despair yet; look down--_there!_" and the gods look down: to a gloomy castle upon a crag in the wild mountains of cappadocia; and they see there a youth, a captive banished to that desolate grand region: well-attended, as befits a prince of the royal blood, but lonely and overshadowed; --not under fear, because fear is no part of his nature; but yet never knowing when the order for his death may come. they read all this in his mind, his atmosphere. they see him deep in his books: a soul burning with earnestness, but discontented, and waiting for something: all the images of homer rising about him beckoning on the one hand, and on the other a grim something that whispers, these are false; i alone am true! --"what of him?" says zeus; "he too is a christian."--"watch!" says sol invictus; "i have sent my man to him."--and they watch; and sure enough, presently they see a man coming into this youth's presence, and pointing upwards towards themselves; and they see the youth look up, and the shadow pass from his eyes as a great blaze of light and splendor breaks before him,--as he catches sight of them, the gods, and his eye meets theirs, and he rises, illumined and smiling;--and they know that in the roman world there is this one man with the grand vision; this man who may yet (if they play their cards well) wear the roman diadem;-- that there is vision in the roman world again, and it may be the people shall not perish. it was julian, "the dragon, the apostate, the great mind"; i thank thee, gregory of nazianzus, for teaching me that word!--and the one that came to him there in cappadocia was maximus of smyrna, iamblichus' disciple. his story has been told and re-told; i expect you know it fairly well. how he was a son of julius constantius, son of constantius chlorus,--and thus a nephew of constantine the great, and a first cousin to the octopus-spider-maiden aunt constantius then on the throne;--how he because of his infancy, and his half-brother gallus because of a delicate constitution which made it seem impossible he should grow up, were spared when constantius had the rest of the family massacred;--how he was banished and confined in that cappadocian castle;--of gallus' short and evil reign that ended, poor fool that he was, in his being lured into the spider-web of constantius and beheaded;--how julian was called then to the court at milan, expecting a like fate;--how he spent seven months there, spied on at every moment, and looking for each to be his last;--how he was saved and befriended by the noble empress eusebia (a strangely beautiful figure to find in those sinister surroundings);--and sent presently to the university of athens, there to spend the happiest moments of his life;--then called back to be made caesar: he who had never been anything but a student and a dreamer, called from his books and dreams at twenty-four, and set to learn (as caesar) his elementary drill,-- which he found very difficult to learn indeed;--and then sent to fight the germans in gaul. how constantius tried always to thwart him while he was there: setting underlings over him with power to undo or prevent all he might attempt or do;--how in spite of it all he fought the germans, and drove them across the rhine, and followed them up, and taught them new lessons in their own remote forests; and took the gorgeous chnodomar, their king, prisoner; and sent for him, prepared to greet friendlily one so great in stature and splendid in bearing; but was disgusted when the gentleman, on coming into his presence, groveled on the floor and whined for his life,--whereupon julian, instead of treating him like a gentleman as he had intended, packed him off to his (chnodomar's) old ally the maiden aunt at milan to see what they would make of each other;--how he fought three campaigns victoriously beyond the rhine; restored the desolated cisrhenish no-man's land, and brought in from britain, in six hundred corn-ships, an amount gibbon calculates at , quarters of wheat to feed its destitute population.--and this fact is worth nothing: if britain could export all that wheat, it surface was not, as some folks hold, mainly under forest: it was a well-cultivated country, you may depend, with agriculture in a very flourishing condition,--as gibbon does not fail to point out. --and you know, probably, how julian loved his paris, and governed gaul thence in civil affairs in such a manner that paris and gaul loved him;--how his own special legions, his pets, his tenth, so to say, were the _celts_ and _petulants,_ and after these, the _herulians_ and _batavians_ (or shall i say _dutchmen?_);--how constantius tried to deprive him of these, ordering him to send them off to him for wars with sapor in the east;--how julian sorrowfully bade them go, judging well by gallus his brother's experience (whom constantius had treated in the same way as a first step towards cutting off his head) what the next thing should be;--but how they, (bless their celtic and petulant and herulian and dutch hearts!) told him very plainly that that kind of thing would not wash with them: "come!" said they; "no nonsense of this sort; be you our emperor, and _condemn_ that old lady your cousin constantius!--or we kill you right now." into his bed-room in paris they poured by night with those terms,--an ultimatum; whether or not with a twinkle in their eyes when they proposed the alternative, who can say?--what was a young hero to do, whom the gods had commissioned to strike the grand blow for them; and who never should strike it, that was certain, if constantius should have leave to take away from him, first his celts and petulants, and then his head? so he accepts; and writes kindly and respectfully to his maiden aunt-- spidership the emperor telling him he must manage _without_ the legions, and _with_ a co-augustus to share the empire with him,-- ruling (it was to be hoped in perfect harmony with himself) the west and leaving the east to constantius. however, all will not do: constantius writes severe and haughtily, send the men, and let's hear no more of that presumptuous fooling about the second augustus!--so julian marches east; whither, accompanying him, the lately rebellious celts and petulants are ready enough to go now; and constantius might after all have fallen in battle, and so missed his saving baptism; but his plans had gone agley, and the whole situation was extremely disturbing; and you never knew what might happen: and really, when you thought how you had treated this julian's father, and his two brothers, and numberless uncles and cousins, you might fear the very worst;-- and so, good maiden-auntish soul, he fell into a sadness, and thence into a decline; and while julian and his petulants were yet a long way off, got baptized respectably, and slipped off to heaven. and you know, too, probably, how julian, being now sole emperor, reigned: working night and day; wearing out relays of secretaries, but never worn out himself; making the three years of his reign, as i think gibbon says, read like thirty; disestablishing christianity, and refounding paganism,--not the paganism that had been of old, but a new kind, based upon compassion, human brotherhood, and theosophical ethics, and illumined by his own ever-present vision of the gods;--how he reformed the laws; governed; made his life-giving hand felt from the scottish wall to the nile cataracts;--instilled new vigor into everything; forced toleration upon the christians, stopping dead their mutual persecutions, and recalling from banishment those who had been banished by their co-religionists of other sects;--made them rebuild temples they had torn down, and disgorge temple properties they had plundered;--and amidst all this, and much more also, found time in the wee small hours of the nights to do a good deal of literary work: theosophical treatises, correspondence, sketches....--and you will know of the spotless purity, the asceticism, of his life; and how he stedfastly refused to persecute;--whereby his opponents complained that, son of satan as he was, he denied them the glory of the martyr's crown;--and of his plan to rebuild the temple at jerusalem, and to re-establish jews and judaism in their native land:--of his letter to the jewish high priest or chief rabbi, beginning "my brother";--of the charitable institutions he raised, and dedicated to the lord of vision, his god the unconquered sun;--of his contests with frivolity and corruption at antioch, and his friendship with the philosophers;--and then, of his persian expedition, with its rashness,--its brilliant victories,--its over-rashness and head-strong advance;--of the burning of the fleet, and march into the desert; and retreat; and that sudden attack,--the persian squadrons rising up like afreets out of the sands, from nowhere; and julian rushing unarmed through the thickest of the fight, turning, first here, then there, confusion into firmness, defeat into victory;--and of the arrow, persian or christian, that cut across his fingers and pierced his side; and how he fainted as he tried to draw it out; and recovered, and called for his horse and armor; and fainted again; and was carried into a tent hastily run up for him:--and of the scene there in the night, that made those who were with him think of the last scene in the life of socrates; julian dying, comforting his mourning officers; cheering them; talking to them quietly about the beauty and dignity of death, and the divinity of the soul; then suddenly inquiring why anatolius was not present,--and learning that anatolius had fallen,--and (strange inconsistency!) the dying man breaking into tears of the death of his friend.--and you will know of the hopeless march of the army back under ignominious jovian, all shah sapor's hard terms accepted;--and the doom of the roman empire sealed. that was the man: that is the record, outwardly, of a soul fed upon the immensities of vision. vision is the keynote of him: the intense reality to him of the ever-beautiful compassionate gods.... it is true there was a personality attached; and all his defenders since have found much in it that they wished had not been there. a lack of dignity, it is said; a certain self-consciousness... well; he was very young; he died a very boy at thirty-two; he never attained to years of discretion:--in a sense we may allow that much. you say, he might very well have followd the reaonable conventions of life; and condescended, when emperor, not to dress as a philosopher of the schools. so he might. they laughed at his ways, at his garb, at his beard;-- and he went the length of sitting up one night to write the _misopogon,_ a skit upon his personality. only philosophers wore beards in those days; it was thought most unsuitable in an emperor. i do not know what the men of antioch said about it; but he speaks of it as unkempt and,--in the gibbonistic euphemism,--_populous;_ indeed, names the loathsome cootie outright, which gibbon was much too gibbonish to do. in the nature of things, this was a libel. i read lately an article, i think by an irish writer, on the eccentricities of youthful genius. it often happens that a soul of really fine caliber, with a great work to do in the world, will waste a portion of his forces, at the outset, in fighting the harmless conventions. but as his real self grows into mastery, all this disappears, and he comes to see where his battle truly lies. julian died before he had had time quite to outgow the eccentricities; but for all that, not before he had shown the world what the soul in action is like. every great soul, incarnating, has still this labor to carry through as prolog to his life's work:--he must conquer the new personality, with all its hereditary tendencies; he must mold it difficultly to the perfect expression of the glory and dignity of himself. julian had to take up a body in which on the one side ran the warrior blood of claudius gothicus and constantius chlorus, on the other, the refinement and culture of the senatorial house of the anicii. two such streams, coming together, might well need some harmonizing: might well produce, for example, an acute self-consciousness,--to be mastered. what he got from them, for world-service, was on the one hand his superb military leadership and mastery of affairs; on the other, his intense devotion to learning and culture. thus the two streams of heredity appeared, dominated by his own quality of vision. the paternal stream, by his generation, had grown much vitiated: it was pure warriorism in claudius gothicus, and even in constantius chlorus; it was warriorism refined with subtlety and cruelty in constantine i; it was mere fussy treacherous cruelty in the spider-octopus,--and sensual brutality in julian's brother gallus. the vices of the latter may indicate how great a self-conqueror the unstained julian was. he was a keats in imperial affairs, dying when he had given no more than a promise of what he should become. he laws, his valor, his victories, his writings, are no more than _juvenilia:_ they are equal to the grand performance, not the promise, of many who are counted great. he came out from his overshadowment and long seclusion, from him books and dreams; was thrown into conditions that would have been difficult for an experienced statesman, and won through them all triumphantly; was set to conduct a war that would have taxed the genius of a caesar, a tiberius, or an aurelius,--and swept through to as signal victories as any of theirs. he learnt the elements of drill, and was straight sent to conquer the conquering germans; and did it brilliantly. he came to a gaul as broken and hopeless as joan of arc's france; and found within himself every quality needed to heal it and make it whole. joan conquered with her vision; julian conquered with his. he set out with this before his eyes and in his soul:--the gods are there; the beautiful gods; uttermost splendor of divinity is at the heart of things. the glory of the gods and of their world filled his eyes; and the determination filled his soul to make this outer world conform to the beauty of his vision. the thing he did not care about,--did not notice, except in a humourous way,--was that queer thing of a personality that had been allotted to himself. how could he have succeeded, in the world that then was?--and yet even a christian poet was constrained to say,--and to rise, says gibbon, above his customary mediocrity in saying it,--that though julian was hateful to god, he was altogether beneficent to mankind. i do not know how to explain the persian expedition. he himself said, when dying, that he had loved and sought peace, and had but gone to war when driven to it. we cannot see now what were the driving factors. did he go to reap glory that he might have used, or thought he might have used, in his grand design? did he go to break a way into india, perhaps there to find a light beyond any that was in rome? ... or was it the supreme mistake of his life.... one would say the only mistake? it failed, and he died, and his grand designs came to nothing; and rome went out in utter darkness. and men sneered at him then, and have been sneering at him ever since, for his failure. perhaps we must call it that; it was a forlorn hope at the best of times. but you cannot understand him, unless you think of him as a lord of vision lonely in a world wholly bereft of it: a man for whom all skies were transparent, and the solid earth without opacity, but with the luminous worlds shining through wherein apollo walks, and all the masters of light and beauty;--unless you think of him as a lord of vision moving in an outer world, a phase of civilization, old, tired, dying, dull as ditch-water, without imagination, with no little vestige of poetry, no gleam of aspiration,--with wit enough to sneer at him, and no more; by no means with wit enough to allow him to save it from itself and from ruin. xxiv. from julian to bodhidharma when the news came drifting back over the roman world that the emperor had been killed in persia, and that an unknown insignificant jovian reigned in his stead;--and while three parts of the population were rejoicing that there was an end of the apostate and his apostasy; and half the rest, that there was an end of this terrible strenuosity, this taking of the gods (good harmless useful fictions--probably fictions) so fearfully in earnest: i wonder how many there were to guess how near the end of the world had come? the cataclysm was much more sudden and over-whelming than we commonly think; and to have prophesied, in roman society, in the year , that in a century's time the empire and all its culture would be things of the past (in the west), would have sounded just as ridiculous, probably, as such a prophesy concerning europe and its culture would have sounded in a london drawing-room fifteen years ago. there were signs and portents, of course, for the thoughtful; and no doubt some few matthew arnolds in their degree to be troubled by them. and of course (as in our own day, but perhaps rather more), an idea with cranks that at any moment doomsday might come. but while the world endured, and the last trump had not sounded, of course the roman empire would stand.--christianity? well, yes; it had grown very strong; and the extremists among the christians were rabid enough against culture of any sort. but there were also christians who, while they hated the olden culture of paganism, were ambitious to supply a christian literature in prose and verse to take the place of the classical. there had been an awful devastation of gaul; the barbarians of the north had been, now and again, uneasy and troublesome; but see how julian--even he, with the grace of god all against him--had chastised them! the head of the roman state would always be the master of the world. and strangely enough, this was an idea that persisted for centuries; facts with all their mordant logic were impotent to kill it. hardly in dante's time did men guess that the roman empire and its civilization were gone. life, when julian died, was still capable of being a very graceful and dignified affair,--outwardly, at any rate. on their great estates in gaul, in britain, in italy, great and polished gentlemen still enjoyed their _otium cum dignitate._ the culture of the great past still maintained itself amongst them; although thought and all mental vigor were buried deep under the detritus. in fourth century gaul there was quite a little literary renaissance; centering, as you might expect, in the parts furthest from german invasion. its leading light was born in bordeaux in the three-thirties; and was thus (to link things up a little) a younger contemporary of the indian samudragupta. he was ausonius: teacher of rhetoric, tutor to the prince gratian, consul, country gentleman, large land-owner, and, in a studious uninspired reflective way, a goodish poet. also a convert to christianity, but unenthusiastic:--altogether, a dignified and polished figure; such as you might find in england now, in the country squire who has held important offices in india in his time, hunts and shoots in season, manages his estates with something between amateur and professional interest, reads horace for his pleasure, and even has a turn for writing latin verses. ausonius leaves us a picture of the life of his class: a placid, cultured life, with quite a strong ethical side to it; sterile of any deep thought or speculation; far removed from unrest.-- another respresentative man was his friend symmachus at rome: also highly cultured and of dignified leisure; a very upright and capable gentleman widely respected for his sterling honesty; a pagan, not for any stirring of life within his heart or mind, but simply for love of the ancient roman idea,--sheer conservatism;--for much the same reasons, in fact, as make the englishman above-mentioned a staunch member of the english church. there were many such men about: admirable men; but unluckily without the great constructive energies that might, under julian's guidance for example, have saved the empire. but the empire! in that crisis,--in that narrow pass in time! it is not excellent gentlemen that can do such near-thaumaturgic business; but only disciples; for the proposition is, as i understand it, to link this world with the god-world, and hold fast through thunders and cataclysm, so that what shall come through,--what shall be when the thunder is stilled and the cataclysm over,-- shall flow on and up onto a new order of cycles, higher, nearer the spirit. . . . . no; it is not to be done by amiable gentlemen, or excellent administrators, or clever politicians. . . . julian had come flaming down into the world, to see if he could rouse up and call together those who should do it; but his bugles had sounded in the empty desert, and died away over the sands. there were tremendous energies abroad; but they were all with the destroyers, and were to be, ever increasingly: with such men as, at this time, saint martin of tours, that great tearer-down of temples; or in the next century, saint cyril of alexandria and peter the reader, the tearers-to-pieces of hypatia. perhaps the greatest energies of all you should have found, now and later, in the christian mob of alexandria,--wild beasts innocent of nothing but soap and water. it was symmachus who was chosen by the roman senate to remonstrate with the emperor valentinian against the removal of the altar and statue of victory,--the pagan symbols,--from the senate house. i quote you gibbon's summary of a part of his petition: "the great and incomprehensible secret of the universe eludes the enquiry of man. where reason cannot instruct, custom may be permitted to guide; and every nation seems to consult the dictates of prudence by a faithful attachment to those rites and opinions which have received the sanction of ages. if those ages have been crowned with glory and prosperity--if the devout people have frequently obtained the blessings which they have solicited at the altars of the gods--it must appear still more advisable to persist in the same salutary practise and not to risk the unknown perils that may attend any rash inovations. the test of antiquity and success, (continues gibbon), was applied with singular advantage to the religion of numa, and rome herself, the celestial genius that presided over the fates of the city, is introduced by the orator to plead her own cause before the tribunal of the emperors. 'most excellent princes,' says the venerable matron, 'fathers of your country! pity and respect my age, which has hitherto flowed in an uninterrupted course of piety. since i do not repent, enjoy my domestic institutions. this religion has reduced the world under my laws. these rites have repelled hannibal from the city, and the gauls from the capitol. were my grey hairs reserved for such intolerable disgrace? i am ignorant of the new system i am required to adopt; but i am well assured that the correction of old age is always an ungrateful and ignominious office.'" symmachus was addressing a christian emperor; and it was an ill thing then, as in the days of hadrian, to argue with the master of the legions. still, the method he chooses is interesting: it holds a light up to the inwardness of the age, and shows it dead. this was at twenty-one years after the death of the dragon-apostate; whose appeal had all been to the realities and the divinity of man and the living splendor of the gods he knew and loved. that splendor, said he, should burn away the detritus, and make romans men and free again. but symmachus, for all his admirable restraint, his rhetorical excellence, his good manners and gentlemanly bearing,--which i am sure we should admire,-- appeals really only to the detritus; to nothing in the world that could possibly help or save rome. the christians wanted to be free of it, because they felt its weight; the pagans wanted to keep it, because they found it warm and comfortable. symmachus sees nothing higher or better than custom; the secret of the universe, says he, is unknowable; there is no inner life. --he was confuted by a much more alive and less estimable man: ambrose, bishop of milan,--with whom, also, both he and ausonius were on friendly terms. ambrose's argument, too, is illuminating: like the king of hearts', it was in the main that "you were not to talk nonsense." how ridiculous, said he, to impute the victories of old rome to the religion of numa and favor of the gods,--when the strength and valor of the roman soldier were quite enough to account for all. thus he appears in the strange role of a rationalist. christianity, he continued, was the one and only true religion; and all the rest--etc., etc., etc. ambrose and his party were fighting towards a definite and positive end; knew what they wanted, and meant to get it. of course they won. symmachus and the senate were fighting only for a sentiment about the past, and had no chance at all. and it really did not matter: rome was doomed anyway. but in passing i must e'en linger on a note of sublimity in this petition of symmachus: of sublime faith;--when he makes dea roma refer to her history as having "hitherto flowed in an uninterrupted course of piety." it makes one think that they taught roman history in their schools then much in the same way that we teach our national histories in our schools today; here and in england, and no doubt elsewhere, _"an uninterrupted course of piety!"_ quotha. marry come up! but all this is anticipating the years a little: looking into the eighties, whereas we have not finished with the sixties yet. julian died in , on the th of june; and within a couple of years, you may say,--many said so then,--the gods began to avenge him. nature herself took a hand, to warn a degenerate world. in came an earthquake; gollowed by a huge withdrawal of the sea, so that you could explore dry-shod the antres of the sea-gods. and then a tidal wave which threw large ships up onto the roofs of houses two miles inland, and killed in alexandria alone fifty thousand people.--"aha!" said the pagans, "we told you so."--"nothing of the kind!" said the christians in reply; "did not we set a saint on the beach at epidaurus, before whom the oncoming billow stopped, bowed its head, and retired?" well; no doubt that was so; but alexandria was a perfect hotbed of saints, one of whom, you might think, might have been lured down to the beach and the perilous proximity of water for the occasion. but let it pass! ten years later the law began to marshal its armies seriously for the destruction of an obsolete world. the huns crossed the volga, and fell upon the ostrogoths, who had had a middle-european empire up through austria and germany. the ostrogoths, somewhat flattened out, joined with the huns to fall upon the visigoths; who theeupon poured down through the balkans to fall upon the romans; and defeated and killed the emperor valens at adianople in . theodosius, from to , held precariously together a frontier cracking and bulging all along the line as it had never cracked and bulged before. when he died, the empire finally split: of his two sons, arcadius taking the east, honorius the west. in honorius' half, from now on it is a record of ruin hurrying on the footsteps of ruin. ended the quiet _otium cum dignitate_ of the great country gentlemen; the sterile culture, the somewhat puritan morality, the placid refined life we read of in ausonius. you shall see now the well-ordered estate laid waste;--the peasants killed or hiding in the woods;--the mansion smashed, and its elegant furniture;--the squire, the kindly-severe religious matron his mother the young wife,--gracious lady of the house,-- and the bonny children:--they are hacked corpses lying at random in the wrecked salons, or in the trampled garden where my lady's flowers now grow wild. the land went out of cultivation; the populace, what remained of it, crowded into the walled cities, there to frowse in mental and physical stuffiness until the middle ages were passed,--or else took to the wilds under any vigorous mind, and became bandits. the open country was all trodden down by wave after wave of marauding, murdering, beer-swilling, turbulent giants from the north,--or by the still more dreaded dwarfish horsemen whose forefathers pan chow had driven long since out of asia. they poured down into greece; they, poured down through gaul and spain into africa; into italy; host after host of them;--civilization was a pathetic sand-castle washed over and over by ruining seas. rome, indeed, could still command generals at times: stilicho, aetius, and afterwards belisarius and narses; but they were all pitiful partingtons swishing their mops round against a most ugly atlantic. in rome itself was sacked by alaric; in the same year britain, and then brittany, rose and threw off the roman yoke. in the four-fifties came the keen point of the hunnish terror, putting the fear of death on even the worst of the barbarians that had wrecked the roman world. in , the pretense of a western empire was abandoned.--so now to follow the great march of the cycles eastward; with this warning: that next week we shall glance at a little backwash in the other direction, and see the disembodied soul of this now closed phase of human culture 'go west.' the split with rome was altogether of value to the eastern empire of constantinople. that empire lasted, from the time of arcadius to that of constantine ix and mohammed the conqueror, "one thousand and fifty-eight years," says gibbon, "in a state of premature and perpetual decay."--a statement which, taken as an example of gibbonese, is altogether delightful; but for the true purposes of history it may need a little modification. the position of this byzantine empire was a curious one: european in origin, mainly west-asian in location. its situation permitted it to last on so long into the west-asian manvantara; its origin doomed that long survival to be, for the most part, devoid of the best characteristics of life. yet during most of the european pralaya it was far and away the richest and most civilized power in christendom; and, except during the reigns of extraordinary kings in the west, like charlemagne, the strongest too. it specialized in military science; and the well-trained byzantine soldiers and highly scientific generals had little to fear, as a rule, from the rude energies and huge stature of the northern and western hordes. but culture remained there in the sishta state, and could do nothing until it was transplanted. there were cycles: weaknesses and recoveries; on the whole its long life-period matters very little to history; it only became of great importance when it died. the reason why it did not succumb when rome did was that the tides of life in the whole empire had long been flowing eastward, and were now gathered there almost wholly: there was much more activity in the east; there were much bigger cities, and a much greater population. so that part was harder to penetrate and conquer: there was more resistance there. the barbarian deluge flowed down where it might flow down most easily: following, as deluges and everything else gifted with common sense always do, the lines of least resistance. the way through gaul and spain was quite open; the way into italy nearly so;--but the way into asia was blocked by constantinople. that city is naturally one of the strongest in the world, in a military sense; and, you would say, inevitably the capital of an empire. if dardanus had had a little more intuition, and had founded his troy on the golden horn instead of on the dardanelles, anax andron agamemnon and his chalcho-chitoned achaeans, i dare say, would have gone home to greece much sadder and wiser men;--or more probably, not at all. but troy is near enough to that inevitable site to argue the strong probability of its having been, perhaps long before priam's time, a great seat of empire, trade, and culture. if one dug in constantinople itself, i dare say one should find the remains of cities that had been mighty. events of the last seven years have shown how difficult it is to attack, how easy to defend. since its foundation by constantine it has been besieged nine times, and only twice taken by foreign enemies. when the turks took it, they had already overflowed all the surrounding territories; and they were the strongest military power in the world, and the byzantines were among the weakest.--so it stood there in the fifth century to hold back the hordes of northern europe from the rich lands of asia minor and syria: a strength much beyond the power of those barbarians to tackle; while all europe west-ward was being trampled to death. further, the peace imposed on jovian by shah sapor in lasted, with one small intermission of war, and that successful for the romans, for a hundred and thirty-eight years; during which time, also, the powers that were at constantinople ruled mainly wisely and with economy. they were generally not the reigning emperor, but his wife or mother or aunt, or someone like that. so then, in the year we find the world in this condition:-- western europe going "with hideous ruin and combustion down to bottomless perdition;" --the eastern empire weakish, but fairly quiet and advancing towards prosperity: in pralaya certainly, and so to remain for thirteen decades ( to ) from the death of theodosius to the accession of justinian;--persia, under an energetic and intelligent yazdegird ii ( to ), a strongish military power: yazdegird held his barons well in hand, and even made a brave effort to broaden the religious outlook; he tried to stop the persecution of the christians, and allowed them to organize a national church, the nestorian;--india, still and until , at the height of her glory:--there is a continual rise as you go eastward, with the climax in india. the next step is china; to which now after all these centuries we return. as we have seen, since the hans fell there had been a confusion of ephemeral kingdoms jostling and hustling each other across the stage of time: there had been too much history altogether; too many wars, heroes, adventures and wild escapades. life was too riotous and whirling an affair: china seemed to have sunk into a mere europe, a kind of kilkenny christendom. not that culture ever became extinct; indeed, through this whole period the super-refinement that had grown up under the hans persisted side by side with the barbarian excursions and alarms. it was not, as in rome, a case of major pralaya: men did not resort to savagery; literary production seems never to have run quite so sterile. but things were in the melting-pot, centripetalism had gone; little dynasties flared up quickly and expired; and amidst all those lightning changes there was no time for progress, or deep concerns, or for the soul of the black-haired people to be stirring to manifestation. you will, i dare say, have learned to look for a rise in china at any falling-time in europe; so would consider something should have happened there in , the year of the great earthquake and tidal wave, when the fifty thousand alexandrians were drowned,-- the second year after julian's death. well; in that tao yuan-ming was born, who later became known as tao chien: in japanese, toemmei. there had been poets all along. during the last thirty years of the hans, to , there had been the seven scholars of the chien an period: among them that jolly k'ung jung who, because he was a descendant of confucius, claimed blood-relationship with the descendants of laotse. ts'ao ts'ao himself wrote songs: he was that bold bad adventurer and highly successful general who turned out the last han and set his own son on the throne as wei wenti; who also was a poet, as was his brother ts'ao chih. of ts'ao chih a contemporary said: "if all the talent in the world were divided into ten parts, ts'ao chih would have eight of them."--"who, then, would have the other two?" asked somebody.--"i should have one of them myself," was the answer, "and the rest of the world the other." ts'ao chih enriched the language with one of its most familiar and delicious quotations: "the superior man takes precautions, and avoids giving rise to suspicion: he does not pull up his shoes in a melon patch, nor adjust his cap while passing through an orchard of plums." it is indicative of his own position at court. later in the third century came the seven sages of the bamboo grove, a "club of rather bibulous singers"; and there are names of many scholars besides to say that the time was not too barren; yet on the whole it was, i suppose, a period of slump in literary production, as it was of confusion in politics. but when julian had been dead two years in the west of the world, tao yuan-ming was born in the east: i do not say the creator of a new time; but certainly a sign of its coming. a large amount of his poetry survives; and it is filled with a new spirit. like wordsworth, he went back to nature. ambition, of course, had been a great mark of the age: men raced after office, and scrambled for the spoils. tao yuan-ming was called to fill an official post, and went up reluctantly to the capital; but very soon escaped back to the things he loved: the mountains, and his chrysanthemum garden, and the country, where he could hear the dogs barking in the far farms, and see the chickens scratching in the lanes. we do not find in him, perhaps, the flood of natural magic that came with the poets of the great age three or four centuries later; but we do find a heart-felt worship of the great unspoiled world under the sky: he is there to say that china was returning to her real strength, which is nature-worship. while he pottered about in the front garden, he tells us, his wife pottered about in the back garden; they made an idol of their chrysanthemums, and started or nourished the cult which has flourished so strongly since in japan. he was i suppose the greatest poet since ch'u yuan, who came some seven centuries earlier; it is from him we get the story some of you may know under the title _red peach-blossom inlet._ for about half a cycle (sixty-five years) barbarian dynasties had been holding the north; with the result that the center of gravity of the real black-haired people had been shifted from the puritan landscapes of north china to the pagan landscapes of the yangtse valley,--a region of mountains and forests and lakes and wild waters: tsu the land of laotse and ch'u yuan, and i think chwangtse too. it is here are the hills of t'ang, the metropolis of natural magic perhaps for all the world; and the mind and imagination of china, centered here, were receiving a new polarization; something richer and more luminous was being born. contemporary with tao yuan-ming was ku kaichih, the first supreme name in painting. fenollosa speaks of a "white lotus club," organized by hui yuan, a buddhist priest, and consisteing of "mountain-climbers and thinkers,"--tao yuan-ming being a member. one would like to get at the heart of what happened in that last quarter of the fourth century. this is what we see on our side: canton and yangtse ports were being visited more and more by hindu, arab, and sassanian traders, bringing in new things and ideas: the hindus, especially, an impetus towards culture from the splendor of the gupta period, then at its topmost height. also ther were new inventions, such as that of paper, which was an incentive to literary output. the chinese mind, in the south especially, was quickened on the one hand by the magical wind from the mountains, and on the other by a wind from the great world over-seas: the necessary nationalistic and international quickenings. but deeper quickenings also were taking place. india was fast becoming, under the gupta reaction towards brahmanism, no place for the buddhists; and the hindu ships that put in at canton and the yangtse were bringing much to china besides merchandise. a great propaganda of buddhism was in process; by indian monks, and now too for the first time by native chinese. we read of a missionary who went about preaching to an indifferent world; then in sorrow took to the mountains, and proclaimed the good law to the mountain boulders; and they "nodded as it were their heads in assent." * but there is evidence that china was fast becoming the spiritual metropolis of the world: buddhism was drifting in, and mingling among the mountains with mountain taoism, that dear and hoary magic of the eastern world; and the result was an atmosphere in which astounding events were to happen. ------ * giles _dictionary of chinese biography;_ from which work, and from the same author's _chinese literature,_ the facts, quotations, and enecdotes given in this lecture are taken. ------ in , kumarajiva, the seventeenth buddhist patriarch, came from india and took up his residence at the court at changan, where a tibetan family was then reigning over the north; and this, when you think that these patriarchs were (as i believe) no popes elected by a conclave of churchly dignities, but the spiritual successors of the buddha, each appointed by his predecessor, an event momentous enough in itself. still, kumarajiva came (it would appear) but to prepare the way for the great change that was impending; left behind him a successor in india, or one to fill the office at his death; in india the headquarters of buddhism remained. two years before his arrival, fa hian, a chinese buddhist monk, had set out on foot from central china, walked across the gobi desert, and down through afghanistan into india, a pilgrim to the sacred places: a sane and saintly man, from whom we learn most of what we know about the gupta regime. he returned by sea in , landing at kiao-chao in santung,--a place latterly so sadly famous,--bringing with him spiritual and quickening influences. in the south, meanwhile, another indian teacher, buddhabhadra, had been at work. before very long, a renaissance was in full flow. the political events that led up to it were these: between and a tatar family by the name of liu, from manchuria, succeeded in driving the house of tsin out of northern china: these tsins were that effete, ladylike, chess-playing, fan-waving, high-etiquettish dynasty i have spoken of before. in they took up their abode in nanking, and there ruled corruptly for a hundred years, leaving the north to the barbarians. in , a soldier in their employ, liu-yu by name, deposed the last tsin emperor, and set himself on the throne as the first sovereign of the liu-song dynasty. he was a capable man, and introduced some vigor and betterment into affairs; he found conditions ripe for a renaissance of civilization; and in his reign we may say that the renaissance took shape. is, so far as a date can be given for what was really a long process, a convenient date to give. we have seen persia rise in the two-twenties; india in the three-twenties; we shall not go far wrong in giving the four-twenties to china. that decade, too, marks a fresh step downward in the career of rome: honorius died in . fenollosa is definite upon for the inception of the great age of the southern renaissance of art. that age culminated in the first half of the next century, and ended with the passing of the liang dynasty in the five-fifties: a matter of thirteen decades again; which, i take it, is further reason for considering our four-twenties epochal. i fancy we shall grow used to finding the twenties in each century momentous, and marked by great political and spiritual re-shapings of the world. we shall find this in our historical studies; in the next few years we may find it in current events too; and what we shall see may remind us that in these decades the sun generally rises in some new part of the world,--the sun of culture and power. naturally enough:--in the last quarter of each century you have the influx of spiritual forces; which influx, it is to be supposed, can hardly fail to produce changes inwardly,--a new temperature, new conditions in the world of mind. so there must be readjustments; there is a disharmony between outer and inner things, between the world of causes and the world of effects; and one commonly finds the first two decades of the new century filled with the noise and confusion of readjustment. new wine has been poured into the old skin-bottles of the world; and ferments, explodes, rends them. then, in the twenties or so, things calm down, and it is seen that readjustments have been made. by 'readjustments,' one does not mean the treaties of statesmen and the like; brain-mind affairs for the most part, that amount to nothing. one means a new direction taken by the tide of incarnating souls. as if the readjusting cataclysms had blocked their old channels of these, and opened new ones... a new _arpeggio_ chord, but rather a faint and broken one, sounds in the five-twenties, or begins then. at constantinople the thirteen pralayic and recuperative decades since the death of theodosius and the split with the west have ended. now an emperor dies; and it becomes a question which of several likely candidates can lay out his money to best advantage and secure the succession. there is an official of some sort at court there, one justin, a balkan peasant by birth; you will do well to bribe him heavily, for he, probably, can manage the affair for you,-- one of the candidates does so: hands him a large sum, on the assurance from justin that he shall be the man. but the old fellow has peasant shrewdness, shall we say; and the money is _used_ most thriftily; but not as its donor intended. justin duly ascends the throne. nothing very promising in that, to insure manvantaric times coming in. but the old man remembers a nephew of his back there in bulgaria or jugoslavia or where it may have been; and sends for him, and very wisely lets him do most of the running of things. in , this nephew succeeds to the purple on his uncle's death: as justinian; and, for europe and the byzantine empire, and for the times,--that is to say, 'considering,' --manvantaric doings do begin. a man of hugely sanguine temperament, inquisitive and enterprising and impulsive, he had the fortune to be served by some great men: tibonian, who drew up the pandects; belisarius and narses, who thrashed the barbarians; the architect who built saint sophia. against these assets to his reign of thirty-eight years you must set the factions of the circus, at constantinople itself; and bloody battle over the merits of the greens, the blues, the whites, etc. but certainly justinian contrived to strike into history as no other byzantine emperor did; with his law code, and with his church. so now enough of him. four years after the accession of this greatest of the byzantines, the greatest of the sassanids came to the throne in persia: chosroes anushirwan: a wise and victorious reign until . there was an 'endless peace' sworn with rome in ; and not peace merely, but friendship and alliance; it was to last for all time, and did last for seven years. the chosroes, jealous of the western victories of justinian, listened to the pleadings of the ostrogoths, and declared war; peace came again in , on the basis of a yearly tribute from rome to persia,-- but with compensations, such as toleration for the christians in persia.--there were reforms in the army and in taxation; improvements in irrigation; encouragement of learning; revision of the laws; some little outburst in literature and culture generally: the culmination, in all but extent of territory, of the whole sassanian period.--we may throw in one item from the future,--that is from : in that year sassanian persia had flowed out to the full limits of the empire of darius hystaspes: held egypt, syria, all west asia to within a mile of the walls of constantinople. within three years the fall had begun; within twenty it was completed. as to india, this ( ) is among the hidden times: the ephthalites had overturned the guptas; they were huns of the hunniest; they had over-turned the guptas and all else (in the north). tales come down of the fiendishness of their kings: of a man that for his sport would have elephants hurled from the top of precipices; it may be that the indian manvantara closed with the gupta fall;--though we get the finical dandiacal 'great' reign of harsha in . the light certainly was dying from india now: the crest-wave had been there, in all its splendor; they had made good use of it in all but the spiritual sense, and very bad use of it in that. the year in which you may say (as nearly as history will tell you) the light died there, was precisely this year of ; and that effected a change in the spiritual center of gravity of the world of the most momentous kind: so much so that we may think of a new order of ages as beginning then; and looking at world-history as a whole, we may say, here endeth the lesson that began where we took things up in the time of the six great teachers; and here beginneth a new chapter,-- with which these lectures will hardly concern themselves. but we may glance at the event that opens it. it made very little stir at the time. it was merely the landing at canton of an old man from india: a 'blue-eyed brahmin,'--but a buddhist, and the head of all the buddhists at that;--and his preaching there until liang wuti, the emperor at nanking, had heard of his fame, and invited him to court; and his retirement thence to a cave-temple in the north. beyond this there is very little to tell you. he was a king's son from southern india; his name bodhidharma; and one would like to know what the records of the great lodge have to say about him. for he stands in history as the founder of the dhyana or zen school, another form of the name of which is _dzyan;_ when one reads _the voice of the silence,_ or the stanzas in _the secret doctrine,_ one might remember this. outwardly,--i think this is true,--he refused to cut into history at all: was a grand esoteric figure, whose campaigns, (super-napoleonic, more mirific than those of genghiz khan), were all fought on spiritual planes whence no noise of the cannonading could be heard in this outer world. he was the twenty-eighth successor of the buddha; of a line of masters that included such great names as those of vasubandhu, and of nagarjuna, founder of the mahayana,--"one of the four suns that illumine the world." we have seen that he had been preceded: kumarajiva had come to china a century before; but experimentally, leaving the center of the movement in india; there must have been thousands of disciples in the middle kingdom in when bodhidharma came, bringing with him the buddha's alms-bowl, the symbol of the patriarchate, to make in china his headquarters and that of his successors. for a thousand years the buddha's movement had been in india a living link with the lodge;--in that land of esoteric history which hides from us what it means to be so linked and connected. now india had failed. the guptas had reigned in great splendor; but they had flourished upon a reaction away from the light. i suppose it means this: that the burden of fighting upward had been too much for this people, now wearied with old age; they had dropped the burden and the struggle, and found in the relief a phantom of renewed youth to last them a little day. whatever may be true of buddhism now,--however the long cycles may have wasted its vitality, and to whatever depths it may have fallen,--we should remember this: that certainly for about fourteen centuries there was contained within it a living link with the masters' lodge. it was not like any other existing religion (so far as one knows): like none of the dominant religions of today, at any rate. at its head, apparently, through all those long centuries, was a line of adepts, men of spiritual genius, members of the lodge. so what bodhidharma's coming meant, i take it, was that in china that was established actually which in the west first pythagoras, and then plotinus had tried to establish, and tried in vain. it was, as you may say, the transplanting of the tree of life from a soil that had grown outworn to one in which it could flourish; and the result was, it appears to me, a new impulse given to the ages, to all history. hitherto, in the main, we have seen (except in china) a downward trend of cycles; from this point an upward trend began. we have been dealing, latterly, with dullish centuries, and history in a febrile and flickering mood;--but give this wonderful change time to take effect, and the centuries begin to flame up, and history to become a roaring conflagration. we might here spy out into that time, which will lie beyond the scope of these lecture; and see the glory of the t'angs begin in china in ; corea's one historic age of splendor, in art and also in military prowess, at its highest point about ; the era of shotoku daishi, saint, sage, prince and protagonist of civilization in japan, from about to ; the rise of siam, and of tibet, into strength and culture and buddhism, in the first half of the seventh century;-- then, looking westward, the wonderful career of mohammed in arabia, who gave the impetus that rescued civilization first in west asia and then, when in the thirteenth century a new european manvantara was ready to open, in europe also: rescued civilization first in west asia and then, when in the thirteenth century a new european manvantara was ready to open, in europe also; an impetus which worked on the intellectual-cultural plane until it had brought things to the point where h. p. blavatsky might come to give things a huge twist towards the spiritual,-- and where katherine tingley might accomplish that which all the ages had been expecting, and the whole creation groaning and travailing to see. oh, on brain-mind lines you can trace no connexion; but then the plane of causes lies deeper than the brain-mind. we may understand now, i think, what place the buddha holds in human history: how it was not for nothing that he was _the buddha,_ the central avatar, the topmost and master figure of humanity for these last twenty-five hundred years, with what other sublime men appeared as it were subordinate to him, and the guides of tributary streams: laotse and confucius preparing the way for him in china; pythagoras carrying his doctrine into the west.... well; here is scope for thought; and for much thought that may be true and deep, and illuminative of future ages; and _yet not convenient to write down at this time._ but to bodhidharma again. h. p. blavatsky affirmed that buddhism had an esoteric as well as an exoteric side: an affirmation that was of course disputed. but here is this from a chinese writer quoted by edkins: "tathagata taught great truths and the causes of things. he became the instructor of men and devas; saved multitudes, and spoke the contents of more than five hundred books. hence arose the kiaumen or exoteric branch of the system, and it was believed to hold the tradition of the words of the buddha. bodhidharma brought from the western heaven the seal of truth, and opened the fountain of dhyana in the east. he pointed directly to buddha's heart and nature, swept away the parasitic growth of book instruction, and thus established the esoteric branch of the system containing the doctrine of the heart, the tradition of the heart of buddha. yet the two branches, while presenting of necessity a different aspect, form but one whole." now that doctrine of the heart had always been in existence; it does not mean that bodhidharma invented anything. but in a line of teachers, each will have its own methods, and, if there is progress, there will be new and deeper revelations. the buddha gave out so much, as the time permitted him; nagarjuna, founding the mahayana, so much further; bodhidharma, now that with the move to china a new lease of life had come, gave out, or rather taught to his disciples, so much more again of the doctrine that in its fulness is and always has been the doctrine of the lodge. lian wuti, the emperor at nanking, had been at the end of the fifth century a general in the service of the last scion of a dying dynasty there, and a devout taoist; in he became the first of a new dynasty, the liang; and presently, a devout buddhist. chinese historians love him not; fenollosa describes him as too generous-minded and other-worldly for success. yet he held the throne for nearly fifty years; a time in which art was culminating and affairs advancing through splendor and unwisdom to a downfall. twice he took the yellow robe and alms-bowl, and went forth through his domains, emperor still, but mendicant missionary preaching the good law.--the truth? the inner doctrine?--i learn most about this poor lian wuti from the record of an interview held once between him and the 'blue-eyed brahmin' master of dzyan. lian wuti invited bodhidharma to court, and bodhidharma came. said the emperor: --"since my accession i have been continually building temples, transcribing books, and admitting new monks to take the vows. how much merit may i be supposed to have accumulated?" --"none," said bodhidharma. --"and why none?" --"all this," said the master, "is but the insignificant effect of an imperfect cause not complete in itself; it is but the shadow that follows the substance, and without real existence." --"then what," asked wuti, "is real merit?" --"it consists in purity and enlightenment, depth and completeness; in being wrapped in thought while surrounded by vacancy and stillness. merit such as this cannot be won by worldly means." wuti, i suppose, found this kind of conversation difficult, and changed the subject,--with an exotericist's question. said he: --"which is the most important of the holy doctrines?" --"where all is emptiness," said bodhidharma, "nothing can be called holy." a neat compliment, thinks good externalist wuti, may improve things.--"if nothing can be called holy," says he, "who is it then that replies to me?"--holiness being a well-known characteristic of bodhidharma himself. who answered merely: --"i do not know"; and went his ways. the final comment on the interview is given by a japanese writer thus: "can an elephant associate with rabbits?" for the rest, he spent the remaining years of his life in a cave-temple near honanfu; and died after appointing a chinaman his successor. besides this small stock of facts there is a sort of legend; as for example: after leaving the court of lian, he crossed the yangtse on a reed,--a theme in sacred art for thousands ever since,--and because of this miraculous crossing, is worshiped still by yangtse boatman as their patron saint,--on the th of february in each year.--once, as he sat in meditation, sleep overcame him; and on waking, that it might never happen again, he cut off his eyelids. but they fell on the earth, took root and sprouted; and the plant that grew from them was the first of all tea plants,--the symbol (and cause!) of eternal wakefulness. he is represented in the pictures as being footless; in his missionary travels, it is said, he wore away his feet. thus where there is no known life-story, but all hidden away beneath a veil of esotericism and a master's seclusion, myths have grown, and a story has been made.--he sat there in his cave silent through the years, they say; his face to the wall. chih kuang came to him, asking to be taught the doctrine; and for seven days stood in the snow at the cave-mouth, pleading and unnoticed. then, to show that he was in earnest, he drew his sword and sliced off his left arm; and the master called him in, and taught him.--legend again, no doubt. i imagine we can only judge of the man and of his astounding greatness by the greatness of the ages he illumined. it was as if he gave, in east asia, the signal for nation after nation to leap into brilliant being. as for china, she became something new. the age of han had been golden, strong, manly, splendid. but han was like other empires here and there about the world. henceforth during her cycle china was to be as a light-giving body, a luminary wondrous in the firmament with a shining array of satellite kingdoms circling about her. her own teachers of a thousand years before had prepared the way for it: confucius when he gave her stability; laotse when he dropped the blue pearl into her fields. that pearl had shone, heaven knows. now ta-mo, this bodhidharma, breathed on it; and it glowed, and flame shot up from it, and grew, and foamed up beautiful, till it was a steady fountain of wonder-fire spraying the far stars. heretofore we have had a background of taoist wizardry: in its highest aspects, natural magic,--the keatsism of the waters and the wild, the wood, the field, and the mountain; henceforth there was to be a sacred something shining through and inmingled with this: the urge of the divine soul, the holy purposes of evolution. we may say this in art, to take that one field alone, the most perfect, the fullest, the divinest, expression of natural magic "whereof this world holds record" was to come in the school of the successors of bodhidharma, directly the result of his 'doctrine of the heart.' his school remained esoteric; but it was established, not among the secret mountains, nor in far unvisited regions; but there in the midst of imperial china: an extension of the lodge, you may say, visible among men. bodhidharma--are you to call him a _messenger_ at all? he hardly came out into the world. it was known he was there; near by was the northern capital;--he taught disciples, when they had the strength to insist on it. yet he dwelt aloof too, and wrapped about in the seclusion masters must have, to carry on their spiritual work. one must suppose that messengers of the lodge had been very busy in china between and , in the days of tao yuang-ming and ku kai-chih; that they had been very busy again in the last quarter of the fifth century; for it seems as if somehow or other there was such an atmosphere in china in the first half of the sixth century,--when ordinarily speaking the doors of the spiritual world would be shut,--that the lodge was enabled partly to throw off its seclusion, and it was possible for at least one of its members to take up his abode there, and to be known to the world as doing so. a messenger was sent out into the chinese world from the school of bodhidarma in : chih-i, the founder of the tientai school which was the spiritual force underlying the glory of the t'ang age; but he was a messenger from the dzyan school of bodhidharma, not its head. as far as i have been able to gather the threads of it, the line of those heads, the eastern patriarchs, bodhidharma's successors, was as follows: he died in or about , having appointed chi kuang to succeed him. chi kuang appointed hui ssu, called the "chief of the chunglung school of the followers of bodhidharma." hui ssu died in , having sent out chih-i into the world the year before, and having appointed seng t'san to succeed him as head of dzyan. seng t'san died in ; tao hsin, his successor, in ; hung jen, his, in . hung jen, it appears, left two successors: lu hui-neng in the south, and shen hsiu in the north. it was the last quarter of the century: i imagine lu hui-neng was the messenger sent out into the world; he spent the rest of his life teaching in the neighborhood of canton; i imagine shen hsiu remained the head of the esoteric school. after that the line disappears; but the school attained its greatest influence in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in china, and later still in japan.--all these were men living not quite in the world: it was known that they were there, and where they might be found. after shen hsiu, the last northern chinese patriarch, the line probably withdrew to tibet, which had lately come into relations with china, and where civilization had been established through the efforts of t'ang taitsong. and now i will close this lecture with a saying of shen hsiu's which, in this modified form, is very familiar to all of you: "mind is like a mirror: it gathers dust while it reflects. it needs the gentle breezes of soul wisdom to brush away the dust of our illusions." xxv. towards the islands of the sunset i had not thought to speak to you further about celtic things. but there is something in them here which concerns the spiritual history of the race; something to note, that may help us to understand the great plan. so, having beckoned you last week to the edge of the world and the fountain of dawn, and to see bodhidharma standing there and evoking out of the deep a new order of ages, i find myself now lured by a westward trail, and must jump the width of two continents with you, and follow this track whither it leads: into the heart and flame of mysterious sunset. i hope, and the gwerddonau llion, the green spots of the flood,--makarn nesoi, tirnanogue, the islands of the blest. we saw that while the great flow of the cycles from dying rome ran in wave after wave eastward, there was a little backwash also, by reason of which almost the last glow we saw in the west was in fourth century gaul, in the literary renaissance there which centers round the name of ausonius. now in later history we find every important french cycle tending to be followed by one in england: as chaucer followed jean de meung; shakespeare, ronsard and the pleyade; dryden and pope, moliere and racine; wordsworth and shelley, the revolution. and we have seen china wake in ; and we have noted, in the first of these lectures, the strange fact that whenever china 'gets busy,' we see a sort of reflexion of it among the celts of the west. and we shall come presently to one of the most curious episodes in history,-- the irish renaissance in the sixth century: when all europe else was dead and buried under night and confusion, and ireland only, standing like a white pillar to the west, a blazing beacon of culture and creative genius. now if you see a wave rising in fourth-century gaul, and a wave breaking into glorious foam in sixth- and seventh-century ireland,--what would you suspect?-- why, naturally, that it was the same wave, and had flowed through the country that lies between: common sense would tell you to expect something of a great age in fifth- and early sixth-century britain. and then comes tradition,--which is nine times out of ten the truest vehicle of history,--and shouts that your expectations are correct. for within this time came arthur. you know that in the twelfth century geoffrey of monmouth published what he claimed to be a history of the kings of britain from the time of the coming there of the trojans; and that it was he mainly who was responsible for floating the arthurian legend on to the wide waters of european literature. what percentage of history there may be in his book; how much of it he did not "make out of whole cloth," but founded on genuine welsh or breton traditions, is at present unknowable;--the presumption being that it is not much. but here is a curious fact that i only came on this week. the romans were expelled from britain in , remember. arthur passed from the world of mortals on the night after camlan, that "last weird battle in the west," when "all day long the noise of battle rolled among the mountains by the wintry sea, till all king arthur's table, man by man, had fallen in lyonnesse about their lord king arthur." now the reign of arthur may be supposed to represent the culmination of a national revival among the british celts; and, --this is the detail i was pleased to come upon,--according to geoffrey, camlan was fought in ;--a matter of thirteen decades (and two years) after the expulsion of the romans. so that, i say, it looks as if there were some cyclic reality behind it. geoffrey of monmouth did not know that such periods of national revival do last as a general rule for thirteen decades. he had some other guide to help him to that for camlan. history knows practically nothing about fifth-century britain. it has been looking at it, since scientific methods came in, through teutonic (including anglo-saxon) or latin eyes; and seen very little indeed but confusion. britain like the rest of the western empire, suffered the incursions of northern barbarism; but unlike most of the rest, it fought, and not as a piece of rome, but as celtic britain;--fought, and would not compromise nor understand that it was defeated. it took eight centuries of war, and the loss of all england, and the loss of all wales, to teach, it that lesson; and even then it was by no means sure. in the twelve-eighties, when last llewelyn went to war, he was still hoping, not to save wales from the english, but to re-establish the celtic kingdom of britain, arthur's empire, and to wear the high crown of london. the men that marched to bosworth field under harri tudor, two centuries later, went with the same curious hope and assurance. it was a racial mold of mind, and one of extraordinary strength and persistence,--and one totally unjustified by facts in what were then the present and future. but i do not believe such molds can ever be fudged up out of nothing: _ex nihilo nihil_ is as true here as elsewhere. so we must look for the cause and formation of this mold in the past. something, i think, within that first cycle of welsh history must have impressed it on the welsh mind: some national flowering; some great figure, one would say.--arthur? he is like vikramaditya of ujjain; no one know whether he existed at all. there is no historic evidence; but rather the reverse. but then there are all those mountains and things named after him, "from the top of pengwaed in cornwall to the bottom of dinsol in the north"; and, there is the arthurian legend, with such great vitality that it drove out the national saxon legends from england, and quenched the charlemagne legend in france, and made itself master of the mind of western europe in the middle ages;-- i imagine there would have been an arthur. some chieftain who won battles; held up the saxon advance for a long time, probably; and reminded his people of some ancient hero, or perhaps of a god artaios, thought to be reincarnate in him. not that i believe that the mold of mind of which we have been speaking could have been created in the fifth and sixth centuries. whoever arthur was--the arthur of that time,--however great and successful, he could but have reigned over some part of britain, precariously resisting and checking the barbarians; but tradition tells of a very chakravartin, swaying the western world. no; that mold certainly was a relic of the lost celtic empire. it had grown dim during the roman domination; but it had survived, and the coming in of the crest-wave had put new life into it. nothing could have put new life into it, it seems to me, but such a coming in of the crest-wave,--to make it endure and inspire men as it did. i think it is certain the crest-wave, --a backwash of it, a little portion of it, but enough to make life hum and the age important,--was among the welsh between and . the wave was receding towards the western laya-center; and gathered force as it rolled from ausonius' gaul to taliesin's wales, and from tallesin's wales to ireland. let us look at the probabilities in britain in , seeing what we can. three hundred years of roman rule had left that province, i cannot doubt, rich and populous, with agriculture in a better condition than it has been since:--remember the corn julian brought thence to feed gaul. we must think of a large population, roman and romanized, mixed of every race in the roman world, in the cities; and of another population, still celtic, in the mountains of northern england, in the western scottish lowlands, and especially in wales. it was the former element, the cities, that appealed to aetius for help against the picts and scots; the latter, dwelling in less accessible places, fought as soon as they felt the invaders' pressure. wales itself had never been all held by the romans. the legions had covered the south from caerleon in monmouthshire to saint davids in penfro, a region held by silures and gaelic celts. they had marched along the northern coast to the island of mona, establishing, just as edward the conqueror did in his day, strongholds from which to dominate the dangerous mountains: these regions also were held by gaels. but just south of those mountains, in what are now the counties of meirionydd and montgomery, there was a great piece of wales which they seem never to have penetrated; and it was held by the cymric ordovices, welsh, not irish, by language. about this time there was a great upheaval of the irish; who conquered western scotland, and established there sooner or later the scottish kingdom of history. they also invaded wales and england, and sent their fleets far and wide: they were the 'picts and scots' of the history-books. there seems also to have been an invasion and conquest of wales, from the north, by the welsh; who, joining forces with the welsh ordovices whom they found already in the unconquered un-roman part, established in the course of time the kingdom and house of cunedda, which reigned till the edwardian conquest. it is pretty safe to say that the romanized cities and the romanized population generally offered no great resistance to the saxons; mixed with them fairly readily, and went to form perhaps the basis of the english race; that they lost their language and culture is due to the fact that they were cut off from the sources of these on the continent, and, being of an effete civilization, were far less in vigor than the saxon incomers. and as we saw in the first of these lectures, there was probably a large teutonic or saxon element in britain since before the days of julius caesar. but there seems to have been a time during those thirteen decades that followed the eviction of the romans, when the celtic element, wakened to life and receiving an impulse from the crest-wave, caught up the sovereignty that the romans had dropped, remembered its ancient greatness, and nourished vigorous hopes. to the welsh mind, the age has appeared one of old unhappy far-off things,--unhappy, because of their tragic ending at camlan;-- but grandiose. titanic vague figures loom up: arthur, the type of all hero-kings; taliesin, type of all prophet-bards; merlin, type of magicians. tennyson caught the spirit of it in the grand moments of the _morte d'arthur;_ and missed it by a thousand miles elsewhere in the _idylls._ the spirit, the atmosphere, is that of a glory receding into the unknown and the west of wonder; into lyonnesse, into avallon, into the sunset isles. there is a sense of being on the brink of the world; with the 'arm clothed in white samite' reaching in from a world beyond,--that otherworld to which the wounded arthur, barge-borne over the nightly waters by the queens of faerie, went to heal him of his wounds, and to await the cyclic hour for his retum. he is the symbol of--what shall we say?--civilization, culture, or the spiritual sources of these, the light that alone can keep them sweet and wholesome; that light has died from the broken roman world, and passes now west-ward through the gates of the sunset: through wales, through ireland, the laya-center; into the hidden, the place of the spirit; into avallon, which is ynys afallen, the 'isle of apple-trees';--whence to return in its time:--_rex quondam, rexque futurus._ there is a poem by myrddin gwyllt, traditionally of the sixth century, about that garth of apple-trees; which he will have a secret place in the woods of celyddon, the occult land, and not an island in the sea at all; and in this poem it has always seemed to me that one gets a clue to the real and interesting things of history. he claims in it to be the last of the white-robed guardians of the sacred tree, the fruit of which none of the black-robed,--no 'son of a monk,'--shall ever enjoy. there has been a battle, in which the true order of the world has gone down; but there myrddin stays to guard the 'tree' against the 'woodmen,'--whom also he seems to identify with the 'black-robed' and the priests myrddin gwyllt, by the by, is one of the two figures in welsh tradition who have combined to become the merlin of european tradition; the other was myrddin emrys the magician. i take great risks, gentlemen but wish to give you a taste, as i think the sound of some lines from the original may, and doubt any translation can, of the old and haughty sense of mystery and grandeur embodied in the poem; because it is this feeling, perhaps the last echo of the western mysteries, that is so characteristic of the literature that claims to come down to us from this age: afallen beren, bren ailwyddfa, cwn coed cylch ei gwraidd dywasgodfa; a mi ddysgoganaf dyddiau etwa medrawd ac arthus modur tyrfa; camlan darwerthin difiau yna; namyn saith ni ddyraith o'r cymanfa. afallen bere, beraf ei haeron, a dyf yn argel yn argoed celyddon; cyt ceiser ofer fydd herwydd ei hafon, yn y ddel cadwaladr at gynadl rhyd theon, a chynan yn erbyn cychwyn y saeson. cymru a orfydd; cain fydd ei dragon; caffant pawb ei deithi; llawen fi brython! caintor cyrn elwch cathl heddwch a hinon. what it means appears to be something of this sort: sweet and beautiful tree of the trees! the wood-dogs guard the circle of its roots; but i will foretell, a day shall be when modred and authur shall rush to the conflict; again shall they come to the battle at camlan, and but seven men shall escape from that meeting. sweet apple-tree, sweetest its fruitage! it grows in secret in the woods of celyddon; in vain shall they seek it on the banks of its stream there, till cadwaladr shall come to rhyd theon, and cynan, opposing the tumult of saxons, wales shall arise then; bright shall be her dragon; all shall have their just reward; joy is me for the brython! the horns of joy shall sound then the song of peace and calmness.... the sweet fruits of the tree, he says, are the "prisoners of words," (_carcharorion geirau_)--which is just what one would say, under a stress of inspiration, about the truths of the secret wisdom;--and they shall not be found, he says,--they shall be sought in vain,--until the _maban huan,_ the 'child of the sun,' shall come. the whole poem is exceedingly obscure; a hundred years ago, the wise men of wales took it as meaning much what i think it means: the passing of the real wisdom of the mysteries,--of neo-druidism,--away from the world and the knowledge of men, to a secret place where the woodmen, the black-robed, could not find to destroy it;--until, after ages, a leader of the hosts of light should come--you see it is here cadwaladr, but cadwaladr simply means 'battle-leader,' --and the age-old battle between light and darkness, arthur and modred, should be fought again, and this time won, and the mysteries re-established.--if i have succeeded in conveying to you anything of the atmosphere of this poem, i have given you more or less that of most of the poetry attributed to this period; there is a large mass of it: some of the poems, like the long _gododin_ of aneurin, merely telling of battles; others, like the splendid elegies of llywarch hen, being laments,--but with a marvelous haughty uplift to them; and others again, those attributed to taliesin, strewn here and there with passages that . . . move me strangely . . . and remind me (to borrow a leaf from the imagists) of a shower of diamonds struck from some great rock of it; and of a sunset over purple mountains; and of the mysteries of antiquity; and of the divine human soul. much of this poetry is unintelligible; much of it undoubtedly of far later origin; and the names of taliesin and myrddin, all through the centuries spells for celts to conjure with, are now the laughing-stock of a brand-new scholarship that has tidied them up into limbo in the usual way. it is what happens when you treat poetry with the brain-mind, instead of with the creative imagination god gave you to treat it with: when you dissect it, instead of feeding your soul with it. but this much is true, i think: out of this poetry, the occasional intelligible flashes of it, rings out a much greater note than any i know of in our welsh literature since: a sense of much profounder, much less provincial things: the grand manner,--of which we have had echoes since, in the long centuries of our provincialism; but only i think echoes; --but you shall find something more than echoes of it, say in llywarch hen, in a sense of heroic uplift, of the titanic unconquerableness that is in the soul;--and in taliesin, in a sense of the wizardly all-pervadingness of that soul in space and time: "i know the imagination of the oak-trees." "not of father and mother, when i became, my creator created me; but of nine-formed faculties, of the fruit of fruits, of the fruit of primordial god; of primroses and mountain flowers, of the blooms of trees and shrubs, of earth, of an earthly course, when i became,-- of the blooms of the nettle, of the foam of the ninth wave. i was enchanted by math before i became immortal. i was enchanted by gwydion, the purifier of brython, of eurwys, of euron, of euron, of modron,-- of five battalions of initiates, high teachers, the children of math." --now math--he was a famous wizard of old--means 'sort,' 'kind'; and so implies such ideas as 'differentiation,' 'heterogeneity.' to say that you were enchanted by math before you became immortal, is as much as to say that before the great illumination, the initiation, one is under the sway of this illusionary world of separatenesses;--as for being 'enchanted by gwydion,' that name is, i suppose, etymologically the same as the sanskrit _vidya,_ or _budha;_ he is the 'purifier' of those 'five battalions of--_'celfyddon,'_ the word is 'artists,' 'skillful ones'; but again i imagine, it is connected with the word _celi,_ 'occult' or 'secret'; so that being 'enchanted by' him would mean simply, being initiated into the occult wisdom. it is difficult for a student of symbolism not to believe that there were theosophical activities in fifth- and sixth-century britain. another glimpse of the feeling of the age you get in the two oldest arthurian romances: _the dream of rhonobwy,_ and _culhwch and olwen._ they were written, in the form in which we have them, not until the last centuries of welsh independence,--when there was another national illumination; and indeed all the literature of this early time comes to us through the bards of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. they transmitted it; wrote it down; added to and took away from it; altered it: a purely brain-mind scholarship might satisfy itself that they invented it; but criticism, to be of any use at all, must be endowed with a certain delicacy and intuition; it must rely on better tools than the brain-mind. matthew arnold, who had such qualifications, compared the work of the later bards to peasants' huts built on and of the ruins of ephesus; and it is still easier for us, with the light theosophy throws on all such subjects, to see the greater and more ancient work through the less and later. i shall venture to quote from _culhwch and olwen:_ a passage that some of you may know very well already. culhwch the son of cilydd the son of the prince of celyddon rides out to seek the help of arthur: "and the youth pricked forth upon a steed with head dappled gray, of four winters old, firm of limb, with shell-formed hoofs, having a bridle of linked gold on his head, and upon him a saddle of costly gold. in his hands were two spears of silver, sharp, well-tempered, headed with steel, three ells in length, of an edge to wound the wind and cause blood to flow, and that faster than the fall of the dewdrop from the blade of reed-grass upon the earth when the dew of june is at its heaviest. a gold-hilted sword was at his side, the blade of which was of gold, bearing a cross of inlaid gold of the hue of the lightning of heaven; his war-horn was of ivory. before him were two brindled white-breasted greyhounds, having strong collars of rubies about their necks, reaching from the shoulder to the ear. and the one that was on the right side bounded across to the left side, and the one that was on the left to the right, and like two sea-swallows sported they around him. and his courser cast up four sods with his four hoofs like four swallows in the air, now above his head and now below. about him was a four-cornered cloth of purple, having an apple of gold at each corner; and every one of the apples was of the value of a hundred kine. and there was precious gold of the value of three hundred kine upon his shoes and upon his stirrups, from his knee to the tip of his toe. and the blade of reed-grass bent not beneath him, as he journeyed towards the gates of arthur's palace." so far we have the glittering imagination of the twelfth-century bard; you might think working in a medium not wholly celtic, but norman-influenced as well; imagining his arthurian culhwch in terms of the knights he had seen at the courts of the lords marchers,--were it not that just such descriptions are the commonplaces of irish celticism, where they come from a time and people that had never seen norman knights at all. but now you begin to leave regions where normans can be remembered or imagined at all: "spake the youth, 'is there a porter?'--'there is; and unless thou holdest thy peace, small will be thy welcome. i am the porter of arthur's hall on the first day of january in every year; and on every other day than this the post is filled by huandaw, and gogigwc, and llaescenym, and penpingion who goeth upon his head to save his feet, neither towards the heavens nor towards the earth, but like a rolling stone upon the floor of the court.'--'open thou the portal.'--'i will not open it.'-- 'wherefore not?'--'the knife is in the meat and the drink is in the horn, and there is revelry in arthur's court; and no man may enter but a craftsman bearing his craft, or the son of the king of a privileged country. but there will be refreshment for thy dogs and for thy horse, and for thee there will be collops cooked and peppered, and luscious wine and mirthful song,--and food for fifty men shall be set before thee in the guest chamber, where the stranger and the sons of other countries eat, who come not into the precincts of the palace of arthur. said the youth, 'that will i not do. if thou openest the portal, it is well. if thou dost not open it, i will bring disgrace upon thy lord and an evil report upon thee. and i will set up three shouts at this very gate, than which none were ever more deadly, from the top of pengwaed in cornwall to the bottom of dinsol in the north, and to esgair oerfel in ireland.'--'whatsoever clamor thou mayest make,' said glewlwyd gafaelfawr, against the rules of arthur's court thou shalt not enter until i first go and consult with arthur.' "then glewlwyd went into the hall. and arthur said to him, 'hast thou news from the gate?'--half of my life is past, and half of thine. i was heretofore in caer se and as se, in sach and salach, in lotor and ffotor, in india the greater and india the less. and i was with thee in the battle of dau ynyr, when the twelve hostages were brought from norway. and i have also been in europe and in africa and in the islands of corsica, and in caer brythwch and brythach and ferthach; and i was present when thou didst conquer greece in the east. and i have have been in caer oeth and annoeth and caer nefenhir: nine supreme sovereigns, handsome men, saw we there; but never did i behold a man of equal dignity to him who is now at the door of the portal.' then said arthur:--'if walking thou didst enter here, return thou running. and everyone that beholds the light, and everyone that opens and shuts the eye, let him show him respect and serve him; some with gold-mounted drinking-horns, others with collops cooked and peppered, until such time as food and drink can be set before him." culhwch came in, and asked a boon of arthur; and arthur answered that he should receive whatsoever his tongue might name, "as far as the wind dries and the rain moistens and the sun revolves and the sea encircles and the earth extends; save only my ship and my mantle, and caledfwlch my sword, and rhongomiant my lance, and wynebgwrthucher my shield, and carnwenhau my dagger and gwen hwyfar my wife. by the truth of heaven thou shalt receive it cheerfully, name what thou wilt." so culhwch made his request;-- and it is really here that the ancient ages come trooping in:-- "i crave of thee that thou obtain for me olwen the daughter of yspaddaden head of giants; and this boon i seek likewise at the hands of thy warriors. i seek it from cai, and bedwyr, and greidawl galldonyd, and greid the son of eri, and cynddelig cyfarwvdd, and tathal cheat-the-light, and maelwys the son of baeddan, and"--well, there are hundreds of them; but i must positively give you a few; they are all, it is likely, the denizens of ancient celtic god-worlds and fairy-worlds and goblin-worlds,--"and duach and grathach and nerthach the sons of gwawrddur cyrfach (these men came forth from the confines of hell); and huell the son of caw (he never yet made a request at the hands of any lord.) and taliesin the chief of bards, and manawyddan son of the boundless, and cormorant the son of beauty (no one struck him in the battle of camlan by reason of his ugliness; all thought he was an auxiliary devil. hair had he upon him like the hair of a stag). and sandde bryd angel (no one touched him with a spear in the battle of camlan by reason of his beauty; all thought he was a ministering angel). and cynwyl sant (the third man who escaped from the battle of camlan; and he was the last that parted from authur upon henrtoen his horse). and henwas the winged the son of erim; (unto these three men belonged these three peculiarities: with henbedestyr there was not anyone that could keep pace, either on horseback or on foot; with henwas adeiniog no fourfooted beast could run the distance of an acre, much less could it go beyond it; and as to sgilti ysgawndroed, when he intended to go on a message for his lord, he never sought to find a path, but knowing whither he was to go, if his way led through a wood he went along the tops of the trees. during his whole life a blade of grass bent not beneath his feet, much less did it break, so light was his tread.) teithi hen the son of gwynhan (his dominions were swallowed by the sea, and he himself barely escaped, and he came to arthur; and his knife had this peculiarity: from the time he came there no haft would ever remain on it; and owing to this a sickness came on him, and he pined away during the remainder of his life, and of this he died.) drem the son of dremidyd (when the gnat arose in the morning with the sun, drem could see it from gelli wis in cornwall as far off as pen blathaon in north britain.) and eidol the son of ner, and glwyddyn saer (who built ehangwen, arthur's hall.) henwas and henwyneb, (an old companion unto arthur). gwallgoyc another. (when he came to a town, though there were three hundred houses in it, if he wanted anything, he would let sleep come to the eyes of no man until he had it.) osla gyllellfawr (he bore a short broad dagger. when arthur and his hosts came before a torrent, they would seek a narrow place where they might cross the water, and lay the sheathed dagger across the torrent, and it would be a bridge enough for the armies of the three islands of the mighty and the three islands near thereby, with all their spoils.) the sons of llwch llawyniog from beyond the raging sea. celi and cueli and gilla coes hydd, (who could clear three hundred acres at a bound: the chief leaper of ireland was he). sol and gwadyn ossol and gwadyn odyeith. (sol could stand all day upon one foot. gwadyn ossol, if he stood upon the top of the highest mountain in the world, it would become a level plain under his feet. gwadyn odyeith,--the soles of his feet emitted sparks when they struck upon things hard, like the heated mass drawn out of the forge. he cleared the way for arthur when they came to any stoppage.) hireerwm and hiratrwm (the day they went upon a visit three cantref provided for their entertainment, and they feasted until noon and drank until night and they they devoured the heads of vermin as if they had never eaten anything in their lives. when they made a visit they left neither the fat not the lean, the hot nor the cold, the sour nor the sweet, the fresh not the salt, the boiled nor the raw.) huarwar the son of aflawn (who asked arthur such a boon as would satisfy him; it was the third great plague of cornwall when he received it. none could get a smile from him but when he was satisfied.) sugyn the sone of sugnedydd (who could suck up the sea on which there were three hundred ships, so broad-chested he was). uchtryd faryf draws (who spread his red untrimmed beard over the eight-and-forty rafters that were in arthur's hall). bwlch and cyfwlch and sefwlch the three sons of cleddyf cyfwlch, the three grandsons of cleddyf difwlch. (their three shields were three gleaming glitterers. their three spears were three pointed piercers. their three swords were three griding gashers,--gles, and glessic, and gleisad.) clust the son of clustfeinad; (though he were buried seven cubits beneath the earth, he would hear the ant fifty miles off rise from her nest in the norning). medyr the son of methredydd; (from belli wic he could in a twinkling")-- well; one must stop somewhere; culhwch himself was in no hurry to. he went on until the armies of the island of the mighty and the chief ladies of arthur's court, with all their peculiarities, had been enumerated. but here, i say, you are let into an elder world; beyond this one in space, beyond it in time. you are on the precipice edge of the world's end, and mist fills the chasm before you; and out of the mist, things vast and gigantic, things half human and things not half human, present themselves, stirring your wonder, and withdraw leaving your imagination athirst. "these men came forth from the confines of hell" .... who wrote of them had news, i think, of terrific doings in atlantis, when earth shook to the tread of giant hosts. i confess that to me all things european, after this, look a little neat and dapper. i look from the cliffs at the limit of things, out over .....the sunset bound of lyonnesse, a land of old upheaven from the abyss by fire, to sink into the abyss again; where fragments of forgotten people dwelt: --it is not in this world; belongs not to this fifth race; but is more ancient, fantasmal, and portentous. has it ever occurred to you that no body of men, no movement, no nation for that matter, can choose for itself a symbol that does not actually express it? the flags of the nations are all, for those that can read them, the sign manuals of the souls of the nations, wherein the status of each is written plain; though those that chose the symbol, and those that glory in it, may have no idea how they are thus revealing or exposing themselves.--no, i am not going to speak of the dragon; which, by all traditions, was the symbol chosen for the monarchy set up by the fifth-century britons; nor to remind you--and yet it is worth remembering,-- that the dragon is the symbol of the esoteric wisdom;--i am going to speak of something else.--you take some form, some picture; and it seems to you in some inexplicable way inspiring; and you adopt it, and say _in hoc signo vincam._ why? you know nothing about symbolism; and yet, if you have any inner life, those who understand symbolism can read your inner life in you symbol. that is because symbolism is a universal science, real, and with nothing arbitrary about it; and because something in your subconsciousness wiser than you has directed you choice, and means you to be expressed. take one of the most universal symbols of all: the cross. in one form or another we find it all over the world. in ancient egypt, where it is called the _ankh,_ and is drawn as a capital t with a circle above. there it symbolizes life in the largest sense. the circle above stands for spirit; the tau or cross below, for matter: thus it pictures the two in their true relation the one to the other.--the christian church, as it grew up in the last centuries of the roman empire, chose for itself a symbol,--in which constantine went forth to conquer. it was the four limbs of the cross: simply the symbol of matter. but somehow, the christian church in the celtic isles did not adopt this symbol, or rather this form of it. it took what is called the celtic cross: the cross, which is matter, with the circle, which is spirit, imposed over the upper part of it. now if you brought a man from india, or china, or anywhere, who knew nothing about european history or christianity, but understood the ancient science of symbolism; and showed him these two crosses, the celtic and the latin; he would tell you at once that the one, the latin, stood for a movement wholly unspiritual; and that the other, the celtic, stood for a movement with some spiritual light in it. how much, i am not prepared to say. one of the chief formative forces in christian theology was saint augustine of hippo, born in , died in . he taught that man was originally sinful, naturally depraved; and that no effort of his own will could make him otherwise: all depended on the grace of god, something from without, absolutely beyond control of volition. then rose up a welshman by the name of morgan,--or he may have been an irishman; some say so; only morgan is a welsh, not an irish name; and evidence is lacking that there were irish christians at that time; he was a celt, 'whatever';--and went to rome, teaching and preaching. his doctrine was that man is not originally sinful and naturally depraved; he had the temerity to declare that pagans, especially those who had never heard of christianity, were not by god's ineffable mercy damned to everlasting hell; that unbaptized infants were not destined to frizzle eternally; that what a man ought to do, that he had the power, within his own being, to do; and that his salvation lay in his own hands. they translated his welsh name (which means 'sea-born') into the greek--pelagius; and dubbed his damnable heresy 'pelagianism'; and it was a heresy that flourished a good deal in the celtic isles;--his writings came down in ireland. the incident is not much in itself; but something. not that the celtic church of david and patrick was pelagian; it was not. in the matter of doctrine it is impossible to distinguish it from the church on the continent. but pelagianism may suggest that there were in britain relics of an elder light. did some echo of ancient wisdom, druidic, survive in britain from pre-roman days? it is a question that has been much fought over; and one that, nowadays, the learned among my countrymen answer very rabidly in the negative. you have but to propound it in a whisper, to make them foam heartily at the mouth. bless you, they know that it didn't, and can prove it over and over; because--because--it couldn't have, and you are a fool for thinking it could. here is the position taken by modern scholarship (as a rule): we know nothing about the philosophy of the druids, and do not believe they had one. they could not have had one; and the classical writers who said they had simply knew nothing about it. it may be useful to quote what some of these classical writers say. "they (the druids) speak the language of the gods," says diodorus siculus (v, , ); who describes them also as "exhorting combatants to peace, and taming them like wild beasts by enchantment" (v, , ). they taught men, says diogenes laertius, "to worship the gods, to do no evil, and to exercise courage" ( ). they taught "many things regarding the stars and their motions, the extent of the universe and the earth, and the nature of things, and the power and might of the immortal gods," says caesar (iv, .); and strabo speaks of their teaching in moral science (iv, , ). "and ye, ye druids," says lucan, "to you only is given knowledge or ignorance (whichever it be) of the gods and the powers of heaven. . . . from you we learn that the borne of man's ghost is not the senseless grave, not the pale realm of the monarch below." (i, sq,) "the druids wish to impress this in particular: that souls do not perish, but pass from one to another after death." (caesar, iv, ) diodorus testifies that "among them the doctrine of pythagoras prevailed, that the souls of men are immortal, and after completing their term of existence, live again, the soul passing into another body" (v, ). says valerius maximus: "they would fain make us believe that the souls of men are immortal. i would be tempted to call these breeches-warers fools, if their doctrine were not the same as that of the mantle-clad pythagoras"; and he goes on to speak of the celtic custom of lending money to be repaid in a future life (vi, , ). timagenes, strabo, and mela also bear witness to their teaching the immortality of the soul. i may say at once that i copy all these quotations from a book written largely to prove that the druids were savage medicine-men with no philosophy at all: it is, _the religion of the ancient celts,_ by canon macculloch. the argument used by this learned divine is very simple. the druids were savage medicine-men, and could have known nothing about pythagoras' teachings or pythagoras himself. therefore they didn't. all the classical writers were exaggerating, or inventing, or copying from one another.--it never occurs to our canon to remember iamblichus' statement that the druids did not borrow or learn from pythagoras, but pythagoras from them. he quotes with no sign of doubt the things said by the classical writers about barbaric druid rites; never dreaming that in respect to these there may have been invention, exaggeration, or copying one from another-- and that other chiefly the gentle julius who--but i have mentioned _his_ exploit before. holding to such firm preconceptions as these,--and being in total ignorance of the fact that the esoteric wisdom was once universal, and therefore naturally the same with pythagoras as with anyone else who had not lost it, whether he and the druids had ever heard of each other or not,--it becomes quite easy for my learned countryment to scout the idea that any such doctrine or system could have survived among the britons until the fifth century, and revived then. yet nennius, by the way, asserts that vortigern (the king who called in the saxons) had 'magi' with him; which word in the irish text appears as 'druids': and canon macculloch himself speaks of this as evidence of a recrudescence of druidism at that time. with those quotations from the classical writers in view--if with nothing else,--i think we may call reincarnation.... the characteristic doctrine of druidism. it so appeared to the romans; it was that doctrine, which with themselves had been obscured by skepticism, worldliness, and the outwornness of their spiritual perceptions, that struck them as the most noteworthy, most surprising thing in druidic teaching. it stood in sharp contrast, too, with the beliefs of christianity; so that, supposing it, and the system that taught it, had died during the roman occupation of britain, there really was nowhere from which it might have been regained. wales has been, until very recently, extraordinarily cut off from the currents of civilization and world-thought. she has dwelt aloof among her mountains, satisfied with an interesting but exceedingly narrow little culture of her own. you might almost say that from the time the romans left britain there was no channel through which ideas might flow in to her; and this idea, especially, was hardly in europe to flow in. and yet this idea has curiously persisted in wales, as a tradition among the unlettered, even to our own day. dr. evans-wentz, of berkeley, oxford, and rennes universities, in this present twentieth century, found old people among the peasantry who knew something about it, had heard of it from their elders; there was nothing new or unfamiliar about it to them; and this though nearly all welsh folklore, even belief in the fairies, almost suffered extinction during the religious revivals of the eighteenth century and since. they say the chapels frightened the fairies out of wales; it is not quite true; but you can understand how wave after wave of fervid calvinism would have dealt with a tradition like that of reincarnation. and yet echoes of it linger, and dr. wentz found them. i myself remember hearing of a servant-girl from the mountains to whom her mistress (from whom i heard it) introduced the subject. the girl expressed no surprise whatever: indeed to goodness she shouldn' wonder, so there; her father was a druid, miss, indeed and had told her about it when she was a child. we have collateral evidence,--in nennius, i believe,--for the existence of several famed poets among the welsh at that time; and tallesin' is one of the names mentioned. seventy-seven poems come down ascribed to him: i quoted some lines from one of them; here now are some line from another. the child taliesin is discovered in the court of maelgwr gwynedd, where he has confounded the bards with his magic; and is called forth to explain himself. he does so in the following verses: primary chief bard am i to elphin, and my original country is the region of the summer stars; idno and heinin called me merddin; at length every being shall call me taliesin. i was with my lord in the highest sphere when lucifer fell into the depths of hell; i have borne a banner before alexander; i know the names of the stars from north to south. i was in canaan when absalom was slain; i was in the court of don (the milky way) before the birth of gwydion; i was on the high cross of the merciful son of god; i have been three periods in the prison of arianrhod. i was in asia with noah in the ark; i saw the destruction of sodom and gomorrah; i was in india when rome was built; i am now come here to the remnant of the trojans. i was with my lord in the ass's manger; i strengthened moses through the waters of jordan; i was in the firmament from the cauldron of ceridwen i shall be on earth until the day of doom. * ------ * i quote it from mr. t.w. rollestone's _myths and legends of the celtic race._ the poem appeares in the _hanes taliesin,_ in lady guest's _mabinogion._ ------ now, what would common sense have to say about things like that? simply, i think, that they are echoes that came down in wales through the ages, of a teaching that once was known. they do not,--they would not,--no one would expect them to,--give the true and exact features and the inwardness of such teaching, but they do reflect the haunting reminiscences of a race that once believed in reincarnation so firmly, that people were ready to lend money not to be repaid until a future life on earth. if you can prove that that poem not written until the thirteenth, or sixteenth, or eighteenth century, all the better; it only shows the greater strength, the longer endurance, of the tradition; and therefore, the greater reality of that from which the tradition came. it is the ghost of something which once was living; and the longer you can show the ghost surviving,--the more living in its day was the something it survived from. your tamerlanes and malek rics can be used to frighten babies for centures;--their ghosts walk in that sense; their memories linger;--but your tomlinsons die and are done with, and no wind carries rumors of them after. and the name of taliesin,--whom you may say we know to have been a welsh poet of the sixth century,--is made the peg on which to hang these floating reminiscences of druidic teaching;--and the story told about him,--a story replete with universal symbolism, --is, for anyone who has studied that science, clearly symbolic of the initiation of a teacher of the secret doctrine. what is it accounts for race-persistence? _not_ just what you see on the physical plane. there is what we should call an astral mold; and this is fed and nourished,--its edges kept firm and distinct,--by forces from the plane of causes, the thought-plane. when this mold has been well established,--as by centuries of national greatness and power,--all sorts of waves of outer circumstance may roll over the race, and apparently wash its raciality clean away; and yet something in the unseen operates to resist, and, when the waves recede, to raise up first the old race-consciousness, and finally national existence again. take ireland for example. it has been over-run and over-run so much that many authorities would deny the existence of any celtic blood there at all. but what is absolutely undeniable is that a distinct and well-defined racial type exists there; and that it corresponds largely to the racial type--i do not mean physical so much as spiritual,--that the greek and roman writers ascribed to the celtic gauls. it is often claimed that an irishman is merely an inferior kind of englishman, and that there is little difference in blood between the two; but those who make this claim most loudly would not dream of denying the difference of the mental types; they are generally the ones who see most difference. why was it that the children of the norman invaders of ireland became _hiberniores ipsis hiberniis?_ because of the astral mold, certainly. it is race-consciousness that makes race, and not the other way; and there is something behind that makes race-consciousness; so that even where calamity has smashed up the latter and put it altogether in abeyance, the seeds of it remain, in the soil and on the inner planes, to sprout again in their day; when the crest-wave rolls in; when souls come to revive them. it may be that this will never happen, of course; but it seems to me that where nature wishes to put an end to these racial recrudescences, she must take strong steps. though the british celts had been under roman rule for four centuries, their language today is celtic.--why?--because there was what you may call a very old, well-established and strong celtic-speaking astral mold. we absorbed a large number of latin words; but assimilated them to the celtic mold so that you would never recognise them; whereas in a page of english the latin borrowings stand out by the score. look at that _ascend,_ for instance: latin _ascendere_ parading itself naked and unashamed, and making no pretense whatever to be anything else. you shall find _ascendere,_ too, on any page of welsh; or rather, you shall not find him, by reason of his skillful camouflage. he has cut off his train, as in english; but he has cut off more of it: the _d_ of the stem, as well as the ending. he has altered both his vowels, and one of his three remaining consonants; and appears as _esgyn,_ to walk the pages undetected for an alien by that vigilant police, the celtic sense of euphony. he is typical of a thousand others. wherefore the difference?--the english were a new people in process of formation, and besides with a whole heap of latin blood in them from the roman province; their mold was faintly formed, or only forming; but the celts had formed theirs rigidly in ancient times. again: when in the ninth century hywel dda king of wales codified the laws of his country, the result was a celtic code without, i think, any relation to roman law; though roman law had prevailed in roman britain for three centuries or so. what strong celtic molds must have persisted, to cause this! roman law imposed itself on nearly all europe, including many peoples that never were under roman rule; and yet here was this people, that had been all that time under the romans, oblivious of roman law, uninfluenced by it, practically speaking;--and returning at the first opportunity to the kind of laws they had had before the romans were born or thought of. druidism had been proscribed, as a practice, during roman times. the worship of the celtic gods had continued; but they had been assimilated to those of the empire;--which would be a much more difficult thing to do were the gods, as your modern learned suppose, mere fictions of the superstitious, and not the symbols of, or the powers behind, the forces of nature. so celtic religion outwardly was submerged in roman religion; and then later. christianity came in. but the science, the institutions, and the philosophy of the druids had been part and parcel of the inner life of the race perhaps as long as their laws and language had; and your celt runs by nature to religion, or even to religiosity,--ultra-religion. is it likely that, while he kept his laws and language, he let his religion go? and when it was not an arbitrary farrago of dogmas, like some we might mention; but a philosophy of the soul so vivid that he counted death little more to fuss about than going to sleep? when should those old ideas have reappeared,--when should the racial astral molds have been brought out and furbished up with new strength to make them endure? why, when the roman dominion came to an end; when the people were turning for inspiration to their own things, and away from latin things; when they were forgoing latin for celtic; reviving celtic laws and customs; trying to forget they had been subjected to foreigners, and to remember and resurrect the old monarchy of britain. christianity would not give them all the difference from romanism that they wanted,--that the most ardent among them wanted: the romans were christians too;--but there was that other ancient thing which the romans had proscribed. it still existed, in ireland for example; and for that matter, there were plenty of places in britain where the roman arm could never have reached it. matthew arnold saw these things in his day, and argued for the neo-druidism of the sixth century. he was a man accustomed to deal in ideas. you may easily train your mind to an acuteness and sagacity in dealing with grammatical roots, and forms, that will not help you in dealing with ideas. to sum up, then: i believe there was an influx of the crest-wave into britain, from about to : a national awakenment, with something of greatness to account for the arthurian legend; and with something of spiritual illumination, through a revival of druidic wisdom to account for the rumor of taliesin. i am not sure but that this influenced the celtic church: i am not sure but that david, and cadoc, and teilo, and padarn, fathers of that church, were men pervious to higher influences; and that the monastery-colleges they presided over were real seats of lerning, unopposed to, if not in league with, the light. xxvi. "sacred ierne of the hibernians" * "i could not put the pen aside till with my heart's love i had tried to fashion some poor skilless crown for that dear head so low bowed down." --from the celtic it is but a step from wales to ireland. from the one, you can see the "fair hills of holy ireland" in the heart of any decent sunset; from the other, you can see wales shining landed in in any shining dawn. no roman legion ever landed in ireland; yet all through roman times boats must have been slipping across and across; there must have been constant communication, and there was, really, no distinction of race. there was a time, i believe, when they were joined, one island; and all the seas were east of the severn. both peoples were a mixture of gaels and cymry; only it happens that the gaelic or q language survived in ireland; the cymric or p language in wales. so, having touched upon wales last week, and shown the crest-wave flowing in there, this week, following that wave westward, i invoke the land of ireland! shining, shining sea! fertile, fertile mountain! gladed, gladed wood! abundant river, abundant in water! fish-abounding lake! it was what amargin the druid sang, when the gael first came into ireland. here is the story of their coming:-- ------ * the stories told in this and the following lecture, and the translations of irish poems, etc., are taken from mr. t.w. rollertone's delightful _myths and legends of the celtic race,_ or from m. de jubainville's _irish mythological cycle,_ translated and published in dublin in the 'nineties. ------ bregon built a tower in spain. he had a son named ith; and one fine evening in winter ith was looking out over the horizon from bregon's tower, and saw the coast of ireland in the distance; for "it is on a winter's evening when the air is pure that one's sight carries farthest." so says the eleventh century bard who tells the tale: he without knowing then that it was not in spain was bregon's tower, but on the great plain, which is in the atlantic, and yet not in this world at all. now this will tell you what you ought to know about ireland, and why it is we end our lectures with her. we saw wales near the border of things; looking out from that cliff's edge on to the unknown and unseen, and aware of mysterious things beyond. now we shall see ireland, westward again, down where the little waves run in and tumble; sunlit waves along shining sands; and with boats putting out at any time; and indeed, so lively an intercourse going forward always, that you never can be quite sure whether it is in mortal ireland or immortal fairyland you are,-- "so your soul goes straying in a land more fair; half you tread the dew-wet grasses, half wander there." for the wonder of ireland is, that it is the west pole of things; there is no place else nearer the unseen; its next-door neighbor-land westward is this great plain, whither sail the happy dead in their night-dark coracles,--to return, of course, in due season; and all the peoplings of ireland were from this great plain. so you see why the crest-wave, passing from dying europe, "went west" by way of ireland. i will tell you about that great plain: it is "a marvelous land, full of music, where primrose blossoms on the hair, and the body is white as snow. "there none speaks of _mine and thine;_ white are the teeth and black the brows; eyes flash with many-colored lights, and the hue of the fox-glove is on every cheek. . . . "though fair are the plains of ireland, few of them are so fair as the great plain. the ale of ireland is heady, but headier far the ale of the great country. what a wonder of a land it is! no youth there grows to old age. warm streams flow through it; the choicest mead and wine. men there are always comely and blemishless." well; ith set sail from the great plain, with three times thirty warriors, and landed at corcaguiney in the south-west of ireland; and at that time the island inhabited less by men than by gods; it was the tuatha de danaan, the race of the danaan gods, that held the kingship there. little wonder, then, that the first name of ireland we get in the greek writings is "sacred ierne, populous with the hibernians." well now, he found maccuill, maccecht, and macgrene the son of the sun, arranging to divide the kingdom between them; and they called on him to settle how the division should be.--"act," said he, "according to the laws of justice, for the country you dwell in is a good one; it is rich in fruit and honey, in wheat and in fish; and in heat and cold it is temperate." from that they thought he would be designing to conquer it from them, and so forestalled his designs by killing him; but his companions escaped, and sailed back to the great plain. that was why the milesians came to conquer ireland. the chiefs of them were eber finn, and eber donn, and eremon, and amargin the druid: the sons of mile, the son of bile the son of bregon; thus their grandfather was the brother of that ith whom the gods of ireland slew. it was on a thursday, the first of may, and the seventeenth day of the moon, that the milesians arrived in ireland; and as he set his right foot on the soil of it, amargin chanted this poem: i am the wave of the ocean; i am the murmur of the billow; i am the ox of the seven combats; i am the vuture upon the rock; i am a tear of the sun; i am the fairest of plants; i am a wild boar in valor; i am a salmon in the water; i am a lake in the plain; i am a word of science; i am the spear-point that gives battle; i am the god who creates in the head the fire of thought. who is it that enlightens the assembly upon the mountain, if not i? who telleth the ages of the moon, if not i? who showeth the place where the sun goes to rest? they went forward to tara, and summoned the kings of the danaan gods to give up the island to them; who asked three days to consider whether they would give battle, or surrender, or quit ireland. on that request amargin gave judgment: that it would be wrong for the milesians to take the gods unprepared that way; and that they should go to their ships again, and sail out the distance of nine waves from the shore, and then return; then if they could conquer ireland fairly in battle, it should be theirs. so they embarked, and put the nine waves between themselves and the shore, and waited. and the danaans raised up a druid mist and a storm against them, whereby ireland seemed to them no more than the size of a pig's back in the water; and by reason of that it has the name of innis na wic, the island of the pig. but if the gods had magic, amargin had better magic; and he sang that invocation to the land of ireland; and at that the storm fell and the mist vanished. then eber donn was exulting in his rage at the thought of putting the inhabitants to death; but the thought in his mind brought the storm again, and his ship went down, and he was drowned. but at last the remnant of them landed, and fought a battle with the gods, and defeated them; whereafter the gods put a druid invisibility on themselves, and retired into the hills; and there in their fairy palaces they remain to this day; indeed they do. they went back into the inwardness of things; whence, however, they were always appearing, and again vanishing into it; and all the old literature of ireland is thridded through with the lights of their magic and their beauty, and their strange forthcomings and withdrawings. for example: there was midir the proud, one of them. in the time of the great caesar, eochaid airem was high king of ireland; and he had for his queen etain, reborn then as a mortal,--but a danaan princess at one time, and the wife of miidir. it was a fine evening in the summer, and eochaid airem was looking from the walls of tara and admiring the beauty of the world. he saw an unknown warrior riding towards him; clad in purple tunic; his hair yellow as gold, and his blue eyes shining like candles. a five-pointed lance was in his hand; his shield was ornamented with beads of gold. --"a hundred thousand welcomes to you," said the high king. "who is it you are?" --"i know well who you are," said the warrior, "and for a long time." --"what name is on you?" said eochaid. --"nothing illustrious about it in the world," said the other. "i am midir of bregleith." --"what has brought you hither?" --"i am come to play at chess with you." --"i have great skill at chess," said the high king; and indeed, he was the best at it in ireland, in those days. --"we shall see about that," said midir. --"but the queen is sleeping in her chamber now," said eochaid; "and it is there the chessboard is." --"little matter," said midir, "i have here a board as good as yours is." and that was the truth. his chessboard was of silver, glittering with precious stones at each corner. from a satchel wrought of shining metal he took his chessmen, which were of pure gold. then he arranged them on the board.--"play you," said he. --"i will not play without a stake," said the king. --"what will the stake be?" said midir. --"all one to me," said eochaid. --"if you win," said midir, "i will give you fifty broad-chested horses with slim swift feet." --"and if you win," said eochaid airem, sure of victory, "i will give you whatever you demand." midir won that game, and demanded etain the queen. but the rules of chess are that the vanquished may claim his revenge,--a second game, that is, to decide the matter; and the high king proposed that it should be played at the end of a year. midir agreed, and vanished. the year ended, and eochaid was at tara; he had had the palace surrounded by a great armed host against midir; and etain was there with him. here is the description of etain: "a clear comb of silver was held in her hand, the comb was adorned with gold; and near her, as for washing, was a basin of silver whereon four birds had been chased, and there were little bright gems of carbuncles on the rim of the basin. a bright purple mantle waved round her; and beneath it another mantle with fringes of silver: the outer one clasped over her bosom with a golden brooch. a tunic she wore, with a long hood that might cover her head attached to it; it was stiff and glossy with green silk beneath red embroidery of gold, and clasped over her breast with marvelously wrought clasps of gold and silver, so that men saw the bright gold and the green silk flashing against the sun. on her head were two tresses of golden hair, and each tress plaited into four strands, and at the end of each strand a little ball of gold. each of her two arms was as white as the snow of a single night, and each of her two cheeks of the hue of the foxglove. even and small the teeth in her head, and they shone like pearls. her eyes were blue as the blue hyacinth, her lips delicate and crimson. . . . white as snow, or the foam of the wave, was her neck. . . . her feet were slim and white as the ocean foam; evenly set were her eyes, and the eyebrows of a bluish black, such as you see on the shell of a beetle." --what i call on you to note about that is something very unpoetic. it is not the flashing brightness, the grace, the evidence of an eye craving for beauty, and of a hand sure in the creation of beauty;--but the dress. the irish writers got these ideas of dress without having contacted, for example, classical civilization, or any foreign civilization. the ideas were home-grown, the tradition irish. the writer was describing what he was familiar with: the kind of dress worn by an irish princess before ireland had seen foreign fashions and customs. he was heightening picture for artistic effect, no doubt; but he was drawing with his eye on the object. i am inclined to think that imagination always must work upon a basis of things known; just as tradition must always be based on fact. now then: try, will you, to imagine primitive savages dressing like that, or sufficiently nearly like that for one of their bards to work up such a picture on the actualities he had seen. i think you cannot do it. and this picture is not extraordinary; it is typical of what we commonly find in the ancient irish stories. what it proves is that the ireland that emerges into history, war-battered and largely decivilized by long unsettled conditions as she was, remembered and was the inheiritor of an ireland consummately civilized.--but to return to the hall of eochaid airem: every door in it was locked; and the whole place filled with the cream of the war-host of the gael, and apprehension on everyone, they not knowing would it be war and violence with midir, or what it would be. so it had been all day; so it was now in the dusk of the evening. then suddenly there stood midir in the midst of them: midir the proud; never had he seemed fairer than then. no man had seen him enter; none knew how he had come. and then it was but putting his spear in his left hand for him, and putting his right arm about the waist of etain, and rising through the air with her, and vanishing through the roof. and when the men of ireland rushed out from the hall, they saw two swans circling above tara and away, their long white necks yoked together with a yoke of moon-bright silver. it was a long time the gods were ruling in ireland before the milesians came. king after king reigned over them; and there are stories on stories, a rich literature for another nation, about the time of these danaan gods alone. one of them was lir, the boundless deep. he had four children by his first wife; when she died, he married her sister, aoife by name. aoife was jealous of the love he had for his children, and was for killing them. but when it came to doing it, "her womanhood overcame her," and instead she put swanhood on the four of them, and the doom that swans they should be from that out for nine hundred years: three hundred on lake derryvaragh in west meath, three hundred on the straits of moyle between ireland and scotland, three hundred on the atlantic by erris and innishglory. after that the enchantment would end. for that, bov derg, one of the gods, changed her into a demon of the air, and she flew away shrieking, and was heard of no more. but there was no taking the fate from the swan-children; and the danaans sought them on their lake, and found they had human speech left to them, and the gift of wonderful danaan music. from all parts they came to the lake to talk with them and to hear them singing; and that way it was for three hundred years. then they must depart, fionuala and her three brothers, the swan-children, and wing their way to the northern sea, and be among the wild cliffs and the foam; and the worst of loneliness and cold and storm was the best fate there was for them. their feathers froze to the rocks on the winter nights; but they filled the drear chasms of the tempest with their danaan singing. it was fionuala wrapped her plumage about her brothers, to keep them from the cold; she was their leader, heartening them. and if it was bad for them on the straits of moyle, it was worse on the atlantic; three hundred years they were there, and bitter sorrow the fate on them. when their time to be freed was near, they were for flying to the palace of lir their father, at the hill of the white field in armagh. but long since the milesians had come into ireland, and the danaans had passed into the hills and the unseen; and with the old centuries of their enchantment heavy on them, their eyes had grown no better than the eyes of mortals: gorse-grown hills they saw, and green nettles growing, and no sign of the walls and towers of the palace of lir. and they heard the bells ringing from a church, and were frightened at the "thin, dreadful sound." but afterwards, in their misery, they took refuge with the saint in the church, and were converted, and joined him in singing the services. then, after a while, the swanhood fell from them, and they became human, with the whole of their nine centuries heavy on them. "lay us in one grave," said fionuala to the saint; "and place conn at my right hand, and fiachra at my left, and aed before my face; for there they were wont to be when i sheltered them many a winter night upon the seas of moyle." so it was they were buried; but the saint sorrowed for them till the end of his days. and there, if you understand it, you have the forgotten story of ireland. she was once danaan, and fortunate in the golden age. then she was enchanted, and fell from her high estate; and sorrow and the wildness of ages of decivilizing wars were her portion; but she retained her wonderful danaan gift of song. then came christianity, and she sang her swan-song in the services of the church;--when she had overcome her terror of the ominous sound of the bells. she became human again: that is, enjoyed one more period of creative greatness, a faint revival of her old splendor; and then,--ah, it was a long time ago; a long time the hermit had been sorrowing over her grave! but listen, by the lake of derryvaragh, on the seas of moyle, or by erris and innishglory, and you will hear still the ghostly echoes of the singing of danaan swans. _danaan_ swans: music better than of the world of men! o swan-child, come from the grave, and be bright as you were of old when you sing o'er the sun-bright wave in the danaans' age of gold! are you never remembering, darling, the truth that you knew well then, that there's nobody dies from the world, asthore, but is born in the world again. it brings me naturally to the place where we take her up in our history. at the end of the fourth century, "the sea," says the roman poet claudian, "was foamy with the hostile oars of the irish." niall of the nine hostages was high king of tara; and he was all for a life on the ocean wave and a home on the rolling deep. he raided the coasts of britain annually, and any other coasts that came handy, carrying off captives where he might. one of these was a boy named sucat, from glamorgan: probably from glamorgan, though it might have been from anywhere between the clyde and the loire. in time this sucat escaped from his irish slavery, entered the church, took the latin name of patrick, and made it his business to christianize ireland. that was about the time when the britons were throwing off the roman yoke. he was at the height of his career in the middle of the fifth century. even if he did not make a clean and bloodless sweep of the whole country, patrick was one of the most successful christian missionaries that ever preached. there was some opposition by the druids, but it was not successful. he went to the courts of the kings, and converted them; and to say you had baptized a king, was as good as to say you had his whole clan captured; for it was a fractious unnatural clansman who would not go where his chieftain led. we are in an atmosphere altogether different from the rancor and fanaticism of the continent. patrick,--there must have been something very winning and kindly about the man,-- roused no tradition of animosity. he never made ireland hate her pagan past. when the great age came,--which was not till later, --not till the crest-wave had passed from wales,--and christian irishmen took to writing down the old legends and stories, they were very tender to the memories of the gods and heroes. it was in pity for the children of lir, that were turned into swans, that they were kept alive long enough to be baptized and sent to heaven. can you fancy latona and her children so received by greekish or latin monks into the communion of saints? but the irish church was always finding excuses for the salvation of the great figures of old. some saint called up cuculain from hell, converted him, and gave him a free pass that peter at the gates should honor. there was conchobar macnessa again. he was king of ulster in the days of the red branch, the grand heroic cycle of irish legend; cuculain was the chief of his warriors. a brain-ball was driven through the skull of conchobar from a sling; but sure, his druid doctors would never be phased by a trifle like that. they bound up the wound and healed him in a cauldron of cure; but warned him never to get excited or over-exert himself, or the brain-ball would come out and he would die; barring such accidents, he would do splendidly. and so he did for some years. then one day a darkness came over the world, and he put his druids to finding out the cause of it. they told him they saw in their vision three crosses on a hill in the east of the world, and three men nailed on them; and the man in the middle with the likeness of the son of god. with that the battle-fury came on conchobar, and he fell to destroying the trees of the forest with his sword. "oh that i were there!" he cried; "thus would i deal with his enemies." with the excitement and over-exertion, out came the brain-ball, and he died. and if god almighty would not take conchobar macnessa, pagan as he was, into heaven for a thing like that,--sure, god almighty was not half such a decent kindly creature as the irish monk who invented the yarn. so nothing comes down to us that has not passed the censorship of a race-proud priesthood, with perhaps never a drop of the wine of true wisdom in them, to help them discriminate and truth to shine through what they were passing on; but still, with a great deal of the milk of human kindness as a substitute, so far as it might be. they treasured the literary remains of druid days; liberally twisting them, to be sure, into consonance with christian ideas of history and the fitness of things; but still they treasured them, and drew from them inspiration. thus the whole past comes down euhemerized, cooked, and touched up. it comes down very glorious,--because the strongest feeling in irish hearts was irishism, race-consciousness. whereas the latin church was fiercely against antiquity and all its monuments, the celtic church in ireland was anxious above all things to preserve celtic antiquity,--having first brought it into line with the one true faith. the records had to be kept,--and made to tally with the bible. the godhood of the gods had to be covered away, and you had to treat them as if they had been respectable children of adam,--more or less respectable, at any rate. a descent from noah had to be found for the legendary kings and heroes; and for every event a date corresponding with that of someone in the bible. above all, you had to pack the whole irish past into the few thousand years since noah came out of the ark.--you get a glimpse in wales of the struggle there was between hebrao-christian chronology and the celtic sense of the age of the world: in the pedigree of an ancient family, where, it is said, about half way down the line this entry occurs after one of the names: "in his time adam was expelled from paradise." in ireland, indeed, there was at least one man from before the flood living in historic times: fintan, whom, with others, noah sent into the western world while the ark was building. here is one of fintan's poems: "if you inquire of me concerning ireland, i know and can relate gladly all the invasions of it since the beginning of the delightful world. out of the east came cessair, a woman, daughter of bith, with her fifty maidens, with her three men. the flood came upon bith on his mountain without mystery; on ladru at ard ladran; on cessair at cull cesra. as for me, for the space of a year, beneath the rapid flood, on the height of a mighty wave, i enjoyed sleep which was exceeding good. then, in ireland, i found my way above the waters until partholan came out of the east, from the land of the greeks. then, in ireland, i enjoyed rest; ireland was void till the son of agnoman came, nemed with the delightful manners. the fir bolg and the fir galioin came a long time after, and the fir domnan also; they landed at erris in the west. then came the tuatha de danaan in their hood of mist. i lived with them for a long time, though their age is far removed. after that came the sons of mile out of spain and the south. i lived with them; mighty were their battles. i had come to a great age, i do not conceal it, when the pure faith was sent to ireland by the king of the cloudy heaven. i am the fair fintan son of bochra; i proclaim it aloud. since the flood came here i am a great personage in ireland." in the middle of the sixth century he was summoned as a witness by the descendants of niall of the nine hostages against king dermot mackerval, in a dispute as to the ancient divisions of ireland. he came to tara with nine companies in front of him, and nine companies behind: they were his descendants. this, mind you, is in strictly historical times. the king and his people received him kindly, and after he had rested a little, he told them his story, and that of tara from its foundation. they asked him to give them some proof of his memory. "right willingly," said fintan. "i passed one day through a wood in west munster; i brought home with me a red berry of the yew-tree, which i planted in my kitchen-garden, and it grew there till it was as tall as a man. then i took it up, and re-planted it on the green lawn before the house, and it grew there until a hundred champions could find room under its foliage, to be sheltered there from wind and rain, and cold and heat. i remained so, and my yew remained so, spending our time alike, until at last all its leaves fell off from decay. when afterwards i thought of turning it to some profit, i went to it, and cut it from its stem; and i made of it seven vats, and seven keeves, and seven stans, and seven churns, and seven pitchers, and seven milans, and seven medars, with hoops for all. i remained so with my yew vessels until their hoops all fell off from decay and old age. after that i re-made them; but could only get a keeve out of the vat, and a stan out of the keeve, and a mug out of the stan, and a cilorn out of the mug, and a milan out of the cilom, and a medar out of the milan; and i leave it to almighty god that i do not know where their dust is now, after their dissolution with me from decay." * ------ * de jubainville, _irish mythological cycle;_ when also fintan's poem quoted above. ------ now here is a strange relic of the secret teaching that comes down with this legend of fintan. each of the four cardinal points, it was said, had had its man appointed to record all the wonderful events that had taken place in the world.* one of them was this fintan, son of bochra, son of lamech, whose duty was to preserve the histories of spain and ireland, and the west in general. as we have seen, spain is a glyph for the great plain, the otherworld. ------ * see _the secret doctrine,_ for the thesophical teaching. ------ from this universal euhemerization,--this loving preservation and careful cooking of the traditions by the christian redactors of them,--we get certain results. one is that ancient ireland remains for us in the colors of life: every figure flashes before our eyes in a golden mellow light of morning, at once extremely real and extremely magical: not the greek heroic age appears so flooded with dawn-freshness, so realistic, so minutely drawn, nor half so lit with glamor. another result is that, while strange gleams of esotericism shine through,--as in that about the four recorders of the four cardinal points,--things that it seemed undangerous to the monks, because they did not understand their significance, to let pass,--we hear nothing in irish literature about the philosophy of the druids. ireland retains her belief in magic to this day; and his would be a hard skull that could know ireland intimately and escape that belief. so it seemed nothing irreligious to the monks to let the druids remain magicians. but philosophy was another matter entirely; and must be ruled out as conflicting with the christian scheme of things. from this silence our druid-medicine-men theorists draw great comfort and unction for their pet belief. reincarnation appears in some stories as a sort of thing that might happen in special cases; because "god is good to the irish," and might be willing to give them sometimes another chance. but nothing is allowed to come down to imply it was known for a law in nature; no moral or philosophic bearing is attached to it. this is just what you would expect. the christian censors of the literature had rejected it as unchristian doctrine. they would hate to have it thought that irishmen could ever have believed in such things; they would cover such belief up in every possible way. you would find peasant-bards in wales to this day, men learned in the national tradition, who are deacons in their chapels and druids of the gorsedd, and firm believers in druidism. they have founded a gorsedd here in america lately, with an active propaganda of druidism, and lecturers touring. they think of it as a kind of pre-christian christianity; and would open their eyes wide to hear that reincarnation was the cornerstone teaching in it. this may throw a little light on the attitude of those early irish christians.--but on the other hand there were tales that could not be preserved at all, that you could not tell at all, without bringing a touch of reincarnation into them. the universal doctrine survived in that way in ireland, as it survived as a rumor in the folk-lore in wales. there is the story, for instance, of mongan son of fiachta, a historical chieftain killed in . according to tigernach, the oldest of the irish annalists, finn maccool died in a.d. . finn, you will remember, is the central figure of the fenian cycle of sagas; he was the father of oisin and the leader of the fenians; next to cuculain, he is the chiefest hero of irish legend. i quote this story from m. de jubainville.* ------ * but without word-for-word exactitude; hence the absence of inverted commas. the same remark applies to all the stories quoted, or nearly quoted, from mr. rollerstone'e book. ------ mongan had a quarrel with forgoll, his chief bard or _file,_ as to the place where fothad airgtech king of ireland had been slain by cailte, one of finn's companions. mongan said it was on the banks of the lame in ulster, near his own palace; forgoll said it was at dubtar in leinster. forgoll, enraged at being contradicted by a mere layman, threatened to pronounce awful incantations against mongan, which might put rat-hood on him, or anything. the end of it was that mongan was given three days to prove his statement; if he should not have done so by that time, he and all his possessions were to become the property of the file. two days passed, and half the third, and mongan did nothing, but remained at his ease entirely, never troubling in the world. as for his wife, poor woman, from the moment he made the wager her tears had not ceased to flow.--"make an end of weeping," said he; "help will certainly come to us." forgoll came to claim his bond.--"wait you till the evening," said mongan. evening came, and if help was coming, there was no sign of it. mongan sat with his wife in the upper chamber; forgoll out before them waiting to take possession of everything. pitiless and revengeful the look of forgoll; the queen weeping and walling; mongan himself with no sign of care on him.--"be not you sorrowful, woman," said he; "the one who is coming to help us is not far off; i hear his footsteps on the labrinne." it is the river caragh, that flows into dingle bay in the southwest; a hundred leagues from where they were in the palace at donegore in the north-east of antrim. with that she was quiet for awhile; but nothing happened, and she began weeping again.--"hush now!" said mongan; "i hear the feet of the one that will help us crossing the maine." it is another river in kerry, between the caragh and the north-east: on the road, that is, between mongan's palace and the great plain. that way he was consoling her again and again; and she again and again breaking out with her lamentations. he was hearing the footsteps at every river between kerry and antrim: at the liffey, and then the boyne, and then the dee, and after that, at carlingford lough, and at last at larne water, a little to the south of the palace.--"enough of this folly," said forgoll; "pay you me what is mine." a man came in from the ramparts;--"what news with you?" asks mongan.--"there is a warrior like the men of old time approaching from the south, and a headless spear-shaft in his hand."--"i told you he would be coming," said mongan. before the words were out from between his teeth, the warrior had leaped the three ramparts into the middle of the dun, and in a moment was there between mongan and the file in the hall.--"what is it is troubling you?" said he. --"i and the file yonder have made a wager about the death of fothad airgtech," said mongan. "the file said he died at dubtar in leinster; i said it was false." --"then the file has lied," said the warrior. --"thou wilt repent of that," cried forgoll. --"that is not a good speech," said the warrior. "i will prove what i say." then he turned to mongan. "we were with thee, finn maccool," said he,-- --"hush!" said mongan; _"it is wrong for thee to reveal a secret."_ --"well then," said the warrior, "we were with finn coming from alba. we met fothad airgtech near here, on the banks of larne water. we fought a battle with him. i cast my spear at him, so that it went through his body, and the iron head quitted the shaft, and went into earth beyond, and remained there. this is the shaft of that spear," said he, holding up the headless shaft he had with him. "the bare rock from which i hurled it will be found, and the iron head is in the earth a little to the east of it; and the grave of fothad airgtech a little to the east of that again. a stone chest is round his body; in the chest are his two bracelets of silver, and his two arm-rings, and his collar of silver. over the grave is a stone pillar, and on the end of the pillar that is in the earth is ogham writing, and it says, 'here is fothad airgtech. he was fighting with finn when cailte slew him.'" cailte had been one of the most renowned of finn's companions; he had come now from the great plain to save his old master. you will note that remark of the latter's when cailte let the fact escape him that he, mongan, had been finn: "hush! it is wrong for the to reveal a secret." that was the feeling of the christian redactors. reincarnation was not a thing for baptized lips to speak about. but we are anticipating things: the coming of patrick did not bring about the great literary revival which sent all these stories down to us. patrick christianized ireland: converted the kings and established the church; and left the bulk of the people pagan-hearted and pagan-visioned still,--as, glory be to god, they have been ever since. i mean by that that under all vicissitudes the irish have never quite lost sight of the inner life at the heart of things, as most of the rest of us have. time and men and circumstance, sorrow and ignorance and falsity, have conspired to destroy the race; but there is a vision there, however thwarted and hedged in,--and the people do not perish: their woods and mountains are still full of a gay or mournful, a wailing or a singing, but always a beautiful, life. patrick was a great man; but he never could drive out the danaan gods, who had gone into the hills when the milesians came. he drove out the serpents, they say; and a serpent was a name for a druid adept: taliesin says, in one of his poems, _'wyf dryw, wyf sarff,'_ 'i am a druid, i am a serpent'; and we know from h.p. blavatsky how universal this symbol was, with the meaning of an initiate of the secret wisdom. so perhaps patrick did evict his betters from that land of evictions; it may be so;--but not the god-life in the mountains. but i judge from the clean and easy sweep he made of things that druidism was at a low pass in ireland when he came. it had survived there five centuries since its vital center and link with the lodge had been destroyed at bibracte by caesar; and, i suppose, thus cut off, and faced with no opposition to keep it pure and alert, might well, and would naturally have declined. its central light no longer burning, political supremacy itself would have hastened its decay; fostering arrogance for spirituality, and worldliness for true wisdom. how then about the theory that some life and light remained or was revivable in it in britain? why claim that for britain, which one would incline to deny to ireland and gaul?-- well; we know that druidism did survive in gaul a long time after the romans had proscribed it. but gaul became very thoroughly romanized. the romans and their civilization were everywhere; the celtic language quite died out; (breton was brought in by emigrants from britain;)--and where the celtic language had died, unlikely that celtic thought would survive. but in britain, as we have seen, while the romans and their proscription were near enough to provide a salutary opposition and constant peril, there were many places in which the survivors of suetonius' massacre in mona might have taken refuge. i take it that in ireland it suffered through lack of opposition; in gaul, it died of too effective opposition; but in britain there were midway conditions that may well have allowed it to live on. beyond christianizing the country, it does not appear that patrick did much for it. it is not clear that ireland made any progress in material civilization then,--or for that matter, at any time since. we should know by this time that these things are a matter of law. patrick found her essentially in pralaya, essentially under the influence of centrifugalism; and you cannot turn the ebbing tide, and make it flow before its time. there was a queer mixture of intensive culture and ruthless barbarism: an extreme passion on the one hand for poetry and the things of the spirit,--and on the other, such savagery as continual warfare always brings in its train. the literary class was so strong that in the little kingdom of tir conall in donegal alone the value of ten thousand dollars of the revenue was set aside yearly for its support and purposes;--whereby one would imagine that for all things else they could but have had a nickel or so left. this is culture with a vengeance. there was, besides, wonderful skill in arts and crafts, intricate designing in jewelry-work;--and all this is not to be called by another name than the relics of a high civilization. but there was no political unity; or only a loose bond under the high kings at tara, who had forever to be fighting to maintain their authority. there was racial, but not national consciousness. but where in europe was there national consciousness? we should remember that it only began to exist, or to reincarnate from times beyond the horizon of history, in the thirteenth century a.d. there would be a deal less sneering at ireland were only these facts known. england was perhaps the first country in which it became effective: the wars of the first and third edwards called it into being there. joan lit the fires of it in france; she mainly;--in the fourteen-twenties and thirties. spain had to wait for ferdinand and isabel; sweden for gustavus vasa; holland for william the silent; italy for victor emmanuel; germany for bismarck. wales was advancing towards it, in an imperfect sort of way, rather earlier than england; but the edwardian conquest put the whole idea into abeyance for centuries. so too ireland: she was half-conquered by the normans, broken, racked, ruined and crucified, a century before the idea of nationhood had come into existence, and while centrifugalism was still the one force in europe. it is thus quite beside the point to say that she was never a nation, even in the days of her native rule. of course she was not. nor was england, in those times; nor any other. in every part of the continent the centrifugal forces were running riot; though in some there were strong fighting kings to hold things together. this by way of hurling one more spear at the old cruel doctrine of race inferiorities and superiorities: at unbrotherliness and all its wicked works and ways. i was the european pralaya; when your duty to your neighbor was everywhere and always to fight him, to get in the first blow; to kill him before he killed you, and thank god for his mericies. so ireland was not exceptional in that way. where she was exceptional, bless her sweet heart, lay, as we shall see, in the fact that while all the rest were sunk in ignorance and foulest barbarism, and mentall utterly barren,--she alone had the grace to combine her kilkenny cattery with an exquisite and wonderful illumination of culture. while she tore herself to pieces with one hand, with the other she was holding up the torch of learning,--and a very real learning too, --to benighted europe; and _then_ (bedad!) she found another hand again, to be holding the pen with it, and to produce a literature to make the white angels of god as green as her own holy hills with envy! _that_ was ireland! the crest-wave rolled in to her; the spiritual forces descended far enough to create a cultural illumination, but not far enough to create political stability. we have seen before that they touch the artistic creative planes, in their descent, before they reach the more material planes. so her position is perfectly comprehensible. the old european manvantara was dying; elsewhere it was dead. its forces, when they passed away through ireland, were nearly exhausted; in no condition whatever to penetrate to the material plane and make political greatnesses and strengths. but they found in her very soil and atmosphere a spiritual something which enabled them to produce a splendor of literary creation that perhaps had had no parallel in europe since periclean days: yes, surely ireland was much more creative than augustan rome. have any of you heard of literary savages? of wild men of the woods, your true prognathous primitives, that in a bare couple of generations, and upon no contact with civilized races, rose from their native pithecanthropism to be the wonderful beacon of the west or east? you have not, and cannot imagine it; nor could it ever be. a great literary habit is only acquired in long ages of settled civilization; and there were long ages of settled civilization behind ireland;--and when, about thirteen decades after patrick's coming, she flamed up into cultural creation, she was but returning to what was proper to her soul; in the midst of her dissolution, she was but groping after an olden self. that olden self, very likely, she had even by that time more than half forgotten; and we now can only see it refracted, as it were, through the lens of those first christian centuries, and with the eyes of those christian monks and bards. how would they have seen them?--there was that spirit of euhemerization: of making ancient things conform to new christian ideas. they had the kilkenny catterwauling in their ears daily; would they have allowed to any pagan times a quieter less dissonant music? could they have imagined it, indeed?--i doubt. kilkennyism would have appeared to them the natural state of things. were you to look back into paganism for your christian millennium, to come not till christ came again? were you to search there for peace on earth and mercy mild?--there in the long past, when all the near past was war?--besides, there was that ancientest of mariners, noah, but a few thousand years back; and you had to make things fit. so i find nothing in it conclusive, if the legends tell of no conditions different from those patrick found: kilkenny cattery in politics, intensive culture in the things of the spirit; and i see no difficulty in the co-existence of the two. the cultured habit had grown in forgotten civilized ages; the cattery was the result of national or racial pralaya; of the break-up of the old civilization, and the cyclic necessary night-time between it and the birth of another. let us remember that during the thirty years war, in mid-manvantara, europeans sunk into cannibalism; let us remember the lessons of our own day, which show what a very few years of war, so it be intense enough, can do toward reducing civilized to the levels of savage consciousness. so when we find ireland, in this fourth century, always fighting,-- and the women as well as the men; and when we find a tribe in scotland, the attacotti, with a reputation for cannibalism;--we need not for a moment imagine that things had always been like that. it is not that man is naturally a savage, and may from the heights of civilization quickly relapse into savagery; it is that he is a dual being, with the higher part of his nature usually in abeyance, and its place taken, when it is taken at all, by the conventions of law and order; and so the things that are only thought, or perhaps secretly practised, in times of civilization, as soon as war has broken down the conventions, find their full expression in action,--and others along with them. so patrick found ireland, what she has been mostly since, a grand kilkenny cattery; but with the literary habit of an older and better day surviving, and nearly ready to be awakened into transcendent splendor. the echoes of the danaan music were ringing in her still; and are now, heaven knows;--and how would they not be, when what to our eyes are the hills of her green with fern, to eyes anointed, and to the vision of the spirit, are the palaces of the danaan sidhe, and the topless towers of fairyland? i shall come to my history next week; meanwhile here for you is the _song of finn in praise of may,_ a part of it, as mr. rollertone translates it, to give a taste of the literary habit of pre-christian ireland: may day! delightful day! bright colors play the vales along; now wakes at morning's slender ray, wild and gay, the blackbird's song. now comes the bird of dusty hue, the loud cuckoo, the summer lover; broad-branching trees are thick with leaves; the bitter evil time is over. swift horses gather nigh, where half dry the river goes; tufted heather crowns the height; weak and white the bog-down blows. corncrake singing, from eve til morn, deep in corn, the strenuous bird; sings the virgin waterfall, white and tall, her one sweet word. loaded bough of little power goodly flower-harvests win; cattle roam with muddy flanks; busy ants go out and in. --------- carols loud the lark on high, small and shy, his tireless lay, singing in wildest, merriest mood of delicate-hued delightful may. and here, from the same source, are the _delights of finn,_ as his son oisin sang them to patrick: these are the things that were dear to finn,-- the din of battle, the banquet's glee, the bay of his hounds through the rough glen ringing, and the blackbird singing in letterlee. the shingle grinding along the shore, when they dragged his war-boats down to the sea; the dawn-wind whistling his spears among. and the magic song of his ministrels three. whereby you may know, if you consider it rightly, what great strain of influence flows in from the great plain and the land of youth, that may yet help towards the salvation of europe. when you turn your eyes on the diaphanous veil of the mighty mother, and see it sparkling and gleaming like that, it is but a step to seeing the motions of the great life behind; but a step to seeing 'eternal beauty wander on her way;' --that beauty which is the grand theophany or manifestation of god. it would not be, it could not exist, but that the spirit is here; but that the gods are here, and clearly visible; talk not of the supreme self, and shut your eyes meanwhile to the beauty of the world which is the light that shines from it, and the sign of its presence! and the consciousness of this beauty is one which, since ireland, thrilled from the otherworld, arose and sang, has been forcing itself ever more and more through the minds, chiefly of poets, of a europe exiled from truth. i cannot over-estimate the importance of this delight in and worship of beauty in nature, which the wise chinese considered the path to the highest things in art. europe has inherited, mainly from the greeks and the time the western world fell into ignorance, a preoccupation with human personality: in art and literature, i mean, as well as in life. we are individuals, and would peg out claims for ourselves even in the inner world; and by reason of that the inner world is mostly shut away from us;--for there, as the poem i quoted about the great plain says, "none talk of 'mine' and 'thine.'" but down through the centuries of christendom, after our catching it so near its source in magical ireland, comes this other music: this listening, not for the voices of passion, and indecision, and the self-conceit which is the greatest fool's play of all, within our personal selves,--but for the meditations of the omnipresent as they are communicated through the gleam on water, through the breath and delicacy of flowers, through the 'blackbird's singing in letterlee,' --this tendency to 'seek in the impersonal' (nature is impersonal) 'for the eternal self.' so here, in these fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh centuries, i find the forces 'going west,' through gaul, through wales, through ireland, to the great plain; there to recover themselves bathing in the magical fountain of youth which is so near to the island the greeks called "sacred ierne of the hibernians." it may be that the finest part of them has not come back yet; but will re-emerge, spiritual and saving, through this same gateway. one would be ashamed of the host of the gods, were they not doing strenuous battle in the unseen for the regeneration of this poor ireland, that will yet mean so much to the world: and one would marvel at the hellions, indeed one would, were they in their turn not moving heaven and earth, with their best battle-breaking champions in the fore-front, to maintain their strangle-hold on her tortured and beautiful soul. xxvii. the irish illumination we put for a date to the southern renaissance in china, and to the age that became arthurian in wales. the next thing in china is , and the coming of bodhidharma; the next thing in celtdom is , and the coming of findian. he was an irishman, and had been studying in wales; where, certainly, there was great activity in churchly circles in those days. get a map of that country, and note all the place-names beginning with _llan,_--and you will see. there are countless thousands of them. 'llan' means 'the holy place of,' and the rest of the name will be that of the saint who taught or preached there: of whom, i believe, only david appears in the catholic calendar. they were most of them active in the fifth and sixth centuries. findian, according to the _encyclopaedia britannica,_ had come under the influence of three of the foremost of them: david, gildas, and catwg the wise; who were perhaps great men, if we may judge by the results of their teaching, as findian transmitted it to those that came after him. we have seen that patrick opened no kind of golden age in ireland, gave no impulse to civilization or letters. the church he founded had fallen on rather evil days since his death; and now findian came to reform things in the light of what he had learned in wales. he began by founding at clonard a monastery on the welsh plan. that was some twenty-two years before geoffrey's date for the passing of arthur. by the time camlan had been fought, and the crest-wave had left wales, findian had made a channel through which it might flow into ireland, and in the five-forties the irish illumination began. we must say a word or two as to the kind of institution he founded. there were several of them in wales,--to be called colleges, or even universities, as rightly as monasteries:--one at bangor in the north; two or three in glamorgan; one at saint davids. students flocked to them by the thousands; there was strict discipline, the ascetic life,--and also serious study, religious and secular. it was all beautifully simple: each student lived in his own hut, "of clay and wattles made," --or, where stone might be plentiful, as it is in most parts of wales, of stone. like a military camp, the whole place would be surrounded with fosse and vallum. they grew their own corn and vegetables, milked their own cows, fished in the streams, and supported themselves. the sky roofed their lecture-halls; of which the walls, if there were any, were the trees and the mountains. but these places were real centers of learning, the best there were in europe in those days; and you needed not to be a monk to attend them. in wales the strain of the saxon wars kept them from their full fruition. celtic warfare was governed by a certain code: thus, you, went to war only at such and such a time of the year; invaded your neighbor's territory only through such and such a stretch of his frontier; and no one need trouble to guard more than the recognized doorway of his realm. above all, you never took an army through church lands. so through all the wars the britons might be waging among themselves to keep their hands in, the monastery-colleges remained islands of peace, on friendly terms with all the combatants. but wales, with no natural frontier, lay very open to invaders who knew no respect for religion or learning. twelve hundred of the student-monks of bangor, for example, were slaughtered in by the saxon ethelfrith;--whereafter the rest fled to bardsey island in cardigan bay, and the great college at bangor ceased to be. augustine of canterbury, sent by the pope to convert the english, had summoned the welsh bishops to a conference, and ordered them to come under his sway and conform to rome. they hardly knew why, but disliked the idea. outwardly, their divergence from catholicism was altogether trivial: they had their own way of shaving their heads for the tonsure, and their own times for celebrating easter,--though truly, these are the kind of things over which you fight religious wars. however, it was not these details that worried them so much; but an uneasy sense they derived, perhaps, from the tone of augustine's summons. the story runs that they took counsel among themselves, and agreed that if he were a man sent from god, they would find him humble-minded and mannered; whereof the sign should be, that he would rise to greet them when they entered. but augustine had other ideas; and as the ambassador of the vicar of christ, rose to greet no man. so still, not quite knowing why, they would have no dealings with him; and went their ways after refusing to assimilate their church of the circled cross to his of the cross uncircled;--whereupon he, to teach them a sound lesson, impelled the saxon kings to war. fair play to him, he was dead before that war brought about the massacre of the monks of bangor,--who had marched to chester to pray for the briton arms. but when findian went back to ireland he found no such difficulties in his way. not till two hundred and seventy-five years later was that island disturbed by foreign invaders; and whatever domestic kilkenny cattery might be going forward, the colleges were respected. his school at clonard quickly grew* till its students numbered three thousand; and in the forties, he sent out twelve of the chief of them to found other such schools throughout the island. then the great age began; and for the next couple of thirteen-decade periods ireland was a really brilliant center of light and learning. not by any means merely, or even chiefly, in theology; there was a wonderful quickening of mental energies, a real illumination. the age became, as we have seen, a sort of literary clearing-house for the whole irish past. if the surviving known gaelic manuscripts were printed, they would fill nearly fifty thousand quarto volumes, with matter that mostly comes from before the year ,--and which is still not only interesting, but fascinating. ------ * _encyclopaedia britannica,_ article 'ireland'; whence all re findian and the colleges. ------ the truth is, we seem to have in it the relics and wreckage of the literary output of a whole foregone manvantara, or perhaps several. for in the vast mass of epics and romances that comes down, one distinguishes three main cycles: the _mythological,_ the _red branch,_ and the _fenian._ the first deals with the five races that invaded or colonized ireland: partholanians, nemedians, firbolgs, gods, and irish;--in all of it i suspect the faint memories and _membra disjecta_ of old, old manvantaras: indeed, the summing up of the history of created man. you will have noted that the number of the races, as in theosophic teaching, is five. m. de jubainville points out that the creation of the world, or its gradual assumption of its present form, goes on _pari passu_ with the evolution of its humanities, and under their eyes; thus, when partholan, the first invader, arrived, there were but three lakes in ireland, and nine rivers, and one plain. this, too, is an echo of the secret doctrine; and incidentally indicates how tremendously far back that first invasion was thought to have been. the partholanians came into ireland from the great plain, the "land of the living," as the irish called it, which is also the land of the dead:--in other words, they came _into_ this world, and not from another part of it. their peculiarity was that they were "no wiser the one than the other "; an allusion to the mindlessness of the early humanities before the manasaputra incarnated in the mid-third root race. again, before their coming, there was a people in ireland called the fomorians: they came up from the sea, were gigantic and deformed; some of them with but one foot or one arm, some with the heads of horses or goats. that will remind you of the "water-men, terrible and bad" in the stanzas of dzyan: the first attempts of the earth or unaided nature to create men. but when the partholanians fought with and defeated these fomoroh, they were said to have "freed ireland from a foreign foe"; this though the fomorians were there first, and though the partholanians were "invaders," and utterly ceased to be after a time, so that no drop of their blood runs in irish veins. why, then, does ireland identify itself with the one race, and discard the other as "foreign foes"?-- because the partholanians represent the first human race, but the fomoroh or 'water-men' were unhuman, and a kind of _lusus naturae._ 'fomoroh,' by the way, may very well be translated 'water-men'; _fo_ i take to be the greek _upo,_ 'under,' and 'mor' is the 'sea.' now the battle of mag itha, between partholan and the fomorians, is a very late invention; not devised, i think, until the eleventh century. and of course there was no war or contact between the first race and the water-men, who had been destroyed long before. this is a good example of what came down in pagan ireland, and how the christian redactors treated it. they had heard of the existence of the fomoroh before the coming of partholan, and thought it wise to provide the latter with a war against them. later, as we shall see, the fomoroh stood for the over-sea people westward,--the atlantean giant-sorcerers. the second race of invaders, the nemedians, were also given a war with the fomorians,--in the story of the seige of conan's tower. but this story is told by nennius as applying to the milesians, the fifth race irish, and not to the second race nemedians; and probably relates to events in comparatively historical tiems,-- say a million years ago, or between that and the submersion of poseidonis about nine thousand b.c. one would imagine that ireland, from its position, must have been a main battle-ground between the men of the fifth and the atlanteans, between the white and the black magicians. mr. judge's _bryan kinnavan_ stories indicate that it was a grand stronghold of the former. the nemedians were akin to the partholanians: the second race to the first,--both mindless: they came after their predecessors had all died out; and in their turn died or departed to the last man. so we find in _the secret doctrine_ that the first two humanities passed utterly and left no trace. if i go into all this a little fully, it is because it illustrates so well the system of _blinds_ under which the inner teaching was hidden, and at the same time revealed, by the initiate of every land. these celtic things seem never to have come under the eye of mme. blavatsky at all; or how she might have drawn on them! i think that nowhere else in the mythologies are the five root-races, the four past and the one existent, mentioned so clearly as here in ireland. for historic reasons at which we have glanced,--the roman occupation, which was hardly over before the saxon invasions began,--wales has preserved infinitely less of the records of ancient celtic civilization than ireland has; and yet professor kund meyer told me,--and surely no living man is better qualified to make suct a statement,--that the whole of the forgotten celtic mythology might yet be recovered from old mss. hidden away in welsh private libraries that have never been examined. how much more then may be hoped for from ireland! the third invasion was by a threefold people: the fir domnan, or men of the goddess domna; the fir bolg, or men of the sacks; and the galioin. from these races there were still people in connacht in the seventeenth century who claimed their decent. generally all three are called by the one name of firbolgs. they were "avaricious, mean, uncouth, musicless, and inhospitable." then came the tuatha de danaan, "gods and false gods," as tuan maccarell told st. finnen, "from whom everyone knows the irish men of learning are descended. it is likely they came into ireland from heaven, hence their knowledge and the excellence of their teaching." thus tuan, who has just been made to allude to them as "gods and _false gods._" this tuan, i should mention, originally came into ireland with partholan; and, that history might be preserved, kept on reincarnating there, and remembering all his past lives. these danaans conquered, and then ruled over, the firbolgs: it is a glyph of the third or lemurian race, of which the first three (and a half) sub-races were mindless--the fir domnan, fir bolg and galioin; then the lords of mind incarnated and reigned over them, the tuatha de danaan, wafted down from heaven in a druid cloud. so far we have a pretty exact symbolic rendering of the theosophic teaching. the danaans conquered the firbolgs, it is said, at the battle of moytura. now there were two battles of moytura, of which this was the first; it alludes to the incarnation of the manasaputra, and with it the clear symbolic telling of human history comes to an end. so much, being very remote, was allowed to come down without other disguise than that which the symbols afforded. but at this point, which is the beginning of the mind-endowed humanity we know, a mere eighteen million years ago, further blinds became necessary. history, an esoteric science, had still more to be camouflaged, lest memories should seize upon indications too readily, and find out too much. why this should be, it is not the time to argue; enough to say that the wisdom of antiquity decreed it. there has always been some doubt as to the second battle of moytura. because of a certain air with which it is invested, scholars think now, for the most part, that it was a later invention. but i do not think so: i think that air comes from the extra layer of symbolism that is laid over it; from the second coating of camouflage; from the fact that the few years between the two battles represent several million years,--about which the mythological history is silent, running them all together, like street-lights you see a long way off. what happened was this: in the first battle nuada, king of the danaans, lost his hand; and, because a king must be blemishless, lost his kinghood too. it went to bres son of elatha; whose mother was danaan, but whose unknown father was of the fomoroh. note the change: the first battle was with the firbolgs, the mindless humanity of the early third race; now we are to deal with fomorians, who have come to symbolize the black magicians of atlantis: the second half of the lemurian, and nearly the whole of the atlantean period, have elapse.--in person, bres was handsome like the danaans; in character he was fomorian altogether. this is the sum of the history of later lemuria and of atlantis; moytura, and nuada's loss of his hand and kinghood there, symbolize the incarnation of the manasaputra,--descent of spirit into matter,-- and therewith, in time, their forgetting their own divinity. i should say that it is bres himself, rather than the fomorians as a whole, who stands symbol just now for the atlantean sorcerers. there is a subtle connexion between the firbolgs and fomoroh: the former are the men, the latter the gods, of the same race; the firbolgs stood originally for the mindless men of the early third, men evolving up out of the lower kingdoms towards the point of becoming human and mind-endowed; the fomorians were the gods or so to say spiritual powers of those lower worlds; the forces in opposition to upward evolution. so we see bres of that dual lineage: with magic from his danaan mother, and blackness from his fomorian father: the atlanteans, inheriting mind from the manasaputra, but turning their divine inheritance to the uses of chaos and night. as his reign represents the whole atlantean period, we might expect it to have begun well enough, and worsened as it went. this was so; had he shown his colors from the first, it is not to be thought that the danaans would have tolerated him at all. but it came to be, as time went on, that he oppressed ireland abominably; and at last they rose and drove him out. nuada, whose missing hand had been replaced with one of silver, was restored in the kingship; henceforth he is called nuada of the silver hand. here we have the return or redescent of the divine dynasties who came to lead the men of the early fifth race against the atlantean giants. i shall beg leave now to tell you the story of the second battle of moytura. perhaps it was in ireland that the white adepts of the fifth made their first stand against the atlanteans? perhaps thence it first got its epithet, _sacred_ ierne?--bres, driven out by the gods, took refuge with his father the fomorian king beyond the western sea; who gave him an army with which to reconquer his lost dominions. now we come to the figure who represents the fifth race. there are in europe perhaps a dozen cities named after lugh lamfada, the irish (indeed celtic) sun-god: lyons, the most important of them, was lug-dunum, the _dun_ or fortress of lugh. lugh was a kind of counterpart to bres; he was the son of cian, a danaan, and a daughter of the fomorian champion balor of the mighty blows, or of the evil eye. the story of his birth is like that of perseus, son of zeus and danae. danae's son, you remember, was fated to kill his grandfather acrisius; so acrisius shut danae in an inaccessable tower, that no son might be born to her. the antiquity of the whole legend is suggested by this nearness of the greek and irish versions;--even to the similarity of the names of dana and danae: though dana was not the mother of lugh, but of the whole race of the gods: _tuatha de danaan_ means, the 'race of the gods the children of dana.' so you see it comes from the beginnings of the fifth race, a million years ago; but how much better the history of that time is preserved in the irish than in the greek version! as if the irish took it direct from history and symbolism, and the greeks from the irish. and why not? since in the nature of things ireland must have been so much nearer the scene of action. lugh grew up among his mother's people, but remembered his divine descent on his father's side; and when it came to the war of the fomoroh against ireland, was for fighting for his father's people. so he set out for tara, where nuada and the gods were preparing to meet the invasion; and whoever beheld him as he came, it seemed to them as if they had seen the sun rising on a bright day in summer.--"open thou the portal!" said he; but the knife was in the meat and the mead in the horn, and no man might enter but a craftsman bearing his craft. "oh then, i am a craftsman," said lugh; "i am a good carpenter." there was an excellent carpenter in tara already, and none other needed.-"it is a smith i am," said lugh. but they had a smith there who was professor of the three new designs in smithcraft, and none else would be desired. then he was a champion; but they had ogma son of ethlenn for champion, and would not ask a better. then he was a harper; and a poet; and an antiquary; and a necromancer; and an artificer; and a cup-bearer. but they were well supplied with men of all those crafts, and there was no place for him.-- "then go and ask the king," said lugh, "if he will not be needing a man who is excellent in all those crafts at once"; and that way he got admission. after that he was drawing up the smiths and carpenters, and inquiring into their abilities, and giving them their tasks in preparation for the battle. there was goibniu, the smith of the danaans.--"though the men of ireland should be fighting for seven years," said goibniu, "for every spear that falls off its handle, and for every sword that breaks, i will put a new weapon in its place; and no erring or missing cast shall be thrown with a spear of my making; and no flesh it may enter shall ever taste the sweets of life after;--and this is more than dub the smith of the fomorians can do." and there was creidne the brazier: he would not do less well than goibniu the smith would; and there was luchtine the carpenter: evil on his beard if he did less than creidne;--and so with the long list of them. it was on the first day of november the battle began; and when the sun went to his setting, the weapons of the fomorians were all bent and notched, but those of the gods were like new. and new they were: new and new after every blow struck or cast thrown. for with three strokes of his hammer goibniu would be fashioning a spear-head, and after the third stroke there could be no bettering it. with three chippings of his knife, luchtine had cut a handle for it; and at the third chipping there would be no fault to find with the handle either by gods or men. and as quickly as they made the spear-heads and the shafts, creidne the brazier had the rivets made to rivet them; and if there were bettering those rivets, it would not be by any known workmanship. when goibniu had made a spear-head, he took it in his tongs, and hurled it at the lintel of the door so that it stuck fast there, the socket outward. when luchtine had made a spear-haft, he hurled it out at the spear-head in the lintel; and it was good hurling, not to be complained of: the end of the haft stuck in the socket, and stuck firm. and as fast as those two men did those two things, creidne had his rivets ready, and threw them at the spear-head; and so excellent his throwing, and the nicety of his aim, no rivet would do less than enter the holes in the socket, and drive on into the wood of the shaft;--and that way there was no cast of a spear by the gods at the hellions, but there was a new spear in the smithy ready to replace it. then the fomoroh sent a spy into the camp of the gods, who achieved killing goibniu with one of the latter's own spears; and by reason of that it was going ill with the gods the next day in the battle. and it was going worse with them because of balor of the mighty blows, and he taking the field at last for the fomorians,-- "balor as old as a forest, his mighty head helpless sunk, and an army of men holding open his weary and death-dealing eye," --for wherever his glances fell, there death came. they fell on nuada of the silver hand, and he died,--albeit it is well known that he was alive, and worshiped in britain in roman times, for a temple to him has been found near the river severn.--then came lugh to avenge nuada, and a bolt from his sling tore like the dawn ray, like the meteor of heaven, over moytura plain, and took the evil eye of balor in the midst, and drove it into his head; and then the fomorians were routed. and this, in truth, like camlan and kurukshetra, is the battle that is forever being fought: balor comes death-dealing still; and still the sling of lugh lamfada is driving its meteor shafts through heaven and defeating him. as for the defeat of the gods by the milesians, and their retirement into the mountains,--that too is actual history told under a thinnish veil of symbolism: the fifth race having been started, the sons of wisdom, its first gods and adept kings, who had sown the seeds of all bright things that were to be in its future civilizations, withdrew into the unseen. all this and much more,--the whole mythological cycle,-- represents what came over into irish literature from ancient manvantaric periods, and the compression of the records of millions of years. a century seems a very long time while it is passing; but at two or three millenniums ago, no longer than a few autumns and winters; and at a million years' distance, the doings and changes, the empires and dynasties of a hundred centuries, look to the eyes of racial memory like the contents of a single spring. so it is the history and wisdom of remote multiplied ages that come down to us in these tales. but with the heroic cycle we seem to be entering a near manvantara. this is the noon-period of irish literature, the shakespeare-milton time; where the other was the dawn or chaucer period. or the mythological cycle is the vedic, and the heroic, the epic, period, to take an indian analogy; and this fits it better, because the irish, like the indian, dawn-period is immensely ancient and of immense duration. but when you come to the heroic time, with the stories of the high king conary mor, and of the red branch warriors, with for _piece de resistance_ the epic _tann bo cuailgne,_ you seem (as you do in the _mahabharata_) to be standing upon actual memories, as much historical as symbolic. here all the figures, though titanic, are at least half human, with a definite character assigned to all of importance. they revel in huge dramatic action; move in an heroic mistless sunlight. you can take part in the daily life of the red branch champions as you can in that of the greeks before troy; they seem real and clear-cut; you can almost remember deirdre's beauty and the sorrow of the doom of the children of usna; you have a shrewd notion what cuculain looked like, and what conall carnach; you are familiar with the fire trailed from the chariot wheels, the sods kicked up by the horses' hoofs; you believe in them all, as you do in odysseus and ajax, in bhishma and arjuna, in hamlet and falstaff;--as i for my part never found it possible to believe in malory's and tennyson's well-groomed gentlemen of the table round. and then, after long lapse, came another age, and the cycle of the fenians. it too is full of excellent tales, but all less titanic and clearly-defined: almost, you might say, standing to the red branch as wordsworth and keats to shakespeare and milton. the atmosphere is on the whole dimmer, the figures are weaker; there is not the same dynamic urge of creation. you come away with an impression of the beauty of the forest through which the fenians wandered and camped, and less with an impression of the personalities of the fenians themselves. there is abundant natural magic, but not the old grand manner; and you would not recognise finn or oisin or oscar, if you ment them, so easily as you would cuculain or fergus macroy or naisi. civilization appears to have declined far between the two ages, to have become much less settled,--as it naturally would, with all that fighting going on. i take it that all the stories of both cycles relate to ages of the breakup of civilization: peaceful and civilized times leave less impress on the racial memory. the fenians are distinctly further from such civilized times, however, than are the red branch: they are a nomad company, but the red branch had their capital at emain macha by armagh in ulster. but what mystery, what sparkling magic environs them! mr. rollerstone cites this as an example: once three beautiful unknown youths joined finn's company; but stipulated that they should camp apart, and be left alone during the nights. after awhile it fell out what was the reason for this: one of them died between every dusk and dawn, and the other two had to be watching him. that is all that is said; but it is enough to keep your imagination at work a long while. --and then, the manvantara dies away in a dolphin glory of mystical colors in the many tales of wondrous voyages and islands in the atlantic: such as the voyage of maelduin, of which tennyson's version gives you some taste of the brightness, but none at all of the delicacy and mysterious beauty and grace. except the classical, this is the oldest written literature in europe; and i doubt there is any other that gives us such a wide peep-hole into lost antiquity. yes; perhaps it is the best lens extant, west of india. it is a lens, of course, that distorts: the long past is shown through a temperament,--made into poetry and romance; not left bare scientific history. but perhaps poetry and romance are after all the truest and final form of history. perhaps, in looking at recent ages, we are balked of seeing their true underlying form by the dust of events and the clamor of details; for eyes anointed they might resolve themselves into moyturas and camlans endlessly fought; into magical weapons magically forged; into cuculains battling eternally at the watcher's ford, he alone withstanding the great host of this world's invaders, while all his companions are under a druid sleep. . . . it is the most splendid scene or incident in the _tann bo cuailgne;_ and i cannot think of it, but it calls up before my mind's eye another picture: that of a little office in new york, and a desk, and rows of empty seats; and another irishman, lecturing to those empty seats . . . . but to all humanity, really . . . . from the ranks of which his companions should come to him presently; he would hold back the hosts of darkness alone, waiting for their coming. and i cannot think of this latter picture but it seems to me as if: cuculain rode from out the ages' prime, the hero time, spacious and girt with gold, for he had heard this earth was stained with crime. with loud hoof-thunder, clangor, ring and rhyme, with chariot-wheels flame-trailing where they rolled, cuculain rode from out the ages' prime. i saw his eyes, how darkening, how sublime, with what impatient pity and power ensouled; (for he had heard this earth was stained with crime!) song on his lips--i heard the chant and chime. the stars themselves danced to in days of old:-- cuculain rode from out the ages' prime. love sped him on to out-speed the steeds of time: no bliss for him, and this world left a-cold, which, he had heard, was stained with grief and crime. here in this iron age's gloom and grime the ford of time, the waiting years, to hold, cuculain came . . . . and from the golden prime brought light to save this world grown dark with crime.... well; from the schools of findian and his disciples missionaries soon began to go out over europe. to preach christianity, yes; but distinctly as apostles of civilization as well. columba left ireland to found his college at iona in ; and from iona, aidan presently went into northumbria of the saxons, to found his college at lindisfarne. northumbria was christianized by these irishmen; and there, under their auspices, anglo-saxon culture was born. in whitby, one of their foundations, caedmon arose to start the poetry: a pupil of irish teachers. at the other end of england, augustine from rome had christianized kent; but no culture came in or spread over england from augustine and kent and rome; northumbria was the source of it all. you have only to compare _beowulf,_ the epic the saxons brought with them from the continent, with the poetry of caedmon and cynewulf, or with such poems as _the phoenix,_ to see how irishism tinged the minds of these saxon pupils of irish teachers with, as stopford brooke says, "a certain imaginative passion, a love of natural beauty, and a reckless wildness curiously mingled with an almost scientific devotion to metrical form." ireland meanwhile was the heart of a regular circulation of culture. students poured in from abroad, drawn by the fame of her learning; we have a poem in praise of generous ireland from an anglo-saxon prince who spent his exile there in study. irish teachers were at the court of charlemagne; irish teachers missionarized austria and germany. when the norsemen discovered iceland, they found irish books there; probably irish scholars as well, for it has been noted (by matthew arnold) that the icelandic sagas, unlike any other pre-christian teutonic literature, bear strong traces of the celtic quality of style. they had their schools everywhere. you hear of an irish bishop of tarentum in the latter part of the seventh century; and a hundred years later, of an irish bishop of salzburg in austria. this was virgil--in irish, fergil, i imagine a native name of salzburg: a really noteworthy man. he taught, _at that time,_ that the world is a globe, and with people living at the antipodes; for which teaching he was called to order by the pope: but we do not hear of his retracting. last and greatest of them all was johannes scotus erigena, who died in : a very bright particular star, and perhaps the one of the largest magnitude between the neo-platonists and the great mystics of later times, who came long after the new manvantara had dawned. he is not to be classed with the scholastics; he never subordinated his philosophy to theology; but approached the problems of existence from a high, sane, and theosophic standpoint: an independent and illuminated thinker. he taught at the court of charles the bald of france; and was invited to oxford by alfred in , and died abbot of malmesbury five years later,--having in his time propounded many tough nuts of propositions for churchmen to crack and digest if they could. as, that authority should be derived from reason, and not, as they thought, vice versa; and that "damnation was simply the consciousness of having failed to fulfill the divine purpose,"-- and not, as their pet theory was, a matter of high temperature of eternal duration. the following are quotations from his work _de divisione naturae;_ i take them from m. de jubainville's _irish mythological cycle,_ where they are given as summing up erigena's philosophy,--and as an indication of the vigorous pantheism of pre-christian irish thought. "we are informed by all the means of knowledge that beneath the apparent diversity of beings subsists the one being which is their common foundation." "when we are told that god makes all things, we are to understand that god is in all things, that he is the substantial essence of all things. for he alone possesses in himself all that which may be truly said to exist. for nothing which is, is truly of itself, but god alone; who alone exists _per se,_ spreading himself over all things, and communicating to them all that which in them truly corresponds to the notion of being." i think we can recognise here, under a not too thick disguise of churchly phraseology, the philosophy of the _bhagavad-gita._ again: "do you not see how the creator of the universality of things hold the first rank in the divisions of nature? not without reason, indeed; since he is the basic principle of all things, and is inseparable from all the diversity which he created, without which he could not exist as creator. in him, indeed, immutably and essentially, all things are; he is in himself division and collection, the genus and the species, the whole and the part of the created universe." "what is a pure idea? it is, in proper terms, a theophany: that is to say, a manifestator of god in the human soul." you would be mildly surprised, to say the least of it, to hear at the present day a native, say in abyssinia, rise to talk in terms like these: it is no whit less surprising to hear a man doing so in ninth-century europe. but an irishman in europe in those days was much the same thing as an oxford professor in the wilds of abyssinia would be now;--with this difference: that ireland is a part of europe, and affected by the general european cycles (we must suppose). europe then was in thick pralaya (as abyssinia is now); but in the midst of it all there was ireland, with her native contrariness, behaving better than most people do in high manvantara. the impulse that made that age great for her never came far enough down to awaken great creation in the plastic arts; but it touched the fringes of them, and produced marvelous designing, in jewel-work, and it the illumination of manuscripts. concerning the latter, i will quote this from joyce's short history of ireland; it may be of interest:-- "its most marked characteristic is interlaced work formed by bands, ribbons and cords, which are curved and twisted and interwoven in the most intricate way, something like basket work infinitely varied in pattern. these are intermingled and alternated with zigzags, waves, spirals, and lozenges; while here and there among the curves are seen the faces or forms of dragons, serpents, or other strange-looking animals, their tails or ears or tongues elongated and woven till they become merged or lost in the general design. . . . the pattern is so minute and complicated as to require the aid of a magnifying glass to examine it. . . . miss stokes, who has examined the _book of kells,_ says of it: 'no effort hitherto made to transcribe any one page of it has the perfection of execution and rich harmony of color which belongs to this wonderful book. it is no exaggeration to say that, as with the microscopic works of nature, the stronger the magnifying power brought to bear on it, the more is this perfection seen. no single false interlacement or uneven curve in the spirals, no faint tiace of a trembling hand or wandering thought can be detected.'" the same author tells us that someone took the trouble to count, through a magnifying glass, in the _book of armagh,_ in a "small space scarcely three quarters of an inch in length by less than half an inch in width, no less than one hundred and fifty-eight interlacements of a slender ribbon pattern formed of white lines edged with black ones."--one of these manuscripts, sometimes, would be given as a king's ransom. an unmasculine art, it may be said; and enormous laborious skill spent upon tribial creation. but once again, the age was pralaya; all europe was passing into, or quite sunk in, pralaya. the host of souls was not then holding the western world; there was but a glint and flicker of their wings over ireland as they passed elsewhere; there was no thorough entering in to take possession. but the island (perhaps) is the western lay-center, and a critical spot; the veils of matter there are not very thick; and that mere glint and flicker was enough to call forth all this wonderful manifestation of beauty. if i emphasize over-much, it is because all this talk about 'inferior races,'--and because ireland has come in for so much opprobrium, one way and another, on that score. but people do not know, and they will not think, that those races are superior in which the crest-wave is rearing itself; and that their superiority cannot last: the crest-wave passes from one to another, and in the nature of things can never remain in any one for longer than its due season. it is as certain that it will pass sometime from the regions it fills with strength and glory now, as that it will sometime thrill into life and splendor the lands that are now forlorn and helpless; and for my part, seeing what the feeble dying away of it, or the far foam flung,--no more than that,--raised up in ireland once, i am anxious to see the central glory of it rise there; i am keen to know what will happen then. it will rise there, some time; and perhaps that time may not be far off.--oh if men could only look at these national questions with calm scientific vision, understanding the laws that govern national and racial life! there would be none of these idiotic jealousies then; no heart-burnings or contempt or hatred as between the nations; there would be none of this cock-a-doodling arrogance that sometimes makes nations in their heyday a laughing-stock for the gods. instead we should see one single race, humanity; poured now into one national mold, now into another; but always with the same duality: half divine, half devilish-idiotic; --and while making the utmost best of each mold as they came to inhabit it, the strong would find it their supreme business to help the weak, and not exploit or contemn them. but it will need the sound sense of theosophy,--knowledge of reincarnation, the conviction of human brotherhood,--to work this change in mankind. well; now to the things that brought ireland down. in the norwegians began their ravages, and they seem to have had a peculiar spite against the monastery-colleges. that at armagh was sacked nine times in the ninth, and six times in the tenth century. in the same period glendalough was plundered seven times; clonard four times; clonmacnois five times betnveen and , and often afterwards. these are only samples: there were scores of the institutions, and they were all sacked, burnt, plundered, and ravaged, again and again. the scholars fled abroad, taking their precious manuscripts with them; for which reason many of the most valuable of these have been found in monasteries on the continent. the age of brilliance was over. for a couple of centuries, the norwegians, and then the danes, were ruining ireland; until brian boru did their quietus make at clontarf in . before the country had had time to recover, the norman conquest began: a thing that went on for centuries, and never really finished; and that was much more ruinous even than the invasions of the norsemen. as to the celtic church, which had fostered all that brilliance, its story is soon told. in wales, the norman and plantagenet kings of england were at pains to bring the see of st. davids under the sway of canterbury and into close communion with rome: they and the roman church fought hand in hand to destroy celtic liberties. the church of the circled cross had never been an independent organization in the sense that the greek church was: it had never had its own patriarchs or popes; it was always in theory under rome. but secular events had kept the two apart; and while they did so, the celtic church was virtually independent. in the eleventh and twelfth centuries the welsh church fought hard for its existence; but norman arms backed by papal sanction proved too strong for it; and despite the valor of the princes, and especially of that gallant bishop-historian gerald the welshman, it succumbed. as to ireland: an english pope, adrian iv, born nicholas brakespeare, presented the island to king henry ii; and king henry ii with true courtesy returned the compliment by presenting it to the pope. the synod of cashel, called by henry in , put ireland under rome; and the church of the circled cross ceased to be. there, in short and simple terms, you have the history of it. and therein, too, as i guess, you may see all sorts of interesting phases of karmic working. for the church of the circled cross, that had done so well by ireland in some things, had done marvelously badly in others. there was a relic of political stability in ancient ireland,--in the office of the high-kings of tara. it is supposed now that it had grown up, you may say out of nothing: had been established by some strong warrior, to maintain itself as it might under such of his successors as might be strong too. i have no doubt, on the other hand, that it was really an ancient institution, once firmly grounded, that had weakened since the general decay of the celtic power. the gods in their day had had their capital at tara; and until the middle of the fifth century a.d. tara stood there as the symbol of national unity. when patrick came the position was this: all ireland was divided into innumerable small kingdoms with their kinglets, with the ard-righ of tara as supreme over them all as he could make himself. the hopefullest thing that could have happened would have been the abolition of the kingdoms and kinglets, and the establishment of the ard-righ's authority as absolute and final. dermot son of fergus kervall became high-king in . a chief named aed guairy murdered one of dermot's officers, and sought sanctuary with st. ruadan of lorrha, one of findian's twelve apostles, to whom he was related. the king hailed him forth, and brought him to tara for trial. thereupon the whole church of ireland rose to a man against the mere layman, the king, who had dared thus defy the spiritual powers. they came to tara in a body, fasted against him, and laid their heavy curse on him, on tara, and, in the result, on the kingship.--"alas!" said dermot, "for the iniquitous contest that ye have waged against me, seeing that it is ireland's good i pursue, and to preserve her discipline and royal right; but it is ireland's unpeace and murderousness ye endeavor after." * ------ * i quote this from mr. rollerstone's book. ------ which was true. the same trouble came up in england six centuries later, and might have ended in the same way. but the dawn of a manvantara was approaching then, and the centrifugal forces in england were slowly giving place to the centripetal: national unity was ahead, and the first two strong williams and henrys were able in the main to assert their kingly supremacy. but in the irish time not manvantara, but pralaya, was coming; and this not for ireland only, but for all europe. in the natural order of things, the centrifugal forces were increasing always. that is why dermot mackervall failed, where henry ii in part suceeded. there was nothing in the cycles to support him against the saints. tara, accursed, was abandoned, and fell into ruin; and the symbol and center of irish unity was gone. the high-kingship, thus bereft of its traditional seat, grew weaker and weaker; and ireland, except by brian boru, a usurper, was never after effectively governed. so when the norsemen came there was no strong secular power to defend the monasteries from them, and the karma of st. ruadan's churchly arrogance and ambition fell on them. and when strongbow and the normans came, there was no strong central monarchy to oppose them: the king of leinster invited them in, and the king of ireland lacked the backing of a united nation to drive them out; and ireland fell. well; we have seen how often things tend to repeat themselves,-- but on a higher level,--after the lapse of fifteen centuries. patrick, probably, was born in or about . in or thereabouts theosophy was brought into ireland. patrick's coming led eventually to the period of the irish illumination; the coming of theosophy led in a very few years to the greatest irish illumination, in poetry and drama especially, that had been since ireland fell. but patrick did not complete things; nor did that first touch of theosophy in the 'eighties and 'nineties of last century. theosophy, known in those days only to a score or so of irishmen, kindled wonderful fires: you know that english literature is more alive in ireland now than anywhere else in the english-speaking world; and that that whole celtic renaissance was born in the rooms of the dublin theosophical society. yet there were to be eventualities: the dublin lodge was only a promise; the celtic renaissance is only a promise. theosophy only bides its time until the storm of the world has subsided. it will take hold upon marvelous ireland yet; it will take hold upon sacred ierne. what may we not expect then? when she had but a feeble candle of truth, in those ancient times, she stood up a light-giver to the nations; how will it be when she has the bright sun shining in her heart? ------------- so now we have followed the history of the world, so far as we might, for about a thousand years. we have seen the mysteries decline in europe, and nothing adequate rise to take their place; and, because of that sorrowful happening, the fall of european civilization into an ever-increasing oblivion of the spiritual things. we have seen how in the east, in india and china, spiritual movements did arise, and succeed in some sort in taking the place of the mysteries; and how in consequence civilization there did in the main, for long ages, go forward undeclining and stable. and we have watched the crest-wave, indifferent to all national prides and conceits, flow from one race to another, according to a defined geographical and temporal plan: one nation after another enjoying its hour of greatness, and none chosen of the law or the spirit to be lifted forever above its fellows;--but a regular circulation of splendor about the globe, like the blood through the veins: greece, india, china; rome, spain, rome, egypt, persia, india, china: each repeating itself as the cycles of its own lifetime might permit. and then, as the main current passed eastward from dying europe, a reserve of it, a little european _sishta,_ passing west: from gaul to britain, from britain to ireland; from ireland to tirnanogue and wonderland,* there to hide for some centuries until the great wave should roll westward again from china through persia, egypt, africa, sicily and spain, up into europe: when the little wave, returning magic-laden out of the western paradise should roll back europewards again through ireland, twelfth-century wales and brittany; and spray christendom with foam from the sea! that wash the shores of fairyland: producing first what there was of mystery and delicacy to uplift mankind in feudal chivalry; then the wonder-note in poetry which has probably been one of the strongest and subtlest antidotes against deathly materialism. hence one may understand the _raison d'etre_ for that strange correspondence between chinese and celtic happenings which we have noted: the main wave rolls east; the backwash west; and they touch simultaneously the extremities of things, which extremities are, celtdom and china. in both you get the sense of being at the limits of the world,--of having beyond you only nonmaterial and magical realms:--peng-lai in the east, hy brasil in the west;--the fortunate islands of the sunset, and the fortunate islands of the dawn. we have seen opportunities coming to each nation in turn; but that how they used them depended on themselves: on whether they would turn them to spiritual or partly spiritual, or to wholly material uses: whether they would side, in their hour of prosperity, with the gods--as china did to some extent; or with the hellions, as in the main europe did. and above all, we have seen how the gods will never accept defeat, but return ever and again to the attack, and are in perpetual heroic rebellion against the despotism of materialism and evil and human blindness; and we know that the victory they so often failed to achieve of old, they are out to win now, and in the way of winning it: that we are in the crisis and most exciting of times, standing to make the future ages golden; that the measure of the victory the gods shall win is somewhat in our own hands to decide. the war-harps that played victory to heaven at moytura of old are sounding in our ears now, if we will listen for them; and when point loma was founded, it was as if once more the shaft of lugh the sunbright took the eye of balor balcbeimnech in the midst. and so, at this point, we take leave of our voyaging together through the past. ------ * perhaps, if we knew anything about american history, to america. one is tempted to put two and two together, in the light of what we have seen, and note what they come to. the great american empires fell before cortes and pizarro, between and . that surely marked the end of a manvantaa or fifteen hundred years period of cultural activity; which then would have begun between and a.d.--upon a backwash of the cycle from augustan rome? we are not to imagine that any outward link would be necessary. is it possibly a fact that in those centuries, the first five of our era roughly, when both europe and china were somewhat sterile for the most part,--the high tide of culture and creation was mainly in the antipodes of each other, america and india? and that after the fall of the tang glory in china ( ) and the irish illumination in the west ( ), some new phase of civilization began, somewhere between the rio grande del norte and the borders of chile? the incaic empire, like the han and the western roman, we know lasted about four centuries, or from the region of -a.d.--but there we must leave it, awaiting the work of discovery. proofreading team. [transcriber's note: accented characters with macrons are marked in this file as [=x], while those with inferior dots are marked as [x.].] the basis of morality by annie besant author of _mysticism, the immediate future, initiation: the perfecting of man, superhuman men, etc. etc._ theosophical publishing house adyar, madras, india * * * * * contents i. revelation ii. intuition iii. utility iv. evolution v. mysticism * * * * * i revelation must religion and morals go together? can one be taught without the other? it is a practical question for educationists, and france tried to answer it in the dreariest little cut and dry kind of catechism ever given to boys to make them long to be wicked. but apart from education, the question of the bedrock on which morals rest, the foundation on which a moral edifice can be built that will stand secure against the storms of life--that is a question of perennial interest, and it must be answered by each of us, if we would have a test of right and wrong, would know why right is right, why wrong is wrong. religions based on revelation find in revelation their basis for morality, and for them that is right which the giver of the revelation commands, and that is wrong which he forbids. right is right because god, or a [r.][s.]hi or a prophet, commands it, and right rests on the will of a lawgiver, authoritatively revealed in a scripture. now all revelation has two great disadvantages as a basis for morality. it is fixed, and therefore unprogressive; while man evolves, and at a later stage of his growth, the morality taught in the revelation becomes archaic and unsuitable. a written book cannot change, and many things in the bibles of religion come to be out of date, inappropriate to new circumstances, and even shocking to an age in which conscience has become more enlightened than it was of old. the fact that in the same revelation as that in which palpably immoral commands appear, there occur also jewels of fairest radiance, gems of poetry, pearls of truth, helps us not at all. if moral teachings worthy only of savages occur in scriptures containing also rare and precious precepts of purest sweetness, the juxtaposition of light and darkness only produces moral chaos. we cannot here appeal to reason or judgment for both must be silent before authority; both rest on the same ground. "thus saith the lord" precludes all argument. let us take two widely accepted scriptures, both regarded as authoritative by the respective religions which accept them as coming from a divine preceptor or through a human but illuminated being, moses in the one case, manu in the other. i am, of course, well aware that in both cases we have to do with books which may contain traditions of their great authors, even sentences transmitted down the centuries. the unravelling of the tangled threads woven into such books is a work needing the highest scholarship and an infinite patience; few of us are equipped for such labour. but let us ignore the work of the higher criticism, and take the books as they stand, and the objection raised to them as a basis for morality will at once appear. thus we read in the same book: "thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." "the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself, for ye were strangers in the land of egypt." "sanctify yourselves therefore and be ye holy." scores of noble passages, inculcating high morality, might be quoted. but we have also: "if thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly saying, let us go and serve other gods ... thou shalt not consent unto him nor hearken unto him; neither shalt thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him, but thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death." "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." a man is told, that he may seize a fair woman in war, and "be her husband and she shall be thy wife. and it shall be that if thou hast no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will." these teachings and many others like them have drenched europe with blood and scorched it with fire. men have grown out of them; they no longer heed nor obey them, for man's reason performs its eclectic work on revelation, chooses the good, rejects the evil. this is very good, but it destroys revelation as a basis. christians have outgrown the lower part of their revelation, and do not realise that in striving to explain it away they put the axe to the root of its authority. so also is it with the institutes of manu, to take but one example from the great sacred literature of india. there are precepts of the noblest order, and the essence and relative nature of morality is philosophically set out; "the sacred law is thus grounded on the rule of conduct," and he declares that good conduct is the root of further growth in spirituality. apart from questions of general morality, to which we shall need to refer hereafter, let us take the varying views of women as laid down in the present sm[r.][t.]i as accepted. on many points there is no wiser guide than parts of this sm[r.][t.]i, as will be seen in chapter iv. with regard to the marriage law, manu says: "let mutual fidelity continue unto death." of a father he declares: "no father who knows must take even the smallest gratuity for his daughter; for a man, who through avarice takes a gratuity, is a seller of his offspring." of the home, he says: "women must be honoured and adorned by their fathers, husbands, brothers and brothers-in-law who desire happiness. where women are honoured, there the [d.]evas are pleased; but where they are not honoured, any sacred rite is fruitless." "in that family where the husband is pleased with his wife and the wife with her husband [note the equality], happiness will assuredly be lasting." food is to be given first in a house to "newly-married women, to infants, to the sick, and to pregnant women". yet the same manu is supposed to have taken the lowest and coarsest view of women: "it is the nature of women to seduce men; for that reason the wise are never unguarded with females ... one should not sit in a lonely place with one's mother, sister or daughter; for the senses are powerful, and master even a learned man." a woman must never act "independently, even in her own house," she must be subject to father, husband or (on her husband's death) sons. women have allotted to them as qualities, "impure desires, wrath, dishonesty, malice and bad conduct". the sh[=u][d.]ra servant is to be "regarded as a younger son"; a slave is to be looked on "as one's shadow," and if a man is offended by him he "must bear it without resentment"; yet the most ghastly punishments are ordered to be inflicted on sh[=u][d.]ras for intruding on certain sacred rites. the net result is that ancient revelations, being given for a certain age and certain social conditions, often cannot and ought not to be carried out in the present state of society; that ancient documents are difficult to verify--often impossible--as coming from those whose names they bear; that there is no guarantee against forgeries, interpolations, glosses, becoming part of the text, with a score of other imperfections; that they contain contradictions, and often absurdities, to say nothing of immoralities. ultimately every revelation must be brought to the bar of reason, and as a matter of fact, is so brought in practice, even the most "orthodox" br[=a]hma[n.]a in hin[d.][=u]ism, disregarding all the sh[=a]s[t.]raic injunctions which he finds to be impracticable or even inconvenient, while he uses those which suit him to condemn his "unorthodox" neighbours. no revelation is accepted as fully binding in any ancient religion, but by common consent the inconvenient parts are quietly dropped, and the evil parts repudiated. revelation as a basis for morality is impossible. but all sacred books contain much that is pure, lofty, inspiring, belonging to the highest morality, the true utterances of the sages and saints of mankind. these precepts will be regarded with reverence by the wise, and should be used as authoritative teaching for the young and the uninstructed as moral textbooks, like--textbooks in other sciences--and as containing moral truths, some of which can be verified by all morally advanced persons, and others verifiable only by those who reach the level of the original teachers. * * * * * ii intuition when scholarship, reason and conscience have made impossible the acceptance of revelation as the bedrock of morality, the student--especially in the west--is apt next to test "intuition" as a probable basis for ethics. in the east, this idea has not appealed to the thinker in the sense in which the word intuition is used in the west. the moralist in the east has based ethics on revelation, or on evolution, or on illumination--the last being the basis of the mystic. intuition--which by moralists like theodore parker, frances power cobb, and many theists, is spoken of as the "voice of god" in the human soul--is identified by these with "conscience," so that to base morality on intuition is equivalent to basing it on conscience, and making the dictate of conscience the categorical imperative, the inner voice which declares authoritatively "thou shalt," or "thou shalt not". now it is true that for each individual there is no better, no safer, guide than his own conscience and that when the moralist says to the inquirer: "obey your conscience" he is giving him sound ethical advice. none the less is the thinker faced with an apparently insuperable difficulty in the way of accepting conscience as an ethical basis; for he finds the voice of conscience varying with civilisation, education, race, religion, traditions, customs, and if it be, indeed, the voice of god in man, he cannot but see--in a sense quite different from that intended by the writer--that god "in divers manners spoke in past times". moreover he observes, as an historical fact, that some of the worst crimes which have disgraced humanity have been done in obedience to the voice of conscience. it is quite clear that cromwell at drogheda was obeying conscience, was doing that which he conscientiously believed to be the will of god; and there is no reason to doubt that a man like torquemada was also carrying out what he conscientiously believed to be the divine will in the war which he waged against heresy through the inquisition. in this moral chaos, with such a clash of discordant "divine voices," where shall sure guidance be found? one recalls the bitter gibe of laud to the puritan, who urged that he must follow his conscience: "yea, verily; but take heed that thy conscience be not the conscience of a fool." conscience speaks with authority, whenever it speaks at all. its voice is imperial, strong and clear. none the less is it often uninformed, mistaken, in its dictate. there _is_ an intuition which is verily the voice of the spirit in man, in the god-illuminated man, which is dealt with in the fifth chapter. but the intuition recognised in the west, and identified with conscience, is something far other. for the sake of clarity, we must define what conscience is since we have said what it is not: that it is not the voice of the spirit in man, that it is not the voice of god. conscience is the result of the accumulated experience gained by each man in his previous lives. each of us is an immortal spirit, a divine fragment, a self: "a fragment of mine own self, transformed in the world of life into an immortal spirit, draweth round itself the senses, of which the mind is the sixth, veiled in matter." such is each man. he evolves into manifested powers all the potentialities unfolded in him by virtue of his divine parentage, and this is effected by repeated births into this world, wherein he gathers experience, repeated deaths out of this world into the other twain--the wheel of births and deaths turns in the [t.]riloka, the three worlds--wherein he reaps in pain the results of experiences gathered by disregard of law, and assimilates, transforming into faculty, moral and mental, the results of experience gathered in harmony with law. having transmuted experience into faculty, he returns to earth for the gathering of new experience, dealt with as before after physical death. thus the spirit unfolds, or the man evolves--whichever expression is preferred to indicate this growth. very similarly doth the physical body grow; a man eats food; digests it, assimilates it, transmutes it into the materials of his body; ill food causes pain, even disease; good food strengthens, and makes for growth. the outer is a reflection of the inner. now conscience is the sum total of the experiences in past lives which have borne sweet and bitter fruit, according as they were in accord or disaccord with surrounding natural law. this sum total of _physical_ experiences, which result in increased or diminished life, we call instinct, and it is life-preserving. the sum total of our interwoven _mental and moral_ experiences, in our relations with others, is moral instinct, or conscience, and it is harmonising, impels to "good"--a word which we shall define in our fourth chapter. hence conscience depends on the experiences through which we have passed in previous lives, and is necessarily an individual possession. it differs where the past experience is different, as in the savage and the civilised man, the dolt and the talented, the fool and the genius, the criminal and the saint. the voice of god would speak alike in all; the experience of the past speaks differently in each. hence also the consciences of men at a similar evolutionary level speak alike on broad questions of right and wrong, good and evil. on these the "voice" is clear. but there are many questions whereon past experience fails us, and then conscience fails to speak. we are in doubt; two apparent duties conflict; two ways seem equally right or equally wrong. "i do not know what i _ought_ to do," says the perplexed moralist, hearing no inner voice. in such cases, we must seek to form the best judgment we can, and then act boldly. if unknowingly we disregard some hidden law we shall suffer, and _that_ experience will be added to our sum total, and in similar circumstances in the future, conscience, through the aid of this added experience, will have found a voice. hence we may ever, having judged as best we can, act boldly, and learn increased wisdom from the result. much moral cowardice, paralysing action, has resulted from the christian idea of "sin," as something that incurs the "wrath of god," and that needs to be "forgiven," in order to escape an artificial--not a natural--penalty. we gain knowledge by experience, and disregard of a law, where it is not known, should cause us no distress, no remorse, no "repentance," only a quiet mental note that we must in future remember the law which we disregarded and make our conduct harmonise therewith. where conscience does not speak, how shall we act? the way is well known to all thoughtful people: we first try to eliminate all personal desire from the consideration of the subject on which decision is needed, so that the mental atmosphere may not be rendered a distorting medium by the mists of personal pleasure or pain; next, we place before us all the circumstances, giving each its due weight; then, we decide; the next step depends on whether we believe in higher powers or not; if we do, we sit down quietly and alone; we place our decision before us; we suspend _all_ thought, but remain mentally alert--all mental ear, as it were; we ask for help from god, from our teacher, from our own higher self; into that silence comes the decision. we obey it, without further consideration, and then we watch the result, and judge by that of the value of the decision, for it may have come from the higher or from the lower self. but, as we did our very best, we feel no trouble, even if the decision should be wrong and bring us pain. we have gained an experience, and will do better next time. the trouble, the pain, we have brought on ourselves by our ignorance, we note, as showing that we have disregarded a law, and we profit by the additional knowledge in the future. thus understanding conscience, we shall not take it as a basis of morality, but as our best available individual light. we shall judge our conscience, educate it, evolve it by mental effort, by careful observation. as we learn more, our conscience will develop; as we act up to the highest we can see, our vision will become ever clearer, and our ear more sensitive. as muscles develop by exercise, so conscience develops by activity, and as we use our lamp it burns the more brightly. but let it ever be remembered that it is a man's own experience that must guide him, and his own conscience that must decide. to overrule the conscience of another is to induce in him moral paralysis, and to seek to dominate the will of another is a crime. * * * * * iii utility to those whose intelligence and conscience had revolted against the crude and immoral maxims mixed up with noble precepts in revelation; to those who recognised the impossibility of accepting the varying voices of intuition as a moral guide; to all those the theory that morality was based on utility, came as a welcome and rational relief. it promised a scientific certitude to moral precepts; it left the intellect free to inquire and to challenge; it threw man back on grounds which were found in this world alone, and could be tested by reason and experience; it derived no authority from antiquity, no sanction from religion; it stood entirely on its own feet, independently of the many conflicting elements which were found in the religions of the past and present. the basis for morality, according to utility, is the greatest happiness of the greatest number; that which conduces to the greatest happiness of the greatest number is right; that which does not is wrong. this general maxim being laid down, it remains for the student to study history, to analyse experience, and by a close and careful investigation into human nature and human relations to elaborate a moral code which would bring about general happiness and well-being. this, so far, has not been done. utility has been a "hand-to-mouth" moral basis, and certain rough rules of conduct have grown up by experience and the necessities of life, without any definite investigation into, or codifying of, experience. man's moral basis as a rule is a compound of partially accepted revelations and partially admitted consciences, with a practical application of the principle of "that which works best". the majority are not philosophers, and care little for a logical basis. they are unconscious empirics, and their morality is empirical. mr. charles bradlaugh, considering that the maxim did not sufficiently guard the interests of the minority, and that, so far as was possible, these also should be considered and guarded, added another phrase; his basis ran: "the greatest happiness of the greatest number, with the least injury to any." the rule was certainly improved by the addition, but it did not remove many of the objections raised. it was urged by the utilitarian that morality had developed out of the social side of human beings; that men, as social animals, desired to live in permanent relations with each other, and that this resulted in the formation of families; men could not be happy in solitude; the persistence of these groups, amid the conflicting interests of the individuals who composed them, could only be secured by recognising that the interests of the majority must prevail, and form the rule of conduct for the whole family. morality, it was pointed out, thus began in family relations, and conduct which disrupted the family was wrong, while that which strengthened and consolidated it was right. thus family morality was established. as families congregated together for mutual protection and support, their separate interests as families were found to be conflicting, and so a _modus vivendi_ was sought in the same principle which governed relations within the family: the common interests of the grouped families, the tribe, must prevail over the separate and conflicting interests of the separate families; that which disrupted the tribe was wrong, while that which strengthened and consolidated it was right. thus tribal morality was established. the next step was taken as tribes grouped themselves together and became a nation, and morality extended so as to include all who were within the nation; that which disrupted the nation was wrong, and that which consolidated and strengthened it was right. thus national morality was established. further than that, utilitarian morality has not progressed, and international relations have not yet been moralised; they remain in the savage state, and recognise no moral law. germany has boldly accepted this position, and declares formally that, for the state, might is right, and that all which the state can do for its own aggrandisement, for the increase of its power, it may and ought to do, for there is no rule of conduct to which it owes obedience; it is a law unto itself. other nations have not formularised the statement in their literature as germany has done, but the strong nations have acted upon it in their dealings with the weaker nations, although the dawning sense of an international morality in the better of them has led to the defence of international wrong by "the tyrant's plea, necessity". the most flagrant instance of the utter disregard of right and wrong as between nations, is, perhaps, the action of the allied european nations against china--in which the hun theory of "frightfulness" was enunciated by the german kaiser--but the history of nations so far is a history of continual tramplings on the weak by the strong, and with the coming to the front of the christian white nations, and their growth in scientific knowledge and thereby in power, the coloured nations and tribes, whether civilised or savage, have been continually exploited and oppressed. international morality, at present, does not exist. murder within the family, the tribe, and the nation is marked as a crime, save that judicial murder, capital punishment, is permitted--on the principle of (supposed) utility. but multiple murder outside the nation--war--is not regarded as criminal, nor is theft "wrong," when committed by a strong nation on a weak one. it may be that out of the widespread misery caused by the present war, some international morality may be developed. we may admit that, as a matter of historical and present fact, utility has been everywhere tacitly accepted as the basis of morality, defective as it is as a theory. utility is used as the test of revelation, as the test of intuition, and precepts of manu, zarathushtra, moses, christ, muhammad, are acted on, or disregarded, according as they are considered to be useful, or harmful, or impracticable, to be suitable or unsuitable to the times. inconsistencies in these matters do not trouble the "practical" ordinary man. the chief attack on the theory of utility as a basis for morality has come from christians, and has been effected by challenging the word "happiness" as the equivalent of "pleasure," the "greatest number" as equivalent to "individual," and then denouncing the maxim as "a morality for swine". "virtue" is placed in antagonism to happiness, and virtue, not happiness, is said to be the right aim for man. this really begs the question, for what is "virtue"? the crux of the whole matter lies there. is "virtue" opposed to "happiness," or is it a means to happiness? why is the word "pleasure" substituted for "happiness" when utility is attacked? we may take the second question first. "pleasure," in ordinary parlance, means an immediate and transitory form of happiness and usually a happiness of the body rather than of the emotions and the mind. hence the "swine". a sensual enjoyment is a "pleasure"; union with god would not be called a pleasure, but happiness. an old definition of man's true object is: "to know god, and to enjoy him for ever." there happiness is clearly made the true end of man. the assailant changes the "greatest happiness of the greatest number" into the "pleasure of the individual," and having created this man of straw, he triumphantly knocks it down. does not virtue lead to happiness? is it not a condition of happiness? how does the christian define virtue? it is obedience to the will of god. but he only obeys that will as "revealed" so far as it agrees with utility. he no longer slays the heretic, and he suffers the witch to live. he does not give his cloak to the thief who has stolen his coat, but he hands over the thief to the policeman. moreover, as herbert spencer pointed out, he follows virtue as leading to heaven; if right conduct led him to everlasting torture, would he still pursue it? or would he revise his idea of right conduct? the martyr dies for the truth he sees, because it is easier _to him_ to die than to betray truth. he could not live on happily as a conscious liar. the nobility of a man's character is tested by the things which give him pleasure. the joy in following truth, in striving after the noblest he can see--that is the greatest happiness; to sacrifice present enjoyment for the service of others is not self-denial, but self-expression, to the spirit who is man. where utility fails is that it does not inspire, save where the spiritual life is already seen to be the highest happiness of the individual, because it conduces to the good of all, not only of the "greatest number". men who thus feel have inspiration from within themselves and need no outside moral code, no compelling external law. ordinary men, the huge majority at the present stage of evolution, need either compulsion or inspiration, otherwise they will not control their animal nature, they will not sacrifice an immediate pleasure to a permanent increase of happiness, they will not sacrifice personal gain to the common good. the least developed of these are almost entirely influenced by fear of personal pain and wish for personal pleasure; they will not put their hand into the fire, because they know that fire burns, and no one accuses them of a "low motive" because they do not burn themselves; religion shows them that the results of the disregard of moral and mental law work out in suffering after death as well as before it, and that the results of obedience to such laws similarly work out in post-mortem pleasure. it thus supplies a useful element in the early stages of moral development. at a higher stage, love of god and the wish to "please him" by leading an exemplary life is a motive offered by religion, and this inspires to purity and to self-sacrifice; again, this is no more ignoble than the wish to please the father, the mother, the friend. many a lad keeps pure to please his mother, because he loves her. so religious men try to live nobly to please god, because they love him. at a higher stage yet, the good of the people, the good of the race, of humanity in the future, acts as a potent inspiration. but this does not touch the selfish lower types. hence utility fails as a compelling power with the majority, and is insufficient as motive. add to this the radical fault that it does not place morality on a universal basis, the happiness of _all_, that it disregards the happiness of the minority, and its unsatisfactory nature is seen. it has much of truth in it; it enters as a determining factor into all systems of ethics, even where nominally ignored or directly rejected; it is a better basis in theory, though a worse one in practice, than either revelation or intuition, but it is incomplete. we must seek further for a solid basis of morality. * * * * * iv evolution we come now to the sure basis of morality, the bedrock of nature, whereon morality may be built beyond all shaking and change, built as a science with recognised laws, and in a form intelligible and capable of indefinite expansion. evolution is recognised as the method of nature, her method in all her realms, and according to the ascertained laws of nature, so far as they are known, all wise and thoughtful people endeavour to guide themselves. in making morality a science, we give it a binding force, and render it of universal application; moreover, we incorporate into it all the fragments of truth which exist in other systems, and which have lent to them their authority, their appeal to the intellect and the heart. let us first define morality. it is the science of human relations, the science of conduct, and its laws, as inviolable, as sure, as changeless, as all other laws of nature, can be discovered and formulated. harmony with these laws, like harmony with all other natural laws, is the condition of happiness, for in a realm of law none can move without pain while disregarding law. a law of nature is the statement of an inviolable and constant sequence external to ourselves and unchangeable by our will, and amid the conditions of these inviolable sequences we live, from these we cannot escape. one choice alone is ours: to live in harmony with them or to disregard them; violate them we cannot, but we can dash ourselves against them; then the law asserts itself in the suffering that results from our flinging ourselves against it, or from our disregarding its existence; its existence is proved as well by the pain that results from our disregard of it, as by the pleasure that results from our harmony with it. only a fool deliberately and gratuitously disregards a natural law when he knows of its existence; a man shapes his conduct so as to avoid the pain which results from clashing with it, unless he deliberately disregards the pain in view of a result to be brought about, which he considers to be worth more than the purchase price of pain. the science of morality, of right conduct, "lays down the conditions of harmonious relations between individuals, and their several environments small or large, families, societies, nations, humanity as a whole. only by the knowledge and observance of these laws can men be either permanently healthy or permanently happy, can they live in peace and prosperity. where morality is unknown or disregarded, friction inevitably arises, disharmony and pain result; for nature is a settled order in the mental and moral worlds as much as in the physical, and only by knowledge of that order and by obedience to it can harmony, health and happiness be secured." the religious man sees in the laws of nature the manifestation of the divine nature, and in obedience to and co-operation with them, he sees obedience to and co-operation with the will of god. the non-religious man sees them as sequences he cannot alter, on harmony with which his happiness, his comfort, depends. in either case they have a binding force. the man belonging to any exoteric religion will modify by them the precepts of his scriptures, realising that morality rises as evolution proceeds. he does thus modify scriptural precepts by practical obedience or disregard, whether he do it by theory or not. but it is better that theory and practice should correspond. the intuitionist will understand that conscience, accumulated experience, has developed by experience within these laws. the utilitarian will see that the happiness of all, not only of the greatest number, must be ensured by a true morality, and will understand why happiness is the result thereof. manu indicates the various bases very significantly: "the whole ve[d.]a is the source of the sacred law [revelation], next the tradition [conscience] and the virtuous conduct of those who know [utility], also the customs of holy men [evolution] and self-satisfaction [mysticism]" (ii, .). it is true that happiness can result only by harmony with law, harmony with the divine will which is embodied in law--we need not quarrel over names--and the science of right conduct, "by establishing righteousness brings about happiness". it may therefore be truly said that the object of morality is universal happiness. why the doing of a right action causes a flow of happiness in the doer, even in the midst of a keen temporary pain entailed by it, we shall see under "mysticism". the moment we base morality on evolution, we see that it must change with the stage of evolution reached, and that the duty--that which ought to be done--of the civilised and highly advanced man is not the same as the duty of the savage. "one set of duties for men in the k[r.][t.]a age, different ones in the tre[t.][=a] and in the dv[=a]para, and another in the kali." (_manusm[r.][t.]i_, i, .) different ages bring new duties. but if morality be based on evolution we can at once define what is "right" and what is "wrong". that is right which subserves evolution; that is wrong which antagonises it. or in other words, for those of us who believe that god's method for this world is the evolutionary: that is right which co-operates with his will; that is wrong which works against it. "revelation" is an attempt to state this at any given time; "intuition" is the result of successful attempts to do this; "utility" is the application of observed results of happiness and misery which flow from obedience to this, or disregard thereof. evolution is the unfolding and manifestation of life-energies, the unfolding of the capacities of consciousness, the manifestation of these ever-increasing capacities in ever-improving and more plastic forms. the primary truth of morality, as of religion and of science, is the unity of life. one life ever unfolding in endless varieties of forms; the essence of all beings is the same, the inequalities are the marks of the stage of its unfoldment. when we base morality on evolution, we cannot have, it is obvious, one cut and dry rule for all. those who want cut and dry rules must go to their scriptures for them, and even then, as the rules in the scriptures are contradictory--both as between scriptures and within any given scripture--they must call in the help of intuition and utility in the making of their code, in their selective process. this selective process will be largely moulded by the public opinion of their country and age, emphasising some precepts and ignoring others, and the code will be the expression of the average morality of the time. if this clumsy and uncertain fashion of finding a rule of conduct does not suit us, we must be willing to exert our intelligence, to take a large view of the evolutionary process, and to deduce our moral precepts at any given stage by applying our reason to the scrutiny of this process at that stage. this scrutiny is a laborious one; but truth is the prize of effort in the search therefor, it is not an unearned gift to the slothful and the careless. this large view of the evolutionary process shows us that it is best studied in two great divisions: the first from the savage to the highly civilised man who is still working primarily for himself and his family, still working for private ends predominantly; and the second, at present but sparsely followed, in which the man, realising the supreme claim of the whole upon its part, seeks the public good predominantly, renounces individual advantages and private gains, and consecrates himself to the service of god and of man. the hindu calls the first section of evolution the prav[r.][t.][t.]i m[=a]rga, the path of forthgoing; the second the niv[r.][t.][t.]i m[=a]rga, the path of return. in the first, the man evolves by taking; in the second, by giving. in the first, he incurs debts; in the second, he pays them. in the first, he acquires; in the second, he renounces. in the first, he lives for the profit of the smaller self; in the second, for the service of the one self. in the first, he claims rights; in the second, he discharges duties. thus morality is seen from two view-points, and the virtues it comprises fall into two groups. men are surrounded on every side by objects of desire, and the use of these is to evoke the desire to possess them, to stimulate exertion, to inspire efforts, and thus to make faculty, capacity--strength, intelligence, alertness, judgment, perseverance, patience, fortitude. those who regard the world as god-emanated and god-guided, must inevitably realise that the relation of man--susceptible to pleasure and pain by contact with his environment--to his environment--filled with pleasure and pain-giving objects--must be intended to provoke in man the desire to possess the pleasure-giving, to avoid the pain-giving. in fact, god's lures to exertion are pleasures; his warnings are pains and the interplay between man and environment causes evolution. the man who does not believe in god has only to substitute the word "nature" for "god" and to leave out the idea of design, and the argument remains the same: man's relation to his environment provokes exertion, and thus evolution. a man on the path of forthgoing will, at first, seize everything he desires, careless of others, and will gradually learn, from the attacks of the despoiled, some respect for the rights of others; the lesson will be learnt more quickly by the teaching of more advanced men--[r.][s.]his, founders of religions, sages, and the like--who tell him that if he kills, robs, tramples on others, he will suffer. he does all these things; he suffers; he learns--his post-mortem lives helping him much in the learning. later on, he lives a more controlled and regulated life, and he may blamelessly enjoy the objects of desire, provided he injure none in the taking. hin[d.][=u]ism lays down, as the proper pursuits for the household life, the gaining of wealth, the performance of the duties of the position held, the gratification of desire. the desires will become subtler and more refined as intelligence fashions them and as emotions replace passions; but throughout the treading of the path of forthgoing, the "desire for fruit" is the necessary and blameless motive for exertion. without this, the man at this stage of evolution becomes lethargic and does not evolve. desire subserves evolution, and it is right. the gratification of desire may lead a man to do injury to others, and as soon as he has developed enough to understand this, then the gratification becomes wrong, because, forgetting the unity, he has inflicted harm on one who shares life with him, and has thus hampered evolution. the sense of unity is the root-love, the uniter, and love is the expression of the attraction of the separated towards union; out of love, controlled by reason and by the desire for the happiness of all, grow all virtues, which are but permanent, universal, specialised _forms_ of love. so also is the sense of separateness the root-hate, the divider, the expression of the repulsion of the separated from each other. out of this grow all vices, the permanent, universal, specialised _forms_ of hate. that which love does for the beloved, that virtue does for all who need its aid, so far as its power extends. that which hate wreaks on the abhorred, that vice does to all who obstruct its path, so far as its power extends. "virtues and vices are fixed emotional states. the virtues are fixed love-emotions, regulated and controlled by enlightened intelligence seeing the unity; the vices are fixed hate-emotions, strengthened and intensified by the unenlightened intelligence, seeing the separateness." (_universal text book_, ii, .) it is obvious that virtues are constructive and vices destructive, for love holds together, while hate disintegrates. yet the modified form of hate--antagonism, competition--had its part to play in the earlier stages of human evolution, developing strength, courage, and endurance, and while love built up nations within themselves, hate made each strong against its competitor. and within nations, there has been conflict of classes, class and caste war, and all this modified and softened by a growing sense of a common good, until competition, the characteristic of the path of forthgoing tends to change into co-operation, the characteristic of the path of return. the path of forthgoing must still be trodden by many, but the number is decreasing; more and more are turning towards the path of return. ideals are formulated by the leaders of humanity, and the ideals held up to-day are increasingly those of love and of service. "during the first stage, man grasps at everything he desires and develops a strong individuality by conflict; in the second, he shares all he has, and yokes that individuality to service; ever-increasing separation is the key-note of the one; ever-increasing unity is the key-note of the other. hence we need not brand as evil the rough aggression and the fierce struggles of barbarous times; they were a necessary stage of growth and were at that stage right, and in the divine plan. but now those days are over, strength has been won; the time has come when the separated selves must gradually draw together, and to co-operate with the divine will which is working for union is the right. the right which is the outcome of love, directed by reason, at the present stage of evolution, then, seeks an ever-increasing realisation of unity, a drawing together of the separated selves. that which by establishing harmonious relations makes for unity is right; that which divides and disintegrates, which makes for separation, is wrong." (_ibid._, , .) hin[d.][=u]ism, on which the whole of this is based, has added to this broad criterion the division of a life into four stages, to each of which appropriate virtues are assigned: the student period, with its virtues of perfect continence, industry, frugality, exertion; the household period, with its virtue of duties appropriate to the position, the earning and enjoying of wealth, the gratification of desires; the retirement period, with the virtues of the renouncing of worldly gain and of sacrifice; the ascetic period, of complete renunciation, meditation and preparation for post-mortem life. these indications make more easy the decisions as to right and wrong. the more we think upon and work out into detail this view of morality as based on evolution, the more we realise its soundness, and the more we find that the moral law is as discoverable by observation, by reason, and by experiment, as any other law of nature. if a man disregards it, either ignorantly or wilfully, he suffers. a man may disregard physical hygienic and sanitary laws because of his ignorance; none the less will he suffer from physical disease. a man may disregard moral laws because of ignorance; none the less will he suffer from moral disease. the sign of disease in both cases is pain and unhappiness; experts in both cases warn us, and if we disregard the warning, we learn its truth later by experience. there is no hurry; but the law is sure. working with the law, man evolves swiftly with happiness; working against it, he evolves slowly with pain. in either case, he evolves, advancing joyously as a free man, or scourged onwards as a slave. the most obstinate fool in life's class, refusing to learn, fortunately dies and cannot quite escape after death the knowledge of his folly. let the reader try for himself the solution of moral problems, accepting, as a hypothesis, the facts of evolution and of the two halves of its huge spiral, and see for himself if this view does not offer a rational, intelligible, practical meaning to the much-vexed words, right and wrong. let him see how it embraces all that is true in the other bases suggested, is their summation, and rationalises their precepts. he will find that morality is no longer dependent on the maxims of great teachers--though indeed they proclaimed its changeless laws--nor on the imperfect resultant of individual experiences, nor on the happiness of some only of the great human family, but that it inheres in the very nature of things, an essential law of happy life and ordered progress. then indeed is morality founded on a basis that cannot be moved; then indeed can it speak with an imperial authority the "ought" that must be obeyed; then it unfolds its beauty as humanity evolves to its perfecting, and leads to bliss eternal, the brahman bliss, where the human will, in fullest freedom, accords itself in harmony with the divine. * * * * * v mysticism mysticism cannot be spoken of as a basis of morality in the sense in which revelation, intuition, utility and evolution are bases, for it is valid only for the individual, not for everybody, for the true mystic, the dictates of the outer or inner god are imperial, compelling, but to any one else they are entirely unauthoritative. none the less, as the influence of the mystic is wide-reaching, and his dicta are accepted by many as a trustworthy revelation--are not all revelations communicated by mystics?--or as the intuition of an illuminated conscience, or as showing the highest utility, or as the result of an evolution higher than the normal, it is worth while to consider their value. mysticism is the realisation of god, of the universal self. it is attained either as a realisation of god outside the mystic, or within himself. in the first case, it is usually reached from within a religion, by exceptionally intense love and devotion, accompanied by purity of life, for only "the pure in heart shall see god". the external means are prayer to and meditation on the object of devotion--shr[=i] r[=a]ma, shr[=i] k[r.][s.]h[n.]a, the lord jesus--long continued and persevering, and the devotee realises his divinity by ecstacy attaining union thereby. such mystics are, for the most part, valuable to the world as creating an atmosphere of spirituality, which raises the general level of religious feeling in those who come within its area; india has especially profited by the considerable number of such mystics found within its borders in past times, and to a lesser extent to-day; every one who practises, for instance, meditation, knows that it is easier here than elsewhere, and all sensitive persons feel the indian "atmosphere". outside this, such mystics occasionally write valuable books, containing high ideals of the spiritual life. as a rule, they do not concern themselves with the affairs of the outer world, which they regard as unimportant. their cry continually is that the world is evil, and they call on men to leave it, not to improve it. to them god and the world are in opposition, "the world, the flesh, and the devil" are the three great enemies of the spiritual life. in the west, this is almost universal, for in the roman catholic church seclusion is the mark of the religious life, and "the religious" are the monk and the nun, the "religious" and the "secular" being in opposition. in truth, where the realisation of god outside himself is sought by the devotee, seclusion is a necessity for success, if only for the time which is required for meditation, the essential preliminary of ecstacy. in the very rare mystics of non-catholic communions, full ecstacy is scarcely, if at all, known or even recognised; an overpowering sense of the divine presence is experienced, but it is a presence outside the worshipper; it is accompanied with a deliberate surrender of the will to god, and a feeling on the part of the man that he becomes an instrument of the divine will; this he carries with him into outer life, and, undirected by love and the illuminated reason, it often lands the half-developed mystic into fanaticism and cruelty; no one who has read oliver cromwell's letters can deny that he was a mystic, half-developed, and it is on him that lord rosebery founded his dictum of the formidable nature of the "practical mystic"; the ever present sense of a divine power behind himself gives such a man a power that ordinary men cannot successfully oppose; but this sense affords no moral basis, as, witness the massacre of drogheda. such a mystic, belonging to a particular religion, as he always does, takes the revelation of his religion as his moral code, and cromwell felt himself as the avenging sword of his god, as did the hebrews fighting with the amalekites. no man who accepts a revelation as his guide can be regarded as more than partially a mystic. he has the mystic temperament only, and that undoubtedly gives him a strength far beyond the strength of those who have it not. the true mystic, realising god, has no need of any scriptures, for he has touched the source whence all scriptures flow. an "enlightened" br[=a]hma[n.]a, says shr[=i] k[r.][s.]h[n.]a, has no more need of the ve[d.]as, than a man needs a tank in a place which is overflowing with water. the value of cisterns, of reservoirs, is past, when a man is seated beside an ever-flowing spring. as dean inge has pointed out, mysticism is the most scientific form of religion, for it bases itself, as does all science, on experience and experiment--experiment being only a specialised form of experience, devised either to discover or to verify. we have seen the mystic who realises god outside himself and seeks union with him. there remains the most interesting, the most effective form of mysticism, the realisation by a man of god within himself. here meditation is also a necessity, and the man who is born with a high capacity for concentration is merely a man who has practised it in previous lives. a life or lives of study and seclusion often precede a life of tremendous and sustained activity in the physical world. the realisation is preceded by control of the body, control of the emotions and control of the mind, for the power to hold these in complete stillness is necessary, if a man is to penetrate into those depths of his own nature in which alone is to be found the shrine of the inner god. the subtle music of that sphere is drowned by the clatter of the lower bodies as the most exquisite notes of the v[=i][n.][=a] are lost in the crude harsh sound of the harmonium. the voice of the silence can only be heard in the silence, and all the desires of the heart must be paralysed ere can arise in the tranquillity of senses and mind, the glorious majesty of the self. only in the desert of loneliness rises that sun in all his glory, for all objects that might cloud his dawning must vanish; only "when half-gods go," does god arise. even the outer god must hide, ere the inner god can manifest; the cry of agony of the crucified must be wrung from the tortured lips; "my god, my god, why hast _thou_ forsaken me?" precedes the realisation of the god within. through this all mystics pass who are needed for great service in the world, those whom mr. bagshot so acutely calls "materialised mystics". the mystics who find god outside themselves are the "unmaterialised" mystics, and they serve the world in the ways above mentioned; but the other, as mr. bagshot points out, transmute their mystic thought into "practical energy," and these become the most formidable powers known in the physical world. all that is based on injustice, fraud and wrong may well tremble when one of these arises, for the hidden god has become manifest, and who may bar his way? such mystics wear none of the outer signs of the "religious"--their renunciation is within, not without, there is no parade of outer holiness, no outer separation from the world; janaka the king, k[r.][s.]h[n.]a the warrior-statesman, are of these; clothed in cotton cloth or cloth of gold, it matters not; poor or rich, it boots not; failing or succeeding, it is naught, for each apparent failure is the road to fuller success, and both are their servants, not their masters; victory ever attends them, to-day or a century hence is equal, for they live in eternity, and with them it is ever to-day. possessing nothing, all is theirs; holding everything, nothing belongs to them. misconception, misrepresentation, they meet with a smile, half-amused, all-forgiving; the frowns, the taunts, the slanders of the men they live to serve are only the proofs of how much these foolish ones need their help, and how should these foolish ones hurt those on whom the peace of the eternal abides? these mystics are a law unto themselves, for the inner law has replaced the external compulsion. more rigid, for it is the law of their own nature; more compelling, for it is the voice of the divine will; more exacting, for no pity, no pardon, is known to it; more all-embracing, for it sees the part only in the whole. but it has, it ought to have, no authority outside the mystic himself. it may persuade, it may win, it may inspire, but it may not claim obedience as of right. for the voice of the god within only becomes authoritative for another when the god within that other self answers the mystic's appeal, and he recognises an ideal that he could not have formulated, unaided, for himself. the mystic may shine as a light, but a man must see with his own eyes, and there lies the world's safety; the materialised mystic, strong as he is, cannot, by virtue of the god within him, enslave his fellow-men. * * * * * the vasanta press, adyar, madras correspondence relating to executions in turkey for apostacy from islamism. [stamped:] bibliothÈque du palais de la paix presented to the house of lords, by her majesty's command. may, . london: printed by t. r. harrison. correspondence relating to executions in turkey for apostacy from islamism. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received september_ .) (extract.) _buyukderé, august_ , . within the last few days an execution has taken place at constantinople under circumstances which have occasioned much excitement and indignation among the christian inhabitants. the sufferer was an armenian youth of eighteen or twenty years, who having, under fear of punishment, declared himself a turk, went to the island of syra, and returning, after an absence of some length, resumed his former religion. apprehensive of the danger but resolved not to deny his real faith a second time, he kept out of sight till accident betrayed him to the police, and he was then thrown into prison. in spite of threats, promises, and blows, he there maintained his resolution, refused to save his life by a fresh disavowal of christianity, and was finally decapitated in one of the most frequented parts of the city with circumstances of great barbarity. inclosed herewith is a statement of the particulars drawn up by mr. alison. it is not merely on grounds of humanity that i would draw your lordship's attention to this incident: political considerations of serious importance are connected with it; and on this account, no less than from regard for the tears and entreaties of a distracted family, i exhausted my influence in vain endeavours to divert the porte from its purpose. every member of the council to whom i applied, returned the same answer, expressing a willingness to meet my wishes, and regretting the inexorable necessity of the law. for my own part i do not believe that any such necessity exists. the determination of the government to sacrifice the armenian youth, in spite of my earnest solicitations, unless he recanted publicly, is part and parcel of that system of reaction which preceded my arrival here, against which i have constantly struggled, and which, notwithstanding the assurances given to me, and the efforts of its partisans to conceal it, is day by day gaining strength, to the despair of every enlightened turkish statesman, to the prejudice of our relations with this country, and to the visible decline of those improvements which, in my humble judgment, can alone avert the dissolution of the sultan's empire. the law, which, in this instance, has torn a youth from the bosom of his family, and consigned him to an ignominious and cruel death, would apply with equal force to a subject of any christian power. such of my colleagues as i have consulted upon this subject appear to take a view of it similar to my own, i refer, in particular, to the austrian, french, russian, and prussian ministers: each of them has told me that he intended to recommend the question to the serious consideration of his government. since my arrival here one british and two french subjects have declared in favour of mahomedanism, and much difficulty has been experienced in dealing with the individuals concerned. the british subject, a maltese, returned to the catholic faith a few days after he had declared himself a turk, and he was privately conveyed out of this country. the porte, on that occasion, evidently identified the change of allegiance with the change of creed, and not only would a trifling incident have sufficed to raise the question arising out of that principle between her majesty's embassy and the porte, but had the man been arrested after his recantation, i should perhaps have been reduced to the necessity of putting all to hazard in order to snatch him from the hands of the executioner. the only* articles relating to this matter in our capitulations with the porte are the sixty-first and seventy-first. the french have an article of similar meaning in their capitulations, and by the treaty of kainardji between russia and the porte it was agreed that individuals who had changed their religion should be mutually exempted from the operation of the article, which otherwise stipulates for the extradition of refugees and malefactors. * article lxi.--that if any englishman should turn turk, and it should be represented and proved that besides his own goods he has in his hands any property belonging to another person in england, such property shall be taken from him and delivered up to the ambassador or consul, that they may convey the same to the owner thereof. article lxxi.--that should any englishman coming with merchandize turn turk, and the goods so imported by him be proved to belong to merchants of his own country, from whom he had taken them, the whole shall be detained, with the ready money, and delivered up to the ambassador, in order to his transmitting the same to the right owners, without any of our judges or officers interposing any obstacle or hindrance thereto. under these impressions i trust that your lordship will not think i have exceeded the bounds of prudence in stating confidentially, though without reserve, to the grand vizier the impressions made upon my mind by the recent execution. couched as my message was in respectful and kindly terms, i hope it will operate as a salutary admonition. the interpreter's report of his highness' reply is inclosed with this despatch. inclosure l in no. . _case of the armenian avakim, son of yagya, of the parish of top kapousee_. about a year and a half ago avakim having had a drunken quarrel with some neighbours, was sentenced at the war office to receive bastinadoes. fear and intoxication induced him to become a mussulman, and he was conducted on the spot to the mehkemé where the name of mehemet was given him. some days afterwards avakim repented of what he had done, and fled to syra, from whence he returned a few months ago. about three months ago, while returning from his sister's house with a small bundle containing wearing apparel, he was recognized by the kolaga of the quarter, mustapha, and denounced at the war office of having renegaded from islamism. he was then submitted to the most cruel punishment to compel him to re-abandon his original belief, and was even paraded through the streets with his hands tied behind his back as if for execution. avakim, however, unintimidated by torture or the prospect of death, proclaimed aloud his firm belief in christianity, and was led forth to suffer on wednesday last amidst the execrations of the ulema partisans. only one man, taouk-bazarli ali, among the thirty armed police who conducted him, could be prevailed upon to strike the blow. many of the turks spat on him as they passed, and openly reviled the faith for which he had died. a yafta, in the following terms, was affixed on the opposite shop:-- "the armenian shoemaker, avakim, son of yagya, having last year, in the beginning of moharrem, while at an age of discretion, accepted islamism, and received the name of mehemet, some time afterwards renegaded, and having now obstinately persisted in refusing the proffer made to him by the law to re-become a moslem, sentence of death was awarded unto him according to fetwa, and he has thereby suffered." the first intelligence received in pera of this occurrence was the appearance in the streets of the unfortunate lad's mother tearing her grey hair, and rushing distractedly from the scene of bloodshed. the poor old woman, when assured of her boy's fate, returned and sat in grief by the corpse, from which she was afterwards removed. a petition of the armenians for the corpse was rejected, and it was after three days exposure cast into the sea. _constantinople, august_ , . inclosure in no. . m. pisani to sir stratford canning. excellence, _péra, le_ _août_, . conformément à vos ordres, j'ai vu le grand vizir, et je lui ai rendu, mot à mot, le message contenu dans votre instruction confidentielle en date d'hier, relativement au jeune arménien qui vient d'être exécuté. son altesse a répondu de la manière suivante: "quant à moi, personnellement, j'ai en horreur même d'égorger une poule. les exécutions, si fréquentes dans l'ancien système, sont très rares aujourd'hui. mais dans le cas récent, je vous ai déjà dit, et je vous répète, qui ni les ministres, ni le sultan, ne pouvaient absolument pas sauver la vie de l'arménien. les lois du coran ne forcent personne de se faire musulman; mais elles sont inexorables tant à l'égard du musulman qui embrasse une autre religion, qu'à l'égard du non-musulman qui, après avoir de son propre gré embrassé publiquement l'islamisme, est convaincu d'y avoir renoncé. nulle considération ne peut faire commuer la peine capitale à laquelle la loi le condamne sans miséricorde. le seul, l'unique moyen d'échapper à la mort, c'est pour l'accusé de déclarer qu'il s'est fait de nouveau musulman. c'est dans le seul but de sauver la vie a l'individu en question que nous avons, contre la lettre de la loi, qui exige que la sentence dans le cas dont il s'agit soit mise à exécution aussitôt qu'elle a été prononcée, que nous lui avons laissé quelques jours de temps pour y bien réflêchir, avec l'assurance que la déclaration voulue par la loi une fois faite, il serait mis en liberté, et qu'il pourrait partir de constantinople; mais comme il a résisté à toutes les tentatives faites pour le persuader de recourir au seul moyen d'échapper à la mort, force fut à la fin d'obéir à la loi, sans quoi les oulémas se souleveraient contre nous. l'exécution a dû, aux termes de la loi, être faite publiquement." voyant que le grand vizir n'avait rien dit par rapport aux observations de votre excellence sur ce qui arriverait si un étranger, un anglais par exemple, se trouvait dans des circonstances analogues, j'ai prié son altesse de considérer et de faire considérer au ministère ottoman, dans quelle position la porte se mettrait vis à vis du gouvernement anglais, si elle recourait à des violences. le grand vizir a dit alors: "je ne sais pas vraiment ce qu'un cas pareil exigerait s'il s'agissait d'un étranger; j'ignore ce que les lois disent à l'égard d'un franc qui se trouverait compromis par les circonstances qui ont fait condamner à la mort l'arménien, qui est un rayah." le grand vizir a fini par dire; "faites mes complimens à monsieur l'ambassadeur, et dites lui que j'apprécie ses sentimens d'humanité et de bienveillance; mais que ce qui vient d'arriver était un mal tout à fait sans remêde." j'ai l'honneur. &c., (signé) fred. pisani. (translation.) excellency, _pera, august_ , . in conformity with your orders i saw the grand vizier and communicated to him, word for word, the message contained in your confidential instruction of yesterday respecting the young armenian who has just been executed. his highness made answer to the following effect:-- "as regards myself personally, i have a horror of even putting a fowl to death. executions, so frequent under the old system, are now of rare occurrence. but in the late instance, as i have already said to you, and again repeat, positively neither the ministers nor the sultan could have saved the life of the armenian. the laws of the koran compel no man to become a mussulman, but they are inexorable both as respects a mussulman who embraces another religion, and as respects a person not a mussulman, who, after having of his own accord publicly embraced islamism, is convicted of having renounced that faith. no consideration can produce a commutation of the capital punishment to which the law condemns him without mercy. the only mode of escaping death is for the accused to declare that he has again become a mussulman. it was only with a view to saving the life of the individual in question, that we--contrary to the letter of the law, which requires that the sentence in cases of this nature, should be executed as soon as pronounced--allowed him some days respite to think over the matter carefully, with the assurance that having once made the declaration required by law, he would be set at liberty and would be able to leave constantinople; but inasmuch as he resisted all the attempts which were made to induce him to have recourse to the only means of escaping death, it finally became necessary to obey the law, otherwise the ulemas would have risen against us. the execution, according to the terms of the law, was necessarily public." seeing that the grand vizier had said nothing with reference to your excellency's observations as to what would occur if a foreigner, an englishman for instance, were to be placed in similar circumstances, i begged his highness to consider, and to direct the consideration of the ottoman ministry to the nature of the position in which the porte would place itself as regards the british government, were it to have recourse to violence. the grand vizier then said, "i really do not know what would become necessary in such a case if a foreigner were concerned; i am ignorant as to what is said in the law as regards a frank who should be compromised by the circumstances which caused the armenian, who was a rayah, to be condemned to death." the grand vizier concluded by saying, "present my compliments to the ambassador, and tell him that i appreciate his humane and well-intentioned sentiments, but that what has occurred was a misfortune for which there was no remedy whatever." i have, &c. (signed) f. pisani. no. . _lord cowley to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received september_ .) my lord, _paris, september_ , . m. guizot informed me this morning that he had received a communication from m. de bourqueney, relative to a most unjustifiable act of the turkish government, in having, under circumstances of great cruelty, put to death an armenian turk who had embraced christianity, and had refused to renounce that religion and resume the ottoman faith. m. bourqueney having asked for instructions for his guidance in this matter, the minister for foreign affairs sent him a protest which he is to present to the ottoman government on the behalf of the government of france. m. guizot observed, that as the great powers of europe were using their best endeavours to induce the sultan's christian subjects to live peaceably under the ottoman rule, they could not allow of such arbitrary acts of cruelty as that which had been perpetrated, and which was sufficient to rouse the whole of the christian population against the government. he understood, he said, that sir stratford canning had asked for instructions from your lordship in this matter, and that he trusted that they would be in a similar tenor to those he was about to send to m. de bourqueney. i have, &c., (signed) cowley. no. . _chevalier bunsen to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received september_ .) le soussigné, envoyé extraordinaire et ministre plénipotentiaire de sa majesté le roi de prusse, a l'honneur de transmettre à son excellence le comte de aberdeen, principal secrétaire d'etat de sa majesté britannique pour les affaires etrangères, copie d'une dépêche qu'il vient de recevoir, avec l'ordre d'en donner connaissance à sa seigneurie. en s'acquittant de cette commission, il profite, &c. (signé) bunsen. _londres, le_ _septembre_, . (translation.) the undersigned, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from his majesty the king of prussia, has the honour to transmit to his excellency the earl of aberdeen, her britannic majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs, a copy of a despatch which he has just received, with instructions to communicate it to his lordship. in executing this instruction, he avails himself, &c. (signed) bunsen. _london, september_ , . inclosure in no. . _baron bülow to chevalier bunsen_. monsieur, _berlin, ce_ _septembre_, . vos rapports au roi jusqu'au no. du du courant nous sont parvenus et ont été placés sous les yeux de sa majesté. vous êtes sans doute déjà instruit, par la voie des journaux, des détails de l'exécution de l'arménien serkiz papazoghlou, mis à mort dernièrement à constantinople pour avoir renié la foi de mahomet qu'il avait embrassée quelque temps avant. a la vérité, la lettre du coran inflige la peine de mort à tous ceux qui abandonnent le mahométisme, mais longtemps déjà l'usage avait adouci la rigueur d'une loi si peu en harmonie avec les préceptes de la civilisation, et depuis nombre d'années aucune exécution de ce genre n'avait eu lieu. celle du malheureux serkiz doit par conséquent être considérée comme un triste retour aux barbaries du fanatisme musulman. elle le doit d'autant plus que, d'un côté, l'énergique intercession de sir stratford canning en faveur de la victime est restée infructueuse; et que, de l'autre, les autorités turques, en conduisant serkiz, quoique arménien, en costume franc et la casquette sur la tête au supplice, semblent avoir voulu donner à ce sanglant spectacle le caractère d'un défi public porté par l'ancienne cruauté mahométane à l'influence des moeurs européennes et de la civilisation chrétienne. partant de ce point de vue et regardant la catastrophe qui vient d'avoir lieu comme un symptôme de plus d'une tendance rétrograde et pour ainsi dire anti-européenne dont, dans son propre intérêt, il importe de détourner le gouvernement ottoman, les répresentans des cinq grandes puissances à constantinople ont cru qu'un avertissement unanime, à la fois bienveillant et sérieux, que ces puissances feraient parvenir à cet effet à la sublime porte, produirait sur elle une impression salutaire. ils ont, en conséquence, et sur l'invitation spéciale de sir stratford canning, sollicité de leurs cours respectives les instructions nécessaires pour se porter à la démarche en question, et m. l'ambassadeur d'angleterre voulait en outre proposer à lord aberdeen de s'employer dans le même sens auprès des cabinets de berlin, de vienne, de paris, et de st. pétersbourg. je n'ai pas encore reçu de communication à ce sujet de la part de monsieur le principal secrétaire d'etat, mais je me suis empressé de répondre par la dépêche dont je joins ici une copie, à celle que l'envoyé du roi à constantinople a adressé à sa majesté sur cette affaire. veuillez, monsieur, en donner connaissance, ainsi que de la présente dépêche, à lord aberdeen, et exprimer de ma part à sa seigneurie l'espoir d'être allé de cette manière au devant des ouvertures qu'elle serait peut-être dans le cas de me faire faire [sic] sur la démarche proposée par les cinq représentans à constantinople, mais mise, de préférence, sur le tapis par m. l'ambassadeur d'angleterre. recevez, &c., (signé) bulow. (translation.) sir, _berlin, september_ , . your reports to the king, to no. of the th instant, have been received and laid before his majesty. you are doubtless already acquainted, by means of the newspapers, with the details of the execution of the armenian, serkiz papazoghlou, lately put to death at constantinople for having renounced the mahomedan faith, which he had embraced some time before. in truth, the letter of the koran inflicts the punishment of death upon all those who abandon mahomedanism, but for some time past custom had mitigated the rigour of a law so little in harmony with the precepts of civilization, and for a number of years no execution of this kind had taken place. that of the unfortunate serkiz must therefore be considered as a sad return to the barbarity of mahomedan fanaticism. it must be so much the more so because, on the one hand, the energetic intercession of sir stratford canning in behalf of the victim was fruitless; and because, on the other, the turkish authorities, in leading serkiz, although he was an armenian, in the frank costume and with a cap upon his head to execution, seem to have wished to give to this bloody spectacle the character of a public defiance offered by the old mahomedan cruelty to the influence of european manners and christian civilization. setting out from this view of the case and looking upon the catastrophe which has just taken place as a fresh symptom of the retrograde, and it may be said anti-european, tendency from which it is important that the turkish government should, in its own interest, be diverted, the representatives of the five great powers at constantinople thought that a joint representation, at once kind and earnest, which those powers should make for this purpose to the sublime porte, would produce a salutary impression upon it. they, therefore, and at the special request of sir stratford canning, applied to their respective courts for the instructions necessary to enable them to take the step in question, and the english ambassador wished moreover to propose to lord aberdeen to communicate in the same sense with the cabinets of berlin, vienna, paris, and st. petersburgh. i have not yet received any communication upon this subject from the principal secretary of state; but i lost no time in replying by the despatch of which i inclose a copy, to that which the envoy of the king at constantinople addressed to his majesty respecting this affair. have the goodness, sir, to communicate it, as well as this despatch, to lord aberdeen, and to express to his lordship, on my part, the hope that i have in this manner anticipated the overtures which he would perhaps have caused to be made to me with reference to the step proposed by the five representatives at constantinople, but especially suggested by the english ambassador. accept, &c., (signed) bulow inclosure in no. . _baron bülow to m. le coq_. monsieur, _berlin, ce_ _septembre_, . vos rapports au roi, &c., &c. ce que vous avez mandé sur l'exécution de l'arménien serkiz papazoghlou n'a pu manquer de nous inspirer un intérêt aussi vif que douloureux. en effet tous les détails de cette sanglante catastrophe sont bien de nature à mériter la sérieuse attention des puissances européennes. ce sont autant de symptômes d'une tendance rétrograde à laquelle la sublime porte paraît s'être abandonnée depuis quelques années, et qui, en tolérant et en favorisant peut-être même les excès du fanatisme musulman, est aussi contraire aux lois de l'humanité qu'aux règles qu'une saine politique devrait dicter au gouvernement ottoman. a en juger d'après les circonstances qui ont précédé, accompagné et suivi la mort de cette malheureuse victime de la rigueur mahométane, ne serait-on pas tenté de croire que ce gouvernement a oublié ce qu'il doit aux efforts réunis des grandes puissances, à leurs conseils désintéressés, à la salutaire influence de la civilisation européenne? ne semble-t-il pas, en opposant aux moeurs plus douces qui sont la suite de cette civilisation la lettre impitoyable du coran, avoir l'intention de faire sentir à l'europe entière le peu de cas qu'il fait du bienveillant intérêt, de la constante sollicitude que lui ont voués les cabinets européens, or, les graves conséquences, qu'un pareil sytème [sic] entraînerait pour la porte, en finissant par lui aliéner réellement l'intérêt de ces cabinets, sont si évidentes, que nous aimons à croire qu'un avertissement unanime de leur part suffira pour la détourner d'une voie également désastreuse sous le point de vue politique et moral. je me range sous ce rapport entièrement à l'avis de sir stratford canning, et après avoir pris les ordres du roi, notre auguste maître, je vous invite, monsieur, à vous associer à la démarche que, je n'en doute pas, messieurs vos collègues d'autriche, de france et de russie seront également autorisés à faire à cet effet auprès du gouvernement turc en commun avec m. l'ambassadeur d'angleterre. dans cette occasion où les représentans des cinq grandes puissances agiront en quelque sorte comme organes de la civilisation européenne, il importera surtout de constater leur unanimité. veuillez par ce motif, monsieur, attendre que les instructions que messieurs vos collègues ont sollicitées, leur soient parvenues, et alors vous concerter avec eux sur la meilleure forme à donner à la démarche qu'elles prescrivent. si contre toute attente ces instructions n'étaient pas de nature à établir un accord entier des cinq puissances dans cette affaire, vous voudrez bien, monsieur, m'en informer, pour que je puisse, selon les circonstances, vous faire parvenir des directions ultérieures. en tout cas la démarche en question devra se borner à être simultanée et non pas collective, et le langage que vous tiendrez à la porte, pour être sérieux et ferme, ne s'en tiendra pas moins dans les bornes d'un conseil amical, et évitera tout ce qui pourrait blesser la susceptibilité politique et religieuse du gouvernement ottoman. nous n'avons pas encore reçu la communication à laquelle nous pouvons nous attendre de la part de lord aberdeen, en suite de la demande que sir stratford canning lui a adressée au sujet de l'affaire qui fait l'objet de la présente dépêche. mais j'envoie une copie de cette dernière à l'envoyé du roi à londres, pour en donner connaissance à m. le principal secrétaire d'etat, et pour informer de cette manière sa seigneurie que, d'accord avec sir stratford canning sur l'opportunité de la démarche qu'il a proposée, le cabinet du roi s'est empressé de vous autoriser à y concourir. recevez, &c., (signé) bulow. (translation.) sir, _berlin, september_ , . your reports to the king, &c. &c. the account which you have given of the execution of the armenian serkiz papazoghlou could not fail to excite our lively and painful interest. indeed all the details of this bloody catastrophe are well calculated to deserve the serious attention of the european powers. they are so many symptoms of a retrograde tendency to which the sublime porte appears to have given itself up for some years past, and which, by tolerating, and perhaps even encouraging the excesses of mahomedan fanaticism, is as contrary to the laws of humanity as to the rules which a wholesome policy should dictate to the turkish government. to judge from the circumstances which preceded, attended, and followed the death of this unhappy victim of mahomedan severity, should we not be tempted to think that that government has forgotten what it owes to the united exertions of the great powers, to their disinterested advice, and to the salutary influence of european civilization? does it not appear, by placing in opposition to the milder customs which are the result of that civilization the inexorable letter of the koran, to intend to make the whole of europe feel the little importance which it attaches to the benevolent interest and the constant solicitude with which the european cabinets have regarded it? wherefore, the serious consequences, which such a system would entail upon the porte, by finally alienating from it in reality the interest of those cabinets, are so evident, that we are fain to believe that an unanimous intimation on their part will suffice to turn it aside from a course equally disastrous in a political and in a moral point of view. i side entirely in this respect with the opinion of sir stratford canning, and after having taken the orders of the king, our august master, i request you, sir, to join in the step which i doubt not your colleagues of austria, france and russia will be equally authorized to take to this effect towards the turkish government, in common with the ambassador of england. on this occasion when the representatives of the five powers will act in some manner as the organs of european civilization, it will above all things be important to evince their unanimity. for this reason, have the goodness, sir, to wait until the instructions for which your colleagues have applied, have reached them, and thereupon concert with them as to the best form to be given to the step which those instructions prescribe. if, contrary to all expectation, those instructions should not be such as to demonstrate an entire agreement of the five powers on this matter, you will have the goodness, sir, to inform me of the fact, in order that i may, according to circumstances, transmit to you further instructions. in any case the step in question should be limited to being simultaneous and not collective, and the language which you will hold to the porte, while it is serious and firm, must not the less be confined within the bounds of friendly counsel, and must avoid everything that could wound the political and religious susceptibility of the ottoman government. we have not yet received the communication which we may expect from lord aberdeen, in pursuance of the application made to him by sir stratford canning, on the subject of the matter treated of in this despatch. but i send a copy of this last to the king's envoy in london, in order that he may communicate it to the principal secretary of state, and in this manner acquaint his lordship that the king's cabinet, agreeing with sir stratford canning as to the fitness of the step which he has proposed, has hastened to authorize you to concur in it. receive, &c., (signed) bulow. no. . _the earl of aberdeen to sir stratford canning_. sir, _foreign office, october_ , . the barbarous execution of the armenian, recorded in your excellency's despatch of the th of august, has excited the attention and interest of her majesty's government in an unusual degree; and they highly approve the line of conduct which you pursued in reference to it. her majesty's government had hoped that the time had passed away when the perpetration of such acts of atrocity could have been tolerated; and that the law by which they are permitted or enjoined, although it might still disgrace the mahomedan code, had fallen so completely into disuse as to have become virtually null and of no effect. it is, therefore, with the most painful feelings, that her majesty's government have seen so cruel a law brought so injudiciously again into operation; and they consider every christian government not only justified, but imperatively called upon to raise their voices against such proceedings, whether the law be executed to the prejudice of their own subjects, or of the christian community in general. her majesty's government confidently trust that no repetition of so unjustifiable an act as that against which your excellency so properly remonstrated will ever be suffered, and still less authorized by the turkish government; and they earnestly counsel that government to take immediate measures for effectually preventing the future commission of such atrocities. under the full conviction that the sultan will have the humanity and wisdom to listen to this counsel, which is given with the most friendly feeling, and which will, i doubt not, be equally impressed on his highness by other christian governments, i do not think it necessary to enter further at present into the other points set forth in your excellency's despatch above referred to. you will not fall to communicate this despatch to rifaat pasha. i am, &c., (signed) aberdeen. no. . _the earl of westmorland to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received october_ .) my lord, _berlin, october_ , . i have communicated to baron bülow your lordship's despatch of the th instant to sir stratford canning relative to the late execution of an armenian at constantinople, and his excellency has requested me to express the interest with which he had learnt your lordship's views on that subject. i have, &c., (signed) westmorland. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received november_ .) my lord, _buyukderé, october_ , . the prussian minister has communicated to me an instruction addressed to him by baron bülow in reply to his representations on the subject of the armenian youth, whose execution and its natural consequences were brought under your lordship's notice in my despatch of august the th. the french minister has also communicated to me a note, transmitted to him from paris for presentation to the porte, with reference to the same deplorable act of the turkish government. copies of these two papers have not been given to me; but i understand that the prussian instruction has been sent to your lordship, and it is probable that the same degree of confidence has been shewn to your lordship by m. guizot. i have only to remark that the terms in which these documents are respectively expressed, appear to me highly creditable to the cabinets from which they have issued, and, should your lordship see fit to instruct me in a similar sense, it would afford me great satisfaction to repeat to the turkish minister, with the immediate authority of her majesty's government, what i ventured at the time to intimate by anticipation on my own suggestion. baron bülow and m. guizot appear to be equally impressed with the dangerous character of that policy to which the armenian execution is traceable, and their reprobation of the act itself is proportionally strong. baron de bourqueney is prepared to give in his note without waiting for the concurrence of his colleagues. m. le coq is instructed to act simultaneously with the other representatives of the five powers. with respect to the austrian and russian ministers, i am informed by m. de titow that the emperor of russia's absence from st. petersburgh has prevented his receiving an immediate answer to his despatches; and i hear that the internuncio refers to a communication made by prince metternich to the turkish ambassador at vienna as sufficiently expressive of the sentiments of his court and superseding the necessity of any step on his part without further instructions. i would venture humbly to submit that a concurrent expression of the sentiments of the five courts on such an occasion would hardly fail of producing a most beneficial effect upon the counsels of the porte. i have, &c., (signed) stratford canning. no. . _the earl of aberdeen to sir stratford canning_. (extract.) _foreign office, november_ , . i have received your despatch of the th of october, reporting that the french and prussian ministers had received instructions from their respective governments on the subject of the execution of the armenian referred to in your despatch of the th of august. i calculate that your excellency will have received on the th ultimo my despatch of the th, by which your excellency will have been enabled to acquaint the porte with the feelings with which her majesty's government had received the intelligence of that melancholy transaction. i have nothing to add to that instruction. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received november_ .) my lord, _buyukdéré, october_ , . the instruction which i have received from your lordship respecting the armenian decapitated for returning to the christian faith, cannot fail of making a deep and, i hope, a salutary impression upon the ottoman ministers. i have had it carefully translated into turkish, and placed in m. pisani's hands for communication to the porte, accompanied with an instruction of which i have the honour to inclose a copy herewith. monsieur de bourqueney having been directed to present an official note upon the same subject, i thought it advisable to give a certain degree of formality to the communication of your lordship's despatch, and particularly to leave it with the minister for foreign affairs in writing. a copy of the french minister's note is herewith inclosed. the presentation of this remonstrance has strongly excited the public attention, and occasioned no small embarrassment at the porte. it was proposed in council to return it, but the suggestion was overruled, and i hear that nothing will be added to the verbal reply already given. the substance of that reply, which m. de bourqueney read to me from the report of his first interpreter, is by no means unfavourable. the language employed by rifaat pasha in speaking of the french minister's note to m. pisani, admitted, in substance, that much might be said with reason against the manner and circumstances of the execution, but as to the act itself, he said that nothing could be alleged against a judgment founded upon the express will of god. his answer to the communication of your lordship's instruction has not yet reached me. it will have the greater interest as two more cases of religion involving capital punishment have recently occurred. the offender in each instance is a native mussulman; and nothing, i conceive, but the late expression of indignation has prevented the porte from executing the sentence of the law. i am informed that rifaat pasha, on consulting the grand mufti as to one of these cases, was advised not to bring it under his holiness' notice as he had no choice but to declare the law; and a charitable intimation was added, that where a state necessity existed, the porte would herself be found the most competent judge. the russian minister informs me that he is still in expectation of instructions from st. petersburgh. the internuncio refers to the remarks addressed by prince metternich himself to the turkish ambassador at vienna. m. de le coq reserves the communication of his instruction, in the hope of being able to act simultaneously with m. de titow. the silence of any one of the leading courts on such an occasion would be a cause of just regret. i have, &c., (signed) stratford canning. inclosure l in no . _baron de bourqueney to rifaat pasha_. _thérapia_, _octobre_, . le soussigné, ministre plénipotentiaire de sa majesté le roi des français près la porte ottomane, a reçu de son gouvernement l'ordre de faire à son excellence le ministre des affaires etrangères la communication suivante. c'est avec un douloureux étonnement que le gouvernement du roi a appris la récente exécution d'un arménien qui, après avoir embrassé la religion musulmane, était revenu à la foi de ses pères, et que pour ce seul fait on a frappé de la peine capitale, parcequ'il refusait à racheter sa vie par une nouvelle abjuration. en vain pour expliquer un acte aussi déplorable voudrait-on se prévaloir des dispositions impérieuses de la législation. on devait croire que la législation faite pour d'autres temps était tombée en désuétude; et en tout cas il était trop facile de fermer les yeux sur un pareil fait pour qu'on puisse considérer ce qui vient d'arriver comme une de ces déplorables nécessités dans lesquelles la politique trouve quelquefois non pas une justification mais une excuse. lors même que l'humanité, dont le nom n'a jamais été invoqué en vain en france, n'aurait pas été aussi cruellement blessée par le supplice de cet arménien, lors même que le gouvernement du roi, qui a toujours protégé, et protégera toujours la religion chrétienne en orient, pourrait oublier que c'est le christianisme qui a reçu ce sanglant outrage, l'intérêt qu'il prend à l'empire ottoman et à son indépendance, lui ferait encore voir avec une profonde douleur ce qui vient de se passer. cette indépendance ne peut aujourd'hui trouver une garantie efficace que dans l'appui de l'opinion européenne. les efforts du gouvernement du roi ont constamment tendu à lui ménager cet appui. cette tâche lui deviendra bien plus difficile en présence d'un acte qui soulevera dans l'europe entière une indignation universelle. le gouvernement du roi croit accomplir un devoir impérieux en faisant connaître à la porte l'impression qu'il a reçue d'un fait malheureusement irréparable, mais qui, s'il pouvait se renouveler, serait de nature à appeler des dangers réels sur le gouvernement assez faible pour faire de telles concessions à un odieux et déplorable fanatisme. le soussigné, &c., (translation.) _therapia, october_ , . the undersigned, minister plenipotentiary of his majesty the king of the french at the ottoman porte, has received orders from his government to make the following communication to the minister for foreign affairs. it has been with a painful astonishment that the king's government has learnt the late execution of an armenian who, after embracing the musulman religion, returned to the faith of his fathers, and who, for this act alone, has been capitally punished, because he refused to redeem his life by a fresh recantation. in vain can the imperious terms of the law be appealed to for an explanation of so lamentable an act. it might have been supposed that a system of law formed for other times had fallen into desuetude; and at all events it was too easy to overlook such a circumstance to admit of that which has happened being considered as one of those lamentable cases of necessity, in which policy sometimes finds not so much a justification as an excuse. even had not humanity, whose name has never been vainly invoked in france, been so cruelly hurt by the punishment of this armenian,--even could the king's government, which has always protected, and ever will protect, the christian religion in the east, forget that it is christianity which has been thus cruelly outraged,--the interest which it takes in the ottoman empire and in its independence would still cause it to behold what has occurred with profound regret. that independence can in these times find a real security only in the support of the public opinion of europe. the efforts of the king's government have been constantly directed towards obtaining for it that support. this task will become much more difficult after an act which will excite universal indignation throughout the whole of europe. the king's government considers that it discharges an imperious duty in making known to the porte the impression which has been made upon it by an event unfortunately irreparable, and which, were it to occur again, would be likely to cause real danger to a government weak enough to make such concessions to a hateful and lamentable fanaticism. the undersigned, &c., inclosure in no. . _sir stratford canning to m. pisani_. sir, _buyukderé, october_ , . in presenting to the minister for foreign affairs the accompanying translation of an instruction addressed to me by the earl of aberdeen, with reference to the armenian who was lately executed at constantinople, you will be careful to impress his excellency with a conviction of the deep and painful sentiments excited throughout great britain by that deplorable act. you will require that the instruction be forthwith submitted not only to his highness the grand vizier, but also to his imperial majesty the sultan. a copy of this letter, with a translation in turkish, is to be left with rifaat pasha. (signed) stratford canning. no. . _sir stratford canning to mr. addington_.--(_received november_ .) sir, _buyukderé, november_ , . a delay in the departure of the messenger affords me the opportunity of transmitting to you at once the inclosed report addressed to me to-day by m. pisani. though not official, it shews the strong impression which has been made upon the porte by a knowledge of the sentiments entertained throughout europe with reference to the armenian lately executed. the porte will probably seek to avoid replying ostensibly to the remonstrances of the several leading courts, but means will, no doubt, be taken to prevent the necessity of practising such atrocities in future. a degree of success so important, though limited, might reasonably encourage the allied courts to enter into a more complete understanding for the removal of other blots from the legal or political practice of the turks, in their intercourse with christians. i have, &c., (signed) stratford canning. inclosure in no. . _m. pisani to sir stratford canning_. excellence, _péra, ce_ _novembre_, . j'ai conformément à vos ordres remis à rifaat pacha la traduction en turc des instructions du comte d'aberdeen et de la lettre de votre excellence, avec une copie de votre lettre. rifaat pacha a lu la traduction des deux pièces qu'il a trouvées très-importantes. il m'a dit qu'il mettra les instructions de lord aberdeen sous les yeux du grand vizir et du sultan. rifaat pacha m'a dit confidentiellement que les mesures qu'il est question de prendre sont, d'ordonner à toutes les autorités à constantinople et dans les provinces, d'avoir désormais soin, lorsqu'un turc qui était chrétien, se fait chrétien de nouveau, et lorsqu'un turc dit des injures contre mahomet ou contre les prophètes, ou vomit d'autres blasphèmes, de ne pas permettre qu'il soit traduit et jugé devant un mehkemé quelconque; mais si le cas arrive à constantinople, d'envoyer l'accusé à la porte, et s'il arrive dans un pays hors de constantinople, de l'envoyer au pacha de la province, sans aucune espèce de jugement préalable. de cette manière-ci, dit rifaat pacha, la porte et les pachas au-dehors songeront aux moyens de terminer ces sortes d'affaires sans éclat, et (j'ose inférer des paroles de son excellence) sans recourir à la peine capitale. rifaat pacha a ajouté que la porte ne peut faire aucune réponse par écrit sur cette affaire sans se compromettre, soit vis-à-vis des puissances chrétiennes, en disant qu'elle est obligée de mettre à exécution la loi qui regarde les chrétiens qui, après avoir embrassé l'islamisme de leur propre gré, y renoncent et redeviennent chrétiens, et qui encourent par là la peine de mort,--soit vis-à-vis de la loi, en déclarant qu'elle ne sera pas exécutée à l'avenir dans un cas semblable à celui de l'arménien. mais rifaat pacha m'a paru convaincu qu'après le bruit que l'europe a fait, une scène semblable à celle de l'arménien ne se renouvellera point. les mesures que le gouvernement se propose de prendre ont pour but d'éviter un jugement; et sans jugement on ne peut condamner personne à mort. l'arménien avait été jugé au mehkemé dit du stambol effendi, avant d'être envoyé à la porte. le kiatib qui est en prison pour avoir dit des injures contre mahomet, a été jugé au mehkemé de salonique, avant d'être envoyé à constantinople; et le conseil suprême l'a déclaré digne de mort, quoiqu'il n'ait pas été juridiquement et formellement condamné ici encore. la circonstance que le kiatib a été jugé déjà et convaincu d'avoir blasphémé le nom de mahomet, expose ses jours au plus grand danger. j'ai l'honneur, &c., (signé) frederic pisani. (translation.) excellency, _pera, november_ , . in conformity with your orders, i placed in the hands of rifaat pasha the turkish translation of lord aberdeen's instructions and of your excellency's letter, with a copy of your letter. rifaat pasha read the translation of the two documents which he considered to be of great importance. he told me that he will lay lord aberdeen's instructions before the grand vizier and the sultan. rifaat pasha told me confidentially that the measures which it is proposed to take, are to order all the authorities at constantinople and and [sic] in the provinces henceforth to take care that when a turk who was a christian, becomes again a christian, and when a turk speaks insultingly of mahomet or the prophets, or utters other blasphemies, he shall not be allowed to be given up to, and judged by, any mehkemé whatever; but if the case occurs at constantinople, the accused shall be sent to the porte, or if it occurs in a district beyond constantinople, he shall be sent to the pasha of the province without any previous judgment. in this manner, said rifaat pasha, the porte and the provincial pashas will devise means for terminating affairs of this kind without noise, and (i venture to infer from his excellency's words) without having recourse to capital punishment. rifaat pasha added, that the porte can give no written answer respecting this affair without compromising itself either as regards the christian powers, by stating that it is forced to execute the law regarding christians who, after having of their own accord embraced islamism, renounce it and become christians again, and thus incur capital punishment,--or as regards the law, by declaring that it will not for the future be executed in cases similar to that of the armenian. rifaat pasha, however, seemed to me convinced that after the noise which has been made in europe, a scene similar to that of the armenian cannot be renewed. the measures which the government are about to adopt have for their object to avoid a trial, and without a trial no one can be condemned to death. the armenian was tried at the mehkemé called that of the stambol effendi, before being sent to the porte. the kiatib who is in prison for having uttered blasphemies against mahomet, was judged at the mehkemé of salonica, before he was sent to constantinople; and the supreme council has declared him worthy of death, although he has not yet been judicially and formally condemned here. the circumstance of the kiatib having already been tried and convicted of uttering blasphemy against the name of mahomet puts his life in the most imminent danger. i have, &c., (signed) frederick pisani. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen.--(received december _.) (extract.) _buyukderé, november_ , . i am happy to state that a serious and salutary impression has been made upon the turkish government by the communication of your lordship's instruction respecting the armenian decapitated in the streets of constantinople. preceded as that communication was by the delivery of m. guizot's impressive note, and followed, as i believe it to have been, by the presentation of baron bülow's instruction to m. de le coq, the porte has felt, even in the absence of any similar declaration from the austrian and russian legations, that she cannot with prudence or safety repeat an atrocity tending so directly to excite the indignant feelings of christendom against her. i have not received, nor indeed have i yet demanded, an official answer to my remonstrance. m. de bourqueney, though, like myself, without instructions on that point, has made the demand, but, at my request, he has abstained from pressing it, agreeing, on reflection, with me, that it would be advisable at all events to afford time for m. de titow to hear from his government, and to take a step more or less in harmony with ours. it remains indeed to be considered whether it would be prudent, even with that advantage, to insist upon receiving a formal answer. i have already forwarded to your lordship's office the substance of rifaat pasha's remarks, and they convey an assurance that the porte will in future find means to avoid the application of the law in cases like that which proved fatal to the unfortunate armenian. the apparent consequences of what has been done in this matter are, a ministerial understanding that occasions of calling the law into action as to religious offences involving a capital punishment are for the future to be avoided, and a proclamation addressed to the turkish authorities in roumelia for the better treatment and protection of the sultan's christian subjects. i venture to believe that your lordship will derive the same gratification which i do from this result. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received december_ .) my lord, _buyukderé, november_ , . i have the satisfaction to state, that the russian envoy has informed me of his having received an instruction from his court on the subject of the armenian youth decapitated at constantinople. his excellency has given me to understand that the terms of this instruction are in harmony with the sentiments of her majesty's government; and i presume that he will make me a more complete communication of its contents the first time we meet. i have, &c., (signed) stratford canning. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received december_ .) (extract.) _constantinople, december_ l, . having sounded rifaat pasha as to his intention of answering the representations of the five powers concerning the late religious execution, i was told by his excellency that, although the porte wished to avoid any recurrence of that atrocity, yet, as such executions, divested of the objectionable forms which accompanied the armenian's death, were obligatory under the law considered by mahomedans divine, and might be forced incidentally upon the government, it would be embarrassing to give an official declaration to that effect. some ostensible record of the porte's intention to avoid religious exeutions [sic] in future would, i humbly conceive, be satisfactory to her majesty's government, and it would not perhaps be impossible to frame a reply, which might convey the required security without coming into collision with the mussulman faith. there is reason otherwise to apprehend that the advantage now obtained will be of very short duration. p.s.--there is reason to fear that another religious execution has recently taken place in the pashalic of brussa. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received january_ , .) (extract.) _buyukderé, december_ , . i have the honour to state, and i do so with much concern, that the rumour, which has for some time prevailed, of another execution, similar to that of the armenian youth, having taken place by order of the porte, is now confirmed. the statements inclosed herewith describe the circumstances as far they are known. one of them is an extract of a despatch addressed to me by her majesty's consul at brussa, which is at no great distance from biligik where the greek was executed. the other was communicated to me by one of my diplomatic colleagues. rifaat pasha in conversing with me some time ago alluded to this execution, of which i had then scarcely heard the rumour, and he spoke of it as a kind of accident, which had occurred prior to the late remonstrances respecting the armenian, and which was not to be taken in proof of an objectionable policy at the porte. with a variation of terms, and in some degree of facts also, he has offered the same kind of vague excuse to others, and i believe in particular to the internuncio. i presume that your lordship would not approve of such an occurrence being thrown into oblivion without an attempt at explanation, and i am persuaded that any backwardness under such circumstances would only serve to confirm the porte in her present infatuated course of policy. i have, therefore, communicated upon the subject with my colleagues of austria, france, russia, and prussia, and finding them all substantially of the same mind, i have drawn up the instruction of which a copy is here inclosed, and sent it to rifaat pasha by m. pisani. similar instructions were sent in by the others, though neither collectively, nor simultaneously, and perhaps not in writing by the austrian and russian ministers. your lordship will observe that we ask for a distinct assurance from the porte that measures shall be taken to prevent the recurrence of such revolting punishments in future. in proposing to make this demand i had in view the corresponding passage in your lordship's instruction, communicated to rifaat pasha, and i thought to satisfy m. de bourqueney, who had presented an official note in the former instance and applied for an answer, without exceeding the limits which my other colleagues were prepared to observe. their joint acceptance of the suggestion, and their engagements to make the same demand, induce me to hope that the porte's reply will prove satisfactory, though i cannot yet speak with confidence in that respect. inclosure i in no. . _mr. consul sandison to sir stratford canning_. (extract.) _brussa, december_ , . a fresh instance, i learn, has unfortunately occurred about a week ago of the sanguinary spirit of the turkish law and people against relapsed proselytes. a young greek at biligik in the adjoining district, who had become a mussulman and returned to his own creed, has been put to death by hanging. he must have been a willing victim from what my informant states, as his profession of islamism had been complete according to the usual rites. p.s.--the execution of the greek at biligik took place, i further learn, after the return of an answer from the turkish government to a report on the case from the municipality of biligik. inclosure in no. . _extract of letter communicated by m. de cordoba to sir stratford canning_. _constantinople_, _décembre_, . un jeune grec s'était fait turc dans un moment de mauvaise humeur; revenu a lui, il était allé trouver un prêtre et avait témoigné le désir de rentrer dans sa croyance. l'ecclésiastique, approuvant sa pensée, lui dit qu'il devait réparer sa faute en revenant publiquement sur son erreur. le jeune homme, âgé de ans, fit la chose comme elle lui était ordonnée. aussitôt les autorités turques s'emparent de lui et le mettent au secret: ceci se passe aux environs de brousse. l'on rapporte le fait à constantinople: ici, en dépit des notes française, anglaise, &c., on tient conseil, et l'ordre est envoyé de l'exécuter, et en effet il y a quatorze à quinze jours cet infortuné a été pendu publiquement à biligik. l'effet qui cet événement a produit sur les habitans turcs du lieu a été tel que le gouverneur a dû prendre les plus grandes précautions pour empêcher le massacre de tous les habitans. (translation.) _constantinople, december_ , . a young greek turned turk in a moment of ill temper; having come to himself, he went to a priest and evinced a desire to return to his faith. the priest, approving his intention, told him that he must repair his fault by a public retractation of his error. the young man, who was twenty-two years of age, did as he was ordered. forthwith the turkish authorities lay hold of him and shut him up: this happens in the neighbourhood of brussa. the transaction is reported to constantinople: here, notwithstanding the french and english notes, &c., a council is held, and the order to execute him is sent off, and in fact this unfortunate person was publicly hanged at biligik fourteen or fifteen days ago. the effect which this event produced on the turkish inhabitants of the place has been such that the governor has been under the necessity of taking the greatest precautions to prevent the massacre of all the inhabitants. inclosure in no. . _sir stratford canning to m. pisani_. sir, _buyukderé, december_ , . it is with sentiments of deep concern that i have received unquestionable intelligence of another religious execution, similar in principle to that of the armenian avakim. in stating this circumstance without delay to the minister for foreign affairs, you will lay before his excellency the substance of the two accompanying papers, which contain a relation of the principal facts. you will express the surprise and disappointment which i feel in the contemplation of so revolting an act, after the very distinct communications which had recently taken place between his excellency and myself respecting the previous case. a full knowledge of the sentiments entertained by her majesty's government, and also by four other leading cabinets of europe, has not to all appearance prevented the porte from again publicly outraging the principles of humanity, and again exposing herself to the just animadversion of those friendly powers. under these circumstances, and referring to the instructions of my government already communicated to rifaat pasha, i deem it an indispensable duty to invite the explanations of the porte, and to state my expectation that the turkish government will not only declare its regret for the two executions in suitable terms, but that it will accompany the declaration with an assurance, admitting of no question for the future, that effective measures will be immediately taken to preclude the recurrence of such unwise and odious acts. you will conclude by leaving with rifaat pasha a copy of this instruction, and by calling upon his excellency to lay it before the sultan, and to apprize you on an early day of the answer sanctioned by his majesty, for the information of my government. i am, &c., (signed) stratford canning. no. . _m. guizot to count ste. aulaire_.--(_communicated by count ste. aulaire to the earl of aberdeen, january_ .) (extract.) _paris, le_ _janvier_, . malgré les promesses formelles de la porte, et les mesures qu'elle disait avoir prises pour empêcher le renouvellement du douloureux scandale auquel avait donné lieu, il y a quelques mois, l'exécution d'un arménien supplicié pour être revenu à la religion chrétienne après avoir embrassé l'islamisme, un grec des environs de brousse vient encore d'être mis à mort dans des circonstances absolument semblables. interpellé à ce sujet par m. de bourqueney, la porte n'a su alléguer pour se justifier que des malentendus et des méprises dont les allégations même sont contradictoires. un tel fait n'est plus seulement un outrage à l'humanité, c'est une insulte jetée à l'europe civilisée par le fanatisme d'un parti que le gouvernement ottoman n'a pas le courage de contenir et de réprimer, à supposer qu'il n'en soit pas lui-même le complice dans une certaine mesure. ce courage, il faut le lui donner en lui faisant craindre d'encourir le sérieux mécontentement des puissances dont l'appui bienveillant lui est si nécessaire. je vais charger m. de bourqueney de faire à cet effet une démarche énergique auprès de la porte, et je ne doute pas que lord aberdeen ne donne à sir stratford canning des instructions analogues. le gouvernement britannique croira certainement aussi devoir se joindre à nous pour demander le concours des autres grandes puissances. (translation.) _paris, january_ , . notwithstanding the formal promises of the porte, and the measures which it had declared that it had taken to prevent the repetition of the mournful scandal to which a few months ago the execution of an armenian who was punished for having returned to christianity after having embraced islamism, gave rise, a greek of the neighbourhood of brussa, has now been put to death, under circumstances precisely similar. on being questioned on this subject by m. de bourqueney, the porte could only allege in its justification misunderstandings and mistakes the very allegations with regard to which are contradictory. such a transaction is no longer only an outrage to humanity, it is an insult cast upon civilized europe, by the fanaticism of a party which the ottoman government has not the courage to keep within bounds and repress, supposing that it is not itself to a certain degree an accomplice in the measure. this courage must be given to it by causing it to apprehend that it will incur the serious displeasure of the powers whose benevolent support is so necessary to it. i am about to instruct m. de bourqueney to take an energetic step for this purpose towards the porte, and i doubt not that lord aberdeen will furnish sir stratford canning with corresponding instructions. the british government will likewise assuredly think fit to unite with us in demanding the concurrence of the other great powers. no. . _the earl of aberdeen to sir stratford canning_. sir, _foreign office, january_ , . i have received your excellency's despatch of the th of december, reporting that a greek had been executed near brussa as an apostate from islamism, and inclosing a copy of the communication which you had directed mr. dragoman frederick pisani to make to the porte in consequence of that transaction. i have to state to your excellency that her majesty's government entirely approve the promptitude with which you acted on this occasion. but the repetition of a scene of this revolting kind so soon after that which had, in the course of last summer, excited the horror and indignation of europe, evinces such total disregard, on the part of the porte, for the feelings and remonstrances of the christian powers, that it is incumbent upon her majesty's government without loss of time to convey their sentiments on the matter still more explicitly to the knowledge of the porte. they take this course singly, and without waiting for the co-operation of the other christian powers, because they desire to announce to the porte a determination which, though it doubtless will be concurred in by all, great britain is prepared to act upon alone. her majesty's government feel too that they have an especial right to require to be listened to by the porte on a matter of this nature, for they can appeal to the justice and to the favour with which the vast body of mahomedans subject to the british rule are treated in india, in support of their demand that all persons, subjects of the porte and professing christianity, shall be exempt from cruel and arbitrary persecution on account of their religion, and shall not be made the victims of a barbarous law, which it may be sought to enforce for their destruction. whatever may have been tolerated in former times by the weakness or indifference of christian powers, those powers will now require from the porte due consideration for their feelings as members of a religious community, and interested as such in the fate of all who, notwithstanding shades of difference, unite in a common belief in the essential doctrines of christianity; and they will not endure that the porte should insult and trample on their faith by treating as a criminal any person who embraces it. her majesty's government require the porte to abandon, once for all, so revolting a principle. they have no wish to humble the porte by imposing upon it an unreasonable obligation; but as a christian government, the protection of those who profess a common belief with themselves, from persecution and oppression, on that account alone, by their mahomedan rulers, is a paramount duty with them, and one from which they cannot recede. your excellency will therefore press upon the turkish government that, if the porte has any regard for the friendship of england,--if it has any hope that, in the hour of peril or of adversity, that protection which has more than once saved it from destruction, will be extended to it again, it must renounce absolutely, and without equivocation, the barbarous practice which has called forth the remonstrance now addressed to it. your excellency will require an early answer; and you will let the turkish ministers understand that if that answer does not fully correspond with the expectations which her majesty's government entertain, your excellency is instructed to seek an audience of the sultan, and to explain to his highness, in the most forcible terms, the feelings of the british government, and the consequences, so injurious to turkey, which a disregard for those feelings will involve. her majesty's government are so anxious for the continuance of a good understanding with turkey, and that the porte should entitle itself to their good offices in the hour of need, that they wish to leave no expedient untried before they shall be compelled to admit the conviction that all their interest and friendship is misplaced, and that nothing remains for them but to look forward to, if not promote the arrival of, the day when the force of circumstances shall bring about a change which they will have vainly hoped to procure from the prudence and humanity of the porte itself. your excellency will seek an interview with the reis effendi, and, having read to him this despatch, leave a copy of it, with an accurate translation in his hands. i am, &c., (signed) aberdeen. no. . _the earl of aberdeen to sir stratford canning_. sir, _foreign office, january_ , . with reference to my other despatch of this day upon the subject of the execution of the greek near brussa as an apostate from islamism, i inclose, for your excellency's information, an extract of so much of a despatch from m. guizot to count ste. aulaire as relates to this matter, which count ste. aulaire communicated to me a few days ago. your excellency will perceive from this paper that m. guizot anticipates that her majesty's government will be disposed to invite the co-operation of the other great powers with the view of making a simultaneous appeal to the porte on that subject. but although her majesty's government would certainly be glad to see the other powers of europe declaring their abhorrence of so revolting a system as that against which your excellency and your french colleague will be instructed to protest, they consider it, nevertheless, unnecessary formally to solicit their co-operation in a matter in which they all may be supposed to take a common interest, and to be prepared to act without previous concert with each other. i have however directed her majesty's ambassador at paris to communicate to m. guizot a copy of my other despatch of this day; and i should wish your excellency to concert with m. de bourqueney as to the manner in which the instructions which i have addressed to your excellency and those which m. de bourqueney will receive from his court on this matter, and which i conclude will closely correspond with those addressed to yourself, shall be carried into execution so as to produce a salutary impression on the porte. a copy of my former instruction will be transmitted to her majesty's ambassador at st. petersburgh for communication to the russian government; but lord stuart de rothsay will not be instructed, for the reason stated in this despatch, to invite the russian government to make a similar representation to the porte. i inclose a copy of my despatch to lord stuart de rothsay. a corresponding despatch will be addressed to sir robert gordon and to lord westmorland. i am, &c., (signed) aberdeen. no. . _the earl of aberdeen to lord cowley_. my lord, _foreign office, january_ , . i inclose, for your excellency's information, a copy of a despatch from m, guizot which has been placed in my hands by the count de ste. aulaire, expressive of the just indignation of the french government on receiving the tidings that, notwithstanding the representations which were made to the porte by the five powers on the occasion of the execution of the armenian at constantinople in september last, a greek has now been put to death near brussa for returning to christianity after having embraced islamism. this event had been already made known to her majesty's government by a despatch from sir stratford canning of which i herewith transmit a copy. the government of the queen share entirely the feelings of indignation and disgust which the french government evince on this occasion; and i have consequently instructed her majesty's ambassador at the porte to make a fresh and more energetic representation than before to the turkish government, in condemnation of this repeated act of barbarity. i inclose a copy of this instruction to sir stratford canning, and also of a further one of the same date, in which i direct his excellency to concert with the baron de bourqueney in carrying that instruction into effect. your excellency will communicate these instructions to m. guizot. i am, &c., (signed) aberdeen. no. . _the earl of aberdeen to lord cowley_. my lord, _foreign office, january_ , . with reference to my other despatch of this day, inclosing, for communication to m. guizot, a copy of an instruction which i have addressed to sir stratford canning respecting the execution of a greek near brussa who had apostatized from islamism, i have to state to your excellency that, in the event of your making the communication to m. guizot in sufficient time to enable him to send his instructions to the french minister at constantinople by the steam-vessel which leaves marseilles on the st of this month, the post for which is made up in paris on the evening of the th, i should wish your excellency to acquaint sir stratford canning by that opportunity with what may have passed between you and m. guizot. the despatch will be sent this evening by post through france so as to go on by the marseilles steam-vessel of the st. i am, &c., (signed) aberdeen. no. . _the earl of aberdeen to lord stuart de rothsay_*. my lord, _foreign office, january_ , . i inclose for your excellency's information, a copy of a despatch from sir stratford canning reporting that a greek has been executed near brussa as an apostate from islamism; and a copy of an instruction which i have in consequence addressed to that ambassador. your excellency will communicate this instruction to count nesselrode for the information of the russian government; but although her majesty's government would doubtless see with pleasure that the other powers of europe should declare their abhorrence of so revolting a system as that which the porte has twice acted upon within the last few months, they do not think it necessary formally to solicit their co-operation in a matter in which they all may be supposed to take a common interest, and to be prepared to act without previous concert with each other. your excellency will therefore merely put count nesselrode in possession of the instructions given to sir stratford canning, and leave to the russian government to determine for itself whether it shall instruct m. de titow to the same effect. i am, &c., * a similar despatch was addressed on the th january to sir robert gordon and the earl of westmorland. (signed) aberdeen. no. . _lord cowley to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received january_ .) my lord, _paris, january_ , . with reference to your lordship's despatches of the th instant on the subject of the execution of a greek for returning to christianity after having embraced islamism, i have the honour to report that i had yesterday evening an interview with m. guizot, when i communicated to him the contents of those despatches, and also of your lordship's instructions to sir stratford canning in consequence of the aforesaid transaction; and i have now the honour to inclose a copy of the despatch which, conformably to your lordship's instructions, i have addressed to sir stratford canning informing him of what passed upon this subject between m. guizot and me. my despatch was forwarded last night to her majesty's ambassador at constantinople, and will reach marseilles in time to go by the steam-vessel which sails from that port on the st. i have, &c., (signed) cowley. inclosure in no. . _lord cowley to sir stratford canning_. sir, _paris, january_ , . i have received instructions from lord aberdeen to communicate to the french minister for foreign affairs your excellency's despatches to his lordship respecting the execution of a greek near brussa who had apostatized from islamism, as also his instructions to your excellency, under date the th instant, in consequence of that transaction. i am also desired to take the earliest opportunity of acquainting you with what may have passed between m. guizot and me after this communication. i had this evening a conference with the minister for foreign affairs, when i communicated to him the contents of your despatches upon this subject, and also lord aberdeen's instructions to you of the th instant, and i am happy to be enabled to state that m. guizot expressed his entire approbation of those instructions. he also assured me that he had signified to m. de bourqueney, in terms not less strong than those used by lord aberdeen in his instructions to you, the indignation and disgust of the french government at this transaction, affording as it did a painful testimony of the total disregard of the porte to the remonstrances of the allies upon a previous act of a similar kind. the minister for foreign affairs then assured me that he had directed m. de bourqueney to consult with your excellency as to the best manner of carrying into effect the instructions of the two governments. the representatives of france at st. petersburgh, vienna, and berlin, have likewise been directed to bring the subject under the consideration of those courts; but m. guizot inclines to the opinion that a separate, rather than joint, representation to the turkish government would be advisable. he trusts, however, that the british and french plenipotentiaries will act in concert upon this occasion, as they have done successfully in every other transaction at constantinople in which the allies have taken any interest. i have, &c., (signed) cowley. no. . _the earl of westmorland to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received january_ .) my lord, _berlin, january_ , . in compliance with the directions contained in your lordship's despatch of the th instant, i have communicated to baron bülow your instructions to sir stratford canning relative to the late execution of a greek at brussa. baron bülow gave me an instruction to read addressed to m. de le coq, which was dated only two days later than your lordship's, and which expressed in strong terms his reprobation of the conduct of the turkish government upon this occasion. baron bülow felt the greatest satisfaction at the statements made by your lordship, and determined to write again to m. le coq directing him to act in accordance with them. he hopes that by conduct and language so energetic as that adopted by your lordship an impression may be made upon the turkish government, and an end be put to the barbarous cruelties of which it has of late been guilty. i have, &c., (signed) westmorland. no. . _sir robert gordon to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received february_ .) (extract.) _vienna, february_ , . in compliance with your lordship's instructions, i have communicated to prince metternich, for the information of the austrian government, your despatch to sir stratford canning relating to the execution of the greek renegade by the turkish authorities at brussa on the ground of his apostacy from islamism. whilst i stated to his highness that my government did not think it necessary formally to solicit the co-operation of the internuncio in a matter which could only be viewed by every government in europe with the greatest abhorrence, i have been anxious to ascertain in how far the instructions which are forwarded from hence would be made to coincide with your lordship's; and i have now to state that, although agreeing in the principle upon which have been founded the remonstrances of her majesty's government, and seeking to arrive at the same result, the austrian minister has nevertheless a decided objection to the wording of your lordship's instructions, and the peremptory terms in which it is endeavoured by them to enforce the sultan's compliance. no. . _lord stuart de rothsay to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received february_ .) (extract.) _st. petersburgh, february_ , . in obedience to the orders contained in your lordship's despatch of the th january, i have communicated to count nesselrode a copy of your instructions to sir stratford canning upon the subject of a greek who had been executed near brussa as an apostate from islamism. i did so without alluding to the wish of her majesty's government that the russian minister at constantinople might be furnished with instructions on the subject. the vice-chancellor, nevertheless, said that he should consider attentively the communication i had made, and see how far it might be useful to adopt a similar course, adding, that although he quite participated in the feelings which actuated her majesty's government, he thought that other means might be tried which would be more efficacious in attaining our common object. he afterwards remarked that through the instrumentality of some of the russian consular agents pashas had not unfrequently been persuaded, in an unofficial manner, to facilitate the removal from their government of greeks and others who had rendered themselves liable to capital punishment for apostacy; and he gave me to understand that he was of opinion that greater security to christians would be obtained by the exercise of the individual influence of foreign agents, than by seeking an alteration in the fundamental laws of the turkish empire, such as appeared to be the object of her majesty's government. count nesselrode appears disposed to instruct m. titow to give his general support to her majesty's ambassador. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received march_ .) (extract.) _constantinople, february_ , . on the th instant i received your lordship's instructions of the th ultimo, relating to the execution of a greek near brussa for relapsing from islamism, and directing me to require of the porte an unequivocal renunciation of the principle involved in that barbarous act. i received at the same time, from her majesty's ambassador at paris a despatch informing me that he had communicated those instructions to m. guizot, and was authorized by him to express that minister's approbation of their contents, and his intention of ordering m. de bourqueney to concur with me for the attainment of the object to which they were directed. i proceeded at once to execute the commands of her majesty's government. to the french minister i read your lordship's first instruction, and also lord cowley's despatch. he returned my confidence by putting me in possession of m. guizot's instructions to him of the th ultimo, and by expressing his readiness to act in concert with me for the accomplishment of our common purpose. to rifaat pasha i communicated a copy, together with an exact translation, of your lordship's first instruction. i waited upon his excellency by appointment for this object on the th instant, having apprized the russian, austrian, and prussian ministers of my intention the day before. the ottoman minister for foreign affairs read, in my presence, the whole of your lordship's instruction translated into turkish. having finished it, he rose from his seat rather abruptly, without saying a word, and left the room for a few minutes. on his return, he told me that the subject was too important for him to give me an answer without referring to the council; but, if i were inclined to listen, he would at once impart to me such observations as occurred to his mind. i assured him that i was willing to receive with becoming consideration whatever he thought proper to state; and he then proceeded to draw a strong line of distinction between custom and divine law, intimating that a practice derived from the former source might be abandoned to meet the wishes of europe, or even of great britain alone, but that a law, prescribed by god himself, was not to be set aside by any human power; and that the sultan in attempting it might be exposed to a heavy, perhaps even to a dangerous, responsibility. he sought to learn from me whether your lordship had been fully aware of this view of the case in writing the instruction communicated to him; and it seemed to be his object both to prepare me for an unsatisfactory answer, and to obtain from me some admission which might give him an advantage in shaping the decision of the council. i had already, in presenting the instruction, endeavoured to make it clearly understood, that her majesty's government had no object in view but the one so distinctly and powerfully stated therein; and also to show how imperiously the welfare of the porte itself requires that a practice and principle which operate as moral barriers between turkey and christendom, should now be once for all renounced and utterly abandoned. i had every reason to believe that your lordship had instructed me with a full knowledge of the question in all its bearings and eventual consequences; that the course deliberately adopted by her majesty's government, and announced to the principal courts of europe previously united in reprobation of the late impolitic and atrocious executions, was not to be receded from; and that any opening to a compromise on so vital a point could only encourage resistance and endanger the most important interests. i, therefore, rested entirely on the terms of your lordship's instruction, to which, in truth, there was nothing for me to add. although i replied to some of rifaat pasha's remarks in a considerate and conciliatory manner, i referred him steadily to your lordship's instructions, and left no reason to hope that any evasive or temporizing assurance would be accepted as satisfactory by her majesty's government. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received march_ .) my lord, _constantinople, february_ , . the interview which i had on the th instant with rifaat pasha was followed yesterday by one of a similar character between that minister and the french representative. m. de bourqueney obligingly called upon me as soon as he returned from the pasha's house; and his report of the conference presented in substance a counterpart of what had before passed between his excellency and myself. he stated that he had given in a paper composed of the strongest passages from m. guizot's instruction to him of the th ultimo; that he had found in rifaat pasha's remarks the same indication of resistance on the ground of religion which i had experienced; that in reprobating the executions complained of, and urging the abandonment of so barbarous a law for the future, he had placed himself as nearly as possible on the same ground with me, and that he had carefully avoided any premature discussion of the form of declaration by which the porte would probably, in the end, attempt to satisfy the remonstrating governments without a surrender of the principle, or more than a virtual suspension of the practice. notwithstanding the want of any instruction from m. guizot, subsequent to lord cowley's communication to that minister, baron de bourqueney found himself sufficiently authorized by the instruction of the th to give me his cordial and unqualified support. agreeably to m. guizot's suggestion, as conveyed to me in lord cowley's despatch, we have acted separately in form, though concurrently in substance. i have, &c., (signed) stratford canning. no. . _the earl of aberdeen to sir stratford canning_. sir, _foreign office, march_ , . i have received your excellency's despatch of the th of february, giving an account of the manner in which you had executed the instruction of the th of january, which i addressed to your excellency on receiving your report of the execution of a greek near brussa on the ground of his having renounced his profession of islamism and returned to christianity. i have to acquaint you that her majesty's government entirely approve of your having rested your communication to the turkish minister on the terms of my instruction, and of your having steadily referred his excellency to that document, while replying in a considerate and conciliatory manner to the remarks which he addressed to you. nothing, indeed, can be further from the wish of her majesty's government than that a communication which they have been compelled by a strong sense of duty, and, i may add, by a sincere regard for the welfare of turkey, to make to the porte, should be rendered more unpalatable than from its nature it was likely to be, by being conveyed in harsh or dictatorial terms; and they wish, if the question is still under discussion when this despatch reaches your excellency's hands, that you should constantly bear in mind, that her majesty's government, although they propose to abide by the general tenour of the communication which you have been directed to make to the porte, have no desire, and would deeply regret, that the acquiescence of the porte in the demand which they have addressed to it, should be attended with unnecessary pain to the feelings of the turkish government. her majesty's government are persuaded that if the ministers of the porte will dispassionately consider what has been desired of them, they will find that, without any real sacrifice of national or religious opinion, they may place themselves in harmony with the wishes and the feelings of the christian powers. her majesty's government have not urged, and do not propose to urge, them to abrogate any law, divine or human, but merely to revert to the system which her majesty's government believe to have been for some time past constantly acted upon, and to allow the law to remain practically dormant, and thus silently withdraw from a practice which cannot be enforced without rousing the feelings of christendom, and rendering it impossible for the turkish government to retain the good-will of christian powers. the ministers of the porte cannot, on calm reflection, suppose that if they deliberately deprive their government of the moral or physical support of christendom, the turkish empire can long be preserved from the destruction with which, from numerous causes, it is continually menaced; neither can they believe that, although the sentiments of the various powers of europe on the question to which the revival of an obsolete practice has now unfortunately given rise, may be conveyed to the porte in terms more or less decided, there is any real and essential difference between the expectations and the intentions of all. all must yield to public opinion universally expressed; and the porte may rest assured that christian states will, with one accord, refuse to tolerate any longer a practice which, both in the principle on which it rests and the manner in which it is carried into execution, is designed to stigmatize the faith which they profess and cherish. i am, &c., (signed) aberdeen. no. . _count nesselrode to m. de titow_.--(_communicated by baron brunnow to the earl of aberdeen_, march .) _st. pétersbourg, le_ / _février_, . je n'ai pas manqué de prendre les ordres de l'empereur sur le contenu de votre rapport no. , du janvier/ février, par lequel vous nous avez rendu compte de la fâcheuse impression que la nouvelle exécution religieuse qui a eu lieu à biligik a produite à constantinople. sa majesté a voué une attention sérieuse aux diverses considérations que vous nous avez exposées pour décider du plus ou moins d'opportunité qu'il y aurait pour les puissances de l'europe en général, et pour la russie en particulier, à protester contre des actes de cruauté incompatibles avec les principes d'humanité dont la porte devrait se montrer pénétrée à l'égard de ses sujets chrétiens. d'une part, nous avons reconnu la difficutté, pour ne pas dire l'impossibilité, de découvrir le moyen propre pour paralyser d'une manière définitive les effets de la loi du coran qui concerne les apostasies; d'autre part, nous ne saurions ne pas élever la voix, lorsqu'il s'agit de l'application de la peine de mort à des individus qui, en embrassant le christianisme, ou en retournant dans le sein de l'eglise, invoquent notre protection, et nous imposent le devoir de les soustraire aux rigueurs d'une législation barbare. dans un tel état de choses, l'opinion que vous a communiquée m. le comte de stürmer, nous a paru celle qui offre le plus de chances de succès. cette opinion est d'ailleurs conforme aux vues que j'ai été dans le cas de vous développer sur la même matière dans une occasion précédente. il est donc de l'intention de l'empereur que vous déclariez à la porte ottomane, sous la forme d'un conseil bienveillant, que nous nous attendons positivement à ne plus voir se renouveler des exécutions qui soulèvent contre elle l'indignation de toute la chrétienté. c'est dans son propre intérêt que nous lui adressons cette demande. la porte ne doit pas se faire illusion sur les élémens qui fermentent en turquie. au lieu de s'aliéner les sentimens des populations chrétiennes, le gouvernement ottoman doit travailler plus que jamais, à se les concilier. qu'il comprenne enfin la nécessité de laisser tomber en désuétude des dispositions surannées de la loi mahométane, qui ne peuvent être maintenues qu'au mépris des représentations unanimes de toutes les puissances. tel serait à peu près le langage que vous auriez à tenir, monsieur, à la porte ottomane, de concert avec les autres représentans, et nous espérons qu'en la rappelant ainsi à la conscience de ses devoirs et de ses intérêts réels, nous l'empêcherons de retomber dans la voie vicieuse qu'elle a suivie en dernier lieu. recevez, &c., (signé) nesselrode. (translation.) _st. petersburgh_, / _february_, . i have not failed to take the orders of the emperor upon the contents of your despatch no. , of the january/ february, in which you have reported the painful impression which the fresh religious execution which has taken place at biligik has produced at constantinople. his majesty has given his serious attention to the various considerations which you have laid before us in order to determine the greater or less degree of propriety there would be in the principal powers of europe generally, and in russia particularly, protesting against acts of cruelty incompatible with the principles of humanity with which the porte should show itself animated as regards its christian subjects. on the one hand, we have perceived the difficulty, not to say the impossibility, of discovering the suitable means of definitively paralyzing the effects of the law of the koran relating to apostacy; on the other hand, we cannot but raise our voice when it is a question of inflicting the penalty of death upon individuals who, in embracing christianity, or in returning into the bosom of the church, appeal to our protection, and impose upon us the duty of withdrawing them from the rigours of a barbarous legislation. in such a state of things the opinion which m. de stürmer has communicated to you, has appeared to us to be that which offers the greatest chance of success. this opinion is, moreover, in conformity with the views which i have had occasion to explain to you on the same subject on a former occasion. it is then the emperor's intention that you should declare to the ottoman porte, in the form of friendly counsel, that we positively expect no longer to witness executions which array against it the indignation of all christendom. it is with a view to its own interest that we address to it this demand. the porte must not delude itself with regard to the elements now in a state of fermentation in turkey. instead of alienating from itself the feelings of the christian population, the ottoman government ought more than ever to labour to conciliate them to itself. let it comprehend, in fine, the necessity of allowing to become obsolete antiquated enactments of the mahomedan law, which cannot be upheld but in disregard of the unanimous representations of all the powers. such should be the purport of the language which, sir, you should hold to the ottoman porte, in concert with the other representatives; and we trust that in thus recalling it to a sense of its duties and real interests, we shall prevent it from again falling into the vicious system which it has recently followed. receive, &c., (signed) nesselrode. no. . _lord cowley to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received march_ .) (extract.) _paris, march_ , . with reference to the representations made to the ottoman government by the french and english representatives at constantinople on the subject of the execution of a greek near brussa, as reported in sir stratford canning's despatches of the th and th february, i have the honour to state that m. guizot has communicated to me the substance of what passed at a conference which he has had within these few days with reshid pasha upon that subject. the pasha said that he was instructed to express in strong terms the concern of the sultan at this interference of the allied sovereigns (of great britain and france in particular) in the internal concerns of his empire; that a compliance with these demands might be attended with very serious consequences to himself and his government; and that he (the pasha) was instructed to express the fervent hope of his master, that they would not be persisted in. m. guizot replied that the french and british governments never could desist from expressing their abhorrence of such atrocious acts of cruelty as had been perpetrated upon the late occasion, and which had given rise to a renewal of the requisition that the practice should be entirely abandoned, and that they confidently expected that their representations would have the desired effect upon the ottoman government. no. . _the earl of aberdeen to lord cowley_. (extract.) _foreign office, march_ , . i transmit to your excellency herewith a copy of an instruction which i addressed on the th instant to sir stratford canning, in reply to his excellency's despatch of the th of february last relative to the execution of the greek near brussa, a copy of which was forwarded to your excellency on the th instant. you will lose no time in communicating this instruction to m. guizot and you will at the same time, suggest to him the propriety of instructing the french minister at the porte to make it perfectly clear to the turkish government, that neither great britain nor france demand the abrogation of any law of the turkish empire; and that all that we desire is an assurance that the practice which has so justly called forth the reprobation of all christian countries, shall cease, by the law being suffered to remain, as it had long been, dormant. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received march_ .) (extract.) _constantinople, february_ , . i applied to rifaat pasha on the th instant, in concert with the french minister, for an answer to your lordship's requisition on the subject of the executions for apostacy from islamism. my application was made in the form of an instruction to m. frederick pisani, and baron de bourqueney adopted a similar line of proceeding. copies of my instruction to m. pisani and of his report of rifaat pasha's reply, identical with the report of the french interpreter, are inclosed herewith for your lordship's more complete information. several councils have been held, as well at the porte as at the sheik-ul-islam's residence. i inclose with this despatch a short report from m. pisani, which preceded the instruction referred to above. inclosure l in no. . _sir stratford canning to m. pisani_. monsieur, _péra, le_ _février_, . le message que vous m'avez transmis avant-hier de la part de son excellence rifaat pacha, laisse tout-à-fait incertaine l'époque où je recevrai une réponse à la communication importante que j'ai eu l'honneur de lui faire le du courant par l'ordre exprès de ma cour. il est pourtant à désirer que cette incertitude ne soit pas prolongée hors de mesure. la question dont il s'agit est toute entière dans la dépêche officielle dont la copie se trouve depuis quinze jours entre les mains du ministre, et j'attends du gouvernement ottoman la prompte solution d'une affaire qui touche de trop près ses intérêts, son avenir, et ses rapports avec les puissances amies, pour que son excellence soit autorisée à la regarder comme purement du ressort de la religion. il me semble, au contraire, que cette question est, à ne pas en douter, essentiellement liée avec les considérations les plus élevées de la politique. j'aime par conséquent à croire que les ministres de sa hautesse ne méconnaîtront pas leur obligation d'en mesurer la portée par les principes de la raison et les règles de la prudence dont aucun etat ne pourrait impunément se dispenser. eviter la responsabilité qui appartient nécessairement à leur position serait-ce en effet autre chose que priver leur souverain du gage le plus sûr de leur exactitude à en remplir les conditions conformément au but de leur nomination, aux exigeances de la conjoncture, et aux inspirations de la sagacité que la providence leur a accordée? je vous invite donc, monsieur, à vous rendre de nouveau auprès du ministre des affaires etrangères, et à exprimer formellement à son excellence ma juste attente que le conseil ne tardera pas à me faire remettre par son canal une réponse catégorique et comme je l'espère, satisfaisante à la demande d'un gouvernement sincèrement ami de la porte. vous lui laisserez une copie de cette instruction, et vous vous entendrez quant au temps de sa présentation avec monsieur l'interprète de l'ambassade française, qui est muni d'une instruction pareille par son ministre. je suis, &c., (signé) stratford canning. (translation.) sir, _pera, february_ , . the message which you yesterday conveyed to me from his excellency rifaat pasha leaves altogether uncertain the time at which i shall receive an answer to the important communication which i had the honour to make to him on the th instant by the express order of my court. it is however to be desired that this uncertainty should not indefinitely be prolonged. the question at issue is altogether contained in the official despatch the copy of which has been for the last fortnight in the minister's hands, and i expect from the ottoman government the speedy settlement of a matter which affects its interests, its future position, and its relations with friendly powers too nearly for his excellency to be authorized in considering it merely as a religious question. on the contrary it appears to me that without doubt this question is essentially connected with the highest political considerations. i am consequently fain to believe that the ministers of his highness will not overlook their obligation to estimate the bearing of it by the principles of reason and the rules of prudence which no state can with impunity disregard. to shrink from the responsibility which necessarily attaches to their position, what else would that be than to deprive their sovereign of the surest pledge of their diligence in discharging the conditions thereof consistently with the object of their appointment, the emergencies of the state of affairs, and the inspirations of the sagacity which providence has bestowed upon them? i accordingly request you, sir, to go again to the minister for foreign affairs, and formally to intimate to his excellency my just expectation that the council will not delay to cause to be delivered to me through him a categorical answer, and, as i hope, a satisfactory answer to the demand of a government sincerely friendly to the porte. you will leave with him a copy of this instruction, and you will concert as to the time of its delivery with the interpreter of the french embassy, who is furnished by his minister with a similar instruction. i have, &c., (signed) stratford canning. inclosure in no. . _answer of rifaat pasha to m. pisani, february_ , . aucune nouvelle démarche n'était nécessaire pour nous faire sentir l'importance de cette question, importance dont nous sommes profondément pénétrés. nous la traitons avec tout le sérieux et tous les soins que sa gravité exige. oui, ce que vos chefs respectifs disent est vrai; cette question a son côté politique aussi bien que son côté religieux. il faut en effet que nous nous séparions de la nation, ou bien des puissances chrétiennes; ce sont là deux grands maux également à éviter. le sultan a ordonné que cette question soit discutée dans un conseil d'oulémas qui s'ouvrira samedi prochain chez le sheik-ul-islam, auquel seront appelés le cazi-asker et d'autres notabilités parmi les hommes de loi; après quoi, le conseil des ministres s'en occupera de nouveau. ne croyez-pas au reste que nous nous soyons bornés à appeler leur attention purement et simplement sur la question sous le rapport religieux; nous leur avons remis aussi les protocoles des conférences, les dépêches des deux gouvernemens, et même des extraits des journaux qui ont agité cette question, et nous leur communiquerons également les instructions que vous venez de me remettre, et qui, bien que superflues pour la porte, peuvent encore ajouter à l'impression produite par les autres pièces qui sont entre leurs mains. comme nous ne devons pas douter des bonnes intentions des puissances, nous espérons que mm. les représentans d'angleterre et de france, dans leur haute sagesse et avec l'esprit d'équité qui les anime, ne se refuseront pas à prendre en considération les graves difficultés qui existent, et qu'ils se prêteront à amener une solution qui nous sauverait des deux maux que je vous ai signalés. c'est là le but que nous devons nous efforcer d'atteindre. c'était pour vous informer de la marche de cette affaire que je vous ai prié ce matin de passer chez moi. (translation.) no fresh step was requisite to make us sensible of the importance of this question, with which we are deeply impressed. we are dealing with it with all the seriousness and all the care which its gravity requires. yes, what your respective chiefs say is true; this question has its political as also its religious side. it is requisite, in fact, that we should separate ourselves from the nation, or otherwise from the christian powers; those are two great evils to be equally avoided. the sultan has commanded that this question shall be discussed in the council of oulemas which will be opened next saturday at the sheik-ul-islam's, to which the cazi-asker and the other principal persons among the men of the law will be summoned; after which, the council of ministers will again apply themselves to it. do not suppose, however, that we have confined ourselves to directing their attention purely and simply to the question as it regards religion; we have likewise submitted to them the protocols of the conferences, the despatches of the two governments, and even the extracts of the newspapers which have discussed this question, and we shall likewise communicate to them the instructions which you have just delivered to me, and which, although superfluous as far as the porte is concerned, may still add to the impression produced by the other documents in their hands. as we must not doubt the good intentions of the powers, we trust that the representatives of england and france, in their profound wisdom, and with the spirit of equity by which they are animated, will not refuse to take into consideration the serious difficulties which exist, and that they will lend themselves to bring about a solution which would preserve us from the two evils which i have pointed out to you. that is the object which we must strive to attain. it was in order to acquaint you with the progress of this matter that i requested you to call upon me this morning. inclosure in no. . _answer of rifaat pasha to m. pisani, february_ , . nous connaissons toute l'importance de la question dont il s'agit. mais il faut considérer que cette question n'est ni politique ni administrative, et qu'elle regarde la religion. il faut donc que nous consultions préalablement les docteurs de la loi, et la mission d'examiner cette affaire leur a été donnée de la part du conseil; cette affaire reviendra ensuite au divan. j'accomplis ma mission, qui est celle de porter exactement à la connaissance des ministres de la sublime porte tout ce que les deux représentans me disent, et je ne manquerai pas de leur faire savoir la réponse du conseil. ainsi, non seulement je ne suis pas à même de répondre aujourd'hui, mais il m'est encore impossible de vous dire avec précision quel jour je pourrais vous la donner. je ferai savoir au conseil le message dont vous vous êtes acquitté aujourd'hui. (translation.) we know all the importance of the case in question. but it is necessary to consider that this question is neither one of policy nor of administration, and that it concerns religion. we must therefore first consult the doctors of the law, and the charge of inquiring into this matter has been entrusted to them by the council; the matter will then come back to the divan. i discharge my duty, which is to represent exactly to the ministers of the sublime porte what the two representatives say to me, and i shall not fail to let the latter know the answer of the council. for this reason, not only is it not in my power to give you an answer to-day, but it is also impossible for me to say to you precisely on what day i can give it to you. i will let the council know the message which you have communicated to-day. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received march_ .) (extract.) _constantinople, march_ , . i have this moment received important information, and i rely so much upon its correctness that i send off an express to overtake the messenger. the turkish government has virtually decided on complying with your lordship's requisition. rifaat pasha has written to propose in rather urgent terms a private interview with me. i have assented to this proposal, repeating at the same time my opinion that no advantage is likely to result from it. the french minister will be present, and we shall probably meet on the th. in reply to our renewed demand for the porte's official answer, rifaat pasha has pressed for an additional delay of eight or ten days, alleging that the deliberations of the council are not yet closed. on the expiration of that term, or shortly afterwards, i trust it will be in my power to forward the official confirmation of what i now submit to your lordship with confidence. no. . _lord cowley to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received march_ .) my lord, _paris, march_ , . with reference to your lordship's despatch of the nd instant inclosing a copy of your instructions to sir stratford canning under date the th instant, i have the honour to state that upon communicating those instructions to the minister for foreign affairs, he assured me that he would without loss of time send instructions of a similar tenour to m. de bourqueney, although that minister was already in possession of the sentiments of his government relative to those barbarous executions; which are, that the government of france had no intention of requiring of the ottoman government that they should abrogate any law, but they expect a satisfactory assurance in writing should be given to the allies that the practice complained of should cease. i have, &c., (signed) cowley. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received march_ .) my lord, _constantinople, march_ , . the confidential interview to which i was invited by rifaat pasha, took place yesterday, and the french minister was also present. in order to mark more emphatically the private character of this meeting we trusted entirely to foad effendi, who accompanied rifaat pasha at my request, for the interpretation of what passed between us. i am happy to say that although the pasha repeated all the arguments stated in m. pisani's report, of which a copy has been already transmitted to your lordship, nothing occurred to shake my confidence in the information previously conveyed to me and recorded in my preceding despatch. the french minister participated fully in this impression, and gave me his support in a most frank and effectual manner. the pasha's main position was this: if we refuse, we lose the friendship of europe; if we consent, we hazard the peace of the empire; you come as friends, and therefore we reckon upon your helping us to find some course by which we may satisfy you without injuring ourselves. in answer we confirmed his persuasion that our intentions were friendly; but we added that our course was prescribed by the instructions; that we could not admit the supposition of our governments having acted without a full consideration of the consequences; and that although we were not called upon to require an express and formal repeal of the law which they termed religious, we must, at the very least, require an official declaration that effectual measures would be taken to prevent the recurrence of executions for apostacy, and a disclaimer of every idea involving insult to christianity, or the persecution of its followers, on account of their faith. this explanation appeared to produce a good effect on the pasha's mind, and i observed with particular satisfaction, that he admitted that the mufti had expressed to the porte a personal opinion, which drew a very desirable distinction between the strict language of the law and the discretion warranted by state necessity. upon the whole, my lord, it was sufficiently apparent that the objections entertained by the porte are far from insuperable; that much of the remaining difficulty arises from the reference unwisely made to the ulemah; and that, with every wish to escape from our demand, and every determination to give us the least acceptable degree of satisfaction, there is no intention ultimately to refuse, although it is possible that we shall not be able to obtain as complete a declaration as we could desire without a reference to london and paris. i have, &c., (signed) stratford canning. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received april_ .) (extract.) _constantinople, march_ , . since i had last the honour of addressing your lordship the turkish ministers have been almost exclusively occupied with the great question which formed the subject matter of your lordship's instruction of th january. the deferred settlement of this question is, indeed, a source of much inconvenience to all who have business to transact with the porte. the affairs of her majesty's embassy, and those of the french and even of the austrian legation, are almost suspended. i have, therefore, been doubly anxious to obtain the porte's definitive answer; but notwithstanding every exertion consistent with the consideration due to an independent and friendly government, i have only this moment succeeded in obtaining it; and i lament to say that it is so unsatisfactory as to induce me to reject it without a moment's hesitation. in this decision the french minister concurs with equal promptitude and completeness. i inclose herewith the terms of the answer, as reported to us by our respective interpreters. it was given verbally, but with some additional authority derived from the presence of the grand vizier and the president of the council. the th instant had been previously fixed for the delivery of the porte's answer, and we were content to wait. this morning, however, i received through several channels a confirmation of intelligence which had reached me imperfectly the evening before, to the effect that an unfavourable resolution had already been adopted by the council, and that the turkish ministers deferred the communication of it for the sole purpose of engaging the sultan's word, and frustrating any eventual appeal to his majesty. at the same time, therefore, that, in concurrence with the french minister, i directed m. pisani to demand an audience, if an immediate and satisfactory answer were not delivered at the porte, i sent to the grand marshal of the palace and called upon him to apprize the sultan forthwith of my intention to seek a formal audience of his majesty, and to entreat that the royal decision might be withheld until i had an opportunity of executing your lordship's instruction in that respect. meanwhile in spite of adverse appearances, i still retain the opinion expressed in a former part of my correspondence. the porte, i am satisfied, is prepared to give way in the end, though with much reluctance. nothing whatever has occurred to warrant the alarming rumours of popular excitement and insurrection diligently circulated, and even countenanced by rifaat pasha, some days ago. if my information be correct, there is reason, on the contrary, to believe that not only the mussulman inhabitants of the capital are sufficiently indifferent to the question at issue, but that many of the upper classes, some of the most distinguished turkish statesmen, and a few even of the ulemah are favourable to our view of the subject. inclosure in no. . _answer of rifaat pasha to m. frederic pisani, march_ , . la réponse de son excellence rifaat pacha, dite verbalement et officiellement, se trouve dans une pièce qui nous a été présentée. cette pièce était un extrait d'une dépêche à aali effendi et à réchid pacha. nous avons refusé de la prendre parcequ'elle n'est pas satisfaisante. elle est conçue ainsi: "comme la loi ne permet nullement de changer les dispositions à l'égard de la punition des apostats, la sublime porte prendra des mesures efficaces, les mesures possibles, pour que l'exécution des chrétiens qui, devenus musulmans, retournent au christianisme, n'ait pas lieu." (translation.) the answer of his excellency rifaat pasha, verbally and officially pronounced, is contained in a document which was presented to us. this document was an extract from a despatch to aali effendi and to reshid pasha. we refused to take it, because it is not satisfactory. it is couched in these terms: "as the law does not admit of any change being made in the enactments regarding the punishment of apostates, the sublime porte will take efficacious measures, the measures which are possible, in order that the execution of christians who, having become mussulmans, return to christianity, shall not take place." no. . _the earl of aberdeen to sir stratford canning_. (extract.) _foreign office, april_ , . the latest account which i have received from your excellency of your proceedings with regard to the question pending with the porte, arising out of the execution of the greek near brussa on the charge of apostacy from islamism, is contained in your despatch of the th of march. from that despatch it appears that, in conjunction with your french colleague, you had rejected as unsatisfactory the communication made to your dragomans on that day by the ministers of the porte, and that you were taking measures to secure an audience of the sultan, in the event of your failing to obtain from the porte without further delay, a more satisfactory reply. on the statements in that despatch i have to acquaint your excellency that her majesty's government concur with you in considering that the communication made to you through your dragoman on the th of march, was not of that absolute and unequivocal character which you were instructed in my despatch of the th of january to require from the porte; and that you consequently acted rightly in refusing to receive it, and in taking steps to obtain either a more satisfactory communication from the ministers of the porte, or admission to the presence of the sultan for the purpose of addressing to his highness in person that appeal which you were directed in case of necessity to make to him. with regard, however, to the nature of the communication which her majesty's government would consider satisfactory, i have to state to your excellency that her majesty's government are content to abide by the terms which, it appears from your despatch of the th of march, were suggested to rifaat pasha on the preceding day by your excellency and m. de bourqueney, namely, that the porte should make "an official declaration that effectual measures would be taken to prevent the recurrence of executions for apostacy," or, as the proposition has been reported by m. de bourqueney to his government, "that the porte will take effectual measures to prevent the renewal of executions similar to those which have recently taken place at constantinople and biligik." with such a declaration, officially made, her majesty's government would be perfectly satisfied, even without the additional clause reported by your excellency, which appears to them to be unnecessary. i need scarcely inform your excellency that her majesty's government look with much anxiety to an early solution of this question. they are sensible of the many inconveniences which the continued agitation of it may involve, although it is with no small satisfaction that they perceive from your excellency's despatch that there is no present appearance of the difficulties necessarily attached to the question being increased by any insurrectionary or fanatical movement on the part of the mussulman inhabitants of the capital. i have not yet received from the turkish ambassador in this country any communication of the despatch from which the answer given to your excellency, through m. pisani, appears to be an extract. it is greatly to be desired that the porte should act with promptitude. much of the embarrassment to which the agitation of this question has given rise, may be traced to the attempt of the porte to invest it exclusively with a religious character. no. . _sir stratford canning to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received april_ .) (extract.) _constantinople, march_ , . i have the honour and satisfaction to inform your lordship that the question of religious executions is happily and, to all appearance, conclusively settled. the concession has been obtained with great difficulty; and, even to the last moment, it required the firmness of resolution inspired by your lordship's instruction to overcome the obstacles which were raised against us, and to keep the turkish ministers steady to their professions. i felt it to be my duty to accept nothing short of your lordship's requisition in its full extent. but this obligation did not preclude me either from adopting such means of success as were best calculated to hasten a favourable result, or from accepting that result in a conciliatory though effective shape. by availing myself of an overture to communicate directly with the sultan, i succeeded in obtaining all that was necessary, and in receiving his highness' acknowledgments for the consideration i had shewn to his wishes. these transactions have so little interest now, that it would be a waste of your lordship's time to enter upon a narration of them. it may suffice for me to state that, after several unacceptable propositions, the porte's definitive reply was communicated to me and to the french minister in suitable terms, and also in writing, which had been long refused; that to leave no doubt of what i understand to be the meaning of the porte, i sent in an acknowledgment, of which a copy is herewith inclosed, together with a translated copy of the porte's declaration; and that to-day, at my audience of the sultan, his highness not only confirmed what the porte had declared, but added, in frank and explicit language, the assurances which i had previously required as to the general good treatment of the christians throughout his dominions. he, in fact, gave me his royal word that, henceforward, neither should christianity be insulted in his dominions, nor should christians be in any way persecuted for their religion. important as it was to obtain this assurance from the lips of the sovereign himself, i should have thought it right to demand an audience for the mere purpose of removing false impressions from his highness' mind respecting the motives and objects of her majesty's government. in this respect, also, i had every reason to be satisfied. the sultan expressed the strongest reliance on the friendly intentions of great britain; he fully appreciated the motives which had actuated her on the present occasion; he acknowledged more than once the signal and frequent services rendered to his empire by british arms and counsels; he declared that the great concession which he had now confirmed, though entirely consonant with his own feelings, had been made to his sense of obligation towards the british government; he called upon me to convey his thanks to her majesty for the good treatment experienced by the millions of mussulman subjects living under british sway in india, and his anxious desire that the engagements which he had taken to protect from violent and undue interference the christians established in his empire, should be appreciated by her majesty's government, and prove a source of increased good-will between the two nations, and an occasion of eliciting fresh proofs of friendly interest on the part of great britain towards his dominions. what passed at this audience is the more important and binding, as it was one of a formal character, applied for on public grounds; and, to give it still greater value, the sultan, after i had retired from his presence, called back the dragoman of the porte, and desired him to assure me that what he had said in public proceeded from his real conviction, and was, in fact, the sincere expression of his personal sentiments. inclosure in no. . _official declaration of the sublime porte, relinquishing the practice of executions for apostacy_. (translation.) it is the special and constant intention of his highness the sultan that his cordial relations with the high powers be preserved, and that a perfect reciprocal friendship be maintained, and increased. the sublime porte engages to take effectual measures to prevent henceforward the execution and putting to death of the christian who is an apostate. _march_ , . inclosure in no. . _acknowledgment of the sublime porte's official declaration respecting executions for apostacy. march_ , . the official declaration communicated by his excellency the minister for foreign affairs shall be transmitted to the british government, who will understand with satisfaction that the sublime porte, in taking effectual measures to prevent henceforward the execution and putting to death of any christian, an apostate from islamism, relinquishes for ever a principle inconsistent with its friendly professions; and the further assurances to be given at the ambassador's audience of the sultan, in the sense of the instruction presented in copy to the porte on the th ultimo, will fully satisfy the british government that christianity is not to be insulted in his highness' empire, nor any one professing it to be treated as a criminal, or persecuted on that account. (signed) stratford cann ng. no. . _earl of westmorland to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received april_ .) my lord, _berlin, april_ , . i received a private letter from sir stratford canning, dated constantinople, march , announcing the termination of his negotiation with the turkish government as to its future conduct in the cases of christians who have renounced the mahomedan religion, and bearing witness to the cordial manner in which m. de le coq, the prussian minister, under baron bülow's instruction, had assisted his exertions. i thought it my duty to communicate this feeling to baron bülow, who has expressed himself obliged by the expressions of sir stratford canning, and most happy to have contributed to so good a work as the attainment of a written pledge from the turkish government that it will take effectual means to prevent henceforward the execution of the christian who is an apostate. i have, &c., (signed) westmorland. no. . _lord cowley to the earl of aberdeen_.--(_received april_ .) my lord, _paris, april_ , . at the desire of her majesty's ambassador at constantinople i have the honour to forward to your lordship copies of a despatch and of its inclosures which his excellency has addressed to me in consequence of the acquiescence of the porte in the representations of great britain and france on the subject of the execution of apostates from islamism. m. guizot read to me yesterday baron de bourqueney's report announcing the successful termination of these negotiations, and expressing his entire satisfaction at the assurances afforded him by the sultan, at the audience to which his majesty has been graciously pleased to invite him, of his determination to adhere strictly to the engagements he had entered into with the two powers. i have, &c., (signed) cowley. inclosure in no. . _sir stratford canning to lord cowley_. my lord, _constantinople, march_ , . as the question relating to the execution of apostates from islamism is now successfully terminated, it will be satisfactory for your lordship to learn that the entire approbation expressed by m. guizot of the instructions addressed to me on the th of january by the earl of aberdeen, procured me the active support of baron de bourqueney throughout the late negotiations with the porte, and that by acting separately, according to m. guizot's suggestion, i was enabled to give the fullest effect to my instructions, marked and decisive as they were, without losing any part of the advantage derived from the french minister's concurrence. together we rejected the unsatisfactory answer at first and more than once proposed by the porte; together we accepted what appeared to offer a sufficient guarantee for the accomplishment of our common object. the terms in which the final declaration of the porte was conveyed to us on the st instant, are recorded in the accompanying paper translated exactly from the turkish original. i thought it advisable to acknowledge this communication, and as i was entitled to expect some additional assurances from the sultan at the public audience which i had demanded of his majesty according to my instructions, i avoided embarrassing the french minister by proposing to him to take part in a step which related exclusively to my position. a copy of this acknowledgment is inclosed herewith; and in order to give your lordship a complete view of the transaction in its full extent, i add the very terms, as translated to me, in which the sultan was pleased to confirm and to enlarge the engagement of his government. i may venture to add that his majesty's assurances were given in the most gracious form, accompanied with an expression of thanks for the liberal manner in which the millions of mahomedan subjects in india are treated by the british authorities, and followed by a message, after i had left his presence, to the effect that the sentiments which he had declared to me were not only those of the monarch but of the individual. in short, my lord, i am sanguine enough to hope that her majesty's government have laid the foundation of a more real improvement in the temper and policy of this state than was to have been previously expected; and it is a subject of just congratulation that the counsels of two great nations have united successfully for the attainment of so beneficent an object. the invitation to baron de bourqueney to wait upon the sultan the day after my audience, and to receive, for the information of his court, a repetition of the assurances addressed to me, affords another proof of his majesty's sincerity. i have, &c., (signed) stratford canning. p.s.--i request that a copy of this despatch and its inclosures may be forwarded immediately to her majesty's government. s. c. inclosure in no. . _official declaration of the sublime porte, relinquishing the practice of executions for apostacy from islamism_. [see inclosure l in no. .] inclosure in no. . _acknowledgment of the sublime porte's official declaration respecting executions for apostacy_. [see inclosure in no. .] inclosure in no. . _declaration of his highness the sultan to sir stratford canning at his audience on the rd of march_, . "henceforward neither shall christianity be insulted in my dominions, nor shall christians be in any way persecuted for their religion." no. . _the earl of aberdeen to sir stratford canning_. (extract.) _foreign office, april_ , . i received on the th of this month your excellency's despatch of the rd of march conveying the gratifying intelligence that the porte had given way on the question of the execution of apostates from islamism. the concession made by the porte in this respect, entirely consistent as it is with the wishes and intentions of her majesty's government, as expressed in my several instructions of the th of january, th of march, and th of april, has given them the greatest satisfaction; and i have been happy to receive the queen's commands to signify to your excellency her majesty's gracious approbation of the manner in which you have executed your instructions, and brought to a successful close a question of which the importance cannot be too highly rated. thought-forms by annie besant and c.w. leadbeater [illustration: publisher logo] the theosophical publishing house ltd great ormond street, london, w.c. _first printed_ _reprint_ _reprint_ _made and printed in great britain by_ percy lund, humphries & co ltd the country press bradford [illustration: frontispiece--meaning of the colours--(see html version for this and other illustrations.)] foreword the text of this little book is the joint work of mr leadbeater and myself; some of it has already appeared as an article in _lucifer_ (now the _theosophical review_), but the greater part of it is new. the drawing and painting of the thought-forms observed by mr leadbeater or by myself, or by both of us together, has been done by three friends--mr john varley, mr prince, and miss macfarlane, to each of whom we tender our cordial thanks. to paint in earth's dull colours the forms clothed in the living light of other worlds is a hard and thankless task; so much the more gratitude is due to those who have attempted it. they needed coloured fire, and had only ground earths. we have also to thank mr f. bligh bond for allowing us to use his essay on _vibration figures_, and some of his exquisite drawings. another friend, who sent us some notes and a few drawings, insists on remaining anonymous, so we can only send our thanks to him with similar anonymity. it is our earnest hope--as it is our belief--that this little book will serve as a striking moral lesson to every reader, making him realise the nature and power of his thoughts, acting as a stimulus to the noble, a curb on the base. with this belief and hope we send it on its way. annie besant. contents page foreword introduction the difficulty of representation the two effects of thought how the vibration acts the form and its effect the meaning of the colours three classes of thought-forms illustrative thought-forms affection - devotion - intellect - ambition anger sympathy fear greed various emotions shipwreck on the first night the gamblers at a street accident at a funeral on meeting a friend appreciation of a picture forms seen in meditation sympathy and love for all an aspiration to enfold all in the six directions cosmic order the logos as manifested in man the logos pervading all another conception the threefold manifestation the sevenfold manifestation intellectual aspiration helpful thoughts forms built by music mendelssohn gounod wagner list of illustrations fig. page meaning of the colours _frontispiece_ chladni's sound plate forms produced in sand forms produced in sand forms produced by pendulums - vague pure affection vague selfish affection definite affection radiating affection peace and protection grasping animal affection vague religious feeling upward rush of devotion self-renunciation response to devotion vague intellectual pleasure vague sympathy a the intention to know high ambition selfish ambition murderous rage sustained anger explosive anger watchful jealousy angry jealousy sudden fright selfish greed greed for drink at a shipwreck on the first night the gamblers at a street accident at a funeral on meeting a friend the appreciation of a picture sympathy and love for all an aspiration to enfold all in the six directions an intellectual conception of cosmic order the logos as manifested in man the logos pervading all and another conception the threefold manifestation the sevenfold manifestation intellectual aspiration helpful thoughts , , , , , , plate music of mendelssohn m music of gounod g music of wagner w [transcriber's note: some of the plates are displayed out of sequence to correspond with references to them in the text.] thought-forms as knowledge increases, the attitude of science towards the things of the invisible world is undergoing considerable modification. its attention is no longer directed solely to the earth with all its variety of objects, or to the physical worlds around it; but it finds itself compelled to glance further afield, and to construct hypotheses as to the nature of the matter and force which lie in the regions beyond the ken of its instruments. ether is now comfortably settled in the scientific kingdom, becoming almost more than a hypothesis. mesmerism, under its new name of hypnotism, is no longer an outcast. reichenbach's experiments are still looked at askance, but are not wholly condemned. röntgen's rays have rearranged some of the older ideas of matter, while radium has revolutionised them, and is leading science beyond the borderland of ether into the astral world. the boundaries between animate and inanimate matter are broken down. magnets are found to be possessed of almost uncanny powers, transferring certain forms of disease in a way not yet satisfactorily explained. telepathy, clairvoyance, movement without contact, though not yet admitted to the scientific table, are approaching the cinderella-stage. the fact is that science has pressed its researches so far, has used such rare ingenuity in its questionings of nature, has shown such tireless patience in its investigations, that it is receiving the reward of those who seek, and forces and beings of the next higher plane of nature are beginning to show themselves on the outer edge of the physical field. "nature makes no leaps," and as the physicist nears the confines of his kingdom he finds himself bewildered by touches and gleams from another realm which interpenetrates his own. he finds himself compelled to speculate on invisible presences, if only to find a rational explanation for undoubted physical phenomena, and insensibly he slips over the boundary, and is, although he does not yet realise it, contacting the astral plane. one of the most interesting of the highroads from the physical to the astral is that of the study of thought. the western scientist, commencing in the anatomy and physiology of the brain, endeavours to make these the basis for "a sound psychology." he passes then into the region of dreams, illusions, hallucinations; and as soon as he endeavours to elaborate an experimental science which shall classify and arrange these, he inevitably plunges into the astral plane. dr baraduc of paris has nearly crossed the barrier, and is well on the way towards photographing astro-mental images, to obtaining pictures of what from the materialistic standpoint would be the results of vibrations in the grey matter of the brain. it has long been known to those who have given attention to the question that impressions were produced by the reflection of the ultra-violet rays from objects not visible by the rays of the ordinary spectrum. clairvoyants were occasionally justified by the appearance on sensitive photographic plates of figures seen and described by them as present with the sitter, though invisible to physical sight. it is not possible for an unbiassed judgment to reject _in toto_ the evidence of such occurrences proffered by men of integrity on the strength of their own experiments, oftentimes repeated. and now we have investigators who turn their attention to the obtaining of images of subtle forms, inventing methods specially designed with the view of reproducing them. among these, dr baraduc seems to have been the most successful, and he has published a volume dealing with his investigations and containing reproductions of the photographs he has obtained. dr baraduc states that he is investigating the subtle forces by which the soul--defined as the intelligence working between the body and the spirit--expresses itself, by seeking to record its movements by means of a needle, its "luminous" but invisible vibrations by impressions on sensitive plates. he shuts out by non-conductors electricity and heat. we can pass over his experiments in biometry (measurement of life by movements), and glance at those in iconography--the impressions of invisible waves, regarded by him as of the nature of light, in which the soul draws its own image. a number of these photographs represent etheric and magnetic results of physical phenomena, and these again we may pass over as not bearing on our special subject, interesting as they are in themselves. dr baraduc obtained various impressions by strongly thinking of an object, the effect produced by the thought-form appearing on a sensitive plate; thus he tried to project a portrait of a lady (then dead) whom he had known, and produced an impression due to his thought of a drawing he had made of her on her deathbed. he quite rightly says that the creation of an object is the passing out of an image from the mind and its subsequent materialisation, and he seeks the chemical effect caused on silver salts by this thought-created picture. one striking illustration is that of a force raying outwards, the projection of an earnest prayer. another prayer is seen producing forms like the fronds of a fern, another like rain pouring upwards, if the phrase may be permitted. a rippled oblong mass is projected by three persons thinking of their unity in affection. a young boy sorrowing over and caressing a dead bird is surrounded by a flood of curved interwoven threads of emotional disturbance. a strong vortex is formed by a feeling of deep sadness. looking at this most interesting and suggestive series, it is clear that in these pictures that which is obtained is not the thought-image, but the effect caused in etheric matter by its vibrations, and it is necessary to clairvoyantly see the thought in order to understand the results produced. in fact, the illustrations are instructive for what they do not show directly, as well as for the images that appear. it may be useful to put before students, a little more plainly than has hitherto been done, some of the facts in nature which will render more intelligible the results at which dr baraduc is arriving. necessarily imperfect these must be, a physical photographic camera and sensitive plates not being ideal instruments for astral research; but, as will be seen from the above, they are most interesting and valuable as forming a link between clairvoyant and physical scientific investigations. at the present time observers outside the theosophical society are concerning themselves with the fact that emotional changes show their nature by changes of colour in the cloud-like ovoid, or aura, that encompasses all living beings. articles on the subject are appearing in papers unconnected with the theosophical society, and a medical specialist[ ] has collected a large number of cases in which the colour of the aura of persons of various types and temperaments is recorded by him. his results resemble closely those arrived at by clairvoyant theosophists and others, and the general unanimity on the subject is sufficient to establish the fact, if the evidence be judged by the usual canons applied to human testimony. the book _man visible and invisible_ dealt with the general subject of the aura. the present little volume, written by the author of _man visible and invisible_, and a theosophical colleague, is intended to carry the subject further; and it is believed that this study is useful, as impressing vividly on the mind of the student the power and living nature of thought and desire, and the influence exerted by them on all whom they reach. [footnote : dr hooker, gloucester place, london, w.] the difficulty of representation we have often heard it said that thoughts are things, and there are many among us who are persuaded of the truth of this statement. yet very few of us have any clear idea as to what kind of thing a thought is, and the object of this little book is to help us to conceive this. there are some serious difficulties in our way, for our conception of space is limited to three dimensions, and when we attempt to make a drawing we practically limit ourselves to two. in reality the presentation even of ordinary three-dimensional objects is seriously defective, for scarcely a line or angle in our drawing is accurately shown. if a road crosses the picture, the part in the foreground must be represented as enormously wider than that in the background, although in reality the width is unchanged. if a house is to be drawn, the right angles at its corners must be shown as acute or obtuse as the case may be, but hardly ever as they actually are. in fact, we draw everything not as it is but as it appears, and the effort of the artist is by a skilful arrangement of lines upon a flat surface to convey to the eye an impression which shall recall that made by a three-dimensional object. it is possible to do this only because similar objects are already familiar to those who look at the picture and accept the suggestion which it conveys. a person who had never seen a tree could form but little idea of one from even the most skilful painting. if to this difficulty we add the other and far more serious one of a limitation of consciousness, and suppose ourselves to be showing the picture to a being who knew only two dimensions, we see how utterly impossible it would be to convey to him any adequate impression of such a landscape as we see. precisely this difficulty in its most aggravated form stands in our way, when we try to make a drawing of even a very simple thought-form. the vast majority of those who look at the picture are absolutely limited to the consciousness of three dimensions, and furthermore, have not the slightest conception of that inner world to which thought-forms belong, with all its splendid light and colour. all that we can do at the best is to represent a section of the thought-form; and those whose faculties enable them to see the original cannot but be disappointed with any reproduction of it. still, those who are at present unable to see anything will gain at least a partial comprehension, and however inadequate it may be it is at least better than nothing. all students know that what is called the aura of man is the outer part of the cloud-like substance of his higher bodies, interpenetrating each other, and extending beyond the confines of his physical body, the smallest of all. they know also that two of these bodies, the mental and desire bodies, are those chiefly concerned with the appearance of what are called thought-forms. but in order that the matter may be made clear for all, and not only for students already acquainted with theosophical teachings, a recapitulation of the main facts will not be out of place. man, the thinker, is clothed in a body composed of innumerable combinations of the subtle matter of the mental plane, this body being more or less refined in its constituents and organised more or less fully for its functions, according to the stage of intellectual development at which the man himself has arrived. the mental body is an object of great beauty, the delicacy and rapid motion of its particles giving it an aspect of living iridescent light, and this beauty becomes an extraordinarily radiant and entrancing loveliness as the intellect becomes more highly evolved and is employed chiefly on pure and sublime topics. every thought gives rise to a set of correlated vibrations in the matter of this body, accompanied with a marvellous play of colour, like that in the spray of a waterfall as the sunlight strikes it, raised to the _n_th degree of colour and vivid delicacy. the body under this impulse throws off a vibrating portion of itself, shaped by the nature of the vibrations--as figures are made by sand on a disk vibrating to a musical note--and this gathers from the surrounding atmosphere matter like itself in fineness from the elemental essence of the mental world. we have then a thought-form pure and simple, and it is a living entity of intense activity animated by the one idea that generated it. if made of the finer kinds of matter, it will be of great power and energy, and may be used as a most potent agent when directed by a strong and steady will. into the details of such use we will enter later. when the man's energy flows outwards towards external objects of desire, or is occupied in passional and emotional activities, this energy works in a less subtle order of matter than the mental, in that of the astral world. what is called his desire-body is composed of this matter, and it forms the most prominent part of the aura in the undeveloped man. where the man is of a gross type, the desire-body is of the denser matter of the astral plane, and is dull in hue, browns and dirty greens and reds playing a great part in it. through this will flash various characteristic colours, as his passions are excited. a man of a higher type has his desire-body composed of the finer qualities of astral matter, with the colours, rippling over and flashing through it, fine and clear in hue. while less delicate and less radiant than the mental body, it forms a beautiful object, and as selfishness is eliminated all the duller and heavier shades disappear. this desire (or astral) body gives rise to a second class of entities, similar in their general constitution to the thought-forms already described, but limited to the astral plane, and generated by the mind under the dominion of the animal nature. these are caused by the activity of the lower mind, throwing itself out through the astral body--the activity of kâma-manas in theosophical terminology, or the mind dominated by desire. vibrations in the body of desire, or astral body, are in this case set up, and under these this body throws off a vibrating portion of itself, shaped, as in the previous case, by the nature of the vibrations, and this attracts to itself some of the appropriate elemental essence of the astral world. such a thought-form has for its body this elemental essence, and for its animating soul the desire or passion which threw it forth; according to the amount of mental energy combined with this desire or passion will be the force of the thought-form. these, like those belonging to the mental plane, are called artificial elementals, and they are by far the most common, as few thoughts of ordinary men and women are untinged with desire, passion, or emotion. the two effects of thought each definite thought produces a double effect--a radiating vibration and a floating form. the thought itself appears first to clairvoyant sight as a vibration in the mental body, and this may be either simple or complex. if the thought itself is absolutely simple, there is only the one rate of vibration, and only one type of mental matter will be strongly affected. the mental body is composed of matter of several degrees of density, which we commonly arrange in classes according to the sub-planes. of each of these we have many sub-divisions, and if we typify these by drawing horizontal lines to indicate the different degrees of density, there is another arrangement which we might symbolise by drawing perpendicular lines at right angles to the others, to denote types which differ in quality as well as in density. there are thus many varieties of this mental matter, and it is found that each one of these has its own especial and appropriate rate of vibration, to which it seems most accustomed, so that it very readily responds to it, and tends to return to it as soon as possible when it has been forced away from it by some strong rush of thought or feeling. when a sudden wave of some emotion sweeps over a man, for example, his astral body is thrown into violent agitation, and its original colours are or the time almost obscured by the flush of carmine, of blue, or of scarlet which corresponds with the rate of vibration of that particular emotion. this change is only temporary; it passes off in a few seconds, and the astral body rapidly resumes its usual condition. yet every such rush of feeling produces a permanent effect: it always adds a little of its hue to the normal colouring of the astral body, so that every time that the man yields himself to a certain emotion it becomes easier for him to yield himself to it again, because his astral body is getting into the habit of vibrating at that especial rate. the majority of human thoughts, however, are by no means simple. absolutely pure affection of course exists; but we very often find it tinged with pride or with selfishness, with jealousy or with animal passion. this means that at least two separate vibrations appear both in the mental and astral bodies--frequently more than two. the radiating vibration, therefore, will be a complex one, and the resultant thought-form will show several colours instead of only one. how the vibration acts these radiating vibrations, like all others in nature, become less powerful in proportion to the distance from their source, though it is probable that the variation is in proportion to the cube of the distance instead of to the square, because of the additional dimension involved. again, like all other vibrations, these tend to reproduce themselves whenever opportunity is offered to them; and so whenever they strike upon another mental body they tend to provoke in it their own rate of motion. that is--from the point of view of the man whose mental body is touched by these waves--they tend to produce in his mind thoughts of the same type as that which had previously arisen in the mind of the thinker who sent forth the waves. the distance to which such thought-waves penetrate, and the force and persistency with which they impinge upon the mental bodies of others, depend upon the strength and clearness of the original thought. in this way the thinker is in the same position as the speaker. the voice of the latter sets in motion waves of sound in the air which radiate from him in all directions, and convey his message to all those who are within hearing, and the distance to which his voice can penetrate depends upon its power and upon the clearness of his enunciation. in just the same way the forceful thought will carry very much further than the weak and undecided thought; but clearness and definiteness are of even greater importance than strength. again, just as the speaker's voice may fall upon heedless ears where men are already engaged in business or in pleasure, so may a mighty wave of thought sweep past without affecting the mind of the man, if he be already deeply engrossed in some other line of thought. it should be understood that this radiating vibration conveys the character of the thought, but not its subject. if a hindu sits rapt in devotion to krishna, the waves of feeling which pour forth from him stimulate devotional feeling in all those who come under their influence, though in the case of the muhammadan that devotion is to allah, while for the zoroastrian it is to ahuramazda, or for the christian to jesus. a man thinking keenly upon some high subject pours out from himself vibrations which tend to stir up thought at a similar level in others, but they in no way suggest to those others the special subject of his thought. they naturally act with special vigour upon those minds already habituated to vibrations of similar character; yet they have some effect on every mental body upon which they impinge, so that their tendency is to awaken the power of higher thought in those to whom it has not yet become a custom. it is thus evident that every man who thinks along high lines is doing missionary work, even though he may be entirely unconscious of it. the form and its effect let us turn now to the second effect of thought, the creation of a definite form. all students of the occult are acquainted with the idea of the elemental essence, that strange half-intelligent life which surrounds us in all directions, vivifying the matter of the mental and astral planes. this matter thus animated responds very readily to the influence of human thought, and every impulse sent out, either from the mental body or from the astral body of man, immediately clothes itself in a temporary vehicle of this vitalised matter. such a thought or impulse becomes for the time a kind of living creature, the thought-force being the soul, and the vivified matter the body. instead of using the somewhat clumsy paraphrase, "astral or mental matter ensouled by the monadic essence at the stage of one of the elemental kingdoms," theosophical writers often, for brevity's sake, call this quickened matter simply elemental essence; and sometimes they speak of the thought-form as "an elemental." there may be infinite variety in the colour and shape of such elementals or thought-forms, for each thought draws round it the matter which is appropriate for its expression, and sets that matter into vibration in harmony with its own; so that the character of the thought decides its colour, and the study of its variations and combinations is an exceedingly interesting one. this thought-form may not inaptly be compared to a leyden jar, the coating of living essence being symbolised by the jar, and the thought energy by the charge of electricity. if the man's thought or feeling is directly connected with someone else, the resultant thought-form moves towards that person and discharges itself upon his astral and mental bodies. if the man's thought is about himself, or is based upon a personal feeling, as the vast majority of thoughts are, it hovers round its creator and is always ready to react upon him whenever he is for a moment in a passive condition. for example, a man who yields himself to thoughts of impurity may forget all about them while he is engaged in the daily routine of his business, even though the resultant forms are hanging round him in a heavy cloud, because his attention is otherwise directed and his astral body is therefore not impressible by any other rate of vibration than its own. when, however, the marked vibration slackens and the man rests after his labours and leaves his mind blank as regards definite thought, he is very likely to feel the vibration of impurity stealing insidiously upon him. if the consciousness of the man be to any extent awakened, he may perceive this and cry out that he is being tempted by the devil; yet the truth is that the temptation is from without only in appearance, since it is nothing but the natural reaction upon him of his own thought-forms. each man travels through space enclosed within a cage of his own building, surrounded by a mass of the forms created by his habitual thoughts. through this medium he looks out upon the world, and naturally he sees everything tinged with its predominant colours, and all rates of vibration which reach him from without are more or less modified by its rate. thus until the man learns complete control of thought and feeling, he sees nothing as it really is, since all his observations must be made through this medium, which distorts and colours everything like badly-made glass. if the thought-form be neither definitely personal nor specially aimed at someone else, it simply floats detached in the atmosphere, all the time radiating vibrations similar to those originally sent forth by its creator. if it does not come into contact with any other mental body, this radiation gradually exhausts its store of energy, and in that case the form falls to pieces; but if it succeeds in awakening sympathetic vibration in any mental body near at hand, an attraction is set up, and the thought-form is usually absorbed by that mental body. thus we see that the influence of the thought-form is by no means so far-reaching as that of the original vibration; but in so far as it acts, it acts with much greater precision. what it produces in the mind-body which it influences is not merely a thought of an order similar to that which gave it birth; it is actually the same thought. the radiation may affect thousands and stir up in them thoughts on the same level as the original, and yet it may happen that no one of them will be identical with that original; the thought-form can affect only very few, but in those few cases it will reproduce exactly the initiatory idea. the fact of the creation by vibrations of a distinct form, geometrical or other, is already familiar to every student of acoustics, and "chladni's" figures are continually reproduced in every physical laboratory. [illustration: fig. . chladni's sound plate] [illustration: fig. . forms produced in sound] for the lay reader the following brief description may be useful. a chladni's sound plate (fig. ) is made of brass or plate-glass. grains of fine sand or spores are scattered over the surface, and the edge of the plate is bowed. the sand is thrown up into the air by the vibration of the plate, and re-falling on the plate is arranged in regular lines (fig. ). by touching the edge of the plate at different points when it is bowed, different notes, and hence varying forms, are obtained (fig. ). if the figures here given are compared with those obtained from the human voice, many likenesses will be observed. for these latter, the 'voice-forms' so admirably studied and pictured by mrs watts hughes,[ ] bearing witness to the same fact, should be consulted, and her work on the subject should be in the hands of every student. but few perhaps have realised that the shapes pictured are due to the interplay of the vibrations that create them, and that a machine exists by means of which two or more simultaneous motions can be imparted to a pendulum, and that by attaching a fine drawing-pen to a lever connected with the pendulum its action may be exactly traced. substitute for the swing of the pendulum the vibrations set up in the mental or astral body, and we have clearly before us the _modus operandi_ of the building of forms by vibrations.[ ] [illustration: fig. . forms produced in sound] [footnote : _the eidophone voice figures._ margaret watts hughes.] [footnote : mr joseph gould, stratford house, nottingham, supplies the twin-elliptic pendulum by which these wonderful figures may be produced.] the following description is taken from a most interesting essay entitled _vibration figures_, by f. bligh bond, f.r.i.b.a., who has drawn a number of remarkable figures by the use of pendulums. the pendulum is suspended on knife edges of hardened steel, and is free to swing only at right angles to the knife-edge suspension. four such pendulums may be coupled in pairs, swinging at right angles to each other, by threads connecting the shafts of each pair of pendulums with the ends of a light but rigid lath, from the centre of which run other threads; these threads carry the united movements of each pair of pendulums to a light square of wood, suspended by a spring, and bearing a pen. the pen is thus controlled by the combined movement of the four pendulums, and this movement is registered on a drawing board by the pen. there is no limit, theoretically, to the number of pendulums that can be combined in this manner. the movements are rectilinear, but two rectilinear vibrations of equal amplitude acting at right angles to each other generate a circle if they alternate precisely, an ellipse if the alternations are less regular or the amplitudes unequal. a cyclic vibration may also be obtained from a pendulum free to swing in a rotary path. in these ways a most wonderful series of drawings have been obtained, and the similarity of these to some of the thought-forms is remarkable; they suffice to demonstrate how readily vibrations may be transformed into figures. thus compare fig. with fig. , the mother's prayer; or fig. with fig. ; or fig. with fig. , the serpent-like darting forms. fig. is added as an illustration of the complexity attainable. it seems to us a most marvellous thing that some of the drawings, made apparently at random by the use of this machine, should exactly correspond to higher types of thought-forms created in meditation. we are sure that a wealth of significance lies behind this fact, though it will need much further investigation before we can say certainly all that it means. but it must surely imply this much--that, if two forces on the physical plane bearing a certain ratio one to the other can draw a form which exactly corresponds to that produced on the mental plane by a complex thought, we may infer that that thought sets in motion on its own plane two forces which are in the same ratio one to the other. what these forces are and how they work remains to be seen; but if we are ever able to solve this problem, it is likely that it will open to us a new and exceedingly valuable field of knowledge. [illustration: figs. - . forms produced by pendulums] general principles. three general principles underlie the production of all thought-forms:-- . quality of thought determines colour. . nature of thought determines form. . definiteness of thought determines clearness of outline. the meaning of the colours the table of colours given in the frontispiece has already been thoroughly described in the book _man visible and invisible_, and the meaning to be attached to them is just the same in the thought-form as in the body out of which it is evolved. for the sake of those who have not at hand the full description given in the book just mentioned, it will be well to state that black means hatred and malice. red, of all shades from lurid brick-red to brilliant scarlet, indicates anger; brutal anger will show as flashes of lurid red from dark brown clouds, while the anger of "noble indignation" is a vivid scarlet, by no means unbeautiful, though it gives an unpleasant thrill; a particularly dark and unpleasant red, almost exactly the colour called dragon's blood, shows animal passion and sensual desire of various kinds. clear brown (almost burnt sienna) shows avarice; hard dull brown-grey is a sign of selfishness--a colour which is indeed painfully common; deep heavy grey signifies depression, while a livid pale grey is associated with fear; grey-green is a signal of deceit, while brownish-green (usually flecked with points and flashes of scarlet) betokens jealousy. green seems always to denote adaptability; in the lowest case, when mingled with selfishness, this adaptability becomes deceit; at a later stage, when the colour becomes purer, it means rather the wish to be all things to all men, even though it may be chiefly for the sake of becoming popular and bearing a good reputation with them; in its still higher, more delicate and more luminous aspect, it shows the divine power of sympathy. affection expresses itself in all shades of crimson and rose; a full clear carmine means a strong healthy affection of normal type; if stained heavily with brown-grey, a selfish and grasping feeling is indicated, while pure pale rose marks that absolutely unselfish love which is possible only to high natures; it passes from the dull crimson of animal love to the most exquisite shades of delicate rose, like the early flushes of the dawning, as the love becomes purified from all selfish elements, and flows out in wider and wider circles of generous impersonal tenderness and compassion to all who are in need. with a touch of the blue of devotion in it, this may express a strong realisation of the universal brotherhood of humanity. deep orange imports pride or ambition, and the various shades of yellow denote intellect or intellectual gratification, dull yellow ochre implying the direction of such faculty to selfish purposes, while clear gamboge shows a distinctly higher type, and pale luminous primrose yellow is a sign of the highest and most unselfish use of intellectual power, the pure reason directed to spiritual ends. the different shades of blue all indicate religious feeling, and range through all hues from the dark brown-blue of selfish devotion, or the pallid grey-blue of fetish-worship tinged with fear, up to the rich deep clear colour of heartfelt adoration, and the beautiful pale azure of that highest form which implies self-renunciation and union with the divine; the devotional thought of an unselfish heart is very lovely in colour, like the deep blue of a summer sky. through such clouds of blue will often shine out golden stars of great brilliancy, darting upwards like a shower of sparks. a mixture of affection and devotion is manifested by a tint of violet, and the more delicate shades of this invariably show the capacity of absorbing and responding to a high and beautiful ideal. the brilliancy and the depth of the colours are usually a measure of the strength and the activity of the feeling. another consideration which must not be forgotten is the type of matter in which these forms are generated. if a thought be purely intellectual and impersonal--for example, if the thinker is attempting to solve a problem in algebra or geometry--the thought-form and the wave of vibration will be confined entirely to the mental plane. if, however, the thought be of a spiritual nature, if it be tinged with love and aspiration or deep unselfish feeling, it will rise upwards from the mental plane and will borrow much of the splendour and glory of the buddhic level. in such a case its influence is exceedingly powerful, and every such thought is a mighty force for good which cannot but produce a decided effect upon all mental bodies within reach, if they contain any quality at all capable of response. if, on the other hand, the thought has in it something of self or of personal desire, at once its vibration turns downwards, and it draws round itself a body of astral matter in addition to its clothing of mental matter. such a thought-form is capable of acting upon the astral bodies of other men as well as their minds, so that it can not only raise thought within them, but can also stir up their feelings. three classes of thought-forms from the point of view of the forms which they produce we may group thought into three classes:-- . that which takes the image of the thinker. when a man thinks of himself as in some distant place, or wishes earnestly to be in that place, he makes a thought-form in his own image which appears there. such a form has not infrequently been seen by others, and has sometimes been taken for the astral body or apparition of the man himself. in such a case, either the seer must have enough of clairvoyance for the time to be able to observe that astral shape, or the thought-form must have sufficient strength to materialise itself--that is, to draw round itself temporarily a certain amount of physical matter. the thought which generates such a form as this must necessarily be a strong one, and it therefore employs a larger proportion of the matter of the mental body, so that though the form is small and compressed when it leaves the thinker, it draws round it a considerable amount of astral matter, and usually expands to life-size before it appears at its destination. . that which takes the image of some material object. when a man thinks of his friend he forms within his mental body a minute image of that friend, which often passes outward and usually floats suspended in the air before him. in the same way if he thinks of a room, a house, a landscape, tiny images of these things are formed within the mental body and afterwards externalised. this is equally true when he is exercising his imagination; the painter who forms a conception of his future picture builds it up out of the matter of his mental body, and then projects it into space in front of him, keeps it before his mind's eye, and copies it. the novelist in the same way builds images of his character in mental matter, and by the exercise of his will moves these puppets from one position or grouping to another, so that the plot of his story is literally acted out before him. with our curiously inverted conceptions of reality it is hard for us to understand that these mental images actually exist, and are so entirely objective that they may readily be seen by the clairvoyant, and can even be rearranged by some one other than their creator. some novelists have been dimly aware of such a process, and have testified that their characters when once created developed a will of their own, and insisted on carrying the plot of the story along lines quite different from those originally intended by the author. this has actually happened, sometimes because the thought-forms were ensouled by playful nature-spirits, or more often because some 'dead' novelist, watching on the astral plane the development of the plan of his fellow-author, thought that he could improve upon it, and chose this method of putting forward his suggestions. . that which takes a form entirely its own, expressing its inherent qualities in the matter which it draws round it. only thought-forms of this third class can usefully be illustrated, for to represent those of the first or second class would be merely to draw portraits or landscapes. in those types we have the plastic mental or astral matter moulded in imitation of forms belonging to the physical plane; in this third group we have a glimpse of the forms natural to the astral or mental planes. yet this very fact, which makes them so interesting, places an insuperable barrier in the way of their accurate reproduction. thought-forms of this third class almost invariably manifest themselves upon the astral plane, as the vast majority of them are expressions of feeling as well as of thought. those of which we here give specimens are almost wholly of that class, except that we take a few examples of the beautiful thought-forms created in definite meditation by those who, through long practice, have learnt how to think. thought-forms directed towards individuals produce definitely marked effects, these effects being either partially reproduced in the aura of the recipient and so increasing the total result, or repelled from it. a thought of love and of desire to protect, directed strongly towards some beloved object, creates a form which goes to the person thought of, and remains in his aura as a shielding and protecting agent; it will seek all opportunities to serve, and all opportunities to defend, not by a conscious and deliberate action, but by a blind following out of the impulse impressed upon it, and it will strengthen friendly forces that impinge on the aura and weaken unfriendly ones. thus may we create and maintain veritable guardian angels round those we love, and many a mother's prayer for a distant child thus circles round him, though she knows not the method by which her "prayer is answered." in cases in which good or evil thoughts are projected at individuals, those thoughts, if they are to directly fulfil their mission, must find, in the aura of the object to whom they are sent, materials capable of responding sympathetically to their vibrations. any combination of matter can only vibrate within certain definite limits, and if the thought-form be outside all the limits within which the aura is capable of vibrating, it cannot affect that aura at all. it consequently rebounds from it, and that with a force proportionate to the energy with which it impinged upon it. this is why it is said that a pure heart and mind are the best protectors against any inimical assaults, for such a pure heart and mind will construct an astral and a mental body of fine and subtle materials, and these bodies cannot respond to vibrations that demand coarse and dense matter. if an evil thought, projected with malefic intent, strikes such a body, it can only rebound from it, and it is flung back with all its own energy; it then flies backward along the magnetic line of least resistance, that which it has just traversed, and strikes its projector; he, having matter in his astral and mental bodies similar to that of the thought-form he generated, is thrown into respondent vibrations, and suffers the destructive effects he had intended to cause to another. thus "curses [and blessings] come home to roost." from this arise also the very serious effects of hating or suspecting a good and highly-advanced man; the thought-forms sent against him cannot injure him, and they rebound against their projectors, shattering them mentally, morally, or physically. several such instances are well known to members of the theosophical society, having come under their direct observation. so long as any of the coarser kinds of matter connected with evil and selfish thoughts remain in a person's body, he is open to attack from those who wish him evil, but when he has perfectly eliminated these by self-purification his haters cannot injure him, and he goes on calmly and peacefully amid all the darts of their malice. but it is bad for those who shoot out such darts. another point that should be mentioned before passing to the consideration of our illustrations is that every one of the thought-forms here given is drawn from life. they are not imaginary forms, prepared as some dreamer thinks that they ought to appear; they are representations of forms actually observed as thrown off by ordinary men and women, and either reproduced with all possible care and fidelity by those who have seen them, or with the help of artists to whom the seers have described them. * * * * * for convenience of comparison thought-forms of a similar kind are grouped together. illustrative thought-forms affection _vague pure affection._--fig. is a revolving cloud of pure affection, and except for its vagueness it represents a very good feeling. the person from whom it emanates is happy and at peace with the world, thinking dreamily of some friend whose very presence is a pleasure. there is nothing keen or strong about the feeling, yet it is one of gentle well-being, and of an unselfish delight in the proximity of those who are beloved. the feeling which gives birth to such a cloud is pure of its kind, but there is in it no force capable of producing definite results. an appearance by no means unlike this frequently surrounds a gently purring cat, and radiates slowly outward from the animal in a series of gradually enlarging concentric shells of rosy cloud, fading into invisibility at a distance of a few feet from their drowsily contented creator. [illustration: fig. . vague pure affection] _vague selfish affection._--fig. shows us also a cloud of affection, but this time it is deeply tinged with a far less desirable feeling. the dull hard brown-grey of selfishness shows itself very decidedly among the carmine of love, and thus we see that the affection which is indicated is closely connected with satisfaction at favours already received, and with a lively anticipation of others to come in the near future. indefinite as was the feeling which produced the cloud in fig. , it was at least free from this taint of selfishness, and it therefore showed a certain nobility of nature in its author. fig. represents what takes the place of that condition of mind at a lower level of evolution. it would scarcely be possible that these two clouds should emanate from the same person in the same incarnation. yet there is good in the man who generates this second cloud, though as yet it is but partially evolved. a vast amount of the average affection of the world is of this type, and it is only by slow degrees that it develops towards the other and higher manifestation. [illustration: fig. . vague selfish affection] _definite affection._--even the first glance at fig. shows us that here we have to deal with something of an entirely different nature--something effective and capable, something that will achieve a result. the colour is fully equal to that of fig. in clearness and depth and transparency, but what was there a mere sentiment is in this case translated into emphatic intention coupled with unhesitating action. those who have seen the book _man visible and invisible_ will recollect that in plate xi. of that volume is depicted the effect of a sudden rush of pure unselfish affection as it showed itself in the astral body of a mother, as she caught up her little child and covered it with kisses. various changes resulted from that sudden outburst of emotion; one of them was the formation within the astral body of large crimson coils or vortices lined with living light. each of these is a thought-form of intense affection generated as we have described, and almost instantaneously ejected towards the object of the feeling. fig. depicts just such a thought-form after it has left the astral body of its author, and is on its way towards its goal. it will be observed that the almost circular form has changed into one somewhat resembling a projectile or the head of a comet; and it will be easily understood that this alteration is caused by its rapid forward motion. the clearness of the colour assures us of the purity of the emotion which gave birth to this thought-form, while the precision of its outline is unmistakable evidence of power and of vigorous purpose. the soul that gave birth to a thought-form such as this must already be one of a certain amount of development. [illustration: fig. . definite affection] _radiating affection._--fig. gives us our first example of a thought-form intentionally generated, since its author is making the effort to pour himself forth in love to all beings. it must be remembered that all these forms are in constant motion. this one, for example, is steadily widening out, though there seems to be an exhaustless fountain welling up through the centre from a dimension which we cannot represent. a sentiment such as this is so wide in its application, that it is very difficult for any one not thoroughly trained to keep it clear and precise. the thought-form here shown is, therefore, a very creditable one, for it will be noted that all the numerous rays of the star are commendably free from vagueness. [illustration: fig. . radiating affection] _peace and protection._--few thought-forms are more beautiful and expressive than this which we see in fig. . this is a thought of love and peace, protection and benediction, sent forth by one who has the power and has earned the right to bless. it is not at all probable that in the mind of its creator there existed any thought of its beautiful wing-like shape, though it is possible that some unconscious reflection of far-away lessons of childhood about guardian angels who always hovered over their charges may have had its influence in determining this. however that may be, the earnest wish undoubtedly clothed itself in this graceful and expressive outline, while the affection that prompted it gave to it its lovely rose-colour, and the intellect which guided it shone forth like sunlight as its heart and central support. thus in sober truth we may make veritable guardian angels to hover over and protect those whom we love, and many an unselfish earnest wish for good produces such a form as this, though all unknown to its creator. [illustration: fig. . peace and protection] _grasping animal affection._--fig. gives us an instance of grasping animal affection--if indeed such a feeling as this be deemed worthy of the august name of affection at all. several colours bear their share in the production of its dull unpleasing hue, tinged as it is with the lurid gleam of sensuality, as well as deadened with the heavy tint indicative of selfishness. especially characteristic is its form, for those curving hooks are never seen except when there exists a strong craving for personal possession. it is regrettably evident that the fabricator of this thought-form had no conception of the self-sacrificing love which pours itself out in joyous service, never once thinking of result or return; his thought has been, not "how much can i give?" but "how much can i gain?" and so it has expressed itself in these re-entering curves. it has not even ventured to throw itself boldly outward, as do other thoughts, but projects half-heartedly from the astral body, which must be supposed to be on the left of the picture. a sad travesty of the divine quality love; yet even this is a stage in evolution, and distinctly an improvement upon earlier stages, as will presently be seen. [illustration: fig. . grasping animal affection] devotion _vague religious feeling._--fig. shows us another shapeless rolling cloud, but this time it is blue instead of crimson. it betokens that vaguely pleasurable religious feeling--a sensation of devoutness rather than of devotion--which is so common among those in whom piety is more developed than intellect. in many a church one may see a great cloud of deep dull blue floating over the heads of the congregation--indefinite in outline, because of the indistinct nature of the thoughts and feelings which cause it; flecked too often with brown and grey, because ignorant devotion absorbs with deplorable facility the dismal tincture of selfishness or fear; but none the less adumbrating a mighty potentiality of the future, manifesting to our eyes the first faint flutter of one at least of the twin wings of devotion and wisdom, by the use of which the soul flies upward to god from whom it came. [illustration: fig. . vague religious feeling] strange is it to note under what varied circumstances this vague blue cloud may be seen; and oftentimes its absence speaks more loudly than its presence. for in many a fashionable place of worship we seek it in vain, and find instead of it a vast conglomeration of thought-forms of that second type which take the shape of material objects. instead of tokens of devotion, we see floating above the "worshippers" the astral images of hats and bonnets, of jewellery and gorgeous dresses, of horses and of carriages, of whisky-bottles and of sunday dinners, and sometimes of whole rows of intricate calculations, showing that men and women alike have had during their supposed hours of prayer and praise no thoughts but of business or of pleasure, of the desires or the anxieties of the lower form of mundane existence. yet sometimes in a humbler fane, in a church belonging to the unfashionable catholic or ritualist, or even in a lowly meeting-house where there is but little of learning or of culture, one may watch the deep blue clouds rolling ceaselessly eastward towards the altar, or upwards, testifying at least to the earnestness and the reverence of those who give them birth. rarely--very rarely--among the clouds of blue will flash like a lance cast by the hand of a giant such a thought-form as is shown in fig. ; or such a flower of self-renunciation as we see in fig. may float before our ravished eyes; but in most cases we must seek elsewhere for these signs of a higher development. _upward rush of devotion._--the form in fig. bears much the same relation to that of fig. as did the clearly outlined projectile of fig. to the indeterminate cloud of fig. . we could hardly have a more marked contrast than that between the inchoate flaccidity of the nebulosity in fig. and the virile vigour of the splendid spire of highly developed devotion which leaps into being before us in fig. . this is no uncertain half-formed sentiment; it is the outrush into manifestation of a grand emotion rooted deep in the knowledge of fact. the man who feels such devotion as this is one who knows in whom he has believed; the man who makes such a thought-form as this is one who has taught himself how to think. the determination of the upward rush points to courage as well as conviction, while the sharpness of its outline shows the clarity of its creator's conception, and the peerless purity of its colour bears witness to his utter unselfishness. [illustration: fig. . upward rush of devotion] _the response to devotion._--in fig. we see the result of his thought--the response of the logos to the appeal made to him, the truth which underlies the highest and best part of the persistent belief in an answer to prayer. it needs a few words of explanation. on every plane of his solar system our logos pours forth his light, his power, his life, and naturally it is on the higher planes that this outpouring of divine strength can be given most fully. the descent from each plane to that next below it means an almost paralysing limitation--a limitation entirely incomprehensible except to those who have experienced the higher possibilities of human consciousness. thus the divine life flows forth with incomparably greater fulness on the mental plane than on the astral; and yet even its glory at the mental level is ineffably transcended by that of the buddhic plane. normally each of these mighty waves of influence spreads about its appropriate plane--horizontally, as it were--but it does not pass into the obscuration of a plane lower than that for which it was originally intended. [illustration: fig. . response to devotion] yet there are conditions under which the grace and strength peculiar to a higher plane may in a measure be brought down to a lower one, and may spread abroad there with wonderful effect. this seems to be possible only when a special channel is for the moment opened; and that work must be done from below and by the effort of man. it has before been explained that whenever a man's thought or feeling is selfish, the energy which it produces moves in a close curve, and thus inevitably returns and expends itself upon its own level; but when the thought or feeling is absolutely unselfish, its energy rushes forth in an open curve, and thus does _not_ return in the ordinary sense, but pierces through into the plane above, because only in that higher condition, with its additional dimension, can it find room for its expansion. but in thus breaking through, such a thought or feeling holds open a door (to speak symbolically) of dimension equivalent to its own diameter, and thus furnishes the requisite channel through which the divine force appropriate to the higher plane can pour itself into the lower with marvellous results, not only for the thinker but for others. an attempt is made in fig. to symbolise this, and to indicate the great truth that an infinite flood of the higher type of force is always ready and waiting to pour through when the channel is offered, just as the water in a cistern may be said to be waiting to pour through the first pipe that may be opened. the result of the descent of divine life is a very great strengthening and uplifting of the maker of the channel, and the spreading all about him of a most powerful and beneficent influence. this effect has often been called an answer to prayer, and has been attributed by the ignorant to what they call a "special interposition of providence," instead of to the unerring action of the great and immutable divine law. _self-renunciation._--fig. gives us yet another form of devotion, producing an exquisitely beautiful form of a type quite new to us--a type in which one might at first sight suppose that various graceful shapes belonging to animate nature were being imitated. fig. , for example, is somewhat suggestive of a partially opened flower-bud, while other forms are found to bear a certain resemblance to shells or leaves or tree-shapes. manifestly, however, these are not and cannot be copies of vegetable or animal forms, and it seems probable that the explanation of the similarity lies very much deeper than that. an analogous and even more significant fact is that some very complex thought-forms can be exactly imitated by the action of certain mechanical forces, as has been said above. while with our present knowledge it would be unwise to attempt a solution of the very fascinating problem presented by these remarkable resemblances, it seems likely that we are obtaining a glimpse across the threshold of a very mighty mystery, for if by certain thoughts we produce a form which has been duplicated by the processes of nature, we have at least a presumption that these forces of nature work along lines somewhat similar to the action of those thoughts. since the universe is itself a mighty thought-form called into existence by the logos, it may well be that tiny parts of it are also the thought-forms of minor entities engaged in the same work; and thus perhaps we may approach a comprehension of what is meant by the three hundred and thirty million devas of the hindus. [illustration: fig. . self-renunciation] this form is of the loveliest pale azure, with a glory of white light shining through it--something indeed to tax the skill even of the indefatigable artist who worked so hard to get them as nearly right as possible. it is what a catholic would call a definite "act of devotion"--better still, an act of utter selflessness, of self-surrender and renunciation. intellect _vague intellectual pleasure._--fig. represents a vague cloud of the same order as those shown in figs. and , but in this case the colour is yellow instead of crimson or blue. yellow in any of man's vehicles always indicates intellectual capacity, but its shades vary very much, and it may be complicated by the admixture of other hues. generally speaking, it has a deeper and duller tint if the intellect is directed chiefly into lower channels, more especially if the objects are selfish. in the astral or mental body of the average man of business it would show itself as yellow ochre, while pure intellect devoted to the study of philosophy or mathematics appears frequently to be golden, and this rises gradually to a beautiful clear and luminous lemon or primrose yellow when a powerful intellect is being employed absolutely unselfishly for the benefit of humanity. most yellow thought-forms are clearly outlined, and a vague cloud of this colour is comparatively rare. it indicates intellectual pleasure--appreciation of the result of ingenuity, or the delight felt in clever workmanship. such pleasure as the ordinary man derives from the contemplation of a picture usually depends chiefly upon the emotions of admiration, affection, or pity which it arouses within him, or sometimes, if it pourtrays a scene with which he is familiar, its charm consists in its power to awaken the memory of past joys. an artist, however, may derive from a picture a pleasure of an entirely different character, based upon his recognition of the excellence of the work, and of the ingenuity which has been exercised in producing certain results. such pure intellectual gratification shows itself in a yellow cloud; and the same effect may be produced by delight in musical ingenuity, or the subtleties of argument. a cloud of this nature betokens the entire absence of any personal emotion, for if that were present it would inevitably tinge the yellow with its own appropriate colour. [illustration: fig. . vague intellectual pleasure] _the intention to know._--fig. is of interest as showing us something of the growth of a thought-form. the earlier stage, which is indicated by the upper form, is not uncommon, and indicates the determination to solve some problem--the intention to know and to understand. sometimes a theosophical lecturer sees many of these yellow serpentine forms projecting towards him from his audience, and welcomes them as a token that his hearers are following his arguments intelligently, and have an earnest desire to understand and to know more. a form of this kind frequently accompanies a question, and if, as is sometimes unfortunately the case, the question is put less with the genuine desire for knowledge than for the purpose of exhibiting the acumen of the questioner, the form is strongly tinged with the deep orange that indicates conceit. it was at a theosophical meeting that this special shape was encountered, and it accompanied a question which showed considerable thought and penetration. the answer at first given was not thoroughly satisfactory to the inquirer, who seems to have received the impression that his problem was being evaded by the lecturer. his resolution to obtain a full and thorough answer to his inquiry became more determined than ever, and his thought-form deepened in colour and changed into the second of the two shapes, resembling a cork-screw even more closely than before. forms similar to these are constantly created by ordinary idle and frivolous curiosity, but as there is no intellect involved in that case the colour is no longer yellow, but usually closely resembles that of decaying meat, somewhat like that shown in fig. as expressing a drunken man's craving for alcohol. [illustration: fig. . the intention to know] _high ambition._--fig. gives us another manifestation of desire--the ambition for place or power. the ambitious quality is shown by the rich deep orange colour, and the desire by the hooked extensions which precede the form as it moves. the thought is a good and pure one of its kind, for if there were anything base or selfish in the desire it would inevitably show itself in the darkening of the clear orange hue by dull reds, browns, or greys. if this man coveted place or power, it was not for his own sake, but from the conviction that he could do the work well and truly, and to the advantage of his fellow-men. [illustration: fig. . high ambition] _selfish ambition._--ambition of a lower type is represented in fig. . not only have we here a large stain of the dull brown-grey of selfishness, but there is also a considerable difference in the form, though it appears to possess equal definiteness of outline. fig. is rising steadily onward towards a definite object, for it will be observed that the central part of it is as definitely a projectile as fig. . fig. , on the other hand, is a floating form, and is strongly indicative of general acquisitiveness--the ambition to grasp for the self everything that is within sight. [illustration: fig. . selfish ambition] anger _murderous rage and sustained anger._--in figs. and we have two terrible examples of the awful effect of anger. the lurid flash from dark clouds (fig. ) was taken from the aura of a rough and partially intoxicated man in the east end of london, as he struck down a woman; the flash darted out at her the moment before he raised his hand to strike, and caused a shuddering feeling of horror, as though it might slay. the keen-pointed stiletto-like dart (fig. ) was a thought of steady anger, intense and desiring vengeance, of the quality of murder, sustained through years, and directed against a person who had inflicted a deep injury on the one who sent it forth; had the latter been possessed of a strong and trained will, such a thought-form would slay, and the one nourishing it is running a very serious danger of becoming a murderer in act as well as in thought in a future incarnation. it will be noted that both of them take the flash-like form, though the upper is irregular in its shape, while the lower represents a steadiness of intention which is far more dangerous. the basis of utter selfishness out of which the upper one springs is very characteristic and instructive. the difference in colour between the two is also worthy of note. in the upper one the dirty brown of selfishness is so strongly evident that it stains even the outrush of anger; while in the second case, though no doubt selfishness was at the root of that also, the original thought has been forgotten in the sustained and concentrated wrath. one who studies plate xiii. in _man visible and invisible_ will be able to image to himself the condition of the astral body from which these forms are protruding; and surely the mere sight of these pictures, even without examination, should prove a powerful object-lesson in the evil of yielding to the passion of anger. [illustration: fig. . murderous rage] [illustration: fig. . sustained anger] _explosive anger._--in fig. we see an exhibition of anger of a totally different character. here is no sustained hatred, but simply a vigorous explosion of irritation. it is at once evident that while the creators of the forms shown in figs. and were each directing their ire against an individual, the person who is responsible for the explosion in fig. is for the moment at war with the whole world round him. it may well express the sentiment of some choleric old gentleman, who feels himself insulted or impertinently treated, for the dash of orange intermingled with the scarlet implies that his pride has been seriously hurt. it is instructive to compare the radiations of this plate with those of fig. . here we see indicated a veritable explosion, instantaneous in its passing and irregular in its effects; and the vacant centre shows us that the feeling that caused it is already a thing of the past, and that no further force is being generated. in fig. , on the other hand, the centre is the strongest part of the thought-form, showing that this is not the result of a momentary flash of feeling, but that there is a steady continuous upwelling of the energy, while the rays show by their quality and length and the evenness of their distribution the steadily sustained effort which produces them. [illustration: fig. . explosive anger] _watchful and angry jealousy._--in fig. we see an interesting though unpleasant thought-form. its peculiar brownish-green colour at once indicates to the practised clairvoyant that it is an expression of jealousy, and its curious shape shows the eagerness with which the man is watching its object. the remarkable resemblance to the snake with raised head aptly symbolises the extraordinarily fatuous attitude of the jealous person, keenly alert to discover signs of that which he least of all wishes to see. the moment that he does see it, or imagines that he sees it, the form will change into the far commoner one shown in fig. , where the jealousy is already mingled with anger. it may be noted that here the jealousy is merely a vague cloud, though interspersed with very definite flashes of anger ready to strike at those by whom it fancies itself to be injured; whereas in fig. , where there is no anger as yet, the jealousy itself has a perfectly definite and very expressive outline. [illustration: fig. . watchful jealousy] [illustration: fig. . angry jealousy] sympathy _vague sympathy._--in fig. a we have another of the vague clouds, but this time its green colour shows us that it is a manifestation of the feeling of sympathy. we may infer from the indistinct character of its outline that it is not a definite and active sympathy, such as would instantly translate itself from thought into deed; it marks rather such a general feeling of commiseration as might come over a man who read an account of a sad accident, or stood at the door of a hospital ward looking in upon the patients. [illustration: fig. a. vague sympathy] fear _sudden fright._--one of the most pitiful objects in nature is a man or an animal in a condition of abject fear; and an examination of plate xiv. in _man visible and invisible_ shows that under such circumstances the astral body presents no better appearance than the physical. when a man's astral body is thus in a state of frenzied palpitation, its natural tendency is to throw off amorphous explosive fragments, like masses of rock hurled out in blasting, as will be seen in fig. ; but when a person is not terrified but seriously startled, an effect such as that shown in fig. is often produced. in one of the photographs taken by dr baraduc of paris, it was noticed that an eruption of broken circles resulted from sudden annoyance, and this outrush of crescent-shaped forms seems to be of somewhat the same nature, though in this case there are the accompanying lines of matter which even increase the explosive appearance. it is noteworthy that all the crescents to the right hand, which must obviously have been those expelled earliest, show nothing but the livid grey of fear; but a moment later the man is already partially recovering from the shock, and beginning to feel angry that he allowed himself to be startled. this is shown by the fact that the later crescents are lined with scarlet, evidencing the mingling of anger and fear, while the last crescent is pure scarlet, telling us that even already the fright is entirely overcome, and only the annoyance remains. [illustration: fig. . sudden fright] greed _selfish greed._--fig. gives us an example of selfish greed--a far lower type than fig. . it will be noted that here there is nothing even so lofty as ambition, and it is also evident from the tinge of muddy green that the person from whom this unpleasant thought is projecting is quite ready to employ deceit in order to obtain her desire. while the ambition of fig. was general in its nature, the craving expressed in fig. is for a particular object towards which it is reaching out; for it will be understood that this thought-form, like that in fig. , remains attached to the astral body, which must be supposed to be on the left of the picture. claw-like forms of this nature are very frequently to be seen converging upon a woman who wears a new dress or bonnet, or some specially attractive article of jewellery. the thought-form may vary in colour according to the precise amount of envy or jealousy which is mingled with the lust for possession, but an approximation to the shape indicated in our illustration will be found in all cases. not infrequently people gathered in front of a shop-window may be seen thus protruding astral cravings through the glass. [illustration: fig. . selfish greed] _greed for drink._--in fig. we have another variant of the same passion, perhaps at an even more degraded and animal level. this specimen was taken from the astral body of a man just as he entered at the door of a drinking-shop; the expectation of and the keen desire for the liquor which he was about to absorb showed itself in the projection in front of him of this very unpleasant appearance. once more the hooked protrusions show the craving, while the colour and the coarse mottled texture show the low and sensual nature of the appetite. sexual desires frequently show themselves in an exactly similar manner. men who give birth to forms such as this are as yet but little removed from the animal; as they rise in the scale of evolution the place of this form will gradually be taken by something resembling that shown in fig. , and very slowly, as development advances, that in turn will pass through the stages indicated in figs. and , until at last all selfishness is cast out, and the desire to have has been transmuted into the desire to give, and we arrive at the splendid results shown in figs. and . [illustration: fig. . greed for drink] various emotions _at a shipwreck._--very serious is the panic which has occasioned the very interesting group of thought-forms which are depicted in fig. . they were seen simultaneously, arranged exactly as represented, though in the midst of indescribable confusion, so their relative positions have been retained, though in explaining them it will be convenient to take them in reverse order. they were called forth by a terrible accident, and they are instructive as showing how differently people are affected by sudden and serious danger. one form shows nothing but an eruption of the livid grey of fear, rising out of a basis of utter selfishness: and unfortunately there were many such as this. the shattered appearance of the thought-form shows the violence and completeness of the explosion, which in turn indicates that the whole soul of that person was possessed with blind, frantic terror, and that the overpowering sense of personal danger excluded for the time every higher feeling. [illustration: fig. . at a shipwreck] the second form represents at least an attempt at self-control, and shows the attitude adopted by a person having a certain amount of religious feeling. the thinker is seeking solace in prayer, and endeavouring in this way to overcome her fear. this is indicated by the point of greyish-blue which lifts itself hesitatingly upwards; the colour shows, however, that the effort is but partially successful, and we see also from the lower part of the thought-form, with its irregular outline and its falling fragments, that there is in reality almost as much fright here as in the other case. but at least this woman has had presence of mind enough to remember that she ought to pray, and is trying to imagine that she is not afraid as she does it, whereas in the other case there was absolutely no thought beyond selfish terror. the one retains still some semblance of humanity, and some possibility of regaining self-control; the other has for the time cast aside all remnants of decency, and is an abject slave to overwhelming emotion. a very striking contrast to the humiliating weakness shown in these two forms is the splendid strength and decision of the third. here we have no amorphous mass with quivering lines and explosive fragments, but a powerful, clear-cut and definite thought, obviously full of force and resolution. for this is the thought of the officer in charge--the man responsible for the lives and the safety of the passengers, and he rises to the emergency in a most satisfactory manner. it does not even occur to him to feel the least shadow of fear; he has no time for that. though the scarlet of the sharp point of his weapon-like thought-form shows anger that the accident should have happened, the bold curve of orange immediately above it betokens perfect self-confidence and certainty of his power to deal with the difficulty. the brilliant yellow implies that his intellect is already at work upon the problem, while the green which runs side by side with it denotes the sympathy which he feels for those whom he intends to save. a very striking and instructive group of thought-forms. _on the first night._--fig. is also an interesting specimen--perhaps unique--for it represents the thought-form of an actor while waiting to go upon the stage for a "first-night" performance. the broad band of orange in the centre is very clearly defined, and is the expression of a well-founded self-confidence--the realisation of many previous successes, and the reasonable expectation that on this occasion another will be added to the list. yet in spite of this there is a good deal of unavoidable uncertainty as to how this new play may strike the fickle public, and on the whole the doubt and fear overbalance the certainty and pride, for there is more of the pale grey than of the orange, and the whole thought-form vibrates like a flag flapping in a gale of wind. it will be noted that while the outline of the orange is exceedingly clear and definite, that of the grey is much vaguer. [illustration: fig. . on the first night] _the gamblers._--the forms shown in fig. were observed simultaneously at the great gambling-house at monte carlo. both represent some of the worst of human passions, and there is little to choose between them; although they represent the feelings of the successful and the unsuccessful gambler respectively. the lower form has a strong resemblance to a lurid and gleaming eye, though this must be simply a coincidence, for when we analyse it we find that its constituent parts and colours can be accounted for without difficulty. the background of the whole thought is an irregular cloud of deep depression, heavily marked by the dull brown-grey of selfishness and the livid hue of fear. in the centre we find a clearly-marked scarlet ring showing deep anger and resentment at the hostility of fate, and within that is a sharply outlined circle of black expressing the hatred of the ruined man for those who have won his money. the man who can send forth such a thought-form as this is surely in imminent danger, for he has evidently descended into the very depths of despair; being a gambler he can have no principle to sustain him, so that he would be by no means unlikely to resort to the imaginary refuge of suicide, only to find on awakening into astral life that he had changed his condition for the worse instead of for the better, as the suicide always does, since his cowardly action cuts him off from the happiness and peace which usually follow death. [illustration: fig. . the gamblers] the upper form represents a state of mind which is perhaps even more harmful in its effects, for this is the gloating of the successful gambler over his ill-gotten gain. here the outline is perfectly definite, and the man's resolution to persist in his evil course is unmistakable. the broad band of orange in the centre shows very clearly that although when the man loses he may curse the inconstancy of fate, when he wins he attributes his success entirely to his own transcendent genius. probably he has invented some system to which he pins his faith, and of which he is inordinately proud. but it will be noticed that on each side of the orange comes a hard line of selfishness, and we see how this in turn melts into avarice and becomes a mere animal greed of possession, which is also so clearly expressed by the claw-like extremities of the thought-form. _at a street accident._--fig. is instructive as showing the various forms which the same feelings may take in different individuals. these two evidences of emotion were seen simultaneously among the spectators of a street accident--a case in which someone was knocked down and slightly injured by a passing vehicle. the persons who generated these two thought-forms were both animated by affectionate interest in the victim and deep compassion for his suffering, and so their thought-forms exhibited exactly the same colours, although the outlines are absolutely unlike. the one over whom floats that vague sphere of cloud is thinking "poor fellow, how sad!" while he who gives birth to that sharply-defined disc is already rushing forward to see in what way he can be of assistance. the one is a dreamer, though of acute sensibilities; the other is a man of action. [illustration: fig. . at a street accident] _at a funeral._--in fig. we have an exceedingly striking example of the advantage of knowledge, of the fundamental change produced in the man's attitude of mind by a clear understanding of the great laws of nature under which we live. utterly different as they are in every respect of colour and form and meaning, these two thought-forms were seen simultaneously, and they represent two points of view with regard to the same occurrence. they were observed at a funeral, and they exhibit the feelings evoked in the minds of two of the "mourners" by the contemplation of death. the thinkers stood in the same relation to the dead man, but while one of them was still steeped in the dense ignorance with regard to super-physical life which is so painfully common in the present day, the other had the inestimable advantage of the light of theosophy. in the thought of the former we see expressed nothing but profound depression, fear and selfishness. the fact that death has approached so near has evidently evoked in the mind of the mourner the thought that it may one day come to him also, and the anticipation of this is very terrible to him; but since he does not know what it is that he fears, the clouds in which his feeling is manifested are appropriately vague. his only definite sensations are despair and the sense of his personal loss, and these declare themselves in regular bands of brown-grey and leaden grey, while the very curious downward protrusion, which actually descends into the grave and enfolds the coffin, is an expression of strong selfish desire to draw the dead man back into physical life. [illustration: fig. . at a funeral] it is refreshing to turn from this gloomy picture to the wonderfully different effect produced by the very same circumstances upon the mind of the man who comprehends the facts of the case. it will be observed that the two have no single emotion in common; in the former case all was despondency and horror, while in this case we find none but the highest and most beautiful sentiments. at the base of the thought-form we find a full expression of deep sympathy, the lighter green indicating appreciation of the suffering of the mourners and condolence with them, while the band of deeper green shows the attitude of the thinker towards the dead man himself. the deep rose-colour exhibits affection towards both the dead and the living, while the upper part of the cone and the stars which rise from it testify to the feeling aroused within the thinker by the consideration of the subject of death, the blue expressing its devotional aspect, while the violet shows the thought of, and the power to respond to, a noble ideal, and the golden stars denote the spiritual aspirations which its contemplation calls forth. the band of clear yellow which is seen in the centre of this thought-form is very significant, as indicating that the man's whole attitude is based upon and prompted by his intellectual comprehension of the situation, and this is also shown by the regularity of the arrangement of the colours and the definiteness of the lines of demarcation between them. the comparison between the two illustrations shown in this plate is surely a very impressive testimony to the value of the knowledge given by the theosophical teaching. undoubtedly this knowledge of the truth takes away all fear of death, and makes life easier to live because we understand its object and its end, and we realise that death is a perfectly natural incident in its course, a necessary step in our evolution. this ought to be universally known among christian nations, but it is not, and therefore on this point, as on so many others, theosophy has a gospel for the western world. it has to announce that there is no gloomy impenetrable abyss beyond the grave, but instead of that a world of life and light which may be known to us as clearly and fully and accurately as this physical world in which we live now. we have created the gloom and the horror for ourselves, like children who frighten themselves with ghastly stories, and we have only to study the facts of the case, and all these artificial clouds will roll away at once. we have an evil heredity behind us in this matter, for we have inherited all kinds of funereal horrors from our forefathers, and so we are used to them, and we do not see the absurdity and the monstrosity of them. the ancients were in this respect wiser than we, for they did not associate all this phantasmagoria of gloom with the death of the body--partly perhaps because they had a much more rational method of disposing of the body--a method which was not only infinitely better for the dead man and more healthy for the living, but was also free from the gruesome suggestions connected with slow decay. they knew much more about death in those days, and because they knew more they mourned less. _on meeting a friend._--fig. gives us an example of a good, clearly-defined and expressive thought-form, with each colour well marked off from the others. it represents the feeling of a man upon meeting a friend from whom he has been long separated. the convex surface of the crescent is nearest to the thinker, and its two arms stretch out towards the approaching friend as if to embrace him. the rose colour naturally betokens the affection felt, the light green shows the depth of the sympathy which exists, and the clear yellow is a sign of the intellectual pleasure with which the creator of the thought anticipates the revival of delightful reminiscences of days long gone by. [illustration: fig. . on meeting a friend] _the appreciation of a picture._--in fig. we have a somewhat complex thought-form representing the delighted appreciation of a beautiful picture upon a religious subject. the strong pure yellow marks the beholder's enthusiastic recognition of the technical skill of the artist, while all the other colours are expressions of the various emotions evoked within him by the examination of so glorious a work of art. green shows his sympathy with the central figure in the picture, deep devotion appears not only in the broad band of blue, but also in the outline of the entire figure, while the violet tells us that the picture has raised the man's thought to the contemplation of a lofty ideal, and has made him, at least for the time, capable of responding to it. we have here the first specimen of an interesting class of thought-forms of which we shall find abundant examples later--that in which light of one colour shines out through a network of lines of some quite different hue. it will be noted that in this case from the mass of violet there rise many wavy lines which flow like rivulets over a golden plain; and this makes it clear that the loftiest aspiration is by no means vague, but is thoroughly supported by an intellectual grasp of the situation and a clear comprehension of the method by which it can be put into effect. [illustration: fig. . the appreciation of a picture] forms seen in those meditating _sympathy and love for all._--hitherto we have been dealing chiefly with forms which are the expression of emotion, or of such thought as is aroused within the mind by external circumstances. we have now to consider some of those caused by thoughts which arise from within--forms generated during meditation--each being the effect produced by a conscious effort on the part of the thinker to form a certain conception, or to put himself into a certain attitude. naturally such thoughts are definite, for the man who trains himself in this way learns how to think with clearness and precision, and the development of his power in this direction shows itself in the beauty and regularity of the shapes produced. in this case we have the result of an endeavour on the part of the thinker to put himself into an attitude of sympathy and love towards all mankind, and thus we have a series of graceful lines of the luminous green of sympathy with the strong roseate glow of affection shining out between them (fig. ). the lines are still sufficiently broad and wide apart to be easily drawn; but in some of the higher examples of thought-forms of this type the lines are so fine and so close that no human hand can represent them as they really are. the outline of this thought-form is that of a leaf, yet its shape and the curve of its lines are more suggestive of a certain kind of shell, so that this is another example of the approximation to forms seen in physical nature which we noted in commenting upon fig. . [illustration: fig. . sympathy and love for all] _an aspiration to enfold all._--in fig. we have a far more developed example of the same type. this form was generated by one who was trying, while sitting in meditation, to fill his mind with an aspiration to enfold all mankind in order to draw them upward towards the high ideal which shone so clearly before his eyes. therefore it is that the form which he produces seems to rush out from him, to curve round upon itself, and to return to its base; therefore it is that the marvellously fine lines are drawn in lovely luminous violet, and that from within the form there shines out a glorious golden light which it is unfortunately quite impossible to reproduce. for the truth is that all these apparently intricate lines are in reality only one line circling round the form again and again with unwearied patience and wonderful accuracy. it is scarcely possible that any human hand could make such a drawing as this on this scale, and in any case the effect of its colours could not be shown, for it will be seen by experiment that if an attempt be made to draw fine violet lines close together upon a yellow background a grey effect at once appears, and all likeness to the original is destroyed. but what cannot be done by hand may sometimes be achieved by the superior accuracy and delicacy of a machine, and it is in this way that the drawing was made from which our illustration is reproduced,--with some attempt to represent the colour effect as well as the wonderful delicacy of the lines and curves. [illustration: fig. . an aspiration to enfold all] _in the six directions._--the form represented in fig. is the result of another endeavour to extend love and sympathy in all directions--an effort almost precisely similar to that which gave birth to fig. , though the effect seems so different. the reasons for this variety and for the curious shape taken in this case constitute a very interesting illustration of the way in which thought-forms grow. it will be seen that in this instance the thinker displays considerable devotional feeling, and has also made an intellectual effort to grasp the conditions necessary for the realisation of his wishes, and the blue and yellow colours remain as evidence of this. originally this thought-form was circular, and the dominant idea evidently was that the green of sympathy should be upon the outside, facing in all directions, as it were, and that love should lie at the centre and heart of the thought and direct its outgoing energies. but the maker of this thought-form had been reading hindu books, and his modes of thought had been greatly influenced by them. students of oriental literature will be aware that the hindu speaks, not of four directions (north, east, south, and west), as we do, but always of six, since he very sensibly includes the zenith and the nadir. our friend was imbued from his reading with the idea that he should pour forth his love and sympathy "in the six directions"; but since he did not accurately understand what the six directions are, he directed his stream of affection towards six equidistant points in his circle. the outrushing streams altered the shape of the outlying lines which he had already built up, and so instead of having a circle as a section of his thought-form, we have this curious hexagon with its inward-curving sides. we see thus how faithfully every thought-form records the exact process of its upbuilding, registering ineffaceably even the errors of its construction. [illustration: fig. . in the six directions] _an intellectual conception of cosmic order._--in fig. we have the effect of an attempt to attain an intellectual conception of cosmic order. the thinker was obviously a theosophist, and it will be seen that when he endeavours to think of the action of spirit upon matter he instinctively follows the same line of symbolism as that depicted in the well-known seal of the society. here we have an upward-pointing triangle, signifying the threefold aspect of the spirit, interlaced with the downward-pointing triangle, which indicates matter with its three inherent qualities. usually we represent the upward triangle in white or gold, and the downward-pointing one in some darker hue such as blue or black, but it is noteworthy that in this case the thinker is so entirely occupied with the intellectual endeavour, that no colour but yellow is exhibited within the form. there is no room as yet for emotions of devotion, of wonder, or of admiration; the idea which he wishes to realise fills his mind entirely, to the exclusion of all else. still the definiteness of the outline as it stands out against its background of rays shows that he has achieved a high measure of success. [illustration: fig. . an intellectual conception of cosmic order] _the logos as manifested in man._--we are now coming to a series of thoughts which are among the very highest the human mind can form, when in meditation upon the divine source of its being. when the man in reverent contemplation tries to raise his thought towards the logos of our solar system, he naturally makes no attempt to image to himself that august being; nor does he think of him as in any way possessing such form as we can comprehend. nevertheless such thoughts build forms for themselves in the matter of the mental plane; and it will be of interest for us to examine those forms. in our illustration in fig. we have a thought of the logos as manifested in man, with the devotional aspiration that he may thus be manifested through the thinker. it is this devotional feeling which gives the pale blue tinge to the five-pointed star, and its shape is significant, since it has been employed for many ages as a symbol of god manifest in man. the thinker may perhaps have been a freemason, and his knowledge of the symbolism employed by that body may have had its share in the shaping of the star. it will be seen that the star is surrounded by bright yellow rays shining out amidst a cloud of glory, which denotes not only the reverential understanding of the surpassing glory of the deity, but also a distinct intellectual effort in addition to the outpouring of devotion. [illustration: fig. . the logos as manifested in man] _the logos pervading all._--our next three figures are devoted to the effort to represent a thought of a very high type--an endeavour to think of the logos as pervading all nature. here again, as in fig. , it is impossible to give a full reproduction, and we must call upon our readers for an effort of the imagination which shall to some extent supplement the deficiencies of the arts of drawing and printing. the golden ball depicted in fig. must be thought of as inside the other ball of delicate lines (blue in colour) which is drawn in fig. . any effort to place the colours in such intimate juxtaposition on the physical plane results simply in producing a green blur, so that the whole character of the thought-form is lost. it is only by means of the machine before mentioned that it is at all possible to represent the grace and the delicacy of the lines. as before, a single line produces all the wonderful tracery of fig. , and the effect of the four radiating lines making a sort of cross of light is merely due to the fact that the curves are not really concentric, although at first sight they appear to be so. [illustration: fig. . the logos pervading all] [illustration: fig. . the logos pervading all] _another conception._--fig. exhibits the form produced by another person when trying to hold exactly the same thought. here also we have an amazing complexity of almost inconceivably delicate blue lines, and here also our imagination must be called upon to insert the golden globe from fig. , so that its glory may shine through at every point. here also, as in fig. , we have that curious and beautiful pattern, resembling somewhat the damascening on ancient oriental swords, or that which is seen upon watered silk or _moire antique_. when this form is drawn by the pendulum, the pattern is not in any way intentionally produced, but simply comes as a consequence of the crossing of the innumerable microscopically fine lines. it is evident that the thinker who created the form upon fig. must have held in his mind most prominently the unity of the logos, while he who generated the form in fig. has as clearly in mind the subordinate centres through which the divine life pours forth, and many of these subordinate centres have accordingly represented themselves in the thought-form. [illustration: fig. . another conception] _the threefold manifestation._--when the form employed in fig. was made, its creator was endeavouring to think of the logos in his threefold manifestation. the vacant space in the centre of the form was a blinding glow of yellow light, and this clearly typified the first aspect, while the second was symbolised by the broad ring of closely-knitted and almost bewildering lines which surround this centre, while the third aspect is suggested by the narrow outer ring which seems more loosely woven. the whole figure is pervaded by the usual golden light gleaming out between the lines of violet. [illustration: fig. . the threefold manifestation] _the sevenfold manifestation._--in all religions there remains some tradition of the great truth that the logos manifests himself through seven mighty channels, often regarded as minor logoi or great planetary spirits. in the christian scheme they appear as the seven great archangels, sometimes called the seven spirits before the throne of god. the figure numbered shows the result of the effort to meditate upon this method of divine manifestation. we have the golden glow in the centre, and also (though with lesser splendour) pervading the form. the line is blue, and it draws a succession of seven graceful and almost featherlike double wings which surround the central glory and are clearly intended as a part of it. as the thought strengthens and expands, these beautiful wings change their colour to violet and become like the petals of a flower, and overlap one another in an intricate but exceedingly effective pattern. this gives us a very interesting glimpse into the formation and growth of these shapes in higher matter. [illustration: fig. . the sevenfold manifestation] _intellectual aspiration._--the form depicted in fig. bears a certain resemblance to that in fig. ; but, beautiful as that was, this is in reality a far higher and grander thought, and implies much more advanced development on the part of the thinker. here we have a great clear-cut spear or pencil of the pure pale violet which indicates devotion to the highest ideal, and it is outlined and strengthened by an exceedingly fine manifestation of the noblest development of intellect. he who can think thus must already have entered upon the path of holiness, for he has learnt how to use the power of thought to very mighty effect. it will be noted that in both the colours there is a strong admixture of the white light which always indicates unusual spiritual power. [illustration: fig. . intellectual aspiration] surely the study of these thought-forms should be a most impressive object-lesson, since from it we may see both what to avoid and what to cultivate, and may learn by degrees to appreciate how tremendous is our responsibility for the exercise of this mighty power. indeed it is terribly true, as we said in the beginning, that thoughts are things, and puissant things; and it behoves us to remember that every one of us is generating them unceasingly night and day. see how great is the happiness this knowledge brings to us, and how gloriously we can utilise it when we know of some one in sorrow or in suffering. often circumstances arise which prevent us from giving physical help either by word or deed, however much we may desire to do so; but there is no case in which help by thought may not be given, and no case in which it can fail to produce a definite result. it may often happen that at the moment our friend may be too entirely occupied with his own suffering, or perhaps too much excited, to receive and accept any suggestion from without, but presently a time comes when our thought-form can penetrate and discharge itself, and then assuredly our sympathy will produce its due result. it is indeed true that the responsibility of using such a power is great, yet we should not shrink from our duty on that account. it is sadly true that there are many men who are unconsciously using their thought-power chiefly for evil, yet this only makes it all the more necessary that those of us who are beginning to understand life a little should use it consciously, and use it for good. we have at our command a never-failing criterion; we can never misuse this mighty power of thought if we employ it always in unison with the great divine scheme of evolution, and for the uplifting of our fellow-man. helpful thoughts the figures numbered to were the results of a systematic attempt to send helpful thought by the friend who has furnished us with the sketches. a definite time was given each day at a fixed hour. the forms were in some cases seen by the transmitter, but in all cases were perceived by the recipient, who immediately sent rough sketches of what was seen by the next post to the transmitter, who has kindly supplied the following notes with regard to them:-- "in the coloured drawings appended the blue features appear to have represented the more devotional element of the thought. the yellow forms accompanied the endeavour to communicate intellectual fortitude, or mental strength and courage. the rosy pink appeared when the thought was blended with affectionate sympathy. if the sender (a.) could formulate his thought deliberately at the appointed time, the receiver (b.) would report seeing a large clear form as in figs. , , and . the latter persisted for some minutes, constantly streaming its luminous yellow 'message' upon b. if, however, a. was of necessity experimenting under difficulty--say walking out of doors--he would occasionally see his 'forms' broken up into smaller globes, or shapes, such as , , , and b. would report their receipt so broken up. in this way many details could be checked and compared as from opposite ends of the line, and the nature of the influence communicated offered another means of verification. upon one occasion a. was disturbed in his endeavour to send a thought of the blue-pink connotation, by a feeling of anxiety that the nature of the pink element should not be misapprehended. the report of b. was that a well-defined globe as in fig. was first seen, but that this suddenly disappeared, being replaced by a moving procession of little light-green triangles, as in fig. . these few drawings give but a slight idea of the varied flower-like and geometric forms seen, while neither paint nor crayon-work seems capable of representing the glowing beauty of their living colours." [illustration: fig. . helpful thoughts] [illustration: fig. . helpful thoughts] [illustration: fig. . helpful thoughts] [illustration: fig. . helpful thoughts] [illustration: fig. . helpful thoughts] [illustration: fig. . helpful thoughts] [illustration: fig. . helpful thoughts] forms built by music before closing this little treatise it will perhaps be of interest to our readers to give a few examples of another type of forms unknown to those who are confined to the physical senses as their means of obtaining information. many people are aware that sound is always associated with colour--that when, for example, a musical note is sounded, a flash of colour corresponding to it may be seen by those whose finer senses are already to some extent developed. it seems not to be so generally known that sound produces form as well as colour, and that every piece of music leaves behind it an impression of this nature, which persists for some considerable time, and is clearly visible and intelligible to those who have eyes to see. such a shape is perhaps not technically a thought-form--unless indeed we take it, as we well may, as the result of the thought of the composer expressed by means of the skill of the musician through his instrument. some such forms are very striking and impressive, and naturally their variety is infinite. each class of music has its own type of form, and the style of the composer shows as clearly in the form which his music builds as a man's character shows in his handwriting. other possibilities of variation are introduced by the kind of instrument upon which the music is performed, and also by the merits of the player. the same piece of music if accurately played will always build the same form, but that form will be enormously larger when it is played upon a church organ or by a military band than when it is performed upon a piano, and not only the size but also the texture of the resultant form will be very different. there will also be a similar difference in texture between the result of a piece of music played upon a violin and the same piece executed upon the flute. again, the excellence of the performance has its effect, and there is a wonderful difference between the radiant beauty of the form produced by the work of a true artist, perfect alike in expression and execution, and the comparatively dull and undistinguished-looking one which represents the effort of the wooden and mechanical player. anything like inaccuracy in rendering naturally leaves a corresponding defect in the form, so that the exact character of the performance shows itself just as clearly to the clairvoyant spectator as it does to the auditor. it is obvious that, if time and capacity permitted, hundreds of volumes might be filled with drawings of the forms built by different pieces of music under different conditions, so that the most that can be done within any reasonable compass is to give a few examples of the leading types. it has been decided for the purposes of this book to limit these to three, to take types of music presenting readily recognisable contrasts, and for the sake of simplicity in comparison to present them all as they appeared when played upon the same instrument--a very fine church organ. in each of our plates the church shows as well as the thought-form which towers far into the air above it; and it should be remembered that though the drawings are on very different scales the church is the same in all three cases, and consequently the relative size of the sound-form can easily be calculated. the actual height of the tower of the church is just under a hundred feet, so it will be seen that the sound-form produced by a powerful organ is enormous in size. such forms remain as coherent erections for some considerable time--an hour or two at least; and during all that time they are radiating forth their characteristic vibrations in every direction, just as our thought-forms do; and if the music be good, the effect of those vibrations cannot but be uplifting to every man upon whose vehicles they play. thus the community owes a very real debt of gratitude to the musician who pours forth such helpful influences, for he may affect for good hundreds whom he never saw and will never know upon the physical plane. _mendelssohn._--the first of such forms, a comparatively small and simple one, is drawn for us in plate m. it will be seen that we have here a shape roughly representing that of a balloon, having a scalloped outline consisting of a double violet line. within that there is an arrangement of variously-coloured lines moving almost parallel with this outline; and then another somewhat similar arrangement which seems to cross and interpenetrate the first. both of these sets of lines evidently start from the organ within the church, and consequently pass upward through its roof in their course, physical matter being clearly no obstacle to their formation. in the hollow centre of the form float a number of small crescents arranged apparently in four vertical lines. [illustration: plate m. music of mendelssohn] let us endeavour now to give some clue to the meaning of all this, which may well seem so bewildering to the novice, and to explain in some measure how it comes into existence. it must be recollected that this is a melody of simple character played once through, and that consequently we can analyse the form in a way that would be quite impossible with a larger and more complicated specimen. yet even in this case we cannot give all the details, as will presently be seen. disregarding for the moment the scalloped border, we have next within it an arrangement of four lines of different colours running in the same direction, the outermost being blue and the others crimson, yellow, and green respectively. these lines are exceedingly irregular and crooked; in fact, they each consist of a number of short lines at various levels joined together perpendicularly. it seems that each of these short lines represents a note of music, and that the irregularity of their arrangement indicates the succession of these notes; so that each of these crooked lines signifies the movement of one of the parts of the melody, the four moving approximately together denoting the treble, alto, tenor and bass respectively, though they do not necessarily appear in that order in this astral form. here it is necessary to interpolate a still further explanation. even with a melody so comparatively simple as this there are tints and shades far too finely modulated to be reproduced on any scale at all within our reach; therefore it must be said that each of the short lines expressing a note has a colour of its own, so that although as a whole that outer line gives an impression of blueness, and the one next within it of carmine, each yet varies in every inch of its length; so that what is shown is not a correct reproduction of every tint, but only the general impression. the two sets of four lines which seem to cross one another are caused by two sections of the melody; the scalloped edging surrounding the whole is the result of various flourishes and arpeggios, and the floating crescents in the centre represent isolated or staccato chords. naturally the arpeggios are not wholly violet, for each loop has a different hue, but on the whole they approach more nearly to that colour than to any other. the height of this form above the tower of the church is probably a little over a hundred feet; but since it also extends downwards through the roof of the church its total perpendicular diameter may well be about a hundred and fifty feet. it is produced by one of mendelssohn's "lieder ohne wörte," and is characteristic of the delicate filigree-work which so often appears as the result of his compositions. the whole form is seen projected against a coruscating background of many colours, which is in reality a cloud surrounding it upon every side, caused by the vibrations which are pouring out from it in all directions. _gounod._--in plate g we have an entirely different piece--a ringing chorus by gounod. since the church in the illustration is the same, it is easy to calculate that in this case the highest point of the form must rise fully six hundred feet above the tower, though the perpendicular diameter of the form is somewhat less than that, for the organist has evidently finished some minutes ago, and the perfected shape floats high in the air, clearly defined and roughly spherical, though rather an oblate spheroid. this spheroid is hollow, as are all such forms, for it is slowly increasing in size--gradually radiating outward from its centre, but growing proportionately less vivid and more ethereal in appearance as it does so, until at last it loses coherence and fades away much as a wreath of smoke might do. the golden glory surrounding and interpenetrating it indicates as before the radiation of its vibrations, which in this case show the dominant yellow in much greater proportion than did mendelssohn's gentler music. [illustration: plate g. music of gounod] the colouring here is far more brilliant and massive than in plate m, for this music is not so much a thread of murmurous melody as a splendid succession of crashing chords. the artist has sought to give the effect of the chords rather than that of the separate notes, the latter being scarcely possible on a scale so small as this. it is therefore more difficult here to follow the development of the form, for in this much longer piece the lines have crossed and intermingled, until we have little but the gorgeous general effect which the composer must have intended us to feel--and to see, if we were able to see. nevertheless it is possible to discern something of the process which builds the form, and the easiest point at which to commence is the lowest on the left hand as one examines the plate. the large violet protrusion there is evidently the opening chord of a phrase, and if we follow the outer line of the form upward and round the circumference we may obtain some idea of the character of that phrase. a close inspection will reveal two other lines further in which run roughly parallel to this outer one, and show similar successions of colour on a smaller scale, and these may well indicate a softer repetition of the same phrase. careful analysis of this nature will soon convince us that there is a very real order in this seeming chaos, and we shall come to see that if it were possible to make a reproduction of this glowing glory that should be accurate down to the smallest detail, it would also be possible patiently to disentangle it to the uttermost, and to assign every lovely touch of coruscating colour to the very note that called it into existence. it must not be forgotten that very far less detail is given in this illustration than in plate m; for example, each of these points or projections has within it as integral parts, at least the four lines or bands of varying colour which were shown as separate in plate m, but here they are blended into one shade, and only the general effect of the chord is given. in m we combined horizontally, and tried to show, the characteristics of a number of successive notes blended into one, but to keep distinct the effect of the four simultaneous parts by using a differently-coloured line for each. in g we attempt exactly the reverse, for we combine vertically, and blend, not the successive notes of one part, but the chords, each probably containing six or eight notes. the true appearance combines these two effects with an inexpressible wealth of detail. _wagner._--no one who has devoted any study to these musical forms would hesitate in ascribing the marvellous mountain-range depicted in plate w to the genius of richard wagner, for no other composer has yet built sound edifices with such power and decision. in this case we have a vast bell-shaped erection, fully nine hundred feet in height, and but little less in diameter at the bottom, floating in the air above the church out of which it has arisen. it is hollow, like gounod's form, but, unlike that, it is open at the bottom. the resemblance to the successively retreating ramparts of a mountain is almost perfect, and it is heightened by the billowy masses of cloud which roll between the crags and give the effect of perspective. no attempt has been made in this drawing to show the effect of single notes or single chords; each range of mimic rocks represents in size, shape, and colour only the general effect of one of the sections of the piece of music as seen from a distance. but it must be understood that in reality both this and the form given in plate g are as full of minute details as that depicted in plate m, and that all these magnificent masses of colour are built up of many comparatively small bands which would not be separately visible upon the scale on which this is drawn. the broad result is that each mountain-peak has its own brilliant hue, just as it is seen in the illustration--a splendid splash of vivid colour, glowing with the glory of its own living light, spreading its resplendent radiance over all the country round. yet in each of these masses of colour other colours are constantly flickering, as they do over the surface of molten metal, so that the coruscations and scintillations of these wondrous astral edifices are far beyond the power of any physical words to describe. [illustration: plate w. music of wagner] a striking feature in this form is the radical difference between the two types of music which occur in it, one producing the angular rocky masses, and the other the rounded billowy clouds which lie between them. other _motifs_ are shown by the broad bands of blue and rose and green which appear at the base of the bell, and the meandering lines of white and yellow which quiver across them are probably produced by a rippling arpeggio accompaniment. in these three plates only the form created directly by the sound-vibrations has been drawn, though as seen by the clairvoyant it is usually surrounded by many other minor forms, the result of the personal feelings of the performer or of the emotions aroused among the audience by the music. to recapitulate briefly: in plate m we have a small and comparatively simple form pourtrayed in considerable detail, something of the effect of each note being given; in plate g we have a more elaborate form of very different character delineated with less detail, since no attempt is made to render the separate notes, but only to show how each chord expresses itself in form and colour; in plate w we have a still greater and richer form, in the depiction of which all detail is avoided, in order that the full effect of the piece as a whole may be approximately given. naturally every sound makes its impression upon astral and mental matter--not only those ordered successions of sounds which we call music. some day, perhaps, the forms built by those other less euphonious sounds may be pictured for us, though they are beyond the scope of this treatise; meantime, those who feel an interest in them may read an account of them in the little book on _the hidden side of things_.[ ] it is well for us ever to bear in mind that there is a hidden side to life--that each act and word and thought has its consequence in the unseen world which is always so near to us, and that usually these unseen results are of infinitely greater importance than those which are visible to all upon the physical plane. the wise man, knowing this, orders his life accordingly, and takes account of the whole of the world in which he lives, and not of the outer husk of it only. thus he saves himself an infinity of trouble, and makes his life not only happier but far more useful to his fellow-men. but to do this implies knowledge--that knowledge which is power; and in our western world such knowledge is practically obtainable only through the literature of theosophy. to exist is not enough; we desire to live intelligently. but to live we must know, and to know we must study; and here is a vast field open before us, if we will only enter upon it and gather thence the fruits of enlightenment. let us, then, waste no more time in the dark dungeons of ignorance, but come forth boldly into the glorious sunshine of that divine wisdom which in these modern days men call theosophy. [footnote : by c.w. leadbeater.] bradford: reprinted by percy lund, humphries and co. ltd. a critical exposition of the popular "jihÁd." a critical exposition of the popular "jihÁd." showing that all the wars of mohammad were defensive; and that aggressive war, or compulsory conversion, is not allowed in the koran. with appendices proving that the word "jihad" does not exegetically mean 'warfare,' and that slavery is not sanctioned by the prophet of islam. by moulavi gherÁgh ali, _author of_ "reforms under moslem rule," "hyderabad (deccan) under sir salar jung." calcutta: thacker, spink and co. . calcutta: printed by thacker, spink and co. note. i here take the opportunity of removing a wrong idea of the alleged injunction of the prophet against our countrymen the hindús. the hon'ble raja sivá prasad, in his speech at the legislative council, on the th march, , while discussing the ilbert bill, quoted from amir khusro's _tarikh alái_ that, "ala-ud-dín khiliji once sent for a kází, and asked him what was written in the code of mehammadan law regarding the hindús. the kází answered that, the hindús were _zimmis_ (condemned to pay the jízya tax); if asked silver, they ought to pay gold with deep respect and humility; and if the collector of taxes were to fling dirt in their faces, they should gladly open their mouths wide. god's order is to keep them in subjection, and the prophet enjoins on the faithful to kill, plunder and imprison them, to make mussulmáns, or to put them to the sword, to enslave them, and confiscate their property....'" [_vide_ supplement to the _gazette of india_, april , , page .] these alleged injunctions, i need not say here, after what i have stated in various places of this book regarding intolerance, and compulsory conversion, are merely false imputations. there are no such injunctions of the prophet against either _zimmis_, (_i.e._, protected or guaranteed) or the hindús. to the honorable syed ahmed khan bahadur, c.s.i., this book is, without even asking permission. and wholly without his knowledge. dedicated as a slight but sincere testimony of admiration for his long and various services in the cause of islam and in respect of his religious and social reforms in the moslims of india, and of gratitude for much personal kindness and friendship, by the author. [transcriber's note: all errata listed below have been corrected in the e-text. mistakes not listed below have been left as they appeared in the printed book, although missing or misplaced punctuation marks have been corrected.] errata. _page_ _line_ _for_ _read_ v them _omit_ " them it xvii _f.n._ maaddite moaddite xxxiv morra murra " soleim suleim xlii kauuka kainuka xliii _f.n._ mozeima mozeina xlv khusain khushain liv ban bani " ghassianide ghassanide lxxxviii khalips khalifs xci caliphater caliphate kurzibn kurz-ibn god[ ] god: " " desist[ ] desist " persecution persecution[ ] " (fitnah (fitnah[ ]) liberty and liberty, any of " brethern merely brethren, merely " - such a manner such manner " society or society, or " of it materially of it, materially " deserve pity deserve only pity ibu ibn rafi rafe ibu ibn " ibu ibn bil bin as stallions for breeding purposes durar dinar sirni sirin jihad does not mean {read this as a the waging of war marginal gloss " _jahad_ _jahd._ " katal and kital read this as a marginal gloss. " conclusion ditto, ditto. summary of contents. introduction i-civ note cv genealogical table of the arabs cvi-cvii i. the persecutions suffered by the early moslems - ii. the meccans or the koreish - iii. the defensive character of the wars of mohammad - iv. the jews - v. the christians or romans - vi. the intolerance - vii. the ninth chapter of _sura barát_ - viii. the alleged interception of the koreish caravans by the moslems - ix. the alleged assassinations by the command or connivance of mohammad - x. the alleged cruelty in executing the prisoners of war - xi. some miscellaneous objections refuted - xii. the popular jihád or crusade - appendix a. the word jihad in the koran does not mean warfare - appendix b. slavery and concubinage not allowed by the koran - appendix c. koranic references - index - table of contents introduction-- paras. page. . object of the book i . early wrongs of the moslem; justification in taking up arms, if taken ii . commencement of the war; the koreish being public enemy were liable to be treated as such _ib._ . but the moslems could not take up arms to redress their wrongs under certain circumstances iii . moslems otherwise engaged at medina had no intention of suffering the horrors of war by taking the initiative, but were in imminent danger from the enemy iv . the koreish first attacked the moslems at medina. they could not forbear the escape of the moslems v . three battles waged by the koreish against mohammad--badr, ohad, and ahzáb: these wars on the moslem side were purely in defence, not waged even to redress their wrongs or re-establish their rights vii . the battle of badr was defensive on the part of mohammad. reasons for the same viii . mohammad at medina, owing to the attacks, inroads, and threatening gatherings of the koreish and other tribes, had hardly time to think of offensive measures xi . armed opposition of the koreish to the moslem pilgrims from medina in the vicinity of mecca. the truce of hodeibia xv . the koreish again commit hostilities and violate their pledge. war declared against those who had violated the truce. war not carried out xvi . war with foes other than koreish xviii . expedition to tabúk to check the advancing enemy. no war took place xix . number of the wars of mohammad much exaggerated: _ghazava_ defined; number of actual wars xx . the revd. mr. green's remarks on the wars of mohammad criticised xxiii . another view of the wars of mohammad xxviii . caravans if waylaid were waylaid by way of reprisal xxx . intolerance; no compulsory conversion enjoined or took place during mohammad's lifetime: sir w. muir quoted and refuted xxxi . a brief sketch of the propagation of islam at mecca: islam at mecca; islam at abyssinia; conversions at nakhla xxxii . rapid stride of islam at medina xxxvii . the increasing number of moslem converts at mecca after the hegira xxxix . disturbed state of the public peace among the tribes surrounding medina. internicine wars, an obstacle to the propagation of islam xl . sketch of the intertribal wars in arabia during the lifetime of mohammad xli . spread of islam in the surrounding tribes at medina after the hegira i--vi xliii . mecca a barrier against the conversion of the southern tribes xliv . tribal conversions in the sixth year. conversion among several other tribes of the north and north-east in a.h. viii xlv . surrender of mecca, a.h. viii xlvii . mecca not compelled to believe _ib._ . the wholesale conversion of the remaining tribes, a.h. ix and x xlviii . the various deputations in the th and th year of the hegira li . a list of the deputations of conversion received by mohammad at medina during a.h. ix and x li--lviii . all conversions, individual and tribal, were without any compulsion lix . mohammad was not favoured with circumstances round him. the difficulty mohammad encountered in his work. marcus dods quoted: dr. mohseim's causes of the spread of islam and hallam quoted lx--lxv . mohammad's unwavering belief in his own mission and his success show him to be a true prophet. mohammad's efforts established monotheism in arabia. his manly exertions, and his single handed perseverance. the business and office of a prophet described. sir w. muir and stobart quoted lxv--lxix . the reforms of mohammad, his iconoclastic policy. the redemption of arabia from venal debauchery and infatuated superstition. muir, marcus dods, stephens quoted lxix--lxxvii . indictment against mohammad. his alleged cruelty and sensuality. muir, rev. hughes, marcus dods, and stanley poole refuted lxxviii--lxxxvii . objections to the ( ) finality of the social reforms of mohammad, ( ) positive precepts, ( ) ceremonial law, ( ) morality, ( ) want of adaptability to the varying circumstances lxxxvii--lxxxix . all these objections apply rather to the teaching of the mohammadan common law than to the koran xc . ( ) finality of social reforms of mohammad discussed. intermediary not to be considered final xc--xcii . ( ) positive precepts and ( ) ceremonial law, pilgrimage, _kibla_, amount of alms, fasts, forms and attitude of prayer, &c.: pretentious prayers and ostentatious almsgiving xcii--xcvii . ( ) the koran, both abstract and concrete in morals xcvii--cii . ( ) adaptability of the koran to surrounding circumstances cii--ciii . suitability of the koran to all classes of humanity ciii--civ note cv genealogical tables of the tribes mentioned in para. of the introduction cvi--cvii all the wars of mohammad were defensive. _i.--the persecution._ . the early persecution of moslems by the people of mecca . notices of the persecutions in the koran . insults suffered by mohammad . historical summary of the persecutions . the hegira, or the expulsion of the moslems from mecca . the persecution of the moslems by the koreish after their flight from mecca _ii.--the meccans or the koreish._ . a koreish chieftain commits a raid near medina, a.h. _ib._ . the koreish march to attack medina. battle of badr _ib._ . attack by abu sofian upon medina, a.h. . battle of ohad . mohammad's prestige affected by the defeat _ib._ . abu sofian threatened the moslems with another attack next year . the koreish again attack medina with a large army. mohammad defends the city. the enemy retire. a.h. . mohammad with his followers advanced to perform the lesser pilgrimage of mecca. the koreish oppose mohammad, who return disappointed. the treaty of hodeibia . violation of the treaty by the koreish and their submission . two other tribes assume the offensive _ib._ _iii.--the defensive character of the wars._ . verses from the koran in support of the defensive character of the wars . what the above quoted verses show . justification of the moslems in taking up arms against their aggressors . the first aggression after the hegira was not on the part of mohammad . the alleged instances examined . hamza and obeida's expeditions _ib._ . abwa, bowat, and osheira expeditions . the affair at nakhla . at badr mohammad came only in his defence . the first aggression after the hegira if from mohammad, might fairly be looked upon as retaliation _iv.--the jews._ . the jews broke treaties _ib._ . bani kainukaa, bani nazeer, khyber, and ghatafán . notice of them in koran . the judgment of sád . defensive character of the expedition against the jews of khyber _v.--the christians or romans._ . tabúk, the last expedition _ib._ . description of the wars concluded _vi.--the intolerance._ . mohammad never taught intolerance . in what sense the wars were religious wars . the alleged verses of intolerance explained . sir william muir quoted . comment on the above quotation . object of mohammad's wars _vii.--the ninth chapter or sura barát._ . the opening portion of the ix sura of the koran only relates to the koreish who had violated the truce _viii.--the alleged interceptions of the koreish caravans._ . the nine alleged interceptions of the koreish caravans . the interceptions were impossible under the circumstances in which mohammad was placed . the interceptions, if occurred, were justified by way of reprisal _ix.--the alleged assassinations._ . instances of the alleged assassinations cited . mr. stanley poole quoted . asma-bint marwan . the story deserves not our belief . abu afak . kab, son of ashraf . mohammad could never have had any share in kab's murder . sofian bin khalid . justification of sofian's alleged murder . abu rafe . oseir bin zarim . the intended assassination of abu sofian . irving and muir quoted; concluding remarks _x.--the alleged cruelties in executing prisoners of war and others._ . treatment of the prisoners of war _ib._ . law of nations regarding the prisoners of war . the execution of nadher ibn harith . the execution of okba . free liberty granted to ozza, a prisoner of war . abul ozza proved a traitor and was executed _ib._ . the execution of moavia ibn mughira _ib._ . justification of mughira's execution . the intended execution of the prisoners of badr and the wrong version of sir w. muir . mohammad was never blamed in the koran for releasing prisoners . the koran enjoins the prisoners of war to be either freely liberated or ransomed, but neither executed nor enslaved . high treason of the bani koreiza against medina and their execution . the whole of the bani koreiza were never executed _ib._ . the women and children of bani koreiza were never sold . the exaggerated number of persons executed _xi.--some miscellaneous objections refuted._ . the execution of omm kirfa for brigandage . the alleged mutilation of the urnee robbers . amputation or banishment substituted temporarily in place of imprisonment for want of a well organized system of jails . torture of kinana . the alleged execution of a singing girl . the charitable spirit of mohammad towards his enemies . abu basir not countenanced by the prophet in contravention to the spirit of the treaty of hodeibia . nueim not employed by the prophet to circulate false reports in the enemy's camp . deception in war allowed by the international law _ib._ . lecky's standard of morality . the alleged permission to kill the jews . sir w. muir quoted . the expulsion of the bani nazeer _ib._ . their fruit-trees were not cut down . females and the treaty of hodeibia . stanley defended . marriage a strict bond of union _the popular jihád._ . the koran enjoins only defensive wars . the mohammadan common law and the jihád . when is jihád a positive injunction _ib._ . the hedáya quoted and refuted . rule of interpretation . the common law and its commentators . kifáya quoted . further quotations . the _kifáya_ refuted . s. ix, , discussed . s. ii, , discussed _ib._ . s. ii, , and viii, , are defensive . all injunctions were local and for the time being . _ainee_ quoted and refuted _ib._ . _sarakhsee_ quoted and refuted . _ibn hajar_ quoted . _ibn hajar_ refuted . _halabi_ quoted _ib._ . _halabi_ refuted . _ainee_ again quoted and refuted _ib._ . continuation of the above . traditions quoted and refuted _ib._ . early moslem legists against the jihád . biographical sketches of the legists . european writers' mistakes . sir w. muir quoted and refuted . islam not aggressive . mr. freeman quoted and refuted . the revd. mr. stephens quoted and refuted . mr. bosworth smith quoted and refuted . mr. george sale quoted and refuted _ib._ . major osborn quoted . major osborn refuted . the ix sura of the koran _ib._ . the revd. mr. wherry quoted . example cited from jewish history explained . mosaic injunctions . the revd. mr. hughes quoted and refuted . meaning of the word jihád . sura xlviii, , explained . the revd. malcolm maccoll quoted . the untenable theories of the mohammadan common law - appendix a. . jihád or jihd in the koran does not mean war or crusade . classical meaning of jihád, &c. . post-classical or technical meaning of jihád . the classical logic and arabian poets _ib._ . the conjugation and declination of jahd or jihád in the koran . the number of instances in which they occur in the koran . in what sense they are used in the koran . conventional significations of jihád . mohammadan commentators, &c., quoted . when the word jihád was diverted from its original signification to its figurative meaning of waging religious wars . all verses of the koran containing the word jihád and its derivations quoted and explained . the above verses quoted with remarks _the meccan suras._ . _lokman_, xxxi, _ib._ . _furkan_, xxv, , . _the pilgrimage_, xxii, , _ib._ . _the bee_, xvi, , . _the spider_, xxix, . _ibid_, _ib._ . _ibid_, _ib._ . _the bee_, xvi, . _creator_, xxxv, _ib._ _the medinite suras._ . _the cow or heifer_, ii, . _al amran_, iii, _ib._ . _the spoils_, viii, . _ibid._ _ib._ . _ibid._ _ib._ . _the cattle_, vi, _ib._ . _mohammad_, xlvii, . _battle array_, lxi, _ib._ . _woman._ iv. . _light._ xxiv, _ib._ . _the forbidding._ lxvi, _ib._ . _the immunity._ ix, . _the tried_, lx, . hatib's _story_ . _the apartment_, xlix, _ib._ . _the immunity_, ix, _ib._ . _ibid_. _ib._ . _ibid_, . _ibid_, _ib._ . _ibid_, _ib._ . _ibid_, . _ibid_, _ib._ . _ibid_, _ib._ . _ibid_, . _the table_, v, _ib._ . _ibid_, _ib._ . _ibid_, _ib._ . jihád does not mean the waging of war . _katal_ and _kitál_ _ib._ . conclusion _ib._ appendix b. . slavery and concubinage not allowed by the koran . measures taken by the koran to abolish future slavery . none of the prisoners of war was enslaved . _bani koreiza_ not enslaved . _rihana_ . omar, the second khalif, liberated all the arab slaves . concubinage . maria the coptic . despatch of _mokowkas_ & . maria neither a slave nor a concubine . maria had no son . the story of maria and haphsa a spurious one . the affair not noticed in the early biographies . sir w. muir's authority not valid _ib._ . the best commentators and traditionalists refute the story . the story not accredited by the koran _ib._ . the story when fabricated _ib._ . zeinab's case . the story a spurious one . sir w. muir's conjectures not justified . a wrong translation of sir w. muir . in zeinab's case no exceptional privilege was secured . the false story traced to _mukatil_ _ib._ . _katádas_ conjectural interpretation not warranted . other conjectures appendix c. i.--the verses of the koran referring to the persecution of the koreish at mecca ii.--the verses of the koran referring to the aggressions of the koreish at medina as well as those of the inhabitants thereof _ib._ iii.--the verses of the koran alluding to the wars of defence against the koreish and arabs, &c., with several references to their aggressions _ib._ iv.--the verses of the koran alluding to the various battles introduction. [sidenote: object of the book.] . in publishing this work, my chief object is to remove the general and erroneous impression from the minds of european and christian writers regarding islam, that mohammad waged wars of conquest, extirpation, as well as of proselytizing against the koreish, other arab tribes, the jews, and christians;[ ] that he held the koran in one hand and the scimitar in the other, and compelled people to believe in his mission. i have endeavoured in this book, i believe on sufficient grounds, to show that neither the wars of mohammad were offensive, nor did he in any way use force or compulsion in the matter of belief. [footnote : "he now occupied a position where he might become the agent for executing the divine sentence, and at the same time triumphantly impose the true religion on those who had rejected it." the life of mahomet, by sir w. muir, page . london, . (new edition.) "the free toleration of the purer among the creeds around him, which the prophet had at first enjoined, gradually changes into intolerance. persecuted no longer, mohammad becomes a persecutor himself; with the koran in one hand, and scymitar in the other, he goes forth to offer to the nations the three-fold alternative of conversion, tribute, death."--mohammed and mohammedanism, by mr. r. bosworth smith, page . second edition.] [sidenote: early wrongs of the moslems.] [sidenote: justification in taking up arms, if taken.] . all the wars of mohammad were defensive. he and those who took interest in his cause were severely oppressed at intervals, and were in a sort of general persecution at mecca at the hands of the ungodly and fierce koreish. those who were weak and without protection had to leave their city, and twice fly to the christian land of abyssinia, pursued by the wrathful koreish, but in vain. those who remained at mecca were subject to all sorts of indignities, malignity and a deprivation of all religious and social liberty, because they had forsaken the inferior deities of the koreish, and believed in the only one god of mohammad, in whose mission they had full belief. mohammad and his followers had every sanction, under the natural and international law, then and there to wage war against their persecutors with the object of removing the (_fitnah_) persecution and obtaining their civil rights of freedom and religious liberty in their native city. [sidenote: commencement of the state of war.] [sidenote: the koreish being public enemies were liable to be treated as such.] . the fierce persecutions renewed by the koreish at the time of the expulsion of the moslems from mecca were acts of hostility tantamount to a declaration of war. from that time commenced the state of war between the parties. in the arab society at mecca there was neither an organized government, nor any distinction between a public and private person and property. there was no regular army in the state, and what existed was not a permanently organized body, so provided with external marks that it could be readily identified. the form of government at mecca was patriarchal, and the chiefs of the koreish and the citizens of medina themselves constituted an army when occasion arose. therefore, since the commencement of hostilities or the state of war, every individual of the koreish or the meccans was a public enemy of the moslems, and liable to be treated as such in his person and property, except those who were unable to take part in the hostilities, or, as a matter of fact, abstained from engaging in them. therefore it was lawful for the moslems to threaten or to waylay the caravans of the enemy, which passed to and from mecca close to medina, and also to attack the koreish at mecca, if they could possibly do so. [sidenote: but the moslems could not take up arms to redress their wrongs under certain circumstances.] . but as the people amongst whom the prophet and his fugitive moslems now sojourned had only pledged to defend them at medina, the flying mohammadans could not take up arms against their aggressors, the koreish, to defend their rights of religious liberty and citizenship, much less of taking arms to compel the non-believers to believe in moslem faith, and so they preferred to live in peace at medina, and enjoy the blessings of their new religion without any disturbance from without, if possible. [sidenote: moslems otherwise engaged at medina had no intention of suffering the horrors of war by taking the initiative.] [sidenote: but were in imminent danger from the enemy.] . in fact, the moslems, after suffering so long such heavy persecutions at mecca, had at length got an asylum of peace at medina, where they had very little desire left to entertain any idea of commencing hostilities or undergoing once more the horrors of war, and were too glad to live in peace after their last escape. the people of medina had only agreed to defend the prophet from attack, not to join him in any aggressive steps towards the koreish. the attention of mohammad and his followers who had fled with him was mainly occupied in preaching and teaching the tenets of islam, in establishing a fraternity between the refugees and the citizens, in building a house for prayer, in providing houses for refugees, in contracting treaties of neutrality with the jews of medina and other surrounding tribes, bani zamra (a tribe connected with mecca) and also with bani mudlij (a tribe of kinana related to the koreish), in anticipation of the impending danger[ ] from the koreish, who had pursued them on the similar occasions before, and in organizing, above all these, some of the religious and civil institutions for the moslems, who were now fast assuming the position of an independent society or commonwealth. under such circumstances, it was next to impossible for mohammad or his adherents to think of anything like an offensive war with their inveterate foes, or to take up arms for proselytizing purposes. [footnote : see sura xxiv, verse .] [sidenote: the koreish first attacked the moslems at medina. they could not forbear the escape of the moslems.] . the koreish, seeing the persecuted had left almost all their native lands for a distant city out of their approach, except by a military expedition, and losing mohammad, for whose arrest they had tried their utmost, as well as upon hearing the reception, treatment, religious freedom and brotherly help the moslems received and enjoyed at medina, could not subdue their ferocious animosity against the exiles. the hostility of the koreish had already been aroused. the severity and injustice of the koreish was so great, that when, in a.d., a party of moslems had emigrated to abyssinia, they had pursued them to overtake them. and again, in a.d., when the persecution by the koreish was hotter than before, a party of about moslems had fled from mecca to abyssinia, the koreish sent an embassy to abyssinia to obtain the surrender of the emigrants. there is every reason to believe that the koreish, enraged as they were on the escape of the moslems in their third and great emigration in a.d., would naturally have taken every strong and hostile measure to persecute the fugitives.[ ] it was in the second year from the general expulsion of the moslems from mecca that the koreish, with a large army of one thousand strong, marched upon the moslems at medina. medina being miles or stages from mecca, the aggressive army, after marching stages, arrived at badr, which is or stages from medina. mahommad--with only moslems, more being from among the people of medina than the refugees--came out of medina in self-defence to encounter the koreish, and the famous battle of badr was fought only at thirty miles from medina. there could be no doubt that the affair was purely and admittedly a defensive one. sura xxii, verses - , copied at page of this book, was first published in the matter of taking up arms in self-defence after the battle of badr. [footnote : the idea of forbearance on the part of the koreish, as entertained by sir w. muir, is not borne out by their former conduct of persecuting the believers and pursuing the fugitives among them. he says: "mahomet and abu bakr trusted their respective clans to protect their families from insult. but no insult or annoyance of any kind was offered by the coreish. nor was the slightest attempt made to detain them; although it was not unreasonable that they should have been detained as hostages against any hostile incursion from medina"[a]. they were contemplating a grand pursuit and attack on the moslems, and had no reason to detain the families of mahomet and abu bakr as hostages whilst they could not think that the moslems will take the initiative, as they were too glad to escape and live unmolested.] [footnote a: muir's life of mahomet, vol ii, page .] [sidenote: the three battles waged by the koreish against mohammad.] . the koreish carried on three aggressive battles against the moslems at medina. the first, called the battle of badr, took place at thirty miles from medina, the koreish having come down miles from mecca. the second, called the battle of ohad, was fought at a distance of one mile from medina, the enemy having advanced miles from mecca. the third was the battle of confederates, in which they had mustered an army of ten thousand strong. the city was besieged for several days, and the moslems defended themselves within the walls of medina which they had entrenched. these were the only battles between the koreish and mohammad, in each the latter always acted on the defensive. neither he attacked the koreish offensively to take revenge, nor to compel them by force of arms to accept his religion. [sidenote: these wars were purely in defence, not to redress their wrongs or to establish their rights.] even these three battles were not waged by mohammad to redress wrong or establish imperilled rights. they were only to repel force by right of self-defence. had mohammad and his moslems invaded mecca and fought battles against the koreish there, he would have been justified for waging war to redress the injuries of person and property inflicted by the meccans on the moslems whom they were tormenting for their religion and had expelled them from their homes, and had even barred their yearly visitation to the shrine of kaába. a war which is undertaken for just causes, to repel or avert wrongful force, or to establish a right, is sanctioned by every law, religious, moral or political. [sidenote: the battle of badr was defensive.] . sir w. muir, the great advocate for the aggressive koreish, holds that the war of badr was "brought on by mahomet himself,"[ ] and that he intended to surprise the caravan of the koreish returning from syria under the charge of abu sofian, and had come out to medina to waylay it. abu sofian sent for an army of the koreish for his aid, and thus commenced the battle of badr. i have given my reasons at pages - of the book to show that this is a false account. i will point out from contemporary records, _i.e._, the koran, that mohammad neither meant, nor had he come out of medina, to attack the caravan. [sidenote: reasons for the same.] i. the verses and of sura viii[ ] show that a part of the believers were quite averse to mohammad's coming out of medina on the occasion of the battle of badr. had their mission been one of plundering rich caravans, as it is generally alleged, there could be no reason for that aversion of a party of believers who are accused so often of a hostile attitude towards the koreish, and possessed of that great love of booty and adventure so prominent among the arabs. the fact is, a party of believers had disputed with mohammad the necessity of the combat and its probable result outside medina. they preferred to defend themselves within its walls. this argument is against the allegation that mohammad with his followers had started to waylay the caravan, and the koreish had come only to rescue it. ii. the rd[ ] verse of the same sura shows that it was by a mere accident or coincidence that all the three parties of the moslems, the koreshite army and the caravan had arrived, and encamped close to badr in front of each other. this is an argument against those who say that mohammad had intentionally come to badr to waylay the caravan there.[ ] there was, in fact, no predetermination on the part of mohammad either to waylay the caravan, or encounter the koreish army at badr. mohammad with his followers had come out only to check the advancing enemy in his self-defence. iii. the seventh[ ] verse of the same sura shows that while the parties had so accidentally encamped close to each other, the moslems had desired then and there only to attack the caravan, as a reprisal or by way of retaliation, instead of combating with the koreish army. this is an argument in support of my contention that there was no previous arrangement to attack the caravan. iv. the same verse also shows that mohammad had no intention of attacking the caravan either before his coming out of medina, as it is alleged by ignorant people, or after coming at badr in front of the enemy's army. v. sura viii, verse ,[ ] which treats of the prisoners of the war taken at badr, expressly notes the treachery of the meccans before their being taken prisoner, and refers obviously to their aggressively setting out of mecca to attack the moslems at medina. vi. sura ix, verse ,[ ] at a subsequent event of the violation of the truce of hodeibia by the koreish, very distinctly charges them with attacking first and waging offensive war and being aggressive. as there was no war or attack from the koreish on the moslems before badr, i conclude that in the war of badr the koreish were aggressive. [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iii, page , _foot-note_. this note has been expunged in the new edition of "the life": _vide_ page .] [footnote : . "_remember_ how thy lord caused thee to go forth from thy home on _a mission_ of truth, and verily a part of the believers were quite averse to it." . "they disputed with thee about the truth after it had been made clear, as if they were being led forth to death and saw it before them." sura viii.] [footnote : . "when ye were encamped on the near side of the valley, and they were on the further side, and the caravan was below you, if ye have made an engagement to _attack_, ye would assuredly have failed the engagement; but _ye were led into action notwithstanding_, that god might accomplish the thing _destined_ to be done." sura viii.] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet. new edition, page .] [footnote : "and _remember_ when god promised you that one of the two troops should fall to you, and ye desired that they who had no arms should fall to you: but god purposed to prove true the truth of his words, and to cut off the uttermost part of the infidels."] [footnote : "but if they seek to deal treacherously with thee--they have already dealt treacherously with god before! therefore hath he given you power over them."] [footnote : "will ye not do battle with a people who have broken their covenant and aimed to expel your apostle and attacked you first? will you dread them?"] [sidenote: mohammad, owing to the attacks, inroads and threatening gatherings from the koreish and other arab tribes, had hardly time to think of offensive measures.] . but mohammad, harassed and attacked every year by the koreish and other hostile arab tribes, had hardly any time to wage an aggressive war against his koreshite foes, to establish his imperilled rights, or to redress the injuries of the moslems or his own wrong; much less of taking up arms to compel them to renounce idolatry and believe in his divine mission. during the first year after their expulsion from mecca, the moslems were in constant danger from the ferocity of the koreish, and when mohammad was contracting treaties of neutrality with the neighbouring tribes, kurz-bin-jábir, a koreish of the desert, committed a raid upon medina. in the course of the second year the koreish fought the battle of badr, followed by a petty inroad of theirs upon medina at the end of the year. the bani nazeer treasoned against medina by giving intelligence to, and entertaining, the enemy. in the beginning of the third year, the nomad tribes of suleim and ghatafán, inhabitants of the plains of najd, and descendants of a stock common with the koreish, twice projected a plundering attack upon medina. at the same time the moslems were defeated at the battle of ohad, near medina, by the koreish, which circumstance greatly affected the prestige of the prophet, who was threatened with a similar fate the next year by his victorious enemies. with the opening of the fourth year, the inimical spirit of many of the bedouins, as well as that of the jews of bani nazeer, was perceptible, and in various quarters large masses were organized to act against mohammad and to take advantage of the defeat at medina. the tribes of bani asad and bani lahyán were brought together to follow the victory of the koreish at ohad. and last, not least, the moslem missionaries were cut to pieces at ráji and bir máuna. at the close of the year, the people of medina were alarmed by an exaggerated account of the preparations at mecca to attack medina as promised last year (sura iii, v. ). during the fifth year certain tribes of ghatafán were assembling with suspicious purposes at zat-al-rikaa and the marauding bands near dumatal jandal threatened a raid upon medina. the bani mustalik, a branch of khozaa, hitherto friendly to mohammad's cause, took up arms with a view of joining the koreish in the intended attack upon medina. at the end of the year, the koreish, joined by an immense force of the bedouin tribes,[ ] marched against medina, and laid siege to it for many days. the bani koreiza, having defected from mohammad, joined the koreish army when medina was besieged. in the beginning of the sixth year uyeina, the chief of the bani fezárá, had committed an inroad upon medina.[ ] a medinite caravan, under the charge of zeid-bin-háris, was seized and plundered by the bani fezárá.[ ] in the month of zul-kada, (the eleventh month of the arab lunar year), when war was unlawful throughout arabia, but much more so within the sacred precincts of mecca, mohammad and his followers, longing to visit the house of their lord and the sacred places around it, and to join the yearly pilgrimage which they had grown from their childhood to regard as an essential part of their social and religious life, not to mention their intense desire of seeing their houses and families from which they were unjustly expelled, started from medina for performing the lesser pilgrimage. they were under the impression that, in the peaceful habits of pilgrims, the koreish would be morally bound by every pledge of national faith to leave them unmolested, and mohammad had promised them a peaceful entry. but the koreish armed themselves and opposed the progress of the moslems towards mecca, notwithstanding the pious object and unwarlike attitude of the pilgrims. at length a treaty, in terms unfavourable to the moslems, but in fact a victory won by islam, was concluded by mohammad and the koreish at hodeibia. by this peace war was suspended for ten years. from my brief sketch of mohammad's first six years' sojourn in medina, it is evident that during this time medina was constantly in a sort of military defence. the moslems were every moment in the danger of an invasion, attack, or inroad from without, and treachery, conspiracy and treason from within. they either had to encounter superior numbers or to disperse hostile gathering or to chastise sometimes marauding tribes. so mohammad could scarcely breathe freely at medina, but much less could he find time and opportunity to mature a scheme of attacking the koreish at mecca in order to revenge himself and his refugees for the persecutions which the koreish had inflicted on the moslems, to redress their wrongs, and to re-establish their rights of civil and religious liberty, or to make converts of them or any other tribes at the point of sword. [footnote : bani ashja, murra fezárá, suleim, sád, asad, and several clans of ghatafán, the jews of wady-al-koraa and khyber.] [footnote : a party of moslems at zil kassa was slain, and dihya, sent by mohammad to the roman emperor, on his return, was robbed of every thing by the bani juzám beyond wady-al-kora.] [footnote : the jews at khyber were enticing the bani fezárá and bani sad-bin-bakr and other bedouin tribes to make depredations upon medina.] [sidenote: armed opposition of the koreish to the moslem pilgrims in the vicinity of mecca.] [sidenote: mohammad proclaimed war against the opposing koreish to obtain the right of civil and religious liberty at mecca.] . it was only when the moslems, unarmed as they were in pilgrim's garb, were opposed by the armed koreish, who had encamped at zú towa, clothed in panther's skin, or, in other words, with a firm resolution to fight to the last, and when osman, the moslem envoy to mecca, was actually placed in confinement,[ ] of whom the rumour was constantly rife that he was murdered at mecca, and when a party of the koreish had actually attacked the camp of mohammad,[ ] that excitement, alarm and anxiety prevailed in the moslem camp, and mohammad took a solemn oath from the faithful to stand by their cause even unto death. (sura xlviii.[ ]) in the meantime appeals were received from the moslems detained in confinement at mecca, and otherwise oppressed for deliverance. _vide_ sura iv, verses , , ; sura viii, verses , . he, on this occasion, proclaimed a war with the koreish in the event of their attacking first, and enjoining the believers to redress their earlier and later wrongs, to establish their civil and religious liberty, to have free access to their native city, to have the free exercise of their religion, and to make away with the oppressions of koreish once for all. the following verses were published on the occasion:--sura ii, verses - , - . the sura xlviii afterwards had reference to the occasion, specially verses , - . they are quoted in pp. - . [sidenote: the war thus proclaimed did not take place.] but happily a truce was agreed upon, and not a drop of blood was shed on either side. thus the injunctions contained in the verses referred to above were never carried out. mohammad, in proclaiming this war, had all the laws and justice on his side. even this war, had it been waged, would have been defensive, undertaken for the purpose of establishing the civil rights of the moslems and their religious liberty, hitherto unjustly denied them. [footnote : ibn hisham, p. .] [footnote : _ibid._ , see sura xlviii.] [footnote : mohammad had gained over some of the bedouin tribes in the direction of mecca, and were on friendly terms with him. at this time they were summoned by mohammad to join him if there be a war. they did not join him except a very few.] [sidenote: the koreish again commit hostilities and violate their pledges.] [sidenote: war declared against those who had violated the truce.] . this truce did not last long. the last act of hostility on the part of the aggressive koreish was the violation of the truce within two years of its being concluded. this resulted in the submission of mecca. the tribe of bani khozáa,[ ] who were now converts to islam since the truce, and who had entered into an open alliance with mohammad at the treaty, were attacked by the koreish and their allies, the bani bakr.[ ] the aggressed moslems appealed for aid to mohammad through a deputation, that displayed their wrongs to mohammad and his followers in very touching terms, urging in a plaintive tone to avenge them upon the treacherous murderers. war was declared by mohammad against the aggressors, who had violated the truce, and attacked the bani khozáa, to redress their wrongs. a proclamation was issued declaring immunity from god and his apostle to those who had broken the league and aided the bani bakr against the khozáa. four months' time was allowed them to make terms, in default of which they were to be warred against, seized, and besieged, in short, to suffer all the hardships of war. sura ix, verses - , was published declaring the war. it has been copied at pages - of the book. [sidenote: war not carried out.] but the threatened war did not actually take place, and mecca surrendered by a compromise. thus mohammad obtained his object of civil and religious liberty of the moslems at mecca and medina, and averted the (_fitnah_) persecutions and oppressions of the koreish without actual war or bloodshed, and also secured peace for his followers in exchange of the constant fear and agitation impending over them. this was promised some years ago in sura xxiv, verse , which runs as follows:-- "god hath promised to those of you who believe and do the things that are right, that he will cause them to succeed other in the land, as he gave succession to those who went before them, and that he will establish for them their religion in which they delight, and that after their fears he will give them security in exchange. they shall worship me: nought shall they join with me: and whoso after this believe not, they will be the impious." [footnote : the bani khozáa are also taken notice of in sura viii, verses - .] [footnote : the bani bakr, son of abd monát, were a branch of kinána of the moaddite stock.] [sidenote: war with foes other than the koreish.] . now i shall dispense with the koreish and refer to the wars of other enemies of the early moslems. there is only one war of the arab tribes other than the koreish noticed in the koran, and that is the battle of honain. in this war the sakifites were the aggressors. the battle of muraisia is not noticed in the koran, but it is stated by biographers that information of a new project against him after the defeat at ohad in the direction of mecca, and the bani mustalik's raising fresh forces with a view of joining the koreish in the threatened attack of medina having reached mohammad, he resolved by a bold attempt to prevent their design. i have shown in the book that the expedition of mohammad against khyber was purely in self-defence. a war undertaken to protect ourselves from the impending danger of an attack from the enemy and with the purpose of checking its advance, is a defensive war under the law. i am not going to treat of expedition of the bani koreizá separately, but this much is necessary to say here, that they had treacherously defected from the moslem with whom they had entered into a defensive alliance, and had joined the confederate army against the moslems. for a detail account of them, the reader is referred to pages - of this book. [sidenote: expedition to tabúk to check the advancing enemy. no war took place.] . the expedition of mecca, already described, ended in a submission and compromise without any resort to arms; that against tabúk was undertaken, as it is admitted by all writers, moslem and european, for purely defensive purposes. mohammad was much alarmed on this occasion owing to the threatening news of a foreign invasion against the moslem commonwealth. the following verses of the ninth sura are most probably directed towards the romans and their jewish and christian allies,[ ] if not towards the jews of khyber:-- . "make war upon such of those to whom the scriptures have been given as believe not in god or in the last day, and who forbid not that which god and his apostle have forbidden, and who profess not the profession of the truth, until they pay tribute out of hand, and they be humbled." . "believers wage war against such of the unbelievers as are your neighbours, and let them assuredly find rigour in you, and know that god is with those who fear him."--_sura ix._ mohammad returned without any war, and there was no occasion to carry out the injunctions contained in these verses. mohammad had taken great pains, according to the severity of the impending danger, to induce the moslems to go to war in their own defence. but as the season was hot, and the journey a long one, some of them were very backward in doing so. there is a very violent denunciation against those who on various false pretences held back on the occasion. [footnote : the jews of macna azrúh and jabra, and the christian chiefs of ayla and dúma.] [sidenote: number of the wars of mohammad.] . the above sketch of the hostilities will show that there were only five battles in which actual fighting took place. the biographers of mohammad and the narrators of his campaigns are too lax in enumerating the expeditions led by mohammad. they have noted down the names and accounts of various expeditions without having due regard to a rational criticism, or without being bound by the stringent laws of the technical requirements of traditionary evidence. consequently, they give us romances of the expeditions without specifying which of them are true and which fictitious. there are many expeditions enumerated by the biographers[ ] which have, in fact, no trustworthy evidence for their support; some are altogether without foundation, and some of them are wrongly termed as expeditions for warring purposes. _ghazávát_ is wrongly understood by european writers as meaning "plundering expeditions." deputations to conclude friendly treaties, missions to teach islam, embassies to foreign chiefs, mercantile expeditions, pilgrims' processions, parties sent to disperse or chastise a band of robbers, or to watch the movements of an enemy, spies sent to bring information, and forces dispatched or led to fight with or check an enemy are all called "_ghazavát_" (expeditions,) "_saráya_" and "_baús_" (enterprises and despatches). thus the number of mohammad's expeditions has been unduly exaggerated, first by biographers, who noted down every expedition or warlike enterprise reported in the several authentic and unauthentic traditions long after their occurrences, and did not at all trouble their heads by criticising them; and secondly by giving all missions, deputations, embassies, pilgrims' journies, and mercantile enterprises under the category of "_ghazavát_" and "_saráya_," lately construed by european writers as "plundering expeditions," or "a despatch of body of men with hostile intents." the biographers, both arabian and european, have gone so far as to assert that there were expeditions led by mohammad in person, and others headed by persons nominated by himself, making in all . this number is given by ibn sád kátib wákidi (vide _kustaláni_, vol. vi, page ). ibn is-hak also gives the number of mohammad's expeditions to be , while others led at his order are put down at only (vide _ibn hishám_, pp. and ). abú yola has a tradition from jabir, a contemporary of mohammad, who mentions only expeditions. but the best authority, zeid-bin-arqam, in the earliest traditions collected by bokhári, _kitábul maghazi_, in two places in his book, reduces the number to , including all sorts of expeditions and the number in which he was with mohammad. out of these alleged , , and expeditions, there were only [ ] or ,[ ] in which an actual fighting took place. even the latter minimized numbers are not deserving of confidence. the actual expeditions are as follow:-- . badr. . ohad. * muraisi. . ahazáb. * koreiza. . khyber. * mecca. . honain. * táyif. there are no good authorities for the war at muraisi with the bani mustalik. there were no fightings with the koreiza, as their affair was but a continuation of the war of ahzab, and therefore does not require a separate number. at mecca there was no action, and it surrendered by a compromise. as for táyif it was a part of the battle of honain like autás. it was besieged to lay hold of the fugitives who had sought there a shelter, and subsequently the siege was raised. thus, there remain only five expeditions, which i have numbered out of nine, in which mohammad fought against his enemies in his and his followers' defence. even these five scarcely deserve the name of battle. from a military point of view, they were but petty skirmishes in their results. the enemy's loss at badr was , at ohad , at ahzáb , at khyber , and at honain ; but the last two numbers are open to doubt, and seem to be exaggerated. the loss on the moslem side was , , , , and respectively. the whole casualties in these wars on the side of the moslems were , and on that of the enemies , which is exactly double those of the moslems, and looks suspicious; hence it must be accepted with caution. [footnote : the biographers have only compiled or arranged the mass of popular romances and favourite tales of campaigns, which had become stereotyped in their time, but were for the most part the inventions of a playful fantasy.] [footnote : musa-bin-akba (died a.h.)] [footnote : ibn sád and ibn is-hak as already alluded to.] [sidenote: mr. green quoted.] . the rev. samuel green writes:-- "it has been insinuated that mahomet first took up arms in his own defence, and by more than one historian he has been justified in seeking to repel or prevent the hostilities of his enemies, and to exact a reasonable measure of retaliation. 'the choice of an independent people,' says gibbon, 'had exalted the fugitive of mecca to the rank of a sovereign, and he was invested with the just prerogative of forming alliances, and of waging offensive or defensive war.'[ ] that such a sentiment was entertained by a mahometan does not at all surprise us, nor is it marvellous that it should be justified by an infidel; if it be true, war needs nothing to render laudable but the pretext of former injuries and the possession of power. the defence set up for mahomet is equally availing for every sanguinary and revengeful tyrant; and men, instead of being bound together by the ties of clemency and mutual forgiveness of injuries, are transformed into fiends, watching for the opportunity of destroying each other."[ ] there was no pretence of former injuries on the part of the moslems to make war on the koreish. they were actually attacked by the koreish and were several times threatened with inroads by them and their allies. so it was not until they were attacked by the enemy that they took up arms in their own defence, and sought to repel and prevent hostilities of their enemies. the defence set up for mohammad is not equally availing of every sanguinary and revengeful tyrant. it was not only that mohammad was wronged or attacked, but all the moslems suffered injuries and outrages at mecca, and when expelled therefrom, they were attacked upon, were not allowed to return to their homes, and to perform the pilgrimage there. the social and religious liberty, a natural right of every individual and nation, was denied them. a cruel or revengeful tyrant may not be justified in taking up arms in his own defence, or in seeking to redress his personal wrongs and private injuries; but the whole moslem community at mecca was outraged, persecuted and expelled,--and the entire mohammadan commonwealth at medina was attacked, injured and wronged,--their natural rights and privileges were disregarded--after such miseries the moslems took up arms to protect themselves from the hostilities of their enemies and to repel force by force; and were justified by every law and justice. the right of self-defence is a part of the law of nature, and it is the indispensable duty of civil society to protect its members. even if a sanguinary and revengeful tyrant were to do so in his own behalf, he would be quite justified in this particular act. a just war, that is one undertaken for just causes to repel or revert wrongful force, or to establish a right, cannot be impeached on any ground, religious, moral, or political. but the moslems had tried every possible means of obtaining a pacific solution of the difficulty which had arisen between them and their enemies, the koreish and the jews, to avert war and its horrors. mohammad had repeatedly informed the koreish that if they desist they will be forgiven. . "but if they desist, then verily god is gracious, merciful." . "but if they desist, then let there be no hostility, save against wrong-doers."--_sura ii._ . "_o meccans!_ if ye desired a decision, now hath the decision come to you. it will be better for you to give over _the struggle_. if ye return _to it_, we will return; and your forces, though they be many, shall by no means avail you aught, because god is with the faithful." . "say to the infidels: if they desist what is now past shall be forgiven them; but if they turn _to it_, they have already before them the doom of the former."--_sura viii._ and the same was the case regarding the jews. . "many of those who have scripture would like to bring you back to unbelief after you have believed, out of selfish envy, even after the truth hath been shown to them. forgive them then, and shun them till god shall come with his decree. truly god hath power over all things."--_sura ii._ . "but if they lean to peace, lean thou also to it; and put thy trust in god. he verily is the hearing, the knowing."--_sura viii._ . ... "thou wilt not cease to discover the treacherous ones among them, except a few of them. but forgive them and pass it over. verily god loveth those who act generously."--_sura v._ but there could be no peace or mutual agreement on the part of the enemy until the truce of hodeibia, which was also violated by them in a short time. even in the wars which were waged for self-preservation, the prophet had very much mitigated the evils which are necessarily inflicted in the progress of wars. fraud, perfidy, cruelty, killing women, children and aged persons were forbidden by mohammad;[ ] and a kind treatment of the prisoners of war enjoined. but foremost of these all--slavery, and domestication of concubinary slaves, the concomitant evils of war--were abolished by him, ordering at the same time that prisoners of war should be either liberated gratis or ransomed. neither they were to be enslaved nor killed. (_vide_ sura xlvii, verses and ; and appendix b of this work.) attacking offensively was forbidden by the koran (ii, _la taatadú_, _i.e._ 'do not attack first'). mohammad had taken oaths from the moslems to refrain from plundering (_vide_ page of this book). "all hostilities and plundering excursions between neighbouring tribes that had become musalman he forbade on pain of death; and this among those who had hitherto lived by plunder or by war, and who he knew might be deterred by such prohibition from joining him. 'let us make one more expedition against the temim,' said a tribe that was almost, but not altogether, persuaded to embrace the faith, 'and then we will become musalmans.'"[ ] "in avenging my injuries," said he (mohammad), "molest not the harmless votaries of domestic seclusion; spare the weakness of the softer sex, the infant at the breast, and those who in the course of nature are hastening from this scene of mortality. abstain from demolishing the dwellings of the unresisting inhabitants; destroy not their means of subsistence, respect their fruit trees, and touch not the palm, so useful to the syrians for its shade, and delightful for its verdure."[ ] "the bani bakr," writes sir w. muir, "meanwhile, foreseeing from the practice of the prophet that, under the new faith, their mutual enmities would be stifled, resolved upon a last passage of arms with their foes. the battle of _shaitain_ fought at the close of a.d. was a bloody and fatal one to the bani tamím."[ ] [footnote : "decline and fall, chap. ."] [footnote : the life of mahomet, founder of the religion of islamism and of the empire of the saracens, by the rev. samuel green, page : london, .] [footnote : mohammad's instruction to abdal-rahman was--"in no case shalt thou use deceit or perfidy, nor shalt thou kill any child."--muir, vol. iv, p. .] [footnote : 'quoted by dr. cazenove,' "christian remembrancer," january, , page , from caussin de perceval. mohammed & mohammedanism. by r. bosworth smith, second edn., pp. & . london, .] [footnote : an history of mohammedanism; comprising the life and character of the arabian prophet; by charles mills, page . london .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. i, intro., p. ccxxvii. london, .] [sidenote: another view of the wars of mohammad.] . there is another view of the wars of mohammad held by some of the european and american writers that he commenced hostilities on the caravans of the koreish which passed from medina by way of reprisal and retaliation,[ ] and that he at first took up arms in his self-defence, but at last he proclaimed, and waged, offensive wars against the koreish.[ ] i have already shown how improbable the line of action was on the part of mohammad under the circumstances at medina; and this line of policy is quite contrary to the several verses of the koran on the subject, all enjoining the waging of wars in self-defence. but supposing that hostilities were first commenced by mohammad after the hegira, the state of war having commenced at the expulsion of the moslems from mecca, it was lawful for him to take up arms to redress the wrongs of the moslems and to establish their lawful right by force of arms. a war commenced on these grounds is a defensive war, though from a military point of view it may be an offensive one.[ ] "the right of self-defence," writes kent, a great authority on the international law, "is part of the law of our nature, and it is the indispensable duty of civil society to protect its members in the enjoyment of their rights, both of person and property. this is the fundamental principle of the social compact.... the injury may consist, not only in the direct violation of personal or political rights, but in wrongfully withholding what is due, or in the refusal of a reasonable reparation for injuries committed, or of adequate explanation or security in respect to manifest and impending danger."[ ] [footnote : sir w. muir doubts the intense hatred and bitter cruelty attributed by tradition to the koreish, and says: "in accordance with this view is the fact that the first aggressions, after the hegira, were solely on the part of mahomet and his followers. it was not until several of their caravans had been waylaid and plundered and blood had thus been shed that the people of mecca were forced in self-defence to resort to arms." the life of mahomet, vol. ii, page , foot-note. london, . this note disappears in the new edition of . in his work "the coran," page , london, , sir w. muir says: "the caravans of mecca offered a tempting opportunity for reprisals, and several expeditions were organized against them."] [footnote : mr. g. sale writes: "he gave out that god had allowed him and his followers to defend themselves against the infidels; and at length, as his forces increased, he pretended to have the divine leave even to attack them." _the prelim. dis. sect. ._ mr. henry coppée writes regarding mohammad: "but he soon found that he must take up arms in self defence, and in the thirteenth year of his mission, he announced that god permitted him not only to fight in his self-defence, but to propagate his religion by the sword." history of the conquest of spain by the arab-moors, by henry coppée. vol. i, page . boston, . but dr. a. sprenger makes the object of the wars of mohammad purely defensive. he writes:--"the prophet now promulgated, in the name of god, the law to fight their enemies, in order to put a stop to persecutions; and this became henceforth the watchword of his bloody religion." the life of mohammad, p. : allahabad, .] [footnote : m. bluntschili, a modern authority on the international law, holds: "a war undertaken for defensive motives is a defensive war, notwithstanding that it may be militarily offensive." the international law, by william edward hall, m.a., oxford, , page .] [footnote : kent's commentary on international law. edited by j.t. abdy, ll.d., second edition, page .] [sidenote: caravans, if waylaid, were by reprisal.] . as regards the threatened attack on the caravans or capturing of it, there are not any satisfactory grounds of proof; but if they were attacked and captured, i do not see any reason why they should be objected to. when hostilities commence, the first objects that naturally present themselves for detection and seizure are the person and property of the enemy. even under the international law of most civilized countries, the legitimacy of appropriating the enemy's property rests on the commencement of the state of war. under the old customs of war a belligerent possessed the right to seize and appropriate all the property belonging to an enemy's state or its subjects, of whatever kind they be or in whatsoever place where the acts of war are permissible. so those who object to the early moslems' threatening, or capturing, or appropriating the person or property of the enemy, and call them robbery, rapine or brigandage, show their complete ignorance of the international law, ancient or modern. [sidenote: intolerance--no compulsory conversion enjoined, or took place during mohammad's life-time.] . the subject of the alleged intolerance on the part of mohammad, the prophet, towards the unbelievers has been fully discussed in paragraphs - (pp. - ). it is altogether a wrong assumption of european writers that the koran enjoins compulsory conversion of the unbeliever, or that mohammad proselytized at the point of the sword. sir w. muir writes:-- [sidenote: sir w. muir quoted.] "persecution, though it may sometimes have deterred the timid from joining his ranks, was eventually of unquestionable service to mahomet. it furnished a plausible excuse for casting aside the garb of toleration; for opposing force to force against those who obstructed the ways of the lord; and last of all for the compulsory conversion of unbelievers."[ ] opposing force to force and even redressing our wrongs and re-establishing our imperilled rights is not 'intolerance.' mohammad did repel the force of his enemies when it was quite necessary for the moslem self-preservation and protection, but he never compelled any of his enemies or unbelievers, whether a single individual, or a body of men, or a whole tribe, to believe in him. the koran and history contradict such an allegation. the koran everywhere in the meccan and medinite suras preaches complete toleration of every religion. history nowhere authentically records any instance of mohammad's enforcing conversion by means of the sword. [footnote : the life of mahomet from original sources, by sir w. muir, ll.d. new edition, page , london, . see also page of the same.] [sidenote: a brief sketch of the propagation of islam at mecca.] [sidenote: conversion at nakhla.] . mohammad propagated his religion both at mecca and medina before, as well as after, the hegira, by persuasion and preaching sustained by reasonable evidence. it prevailed against all persecution and opposition of the koreish and jews. in fact, it flourished and prospered under the severe persecutions and crushing oppositions by the mere dint of its own truth.[ ] sometimes the persecution of the koreish itself was the cause of conversion to the moslem faith.[ ] the number of converts during the first three years after the assumption by mohammad of his prophetical office is estimated at fifty. then commenced the general persecution and the overwhelming opposition. mohammad had, in order to prosecute his endeavours peaceably and without interruption, occupied the house of arqam, one of his early converts, and there preached and recited the koran to those who used to be conducted to him. a great multitude believed therein; but the brunt of the jealousy and enmity of the koreish fell upon the converted slaves, as well as upon strangers and believers among the lower classes, who had no patron nor protector. some believers, sixteen in number, had already left for abyssinia. some came back and brought tidings of their kind reception there. at this time about a hundred moslems emigrated to abyssinia.[ ] this shows the increasing number of the converts, who represented for the most part fugitives of mecca. there were some christian converts to islam at abyssinia also.[ ] the koreish being disquieted by the hospitable reception of the refugees at abyssinia, and enraged by the refusal of najashee to surrender them, sought to stay the progress of secession from their ranks by utterly severing the party of the prophet from social and friendly communication with them. in the seventh year of the prophet's mission the ban commenced, and lasted for full three years. there could be very few conversions during the period of this weary seclusion. the efforts of the prophet were chiefly confined to the conversions of the members of his own noble clan, the bani hàshim, who, though unbelievers in his mission, had resolved to defend his person, and were with him in their confinement. the time of pilgrimage alone afforded mohammad a wider field. he preached against idolatry at the fairs and assemblages of the pilgrims[ ]. after his release from imprisonment in the tenth year of his mission, he went to preach at tàyif, but was ignominiously expelled the city[ ]. on his return to mecca he converted a party of the tribe of jinn[ ] (not genii according to the vulgar notion)[ ] at nakhla. after his return from tàyif he preached to an audience of six or seven persons from medina, who believed and spread islam there. [footnote : i do not mean to say that flourishing under persecution is a convincing proof of the divine origin of a religion. not that a religion established by force is altogether of human invention. almost all religions are divine however they may have been established, but flourishing under opposition and persecution is a natural course. christianity suffered from persecutions and other harrowing evils for years, after which time it was established, and paganism abolished by public authority, which has had great influence in the propagation of the one and destruction of the other ever since.] [footnote : "the severity and injustice of the cureish, overshooting the mark, aroused personal and family sympathies; unbelievers sought to avert or to mitigate the sufferings of the followers of the prophet; and in so doing they were sometimes themselves gained over to his side." the life of mahomet, by sir w. muir, second edition, page .] [footnote : among them were the representatives of the following tribes or clans of the koreish, the háshimites, omiyyiads, bani abd shams, bani asad, bani abd bin kosáyy, bani abd-ud-dár, bani zohrá, bani taym bin morra, the mukwhumites, the jomahites, and the bani sahm. _vide_ sprenger, page , allahabad, .] [footnote : _vide_ hishamee, page . an allusion to these converts may be found in sura v, verses and , if it does not refer to those of najrán.] [footnote : he preached to the following tribes among others:--bani aamr bin sasaa, bani mohárib, bani hafasa (or khafasa), bani fezára, bani ghassán, bani kalb, bani háris, bani kab, bani ozra, bani murra, bani hanifa, bani suleim, bani abs, bani nazr, bani bakka, bani kinda, and bani khozaimah.] [footnote : "there is something lofty and heroic in this journey of mahomet to tâyif; a solitary man, despised and rejected by his own people, going boldly forth in the name of god,--like jonah to nineveh--and summoning an idolatrous city to repentance and to the support of his mission. it sheds a strong light on the intensity of his own belief in the divine origin of his calling."--the life of mahomet, by sir w. muir, vol. ii, page .] [footnote : the arabs also had a similar clan named bani shaitán, a clan of the hinzala tribe, the descendants of tamim, through zeid monat of the moaddite stock. the bani shaitán (the children of satan) dwelt near kúfa.--_vide_ qalqashandi's dictionary of arab tribes.] [footnote : sura xlvi, verses , . these people were from nisibin and nineveh in mesopotamia. they were chaldeans, soothsayers, and cabalists. in the book of daniel the chaldeans are classed with magicians and astronomers, and evidently form a sort of the priest class who have a peculiar "tongue" and "learning" (dan. i. ). in arabic, persons of similar professions were called _kahins_. some of this class of people pretended to receive intelligence of what was to come to pass from certain satans or demons, whom they alleged to hear what passed in the heavens. others pretended to control the stars by enchanting them. they produced eclipses of the sun and moon by their alleged efficiency in their own enchantments. they practised astrology as well as astronomy and fortune-telling. it appears that the chaldeans (kaldai or kaldi) were in the earliest times merely one out of the many cushite tribes inhabiting the great alluvial plain known afterwards as chaldea or babylonia. in process of time as the kaldi grew in power, their name prevailed over that of the other tribes inhabiting the country; and by the era of the jewish captivity it had begun to be used generally for all the inhabitants of babylonia. it had thus come by this time to have two senses, both ethnic: in the one, it was the special appellative of a particular race to whom it had belonged from the remotest times; in the other, it designated the nation at large in which the race was predominant. afterwards it was transferred from an ethnic to a mere restricted sense, from the name of a people to that of a priest caste or sect of philosophers. the kaldi proper belonged to the cushite race. while both in assyria and in babylonia, the sernitic type of speech prevailed for special purposes, the ancient cushite dialect was purely reserved for scientific and religious literature. this is no doubt the "learning" and the "tongue" to which reference is made in the bible (dan. i. ). it became gradually inaccessible to the great mass of people who had emigrated by means, chiefly, of assyrian influence. but it was the chaldean learning in the old chaldean or cushite language. hence all who studied it, whatever their origin or race, were, on account of their knowledge, termed chaldeans. in this sense daniel himself, "the master of chaldeans" (dan. v. .), would, no doubt, have been reckoned among them, and so we find seleucas, a greek, called a chaldean by strabo (xvi. , § ). the chaldeans were really a learned class, who by their acquaintance with the language of science became its depositaries. they were priests, magicians or astronomers, as their preference for one or other of those occupations inclined them; and in the last of these three capacities they probably effected discoveries of great importance. the chaldeans, it would appear, congregated into bodies forming what we may perhaps call universities, and they all engaged together in it for their progress. they probably mixed up to some extent astrology with their astronomy, even in the earlier times, but they certainly made great advance in astronomical science to which their serene sky and transparent atmosphere specially invited them. in later times they seem certainly to have degenerated into mere fortune-tellers (_vide_ smith's dict. of the bible, art. _chaldeans_). in their practice of astromancy or enchanting the stars, and in pretending to overhear what passed in the heavens, they, the jinns, used to sit on the tops of lofty mansions at night-time for hours offering sacrifices to the stars and enchanting them. in their peculiar tongue and learning they called this practice "stealing a hearing" and "sitting for listening" (suras xv, verse , and lxxii, verses , ). now at the time of mohammad's assuming the prophet's office there had been an unusually grand display of numerous falling stars, which at certain periods are known to be specially abundant. at the same time there were good many comets visible in different parts of heavens, which certainly might have smitten with terror these jinns, _i.e._, the astromancers and soothsayers. there was one comet visible in a.d., and other two appeared in a.d. in a.d. two more comets were visible; another one appeared in a.d. each of the years and had one comet. there were also comets visible in a.d. (_vide_ chambers's descriptive astronomy). these comets are most probably noticed in the contemporary record (_i.e._ the koran). a comet is called _tariq_, or "night comer," in sura lxxxvi, verse ; and described as the star of piercing radiance. (_annajmus saqib. ibid_ .) the _kahins_ were very much alarmed at the stupendous phenomena of the falling stars and the comets; and had stopped their soothsaying and divinations. whenever they used to sit on their places of listening, enchanting, and divination during night-time, looking at the heavens, their eyes met with showers of shooting stars and brilliant comets which bewildered them very much. it is said that the first whose attention was attracted to the unusual shooting stars was a clan of the sakeefites of us-tayif (ibn hisham, page ). these jinns, when they were converted to islam at nakhla near tayif, expressed their bewilderment from the unusual shower of falling stars and the appearance of numerous comets in their peculiar language:-- "the heaven did we essay but found it filled with mighty garrison and of darting flames." "we sat on some of the seats to listen, but whoever now listeneth findeth a darting flame in ambush for him." "we know not whether evil be meant for them that are on earth, or whether their lord meaneth true guidance for them."--sura lxxii, verses - . so the pretenders of hearing the discourses of heavenly bodies being quite harassed by the extraordinary showers of the falling stars, and the appearances of numerous comets, had stopped their divination. this was taken notice of in the koran:-- "they overhear not exalted chiefs, and they are darted from every side." "driven off and consigned to a lasting torment; while if one steal by stealth then a glistering flame pursueth him."--sura xxxvii, verses - . "save such as steal a hearing, and him do visible flames pursue."--sura xv, verse . "the satans were not sent down with this _koran_. it beseemed them not, and they had not the power. for they are far removed from the hearing."--sura xxvi, verses - . as an instance of terror and bewilderment caused by meteors and shooting stars among credulous people, i will quote the following anecdote: about the middle of the tenth century an epidemic terror of the end of the world had spread over christendom. the scene of the last judgment was expected to be in jerusalem. in the year the number of pilgrims proceeding eastwards, to await the coming of the lord in that city, was so great that they were compared to a desolating army. during the thousandth year the number of pilgrims increased. every phenomenon of nature filled them with terror. a thunderstorm sent them all upon their knees. every meteor in the sky seen at jerusalem brought the whole christian population into the streets to weep and pray. the pilgrims on the road were in the same alarm. every shooting star furnished occasion for a sermon, in which the sublimity of the approaching judgment was the principal topic (_vide_ extraordinary popular delusions by charles mackay, ll.d., london, pp. and ). it was a conceit or imposture of the _kahins_ to pretend that their demons had access to the outskirts of the heavens, and by assiduous eavesdropping secured some of the secrets of the upper world and communicated the same to the soothsayers or diviners upon earth. the jews had a similar notion of the demons (schedim), learning the secrets of the future by listening behind the veil (pargôd). the koran falsified them in their assertions. it says that the heavens (or the stars) are safe and protected against the eavesdropping (or enchantments) of the soothsayers. "we have set the signs of zodiac in the heavens, and we have decked them forth for the bewilders." "and we guard them from every stoned satan."--sura xv, verses , . "verily we have adorned the lower heaven with the adornment of the stars;" "and we have guarded them against every rebellious satan."--sura xxxvii, verses , . "... and we have furnished the lower heaven with lights and have protected it...."--sura xli, verse . the koran further says that the soothsayers impart to their votaries or to those who go to consult them what they have heard from other people and are liars:-- "they impart what they have heard, but most of them are liars."--sura xxvi, verse . it is nowhere said in the koran that the stars are darted or hurled at the satans. sura lxvii, verse , literally means, "of a surety we have decked the lower heaven with lights and have made them to be (means of) '_rojúm_' conjectures to the (or for the) devils, _i.e._ the astrologer." the primary meaning of _rajm_ is a thing that is thrown or cast like a stone: pl. '_rojúm_,' but it generally means speaking of that which is hidden, or conjecturing or speaking by conjecture, as in sura xviii, verse . in sura xix, verse , the word "_la-arjomannaka_" has been explained both ways, meaning ( ) "i will assuredly cast stones at thee," and ( ) "i will assuredly say of thee, (though) speaking of that which is hidden (from me) or unknown (by me), what thou dislikest or hatest." _vide_ lane's arabic-english lexicon, page .] [sidenote: rapid stride of islam at medina.] . next year twelve new converts were made from persons who had come to see the prophet from medina. they returned as missionaries of islam, and islam spread rapidly in medina from house to house and from tribe to tribe. the jews looked on in amazement at the people whom they had in vain endeavoured from generations to convince of the errors of polytheism, and to dissuade from the abominations of their idolatry, suddenly of their own accord casting away idols and professing belief in the one true god.[ ] thus speedily without let or hindrance, force or compulsion, did islam take firm root at medina and attain to a full and mature growth. there remained not a single house among the aws and khazraj tribes[ ] of medina in which there were not believing men and women, excepting the branch of the aws allah, who were not converts till after the siege of medina. at this time there were many moslems in mecca, medina, and abyssinia, and not a single one of them could be said to have been converted to islam by compulsion: on the contrary, they were used to be forced to renounce islam. [footnote : "after five centuries of christian evangelization, we can point to but a sprinkling here and there of christian converts;--the bani hârith of najrân: the bani hanîfa of yemâma; some of the bani tay at tayma, and hardly any more. judaism, vastly more powerful, had exhibited a spasmodic effort of proselytizm under dzu nowâs; but, as an active and converting agent the jewish faith was no longer operative."--muir's life of mahomet, vol. i, page ccxxxix.] [footnote : the aws or khazraj were two branches of the azdite tribes of yemen from the kahlanite stock. after their emigration to the north they separated themselves from the ghassinides and returned to medina, where they settled.] [sidenote: the increasing number of moslem converts at mecca after the hegira.] . when the moslems were obliged to emigrate from mecca under the severe koreishite persecutions, all the followers of the prophet with the exception of those detained in confinement or unable to escape from slavery had emigrated with their families to medina. but there were many new converts at mecca since the expulsion of the moslems. those unable to fly from mecca in the teeth of the oppressions of the wrathful koreish (sura iv., , , ) were increasing. they appealed for deliverance and aid, while the moslem pilgrims were near mecca at hodeibia, six years after the hegira, and an allusion is made to the great number of the meccan converts, living at mecca during that time in sura xlviii, . [sidenote: disturbed state of the public peace among the tribes surrounding medina. internecine wars an obstacle to the propagation of islam.] . irrespective of the wars prosecuted by the koreish from the south against mohammad at medina, and the constant danger of inroad and attack upon medina from the neighbouring tribes--a great obstacle in the propagation of islam which could only be successfully accomplished in a state of peace and tranquility of both parties,--the most important and great tribes in the north and centre of arabia were at war against each other during the life of mohammad, either before his mission from to a.d. or during his public mission from to a.d. the disastrous internecine wars were kept up for scores of years and the evils necessarily inflicted in their progress were not confined to the belligerents only. it required years to remove the evils of war and to efface the traces of misery and sorrow the wars had brought.[ ] [footnote : the same remarks apply to the wars fought during mohammad's lifetime but before his public mission.] . here i will give a brief sketch of the internecine wars which took place among the various arab tribes during the time of mohammad. *wars during mohammad's lifetime, between the arabian tribes in the north and centre of arabia.* _before his mission_, - , a.d. ( .) the battle of rahrahán between bani aamir bin saasaa and bani tamim in najd, , a.d. ( .) the bani abs on the side of bani aamir and bani zobian on the side of tamim, , a.d., at _sheb jabala_. ( .) sacrilegious war at táyif called harb fi-jár, - , a.d. ( .) several battles between bani bakr and tamim in , a.d. and the following years. _during his mission._ (a)--_while at mecca, - , a.d._ ( .) the war of dáhis between bani abs and zobian, the branches of ghatafán in central arabia; lasted forty years, to , a.d. ( .) the battle of zú-kár between the bani bakr and the persians in the kingdom of hira, , a.d. ( .) the bani kinda and bani háris attacked bath tamim when they had retired to kuláb in the confines of yemen and repulsed them. ( .) the bani aws and khazraj of medina were at war. the battle of boás was fought in , a.d. the bani aws were assisted by two tribes of ghassan, by mozeima and the jewish tribes nazeer and koreiza. the bani khazraj were supported by joheina, ashja and the jews of kainuka. (b)--_while at medina_, to , _a.d._ ( .) the standing warfare between the bani hawázin and the bani abs, zobian, and ashja of ghatafán was kept up by assassinations and petty engagements till they become converts to islam. ( .) the koreish fought two battles of badr and ohad against the moslems at medina in and , a.d., respectively. ( .) several clans of the great ghatafán family (the bani murra, ashja and fezára) the bani suleim and sád, a branch of hawázin, and bani asad from najd bedouin tribes, and bani koreiza the jews, had besieged medina in , a.d., in confederation with the koreish. ( .) bani tamim and bani bakr renewed their hostilities, and from to , a.d., several battles occurred between them. the last battle was that of shaitain in , a.d. in this year, after the battle, both the tribes were converted to islam. ( .) the bani ghaus and jadila branches of bani tay in the north of medina warred against each other. the war of fasád continued twenty-five years till they embraced islam in , a.d. [sidenote: spread of islam in the surrounding tribes at medina after the hegira i-vi.] . during the six eventful years of mohammad's sojourn at medina, from the hegira to the truce of hodeibia, where he was every year attacked or threatened by other hostile arab tribes, acting always in self-defence, he had converted several members or almost entire tribes residing round medina. among them were the following:-- . the bani aslam.[ ] . joheina.[ ] . mozeina.[ ] . ghifár.[ ] . saad-bin-bakr.[ ] . bani ashja.[ ] we never find a single instance even in the _magházis_ (accounts of the campaigns of mohammad, however untrustworthy they be) of mohammad's converting any person, families, or branches of tribes by the scimitar in one hand and the koran in the other. [footnote : the bani aslam tribe settled north of medina in the valley of wady-al-koraa. they were a branch of the kozaaite tribes descended from himyar.] [footnote : joheina were a branch of kozaa, the descendants of himyar. this tribe inhabited in the vicinity of yenbo, north of medina.] [footnote : mozeina were a tribe of the moaddite stock of mecca. they inhabited in najd, north-east of medina.] [footnote : ghifár were sons of moleil-bin-zamra, the descendants of kinána, one of the moaddite tribes.] [footnote : saad-bin-bakr were a branch of hawazin. mohammad had been nursed among them.] [footnote : the bani ashja were a branch of the ghatafán of the meccan stock of the moaddites. the bani ashja appear all to have been hostile to mohammad. they fought against the prophet at the siege of medina with four hundred warriors in their contingent. sir w. muir says, "the bani ashjâ, who had joined in the siege of medina, gave in their adhesion shortly after the massacre of the coreitza; they told mahomet that they were so pressed by his warring against them, that they could stand out no longer.--k. wackidi, page ." muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, , _footnote_. this story is altogether false. we never hear of mohammad warring against bani ashja; on the contrary, they had themselves invaded medina.] [sidenote: mecca a barrier against the conversion of the southern tribes.] . up to this time, notwithstanding the persecutions, exiles and wars against islam, it had spread by the mere force of persuasion among the meccans, some of whom had emigrated to abyssinia and most to medina, the whole of the influential tribes of aws and khazraj at medina, as well as among the jews there, and among some of the tribes in the north, and east of medina and the centre of arabia. but as mecca in the south had declared war against islam, most of the arab tribes connected somehow with the meccans, and those inhabiting the southern and south-eastern parts of arabia, to whom mecca served geographically as a barrier, watched the proceedings of the war and the fate of islam, and had no opportunity of coming to medina to embrace islam, nor of having friendly intercourse with the moslems, nor of receiving mohammadan missionaries in the face of the wars waged by the koreish who were looked upon as the guardians of the kaaba, the spiritual or religious centre of the idolatrous arabs. at the end of the last or the fifth year many bedouin tribes, among whom might be counted the bani ashja, murra, fezara, suleim, sad-bin-bakr and bani asad, had furnished several thousand arabs to the koreish for the siege of medina. only when the aggressions of the koreish against the moslems were suspended that the warring tribes and those of the central, southern and eastern arabia could think of what they had heard of the reasonable preaching of islam against their idolatry and superstitions. [sidenote: tribal conversions in the sixth year.] . since the truce of hodeibia at the end of the sixth year after the hegira mecca was opened for intercourse, where there were some more and fresh conversions. the bani khozaa, descendants of azd, were converted to islam at the truce of hodeibia. at the pilgrimage in the following year some influential men of mecca adopted islam. the movement was not confined to these leading men, but was wide and general. in the seventh year the following tribes were converted to islam and their deputations joined mohammad at khyber: . bani ashár.[ ] . khushain.[ ] . dous.[ ] [sidenote: conversions among several other tribes of the north and north-east in a.h., .] during the same year mohammad converted several other tribes in the north and north-east of arabia. among them were-- . bani abs. . zobián. . murra. . fezara.[ ] . suleim.[ ] . ozra. . bali. . juzám.[ ] . sálaba.[ ] . abdul kays.[ ] . bani tamim.[ ] . bani asad.[ ] [footnote : the bani ash-ár inhabited jedda. they were of the kahlánite stock, the descendants of al-azd.] [footnote : the bani khushain were a clan of kozaá, of himiarite stock.] [footnote : the bani dous belong to the azdite tribe of the stock of kahtán. they lived at some distance south of mecca. they had joined mohammad at khyber.] [footnote : these were the sub-tribes of ghatafán of the meccan stock. the chief families of ghatafán were the bani ashja, zobian, and the bani abs. murra and fezára were the branches of zobian. they all inhabited najd. uyenia, the chief of the bani fezára, had committed an inroad upon medina in a.h. . in the same year the bani fezára had waylaid a medina caravan and plundered it.] [footnote : the bani suleim, a branch of the bani khasafa and a sister tribe to hawázin, who lived near mecca, and in whose charge, mohammad, when but an infant, was placed, were also a tribe of the meccan stock descended through khasafa from mozar and moádd. bani suleim, like bani murra and fezára, branches of ghatafán, had long continued to threaten mohammad with attacks. the bani suleim having joined aamir bin tofeil, chief of bani aamir, a branch of the tribe of hawázin with their clans usseya, ril, and zakawán, had cut to pieces a party of moslem missionaries at bir mauna, invited by abu bera amr ibn málik, a chief of the bani aamir, who had pledged for their security. the bani suleim had joined also the koreish army at the siege of medina. in the seventh year, they had slain another body of moslem missionaries sent to them.] [footnote : the bani ozra were a tribe of kozaá, like joheina. they, together with the bani bali and juzám, inhabited the north of arabia in the part of the territory belonging to ghassan. the family of himyar, descendants from kahtán in yemen, had flourished through the line of kozaá, the bani ozza, joheina and other important tribes to the north of the peninsula on the border of syria. it has been quoted by sir w. muir from katib wakidi that the chief of the bani juzám carried back to them a letter from mohammad to this tenor: "whoever accepteth the call of islam, he is among the confederates of the lord; whoever refuseth the same, a truce of two months is allowed for him for consideration." (muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. , _foot-note_). the words "for consideration" are not in the original arabic.--_vide_ ibn hisham, p. . it is not clear what was meant by the two months' truce he was advised to give them, to make terms before he could commence hostilities, if the tradition for which there is no authority be true. this has nothing to do with their compulsory conversions.] [footnote : salaba was a branch of the zobián.] [footnote : the bani abd-ul-kays are a moaddite tribe, the descendants of rabia. they inhabited bahrein on the persian gulf.] [footnote : the bani tamim were branch of tábikha, a tribe of the moaddite stock of mecca and a sister tribe of mozeina. they are famous in the history of najd, a province north-east of medina, from the confines of syria to yemen. some of these branches were with mohammad at the expeditions to mecca and honain. all the branches of the tribes that had not yet embraced islam were now converted.] [footnote : the bani asad ibn khozeima were a powerful tribe residing near the hill of katan in najd. they were of the moaddite tribe of the meccan stock. tuleiba, their chief, had assembled a force of cavalry and rapid camel-drivers to make a raid upon medina in a.h. . they were dispersed by the moslems. in the next year they joined the koreish in the siege of medina.] [sidenote: surrender of mecca. a.h., .] . the position of islam at mecca was greatly strengthened since the truce in a.h. , by increase in the number of moslems, influential and leading, as well as of persons of minor note and importance there, consequently the advocates of islam, peace and compromise were growing in number and confidence. among the idolatrous koreish there were no chiefs of marked ability or commanding influence left at mecca; almost all of them had gone over to the cause of islam. in the meantime the infraction of the terms of the truce by the bani bakr and koreish caused the surrender of mecca without bloodshed. [sidenote: the meccans not compelled to believe.] . though mecca had surrendered, all its inhabitants had not already become converts to islam. mohammad did not take any compulsory means to convert the people: "although the city had cheerfully accepted his supremacy," writes sir w. muir, "all its inhabitants had not yet embraced the new religion, or formally acknowledged his prophetical claim. perhaps he intended to follow the course he had pursued at medina and leave the conversion of the people to be gradually accomplished without compulsion."[ ] [footnote : the life of mahomet, by sir w. muir, vol. iv, page . those who had newly joined the moslem camp at mecca to repel the threatening gathering of hawázin, and those of them who preferred submission to the authority of mohammad, are called by sir w. muir "his new converts." (iv., ). but in fact they were not called believers. they are called simply _muallafa qolubohum_ in the koran (ix., ) which means whose hearts are to be won over.] [sidenote: the wholesale conversion of the remaining tribes in a.h., & .] . now it was more than twenty years that the koran had been constantly preached to the surrounding tribes of arabs at mecca at the time of fairs[ ] and at the annual pilgrimage gatherings,[ ] by mohammad, and by special missionaries of islam from medina, and through the reports of the travellers and merchants coming and going from mecca and medina to all parts of arabia. the numbers of different distant tribes, clans and branches had spread the tidings of islam. there were individual converts in most of the tribes. those tribes already not brought over to islam were ready to embrace it under the foregoing circumstances. idolatry, simple and loathsome, had no power against the attacks of reason displayed in the doctrines of the koran. but the idolatrous koreish opposed and attacked islam with persecution and the sword, and strengthened idolatry with earthly weapons. the distant pagan tribes on the side of the koreish, geographically or genealogically, were prevented by them from embracing the new faith. as soon as the hostilities of the koreish were suspended at the truce of hodeibia, the arabs commenced to embrace islam as already described, and no sooner they surrendered and kaaba[ ] stripped of its idols--and the struggle of spiritual supremacy between idolatry and islam was practically decided--all the remaining tribes on the south and east who had not hitherto adhered to islam hastened to embrace it hosts after hosts during the th and th year of the hegira. [footnote : okáz between táyif and nakhla. mujanna in the vicinity of marr-al zahrán, and zul-majáz behind arafat, both near mecca.] [footnote : "from time immemorial, tradition represents mecca as the scene of a yearly pilgrimage from _all_ quarters of arabia:--from yemen, hadhramaut and the shores of the persian gulph, from the deserts of syria, and from the distant environs of híra and mesopotamia."--muir, i, ccxi.] [footnote : sir w. muir thinks: "the possession of mecca now imparted a colour of right to his pretensions; for mecca was the spiritual centre of the country, to which the tribes from every quarter yielded a reverential homage. the conduct of the annual pilgrimage, the custody of the holy house, the intercalation of the year, the commutation at will of the sacred months,--institutions which affected all arabia,--belonged by ancient privilege to the coreish and were now in the hands of mahomet.... moreover, it had been the special care of mahomet artfully to interweave with the reformed faith all essential parts of the ancient ceremonial. the one was made an inseparable portion of the other."--the life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. . but the remaining tribes who had not hitherto embraced islam, and the chiefs of the southern and eastern arabia, did not adopt islam, because mohammad possessed mecca, a position of no political supremacy. no paramount authority throughout the peninsula had ever been vested in the chief who possessed mecca. mohammad on the surrender of mecca had abolished all the idolatrous institutions which might have served as political or social inducements to the pagan arabs to embrace islam. the intercalation of the year and commutation of the sacred months were cancelled for ever in the plain words of the koran: "verily, twelve months is the number of months with god, according to god's book, _since_ the day when he created the heavens and the earth, of these, four are sacred; this is the right usage." ... "to carry over _a sacred month to another_ is an increase of unbelief only. they who do not believe are led into error by it. they allow it one year and forbid it another, that they may make good the number of _months_ which god hath hallowed, and they allow that which god hath prohibited. the evil of their deeds hath been prepared for them _by satan_; for god guideth not the people who do not believe."--sura ix, verses , . the custody of the house was no more an office of honour or privilege. the ancient ceremonial of pilgrimage was not interwoven with the reformed faith. the rites of kaaba were stripped of every idolatrous tendency. and the remaining and essential part of the pilgrimage was depreciated. "by no means can their flesh reach unto god, neither their blood; but piety on your part reacheth him."--sura xxii, verse . and after all the idolaters were not allowed to enter it. "it is not for the votaries of other gods with god, witnesses against themselves of infidelity, to visit the temples of god."--sura ix, verse . sir w. muir himself says regarding mohammad: "the rites of kaaba were retained, but stripped by him of every idolatrous tendency; and they still hang, a strange unmeaning shroud, around the living theism of islam."--vol. i, intro., p. ccxviii.] [sidenote: the various deputations and embassies in the th and th year of the hegira.] . during these two years deputations of conversion to islam were received by mohammad at medina from the most distant parts of the peninsula, from yemen and hazaramaut from mahra oman and bahrein in the south, and from the borders of syria and the outskirts of persia. many of the chiefs and princes of yemen and mahra, of oman, bahrein and yemama--christians and pagans--intimated by letter or by embassy their conversion to islam. the prophet used to send teachers with deputations and embassies, where they were not already sent, to instruct the newly converted people the duties of islam and to see that every remnant of idolatry was obliterated. [sidenote: list of the deputations of conversion received by mohammad at medina during a.h. and .] . here is a list of the important deputations and embassies as well as the conversion of notable personages during these two years arranged in alphabetical order with geographical and genealogical notes.[ ] sir w. muir thinks it "tedious and unprofitable" to enumerate them all,[ ] while he takes notice of every apocryphal tradition and devours with eagerness all fictions unfavourable to the cause of islam. bani aámir.[ ] bani abd-ul-kays.[ ] bani ahmas.[ ] bani anaza.[ ] bani asad.[ ] bani azd (shanovah).[ ] bani azd (oman).[ ] bani báhila.[ ] bani bahra.[ ] bani bajíla.[ ] bani baka.[ ] bani bakr bin wail.[ ] bani bali.[ ] bani báriq.[ ] bani dáree.[ ] farwa.[ ] bani fezára.[ ] bani gháfiq.[ ] bani ghánim.[ ] bani ghassán.[ ] bani hamadán.[ ] bani hanífa.[ ] bani háris of najrán.[ ] bani hilál bin aamir bin sáasáa.[ ] bani himyar.[ ] bani jaad.[ ] bani jaafir bin kelab bin rabia.[ ] jeifer bin al jalandi.[ ] bani joheina.[ ] bani jufi.[ ] bani kalb.[ ] bani khas-am bin anmár.[ ] bani khaulán.[ ] bani kiláb.[ ] bani kinána.[ ] bani kinda.[ ] bani mahrah.[ ] bani mohárib.[ ] bani morád.[ ] bani muntafiq.[ ] bani murrah.[ ] bani nakhá.[ ] bani nohd.[ ] bani ozra.[ ] bani raha.[ ] bani rawasa.[ ] bani saad hozeim.[ ] bani sadif.[ ] bani sadoos.[ ] bani sahim.[ ] bani sakeef.[ ] bani salámáni.[ ] bani shaibán.[ ] bani sodaa.[ ] bani taghlib.[ ] bani tajeeb.[ ] bani tamim.[ ] bath tay.[ ] bani zobeid.[ ] [footnote : for these deputations see ibn is-hak (died ), hishamee (died ), ibn sad (died ), muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, chap. th, seerat shámí (died ), and halabí (died ). for the genealogies of these tribes consult qalqashandi's dictionary of tribes, and ibn khaldún's history. regarding the geographical positions of these tribes the reader is referred to the most valuable map of arabia in sir w. muir's annals of early caliphate, london .] [footnote : the life of mahomet by sir w. muir, vol. iv, pp. and .] [footnote : a branch of hawázin and sister tribe of the sakeef inhabited the province of najd and were of the moaddite stock. the tribe had taken little share with the rest of the bani hawázin at the battle of honain against the moslems a.h. . the famous poet lebid, author of one of the moallakas, belonged to that tribe. [see the life of lebid from ketab-ul-aghani, in an article on the moallaqah by lebid, by c.j. lyall, c.s., in the journals of the asiatic society, bengal, no. , , pp. - : calcutta.]] [footnote : bani abd-ul-kays from bahrein. the tribe has been described at page . there were many persons in the embassy. they were christians before they embraced islam.] [footnote : descended from anmár of the kahtanite stock of yemen.] [footnote : a sub-tribe of asad, descendants of rabia of the moaddite stock. these are the aneze of burkhardt.] [footnote : already described at p. . the rest of them now embraced islam. it is said that sura xlix, , refers to them.] [footnote : bani azd (shanovah) from yemen. this tribe was a portion of the azdite tribe left at yemen at the time of the northern emigration of azd. they were a branch of kahtan of the kahtanite stock. in their emigration northward from yemen they resided a long time in hijaz at batn murr near mecca. in their journey further on to the north of syria, leaving kozaa, they changed their name to ghassán from their long residence, by the way, near a fountain of that name. the tribes aus and khazraj had separated afterwards from these ghassanides, and settled at yathrib, afterwards known as medina. one surad was the chief of the embassy of azd from yemen to mohammad at medina. sir w. muir says: "this person was recognized by mahomet as the ruler of his clan, and commission was given to him to war against the heathen tribes in his neighbourhood." (the life of mahomet, vol. iv, page .) the arabic word "_yojáhid_," in the original biographies, only means "to strive," and does not mean "to make war," as understood by sir w. muir. he has himself translated the same word as "striving" in vol. iii, page . at page of the same volume he translates it by "to do utmost." i have discussed the subject in full in appendix a. of this work.] [footnote : another branch of the azd described above.] [footnote : bani báhila, otherwise called sáad manát, descendants of ghatafán of the moaddite stock.] [footnote : bani bahra (bin amr bin al-háf bin kozaá), who were a branch of the kozaá of the himyarite stock, had emigrated to the north, and settled in the ghassanide territory.] [footnote : bani bajíla, a sister of khas-am and descendants of anmar bin nizar of the kahtanite stock. they inhabited yemen. the bajíla after professing islam had destroyed the famous image of kholasa.] [footnote : a branch of bani aamir bin sáasáa in the centre of arabia.] [footnote : they lived about yemama and the shores of the persian gulf. they were one of the moaddite tribes. the war of basus between bani bakr and their sister tribe bani taghlib had lasted for forty years. there have been famous poets in the bani bakr tribe, among whom are tarafa, haris bin hiliza, and maimún al-asha. the bani bakr and bani tamim were constantly at war, which was abandoned under the influence of islam, when both the parties were converted to it during the lifetime of mohammad.] [footnote : they were a branch of the kozaá from the himyarite stock, the descendants of kahtan, and had settled in the north of arabia in the ghassanide territory on the borders of syria.] [footnote : a sub-tribe of kozaá.] [footnote : a clan of the tribe of lakhm.] [footnote : an arab of the bani juzam in the north of arabia and governor of amman in the ghassanide territory announced his conversion to mohammad by a despatch in a.h. .] [footnote : they have already been described at page . their deputation waited upon mohammad on his return from tabúk.] [footnote : descendants of anmár of the kahtanite stock.] [footnote : a sub-tribe of azd at yemen.] [footnote : already described under bani azd.] [footnote : bani hamadán of the kahtanite descent. an important tribe in the east of yemen.] [footnote : a christian branch of the bani bakr who inhabited yemama. "the account of the embassy of the bani hanífa is more decidedly unfavourable to christianity, but its details appear of doubtful authority. moseilama, the false prophet, was among the number, and there are some unlikely anticipations of his sacrilegious claims. "as the embassy were departing, mahomet gave them a vessel in which were the leavings of the water with which he had performed his lustration; and he said,--'_when you reach your country, break down your church, and sprinkle its sight with this water, and make in its place a mosque_'.... "the story appears to me improbable, because nowhere else is mahomet represented as exhibiting such antagonism to christians and their churches when they submitted themselves to him."--muir's life of mahomet, vol. ii, pp. - , _footnote_. the author changes his opinion in the fourth volume of his work and says: "i have there stated (in vol. ii) the story to be improbable. but i am now inclined to think that during the last year or two of mahomet's life, there was quite enough of antagonistic feeling against christianity as it presented itself in the profession of the arab and syrian tribes to support the narrative."--life of mahomet by sir w. muir, vol. iv, page , _footnote_. this is a mere presumption on the part of the writer, and there is no proof of mohammad's antagonism towards christianity at any period of his life except against those who waged war with him. the following verse of the koran will show how far i am true:-- "verily they who believe (moslems), and they who follow the jewish religion, and the christians and sabeites, whoever of those believeth in god and the last day, and doth that which is right shall have their reward with their lord: fear shall not come upon them, neither shall they be grieved."] [footnote : also a christian tribe in yemen descended from the kahtanite stock of the bani madhij, and collateral therefore with bani kinda. two of the embassy, one of them being akil or abd-ul-masih, the chief of the deputation, adopted islam. the rest returned with a full guarantee from mohammad for the preservation of their social and religious liberty. further information regarding the bani háris of najrán will be found at pp. and of this book. "_kâtib al wâckidi_, p. . the subsequent history of the najrán christians is there traced. they continued in possession of their lands and rights under the treaty during the rest of mohammad's life and the whole of abu bakr's caliphate. then they were accused of taking usury, and omar expelled them from the land, and wrote as follows:-- "the despatch of omar, the commander of the faithful, to the people of najrán. whoever of them emigrates is under the guarantee of god. no moslem shall injure them;--to fulfil that which mahomet and abu bakr wrote unto them. "now to whomsoever of the chiefs of syria and irâc they may repair, let such chiefs allot them lands, and whatever they cultivate therefrom shall be theirs; it is an exchange for their own lands. none shall injure or maltreat them; moslems shall assist them against oppressors. their tribute is remitted for two years. they will not be troubled except for evil deeds. "some of them alighted in irâc, and settled in najránia near to cufa. "that the offence of usury is alleged in justification of this measure appears to me to disprove the common tradition that a command was said to have been given by mahomet on his deathbed for the peninsula to be swept clear of all other religions but islam."--muir's life of mahomet, vol. ii, pp. - .] [footnote : descendants of the great ghatafán tribe already described.] [footnote : bani himyar from yemen. the himyarites are too well-known to be described. the himyarite princes of ro-en, mu-afir, hamadan and bazan, all of the christian faith in yemen, embraced islam and announced their conversion by letter sent to mohammad through their emissaries which reached him after his return from tabúk.] [footnote : either a clan of lakhm, or a branch of bani aámir.] [footnote : a sub-tribe of the bani aámir bin sáasáa already described.] [footnote : the king of omán, together with the people of omán, embraced islam during a.h. and . the people of omán were of the azdite stock.] [footnote : already described at page .] [footnote : a branch of saad-al-ashira from the kahtanite stock. this tribe inhabited yemen. they had some peculiar prejudice against eating the heart of an animal. mohammad had caused their chief to break his superstition, which he did by making him eat the roasted heart of an animal. but they returned disgusted when told that his (the chief's) mother who had committed infanticide was in hell. however they sent another deputation a second time and finally embraced islam.] [footnote : they settled in dumat-ul-jundal, now jal-al-jowf, north of arabia. they were a tribe of the bani kozaá descended from himyar.] [footnote : a tribe of the kahtanite stock at yemen. they lived in a hilly country of that name in yemen.] [footnote : they were a tribe of the kahtanite stock on the coast of yemen.] [footnote : a clan of the bani aámir bin sáasáa of the hawázin tribe already described.] [footnote : descendants of khazima of the moaddite stock.] [footnote : the bani kinda princes, vail bin hijar and al-ash-as bin kays; the former, the chief of the coast, and the latter, the chief of the hazaramaut in the south of arabia. they with their whole clans embraced islam. bani kinda were a powerful tribe of the kahálánite stock.] [footnote : a clan of ozra from kozaá described at page .] [footnote : descendants of ghatafán of the moaddite stock.] [footnote : they inhabited the sea-coast of yemen, and were a tribe of muzhie of the kahtanite stock.] [footnote : a branch of the tribe of aámir bin sáasáa.] [footnote : a branch of zobian.] [footnote : they were a tribe of the kahtanite stock, residing in yemen. their deputation consisted of two hundred persons. it is said this was the last deputation received by mohammad. some time before this ali was sent to the bani nakh-a and other tribes of the mudhij stock in yemen.] [footnote : a tribe of kozaá of the himyarite stock at yemen.] [footnote : a sub-tribe of kozaá inhabiting syria described at page .] [footnote : a tribe of muzhij of the kahtanite stock at yemen.] [footnote : they were a clan of the bani aámir bin sáasáa already described.] [footnote : a tribe of the kozaá of the moaddite stock, and according to some from yemen.] [footnote : descendants of hazaramaut of the kahtanite stock at yemen.] [footnote : a clan of the bani hanifa, descendants of bakr bin wail already described.] [footnote : a clan of the bani shaiban, the descendants of bakr bin wail already mentioned.] [footnote : the bani sakeef (thackif) were a branch of the mazar tribes of the moaddite stock. they were a sub-tribe of the hawázin and sister tribe to the bani adwán, ghatafán, and suleim. they (the bani sakeef) lived at tayif and worshipped the idol _lat_ or _táqhia_. orwa, a chief of tayif, had gone to medina to embrace islam. his first generous impulse was to return to tayif and invite his fellow-citizens to share in the blessings imparted by the new faith. upon his making public his conversion, he was wounded by a mob and suffered martyrdom. but he left a favourable impression of islam at tayif. their deputation consisted of six chiefs with fifteen or twenty followers. the prophet received them gladly and pitched a tent for their accommodation in the court of his mosque. every evening after supper he paid them there a visit and instructed them in the faith till it was dark. sir w. muir writes:--"the martyrdom of orwa compromised the inhabitants of tayif, and forced to continue the hostile course they had previously been pursuing. but they began to suffer severely from the marauding attacks of bani hawazin under malik. that chief, according to his engagement, maintained the increasing predatory warfare against them."--life of mahomet, vol. iv, page . at page he says regarding malik,--"being confirmed in his chiefship he engaged to maintain a constant warfare with the citizens of tayif." but there was no such engagement with málik. the authority (hishamee) referred to by sir w. muir does not speak anything of the alleged engagement. _vide_ hishamee, page . hishamee has only so much that mohammad made malik chief of those who were converted from the tribe. these were the clans of somála, salma, and fahm, and that he used to fight with them against the sakifites. sir w. muir further writes that the inhabitants of tayif said among themselves: "we have not strength to fight against the arab tribe all around that have plighted their faith to mahomet, _and bound themselves to fight in his cause_" (vol. iv, p. ). the italics are mine and these words are not to be found in the original authorities. hishamee (page ) has _bayaoo va aslamoo_, _i.e._, they have plighted and submitted (or converted to islam).] [footnote : descendants of the kozaá inhabited the hills of that name (salámán).] [footnote : descendants and branch of bakr bin wail.] [footnote : a tribe of the kahtanite stock from yemen.] [footnote : the bani taghlib bin wail were a tribe of the moaddite stock of meccan origin and a sister tribe to the bani bakr bin wail. their wars are famous in the annals of arabia. the war of basús has been already alluded to under bani bakr. these tribes, the bani bakr and taghlib, were located in yemama, bahrein, najd, and tihama, but lastly the bani taghlib had emigrated to mesopotamia and professed the christian faith. the members of their deputation to mohammad wore golden crosses. when invited to islam, they did not embrace it, but promised to allow their children to become moslems. mohammad allowed them to maintain unchanged their profession of christianity. their christianity was of a notoriously superficial character. "the taghlib," said ali, the fourth khalif, "are not christians; they have borrowed from christianity only the custom of drinking wine."--dozy _historie_, i, .] [footnote : a clan of kinda from the sub-tribe of sakun at yemen.] [footnote : the bani tamim were descendants of tabikha bin elyas of the moaddite stock. they are famous in the history of najd, the northeastern desert of which from the confines of syria to yemama they inhabited. they were at constant warfare with the bani bakr bin abd monát, descendants of kinána of the moaddite stock, from to a.d. all the branches of the tribe which had not yet converted to islam were now converted in a.h. .] [footnote : the bani tay was a great tribe of the kahtanite stock of yemen, had moved northwards, and settled in the mountains of ajá and salmá to the north of najd and hijaz and the town of tyma. they had adopted christianity, but some of them were jews and pagans. their intertribal war has been alluded to in para. . the whole tribe now embraced islam. "a deputation from the bani tay, headed by their chief, zeid-al-khail, came to medina to ransom the prisoners, soon after ali's expedition. mahomet was charmed with zeid, of whose fame both as a warrior and a poet he had long heard. he changed his name to zeid _al kheir_ (_the beneficent_), granted him a large tract of country, and sent him away laden with presents." muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. .] [footnote : they were a branch of sad-al-ashirá of the mazhij tribe of the kahtanite stock. they inhabited the sea-coast of yemen.] [sidenote: all the conversions, individual and tribal, without any compulsion.] . thus all these tribal conversions and the speedy spread of islam in the whole of arabia was accomplished without any resort to arms, compulsion, threat, or "the scymitar in one hand and the koran in the other." the pagan arabs, the christians and the jews, those who embraced islam, adopted it joyfully and voluntarily. islam had been much persecuted for many years from the third year of its prophet's mission to the sixth year after the hegira--a period of about sixteen years, but it flourished alike during persecutions and oppositions as well as during periods of peace and security of the moslems. it was the result of mohammad's staunch adherence to the uncompromising severity of his inflexible principles of preaching the divine truth and his sincere belief in his own mission that he bore steadfastly all the hardships of persecutions at mecca and the horrors of the aggressive wars of the koreish and others at medina, and persuaded the whole of arabia, pagan, jewish and christian, to adopt islam voluntarily.[ ] [footnote : the rebellion of almost the whole of arabia--wrongly called apostasy--after the death of mohammad was chiefly against the government of abu bakr, the first khalifa of the republic of islam. no such paramount power over the whole of arabia was ever vested in the chiefs of mecca, and the arabs were unaccustomed to this new form of government. they had neither rebelled against islam, nor apostatized from their religion, except a very few of them who had attached themselves to moseilama for a short time.] [sidenote: mohammad was not favoured with circumstances round him.] . it was not an easy task for mohammad to have converted the arabs from their national idolatry to a religion of pure and strict monotheism. the aspect of arabia was strictly conservative, and there were no prospects of hopeful changes. the indigenous idolatry and deep-rooted superstition, the worship of visible and material objects of devotion,--idols and unshaped stones,--something that the eyes can see and the hands can handle,--and the dread of invisible genii and other evil spirits, held the arab mind in a rigorous and undisputed thraldom. arabia was obstinately fixed in the profession of idolatry which the peninsula being thickly overspread, widely diffused and thoroughly organized, was supported by national pride and latterly by the sword. "it was," writes dr. marcus dods, "certainly no hopeful task which mohammed undertook when he proposed by the influence of religion to combine into one nation tribes so incapable of being deeply influenced by any religion, and so irreconcilably opposed to one another; to abolish customs which had the sanction of immemorial usage; and to root out an idolatry, which, if it had no profound hold upon the spiritual nature, was at least bound up with old family traditions and well-understood tribal interests."[ ] the sacrifices made to, and the requirements essential to islam, its numerous positive prohibitions, the immediate repudiation of old prejudices, the renunciation of all sorts of idolatry and superstition, the throwing aside of favourite idols and the abandoning of licentious rites and customs, the total abstinence from much-relished vices, the demand for producing practical effect on the will and character, and the reaping of material fruits from holy and religious life--were barriers insurmountable for the speedy progress of islam. notwithstanding these impediments mohammad succeeded, by the influence of his religion, in combining into one nation the wild and independent tribes, and putting a stop to their internecine wars; in abolishing the custom which had the sanction of immemorial usage; and in rooting out the national idolatry of indigenous growth, without compromising his inflexible principles of truth and sincerity and honesty; and without adopting the superstitions and vices of the people. dr. mosheim thinks that, "the causes of this new religion's rapid progress are not difficult to be discovered: mahomet's law itself was admirably fitted to the natural disposition of man, but especially to the manners, opinions and vices prevalent among the people of the east; for it was extremely simple proposing few things to be believed; nor did it enjoin many and difficult duties to be performed, or such as laid severe restraints on the propensities."[ ] it is manifest from the history of religions that the people generally try their best to obtain religion's sanction for the vices prevalent among them. but there is no doubt in this that mohammad never sanctioned the idolatries and superstitions of the arabs, nor he framed his doctrines according to the opinions and fancies of the people. he preached vehemently against everything he found blamable in the people; he spared not their dear idols and beloved gods and the dreaded genii, nor accommodated his preaching and reform to indulge them in their evil practices; nor did he adopt any of the vices current among the people into his system. mohammad certainly did lay stress on the propensities of the mind and made the actions of the heart answerable to god, and preferred inward holiness to outside form. . "the heart is prone to evils."--sura xii. . "the hearing and the sight and the heart, each of these shall be inquired of."--sura xvi. . "god will not punish you for a mistake in your oaths; but he will punish you for that which your hearts have assented to. god is gracious, merciful." . "whatever is in the heavens and in the earth is god's, and whether ye disclose what is in your minds or conceal it, god will reckon with you for it; and whom he pleaseth will he forgive, and whom he pleaseth will he punish; for god is all-powerful."--sura ii. . "and unless made with intent of heart, mistakes in this matter shall be no crimes in you."--sura xxxiii. the teachings of the koran make our natural inclination subject to regulation. it lays stress upon the heart of men. note the following injunctions regarding internal purity: . "abandon the outside iniquity and its inside."--sura vi. . "come not near the pollutions outside or inward."--_ibid._ . "say: truly my lord hath forbidden filthy actions whether open or secret, and iniquity and unjust violence."--sura viii. referring to dr. mosheim's cause of the spread of islam, i will quote henry hallam's opinion regarding the causes of the success of islam. henry hallam, after enumerating the three important causes of the success of islam, the first of which is "those just and elevated notions of the divine nature and of moral duties, the gold-ore that pervades the dross of the koran, which were calculated to strike a serious and reflecting people," and explaining the two others which are not against us, he says:-- "it may be expected that i should add to this what is commonly considered as a distinguishing mark of mohammedanism,--its indulgence to voluptuousness. but this appears to be greatly exaggerated. although the character of its founder may have been tainted by sensuality as ferociousness, i do not think that he relied upon inducements of the former kind for the diffusion of his system. we are not to judge of this by rules of christian purity, or of european practice. if polygamy was a prevailing usage in arabia, as is not questioned, its permission gave no additional license to the proselytes of mohammed, who will be found rather to have narrowed the unbounded liberty of oriental manners in this respect; while his decided condemnation of adultery and of incestuous connections, so frequent among barbarous nations, does not argue a very lax and accommodating morality. a devout mussulman exhibits much more of the stoical than the epicurean character. nor can any one read the koran without being sensible that it breathes an austere and scrupulous spirit. and in fact, the founder of a new religion or sect is little likely to obtain permanent success by indulging the vices or luxuries of mankind. i should rather be disposed to reckon the severity of mohammed's discipline among the causes of its influence. precepts of ritual observance, being always definite and unequivocal, are less likely to be neglected, after their obligation has been acknowledged than those of moral virtue. thus the long fasting, the pilgrimages, and regular prayers and ablutions, the constant almsgiving, the abstinence from stimulating liquors, enjoined by the koran, created a visible standard of practice among its followers, and preserved a continual recollection of their law. "but the prevalence of islam in the lifetime of its prophet, and during the first ages of its existence, was chiefly owing to the spirit of martial energy that he infused into it. the religion of mohammed is as essentially a military system as the institution of chivalry in the west of europe. the people of arabia, a race of strong passions and sanguinary temper, inured to habits of pillage and murder, found in the law of their native prophet not a license, but a command, to desolate the world, and the promise of all that their glowing imaginations could anticipate of paradise annexed to all in which they most delighted upon earth."[ ] this is sufficient to refute the opinion of dr. mosheim. but what hallam says regarding the prevalence of islam in the lifetime of the prophet, and during the first ages of its existence, that "the people of arabia, a race of strong passions and sanguinary temper, inured to habits of pillage and murder, found in the law of their native prophet not a license, but a command, to desolate the world," is untenable. there was neither a command nor a license to desolate the world, nor was any person or tribe converted to islam with that object in view. all the teachings of the koran and the history of the early spread of islam falsify such an idea. [footnote : mohammed, buddha and christ, by marcus dods, d.d., page .] [footnote : mosheim's ecclesiastical history, book ii, chap. iii, page .] [footnote : hallam's middle ages, vol. ii, pp. - .] [sidenote: mohammad's unwavering belief in his own mission and his success show him to be a true prophet.] . i will pause here for a while, and ask the indulgence of the reader to reflect upon the circumstances of the persecutions, insults and injuries, expulsion and attack suffered by mohammad and his early followers,[ ] and his unwavering adherence to preach against the gross idolatry and immorality of his people, which all show his sincere belief in his own mission, and his possession of an irresistible inward impulse to publish the divine truth of his revelations regarding the unity in the godhead and other moral reforms. his preachings of monotheism, and his enjoining righteousness, and forbidding evil deeds, were not attended to for many years with material success. in proportion as he preached against the gross idolatry and superstition of his people, he was subjected to ridicule and scorn, and finally to an inveterate persecution which ruined his and his follower's fortune. but he unflinchingly kept his path; no threats and no injuries hindered him from still preaching to the ungodly people a purer and higher theology and better morality than had ever been set before them. he claimed no temporal power, no spiritual domination; he asked but for simple toleration, for free permission to win men by persuasion into the way of truth. he declared he was sent neither to compel conviction by miracles, nor to constrain outward profession by the sword.[ ] does this leave any doubt of the strong conviction in his mind, as well as in the truth of his claim, to be a man sent by god to preach the divine perfection, and to teach mankind the ways of righteousness? he honestly and sincerely conveyed the message which he had received or which he conscientiously or intuitively believed to have received from his god and which had all the signs and marks of truth in itself. what is meant by a true prophet or a revelation is not more than what we find in the case of mohammad.[ ] the general office and main business of a prophet is to proclaim to mankind the divine perfection, to teach publicly purer theology and higher morality, to enjoin the people to do what is right and just, and to forbid what is wrong and bad. it is neither a part of the prophet to predict future events, nor to show supernatural miracles. and further, a prophet is neither immaculate nor infallible. the revelation is a natural product of human faculties. a prophet feels that his mind is illumined by god, and the thoughts which are expressed by him and spoken or written under this influence are to be regarded as the words of god. this illumination of the mind or the effect of the divine influence differ in any prophet according to the capacity of the recipient, or according to the circumstances--physical, moral, and religious--in which he is placed. [footnote : the early followers of mohammad bore persecutions and exile with patience and steadfastness; and never recanted. look to the increasing number of these early moslems, their magnanimous forbearance, and the spontaneous abandonment of their dear homes and relations, and their defending their prophet with their blood. the number of christian believers during the whole lifetime of christ was not more than (act i, ). they had a material view of the messiah's kingdom, and had fled at the first sound of danger. two of the disciples when walking to emmaus observed, "we trusted that it had been he who should have redeemed israel," and the apostle asked jesus after the so-called resurrection, "lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom of israel?" "during the periods thus indicated as possible for comparison, persecution and rejection were the fate of both. but the thirteen years' ministry of mahomet had brought about a far greater change to the external eye than the whole lifetime of christ. the apostles fled at the first sound of danger, and however deep the inner work may have been in the by whom our lord was seen, it had produced as yet but little outward action. there was among them no spontaneous quitting of their homes, nor emigration by hundreds, such as distinguished the early moslems; nor any rapturous resolution by the converts of a foreign city to defend the prophet with their blood."--the life of mahomet by sir w. muir, vol. ii, page .] [footnote : "let us for a moment look back to the period when a ban was proclaimed at mecca against all the citizens, whether professed converts or not, who espoused his cause; when they were shut up in the _sheb_ or quarter of abu tâlib, and there for three years without prospect of relief endured want and hardship. those must have been steadfast and mighty motives which enabled him amidst all this opposition and apparent hopelessness of success, to maintain his principles unshaken. no sooner was he relieved from confinement, than, despairing of his native city, he went forth to tâyif and summoned its rulers and inhabitants to repentance; he was solitary and unaided, but he had a message, he said, from his lord. on the third day he was driven out of the town with ignominy, blood trickling from the wounds inflicted on him by the populace. he retired to a little distance, and there poured forth his complaint to god: then he returned to mecca, there to carry on the same outwardly hopeless cause with the same high confidence in its ultimate success. we search in vain through the pages of profane history for a parallel to the struggle in which for thirteen years the prophet of arabia in the face of discouragement and threats, rejection and persecution retained his faith unwavering, preached repentance, and denounced god's wrath against his godless fellow-citizens. surrounded by a little band of faithful men and women, he met insults, menaces, dangers, with a high and patient trust in the future. and when at last the promise of safety came from a distant quarter, he calmly waited until his followers had all departed, and then disappeared from amongst his ungrateful and rebellious people."--muir, vol. iv, pages - .] [footnote : "that he was the impostor pictured by some writers is refuted alike by his unwavering belief in the truth of his own mission, by the loyalty and unshaken confidence of his companions, who had ample opportunity of forming a right estimate of his sincerity, and finally, by the magnitude of the task which he brought to so successful an issue. no impostor, it may safely be said, could have accomplished so mighty a work. no one unsupported by a living faith in the reality of his commission, in the goodness of his cause, could have maintained the same consistent attitude through long years of adverse fortune, alike in the day of victory and in the hour of defeat, in the plenitude of his power and at the moment of death."--islam and its founder, by j.w.h. stobart, m.a., page . "of the sincerity of his belief in his own mission there can be no doubt. the great merit is his that among a people given up to idolatry he rose to a vivid perception of the unity of god, and preached this great doctrine with firmness and constancy, amid ridicule and persecution. but there it seems to me that the eulogy of the prophet ought to cease."--islam under the arabs by r.d. osborn. london , p. .] [sidenote: striking effects of mohammad's reforms.] . although his mission was only to convey the message and preach publicly what was revealed to him, and he was not responsible for the conversion of the ungodly polytheists to the purer theology and higher morality, or in other words, to the faith of islam, yet whatever success and beneficial results in the sphere of theology, morality, and reforms in social matters he achieved was a strong evidence of his divine mission. in the name of god and in the character of his apostle, he wrought a great reform according to his light in his own country. "every good tree bringeth forth good fruit."--(matt. vii, ). facts are stubborn things, and facts are conclusive in these points. the effects produced by his preaching, and the changes wrought by them in the religious, social, and political sphere of the polytheists, the idolatrous and grossly superstitious arabs within a comparatively short period, mostly consisting of persecutions at mecca, and struggles at medina, were very striking. from an indiscriminate mass of polytheism and gross superstitious belief in gods, genii, the sons and daughters of god, he gave them a pure monotheistic belief, recognizing no other superior power but the almighty. he raised the moral standard of his countrymen, ameliorated the condition of women, curtailed and mitigated polygamy and slavery, and virtually abolished them as well as infanticide. he most sternly denounced and absolutely forbade many heinous evils of the arab society. he united a number of wild and independent tribes into a nation and abolished their internecine wars. sir w. muir says:-- "few and simple as the positive precepts of mahomet up to this time appear, they had wrought a marvellous and a mighty work. never, since the days when primitive christianity startled the world from its sleep, and waged a mortal combat with heathenism, had men seen the like arousing of spiritual life, the like faith that suffered sacrifice and took joyfully the spoiling of goods for conscience sake. "from time beyond memory, mecca and the whole peninsula had been steeped into spiritual torpor. the slight and transient influence of judaism, christianity, or philosophy upon the arab mind, had been but as the ruffling here and there the surface of a quiet lake;--all remained still and motionless below. the people were sunk in superstition, cruelty, and vice. it was a common practice for the eldest son to marry his father's widows inherited as property with the rest of the estate. pride and poverty had introduced among them, as it has among the hindus, the crime of female infanticide. their religion consisted in gross idolatry, and their faith was rather the dark superstitious dread of unseen beings, whose goodwill they sought to propitiate, and to avert their displeasure, than the belief in an over-ruling providence. the life to come and retribution of good and evil were, as motives of action, practically unknown. "thirteen years before the hegira, mecca lay lifeless in this debased state. what a change those thirteen years had now produced! a band of several hundred persons had rejected idolatry, adopted the worship of one great god, and surrendered themselves implicitly to the guidance of what they believed a revelation from him;--praying to the almighty with frequency and fervour, looking for pardon through his mercy, and striving to follow after good works, almsgiving, chastity and justice. they now lived under a constant sense of the omnipotent power of god, and of his providential care over the minutest of their concerns. in all the gifts of nature, in every relation of life, at each turn of their affairs, individual or public, they saw his hand. and, above all, the new spiritual existence in which they joyed and gloried, was regarded as the mark of his especial grace, while the unbelief of their blinded fellow-citizens was the hardening stamp of his predestined reprobation. mahomet was the minister of life to them,--the source under god of their new-born hopes; and to him they yielded a fitting and implicit submission. "in so short a period, mecca had, from this wonderful movement, been rent into two factions, which, unmindful of the old land-marks of tribe and family, were arrayed in deadly opposition one against the other. the believers bore persecution with a patient and tolerant spirit. and though it was their wisdom so to do, the credit of a magnanimous forbearance may be freely accorded to them. one hundred men and women, rather than abjure the precious faith, had abandoned their homes, and sought refuge, till the storm should be overpast, in abyssinian exile. and now even a larger number, with the prophet himself, emigrated from their fondly-loved city, with its sacred temple,--to them the holiest spot on earth,--and fled to medîna. there the same wonder-working charm had within two or three years prepared for them a brotherhood ready to defend the prophet and his followers with their blood. jewish truth had long sounded in the ears of the men of medîna, but it was not till they heard the spirit-stirring strains of the arabian prophet, that they too awoke from their slumber, and sprang suddenly into a new and earnest life."[ ] further on sir w. muir says:-- "and what have been the effects of the system which, established by such instrumentality, mahomet has left behind him. we may freely concede that it banished for ever many of the darker elements of superstition which had for ages shrouded the peninsula. idolatry vanished before the battle-cry of islam; the doctrine of the unity and infinite perfections of god, and of a special all-pervading providence, became a living principle in the hearts and lives of the followers of mahomet, even as it had in his own. an absolute surrender and submission to the divine will (the very name of _islam_) was demanded as the first requirement of the religion. nor are social virtues wanting. brotherly love is inculcated within the circle of the faith; orphans are to be protected, and slaves treated with consideration; intoxicating drinks are prohibited, and mahometanism may boast of a degree of temperance unknown to any other creed."[ ] dr. marcus dods writes:-- "but is mahommed in no sense a prophet? certainly he had two of the most important characteristics of the prophetic order. he saw truth about god which his fellowmen did not see, and he had an irresistible inward impulse to publish this truth. in respect of this latter qualification mahommed may stand comparison with the most courageous of the heroic prophets of israel. for the truth's sake he risked his life, he suffered daily persecutions for years, and eventually banishment, the loss of property, of the goodwill of his fellow-citizens, and the confidence of his friends--he suffered in short as much as any man can suffer short of death, which he only escaped by flight, and yet he unflinchingly proclaimed his message. no bribe, threat or inducement could silence him. 'though they array against me the sun on the right hand, and the moon on the left, i cannot renounce my purpose.' and it was this persistency, this belief in his call, to proclaim the unity of god which was the making of islam. other men have been monotheists in the midst of idolaters, but no other man has founded a strong and enduring monotheistic religion. the distinction in his case was his resolution that other men should believe.... his giving himself out as a prophet of god was, in the first instance, not only sincere, but probably correct in the sense in which he himself understood it. he felt that he had thoughts of god which it deeply concerned all around him to receive, and he knew that these thoughts were given him by god, although not, as we shall see, a revelation strictly so called. his mistake lay by no means in his supposing himself to be called upon by god to speak for him and introduce a better religion, but it lay in his gradually coming to insist quite as much on men's accepting him as a prophet as on their accepting the great truth he preached. he was a prophet to his countrymen in so far as he proclaimed the unity of god, but this was no sufficient ground for his claiming to be their guide in all matters of religion, still less for his assuming the lordship over them in all matters civil as well...." the learned doctor further on in his book, "mohammed, buddha, and christ," remarks:-- "but as we endeavour to estimate the good and evil of islam, it gradually appears that the chief point we must attend to is to distinguish between its value to arabia in the seventh century and its value to the world at large. no one, i presume, would deny that to mohammed's contemporaries his religion was an immense advance on anything they had previously believed in. it welded together the disunited tribes, and lifted the nation to the forefront of the important powers in the world. it effected what christianity and judaism had alike failed to effect--it swept away, once and for ever, idolatry, and established the idea of one true god. its influence on arabia was justly and pathetically put by the moslem refugees in abyssinia, who when required to say why they should not be sent back to mecca, gave the following account of their religion and what it had done for them: 'o king, we were plunged in ignorance and barbarism; we worshipped idols; we ate dead bodies; we committed lewdness; disregarded family ties and the duties of neighbourhood and hospitality; we knew no law but that of the strong, when god sent among us a messenger of whose truthfulness, integrity, and innocence we were aware; and he called us to the unity of god, and taught us not to associate any god with him; he forbade us the worship of idols, and enjoined upon us to speak the truth, to be faithful to our trusts, to be merciful, and to regard the rights of others; to love our relatives and to protect the weak; to flee vice and avoid all evil. he taught us to offer prayers, to give alms, and to fast. and because we believed in him and obeyed him, therefore are we persecuted and driven from our country to seek thy protection.'"[ ] but after all we have here seen of the opinions of dr. marcus dods and sir w. muir, let us turn to what the rev. stephens thinks of mohammad:-- "the aim of mahomet was to revive among his countrymen the arabs, as moses revived among his countrymen the jews, the pure faith of their common forefather abraham. in this he succeeded to a very great extent. for a confused heap of idolatrous superstitions he substituted a pure monotheistic faith; he abolished some of the most vicious practices of his countrymen, modified others; he generally raised the moral standard, improved the social condition of the people, and introduced a sober and rational ceremonial in worship. finally he welded by this means a number of wild independent tribes, mere floating atoms, into a compact body politic, as well prepared and as eager to subdue the kingdoms of the world to their rule and to their faith, as ever the israelites had been to conquer the land of canaan. * * * * * "the koran also enjoins repeatedly and in very emphatic language the duty of showing kindness to the stranger and the orphan, and of treating slaves, if converted to the faith, with the consideration and respect due to believers. the duty even of mercy to the lower animals is not forgotten, and it is to be thankfully acknowledged that mohammedanism as well as buddhism shares with christianity the honour of having given birth to hospitals and asylums for the insane and sick. * * * * * "the vices most prevalent in arabia in the time of mahomet which are most sternly denounced and absolutely forbidden in the koran were drunkenness, unlimited concubinage and polygamy, the destruction of female infants, reckless gambling, extortionate usury, superstitious arts of divination and magic. the abolition of some of these evil customs, and the mitigation of others, was a great advance in the morality of the arabs, and is a wonderful and honourable testimony to the zeal and influence of the reformer. the total suppression of female infanticide and of drunkenness is the most signal triumph of his work."[ ] the reverend gentleman quoted above continues: "first of all, it must be freely granted that to his own people mahomet was a great benefactor. he was born in a country where political organization, and rational faith, and pure morals were unknown. he introduced all three. by a single stroke of masterly genius he simultaneously reformed the political condition, the religious creed, and the moral practice of his countrymen. in the place of many independent tribes he left a nation; for a superstitious belief in gods many and lords many he established a reasonable belief in one almighty yet beneficent being; taught men to live under an abiding sense of this being's superintending care, to look to him as the rewarder, and to fear him as the punisher of evil-doers. he vigorously attacked, and modified and suppressed many gross and revolting customs which had prevailed in arabia down to his time. for an abandoned profligacy was substituted a carefully regulated polygamy, and the practice of destroying female infants was effectually abolished. "as islam gradually extended its conquest beyond the boundaries of arabia, many barbarous races whom it absorbed became in like manner participators in its benefits. the turk, the indian, the negro, and the moor were compelled to cast away their idols, to abandon their licentious rites and customs, to turn to the worship of one god, to a decent ceremonial and an orderly way of life. the faith even of the more enlightened persian was purified: he learned that good and evil are not co-ordinate powers, but that just and unjust are alike under the sway of one all-wise and holy ruler, who ordereth all things in heaven and earth. "for barbarous nations, then, especially--nations which were more or less in the condition of arabia itself at the time of mahomet--nations in the condition of africa at the present day, with little or no civilisation, and without a reasonable religion--islam certainly comes as a blessing, as a turning from darkness to light and from the power of satan unto god."[ ] [footnote : the life of mahomet by sir w. muir, ll.d., vol. ii, pp. - .] [footnote : the life of mahomet by sir w. muir, vol. iv, pp. - .] [footnote : mohammed, buddha and christ, by marcus dods, d.d., pp. - & .] [footnote : christianity and islam: the bible and the koran, by rev. w.r.w. stephens, pp. , , , london, .] [footnote : christianity and islam: the bible and the koran, by the rev. w.r.w. stephens, pp. - , london, .] [sidenote: indictment against mohammad.] . what the opponents of mohammad can possibly say against his mission is his alleged moral declension at medina.[ ] they accuse him of cruelty[ ] and sensuality[ ] during his sojourn in that city after he had passed without any blame more than fifty-five years of his age, and had led a pious missionary life for upwards of fifteen years. these moral stains cannot be inconsistent with his office of being a prophet or reformer. it is no matter if a prophet morally degrades his character under certain circumstances, or morally degrades his character at the end of his age--after leading for upwards of fifty-five years a life of the highest moral principles, and as a paragon of temperance and high-toned living--while he has faithfully conveyed the message, and has sincerely and honestly preached religious reforms, and the sublimity of his preachings have in themselves the marks of divine truth. if the said prophet defends his stains or immoral deeds by professed revelations, and justifies himself in his flagrant breaches of morality by producing messages from heaven, just and equally as he does when he teaches the purer theology and higher morality for which he is commissioned, then and from that time only we will consider him as an impostor, guilty of high blasphemy in forging the name of god for his licentious self indulgences. but in the case of mohammad, in the first place, the charges of cruelty and sensuality during a period of six or seven years towards the end of his life, excepting three years, are utterly false; and secondly, if proved to have taken place, it is not proved that mohammad justified himself by alleging to have received a divine sanction or command to the alleged cruelties and flagrant breaches of morality. the charges of assassinations and cruelties to the prisoners of war and others, and of the alleged perfidy and craftiness enumerated by sir w. muir, have been examined and refuted by me in this book. _vide_ pp. - and pp. - . the cases of maria, a slave-girl, and zeinab not coming directly under the object of this book have been treated separately in appendix b, pp. - of this work. mohammad, in his alleged cruelties towards his enemies, is not represented by sir w. muir to have justified himself by special revelation or sanction from on high, yet the rev. mr. hughes, whose work has been pronounced as having "_the rare merit of being accurate_," makes him (mohammad) to have done them under the sanction of god in the koran. "the best defenders of the arabian prophet[ ] are obliged to admit that the matter of zeinab, the wife of zeid, and again of mary, the coptic slave, are 'an indelible stain' upon his memory; that he is untrue once or twice to the kind and forgiving disposition of his best nature; that he is once or twice unrelenting in the punishment of his personal enemies, and that he is guilty even more than once of conniving at the assassination of inveterate opponents; but they do not give any satisfactory explanation or apology for all this being done _under the supposed sanction_ of god in the qurán."[ ] such is the rare accuracy of mr. hughes' work. it is needless for me to repeat here that none of these allegations are either true or facts, or alleged to have been committed under the sanction of god in the koran. the rev. marcus dods writes regarding the character of mohammad:-- "the knot of the matter lies not in his polygamy, nor even in his occasional licentiousness, but in the fact that he defended his conduct, when he created scandal, by professed revelations which are now embodied as parts of the koran. when his wives murmured, and with justice, at his irregularities, he silenced them by a revelation giving him conjugal allowances which he had himself proscribed as unlawful. when he designed to contract an alliance with a woman forbidden to him by his own law, an inspired permission was forthcoming, encouraging him to the transgression."[ ] both of these alleged instances given above are mere fabrications. there was no revelation giving mohammad conjugal allowances which he had himself proscribed as unlawful, nor any permission was brought forward to sanction an alliance forbidden to him by his own law. this subject has been fully discussed by me in my work "mohammad, the true prophet," and the reader is referred to that work.[ ] a few verses on the marital subject of mohammad are greatly misunderstood by european writers on the subject, and dr. dods shares the generally wrong idea when he says:-- "he rather used his office as a title to license from which ordinary men were restrained. restricting his disciples to four wives, he retained to himself the liberty of taking as many as he pleased." (page .) this is altogether a gross misrepresentation of the real state of things. mohammad never retained to himself the liberty of taking as many wives as he pleased. on the contrary, sura xxxiii, , expressly forbade him all women except those he had already with him, giving him no option to marry in the case of the demise of some or all of them. this will show that he rather used his office as a restraint against himself of what was lawful for the people in general to enjoy. the only so-called privilege above the rest of the believers (sura xxxiii, ) was not "to retain to himself the liberty of taking as many wives as he pleased," but to retain the wives whom he had already married and whose number exceeded the limit of four under sura iv, . other believers having more wives than four as in the case of kays, ghailán, and naofal, were requested to separate themselves from the number exceeding the limit prescribed for the first time. this was before polygamy was declared to have been virtually abolished, _i.e._, between the publication of _vv._ and of sura iv. there was neither any breach of morality, nor anything licentious in his retaining the marriages lawfully contracted by him before the promulgation of sara iv, . even this privilege (sura xxxiii, ) was counterbalanced by _ibid_, , which runs thus:-- "women are not allowed thee hereafter, nor to change them for other women, though their beauty charm thee, except those already possessed by thee." mr. stanley lane poole suffers under the same misrepresentation as other european writers[ ] do when he says that:-- "the prophet allowed his followers only four wives, he took more than a dozen himself." he writes:-- "when, however, all has been said, when it has been shown that mohammad was not the rapacious voluptuary some have taken him for, and that his violation of his own marriage-law may be due to motives reasonable and just from his point of view rather than to common sensuality." "did mohammad believe he was speaking the words of god equally when he declared that permission was given him to take unto him more wives, as when he proclaimed, 'there is no god but god?'"[ ] mohammad did not violate his own marriage-law, and never pretended that permission was given to him to take more wives than what was allowed for other people. all his marriages (which are wrongly considered to have been about a dozen) were contracted by him before he published the law unjustly said to have been violated by him. he retained these wives after the law was promulgated, and their number exceeded four, but he was interdicted to marry any other women in the place of these in case of their demise or divorce. other believers were advised after the promulgation of the law to reduce the number of their wives exceeding four, but were at liberty to replace their wives within the limit assigned in the case of their demise or divorce. mohammad's case had no breach of morality or sensual license in it. it was very wise of mohammad to retain all the wives he had married before sura iv, , came into force, for the reason that the wives thus repudiated by him might have married some of the unbelievers, even some of his enemies, which would have been derogatory to the prophet in the eyes of his contemporaries and a laughing-stock for his enemies. [footnote : "we may readily admit that at the first mahomet did believe, or persuaded himself to believe, that his revelations were dictated by a divine agency. in the meccan period of his life there certainly can be traced no personal ends or unworthy motives to belie this conclusion. the prophet was there, what he professed to be, 'a simple preacher and a warner;' he was the despised and rejected teacher of a gainsaying people; and he had apparently no ulterior object but their reformation. mahomet may have mistaken the right means to effect this end, but there is no sufficient reason for doubting that he used those means in good faith and with an honest purpose. "but the scene altogether changes at medîna. there the acquisition of temporal power, aggrandisement, and self-glorification mingled with the grand object of the prophet's previous life, and they were sought after and attained by precisely the same instrumentality. messages from heaven were freely brought forward to justify his political conduct, equally with his religious precepts. battles were fought, wholesale executions inflicted, and territories annexed, under pretext of the almighty's sanction. nay, even baser actions were not only excused, but encouraged by the pretended divine approval or command. a special license was produced, allowing mahomet a double number of wives; the discreditable affair of mary the coptic slave was justified in a separate sura; and the passion for the wife of his own adopted son and bosom friend was the subject of an inspired message in which the prophet's scruples were rebuked by god; a divorce permitted, and marriage with the object of his unhallowed desires enjoined."--muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, pp. - .] [footnote : "but the darker shades of character as well as the brighter must be depicted by a faithful historian. magnanimity or moderation are nowhere discernible as features in the conduct of mahomet towards such of his enemies as failed to tender a timely allegiance. over the bodies of the coreish who fell at badr he exulted with savage satisfaction; and several prisoners, accused of no crime but that of scepticism and political opposition, were deliberately executed at his command. the prince of kheibar, after being subjected to inhuman torture for the purpose of discovering the treasures of his tribe, was, with his cousin, put to death on the pretext of having treacherously concealed them; and his wife was led away captive to the tent of the conqueror. sentence of exile was enforced by mahomet with rigorous severity on two whole jewish tribes at medîna; and of a third like his neighbours, the women and children were sold into distant captivity, while the men amounting to several hundreds were butchered in cold blood before his eyes. "in his youth mahomet earned among his fellows the honourable title of 'the faithful.' but in later years, however much sincerity and good faith may have guided his conduct in respect of his friends, craft and deception were certainly not wanting towards his foes. the perfidious attack at nakhla, where the first blood in the internecine war with the coreish was shed, although at first disavowed by mahomet, for its scandalous breach of the sacred usages of arabia, was eventually justified by a pretended revelation. abu basîr, the freebooter, was countenanced by the prophet in a manner scarcely consistent with the letter, and certainly opposed to the spirit, of the truce of hodeibia. the surprise which secured the easy conquest of mecca was designed with craftiness, if not with duplicity. the pretext on which the bani nadhîr were besieged and expatriated (namely, that gabriel had revealed their design against the prophet's life), was feeble and unworthy of an honest cause. when medîna was beleaguered by the confederate army, mahomet sought the services of nueim, a traitor, and employed him to sow distrust among the enemy by false and treacherous reports; 'for,' said he, 'what else is war but a game at deception?' in his prophetical career, political and personal ends were frequently compassed by the flagrant pretence of _divine_ revelations, which a candid examination would have shewn him to be nothing more than the counterpart of his own wishes. the jewish and christian systems, at first adopted honestly as the basis of his own religion, had no sooner served the purpose of establishing a firm authority, than they were ignored, if not disowned. and what is perhaps worst of all, the dastardly assassination of political and religious opponents, countenanced and frequently directed as they were in all their cruel and perfidious details by mahomet himself leaves a dark and indelible blot upon his character."--muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, pp. - . "the reader will observe that simultaneously with the anxious desire to extinguish idolatry, and to promote religion and virtue in the world, there was nurtured by the prophet in his own heart a licentious self-indulgence; till in the end, assuming to be the favourite of heaven, he justified himself by 'revelations' from god in the most flagrant breaches of morality. he will remark that while mahomet cherished a kind and tender disposition, 'weeping with them that wept,' and binding to his person the hearts of his followers by the ready and self-denying offices of love and friendship, he could yet take pleasure in cruel and perfidious assassination, could gloat over the massacre of an entire tribe, and savagely consign the innocent babe to the fires of hell."--muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, pp. - .] [footnote : "in domestic life the conduct of mahomet with one grave exception was exemplary. as a husband his fondness and devotion was entire, bordering, however, at times upon jealousy. as a father he was loving and tender. in his youth he is said to have lived a virtuous life. at the age of twenty-five he married a widow forty years old; and for five and twenty years he was a faithful husband to her alone. yet it is remarkable that during this period was composed most of those passages of the coran in which the black-eyed houris, reserved for believers in paradise, are depicted in such glowing colours. shortly after the death of khadija the prophet married again; but it was not till the mature age of fifty-four that he made the dangerous trial of polygamy, by taking ayesha, yet a child, as the rival of sauda. once the natural limits of restraint were overpassed, mahomet fell an easy prey to his strong passion for the sex. in his fifty-sixth year he married haphsa; and the following year, in two succeeding months, zeinab bint khozeima and omm salma. but his desires were not to be satisfied by the range of a harem already greater than was permitted to any of his followers; rather as age advanced, they were stimulated to seek for new and varied indulgence. a few months after his nuptials with zeinab and omm salma, the charms of a second zeinab were by accident discovered too fully before the prophet's admiring gaze. she was the wife of zeid, his adopted son and bosom friend; but he was unable to smother the flame she kindled in his breast; and, by _divine_ command, she was taken to his bed. in the same year he married a seventh wife, and also a concubine. and at last, when he was full three score years of age, no fewer than three new wives, besides mary the coptic slave, were within the space of seven months added to his already well-filled harem."--muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, pp. - .] [footnote : "_vide_ muhammad and muhammadanism, by mr. r. bosworth smith, m.a., an assistant master of harrow school."] [footnote : notes on muhammadanism, by the rev. t.p. hughes, missionary to the afghans, peshawar; second edition, page , london, .] [footnote : mohammed, buddha and christ, by marcus dods, d.d., pp. & .] [footnote : _vide_ pp. - . this work is being printed at education society's press, byculla, bombay. it appears that dr. dods, in the first instance, had in view sura xxxiii, . this is by no means giving mohammad conjugal allowances which he himself had proscribed as unlawful. as a preliminary measure to abolish polygamy and to accustom the people to monogamy, mohammad, when reducing the unlimited polygamy practised in arabia, had put a strong condition to treat their wives, when more than one, equitably in every sense of the word,--_i.e._, in the matter of social comfort, love and household establishment (sura iv, ). when the measure had given a monogamous tendency to the arab society, it was declared that it was impossible practically to treat equitably in all respects the contemporary wives (sura iv, ), and those who had already contracted contemporaneous marriage before the measure referred to above was introduced were absolved from the condition laid down in sura iv, , but were advised, regarding their then existing wives, not to yield wholly to disinclination. similarly mohammad was also relieved from that condition in sura xxxiii, , without "giving him any conjugal allowance which he had himself pronounced unlawful." the second instance is of zeinab's case i suppose. zeinab was in no way, when divorced by zeid, "a woman forbidden to him by his own laws."] [footnote : "the apostle becomes a creature so exalted that even the easy drapery of mohammadan morality becomes a garment too tight-fitting for him. 'a peculiar privilege is granted to him above the rest of the believers.' he may multiply his wives without stint; he may and he does marry within the prohibited degrees."--_islam under the arabs_, by r.d. osborn, london , p. .] [footnote : studies in a mosque, by s.l. poole, pp. and , london, .] [sidenote: finality of the social reforms of mohammad.] [sidenote: positive precepts.] [sidenote: ceremonial law.] [sidenote: concrete morals of the koran.] [sidenote: want of adaptibility of the koran to surrounding circumstances.] . it has been said with much stress regarding the teachings of mohammad: ( ) that although under the degraded condition of arabia, they were a gift of great value, and succeeded in banishing those fierce vices which naturally accompany ignorance and barbarism, but an imperfect code of ethics has been made a permanent standard of good and evil, and a final and irrevocable law, which is an insuperable barrier to the regeneration and progress of a nation. it has been also urged that his reforms were good and useful for his own time and place, but that by making them final he has prevented further progress and consecrated half measures. what were restrictions to his arabs would have been license to other men.[ ] ( ) that islam deals with positive precepts rather than with principles,[ ] and the danger of a precise system of positive precepts regulating the minute detail, the ceremonial worship, and the moral and social relations of life, is, that it should retain too tight a grip upon men when the circumstances which justified it have changed and vanished away, and therefore the imposition of a system good for barbarians upon people already possessing higher sort of civilization and the principles of a purer faith is not a blessing but a curse. nay more, even the system which was good for people when they were in a barbarous state may become positively mischievous to those same people when they begin to emerge from their barbarism under its influence into a higher condition.[ ] ( ) that the exact ritual and formal observations of islam have carried with them their own nemesis, and thus we find that in the worship of the faithful formalism and indifferences, pedantic scrupulosity and positive disbelief flourish side by side. the minutest change of posture in prayer, the displacement of a simple genuflexion, would call for much heavier censure than outward profligacy or absolute neglect.[ ] ( ) that morality is viewed not in the abstract, but in the concrete. that the koran deals much more with sin and virtue in fragmentary details than as a whole. it deals with acts more than principles, with outward practice more than inward motives, with precepts and commands more than exhortation. it does not hold up before man the hatefulness and ugliness of _all_ sin _as a whole_.[ ] ( ) "that islam is stationary; swathed in the rigid bands of the coran, it is powerless, like the christian dispensation,[ ] to adapt itself to the varying circumstances of time and place, and to keep pace with, if not to lead and direct, the progress of society and the elevation of the race. in the body politic the spiritual and secular are hopelessly confounded, and we fail of perceiving any approach to free institutions or any germ whatever of popular government."[ ] [footnote : _vide_ islam and its founder, by j.w.h. stobart, b.a., page , london, ; and mohammed, buddha and christ, by marcus dods, d.d., pp. - , london, . major osborn writes, "but to the polity erected on these rude lines was given the attribute of finality. in order to enforce obedience and eliminate the spirit of opposition, mohammad asserted that it was, down to the minutest details, the work of a divine legislature."--_islam under the arabs_, pp. and .] [footnote : _vide_ the faith of islam, by the rev. edward sell, page , london, .] [footnote : _vide_ christianity and islam, the bible, and the koran, by the rev. w.r.w. stephens, pp. and , london, .] [footnote : _vide_ islam and its founder, by j.w.h. stobart, b.a., page ; and stephens' christianity and islam, page . major osborn writes: "from the hour of his birth the moslem becomes a member of a system in which every act of his life is governed by a minute ritual. he is beset on every side with a circle of inflexible formalities."--_islam under the khalifs of baghdad_, pp. - . he further writes in a footnote, p. : "thus prayer is absolutely useless if any matter, legally considered impure, adheres to the person of the worshipper, even though he be unconscious of its presence. prayer also is null and void unless the men and women praying are attired in a certain prescribed manner."] [footnote : _vide_ christianity and islam, by w.r.w. stephens, pp. - . major osborn writes: "the prophet knew of no religious life where the external rite was not deemed of greater importance than the inner state, and, in consequence, he gave that character to islam also. hence there are no moral gradations in the koran. all precepts proceed from the will of god, and all are enforced with the same threatening emphasis. a failure of performance in the meanest trivialities of civil life involves the same tremendous penalties as apostacy and idolatry."--_islam under khalifs_, p. . he further says: "in their religious aspect, these traditions are remarkable for that strange confusion of thought which caused the prophet to place on one level of wickedness serious moral crimes, breaches of sumptuary regulations, and accidental omissions in ceremonial observations. sin, throughout, is regarded as an external pollution, which can, at once, be rectified by the payment of a fine of some kind." _ibid_, page .] [footnote : "occasionally our author would seem to write what he certainly does not mean; thus, in the middle of an excellent summary of the causes of islam's decadence, it is stated,--'swathed in the rigid bands of the koran, _islam is powerless like the christian dispensation_ to adapt itself to the varying circumstances of time and place.'"--_the saturday review_, june , .] [footnote : _vide_ annals of the early caliphate, by sir w. muir, k.c.s.i., ll.d., d.c.l., page , london, .] [sidenote: the preceding objections not applicable to the koran.] . all these objections more or less apply rather to the teachings of the mohammadan common law (canon and civil), called _fiqah_ or _shara_, than to the koran, the mohammadan revealed law. our common law, which treats both ecclesiastical and the civil law, is by no means considered to be a divine or unchangeable law. this subject has been treated by me in a separate work[ ] on the legal, political and social reforms to which the reader is referred. the space allowed to me in this introduction, which has already exceeded its proper limit, does not admit a full and lengthy discussion of the objections quoted above, but i will review them here in as few words as possible. [footnote : reforms, political, social and legal, under the moslem rule, bombay education society's press, .] [sidenote: finality of the social reforms of mohammad.] . ( ) mohammad had to deal with barbarous nations around him, to be gradually reformed, and besides this the subject of social reforms was a secondary question. yet it being necessary to transform the character of the people and to reform the moral and social abuses prevailing among them, he gradually introduced his social reforms which proved immense blessings to the arabs and other nations in the seventh century. perhaps some temporary but judicious, reasonable and helpful accommodations had to be made to the weakness and immaturity of the people, as halting stages in the march of reforms only to be set aside at their adult strength, or to be abolished when they were to begin to emerge from their barbarism under its influence to a higher civilization. consequently gradual amelioration of social evils had necessarily to pass several trials during progress of reform. the intermediate stages are not to be taken as final and irrevocable standard of morality and an insuperable barrier to the regeneration of the arabian nation. our adversaries stick indiscriminately to these temporary measures or concessions only, and call them half measures and partial reforms made into an unchangeable law which exclude the highest reforms, and form a formidable obstacle to the dawn of a progressive and enlightened civilization. i have in view here the precepts of mohammad for ameliorating the degraded condition of women for restricting the unlimited polygamy and the facility of divorce, together with servile concubinage and slavery.[ ] mohammad's injunctions and precepts, intermediary and ultimate, temporary and permanent, intended for the removal of these social evils, are interwoven with each other, interspersed in different suras and not chronologically arranged, in consequence of which it is somewhat difficult for those who have no deep insight into the promiscuous literature of the koran to find out which precept was only a halting stage, and which the latest. it was only from some oversight on the part of the compilers of the common law that, in the first place, the civil precepts of a transitory nature and as a mediate step leading to a higher reform were taken as final; and in the second place, the civil precepts adapted for the dwellers of the arabian desert were pressed upon the neck of all ages and countries. a social system for barbarism ought not to be imposed on a people already possessing higher forms of civilizations. [footnote : "the cankerworm of polygamy, divorce, servile concubinage and veil lay at the root. they are bound up in the character of its existence. a reformed islam which should part with the divine ordinances on which they rest, or attempt in the smallest degree to change them by a rationalistic selection, abetment or variation would be islam no longer." annals of the early caliphate by sir w. muir, page .] [sidenote: positive precepts.] [sidenote: ceremonial law.] . ( ) in fact the koran deals with positive precepts as well as with principles, but it never teaches a precise system of precepts regulating in minute details the social relations of life and the ceremonial of worship. on the contrary, its aim has been to counteract the tendency to narrowness, formality, and severity which is the consequence of a living under a rigid system of positive precepts. mohammad had to transform the character of the arab barbarians who had no religious or moral teacher or a social reformer before his advent. it was therefore necessary to give them a few positive precepts, moulding and regulating their moral and social conduct, to make them 'new creatures' with new notions and new purposes, and to remodel the national life. ( ) but lest they should confuse virtue as identical with obedience to the outward requirements of the ceremonial law,--the formal ablutions, the sacrifices in pilgrimages, the prescribed forms of prayers, the fixed amount of alms, and the strict fasts, the voice of the koran has ever and anon been lifted up to declare that a rigid conformity to practical precepts, whether of conduct or ceremonial, would not extenuate, but rather increase in the eyes of god the guilt of an unprincipled heart and an unholy life. [sidenote: pilgrimage.] regarding the pilgrimage[ ] or the sacrifices (its chief ceremony), the koran says:-- "by no means can their flesh reach unto god, neither their blood, but piety on your part reacheth him. thus hath he subjected them to you, that ye might magnify god for his guidance: and announce glad tidings to the doers of good."--sura xxii, . [sidenote: kibla.] regarding the _kibla_ in prayers it is said in the koran:-- "the west and the east is god's: therefore whichever way ye turn there is the face of god."--sura ii, . "all have a quarter of the heavens to which they turn them; but wherever ye be, hasten emulously after good."--_ibid_, . "there is no piety in turning your faces toward the east or west, but he is pious who believeth in god and the last day, and the angels and the scripture, and the prophets; who for the love of god disburseth his wealth to his kindred; and to the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer, and those who ask, and for ransoming; who observeth the prayer, and payeth alms, and who is of those who are faithful to their engagements when they have engaged in them, and patient under ills and hardships, and in time of trouble, these are they who are just, and these are they who fear the lord."--_ibid_, . [sidenote: amount of alms.] in the place of a fixed amount of alms the koran only says to give what ye can spare. "they will ask thee also what shall they bestow in alms: "say: what ye can spare."--_ibid_, , . [sidenote: fasts.] instead of imposing a very strict fast, which in the middle of summer is extremely mortifying, the koran makes its observance optional. "and as for those who are able to keep it and yet observe it not, the expiation of this shall be the maintenance of a poor man. and he who of his own accord performeth a good work, shall derive good from it: and good shall it be for you to fast, if ye knew it."--_ibid_, . [sidenote: no prescribed forms of prayer.] the koran does not teach any prescribed forms of worship and other ritualistic prayers. no attitude is fixed, and no outward observance of posture is required. there is no scrupulosity and punctiliousness, neither the change of posture in prayer nor the displacement of a single genuflexion calls any censure on the devotee in the koran. simply reading the koran (suras lxxiii, ; xxix, ), and bearing god in mind, standing and sitting; reclining (iii, ; iv, ) or bowing down or prostrating (xxii, ) is the only form and ritual, if it may be called so, of prayer and worship taught in the koran. "recite then as much of the koran as may be easy to you."--sura lxxiii, . "recite the portions of the book which have been revealed to thee and discharge the duty of prayer; verily prayer restraineth from the filthy and the blameworthy. and assuredly the gravest duty is the remembrance of god; and god knoweth what ye do."--sura xxix, . "and when the koran is rehearsed, then listen ye to it and keep silence: haply ye may obtain mercy." "and think within thine ownself on god, with lowliness and with fear and without loud-spoken words, at even and at morn; and be not of the heedless."--sura vii, , . [sidenote: pretentious prayers and ostentatious almsgiving condemned.] the koran condemns pretentious prayers and ostentatious almsgiving. "verily the hypocrites would deceive god; but he will deceive them! when they stand up for prayer, they stand carelessly to be seen of men, and they remember god but little"--sura iv, . "woe then to those who pray," "who in their prayer are careless;" "who make a show of devotion," "but refuse help _to the needy_."--sura cvii, - . "and they fall down on their faces weeping, and it increaseth the humility."--sura xvii, . "o ye who believe! make not your alms void by reproaches and injury; like him who spendeth his substance to be seen of men, and believeth not in god and in the latter day. the likeness of such an one is that of a rock with a thin soil upon it, on which a heavy rain falleth, but leaveth it hard. no profit from their works shall they be able to gain; for god guideth not the unbelieving people."--sura ii, . "we have made ready a shameful chastisement for the unbelievers, and for those who bestow their substance in alms to be seen of men, and believe not in god and in the last day. whoever hath satan for his companion, an evil companion hath he!"--sura iv, . [sidenote: no indispensable hours or places for prayers.] there are no indispensable hours or places to be observed for prayers. in suras xi, ; and iv, , the time of prayer is set down in general terms without specifying any fixed hour. there are some more times named in suras xvii, , ; xx, ; l, , ; and lii, , , but they are special cases for mohammad himself, and "as an excess in the service." _vide_ sura xvii, . on this subject dr. marcus dods observes:-- "there are two features of the devout character which the mohammedans have the merit of exhibiting with much greater distinctness than we do. they show not the smallest hesitation or fear in confessing god, and they reduce to practice the great principle that the worship of god is not confined to temples or any special place:-- "most honour to the men of prayer, whose mosque is in them everywhere! who amid revel's wildest din, in war's severest discipline, on rolling deck, in thronged bazaar, in stranger land, however far, however different in their reach of thought, in manners, dress or speech,-- will quietly their carpet spread. to mekkeh turn the humble head, and, as if blind to all around, and deaf to each distracting sound, in ritual language god adore, in spirit to his presence soar, and in the pauses of the prayer, rest, as if rapt in glory there." "there are of course formalists and hypocrites in islam as well as in religions of which we have more experience. the uniformity and regularity of their prostrations resemble the movements of a well-drilled company of soldiers or of machines, but the koran denounces "woe upon those who pray, but in their prayers are careless, who make a show of devotion, but refuse to help the needy;" while nowhere is formalism more pungently ridiculed than in the common arabic proverb, "his head is towards the kibleh, but his heels among the weeds." we could almost excuse a touch of formalism for the sake of securing that absolute stillness and outward decorum in worship which deceives the stranger as he enters a crowded mosque into the belief that it is quite empty. persons who hold themselves excused from the duty of worship by every slight obstacle might do worse than get infected with the sublime formalism of cais, son of sad, who would not shift his head an inch from the place of his prostration, though a huge serpent lifted its fangs close to his face and finally coiled itself round his neck. and if some are formal, certainly many are very much in earnest."[ ] [sidenote: ablutions.] the ablutions have not been imposed as burdens, or as having any mysterious merit, but merely as a measure of cleanliness. "god desireth not to lay a burden upon you, but he desireth to purify you." [footnote : the institution of pilgrimage is a harmless one, and conducive to unity in religion for arabs, and gives moreover an impetus to trade at large.] [footnote : mohammed, buddha, and christ, by marcus dods, d.d., pp. - .] [sidenote: koran both abstract and concrete in morals.] . ( ) the koran seems fully aware of the danger of the precise and fixed system of positive precepts moulding and regulating every department of life. the danger is that the system of formalism in which men are tied down to the performance of certain religious functions, minutely and precisely fixed in respect to time, place and manner, so that neither less nor more is required of them, retains too tight a grip upon them, when the circumstances which justified it have changed or vanished away. the moral growth of those who live under such a system of minute and punctilious restraint is stunted and retarded. the tendency of mankind to formalism is so strong that they very commonly, though often unconsciously, fall into the error of imagining that there is a peculiar intrinsic merit and virtue in the mere discharge of those prescribed forms of duties and religious ceremonies. morality is with them not in the abstract but in the concrete, as consisting of a mass of religious observances, rather than of a certain disposition of heart towards god and man. the koran deals with vice and virtue as a whole as well as in fragmentary details. it treats of inward motives as much as of outward practice, of exhortations equally with precepts and commands. it holds up before man the hatefulness and ugliness of vice _as a whole_. it does not enclose the whole of the practical morality and piety within the narrow compass of a fixed number of precepts. it lays the foundation of that far-reaching charity which regards all men as equal in the sight of god, and recognizes no distinction of races and classes. . "and abandon the semblance of wickedness and wickedness itself. they, verily, whose _only_ acquirement is iniquity shall be repaid for what they have gained." . "say: come, i will rehearse what your lord hath made binding on you, that ye assign not aught to him as sharers of his divine honour, and that ye be good to your parents; _and_ that ye slay not your children because of poverty, for them and for you will we provide; and that ye come not near to pollutions, outward or inward; and that ye slay not anyone whom god hath forbidden you, unless for a just cause. this hath he enjoined on you: haply ye will understand."--sura vi. . "say: only hath my lord forbidden filthy actions, whether open or secret, and iniquity, and unjust violence, and to associate with god that for which he hath sent down no warranty, and to speak of god that of which ye have no knowledge."--sura vii. . "to those who avoid great crimes and scandals, but commit only lighter faults, verily, thy lord will be rich in forgiveness. he well knew you when he produced you out of the earth, and when ye were embryos in your mothers' womb. assert not then your own purity. he best knoweth who feareth him."--sura liii. . "o men! verily we have created you of a male and a female: and we have divided you into peoples and tribes that ye might take knowledge one of another. truly the most worthy of honour in the sight of god is he who feareth him most. verily god is knowing, cognizant."--sura xlix. . "and every _nation_ has a quarter _of the heavens_. it is god who turneth them _towards it_: hasten then emulously after good: wheresover ye be, god will one day bring you all together: verily god is all powerful."--sura ii. . "and to thee we have sent down the book _of the koran_ with truth, confirmatory of previous scripture and its safeguard. judge therefore between them by what god hath sent down, and follow not their desires, after the truth which hath come unto thee. to everyone of you have we given a rule and an open way." . "and if god had pleased he had surely made you all one people; but he would test you by what he hath given to each. be emulous then in good deeds. to god do ye _all_ return, and he will tell you concerning the subjects of your disputes."--sura v. "and vie in haste for pardon from your lord, and a paradise, vast as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the god-fearing." . "who gives alms, _alike_ in prosperity and _in_ distress, and who master their anger, and forgive others! and god loveth the doer of good." . "and who, after they have done a base deed or committed a wrong against their own souls, remember god and implore forgiveness of their sins--and who can forgive sins but god only?--and persevere not in what they have willingly done amiss."--sura iii. . "vie in hasting after pardon from your lord, and paradise--whose outspread is as the outspread of the heaven and of the earth. prepared is it for those who believed in god and his apostles. such is the bounty of god: to whom he will he giveth it: and of immense bounty is god!"--sura lii. . "ye shall assuredly be tried in your possessions and in yourselves. and many hurtful things shall ye assuredly hear from those to whom the scriptures were given before you, and from those who join other gods with god. but if ye be steadfast and fear god, then this verily is _god's_ decree for the affairs of _life_."--sura iii. . "o my son! observe prayer and enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, and be patient under whatever shall betide thee: verily this is a bounden duty."--sura xxxi. . "yet let the recompense of evil be only a like evil; but he who forgiveth and maketh peace, shall find his reward for it from god; verily he loveth not those who act unjustly." . "and there shall be no way _open_ against those who, after being wronged, avenge themselves." . "only shall there be a way _open_ against those who unjustly wrong others, and act insolently on the earth in disregard of justice. these! a grievous punishment doth await them." . "and whoso beareth _wrongs_ with patience and forgiveth,--this verily is a bounden duty."--sura xlii. [sidenote: adaptability of the koran to surrounding circumstances.] . ( ) the koran keeps pace with the most fully and rapidly-developing civilization, if it is rationally interpreted, not as expounded by the ulema in the common law book and enforced by the sentiment of a nation. it is only the mohammadan common law, with all its traditions or oral sayings of the prophet,--very few of which are genuine reports, and the supposed chimerical concurrence of the learned moslem doctors and mostly their analogical reasonings (called _hadees_, _ijma_, and _kias_), passed under the name of _fiqah_ or _shariat_, that has blended together the spiritual and the secular, and has become a barrier in some respects regarding certain social and political innovations for the higher civilization and progress of the nation. but the koran is not responsible for this all. mr. stanley lane poole writes:-- "the koran does not contain, even in outline, the elaborate ritual and complicated law which now passes under the name of islam. it contains merely those decisions which happened to be called for at medina. mohammad himself knew that it did not provide for every emergency, and recommended a principle of analogical deduction to guide his followers when they were in doubt. this analogical deduction has been the ruin of islam. commentators and jurists have set their nimble wits to work to extract from the koran legal decisions which an ordinary mind could never discover there; and the whole structure of modern mohammadanism has been built upon the foundation of sand. the koran is not responsible for it."[ ] i can only differ from the above in the allegation that mohammad recommended a principle of analogical deduction. [footnote : the speeches and table-talk of the prophet mohammad, by stanley lane poole, pages lii and liii, introduction, london, .] [sidenote: suitability of the koran to all classes of humanity.] . thus the system of religious and moral teaching of the koran admirably suits the lower and the higher forms of humanity. the precepts which regulate some department of social life, moral conduct, and religious ceremonial are blessings to the barbarous; and that portion of the koran which inculcates large principles, for the due application of which much must be left to the individual conscience, suits the same people when they begin to emerge from their barbarism under its influence into a higher condition, or to those already possessing the higher forms of civilization. for instance, the command to give full measure, to weigh with just balance, to abstain from wine and gambling, and to treat persons with kindness are intended for men not reaching the high forms of civilization. the teachings of the koran regarding the graces of truth, honesty and temperance and mercy, the virtues of meekness, and the stress laid upon thoughts and inclinations are fit to instruct persons who have attained the higher forms of civilization, and have outgrown the need of positive precepts of minute detail. c. ali. hyderabad, deccan, _march _. [transcriber's note: despite the reference to a "note" on page cv in the table of contents, no such page exists in this edition of the printed book.] kahtan. | .--------------------+-------------------. | | yarab. hazaramaut. | * yoshjab. * | sadif. saba. | .-----------------------------. | | himyar. kahlan. * | * .-----------------+----------. kozaa. | | | rabia. zeid. al-hafi. * | | * .-----------------------. | hamadan. | | | abad. * .-----+-----+----------. * * | | | * ghous. aslom. amran. amr. | | * * | .------+--+-----+------. | * * .-----+-----. | | | | | zeid. | | | | murrah. muzhij. tay. ash-ar. | | .-------+. bahra. * bali. | | | | | | | * .---+---. | .--+-----. | | jarm. taghlib. mahra. | | | | | | | | adi. khaulan. | ghous. kharija. | | vabra. | | | | | | .--------------. | jadila. | | .---------. | | | | | | | | lakhm. ofeir. juzam. | | | kalb. khoshain. | | .------+------. | | | dar. kinda. | | | | | taym allat. | ans. illah. | | | sukun. | | | | .---+-------+-----. morad. | saad-ul-ashira | | | | | | | joheina. saad. nohd. .------------------. jufi. | | | | | ozra. harb. amr. | | | | .----------. nakha. | | | | raha. sada. .-----------------------. | .----------+----------. | | azd. anmar. | | .---------------+---. .------+-+-------. | | | | | mazin. shahnvah. khas-am. ghous. ghafiq. | | | | .----------+----------. .-------+-------. bajila. ahmas. | | | | | | saalba. harisa. | samala. doos. haddan. | | jafna. .--+----. | (the ghassinides). | | | aus. khazraj. | | .-----+---+----------. | | | adi. afsa. lohay. | | | bariq. aslam. khozaa. | | salaman. mustalik. moadd. * * nizar. | .-----------+---------------------------------. | | mozar (modhar). rabia. | * .------+----------------------------------. * | | | al-nás. al-yás. .-----. | * | | kays. * anaza. | | khundif. | aylan. | jadila. | .-------+-----. * .------+-----------. | | * | | tábikha. modrika. | khasafa. ghatafan. | * | * | add. * | * .----+------. | | | mansúr. | | .--------+-----. .+---. | | aasir. reis. | | | | | | .----+---. | | tamim. * mozeina. | hozeil. | | | .+-----. | * | | | suleim. hawazan. | | | * * khozeima. | | | | sad monat | | darim. | | | | .--+--. bakr. bahila. | | | | lahyán. | | | * | | saliba bin sád. | | makwan. * * movahib. | kinana. | | .+--------. | | * .+--------+------. | | .----+-----. | | | | | asha. baghiz. | | | .-----+. sakeef. saad. saasaa. | abd monat. nazar. | | | | .---+---. | | | ussya. ril. aamir. | | .---+-. malik. | | zobian. abs. | | | | .-------------+-. * * bakr. fahr or | | | * * | koreish. | rabia. hilal. | | zamra. | | | | mudlij. | ghalib. | .----------+--+-------------. | ghifar. | | | | | .-+-----+------. loway. | kilab. kaab. aamir. | | | | | * | * shahm. murra. fezára. | | * .----+-+----. * | | | | | | | .---------------------+ | rivas. kosheir. * jaada. baka. | | | | káb khozeima. | * | | | .----------------+-. .--------+-----+ muntafiq. | | | | murrah. * * abd-ul-kays. | * * .-------+-+-----. | | | | | .----+-. .-+---+----. kilab. taym. mukhzum. | | | | | | sahm. jamah. | | aus allat. .--+------. | | | | taym allah. | kossay. zohra. | | wail. .-----------+---------------. | | | | .-----+---. * abd manaf. abd-ud-dár. | | * | taghlib. bakr. | .-----+----------------------. * asad. | | * hashim. abd shams. | | | hanifa. abd-ul-muttálib. omayya. * | | * .-------+----+-----------. harab. | | | | (sakhr). .------. abbas. abdullah. abu talib. | | | | | | abu sofian. taheem * ibn abbas. mohammad. ali. | * moavia. | shaiban. * * | sadús. all the wars of mohammad were defensive. _the persecutions._ [sidenote: . the early persecutions of moslems by the people of mecca.] the severe persecution which mohammad and his early converts suffered at mecca at the hands of their fellow-citizens, the koreish, is a fact admitted by all historians. the koran, which may be regarded as a contemporary record of the ill-feeling manifested towards the prophet and his followers, bears ample testimony to the fact. not only were the early moslems persecuted for renouncing the pagan religion and obtaining converts to the monotheistic religion of mohammad, but they were also tortured and otherwise ill-treated to induce them to return to the religion which they had forsaken. the persecution seems to have been so great that mohammad was compelled to recognize those of his followers, who by force and cruelty were compelled to renounce islam and profess paganism, but were inwardly steadfast in their belief of the one true god, as true moslems. the koran says: "whoso after he hath believed in god denieth him, if he were forced to it, and if his heart remain steadfast in the faith, _shall be guiltless_; but whoso openeth his breast to infidelity, on them, in that case, shall be wrath from god, and a severe punishment awaiteth them."--sura xvi, . "the incarceration and tortures," says mr. stobart, "chiefly by thirst in the burning rays of the sun, to which these humble converts were subjected, to induce their recantation and adoration of the national idols, touched the heart of mahomet, and by divine authority, he permitted them, under certain circumstances, to deny their faith so long as their hearts were steadfast in it."[ ] [sidenote: . notices of the persecution in the koran.] the oppressions, trials, and sufferings which the early moslems underwent compelled them to fly from their homes, leaving their families and property in the hands of their oppressors. they chose this course rather than revert to paganism. they held steadfastly to the one true god whom their prophet had taught them to trust and believe. all these facts are clearly outlined in the following verses of the koran:-- "and as to those who when oppressed have fled their country for the sake of god, we will surely provide them a goodly abode in this world, but greater the reward of next life, did they but know it." "they who bear ills with patience, and put their trust in the lord!"--xvi, , . "to those also who after their trials fled their country, then did their utmost and endured with patience, verily, thy lord will afterwards be forgiving, gracious."--_ibid_, . "but they who believe, and who fly their country, and do their utmost in the cause of god, may hope for god's mercy: and god is gracious, merciful."--ii, . "and they who have fled their country and quitted their homes and suffered in my cause and have fought and fallen--i will blot out their sins from them and will bring them into gardens beneath which the streams do flow."--iii, . "and as to those who fled their country for the cause of god, and were afterwards slain, or died, surely with goodly provision will god provide for them! for verily, god is the best of providers!"--xxii, . "those believers who sit at home free from trouble, and those who toil in the cause of god with their substance and their persons, shall not be treated alike. god hath assigned to those who strive with their persons and with their substance, a rank above those who sit at home. goodly promises hath he made to all: but god hath assigned to those who make efforts a rich recompense above those who sit still at home." "the angels, when they took the souls of those who had been unjust to their own weal, demanded, 'what hath been your state?' they said, 'we were the weak ones of the earth.' they replied, 'was not god's earth broad enough for you to flee away in?' these! their home shall be hell, and evil the passage to it"-- "except the men and women and children who were not able through their weakness to find the means _of escape_, and were not guided on their way. these haply god will forgive: for god is forgiving, pardoning."--iv, , , . "god doth not forbid you to deal with kindness and fairness towards those who have not made war upon you on account of your religion, or driven you forth from your homes: verily, god loveth those who act with fairness." "only doth god forbid you to make friends of those who, on account of your religion, have warred against you, and have driven you forth from your homes, and have aided your expulsion: and whoever maketh friends of them, these therefore are evil-doers."--lx, , . [sidenote: . insults suffered by mohammad.] the prophet himself suffered insults and personal injuries from the hands of his persecutors. he was prevented from offering his prayers (xcvi, ). he allowed himself to be spat upon, to have dust thrown upon him, and to be dragged out of the kaaba by his own turban fastened to his neck. he bore all these indignities with the utmost humility, and he daily beheld his followers treated oppressively. after his uncle's death his life was attempted, but he escaped by flying to medina. "and _call to mind_ when the unbelievers plotted against thee, to detain thee prisoner or to kill thee or to banish thee: they plotted--but god plotted; and of plotters is god the best."--viii, . [sidenote: . historical summary of the persecutions.] about of the christian era, the koreish of mecca began to persecute the faith of islam. those who had no protection among the early moslems were hard pressed, as related above. a body of eleven men, some with their families, fled the country, and found refuge, notwithstanding their pursuit by the koreish, across the red sea at the court of abyssinia. this was the first hegira, or flight of the persecuted moslems. after some time, the persecution being resumed by the koreish more hotly than ever, a larger number of moslems, more than hundred, emigrated to abyssinia. this was the second flight of the moslems. the koreish had sent an embassy to the court of abyssinia to fetch back the refugees. the king denied their surrender. about two years later the koreish formed a hostile confederacy, by which all intercourse with the moslems and their supporters was suspended. the koreish forced upon the moslems, by their threats and menaces, to retire from the city. for about three years, they, together with the prophet and the hashimites and their families, had to shut themselves up in the _sheb_ of abu tálib. they remained there, cut off from communication with the outer world. the ban of separation was put rigorously in force. the terms of the social and civil ban put upon them were, that they would neither intermarry with the proscribed, nor sell to or buy from them anything, and that they would entirely cease from all intercourse with them. mohammad, in the interval of the holy months, used to go forth and mingle with the pilgrims to mecca, and preached to them the abhorrence of idolatry and the worship of the one true god. the _sheb_, or quarter of abu tálib, lies under the rocks of abu cobeis. a low gateway cut them off from the outer world, and within they had to suffer all privations of a beleaguered garrison. no one would venture forth except in the sacred months, when all hostile feelings and acts had to be laid aside. the citizens could hear the voices of the half-famished children inside the _sheb_ and this state of endurance on the one side, and persecution on the other, went on for some three years. five of the chief supporters of the adverse faction detached from the league and broke up the confederacy and released the imprisoned religionists. this was in the tenth year of mohammad's ministry. soon after mohammad and the early moslems suffered a great loss in the death of his venerable uncle and protector abu tálib. thus, mohammad and his followers became again exposed to the unchecked insults and persecutions incited by abú sofian, abu jahl, and others; and being a handful in the hostile city, were unable to cope with its rich and powerful chiefs. at this critical period, either because he found it unsafe to remain at mecca, or because he trusted his message would find more acceptance elsewhere, mohammad set off to tayef of the bani thakif,--the town was one of the great strongholds of idolatry. there was a stone image, called al-lât, adorned with costly vestments and precious stones, was an object of worship, and esteemed to be one of the daughters of god. here mohammad preached to unwilling ears, and met with nothing but opposition and scorn from the chief men, which soon spread to the populace. he was driven out of the town, maltreated, and wounded. he could not return to and enter mecca unless protected by mut-im, a chief of the blood of abd shams. at the yearly pilgrimage, a little group of worshippers from medina was attracted and won over by the preaching of islam; and the following year it increased to twelve. they met mohammad and took an oath of allegiance. a teacher was deputed by mohammad to medina, and the new faith spread there with a marvellous rapidity. again the time of pilgrimage arrived, and more than seventy disciples from medina pledged themselves to receive and defend him at the risk of their lives and property. this was all done in secret; but the koreish, having got notice of it, renewed such severities and persecutions, including, in some cases, imprisonment, as hastened the departure of the moslems to medina, their city of refuge. [sidenote: . the hegira.] mohammad, being much troubled by the intolerance of the people and the personal safety and security of himself and his followers being endangered, and mutual intercourse denied, saw that it was hopeless to expect any forbearance on the part of the koreish, who would not permit him to live and preach his religion at home, and looked for assistance and protection from a strange land. he asked the people of medina to receive and protect him. the medina converts, who had come to mecca on pilgrimage, pledged themselves to mohammad, and promised to defend him as they would defend their wives and children. the medina converts, although not acting on the offensive, became at once objects of suspicion to the koreish, who endeavoured to seize those who were in mecca. they maltreated one of the medina converts who fell into their hands, and the work of persecution was recommenced in right earnest.[ ] two months elapsed before the believers, except those detained in confinement or who were unable to escape from slavery, or women and children, could emigrate. families after families silently disappeared, and house after house was abandoned. one or two quarters of the city were entirely deserted. the koreish held a council and proscribed mohammad, who escaped together with abu bakr, leaving ali in his house, around whom, to lull the suspicions of his neighbours, he threw his own mantle, and desired him to occupy his bed. mohammad and his follower took refuge in a cave. the koreish despatched scouts in all directions to search for mohammad, but in vain. after hiding for three days in the cave, mohammad and abu bakr started for medina, where they arrived safely. the foregoing circumstances would have fully justified immediate hostilities on the part of mohammad, but he did not take up arms until compelled to do so by the attacks of the meccans. [sidenote: . the persecution of the moslems by the koreish after their flight from mecca.] notwithstanding the flight of the prophet and of all the early moslem converts who were able to effect an escape except their families, women and children, and those weak moslems who could not leave mecca, the meccans or the koreish did not forgive the fugitives and did not abstain from their aggressions against them. they maltreated the children and weak moslems left at mecca (iv, , and ), expelled the moslems from their houses, and would not allow them to come back to mecca for a pilgrimage (ii, ). the meccans several times invaded the medina territory with the avowed intention of making war upon the moslems (and actually fought the battles of bedr, ohad, khandak or ahzáb, at medina), consequently the moslems were forced to resort to arms in pure self-defence. these were sufficient grounds for the moslems to assume the offensive. they were desirous also of rescuing their families and those who had been unable to join in the flight from the tyranny and oppression of the meccans. yet they were in no instance the aggressors. driven from their homes and families they did not resort to arms until absolutely compelled to do so in self-defence. all that mohammad claimed for himself and his followers was, full liberty of conscience and actions, and permission to preach and practice his religion without being molested. this being refused, he advised his followers to leave the city and seek refuge elsewhere. they emigrated twice to abyssinia, and for the third time were expelled to medina, where he himself followed, when his own life was attempted. [footnote : islam and its founder, by j.w.h. stobart, b.a., page . but, in fact, there was no such permission. the verse quoted above says, that the wrath and punishment of god will be on those who deny god, except those who do so by being forced. the latter were not put on the same footing as the former; in short, those who denied god under compulsion were not counted unbelievers.] [footnote : "the support of the medina adherents, and the suspicion of an _intended_ emigration, irritated the koreish to severity; and this severity forced the moslems to petition mahomet for leave to emigrate. the two causes might co-exist and re-act one another; the persecution would hasten the departure of the converts, while each fresh departure would irritate the koreish to greater cruelty."--william muir's life of mahomet, vol. ii, pp. , , foot-note.] _the meccans or the koreish._ [sidenote: . a koreish chieftain commits a raid near medina.--a.h., i.] the attitude of the koreish towards the prophet and his followers after the flight rapidly became more hostile. kurz-ibn jábir, one of the marauding chieftains of the koreish, fell upon some of the camels and flocks of medina, while feeding in a plain a few miles from the city, and carried them off. [sidenote: . the koreish march to attack medina. mohammad marches forth in defence, and gains the battle at badr.--a.h., ii.] still there was no hostile response from medina, till the aggressors (the koreish) brought from medina an army of strong, mounted on camels and horses, to badr, nine stages from mecca, advancing towards medina. then the prophet set out from medina at the head of his small army of to check the advance of his aggressors. this was the first offensive and defensive war between the koreish and mohammad respectively. the aggressors lost the battle. [sidenote: . attack by abu sofian upon medína.--a.h., ii.] after this abu sofian, the head of the koreish, accompanied by mounted followers, alarmed mohammad and the people of medina by a raid upon the cornfields and palm gardens two or three miles north-east of medina. the nomad tribes of suliem and ghatafán, who were descended from a common stock with the koreish, being probably incited by them, or at least by the example of abu sofian, had twice assembled and projected a plundering attack upon medina--a task in itself congenial with their predatory habits. [sidenote: . the battle of ohad.] the koreish made great preparations for a fresh attack upon medina. one year after the battle of badr, they commenced their march,--three thousand in number, seven hundred were mailed warriors, and two hundred well mounted cavalry. reaching medina they encamped in an extensive and fertile plain to the west of ohad. mohammad met abu sofian at the head of followers and only two horsemen, but lost the battle and was wounded. [sidenote: . mohammad's prestige affected by the defeat.] mohammad's prestige being affected by the defeat at ohad, many of the bedouin tribes began to assume an hostile attitude towards him. the bani asad, a powerful tribe connected with the koreish in najd and bani lahyan in the vicinity of mecca, prepared to make a raid upon medina. the mohammadan missionaries were killed at rají and bír maúna. the marauding bands of duma also threatened a raid upon the city. bani mustalik also raised forces to join the koreish in their threatened attack upon medina. [sidenote: . abu sofian threatened the moslems with another attack next year.] abu sofian, while retiring from the field, victorious as he was, threatened the moslem with a fresh attack the next year as he said to omar: "we shall meet again, let it be after a year, at badr." medina and the moslems, however, enjoyed a long exemption from the threatened attack of the koreish. at length the time came when the forces of the koreish and the moslems were again to meet at badr. but the year was one of great draught, and the koreish were desirous that the expedition should be deferred to a more favorable season. accordingly the koreish engaged naeem, an arab of a neutral tribe, to repair to medina, and there to give forth an exaggerated account of the preparations of the koreish, in the hope that, with the field of ohad fresh in memory, it might deter the moslems from setting out to meet them. but mohammad, with a force of fifteen hundred men and only ten horses, set forth for badr. the koreish, who never appeared mortified at the triumph of mohammad, began to project another grand attack upon him. [sidenote: . the koreish again attack medina with a large army. mohammad defends the city. the enemy retire. (ditch or nations.--a.h., v.)] the winter season in the next year was chosen for the renewal of hostilities by the koreish. they joined an immense force of the bedouin tribes (the entire army was estimated at ten thousand), marched against mohammad, and besieged medina. mohammad defended the city by digging a ditch. the army of medina was posted within the trench, and that of the koreish encamped opposite them. in the meantime abu sofian succeeded in detaching the jewish tribe of koreiza from their allegiance to mohammad. the danger to medina from this defection was great. the enemy made a general attack, which was repulsed. bad weather set in, and abu sofian ordered the allied force to break up. the enemy retired, and never came again to attack the moslems. this, therefore, was the last war of aggression on the part of the koreish, and of defence on the part of mohammad. [sidenote: . mohammad, with his followers, advanced to perform the lesser pilgrimage of mecca. the koreish opposed mohammad, who returned disappointed.--a.h. vi.] six years had passed since the expulsion of mohammad and his followers from mecca. they had not since visited the holy house, nor had they joined the yearly pilgrimage, which was an essential part of their social and religious life. mohammad undertook to perform the lesser pilgrimage to mecca in the month of zalkada, in which war was unlawful throughout arabia. mohammad, with his followers, the pious and peaceful worshippers, fifteen hundred in number, set forth for mecca. the pilgrims carried no arms, but such as were allowed by custom to travellers,--_namely_, each a sheathed sword. the koreish, with their allies, the surrounding tribes, hearing of the approach of the pilgrims, took up arms. they pushed forward to obstruct the pilgrims. mohammad encamped at hodeibia, where a treaty of peace was concluded between the koreish and mohammad. the treaty was to the effect, that war should be suspended for ten years, neither party attacking the other. whosoever wished to join mohammad and enter into treaty with him, should have liberty to do so. "if any one goeth over to mohammad, without the permission of his guardian, he shall be sent back to his guardian. but if any one from amongst the followers of mohammad return to the koreish, the same shall not be sent back, provided, on the part of the koreish, that mohammad and his followers retire from us this year without entering our city. in the coming year he may visit mecca--he and his followers--for three days, when we shall retire therefrom. but they may not enter it with any weapons, save those of the travellers--_namely_, to each a sheathed sword." bani khozaá entered into the alliance of mohammad, and bani bakr adhered to the koreish. [sidenote: . violation of the treaty by the koreish, and their submission.] the peace remained unbroken until the koreish violated the treaty of hodeibia[ ] and treacherously killed several men of the bani khozaá. mohammad marched against them in the eighth year of the hegira in defence of the injured and oppressed bani khozaá, and to chastize the koreish for violation of the treaty. but the koreish submitted to the authority of mohammad before he arrived at mecca, and the city was occupied without resistance. [sidenote: . two other tribes assume the offensive.] soon after, the great and warlike tribe of hawazin and thakeef assumed the offensive. they assembled at autas, and advanced upon honain to attack mohammad. he was obliged to leave mecca and set out to disperse them, who were beaten back at honain (s. ix, - ). taif of the thakeef was besieged, but in vain. [footnote : unfortunately several missionary expeditious sent by mohammad were met with unfavorable circumstances. the party sent to bani suleim, demanding their allegiance to the faith of islam, was slain. another party sent to bani leith was surprised, and its camels plundered. a small party sent by mohammad to fadak was cut to pieces by bani murra. another party sent to zat atlah to call upon the people to embrace islam, of which only one person escaped. mohammad's messenger despatched to the ghassanide prince at bostra was murdered by the chief of muta. his army sent to avenge the treachery of the chief was defeated. all these mishaps and reverses dangerously affected the prestige of mohammad, and encouraged the meccans to violate the truce.] _the defensive character of the wars._ [sidenote: . verses from the koran in support of the defensive character of the wars.] this brief sketch of the defensive wars of mohammad with the koreish will fully show, that those who assert that mohammad was aggressive or revengeful in his wars, or that he made war to force his religion upon the people, are altogether in the wrong. i will now quote some verses of the koran, showing that all the wars of mohammad with the koreish were defensive wars. . "verily, god will ward off[ ] _mischief_ from believers: lo, god loveth not the false, the unbeliever." . "a sanction is given to those who have been fought,[ ] because they have suffered outrages, and verily, god is well able to succour them"-- . "those who have been driven forth from their homes wrongfully, only because they say, 'our lord is the god.' and if god had not repelled some men by others, cloisters and churches and oratories and mosques wherein the name of god is ever commemorated, would surely have been destroyed! and him who helpeth god will god surely help: verily, god is strong, mighty." . "they who, if we established them in _this_ land, will observe prayer and pay the alms of obligation and enjoin what is recognized _as right_--and forbid what is unlawful. and the final issue of all things is unto god."--sura, xxii. . "and fight for the cause of god against those who fight against you: but commit not the injustice of _attacking them first_: verily, god loveth not the unjust." . "and kill them wherever ye find them, and eject them from whatever place they have ejected you, for (_fitnah_)[ ] persecution is worse than slaughter: yet attack them not at the sacred mosque, until they attack you therein; but if they attack you, then slay them--such is the recompense of the infidels!"-- . "but if they desist,[ ] then verily god is gracious, merciful!" . "and do battle against them until there be no more (_fitnah_) persecution, and the worship be that of god: but if they desist, then let there be no hostility, save against wrong-doers." . "they will ask thee concerning war in the sacred month. say: the act of fighting therein is a grave crime; but the act of turning others aside from the path of god, and unbelief in him, and to prevent access to the sacred mosque, and to drive out his people, is worse in the sight of god; and persecution[ ] (_fitnah_[ ]) is worse than bloodshed. but they will not cease to war against you until they turn you from your religion, if they be able: but whoever of you shall turn from his religion, and die an infidel, their works shall be fruitless in this world and in the next: and they shall be consigned to the fire; therein to abide for aye." . "but they who believe, and who fly their country, and do their utmost in the cause of god, may hope for god's mercy: and god is gracious, merciful." . "and fight in the cause of god; and know that god is he who heareth, knoweth." . "hast thou not considered the assembly of the children of israel after _the death of_ moses, when they said to a prophet of theirs,--'raise up for us a king; we will do battle for the cause of god?' he said, 'may it not be that if to fight were ordained you, ye would not fight?' they said, 'and why should we not fight in the cause of god, since we are driven forth from our dwellings and our children?' but when fighting was commanded them they turned back, save a few of them: but god knew the offenders!" . "and by the will of god they routed them; and (dâood) david slew goliath; and god gave him the kingship and wisdom, and taught him according to his will: and were it not for the restraint of one by the means of the other imposed on men by god, verily the earth had assuredly gone to ruin, but god is bounteous to his creatures."--sura, ii. . "let those then fight in the cause of god who barter this present life for that which is to come; for whoever fighteth on god's path, whether he be slain or conquer, we will in the end give him a great reward." . "but what hath come to you that ye fight not on the path of god, and _for_ the weak among men, women and children, who say, 'o our lord! bring us forth from this city whose inhabitants are oppressors; give us a champion from thy presence; and give us from thy presence a defender?'" . "they who believe, fight on the path of god; and they who believe not, fight on the path of thâgoot: fight then against the friends of satan--verily, the craft of satan shall be powerless!" . "fight then on the path of god: lay not burdens on any but thyself; and stir up the faithful. the prowess of the infidels, god will haply restrain; for god is the stronger in prowess, and the stronger to punish." . "they desire that ye should be unbelievers as they are unbelievers, and that ye should be alike. take therefore none of them for friends, until they have fled their homes for the cause of god. if they turn back, then seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; but take none of them as friends or helpers." . "except those who seek asylum among your allies, and those who come over to you--prevented by their own hearts by making war on you, or from making war on their own people. had god pleased, he would certainly have given them power against you, and they would certainly have made war upon you! but, if they depart from you, and make not war against you and offer you peace, then god alloweth you no occasion against them." . "ye will find others who seek to gain your confidence as well as that of their own people: so oft as they return to sedition, they shall be overthrown in it: but if they leave you not, nor propose terms of peace to you, nor withhold their hands, then seize them, and slay them wherever ye find them. over these have we given you undoubted power."--sura, iv. . "_o meccans!_ if ye desired a decision, now hath the decision come to you. it will be better for you if ye give over _the struggle_ (_or attacking upon medina or the moslem_). if ye return _to it_ we will return; and your forces, though they may be many, shall by no means avail you aught, because god is with the faithful." . "say to the infidels: if they desist (_from persecuting, obstructing, and attacking the moslems_), what is now past shall be forgiven them; but if they return _to it_ (commit again the hostilities), they have already before them the doom of the ancients!" . "fight then against them till civil strife be at an end, and the religion be all of it god's; and if they desist, verily god beholdeth what they do." . "but if they turn their back, know ye that god is your protector: excellent protector! and excellent helper!" . "... and they who have believed, but have not fled their homes, shall have no rights of kindred with you at all, until they too fly their country. yet if they seek aid from you on account of the faith, your part it is to give them aid, except against a people between whom and yourselves there may be a treaty. and god beholdeth your actions." . "and the infidels have the _like_ relationships one with another. unless ye do the same (_i.e., aid the oppressed and repel the oppressor_), there will be discord in the land and great corruption."--sura, viii. (when the meccans broke the hodeibia treaty mentioned in the above paragraph, the koreish and bani bakr attacked bani khozaá, who were in alliance with mohammad. it became incumbent on him to assist bani bakr and to chastize the aggressors. the following verses were published on that occasion, but happily, before the expiration of the fixed period, the koreish submitted and mecca was taken without bloodshed, and these verses were not acted upon:--) . "an immunity from god and his apostle to those with whom ye are in league (_and they have violated the same--compare verses , and _) among the polytheist meccans." . "go ye therefore at large in the land four months (_i.e., four sacred months from shaw-wal. the treaty was violated by the koreish in ramzan, a month immediately previous to the sacred months. it is announced here that four months' time is given to the aggressors, who violated the treaty of hodeibia, to make terms. after the time is over (verse ) the moslems will commence hostilities to defend their allies, the bani khozaá_), but know that ye shall not find god feeble, and that those who believe not, god will put to shame." . "and a proclamation on the part of god and his apostle to the people on the day of the greater pilgrimage, that god is free from _any engagement with_ those who worship other gods with god, as is his apostle. if then, ye turn to god, it will be better for you; but if ye turn back, then know that ye shall not find god feeble: and to those who believe not, announce thou a grievous punishment." . "but this concerneth not those polytheists with whom ye are in league, and who have afterwards in no way failed you, and not yet aided any one against you. observe, therefore, your engagement with them through the whole time _of their treaty_. verily, god loveth those who fear him." . "and when the sacred months are passed[ ] kill those who join other gods with god[ ] wherever ye find them; and seize them, and besiege them, and lay wait for them with every kind of ambush; but if they repent and observe prayer and pay the obligatory alms, then let them go their way.[ ] verily, god is gracious, merciful." . "if any one of those who join gods with god ask an asylum of thee, grant him an asylum, in order that he hear the word of god; then let him reach his place of safety. this, for that they are people devoid of knowledge." . "how can they who add gods to god be in league with god and his apostle, save those with whom ye made a league at the sacred temple? so long as they are true to you,[ ] be ye true to them: verily, god loveth those who fear him." . "how _can they_? since if they prevail against you, they will not regard in their dealing with you, either ties of blood or good faith: with their mouths they content you, but their hearts are averse, and most of them are perverse doers." . "they sell the signs of god for a mean price, and turn others aside from his way; of a truth, evil is it that they do!" . "they respect not with a believer either ties of blood or good faith; and these are the transgressors!" . "yet if they turn to god and observe prayer, and pay the impost, then are they your brethren in religion: and we make clear the signs for men of knowledge."[ ] . "but if, after alliance made, they violate their covenant and revile your religion, then do battle with the ringleaders of infidelity--verily there is no faith in them! haply they will desist." . "will ye not do battle with a people (_the meccans_) who have broken their covenant and aimed to expel your apostle and attacked you first? will ye dread them? god truly is more worthy of your fear if ye are believers!" . "make war on them: by your hands will god chastize them and put them to shame, and give victory over them, and heal the bosom of a people who believe." . "... and attack those who join gods with god one and all, as they attack you one and all."--sura, ix. [sidenote: . what the above-quoted verses show.] i need not repeat here what these verses and the facts related above show, that the wars of mohammad with the koreish were merely defensive, and the koreish were the aggressors, and that mohammad was quite justified in taking up arms against them. "in the state of nature every man has a right to defend," writes mr. edward gibbon,[ ] "by force of arms, his person and his possessions; to repel, or even to repeat, the violence of his enemies, and to extend his hostilities to a reasonable measure of satisfaction and retaliation. in the free society of the arabs, the duties of subject and citizen imposed a feeble restraint; and mahommed, in the exercise of a peaceful and benevolent mission, had been despoiled and banished by the injustice of his countrymen." it has been fully shown in the foregoing paragraphs that the moslems in mecca enjoyed neither safety nor security. religious freedom was denied to them, though they were harmless and peaceful members of the community. besides this they were expelled from their homes, leaving their families and their property in the hands of their persecutors, and were prevented from returning to mecca, and were refused access to the sacred mosque; and, above all, they were attacked by the meccans in force at medina. [sidenote: . justification of the moslems in taking up arms against their aggressors.] the persecution of the early moslems by the koreish was on religious grounds. they would not allow the believers to renounce the religion of their forefathers and profess islam. their intolerance was so strong and harsh that they tortured some of the professors of the new faith to renounce the same and to rejoin their former idolatry. "taking away the lives, the fortune, the liberty, any of the rights of our brethren, merely for serving their maker in such manner as they are persuaded they ought, when by so doing they hurt not human society, or any member of it, materially, is evidently inconsistent with all justice and humanity: for it is punishing those who have not injured us, and who, if they mistake, deserve only pity from us."[ ] the early moslems had had every international right to resent persecution and intolerance of the meccans and to establish themselves by force of arms, to enjoy their religious liberty and to practise their religion freely. [sidenote . the first aggression after the hegira was not on the part of mohammad.] some of the european biographers of mohammad say, "that the first aggressions after the hegira were solely on the part of mahomet and his followers. it was not until several of their caravans had been waylaid and plundered, and blood had thus been shed, that the people of mecca were forced in self-defence to resort to arms."[ ] this is not correct. the aggressors, in the first instance, were the koreish, who, as already shown, followed up their persecution of the moslems by an attack upon the city in which the prophet and his followers had taken refuge. even taking it for granted that the moslems were the first aggressors after the hegira, was not the hegira, or expulsion itself (leaving aside the previous persecutions and oppressions at mecca), a sufficient reason for the commencement of hostilities by the moslems, who were anxious to secure their moral and religious freedom, and to protect themselves and their relatives from further aggressions? sir william muir admits, that "hostilities, indeed, were justified by the 'expulsion' of the believers from mecca."[ ] "it may be said," says major vans kennedy, "that, in these wars, mohammad was the aggressor by his having, soon after his flight, attempted to intercept the caravans of mecca. but the first aggression was, undoubtedly, the conspiracy of the koreish to assassinate mohammad, and when to save his life he fled from mecca, himself and his followers were thus deprived of their property, and obliged to depend for their subsistence on the hospitality of the men of medina, it could not be reasonably expected that they would allow the caravans of their enemies to pass unmolested."[ ] [sidenote: . the alleged instances examined.] there is no proof that mohammad, after the hegira, commenced hostilities against the koreish by intercepting their caravans. the alleged instances of the caravans being waylaid by the moslems at medina are not corroborated by authentic and trustworthy traditions. they have also internal evidences of their improbability. the medina people had pledged themselves only to defend the prophet from attack, and not to join him in any aggressive steps against the koreish.[ ] therefore, it seems impossible that they should have allowed mohammad to take any aggressive steps against the koreish which would have involved them in great trouble. [sidenote: . hamza and obeida expedition.] the alleged expeditions against the koreish caravans by hamza and the other by obeida in pursuit of caravans which escaped, are in themselves improbable. mohammad would not send fifty or sixty persons to waylay a caravan guarded by two or three hundred armed men. [sidenote: . the abwa, bowat, & osheira expeditions.] the alleged expeditions of abwa, bowat, and osheira, said to have been led by mohammad himself to intercept the mecca caravans, but in vain, are altogether without foundation. he might have gone, if he had gone at all, to abwa, and osheira to negotiate friendly terms with bani dhumra[ ] and bani mudlij, as his biographers say, he did. [sidenote: . the affair at nakhla.] the affair of the _nakhla_ marauding party, as related in the traditions, is full of discrepancies, and is altogether inconsistent and untrustworthy. the very verse (sura, ii, verse ) which the biographers say was revealed on the occasion, and which i have quoted above (para. ), contains a reference to the meccans' fighting against the moslems, which runs counter to the assumption of the european biographers, who make it an aggressive attack on the part of mohammad. it is probable that mohammad might have sent some six or eight scouts to bring in news of the movements and condition of the koreish, whose attitude towards mohammad had become more hostile since his flight to medina. as the koreish had a regular and uninterrupted route to syria for traffic, it was only reasonable on the part of mohammad to take precautions, and he was always on his guard. the biographers _ibn is-hak_, _ibn hisham_ (p. ), _tabri_ (vol. ii, p. ), _ibnal athir_ in _kamil_ (vol. ii, p. ), _halabi_ in _insanul oyoon_ (vol. iii, p. ), say, that mohammad had given written instructions to abdoollah-bin-jahsh, which was to the effect "bring me intelligence of their affairs." they also say that mohammad was displeased with abdoollah's affair at nakhla, and said, "i never commanded thee to fight in the sacred month." the biographers also relate that mohammad even paid blood-money for the slain. [sidenote: . at badr mohammad had come only in his defence.] some of the european biographers of mohammad allege, that the battle of badr was brought by mohammad himself. they appear to hesitate to justify mohammad in defending himself against the superior numbers of the koreish, who had advanced to attack him as far as badr, three stages from medina. it is alleged that mohammad intended to attack the caravans returning from syria, conducted by abu sofian, his arch-enemy, therefore he set out upon his march with eighty refugees and two hundred and twenty-five people of medina, and halted at safra to waylay the caravan. abu sofian, warned of mohammad's intention, sent some one to mecca for succour. the koreish, with nine hundred and fifty strong, marched forth to rescue the caravan. in the meantime, the caravan had passed unmolested, but the koreish held a council whether to return or go to war. on the one hand, the biographers say, it was argued that the object for which they had set out having been secured, the army should at once retrace its steps. others demanded that the army should advance. two tribes returned to mecca, the rest marched onwards; but it is not fair to allege that mohammad had set forth to attack the caravan. had he any such intention, the people of medina, who had pledged themselves only to defend him against personal attack, would not have accompanied him. the presence of a large number of the _ansárs_, the people of medina, more than double that of the _mohajirins_, the refugees, is a strong proof that they had come out only in their defence. mohammad, on receiving intelligence of the advancing force of the koreish, set out from medina to check the advance of the meccan force, and encountered it at badr, three days' journey from medina. the meccan army had advanced nine days' journey from mecca towards medina. the forces met at badr on the th of ramzan ( th january ), the meccans had left mecca on the th of ramzan ( th january), and mohammad started only on the th of ramzan ( th january), about four days after the meccan army had actually set out to attack him. supposing abu sofian had some reason for apprehending an attack from medina, and sent for succour from mecca, but the object of the meccan army of the koreish for which they had set out having been secured, the caravan having passed unmolested, they ought at once to have retraced their steps. the fact that mohammad left medina four days after the koreish had left mecca with a large army advancing towards medina, is strongly in his favour. [sidenote: . the first aggressions after the hegira, if from mohammad, might fairly be looked upon as retaliation.] even taking it for granted that the first aggressions after the hegira were solely on the part of the moslems, and that several of the caravans of the koreish had been waylaid and plundered, and blood had been shed, it would be unfair to condemn mohammad. such attacks, had they been made, might fairly be looked upon as a retaliation for the ill-treatment of the moslems before the flight from mecca. "public war is a state of armed hostility between sovereign nations or governments. it is a law and requisite of civilized existence that men live in political continuous societies, forming organized units called states or nations, whose constituents bear, enjoy and suffer, advance and retrograde together, in peace and in war. the citizen or native of hostile country is thus an enemy, as one of the constituents of the hostile state or nation, and as such is subjected to the hardships of war."[ ] the almost universal rule of most remote times was, and continues to be with barbarous nations, that the private individual of a hostile country is destined to suffer every privation of liberty and protection, and every description of family ties. but mohammad protected the inoffensive citizen or private individual of the hostile country. he even protected those who had actually come out of mecca to fight at badr, but were reluctant to do so. mohammad had desired quarters to be given to several persons in the koreish army at badr. abul bakhtari, zamaa, hárith ibn amir, abbás and other bani háshim were amongst those named. [footnote : or defend, '_yadafeo_' repel.] [footnote : _yokâtaloona_, or who fight _yokateloona_. the former reading is the authorized and general.] [footnote : the primary signification of _fitnah_ is burning with fire. it signifies a _trial_ or _probation_ and affliction, distress or hardship; and particularly an _affliction whereby one is tried, proved, or tested_.--_vide_ lane's arabic-english lexicon, p. .] [footnote : desist from persecuting you and preventing you to enter your native city and prohibiting access to the sacred mosque and attacking you, and from religious intolerance.] [footnote : _i.e._, the religious persecution and intolerance and hindrance to visit the sacred mosque being suppressed; you may profess, preach and practice your religion freely.] [footnote : _vide_ note in p. .] [footnote : shaw-wal, zulkada, zulhij, and moharram, the th, th, th, and st months of the arabian year. these verses were promulgated in ramzan, the th month of the year.] [footnote : and have violated the hodeibia truce. compare verses , , and .] [footnote : it is not meant that they should be forced to observe prayer or pay obligatory alms, or in other words be converted to islam; the context and general scope of the koran would not allow such a meaning. the next verse clearly enjoins toleration.] [footnote : the bani kinana and bani zamara had not violated the truce of hodeibia while the koreish and bani bakr had done so.] [footnote : this is the same as verse . it only means, if meanwhile they become converts to islam, they are to be treated as brethren in religion. but it cannot mean that it was the sole motive of making war with them to convert them. such an interpretation is quite contrary to the general style of the koran.] [footnote : the history of the decline and fall of the roman empire, by edward gibbon, vol. vi, p. .] [footnote : archbishop secker's works, iii, p. .] [footnote : sir w. muir, ii, p. .] [footnote : life of mahomet, vol. iii, p. .] [footnote : remarks on the character of mohammad (suggested by voltaire's tragedy of mahomet) by major vans kennedy. _vide_ transactions of the literary society of bombay for , vol. iii, p. , reprint bombay, .] [footnote : "mahomet did not send the medina converts on any hostile expedition against the koreish, until they had warred with him at badr, and the reason is, that they had pledged themselves to protect him only at their homes."--k. wackidi, ; muir's life of mahomet, vol. iii, p. , _note_.] [footnote : "k. wackidi, - / . the provisions are noted only generally, "that neither party would levy war against the other, nor help their enemies." the version quoted by weil binding the bani dhumra to fight _for the faith_, &c., is evidently anticipatory and apocryphal. it is not given by the secretary of wackidi in his chapter of treaties."--muir's life of mahomet, iii, p. , _note_.] [footnote : contributions to political science by francis lieber, ll.d., vol. ii of his miscellaneous writings, p. , london, .] _the jews._ [sidenote: . the jews broke treaties.] mohammad, on his first arrival at medina, made a treaty of alliance with the jews, by which the free exercise of their religion and the possession of their rights and property were guaranteed. it was stipulated in the treaty that either party, if attacked, should come to the assistance of the other. medina should be sacred and inviolable for all who joined the treaty. but the jews broke their treaty and rebelled. they assisted the enemy during the siege of medina, and committed treason against the city. [sidenote: . bani kainúkaá, bani nazeer, koreiza, khyber, and ghatafán.] the bani kainúkaá were the first among the jews who broke the treaty and fought against mohammad between the battles of badr and ohad.[ ] the bani nazeer broke their compact with mohammad after his defeat at ohad. they had also made a conspiracy to kill mohammad. they were banished; some of them went over to khyber. the jewish tribe of koreiza had defected from their allegiance to mohammad, and entered into negotiations with the enemy, when medina was besieged by the koreish and bedouin tribes at the battle of the ditch. they were afterwards besieged by mohammad. they surrendered at the discretion of sád, who passed a bloody judgment against them. the jews of khyber (including those of nazeer) and bani ghatafán, who had lately besieged medina with the koreish in the battle of the ditch, made alliance against mohammad,[ ] and were making preparations for an attack on him. they had been inciting the bani fezára and other bedouin tribes in their depredations, and had combined with bani sád-ibn bakr to attack upon medina. they were subjected at khyber, and made tributaries, paying _jizya_ in return of the protection guaranteed to them. [sidenote: . notices of them in the koran.] the treachery of the bani kainúkaá, nazeer and koreiza, and khyber is noticed in the koran in the following verses:-- . "they with whom thou hadst leagued, but who ever afterwards break their league, and fear not god!" . "and if thou capture them in battle, then (_by the example of their fate_) put to flight those who are behind them--they will perhaps be warned:"-- . "or, if thou fear treachery from any people, throw back _their treaty_ to them in like manner: verily, god loveth not the treacherous." . "and think not that the infidels shall get the better of us! verily, they shall not find god to be weak." . "make ready then against them what force ye can, and squadrons of horse whereby ye may strike terror into the enemy of god and your enemy, and into others beside them whom ye know not, _but_ whom god knoweth; and all that you expend for the cause of god shall be repaid you; and ye shall not be wronged." . "but if they lean to peace, lean thou also to it; and put thy trust in god: he verily is the hearing, the knowing." . "but if they seek to betray thee, then verily god will be all-sufficient for thee. he it is who strengthened thee with his help and with the faithful and made their heart one. hadst thou spent all the riches of the earth, thou wouldst not have united their hearts; but god hath united them: he verily is mighty, wise." . "o prophet! god and such of the faithful as follow thee will be all-sufficient for thee!" . "o prophet! stir up the faithful to the fight...."--sura, viii. . "and he caused those of the people of the book (the jews) who had aided _the confederates_, to come down out of their fortresses, and cast dismay into their hearts: a part ye slew, a part ye took prisoners."--sura, xxxiii. . "make war upon such of those to whom the scriptures have been given,[ ] as believe not in god, or in the last day, and who forbid not that which god and his apostles have forbidden, and who profess not the profession of the truth, until they pay tribute out of hand, and they be humbled." . "believers! wage war against such of the unbelievers as are your neighbours, and let them assuredly find rigour in you: and know that god is with those who fear him."--sura, ix. [sidenote: . the judgment of sâd.] the bani koreiza had surrendered themselves to the judgment of _sâd_, an _awsite_ of their allies, bani aws. to this mohammad agreed. sâd decreed that the male captives should be slaughtered. mohammad, disapproving the judgment, remarked to sâd: "thou hast decided like the decision of a king," meaning thereby a despotic monarch. the best authentic tradition in bokhari (kitáb-ul-jihád) has the word '_malik_,' monarch; but in other three places of bokhari, kitabul monakib, maghazi, and istizan, the narrator has a doubt whether the word was _allah_ or _malik_. moslim, in his collection, has also '_malik_,' and in one place the sentence is not given at all. it was only to eulogize the memory of sâd after his death, that some of the narrators of the story gave out that mohammad had said that sâd had decided like the decision of a _malak_, angel; or some narrators interpreted the word _malik_, king, as meaning god; and therefore put the word _allah_ in their traditions. mohammad never said _malak_, meaning angel, or _malik_, allegorically meaning _allah_; he simply said _malik_, literally meaning a king or monarch. [sidenote: . defensive character of the expedition against the jews of khyber.] the expedition against the jews of khyber was purely defensive in its character. they had, since the jews of the tribe of nazeer and koreiza being banished from medina in consequence of their treason against the moslem commonwealth, had joined them, been guilty of inciting the surrounding tribes to attack upon medina, and had made alliance with the bani ghatafán, who had taken a prominent part among the confederates who had besieged medina at the battle of the ditch, to make a combined attack upon medina. they, especially abul hukeik, the chief of bani nazeer, had excited the bani fezára and other beduoin tribes to commit incursions on medina. they had made a combination with the bani sád-ibn bakr to make inroads on the moslims. bani sád, a branch of hawazin, were among the confederates who had besieged medina. lately, oseir ibn zárim, the chief of nazeer at khyber, maintained the same relations with bani ghatafán, as their former chief had, to make a combined attack on medina. the bani ghatafán, with their branches of bani fezára and bani murra, in league with those of khyber, were always plotting mischief in the vicinity of fadak at khyber. they (the ghatafán) had continued for a long time to alarm medina with threatened attacks. at the seventh year of the hegira timely information was received by mohammad of the combined preparation of khyber and ghatafán. he rapidly set forth in his defence, and marched to khyber at once. he took up a position at rají, between khyber and ghatafán, to cut off their mutual assistance. so it was not a sudden and unprovoked invasion, as sir w. muir calls it. he writes: "mahomet probably waited for some act of aggression on the part of the jews of kheibar (it was the fertile lands and villages of that tribe which he had destined for his followers), or on the part of their allies, the bani ghatafán, to furnish the excuse for an attack. but no such opportunity offering, he resolved, in the autumn of this year, on a sudden and unprovoked invasion of their territory."[ ] it will appear from what i have stated above, that the invasion of khyber was purely defensive in its character. [footnote : hishamee, p. . gottengen, ; or, the life of muhammad, by abd etl malik ibn hishám. london: trübner and co., .] [footnote : hishamee, p. .] [footnote : the jews of khyber, if it does not relate to tabook. sir w. muir calls this hostile declaration against jews and christians, and says,--"the exclusion and growingly intolerant position of islam is sufficiently manifested by the ban issued against the jews and christians, as unfit for the sacred rites and holy precincts of the meccan temple; and by the divine commands to war against them until, in confession of the superiority of islam, they should consent to the payment of a tribute."--life of mahomet, vol. ii, p. . the command referred to by sir w. muir refers to the treatment of those who took up arms against the mussalmans, rather than to their ordinary condition. no ban was issued against the jews and christians, as unfit for the sacred rites and holy precincts of the meccan temple. on the contrary, the christians of najran, when arrived at medina, were accommodated by the prophet in his mosque, and they used to say their prayers there.] [footnote : life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. .] _the christians or romans._ [sidenote: . tabúk, the last expedition.] the last expedition of mohammad was that of tabúk, and it was also purely defensive. the travellers and traders arriving from syria brought news of the gathering of a large army on the borders of syria. a year's pay, they said, had been advanced by the greek or roman emperor, who was then at hims, in order that the soldiers might be well-furnished for a long campaign; the tribes of the syrian desert, the bani lakhm, judzam, amila, and ghussan were flocking around the roman eagles, and the vanguard was already at balcâ. mohammad at once resolved to meet this danger. when he arrived in the vicinity of the syrian border at tabúk, he found no troops to oppose him. there were no signs of impending danger, and he therefore returned with his army to medina. this was in the ninth year of the hegira. [sidenote: . the conclusion.] this concludes the description of all the wars of the prophet. i hope i have shown, on good and reasonable grounds, and from the surest and most authentic sources, that the wars were not of an offensive and aggressive character; but, on the contrary, they were wars of defence and protection. the early moslems were wronged, because they believed in the faith of mohammad; they were deprived of their civil and religious rights, were driven forth from their homes and their properties, and after all were attacked first, by the koreish and their confederates, the jews and other arabian tribes. they fought neither for revenge, nor to impose the faith of mohammad by force of arms, nor for the plunder of the caravans which passed in proximity to their city. the permission to fight was only given to the believers because they were fought against or were attacked first, and had been wronged and driven from their homes without just cause. they therefore took up arms against those who first compelled them to fly from their homes, and then attacked them. this was in full accordance, therefore, with the law of nations and the sacred law of nature. the people of medina had only pledged themselves to protect mohammad from his enemies. they could not, and would not, have gone forth or allowed mohammad and his _ansárs_ to go forth to plunder the caravan of the koreish passing by medina. _the intolerance._ [sidenote: . mohammad never taught intolerance.] those people are greatly mistaken who say, that "the one common duty laid upon the faithful is to be the agents of god's vengeance on those who believe not. these are to be slaughtered until they pay tribute, when they are allowed to go to hell in their own way without further molestation."[ ] mohammad did not wage war against the koreish and the jews because they did not believe in his mission, nor because he was to be the instrument of god's vengeance on them; on the contrary, he said, "he was no more than a warner." "the truth is from your lord, let him then who will, believe; and let him who will, be an unbeliever."[ ] "let there be no compulsion in religion."[ ] "verily, they who believe, and the jews, and the sabeites, and the christians, whoever of them believeth in god and in the last day, and doth what is right, on them shall come no fear, neither shall they be put to grief."[ ] even during active hostilities, those who did not believe were allowed to come and hear the preaching, and were then conveyed to their place of safety.[ ] nor were the wars of mohammad to exact tribute from the unbelievers. the tribute was only imposed upon those who had sought his protection, and even then they were exempted from other regular taxes which the moslems paid to their commonwealth. on the contrary, as has already been shown, mohammad merely took up arms in the instances of self-preservation. had he neglected to defend himself after his settlement at medina against the continued attacks of the koreish and their allies, he with his followers would, in all probability, have been exterminated. they fought in defence of their lives as well as their moral and religious liberties. [sidenote: . in what sense the wars were religious wars.] in this sense the contest might be called a religious war, as the hostilities were commenced on religious grounds. because the koreish persecuted the moslems, and expelled them for the reason that they had forsaken the religion of their forefathers, _i.e._, idolatry, and embraced the faith of islam, the worship of one true god; but it was never a religious war in the sense of attacking the unbelievers aggressively to impose his own religion forcibly on them. how much is sir w. muir in the wrong, who says, that fighting was prescribed on religious grounds? "hostilities," he says, "indeed, were justified by the 'expulsion' of the believers from mecca. but the main and true issue of the warfare was not disguised to be the victory of islam. they were to fight '_until the religion became the lord's alone_.'"[ ] [sidenote: . the alleged verses of intolerance explained.] the verses of the koran referred to above are as follows: . "and fight for the cause of god against those who fight against you: but commit not the injustice of _attacking them first_: verily god loveth not the unjust." . "and kill them wherever ye shall find them, and eject them from whatever place they have ejected you; for (_fitnah_) persecution or civil discord is worse than slaughter but attack them not at the sacred mosque, until they attack you therein, but if they attack you, then slay them--such is the recompense of the infidel!" . "but if they desist, then verily god is gracious, merciful." . "and do battle against them until there be no more (_fitnah_) persecution or civil discord and the only worship be that of god: but if they desist, then let there be no hostility, save against wrong-doers."--sura, ii. these verses generally, and the last one especially, show that the warfare was prescribed on the ground of self-preservation, and to secure peace, safety and religious liberty, to prevent (_fitnah_) persecution. by preventing or removing the persecution (_fitnah_), the religion of the moslems was to be free and pure from intolerance and compulsion to revert to idolatry, or in other words, to be the only or wholly of god. that is, when you are free and unpersecuted in your religion, and not forced to worship idols and renounce islam, then your religion will be pure and free. you shall have no fear of being forced to join other gods with god. the same verse is repeated in chapter viii. . "say to the unbelievers: if they desist,[ ] what is now past shall be forgiven them, but if they return _to it_,[ ] they have already before them the doom of the former."[ ] . "fight then against them till _fitnah_ (civil strife or persecution) be at an end, and the religion be all of it god's, and if they desist, verily god beholdeth what they do." this shows that the fighting prescribed here against the koreish was only in the case of their not desisting, and it was only to prevent and suppress their _fitnah_, and when their intolerance and persecution was suppressed, or was no more, then the moslem religion was to become all of it god's. they were not forced to join any god with the true god. [sidenote: . sir w. muir quoted.] sir w. muir, in his last chapter on the person and character of mohammad, observes in reviewing the medina period: "intolerance quickly took the place of freedom; force, of persuasion." ... "slay the unbelievers wheresoever ye find them" was now the watchword of islam:--"fight in the ways of god until opposition be crushed, and the religion becometh the lord's alone!"[ ] here, sir w. muir plainly contradicts himself. he has already admitted at the th page of the fourth volume of his work that the course pursued by mohammad at medina was to leave the conversion of the people to be gradually accomplished without compulsion, and the same measure he intended to adopt at his triumphal entry into mecca. his words are: "this movement obliged mahomet to cut short of his stay at mecca. although the city had cheerfully accepted his supremacy, all its inhabitants had not yet embraced the new religion, or formally acknowledged his prophetic claim. perhaps, he intended to follow the course he had pursued at medina, and leave the conversion of the people to be gradually accomplished without compulsion." this was at the end of the eighth year after the hegira. mohammad died at the beginning of the eleventh year, then the question naturally comes up, when was that alleged change to intolerance, and how sir w. muir says, this change is traced from the period of mohammad's arrival at medina? in the action taken in the fifth year of the hegira against the jewish tribe of koreiza, who had treasoned against the city, sir w. muir admits that up to that period mohammad did not profess to force men to join islam, or to punish them for not embracing it. his words are: "the ostensible grounds upon which mahomet proceeded were purely political, for as yet he did not profess _to force_ men to join islam, or to punish them for not embracing it."[ ] in a foot-note he remarks: "he still continued to reiterate in his revelations the axiom used at mecca, 'i am only a public preacher,' as will be shown in the next chapter." further, sir w. muir, in his account of the first two years after mohammad's arrival at medina, admits in a foot-note (p. , vol. iii), that "as yet we have no distinct development of the intention of mahomet to impose his religion on others by force: it would have been dangerous in the present state of parties to advance this principle." [sidenote: . comment on the above quotation.] it will appear from the foregoing statements that in each of the three distinct periods of mohammad's sojourn in medina, _i.e._, the first two years, the fifth year, and the eighth year, sir w. muir has himself admitted that mohammad had no intention to impose his religion by force, and did not profess to force people to join islam, or punish them for not embracing it, and that the conversion of the people at medina was gradually accomplished without compulsion, and the same course he followed at his taking of mecca. then there is no room left for the uncalled for and self-contradictory remark of sir w. muir, that at medina "intolerance quickly took place of freedom; force, of persuasion." up to the end of the eighth year when mecca was captured, there was admittedly no persecution or constraint put in requisition to enforce religion. mohammad breathed his last early in the eleventh year. during the two years that intervened, the din of war had ceased to sound, deputations continued to reach the prophet from all quarters of arabia, and not a single instance of intolerance or compulsory adoption of faith is found on record.[ ] mohammad, neither sooner, nor later, in his stay at medina, swerved from the policy of forbearance and persuasion he himself had chalked out for the success of his mission. at medina, he always preached his liberal profession of respect for other creeds, and reiterated assurances to the people that he was merely a preacher, and expressly gave out that compulsion in religion was out of question with him. these are his revelations during the medina period. "verily, they who believe (moslems), and they who follow the jewish religion, and the christians, and the sabeites,--whoever believeth in god and the last day, and doeth that which is right, shall have their reward with their lord: and fear shall not _come_ upon them, neither shall they be grieved." _sura ii_, . "and say to those who have been given the scripture, and to the common folk, do you surrender yourselves unto god? then, if they become moslems, are they guided aright; but if they turn away, then thy duty is only preaching and god's eye is on his servants." _sura iii_, . "the apostle is only bound to preach: and god knoweth what ye bring to light, and what ye conceal." _sura v_, . "say: obey god and obey the apostle. but if ye turn back, _still_ the burden of his duty is on him only, and the burden of your duty rests on you. and if ye obey him, ye shall have guidance; but plain preaching is all that devolves upon the apostle." _sura xxiv_, . "let there be no compulsion in religion. now is the right way made distinct from error; whoever therefore denieth tâghoot,[ ] and believeth in god, hath taken hold on a strong handle that hath no flaw therein: and god is he who heareth, knoweth." _sura ii_, . "whoso obeyeth the apostle, in so doing obeyeth god and _as to those_ who turn back _from thee_, we have not sent thee to be their keeper." _sura iv_, . [sidenote: . the object of mohammad's wars.] "slay the unbelievers wherever ye find them" was never the watchword of islam. it was only said in self-preservation and war of defence, and concerned only those who had taken up arms against the moslems. the verses--suras ii, ; and viii, --have been quoted above in paras. and (pp. , , and ), and they fully show by their context and scope that they only enjoined war against the meccans, who used to come to war upon the moslems. the object of making war is precisely set forth in these verses, and appears to mean that civil feuds and persecutions be at an end. but sir w. muir wrongly translates _fitnah_ as _opposition_. he himself has translated the meaning of the word in question as _persecution_, in vol. ii, p. , foot-note; in translating the tenth verse of the sura lxxxv he writes: "verily, they who persecute the believers, male and female, and repent themselves not." the original word there is _fatanoo_,[ ] from _fitnah_. i do not know why he should put a twofold version on the same word occurring in the same book. (suras ii, ; viii, .) [footnote : islam under the arabs, by major r.d. osborne, london, , p. .] [footnote : xviii, .] [footnote : ii, .] [footnote : v, .] [footnote : ix, .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iii, p. .] [footnote : from attacking and persecuting you and preventing you from entering your homes and visiting the sacred mosque.] [footnote : that is, if again attack you and commit aggressions.] [footnote : meaning those who were defeated at badr.] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iii, p. .] [footnote : there is only one instance of intolerance, _i.e._, making converts at the point of sword, which sir w. muir, so zealous in accusing mohammad of religious persecution during the medina period, has succeeded in finding out during the ten eventful years of mohammad's sojourn in medina. i refer to the story of khalid's mission in the beginning of the tenth year a.h., to bani haris, a christian tribe at najran, whose people had entered into a covenant of peace with mohammad, and to whom an ample pledge had been guaranteed to follow their own faith. according to sir w. muir, khalid was instructed to call on the people to embrace islam, and if they declined, he was, after three days, to attack and force them to submit (muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. ). the version of the story thus given by the biographers of mohammad is too absurd to be believed; because it is a well-established fact that the bani haris, or the christians of najran, had sent a deputation to mohammad only a year ago, _i.e._, in a.h. , and obtained terms of security from him (muir's life of mahomet, vol. ii, p. ; ibn hisham, p. ). it is quite an unfounded, though a very ingenious, excuse of sir w. muir to make the bani haris consist of two sects,--one of christians, and the other of idolators,--and to say that the operations of khalid were directed against the portion of bani haris still benighted with paganism; thus reconciling the apocryphal tradition with the fact of the bani haris being at a treaty of security, toleration and freedom, with mohammad. "i conclude," he writes in a note, "the operations of khâlid were directed against the portion of bani hârith still idolaters:--at all events not against the christian portion already under treaty" (the life of mahomet, vol. iv, foot-note, p. ). see the account of the conversion of bani hárith to christianity long before islam in hishamee, pp. - . gibbon, chapter xlii, vol. v, p. , foot-note; and muir's vol. i, p. ccxxviii.] [footnote : a name applied to an idol or idols--especially allat and ozza, the ancient idols of the meccans.] [footnote : the past tense, third person plural, of the infinitive _fitnah_.] _the ninth chapter, or sura barat._ [sidenote . the opening portion of the ixth sura of the koran only relates to the koreish who had violated the truce.] [sidenote: the injunctions contained in it were not carried out owing to the compromise.] sir william muir, while relating the publication of some verses of the ninth chapter of the koran on the occasion of the great pilgrimage a.h. , and referring to the opening verses of the sura (from st to th inclusive) writes: "the passages just quoted completed the system of mahomet so far as its relations with idolatrous tribes and races were concerned. the few cases of truce excepted, uncompromising warfare was declared against them all."[ ] this is not correct. the mistake, he as well as others who follow him commit, lies in their taking the incipient verses of chapter ix, as originally published at the end of the ninth year of the hegira, after the conquest of mecca, in order to set aside every obligation or league with the idolators to wage war with them, either within or without the sacred territory, and "they were to be killed, besieged, and laid in wait for _wheresoever found_."[ ] in fact it has no such bearing of generally setting aside the treaties, and declaring _uncompromising warfare_, and was not published for the first time on the occasion stated above. the opening verses of the ninth sura of the koran, which i have quoted in full together with necessary notes in para. (pp. - ), revealed for the first time, were before the conquest of mecca, when the idolators thereof had broken the truce of hodeibia. their violation of the treaty is expressly mentioned in verses , , and , and the same verses also enjoin to respect and fulfil the treaties of those idolators who had not broken theirs. therefore only those aggressors who had been guilty of a breach of faith, and instigated others to take up arms against the moslems in the attack of bani bakr, on khozáa, were to be waged war against, besieged, and taken captives after the expiration of four months from the date of the publication of the verses in question. but fortunately abu sofian compromised before the commencement of the sacred months, and before the period of the four months had elapsed. the people of mecca submitted without bloodshed, and hence it is obvious that the injunctions contained in the commencement of the ninth chapter of the koran were never carried out. they remained as dead letter, and will, i think, so remain perpetually. almost all european writers, as far as i know, labour under the delusion that at the end of the ninth year mohammad published the opening verses of the ninth sura, commonly designated _súra barát_. but the fact is that it was published in the eighth year of the hegira before the commencement of the sacred months, probably in the month of shabán, while mohammad marched in ramzán against mecca, not with the intention of prosecuting war, for it was to take place after the lapse of zikad, zelhaj and moharram, but of taking mecca by compromise and preconcerted understanding between himself and abu sofian. if it be admitted that the preliminary verses of sura ix of the koran were revealed or published for the first time in the last month of the ninth year of the hegira, then they--the verses--become aimless, without being pregnant of any object in view. they contain injunctions for carrying hostile operations against those who had broken certain treaties, had helped others against the moslems, and themselves had also attacked them. they proclaimed war against certain tribes, whose people did not regard ties of blood and good faith, and had been the first aggressors against the moslems. not many such persons were in the whole of arabia at and after the time alleged for the promulgation of these verses, _i.e._, at the last month of the ninth and the whole tenth year. by this time, almost all arabia had tendered voluntary submission to the authority of mohammad. deputations from each tribe of the arabs continued to reach medina during the whole of this period, and were pledged protection and friendship by the founder of the islamic faith. from medina the sound of drums and the bray of clarions had now died away. hereupon we are able to speak with certainty that these verses could not be, and were not, revealed at the end of the ninth year as it has been asserted by several writers, both mohammadan and european. and for the above reasons the most suitable occasion for the revelation of these verses is the breach of the truce of hodeibia by the koreish and their allies during the eighth year of the hegira which caused the reduction of mecca by compromise. several mohammadan commentators are unanimous in their opinion as to this point. consequently the verses, ordaining the manifestation of arms against the treaty-breakers and aggressors, as well as putting them to the sword wherever they were to be found, _i.e._, within or without the harem, or the precincts of the sacred mosque, were not complied with owing to the compromise by the koreish. [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. ] [footnote : "islam and its founder," by j.w.h. stobart, b.a., p. . london, .] _the alleged interception of the koreishite caravans._ [sidenote: . the nine alleged interceptions of the koreish caravans.] it has been asserted by european biographers of mohammad that several caravans of the koreish going to and from syria were intercepted and waylaid by the moslems soon after the hegira. the alleged incursions are as follow: ( .) seven months after mohammad's arrival at medina, an expedition headed by hamza surprised a caravan under the conduct of abu jahl. ( .) a month later a party led by obeida was dispatched in the pursuit of another caravan guided by abu sofian. ( .) after the expiration of another month, a third inroad headed by sad proceeded to lie in ambush for the koreish caravan on the way it was expected to pass. ( .) nearly twelve months after the hegira, a fourth attempt was undertaken to plunder a caravan of the koreishites by mohammad himself at abwa. ( .) in the succeeding month mohammad again marched to bowat with the sole aim of despoiling a caravan composed of precious freight under the immediate escort of omeya-bin khalf. ( .) after the lapse of two or three months mohammad set out to osheira to make aggression on another rich caravan proceeding to syria led by abu sofian. all these expeditions are said to have been not attended by any success on the part of the moslems, the vigilance of the caravans in all cases eluding the pursuit made after them.[ ] ( .) in rajab a.h. , a small band composed of some six persons was ordered to march to nakhla to lie in wait there for the caravan of the koreish. the party had a scuffle at nakhla, in which a man of the convoy was killed; while two prisoners and the pilfered goods were taken to medina. hereupon mohammad was much displeased, and told abdallah-bin jahsh, "i never commanded thee to fight in the sacred month." ( .) the caravan of the koreish, which on its passage had safely escaped the chase of the moslems, as already described in no. , was on its way back to mecca. mohammad anticipated their return, and prepared an attack, which terminated in the famous battle of badr. ( .) all these predatory inroads to intercept the caravans of mecca are said to have happened during the first and the second year of the hegira, or before the battle of badr. it remains for me now to mention the only remaining instance of moslem's foray upon the koreishite caravan, which took place in the sixth year a.h. at _al-is_. the attack was completely successful. [sidenote: . the interceptions were impossible under the circumstances in which mohammad was placed.] i have already explained (from paras. - ) that these early expeditions, numbered to , are not corroborated by authentic and trustworthy traditions, and i have also given the probable nature of those marked , and . it was impossible for mohammad and his adherents, situated as they were, to make any hostile demonstrations or undertake a pillaging enterprise. the inhabitants of medina, where the prophet with his followers had sought a safe asylum, and at whose invitation he had entered their city, had solemnly bound themselves on sacred oaths to defend mohammad, so long as he was not himself the aggressor, from his enemies as they would their wives and their children.[ ] mohammad, on his own part, had entered into a holy compact with them not to plunder or commit depredations.[ ] upon these considerations it was impossible that the people of medina would have permitted or overlooked the irruptions so often committed by mohammad upon the caravans of the koreish: much less would they have joined with their prophet, had he or any of his colleagues ventured to do so. but granting that the medinites allowed mohammad to manifest enmity towards the koreish by a display of arms, or that no restraint was put by them upon him when he encroached upon the territories of the neighbouring tribes, and that the caravans were molested without any grounds of justice, was it possible, i ask, for the people of medina to avoid the troubles they would be necessarily involved in by the refuge they had given to their prophet? they had long suffered from internal feuds, and the sanguinary conflict of boás, a few years ago, which had paralyzed their country, and humiliated its citizens, was but too fresh in their memory yet. [sidenote: . the interceptions, if occurred, were justified by way of reprisals.] let us suppose that these alleged interceptions of the meccan caravans by the moslems did actually take place, as related by the biographers of mohammad, were they not all justified by the international code of the arabs, or the ancient usage and military law of nations. it has been proved beyond all dispute that the meccans were the first aggressors in persecuting the moslems, and expelling them from their dear homes at mecca with the unbearable annoyance, they caused the converts of the new faith in the peaceful prosecution of their religion; taking all these causes of offence into consideration, as well as the international law and the law of nature, the moslems might be said to have law and justice both on their sides in waging war with their harassers for the restoration of their property and homes, and even in retaliating and making reprisals until they attained the object long sought by them. when the meccans, on their own part, had first trumpeted hostility against the moslems, the right of self-defence, as well as military necessity, compelled the latter to destroy their property, and obstruct the ways and channels of communication by which their traffic was prospering; for, "from the moment one state is at war with another, it has, on general principles, a right to seize on all the enemy's property of whatsoever kind and wheresoever found, and to appropriate the property thus taken to its own use, or to that of the captors."[ ] [footnote : i have closely followed sir w. muir in these expeditions; _vide_ the life of mahomet, vol. iii, pp. - .] [footnote : "the people of medîna were pledged only to defend the prophet from attack, not to join him in any aggressive steps against the coreish." muir's life of mahomet, vol. iii, p. .] [footnote : bokharee relates from obada-bin sámat with the usual chain of narrators, that "i am one of the _nakeebs_ who pledged to the prophet. we pledged that we will not join any other god with the god, and will not commit theft, and will not commit fornication, and will not commit murder, and will not plunder." saheeh of bokharee, book of campaigns, chapter on deputations from ansárs.] [footnote : wheaton's elements of international law, p. , boston, ; lieber's miscellaneous writings; political science, vol. ii, p. , philadelphia, .] _the alleged assassinations._ [sidenote: . instances of alleged assassinations cited.] there were certain executions of culprits who had perpetrated the crime of high treason against the moslem commonwealth. these executions, and certain other cases of murders not grounded on any credible evidences, are narrated by european biographers of mohammad as assassinations committed through the countenance and connivance which he lent them. they were about five or six in number, and they are styled assassinations from there being no trials of the prisoners by a judge and a jury, nor by any systematic court-martial. the punishment of death was inflicted upon the persons condemned, either from private enmity or for the unpardonable offence of high treason against the state, but it cannot be said, as i will hereafter show, that these so-called cases of assassinations had received the high sanction of mohammad, or they were brought about at his direct instigation and assent for their commission. the alleged instances are as follows:-- . asma-bint marwán. . abú afak. . káb-ibn ashraf. . sofian-ibn khalid. . abú ráfe. . oseir-ibu zárim. . the attempted assassination of abú sofian. [sidenote: . mr. poole quoted.] before reviewing the truth and falsity of evidence in each of these cases, and showing how far the prophet was privy to them, i will avail myself of a quotation from mr. stanley lane poole, who has remarked with his usual deep discernment and accurate judgment, in his introduction to mr. e.w. lane's selections from the koran: "the execution of the half-dozen marked jews is generally called assassination, because a muslim was sent secretly to kill each of the criminals. the reason is almost too obvious to need explanation. there were no police or law-courts, or even courts-martial, at medina; some one of the followers of mohammad must therefore be the executer of the sentence of death, and it was better it should be done quietly, as the executing of a man openly before his clan would have caused a brawl and more bloodshed and retaliation, till the whole city had become mixed up in the quarrel. if secret assassination is the word for such deeds, secret assassination was a necessary part of the internal government of medina. the men must be killed, and best in that way. in saying this i assume that mohammad was cognisant of the deed, and that it was not merely a case of private vengeance; but in several instances the evidence that traces these executions to mohammad's order is either entirely wanting or is too doubtful to claim our credence."[ ] .--_asma-bint marwán._ [sidenote: . asma-bint marwán.] "the first victim was a woman," writes major osborn, "asma, daughter of marwan; she had composed some satirical verses on the prophet and his followers; and muhammad, moved to anger, said publicly: 'who will rid me of this woman?' omeir, a blind man, but an ardent moslem, heard the speech, and at dead of night crept into the apartment where asma lay asleep surrounded by her little ones; he felt about in the darkness till his hand rested on the sleeping woman, and then, the next instance his sword was plunged into her breast."[ ] the story of asma's murder has been variously related by the arabian writers, and the testimonies on which it rests are contradictory and conflicting in themselves. wákidi, ibn sád, and ibn hishám relate a very strange thing about it, that she was killed by omeir the _blind_ at the dead of night. a blind person commits murder in a stranger's house during nocturnal quietness, and is not arrested by any one! doctor weil writes, that omeir was a former husband of asma, and the origin of the murder may be traced to a long-brooding and private malice. ibn asákar in his history (vide _seerat shámee_) relates that asma was a fruit-seller; some person of her tribe asked her if she had better fruits. she said 'yes,' and entered her house followed by that man. she stooped down to take something up, the person turned right and left, and seeing that nobody was near, gave a violent blow on her head, and thus dispatched her. [sidenote: . the story deserves not our belief.] the historians even relate that omeir, being offended at the verses composed by asma, had volunteered himself of his own free-will to kill her.[ ] she might have been a sacrifice to envy or hatred by the sword of her assassin, but mohammad really had no hand in her death. she had made herself an outlaw by deluding the people of medina to a breach of treaty with the moslems, whereby the rights and jurisdictions of jews and moslems were definitively settled. ibn ishak quietly leaves unnarrated any transaction with regard to asma. wakidi and ibn sád do not affirm that mohammad, being annoyed at her lampoons, said dejectedly, "who would rid me of that woman?" on the contrary, wakidi writes, that omeir had voluntarily swore to take her life. it is only ibn hisham who relates without citing his authority, that mohammad, hearing asma's verses, declared: "is there nobody for me (i.e., _to rid me_) from bint marwán?" this version of the story has no corroborative proofs from the earliest biographers, and we are not inclined to put any faith in it.[ ] .--_abú afak._ [sidenote: . abú afak.] it has been related that abú afak of bani amr had enraged the moslems by fomenting enmity and sedition against their government, when one háris was executed for his murdering treacherously his fellow-comrade in the battle of ohad during the time they were fighting together side by side. a convert from amongst the bani amr vowed to slay abú afak, and falling unawares upon him killed him with a cruel blow of his sword. from ibn ishak we learn that mohammad had said with reference to abú afak, "who would rid me of this pestilent fellow?"[ ] the biographers do not give their authorities whence they derived their information of the words attributed to mohammad which he is said to have uttered with relation to abú afak before his followers; while at the same time it is no fair justice to form a hasty opinion of the fact without a critical examination and well-balancing of evidences of men like ibn ishak and others who have forgotten to tell us the original sources of their own assertion. besides, the words quoted above are not equivalent to a peremptory order, and even granting this last condition, we are not justified in construing them to mean _assassination_. sir w. muir writes that, "the secretary of wâckidi says distinctly--'now this was by command of the prophet.'" (vol. iii, p. , _f.n._) but it is a very easy thing for the secretary or other biographers to give an ample play to their fancies, or to fabricate commands, which the prophet had never given out, on a very slender basis, or on no reasonable basis at all. the tendency of the biographers is always to exonerate the companions of the prophet at the expense of truth, and to justify their deeds by casting the whole blame upon him. .--_káb, son of ashraf._ [sidenote: . káb, son of ashraf.] káb-ibn ashraf was an influential jew connected with the tribe of bani nazeer. being very much mortified by the defeat of the meccans at the battle of badr, he soon after proceeded to mecca, where he stirred up the koreish to avenge themselves on the moslems of medina. on his return to the latter place he manifested avowed hostility towards the moslem commonwealth. he was a traitor and a turncoat, for he not only violated his allegiance to the moslems, but preached rebellion among their enemies. under such circumstances, he deserved execution by the military and international law, and was decapitated at medina accordingly. the mode of execution was a sudden violence or deception, but mohammad never fulminated any harsh commands against him either for his assassination or for his murder. he deserved capital punishment for his treachery, which was duly measured out to him in the absence of any legal tribunals for trials of criminals by jury, for in that case any man was authorized to execute the sentence of the law. even if it be taken for granted that the prophet had prayed "o lord, deliver me from the son of ashraf, in whatsoever manner seemeth good unto thee, because of his open sedition and verses;" or said, "who can ease me of the son of ashraf?"[ ] this does not amount to a fiat for murder or execution, much less for assassination. [sidenote: . mohammad could not have any share in his murder.] the biographers and narrators of the campaigns of mohammad generally relate untrustworthy and fabulous details of such events, and are by no means to be relied upon. mohammad ibn ishak, the earliest biographer, whose work exists, does not relate that mohammad the prophet ever prayed for, or said to his followers, to be got rid of káb; whereas the latest biographers and traditionalists give us to understand that the prophet sanctioned the murder of káb by his own express orders. "i am far from asserting," says sir w. muir, "that every detail in the foregoing narrative, either of instigation by mahomet or of deception by the assassins, is beyond suspicion. the actors in such scenes were not slow to magnify and embellish their own services at the expense of truth. there may also have been the desire to justify an act of perfidy, at which even the loose morality of the day was startled, by casting the burden of it on the infallible prophet. but, after allowing all due weight to both of these considerations, enough remains to prove, in this case, the worst features of assassination, and the fact that they were directly countenanced, or rather prompted, by mahomet himself."[ ] there is no substantial proof in this case which tends to establish the instigation mohammad offered for the murder of káb. the best traditions for the story of káb's assassination rest with jábir-bin abdullah,[ ] and ibn abbás through ikrama.[ ] none of them can be an authority, for they were neither eye-witnesses, nor they heard the prophet countenancing or prompting the assassination, nor they allude to their own authorities. jábir-bin abdullah was a mere boy at that time. he was not allowed to appear even at the battle of ohad, which took place after the alleged execution of káb, on account of his tender age.[ ] ibn abbás was even younger than jábir, and besides, was putting up at mecca at the period in question.[ ] ikrama was a slave of ibn abbás, and was notoriously given to the forging of fictitious traditions.[ ] .--_sofian-bin khalid._ [sidenote: . sofian-bin khalid.] after the reverse at medina, in the battle of ohad, large gatherings were organized in various quarters of arabia against the moslems. the bani lahyán, and other neighbouring tribes, rallied round the standard of their chief sofián, the son of khálid, at orna with the avowed purpose of taking this occasion by the forelock when the tables were turned at ohad. "mahomet, knowing that their movements depended solely upon sofiân, despatched abdullah ibn oneis with instructions to assassinate him."[ ] the accredited envoy volunteered himself for the service, which he accomplished by destroying sofian by surprise. neither ibn ishak, nor ibn hisham, nor ibn sád have anything to say about 'instructions' for assassination. abdullah-bin oneis may have been sent as a spy to reconnoitre the movements of sofián and his army, or to bring advices concerning him, but it cannot be affirmed that he was tutored by mohammad to assassinate sofian, even on the supposition that his mission was to kill the latter. [sidenote: . justifications of sofian's alleged murder.] among the arabs the international law of estates in their hostile relations, and the military law and usage of former times, not forgetting to mention the european international law as late as the last century, maintained the broad principle that "in war everything done against an enemy is lawful that he may be destroyed, though unarmed and defenceless; that fraud or even poison may be employed against him; that a most unlimited right is acquired to his person and property."[ ] every sort of fraud except perfidy was allowed to be practised towards an enemy in war. "i allow of any kind of deceit," writes bynkershoek, a writer on international law, the successor of puffendorf and the predecessor of wolff and vattel, "perfidy alone excepted, not because anything is unlawful against an enemy, but because when our faith had been pledged to him, so far as the promise extends, he ceases to be an enemy."[ ] in the case of sofián there was no perfidy, treachery, or violation of faith, nor was there any permission granted by mohammad for his assassination. he sent, if it be proved he did (but it is never proved), abdullah against sofián who had made every preparation of arms, and who had mustered together several bedouin tribes to attack mohammad, to fight and kill him; it was a straightforward course allowed by the usages of the military law. mohammad had distinctly and expressly interdicted _perfidy, deceit and assassination_. "do not," said he, charging his commanders and soldiers on the point of marching for a military expedition, "commit perfidy, and do not mutilate, and do not kill a child."[ ] he also laid down the golden maxim, "_belief is the restraint to assassination. no believer should commit assassination_."[ ] .--_abú rafe._ [sidenote: . abú rafe.] abú rafe, called also sallám ibn abul hokeik, was the chief of bani nazeer, who had warred with the moslems at medina, and had been banished to khyber. he had taken a prominent part in the assembling of most of the bedouin tribes at the war of the confederates when they besieged medina. subsequently, he had excited bani fezara and other bedouin tribes to carry on their depredations among the moslems. a band of the latter was dispatched to inflict condign punishment upon him, and he met with his death at their hands. but the account of his execution are full of contradictions and discrepancies. but none of these diverse stories has, that mohammad commanded the assassination of abú rafe, while ibn ishak gives no account of him at all. ibn hisham has--"that abú rafe had brought the confederate army against mohammad, and some of khazraj had asked permission to kill him, and mohammad permitted them."[ ] sir w. muir narrates that mohammad "gave them command to make away with abul huckeick,"[ ] whilst the secretary of wákidi, whom he follows, simply says, "he gave command to kill him." "_making away with a person_" creates an idea of secret murder tantamount to 'assassination,' but such is not the wording of the original. _sending a party to kill_, or _fight with an enemy_ are synonymous, and permissible by the international or military law, the arab mode of fighting mostly consisting of single combats. .--_oseir-bin zárim._[ ] [sidenote: . oseir-bin zárim.] oseir-ibn zarim, the chief of bani nazeer, had maintained a hostile animosity against the moslems of medina, to war with whom he had enrolled himself in the adverse tribe of ghatafán. preparations were briskly made by this tribe to make a havoc of medina, and oseir had been made the hero of the enterprise. hereupon mohammad delegated the mission of bringing the insurgent to medina to abdullah-bin rawáha and some others, with a promise of making him governor of khyber,[ ] and treating him with marked distinction, if he yielded to the wishes of the prophet. oseir complied, and set out with his followers to medina. on a camel were mounted abdullah-bin, oneis, and oseir. hardly they had travelled six miles when oseir repented of his determination to go to medina, and stretched forth his hand towards the sword of abdullah, who leaped from the camel and cut off his leg, oseir in the meantime wounding abdullah's head with his camel staff.[ ] now, whether oseir was assassinated or murdered perfidiously; whether he meditated treachery, and abdullah struck him in his self-defence,--whatever might be the case, certainly there is nothing in the narrative of oseir's death to show that mohammad had sent him "on a secret errand with a view of getting rid of the jewish chief" as sir w. muir explains.[ ] the story is not imparted by earliest writers like ibn ishak, and the traditions of a later date are incoherent, one-sided, and imperfect. notwithstanding these inaccuracies, no account tells us that mandates were issued for fighting with or killing oseir, much less for his assassination. .--_the alleged intended assassination of abú sofian._ [sidenote: . the intended assassination of abú sofian.] a bedouin arab was sent by abú sofian to medina to assassinate mohammad. the emissary was tracked in his evil attempt, and confessed the purpose with which he had come. this is related by ibn sád katib wakidi as the cause of mohammad's sending amr ibn omeya to assassinate abú sofian.[ ] according to hishamee, amr was commissioned by the prophet to fight with abú sofián, and to kill him in immediate revenge for the murder of khobeib and his companions captured at raji.[ ] now, ibn ishak and wákidí preserve absolute silence on this head. ibn hisham relates nothing about assassination. it is only ibn sád kátib wákidí who hands down to posterity the orders of mohammad for the assassination of abú sofian. this tradition is neither strengthened by any sterling witness, nor is it a genuine one; and for this very reason it was not accepted by ibn ishák or even by wakidi, so prone to the recital of apocryphal traditions. [sidenote: . irving and muir quoted: concluding remarks.] referring to the above attempted assassination mr. washington irving says: "during this period of his career mahomet in more than one instance narrowly escaped falling by the hand of an assassin. he himself is charged with the use of insidious means to rid himself of an enemy, for it is said that he sent amru ibn omeya on a secret errand to mecca, to assassinate abu sofian, but the plot was discovered, and the assassin only escaped by rapid flight. the charge, however, is not well substantiated, and is contrary to his general character and conduct."[ ] sir w. muir writes: "there is just a shadow of possibility that the tradition may have been fabricated by the anti-omeyad party to throw odium on the memory of abu sofiân, as having been deemed by mahomet worthy of death. but this is not to be put against the evidence of unanimous and apparently independent traditions."[ ] but, in fact, there are no unanimous and apparently independent traditions of the command of mohammad to assassinate abú sofian; there is only one and but one, by ibn sád, which is wholly unreliable, and that too from the lips of the would-be assassin himself who before the introduction of islam was a professional cutthroat, whose narration, therefore, deserves not our belief. even if it be taken for granted that mohammad did send some one to assassinate abú sofian, who had already sent some one to assassinate mohammad as related by ibn sád, it was justified in self-defence. it was a measure for retaliation, not one of mere revenge, but only a means of protective retribution, which is lawful under the military law.[ ] [footnote : selections from the kur-án by edward william lane, with an introduction by stanley lane poole. intro., p. xliv: trübner & co., london, .] [footnote : islam under the arabs, by r.d. osborn, p. , london, .] [footnote : wákidi's campaigns of mohammad, pp. & : calcutta baptist mission press; edited by a. von kremer.] [footnote : sir w. muir writes that "hishami says, that mahomet, being vexed by asma's verses, said _publicly_, 'who will rid me of this woman?'" but there is no such word in ibn hishám which may be rendered '_publicly_.'] [footnote : ibn hisham, p. . wakidi does not give this sentence. on the contrary, he says, sálim had taken a vow to kill abú afak or die himself.] [footnote : ibn sad kátib wákidí, pp. , .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, by sir w. muir, vol. iii, pp. - .] [footnote : in the collections of bokhári in the book of campaigns; and in the book of jihád by moslim.] [footnote : mohammad-bin sád kátib wakidi and mohammad-bin ishak. the latter in ibn hisham, p. .] [footnote : vide _osaba-fi tamiz issahába_; or, biographical dictionary of persons who knew mohammad, by ibn hajr-al-askalani. part i, no. , p. .] [footnote : ibn abbás was only five years old at that time, and was at mecca. his evidence is consequently inadmissible.] [footnote : yahya-bin saeed al ansaree, ali-bin abdullah-bin abbás, ibnal mosayyab, atá ibrahim-bin maisura, mohammad-bin sireen, kásim, and abdullah-bin omar say that ikrama was a liar. vide _mizánul etedal_ of zahabi, _koukabi durrári sharah_, _saheeh bokhari_, by shamsuddin kirmáni; and _márafat anwaá-ilm hadees_, by abu omar-ad-damishki.] [footnote : the life of mahomet, by sir w. muir, vol. iii, p. .] [footnote : elements of international law, by henry wheaton, ll.d. sixth edition, by william beach lawrence, boston, ; part iv, chapter i, p. , quoting bynkershoek; in p. , quoting bynkershoek and wolff.] [footnote : _ibid_, chapter ii, p. .] [footnote : the collections of moslem _apud_ boreida, _vide_ mishkat, p. .] [footnote : the collections of abú daúd in the book of jihád, vol. ii, p. .] [footnote : the life of mohammad based on mohammad-ibn ishak, by abdel malik-ibn hisham, p. .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, by sir w. muir, vol. iv, p. .] [footnote : or yoseir-bin razim.] [footnote : as khyber was not yet conquered, neither mohammad could make such a promise, nor the jews could have been induced to believe it; therefore the story is a false one.] [footnote : the life of mohammad, by abdel malik-bin hisham, pp. - .] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, pp. - .] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv. p. .] [footnote : the life of mohammad, by abdel malik-bin hisham, pp. - . the fighting was, according to arab custom, in single combats.] [footnote : mahomet and his successors, by washington irving, p. , london, .] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. , foot-note.] [footnote : compare "contributions to political science," by francis lieber, ll.d., vol. ii, p. .] _the alleged cruelties in executing the prisoners of war and others_. [sidenote: . treatment of the prisoners of war.] some of the war prisoners had received the condign punishment of execution for their crimes in conformity with the laws of war. it has been alleged by some european biographers of mohammad that their (the war prisoners') execution was cruel, and that they were accused of no crime except their scepticism and political antagonism.[ ] the persons executed were as follows:-- . nadhr-bin-harith. . okba. . abul ozza. . moavia-bin-mughira. [sidenote: the law of nations regarding the prisoners of war.] before reviewing the case of each prisoner, i must note, by way of introductory remarks, that, under the international or military law, a prisoner of war is a public enemy armed or attached to the hostile army for active aid, and who has fallen into the hands of the captor, either fighting or wounded, on the fields or in the hospitals, by individual surrender or capitulation. all soldiers, of whatever species of arms; all men who belong to the rising _en masse_ of the hostile country; all those who are attached to the army for its efficiency and promote directly the object of the war, except religious persons, officers of medical staff, hospital nurses and servants, all disabled men or officers on the field, or elsewhere, if captured, all enemies who have thrown away their arms and asked for quarters, are prisoners of war, and as such exposed to the inconveniences as well as entitled to the privileges of a prisoner of war. he is subject to no punishment for being a public enemy, nor is any revenge wreaked upon him by the international infliction of any suffering or disgrace, by cruel imprisonment, want of food, by mutilation, death, or any other barbarity. but a prisoner of war remains answerable for his crimes committed against the captor's army or people before he was captured, and for which he has not been punished by his own authorities. all prisoners of war are liable to the infliction of retaliatory measures. .--_nadhr-bin-harith_. [sidenote: . the execution of nadhr ibn harith.] nadhr (nazr), one of the prisoners of war, was executed after the battle of badr for his crime of severely tormenting the moslems at mecca. musáb had distinctly reminded him of his torturing the companions of mohammad,[ ] so there was nothing of a cruel and vindictive spirit of the prophet displayed towards his enemies in the execution of nazr as it is made out by sir w. muir.[ ] on the other hand, his execution is denied by some critics, like ibn manda and abú naeem, who say, that nazr-bin-haris was present at the battle of honain, a.h. , six years after that of badr, and was presented with one hundred camels by mohammad. sir w. muir himself puts down very quietly nadhir ibn al harith's name in a foot-note (vol. iv, page ) as a recipient of one hundred camels at honain. the same nadhr-bin-harith is shown among the earliest moslem refugees who had fled to abyssinia. these discrepancies leave no doubt that the story of nadhr's execution is not a fact. it is also related by the narrators, who assert nazr's execution at badr, that his daughter or sister came to mohammad and addressed him several verses, the hearing of which produced such a tender emotion in him, that his eyes shed tears and said, he would not have issued orders for his execution had he heard these verses before. the following are two of the verses which mohammad heard: _"má kán zarraka lao mananta va rubba mámannal fata va ho-al mughizul mohnihoo."_ thou wouldst no harm have seen to set him free, anger how high for pardon has no plea. but zobier-bin-bakár says, he heard some learned men who objected to these verses on the ground that they were all concocted; and i think that the whole story of nazr's execution is a spurious one. .--_okba-bin-mueit_. [sidenote: . the execution of okba.] another prisoner, named okba, was executed after the battle of badr for a crime similar to that of nazr. it is related that while he was going to be executed, he asked who would take care of his little girl. mohammad replied, "hell-fire!" this is altogether an apocryphal story, and owes its origin to the relation of okba to the tribe of banunnar, or the "children of fire." wackidi does not give his authorities for the story, and ibn is-hak gives only one immediately before him, which is cut short of another intervening link of authorities up to the scene of occurrence. abu daood narrates it from masrook, who gave it on the authority of abdullah-bin-mas-ood, who does not say he was present at the scene or he heard it directly or indirectly from mohammad. besides the circumstances under which masrook gave out this story are very suspicious, and show that calumny was at work. masrook was proposed by zohak to be entrusted with the administration of a certain district. ommara, the son of okba, objected to this, as masrook was one of the murderers of osman, the third khalif. masrook in reply said to ommara, on the authority of ibn masood, that "when thy father was being executed, he had asked the prophet, who will take care of his little girl." the prophet replied, "hell-fire." therefore, i am satisfied for thee with what the prophet had chosen for thy father.[ ] there is a discrepancy in the mode of okba's execution as well as about the person who executed him. ibn is-hak says, that it was asim who killed him, and ibn hisham, that it was ali. ibrahim is of opinion, that okba was executed at taimee,[ ] and mohammad-bin-khobeib hashimi,[ ] that he was crucified, from which others differ and say that he was beheaded. i have no belief in okba's execution at all. [sidenote: . free liberty granted to ozza, a prisoner of war.] abul ozza, one of the prisoners of badr, and who was one of the persecutors of the moslems at mecca, had besought mohammad to release him by way of compassion for his five daughters. mohammad granted him his life and his liberty.[ ] this directly points to the universal generosity of the prophet, and from this it will appear that the story of okba's execution runs contrary to his general character and conduct. on these grounds the execution of okba might be rejected as a fiction. .--_abul ozza._ [sidenote: . abul ozza proved a traitor and was executed.] abul ozza, one of the prisoners of badr, was allowed his freedom without any ransom, on the condition that he would never again bear up arms in any war against the prophet; but he proved a traitor. he exhorted the arabs to make war on mohammad, and joined himself the invading army of mecca. he was doomed to misfortune, he was caught at hamra, and duly executed.[ ] this was in full accordance with the laws and usages of war (_vide ante_, para. ). .--_moavia ibn mughira._ [sidenote: the execution of moavia ibn mughira.] moavia ibn mughira, also a prisoner of war, was granted three days' truce, on the condition that if he were found in medina after the appointed time, he was to be executed. the period had passed, and he was still lurking at medina. at length he was found out and killed by zeid and ammar on their return from hamra-al-assad, after five or six days. it is apparent that moavia violated his truce, and his lurking in medina might be either as a spy[ ] or scout secretly seeking information. [sidenote: . justification of mughira's execution.] sir w. muir, who calls him othmân ibn mughîra, makes out a favourable case in his behalf. he writes: he "incautiously lingered at medîna till the last day of his term of grace, when he set out for mecca."[ ] but ibn hisham distinctly writes that he "stayed at medina after the three days had passed and was found lurking there." even according to wackidi he was caught on the fourth day. but this is far from truth, for, according to his own account, mohammad was absent after the battle of ohad for five days at hamra-al-assad; then how he (ibn mughira) could have endeavoured to avoid the returning moslem force from hamra-al-assad, and lose his way, as sir w. muir gives it out, only on the fourth day? one of the enemies, who had invaded medina and attacked mohammad, was, after being captured, allowed three days' truce on explicit conditions that he was to be killed there if found after three days, and was also provided with a camel and provisions for the way, was discovered lurking thereabout on the fifth or sixth day, in consequence of which he lost his life. this is called by sir w. muir as being "perished by a too great confidence in the generosity of his enemy,"[ ]--_i.e._, mohammad. [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. .] [footnote : wackidi campaigns of mohammad, p. , calcutta, .] [footnote : "it was at otheil that the cruel and vindictive spirit of mahomet towards his enemies first began to display itself."--muir's life of mohamet, vol. iii, p. . after this, the author narrates the execution of nazr. ibn is-hak. _vide_ ibn hisham, p. ; wackidi, p. ; abu daood, vol. ii, p. . this story is not given by ibn hisham and ibn sád.] [footnote : abu daood as before.] [footnote : zorkánee, vol. ii, p. .] [footnote : sírat halabi, vol. ii, p. .] [footnote : wackidi, . insán-ul oyoon or sírat halabí, vol. ii, p. .] [footnote : wackidi, p. ; hishami, p. ; insán-ul-oyoon or sírat halabí, vol. ii, p. .] [footnote : ibn hisham, p. ; wackidi, pp. and .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, by sir w. muir, vol. iii, p. .] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iii, .] _the intended execution of the prisoners of badr._ [sidenote: . the wrong version of sir w. muir.] sir w. muir writes: "it would even seem to have been contemplated at the close of the battle to kill all the prisoners. mahomet is represented by tradition as himself directing this course." in a foot-note he says, "thus mahomet said: 'tell not saîd of his brother's death'" (mábad, a prisoner, see above, page note); "but kill ye every man his prisoner."--(wâckidi, .) again: "take not any man his brother prisoner, but rather kill him" (page ). "i would not, however, lay too much stress on these traditions. i am inclined rather to view them as called into existence by the passages quoted below from the coran."[ ] the contemplated execution of the prisoners is not borne out by the traditions which sir w. muir himself looks upon as fabricated ones. the true translation of the passages in wackidi referred to above is as follows:-- _first passage._--"tell not said of his brother's killing (_i.e._, being killed), so he will kill every prisoner in your hands."--(wackidi, page .) this obviously means, that do not let saeed know that his brother wáhid, who was made prisoner and killed by omar or abu barda, was killed. if you do so, he will, being enraged, kill every prisoner now in your hands. it is very strange that sir w. muir translates the sentence to mean "kill ye every man his prisoner!" _second passage._--"no body must take his brother's prisoner, so that he may be killed," meaning none of you should seize other person's prisoner. if you do so, perhaps, the other person may kill the prisoner in the contest. sir w. muir has quite misunderstood the sentence. [sidenote: . mohammad never blamed in the koran for relieving prisoners.] there are some fictitious traditions on the subject that mohammad was reprimanded in the koran (sura, viii, , ) for releasing the prisoners of badr, meaning that he ought to have executed them. the verse is translated thus:-- "it is not for a prophet to take prisoners until (_hatta_) he hath slaughtered in the land. ye wish to have the goods of this world, but god wishes for the next, for god is mighty, wise! were it not for a book from god that had gone before, there would have touched you, for which ye took, a mighty punishment." the verse , if it is rightly translated, will mean that prisoners should not be executed. the word '_hatta_' means '_until_,' and is also used as a causative word. i prefer the latter, and translate-- "it is not for any prophet that prisoners may be brought to him _in order_ that he may make slaughter in the land," which means, that it is not proper for a prophet to take prisoners of war in order to slaughter them. this meaning is in consonance with the other passage in the koran (xlvii, ), which restricts the treatment of the prisoners of war to either free dismissal or ransom. in the first place, the verse rather reprimanded those who wished to kill the prisoners; and in the second, those who desired to exact ransom for their liberty. they ought to have set them at liberty without any pecuniary advantage, if they knew any good in their deserving free liberty. [footnote : _ibid_, p. .] _kind treatment of the prisoners of war by mohammad._ [sidenote: . the koran enjoins, the prisoners of war to be either freely liberated or ransomed, but neither executed nor enslaved.] the prisoners of war were always treated kindly by mohammad, and the ancient practice of killing and enslaving them was much discouraged and abolished by the koran. "and when ye meet those who misbelieve, then strike off heads until ye have massacred them, and bind fast the bonds!" "then either a free grant (of liberty) or a ransom until the war shall have laid down its burdens."--sura, xlvii, and . regarding the prisoners of badr sir w. muir writes: "in pursuance of mahomet's commands, the citizens of medina, and such of the refugees as possessed houses, received the prisoners and treated them with much consideration." "blessing be on the men of medina!" said these prisoners in latter days. "they made us ride, while they themselves walked; they gave us wheatened bread to eat, when there was little of it, contenting themselves with dates." it is not surprising that when, some time after, their friends came to ransom them, several of the prisoners who had been thus received declared themselves adherents of islam: and to such the prophet granted a liberty without the usual payment.[ ] the prisoners of the bani mustalik were released without paying any ransom.[ ] the bani hawazin were made prisoners of war at honain, fought in the eighth year of the hegira, but were all set free without any exaction of ransom from them. mohammad first released his prisoners, and the men of mecca and medina cheerfully followed his example.[ ] the prisoners were six thousand in number.[ ] a party of eighty, as related by moslim in his _saheeh_, or of forty or fifty koreish, as narrated by ibn hisham (p. ), went round about mohammad's camp while stationed at hodeibia in a.h. , seeking to cut off any stray followers, and having attacked the camp itself with stones and arrows, they were caught and taken prisoners to mohammad, who, with his usual generosity, pardoned and released them. khalid-ibn-waleed, in the year of his victory, a.h. , when he was sent to call the bani jazima to embrace islam, had made them prisoners and ordered their execution. some of the better-informed of the moslems of the injunctions of the koran, of releasing prisoners either freely or by exacting ransom, interposed and accused him of committing an act of the time of ignorance. mohammad, much displeased, grieved at the intelligence, and said twice, 'o god! i am innocent of what khalid hath done.'[ ] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. ii, pp. and .] [footnote : _ibid_, vol. iii, p. .] [footnote : _ibid_, vol. iv. pp. and .] [footnote : ibn hisham, p. .] [footnote : ibn hisham, pp. and .] _the execution of the bani koreiza._ [sidenote: . high treason of the bani koreiza against medina, and their execution.] the bani koreiza, a jewish tribe living in the vicinity of mecca had entered into an alliance with the moslem commonwealth to defend the city of medina from the attack of the aggressors. while medina was besieged by the ten thousand koreish and other bedouin tribes in a.h. , they (the koreiza), instead of co-operating with the moslems, defected from their allegiance and entered into negotiations with the besieging foe. after the cessation of the siege, they were besieged in their turn, and a fearful example was made of them, not by mohammad, but by an arbiter chosen and appointed by themselves. the execution of some of them was not on account of their being prisoners of war; they were war-traitors and rebels, and deserved death according to the international law. their crime was high treason against medina while it was blockaded. there had no actual fighting taken place between the bani koreiza and the moslems, after the former had thrown off their allegiance to the latter and had aided and abetted the enemies of the realm. they were besieged by the moslems to punish them for their high treason, and consequently they were not prisoners of war. even such prisoners of war suffer for high treason. "treating, in the field, the rebellious enemy according to the law and usages of war, has never prevented the legitimate government from trying the leaders of the rebellion, or chief rebels for high treason, and from treating them accordingly, unless they are included in a general amnesty."[ ] [sidenote: . the whole of the bani koreiza was never executed.] the whole tribe of the bani koreiza was not executed, nor all the male prisoners were put to the sword.[ ] the number slain was comparatively very small. that they were not executed at the commands of mohammad, nor _all_ of them were killed, nor a divine sanction was alleged for it, is shown by the following verse of the koran: "and he caused those of the people of the book (the jews) who had aided the confederates to come down of their fortresses, and cast dismay into their hearts: some ye slew; others ye took prisoners."--sura, xxxiii, . the slaying and taking of prisoners is attributed to them to whom the verse is addressed as their own act. [sidenote: . the women and children of the bani koreiza were not sold.] the rest of the bani koreiza,--male adults, women, and children,--were either liberated or got themselves ransomed. we read in oyoon-al-asar by ibn sayyad-al-nas some account of the ransom. osman-bin-affan gathered much money by the transaction. but sir w. muir quotes from hishamee, that the rest of the women and children were sent to be sold among the bedouin tribes of najd, in exchange of horse and arms.[ ] but there is no authority for this story. abul mo'tamar soleiman, in his campaigns of mohammad, gives another account which is more probable. he writes:-- "out of what was captured from bani koreiza mohammad took seventeen horses and distributed them among his people. the rest he divided into two halves. one-half he sent with sád bin obádd to syria, and the other half with ans bin quízí to the land of ghatafán, and ordered that they may be used there for breeding purposes. they did so, and got good horses."[ ] [sidenote: . the exaggerated number of the persons executed.] the number of male adults executed has been much exaggerated, though it is immaterial, when an execution duly authorized by the international law of a country takes place, to consider the smallness or greatness of the number. i cannot do better than quote moulvie ameer ali of calcutta on the subject, who has very judiciously criticised the same: "passing now to the men executed," he says, "one can at once see how it has been exaggerated. some say they were ; others have carried the number even up to . but christian historians generally give it as varying from to . i look upon this as a gross exaggeration. even would seem an exaggerated number. the traditions agree in making the warlike materials of the bani koreiza consist of cuirasses, bucklers, , sabres, &c. in order to magnify the value of the spoil, the traditions probably exaggerated these numbers.[ ] but taking them as they stand, and remembering that such arms are always kept greatly in excess of the number of fighting men, i am led to the conclusion that the warriors could not have been more than or . the mistake probably arose from confounding the whole body of prisoners who fell into the hands of the moslems with those executed."[ ] even seems to be a large number, as all of the prisoners were put up for the night in the house of bint-al-haris,[ ] which would have been insufficient for such a large number. [footnote : miscellaneous writings of francis lieber, vol. ii. contributions to political science, p. , philadelphia, .] [footnote : some of the koreizites were released, among whom we hear of zobeir ibn batá, and rifáa. they were pardoned by mohammad.] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iii, p. .] [footnote : _history of mohammad's campaigns_: edited by von kremer, p. .] [footnote : "compare the remarks of ibn-khaldún (prelégoménes d' ibn khaldoun, traduits par m. de slane, part i, p. )."] [footnote : a critical examination of the life and teachings of mohammed, by syed ameer ali, moulvi, m.a., ll.b., of the inner temple, barrister-at-law, p. : william and norgate, london, .] [footnote : ibn hisham, p. . others say the males were kept in the house of osman-bin-zaed, and the females and children in the house of bint-al-haris. _vide_ insan-al-oyoon, by halabi. vol. iii, p. .] _some miscellaneous objections refuted._ .--_omm kirfa._ [sidenote: . the execution of omm kirfa for brigandage.] the barbarous execution of omm kirfa, a female, who was notorious as the mistress of a nest of robbers, by tying her each leg to a separate camel and being torn asunder, is not a fact. it is only mentioned by katib wáckidi, and is not to be found in any other earliest account of wáckidi, ibn is-hak, and ibn hisham. even katib wáckidi does not say that the execution was ordered by mohammad, and it is not fair on the part of sir w. muir to hold mohammad an accomplice in the ferocious act, because he reads of no disapprobation expressed by the prophet at such an inhuman treatment.[ ] but in the first place the narration is a mere fiction; and secondly, the traditions are, as a rule, always incomplete; in one place they are given shorter, and in another longer, according to the circumstances of the occasion on which they are originally recited. ibn hisham relates, that "zaid-bin-harisa ordered kays-bin-mosahhar to execute omm kirfa, so he executed her with a violent execution." ('_katlan aneefan_,' p. .) he does not relate that mohammad was even informed of the execution after the party had returned from this terrible mission. i think the word '_aneef_' (_violent_ or _severe_), as used originally by the narrator, might have been the cause of the growth of the story of executing by tying up to two camels, by way of a gratuitous explanation or glossary, as another tradition relates that she was tied to the tails of two horses (_vide koostalanee_ in his commentary on bokharee, vol. iii, p. ). .--_urnee robbers._ [sidenote: . the alleged mutilation of the urnee robbers.] some _urnee_ robbers, lately converted, had plundered the camels of medina and barbarously handled their herdsman, for they cut off his hands and legs, and struck thorny spikes into his tongue and eyes, till he died. the bandits were pursued, captured, and executed by kurz-bin-jabir. "they had merited death," says sir w. muir, "but the mode in which he inflicted it was barbarous and inhuman. the arms and legs of eight men were cut off, and their eyes were put out. the shapeless, sightless trunks of these wretched bedouins were then impaled upon the plain of al ghâba, until life was extinct."[ ] as the robbers had mutilated the herdsman, this gave currency to their having been mutilated in retaliation. but in fact mohammad never ordered mutilation in any case. he was so averse to this practice, that several traditions from various sources emanating from him to the effect, prove that he prohibited mutilation lest he himself be mutilated by divine judgment.[ ] [sidenote: . amputation or banishment substituted temporarily in place of imprisonment for want of a well-organized system of jails.] sir w. muir continues:--"on reflection, mahomet appears to have felt that this punishment exceeded the bounds of humanity. he accordingly promulgated a revelation, in which capital punishment is limited to simple death or crucifixion. amputation of the hands and feet is, however, sanctioned as a penal measure; and amputation of the hands is even enjoined as the proper penalty for theft, whether the criminal be male or female. this barbarous custom has accordingly been perpetuated throughout the mahometan world. but the putting out of the eyes is not recognized among the legal punishments."[ ] these alternative punishments were prescribed for the heinous crimes of highway robbery, dacoity, and theft by house-breaking. they were (i) capital punishment, (ii) amputation, and (iii) banishment (sura, v, , ), according to the circumstances of the case. the last two were of a temporary nature substituted for imprisonment for want of an organized system of jails and prisons. when the commonwealth was in its infancy, the troubles of the invasions and wars of the aggressive koreish and their allies had left neither peace nor security at medina to take such administrative measures as to organize a system of building, guarding, and maintaining jails, their inmates and their establishments. as soon as jails were established in the mohammadan commonwealth, amputation and banishment gave way to imprisonment. the prisoners of war, not being criminals, used to be made over by mohammad to some citizens of medina, as in the case of the prisoners of the battle of badr, to keep them in their houses as guests, on account of the want of prisons; but as for the other criminals--the highway robbers, dacoits, and house-breakers--they could not be treated and entertained so hospitably. thus there was left no alternative for them except either to banish such criminals, or to award them corporal punishment in the shape of amputation.[ ] .--_torture of kinana._ [sidenote: . torture of kinana.] it is related by the biographers "that kinana, chief of the jews of khyber, and his cousin had kept back, in contravention of their compact, a portion of their riches. on the discovery of this attempt at imposition, kinana was subjected to cruel torture--'fire being placed upon his breast till his breath had almost departed'--in the hope that he would confess where the rest of his treasures were concealed. mahomet then gave command, and the heads of the chief and his cousin were severed from their bodies."[ ] the story of kinana's being subjected to extortion and put to death for hiding some treasure, for which he had contravened his contract, is altogether a spurious one. kinana was executed in retaliation for treacherously killing mahmud, the brother of mohammad-bin-moslama, to whom he was made over for execution. there is one tradition, without any authority, to the effect, that zobeir was producing fire on kinana's breast by the friction of flint and steel. this, if it be a fact, does not show that it was done by mohammad's direction and approval. on the contrary, there are several traditions from the prophet himself in which he has forbidden to punish any one with fire. it is related by bokharee from ibn abbás, that mohammad said, "god only can punish with fire." it is also related by abu daood from abdullah, that the prophet said, "no body ought to punish any one with fire except the lord of the fire."[ ] .--_a singing-girl executed._ [sidenote: . the alleged execution of a singing-girl.] "from general amnesty extended to the citizens of mecca, mahomet excluded ten or twelve persons. of these, however, only four were actually put to death.... the two next were renegade moslems, who having shed blood at medina had fled to mecca, and abjured islam. they were both slain, and also a singing-girl belonging to one of them, who had been in the habit of annoying the prophet by abusive verses." "their names are abdallah ibn khalal and mikyas ibn subâba. the murder committed by the former is said to have been wilful, that of the latter unintentional. abdallah had two singing-girls. both were sentenced to death, but one escaped and afterwards obtained quarter; the execution of the other appears to have been the worst act committed by mahomet on the present occasion."[ ] abdullah had committed cold-blooded murder, and most probably the singing-girl belonging to him had taken a share in his crime. her execution was owing to her being an accomplice or abettor in the foul act which was justified by law. then why should the execution be considered a worst act? mohammad felt the deepest respect for the weaker sex, and had enjoined during the warfares "not to kill women;" but the law makes no difference amongst the sexes, both sexes being liable to punishment according to their deserts. [sidenote: . the charitable spirit of mohammad towards his enemies.] the magnanimity, clemency, forbearance, and forgiveness of mohammad at the time of his victory at mecca were very remarkable. mr. stanley lane poole with his usual acumen writes:--"but the final keystone was set in the eighth year of the flight (a.d. ), when a body of the kureysh broke the truce by attacking an ally of the muslims; and mohammad forthwith marched upon mekka with ten thousand men, and the city, defence being hopeless, surrendered. now was the time for the prophet to show his bloodthirsty nature. his old persecutors are at his feet. will he not trample on them, torture them, revenge himself after his own cruel manner? now the man will come forward in his true colours: we may prepare our horror, and cry shame beforehand. "but what is this? is there no blood in the streets? where are the bodies of the thousands that have been butchered? facts are hard things; and it is a fact that the day of mohammad's greatest triumph over his enemies was also the day of his grandest victory over himself. he freely forgave the kureysh all the years of sorrow and cruel scorn they had inflicted on him: he gave an amnesty to the whole population of mekka. four criminals, whom justice condemned, made up mohammad's proscription list when he entered as a conqueror the city of his bitterest enemies. the army followed the example, and entered quietly and peaceably; no house was robbed, no woman insulted."[ ] .--_abu basír._ [sidenote: . abu basír not countenanced by the prophet in contravention of the spirit of the treaty of hodeibia.] sir w. muir says that "abu basír, the free-booter, was countenanced by the prophet in a manner scarcely consistent with the letter, and certainly opposed to the spirit, of the truce of hodeibia."[ ] it was one of the articles of the treaty of hodeibia between the koreish and mohammad, that if any one goeth over to mohammad without the permission of his guardian, he shall be sent back to him.[ ] a short time after, abu basír, a moslem imprisoned at mecca, effected his escape and appeared at medina. his guardians, azhar and akhnas, sent two servants to mohammad with a letter and instructions to bring the deserter back to his house. the obligation of surrender was at once admitted by mohammad, though abu basír pleaded the persecution which he used to suffer at mecca as the cause of refusing to return, but mohammad argued that it was not proper for him to break the terms of the peace, and abu basír was compelled to set out for mecca. but he had travelled only a few miles when he treacherously seized the sword of one of his escorts and slew him. the other servant fled back to medina, whither abu basír also followed him. on the return of the latter, he contended that the prophet had already fulfilled the treaty to its very letter in delivering him up, but the prophet replied, "alas for his mother! what a kindler of war, if he had with him any one!" when he heard this "he knew that the prophet was again going to send him back to his guardians,[ ] the koreish, so he went away to the seashore, where he, with others who had joined him after their flight from captivity at mecca, used to waylay the caravans from mecca." this story, which is also briefly narrated by ibn is-hak, and more fully by shamee, zoorkanee and ibn-al-kyyim, does not show that mohammad acted against the spirit and letter of the truce of hodeibia. he himself never countenanced abu basír; on the contrary, he delivered him up in conformity with the terms of the treaty of hodeibia, and when he had returned, abu basír had every reason to believe that mohammad would again despatch him to the quarters whence he had come. but it appears abu basír went away to the seashore, out of mohammad's jurisdiction, and it was not the duty of the prophet to effect his arrest and send him back to mecca whilst he was not with him, or rather out of his jurisdiction. had he even kept him with himself at medina after he had once made him over to the party sent forth to take charge of him, and were no other demands made for his delivery, i do not think mohammad could be fairly blamed for it according to the international law of the arabs, or even according to the terms of the treaty of hodeibia itself. .--_employment of nueim to break up the confederates who had besieged medina._ [sidenote: . nueim not employed by the prophet to circulate false reports in the enemy's camp.] when medina was besieged for several days by the koreish and their confederates, the army of medina was harassed and wearied with increasing watch and duty. nueim, an arab of a neutral tribe, represented himself as a secret believer, and offered his services to the prophet, who accepted them, and employed him to hold back the confederates from the siege, if he could, saying "war verily was a game of deception." nueim excited mutual distrust between the jews and the koreish. he told the jews not to fight against mohammad until they got hostages from the koreish as a guarantee against their being deserted. and to the koreish he said that the jews intended to ask hostages from them. "do not give them," he said, "they have promised mahomet to give up the hostages to be slain."[ ] this is one tradition, and there is another to the effect that the jews had themselves asked for the hostages, but the koreish had not replied yet, when nueim came to the jews and said, he was there with abu sofian when their messenger had come for the demand of hostages, and that abu sofian is not going to send them any.[ ] a third tradition in motamid ibn solyman's supplement to wackidi's _campaigns of mohammad_ gives no such story at all. it has altogether a different narration to the effect, that there was a spy of the koreish in the moslem camp who had overheard abdullah-bin-rawaha saying, that the jews had asked the koreish to send them seventy persons, who, on their arrival, would be killed by them. nueim went to the koreish, who were waiting for his message, and told what he had heard as already related.[ ] this contradicts the story given by ibn hisham and mr. muir. but anyhow the story does not prove that mohammad had given permission to nueim to speak falsehood or spread treacherous reports. [sidenote: . deception in way allowed by the international law.] sir w. muir is not justified in his remarks when he writes,--"we cannot, indeed, approve the employment of nueim to break up the confederacy by falsehood and deception, but this perhaps would hardly affect his character in arab estimation;"[ ] and further on he writes,--"when medîna was beleagured by the confederate army, mahomet sought the services of nueim, a traitor, and employed him to sow distrust among the enemy by false and treacherous reports: for," said he, "what else is war but a game at deception."[ ] the utmost that can be made out from the former tradition quoted by mr. muir, and contradicted by another tradition of equal force, is that mohammad allowed deception in war by quoting the proverbial saying, that "war is a game at deception." in this he had the sanction of the military law or the international law, as deception in war is a "military necessity," and allowed by the law and usages of war. a modern author on the international law says:-- "military necessity admits of all direct destruction of life or limb of _armed_ enemies, and of other persons whose destruction is incidentally _unavoidable_ in the armed contests of the war; it allows of the capturing of every armed enemy, and every enemy of importance to the hostile government, or of peculiar danger to the captor; it allows of all destruction of property, and obstruction of the ways and channels of traffic, travel, or communication, and of all withholding of sustenance or means of life from the enemy; of the appropriation of whatever an enemy's country affords necessary for the subsistence and safety of the army, and of such deception as does not involve the breaking of good faith either positively pledged, regarding agreements entered into during the war, or supposed by the modern law of war to exist."[ ] [sidenote: . lecky's standard of morality.] but supposing the modern morality does not approve of mohammad what hardly "affected his character in arab estimation," are there no diversities in moral judgments? the moral unity to be expected in different ages is not a unity of standard or of facts, but a unity of tendency. "that some savage kill their old parents, that infanticide has been practised without compunction by even civilized nations, that the best romans saw nothing wrong in the gladiatorial shows, that political or revengeful assassinations have been for centuries admitted, that slavery has been sometimes honoured and sometimes condemned, are unquestionable proofs, that the same act may be regarded in one age as innocent, and in another as criminal. now it is undoubtedly true, that in many cases an historical examination will reveal special circumstances explaining or palliating the apparent anomaly. it has been often shown that the gladiatorial shows were originally a form of human sacrifice adopted through religious motives; that the rude nomadic life of savages rendering impossible the preservation of aged and helpless members of the tribe, the murder of parents was regarded as an act of mercy both by the murderer and the victim; that before an effective administration of justice was organized, private vengeance was the sole preservation against crime, and political assassination against usurpation; that the insensibility of some savages to the criminality of theft arises from the fact that they were accustomed to have all things in common; that the spartan law legalizing theft arose partly from a desire to foster military dexterity among the people, but chiefly from a desire to discourage wealth; that slavery was introduced through motives of mercy to prevent conquerors from killing their prisoners. all this is true, but there is another and a more general answer. it is not to be expected, and it is not maintained, that men in all ages should have agreed about the application of their moral principles. all that is contended for is, that these principles are themselves the same. some of what appear to us monstrous acts of cruelty were dictated by that very feeling of humanity, the universal perception of the merit of which they are cited to disprove; and even when this is not the case, all that can be inferred is, that the standard of humanity was very low. but still humanity was recognized as a virtue, and cruelty as a vice."[ ] _the alleged permission to kill the jews._ [sidenote: . murder of ibn sanina.] it is related by some of the biographers of mohammad, eagerly recited by others of europe, that, "on the morning after the murder of káb, mahomet gave a general permission to his followers to slay any jews whom they might chance to meet,"[ ] and that the murder of ibn sanina, a jewish merchant, by muheiasa, a moslem, was the direct consequence of this order. "when huweisa upbraided muheiasa for killing his confederate the jew, and appropriating his wealth,--"by the lord!" replied muheiasa, "if he that commanded me to kill him commanded to kill thee also, i would have done it." "what!" huweisa cried, "wouldst thou have slain thine own brother at mahomet's bidding?"--"even so," answered the fanatic. "strange indeed!" huweisa responded. "hath the new religion reached to this pitch! verily it is a wonderful faith." and huweisa was converted from that very hour."[ ] ibn is-hak says this story was related to him by a freedman of the bani hárisa tribe from the daughter of muheiasa, who had heard it from her father.[ ] ( ) now there is nothing known of this mysterious person, the freedman of the tribe of háris, therefore no reliance can be put on his story. ( ) we have no knowledge of the daughter of the murderer muheiasa, or moheisa, as he is called by the biographer, ibn hisham. ( ) muheiasa himself has not that respectable character which can lend even a shadow of veracity to his narration. ( ) and lastly, the story that mohammad had given general permission to his followers to slay any jew whom they might chance to meet, and consequently muheiasa killed ibn sanina, and huweisa became a convert to islam, is contradicted by another counter-tradition in ibn hisham (pp. - ), who has related from abú obeida, who relates from abú omar-al-madaní, that, "during the execution of the bani koreiza (_vide_ para. ), one káb-bin-yahooza was made over to muheiasa for execution. when the latter executed his victim, huweisa, his brother, who was still unbelieving, upbraided muheiasa. "if he," responded muheiasa, "that commanded me to kill him had commanded me to kill thee also, i would have killed thee." huweisa was quite surprised at his brother's reply, and went away astonished. during the night he used to wake up repeatedly, and wonder at his brother's staunch devotion to his faith. in the morning, he said, "by the lord! this is a wonderful faith," and came to the prophet to embrace islam. these remarks show that the alleged permission to kill the jews, and ibn sanina's murder, and huweisa's conversion in consequence thereof, is all a mere concoction. [sidenote: . sir w. muir quoted.] even sir w. muir, though very fond of collecting all such apocryphal traditions reflecting on the character of the prophet, doubts the veracity of this one, and declares its improbability and inexpediency. he writes:-- "but the order itself is a strange one, and must, one would suppose, have been accompanied by some conditions or reservations not here apparent. it was surely not expedient for the prophet's cause at this time that the streets of medîna should have flowed with blood by the strict execution of this command. yet such is the distinct tenor of the best traditions. "the order was not an unlikely one to have issued at a time when mahomet was irritated against the jews by their treachery; and hishâmi has a tradition that it was promulgated when mahomet directed the massacre of all the males of the coreitza, which would have been the more likely version, if the other tradition had not been so strong and positive."[ ] but the tradition quoted by him is by no means the best or strongest as i have shown above. hishamee does not say that the order was promulgated at the execution of the bani koreiza. he simply narrates the story of muheiasa and huweisa to have taken place at that time. _the expulsion of the bani nazeer._ [sidenote: . the bani nazeer.] the expulsion of the bani nazeer has been censured by sir w. muir, who says: "the pretext on which the bani nadhîr were besieged and expatriated (namely, that gabriel had revealed their design against the prophet's life), was feeble and unworthy of an honest cause."[ ] a whole sura in the koran is devoted to the bani nazeer, but it does not hint at the alleged crime of their attempt on the life of the prophet or their expulsion for the same cause. the traditions on the subject are unsupported, _ex parte_, and legendary. had such a tradition been current at the time of mohammad, or what is called sadr av-val (the first or apostolic age), we should certainly have had scores of narrators on the subject.[ ] their crime was treachery,[ ] and they were a dangerous element to medina, for a combination, at any period, between the treacherous jews and the aggressive koreish, or other enemies of islam, would have proved fatal to the safety of medina. but their banishment was too mild a punishment. [sidenote: . fruit-trees not cut down.] it is said that mohammad cut down the surrounding date trees and burned the choicest of them during the siege of the bani nazeer, and justified himself by publishing the verses of the lix sura of the koran.[ ] but the date trees cut down were neither bearing fruit, nor did they supply any staple article of food to the bani nazeer, or the public in general. the _leena_ mentioned in the verse referred to above is a tree without fruit. thus no fruit trees were destroyed. (zoorkánee vol. ii, page .) trees not bearing fruits were only cut, which is also justified under the law of moses. (see deuteronomy xx, .) _females and the treaty of hodeibia._ [sidenote: . females and the treaty of hodeibia.] females were not included in the truce of hodeibia. the stipulation for the surrender of deserters referred only to the male sex. all women who were to come over to medina from mecca during the period of the peace were, by the dictates of sura lx, , to be tried, and if their profession was found sincere, they were to be retained. they were prohibited from marrying the unbelievers. the guardians of such believing females were to receive from the moslem commonwealth what they had spent upon their charges. sir w. muir understands from sura lx, verse , that the women referred to therein were the wives of the meccans, and says:--"the unbelief of their husbands dissolved the previous marriage; they now might legally contract fresh nuptials with believers, provided only that restitution were made of any sums expended by their former husbands as dower upon them."[ ] but there is nothing either to show that the women had their husbands at mecca, or to prove, that, on account of their husbands' unbelief, their marriages were annulled. as marriage with women with husbands is forbidden in sura iv, verse , and the verse lx, , under discussion, does not designate them as married women, i fairly conclude that this verse treats only of such as were not married. it is not the law of the koran that the unbelief of either party dissolves their previous marriage. it only enjoins neither to marry idolatresses, nor to wed moslem daughters with idolaters until they believe.--(sura ii, .) [sidenote: . stanley defended.] sir william muir, after quoting sura lx, - , says, "stanley on corinthians ( cor. vii, - ) quotes the above passage, and says that the rule it contains "resembles that of the apostle," vol. i, page . but there is really no analogy between them; the gospel rule differs _toto coelo_ from that of mahomet:--"if any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.--and similarly the case of a believing wife with an unbelieving husband. ( cor. vii, - .) whereas mahomet declares the marriage bond _de facto_ annulled by the unbelief of either party, which indeed was only to be expected from his loose ideas regarding the marriage contract."[ ] i think stanley is quite correct, and the gospel and the koranic rule resemble each other in this respect. because the order, "they (the believing women) are not lawful for them (unbelievers), nor are the unbelievers lawful for these (believing women)," does not relate to the women already married; and the words, "do not retain any right in the infidel woman ... if any of your wives escape from you to the infidels ..." are to the same purport as cor. vii, , "but if the unbelieving depart let them depart. a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases."[ ] [sidenote . marriage a strict bond of union.] mohammad had no loose ideas regarding the marriage tie. he had made the marriage contract more firm and irrevocable, except under very exceptional circumstances, than it was under the arab society; and called it "a strict bond of union."[ ] mohammad's own daughter, zeinab, was the wife of an unbelieving husband and had fled to her father at medina under the persecution at mecca after the hegira.[ ] her marriage with her unbelieving partner was not cancelled by mohammad, and on the conversion of the son-in-law, when he came after a period of six years after his wife had come to medina, mohammad rejoined them together under their previous marriage. theirs was neither a fresh marriage nor a fresh dowry. (_vide_ ibn abbas' tradition in the collections of ahmed, ibn abi daood, ibn maja and trimizee.) safwan-bin-omayya and ikrama-bin abi jahl had believing wives at the time of the conquest of mecca, and their marriages were not dissolved by mohammad. (_vide_ ibn shahab's tradition in _movatta_ by malik, and in the _tabakat_ of ibn sad katib wákidi.) similarly ibn sofian and hakeem-bin-hizam had their unbelieving wives retained by them after they had themselves been converted to islam, and their former connubial connection was not severed by mohammad. (_vide_ the several traditions in baihakee to the above effect.) it was only the legists and juris-consults of a later age who wrongly construed the passage in sura lx, , to mean that the unbelief of either party dissolved the marriage tie. [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv. p. .] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. . in the collections of bokharee the story is traced to ans. but ans could not be a witness to mohammad's command for mutilation, as ans did not come until the expedition to khyber; and the execution of those robbers took place before that. the story from jábir in ibn mardaveih's collections to the same effect is not authentic, as jábir, who says he was sent by mohammad in pursuit of the robbers, and committed the act, was not a convert at that time. koostalanee, the author of _mooahib_, has declared the tradition of ibn jarir tabari on the subject as an apocryphal, _i.e._, "zaeef." _vide_ zoorkanee on movahib, vol. ii, p. .] [footnote : ibn hisham (p. ) relates from ibn is-hak that omar asked permission to mutilate sohail, but mohammad replied, "i would not mutilate him; if i do, god will mutilate me, though i be a prophet."] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. .] [footnote : this subject has been fully and judiciously discussed by the honorable syed ahmed khan bahadur, c.s.i., in his "commentary of the koran;" sura. iv. pp. - .] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. .] [footnote : _vide_ mishkát book of retaliation, pp. - .] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. , foot-note.] [footnote : introduction to lane's selections from the kur-án, by stanley lane poole, p. lxvii. london: trubner and co., .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. .] [footnote : _ibid_, p. .] [footnote : _vide_ zoorkanee on _movahib_, vol. ii, page ; also _zád-ul-maád_, by ibn-al-kyyim, vol. i, page , cawnpore, a.h.; and _seerat-ul-mohammadiya_, by mohammad karámat-ul-ali of delhi, in loco. the life is compiled from _seerat halabi_ and _seerat shámee_ and was lithographed in bombay.] [footnote : hishamee, page ; muir's life of mahomet, vol. iii, page .] [footnote : _seerat halabi_, or _insan-al-oyoon_, vol ii, page .] [footnote : history of _mohammad's campaigns_, by wackidi, pp. - : edited by von kremer, calcutta, .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iii, page .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iv, pages - .] [footnote : lieber's miscellaneous writings, vol. ii, page .] [footnote : history of european morals, from augustus to charlemagne. by william edward hartpole lecky, m.a., vol. i, pp. - .] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iii, page .] [footnote : _ibid_, p. .] [footnote : ibn hisham, p. .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iii, pp. & , _foot-note_.] [footnote : the life of mahomet, by sir w. muir, vol. iv, page .] [footnote : the tradition that mohammad had gone to bani nazeer asking their aid in defraying a certain price of blood, and they attempted upon his life (muir, iii, - ) as related by ibn is-hak (in ibn hisham, page ) is a _mursal_ (_vide_ zoorkánee, part ii, page ), and consequently was not current in the apostolic age.] [footnote : ibn ockba, an earliest biographer of mohammad, died , says,--the cause of the expedition against the bani nazeer was this: that they had instigated the koreish to fight against mohammad, and had reconnoitred the weak points of medina. ibn mardaveih abd-bin-hameed, and abdu razzak have related traditions to the effect that, after the event of badr, the koreish had written to the jews of medina to make war upon mohammad, and the bani nazeer had resolved to break the compact. _vide_ zoorkánee, part ii, pp, - .] [footnote : compare muir's life of mahomet, vol. iii, pp. and , _foot-note_.] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. .] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. , foot-note.] [footnote : the verses of the koran are given below: . "o believers! when believing women come over to you as refugees, then make trial of them. god best knoweth their faith; but if ye have also ascertained their faith, let them not go back to the infidels; they are not lawful for them, nor are the unbelievers lawful for these women. but give them back what they have spent. no crime shall it be in you to marry them, provided you give them their dowers. do not retain a right in the infidel women, and demand back what you have spent and let them demand back what they have spent. this is the ordinance of god which he ordaineth among you: and god is knowing, wise." . "and if any of your wives escape from you to the infidels from whom you afterwards take any spoil, then give to those whose wives shall have fled away, the like of what they shall have spent; and fear god in whom ye believe."--sura lx.] [footnote : sura iv, . rodwell's translation. how mohammad discouraged divorce and took several steps in the koran to prohibit the facility of divorce prevailing in the arab society has been fully discussed by me in my book "the proposed political, legal, and social reforms under moslem rule," pp. - , bombay education society press, .] [footnote : "some of the baser sort from amongst the coreish, hearing of her departure, went in pursuit, determined to bring her back. the first that appeared was habbâr, who struck the camel with his spear, and so affrighted zeinab as to cause her a miscarriage."--muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, page .] _the popular jihád or crusade; according to the mohammadan common law._ [sidenote . the koran enjoined only defensive wars.] almost all the common mohammadan and european writers think that a religious war of aggression is one of the tenets of islam, and prescribed by the koran for the purpose of proselytizing or exacting tribute. but i do not find any such doctrine enjoined in the koran, or taught, or preached by mohammad. his mission was not to wage wars, or to make converts at the point of the sword, or to exact tribute or exterminate those who did not believe his religion. his sole mission was to enlighten the arabs to the true worship of the one god, to recommend virtue and denounce vice, which he truly fulfilled. that he and his followers were persecuted, that they were expelled from their houses and were invaded upon and warred against; that to repel incursions and to gain the liberty of conscience and the security of his followers' lives and the freedom of their religion, he and they waged defensive wars, encountered superior numbers, made defensive treaties, securing the main object of the war, _i.e._, the freedom of their living unmolested at mecca and medina, and of having a free intercourse to the sacred mosque, and a free exercise of their religion: all these are questions quite separate and irrelevant, and have nothing to do with the subject in hand, _i.e._, the popular _jihad_, or the crusade for the purpose of proselytizing, exacting tribute, and exterminating the idolaters, said to be one of the tenets of islam. all the defensive wars, and the verses of the koran relating to the same, were strictly temporary and transitory in their nature. they cannot be made an example of, or be construed into a tenet or injunction for aggressive wars, nor were they intended so to be. even they cannot be an example or instruction for a defensive war to be waged by the mohammadan community or commonwealth, because all the circumstances under which mohammad waged his defensive wars were local and temporary. but almost all european writers do not understand that the koran does not teach a war of aggression, but had only, under the adverse circumstances, to enjoin a war of defence, clearly setting forth the grounds in its justification and strictly prohibiting offensive measures. [sidenote . the common law and jihad.] all the fighting injunctions in the koran are, in the first place, only in self-defence, and none of them has any reference to make warfare offensively. in the second place, it is to be particularly noted that they were transitory in their nature, and are not to be considered positive injunctions for future observance or religious precepts for coming generations.[ ] they were only temporary measures to meet the emergency of the aggressive circumstances. the mohammadan common law is wrong on this point, where it allows unbelievers to be attacked without provocation. but this it places under the category of a non-positive injunction. a positive injunction is that which is incumbent on every believer. but attacking unbelievers without any provocation, or offensively, is not incumbent on every believer. the hedaya has:--"the sacred injunction concerning war is sufficiently observed when it is carried on by any one _party_ or _tribe_ of _mussulmans_; and it is then no longer of any force with respect to the rest."[ ] [sidenote . jihad when positive.] the mohammadan common law makes the fighting only a positive injunction "where there is a _general summons_, (that is, where the infidels invade a _mussulman_ territory, and the _imâm_ for the time being issues a general proclamation, requiring all persons to stand forth to fight,) for in this case war becomes a positive injunction with respect to the whole of the inhabitants,"[ ]--this is sanctioned by the law of nations and the law of nature. [sidenote: . the hedaya quoted and refuted.] the hedaya, or a commentary of the mohammadan common law by nuraddin ali of murghinan (died in , a.h.) has:-- "the destruction of the sword[ ] is incurred by the infidels, although they be not the first aggressors, as appears from the various passages in the sacred writings which are generally received to this effect."[ ] this assertion is not borne out by the sacred injunction of the koran, and, on the contrary, is in direct contradiction to the same. there are several passages in the koran already quoted in pages - , which expressly forbid the taking of offensive measures, and enjoin only defensive wars. there are some other passages which are not so expressive as the several others referred to above, or in other words, are not conditional. but the law of interpretation, the general scope and tenor of the koran, and the context of the verses and parallel passages, all show that those few verses which are not conditional should be construed as conditional in conformity with other passages more clear, expressive, and conditional, and with the general laws of scriptural interpretation. now, the author of the hedaya and other writers on the common law quote only those few passages from the koran which are absolute or unconditional, and shut their eyes against those many conditional verses, and general scope and tenor of the koran. limited, or _conditional_. |general, or _absolute_. ---------------------------------+--------------------------------------- | sura xxii, - . |sura ii, , (read together with .) sura ii, - . |sura ix, . " " . | " " . |the context, parallel passages sura iv, , , , . |and their history, show them " " , , . |to be limited and conditional, sura viii, - , - . |in conformity with the general " " , . |scope of the koran. sura ix, - . | " " , . | | _quoted in pages_ - , . | | [sidenote: . rule of interpretation.] now, there are only two verses in the koran (sura ii, v. , and sura ix, v. ) containing an absolute or non-conditional injunction for making war against the unbelievers. perhaps you may be able to detach some more sentences, or dislocate some half verses from amongst those given under the head of conditional. but these absolute, as well as those detached and dislocated parts of some other verses will not, by any rule of interpretation, show absolute injunction to wage war against the unbelievers without any provocation or limitation. there is a rule in the exegesis of the koran, as well as in other scriptural interpretations, that when two commandments, one conditional, and the other general or absolute, are found on the same subject, the conditional is to be preferred, and the absolute should be construed as conditional, because the latter is more expressive of the views of the author than the general which is considered as vague in its expression. the rule is:--where a passage which is ambiguous, or which contains any unusual expression, or in which a doctrine is slightly treated, or is in general terms, must be interpreted agreeably to what is revealed more clearly in other parts, or where a subject is more clearly discussed. a single or general passage is not to be explained in contradiction to many others restricted, conditional, and limited consistently with them, and with proper reservations. [sidenote: . the common law and its commentators.] it is not to be wondered that the mohammadan legists or the compilers of the common law are wrong in this point. because, as a rule, or as a matter of fact, they have compiled the common law from different sources irrespective of the koran, and the commentators of the common law take the trouble of vindicating its views, principles and casuistries, and justifying the moslem conquests under the khalifs by the authority of the koran. then only they commit the unpardonable blunder of citing isolated parts of solitary verses of the koran, which are neither expressive enough nor are in general terms. in doing so, they avoid the many other conditional and more explicit verses on the same subject. [sidenote: . kifaya quoted.] the author of kifaya, a commentary on the hedaya, who flourished in the seventh century of the hegira, remarks on the words of the text, "the destruction of the sword is incurred by the infidels, although they be not the first aggressors," already quoted in the nd para., and says; "fighting against the infidels who do not become converts to islam, and do not pay the capitation-tax, is incumbent, though they do not attack first." the author of the hedaya has mentioned this aggressive measure specially, because apparently the words of god, "if they attack you then slay them,"[ ] indicate that the fighting against the unbelievers is only incumbent when they fight first, but, however, such is not the case. it is incumbent to fight with them, though they be not the aggressors.[ ] [sidenote: . further quotation.] the same author writes in continuation of the above quotation, and attempts to reconcile his theory with the numerous precepts of the koran, which do not permit the war of aggression:-- "know, that in the beginning the prophet was enjoined to forgive, and withdraw from those who joined other gods with god. god said, 'wherefore dost thou forgive with kindly forgiveness, and withdraw from those who join other gods with me.'" "then he enjoined him to summon the people to the faith by kind warning and kind disputation, saying, 'summon thou to the way of thy lord with wisdom and kindly warning: dispute with them in the kindest manner.'" "then he allowed fighting, when they, the unbelievers, were the aggressors, and said:--'a sanction is given to those who have fought because they have suffered outrages;' _i.e._, they are allowed to fight in self-defence. and god said, 'if they attack you, then kill them' (ii, ); and also said, 'if they lean to peace, lean thou also to it.' (viii. )." "then he enjoined to fight aggressively during a certain period. god said, 'and when the sacred months are passed, kill them who join other gods with god, wherever ye find them, and seize them' (ix. )." "after this he enjoined for fighting absolutely, at every time and in every place. god said, 'and do battle against them until there be no more (_fitnah_) persecution' (ii. ; vii. )."[ ] [sidenote: . the kifaya refuted.] here the author of kifaya has contrived to make out by way of subterfuge and sophistry five successive periods of the policy of the koran regarding warfare against the unbelievers: | | first period |forgiveness and withdrawal | sura xv, . vi, ---------------+-------------------------------+------------------------- | | second period |summoning | sura xvi, . ---------------+-------------------------------+------------------------- | | third period |fighting in self-defence | sura xxii, . ii, . | | viii, . ---------------+-------------------------------+------------------------- | | fourth period |fighting aggressively | sura ix, . |during certain times | | | ---------------+-------------------------------+------------------------- | | fifth period |aggressive fighting absolutely.| sura ii, . viii, . | | he is wrong in history, chronology as well as in understanding the general scope of the koran and the tenor of the suras. he does not regard even the context of the verses quoted. the verses containing injunctions for turning aside, shunning, forgiving, passing over, and withdrawing are found even in the later period of the medinite suras.--(_vide_ sura ii, ; v, , ; sura iv, , ; and vii, .) they have nothing to do either with war or peace. the summoning of people to the faith of god was the chief duty of the prophetical office, and was not confined to any special period, and was alike during times of war and peace. even during the actual warfare it was incumbent on the prophet to give quarters to the enemy, if he desired, to listen to his preachings.--(_vide_ sura ix, .) [sidenote: . s. ix, v. , discussed.] the fifth verse of the ninth sura is by no means an injunction to attack first or wage an aggressive war. this verse is one of the several published at medina after the meccans had violated the treaty of hodeibia and attacked the bani khozaa, who were in alliance with mohammad. the meccans were given four months' time to submit, in default of which they were to be attacked for their violation of the treaty and for their attacking the bani khozaa. they submitted beforehand, and mecca was conquered by compromise. the verses referred to above (sura ix, - , &c.) were not acted upon. so there was no injunction to wage an aggressive war. this subject has been discussed at pages - of this work, and the reader is referred to them for fuller information. [sidenote: . s. ii, v. , discussed.] the th verse of the second sura is not at all an absolute injunction to wage a war of aggression. the verses , , and , if read together, will show that the injunction for fighting is only in defence. the verses are:-- . and fight for the cause of god against those who fight against you: but commit not the injustice _of attacking them first_; verily god loveth not the unjust. . and kill them wherever ye shall find them; and eject them from whatever place they have ejected you; for (_fitnah_) persecution is worse than slaughter; yet attack them not at the sacred mosque until they attack you therein, but if they attack you then slay them: such is the recompense of the infidels! . but if they desist, then verily god is gracious, merciful-- . and do battle, against them until there be no more (_fitnah_) persecution and the only worship be that of god: but if they desist, then let there be no hostility, save against wrong-doers. [sidenote: . s. ii, , viii, , are defensive.] besides, this verse as well as the fortieth verse of sura viii have indications in themselves of their relating to a defensive war. as the torture, aggression, in short, the persecutions suffered by the moslems from the koreish, are very clearly indicated by the word _fitnah_ in these two verses, the object of fighting or counterfighting by the moslems is plainly set forth, which is to suppress the persecutions. they have clear reference to the persecution, to stop or remove which they enjoined fighting, and this was fighting in self-defence obviously. they also show that the meccans had not desisted from persecuting and attacking the moslems, and therefore a provision was made that if they discontinue their incursions, there will be no more hostility. this is quite sufficient to show that these verses relate to the defensive wars of mohammad. [sidenote: . all injunctions local and for the time being.] lastly, supposing the koran permitted waging aggressive wars against the meccans, who were the first aggressors, this does not corroborate the theory or principle of the common law of making lawful aggressive wars in future on the authority of these verses, as all of them in the koran on the subject of war relate only to pagan arabs, who had long persevered in their hostility to the early moslems or to the jews, who, being in league with the moslems, went over to their enemies, and aided them against the moslems. these verses are not binding on other persons, who are not under the same circumstance as the moslems were under, at medina. [see para. .] [sidenote: . ainee quoted and refuted.] another commentator of the hedaya, ainee[ ] (who died in ) follows kifaya already quoted, and mentions some other verses of the koran on the war of aggression, which the author of kifaya has left uncited in his work. they are as follows:-- "... then do battle with the ringleaders of infidelity,--for no oaths are binding on them--that they may desist."--(sura ix, .) "war is prescribed to you, but from this ye are averse."--(sura ii, .) "march ye forth, the light and heavy, and contend with your substance and your persons on the way of god."--(sura ix, .) the first verse when it is complete runs thus:--"but if, after alliance made, they break their oaths and revile your religion, then do battle with the ringleaders of infidelity,--for no oaths are binding on them--that they may desist;" and fully shows by its wording that it relates to the war of defence, as the breaking of alliances, and reviling of the moslem religion were the grounds of making war with the object in view that the aggressors may desist. this verse is one of those in the beginning of the ninth sura, which have already been discussed.--(_vide_ pages - .) the second verse (ii, ) does not allow a war of aggression, as the next verse (ii, ) expressly mentions the attacks made by the aggressors on the moslems. it has been quoted at full length in page . the third verse (ix, ) was published on the occasion of the expedition of tábuk, which was certainly a defensive measure, and has been discussed in pages to . [sidenote: . sarakhsee quoted and refuted.] sarakhsee generally entitled _shums-ul-a-imma_ (the sun of the leaders), who died in a.h., as quoted by ibn abdeen in his _radd-ul-muhtár_,[ ] makes several stages in publishing the injunctions for fighting. he writes:-- "know thou, that the command for fighting has descended by degrees. first the prophet was enjoined to proclaim and withdraw, 'profess publicly then what thou hast been bidden and withdraw from those who join gods with god' (xv, ). then he was ordered to dispute kindly; 'summon thou to the way of thy lord with wisdom and with kindly warning: dispute with them in the kindest warning' (xvi, ). then they were allowed to fight, 'a sanction is given to those who are fought....' (xxii, ). then they were allowed to fight if they (the unbelievers) attacked them, 'if they attack you, then kill them' (ii, ). after this they were enjoined to fight on the condition of passing over the sacred months, 'and when the sacred months are passed, then kill the polytheists' (ix, ). after this they were enjoined to fight absolutely, 'and fight for the cause of god....' (ii, , ). and thus the matter was settled." there was no injunction for fighting absolutely or aggressively in the koran. i have already explained the th verse of the ninth sura as not allowing an offensive war. and the same is the case with the th verse of the second sura, which has in itself the condition of fighting against those only who fought against the moslems. the other verse, th, of the same sura is restricted by the verse th, (and is explained by the verse th), which refers to the defensive measures. this verse is quoted in page of this work. [sidenote: . ibn hajar quoted and refuted.] shahábudeen ahmed-bin-hajr makki writes:-- "fighting was prohibited before the hegira, as the prophet was enjoined only to preach and warn and to be patient in the persecutions of the unbelievers in order to conciliate them. after this, god gave sanction to the moslems for fighting, (after that had been prohibited in seventy and odd verses), when the unbelievers were the aggressors, and said, 'and fight for the cause of god against those who fight against you' (ii, ). and it is a genuine tradition from zohri that the first revealed verse sanctioning it was, 'a sanction is given to those who are fought, because they have suffered outrages' (xxii, ): that is a sanction was given for fighting on the ground of the word 'fought.' then the war of aggression was made lawful in other than the sacred months, 'when the sacred months are over....' (ix, ). after this, in the eighth year of the hegira, after the victory of mecca, the fighting was enjoined absolutely by the words of god; 'march ye forth, the light and the heavy' (ix, ); and 'attack those who join gods with god in all' (ix, ). and this is the very verse of the sword, and some say the preceding verse is the verse of the sword, while others think that both bear on the same subject, _i.e._, of the sword."[ ] [sidenote: . ibn hajar refuted.] i have already explained the several verses quoted by the author in preceding paras., but have only to pass remarks on the only verse, _i.e._ (ix, ), which the authors cited have not dared to mention, because it goes contrary to their assertion. perhaps it is a slip in the rapidity of ibn hajar remarks, for which he may be excused. but i will not hesitate in saying that generally the mohammadan legists, while quoting the koran in support of their theories, quote some dislocated portion from a verse without any heed to its context, and thus cause a great and irreparable mischief by misleading others, especially the european writers, as it is apparent from the testimony of mr. lane quoted in para. of this work. the verse referred to by the author mentioned in the last para., ibn hajar makki, is as follows: "attack those who join gods with god in all, as they attack you in all."--(ix, .) this speaks evidently of the defensive war, and has not the slightest or faintest idea of a war of aggression on the part of the moslems. this verse refers to the expedition of tábuk. [sidenote: . halabi quoted.] nooruddeen ali al halabi (died a.h.), the author of _insan-ul-oyoon_, a biography of the prophet, writes:-- "it is not hidden that the prophet for ten and odd years was warning and summoning people without fighting, and bearing patiently the severe persecutions of the meccan arabs and the medinite jews on himself and on his followers, because god had enjoined him to warn and to have patience to bear the injuries by withholding from them, in accordance with his words, 'withdraw from them' (v, ); and 'endure them with patience' (xvi, ; xviii, ; xxxi, ; lii, ; and lxxiii, ). he also used to promise them victory. his companions at mecca used to come to him beaten and injured, and he used to tell them, 'endure with patience, i am not commanded to fight,' because they were but a small party at mecca. after this, when he was settled at medina after the hegira and his followers became numerous who preferred him to their fathers, children, and wives, and the unbelievers persisted in their idolatry, charging him with falsehoods, then god permitted his followers to fight, but against those _only_ who used to fight against them (the moslems), and were aggressors, as he said, 'if they fight you, then kill them' (ii, ). this was in the year of safar a.h. .... then the whole arab host marched against the moslems to fight against them from every direction. the moslems passed whole nights in arms, and during the day they were in the same state, and longed to pass peaceful nights without fear from anybody except from god. then it was revealed, 'god hath promised to those of you who believe and do the things that are right, that he will cause them to succeed others in the land, as he gave succession to those who were before them, and that he will establish for them that religion which they delight in, and after their fears he will give them security in exchange' (s. xxiv, ). after this to attack first was allowed against those who had not fought, but in other than the sacred months, _viz._, _rajab_, _zulkada_, _zulhijja_, and _mohuram_, according to the precept, 'and when the sacred months are passed, kill those who join gods with god ...' (ix, ). then the order became incumbent after the victory of mecca, in the next year, to fight absolutely without any restriction, without any regard to any condition and time, by the words of god, 'attack those who join gods with god in all' at any time (ix, ). so it is known that the fighting was forbidden before the hegira up to the month of safar in its second year, as the prophet was in this period ordered to preach and warn without any fighting, which was forbidden in seventy and odd verses. then it was permitted to fight against _only_ those who fought against them. then it was allowed to fight against those who fought aggressively in other than the sacred months. after this it was enjoined absolutely to wage war against them whether they did or did not fight, at all times, whether during the sacred months, or others of the year."[ ] [sidenote: . halabi refuted.] neither the fifth verse of the ninth sura, nor the thirty-sixth of the same, allowed war of aggression. both of them were published on the occasions of defensive wars, and the party against whom they were directed were the aggressors. all the verses quoted by halabi, bearing on the subject, have been discussed and explained in the foregoing pages, from to . [sidenote: . ainee again quoted and refuted.] ainee, the author of the commentary on the hedaya, called _binayah_, in justifying the war of aggression against the unbelievers, quotes two verses from the koran,[ ] and two traditions from the prophet,[ ] and says,--"if it be objected that these absolute injunctions are restricted by the word of god, 'if they attack you, then kill them' (ii, ), which shows that the fighting is only incumbent when the unbelievers are the aggressors in fighting, as it was held by souri, the reply is that the verse was abrogated by another, 'so fight against them until there be no more persecution' (ii, ), and 'fight against those who do not believe in god.' (ix, )."[ ] but he is wrong in asserting that the verse ii, was abrogated by ii, , and ix, . there is no authority for such a gratuitous assumption. and besides, both these verses (ii, , and ix, ) relate to defensive wars as it has been already explained in paras. - . [sidenote: . continuation of the above.] the verse shows by its very wording the existence of _fitnah_ or persecution, torture, and fighting on the part of the aggressors. by suppressing the meccans' persecution, the moslems had to regain their civil and religious liberty, from which they were so unjustly deprived. and this war of the moslems to repel the force of their aggressors was the war of defence and protection enjoined in the verse. the th verse of the ninth sura appertains to the expedition of tábuk if not to that of khyber. these expeditions were of a defensive character. _vide_ pages and . [sidenote: . traditions quoted and refuted.] the jurists further quote a tradition from the compilation of abú daood that the prophet had said, "the jihád will last up to the day of the resurrection:" but in the first place, jihád does not literally and classically mean warfare or fighting in a war. it means, as used by the classical poets as well as by the koran, to do one's utmost; to labour; to toil; to exert one's-self or his power, efforts, endeavours, or ability; to employ one's-self vigorously, diligently, studiously, sedulously, earnestly, or with energy; to be diligent or studious, to take pains or extraordinary pains. _vide_ appendix a. in the second place, yezid bin abi shaiba, a link in the chain of the tradition, is a _mujhool_,[ ] _i.e._, his biography is not known, therefore his tradition can have no authority. there is also another tradition in bokháree to the effect that the prophet had said, "i have been enjoined to fight the people until they confess that there is no god but the god." this tradition goes quite contrary to the verses of the koran which enjoin to fight in defence,--that is, until the persecution or civil discord was removed.--(_vide_ sura ii, ; viii, .) thus it appears that either the whole tradition is a spurious one, or some of the narrators were wrong in interpreting the words of the prophet. [sidenote: . early moslem legists quoted against jihád.] that the koran did not allow war of aggression either when it was revealed, or in future as the early jurisconsults did infer from it, will be further shown from the opinions of the early moslems; legists of the first and second century of the hegira, like ibn (son of) omar the second khalif, sotian souri, ibn shobormah, atá and amar-bin-dinar. all these early legists held that the fighting was not religiously incumbent (_wájib_), and that it was only a voluntary act, and that only those were to be fought against who attacked the moslems.[ ] [sidenote: biographical sketches of the legists.] i will give here short biographical sketches of the legists named above-- ( .) "abû abd-ur-rahman abdullah ibn omar ibn-al khattab was one of the most eminent among the _companions_ of muhammad by his piety, his generosity, his contempt of the world, his learning and his virtues. though entitled by birth to aspire to the highest places in the empire, he never hearkened to the dictates of ambition; possessing a vast influence over the moslims by his rank, his instruction, and his holy life, he neither employed nor abused it in favour of any party, and during the civil wars which raged among the followers of islamism, he remained neutral, solely occupied with the duties of religion. for a period of thirty years persons came from all parts to consult him and learn from him the traditions.... he died at mekka a.h. (a.d. - ) aged years...."--[_tabakat al fokaha_, fol. .] ( .) atá ibn abi rabah.--"he held a high rank at mekka as a juris-consult, a _tâbî_, and a devout ascetic; and he derived (_his knowledge of the law and the traditions_) from the lips of jábir ibn abd allah al-ansárí, and abd allah ibn abbas, abd allah ibn zubair, and many others of muhammad's companions. his own authority as a traditionist was cited by amr ibn dinár, al-aamash, al-auzái, and a great number of others who had heard him teach. the office of _mufti_ at mekka devolved on him and on mujáhid, and was filled by them whilst they lived.... he died a.h. (a.d. - ); some say at the age of eighty-eight years."--[_ibn khallikan's biographical dictionary, translated from the arabic by baron macguckin de slane; vol. ii, pp. - . london, mdcccxliii._] ( .) amr ibn dinár.--"he is counted among the most eminent of the tábis and considered as a traditionist of very highest authority. he was only one of the mujatahid imáms. died a.h. , (a.d. - ), aged eighty years."--[_tab-al-fokaha_]. ( .) "abd allah ibn shuburma ibn tufail ad dubbi, a celebrated imám, and tábi was an eminent jurisconsult of kufa. he learned the traditions from ans, as-shabi, and ibn sírín, and his own authority was cited for traditions by soffian ath-thauri, sofyan ibn oyaina, and others. his veracity and his eminence as a doctor of the law was universally acknowledged. he was an abstemious, intelligent, devout, generous, of a handsome countenance, and possessing a talent for poetry. he acted under the khalif al-mamun, as kadí of the cultivated country (sawád) around kufa. born a.h. , (a.d. - ); died a.h. (a.d. - )."--[_tabal-fak. al-yáfi._] ( .) "sofyan ath-thauri (as-sauri) was native of kúfa and a master of the highest authority in the traditions and other sciences; his piety, devotion, veracity, and contempt for worldly goods were universally acknowledged, and as an imám, he is counted among the _mujtahids_.... sofyan ibn oyaina declared that he did not know a man better informed than soyfan ath-thauri respecting what was permitted and what was forbidden by the law.... sofyan was born a.h. (a.d. - ). other accounts place his birth in or . he died a.h. (a.d. - ) at basra.... it has been stated by some that sofyan died a.h. , but the first is the true date."--[_ibn khallikan's biographical dictionary, translated from the arabic by baron macguckin de slane, vol. i, pp. - . london, mdcccxliii._] [sidenote: . european writers' mistake.] that it is a mistake on the part of the european writers to assert that the koran allows wars of aggression, or in other words, to wage war against the unbelievers without any provocation, is shown by the testimony of mr. urquhart and mr. edward william lane. the latter writes: "misled by the decision of those doctors, and an opinion prevalent in europe, i represented the laws of 'holy war' as more severe than i found them to be according to the letter and spirit of the kur-án, when carefully examined, and according to the hanafee code. i am indebted to mr. urquhart for suggesting to me the necessity of revising my former statement on the subject; and must express my conviction that no precept is to be found in the kur-án, which, taken with the context, can justify unprovoked war."[ ] [sidenote: . sir william muir quoted.] i will quote several remarks of european writers, including clergymen and indian missionaries, to show how astray they go in attributing to the koran and mohammad the wars of aggressions and compulsory proselytizing. sir william muir represents the principles of islam as requiring constant prosecutions of war, and writes-- "it was essential to the permanence of islam that its aggressive course should be continuously pursued, and that its claim to an universal acceptance, or at the least to an universal supremacy, should be enforced at the point of the sword. within the limits of arabia the work appeared now to be accomplished. it remained to gain over the christian and idolatrous tribes of the syrian desert, and then in the name of the lord to throw down the gauntlet of war before the empires of rome and persia, which, having treated with contempt the summons of the prophet addressed to them in solemn warning four years ago, were now rife for chastisement."[ ] the occasion to which sir w. muir refers here was to wipe out the memory of the reverse at muta. the expedition to muta was occasioned by the murder of a messenger or envoy dispatched by mohammad to the ghassànide prince at bostra. a party was sent to punish the offending chief, sharahbil. this could, by no means, be maintained as a warlike spirit or an aggressive course for the prosecution of war, or for enforcing the claim of universal supremacy at the point of the sword. [sidenote: . islam not aggressive.] that islam as preached by mohammad was never aggressive has been fully shown in several places of the koran. during the whole time of his ministry, mohammad was persecuted, rejected, despised and at last made an outlaw by the koreish at mecca, and a fugitive seeking protection in a distant city; exiled, attacked upon, besieged, defeated, and prevented from returning to mecca or visiting the holy kaaba by the same enemies at mecca and other surrounding tribes who had joined them, and even from within medina plotted against by the jews who were not less aggressive towards him than their confederates of mecca, the koreish, whom they had instigated to make war on him and had brought an overwhelming army, had proved traitors, and, even more injurious than the koreish themselves. consequently, he was constantly in dangers and troubles, and under such circumstances it was impossible for him to be aggressive, to get time or opportunity to pursue any aggressive course, or enforce, at the point of the sword, any attempt of his for universal acceptance, or universal supremacy even if he had designed so. but it was far from his principles to have cherished the object of universal conquest. "that islam ever stepped beyond the limits of arabia and its border lands," admits sir. w. muir in his rede lecture for , just twenty years after he had written the passage i am dealing with, "was due to circumstances rather than design. the faith was meant originally for the arabs. from first to last, the call was addressed primarily to them." he writes in a footnote of the same lecture (page ): "it is true that three or four years before, mahomet had addressed dispatches to the kaiser, and the chosroes, and other neighbouring potentates, summoning them to embrace the true faith. but the step had never been followed up in any way."[ ] [sidenote: . mr. freeman quoted.] mr. freeman writes regarding mohammad:-- "mahomet had before him the example of mosaic law, which preached a far more rigorous mandate of extermination against the guilty nations of canaan. he had before him the practice of all surrounding powers, christian, jewish, and heathen; though, from the disaffection of syria and egypt to the orthodox throne of constantinople, he might have learned how easily persecution defeats its own end.... under his circumstances, it is really no very great ground to condemnation that he did appeal to the sword. he did no more than follow the precedents of his own and every surrounding nation. yet one might say that a man of such mighty genius as mahomet must have been, might have been, fairly expected to rise superior to the trammels of prejudice and precedent."[ ] mohammad never professed to have followed the footsteps of moses and joshua in waging war of extermination and proselytism. he only appealed to the sword in his and his followers' defence. never he seems to have been anxious to copy the practice of the surrounding nations, christians, jews, and egyptians. his wars of defence, as they certainly all were, were very mild, specially with regard to the treatment of children, women, and old men who were never to be attacked; and above all, in the mildness shown towards the captives of war who were either to be set free or ransomed,--but were never to be enslaved,--contrary to the practice of all the surrounding nations. this virtual abolition of slavery (_vide_ sura xlvii, , and appendix b) has been a great boon to mankind in general as a beneficial result of mohmamad's wars of defence. [sidenote: . the revd. stephens quoted.] the reverend mr. stephens writes:-- "in the koran, the mussulman is absolutely and positively commanded to make war upon all those who decline to acknowledge the prophet until they submit, or, in the case of jews and christians, purchase exemption from the conformity by the payment of tribute. the mission of the mussulman, as declared in the koran, is distinctly aggressive. we might say that mahomet bequeathed to his disciples a roving commission to propagate his faith by the employment of force where persuasion failed. 'o prophet, fight for the religion of god'--'stir up the faithful to war,' such are commands which mahomet believed to be given him by god. 'fight against them who believe not a god, nor the last day,' 'attack the idolatrous in all the months,' such are his own exhortations to his disciples."[ ] the reverend gentleman is very much mistaken in his assertions against the koran. there is no absolute or positive command in the koran for a war of aggression or compulsory proselytism. the sentences quoted by mr. stephens are but mutilated verses forcibly dislocated from their context. a disjointed portion of a verse, or a single sentence of it cannot be brought forth to prove any doctrine or theory. due regard must be made for the context, the general scope, and parallel passages. the verses referred to by mr. stephens are sura iv, , and sura ix, , . all these have been quoted in full and discussed elsewhere.[ ] they relate only to defensive wars. [sidenote: . mr. bosworth smith quoted.] mr. bosworth smith says:-- "the free toleration of the purer among the creeds around him, which the prophet had at first enjoined, gradually changes into intolerance. persecuted no longer, mohammed becomes a persecutor himself; with the koran in one hand, the scymitar in the other, he goes forth to offer to the nations the threefold alternative of conversion, tribute, death."[ ] mohammad never changed his practice of toleration nor his own teachings into intolerance; he was always persecuted at mecca and medina, but, for all we know, he himself never turned a persecutor. the three-fold alternative so much talked of, and so little proved, is nowhere to be found in the koran. this subject has been fully discussed in paras. - . [sidenote: . mr. g. sale quoted.] mr. george sale, in his celebrated preliminary discourse to the translation of the koran, writes, referring to the thirteenth year of mohammad's mission:-- "hitherto mohammed had propagated his religion by fair means, so that the whole success of his enterprise, before his flight to medina, must be attributed to persuasion only, and not to compulsion. for before this second oath of fealty or inauguration at al akaba, he had no permission to use any force at all; and in several places of the korân, which he pretended were revealed during his stay at mecca, he declares his business was only to preach and admonish; that he had no authority to compel any person to embrace his religion; and that whether people believed or not, was none of his concern, but belonged solely to god. and he was so far from allowing his followers to use force, that he exhorted them to bear patiently those injuries which were offered them on account of their faith; and when persecuted himself chose rather to quit the place of his birth and retire to medina, than to make any resistance. but this great passiveness and moderation seems entirely owing to his want of power and the great superiority of his oppressors for the first twelve years of his mission; for no sooner was he enabled by the assistance of those of medina to make head against his enemies, than he gave out, that god had allowed him and his followers to defend themselves against the infidels; and at length, as his forces increased, he pretended to have the divine leave even to attack them, and to destroy idolatry, and set up the true faith by the sword; finding by experience that his designs would otherwise proceed very slowly, if they were not utterly overthrown, and knowing on the other hand that innovators, when they depend solely on their own strength, and can compel, seldom run any risk; from whence, the politician observes, it follows, that all the armed prophets have succeeded, and the unarmed ones have failed. moses, cyrus, theseus and romulus would not have been able to establish the observance of their institutions for any length of time had they not been armed. the first passage of the korân, which gave mohammed the permission of defending himself by arms, is said to have been that in the twenty-second chapter: after which a great number to the same purpose were revealed. "that mohammed had a right to take up arms for his own defence against his unjust persecutors, may perhaps be allowed; but whether he ought afterwards to have made use of that means for the establishing of his religion, is a question which i will not here determine. how far the secular power may or ought to interpose in affairs of this nature, mankind are not agreed. the method of converting by the sword gives no very favourable idea of the faith which is so propagated, and is disallowed by every body in those of another religion, though the same persons are willing to admit of it for the advancement of their own; supposing that though a false religion ought not to be established by authority, yet a true one may; and accordingly force is as constantly employed in these cases by those who have the power in their hands as it is constantly complained of by those who suffer the violence."[ ] i do not agree with these words of mr. george sale regarding mohammad, "and at length, as his forces increased, he pretended to have the divine leave even to attack them, and to destroy idolatry, and set up the true faith by the sword;" he never attacked the koreish or others except in his own defence. the destruction of idolatry was the chief mission of mohammad, and that even was not resorted to by force of arms. there were neither compulsory conversions nor his history points to any extirpation of the idolaters at the point of sword from their native countries, as the chief objects of his mission. the persecutions and civil discord were to be removed or put a stop to, and force was used to repel force, but nothing more. conversion by the sword was not enforced on any proselyte by mohammad. [sidenote: . major osborn quoted.] major osborn has drawn a very dark picture of what he calls "the doctrine of jehad," in his _islam under the arabs_.[ ] the defensive wars of mohammad are explained by him as "means of livelihood congenial to the arab mind, and carrying with it no stain of disgrace or immorality. this was robbery. why should not the faithful eke out their scanty means by adopting this lucrative and honourable profession, which was open to everyone who had a sword and knew how to use it?... surely, to despoil these infidels and employ their property to feed the hungry and clothe the naked among the people of god, would be a work well pleasing in his sight.... and thus was the first advance made in the conversion of the religion of islam with the religion of the sword" (pages - ). after this the major writes again: "the ninth sura is that which contains the prophet's proclamation of war against the votaries of all creeds other than that of islam" (page ). then he quotes several verses, some of them half sentences, violently distorted, from the eighth and ninth suras, in a consecutive form, without giving the numbers. these are sura ix, , , , , ; sura viii, ; sura ix, , , , ; sura xlvii, ; sura ix, ; and sura viii, . lastly, the learned major concludes by saying,--"such was the character of the sacred war enjoined upon the faithful. it is muhammad's greatest achievement and his worst. when subjected himself to the pains of persecution he had learned to perceive how powerless were torments applied to the body to work a change of conviction in the mind. 'let there be no violence in religion' had then been one of the maxims he had laid down. 'unto every one of you,' he had said in former days, speaking of jews and christians, 'have we given a law, and an open path; and if god had pleased he had surely made you one people; but he hath thought fit to give you different laws, that he might try you in that which he hath given you respectively. therefore, strive to excel each other in good works; unto god shall ye all return, and then will he declare unto you that concerning which ye have disagreed.' but the intoxication of success had long ago stilled the voice of his better self. the aged prophet standing on the brink of the grave, and leaving as his last legacy a mandate of universal war, irresistibly recalls, by force of contrast, the parting words to his disciples of another religious teacher that they should go forth and preach a gospel of peace to all nations. nor less striking in their contrast is the response to either mandate;--the arab, with the koran in one hand and the sword in the other, spreading his creed amid the glare of burning cities, and the shrieks of violated homes, and the apostles of christ working in the moral darkness of the roman world with the gentle but irresistible power of light, laying anew the foundations of society, and cleansing at their source the polluted springs of domestic and national life." [sidenote: . major osborn refuted.] the learned author quoted above has either misunderstood the character of the wars of the prophet of islam, or has grossly misrepresented it. he errs in two points: first, he makes the wars as wars of conquest, compulsion, and aggression, whereas they were all undertaken in the defence of the civil and religious rights of the early moslems, who were, as i have said before, persecuted, harassed, and tormented at mecca for their religion, and after a long period of persecution with occasional fresh and vigorous measures, were condemned to severer and harder sufferings, were expelled from their homes, leaving their dear relations, and religious brethren to endure the calamities of the persecution, and while taking refuge at medina were attacked upon by superior numbers, several of the surrounding tribes of arabs and jews joining the aggressive koreish, making ruinous inroads and threatening the moslems with still greater and heavier miseries. from this statement it will appear that these wars were neither of conquest nor of compulsory conversion. the second great mistake under which major osborn seems to labour is that he takes the injunctions of war against the meccans or other aggressors as a general obligation to wage war against all unbelievers in the moslem faith. in fact, these injunctions were only against those aggressors who had actually committed great encroachments on the rights and liberties of the early moslems, and had inflicted very disastrous injuries on them. these injunctions had and have nothing to do with the future guidance of the moslem world. [sidenote: . the ixth sura of the koran.] it is a great misrepresentation on the part of major osborn to assert that "the ninth sura is that which contains the prophet's proclamation of war against the votaries of all creeds other than that of islam." no statement could be farther from truth than this of his. the ninth sura, or, more correctly, the beginning or opening verses of it, contain the prophet's proclamation of war against those of the meccan idolaters, who, in violation of the treaty of hodeibia, had attacked the moslems.--(sura ix, , , , & , _vide_ pages - .) they were allowed four months' time (ix, , ) to make terms. they submitted, and mecca was taken by compromise, in consequence of which the threatened war was never waged. those who had not broken their treaties were especially mentioned, with whom the proclamation or the period allowed for peace had no connection.--(_vide_ sura ix, , , quoted above, pages - .) thus it is quite clear that the proclamation of war was only against the violators and aggressors, and not against the votaries of all creeds other than that of islam. i have further discussed the ninth sura in para. of this work. the other verses of this sura refer to the expedition of tabúk, which was purely defensive in its nature as has been described in para. of this book. (see also para. .) [sidenote: . the reverend wherry quoted.] the reverend e.m. wherry, m.a., in his note on sale's preliminary discourse, says:-- "though muhammad undoubtedly took moses as his pattern, and supposed himself following in his footsteps when he gave the command to fight against the infidels, yet there is no comparison between them whatever so far as warring against infidels is concerned. the israelites were commanded to slay the canaanites as divinely ordained instruments of _destruction_; but muhammad inaugurated war as a means of proselytism. the israelite was not permitted to proselytize from among the canaanites, (exod. xxiii. - ), but muslims are required to proselytize by sword-power."[ ] mohammad never had said that he did follow the footsteps of moses in giving the command of fighting in self-defence, and in repelling force by force. there could be no comparison whatsoever between the wars of moses, which were merely wars of conquest, aggression, extermination, and expatriation, and those of mohammad waged only in self-defence. mohammad did not inaugurate his career by prosecuting war as a means of proselytism, and never did proselytized any one by the sheer strength of the sword. mr. t.h. horne, m.a., writes regarding the extirpation of the canaanites:-- "after the time of god's forbearance was expired, they had still the alternative, either to flee elsewhere, as in fact, many of them did, or to surrender themselves, renounce their idolatries, and serve the god of israel. compare deut. xx. - ."[ ] this was certainly compulsory conversion and proselytizing at the point of the sword. [sidenote: . example cited from the jewish history.] there is only one instance in the koran in which an example is cited for the war of defence by mohammad, from the jewish history. it is the asking of the children of israel their prophet samuel to raise up a king for them to fight in their defence against the philistines, who had very much oppressed the israelites. saul was appointed king over the israelites, and david killed goliath, called _jálut_ in the koran, which was in defence of the israelites. i have quoted the verses relating to the above subject from the koran (sura ii, and ) in page th of this work. "hast thou not considered the assembly of the children of israel after _the death_ of moses, when they said to a prophet of theirs,--'raise up for us a king; we will do battle for the cause of god?' he said, 'may it not be that when fighting is ordained you, ye would not fight?' they said, 'and why should we not fight in the cause of god, since we are driven forth from our dwellings and our children?'.... this shows that what the koran or mohammad took as an example from the history of the jews was only their defensive war. [sidenote: . mosaic injunctions.] it is very unfair of the christians to make too much of the wars of mohammad, which were purely of a defensive nature, and offer apologies for the most cruel wars of conquest and extermination by moses, joshua and other jewish worthies under the express commands of god.--(_vide_ numbers xxxi; deut. xxi, &c.) but see what mr. wherry says. he writes in his comments on the verse of the second sura of the koran. "( ). _kill them, &c._ much is made of expressions like this, by some christian apologists, to show the cruel character of the arabian prophet, and the inference is thence drawn that he was an impostor and his qurán a fraud. without denying that muhammad was cruel, we think this mode of assault to be very unsatisfactory to say the least, as it is capable of being turned against the old testament scriptures. if the claim of muhammad to have received a divine command to exterminate idolatry by the slaughter of all impenitent idolaters be admitted, i can see no objection to his practice. the question at issue is this. did god command such slaughter of idolaters, as he commanded the destruction of the canaanites or of the amalekites? taking the stand of the muslim, that god did so command muhammad and his followers, his morality in this respect may be defended on precisely the same ground that the morality of moses and joshua is defended by the christian."[ ] [sidenote: . the revd. t.p. hughes quoted.] the revd. t.p. hughes in his notes on muhammadanism writes:-- "jihád (lit. 'an effort') is a religious war against the infidels, as enjoined by muhammad in the qurán." súrat-un-nisa (vi.) "fight therefore for the religion of god." * * * * * "god hath indeed promised paradise to every one. but god hath preferred those who _fight for the faith_." (iv, .) súrat-ul-muhammad (xlvii). "those who _fight in the defence of god's true religion_, god will not suffer their works to perish." (xlvii, .)[ ] the first verse quoted by mr. hughes appertains to the war of defence. the verse in itself has express indications of its relating to the war of defence, but mr. hughes was not inclined, perhaps, to copy it in full. he merely quotes half a sentence, and shuts his eyes from other words and phrases of the same verse. the verse has been quoted in page . it is as follows:-- "fight then on the path of god: lay not burdens on any but thyself; and stir up the faithful. the powers of the infidels, god will haply restrain; for god is stronger in prowess, and stronger to punish."--(sura iv, .) the severe persecution, the intense torture and mighty aggression of the meccans and their allies is referred to in the original word _báss_, rendered _prowess_ into english and referred to in the previous verse , which shows that the war herein enjoined was to restrain the aggressions of the enemy and to repel force by force. it is very unfair on the part of the revd. t.p. hughes to twist or dislocate half a sentence from a verse and put it forth to demonstrate and prove a certain object of his. [sidenote: . meaning of jihad.] the second verse quoted by the same author is a mere mistranslation. there is no such word in the original which admits of being rendered as "fighting." the true translation of the sentence quoted above from sura iv, verse , is as follows:-- "good promises hath he made to all. but god hath assigned to the _strenuous_ a rich recompense above those who sit still at home." the word rendered "_strenuous_" is originally "mojahid" (plural "mojahidin," from jihád), which in classical arabic and throughout the koran means to do one's utmost, to make effort, to strive, to exert, to employ one's-self diligently, studiously, sedulously, earnestly, zealously, or with energy, and does not mean fighting or warfare. it was subsequently applied to religious war, but was never used in the koran in such a sense. (_vide_ appendix a.) [sidenote: . sura xlvii, v. .] the third instance quoted by mr. hughes is also a mistranslation of a sentence in verse , sura xlvii. the original word is "_kotelú_," which means "those who are _killed_," and not "those who _fight_," as explained and translated by the author. the correct rendering of the sentence is this: "and those who are killed, their work god will not suffer to miscarry." some read the word "_kátalú_," which means "those who fought," but the general and authorized reading is "_kotelú_," _i.e._, "those who are killed." even if it be taken for granted that the former is the correct reading, it will be explained by several other verses which mean fighting in defence, and not fighting aggressively, which not only has been never taught in the koran but is always prohibited (ii, ). the verse to that effect runs thus:-- "and fight for the cause of god against those who fight against you; but commit not the injustice of attacking them first. verily god loveth not the unjust."--(ii, .) this verse permitted only defensive war and prohibited every aggressive measure. all other verses mentioned in connection with fighting on the part of the moslems must be interpreted in conformity with this. [sidenote: . the rev. mr. malcolm maccoll quoted.] the rev. malcolm maccoll writes:-- "the koran divides the earth into parts: dar-ul-islam, or the house of islam; and dar-ul-harb, or the house of the enemy. all who are not of islam are thus against it, and it is accordingly the duty of the true believers to fight against the infidels till they accept islam, or are destroyed. this is called the djihad or holy war, which can only end with the conversion or death of the last infidel on earth. it is thus the sacred duty of the commander of the faithful to make war on the non-mussulman world as occasion may offer. but dar-ul-harb or the non-mussulman world, is subdivided into idolaters and ketabi, or 'people of the book,'--_i.e._, people who possess divinely inspired scriptures, namely, jews, samaritans, and christians. all the inhabitants of dar-ul-harb are infidels, and consequently outside the pale of salvation. but the ketabi are entitled to certain privileges in this world, if they submit to the conditions which islam imposes. other infidels must make their choice between one of two alternatives--islam or the sword. the ketabi are allowed a third alternative, namely, submission and the payment of tribute. but if they refuse to submit, and presume to fight against the true believers, they lapse at once into the condition of the rest of dar-ul-harb and may be summarily put to death or sold as slaves."[ ] i am very sorry the rev. gentleman is altogether wrong in his assertions against the koran. there is neither such a division of the world in the koran, nor such words as "dar-ul-islam" and "dar-ul-harb" are to be found anywhere in it. there is no injunction in the koran to the true believers to fight against the infidels till they accept islam, failing which they are to be put to death. the words "dar-ul-islam" and "dar-ul-harb" are only to be found in the mohammadan common law, and are only used in the question of jurisdiction. no moslem magistrate will pass a sentence in a criminal case against a criminal who had committed an offence in a foreign country. the same is the case in civil courts[ ]. all the inhabitants of dar-ul-harb are not necessarily infidels. mohammadans, either permanently or temporarily by obtaining permission from the sovereign of the foreign land, can be the inhabitants of a dar-ul-harb, a country out of the moslem jurisdiction, or at war with it. [sidenote: . the untenable theories of the common law and conclusion.] it is only a theory of our common law, in its military and political chapters, which allow waging unprovoked war with non-moslems, exacting tribute from "the people of the book," and other idolaters, except those of arabia, for which the hanafi code of the common law has nothing short of conversion to islam or destruction by the sword. as a rule, our canonical legists support their theories by quotations from the mohammadan revealed law, _i.e._, the koran, as well as from the sonnah, or the traditions from the prophet, however absurd and untenable may be their process of reasoning and argumentative deductions. in this theory of waging war with, and exacting tribute or the capitation-tax from, the non-moslem world, they quote the th and other suras. these verses have been copied and explained elsewhere in this book. the casuistic sophistry of the canonical legists in deducing these war theories from the koran is altogether futile. these verses relate only to the wars waged by the prophet and his followers purely in their self-defence. neither these verses had anything to do with waging unprovoked war and exacting tributes during mohammad's time, nor could they be made a law for future military conquest. these were only temporary in their operations and purely defensive in their nature. the mohammadan common law is by no means divine or superhuman. it mostly consists of uncertain traditions, arabian usages and customs, some frivolous and fortuitous analogical deductions from the koran, and a multitudinous array of casuistical sophistry of the canonical legists. it has not been held sacred or unchangeable by enlightened mohammadans of any moslem country and in any age since its compilation in the fourth century of the hejira. all the _mujtahids_, _ahl hadis_, and other non-mokallids had had no regard for the four schools of mohammadan religious jurisprudence, or the common law. [sidenote: sura xlvii, , and sura xlvii, and .] sura xlviii, , is not generally quoted by the canonical legists in support of their theory of jehád, but by some few. it is not in the shape of a command or injunction; it is in a prophetical tone:-- "say to those arabs of the desert who stayed behind, ye shall be called forth against a people of mighty valour; ye shall do battle with them, or they shall submit (_yoslemoon_)[ ]...." the verses and of sura xlvii, like all other verses on the subject, appertain to the wars of defence, and no one has ever quoted them for wars of aggression. these verses have already been quoted at page . the abolition of the future slavery as enjoined in the th verse has been treated separately in appendix b. the arabs, like other barbarous nations round them, used either to kill the prisoners of war or to enslave them; but this injunction of the koran abolished both of these barbarous practices. the prisoners henceforward were neither to be killed nor enslaved, but were to be set at liberty with or without ransom. [footnote : ata, a learned legist of mecca, who flourished at the end of the first century of the hegira, and held a high rank there as a juris-consult, (_vide_ para. ) held, that jihad was only incumbent on the companions of the prophet, and was not binding on any one else after them. see para. , and _tafsír majma-ul-bayán_ by tabrasee under sura ii. .] [footnote : the _hedaya_ or guide; or, a commentary on the mussulman laws, translated by charles hamilton; vol. ii, book ix, ch. i, page london, mdccxci.] [footnote : the _hedaya_ or guide; or, a commentary on the mussulman laws, translated by charles hamilton; vol. ii, book ix, ch. i, page .] [footnote : "arab _kattâl_; meaning war in its _operation_, such as _fighting_, _slaying_," &c.] [footnote : the _hedaya_, vol. ii, .] [footnote : sura ii, .] [footnote : the hedaya, with its commentary called kifaya, vol. ii, p. . calcutta medical press, . as a general rule the mohammadan authors do not refer to the verses of the koran by their number. they generally quote the first sentence, or even a portion of it. the no. of verses are mine. i have followed fluegel and rodwell's numbers of verses in their editions and translations of the koran.] [footnote : kifaya as before.] [footnote : _binayah_, a commentary of the _hedaya_, by ainee. vol. ii, part ii, page .] [footnote : part. iii, page .] [footnote : _tuhfatul muhtáj fi sharah-al-minhaj_, part iv, page .] [footnote : _insan-ul-oyoon_, part ii, pp. , . chapter on "campaign."] [footnote : sura ix, and . these verses have been discussed at pages - .] [footnote : "the jihád will last till the day of the resurrection." "i have been enjoined to fight the people until they confess there is no god but the god." for these traditions see the next para.] [footnote : _vide_ ainee's commentary of the _hedaya_, vol. ii, part ii, p. .] [footnote : _vide_ ainee's commentary of the _hedaya_, vol. ii, part ii, p. .] [footnote : _vide_ kázee budrudeen mahmood bin ahmed ainee's (who died in a.h.) commentary on the _hedaya_ called _binayah_, and generally known by the name of ainee, vol. ii, pp. - , "book of institute."] [footnote : the modern egyptians, by edward william lane; vol. i, p. , _note_: fifth edition, london, .] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, pp. - .] [footnote : the early caliphate and rise of islam, being the rede lecture for , delivered before the university of cambridge by sir william muir, k.c.s.i., ll.d., page , london, .] [footnote : the history and conquests of the saracens, by edward. a. freeman, d.c.l., ll.d., pp. - ; london, .] [footnote : christianity and islam; the bible and the koran; by the rev. w.r.w. stephens, london, , pp. - .] [footnote : _vide_ paras. , , .] [footnote : mohammed and mohammedanism. lectures delivered at the royal institution of great britain in february and march , by r. bosworth smith, m.a., second edition, page ; london, .] [footnote : the koran, by george sale. the "_chandos classics_." the preliminary discourse, section ii, pp. - .] [footnote : london: longmans, green & co., , pp. - .] [footnote : a comprehensive commentary on the qurán; comprising sale's translation and preliminary discourse, with additional notes and emendations, by the revd. e.m. wherry, m.a., page ; london: trübner & co., .] [footnote : an introduction to the critical study and knowledge of the holy scripture, by thomas hartwell horne, esq., m.a. vol. ii, page ; london. .] [footnote : commentary on the qurán by the revd. wherry, page .] [footnote : notes on muhammadanism; being outlines of the religious system of islam, by the revd. t.p. hughes, m.r.a.s., c.m.s., missionary to the afghans, page ; second edition, .] [footnote : the nineteenth century; london, december , page .] [footnote : this subject has been fully treated in my "the proposed political, legal, and social reforms in moslem states," pp. - : bombay education society press, .] [footnote : sir w. muir, with other european translators of the koran, translates the word "they shall profess islam" (the life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. , _footnote_). it ought to be translated "they shall submit." there is a difference of opinion among the commentators and canonical legists in this word. some translate the word _yoslemoon_ "shall profess islam," and others "shall submit." this difference in the interpretation of the same word is merely of a sectarian nature, each party wishing to serve their own purpose. those legists who held that the polytheists and idolaters may either be fought against or be submitted to the authority of islam by being tributaries, took the word in its proper sense of submission. those who held that "the people of the book" ought only to be made tributaries, while all other idolaters and polytheists should be compelled either to perish or to embrace islam, interpret the word technically to mean the religion of islam. but as the verse is not a legal command, we condemn at once the casuistic sophistry of the legists.] appendix a on the word "jihad" as occurring in the koran and wrongly translated "warfare." [sidenote: jihád or jihd does not mean war or crusade.] . the popular word _jihád_ or _jihd_, occurring in several passages of the koran, and generally construed by christians and moslems alike as meaning hostility or the waging of war against infidels, does not classically or literally signify war, warfare, hostility or fighting, and is never used in such a sense in the koran. the arabic terms for warfare or fighting are _harab_ and _kitál_. [sidenote: classical meaning of jihád, &c.] . the words _jahada_, and _jáhada_ signify that a person strove, laboured or toiled; exerted himself or his power, or efforts, or endeavours, or ability employed himself vigorously, diligently, studiously, sedulously, earnestly or with energy; was diligent or studious, took pains or extraordinary pains[ ]; for example, the term _jáhada fil-amr_ signifies that a person did his utmost or used his utmost powers, or efforts, or endeavours, or ability in prosecuting an affair.[ ] the infinitive noun _jihádan_ also means difficulty or embarrassment, distress, affliction, trouble, inconvenience, fatigue, or weariness.[ ] jauharce, a lexicologist of great repute, whose work is confined to classical terms and their significations, says in his siháh that _jáhada fi sabeelillah_ or _mojáhadatan_ and _jihádan_ and also _ajtahada_ and _tajáhada_ mean expending power and effort. fayoomee, author of _misbahel moneer_, which contains a very large collection of classical words and phrases of frequent occurrence, also says that _jáhada fi sabeelillah jihádan_ and _ajtahada fil amr_ mean he expended his utmost efforts and power in seeking to attain an object. [sidenote: post-classical or technical meaning of jihád.] . it is only a post-classical and technical meaning of _jihád_ to use the word as signifying fighting against an enemy. mr. lane says, "_jahada_ came to be used by the moslems to signify generally _he fought_, _warred_ or waged war against _unbelievers_ and _the like_." this signification is now given by those lexicologists who do not restrict themselves to the definition of classical terms or significations, like the author of kámoos. mr. lane, the celebrated author of _maddool kámoos_ an arabic-english lexicologist, clearly shows that the definition of _jihád_, as the act of waging war, is only of moslem origin and is not classical. and i will show in sequence that the moslem usage of _jihád_, as signifying the waging of war, is a post-koranic usage, and that in the koran it is used classically and literally in its natural sense. [sidenote: the classical tongue and arabian poets.] . what is called the classical language of arabia or the _loghat_, and is an authority for the genuineness of the arabic terms and their significations, is the language which was spoken throughout the whole of the peninsula previous to the appearance of mohammad. after the death of mohammad the language was rapidly corrupted by the introduction of foreign words. this was doubtless owing to the great extension of the mohammadan power at this period. the classical poets are those who died before these great conquests were effected, and are the most reliable authorities for arabic words and their significations, and they are called _jáhilí_. next to the classical poets are the post-classical, or _mokhadrams_, _islámi_ and _mowallads_. mokhadram is a poet who lived partly before and partly after mohammad, and who did not embrace islámism during the life of the prophet. the islámi poets are the mohammadan poets of the first and second centuries of the hejira, and mowallads, the poets of the fourth rank, followed the islámis. the earliest classical poets date only a century before the birth of mohammad, and the latest, about a century after his death. the period of the islámi poets is the first and second centuries,--_i.e._, those who lived after the first corruption of the arabic language, but before the corruption had become extensive. the mowallads co-existed with the general and rapid corruption of the language from the beginning or middle of the second century. [sidenote: the conjugation and declension of _jahd_ and _jihád_] . the words _jahd_ and _jihád_ and their derivations, amounting to fourteen in number, occur in the following passages in the koran:-- . "jâhada" chapter xxix, ; ix, . . "jáhadáka" do. xxxi, , xxix, . . "jáhadoo" do. ii, ; viii, , , ; ix, , , ; xlix, ; iii, ; xvi, ; xxix, . . "yojáhido" do. xxix, . . "yojáhidoona" do. v, . . "yojáhidoo" do. ix, , . . "tojáhidoona" do. lxi, . . "jihád" do. xxv, ; xxii, ; ix, ; lx, . .* "jahd" do. v, ; vi, ; xvi, ; xxiv, ; xxxv, . .* "johd" do ix, . . "jáhid" do. ix, ; lxvi, . . "jâhidhoom" do. xxv, . . "mojáhidína" do. iv, ; bis. xlvii, . . "mojáhidoona" do. iv, . . "jáhidoo" do. v, ; ix, , ; xxii, . [sidenote: the number of instances in which they occur in the koran.] . there are altogether verses in the koran containing the words noted above, in the following chapters and verses:-- chapter ii, . do. iii, . do. iv, . do. v, , , . do. vi, . do. viii, , , . do. ix, , , , , , , , , , , . do. xvi, , . do. xxii, . do. xxiv, . do. xxv, . do. xxix, , , . do. xxxi, . do. xxxv, . do. xlvii, . do. xlix, . do. xl, . do. xli, . do. xlvi, . [sidenote: in what sense they are used in the koran.] . out of the above, the verses containing the words "jahd" and "johd,"--_i.e._, v, ; vi, ; xvi, ; xxiv, ; xxxv, ; and ix, , marked *, are altogether out of dispute, as in all the former passages, except the last one, its obvious meaning is _most_ or _utmost_ solemn oaths,[ ] or most _energetic_ oaths or _strongest_ or most forcible oaths,[ ] and the latter signifies small provisions upon which a man possessing a little property can live with difficulty. the rest are of two kinds--_first_, the verses occurring in the meccan suras. as then the moslems had not resorted to arms in their defence, though suffering from persecutions, mohammadan commentators and jurists and christian writers are unanimous in construing _jihád_ in its natural sense of exertion, effort, energy, and painstaking. secondly, the verses containing the same words occurring in the medina suras, which were revealed or published when the moslems had taken arms in their defence. as regards this period, the words are considered to have an entirely new and an altogether fortuitous meaning, _viz._, a religious war of aggression. even some verses of this period are rendered by mohammadans and christians in the literal sense of the word. [sidenote: conventional significations of _jihád_.] . i fully admit that in the post-classical language of the arabs,--_i.e._, that in use subsequent to the time of mohammad, when the language was rapidly corrupted, the word "jihád" was used to signify "warfare" or fighting, but this was in a military sense. since that period the word has come to be used as meaning the waging of a war or a crusade only in military tactics, and more recently it found its way in the same sense into the mohammadan law-books and lexicons of later dates. but the subsequent corrupt or post-classical language cannot be accepted as a final or even a satisfactory authority upon the point. "it was decided by common consent," says mr. edward william lane, in his arabic-english lexicon (preface, pp. viii and ix), "that no poet, nor any other person, should be taken as an absolute and unquestionable authority with respect to the words or their significations, the grammar, or the prosody of the classical language, unless he were one who had died before the promulgation of el-islám, or who had lived partly before and partly after that event; or, as they term it, unless he were a 'jáhilee' or a 'mukhadram,' or (as some pronounce it) 'mukhadrim,' or 'muhadram' or 'muhadrim.' a poet of the class next after the mukhadrams is termed an 'islámee:' and as the corruption of the language had become considerable in his time, even among those who aimed at chasteness of speech, he is not cited as an authority absolutely and unquestionably like the two preceding classes. a poet of the next class, which is the last, is termed 'muwelled;' he is absolutely post-classical; and is cited as an unquestionable authority with respect only to the rhetorical sciences. the commencement of the period of the muwelleds is not distinctly stated: but it must have preceded the middle of the second century of the flight; for the classical age may be correctly defined as having nearly ended with the first century, when very few persons born before the establishment of el-islám through arabia were living. thus the best of the islámi poets may be regarded, and are generally regarded, as holding classical rank, though not as being absolute authorities with respect to the words and the significations, the grammar, and the prosody of the classical language." mr. thomas chenry, m.a., writes:[ ]-- "within a century of mohammad's flight from mecca, the moslem empire stretched from kashgar and mooltan to morocco and the pyrenees, and the arab man of letters was exposed to the corrupting propinquity of men of very different races. only a poet of ignorance, that is, one who died before the preaching of islam, or a mokhadram, that is, who was contemporary with it, was looked upon as of paramount and unquestionable authority. an islámi, that is, one who was born after the rise of islam, was of least consideration, and after the first century, the poets are called muwalladún and are only quoted for their literary beauties, and not as authorities for the arab tongue." [sidenote: mohammadan commentators, &c., quoted.] . all commentators, paraphrasts, and jurisconsults admit that the primary and original signification of the words "_jahad_" and "_jihád_" is power, ability, and toil, and that its use, as making wars or crusades, is conventional and figurative. ibn attiah says regarding verse , chapter xxix, that it is meccan, and was revealed before the enjoining of the _orfee_ or conventional _jihád_ (_vide_ fat-hul bayan fi maquasidil koran, vol. ii, page , by siddik hussan). khateeb koostlane, in his _irshadussari_, a paraphrase of bokhari, says that "_jihád_ is derived from _jahd_, which means toil and labour, or from _johd_, which means power. and in technical language it means fighting with infidels to assist islam" (vol. v, page ). mohammad allauddin al haskafi (died a.h.), the author of dur-ral-mukhtár, a commentary on tanviral absár, by sheikh mohammad al tamartáshi (died ), says in the chapter on _jihád_, that "in the classical language it is the infinitive noun of _jáhada fi sabil-allah_, and in the language of the law it means inviting the infidels to the true faith and fighting with him who does not accept it." and ibn Ábidin shámi, in his annotation on the above work, says: "the infinitive noun of _jáhada_ means to do one's utmost, and that it is general, and includes any person who supports all that is reasonable and forbids what is wrong." [sidenote: when the word jihád was diverted from its original signification to its figurative meaning of waging religious war?] . it is admitted by all lexicologists, commentators, and jurisconsults that _jihád_ in classical arabic means to labour, strive earnestly, and that the change of its meaning or the technical signification occurred only in the post-classical period, _i.e._, long after the publication of the koran. it is obviously improper, therefore, to apply the post-classical meaning of the word where it occurs in the koran. this fact is further admitted by all the mohammadan commentators and english translators of the koran, who render the word in its original and literal meaning in all the meccan and in the early medinite suras or chapters of the koran.[ ] it is only in a few of the latest chapters of the koran published at later dates at medina, that they (the commentators and translators) deviate from the original meaning, and prefer the subsequent unclassical and technical signification of waging war or crusade. [sidenote: all verses of the koran containing the word jihád and its derivation quoted and explained.] . i herein place in juxtaposition the several english translations of the word "_jihád_," together with its etymological derivation and several grammatical forms, to show, in the first place, that mr. george sale and the rev. j.m. rodwell and other european authors generally give the literal, original, and classical meaning; and in the second place, to show how they differ in giving various meanings, literal and technical, in some passages to the same word in the same verses. it will be observed from a perusal of the statement, that the rev. mr. rodwell, m.a., is more correct than the earliest english translator of the koran, mr. george sale, and the latest, mr. w.h. palmer. the latter is the most unsatisfactory of all in this respect, as everywhere, except in six places--xxix, ; v, , ; iv, ; and ix, , --he translates _jihád_ as meaning fighting--a circumstance which not unnaturally leads to the supposition that he had paid but slight heed to the context. |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- |serial no. | | no. of the chapter and the verse of the koran. | | | original words. ---------------------------- | | | | george sale's translation. } english | | | | | rev. rodwell's translation. } | | | | | | henry palmer's translation. } translations. |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- | | | | xxxi. | | | "jáhadáka" | | | | "strive" | | | | | "endeavour to prevail" | | | | | | "strive." | | | | xxv. | | | "jáhid," "jihádan." | | | | "oppose them herewith with strong opposition." | | | | | "by means of the koran strive against them with | | | | | a mighty strife." | | | | | | "fight strenuously; strenuous fight." | | | | xxii. | | | "jáhidoo" | | | | "fight in the defence of god's religion." | | | | | "do valiantly" | | | | | | "fight strenuously." | | | | xvi. | | | "jáhadoo" | | | | "have since sought _in the_ defence of the true religion." | | | | | "fought" | | | | | | "fought strenuously." | | | | xxix. | | | "jáhada" | | | | "striveth" | | | | | "maketh efforts" | | | | | | "fight strenuously; fight strenuously." | | | | xxix. | | | "jáhadáka" | | | | "endeavour" | | | | | "strive" | | | | | | "strive." |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- |serial no. | | no. of the chapter and the verse of the koran. | | | original words. ---------------------------- | | | | george sale's translation. } english | | | | | rev. rodwell's translation. } | | | | | | henry palmer's translation. } translations. |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- | | | | xxix. | | | "jáhadoo" | | | | "utmost endeavour" | | | | | "made efforts" | | | | | | "fight strenuously." | | | | xvi. | | | "jahd" | | | | "most solemnly" | | | | | "most sacred" | | | | | | "most strenuous." | | | | xxxv. | | | "jahd" | | | | "most solemn" | | | | | "mightiest" | | | | | | "most strenuous." | | | | ii. | | | "jáhadoo" | | | | "fight in god's cause" | | | | | "fight" | | | | | | "wage war." | | | | iii. | | | "jáhadoo" | | | | "those who fought strenuously." | | | | | "did valiantly" | | | | | | "fought well." | | | | viii. | | | "jáhadoo be-am-walhim-w-anfosa-him." | | | | "employed their substance and their persons in fight for | | | | the religion of god." | | | | | "spent their substance and themselves for the cause | | | | | of god." | | | | | | "fought strenuously with their wealth and | | | | | | person." |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- |serial no. | | no. of the chapter and the verse of the koran. | | | original words. ---------------------------- | | | | george sale's translation. } english | | | | | rev. rodwell's translation. } | | | | | | henry palmer's translation. } translations. |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- | | | | viii. | | | "jáhadoo" | | | | "have fought for god's true religion." | | | | | "fought" | | | | | | "fought strenuously." | | | | viii. | | | "jáhadoo" | | | | "have fought with you." | | | | | "fought" | | | | | | "fought strenuously." | | | | vi. | | | "jahd" | | | | "most solemn" | | | | | "most binding" | | | | | | "most strenuous" | | | | xlvii. | | | "mojáhidína" | | | | "who fight valiantly" | | | | | "valiant" | | | | | | "fought strenuously." | | | | lxi. | | | "jáhidoo" | | | | "defend god's true religion with your substance and in | | | | your person." | | | | | "do valiantly" | | | | | | "to fight strenuously." | | | | iv. | | | st. "mojáhidína" | | | | st. "those who employ their fortune and their persons | | | | for the religion of god." | | | | | . "defend god's true religion valiantly." | | | | | | . "strenuous." | | | nd. "mojáhidina." | | | | nd. "those who employ their fortune and persons." | | | | | . "contend earnestly." | | | | | | . "strenuous." | | | rd. "mojáhidina." | | | | rd. "those who fight" | | | | | . "strenuous" | | | | | | . "strenuous." |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- |serial no. | | no. of the chapter and the verse of the koran. | | | original words. ---------------------------- | | | | george sale's translation. } english | | | | | rev. rodwell's translation. } | | | | | | henry palmer's translation. } translations. |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- | | | | xxiv. | | | "jahd" | | | | "most solemn" | | | | | "most solemn" | | | | | | "most strenuous." | | | | lxvi. | | | "jáhid" | | | | "attack the hypocrites with arguments." | | | | | "make war" | | | | | | "fight strenuously." | | | | ix. | | | "jáhid" | | | | "wage war" | | | | | "contend" | | | | | | "strive strenuously." | | | | lxi. | | | "jihadan" | | | | "to fight in the defence of my religion." | | | | | "to fight" | | | | | | "fighting strenuously." | | | | xlix. | | | "jáhadoo" | | | | "who employ their substance and their person in the | | | | defence of god's true religion." | | | | | "contend with their substance and their person." | | | | | | "fight strenuously with their wealth and their | | | | | | persons." | | | | ix. | | | "jáhadoo" | | | | "those among you who sought for his religion." | | | | | "valiantly" | | | | | | "fought strenuously." |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- |serial no. | | no. of the chapter and the verse of the koran. | | | original words. ---------------------------- | | | | george sale's translation. } english | | | | | rev. rodwell's translation. } | | | | | | henry palmer's translation. } translations. |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- | | | | ix. | | | "jáhada" | | | | "fighteth" | | | | | "fighteth" | | | | | | "strenuous." | | | | ix. | | | "jáhadoo" | | | | "fought for his religion." | | | | | "do valiantly" | | | | | | "fought strenuously." | | | | ix. | | | "jihádan" | | | | "advancement" | | | | | "efforts" | | | | | | "fighting strenuously." | | | | ix. | | | "jáhidoo" | | | | "employ your substance and your person for the advancement | | | | of god's religion." | | | | | "contend with your substance and with your person." | | | | | | "fight strenuously with your wealth and your | | | | | | persons." | | | | ix. | | | "yojáhidoo" | | | | "employing their substance and their persons for the | | | | advancement of god's true religion." | | | | | "contending with your substance and your person." | | | | | | "fighting strenuously." | | | | ix. | | | "yojáhidoo" | | | | "employ their substance and their persons for the | | | | advancement of god's true religion." | | | | | "contending with their riches and their persons." | | | | | | "fighting strenuously with their wealth and | | | | | | their persons." |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- |serial no. | | no. of the chapter and the verse of the koran. | | | original words. ---------------------------- | | | | george sale's translation. } english | | | | | rev. rodwell's translation. } | | | | | | henry palmer's translation. } translations. |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- | | | | ix. | | | "jáhidoo" | | | | "go forth to war" | | | | | "contend" | | | | | | "fight strenuously." | | | | ix. | | | "jáhidoo" | | | | "expose their fortunes and their lives." | | | | | "contend with purse and persons." | | | | | | "strenuous with their wealth and with their | | | | | | person." | | | | v. | | | "jáhidoo" | | | | "fight for his religion." | | | | | "contend earnestly" | | | | | | "be strenuous." | | | | v. | | | "jáhd" | | | | "most firm" | | | | | "most solemn" | | | | | | "most strenuous." | | | | v. | | | "yojahidoona" | | | | "they shall fight for the religion of god." | | | | | "will they contend" | | | | | | "strenuous." |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- |serial no. | | no. of the chapter and the verse of the koran. | | | original words. ---------------------------- | | | | george sale's translation. } english | | | | | rev. rodwell's translation. } | | | | | | henry palmer's translation. } translations. |----+-----+----+----+----+--------------------------------------------- . the above verses quoted with remarks. i will now proceed to give a correct translation of all the verses of the koran referred to above, in the chronological order of the chapters of the koran as far as it is ascertained together with my observations and remarks on them, and quotations from mohammadan commentators when necessary. i.--the meccan suras. [sidenote: ( ) lokman, xxxi, .] . "but if they exert their utmost (jáhadáka) to make thee to join that with me of which thou hadst no knowledge, obey them not." chapter xxxi is one of the oldest of the meccan suras, having been revealed between the sixth and tenth year of the prophet's mission. the admonition relates to a man's behaviour to his parents. he is enjoined to treat them with kindness, but not to obey them if they lead him to polytheism. here "_jáhadá_" means "if they two (parents) task or toil thee, or make efforts and endeavour (that thou shouldst associate any god with god)," and none of the translators and commentators take the word to mean the making of war or hostilities or fighting. [sidenote: ( ) furkan, xxv, , .] . "moreover had we pleasured we had certainly raised up a warner in every city." "do not then obey the unbelievers, but by means of this (_jáhid_) exert with them with a (_jihadan kabirá_) strenuous exertion (or labour with great labour)." this evidently relates to the koran, or the warning mentioned in the preceding verse, and it is wrong to translate "_jihád_" as meaning to fight strenuously with them, or as inciting to strenuous fighting as translated by henry palmer (vol. ii, p. ). mr. sale and the rev. mr. rodwell do not translate it fighting, and so mohammadan commentators. fakhr-ud-din razi (died a.h.), the imam, in his great commentary says: "some say _jáhid hoom bihí jihádán kabirá_ means to make efforts in preaching, but some say it meant fighting, and others say it meant both; but the former is nearer the truth, as the chapter was revealed at mecca, and the command for fighting was issued after the flight, some time afterwards" (vol. vi, p. ). [sidenote: ( ) the pilgrimage,[ ] xxii, , .] . "believers! bow down with worship your lord and work righteousness, haply ye may prosper." "and ('_jáhidoo_') make efforts in god, as (_jihádehi_) your making efforts is his due, he hath elected you, and hath not laid on you any hardship in religion, the faith of your father abraham. he hath named you the muslims." messrs. sale and palmer translate the word here as meaning fighting, which is wrong, as it is unclassical and not literal. rodwell translates it "do valiantly," and sir william muir says it is used in the more general sense (vol. iii, p. ). this verse is a brief and concise version of the great maxim in deut. vi. ; mark xii. ; and luke x. ,-- "thou shalt love thy god with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength." see also luke xiii. : "strive to enter in at the straight gate." [sidenote: ( ) the bee, xvi, , .] . "whoso after he hath believed in god denieth him if he were forced to it, and if his heart remain steadfast in the faith, shall be guiltless; but whoso openeth his heart to infidelity--on them, in that case, shall be wrath from god, and a severe punishment awaiteth them." "to those also who after their trials fled their country, then (_jáhadoo_) toiled and endured with patience. verily, thy lord will afterwards be forgiving, gracious." dr. sprenger (life of mohammad, p. ) explains this verse of the seven slaves purchased and manumitted by abu bekr. they had been tortured for professing islam, shortly after mohammad assumed the prophetic office. the flight referred to in verse th is the early abyssinian flight. these verses relate to the persecutions endured by humble and needy moslems from their townspeople of mecca. these moslems, after being persecuted and forced as far as denying god, while their remaining steadfast in the faith, had to flee elsewhere, and then suffered much in their wanderings; but they endured their labours and fatigues, losses, disadvantages both in body and mind, patiently. there is no allusion to fighting or waging war. the rev. mr. rodwell and mr. palmer are both wrong in translating '_jáhadoo_' as fighting. sale is right in not translating it as fighting, but he is too paraphrastic when he translates, "and who have since fought _in defence of the true religion_," as their "jihád" was only their great exertion and toil in suffering from persecutions. [sidenote: ( ) the spider, xxix, .] . "and whoso ('_jáhada_') labours ('_yojáhido_') toils for his own good only. verily god is independent of all the worlds." mr. palmer is wrong in making _jáhada_ and _yojáhido_ to mean fighting strenuously. mr. sale and the rev. w. rodwell are right in translating by "striveth" and "efforts" respectively, and so is sir w. muir in taking it into, what he styles, the general sense of the verse (the life of mahomet, vol. iii, p. ). [sidenote: ( ) the spider, xxix, .] . "moreover we have enjoined on man to show kindness to parents, but if they (_jáhadá_) strive with thee in order that thou join that with me of which thou hast no knowledge, then obey them not. to me do ye return, and i will tell you of your doings." none of the commentators take the word _jâhadâ_ in this passage to mean fighting or crusade, and it is difficult, therefore, to understand why the word should have been distorted from its proper literal and classical meaning in other places of the same book. [sidenote: ( ) the spider, xxix, .] . "and those who (_jâhadoo_) made efforts for us, in our path will we surely guide; for verily god is with those who do righteous deeds." mr. palmer translates the word here as meaning "fought," contrary to mr. sale, the rev. mr. rodwell, and sir william muir, who translate it "endeavour," "effort," and "strive." the conventional term jihád, meaning crusade or warfare, was not in use in the time of the revelation of the koran. [sidenote: ( ) the bee, xvi, .] . "and they swear by god with their (_jahd_) utmost oaths that 'god will never raise him who once is dead.' nay; but on him is a promise binding though most men know it not." sale renders the word "most solemnly;" rodwell, "most sacred oath;" palmer, "most strenuous oath." [sidenote: ( ) creator, xxxv, .] . "they swore by god with their (_jahd_) utmost oath that should a preacher come to them they would yield to guidance more than any people: but when the preacher came to them, it only increased in them their estrangement." sale's rendering is "most solemn oath," rodwell's, "mightiest oath," and palmer's, "most strenuous oath." ii.--the medinite suras. [sidenote: ( ) the cow or heifer, ii, .] . "but they who believe, and who fly their country, and (_jahadoo_) exert their utmost in the way of god, may hope for god's mercy, and god is gracious and merciful." mr. sale and the rev. mr. rodwell translate _jahadoo_ as those who _fight_, and mr. palmer as those who _wage war_; but there is no reason to change the proper meaning of the word. sir william muir translates the verse thus:-- "but they that believe and they who emigrate for the sake of their faith and strive earnestly in the way of god, let them hope in the mercy of god, for god is forgiving, merciful."[ ] in a footnote he says:--"the word jihâd is the same as that subsequently used for a religious war; but it had not yet probably acquired its fixed application. it was employed in its _general_ sense before the hejira, and probably up to the battle of badr."[ ] i have only to add that the word never acquired its fixed application during the lifetime of the prophet, nor is it used as such in any chapter of the koran either before or after the hejira. the connection of flight mentioned in the verse as put together with jihád, shows that it means the labour, toil, and distress which befel the fugitives in leaving their families unprotected in the hands of their persecutors on their expulsion from their country. [sidenote: ( ) a'l amràn, iii, .] . "do ye think that ye could enter paradise without god taking knowledge of those among you who (_jáhadoo_) have toiled and of those who steadfastly endured." the rev. mr. rodwell translates _jáhadoo_, "did valiantly," and does not agree with sale and palmer, who translate it, "fought strenuously," or "fought well." by the connection of enduring patiently, the word _jáhadoo_ probably means those who toiled and suffered in their exile from mecca. [sidenote: ( ) the spoils, viii, .] . "verily, they who believe and have fled their homes and (_jáhadoo_) toiled with their substance and themselves in the way of god, and they who have taken in and have helped, shall be near of kin the one to the other. and they who have believed, but have not fled their homes, shall have no rights of kindred with you at all, _until_ they too fly their country. yet if they seek aid from you, on account of the faith, your part is to give them aid, except against a people between whom and yourself there may be a treaty. and god beholdeth your actions." sale renders the word _jihád_ (or _jáhadoo_) in this passage as meaning "employed their substance and their persons in fighting." rodwell ... "spent their substance and themselves." palmer ... "fought strenuously with their wealth and person." as the word _jihád_ has been applied here to both one's-self and his substance or wealth, it cannot mean "fighting," even if taken in the technical signification. [sidenote: ( ) the spoil, viii, .] . "but as for those who have believed and fled their country and (_jáhadoo_) took pains in the way of god, and have been a refuge or help, these are the faithful, mercy is their due and a noble provision." sale ... "fought." rodwell ... "fought." palmer ... "fought strenuously." there is nothing in this passage to warrant a departure from the literal and proper signification of the word _jáhadoo_, and using it in a post-koranic sense. [sidenote: ( ) the spoil, viii, .] . "and they who have believed and have since fled their country, (_jáhadoo_) toiled with you, these also are of you. those who are united by the ties of blood are the nearest of kin to each other. this is in the book of god. verily god knoweth all things." sale ... "fought." rodwell ... "fought." palmer ... "fought strenuously." there is no valid excuse here for changing the signification of the word _jáhadoo_ into that which is never used in the koran or in the classical arabic. [sidenote: ( ) the cattle, vi, .] . "with their (_jahd_) most binding oath have they sworn by god...." sale ... "most solemn oath." rodwell ... "most binding oath." palmer ... "most strenuous oath." [sidenote: ( ) mohammad, xlvii, ] . "and we will surely test you until we know (_mojáhideena_) who did their utmost, and who were the steadfast among you; and we will test the reports." sale ... "who fight valiantly." rodwell ... "valiant." palmer ... "fought valiantly." "_mojáhid_" is not synonymous with "_mokátil_" [sidenote: ( ) battle array, lxi, .] . "believe in god and his apostle and (_jáhidoo_) do strive in the way of god with your wealth and your persons!" sale ... "who fought valiantly." rodwell ... "who fought valiantly." palmer ... "fight strenuously." devotion or worship has been divided into two kinds,--bodily, which also includes mental; and pecuniary or monetary, and the believers are exhorted here to worship god both bodily and mentally. [sidenote: ( ) women, iv, .] . "those believers who sit at home free from trouble and those who ( , _mojáhidoona_) toil in the way of god with their substance and their persons shall not be treated alike. god has assigned to those who ( , _majáhadoona_) strive with their persons and with their substance a rank above those who sit at home. goodly promises hath he made to all; but god hath assigned to those ( , _mojáhadína_) who make efforts a rich recompense above those who sit at home." sale: _ st_ ... "those who employ their fortune and their substance for the religion of god." _ nd_ ... "those who employ their fortune and their substance." _ rd_ ... "those who fight." rodwell: _ st_ ... "those who fight valiantly." _ nd_ ... "contend earnestly." _ rd_ ... "strenuous." palmer: _ st_ ... "strenuous." _ nd_ ... "strenuous." _ rd_ ... "strenuous." i have already explained the two sorts of worship or service of god--bodily and mental. the same applies here too. [sidenote: ( ) light, xxiv, .] . "and they swore by god with their utmost oath...." sale ... "most solemn oath." rodwell ... "most solemn oath." palmer ... "most strenuous oath." [sidenote: ( ) the forbidding, lxvi, .] . "o prophet, (_jáhid_) do thy utmost with the unbelievers and hypocrites, and be strict towards them." sale ... "attack the infidels with arms and the hypocrites with arguments." rodwell ... "make war." palmer ... "fight strenuously." [sidenote: ( ) the immunity, ix, .] . the same verse, word for word. sale ... "wage war." rodwell ... "contend against." palmer ... "strive strenuously." the word _jáhid_ is the same in both the passages, yet the translators differ in their interpretation of it. as there had been no war against the hypocrites, the word cannot be held to bear the construction they put on it, even if we deprived it of its proper signification. in one place sale takes _jáhid_ to mean "attacking with arms," and in another he takes it in the sense of attacking with arguments. there is no signification of "attacking" in _jihád_, but only that of "exerting," and the verse simply means, "exert thyself in preaching to, and remonstrating with, the unbelievers and hypocrites, and also be strict towards them,"--_i.e._, not to be smooth with them, nor to be beguiled by them.[ ] [sidenote: ( ) the tried, lxi.] . "o ye believers! take not my foe and your foe for friends: ye show them kindness although they believe not that truth which hath come to you: they drive forth the apostle and yourself because ye believe in god your lord! if ye have come forth[ ] (_jihádan_) labouring in my cause, and from a desire to please me, ye show them kindness in private, then i well know what ye conceal and what ye discover! and whoso of you doth this hath verily, therefore, gone astray from the even way." sale translates _jihádan_ as meaning "to fight in the defence of my religion." rodwell ... "to fight on my path." palmer ... "fighting strenuously." the translators quoted above say that hátib had informed the meccans of an intended surprise of mecca on the part of mohammad with the view of making terms for his own family, which had been left there. on this occasion the passage was revealed. this shows that the campaign of mecca is termed _jihád_. but sir william muir does not agree with them. he says in a footnote:--"the opening verses of the sixtieth sura are said to refer to hâtib; but they appear to have a general bearing against too great intimacy with the coreish during the truce and to be, therefore, of a prior date."[ ] . hátib's story. the story regarding hátib's revelation of the intended attack upon mecca by mohammad, is not supported by authentic and trustworthy traditions. the authentic tradition of bokhari[ ] only states that the occasion of the verse being revealed was in the case of hátib, but does not say that it was during the campaign of mecca, nor that the information contained anything about the intended campaign. the authentic tradition only says that the report contained information regarding some of the affairs of the prophet. besides this, it is wrong to translate _in kun tum kharajtum jihadan fi sabili_, as "if ye go forth to fight in defence of my religion," or "if ye go forth to fight on my path," or "if ye go forth fighting strenuously in my cause." it simply means, "if you have come out striving in my cause," and the sentence is a complement or correlative of the verse, meaning, if you have come out of mecca, striving, or to strive, in my cause, suffering from exile and undergoing the afflictions and distresses of living homeless, leaving your family and property unprotected, and all these pains (_jihád_) you have taken to please me, then you should not make friends with my foes and your foes, who do not believe in the truth which has come to you, and have driven out the prophet and yourselves (from mecca, your home) only for the reason that you believe in god your lord. [sidenote: ( ) the apartment, xlix, .] . "the true believers are those only who believe in god and his apostle and afterwards doubt not; and who (_jáhadoo_) strive with their substance and their persons on the path of god. these are the sincere." sale here translates _jáhadoo_ those "who employ their substance and their persons in the defence of god's true religions." rodwell ... "contend with their substance and their persons." palmer ... "fight strenuously with their wealth and persons." see my observations under no. , para. . [sidenote: ( ) the immunity, ix, .] . "think not that ye shall be forsaken and that god doth not yet know those among you who (_jáhadoo_) do their utmost and take none for their intimate friends besides god and his apostles and the faithful. but god is well apprised of your doings." sale ... "fought for his religion." rodwell ... "fought valiantly." palmer ... "fought strenuously." [sidenote: ( ) _ibid_, .] . "do ye place the giving drink to the pilgrims and the visitation of the sacred temple on the same level with him who believeth in god and the last day, and (_jáhada_) taketh pains in the way of god. they are not held equal by god, and god guideth not the unrighteous." sale ... "fighteth." rodwell ... "fighteth." palmer ... "is strenuous." [sidenote: ( ) the immunity, ix, .] . "they who have believed and fled their homes and (_jáhadoo_) toiled with their substance and with their persons on the path of god are of the highest degree with god, and these are they who shall enjoy felicity!" sale ... "employ their substance and their persons in the defence of god's true religion." rodwell ... "and striven with their substance and with their persons in the path of god." palmer ... "been strenuous in the way of god with their wealth and their persons." [sidenote: ( ) _ibid_, .] . "say, if your father and your sons and your brethren and your wives, and your kindred and wealth which ye have gained, and merchandise which ye fear may be unsold, and dwellings wherein ye may delight be dearer to you than god and his apostle and (_jihádan_) toiling in my cause, then wait until god shall himself enter on his work; god guideth not the impious." sale ... "advancement of his religion." rodwell ... "efforts on his path." palmer ... "fighting strenuously." [sidenote: ( ) _ibid_, .] . "march ye forth light and heavy and (_jáhidoo_) toil with your substance and persons on the way of god. this, if ye knew it, will be best for you." sale ... "employ your substance and your persons for the advancement of god's true religion." rodwell ... "contend with your...." palmer ... "fight strenuously with your wealth and persons." [sidenote: ( ) the immunity, ix, .] . "they who believe in god and in the last day will not ask leave to be exempt from (_yojáhadoo_) toiling with their substance and their persons. but god knoweth them that fear him." sale ... "employ their substance and their persons for the advancement of god's true religion." rodwell ... "contending with their substance and persons." palmer ... "fighting strenuously." [sidenote: ( ) _ibid_, .] . "they who were left in their homes were delighted behind god's apostle and were averse from (_yojáhidoo_) exerting with their riches and their persons for the cause of god, and said, 'march not out in the heat.' say, a fiercer heat will be the fire of hell! would that they understood this." sale ... "employ their substance and their persons for the advancement of god's true religion." rodwell ... "contending with their riches and their persons." palmer ... "fighting strenuously with their wealth and their person." [sidenote: ( ) _ibid_, .] . "moreover when a sura was sent down with 'believe in god, and (_jáhidoo_) toil in company with his apostle,' those of them who are possessed of riches demanded exemption, and said, 'allow us to be with those who sit _at home_.'" sale ... "go forth to war." rodwell ... "contend." palmer ... "fight strenuously." [sidenote: ( ) the immunity, ix, .] . "but the apostle, and those who share his faith (_jáhadoo_) exerted with their substance and their persons, and these ! good things await them and these are they who shall be happy." sale ... "expose their fortune and their lives." rodwell ... "contend with purse and person." palmer ... "are strenuous with their wealth and with their persons." [sidenote: ( ) the table, v, .] . "o ye who believe! fear god and desire union with him and (_jáhidoo_) toil on his path. it may be that you will obtain happiness." sale ... "fight." rodwell ... "contend earnestly." palmer ... "be strenuous." [sidenote: ( ) _ibid_, .] . "and the faithful will say, 'are these they who swore by god their (_jahda_) utmost oath that they were surely on your side?' vain their works; and they themselves shall come to ruin." sale ... "most firm." rodwell ... "most solemn." palmer ... "most strenuous." [sidenote: ( ) _ibid_, .] . "o ye who believe! should any of you desert his religion, god will then raise up a people whom he loveth, and who love him, lowly towards the faithful, lofty to the unbelievers (_yojáhidoona_) striving in the path of god, and not fearing the blame of the blamer. this is the grace of god; on whom he will he bestoweth it, and god is all-embracing, omniscient!" sale ... "they shall fight for the religion of god." rodwell ... "for the cause of god will they contend." palmer ... "strenuous in the way of god." [sidenote: _jihád_ does not mean the waging of war.] . these are all the verses of the koran which contain the word "_jahd_" or "_jihád_," or any derivations from them. i believe that i have clearly shown by means of a careful comparison between the translators and commentators and the original passages in the koran, that the word _jahd_ or _jihád_ in the classical arabic and as used in the koran does not mean waging war or fighting, but only to do one's utmost and to exert, labour or toil. the meaning which has come to be ascribed to the word is undoubtedly a conventional one, and is one that has been applied to it at a period much less recent than the revelation of the various chapters of the koran. [sidenote: _katal_ and _kitál_.] . i do not mean to contend that the koran does not contain injunctions to fight or wage war. there are many verses enjoining the prophet's followers to prosecute a defensive war, but not one of aggression. the words "_katal_" and "_kitál_" distinctly indicate this. [sidenote: conclusion.] . i have already analysed all the verses containing these words (_katal_ and _kitál_) in this book. what i have aimed at in the appendix is to show that those authors and translators who cite certain verses of the koran containing the word _jahd_ or _jihád_ and its derivations in support of their assertion, and that the mohammadan religion sanctions the waging of war and the shedding of blood, are altogether in the wrong. [footnote : the siháh of jouhari (who died or ), the asás of zamakhshire (born , died a.h.), lisanul-arab of ibn mokarram (born , died ), and kamoos of fyrozabadee (born , died ), _vide_ lane's arabic-english lexicon, book i, part ii, page .] [footnote : the misbáh by fayoomee (finished a.h.), _vide_ lane's arabic-english lexicon, book i, part ii, page .] [footnote : siháh, asás, ibnel atheer jezree, author of nihayeh (died ), the mughrib of almotarrazi (born , died ), the misbáh and kámoos, _vide_ lane, _ibid_, page .] [footnote : _vide_ rodwell's translation of the koran _in loco_.] [footnote : _vide_ lane's arabic-english lexicon _in loco_.] [footnote : the assemblies of al hariri, translated from the arabic by thomas chenry, m.a., vol. i, introduction, p. . william and norgate, .] [footnote : in the treaty of medina, which was made as early as the second year of the hejira, the word jihád is used, regarding which sir w. muir says:--"this word came subsequently to have exclusively the technical signification of jihád or _crusade_ or _fighting_ for the faith. if we give it this signification here, it would involve the clause in the suspicion of being a later addition; for as yet we have no distinct development of the intention of mahomet to impose his religion on others by force: it would have been dangerous, in the present state of parties, to advance this principle. the word is sometimes used in the more general sense in the coran; sura xxix, , ; xx, , and a few other places."--muir's life of mahomet, vol. iii, p. . again he says with reference to sura ii, v. , which also contains the same word: "the word (_jihád_) is the same as that subsequently used for a religious war, but it had not yet probably acquired its fixed application. it was applied in its _general_ sense before the hejira, and probably up to the battle of badr."--_ibid_, p. , footnote.] [footnote : this sura is generally said to have been revealed at mecca, but this is probably only the case as regards verses , , , , , , , . mr. muir places it at the close of the meccan suras of the fifth period. see nold, p. ; rev. rodwell, p. .] [footnote : _vide_ muir's life of mahomet, vol. iii, .] [footnote : _ibid, footnote._] [footnote : _vide_ sura lxxii, ; xvii, .] [footnote : _i.e._, from mecca when driven out of it by the meccans in your persecution.] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iv, p. .] [footnote : _kitabul jihád_, _magházi_ and _tafseer_.] appendix b. slavery and concubine-slaves as concomitant evils of war. [sidenote: slavery and concubinage not allowed by the koran.] . it is a false accusation against the koran, that it allows enslavement of the captives of war, and sanctions female captives to the conquerors' embrace, or, in other words, female captives are made concubines on the field of battle. there is not a single sentence in the koran allowing either of the above allegations. sir w. muir, in his "life of mahomet," could neither quote any verse of the koran sanctioning the enslavement of the captives of war or servile concubinage, nor was he able to relate any instance of them during the several battles described therein. yet, in a recent work,[ ] he refers boldly, but vaguely, to the koran; and regarding the battle of walaja fought by khálid against the persians in a.h. writes, after quoting khálid's oration on gaining the victory:-- "now, also, the cunning device of the corân, with respect to the other sex, began to tell. persian ladies, both maids and matrons, 'taken captive by the right hand,' were forthwith, without stint of number, lawful to the conquerors' embrace; and, in the enjoyment of this privilege, they were nothing loth to execute upon the heathen 'the judgment written.'" i do not understand why, if such was the case, khálid did not refer the believers to the so-called "cunning device" of the koran? by referring to this imaginary device of the koran to the lawfulness of female captives "to the conquerors' embrace," he might have struck a chord, at which every bedouin heart would have leapt with joy, instead of referring, as he did, merely to the riches of the land and fair fields. in fact there is no such inducement in the koran. [sidenote: measures taken by the koran to abolish slavery.] . slaves are mentioned in the koran _defacto_, but not _dejure_. the koran took several measures to abolish future slavery. its steps for its abolition were taken in every moral, legal, religious, and political departments. the liberation of slaves was morally declared to be a work of piety and righteousness--(sura xc, ; ii, ).[ ] legally the slaves were to be emancipated on their agreeing to pay a ransom--(sura xxiv, ).[ ] they were to be set at liberty as a penalty for culpable homicide--(sura iv, );[ ] or in expiation for using an objectionable form of divorce--(sura lviii, );[ ] and also they were to be manumitted from the public funds out of the poor-taxes--(sura ix, ).[ ] they were religiously to be freed in expiation of a false oath taken in mistake--(sura v, ).[ ] these were the measures for the abolition of existing slavery. the future slavery was abolished by the koran by putting hammer deep unto its root and by annihilating its real source. the captives of war were, according to the clear injunctions of the koran contained in the th verse of the th sura, to be dismissed either by a free grant or by exacting a ransom. they were neither to be enslaved nor killed. . "when ye encounter the unbelievers strike off their heads, till ye have made a great slaughter among them, and of _the rest_ make fast the fetters." . "and afterwards let there either be free dismissals or ransoming, till the war hath laid down its burdens. thus do...." _sura_ xlvii. these verses convey very clearly the decree of the abolition of future slavery, and do not require any further remarks. moreover they were acted upon accordingly even in the lifetime of the prophet. [sidenote: none of the prisoners of war were enslaved.] . none of the prisoners of badr a.h. , of karkart-al-kadr a.h. , of katan in najd a.h. , of zat-al riqa[ ] a.h. , of bani mustalik a.h. , of koreiza a.h. , of batan makka a.h. ,[ ] or of honain (hawázin) a.h. ,[ ] was enslaved. all, without an exception, were set free either by way of free dismissal, or by exacting ransom (in cash or in exchange of moslem prisoners) in strict conformity with the dictates of sura xlvii, . there were no prisoners in the battles of ohad a.h. , ahzab a.h. , and khyber a.h. .[ ] [sidenote: bani koreiza not enslaved.] . some will contend regarding the bani koreiza that their women and children were made slaves, and as such sold in najd. sir w. muir quotes the judgment of sád in the case of the bani koreiza,--"that the female captives and the children shall be sold into slavery," and that it was approved of by mohammad. he writes further:-- "a fifth of the booty was, as usual, reserved for the prophet, and the rest divided. from the fifth mahomet made certain presents to his friends of female slaves and servants; and then sent the rest of the women and children to be sold among the bedouin tribes of najd in exchange for horses and arms."[ ] i have shown in para. of this book (pages and ) that mohammad never appreciated the judgment of sád. and i have further to add that the said judgment, according to true reports, did not contain the illegal verdict of enslaving the women and children of the bani koreiza, as this might have gone directly against the koran and the precedents of the prophet. in the collections of bokhari, book of campaigns, chapter on bani koreiza, there are two traditions cited on the subject. both of them quote the words of sád to the effect that "the women and children be imprisoned." the same is the case in bokhari's other chapters (book of _jihád_, chapter on the surrender of enemy, book of _manákib_, chapter on the merits of sád). it is not a fact that mohammad made certain presents to his friends of the female slaves out of the captives of bani koreiza. the captives were not made slaves, therefore it is wrong to confound captives with slaves. there is no proof to the effect that they were enslaved. the koran distinctly says that they were prisoners (sura xxxiii, ). in fact, the women and children were not guilty of treason, and deserved no punishment. sád's judgment must be either wrong regarding them, or applied only to those who were guilty. "one woman alone," according to sir w. muir, "was put to death; it was she who threw the millstone from the battlements" (life of mahomet, vol. iii, page ). i conclude, therefore, that all the women and children were released afterwards; some ransomed themselves, others went off with their freedom. but nobody was ever sold in slavery. the assertion of hishamee, quoted by sir w. muir, that the women and children were sent to be sold among the bedouin tribes of najd in exchange for horses and arms (vol. iii, page ), is void of all authority, and is in direct contradiction of what abul mo'tamar soleiman bin tarkhan (died a.h. and was prior to hishamee) says, and whose account seems to be more probable. his version is that the horses of bani koreiza were sent by mohammad to syria and najd for the purpose of breeding, and that they got big horses. _vide_ wákidi campaigns of mohammad, page , calcutta, . this shows that only horses, and not women and children, were sent to najd. the words of hishamee (page ) are "_sabáya min sabáya bani koreiza_." _sabáya_, plural of _sabi_, applies to both person and property, as they say _sabal adúvva vaghairohu_, he made captive, captured or took prisoner the enemy, and other than an enemy. (_vide_ lane's arabic dictionary, page , col. .) so probably hishamee had in view only the horses captured of the bani koreiza and sent to najd, but not the women and children of the captives of koreiza. [sidenote: rihána.] . rihána, a woman of the captives of koreiza, is said by sir w. muir to have been taken by mohammad "for his concubine." he always confounds prisoners with slaves, and female captives as well as slaves with concubines. there are several conflicting and contradictory traditions regarding rihána. mohammad bin sád kátib wakidi has related various traditions from omar-bin-al hakam, mohammad bin káb, and from other various sources that mohammad had married rihána. the kátib says "this tradition is held by learned men. but he has also heard some one relating that she was his concubine."[ ] but sir w. muir chooses the latter uncertain and unauthentic traditions. he writes in a footnote:-- "she is represented as saying, when he offered her marriage and the same privileges as his other wives: 'nay, o prophet! but let me remain as thy slave; this will be easier both for me and for thee.'"[ ] even if this tradition be a genuine one, he is not authorized in his remarks in the text, where he says-- "he invited her to be his wife, but she declined; and chose to remain (as indeed, having refused marriage, she had no alternative) his slave or concubine." she was neither enslaved, nor made a concubine. it is to be regretted that the writer of the "life of mahomet" most absurdly confounds slavery and concubinage. [sidenote: omar, the second khalif, liberated all the arab slaves.] . during the sovereignty of omar, the second khalif, in accordance with the injunctions of mohammad to abolish slavery, all the existing arab slaves were set free. it will appear that the wishes of mohammad to that effect were but partially carried out. in ages that succeeded the death of mohammad, they were altogether lost sight of, and even arabs were allowed to be enslaved by the later jurists. sir w. muir, in his latest work, entitled "the annals of the early caliphate," says:-- "yet great numbers of the arabs themselves were slaves, taken prisoner during the apostasy, or in the previous intertribal warfare, and held in captivity by their fellow-countrymen. omar felt the inconsistency. it was not fit that any of the noble race should remain in bondage. when, therefore, he succeeded to the caliphate, he decreed: 'the lord,' he said, 'hath given to us of arab blood the victory, and great conquests without. it is not meet that any one of us, taken in the days of ignorance,[ ] or in the wars against the apostate tribes, should be holden in slavery.' all slaves of the arab descent were accordingly ransomed, excepting only such bondmaids as had borne their masters' children. men who had lost wives or children now set out in search, if haply they might find and claim them. strange tales are told of some of the disconsolate journeys. ashàth recovered two of his wives taken captive in nojeir. but some of the women who had been carried prisoners to medîna preferred remaining with their captors."[ ] even this speech of omar shows that no one was enslaved during the wars of mohammad, as he only refers to the captives of the days of ignorance before the prophet, and those taken in wars against the apostate tribes after him having been enslaved. [sidenote: concubinage.] . the koran has never allowed concubinage with female captives. and after the abolition of future slavery enjoined in the koran, there is no good in discussing the subject of concubinage, which depends on the legality or otherwise of slavery. the koran had taken early measures for preventing the evil directly and indirectly, positively and negatively. in the first place, it recognizes marriage as the only legal condition of the union of both sexes. marriage was also enjoined with the existing female slaves. (_vide_ sura iv, , ; and xxiv, , .) the prevention of concubinage is set forth in plain terms in sura v, . the verses run thus:-- . "and if ye are apprehensive that ye shall not deal fairly with orphans, then of _other_ women who seem good in your eyes marry, _but_ two or three or four, and if ye _still_ fear that ye shall not act equitably, then (marry) one only; or (marry) the slaves whom ye have acquired. this will be more proper that ye may not have numerous families or households. and give women their dowry as a free gift; but if of their own free will they kindly give up aught thereof to you, then enjoy it as convenient _and_ profitable." . "and whoever of you is not rich enough to marry free-believing women, then let him marry such of your believing maidens as have fallen into your hands as slaves. god well knoweth your faith. ye are sprung, the one from the other. marry them then with the leave of their masters, and give them a fair dower; but let them be chaste and free from fornication, and not entertainers of lovers."--sura iv. . "and marry those among you who are single, and your good servants and your handmaidens. if they are poor, god of his bounty will enrich them. and god is all-bounteous, knowing. and let those who cannot find a match live in continence till god of his bounty shall enrich them." . "and to those of your slaves who desire a deed of _manumission_, execute it for them, if ye know good in them, and give them a portion of the wealth of god which he hath given you."--sura xxiv. "and _you are permitted to marry_ virtuous women, who are believers, and virtuous women of those who have been given the scriptures before you, when you have provided them their portions, living _chastely with them_ without fornication, and not taking concubines."--sura v. the th verse of the fourth sura does by no means sanction concubinage. it has nothing to do with it. it only treats of marriage. it, together with its preceding verse, points out whom we can marry and whom not. its next verse interdicts concubinage when it enjoins marriage with the then existing slaves. [sidenote: maria the coptic.] . i will here take the opportunity of noticing maria the coptic, who is alleged to have been a concubine-slave of mohammad, although she does not come under the category of prisoners made slaves. according to sir w. muir, the roman governor of egypt had written to mohammad:--"i send for thine acceptance two damsels, highly esteemed among the copts."[ ] the writer converts them at once into "two slave-girls," and remarks, "a strange present, however, for a christian governor to make."[ ] she was neither a captive, nor a slave, nor was she described as such in the governor's letter. i am at a loss to know why or how she has been treated by the biographers of the prophet as a slave or a concubine. ( ) i have great doubts regarding the truth of the story that mokowkas the governor had sent two maids to mohammad, and taking it for granted they were so sent, that one of them was the alleged maria; ( ) it is not a fact that she was a slave; ( ) nor a concubine-slave of the prophet; ( ) nor she as such bore a son to him; ( ) and lastly, the notorious scandal about her much talked of by european writers is a mere calumny and a false story. it will be a very tedious and irksome task to copy the various traditions bearing on the above subjects and to discuss their authenticity, and criticise their genuineness, on the principles of the technicalities peculiar to the science of traditions, as well as on the basis of scientific and rational criticism. therefore i will notice only briefly each of the above subjects. [sidenote: dispatch to mokowkas.] . ( ) that mohammad had sent a dispatch to mokowkas, the roman governor of egypt, and that in reply he had sent maria the coptic maid, together with other presents, to mohammad, is not to be found in the traditions collected by the best critics of mohammadan traditions like bokhari and muslim, who had sifted the whole incoherent mass of genuine and apocryphal traditions regarding the prophet, and had picked up but a very small portion of them which they thought to be relatively genuine. we can fairly conclude that such a tradition, which is related by other non-critics and story-tellers, who have indiscriminately narrated every tradition--whether genuine or apocryphal--like wákidi and ibn sád, was surely rejected by these imams (doctors in the science of tradition) as having not the least possibility of its genuineness. even ibn ishak (died ),[ ] hisham-bin-abdul malik (died a.h.),[ ] and abul mo'tamar soleiman (died a.h.[ ])[ ] have not inserted the portion of the tradition of maria the coptic maid being sent by the egyptian governor to mohammad. the tradition narrated by ibn sád--( ) through wákidi and abd-ul-hamíd from jáfar, ( ) and abdullah bin abdur rahmán bin abi sásáta--is undoubtedly apocryphal, wákidi and abd-ul-hamíd are of impeached integrity, or no authority at all. ibn khallikan, in his biographical dictionary, translated by slane, writes regarding wákidi:--"the traditions received from him are considered of feeble authority, and doubts have been expressed on the subject of his (_veracity_.)"[ ] ibn hajar askalání writes regarding wákidi in his _takrib_, that "he has been struck off as an authority (literally left out), notwithstanding his vast knowledge." zahabi's opinion of wákidi in mizán-al-etedal is that ahmed bin hanbal said "he was the greatest liar." bokhari and abú hátim say he is struck off (or left out as an authority). regarding abd-ul-hamíd, zahabi writes that abu hátim said he is not quoted as an authority, and sofián said he was a weak authority. jáfar and abdullah bin abdur rahmán bin abi sásáta are of the middle period in the tabaeen's class, and do not quote their authority on the subject. [sidenote: maria neither a slave;] . ( ) supposing that the governor of egypt had sent two coptic maids, with other presents, to mohammad, it does not follow necessarily that they were slave-girls. it is never stated in history that they were captives of war, or, if they were so, that they were enslaved subsequently. there is no authority for a haphazard conjecture that they were slave-girls. [sidenote: nor a concubine-slave.] . ( ) even if it be admitted that maria the coptic was a slave-girl, there is no proof that she was a concubine-slave. it is a stereotyped fabrication of traditionists, and the unpardonable blunder on the part of european writers, that they almost always confound female-slaves, and even sometimes captives, with concubine-slaves. none of the six standard collectors of traditions--imams bokhari (died a.h.), muslim (died a.h.), aboo daood (died a.h.), tirmizee (died a.h.), nasáee (died a.h.), and ibn mája (died a.h.)--has narrated that maria the coptic was a concubine-slave of the prophet. even the early biographers--ibn ishak (died a.h.) and ibn hisham (died a.h.) have not made any mention to this effect. it is only mohammad bin sád, the secretary to wákidi, who narrates the tradition,--firstly through wákidi, abd-ul-hamíd, and jáfar, and secondly through wákidi, yakoob bin mohammad, and abdullah bin abdur rahmán bin abi sásáta. these both ascriptions are apocryphal. i have already quoted my authorities against wákidi and abd-ul-hamíd. yakoob bin mohammad has been impeached by abu zaraá, a critic in the science of traditions.[ ] jáfar and abdullah both flourished after the first century. their evidence to the supposed fact about a century ago is inadmissible. in the biographical dictionaries of the contemporaries of the prophet, there are three persons named maria.[ ] one is said to have been a housemaid of the prophet; the second was a housemaid whose _kunniat_ (patronymic) is given as omm rabab (mother of rabab). the third is called maria the coptic. it appears there was only one maria; she may have been a female servant in the household of the prophet. the narrators have, by citing different circumstances regarding them, made them three different persons, and one of them a concubine-slave, as they could not think a house or family complete without a slave-girl or a concubine-slave. the biographers often commit such blunders. in giving different anecdotes of really the same persons, they make as many persons as they have anecdotes. that anyone of the marias was a concubine-slave is a mere conjecture, or a stereotyped form of traditional confusion in mixing up maidservants with slaves or concubine-slaves. [sidenote: maria had no son.] . ( ) those who have converted maria into a slave or a concubine-slave have furnished her--the creature of their own imagination--with a son. there are various traditions as to the number and names of the prophet's sons, all of whom died in infancy. some traditions give different names to one, and others give as many sons as the names are reported. there might have been a son of mohammad by the name of ibrahim, but that he was born of maria the coptic is a perfect myth. this piece of the story is the continuation of the traditions of ibn sád, which i have already criticized in paras. and . ibn sád has related another tradition through omar bin asim and katáda to the effect that mohammad's son ibrahim was born of a captive woman. asim has been condemned by abu hatim, a doctor and critic in the mohammadan traditional literature;[ ] and katáda (died a.h.) was not a contemporary witness of what he relates. thus he fails in giving any authority to his narration. there are two more traditions in ibn sád from similar authorities like katáda, namely, zohri (died a.h.) and mak-hool (died a.h.)--not contemporaries of mohammad, but of the class of tabaeen--to the effect that mohammad had said, "had ibrahim lived, the capitation-tax would have been remitted to every copt!" and that "had ibrahim lived, his maternal uncles would never have been enslaved!" they do not say who was ibrahim! another and the last tradition in ibn sád through yahia bin hammád, abu avána, soleiman-al-aamash, muslim, and bara is to the effect that ibrahim was born from a coptic maid of the prophet. the narrator soleiman-al-aamash was a _modallis_ (_takrib_ in loco), or in other words, a liar. besides the whole chain of the narration is _mo-an-an_. in none of the canonical collections of traditions like those of bokhari, muslim, and others ibrahim is said to have been born of maria. therefore any of their traditions regarding ibrahim is not against us. it is also related in some genuine traditions that an eclipse of the sun took place on the day of ibrahim's death.[ ] the historians have related only one eclipse, which occurred in the sixth year of the hejira, when mohammad was at hodeibia. this shows that ibrahim could not be maria's son. she only could come to arabia a year later, as the dispatches to several princes were sent only in the seventh year. yáfaee, in his history _mirát-uz-zamán_, has noted that the sun was eclipsed in the sixth year of the hejira. in the tenth year, he says,--"a genuine tradition has that the sun was eclipsed on the day of ibrahim's death, and it has been stated above that it was eclipsed in the sixth year. there is some difficulty. it was noted once only during the time of the prophet. if it occurred twice, there is no difficulty; and if not, one of these two events must be wrong, either the eclipse took place in the tenth year, or the prophet's son died in the sixth year." but historically the eclipse was noticed only in the sixth year. there are different dates of ibrahim's death reported by the biographers--the fourth, tenth, and fourteenth of lunar months, but in none of them can an eclipse take place. [sidenote: the story of haphsa and maria a spurious one.] . ( ) lastly, i have to notice the infamous calumny against mohammad concocted up by his enemies, that haphsa surprized the prophet in her own private room with maria. "she reproached her lord bitterly, and threatened to make the occurrence known to all his wives. afraid of the exposure and anxious to appease his offended wife, he begged of her to keep the matter quiet, and promised to forego the society of maria altogether." but he afterwards released himself from it by a special revelation--(sura lxvi, ). sir w. muir remarks:-- "as in the case of zeinab, mahomet produced a message from heaven, which disallowed his promise of separation from mary...." the passage in the koran relating to the affair is as follows:-- "o prophet! why hast thou forbidden thyself that which god hath made lawful unto thee,[ ] out of desire to please thy wives; for god is forgiving and merciful?"[ ] [sidenote: the affair not noticed in the early biographies.] . now this is perfectly a fictitious story. neither there was any such affair, nor is there anything on this head mentioned in the koran. it is very strange that sir w. muir has abruptly left aside, in this instance, all his principal authorities, the arabian biographers, ibn ishak, wákidi (his secretary), and tabari. the story is not to be found in any of these biographies, nor in the canonical collections of bokhari, muslim, and tirmizee. sir w. muir had himself laid down the rule that only these original authorities are to be depended upon, and the later authors are to be rejected. he writes:-- "to the three biographies by ibn hishám, by wackidi his secretary, and tabari, the judicious historian of mahomet will, as his original authorities, confine himself. he will also receive with a similar respect such traditions in the general collections of the earliest traditionists--bokhari, muslim, tirmizi, &c.--as may bear upon his subject. but he will reject as _evidence_ all later authors, to whose so-called traditions he will not allow any historical weight whatever."[ ] [sidenote: sir w. muir's authorities not valid.] . but in this instance, sir w. muir, being anxious to quote his fictitious story to calumniate mohammad, has ceased to be a judicious historian, and deviates from his self-imposed rule. he does not reject the story as he ought judiciously and conscientiously to have done, as it is not to be found in any of the earliest and original authorities mentioned by him; on the contrary, he compromises himself by condescending to quote from secondary and later authors. he writes in a footnote without quoting his original authority:-- "the version given in the text is accredited by jelálood-deen, yahia, beizawi, and zamakshari, &c." (vol. iii, page .) these authors were neither biographers nor historians, and are therefore no authorities at all. zamakshari and beizawi were commentators in the sixth and seventh centuries respectively. they give two stories, one regarding maria and another to the effect that the oath or promise of mohammad had been to the effect that he would not again partake of a species of strong-scented honey disliked by his wives. jelal-ud-deen mahalli was a commentator of the ninth century of the hejira. yahia is not known among the commentators. he may be one of the latest authors. the commentators are generally no authority in the matter of traditional literature. "to illustrate allusions in the coran, they are always ready with a story in point, but unfortunately there are almost always different tales, all equally opposite to the same allusion. the allusion, in fact, was often the father of the story. what was originally, perhaps, a mere conjecture of supposed events that might have given rise to an expression in the coran, or was a single surmise in explanation of some passage, by degrees assume the garb of fact. the tradition and the facts which it professes to attest thus, no doubt, often rest on no better authority than that of the verse or passage itself."[ ] [sidenote: the best commentators and traditionists refute the story.] . those commentators who are well versed in the science of traditions, as well as doctors in the traditional literature, have rejected the story of maria as the subject-matter of sura lxvi, as apocryphal. baghvi, the author of _misbah_ (the text of mishkat), says that the sura was revealed on the subject of honey, and not in the case of maria. the latter story is neither in the _sahihain_ (bokhari and muslim), nor has it been narrated in any authentic way. háfiz ishmael ibn kaseeral qarashi, as quoted by kustlánee (notes on bokhari, vol. vii, page ), says that the sura was certainly in the case of honey. imam noávee, in his notes on muslim, (vol. i, page ,) says:--"in fact it was revealed in the case of the honey, and not in the case of maria." [sidenote: the story not accredited by the koran.] . sir w. muir himself admits that the earliest biographers do not relate the story, but gives a false excuse for his not following their example. he writes:-- "the biographers pass over the scene in decent silence, and i should gladly have followed their example, if the coran itself had not accredited the facts, and stamped them with unavoidable notoriety."[ ] the allegation is absurdly false, as everybody can satisfy himself by referring to the koran, which does not contain the fictitious and spurious story. [sidenote: the story when fabricated.] . the currency of the story did neither take place during the time of mohammad, its proper age, nor during the lifetime of the companions. it was fabricated and imposed on some of the _tabaee_ of weak authority in the second century.[ ] there is no doubt that the whole story is a sheer fabrication from beginning to end. [sidenote: zeinab's case.] . in conclusion, i will offer a few remarks in passing regarding sir w. muir's reference here to zeinab's case. he writes:-- "the charms of a second zeinab were by accident discovered too fully before the prophet's admiring gaze. she was the wife of zeid, his adopted son and bosom friend; but he was unable to smother the flame she had kindled in his breast, and by _divine_ command she was taken to his bed."[ ] the story is from the beginning to end all untrue. mohammad knew zeinab from her infancy, she was his cousin; and he had himself arranged her marriage with zeid. when zeid divorced her, she was thirty-five years old, and possibly could have no charms to fascinate even a stranger. had she been charming or fair to look upon, zeid should not have separated himself from her. there is no historical authority for this, or for any other version of the story. the koran, while treating the subject, has not the slightest reference to any of the stories afterwards made out to the effect that mohammad had been to zeid's house, and, having accidentally seen the beauty of zeinab's figure through the half-opened door; or that the wind blew aside the curtain of zeinab's chamber, and disclosed her in a scanty undress, was smitten by the sight.[ ] [sidenote: the story a spurious one.] . these stories, and i believe a few more varied accounts of the same, like those of the story of maria the coptic, were originally mere conjectures of supposed events that might have given rise to an expression in the koran (sura xxxiii, verse )--if not wilful misrepresentations of story-tellers and enemies of islam--which the european writers represent in the garb of facts. the words of the koran which have been the father of the story are:-- "and when thou saidst to him unto whom god had shewn favour, and unto whom thou also hadst shewn favour, 'keep thy wife to thyself, and fear god,' and thou didst hide in thy mind what god would bring to light, and thou didst fear men; but more right it had been to fear god." this shows mohammad dissuaded zeid from divorcing his wife, notwithstanding the great facility of divorce common at that time in arabia. sir w. muir is not justified in copying these stories from tabari. they are not related by earliest biographers from any authentic and reliable source. he ought to have rejected them as spurious fabrications under historical criticism, as he rejects other traditions which are on a better footing of truth than these false and maliciously forged stories. [sidenote: sir w. muir's conjectures not justified.] . sir w. muir has exceeded the limit he himself had marked out for a judicious historian of mohammad when he abounds in his wild fancies, and observes-- "zeid went straightway to mahomet, and declared his readiness to divorce zeinab for him. this mahomet declined: 'keep thy wife to thyself,' he said, 'and fear god.' _but zeid could plainly see that these words proceeded from unwilling lips, and that the prophet had still a longing eye for zeinab._"[ ] now this is a mere libellous surmise. he goes on still with his defamatory conjectures, and writes:-- "still the passion for zeinab could not be smothered; it continued to burn within the heart of mahomet, and at last bursting forth, scattered other considerations to the wind."[ ] mohammad never professed to have received a divine command to marry zeinab. it was not necessary for him to have done so. the outcry raised by the pagan arabs was not because they suspected an intrigue on the prophet's part to secure a divorce, but because they looked upon an adopted son in the light of a true son, and considered, therefore, the marriage with zeinab, after her divorce from zeid, as falling within the prohibited degrees. this adoptive affinity was already abolished in the koran (sura xxxiii, ): "god hath not made your adopted sons as your own sons." sir w. muir gravely mistakes in his remarks when he says:-- "the marriage caused much obloquy, and to save his reputation, mahomet had the impious effrontery to sanction it by special revelation from on high, in which the almighty is represented as formally recording a divine warrant for the union."[ ] he quotes verse , sura xxxiii. but he has himself admitted (vol. iii, page footnote) "that this verse is rather in a recitative style of a past event," and not a divine command to marry zeinab. the words "we joined thee in marriage unto her" in the verse do not mean a command for marriage. they simply mean that the marriage had taken place. the phrase "we joined thee in marriage unto her" is a mere form of expression. almost all human actions are attributed to god in the koran, and whatever occurs in the world by the ordinary course of nature, and by the free agency of men, is referred in the koran to the immediate agency of god. [sidenote: a wrong translation of sir w. muir.] . in the next verse--"there is no offence chargeable to the prophet in that which god hath enjoined upon him"--he wrongly translates _faraza_ as enjoined, and thus conveys an idea of a divine command. _faraza_ means he made (a thing) lawful or allowable. [see lane's arabic dictionary, bk. i, pt. vi, page .] in giving the above meaning mr. lane quotes this very verse.[ ] such unions were made lawful not only to mohammad, but for all the moslems, and there was nothing partaking of a special prerogative for him. no special sanction is conveyed by these verses. no special revelation from on high was brought forward to secure his own object or to give him an exceptional privilege. it was merely said that no blame attached to the prophet for doing what was lawful. the word "_amr_," translated "command" and "behest," in xxxiii, and , by sir w. muir and others, in fact means here and in other similar passage (xix, ; iv, ; xi, ; and viii, , ),--god's foreknowledge of future contingencies and not a legal command. the same is the case with the word "_qadr_" in xxxiii, , as well as in xv, , and lxxiii, , which means god's prescience and not a predestinated decree. [sidenote: in zeinab's case no exceptional privilege was secured.] . in conclusion, sir w. muir remarks:-- "our only matter of wonder is that the revelations of mahomet continued after this to be regarded by his people as inspired communications from the almighty, when they were so palpably formed to secure his own objects, and pander even to his evil desires. we hear of no doubts or questionings, and we can only attribute the confiding and credulous spirit of his followers to the absolute ascendency of his powerful mind over all who came within its influence."[ ] the verses and of the thirty-third sura had not in any way "secured the objects of mohammad, much less pandered to his evil desire." as his marriage with zeinab had taken place long before they were published, they could not be said to confer any exceptional privilege upon him. [sidenote: the false story traced to mukátil.] . the story copied by commentators that mohammad had accidentally seen zeinab and admired her is traced to mukátil,[ ] a commentator of the koran in the second century, who died at basra a.h. "the doctors (_in traditions_)," writes ibn khallikan in his biographical dictionary, translated by slane, "differ in opinion respecting mukátil: some declare that, as a traditionist, he was worthy of confidence, and others accused him of falsehood." ... ahmed bin saiyár says:-- "mukátil ibn suláimán, a native of balkh, went to marw, whence he proceeded to irák. his veracity is suspected; his traditions should be left aside and declarations should be rejected. speaking of the divine attributes, he said things which it would be sinful to repeat." ibráhím ibn yákúb-al-juz-jáni called mukátil an audacious liar. abu abd ar-rahmán an nasái said:--"liars notorious for forging traditions and passing them off as coming from the prophet were four in number: ibn abi yahya, at medína; al-wákidi, at baghdad; mukátil ibn suláimán, in khorásán; and muhammad ibn saíd, surnamed _al-maslúb_, in syria." wakí ibn al-jarráh said of mukátil that he was a confirmed liar. abu bakr al-ajurri said: "i asked abú dáwúd suláimán ibn al asháth concerning mukátil, and he answered:--'all traditions given by him should be rejected.' according to omar ibn al-ghallás, mukátil ibn suláimán was a liar, and his traditions were to be rejected." "as for mukátil ibn suláimán," said al-bukhári, "pass him over in silence." in another place, he says of him: "he is just nothing at all." yahya ibn moín declared that mukátil's traditions were of no value; and ahmad ibn hanbal said: "as for mukátil ibn suláimán, the author of the commentary, i should not like to cite anything on his authority." "his traditions are to be rejected," said abú hátim ar-rázi. according to zakariya ibn yahya as-sáji, people said of mukátil ibn suláimán, the native of khorásán, "that he was a liar, and that his traditions should be rejected."[ ] [sidenote: ikrama.] ikrama (died a.h.), another liar, had only surmised before mukátil that mohammad might have admired zeinab. his words, as related by the traditionists, abd bin hamíd and ibn-al-munzar, are "as if she had fallen deep in his mind."[ ] but mukátil has converted this hazardous conjecture into a fact. abd allah ibn al-harith relates as follows:-- "i went to visit ali, the son of abd alláh ibu abbás, and i saw ikrama tied up at the door of a privy, on which i said: 'is it thus that you treat your slave?' to which he replied. 'know that that fellow has told lies of my father.'"[ ] [sidenote: mohammad bin yahya.] mohammad bin yahya bin habbán[ ] (died a.h.) has also given the tradition of mohammad's admiring zeinab at zeid's house, but does not give his authority. he was not a contemporary narrator, therefore his narration is apocryphal and technically _mursal_. [sidenote: katádá's conjectural interpretation not warranted.] . all these silly fables, wild romances, and scandalous conjectures have their origin in katáda's improper interpretation of these words, "and thou didst hide in thy mind what god would bring to light" (sura xxxiii, ). katáda (died a.h.) conjectured that the prophet concealed his desire that zeid should divorce zeinab. but all other authors[ ] have found fault with katáda in his surmise, which is not supported by any word in the text or by any contemporary evidence. this interpretation of katáda is contradicted by the very words of mohammad to zeid in the same verse: "keep thy wife to thyself and fear god." [sidenote: other conjectures.] . many have been the conjectures as to what did mohammad hide in his mind. there is one by katáda already explained. another is this, that he knew zeid would divorce her, but concealing this in his mind, he interdicted zeid from doing so. a third conjecture is this, that he concealed in his mind that if zeid, contrary to his (mohammad's) advice, were to divorce her (zeinab), he (mohammad) would marry her. these conjectures are all far-fetched and arbitrary, but it appears more probable that the social inharmony and domestic disturbances between zeid and zeinab, and their resolve of separation, were withheld from the public by mohammad, fearing the scandal it might give rise to among his enemies. this is the only secret referred to in the verse so often cited. [footnote : _annals of the early caliphate_. by sir w. muir, k.c.s.i., ll.d., d.c.l., page , london, .] [footnote : "it is to ransom the captive."--xc, . "there is no piety in turning your faces towards the east or the west, but he is pious who believeth in god and the last day, and the angels and the scriptures and the prophets; who for the love of god disburseth his wealth to his kindred and to the orphans and the needy, and the wayfarer and those who ask; and for ransoming," &c.--ii, .] [footnote : "and to those of your slaves who desire a deed of _manumission_, execute it for them, if ye know good in them, and give them a portion of the wealth of god which he hath given you. force not your female slaves into sin, in order that ye may gain he casual fruitions of this world, if they wish to preserve their modesty. yet if any one compel them, then verily, after their compulsion, will god be forgiving, merciful."--xxiv, .] [footnote : "a believer killeth not a believer but by mischance: and whoso killeth a believer by mischance shall be bound to free a believer from slavery," &c.--iv, .] [footnote : "and those who _thus_ put away their wives, and afterwards would recall their words, must free a captive before they can come together _again_," &c.--lviii, .] [footnote : "but alms are only _to be given_ to the poor and the needy, and those who collect them, and to those whose hearts are won _to islam_, and for ransoming and for debtors, and for the cause of god, and the wayfarer," &c.--ix, .] [footnote : "god will not punish you for a mistaken word in your oaths; but he will punish you in regard to an oath taken seriously. its expiation shall be to feed ten poor persons with such middling _food_ as ye feed your families with, or to clothe them; or to set free a captive: but he who cannot find the means shall fast three days. this is the expiation of your oaths when ye have sworn. keep then your oaths. thus god maketh his signs clear to you. haply ye will be thankful."--v, .] [footnote : _vide_ muir's life of mahomet, vol. iii, page .] [footnote : according to hishámi, p. , a party of fifty or forty koreish went round about mohammad's camp at hodeibia, seeking to cut off any stray followers; and having attacked the camp itself with stones and arrows, they were caught and taken to mohammad, who pardoned and released them.--_vide_ muir's life of mahomet, iv, p. , _f.n._; and moslim's collection of genuine traditions _kitab-ul jihad vas-siyar_, chapter on _tanfeel_ and _ransom_.] [footnote : all the prisoners of hawázin at honain were released without taking any ransom and were not made slaves. see muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, pp. - . that mohammad had presented three female slaves to ali, othman, and omar from the captives of bard hawázin, as stated by sir w. muir, vol. iv, p. , is void of all truth. the captives were not enslaved. they were mere prisoners, as sir w. muir himself calls them so (_ibid_, pp. - ); yet he styles these three of them "female slaves." the captives together with the captured camp were removed to the valley of jierána, pending negotiations (_ibid_, p. ). at the end of the negotiations the prisoners were released. thus there could be no distribution of prisoners to anyone.] [footnote : sir w. muir writes:--"hishámee says that from the time of kheibar _slaves_ became very plentiful among the moslems, p. . i do not find that, excepting the family of kinâna, any mention is made of slaves taken at kheibar. but money, which the victors obtained plentifully at kheibar, could purchase them cheaply in any part of arabia." (the life of mahomet, vol. iv, pp. - , and _footnote_.) but the word originally used by hishamee, "_sabaya_," means captives and property captured, and not slaves, though captives, if not ransomed, were used to be made slaves under the arab international law. besides this even the family of kinána was never enslaved. kinána was taken captive and executed, because he had killed mahamúd bin muslama. _vide_ para. of this book. the story that mohammad immediately on kinána's execution sent for her and cast his mantle over her, signifying that she was to be his own, and consummated his marriage with her, and that her dower was her freedom (_vide_ muir, _ibid_, pp. - ), is not genuine and authentic. his family, by which is meant sofia and her cousin, was not enslaved, and there is no tradition, genuine or apocryphal, to corroborate it. i here take the opportunity of quoting a speech ascribed to mohammad while addressing sofia, the widow of kinána, copied by abul mo'tamar soleiman (died a.h. ) in his "campaigns of mohammad." mohammad addressed her thus:--"i give thee choice either of islam, or of judaism. if thou acceptest islam, perhaps i may keep thee for myself. but if thou preferest judaism, i may perhaps liberate thee, and join thee to thy family." _vide_ wákidi's "campaigns of mohammad," page , calcutta, . this speech shows amply that mohammad had no intention of enslaving sofia. the story of mohammad's marriage with sofia after her being given to and purchased from dihya, emanates from anas, who cannot be relied upon. anas had very recently been associated with mohammad. he entered mohammad's service only the other day when he started for the expedition of khyber, and was but a boy only a dozen-years old at that time. it is related by bokhari from anas himself, who said that the prophet had asked abu tulhah to get him a boy to serve him during the khyber expedition. so he took me to him, and i was a boy close to maturity (_bokhari-kitabul jihad_). anas has given two contradictory accounts about sofia; in one he says, "dihya asked mohammad's permission for a captive girl, and took sofia. when mohammad heard about sofia, he asked dihya to take another one; and having liberated sofia married her, and her freedom was her dower." in another tradition, anas relates that "sofia fell to the lot of dihya, and mohammad purchased her from him for seven camels." he says:--"the people did not know whether he had married her, or had made her a concubine-slave, but when she rode on a camel, and mohammad put veil round her, the people knew from this that she was his wife." both these traditions are narrated from anas by moslem in his _saheeh_ (book on marriage). the idea that mohammad married sofia under the circumstances noted above is not satisfactorily established. it was only the fancy of the people, or was a conjecture of anas. yet sir w. muir has the effrontery to remark against mohammad that: "indeed, he is not free from the suspicion of being influenced in the destruction of kinána by the desire of obtaining his wife." (the life of mahomet, vol. iv, page , _footnote_.) kinána was executed for killing mahmood bin muslama, and sofia was neither enslaved nor married by mohammad. even if it be shown that mohammad married her afterwards under some other circumstances, it (sir w. muir's presumption) is an idle guess unwarranted by any reasonable argument. the traditionists, anas and others, have probably confounded sofia, the aunt of mohammad, who was with him during the expedition of khyber (_vide_ muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, page , _footnote_), with kinána's widow of the same name, whom they fancied mohammad might have married and carried with him on the same camel. the lady for whom mohammad lowered his knee to help her to ascend the camel (_ibid_, page ) was most probably sofia, his aunt.] [footnote : vol. iii, pp. - .] [footnote : _vide_ the biographical dictionary of persons who knew mohammad, by ibn hajar. in _biblotheca indica_. a collection of oriental series, published by the asiatic society, bengal, no. , vol. iv. fasciculus , calcutta, ; art. rehana, no. .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iii, page .] [footnote : "the days of ignorance, that is, the period preceding islam."] [footnote : "two such are named by tabari, i, page ." "a light ransom was fixed for each arab slave--seven camels and six young ones. in the case of some tribes which had suffered most severely (as the beni hanifa, the beni kinda, and the people of omán discomfited at dabá) even this was remitted." annals of early caliphate. by sir w. muir, k.c.s.i., ll.d., d.c.l., london, , pp. , .] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, page .] [footnote : _ibid_, page , footnote.] [footnote : _vide_ hishamee, page .] [footnote : _ibid_, page .] [footnote : _vide takrib_ by ibn hajar.] [footnote : _vide_ history of muhammad's campaigns by wákidi; edited by von kremer, calcutta, , from p. to the end.] [footnote : vol. iii, page .] [footnote : _vide_ mizán-ul-etedál by zahabí.] [footnote : _vide_ nos. , , and in the biographical dictionary of persons who knew mohammad, by ibn hajar, published by the asiatic society, bengal, calcutta, , vol. iv, pp. , , and .] [footnote : _vide_ mizán, by zahabí.] [footnote : "an eclipse of the sun occurred on the same day, and the people spoke of it as a tribute to the death of the prophet's son. a vulgar impostor would have accepted and confirmed the delusion; but mahomet rejected the idea."--"the life of mahomet" by sir w. muir, vol. iv, page .] [footnote : "meaning the company of his female slave."] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iv, pp. and . taking concubine-slaves was an established and recognized institution of the arab society, until mohammad abolished it. practically the custom has prevailed up to the present time. no blame attached to such alliances in the social system of the arabs. "the caliphs of the house of abbas were all of them the children of concubines except as--saffah, al-mahdi, and al-amin" (history of caliphs. by sayúte. translated by major jarret, page , calcutta, ). if the story regarding mohammad be true, there was no fear of exposure or offending the wives.] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. i, introduction, page ciii.] [footnote : "the calcutta review," feby. , page .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iv, page .] [footnote : zeid bin aslam (in _tabrani_), who narrates the story, though he does not mention maria, is a tábaee (died a.h. ), and does not quote his authority. besides, his authority itself is impeached; _vide_ ibn adi in his kámal. masrook (in saeed bin mansoor) only came to medina long after mohammad's death; therefore his narration, even if it be genuine, is not reliable. zohak ibn muzahim (in _tabrani_), also a tábaee and of impeached authority, narrates it from ibn abbás, but he never heard any tradition from him, nor had he even seen him (_vide mzàn-ul-etedal_, by zahabi, and _ansáb_, by sam-áni). his narration must be hence considered as apocryphal. the ascription of ibn omar's (died a.h.) story, not strictly to the point, is untrustworthy. abu hurera's narration is also admitted as apocryphal; _vide dur-rul-mansoor_, by soyutí. all these traditions are noted by soyutí in his _dur-rul-mansoor_. the tradition by nasáee (died a.h.) from anas (died a.h.) regarding the affair of a slave is equally contradicted by the tradition from ayesha, the widow of the prophet, narrated by the traditionist nasáee in the same place of his collection of traditions. this is the story of the honey. _vide_ para. , _ubi supra_. ayesha's tradition is more trustworthy than that of anas. hammád bin salma, a narrator in the ascription of anas, has been impeached owing to the confusion of his memory in the later days of his life (_vide tekreeb_). sabit, another link in the same chain, was a story-teller by profession (_vide zahabi's tabakát_,) and cannot be depended upon. and nasáee himself has rejected the tradition ascribed to anas, and is reported to have said that ayesha's tradition has good ascription, while there is nothing valid in that regarding maria; _vide_ kamálain's annotations on _jelálain in loco_.] [footnote : the life of mahomet by sir w. muir, vol. iv, page .] [footnote : _ibid_, vol. iii, page , and _footnote_ at pp. and .] [footnote : the life of mahomet by sir w. muir, page . the _italics_ are mine.] [footnote : muir's life of mahomet, vol. iii, page . the tradition quoted by sir w. muir in this page is apocryphal and technically _mursal_.] [footnote : _ibid_, p. .] [footnote : "(t.a.) _he made_ [a thing] _lawful_, or _allowable_, to him (jel in xxxiii, , and kull in page and t.a.*) relating to a case into which a man has brought himself (kull): this is said to be the meaning when the phrase occurs in the kur:" an arabic-english lexicon, by edward william lane, page .] [footnote : the life of mahomet, vol. iii, page .] [footnote : vide _seerat halabi_; or, _insan-ul-oyoon_, vol. ii, page .] [footnote : ibn khallikan's biographical dictionary, vol. iii, pp. - .] [footnote : vide _dur-rul-mansoor_, by sayútí, _in loco_.] [footnote : ibn khallikan's biographical dictionary, vol. ii, page .] [footnote : narrated by ibn sád and hákim.] [footnote : _vide_ abdur razzák. abd bin hamíd, ibn jarír, ibn-al-monzar, ibn abi hátim, and tabráni's collections of traditions.] appendix c. the references to the particular events and circumstances relating to the defensive wars mentioned in the koran, quoted and referred by me in this work, may be classified as follows:-- i.--the persecutions of the koreish at mecca (b.h. - ). sura xvi, , , . sura ii, , , . sura iii, . sura iv, , , . sura xxii, . sura lx, , . sura xlvii, . sura xlviii, . sura ix, , , . ii.--the aggressions of the koreish at medina, as well as those of the inhabitants thereof (a.h. ). sura ii, ; sura viii, ; sura ix, , , . iii. the wars of defence against the koreish and the arabs, &c., with several references to their aggressions (a.h. - ). sura xxii, - . sura ii, - , , , , , . sura iv, - , , , . sura viii, , - , - , , . sura ix, , . iv.--the various battles, &c. ( ) _the battle of badr_ (a.h. ). sura iii, , ; sura viii, - , - , - ; sura xlvii, , . ( ) _the battle of ohad_ (a.h. ). sura iii, - ; - ; - . ( ) _the second battle of badr_ (a.h. ), and _the expulsion of the bani nazeer_ (a.h. ). sura iii, ; and sura lix, - . ( ) _the battle of ahzáb_ (a.h. ). sura xxxiii, - . ( ) _the jews, bani koreiza, &c._ (a.h. ). sura viii, - ; sura xxxiii, - . ( ) _the pilgrimic expedition to hodeibia_ (a.h. ). sura xlviii, - , , , , ; sura lx. ( ) _the expedition to khyber_ (a.h. ). sura xlviii, , - . ( ) _the breach of the truce of hodeibia by the koreish_ (a.h. ). (_a_) before the conquest of mecca. sura ix, - . (_b_) after the conquest of mecca, sura ix, - . ( ) _the battle of honain_ (a.h. ). sura ix, - . ( ) _after the battle of honain_ (a.h. ). sura ix, . ( ) _the expedition to tabuk against the christians (romans) and their jewish allies_ (a.h. ). (_a_) exhortation to go to war in defence. sura ix, - , . (_b_) backwardness reproached. - , - , - . (_c_) exhortations for contribution. - , - , . (_d_) the disaffected chided. - , , , - . (_e_) the bedouins reprobated. - . (_f_) the penitents forgiven. - , . _the end._ index. a. aámir, lii. aamir bin tofeil, chief of bani aamir, xlvi. abbas, . abd-bin hamid, _f.n._, . abd bin kosayy, xxxiii. abd monat, xvii _f.n._ abd shams, xxviii, . abdel malik ibn hisham, _f.n._, _f.n._ abd-ud-dar, xxxiii. abd-ul-kays, xlvi, lii. abdul hamid, , . abdul rahman, mohammad's instruction to him, xxvii. abdullah, , . abdullah bin abdur rahaman bin abi sasta, , . abdullah bin al harith, . abdullah bin jahsh, , . abdullah bin khalal, . abdullah bin omar, _f.n._ abdullah ibn abbas, . abdullah ibn masood, , . abdullah ibn oneis, , . abdullah ibn rawáha, , . abdullah ibn shuburma, ibn tufail ad dubbi, . abdullah ibn zubair, . abdur razzak, _f.n._ abs, xxxiv, xli, xlii, xlvi. abû abd-ur-rahman abdullah ibn omar ibn-al khattab, . abu abd-ur rahman an nasai, . abu afak, , , . abu avana, . abu bakr, vi, lix, , . abu bakr al ajurri, . abu barda, . abu basir, , , . abu bera amr ibn malik, a chief of bani aamir, xlvi. abu cobeis, . abu daood, his book of jihad, _f.n._, _f.n._, , _f.n._, , , . abu hattim, , . abu hurera, . abu jahl, , . abu naeem, . abu obeida, . abu omar-ad-damishki, _f.n._ abu omar-al-madni, . abu rafe, chief of the bani nazeer, , - . abu sofian, viii, , , , , , , , , , , , ; attempted assassination of, . abu talib, ; his death, . abu yola, xxii. abu zara, . abul bakhtari, . abul hukeik, the chief of bani nazeer, . abul mo'tamar soleiman, , , , . abul ozza, , , . abwa, expedition of, , . abyssinia, the emigration of the moslems to, v, xxxiii, ; the two emigrations of, ; nadhir ibn hareth's flight to, , . age, the apostolic, . ahl hadis, . ahmas, liii. ahmed bin hanbal, . ahmed ibn abi daood, . ahmed khan, syed; his commentary of the koran, _f.n._ ahzab, vii, xxii, xxiii, , . ainee, a commentary of the hedaya, , , _f.n._ ajtahada, . ajtahada fil amr, . akhnas, . al-aamash, . al-amaran, . al-amin, _f.n._ al-auzai, . ali, , , . ali bin abdullah bin abbas, . al-is, . al-lat, . allah, . allauddin al haskafi, almotarrazi, . al-mamun, khalif, . al yafi, . amalekites, . amar, commissioned to fight with abu sofian, , , . amar-bin-dinar, , , . ameer ali, moulvie, quoted, . amr, . amr bin saasaa, xxxiv, xli. amru ibn omerga, . anaza, lii. annajmus saqib (star of piercing radiance), xxxvi. annals of the eastern caliphate quoted, , . ans, _f.n._, , - , . ans bin qizi, . ansab, . ansars, people of medina, , . apartment, the (sura), . arabs, their society, ii, ; pagan, . arafat, xlviii. arqam, mohammad sought refuge in the house of, xxxiii. asad, xii, xiii, xxxiii, xlvi, lii. asas of zamakhshire, _f.n._, . ashar, xvi. ashja, xii, xiii, xlii, xliii, xlv. ashraf, . asim, . aslam, xliii. asma bint marwán, , - . assemblies of ali hariri, translated by thomas chenry, . as sauri, . as shabi, . astromancy of the jinns, xxxvi. ata, , _f.n._, . ata ibn abi rabah, . autas, xxiii, . aws allah, xxxix. aws tribes (the), xxxix, xlii, xliv. ayesha, , . ayla, the christian chief, xix. azd, xlv, lii. azdite tribes (the), xxxix, xlv. azhar, . azruh, the jews of, xix. b. badr, vi, vii, viii, ix, x, xi, xxii, xli, xlii, ; the battle of, , , ; nadhir executed at, , _f.n._, , , . baghdad, . baghvi, . bahrein, li. baihakee, his traditions, . balca, . balkh, . bahila, lii. bahra, lii. bajila, lii. bakka, xxxiv, lii. bakr, xvii, xxviii, xli, xlii, lii, , , . bali, xlvi, liv. bariq, liv. baus, meaning of, xxi. bir mauna, xii. boas, battle of, xlii. bokharee, xxii, , , , . c. calcutta review (the) quoted, . campaigns of mohammad by wackidi, _f.n._, , , . canaan, . canaanites, . capitation-tax, , . cattle, the (sura), . caussin de perceval, xxvii. cazenove, dr., xxvii. chaldean, xxxv. chenry, thomas, quoted, . chosroes, . christians, , , , . code, the hanafee, , . commentary of the koran, . commentary on international law, xxx. concubinage not allowed by the koran, ; of rihana with the prophet not proved, ; of maria the coptic, - ; of haphsa and maria, . coppée's (henry) history of the conquest of spain by the arabs quoted, xxix. corinthians, , vii, - ; vii, , . cow, the (sura), . creator, the (sura), . cushite tribes (the), xxxv. cyrus, . d. dahis, the war of, xli. daniel, the book of, xxxv. daree, liv. dar-ul-harb, , . dar-ul-islam, , . david, . decline and fall of the roman empire, xxiv. descriptive astronomy by chambers quoted, xxxvi. deutronomy, xx, , . ditto, xx, - , . ditto, xxi, . ditto, vi, , . dhumra, . dictionary, biographical, by ibn khallikan quoted, - , , . dictionary, biographical, of persons who knew mohammad, . dihya sent by mohammad to the roman emperor, xiii, . ditch, battle of the, , . dods, dr., quoted, lx, lxxiii, lxxxiii. dous, xlv. duma, the christian chief of, xix, . dumatal jandal, xii. dur-rul-mansoor, . dur-rul-mukhtár, . dzu nowâs, xxxix. e. early caliphate and rise of islam, by sir w. muir, . egypt, ; governor of, , . exodus, xxiii, - , . extraordinary popular delusions, by charles mackay, quoted, xxxviii. f. fadak, _f.n._, . fakhr-ud-deen razi, . faraza, . farwa, liv. fasád, the war of, xliii. fayoomee, author of misbahel moneer, . females in connection with the treaty of hodeibia, - . fezara, xiii, xxxiv, xlii, xlv, xlvi, liv, , ; executed by abu rafe, . fitnah (persecutions), ii, xvii, , , , , , . fluegel, translation of the koran by, . forbidding, the (sura), . freeman, dr., quoted, , . fruit-trees, - . furkan, . fyrozabadee, _f.n._ g. ghaba, al, . ghafiq, liv. ghanim, liv. ghassan, the tribes of, xxxiv, xlii, xlvi, liv. ghassanide, prince at bostra (the), xxxix, , . ghatafan, xii, xiii, xli, , , ; tribes of, , . ghaus, xliii. ghazavat, meaning of the word, xxi. ghifar, xliii. ghussan, . gibbon quoted, xxiv, , _f.n._ green, the revd. samuel, quoted, xxiii-xxiv. h. habbar, _f.n._ hafasa, xxxiv. hafiz ishmael ibn kaseer-al-qarashi, . hakeem-bin-hizam, . halabi, ; insan-al-oyoon of, ; quoted and refuted, - . hall's (william edward) international law, xxix. hallam, lxiii, lxv. hamadan, liv. hammad bin salma, . hamra, abul ozza caught at, , . hamza, , . hanafee code (the), , . hanifa, xxxiv, xxxix, liv, lv, . haphsa, . harb (warfare), . harb-fijar, battle of, xli. haris, xxxiii, xxxiv, xlii, lv, _f.n._, , . harith of najrân, xxxix. harith ibn amir, . hashim, xxxiv, . hashimites (the), xxxiii, . hatib's story, . hawazin, xlii, xliii, xlvi, xlviii, , , , . hazaramaut, li. hedaya (the), ; quoted, , , , . hegira (the), . hilal bin amr, bin saasaa, lv. hims, . himyar, xliii, xlvi, lv. himyarite stock, xlv. hinzala tribe (the), xxxiv. hira, the kingdom of, xli. hisham, . hishami, xxxiii, , _f.n._, , , , . hisham-bin-abdul malik, . history and conquest of the saracens quoted, , . history of european morals quoted, . history of mohammadanism (the), quoted, xxviii. history of the conquest of spain by the arabs, xxix. history, the jewish, . hodeibia, truce of, xi, xiv; violation of the truce, xvi, xxvi, xliii, xlix, , , ; one of the articles of the treaty of hodeibia, ; females in connection with it, , . honain, xviii, xxii, xlvii, ; nadhir ibn harith present at the battle of, , , . horne, t.h., . hughes, the revd. t.p., quoted, . huweisa, , . i. ibn abbas; his evidence, , , , . ibn abdeen, . ibn abi yahya, . ibn adi, . ibn al athir, , _f.n._ ibn ky-yim, . ibn al mosayyib, . ibn attiah, . ibn hajr al askalani, , , ; quoted and refuted, , . ibn hisham, xv, xxii, xxxvi, xlvii, , , , _f.n._, , , , , , , , , , _f.n._, , , , _f.n._, , . ibn ishak, xxii, , , , , , , , , , _f.n._, , , _f.n._, , . ibn jarir tabari, _f.n._ ibn khaldun, . ibn khallikan's biographical dictionary quoted, _f.n._, , , . ibn maja, , . ibn manda, . ibn mardaveih, _f.n._, _f.n._ ibn mas-ood, , . ibn mokrram, _f.n._ ibn ockba, _f.n._ ibn omar, . ibn omeya, . ibn sad katib wakidi, xxii, , , , , , , , , . ibn saniua, , . ibn sayyad al nas, . ibn shahab, . ibn shobormah, . ibn sirni, . ibn sofian, . ibrahim, . ibrahim, the son of mohammad, , . ibrahim bin maisura, _f.n._ ibrahim ibn yakub al juz jani, . idolatry, mohammad's abhorence of, . ignorance, time of, , , . ikrama bin abi jahl, his lying character, , , . imam (the), ; the mujtahid, , . immunity, the (sura), , , , , . insan-ul-oyoon, , _f.n._, _f.n._, _f.n._, , , _f.n._ international law, by w.e. hall, quoted, xxix. intolerance of the koreish, ; allegation on mohammad, xxxi, , . introduction of the book, p. i. introduction of the critical study and knowledge of the holy scriptures, by t.h. horne, quoted, , . irak, . irshadussari, . irving, w., quoted, . islam, the first propagation at mecca, xxxii-xli; the impediments it received on account of internecine wars, xl. islam under the arabs, by major r.d. osborn, quoted, , . islami poets, , . israel, . israelites commanded to slay the canaanites, . istizan, . j. jaad, lv. jaafir bin kelab ibn rabia, lv. jabir, xxii. jabir ibn abdullah, , . jabra, the jews of, xix. jadila, xliii. jafar, , . jahad, , . jahada, , , , . jahada fil amr, . jahada fi sabeel allah, , . jahadaka, , . jahadoo, , , , , , , , , . jahd, , , , , . jahid, , , . jahid-hom, . jahidoo, , , , , . jahili, , . jálút (goliath), . jarret's (major) translation of history of caliphs by sayúte, . jazima, . jedda, the abode of bani ashar, xlv. jeifer bin al jalandi, lvi. jelalud-deen mahalli, . jews (the) of medina, iv, - , ; excited to take up arms by nueim, , , , , , , . jierana, the valley of, . jihad, the popular, - ; meaning defined, ; does not mean war or crusade, ; classical meaning of jihad, &c., ; post-classical or technical meaning of jihad, ; the classical tongue and arabian poets, ; the conjugation and declination of jahd and jihad, ; the number of instances in which they occur in the koran, ; in what sense they are used in the koran, ; conventional significations of, ; mohammadan commentators quoted, ; when the word 'jihad' was diverted from its original signification to its figurative meaning, of waging religious war, ; all the verses of the koran containing the word jihad and its derivatives quoted and explained, - . jihádan, , , , . jinn, tribe of, xxxiv-xxxviii. jizya, . johd, , . joheina, xlii, xliii, xlvi, lvi. jomahites (the), xxxiii. joshua, , . jouhari, _f.n._, . judzam, xiii, xlvi, . jufi, lvi. juzam, _see_ judzam. k. kaaba, viii; moslems prevented from, xlv, , ; stripped of its idols, xlix, l. kab, xxxiv, lvi. kab bin yahooza, . kab ibn ashraf, , - , . kahins, xxxv, xxxvi, xxxviii; kahinite stock (the), xlv. kahlanite stock, xxxix, xlv, xlvi. kainuka, xlii, , . kalb, xxxiv, lvi. katib wakidi, xlvi. kent's commentary on international law, xxx. khalid ibn waleed, , . khasafa, xlvi. khas-am bin ammar, lvi. khaulan, lvi. khazraj tribes, xxxix, xlii, xliv. khozaá, xii, xvi, xvii, xliii, . khozeimah, xxxiv. khushain, xlv. khyber, xiii, xviii, xxii, xxiii, _f.n._ kifaya, , . kiláb, lii. kinana, tortures of, lvi, ; bani, lii. kinda, xxxiv, xlii, lvi. kitab-ul-maghazi, xxii. kital (warfare), , , . koostlánee, his commentary of bokharee, xxii, , , . koran does not enjoin compulsory conversion, xxxi. everywhere preaches tolerance of every religion, xxxii. koreish, ii, iii, iv, v, vi, vii, ix, x, xi, xii, xiii, xxiv, xxxiii, xxxix; the heavy persecutions of, l; their embassy to the court of abyssinia, ; send scouts to search for mohammad, ; their severity to fugitives, _id._; their maltreatment of children and women, _id._; become more and more hostile, ; joined by the bani mustalik, ; their anxiety to postpone hostilities, ; besiege medina once more, ; violate the treaty of hodeibia, xvi, ; their intolerance, ; excited to take up arms by nueim, an arab, , , . koreishite persecution, xxxiv; caravans alleged to be intercepted, , , . koreiza, the jewish tribes of, xiii, xix, xxii, xlii, , ; execution of, - , - . kotelu, . koukabi durrari sharah, . kozaáite tribe (the), xliii, xlvi. kufa, ; the abode of bani shaitan, xxxiv. kulab, xlii. kunniat (patronymic), . kurz-bin-jabir, a koreish, commits a raid upon medina, xi, , . kustalani, _vide_ koostalanee. l. la-arjomonnaka (i will assuredly say of thee), xxxviii. lahyan, xii, , . lakhm, . lane, e.w., quoted, - _f.n._, - . lane's arabic-english lexicon, xxxviii, _f.n._, , , , . la-taatadú (do not attack first), xxvii. law, the common, in connection with jihad, - ; its commentators, - , . law of moses (the), , . law of scriptural interpretations; limited or conditional, general or absolute, . law of the koran with regard to unbelievers, . law, the mohammadan revealed, or the koran, . lecky, his standard of morality, - . lecture, the rede, quoted, . leena, . legists, the early moslem, against jihad, ; their biographical sketches, - . leith, _f.n._ lieber francis quoted, , , ; on military necessity, . life of mahomet, founder of the religion of islamism, by the revd. s. green, xxiv. life of mohammad by dr. sprenger quoted, xxiv. light, the (sura), . lisanul-arab of ibn mokarram, . loghat, or the classical tongue of arabia, . lokman, . luke, x, ; and xiii, , . m. maccoll, the revd. malcolm, quoted, . macna, the jews of, xix. maddool kamoos, by mr. lane, . maghazi, , (accounts of the campaigns of mohammad), xliv. mahmud, killed by kinana, . mahmud bin muslama, brother of mohammad bin muslama, , . mahrah, lvi. mak-hool, . malak, . malik, . manakib, . marafat, anwáa ilm hadees, . maria the coptic, ; sent by the roman governor to mohammad, ; neither a slave nor a concubine, - ; had no son, ; the spurious character about her story, , , . mark, xii, , p. . marr-al zahran, xlviii. marriage, a strict bond of union in the koran, . marw, . marwan, . masrook, , . mecca, xvi, xxii, . meccans, iii, ; their invasion of medina, , . medina, ; koreish march upon, vi, vii, xiii; the flight of mohammad to, . mesopotamia, xxxv, xlviii. mikyas ibn subaba, . mill's (charles) history of mohammadanism quoted, xxviii. mirat-uz-zaman, . misbah-ul-moneer of fayoomee, , . mishkat (book of retaliation), _f.n._, _f.n._ mizan-ul-etedal, , , , . moadd, xlvi. moaddite stock (the), xxxiv, xliii, xlvii. mo-an-an, . moavia ibn mughira, , - . modallis, . modern egyptians of lane, , . mohajirin (refugees), . moharib, xxxiv, lvi. moharram, _f.n._, . mojahadatan, . mojahadina, . mojahadoona, . mojahid, , . mojahiddin, . mojahidina, , , . mojahidoona, , , . moleil bin zamra, xliii. mohammad, his incapacity to undertake offensive wars against his enemies, the koreish, pp. ii, iv, v; had no intention to waylay the caravans at badr, viii-x; his singular toleration and his wars of self-defence, xiv; the number of his wars, xx, xxiii; considered a sanguinary tyrant by the revd. m. green, xxix; defence of his allegation, xxiv-xxv; a second view of the wars of mohammad, xxviii-xxx. his imprisonment, his preaching at tayif, xxxiv; his followers persecuted, ; insults offered him, ; prevented from offering his prayers, _id._; his preaching against idolatry, ; his insecurity at mecca, ; sets off to tayif, _id._; proscribed by the koreish, ; hides himself for three days in a cave, _id._; gains the battle of badr, ; defeated and wounded at ohad, ; fights the battle of the ditch, ; undertakes the lesser pilgrimage of mecca, _id._; encamps at hodeibia, ; marches to defend the bani khozaá, ; his wars purely defensive, - ; was justified in taking up arms, ; his attacks mere acts of retaliation, ; gives quarters to his enemies, and enters into a treaty with the jews, - ; his last war with the romans, ; never taught intolerance, ; the object of his wars, - ; his alleged interceptions of the koreish caravans, - ; the alleged interceptions proved impossible, ; the assassinations said to have taken place at his own instructions, - ; his alleged cruelty in executing the prisoners of war, - ; represented as directing the execution of the prisoners of badr, - ; his kind treatment of the prisoners of war, - ; had no share in the execution of a singing girl as alleged by his biographers, - ; never refused abu basir from going back to his guardian, ; his adherence to the treaty of hodeibia, ; never gave any permission for the murder of sanina, - ; his koran never teaches aggressive wars, ; freeman stephens, bosworth smith, george sale, major osborn, the revd. wherry, the revd. hughes, and the revd. maccoll, on the wars of mohammad, - . mohammad (sura), . mohammad bin ishak, . mohammad bin kobeib hashimi, . mohammad bin muslama, . mohammad bin sad kalib wakidi, , , . mohammad bin sireen, . mohammad bin yahya bin habban, . mohammad, buddha and christ, by dr. dods, quoted, lxxiv. mohammad karamat-ul ali of delhi, _f.n._ mohammad and mohammadanism, by b. smith, quoted, . mokatil, , - . mokhadrams, poets, , . mokowkas, the roman governor, . moleil-bin-zamra, xliii. mooahib of koostlanee, _f.n._ mooltan, . morad, lvi. morocco, . mosaic injunctions, . moses, the law of, , , , , , , . mosheim, dr., quoted, lxi, lxiii, lxv. moslems forced to resort to arms in pure self-defence, ; threatened by abu sofian with an attack, , . moslim, his collections, _f.n._, , , , , . movatta, by malik, . mowallads, poets, . mozar, xlvi. mozeina, xlii, xliii. muallafa qolubohum (those whose hearts are to be won over), xlviii. mudlij, lv; a tribe of kinana, iv, . mufti, . mughrib of almotarrazi (the), _f.n._ muheiasa, the murderer of ibn sanina, , . muir's (sir w.) life of mahomet quoted, i, vi, viii, ix _f.n._, xxvii, xxviii, xxxi, xxxii, xxxiv, xxxix, xliii, xlvi, xlviii, xlix, l, lxvi, lxvii, lxx, lxxii, lxxviii, lxxx, _f.n._, , _f.n._, _f.n._, , , , , _f.n._, , , , _f.n._, _f.n._, , , _f.n._, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , _f.n._, , , _f.n._, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . mujanna, xlviii. mujhool, . mujtahid, , . mukwhumites (the), xxxiii. muntafiq, lvi. muraisia, xviii. murra, xiii, xlv, xlvi, lvi, , . mursul, _f.n._ musa-bin-akba, xxii. musab, . mustalik, xii, xviii; a branch of khozaá, xxiii, ; released without ransom, , . muta, expedition to, . mut-im, . n. nadhirbin harith, , - . naeem, . najashee, xxxiii. najd, xii, ; the bedouin tribes of, xli, xlii, xliii, , , , ; celebrated for bani tamim, xlvii. najran, the christians of, xxxiii, , . nakha, lvi. nakhla, the jinns converted at, xxxv, xxxvi, , . nasaee, , , . nations, the battle of, . nazeer treasoned against medina, xii, xlii, , , ; its chief, ; the expulsion of, - . nazr, xxxiv, . nihayeh of ibn-al-atheer, _f.n._ nineteenth century (the) quoted, . nineveh, xxxv. nisibin, xxxv. noavee, . nohd, lvi. notes on muhammadanism, by revd. t.p. hughes, . nueim, his alleged employment to break up the confederates who had besieged medina, - . numbers, xxxi, . nuraddin ali-al-halabi quoted and refuted, - . o. obada-bin-samat, _f.n._ obeida, , . ohad, battle of, vii, xii, xviii, xxii, xlii, xlvii, , , , , . okaz, xlviii. okba bin mueit, , - . oman, li. omar, , , . omar bin asim, . omar ibn al ghallas, . omar ibn al hakam, . omeir, , . omeya bin khalf, . omiyyiads, xxxiii. omm kirfa, . omm rabab, . ommara, . oneis, . orfee, . orna, . osaba-fi-tamiz issahába, _f.n._ osborn, r.d., major, quoted, , ; refuted, lxviii, lxxxv, lxxxvii, lxxxviii, lxxxix, - . oseir ibn zarim, the chief of nazeer of khyber, , , - . osheira, expedition of, , . osman, the moslem envoy to mecca, xv. osman, , . osman bin affan, . osman bin zaed, _f.n._ otheil, _f.n._ oyoon-al asar, . ozra, xxxiv, lvi, lvii. p. palmer's (h.) translation of the koran quoted, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . patriarchal form of government at mecca, iii. pargod (veil), xxxviii. people of the book (kitabi), . persia, the empire of, . persecution of the early moslems, ; noticed in the koran, - ; their historical summary, ; of the medina converts, ; of the moslems by the koreish after their flight from mecca, ; of the koreish at mecca, . philistines, . pilgrimage, , . pilgrims, . poets jahili, mokhadrams, islami, and mowallads, . poole, s.l., quoted, lxxxv, , - . prisoners of war defined, . puffendorf, . punishment, forms of primitive, - . pyrenees, . q. qadr, . qalqashandi's dictionary of arab tribes, xxxiv. qarashi, . r. rabia, the bani abd-ul-kays, the descendants of, xlvii. radd-ul muhtar of ibn abdeen, . raha, lvii. rahrahan, battle of, xli. raid of a koreish chief upon medina, . of bani asad and bani lahyan, . of bani duma, . rajab, . raji, xii, , , . rajm, meaning of, xxxviii. ramzan, _f.n._, , . rawasa, lvii. red sea, . reforms, the proposed, political, social, and legal, _f.n._, _f.n._ resurrection, the day of, and jihad, . rifáa, a koreishite, _f.n._ rihana, . ril, a clan of bani aamir, xlvi. robbers, the urnee, - . rodwell's translation of the koran quoted, _f.n._, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . rojúm (conjecture), xxxviii. romans, the expedition against them, - . rome, the empire of, . romulus, . s. saad, xiii, xlii. saad hozeim, lvii. saad ibn bakr, xiii, xl, xliii, xlv. sabaya, - . sabit, . sad, ; his judgment, - , , , . sad bin obadah, . sadif, lvii. sadoos, lvii. sadr av-val (the apostolic age), . saeed, . saeed bin mansoor, . saffah-al-mahdi, . safra, . safwan bin omayya, . saheeh, . saheeh bokharee, . saheeh of moslim, . sahim, lvii. sahm, xxxiii _f.n._ sakeef, lvii. sakifites (the), xviii, xxxvi. salaba, xlvi. salámáni, lviii. sale, g., his translation of the koran, xxix; quoted, - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . saleim, xii, xiii, _f.n._ salim, _f.n._ sallam ibn abul hokeik, abu rafe, . sam-áin, _f.n._ samaritan, . samuel, . saraya, meaning of, xxi. sawad, . sayúte's history of caliphs, _f.n._, _f.n._ schedim (demons), xxxviii. secker, archbishop, quoted, . seerat halabi, _f.n._, _f.n._, _f.n._, _f.n._ seerat shamee, , _f.n._ seerat-ul-mohammadiya, . seleucas, xxxv. self-defence, right of, xxv. shaban, . shahbudeen ahmed bin hajr makki, quoted and refuted, - . shaiban, lviii. shaitain, battle of, xxviii, xlii. shamee, . shamsuddin karmani, _f.n._ sarakhsee sums-ul-aimma (the sun of leaders), - . shaw-wal, . sheb, the quarter of abu táleb, . sheb jabala, battle of, xli. sheikh mohammad al tamartashi, . sihab of jouhari, , . slane, de, baron macguckin, - . slavery and concubine-slaves as concomitant evils of war, - ; slavery and concubinage not allowed in the koran, ; sir w. muir quoted, ; measures taken by mohammad in the koran to abolish slavery, - ; none of the prisoners of war was enslaved, - ; the bani koreiza not enslaved, - ; omar the second khalif liberated all arab slaves, - . smith, bosworth, quoted, i, xxvii, . smith's (w.) dictionary of the bible, xxxvi. sodaa, lviii. soffian ath-thauri, - . sofia, , . sofian ibn khalid, , - . sofian ibn oyaina, , . sofian sowri, . sohail, _f.n._ soleiman-al-aamash, . spider, the (sura), . spoils, the (sura), , . sprenger, dr., life of mahomet quoted, xxix, xxxiii, . stanley defended, . stephens, the revd., quoted, lxxv, - . stobart quoted, lxviii, , . strabo, xxxv. suleim, xii, xiii, xlii, xlv, xlvi, . sura ii, xvi, xxvi, xxvii, , , - , _f.n._, , , , , , _f.n._, , _f.n._, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , _f.n._, _f.n._, , , . sura iii, xii, , , , , , , . sura iv, xv, xl, , , - , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , . sura v, xxvi, xxxiii, _f.n._, , , , , , , , , . sura vi, , , , , , , . sura vii, . sura viii, viii, ix, x, xv, xvi, xxvi, , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . sura ix (sura barát), xi, xvii, xix, xx, , , , , , - , _f.n._, - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , . sura xi, . sura xv, xxxvi, xxxvii, xxxviii, , , . sura xvi, , , , , , , , , , . sura xviii, xxxviii, _f.n._, . sura xix, xxxviii, . sura xx, _f.n._ sura xxii, vi, , , , , , , , , , , , . sura xxiv, iv, xviii, , , , , , , , . sura xxv, , , , , . sura xxvi, xxxvii, xxxviii. sura xxix, , , , _f.n._, , , , . sura xxxi, , , , , . sura xxxii, xxxvii, xxxviii. sura xxxiii, , , , , , , , , . sura xxxv, , , , . sura xl, . sura xli, xxxviii, . sura xlvi, xxxv, . sura xlvii, xxvii, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . sura xlviii, xv, xvi, xl, , , . sura xlix, , , , , . sura lii, . sura lviii, . sura lix, , . sura lx, , , , _f.n._, , , . sura lxi, , , , , . sura lxvi, , , , . sura lxvii, xxxvii. sura lxxii, xxxvi, xxxvii, _f.n._ sura lxxiii, , . sura lxxxv, . sura lxxxvi, xxxvi. sura xc, . sura xcvi, . suras, meccan, - . suras, medinite, - . surat-al-mohammad, . surat-un-nisa, . syed ameer ali moulvie, m.a., llb., _f.n._ syria, viii, , , , , . t. tabaeen, , - . tabakát al fokaha, - . tabakát of ibn sád kátib wakidi, . tabari , . tabi, , . tabikha, the ancestors of bani tamim, xlvii. table, the (sura), . tabuk, xix, _f.n._; the last expedition of mohammad against, . tafseer majma-ul-bayan tabarásee, _f.n._, . taghlib, lviii. taimee, okba executed at, . tajahada, . tajeeb, lviii. takreeb, , . tamim (the), xxvii, xxxiv, xli, xlvi, lviii. tanfeel, , . tanvir-al absár, . tariq (comet or night comer), xxxvi. tay, xxxix, xliii, lviii. tayif, xxii; mohammad preaches at, xxxiv; sacrilegious war at, xli. taym bin morra, xxxiii. testament, the old, . thakeef, lvii, . theseus, . tirmizee, , . tojahidoona, . tradition (a mursal), _f.n._ traditions quoted and refuted, . tried, the (sura), . tuhfat-ul-muhtaj fi sharah-al-minhaj, _f.n._ tuleiba, chief of bani asad bin khozeima, xlvii. u. urnee robbers, - . urquhart, . us tayif, xxxvi. usseya, a clan of bani aamir, xlvi. uyeina, the chief of the bani fezara, xiii, xlvi. v. vans kennedy, major, quoted, . von kemer's history of mohammad's campaigns, _f.n._, . w. wady-al-koraá, the jews of, xiii, xliii. wahid, . wajib (legal), jihad not, . waki ibn al-jarrah, . wakidi, _f.n._, , , , , _f.n._, _f.n._, _f.n._, ; campaigns of mohammad, xliii, , , , , , , , , . wars of mohammad, their defensive nature, ii. weil, dr., . wheaton's international law, _f.n._ wherry, the revd. e.m., quoted, - , _f.n._ wolff, _f.n._ woman, the (sura), . y. yafa-ee, . yahya, . yahya bin hammad, . yahya bin moin, . yahya bin saeed al ansaree, . yakoob bin mohammad, . yemama, li. yenbo, the abode of bani joheina, xliii. yemen, xxxix, li. yezid bin abi shaiba, . yojahido, , . yojahidoo, , , . yojahidoona, , , . yoseir bin razim (oseir bin zarim), _f.n._ yoslemoon, . z. zád-al-maád of ibn al kyyim, _f.n._ zahabi, . zakawán, a clan of bani aamir, xlvi. zalkada, , _f.n._, . zamaá, . zamra, iv. zamakhshire, , . zat-al-rikaa, xii, . zat atlah, _f.n._ zeid killed moavia, . zeid, the adopted son of mohammad, and his connection with zeinab, , , , , . zeid bin arqam, xxii. zeid bin aslam, . zeid bin haris, seized and plundered by the bani fezara, xiii. zeid monat, xxxiv. zeinab, , ; her story, - ; the story of mohammad's amour, a spurious one, ; sir w. muir's conjectures about her, not justified, ; in her case no exceptional privilege was secured to mohammad, ; the false story traced to mukátil, . zu towa, the koreish encamped at, xv. zil kassa, a party of moslems slain at, xiii. zobeid, lviii. zobeir, a koreishite, , . zobian, xli, xlii, xlvi. zohak, . zohak ibn muzahim, . zohra, xxxiii. zohri, , . zorkanee, _f.n._; on mooahib, , , _f.n._, _f.n._ zu-kar, battle of, xli. zulhij, _f.n._, . zul-kada, xiii, _f.n._ zul-majáz xlviii. _calcutta; december, ._ thacker, spink & co.'s law publications. _third edition in preparation._ the code of civil procedure, act xiv of , _with notes, appendices, &c._ by the hon'ble j. o'kinealy, _one of the judges of her majesty's high court of judicature, bengal._ * * * * * _third edition. royal vo., cloth. rs. ; post-free, rs. - ._ the indian penal code, and other laws and acts of parliament relating to the criminal courts of india. with notes, &c. third edition. by the hon'ble j. o'kinealy, _one of the judges of her majesty's high court of judicature, bengal._ * * * * * _second edition. just published. royal octavo, cloth. rs. ._ the code of criminal procedure, act x of , together with rulings, circular orders, notifications, etc., of all the high courts in india; and notifications and orders of the government of india and the local governments. _edited with copious notes and full index._ by william fischer agnew, esq,. _barrister-at-law_, and gilbert s. henderson, esq. m.a., _barrister-at-law,_ _author of "a treatise on the law of succession in india."_ second edition, by gilbert s. henderson "to judge from the style in which their present work is edited, the number of cases cited bearing upon the various sections, the ample notes appended where any explanation is necessary, and the full and complete indexes to the cases cited, we have little hesitation in saying that, while undoubtedly it is at present the best work on the subject, it need fear no competition in the future."--_englishman._ theosophical manuals. no. the astral plane its scenery, inhabitants and phenomena c. w. leadbeater london: theosophical publishing society duke street, adelphi, w.c. benares: theosophical publishing society, madras: _the theosophist_ office, adyar. * * * * * preface. _few words are needed in sending this little book out into the world. it is the fifth of a series of manuals designed to meet the public demand for a simple exposition of theosophical teachings. some have complained that our literature is at once too abstruse, too technical, and too expensive for the ordinary reader, and it is our hope that the present series may succeed in supplying what is a very real want. theosophy is not only for the learned; it is for all. perhaps among those who in these little books catch their first glimpse of its teachings, there may be a few who will be led by them to penetrate more deeply into its philosophy, its science and its religion, facing its abstruser problems with the student's zeal and the neophyte's ardour. but these manuals are not written for the eager student, whom no initial difficulties can daunt; they are written for the busy men and women of the work-a-day world, and seek to make plain some of the great truths that render life easier to bear and death easier to face. written by servants of the masters who are the elder brothers of our race, they can have no other object than to serve our fellow-men._ * * * * * contents. introduction. scenery.--the seven subdivisions--degrees of materiality--characteristics of astral vision--the aura--the etheric double--power of magnifying minute objects--the "summerland"--records of the astral light. inhabitants.--i. human. ( ) _living_:--the adept or chela in mâyâvirûpa--the psychically developed person--the ordinary person in astral body--the black magician. ( ) _dead_:--the nirmânakâya--the chela awaiting reincarnation--the ordinary person after death--the shade--the shell--the vitalized shell--the suicide--the victim of sudden death--the vampire--the werewolf--the black magician after death. ii. non-human:--the elemental essence--the kâmarûpas of animals--various classes of nature-spirits, commonly called fairies--kâmadevas--rûpadevas--arûpadevas--the devarâjahs. iii. artificial:--elementals formed unconsciously--guardian angels--elementals formed consciously--human artificials--the true origin of spiritualism. phenomena.--churchyard ghosts.--apparitions of the dying--haunted localities--family ghosts--bell-ringing, stone-throwing, etc.--fairies--communicating entities--astral resources--clairvoyance--prevision--second-sight--astral forces--etheric currents--etheric pressure--latent energy--sympathetic vibration--mantras--disintegration--materialization--why darkness is required at a _séance_--spirit photographs--reduplication--precipitation of letters and pictures--slate-writing--levitation--spirit lights--handling fire--transmutation--repercussion. conclusion. * * * * * the astral plane. introduction reference to the astral plane, or kâmaloka as it is called in sanskrit, has frequently been made by theosophical writers, and a good deal of information on the subject of this realm of nature is to be found scattered here and there in our books; but there is not, so far as i am aware, any single volume to which one can turn for a complete summary of the facts at present known to us about this interesting region. the object of this manual is to collect and make some attempt to arrange this scattered information, and also to supplement it slightly in cases where new facts have come to our knowledge. it must be understood that any such additions are only the result of the investigations of a few explorers, and must not, therefore, be taken as in any way authoritative, but are given simply for what they are worth. on the other hand every precaution in our power has been taken to ensure accuracy, no fact, old or new, being admitted to this manual unless it has been confirmed by the testimony of at least two independent trained investigators among ourselves, and has also been passed as correct by older students whose knowledge on these points is necessarily much greater than ours. it is hoped, therefore, that this account of the astral plane, though it cannot be considered as quite complete, may yet be found reliable as far as it goes. the first point which it is necessary to make clear in describing this astral plane is its absolute _reality_. of course in using that word i am not speaking from that metaphysical standpoint from which all but the one unmanifested is unreal because impermanent; i am using the word in its plain, every-day sense, and i mean by it that the objects and inhabitants of the astral plane are real in exactly the same way as our own bodies, our furniture, our houses or monuments are real--as real as charing cross, to quote an expressive remark from one of the earliest theosophical works. they will no more endure for ever than will objects on the physical plane, but they are nevertheless realities from our point of view while they last--realities which we cannot afford to ignore merely because the majority of mankind is as yet unconscious, or but vaguely conscious, of their existence. there appears to be considerable misunderstanding even among theosophical students upon this question of the reality of the various planes of the universe. this may perhaps be partly due to the fact that the word "plane" has occasionally been very loosely used in our literature--writers speaking vaguely of the mental plane, the moral plane, and so on; and this vagueness has led many people to suppose that the information on the subject which is to be found in theosophical books is inexact and speculative--a mere hypothesis incapable of definite proof. no one can get a clear conception of the teachings of the wisdom-religion until he has at any rate an intellectual grasp of the fact that in our solar system there exist perfectly definite planes, each with its own matter of different degrees of density, and that some of these planes can be visited and observed by persons who have qualified themselves for the work, exactly as a foreign country might be visited and observed; and that, by comparison of the observations of those who are constantly working on these planes, evidence can be obtained of their existence and nature at least as satisfactory as that which most of us have for the existence of greenland or spitzbergen. the names usually given to these planes, taking them in order of materiality, rising from the denser to the finer, are the physical, the astral, the devachanic, the sushuptic, and the nirvânic. higher than this last are two others, but they are so far above our present power of conception that for the moment they may be left out of consideration. now it should be understood that the matter of each of these planes differs from that of the one below it in the same way as, though to a much greater degree than, vapour differs from solid matter; in fact, the states of matter which we call solid, liquid, and gaseous are merely the three lowest subdivisions of the matter belonging to this one physical plane. the astral region which i am to attempt to describe is the second of these great planes of nature--the next above (or within) that physical world with which we are all familiar. it has often been called the realm of illusion--not that it is itself any more illusory than the physical world, but because of the extreme unreliability of the impressions brought back from it by the untrained seer. this is to be accounted for mainly by two remarkable characteristics of the astral world--first, that many of its inhabitants have a marvellous power of changing their forms with protean rapidity, and also of casting practically unlimited glamour over those with whom they choose to sport; and secondly, that sight on that plane is a faculty very different from and much more extended than physical vision. an object is seen, as it were, from all sides at once, the inside of a solid being as plainly open to the view as the outside; it is therefore obvious that an inexperienced visitor to this new world may well find considerable difficulty in understanding what he really does see, and still more in translating his vision into the very inadequate language of ordinary speech. a good example of the sort of mistake that is likely to occur is the frequent reversal of any number which the seer has to read from the astral light, so that he would be liable to render, say, as , and so on. in the case of a student of occultism trained by a capable master such a mistake would be impossible except through great hurry or carelessness, since such a pupil has to go through a long and varied course of instruction in this art of seeing correctly, the master, or perhaps some more advanced pupil, bringing before him again and again all possible forms of illusion, and asking him "what do you see?" any errors in his answers are then corrected and their reasons explained, until by degrees the neophyte acquires a certainty and confidence in dealing with the phenomena of the astral plane which far exceeds anything possible in physical life. but he has to learn not only to see correctly but to translate the memory of what he has seen accurately from one plane to the other; and to assist him in this he is trained to carry his consciousness without break from the physical plane to the astral or devachanic and back again, for until that can be done there is always a possibility that his recollections may be partially lost or distorted during the blank interval which separates his periods of consciousness on the various planes. when the power of bringing over the consciousness is perfectly acquired the pupil will have the advantage of the use of all the astral faculties, not only while out of his body during sleep or trance, but also while fully awake in ordinary physical life. it has been the custom of some theosophists to speak with scorn of the astral plane, and treat it as entirely unworthy of attention; but that seems to me a somewhat mistaken view. most assuredly that at which we have to aim is the purely spiritual plane, and it would be most disastrous for any student to neglect that higher development and rest satisfied with the attainment of astral consciousness. there are some whose karma is such as to enable them to develop the purely spiritual faculties first of all--to over-leap the astral plane for the time, as it were; and when afterwards they make its acquaintance they have, if their spiritual development has been perfect, the immense advantage of dipping into it from above, with the aid of a spiritual insight which cannot be deceived and a spiritual strength which nothing can resist. it is, however, a mistake to suppose, as some writers have done, that this is the only, or even the ordinary method adopted by the masters of wisdom with their pupils. where it is possible it saves much trouble, but for most of us such progress by leaps and bounds has been forbidden by our own faults or follies in the past: all that we can hope for is to win our way slowly step by step, and since this astral plane lies next to our world of denser matter, it is usually in connection with it that our earliest superphysical experiences take place. it is therefore by no means without interest to those of us who are but beginners in these studies, and a clear comprehension of its mysteries may often be of the greatest importance to us, not only by enabling us to understand many of the phenomena of the _séance_-room, of haunted houses, etc., which would otherwise be inexplicable, but also to guard ourselves and others from possible dangers. the first introduction to this remarkable region comes to people in various ways. some only once in their whole lives under some unusual influence become sensitive enough to recognize the presence of one of its inhabitants, and perhaps, because the experience does not repeat itself, come in time to believe that on that occasion they must have been the victims of hallucination: others find themselves with increasing frequency seeing and hearing something to which those around them are blind and deaf; others again--and perhaps this is the commonest experience of all--begin to recollect with greater and greater clearness that which they have seen or heard on that other plane during sleep. among those who make a study of these subjects, some try to develop the astral sight by crystal-gazing or other methods, while those who have the inestimable advantage of the direct guidance of a qualified teacher will probably be placed upon that plane for the first time under his special protection, which will be continued until, by the application of various tests, he has satisfied himself that the pupil is proof against any danger or terror that he is likely to encounter. but, however it may occur, the first actual realization that we are all the while in the midst of a great world full of active life, of which most of us are nevertheless entirely unconscious, cannot but be to some extent a memorable epoch in a man's existence. so abundant and so manifold is this life of the astral plane that at first it is absolutely bewildering to the neophyte; and even for the more practised investigator it is no easy task to attempt to classify and to catalogue it. if the explorer of some unknown tropical forest were asked not only to give a full account of the country through which he had passed, with accurate details of its vegetable and mineral productions, but also to state the genus and species of every one of the myriad insects, birds, beasts, and reptiles which he had seen, he might well shrink appalled at the magnitude of the undertaking: yet even this affords no parallel to the embarrassments of the psychic investigator, for in his case matters are further complicated, first by the difficulty of correctly translating from that plane to this the recollection of what he has seen, and secondly by the utter inadequacy of ordinary language to express much of what he has to report. however, just as the explorer on the physical plane would probably commence his account of a country by some sort of general description of its scenery and characteristics, so it will be well to begin this slight sketch of the astral plane by endeavouring to give some idea of the scenery which forms the background of its marvellous and ever-changing activities. yet here at the outset an almost insuperable difficulty confronts us in the extreme complexity of the matter. all who see fully on that plane agree that to attempt to call up before those whose eyes are as yet unopened a vivid picture of this astral scenery is like speaking to a blind man of the exquisite variety of tints in a sunset sky--however detailed and elaborate the description may be, there is no certainty that the idea presented before the hearer's mind will be an adequate representation of the truth. scenery. first of all, then, it must be understood that the astral plane has seven subdivisions, each of which has its corresponding degree of materiality and its corresponding condition of matter. now numbering these from the highest and least material downwards, we find that they naturally fall into three classes, divisions , and forming one such class, and , and another, while the seventh and lowest of all stands alone. the difference between the matter of one of these classes and the next would be commensurable with that between a solid and a liquid, while the difference between the matter of the subdivisions of a class would rather resemble that between two kinds of solid, such as, say, steel and sand. putting aside for the moment the seventh, we may say that divisions , and of the astral plane have for their background the physical world we live in and all its familiar accessories. life on the sixth division is simply our ordinary life on this earth, minus the physical body and its necessities; while as it ascends through the fifth and fourth divisions it becomes less and less material, and is more and more withdrawn from our lower world and its interests. the scenery of these lower divisions, then, is that of the earth as we know it: but it is also very much more; for when looked at from this different standpoint, with the assistance of the astral senses, even purely physical objects present a very different appearance. as has already been mentioned, they are seen by one whose eyes are fully opened, not as usual from one point of view, but from all sides at once--an idea in itself sufficiently confusing; and when we add to this that every particle in the interior of a solid body is as fully and clearly visible as those on the outside, it will be comprehended that under such conditions even the most familiar objects may at first be totally unrecognizable. yet a moment's consideration will show that such vision approximates much more closely to true perception than does physical sight. looked at on the astral plane, for example, the sides of a glass cube would all appear equal, as they really are, while on the physical plane we see the further side in perspective--that is, it appears smaller than the nearer side, which is, of course, a mere illusion. it is this characteristic of astral vision which has led to its sometimes being spoken of as sight in the fourth dimension--a very suggestive and expressive phrase. but in addition to these possible sources of error matters are further complicated by the fact that astral sight cognizes forms of matter which, while still purely physical, are nevertheless invisible under ordinary conditions. such, for example, are the particles composing the atmosphere, all the various emanations which are always being given out by everything that has life, and also four grades of a still finer order of physical matter which, for want of more distinctive names, must all he described as etheric. the latter form a kind of system by themselves, freely interpenetrating all other physical matter; and the investigation of their vibrations and the manner in which various higher forces affect them would in itself constitute a vast field of deeply interesting study for any man of science who possessed the requisite sight for its examination. even when our imagination has fully grasped all that is comprehended in what has already been said, we do not yet understand half the complexity of the problem; for besides all these new forms of physical matter we have to deal with the still more numerous and perplexing subdivisions of astral matter. we must note first that every material object, every particle even, has its astral counterpart; and this counterpart is itself not a simple body, but is usually extremely complex, being composed of various kinds of astral matter. in addition to this each living creature is surrounded with an atmosphere of its own, usually called its aura, and in the case of human beings this aura forms of itself a very fascinating branch of study. it is seen as an oval mass of luminous mist of highly complex structure, and from its shape has sometimes been called the auric egg. theosophical readers will hear with pleasure that even at the early stage of his development at which the pupil begins to acquire this astral sight, he is able to assure himself by direct observation of the accuracy of the teaching given through our great founder, madame blavatsky, on the subject of some at least of the seven principles of man. in regarding his fellow-man he no longer sees only his outer appearance; exactly co-extensive with that physical body he clearly distinguishes the etheric double, which in theosophical literature has usually been called the linga sharîra; while the jîva, as it is absorbed and specialized into prâna, as it circulates in rosy light throughout the body, as it eventually radiates from the healthy person in its altered form, is also perfectly obvious. most brilliant and most easily seen of all, perhaps, though belonging to quite a different order of matter--the astral--is the kâmic aura, which expresses by its vivid and ever-changing flashes of colour the different desires which sweep across the man's mind from moment to moment. this is the true astral body. behind that, and consisting of a finer grade of matter--that of the rûpa levels of devachan--lies the devachanic body or aura of the lower manas, whose colours, changing only by slow degrees as the man lives his life, show the disposition and character of the personality; while still higher and infinitely more beautiful, where at all clearly developed, is the living light of the kârana sharîra, the aura or vehicle of the higher manas, which shows the stage of development of the real ego in its passage from birth to birth. but to see these the pupil must have developed something more than mere astral vision. it will save the student much trouble if he learns at once to regard these auras not as mere emanations, but as the actual manifestation of the ego on their respective planes--if he understands that it is the auric egg which is the real man, not the physical body which on this plane crystallizes in the middle of it. so long as the reincarnating ego remains upon the plane which is his true home in the arûpa levels of devachan, the body which he inhabits is the kârana sharîra, but when he descends into the rûpa levels he must, in order to be able to function upon them, clothe himself in their matter; and the matter that he thus attracts to himself furnishes his devachanic or mind-body. similarly, descending into the astral plane he forms his astral or kâmic body out of its matter, though of course still retaining all the other bodies, and on his still further descent to this lowest plane of all the physical body is formed in the midst of the auric egg, which thus contains the entire man. fuller accounts of these auras will be found in _transaction_ no. of the london lodge, and in a recent article of mine in _the theosophist_, but enough has been said here to show that as they all occupy the same space (which by the way they share also with the physical health-aura), the finer interpenetrating the grosser, it needs careful study and much practice to enable the neophyte to distinguish clearly at a glance the one from the other. nevertheless the human aura, or more usually some one part of it only, is not infrequently one of the first purely astral objects seen by the untrained, though in such a case its indications are naturally very likely to be misunderstood. though the kâmic aura from the brilliancy of its flashes of colour may often be more conspicuous, the nerve-ether and the etheric double are really of a much denser order of matter, being strictly speaking within the limits of the physical plane, though invisible to ordinary sight. it has been the custom in theosophical literature to describe the linga sharîra as the astral counterpart of the human body, the word "astral" having been usually applied to everything beyond the cognition of our physical senses. as closer investigation enables us to be more precise in the use of our terms, however, we find ourselves compelled to admit much of this invisible matter as purely physical, and therefore to define the linga sharîra no longer as the astral, but as the etheric double. this seems an appropriate name for it, since it consists of various grades of that matter which scientists call "ether," though this proves on examination to be not a separate substance, as has been generally supposed, but a condition of finer subdivision than the gaseous, to which any kind of physical matter may be reduced by the application of the appropriate forces. the name "etheric double" will therefore for the future be used in theosophic writings instead of "linga sharîra": and this change will not only give us the advantage of an english name which is clearly indicative of the character of the body to which it is applied, but will also relieve us from the frequent misunderstandings which have arisen from the fact that an entirely different signification is attached in all the oriental books to the name we have hitherto been using. it must not however be supposed that in making this alteration in nomenclature we are in any way putting forward a new conception; we are simply altering, for the sake of greater accuracy, the labels previously attached to certain facts in nature. if we examine with psychic faculty the body of a newly-born child, we shall find it permeated not only by astral matter of every degree of density, but also by the several grades of etheric matter; and if we take the trouble to trace these inner bodies backwards to their origin, we find that it is of the latter that the etheric double--the mould upon which the physical body is built up--is formed by the agents of the lords of karma; while the astral matter has been gathered together by the descending ego--not of course consciously, but automatically--as he passes through the astral plane. (see _manual_ no. iv., p. .) into the composition of the etheric double must enter something of all the different grades of etheric matter; but the proportions may vary greatly, and are determined by several factors, such as the race, sub-race, and type of a man, as well as by his individual karma. when it is remembered that these four subdivisions of matter are made up of numerous combinations, which, in their turn, form aggregations that enter into the composition of the "atom" of the so-called "element" of the chemist, it will be seen that this second principle of man is highly complex, and the number of its possible variations practically infinite, so that, however complicated and unusual a man's karma may be, the lipika are able to give a mould in accordance with which a body exactly suiting it can be formed. one other point deserves mention in connection with the appearance of physical matter when looked at from the astral plane, and that is that the astral vision possesses the power of magnifying at will the minutest physical particle to any desired size, as though by a microscope, though its magnifying power is enormously greater than that of any microscope ever made or ever likely to be made. the hypothetical molecule and atom postulated by science are therefore visible realities to the occult student, though the latter recognizes them as much more complex in their nature than the scientific man has yet discovered them to be. here again is a vast field of study of absorbing interest to which a whole volume might readily be devoted; and a scientific investigator who should acquire this astral sight in perfection, would not only find his experiments with ordinary and known phenomena immensely facilitated, but would also see stretching before him entirely new vistas of knowledge needing more than a lifetime for their thorough examination. for example, one curious and very beautiful novelty brought to his notice by the development of this vision would be the existence of other and entirely different colours beyond the limits of the ordinarily visible spectrum, the ultra-red and ultra-violet rays which science has discovered by other means being plainly perceptible to astral sight. we must not, however, allow ourselves to follow these fascinating bye-paths, but must resume our endeavour to give a general idea of the appearance of the astral plane. it will by this time be obvious that though, as above stated, the ordinary objects of the physical world form the background to life on certain levels of the astral plane, yet so much more is seen of their real appearance and characteristics that the general effect differs widely from that with which we are familiar. for the sake of illustration take a rock as an example of the simpler class of objects. when regarded with trained sight it is no mere inert mass of stone. first of all, the whole of the physical matter of the rock is seen instead of a very small part of it; secondly, the vibrations of its physical particles are perceptible; thirdly, it is seen to possess an astral counterpart composed of various grades of astral matter, whose particles are also in constant motion; fourthly, the jîva or universal life is seen to be circulating through it and radiating from it; fifthly, an aura will be seen surrounding it, though this is, of course, much less extended and varied than in the case of the higher kingdoms; sixthly, its appropriate elemental essence is seen permeating it, ever active but ever fluctuating. in the case of the vegetable, animal and human kingdoms, the complications are naturally much more numerous. it may be objected by some readers that no such complexities as these are described by most of the psychics who occasionally get glimpses of the astral world, nor are they reported at _séances_ by the entities that manifest there; but this is readily accounted for. few untrained persons on that plane, whether living or dead, see things as they really are until after very long experience; even those who do see fully are often too dazed and confused to understand or remember: and among the very small minority who both see and remember there are hardly any who can translate the recollection into language on our lower plane. many untrained psychics never examine their visions scientifically at all: they simply obtain an impression which may be quite correct, but may also be half false, or even wholly misleading. all the more probable does the latter hypothesis become when we take into consideration the frequent tricks played by sportive denizens of the other world, against which the untrained person is usually absolutely defenceless. it must also be remembered that the regular inhabitant of the astral plane, whether he be human or elemental, is under ordinary circumstances conscious only of the objects of that plane, physical matter being to him as entirely invisible as is astral matter to the majority of mankind. since, as before remarked, every physical object has its astral counterpart, which _would_ be visible to him, it may be thought that the distinction is a trivial one, yet it is an essential part of the symmetrical conception of the subject. if, however, an astral entity constantly works through a medium, these finer astral senses may gradually be so coarsened as to become insensible to the higher grades of matter on their own plane, and to include in their purview the physical world as we see it instead; but only the trained visitor from this life, who is fully conscious on both planes, can depend upon seeing both clearly and simultaneously. be it understood, then, that the complexity exists, and that only when it is fully perceived and scientifically unravelled is there perfect security against deception or mistake. for the seventh or lowest subdivision of the astral plane also this physical world of ours may be said to be the background, though what is seen is only a distorted and partial view of it, since all that is light and good and beautiful seems invisible. it was thus described four thousand years ago in the egyptian papyrus of the scribe ani: "what manner of place is this unto which i have come? it hath no water, it hath no air; it is deep, unfathomable; it is black as the blackest night, and men wander helplessly about therein; in it a man may not live in quietness of heart." for the unfortunate entity on that level it is indeed true that "all the earth is full of darkness and cruel habitations," but it is darkness which radiates from within himself and causes his existence to be passed in a perpetual night of evil and horror--a very real hell, though, like all other hells, entirely of man's own creation. most students find the investigation of this section an extremely unpleasant task, for there appears to be a sense of density and gross materiality about it which is indescribably loathsome to the liberated astral body, causing it the sense of pushing its way through some black, viscous fluid, while the inhabitants and influences encountered there are also usually exceedingly undesirable. the first, second, and third subdivisions seem much further removed from this physical world, and correspondingly less material. entities inhabiting these levels lose sight of the earth and its belongings; they are usually deeply self-absorbed, and to a large extent create their own surroundings, though these are not purely subjective, as in devachan, but on the contrary sufficiently objective to be perceptible to other entities and also to clairvoyant vision. this region is beyond doubt the "summerland" of which we hear so much at spiritualistic _séances_, and the entities who descend from and describe it are probably often speaking the truth as far as their knowledge extends. it is on these planes that "spirits" call into temporary existence their houses, schools, and cities, for these objects are often real enough for the time, though to a clearer sight they may sometimes be pitiably unlike what their delighted creators suppose them to be. nevertheless, many of the imaginations that take form there are of real though temporary beauty, and a visitor who knew of nothing higher might wander contentedly enough there among forests and mountains, lovely lakes and pleasant flower-gardens, or might even construct such surroundings to suit his own fancies. it may be said in passing that communication is limited on the astral plane by the knowledge of the entity, just as it is here. while a person able to function freely on that plane can communicate with any of the human entities there present more readily and rapidly than on earth, by means of mental impressions, the inhabitants themselves do not usually seem able to exercise this power, but appear to be restricted by limitations similar to those that prevail on earth, though perhaps less rigid. the result of this is that they are found associating, there as here in groups drawn together by common sympathies, beliefs, and language. an account of the scenery of the astral plane would be incomplete without mention of what are commonly called the records of the astral light, the photographic representation of all that has ever happened. these records are really and permanently impressed upon that higher medium called the Âkâsha, and are only reflected in a more or less spasmodic manner in the astral light, so that one whose power of vision does not rise above this plane will be likely to obtain only occasional and disconnected pictures of the past instead of a coherent narrative. but nevertheless pictures of all kinds of past events are constantly being reproduced on the astral plane, and form an important part of the surroundings of the investigator there. inhabitants. having sketched in, however slightly, the background of our picture, we must now attempt to fill in the figures--to describe the inhabitants of the astral plane. the immense variety of these entities makes it exceedingly difficult to arrange and tabulate them. perhaps the most convenient method will be to divide them into three great classes, the human, the non-human, and the artificial. i. human. the human denizens of kâmaloka fall naturally into two groups, the living and the dead, or, to speak more accurately, those who have still a physical body, and those who have not. . living. the entities which manifest on the astral plane during physical life may be subdivided into four classes: . _the adept or chela in the mâyâvirûpa._ this body is the artificial vehicle used on the four lower or rûpa divisions of the devachanic plane by those capable of functioning there during earth-life, and is formed out of the substance of the mind-body. the pupil is at first unable to construct this for himself, and has therefore to be content with his ordinary astral body composed of the less refined matter of the kâmic aura; but at a certain stage of his progress the master himself forms his mâyâvirûpa for him for the first time, and afterwards instructs and assists him until he can make it for himself easily and expeditiously. when this facility is attained this vehicle is habitually used in place of the grosser astral body, since it permits of instant passage from the astral to the devachanic plane and back again at will, and allows of the use at all times of the higher powers belonging to its own plane. it must be noted, however, that a person travelling in the mâyâvirûpa is not perceptible to merely astral vision unless he chooses to make himself so by gathering around him particles of astral matter and so creating for himself a temporary body suitable to that plane, though such a temporary creation would resemble the ordinary astral body only as a materialization resembles the physical body; in each case it is a manifestation of a higher entity on a lower plane in order to make himself visible to those whose senses cannot yet transcend that plane. but whether he be in the mâyâvirûpa or the astral body, the pupil who is introduced to the astral plane under the guidance of a competent teacher has always the fullest possible consciousness there, and is in fact himself, exactly as his friends know him on earth, minus only the four lower principles in the former case and the three lower in the latter, and plus the additional powers and faculties of this higher condition, which enable him to carry on far more easily and far more efficiently on that plane during sleep the theosophical work which occupies so much of his thought in his waking hours. whether he will remember fully and accurately on the physical plane what he has done or learnt on the other depends largely, as before stated, upon whether he is able to carry his consciousness without intermission from the one state to the other. . _the psychically-developed person who is not under the guidance of a master._ such a person may or may not be spiritually developed, for the two forms of advancement do not necessarily go together, and when a man is born with psychic powers it is simply the result of efforts made during a previous incarnation, which may have been of the noblest and most unselfish character, or on the other hand may have been ignorant and ill-directed or even entirely unworthy. such an one will usually be perfectly conscious when out of the body, but for want of proper training is liable to be greatly deceived as to what he sees. he will often be able to range through the different subdivisions of the astral plane almost as fully as persons belonging to the last class; but sometimes he is especially attracted to some one division and rarely travels beyond its influences. his recollection of what he has seen may vary according to the degree of his development through all the stages from perfect clearness to utter distortion or blank oblivion. he will appear always in the astral body, since by the hypothesis he does not know how to form the mâyâvirûpa. . _the ordinary person_--that is, the person without any psychic development--floating about in his astral body in a more or less unconscious condition. in deep slumber the higher principles in their astral vehicle almost invariably withdraw from the body, and hover in its immediate neighbourhood, practically almost as much asleep as the latter. in some cases, however, this astral vehicle is less lethargic, and floats dreamily about on the various astral currents, occasionally recognizing other people in a similar condition, and meeting with experiences of all sorts, pleasant and unpleasant, the memory of which, hopelessly confused and often travestied into a grotesque caricature of what really happened, will cause the man to think next morning what a remarkable dream he has had. these extruded astral bodies are almost shapeless and very indefinite in outline in the case of the more backward races and individuals, but as the man develops in intellect and spirituality his floating astral becomes better defined and more closely resembles his physical encasement. since the psychical faculties of mankind are in course of evolution, and individuals are at all stages of their development, this class naturally melts by imperceptible gradations into the former one. . _the black magician or his pupil._ this class corresponds closely to the first, except that the development has been for evil instead of good, and the powers acquired are used for purely selfish purposes instead of for the benefit of humanity. among its lower ranks come members of the negro race who practise the ghastly rites of the obeah or voodoo schools, and the medicine-men of many a savage tribe; while higher in intellect, and therefore the more blame-worthy, stand the tibetan black magicians, who are often, though incorrectly, called by europeans dûgpas--a title properly belonging, as is quite correctly explained by surgeon-major waddell in his recent work on _the buddhism of tibet_, only to the bhotanese subdivision of the great kargyu sect, which is part of what may be called the semi-reformed school of tibetan buddhism. the dûgpas no doubt deal in tântrik magic to a considerable extent, but the real red-hatted entirely unreformed sect is that of the Ñin-mâ-pa, though far beyond them in a still lower depth lie the bön-pa--the votaries of the aboriginal religion, who have never accepted any form of buddhism at all. it must not, however, be supposed that all tibetan sects except the gelûgpa are necessarily and altogether evil; a truer view would be that as the rules of other sects permit considerably greater laxity of life and practice, the proportion of self-seekers among them is likely to be much larger than among the stricter reformers. the investigator will occasionally meet on the astral plane students of occultism from all parts of the world (belonging to lodges quite unconnected with the masters of whom theosophists know most) who are in many cases most earnest and self-sacrificing seekers after truth. it is noteworthy, however, that all such lodges are at least aware of the existence of the great himalayan brotherhood, and acknowledge it as containing among its members the highest adepts now known on earth. . dead. to begin with, of course this very word "dead" is an absurd misnomer, as most of the entities classified under this heading are as fully alive as we are ourselves; the term must be understood as meaning those who are for the time unattached to a physical body. they may be subdivided into nine principal classes as follows: . _the nirmânakâya._ this class is just mentioned in order to make the catalogue complete, but it is of course very rarely indeed that so exalted a being manifests himself upon so low a plane as this. when for any reason connected with his sublime work he found it desirable to do so, he would probably create a temporary astral body for the purpose, just as the adept in the mâyâvirûpa would do, since the more refined vesture would be invisible to astral sight. further information about the position and work of the nirmânakâyas may be found in madame blavatsky's _theosophical glossary_ and _the voice of the silence_. . _the chela awaiting reincarnation._ it has frequently been stated in theosophical literature that when the pupil reaches a certain stage he is able with the assistance of his master to escape from the action of what is in ordinary cases the law of nature which carries a human being into the devachanic condition after death, there to receive his due reward in the full working out of all the spiritual forces which his highest aspirations have set in motion while on earth. as the pupil must by the hypothesis be a man of pure life and high thought, it is probable that in his case these spiritual forces will be of abnormal strength, and therefore if he, to use the technical expression, "takes his devachan," it is likely to be an extremely long one; but if instead of taking it he chooses the path of renunciation (thus even at his low level and in his humble way beginning to follow in the footsteps of the great master of renunciation, gautama buddha himself), he is able to expend that reserve of force in quite another direction--to use it for the benefit of mankind, and so, infinitesimal though his offering may be, to take his tiny part in the great work of the nirmânakâyas. by taking this course he no doubt sacrifices centuries of intense bliss, but on the other hand he gains the enormous advantage of being able to continue his life of work and progress without a break. when a pupil who has decided to do this dies, he simply steps out of his body, as he has often done before, and waits upon the astral plane until a suitable reincarnation can be arranged for him by his master. this being a marked departure from the usual course of procedure, the permission of a very high authority has to be obtained before the attempt can be made; yet, even when this is granted, so strong is the force of natural law, that it is said the pupil must be careful to confine himself strictly to the kâmaloka while the matter is being arranged, lest if he once, even for a moment, touched the devachanic plane, he might be swept as by an irresistible current into the line of normal evolution again. in some cases, though these are rare, he is enabled to avoid the trouble of a new birth by being placed directly in an adult body whose previous tenant has no further use for it, but naturally it is not often that a suitable body is available. far more frequently he has to wait on the astral plane, as mentioned before, until the opportunity of a fitting birth presents itself. in the meantime, however, he is losing no time, for he is just as fully himself as ever he was, and is able to go on with the work given him by his master even more quickly and efficiently than when in the physical body, since he is no longer hampered by the possibility of fatigue. his consciousness is of course quite complete, and he roams at will through all the divisions of the kâmaloka with equal facility. the chela awaiting reincarnation is by no means one of the common objects of the astral plane, but still he may be met with occasionally, and therefore he forms one of our classes. no doubt as the evolution of humanity proceeds, and an ever-increasing proportion enter upon the path of holiness, this class will become more numerous. . _the ordinary person after death._ needless to say, this class is millions of times larger than those of which we have spoken, and the character and condition of its members vary within extremely wide limits. within similarly wide limits may vary also the length of their lives upon the astral plane, for while there are those who pass only a few days or hours there, others remain upon this level for many years and even centuries. a man who has led a good and pure life, whose strongest feelings and aspirations have been unselfish and spiritual, will have no attraction to this plane, and will, if entirely left alone, find little to keep him upon it, or to awaken him into activity even during the comparatively short period of his stay. for it must be understood that after death the true man is withdrawing into himself, and just as at the first step of that process he casts off the physical body, and almost directly afterwards the etheric double and the prâna, so it is intended that he should as soon as possible cast off also the astral or kâmic body, and pass into the devachanic condition, where alone his spiritual aspirations can find their full fruition. the noble and pure-minded man will be able to do this, for he has subdued all earthly passions during life; the force of his will has been directed into higher channels, and there is therefore but little energy of lower desire to be worked out in kâmaloka. his stay there will consequently be very short, and most probably he will have little more than a dreamy half-consciousness of existence until he sinks into the sleep during which his higher principles finally free themselves from the kâmic envelope and enter upon the blissful rest of devachan. for the person who has not as yet entered upon the path of occult development, what has been described is the ideal state of affairs, but naturally it is not attained by all, or even by the majority. the average man has by no means freed himself from the lower desires before death, and it takes a long period of more or less fully conscious life on the astral plane to allow the forces he has generated to work themselves out, and thus release the higher ego. the body which he occupies during this period is the kâmarûpa which may be described as a rearrangement of the matter of his astral body; but it is much more defined in outline, and there is also this important difference between the two that while the astral body, if sufficiently awakened during life to function at all freely, would probably be able to visit all, or at any rate most, of the subdivisions of its plane, the kâmarûpa has not that liberty, but is strictly confined to that level to which its affinities have drawn it. it has, however, a certain kind of progress connected with it, for it generally happens that the forces a man has set in motion during earth-life need for their appropriate working out a sojourn on more divisions than one of the kâmaloka, and when this is the case a regular sequence is observed, commencing with the lowest; so that when the kâmarûpa has exhausted its attractions to one level, the greater part of its grosser particles fall away, and it finds itself in affinity with a somewhat higher state of existence. its specific gravity, as it were, is constantly decreasing, and so it steadily rises from the denser to the lighter strata, pausing only when it is exactly balanced for a time. this is evidently the explanation of a remark frequently made by the entities which appear at _séances_ to the effect that they are about to rise to a higher sphere, from which it will be impossible, or not so easy, to "communicate" through a medium; and it is as a matter of fact true that a person upon the highest subdivision of this plane would find it almost impossible to deal with any ordinary medium. it ought perhaps to be explained here that the definiteness of outline which distinguishes the kâmarûpa from the astral body is of an entirely different character from that definiteness which was described as a sign of progress in the astral of the man before death. there can never be any possibility of confusion between the two entities, for while in the case of the man attached to a physical body the different orders of astral particles are all inextricably mingled and ceaselessly changing their position, after death their activity is much more circumscribed, since they then sort themselves according to their degree of materiality, and become, as it were, a series of sheaths or shells surrounding him, the grossest being always outside and so dissipating before the others. this dissipation is not necessarily complete, the extent to which it is carried being governed by the power of manas to free itself from its connection with any given level; and on this also, as will be seen later, the nature of the "shade" depends. the poetic idea of death as a universal leveller is a mere absurdity born of ignorance, for, as a matter of fact, in the vast majority of cases the loss of the physical body makes no difference whatever in the character or intellect of the person, and there are therefore as many different varieties of intelligence among those whom we usually call the dead as among the living. the popular religious teaching of the west as to man's _post-mortem_ adventures has long been so wildly inaccurate that even intelligent people are often terribly puzzled when they recover consciousness in kâmaloka after death. the condition in which the new arrival finds himself differs so radically from what he has been led to expect that it is no uncommon case for him to refuse at first to believe that he has passed through the portals of death at all; indeed, of so little practical value is our much-vaunted belief in the immortality of the soul that most people consider the very fact that they are still conscious an absolute proof that they have not died. the horrible doctrine of eternal punishment, too, is responsible for a vast amount of most pitiable and entirely groundless terror among those newly arrived in kâmaloka who in many cases spend long periods of acute mental suffering before they can free themselves from the fatal influence of that hideous blasphemy, and realize that the world is governed not according to the caprice of some demon who gloats over human anguish, but according to a benevolent and wonderfully patient law of evolution. many members of the class we are considering do not really attain an intelligent appreciation of this fact at all, but drift through their astral interlude in the same aimless manner in which they have spent the physical portion of their lives. thus in kâmaloka, exactly as on earth, there are the few who comprehend something of their position and know how to make the best of it, and the many who have not yet acquired that knowledge; and there, just as here, the ignorant are rarely ready to profit by the advice or example of the wise. but of whatever grade the entity's intellect may be, it is always a fluctuating and on the whole a gradually diminishing quantity, for the lower manas is being drawn in opposite directions by the higher triad which acts on it from above its level and the kâma which operates from below; and therefore it oscillates between the two attractions, with an ever-increasing tendency towards the former as the kâmic forces wear themselves out. and here comes in the evil of what is called at _séances_ the "development" of a spirit through a medium--a process the object of which is to intensify the downward pull of the kâma, to awaken the lower portion of the entity (that being all that can be reached) from the natural and desirable unconsciousness into which it is passing, and thus to prolong unnaturally its existence in the kâmaloka. the peculiar danger of this will be seen when it is recollected that the real man is all the while steadily withdrawing into himself, and is therefore as time goes on less and less able to influence or guide this lower portion, which nevertheless, until the separation is complete, has the power to generate karma, and under the circumstances is obviously far more likely to add evil than good to its record. thus the harm done is threefold: first, the retardation of the separation between manas and kâma, and the consequent waste of time and prolongation of the interval between two incarnations; secondly, the extreme probability (almost amounting to certainty) that a large addition will be made to the individual's evil karma, which will have to be worked out in future births; thirdly, the terrible danger that this abnormal intensification of the force of kâma may eventually enable the latter to entangle the whole of the lower manas inextricably, and so cause the entire loss of an incarnation. though such a result as this last-mentioned is happily uncommon, it is a thing that has happened more than once; and in very many cases where the evil has fallen short of this ultimate possibility, the individual has nevertheless lost much more of his lower manas by this additional entanglement with kâma than he would have done if left to withdraw into himself quietly as nature intended. it is not denied that a certain amount of good may occasionally be done to very degraded entities at spiritualistic circles; but the intention of nature obviously is that such assistance should be given, as it frequently is, by occult students who are able to visit the astral plane during earth-life, and have been trained by competent teachers to deal by whatever methods may be most helpful with the various cases which they encounter. it will be readily seen that such a scheme of help, carrying with it as it does the possibility of instant reference to higher authorities in any doubtful case, is infinitely safer than any casual assistance obtained through a medium who may be (and indeed generally is) entirely ignorant of the laws governing spiritual evolution, and who is as liable to the domination of evil or mischievous influences as of good ones. apart altogether from any question of development through a medium, there is another and much more frequently exercised influence which may seriously retard a disembodied entity on his way to devachan, and that is the intense and uncontrolled grief of his surviving friends or relatives. it is one among many melancholy results of the terribly inaccurate and even irreligious view that we in the west have for centuries been taking of death, that we not only cause ourselves an immense amount of wholly unnecessary pain over this temporary parting from our loved ones, but we often also do serious injury to those for whom we bear so deep an affection by means of this very regret which we feel so acutely. as one of our ablest writers has recently told us, when our departed brother is sinking peacefully and naturally into pre-devachanic unconsciousness "an awakening may be caused by the passionate sorrow and desires of friends left on earth, and these, violently vibrating the kâmic elements in the embodied persons, may set up vibrations in the kâmarûpa of the disembodied, and so reach and rouse the lower manas not yet withdrawn to and reunited with its parent, the spiritual intelligence. thus it may be roused from its dreamy state to vivid remembrance of the earth-life so lately left. this awakening is often accompanied by acute suffering, and even if this be avoided the natural process of the triad freeing itself is rudely disturbed, and the completion of its freedom is delayed." (_death and after_, p. .) it would be well if those whose loved ones have passed on before them would learn from these undoubted facts the duty of restraining for the sake of those dear ones a grief which, however natural it may be, is yet in its essence selfish. not that occult teaching counsels forgetfulness of the dead--far from it; but it does suggest that a man's affectionate remembrance of his departed friend is a force which, if properly directed into the channel of earnest good wishes for his progress towards devachan and his quiet passage through kâmaloka might be of real value to him, whereas when wasted in mourning for him and longing to have him back again it is not only useless but harmful. it is with a true instinct that the hindu religion prescribes its shrâddha ceremonies and the catholic church its prayers for the dead. it sometimes happens, however, that the desire for communication is from the other side, and that an entity of the class we are considering has something which it specially desires to say to those whom it has left behind. occasionally this message is an important one, such as, for example, an indication of the place where a missing will is concealed; but more often it seems to us quite trivial. still, whatever it may be, if it is firmly impressed upon the mind of the dead person, it is undoubtedly desirable that he should be enabled to deliver it, as otherwise the anxiety to do so would perpetually draw his consciousness back into the earth-life, and prevent him from passing to higher spheres. in such a case a psychic who can understand him, or a medium through whom he can write or speak, is of real service to him. it should be observed that the reason why he cannot usually write or speak without a medium is that one state of matter can ordinarily act only upon the state next below it, and, as he has now no denser matter in his organism than that of which the kâmarûpa is composed, he finds it impossible to set up vibrations in the physical substance of the air or to move the physical pencil without borrowing living matter of the intermediate order contained in the etheric double, by means of which an impulse can readily be transferred from the one plane to the other. now he would be unable to borrow this material from an ordinary person, because such a man's principles would be too closely linked together to be separated by any means likely to be at his command, but the very essence of mediumship is the ready separability of the principles, so from a medium he can draw without difficulty the matter he needs for his manifestation, whatever it may be. when he cannot find a medium or does not understand how to use one he sometimes makes clumsy and blundering endeavours to communicate on his own account, and by the strength of his will he sets elemental forces blindly working, perhaps producing such apparently aimless manifestations as stone-throwing, bell-ringing, etc. it consequently frequently happens that a psychic or medium going to a house where such manifestations are taking place may be able to discover what the entity who produces them is attempting to say or do, and may thus put an end to the disturbance. this would not, however, invariably be the case, as these elemental forces are occasionally set in motion by entirely different causes. but for one entity who is earth-bound by the desire to communicate with his surviving friends, there are thousands who, if left alone, would never think of doing so, although when the idea is suggested to them through a medium they will respond to it readily enough, for since during earth-life their interests were probably centred less in spiritual than in worldly affairs, it is not difficult to re-awaken in them vibrations sympathetic to matters connected with the existence they have so lately left; and this undesirable intensification of earthly thoughts is frequently brought about by the interference of well-meaning but ignorant friends, who endeavour to get communications from the departed through a medium, with the result that just in proportion to their success he is subjected to the various dangers mentioned above. it should also be remembered that the possible injury to the entity itself is by no means all the harm that may accrue from such a practice, for those who habitually attend _séances_ during life are almost certain to develop a tendency to haunt them after death, and so themselves in turn run the risks into which they have so often brought their predecessors. besides, it is well known that the vital energy necessary to produce physical manifestations is frequently drawn from the sitters as well as from the medium, and the eventual effect on the latter is invariably evil, as is evinced by the large number of such sensitives who have gone either morally or psychically to the bad--some becoming epileptic, some taking to drink, others falling under influences which induced them to stoop to fraud and trickery of all kinds. . _the shade._ when the separation of the principles is complete, the kâmaloka life of the person is over, and, as before stated, he passes into the devachanic condition. but just as when he dies to this plane he leaves his physical body behind him, so when he dies to the astral plane he leaves his kâmarûpa behind him. if he has purged himself from all earthly desires during life, and directed all his energies into the channels of unselfish spiritual aspiration, his higher ego will be able to draw back into itself the whole of the lower manas which it put forth into incarnation; in that case the kâmarûpa left behind on the astral plane will be a mere corpse like the abandoned physical body, and it will then come not into this class but into the next. even in the case of a man of somewhat less perfect life almost the same result may be attained if the forces of lower desire are allowed to work themselves out undisturbed in kâmaloka but the majority of mankind make but very trifling and perfunctory efforts while on earth to rid themselves of the less elevated impulses of their nature, and consequently doom themselves not only to a greatly prolonged sojourn on the astral plane, but also to what cannot be described otherwise than as a loss of a portion of the lower manas. this is, no doubt, a very material method of expressing the great mystery of the reflection of the higher manas in the lower, but since only those who have passed the portals of initiation can fully comprehend this, we must content ourselves with the nearest approximation to exactitude which is possible to us; and as a matter of fact, a very fairly accurate idea of what actually takes place will be obtained by adopting the hypothesis that the mânasic principle sends down a portion of itself into the lower world of physical life at each incarnation, and expects to be able to withdraw it again at the end of the life, enriched by all its varied experiences. the ordinary man, however, usually allows himself to be so pitiably enslaved by all sorts of base desires that a certain portion of this lower manas becomes very closely interwoven with kâma, and when the separation takes place, his life in kâmaloka being over, the mânasic principle has, as it were, to be torn apart, the degraded portion remaining within the kâmarûpa. this kâmarûpa then consists of the particles of astral matter from which the lower manas has not been able to disengage itself, and which therefore retain it captive; for when manas passes into devachan these clinging fragments adhere to a portion of it and as it were wrench it away. the proportion of the matter of each level present in the kâmarûpa will therefore depend on the extent to which manas has become inextricably entangled with the lower passions. it will be obvious that as manas in passing from level to level is unable to free itself completely from the matter of each, the kâmarûpa will show the presence of each grosser kind which has succeeded in retaining its connection with it. thus comes into existence the class of entity which has been called "the shade"--an entity, be it observed, which is not in any sense the real individual at all (for he has passed away into devachan), but nevertheless, not only bears his exact personal appearance, but possesses his memory and all his little idiosyncrasies, and may, therefore, very readily personate him, as indeed it frequently does at _séances_. it is not, of course, conscious of any act of impersonation, for as far as its intellect goes it must necessarily suppose itself to be the individual, but one can imagine the horror and disgust of the friends of the departed, if they could only realize that they had been deceived into accepting as their loved one a mere soulless bundle of all his worst qualities. its length of life varies according to the amount of the lower manas which animates it, but as this is all the while in process of fading out, its intellect is a steadily diminishing quantity, though it may possess a great deal of a certain sort of animal cunning; and even quite towards the end of its career it is still able to communicate by borrowing temporary intelligence from the medium. from its very nature it is exceedingly liable to be swayed by all kinds of evil influences, and, having separated from its higher ego, it has nothing in its constitution capable of responding to good ones. it therefore lends itself readily to various minor purposes of some of the baser sort of black magicians. so much of the matter of the mânasic nature as it possesses gradually disintegrates and returns to its own plane, though not to any individual mind, and thus the shade fades by almost imperceptible gradations into a member of our next class. . _the shell._ this is absolutely the mere astral corpse in process of disintegration, every particle of the lower manas having left it. it is entirely without any kind of consciousness or intelligence, and is drifted passively about upon the astral currents just as a cloud might be swept in any direction by a passing breeze; but even yet it may be galvanized for a few moments into a ghastly burlesque of life if it happens to come within reach of a medium's aura. under such circumstances it will still exactly resemble its departed personality in appearance, and may even reproduce to some extent his familiar expressions or handwriting, but it does so merely by the automatic action of the cells of which it is composed, which tend under stimulation to repeat the form of action to which they are most accustomed, and whatever amount of intelligence may lie behind any such manifestation has most assuredly no connection with the original entity, but is lent by the medium or his "guides" for the occasion. it is, however, more frequently temporarily vitalized in quite another manner, which will be described under the next head. it has also the quality of being still blindly responsive to such vibrations--usually of the lowest order--as were frequently set up in it during its last stage of existence as a shade, and consequently persons in whom evil desires or passions are predominant will be very likely, when they attend physical _séances_, to find these intensified and as it were thrown back upon them by the unconscious shells. there is also another variety of corpse which it is necessary to mention under this head, though it belongs to a much earlier stage of man's _post-mortem_ history. it has been stated above that after the death of the physical body the kâmarûpa is comparatively quickly formed, and the etheric double cast off--this latter body being destined to slow disintegration, precisely as is the kâmarûpic shell at a later stage of the proceedings. this etheric shell, however, is not to be met with drifting aimlessly about, as is the variety with which we have hitherto been dealing; on the contrary, it remains within a few yards of the decaying physical body, and since it is readily visible to any one even slightly sensitive, it is accountable for many of the commonly current stories of churchyard ghosts. a psychically developed person passing one of our great cemeteries will see hundreds of these bluish-white, misty forms hovering over the graves where are laid the physical vestures which they have recently left; and as they, like their lower counterparts, are in various stages of disintegration, the sight is by no means a pleasant one. this also, like the other kind of shell, is entirely devoid of consciousness and intelligence; and though it may under certain circumstances be galvanized into a very horrible form of temporary life, this is possible only by means of some of the most loathsome rites of one of the worst forms of black magic, about which the less said the better. it will thus be seen that in the successive stages of his progress from earth-life to devachan, man casts off and leaves to slow disintegration no less than three corpses--the physical body, the etheric double and the kâmarûpa--all of which are by degrees resolved into their constituent elements and utilized anew on their respective planes by the wonderful chemistry of nature. . _the vitalized shell._ this entity ought not, strictly speaking, to be classified under the head "human" at all, since it is only its outer vesture, the passive, senseless shell, that was once an appanage of humanity; such life, intelligence, desire and will as it may possess are those of the artificial elemental animating it, and that, though in terrible truth a creation of man's evil thought, is not itself human. it will therefore perhaps be better to deal with it more fully under its appropriate class among the artificial entities, as its nature and genesis will be more readily comprehensible by the time that part of our subject is reached. let it suffice here to mention that it is always a malevolent being--a true tempting demon, whose evil influence is limited only by the extent of its power. like the shade, it is frequently used to further the horrible purposes of the voodoo and obeah forms of magic. some writers have spoken of it under the name "elementary," but as that title has at one time or other been used for almost every variety of _post-mortem_ entity, it has become so vague and meaningless that it is perhaps better to avoid it. . _the suicide, or victim of sudden death._ it will be readily understood that a man who is torn from physical life hurriedly while in full health and strength, whether by accident or suicide, finds himself upon the astral plane under conditions differing considerably from those which surround one who dies either from old age or from disease. in the latter case the hold of earthly desires upon the entity is more or less weakened, and probably the very grossest particles are already got rid of, so that the kâmarûpa will most likely form itself on the sixth or fifth subdivision of the kâmaloka, or perhaps even higher; the principles have been gradually prepared for separation, and the shock is therefore not so great. in the case of the accidental death or suicide none of these preparations have taken place, and the withdrawal of the principles from their physical encasement has been very aptly compared to the tearing of the stone out of an unripe fruit; a great deal of the grossest kind of astral matter still clings around the personality, which is consequently held in the seventh or lowest subdivision of the kâmaloka. this has already been described as anything but a pleasant abiding-place, yet it is by no means the same for all those who are compelled for a time to inhabit it. those victims of sudden death whose earth-lives have been pure and noble have no affinity for this plane, and the time of their sojourn upon it is passed, to quote from an early letter on this subject, either "in happy ignorance and full oblivion, or in a state of quiet slumber, a sleep full of rosy dreams ". but on the other hand, if their earth-lives have been low and brutal, selfish and sensual, they will, like the suicides, be conscious to the fullest extent in this undesirable region; and they are liable to develop into terribly evil entities. inflamed with all kinds of horrible appetites which they can no longer satisfy directly now they are without a physical body, they gratify their loathsome passions vicariously through a medium or any sensitive person whom they can obsess; and they take a devilish delight in using all the arts of delusion which the astral plane puts in their power in order to lead others into the same excesses which have proved so fatal to themselves. quoting again from the same letter:--"these are the pisâchas the _incubi_ and _succubæ_ of mediæval writers--demons of thirst and gluttony, of lust and avarice, of intensified craft, wickedness and cruelty, provoking their victims to horrible crimes, and revelling in their commission". from this class and the last are drawn the tempters--the devils of ecclesiastical literature; but their power fails utterly before purity of mind and purpose; they can do nothing with a man unless he has first encouraged in himself the vices into which they seek to draw him. one whose psychic sight has been opened will often see crowds of these unfortunate creatures hanging round butchers' shops, public-houses, or other even more disreputable places--wherever the gross influences in which they delight are to be found, and where they encounter men and women still in the flesh who are like-minded with themselves. for such an entity as one of these to meet with a medium with whom he is in affinity is indeed a terrible misfortune; not only does it enable him to prolong enormously his dreadful life in kâmaloka but it renews for perhaps an indefinite period his power to generate evil karma, and so prepare for himself a future incarnation of the most degraded character, besides running the risk of losing a large portion or even the whole of the lower manas. on this lowest level of the astral plane he must stay at least as long as his earthly life would have lasted if it had not been prematurely cut short; and if he is fortunate enough _not_ to meet with a sensitive through whom his passions can be vicariously gratified, the unfulfilled desires will gradually burn themselves out, and the suffering caused in the process will probably go far towards working off the evil karma of the past life. the position of the suicide is further complicated by the fact that his rash act has enormously diminished the power of the higher ego to withdraw its lower portion into itself, and therefore has exposed him to manifold and great additional dangers: but it must be remembered that the guilt of suicide differs considerably according to its circumstances, from the morally blameless act of seneca or socrates through all degrees down to the heinous crime of the wretch who takes his own life in order to escape from the entanglements into which his villainy has brought him, and of course the position after death varies accordingly. it should be noted that this class, as well as the shades and the vitalized shells, are all what may be called minor vampires; that is to say, whenever they have the opportunity they prolong their existence by draining away the vitality from human beings whom they find themselves able to influence. this is why both medium and sitters are often so weak and exhausted after a physical _séance_. a student of occultism is taught how to guard himself from their attempts, but without that knowledge it is difficult for one who puts himself in their way to avoid being more or less laid under contribution by them. . _the vampire and werewolf._ there remain two even more awful but happily very rare possibilities to be mentioned before this part of our subject is completed, and though they differ very widely in many ways we may yet perhaps group them together, since they have in common the qualities of unearthly horror and of extreme rarity--the latter arising from the fact that they are really relics of earlier races. we of the fifth root race ought to have evolved beyond the possibility of meeting such a ghastly fate as is indicated by either of the two headings of this sub-section, and we have so nearly done it that these creatures are commonly regarded as mere mediæval fables; yet there _are_ examples to be found occasionally even now, though chiefly in countries where there is a considerable strain of fourth-race blood, such as russia or hungary. the popular legends about them are probably often considerably exaggerated, but there is nevertheless a terribly serious sub-stratum of truth beneath the eerie stories which pass from mouth to mouth among the peasantry of central europe. the general characteristics of such tales are too well known to need more than a passing reference; a fairly typical specimen of the vampire story, though it does not profess to be more than the merest fiction, is sheridan le fanu's _carmilla_, while a very remarkable account of an unusual form of this creature is to be found in _isis unveiled_, vol. i., p. . all readers of theosophical literature are familiar with the idea that it is possible for a man to live a life so absolutely degraded and selfish, so utterly wicked and brutal, that the whole of his lower manas may become entirely immeshed in kâma, and finally separated from its spiritual source in the higher ego. some students even seem to think that such an occurrence is quite a common one, and that we may meet scores of such "soulless men," as they have been called, in the street every day of our lives, but this, happily, is untrue. to attain the appalling preeminence in evil which thus involves the entire loss of a personality and the weakening of the developing individuality behind, a man must stifle every gleam of unselfishness or spirituality, and must have absolutely no redeeming point whatever; and when we remember how often, even in the worst of villains, there is to be found something not wholly bad, we shall realize that the abandoned personalities must always be a very small minority. still, comparatively few though they be, they do exist, and it is from their ranks that the still rarer vampire is drawn. the lost entity would very soon after death find himself unable to stay in kâmaloka, and would be irresistibly drawn in full consciousness into "his own place," the mysterious eighth sphere, there slowly to disintegrate after experiences best left undescribed. if, however, he perishes by suicide or sudden death, he may under certain circumstances, especially if he knows something of black magic, hold himself back from that awful fate by a death in life scarcely less awful--the ghastly existence of the vampire. since the eighth sphere cannot claim him until after the death of the body, he preserves it in a kind of cataleptic trance by the horrible expedient of the transfusion into it of blood drawn from other human beings by his semi-materialized kâmarûpa, and thus postpones his final destiny by the commission of wholesale murder. as popular "superstition" again quite rightly supposes, the easiest and most effectual remedy in such a case is to exhume and burn the body, thus depriving the creature of his _point d'appui_. when the grave is opened the body usually appears quite fresh and healthy, and the coffin is not infrequently filled with blood. of course in countries where cremation is the custom vampirism of this sort is impossible. the werewolf, though equally horrible, is the product of a somewhat different karma, and indeed ought perhaps to have found a place under the first instead of the second division of the human inhabitants of kâmaloka, since it is always during a man's lifetime that he first manifests under this form. it invariably implies some knowledge of magical arts--sufficient at any rate to be able to project the astral body. when a perfectly cruel and brutal man does this, there are certain circumstances under which the body may be seized upon by other astral entities and materialized, not into the human form, but into that of some wild animal--usually the wolf; and in that condition it will range the surrounding country killing other animals, and even human beings, thus satisfying not only its own craving for blood, but that of the fiends who drive it on. in this case, as so often with the ordinary astral body, any wound inflicted upon the animal materialization will be reproduced upon the human physical body by the extraordinary phenomenon of repercussion; though after the death of that physical body the kâmarûpa, which will probably continue to appear in the same form, will be less vulnerable. it will then, however, he also less dangerous, as unless it can find a suitable medium it will be unable to materialize fully. it has been the fashion of this century to scoff at what are called the foolish superstitions of the ignorant peasantry; but, as in the above cases, so in many others the occult student finds on careful examination that obscure or forgotten truths of nature lie behind what at first sight appears mere nonsense, and he learns to be cautious in rejecting as well as cautious in accepting. intending explorers of the astral plane need have little fear of encountering the very unpleasant creatures described under this head, for, as before stated, they are even now extremely rare, and as time goes on their number will happily steadily diminish. in any case their manifestations are usually restricted to the immediate neighbourhood of their physical bodies, as might be supposed from their extremely material nature. . _the black magician or his pupil._ this person corresponds at the other extremity of the scale to our second class of departed entities, the chela awaiting reincarnation, but in this case, instead of obtaining permission to adopt an unusual method of progress, the man is defying the natural process of evolution by maintaining himself in kâmaloka by magical arts--sometimes of the most horrible nature. it would be easy to make various subdivisions of this class, according to their objects, their methods, and the possible duration of their existence on this plane, but as they are by no means fascinating objects of study, and all that an occult student wishes to know about them is how to avoid them, it will probably be more interesting to pass on to the examination of another part of our subject. it may, however, be just mentioned that every such human entity which prolongs its life thus on the astral plane beyond its natural limit invariably does so at the expense of others, and by the absorption of their life in some form or another. ii. non-human. though it might have been thought fairly obvious even to the most casual glance that many of the terrestrial arrangements of nature which affect us most nearly have not been designed exclusively with a view to our comfort or even our ultimate advantage, it was yet probably unavoidable that the human race, at least in its childhood, should imagine that this world and everything it contains existed solely for its own use and benefit. undoubtedly we ought by this time to have grown out of that infantile delusion and realized our proper position and the duties that attach to it; that most of us have not yet done so is shown in a dozen ways in our daily life notably by the atrocious cruelty habitually displayed towards the animal kingdom under the name of sport by many who probably consider themselves highly civilized people. of course the veriest tyro in the holy science of occultism knows that all life is sacred, and that without universal compassion there is no true progress; but it is only as he advances in his studies that he discovers how manifold evolution is, and how comparatively small a place humanity really fills in the economy of nature. it becomes clear to him that just as earth, air and water support myriads of forms of life which, though invisible to the ordinary eye, are revealed to us by the microscope, so the higher planes connected with our earth have an equally dense population of whose existence we are ordinarily completely unconscious. as his knowledge increases he becomes more and more certain that in one way or another the utmost use is being made of every possibility of evolution, and that wherever it seems to us that in nature force or opportunity is being wasted or neglected, it is not the scheme of the universe that is in fault, but our ignorance of its method and intention. for the purposes of our present consideration of the non-human inhabitants of the astral plane it will be best to leave out of consideration those very early forms of the universal life which are evolving, in a manner of which we can have little comprehension, through the successive encasement of atoms, molecules and cells: for if we commence at the lowest of what are usually called the elemental kingdoms, we shall even then have to group together under this general heading an enormous number of inhabitants of the astral plane upon whom it will be possible to touch only very slightly, as anything like a detailed account of them would swell this manual to the dimensions of an encyclopædia. the most convenient method of arranging the non-human entities will perhaps be in four classes it being understood that in this case the class is not, as previously, a comparatively small subdivision, but usually a great kingdom of nature at least as large and varied as, say, the animal or vegetable kingdom. some of these rank considerably below humanity, some are our equals, and others again rise far above us in goodness and power. some belong to our scheme of evolution--that is to say, they either have been or will be men like ourselves; others are evolving on entirely distinct lines of their own. before proceeding to consider them it is necessary, in order to avoid the charge of incompleteness, to mention that in this branch of the subject two reservations have been made. first, no reference is made to the occasional appearances of very high adepts from other planets of the solar system and of even more august visitors from a still greater distance, since such matters cannot fitly be described in an essay for general reading; and besides it is practically inconceivable, though of course theoretically possible, that such glorified beings should ever need to manifest themselves on a plane so low as the astral. if for any reason they should wish to do so, the body appropriate to the plane would be temporarily created out of astral matter belonging to this planet, just as in the case of the nirmânakâya. secondly, quite outside of and entirely unconnected with the four classes into which we are dividing this section, there are two other great evolutions which at present share the use of this planet with humanity; but about them it is forbidden to give any particulars at this stage of the proceedings, as it is not apparently intended under ordinary circumstances either that they should be conscious of man's existence or man of theirs. if we ever do come into contact with them it will most probably be on the purely physical plane, for in any case their connection with our astral plane is of the slightest, since the only possibility of their appearance there depends upon an extremely improbable accident in an act of ceremonial magic, which fortunately only a few of the most advanced sorcerers know how to perform. nevertheless, that improbable accident has happened at least once, and may happen again, so that but for the prohibition above mentioned it would have been necessary to include them in our list. . _the elemental essence belonging to our own evolution._ just as the name "elementary" has been given indiscriminately by various writers to any or all of man's possible _post-mortem_ conditions, so this word "elemental" has been used at different times to mean any or all non-human spirits, from the most godlike of the devas down through every variety of nature-spirit to the formless essence which pervades the kingdoms lying behind the mineral, until after reading several books the student becomes absolutely bewildered by the contradictory statements made on the subject. for the purposes of this treatise it will perhaps simplify matters to restrict its meaning to the last-mentioned class only, and use it to denote the three great kingdoms which precede the mineral in the order of our evolution. it may be remembered that in one of the earlier letters from an adept teacher these elemental kingdoms are referred to, and the statement is made that the first and second cannot readily be comprehended except by an initiate. fortunately this, the most incomprehensible part of the vast subject, does not come within the province of this manual, as those first and second elemental kingdoms exist and function respectively upon the arûpa and rûpa levels of the devachanic plane. we have consequently to deal for the moment only with kingdom no. --the one next before the mineral; though even that will be found quite sufficiently complicated, as will be understood when it is stated that it contains just over two thousand four hundred perfectly distinct varieties of elemental essence, each of which the pupil who wishes to attain perfect control of the astral forces must learn not only to distinguish instantly at sight, but to deal with in its own special method and no other. of course phenomena of various sorts may be, and constantly are, produced by those who are able to wield only one or two of these forces, but the adept prefers to take the additional trouble requisite to understand all of them thoroughly, and uses in every case precisely the most appropriate force or combination of forces, so that his object may be attained with scientific accuracy and with the least possible expenditure of energy. to speak, as we so often do, of _an_ elemental in connection with the group we are now considering is somewhat misleading, for strictly speaking there is no such thing. what we find is a vast store of elemental essence, wonderfully sensitive to the most fleeting human thought, responding with inconceivable delicacy in an infinitesimal fraction of a second to a vibration set up in it even by an entirely unconscious exercise of human will or desire. but the moment that by the influence of such thought or exercise of will it is moulded into a living force--into something that may correctly be described as _an_ elemental--it at once ceases to belong to the category we are discussing, and becomes a member of the artificial class. even then its separate existence is usually of the most evanescent character, and as soon as its impulse has worked itself out it sinks back into the undifferentiated mass of that particular subdivision of elemental essence from which it came. it would be tedious to attempt to catalogue these subdivisions, and indeed even if a list of them were made it would be unintelligible except to the practical student who can call them up before him and compare them. some idea of the leading lines of classification can, however, be grasped without much trouble, and may prove of interest. first comes the broad division which has given the elementals their name--the classification according to the kind of matter which they inhabit. here, as usual, the septenary character of our evolution shows itself, for there are seven such chief groups, related respectively to the seven states of physical matter--to "earth, water, air and fire," or to translate from mediæval symbolism to modern accuracy of expression, to the solid, liquid, gaseous and etheric conditions. it has long been the custom to pity and despise the ignorance of the alchemists of the middle ages, because they gave the title of "elements" to substances which modern chemistry has discovered to be compounds; but in speaking of them thus slightingly we have done them great injustice, for their knowledge on this subject was really wider, not narrower, than ours. they may or may not have catalogued all the sixty or seventy substances which we now call elements; but they certainly did not apply that name to them, for their occult studies had taught them that in that sense of the word there was but one element, Âkâsha itself, of which these and all other forms of matter were but modifications--a truth which some of the greatest chemists of the present day are just beginning to suspect. the fact is that in this particular case our despised forefathers' analysis went several steps deeper than our own. they understood and were able to observe the ether, which modern science can only postulate as a necessity for its theories; they were aware that it consists of physical matter in four entirely distinct states above the gaseous--a fact which has not yet been re-discovered. they knew that all physical objects consisted of matter in one or other of these seven states, and that into the composition of every organic body all seven entered in a greater or lesser degree; hence all their talk of fiery and watery humours, or "elements," which seems so grotesque to us. it is obvious that they used the latter word simply as a synonym for "constituent parts," without in the least degree intending it to connote the idea of substances which could not be further reduced. they knew also that each of these orders of matter served as an upâdhi or basis of manifestation for a great class of evolving monadic essence, and so they christened the essence "elemental". what we have to try to realize, then, is that in every particle of solid matter, so long as it remains in that condition, there resides, to use the picturesque phraseology of mediæval students, an earth elemental--that is, a certain amount of the living elemental essence appropriate to it, while equally in every particle of matter in the liquid, gaseous, or etheric states, the water, air, and fire "elementals" respectively inhere. it will be observed that this first broad division of the third of the elemental kingdoms is, so to speak, a horizontal one--that is to say, its respective classes stand in the relation of steps, each somewhat less material than the one below it, which ascends into it by almost imperceptible degrees; and it is easy to understand how each of these classes may again be divided horizontally into seven, since there are obviously many degrees of density among solids, liquids and gases. there is, however, what may be described as a perpendicular division also, and this is somewhat more difficult to comprehend, especially as great reserve is always maintained by occultists as to some of the facts which would be involved in a fuller explanation of it. perhaps the clearest way to put what it is permissible to say on the subject will be to state that in each of the horizontal classes and subclasses will be found seven perfectly distinct types of elemental, the difference between them being no longer a question of degree of materiality, but rather of character and affinities. each of these types so reacts upon the others that, though it is impossible for them ever to interchange their essence, in each of them seven sub-types will be found to exist, distinguished by the colouring given to their original peculiarity by the influence which sways them most readily. it will at once be seen that this perpendicular division and subdivision differs entirely in its character from the horizontal, in that it is far more permanent and fundamental; for while it is the evolution of the elemental kingdom to pass with almost infinite slowness through its various horizontal classes and subclasses in succession, and thus to belong to them all in turn, this is not so with regard to the types and sub-types, which remain unchangeable all the way through. a point which must never be lost sight of in endeavouring to understand this elemental evolution is that it is taking place on what is sometimes called the downward curve of the arc; that is to say, it is progressing _towards_ the complete entanglement in matter which we witness in the mineral kingdom, instead of _away_ from it, as is most other evolution of which we know anything; and this fact sometimes gives it a curiously inverted appearance in our eyes until we thoroughly grasp its object. in spite of these manifold subdivisions, there are certain properties which are possessed in common by all varieties of this strange living essence; but even these are so entirely different from any with which we are familiar on the physical plane that it is exceedingly difficult to explain them to those who cannot themselves see it in action. let it be premised, then, that when any portion of this essence remains for a few moments entirely unaffected by any outside influence (a condition, by the way, which is hardly ever realized) it is absolutely without any definite form of its own, though even then its motion is rapid and ceaseless; but on the slightest disturbance, set up perhaps by some passing thought-current, it flashes into a bewildering confusion of restless, ever-changing shapes, which form, rush about, and disappear with the rapidity of the bubbles on the surface of boiling water. these evanescent shapes, though generally those of living creatures of some sort, human or otherwise, no more express the existence of separate entities in the essence than do the equally changeful and multiform waves raised in a few moments on a previously smooth lake by a sudden squall. they seem to be mere reflections from the vast storehouse of the astral light, yet they have usually a certain appropriateness to the character of the thought-stream which calls them into existence, though nearly always with some grotesque distortion, some terrifying or unpleasant aspect about them. a question naturally arises in the mind here as to what intelligence it is that is exerted in the selection of an appropriate shape or its distortion when selected. we are not dealing with the more powerful and longer-lived artificial elemental created by a strong definite thought, but simply with the result produced by the stream of half-conscious, involuntary thoughts which the majority of mankind allow to flow idly through their brains, so that the intelligence is obviously not derived from the mind of the thinker; and we certainly cannot credit the elemental essence itself, which belongs to a kingdom further from individualization even than the mineral, with any sort of awakening of the mânasic quality. yet it does possess a marvellous adaptability which often seems to come very near it, and it is no doubt this property that caused elementals to be described in one of our early books as "the semi-intelligent creatures of the astral light". we shall find further evidence of this power when we come to consider the case of the artificial class. when we read of a good or evil elemental, it must always be either an artificial entity or one of the many varieties of nature spirits that is meant, for the elemental kingdoms proper do not admit of any such conceptions as good and evil, though there is undoubtedly a sort of bias or tendency permeating nearly all their subdivisions which operates to render them rather hostile than friendly towards man, as every neophyte knows, for in most cases his very first impression of the astral plane is of the presence all around him of vast hosts of protean spectres who advance upon him in threatening guise, but always retire or dissipate harmlessly if boldly faced. it is to this curious tendency that the distorted or unpleasant aspect above mentioned must be referred, and mediæval writers tell us that man has only himself to thank for its existence. in the golden age before this kaliyuga men were on the whole less selfish and more spiritual, and then the "elementals" were friendly, though now they are no longer so because of man's indifference to, and want of sympathy with, other living beings. from the wonderful delicacy with which the essence responds to the faintest action of our minds or desires it seems clear that this elemental kingdom as a whole is very much what the collective thought of humanity makes it. any one who will think for a moment how far from elevating the action of that collective thought is likely to be at the present time will see little reason to wonder that we reap as we have sown, and that this essence, which has no power of perception, but only blindly receives and reflects what is projected upon it, should usually exhibit unfriendly characteristics. there can be no doubt that in later races or rounds, when mankind as a whole has evolved to a much higher level, the elemental kingdoms will be influenced by the changed thought which continually impinges upon them, and we shall find them no longer hostile, but docile and helpful, as we are told that the animal kingdom will also be. whatever may have happened in the past, it is evident that we may look forward to a very passable "golden age" in the future, if we can arrive at a time when the majority of men will be noble and unselfish, and the forces of nature will co-operate willingly with them. the fact that we are so readily able to influence the elemental kingdoms at once shows us that we have a responsibility towards them for the manner in which we use that influence; indeed, when we consider the conditions under which they exist, it is obvious that the effect produced upon them by the thoughts and desires of all intelligent creatures inhabiting the same world with them must have been calculated upon in the scheme of our system as a factor in their evolution. in spite of the consistent teaching of all the great religions, the mass of mankind is still utterly regardless of its responsibility on the thought-plane; if a man can flatter himself that his words and deeds have been harmless to others, he believes that he has done all that can be required of him, quite oblivious of the fact that he may for years have been exercising a narrowing and debasing influence on the minds of those about him, and filling surrounding space with the unlovely creations of a sordid mind. a still more serious aspect of this question will come before us when we discuss the artificial elemental; but in regard to the essence it will be sufficient to state that we undoubtedly have the power to accelerate or delay its evolution according to the use which consciously or unconsciously we are continually making of it. it would be hopeless within the limits of such a treatise as this to attempt to explain the different uses to which the forces inherent in the manifold varieties of this elemental essence can be put by one who has been trained in their management. the vast majority of magical ceremonies depend almost entirely upon its manipulation, either directly by the will of the magician, or by some more definite astral entity evoked by him for that purpose. by its means nearly all the physical phenomena of the _séance_-room are produced, and it is also the agent in most cases of stone-throwing or bell-ringing in haunted houses, such results as these latter being brought about either by blundering efforts to attract attention made by some earth-bound human entity, or by the mere mischievous pranks of some of the minor nature-spirits belonging to our third class. but the "elemental" must never be thought of as itself a prime mover; it is simply a latent force, which needs an external power to set it in motion. it may be noted that although all classes of the essence have the power of reflecting images from the astral light as described above, there are varieties which receive certain impressions much more readily than others--which have, as it were, favourite forms of their own into which upon disturbance they would naturally flow unless absolutely forced into some other, and such shapes tend to be a trifle less evanescent than usual. before leaving this branch of the subject it may be well to warn the student against the confusion of thought into which some have fallen through failing to distinguish this elemental essence which we have been considering from the monadic essence manifesting through the mineral kingdom. it must be borne in mind that monadic essence at one stage of its evolution towards humanity manifests through the elemental kingdom, while at a later stage it manifests through the mineral kingdom: but the fact that two bodies of monadic essence at these different stages are in manifestation at the same moment, and that one of these manifestations (the earth elemental) occupies the same space as and inhabits the other (say a rock), in no way interferes with the evolution either of one or the other, nor does it imply any relation between the bodies of monadic essence lying within both. the rock will also be permeated by its appropriate variety of the omnipresent jîva or life principle, but that of course is again totally distinct from either of the essences above mentioned. . _the kâmarûpas of animals._ this is an extremely large class, yet it does not occupy a particularly important position on the astral plane, since its members usually stay there but a very short time. the vast majority of animals have not as yet acquired permanent individualization, and when one of them dies the monadic essence which has been manifesting through it flows back again into the particular stratum whence it came, bearing with it such advancement or experience as has been attained during that life. it is not, however, able to do this quite immediately; the kâmic aura of the animal forms itself into a kâmarûpa, just as in man's case, and the animal has a real existence on the astral plane, the length of which, though never great, varies according to the intelligence which it has developed. in most cases it does not seem to be more than dreamily conscious, but appears perfectly happy. the comparatively few domestic animals who have already attained individuality, and will therefore be reborn no more as animals in this world, have a much longer and much more vivid life in kâmaloka than their less advanced fellows, and at the end of it sink gradually into a subjective condition, which is likely to last for a very considerable period. one interesting subdivision of this class consists of the kâmarûpas of those anthropoid apes mentioned in _the secret doctrine_ (vol. i, p. ) who are already individualized, and will be ready to take human incarnation in the next round, or perhaps some of them even sooner. . _nature-spirits of all kinds._ so many and so varied are the subdivisions of this class that to do them anything like justice one would need to devote a separate treatise to this subject alone. some characteristics, however, they all have in common, and it will be sufficient here to try to give some idea of those. to begin with, we have to realize that we are here dealing with entities which differ radically from all that we have hitherto considered. though we may rightly classify the elemental essence and the animal kâmarûpa as non-human, the monadic essence which manifests itself through them will, nevertheless, in the fulness of time, evolve to the level of manifesting itself through some future humanity comparable to our own, and if we were able to look back through countless ages on our own evolution in previous manvantaras, we should find that that which is now ourselves has passed on its upward path through similar stages. that, however, is not the case with the vast kingdom of nature-spirits; they neither have been, nor ever will be, members of a humanity such as ours; their line of evolution is entirely different, and their only connection with us consists in our temporary occupancy of the same planet. of course since we are neighbours for the time being we owe neighbourly kindness to one another when we happen to meet, but our lines of development differ so widely that each can do but little for the other. many writers have included these spirits among the elementals, and indeed they are the elementals (or perhaps, to speak more accurately, the animals) of a higher evolution. though much more highly developed than our elemental essence, they have yet certain characteristics in common with it; for example, they also are divided into seven great classes, inhabiting respectively the same seven states of matter already mentioned as permeated by the corresponding varieties of the essence. thus, to take those which are most readily comprehensible to us, there are spirits of the earth, water, air, and fire (or ether)--definite intelligent astral entities residing and functioning in each of those media. it may be asked how it is possible for any kind of creature to inhabit the solid substance of a rock, or of the crust of the earth. the answer is that since the nature-spirits are formed of astral matter, the substance of the rock is no hindrance to their motion or their vision, and furthermore physical matter in its solid state is their natural element--the only one to which they are accustomed and in which they feel at home. the same is of course true of those who live in water, air or ether. in mediæval literature, these earth-spirits are often called gnomes, while the water-spirits are spoken of as ûndinés, the air-spirits as sylphs, and the ether-spirits as salamanders. in popular language they are known by many names--fairies, pixies, elves, brownies, peris, djinns, trolls, satyrs, fauns, kobolds, imps, goblins, good people, etc.--some of these titles being applied only to one variety, and others indiscriminately to all. their forms are many and various, but most frequently human in shape and somewhat diminutive in size. like almost all inhabitants of the astral plane, they are able to assume any appearance at will, but they undoubtedly have definite forms of their own, or perhaps we should rather say favourite forms, which they wear when they have no special object in taking any other. of course under ordinary conditions they are not visible to physical sight at all, but they have the power of making themselves so by materialization when they wish to be seen. there are an immense number of subdivisions or races among them, and individuals of these subdivisions differ in intelligence and disposition precisely as human beings do. the great majority of them apparently prefer to avoid man altogether; his habits and emanations are distasteful to them, and the constant rush of astral currents set up by his restless, ill-regulated desires disturbs and annoys them. on the other hand instances are not wanting in which nature-spirits have as it were made friends with human beings and offered them such assistance as lay in their power, as in the well-known stories told of the scotch brownies or of the fire-lighting fairies mentioned in spiritualistic literature. this helpful attitude, however, is comparatively rare, and in most cases when they come in contact with man they either show indifference or dislike, or else take an impish delight in deceiving him and playing childish tricks upon him. many a story illustrative of this curious characteristic may be found among the village gossip of the peasantry in almost any lonely mountainous district, and any one who has been in the habit of attending _séances_ for physical phenomena will recollect instances of practical joking and silly though usually good-natured horseplay, which always indicate the presence of some of the lower orders of the nature-spirits. they are greatly assisted in their tricks by the wonderful power which they possess of casting a glamour over those who yield themselves to their influence, so that such victims for the time see and hear only what these fairies impress upon them, exactly as the mesmerized subject sees, hears, feels and believes whatever the magnetizer wishes. the nature-spirits, however, have not the mesmerizer's power of dominating the human will, except in the case of quite unusually weak-minded people, or of those who allow themselves to fall into such a condition of helpless terror that their will is temporarily in abeyance; they cannot go beyond deception of the senses, but of that art they are undoubted masters, and cases are not wanting in which they have cast their glamour over a considerable number of people at once. it is by invoking their aid in the exercise of this peculiar power that some of the most wonderful feats of the indian jugglers are performed--the entire audience being in fact hallucinated and made to imagine that they see and hear a whole series of events which have not really taken place at all. we might almost look upon the nature-spirits as a kind of astral humanity, but for the fact that none of them--not even the highest possess a permanent reincarnating individuality. apparently therefore one point in which their line of evolution differs from ours is that a much greater proportion of intelligence is developed before permanent individualization takes place; but of the stages through which they have passed, and those through which they have yet to pass, we can know little. the life-periods of the different subdivisions vary greatly, some being quite short, others much longer than our human lifetime. we stand so entirely outside such a life as theirs that it is impossible for us to understand much about its conditions; but it appears on the whole to be a simple, joyous, irresponsible kind of existence, much such as a party of happy children might lead among exceptionally favourable physical surroundings. though tricky and mischievous, they are rarely malicious unless provoked by some unwarrantable intrusion or annoyance; but as a body they also partake to some extent of the universal feeling of distrust for man, and they generally seem inclined to resent somewhat the first appearance of a neophyte on the astral plane, so that he usually makes their acquaintance under some unpleasant or terrifying form. if, however, he declines to be frightened by any of their freaks, they soon accept him as a necessary evil and take no further notice of him, while some among them may even after a time become friendly and manifest pleasure on meeting him. some among the many subdivisions of this class are much less childlike and more dignified than those we have been describing, and it is from these sections that the entities who have sometimes been reverenced under the name of wood-gods, or local village-gods, have been drawn. such entities would be quite sensible of the flattery involved in the reverence shown to them, would enjoy it, and would no doubt be quite ready to do any small service they could in return. (the village-god is also often an artificial entity, but that variety will be considered in its appropriate place.) the adept knows how to make use of the services of the nature-spirits when he requires them, but the ordinary magician can obtain their assistance only by processes either of invocation or evocation--that is, either by attracting their attention as a suppliant and making some kind of bargain with them, or by endeavouring to set in motion influences which would compel their obedience. both methods are extremely undesirable, and the latter is also excessively dangerous, as the operator would arouse a determined hostility which might prove fatal to him. needless to say, no one studying occultism under a qualified master would ever be permitted to attempt anything of the kind at all. . _the devas._ the highest system of evolution connected with this earth, so far as we know, is that of the beings whom hindus call the devas, and who have elsewhere been spoken of as angels, sons of god, etc. they may, in fact, be regarded as a kingdom lying next above humanity, in the same way as humanity in turn lies next above the animal kingdom, but with this important difference, that while for an animal there is no possibility of evolution through any kingdom but the human, man, when he attains a certain high level, finds various paths of advancement opening before him, of which this great deva evolution is only one. in comparison with the sublime renunciation of the nirmânakâya, the acceptance of this line of evolution is sometimes spoken of in the books as "yielding to the temptation to become a god," but it must not be inferred from this expression that any shadow of blame attaches to the man who makes this choice. the path he selects is not the shortest, but it is nevertheless a very noble one, and if his developed intuition impels him towards it, it is probably the one best suited for his capacities. we must never forget that in spiritual as in physical climbing it is not every one who can bear the strain of the steeper path; there may be many for whom what seems the slower way is the only one possible, and we should indeed be unworthy followers of the great teachers if we allowed our ignorance to betray us into the slightest thought of despisal towards those whose choice differs from our own. however confident that ignorance of the difficulties of the future may allow us to feel now, it is impossible for us to tell at this stage what we shall find ourselves able to do when, after many lives of patient striving, we have earned the right to choose our own future; and indeed, even those who "yield to the temptation to become gods," have a sufficiently glorious career before them, as will presently be seen. to avoid possible misunderstanding it may be mentioned _par parenthèse_ that there is another and entirely evil sense sometimes attached in the books to this phrase of "becoming a god," but in that form it certainly could never be any kind of "temptation" to the developed man, and in any case it is altogether foreign to our present subject. in oriental literature this word "deva" is frequently used vaguely to mean almost any kind of non-human entity, so that it would often include dhyÂn chohans on the one hand and nature-spirits and artificial elementals on the other. here, however, its use will be restricted to the magnificent evolution which we are now considering. though connected with this earth, the devas are by no means confined to it, for the whole of our present chain of seven worlds is as one world to them, their evolution being through a grand system of seven chains. their hosts have hitherto been recruited chiefly from other humanities in the solar system, some lower and some higher than ours, since but a very small portion of our own has as yet reached the level at which for us it is possible to join them; but it seems certain that some of their very numerous classes have not passed in their upward progress through any humanity at all comparable to ours. it is not possible for us at present to understand very much about them, but it is clear that what may be described as the aim of their evolution is considerably higher than ours; that is to say, while the object of our human evolution is to raise the successful portion of humanity to a certain degree of occult development by the end of the seventh round, the object of the deva evolution is to raise their foremost rank to a very much higher level in the corresponding period. for them, as for us, a steeper but shorter path to still more sublime heights lies open to earnest endeavour; but what those heights may be in their case we can only conjecture. it is of course only the lower fringe of this august body that need be mentioned in connection with our subject of the astral plane. their three lower great divisions (beginning from the bottom) are generally called kâmadevas, rûpadevas, and arûpadevas respectively. just as our ordinary body here--the lowest body possible for us--is the physical, so the ordinary body of a kâmadeva is the astral; so that he stands in somewhat the same position as humanity will do when it reaches planet f, and he, living ordinarily in an astral body, would go out of it to higher spheres in a mâyâvirûpa just as we might in an astral body, while to enter the kârana sharîra would be to him (when sufficiently developed) no greater effort than to form a mâyâvirûpa is to us. in the same way the rûpadeva's ordinary body would be the mâyâvirûpa, since his habitat is on the four lower or rûpa levels of that spiritual state which we usually call devachan: while the arûpadeva belongs to the three higher levels of that plane, and owns no nearer approach to a body than the kârana sharîra. but for rûpa and arûpadevas to manifest on the astral plane is an occurrence at least as rare as it is for astral entities to materialize on this physical plane, so we need do no more than mention them now. as regards the lowest division--the kâmadevas--it would be quite a mistake to think of all of them as immeasurably superior to ourselves, since some have entered their ranks from a humanity in some respects less advanced than our own; of course the general average among them is much higher than among us, for all that is actively or wilfully evil has long been weeded out from their ranks; but they differ widely in disposition, and a really noble, unselfish, spiritually-minded man may well stand higher in the scale of evolution than some of them. their attention can be attracted by certain magical evocations, but the only human will which can dominate theirs is that of a certain high class of adepts. as a rule they seem scarcely conscious of us on our physical plane, but it does now and then happen that one of them becomes aware of some human difficulty which excites his pity, and he perhaps renders some assistance, just as any of us would try to help an animal that we saw in trouble. but it is well understood among them that any interference in human affairs at the present stage is likely to do far more harm than good. above the arûpadevas there are four other great divisions, and again, above and beyond the deva kingdom altogether, stand the great hosts of the dhyÂn chohans, but the consideration of such glorified beings would be out of place in an essay on the astral plane. though we cannot claim them as belonging exactly to any of our classes, this is perhaps the best place in which to mention those wonderful and important beings, the four devarâjahs. in this name the word deva must not, however, be taken in the sense in which we have been using it, for it is not over the deva kingdom but over the four "elements" of earth, water, air, and fire, with their indwelling nature-spirits and essences, that these four kings rule. what the evolution has been through which they rose to their present height of power and wisdom we cannot tell, save only that it has certainly not passed through anything corresponding to our own humanity. they are often spoken of as the regents of the earth, or angels of the four cardinal points, and the hindu books call them the chatur mahârâjahs, giving their names as dhritarashtra, virudhaka, virupaksha, and vaishravana. in the same books their hosts are called gandharvas, kumbhandas, nâgas, and yakshas respectively, the points of the compass appropriated to each being in corresponding order east, south, west, and north, and their symbolical colours white, blue, red, and gold. they are mentioned in _the secret doctrine_ as "winged globes and fiery wheels"; and in the christian bible ezekiel makes a very remarkable attempt at a description of them in which very similar words are used. references to them are to be found in the symbology of every religion, and they have always been held in the highest reverence as the protectors of mankind. it is they who are the agents of man's karma during his life on earth, and they thus play an extremely important part in human destiny. the lipika the great karmic deities of the kosmos, weigh the deeds of each personality when the final separation of its principles takes place in kâmaloka and give as it were the mould of an etheric double exactly suitable to its karma for the man's next birth; but it is the devarâjahs who, having command of the "elements" of which that etheric double must be composed, arrange their proportion so as to fulfil accurately the intention of the lipika. it is they also who constantly watch all through life to counterbalance the changes perpetually being introduced into man's condition by his own free will and that of those around him, so that no injustice may be done, and karma may be accurately worked out, if not in one way then in another. a learned dissertation upon these marvellous beings will be found in _the secret doctrine_, vol. i., pp. - . they are able to take human material forms at will, and several cases are recorded when they have done so. all the higher nature-spirits and hosts of artificial elementals act as their agents in the stupendous work they carry out, yet all the threads are in their hands, and the whole responsibility rests upon them alone. it is not often that they manifest upon the astral plane, but when they do they are certainly the most remarkable of its non-human inhabitants. a student of occultism will not need to be told that as there are seven great classes both of nature-spirits and elemental essence there must really be seven and not four devarâjahs but outside the circle of initiation little is known and less may be said of the higher three. iii. artificial. this, the largest class of astral entities, is also much the most important to man. being entirely his own creation, it is inter-related with him by the closest karmic bonds, and its action upon him is direct and incessant. it is an enormous inchoate mass of semi-intelligent entities, differing among themselves as human thoughts differ, and practically incapable of anything like classification or arrangement. the only division which can be usefully made is that which distinguishes between the artificial elementals made by the majority of mankind unconsciously, and those made by magicians with definite intent; while we may relegate to a third class the very small number of artificially arranged entities which are not elementals at all. . _elementals formed unconsciously._ it has already been explained that the elemental essence which surrounds us on every side is in all its numberless varieties singularly susceptible to the influence of human thought. the action of the mere casual wandering thought upon it, causing it to burst into a cloud of rapidly-moving, evanescent forms, has already been described; we have now to note how it is affected when the human mind formulates a definite, purposeful thought or wish. the effect produced is of the most striking nature. the thought seizes upon the plastic essence, and moulds it instantly into a living being of appropriate form--a being which when once thus created is in no way under the control of its creator, but lives out a life of its own, the length of which is proportionate to the intensity of the thought or wish which called it into existence. it lasts, in fact, just as long as the thought-force holds it together. most people's thoughts are so fleeting and indecisive that the elementals created by them last only a few minutes or a few hours, but an often-repeated thought or an earnest wish will form an elemental whose existence may extend to many days. since the ordinary man's thoughts refer very largely to himself, the elementals they form remain hovering about him, and constantly tend to provoke a repetition of the idea they represent, since such repetitions, instead of forming new elementals, would strengthen the old one, and give it a fresh lease of life. a man, therefore, who frequently dwells upon one wish often forms for himself an astral attendant which, constantly fed by fresh thought, may haunt him for years, ever gaining more and more strength and influence over him; and it will easily be seen that if the desire be an evil one the effect upon his moral nature may be of the most disastrous character. still more pregnant of result for good or evil are a man's thoughts about other people, for in that case they hover not about the thinker, but about the object of the thought. a kindly thought about any person or an earnest wish for his good will form and project towards him a friendly artificial elemental; if the wish be a definite one, as, for example, that he may recover from some sickness, then the elemental will be a force ever hovering over him to promote his recovery, or to ward off any influence that might tend to hinder it, and in doing this it will display what appears like a very considerable amount of intelligence and adaptability, though really it is simply a force acting along the line of least resistance--pressing steadily in one direction all the time, and taking advantage of any channel that it can find, just as the water in a cistern would in a moment find the one open pipe among a dozen closed ones, and proceed to empty itself through that. if the wish be merely an indefinite one for his general good, the elemental essence in its wonderful plasticity will respond exactly to that less distinct idea also, and the creature formed will expend its force in the direction of whatever action for the man's advantage comes most readily to hand. of course in all cases the amount of such force it has to expend, and the length of time that it will live to expend it, depend entirely upon the strength of the original wish or thought which gave it birth; though it must be remembered that it can be, as it were, fed and strengthened, and its life-period protracted by other good wishes or friendly thoughts projected in the same direction. furthermore, it appears to be actuated, like most other beings, by an instinctive desire to prolong its life, and thus reacts on its creator as a force constantly tending to provoke the renewal of the feeling which called it into existence. it also influences in a similar manner others with whom it comes into contact, though its _rapport_ with them is naturally not so perfect. all that has been said as to the effect of good wishes and friendly thoughts is also true in the opposite direction of evil wishes and angry thoughts; and considering the amount of envy, hatred, malice and all uncharitableness that exists in the world, it will be readily understood that among the artificial elementals many terrible creatures are to be seen. a man whose thoughts or desires are spiteful, brutal, sensual, avaricious, moves through the world carrying with him everywhere a pestiferous atmosphere of his own, peopled with the loathsome beings he has created to be his companions, and thus is not only in sadly evil case himself, but is a dangerous nuisance to his fellow-men, subjecting all who have the misfortune to come into contact with him to the risk of moral contagion from the influence of the abominations with which he chooses to surround himself. a feeling of envious or jealous hatred towards another person will send an evil elemental to hover over him and seek for a weak point through which it can operate; and if the feeling be a persistent one, such a creature may be continually nourished by it and thereby enabled to protract its undesirable activity for a very long period. it can, however, produce no effect upon the person towards whom it is directed unless he has himself some tendency which it can foster--some fulcrum for its lever, as it were; from the aura of a man of pure thought and good life all such influences at once rebound, finding nothing upon which they can fasten, and in that case, by a very curious law, they react in all their force upon their original creator. in him by the hypothesis they find a very congenial sphere of action, and thus the karma of his evil wish works itself out at once by means of the very entity which he himself has called into existence. it occasionally happens, however, that an artificial elemental of this description is for various reasons unable to expend its force either upon its object or its creator, and in such cases it becomes a kind of wandering demon, readily attracted by any person who indulges feelings similar to that which gave it birth, and equally prepared either to stimulate such feelings in him for the sake of the strength it may gain from them, or to pour out its store of evil influence upon him through any opening which he may offer it. if it is sufficiently powerful to seize upon and inhabit some passing shell it frequently does so, as the possession of such a temporary home enables it to husband its dreadful resources more carefully. in this form it may manifest through a medium, and by masquerading as some well-known friend may sometimes obtain an influence over people upon whom it would otherwise have little hold. what has been written above will serve to enforce the statement already made as to the importance of maintaining a strict control over our thoughts. many a well-meaning man, who is scrupulously careful to do his duty towards his neighbour in word and deed, is apt to consider that his thoughts at least are nobody's business but his own, and so lets them run riot in various directions, utterly unconscious of the swarms of baleful creatures he is launching upon the world. to such a man an accurate comprehension of the effect of thought and desire in producing artificial elementals would come as a horrifying revelation; on the other hand, it would be the greatest consolation to many devoted and grateful souls who are oppressed with the feeling that they are unable to do anything in return for the kindness lavished upon them by their benefactors. for friendly thoughts and earnest good wishes are as easily and as effectually formulated by the poorest as by the richest, and it is within the power of almost any man, if he will take the trouble, to maintain what is practically a good angel always at the side of the brother or sister, the friend or the child whom he loves best, no matter in what part of the world he may be. many a time a mother's loving thoughts and prayers have formed themselves into an angel guardian for the child, and except in the almost impossible case that the child had in him no instinct responsive to a good influence, have undoubtedly given him assistance and protection. such guardians may often be seen by clairvoyant vision, and there have even been cases where one of them has had sufficient strength to materialize and become for the moment visible to physical sight. a curious fact which deserves mention here is that even after the passage of the mother into the devachanic condition the love which she pours out upon the children she thinks of as surrounding her will react upon the real children still living in this world, and will often support the guardian elemental which she created while on earth, until her dear ones themselves pass away in turn. as madame blavatsky remarks, "her love will always be felt by the children in the flesh; it will manifest in their dreams and often in various events, in providential protections and escapes--for love is a strong shield, and is not limited by space or time" (_key to theosophy_, p. ). all the stories of the intervention of guardian angels must not, however, be attributed to the action of artificial elementals, for in many cases such "angels" have been the souls of either living or recently departed human beings, and they have also occasionally, though rarely, been devas. this power of an earnest desire, especially if frequently repeated, to create an active elemental which ever presses forcefully in the direction of its own fulfilment, is the scientific explanation of what devout but unphilosophical people describe as answers to prayer. there are occasions, though at present these are rare, when the karma of the person so praying is such as to permit of assistance being directly rendered to him by an adept or his pupil, and there is also the still rarer possibility of the intervention of a deva or some friendly nature-spirit; but in all these cases the easiest and most obvious form for such assistance to take would be the strengthening and the intelligent direction of the elemental already formed by the wish. a very curious and instructive instance of the extreme persistence of these artificial elementals under favourable circumstances came under the notice of one of our investigators quite recently. all readers of the literature of such subjects are aware that many of our ancient families are supposed to have associated with them a traditional death-warning--a phenomenon of one kind or another which foretells, usually some days beforehand, the approaching decease of the head of the house. a picturesque example of this is the well-known story of the white bird of the oxenhams, whose appearance has ever since the time of queen elizabeth been recognized as a sure presage of the death of some member of the family; while another is the spectral coach which is reported to drive up to the door of a certain castle in the north when a similar calamity is impending. a phenomenon of this order occurs in connection with the family of one of our members, but it is of a much commoner and less striking type than either of the above, consisting only of a solemn and impressive strain of dirge-like music, which is heard apparently floating in the air three days before the death takes place. our member, having himself twice heard this mystic sound, finding its warning in both cases quite accurate, and knowing also that according to family tradition the same thing had been happening for several centuries, set himself to seek by occult methods for the cause underlying so strange a phenomenon. the result was unexpected but interesting. it appeared that somewhere in the twelfth century the head of the family went to the crusades, like many another valiant man, and took with him to win his spurs in the sacred cause his youngest and favourite son, a promising youth whose success in life was the dearest wish of his father's heart. unhappily, however, the young man was killed in battle, and the father was plunged into the depths of despair, lamenting not only the loss of his son, but still more the fact that he was cut off so suddenly in the full flush of careless and not altogether blameless youth. so poignant, indeed, were the old man's feelings that he cast off his knightly armour and joined one of the great monastic orders, vowing to devote all the remainder of his life to prayer, first for the soul of his son, and secondly that henceforward no descendant of his might ever again encounter what seemed to his simple and pious mind the terrible danger of meeting death unprepared. day after day for many a year he poured all the energy of his soul into the channel of that one intense wish, firmly believing that somehow or other the result he so earnestly desired would be brought about. a student of occultism will have little difficulty in deciding what would be the effect of such a definite and long-continued stream of thought; our knightly monk created an artificial elemental of immense power and resourcefulness for its own particular object, and accumulated within it a store of force which would enable it to carry out his wishes for an indefinite period. an elemental is a perfect storage-battery--one from which there is practically no leakage; and when we remember what its original strength must have been, and how comparatively rarely it would be called upon to put it forth, we shall scarcely wonder that even now it exhibits unimpaired vitality, and still warns the direct descendants of the old crusader of their approaching doom by repeating in their ears the strange wailing music which was the dirge of a young and valiant soldier seven hundred years ago in palestine. . _elementals formed consciously._ since such results as have been described above have been achieved by the thought-force of men who were entirely in the dark as to what they were doing, it will readily be imagined that a magician who understands the subject, and can see exactly what effect he is producing, may wield immense power along these lines. as a matter of fact occultists of both the white and dark schools frequently use artificial elementals in their work, and few tasks are beyond the powers of such creatures when scientifically prepared and directed with knowledge and skill; for one who knows how to do so can maintain a connection with his elemental and guide it, no matter at what distance it may be working, so that it will practically act as though endowed with the full intelligence of its master. very definite and very efficient guardian angels have sometimes been supplied in this way, though it is probably very rarely that karma permits such a decided interference in a person's life as that would be. in such a case, however, as that of a pupil of the adepts, who might have in the course of his work for them to run the risk of attack from forces with which his unaided strength would be entirely insufficient to cope, guardians of this description have been given, and have fully proved their sleepless vigilance and their tremendous power. by some of the more advanced processes of black magic, also, artificial elementals of great power may be called into existence, and much evil has been worked in various ways by such entities. but it is true of them, as of the previous class, that if they are aimed at a person whom by reason of his purity of character they are unable to influence they react with terrible force upon their creator; so that the mediæval story of the magician being torn to pieces by the fiends he himself had raised is no mere fable, but may well have an awful foundation in fact. such creatures occasionally, for various reasons, escape from the control of those who are trying to make use of them, and become wandering and aimless demons, as do some of those mentioned under the previous heading under similar circumstances; but those that we are considering, having much more intelligence and power, and a much longer existence, are proportionately more dangerous. they invariably seek for means of prolonging their life either by feeding like vampires upon the vitality of human beings, or by influencing them to make offerings to them; and among simple half-savage tribes they have frequently succeeded by judicious management in getting themselves recognized as village or family gods. any deity which demands sacrifices involving the shedding of blood may always be set down as belonging to the lowest and most loathsome class of this order; other less objectionable types are sometimes content with offerings of rice and cooked food of various kinds. there are parts of india where both these varieties may be found flourishing even at the present day, and in africa they are probably comparatively numerous. by means of whatever nourishment they can obtain from the offerings, and still more by the vitality they draw from their devotees, they may continue to prolong their existence for many years, or even centuries, retaining sufficient strength to perform occasional phenomena of a mild type in order to stimulate the faith and zeal of their followers, and invariably making themselves unpleasant in some way or other if the accustomed sacrifices are neglected. for example, it was asserted recently that in one indian village the inhabitants had found that whenever for any reason the local deity did not get his or her regular meals, spontaneous fires began to break out with alarming frequency among the cottages, sometimes three or four simultaneously, in cases where they declared it was impossible to suspect human agency; and other stories of a more or less similar nature will no doubt recur to the memory of any reader who knows something of the out-of-the-way corners of that most wonderful of all countries. the art of manufacturing artificial elementals of extreme virulence and power seems to have been one of the specialities of the magicians of atlantis--"the lords of the dark face". one example of their capabilities in this line is given in _the secret doctrine_ (vol. ii., p. ), where we read of the wonderful speaking animals who had to be quieted by an offering of blood, lest they should awaken their masters and warn them of the impending destruction. but apart from these strange beasts they created other artificial entities of power and energy so tremendous, that it is darkly hinted that some of them have kept themselves in existence even to this day, though it is more than eleven thousand years since the cataclysm which overwhelmed their original masters. the terrible indian goddess whose devotees were impelled to commit in her name the awful crimes of thuggee--the ghastly kâlî, worshipped even to this day with rites too abominable to be described--might well be a relic of a system which had to be swept away even at the cost of the submergence of a continent, and the loss of sixty-five million human lives. . _human artificials._ we have now to consider a class of entities which, though it contains but very few individuals, has acquired from its intimate connection with one of the great movements of modern times an importance entirely out of proportion to its numbers. it seems doubtful whether it should appear under the first or third of our main divisions; but, though certainly human, it is so far removed from the course of ordinary evolution, so entirely the product of a will outside of its own, that it perhaps falls most naturally into place among the artificial beings. the easiest way of describing it will be to commence with its history, and to do that we must once more look back to the great atlantean race. in thinking of the adepts and schools of occultism of that remarkable people our minds instinctively revert to the evil practices of which we hear so much in connection with their latter days; but we must not forget that before that age of selfishness and degradation the mighty civilization of atlantis had brought forth much that was noble and worthy of admiration, and that among its leaders were some who now stand upon the loftiest pinnacles as yet attained by man. among the lodges for occult study preliminary to initiation formed by the adepts of the good law was one in a certain part of america which was then tributary to one of the great atlantean monarchs--"the divine rulers of the golden gate"; and though it has passed through many and strange vicissitudes, though it has had to move its headquarters from country to country as each in turn was invaded by the jarring elements of a later civilization, that lodge still exists even at the present day, observing still the same old-world ritual even teaching as a sacred and hidden language the same atlantean tongue which was used at its foundation so many thousands of years ago. it still remains what it was from the first--a lodge of occultists of pure and philanthropic aims, which can lead those students whom it finds worthy no inconsiderable distance on the road to knowledge, and confers such psychic powers as are in its gift only after the most searching tests as to the fitness of the candidate. its teachers do not stand upon the adept level, yet hundreds have learnt through it how to set their feet upon the path which has led them to adeptship in later lives; and though it is not in direct communication with the brotherhood of the himalayas, there are some among the latter who have themselves been connected with it in former incarnations, and therefore retain a more than ordinarily friendly interest in its proceedings. the chiefs of this lodge, though they have always kept themselves and their society strictly in the background, have nevertheless done what they could from time to time to assist the progress of truth in the world, and some half-century ago, in despair at the rampant materialism which seemed to be stifling all spirituality in europe and america, they determined to make an attempt to combat it by somewhat novel methods--in point of fact to offer opportunities by which any reasonable man could acquire absolute proof of that life apart from the physical body which it was the tendency of science to deny. the phenomena exhibited were not in themselves absolutely new, since in some form or other we may hear of them all through history; but their definite organization--their production as it were to order--these were features distinctly new to the modern world. the movement they thus set on foot gradually grew into the vast fabric of modern spiritualism, and though it would perhaps be unfair to hold the originators of the scheme directly responsible for many of the results which have followed, we must admit that they have achieved their purpose to the extent of converting vast numbers of people from a belief in nothing in particular to a firm faith in at any rate some kind of future life. this is undoubtedly a magnificent result, though, in the opinion of many of those whose power and knowledge enable them to take a wider view of such matters than we can, it has been attained at too great a cost, since it seems to them that on the whole the harm done outweighs the good. the method adopted was to take some ordinary person after death, arouse him thoroughly upon the astral plane, instruct him to a certain extent in the powers and possibilities belonging to it, and then put him in charge of a spiritualistic circle. he in his turn "developed" other departed personalities along the same line, they all acted upon those who sat at their _séances_, and "developed" them as mediums; and so spiritualism grew and flourished. no doubt living members of the original lodge occasionally manifested themselves in astral form at some of the circles--perhaps they may do so even now; but in most cases they simply gave such direction and guidance as they considered necessary to the persons they had put in charge. there is little doubt that the movement increased so much more rapidly than they had expected that it soon got quite beyond their control, so that, as has been said, for many of the later developments they can only be held indirectly responsible. of course the intensification of the astral-plane life in those persons who were thus put in charge of circles distinctly delayed their natural progress; and though the idea had been that anything lost in this way would be fully atoned for by the good karma gained by helping to lead others to the truth, it was soon found that it was impossible to make use of a "spirit-guide" for any length of time without doing him serious and permanent injury. in some cases such "guides" were therefore withdrawn, and others substituted for them; in others it was considered for various reasons undesirable to make such a change, and then a very remarkable expedient was adopted which gave rise to the curious class of creatures we have called "human artificials". the higher principles of the original "guide" were allowed to pass on their long delayed evolution into the devachanic condition, but the shade he left behind him was taken possession of, sustained, and operated upon so that it might appear to its admiring circle practically just as before. this seems at first to have been done by members of the lodge themselves, but apparently that arrangement was found irksome or unsuitable, or perhaps was considered a waste of force, and the same objection applied to the use for this purpose of an artificial elemental; so it was eventually decided that the departed person who would have been appointed to succeed the late "spirit-guide" should still do so, but should take possession of the latter's shade or shell, and in fact simply wear his appearance. it is said that some members of the lodge objected to this on the ground that though the purpose might be entirely good a certain amount of deception was involved; but the general opinion seems to have been that as the shade really was the same, and contained something at any rate of the original lower manas, there was nothing that could be called deception in the matter. this, then, was the genesis of the human artificial entity, and it is understood that in some cases more than one such change has been made without arousing suspicion, though on the other hand some investigators of spiritualism have remarked on the fact that after a considerable lapse of time certain differences suddenly became observable in the manner and disposition of a "spirit". it is needless to say that none of the adept brotherhood has ever approved of the formation of an artificial entity of this sort, though they could not interfere with any one who thought it right to take such a course. a weak point in the arrangement is that many others besides the original lodge may adopt this plan, and there is nothing whatever to prevent black magicians from supplying communicating "spirits"--as, indeed, they have been known to do. with this class we conclude our survey of the inhabitants of the astral plane. with the reservations specially made some few pages back, the catalogue may be taken as a fairly complete one; but it must once more be emphasized that this treatise claims only to sketch the merest outline of a very vast subject, the detailed elaboration of which would need a lifetime of study and hard work. phenomena. though in the course of this paper various superphysical phenomena have been mentioned and to some extent explained, it will perhaps before concluding be desirable so far to recapitulate as to give a list of those which are most frequently met with by the student of these subjects, and to show by which of the agencies we have attempted to describe they are usually caused. the resources of the astral world, however, are so varied that almost any phenomenon with which we are acquainted can be produced in several different ways, so that it is only possible to lay down general rules in the matter. apparitions or ghosts furnish a very good instance of the remark just made, for in the loose manner in which the words are ordinarily used they may stand for almost any inhabitant of the astral plane. of course psychically developed people are constantly seeing such things, but for an ordinary person to "see a ghost," as the common expression runs, one of two things must happen: either that ghost must materialize, or that person must have a temporary flash of psychic perception. but for the fact that neither of these events is a common one, ghosts would be met with in our streets as frequently as living people. [sidenote: churchyard ghosts.] if the ghost is seen hovering about a grave it is probably the etheric shell of a newly-buried person, though it _may_ be the astral body of a living man haunting in sleep the tomb of a friend; or again, it may be a materialized thought-form--that is, an artificial elemental created by the energy with which a man thinks of himself as present at that particular spot. these varieties would be easily distinguishable one from the other by any one accustomed to use astral vision, but an unpractised person would be quite likely to call them all vaguely "ghosts". [sidenote: apparitions of the dying.] apparitions at the time of death are by no means uncommon, and are very often really visits paid by the astral form of the dying man just before what we elect to call the moment of dissolution; though here again they are quite likely to be thought-forms called into being by his earnest wish to see some friend once more before he passes into an unfamiliar condition. [sidenote: haunted localities.] apparitions at the spot where some crime was committed are usually thought-forms projected by the criminal, who, whether living or dead, but most especially when dead, is perpetually thinking over again and again the circumstances of his action; and since these thoughts are naturally specially vivid in his mind on the anniversary of the original crime, it is often only on that occasion that the artificial elementals he creates are strong enough to materialize themselves to ordinary sight--a fact which accounts for the periodicity of some manifestations of this class. another point in reference to such phenomena is, that wherever any tremendous mental disturbance has taken place, wherever overwhelming terror, pain, sorrow, hatred, or indeed any kind of intense passion has been felt, an impression of so very marked a character has been made upon the astral light that a person with even the faintest glimmer of psychic faculty cannot but be deeply impressed by it, and it would need but a slight temporary increase of sensibility to enable him to visualize the entire scene--to see the event in all its detail apparently taking place before his eyes--and in such a case he would of course report that the place was haunted, and that he had seen a ghost. indeed, people who are as yet unable to see psychically under any circumstances are frequently very unpleasantly impressed when visiting such places as we have mentioned; there are many, for example, who feel uncomfortable when passing the site of tyburn tree, or cannot stay in the chamber of horrors at madame tussaud's, though they may not be in the least aware that their discomfort is due to the dreadful impressions in the astral light which surround places and objects redolent of horror and crime, and to the presence of the loathsome astral entities which always swarm about such centres. [sidenote: family ghosts.] the family ghost, whom we generally find in the stock stories of the supernatural as an appanage of the feudal castle, may be either a thought-form or an unusually vivid impression in the astral light, or again he may really be an earth-bound ancestor still haunting the scenes in which his thoughts and hopes centred during life. [sidenote: bell-ringing, stone-throwing, etc.] another class of hauntings which take the form of bell-ringing, stone-throwing, or the breaking of crockery, has already been referred to, and is almost invariably the work of elemental forces, either set blindly in motion by the clumsy efforts of an ignorant person trying to attract the attention of his surviving friends, or intentionally employed by some childishly mischievous nature-spirit. [sidenote: fairies.] the nature-spirits are also responsible for whatever of truth there may be in all the strange fairy stories which are so common in certain parts of the country. sometimes a temporary accession of clairvoyance, which is by no means uncommon among the inhabitants of lonely mountainous regions, enables some belated wayfarer to watch their joyous gambols; sometimes strange tricks are played upon some terrified victim, and a glamour is cast over him, making him, for example, see houses and people where he knows none really exist. and this is frequently no mere momentary delusion, for a man will sometimes go through quite a long series of imaginary but most striking adventures, and then suddenly find that all his brilliant surroundings have vanished in a moment, leaving him standing in some lonely valley or on some wind-swept plain. on the other hand, it is by no means safe to accept as founded on fact all the popular legends on the subject, for the grossest superstition is often mingled with the theories of the peasantry about these beings, as was shown by a recent terrible murder case in ireland. to the same entities must be attributed a large portion of what are called physical phenomena at spiritualistic _séances_--indeed, many a _séance_ has been given entirely by these mischievous creatures; and such a performance might easily include many very striking items, such as the answering of questions and delivery of pretended messages by raps or tilts, the exhibition of "spirit lights," the apport of objects from a distance, the reading of thoughts which were in the mind of any person present, the precipitation of writings or drawings, and even materializations. in fact, the nature-spirits alone, if any of them happened to be disposed to take the trouble, could give a _séance_ equal to the most wonderful of which we read; for though there may be certain phenomena which they would not find it easy to reproduce, their marvellous power of glamour would enable them without difficulty to persuade the entire circle that these phenomena also had duly occurred, unless, indeed, there were present a trained observer who understood their arts and knew how to defeat them. as a general rule, whenever silly tricks or practical jokes are played at a _séance_, we may infer the presence either of low-class nature-spirits, or of human beings who were of a sufficiently degraded type to find pleasure in such idiotic performances during life. [sidenote: communicating entities.] as to the entities who may "communicate" at a _séance_, or may obsess and speak through an entranced medium, their name is simply legion; there is hardly a single class among all the varied inhabitants of the astral plane from whose ranks they may not be drawn, though after the explanations given it will be readily understood that the chances are very much against their coming from a high one. a manifesting "spirit" _may_ be exactly what it professes to be, but on the whole the probabilities are that it is nothing of the kind; and for the ordinary sitter there is absolutely no means of distinguishing the true from the false, since the extent to which a being having all the resources of the astral plane at his command can delude a person on the physical plane is so great that no reliance can be placed even on what seems the most convincing proof. if something manifests which announces itself as a man's long-lost brother, he can have no certainty that its claim is a just one; if it tells him of some fact known only to that brother and to himself, he remains unconvinced, for he knows that it might easily have read the information from his own mind, or from his surroundings in the astral light; even if it goes still further and tells him something connected with his brother, of which he himself is unaware, but which he afterwards verifies, he still realizes that even this may have been read from the astral record, or that what he sees before him may be only the shade of his brother, and so possess his memory without in any way being himself. it is not for one moment denied that important communications have sometimes been made at _séances_ by entities who in such cases have been precisely what they said they were; all that is claimed is that it is quite impossible for the ordinary person who visits a _séance_ ever to be certain that he is not being cruelly deceived in one or other of half a dozen different ways. there have been a few cases in which members of the lodge of occultists referred to above as originating the spiritualistic movement have themselves given, through a medium, a series of valuable teachings on deeply interesting subjects, but this has invariably been at strictly private family _séances_, not at public performances for which money has been paid. [sidenote: astral resources.] to understand the methods by which a large class of physical phenomena are produced, it is necessary to have some comprehension of the various resources mentioned above, which a person functioning on the astral plane finds at his command; and this is a branch of the subject which it is by no means easy to make clear, especially as it is hedged about with certain obviously necessary restrictions. it may perhaps help us if we remember that the astral plane may be regarded as in many ways only an extension of the physical, and the idea that matter may assume the etheric state (in which, though intangible to us, it is yet purely physical) may serve to show us how the one melts into the other. in fact, in the hindu conception of jagrat, or "the waking state," the physical and astral planes are combined, its seven subdivisions corresponding to the four conditions of physical matter, and the three broad divisions of astral matter explained above. with this thought in our minds it is easy to move a step further, and grasp the idea that astral vision, or rather astral perception, may from one point of view be defined as the capability of receiving an enormously increased number of different sets of vibrations. in our physical bodies one small set of slow vibrations is perceptible to us as sound; another small set of much more rapid vibrations affects us as light; and again another set as electric action: but there are immense numbers of intermediate vibrations which produce no result which our physical senses can cognize at all. now it will readily be seen that if all, or even some only, of these intermediates, with all the complications producible by differences of wave-length, are perceptible on the astral plane, our comprehension of nature might be very greatly increased on that level, and we might be able to acquire much information which is now hidden from us. [sidenote: clairvoyance.] [sidenote: prevision and second-sight.] it is admitted that some of these pass through solid matter with perfect ease, so that this enables us to account scientifically for some of the peculiarities of astral vision, though those minds to which the theory of the fourth dimension commends itself find in it a neater and more complete explanation. it is clear that the mere possession of this astral vision by a being would at once account for his capability to produce many results that seem very wonderful to us--such, for example, as the reading of a passage from a closed book; and when we remember, furthermore, that this faculty includes the power of thought-reading to the fullest extent, and also, when combined with the knowledge of the projection of currents in the astral light, that of observing a desired object in almost any part of the world, we see that a good many of the phenomena of clairvoyance are explicable even without rising above this level. of course true, trained, and absolutely reliable clairvoyance calls into operation an entirely different set of faculties, but as these belong to a higher plane than the astral, they form no part of our present subject. the faculty of accurate prevision, again, appertains altogether to that higher plane, yet flashes or reflections of it frequently show themselves to purely astral sight, more especially among simple-minded people who live under suitable conditions--what is called "second-sight" among the highlanders of scotland being a well-known example. another fact which must not be forgotten is that any intelligent inhabitant of the astral plane is not only able to perceive these etheric vibrations, but can also--if he has learnt how it is done--adapt them to his own ends or himself set them in motion. [sidenote: astral forces.] [sidenote: etheric currents.] [sidenote: etheric pressure.] [sidenote: latent energy.] [sidenote: sympathetic vibration.] it will be readily understood that superphysical forces and the methods of managing them are not subjects about which much can be written for publication at present, though there is reason to suppose that it may not be very long before at any rate some applications of one or two of them come to be known to the world at large: but it may perhaps be possible, without transgressing the limits of the permissible, to give so much of an idea of them as shall be sufficient to show in outline how certain phenomena are performed. all who have much experience of spiritualistic _séances_ at which physical results are produced must at one time or another have seen evidence of the employment of practically resistless force in, for example, the instantaneous movement of enormous weights, and so on; and if of a scientific turn of mind, they may perhaps have wondered whence this force was obtained, and what was the leverage employed. as usual in connection with astral phenomena, there are several ways in which such work may have been done, but it will be enough for the moment to hint at four. first, there are great etheric currents constantly sweeping over the surface of the earth from pole to pole in volume which makes their power as irresistible as that of the rising tide, and there are methods by which this stupendous force may be safely utilized, though unskilful attempts to control it would be fraught with frightful danger. secondly, there is what can best be described as an etheric pressure, somewhat corresponding to, though immensely greater than, the atmospheric pressure. in ordinary life we are as little conscious of one of these pressures as we are of the other, but nevertheless they both exist, and if science were able to exhaust the ether from a given space, as it can exhaust the air, the one could be proved as readily as the other. the difficulty of doing that lies in the fact that matter in the etheric condition freely inter-penetrates matter in all states below it, so that there is as yet no means within the knowledge of our physicists by which any given body of ether can be isolated from the rest. practical occultism, however, teaches how this can be done, and thus the tremendous force of etheric pressure can be brought into play. thirdly, there is a vast store of potential energy which has become dormant in matter during the involution of the subtle into the gross, and by changing the condition of the matter some of this may be liberated and utilized, somewhat as latent energy in the form of heat may be liberated by a change in the condition of visible matter. fourthly, many striking results, both great and small, may be produced by an extension of a principle which may be described as that of sympathetic vibration. illustrations taken from the physical plane seem generally to misrepresent rather than elucidate astral phenomena, because they can never be more than partially applicable; but the recollection of two simple facts of ordinary life may help to make this important branch of our subject clearer, if we are careful not to push the analogy further than it will hold good. it is well known that if one of the wires of a harp be made to vibrate vigorously, its movement will call forth sympathetic vibrations in the corresponding strings of any number of harps placed round it, if they are tuned to exactly the same pitch. it is also well known that when a large body of soldiers crosses a suspension bridge it is necessary for them to break step, since the perfect regularity of their ordinary march would set up a vibration in the bridge which would be intensified by every step they took, until the point of resistance of the iron was passed, when the whole structure would fly to pieces. with these two analogies in our minds (never forgetting that they are only partial ones) it may seem more comprehensible that one who knows exactly at what rate to start his vibrations--knows, so to speak, the keynote of the class of matter he wishes to affect--should be able by sounding that keynote to call forth an immense number of sympathetic vibrations. when this is done on the physical plane no additional energy is developed; but on the astral plane there is this difference, that the matter with which we are dealing is far less inert, and so when called into action by these sympathetic vibrations it adds its own living force to the original impulse, which may thus be multiplied many-fold; and then by further rhythmic repetition of the original impulse, as in the case of the soldiers marching over the bridge, the vibrations may be so intensified that the result is out of all apparent proportion to the cause. indeed, it may be said that there is scarcely any limit to the conceivable achievements of this force in the hands of a great adept who fully comprehends its possibilities; for the very building of the universe itself was but the result of the vibrations set up by the spoken word. [sidenote: mantras.] the class of mantras or spells which produce their result not by controlling some elemental, but merely by the repetition of certain sounds, also depend for their efficacy upon this action of sympathetic vibration. [sidenote: disintegration.] the phenomenon of disintegration also may be brought about by the action of extremely rapid vibrations, which overcome the cohesion of the molecules of the object operated upon. a still higher rate of vibrations of a somewhat different type will separate these molecules into their constituent atoms. a body reduced by these means to the etheric condition can be moved by an astral current from one place to another with very great rapidity; and the moment that the force which has been exerted to put it into that condition is withdrawn it will be forced by the etheric pressure to resume its original form. it is in this way that objects are sometimes brought almost instantaneously from great distances at spiritualistic _séances_, and it is obvious that when disintegrated they could be passed with perfect ease through any solid substance, such, for example, as the wall of a house or the side of a locked box, so that what is commonly called "the passage of matter through matter" is seen, when properly understood, to be as simple as the passage of water through a sieve, or of a gas through a liquid in some chemical experiment. [sidenote: materialization.] since it is possible by an alteration of vibrations to change matter from the solid to the etheric condition, it will be comprehended that it is also possible to reverse the process and to bring etheric matter into the solid state. as the one process explains the phenomenon of disintegration, so does the other that of materialization; and just as in the former case a continued effort of will is necessary to prevent the object from resuming its original form, so in exactly the same way in the latter phenomenon a continued effort is necessary to prevent the materialized matter from relapsing into the etheric condition. in the materializations seen at an ordinary _séance_, such matter as may be required is borrowed as far as possible from the medium's etheric double--an operation which is prejudicial to his health, and also undesirable in various other ways; and this explains the fact that the materialized form is usually strictly confined to the immediate neighbourhood of the medium, and is subject to an attraction which is constantly drawing it back to the body from which it came, so that if kept away from the medium too long the figure collapses, and the matter which composed it, returning to the etheric condition, rushes back instantly to its source. [sidenote: why darkness is required.] [sidenote: spirit photographs.] the reason why the beings directing a _séance_ find it easier to operate in darkness or in very subdued light will now be manifest, since their power would usually be insufficient to hold together a materialized form or even a "spirit hand" for more than a very few seconds amidst the intense vibrations set up by brilliant light. the _habitués_ of _séances_ will no doubt have noticed that materializations are of three kinds:--first, those which are tangible but not visible; second, those which are visible but not tangible; and third, those which are both visible and tangible. to the first kind, which is much the most common, belong the invisible spirit hands which so frequently stroke the faces of the sitters or carry small objects about the room, and the vocal organs from which the "direct voice" proceeds. in this case, an order of matter is being used which can neither reflect nor obstruct light, but which is capable under certain conditions of setting up vibrations in the atmosphere which affect us as sound. a variation of this class is that kind of partial materialization which, though incapable of reflecting any light that we can see, is yet able to affect some of the ultra-violet rays, and can therefore make a more or less definite impression upon the camera, and so provide us with what are known as "spirit photographs". when there is not sufficient power available to produce a perfect materialization we sometimes get the vaporous-looking form which constitutes our second class, and in such a case the "spirits" usually warn their sitters that the forms which appear must not be touched. in the rarer case of a full materialization there is sufficient power to hold together, at least for a few moments, a form which can be both seen and touched. when an adept or pupil finds it necessary for any purpose to materialize his mâyâvirûpa or his astral body, he does not draw upon either his own etheric double or any one else's, since he has been taught how to extract the matter which he requires directly from the astral light or even from the Âkâsha. [sidenote: reduplication.] another phenomenon closely connected with this part of the subject is that of reduplication, which is produced by simply forming in the astral light a perfect mental image of the object to be copied, and then gathering about that mould the necessary physical matter. of course for this purpose it is necessary that every particle, interior as well as exterior, of the object to be duplicated should be held accurately in view simultaneously, and consequently the phenomenon is one which requires considerable power of concentration to perform. persons unable to reduce the matter required directly from the astral light have sometimes borrowed it from the material of the original article, which in this case would be correspondingly reduced in weight. [sidenote: precipitation.] we read a good deal in theosophical literature about the precipitation of letters or pictures. this result, like everything else, may be obtained in several ways. an adept wishing to communicate with some one might place a sheet of paper before him, form an image of the writing which he wished to appear upon it, and draw from the astral light the matter wherewith to objectify that image; or if he preferred to do so it would be equally easy for him to produce the same result upon a sheet of paper lying before his correspondent, whatever might be the distance between them. a third method which, since it saves time, is much more frequently adopted, is to impress the whole substance of the letter on the mind of some pupil, and leave him to do the mechanical work of precipitation. that pupil would then take his sheet of paper, and, imagining he saw the letter written thereon in his master's hand, would proceed to objectify the writing as before described. if he found it difficult to perform simultaneously the two operations of drawing his material from the astral light and precipitating the writing on the paper, he might have either ordinary ink or a small quantity of coloured powder on the table beside him, which, being already physical matter, could be drawn upon more readily. it is of course obvious that the possession of this power would be a very dangerous weapon in the hands of an unscrupulous person, since it is just as easy to imitate one man's handwriting as another's, and it would be impossible to detect by any ordinary means a forgery committed in this manner. a pupil definitely connected with any master has always an infallible test by which he knows whether any message really emanates from that master or not, but for others the proof of its origin must always lie solely in the contents of the letter and the spirit breathing through it, as the handwriting, however cleverly imitated, is of absolutely no value as evidence. as to speed, a pupil new to the work of precipitation would probably be able to image only a few words at a time, and would, therefore, get on hardly more rapidly than if he wrote his letter in the ordinary way, but a more experienced individual who could visualize a whole page or perhaps the entire letter at once would get through his work with greater facility. it is in this manner that quite long letters are sometimes produced in a few seconds at a _séance_. when a picture has to be precipitated the method is precisely the same, except that here it is absolutely necessary that the entire scene should he visualized at once, and if many colours are required there is of course the additional complication of manufacturing them, keeping them separate, and reproducing accurately the exact tints of the scene to be represented. evidently there is scope here for the exercise of the artistic faculty, and it must not be supposed that every inhabitant of the astral plane could by this method produce an equally good picture; a man who had been a great artist in life, and had therefore learnt how to see and what to look for, would certainly be very much more successful than the ordinary person if he attempted precipitation when on the astral plane after death. [sidenote: slate-writing.] the slate-writing, for the production of which under test conditions some of the greatest mediums have been so famous, is sometimes produced by precipitation, though more frequently the fragment of pencil enclosed between the slates is guided by a spirit hand, of which only just the tiny points sufficient to grasp it are materialized. [sidenote: levitation.] an occurrence which occasionally takes place at _séances_, and more frequently among eastern yógîs, is what is called levitation--that is, the floating of a human body in the air. no doubt when this takes place in the case of a medium, he is often simply upborne by "spirit hands," but there is another and more scientific method of accomplishing this feat which is always used in the east, and occasionally here also. occult science is acquainted with a means of neutralizing or even entirely reversing the attraction of gravity, and it is obvious that by the judicious use of this power all the phenomena of levitation may be easily produced. it was no doubt by a knowledge of this secret that some of the air-ships of ancient india and atlantis were raised from the earth and made light enough to be readily moved and directed; and not improbably the same acquaintance with nature's finer forces greatly facilitated the labours of those who raised the enormous blocks of stone sometimes used in cyclopean architecture, or in the building of the pyramids and stonehenge. [sidenote: spirit lights.] with the knowledge of the forces of nature which the resources of the astral plane place at the command its inhabitants the production of what are called "spirit lights" is a very easy matter, whether they be of the mildly phosphorescent or the dazzling electrical variety, or those curious dancing globules of light into which a certain class of fire elementals so readily transform themselves. since all light consists simply of vibrations of the ether, it is obvious that any one who knows how to set up these vibrations can readily produce any kind of light that he wishes. [sidenote: handling fire.] it is by the aid of the etheric elemental essence also that the remarkable feat of handling fire unharmed is generally performed, though there are as usual other ways in which it can be done. the thinnest layer of etheric substance can be so manipulated as to be absolutely impervious to heat, and when the hand of a medium or sitter is covered with this he may pick up burning coal or red-hot iron with perfect safety. [sidenote: transmutation.] most of the occurrences of the _séance_-room have now been referred to, but there are one or two of the rarer phenomena of the outer world which must not be left quite without mention in our list. the transmutation of metals is commonly supposed to be a mere dream of the mediæval alchemists, and no doubt in most cases the description of the phenomenon was merely a symbol of the purification of the soul; yet there seems to be some evidence that it was really accomplished by them on several occasions, and there are petty magicians in the east who profess to do it under test conditions even now. be that as it may, it is evident that since the ultimate atom is one and the same in all substances, and it is only the methods of its combination that differ, any one who possessed the power of reducing a piece of metal to the atomic condition and of re-arranging its atoms in some other form would have no difficulty in effecting transmutation to any extent that he wished. [sidenote: repercussion.] the principle of sympathetic vibration mentioned above also provides the explanation of that strange and little-known phenomenon called repercussion, by means of which any injury done to, or any mark made upon, the astral body in the course of its wanderings will be reproduced in the physical body. we find traces of this in some of the evidence given at trials for witchcraft in the middle ages, in which it is not infrequently stated that some wound given to the witch when in the form of a dog or a wolf was found to have appeared in the corresponding part of her human body. the same strange law has sometimes led to an entirely unjust accusation of fraud against a medium, because, for example, some colouring matter rubbed upon the hand of a materialized "spirit" was afterwards found upon his hand--the explanation being that in that case, as so often happens, the "spirit" was simply the medium's astral body or perhaps even his etheric double, forced by the guiding influences to take some form other than his own. in fact the astral and physical bodies are so intimately connected that it is impossible to touch the keynote of one without immediately setting up exactly corresponding vibrations in the other. conclusion. it is hoped that any reader who has been sufficiently interested to follow this treatise thus far, may by this time have a general idea of the astral plane and its possibilities, such as will enable him to understand and fit into their proper places in its scheme any facts in connection with it which he may pick up in his reading. though only the roughest sketch has been given of a very great subject, enough has perhaps been said to show the extreme importance of astral perception in the study of biology, physics, chemistry, astronomy, medicine and history, and the great impulse which might be given by its development to all these sciences. yet its attainment should never be regarded as an end in itself, since any means adopted with that object in view would inevitably lead to what is called in the east the _laukika_ method of development--a system by which certain psychic powers are indeed acquired, but only for the present personality; and since their acquisition is surrounded by no safeguards, the student is extremely likely to misuse them. to this class belong all systems which involve the use of drugs, invocation of elementals, or the practices of hatha yoga. the other method, which is called the _lokottara_, consists of raj yoga or spiritual progress, and though it may be somewhat slower than the other, whatever is acquired along this line is gained for the permanent individuality, and never lost again, while the guiding care of a master ensures perfect safety from misuse of power as long as his orders are scrupulously obeyed. the opening of astral vision must be regarded then only as a stage in the development of something infinitely nobler--merely as a step, and a very small step, on that great upward path which leads men to the sublime heights of adeptship, and beyond even that through glorious vistas of wisdom and power such as our finite minds cannot now conceive. yet let no one think it an unmixed blessing to have the wider sight of the astral plane, for upon one in whom that vision is opened the sorrow and misery, the evil and the greed of the world press as an ever-present burden, until he often feels inclined to echo the passionate adjuration of schiller: "why hast thou cast me thus into the town of the ever-blind, to proclaim thine oracle with the opened sense? take back this sad clear-sightedness; take from mine eyes this cruel light! give me back my blindness--the happy darkness of my senses; take back thy dreadful gift!" this feeling is perhaps not an unnatural one in the earlier stages of the path, yet higher sight and deeper knowledge soon bring to the student the perfect certainty that all things are working together for the eventual good of all--that hour after hour, like an opening flower, shall truth after truth expand; for the sun may pale, and the stars may fail, but the law of good shall stand. its splendour glows and its influence grows as nature's slow work appears, from the zoophyte small to the lords of all, through kalpas and crores of years. * * * * * transcriber's note: a few typographical errors have been corrected: they are listed at the end of the text. original page numbers are shown as { }. the faith of islam: by the rev. edward sell, fellow of the university of madras. * * * * * trÜbner & co., london. addison & co., madras. . _all rights reserved._ * * * * * madras: printed by addison and co., mount road. * * * * * preface. the following pages embody a study of islám during a residence of fifteen years in india, the greater part of which time i have been in daily intercourse with musalmáns. i have given in the footnotes the authorities from which i quote. i was not able to procure in madras a copy of the arabic edition of ibn khaldoun's great work, but the french translation by baron m. de slane, to which i so frequently refer, is thoroughly reliable. the quotations from the qurán are made from rodwell's translation. the original has been consulted when necessary. a few slight and occasional errors in transliteration have occurred, such as sulát for salát, munkar for munkir, &c., but in no case is the meaning affected. in some words, such as khalíf, khalífate, and omar, i have retained the anglicised form instead of using the more correct terms, khalífa, khiláfat, 'umr. the letter q has been used to distinguish the káf-i-karashat from the káf-i-tází. e. s. madras, _december st, ._ {v} * * * * * contents. introduction. ... page ix chapter i. the foundations of islÁm. the qurán--its revelation--miraculous nature--arrangement of qurán--osmán's recension. the sunnat--the authority of sunnat--tradition--bid'at or innovation--shía'h traditions. ijmá'--ijtihád--four orthodox imáms, hanífa, málik, sháfa'í and hanbal. qíás--established by the early mujtahidín--sterility of islám ... page note to chapter i. ijtihád ... page chapter ii. exegesis of the qurÁn and the traditions. inspiration--the seven readings--work of a commentator--words and sentences of the qurán--use of the words--deductions of arguments from the qurán--divisions of the qurán--abrogation--creation of the qurán--hadís or tradition--collections of traditions--classification of traditions ... page chapter iii. the sects of islÁm. the shía'hs--the imámat--khárigites--núr-i-muhammadí--imám--ismá,ílians and imámites--ghair-i-mahdís--dá,irí--mahmúdíah--khalífate--súfíism--persian poetry--darwíshes--omar khayyám--wahhábís--their rise--spread in india--doctrines and influence ... page note to chapter iii. wahhábíism ... page {vi} chapter iv. the creed of islÁm imán--god--attributes of god--discussions on the nature of god--the rise of the mutazilites--the sifátíans--mushábihites--names of god--creation of the qurán. angels--recording angels--hárút and márút--munkir and nakír--jinn. the books--abrogation--tahríf. the prophets--rank and inspiration of prophets--nabí and rasúl--sinlessness of prophets--the anbiya-ulul-'azm--miracles of prophets--the mi'ráj. the resurrection and the last day--the trumpets--descent of the books--balances--bridge--al-a'ráf--al-barzakh--intercession of muhammad--heaven--hell. the predestination of good and evil--jabríans--qadríans--ash'aríans--free-will--apostacy ... page note to chapter iv. muslim philosophy ... page chapter v. the practical duties of islÁm. farz, wájib, sunnat, mustahab and mubáh actions--harám or unlawful acts. tashahhud. salát--wazú--ghusl--tayammum--namáz--farz, sunnat, witr and nafl rak'ats--appointed hours of prayer--friday namáz and sermon--namáz on a journey and in time of war--namáz in ramazán, during an eclipse and in time of drought--funeral service--its ritual and prayers. fasting--its time and nature. zakát--nisáb--proportion of property to be given as alms--recipients of the zakát. the hajj--farz, sunnat, wájib and mustahab duties connected with the hajj--time for the hajj--arrival of the hájí at mecca--tawáf--ceremonies of the hajj--conclusion of the hajj--formal nature of islám ... page note to chapter v. fatvá on the namáz ... page {vii} chapter vi. the feasts and fasts of islÁm. muharram--'Áshúr khána--marsiya--wáqi'a khán--'alams--ceremonies of the 'Áshúrá--fátihas for 'alí, for hasan and husain--akhir-i-chár shamba--bárá wafát--jashn-i-milád-i-sharif--Ásár-i-sharíf--shab barát--ramazán and 'Íd-ul-fitr--'itikáf--sadqa--sermon on the 'Íd-ul-fitr--baqr-'Íd or 'Íd-uz-zuhá--sermon on the 'Íd-uz-zuhá--the qurbán or sacrifice--festival of madár--festival of sálár mas'úd ghází--festival of khája khizr--feast of pír dastgír sáhib--festival of qádir walí sáhib ... page index of technical terms ... page {ix} * * * * * introduction. it is necessary to enter into some explanation as regards the contents of this work. it does not fall in with its plan to enter into an account either of the life of muhammad or of the wide and rapid spread of the system founded by him. the first has been done by able writers in england, france and germany. i could add nothing new to this portion of the subject, nor throw new light upon it. the political growth of muslim nations has also been set forth in various ways. it seems to me that the more important study at this time is that of the religious system which has grown out of the prophet's teaching, and of its effect upon the individual and the community. what the church in her missionary enterprise has to deal with, what european governments in the political world have to do with is islám as it is, and as it now influences those who rule and those who are ruled under it. i have, therefore, tried to show from authentic sources, and from a practical knowledge of it, what the faith of islám really is, and how it influences men and nations in the present day. i think that recent fatvás delivered by the 'ulamá in constantinople show how firmly a muslim state is bound in the fetters of an unchangeable law, whilst the present practice of orthodox muslims all the world {x} over is a constant carrying out of the precepts given in the qurán and the sunnat, and an illustration of the principles i have shown to belong to islám. on this subject it is not too much to say that there is, except amongst oriental scholars, much misconception. again, much that is written on islám is written either in ignorant prejudice, or from an ideal standpoint. to understand it aright, one should know its literature and live amongst its people. i have tried faithfully to prove every statement i have made; and if, now and again, i have quoted european authors, it is only by way of illustration. i rest my case entirely upon musalmán authorities themselves. still more, i have ascertained from living witnesses that the principles i have tried to show as existing in islám, are really at work now and are as potent as at any previous period. i have thus traced up from the very foundations the rise and development of the system, seeking wherever possible to link the past with the present. in order not to interfere with this unity of plan, i have had to leave many subjects untouched, such as those connected with the civil law, with slavery, divorce, jihád or religious wars, &c. a good digest of muhammadan law[ ] will give all necessary information on these points. the basis of the law which determines these questions is what i have described in my first chapter. ijtihád, for example, rules quite as effectually in a question of domestic {xi} economy or political jurisprudence as on points of dogma. it was not, therefore, necessary for me to go into details on these points. when i have drawn any conclusion from data which muhammadan literature, and the present practice of muslims have afforded me, i have striven to give what seems to me a just and right one. still, i gladly take this opportunity of stating that i have found many muslims better than their creed, men with whom it is a pleasure to associate, and whom i respect for many virtues and esteem as friends. i judge the system, not any individual in it. in india, there are a number of enlightened muhammadans, ornaments to native society, useful servants of the state, men who show a laudable zeal in all social reforms, so far as is consistent with a reputation for orthodoxy. their number is far too few, and they do not, in many cases, represent orthodox islám, nor do i believe their counterpart would be found amongst the 'ulamá of a muslim state. the fact is that the wave of scepticism which has passed over europe has not left the east untouched. hindu and muslim alike have felt its influence, but to judge of either the one system or the other from the very liberal utterances of a few men who expound their views before english audiences is to yield oneself up to delusion on the subject. islám in india has also felt the influence of contact with other races and creeds, though, theologically speaking, the imán and the dín, the faith and the practice, are unchanged, and remain as i have {xii} described them in chapters four and five. if islám in india has lost some of its original fierceness, it has also adopted many superstitious practices, such as those against which the wahhábís protest. the great mass of the musalmán people are quite as superstitious, if not more so, than their heathen neighbours. still the manliness, the suavity of manner, the deep learning, after an oriental fashion, of many indian musalmáns render them a very attractive people. it is true there is a darker side--much bigotry, pride of race, scorn of other creeds, and, speaking generally, a tendency to inertness. it is thus that in bengal, madras and perhaps in other places, they have fallen far behind the hindus in educational status, and in the number of appointments they hold in the government service. indeed, this subject is a serious one and deserves the special attention of the indian government. in bengal the proportion of musalmáns to hindus in the upper ranks of the uncovenanted civil service in was to . in the year it had declined to to . the state of affairs in madras is equally bad. yet an intelligent muslim, as a rule, makes a good official. looking at the subject from a wider stand-point, i think the church has hardly yet realised how great a barrier this system of islám is to her onward march in the east. surely special men with special training are required for such an enterprise as that of encountering islám in its own strongholds. no better pioneers of the christian {xiii} faith could be found in the east than men won from the crescent to the cross. all who are engaged in such an enterprise will perhaps find some help in this volume, and i am not without hope that it may also throw some light on the political questions of the day. { } * * * * * the faith of islÁm. chapter i. the foundations of islÁm. the creed of islám, "lá-iláha-il-lal-láhu wa muhammad-ur-rasúl-ulláh," (there is no deity but god, and muhammad is the apostle of god) is very short, but the system itself is a very dogmatic one. such statements as: "the qurán is an all-embracing and sufficient code, regulating everything," "the qurán contains the _entire_ code of islám--that is, it is not a book of religious precepts merely, but it governs all that a muslim does," "the qurán contains the whole religion of muhammad," "the qurán which contains the whole gospel of islám" are not simply misleading, they are erroneous. so far from the qurán alone being the _sole_ rule of faith and practice to muslims, there is not one single sect amongst them whose faith and practice is based on it alone. no one among them disputes its authority or casts any doubt upon its genuineness. its voice is supreme in all that it concerns, but its exegesis, the whole system of legal jurisprudence and of theological science, is largely founded on the traditions. amongst the orthodox musalmáns, the foundations of the faith are four in number, the qurán, sunnat, ijmá' and qíás. the fact that all the sects do not agree with the orthodox--the sunnís--in this matter illustrates another important fact in islám--the want of unity amongst its followers. { } . the qurÁn.--the question of the inspiration will be fully discussed, and an account of the laws of the exegesis of the qurán will be given in the next chapter. it is sufficient now to state that this book is held in the highest veneration by muslims of every sect. when being read it is kept on a stand elevated above the floor, and no one must read or touch it without first making a legal ablution.[ ] it is not translated unless there is the most urgent necessity, and even then the arabic text is printed with the translation. it is said that god chose the sacred month of ramazán in which to give all the revelations which in the form of books have been vouchsafed to mankind. thus on the first night of that month the books of abraham came down from heaven; on the sixth the books of moses; on the thirteenth the injíl, or gospel, and on the twenty-seventh the qurán. on that night, the laylut-ul-qadr, or "night of power," the whole qurán is said to have descended to the lowest of the seven heavens, from whence it was brought piecemeal to muhammad as occasion required.[ ] "verily we have caused it (the qurán) to descend on the night of power." (súra xcvii. .) that night is called the blessed night, the night better than a thousand months, the night when angels came down by the permission of their lord, the night which bringeth peace and blessings till the rosy dawn. twice on that night in the solitude of the cave of hira the voice called, twice though pressed sore "as if a fearful weight had been laid upon him," the prophet struggled { } against its influence. the third time he heard the words:-- "recite thou, in the name of thy lord who created-- created man from clots of blood." (súra xcvi. .) "when the voice had ceased to speak, telling how from minutest beginnings man had been called into existence, and lifted up by understanding and knowledge of the lord, who is most beneficent, and who by the pen had revealed that which man did not know, muhammad woke up from his trance and felt as if "a book had been written in his heart." he was much alarmed. tradition records that he went hastily to his wife and said--"o khadíja! what has happened to me!" he lay down and she watched by him. when he recovered from his paroxysm, he said "o khadíja! he of whom one would not have believed (_i.e._, himself) has become either a soothsayer (káhin) or mad." she replied, "god is my protection, o ab-ul-kásim. he will surely not let such a thing happen unto thee, for thou speakest the truth, dost not return evil for evil, keepest faith, art of a good life and art kind to thy relatives and friends, and neither art thou a talker abroad in the bazaars. what has befallen thee? hast thou seen aught terrible?" muhammad replied "yes." and he told her what he had seen. whereupon she answered and said:--"rejoice, o dear husband and be of good cheer. he in whose hands stands khadíja's life, is my witness that thou wilt be the prophet of this people."[ ] the next súra, the th, was revealed at mecca, after which there seems to have been an intermission, called the fatrah. it was during this time that the prophet gained some knowledge of the contents of the jewish and the christian scriptures. gabriel is believed to have been the medium of communication. this fact, however, is only once stated in the qurán:--"say, whoso is the enemy of gabriel--for he it is { } who by god's leave hath caused the qurán to descend on thy heart" (súra ii. .) this súra was revealed some years after the prophet's flight to madína. the other references to the revelation of the qurán are:--"verily from the lord of the worlds hath this book come down; the faithful spirit (rúh-ul-Ámín) hath come down with it" (súra xxvi. .) "the qurán is no other than a revelation revealed to him, one terrible in power (shadíd-ul-quá) taught it him." (súra liii. .) these latter passages do not state clearly that gabriel was the medium of communication, but the belief that he was is almost, if not entirely, universal, and the commentators say that the terms "rúh-ul-Ámín" and "shadíd-ul-quá" refer to no other angel or spirit. the use of the word "taught" in the last súra quoted, and the following expression in súra lxxv. . "when we have _recited it_, then follow thou the recital," show that the qurán is entirely an objective revelation and that muhammad was only a passive medium of communication. the muhammadan historian, ibn khaldoun, says on this point:--"of all the divine books the qurán is the only one of which the text, words and phrases have been communicated to a prophet by an audible voice. it is otherwise with the pentateuch, the gospel and the other divine books: the prophets received them under the form of ideas."[ ] this expresses the universal belief on this point--a belief which reveals the essentially mechanical nature of islám. the qurán thus revealed is now looked upon as the standing miracle of islám. other divine books, it is admitted, were revelations received under the form of ideas, but the qurán is far superior to them all for the actual text was revealed to the ear of the prophet. thus we read in súra lxxv. - :-- { } "move not thy tongue in haste to follow and master this revelation; for we will see to the collecting and recital of it; _but when we have recited it_, then follow thou the recital; and verily it shall be ours to make it clear to thee." the qurán is, then, believed to be a miraculous revelation of divine eloquence, as regards both _form_ and _substance_, arrangement of words, and its revelation of sacred things. it is asserted that each well-accredited prophet performed miracles in that particular department of human skill or science most flourishing in his age. thus in the days of moses magic exercised a wide influence, but all the magicians of pharaoh's court had to submit to the superior skill of the hebrew prophet. in the days of jesus the science of medicine flourished. men possessed great skill in the art of healing; but no physician could equal the skill of jesus, who not only healed the sick, but raised the dead. in the days of muhammad the special and most striking feature of the age was the wonderful power of the arabs in the art of poetry. muhammad-ud-damiri says:--"wisdom hath alighted on three things--the brain of the franks, the hands of the chinese and the tongue of the arabs." they were unrivalled for their eloquence, for the skill with which they arranged their material and gave expression to their thoughts. it is in this very particular that superior excellence is claimed for the qurán.[ ] it is to the muhammadan mind a sure evidence of its miraculous origin that it should excel in this respect. muslims say that miracles have followed the revelations given to other prophets in order to confirm the divine message. in this case the qurán is both a revelation and a miracle. { } muhammad himself said:--"each prophet has received manifest signs which carried conviction to men: but that which i have received is the revelation. so i hope to have a larger following on the day of resurrection than any other prophet has." ibn khaldoun says that "by this the prophet means that such a wonderful miracle as the qurán, which is also a revelation, should carry conviction to a very large number."[ ] to a muslim the fact is quite clear, and so to him the qurán is far superior to all the preceding books. muhammad is said to have convinced a rival, lebid, a poet-laureate, of the truth of his mission by reciting to him a portion of the now second súra. "unquestionably it is one of the very grandest specimens of koranic or arabic diction.... but even descriptions of this kind, grand as they be, are not sufficient to kindle and preserve the enthusiasm and the faith and the hope of a nation like the arabs.... the poets before him had sung of valour and generosity, of love and strife and revenge ... of early graves, upon which weeps the morning cloud, and of the fleeting nature of life which comes and goes as the waves of the desert sands, as the tents of a caravan, as a flower that shoots up and dies away. or they shoot their bitter arrows of satire right into the enemy's own soul. muhammad sang of none of these. no love-minstrelsy his, not the joys of the world, nor sword, nor camel, nor jealousy, nor human vengeance, not the glories of tribe or ancestor. he preached islám." the very fierceness with which this is done, the swearing such as arab orator, proficient though he may have been in the art, had never made, the dogmatic certainty with which the prophet proclaimed his message have tended, equally with the passionate grandeur of his utterances, to hold the muslim world spell-bound to the letter and imbued with all the narrowness of the book. so sacred is the text supposed to be that only the { } companions[ ] of the prophet are deemed worthy of being commentators on it. the work of learned divines since then has been to learn the qurán by heart and to master the traditions, with the writings of the earliest commentators thereon. the revelation itself is never made a subject of investigation or tried by the ordinary rules of criticism. if only the isnád, or chain of authorities for any interpretation, is good, that interpretation is unhesitatingly accepted as the correct one. it is a fundamental article of belief that no other book in the world can possibly approach near to it in thought or expression. it deals with positive precepts rather than with principles. its decrees are held to be binding not in the spirit merely but in the very letter on all men, at all times and under every circumstance of life. this follows as a natural consequence from the belief in its eternal nature. the various portions recited by the prophet during the twenty-three years of his prophetical career were committed to writing by some of his followers, or treasured up in their memories. as the recital of the qurán formed a part of every act of public worship, and as such recital was an act of great religious merit, every muslim tried to remember as much as he could. he who could do so best was entitled to the highest honour, and was often the recipient of a substantial reward.[ ] the arab love for poetry facilitated the exercise of this faculty. when the prophet died the revelation ceased. there was no distinct copy of the whole, nothing to show what was of transitory importance, what of permanent value. there is nothing which proves that the prophet took any special care of any portions. there seems to have been no definite order in which, when the book was { } compiled, the various súras were arranged, for the qurán, as it now exists, is utterly devoid of all historical or logical sequence. for a year after the prophet's death nothing seems to have been done; but then the battle of yemana took place in which a very large number of the best qurán reciters were slain. omar took fright at this, and addressing the khalíf abu bakr, said, "the slaughter may again wax hot amongst the repeaters of the qurán in other fields of battle, and much may be lost therefrom. now, therefore, my advice is that thou shouldest give speedy orders for the collection of the qurán." abu bakr agreed, and said to zeid who had been an amanuensis of the prophet:--"thou art a young man, and wise, against whom no one amongst us can cast an imputation; and thou wert wont to write down the inspired revelations of the prophet of the lord, wherefore now search out the qurán and bring it all together." zeid being at length pressed to undertake the task proceeded to gather the qurán together from "date leaves, and tablets of white stone, and from the hearts of men." in course of time it was all compiled in the order in which the book is now arranged. this was the authorized text for some twenty-three years after the death of muhammad. owing, however, either to different modes of recitation, or to differences of expression in the sources from which zeid's first recension was made, a variety of different readings crept into the copies in use. the faithful became alarmed and the khalíf osmán was persuaded to put a stop to such a danger. he appointed zeid with three of the leading men of the quraish as assistants to go over the whole work again. a careful recension was made of the whole book which was then assimilated to the meccan dialect, the purest in arabia. after this all other copies of the qurán were burnt by order of the khalíf, and new transcripts were made of the revised edition which was now the only authorised copy. as it is a fundamental tenet of islám that the qurán is incorruptible and absolutely free { } from error, no little difficulty has been felt in explaining the need of osmán's new and revised edition and of the circumstances under which it took place; but as usual a tradition has been handed down which makes it lawful to read the qurán in seven dialects. the book in its present form may be accepted as a genuine reproduction of abu bakr's edition with authoritative corrections. we may rest assured that we have in the qurán now in use the record of what muhammad said. it thus becomes a fundamental basis of islám. it was a common practice of the early muslims when speaking of the prophet to say:--"his character is the qurán." when people curious to know details of the life of their beloved master asked 'Áyesha, one of his widows, about him, she used to reply:--"thou hast the qurán, art thou not an arab and readest the arab tongue? why dost thou ask me, for the prophet's disposition is no other than the qurán?" whether muhammad would have arranged the qurán as we now have it is a subject on which it is impossible to form an opinion. there are traditions which seem to show that he had some doubts as to its completeness. i give the following account on the authority of m. caussin de percival. when muhammad felt his end draw near he said:--"bring ink and paper: i wish to write to you a book to preserve you always from error." but it was too late. he could not write or dictate and so he said:--"may the qurán always be your guide. perform what it commands you: avoid what it prohibits." the genuineness of the first part of this tradition is, i think, very doubtful, the latter is quite in accordance with the prophet's claim for his teaching. the letter of the book became, as muhammad intended it should become, a despotic influence in the muslim world, a barrier to freethinking on the part of all the orthodox, an obstacle to innovation in all spheres--political, social, intellectual and moral. there are many topics connected with it which can be better explained in the next chapter. all { } that has now to be here stated is that the qurán is the first foundation of islám. it is an error to suppose it is the only one: an error which more than anything else has led persons away from the only position in which they could obtain a true idea of the great system of islám. the shía'hs maintain, without good reason, that the following verses favourable to the claims of 'alí and of the shía'h faction were omitted in osmán's recension. "o believers! believe in the two lights. (muhammad and 'alí). 'alí is of the number of the pious, we shall give him his right in the day of judgment; we shall not pass over those who wish to deceive him. we have honoured him above all this family. he and his family are very patient. their enemy[ ] is the chief of sinners. we have announced to thee a race of just men, men[ ] who will not oppose our orders. my mercy and peace are on them living[ ] or dead. as to those who walk in their way, my mercy is on them; they will certainly gain the mansions of paradise." . the sunnat.--the second foundation of islám is based on the hadís (plural ahádís) or tradition. commands from god given in the qurán are called 'farz' and 'wájib.' a command given by the prophet or an example set by him is called 'sunnat,' a word meaning a rule. it is then technically applied to the basis of religious faith and practice, which is founded on traditional accounts of the sayings and acts of muhammad.[ ] it is the belief common to all musalmáns, that the prophet in all that he _did_, and in all that he _said_, was supernaturally guided, and that his words and acts are to all time and to all his followers a divine rule of faith and practice. "we should know that god almighty has given commands and prohibitions to his { } servants, either by means of the qurán, or by the mouth of his prophet."[ ] al-ghazáli, a most distinguished theologian, writes:--"neither is the faith according to his will, complete by the testimony to the unity alone, that is, by simply saying, 'there is but one god,' without the addition of the further testimony to the apostle, that is, the statement, 'muhammad is the apostle of god.'" this belief in the prophet must extend to all that he has said concerning the present and the future life, for, says the same author, "a man's faith is not accepted till he is fully persuaded of those things which the prophet hath affirmed shall be after death." it is often said that the wahhábís reject tradition. in the ordinary sense of the word tradition they may; but in muslim theology the term hadís, which we translate tradition, has a special meaning. it is applied only to the sayings of the prophet, not to those of some uninspired divine or teacher. the wahhábís reject the traditions handed down by men who lived after the time of the companions, but the hadís, embodying the sayings of the prophet, they, in common with _all_ muslim sects, hold to be an inspired revelation of god's will to men. it would be as reasonable to say that protestants reject the four gospels as to say that the wahhábís reject tradition.[ ] an orthodox muslim places the gospels in the same rank as the hadís, that is, he looks upon them as a record of what jesus said and did handed down to us by his companions. "in the same way as other prophets received their books under the form of ideas, so our prophet has in the same way received a great number of communications which are found in the collections of the { } traditions (ahádís).[ ] this shows that the sunnat must be placed on a level with the jewish and christian scriptures; whilst the qurán is a revelation superior to them all. to no sect of musalmáns is the qurán alone the rule of faith. the shía'hs, it is true, reject the sunnat, but they have in their own collection of traditions an exact equivalent. the nature of the inspiration of the sunnat and its authoritative value are questions of the first importance, whether islám is viewed from a theological or a political stand-point. "muhammad said that seventy-three sects would arise, of whom only one would be worthy of paradise. the companions inquired which sect would be so highly favoured. the prophet replied:--'the one which remains firm in my way and in that of my friends.' it is certain that this must refer to the ahl-i-sunnat wa jamá'at." (sunnís.)[ ] it is laid down as a preliminary religious duty that obedience should be rendered to the sunnat of the prophet. thus in the fourth súra of the qurán it is written: "o true believers! obey god and obey the apostle." "we have not sent any apostle but that he might be obeyed by the permission of god." from these and similar passages the following doctrine is deduced: "it is plain that the prophet (on whom and on whose descendants be the mercy and peace of god!) is free from sin in what he ordered to be done, and in what he prohibited, in all his words and acts; for were it otherwise how could obedience rendered to him be accounted as obedience paid to god?"[ ] believers are exhorted to render obedience to god by witnessing to his divinity, and to the prophet by bearing witness to his prophetship; this is a sign of love, and love is the cause of nearness to god. the prophet himself is reported to have { } said, "obey me that god may regard you as friends." from this statement the conclusion is drawn that "the love of god (to man) is conditional on obedience to the prophet." belief in and obedience to the prophet are essential elements of the true faith, and he who possesses not both of these is in error.[ ] in order to show the necessity of this obedience, god is said to have appointed muhammad as the mediator between himself and man. in a lower sense, believers are to follow the "sunnat" of the four khalífs, abu bakr, omar, osmán, and 'alí, who are true guides to men. to the muslim all that the prophet did was perfectly in accord with the will of god. moral laws have a different application when applied to him. his jealousy, his cruelty to the jewish tribes, his indulgence in licentiousness, his bold assertion of equality with god as regards his commands, his every act and word, are sinless, and a guide to men as long as the world shall last. it is easy for an apologist for muhammad to say that this is an accretion, something which engrafted itself on to a simpler system. it is no such thing. it is rather one of the essential parts of the system. let muhammad be his own witness:--"he who loves not my sunnat is not my follower." "he who revives my sunnat revives me, and will be with me in paradise." "he who in distress holds fast to the sunnat will receive the reward of a hundred martyrs." as might be expected, the setting up of his own acts and words as an infallible and unvarying rule of faith accounts more than anything else for the immobility of the muhammadan world, for it must be always remembered that in islám church and state are one. the arab proverb, "al mulk wa dín tawáminí"--country and religion are twins--is the popular form of expressing the unity of church and state. { } to the mind of the musalmán the rule of the one is the rule of the other,--a truth sometimes forgotten by politicians who look hopefully on the reform of turkey or the regeneration of the house of osmán. the sunnat as much as the qurán covers all law, whether political, social, moral, or religious. a modern writer who has an intimate acquaintance with islám says:--"if islám is to be a power for good in the future, it is imperatively necessary to cut off the social system from the religion. the difficulty lies in the close connection between the religious and social ordinances in the kurán, the two are so intermingled that it is hard to see how they can be disentangled without destroying both." i believe this to be impossible, and the case becomes still more hopeless when we remember that the same remark would apply to the sunnat. to forget this is to go astray, for ibn khaldoun distinctly speaks of "the law derived from the qurán and the sunnat," of the "maxims of musalmán law based on the text of the qurán and the teaching of the traditions."[ ] the prophet had a great dread of all innovation. the technical term for anything new is "bida't," and of it, it is said: "bida't is the changer of sunnat." in other words, if men seek after things new, if fresh forms of thought arise, and the changing condition of society demands new modes of expression for the faith, or new laws to regulate the community, if in internals or externals, any new thing (bida't) is introduced, it is to be shunned. the law as revealed in the qurán and the sunnat is perfect. everything not in accordance with the precepts therein contained is innovation, and all innovation is heresy. meanwhile some { } "bida't" is allowable, such as the teaching of etymology and syntax, the establishment of schools, guest-houses, &c., which things did not exist in the time of the prophet; but it is distinctly and clearly laid down that compliance with the least sunnat (_i.e._ the obeying the least of the orders of the prophet, however trivial) is far better than doing some new thing, however advantageous and desirable it may be. there are many stories which illustrate the importance the companions of the prophet attached to sunnat. "the khalíf omar looked towards the black stone at mecca, and said, 'by god, i know that thou art only a stone, and canst grant no benefit, canst do no harm. if i had not known that the prophet kissed thee, i would not have done so, but on account of that i do it.'" abdullah-ibn-'umr was seen riding his camel round and round a certain place. in answer to an inquiry as to his reason for so doing he said: "i know not, only i have seen the prophet do so here." ahmad-ibn-hanbal, one of the four great imáms, and the founder of the hanbalí school of interpretation, is said to have been appointed on account of the care with which he observed the sunnat. one day when sitting in an assembly he alone of all present observed some formal custom authorised by the practice of the prophet. gabriel at once appeared and informed him that now, and on account of his act, he was appointed an imám.[ ] in short, it is distinctly laid down that the best of all works is the following of the practice of muhammad. the essence of religion has been stated by a learned theologian to consist of three things: first, to follow the prophet in morals and in acts; secondly, to eat only lawful food; thirdly, to be sincere in all actions. { } the sunnat is now known to musalmáns through the collections of traditions gathered together by the men whose names they now bear. the whole are called sihah-sittah, or "six correct books." not one of these collectors flourished until the third century of the hijra, and so, as may be easily supposed, their work has not passed unchallenged. there is by no means an absolute consensus of opinion among the sunnís as to the exact value of each tradition, yet all admit that a 'genuine tradition' must be obeyed. whether the prophet spoke what in the traditions is recorded as spoken by him under the influence of the highest kind of inspiration is, as will be shown in the next chapter, a disputed point; but it matters little. whatever may have been the degree, it was according to muslim belief a real inspiration, and thus his every act and word became a law as binding upon his followers as the example of christ is upon christians. the shía'hs do not acknowledge the sihah-sittah, the six correct books of the sunnís, but it by no means follows that they reject tradition. they have five books of traditions, the earliest of which was compiled by abu ja'far muhammad a.h. , or a century later than the sahíh-i-bukhárí, the most trustworthy of the sunní set. thus all musalmán sects accept the first and second ground of the faith--the qurán and the sunnat--as the inspired will of god; the shía'hs substituting in the place of the traditions on which the sunnat is based, a collection of their own. what it is important to maintain is this, that the qurán alone is to no musalmán an all-sufficient guide. . ijmÁ'.--the third foundation of the faith is called ijmá', a word signifying to be collected or assembled. technically it means the unanimous consent of the leading theologians, or what in christian theology would be called the "unanimous consent of the fathers." practically it is a collection of the opinions of the companions, the tábi'ín and the taba-i-tábi'ín. "the law," says ibn khaldoun { } "is grounded on the general accord of the companions and their followers." the election of abu bakr to the khalifate is called ijmá'-i-ummat, the unanimous consent of the whole sect. the companions of the prophet had special knowledge of the various circumstances under which special revelations had been made; they alone knew which verses of the qurán abrogated others, and which verses were thus abrogated. the knowledge of these matters and many other details they handed on to their successors, the tábi'ín, who passed the information on to their followers, the taba-i-tábi'ín. some muslims, the wahhábís for example, accept only the ijmá' of the companions; and by all sects that is placed in the first rank as regards authority; others accept that of the 'fugitives' who dwelt at madína; and there are some amongst the orthodox who allow, as a matter of theory, that ijmá' may be collected at any time, but that practically it is not done because there are now no mujtahidín. the highest rank a muslim theologian could reach was that of a mujtahid, or one who could make an ijtihád, a word which, derived from the same root as jihád (a crescentade), means in its technical sense a logical deduction. it is defined as the "attaining to a certain degree of authority in searching into the principles of jurisprudence." the origin of ijtihád was as follows:--muhammad wished to send a man named mu'áz to yaman to receive some money collected for alms, which he was then to distribute to the poor. on appointing him he said: "o mu'áz, by what rule will you act?" he replied, "by the law of the qurán." "but if you find no direction therein?" "then i will act according to the sunnat of the prophet." "but what if that fails?" "then i will make an ijtihád and act on that." the prophet raised his hands and said, "praise be to god who guides the messenger of his prophet in what he pleases."[ ] this is considered a proof of the authority of ijtihád for the prophet clearly sanctioned it. { } when the prophet was alive men could go to him with their doubts and fears: an infallible authority was always present ready to give an inspired direction. the khalífs who succeeded the prophet had only to administer the law according to the opinions which they knew muhammad had held. they were busily engaged in carrying on the work of conquest; they neither attempted any new legislation, nor did they depart from the practice of him whom they revered. "in the first days of islám, the knowledge of the law was purely traditional. in forming their judgments they had no recourse either to speculation, to private opinion, or to arguments founded upon analogy."[ ] however, as the empire grew, new conditions of life arose, giving rise to questions, concerning which muhammad had given no explicit direction. this necessitated the use of ijtihád. during the khalifates of abu bakr, omar, osmán and 'alí--the khulafa-i-ráshidín, or the khalífs who could guide men in the right way, the custom was for the faithful to consult them as to the course of action to be pursued under some new development of circumstances; for they knew as none other did the prophet's sayings and deeds, they could recall to their memories a saying or an act from which a decision could be deduced. in this way all muslims could feel that in following their judgments and guidance they were walking in the right path. but after the death of 'alí, the fourth khalíf, civil war and hostile factions imperilled the continuance of the faith in its purity. at madína, where muhammad's career as a recognised prophet was best known, devout men commenced to learn by heart the qurán, the sunnat, and the analogical judgments (ijtihád) of the four khalífs. these men were looked up to as authorities, and their decisions were afterwards known as the 'customs of madína.' it is not difficult to see that a system, which sought to regulate all departments of life, all developments of men's ideas and energies by the sunnat and analogical deductions { } therefrom, was one which not only gave every temptation a system could give to the manufacture of tradition, but one which would soon become too cumbersome to be of practical use. hence, it was absolutely necessary to systematize all this incoherent mass of tradition, of judgments given by khalífs and mujtahidín. this gave rise to the systems of jurisprudence, founded by the four orthodox imáms, to one or other of which all muslims, except the shía'hs, belong. these imáms, abu hanífa, ibn málik, as-sháfi'i and ibn hanbal were all mujtahidín of the highest rank. after them it is the orthodox belief that there has been no mujtahid. thus in a standard theological book much used in india it is written: "ijmá' is this, that it is not lawful to follow any other than the four imáms." "in these days the qází must make no order, the muftí give no fatvá (_i.e._ a legal decision), contrary to the opinion of the four imáms." "to follow any other is not lawful." so far then as orthodoxy is concerned, change and progress are impossible. imám abu hanífa was born at basra (a.h. ), but he spent the greater part of his life at kúfa. he was the founder and teacher of the body of legists known as 'the jurists of irák.' his system differs considerably from that of the imám málik who, living at madína, confined himself chiefly to tradition as the basis of his judgments. madína was full of the memories of the sayings and acts of the prophet; kúfa, the home of hanífa, on the contrary, was not founded till after the prophet's death and so possessed none of his memories. islám there came into contact with other races of men, but from them it had nothing to learn. if these men became muslims, well and good: if not, the one law for them as for the faithful was the teaching of muhammad. various texts of the qurán are adduced to prove the correctness of this position. "for to thee have we sent down the book which cleareth up every thing." (súra xvi. ) "nothing have we passed over in the book." (súra vi. { } .) "neither is there a grain in the darkness of the earth nor a thing green or sere, but it is noted in a distinct writing." (súra vi. ). these texts were held to prove that all law was provided for by anticipation in the qurán. if a verse could not be found bearing on any given question, analogical deduction was resorted to. thus: "he it is who created _for you_ all that is on earth." (súra ii. ). according to the hanifite jurists, this is a deed of gift which annuls all other rights of property. the 'you' refers to muslims. the earth[ ] may be classified under three heads:--( ) land which never had an owner; ( ) land which had an owner and has been abandoned; ( ) the person and property of the infidels. from the last division the same legists deduce the lawfulness of slavery, piracy and constant war against the unbelievers. to return to abu hanífa. he admitted very few traditions as authoritative in his system, which claims to be a logical development from the qurán. "the merit of logical fearlessness cannot be denied to it. the wants and wishes of men, the previous history of a country--all those considerations, in fact, which are held in the west to be the governing principles of legislation, are set aside by the legists of irák as being of no account whatever. legislation is not a science inductive and experimental, but logical and deductive."[ ] imám ibn málik was born at madína (a.h. ) and his system of jurisprudence is founded, as might be expected from his connection with the sacred city, on the "customs of madína." his business was to arrange and systematize the traditions current in madína, and to form out of them and the "customs" a system of jurisprudence embracing the whole sphere of life. the treatise composed by him was called the "muwatta" or "the beaten path." the greater part of its contents are legal maxims and opinions { } delivered by the companions. his system of jurisprudence, therefore, has been described as historical and traditional. in an elegy on his death by abu muhammad ja'far it is said: "his traditions were of the greatest authority; his gravity was impressive; and when he delivered them, all his auditors were plunged in admiration."[ ] the traditions were his great delight. "i delight," said he, "in testifying my profound respect for the sayings of the prophet of god, and i never repeat one unless i feel myself in a state of perfect purity,"[ ] (_i.e._, after performing a legal ablution.) as death approached, his one fear was lest he should have exercised his private judgment in delivering any legal opinion. in his last illness a friend went to visit him, and enquiring why he wept, received the following answer: "why should i not weep, and who has more right to weep than i? by allah! i wish i had been flogged and reflogged for every question of law on which i pronounced an opinion founded on my own private judgment."[ ] imám as-sháfa'í, a member of the quraish tribe, was born a.h. . he passed his youth at mecca but finally settled in cairo where he died (a.h. ). ibn khallikan relates of him that he was unrivalled for his knowledge of the qurán, the sunnat, and the sayings of the companions. "never," said imám ibn hanbal, "have i passed a night without praying for god's mercy and blessing upon as-sháfi'í." "whosoever pretends," said abu thaur, "that he saw the like of as-sháfi'í for learning is a liar." having carefully studied the systems of the two preceding imáms he then proceeded on an eclectic system to form his own. it was a reaction against the system of abu hanífa. as-sháfi'í follows rather the traditional plan of ibn málik. the hanifite will be satisfied if, in the absence of a clear and a direct statement, he finds one { } passage in the qurán, or one tradition from which the required judgment may be deduced. the sháfi'ite in the same circumstances, if tradition is the source of his deduction, will require a considerable number of traditions from which to make it. imám ibn hanbal was the last of the four orthodox imáms. he was born at baghdád (a.h. ). his system is a distinct return to traditionalism. he lived at baghdád during the reign of the khalíf mamun, when orthodox islám seemed in danger of being lost amid the rationalistic speculations, (that is, from an orthodox muslim stand-point), and licentious practices of the court. the jurists most in favour at court were followers of abu hanífa. they carried the principle of analogical deduction to dangerous lengths in order to satisfy the latitudinarianism of the khalíf. human speculation seemed to be weakening all the essentials of the faith. ibn hanbal met the difficulty by discarding altogether the principle of analogical deduction. at the same time he saw that the máliki system, founded as it was on the "customs of madína," was ill-suited to meet the wants of a great and growing empire. it needed to be supplemented. what better, what surer ground could he go upon than the traditions. these at least were inspired, and thus formed a safer foundation on which to build a system of jurisprudence than the analogical deductions of abu hanífa did. the system of ibn hanbal has almost ceased to exist. there is now no muftí of this sect at mecca, though the other three are represented there. still his influence is felt to this day in the importance he attached to tradition. the distinction between the four imáms has been put in this way. abu hanífa exercised his own judgment. málik and hanbal preferred authority and precedent. as-sháfi'í entirely repudiated reason. they differ, too, as regards the value of certain traditions, but to each of them an authentic tradition is an incontestable authority. their { } opinion on points of doctrine and practice forms the third basis of the faith. the ijmá' of the four imáms is a binding law upon all sunnís. it might be supposed that as the growing needs of the empire led to the formation of these schools of interpretation; so now the requirements of modern, social and political life might be met by fresh imáms making new analogical deductions. this is not the case. the orthodox belief is, that since the time of the four imáms there has been no mujtahid who could do as they did. if circumstances should arise which absolutely require some decision to be arrived at, it must be given in full accordance with the 'mazhab,' or school of interpretation, to which the person framing the decision belongs.[ ] this effectually prevents all change, and by excluding innovation, whether good or bad, keeps islám stationary. legislation is now purely deductive. nothing must be done contrary to the principles contained in the jurisprudence of the four imáms. "thus, in any muhammadan state legislative reforms are simply impossible. there exists no initiative. the sultán, or khalíf can claim the allegiance of his people only so long as he remains the exact executor of the prescriptions of the law." the question then as regards the politics of the "eastern { } question" is not whether muhammad was a deceiver or self-deceived, an apostle or an impostor; whether the qurán is on the whole good or bad; whether arabia was the better or the worse for the change muhammad wrought; but what islám as a religious and political system has become and is, how it now works, what orthodox muslims believe and how they act in that belief. the essence of that belief is, that the system as taught by prophet, khalífs and imáms is absolutely perfect.[ ] innovation is worse than a mistake. it is a crime, a sin. this completeness, this finality of his system of religion and polity, is the very pride and glory of a true muslim. to look for an increase of light in the knowledge of his relation to god and the unseen world, in the laws which regulate islám on earth is to admit that muhammad's revelation was incomplete, and that admission no muslim will make. it has been stated on high authority that all that is required for the reform of turkey is that the qánúns or orders of the sultán should take the place of the sharí'at or law of islám. precisely so; if this could be done, turkey might be reformed; but islám would cease to be the religion of the state. that the law as formulated by the imám abu hanífa ill suits the conditions of modern life is more than probable; but it is the very function of the khalíf of islám, { } which the sultán claims to be, to maintain it. he is no mujtahid, for such there are not now amongst the sunnís, to which sect the turks belong. if through stress of circumstances some new law must be made, orthodoxy demands that it should be strictly in accordance with the opinions of the imáms. the shía'hs, in opposition to the sunnís, hold that there are still mujtahidín, but this opinion arises from their peculiar doctrine of the imámat, a subject we shall discuss a little later on. at first sight it would seem that if there can be mujtahidín who are now able to give authoritative opinions, there may be some hope of enlightened progress amongst shía'h people--the persians for example. there is doubtless amongst them more religious unrest, more mysticism, more heresy, but they are no further on the road of progress than their neighbours; and the apparent advantage of the presence of a mujtahid is quite nullified by the fact that all his decisions must be strictly in accordance with the qurán and the sunnat, or rather with what to the shía'h stands in the place of the sunnat. the shía'h, as well as the sunní, must base all legislation on the fossilized system of the past, not on the living needs of the present. precedent rules both with an iron sway. the wahhábís reject all ijmá' except that of the companions, but that they accept; so when they are called the puritans of islám, it must be remembered that they accept as a rule of faith not only the qurán, but the sunnat, and some ijmá'. in order to make ijmá' binding, it is necessary that the mujtahidín should have been unanimous in their opinion or in their practice. the whole subject of ijtihád is one of the most important in connection with the possibility of reforms in a muslim state. a modern muhammadan writer[ ] seeking to show that islám does possess a capacity for progress and that so far from being a hard and fast system, it is able to adapt itself to new circumstances, because the prophet ushered in { } "an age of active principles," uses the story i have already related when describing the origin of ijtihád (ante. p. ) to prove the accuracy of his statement. he makes mu'áz to say:--"i will look first to the qurán, then to precedents of the prophet, and lastly rely upon my _own judgment_." it is true that ijtihád literally means 'great effort,' it is true that the companions and mujtahidín of the first class had the power of exercising their judgment in doubtful cases, and of deciding them according to their sense of the fitness of things, provided always, that their decision contravened no law of the qurán or the sunnat; but this in no way proves that islám has any capacity for progress, or that "an age of active principles" was ushered in by muhammad, or that his "words breathe energy and force, and infuse new life into the dormant heart of humanity." for, though the term ijtihád might, in reference to the men i have mentioned, be somewhat freely translated as "one's own judgment," it can have no such meaning now. it is a purely technical term, and its use and only use now is to express the "referring of a difficult case to some analogy drawn from the qurán and the sunnat." but even were the meaning not thus restricted, even though it meant now as it sometimes meant at first, "one's own judgment;" still syed amír 'alí's position would remain to be proved for, since the days of the four imáms, the orthodox believe that there has been no mujtahid of the first class, and to none but men of this rank has such power ever been accorded. thus granting, for the sake of argument merely, that the syed's translation is grammatically and technically correct, all that results from it is that the "age of active principles" lasted only for two centuries. i do not admit that there ever was such an age in islám, and certainly neither its theological development, nor its political growth negative the opposite assertion, _viz._, that muhammad gave precepts rather than principles. the turks are included in "the dormant heart of humanity," but it is difficult to see what "energy and { } force" is breathed, what "new life is infused" into them by the "wonderful words" of the prophet, or what lasting good the "age of active principles" has produced. . qÍÁs is the fourth foundation of islám. the word literally means reasoning, comparing. it is in common use in hindustani and persian in the sense of guessing, considering, &c. technically, it means the analogical reasoning of the learned with regard to the teaching of the qurán, the sunnat and the ijmá'. for example, the qurán says:--"honour thy father and thy mother and be not a cause of displeasure to them." it is evident from this that disobedience to parents is prohibited, and prohibition implies punishment if the order is disobeyed. again, if the qurán and the sunnat hold children responsible, according to their means, for the debts of their father, does it not follow that the elder ones ought to fulfil for their parents all those obligations which for some reason or other the parents may not be able to perform, such as the pilgrimage to mecca, &c. a tradition said to come from the companions runs thus:--"one day, a woman came to the prophet and said, 'my father died without making the pilgrimage.' the prophet said, 'if thy father had left a debt what wouldest thou do,' 'i would pay the debt.' 'good, then pay this debt also.'" the qurán forbids the use of khamar, an intoxicating substance, and so it is argued that wine and opium are unlawful, though not forbidden by name. the wahhábís would extend the prohibition to the use of tobacco. from cases such as these, many jurisconsults hold that the mujtahidín of the earliest age established this fourth foundation of the faith which they call qíás. it is also called i'tibár-ul-amsál, or "imitation of an example." the idea is taken from the verse: "profit by this example, ye who are men of insight" (súra lix. ). there are strict rules laid down which regulate qíás, of which the most important is, that in all cases it must be based on the qurán, the sunnat, and the ijmá'. in fact, the fundamental idea of islám { } is that a perfect law has been given, even unto details, of social and political life. the teaching of muhammad contains the solution of every difficulty that can arise. every law not provided by the prophet must be deduced analogically. this produces uniformity after a fashion, but only because intellectual activity in higher pursuits ceases and moral stagnation follows. thus all who come within the range of this system are bound down to political servitude. whatever in feeling or conviction goes beyond the limits of an out-worn set of laws is swept away. there is a wonderful family likeness in the decay of all musalmán states, which seems to point to a common cause. all first principles are contained in the qurán and the sunnat; all that does not coincide with them must be wrong. they are above all criticism. qíás, then, affords no hope of enlightened progress, removes no fetter of the past, for in it there must be no divergence in principle from a legislation imperfect in its relation to modern life and stationary in its essence.[ ] in the niháyat-ul-murád it is written:--"we are shut up to following the four imáms." in the tafsír-i-ahmadí we read:--"to follow any other than the four imáms is unlawful." an objector may say that such respect is like the reverence the heathen pay to their ancestors. to this an answer is given in the preface to the tarjuma-i-sharh-i-waqáyah. the writer there says that it is nothing of the kind. "the mujtahidín are not the source of the orders of the law, but they are the medium by which we obtain the law. thus imám abu hanífa said: 'we select first from the qurán, then from the traditions, then from the decrees of the companions; we act on what the companions agreed upon; where they doubt, we doubt.' the commentator jelál-ud-dín mahlí says, 'the common people and others who have { } not reached the rank of a mujtahid, must follow one of the four imáms.' then when he enters one mazhab (sect) he must not change. again, it may be objected that god gave no order about the appointment of four imáms. now, it is recorded in a tradition that the prophet said, 'follow the way of the great company; whosoever departs from it will enter hell.' the followers of the imáms are a great company." it is moreover the unanimous opinion, the "ijmá'-i-ummat," that the imáms rightly occupy the position accorded to them. it is a great blessing, as we read in the tafsír-i-ahmadí: "it is of the grace of god, that we are shut up to these four imáms. god approves of this, and into this matter proofs and explanations do not enter." should any one further object that, in the days of the prophet, there were no mujtahidín, that each man acted on a "saying" as he heard it, that he did not confine his belief or conduct to the deductions made by some "appointed companion," he may be answered thus:--"for a long time after the death of the prophet many companions were alive, and consequently the traditions then current were trustworthy; but now it is not so, hence the need for the imáms and their systems." these four foundations,--the qurÁn, the sunnat, ijmÁ' and qÍÁs--form in orthodox muslim opinion and belief a perfect basis of a perfect religion and polity. they secure the permanence of the system, but they repress an intelligent growth. the bearing of all this on modern politics is very plain. take again the case of turkey. the constitution of the government is theocratic. the germs of freedom are wanting there as they have never been wanting in any other country in europe. the ruling power desires no change; originality of thought, independence of judgment is repressed. nothing good has the turk ever done for the world.[ ] this rule has been one continued display of brute { } force unrelieved by any of the reflected glory which shone for a while in cordova and in baghdád. no nation can possibly progress, the foundations of whose legal and theocratic system are what has been described in this chapter. when brought into diplomatic and commercial intercourse with states possessing the energy and vigour of a national life and liberal constitution, muslim kingdoms must, in the long run, fail and pass away. it has been well said that "spain is the only instance of a country once thoroughly infused with roman civilisation which has been actually severed from the empire; and even then the severance, though of long duration, was but partial and temporary. after a struggle of nearly eight centuries, the higher form of social organisation triumphed over the lower and the usurping power of islám was expelled." so it ought to be, and so indeed it must ever be, for despotism must give way to freedom; the life latent in the subject christian communities must sooner or later cast off the yoke of a barbarian rule, which even at its best is petrified and so is incapable of progress. however low a christian community may have fallen, there is always the possibility of its rising again. a lofty ideal is placed before it. all its most cherished beliefs point forward and upward. in islám there is no regenerative power. its golden age was in the past. when the work of conquest is done, when a muhammadan nation has to live by industry, intelligence and thrift, it always miserably fails. in this chapter which must now draw to a close, i have tried to prove from authentic and authoritative sources that { } the qurán alone is to no muslim the sole guide of life. the fetters of a dogmatic system fasten alike around the individual and the community. islám is sterile, it gives no new birth to the spirit of a man, leads him not in search of new forms of truth, and so it can give no real life, no lasting vitality to a nation.[ ] { } note to chapter i. ijtihÁd. questions connected with ijtihád are so important in islám, that i think it well to give in the form of a note a fuller and more technical account of it, than i could do in the chapter just concluded. this account which i shall now give is that of a learned musalmán, and is, therefore, of the highest value. it consists of extracts from an article in the journal asiatique, quatrième série, tome, , on "le marche et les progres de la jurisprudence parmi les sectes orthodoxes musalmanes" by mirza kázim beg, professor in the university of st. petersburg. it entirely supports all that has been said of the rigid character of muhammadan law, and of the immobility of systems founded thereon. "orthodox musalmáns admit the following propositions as axioms. . god the only legislator has shown the way of felicity to the people whom he has chosen, and in order to enable them to walk in that way he has shown to them the precepts which are found, partly in the eternal qurán, and partly in the sayings of the prophet transmitted to posterity by the companions and preserved in the sunnat. that way is called the "sharí'at." the rules thereof are called ahkám. . the qurán and the sunnat, which since their manifestation are the primitive sources of the orders of the law, form two branches of study, _viz._, ilm-i-tafsír, or the interpretation of the qurán and ilm-i-hadís, or the study of tradition. . all the orders of the law have regard either to the actions (dín), or to the belief (imán) of the mukallifs.[ ] . as the qurán and the sunnat are the principal sources from whence the precepts of the sharí'at have been drawn, so the rules recognized as the principal elements of actual jurisprudence are the subject of ilm-í-fiqh, or the science of law. fiqh in its root signifies conception, comprehension. thus muhammad prayed for ibn mas'úd: "may god make him { } comprehend (faqqihahu), and make him know the interpretation of the qurán." muhammad in his quality of judge and chief of the believers decided, without appeal or contradiction, all the affairs of the people. his sayings served as a guide to the companions. after the death of the prophet the first khalífs acted on the authority of the traditions. meanwhile the qurán and the sunnat, the principal elements of religion and legislation, became little by little the subject of controversy. it was then that men applied themselves vigorously to the task of learning by heart the qurán and the traditions, and then that jurisprudence became a separate science. no science had as yet been systematically taught, and the early musalmáns did not possess books which would serve for such teaching. a change soon, however, took place. in the year in which the great jurisconsult of syria died (a.h. ) n'imán bin sabit, surnamed abu hanífa was born. he is the most celebrated of the founders of the schools of jurisprudence, a science which ranks first in all muslim seats of learning. until that time and for thirty years later the mufassirs,[ ] the muhaddis,[ ] and the fuqihá,[ ] had all their knowledge by heart, and those who possessed good memories were highly esteemed. many of them knew by heart the whole qurán with the comments made on it by the prophet and by the companions; they also knew the traditions and their explanations, and all the commands (ahkám) which proceed from the qurán, and the sunnat. such men enjoyed the right of mujtahidín. they transmitted their knowledge to their scholars orally. it was not till towards the middle of the second century a.h. that treatises on the different branches of the law were written, after which six schools (mazhabs) of jurisprudence were formed. the founders, all imáms of the first class, were abu hanífa, the imám-i-a'zam or great imám (a.h. ),[ ] safian as-sáurí (a.h. ), málik (a.h. ), as-sháfa'í (a.h. ), hanbal (a.h. ) and imám dáúd az-zaharí (a.h. ). the two sects founded by sáurí and zaharí became extinct in the eighth century of the hijra. the other four still remain. these men venerated one another. the younger ones speak with great respect of the elder. thus sháfa'í said:--"no one in the world was so well versed in jurisprudence as abu hanífa was, and he who has read neither his works, nor those of his disciples knows nothing of jurisprudence." hanbal when sick wore a shirt which had belonged to sháfa'í, in order that he might be cured of his malady; but all this { } did not prevent them starting schools of their own, for the right of ijtihád is granted to those who are real mujtahidín. there are three degrees of ijtihád. . al-ijtihád fi'l shari': absolute independence in legislation . al-ijtihád fi'l mazhab: authority in the judicial systems founded by the mujtahidín of the first class. . al-ijtihád fi'l masáil: authority in cases which have not been decided by the authors of the four systems of jurisprudence. the first is called a complete and absolute authority, the second relative, the third special. the first degree of ijtihÁd. absolute independence in legislation is the gift of god. he to whom it is given when seeking to discover the meaning of the divine law is not bound to follow any other teacher. he can use his own judgment. this gift was bestowed on the jurisconsults of the first, and to some in the second and third centuries. the companions, however, who were closely connected with the prophet, having transmitted immediately to their posterity the treasures of legislation, are looked upon as mujtahidín of much higher authority than those of the second and third centuries. thus abu hanífa says:--"that which comes to us from the companions is on our head and eyes (_i.e._, to be received with respect): as to that which comes from the tábi'ín, they are men and we are men." since the time of the tábi'ín this degree of ijtihád has only been conferred on the six great imáms. theoretically any muslim can attain to this degree, but it is one of the principles of jurisprudence that the confirmation of this rank is dependent on many conditions, and so no one now gains the honour. these conditions are:-- . the knowledge of the qurán and all that is related to it; that is to say, a complete knowledge of arabic literature, a profound acquaintance with the orders of the qurán and all their sub-divisions, their relationship to each other and their connection with the orders of the sunnat. the candidate should know when, and why each verse of the qurán was written, he should have a perfect acquaintance with the literal meaning of the words, the speciality or generality of each clause, the abrogating and abrogated sentences. he should be able to make clear the meaning of the 'obscure' passages (mutashábih), to discriminate between the literal and the allegorical, the universal and the particular. . he must know the qurán by heart with all the traditions and explanations. { } . he must have a perfect knowledge of the traditions, or at least of three thousand of them. he must know their source, history, object and their connection with the laws of the qurán. he should know by heart the most important traditions. . a pious and austere life. . a profound knowledge of all the sciences of the law. should any one _now_ aspire to such a degree another condition would be added, _viz_:-- . a complete knowledge of the four schools of jurisprudence. the obstacles, then, are almost insurmountable. on the one hand, there is the severity of the 'ulamá, which requires from the candidate things almost impossible; on the other, there is the attachment of the 'ulamá to their own imáms, for should such a man arise no one is bound now to listen to him. imám hanbal said:--"draw your knowledge from whence the imáms drew theirs, and do not content yourself with following others for that is certainly blindness of sight". thus the schools of the four imáms remain intact after a thousand years have passed, and so the 'ulamá recognise since the time of these imáms no mujtahíd of the first degree. ibn hanbal was the last. the rights of the man who attained to this degree were very important. he was not bound to be a disciple of another, he was a mediator between the law and his followers, for whom he established a system of legislation, without any one having the right to make any objection. he had the right to explain the qurán, the sunnat and the ijmá' according as he understood them. he used the prophet's words, whilst his disciples only used his. should a disciple find some discrepancy between a decision of his own imám and the qurán or traditions, he must abide by the decision of the imám. the law does not permit him to interpret after his own fashion. when once the disciple has entered the sect of one imám he cannot leave it and join another. he loses the right of private judgment, for only a mujtahid of the first class can dispute the decision of one of the imáms. theoretically such mujtahidín may still arise; but, as we have already shown, practically they do not. the second degree of ijtihÁd. this degree has been granted to the immediate disciples of the great imáms who have elaborated the systems of their masters. they enjoyed the special consideration of the contemporary 'ulamá, and of their respective imáms who in some cases have allowed them { } to retain their own opinion.' the most famous of these men are the two disciples of abu hanífa, abu yúsuf and muhammad bin al hasan. in a secondary matter their opinion carries great weight. it is laid down as a rule that a muftí may follow the unanimous opinion of these two even when it goes against that of abu hanífa. the third degree of ijtihÁd. this is the degree of special independence. the candidates for it should have a perfect knowledge of all the branches of jurisprudence according to the four schools of the arabic language and literature. they can solve cases which come before them, giving reasons for their judgment, or decide on cases which have not been settled by previous mujtahidín; but in either case their decisions must always be in absolute accordance with the opinions of the mujtahidín of the first and second classes, and with the principles which guided them. many of these men attained great celebrity during their lifetime, but to most of them this rank is not accorded till after their death. since imám qází khán died (a.h. ), no one has been recognised by the sunnís as a mujtahid even of the third class. there are three other inferior classes of jurists, called muqallidín, or followers of the mujtahidín; but all that the highest in rank amongst them can do is to explain obscure passages in the writings of the older jurisconsults. by some of the 'ulamá they are considered to be equal to the mujtahidín of the third class. if there are several conflicting legal opinions on any point, they can select one opinion on which to base their decision. this a mere qází cannot do. in such a case he would have to refer to those men, or to their writings for guidance. they seem to have written commentaries on the legal systems without originating anything new. the author of the hidáyah, who lived at the end of the sixth century, was a muqallid. such is mirza kázim beg's account. the whole article, of which i have only given the main points, is worthy of the closest study. it shows how "the system, as a whole, rejects experience as a guide to deeper insight or wider knowledge; tramples upon the teaching of the past; pays no heed to differences of climate, character, or history; but regards itself as a body of absolute truth, one jot or tittle of which cannot be rejected without incurring the everlasting wrath of god."[ ] { } * * * * * chapter ii. exegesis of the qurÁn and the traditions. the following account of this branch of muslim theology, technically called 'ilm-i-usúl, may be introduced by a few remarks on the nature of inspiration according to islám, though that is not strictly speaking a portion of this study. there are two terms used to express different degrees of inspiration, wahí and ilhám. wahí is the term applied to the inspiration of the qurán, and implies that the very words are the words of god. it is divided into wahí záhir (external inspiration), and wahí bátin (internal inspiration). the whole book was prepared in heaven. muhammad, instructed by gabriel, is simply the medium through which the revelation of wahí záhir reaches man. the wahí qurán, _i.e._, the highest form of inspiration, always came to the ear of the prophet through the instrumentality of gabriel. in muhammadan theology, this is the special work of gabriel. thus in the traditions it is related that he appeared to adam twelve times, to enoch four, to noah fifty, to abraham forty-two, to moses four hundred, to jesus ten times, to muhammad twenty-four thousand times. ilhám means the inspiration given to a saint or to a prophet when he, though rightly guided, delivers the subject matter out of his own mind, and is not a mere machine to reproduce the messages of gabriel. there is a lower form of wahí záhir, which is called ishárat-ul-malak (literally, "sign of the angel.") this expresses what muhammad meant when he said: "the holy ghost has entered into my heart." in other words, he received the inspiration through { } gabriel, but not by word of mouth. this form of inspiration is higher than that possessed by saints, and is usually applied to the inspiration of the traditions. this is denied by some, who say that except when delivering the qurán muhammad spoke by ilhám and not by wahí. the practical belief is, however, that the traditions were wahí inspiration, and thus they come to be as authoritative as the qurán. sharastani speaks of "the signs (sayings) of the prophet which have the marks of wahí."[ ] this opinion is said by some muslim theologians to be supported by the first verse of the fifty-third súra, entitled the star. "by the star when it setteth; your companion muhammad _erreth not_, nor is he _led astray_, neither doth he _speak of his own will_. it is none other than a revelation which hath been revealed to him." in any case the inspiration of muhammad is something quite different from the christian idea of inspiration, which is to musalmáns a very imperfect mode of transmitting a revelation of god's will. that there should be a human as well as a divine side to inspiration is an idea not only foreign, but absolutely repugnant to muhammadans. the qurán is not a book of principles. it is a book of directions. the qurán describes the revelation given to moses thus:--"we wrote for him upon the tables a monition concerning every matter and said: 'receive them thyself with steadfastness, and command thy people to receive them for the observance of its most goodly precepts.'" (súra vii. ). it is such an inspiration as this the qurán claims for itself. muhammad's idea was that it should be a complete and final code of directions in every matter for all mankind. it is not the word of a prophet enlightened by god. it proceeds immediately from god, and the word 'say' or 'speak' precedes, or is understood to precede, every sentence. this to a muslim is the highest form of inspiration; this alone stamps a book as { } divine. it is acknowledged that the injíl--the gospel--was given by jesus; but as that, too, according to muslim belief, was brought down from heaven by the angel gabriel during the month of ramazán, it is now asserted that it has been lost, and that the four gospels of the new testament are simply traditions collected by the writers whose names they bear. their value is, therefore, that of the second foundation of the islámic system. the question next arises as to the exact way in which gabriel made known his message to muhammad. the mudárij-un-nabuwat, a standard theological work, gives some details on this point.[ ] though the qurán is all of god, both as to matter and form, yet it was not all made known to the prophet in one and the same manner. the following are some of the modes:-- . it is recorded on the authority of 'Áyesha, one of muhammad's wives, that a brightness like the brightness of the morning came upon the prophet. according to some commentators this brightness remained six months. in some mysterious way gabriel, through this brightness or vision, made known the will of god. . gabriel appeared in the form of dahiah, one of the companions of the prophet, renowned for his beauty and gracefulness. a learned dispute has arisen with regard to the abode of the soul of gabriel when he assumed the bodily form of dahiah. at times, the angelic nature of gabriel overcame muhammad, who was then translated to the world of angels. this always happened when the revelation was one of bad news, such as denunciations or predictions of woe. at other times, when the message brought by gabriel was one of consolation and comfort, the human nature of the prophet overcame the angelic nature of the angel, who, in such case, having assumed a human form, proceeded to deliver the message. { } . the prophet heard at times the noise of the tinkling of a bell. to him alone was known the meaning of the sound. he alone could distinguish in, and through it, the words which gabriel wished him to understand. the effect of this mode of wahí was more marvellous than that of any of the other ways. when his ear caught the sound his whole frame became agitated. on the coldest day, the perspiration, like beads of silver, would roll down his face. the glorious brightness of his countenance gave place to a ghastly hue, whilst the way in which he bent down his head showed the intensity of the emotion through which he was passing. if riding, the camel on which he sat would fall to the ground. the prophet one day, when reclining with his head in the lap of zeid, heard the well known sound: zeid, too, knew that something unusual was happening, for so heavy became the head of muhammad that it was with the greatest difficulty he could support the weight. . at the time of the mi'ráj, or night ascent into heaven, god spoke to the prophet without the intervention of an angel. it is a disputed point whether the face of the lord was veiled or not. . god sometimes appeared in a dream, and placing his hands on the prophet's shoulders made known his will. . twice, angels having each six hundred wings, appeared and brought the message from god. . gabriel, though not appearing in bodily form, so inspired the heart of the prophet that the words he uttered under its influence were the words of god. this is technically called ilká, and is by some supposed to be the degree of inspiration to which the traditions belong. above all, the prophet was not allowed to remain in any error; if, by any chance, he had made a wrong deduction from any previous revelation, another was always sent to rectify it. this idea has been worked up to a science of abrogation, according to which some verses of the qurán abrogate others. muhammad found it necessary to shift { } his stand-point more than once, and thus it became necessary to annul earlier portions of his revelation. thus in various ways was the revelation made known to muhammad. at first there seems to have been a season of doubt (ante p. ), the dread lest after all it might be a mockery. but as years rolled on confidence in himself and in his mission came. at times, too, there is a joyousness in his utterances as he swears by heaven and earth, by god and man; but more often the visions were weird and terrible. tradition says:--"he roared like a camel, the sound as of bells well-nigh rent his heart in pieces." some strange power moved him, his fear was uncontrollable. for twenty years or more the revelations came, a direction on things of heaven and of earth, to the prophet as the spiritual guide of all men,[ ] to the warrior-chief, as the founder of political unity among the arab tribes. a muhammadan student, after passing through a course of instruction in grammar, rhetoric, logic, law, and dogmatics, at length reaches the stage when he is permitted to enter upon the study of "'ilm-i-usúl," or the exegesis of the qurán, and the inspired sayings of the prophet. this done, he can henceforth read the approved commentaries in order to learn what the fathers of islám have to say. this science in one way fits him to be a commentator, for the work of a muslim divine now is, not to bring things "new and old" out of the sacred book, but to hand down to others the things old. there is no indwelling spirit in the church of islám which can reveal to the devout mind new views of truth, or lead the pious scholar on to deeper and more profound knowledge. the greatest proficient in theology is the man who can repeat the qurán by heart, who knows also and can reproduce at will what the early commentators have said, who can remember, and quote in the most apposite manner, the { } prophet's sayings preserved in the traditions handed down by the companions, their followers, and their followers' followers, who can point out a flaw in the isnád (_i.e._ chain of narrators) of a tradition quoted by an opponent, or maintain, by repeating the long list of names, the authority of the isnád of the tradition he quotes himself. a good memory, not critical acumen, is the great desideratum in a muslim theologian. the chief qualification of a háfiz, a man who can repeat the whole qurán by heart, is not that he shall understand its meaning, but that he shall be able to pronounce each word correctly. by men who are not arabs by birth, this is only to be attained after years of practice from childhood. the sunnís say that no shía'h can ever become a háfiz, from which fact they draw the conclusion that the shía'hs are heretics. in the early days of islám, the great authorities on the question of the correct pronunciation of the qurán were the khalífs abu bakr, omar, osmán, and 'alí, and ten of the companions, who learned from the prophet himself the exact way in which gabriel had spoken. the arabic of heaven was the arabic of islám. the effort, however, to preserve one uniform method of repeating the qurán failed. men of other lands could not acquire the pure intonation of mecca, and so no less than seven different ways of reading the sacred book became current. here was a great difficulty, but it proved surmountable. abu ibn káb, one of the companions, had become so famous as a reader that the prophet himself said: "read the qurán under abu ibn káb." these men remembered that abu ibn káb had stated, that one day when scandalized at man after man who entered the mosque repeating the qurán in different ways, he spoke to muhammad about it. his highness said: "o abu ibn káb! intelligence was sent to me to read the qurán in one dialect, and i was attentive to the court of god, and said: 'make easy the reading of the qurán to my sects.' these instructions were sent to me a second time saying: 'read the { } qurán in two dialects.' then i turned myself to the court of god saying: 'make easy the reading of the qurán to my sects.' then a voice was sent to me the third time saying: 'read the qurán in seven dialects.'" this removed all difficulty, and the foresight displayed by the prophet in thus obtaining a divine sanction for the various ways of reading was looked upon as a proof of his inspiration. thus arose the "haft qirá,at," or seven readings of the qurán, now recognised. in the qurán compiled by the order of the khalíf osmán there were no vowel-points, but when men of other countries embraced islám they found great difficulty in mastering arabic. khalid bin ahmad, a great grammarian, then invented the short vowels and other diacritical marks. the seven famous "readers" whose names have been given to the various modes of reading, are imám nafi of madína, imám ibn-i-kasir of mecca, imám abu 'umr of basra, imám hamza of kufa, imám ibn 'amir of syria, imám 'Ásim of kufa, imám kisáe of kufa.[ ] these learned men affixed different vowel-points in many places in the qurán, and thus slight differences of meaning arose. in india the "qirá,at--reading,--of imám 'Ásim is followed by both sunnís and shía'hs. there are three readings of lesser note allowable when reading the qurán privately, but not when reading any part in a liturgical service. during the month of ramazán the qurán is repeated every night in the mosque, it being so arranged that one-thirtieth part shall be recited each night. the imám of the mosque, or public reader, (qárí) who commences according to one of the seven recognised readings (qirá,at), must keep to the same all the month. as he has to recite without a book this involves a great exercise of the memory. a good háfiz will know the whole seven varieties. the various readings thus introduced, though { } unimportant in their nature,[ ] amount to about five hundred in number. the following are a few illustrations. in the second súra abu 'umr reads: "nor shall ye be questioned concerning that which _they_ have done;" but 'Ásim reads: "that which _ye_ have done." this is caused by putting two dots above the line instead of below it. again 'Ásim reads: "_enter ye_ the gates of hell" (súra xxxix. ), but nafi reads: "_ye will be made to enter_ hell,"--that is, by a slight change the passive is substituted for the active voice. these are fair samples of the rest. no doctrine, so far as i know, is touched, but the way in which tradition records the prophet's anticipation of the difficulty is instructive to the student of islám. at times, too, fierce disputes have arisen between the followers of the seven famous readers whose names i have given above. in the year a.h., ibn shanabud, a resident of baghdád, ventured to introduce some different readings in his recital of the qurán. the people of baghdád, not knowing these, were furious, and the khalíf was compelled to cast the offender into prison. a council of divines was called together, before whom the unhappy ibn shanabud was produced. for a while he maintained the correctness of his "readings," but after being whipped seven times he said: "i renounce my manner of reading, and in future i shall follow no other than that of the manuscript drawn up by the khalíf osmán, and that which is generally received."[ ] closely connected with this subject is the history of the rise of the science of grammar. as islám spread, it became necessary to expound the qurán to persons unacquainted with arabic. the science of grammar then became an important branch of study, and the collection of traditions a necessary duty. the faithful were for a long time in { } doubt as to the lawfulness of applying the laws of grammar to so sacred a book. there was no command in the book itself to do so, nor had the prophet given any directions on this point. it was then neither "farz" nor "sunnat," that is, neither a command based on the qurán nor one based on any saying or act of the prophet. the traditions, however, solve the difficulty. al mamun, the distinguished though heretical khalíf of baghdád, was a patron of al farra, the chief of grammarians. a distinguished pupil of his, abu'l 'abbás thalub, on his death-bed expressed his belief in the fact that the quránists, the traditionists, and others, had gained their heavenly reward, but he had been only a grammarian, and grammar after all was, in connection with the qurán, a science of doubtful legality. the friend to whom he told his doubts and fears went home and saw a vision. it is recorded that he had a vision in his sleep that very night, in which he saw the blessed prophet, who said to him: "give my greeting to abu'l 'abbás thalub, and say, 'thou art master of the superior science.'" the prophet had now spoken, and henceforth grammar became a lawful study in islám. muslims now quote the qurán as a perfect model of style; it may be well to remember that the rules have been made for it, and that, therefore, it is but natural that it should be perfect according to the present canons of arabic grammar.[ ] the question of the interpretation of the text speedily became a very important branch of the "'ilm-i-usúl." it is said that the qurán was brought from paradise by gabriel to muhammad as occasion required. the prophet was reproached for not having a complete revelation, and { } answered the reproach by the following verse, sent for the purpose. "the infidels say, 'unless the qurán be sent down to him all at once'--but in this way we establish thy heart in it, _in parcels have we parcelled it out to thee_" (súra xxv. ). the revelation thus given is entirely objective; it came to the ear of the prophet through the teaching of gabriel. "yet it is a glorious qurán, _written on the preserved table_." (súra lxxxv. ). gabriel addresses the prophet thus: "when we have _recited_ it then follow thou the _recital_." (súra lxxv. ). the external mode in which it came is referred to in the verse: "we have _sent down_ to thee an arabic qurán." (súra xx. ). the fragmentary way in which the qurán was given[ ] was not without its difficulties. some passages contradicted others, some were difficult to understand. to the prophet alone was the solution known. the knowledge he communicated to his immediate followers, the companions, as they are called, thus: "to thee have we sent down this book of monitions, that _thou mayest make clear to men_ what hath been sent down to them." (súra xvi. ). ibn khaldoun says: "the prophet unfolded the meaning, distinguished between abrogated and abrogating verses, { } and communicated this knowledge to his companions. it was from his mouth that they knew the meaning of the verses and the circumstances which led to each distinct revelation being made."[ ] the companions thus instructed became perfectly familiar with the whole revelation. this knowledge they handed down by word of mouth to their followers, the tába'ín, who in their turn passed it on to their followers the taba-i-tába'ín. the art of writing then became common, and the business of the commentator henceforth was to collect together the sayings of the companions thus handed down. criticism of a passage in the qurán was not his duty, criticism of a comment made on it by a companion was beyond his province: the first was too sacred to be touched, the second must be accepted if only the chain of narrators of the statement were perfect. thus early in the history of islám were the principles of exegesis fixed and settled. every word, every sentence, has now its place and class. the commentator has now only to reproduce what was written before,[ ] though he may in elucidation of the point, bring forth some tradition hitherto unnoticed, which would, however, be a difficult thing to do. it will thus be seen that anything like the work of a christian commentator, with all its fresh life and new ideas, is not to be had in islám. the perfection of its exegesis is its dogmatic and antique nature-- "while as the world rolls on from age to age, and realms of thought expand, the letter stands without expanse or range, stiff as a dead man's hand." the technical terms which the student must know, and { } the definitions of which he must understand, are those which relate to the nature of the words, the sentences, the use of the words of the qurán, and the deduction of arguments from passages in the book. i. the words of the qurán are divided into four classes. . _kháss_, or special words. these are sub-divided into three classes. first, words which relate to genus, _e.g._ mankind. secondly, words which relate to species, _e.g._ a man, which refers to men as distinguished from women. thirdly, words which relate to special individuality, _e.g._ zeid, which is the name of a special individual. . _'amm_, or common or collective names, such as "people." . _mushtarik_, or words which have several significations, as the arabic word "'ain," which may mean an eye, a fountain, or the sun. again, the word "sulát," if connected with god, may mean mercy, as "sulát ulláh," the mercy of god; if with man, it may mean either "namáz," a stated liturgical service, or "du'a," prayer in its ordinary sense, _e.g._ sulát-ul-istisqá (prayer in time of drought) is du'a, not namáz. . _muawwal_, words which have several significations, all of which are possible, and so a special explanation is required. for example, súra cviii. , reads thus in sale's translation. "wherefore pray unto the lord and _slay_ (the victims)." the word translated "slay" is in arabic "nahr," which has many meanings. the followers of the great legist abu hanífa render it, "sacrifice," and add the words (the "victims"). the followers of ibn sháfa'í say it means "placing the hands on the breast in prayer." this illustrates the difference between mushtarik and muawwal. in the former, only one meaning is allowable, and that meaning the context settles; in the latter both meanings are allowable and both right. these divisions of words having been well mastered and the power of defining any word in the qurán gained, the { } student passes on to consider the nature of the sentences. these are divided into two great classes,--the "obvious," and the "hidden." this division is referred to in the following passage of the qurán. "he it is who hath sent down to thee the book. some of its signs are of themselves _perspicuous_; these are the basis (literally "mother") of the book, and others are _figurative_. but they whose hearts are given to err follow its figures, craving discord, craving an interpretation; yet none know its interpretation, but god.[ ] and the stable in knowledge say: 'we believe in it, it is all from god.'" (súra iii. ). this has given rise to the division of the whole book into literal and allegorical statements. in order to explain these correctly the commentator must know ( ) the reason why, ( ) the place where, ( ) the time when, the particular passage he is expounding was revealed; he must know whether it abrogates or is abrogated, whether it is in its proper order and place or not; whether it contains its meaning within itself or needs the light which the context throws upon it; he must know all the traditions which bear upon it, and the authority for each such tradition. this effectually confines the order of commentators in the strict sense of the word to the companions, and supplies the reason why commentators since then simply reproduce their opinions.[ ] but to return from this digression. sentences are záhir--"obvious," or khafí--"hidden." obvious sentences are divided into four classes. i. ( ). _záhir_, or obvious, the meaning of which is so clear that he who hears it at once understands its meaning { } without seeking for any explanation. this kind of sentence may be abrogated. unless abrogated, action in accordance with it is to be considered as the express command of god. all penal laws and the rules regulating the substitution of one religious act for another, _e.g._ almsgiving instead of fasting, must be based on this, the clearest of the obvious sentences. ( ). _nass_, a word commonly used for a text of the qurán, but in its technical meaning here expressing what is meant by a sentence, the meaning of which is made clear by some word which occurs in it. the following sentence illustrates both záhir and nass: "take in marriage of such other women as please you, two, three, four." this sentence is záhir, because marriage is here declared lawful; it is nass, because the words "one, two, three, four," which occur in the sentence, show the unlawfulness of having more than four wives. ( ). _mufassir_, or explained. this is a sentence which needs some word in it to explain it and make it clear. thus: "and the angels prostrated themselves, all of them with one accord, save iblis (satan)." here the words "save iblis," show that he did not prostrate himself. this kind of sentence may be abrogated. ( ). _mukham_, or perspicuous. this is a sentence as to the meaning of which there can be no doubt, and which cannot be controverted, thus: "god knoweth all things." this kind of sentence cannot be abrogated. to act on such sentences without departing from the literal sense is the highest degree of obedience to god's command. the difference between these sentences is seen when there is a real or apparent contradiction between them. if such should occur, the first must give place to the second, and so on. thus mukham cannot be abrogated or changed by any of the preceding, or mufassir by nass, &c. the other great division of sentences is that of ii. ( ). _khafí_ or hidden. such are those sentences in { } which other persons or things are hidden beneath the plain meaning of a word or expression contained therein, as: "as for a thief, whether male or female, cut ye off their hands in recompense for their doings." (súra v. ). the word for thief is "sáriq," and in this passage it is understood to include highwaymen, pickpockets, plunderers of the dead, &c. these meanings are khafí or hidden under it. ( ). _muskhil_, or ambiguous, the following is given as an illustration: "and (their attendants) shall go round about them with vessels of silver and goblets. the bottles shall be bottles of silver." the difficulty here is that bottles are not made of silver, but of glass. the commentators say, however, that glass is dull in colour, though it has some lustre, whilst silver is white, and not so bright as glass. now it may be, that the bottles of paradise will be like glass bottles as regards their lustre, and like silver as regards their colour. but anyhow, it is very difficult to ascertain the meaning. ( .) _mujmal._ these are, first, sentences which may have a variety of interpretations, owing to the words in them being capable of several meanings; in that case the meaning which is given to the sentence in the traditions relating to it should be acted on and accepted. secondly, the sentence may contain some very rare word, and thus its meaning may be doubtful, as: "man truly is by creation hasty." (súra lxx. .) in this verse the word "halú'"--hasty--occurs. it is very rarely used, and had it not been for the following words, "when evil toucheth him, he is full of complaint; but when good befalleth him, he becometh niggardly," its meaning would not have been at all easy to understand. the following is an illustration of the first kind of _mujmal_ sentences: "stand for prayer (salát) and give alms," (zakát.) both salát and zakát are 'mushtarik' words. the people, therefore, did not understand this verse, so they applied to muhammad for an explanation. he explained to them that "salát" might mean the ritual of public prayer, { } standing to say the words "god is great," or standing to repeat a few verses of the qurán; or it might mean private prayer. the primitive meaning of "zakát" is growing. the prophet, however, fixed the meaning here to that of "almsgiving," and said, "give of your substance one-fortieth part." ( .) _mutashábih._ these are sentences so difficult that men cannot understand them, a fact referred to in súra iii. . (ante. p. ), nor will they do so until the day of resurrection. the prophet, however, knew their meaning. such portions are the letters a, l, m; a, l, r; y, a at the commencement of some of the súras.[ ] such expressions also as "god's hand," "the face of god," "god sitteth," &c., come under this category. the next point to be considered is the _use_ of words in the qurán, and here again the same symmetrical division into four classes is found, _viz_:-- ( .) _haqíqat_, that is, words which are used in their literal meaning, as "rukú'," a prostration, and "salát" in the sense of prayer. ( .) _majáz_, or words which are used in a figurative sense, as "salát" in the sense of "námáz" a liturgical service. ( .) _saríh_, or words the meaning of which is quite evident, as, "thou art _divorced_," "thou art _free_." ( .) _kinayáh_, or words which, being used in a metaphorical sense, require the aid of the context to make their meaning clear, as: "thou art separated," which may, as it { } stands alone, mean "thou art divorced." this class also includes all pronouns the meaning of which is only to be known from the context, _e.g._ one day the prophet not knowing who knocked at his door said, "who art thou?" the man replied, "it is i." muhammad answered, "why dost thou say i, i? say thy name that i may know who thou art." the pronoun "i" is here 'kinayáh.' the most important and most difficult branch of exegesis is "istidlál," or the science of deducing arguments from the qurán. this too is divided into four sections, as follows:-- ( .) _ibárat_, or the plain sentence. "mothers, after they are divorced, shall give suck unto their children two full years, and the father shall be obliged to maintain them and clothe them according to that which is reasonable." (súra ii. .) from this verse two deductions are made. first, from the fact that the word "them" is in the feminine plural, it must refer to the mothers and not to the children; secondly, as the duty of supporting the mother is incumbent on the father, it shows that the relationship of the child is closer with the father than with the mother. penal laws may be based on a deduction of this kind. ( .) _ishárat_, that is, a sign or hint which may be given from the order in which the words are placed. ( .) _dalálat_, or the argument which may be deduced from the use of some special word in the verse, as: "say not to your parents, "fie" (arabic "uff") (súra xvii. ). from the use of the word "uff," it is argued that children may not beat or abuse their parents. penal laws may be based on "dalálat," thus: "their aim will be to abet disorder on the earth; but god loveth not the abettors of disorder." (súra v. .) the word translated "aim" is in arabic literally yasa'úna, "they run." from this the argument is deduced that as highwaymen wander about, they are included amongst those whom "god loveth not," and that, therefore, the severest punishment may be given to { } them, for any deduction that comes under the head of "dalálat" is a sufficient basis for the formation of the severest penal laws. ( .) _iqtizá._ this is a deduction which demands certain conditions: "whosoever killeth a believer by mischance, shall be bound to free a believer from slavery." (súra iv. ). as a man has no authority to free his neighbour's slave, the condition here required, though not expressed, is that the slave should be his own property. the qurán is divided into:-- ( ). _harf_ (plural _hurúf_), letters. the numbers given by different authorities vary. in one standard book it is said that there are , letters. ( ). _kalima_ (plural _kalimát_), words, stated by some to amount to , ; by others to , . ( ). _Áyat_ (plural _Áyát_), verses. Áyat really means a sign, and was the name given by muhammad to short sections or verses of the qurán. the end of a verse is determined by the position of a small circle (.). the early qurán readers did not agree as to the position of these circles, and so five different ways of arranging them have arisen. this accounts for a variation in the number of verses in various editions. the varieties are:-- ( ). _kúfa_ verses. the readers in the city of kúfa say that they followed the custom of 'alí. their way of reckoning is generally adopted in india. they reckon , verses. ( ). _basra_ verses. the readers of basra follow 'asim bin hajjáj, a companion. they reckon , . ( ). _shámi_ verses. the readers in syria (shám) followed abd-ulláh bin 'umr, a companion. they reckon , verses. ( ). _mecca_ verses. according to this arrangement there are , verses. ( ). _madína_ verses. this way of reading contains , verses. { } in each of the above varieties the verse "bismilláh" (in the name of god) is not reckoned. it occurs times in the qurán. this diversity of punctuation does not generally affect the meaning of any important passage. the third verse of the third súra is an important exception. the position of the circle (.), the symbol denoting a full stop, in that verse is of the highest importance in connection with the rise of scholasticism ('ilm-i-kalám) in islám. most of the cases, however, are like the following:-- in súra xxvii. an account is given of the queen of sheba's receiving a letter from king solomon. addressing her nobles she said: "verily, kings, when they enter a city (by force) waste the same, and abase the most powerful of the inhabitants hereof: and so will (these) do (with us)." many readers put the full stop after the word "hereof," and say that god is the speaker of the words "and so will they do." ( ). _súra_, or chapter. the word súra means a row or series, such as a line of bricks arranged in a wall, but it is now exclusively used for chapters in the qurán. these are one hundred and fourteen in number. the súras are not numbered in the original arabic, but each one has some approximate name, (as baqr--the cow, nisá--women, &c.,) generally taken from some expression which occurs in it. they are not arranged in chronological order, but according to their length. as a general rule, the shorter súras which contain the theology of islám, belong to the meccan period of the prophet's career,[ ] and the longer ones relating chiefly to social duties and relationships, to the organisation of islám as a civil polity, to the time when he was consolidating his power at madína. the best way, therefore, to { } read the qurán, is to begin at the end. the attempt to arrange the súras in due order, is a very difficult one, and, after all, can only be approximately correct.[ ] carlyle referring to the confused mass of "endless iterations, long windedness, entanglement, most crude, incondite" says: "nothing but a sense of duty could carry any european through the qurán." when re-arranged the book becomes more intelligible. the chief tests for such re-arrangement are the style and the matter. there is a very distinct difference in both of these respects between the earlier and later súras. the references to historical events sometimes give a clue. individual súras are often very composite in their character, but, such as they are, they have been from the beginning. the recension made by zeid, in the reign of the khalíf osmán, has been handed down unaltered in its form. the only variations (qirá'at) now to be found in the text have been already noticed. they in no way affect the arrangements of the súras. . _sípára_ a thirtieth portion. this is a persian word derived from _sí_, thirty, and _pára_, a portion. the arabs call each of these divisions a _juz_. owing to this division, a pious man can recite the whole qurán in a month, taking one sípára each day. musalmáns never quote the qurán as we do by súra and Áyat, but by the sípára and rukú', a term i now proceed to explain. . _rukú'_ (plural _rukúát_). this word literally means a prostration made by a worshipper in the act of saying the prayers. the collection of verses recited from the qurán, ascriptions of praise offered to god, and various ritual acts connected with these, constitute one act of worship called a "rak'at." after reciting some verses in this form of prayer, the worshipper makes a _rukú'_, or prostration, the { } portion then recited takes the name of _rukú'_. tradition states that the khalíf osmán, when reciting the qurán during the month of ramazán, used to make twenty rak'ats each evening. in each rak'at he introduced different verses of the qurán, beginning with the first chapter and going steadily on. in this way he recited about two hundred verses each evening; that is, about ten verses in each rak'at. since then, it has been the custom to recite the qurán in this way in ramazán, and also to quote it by the rukú', _e.g._, "such a passage is in such a sípára and in such a rukú'." the following account of a rak'at will make the matter plain. when the faithful are assembled in the mosque, the imám, or leader, being in front facing the qibla, the service commences thus:--each worshipper stands and says the niyyat (literally "intention"), a form of words declaring his intention to say his prayers. he then says: "god is great." after this, looking downwards, he says: "holiness to thee, o god! and praise be to thee, great is thy name, great is thy greatness, there is no deity but thee." then follows: "i seek from god refuge from cursed satan." then the tasmiyah is repeated: "in the name of god, the compassionate and merciful." then follows the fátiha, that is, the short chapter at the commencement of the qurán. after this has been recited, the imám proceeds, on the first night of the month ramazán, with the first verse of the second chapter.[ ] after saying a few verses, he makes a rukú'; that is, he bends his head and body down, and places his hands on his knees. in this position he says: "god is great." then he repeats three times the words: "i extol the holiness of my lord, the great." he then stands up and says: "god hears him who praises him." to this the people respond: "o lord, thou art praised." again, falling on his knees, the worshipper says: "god is great." then he puts first his nose, and then his forehead on the { } ground and says three times: "i extol the holiness of my lord, the most high." then sitting on his heels, he says: "god is great;" and again repeats as before: "i extol, etc." he then rises and says: "god is great." this is one rak'at. on each night in the month of ramazán this is gone through twenty times, the only variation being that after the fátiha and before the first prostration, fresh verses of the qurán are introduced. the whole is, of course, done in arabic, in whatever country the worshippers may be. the name of the prostration (rukú') has been transferred to the portion of the qurán recited just before it is made. there are altogether rukúát. ( ). the other divisions are not important. they are, a _sumn_, _ruba'_, _nisf_, _suls_, that is one-eighth, one-fourth, one-half, one-third of a sípára respectively. in reciting the qurán the worshipper must be careful to say the "takbír," _i.e._ "god is great," after the several appointed places. such a place is after the recital of the rd súra. the custom arose in this way. the hypocrites came to the prophet and asked him to relate the story of the "seven sleepers." he said: "i will tell you to-morrow;" but he forgot to add the words "if god will." by way of warning, god allowed no inspiration to descend upon him for some days. then the hypocrites began to laugh and say: "god has left him." as it was not god's purpose to put his messenger to ridicule, the súra entitled "the brightness" (xciii) was immediately brought by the ever-ready gabriel. it begins: "by the brightness of the morning, and by the night when it groweth dark, _thy lord hath not forsaken thee_, neither doth he hate thee." in remembrance of this signal interposition of providence on his behalf, the prophet always concluded the recital of this súra with the words: "god is great." the practice thus became a "sunnat" obligation; that is, it should be done because the prophet did it. the doctrine of abrogation is a very important one in { } connection with the study of the qurán. it is referred to in the verses: "whatever verses we cancel or cause thee to forget, we give thee better in their stead, or the like thereof." (súra ii. ). this is a madína súra. "what he pleaseth will god abrogate or confirm; for with him is the source of revelation." (súra xiii. ). some verses which were cancelled in the prophet's life-time are not now extant. abdullah ibn masúd states that the prophet one day recited a verse, which he immediately wrote down. the next morning he found it had vanished from the material on which it had been written. astonished at this, he acquainted muhammad with the fact, and was informed that the verse in question had been revoked. there are, however, many verses still in the qurán, which have been abrogated. it was an exceedingly convenient doctrine, and one needed to explain the change of front which muhammad made at different periods of his career. certain rules have been laid down to regulate the practice. the verse which abrogates is called _núsikh_, and the abrogated verse _mansúkh_. _mansúkh_ verses are of three kinds:--first, where the words and the sense have both been abrogated; secondly, where the letter only is abrogated and the sense remains; thirdly, where the sense is abrogated though the letter remains. imám málik gives as an instance of the first kind the verse: "if a son of adam had two rivers of gold, he would covet yet a third; and if he had three he would covet yet a fourth. neither shall the belly of a son of adam be filled, but with dust. god will turn unto him who shall repent." the imám states that originally this verse was in the súra (ix.) called repentance. the verse, called the "verse of stoning" is an illustration of the second kind. it reads: "abhor not your parents for this would be ingratitude in you. if a man and woman of reputation commit adultery, ye shall stone them both; it is a punishment ordained by god; for god is mighty and wise." the khalíf omar says this verse was extant in muhammad's life-time but that it { } is now lost. but it is the third class which practically comes into 'ilm-i-usúl. authorities differ as to the number of verses abrogated. sale states that they have been estimated at two hundred and twenty-five. the principal ones are not many in number, and are very generally agreed upon. i give a few examples. it is a fact worthy of notice that they occur chiefly, if not almost entirely, in súras delivered at madína. there, where muhammad had to confront jews and christians, he was at first politic in his aim to win them over to his side, and then, when he found them obstinate, the doctrine of abrogation came in conveniently. this is seen plainly in the following case. at mecca muhammad and his followers did not stand facing any particular direction when at prayer, a fact to which the following passage refers:--"to god belongeth the east and west; therefore, whithersoever ye turn yourselves to pray there is the face of god." (súra ii. ). when muhammad arrived at madína, he entered into friendship with the jews and tried to win them to his side. the qibla (sanctuary) towards which the worshippers now invariably turned at prayer was jerusalem. this went on for a while, but when muhammad claimed to be not merely a prophet for the arabs, but the last and the greatest of all the prophets, when he asserted that moses had foretold his advent, and that his revelations were the same as those contained in their own scriptures, they utterly refused allegiance to him. in the first half of the second year of the hijra the breach between them was complete. it was now time to reconcile the leaders of the quraish tribe at mecca. so the verse quoted above was abrogated by: "we have seen thee turning thy face towards heaven, but we will have thee turn to a qibla, which shall please thee. turn then thy face toward the holy temple (of mecca), and wherever ye be, turn your faces toward that part." (súra ii. .) the faithful were consoled by the assurance that though they had not done so hitherto, yet god would not let their { } faith be fruitless, "for unto man is god merciful, gracious." (v. .) the doctrine of abrogation is brought in for a more personal matter in the following case: "it is not permitted to thee to take other wives hereafter, nor to change thy present wives for other women, though their beauty charm thee, except slaves, whom thy right hand shall possess." (súra xxxiii. .) this is said by beidawi, and other eminent muslim divines, to have been abrogated by a verse which though placed before it in the arrangement of verses, was really delivered after it. the verse is: "o prophet, we allow thee thy wives whom thou hast dowered, and the slaves which thy right hand possesseth out of the booty which god hath granted thee; and the daughters of thy uncle, and the daughters of thy aunts, both on thy father's side, and on thy mother's side, who have fled with thee (to madína), and any other believing woman, who hath given herself up to the prophet; if the prophet desireth to wed her, it is a peculiar privilege for thee, above the rest of the faithful." (súra xxxiii. .) the moghul emperor akbar, wishing to discredit the 'ulamá, in one of the meetings so frequently held for discussion during his long reign, propounded the question as to how many free born women a man might marry. the lawyers answered that four was the number fixed by the prophet. "of other women who seem good in your eyes marry two and two, and three and three, and four and four." (súra iv. .) the emperor said that he had not restricted himself to that number, and that shaikh 'abd-un-nabi had told him that a certain mujtahid had had nine wives. the mujtahid in question, ibn abi lailah reckoned the number allowed thus + + = . other learned men counted in this way + , + , + = . the emperor wished the meeting to decide the point. again, the second verse of súra lxxiii reads: "stand up all night, except a small portion of it, for prayer." according to a tradition handed down by 'Áyesha the last verse { } of this súra was revealed a year later. it makes the matter much easier. "god measureth the night and the day; he knoweth that ye cannot count its hours aright, and therefore turneth to you mercifully. recite _then so much of the qurán as may be easy to you_." (v. .) the following is an illustration of a verse abrogated, though there is no verse to prove its abrogation. however, according to the ijmá' it has been abrogated. "but alms are only to be given to the poor and the needy and to those who collect them, and to those whose hearts are won to islám." (súra ix. .) the clause--"to those whose hearts are won to islám"--is now cancelled.[ ] muhammad, to gain the hearts of those, who lately enemies, had now become friends, and to confirm them in the faith, gave them large presents from the spoils he took in war; but when islám spread and became strong, the 'ulamá agreed that such a procedure was not required and said that the order was "mansukh." the other verses abrogated relate to the ramazán fast, to jihád, the law of retaliation, and other matters of social interest. the doctrine of abrogation is now almost invariably applied by musalmán controversialists to the old and new testaments, which they say are abrogated by the qurán. "his (muhammad's) law is the abrogator of every other law."[ ] this is not, however, a legitimate use of the doctrine. according to the best and most ancient muslim divines, abrogation refers entirely to the qurán and the traditions, and even then is confined to commands and prohibitions. "those who imagine it to be part of the muhammadan creed that one law has totally repealed another, are utterly mistaken--we hold no such doctrine."[ ] in the tafsír-i-itifáq it is written: "abrogation affects those { } matters which god has confined to the followers of muhammad, and one of the chief advantages of it is that the way is made easy." in the tafsír-i-mazhirí we find: "abrogation refers only to commands and prohibitions, not to facts or historical statements."[ ] again, no verse of the qurán, or a tradition can be abrogated unless the abrogating verse is distinctly opposed to it in meaning. if it is a verse of the qurán, we must have the authority of muhammad himself for the abrogation; if a tradition, that of a companion. thus "the word of a commentator or a mujtahid is not sufficient unless there is a 'genuine tradition' (hadís-i-sahíh), to show the matter clearly. the question of the abrogation of any previous command depends on historical facts with regard to the abrogation, not on the mere opinion of a commentator." it cannot be shown that either muhammad or a companion ever said that the bible was abrogated. this rule, whilst it shows that the assertion of modern controversialists on this point is void of foundation, also illustrates another point to which i have often called attention, _viz._; that in islám all interpretation must be regulated by traditionalism. additions were occasionally made. thus when it was revealed that those who stay at home were not before god as those who go forth to war, abdullah and ibn um-maktum said: 'and what if they were blind.' the prophet asked for the shoulder-blade on which the verse was written. he then had a spasmodic convulsion. after his recovery he made zeid add the words, "free from trouble." so now the whole verse reads thus: "those believers who sit at home _free from trouble_ (_i.e._, bodily infirmity), and those who do valiantly in the cause of god, with their substance and their persons, shall not be treated alike." (súra iv. ). years after, zeid said: "i fancy i see the words now on the shoulder-blade near a crack." { } the question of the eternal nature of the qurán does not properly come under the head of 'ilm-i-usúl, but it is a dogma fondly cherished by many muslims. in the days of the khalíf al-mamun this question was fiercely debated. the freethinkers, whilst believing in the mission of muhammad, asserted that the qurán was created, by which statement they meant that the revelation came to him in a subjective mode, and that the language was his own. the book was thus brought within the reach of criticism. in the year , a.h. the khalíf issued a decree to the effect that all who held the qurán to be uncreated were to be declared guilty of heresy. but the khalíf himself was a notorious rationalist, and so the orthodox, though they remained quiet, remained unconvinced. the arguments used on the orthodox side are, that both the words and their pronunciation are eternal, that the attempt to draw a distinction between the word as it exists in the divine mind and as it appears in the qurán is highly dangerous. in vain do their opponents argue that, if the qurán is uncreated, two eternal beings are in existence. to this it is answered: "this is the honourable qurán, written in the preserved tablet." (súra lvi. ). a tradition is also adduced which states: "god wrote the thora (law) with his own hand, and with his own hand he created adam; and also in the qurán it is written, 'and we wrote for him upon the tables a monition concerning every matter,' in reference to the tables of the law given to moses." if god did this for former prophets and their works, how much more, it is argued, should he not have done it for the last and greatest of the prophets, and the noble qurán? it is not easy to get a correct definition of the term "the uncreated qurán," but it has been put thus: "the word as it exists in the mind of god is 'kalám-i-nafsí' (spiritual word), something unwritten and eternal. it is acknowledged by the ijmá'-i-ummat (consent of the faithful), the traditions, and by other prophets that god { } speaks. the kalám-i-nafsí then is eternal, but the actual words, style, and eloquence are created by god; so also is the arrangement and the miraculous nature of the book." this seems to be a reasonable account of the doctrine, though there are theologians who hold that the very words are eternal. the doctrine of abrogation clashes with this idea, but they meet the objection by their theory of absolute predestination. this accounts for the circumstances which necessitated the abrogation, for the circumstances, as well as the abrogated verses, were determined on from all eternity. this concludes the consideration of the exegesis of the qurán, a book difficult and uninteresting for a non-muslim to read, but one which has engaged and is still engaging the earnest thoughts of many millions of the human race. thousands of devout students in the great theological schools of cairo, stamboul, central asia and india are now plodding through this very subject of which i have here been treating; soon will they go forth as teachers of the book they so much revere. how utterly unfit that training is to make them wise men in any true sense of the word, how calculated to render them proud, conceited, and scornful of other creeds, its rigid and exclusive character shows. still, it is a marvellous book; for twelve hundred years and more it has helped to mould the faith, animate the courage, cheer the despondency of multitudes, whether dwellers in the wild uplands of central asia, in hindustan, or on the shores of the mediterranean. the turanian and the aryan, the arab and the negro, alike learn its sonorous sentences, day by day repeat its opening clauses, and pray in its words as their fathers prayed before them. next to the act of testifying to the unity of god, the qurán is the great bond of islám. no matter from what race the convert may have come, no matter what language he may speak, he must learn in arabic, and repeat by rote portions of the qurán in every act of public worship. the next subject for consideration is that of the { } traditions, or the second branch of the science of 'ilm-i-usúl. the traditions contain the record of all that muhammad did and said. it is the belief of every muslim, to whatever sect he belongs, that the prophet not only spake but also acted under a divine influence. the mode of the inspiration is different from that of the qurán. there the revelation was objective. in the prophet's sayings recorded in the traditions the inspiration is subjective, but still a true inspiration. this belief places the traditions in a place second only to the qurán; it makes them a true supplement to that book, and thus they not only throw light on its meaning, but themselves form the basis on which doctrines may be established. without going so far as to say that every tradition by itself is to be accepted as an authority in islám, it may be distinctly asserted that there can be no true conception formed of that system if the traditions are not studied and taken into account. so important a branch of muslim theology is it, that the study of the traditions is included in the 'ilm-i-usúl, or science of exegesis. some account of them, therefore, naturally forms part of this chapter. the first four khalífs were called the khulafá-i-ráshidín that is, those who could guide others aright. they had been friends and companions of the prophet, and the faithful could always appeal to them in cases of doubt. the prophet had declared that islám must be written in the hearts of men. there was therefore an unwillingness to commit his sayings to writing. they were handed down by word of mouth. as no argument was so effectual in a dispute as "a saying" of the prophet, the door was opened by which spurious traditions could be palmed off on the faithful. to prevent this, a number of strict rules were framed, at the head of which stands the prophet's saying, itself a tradition: "convey to other persons none of my words except those which ye know of a surety. verily, he who purposely represents my { } words wrongly will find a place for himself nowhere but in fire." to enforce this rule, it was laid down that the relator of a tradition must also repeat its "isnád," or chain of authorities, as: "i heard from such an one, who heard from such an one," and so on, until the chain reaches the prophet himself. each person, too, in this "isnád," must have been well known for his good character and retentive memory. this failed, however, to prevent a vast number of manifestly false traditions becoming current; so men set themselves to the work of collecting and sifting the great mass of tradition that in the second century of islám had begun to work untold evil. these men are called "muhadisín," or "collectors of tradition." the sunnís and the wahhábís recognise six such men, and their collections are known as the "sihah-sittah," or six correct books. they are the following:-- ( ). the _sahíh-i-bukhárí_, called after abu abdullah muhammad ibn-i-ismá'íl, a native of bukhárá. he was born a.h. . he was a man of middle height, spare in frame, and as a boy totally blind. the grief of his father was on this account intense; but one day in a dream he saw the patriarch abraham, who said to him: "god on account of thy grief and sorrow has granted sight to thy son." the sight being thus restored, at the age of ten he went to school, and began to learn the traditions by heart. after his education was finished, a famous muhadis named dákhlí came to bukhárá. one day the youthful bukhárí ventured to correct the famous man. it was an astounding piece of audacity, but the youth was proved to be in the right. this set him on the work of collecting and sifting the traditions. at the early age of sixteen he was able to remember fifteen thousand. in course of time he collected , traditions. the result of his examination and selection was that he approved of seven thousand two hundred and seventy-five. these are now recorded in his great work, the sahíh-i-bukhárí. it { } is said that he never sat down to examine a tradition without first performing a legal ablution, and repeating two rak'at prayers. he then said: "o lord, let me not make a mistake." for sixteen years he lived in a mosque and died much respected at the age of sixty-four. ( ). _sahíh-i-muslim._ muslim ibn-i-hajjáj was born at nishápúr, a city of khorásán. he collected about , traditions, from which he made his collection. he is said to have been a very just man, and willing to oblige all who sought his advice. in fact, this willingness to oblige was the indirect cause of his death. one day he was sitting as usual in the mosque when some people came to ask him about a tradition. as he could not discover it in the books he had with him, he went to his house to search there. the people brought him a basket of dates. he went on eating and searching, but unfortunately he ate so many dates that he died. (a.h. .) ( ). _sunan-i-abu dáúd._ abu dáúd sajistání, a native of seistán, was born a.h. . he was a great traveller, and went to all the chief places of musalmán learning. in knowledge of the traditions, in devotion, in piety, he was unrivalled. he collected about , traditions, of which he selected four thousand eight hundred for his book. ( ). _jámí'-i-tirmizí._ abu isa' muhammad tirmizí was born at tirmiz in the year a.h. . he was a disciple of bukhárí. ibn khallikan says this work is "the production of a well-informed man: its exactness is proverbial."[ ] ( ). _sunan-i-nasáí._ abu abd-ur-rahman nasáí was born at nasá, in khorásán, in the year a.h. , and died a.h. . it is recorded of him, with great approbation, that he fasted every other day, and had four wives and many slaves. this book is considered of great value. he met with his death in rather a sad way. he had compiled a book on the virtues of 'alí, and as the people of { } damascus were at that time inclined to the heresy of the khárigites, he wished to read his book in the mosque of that place. after he had read a little way, a man arose and asked him whether he knew aught of the praises of muavia, 'alí's deadly enemy. he replied that he did not. this answer enraged the people, who beat him so severely that he died soon after. ( ). _sunan-i-ibn májah._ ibn májah[ ] was born at 'irak a.h. . this work contains , traditions. the shía'hs reject these books and substitute five books[ ] of their own instead. they are of a much later date, the last one, indeed, having been compiled more than four hundred years after the hijra. the belief which underlies the question of the authority of the traditions is that before the throne of god there stands a 'preserved table,' on which all that can happen, and all that has ever entered, or will enter, the mind of man is 'noted in a distinct writing.' through the medium of gabriel, the prophet had access to this. it follows then that the words of the prophet are the words of god. of the four great "canonical legists" of islám, ahmad ibn hanbal was the greatest collector of traditions. it is said that he knew by heart no less than one million. of these he incorporated thirty thousand into his system of jurisprudence. that system is now almost obsolete. abu hanífa, who is said to have accepted only eighteen traditions as authentic, founded a system which is to this day the most powerful in islám. the hanifites, however, as well as other muslims, acknowledge the six standard collections of traditions as direct revelations of the will of { } god. they range over a vast number of subjects, and furnish a commentary on the qurán. the prophet's personal appearance, his mental and moral qualities, his actions, his opinions, are all recorded over and over again. many questions of religious belief are largely founded on the traditions, and it is to them we must go for an explanation of much of the ritual of islám. it is very difficult for any one, who has not lived in long and friendly intercourse with muslims, to realize how much their religious life and opinions, their thought and actions, are based on the traditions. having thus shown the importance of the traditions, i now proceed to enter a little into detail on the question of the rules framed concerning them. the classification adopted by different authors may vary in some subordinate points; but the following account is adopted from a standard muhammadan work. a tradition may be hadís-i-qualí, that is, an account of something the prophet said; or hadís-i-fa'lí, a record of something which he did; or hadís-i-taqrírí, a statement of some act performed by other persons in his presence, and which action he did not forbid. the traditions may be classed under two general heads:-- first.--_hadís-i-mutawátír_, that is, "an undoubted tradition," the isnád, or chain of narrators of which is perfect, and in which chain each narrator possessed all the necessary qualifications for his office.[ ] some authorities say there are only a few of these traditions extant, but most allow that the following is one: "there are no good works except with intention," for example, a man may fast, but, unless he has the intention of fasting firmly in his mind, he gains no spiritual reward by so doing. second.--_hadís-i-ahád._ the authority of this class is { } theoretically somewhat less than that of the first, but practically it is the same. this class is again sub-divided into two:-- ( ). _hadís-i-sahíh_, or a genuine tradition. it is not necessary to go into the sub-divisions of this sub-division. a tradition is sahíh if the narrators have been men of pious lives, abstemious in their habits, endowed with a good memory, free from blemish, and persons who lived at peace with their neighbours. the following also are sahíh, though their importance as authorities varies. i arrange them in the order of their value. sahíh traditions are those which are found in the collections made by bukhárí and muslim, or in the collection of either of the above, though not in both; or, if not mentioned by either of these famous collectors, if it has been retained in accordance with their canons for the rejection or retention of traditions; or lastly, if retained in accordance with the rules of any other approved collector. for each of these classes there is a distinct name. ( ). _hadís-i-hasan._ the narrators of this class are not of such good authority as those of the former with regard to one or two qualities; but these traditions should be received as of equal authority as regards any practical use.[ ] it is merely as a matter of classification that they rank second. in addition to these names, there are a number of other technical terms which have regard to the personal character of the narrators, the isnád, and other points. a few may be mentioned. ( ). _hadís-i-z'aíf_, or a weak tradition. the narrators of it have been persons whose characters were not above reproach, whose memories were bad, or who, worse still, were addicted to "bid'at," innovation, a habit now, as then, a crime in the eyes of all true muslims. all agree that a { } "weak tradition" has little force; but few rival theologians agree as to which are, and which are not, "weak traditions." ( ). _hadís-i-mua'llaq_, or a tradition in the isnád of which there is some break. if it begins with a tábi' (one in the generation after that of the companions), it is called "_mursal_" the one link in the chain, the companion, being wanting. if the first link in the chain of narrators begins in a generation still later, it has another name, and so on. ( ). traditions which have various names, according as the narrator concealed the name of his imám, or where different narrators disagree, or where the narrator has mixed some of his own words with the tradition, or has been proved to be a liar, an evil liver, or mistaken; but into an account of these it is not necessary to enter, for no tradition of this class would be considered as of itself sufficient ground on which to base any important doctrine.[ ] it is the universally accepted rule, that no authentic tradition can be contrary to the qurán. the importance attached to tradition has been shown in the preceding chapter, an importance which has demanded the formation of an elaborate system of exegesis. to an orthodox muslim the book and the sunnat, god's word direct and god's word through the mind of the prophet, are the foundation and sum of islám, a fact not always taken into account by modern panegyrists of the system. { } * * * * * chapter iii. the sects of islÁm. it is a commonly received but nevertheless an erroneous opinion, that the muhammadan religion is one remarkable for the absence of dogma and the unanimity of its professors. in this chapter i propose to show how the great sects differ in some very important principles of the faith, and their consequent divergence in practice. there is much that is common ground to all, and of that some account was given in the first chapter on the "foundations of islám." it was there shown that all muslim sects are not agreed as to the essential foundations of the faith. the sunnís recognise four foundations, the wahhábís two; whilst the shía'hs reject altogether the traditions held sacred by both sunní and wahhábí. the next chapter will contain a full account of the doctrines held by the sunnís, and so no account of this, the orthodox sect, is given in this chapter. the first breach in islám arose out of a civil war. the story has been so often told that it need not be reproduced here at any length. 'alí, the son-in-law of muhammad, was the fourth khalíf of islám. he is described as "the last and worthiest of the primitive musalmáns who imbibed his religious enthusiasm from companionship with the prophet himself, and who followed to the last the simplicity of his character." he was a man calculated by his earnest devotion to the prophet and his own natural graces to win, as he has done, the admiration of succeeding generations. a strong opposition, however, arose, and 'alí was assassinated in a mosque at kúfa. it is not easy, amid the conflicting statements of historians of the rival sects, to arrive at the truth in all the details of the events which happened then; { } but the generally received opinion is, that after the assassination of 'alí, hasan, his son, renounced his claim to the khalifate in favour of his father's rival, muavia. hasan was ultimately poisoned by his wife, who, it is said, was instigated by muavia to do the deed, in order to leave the coast clear for his son yezíd. the most tragic event has yet to come. yezíd, who succeeded his father, was a very licentious and irreligious man. the people of kúfa, being disgusted at his conduct, sent messengers to husain, the remaining son of 'alí, with the request that he would assume the khalifate. in vain the friends of husain tried to persuade him to let the people of kúfa first revolt, and thus show the reality of their wishes by their deeds. in an evil hour husain started with a small band of forty horsemen and one hundred foot-soldiers. on the plain of karbalá he found his way barred by a force of three thousand men. "we are few in number," said husain, "and the enemy is in force. i am resolved to die. but you--i release you from your oath of allegiance; let all those who wish to do so leave me." "o son of the apostle of god!" was the reply, "what excuse could we give to thy grandfather on the day of resurrection did we abandon thee to the hands of thine enemies?" one by one these brave men fell beneath the swords of the enemy, until husain and his infant son alone were left. weary and thirsty, husain sat upon the ground. the enemy drew near, but no one dared to kill the grandson of the prophet. an arrow pierced the ear of the little boy and he died. "we came from god, and we return to him," were the pathetic words of husain, as with a sorrowful heart he laid the dead body of his son on the sand. he then stooped down to drink some water from the river euphrates. seeing him thus stooping, the enemy discharged a flight of arrows, one of which wounded him in the mouth. he fought bravely for a while, but at last fell covered with many wounds. the schism between the sunní and the shía'h was now complete. { } the ceremonies celebrated during the annual fast of muharram refer to these historical facts, and help to keep alive a bitter feud; but to suppose that the only difference between the shía'h and the sunní is a mere dispute as to the proper order of the early khalífs would be a mistake. starting off with a political quarrel, the shía'hs have travelled into a very distinct religious position of their own. the fundamental tenet of the shía'h sect is the "divine right" of 'alí the chosen and his descendants. from this it follows that the chief duty of religion consists in devotion to the imám (or pontiff); from which position some curious dogmas issue. the whole question of the imámat is a very important one. the word imám comes from an arabic word meaning to aim at, to follow after. the term imám then becomes equal to the word leader or exemplar. it is applied in this sense to muhammad as the leader in all civil and religious questions, and to the khalífs, his successors. it is also, in its religious import only, applied to the founders of the four orthodox schools of jurisprudence, and in a restricted sense to the leader of a congregation at prayer in a mosque. it is with the first of these meanings that we have now to deal. it is so used in the qurán--"when his lord made trial of abraham by commands which he fulfilled, he said: 'i am about to make of thee an imám to mankind;' he said: 'of my offspring also?' 'my covenant,' said god, 'embraceth not the evil-doers.'" (súra ii. .) from this verse two doctrines are deduced. first, that the imám must be appointed by god, for if this is not the case, why did abraham say "of my offspring also?" secondly, the imám is free from sin, for god said: "my covenant embraceth not the evil-doer." the first dispute about the imámat originated with the twelve thousand who revolted from 'alí after the battle of siffin ( a.d.), because he consented to submit to arbitration the dispute between himself and muavia. some years after they were nearly all destroyed by 'alí. a few { } survivors, however, fled to various parts. two at last settled in omán, and there preached their distinctive doctrines. in course of time the people of omán adopted the doctrine that the imámat was not hereditary but elective, and that in the event of misconduct the imám might be deposed. 'abdullah-ibn-ibádh ( a.d.) was a vigorous preacher of this doctrine, and from him the sect known as the 'ibádhiyah takes its rise. the result of this teaching was the establishment of the power and jurisdiction of the imám of omán. the 'ibádhiyah seem to have always kept themselves independent of the sunní khalífs of baghdád, and, therefore, would consider themselves free from any obligation to obey the sultán of turkey. from the ordinary shía'hs they differ as regards the "divine right" of 'alí and his children. the curious in such matters will find the whole subject well treated in dr. badger's "seyyids of omán." the term khárigite (separatist) has since become the generic name for a group of sects which agree as to the need of an imám, though they differ as to the details of the dogma. in opposition to this heresy of the khárigite stands what may be termed the orthodox doctrine of the shía'h. the shía'hs hold that the imámat must continue in the family of 'alí, and that religion consists mainly in devotion to the imám. the tragic end of 'alí and his sons invested them with peculiar interest. when grieving for the sad end of their leaders, the shí'ahs found consolation in the doctrine which soon found development, _viz._, that it was god's will that the imámat should continue in the family of 'alí. thus a tradition relates that the prophet said: "he of whom i am master has 'alí also for a master." "the best judge among you is 'alí." ibn abbás, a companion says: "i heard the prophet say: 'he who blasphemes my name blasphemes the name of god; he who blasphemes the name of 'alí blasphemes my name.'" a popular persian hymn shows to what an extent this feeling deepened. { } "mysterious being! none can tell the attributes in thee that dwell; none can thine essence comprehend; to thee should every mortal bend-- for 'tis by thee that man is given to know the high behests of heaven." the general idea is, that long before the creation of the world, god took a ray of light from the splendour of his own glory and united it to the body of muhammad, to which he said: "thou art the elect, the chosen, i will make the members of thy family the guides to salvation." muhammad said: "the first thing which god created was my light, and my spirit."[ ] the body of the prophet was then in some mysterious way hidden. in due time the world was created, but not until the birth of muhammad did this ray of glory appear. it is well known to all musalmáns as the "núr-i-muhammadí"--light of muhammad. this "núr" is said to be of four kinds. from the first kind god created his throne, from the second the pen of fate, from the third paradise, and from the fourth the state, or place of spirits and all created beings. according to a statement made by 'alí, muhammad said that he was created from the light of god, whilst all other created beings were formed from the "light of muhammad."[ ] this "light" descended to 'alí, and from him passed on to the true imáms, who alone are the lawful successors of the prophet. rebellion against them is sin; devotion to them the very essence of religion. the doctrine of the imámat has given rise to endless discussion and dissension, as the numerous sub-divisions of the shía'h sect will show. they are said to be thirty-two in number. the shía'h proper is the largest and most influential of them. the following are the shí'ah tenets regarding the imám, based on one of their standard books of { } divinity.[ ] the imám is the successor of the prophet, adorned with all the qualities which he possessed. he is wiser than the most learned men of the age, holier than the most pious. he is the noblest of the sons of men and is free from all sin original or actual: hence the imám is called ma'sum (innocent.)[ ] god rules the world by wisdom, hence the sending forth of prophets was a necessity; but it was equally necessary to establish the imámat. thus the imám is equal to a prophet. 'alí said: "in me is the glory of every prophet that has ever been." the authority of the imám is the authority of god, for (i quote the hyát-un-nafís) "his word is the word of god and of the prophet, and obedience to his order is incumbent." the nature of the imám is identical with the nature of muhammad, for did not 'alí say: "i am muhammad, and muhammad is me." this probably refers to the possession by the imám of the "light of muhammad." the bodies of the imáms are so pure and delicate that they cast no shadow.[ ] they { } are the beginning and the end of all things. to know the imáms is the very essence of the knowledge which men can gain of god. "the holy god calls the imáms his word, his hands, his signs, his secret. their commands and prohibitions, their actions too, he recognises as his own." as mediums between god and man they hold a far higher position than the prophets, for "the grace of god, without their intervention, reaches to no created being." these extravagant claims for the imáms culminate in the assertion that "for them a pillar of light has been fixed between the earth and heaven, by which the actions of the faithful are made known to them." the imám is the supreme pontiff, the vicar of god on earth. the possession of an infallible book is not sufficient. the infallible guide is needed. such wisdom and discernment as such a guide would require can only be found amongst the descendants of the prophet. it is no longer, then, a matter of wonder, that in some cases, almost, if not entirely, divine honour is paid to 'alí and his descendants.[ ] the usúl, or fundamental tenets of the shía'h sect are five in number. ( ) to believe in the unity of god, ( ) to admit that he is just, ( ) to believe in the divine mission of all the prophets, and that muhammad is the chief of all, ( ) to consider 'alí the khalíf next in order after muhammad, ( ) to believe 'alí's descendants from hasan to mahdí, the twelfth imám, to be his true successors, and to consider all of them in character, position and dignity as raised far above all other muslims. this is the doctrine of the imámat. { } the first principal divisions of the shía'h sect are the ismá'ílians and the imámites. the latter believe in twelve imáms, reckoning 'alí as the first.[ ] the last of the twelve abu'l-qásim, is supposed to be alive still, though hidden in some secret place. he bears the name of al-mahdí, "the guided." it is expected that he will reappear at the second advent of christ. they say that he was born near baghdád in the year a.h. he afterwards mysteriously disappeared. when he was born the words, "say: 'truth is come and falsehood is vanished: verily falsehood is a thing that vanisheth,'" (súra xvii. ) were found written on his right arm. when he came into the world, he pointed with his fingers to heaven, sneezed, and said: 'praise be to god, the lord of the world.' a person one day visited imám hasan 'askarí (the eleventh imám) and said: 'o son of the prophet who will be khalíf and imám after thee?' he brought out a child and said: 'if thou hadst not found favour in the eyes of god, he would not have shown thee this child; his name is that of the prophet, and so is his patronymic,' (abu 'l-qásim). the sect who believe mahdí to be alive at present, say that he rules over cities in the far west, and he is even said to have children. god alone knows the truth.[ ] the other large division, the ismá'ílians, agree with the imámites in all particulars save one. they hold that after sádiq, the sixth imám, commenced what is called the succession of the "concealed imáms." they believe that there never can be a time when there shall be no imám, but that he is now in seclusion. this idea has given rise to all sorts of secret societies, and has paved the way for a mystical religion, which often lands its votaries in atheism.[ ] { } the ghair-i-mahdí (literally "without mahdí") are a small sect who believe that al-mahdí will not reappear. they say that one syed muhammad of jeypore was the real mahdí, the twelfth imám, and that he has now gone never more to return. they venerate him as highly as they do the prophet, and consider all other musalmáns to be unbelievers. on the night called lailat-ul-qadr, in the month of ramazán, they meet and repeat two rak'at prayers. after that act of devotion is over, they say: "god is almighty, muhammad is our prophet, the qurán and mahdí are just and true. imám mahdí is come and gone. whosoever disbelieves this is an infidel." they are a very fanatical sect. there is another small community of ghair-i-mahdís called the dá,irí, settled in the province of mysore, who hold peculiar views on this point. about four hundred years ago, a man named syed ahmad collected some followers in the dominions of the nizám of hyderabad. he called himself the imám mahdí, and said that he was superior to any prophet. he and his disciples, being bitterly persecuted by the orthodox musalmáns, fled to a village in the adjoining district of mysore where their descendants, fifteen hundred in number, now reside. it is said that they do not intermarry with other musalmáns. the usual friday service in the mosque is ended by the leader saying: "imám mahdí came and went away," to which the people respond: "he who does not believe this is a káfir" (infidel). there are several traditions which refer to the latter days. "when of time one day shall be left, god shall raise up a man from among my descendants, who shall fill the world with justice, just as before him the world was full of oppression." and again: "the world shall not come to an end till the king of the earth shall appear, who is a man of my family, and whose name is the same as mine." when islám entered upon the tenth century of its existence, there was throughout persia and india a millenarian movement. men { } declared that the end was drawing near, and various persons arose who claimed to be al-mahdí. i have already mentioned two. amongst others was shaikh 'aláí of agra. ( a.h.) shaikh mubarak, the father of abu'l-fazl--the emperor akbar's famous vizier, was a disciple of shaikh 'aláí and from him imbibed mahdaví ideas. this brought upon him the wrath of the 'ulamá who, however, were finally overcome by the free-thinking and heretical emperor and his vizier. there never was a better ruler in india than akbar, and never a more heretical one as far as orthodox islám is concerned. the emperor delighted in the controversies of the age. the súfís and mahdavís were in favour at court. the orthodox 'ulamá were treated with contempt. akbar fully believed that the millennium had come. he started a new era, and a new religion called the 'divine faith.' there was toleration for all except the bigoted orthodox muslims. abu'l-fazl and others like him, who professed to reflect akbar's religious views, held that all religions contained truth. thus:-- "o god, in every temple i see people that seek thee, and in every language i hear spoken, people praise thee! polytheism and islam feel after thee, each religion says, 'thou art one, without equal.' if it be a mosque, people murmur the holy prayer, and if it be a christian church, people ring the bell from love to thee, sometimes i frequent the christian cloister, and sometimes the mosque, but it is thou whom i search from temple to temple." in this reign one mír sharíf was promoted to the rank of a commander of a thousand, and to an appointment in bengal. his chief merit in akbar's eyes was that he taught the doctrine of the transmigration of souls and the close advent of the millennium. he was a disciple of mahmúd of busakhwán, the founder of the nuqtawiah sect. as this is another offshoot of the shía'hs i give a brief account of them here. mahmúd lived in the reign of timur and { } professed to be al-mahdí. he also called himself the shakhs-i-wáhíd--the individual one. he used to quote the verse, "it may be that thy lord will raise thee up to a glorious (mahmúd) station." (súra xvii. ). from this he argued that the body of man had been advancing in purity since the creation, and that on its reaching to a certain degree, one mahmúd (glorious) would arise, and that then the dispensation of muhammad would come to an end. he claimed to be the mahmúd. he also taught the doctrine of transmigration, and that the beginning of everything was the nuqtah-i-khák--earth atom. it is on this account that they are called the nuqtawiah sect. they are also known by the names mahmúdiah and wáhídiah. shah 'abbás king of persia expelled them from his dominions, but akbar received the fugitives kindly and promoted some amongst them to high offices of state. this mahdaví movement, arising as it did out of the shía'h doctrine of the imámat, is a very striking fact. that imposters should arise and claim the name and office of al-mahdí is not to be wondered at, but that large bodies of men should follow them shows the unrest which dwelt in men's hearts, and how they longed for a personal leader and guide. the whole of the shía'h doctrine on this point seems to show that there is in the human heart a natural desire for some mediator--some word of the father, who shall reveal him to his children. at first sight it would seem, as if the doctrine of the imámat might to some extent reconcile the thoughtful shía'h to the christian doctrine of the incarnation and mediation of jesus christ, to his office as the perfect revealer of god's will; and as our guide in life; but alas! it is not so. the mystic lore connected with shía'h doctrine has sapped the foundation of moral life and vigour. a system of religious reservation, too, is a fundamental part of the system in its mystical developments, whilst all shía'hs may lawfully practise "takía," or religious { } compromise in their daily lives. it thus becomes impossible to place dependence on what a shía'h may profess, as pious frauds are legalised by his system of religion. if he becomes a mystic, he looks upon the ceremonial and the moral law as restrictions imposed by an almighty power. the omission of the one is a sin almost, if not quite, as bad as a breach, of the other. the advent of mahdí is the good time when all such restrictions shall be removed, when the utmost freedom shall be allowed. thus the moral sense, in many cases, becomes deadened to an extent such as those who are not in daily contact with these people can hardly credit. the practice of "takía," religious compromise, and the legality of "muta'h" or temporary marriages, have done much to demoralise the shía'h community. the following words of a recent author descriptive of the shía'h system are in the main true, though they do not apply to each individual in that system:-- "there can be no stronger testimony of the corrupting power and the hard and hopeless bondage of the orthodox creed, than that men should escape from it into a system which established falsehood as the supreme law of conduct, and regarded the reduction of men to the level of swine as the goal of human existence."[ ] the mutazilites, or seceders, were once an influential body. they do not exist as a separate sect now. an account of them will be given in the next chapter. in the doctrine of the imámat, common to all the offshoots of the shía'h sect, is to be found the chief point of difference between the sunní and the shía'h, a difference so great that there is no danger of even a political union between these two great branches of islám. i have already described, too, how the shía'hs reject the sunnat, though they do not reject tradition. a good deal of ill-blood is still kept up by the recollection--a recollection kept alive by the annual recurrence of the muharram fast--of the sad { } fate of 'alí and his sons. the sunnís are blamed for the work of their ancestors in the faith, whilst the khalífs abu bakr, omar, and osmán are looked upon as usurpers. not to them was committed the wonderful ray of light. in the possession of that alone can any one make good a claim to be the imám, the guide of the believers. the terrible disorders of the early days of islám can only be understood when we realise to some extent the passionate longing which men felt for a spiritual head--an imám. it was thought to be impossible that muhammad, the last--the seal--of the prophets should leave the faithful without a guide, who would be the interpreter of the will of allah. we here make a slight digression to show that this feeling extends beyond the shía'h sect, and is of some importance in its bearing upon the eastern question. apart from the superhuman claims for the imám, what he is as a ruler to the shía'h, the khalíf is to the sunní--the supreme head in church and state, the successor of the prophet, the conservator of islám as made known in the qurán, the sunnat and the ijmá' of the early mujtahidín. to administer the laws, the administrator must have a divine sanction. thus when the ottoman ruler, selim the first, conquered egypt, (a.d. ) he sought and obtained, from an old descendant of the baghdád khalífs, the transfer of the title to himself, and in this way the sultáns of turkey became the khalífs of islám. whether mutawakal billál, the last titular khalíf of the house of 'abbás, was right or wrong in thus transferring the title is not my purpose now to discuss. i only adduce the fact to show how it illustrates the feeling of the need of a pontiff--a divinely appointed ruler. strictly speaking, according to muhammadan law, the sultáns are not khalífs, for it is clearly laid down in the traditions that the khalíf (or the imám) must be of the tribe of the quraish, to which the prophet himself belonged. ibn-i-umr relates that the prophet said:--"the khalífs shall be in the quraish tribe as long as there are two { } persons in it, one to rule and another to serve."[ ] "it is a necessary condition that the khalíf should be of the quraish tribe."[ ] such quotations might be multiplied, and they tend to show that it is not at all incumbent on orthodox sunnís, other than the turks, to rush to the rescue of the sultán, whilst to the shía'hs he is little better than a heretic. certainly they would never look upon him as an imám, which personage is to them in the place of a khalíf. in countries not under turkish rule, the khutbah, or prayer for the ruler, said on fridays in the mosques, is said for the "ruler of the age," or for the amír, or whatever happens to be the title of the head of the state. of late years it has become more common in india to say it for the sultán. this is not, strictly speaking, according to muhammadan law, which declares that the khutbah can only be said with the permission of the ruler, and as in india that ruler is the british government, the prayers should be said for the queen. evidently the law never contemplated large bodies of musalmáns residing anywhere but where the influence of the khalíf extended. in thus casting doubt on the legality of the claim made by turkish sultáns to the khalifate of islám, i do not deny that the law of islám requires that there should be a khalíf. unfortunately for islám, there is nothing in its history parallel to the conflict of pope and emperor, of church and state. "the action and re-action of these powerful and partially independent forces, their resistance to each other, and their ministry to each other, have been of incalculable value to the higher activity and life of christendom." in islám the khalíf is both pope and emperor. ibn khaldoun states that the difference between the khalíf and any other ruler is that the former rules according to divine, the latter according to human law. the prophet in transmitting his sacred authority to the khalífs, his successors, conveyed to { } them absolute powers. khalífs can be assassinated, murdered, banished, but so long as they reign anything like constitutional liberty is impossible. it is a fatal mistake in european politics and an evil for turkey to recognize the sultán as the khalíf of islám, for, if he be such, turkey can never take any step forward to newness of political life.[ ] this, however, is a digression from the subject of this chapter. there has been from the earliest ages of islám a movement which exists to this day. it is a kind of mysticism, known as súfíism. it has been especially prevalent among the persians. it is a re-action from the burden of a rigid law, and a wearisome ritual. it has now existed for a thousand years, and if it has the element of progress in it, if it is the salt of islám some fruit should now be seen. but what is súfíism? the term súfí is most probably derived from the arabic word súf, "wool," of which material the garments worn by eastern ascetics used to be generally made. some persons, however, derive it from the persian, súf, "pure," or the greek [greek: sophia], "wisdom." tasawwuf, or súfíism, is the abstract form of the word, and is, according to sir w. jones, and other learned orientalists, a figurative mode, borrowed mainly from the indian philosophers of the vedanta school, of expressing the fervour of devotion. the chief idea is that the souls of men differ in degree, but not { } in kind, from the divine spirit, of which they are emanations, and to which they will ultimately return. the spirit of god is in all he has made, and it in him. he alone is perfect love, beauty, etc.--hence love to him is the only _real_ thing; all else is illusion. sa'dí says: "i swear by the truth of god, that when he showed me his glory all else was illusion." this present life is one of separation from the beloved. the beauties of nature, music, and art revive in men the divine idea, and recall their affections from wandering from him to other objects. these sublime affections men must cherish, and by abstraction concentrate their thoughts on god, and so approximate to his essence, and finally reach the highest stage of bliss--absorption into the eternal. the true end and object of human life is to lose all consciousness of individual existence--to sink "in the ocean of divine life, as a breaking bubble is merged into the stream on the surface of which it has for a moment risen."[ ] súfís, who all accept islám as a divinely established religion, suppose that long before the creation of the world a contract was made by the supreme soul with the assembled world of spirits, who are parts of it. each spirit was addressed separately, thus: "art thou not with thy lord?" that is, bound to him by a solemn contract. to this they all answered with one voice, "yes." another account says that the seed of theosophy (m'arifat) was placed in the ground in the time of adam; that the plant { } came forth in the days of noah, was in flower when abraham was alive and produced fruit before moses passed away. the grapes of this noble plant were ripe in the time of jesus, but it was not till the age of muhammad that pure wine was made from them. then those intoxicated with it, having attained to the highest degree of the knowledge of god, could forget their own personality and say:--"praise to me, is there any greater than myself? i am the truth." the following verse of the qurán is quoted by súfís in support of their favourite dogma--the attaining to the knowledge of god: "when god said to the angels, 'i am about to place a viceregent on the earth,' they said: 'wilt thou place therein one who shall commit abomination and shed blood? nay; we celebrate thy praise and holiness.' god answered them, 'verily i know that ye wot not of.'" (súra ii. .) it is said that this verse proves that, though the great mass of mankind would commit abomination, some would receive the divine light and attain to a knowledge of god. a tradition states that david said: "'oh lord! why hast thou created mankind?' god replied, 'i am a hidden treasure, and i would fain become known.'" the business of the mystic is to find this treasure, to attain to the divine light and the true knowledge of god. the earlier muhammadan mystics sought to impart life to a rigid and formal ritual, and though the seeds of pantheism were planted in their system from the first, they maintained that they were orthodox. "our system of doctrine," says al-junaid, "is firmly bound up with the dogmas of the faith, the qurán and the traditions." there was a moral earnestness about many of these men which frequently restrained the arm of unrighteous power, and their sayings, often full of beauty, show that they had the power of appreciating the spiritual side of life. some of these sentences are worthy of any age. "as neither meat nor drink," says one, "profit the diseased body, so no warning avails { } to touch the heart full of the love of this world." "the work of a holy man doth not consist in this, that he eats grain, and clothes himself in wool, but in the knowledge of god and submission to his will." "thou deservest not the name of a learned man till thy heart is emptied of the love of this world." "hide thy good deeds as closely as thou wouldst hide thy sins." a famous mystic was brought into the presence of the khalíf hárún-ur-rashíd who said to him: "how great is thy abnegation?" he replied, "thine is greater." "how so?" said the khalíf. "because i make abnegation of this world, and thou makest abnegation of the next." the same man also said: "the display of devotional works to please men is hypocrisy, and acts of devotion done to please men are acts of polytheism." but towards the close of the second century of the hijra, this earlier mysticism developed into súfíism. then al-halláj taught in baghdád thus: "i am the truth. there is nought in paradise but god. i am he whom i love, and he whom i love is i; we are two souls dwelling in one body. when thou seest me, thou seest him; and when thou seest him thou seest me." this roused the opposition of the orthodox divines by whom al-halláj was condemned to be worthy of death. he was then by order of the khalíf flogged, tortured and finally beheaded. thus died one of the early martyrs of súfíism, but it grew in spite of bitter persecution. in order to understand the esoteric teaching of súfíistic poetry, it is necessary to remember that the perceptive sense is the traveller, the knowledge of god the goal, the doctrines of this ascent, or upward progress is the tarikat, or the road. the extinction of self is necessary before any progress can be made on that road. a súfí poet writes:-- "plant one foot upon the neck of self, the other in thy friend's domain; in everything his presence see, for other vision is in vain." { } sa'dí in the bustán says: "art thou a friend of god? speak not of self, for to speak of god and of self is infidelity." shaikh abu'l-faiz, a great poet and a friend of the emperor akbar, from whom he received the honourable title of málik-ush-shu'ará--master of the poets, says: "those who have not closed the door on existence and non-existence reap no advantage from the calm of this world and of the world to come." khusrau, another well-known poet says:-- "i have become thou: thou art become i, i am the body, thou the soul; let no one henceforth say that i am distinct from thee, and thou from me." the fact is, that persian poetry is almost entirely súfíistic. it is difficult for the uninitiated to arrive at the esoteric meaning of these writings. kitmán, or the art of hiding from the profane religious beliefs, often contrary to the revealed law, has always been a special quality of the east. pantheistic doctrines are largely inculcated.[ ] thus:-- "i was, ere a name had been named upon earth; ere one trace yet existed of aught that has birth; when the locks of the loved one streamed forth for a sign, and being was none, save the presence divine! named and name were alike emanations from me, ere aught that was 'i' existed, or 'we.'" the poet then describes his fruitless search for rest and peace in christianity, hinduism, and the religion of the parsee. even islám gave him no satisfaction, for-- "nor above nor beneath came the loved one to view, i toiled to the summit, wild, pathless and lone, of the globe-girding kaf[ ]:--but the 'anka[ ] had flown! { } the sev'nth heaven i traversed--the sev'nth heaven explored, but in neither discern'd i the court of the lord! i question'd the pen and the tablet of fate, but they whisper'd not where he pavilions his state; my vision i strain'd; but my god-scanning eye no trace, that to godhead belongs, could descry. my glance i bent inward; within my own breast, lo, the vainly sought elsewhere, the godhead confess'd! in the whirl of its transport my spirit was toss'd, _till each atom of separate being i lost_." these are the words of the greatest authority among the súfís, the famous maulána jelál-ud-dín rúmí, founder of the order of the mauláví darwíshes. he also relates the following story: "one knocked at the door of the beloved, and a voice from within said: 'who is there?' then he answered, '_it is i._' the voice replied, 'this house will not hold _me_ and _thee_!' so the door remained shut. the lover retired to a wilderness, and spent some time in solitude, fasting, and prayer. one year elapsed, when he again returned, and knocked at the door. 'who is there?' said the voice. the lover answered, '_it is thou._' then the door was opened." the great object of life, then, being to escape from the hindrances to pure love and to a return to the divine essence, the tálib, or seeker, attaches himself to a murshid, or teacher. if he prosecutes his studies according to súfíistic methods he now often enters one of the many orders of darwíshes. after due preparation under his murshid, he is allowed to enter on the road. he then becomes a sálik, or traveller, whose business henceforth is súlúk that is, devotion to one idea--the knowledge of god. in this road there are eight stages. ( ) service. here he must serve god and obey the law for he is still in bondage. ( ) love. it is supposed that now the divine influence has so attracted his soul that he really loves god. ( ) seclusion. love having expelled all worldly desires, he arrives at this stage, and passes his time in meditation on the deeper doctrines { } of súfíism regarding the divine nature. ( ) knowledge. the meditation in the preceding stage, and the investigation of the metaphysical theories concerning god, his nature, his attributes and the like make him an 'Árif--one who knows. ( ) ecstasy. the mental excitement caused by such continued meditation on abstruse subjects produces a kind of frenzy, which is looked upon as a mark of direct illumination of the heart from god. it is known as hál--the state; or wajd--ecstasy. arrival at this stage is highly valued, for it is the certain entrance to the next. ( ) haqiqat--the truth. now to the traveller is revealed the true nature of god, now he learns the reality of that which he has been for so long seeking. this admits him to the highest stage in his journey, as far as this life is concerned. ( ) that stage is wasl--union with god. "there was a door to which i found no key; there was a veil past which i could not see: some little talk of me and thee there seemed--and then no more of thee and me." he cannot, in this life, go beyond that, and very few reach that exalted stage. thus arose a "system of pantheism, which represents joy and sorrow, good and evil, pleasure and pain as manifestations of one changeless essence." religion, as made known by an outward revelation, is, to the few who reach this stage, a thing of the past. even its restraints are not needed. the soul that is united to god can do no evil. the poet khusrau says: "love is the object of my worship, what need have i of islám?" death ensues and with it the last stage is reached. ( ) it is faná--extinction. the seeker after all his search, the traveller after all his wearisome journey passes behind the veil and finds--nothing! as the traveller proceeds from stage to stage, the restraints of an objective revelation and of an outward system are less and less heeded. "the { } religion of the mystic consists in his immediate communication with god, and when once this has been established, the value of ecclesiastical forms, and of the historical part of religion, becomes doubtful." what law can bind the soul in union with god, what outward system impose any trammels on one who, in the "ecstasy," has received from him, who is the truth, the direct revelation of his own glorious nature? moral laws and ceremonial observances have only an allegorical signification. creeds are but fetters cunningly devised to limit the flight of the soul; all that is objective in religion is a restraint to the reason of the initiated.[ ] pantheistic in creed, and too often antinomian in practice, súfíism possesses no regenerative power in islám. "it is not a substantive religion such as shapes the life of races or of nations, it is a state of opinion." no muslim state makes a national profession of súfíism. in spite of all its dogmatic utterances, in spite of much that is sublime in its idea of the search after light and truth, súfíism ends in utter negation of all separate existence. the pantheism of the súfís, this esoteric doctrine of islám, as a moral doctrine leads to the same conclusions as materialism, "the negation of human liberty, the indifference to actions and the legitimacy of all temporal enjoyments." the result of súfíism has been the establishment of a large number of religious orders known as darwíshes.[ ] these men are looked upon with disfavour by the { } orthodox; but they flourish nevertheless, and in turkey at the present day have great influence. there are in constantinople two hundred takiahs, or monasteries. the darwíshes are not organized with such regularity, nor subject to discipline so severe as that of the christian monastic orders; but they surpass them in number. each order has its own special mysteries and practices by which its members think they can obtain a knowledge of the secrets of the invisible world. they are also called faqírs--poor men, not, however, always in the sense of being in temporal want, but as being poor in the sight of god. as a matter of fact the darwíshes of many of the orders do not beg, and many of the takiahs are richly endowed. they are divided into two great classes, the ba shara' (with the law) darwíshes; and the be shara' (without the law). the former prefer to rule their conduct according to the law of islám and are called the sálik--travellers on the path (taríqat) to heaven; the latter though they call themselves muslims do not conform to the law, and are called azád (free), or majzúb (abstracted), a term which signifies their renunciation of all worldly cares and pursuits. the sálik darwíshes are those who perform the zikrs.[ ] what little hope there is of these professedly religious men working any reform in islám will be seen from the following account of their doctrines.[ ] . god only exists,--he is in all things, and all things are in him. "verily we are _from_ god, and _to_ him shall we return." (súra ii. .) { } . all visible and invisible beings are an emanation from him, and are not really distinct from him. creation is only a pastime with god. . paradise and hell, and all the dogmas of positive religions, are only so many allegories, the spirit of which is only known to the súfí. . religions are matters of indifference; they, however, serve as a means of reaching to realities. some, for this purpose, are more advantageous than others. among which is the musalmán religion, of which the doctrine of the súfís is the philosophy. . there is not any real difference between good and evil, for all is reduced to unity, and god is the real author of the acts of mankind. . it is god who fixes the will of man. man, therefore, is not free in his actions. . the soul existed before the body, and is now confined within it as in a cage. at death the soul returns to the divinity from which it emanated. . the principal occupation of the súfí is to meditate on the unity, and so to attain to spiritual perfection--unification with god. . without the grace of god no one can attain to this unity; but god does not refuse his aid to those who are in the right path. the power of a sheikh, a spiritual leader, is very great. the following account of the admission of a novice, called tawakkul beg, into an order, and of the severe tests applied, will be of some interest.[ ] tawakkul beg says:--"having been introduced by akhúnd moollá muhammad to sheikh moolla sháh, my heart, through frequent intercourse with him, was filled with such a burning desire to arrive at a true knowledge of the mystical science that i found no sleep by night, nor rest by day. when the initiation commenced, { } i passed the whole night without sleep, and repeated innumerable times the súrat-ul-ikhlás:-- "say: he is god alone: god the eternal: he begetteth not, and he is not begotten; and there is none like unto him." (súra cxii.) whosoever repeats this súra one hundred times can accomplish all his vows. i desired that the sheikh should bestow on me his love. no sooner had i finished my task than the heart of the sheikh became full of sympathy for me. on the following night i was conducted to his presence. during the whole of that night he concentrated his thoughts on me, whilst i gave myself up to inward meditation. three nights passed in this way. on the fourth night the sheikh said:--'let moollá senghim and sálih beg, who are very susceptible to ecstatic emotions, apply their spiritual energies to tawakkul beg.' they did so, whilst i passed the whole night in meditation, with my face turned toward mecca. as the morning drew near, a little light came into my mind, but i could not distinguish form or colour. after the morning prayers, i was taken to the sheikh who bade me inform him of my mental state. i replied that i had seen a light with my inward eye. on hearing this, the sheikh became animated and said: 'thy heart is dark, but the time is come when i will show myself clearly to thee.' he then ordered me to sit down in front of him, and to impress his features on my mind. then having blindfolded me, he ordered me to concentrate all my thoughts upon him. i did so, and in an instant by the spiritual help of the sheikh my heart opened. he asked me what i saw. i said that i saw another tawakkul beg and another moollá sháh. the bandage was then removed, and i saw the sheikh in front of me. again they covered my face, and again i saw him with my inward eye. astonished, i cried; 'o master! whether i look with my bodily eye, or with my spiritual { } sight, it is always you i see.' i then saw a dazzling figure approach me. the sheikh told me to say to the apparition, 'what is your name?' in my spirit i put the question, and the figure answered to my heart: 'i am 'abd-ul-qádir jilání, i have already aided thee, thy heart is opened.' much affected, i vowed that in honour of the saint, i would repeat the whole qurán every friday night. moollá sháh then said: 'the spiritual world has been shown to thee in all its beauty.' i then rendered perfect obedience to the sheikh. the following day i saw the prophet, the chief companions, and legions of saints and angels. after three months, i entered the cheerless region in which the figures appeared no more. during the whole of this time, the sheikh continued to explain to me the mystery of the doctrine of the unity and of the knowledge of god; but as yet he did not show me the absolute reality. it was not until a year had passed that i arrived at the true conception of unity. then in words such as these i told the sheikh of my inspiration. 'i look upon the body as only dust and water, i regard neither my heart nor my soul, alas! that in separation from thee (god) so much of my life has passed. thou wert i and i knew it not.' the sheikh was delighted, and said that the truth of the union with god was now clearly revealed to me. then addressing those who were present, he said: 'tawakkul beg learnt from me the doctrine of the unity, his inward eye has been opened, the spheres of colours and of images have been shown to him. at length, he entered the colourless region. he has now attained to the unity, doubt and scepticism henceforth have no power over him. no one sees the unity with the outward eye, till the inward eye gains strength and power.'" i cannot pass from this branch of the subject without making a few remarks on omar khayyám, the great astronomer-poet of persia. he is sometimes confounded with the súfís, for there is much in his poetry which is similar { } in tone to that of the súfí writers. but his true position was that of a sceptic. he wrote little, but what he has written will live. as an astronomer he was a man of note. he died in the year a.h. there are two things which may have caused his scepticism. to a man of his intelligence the hard and fast system of islám was an intolerable burden. then, his scientific spirit had little sympathy with mysticism, the earnest enthusiasts of which were too often followed by hollow impostors. it is true, that there was much in the spirit of some of the better súfís that seemed to show a yearning for something higher than mere earthly good; above all, there was the recognition of a higher power. but with all this came spiritual pride, the world and its duties became a thing of evil, and the religious and the secular life were completely divorced, to the ruin of both. the pantheism which soon pervaded the system left no room for man's will to act, for his conscience to guide. so the moral law become a dead letter. irreligious men, to free themselves from the bondage and restraints of law, assumed the religious life. "thus a movement, animated at first by a high and lofty purpose, has degenerated into a fruitful source of ill. the stream which ought to have expanded into a fertilising river has become a vast swamp, exhaling vapours charged with disease and death." omar khayyám saw through the unreality of all this. in vain does he try, by an assumed air of gaiety, to hide from others the sadness which fills his heart, as all that is bright is seen passing away into oblivion. one moment in annihilation's waste, one moment, of the well of life to taste-- the stars are setting and the caravan starts for the dawn of nothing--oh, make haste! ah, fill the cup:--what boots it to repeat how time is slipping underneath our feet: unborn to-morrow, and dead yesterday, why fret about them if to-day be sweet. { } omar held to the earthly and the material. for him there was no spiritual world. chance seemed to rule all the affairs of men. a pitiless destiny shaped out the course of each human being. "'tis all a chequer-board of nights and days where destiny with men for pieces plays: hither and thither moves, and mates, and slays, and one by one back in the closet lays. the moving finger writes; and, having writ, moves on: nor all thy piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line, nor all thy tears wash out a word of it." neither from earth nor heaven could he find any answer to his cry. with sages and saints he discussed, and heard, "great argument, but evermore came out by the same door as in he went." he left the wise to talk, for one thing alone was certain, and all else was lies,--"the flower that once has blown for ever dies." leaving men he turned to nature, but it was all the same. "up from earth's centre through the seventh gate i rose, and on the throne of saturn sate, and many knots unravell'd by the road; but not the knot of human death and fate. and that inverted bowl we call the sky, where under crawling coop'd we live and die, lift not thy hands to it for help--for it rolls impotently on as thou or i." omar has with justice been compared to lucretius. both were materialists, both believed not in a future life. "lucretius built a system for himself in his poem ... it has a professed practical aim--to explain the world's self-acting machine to the polytheist, and to disabuse him of all spiritual ideas." omar builds up no system, he only shows forth his own doubts and difficulties, "he loves to balance antitheses of belief, and settle himself in the equipoise of the sceptic." { } the fact that there is no hereafter gives lucretius no pain, but omar who, if only his reason could let him, would believe, records his utter despair in words of passionate bitterness. he is not glad that there is no help anywhere.[ ] and though he calls for the wine-cup, and listens to the voice within the tavern cry, "awake, my little ones, and fill the cup before life's liquor in its cup be dry," yet he also looks back to the time, when he consorted with those who professed to know, and could say: "with them the seed of wisdom did i sow, and with my own hand laboured it to grow." the founder of the wahhábí sect was muhammad-ibn-abd-ul-wahháb, who was born at a village in nejd in the year a.d. the wahhábís speak of themselves as muwahhid--unitarians; but their opponents have given to them the name of the father of the founder of their sect and call them wahhábís. muhammad was a bright intelligent youth, of a strong constitution and generous spirit. after going through a course of arabic literature he studied jurisprudence under a teacher of the hanífi school. he then set out in company with his father to perform the hajj. at madína he received further instruction in the law. he spent sometime at ispahán in the society of learned men. full of { } knowledge, he returned to his native village of ayína where he assumed the position of a religious teacher. he was shocked to see how the arabs had departed from what seemed to him the strict unchanging precepts of the prophet. luxury in the form of rich dresses and silken garments, superstition in the use of omens, auguries, and the like, in the pilgrimages to shrines and tombs seemed to be altering the character of the religion as given by the apostle of god. he saw, or thought he saw, that in the veneration paid to saints and holy men, the great doctrine of the "unity" was being obscured. the reason was very plain. the qurán and the traditions of the companions had been neglected, whilst the sayings of men of lesser note, and the jurisprudence of the four great imáms had been too readily followed. here was work to do. he would reform the church of islám, and restore men to their allegiance to the book and the sunnat, as recorded by the companions. it is true, that the sunnís would rise up in opposition, for thus the authority of the four imáms, the "canonical legists" of the orthodox sect, would be set aside; but what of that? had he not been a follower of abu hanífa? now he was prepared to let aba hanífa go, for none but a companion of the prophet could give an authoritative statement with regard to the sunnat--the prophet's words and acts. he must break a lance with the glorious imám, and start a school of his own. he said: "the muslim pilgrims adore the tomb of the prophet, and the sepulchre of 'alí, and of other saints who have died in the odour of sanctity. they run there to pay the tribute of their fervent prayers. by this means they think that they can satisfy their spiritual and temporal needs, from what do they seek this benefit? from walls made of mud and stones, from corpses deposited in tombs. if you speak to them they will reply, 'we do not call these monuments god; we turn to them in prayer, and we pray the saints to intercede for us on high.' now, the true { } way of salvation is to prostrate one's self before him who is ever present, and to venerate him--the one without associate or equal." such outspoken language raised up opposition, and he had to seek the protection of muhammad-ibn-saud, a chief of some importance, who now vigorously supported the wahhábí movement. he was a stern and uncompromising man. "as soon as you seize a place," he said to his soldiers, "put the males to the sword. plunder and pillage at your pleasure, but spare the women and do not strike a blow at their modesty." on the day of battle he used to give each soldier a paper, a safe conduct to the other world. this letter was addressed to the treasurer of paradise. it was enclosed in a bag which the warrior suspended to his neck. the soldiers were persuaded that the souls of those who died in battle would go straight to heaven, without being examined by the angels munkar and nakír in the grave. the widows and orphans of all who fell were supported by the survivors. nothing could resist men who, fired with a burning zeal for what they deemed the truth, received a share of the booty, if conquerors; who went direct to paradise if they were slain. in course of time, muhammad-ibn-saud married the daughter of ibn-abd-ul-wahháb and founded the wahhábí dynasty which to this day rules at ryadh.[ ] such was the origin of this great movement, which spread, in course of time, over central and eastern arabia, and in the beginning of this century found acceptance in india. in the year a.d. both mecca and madína fell into the hands of the wahhábís. a clean sweep was made of all things, the use of which was opposed to wahhábí principles. not only rosaries and charms, but silk robes and pipes were consigned to the flames, for smoking is a { } deadly sin. on this point there is a good story told by palgrave--"'abd-ul-karím said: 'the first of the great sins is the giving divine honours to a creature.' of course i replied, 'the enormity of such a sin is beyond all doubt. but if this be the first, there must be a second; what is it?' 'drinking the shameful!' (in english idiom, 'smoking tobacco') was the unhesitating answer. 'and murder, and adultery, and false witness?' i suggested. 'god is merciful and forgiving,' rejoined my friend; that is, these are merely little sins."[ ] after holding possession of the holy cities for nine years they were driven out by the turkish forces. 'abdullah, the fourth wahhábí ruler, was captured by ibrahím pasha, and afterwards executed in the square of st. sophia ( a.d.) the political power of the wahhábís has since been confined to parts of arabia; but their religious opinions have widely spread. the leader of the wahhábí movement in india was sayyid ahmad, a reformed freebooter. he was now born at ráí bareili, in oudh, a.d. when about thirty years of age he gave up his wild way of living and settled down in delhi as a student of the law of islám. after a while, he went on pilgrimage to mecca, but his opinions, so similar to those of the noted wahhábí, attracted the attention of the orthodox theologians, through whose influence he was expelled from the sacred city. persecution deepened his religious convictions, and he returned to india a pronounced wahhábí. he soon gained a large number of disciples, and in a.d. he preached a jihád against the sikhs. this war was not a success. in the year the wahhábís were suddenly attacked by the sikhs, under sher singh, and sayyid ahmad was slain. this did not, however, prevent the spread of wahhábí principles, for he had the good fortune to leave behind him an enthusiastic disciple. this man, { } muhammad ismá'íl, was born near delhi in the year a.d. he was a youth of good abilities and soon mastered the subjects which form the curriculum of a liberal education amongst musalmáns. his first preaching was in a mosque at delhi on tauhíd (unity), and against shirk (polytheism). he now met with sayyid ahmad who soon acquired great influence over his new disciple. ismá'íl told him one evening that he could not offer up his prayers with huzúr-i-kalb, presence of heart. the sayyid took him to his room where he instructed him to repeat the first of the prayers after him, and then to conclude them alone. he did so, and was able to so abstract himself in the contemplation of god that he remained engaged in prayer till the morning. henceforward he was a devoted adherent of his spiritual teacher. in the public discussions, which now often took place, none were a match for ismá'íl. this fervent preacher of wahhábíism is now chiefly remembered by his great work, the takwiat-ul-imán, the book from which the account of wahhábí doctrine given in this chapter is taken. if i make no special reference to the quotations given, it will be known that my authority for the statements thus made is muhammad ismá'íl, the most famous of all sayyid ahmad's disciples. this book was followed by the sirát-ul-mustaqím, said to have been written by one of ismá'íl's followers. wahhábí doctrines are now spread throughout india. in the south there is not much religious excitement or inquiry, yet wahhábís are to be found there.[ ] it was and is a remarkable movement. in one sense it is a struggle against the traditionalism of later ages, but in no sense can it be said that the wahhábís reject tradition. they acknowledge as the foundation of the faith--first, the qurán; secondly, the traditions which are recorded on the authority of the companions, and also the ijmá' of the companions, that is, all things on which they were unanimous in opinion { } or in practice. thus to the wahhábí as to the sunní, muhammad is in all his _acts_ and _words_ a perfect guide. so far from wahhábíism being a move onward because it is a return to first principles, it rather binds the fetters of islám more tightly. it does not originate anything new, it offers no relaxation from a system which looks upon the qurán and the traditions as a perfect and complete law, social and political, moral and religious. the wahhábí places the doctrine of the "tauhíd," or unity, in a very prominent position. it is true that all musalmán sects put this dogma in the first rank, but wahhábís set their faces against practices common to the other sects, because they consider that they obscure this fundamental doctrine. it is this which brings them into collision with other musalmáns. the greatest of all sins is shirk (_i.e._ the ascribing of plurality to the deity). a mushrik (polytheist) is one who so offends. all musalmáns consider christians to be polytheists, and all wahhábís consider all other musalmáns also to be polytheists, because they look to the prophet for intercession, pray to saints, visit shrines, and do other unlawful acts. the takwiat-ul-imán says that "two things are necessary in religion--to know god as god, and the prophet as the prophet." the two fundamental bases of the faith are the "doctrine of the tauhíd (unity) and obedience to the sunnat." the two great errors to be avoided are shirk (polytheism) and bida't (innovation). as bida't is looked upon as evil, it is somewhat difficult to see what hope of progress can be placed upon this latest phase of muhammadan revival. shirk is defined to be of four kinds: shirk-ul-'ilm, ascribing knowledge to others than god; shirk-ut-tasarruf, ascribing power to others than god; shirk-ul-'ibádat, offering worship to created things; shirk-ul-'ádat, the performance of ceremonies which imply reliance on others than god. { } the first, shirk-ul-'ilm, is illustrated by the statement that prophets and holy men have no knowledge of secret things unless as revealed to them by god. thus some wicked persons made a charge against 'Áyesha. the prophet was troubled in mind, but knew not the truth of the matter till god made it known to him. to ascribe, then, power to soothsayers, astrologers, and saints is polytheism. "all who pretend to have a knowledge of hidden things, such as fortune-tellers, soothsayers and interpreters of dreams, as well as those who profess to be inspired are all liars." again, "should any one take the name of any saint, or invoke his aid in the time of need, instead of calling on god, or use his name in attacking an enemy, or read passages to propitiate him, or make him the object of contemplation--it is shirk-ul-'ilm." the second kind, shirk-ut-tasarruf, is to suppose that any one has power with god. he who looks up to any one as an intercessor with god commits shirk. thus: "but they who take others beside him as lords, saying, 'we only serve them that they may bring us near god,'--god will judge between them (and the faithful) concerning that wherein they are at variance." (súra xxxix. .) intercession may be of three kinds. for example, a criminal is placed before the king. the vizier intercedes. the king, having regard to the rank of the vizier, pardons the offender. this is called shafá'at-i-wajahat, or 'intercession from regard.' but to suppose that god so esteems the rank of any one as to pardon a sinner merely on account of it is shirk. again, the queen or the princes intercede for the criminal. the king, from love to them, pardons him. this is called shafá'at-i-muhabbat, or 'intercession from affection.' but to consider that god so loves any one as to pardon a criminal on his account is to give that loved one power, and this is shirk, for such power is not possible in the court of god. "god may out of his bounty confer on his favourite servants the epithets of habíb--favourite, or khalíl--friend, { } &c.; but a servant is but a servant, no one can put his foot outside the limits of servitude, or rise beyond the rank of a servant." again, the king may himself wish to pardon the offender, but he fears lest the majesty of the law should be lowered. the vizier perceives the king's wish, and intercedes. this intercession is lawful. it is called shafá'at-i-ba-izn--intercession by permission, and such power muhammad will have at the day of judgment. wahhábís hold that he has not that power now, though all other musalmáns consider that he has, and in consequence (in wahhábí opinion) commit the sin of shirk-ut-tasarruf. the wahhábís quote the following passages in support of their view. "who is he that can intercede with him but by _his own permission_." (súra ii. ) "say: intercession is wholly with god! his the kingdoms of the heavens and of the earth." (súra xxxix. ). they also say: "whenever an allusion is made in the qurán, or the traditions to the intercession of certain prophets or apostles, it is this kind of intercession and no other that is meant." the third shirk is prostration before any created beings with the idea of worshipping it. it also includes perambulating the shrines of departed saints. thus: "prostration, bowing down, standing with folded arms, spending money in the name of an individual, fasting out of respect to his memory, proceeding to a distant shrine in a pilgrim's garb and calling out the name of the saint whilst so going is shirk-ul-'ibádat." it is wrong "to cover the grave with a sheet (ghiláf), to say prayers at the shrine, to kiss any particular stone, to rub the mouth and breast against the walls of the shrine, &c." this is a stern condemnation of the very common practice of visiting the tombs of saints and of some of the special practices of the pilgrimage to mecca. all such practices as are here condemned are called ishrák fi'l 'ibádat--'association in worship.' the fourth shirk is the keeping up of superstitious customs, such as the istikhára--seeking guidance from beads { } &c., trusting to omens, good or bad, believing in lucky and unlucky days, adopting such names as 'abd-un-nabi (slave of the prophet), and so on. in fact, the denouncing of such practices and calling them shirk brings wahhábíism into daily contact with the other sects, for scarcely any people in the world are such profound believers in the virtue of charms and the power of astrologers as musalmáns. the difference between the first and fourth shirk, the shirk-ul-'ilm and the shirk-ul-'ádat, seems to be that the first is the _belief_, say in the knowledge of a soothsayer, and the second the _habit_ of consulting him. to swear by the name of the prophet, of 'alí, of the imáms, or of pírs (leaders) is to give them the honour due to god alone. it is ishrák fi'l adab--'shirk in association.' another common belief which wahhábís oppose is that musalmáns can perform the hajj (pilgrimage to mecca), say prayers, read the qurán, abide in meditation, give alms, and do other good works, the reward of which shall be credited to a person already dead.[ ] amongst other musalmáns it is a common practice to read the qurán in the belief that, if done with such an intention, the reward will pass to the deceased object of the desire. wahábís entirely object to this. the above technical exposition of wahhábí tenets shows how much stress they lay on a rigid adherence to the doctrine of the "unity." "lá-il-láha, il-lal-lá-hu" (there is no god but god) is an eternal truth. yet to the musalmán god is a being afar off. in rejecting the fatherhood of god he has accepted as the object of his worship, hardly of his affections, a being despotic in all he does, arbitrary in all his ways. he has accepted the position of a slave instead of that of a son. wahhábíism emphasizes the ideas which flow from the first article of the muslim creed. but { } on this subject we prefer to let palgrave speak. he of all men knew the wahhábí best, and he, at least, can be accused of no sectarian bias. the extract is rather long, but will repay perusal; indeed, the whole passage from which this extract is taken should be read. "'there is no god but god,' are words simply tantamount in english to the negation of any deity save one alone; and thus much they certainly mean in arabic, but they imply much more also. their full sense is, not only to deny absolutely and unreservedly all plurality whether of nature or of person in the supreme being, not only to establish the unity of the unbegetting and the unbegot, in all its simple and incommunicable oneness, but besides this, the words, in arabic and among arabs, imply that this one supreme being is the only agent, the only force, the only act existing throughout the universe, and leave to all beings else, matter or spirit, instinct or intelligence, physical or moral, nothing but pure unconditional passiveness, alike in movement or in quiescence, in action or in capacity. hence in this one sentence is summed up a system which, for want of a better name, i may be permitted to call the 'pantheism of force.' 'god is one in the totality of omnipotent and omnipresent action, which acknowledges no rule, standard, or limit, save one sole and absolute will. he communicates nothing to his creatures, for their seeming power and act ever remain his alone, and in return he receives nothing from them.' 'it is his singular satisfaction to let created beings continually feel that they are nothing else than his slaves, that they may the better acknowledge his superiority.' 'he himself, sterile in his inaccessible height, neither loving nor enjoying aught save his own and self-measured decree, without son, companion, or councillor, is no less barren for himself than for his creatures, and his own barrenness and lone egoism in himself is the cause and rule of his indifferent and unregarding despotism around.'[ ] palgrave allows that such a notion of the deity is monstrous, but maintains that it is the "truest mirror of the mind and scope of the writer of the book" (qurán), and that, as such, it is confirmed by authentic tradition and learned commentaries. at all events, palgrave possessed { } the two essential qualifications for a critic of islam--a knowledge of the literature, and intercourse with the people. so far as my experience goes i have never seen any reason to differ from palgrave's statement. men are often better than their creeds. even the prophet was not always consistent. there are some redeeming points in islám. but the root idea of the whole is as described above, and from it no system can be deduced which will grow in grace and beauty as age after age rolls by. the arab proverb states that "the worshipper models himself on what he worships."[ ] thus a return to "first principles," sometimes proclaimed as the hope of turkey, is but the "putting back the hour-hand of islám" to the place where indeed muhammad always meant it to stay, for "islám is in its essence stationary, and was framed thus to remain. sterile, like its god, lifeless like its first principle and supreme original in all that constitutes true life--for life is love, participation, and progress, and of these the quránic deity has none--it justly repudiates all change, all advance, all development."[ ] muhammad ibn 'abd-ul wahháb was a man of great intellectual power and vigour. he could pierce through the mists of a thousand years, and see with an eagle eye how one sect and another had laid accretions on the faith. he had the rare gift of intuition, and could see that change (bida't) and progress were alien to the truth. this recognition of his ability is due to him; but what a sad prostration of great gifts it was to seek to arrest, by the worship of the letter, all hope of progress, and to make "the starting-point of islám its goal." that he was a good musalmán in so doing no one can doubt, but that his work gives any hope of the rise of an enlightened form of islám no one who really has studied islám can believe. wahhábíism simply amounts to this, that while it denounces all other musalmáns as polytheists, it enforces the { } sunnat of the prophet with all its energy.[ ] it breaks down shrines, but insists on the necessity of a pilgrimage to a black stone at mecca. it forbids the use of a rosary, but attaches great merit to counting the ninety-nine names of god on the fingers. it would make life unsocial. the study of the fine arts with the exception of architecture can find no place in it. ismá'íl quotes with approval the following tradition. "'Áyesha said: 'i purchased a carpet on which were some figures. the prophet stood in the doorway and looked displeased.' i said: 'o messenger of god, i repent to god and his messenger; what fault have i committed that you do not enter?' his highness then said: 'what is this carpet?' i replied; 'i have bought it for you to sit and rest upon.' then the messenger of god replied: 'verily, the maker of pictures will be punished on the day of resurrection, when god will desire them to bring them to life. a house which contains pictures is not visited by the angels.'" in a tradition quoted by ibn 'abbás, the prophet classes artists with murderers and parricides. wahhábíism approves of all this, and thus by forbidding harmless enjoyments it would make society "an organised hypocrisy." it would spread abroad a spirit of contempt for all mankind except its own followers, and, where it had the power, it would force its convictions on others at the point of the sword. wahhábíism was reform after a fashion, in one direction; in the history of islám there have been attempts at reform in other directions; there will yet be such attempts, but so long as the qurán and the sunnat (or, in the case of the shía'h, its equivalent) are to form, as they have hitherto { } done for every sect, the sole law to regulate all conditions and states of life, enlightened and continued progress is impossible. the deadening influence of islám is the greatest obstacle the church of god has to overcome in her onward march; its immobility is the bane of many lands; connection with it is the association of the living with the dead; to speak of it, as some do, as if it were a sort of sister religion to christianity, is but to show deplorable ignorance where ignorance is inexcusable. thus it is plain that musalmáns are not all of one heart and soul.[ ] in the next chapter i hope to show that islám is a very dogmatic and complex system in spite of the simple form of its creed. { } note to chapter iii. wahhÁbÍism. in the journal asiatique, me série, tome , a curious account is given of the voyage of mirzá muhammad 'alí khán, some time persian ambassador in paris. this gentleman states that in one of his voyages from persia to india he met with a wahhábí, who had in his possession a tract written by the founder of the sect. this small pamphlet he allowed mirzá muhammad to copy. i give the substance of the pamphlet in this note. the original arabic will be found in the journal asiatique. it is of considerable interest as a protest against idolatry. it is as follows:--i know that god is merciful, that the sect of abu hanífa is orthodox and identical with the religion of abraham. after thou hast known that god has created his servants for the purpose of being served by them, know also that this service or devotion is to worship god, one and alone; just as prayer (salát) is not prayer (salát), unless it is accompanied with the legal purification. god most high has said: "it is not for the votaries of other gods with god, witnesses against themselves of infidelity, to visit the temples of god. these! vain their works: and in the fire shall they abide for ever!" (súra ix. .) those who in their prayers, address any other than god, in the hope of obtaining by them that which god alone can give--those bring unto their prayers the leaven of idolatry and make them of none effect, "and who erreth more than he who, beside god, calleth upon that which shall not answer him until the day of resurrection." (súra xlvi. ) on the contrary, when the day of resurrection comes, they will become their enemies and treat them as infidels for having served others than god. "but the gods whom ye call on beside him have no power over the husk of a date-stone! if ye cry to them they will not hear your cry; and if they heard they would not answer you, and in the day of resurrection they will disown your joining them with god." (súra xxxv. , .) he who says: "o thou prophet of god! o 'ibn 'abbás! o 'abd-ul-qádir!" &c. with the persuasion that the souls of these blessed ones can obtain from god that of which the suppliant has need, or that they can protect him, is an infidel whose blood any one may shed, and whose goods any one may appropriate with impunity unless he repent. there are four different classes of idolaters. { } first, the infidels against whom the prophet made war. these acknowledge that god is the creator of the world, that he supports all living creatures, that in wisdom he rules over all. "say: who supplieth you from the heavens and the earth? who hath power over hearing and sight? and who bringeth forth the living from the dead, and bringeth forth the dead from the living? who ruleth all things? they will surely say: 'god,' then say: 'what! will ye not therefore fear him.'" (súra x. .) it is difficult to distinguish idolatry of this kind; but under an outwardly orthodox appearance they go astray; for they have recourse to divinities of their own choosing and pray to them. secondly, there are idolaters who say that they only call upon these intermediary powers to intercede in their favour with god, and that what they desire they seek from god. the qurán furnishes a proof against them. "they worship beside god what cannot hurt or help them, and say, these are our advocates with god! say: will ye inform god of aught in the heavens and in the earth which he knoweth not?" (súra x. .) thirdly, those are idolaters who choose one idol as their patron, or rather those who, renouncing the worship of idols, become attached to one saint, as jesus or his mother, and put themselves under the protection of guardian angels. against them we cite the verse: "those whom ye call on, themselves desire union with their lord, striving which of them shall be nearest to him; they also hope for his mercy, and fear his chastisement." (súra xvii. .) we see here that the prophet drew no distinction between the worship of an idol and the worship of such and such a saint; on the contrary, he treated them all as infidels, and made war upon them in order to consolidate the religion of god upon a firm basis. fourthly, those who worship god sincerely in the time of trouble, but at other times call on other gods are idolaters. thus: "lo! when they embark on board a ship, they call upon god, vowing him sincere worship, but when he bringeth them safe to land, behold they join partners with him." (súra xxix. .) in the age in which we live, i could cite still worse heresies. the idolaters, our contemporaries, pray to and invoke the lower divinities when they are in distress. the idolaters of the prophet's time were less culpable than those of the present age are. they, at least, had recourse to god in time of great evil; these in good and evil states, seek the aid of their patrons, other than god, and pray to them. { } * * * * * chapter iv. the creed of islÁm.[ ] faith is defined by muslim theologians as: "confession with the tongue and belief with the heart."[ ] it is said to "stand midway between hope and fear." it is sub-divided into imán-í-mujmal and imán-í-mufassal. the former is an expression of the following faith: "i believe in god, his names and attributes, and accept all his commands."[ ] the latter is the acceptance of the following dogmas: "i believe in god, angels, books, prophets, the last day, the predestination by the most high god of good and evil and the resurrection after death."[ ] these form the articles of faith which every muslim must believe, to which belief, in order to render it perfect, he must add the performance of the "acts of practice," _viz._: ( ) "the recital of the kalima or creed:--'there is no deity but god, and muhammad is the apostle of god.' ( ) sulát. the five daily prayers. ( ) roza. the thirty days fast of ramazán. ( ) zakát. the legal alms. ( ) hajj, or the pilgrimage to mecca." this chapter will contain an account of the imán--the dogmas of islám. an account of the dín--the practical duties, will be given in the next chapter. { } . god.--this article of the faith includes a belief in the existence of god, his unity and attributes, and has given rise to a large number of sects. some acquaintance with the various controversies which have thus arisen is necessary to a correct knowledge of islám. i commence the consideration of this subject by giving the substance of a sunní, or orthodox treatise known as the risála-i-berkevi. the learned orientalist m. garcin de tassy, considered it to be of such authority that in his "l'islamisme d'après le coran" he has inserted a translation of the risála.[ ] muhammad al-berkevi, speaking of the divine attributes, says:-- ( ). life. (hyát). god most high is alone to be adored. he has neither associate nor equal. he is free from the imperfections of humanity. he is neither begotten nor does he beget. he is invisible. he is without figure, form, colour or parts. his existence has neither beginning nor end. he is immutable. if he so wills, he can annihilate the world in a moment of time and, if it seem good to him, recreate it in an instant. nothing is difficult to him, whether it be the creation of a fly or that of the seven heavens. he receives neither profit nor loss from whatever may happen. if all the infidels became believers and all the irreligious pious, he would gain no advantage. on the other hand, if all believers became infidels, he would suffer no loss. ( ). knowledge. ('ilm). he has knowledge of all things hidden or manifest, whether in heaven or on earth. he knows the number of the leaves of the trees, of the grains of wheat and of sand. events past and future are known to him. he knows what enters into the heart of man and what he utters with his mouth. he alone, except those to whom he has revealed them, knows the invisible things. he is free from forgetfulness, negligence and error. his knowledge is eternal: it is not posterior to his essence. ( ). power. (qudrat). he is almighty. if he wills, he can raise the dead, make stones talk, trees walk, annihilate the heavens and the earth and recreate of gold or of silver thousands similar to those destroyed. he can transport a man in a moment of time from the east to the west, or from the west to the east, or to the seventh heaven. his power is eternal à priori and à posteriori. it is not posterior to his essence. { } ( ). will (irádah). he can do what he wills, and whatever he wills comes to pass. he is not obliged to act. everything, good or evil, in this world exists by his will. he wills the faith of the believer and the piety of the religious. if he were to change his will there would be neither a true believer nor a pious man. he willeth also the unbelief of the unbeliever and the irreligion of the wicked and, without that will, there would neither be unbelief nor irreligion. all we do we do by his will: what he willeth not does not come to pass. if one should ask why god does not will that all men should believe we answer: "we have no right to enquire about what god wills and does. he is perfectly free to will and to do what he pleases." in creating unbelievers, in willing that they should remain in that state; in making serpents, scorpions and pigs: in willing, in short, all that is evil god has wise ends in view which it is not necessary that we should know. we must acknowledge that the will of god is eternal and that it is not posterior to his essence. ( ). hearing. (sama'). he hears all sounds whether low or loud. he hears without an ear for his attributes are not like those of men. ( ). seeing. (basr). he sees all things, even the steps of a black ant on a black stone in a dark night; yet he has no eye as men have. ( ). speech. (kalám). he speaks, but not with a tongue as men do. he speaks to some of his servants without the intervention of another, even as he spoke to moses, and to muhammad on the night of the ascension to heaven. he speaks to others by the instrumentality of gabriel, and this is the usual way in which he communicates his will to the prophets. it follows from this that the qurán is the word of god, and is eternal and uncreated. these are the "haft sifát," or seven attributes of god. there is unanimity of opinion as to the number of attributes, but not as regards their nature and the extent of the knowledge concerning them to which men can attain. thus some say that the knowledge of god is the first thing to acquire; but imám sháfa'í and the mutazilites say that a man must first attain to the _idea_ of the knowledge of god. the meaning of the expression "knowledge of god" is the ascertaining the truth of his existence, and of his positive and privative attributes, as far as the human understanding can enter into these matters. the unity is not a mere numerical unity but absolute, for the number one is the first of a series and implies a second, but god has not a { } second. he is "singular without anything like him, separate having no equal;" for, "had there been either in heaven or earth gods beside god, both surely had gone to ruin." (súra xxi. ). god is not a substance, for substance has accidents, but god has none: otherwise his nature would be that of "dependent existence." god is without parts, for otherwise he would not exist till all the parts were formed, and his existence would depend on the parts, that is, on something beside himself. the orthodox strictly prohibit the discussion of minute particulars, for say they, "just as the eye turning to the brightness of the sun finds darkness intervene to prevent all observation, so the understanding finds itself bewildered if it attempts to pry into the nature of god." the prophet said: "we did not know the reality of the knowledge of thee;" and to his followers he gave this advice: "think of god's gifts, not of his nature: certainly you have no power for that." the khalíf akbar is reported to have said: "to be helpless in the search of knowledge is knowledge and to enquire into the nature of god is shirk (infidelity)."[ ] a moderate acquaintance with muslim theology shows that neither the injunction of the prophet nor the warning of the khalíf has been heeded. according to the early muslims, the companions and their followers, enquiries into the nature of god and his attributes were not lawful. the prophet knowing what was good for men, had plainly revealed the way of salvation and had taught them:-- "say: he is god alone: god the eternal! he begetteth not, and he is not begotten; and there is none like unto him." (súra cxii) this was sufficient for them to know of the mystery of the godhead. god is far beyond the reach of the human { } understanding. he alone embraces all in his comprehension. men should therefore mistrust their own perceptive faculties and notions and should obey the inspired legislator muhammad, who loving them better than they love themselves, and knowing better than they do what is truly useful, has revealed both what they ought to believe and what they ought to do. it is true that men must exercise their reason, but they must not do so with regard to the divine attributes.[ ] dogma is divided into two portions, usúl and farú'--(_i.e._, roots and branches.) the former include the doctrine about god; the latter, as the name implies, consist of truths which result from the acceptance of the former. the orthodox belief is that reason has only to do with the "farú'," for the usúl being founded on the qurán and sunnat have an objective basis. differences of opinion about various branches of the "farú'," led to discussions which did not stop there but went on to the "usúl," and so paved the way for the rise of scholastic theology ('ilm-i-kalám.) i have already in the chapter on the exegesis of the qurán explained the difference in meaning between muhkam (obvious) verses and mutashábih (intricate) ones. this difference lies at the very foundation of the present subject. it is, therefore, necessary to enter a little into detail. the question turns very much on the interpretation of the th verse of the rd súra: "he it is who hath sent down to thee 'the book.' some of its signs are of themselves perspicuous (muhkam): these are the basis of the { } book--and others are figurative (mutashábih.) but they whose hearts are given to err, follow its figures, craving discord, craving an interpretation; yet none knoweth its interpretation but god. and the stable in knowledge say, 'we believe in it: it is all from our lord.' but none will bear this in mind, save men endued with understanding." here it is clearly stated ( ) that no one except god can know the interpretation of mutashábih verses, and ( ) that wise men though they know not their interpretation, yet believe them all. many learned men, however, say that the full stop should not be placed after the word "god" but after "knowledge," and so this portion of the verse would read thus: "none knoweth its interpretation but god and the stable in knowledge. they say: 'we believe, &c.'" on this slight change in punctuation, which shows that the 'stable in knowledge' can interpret the mutashábih verses, opposite schools of theology have arisen in islám. the latter reading opens the way to a fearless investigation of subjects which all the early muslims avoided as beyond their province. in the early days of islám it was held that all parts of the qurán, except the muhkam verses and the purely narrative portions, were mutashábih; that is, all verses which related to the attributes of god, to the existence of angels and genii, to the appearance of antichrist, the period and signs of the day of judgment, and generally all matters which are beyond the daily experience of mankind. it was strongly felt that not only must there be no discussion on them,[ ] but no attempt should be made to understand or act on them. ibn 'abbás, a companion, says: "one must believe the mutashábih verses, but not take them for a rule of conduct." ibn jubair was once { } asked to put the meaning of the qurán into writing. he became angry and said: "i should rather be palsied in one-half of my body than do so."[ ] 'ayesha said: "avoid those persons who dispute about the meaning of the qurán, for they are those whom god has referred to in the words, 'whose hearts are given to err.'" the first reading is the one adopted by the asháb, the tábi'ín and the taba-i-tábi'ín and the great majority of commentators. the sunnís generally, and, according to the testimony of fakr-ud-dín rází (a.h. - ), the sháfa'í sect are of the same opinion. those who take the opposite view are the commentators mujáhid (died a.h. ), rábí' bin ans and others. the scholastic theologians[ ] (mutakallimán) generally adopt the latter reading.[ ] they argued thus: how could men believe what they did not know; to which their opponents answered, that the act of belief in the unknown is the very thing here praised by god. the scholastics then enquired why, since the qurán was sent to be a guide and direction to men, were not all its verses muhkam? the answer was, that the arabs acknowledged two kinds of eloquence. one kind was to arrange words and ideas in a plain and simple style so that the meaning might be at once apparent, the other was to speak in figurative language. now, if the qurán had not contained both these styles of composition, it could not have claimed the position it does as a book absolutely perfect in form as well as in matter.[ ] bearing in mind this fundamental difference of opinion, we can now pass on to the consideration of the attributes. { } the essential attributes are life, knowledge, power, will, for without these the others could not exist. then the attributes of hearing, seeing, speech give us a further idea of perfection. these are the "sifát-i-sabútiah," or affirmative attributes, the privation of which would imply loss; there are also sifát-i-salbiah, or privative attributes, such as--god has no form, is not limited by place, has no equal, &c. the acts of sitting, rising, descending, the possession of face, hands, eyes, &c., being connected with the idea of corporeal existences imply imperfection and apparently contradict the doctrine of "exemption" (tenzih) according to which god is, in virtue of his essence, in no way like the creatures he has made. this was a difficulty, but the four great imáms all taught that it was impious to enquire into these matters for all such allusions were mutashábih. "the imám hanbal and other early divines followed in the path of the early muslims and said: 'we believe in the book and the sunnat, and do not desire explanations. we know that the high god is not to be compared to any created object: nor any creature with him.'"[ ] imám as-sháfa'í said that a man who enquired into such matters should be tied to a stake, and carried about, and that the following proclamation should be made before him: "this is the reward of him who left the qurán and the traditions for the study of scholastic theology." imám hanbal says: "whosoever moves his hand when he reads in the qurán the words, 'i have created with my hand,' ought to have his hand cut off; and whoever stretches forth his finger in repeating the saying of muhammad, 'the heart of the believer is between two fingers of the merciful,' deserves to have his finger cut off." at-tirmízí when consulted about the statement of the prophet that god had descended to the lowest of the seven heavens, said: "the descent is intelligible, the manner how is unknown; the belief therein { } is obligatory; and the asking about it is a blameable innovation." but all such attempts to restrain discussion and investigation failed. the two main points in the discussion of this question are ( ) whether the attributes of god are internal or external, whether they are part of his essence or not, and ( ) whether they are eternal or not. the two leading sects were the sifátians (or attributists) and the mutazilites. the sifátians whom the early orthodox muslims follow, taught that the attributes of god are eternally inherent in his essence without separation or change. every attribute is conjoined with him as life with knowledge, or knowledge with power. they also taught that the mutashábih verses were not to be explained, and such were those which seemed to show a resemblance between god and his creatures. so at first they did not attempt to give the meaning of the terms, "hands, eyes, face, &c.," when applied to god. they simply accepted them as they stood. in course of time, as will be seen, differences of opinion on this point led to some sub-divisions of this sect. the mutazilites were the great opponents of the sifátians. they rejected the idea of eternal attributes, saying that eternity was the formal attribute of the essence of god. "if," said they, "we admit the eternal existence of an attribute then we must recognize the multiplicity of eternal existences." they also rejected the attributes of hearing, seeing and speech, as these were accidents proper to corporeal existences. they looked upon the divine attributes as mental abstractions, and not as having a real existence in the divine essence. the mutazilites were emphatically the free thinkers of islám. the origin of the sect was as follows: al hasan, a famous divine, was one day seated in the mosque at basra when a discussion arose on the question whether a believer who committed a mortal sin became thereby an unbeliever. the khárigites (ante p. ) { } affirmed that it was so. the orthodox denied this, saying that, though guilty of sin, yet that as he believed rightly he was not an infidel.[ ] one of the scholars wásil ibn atá, (who was born at madína a.h. ), then rose up and said: "i maintain that a muslim who has committed a mortal sin should be regarded neither as a believer nor an unbeliever, but as occupying a middle station between the two." he then retired to another part of the mosque where he was joined by his friend 'umr ibn obaid and others. they resumed the discussion. a learned man, named katáda, entering the mosque, went up to them, but on finding that they were not the party in which al hasan was, said 'these are the seceders (al-mutazila).' al hasan soon expelled them from his school. wásil then founded a school of his own of which, after the death of his master, 'umr ibn obaid became the head. wásil felt that a believer, though sinful, did not merit the same degree of punishment as an infidel, and thus starting off on the question of _degrees_ of punishment, he soon opened up the whole subject of man's responsibility and the question of free-will. this soon brought him into conflict with the orthodox on the subject of predestination and that again to the subject of the inspiration, the interpretation and the eternity of the qurán, and of the divine attributes. his followers rejected the doctrine of the "divine right" of the imám, and held that the entire body of the faithful had the right to elect the most suitable person, who need not necessarily be a man of the quraish tribe, to fill that office. the principles of logic and the teaching of philosophy were brought to bear on the precepts of religion. according to shahrastání the mutazilites hold:-- "that god is eternal; and that eternity is the peculiar property of his essence; but they deny the existence of any eternal attributes (as distinct from his nature). for they say, he is omniscient as to { } his nature; living as to his nature; almighty as to his nature; but not through any knowledge, power or life existing in him as eternal attributes; for knowledge, power and life are part of his essence, otherwise, if they are to be looked upon as eternal attributes of the deity, it will give rise to a multiplicity of eternal entities." "they maintain that the knowledge of god is as much within the province of reason as that of any other entity; that he cannot be beheld with the corporeal sight; and with the exception of himself everything else is liable to change or to suffer extinction. they also maintain that justice is the animating principle of human actions: justice according to them being the dictates of reason and the concordance of the ultimate results of this conduct of man with such dictates." "again, they hold that there is no eternal law as regards human actions; that the divine ordinances which regulate the conduct of men are the results of growth and development; that god has commanded and forbidden, promised and threatened by a law which grew gradually. at the same time, say they, he who works righteousness merits rewards and he who works evil deserves punishment. they also say, that all knowledge is attained through reason, and must necessarily be so obtained. they hold that the cognition of good and evil is also within the province of reason; that nothing is known to be right or wrong until reason has enlightened us as to the distinction; and that thankfulness for the blessings of the benefactor is made obligatory by reason, even before the promulgation of any law upon the subject. they also maintain that man has perfect freedom; is the author of his actions both good and evil, and deserves reward or punishment hereafter accordingly." during the reigns of the 'abbásside khalífs mámún, mutasim and wathik ( - a.h.) at baghdád, the mutazilites were in high favour at court, under the 'abbásside dynasty[ ] the ancient arab society was revolutionized, persians filled the most important offices of state; persian doctrines took the place of arab ones. the orthodox suffered bitter persecution. the story of that persecution will be told later on. the khalíf wathik at length relented. { } an old man, heavily chained, was one day brought into his presence. the prisoner obtained permission to put a few questions to ahmad ibn abu dá,úd, a mutazilite and the president of the court of inquisition. the following dialogue took place. "ahmad," said the prisoner, "what is the dogma which you desire to have established." "that the qurán is created," replied ahmad. "this dogma, then, is without doubt an essential part of religion, insomuch that the latter cannot without it be said to be complete?" "certainly." "has the apostle of god taught this to men or has he left them free?" "he has left them free." "was the apostle of god acquainted with this dogma or not?" "he was acquainted with it." "wherefore, then, do you desire to impose a belief regarding which the apostle of god has left men free to think as they please?" ahmad remaining silent, the old man turned to wathik and said, "o prince of believers, here is my first position made good." then turning to ahmad, he said, "god has said, 'this day have i perfected religion for you, and have filled up the measures of my favours upon you; and it is my pleasure that islám be your religion.' (súra v. ). but according to you islám is not perfected unless we adopt this doctrine that the qurán is created. which now is most worthy of credence--god, when he declares islám to be complete and perfect, or you when you announce the contrary?" ahmad was still silent. "prince of believers," said the old man, "there is my second point made good." he continued, "ahmad, how do you explain the following words of god in his holy book?--'o apostle! proclaim all that hath been sent down to thee from thy lord; for if thou dost not, thou hast not proclaimed his message at all.' now this doctrine that you desire to spread among the faithful, has the apostle taught it, or has he abstained from doing so?" ahmad remained silent. the old man resumed, "prince of believers, such is my third argument." then turning to ahmad he said: "if the prophet was acquainted with the doctrine { } which you desire to impose upon us, had he the right to pass by it in silence?" "he had the right." "and did the same right appertain to abu bakr, omar, osmán and 'ali?" "it did," "prince of believers," said the prisoner, "god will, in truth, be severe on us, if he deprives us of a liberty which he accorded to the prophet and his companions." the khalíf assented, and at once restored the old man to liberty. so ended one of the fiercest persecutions the orthodox have ever had to endure, but so also ended the attempt to break through the barriers of traditionalism.[ ] the next khalíf, al mutawakhil, a ferocious and cruel man, restored the orthodox party to place and power. he issued a fatva (decree) declaring that the dogma that the qurán was created was an utter falsehood. he instituted severe measures against christians, jews, shía'hs and mutazilites. ahmad ibn abu dá,úd was one of the first to be disgraced. heresy and latitudinarianism were banished. the final blow to the mutazilites, however, came not from the khalíf but a little later on from abu hasan-al-ash'arí ( - a.h.) the mutazilites expelled from power in baghdád, still flourished at basra where one day the following incident occurred. abu 'alí al-jubbai, a mutazilite doctor, was lecturing to his students when al-ash'arí propounded the following case to his master: "there were three brothers, one of whom was a true believer, virtuous and pious; the second an infidel, a debauchee and a reprobate; and the third an infant; they all died. what became of them?" al-jubbai answered: "the virtuous brother holds a high station in paradise, the infidel is in the depths of hell, and the child is among those who have obtained salvation." { } "suppose now," said al-ash'arí, "that the child should wish to ascend to the place occupied by his virtuous brother, would he be allowed to do so?" "no," replied al-jubbai, "it would be said to him: 'thy brother arrived at this place through his numerous works of obedience to god, and thou hast no such works to set forward.'" "suppose then," said al-ash'arí, "that the child should say: 'this is not my fault, you did not let me live long enough, neither did you give me the means of proving my obedience.'" "in that case," said al-jubbai, "the almighty would say: 'i knew that if i allowed thee to live, thou wouldest have been disobedient and have incurred the punishment of hell: i acted, therefore, for thy advantage.'" "well," said al-ash'arí, "and suppose the infidel brother were here to say: 'o god of the universe! since thou knowest what awaited him, thou must have known what awaited me; why then didst thou act for his advantage and not for mine?'"[ ] al-jubbai was silent, though very angry with his pupil, who was now convinced that the mutazilite dogma of man's free-will was false, and that god elects some for mercy and some for punishment without any motive whatever. disagreeing with his teacher on this point, he soon began to find other points of difference, and soon announced his belief that the qurán was not created. this occurred on a friday in the great mosque at basra. seated in his chair he cried out in a loud voice: "they who know me know who i am; as for those who do not know me i shall tell them; i am 'alí ibn ismá'íl al-ash'arí, and i used to hold that the qurán was created, that the eyes (of men) shall not see god, and that we ourselves are the authors of our evil deeds; now, i have returned to the truth: i renounce these opinions, and i take the engagement to refute the mutazilites and expose their infamy and turpitude."[ ] he then, adopting scholastic methods, started a school of { } thought of his own, which was in the main a return to orthodoxy. the ash'arían doctrines differ slightly from the tenets of the sifátians of which sect al-ash'arí's disciples form a branch. the ash'aríans hold-- (i.) that the attributes of god are distinct from his essence, yet in such a way as to forbid any comparison being made between god and his creatures. they say they are not "_'ain_ nor _ghair_:" not of his essence, nor distinct from it: _i.e.,_ they cannot be compared with any other things. (ii.) that god has one eternal will from which proceed all things, the good and the evil, the useful and the hurtful. the destiny of man was written on the eternal table before the world was created. so far they go with the sifátians, but in order to preserve the moral responsibility of man they say that he has power to convert will into action. but this power cannot create anything new for then god's sovereignty would be impaired; so they say that god in his providence so orders matters that whenever "a man desires to do a certain thing, good or bad, the action corresponding to the desire is, there and then, created by god, and, as it were, fitted on to the desire." thus it seems as if it came naturally from the will of the man, whereas it does not. this action is called kasb (acquisition) because it is acquired by a special creative act of god. it is an act directed to the obtaining of profit, or the removing of injury: the term is, therefore, inapplicable to the deity. abu bakr-al-bakillání, a disciple of al-ash'arí, says: "the essence or substance of the action is the effect of the power of god, but its being an action of obedience, such as prayer, or an action of disobedience, such as fornication, are qualities of the action, which proceed from the power of man." the imám al-haramain ( - a.h.) held "that the actions of men were effected by the power which god has created in man." abu isháq al isfarayain says: "that which maketh impression, or hath influence on action, is a compound of the power of god and the power of man." { } (iii.) they say that the word of god is eternal, though they acknowledge that the vocal sounds used in the qurán, which is the manifestation of that word, are created. they say, in short, that the qurán contains ( ) the eternal word which existed in the essence of god before time was; and ( ) the word which consists of sounds and combinations of letters. this last they call the created word. thus al-ash'arí traversed the main positions of the mutazilites, denying that man can by the aid of his reason alone rise to the knowledge of good and evil. he must exercise no judgment but accept all that is revealed. he has no right to apply the moral laws which affect men to the actions of god. it cannot be asserted by the human reason that the good will be rewarded, or the bad punished in a future world. man must always approach god as a slave, in whom there is no light or knowledge to judge of the actions of the supreme. whether god will accept the penitent sinner or not cannot be asserted, for he is an absolute sovereign, above all law.[ ] the opinions of the more irrational sub-divisions of the sifátians need not be entered into at any length. the mushábihites (or assimilators), interpreting some of the mutashábih verses literally, held that there is a resemblance between god and his creatures; and that the deity is capable of local motion, of ascending, descending, &c. these they called "declarative attributes." the mujassimians (or corporealists) declared god to be corporeal, by which some of them meant, a self-subsisting body, whilst others declared the deity to be finite. they are acknowledged to be heretics. { } the jabríans gave great prominence to the denial of free agency in man, and thus opposed the mutazilites, who in this respect are kadríans, that is, they deny "al-kadr," god's absolute sovereignty, and recognize free will in man. these and various other sub-divisions are not now of much importance. the sunnís follow the teaching of al-ash'arí, whilst the shí'ahs incline to that of the mutazilites. connected with the subject of the attributes of god is that of the names to be used when speaking of him. all sects agree in this, that the names "the living, the wise, the powerful, the hearer, the seer, the speaker," &c., are to be applied to god; but the orthodox belief is that all such names must be "tauqífi," that is dependent on some revelation. thus it is not lawful to apply a name to god expressive of one of his attributes, unless there is some statement made, or order given by muhammad to legalize it. god is rightly called sháfí (healer), but he cannot be called tabíb which means much the same thing, for the simple reason that the word tabíb is never applied in the qurán or the traditions to god. in like manner the term 'Álim (knower) is lawful, but not so the expression 'Áqil (wise). the mutazilites say that if, in the qurán or traditions, there is any praise of an attribute, then the adjective formed from the name of that attribute can be applied to god even though the actual word does not occur in any revelation. al-ghazzálí (a.h. - ), who gave in the east the death-blow to the muslim philosophers, says: "the names of god not given in the law, if expressive of his glory, may be used of him, but only as expressive of his attributes, not of his nature." on the ground that it does not occur in the law, the persian word "khuda" has been objected to, an objection which also holds good with regard to the use of such terms as god, dieu, gott, &c. to this it is answered, that as "khuda" means "one who comes by himself" it is equivalent to the term wájib-ul-wajúd, { } "one who has necessary existence," and therefore so long as it is not considered as the "ism-i-zát (name of his nature) it may with propriety be used."[ ] the current belief now seems to be that the proper name equal to the term alláh, current in a language, can be used, provided always that such a name is not taken from the language of the infidels; so god, dieu, &c, still remain unlawful. the names of god authorised by the qurán and traditions are, exclusive of the term alláh, ninety-nine in number. they are called the asmá-i-husná[ ] (noble names); but in addition to these there are many synonyms used on the authority of ijmá'. such are hanán, equal to rahím (merciful) and manán, "one who puts another under an obligation." in the tafsír-i-bahr it is stated that there are three thousand names of god; one thousand of which are known to angels; one thousand to prophets; whilst one thousand are thus distributed, _viz._, in the pentateuch there are three hundred, in the psalms three hundred, in the gospels three hundred, in the qurán ninety-nine, and one still hidden. the following texts of the qurán are adduced to prove the nature of the divine attributes:-- ( ). life. "there is no god but he, the living, the eternal." (súra ii. ). "put thy trust in him that liveth and dieth not." (súra xxv. ). ( ). knowledge. "dost thou not see that god knoweth all that is in the heavens, and all that is in the earth." (súra lviii. ). "with him are the keys of the secret things; none knoweth them but he: he knoweth whatever is on the land and in the sea; and no leaf falleth but he knoweth it; neither is there a grain in the darknesses of the earth, nor a thing green or sere, but it is noted in a distinct writing." (súra vi. ). { } ( ). power. "if god pleased, of their ears and of their eyes would he surely deprive them. verily god is almighty." (súra ii. ). "is he not powerful enough to quicken the dead." (súra lxxv. ). "god hath power over all things." (súra iii. .) ( ). will. "god is worker of that he willeth." (súra lxxxv. ). "but if god pleased, he would surely bring them, one and all, to the guidance." (súra vi. ). "god misleadeth whom he will, and whom he will he guideth--god doeth his pleasure." (súra xiv. , ). as this attribute is closely connected with the article of the creed which refers to predestination, the different opinions regarding it will be stated under that head. there has never been any difference of opinion as to the existence of these four attributes so clearly described in the qurán: the difference is with regard to the mode of their existence and their operation. there is, first, the ancient sifátian doctrine that the attributes are eternal and of the essence of god: secondly, the mutazilite theory that they are not eternal; and, thirdly, the ash'arían dogma that they are eternal, but distinct from his essence. there is also great difference of opinion with regard to the next three attributes--hearing, sight, speech. for the existence of the two first of these the following verses are quoted, "he truly heareth and knoweth all things." (súra xliv. ). "no vision taketh in him, but he taketh in all vision." (súra vi. ). the use of the terms sitting, rising, &c., hands, face, eyes, and so on, gave rise as i have shown to several sub-divisions of the sifátians. al-ghazzálí says: "he sits upon his throne after that manner which he has himself described and in that sense which he himself means, which is a sitting far remote from any notion of contact or resting upon, or local situation." this is the ash'arían idea, but between the ash'aríans and those who fell into the error of the { } mujassimians,[ ] there was another school. the followers of imám ibn hanbal say that such words represent the attributes existing in god. the words "god sits on his throne" mean that he has the power of sitting. thus, they say, "we keep the literal meaning of the words, we allow no figurative interpretation. to do so is to introduce a dangerous principle of interpretation, for the negation of the apparent sense of a passage may tend to weaken the authority of revelation. at the same time we do not pretend to explain the act, for it is written: 'there is none like unto him.' (súra cxii.) 'nought is there like him.' (súra xlii. .) 'unworthy the estimate they form of god.'" (súra xxii. .) to prove that god occupies a place they produce the following tradition: "ibn-al-hákim wished to give liberty to a female slave saouda and consulted the prophet about it. muhammad said to her, 'where is god?' 'in heaven,' she replied. 'set her at liberty, she is a true believer.'" not, say the commentators, because she believed that god occupied a place but because she took the words in their literal signification. the shí'ahs consider it wrong to attribute to god movement, quiescence, &c, for these imply the possession of a body. they hold, too, in opposition to the orthodox that god will never be seen, for that which is seen is limited by space. the seventh attribute--speech--has been fruitful of a very long and important controversy connected with the nature of the qurán, for the word "kalám" means not mere speech, but revelation and every other mode of communicating intelligence. al-ghazzálí says:-- "he doth speak, command, forbid, promise, and threaten by an eternal ancient word, subsisting in his essence. neither is it like to the word of the creatures, nor doth it consist in a voice arising from the commotion of the air and the collision of bodies, nor letters { } which are separated by the joining together of the lips or the motion of the tongue. the qurán, the law, the gospel and the psalter are books sent down by him to his apostles, and the qurán, indeed, is read with tongues written in books, and is kept in hearts; yet, as subsisting in the essence of god, it doth not become liable to separation and division whilst it is transferred into the hearts and on to paper. thus moses also heard the word of god without voice or letter, even as the saints behold the essence of god without substance or accident." the orthodox believe that god is really a speaker: the mutazilites deny this, and say that he is only called a speaker because he is the originator of words and sounds. they also bring the following objections to bear against the doctrine of the eternity of the qurán. ( ) it is written in arabic, it descended, is read, is heard, and is written. it was the subject of a miracle. it is divided into parts and some verses are abrogated by others. ( ) events are described in the past tense, but if the qurán had been eternal the future tense would have been used. ( ) the qurán contains commands and prohibitions; if it is eternal who were commanded and who were admonished? ( ) if it has existed from eternity it must exist to eternity, and so even in the last day, and in the next world, men will be under the obligation of performing the same religious duties as they do now, and of keeping all the outward precepts of the law. ( ) if the qurán is eternal, then there are two eternals. the position thus assailed was not at first a hard and fast dogma of islám. it was more a speculative opinion than anything else, but the opposition of the mutazilites soon led all who wished to be considered orthodox to become not only stout assertors of the eternity of the qurán, but to give up their lives in defence of what they believed to be true. the mutazilites by asserting the subjective nature of the quránic inspiration brought the book itself within the reach of criticism. this was too much for orthodox islám to bear even though the khalíf mámún in the { } year a.h. issued a fatva declaring that all who asserted the eternity of the qurán were guilty of heresy. some six years after this, the imám ahmad ibn hanbal was severely beaten, and then imprisoned because he refused to assent to the truth of the decree issued by the khalíf. al buwaiti, a famous disciple of as-sháfa'í, used an ingenious argument to fortify his own mind when being punished by the order of the khalíf. he was taken all the way from cairo to baghdád and told to confess that the qurán was created. on his refusal, he was imprisoned at baghdád and there remained in chains till the day of his death. as ar-rábí ibn sulaimán says: "i saw al buwaiti mounted on a mule: round his neck was a wooden collar, on his legs were fetters, from these to the collar extended an iron chain to which was attached a clog weighing fifty pounds. whilst they led him on he continued repeating these words, 'almighty god created the world by means of the word _be!_ now, if that word was created, one created thing would have created another.'"[ ] al buwaiti here refers to the verse, "verily our speech unto a thing when we will the same, is that we only say to it, 'be,' and it is,--kun fayakúna." (súra xxxvi. ). this, in the way al buwaiti applied it, is a standing argument of the orthodox to prove the eternity of the qurán. when times changed men were put to death for holding the opposite opinion. the imám as-sháfa'í held a public disputation in baghdád with hafs, a mutazilite preacher, on this very point. sháfa'í quoted the verse, "god said _be, and it was_," and asked, "did not god create all things by the word _be?_" hafs assented. "if then the qurán was created, must not the word _be_ have been created with it?" hafs could not deny so plain a proposition. "then," said sháfa'í, "all things, according to you, were created by a created being, which is a gross inconsistency and manifest { } impiety." hafs was reduced to silence, and such an effect had sháfa'í's logic on the audience that they put hafs to death as a pestilent heretic. thus did the ash'arían opinions on the subject of the divine attributes again gain the mastery.[ ] the mutazilites failed, and the reason why is plain. they were, as a rule, influenced by no high spiritual motives; often they were mere quibblers. they sought no light in an external revelation. driven to a reaction by the rigid system they combated, they would have made reason alone their chief guide. the nobler spirits among them were impotent to regenerate the faith they professed to follow. it was, however, a great movement, and at one time, it threatened to change the whole nature of islám. this period of muslim history, famed as that in which the effort was made to cast off the fetters of the rigid system which islám was gradually tightening by the increased authority given to traditionalism, and to the refinements of the four imáms, was undoubtedly a period of, comparatively speaking, high civilization. baghdád, the capital of the khalífate, was a busy, populous, well-governed city. this it mainly owed to the influence of the persian family of the barmecides, one of whom was vizier to the khalíf hárún-ur-rashíd. hárún's fame as a good man is quite undeserved. it is true that he was a patron of learning, that his empire was extensive, that he gained many victories, that his reign was the culminating point of arab grandeur. but for all that, he was a morose despot, a cruel man, thoroughly given up to pleasures of a very questionable nature. drunkenness and debauchery were common at court. plots and intrigues were ever at work. such was the state of one of the greatest, if not the greatest, periods { } of muslim rule. this, too, was at a time most favourable for the development of any good which islám might have possessed. it should be remembered that whatever glory is rightly attached to this period is connected with an epoch when heresy was specially prevalent, when orthodoxy was weak in baghdád. the culture of the time was in spite of, not on account of, the influence of orthodox islám. . angels.--of this article of the creed muhammad al-berkevi says:-- "we must confess that god has angels who act according to his order and who do not rebel against him. they neither eat nor drink, nor is there amongst them any difference of sex. some are near the throne of god; those are his messengers. each one has his particular work. some are on earth, some in heaven, some are always standing, some always prostrate themselves and some laud and praise god. others have charge of men and record all their actions. some angels are high in stature and are possessed of great power. such an one is gabriel (jibrá,íl) who in the space of one hour can descend from heaven to earth, and who with one wing can lift up a mountain. we must believe in 'izrá,íl who receives the souls of men when they die, and in isráfíl into whose charge is committed the trumpet. this trumpet he has actually in his hand, and placed to his mouth ready to blow when god gives the order. when he receives that order he will blow such a terrible blast that all living things will die.[ ] this is the commencement of the last day. the world will remain in this state of death forty years. then god most high will revive isráfíl who will blow a second blast, at the sound of which all the dead will rise to life."[ ] this confession of faith makes no mention of míká,íl (michael), the fourth of the archangels. his special duty is to see that all created beings have what is needful for them. he has charge of the rain-fall, plants, grain and all that is required for the sustenance of men, beasts, fishes, &c. gabriel's special charge is the communication of god's will to prophets. the words "one terrible in power" (súra liii. ) { } are generally applied to him. he is honoured with the privilege of nearness to god. tradition says that on the night of the mi'ráj, the prophet saw that gabriel had six hundred wings, and that his body was so large that from one shoulder to the other the distance was so great that a swift flying bird would require five hundred years to pass over it. nine-tenths of all created beings are said to be angels who are formed of light. their rank is stationary, and each is content with the position he occupies. their one desire is to love and to know god. whatever he commands they do. "all beings in the heaven and on the earth are his: and they who are in his presence disdain not his service, neither are they wearied: they praise him day and night." (súra xxi. , .) they are free from all sin.[ ] it is true that they did not wish for the creation of adam, and this may seem like a want of confidence in god. it is said, however, that their object was not to oppose god, but to relieve their minds of the doubts they had in the matter. thus "when the lord said to the angels, 'verily, i am about to place one in my stead on earth,' they said: 'wilt thou place there one who will do ill therein, and shed blood when we celebrate thy praise and extol thy holiness.' god said: 'verily i know what ye know not.'" it is true that iblís was disobedient, but then he belonged not to the angelic order but to that of the jinn. "when we said to the angels, 'prostrate yourselves before adam,' they all prostrated themselves save iblís, who was of the jinn, and revolted from his lord's behest." (súra xviii. .) (see also súra ii. .) angels appear in human form on special occasions, but usually they are invisible. it is a common belief that animals can see angels and devils. this accounts for the saying, "if you hear a cock crow, pray for mercy, for it has seen an angel; but if you hear an ass bray, take refuge with god, for it has seen a devil." { } the angels intercede for man: "the angels celebrate the praise of their lord and ask forgiveness for the dwellers on earth." (súra xlii. .) they also act as guardian angels: "each hath a succession of angels before him and behind him who watch over him by god's behest." (súra xiii. .) "is it not enough for you that your lord aideth you with three thousand angels sent down from on high?" (súra iii. .) "supreme over his servants he sendeth forth guardians who watch over you, until when death overtaketh any one of you our messengers take his soul and fail not." (súra vi. .) in the traditions it is said that god has appointed for every man two angels to watch over him by day, and two by night. the one stands on the right hand side of the man, the other on his left. some, however, say that they reside in the teeth, and that the tongue of the man is the pen and the saliva of the mouth the ink.[ ] they protect the actions of men and record them all whether good or bad. they are called the mua'qqibát, _i.e._, those who succeed one another. they also bear the name of kirám-ul-kátibín, "the exalted writers." they are referred to in the qurán. "think they that we hear not their secrets and their private talk? yes, and our angels who are at their sides write them down." (súra xliii. ). there are eight angels who support the throne of god. "and the angels shall be on its sides, and over them on that day eight shall bear up the throne of thy lord." (súra lxix. ). nineteen have charge of hell. "over it are nineteen. none but angels have we made guardians of the fire." (súra lxxiv. ). there is a special arrangement made by providence to mitigate the evils of satanic interference. "iblís," says jábir maghrabí, "though able to assume all other forms is not permitted to appear in the semblance of the deity, or { } any of his angels, or prophets. there would otherwise be much danger to human salvation, as he might, under the appearance of one of the prophets, or of some superior being, make use of this power to seduce men to sin. to prevent this, whenever he attempts to assume such forms, fire comes down from heaven and repulses him." the story of hárút and márút is of some interest from its connection with the question of the impeccability of the angels. speaking of those who reject god's apostle the qurán says: "and they followed what the satans read in the reign of solomon; not that solomon was unbelieving, but the satans were unbelieving. sorcery did they teach to men, and what had been revealed to the two angels hárút and márút at bábel. yet no man did these two teach until they had said, 'we are only a temptation. be not thou an unbeliever.'" (súra ii. ). here it is quite clear that two angels teach sorcery, which is generally allowed to be an evil. some explanation has to be given. commentators are by no means reticent on this subject. the story goes that in the time of the prophet enoch when the angels saw the bad actions of men they said: "o lord! adam and his descendants whom thou has appointed as thy vice-regents on earth act disobediently." to which the lord replied: "if i were to send you on earth, and to give you lustful and angry dispositions, you too would sin." the angels thought otherwise; so god told them to select two of their number who should undergo this ordeal. they selected two, renowned for devotion and piety. god having implanted in them the passions of lust and anger said: "all day go to and fro on the earth, put an end to the quarrels of men, ascribe no equal to me, do not commit adultery, drink no wine, and every night repeat the ism-ul-a'zam, the exalted name (of god) and return to heaven." this they did for some time, but at length a beautiful woman named zuhra (venus) led them astray. one day she brought them a cup of wine. one said: { } "god has forbidden it;" the other, "god is merciful and forgiving." so they drank the wine, killed the husband of zuhra, to whom they revealed the "exalted name," and fell into grievous sin. immediately after, they found that the "name" had gone from their memories and so they could not return to heaven as usual. they were very much concerned at this and begged enoch to intercede for them. the prophet did so, and with such success that the angels were allowed to choose between a present or a future punishment. they elected to be punished here on earth. they were then suspended with their heads downwards in a well at bábel. some say that angels came and whipped them with rods of fire, and that a fresh spring ever flowed just beyond the reach of their parched lips. the woman was changed to a star. some assert that it was a shooting star which has now passed out of existence. others say that she is the star venus. it is only right to state that the qází 'ayáz, imám fakhr-ud-dín rází ( - a.h.), qází násir-ud-dín baidaví ( - a.h.) and most scholastic divines deny the truth of this story. they say that angels are immaculate, but it is plain that this does not meet the difficulty which the qurán itself raises in connection with hárút and márút. they want to know how beings in such a state can teach, and whether it is likely that men would have the courage to go near such a horrible scene. as to the woman, they think the whole story absurd, not only because the star venus was created before the time of adam, but also because it is inconceivable that one who was so wicked should have the honour of shining in heaven for ever. a solution, however, they are bound to give, and it is this. magic is a great art which god must allow mankind to know. the dignity of the order of prophets is so great that they cannot teach men what is confessedly hurtful. two angels were therefore sent, and so men can now distinguish between the miracles of prophets, the signs of { } saints, the wonders of magicians and others. then hárút and márút always discouraged men from learning magic. they said to those who came to them: "we are only a temptation. be not thou an unbeliever." others assert that it is a jewish allegory in which the two angels represent reason and benevolence, the woman the evil appetites. the woman's ascent to heaven represents death. to this solution of the difficulty, however, the great body of the traditionists do not agree. they declare that the story is a hadís-i-sahíh, and that the isnád is sound and good. i name only a few of the great divines who hold this view. they are imám ibn hanbal, ibn ma'súd, ibn 'umr, ibn 'abbás, háfiz 'asqallání[ ] and others. jelál-ud-din syútí in his commentary the dúrr-i-mashúr, has given all the traditions in order and, though there is some variety in the details, the general purport accords with the narrative as i have related it. the traditionists answer the objections of the scholastics thus. they say that angels are immaculate only so long as they remain in the angelic state; that, though confined, hárút and márút can teach magic, for a word or two is quite sufficient for that purpose; that some men have no fear and, if they have, it is quite conceivable that the two angels may teach through the instrumentality of devils or jinn. with regard to the woman zuhra they grant that to be changed into a bright star is of the nature of a reward; but they say the desire to learn the "exalted name" was so meritorious an act that the good she desired outweighs the evil she did. with regard to the date of the creation of the star venus, it is said that all our astronomical knowledge is based on observations made since the flood, whereas this story relates to the times of enoch who lived before the days of noah. so the dispute goes on and men of great repute for learning and knowledge believe in the story. { } munkir and nakír are two fierce-looking black angels with blue eyes who visit every man in his grave, and examine him with regard to his faith in god and in muhammad. the dead are supposed to dwell in 'Álam-i-barzakh, a state of existence intervening between the present life and the life of mankind after the resurrection.[ ] this is the meaning of the word "grave" when used in this connection. unbelievers and wicked muslims suffer trouble in that state; true believers who can give a good answer to the angels are happy. some suppose that a body of angels are appointed for this purpose and that some of them bear the name of munkir, and some that of nakír and that, just as each man has two recording angels during his lifetime, two from this class are appointed to examine him after death. there is a difference of opinion with regard to children. the general belief is that the children of believers will be questioned, but that the angels will teach them to say: "alláh is my lord, islám my religion, and muhammad my prophet." with regard to the children of unbelievers being questioned, imám abu hanífa hesitated to give an opinion. he also doubted about their punishment. some think they will be in a'ráf, a place between heaven and hell; others suppose that they will be servants to the true believers in paradise. distinct from the angels there is another order of beings made of fire called jinn (genii.) it is said that they were created thousands of years before adam came into existence. "we created man of dried clay, of dark loam moulded, and the jinn had been before created of subtle fire." (súra xv. , .) they eat, drink, propagate their species and are subject to death, though they generally live many centuries. they dwell chiefly in the koh-i-káf, a chain of mountains supposed to encompass the world:[ ] { } some are believers in islám; some are infidels, and will be punished. "i will wholly fill hell with jinn and men." (súra xi. .) the súra called súrat-ul-jinn (lxxii.) refers to their belief in islám. the passage is too long to quote. they try to hear[ ] what is going on in heaven. "we guard them (_i.e._, men) from every stoned satan, save such as steal a hearing." (súra xv. .) they were under the power of solomon and served him. (súra xxxviii. .) an 'ifrít of the jinn said, "i will bring it thee (solomon) ere thou risest from thy place: i have power for this and am trusty." (súra xxvii. .) at the last day the jinn also will be questioned. imám hanífa doubted whether the jinn who are muslims will be rewarded. the unbelieving jinn will assuredly be punished. tradition classifies them in the following order: ( ) jánn, ( ) jinn, ( ) shaitán, ( ) 'ifrít, ( ) márid. many fables have been invented concerning these beings, and though intelligent muslims may doubt these wonderful accounts, yet a belief in the order of jinn is imperative, at least, as long as there is belief in the qurán. those who wish to know more of this subject will find a very interesting chapter on it in lane's modern egyptians. . the books.--al berkevi says:-- "it is necessary to believe that the books of god have been sent through the instrumentality of gabriel, to prophets upon the earth. the books are never sent except to prophets. the qurán was sent to muhammad portion by portion during a space of years. the pentateuch came to moses, the injíl to jesus, the zabúr to david, and the other books to other prophets. the whole number of the divine books is . the qurán, the last of all, is to be followed till the day of judgment. it can neither be abrogated nor changed. some laws of the previous books have been abrogated by the qurán and ought not to be followed." the one hundred and four books were sent from heaven in the following order:--to adam, ten; to seth, fifty; to enoch (idris), thirty; to abraham, ten; to moses, the { } taurát (pentateuch); to david, the zabúr (psalms); to jesus, the injíl; to muhammad, the qurán. the one hundred to which no distinctive name is given are known as the "suhúf-ul-anbiya,"--books of the prophets. the qurán is also known as the furqán, the distinguisher; the qurán-i-sharíf, noble qurán; the quran-i-majíd, glorious qurán; the mushaf, the book. it is said to be the compendium of the taurát, zabúr and injíl[ ]; so muslims do not require to study these books.[ ] the orthodox belief is that they are entirely abrogated by the qurán,[ ] though syed ahmad denounces as ignorant and foolish those musalmáns who say so.[ ] be that as it may, their inspiration is considered to be of a lower order than that of the qurán. a large { } portion of the injíl is considered to be mere narrative. the actual words of christ only are looked upon as the revelation which descended from heaven. it is so in the case of the old testament prophets. "however, it was the rule to call a book by the name of the prophet, whether the subject-matter was pure doctrine only, or whether it was mixed up with narrative also." "it is to be observed that, in the case of our own prophet, the revelations made to him were intended to impart a special miracle of eloquence and they were written down, literally and exactly, in the form in which they were communicated without any narrative being inserted in them."[ ] the writings of the apostles are not considered to be inspired books. "we do not consider that the acts of the apostles, or the various epistles, although unquestionably very good books, are to be taken as part and parcel of the new testament itself; nevertheless we look upon the writings of the apostles in the same light as we do the writings of the companions of our own prophet; that is to say, as entitled to veneration and respect."[ ] there are many verses in the qurán which speak of previous revelations, thus: "we also caused jesus, the son of mary, to follow the footsteps of the prophets, confirming the law (taurát) which was sent before him, and we gave him the injíl with its guidance and light, confirmatory of the preceding law; a guidance and a warning to those that fear god." (súra v. ). "we believe in god, and that which hath been sent down to us, and that which hath been sent down to abraham and isaac and jacob and the tribes, and that which hath been given to moses and to jesus, and that which was given to the prophets from their lord. no difference do we make between any of them: and to god are we resigned." (súra ii. ). "in truth hath he sent down to thee the book, which confirmeth those that precede it, for he had sent down the { } law and the injíl aforetime, as man's guidance; and now hath he sent down the furqán." (súra iii. ).[ ] practically, musalmáns reject the old and new testaments. to do so is manifestly against the letter of the qurán, and, as some reason for this neglect of previous scriptures must be given, muslim divines say that the jewish and christian scriptures have been corrupted. the technical expression is "tahríf," a word signifying, to change, to turn aside anything from the truth. then tahríf may be of two kinds, tahríf-i-m'anaví, a change in the meaning of words; tahríf-i-lafzí, an actual change of the written words. most musalmáns maintain that the latter kind of corruption has taken place, and so they do not feel bound to read or study the previous revelations so frequently referred to in the qurán. the charge brought against the jews of corrupting their scriptures is based on the following verse of the qurán: "some truly are there among you who torture the scriptures with their tongues, in order that ye may suppose it to be from the scripture, yet it is not from the scripture. and they say: 'this is from god,' yet it is not from god; and they utter a lie against god, and they know they do so." (súra iii. .) all the ancient commentators assert that this only proved tahríf-i-m'anaví; that is, that the jews referred to either misinterpreted what they read, or, whilst professing to read from the scripture, used expressions not found therein. it does not mean that they altered the text of their scriptures. this, however, does not excuse musalmáns for their neglect of the previous scriptures, and so the orthodox divines of modern times maintain that the greater corruption--the tahríf-i-lafzí, has taken place. the question is fully discussed, and the opinion of the earlier commentators endorsed by syed ahmad in his commentary on the bible.[ ] { } . prophets.--muhammad al berkevi says:-- "it is necessary to confess that god has sent prophets; that adam is the first of the prophets and the father of all men; that muhammad is the last of the prophets; that between adam and muhammad there were a great number of prophets; that muhammad is the most excellent of all and that his people are the best of all peoples; that each of the preceding prophets was sent to a special people, some with books, some without, but that muhammad was sent to all men and also to the genii; that his law will remain until the end of the world, that his miracles are many in number, that by his blessed finger he made waters flow, that he divided the moon into two parts, that animals, trees, and stones said to him: 'thou art a true prophet.' we must also believe that one night he was transported from mecca to jerusalem, and from thence to heaven, where he saw both paradise and hell, conversed with the most high and returned to mecca before morning. after him no other prophet will come, for he is the seal of the prophets." the number of prophets sent by god to make known his will varies according to the tradition which records it. about two hundred thousand is the usual number stated. twenty-five are mentioned by name in the qurán, of whom six are distinguished by special titles. adam, sufi ulláh, the chosen of god; noah, nabí ulláh, the prophet of god; abraham, khalíl ulláh, the friend of god; moses, kalím ulláh, the speaker with god; jesus, rúh ulláh, the spirit of god; muhammad, rasúl ulláh, the messenger of god. these are called the anbiya-ulul-'azm (possessors of purpose) because they were the heads of their respective dispensations, and because they will be permitted by god to intercede in the day of judgment for their followers. they are the greatest and most exalted of the prophets.[ ] there are degrees of rank amongst the prophets, for "some of the apostles have we endowed more highly than others. those to whom god hath spoken, he hath raised to the loftiest grade, and to jesus, the son of mary we gave { } manifest signs, and we strengthened him with the holy spirit." (súra ii. ). the anbiya-ulul-'azm are ranked in the following order: noah, jesus, moses, abraham and as the chief of all, muhammad, of whom it is said: "he is the apostle of god and the seal of the prophets." (súra xxxiii. ). a tradition, as usual, supports his position. "i am the chief of the sons of men." "adam and all beside him will be ranged under my flag in the judgment day."[ ] it is said that the law given by moses was harsh and severe; that by christ was mild and gracious; but that the law given by muhammad is perfect, for it combines both the quality of strictness and that of graciousness; according to the tradition: "i always laugh and by laughing kill."[ ] each prophet is said to have been sent to his own tribe, but muhammad was sent for all men. a tradition is adduced to support this statement: "i was raised up for all men whether white or black, other prophets were not except for their own tribe." the qurán also states: "we have sent thee (muhammad) for all men." there is some difference of opinion as to whether the prophets are superior to the angels. the hanífites hold that the prophets amongst men are superior to the prophets amongst angels, who in their turn are superior to the ordinary run of men, to whom again the angels, other than prophets, are inferior. the mutazilites say that the angels are superior to the prophets. the shía'hs assert that the twelve imáms are superior to prophets. the way in which muhammad received inspiration has been shown in a previous chapter; but ibn khaldoun gives such an interesting account of prophetic inspiration that i give the substance of his remarks here. he speaks somewhat as follows.[ ] if we contemplate the world and the creatures it contains we shall recognize a perfect order, a regular { } system, a sequence of cause and effect, a connexion between different categories of existence, and a transformation of beings from one category of existence to another. then the phenomena of the visible world indicate to us the existence of an agent whose nature is different from that of the body, who is in fact a spiritual existence. this agent, which is the soul, must on the one hand be in contact with the existences of this world and, on the other, with the existences in the next category of superiority, and one whose essential qualities are pure perception and clear intelligence. such are the angels. it follows, then, that the human soul has a tendency towards the angelic world. all this is quite in accordance with the idea that, according to a regular order, all the categories of existences in the universe are in mutual contact by means of their faculties and on account of their nature. the souls of men may be divided into three classes. the first kind of soul is too feeble by nature to attain to a perception of the spiritual: it has to content itself with moving in the region of sense and imagination. thus it can understand concepts and affirmations. it can raise itself high in its own category but cannot pass its limit. the souls of the second class are carried by a reflective movement and a natural disposition towards a spiritual intelligence. they can enter into a state of contemplation which results in ecstasy. this is the intuition of the saints (auliya)[ ] to whom god has given this divine knowledge. the souls of the third class are created with the power of disengaging themselves altogether from their human bodies in order that they may rise to the angelic state where they become like angels. in a moment of time such { } a soul perceives the sublime company (of angels) in the sphere which contains them. it, there and then, hears the speech of the soul and the divine voice. such are the souls of the prophets. god has given to these souls the power of leaving the human body. whilst thus separate from it god gives to them his revelation. the prophets are endowed by god with such a purity of disposition, such an instinct of uprightness, that they are naturally inclined to the spiritual world. they are animated by an ardour quite peculiar to their order. when they return from the angelic state they deliver to men the revelations they have received. sometimes the revelation comes to the prophet as the humming of confused discourse. he grasps the ideas and, as soon as the humming ceases, he comprehends the message; sometimes an angel in human form communicates the revelation, and what he says the prophet learns by heart. the journey to, the return from the angelic state, and the comprehension of the revelation received there occupy less time than the twinkling of an eye. so rapidly do the souls of prophets move. so instantaneously do they receive and understand god's revelations. this is why inspiration is called wahí, a word which, according to ibn khaldoun, means to make haste. the first way of delivering a message is adopted when he who receives it is only a nabí (prophet), and not a rasúl (apostle or messenger.) the second mode is employed towards a rasúl who, on the principle that the greater contains the less, is also a nabí. a hadís records that muhammad said: "revelation came to me sometimes like the ticking of a clock and fatigued me much. when it stopped i learnt the meaning of what had been delivered to me. sometimes an angel in human form spoke to me and, whilst he was speaking, i learnt what was said." that a prophet should feel oppressed on such occasions is hinted at in "with measured tone intone the qurán, for we shall devolve on thee mighty words." (súra lxxiii. .) { } a nabí, (who must be a wise and a free man, that is, one who is not a slave of another, and one also who is free from imperfection either of body or mind), receives wahí but has not necessarily to deliver to men the orders of god. a rasúl who must possess the same qualifications as a nabí, is one who is commanded to deliver god's message to men, though he does not necessarily abrogate what preceding rasúls have delivered. neither is it necessary that he should bring a book or even a new law. some rasúls do so, but the distinguishing mark of the rasúl is that he delivers to men commands direct from god, and is specially commissioned so to do. thus every rasúl is a nabí, whilst every nabí is not a rasúl. the question of the sinlessness of the prophets is one to which considerable attention has been paid by muslim theologians. the orthodox belief is that they are free from sin. some think that their freedom from sin is because the grace of god being ever in them in the richest fulness they are kept in the right path. the ash'aríans believe that the power of sinning is not created in them.[ ] the mutazilites deny this, but admit the existence of some quality which keeps them from evil. these theories do not agree with actual facts. prophets like other men commit faults, but here comes in the muslim distinction of sins into gunáh-i-kabíra "great sins," and gunáh-i-saghíra "little sins." the gunáh-i-kabíra are, murder, adultery, disobedience to god and to parents, robbing of orphans, to accuse of adultery, to avoid fighting against infidels, drunkenness, to give or to take usury, to neglect the friday prayers and the ramazán fast, tyranny, backbiting, untrustworthiness, forgetting the qurán after reading it, to avoid giving true or to give false witness, lying without sufficient reason,[ ] to swear falsely or to swear by any other than god, flattery of tyrants, false judgments, giving short weight or measure, { } magic, gambling, approval of the ceremonies of infidels, boasting of one's piety, calling on the names of deceased persons and beating the breast at such times,[ ] dancing, music, neglect when opportunity offers of warning other persons with regard to the "commands and prohibitions" of god, disrespect to a háfiz, to shave the beard, to omit saying the "darúd" (_i.e._ on whom and on whose family be the peace and mercy of god) whenever the name of muhammad is mentioned.[ ] these are all "great sins" and can only be forgiven after due repentance: the "little sins" are forgiven if some good actions are done. "observe prayer at early morning, at the close of day, and at the approach of night; for the _good deeds drive away the evil deeds_." (súra xi. ). men may commit sin wittingly or unwittingly. it is the universal belief that a prophet never commits the greater sins in either way; but there is a difference of opinion with regard to the lesser sins. some hold that they can do them unwittingly, though even then it is not in any thing connected with their office. others again limit even this frailty to the period before "wahí" (inspiration) comes upon them. the general opinion, however, is that they are free from all sin, whether great or small. the frailties which they show are merely reckoned as faults and slight imperfections not amounting to sin. this, to the muslim mind at once disposes of a difficulty the qurán itself raises on this point. with the exception of jesus christ, the anbiya-ulul-'azm are spoken of as doing what every one except an orthodox muslim would call sin. adam's transgression[ ] is referred to in súra ii. - and { } in súra vii. - . i quote only one verse: "they said, 'o our lord! with ourselves have we dealt unjustly; if thou forgive us not and have not pity on us, we shall surely be of those that perish.'" the sin of noah is not specified in the qurán, yet it is plainly hinted at. "to thee verily, o my lord, do i repair lest i ask that of thee wherein i have no knowledge: unless thou forgive me and be merciful to me i shall be one of the lost." (súra xi. ). there is also a similar request in súra lxxi. . abraham is represented as saying to his people: "they whom ye worship, ye and your fathers of early days, are my foes; but not so the lord of the worlds, who hath created me, and guideth me, who giveth me food and drink; and when i am sick, he healeth me, and who will cause me to die and again quicken me, and who, i hope, will forgive me my sins in the day of reckoning." (súra xxvi. - ). moses is described as having done "a work of satan" in killing a man, and as saying: "'o my lord, i have sinned to my own hurt; forgive me.' so god forgave him; for he is the forgiving, the merciful. he said: 'lord, because thou hast showed me this grace, i will never again be the helper of the wicked.'" (súra xxviii. , ). the following passages refer to muhammad. "be thou steadfast and patient; for true is the promise of god; and seek pardon for thy fault."[ ] (súra xl. ). "ask pardon for thy sin, and for believers, both men and women." (súra xlvii. ). the scandal caused by the prophet's conduct with the wife of zeid, and with the egyptian slave mary, necessitated a pretended revelation of god's will in reference to these events. the circumstances will be found fully detailed in súra xxxiii. - and in súra lxvi. - . one of the most important verses is: "verily, we have won for thee an undoubted victory, in token that god forgiveth thy earlier and later fault." (súra xlviii. - ). { } it is not quite clear what victory is here referred to. according to the tafsír-i-husainí, some commentators say that it is the taking of mecca, the past tense being prophetically used for the future. the following explanations are given of the expression "earlier and later fault." ( ) god has forgiven thy sin committed before and after the descent of wahí, ( ) before and after the taking of mecca, or ( ) before the descent of this súra. ( ) the commentator salmí says: "the earlier sin refers to the sin of adam committed when muhammad was in the loins of his great ancestor and thus connected with him; the later sin refers to the followers of the prophet, and in that way is connected with him, just as the sin of adam was the predecessor and the cause of their sin." ( ) imám abu'l-lais says: "the words refer to the sin of adam, and to those of the followers of the prophet. both are connected with muhammad, because the former is forgiven by the blessing, and the latter by the intercession of muhammad."[ ] from these extracts from the qurán it appears that sin is imputed to prophets, though muslims evade the charge by the casuistry i have already referred to. be that as it may, it is a striking fact that the one sinless member of the anbiya-ulul-'azm, the one sinless prophet of islám, is none other than jesus christ. there is no passage in the qurán which hints at sin, even in the modified form in which muslims attribute it to other prophets, being committed by him: no passage which speaks of his seeking for pardon. it is the universal belief that prophets work miracles, (mu'jizát). a miracle is defined to be "kharq-i-'ádat," that is, something contrary to the usual course of nature. the object for which a miracle is performed must be a moral one, and chiefly to attest the truth of the statements made by the prophet. although muhammad makes, in the { } qurán, no distinct claim to the power of working miracles,[ ] his followers maintain that in this, as in all other respects he was equal to all and superior to some prophets, and produce various passages of the qurán in support of their view. thus, according to shaikh jelál-ud-dín syutí, if to adam was given the power of naming every thing, muhammad also possessed the same power. enoch was exalted on high, but muhammad was taken to the 'baqáb-i-qausain,' the 'two bows' length,' where gabriel, "one mighty in power," appeared to him. (súra liii. - ). ishmael was ready to be sacrificed, but muhammad endured the splitting of his chest;[ ] joseph was to some extent handsome, but muhammad was the very perfection of beauty; moses brought water from the rock, but muhammad produced it from his fingers. the sun was stayed on its course by joshua and so it was by muhammad. solomon had a great kingdom, muhammad a greater, for he possessed the keys of the treasuries of the earth. wisdom was given to john the baptist whilst yet a child, so also were wisdom and understanding granted to muhammad at an early period of his life. jesus could raise the dead, so also could muhammad. in addition to all these, the special miracles of the prophet are the splitting of the moon asunder, the mi'ráj, the coming of a tree into his presence, and above all the wonderful miracle of the qurán.[ ] the splitting of the moon in sunder is referred to in, { } "the hour of judgment approacheth; and the moon hath been split in sunder." (súra liv. ). imám záhid says that abu jahl and a jew visited the prophet, and demanded a sign from him on pain of death. the prophet made a sign with his little finger, and at once the moon separated into two parts: one of which remained in the sky, the other went off to a long distance. the jew believed in islám forthwith. abu jahl ascribed the affair to magic, but on making enquiry from various travellers ascertained that they, on this very night, distinctly saw the moon in two parts.[ ] some, however, refer the passage to the future, as they consider the splitting of the moon to be one of the signs of the last day. the mi'ráj, or night ascent, is mentioned in, "glory be to him who carried his servant by night from the sacred temple (of mecca) to the temple that is more remote, whose precinct we have blessed, that we might show him of our signs." (súra xvii. ). muslim writers, who are fond of the marvellous, narrate at length the wonderful things the prophet saw and did on this eventful night;[ ] but some maintain that it was only a vision, and quote the words: "we ordained the vision which we showed thee," in proof of this assertion.[ ] be that as it may, all orthodox muslims maintain the superiority of muhammad, as a worker of miracles, over all other prophets. . the resurrection and the last day.--these two articles of the faith may be considered together. the { } following is a summary of the remarks of muhammad al berkevi on this point. it is necessary to acknowledge:-- . that the torments of the tomb are real and certain and that munkir and nakír (ante p. ) will come and interrogate the dead person concerning his god, his prophet, his faith and his qibla. the faithful will reply: "our god is god; our prophet is muhammad; our religion, islám; our qibla, the ki-'ádataba. . that all the signs of the last day mentioned by the prophet will come to pass; such as, the appearance of dajjál, or antichrist; the descent of jesus from heaven; the appearance of imám mahdí and of gog and magog; the rising of the sun from the west, &c. . that all living things will die; that the mountains will fly in the air like birds; that the heavens will melt away; that after some time has thus passed god most high will set the earth in order and raise the dead; that prophets, saints, doctors of the law, and the faithful will find near them the robes and the horses of paradise. they will put on the robes, and mount the horses and go into the shade of the throne of god. other men, hungry, thirsty, and naked will go on foot. the faithful will go to the right, the infidels to the left. . that there will be a balance, in which the good and bad actions of men will be weighed. those whose good deeds outweigh the bad will go to paradise; if the bad predominate, they will go into the fire, unless god has mercy on them, or the prophets or saints intercede for them. if, however, they were not muslims there will be no intercession for them, nor will they come out from the fire. the muslims who enter the fire will, after having purged their crimes, enter paradise. . that the bridge sirát, which is sharper than a sword, is raised above the fire; that all men must pass over this. some will pass over with the speed of lightning, some like a horse that runs, some, their backs laden with their sins, will go very slowly over; others will fall and certainly enter into the fire. . that each prophet has a pool where he, with his people, will quench their thirst before entering paradise; that the pool of muhammad is the largest of all, for it is a month's march from one side thereof to the other. its water is sweeter than honey, whiter than milk. . that paradise and hell actually exist; that the chosen remain for ever in the former; they neither die, nor grow aged. they experience no kind of change. the houris and the females are exempted { } from the infirmities of their sex. they will no longer bear children. the elect will find there the meat and the drink they require, without taking upon themselves any trouble. the ground of paradise is of musk; the bricks of its edifices are of gold and of silver. the unbelievers and the demons will remain for ever in hell, tormented by serpents as thick as the neck of a camel, by scorpions as large as mules, by fire and by scalding water. their bodies will burn, till they become reduced to a coal, when god will revive them so that they may endure fresh torments. this will last for ever." the following additional remarks are based on the sharh-i-'aqáíd-i-jámí. they fall under four heads. ( ). the sounding of the trumpets. (nafkhatain-i-súr). this will not take place until wickedness spreads over all the earth. the prophet said: "the resurrection will not come to pass, till some of the sects among my followers mix up with the mushriks (those who associate others with god) and till others commence to worship monuments." again, "the last hour will not be till no one is found who calls on god." then "there shall be a blast on the trumpet, and all who are in the heavens and all who are in the earth shall expire, save those whom god shall vouchsafe to live. there shall be another blast on it, and lo! arising they shall gaze around them." (súra xxxix. ). abu huraira, a companion, relates that the prophet speaking of the trumpet stated as follows: "after the creation of the heavens and the earth god created the trumpet and gave it to isráfíl who, with his mouth placed to it, is ever looking up and waiting for the order to blow it. he will blow three times.[ ] the first time, the blast of consternation, to terrify; the second, the blast of examination, to slay; the third, the blast of resurrection, to quicken the dead." most persons believe that everything, save god and his attributes, will perish. the karamians and some other sects deny this. { } the resurrection of the body is clearly proved by the qurán. thus, "they say, 'who will bring us back?' say: 'he who created you at first.'" (súra xvii. ). "'who shall give life to bones when they are rotten?' say: 'he shall give life to them who gave them being at first, for in all creation is he skilled.'" (súra xxxvi. ). "man saith: 'what! after i am dead, shall i in the end be brought forth alive?' doth not man bear in mind that we made him at first, when he was nought?" (súra xix. ). "the infidels will say, 'shall we indeed be restored as at first? what! when we have become rotten bones?' 'this then,' say they, 'will be a return to loss.' verily, it will be but a single blast, and lo! they are on the surface of the earth." (súra lxxix. - ). "is he not powerful enough to quicken the dead?" (súra lxxv. ). this resurrection will be to judgment. "'never,' say the unbelievers, 'will the hour come upon us.' say: 'yea, by my lord who knoweth the unseen, it will surely come upon you, ... to the intent that god may reward those who have believed, ... but as for those who aim to invalidate our signs, a chastisement of painful torment awaiteth them.'" (súra xxxiv. , ). "a terrible chastisement doth await them _on the day_ when faces shall turn white, and faces shall turn black. 'what! after your belief have ye become infidels? taste, then, the chastisement for that ye have been unbelievers.' and as to those whose faces shall have become white, they shall be within the mercy of god." (súra iii, ). the prophet knew not the time when all this would take place. "they will ask thee of the 'hour,' when will be its fixed time? but what knowledge hast thou of it? its period is known only to thy lord; and thou art charged with the warning of those who fear it." (súra lxxix. - .) these and similar texts show the certainty of the resurrection. according to the ijmá' of the faithful, he who has any doubts on this article of the faith is an infidel. the { } mutazilites show from reason that a resurrection of the body is necessary in order that rewards and punishment may be bestowed. the orthodox agree with the conclusion, but hesitate to base it on reason.[ ] the karamians hold that the different parts of the body will not cease to be, but that at the last god will gather them together. "thinketh man that we shall not re-unite his bones? aye! his very finger tips we are able evenly to replace." (súra lxxv. , .) the orthodox, however, hold that this verse does not disprove the fact of previous annihilation, a belief supported by the prophet's saying, "all the sons of men will be annihilated." it will be a re-creation though the body will return to its former state. the learned are not agreed as to the state of the soul during this period of the death of the body, and therefore disagree with regard to its revival. some assert that it is wrong to speak of a resurrection of the soul, for it exists in the body as "fire in coal," hence its revival is included in the resurrection of the body; others maintain that as it is a distinct entity, it is not annihilated with the body. the scholastics favour the first idea. practically the result seems the same in both cases. the resurrection body has a soul. wise and foolish, devils and beasts, insects and birds--all will rise at the last day. muhammad will come first in order and be the first to enter paradise. ( ). the descent of the books (tatáír-i-sahá,íf). after the resurrection, men will wander about for forty years, during which time the "books of actions" will be given to them. these books contain the record kept by the kirám-ul-kátibín, (ante p. ). traditions recorded by abu huraira state: "men will rise up naked, and confused; some will walk about, some stand for forty years. all will be constantly looking up toward the heavens (_i.e._ expecting the books.) they will perspire profusely through { } excess of sorrow.[ ] then god will say to abraham, 'put on clothes.' he will put on a robe of paradise. then he will call muhammad for whose benefit a fountain will flow forth not far from mecca. the people, too, shall thirst no more." the prophet said: "i will also put on a dress and will stand near the throne, where no one else will be allowed to stand and god will say: 'ask and it shall be granted to thee; intercede, thy intercession shall be accepted.'" each book flies from the treasury under the throne of god and is given to its proper owner. "every man's fate have we fastened about his neck; and on the day of resurrection will we bring forth to him (every man) a book which shall be proffered to him wide open: 'read thy book, there needeth none but thyself to make out an account against thee this day.'" (súra xvii. ). "he into whose _right_ hand his book shall be given, shall be reckoned, with an easy reckoning, and shall turn, rejoicing, to his kindred. but he whose book shall be given behind his back (_i.e._ into his _left_ hand) shall invoke destruction." (súra lxxxiv. - .) "he, who shall have his book given into his _left_ hand will say: 'o that my book had never been given me! and that i had not known my reckoning.'" (súra lxix. ). it is always said that wicked musalmáns will be seized by the _right_ hand before they are cast into the fire, which is a proof that they are not always to remain there. some hold that the expression "read thy book" implies a literal reading; others that it is a metaphorical expression which simply means that all the past actions will be known. those who believe in a literal reading say that each believer will read the account of his faults only, and that other persons will read that of his good deeds. the face of the believer as he reads will shine resplendently, but black will be the face of the infidel. { } ( ). the balances (mízán). this belief is based on the authority of the qurán, sunnat and the ijmá'; no muslim, therefore, can have any doubt about it. thus: "they whose balances shall be heavy, shall be the blest; but they whose balances shall be light,--these are they who shall lose their souls, abiding in hell for ever." (súra xxiii. ). "as to him whose balances are heavy, his shall be a life that shall please him well: and as to him whose balances are light, his dwelling-place shall be the pit. and who shall teach thee what the pit (al-háwía) is? a raging fire!" (súra ci. - ). the traditions on this point are very numerous. the ijmá' is also strong on the reality, the objective existence, of a balance with scales, &c., complete. they also state that the "books of actions" (sahá,íf-i-a'mál) will be weighed. in the sahíh-i-bukhárí it is said that the believers will not be weighed in the balances, for "god will say, 'o muhammad make those of thy people, from whom no account is taken, enter into paradise.'" prophets and angels will also be exempt. such a test also is not required for the unbelievers, for their state is very evident; "by their tokens shall the sinners be known, and they shall be seized by their forelocks and their feet." (súra lv. ). thus it is evident that, with regard to true believers and unbelievers, the works of such only as god may choose need be weighed. some, however, maintain that no unbeliever will have this test applied to his case and quote: "vain therefore, are their works; and no weight will we allow them on the day of resurrection." (súra xviii. ). to this it is answered, that all that is here denied is the fact of "a weighing in _their favour_." the place where the weighing will take place is situated midway between heaven and hell. gabriel standing by watches the movement of the scales and michael guards the balance. the orthodox are not agreed as to whether there will be a separate balance for each tribe of men, and also for each of the 'good works' { } of the believers. those who hold that there will be a balance for prayer, another for fasting and so on, adduce the use of the plural form, balances (muwázín) in proof of their statement. there is also a difference of opinion as to whether the "works" themselves, or the books (sahá,íf) will be weighed. the latter opinion is supported by a tradition recorded by tirmízí. "the prophet said: 'ninety-nine registers will be distributed. each register will extend as far as the eye can reach. god will say: 'what! dost thou deny this, or have the recording angels treated thee unjustly?' each will say: 'no! o lord.' 'hast thou then any excuse?' 'no! o lord.' then god will display a cloth on which the kalima is written. this will be put into one scale, and god will say: 'to thee will be no evil if thou hast a register in this scale, and this cloth in the other, for the first scale will be light.'" this is considered conclusive testimony with regard to the weighing of the sahá,íf. the mutazilites objected to statements such as these, for said they: "actions are accidents, and the qualities of lightness and heaviness cannot be attributed to accidents." they explained the verses of the qurán and the statements of the traditions on this point, as being a figurative way of saying that perfect justice will be done to all in the day of judgment. ( ). the bridge (sirát). the meaning of the word sirát is a road, a way. it is so used in the qurán. in connection with the day of judgment it is said: "if we pleased we would surely put out their eyes: yet even then would they speed on with rivalry in their path (sirát)." (súra xxxvi. ). "gather together those who have acted unjustly, and their consorts (demons), and the gods whom they have adored beside god; and guide them to the road (sirát) for hell." (súra xxxvii. ). it is nowhere in the qurán called a bridge, but tradition is very clear on this point. the prophet said: "there will be a bridge sharper than the edge of a sword, finer than a hair, suspended over { } hell. iron spikes on it will pierce those whom god wills. some will pass over it in the twinkling of an eye, some like a flash of lightning, others with the speed of a swift horse. the angels will call out, 'o lord! save and protect.' some muslims will be saved, some will fall headlong into hell." bukhárí relates a similar tradition. the infidels will all fall into hell and there remain for ever. muslims will be released after a while. the mutazilites deny the existence of such a bridge. "if we admit it," say they, "it would be a trouble for the believers, and such there is not for them in the day of judgment." to this the orthodox reply that the believers pass over it to show how they are saved from fire, and that thus they may be delighted with paradise, and also that the infidels may feel chagrin at those who were with them on the bridge being now safe for ever. al a'ráf is situated between heaven and hell. it is described thus: "on (the wall) al a'ráf shall be men who know all, by their tokens,[ ] and they shall cry to the inhabitants of paradise, 'peace be on you!' but they shall not yet enter it, although they long to do so. and when their eyes are turned towards the inmates of the fire, they shall say, 'o our lord! place us not with offending people &c.'" (súra vii. , ). sale's summary of the opinions regarding al a'ráf in his preliminary discourse is exceedingly good. it is as follows:-- "they call it al orf, and more frequently in the plural, al aráf, a word derived from the verb _arafa_, which signifies to distinguish between things, or to part them; though some commentators give another reason for the imposition of this name, because, say they, those who stand on this partition will _know_ and _distinguish_ the blessed from the damned, by their respective marks or characteristics: and others way the word properly intends anything that is _high raised_ or _elevated_, as such a wall of separation must be supposed to { } be. some imagine it to be a sort of _limbo_ for the patriarchs and prophets, or for the martyrs and those who have been most eminent for sanctity. others place here such whose good and evil works are so equal that they exactly counterpoise each other, and therefore deserve neither reward nor punishment; and these, say they, will on the last day be admitted into paradise, after they shall have performed an act of adoration, which will be imputed to them as a merit, and will make the scale of their good works to overbalance. others suppose this intermediate space will be a receptacle for those who have gone to war, without their parents' leave, and therein suffered martyrdom; being excluded from paradise for their disobedience, and escaping hell because they are martyrs." there is also an interval, between the death of the body in this world and the last day, called al-barzakh. "behind them shall be a barrier (barzakh), until the day when they shall be raised again." (súra xxiii. ). when death takes place, the soul is separated from the body by the angel of death; in the case of the good with ease, in that of the wicked with violence. it then enters into al-barzakh.[ ] it is a doctrine founded on ijmá', that god will not pardon shirk, that is, the ascribing plurality to the divine being. the mushrik, one who does so, will remain in hell for ever, for as kufr, infidelity, is an eternal crime, its punishment must also be eternal. "the unbelievers among the people of the book, and among the polytheists shall go into the fire of gehenna to abide therein for aye. of all creatures are they the worst?" (súra xcviii. ). "cast into hell every infidel, every hardened one, the hinderer of the good, the transgressor, the doubter who set up other gods with god. cast ye him into the fierce torment." (súra . - .) muslims who commit great (kabíra) sins, though they die unrepentant, will not remain in hell for ever, for, "whosoever shall have wrought an atom's weight of good shall { } behold it." (súra xcix. ). it is asserted that the fact of believing in islám is a good work and merits a reward: this cannot be given before the man enters hell to be punished for his sins, and therefore he must be, after a while, released from punishment. "perfect faith (imán-i-kámil) consists in believing with sincerity of heart and acting in accordance thereto, but the actions are not the faith itself. great sins, therefore, prevent a man from having "perfect faith," but do not destroy faith (imán), nor make the muslim an infidel, but only a sinner."[ ] the mutazilites teach that the muslim who enters hell will remain there for ever. they maintain that the person who, having committed great sins, dies unrepentant, though not an infidel, ceases to be a believer and hence suffers as the infidels do. the orthodox belief is that muhammad is now an intercessor and will be so at the last day. the intercession then is of several kinds. there is the 'great intercession' to which the words, "it may be that thy lord will raise thee to a _glorious station_," (súra xvii. ) are supposed to refer. the maqám-i-mahmúd, (glorious station), is said to be the place of intercession in which all persons will praise the prophet.[ ] in the zád-ul-masír it is said that the maqám-i-mahmúd refers to the fact that god will place the prophet on his throne. others say that it is a place in which a standard will be given to the prophet, around whom all the other prophets will then gather to do him honour. the first interpretation is, however, the ordinary one. the people will be in great fear. muhammad will say: "o my people! i am appointed for intercession." their fear will then pass away. the second intercession is made so that they may enter into paradise without rendering an account. the authorities differ with regard to this. the third intercession is on behalf of those muslims who { } ought to go to hell. the fourth for those who are already there. no one but the prophet can make these intercessions. the fifth intercession is for an increase of rank to those who are in paradise. the mutazilites maintained that there would be no intercession for muslims guilty of great sins, and adduced in favour of their opinion the verse: "fear ye the day when soul shall not satisfy for soul at all, nor shall any intercession be accepted from them, nor shall any ransom be taken, neither shall they be helped." (súra ii. ). the orthodox bring in reply this hadís-i-sahíh: "the prophet said: 'my intercession is for the men of my following who have committed great sins.'" if this tradition is disputed, they then say that the verse in the qurán just quoted does not refer to muslims at all, but to the infidels.[ ] according to a tradition related by anas the prophet said: "in the day of resurrection musalmáns will not be able to move, and they will be greatly distressed and say: 'would to god that we had asked him to create some one to intercede for us, that we might be taken from this place, and be delivered from tribulation and sorrow.'" the tradition goes on to state how they sought help from adam and the prophets of the old dispensation, who, one and all, excused themselves on account of their own sinfulness. at length moses told them to go to jesus, the apostle of god, the spirit of god and the word of god. they did so and jesus said: "go to muhammad who is a servant, whose sins god has forgiven both first and last." the prophet continued, according to the tradition, "then the musalmáns will come to me, and i will ask permission to go into god's presence and intercede for them."[ ] the second advent of christ is a sign of the last day. "jesus is no more than a servant whom we favoured ... { } and he shall be a sign of the last hour." (súra xliii. ). he will not, according to the qurán, come as a judge, but like other prophets to be judged. "we formed with them (_i.e._ prophets) a strict covenant, that god may question the men of truth as to their truth, (_i.e._ how they have discharged their prophetic functions)." (súra xxxiii. , ). he will come to bear witness against the jews who reject him: "in the day of resurrection, he will be a witness against them." (súra iv. ). it is necessary to believe in the pond of the prophet called kausar. this faith is founded on the verse "truly we have given thee an _abundance_." (súra cviii. ). bukhárí says: "the meaning of kausar is the 'abundance of good' which god gives to the prophet. abu básh said to one sa'íd, 'the people think that kausar is a river of paradise.' sa'íd replied, 'kausar is a river in which there is abundance of good.'" according to the same authority muhammad said: "my pond is square, its water is whiter than milk, its perfume better than that of musk, whosoever drinks thereof will thirst no more." there are many degrees of felicity in heaven to which the believers are admitted. the prophet, according to tirmízí, said there were one hundred. some of these may possibly be meant by the eight names they give to paradise. ( .) jannat-ul-khuld. "say: is this, or the _garden of eternity_ which was promised to the god-fearing, best?" (súra xxv. .) ( .) jannat-us-salám. "for them is a _dwelling of peace_ with their lord." (súra vi. .) ( .) dár-ul-qarár. "the life to come is the _mansion which abideth_." (súra xl. .) ( .) jannat-ul-'adan. "to the faithful, both men and women, god promiseth gardens and goodly mansions in the _garden of eden_." (súra ix. .) ( .) jannat-ul-mawá. "near which is the _garden of repose_." (súra liii. .) ( ) jannat-un-na'ím. "amid _delights_ shall the righteous dwell." (súra lxxxii. .) ( ) jannat-ul-illiyún. "the register of the righteous is { } in _illiyún_." (súra lxxxiii. ,) ( .) jannat-ul-firdaus. "those who believe and do the things that are right, they shall have the _gardens of paradise_ for their abode." (súra xviii. .) hell is said to have seven divisions. the qurán, though it mentions the names of these divisions, does not state what classes of persons will be sent to each; but muslim commentators have supplied the needed information. they classify them thus:--( .) jahannam, for sinners who die without repentance. ( .) lazwá, for the infidels (_i.e._, christians.) ( .) hutama, a fire for jews, and according to some for christians. ( .) sa'ir, for devils, the descendants of iblís. ( .) saqar, for the magians: also for those who neglect prayer. ( .) jahím, a boiling caldron for idolaters: also for gog and magog. ( .) háwía, a bottomless pit for hypocrites. it is said that heaven has one division more than hell to show that god's mercy exceeds his justice. the muhammadan writers give very full and minute accounts of the events connected with the resurrection, judgment and future state of those who are lost, and of those who are saved. sale gives such an excellent summary of these opinions, that it is not necessary to enter into details here. the orthodox belief is that the statements in the qurán and the traditions regarding the pleasures of paradise are to be taken literally.[ ] . the predestination of good and evil.--i have already in the section in which the attribute "will" is described (p. ) given some account of the dogmatic statements concerning the doctrine of predestination; but as it always forms a distinct chapter in musalmán books, i treat it separately here. having, however, in the passage referred { } to, given al berkevi's words on the attribute "will," it is only necessary to make a short extract from his dogmatic statement concerning predestination. he says:-- "it is necessary to confess that good and evil take place by the predestination and predetermination of god, that all that has been and all that will be was decreed in eternity, and written on the _preserved table_;[ ] that the faith of the believer, the piety of the pious and good actions are foreseen, willed, predestinated, decreed by the writing on the _preserved table_, produced and approved by god; that the unbelief of the unbeliever, the impiety of the impious and bad actions come to pass with the fore-knowledge, will, predestination and decree of god, but not with his satisfaction and approval. should any ask why god willeth and produceth evil, we can only reply that he may have wise ends in view which we cannot comprehend." another confession of faith has:-- "whoever shall say, that god is not delighted with virtue and faith, and is not wroth with vice and infidelity, or that god has decreed good and evil with equal complacency is an infidel." there are three well-defined schools of thought on the subject:-- first.--the jabríans, so called from the word "_jabr_" compulsion, deny all free agency in man and say that man is necessarily constrained by the force of god's eternal and immutable decree to act as he does.[ ] they hold that as { } god is the absolute lord, he can, if he so wills, admit all men into paradise, or cast all into hell. this sect is one of the branches of the ash'aríans with whom on most points they agree. secondly.--the qadríans, who deny _al-qadr_, or god's absolute decree, say that evil and injustice ought not to be attributed to god but to man, who is altogether a free agent. god has given him the power to do or not to do an act. this sect is generally considered to be a branch of the mutazilite body, though in reality it existed before wásil quitted the school of his master hasan (ante. p. ). as wásil, however, followed the opinions of mábad-al-johní, the leading kadrían divine, the mutazilites and qadríans are practically one and the same. thirdly.--the ash'aríans, of whom i have already given some account, maintain that god has one eternal will which is applied to whatsoever he willeth, both of his own actions and those of men; that he willeth that which he knoweth and what is written on the _preserved table_; that he willeth both good and evil. so far they agree with the jabríans; but then they seem to allow some power to man, a tenet i have already explained when describing their idea of "kasb" (ante. p. ). the orthodox, or sunní belief is theoretically ash'arían, but practically the sunnís are confirmed jabríans. the mutazilite doctrines are looked upon as quite heretical. no subject has been more warmly discussed in islám than that of predestination. the following abstract of some lengthy discussions will present the points of difference. the ash'aríans, who in this matter represent in the main orthodox views, formulate their objections to the mutazilite system thus:-- (i). if man is the causer of an action by the force of his own will, then he should also have the power of controlling the result of that action. (ii). if it be granted that man has the power to _originate_ { } an act it is necessary that he should know all acts, because a creator should be independent in act and choice. intention must be conditioned by knowledge. to this the mutazilites well reply that a man need not know the length of a road before he walks, or the structure of the throat before he talks. (iii). suppose a man wills to move his body and god at the same time wills it to be steady, then if both intentions come to pass there will be a collection of opposites; if neither, a removal of opposites; if the exaltation of the first, an unreasonable preference. (iv). if man can create an act, some of his works will be better than some of the works of god, _e.g._ a man determines to have faith: now faith is a better thing than reptiles, which are created by god. (v). if man is free to act, why can he not make at once a human body; why does he need to thank god for grace and faith? (vi). but better far than all argument, the orthodox say, is the testimony of the book. "all things have we created under a fixed decree." (súra liv. ). "when god created you and _that ye make_." (súra xxxvii. ). "some of them there were whom god guided and there were others decreed to err." (súra xvi. ). as god decrees faith and obedience he must be the causer of it, for "on the hearts of these hath god graven the faith." (súra lviii. ). "it is he who causeth you to laugh and weep, to die and make alive." (súra liii. ). "if god pleased he would surely bring them, one and all, to the guidance." (súra vi. ). "had god pleased, he had guided you all aright." (súra vi. ). "had the lord pleased, he would have made mankind of one religion." (súra xi. ). "god will mislead whom he pleaseth, and whom he pleaseth he will place upon the straight path." (súra vi. .) tradition records that the prophet said: "god is the maker of all makers and of their actions."[ ] { } the mutazilites took up the opposite side of this great question and said:-- (i). if man has no power to will or to do, then what is the difference between praising god and sinning against him; between faith and infidelity; good and evil; what is the use of commands and prohibitions; rewards and punishments; promises and threats; what is the use of prophets, books, &c. (ii). some acts of men are bad, such as tyranny and polytheism. if these are created by god, it follows that to tyrannise and to ascribe plurality to the deity is to render obedience. to this the ash'aríans reply that orders are of two kinds, immediate and mediate. the former which they call "amr-i-takwíti," is the order, "be and it was." this comprehends all existences, and according to it whatever is ordered must come to pass. the latter they call "amr-i-tashri'í," an order given in the law. this comes to men through prophets and thus is to be obeyed. true obedience is to act according to that which is revealed, not according to the secret intentions of god, for that we know not. (iii). if god decrees the acts of men, he should bear the name of that which he decrees. thus the causer of infidelity is an infidel; of tyranny a tyrant, and so on; but to speak thus of god is blasphemy. (iv). if infidelity is decreed by god he must wish it; but a prophet desires faith and obedience and so is opposed to god. to this the orthodox reply, that god knows by his eternal knowledge that such a man will die an infidel. { } if a prophet intends by bringing the message of salvation to such an one to make god's knowledge become ignorance, he would be doing wrong; but as he does not know the secret decrees of god, his duty is to deliver his message according to the hadís: "a prophet has only to deliver the clear message." (v). the mutazilites claimed as on their side all verses of the qurán, in which the words to do, to construct, to renew, to create, &c., are applied to men. such are the verses: "whatever is in the heavens and in the earth is god's that he may reward those who _do_ evil according to their deeds: and those who _do_ good will he reward with good things." (súra liii. ). "whoso shall have _wrought_ evil shall not be recompensed but with its like: but whoso shall have _done_ the things that are right, whether male or female and is a believer, these shall enter paradise." (súra xl. ). say: "the truth is from the lord; let him then who will believe; and let him who will, be an infidel." (súra xviii. ).[ ] "those who add gods to god will say: 'if god had pleased neither we nor our fathers had given him companions.' say: 'verily ye follow only a conceit, ye utter lies.'" (súra vi. ). the hadís is also very plain. "all good is in thy hands and evil is not to thee." (al-khair kuluhu fí yadaika wash-sharru laisa 'alaika.) the ash'aríans have one famous text which they bring to bear against all this reasoning and evidence. it is: "this truly is a warning; and whoso willeth, taketh the way of his lord; but _will it ye shall not_, unless god will it, for god is knowing, wise." (súra lxxvi. , ). to the hadís they reply ( ) that there is a difference between acquiescence in evil and decreeing it. thus the expression "god willeth not tyranny for his servants," does not mean { } that god hath not decreed it, but that tyranny is not one of his attributes: so "evil is not to thee" means it is not an attribute of god; and ( ) the hadís must be explained in accordance with the teaching of the qurán. the muslim philosophers tried to find a way out of the difficulty. averhoes says: "we are free to act in this way or that, but our will is always determined by some exterior cause. for example, we see something which pleases us, we are drawn to it in spite of ourselves. our will is thus bound by exterior causes. these causes exist according to a certain order of things which is founded on the general laws of nature. god alone knows before hand the necessary connection which to us is a mystery. the connection of our will with exterior causes is determined by the laws of nature. it is this which in theology we call, 'decrees and predestination.'"[ ] i have already shown how, as islám grew into a system, the muslims fell into a cabbalism, and a superstitious reverence for the mere letters and words of the qurán. with this declension came a still more distorted view of the character of god. the quotations made from the qurán in the last few pages will have shown that whilst some passages seem to attribute freedom to man and speak of his consequent responsibility, others teach a clear and distinct fatalism. the great strength of islám lay in the energy with which muhammad preached the doctrine that god was a divine ruler, one who would deal righteous judgment, who "taught man that which he knew not." as the system became more complex and dogmatic--a very necessary result of its first principles--men lost the sense of the nearness of god. he became an unapproachable being. a harsh unfeeling fate took the place of the omnipotent ruler. it is this dark fatalism which, whatever the qurán may teach on the subject, is the ruling principle in all muslim { } communities. it is this which makes all muhammadan nations decay. careless of self-improvement,[ ] heedless of the need of progress, the muslim nations, still independent, are in all that relates to the higher aspects of intellectual and civilized life far behind the nations of the west. the subject of _'ilm-i-aqáíd_, or the science of dogma properly ends here, but most muslim treatises include in this branch of the subject a few practical remarks. i therefore add a summary of them here. the believer who commits murder, fornication, &c., does not cease to be a muslim provided that he does not say that these are allowed: should he die unrepentant, god can punish him for a while in hell, or forgive him without punishment. the hadd, a punishment based on a záhir, or obvious sentence of the qurán requires that a muslim who apostatizes shall be put to death.[ ] in the case of an apostate woman, imám abu hanífa ruled that she should be imprisoned and beaten every day. the other three imáms, málik, sháfa'í and hanbal said that she should be put to death in accordance with the tradition which says: "he who changes his religion, kill." the arabic word "man," usually translated "he who" is of common gender, and so these imáms include women in the list of those who, after apostasy, are to be killed.[ ] god does not pardon polytheism and infidelity; but he can, if he willeth, pardon all other crimes. if any one is asked, "dost thou believe?" he should reply, "i am truly a believer," and not say: "if god { } willeth."[ ] if any one says to him: "wilt thou die in the faith?" he should reply: "i do not know, god knows." except when speaking of prophets, or of those of whom the prophets have spoken, such as abu bakr, omar, osmán and 'alí, it must not be said of any one, "he is gone to paradise," for god only knows his state. prayer should be made for a deceased muslim whether he was a good or bad man. to give alms, to read the qurán, to perform other good works, and to apply the merit thus gained to the souls of the dead is a pious and beneficial act. { } note to chapter iv. muslim philosophy. i have shown in the preceding chapter how the earlier scholastics, or the mutazilites, as they are called, were finally crushed by the orthodox party. the later scholastics, or the philosophers, form the subject of this note. the khalíf mámún ( - a.d.), a notorious free-thinker, was the first to give an impulse to philosophic researches. it was then that greek philosophical works were translated into arabic. the greek author most patronized was aristotle, partly, because his empirical method accorded with the positive tendencies of the arab mind better than the pure idealism of plato; and, partly, because his system of logic was considered an useful auxiliary in the daily quarrels between the rival theological schools. it was quite natural that aristotle should be thus followed. "the musalmán mind was trained in habits of absolute obedience to the authority of fixed dogmas. the muslims did not so much wish to discover truth as to cultivate their own intellect. for that purpose, a sharp and subtle systematist like aristotle was the very man they required."[ ] some idea of the range of subjects then discussed may be gained from an account given by the arab historian, masoudi, of a meeting held under the presidentship of yahya, one of the famous barmecide family.[ ] yahya thus addressed the meeting: "you have discussed at length the theory of concealment (al-kumún) and manifestation (al-zahúr), of pre-existence and creation, of duration and stability, of movement and quiescence, of the union and separation (of the divine substance), of existence and non-existence, of bodies and accidents, of the approval and the refutation (of the isnáds of the traditions), of the absence or the existence of attributes in god, of potential and active force, of substance, quantity, modality and relation, of life and annihilation. you have examined the question as to whether the imám rules by divine right, or by popular election; you have had an exhaustive discussion on metaphysical subjects, in their principles and corollaries. occupy yourselves to-day with the subject of love," &c. the translation of the works of aristotle, as indeed of all the greek authors, was made by syrian and chaldean christians, and { } especially by the nestorians who, as physicians, were in high favour with the liberal khalífs of the 'abbásside dynasty. in some cases the translation into arabic was made from syriac versions, for in the time of the emperor justinian many greek works had been translated into the latter language. the most celebrated translator was the historian physician honein-ibn-ishak (died a.d.), a man profoundly acquainted with the syriac, greek and arabic languages. he was at the head of a school of interpreters in baghdád, to which his son ishak-ben-honein and his nephew hobeisch-al-asam also belonged. in the tenth century (a.d.) yahya-ben-adi and isa-ben-zara'a translated some works and corrected earlier translations of others. it is to these men that the arabs owe their chief acquaintance with plato. the study of aristotle spread rapidly amongst the muslim people, especially amongst the heretical sects. the orthodox looked with grave suspicion on the movement, but could not for a while stay the impulse. the historian makrizi says: "the doctrine of the philosophers has worked amongst the muslims evils most fatal. it serves only to augment the errors of the heretics and to increase their impiety."[ ] it came into contact with muslim dogmas in such subjects as the creation of the world, the special providence of god and the nature of the divine attributes. to a certain extent the mutazilites were supported by the philosophical theories they embraced, but this did not diminish the disfavour with which the orthodox looked upon the study of philosophy. still it grew, and men in self defence had to adopt philosophic methods. thus arose a later system of scholasticism. the earlier system was confined mainly to matters of religion; the later school occupied itself with the whole range of philosophic investigation, and thus went farther and farther away from orthodox islám. the muslims themselves did not write books on philosophy in the earlier period. men of liberal tendencies imbibed its teaching, but orthodoxy finally gained the day over the earlier scholastics, and in the form known as that of the ash'arían school became again supreme.[ ] the great intellectual movement of the philosophers proper, the later scholastics (mutakallimán), lasted longer, but by the end of the twelfth century (a.d.) the whole muhammadan world had again become orthodox. saláh-ud-dín (saladin) and his successors in egypt were strong supporters of the ash'aríans. { } the period now under review was one prolific of authors on grammar, rhetoric, logic, exegesis, traditions and the various branches of philosophy; but the men who stand out most prominently as philosophers were then, and are now, considered heretics.[ ] al-kendi, was born at basra, on the persian gulf. he died about a.d. he was a very scientific man, but a thorough rationalist in theology. he composed commentaries on the logic of aristotle. in his great work on the unity of god he has strayed far away from muslim dogmas. al farabi, another philosopher patronized by the 'abbássides, seems to have denied not only the rigid and formal islámic view of inspiration, but any objective revelation at all. he held that intuition was a true inspiration, and that all who had acquired intuitive knowledge were real prophets. this is the only revelation he admits. he received his philosophical training at baghdád, where for a while he taught; but finally he went to damascus, where he died a.d. ibn sina, better known as avicenna, a man of persian origin, was a philosopher of great note, but of him it is said that in spite of the concessions he made to the religious ideas of his age, he could not find favour for his opinions, which ill accord with the principles of islám. he was born near bukhárá, in the year a.d. for a while he taught medicine and philosophy in ispahán. ibn badja, (avempace) was one of the most celebrated muslim philosophers of spain. he was born at saragossa towards the end of the eleventh century. he is distinguished for having opposed the mystical tendencies of the teaching of al-ghazzálí, and for maintaining that speculative science alone was capable of leading man to a true conception of his own proper nature. he was violently attacked by the orthodox divines who declared that all philosophical teaching was "a calamity for religion and an affliction to those who were in the good way." al-ghazzálí was born a.d. in khorásán. he was a famous muslim divine. he adopted scholastic methods. for a while he was president of the nizámiah college at baghdád. he travelled much, and wrote many books to prove the superiority of islám over all other religions and over philosophy. the first result of his wide and extensive study of the writings of the philosophers, and of the heretics was that he fell into a state of scepticism with regard to religion and philosophy. from this he emerged into súfíism, in { } which his restless spirit found satisfaction. on súfíism, however, he exercised no very notable influence; but the scepticism which he still retained as regards philosophy rendered him a very formidable opponent to those who were trying to bring islám into accord with philosophic theories. his works, "tendency of philosophers," and "destruction of the philosophers" had an immense influence. in the preface to the latter book, he speaks of "those who arrogate to themselves a superior intelligence, and who, in their pride, mistaking the precepts of religion, take as a guide the authority of certain great men, instead of revealed religion." it is, however, and with some show of reason supposed that al-ghazzálí did not really object to all that he condemned, but that to gain the orthodox he wrote what he did. indeed, moses of narbonne states that ghazzálí later on in life wrote a book, circulated only amongst a few select friends, in which he withdrew many of the objections he had raised in the "destruction of philosophers." be that as it may, it is acknowledged that he dealt a blow to philosophy from which in the east it has never recovered; that is, as far as the muslim world is concerned. his course marks a reaction of the exclusively religious principle of islám against philosophical speculation, which in spite of all accommodation never made itself orthodox. in spain philosophy still found an ardent defender in ibn rashíd, better known as averhoes. this celebrated man was born at cordova in the year a.d., or about of the muhammadan era. he came of a noble and learned family, whilst he himself must ever occupy a distinguished place amongst the muslim philosophers. "without dispute he was one of the most learned men of the muslim world, and one of the profoundest commentators of aristotle. he knew all the sciences then accessible to the muslims and was a most prolific writer."[ ] one of his most famous works was the "refutation of the destruction of philosophers." notwithstanding his philosophical opinions averhoes claimed to pass for a good muslim. he held that the philosophic truths are the highest object of research; but that only a few men could by speculation arrive at them, and that, therefore, a divine revelation through the medium of prophets was necessary for spreading amongst men the eternal verities which are proclaimed alike by philosophy and religion. he held, it is true, that the orthodox had paid too much attention to the letter, and too little to the spirit, and that false interpretations had educed principles not really to be found in religion. this { } profession and a rigid adherence to outward forms of worship, however, did not save him from suspicion. he was accused of preaching philosophy and the ancient sciences to the detriment of religion. he was deprived of his honours and banished by the khalíf al-mansúr to lucena, near cordova. in his disgrace he had to suffer many insults from the orthodox. one day on entering the mosque with his son he was forcibly expelled by the people. he died at morocco in a.d. thus passed away in disgrace the last of the muslim philosophers worthy of the name.[ ] in spain a strict prohibition was issued against the study of greek philosophy, and many valuable works were committed to the flames. soon after the rule of the moors in spain began to decline. the study of philosophy came to an end, and liberal culture sank under the pressure of the hard and fast dogmatic system of islám. in spain,[ ] as in baghdád, orthodoxy gained the day. there was much of doubtful value in the speculations of the muslim philosophers, but they were muslims, and if they went too far in their efforts to rationalize islám, they also tried to cast off what to them seemed accretions, added on by the traditionalists and the canonical legists. they failed because like the earlier scholastics they had no gospel to proclaim to men, no tidings to give of a new life which could enable wearied humanity to bear the ills to which it was subject. another strong reason was that the orthodoxy against which they strove was a logical development of the foundations of islám, and these foundations are too strongly laid for any power other than a spiritual one to uproot. they were men of good position in life, voluminous writers, profound admirers of aristotle, and "more or less devoted to science, especially to medicine." yet they did not advance philosophy, and science they left much as they found it. they preserved something of what grecian thought had achieved, and so far their labour is not lost. thus islám has, as a religion, no right to claim any of the glory which muslim philosophers are supposed to have shed around it. { } the founders of islám, the arabs, produced but one philosopher of note.[ ] the first impetus to the study was given by heretical khalífs employing christians at baghdád to translate greek books; whilst in spain, where philosophy most flourished, it was due largely to the contact of intelligent muslims with learned jews. even there, the philosophers were, as a rule, the objects of bitter persecution. now and again, a liberal minded khalíf arose, but a system such as islám survives the liberal tendencies of a generation. from the close of the twelfth century (a.d.) downwards it would be difficult to point to any muslim philosopher, much more to an arab one, whose work is of any real value to the human race. for four hundred years the contest raged, a contest such as islám has never since seen. this great effort to bring it into accordance with the main stream of human thought, to introduce into it some element of progress utterly failed. the lesson is plain. any project of reform in islám which admits in any degree its fundamental principles must fail. revolution, not reform, is the only hope for the permanence of an independent muslim state when it enters into the circle of civilized nations. { } * * * * * chapter v. the practical duties of islÁm. the portion of the creed considered in the last chapter was connected with imán (faith); the remaining portion is connected with dín (practical religion). the five principal acts are called irkán-i-dín, pillars of religion. they are: ( ) the recital of the kalima, or short confession of faith; ( ) sulát, the five stated periods of prayer; ( ) roza, the thirty days' fast of ramazán; ( ) zakát, legal alms; ( ) hajj, the pilgrimage to mecca. these are all _farz_ duties, being based on a nass-i-záhir, or "obvious," sentence of the qurán, a proof derived from which is called dalíl-i-qata'í. this is the strongest of all kinds of proofs. the authorities, however, specify other religious duties which good muslims should perform. such are the seven duties which are _wájib_, or duties based on the more obscure texts of the qurán, called khafi, or "hidden" sentences, a proof derived from which is called dalíl-i-zaní. these duties are: ( ) to make the 'umra, or pilgrimage to mecca in addition to the hajj; ( ) obedience to parents; ( ) the obedience of a wife to her husband; ( ) the giving of alms after a fast; ( ) the offering of sacrifice; ( ) the saying of namáz-i-witr, a term which will be explained later on; ( ) the support of relatives. the duties numbered as ( ) and ( ) are _wájib_ orders to the rich; but only _mustahab_ to the poor: that is, it is meritorious if they perform them, but not sinful if they leave them undone. the duties next in order as regards authority are the _sunnat_ ones. they are three in number and are based either on the practice of the prophet, or are _fitrat_, that is practices of previous prophets, the continuance of which { } muhammad did not forbid. they are ( ) circumcision; ( ) shaving off the hair from the head and the body; ( ) the paring of the nails. in addition to these there are actions which are _mustahab_. they are those which muhammad sometimes did and sometimes omitted. there is a still lower class of action which are _mubáh_. these are works of supererogation. if omitted there is no fear of punishment. it may be mentioned in passing that unlawful actions and things are ( ) _harám_, actions and food forbidden either in the qurán or the traditions; ( ) _mahrúh_, actions the unlawfulness of which is not absolutely certain, but which are generally considered wrong; ( ) _mufsid_, actions corrupting or pernicious. it is necessary to bear these terms in mind as they will now frequently occur. . tashahhud.--this is the recital of a confession of faith. there are several forms of this. a common one is: "i testify that there is no deity but god, i testify to his unity and that he has no partner; i testify that muhammad is his servant and his messenger." the shorter form is: "there is no deity but god and muhammad is the apostle of god." the power contained in this latter confession is extraordinary. it embodies the very spirit of islám. "it has led everywhere the march of its armies, it has rung for twelve centuries in the morning air from its minarets, it has been passed from lip to lip, as no other word has ever been passed, by thousands of millions of the human race." the power of islám, its proclamation of the unity, is here seen in the closest contact with what is to muslim theologians the equally fundamental truth--the apostleship of muhammad, a dogma which retards the healthy development, explains the narrowness, and causes the prostration of islám, as the world around grows luminant with the light of science and truth, of faith and reason. . sulÁt.[ ]--all the books on fiqh (law) which treat of { } these irkán-i-dín, give in connection with sulát the rules regarding the necessary purifications. it will be convenient to follow the same order. tahárat or legal purification is of three kinds: ( ) wazú, the lesser lustration; ( ) ghusl, the greater lustration; ( ) tayammum, or purification by sand. ( ). wazú is an ablution made before saying the appointed prayers. those which are 'farz' are four in number, viz:--to wash ( ) the face from the top of the forehead to the chin, and as far as each ear; and ( ) the hands and arms up to the elbow; ( ) to rub (masah) with the wet hand a fourth part of the head; also ( ) the feet to the ankles. the authority for these actions is the text: "o believers! when ye address yourselves to prayer, wash your hands up to the elbow, and wipe your heads, and your feet to the ankles" (súra v. ). the sunnís wash the feet: the shía'hs are apparently more correct, for they only wipe, or rather rub, (masah) them. in these ablutions, if the least portion of the specified part is left untouched, the whole act becomes useless and the prayer which follows is vain. the act of making wazú, however, has not been allowed to remain in this simple form. the sunnat regulations regarding it are fourteen in number. they are, ( ) to make the intention of wazú, thus: i make this wazú for the purpose of putting away impurity; ( ) to wash the hand up to the wrist, but care must be taken not to put the hands entirely into the water, until each has been rubbed three times with water poured on it; ( ) to say one of the names of god at the commencement of the wazú[ ] thus: "in the name of the great god," or "thanks be to god for the religion of islám;" ( ) to clean the teeth; ( ) to rinse the mouth three times; ( ) to put water into the { } nostrils three times; ( ) to do all the above in proper order; ( ) to do all without any delay between the various acts; ( ) each part is to be purified three times; ( ) the space between the fingers of one hand must be rubbed with the wet fingers of the other; ( ) the beard must be combed with the fingers; ( ) the whole head must be rubbed once; ( ) the ears must be washed with the water remaining on the fingers after the last operation; ( ) to rub under and between the toes with the little finger of the left hand, drawing it from the little toe of the right foot and between each toe in succession. imám sháfa'í holds that ( ) and ( ) are farz duties and that ( ) should be done three times. imám málik considers ( ) to be farz. the actions may be done in silence, or prayer may be repeated. such a recital is a mustahab, not a sunnat or farz order. it is not obligatory. a specimen of these prayers is given in a note.[ ] ( ). ghusl is an ablution of the whole body after certain legal defilements, and should be made as follows. the person should put on clean clothes and perform the wazú, then he should say: "i make ghusl to put away impurity." all being ready he should wash himself in the following order. he must pour water over the right shoulder three times, then over the left three times and, lastly, on his head { } also the same number of times. the three farz conditions are that ( ) the mouth must be rinsed, ( ) water be put into the nostrils, and ( ) the whole body be washed. if one hair even is left dry the whole act is rendered vain and useless. all other particulars are sunnat or mustahab. there are obvious reasons why an explanation of the causes which vitiate a purification, or of the cases in which ghusl is required, cannot be given here. every standard muslim work on fikh, or law, deals fully with the subject. nothing is more calculated to show the student of islám how much the sunnat rules in the practical life of muslims. the traditions have raised the most trivial ceremonial observances into duties of the greatest importance. that there may be spiritually minded men in islám is not to be denied; but a system of religion which declares that the virtue of prayer depends practically on an ablution, and that that ablution is useless unless done in the order prescribed, is one well calculated to make men formalists and nothing more. it comes to this, that, if a man when making wazú washes his left hand before his right, or his nose before his teeth, he cannot lawfully say the daily namáz enjoined on all muslims. none but those who have studied muslim treatises on the subject can conceive of the puerile discussions which have taken place on points apparently trivial, but which from their connection with the sunnat are deemed by learned muslims of great importance. ( ). tayammum, or purification by sand, is allowable under the following circumstances. ( ) when water cannot be procured except at a distance of one kos (about miles); ( ) in case of sickness when the use of water might be injurious; ( ) when water cannot be obtained without incurring danger from an enemy, a beast or a reptile; and ( ) when on the occasion of the namáz of a feast day or the namáz at a funeral, the worshipper is late and has no time to perform the wazú. on ordinary days this substitution of tayammum for wazú is not allowable. { } the ceremony is performed as follows. the person says: "i make tayammum to put away impurity;" then, "i seek refuge near god from cursed satan. i commence in the name of god, most merciful and most high, whose praises are in the religion of islám." he then strikes the sand with open hands, rubs his mouth and, at last, the arms to the elbows. not one hair must be left untouched or the whole ceremony is useless. the farz acts are to make the intention of tayammum, to rub the mouth and the hands. "if ye are sick, or on a journey, or if one of you come from the place of retirement, or if ye have touched women, and ye find no water, then take clean sand and rub your faces and your hands with it." (súra v. .) minute regulations are laid down with regard to the water which may be used for purification. the following kinds of water are lawful:--rain, sea, river, fountain, well, snow and ice-water. ice is not lawful. the first kind is authorized by the qurán. "he sent you down water from heaven that he might thereby cleanse you, and cause the pollution of satan to pass from you." (súra viii. .) the use of the others is sanctioned by the traditions. i give one illustration. a man one day came to the prophet and said: "i am going on a voyage and shall only have a small supply of fresh water; if i use it for ablutions i shall have none wherewith to quench my thirst, may i use sea water?" the prophet replied: "the water of the sea is pure." tirmízí states that this is a hadís-i-sahíh. great difference of opinion exists with regard to what constitutes impurity in water, and so renders it unfit for ablutions. it would be wearisome to the reader to enter into all details, but i may briefly say that, amongst the orthodox, it is generally held that if a dead body or any unclean thing falls into flowing water, or into a reservoir more than feet square it can be used, provided always that the colour, smell and taste are not changed. it is for this reason that the pool near a mosque is never less than ten cubits square. if of { } that size, it is called a _dah dar dah_, (literally x ). it may be, and commonly is, larger than this. it should be about one foot deep. the necessary ablutions having been made, the worshipper can commence the namáz. ( ). salát or namáz. the namáz can be said either in private or in public. all that is required is that the clothes and person of the worshipper should be clean, the place free from all impurity, and that the face be turned towards mecca. whether the namáz is said in public or in private, it must be preceded by wazú, except when tayammum is allowed. if the namáz[ ] is said in a mosque which is considered to be more meritorious than repeating it in private, it must be preceded by the azán, or call to prayers, and the iqámat. minute particulars regarding the exact attitude in which the musallí, one who says the salát, must stand and the words he is to say are given in muslim books. the following account will give some idea of a namáz, or service.[ ] the mu,azzin[ ] calls out loudly in arabic:-- "alláhu akbar! alláhu akbar! alláhu akbar! alláhu akbar[ ]!" all who hear it respond:-- "alláhu akbar! alláhu akbar! alláhu akbar! alláhu akbar!" the mu,azzin says:-- "i confess there is no god but god, i confess there is no god but god." each of his auditors replies:-- "i confess there is no god but god, i confess there is no god but god." { } mu,azzin:--"i confess muhammad is the apostle of god." auditor:--"i confess muhammad is the apostle of god." mu,azzin:--"come to prayer." auditor:--"i have no power or strength but from god most high and great." mu,azzin:--"come to do good." auditor:--"what god wills will be; what he wills not will not be." if it is the time of morning prayer, the mu,azzin adds the words: "prayer is better than sleep," to which the response is given: "thou hast spoken well." "alláhu akbar," and "there is no god but god" are then repeated twice and so the azán ends. the iqámat (literally, "causing to stand") is a repetition of the azán, but after the words, "come to do good," the statement "prayer has commenced" is made. these preliminaries being now over, the namáz can commence. it is as follows: the musallí, or worshipper, stands with his hands close to his side and says in a low voice the niyyat (intention):-- "i have purposed to offer up to god only, with a sincere heart this morning (or as the case may be), with my face qibla-wards, two (or as the case may be) rak'at prayers, farz (or sunnat or nafl, as the case may be)." then follows the takbír-i-tahrímah, said with the thumbs touching the lobes of the ears. the palms of the hands are placed towards the qibla. the fingers are slightly separated from each other. in this position the musallí says:--"alláhu akbar!" the qíám, or standing position. the palm of the right hand being placed on the back of the left, the thumb and little finger of the former seize the wrist of the latter. both hands are then placed below the navel,[ ] the eyes are { } directed towards the spot where the head of the worshipper will touch the ground in prostration, and the saná is said. it is:-- "holiness to thee o god! and praise be to thee! great is thy name! great is thy greatness! there is no god but thee!" the ta'awwuz is then said:-- "i seek refuge near god from cursed satan." then follows the tasmíyah:-- "in the name of god, the compassionate, the merciful." then follows the fátiha,[ ] or first chapter of the qurán:-- "praise be to god, lord of the worlds! the compassionate, the merciful! king on the day of reckoning! thee only do we worship, and to thee do we cry for help. guide thou us on the straight path: the path of those to whom thou hast been gracious: with whom thou art not angry, and who go not astray." after this the worshipper can repeat as many chapters of the qurán as he likes.[ ] some verses he must repeat. the súrat-ul-ikhlás (súra ) is generally said:-- "say: he is god alone: god the eternal, he begetteth not, and is not begotten; and there is none like unto him." the takbír-i-rukú'--alláhu akbar!--is said whilst the musallí makes an inclination of the head and body, and separating the fingers a little, places his hands upon his knees. the tasbíh-i-rukú' is said in the same position. it is:-- "i extol the holiness of my lord, the great! i extol the holiness of my lord, the great! i extol the holiness of my lord, the great!" the tasmía' is then said with the body erect, but with the hands placed on either side. thus:-- { } "god hears him who praises him: o lord, thou art praised[ ]." the takbír-i-sijdar--alláhu akbar!--is said as the worshipper drops on his knees. the musallí then kneeling down, places his hands, with the fingers close to each other, upon the ground. he must rest upon his toes, not on the side of the feet which must be kept straight behind him. the elbow must not touch the side, nor the stomach the thigh, nor the thigh the calf of the leg. the eyes must be kept bent downwards. then he touches the ground first with his nose, and then with his forehead, taking care that the thumbs just touch the lobe of the ears.[ ] all this being carefully attended to, the musallí can say the tasbíh-i-sijda thus:-- "i extol the holiness of my lord, the most high! i extol the holiness of my lord, the most high! i extol the holiness of my lord, the most high!" he then raises his head and body, sinks backwards upon his heels, places his hands a little above his knees, and whilst doing so says the takbír-i-jalsa[ ]--"alláhu akbar!" after a slight pause, a second prostration, or sijda is made and the takbír-i-sijda and the tasbíh-i-sijda are repeated as before. then when in the act of rising up the musallí says the takbír-i-qíám--"alláhu akbar!" this concludes one rak'at. the second rak'at begins with the fátiha, so that after saying the takbír-i-qíám a musallí would have to begin again at that place (p. ) and repeat all that he had just finished; the only change being that after the fátiha, he recites different verses of the qurán to those he said in the first rak'at. after two rak'ats have been said, and after the last, though it be an odd number, the { } musallí, unless he is a shía'h, places his left foot under him and sits upon it. he then places his hands above his knees, as for the takbír-i-jalsa, and with his eyes directed towards his lap says the attahíyát:-- "the adorations of the tongue are for god, and also the adorations of the body, and almsgiving! peace be on thee o prophet! with the mercy of god and his blessing. peace be on us and upon god's righteous servants!" then raising the first finger of the right hand he says the tashahhud[ ]:-- "i testify that there is no deity but god; and i testify that muhammad is the servant of god and the messenger of god." then at the end of all the rak'ats the musallí, whilst in the same posture, says the darúd:-- "o god! have mercy on muhammad and his descendants[ ]; as thou didst have mercy on abraham and his descendants, thou art to be praised and thou art great. o god! bless muhammad and his descendants, as thou didst bless abraham and his descendants. thou art to be praised and thou art great." then comes the du'á, which may be in the worshipper's own words though he usually says[ ]:-- "o god our lord, give us the blessings of this life, and also the blessings of life everlasting. save us from the torments of hell." then turning the head to the right the musallí repeats the salám:-- "the peace and mercy of god be with you." then turning the head to the left he says:-- "the peace and mercy of god be with you." at the close of the whole ceremony, the worshipper raises { } his hands as high as his shoulders, with the palm towards heaven, or towards his own face, and offers up a munáját, or supplication, either in arabic or in the vernacular. the hands are then drawn over the face, as if to convey the blessing received from above to every part of the body. the appointed periods of prayer are five in number, in proof of which the following text is quoted: "glorify god when ye reach the evening (masá), and when ye rise at morn (subh); and to him be praise in the heavens and in the earth,--and at twilight ('ashí) and when ye rest at noon (zuhr)." (súra xxx. ). the commentators say that masá includes both sunset and the period after sunset; that is both the salát-ul-maghrib and the salát-ul-'ishá. there is also a reference to a stated period of prayer in the following verse: "observe prayer at early morning, at the close of the day, and at the approach of night." (súra xi. ). these daily namáz are farz, sunnat, witr and nafl prayers. farz are those distinctly ordained by god, such as the five stated periods of prayer. sunnat, a certain number of rak'ats which are added, because it is said the prophet repeated them. witr rak'ats are an odd number of rak'ats, , or , which may be said after the last prayer at night, and before the dawn of day. usually they are added to the salát-ul-'ishá. imám abu hanífa says they are wájib, that is ordered by god. they are not authorised by any text in the qurán, but by traditions each of which is generally received as a hadís-i-sahíh, and so witr rak'ats are regarded as being of divine authority. imám sháfa'í, however, considers them to be sunnat only, a term already explained. the traditions referred to are: "god has added to your namáz one namáz more: know that it is witr, say it between the salát-ul-'ishá and dawn." on the authority of buzár, a traditionist, it is recorded that the prophet { } said: "witr is wájib upon muslims," and in order to enforce the practice he added: "witr is right, he who does not observe it is not my follower." the prophet, the companions, the tába'ín and the taba-i-tába'ín all observed it. the word witr literally means "odd number." a tradition says: "god is odd, he loves the odd." (alláhu witrun yuhibbu'l-witra). musalmáns pay the greatest respect to an odd number. it is considered unlucky to begin any work, or to commence a journey on a day, the date of which is an even number. the number of lines in a page of a book is nearly always an odd number. nafl are voluntary prayers the performance of which is considered mustahab, or meritorious, but they are not of divine obligation. it must be understood that all these prayers are precisely the same in form. they simply consist in the repetition of a number of rak'ats, of which i have already given a single illustration in full. a muslim who says the five daily prayers with the full number of rak'ats will repeat the service i have described fifty times in one day. if in addition to these he observes the three voluntary periods of prayers, he must add twenty-five more rak'ats, making a grand total of seventy-five. it is, however, usual to omit some of the sunnat rak'ats; still there is a vast amount of repetition, and as the whole must be said in arabic it becomes very mechanical. a muslim who ventured to say that a namáz might be recited in hindustani was publicly excommunicated in the principal mosque at madras on friday, february th, .[ ] the table on the next page will make the matter clear.[ ] the optional sunnat rak'ats are called { } 'sunnat-i-ghair-i-maukadda'; the sunnat rak'ats before the farz are 'sun-nat-i-maukadda' and should be said. ---+------------------+-----------------------------------+---------------- no.| time. | the names of the time of prayer. | the number of | | | rak'ats said. | +-----------+-----------------------+---------------- | | | witr | | |--------------------------------------+ | | | nafl| | | |-----------------------------------+ | | | | sunnat after farz| | | | |--------------------------------+ | | | | | farz| | | | | |-----------------------------+ | | | | | | sunnat-i-mau-kadda'| | | | | | |--------------------------+ | | | | | | | sunnat-i-ghair-maukadda'| | | | | | | |-----------+-----------+ | | | | | | | arabic | persian | urdu | | | | | | ---+------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+--+--+--+--+--+- | from dawn to | salát-ul- | namáz-i- | fajr kí | | | | | | | sunrise. | fajr. | subh. | namáz. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | when the sun | salát-uz- | namáz-i- | zuhr kí | | | | | | | has begun to | zuhr. | peshín. | namáz. | | | | | | | decline. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | midway between | salát-ul- | namáz-i- | 'asr kí | | | | | | | no. and . | 'asr. | dígar. | namáz. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | a few minutes | salát-ul- | namáz-i- | maghrib | | | | | | | after sunset. | maghrib. | shám. | kí namáz. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | when the night | salát-ul- | namáz-i- | 'ishá kí | | | | | | | has closed in. | 'ishá. | khuftan. | namáz. | | | | [ ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | when the sun | salát-ul- | namúz-i- | ishráq kí | | | | | | | has well risen. | ishráq. | ishráq. | namáz. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | about o'clock | salát-uz- | namáz-i- | zuhá kí | | | | | | | a.m. | zuhá. | chast. | namáz. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | after mid-night. | salát-ut- | namáz-i- | tahajjud | | | | | | | | tahajjud.| tahajjud.| kí namáz. | | | | | | ---+------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+--+--+--+--+--+- in addition to these there are several kinds of namáz which have to be said at different times, or under special circumstances. (i). salát-ul-juma'--the friday namáz. this is a farz duty. it has the threefold authority of the qurán, the sunnat, and the ijmá'. thus: "o ye who believe! when ye are summoned to prayer on the _day of the assembly_ (friday), haste ye to the commemoration of god, and quit your traffic." (súra lxii. .) the prophet also said: "juma' is farz," and, "god will make a mark on the heart of him who misses the salát-ul-juma'[ ]." there are, however, eight kind of persons on whom it is not incumbent, _viz_: a traveller, a sick person, a slave, a woman, a young child, a mad { } person, a blind or a lame person. the conditions which make this namáz obligatory are:-- ( ). that the place in which it is said be a town in which a qází (judge) dwells. ( ). there must be in the town a ruler or his deputy. ( ). it must take the place of the salát-uz-zuhr, with which it agrees, except that two farz rak'ats instead of four are recited. the nafl rak'ats are omitted. the four sunnat rak'ats which precede, and the two which follow the farz ones are said. ( ). one, or according to the followers of imám sháfa'í two khutbas, or sermons are preached. these are delivered by the imám after the four sunnat rak'ats are recited, and before the two farz ones. the khutba should consist of the praise of god, prayer and injunctions to piety. ( ). there must be a congregation of three persons besides the imám. the sháfa'ítes say there should be at least forty worshippers. ( ). the azán, or call to prayers, must be made to all without distinction of rank. any person who is qualified to act as imám at the other prayers can conduct this namáz. the imám and khatíb (preacher) is usually, but not necessarily, one and the same person. the khutbas should not be long, for muhammad said that long sermons and short prayers would be a sign of the degeneracy of the latter days. when two khutbas are said, the imám sits down to rest before the delivery of the second. the worshippers may then offer up a du'á, or private prayer. some, however, say that this practice is bid'at, (innovation) and consider it a very bad act. according to the traditionists, bukhárí, abu dáúd and tirmízí, it is a mustahab act to wear clean clothes on friday. the preacher standing on the second step of the mimbar, or pulpit, with a large club or staff in his hand, delivers his sermon.[ ] { } the following is a specimen of the khutbas. sermon on the excellence of friday. in the name of god, the compassionate, the merciful. praise be to god, the king, the holy, the great, the knower. he has opened our hearts through the blessing of islám. he has made friday the best of days. we testify that there is no god but god, the one, without partner. this confession saves those who make it from danger and from darkness. we testify that our lord muhammad is his servant and his apostle sent to all mankind. may the mercy and peace of god be on him, his descendants and on his companions. o men! o believers of god! i advise you and my own soul thus: "obey god!" know, o servants of god! that when friday commences the angels assemble in the fourth heaven, and gabriel, (on whom be peace) is the mu,azzin, míká,íl the khatíb, isráfíl the imám and 'izrá,íl the mukabbir[ ] and all the angels join in the namáz. when it is over gabriel says: "i give the reward due to me as mu,azzin to the mu,azzins of the sect of islám;" míká,íl: "i give mine to the khatíbs;" isráfíl: "i give mine to the imáms;" 'izrá,íl: "i give mine to the mukabbirs." the angels say: "we give ours to the company of the muslims." the prophet said: "the night and day of friday last twenty-four hours, and each hour god releases a thousand souls from hell. whosoever makes 'ghusl' on friday, god will give him for every hair on his body the reward of ten good deeds. whosoever dies on a friday meets with the reward of a martyr." certainly the best and most eloquent speech is the holy qurán, the word of god,--the king, the great, the knower. his word is true and righteous. when thou readest the qurán say: "o god! protect me from cursed satan." in the name of god the compassionate, the merciful. "when ye are summoned to prayer on the day of the assembly, haste to the commemoration of god and quit your traffic. this, if ye knew it, will be best for you. and when the prayer is ended, then disperse yourselves abroad and go in quest of the bounties of god; and that it may be well with you, oft remember god. but when they get a sight of merchandize or sport, they disperse after, and leave thee standing alone. say: 'god hath in reserve what is better than sport or wares. god is the best provider.'" (súra lxii. - .) god { } by means of the holy qurán will bless us and you. and by its verses and teaching will reward us and you. god is almighty, generous, merciful, eternal, holy, clement. here ends the first sermon; after a short pause the preacher commences the second. in the name of god the compassionate, the merciful. praise be to god, the creator of the earth and heavens, the maker of light and darkness. i testify that there is no god but god. he is one. he has no partner. know, o believers! that this confession will save you from trouble and calamity. i testify that muhammad, who wipes out error and infidelity, is the servant and apostle of god. the mercy of god be on our lord muhammad, the lord of creation; and on his descendants; and on his companions be grace and honour. o servants of god! i advise you and my own soul thus: obey god! fear god, who created life and death and who scrutinizes our good actions. o god! be pleased with abu bakr, the righteous, the sáhib-ul-ghár,[ ] and with omar ibn-ul-khattáb, the chief of the holy men; and with osmán the possessor of two lights, who was martyred when reading the holy qurán, and upon 'alí murtuzá, the destroyer of infidels and sinners. o god! be pleased with the great imáms hasan and husain. be pleased with their mother fatimat-uz-zuhra, the chief of women, and with hamza and 'abbás, the uncles of the prophet. also be pleased with all the asháb (companions). o god! help those who help the religion of muhammad, and make us of their number. make those wretched who corrupt it, and keep us aloof from all such. o believers! truly god orders you to do justice and to show kindness to your kindred. he orders you to abstain from infidelity and from the greater and the lesser sins. god warns you. god is the most high, the most glorious. god is great!" the collection of khutbas from which the above have been translated contains a considerable number on a variety of subjects, such as prayer, the resurrection, worldliness, the various feast and fast days, &c. the form in all is very similar. the exordium and the conclusion are practically the same. a few sentences in the middle refer to the special subject of the sermon. the second of the two { } sermons is always the same; it is practically an invocation of blessings on certain persons. both are said in arabic. what would answer to our idea of a sermon, such as an explanation of some doctrine, or an exposition of some passages in the qurán, is not part of the public worship in the mosque, but would be done in an ordinary assembly, in any convenient place, by a moollá, or any learned man who could collect an audience. (ii). salát-ul-musáfir.--prayers said by a traveller. a person who makes a journey which lasts three days or three nights is, for this purpose, considered a traveller.[ ] the length of a day's journey is estimated at the distance a camel can march in that period of time. if a traveller intends to stay in a certain place fifteen days, he must repeat the usual namáz; if less than fifteen days, or when actually on the journey, he can shorten it. he is then permitted to say only two farz rak'ats. he may omit the sunnat and nafl rak'ats if he chooses; but the three witr rak'ats he must recite at the salát-ul-'ishá. if a traveller passing through a place is, for the time being, the most suitable person to act as imám, he being a traveller will only recite two rak'ats. the rest of the worshippers then complete the namáz. in the case where a permanent resident of the place is the imám and the traveller only a worshipper, the imám is bound to recite the whole number of rak'ats and the traveller must also repeat the whole after him. the principle on which this is based is that the worshippers must not recite less than the imám.[ ] (iii). salát-ul-khauf.--prayers of fear. this is a namáz said during the time of war. when there is imminent danger from the approach of an enemy the imám should divide the army into two bodies; one of which should be placed in a position towards the enemy, the other should recite, if they are on the march, one rak'at; if stationary { } in a place, two rak'ats. this division will then march towards the enemy and the first division will recite as many rak'ats as may be required to complete the namáz. the salám (ante. p. ) will be recited by the imám alone. the first division of troops will not say the qir,at, _i.e._ the fátiha and the other verses of the qurán recited after it (ante. p. ); but the second division will supply the omission. if the enemy are so near that the cavalry dare not dismount, then each man will recite a rak'at or rak'ats for himself, and make the rukú' and sijda by means of signs. if he cannot turn towards the qibla, he is, under the circumstances, allowed to face any direction most convenient. during the recital of the namáz he must not fight, or allow his horse to move, lest the prayer should be rendered void. "when ye go forth to war in the land, it shall be no crime in you to cut short your prayers, if ye fear lest the infidels come upon you. verily, the infidels are your undoubted enemies! and when thou, o apostle! shalt be among them, and shalt pray with them, then let a party of them rise up with thee, but let them take their arms; and when they shall have made their prostrations, let them retire to your rear: then let another party that hath not prayed come forward, and let them pray with you." (súra iv. , ). (iv). salát-ut-taráwíh.--this is a special set of twenty rak'ats recited every night during the month of ramazán. they must be said after the farz and sunnat, and before the witr rak'ats at the time of the salát-ul-'ishá. the salát-ut-taráwíh is considered of sunnat obligation. the practice dates from the time of the khalíf omar. abd-ur-rahmán, a traditionist, states that one night in ramazán he went with omar to the mosque. they saw some persons saying the namáz alone and some reciting it in groups. omar said: "if i gather them all together, so that they may recite it after one imám it will be good." he did so, and the next night the people of their own accord came in great numbers and united together. then said omar: "this { } bid'at is good." this is good authority for the institution, for the prophet said: "follow my sunnat and that of the khulafá-i-rashídín." there is also a hadís-i-sahíh to the effect that "god has made the fast of ramazán farz, and its qíám[ ] sunnat." (kutiba 'alaikum síámu ramazána wa sunna qíámuhu). the prophet was anxious lest the tiráwíh namáz should become farz and, therefore, after going to the mosque on two successive nights in ramazán, he stayed away on the third, giving as his reason for so doing that he feared that, if he went every night, it might be considered a farz and not a sunnat duty.[ ] the number of rak'ats is fixed at twenty, as that was the number recited by muhammad and by the khalíf omar. the shía'hs do not say these prayers or even enter the mosque on such occasions, as after every four rak'ats an eulogium is repeated on the four khalífs--the first three of whom they hate. (v). salát-ul-kusúf and salát-ul-khusúf--prayer said when an eclipse of the sun, or of the moon takes place. in the former case, the imám recites with the congregation in the mosque two rak'ats. the azán and the iqámat are both omitted. no khutba is said. in each rak'at one rukú' is read. the sháfa'ítes read two. after the rak'ats are completed those present remain in prayer (du'á) until the eclipse is at an end. the namáz during an eclipse of the moon is the same as that during an eclipse of the sun, with this exception that the rak'ats need not be recited in a congregation. each muslim can say the namáz privately in his own house. the practice is founded on the prophet's saying: "when you see an eclipse then remember god, pray (du'á) and recite the namáz until it becomes light again." (vi). salát-ul-istisqá.--prayer in time of drought. when { } there is a scarcity of water each person should, with face qibla-wards, offer up prayer to god. they can be said at home and in private. care must be taken that no zimmí[ ] is present. the reason given is that this is a prayer for a blessing; but god sends no blessing on a company in which a zimmí is present. these prayers are simple du'á and not a namáz. there is no well-authenticated tradition to the effect that the prophet ever said namáz on such an occasion; whilst there are many which show that he made du'á. this is a very good example of the use of the term salát as a _mushtarik_ word, _i.e._ one which has several significations. its ordinary meaning is namáz; here it means du'á. (vii). salát-ul-janáza.--prayers at a funeral. when a person is about to die, the attendants should place him on his right side with his face qibla-wards. in that position he should repeat the "kalima-i-shahádat," the creed of testimony: "i confess that god is one, without a partner; that truly muhammad is his servant and his apostle." after death has taken place, the corpse is laid out, incense is burnt, and the shroud is perfumed an _odd_ number of times. a tradition states that an odd number is fixed upon, because the number one which represents the unity of god is odd and not even. the lesser lustration (wazú) is then made. the head and beard are washed with a decoction made of some flowers, after which the greater lustration (ghusl) is made. the members of the body used when making sijda (prostration) _i.e._, forehead, nose, hands, knees, feet, are then rubbed with camphor. to recite the salát-ul-janáza is a duty called farz-i-kifáya, that is, if some few persons in the assembly say it, all need not do so; whilst if no one repeats it all will be guilty of sin. to prove that this namáz is farz the following verse is quoted: "take alms of their substance, that thou mayest { } cleanse and purify them thereby, and pray for them; for thy prayers shall assure their minds: and god heareth, knoweth." (súra ix. .) the proof that it is not farz-i-'ain (_i.e._, incumbent on all), but farz-i-kifáya is drawn from an account given in a hadís, to the effect that the prophet one day did not recite the namáz over one of his deceased followers. now, if the namáz had been farz-i-'ain even the prophet could not have omitted it. his sunnat, or practice, has decided the nature of the farz command contained in the verse of the qurán just quoted. the namáz can only be said when the corpse is present. it is recited in the open space in front of the mosque, or in some neighbouring spot: never in the graveyard. when all are assembled the imám or leader says: "here begins the namáz for the dead." the company present then stand up in rows with faces turned in the direction of mecca. the imám stands a little in front, near the head or waist of the corpse according as it is that of a male or female. then all assume the qíám, or standing position, and recite the niyyat as follows:-- "i recite namáz for the sake of god, and offer prayers (du'á) for this deceased person, and i follow the imám (who is about to officiate.)" then all at the first[ ] takbír put the hands to the lobe of the ears and say: "god is great!" then they say the saná (ante, p. .):-- "holiness to thee o god! and to thee be praise! great is thy name! great is thy greatness! great is thy praise! there is no god but thee!" then follows the second takbír: "god is great!" then all say the darud-i-ibráhím:-- "o god! have mercy on muhammad and upon his descendants, as thou didst bestow mercy, and peace, and blessing, and compassion, and great kindness upon { } abraham and upon his descendants." "thou art praised, and thou art great!" "o god, bless muhammad and his descendants as thou didst bless, and didst have compassion and great kindness upon abraham and upon his descendants." then follows the third takbír: "god is great!" the du'á is then repeated:-- "o god, forgive our living and our dead, and those o£ us who are present, and those who are absent, and our children and our full grown persons, our men and our women. o god, those whom thou dost keep alive amongst us, keep alive in islám, and those whom thou causest to die, let them die in the faith."[ ] then follows the fourth takbír: "god is great!" then all say:-- "o god, give us good in this world and in the next, and save us by thy mercy from the troubles of the grave and of hell." then each one in a low voice says the salám, as in an ordinary namáz. (ante, p. .)[ ] the namáz is now over and the people make another du'á thus:-- "'o our lord! suffer not our hearts to go astray after that thou hast once guided us; and give us mercy from before thee; for verily thou art he who giveth.' (súra iii. .) o god, thou art his[ ] master, and thou createdst him, and thou didst nourish him, and didst guide him toward islám, and thou hast taken his life, and thou knowest well his inner and outer life. provide intercessors for us. forgive him, for thou art the forgiver, the most merciful." { } then going towards the head of the corpse, they say:-- "no doubt is there about this book (qurán.) it is a guidance to the god-fearing, who believe in the unseen,[ ] who observe prayer (salát), and out of what we have bestowed on them, expend (for god), and who believe in that which hath been sent down to thee (muhammad), and in what hath been sent down before thee; and full faith have they in the life to come: these are guided by their lord; and with these it shall be well." (súra ii. - ). then coming towards the feet of the corpse, they say:-- "the apostle believeth in that which hath been sent down from his lord, as do the faithful also. each believeth in god, and his angels, and his books and his apostles: we make no distinction between any of his apostles.[ ] and they say: 'we have heard and we obey. (we implore) thy mercy, lord; for unto thee must we return.' god will not burden any soul beyond its power. it shall enjoy the good which it hath acquired, and shall bear the evil for the acquirement of which it laboured. o our lord! punish us not if we forget, or fall into sin; o our lord! and lay not on us a load like that which thou hast laid on those who have been before us[ ]; o our lord! and lay not on us that for which we have no strength: but blot out our sins and forgive us, and have pity on us. thou art our protector; give us victory therefore over the infidel nations." (súra ii. , ). { } the chief mourner then gives the izn-i-'Ámm, that is, he says:-- "all have permission to depart." some then proceed homewards, others go with the corpse to the graveyard. when the bier is lifted up, or when it is placed down near the grave, the people say:-- "we commit thee to earth in the name of god and in the religion of the prophet." if the ground is very hard, a recess (lahad) is dug out in the side of the grave. this must be high enough to allow the corpse to sit up when munkir and nakír come to interrogate it. if the ground is soft a small grave is excavated at the bottom of the larger one. the corpse is then placed in the lower one. the idea in both cases is that the corpse must be in such a position that it can have free movement. the body is placed with the face towards mecca. when the bands of the shroud have been loosened the people say:-- "o god deprive us not of the heavenly reward of the deceased, place us not in trouble." each person then takes seven clods of earth, and over each clod says; "bismilláh" (in the name of god), and the súrat-ul-iklás (súra cxii) and then places each clod by the head of the corpse. unburnt bricks, bamboos or boards having then been placed over the smaller grave, the persons present with both hands throw clods of earth three times into the grave. the first time they say: "from it (earth) we created you"; the second time, "and into it will we return you;" the third time, "and out of it will we bring you a second time." (súra xx. ). then they say this du'á: "o god i beseech thee for the sake of muhammad not to trouble the deceased." when the attendants are filling up the grave they say:-- "o god, defend the deceased from shaitan (devil) and from the torments of the grave." when the grave is completely filled up, one man pours { } water three, or five, or seven times over it and then plants a green branch on it.[ ] one of the mourners then draws near the middle of the grave and recites the talqín (instruction):-- "o servant of god, and child of a female servant of god. o son of (such an one),[ ] remember the faith you professed on earth to the very last; that is, your witness that there is no god but god, and that certainly muhammad is his apostle, and that paradise and hell and the resurrection from the dead are real; that there will be a day of judgment, and say: 'i confess that god is my lord, islám my religion, muhammad (on whom be the mercy and peace of god) my prophet, the qurán my guide, the k'aba my qibla, and that muslims are my brethren.' o god, keep him (the deceased) firm in this faith, and widen his grave, and make his examination (by munkir and nakír) easy, and exalt him and have mercy on him, o thou most merciful." the other persons present then offer a fátiha.[ ] after this, they may, if they like to do so, read the súrat-ul-yá sín (xxxvi) and the súrat-ul-mulk (lxvii.) it is not common to do so. then retiring forty paces from the grave they again offer a fátiha, for by this time the examination of the deceased has commenced. the first night is one of great trouble to the deceased, so alms should be given liberally that night in his name. in order to relieve him as much as possible, two nafl rak'ats of a namáz should be said. after the fátiha in each rak'at the worshipper should repeat the Áyat-ul-kursí { } (throne-verse)[ ] three times; then the súrat-ut-takísur ( ) eleven times; then the súrat-ul-iklás ( ) three times. after the salám and the darúd the worshipper lifts up both hands, and with great humility prays that the reward of the service just concluded may be bestowed on the deceased. (viii). salát-ul-istikhára.--this is a namáz said before undertaking any special work. the person recites two rak'at prayers. after each rak'at he says the following du'á: "o god, make me know what is best for me, and keep me from evil, and bestow good upon me, for i have no power to know what is best for me." he then goes to sleep, during which period be expects to receive a special inspiration (ilhám) which will give him the needed directions and guide him aright as to the matter in hand. (ix). salát-ut-taráwih.--this consists of twenty rak'ats recited each evening during the month of ramazán. an account of these will be given in the next chapter when the ceremonies connected with the ramazán fast are described. . roza, the thirty days' fast of ramazÁn.--fasting is defined to be abstinence from food, drink and cohabitation from sunrise to sunset. there must also be in the mind the intention of keeping a fast. the person should say: "o lord, i intend to fast to-morrow for thy sake. forgive my past and future sin." when the fast is ended he says: "o god i fasted for thy sake and had faith in thee, and confided in thee and now i break (iftár) the fast with the food thou givest. accept this act." it is a farz duty to keep the fast during the thirty days of the month ramazán. this is laid down in the words: "o believers! a fast is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you." "as to the month ramazán, in which the qurán was sent down to be man's guidance, and an explanation of that guidance, and of that { } illumination, as soon as any one of you observeth the moon, let him set about the fast." (súra ii. - ). the ijmá' is also unanimous on this point. young children and idiots are excused. sick persons and travellers may postpone the fast to another time. "he who is sick, or upon a journey, shall fast a like number of other days. god wisheth you ease, but wisheth not your discomfort, and that you fulfil the number of days." (súra ii. ). this is called a qazá fast, that is, a fast kept at another time in lieu of one which has been omitted. if a person makes a vow that, if god grants a certain request, he will fast (roza-i-nazr), or if he fasts by way of atonement for some sin committed (roza-i-kafára), in both cases it is a wájib duty to keep the fast. some hold that the former is a farz duty and base their assertion on the verse: "let them bring the neglect of their persons to a close, and let them pay their vows." (súra xxii. ). all other kinds of fasts are nafl, a term already explained (p. ). such are the fasts kept on the th day of muharram, on the aiyám-i-bíz (bright days)--the th, th and th day of any month, on the th of sh'abán, that is, the day following the night called shab-barát, and on the th of each month in which there are thirty days. a nafl fast may be broken if the person who intended to keep it receives an invitation to a feast. according to bukhárí, a woman may not make a nafl fast without the consent of her husband. the reverse is not the case, for "men are superior to women on account of the qualities with which god hath gifted the one above the other, and on account of the outlay they make from their substance for them." (súra iv. ). it is said that one day a woman came to the prophet and said that her husband had slapped her. the prophet wished to punish him for doing so improper an act, but he was prevented by the descent from heaven of the verse just quoted, which is held to be conclusive evidence of the inferiority of women. the verse also contains the words "chide those { } (wives) for whose refractoriness ye have cause to fear; remove them into beds apart, and scourge them." it is mustahab to fast some days in the month shawwál, for muhammad is reported to have said: "whosoever keeps the fast of ramazán and some seven days in the preceding month of shawwál, it is as if his whole life were a fast." if on account of dull weather, or of dust storms the new moon is not visible, it is sufficient to act on the testimony of a trustworthy person who declares that ramazán has commenced. imám sháfa'í requires two, but the following tradition is quoted against him: "an arab came to the prophet and said: 'i have seen the new moon.' his excellency said: 'dost thou believe that there is no god but god? dost thou confess that muhammad is his apostle?' 'yes,' replied the man. the prophet calling billál, the mu,azzin, said: 'tell the people to commence the fast.'" this proves that the evidence of one good muslim is sufficient testimony in the matter. the fast is destroyed in the following cases:--if when cleansing the teeth a little water should pass into the throat, if food is eaten under compulsion, if an enema is used, if medicine is put into the ears, nose or a wound in the head, if a meal has been taken on the supposition that it was night when it was really day, if the niyyat (intention) in the ramazán fast was not properly made, if after a meal taken during the night a portion of food larger than a grain of corn remains between the teeth or in a cavity of a tooth, lastly, if food is vomited. in each of these cases a qazá fast must be kept in lieu of the one thus broken. in the case where the fast is deliberately broken, the person must atone for his sin by setting a slave at liberty; if from any cause that cannot be done, he must fast every day for two months; if that cannot be done, he must give sixty persons two full meals each, or give one man such meals daily for sixty days. the fast is not broken by merely tasting anything, by { } applying antimony to the eyes, and oil to the beard, by cleansing the teeth, or by kissing a person; but it is considered better not to do these things during the day-time. the imám as-sháfa'í declared that it was very wrong indeed to do either of these actions after noon. he used to repeat the following tradition handed down by tabrání. "the prophet said: 'when you fast, cleanse the teeth in the early morning, because when the lips of him who fasts become dry and parched, they will be for him a light in the day of judgment.'" if a person through the infirmity of old age is not able to keep the fast, he must perform sadqa, that is, he must feed a poor person. this opinion is based on a sentence in the qurán, which has caused a good deal of dispute: "as for those who are able (_to keep it and yet break it_), the expiation of this shall be the maintenance of a poor man." (súra ii. ). this seems to make fasting a matter of personal option, and some commentators admit that at first it was so, but they say that the words have been abrogated[ ] by the following sentence which occurs in the next verse: "as soon as any one of you observeth the moon, let him set about the fast." others say that the negative particle "not" must be understood before "able," in which case the words in italics must be omitted. others explain the expression "those who are able" as equivalent to "those who have great difficulty therein," such as aged and infirm persons. this seems to be the best interpretation and is the one which practically is acted on. in the case of women with child, mothers giving suck to their children, sick persons whom fasting at this particular time might injure, it is sufficient if they keep it at another time; that is, they must when convenient make a qazá fast. { } in these cases the sadqa or feeding of the poor is not required. thus abu dáúd says: "the prophet said, 'god allows travellers to shorten the namáz and to postpone the fast. women also are allowed to fast another time.'" the qurán is also clear on the point: "he who is sick or upon a journey, shall fast a like number of other days." (súra ii. ). there are five days in the year in which it is unlawful to fast. these are, 'Íd-ul-fitr, baqr-'íd and the three following days, _viz_: the th, th and th of zu'l-hajja. if during the month of ramazán, a person arrives at maturity, or an infidel becomes a muslim, each must keep the fast during the remaining days of the month. to take the sahra, or meal taken just before sunrise in the month of ramazán, is a sunnat act. the great traditionists, bukhárí, muslim and tirmízí, all agree that the prophet said: "eat sahra because there is a blessing in it. the difference between our fast and that of the men of the book (christians) is the partaking of sahra." the meal eaten immediately after sunset is called iftár, or the breaking of the fast. in india it is the custom to eat a date first, or if that fruit is not procurable to drink a little water. in turkey an olive is chosen as the fruit with which the fast should be broken. the distinctive feature of a muhammadan fast is, that it is a fast during the day only. the rich classes by turning day into night avoid much of its rigour. they, however, frequently break the fast, though any such action must be done in secret, for popular opinion all over the musalmán world is strongly against a man who does not outwardly, at least, observe the fast of ramazán. in this matter it may be said "pecher en secret, n'est pas pecher, ce n'est que l'éclat qui fait le crime." those who have to work for their living find the observance of the fast very difficult, for however laborious may be their occupation they must not swallow any liquid; yet as { } a rule the lower classes observe it strictly.[ ] in hot climates this is often exceedingly distressing. in such circumstances the evening twilight is anxiously looked for, as then the iftár can be commenced. the month of ramazán brings with it other duties than that of fasting. these will be described in the next chapter. . zakÁt.--there are two terms in use to express almsgiving. the first is zakát (literally, "purification") or the legal alms due, with certain exceptions, from every muslim. the second is sadqa, or offerings on the feast day known as 'Íd-ul-fitr, or alms in general.[ ] it is the first of these that has now to be considered. on the authority of the qurán and the ijmá'-i-ummat it is declared to be a farz duty for every muslim of full age, after the expiration of a year, to give the zakát on account of his property; provided that, he has sufficient for his subsistence and is a sáhib-i-nisáb, or one who possesses an income equivalent to about £ per annum. the qurán says: "observe prayer (salát) and the legal impost (zakát)." (súra ii. ). the khalíf 'umr ibn 'abd-ul-'azíz used to say: "prayer carries us half way to god, fasting brings us to the door of his palace, and alms procure us admission." the three conditions without which zakát would not be compulsory are islám, hurriat (freedom) and nisáb (stock). the reason for this is, that zakát is said to be a fundamental part of 'ibádat (worship), and that, as the infidels cannot perform acceptable worship, they have nothing to do with zakát. freedom is necessary, for slaves hold no { } property. nisáb is required, for so the prophet has decreed. when the nisáb is required for daily use the zakát is not taken from it; such as a slave retained for personal service, grain for food, weapons, tools, books, household furniture, wearing apparel, horses for riding, &c., for one tradition records that the prophet specially exempted all these, whilst another given on the authority of bukhárí states that for slaves employed in domestic service only the sadqa-i-fitr[ ] should be given. if a person owes a debt, the amount necessary for its liquidation must be deducted from his property and the zakát given on the balance. if it is a debt due to god, such as an offering due on a vow or to be given in atonement for the neglect of some religious duty, it must not be so deducted from the property on which zakát is due. the amount of gold which constitutes a nisáb is miskats, or of silver dirhems (=£ s.). whether these metals are in coin or not, one-fortieth part is due. some say that gold and silver ornaments are exempt, but imám sháfa'í does not admit this, and quotes from abu dáúd the following tradition: "a woman with a child, on whose arms were heavy golden bracelets, came to the prophet. he enquired if the zakát had been given for them. on receiving a reply in the negative he said: 'it is easy for god in the day of judgment to make thee wear bracelets of fire.' the girl then took them off and said: 'these are for the service of god and of his prophet.'" on all treasure known as rikáz, that is, buried treasure found by any one, and on valuable metals extracted from mines, one-fifth of the value must be paid, whether the land be khárijí, rented at its proper market value; or 'usharí possessed by the payment of a tithe. if the rikáz is found in dar-ul-harb, a country under a non-muslim government, the whole belongs to the finder, if it is on his own land, or if on unclaimed { } land he must pay the one-fifth. if the coins found bear the mint stamp of a musalmán government, the finder must, if he can, find the owner and return them to him; if they were coined in a mint belonging to the infidels, after having given one-fifth as zakát, he may retain four-fifths for himself. pearls, amber and turquoise are not subject to any deduction, for the prophet said: "there is no zakát for stones." as regards cattle the following rules have been laid down. for sheep and goats nothing is given when the number is under forty. the owner must give one for one hundred and twenty, two for the next eighty and one for every hundred after. the scale for buffaloes is the same as that for sheep. for camels the rule is as follows: from to in number, one sheep or goat must be given; from to , one yearling female camel (bint-i-mukház); from to , one two-year old female camel (bint-i-labún); from to , one three-year old female camel (hiqqah); from to , one four-year old female camel (jaz'ah); from to , two bint-i-labún; from to , two hiqqah; and from upwards, either a bint-i-labún for every forty or a hiqqah for every fifty. horses follow this scale, or two and a half per cent on the value may be given instead. for cows a one-year old female calf (tabi'a) must be given; for , a two-year old female calf (musinna), and after that one calf for every ten cows. donkeys and mules are exempt, for the prophet said: "no order has come down (from heaven) to me about them." if a stock of merchandize exceeds the nisáb (£ s.), zakát must be given on it and on the profits at the rate of one in forty, or two-and-a-half per cent. the hanífites do not count a fraction of the forty. the sháfa'ítes count such a fractional part as forty and require the full zakát to be paid on it. honey, fruit, grain, &c., although less than five camel { } loads,[ ] must according to imám abu hanífa pay one-tenth; but the sáhibain and imám sháfa'í say that if there is less than the five camel loads no zakát is required. the prophet said: "if produced on land naturally watered one-tenth is due, if on land artificially irrigated one-twentieth." as he said nothing about the quantity, the hanífites adduce the fact of the omission as a proof on their side. the zakát should be given to the classes of person mentioned in the following verse. "alms are to be given to the poor and the needy, and to those who collect them, _and to those whose hearts are won to islám_, and for ransoms, and for debtors, and for the cause of god, and for the wayfarer." (súra ix. ). the words italicised, according to the tafsír-i-husainí, are now cancelled (mansúkh). the reference is to the arab chiefs who were beaten by the prophet at the battle of honein (a.h. ). this victory is referred to in the th verse of this súra. "god hath helped you in many battle fields, and on the day of honein." abu bakr abolished this giving of zakát to converts, and the khalíf omar said to these or similar persons: "this zakát was given to incline your hearts toward islám. now god has prospered islám. if you be converted it is well; if not, a sword is between us." no companion has denied this statement, and so the authority for the cancelling of this clause is that of the ijmá'-i-ummat (unanimous consent). it is well that an appeal to unworthy motives should be abolished, but no commentator so far as i know makes that a reason for the cancelling of this order. it is always placed on the ground of the triumphant nature of islám which now needs no such support. contemptuous indifference, not any high moral motive was the cause of the change. in addition to the persons mentioned in the verse just quoted, zakát may be given to assist a mukátib, or slave { } who is working in order to purchase his freedom. persons who are too poor to go on a jihád or to make the hajj must be assisted. the zakát must not be given for building mosques,[ ] for funeral expenses, liquidating the debts of a deceased person, or to purchase a slave in order to set him free. it is not lawful to give the zakát to parents or grand-parents, children or grandchildren; or for a husband to give it to his wife, or a wife to her husband; or a master to his slave. the sáhibain[ ] maintain that a wife can apply the zakát to her husband's wants and quote this tradition: "a woman asked the prophet if she could give the zakát to her husband. he answered 'give; such an act has two rewards, one for the giving of charity and one for the fulfilment of the duties of relationship.'" it should not be given to a rich man, nor to his son, nor to his slave. the descendants of hásham and the descendants of the prophet should not be the recipients of the zakát. the prophet said: "o ahl-i-beit (men of the house), it is not lawful for you to receive zakát, for you get the one-fifth share of my fifth portion of the booty." so some say that syeds are excluded; but they demur and reply that they do not now get a portion of the spoil of the infidels. zakát must not be given to a zimmí (a non-muslim subject). in muhammadan countries there are officers whose duty it is to collect the zakát; in india the payment is left to each person's conscience. whilst there is not much regularity in the payment, due credit must be given for the care which musalmáns take of their poor. the sadqa (charitable offerings) form a different branch of this subject. a full account of it will be given in the section of the next chapter which treats of the 'Íd-ul-fitr. { } . the hajj.--the hajj, or pilgrimage to mecca, is a farz duty, and he who denies this fact is considered to be an infidel. "the pilgrimage to the temple is a service due to god from those who are able to journey thither: and as to him who believeth not--verily god can afford to dispense with all creatures." (súra iii. , .) on the authority of ibn 'abbás the following tradition has been handed down. "the prophet said: 'god has made the hajj farz.' then aqra' bin hábis, standing up, said: 'o prophet is it to be made every year?' his excellency said: 'if i say--yes, it will be a wájib duty to do it annually; but that ye are not able to bear, so the hajj is necessary only once; whatever pilgrimage may be made to mecca in addition is nafl.'" the hajj must be made by every free muslim, who is sound in body, and of full age, when he has sufficient means to pay his expenses, after duly providing for the support of his household till his return. if a slave, or a child should make the hajj, the former on attaining freedom, and the latter on coming of age must again go on pilgrimage. if a woman, whose residence is at a distance of more than three days' journey from mecca, goes on pilgrimage, she must be accompanied by her husband or by a near relative. imám as sháfa'í denies the necessity of such attendance, stating that the verse already quoted makes no such restriction. his objection is, however, met as usual by a tradition. "a certain man came to the prophet and said: 'my wife is about to make the hajj, but i am called to go on a warlike expedition.' the prophet said: 'turn away from the war and accompany thy wife in the hajj.'" imám abu yúsuf considered that a man who possessed the means should go to mecca, and held that if he delayed more than a year in making the hajj he was a sinner. imám muhammad, and most others think that a person may postpone the hajj for some years, but if death should overtake the man before he has made { } the pilgrimage, he will be accounted a sinner. so practically all agree that delay is dangerous. connected with the hajj there are three actions which are farz, and five which are wájib; all the rest are sunnat or mustahab. the farz requisites are: ( ) to wear no other garment except the ihrám,[ ] two seamless wrappers, one of which is worn round the loins, the other thrown over the shoulder; ( ) to stand in 'arfát; ( ) to make the tawáf, that is to go round the k'aba seven times. the wájib duties are: ( ) to stay in muzdalífah; ( ) to run between mount safá and mount marwah; ( ) to perform the ramí-ul-jamár, or the casting of the pebbles; ( ) if the pilgrims are non-meccans they must make an extra tawáf; ( ) to shave the head after the pilgrimage is over. the hajj must be made at the appointed season. "let the pilgrimage (hajj) be made in the months already known." (súra ii. ). these months are shawwál, zu'l-q'ada, and the first ten days of zu'l-hajja. the actual hajj must be in the month zu'l-hajja, but the preparations for, and the niyyat, or intention of the hajj can be made in the two preceding months. the 'umrah, or ordinary pilgrimage, can be done at any time of the year except on the ninth, and four succeeding days of zu'l-hajja. on each of the various roads leading to mecca, there are at a distance of about five or six miles from the city stages called míqát. the following are the names. on the madína road, the stage (manzil) is called zu'l-halifah; on the 'iráq road, zát-i-'arq; on the syrian road, hujfah; on the najd road, qarn; on the yaman road, yalamlam.[ ] { } the hájís from all parts of the muslim world at length arrive weary and worn at one of these stages. they then divest themselves of their ordinary clothing, and after a legal ablution, and after saying a namáz of two nafl rak'ats they put on the ihrám. the hájí, having now really entered upon the hajj, faces mecca and makes the niyyat (intention), and says: "o god, i purpose to make the hajj; make this service easy to me and accept it from me." he then says the talbíyah[ ]: "here i am! o alláh! here i am! here i am! there is no god but thee! truly, praise and bounty, and the kingdom are to thee! no partner hast thou! here am i!" the persons who reside permanently in any of these míqát can assume the pilgrim's garb in a place called hal, near to mecca, or in the city itself; whilst the inhabitants of mecca can put on the ihrám in the precincts of the temple. the hájí having assumed the ihrám must now abstain from worldly affairs, and devote himself entirely to the duties of the hajj. he is not allowed to hunt, though he may catch fish if he can. "o believers, kill no game while ye are on pilgrimage." (súra v. ). the prophet also said: "he who shows the place where game is to be found is equally as bad as the man who kills it." the hájí must not scratch himself, lest vermin be destroyed, or a hair be uprooted. should he feel uncomfortable, he must rub himself with the open palm of his hand.[ ] the face and head must be left uncovered, the hair on the head and beard unwashed and uncut. "shave not your heads until the { } offering reach the place of sacrifice." (súra ii, ). on arriving at an elevated place, on descending a valley, on meeting any one, on entering the city of mecca or the musjid-ul-harám[ ] the hájí should continually repeat the word "labbaik, labbaik." as soon as he sees the k'aba[ ] he must say the takbír and the tahlíl. the traditionist 'atá says that at this stage the prophet used to lift up his hands and pray. on entering the enclosure, the hájí says the labbaik, takbír and the tahlíl, then a du'á. a namáz of two rak'ats is then said at the station of one of the four great imáms. on arriving near the hajr-ul-aswad (black stone) the hájí again says the takbír and the tahlíl, after which he kisses the stone. if, on account of the crowd, he cannot get near enough to do this, he must touch it with his hand or with a stick, and kiss that with which he has thus touched the stone. at the same time he says: "o alláh, (i do this) in thy belief, and in verification of thy book, and in pursuance of thy prophet's example--may alláh bless and preserve him. o accept thou my supplication, diminish my obstacles, pity my humiliation and graciously grant me thy pardon." then he again repeats the takbír and the { } tahlíl, the darúd and the tahríf (prayer for, and praise of muhammad). he then encompasses the k'aba seven times, in accordance with the niyyat he had made, thus: "in the name of alláh, and alláh is omnipotent! i purpose to make the circuit seven times."[ ] this is called the tawáf. the hájí runs round three times at a rapid pace (tarammul), and four times he proceeds slowly (taammul). a permanent resident in mecca will not perform the tawáf. the hájí then presses his stomach, chest and right cheek against the portion of the k'aba wall, called al-multazim, and raising up his arms on high says: "o alláh, lord of the ancient house, free my neck from hell-fire, and preserve me from every evil deed; make me contented with that daily bread which thou hast given to me, and bless me in all thou hast granted!" he then says the istigfár--"i beg pardon of alláh, the most high, the living, the eternal, and to him i repent." the hájí next proceeds to the maqám-i-ibráhím[ ] (place of abraham) and then recites two rak'ats[ ] called sunnat-ut-tawáf. some water from the sacred well zemzem is then drunk, after which the hájí returns to the hajr-ul-aswad, and again kisses it. hájí burton thus describes one shaut or circuit:-- "we began the prayer 'o alláh (i do this) in thy belief and in verification of thy book, and in faithfulness to thy covenant and after the example of thy prophet muhammad. may alláh bless and preserve him!' till we reached the place al-multazim, between the corner of the black stone and the k'aba door. here we ejaculated, 'o alláh, thou hast rights, so pardon my transgressing them.' opposite the door we repeated, 'o alláh, verily the house is thy house, and the sanctuary thy sanctuary, and the safeguard thy { } safeguard, and this is the place of him who flees to thee from (hell) fire.' at the building called maqám-i-ibráhím, we said: 'o alláh, verily this is the place of abraham, who took refuge with, and fled to thee from the fire! o deny my flesh and blood, my skin and bones to the (eternal) flames.' as we paced slowly round the north or irák corner of the k'aba we exclaimed, 'o alláh, verily i take refuge with thee from polytheism, and disobedience, and hypocrisy, and evil conversation, and evil thoughts concerning family, and property and progeny.' when we passed from the mízáb, or spout, we repeated the words, 'o alláh, verily i beg of thee faith which shall not decline, and a certainty which shall not perish, and the good aid of thy prophet muhammad--may alláh bless and preserve him! o alláh, shadow me in thy shadow, on the day when there is no shadow by thy shadow; and cause me to drink from the cup of thy prophet muhammad--may alláh bless and preserve him--that pleasant draught, after which is no thirst to all eternity, o lord of honour and glory.' turning to the west corner, or the rukn el shámí, we exclaimed: 'o alláh, make it an acceptable pilgrimage, and a forgiveness of sins, and a laudable endeavour, and a pleasant action (in thy sight), and a store which perisheth not, o thou glorious, o thou pardoner!' this was repeated thrice, till we arrived at the yemaní, or southern corner, where the crowd being less importunate, we touched the wall with the right hand, after the example of the prophet, and kissed the finger-tips. between the south angle and that of the black stone, where our circuit would be completed, we said: 'o alláh, verily i take refuge with thee from infidelity, and i take refuge with thee from want, and from the tortures of the tomb, and from the troubles of life and death. and i fly to thee from ignominy in this world and the next, and implore thy pardon for the present and the future. o lord, grant to me in this life prosperity, and in the next life prosperity, and save me from the punishment of fire.'" the next important step is the running between the mounts safá and marwah. starting from the former, the hájí runs seven times between the two summits. he runs, moving the shoulders, and with head erect, like soldiers charging in battle. the reason for this is, that the infidel meccans mocked the companions of the prophet, and said that the climate of madína had made them weak. this bold way of running was adopted to disprove the { } calumny and so has become a sunnat practice. the prayer to be said during the s'ai (running) is: "o my lord, pardon and pity, and pass over that (sin) which thou knowest. verily thou knowest what is not known, and verily thou art the most glorious, the most generous. o, our lord, grant us in both worlds prosperity, and save us from fire." the hájí should also quote passages from the qurán. this s'ai must be done after an important tawáf, either the first, or a later one. on the seventh day the imám must preach in mecca, and instruct the pilgrims in the ritual of the hajj. he preaches again on the ninth and eleventh days. on the eighth day, (rúz-i-tarwiáh), the hájí goes to miná, a place three miles distant from mecca, where with all the other hájís he says the usual namáz, and there spends the night.[ ] this is a sunnat observance. on the morning of the ninth day, starting after the salát-ul-fajr, the hájí goes to 'arifát.[ ] on arriving there he says: "o god, i turn to thee, i put my trust on thee, i desire thee, pardon my sin, accept my hajj, show mercy to me, supply my need in 'arifát, thou art powerful over all." he then says labbaik, the takbír and the tahlíl. the noontide, and the afternoon namáz are said together there: they are thus shortened.[ ] this done he should stand upon the mountain, if possible at or near the place the prophet { } is said to have occupied. this is called the wukúf or (standing), a necessary part of the hajj. he must also listen to the sermon delivered by the imám, explaining what still remains of the ritual of the hajj, _i.e._, how the hájís are to stand in muzdalífah, to throw the stones in miná, to make the sacrifice, &c. all the time the hájí should constantly shout out the talbíyah, and the tahlíl, and weep bitterly. the hájí then proceeds to muzdalífah, a place situated about half-way between miná and 'arifát, where he should pass a portion of the night. after a visit to the mosque mashar al harám, he should collect seven pebbles and proceed to miná. when the morning of the tenth day, the 'Íd-ul-azhá arrives, he again goes to miná, where there are three different pillars, called respectively the jamrat-ul-akabah, commonly known as the shaitan-ul-kabír[ ] (great devil), the wusta, or middle pillar, and the al ula, or first one. holding the jamár, or pebble, between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, the hájí throws it a distance of not less than fifteen feet and says: "in the name of alláh, and alláh is almighty, (i do this) in hatred of the fiend and to his shame." the remaining six stones are thrown in like manner. the object is to confound the devils who are supposed to be there. the stones are small lest the pilgrims should be hurt. before each stone is thrown the takbír must be said. this ceremony is called ramí-ul-jamár, the throwing of stones. it is also known as hasal khazaf. it is said that this ceremony has been performed since the time of abraham, and that the stones are miraculously removed. ibn 'abbás, a companion, says that if the pilgrimage of a hájí is approved of by god, the stones are secretly removed. mujáhid, a well known traditionist, { } says that he put a mark on his stones and afterwards searched, but found them not. the pilgrim then returns to miná, and there offers the usual sacrifice of the 'Íd-ul-azhá. an account of this will be given in the next chapter. this act strictly speaking, concludes the hajj. the hájí can now shave his head, pare his nails and remove the ihrám. the remaining three days, the th, th and th of zu'l-hajja are called the aiyám-ut-tashríq "days of drying flesh" because now the pilgrims prepare provisions for the return journey, by cutting slices from the victims offered in sacrifice and drying them in the sun. the hájí should spend this time at miná, and each day throw seven pebbles at each of the pillars. this ceremony duly over, he returns to mecca and makes the tawáf-ul-widá' (circuit of farewell). he should also drink some water from the well of zemzem. tradition says that when ishmael was thirsty gabriel stamped with his foot and a spring gushed forth. this is now the far-famed well zemzem. finally, the hájí kisses the threshold, and then, with hands uplifted laying hold of the covering of the k'aba, and weeping bitterly, he prays most humbly, and expresses regret that he will soon have to depart from a place so dear as the sacred k'aba. retiring backwards, he makes his exit and the hajj is complete.[ ] the umráh or little pilgrimage can be made at any time except the eighth, ninth and tenth of zu'l-hajja. it is usually done before pilgrims start homewards. its ceremonies differ but slightly from the hajj. the ihrám must { } be put on, and the obligations of abstinence which it entails must be observed. the usual course is then to make the ziárat, or visit to the tomb of the prophet at madína. henceforth the pilgrim assumes the honorable title of hájí and so is, ever after, a person of some consequence among the community in which he dwells. the hajj cannot be performed by proxy, though it is esteemed a 'good work,' if someone who can afford it, sends a pilgrim who otherwise could not go. this account of the irkán-i-dín, or five pillars of religion, must now draw to a close. they illustrate well the fixed and formal nature of islám, whilst the constant reference to the prophet's sayings and practice, as an authority for many of the details, shows how largely islám is based on the sunnat. with regard to the differences of opinion which the great imáms hold on some of the details, it is most difficult to decide which side holds the correct view. such opinions are always based on some tradition, the value of which it is impossible to determine. the opponent says it is a weak (z'aif) tradition--a statement it would puzzle any one to prove or to disprove. it is sometimes said in praise of musalmáns that they are not priest-ridden; but no people in the world are so tradition-ridden, if one may use such an expression. until this chain of superstition is broken there can be no progress and no enlightenment; but when it is so broken islám will cease to be islám, for this foundation of the faith and the edifice erected on it are so welded together that the undermining of the one will be the fall of the other. { } note to chapter v. _the following fatvá was publicly given in the great mosque, triplicane, madras, february th, ._ in the name of god, the compassionate, the merciful. question. "o 'ulamá of the religion, and muftís of the enlightened law, what is your opinion in this matter? a person having translated a juz (one-thirtieth part) of the noble qurán into the hindustani language has printed it. the translation is defective: moreover the arabic text is not given. in order to give the translation the same authority as the original, he has retained the usual signs and marks of the arabic editions; such as--toí, qif, jím, lá, mím, and (.).[ ] at the end of the juz he has added a translation of the tashshahud, qanúd, saná, ta'awwuz, tasmí, tashibát, rukú' and sujúd, and has said that all these must be read in hindustani. he further states that in the translation he has retained the rhythm of the original, and that in eloquence and style it is equal to the arabic. he has also added rubrical directions as to the ritual of the namáz, and has stated that to those who do not know arabic, it is a wájib and a farz duty to recite the translation; otherwise they commit sin and the namáz is vain. as regards the past, he considers that the ignorant are forgiven, but he maintains that the 'ulamá of these days must answer for the neglect they show in not telling the people to use translations of the qurán. further, in support of his views he adduces a hadís-i-sahíh, according to which the prophet said to a companion, salmán-i-farsí: "read a translation of the qurán in the namáz." he claims, as on his side, the four great imáms. he himself understands arabic, yet he says his namáz in hindustani and influences others to do likewise. he has been spoken to, but he takes no heed and strives to spread his sect all over india. now, what is the order of the noble law with regard to such a person, and what is the decree in the case of those who follow { } him, or who circulate his opinions, or who consider him a religious man and a guide, or who consider the translation to which reference has been made to be the holy qurán, or who teach it to their children? o learned men, state the law in this matter and merit a good reward." the answer. "after praising god, and after imploring his mercy and peace on muhammad, be it known that the person referred to is an infidel, an atheist and a wanderer from the truth. he also causes others to wander. his assertion that his opinions are in accordance with those of the four imáms is utterly false, because according to imám sháfa'í, imám málik, and imám hanbal it is illegal to use a translation of the qurán when saying the namáz, whether the worshipper is ignorant of arabic or not. thus imám navarí, a disciple of sháfa'í says: "it is unlawful in any case to use persian[ ] in the namáz." faqí 'alí, a disciple of málik says: "persian is unlawful." to these opinions káfí, a disciple of hanbal adds his testimony: "to recite in the namáz from a translation of the qurán is unlawful." moreover from the qurán itself, the recital of it in arabic is proved to be a divine command (farz). the term qurán, too, means an arabic qurán, for god speaks of it as a revelation in arabic. the words "recite so much of the qurán as may be easy to you" prove the duty of reciting it; whilst the words "an arabic qurán have we sent it down" show that the qurán to be used is an arabic one. imám abu hanífa and his disciples, the sáhibain (imám muhammad and imám abu yúsuf), consider that, if a person can recite only a short verse in arabic, it is not lawful for such an one to use a translation. if he cannot read the arabic character, he must learn by heart such a sentence as "praise be to god, lord of the people." until he learns this he may use a translation.[ ] in the tanwír-ul-absár it is written: "it is a farz duty to read one verse, and to learn it by heart is farz-i-'ain" (_i.e._, incumbent on all). in the masíh-ul-azhar it is written: "if a person says the namáz in a language other than arabic, he is a madman or an atheist." with regard to the statement made by imám abu hanífa that a person might use for a { } time a translation, it is well known that he afterwards recalled that opinion. the statement made by the person complained of regarding sulmán-i-farsí is not correct. in the niháyáh (commentary on the hidáyah) it is written that some persians wrote to sulmán, and requested him to send them a persian translation of súrat-ul-fátiha. he complied with their request and they used it in the namáz, _until they could pronounce arabic properly_. the prophet on hearing of this circumstance made no remark. this account, however, is not trustworthy; but granting that it is true, all that it proves is that, until some arabic words can be remembered, a translation may be used. no imám has ever allowed that to read a translation is farz or wájib. so if the person referred to says that it is farz to read his own translation, then it follows that to read the original arabic will not be farz, but will be unlawful. now such an opinion is infidelity. the person is a káfir, for he tries to make out that the 'ulamá of all preceding ages who have instructed the people, from the days of the prophet till now, to read arabic in the namáz are sinners. further, he rejects the statement made by learned canonists and listens now to no advice. he reads his translation in the namáz and causes others to read it. he boasts that his translation is equal in style to the original. he has translated the du'á-i-qunút, saná, and the tasbíhát of the rukú' and sujúd, and has said that these translations should be used in the namáz. thus, it is plain that he wants to abolish the use of arabic in the prayers. the result of such a course would be that soon a number of different translations would be circulated, and the text like that of the taurait, and the injíl would be corrupted. in the fatáwá-i-'Álamgírí it is written: "whosoever considers that the unlawful is lawful or _vice versâ_ is a káfir." "if any one without apparent cause has enmity with one of the 'ulamá, his orthodoxy is doubtful." "a man who after committing a fault declines to repent, though requested to do so, is an infidel." in the tahqíq-i-sharh-i-husainí it is written; "to translate the qurán into persian and to read that is unlawful." in the fatáwá-i-matlúb-ul-múminín it is said: "whosoever intends to write the qurán in persian must be strictly forbidden." in the itqán it is written: "according to ijmá', it is wrong to speak of the qurán as having rhymes."[ ] in the fatáwá-i-tátár khánía it is said: "to translate the arabic into persian is an act of infidelity." our decision then is that the usual salutations should not be made to this person. if he dies he must not be buried in a musalmán { } cemetery. his marriages are void and his wives are at liberty, according to the rule laid down in the miftáh-us-s'ádat. to doubt of the infidelity of such a person is itself infidelity. as by the proofs of the law here adduced, the 'ulamá have declared such a person to be an infidel, it follows that all those who assist him or who consider his claim just, or who circulate his opinions, or who consider him to be a religious person and a fit guide for men, are also infidels. to send children to be taught by him, to purchase newspapers which advocate his views, and to continue to read his translation is unlawful. in the fatáwá-i-'Álamgírí in the chapter entitled murtád it is written: "whosoever has doubts of the present infidelity and of the future punishment of such an one is an infidel." god says in the qurán: "be helpful to one another according to goodness and piety, but be not helpful for evil and malice; and fear ye god." (súra v. ). in another place god says: "whosoever acts not according to god's order is an infidel." now, what greater disobedience can there be than this, that a person should say that the recital of the arabic qurán in the namáz is not lawful, and that the recital of his own hindustani translation of it is incumbent (farz). "our duty is to give information to musalmáns, and god is the best knower." this was written by a learned moulvie, and signed by twenty-four other leading moulvies of the city of madras. this fatvá, an authentic copy of which is in my possession, is of very considerable importance as showing how unyielding the law of islám is to the varied circumstances of the countries in which it exists. the law enjoining the arabic language as a medium of worship was suited for the arab people, and the principle involved would seem to be that the vernacular language of a country should be used by the muslims of that country for the purposes of devotion; but, as i have repeatedly shown, precepts, not principles are the ruling power in islám. it further demonstrates that all such matters must be regulated, not by the needs of the age or country, but by an antiquated law which, to say the least, is an anachronism in the world's history. the authority paid to the statements made by the four chief imáms, and the fact that the fatvá is based on their decisions, and on previous fatvás in which their authority has been adduced, show how even to the present day they are regarded as the mujtahidín of islám. the fatvá is thus manifestly orthodox, and corroborates most fully all i have said in the first chapter on the "foundations of islám." { } * * * * * chapter vi. the feasts and fasts of islÁm. . muharram.--muharram, the name of the first month of the muhammadan year, has now become the name by which are known the days of mourning spent by the shía'hs in commemoration of the martyrdoms of 'alí and of his two sons hasan and husain. the historical events thus referred to have been already described in the third chapter, so that it is only necessary now to give an account of the ceremonies connected with the muharram. they differ in different countries. the following is a description of an indian muharram. some days previous to the feast, the 'Áshúr khána (literally, ten-day house) is prepared. as soon as the new moon appears, the people gather together in the various 'Áshúr khánas, and offer a fátiha over some sherbet or some sugar in the name of husain. the fátiha concludes thus: "o god, grant the reward of this to the soul of husain." the sherbet and sugar are then given to the poor. then they mark a spot for the alláwa, or hole for the bonfire which is to be lit. every night during the festival these fires are kindled, and the people, both old and young, fence across the fire with swords or sticks, and jump about calling out: "'alí! noble husain! noble husain! dulha! dulha! bridegroom! bridegroom! friend! &c." these words they repeat hundreds of times. in some parts of the country they erect an imám bára (imám-house). this is often a substantial building, frequently used afterwards as a mausoleum for the founder and his family. in south india the 'Áshúr khána only is known. this is generally a temporary structure, or { } some large hall fitted up for the occasion. sometimes the walls are draped with black cloth, bordered with texts of the qurán written in a large and elegant style. the place is brilliantly illuminated. on one side stands the tázíahs or tábúts--structures made of bamboos covered with tinsel and profusely ornamented. they are intended to represent the mausoleum erected on the plains of karbalá over the remains of husain. sometimes the tázíah is constructed to represent the prophet's tomb at madína. large sums of money are spent on these tázíahs, which when lighted up have a very elegant appearance. at the back of the tázíahs are laid the several articles similar to those supposed to have been used by husain at karbalá,--a turban of gold, a rich sword, a shield, a bow and arrow. the mimbar, or pulpit is so placed that the speaker can face mecca. the 'alams, or standards, which are commonly made of copper and brass, though occasionally of gold or of silver, are placed against the walls. the usual standard is that of a hand placed on a pole. this is emblematic of the five members who compose the family of the prophet, and is the special standard of the shía'hs. these standards have many different names, such as--the standard of the palm of 'alí, the lady fátima's standard, the standard of the horse-shoe, to represent the shoe of husain's swift horse, and others too numerous to mention. mirrors, chandeliers and coloured lanterns add lustre to the scene. every evening large crowds of people assemble in these 'Áshúr khánas. in the centre, on a slightly raised platform a band of singers chant the marsiya, an elegiac poem in honour of the martyred husain. it is a monotonous performance lasting about an hour; but it has a wonderful effect on the audience, who, seated on the ground, listen patiently and attentively. at each pause the hearers beat their breasts, and say husain! husain! real or stimulated grief often finds expression in groans and tears, though the more violent expression of the anguish felt is reserved for a later ceremony. { } this over, the wáqi'a khán (literally, narrator of events) ascends the mimbar, or pulpit, and seats himself on the top, or on a lower step. he proceeds to relate the historical facts, adding many curious stories gathered from the vast heap of traditions which have cast such a halo of glory around the martyr. sometimes he becomes very excited, and the audience is stirred up to great enthusiasm. the following account is that of an eye-witness who passed an evening in an 'Áshúr khána. "the first wáqi'a khán was a persian who delivered a very eloquent oration in his own tongue. it was calm but effective. he was succeeded by an eloquent old gentleman who spoke rapidly in hindustani at the top of his voice, then rose up, ran down the steps, and casting off his turban rushed in and out amongst the audience, vociferating vigorously all the while. the effect was marvellous, old and venerable men wept like little children, whilst from the adjoining zanána was heard the bitter weeping of the women who, though not exposed to view, could hear all that was said. after a while, the assembly rose and formed two lines facing each other. a boy then chanted a few words and the whole assembly began, slowly at first, to sway their bodies to and fro, calling out 'alí! 'alí! husain! husain! each one then began to beat his breast vigorously. the excitement at last became intense and the men in the rows looked like so many wild creatures." in some cases blood has been known to flow from the breast, so severe is the self-inflicted beating. this continues till they are well-nigh exhausted, when the whole company goes away to repeat the performance over again in some other 'Áshúr khána. a devout person will visit several each evening. during the day some pious shía'hs recite the qurán. during this season women who can read, visit the zanánas and chant marsiyas to the ladies of the harem, by whom this season of muharram is celebrated with great earnestness. for the first six days, nothing else takes place, but on the { } seventh day the 'alam-i-qásím is taken out in public procession. this is to represent the marriage of qásím, the son of hasan, to the favourite daughter of husain, just before the death of the latter. the event is now commemorated by the bearing of qásím's standard in procession. it is usually borne by a man on horseback. if it is carried by a man on foot, he reels about like a drunken man to show his grief. the crowd shout out: bridegroom! bridegroom! after perambulating the principal thoroughfares, the people bring the standard back to its own 'Áshúr khána. as the standard which represents qásím is supposed to be a martyr, it is then laid down, covered over, and treated as a corpse. lamentation is made over it as for one dead. sherbet is then produced, and a fátiha is said, after which the standard is again set up in its own place. the neza, a lance or spear, with a lime on the top, to recall to remembrance the fact that yezíd caused husain's head to be thus carried about, is taken in procession from one place to another. the na'l sáhib (literally, mr. horse-shoe) is the representation of a horse shoe, and is meant to remind the people of the swift horse of husain. vows are frequently made to this standard. thus a woman may say to it: "should i through your favour be blessed with offspring, i shall make it run in your procession." if she attains her wish, the child when seven or eight years old has a small parasol placed in its hand and is made to run after the na'l sáhib. if two 'alams, or standards, meet, they embrace each other, that is they are made to touch. fátiha is then said and the respective processions pass on their way. the buráq, supposed to be a fac-simile of the horse sent by gabriel for muhammad to make the night ascent to heaven (ante. p. ) is also taken out. on the evening before the tenth day, which according to the muslim mode of computing time is the tenth night, the whole of the tázías and the 'alams are taken out in { } procession. it is a scene of great confusion, for men and boys disguised in all sorts of quaint devices run about. it is the carnival of the musalmán year. on the following day, the 'Áshúrá, they kindle the fires in the alláwas, and say a fátiha in each 'Áshúr khána. after this the 'alams and the tázías are taken away to a large open spot near water, which represents the plain of karbalá. another fátiha is said, the ornaments and decorations are taken off the tázías, the frameworks of which are then cast into the water.[ ] sometimes they are reserved for use the following year. the water reminds the people of the parching thirst which husain felt before his death. only the 'alams, not the buráqs nor the na'l sáhibs, are immersed. the people then burn incense, recite the marsiyas, return home and say fátiha over the 'alams, buráqs, &c. on the evening of the th, they sit up all night reading the qurán, reciting marsiyas and verses in the praise of husain. on the th day, a quantity of food is cooked which, when a fátiha has been said over it, is distributed to the poor. some very pious shía'hs celebrate the fortieth day after the first of muharram. it is on this day, according to some accounts, that the head and body of husain were reunited. it is known as the 'Íd-i-sar wa tan (head and body feast). the sunnís do not, except as spectators, take any part in the muharram ceremonies. indeed, where the ruling power is not strong, there is often much ill-feeling aroused by the enthusiasm excited for all that concerns 'alí and his family. the three first khalífs are often well abused, and that no sunní can bear with patience. the breach between the sunní and the shía'h is very wide, and the annual recurrence of the muharram feast tends to keep alive the distinction. { } the tenth day--the 'Áshúrá is, however, a sunnat feast and, as such, is observed by all sunnís. it is considered to be a most excellent day, for on it god is said to have created adam and eve, his throne, heaven, hell, the seat of judgment, the tablet of decree, the pen, fate, life and death. the sunnís about three o'clock in the afternoon of this day prepare sherbet and khichrí--a dish composed of boiled rice and pulse mixed with clarified butter and spices. a fátiha in the name of husain and of those who were martyred with him is then said. the food is disposed of as usual in such cases. a namáz of some nafl rak'ats is said and sometimes a du'á is added. on this day also they go to the burial grounds and place flowers on, and say fátiha over the graves of their friends. indian musalmáns have copied in their feast many hindu ceremonies. the procession of the tázías, and the casting of them into the water is very similar to the procession at the hindu feast of the durga puja,[ ] when on the tenth day the hindus cast the idol durga, the wife of siva, into the ganges. the oblations offered at different shrines are similar to those offered by the hindus, such as rice, clarified butter and flowers. the muhammadan form of worship was too simple for a country, in which an allegorical and idolatrous religion predominated, addressing itself to the senses and the imaginations rather than to the understanding and the heart; consequently the musalmán festivals have borrowed from it a variety of pagan rites, and a pompous and splendid ceremonial. while this has done much to add to the superstition of the musalmáns in india, it has no doubt softened their intolerant spirit. though the sunnís consider the shía'h observances as impious, they look on with the contempt of indifference. the fact that the british government punishes all who break { } the peace may have something to do with this. still the sunní and the shía'h in india live on much better terms, and have more respect for each other than the turk has for the persian, or the persian for the turk. some musalmán poets, indeed, are both sunnís and shía'hs. thus wálí, begins his poem with a brief encomium on the four first khalífs, and then bestows an eulogy on 'alí and his sons hasan and husain whom he calls "imáms of the world." the following is a prayer used in a fátiha for 'alí:-- i pray, "that god may deign for the sake of that pure soul, the ornament of the book of nature, the first of mortals after the prophet, the star of mortals, the most precious jewel of the jewel-box of virtue, the lord of the high and the low, he who occupies a distinguished place on the bridge of eternity, the mihráb[ ] of the faith, he who sits upon the throne of the palace of the law, the ship of the sea of religion, the sun of the firmament of glory, the power of the arm of the prophet, he who has merited access to the tabernacle of the divine unity, the most profound of all religious people, the resplendent brightness of the marvels of god, the father of victory, the imám of the gate of heaven, the cup-bearer of the water of kausar, he who has merited the praise of muhammad, he who is the best of men, the holy martyr, the chief of believers, the imám of the faithful, 'alí, son of abu tálib, 'alí the victorious lion of the most high. i pray that god for the sake of this holy khalíf may favourably hear the vows which i offer to him." the following prayer occurs in a fátiha said for hasan and husain:-- i pray, "that the eternal god may deign to accept the vows which i make for the repose of the glorious souls of the two brave imáms, the martyrs well-beloved by god, the innocent victims of wickedness, the blessed abu muhammad al-hasan and abu 'abd-alláh al-husain, and for the twelve imáms, and the fourteen[ ] pure ones, and for the seventy-two martyrs of the plain of karbalá." { } . akhir-i-chÁr shamba.--this feast is held on the last wednesday of the month safar. it is kept in commemoration of the fact, that, as on this day, the prophet experienced some mitigation of the disorder which in the next month terminated his life. sweet cakes are prepared, and fátihas in the name of the prophet are said over them; but the most extraordinary custom is the drinking of the seven saláms. a plantain, or a mango tree leaf, or a piece of paper is taken to a mullá, or a religious teacher, who writes seven short sentences from the qurán upon it. the writing whilst still wet is washed off, and the mixture drunk by the person for whom it was written. peace and happiness are thus ensured for the future. the seven saláms are: ( ) "peace! shall be the word on the part of a merciful lord." (súra xxxvi. ). ( ) "peace be on noah throughout the worlds." (súra xxxvii. ). ( ) "peace be on abraham." (súra xxxvii. ). ( ) "peace be on moses and aaron." (súra xxxvii. ). ( ) "peace be on elias." (súra xxxvii. ). ( ) "peace be on you, ye have been good; enter into paradise." (súra xxxix. ). ( ) "it is peace till the breaking of the morn." (súra xcvii. ). the shía'hs consider this an unlucky day. they call it "chár shamba-i-súrí."--the "wednesday of the trumpet;" that is, of the trumpet of the last day. the sunnís, on the other hand, rejoice in the day, and esteem it an excellent and auspicious season. . bÁrÁ wafÁt.--this feast is held on the twelfth day of the month rabí'-ul-awwal. the name is derived from bárá, twelve and wafát, death, because many suppose that on this day the prophet died. according to a well-known muslim writer "the terrific intelligence, circulating throughout the world, produced universal consternation, and all hastened to offer to god their vows and prayers for the repose of the prophet's soul." others, however, maintain that he died on the second of the month and, as there is some doubt on the subject, many persons make a fátiha { } every day, from the first to the twelfth of the month inclusive. those who keep the feast as bárá wafát observe the ceremony called sandal on the previous evening, and the 'urs, that is, the prayers and the oblations, on the twelfth. the sandal consists in making a perfumed embrocation from sandal wood. this is then placed into a vessel and carried in procession to the 'Íd-gáh,[ ] or to the place where fátiha will be said. it is then distributed to the people. it is a sort of public notice on the eve of a feast day, or of a saint's day, that on the morrow the usual prayers and offerings will be made in such and such a place. on the morning of the twelfth, the qurán is read in the mosque, or in private houses: then food is cooked and fátihas are said. some persons possess a qadam-i-rasúl, or footstep of the prophet. this is a stone with the impression of a footstep on it. it is a sacred thing and on this day the place in which it is kept is elegantly decorated. when a company has assembled, some persons appointed for the purpose, repeat the story of the birth, miracles and death of the prophet. portions of the qurán are read and the darúd is said.[ ] in madras, and in some other parts, it is more customary to keep this day, not as the anniversary of the death of the prophet, but as the "'jashn-i-milád-i-sharíf," the "feast of the noble birth." the practical duties are the same. instead of the qadam-i-rasúl, the Ásár-i-sharíf is exhibited. this is supposed to be a real portion of the hair of the prophet's beard and moustache. it is said to possess { } the miraculous property of growing again when a portion is broken off. on this day it is put into rose water which those present then drink and rub on their eyes. great virtue is attached to this proceeding. in the Ásár khána, or house in which this hair is kept fátihas, darúds, &c., are repeated. the observance of this festival is neither wájib nor sunnat, but mustahab. it is generally kept, and it is a very rare thing to meet a person who does not believe in the miraculous growth of the Ásár-i-sharíf. . shab barÁt.--this feast, the name of which signifies the "night of the record," is held on the fourteenth day of the month sh'abán. the 'arfa, or vigil is kept on the preceding day.[ ] it is commonly but erroneously called shab-i-barát. the word barát signifies a book or record. it is said that god on this night registers in the barát all the actions men are to perform during the ensuing year. on the thirteenth day food is prepared for the poor and a fátiha for the benefit of deceased ancestors and relatives is said over it. when all in the house are assembled, the súrat-ul-fátiha is read once, the súrat-ul-iklás ( ) three times, the Áyat-ul-kursí once, and then the darúd. after this a prayer is offered, in which god is asked to transfer the reward of this service, and of the charity shown in the gift of food to the poor, to the souls of deceased relatives and friends of this family. this petition is offered in the name of the prophet. the men then go to the mosque and after the namáz-i-'ishá they repeat a number of nafl rak'ats. this over, the súrat-ul-yá sín is read three times. it must be done with the niyyat, intention. the first time, the intention is that the worshipper may have a long life; the second time, that his means of subsistence may be increased; the third time, that he may be protected from evil. { } the súra-i-dukhán ( ) is then read with the same intentions. any other portions may then be read. after this those present rise, and go to the various cemeteries. on the way they purchase flowers which are afterwards strewn on the graves. a fátiha is then said. if the worshipper has no relatives or friends buried there, prayer is offered for the benefit of the arwáh-i-qubúr, the souls of those there buried. the very pious spend the whole night in going from one cemetery to another. these observances are neither farz, nor sunnat, but nawáfil, (sing. nafl), works of supererogation. still though they are bid'at, yet they are esteemed good and so are called bid'at-i-hasana, or "excellent innovation." the general merry-making of the fourteenth day has no religious signification. the night of the fifteenth is the guy fawkes night of islám. large sums of money are spent on fireworks, of which more are let off on this feast than at any other. the following prayer occurs in the fátiha: "o our god, by the merits of the apostleship of muhammad, grant that the lamps which are lit up on this holy night may be for the dead a pledge of the light eternal, which we pray thee to shed on them. o god, admit them, we beseech thee, unto the abode of eternal felicity." . ramazÁn and 'Íd-ul-fitr--it is one of the five pillars of the practical religious duties to fast during the thirty days of the month ramazán. the subject of fasting has been fully treated of in the preceding chapter; and so it is only necessary now to describe the other ceremonies connected with the religious observance of this month. from the earliest days of islám this month has been held in the greatest esteem by muslims, for it was in this month that muhammad used to retire for meditation, year after year, to the cave of hira, situated on a low hill some few miles distant from mecca. in the second year of the hijra, or flight from mecca, it was ordained that the month of ramazán should be kept as a fast. "as to the month { } ramazán, in which the qurán was sent down to be man's guidance, and an explanation of that guidance, and of that illumination, as soon as any one of you observeth the moon, let him set about the fast." (súra ii. ). the muslims had hitherto observed as the principal fast the 'ashúrá, the tenth of muharram. this fast was probably connected with the jewish fast on the tenth day of the seventh month. "also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, &c." (leviticus xxiii. ). now, when muhammad first went to madína he had great hopes of winning over the jews to his side; but when he failed he took every opportunity of making islám differ as much as possible from judaism. this was the reason why the qibla was changed (ante. p. ), and that in the second year of his residence at madína the fast of ramazán was appointed. the reasons assigned by learned muslims for the selection of this month, are that in ramazán god gave to the previous prophets the revelations connected with their names, and that in this month the qurán was sent down from the secret tablet in the seventh heaven to the first or lowest, and that on the laylut-ul-qadr, or 'night of power' the first revelation was made to muhammad. "verily we have caused it (qurán) to descend on the 'night of power.' and who shall teach thee what the night of power is? the night of power excelleth a thousand nights." (súra xcvii. - ). to illustrate the sacredness of this month the prophet used to say that in it "the gates of paradise are open, and the gates of hell are shut, and the devils are chained by the leg." "only those who observe it will be allowed to enter by the gate of heaven called rayyán." those who keep the fast "will be pardoned all their past venial sins."[ ] in making the fast one for the day, and none for the night, { } muhammad doubtless had reference to the verse: "god wisheth you ease, but wisheth not your discomfort." (súra ii. ). the special ceremonies connected with the ramazán are the taráwíh namáz and 'itikáf (retirement). the taráwíh prayers have been described already (p. ). each night in ramazán one-thirtieth part (sípára) of the qurán is recited in the mosque. the duty of performing the 'itikáf is a sunnat-ul-maukadda, a very strict duty. the mu'takif, one who makes 'itikáf, must remain apart in a mosque used for public services, and there meditate. bukhárí says that the prophet made 'itikáf the last ten days of each ramazán, and that the practice was continued by his wives after his death. usually a man should thus sit and meditate one of the days between the twentieth and the thirtieth of ramazán. if his meditation is disturbed by any illegal interruption, another day should be devoted to it; but imám muhammad says: "the least legal time is one hour." some theologians hold that 'itikáf is farz-i-kifáya, that is, if one person of a community does it the obligation does not rest on the others. if, however, a person makes a vow in ramazán, then 'itikáf is considered wájib. 'itikáf can be performed at any time other than the last ten days of ramazán, but then it is only mustahab, a work of supererogation. all the sects except the sháfa'ítes hold that the mu'takif must fast. he should also make the nizzat, or intention, of performing what he is about to do. the mu'takif must not go out of the mosque except for obviously necessary purposes, and for making the legal wazú and ghusl (purifications). at night he may eat, drink and sleep in the mosque: acts quite unlawful at other times. he may speak with others on religious matters, and if a man of business, he may give orders with regard to the purchase and sale of merchandize, but on no account must any goods be brought to him. it is highly meritorious for him to read the qurán in an audible voice. by such an act he becomes { } a man of penetration, whose words are as powerful as a sharp sword.[ ] when the thirty days have passed the fast is broken. this act is called iftár, and the first day on which food is taken is called the 'Íd-ul-fitr--the 'feast of the breaking of the fast.' on that day the sadqa, or alms are given before the namáz is said in the mosque. the sadqa of the 'Íd-ul-fitr is confined to muslims: no other persons receive it. if any one neglects to give these alms before the namáz is said, he will not merit so great a reward as he otherwise would. the reason assigned for this is that, unless they are given early in the day, the poor cannot refresh themselves before coming to the mosque for the namáz. the sadqa are given for the good of one's own soul, for that of young children, slaves male and female--muslim or infidel; but not for the spiritual benefit of one's wife or elder children. in south india, the sadqa consists of a gift of sufficient rice to feed one person. when this has been done the people go to the mosque saying, 'god is great! god is great!' the namáz is like that of a friday, except that only two rak'ats are said, and the khutba which is said after the namáz is sunnat; whereas the friday khutba is said before the farz rak'ats, and is itself of farz obligation. after hearing the sermon, the people disperse, visit each other and thoroughly enjoy themselves. a very usual form of the khutba of the 'Íd-ul-fitr which is preached in arabic is as follows:-- sermon on the 'Íd-ul-fitr. in the name of god, the compassionate, the merciful. "holy is god who has opened the door of mercy for those who fast, and in mercy and kindness has granted them the right of entrance into heaven. god is greater than all. there is no god save him. god is great! god is great! and worthy of praise. it { } is of his grace and favour that he rewards those who keep the fast. he has said: 'i will give in the future world houses and palaces, and many excellent blessings to those who fast. god is great! god is great! holy is he who certainly sent the qurán to our prophet in the month of ramazán, and who sends angels to grant peace to all true believers. god is great! and worthy of all praise. we praise and thank him for the 'Íd-ul-fitr, that great blessing; and we testify that beside him there is no god. he is alone. he has no partner. this witness which we give to his unity will be a cause of our safety here, and finally gain us an entrance to paradise. muhammad (on whom be the mercy and peace of god) and all famous prophets are his slaves. he is the lord of genii and of men. from him comes mercy and peace upon muhammad and his family, so long as the world shall last. god is greater than all. there is none beside him. god is great! god is great! and worthy of all praise. o company of believers, o congregation of muslims, the mercy of the true one is on you. he says that this feast day is a blessing to you, and a curse to the unbelievers. your fasting will not be rewarded, and your prayers will be stayed in their flight to heaven until you have given the sadqa.[ ] o congregation of believers, to give alms is to you a wájib duty. give to the poor some measures of grain or its money equivalent. your duty in ramazán was to say the taráwíh prayers, to make supplication to god, to sit and meditate ('itikáf) and to read the qurán. the religious duties of the first ten days of ramazán gain the mercy of god, those of the second ten merit his pardon; whilst those of the last ten save those who do them from the punishment of hell. god has declared that ramazán is a noble month, for is not one of its nights, the laylut-ul-qadr, better than a thousand months? on that night gabriel and the angels descended from heaven: till the morning breaks it is full of blessing. its eloquent interpreter, and its clearest proof is the qurán, the word of god, most gracious. holy is god who says in the qurán: "this word of god comes down in the month of ramazán." this is a guide for men, a distinguisher between right and wrong. o believers, in such a month be present, obey the order of your god and fast; but let the sick and the travellers substitute some other days on which to fast so that no days be lost, and say: "god is great!" and praise him. god has made the fast easy for you. o believers, god will bless you and us by the grace of the holy qurán. every verse of it is a benefit to us and fills us with wisdom. god is the bestower, the { } holy king, the munificent, the kind, the nourisher, the merciful, the clement."[ ] "the assemblies of the ladies on this 'Íd are marked by all the amusements and indulgences they can possibly invent or enjoy in their secluded state. some receiving, others paying visits in covered conveyances; all doing honour to the day by wearing their best jewellery and splendid dress. the zanána rings with festive songs and loud music, the cheerful meeting of friends, the distribution of presents to dependents, and remembrances to the poor; all is life and joy, cheerful bustle and amusement, on this happy day of 'Íd, when the good lady of the mansion sits in state to receive presents from inferiors and to grant proofs of her favour to others."[ ] . the baqr-'Íd.--this is the most important feast in the whole year. it is also known as the 'Íd-i-qurbán, and as the 'Íd-ul-azhá, commonly called the Íd-uz-zuhá, the feast of sacrifice. in turkey and in egypt it is called bairám. its origin was as follows: a few months after the hijra, or flight from mecca, muhammad, dwelling in madína, observed that the jews kept, on the tenth day of the seventh month, the great fast of the atonement. a tradition records that the prophet asked them why they kept this fast. he was informed that it was a memorial of the deliverance of moses and the children of israel from the hands of pharaoh. "we have a greater right in moses than they," said muhammad, so he fasted with the jews and commanded his followers to fast also. this was at the period of his mission when muhammad was friendly with the jews of madína, who occasionally came to hear him preach. the prophet also occasionally attended the synagogue. then came the change of the qibla from jerusalem to mecca, for the jews were not so ready to change their { } creed as muhammad had at first hoped. in the second year of the hijra, muhammad and his followers did not participate in the jewish fast, for the prophet now instituted the feast of the baqr-'Íd. the idolatrous arabs had been in the habit of making an annual pilgrimage to mecca at this season of the year. the offering of animals in sacrifice formed a part of the concluding ceremony of that pilgrimage. that portion--the sacrifice of animals--muhammad adopted in the feast which now, at madína, he substituted for the jewish fast. this was well calculated to attract the attention of the meccans and to gain the goodwill of the arabs. muhammad could not then make the pilgrimage to mecca, for as yet there was a hostile feeling between the inhabitants of the two cities; but on the tenth day of the month zu'l-hajja, at the very time when the arabs at mecca were engaged in sacrificing victims, muhammad went forth from his house at madína, and assembling his followers instituted the Íd-uz-zuhá or baqr-'Íd. two young kids were brought before him. one he sacrificed and said: "o lord! i sacrifice this for my whole people, all those who bear witness to thy unity and to my mission. o lord! this is for muhammad and for the family of muhammad." great merit is obtained by all who keep this feast. 'Áyesha relates how the prophet once said: "man hath not done anything on the 'Íd-ul-azhá more pleasing to god than spilling blood; for verily the animal sacrificed will come on the day of resurrection with its horns, hair and hoofs, and will make the scale of his good actions very heavy. verily its blood reached the acceptance of god before it falleth upon the ground, therefore be joyful in it." musalmáns say that the patriarch abraham was ordered to sacrifice ishmael, and that he made several ineffectual attempts to cut the throat of his son. ishmael then said to his father: "it is through pity and compassion for me that you allow the knife to miss: blindfold yourself and then sacrifice me." abraham acted upon this advice, { } blindfolded himself, drew his knife, repeated the bismilláh, and, as he thought, cut the throat of his son; but, behold, in the meantime gabriel had substituted a sheep for the lad. this event is commemorated in this feast. on the day before the feast, the arfa, or vigil, is kept. food of various kinds is prepared, over which a fátiha is offered, first, in the name of the prophet; secondly, in the names of deceased relatives, and of others for whom a blessing is desired, or from whom some favor is expected. the food is then sent as a present to friends. on the morning of the feast day, the devout muslims proceed to the 'Íd-gáh or, if there is no 'Íd-gáh, to the principal mosque, repeating on the way the takbír "god is great!" and "there is no other god save the one true god, god is great, praise be to god." at the time of making wazú, the worshipper should say: "o god, make this (_i.e._ the sacrifice i shall offer to-day) an atonement for my sin, and purify my religion and take evil away from me." the service at the 'Íd-gáh, or in the mosque consists of two farz rak'ats, as in the salát-ul-juma (p. ), after the khutba is delivered. it will, however, be seen from the following sermon that it is mustahab to say four more rak'ats. sermon on the 'Íd-uz-zuhÁ. in the name of god, the compassionate, the merciful. alláhu akbar! god is great. there is no god but god. god is great! god is great and worthy of all praise. he is holy. day and night we should praise him. he is without partner, without equal. all praise be to him. holy is he, who makes the rich generous, who provides the sacrifice for the wise. he is great, without an equal. all praise be to him. listen! i testify that there is no god but god. he is alone, without partner. this testimony is as bright as the early dawn, as brilliant as the glorious feast day. muhammad is his servant who delivered his message. on muhammad, and on his family, and on his companions may the peace of god rest. on you who are present, o congregation of muslimín, may the { } mercy of god for ever rest. o servants of god! our first duty is to fear god and to be kind. god has said: "i will be with those who fear me and are kind." know o servants of god! that to rejoice on the feast day is the sign and mark of the pure and good. exalted will be the rank of such in paradise (dár-ul-qarár), especially on the day of resurrection will they obtain dignity and honour. do not on this day foolish acts. it is no time for amusements and negligence. this is the day on which to utter the praises of god. (tasbíh.) read the kalíma, the takbír and the tamhíd. this is a high festival season and the feast of sacrifice. read now the takbír-ut-tashríq. god is great! god is great! there is no god but god! god is great! god is great! all praise be to him! from the morning of the 'arfa, after every farz rak'at it is good (mustahab) for a person to repeat the takbír-ut-tashríq. the woman before whom is a man as imám, and the traveller whose imám is a permanent resident (muqím) should also repeat this takbír. it should be said at each namáz until the salát-ul-'asr of the feast day ( th). some, however, say that it should be recited every day till the afternoon ('asr) of the thirteenth day, as these are the days of the tashríq (p. ).[ ] if the imám forgets to recite, let not the worshipper forget. know, o believers, that every free man who is a sáhib-i-nisáb (_i.e._ worth rs. ) should offer sacrifice on this day, provided that this sum is exclusive of his horse, his clothes, his tools, and his household goods and slaves. it is wájib for every one to offer sacrifice for himself, but it is not a wájib order that he should do it for his children.[ ] a goat, a ram or a cow should be offered in sacrifice for every seven persons. the victim must not be one-eyed, blind, lame or very thin. if you sacrifice a fat animal it will serve you well, and carry you across the sirát. o believers, thus said the prophet, on whom be the mercy and peace of god, "sacrifice the victim with your own hands, this was the sunnat of ibráhím, on whom be peace." in the kitáb-uz-zád-ut-taqwá, it is said that on the 'Íd-ul-fitr and the 'Íd-uz-zuhá, four nafl rak'ats should be said after the farz namáz { } of the 'Íd. in the first rak'at after the súrat-ul-fátiha recite the súrat-ul-a'lá (súra lxxvii); in the second, the súrat-ush-shams (súra xci); in the third, the súrat-uz-zuhá (súra xciii); in the fourth, the súrat-ul-ikhlás (cxii). o believers, if ye do so, god will pardon the sins of fifty years which are past and of fifty years to come. the reading of these súras are equal as an act of merit to the reading of all the books god has sent by his prophets. may god include us amongst those who are accepted by him, who act according to the law, whose desire will be granted at the last day. to all such there will be no fear in the day of resurrection; no sorrow in the examination at the day of judgment. the best of all books is the qurán. o believers! may god give to us, and to you a blessing for ever by the grace of the noble qurán. may its verses be our guide, and may its wise mention of god direct us aright. i desire that god may pardon all believers, male and female, the muslimín and the muslimát. o believers, also seek for pardon. truly god is the forgiver, the merciful, the eternal king, the compassionate, the clement. o believers, the khutba is over. let all desire that on muhammad mustafá the mercy and peace of god may rest. the worshippers then return to their respective homes and offer up the sacrifice,[ ] for it is a wájib order that every muslim should keep this feast, and sacrifice an animal for himself. he need not fear though he has to incur debt for the purchase of an animal, for it is said that god will in some way help him to pay the debt. if a camel is sacrificed, it should be one not less than five years of age, if a cow or sheep it should at least be in its second year, though the third year is better; if a goat it must not be less than six months old. all of these animals must be without a blemish, or defect of any kind. it is a sunnat order that the head of the household should himself slay the victim. if, however, from any cause, he cannot do so, he may call in a butcher; but in that case he must place his hand upon that of the butcher when the operation is performed. if the { } victim is a camel, it must be placed with the head towards mecca. its front legs being bandaged together the sacrificer must stand on the right hand side of the victim, and plunge the knife into its throat with such force that the animal may fall at once. any other mode of slaying it is unlawful. other animals must be slain in the same way. just before slaying the victim the following verse of the qurán should be repeated: "say! my prayers, and my worship, and my life and my death are unto god, the lord of the worlds. he hath no associate. this am i commanded, and i am the first of the muslims." (súra vi. ). the operator also adds: "o god, from thee, and to thee (i do this), in the name of god, god is great!" then having slain the victim he says: "o god accept this for me." the first meal taken should be prepared from the flesh of the animal just slaughtered, after which the members of the family, the neighbours, and the poor should receive some portions. it is considered highly meritorious to sacrifice one animal for each member of the family; but as that would involve an expenditure few could bear, it is allowable to sacrifice one victim for the household. in extreme cases men may combine together and make one sacrifice do for the whole, but the number of persons so combining must not exceed seventy. some authorities limit the number to seven. this feast is strictly observed by all muslims wherever they may be. the baqr-'Íd and the 'Íd-ul-fitr constitute the 'Ídain, the two great feasts of islám. a country in which musalmáns could not observe them both would at once become dár-ul-harb, or house of enmity, in which it would be the bounden duty of every muslim to join in a jíhád, against the infidel rulers of the land. this completes the principal feasts of the muslim year. among other practices borrowed from the hindus must be placed the pilgrimage made by indian musalmáns to the { } shrines of saints, the ceremonies connected with them and the festivals instituted in their honour. properly speaking, the sunnís have but two festivals--the baqr-'Íd and the 'Íd-ul-fitr, but many others are now observed. of these i have described several. it only remains to notice a few of the festival days which are peculiar to india. the title of pír given to a musalmán devotee is equivalent to the term guru amongst the hindus. a man who seeks to be a 'religious' takes a pír as a spiritual guide. "follow," says the poet walí, "the footsteps of thy pír, like a shadow." after death these pírs are venerated as walís or saints. the pírs when alive, are frequently resorted to for a ta'wíz, or charm, and the aid of their prayers is often invoked. the sepulchre of a walí is called a dargáh, shrine; mazár, place of pilgrimage; rauza, garden. the professional reciter of the qurán, and the namáz at such places is called a rauza khán. as a rule, processions are made to the shrines, and flowers, sweetmeats and food over which a fátiha has been said are offered. usually the fátiha is _for_ the saint, not _to_ the saint. it is considered a very meritorious act to give land for the erection of such shrines and to endow them. an account of many of these saints is given in the bara masa by jawán and the Áráyish-i-mahfil by afsos. the following selection will give an idea of the customs prevalent:-- . festival of madÁr.--sayyid badr-ud-dín kutb-ul-madár is said to have descended from the imám husain. he was born at aleppo about a.d. , and received from muhammad permission to "hold his breath" (habs-i-dam). thus he was able to live to a good old age. he is said to have had , sons, and to have died when upwards of years old. more rational people explain the number of his sons by saying they were his spiritual children. the length of his life is explained by saying that as each man has to make a certain number of inspirations, the less frequently he does it the longer he will live. jawán in his account of { } the festival states: "the tomb of madár is at makanpúr, a place about forty miles from cawnpore." on the seventeenth of the month jamádí-ul-awwal an immense crowd fills the village which is illuminated at night. fires are lighted, around which fakírs dance, and through which they leap calling out "dam madár, dam madár," (breath of madár.) an order of fakírs, called madária, look to this saint as their patron. in distant places where this feast is kept they set up an alam, or standard in honour of the saint, and perform ceremonies common to such days. the nights are spent in celebrating his praises, &c. . festival of mu'Ín-ud-dÍn chistÍ.[ ]--the tomb of this saint is in ajmír. he was a syed descended from husain, the son of 'alí, and was born in sajistán about the year a.h. his father died when he was about fifteen years old. soon after this he fell in with a famous fakír, ibráhím qandúzí, through whose influence he began to seek the taríqat, or mystical road to the knowledge of god. when he was twenty years of age he received further instruction from the famous 'abd-ul-qádir jílání. after the conquest of hindustan by shaháb-ud-dín ghorí, mu'ín-ud-dín retired to ajmír, where he died in the odour of sanctity a.h. pilgrimages to this tomb have been and are very popular. emperors and people vied with each other in doing honour to the memory of this saint. even akbar, sceptic though he was as regards orthodox islám, made a pilgrimage to this shrine, and offered vows that he might have a son who would live to manhood. hindus also visit this tomb and presents from rich men of this class are not unusual. . festival of sÁlÁr mas'Úd ghÁzÍ.--there is some doubt as to the nationality of this saint. some say he was a husainí syed, others that he was a pathán, and a martyr. his tomb is situated in oude. afsos thus describes the { } pilgrimage. "once a year great crowds of people gather from all parts. they carry red lances, and beat thousands of tambourines. the 'urs is held on the first sunday of the month jíth (may-june). the people believe that this was his wedding day, because it is said that he had on wedding garments when he was killed. this belief once led a certain oilman, a resident of radúlí, to send a bedstead, chair, and other marriage presents to the shrine at this time. the custom is still kept up by the descendants of the oilman. the common people fasten ropes to the branches of the trees in the neighbourhood, and swing, some by the hands and some by the heels, and assume various disguises. they thus hope to obtain what they desire." the hindus venerate this saint very highly. the musalmáns look upon him as a most sacred person, for he slew many idolatrous hindus, and so earned the title of ghází, the warrior: the hindus consider that it was only by the power of god that he could do so many acts of prowess. . festival of the bÍra or of khÁja khizr.--of this saint, m. garcin de tassy says: "khája khizr is a personage respecting whom the opinions of orientals vary. many consider him the same as phineas, the grandson of aaron; others that he is the prophet elias; and lastly, the turks confound him with st. george. in order to reconcile these conflicting opinions, some allege that the same soul has animated three different persons. whatever be the fact, khizr, according to the musalmáns, discovered the source of the water of life of which he is the guardian. he is believed to be very clever in divination, and to be the patron of waters. as such a festival is held in his honour." jawán describes it thus: "in the month of bhádún (august-september) all whose wishes have been fulfilled, make it a point of duty to set afloat the boat (náú) in honour of khája khizr, and to make according to their means offerings of milk and bruised grain to the holy personage. on every friday, and in some places on every thursday, in the month { } in question, the devotees having prepared the bíra carry it at night to the bank of the river, with many ceremonies. there great and small, having lighted lamps and tapers, make their respective oblations, whilst a number of swimmers together jointly push the bíra into the middle of the river." sometimes a number of small bíras, made of clay, are also launched, and as each carries a lamp the general effect is striking. it is said that the musalmán natives of the maldive islands annually launch a small vessel laden with perfumes, gum, and odoriferous flowers, and leave it to the mercy of the winds and waves as an offering to the god of the sea. there can be no doubt that this god of the sea is khizr, the patron of the waters. the following prayer is recited in the fátiha of khizr: "to obtain purity of heart, and the benediction of him who hears the vows of mortals, and who alone can keep from them all evils, i rest upon the merits of khája khizr, the great prophet elias." . the feast of pÍr dastgÍr sÁhib.--this is held on the eleventh day of the month of rabí'-us-sání. the sunnis hold this saint in great reverence. he has no less than ninety-nine names. his tomb is at baghdád. on the tenth of the month the ceremony called sandal (p. ) is performed, followed on the next day by the 'urs, when the maulad, or the account of the circumstances connected with the birth of the saint is read; qasá,id, or elegiac poems are recited; the darúd is repeated and fátihas are said. the qurán is also read through. vows are frequently made to this saint and in time of any special visitation, such as cholera, a flag is carried about in honour of this pír by some of his devotees to whom presents of food, &c, are offered. fátiha is then said over them. he is said to appear to his followers during their sleep and to give them directions. ja'far sharíf, the compiler of the qánún-i-islám speaking, on this point relates his own experience thus: "the author speaks from personal experience, for at the time of need, when he { } was oppressed in mind concerning things which he desired, he used to repeat constantly the ninety-nine names of the pír and vow before the holy god, imploring his assistance by the soul of dastgír; and through the mercy of the almighty, his excellency ghaus-ul-a'zam (dastgír) presented himself in his sleep, and relieved him of his perplexities and vouchsafed his behests." syed ahmad kabír rafáí, the founder of the rafái darwíshes was a nephew of this saint. . festival of qÁdir walÍ sÁhib.--this is the great saint of southern india. the 'urs is celebrated on the tenth day of jamádí-us-sání. the shrine is at nagore, a town situated four miles north of negapatam. the sandal and other ceremonies are similar to those described already. he is the patron saint of sailors, who in times of difficulty vow that, if they reach the shore in safety, they will offer a fátiha in the name of qádir walí. the common people have a profound faith in the power of the saint to work miracles. the story of the following one is frequently related: "a vessel springing a leak was about to founder, when the captain made a vow that should qádir walí stop the leak, he would offer in his name the value of the cargo. at that time the saint was being shaved, but being miraculously acquainted with the perilous position of the captain he cast away the looking-glass which he held in his hand. this glass attached itself to the hole in the bottom of the ship which then came safely to land. the captain, in due course, presented his offering to the saint who requested him to return the glass to the barber. the captain was astonished at this request and enquired what glass was meant. he was then directed to look at the bottom of his ship. he did so, and discovered how the saint had saved the ship." the festival affords a curious illustration of the way in which hindu influences have acted on islám, and how even hindus pay regard to muslim saints. qádir walí is said to { } have been a fakír who lived on the charity of both hindus and musalmáns. indeed both parties claim him as belonging to their respective religions, which may be accounted for by the fact that in his preaching to mixed audiences he suited his addresses to both classes of his hearers. after his death a small mosque was erected on or near his tomb. the fame of the walí gradually grew, and a hindu rajah made a vow that if he were blessed with the birth of a son, he would enlarge and beautify the mosque. his wish was fulfilled, and the present elegant structure is the result. so famous has the shrine of the saint now become that the musalmáns there say: "first mecca, then nagore." the same reason which induced the hindu rajah to make a votive offering years ago, still influences large numbers of people. on thursday evenings, the commencement of the muhammadan sabbath, many hindu women resort to the shrine of the saint. on the closing night of the annual feast, tábúts are taken in procession from negapatam, and rich presents are sent from the tanjore palace to the nagore mosque. thus is the hindu connection still kept up with the festival of this musalmán saint. there are many other walís and pírs to whose tombs pilgrimages are made, and in memory of whom many superstitious observances are still kept up; but all such pilgrimages to a dargáh (shrine) are no necessary part of islám. in all parts of the country there are the shrines of saints who have a local reputation and whose annual festivals are more or less observed. still it is not necessary for me to give a further account of these. this brings me to the close of my subject. in the preceding chapters, i have endeavoured to set forth the main features of the faith of islám, and the religious duties it enjoins. i might now go on to show its relation to judaism and christianity, the elements it has drawn from them, and the distortions it has made in the borrowing, as well as the protest it raised against much that was { } corrupt in the christianity with which it came in contact. i might also enlarge upon its moral and social effects, and the character it produces in the individual and the state. but these subjects would lead me far beyond my present scope. i prefer to content myself with giving a representation of the faith of islám from its own authorities, and with leaving my readers to make comparisons and draw inferences for themselves. the end. { } * * * * * index of technical terms. a. aiyám-i-bíz, aiyám-ut-tashríq, 'alam, al-a'ráf, al-barzakh, al-mahdí, akhir-chár shambah, 'amm, amr-i-takwíti, anbiya-ulul-'azm, Ásár-i-sharíf, asháb, 'Áshúrá, 'Áshúr khána, asmá-i-husná, attahíyát, auliya, Áyat, Áyat-ul-kursí, azád, azán, b. bárá wafát, baqáb-i-qausain, baqr-'íd, bid'at, buráq, d. dá,írí, dalálat, dalíl-i-qata'í, dalíl-i-zani, darwíshes, dargáh, du'á, f. faná, farú', farz, farz-í-'ain, farz-i-kifáya, fatrah, fitrat, fuqihá, g. ghair-i-mahdí, ghusl, gunáh-i-kabíra, gunáh-i-saghíra, { } h. hadís-i-ahád, hadís-i-hasan, hadís-i-mua'llaq, hadís-i-mursal, hadís-i-mutawátír, hadís-i-sahíh, hadís-i-z'aíf, hadd, háfiz, haft sifát, hajj, hajr-ul-aswad, hál, haqíqat, , harám, hárút, hasal khazaf, i. ibádhiyah, ibárat, iblís, 'Íd-gáh, 'Íd-ul-fitr, iftár, ihlál, ihrám, ijmá', ijmá'-i-ummat, ijtihád, , , ijtihád fi'l-masá,íl, ijtihád fi'l-mazhab, ijtihád fi'l-sharí', ilhám, ilká, 'ilm-i-usúl, imám, imám abu hanífa, imám ibn málik, imám as-sháfa'í, imám ibn hanbal, imámat, imám bára, imán-i-mufassal, imán-i-mujmal, istidlál, ishárat, ishrák fi'l-'ibádat, ishrák fi'l-adab, isnád, 'itikáf, iqámat, iqtizá, i'tibár-ul-amsál, j. jabríans, jahannum, jámí'-i-tirmizí, jamrat-ul-akahah, jannat, jashn-i-milád-i-sharíf, jinn, juz, k. k'aba, kalám, { } kalima, , karámians, kasb, kausar, kináyah, kirám-ul-kátibín, kitmán, khafí, khárigites, kháss, kharq-i-'ádat, khulafá-i-ráshidín, khutba, l. labbaik, lahad, lailat-ul-qadr, m. mahmúdiah, majáz, majzúb, maukadda', makrúh, mansúkh, maqám-i-mahmúd, marsiya, márút, mihráb, mimbar, míqát, mízán, mua'qqibát, muawwal, mu,azzin, mubáh, mufassir, , mufsid, muhaddis, mujassimians, mu'jizát, mujmal, mujtahid, mukham, munkir, murshid, mutashábih, musallí, mushábihites, mus-haf, muharram, muskhil, mustahab, mu'takif, mustarik, muta'h, mutazilites, n. nabí, nafkhatain-i-súr, nafl, nakír, namáz, nass, násikh, nisáb, niyyat, núr-i-muhammadí, { } q. qadam-i-rasúl, qadríans, qazá, qíám, qíás, , qirá,at, qárí, r. rak'at, ramazán, ramí-ul-jamár, rasúl, rauza khán, roza, roza-i-nazr, roza-i-kafára, rúh-ul-Ámín, rukú', rúz-i-tarwiáh, s. sadqa, sahá,íf-i-a'mál, sahíh-i-bukhárí, sahíh-i-muslim, s'ai, salát, salát-ul-'asr, salát-ul-fajr, salát-ul-'ishá, salát-ul-ishráq, salát-ul-istisqá, salát-ul-istikhára, salát-ul-janáza, salát-ul-juma', salát-ul-khauf, salát-ul-khusúf, salát-ul-kusúf, salát-ul-maghrib, salát-ul-musáfir, salát-ut-taráwíh, salát-ul-tahajjud, salát-uz-zuhá, salát-uz-zuhr, sálik, saríh, shafá'at-i-ba-izn, shafá'at-i-muhabbat, shafá'at-i-wajahat, shirk, shirk-ul-'Ádat, shirk-ul-ibádat, shirk-ul-'ilm, shirk-ut-tasarruf, sifát-i-salbiah, sifát-i-sabútiah, sihah-sittah, sípára, sirát, sufíism, - sunan-i-abu dáúd, sunan-i-nasáí, sunan-i-májah, sunnat, súra, t. ta'awwuz, { } taba-i-tábi'ín, tábi'ín, tábút, tahárat, tahríf, takbír, takía, talbíyah, talqín, tasbíh, tashahhud, tasmía', tasmíyah, tatáír-i-sahá,íf, tauhíd, tauqífi, tawáf, tawáf-ul-widá', tayammum, tázíah, u. usúl, 'umráh, w. wahhábís, wahí, wajd, wájib, wájib-ul-wajúd, wáqi'a khán, wazú, witr, z. zakát, - záhir, ziárat, * * * * * notes [ ] there is an excellent one by neil b. e. baillie. the question of jihád is fully discussed in dr. hunter's _our indian musalmáns_. [ ] "let none touch it but the purified." (súra lvi. .) [ ] "it was certainly an admirable and politic contrivance of his to bring down the whole korán at once to the lowest heaven only, and not to the earth, as a bungling prophet would have done; for if the whole had been published at once, innumerable objections might have been made, which it would have been very hard, if not impossible for him to solve; but as he pretended to receive it by parcels, as god saw proper that they should be published for the conversion and instruction of the people, he had a sure way to answer all emergencies, and to extricate himself with honour from any difficulty which might occur." (sale's preliminary discourse, section iii.) [ ] literary remains of emmanuel deutsch, p. . [ ] prolégomènes d'ibn khaldoun, vol. i. p. . [ ] "the grandeur of the qurán consists, its contents apart, in its diction. we cannot explain the peculiarly dignified, impressive, sonorous nature of semitic sound and parlance; its sesquipedalia verba with their crowd of affixes and prefixes, each of them affirming its own position, whilst consciously bearing upon and influencing the central root--which they envelope like a garment of many folds, or as chosen courtiers move around the anointed person of the king." literary remains of emmanuel deutsch, p. . [ ] prolégomènes d'ibn khaldoun vol. i. p. . [ ] those who were in constant intercourse with the prophet are called asháb (companions); their disciples are named tábi'ín (followers); their disciples are known as taba-i-tábi'ín (followers of the followers)." [ ] "thus, after the usual distribution of the spoils taken on the field of cadesia (a.h. ) the residue was divided among those who knew most of the corán." muir, vol. i. p. . [ ] muavia. [ ] the twelve imáms. [ ] al-mahdí is still supposed to be alive. [ ] these are called ( ) sunnat-i-fi'lí; that which muhammad himself did. ( ) sunnat-i-qaulí, that which he said should be practised. ( ) sunnat-i-taqrírí, that which was done in his presence and which he did not forbid. [ ] risála-i-berkeví. [ ] the great wahhábí preacher muhammad ismá'íl, of whom some account will be given later on, says in the takwiat-ul-imán:--"the best of all ways is to have for principles the words (holy writings) of god and _of his apostle_; to hold them alone as precedents, and not to allow our own opinion to be exercised." [ ] prolégomènes d'ibn khaldoun vol. i. p. . [ ] takmíl-ul-imán, p. . [ ] mudárij-un-nabuwat, p. . [ ] "les docteurs de la loi sont unaniment d'accord sur l'obligation de conformer ses actions à ce qui est indiqué dans les traditions attribuées au prophète," ibn khaldoun, vol. ii. p. . [ ] in june , a.d., sultán mahmud issued a manifesto protesting against interference in the affairs of the ottomán empire, "the affairs of which are conducted upon the principles of _sacred legislation_, and all the regulations of which are strictly connected with the principles of religion." these principles still remain in force, for the famous fatvá given by the council of the 'ulamá, in july , anent khair-ud-dín's proposed reforms, speaks of "the unalterable principles of the sheri," or law. [ ] "the respect which modern muslims pay to their prophet is almost idolatrous. the imám ibn hanbal would not even eat water-melons because although he knew the prophet ate them, he could not learn whether he ate them with or without the rind, or whether he broke, bit or cut them: and he forbade a woman, who questioned him as to the propriety of the act, to spin by the light of torches passing in the streets by night, because the prophet had not mentioned that it was lawful to do so." lane's modern egyptians, vol. i. p. . [ ] mudárij-un-nabuwat, p. . [ ] prolégomènes d'ibn khaldoun, vol. ii. p. . [ ] journal asiatique me série, tom. xii. [ ] osborn's islám under the khalífs, p. . [ ] ibn khallikan's biographical dictionary, vol. ii. p. . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] ibid., vol. ii. p. . [ ] in south india, the muhammadan money-changer resorts to a curious piece of casuistry to reconcile the practice of his profession with the faith he holds. it is wrong to gain money by money as a direct agency. suppose, then, for example, that the charge for changing a shilling is one farthing. it is unlawful for the money-changer to give four three-penny pieces for one shilling plus one farthing, for then he will have sinned against the laws anent usury by gaining money (one farthing) by money; but if he gives three three-penny pieces plus two pence three farthings in copper the transaction will be lawful, as his profit of one farthing is then gained by selling as merchandize certain pieces of silver and copper for one shilling, and not by exactly changing the shilling. again, pictures or representations of living creatures are unlawful; and so, when british rupees were first circulated in india, good muslims doubted whether they could use them, but after a long consultation the 'ulamá declared that, as the eye of his majesty was so small as not to be clearly visible, the use of such coins was legal. this kind of casuistry is very common and very demoralizing; but it shows how rigid the law is. [ ] "authority becomes sacred because sanctioned by heaven. despotism, being the first form of consolidated political authority, is thus rendered unchangeable and identical in fact with government at large." "supreme government has four stages: ( ) where the absolute prince (muhammad) is among them concentrating in his own person the four cardinal virtues, and this we call the reign of wisdom; ( ) where the prince appears no longer, neither do these virtues centre in any single person: but are found in four (abu bakr, omar, osmán and 'alí), who govern in concert with each other, as if they were one, and this we call the reign of the pious; ( ) where none of these is to be found any longer, but a chief (khalíf) arises with a knowledge of the rules propounded by the previous ones, and with judgment enough to apply and explain them, and this we call the reign of the sunnat; ( ) where these latter qualities, again, are not to be met with in a single person, but only in a variety who govern in concert; and this we call the reign of the sunnat-followers.--akhlák-i-jalálí, pp. . . [ ] life of muhammad, by syed amír 'alí, p. . [ ] the muslim 'ulamá are certainly much fettered by their religion in the pursuit of some of the paths of learning; and superstition sometimes decides a point which has been controverted for centuries. lane's modern egyptians, vol. i. p. . [ ] the goth might ravage italy, but the goth came forth purified from the flames which he himself had kindled. the saxon swept britain, but the music of the celtic heart softened his rough nature, and wooed him into less churlish habits. visigoth and frank, heruli and vandal, blotted out their ferocity in the very light of the civilisation they had striven to extinguish. even the hun, wildest tartar from the scythian waste, was touched and softened in his wicker encampment amid pannonian plains; but the turk--wherever his scymitar reached--degraded, defiled, and defamed; blasting into eternal decay greek, roman and latin civilisation, until, when all had gone, he sat down, satiated with savagery, to doze for two hundred years into hopeless decrepitude. lieut.-col. w. f. butler, c.b., in _good words_ for september . [ ] "the muslim everywhere, after a brilliant passage of prosperity, seems to stagnate and wither, because there is nothing in his system or his belief which lifts him above the level of a servant, and on that level man's life in the long run must not only stagnate but decay. the christian, on the other hand, seems everywhere in the last extremity to bid disorganization and decay defiance, and to find, antæus-like, in the earth which he touches, the spring of a new and fruitful progress. for there is that in his belief, his traditions, and in the silent influences which pervade the very atmosphere around him, which is ever moving him, often in ways that he knows not, to rise to the dignity and to clothe himself with the power which the gospel proposes as the prize of his christian calling. the submissive servant of allah is the highest type of moslem perfection; the christian ideal is the christ-like son."--_british quarterly, no._ cxxx. [ ] a mukallif is one who is subject to the law. a ghair-i-mukallif is one not so subject, such as a minor, an idiot, &c. the term mukallif is thus equivalent to a consistent muslim, one who takes trouble (taklíf) in his religious duties. [ ] commentators on the qurán. [ ] the traditionists. [ ] plural of faqíh, a theologian. [ ] i have given the dates of their death. [ ] osborn's islám under the khalífs p. . [ ] dabistán, p. . [ ] pp. - . [ ] "it (the qurán) is simply an instruction for all mankind" (súra xii. ). [ ] zawábit-al-qurán, pp. , . [ ] the opinion of von hammer, quoted by sir w. muir, in his life of muhammad (vol. i. page ) seems to be correct, "we may hold the qurán to be as surely muhammad's words as the muhammadans hold it to be the word of god." [ ] ibn khallikan's biographical dictionary, vol. iii. p. . [ ] "were we to examine the qurán by the rules of rhetoric and criticism as they are taught in muslim schools, we should be obliged to acknowledge that it is the perfection of thought and expression; an inevitable result as the muslims drew their principles of rhetoric from that very book."--baron m. de slane, in the introduction to ibu khallikan's biographical dictionary. [ ] there are many traditions which refer to this fact. omar ibn al khattáb said; "i accorded with my cherisher (_i.e._, god) in three things. one is that i said, 'o messenger of god! if we were to say our prayers in abraham's place it would be better.' then a revelation came down 'take the place of abraham for a place of prayer.' the second is, that i said, 'o messenger of god! good and bad people come to your house; and i do not see that it is fitting; therefore, if you order your women to be shut up it will be better.' then the revelation for doing so came down. the third is, that his majesty's wives were all agreed in a story about his drinking honey; and he had vowed never to drink it more. then i said to his majesty's wives, 'should the prophet divorce you, god will give him better in exchange.' then a revelation, came down agreeing with what i said." 'Áyesha said:--"i was reflecting on those women who had given themselves to the prophet, and said 'what! does a woman give herself away?' then the revelation descended:, 'thou mayest decline for the present whom thou wilt of them, and thou mayest take to thy bed her whom thou wilt, and whomsoever thou shalt long for of those thou shalt have before neglected: and this shall be no crime in thee.' (súra xxxiii. ). i said; 'i see nothing in which your god doth not hasten to please you: whatsoever you wish he doeth.'" [ ] les prolégomènes d'ibn khaldoun, vol. ii. p. . [ ] this includes even the orthography, for:--"la génération suivante, je veux dire les tábis (tába'ín), adopta l'orthographe des compagnons du prophète et se fit un mérite de ne point s'écarter des formes adoptées par ceux qui, après mahommed, étaient les plus excellent des hommes et qui avaient recu de lui les révélations célestes, soit par écrit, soit de vive voix." ibn khaldoun, vol. ii. p. . [ ] this interpretation god made known to the prophet, who communicated it to the companions, hence all orthodox opinion must be in strict accordance with theirs. they were the sole depositaries of the inspired commentary given by muhammad. there is now no room for, as there is no need of, any other. [ ] speaking on this very subject ibn khaldoun says:--"rien de tout cela n'a pu se connaître que par des indications provenant des compagnons et de leurs disciples." vol. ii. p. . [ ] ibn khaldoun says that zamakchori, (a theologian of good repute for learning in the sixth century a.h.), remarked on these letters as follows:--they indicate that the style of the qurán is carried to such a degree of excellence, that it defies every attempt to imitate it; for this book which has been sent down to us from heaven is composed of letters. all men know them all alike, but this power disappears when, in order to express their ideas, they want to use these same letters combined." on this curious passage baron de slane remarks that the author is not very clear, and that the turkish translator of ibn khaldoun gives the sense of the passage as:--"god has placed these letters in several súras as a sort of defiance; as if he had said:--'voilà les éléments dont se compose le coran; prenez-les et faites-eu un livre qui l'égale par le style.'" ibn khaldoun, vol. iii. p. . [ ] the last verse revealed at mecca was, "this day have i perfected your religion for you, and have filled up the measure of my favours upon you; and it is my pleasure that islám be your religion; but whoso without wilful leanings to wrong shall be forced by hunger to transgress, to him, verily, will god be indulgent, merciful." (súra v. ). ibn khaldoun vol. i. p. . [ ] the arrangement made by professor th. nöldeke in his "geschichte des quráns" is considered by stanley lane poole to be the best. rodwell's english version of the qurán is, with some exceptions, an example of this order. [ ] on ordinary occasions any verses may be chosen. the th súra is the one generally repeated. [ ] tafsír-i-husainí, p. . [ ] sharh-i-'aqáíd-i-jámí, p. . [ ] commentary on the holy bible by syed ahmad, c.s.i., vol. i. p. . see note on this in chapter . section 'prophets.' [ ] niáz namáh, by maulavi safdar 'ali, p. . [ ] biographical dictionary, vol. ii, p. . [ ] "he ranked as a high authority in the traditions and was well versed in all the sciences connected with them." ibn khallikan, vol. ii. p. . [ ] the káfi, by abu ja'far muhammad, a.h. . the man-lá-yastah-zirah-al-faqíh, by shaikh 'alí, a.h. . the tahzíb and the istibsár by shaikh abu ja'far muhammad, a.h. . the nahaj-ul-balághat by sayyud razí a.h. . [ ] if the isnád is good, internal improbability carries with it little weight against the genuineness of a tradition. there is a saying current to this effect:--"a relation made by sháfa'í on the authority of málik, and by him on the authority of nafi, and by him on the authority of ibn omar, is really the golden chain." [ ] núr-ul-hidáyah, p. . [ ] a full account of these will be found in the preface to the núr-ul-hidáyah, the urdu translation of the sharh-i-waqáyah. [ ] sharh-i-'aqáíd-i-jámí, p. . [ ] kisas-ul-anbiya,--"lives of the prophets." [ ] hyát-un-nafís. [ ] the shía'hs in claiming freedom from sin for the infallible imáms are more logical than the romanists, thus:-- "if we are to believe in the inerrability of a person, or a body of persons, because it is, forsooth, necessary for the full preservation of the truth, we must then also believe in all besides that can be shown to be needful for the perfect attainment of that end. now, the conservation of all spiritual truth is not a mere operation of the intellect. it requires the faultless action of the perceiving power of the spirit. that is to say, it requires the exclusion of sin; and the man or body that is to be infallible, must also be a sinless organ. it is necessary that the tainting, blinding, distorting power of sin should be shut out from the spiritual eye of the infallible judge." gladstone's _gleanings_, vol. iii. p. . [ ] it is a common musalmán belief that the body of a prophet casts no shadow. a similar idea regarding necromancers was widely spread over northern europe. it is alluded to by scott in the "lay of the last minstrel," where speaking of the father of the ladye, who in padua, "had learned the art that none might name," he says:-- "his form no darkening shadow traced upon the sunny wall." it is said that at a certain stage of initiation candidates for magical honours were in danger of being caught by the devil. now if the devil could only catch the shadow, and the man escaped, though so nearly captured, he became a great magician. this is evidently a legend to explain a previous belief. muhammadan ideas in the middle ages were prevalent in the universities of southern europe, and salamanca and padua were the universities, in which it was supposed that the greatest proficiency in magic was obtained. the superstition has evidently some connection with the musalmán belief regarding the shadows of prophets. [ ] the sunnís esteem and respect the imáms, as ahl-i-beit--men of the house, (of the prophet); but do not give them precedence over the duly appointed khalífs. [ ] the names are 'alí, hasan, husain, zain-ul-'abid-dín, muhammad báqr, ja'far sádiq, musa kázim, 'alí músa razá, muhammad taqí, muhammad naqí, hasan 'askarí, abu 'l-qásim (or imám mahdí). [ ] rauzat-ul-aimmah by sayyid 'izzat 'alí. [ ] for a good account of this movement see, osborn's islám under the arabs, pp. - . [ ] islám under the khalífs, p. . [ ] miskát-ul-musábih. [ ] hujjat-ullah-ul-balaghah. [ ] nothing shows this more plainly than the fatvá pronounced by the council of the 'ulamá in july anent khaír-ud-din's proposed reform, which would have placed the sultán in the position of a constitutional sovereign. this was declared to be directly contrary to the law. thus:-- "the law of the sheri does not authorize the khalíf to place beside him a power superior to his own. the khalíf ought to reign alone and govern as master. the vakils (ministers) should never possess any authority beyond that of representatives, always dependent and submissive. it would consequently be a transgression of the unalterable principles of the sheri, which should be the guide of _all_ the actions of the khalíf, to transfer the supreme power of the khalíf to one vakil." this, the latest and most important decision of the jurists of islám, is quite in accordance with all that has been said about muhammadan law. it proves as clearly as possible that so long as the sultán rules as khalíf, he must oppose any attempt to set up a constitutional government. there is absolutely no hope of reform. [ ] it is instructive to compare the words of the christian poet with the súfí idea of absorption into the divine being. "that each who seems a separate whole should move his rounds, and fusing all the skirts of self again, should fall remerging in the general soul, is faith as vague as all unsweet: eternal form shall still divide the eternal soul from all beside; and i shall know him when we meet." tennyson's "in memoriam." [ ] "le spiritualisme des sofis, quoiqu'il soit le contraire du matérialisme, lui est en réalité identique. mais si leur doctrine n'est pas plus raisonnable, elle est du moins plus élevee et plus poétique." poésie philosophique et religieuse chez les persans, par m. garcin de tassy, p. . [ ] kaf--a chain of mountains supposed to encircle the earth. [ ] 'anka--the phoenix. [ ] "ils pensent que la bible et le coran ont été seulement écrits pour l'homme qui se contente de l'apparence des choses, qui s'occupe de l'extérieur, pour le _záhir parast_, comme ils le nomment, et non pour le sofi qui sonde le fond des choses." la poésie philosophique et religieuse chez les persans, par m. garcin de tassy, p. . [ ] the word darvísh, or darwísh, is of persian origin. it is derived from 'dar,' a door, and 'wíz' the root of the verb 'awíkhtan,' to hang; hence the idea of hanging about doors, or begging. the 'z' is changed into 'sh' and the word becomes 'darwísh.' some musalmáns, however, do not like this idea of holy men being called by a name which implies the habit of begging, and so they propose another derivation. they derive it from "dur," a pearl, and "wísh," like; and so a durwísh is one 'like a pearl.' the wísh is from wásh, a lengthened form of wash, an affix of common use to express similitude; or the long vowel in wásh may by a figure of speech, called imála, be changed into the í of wísh. i think the first derivation the more probable. a good persian dictionary, the ghíás-ul-lugbát, gives both derivations. [ ] for a very interesting account of this religious ceremony, see hughes' notes on muhammadanism, chapter . [ ] la poésie philosophique et religieuse chez les persans, par m. garcin de tassy, p. . [ ] súfí doctrines of the moollá sháh by tawakkul beg. journal asiatique me série, tom. . [ ] "that omar in his impiety was false to his better nature we may readily admit, while, at the same time, we may find some excuse for his errors, if we remember the state of the world at that time. his clear strong sense revolted from the prevailing mysticism where all the earnest spirits of his age found their refuge, and his honest independence was equally shocked by the hypocrites who aped their fervour and enthusiasm; and at that dark hour of man's history whither, out of islám, was the thoughtful muhammadan to repair? no missionary's step, bringing good tidings, had appeared on the mountains of persia; the few christians who might cross his path in his native land, would only seem to him idolaters." speaking, too, of sa'di's life the reviewer says: "almost the only point of contact with christendom is his slavery under the crusaders at tripoli. the same isolation runs through all the golden period of persian literature"--_calcutta review_, no. lix. [ ] the following are the names of the wahhábí chiefs:--muhammad-ibn-saud, died a.d. ; 'abd-ul-azíz, assassinated, ; saud-ibn-'abd-ul-azíz, died ; 'abd-ulláh-ibn-saud, beheaded ; turki, assassinated ; fayzul, died ; 'abd-ulláh, still living. hughes notes, p. . [ ] palgrave's arabia, vol. ii. p. . [ ] according to the latest census report there are , in the madras presidency, where the total musalmán population is about , , . [ ] mudárij-un-nabuwat, p. . [ ] palgrave's arabia vol. i. p. . [ ] palgrave's arabia, vol. i. p. . [ ] ibid, p. . [ ] muhammad ismá'íl concludes his great work, the takwiat-ul-imán, with the prayer--"o lord teach us by thy grace, the meaning of the terms bid'at and sunnat, and the law of the prophet. make us pure sunnís and strictly submissive to the sunnat." this is a clear and distinct proof that wahhábís do not reject tradition as a basis of the faith. it also shows their horror of innovation, and reveals the little hope there is of any real progress through their influence. [ ] "mr. finlay, the clever but partial author of "the byzantine empire," has declared in a sweeping way 'that there is no greater delusion than to speak of the unity of the christian church.' however this may be, i can affirm the perfect applicability of this sentence to islám in the east. in no part of the world is there more of secret division, aversion, misbelief (taking muhammadanism as our standard), and unbelief than in those very lands which to a superficial survey, seem absolutely identified in the one common creed of the qurán and its author."--palgrave's arabia, vol. i. p. . [ ] strictly speaking, this chapter should be entitled the 'faith of islám,' as the subject of it is technically called imán, or faith. the kalima, or creed is, in the strict sense, the expression of belief in one god, and in muhammad as his apostle. i here use the word creed in the usual sense of a body of dogmas. [ ] iqrárun bil-lisáni wa tasdíqun bil janáni. [ ] amantu billáhi kama hua bismáíhi wa sifátíhi wa qabiltu jamí'a ahkámihi. [ ] amantu billáhi wa maláíkatihi wa kutubihi wa rusulihi wal-youm-íl-ákhiri wal-qadri khairihi wa sharrihi min alláhi ta'álá wal-ba'si ba'd al-mouti. [ ] he speaks of it thus: "l'ouvrage élémentaire de la religion musulmane le plus estimé et le plus répandu en turquie," p. . [ ] sharh-i-'aqáíd-i-jámí, p. . [ ] the above statements form the substance of several pages in the "prolégomènes d'ibn khaldoun," in which also occurs the following: "cela n'est pas toutefois un motif pour déprécier notre intelligence et nos facultés perceptives: l'intelligence est une balance parfaitement juste: elle nous fournit des résultats certains sans nous tromper. mais on ne doit pas employer cette balance pour peser les choses qui se rattachent à l'unité de dieu, à la vie future, à la nature du prophétisme, au véritable caractère des attributs divine et à tout ce qui est au delà de sa porteé. vouloir le faire, ce serait une absurdité." vol. iii. p. . [ ] "telle fut la règle suivie par les anciens musulmans à l'égard des verses motachabeh; ils l'appliquaient aussi aux expressions du même genre qui se présentent dans la sonna, parce qu'elles proviennent de la même source que celles du coran." ibn khaldoun, vol. iii. p. . this passage is of some interest as maintaining the common source and origin of the qurán and the sunnat. [ ] ibn khallikan, vol. i. p. . [ ] "the musulmán authors distinguish between the earlier and later mutakallimán. the former (of whom we here treat) were occupied with purely religious questions; the latter, who arose after the introduction of the greek philosophy amongst muslims, embraced many philosophic notions, though they tried to make them fit in with their religious opinions." mélanges de philosophie juive et arabe, p. . [ ] tafsír-i-faiz-ul-karím, p. . [ ] tafsír-i-faiz-ul-karím, p. . [ ] dabistán, p. . [ ] ibn khallikan, vol. iii, p. . [ ] "c'etait l'époque de la plus grande splendeur extérieure de l'empire des arabes, où leur pouvoir, et en même temps leur culture intellectuelle et littáraire, atteignirent leur point culminant." journal asiatique me série, tome xii. p. . [ ] to understand the bearing of all the discussions that then took place, the reader should have some acquaintance with the history of the khalífs, and of the rise and progress of muslim philosophy. the former can be found in osborn's "khalífs of baghdád." a short review of the latter will be found in a note at the end of this chapter. [ ] ibn khallikan, vol. ii p. . [ ] ibid, p. . [ ] ibn khaldoun says: "l'établissement des preuves (fondées sur la raison) fut adopté par les (premiers) scolastiques pour le sujet de leur traités, mais il ne fut pas, comme chez les philosophes, une tentative pour arriver à la découverte de la vérité et pour obtenir, au moyen de la démonstration, la connaissance de ce qui était ignoré jusqu' alors. les scolastiques recherchaient des preuves intellectuelles dans le but de confirmer la vérité des dogmes, de justifier les opinions des premiers musalmans et de repousser les doctrines trompeuses que les novateurs avaient émises." prolégomènes d'ibn khaldoun, vol. iii. p. . [ ] sharh-i-aqáíd-i-jámí, p. [ ] "most excellent titles has god: by these call ye on him and stand aloof from those who pervert his titles." (súra vii. .) [ ] "the mujassimians, or corporealists not only admitted a resemblance between god and created beings, but declared god to be corporeal." sale's preliminary discourse, section viii. para. . [ ] ibn khallikan, vol. iv. p. . [ ] "the freethinkers (mutazilites) left no traces of themselves except in the controversial treatises which they had written. these were destroyed, and with their destruction the last vestiges of the conflict between free-thought and the spirit of islám were obliterated." osborn's khalífs of baghdád, p. . [ ] súra xxxix, , . [ ] l'islamisme d'après le coran, p. . [ ] sharh-i-'aqáíd-i-jámí, p. . [ ] sharh-i-'aqáíd-i-jámí, p. . [ ] tafsír-i-faiz-ul-karím, p. . [ ] takmíl-ul-imán, p. . [ ] "from the beginning of history the caucasus is to civilized nations, both greek and oriental, the boundary of geographical knowledge--indeed, the boundary of the world itself."--bryce's transcaucasia and ararat, p. . [ ] see also súra xxxviii. . [ ] sharh-aqáíd-i-jámí, p. . [ ] thus the famous persian poet sa'dí says in the bustán, "yetímí kih nákardah qurán darust, kutub khána-i-chand millat bashust."--"the perfect one who, ere the whole of gabriel's book he reads, has blotted out the library of all the peoples' creeds." [ ] sharh-aqáíd-i-jámí, p. . mansukh shud tiláwatan wa kitábatan, _i.e._ abrogated both as regards reading and writing--entirely abrogated. also takmíl-ul-imán, p. . dín-i-wai násikh-i-jami'-i-adián ast.--"his religion abrogates all religions." [ ] commentary on the holy bible by syed ahmad, c.s.i., vol. i. p. . this commentary is written in urdu, but the author has made a translation for the benefit of the english reader. the passage referred to reads thus in english: "those who imagine it to be part of the muhammadan creed that one law has totally repealed another are utterly mistaken, and we do not believe that the zuboor (book of psalms) abrogated the taureit (pentateuch); that the taureit in turn gave way to the injeel (new testament) and that the new testament was suppressed by the holy korán. we hold no such doctrine, and if any ignorant muhammadan should assert to the contrary, he simply knows nothing whatever about the doctrines and articles of his faith." the learned syed here assumes the rôle of a liberal musalmán, but the english translation is different from his urdu text which, literally translated, is as follows:--"now it should be considered that those who imagine it to be part of the creed of muslims that the taurát by the coming of the zabúr, and the zabúr by the coming of the injíl, and the injíl by the coming of the qurán are abrogated _on account of the idea that there is any defect in them_ are utterly mistaken, &c." the clause which i have italicised is entirely omitted in the english text; but it alters the import of the whole passage. to his co-religionists the syed says in effect: "the books _are abrogated_ but not because they were imperfect." now, as no muslim would believe that a divine book was defective, the syed is simply asserting the fact of the abrogation of the previous scriptures and to the orthodox is orthodox. the leader of an apparently liberal section of indian musalmáns is, in this instance, at least, as conservative as the most bigoted. [ ] syed ahmad's commentary on the holy bible, vol. i. p. . [ ] ibid, p. . [ ] there are many other such passages. they are given in detail, with the interpretation of approved commentators, in a small s. p. c. k. publication--the korán--by sir w. muir. [ ] commentary on the holy bible, by syed ahmad, c.s.i., vol. i. pp. - . [ ] takmíl-ul-imán, p. . [ ] takmíl-ul-imán, p. . [ ] takmíl-ul-imán, p. . [ ] prolégomènes d'ibn khaldoun, vol. i. pp. - . [ ] "that the "auliya" are distinguished above ordinary mortals is maintained on the authority of:--"are not the friends (auliya) of god, those on whom no fear shall come, nor shall they be put to grief." (súra x. .) [ ] sharh-i-aqáíd-i-jámí, p. . [ ] sirát-ul-islám, p. . [ ] this is an orthodox blow at the shía'h practices in the month of muharram. shía'hs consider this a good act. [ ] takmíl-ul-imán, p. . [ ] it is said adam's sin was a mere slip but it brought good to the world. had he remained in paradise the world would not have been peopled; and the word of god "i have not created men and jinns, except for worship," would not have been fulfilled. [ ] that is, according to the commentator beidawí,--"thy remissness in propagating islám." [ ] tafsír-i-husainí, p. . [ ] on the contrary, he seems to disclaim such a power. thus the quraish said: "by no means will we believe on thee till thou cause a fountain to gush forth for us from the earth; or, till thou have a garden of palm-trees and grapes, and thou cause forth-gushing rivers to gush forth in its midst; or thou make the heaven to fall on us, as thou hast given out, in pieces; or thou bring god and the angels to vouch for thee, &c. say: am i more than a man, an apostle?" (súra xvii. - ). former prophets, muhammad used to say, were sent to their own sect, but he was sent for all. their miracles were confined to their own times. the qurán the great miracle of islám, was for all ages. he needed no other sign than this. [ ] "have we not opened thine heart for thee." (súra xciv. ). tradition relates that when young, two angels cut open his breast, and took out a black drop; many other marvels are also connected with this event. [ ] sharh-i-aqáíd-i-jámí. [ ] tafsír-i-husainí. p. [ ] for a graphic account of these events see "literary remains of emmanuel deutsch," pp. - . [ ] "all that muhammadans must believe respecting the mi'ráj is that the prophet saw himself, in a vision, transported from mecca to jerusalem, and that in such a vision he really beheld some of the greatest signs of his lord." essays by syed ahmad, essay vi. p. . this, though a legitimate, is not, however, an orthodox opinion; which is, that he who denies an actual bodily migration from mecca to jerusalem is a káfir, (infidel) as he denies the statement of a 'nass' or plain text of the qurán. he who denies the ascension to heaven, and the wonderful account of the night's proceedings preserved in the traditions is a "fásiq," (sinner), though he remains a muslim. [ ] some commentators make no distinction between the first and second blast, as only two are distinctly mentioned in the qurán. [ ] sharh-i-'aqáíd-i-jámí, p. . [ ] according to búkhárí and to muslim, this perspiration will flow to a distance of seventy yards from, and reach up to the lobe of the ears of those who perspire. [ ] "that is, they will know the inhabitants of paradise by their whiteness, and the people of hell by the blackness of their faces." [ ] for some curious opinions with regard to the state of the soul there see sale's preliminary discourse, section iv., p. . [ ] takmíl-ul-imán, p. . [ ] tafsír-i-husainí, vol. i. p. . [ ] tafsír-i-faiz-ul-karím, p. . [ ] miskát-ul-musábíh, book xxiii. ch. . [ ] "although some muhammadans, whose understandings are too refined to admit such gross conceptions, look on their prophet's description as parabolical, and are willing to receive them in an allegorical or spiritual acceptation, yet the general and orthodox doctrine is, that the whole is to be strictly believed in the obvious and literal acceptance." sale's preliminary discourse, section iv. p. . [ ] this, the lauh-ul-mahfúz, is referred to in súra lxxxv. , as that on which the qurán is written. in súra xxxvi. , the actions of men are said to be written in "the clear book of our decrees." this is called the imám-ul-mubín, the clear prototype. [ ] "the prophet of god said that adam and moses (in the world of spirits) maintained a debate before god, and adam got the better of moses, who said, "thou art that adam, whom god created and breathed into thee his own spirit, and made the angels bow down before thee, and placed thee in paradise; after which, thou threwest man upon the earth, from the fault which thou didst commit.' adam replied, 'thou art that moses, whom god selected for his prophecy and to converse with, and he gave thee twelve tables, in which are explained everything, and he made thee his confidant and the bearer of his secrets; then how long was the bible written before i was created?' moses said, 'forty years.' then said adam, 'didst thou see in the bible that adam disobeyed god?' 'yes.' 'dost thou reproach me on a matter, which god wrote in the bible forty years before creating me?'" [ ] ibn kah, commenting on the verse, "when thy lord brought forth their descendants from the reins of the sons of adam and took them to witness against themselves, 'am i not,' said he, 'your lord,' they said: 'yes, we witness it.'" (súra vii. ), goes on to say: "god formed all the prophets and saints into one class, and the martyrs into another. the pious men, also, were separated into one, and the wicked into another. one class was formed of the obedient servants, while the unbelievers, _viz_., the jews, the christians, the majians, the hindus, &c., were likewise divided into several parties; next, they were shaped into forms, that is, into the shape in which he was to appear in the world was predestined for each one." this passage is quoted with approval by the wahhábí author of the takwiyat-ul-imán. [ ] the orthodox commentator 'abbás says: "this verse refers to the decree, _e.g._ 'he whom god wills to believe certainly will do so, and whom he wills to be an infidel will be one,' and not at all to man's free will." tafsír-hisainí, vol. ii. page . [ ] mélanges de philosophe juive et arabe par s. munk. p. . [ ] thus the poet faizí says: "before thou and i were thought of, our free will was taken from our hands; be without cares, for the maker of both worlds settled our affairs long before we were made." [ ] the punishment of death is sometimes decreed for lesser offences. in the latter part of the year , one of the turkish 'ulamá, named ahmad, was condemned to death for having assisted dr. koelle, an english clergyman residing in constantinople, in the translation of the book of common prayer, and a tract on 'christ the word of god.' owing to the urgent representations of the british ambassador the khojah's life was spared, but he was banished to the island of chio. the porte promised to maintain his family whilst he was absent. it need scarcely be said that nothing of the kind has been done. [ ] journal asiatique me série, tome , p. [ ] this is the sháfa'íte form which the hanifites consider wrong. [ ] kingsley's alexandria and her schools, p. . [ ] les prairies d'or, tome sixième, p. . [ ] mélanges de philosophie juive et arabe, par s. munk, p. . [ ] for a statement of the ash'arían doctrines see pp. - . [ ] strictly speaking, one should not speak of arab but of muslim philosophy, for curiously enough only one famous philosopher, al-kendi, was an arab. [ ] mélanges de philosophie juive et arabe, par s. munk, p. . [ ] "aprés lui, nous ne trouvons plus chez les arabes aucun philosophe véritablement digne de ce nom." mélanges de philosophie juive et arabe, par s. munk, p. . [ ] muslim rule in spain is often referred to as an instance of the height of culture and the liberality of sentiment which may exist in a muhammadan state. i have shown that the culture was not due to the teaching of the arab prophet and his companions, and with regard to the liberality it is well to remember the words of g. h. lewes. he says: "the arabs, though they conquered spain, were too weak in numbers to hold that country in subjection otherwise than by politic concessions to the opinion and customs of the people." history of philosophy, vol. i. p. . [ ] "there never was any arabian science, strictly speaking. in the first place, all the philosophy and science of the muhammadans was greek, jewish, and persian.... it really designates a reaction against islámism, which arose in the distant parts of the empire, in samarcand, bokhara, morocco, and cordova. the arabian language having become the language of the empire, this philosophy is written in that language; but the ideas are not arabian; the spirit is not arabian." history of philosophy, by g. h. lewes, vol. ii. p. . [ ] the persian term for this is namáz, a word in commoner use in india than sulát. both terms will henceforth be employed. [ ] there is a tradition to the effect that "the whole body of him who says the name of god when making wazú will be clean; whereas, if he says it not, only the part washed will be pure." [ ] before commencing the wazú, say: "i am going to purify myself from all bodily uncleanness preparatory to commencing prayer, that holy act of duty, which will draw my soul near to the throne of the most high. in the name of god, the great and mighty. praise be to god who has given us grace to be muslims. islám is a truth and infidelity a falsehood." when cleaning the teeth say: "vouchsafe o god, as i clean my teeth, to purify me from my faults and accept my homage. o lord, may the purity of my teeth be for me a pledge of the whiteness of my face at the day of judgment." when washing the nostrils say: "o my god, if i am pleasing in thy sight, perfume me with the odours of paradise." when washing the right hand say: "o my god, on the day of judgment, place the book of my actions in my right hand, and examine my account with favour." when washing the left hand, say: "o my god, place not at the resurrection the book of my actions in my left hand." similar prayers are said at each act. [ ] from the account which follows it will be seen that the term namáz expresses what we term a 'service.' the word for prayer in the ordinary sense is 'du'á.' [ ] it is taken from the sirát-un-naját, pp. - . [ ] as the use of bells is unlawful a man is employed to call the people to prayers. [ ] "god is great." [ ] the followers of imám as-sháfa'í and the women of all sects place the hands upon the breast. the feet should be about four inches apart; women stand with the feet close together. [ ] the second rak'at begins here: all that precedes is only repeated at the first rak'at. [ ] a fixed portion is said in each rak'at during the nights of ramazán, which portion is then called a rukú'. (ante. p. .) [ ] in a mosque the imám says the first sentences alone; the people the second. [ ] women in the sijda keep all the limbs of the body close together, and put both feet at right angles to the body. if their face is qibla-wards it is sufficient. [ ] here the shía'hs say:--"i rise and sit by the power of god." [ ] this is said at the close of every two rak'ats. [ ] the shía'hs stop here and omit the rest. [ ] the shía'hs omit the du'á and say: "peace be on thee, o prophet, with the mercy of god and his blessing. peace be on us and on god's righteous servants." [ ] the fatvá, or decree, will be found in a note at the end of this chapter. [ ] i am indebted to hughes' notes on muhammadanism for this excellent table. [ ] the musallí may say five or three witr rak'ats instead of seven. [ ] núr-ul-hidáayat, p. . [ ] in countries under muslim rule he holds a wooden sword reversed. [ ] one who says, "alláhu akbar--god is great." [ ] a reference to his presence with muhammad in the cave (ghár) when they fled from mecca to madína. see súra ix. . [ ] núr-ul-hidáyat, p. . [ ] sirát-un-naját, p. . [ ] qíám is one of the positions in a namáz and is here used by synecdoche for it. in mecca the salát-ut-taráwíh is called with reference to this tradition the salát-ul-qíámíah. [ ] núr-ul-hidáyat, p. . [ ] that is, a non-muslim who is allowed to reside in a musalmán state on payment of a special tax. [ ] the sháfa'ítes raise the hands at the recital of each of the four takbírs; the other sects do so only at the first. [ ] if the deceased was a child or a mad person, they say:-- "o god, make him (or her, as the case may be) a guide for us, and make him a cause of our gaining a future reward. o god, save him and make him an intercessor for us." [ ] the imám makes the niyyat in his mind that the salám may be on his guardian angels, and on the worshippers who are behind him; each worshipper makes the niyyat that the salám may be on his guardian angels, on his fellow worshippers and on the imám. [ ] _i.e._, the deceased's. [ ] death, resurrection, judgment; &c. [ ] this contradicts verse of this súra. muslims explain it thus. we accept all prophets and as regards _faith_ in them make no difference, though as regards _dignity_ we recognize the distinction indicated in the th verse. [ ] that is, the jews and christians, on whom, it is said by the muslim commentators, many strict ceremonial observances were incumbent. the word often used to express the idea of the burdensome nature of ceremonial observance is taklilíf, trouble. practically, muslims are not free from these "loads," a fact which finds expression in the word used for a pious man--a mukhallif, one who has to take trouble in the way of performing religious duties. [ ] in madras, a branch of the pomegranate tree is usually stuck in. [ ] the name of the mother is here inserted. the mother's name is chosen in preference to that of the father, as there can be no doubt as to the maternity of the child. for the same reason it is said that at the last day each man will be summoned as such an one, son of such a mother. this simple fact reveals a sad state of morals, or, at least, a disbelief in the virtue of women. [ ] the idea is that the reward of this act is transferred to the person on whose behalf it is made. [ ] súra ii. . [ ] there are others who maintain that this is a _mukham_ statement and cannot therefore be abrogated. they hold that it must be restricted to the aged and to persons who have chronic diseases. tafsír-i-husainí, p. . tafsír-i-faiz-ul-karím, p. . [ ] burton says that, when in the disguise of a musalmán doctor he was in cairo making preparations for the hajj, he had but one patient who would break his fast to save his life. all the others refused though death should be the consequence. [ ] "the former are called zakát, either because they increase a man's store by drawing down a blessing on him and produce in his soul the virtue of liberality, or because they purify the remaining part of one's substance from pollution and the soul from the filth of avarice; the latter are called sadqa because they are a proof of a man's sincerity in the worship of god." sale's preliminary discourse, section iv. [ ] that is food or money sufficient to provide one meal for a poor person. [ ] the technical term is wasq. a wasq is equal to sá', and a sá' is equal to ratal. a ratal is equal to lb; so a wasq, a load for one camel, is about lb. [ ] mosques are usually endowed. the property thus set apart is called waqf. this supports the various officials connected with a mosque. [ ] the two famous disciples of imám abu hanífa, abu yúsuf and muhammad. [ ] this ceremony is called al-ihrám (_i.e._, making unlawful), because now various actions and pursuits must be abstained from. the ceremony of doffing the pilgrim's garb is called al-ihlál (_i.e._, making lawful), for now the pilgrim returns to the ordinary pursuits and joys of a life in the world. [ ] this statement of names is taken from the núr-ul-hidáyat p. , and that of the distance from hughes' notes on islám; but burton speaks of al zaribah, a place miles distant from mecca as a míqát. it was there that he assumed the ihrám. the explanation probably is that a hájí must not approach nearer to mecca without the ihrám than the places named in the text. the farther from mecca it is assumed, provided that it be during one of the two months preceding zu'l-hajja, the more meritorious is the act. [ ] talbíyah means the repetition of "labbaik," a phrase equivalent to "i am here." the talbíyah can be said in any language, though arabic is preferred. it usually is as follows: "labbaik, alláhumma, labbaik! lá sharíka laka, labbaik! inna-l-hamda wa-n-ní'amata laka, w'-al-mulk! lá sharíka laka, labbaik! [ ] "the object of these minute details is that the "truce of god" may be kept." the five noxious creatures, however, may be slain, _viz._, a crow, a kite, a scorpion, a rat and a biting dog." (burton). [ ] the musjid-ul-harám is the large mosque in mecca. the k'aba (cube) is a square stone building in the centre. this is also called the qibla. the hajr-ul-aswad is the black stone fixed in the corner of the k'aba. [ ] it is said to have been rebuilt ten times. a full description will be found in burton's pilgrimage to madína and mecca, vol. iii. ch. . it is far too long to quote, and it cannot be condensed. the following extract is of some interest, as it states why the 'ulama consider the k'aba so sacred a place. they quote the verse: 'verily the first house built for mankind (to worship in) is that in beccah (mecca)--blessed and a salvation to human beings. therein are manifest signs, even the standing-place of abraham, and he who entereth is safe.' (súra iii. ). the word 'therein' is said to mean mecca, and the "manifest signs" the k'aba, which contains such marvels as the footprints on abraham's platform, and is the spiritual safeguard of all who enter it. in addition, other "signs" are the preservation of the black stone, the miracles put forth to defend the house, the terrible death of the sacrilegious, and the fact that in the flood the big fish did not eat the little fish in the harám. invalids recover their health by rubbing themselves against the kiswat (the covering of the k'aba), and the black stone. one hundred thousand mercies descend on it every day, &c. portions of the kiswat are highly valued as markers for the qurán. waistcoats made of it are supposed to render the combatant invulnerable in battle. [ ] the whole seven are one usbú'. [ ] the maqám-i-ibráhím is a small building, supported, by six pillars about eight feet high, four of which are surrounded from top to bottom by a fine iron railing, while the space between the two hinder pillars is left open; within the railing is a frame about five feet square, said to contain the sacred stone on which abraham sat when he built the k'aba. [ ] in the first rak'at, the chapter usually recited is súra cix; in the second, súra cxii. [ ] "many find this inconvenient and so pass on to 'arifát during the afternoon of the eighth day" (burton). [ ] the following legend is current about 'arifát. "when our parents forfeited heaven by eating wheat, which deprived them of their primeval purity, they were cast down upon earth. the serpent descended at ispahán, the peacock at cabul, satan at bilbays, eve upon 'arifát and adam at ceylon. the latter determining to seek his wife, began a journey, to which the earth owes its present mottled appearance. wherever he placed his foot--which was large--a town arose; between the strides will always be country. wandering for many years he came to the mountain of mercy, where our common mother was continually calling upon his name, and their recognition gave the place the name of 'arifát. they lived here till death took place." (burton). [ ] the sháfa'í rules allow a traveller any time when on a journey of a night and day to reduce the five namáz to three by joining some. the hanafí code allows the shortened form only on this day. [ ] "the shaitan-ul-kabír is a dwarf buttress of rude masonry about eight feet high, by two and a half broad, placed against a rough wall of stones." (burton). [ ] most of the ceremonies connected with the hajj, the ihrám, the shaving of the head, the going to safá and marwah, the throwing of the stones, the circuit of the k'aba, the kissing of the black stone, and the sacrifice were all pagan ceremonies performed by the idolatrous arabs. muhammad by his time-serving policy, adopted to gain the meccans to his side, has confirmed an idolatrous practice which otherwise would probably have been extinct long ago. safá and marwah were hills held in superstitious reverence by the meccans. the early muslims had some doubt about retaining them as sacred places: then came the revelation to the prophet, "safá and marwah are among the monuments of god, whosoever then maketh a pilgrimage to the temple or visiteth it, shall not be to blame if he go round about them both." (súra ii. ). [ ] these are the letters contained in words which direct the reader when to pause. thus toí stands for mutlaq (slight pause), qif (pause), jím for já,íz (freedom to pause, or not to pause), lá for no (no pause), mím for la'zim (necessary to pause), (.) is a full stop. [ ] persian was the foreign language with which the early muslims were brought most into contact; but the objection applies equally to any other language. [ ] a concession of no practical value, as any one with the power of speech could learn these words in a very short time. [ ] this is because by so doing it would seem to ascribe to it similarity to human compositions. [ ] during the first ten days they are supposed to contain the bodies of the martyrs, but now being empty the tázías become mere ordinary frames and can be destroyed, qánún-i-islám, p. . [ ] this feast is known in south india as the dassara. the idol is thrown into a tank. [ ] the mihráb is a niche in a wall which indicates the position of mecca. the face is always turned to it when prayers are said; so that the expression in the prayer means that 'alí is to be the object toward which the faithful look. [ ] the twelve imáms, muhammad and fátima. [ ] the 'Íd-gáh is usually built outside of the town, and consists of a long wall of masonry with two minarets and a large raised open court. there is a mihráb in the wall: but no proper mimbar or pulpit, three raised steps doing duty for it. sometimes, however, a mosque is used as an 'Íd-gáh. [ ] tradition records that the prophet, after the battle of ohud, was one day ascending a hill in a rage. the heat of his passion was such that the mountain softened into the consistence of wax and retained, some say eighteen; others, forty impressions of his feet. when rebuked by gabriel for his anger the prophet enquired the cause of his rebuke. gabriel told him to look around. the prophet seeing these impressions of his feet on the stones was astonished. his anger instantly ceased. qánún-i-islám, p. . [ ] the baqr-'Íd is the only other feast that has an 'arfa. [ ] mishkát-ul-musábih, book vii. ch. . [ ] that is, his blessing or his curse takes effect. qánún-i-islám p. . [ ] this is a warning to those who may have omitted this duty. [ ] khutbahá-i-muhtarjam, p. . [ ] "observations on the musalmáns of india." mrs. mír husan 'alí, p. ." [ ] the opinion of the various traditionists on this point is given in the núr-ul-hidáyah, vol. iv. p. . [ ] still it is mustahab, or a meritorious act so to do. it is also said that, if a minor is possessed of property, his father or his guardian may purchase at his expense an animal and sacrifice it. the child may then eat as much as it can. the remainder of the meat must be exchanged for something which the child can use, such as clothes, shoes, &c. núr-ul-hidáyah, vol. iv. p. . [ ] according to the imáms sháfa'í and málik no one must offer up the sacrifice until the imám who has officiated at the previous namáz has slain his victim. núr-ul-hidáyah, vol. iv. p. . [ ] Áráyish-i-mahfil p. . * * * * * corrections made to printed original. page "it is moreover the unanimous opinion" - 'moveover' in original. page "the imám-i-a'zam or great imám" - imám-í-'azam in original, corrected by errata. page "this is technically called ilká" - ilka in original, corrected by errata. page "sa'dí in the bustán says" - bustun in original, corrected by errata. page "the famous maulána jelál-ud-dín rúmí" - maolána in original, corrected by errata. page "it is faná--extinction." - fana in original, corrected by errata. page "a still lower class of action which are mubáh." - mubah in original, corrected by errata. page "( ) the whole head must be rubbed once" - '( )' in original. page "a man one day came to the prophet" - 'come' in original. page "islám, hurriat (freedom) and nisáb (stock)." - húrriat in original, corrected by errata. note "also takmíl-ul-imán, p. ." - tamíl-ul-imán in original, corrected by errata. clairvoyance by c. w. leadbeater second edition london theosophical publishing society * * * * * contents chapter i. page what clairvoyance is. chapter ii. simple clairvoyance: full chapter iii. simple clairvoyance: partial chapter iv. clairvoyance in space: intentional chapter v. clairvoyance in space: semi-intentional chapter vi. clairvoyance in space: unintentional chapter vii. clairvoyance in time: the past chapter viii. clairvoyance in time: the future chapter ix. methods of development * * * * * clairvoyance chapter i. what clairvoyance is. clairvoyance means literally nothing more than "clear-seeing," and it is a word which has been sorely misused, and even degraded so far as to be employed to describe the trickery of a mountebank in a variety show. even in its more restricted sense it covers a wide range of phenomena, differing so greatly in character that it is not easy to give a definition of the word which shall be at once succinct and accurate. it has been called "spiritual vision," but no rendering could well be more misleading than that, for in the vast majority of cases there is no faculty connected with it which has the slightest claim to be honoured by so lofty a name. for the purpose of this treatise we may, perhaps, define it as the power to see what is hidden from ordinary physical sight. it will be as well to premise that it is very frequently (though by no means always) accompanied by what is called clairaudience, or the power to hear what would be inaudible to the ordinary physical ear; and we will for the nonce take our title as covering this faculty also, in order to avoid the clumsiness of perpetually using two long words where one will suffice. let me make two points clear before i begin. first, i am not writing for those who do not believe that there is such a thing as clairvoyance, nor am i seeking to convince those who are in doubt about the matter. in so small a work as this i have no space for that; such people must study the many books containing lists of cases, or make experiments for themselves along mesmeric lines. i am addressing myself to the better-instructed class who know that clairvoyance exists, and are sufficiently interested in the subject to be glad of information as to its methods and possibilities; and i would assure them that what i write is the result of much careful study and experiment, and that though some of the powers which i shall have to describe may seem new and wonderful to them, i mention no single one of which i have not myself seen examples. secondly, though i shall endeavour to avoid technicalities as far as possible, yet as i am writing in the main for students of theosophy, i shall feel myself at liberty sometimes to use, for brevity's sake and without detailed explanation, the ordinary theosophical terms with which i may safely assume them to be familiar. should this little book fall into the hands of any to whom the occasional use of such terms constitutes a difficulty, i can only apologize to them and refer them for these preliminary explanations to any elementary theosophical work, such as mrs. besant's _ancient wisdom_ or _man and his bodies_. the truth is that the whole theosophical system hangs together so closely, and its various parts are so interdependent, that to give a full explanation of every term used would necessitate an exhaustive treatise on theosophy as a preface even to this short account of clairvoyance. before a detailed explanation of clairvoyance can usefully be attempted, however, it will be necessary for us to devote a little time to some preliminary considerations, in order that we may have clearly in mind a few broad facts as to the different planes on which clairvoyant vision may be exercised, and the conditions which render its exercise possible. we are constantly assured in theosophical literature that all these higher faculties are presently to be the heritage of mankind in general--that the capacity of clairvoyance, for example, lies latent in every one, and that those in whom it already manifests itself are simply in that one particular a little in advance of the rest of us. now this statement is a true one, and yet it seems quite vague and unreal to the majority of people, simply because they regard such a faculty as something absolutely different from anything they have yet experienced, and feel fairly confident that they themselves, at any rate, are not within measurable distance of its development. it may help to dispel this sense of unreality if we try to understand that clairvoyance, like so many other things in nature, is mainly a question of vibrations, and is in fact nothing but an extension of powers which we are all using every day of our lives. we are living all the while surrounded by a vast sea of mingled air and ether, the latter inter-penetrating the former, as it does all physical matter; and it is chiefly by means of vibrations in that vast sea of matter that impressions reach us from the outside. this much we all know, but it may perhaps never have occurred to many of us that the number of these vibrations to which we are capable of responding is in reality quite infinitesimal. up among the exceedingly rapid vibrations which affect the ether there is a certain small section--a _very_ small section--to which the retina of the human eye is capable of responding, and these particular vibrations produce in us the sensation which we call light. that is to say, we are capable of seeing only those objects from which light of that particular kind can either issue or be reflected. in exactly the same way the tympanum of the human ear is capable of responding to a certain very small range of comparatively slow vibrations--slow enough to affect the air which surrounds us; and so the only sounds which we can hear are those made by objects which are able to vibrate at some rate within that particular range. in both cases it is a matter perfectly well known to science that there are large numbers of vibrations both above and below these two sections, and that consequently there is much light that we cannot see, and there are many sounds to which our ears are deaf. in the case of light the action of these higher and lower vibrations is easily perceptible in the effects produced by the actinic rays at one end of the spectrum and the heat rays at the other. as a matter of fact there exist vibrations of every conceivable degree of rapidity, filling the whole vast space intervening between the slow sound waves and the swift light waves; nor is even that all, for there are undoubtedly vibrations slower than those of sound, and a whole infinity of them which are swifter than those known to us as light. so we begin to understand that the vibrations by which we see and hear are only like two tiny groups of a few strings selected from an enormous harp of practically infinite extent, and when we think how much we have been able to learn and infer from the use of those minute fragments, we see vaguely what possibilities might lie before us if we were enabled to utilize the vast and wonderful whole. another fact which needs to be considered in this connection is that different human beings vary considerably, though within relatively narrow limits, in their capacity of response even to the very few vibrations which are within reach of our physical senses. i am not referring to the keenness of sight or of hearing that enables one man to see a fainter object or hear a slighter sound than another; it is not in the least a question of strength of vision, but of extent of susceptibility. for example, if anyone will take a good bisulphide of carbon prism, and by its means throw a clear spectrum on a sheet of white paper, and then get a number of people to mark upon the paper the extreme limits of the spectrum as it appears to them, he is fairly certain to find that their powers of vision differ appreciably. some will see the violet extending much farther than the majority do; others will perhaps see rather less violet than most, while gaining a corresponding extension of vision at the red end. some few there will perhaps be who can see farther than ordinary at both ends, and these will almost certainly be what we call sensitive people--susceptible in fact to a greater range of vibrations than are most men of the present day. in hearing, the same difference can be tested by taking some sound which is just not too high to be audible--on the very verge of audibility as it were--and discovering how many among a given number of people are able to hear it. the squeak of a bat is a familiar instance of such a sound, and experiment will show that on a summer evening, when the whole air is full of the shrill, needle-like cries of these little animals, quite a large number of men will be absolutely unconscious of them, and unable to hear anything at all. now these examples clearly show that there is no hard-and-fast limit to man's power of response to either etheric or aerial vibrations, but that some among us already have that power to a wider extent than others; and it will even be found that the same man's capacity varies on different occasions. it is therefore not difficult for us to imagine that it might be possible for a man to develop this power, and thus in time to learn to see much that is invisible to his fellow-men, and hear much that is inaudible to them, since we know perfectly well that enormous numbers of these additional vibrations do exist, and are simply, as it were, awaiting recognition. the experiments with the röntgen rays give us an example of the startling results which are produced when even a very few of these additional vibrations are brought within human ken, and the transparency to these rays of many substances hitherto considered opaque at once shows us one way at least in which we may explain such elementary clairvoyance as is involved in reading a letter inside a closed box, or describing those present in an adjoining apartment. to learn to see by means of the röntgen rays in addition to those ordinarily employed would be quite sufficient to enable anyone to perform a feat of magic of this order. so far we have thought only of an extension of the purely physical senses of man; and when we remember that a man's etheric body is in reality merely the finer part of his physical frame, and that therefore all his sense organs contain a large amount of etheric matter of various degrees of density, the capacities of which are still practically latent in most of us, we shall see that even if we confine ourselves to this line of development alone there are enormous possibilities of all kinds already opening out before us. but besides and beyond all this we know that man possesses an astral and a mental body, each of which can in process of time be aroused into activity, and will respond in turn to the vibrations of the matter of its own plane, thus opening up before the ego, as he learns to function through these vehicles, two entirely new and far wider worlds of knowledge and power. now these new worlds, though they are all around us and freely inter-penetrate one another, are not to be thought of as distinct and entirely unconnected in substance, but rather as melting the one into the other, the lowest astral forming a direct series with the highest physical, just as the lowest mental in its turn forms a direct series with the highest astral. we are not called upon in thinking of them to imagine some new and strange kind of matter, but simply to think of the ordinary physical kind as subdivided so very much more finely and vibrating so very much more rapidly as to introduce us to what are practically entirely new conditions and qualities. it is not then difficult for us to grasp the possibility of a steady and progressive extension of our senses, so that both by sight and by hearing we may be able to appreciate vibrations far higher and far lower than those which are ordinarily recognised. a large section of these additional vibrations will still belong to the physical plane, and will merely enable us to obtain impressions from the etheric part of that plane, which is at present as a closed book to us. such impressions will still be received through the retina of the eye; of course they will affect its etheric rather than its solid matter, but we may nevertheless regard them as still appealing only to an organ specialized to receive them, and not to the whole surface of the etheric body. there are some abnormal cases, however, in which other parts of the etheric body respond to these additional vibrations as readily as, or even more readily than, the eye. such vagaries are explicable in various ways, but principally as effects of some partial astral development, for it will be found that the sensitive parts of the body almost invariably correspond with one or other of the _chakrams_, or centres of vitality in the astral body. and though, if astral consciousness be not yet developed, these centres may not be available on their own plane, they are still strong enough to stimulate into keener activity the etheric matter which they inter-penetrate. when we come to deal with the astral senses themselves the methods of working are very different. the astral body has no specialized sense-organs--a fact which perhaps needs some explanation, since many students who are trying to comprehend its physiology seem to find it difficult to reconcile with the statements that have been made as to the perfect inter-penetration of the physical body by astral matter, the exact correspondence between the two vehicles, and the fact that every physical object has necessarily its astral counterpart. now all these statements are true, and yet it is quite possible for people who do not normally see astrally to misunderstand them. every order of physical matter has its corresponding order of astral matter in constant association with it--not to be separated from it except by a very considerable exertion of occult force, and even then only to be held apart from it as long as force is being definitely exerted to that end. but for all that the relation of the astral particles one to another is far looser than is the case with their physical correspondences. in a bar of iron, for example, we have a mass of physical molecules in the solid condition--that is to say, capable of comparatively little change in their relative positions, though each vibrating with immense rapidity in its own sphere. the astral counterpart of this consists of what we often call solid astral matter--that is, matter of the lowest and densest sub-plane of the astral; but nevertheless its particles are constantly and rapidly changing their relative position, moving among one another as easily as those of a liquid on the physical plane might do. so that there is no permanent association between any one physical particle and that amount of astral matter which happens at any given moment to be acting as its counterpart. this is equally true with respect to the astral body of man, which for our purpose at the moment we may regard as consisting of two parts--the denser aggregation which occupies the exact position of the physical body, and the cloud of rarer astral matter which surrounds that aggregation. in both these parts, and between them both, there is going on at every moment of time the rapid inter-circulation of the particles which has been described, so that as one watches the movement of the molecules in the astral body one is reminded of the appearance of those in fiercely boiling water. this being so, it will be readily understood that though any given organ of the physical body must always have as its counterpart a certain amount of astral matter, it does not retain the same particles for more than a few seconds at a time, and consequently there is nothing corresponding to the specialization of physical nerve-matter into optic or auditory nerves, and so on. so that though the physical eye or ear has undoubtedly always its counterpart of astral matter, that particular fragment of astral matter is no more (and no less) capable of responding to the vibrations which produce astral sight or astral hearing than any other part of the vehicle. it must never be forgotten that though we constantly have to speak of "astral sight" or "astral hearing" in order to make ourselves intelligible, all that we mean by those expressions is the faculty of responding to such vibrations as convey to the man's consciousness, when he is functioning in his astral body, information of the same character as that conveyed to him by his eyes and ears while he is in the physical body. but in the entirely different astral conditions, specialized organs are not necessary for the attainment of this result; there is matter in every part of the astral body which is capable of such response, and consequently the man functioning in that vehicle sees equally well objects behind him, beneath him, above him, without needing to turn his head. there is, however, another point which it would hardly be fair to leave entirely out of account, and that is the question of the _chakrams_ referred to above. theosophical students are familiar with the idea of the existence in both the astral and the etheric bodies of man of certain centres of force which have to be vivified in turn by the sacred serpent-fire as the man advances in evolution. though these cannot be described as organs in the ordinary sense of the word, since it is not through them that the man sees or hears, as he does in physical life through eyes and ears, yet it is apparently very largely upon their vivification that the power of exercising these astral senses depends, each of them as it is developed giving to the whole astral body the power of response to a new set of vibrations. neither have these centres, however, any permanent collection of astral matter connected with them. they are simply vortices in the matter of the body--vortices through which all the particles pass in turn--points, perhaps, at which the higher force from planes above impinges upon the astral body. even this description gives but a very partial idea of their appearance, for they are in reality four-dimensional vortices, so that the force which comes through them and is the cause of their existence seems to well up from nowhere. but at any rate, since all particles in turn pass through each of them, it will be clear that it is thus possible for each in turn to evoke in all the particles of the body the power of receptivity to a certain set of vibrations, so that all the astral senses are equally active in all parts of the body. the vision of the mental plane is again totally different, for in this case we can no longer speak of separate senses such as sight and hearing, but rather have to postulate one general sense which responds so fully to the vibrations reaching it that when any object comes within its cognition it at once comprehends it fully, and as it were sees it, hears it, feels it, and knows all there is to know about it by the one instantaneous operation. yet even this wonderful faculty differs in degree only and not in kind from those which are at our command at the present time; on the mental plane, just as on the physical, impressions are still conveyed by means of vibrations travelling from the object seen to the seer. on the buddhic plane we meet for the first time with a quite new faculty having nothing in common with those of which we have spoken, for there a man cognizes any object by an entirely different method, in which external vibrations play no part. the object becomes part of himself, and he studies it from the inside instead of from the outside. but with _this_ power ordinary clairvoyance has nothing to do. the development, either entire or partial, of any one of these faculties would come under our definition of clairvoyance--the power to see what is hidden from ordinary physical sight. but these faculties may be developed in various ways, and it will be well to say a few words as to these different lines. we may presume that if it were possible for a man to be isolated during his evolution from all but the gentlest outside influences, and to unfold from the beginning in perfectly regular and normal fashion, he would probably develop his senses in regular order also. he would find his physical senses gradually extending their scope until they responded to all the physical vibrations, of etheric as well as of denser matter; then in orderly sequence would come sensibility to the coarser part of the astral plane, and presently the finer part also would be included, until in due course the faculty of the mental plane dawned in its turn. in real life, however, development so regular as this is hardly ever known, and many a man has occasional flashes of astral consciousness without any awakening of etheric vision at all. and this irregularity of development is one of the principal causes of man's extraordinary liability to error in matters of clairvoyance--a liability from which there is no escape except by a long course of careful training under a qualified teacher. students of theosophical literature are well aware that there are such teachers to be found--that even in this materialistic nineteenth century the old saying is still true, that "when the pupil is ready, the master is ready also," and that "in the hall of learning, when he is capable of entering there, the disciple will always find his master." they are well aware also that only under such guidance can a man develop his latent powers in safety and with certainty, since they know how fatally easy it is for the untrained clairvoyant to deceive himself as to the meaning and value of what he sees, or even absolutely to distort his vision completely in bringing it down into his physical consciousness. it does not follow that even the pupil who is receiving regular instruction in the use of occult powers will find them unfolding themselves exactly in the regular order which was suggested above as probably ideal. his previous progress may not have been such as to make this for him the easiest or most desirable road; but at any rate he is in the hands of one who is perfectly competent to be his guide in spiritual development, and he rests in perfect contentment that the way along which he is taken will be that which is the best way for him. another great advantage which he gains is that whatever faculties he may acquire are definitely under his command and can be used fully and constantly when he needs them for his theosophical work; whereas in the case of the untrained man such powers often manifest themselves only very partially and spasmodically, and appear to come and go, as it were, at their own sweet will. it may reasonably be objected that if clairvoyant faculty is, as stated, a part of the occult development of man, and so a sign of a certain amount of progress along that line, it seems strange that it should often be possessed by primitive peoples, or by the ignorant and uncultured among our own race--persons who are obviously quite undeveloped, from whatever point of view one regards them. no doubt this does appear remarkable at first sight but the fact is that the sensitiveness of the savage or of the coarse and vulgar european ignoramus is not really at all the same thing as the faculty of his properly trained brother, nor is it arrived at in the same way. an exact and detailed explanation of the difference would lead us into rather recondite technicalities, but perhaps the general idea of the distinction between the two may be caught from an example taken from the very lowest plane of clairvoyance, in close contact with the denser physical. the etheric double in man is in exceedingly close relation to his nervous system, and any kind of action upon one of them speedily reacts on the other. now in the sporadic appearance of etheric sight in the savage, whether of central africa or of western europe, it has been observed that the corresponding nervous disturbance is almost entirely in the sympathetic system, and that the whole affair is practically beyond the man's control--is in fact a sort of massive sensation vaguely belonging to the whole etheric body, rather than an exact and definite sense-perception communicated through a specialized organ. as in later races and amid higher development the strength of the man is more and more thrown into the evolution of the mental faculties, this vague sensitiveness usually disappears; but still later, when the spiritual man begins to unfold, he regains his clairvoyant power. this time, however, the faculty is a precise and exact one, under the control of the man's will, and exercised through a definite sense-organ; and it is noteworthy that any nervous action set up in sympathy with it is now almost exclusively in the cerebro-spinal system. on this subject mrs. besant writes:--"the lower forms of psychism are more frequent in animals and in very unintelligent human beings than in men and women in whom the intellectual powers are well developed. they appear to be connected with the sympathetic system, not with the cerebro-spinal. the large nucleated ganglionic cells in this system contain a very large proportion of etheric matter, and are hence more easily affected by the coarser astral vibrations than are the cells in which the proportion is less. as the cerebro-spinal system develops, and the brain becomes more highly evolved, the sympathetic system subsides into a subordinate position, and the sensitiveness to psychic vibrations is dominated by the stronger and more active vibrations of the higher nervous system. it is true that at a later stage of evolution psychic sensitiveness reappears, but it is then developed in connection with the cerebro-spinal centres, and is brought under the control of the will. but the hysterical and ill-regulated psychism of which we see so many lamentable examples is due to the small development of the brain and the dominance of the sympathetic system." occasional flashes of clairvoyance do, however, sometimes come to the highly cultured and spiritual-minded man, even though he may never have heard of the possibility of training such a faculty. in his case such glimpses usually signify that he is approaching that stage in his evolution when these powers will naturally begin to manifest themselves, and their appearance should serve as an additional stimulus to him to strive to maintain that high standard of moral purity and mental balance without which clairvoyance is a curse and not a blessing to its possessor. between those who are entirely unimpressible and those who are in full possession of clairvoyant power there are many intermediate stages. one to which it will be worth while to give a passing glance is the stage in which a man, though he has no clairvoyant faculty in ordinary life, yet exhibits it more or less fully under the influence of mesmerism. this is a case in which the psychic nature is already sensitive, but the consciousness is not yet capable of functioning in it amidst the manifold distractions of physical life. it needs to be set free by the temporary suspension of the outer senses in the mesmeric trance before it can use the diviner faculties which are but just beginning to dawn within it. but of course even in the mesmeric trance there are innumerable degrees of lucidity, from the ordinary patient who is blankly unintelligent to the man whose power of sight is fully under the control of the operator, and can be directed whithersoever he wills, or to the more advanced stage in which, when the consciousness is once set free, it escapes altogether from the grasp of the magnetizer, and soars into fields of exalted vision where it is entirely beyond his reach. another step along the same path is that upon which such perfect suppression of the physical as that which occurs in the hypnotic trance is not necessary, but the power of supernormal sight, though still out of reach during waking life, becomes available when the body is held in the bonds of ordinary sleep. at this stage of development stood many of the prophets and seers of whom we read, who were "warned of god in a dream," or communed with beings far higher than themselves in the silent watches of the night. most cultured people of the higher races of the world have this development to some extent: that is to say, the senses of their astral bodies are in full working order, and perfectly capable of receiving impressions from objects and entities of their own plane. but to make that fact of any use to them down here in the physical body, two changes are usually necessary; first, that the ego shall be awakened to the realities of the astral plane, and induced to emerge from the chrysalis formed by his own waking thoughts, and look round him to observe and to learn; and secondly, that the consciousness shall be so far retained during the return of the ego into his physical body as to enable him to impress upon his physical brain the recollection of what he has seen or learnt. if the first of these changes has taken place, the second is of little importance, since the ego, the true man, will be able to profit by the information to be obtained upon that plane, even though he may not have the satisfaction of bringing through any remembrance of it into his waking life down here. students often ask how this clairvoyant faculty will first be manifested in themselves--how they may know when they have reached the stage at which its first faint foreshadowings are beginning to be visible. cases differ so widely that it is impossible to give to this question any answer that will be universally applicable. some people begin by a plunge, as it were, and under some unusual stimulus become able just for once to see some striking vision; and very often in such a case, because the experience does not repeat itself, the seer comes in time to believe that on that occasion he must have been the victim of hallucination. others begin by becoming intermittently conscious of the brilliant colours and vibrations of the human aura; yet others find themselves with increasing frequency seeing and hearing something to which those around them are blind and deaf; others, again, see faces, landscapes, or coloured clouds floating before their eyes in the dark before they sink to rest; while perhaps the commonest experience of all is that of those who begin to recollect with greater and greater clearness what they have seen and heard on the other planes during sleep. having now to some extent cleared our ground, we may proceed to consider the various phenomena of clairvoyance. they differ so widely both in character and in degree that it is not very easy to decide how they can most satisfactorily be classified. we might, for example, arrange them according to the kind of sight employed--whether it were mental, astral, or merely etheric. we might divide them according to the capacity of the clairvoyant, taking into consideration whether he was trained or untrained; whether his vision was regular and under his command, or spasmodic and independent of his volition; whether he could exercise it only when under mesmeric influence, or whether that assistance was unnecessary for him; whether he was able to use his faculty when awake in the physical body, or whether it was available only when he was temporarily away from that body in sleep or trance. all these distinctions are of importance, and we shall have to take them all into consideration as we go on, but perhaps on the whole the most useful classification will be one something on the lines of that adopted by mr. sinnett in his _rationale of mesmerism_--a book, by the way, which all students of clairvoyance ought to read. in dealing with the phenomena, then, we will arrange them rather according to the capacity of the sight employed than to the plane upon which it is exercised, so that we may group instances of clairvoyance under some such headings as these: . simple clairvoyance--that is to say, a mere opening of sight, enabling its possessor to see whatever astral or etheric entities happen to be present around him, but not including the power of observing either distant places or scenes belonging to any other time than the present. . clairvoyance in space--the capacity to see scenes or events removed from the seer in space, and either too far distant for ordinary observation or concealed by intermediate objects. . clairvoyance in time--that is to say, the capacity to see objects or events which are removed from the seer in time, or, in other words, the power of looking into the past or the future. chapter ii. simple clairvoyance: full. we have defined this as a mere opening of etheric or astral sight, which enables the possessor to see whatever may be present around him on corresponding levels, but is not usually accompanied by the power of seeing anything at a great distance or of reading either the past or the future. it is hardly possible altogether to exclude these latter faculties, for astral sight necessarily has considerably greater extension than physical, and fragmentary pictures of both past and future are often casually visible even to clairvoyants who do not know how to seek specially for them; but there is nevertheless a very real distinction between such incidental glimpses and the definite power of projection of the sight either in space or time. we find among sensitive people all degrees of this kind of clairvoyance, from that of the man who gets a vague impression which hardly deserves the name of sight at all, up to the full possession of etheric and astral vision respectively. perhaps the simplest method will be for us to begin by describing what would be visible in the case of this fuller development of the power, as the cases of its partial possession will then be seen to fall naturally into their places. let us take the etheric vision first. this consists simply, as has already been said, in susceptibility to a far larger series of physical vibrations than ordinary, but nevertheless its possession brings into view a good deal to which the majority of the human race still remains blind. let us consider what changes its acquisition produces in the aspect of familiar objects, animate and inanimate, and then see to what entirely new factors it introduces us. but it must be remembered that what i am about to describe is the result of the full and perfectly-controlled possession of the faculty only, and that most of the instances met with in real life will be likely to fall far short of it in one direction or another. the most striking change produced in the appearance of inanimate objects by the acquisition of this faculty is that most of them become almost transparent, owing to the difference in wave-length of some of the vibrations to which the man has now become susceptible. he finds himself capable of performing with the utmost ease the proverbial feat of "seeing through a brick wall," for to his newly-acquired vision the brick wall seems to have a consistency no greater than that of a light mist. he therefore sees what is going on in an adjoining room almost as though no intervening wall existed; he can describe with accuracy the contents of a locked box, or read a sealed letter; with a little practice he can find a given passage in a closed book. this last feat, though perfectly easy to astral vision, presents considerable difficulty to one using etheric sight, because of the fact that each page has to be looked at _through_ all those which happen to be superimposed upon it. it is often asked whether under these circumstances a man sees always with this abnormal sight, or only when he wishes to do so. the answer is that if the faculty is perfectly developed it will be entirely under his control, and he can use that or his more ordinary vision at will. he changes from one to the other as readily and naturally as we now change the focus of our eyes when we look up from our book to follow the motions of some object a mile away. it is, as it were, a focussing of consciousness on the one or the other aspect of what is seen; and though the man would have quite clearly in his view the aspect upon which his attention was for the moment fixed, he would always be vaguely conscious of the other aspect too, just as when we focus our sight upon any object held in our hands we yet vaguely see the opposite wall of the room as a background. another curious change, which comes from the possession of this sight, is that the solid ground upon which the man walks becomes to a certain extent transparent to him, so that he is able to see down into it to a considerable depth, much as we can now see into fairly clear water. this enables him to watch a creature burrowing underground, to distinguish a vein of coal or of metal if not too far below the surface, and so on. the limit of etheric sight when looking through solid matter appears to be analogous to that imposed upon us when looking through water or mist. we cannot see beyond a certain distance, because the medium through which we are looking is not perfectly transparent. the appearance of animate objects is also considerably altered for the man who has increased his visual powers to this extent. the bodies of men and animals are for him in the main transparent, so that he can watch the action of the various internal organs, and to some extent diagnose some of their diseases. the extended sight also enables him to perceive, more or less clearly, various classes of creatures, elemental and otherwise, whose bodies are not capable of reflecting any of the rays within the limit of the spectrum as ordinarily seen. among the entities so seen will be some of the lower orders of nature-spirits--those whose bodies are composed of the denser etheric matter. to this class belong nearly all the fairies, gnomes, and brownies, about whom there are still so many stories remaining among scotch and irish mountains and in remote country places all over the world. the vast kingdom of nature-spirits is in the main an astral kingdom, but still there is a large section of it which appertains to the etheric part of the physical plane, and this section, of course, is much more likely to come within the ken of ordinary people than the others. indeed, in reading the common fairy stories one frequently comes across distinct indications that it is with this class that we are dealing. any student of fairy lore will remember how often mention is made of some mysterious ointment or drug, which when applied to a man's eyes enables him to see the members of the fairy commonwealth whenever he happens to meet them. the story of such an application and its results occurs so constantly and comes from so many different parts of the world that there must certainly be some truth behind it, as there always is behind really universal popular tradition. now no such anointing of the eyes alone could by any possibility open a man's astral vision, though certain ointments rubbed over the whole body will very greatly assist the astral body to leave the physical in full consciousness--a fact the knowledge of which seems to have survived even to mediæval times, as will be seen from the evidence given at some of the trials for witchcraft. but the application to the physical eye might very easily so stimulate its sensitiveness as to make it susceptible to some of the etheric vibrations. the story frequently goes on to relate how when the human being who has used this mystical ointment betrays his extended vision in some way to a fairy, the latter strikes or stabs him in the eye, thus depriving him not only of the etheric sight, but of that of the denser physical plane as well. (see _the science of fairy tales_, by e. s. hartland, in the "contemporary science" series--or indeed almost any extensive collection of fairy stories.) if the sight acquired had been astral, such a proceeding would have been entirely unavailing, for no injury to the physical apparatus would affect an astral faculty; but if the vision produced by the ointment were etheric, the destruction of the physical eye would in most cases at once extinguish it, since that is the mechanism by means of which it works. anyone possessing this sight of which we are speaking would also be able to perceive the etheric double of man; but since this is so nearly identical in size with the physical, it would hardly be likely to attract his attention unless it were partially projected in trance or under the influence of anæsthetics. after death, when it withdraws entirely from the dense body, it would be clearly visible to him, and he would frequently see it hovering over newly made graves as he passed through a churchyard or cemetery. if he were to attend a spiritualistic séance he would see the etheric matter oozing out from the side of the medium, and could observe the various ways in which the communicating entities make use of it. another fact which could hardly fail soon to thrust itself upon his notice would be the extension of his perception of colour. he would find himself able to see several entirely new colours, not in the least resembling any of those included in the spectrum as we at present know it, and therefore of course quite indescribable in any terms at our command. and not only would he see new objects that were wholly of these new colours, but he would also discover that modifications had been introduced into the colour of many objects with which he was quite familiar, according to whether they had or had not some tinge of these new hues intermingled with the old. so that two surfaces of colour which to ordinary eyes appeared to match perfectly would often present distinctly different shades to his keener sight. we have now touched upon some of the principal changes which would be introduced into a man's world when he gained etheric sight; and it must always be remembered that in most cases a corresponding change would at the same time be brought about in his other senses also, so that he would be capable of hearing, and perhaps even of feeling, more than most of those around him. now supposing that in addition to this he obtained the sight of the astral plane, what further changes would be observable? well, the changes would be many and great; in fact, a whole new world would open before his eyes. let us consider its wonders briefly in the same order as before, and see first what difference there would be in the appearance of inanimate objects. on this point i may begin by quoting a recent quaint answer given in _the vâhan_. "there is a distinct difference between etheric sight and astral sight, and it is the latter which seems to correspond to the fourth dimension. "the easiest way to understand the difference is to take an example. if you looked at a man with both the sights in turn, you would see the buttons at the back of his coat in both cases; only if you used etheric sight you would see them _through_ him, and would see the shank-side as nearest to you, but if you looked astrally, you would see it not only like that, but just as if you were standing behind the man as well. "or if you were looking etherically at a wooden cube with writing on all its sides, it would be as though the cube were glass, so that you could see through it, and you would see the writing on the opposite side all backwards, while that on the right and left sides would not be clear to you at all unless you moved, because you would see it edgewise. but if you looked at it astrally you would see all the sides at once, and all the right way up, as though the whole cube had been flattened out before you, and you would see every particle of the inside as well--not _through_ the others, but all flattened out. you would be looking at it from another direction, at right angles to all the directions that we know. "if you look at the back of a watch etherically you see all the wheels through it, and the face _through them_, but backwards; if you look at it astrally, you see the face right way up and all the wheels lying separately, but nothing on the top of anything else." here we have at once the keynote, the principal factor of the change; the man is looking at everything from an absolutely new point of view, entirely outside of anything that he has ever imagined before. he has no longer the slightest difficulty in reading any page in a closed book, because he is not now looking at it through all the other pages before it or behind it, but is looking straight down upon it as though it were the only page to be seen. the depth at which a vein of metal or of coal may lie is no longer a barrier to his sight of it, because he is not now looking through the intervening depth of earth at all. the thickness of a wall, or the number of walls intervening between the observer and the object, would make a great deal of difference to the clearness of the etheric sight; they would make no difference whatever to the astral sight, because on the astral plane they would _not_ intervene between the observer and the object. of course that sounds paradoxical and impossible, and it _is_ quite inexplicable to a mind not specially trained to grasp the idea; yet it is none the less absolutely true. this carries us straight into the middle of the much-vexed question of the fourth dimension--a question of the deepest interest, though one that we cannot pretend to discuss in the space at our disposal. those who wish to study it as it deserves are recommended to begin with mr. c. h. hinton's _scientific romances_ or dr. a. t. schofield's _another world_, and then follow on with the former author's larger work, _a new era of thought_. mr. hinton not only claims to be able himself to grasp mentally some of the simpler fourth-dimensional figures, but also states that anyone who will take the trouble to follow out his directions may with perseverance acquire that mental grasp likewise. i am not certain that the power to do this is within the reach of everyone, as he thinks, for it appears to me to require considerable mathematical ability; but i can at any rate bear witness that the tesseract or fourth-dimensional cube which he describes is a reality, for it is quite a familiar figure upon the astral plane. he has now perfected a new method of representing the several dimensions by colours instead of by arbitrary written symbols. he states that this will very much simplify the study, as the reader will be able to distinguish instantly by sight any part or feature of the tesseract. a full description of this new method, with plates, is said to be ready for the press, and is expected to appear within a year, so that intending students of this fascinating subject might do well to await its publication. i know that madame blavatsky, in alluding to the theory of the fourth dimension, has expressed an opinion that it is only a clumsy way of stating the idea of the entire permeability of matter, and that mr. w. t. stead has followed along the same lines, presenting the conception to his readers under the name of _throughth_. careful, oft-repeated and detailed investigation does, however, seem to show quite conclusively that this explanation does not cover all the facts. it is a perfect description of etheric vision, but the further and quite different idea of the fourth dimension as expounded by mr. hinton is the only one which gives any kind of explanation down here of the constantly-observed facts of astral vision. i would therefore venture deferentially to suggest that when madame blavatsky wrote as she did, she had in mind etheric vision and not astral, and that the extreme applicability of the phrase to this other and higher faculty, of which she was not at the moment thinking, did not occur to her. the possession of this extraordinary and scarcely expressible power, then, must always be borne in mind through all that follows. it lays every point in the interior of every solid body absolutely open to the gaze of the seer, just as every point in the interior of a circle lies open to the gaze of a man looking down upon it. but even this is by no means all that it gives to its possessor. he sees not only the inside as well as the outside of every object, but also its astral counterpart. every atom and molecule of physical matter has its corresponding astral atoms and molecules, and the mass which is built up out of these is clearly visible to our clairvoyant. usually the astral of any object projects somewhat beyond the physical part of it, and thus metals, stones and other things are seen surrounded by an astral aura. it will be seen at once that even in the study of inorganic matter a man gains immensely by the acquisition of this vision. not only does he see the astral part of the object at which he looks, which before was wholly hidden from him; not only does he see much more of its physical constitution than he did before, but even what was visible to him before is now seen much more clearly and truly. a moment's consideration will show that his new vision approximates much more closely to true perception than does physical sight. for example, if he looks astrally at a glass cube, its sides will all appear equal, as we know they really are, whereas on the physical plane he sees the further side in perspective--that is, it appears smaller than the nearer side, which is, of course, a mere allusion due to his physical limitations. when we come to consider the additional facilities which it offers in the observation of animate objects we see still more clearly the advantages of the astral vision. it exhibits to the clairvoyant the aura of plants and animals, and thus in the case of the latter their desires and emotions, and whatever thoughts they may have, are all plainly shown before his eyes. but it is in dealing with human beings that he will most appreciate the value of this faculty, for he will often be able to help them far more effectually when he guides himself by the information which it gives him. he will be able to see the aura as far up as the astral body, and though that leaves all the higher part of a man still hidden from his gaze, he will nevertheless find it possible by careful observation to learn a good deal about the higher part from what is within his reach. his capacity of examining the etheric double will give him considerable advantage in locating and classifying any defects or diseases of the nervous system, while from the appearance of the astral body he will be at once aware of all the emotions, passions, desires and tendencies of the man before him, and even of very many of his thoughts also. as he looks at a person he will see him surrounded by the luminous mist of the astral aura, flashing with all sorts of brilliant colours, and constantly changing in hue and brilliancy with every variation of the person's thoughts and feelings. he will see this aura flooded with the beautiful rose-colour of pure affection, the rich blue of devotional feeling, the hard, dull brown of selfishness, the deep scarlet of anger, the horrible lurid red of sensuality, the livid grey of fear, the black clouds of hatred and malice, or any of the other hundredfold indications so easily to be read in it by a practised eye; and thus it will be impossible for any persons to conceal from him the real state of their feelings on any subject. these varied indications of the aura are of themselves a study of very deep interest, but i have no space to deal with them in detail here. a much fuller account of them, together with a large number of coloured illustrations, will be found in my work on the subject _man visible and invisible_. not only does the astral aura show him the temporary result of the emotion passing through it at the moment, but it also gives him, by the arrangement and proportion of its colours when in a condition of comparative rest, a clue to the general disposition and character of its owner. for the astral body is the expression of as much of the man as can be manifested on that plane, so that from what is seen in it much more which belongs to higher planes may be inferred with considerable certainty. in this judgment of character our clairvoyant will be much helped by so much of the person's thought as expresses itself on the astral plane, and consequently comes within his purview. the true home of thought is on the mental plane, and all thought first manifests itself there as a vibration of the mind-body. but if it be in any way a selfish thought, or if it be connected in any way with an emotion or a desire, it immediately descends into the astral plane, and takes to itself a visible form of astral matter. in the case of the majority of men almost all thought would fall under one or other of these heads, so that practically the whole of their personality would lie clearly before our friend's astral vision, since their astral bodies and the thought-forms constantly radiating from them would be to him as an open book in which their characteristics were writ so largely that he who ran might read. anyone wishing to gain some idea as to _how_ the thought-forms present themselves to clairvoyant vision may satisfy themselves to some extent by examining the illustrations accompanying mrs. besant's valuable article on the subject in _lucifer_ for september . we have seen something of the alteration in the appearance of both animate and inanimate objects when viewed by one possessed of full clairvoyant sight as far as the astral plane is concerned; let us now consider what entirely new objects he will see. he will be conscious of a far greater fulness in nature in many directions, but chiefly his attention will be attracted by the living denizens of this new world. no detailed account of them can be attempted within the space at our disposal; for that the reader is referred to no. v. of the _theosophical manuals_. here we can do no more than barely enumerate a few classes only of the vast hosts of astral inhabitants. he will be impressed by the protean forms of the ceaseless tide of elemental essence, ever swirling around him, menacing often, yet always retiring before a determined effort of the will; he will marvel at the enormous army of entities temporarily called out of this ocean into separate existence by the thoughts and wishes of man, whether good or evil. he will watch the manifold tribes of the nature-spirits at their work or at their play; he will sometimes be able to study with ever-increasing delight the magnificent evolution of some of the lower orders of the glorious kingdom of the devas, which corresponds approximately to the angelic host of christian terminology. but perhaps of even keener interest to him than any of these will be the human denizens of the astral world, and he will find them divisible into two great classes--those whom we call the living, and those others, most of them infinitely more alive, whom we so foolishly misname the dead. among the former he will find here and there one wide awake and fully conscious, perhaps sent to bring him some message, or examining him keenly to see what progress he is making; while the majority of his neighbours, when away from their physical bodies during sleep, will drift idly by, so wrapped up in their own cogitations as to be practically unconscious of what is going on around them. among the great host of the recently dead he will find all degrees of consciousness and intelligence, and all shades of character--for death, which seems to our limited vision so absolute a change, in reality alters nothing of the man himself. on the day after his death he is precisely the same man as he was the day before it, with the same disposition, the same qualities, the same virtues and vices, save only that he has cast aside his physical body; but the loss of that no more makes him in any way a different man than would the removal of an overcoat. so among the dead our student will find men intelligent and stupid, kind-hearted and morose, serious and frivolous, spiritually-minded and sensually-minded, just as among the living. since he can not only see the dead, but speak with them, he can often be of very great use to them, and give them information and guidance which is of the utmost value to them. many of them are in a condition of great surprise and perplexity, and sometimes even of acute distress, because they find the facts of the next world so unlike the childish legends which are all that popular religion in the west has to offer with reference to this transcendently important subject; and therefore a man who understands this new world and can explain matters is distinctly a friend in need. in many other ways a man who fully possesses this faculty may be of use to the living as well as to the dead; but of this side of the subject i have already written in my little book on _invisible helpers_. in addition to astral entities he will see astral corpses--shades and shells in all stages of decay; but these need only be just mentioned here, as the reader desiring a further account of them will find it in our third and fifth manuals. another wonderful result which the full enjoyment of astral clairvoyance brings to a man is that he has no longer any break in consciousness. when he lies down at night he leaves his physical body to the rest which it requires, while he goes about his business in the far more comfortable astral vehicle. in the morning he returns to and re-enters his physical body, but without any loss of consciousness or memory between the two states, and thus he is able to live, as it were, a double life which yet is one, and to be usefully employed during the whole of it, instead of losing one-third of his existence in blank unconsciousness. another strange power of which he may find himself in possession (though its full control belongs rather to the still higher devachanic faculty), is that of magnifying at will the minutest physical or astral particle to any desired size, as though by a microscope--though no microscope ever made or ever likely to be made possesses even a thousandth part of this psychic magnifying power. by its means the hypothetical molecule and atom postulated by science become visible and living realities to the occult student, and on this closer examination he finds them to be much more complex in their structure than the scientific man has yet realised them to be. it also enables him to follow with the closest attention and the most lively interest all kinds of electrical, magnetic, and other etheric action; and when some of the specialists in these branches of science are able to develop the power to see those things whereof they write so facilely, some very wonderful and beautiful revelations may be expected. this is one of the _siddhis_ or powers described in oriental books as accruing to the man who devotes himself to spiritual development, though the name under which it is there mentioned might not be immediately recognizable. it is referred to as "the power of making oneself large or small at will," and the reason of a description which appears so oddly to reverse the fact is that in reality the method by which this feat is performed is precisely that indicated in these ancient books. it is by the use of temporary visual machinery of inconceivable minuteness that the world of the infinitely little is so clearly seen; and in the same way (or rather in the opposite way) it is by temporarily enormously increasing the size of the machinery used that it becomes possible to increase the breadth of one's view--in the physical sense as well as, let us hope, in the moral--far beyond anything that science has ever dreamt of as possible for man. so that the alteration in size is really in the vehicle of the student's consciousness, and not in anything outside of himself; and the old oriental book has, after all, put the case more accurately than we. psychometry and second-sight _in excelsis_ would also be among the faculties which our friend would find at his command; but those will be more fitly dealt with under a later heading, since in almost all their manifestations they involve clairvoyance either in space or in time. i have now indicated, though only in the roughest outlines, what a trained student, possessed of full astral vision, would see in the immensely wider world to which that vision introduced him; but i have said nothing of the stupendous change in his mental attitude which comes from the experiential certainty as to the existence of the soul, its survival after death, the action of the law of karma, and other points of equally paramount importance. the difference between even the profoundest intellectual conviction and the precise knowledge gained by direct personal experience must be felt in order to be appreciated. chapter iii. simple clairvoyance: partial. the experiences of the untrained clairvoyant--and be it remembered that that class includes all european clairvoyants except a very few--will, however, usually fall very far short of what i have attempted to indicate; they will fall short in many different ways--in degree, in variety, or in permanence, and above all in precision. sometimes, for example, a man's clairvoyance will be permanent, but very partial, extending only perhaps to one or two classes of the phenomena observable; he will find himself endowed with some isolated fragment of higher vision, without apparently possessing other powers of sight which ought normally to accompany that fragment, or even to precede it. for example, one of my dearest friends has all his life had the power to see the atomic ether and atomic astral matter, and to recognize their structure, alike in darkness or in light, as inter-penetrating everything else; yet he has only rarely seen entities whose bodies are composed of the much more obvious lower ethers or denser astral matter, and at any rate is certainly not permanently able to see them. he simply finds himself in possession of this special faculty, without any apparent reason to account for it, or any recognizable relation to anything else: and beyond proving to him the existence of these atomic planes and demonstrating their arrangement, it is difficult to see of what particular use it is to him at present. still, there the thing is, and it is an earnest of greater things to come--of further powers still awaiting development. there are many similar cases--similar, i mean, not in the possession of that particular form of sight (which is unique in my experience), but in showing the development of some one small part of the full and clear vision of the astral and etheric planes. in nine cases out of ten, however, such partial clairvoyance will at the same time lack precision also--that is to say, there will be a good deal of vague impression and inference about it, instead of the clear-cut definition and certainty of the trained man. examples of this type are constantly to be found, especially among those who advertise themselves as "test and business clairvoyants." then, again, there are those who are only temporarily clairvoyant under certain special conditions. among these there are various subdivisions, some being able to reproduce the state of clairvoyance at will by again setting up the same conditions, while with others it comes sporadically, without any observable reference to their surroundings, and with yet others the power shows itself only once or twice in the whole course of their lives. to the first of these subdivisions belong those who are clairvoyant only when in the mesmeric trance--who when not so entranced are incapable of seeing or hearing anything abnormal. these may sometimes reach great heights of knowledge and be exceedingly precise in their indications, but when that is so they are usually undergoing a course of regular training, though for some reason unable as yet to set themselves free from the leaden weight of earthly life without assistance. in the same class we may put those--chiefly orientals--who gain some temporary sight only under the influence of certain drugs, or by means of the performance of certain ceremonies. the ceremonialist sometimes hypnotizes himself by his repetitions, and in that condition becomes to some extent clairvoyant; more often he simply reduces himself to a passive condition in which some other entity can obsess him and speak through him. sometimes, again, his ceremonies are not intended to affect himself at all, but to invoke some astral entity who will give him the required information; but of course that is a case of magic, and not of clairvoyance. both the drugs and the ceremonies are methods emphatically to be avoided by any one who wishes to approach clairvoyance from the higher side, and use it for his own progress and for the helping of others. the central african medicine-man or witch-doctor and some of the tartar shamans are good examples of the type. those to whom a certain amount of clairvoyant power has come occasionally only, and without any reference to their own wish, have often been hysterical or highly nervous persons, with whom the faculty was to a large extent one of the symptoms of a disease. its appearance showed that the physical vehicle was weakened to such a degree that it no longer presented any obstacle in the way of a certain modicum of etheric or astral vision. an extreme example of this class is the man who drinks himself into delirium tremens, and in the condition of absolute physical ruin and impure psychic excitation brought about by the ravages of that fell disease, is able to see for the time some of the loathsome elemental and other entities which he has drawn round himself by his long course of degraded and bestial indulgence. there are, however, other cases where the power of sight has appeared and disappeared without apparent reference to the state of the physical health; but it seems probable that even in those, if they could have been observed closely enough, some alteration in the condition of the etheric double would have been noticed. those who have only one instance of clairvoyance to report in the whole of their lives are a difficult band to classify at all exhaustively, because of the great variety of the contributory circumstances. there are many among them to whom the experience has come at some supreme moment of their lives, when it is comprehensible that there might have been a temporary exaltation of faculty which would be sufficient to account for it. in the case of another subdivision of them the solitary case has been the seeing of an apparition, most commonly of some friend or relative at the point of death. two possibilities are then offered for our choice, and in each of them the strong wish of the dying man is the impelling force. that force may have enabled him to materialize himself for a moment, in which case of course no clairvoyance was needed or more probably it may have acted mesmerically upon the percipient, and momentarily dulled his physical and stimulated his higher sensitiveness. in either case the vision is the product of the emergency, and is not repeated simply because the necessary conditions are not repeated. there remains, however, an irresolvable residuum of cases in which a solitary instance occurs of the exercise of undoubted clairvoyance, while yet the occasion seems to us wholly trivial and unimportant. about these we can only frame hypotheses; the governing conditions are evidently not on the physical plane, and a separate investigation of each case would be necessary before we could speak with any certainty as to its causes. in some such it has appeared that an astral entity was endeavouring to make some communication, and was able to impress only some unimportant detail on its subject--all the useful or significant part of what it had to say failing to get through into the subject's consciousness. in the investigation of the phenomena of clairvoyance all these varied types and many others will be encountered, and a certain number of cases of mere hallucination will be almost sure to appear also, and will have to be carefully weeded out from the list of examples. the student of such a subject needs an inexhaustible fund of patience and steady perseverance, but if he goes on long enough he will begin dimly to discern order behind the chaos, and will gradually get some idea of the great laws under which the whole evolution is working. it will help him greatly in his efforts if he will adopt the order which we have just followed--that is, if he will first take the trouble to familiarize himself as thoroughly as may be with the actual facts concerning the planes with which ordinary clairvoyance deals. if he will learn what there really is to be seen with astral and etheric sight, and what their respective limitations are, he will then have, as it were, a standard by which to measure the cases which he observes. since all instances of partial sight must of necessity fit into some niche in this whole, if he has the outline of the entire scheme in his head he will find it comparatively easy with a little practice to classify the instances with which he is called upon to deal. we have said nothing as yet as to the still more wonderful possibilities of clairvoyance upon the mental plane, nor indeed is it necessary that much should be said, as it is exceedingly improbable that the investigator will ever meet with any examples of it except among pupils properly trained in some of the very highest schools of occultism. for them it opens up yet another new world, vaster far than all those beneath it--a world in which all that we can imagine of utmost glory and splendour is the commonplace of existence. some account of its marvellous faculty, its eneffable bliss, its magnificent opportunities for learning and for work, is given in the sixth of our theosophical manuals, and to that the student may be referred. all that it has to give--all of it at least that he can assimilate--is within the reach of the trained pupil, but for the untrained clairvoyant to touch it is hardly more than a bare possibility. it has been done in mesmeric trance, but the occurrence is of exceeding rarity, for it needs almost superhuman qualifications in the way of lofty spiritual aspiration and absolute purity of thought and intention upon the part both of the subject and the operator. to a type of clairvoyance such as this, and still more fully to that which belongs to the plane next above it, the name of spiritual sight may reasonably be applied; and since the celestial world to which it opens our eyes lies all round us here and now, it is fit that our passing reference to it should be made under the heading of simple clairvoyance, though it may be necessary to allude to it again when dealing with clairvoyance in space, to which we will now pass on. chapter iv. clairvoyance in space: intentional. we have defined this as the capacity to see events or scenes removed from the seer in space and too far distant for ordinary observation. the instances of this are so numerous and so various that we shall find it desirable to attempt a somewhat more detailed classification of them. it does not much matter what particular arrangement we adopt, so long as it is comprehensive enough to include all our cases; perhaps a convenient one will be to group them under the broad divisions of intentional and unintentional clairvoyance in space, with an intermediate class that might be described as semi-intentional--a curious title, but i will explain it later. as before, i will begin by stating what is possible along this line for the fully-trained seer, and endeavouring to explain how his faculty works and under what limitations it acts. after that we shall find ourselves in a better position to try to understand the manifold examples of partial and untrained sight. let us then in the first place discuss intentional clairvoyance. it will be obvious from what has previously been said as to the power of astral vision that any one possessing it in its fulness will be able to see by its means practically anything in this world that he wishes to see. the most secret places are open to his gaze, and intervening obstacles have no existence for him, because of the change in his point of view; so that if we grant him the power of moving about in the astral body he can without difficulty go anywhere and see anything within the limits of the planet. indeed this is to a large extent possible to him even without the necessity of moving the astral body at all, as we shall presently see. let us consider a little more closely the methods by which this super-physical sight may be used to observe events taking place at a distance. when, for example, a man here in england sees in minutest detail something which is happening at the same moment in india or america, how is it done? a very ingenious hypothesis has been offered to account for the phenomenon. it has been suggested that every object is perpetually throwing off radiations in all directions, similar in some respects to, though infinitely finer than, rays of light, and that clairvoyance is nothing but the power to see by means of these finer radiations. distance would in that case be no bar to the sight, all intervening objects would be penetrable by these rays, and they would be able to cross one another to infinity in all directions without entanglement, precisely as the vibrations of ordinary light do. now though this is not exactly the way in which clairvoyance works, the theory is nevertheless quite true in most of its premises. every object undoubtedly is throwing off radiations in all directions, and it is precisely in this way, though on a higher plane, that the âkâshic records seem to be formed. of them it will be necessary to say something under our next heading, so we will do no more than mention them for the moment. the phenomena of psychometry are also dependent upon these radiations, as will presently be explained. there are, however, certain practical difficulties in the way of using these etheric vibrations (for that is, of course, what they are) as the medium by means of which one may see anything taking place at a distance. intervening objects are not entirely transparent, and as the actors in the scene which the experimenter tried to observe would probably be at least equally transparent, it is obvious that serious confusion would be quite likely to result. the additional dimension which would come into play if astral radiations were sensed instead of etheric would obviate some of the difficulties, but would on the other hand introduce some fresh complications of its own; so that for practical purposes, in endeavouring to understand clairvoyance, we may dismiss this hypothesis of radiations from our minds, and turn to the methods of seeing at a distance which are actually at the disposal of the student. it will be found that there are five, four of them being really varieties of clairvoyance, while the fifth does not properly come under that head at all, but belongs to the domain of magic. let us take this last one first, and get it out of our way. . _by the assistance of a nature-spirit._--this method does not necessarily involve the possession of any psychic faculty at all on the part of the experimenter; he need only know how to induce some denizen of the astral world to undertake the investigation for him. this may be done either by invocation or by evocation; that is to say, the operator may either persuade his astral coadjutor by prayers and offerings to give him the help he desires, or he may compel his aid by the determined exercise of a highly-developed will. this method has been largely practised in the east (where the entity employed is usually a nature-spirit) and in old atlantis, where "the lords of the dark face" used a highly-specialized and peculiarly venomous variety of artificial elemental for this purpose. information is sometimes obtained in the same sort of way at the spiritualistic _séance_ of modern days, but in that case the messenger employed is more likely to be a recently-deceased human being functioning more or less freely on the astral plane--though even here also it is sometimes an obliging nature-spirit, who is amusing himself by posing as somebody's departed relative. in any case, as i have said, this method is not clairvoyant at all, but magical; and it is mentioned here only in order that the reader may not become confused in the endeavour to classify cases of its use under some of the following headings. . _by means of an astral current._--this is a phrase frequently and rather loosely employed in some of our theosophical literature to cover a considerable variety of phenomena, and among others that which i wish to explain. what is really done by the student who adopts this method is not so much the setting in motion of a current in astral matter, as the erection of a kind of temporary telephone through it. it is impossible here to give an exhaustive disquisition on astral physics, even had i the requisite knowledge to write it; all i need say is that it is possible to make in astral matter a definite connecting-line that shall act as a telegraph-wire to convey vibrations by means of which all that is going on at the other end of it may be seen. such a line is established, be it understood, not by a direct projection through space of astral matter, but by such action upon a line (or rather many lines) of particles of that matter as will render them capable of forming a conductor for vibrations of the character required. this preliminary action can be set up in two ways--either by the transmission of energy from particle to particle, until the line is formed, or by the use of a force from a higher plane which is capable of acting upon the whole line simultaneously. of course this latter method implies far greater development, since it involves the knowledge of (and the power to use) forces of a considerably higher level; so that the man who could make his line in this way would not, for his own use, need a line at all, since he could see far more easily and completely by means of an altogether higher faculty. even the simpler and purely astral operation is a difficult one to describe, though quite an easy one to perform. it may be said to partake somewhat of the nature of the magnetization of a bar of steel; for it consists in what we might call the polarization, by an effort of the human will, of a number of parallel lines of astral atoms reaching from the operator to the scene which he wishes to observe. all the atoms thus affected are held for the time with their axes rigidly parallel to one another, so that they form a kind of temporary tube along which the clairvoyant may look. this method has the disadvantage that the telegraph line is liable to disarrangement or even destruction by any sufficiently strong astral current which happens to cross its path; but if the original effort of will were fairly definite, this would be a contingency of only infrequent occurrence. the view of a distant scene obtained by means of this "astral current" is in many ways not unlike that seen through a telescope. human figures usually appear very small, like those on a distant stage, but in spite of their diminutive size they are as clear as though they were close by. sometimes it is possible by this means to hear what is said as well as to see what is done; but as in the majority of cases this does not happen, we must consider it rather as the manifestation of an additional power than as a necessary corollary of the faculty of sight. it will be observed that in this case the seer does not usually leave his physical body at all; there is no sort of projection of his astral vehicle or of any part of himself towards that at which he is looking, but he simply manufactures for himself a temporary astral telescope. consequently he has, to a certain extent, the use of his physical powers even while he is examining the distant scene; for example, his voice would usually still be under his control, so that he could describe what he saw even while he was in the act of making his observations. the consciousness of the man is, in fact, distinctly still at this end of the line. this fact, however, has its limitations as well as its advantages, and these again largely resemble the limitations of the man using a telescope on the physical plane. the experimenter, for example, has no power to shift this point of view; his telescope, so to speak, has a particular field of view which cannot be enlarged or altered; he is looking at his scene from a certain direction, and he cannot suddenly turn it all round and see how it looks from the other side. if he has sufficient psychic energy to spare, he may drop altogether the telescope that he is using and manufacture an entirely new one for himself which will approach his objective somewhat differently; but this is not a course at all likely to be adopted in practice. but, it may be said, the mere fact that he is using astral sight ought to enable him to see it from all sides at once. so it would if he were using that sight in the normal way upon an object which was fairly near him--within his astral reach, as it were; but at a distance of hundreds or thousands of miles the case is very different. astral sight gives us the advantage of an additional dimension, but there is still such a thing as position in that dimension, and it is naturally a potent factor in limiting the use of the powers of its plane. our ordinary three-dimensional sight enables us to see at once every point of the interior of a two-dimensional figure, such as a square, but in order to do that the square must be within a reasonable distance from our eyes; the mere additional dimension will avail a man in london but little in his endeavour to examine a square in calcutta. astral sight, when it is cramped by being directed along what is practically a tube, is limited very much as physical sight would be under similar circumstances; though if possessed in perfection it will still continue to show, even at that distance, the auras, and therefore all the emotions and most of the thoughts of the people under observation. there are many people for whom this type of clairvoyance is very much facilitated if they have at hand some physical object which can be used as a starting-point for their astral tube--a convenient focus for their will-power. a ball of crystal is the commonest and most effectual of such foci, since it has the additional advantage of possessing within itself qualities which stimulate psychic faculty; but other objects are also employed, to which we shall find it necessary to refer more particularly when we come to consider semi-intentional clairvoyance. in connection with this astral-current form of clairvoyance, as with others, we find that there are some psychics who are unable to use it except when under the influence of mesmerism. the peculiarity in this case is that among such psychics there are two varieties--one in which by being thus set free the man is enabled to make a telescope for himself, and another in which the magnetizer himself makes the telescope and the subject is simply enabled to see through it. in this latter case obviously the subject has not enough will to form a tube for himself, and the operator, though possessed of the necessary will-power, is not clairvoyant, or he could see through his own tube without needing help. occasionally, though rarely, the tube which is formed possesses another of the attributes of a telescope--that of magnifying the objects at which it is directed until they seem of life-size. of course the objects must always be magnified to some extent, or they would be absolutely invisible, but usually the extent is determined by the size of the astral tube, and the whole thing is simply a tiny moving picture. in the few cases where the figures are seen as of life-size by this method, it is probable that an altogether new power is beginning to dawn; but when this happens, careful observation is needed in order to distinguish them from examples of our next class. . _by the projection of a thought-form._--the ability to use this method of clairvoyance implies a development somewhat more advanced than the last, since it necessitates a certain amount of control upon the mental plane. all students of theosophy are aware that thought takes form, at any rate upon its own plane, and in the vast majority of cases upon the astral plane also; but it may not be quite so generally known that if a man thinks strongly of himself as present at any given place, the form assumed by that particular thought will be a likeness of the thinker himself, which will appear at the place in question. essentially this form must be composed of the matter of the mental plane, but in very many cases it would draw round itself matter of the astral plane also, and so would approach much nearer to visibility. there are, in fact, many instances in which it has been seen by the person thought of--most probably by means of the unconscious mesmeric influence emanating from the original thinker. none of the consciousness of the thinker would, however, be included within this thought-form. when once sent out from him, it would normally be a quite separate entity--not indeed absolutely unconnected with its maker, but practically so as far as the possibility of receiving any impression through it is concerned. this third type of clairvoyance consists, then, in the power to retain so much connection with and so much hold over a newly-erected thought-form as will render it possible to receive impressions by means of it. such impressions as were made upon the form would in this case be transmitted to the thinker--not along an astral telegraph line, as before, but by sympathetic vibration. in a perfect case of this kind of clairvoyance it is almost as though the seer projected a part of his consciousness into the thought-form, and used it as a kind of outpost, from which observation was possible. he sees almost as well as he would if he himself stood in the place of his thought-form. the figures at which he is looking will appear to him as of life-size and close at hand, instead of tiny and at a distance, as in the previous case; and he will find it possible to shift his point of view if he wishes to do so. clairaudience is perhaps less frequently associated with this type of clairvoyance than with the last, but its place is to some extent taken by a kind of mental perception of the thoughts and intentions of those who are seen. since the man's consciousness is still in the physical body, he will be able (even while exercising the faculty) to hear and to speak, in so far as he can do this without any distraction of his attention. the moment that the intentness of his thought fails the whole vision is gone, and he will have to construct a fresh thought-form before he can resume it. instances in which this kind of sight is possessed with any degree of perfection by untrained people are naturally rarer than in the case of the previous type, because of the capacity for mental control required, and the generally finer nature of the forces employed. . _by travelling in the astral body._--we enter here upon an entirely new variety of clairvoyance, in which the consciousness of the seer no longer remains in or closely connected with his physical body, but is definitely transferred to the scene which he is examining. though it has no doubt greater dangers for the untrained seer than either of the methods previously described, it is yet quite the most satisfactory form of clairvoyance open to him, for the immensely superior variety which we shall consider under our fifth head is not available except for specially trained students. in this case the man's body is either asleep or in trance, and its organs are consequently not available for use while the vision is going on, so that all description of what is seen, and all questioning as to further particulars, must be postponed until the wanderer returns to this plane. on the other hand the sight is much fuller and more perfect; the man hears as well as sees everything which passes before him, and can move about freely at will within the very wide limits of the astral plane. he can see and study at leisure all the other inhabitants of that plane, so that the great world of the nature-spirits (of which the traditional fairy-land is but a very small part) lies open before him, and even that of some of the lower devas. he has also the immense advantage of being able to take part, as it were, in the scenes which come before his eyes--of conversing at will with these various astral entities, from whom so much information that is curious and interesting may be obtained. if in addition he can learn how to materialize himself (a matter of no great difficulty for him when once the knack is acquired), he will be able to take part in physical events or conversations at a distance, and to show himself to an absent friend at will. again, he has the additional power of being able to hunt about for what he wants. by means of the varieties of clairvoyance previously described, for all practical purposes he could find a person or a place only when he was already acquainted with it, or when he was put _en rapport_ with it by touching something physically connected with it, as in psychometry. it is true that by the third method a certain amount of motion is possible, but the process is a tedious one except for quite short distances. by the use of the astral body, however, a man can move about quite freely and rapidly in any direction, and can (for example) find without difficulty any place pointed out upon a map, without either any previous knowledge of the spot or any object to establish a connection with it. he can also readily rise high into the air so as to gain a bird's-eye view of the country which he is examining, so as to observe its extent, the contour of its coast-line, or its general character. indeed, in every way his power and freedom are far greater when he uses this method than they have been in any of the previous cases. a good example of the full possession of this power is given, on the authority of the german writer jung stilling, by mrs. crowe in _the night side of nature_ (p. ). the story is related of a seer who is stated to have resided in the neighbourhood of philadelphia, in america. his habits were retired, and he spoke little; he was grave, benevolent and pious, and nothing was known against his character except that he had the reputation of possessing some secrets that were considered not altogether _lawful_. many extraordinary stories were told of him, and amongst the rest the following:-- "the wife of a ship captain (whose husband was on a voyage to europe and africa, and from whom she had been long without tidings), being overwhelmed with anxiety for his safety, was induced to address herself to this person. having listened to her story he begged her to excuse him for a while, when he would bring her the intelligence she required. he then passed into an inner room and she sat herself down to wait; but his absence continuing longer than she expected, she became impatient, thinking he had forgotten her, and softly approaching the door she peeped through some aperture, and to her surprise beheld him lying on a sofa as motionless as if he were dead. she of course did not think it advisable to disturb him, but waited his return, when he told her that her husband had not been able to write to her for such and such reasons, but that he was then in a coffee-house in london and would very shortly be home again. "accordingly he arrived, and as the lady learnt from him that the causes of his unusual silence had been precisely those alleged by the man, she felt extremely desirous of ascertaining the truth of the rest of the information. in this she was gratified, for he no sooner set his eyes on the magician than he said that he had seen him before on a certain day in a coffee-house in london, and that he told him that his wife was extremely uneasy about him, and that he, the captain, had thereon mentioned how he had been prevented writing, adding that he was on the eve of embarking for america. he had then lost sight of the stranger amongst the throng, and knew nothing more about him." we have of course no means now of knowing what evidence jung stilling had of the truth of this story, though he declares himself to have been quite satisfied with the authority on which he relates it; but so many similar things have happened that there is no reason to doubt its accuracy. the seer, however, must either have developed his faculty for himself or learnt it in some school other than that from which most of our theosophical information is derived; for in our case there is a well-understood regulation expressly forbidding the pupils from giving any manifestation of such power which can be definitely proved at both ends in that way, and so constitute what is called "a phenomenon." that this regulation is emphatically a wise one is proved to all who know anything of the history of our society by the disastrous results which followed from a very slight temporary relaxation of it. i have given some quite modern cases almost exactly parallel to the above in my little book on _invisible helpers_. an instance of a lady well-known to myself, who frequently thus appears to friends at a distance, is given by mr. stead in _real ghost stories_ (p. ); and mr. andrew lang gives, in his _dreams and ghosts_ (p. ), an account of how mr. cleave, then at portsmouth, appeared intentionally on two occasions to a young lady in london, and alarmed her considerably. there is any amount of evidence to be had on the subject by any one who cares to study it seriously. this paying of intentional astral visits seems very often to become possible when the principles are loosened at the approach of death for people who were unable to perform such a feat at any other time. there are even more examples of this class than of the other; i epitomize a good one given by mr. andrew lang on p. of the book last cited--one of which he himself says, "not many stories have such good evidence in their favour." "mary, the wife of john goffe of rochester, being afflicted with a long illness, removed to her father's house at west malling, about nine miles from her own. "the day before her death she grew very impatiently desirous to see her two children, whom she had left at home to the care of a nurse. she was too ill to be moved, and between one and two o'clock in the morning she fell into a trance. one widow turner, who watched with her that night, says that her eyes were open and fixed, and her jaw fallen. mrs. turner put her hand upon her mouth, but could perceive no breath. she thought her to be in a fit, and doubted whether she were dead or alive. "the next morning the dying woman told her mother that she had been at home with her children, saying, i was with them last night when i was asleep.' "the nurse at rochester, widow alexander by name, affirms that a little before two o'clock that morning she saw the likeness of the said mary goffe come out of the next chamber (where the elder child lay in a bed by itself), the door being left open, and stood by her bedside for about a quarter of an hour; the younger child was there lying by her. her eyes moved and her mouth went, but she said nothing. the nurse, moreover, says that she was perfectly awake; it was then daylight, being one of the longest days in the year. she sat up in bed and looked steadfastly on the apparition. in that time she heard the bridge clock strike two, and a while after said: 'in the name of the father, son and holy ghost, what art thou?' thereupon the apparition removed and went away; she slipped on her clothes and followed, but what became on't, she cannot tell." the nurse apparently was more frightened by its disappearance than its presence, for after this she was afraid to stay in the house, and so spent the rest of the time until six o'clock in walking up and down outside. when the neighbours were awake she told her tale to them, and they of course said she had dreamt it all; she naturally enough warmly repudiated that idea, but could obtain no credence until the news of the other side of the story arrived from west malling, when people had to admit that there might have been something in it. a noteworthy circumstance in this story is that the mother found it necessary to pass from ordinary sleep into the profounder trance condition before she could consciously visit her children; it can, however, be paralleled here and there among the large number of similar accounts which may be found in the literature of the subject. two other stories of precisely the same type--in which a dying mother, earnestly desiring to see her children, falls into a deep sleep, visits them and returns to say that she has done so--are given by dr. f. g. lee. in one of them the mother, when dying in egypt, appears to her children at torquay, and is clearly seen in broad daylight by all five of the children and also by the nursemaid. (_glimpses of the supernatural_, vol. ii., p. .) in the other a quaker lady dying at cockermouth is clearly seen and recognized in daylight by her three children at settle, the remainder of the story being practically identical with the one given above. (_glimpses in the twilight_, p. .) though these cases appear to be less widely known than that of mary goffe, the evidence of their authenticity seems to be quite as good, as will be seen by the attestations obtained by the reverend author of the works from which they are quoted. the man who fully possesses this fourth type of clairvoyance has many and great advantages at his disposal, even in addition to those already mentioned. not only can he visit without trouble or expense all the beautiful and famous places of the earth, but if he happens to be a scholar, think what it must mean to him that he has access to all the libraries of the world! what must it be for the scientifically-minded man to see taking place before his eyes so many of the processes of the secret chemistry of nature, or for the philosopher to have revealed to him so much more than ever before of the working of the great mysteries of life and death? to him those who are gone from this plane are dead no longer, but living and within reach for a long time to come; for him many of the conceptions of religion are no longer matters of faith, but of knowledge. above all, he can join the army of invisible helpers, and really be of use on a large scale. undoubtedly clairvoyance, even when confined to the astral plane, is a great boon to the student. certainly it has its dangers also, especially for the untrained; danger from evil entities of various kinds, which may terrify or injure those who allow themselves to lose the courage to face them boldly; danger of deception of all sorts, of misconceiving and mis-interpreting what is seen; greatest of all, the danger of becoming conceited about the thing and of thinking it impossible to make a mistake. but a little common-sense and a little experience should easily guard a man against these. . _by travelling in the mental body._--this is simply a higher and, as it were, glorified form of the last type. the vehicle employed is no longer the astral body, but the mind-body--a vehicle, therefore, belonging to the mental plane, and having within it all the potentialities of the wonderful sense of that plane, so transcendent in its action yet so impossible to describe. a man functioning in this leaves his astral body behind him along with the physical, and if he wishes to show himself upon the astral plane for any reason, he does not send for his own astral vehicle, but just by a single action of his will materializes one for his temporary need. such an astral materialization is sometimes called the mâyâvirûpa, and to form it for the first time usually needs the assistance of a qualified master. the enormous advantages given by the possession of this power are the capacity of entering upon all the glory and the beauty of the higher land of bliss, and the possession, even when working on the astral plane, of the far more comprehensive mental sense which opens up to the student such marvellous vistas of knowledge, and practically renders error all but impossible. this higher flight, however, is possible for the trained man only, since only under definite training can a man at this stage of evolution learn to employ his mental body as a vehicle. before leaving the subject of full and intentional clairvoyance, it may be well to devote a few words to answering one or two questions as to its limitations, which constantly occur to students. is it possible, we are often asked, for the seer to find any person with whom he wishes to communicate, anywhere in the world, whether he be living or dead? to this reply must be a conditional affirmative. yes, it is possible to find any person if the experimenter can, in some way or other, put himself _en rapport_ with that person. it would be hopeless to plunge vaguely into space to find a total stranger among all the millions around us without any kind of clue; but, on the other hand, a very slight clue would usually be sufficient. if the clairvoyant knows anything of the man whom he seeks, he will have no difficulty in finding him, for every man has what may be called a kind of musical chord of his own--a chord which is the expression of him as a whole, produced perhaps by a sort of average of the rates of vibration of all his different vehicles on their respective planes. if the operator knows how to discern that chord and to strike it, it will by sympathetic vibration attract the attention of the man instantly wherever he may be, and will evoke an immediate response from him. whether the man were living or recently dead would make no difference at all, and clairvoyance of the fifth class could at once find him even among the countless millions in the heaven-world, though in that case the man himself would be unconscious that he was under observation. naturally a seer whose consciousness did not range higher than the astral plane--who employed therefore one of the earlier methods of seeing--would not be able to find a person upon the mental plane at all; yet even he would at least be able to tell that the man sought for was upon that plane, from the mere fact that the striking of the chord as far up as the astral level produced no response. if the man sought be a stranger to the seeker, the latter will need something connected with him to act as a clue--a photograph, a letter written by him, an article which has belonged to him, and is impregnated with his personal magnetism; any of these would do in the hands of a practised seer. again i say, it must not therefore be supposed that pupils who have been taught how to use this art are at liberty to set up a kind of intelligence office through which communication can be had with missing or dead relatives. a message given from this side to such an one might or might not be handed on, according to circumstances, but even if it were, no reply might be brought, lest the transaction should partake of the nature of a phenomenon--something which could be proved on the physical plane to have been an act of magic. another question often raised is as to whether, in the action of psychic vision, there is any limitation as to distance. the reply would seem to be that there should be no limit but that of the respective planes. it must be remembered that the astral and mental planes of our earth are as definitely its own as its atmosphere, though they extend considerably further from it even in our three-dimensional space than does the physical air. consequently the passage to, or the detailed sight of, other planets would not be possible for any system of clairvoyance connected with these planes. it _is_ quite possible and easy for the man who can raise his consciousness to the buddhic plane to pass to any other globe belonging to our chain of worlds, but that is outside our present subject. still a good deal of additional information about other planets can be obtained by the use of such clairvoyant faculties as we have been describing. it is possible to make sight enormously clearer by passing outside of the constant disturbances of the earth's atmosphere, and it is also not difficult to learn how to put on an exceedingly high magnifying power, so that even by ordinary clairvoyance a good deal of very interesting astronomical knowledge may be gained. but as far as this earth and its immediate surroundings are concerned, there is practically no limitation. chapter v. clairvoyance in space: semi-intentional. under this rather curious title i am grouping together the cases of all those people who definitely set themselves to see something, but have no idea what the something will be, and no control over the sight after the visions have begun--psychic micawbers, who put themselves into a receptive condition, and then simply wait for something to turn up. many trance-mediums would come under this heading; they either in some way hypnotize themselves or are hypnotized by some "spirit-guide," and then they describe the scenes or persons that happen to float before their vision. sometimes, however, when in this condition they see what is taking place at a distance, and so they come to have a place among our "clairvoyants in space." but the largest and most widely-spread band of these semi-intentional clairvoyants are the various kinds of crystal-gazers--those who, as mr. andrew lang puts it, "stare into a crystal ball, a cup, a mirror, a blob of ink (egypt and india), a drop of blood (among the maories of new zealand), a bowl of water (red indian), a pond (roman and african), water in a glass bowl (in fez), or almost any polished surface" (_dreams and ghosts_, p. ). two pages later mr. lang gives us a very good example of the kind of vision most frequently seen in this way. "i had given a glass ball," he says, "to a young lady, miss baillie, who had scarcely any success with it. she lent it to miss leslie, who saw a large square, old-fashioned red sofa covered with muslin, which she found in the next country-house she visited. miss baillie's brother, a young athlete, laughed at these experiments, took the ball into the study, and came back looking 'gey gash.' he admitted that he had seen a vision--somebody he knew under a lamp. he would discover during the week whether he saw right or not. this was at . on a sunday afternoon. "on tuesday, mr. baillie was at a dance in a town some forty miles from his home, and met a miss preston. 'on sunday,' he said, 'about half-past five you were sitting under a standard lamp in a dress i never saw you wear, a blue blouse with lace over the shoulders, pouring out tea for a man in blue serge, whose back was towards me, so that i only saw the tip of his moustache.' "'why, the blinds must have been up,' said miss preston. "'i was at dulby,' said mr. baillie, and he undeniably was." this is quite a typical case of crystal-gazing--the picture correct in every detail, you see, and yet absolutely unimportant and bearing no apparent signification of any sort to either party, except that it served to prove to mr. baillie that there was something in crystal-gazing. perhaps more frequently the visions tend to be of a romantic character--men in foreign dress, or beautiful though generally unknown landscapes. now what is the rationale of this kind of clairvoyance? as i have indicated above, it belongs usually to the "astral-current" type, and the crystal or other object simply acts as a focus for the will-power of the seer, and a convenient starting-point for his astral tube. there are some who can influence what they will see by their will, that is to say they have the power of pointing their telescope as they wish; but the great majority just form a fortuitous tube and see whatever happens to present itself at the end of it. sometimes it may be a scene comparatively near at hand, as in the case just quoted; at other times it will be a far-away oriental landscape; at others yet it may be a reflection of some fragment of an âkâshic record, and then the picture will contain figures in some antique dress, and the phenomenon belongs to our third large division of "clairvoyance in time." it is said that visions of the future are sometimes seen in crystals also--a further development to which we must refer later. i have seen a clairvoyant use instead of the ordinary shining surface a dead black one, produced by a handful of powdered charcoal in a saucer. indeed it does not seem to matter much what is used as a focus, except that pure crystal has an undoubted advantage over other substances in that its peculiar arrangement of elemental essence renders it specially stimulating to the psychic faculties. it seems probable, however, that in cases where a tiny brilliant object is employed--such as a point of light, or the drop of blood used by the maories--the instance is in reality merely one of self-hypnotization. among non-european nations the experiment is very frequently preceded or accompanied by magical ceremonies and invocations, so that it is quite likely that such sight as is gained may sometimes be really that of some foreign entity, and so the phenomenon may in fact be merely a case of temporary possession, and not of clairvoyance at all. chapter vi. clairvoyance in space: unintentional. under this heading we may group together all those cases in which visions of some event which is taking place at a distance are seen quite unexpectedly and without any kind of preparation. there are people who are subject to such visions, while there are many others to whom such a thing will happen only once in a life-time. the visions are of all kinds and of all degrees of completeness, and apparently may be produced by various causes. sometimes the reason of the vision is obvious, and the subject matter of the gravest importance; at other times no reason at all is discoverable, and the events shown seem of the most trivial nature. sometimes these glimpses of the super-physical faculty come as waking visions, and sometimes they manifest during sleep as vivid or oft-repeated dreams. in this latter case the sight employed is perhaps usually of the kind assigned to our fourth subdivision of clairvoyance in space, for the sleeping man often travels in his astral body to some spot with which his affections or interests are closely connected, and simply watches what takes place there; in the former it seems probable that the second type of clairvoyance, by means of the astral current, is called into requisition. but in this case the current or tube is formed quite unconsciously, and is often the automatic result of a strong thought or emotion projected from one end or the other--either from the seer or the person who is seen. the simplest plan will be to give a few instances of the different kinds, and to intersperse among them such further explanations as may seem necessary. mr. stead has collected a large and varied assortment of recent and well-authenticated cases in his _real ghost stories_, and i will select some of my examples from them, occasionally condensing slightly to save space. there are cases in which it is at once obvious to any theosophical student that the exceptional instance of clairvoyance was specially brought about by one of the band whom we have called "invisible helpers" in order that aid might be rendered to some one in sore need. to this class, undoubtedly, belongs the story told by captain yonnt, of the napa valley in california, to dr. bushnell, who repeats it in his _nature and the supernatural_ (p. ). "about six or seven years previous, in a mid-winter's night, he had a dream in which he saw what appeared to be a company of emigrants arrested by the snows of the mountains, and perishing rapidly by cold and hunger. he noted the very cast of the scenery, marked by a huge, perpendicular front of white rock cliff; he saw the men cutting off what appeared to be tree-tops rising out of deep gulfs of snow; he distinguished the very features of the persons and the look of their particular distress. "he awoke profoundly impressed by the distinctness and apparent reality of the dream. he at length fell asleep, and dreamed exactly the same dream over again. in the morning he could not expel it from his mind. falling in shortly after with an old hunter comrade, he told his story, and was only the more deeply impressed by his recognizing without hesitation the scenery of the dream. this comrade came over the sierra by the carson valley pass, and declared that a spot in the pass exactly answered his description. "by this the unsophistical patriarch was decided. he immediately collected a company of men, with mules and blankets and all necessary provisions. the neighbours were laughing meantime at his credulity. 'no matter,' he said, 'i am able to do this, and i will, for i verily believe that the fact is according to my dream.' the men were sent into the mountains one hundred and fifty miles distant direct to the carson valley pass. and there they found the company exactly in the condition of the dream, and brought in the remnant alive." since it is not stated that captain yonnt was in the habit of seeing visions, it seems clear that some helper, observing the forlorn condition of the emigrant party, took the nearest impressionable and otherwise suitable person (who happened to be the captain) to the spot in the astral body, and aroused him sufficiently to fix the scene firmly in his memory. the helper may possibly have arranged an "astral current" for the captain instead, but the former suggestion is more probable. at any rate the motive, and broadly the method, of the work are obvious enough in this case. sometimes the "astral current" may be set going by a strong emotional thought at the other end of the line, and this may happen even though the thinker has no such intention in his mind. in the rather striking story which i am about to quote, it is evident that the link was formed by the doctor's frequent thought about mrs. broughton, yet he had clearly no especial wish that she should see what he was doing at the time. that it was this kind of clairvoyance that was employed is shown by the fixity of her point of view--which, be it observed, is not the doctor's point of view sympathetically transferred (as it might have been) since she sees his back without recognizing him. the story is to be found in the _proceedings of the psychical research society_ (vol. ii., p. ). "mrs. broughton awoke one night in , and roused her husband, telling him that something dreadful had happened in france. he begged her to go to sleep again, and not trouble him. she assured him that she was not asleep when she saw what she insisted on telling him--what she saw in fact. "first a carriage accident--which she did not actually see, but what she saw was the result--a broken carriage, a crowd collected, a figure gently raised and carried into the nearest house, then a figure lying on a bed which she then recognized as the duke of orleans. gradually friends collecting round the bed--among them several members of the french royal family--the queen, then the king, all silently, tearfully, watching the evidently dying duke. one man (she could see his back, but did not know who he was) was a doctor. he stood bending over the duke, feeling his pulse, with his watch in the other hand. and then all passed away, and she saw no more. "as soon as it was daylight she wrote down in her journal all that she had seen. it was before the days of electric telegraph, and two or more days passed before the _times_ announced 'the death of the duke of orleans.' visiting paris a short time afterwards she saw and recognized the place of the accident and received the explanation of her impression. the doctor who attended the dying duke was an old friend of hers, and as he watched by the bed his mind had been constantly occupied with her and her family." a commoner instance is that in which strong affection sets up the necessary current; probably a fairly steady stream of mutual thought is constantly flowing between the two parties in the case, and some sudden need or dire extremity on the part of one of them endues this stream temporarily with the polarizing power which is needful to create the astral telescope. an illustrative example is quoted from the same _proceedings_ (vol. i., p. ). "on september th, , at the siege of mooltan, major-general r----, c.b., then adjutant of his regiment, was most severely and dangerously wounded; and, supposing himself to be dying, asked one of the officers with him to take the ring off his finger and send it to his wife, who at the time was fully one hundred and fifty miles distant at ferozepore. "'on the night of september th, ,' writes his wife, 'i was lying on my bed, between sleeping and waking, when i distinctly saw my husband being carried off the field seriously wounded, and heard his voice saying, "take this ring off my finger and send it to my wife." all the next day i could not get the sight or the voice out of my mind. "'in due time i heard of general r---- having been severely wounded in the assault of mooltan. he survived, however, and is still living. it was not for some time after the siege that i heard from general l----, the officer who helped to carry my husband off the field, that the request as to the ring was actually made by him, just as i heard it at ferozepore at that very time." then there is the very large class of casual clairvoyant visions which have no traceable cause--which are apparently quite meaningless, and have no recognizable relation to any events known to the seer. to this class belong many of the landscapes seen by some people just before they fall asleep. i quote a capital and very realistic account of an experience of this sort from mr. w. t. stead's _real ghost stories_ (p. ). "i got into bed but was not able to go to sleep. i shut my eyes and waited for sleep to come; instead of sleep, however, there came to me a succession of curiously vivid clairvoyant pictures. there was no light in the room, and it was perfectly dark; i had my eyes shut also. but notwithstanding the darkness i suddenly was conscious of looking at a scene of singular beauty. it was as if i saw a living miniature about the size of a magic-lantern slide. at this moment i can recall the scene as if i saw it again. it was a seaside piece. the moon was shining upon the water, which rippled slowly on to the beach. right before me a long mole ran into the water. "on either side of the mole irregular rocks stood up above the sea-level. on the shore stood several houses, square and rude, which resembled nothing that i had ever seen in house architecture. no one was stirring, but the moon was there and the sea and the gleam of the moonlight on the rippling waters, just as if i had been looking on the actual scene. "it was so beautiful that i remember thinking that if it continued i should be so interested in looking at it that i should never go to sleep. i was wide awake, and at the same time that i saw the scene i distinctly heard the dripping of the rain outside the window. then suddenly, without any apparent object or reason, the scene changed. "the moonlit sea vanished, and in its place i was looking right into the interior of a reading-room. it seemed as if it had been used as a schoolroom in the daytime, and was employed as a reading-room in the evening. i remember seeing one reader who had a curious resemblance to tim harrington, although it was not he, hold up a magazine or book in his hand and laugh. it was not a picture--it was there. "the scene was just as if you were looking through an opera-glass; you saw the play of the muscles, the gleaming of the eye, every movement of the unknown persons in the unnamed place into which you were gazing. i saw all that without opening my eyes, nor did my eyes have anything to do with it. you see such things as these as it were with another sense which is more inside your head than in your eyes. "this was a very poor and paltry experience, but it enabled me to understand better how it is that clairvoyants see than any amount of disquisition. "the pictures were _apropos_ of nothing; they had been suggested by nothing i had been reading or talking of; they simply came as if i had been able to look through a glass at what was occurring somewhere else in the world. i had my peep, and then it passed, nor have i had a recurrence of a similar experience." mr. stead regards that as a "poor and paltry experience," and it may perhaps be considered so when compared with the greater possibilities, yet i know many students who would be very thankful to have even so much of direct personal experience to tell. small though it may be in itself, it at once gives the seer a clue to the whole thing, and clairvoyance would be a living actuality to a man who had seen even that much in a way that it could never have been without that little touch with the unseen world. these pictures were much too clear to have been mere reflections of the thought of others, and besides, the description unmistakably shows that they were views seen through an astral telescope; so either mr. stead must quite unconsciously have set a current going for himself, or (which is much more probable) some kindly astral entity set it in motion for him, and gave him, to while away a tedious delay, any pictures that happened to come handy at the end of the tube. chapter vii. clairvoyance in time: the past. clairvoyance in time--that is to say, the power of reading the past and the future--is, like all the other varieties, possessed by different people in very varying degrees, ranging from the man who has both faculties fully at his command, down to one who only occasionally gets involuntary and very imperfect glimpses or reflections of these scenes of other days. a person of the latter type might have, let us say, a vision of some event in the past; but it would be liable to the most serious distortion, and even if it happened to be fairly accurate it would almost certainly be a mere isolated picture, and he would probably be quite unable to relate it to what had occurred before or after it, or to account for anything unusual which might appear in it. the trained man, on the other hand, could follow the drama connected with his picture backwards or forwards to any extent that might seem desirable, and trace out with equal ease the causes which had led up to it or the results which it in turn would produce. we shall probably find it easier to grasp this somewhat difficult section of our subject if we consider it in the subdivisions which naturally suggest themselves, and deal first with the vision which looks backwards into the past, leaving for later examination that which pierces the veil of the future. in each case it will be well for us to try to understand what we can of the _modus operandi_, even though our success can at best be only a very modified one, owing first to the imperfect information on some parts of the subject at present possessed by our investigators, and secondly to the ever-recurring failure of physical words to express a hundredth part even of the little we do know about higher planes and faculties. in the case then of a detailed vision of the remote past, how is it obtained, and to what plane of nature does it really belong? the answer to both these questions is contained in the reply that it is read from the âkâshic records; but that statement in return will require a certain amount of explanation for many readers. the word is in truth somewhat of a misnomer, for though the records are undoubtedly read from the âkâsha, or matter of the mental plane, yet it is not to it that they really belong. still worse is the alternative title, "records of the astral light," which has sometimes been employed, for these records lie far beyond the astral plane, and all that can be obtained on it are only broken glimpses of a kind of double reflection of them, as will presently be explained. like so many others of our theosophical terms, the word âkâsha has been very loosely used. in some of our earlier books it was considered as synonymous with astral light, and in others it was employed to signify any kind of invisible matter, from mûlaprakriti down to the physical ether. in later books its use has been restricted to the matter of the mental plane, and it is in that sense that the records may be spoken of as âkâshic, for although they are not originally made on that plane any more than on the astral, yet it is there that we first come definitely into contact with them and find it possible to do reliable work with them. this subject of the records is by no means an easy one to deal with, for it is one of that numerous class which requires for its perfect comprehension faculties of a far higher order than any which humanity has yet evolved. the real solution of its problems lies on planes far beyond any that we can possibly know at present, and any view that we take of it must necessarily be of the most imperfect character, since we cannot but look at it from below instead of from above. the idea which we form of it must therefore be only partial, yet it need not mislead us unless we allow ourselves to think of the tiny fragment which is all that we can see as though it were the perfect whole. if we are careful that such conceptions as we may form shall be accurate as far as they go, we shall have nothing to unlearn, though much to add, when in the course of our further progress we gradually acquire the higher wisdom. be it understood then at the commencement that a thorough grasp of our subject is an impossibility at the present stage of our evolution, and that many points will arise as to which no exact explanation is yet obtainable, though it may often be possible to suggest analogies and to indicate the lines along which an explanation must lie. let us then try to carry back our thoughts to the beginning of this solar system to which we belong. we are all familiar with the ordinary astronomical theory of its origin--that which is commonly called the nebular hypothesis--according to which it first came into existence as a gigantic glowing nebula, of a diameter far exceeding that of the orbit of even the outermost of the planets, and then, as in the course of countless ages that enormous sphere gradually cooled and contracted, the system as we know it was formed. occult science accepts that theory, in its broad outline, as correctly representing the purely physical side of the evolution of our system, but it would add that if we confine our attention to this physical side only we shall have a very incomplete and incoherent idea of what really happened. it would postulate, to begin with, that the exalted being who undertakes the formation of a system (whom we sometimes call the logos of the system) first of all forms in his mind a complete conception of the whole of it with all its successive chains of worlds. by the very act of forming that conception he calls the whole into simultaneous objective existence on the plane of his thought--a plane of course far above all those of which we know anything--from which the various globes descend when required into whatever state of further objectivity may be respectively destined for them. unless we constantly bear in mind this fact of the real existence of the whole system from the very beginning on a higher plane, we shall be perpetually misunderstanding the physical evolution which we see taking place down here. but occultism has more than this to teach us on the subject. it tells us not only that all this wonderful system to which we belong is called into existence by the logos, both on lower and on higher planes, but also that its relation to him is closer even than that, for it is absolutely a part of him--a partial expression of him upon the physical plane--and that the movement and energy of the whole system is _his_ energy, and is all carried on within the limits of his aura. stupendous as this conception is, it will yet not be wholly unthinkable to those of us who have made any study of the subject of the aura. we are familiar with the idea that as a person progresses on the upward path his causal body, which is the determining limit of his aura, distinctly increases in size as well as in luminosity and purity of colour. many of us know from experience that the aura of a pupil who has already made considerable advance on the path is very much larger than that of one who is but just setting his foot upon its first step, while in the case of an adept the proportional increase is far greater still. we read in quite exoteric oriental scriptures of the immense extension of the aura of the buddha; i think that three miles is mentioned on one occasion as its limit, but whatever the exact measurement may be, it is obvious that we have here another record of this fact of the extremely rapid growth of the causal body as man passes on his upward way. there can be little doubt that the rate of this growth would itself increase in geometrical progression, so that it need not surprise us to hear of an adept on a still higher level whose aura is capable of including the entire world at once; and from this we may gradually lead our minds up to the conception that there is a being so exalted as to comprehend within himself the whole of our solar system. and we should remember that, enormous as this seems to us, it is but as the tiniest drop in the vast ocean of space. so of the logos (who has in him all the capacities and qualities with which we can possibly endow the highest god we can imagine) it is literally true, as was said of old, that "of him and through him, and to him are all things," and "in him we live and move and have our being." now if this be so, it is clear that whatever happens within our system happens absolutely within the consciousness of its logos, and so we at once see that the true record must be his memory; and furthermore, it is obvious that on whatever plane that wondrous memory exists, it cannot but be far above anything that we know, and consequently whatever records we may find ourselves able to read must be only a reflection of that great dominant fact, mirrored in the denser media of the lower planes. on the astral plane it is at once evident that this is so--that what we are dealing with is only a reflection of a reflection, and an exceedingly imperfect one, for such records as can be reached there are fragmentary in the extreme, and often seriously distorted. we know how universally water is used as a symbol of the astral light, and in this particular case it is a remarkably apt one. from the surface of still water we may get a clear reflection of the surrounding objects, just as from a mirror; but at the best it is only a reflection--a representation in two dimensions of three-dimensional objects, and therefore differing in all its qualities, except colour, from that which it represents; and in addition to this, it is always reversed. but let the surface of the water be ruffled by the wind and what do we find then? a reflection still, certainly, but so broken up and distorted as to be quite useless or even misleading as a guide to the shape and real appearance of the objects reflected. here and there for a moment we might happen to get a clear reflection of some minute part of the scene--of a single leaf from a tree, for example; but it would need long labour and considerable knowledge of natural laws to build up anything like a true conception of the object reflected by putting together even a large number of such isolated fragments of an image of it. now in the astral plane we can never have anything approaching to what we have imaged as a still surface, but on the contrary we have always to deal with one in rapid and bewildering motion; judge, therefore, how little we can depend upon getting a clear and definite reflection. thus a clairvoyant who possesses only the faculty of astral sight can never rely upon any picture of the past that comes before him as being accurate and perfect; here and there some part of it _may_ be so, but he has no means of knowing which it is. if he is under the care of a competent teacher he may, by long and careful training, be shown how to distinguish between reliable and unreliable impressions, and to construct from the broken reflections some kind of image of the object reflected; but usually long before he has mastered those difficulties he will have developed the mental sight, which renders such labour unnecessary. on the next plane, which we call the mental, conditions are very different. there the record is full and accurate, and it would be impossible to make any mistake in the reading. that is to say, if three clairvoyants possessing the powers of the mental plane agreed to examine a certain record there, what would be presented to their vision would be absolutely the same reflection in each case, and each would acquire a correct impression from it in reading it. it does not however follow that when they all compared notes later on the physical plane their reports would agree exactly. it is well known that if three people who witness an occurrence down here in the physical world set to work to describe it afterwards, their accounts will differ considerably, for each will have noticed especially those items which most appeal to him, and will insensibly have made them the prominent features of the event, sometimes ignoring other points which were in reality much more important. now in the case of an observation on the mental plane this personal equation would not appreciably affect the impressions received, for since each would thoroughly grasp the entire subject it would be impossible for him to see its parts out of due proportion; but, except in the case of carefully trained and experienced persons, this factor does come into play in transferring the impressions to the lower planes. it is in the nature of things impossible that any account given down here of a vision or experience on the mental plane can be complete, since nine-tenths of what is seen and felt there could not be expressed by physical words at all; and, since all expression must therefore be partial, there is obviously some possibility of selection as to the part expressed. it is for this reason that in all our theosophical investigations of recent years so much stress has been laid upon the constant checking and verifying of clairvoyant testimony, nothing which rests upon the vision of one person only having been allowed to appear in our later books. but even when the possibility of error from this factor of personal equation has been reduced to a minimum by a careful system of counter-checking, there still remains the very serious difficulty which is inherent in the operation of bringing down impressions from a higher plane to a lower one. this is something analogous to the difficulty experienced by a painter in his endeavour to reproduce a three-dimensional landscape on a flat surface--that is, practically in two dimensions. just as the artist needs long and careful training of eye and hand before he can produce a satisfactory representation of nature, so does the clairvoyant need long and careful training before he can describe accurately on a lower plane what he sees on a higher one; and the probability of getting an exact description from an untrained person is about equal to that of getting a perfectly-finished landscape from one who has never learnt how to draw. it must be remembered, too, that the most perfect picture is in reality infinitely far from being a reproduction of the scene which it represents, for hardly a single line or angle in it can ever be the same as those in the object copied. it is simply a very ingenious attempt to make upon one only of our five senses, by means of lines and colours on a flat surface, an impression similar to that which would have been made if we had actually had before us the scene depicted. except by a suggestion dependent entirely on our own previous experience, it can convey to us nothing of the roar of the sea, of the scent of the flowers, of the taste of the fruit, or of the softness or hardness of the surface drawn. of exactly similar nature, though far greater in degree, are the difficulties experienced by a clairvoyant in his attempt to describe upon the physical plane what he has seen upon the astral; and they are furthermore greatly enhanced by the fact that, instead of having merely to recall to the minds of his hearers conceptions with which they are already familiar, as the artist does when he paints men or animals, fields or trees, he has to endeavour by the very imperfect means at his disposal to suggest to them conceptions which in most cases are absolutely new to them. small wonder then that, however vivid and striking his descriptions may seem to his audience, he himself should constantly be impressed with their total inadequacy, and should feel that his best efforts have entirely failed to convey any idea of what he really sees. and we must remember that in the case of the report given down here of a record read on the mental plane, this difficult operation of transference from the higher to the lower has taken place not once but twice, since the memory has been brought through the intervening astral plane. even in a case where the investigator has the advantage of having developed his mental faculties so that he has the use of them while awake in the physical body, he is still hampered by the absolute incapacity of physical language to express what he sees. try for a moment to realize fully what is called the fourth dimension, of which we said something in an earlier chapter. it is easy enough to think of our own three dimensions--to image in our minds the length, breadth and height of any object; and we see that each of these three dimensions is expressed by a line at right angles to both of the others. the idea of the fourth dimension is that it might be possible to draw a fourth line which shall be at right angles to all three of those already existing. now the ordinary mind cannot grasp this idea in the least, though some few who have made a special study of the subject have gradually come to be able to realize one or two very simple four-dimensional figures. still, no words that they can use on this plane can bring any image of these figures before the minds of others, and if any reader who has not specially trained himself along that line will make the effort to visualize such a shape he will find it quite impossible. now to express such a form clearly in physical words would be, in effect, to describe accurately a single object on the astral plane; but in examining the records on the mental plane we should have to face the additional difficulties of a fifth dimension! so that the impossibility of fully explaining these records will be obvious to even the most superficial observation. we have spoken of the records as the memory of the logos, yet they are very much more than a memory in an ordinary sense of the word. hopeless as it may be to imagine how these images appear from his point of view, we yet know that as we rise higher and higher we must be drawing nearer to the true memory--must be seeing more nearly as he sees; so that great interest attaches to the experience of the clairvoyant with reference to these records when he stands upon the buddhic plane--the highest which his consciousness can reach even when away from the physical body until he attains the level of the arhats. here time and space no longer limit him; he no longer needs, as on the mental plane, to pass a series of events in review, for past, present and future are all alike simultaneously present to him, meaningless as that sounds down here. indeed, infinitely below the consciousness of the logos as even that exalted plane is, it is yet abundantly clear from what we see there that to him the record must be far more than what we call a memory, for all that has happened in the past and all that will happen in the future is _happening now_ before his eyes just as are the events of what we call the present time. utterly incredible, wildly incomprehensible, of course, to our limited understanding; yet absolutely true for all that. naturally we could not expect to understand at our present stage of knowledge how so marvellous a result is produced, and to attempt an explanation would only be to involve ourselves in a mist of words from which we should gain no real information. yet a line of thought recurs to my mind which perhaps suggests the direction in which it is possible that that explanation may lie: and whatever helps us to realize that so astounding a statement may after all not be wholly impossible will be of assistance in broadening our minds. some thirty years ago i remember reading a very curious little book, called, i think, _the stars and the earth_, the object of which was to endeavour to show how it was scientifically possible that to the mind of god the past and the present might be absolutely simultaneous. its arguments struck me at the time as decidedly ingenious, and i will proceed to summarize them, as i think they will be found somewhat suggestive in connection with the subject which we have been considering. when we see anything, whether it be the book which we hold in our hands or a star millions of miles away, we do so by means of a vibration in the ether, commonly called a ray of light, which passes from the object seen to our eyes. now the speed with which this vibration passes is so great--about , miles in a second--that when we are considering any object in our own world we may regard it as practically instantaneous. when, however, we come to deal with interplanetary distances we have to take the speed of light into consideration, for an appreciable period is occupied in traversing these vast spaces. for example it takes eight minutes and a quarter for light to travel to us from the sun, so that when we look at the solar orb we see it by means of a ray of light which left it more than eight minutes ago. from this follows a very curious result. the ray of light by which we see the sun can obviously report to us only the state of affairs which existed in that luminary when it started on its journey, and would not be in the least affected by anything that happened there after it left; so that we really see the sun not as he _is_, but as he was eight minutes ago. that is to say that if anything important took place in the sun--the formation of a new sun-spot, for instance--an astronomer who was watching the orb through his telescope at the time would be quite unaware of the incident while it was happening, since the ray of light bearing the news would not reach him until more than eight minutes later. the difference is more striking when we consider the fixed stars, because in their case the distances are so enormously greater. the pole star, for example, is so far off that light, travelling at the inconceivable speed above mentioned, takes a little more than fifty years to reach our eyes; and from that follows the strange but inevitable inference that we see the pole star not as and where it is at this moment, but as and where it was fifty years ago. nay, if to-morrow some cosmic catastrophe were to shatter the pole star into fragments, we should still see it peacefully shining in the sky all the rest of our lives; our children would grow up to middle age and gather their children about them in turn before the news of that tremendous accident reached any terrestrial eye. in the same way there are other stars so far distant that light takes thousands of years to travel from them to us, and with reference to their condition our information is therefore thousands of years behind time. now carry the argument a step farther. suppose that we were able to place a man at the distance of , miles from the earth, and yet to endow him with the wonderful faculty of being able from that distance to see what was happening here as clearly as though he were still close beside us. it is evident that a man so placed would see everything a second after the time when it really happened, and so at the present moment he would be seeing what happened a second ago. double the distance, and he would be two seconds behind time, and so on; remove him to the distance of the sun (still allowing him to preserve the same mysterious power of sight) and he would look down and watch you doing not what you _are_ doing now, but what you _were_ doing eight minutes and a quarter ago. carry him away to the pole star, and he would see passing before his eyes the events of fifty years ago; he would be watching the childish gambols of those who at the very same moment were really middle-aged men. marvellous as this may sound, it is literally and scientifically true, and cannot be denied. the little book went on to argue logically enough that god, being almighty, must possess the wonderful power of sight which we have been postulating for our observer; and further, that being omnipresent, he must be at each of the stations which we mentioned, and also at every intermediate point, not successively but simultaneously. granting these premises, the inevitable deduction follows that everything which has ever happened from the very beginning of the world _must_ be at this very moment taking place before the eye of god--not a mere memory of it, but the actual occurrence itself being now under his observation. all this is materialistic enough, and on the plane of purely physical science, and we may therefore be assured that it is _not_ the way in which the memory of the logos acts; yet it is neatly worked out and absolutely incontrovertible, and as i have said before, it is not without its use, since it gives us a glimpse of some possibilities which otherwise might not occur to us. but, it may be asked, how is it possible, amid the bewildering confusion of these records of the past, to find any particular picture when it is wanted? as a matter of fact, the untrained clairvoyant usually cannot do so without some special link to put him _en rapport_ with the subject required. psychometry is an instance in point, and it is quite probable that our ordinary memory is really only another presentment of the same idea. it seems as though there were a sort of magnetic attachment or affinity between any particle of matter and the record which contains its history--an affinity which enables it to act as a kind of conductor between that record and the faculties of anyone who can read it. for example, i once brought from stonehenge a tiny fragment of stone, not larger than a pin's head, and on putting this into an envelope and handing it to a psychometer who had no idea what it was, she at once began to describe that wonderful ruin and the desolate country surrounding it, and then went on to picture vividly what were evidently scenes from its early history, showing that that infinitesimal fragment had been sufficient to put her into communication with the records connected with the spot from which it came. the scenes through which we pass in the course of our life seem to act in the same manner upon the cells of our brain as did the history of stonehenge upon that particle of stone: they establish a connection with those cells by means of which our mind is put _en rapport_ with that particular portion of the records, and so we "remember" what we have seen. even a trained clairvoyant needs some link to enable him to find the record of an event of which he has no previous knowledge. if, for example, he wished to observe the landing of julius cæsar on the shores of england, there are several ways in which he might approach the subject. if he happened to have visited the scene of the occurrence, the simplest way would probably be to call up the image of that spot, and then run back through its records until he reached the period desired. if he had not seen the place, he might run back in time to the date of the event, and then search the channel for a fleet of roman galleys; or he might examine the records of roman life at about that period, where he would have no difficulty in identifying so prominent a figure as cæsar, or in tracing him when found through all his gallic wars until he set his foot upon british land. people often enquire as to the aspect of these records--whether they appear near or far away from the eye, whether the figures in them are large or small, whether the pictures follow one another as in a panorama or melt into one another like dissolving views, and so on. one can only reply that their appearance varies to a certain extent according to the conditions under which they are seen. upon the astral plane the reflection is most often a simple picture, though occasionally the figures seen would be endowed with motion; in this latter case, instead of a mere snapshot a rather longer and more perfect reflection has taken place. on the mental plane they have two widely different aspects. when the visitor to that plane is not thinking specially of them in any way, the records simply form a background to whatever is going on, just as the reflections in a pier-glass at the end of a room might form a background to the life of the people in it. it must always be borne in mind that under these conditions they are really merely reflections from the ceaseless activity of a great consciousness upon a far higher plane, and have very much the appearance of an endless succession of the recently invented _cinematographe_, or living photographs. they do not melt into one another like dissolving views, nor do a series of ordinary pictures follow one another; but the action of the reflected figures constantly goes on, as though one were watching the actors on a distant stage. but if the trained investigator turns his attention specially to any one scene, or wishes to call it up before him, an extraordinary change at once takes place, for this is the plane of thought, and to think of anything is to bring it instantaneously before you. for example, if a man wills to see the record of that event to which we before referred--the landing of julius cæsar--he finds himself in a moment not looking at any picture, but standing on the shore among the legionaries, with the whole scene being enacted around him, precisely in every respect as he would have seen it if he had stood there in the flesh on that autumn morning in the year b.c. since what he sees is but a reflection, the actors are of course entirely unconscious of him, nor can any effort of his change the course of their action in the smallest degree, except only that he can control the rate at which the drama shall pass before him--can have the events of a whole year rehearsed before his eyes in a single hour, or can at any moment stop the movement altogether, and hold any particular scene in view as a picture as long as he chooses. in truth he observes not only what he would have seen if he had been there at the time in the flesh, but much more. he hears and understands all that the people say, and he is conscious of all their thoughts and motives; and one of the most interesting of the many possibilities which open up before one who has learnt to read the records is the study of the thought of ages long past--the thought of the cave-men and the lake-dwellers as well as that which ruled the mighty civilisations of atlantis, of egypt or chaldæa. what splendid possibilities open up before the man who is in full possession of this power may easily be imagined. he has before him a field of historical research of most entrancing interest. not only can he review at his leisure all history with which we are acquainted, correcting as he examines it the many errors and misconceptions which have crept into the accounts handed down to us; he can also range at will over the whole story of the world from its very beginning, watching the slow development of intellect in man, the descent of the lords of the flame, and the growth of the mighty civilisations which they founded. nor is his study confined to the progress of humanity alone; he has before him, as in a museum, all the strange animal and vegetable forms which occupied the stage in days when the world was young; he can follow all the wonderful geological changes which have taken place, and watch the course of the great cataclysms which have altered the whole face of the earth again and again. in one especial case an even closer sympathy with the past is possible to the reader of the records. if in the course of his enquiries he has to look upon some scene in which he himself has in a former birth taken part, he may deal with it in two ways; he can either regard it in the usual manner as a spectator (though always, be it remembered, as a spectator whose insight and sympathy are perfect) or he may once more identify himself with that long-dead personality of his--may throw himself back for the time into that life of long ago, and absolutely experience over again the thoughts and the emotions, the pleasures and the pains of a prehistoric past. no wilder and more vivid adventures can be conceived than some of those through which he thus may pass; yet through it all he must never lose hold of the consciousness of his own individuality--must retain the power to return at will to his present personality. it is often asked how it is possible for an investigator accurately to determine the date of any picture from the far-distant past which he disinters from the records. the fact is that it is sometimes rather tedious work to find an exact date, but the thing can usually be done if it is worth while to spend the time and trouble over it. if we are dealing with greek or roman times the simplest method is usually to look into the mind of the most intelligent person present in the picture, and see what date he supposes it to be; or the investigator might watch him writing a letter or other document and observe what date, if any, was included in what was written. when once the roman or greek date is thus obtained, to reduce it to our own system of chronology is merely a matter of calculation. another way which is frequently adopted is to turn from the scene under examination to a contemporary picture in some great and well-known city such as rome, and note what monarch is reigning there, or who are the consuls for the year; and when such data are discovered a glance at any good history will give the rest. sometimes a date can be obtained by examining some public proclamation or some legal document; in fact in the times of which we are speaking the difficulty is easily surmounted. the matter is by no means so simple, however, when we come to deal with periods much earlier than this--with a scene from early egypt, chaldæa, or china, or to go further back still, from atlantis itself or any of its numerous colonies. a date can still be obtained easily enough from the mind of any educated man, but there is no longer any means of relating it to our own system of dates, since the man will be reckoning by eras of which we know nothing, or by the reigns of kings whose history is lost in the night of time. our methods, nevertheless, are not yet exhausted. it must be remembered that it is possible for the investigator to pass the records before him at any speed that he may desire--at the rate of a year in a second if he will, or even very much faster still. now there are one or two events in ancient history whose dates have already been accurately fixed--as, for example, the sinking of poseidonis in the year b.c. it is therefore obvious that if from the general appearance of the surroundings it seems probable that a picture seen is within measurable distance of one of these events, it can be related to that event by the simple process of running through the record rapidly, and counting the years between the two as they pass. still, if those years ran into thousands, as they might sometimes do, this plan would be insufferably tedious. in that case we are driven back upon the astronomical method. in consequence of the movement which is commonly called the precession of the equinoxes, though it might more accurately be described as a kind of second rotation of the earth, the angle between the equator and the ecliptic steadily but very slowly varies. thus, after long intervals of time we find the pole of the earth no longer pointing towards the same spot in the apparent sphere of the heavens, or in other words, our pole-star is not, as at present, [greek: a] ursæ minoris, but some other celestial body; and from this position of the pole of the earth, which can easily be ascertained by careful observation of the night-sky of the picture under consideration, an approximate date can be calculated without difficulty. in estimating the date of occurrences which took place millions of years ago in earlier races, the period of a secondary rotation (or the precession of the equinoxes) is frequently used as a unit, but of course absolute accuracy is not usually required in such cases, round numbers being sufficient for all practical purposes in dealing with epochs so remote. the accurate reading of the records, whether of one's own past lives or those of others, must not, however, be thought of as an achievement possible to anyone without careful previous training. as has been already remarked, though occasional reflections may be had upon the astral plane, the power to use the mental sense is necessary before any reliable reading can be done. indeed, to minimize the possibility of error, that sense ought to be fully at the command of the investigator while awake in the physical body; and to acquire that faculty needs years of ceaseless labour and rigid self-discipline. many people seem to expect that as soon as they have signed their application and joined the theosophical society they will at once remember at least three or four of their past births; indeed, some of them promptly begin to imagine recollections and declare that in their last incarnation they were mary queen of scots, cleopatra, or julius cæsar! of course such extravagant claims simply bring discredit upon those who are so foolish as to make them but unfortunately some of that discredit is liable to be reflected, however unjustly, upon the society to which they belong, so that a man who feels seething within him the conviction that he was homer or shakespeare would do well to pause and apply common-sense tests on the physical plane before publishing the news to the world. it is quite true that some people have had glimpses of scenes from their past lives in dreams, but naturally these are usually fragmentary and unreliable. i had myself in earlier life an experience of this nature. among my dreams i found that one was constantly recurring--a dream of a house with a portico over-looking a beautiful bay, not far from a hill on the top of which rose a graceful building. i knew that house perfectly, and was as familiar with the position of its rooms and the view from its door as i was with those of my home, in this present life. in those days i knew nothing about reincarnation, so that it seemed to me simply a curious coincidence that this dream should repeat itself so often; and it was not until some time after i had joined the society that, when one who knew was showing me some pictures of my last incarnation, i discovered that this persistent dream had been in reality a partial recollection, and that the house which i knew so well was the one in which i was born more than two thousand years ago. but although there are several cases on record in which some well-remembered scene has thus come through from one life to another, a considerable development of occult faculty is necessary before an investigator can definitely trace a line of incarnations, whether they be his own or another man's. this will be obvious if we remember the conditions of the problem which has to be worked out. to follow a person from this life to the one preceding it, it is necessary first of all to trace his present life backwards to his birth and then to follow up in reverse order the stages by which the ego descended into incarnation. this will obviously take us back eventually to the condition of the ego upon the higher levels of the mental plane; so it will be seen that to perform this task effectually the investigator must be able to use the sense corresponding to that exalted level while awake in his physical body--in other words, his consciousness must be centred in the reincarnating ego itself, and no longer in the lower personality. in that case, the memory of the ego being aroused, his own past incarnations will be spread out before him like an open book, and he would be able, if he wished, to examine the conditions of another ego upon that level and trace him backwards through the lower mental and astral lives which led up to it, until he came to the last physical death of that ego, and through it to his previous life. there is no way but this in which the chain of lives can be followed through with absolute certainty: and consequently we may at once put aside as conscious or unconscious impostors those people who advertise that they are able to trace out anyone's past incarnations for so many shillings a head. needless to say, the true occultist does not advertise, and never under any circumstances accepts money for any exhibition of his powers. assuredly the student who wishes to acquire the power of following up a line of incarnations can do so only by learning from a qualified teacher how the work is to be done. there have been those who persistently asserted that it was only necessary for a man to feel good and devotional and "brotherly," and all the wisdom of the ages would immediately flow in upon him; but a little common-sense will at once expose the absurdity of such a position. however good a child may be, if he wants to know the multiplication table he must set to work and learn it; and the case is precisely similar with the capacity to use spiritual faculties. the faculties themselves will no doubt manifest as the man evolves, but he can learn how to use them reliably and to the best advantage only by steady hard work and persevering effort. take the case of those who wish to help others while on the astral plane during sleep; it is obvious that the more knowledge they possess here, the more valuable will their services be on that higher plane. for example, the knowledge of languages would be useful to them, for though on the mental plane men can communicate directly by thought-transference, whatever their languages may be, on the astral plane this is not so, and a thought must be definitely formulated in words before it is comprehensible. if, therefore, you wish to help a man on that plane, you must have some language in common by means of which you can communicate with him, and consequently the more languages you know the more widely useful you will be. in fact there is perhaps no kind of knowledge for which a use cannot be found in the work of the occultist. it would be well for all students to bear in mind that occultism is the apotheosis of common-sense, and that every vision which comes to them is not necessarily a picture from the âkâshic records, nor every experience a revelation from on high. it is better far to err on the side of healthy scepticism than of over-credulity; and it is an admirable rule never to hunt about for an occult explanation of anything when a plain and obvious physical one is available. our duty is to endeavour to keep our balance always, and never to lose our self-control, but to take a reasonable, common-sense view of whatever may happen to us; so shall we be better theosophists, wiser occultists, and more useful helpers than we have ever been before. as usual, we find examples of all degrees of the power to see into this memory of nature, from the trained man who can consult the record for himself at will, down to the person who gets nothing but occasional vague glimpses, or has even perhaps had only one such glimpse. but even the man who possesses this faculty only partially and occasionally still finds it of the deepest interest. the psychometer, who needs an object physically connected with the past in order to bring it all into life again around him, and the crystal-gazer who can sometimes direct his less certain astral telescope to some historic scene of long ago, may both derive the greatest enjoyment from the exercise of their respective gifts, even though they may not always understand exactly how their results are produced, and may not have them fully under control under all circumstances. in many cases of the lower manifestations of these powers we find that they are exercised unconsciously; many a crystal-gazer watches scenes from the past without being able to distinguish them from visions of the present, and many a vaguely-psychic person finds pictures constantly arising before his eyes without ever realizing that he is in effect psychometrizing the various objects around him as he happens to touch them or stand near them. an interesting variant of this class of psychics is the man who is able to psychometrize persons only, and not inanimate objects as is more usual. in most cases this faculty shows itself erratically, so that such a psychic will, when introduced to a stranger, often see in a flash some prominent event in that stranger's earlier life, but on other similar occasions will receive no special impression. more rarely we meet with someone who gets detailed visions of the past life of everyone whom he encounters. perhaps one of the best examples of this class was the german writer zschokke, who describes in his autobiography this extraordinary power of which he found himself possessed. he says:-- "it has happened to me occasionally at the first meeting with a total stranger, when i have been listening in silence to his conversation, that his past life up to the present moment, with many minute circumstances belonging to one or other particular scene in it, has come across me like a dream, but distinctly, entirely involuntarily and unsought, occupying in duration a few minutes. "for a long time i was disposed to consider these fleeting visions as a trick of the fancy--the more so as my dream-vision displayed to me the dress and movements of the actors, the appearance of the room, the furniture, and other accidents of the scene; till on one occasion, in a gamesome mood, i narrated to my family the secret history of a sempstress who had just before quitted the room. i had never seen the person before. nevertheless the hearers were astonished, and laughed and would not be persuaded but that i had a previous acquaintance with the former life of the person, inasmuch as what i had stated was perfectly true. "i was not less astonished to find that my dream-vision agreed with reality. i then gave more attention to the subject, and as often as propriety allowed of it, i related to those whose lives had so passed before me the substance of my dream-vision, to obtain from them its contradiction or confirmation. on every occasion its confirmation followed, not without amazement on the part of those who gave it. "on a certain fair-day i went into the town of waldshut accompanied by two young foresters, who are still alive. it was evening, and, tired with our walk, we went into an inn called the 'vine.' we took our supper with a numerous company at the public table, when it happened that they made themselves merry over the peculiarities and simplicity of the swiss in connection with the belief in mesmerism, lavater's physiognomical system and the like. one of my companions, whose national pride was touched by their raillery, begged me to make some reply, particularly in answer to a young man of superior appearance who sat opposite, and had indulged in unrestrained ridicule. "it happened that the events of this person's life had just previously passed before my mind. i turned to him with the question whether he would reply to me with truth and candour if i narrated to him the most secret passages of his history, he being as little known to me as i to him? that would, i suggested, go something beyond lavater's physiognomical skill. he promised if i told the truth to admit it openly. then i narrated the events with which my dream-vision had furnished me, and the table learnt the history of the young tradesman's life, of his school years, his peccadilloes, and, finally, of a little act of roguery committed by him on the strong-box of his employer. i described the uninhabited room with its white walls, where to the right of the brown door there had stood upon the table the small black money-chest, etc. the man, much struck, admitted the correctness of each circumstance--even, which i could not expect, of the last." and after narrating this incident, the worthy zschokke calmly goes on to wonder whether perhaps after all this remarkable power, which he had so often displayed, might not really have been always the result of mere chance coincidence! comparatively few accounts of persons possessing this faculty of looking back into the past are to be found in the literature of the subject, and it might therefore be supposed to be much less common than prevision. i suspect, however, that the truth is rather that it is much less commonly recognized. as i said before, it may very easily happen that a person may see a picture of the past without recognizing it as such, unless there happens to be in it something which attracts special attention, such as a figure in armour or in antique costume. a prevision also might not always be recognized as such at the time; but the occurrence of the event foreseen recalls it vividly at the same time that it manifests its nature, so that it is unlikely to be overlooked. it is probable, therefore, that occasional glimpses of these astral reflections of the âkâshic records are commoner than the published accounts would lead us to believe. chapter viii. clairvoyance in time: the future. even if, in a dim sort of way, we feel ourselves able to grasp the idea that the whole of the past may be simultaneously and actively present in a sufficiently exalted consciousness, we are confronted by a far greater difficulty when we endeavour to realize how all the future may also be comprehended in that consciousness. if we could believe in the mohammedan doctrine of kismet, or the calvinistic theory of predestination, the conception would be easy enough, but knowing as we do that both these are grotesque distortions of the truth, we must look round for a more acceptable hypothesis. there may still be some people who deny the possibility of prevision, but such denial simply shows their ignorance of the evidence on the subject. the large number of authenticated cases leaves no room for doubt as to the fact, but many of them are of such a nature as to render a reasonable explanation by no means easy to find. it is evident that the ego possesses a certain amount of previsional faculty, and if the events foreseen were always of great importance, one might suppose that an extraordinary stimulus had enabled him for that occasion only to make a clear impression of what he saw upon his lower personality. no doubt that is the explanation of many of the cases in which death or grave disaster is foreseen, but there are a large number of instances on record to which it does not seem to apply, since the events foretold are frequently exceedingly trivial and unimportant. a well-known story of second-sight in scotland will illustrate what i mean. a man who had no belief in the occult was forewarned by a highland seer of the approaching death of a neighbour. the prophecy was given with considerable wealth of detail, including a full description of the funeral, with the names of the four pall-bearers and others who would be present. the auditor seems to have laughed at the whole story and promptly forgotten it, but the death of his neighbour at the time foretold recalled the warning to his mind, and he determined to falsify part of the prediction at any rate by being one of the pall-bearers himself. he succeeded in getting matters arranged as he wished, but just as the funeral was about to start he was called away from his post by some small matter which detained him only a minute or two. as he came hurrying back he saw with surprise that the procession had started without him, and that the prediction had been exactly fulfilled, for the four pall-bearers were those who had been indicated in the vision. now here is a very trifling matter, which could have been of no possible importance to anybody, definitely foreseen months beforehand; and although a man makes a determined effort to alter the arrangement indicated he fails entirely to affect it in the least. certainly this looks very much like predestination, even down to the smallest detail, and it is only when we examine this question from higher planes that we are able to see our way to escape that theory. of course, as i said before about another branch of the subject, a full explanation eludes us as yet, and obviously must do so until our knowledge is infinitely greater than it is now; the most that we can hope to do for the present is to indicate the line along which an explanation may be found. there is no doubt whatever that, just as what is happening now is the result of causes set in motion in the past, so what will happen in the future will be the result of causes already in operation. even down here we can calculate that if certain actions are performed certain results will follow, but our reckoning is constantly liable to be disturbed by the interference of factors which we have not been able to take into account. but if we raise our consciousness to the mental plane we can see very much farther into the results of our actions. we can trace, for example, the effect of a casual word, not only upon the person to whom it was addressed, but through him on many others as it is passed on in widening circles, until it seems to have affected the whole country; and one glimpse of such a vision is far more efficient than any number of moral precepts in impressing upon us the necessity of extreme circumspection in thought, word, and deed. not only can we from that plane see thus fully the result of every action, but we can also see where and in what way the results of other actions apparently quite unconnected with it will interfere with and modify it. in fact, it may be said that the results of all causes at present in action are clearly visible--that the future, as it would be if no entirely new causes should arise, lies open before our gaze. new causes of course do arise, because man's will is free; but in the case of all ordinary people the use which they will make of their freedom can be calculated beforehand with considerable accuracy. the average man has so little real will that he is very much the creature of circumstances; his action in previous lives places him amid certain surroundings, and their influence upon him is so very much the most important factor in his life-story that his future course may be predicted with almost mathematical certainty. with the developed man the case is different; for him also the main events of life are arranged by his past actions, but the way in which he will allow them to affect him, the methods by which he will deal with them and perhaps triumph over them--these are all his own, and they cannot be foreseen even on the mental plane except as probabilities. looking down on man's life in this way from above, it seems as though his free will could be exercised only at certain crises in his career. he arrives at a point in his life where there are obviously two or three alternative courses open before him; he is absolutely free to choose which of them he pleases, and although some one who knew his nature thoroughly well might feel almost certain what his choice would be, such knowledge on his friend's part is in no sense a compelling force. but when he _has_ chosen, he has to go through with it and take the consequences; having entered upon a particular path he may, in many cases, be forced to go on for a very long way before he has any opportunity to turn aside. his position is somewhat like that of the driver of a train; when he comes to a junction he may have the points set either this way or that, and so can pass on to whichever line he pleases, but when he _has_ passed on to one of them he is compelled to run on along the line which he has selected until he reaches another set of points, where again an opportunity of choice is offered to him. now, in looking down from the mental plane, these points of new departure would be clearly visible, and all the results of each choice would lie open before us, certain to be worked out even to the smallest detail. the only point which would remain uncertain would be the all-important one as to which choice the man would make. we should, in fact, have not one but several futures mapped out before our eyes, without necessarily being able to determine which of them would materialize itself into accomplished fact. in most instances we should see so strong a probability that we should not hesitate to come to a decision, but the case which i have described is certainly theoretically possible. still, even this much knowledge would enable us to do with safety a good deal of prediction; and it is not difficult for us to imagine that a far higher power than ours might always be able to foresee which way every choice would go, and consequently to prophesy with absolute certainty. on the buddhic plane, however, no such elaborate process of conscious calculation is necessary, for, as i said before, in some manner which down here is totally inexplicable, the past, the present, and the future, are there all existing simultaneously. one can only accept this fact, for its cause lies in the faculty of the plane, and the way in which this higher faculty works is naturally quite incomprehensible to the physical brain. yet now and then one may meet with a hint that seems to bring us a trifle nearer to a dim possibility of comprehension. one such hint was given by dr. oliver lodge in his address to the british association at cardiff. he said: "a luminous and helpful idea is that time is but a relative mode of regarding things; we progress through phenomena at a certain definite pace, and this subjective advance we interpret in an objective manner, as if events moved necessarily in this order and at this precise rate. but that may be only one mode of regarding them. the events may be in some sense in existence always, both past and future, and it may be we who are arriving at them, not they which are happening. the analogy of a traveller in a railway train is useful; if he could never leave the train nor alter its pace he would probably consider the landscapes as necessarily successive and be unable to conceive their co-existence.... we perceive, therefore, a possible fourth dimensional aspect about time, the inexorableness of whose flow may be a natural part or our present limitations. and if we once grasp the idea that past and future may be actually existing, we can recognize that they may have a controlling influence on all present action, and the two together may constitute the 'higher plane' or totality of things after which, as it seems to me, we are impelled to seek, in connection with the directing of form or determinism, and the action of living beings consciously directed to a definite and preconceived end." time is not in reality the fourth dimension at all; yet to look at it for the moment from that point of view is some slight help towards grasping the ungraspable. suppose that we hold a wooden cone at right angles to a sheet of paper, and slowly push it through it point first. a microbe living on the surface of that sheet of paper, and having no power of conceiving anything outside of that surface, could not only never see the cone as a whole, but he could form no sort of conception of such a body at all. all that he would see would be the sudden appearance of a tiny circle, which would gradually and mysteriously grow larger and larger until it vanished from his world as suddenly and incomprehensibly as it had come into it. thus, what were in reality a series of sections of the cone would appear to him to be successive stages in the life of a circle, and it would be impossible for him to grasp the idea that these successive stages could be seen simultaneously. yet it is, of course, easy enough for us, looking down upon the transaction from another dimension, to see that the microbe is simply under a delusion arising from its own limitations, and that the cone exists as a whole all the while. our own delusion as to past, present, and future is possibly not dissimilar, and the view that is gained of any sequence of events from the buddhic plane corresponds to the view of the cone as a whole. naturally, any attempt to work out this suggestion lands us in a series of startling paradoxes; but the fact remains a fact, nevertheless, and the time will come when it will be clear as noonday to our comprehension. when the pupil's consciousness is fully developed upon the buddhic plane, therefore, perfect prevision is possible to him, though he may not--nay, he certainly will not--be able to bring the whole result of his sight through fully and in order into this light. still, a great deal of clear foresight is obviously within his power whenever he likes to exercise it; and even when he is not exercising it, frequent flashes of fore-knowledge come through into his ordinary life, so that he often has an instantaneous intuition as to how things will turn out even before their inception. short of this perfect prevision we find, as in the previous cases, that all degrees of this type of clairvoyance exist, from the occasional vague premonitions which cannot in any true sense be called sight at all, up to frequent and fairly complete second-sight. the faculty to which this latter somewhat misleading name has been given is an extremely interesting one, and would well repay more careful and systematic study than has ever hitherto been given to it. it is best known to us as a not infrequent possession of the scottish highlanders, though it is by no means confined to them. occasional instances of it have appeared in almost every nation, but it has always been commonest among mountaineers and men of lonely life. with us in england it is often spoken of as though it were the exclusive appanage of the celtic race, but in reality it has appeared among similarly situated peoples the world over. it is stated, for example, to be very common among the westphalian peasantry. sometimes the second-sight consists of a picture clearly foreshowing some coming event; more frequently, perhaps, the glimpse of the future is given by some symbolical appearance. it is noteworthy that the events foreseen are invariably unpleasant ones--death being the commonest of all; i do not recollect a single instance in which the second-sight has shown anything which was not of the most gloomy nature. it has a ghastly symbolism which is all its own--a symbolism of shrouds and corpse-candles, and other funereal horrors. in some cases it appears to be to a certain extent dependent on locality, for it is stated that inhabitants of the isle of skye who possess the faculty often lose it when they leave the island, even though it be only to cross to the mainland. the gift of such sight is sometimes hereditary in a family for generations, but this is not an invariable rule, for it often appears sporadically in one member of a family otherwise free from its lugubrious influence. an example in which an accurate vision of a coming event was seen some months beforehand by second-sight has already been given. here is another and perhaps a more striking one, which i give exactly as it was related to me by one of the actors in the scene. "we plunged into the jungle, and had walked on for about an hour without much success, when cameron, who happened to be next to me, stopped suddenly, turned pale as death, and, pointing straight before him, cried in accents of horror: "'see! see! merciful heaven, look there!' "'where? what? what is it?' we all shouted confusedly, as we rushed up to him and looked round in expectation of encountering a tiger--a cobra--we hardly knew what, but assuredly something terrible, since it had been sufficient to cause such evident emotion in our usually self-contained comrade. but neither tiger nor cobra was visible--nothing but cameron pointing with ghastly, haggard face and starting eyeballs at something we could not see. "'cameron! cameron' cried i, seizing his arm, "'for heaven's sake, speak! what is the matter?' "scarcely were the words out of my mouth when a low, but very peculiar sound struck on my ear, and cameron, dropping his pointing hand, said in a hoarse, strained voice, 'there! you heard it? thank god it's over' and fell to the ground insensible. "there was a momentary confusion while we unfastened his collar, and i dashed in his face some water which i fortunately had in my flask, while another tried to pour brandy between his clenched teeth; and under cover of it i whispered to the man next to me (one of our greatest sceptics, by the way), 'beauchamp, did _you_ hear anything?' "'why, yes,' he replied, a curious sound, very; a sort of crash or rattle far away in the distance, yet very distinct; if the thing were not utterly impossible, i could have sworn it was the rattle of musketry.' "'just my impression,' murmured i; 'but hush! he is recovering.' "in a minute or two he was able to speak feebly, and began to thank us and apologize for giving trouble; and soon he sat up, leaning against a tree, and in a firm, though still low voice said: "'my dear friends, i feel i owe you an explanation of my extraordinary behaviour. it is an explanation that i would fain avoid giving; but it must come some time, and so may as well be given now. you may perhaps have noticed that when during our voyage you all joined in scoffing at dreams, portents and visions, i invariably avoided giving any opinion on the subject. i did so because, while i had no desire to court ridicule or provoke discussion, i was unable to agree with you, knowing only too well from my own dread experience that the world which men agree to call that of the supernatural is just as real as--nay, perhaps, even far more real than--this world we see about us. in other words, i, like many of my countrymen, am cursed with the gift of second-sight--that awful faculty which foretells in vision calamities that are shortly to occur. "'such a vision i had just now, and its exceptional horror moved me as you have seen. i saw before me a corpse--not that of one who has died a peaceful natural death, but that of the victim of some terrible accident; a ghastly, shapeless mass, with a face swollen, crushed, unrecognizable. i saw this dreadful object placed in a coffin, and the funeral service performed over it. i saw the burial-ground, i saw the clergyman: and though i had never seen either before, i can picture both perfectly in my mind's eye now; i saw you, myself, beauchamp, all of us and many more, standing round as mourners; i saw the soldiers raise their muskets after the service was over; i heard the volley they fired--and then i knew no more.' "as he spoke of that volley of musketry i glanced across with a shudder at beauchamp, and the look of stony horror on that handsome sceptic's face was not to be forgotten." this is only one incident (and by no means the principal one) in a very remarkable story of psychic experience, but as for the moment we are concerned merely with the example of second-sight which it gives us, i need only say that later in the day the party of young soldiers discovered the body of their commanding officer in the terrible condition so graphically described by mr. cameron. the narrative continues: "when, on the following evening, we arrived at our destination, and our melancholy deposition had been taken down by the proper authorities, cameron and i went out for a quiet walk, to endeavour with the assistance of the soothing influence of nature to shake off something of the gloom which paralyzed our spirits. suddenly he clutched my arm, and, pointing through some rude railings, said in a trembling voice, 'yes, there it is! that is the burial-ground i saw yesterday.' and when later on we were introduced to the chaplain of the post, i noticed, though my friends did not, the irrepressible shudder with which cameron took his hand, and i knew that he had recognized the clergyman of his vision." as for the occult rationale of all this, i presume mr. cameron's vision was a pure case of second-sight, and if so the fact that the two men who were evidently nearest to him (certainly one--probably both--actually touching him) participated in it to the limited extent of hearing the concluding volley, while the others who were not so close did not, would show that the intensity with which the vision impressed itself upon the seer occasioned vibrations in his mind-body which were communicated to those of the persons in contact with him, as in ordinary thought-transference. anyone who wishes to read the rest of the story will find it in the pages of _lucifer_, vol. xx., p. . scores of examples of similar nature to these might easily be collected. with regard to the symbolical variety of this sight, it is commonly stated among those who possess it that if on meeting a living person they see a phantom shroud wrapped around him, it is a sure prognostication of his death. the date of the approaching decease is indicated either by the extent to which the shroud covers the body, or by the time of day at which the vision is seen; for if it be in the early morning they say that the man will die during the same day, but if it be in the evening, then it will be only some time within a year. another variant (and a remarkable one) of the symbolic form of second-sight is that in which the headless apparition of the person whose death is foretold manifests itself to the seer. an example of that class is given in _signs before death_ as having happened in the family of dr. ferrier, though in that case, if i recollect rightly, the vision did not occur until the time of the death, or very near it. turning from seers who are regularly in possession of a certain faculty, although its manifestations are only occasionally fully under their control, we are confronted by a large number of isolated instances of prevision in the case of people with whom it is not in any way a regular faculty. perhaps the majority of these occur in dreams, although examples of the waking vision are by no means wanting. sometimes the prevision refers to an event of distinct importance to the seer, and so justifies the action of the ego in taking the trouble to impress it. in other cases, the event is one which is of no apparent importance, or is not in any way connected with the man to whom the vision comes. sometimes it is clear that the intention of the ego (or the communicating entity, whatever it may be) is to warn the lower self of the approach of some calamity, either in order that it may be prevented or, if that be not possible, that the shock may be minimized by preparation. the event most frequently thus foreshadowed is, perhaps not unnaturally, death--sometimes the death of the seer himself, sometimes that of one dear to him. this type of prevision is so common in the literature of the subject, and its object is so obvious, that we need hardly cite examples of it; but one or two instances in which the prophetic sight, though clearly useful, was yet of a less sombre character, will prove not uninteresting to the reader. the following is culled from that storehouse of the student of the uncanny, mrs. crowe's _night side of nature_, p. . "a few years ago dr. watson, now residing at glasgow, dreamt that he received a summons to attend a patient at a place some miles from where he was living; that he started on horseback, and that as he was crossing a moor he saw a bull making furiously at him, whose horns he only escaped by taking refuge on a spot inaccessible to the animal, where he waited a long time till some people, observing his situation, came to his assistance and released him. "whilst at breakfast on the following morning the summons came, and smiling at the odd coincidence (as he thought it), he started on horseback. he was quite ignorant of the road he had to go, but by and by he arrived at the moor, which he recognised, and presently the bull appeared, coming full tilt towards him. but his dream had shown him the place of refuge, for which he instantly made, and there he spent three or four hours, besieged by the animal, till the country people set him free. dr. watson declares that but for the dream he should not have known in what direction to run for safety." another case, in which a much longer interval separated the warning and its fulfilment, is given by dr. f. g. lee, in _glimpses of the supernatural_, vol. i., p. . "mrs. hannah green, the housekeeper of a country family in oxfordshire, dreamt one night that she had been left alone in the house upon a sunday evening, and that hearing a knock at the door of the chief entrance she went to it and there found an ill-looking tramp armed with a bludgeon, who insisted on forcing himself into the house. she thought that she struggled for some time to prevent him so doing, but quite ineffectually, and that, being struck down by him and rendered insensible, he thereupon gained ingress to the mansion. on this she awoke. "as nothing happened for a considerable period the circumstance of the dream was soon forgotten, and, as she herself asserts, had altogether passed away from her mind. however, seven years afterwards this same housekeeper was left with two other servants to take charge of an isolated mansion at kensington (subsequently the town residence of the family), when on a certain sunday evening, her fellow-servants having gone out and left her alone, she was suddenly startled by a loud knock at the front door. "all of a sudden the remembrance of her former dream returned to her with singular vividness and remarkable force, and she felt her lonely isolation greatly. accordingly, having at once lighted a lamp on the hall table--during which act the loud knock was repeated with vigour--she took the precaution to go up to a landing on the stair and throw up the window; and there to her intense terror she saw in the flesh the very man whom years previously she had seen in her dream, armed with the bludgeon and demanding an entrance. "with great presence of mind she went down to the chief entrance, made that and other doors and windows more secure, and then rang the various bells of the house violently, and placed lights in the upper rooms. it was concluded that by these acts the intruder was scared away." evidently in this case also the dream was of practical use, as without it the worthy housekeeper would without doubt from sheer force of habit have opened the door in the ordinary way in answer to the knock. it is not, however, only in dream that the ego impresses his lower self with what he thinks it well for it to know. many instances showing this might be taken from the books, but instead of quoting from them i will give a case related only a few weeks ago by a lady of my acquaintance--a case which, although not surrounded with any romantic incident, has at least the merit of being new. my friend, then, has two quite young children, and a little while ago the elder of them caught (as was supposed) a bad cold, and suffered for some days from a complete stoppage in the upper part of the nose. the mother thought little of this, expecting it to pass off, until one day she suddenly saw before her in the air what she describes as a picture of a room, in the centre of which was a table on which her child was lying insensible or dead, with some people bending over her. the minutest details of the scene were clear to her, and she particularly noticed that the child wore a white night-dress, whereas she knew that all garments of that description possessed by her little daughter happened to be pink. this vision impressed her considerably, and suggested to her for the first time that the child might be suffering from something more serious than a cold, so she carried her off to a hospital for examination. the surgeon who attended to her discovered the presence of a dangerous growth in the nose, which he pronounced must be removed. a few days later the child was taken to the hospital for the operation, and was put to bed. when the mother arrived at the hospital she found she had forgotten to bring one of the child's night-dresses, and so the nurses had to supply one, which was _white_. in this white dress the operation was performed on the girl the next day, in the room that her mother saw in her vision, every circumstance being exactly reproduced. in all these cases the prevision achieved its result, but the books are full of stories of warnings neglected or scouted, and of the disaster that consequently followed. in some cases the information is given to someone who has practically no power to interfere in the matter, as in the historic instance when john williams, a cornish mine-manager, foresaw in the minutest detail, eight or nine days before it took place, the assassination of mr. spencer perceval, the then chancellor of the exchequer, in the lobby of the house of commons. even in this case, however, it is just possible that something might have been done, for we read that mr. williams was so much impressed that he consulted his friends as to whether he ought not to go up to london to warn mr. perceval. unfortunately they dissuaded him, and the assassination took place. it does not seem very probable that, even if he had gone up to town and related his story, much attention would have been paid to him, still there is just the possibility that some precautions might have been taken which would have prevented the murder. there is little to show us what particular action on higher planes led to this curious prophetic vision. the parties were entirely unknown to one another, so that it was not caused by any close sympathy between them. if it was an attempt made by some helper to avert the threatened doom, it seems strange that no one who was sufficiently impressible could be found nearer than cornwall. perhaps mr. williams, when on the astral plane during sleep, somehow came across this reflection of the future, and being naturally horrified thereby, passed it on to his lower mind in the hope that somehow something might be done to prevent it; but it is impossible to diagnose the case with certainty without examining the âkâshic records to see what actually took place. a typical instance of the absolutely purposeless foresight is that related by mr. stead, in his _real ghost stories_ (p. ), of his friend miss freer, commonly known as miss x. when staying at a country house this lady, being wide awake and fully conscious, once saw a dogcart drawn by a white horse standing at the hall door, with two strangers in it, one of whom got out of the cart and stood playing with a terrier. she noticed that he was wearing an ulster, and also particularly observed the fresh wheel-marks made by the cart on the gravel. nevertheless there was no cart there at the time; but half an hour later two strangers _did_ drive up in such an equipage, and every detail of the lady's vision was accurately fulfilled. mr. stead goes on to cite another instance of equally purposeless prevision where seven years separated the dream (for in this case it was a dream) and its fulfilment. all these instances (and they are merely random selections from many hundreds) show that a certain amount of prevision is undoubtedly possible to the ego, and such cases would evidently be much more frequent if it were not for the exceeding density and lack of response in the lower vehicles of the majority of what we call civilized mankind--qualities chiefly attributable to the gross practical materialism of the present age. i am not thinking of any profession of materialistic belief as common, but of the fact that in all practical affairs of daily life nearly everyone is guided solely by considerations of worldly interest in some shape or other. in many cases the ego himself may be an undeveloped one, and his prevision consequently very vague; in others he himself may see clearly, but may find his lower vehicles so unimpressible that all he can succeed in getting through into his physical brain may be an indefinite presage of coming disaster. again, there are cases in which a premonition is not the work of the ego at all, but of some outside entity, who for some reason takes a friendly interest in the person to whom the feeling comes. in the work which i quoted above, mr. stead tells us of the certainty which he felt many months beforehand that be would be left in charge of the _pall mall gazette_ though from an ordinary point of view nothing seemed less probable. whether that fore-knowledge was the result of an impression made by his own ego or of a friendly hint from someone else it is impossible to say without definite investigation, but his confidence in it was fully justified. there is one more variety of clairvoyance in time which ought not to be left without mention. it is a comparatively rare one, but there are enough examples on record to claim our attention, though unfortunately the particulars given do not usually include those which we should require in order to be able to diagnose it with certainty. i refer to the cases in which spectral armies or phantom flocks of animals have been seen. in _the night side of nature_ (p. _et seq._) we have accounts of several such visions. we are there told how at havarah park, near ripley, a body of soldiers in white uniform, amounting to several hundreds, was seen by reputable people to go through various evolutions and then vanish; and how some years earlier a similar visionary army was seen in the neighbourhood of inverness by a respectable farmer and his son. in this case also the number of troops was very great, and the spectators had not the slightest doubt at first that they were substantial forms of flesh and blood. they counted at least sixteen pairs of columns, and had abundance of time to observe every particular. the front ranks marched seven abreast, and were accompanied by a good many women and children, who were carrying tin cans and other implements of cookery. the men were clothed in red, and their arms shone brightly in the sun. in the midst of them was an animal, a deer or a horse, they could not distinguish which, that they were driving furiously forward with their bayonets. the younger of the two men observed to the other that every now and then the rear ranks were obliged to run to overtake the van; and the elder one, who had been a soldier, remarked that that was always the case, and recommended him if he ever served to try to march in the front. there was only one mounted officer; he rode a grey dragoon horse, and wore a gold-laced hat and blue hussar cloak, with wide open sleeves lined with red. the two spectators observed him so particularly that they said afterwards they should recognize him anywhere. they were, however, afraid of being ill-treated or forced to go along with the troops, whom they concluded to have come from ireland, and landed at kyntyre; and whilst they were climbing over a dyke to get out of their way, the whole thing vanished. a phenomenon of the same sort was observed in the earlier part of this century at paderborn in westphalia, and seen by at least thirty people; but as, some years later, a review of twenty thousand men was held on the very same spot, it was concluded that the vision must have been some sort of second-sight--a faculty not uncommon in the district. such spectral hosts, however, are sometimes seen where an army of ordinary men could by no possibility have marched, either before or after. one of the most remarkable accounts of such apparitions is given by miss harriet martineau, in her description of _the english lakes_. she writes as follows:-- "this souter or soutra fell is the mountain on which ghosts appeared in myriads, at intervals during ten years of the last century, presenting the same appearances to twenty-six chosen witnesses, and to all the inhabitants of all the cottages within view of the mountain, and for a space of two hours and a half at one time--the spectral show being closed by darkness! the mountain, be it remembered, is full of precipices, which defy all marching of bodies of men; and the north and west sides present a sheer perpendicular of feet. "on midsummer eve, , a farm servant of mr. lancaster, half a mile from the mountain, saw the eastern side of its summit covered with troops, which pursued their onward march for an hour. they came, in distinct bodies, from an eminence on the north end, and disappeared in a niche in the summit. when the poor fellow told his tale, he was insulted on all hands, as original observers usually are when they see anything wonderful. two years after, also on a midsummer eve, mr. lancaster saw some men there, apparently following their horses, as if they had returned from hunting. he thought nothing of this; but he happened to look up again ten minutes after, and saw the figures, now mounted, and followed by an interminable array of troops, five abreast, marching from the eminence and over the cleft as before. all the family saw this, and the manoeuvres of the force, as each company was kept in order by a mounted officer, who galloped this way and that. as the shades of twilight came on, the discipline appeared to relax, and the troops intermingled, and rode at unequal paces, till all was lost in darkness. now of course all the lancasters were insulted, as their servant had been; but their justification was not long delayed. "on the midsummer eve of the fearful , twenty-six persons, expressly summoned by the family, saw all that had been seen before, and more. carriages were now interspersed with the troops; and everybody knew that no carriages had been, or could be, on the summit of souter fell. the multitude was beyond imagination; for the troops filled a space of half a mile, and marched quickly till night hid them--still marching. there was nothing vaporous or indistinct about the appearance of these spectres. so real did they seem, that some of the people went up, the next morning, to look for the hoof-marks of the horses; and awful it was to them to find not one foot-print on heather or grass. the witnesses attested the whole story on oath before a magistrate; and fearful were the expectations held by the whole country-side about the coming events of the scotch rebellion. "it now comes out that two other persons had seen something of the sort in the interval--_viz._, in --but had concealed it, to escape the insults to which their neighbours were subjected. mr. wren, of wilton hall, and his farm servant, saw, one summer evening, a man and a dog on the mountain, pursuing some horses along a place so steep that a horse could hardly by any possibility keep a footing on it. their speed was prodigious, and their disappearance at the south end of the fell so rapid, that mr. wren and the servant went up, the next morning, to find the body of the man who must have been killed. of man, horse, or dog, they found not a trace and they came down and held their tongues. when they did speak, they fared not much better for having twenty-six sworn comrades in their disgrace. "as for the explanation, the editor of the _lonsdale magazine_ declared (vol. ii., p. ) that it was discovered that on the midsummer eve of the rebels were 'exercising on the western coast of scotland, whose movements had been reflected by some transparent vapour, similar to the fata morgana.' this is not much in the way of explanation; but it is, as far as we know, all that can be had at present. these facts, however, brought out a good many more; as the spectral march of the same kind seen in leicestershire in , and the tradition of the tramp of armies over helvellyn, on the eve of the battle of marston moor." other cases are cited in which flocks of spectral sheep have been seen on certain roads, and there are of course various german stories of phantom cavalcades of hunters and robbers. now in these cases, as so often happens in the investigation of occult phenomena, there are several possible causes, any one of which would be quite adequate to the production of the observed occurrences, but in the absence of fuller information it is hardly feasible to do more than guess as to which of these possible causes were in operation in any particular instance. the explanation usually suggested (whenever the whole story is not ridiculed as a falsehood) is that what is seen is a reflection by mirage of the movements of a real body of troops, taking place at a considerable distance. i have myself seen the ordinary mirage on several occasions, and know something therefore of its wonderful powers of deception; but it seems to me that we should need some entirely new variety of mirage, quite different from that at present known to science, to account for these tales of phantom armies, some of which pass the spectator within a few yards. first of all, they may be, as apparently in the westphalian case above mentioned, simply instances of prevision on a gigantic scale--by whom arranged, and for what purpose, it is not easy to divine. again, they may often belong to the past instead of the future, and be in fact the reflection of scenes from the âkâshic records--though here again the reason and method of such reflection is not obvious. there are plenty of tribes of nature-spirits perfectly capable, if for any reason they wished to do so, of producing such appearances by their wonderful power of glamour (see _theosophical manual, no. v._, p. ), and such action would be quite in keeping with their delight in mystifying and impressing human beings. or it may even sometimes be kindly intended by them as a warning to their friends of events that they know to be about to take place. it seems as though some explanation along these lines would be the most reasonable method of accounting for the extraordinary series of phenomena described by miss martineau--that is, if the stories told to her can be relied upon. another possibility is that in some cases what have been taken for soldiers were simply the nature-spirits themselves going through some of the ordered evolutions in which they take so much delight, though it must be admitted that these are rarely of a character which could be mistaken for military manoeuvres except by the most ignorant. the flocks of animals are probably in most instances mere records, but there are cases where they, like the "wild huntsmen" of german story, belong to an entirely different class of phenomena, which is altogether outside of our present subject. students of the occult will be familiar with the fact that the circumstances surrounding any scene of intense terror or passion, such as an exceptionally horrible murder, are liable to be occasionally reproduced in a form which it needs a very slight development of psychic faculty to be able to see and it has sometimes happened that various animals formed part of such surroundings, and consequently they also are periodically reproduced by the action of the guilty conscience of the murderer (see _manual v._, p. ). probably whatever foundation of fact underlies the various stories of spectral horsemen and hunting-troops may generally be referred to this category. this is also the explanation, evidently, of some of the visions of ghostly armies, such as that remarkable re-enactment of the battle of edgehill which seems to have taken place at intervals for some months after the date of the real struggle, as testified by a justice of the peace, a clergyman, and other eye-witnesses, in a curious contemporary pamphlet entitled _prodigious noises of war and battle, at edgehill, near keinton, in northamptonshire_. according to the pamphlet this case was investigated at the time by some officers of the army, who clearly recognized many of the phantom figures that they saw. this looks decidedly like an instance of the terrible power of man's unrestrained passions to reproduce themselves, and to cause in some strange way a kind of materialization of their record. in some cases it is clear that the flocks of animals seen have been simply hordes of unclean artificial elementals taking that form in order to feed upon the loathsome emanations of peculiarly horrible places, such as would be the site of a gallows. an instance of this kind is furnished by the celebrated "gyb ghosts," or ghosts of the gibbet, described in _more glimpses of the world unseen_, p. , as being repeatedly seen in the form of herds of mis-shapen swine-like creatures, rushing, rooting and fighting night after night on the site of that foul monument of crime. but these belong to the subject of apparitions rather than to that of clairvoyance. chapter ix. methods of development. when a man becomes convinced of the reality of the valuable power of clairvoyance, his first question usually is, "how can i develop in my own case this faculty which is said to be latent in everyone?" now the fact is that there are many methods by which it may be developed, but only one which can be at all safely recommended for general use--that of which we shall speak last of all. among the less advanced nations of the world the clairvoyant state has been produced in various objectionable ways; among some of the non-aryan tribes of india, by the use of intoxicating drugs or the inhaling of stupefying fumes; among the dervishes, by whirling in a mad dance of religious fervour until vertigo and insensibility supervene; among the followers of the abominable practices of the voodoo cult, by frightful sacrifices and loathsome rites of black magic. methods such as these are happily not in vogue in our own race, yet even among us large numbers of dabblers in this ancient art adopt some plan of self-hypnotization, such as the gazing at a bright spot or the repetition of some formula until a condition of semi-stupefaction is produced; while yet another school among them would endeavour to arrive at similar results by the use of some of the indian systems of regulation of the breath. all these methods are unequivocally to be condemned as quite unsafe for the practice of the ordinary man who has no idea of what he is doing--who is simply making vague experiments in an unknown world. even the method of obtaining clairvoyance by allowing oneself to be mesmerized by another person is one from which i should myself shrink with the most decided distaste; and assuredly it should never be attempted except under conditions of absolute trust and affection between the magnetizer and the magnetized, and a perfection of purity in heart and soul, in mind and intention, such as is rarely to be seen among any but the greatest of saints. experiments in connection with the mesmeric trance are of the deepest interest, as offering (among other things) a possibility of proof of the fact of clairvoyance to the sceptic, yet except under such conditions as i have just mentioned--conditions, i quite admit, almost impossible to realize--i should never counsel anyone to submit himself as a subject for them. curative mesmerism (in which, without putting the patient into the trance state at all, an effort is made to relieve his pain, to remove his disease, or to pour vitality into him by magnetic passes) stands on an entirely different footing; and if the mesmerizer, even though quite untrained, is himself in good health and animated by pure intentions, no harm is likely to be done to the subject. in so extreme a case as that of a surgical operation, a man might reasonably submit himself even to the mesmeric trance, but it is certainly not a condition with which one ought lightly to experiment. indeed, i should most strongly advise any one who did me the honour to ask for my opinion on the subject, not to attempt any kind of experimental investigation into what are still to him the abnormal forces of nature, until he has first of all read carefully everything that has been written on the subject, or--which is by far the best of all--until he is under the guidance of a qualified teacher. but where, it will be said, is the qualified teacher to be found? not, most assuredly, among any who advertise themselves as teachers, who offer to impart for so many guineas or dollars the sacred mysteries of the ages, or hold "developing circles" to which casual applicants are admitted at so much per head. much has been said in this treatise of the necessity for careful training--of the immense advantages of the trained over the untrained clairvoyant; but that again brings us back to the same question--where is this definite training to be had? the answer is, that the training may be had precisely where it has always been to be found since the world's history began--at the hands of the great white brotherhood of adepts, which stands now, as it has always stood, at the back of human evolution, guiding and helping it under the sway of the great cosmic laws which represent to us the will of the eternal. but how, it may be asked, is access to be gained to them? how is the aspirant thirsting for knowledge to signify to them his wish for instruction? once more, by the time-honoured methods only. there is no new patent whereby a man can qualify himself without trouble to become a pupil in that school--no royal road to the learning which has to be acquired in it. at the present day, just as in the mists of antiquity, the man who wishes to attract their notice must enter upon the slow and toilsome path of self-development--must learn first of all to take himself in hand and make himself all that he ought to be. the steps of that path are no secret; i have given them in full detail in _invisible helpers_, so i need not repeat them here. but it is no easy road to follow, and yet sooner or later all must follow it, for the great law of evolution sweeps mankind slowly but resistlessly towards its goal. from those who are pressing into this path the great masters select their pupils, and it is only by qualifying himself to be taught that a man can put himself in the way of getting the teaching. without that qualification, membership in any lodge or society, whether secret or otherwise, will not advance his object in the slightest degree. it is true, as we all know, that it was at the instance of some of these masters that our theosophical society was founded, and that from its ranks some have been chosen to pass into closer relations with them. but that choice depends upon the earnestness of the candidate, not upon his mere membership of the society or of any body within it. that, then, is the only absolutely safe way of developing clairvoyance--to enter with all one's energy upon the path of moral and mental evolution, at one stage of which this and other of the higher faculties will spontaneously begin to show themselves. yet there is one practice which is advised by all the religions alike--which if adopted carefully and reverently can do no harm to any human being, yet from which a very pure type of clairvoyance has sometimes been developed; and that is the practice of meditation. let a man choose a certain time every day--a time when he can rely upon being quiet and undisturbed, though preferably in the daytime rather than at night--and set himself at that time to keep his mind for a few minutes entirely free from all earthly thoughts of any kind whatever and, when that is achieved, to direct the whole force of his being towards the highest spiritual ideal that he happens to know. he will find that to gain such perfect control of thought is enormously more difficult than he supposes, but when he attains it it cannot but be in every way most beneficial to him, and as he grows more and more able to elevate and concentrate his thought, he may gradually find that new worlds are opening before his sight. as a preliminary training towards the satisfactory achievement of such meditation, he will find it desirable to make a practice of concentration in the affairs of daily life--even in the smallest of them. if he writes a letter, let him think of nothing else but that letter until it is finished if he reads a book, let him see to it that his thought is never allowed to wander from his author's meaning. he must learn to hold his mind in check, and to be master of that also, as well as of his lower passions he must patiently labour to acquire absolute control of his thoughts, so that he will always know exactly what he is thinking about, and why--so that he can use his mind, and turn it or hold it still, as a practised swordsman turns his weapon where he will. yet after all, if those who so earnestly desire clairvoyance could possess it temporarily for a day or even an hour, it is far from certain that they would choose to retain the gift. true, it opens before them new worlds of study, new powers of usefulness, and for this latter reason most of us feel it worth while; but it should be remembered that for one whose duty still calls him to live in the world it is by no means an unmixed blessing. upon one in whom that vision is opened the sorrow and the misery, the evil and the greed of the world press as an ever-present burden, until in the earlier days of his knowledge he often feels inclined to echo the passionate adjuration contained in those rolling lines of schiller's: dien orakel zu verkünden, warum warfest du mich hin in die stadt der ewig blinden, mit dem aufgeschloss'nen sinn? frommt's, den schleier aufzuheben, wo das nahe schreckniss droht? nur der irrthum ist das leben; dieses wissen ist der tod. nimm, o nimm die traur'ge klarheit mir vom aug' den blut'gen schein! schrecklich ist es deiner wahrheit sterbliches gefäss zu seyn! which may perhaps be translated "why hast thou cast me thus into the town of the ever-blind, to proclaim thine oracle by the opened sense? what profits it to lift the veil where the near darkness threatens? only ignorance is life; this knowledge is death. take back this sad clear-sightedness; take from mine eyes this cruel light! it is horrible to be the mortal channel of thy truth." and again later he cries, "give me back my blindness, the happy darkness of my senses; take back thy dreadful gift!" but this of course is a feeling which passes, for the higher sight soon shows the pupil something beyond the sorrow--soon bears in upon his soul the overwhelming certainty that, whatever appearances down here may seem to indicate, all things are without shadow of doubt working together for the eventual good of all. he reflects that the sin and the suffering are there, whether he is able to perceive them or not, and that when he can see them he is after all better able to give efficient help than he would be if he were working in the dark; and so by degrees he learns to bear his share of the heavy karma of the world. some misguided mortals there are who, having the good fortune to possess some slight touch of this higher power, are nevertheless so absolutely destitute of all right feeling in connection with it as to use it for the most sordid ends--actually even to advertise themselves as "test and business clairvoyants!" needless to say, such use of the faculty is a mere prostitution and degradation of it, showing that its unfortunate possessor has somehow got hold of it before the moral side of his nature has been sufficiently developed to stand the strain which it imposes. a perception of the amount of evil karma that may be generated by such action in a very short time changes one's disgust into pity for the unhappy perpetrator of that sacrilegious folly. it is sometimes objected that the possession of clairvoyance destroys all privacy, and confers a limit-less ability to explore the secrets of others. no doubt it does confer such an _ability_, but nevertheless the suggestion is an amusing one to anyone who knows anything practically about the matter. such an objection may possibly be well-founded as regards the very limited powers of the "test and business clairvoyant," but the man who brings it forward against those who have had the faculty opened for them in the course of their instruction, and consequently possess it fully, is forgetting three fundamental facts: first, that it is quite inconceivable that anyone, having before him the splendid fields for investigation which true clairvoyance opens up, could ever have the slightest wish to pry into the trumpery little secrets of any individual man; secondly, that even if by some impossible chance our clairvoyant _had_ such indecent curiosity about matters of petty gossip, there is, after all, such a thing as the honour of a gentleman, which, on that plane as on this, would of course prevent him from contemplating for an instant the idea of gratifying it; and thirdly, in case, by any unheard-of possibility, one might encounter some variety of low-class pitri with whom the above considerations would have no weight, full instructions are always given to every pupil, as soon as he develops any sign of faculty, as to the limitations which are placed upon its use. put briefly, these restrictions are that there shall be no prying, no selfish use of the power, and no displaying of phenomena. that is to say, that the same considerations which would govern the actions of a man of right feeling upon the physical plane are expected to apply upon the astral and mental planes also; that the pupil is never under any circumstances to use the power which his additional knowledge gives to him in order to promote his own worldly advantage, or indeed in connection with gain in any way; and that he is never to give what is called in spiritualistic circles "a test"--that is, to do anything which will incontestably prove to sceptics on the physical plane that he possesses what to them would appear to be an abnormal power. with regard to this latter proviso people often say, "but why should he not? it would be so easy to confute and convince your sceptic, and it would do him good!" such critics lose sight of the fact that, in the first place, none of those who know anything _want_ to confute or convince sceptics, or trouble themselves in the slightest degree about the sceptic's attitude one way or the other; and in the second, they fail to understand how much better it is for that sceptic that he should gradually grow into an intellectual appreciation of the facts of nature, instead of being suddenly introduced to them by a knock-down blow, as it were. but the subject was fully considered many years ago in mr. sinnet's _occult world_, and it is needless to repeat again the arguments there adduced. it is very hard for some of our friends to realize that the silly gossip and idle curiosity which so entirely fill the lives of the brainless majority on earth can have no place in the more real life of the disciple; and so they sometimes enquire whether, even without any special wish to see, a clairvoyant might not casually observe some secret which another person was trying to keep, in the same way as one's glance might casually fall upon a sentence in someone else's letter which happened to be lying open upon the table. of course he might, but what if he did? the man of honour would at once avert his eyes, in one case as in the other, and it would be as though he had not seen. if objectors could but grasp the idea that no pupil _cares_ about other people's business, except when it comes within his province to try to help them, and that he has always a world of work of his own to attend to, they would not be so hopelessly far from understanding the facts of the wider life of the trained clairvoyant. even from the little that i have said with regard to the restrictions laid upon the pupil, it will be obvious that in very many cases he will know much more than he is at liberty to say. that is of course true in a far wider sense of the great masters of wisdom themselves, and that is why those who have the privilege of occasionally entering their presence pay so much respect to their lightest word even on subjects quite apart from the direct teaching. for the opinion of a master, or even of one of his higher pupils, upon any subject is that of a man whose opportunity of judging accurately is out of all proportion to ours. his position and his extended faculties are in reality the heritage of all mankind, and, far though we may now be from those grand powers, they will none the less certainly be ours one day. yet how different a place will this old world be when humanity as a whole possesses the higher clairvoyance! think what the difference will be to history when all can read the records; to science, when all the processes about which now men theorize can be watched through all their course; to medicine, when doctor and patient alike can see clearly and exactly all that is being done; to philosophy, when there is no longer any possibility of discussion as to its basis, because all alike can see a wider aspect of the truth; to labour, when all work will be joy, because every man will be put only to that which he can do best; to education, when the minds and hearts of the children are open to the teacher who is trying to form their character; to religion, when there is no longer any possibility of dispute as to its broad dogmas, since the truth about the states after death, and the great law that governs the world, will be patent to all eyes. above all, how far easier it will be then for the evolved men to help one another under those so much freer conditions! the possibilities that open before the mind are as glorious vistas stretching in all directions, so that our seventh round should indeed be a veritable golden age. well for us that these grand faculties will not be possessed by all humanity until it has evolved to a far higher level in morality as well as in wisdom, else should we but repeat once more under still worse conditions the terrible downfall of the great atlantean civilization, whose members failed to realize that increased power meant increased responsibility. yet we ourselves were most of us among those very men let us hope that we have learnt wisdom by that failure, and that when the possibilities of the wider life open before us once more, this time we shall bear the trial better. index page advantages of astral vision, , , mental vision, training, , , , , , Âkâshic records, , _et seq._, apparitions, armies, phantom, assassination of mr. perceval, aspect of the records, astral body, counterpart current, _et seq._, , matter, polarization of, senses, sight, _et seq._, _et seq._, telescope, , , world, , aura, the, _et seq._, balance, bat's cry, experiment with, battle of edgehill, body, the astral, the causal, brownies, buddhic faculty, , , , bull and the doctor, the story of, causal body, centres of vitality, , cerebro-spinal system, ceremonies used to gain clairvoyance, , certainty of eventual good, character, judgment of, chakrams, - chord of a man, the, clairaudience, , _et seq._ clairvoyance by drugs or ceremonies, _et seq._, casual, does it destroy privacy?, clairvoyance during sleep, how first manifested, hysterical, limitations of, , , meaning of word, occasional flashes of, of the uncultured, on mental plane, on trivial subjects, , , partial and temporary, restrictions upon, , sadness of, under mesmerism, , , clairvoyants, "test and business", , classification of phenomena, colours, new, common-sense in occultism, necessity of, consciousness, continuous, the focus of, considerations, preliminary, contemplation, continuous consciousness, control of thought, counterpart, astral, crystal-gazing, , _et seq._, curative mesmerism, curiosity not permitted, current, astral, _et seq._, , dangers, date, how to find a, _et seq._ dead, the, , death, visits at, _et seq._ delirium tremens, dervishes, the, devas, the, development, methods of, the path of, regular, difference between etheric and astral sight, difficulties, _et seq._ dimension, the fourth, _et seq._, , , distance, sight at a, , double, the etheric, drugs used to gain clairvoyance, , duke of orleans, the story of the, _earth, the stars and the_, edgehill, battle of, elementals, , , equation, the personal, _et seq._ eternal now, the, , etheric double, the, vision, _et seq._ experiments in crystal-gazing, , _et seq._ with bat's cry, with spectrum, extension of senses, faculties, latent, buddhic, , , , fairy ointment, finding a stranger, first manifestations of clairvoyance, _et seq._ flocks, phantom, , , focus of consciousness, the, fourth dimension, the, _et seq._, , , freewill limited, _et seq._ future prospects, ghosts of the gibbet, glamour, goffe, the story of mary, helpers, invisible, , , , historical study, possibilities of, _et seq._ hinton's works, housekeeper's dream, the story of the, _et seq._ how a picture is found, _et seq._ to find a date, _et seq._ to investigate, huntsman, the wild, hypnotization, self, hysterical clairvoyance, incarnations, past, , _et seq._ investigate, how to, invisible helpers, , , , judgment of character, jung stilling's story, _et seq._ knowledge, the value of, latent faculties, limitations of clairvoyance, the, , , limited freewill, _et seq._ links needed, lodge, address by dr. oliver, logos of the system, the, _et seq._ magic, magnifying, the power of, - manifestations of clairvoyance, the first, masters of wisdom, the, , , materialization, mâyâvirûpa, the, meaning of word clairvoyance, meditation, mediums, trance, mental plane clairvoyance, plane sense, world, , , mesmerism, clairvoyance under, , , curative, methods of development, micawbers, psychic, mooltan, story of the siege of, murder, reproduction of, nature spirits, , , , necessity of common-sense in occultism, new colours, now, the eternal, , occasional clairvoyance, ointment, fairy and witch, orleans, the story of the duke of, other planets, partial and temporary clairvoyance, past incarnations, , _et seq._ path of development, the, perceval, assassination of mr., personal equation, the, _et seq._ phantom flocks, , , phenomena, classification of, séance room, , philadelphian seer, the story of a, _et seq._ physical objects, the transparency of, pictures before going to sleep, planets, other, polarization of astral matter, poseidonis, the sinking of, possibilities of historical study, _et seq._ power of magnifying, the, , power of response to vibrations, , preliminary considerations, premonition, mr. stead's, prevision, , prospects for the future, psychic micawbers, psychometry, , qualifications of the student, qualified teachers, radiations, records, âkâshic, , _et seq._, aspect of the, regular development, reproduction of a murder, restrictions upon clairvoyance, , röntgen rays, the, sadness of clairvoyance, the, schiller's lines, séance-room phenomena, , second-sight, _et seq._ the symbolism of, seer, a philadelphian, _et seq._ self-hypnotization, sense, extension of, senses, astral, sight, astral, _et seq._, _et seq._, at a distance, , spiritual, sleep, clairvoyance during, society, the theosophical, solar system, the, spectral armies, spectrum, experiment with the, spiritualistic phenomena, , _stars and the earth, the_, stories of crystal-gazing, _et seq._ second sight, , _et seq._ story by jung stilling, mr. stead's, of captain yonnt, mary goffe, miss x.'s dogcart, mr. stead's premonition, story of souter fell, - the bull and the doctor, the duke of orleans, the housekeeper's dream, _et seq._ story of the siege of mooltan, the white night-dress, zschokke, _et seq._ stranger, finding a, sympathetic system, the, _et seq._ system, the logos of the, _et seq._ teachers, qualified, telescope, the astral, , , temporary and partial clairvoyance, tests not given, theosophical society, the, terms, thought-control, thought-forms, , throughth, time only relative, training, the advantages of, where to be had, trance mediums, transparency of physical objects, trivial subjects, clairvoyance on, , , uncultured, clairvoyance in the, value of knowledge, the, variable capacity of response, _et seq._ vibrations, power of response to, vision, astral, _et seq._, _et seq._, etheric, _et seq._ visions, casual, visits at death, _et seq._ voodoo or obeah, white night-dress, the story of the, wild huntsman, the, wisdom, the masters of, , , world, the astral, , mental, , , x.'s story, miss, x rays, yonnt's story, captain, zschokke's story, _et seq._ printed by neill and co., ltd., edinburgh. * * * * * theosophical society. satyÂnnÂsti paro dharmah [illustration] there is no religion higher than truth. _objects._ to form a nucleus of the universal brotherhood of humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or colour. to encourage the study of comparative religion, philosophy and science. to investigate unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in man. * * * * * any person desiring information as to the theosophical society is invited to communicate with any one of the following general secretaries: america: alexander fullerton; new york, fifth avenue. britain: bertram keightley, m.a. (_pro tem._); london, albemarle street, w. india: upendra nath basu, b.a., ll.b.; benares, n.w.p. scandinavia: arvid knös; sweden, engelbrechtsgatan , stockholm. australia: h. a. wilson; sydney, n.s.w., margaret street. new zealand: c. w. sanders; auckland, mutual life buildings, lower queen street. holland: w. b. fricke, amsterdam, amsteldijk. france: dr. th. pascal paris; avenue de la bourdonnais. italy: rome, società teosofica, via di pietra. germany: dr. rudolph steiner (_pro tem._); kaiserallee, friedenau, berlin. * * * * * the theosophical society is composed of students, belonging to any religion in the world or to none, who are united by their approval of the above objects, by their wish to remove religious antagonisms and to draw together men of good-will whatsoever their religious opinions, and by their desire to study religious truths and to share the results of their studies with others. their bond of union is not the profession of a common belief, but a common search and aspiration for truth. they hold that truth should be sought by study, by reflection, by purity of life, by devotion to high ideals, and they regard truth as a prize to be striven for, not as a dogma to be imposed by authority. they consider that belief should be the result of individual study or intuition, and not its antecedent, and should rest on knowledge, not on assertion. they extend tolerance to all, even to the intolerant, not as a privilege they bestow, but as a duty they perform, and they seek to remove ignorance, not to punish it. they see every religion as an expression of the divine wisdom, and prefer its study to its condemnation, and its practice to proselytism. peace is their watch-word, as truth is their aim. theosophy is the body of truths which forms the basis of all religions, and which cannot be claimed as the exclusive possession of any. it offers a philosophy which renders life intelligible, and which demonstrates the justice and the love which guide its evolution. it puts death in its rightful place, as a recurring incident in an endless life, opening the gateway of a fuller and more radiant existence. it restores to the world the science of the spirit, teaching man to know the spirit as himself, and the mind and body as his servants. it illuminates the scriptures and doctrines of religions by unveiling their hidden meanings, and thus justifying them at the bar of intelligence, as they are ever justified in the eyes of intuition. members of the theosophical society study these truths, and theosophists endeavour to live them. every one willing to study, to be tolerant, to aim high, and to work perseveringly, is welcomed as a member, and it rests with the member to become a true theosophist. books recommended for study. s. d. an outline of theosophy. c. w. leadbeater ancient wisdom. annie besant theosophical manuals. seven principles of man. annie besant re-incarnation. annie besant karma. annie besant death--and after? annie besant the astral plane. c. w. leadbeater the devachanic plane. c. w. leadbeater man and his bodies. annie besant the key to theosophy. h. p. blavatsky esoteric buddhism. a. p. sinnett the growth of the soul. a. p. sinnett man's place in the universe man visible and invisible (illustrated). c. w. leadbeater a student who has thoroughly mastered these may study the secret doctrine. h. p. blavatsky. three volumes and separate index, £ . man visible and invisible (illustrated). c. w. leadbeater world-religions. s. d. fragments of a faith forgotten. g. r. s. mead esoteric christianity. annie besant four great religions. annie besant orpheus. g. r. s. mead the kabalah. a. e. waite ethical. in the outer court. annie besant the path of discipleship. annie besant the voice of the silence. h. p. blavatsky light on the path. mabel collins bhagavad-gitâ. trans. annie besant studies in the bhagavad-gitâ the doctrine of the heart the upanishats. trans. by g. r. s. mead and j.c. chattopadyaya. two volumes, each three paths and dharma. annie besant theosophy of the upanishats the stanzas of dayân. h.p. blavatsky various. nature's mysteries. a. p. sinnett clairvoyance. c. w. leadbeater dreams. c. w. leadbeater the building of the kosmos. annie besant the evolution of life and form. annie besant some problems of life. annie besant thought-power, its control and culture. annie besant the science of the emotions. bhagavan das the gospel and the gospels. g. r. s. mead five years of theosophy * * * * * the theosophical review. edited by annie besant and g. r. s. mead. amongst the regular contributors are: annie besant. alex. fullerton. g. r. s. mead. bertram keightley. a. p. sinnett. c. w. leadbeater. dr. a. a. wells. michael wood. and other well-known writers on theosophy. single copies, s. s. per annum. half-yearly bound volumes, cloth, s. d. entered at stationers' hall. all rights reserved. "the theosophical review is a magazine of which any society might be proud. it is weighty, striking, suggestive, and up to date. the articles are all by recognised experts, and they all deal with some aspect of a really profound subject. it is a very remarkable shilling's worth."--_the gentleman's journal._ _all the above-named books are published at unit prices by the theosophical publishing society, langham place, london, w., from whom a full catalogue of works on theosophy and kindred subjects can be obtained, post free, on application._ * * * * * this text originates from a file whose origins we don't know, found in many places on the internet. it was re-proofed and corrected for project gutenberg against paper copies of the translations by irfan ali. y: = qur'an translation by abdullah yusuf ali p: = qur'an translation by marmaduke pickthall s: = qur'an translation by mohammad habib shakir --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-fatiha (the opening) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- . y: in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. p: in the name of allah, the beneficent, the merciful. s: in the name of allah, the beneficent, the merciful. . y: praise be to allah, the cherisher and sustainer of the worlds; p: praise be to allah, lord of the worlds, s: all praise is due to allah, the lord of the worlds. . y: most gracious, most merciful; p: the beneficent, the merciful. s: the beneficent, the merciful. . y: master of the day of judgment. p: master of the day of judgment, s: master of the day of judgment. . y: thee do we worship, and thine aid we seek. p: thee (alone) we worship; thee (alone) we ask for help. s: thee do we serve and thee do we beseech for help. . y: show us the straight way, p: show us the straight path, s: keep us on the right path. . y: the way of those on whom thou hast bestowed thy grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray. p: the path of those whom thou hast favoured; not the (path) of those who earn thine anger nor of those who go astray. s: the path of those upon whom thou hast bestowed favors. not (the path) of those upon whom thy wrath is brought down, nor of those who go astray. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-baqara (the cow) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: a.l.m. p: alif. lam. mim. s: alif lam mim. . y: this is the book; in it is guidance sure, without doubt, to those who fear allah; p: this is the scripture whereof there is no doubt, a guidance unto those who ward off (evil). s: this book, there is no doubt in it, is a guide to those who guard (against evil). . y: who believe in the unseen, are steadfast in prayer, and spend out of what we have provided for them; p: who believe in the unseen, and establish worship, and spend of that we have bestowed upon them; s: those who believe in the unseen and keep up prayer and spend out of what we have given them. . y: and who believe in the revelation sent to thee, and sent before thy time, and (in their hearts) have the assurance of the hereafter. p: and who believe in that which is revealed unto thee (muhammad) and that which was revealed before thee, and are certain of the hereafter. s: and who believe in that which has been revealed to you and that which was revealed before you and they are sure of the hereafter. . y: they are on (true) guidance, from their lord, and it is these who will prosper. p: these depend on guidance from their lord. these are the successful. s: these are on a right course from their lord and these it is that shall be successful. . y: as to those who reject faith, it is the same to them whether thou warn them or do not warn them; they will not believe. p: as for the disbelievers, whether thou warn them or thou warn them not it is all one for them; they believe not. s: surely those who disbelieve, it being alike to them whether you warn them, or do not warn them, will not believe. . y: allah hath set a seal on their hearts and on their hearing, and on their eyes is a veil; great is the penalty they (incur). p: allah hath sealed their hearing and their hearts, and on their eyes there is a covering. theirs will be an awful doom. s: allah has set a seal upon their hearts and upon their hearing and there is a covering over their eyes, and there is a great punishment for them. . y: of the people there are some who say: "we believe in allah and the last day;" but they do not (really) believe. p: and of mankind are some who say: we believe in allah and the last day, when they believe not. s: and there are some people who say: we believe in allah and the last day; and they are not at all believers. . y: fain would they deceive allah and those who believe, but they only deceive themselves, and realise (it) not! p: they think to beguile allah and those who believe, and they beguile none save themselves; but they perceive not. s: they desire to deceive allah and those who believe, and they deceive only themselves and they do not perceive. . y: in their hearts is a disease; and allah has increased their disease: and grievous is the penalty they (incur), because they are false (to themselves). p: in their hearts is a disease, and allah increaseth their disease. a painful doom is theirs because they lie. s: there is a disease in their hearts, so allah added to their disease and they shall have a painful chastisement because they lied. . y: when it is said to them: "make not mischief on the earth," they say: "why, we only want to make peace!" p: and when it is said unto them: make not mischief in the earth, they say: we are peacemakers only. s: and when it is said to them, do not make mischief in the land, they say: we are but peace-makers. . y: of a surety, they are the ones who make mischief, but they realise (it) not. p: are not they indeed the mischief-makers? but they perceive not. s: now surely they themselves are the mischief makers, but they do not perceive. . y: when it is said to them: "believe as the others believe:" they say: "shall we believe as the fools believe?" nay, of a surety they are the fools, but they do not know. p: and when it is said unto them: believe as the people believe, they say: shall we believe as the foolish believe? are not they indeed the foolish? but they know not. s: and when it is said to them: believe as the people believe they say: shall we believe as the fools believe? now surely they themselves are the fools, but they do not know. . y: when they meet those who believe, they say: "we believe;" but when they are alone with their evil ones, they say: "we are really with you: we (were) only jesting." p: and when they fall in with those who believe, they say: we believe; but when they go apart to their devils they declare: lo! we are with you; verily we did but mock. s: and when they meet those who believe, they say: we believe; and when they are alone with their shaitans, they say: surely we are with you, we were only mocking. . y: allah will throw back their mockery on them, and give them rope in their trespasses; so they will wander like blind ones (to and fro). p: allah (himself) doth mock them, leaving them to wander blindly on in their contumacy. s: allah shall pay them back their mockery, and he leaves them alone in their inordinacy, blindly wandering on. . y: these are they who have bartered guidance for error: but their traffic is profitless, and they have lost true direction, p: these are they who purchase error at the price of guidance, so their commerce doth not prosper, neither are they guided. s: these are they who buy error for the right direction, so their bargain shall bring no gain, nor are they the followers of the right direction. . y: their similitude is that of a man who kindled a fire; when it lighted all around him, allah took away their light and left them in utter darkness. so they could not see. p: their likeness is as the likeness of one who kindleth fire, and when it sheddeth its light around him allah taketh away their light and leaveth them in darkness, where they cannot see, s: their parable is like the parable of one who kindled a fire but when it had illumined all around him, allah took away their light, and left them in utter darkness--they do not see. . y: deaf, dumb, and blind, they will not return (to the path). p: deaf, dumb and blind; and they return not. s: deaf, dumb (and) blind, so they will not turn back. . y: or (another similitude) is that of a rain-laden cloud from the sky: in it are zones of darkness, and thunder and lightning: they press their fingers in their ears to keep out the stunning thunder-clap, the while they are in terror of death. but allah is ever round the rejecters of faith! p: or like a rainstorm from the sky, wherein is darkness, thunder and the flash of lightning. they thrust their fingers in their ears by reason of the thunder-claps, for fear of death, allah encompasseth the disbelievers (in his guidance, his omniscience and his omnipotence). s: or like abundant rain from the cloud in which is utter darkness and thunder and lightning; they put their fingers into their ears because of the thunder peal, for fear of death, and allah encompasses the unbelievers. . y: the lightning all but snatches away their sight; every time the light (helps) them, they walk therein, and when the darkness grows on them, they stand still. and if allah willed, he could take away their faculty of hearing and seeing; for allah hath power over all things. p: the lightning almost snatcheth away their sight from them. as often as it flasheth forth for them they walk therein, and when it darkeneth against them they stand still. if allah willed, he could destroy their hearing and their sight. lo! allah is able to do all things. s: the lightning almost takes away their sight; whenever it shines on them they walk in it, and when it becomes dark to them they stand still; and if allah had pleased he would certainly have taken away their hearing and their sight; surely allah has power over all things. . y: o ye people! adore your guardian-lord, who created you and those who came before you, that ye may have the chance to learn righteousness; p: o mankind! worship your lord, who hath created you and those before you, so that ye may ward off (evil). s: o men! serve your lord who created you and those before you so that you may guard (against evil). . y: who has made the earth your couch, and the heavens your canopy; and sent down rain from the heavens; and brought forth therewith fruits for your sustenance; then set not up rivals unto allah when ye know (the truth). p: who hath appointed the earth a resting-place for you, and the sky a canopy; and causeth water to pour down from the sky, thereby producing fruits as food for you. and do not set up rivals to allah when ye know (better). s: who made the earth a resting place for you and the heaven a canopy and (who) sends down rain from the cloud then brings forth with it subsistence for you of the fruits; therefore do not set up rivals to allah while you know. . y: and if ye are in doubt as to what we have revealed from time to time to our servant, then produce a sura like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers (if there are any) besides allah, if your (doubts) are true. p: and if ye are in doubt concerning that which we reveal unto our slave (muhammad), then produce a surah of the like thereof, and call your witness beside allah if ye are truthful. s: and if you are in doubt as to that which we have revealed to our servant, then produce a chapter like it and call on your witnesses besides allah if you are truthful. . y: but if ye cannot- and of a surety ye cannot- then fear the fire whose fuel is men and stones,- which is prepared for those who reject faith. p: and if ye do it not- and ye can never do it - then guard yourselves against the fire prepared for disbelievers, whose fuel is of men and stones. s: but if you do (it) not and never shall you do (it), then be on your guard against the fire of which men and stones are the fuel; it is prepared for the unbelievers. . y: but give glad tidings to those who believe and work righteousness, that their portion is gardens, beneath which rivers flow. every time they are fed with fruits therefrom, they say: "why, this is what we were fed with before," for they are given things in similitude; and they have therein companions pure (and holy); and they abide therein (for ever). p: and give glad tidings (o muhammad) unto those who believe and do good works; that theirs are gardens underneath which rivers flow; as often as they are regaled with food of the fruit thereof, they say: this is what was given us aforetime; and it is given to them in resemblance. there for them are pure companions; there forever they abide. s: and convey good news to those who believe and do good deeds, that they shall have gardens in which rivers flow; whenever they shall be given a portion of the fruit thereof, they shall say: this is what was given to us before; and they shall be given the like of it, and they shall have pure mates in them, and in them, they shall abide. . y: allah disdains not to use the similitude of things, lowest as well as highest. those who believe know that it is truth from their lord; but those who reject faith say: "what means allah by this similitude?" by it he causes many to stray, and many he leads into the right path; but he causes not to stray, except those who forsake (the path),- p: lo! allah disdaineth not to coin the similitude even of a gnat. those who believe know that it is the truth from their lord; but those who disbelieve say: what doth allah wish (to teach) by such a similitude? he misleadeth many thereby, and he guideth many thereby; and he misleadeth thereby only miscreants; s: surely allah is not ashamed to set forth any parable-- (that of) a gnat or any thing above that; then as for those who believe, they know that it is the truth from their lord, and as for those who disbelieve, they say: what is it that allah means by this parable: he causes many to err by it and many he leads aright by it! but he does not cause to err by it (any) except the transgressors, . y: those who break allah's covenant after it is ratified, and who sunder what allah has ordered to be joined, and do mischief on earth: these cause loss (only) to themselves. p: those who break the covenant of allah after ratifying it, and sever that which allah ordered to be joined, and (who) make mischief in the earth: those are they who are the losers. s: who break the covenant of allah after its confirmation and cut asunder what allah has ordered to be joined, and make mischief in the land; these it is that are the losers. . y: how can ye reject the faith in allah?- seeing that ye were without life, and he gave you life; then will he cause you to die, and will again bring you to life; and again to him will ye return. p: how disbelieve ye in allah when ye were dead and he gave life to you! then he will give you death, then life again, and then unto him ye will return. s: how do you deny allah and you were dead and he gave you life? again he will cause you to die and again bring you to life, then you shall be brought back to him. . y: it is he who hath created for you all things that are on earth; moreover his design comprehended the heavens, for he gave order and perfection to the seven firmaments; and of all things he hath perfect knowledge. p: he it is who created for you all that is in the earth. then turned he to the heaven, and fashioned it as seven heavens. and he is knower of all things. s: he it is who created for you all that is in the earth, and he directed himself to the heaven, so he made them complete seven heavens, and he knows all things. . y: behold, thy lord said to the angels: "i will create a vicegerent on earth." they said: "wilt thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood?- whilst we do celebrate thy praises and glorify thy holy (name)?" he said: "i know what ye know not." p: and when thy lord said unto the angels: lo! i am about to place a viceroy in the earth, they said: wilt thou place therein one who will do harm therein and will shed blood, while we, we hymn thy praise and sanctify thee? he said: surely i know that which ye know not. s: and when your lord said to the angels, i am going to place in the earth a khalif, they said: what! wilt thou place in it such as shall make mischief in it and shed blood, and we celebrate thy praise and extol thy holiness? he said: surely i know what you do not know. . y: and he taught adam the names of all things; then he placed them before the angels, and said: "tell me the names of these if ye are right." p: and he taught adam all the names, then showed them to the angels, saying: inform me of the names of these, if ye are truthful. s: and he taught adam all the names, then presented them to the angels; then he said: tell me the names of those if you are right. . y: they said: "glory to thee, of knowledge we have none, save what thou hast taught us: in truth it is thou who art perfect in knowledge and wisdom." p: they said: be glorified! we have no knowledge saving that which thou hast taught us. lo! thou, only thou, art the knower, the wise. s: they said: glory be to thee! we have no knowledge but that which thou hast taught us; surely thou art the knowing, the wise. . y: he said: "o adam! tell them their names." when he had told them, allah said: "did i not tell you that i know the secrets of heaven and earth, and i know what ye reveal and what ye conceal?" p: he said: o adam! inform them of their names, and when he had informed them of their names, he said: did i not tell you that i know the secret of the heavens and the earth? and i know that which ye disclose and which ye hide. s: he said: o adam! inform them of their names. then when he had informed them of their names, he said: did i not say to you that i surely know what is ghaib in the heavens and the earth and (that) i know what you manifest and what you hide? . y: and behold, we said to the angels: "bow down to adam" and they bowed down. not so iblis: he refused and was haughty: he was of those who reject faith. p: and when we said unto the angels: prostrate yourselves before adam, they fell prostrate, all save iblis. he demurred through pride, and so became a disbeliever. s: and when we said to the angels: make obeisance to adam they did obeisance, but iblis (did it not). he refused and he was proud, and he was one of the unbelievers. . y: we said: "o adam! dwell thou and thy wife in the garden; and eat of the bountiful things therein as (where and when) ye will; but approach not this tree, or ye run into harm and transgression." p: and we said: o adam! dwell thou and thy wife in the garden, and eat ye freely (of the fruits) thereof where ye will; but come not nigh this tree lest ye become wrong-doers. s: and we said: o adam! dwell you and your wife in the garden and eat from it a plenteous (food) wherever you wish and do not approach this tree, for then you will be of the unjust. . y: then did satan make them slip from the (garden), and get them out of the state (of felicity) in which they had been. we said: "get ye down, all (ye people), with enmity between yourselves. on earth will be your dwelling-place and your means of livelihood- for a time." p: but satan caused them to deflect therefrom and expelled them from the (happy) state in which they were; and we said: fall down, one of you a foe unto the other! there shall be for you on earth a habitation and provision for a time. s: but the shaitan made them both fall from it, and caused them to depart from that (state) in which they were; and we said: get forth, some of you being the enemies of others, and there is for you in the earth an abode and a provision for a time. . y: then learnt adam from his lord words of inspiration, and his lord turned towards him; for he is oft-returning, most merciful. p: then adam received from his lord words (of revelation), and he relented toward him. lo! he is the relenting, the merciful. s: then adam received (some) words from his lord, so he turned to him mercifully; surely he is oft-returning (to mercy), the merciful. . y: we said: "get ye down all from here; and if, as is sure, there comes to you guidance from me," whosoever follows my guidance, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. p: we said: go down, all of you, from hence; but verily there cometh unto you from me a guidance; and whoso followeth my guidance, there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve. s: we said: go forth from this (state) all; so surely there will come to you a guidance from me, then whoever follows my guidance, no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve. . y: "but those who reject faith and belie our signs, they shall be companions of the fire; they shall abide therein." p: but they who disbelieve, and deny our revelations, such are rightful peoples of the fire. they will abide therein. s: and (as to) those who disbelieve in and reject my communications, they are the inmates of the fire, in it they shall abide. . y: o children of israel! call to mind the (special) favour which i bestowed upon you, and fulfil your covenant with me as i fulfil my covenant with you, and fear none but me. p: o children of israel! remember my favour wherewith i favoured you, and fulfil your (part of the) covenant, i shall fulfil my (part of the) covenant, and fear me. s: o children of israel! call to mind my favor which i bestowed on you and be faithful to (your) covenant with me, i will fulfill (my) covenant with you; and of me, me alone, should you be afraid. . y: and believe in what i reveal, confirming the revelation which is with you, and be not the first to reject faith therein, nor sell my signs for a small price; and fear me, and me alone. p: and believe in that which i reveal, confirming that which ye possess already (of the scripture), and be not first to disbelieve therein, and part not with my revelations for a trifling price, and keep your duty unto me. s: and believe in what i have revealed, verifying that which is with you, and be not the first to deny it, neither take a mean price in exchange for my communications; and me, me alone should you fear. . y: and cover not truth with falsehood, nor conceal the truth when ye know (what it is). p: confound not truth with falsehood, nor knowingly conceal the truth. s: and do not mix up the truth with the falsehood, nor hide the truth while you know (it). . y: and be steadfast in prayer; practise regular charity; and bow down your heads with those who bow down (in worship). p: establish worship, pay the poor-due, and bow your heads with those who bow (in worship). s: and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and bow down with those who bow down. . y: do ye enjoin right conduct on the people, and forget (to practise it) yourselves, and yet ye study the scripture? will ye not understand? p: enjoin ye righteousness upon mankind while ye yourselves forget (to practise it)? and ye are readers of the scripture! have ye then no sense? s: what! do you enjoin men to be good and neglect your own souls while you read the book; have you then no sense? . y: nay, seek (allah's) help with patient perseverance and prayer: it is indeed hard, except to those who bring a lowly spirit,- p: seek help in patience and prayer; and truly it is hard save for the humble-minded, s: and seek assistance through patience and prayer, and most surely it is a hard thing except for the humble ones, . y: who bear in mind the certainty that they are to meet their lord, and that they are to return to him. p: who know that they will have to meet their lord, and that unto him they are returning. s: who know that they shall meet their lord and that they shall return to him. . y: children of israel! call to mind the (special) favour which i bestowed upon you, and that i preferred you to all other (for my message). p: o children of israel! remember my favour wherewith i favoured you and how i preferred you to (all) creatures. s: o children of israel! call to mind my favor which i bestowed on you and that i made you excel the nations. . y: then guard yourselves against a day when one soul shall not avail another nor shall intercession be accepted for her, nor shall compensation be taken from her, nor shall anyone be helped (from outside). p: and guard yourselves against a day when no soul will in aught avail another, nor will intercession be accepted from it, nor will compensation be received from it, nor will they be helped. s: and be on your guard against a day when one soul shall not avail another in the least, neither shall intercession on its behalf be accepted, nor shall any compensation be taken from it, nor shall they be helped. . y: and remember, we delivered you from the people of pharaoh: they set you hard tasks and punishments, slaughtered your sons and let your women-folk live; therein was a tremendous trial from your lord. p: and (remember) when we did deliver you from pharaoh's folk, who were afflicting you with dreadful torment, slaying your sons and sparing your women: that was a tremendous trial from your lord. s: and when we delivered you from firon's people, who subjected you to severe torment, killing your sons and sparing your women, and in this there was a great trial from your lord. . y: and remember we divided the sea for you and saved you and drowned pharaoh's people within your very sight. p: and when we brought you through the sea and rescued you, and drowned the folk of pharaoh in your sight. s: and when we parted the sea for you, so we saved you and drowned the followers of firon and you watched by. . y: and remember we appointed forty nights for moses, and in his absence ye took the calf (for worship), and ye did grievous wrong. p: and when we did appoint for moses forty nights (of solitude), and then ye chose the calf, when he had gone from you, and were wrong-doers. s: and when we appointed a time of forty nights with musa, then you took the calf (for a god) after him and you were unjust. . y: even then we did forgive you; there was a chance for you to be grateful. p: then, even after that, we pardoned you in order that ye might give thanks. s: then we pardoned you after that so that you might give thanks. . y: and remember we gave moses the scripture and the criterion (between right and wrong): there was a chance for you to be guided aright. p: and when we gave unto moses the scripture and the criterion (of right and wrong), that ye might be led aright. s: and when we gave musa the book and the distinction that you might walk aright. . y: and remember moses said to his people: "o my people! ye have indeed wronged yourselves by your worship of the calf: so turn (in repentance) to your maker, and slay yourselves (the wrong-doers); that will be better for you in the sight of your maker." then he turned towards you (in forgiveness): for he is oft-returning, most merciful. p: and when moses said unto his people: o my people! ye have wronged yourselves by your choosing of the calf (for worship) so turn in penitence to your creator, and kill (the guilty) yourselves. that will be best for you with your creator and he will relent toward you. lo! he is the relenting, the merciful. s: and when musa said to his people: o my people! you have surely been unjust to yourselves by taking the calf (for a god), therefore turn to your creator (penitently), so kill your people, that is best for you with your creator: so he turned to you (mercifully), for surely he is the oft-returning (to mercy), the merciful. . y: and remember ye said: "o moses! we shall never believe in thee until we see allah manifestly," but ye were dazed with thunder and lighting even as ye looked on. p: and when ye said: o moses! we will not believe in thee till we see allah plainly; and even while ye gazed the lightning seized you. s: and when you said: o musa! we will not believe in you until we see allah manifestly, so the punishment overtook you while you looked on. . y: then we raised you up after your death: ye had the chance to be grateful. p: then we revived you after your extinction, that ye might give thanks. s: then we raised you up after your death that you may give thanks. . y: and we gave you the shade of clouds and sent down to you manna and quails, saying: "eat of the good things we have provided for you:" (but they rebelled); to us they did no harm, but they harmed their own souls. p: and we caused the white cloud to overshadow you and sent down on you the manna and the quails, (saying): eat of the good things wherewith we have provided you- they wronged us not, but they did wrong themselves. s: and we made the clouds to give shade over you and we sent to you manna and quails: eat of the good things that we have given you; and they did not do us any harm, but they made their own souls suffer the loss. . y: and remember we said: "enter this town, and eat of the plenty therein as ye wish; but enter the gate with humility, in posture and in words, and we shall forgive you your faults and increase (the portion of) those who do good." p: and when we said: go into this township and eat freely of that which is therein, and enter the gate prostrate, and say: "repentance." we will forgive you your sins and will increase (reward) for the right-doers. s: and when we said: enter this city, then eat from it a plenteous (food) wherever you wish, and enter the gate making obeisance, and say, forgiveness. we will forgive you your wrongs and give more to those who do good (to others). . y: but the transgressors changed the word from that which had been given them; so we sent on the transgressors a plague from heaven, for that they infringed (our command) repeatedly. p: but those who did wrong changed the word which had been told them for another saying, and we sent down upon the evil-doers wrath from heaven for their evil-doing. s: but those who were unjust changed it for a saying other than that which had been spoken to them, so we sent upon those who were unjust a pestilence from heaven, because they transgressed. . y: and remember moses prayed for water for his people; we said: "strike the rock with thy staff." then gushed forth therefrom twelve springs. each group knew its own place for water. so eat and drink of the sustenance provided by allah, and do no evil nor mischief on the (face of the) earth. p: and when moses asked for water for his people, we said: smite with thy staff the rock. and there gushed out therefrom twelve springs (so that) each tribe knew their drinking-place. eat and drink of that which allah hath provided, and do not act corruptly, making mischief in the earth. s: and when musa prayed for drink for his people, we said: strike the rock with your staff so there gushed from it twelve springs; each tribe knew its drinking place: eat and drink of the provisions of allah and do not act corruptly in the land, making mischief. . y: and remember ye said: "o moses! we cannot endure one kind of food (always); so beseech thy lord for us to produce for us of what the earth groweth,- its pot-herbs, and cucumbers, its garlic, lentils, and onions." he said: "will ye exchange the better for the worse? go ye down to any town, and ye shall find what ye want!" they were covered with humiliation and misery; they drew on themselves the wrath of allah. this because they went on rejecting the signs of allah and slaying his messengers without just cause. this because they rebelled and went on transgressing. p: and when ye said: o moses! we are weary of one kind of food; so call upon thy lord for us that he bring forth for us of that which the earth groweth - of its herbs and its cucumbers and its corn and its lentils and its onions. he said: would ye exchange that which is higher for that which is lower? go down to settled country, thus ye shall get that which ye demand. and humiliation and wretchedness were stamped upon them and they were visited with wrath from allah. that was because they disbelieved in allah's revelations and slew the prophets wrongfully. that was for their disobedience and transgression. s: and when you said: o musa! we cannot bear with one food, therefore pray lord on our behalf to bring forth for us out of what the earth grows, of its herbs and its cucumbers and its garlic and its lentils and its onions. he said: will you exchange that which is better for that which is worse? enter a city, so you will have what you ask for. and abasement and humiliation were brought down upon them, and they became deserving of allah's wrath; this was so because they disbelieved in the communications of allah and killed the prophets unjustly; this was so because they disobeyed and exceeded the limits. . y: those who believe (in the qur'an), and those who follow the jewish (scriptures), and the christians and the sabians,- any who believe in allah and the last day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. p: lo! those who believe (in that which is revealed unto thee, muhammad), and those who are jews, and christians, and sabaeans - whoever believeth in allah and the last day and doeth right - surely their reward is with their lord, and there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve. s: surely those who believe, and those who are jews, and the christians, and the sabians, whoever believes in allah and the last day and does good, they shall have their reward from their lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve. . y: and remember we took your covenant and we raised above you (the towering height) of mount (sinai) (saying): "hold firmly to what we have given you and bring (ever) to remembrance what is therein: perchance ye may fear allah." p: and (remember, o children of israel) when we made a covenant with you and caused the mount to tower above you, (saying): hold fast that which we have given you, and remember that which is therein, that ye may ward off (evil). s: and when we took a promise from you and lifted the mountain over you: take hold of the law (tavrat) we have given you with firmness and bear in mind what is in it, so that you may guard (against evil). . y: but ye turned back thereafter: had it not been for the grace and mercy of allah to you, ye had surely been among the lost. p: then, even after that, ye turned away, and if it had not been for the grace of allah and his mercy ye had been among the losers. s: then you turned back after that; so were it not for the grace of allah and his mercy on you, you would certainly have been among the losers. . y: and well ye knew those amongst you who transgressed in the matter of the sabbath: we said to them: "be ye apes, despised and rejected." p: and ye know of those of you who broke the sabbath, how we said unto them: be ye apes, despised and hated! s: and certainly you have known those among you who exceeded the limits of the sabbath, so we said to them: be (as) apes, despised and hated. . y: so we made it an example to their own time and to their posterity, and a lesson to those who fear allah. p: and we made it an example to their own and to succeeding generations, and an admonition to the allah-fearing. s: so we made them an example to those who witnessed it and those who came after it, and an admonition to those who guard (against evil). . y: and remember moses said to his people: "allah commands that ye sacrifice a heifer." they said: "makest thou a laughing-stock of us?" he said: "allah save me from being an ignorant (fool)!" p: and when moses said unto his people: lo! allah commandeth you that ye sacrifice a cow, they said: dost thou make game of us? he answered: allah forbid that i should be among the foolish! s: and when musa said to his people: surely allah commands you that you should sacrifice a cow; they said: do you ridicule us? he said: i seek the protection of allah from being one of the ignorant. . y: they said: "beseech on our behalf thy lord to make plain to us what (heifer) it is!" he said; "he says: the heifer should be neither too old nor too young, but of middling age. now do what ye are commanded!" p: they said: pray for us unto thy lord that he make clear to us what (cow) she is. (moses) answered: lo! he saith, verily she is a cow neither with calf nor immature; (she is) between the two conditions; so do that which ye are commanded. s: they said: call on your lord for our sake to make it plain to us what she is. musa said: he says, surely she is a cow neither advanced in age nor too young, of middle age between that (and this); do therefore what you are commanded. . y: they said: "beseech on our behalf thy lord to make plain to us her colour." he said: "he says: a fawn-coloured heifer, pure and rich in tone, the admiration of beholders!" p: they said: pray for us unto thy lord that he make clear to us of what colour she is. (moses) answered: lo! he saith: verily she is a yellow cow. bright is her colour, gladdening beholders. s: they said: call on your lord for our sake to make it plain to us what her color is. musa said: he says, surely she is a yellow cow; her color is intensely yellow, giving delight to the beholders. . y: they said: "beseech on our behalf thy lord to make plain to us what she is: to us are all heifers alike: we wish indeed for guidance, if allah wills." p: they said: pray for us unto thy lord that he make clear to us what (cow) she is. lo! cows are much alike to us; and lo! if allah wills, we may be led aright. s: they said: call on your lord for our sake to make it plain to us what she is, for surely to us the cows are all alike, and if allah please we shall surely be guided aright. . y: he said: "he says: a heifer not trained to till the soil or water the fields; sound and without blemish." they said: "now hast thou brought the truth." then they offered her in sacrifice, but not with good-will. p: (moses) answered: lo! he saith: verily she is a cow unyoked; she plougheth not the soil nor watereth the tilth; whole and without mark. they said: now thou bringest the truth. so they sacrificed her, though almost they did not. s: musa said: he says, surely she is a cow not made submissive that she should plough the land, nor does she irrigate the tilth; sound, without a blemish in her. they said: now you have brought the truth; so they sacrificed her, though they had not the mind to do (it). . y: remember ye slew a man and fell into a dispute among yourselves as to the crime: but allah was to bring forth what ye did hide. p: and (remember) when ye slew a man and disagreed concerning it and allah brought forth that which ye were hiding. s: and when you killed a man, then you disagreed with respect to that, and allah was to bring forth that which you were going to hide. . y: so we said: "strike the (body) with a piece of the (heifer)." thus allah bringeth the dead to life and showeth you his signs: perchance ye may understand. p: and we said: smite him with some of it. thus allah bringeth the dead to life and showeth you his portents so that ye may understand. s: so we said: strike the (dead body) with part of the (sacrificed cow), thus allah brings the dead to life, and he shows you his signs so that you may understand. . y: thenceforth were your hearts hardened: they became like a rock and even worse in hardness. for among rocks there are some from which rivers gush forth; others there are which when split asunder send forth water; and others which sink for fear of allah. and allah is not unmindful of what ye do. p: then, even after that, your hearts were hardened and became as rocks, or worse than rocks, for hardness. for indeed there are rocks from out which rivers gush, and indeed there are rocks which split asunder so that water floweth from them. and indeed there are rocks which fall down for the fear of allah. allah is not unaware of what ye do. s: then your hearts hardened after that, so that they were like rocks, rather worse in hardness; and surely there are some rocks from which streams burst forth, and surely there are some of them which split asunder so water issues out of them, and surely there are some of them which fall down for fear of allah, and allah is not at all heedless of what you do. . y: can ye (o ye men of faith) entertain the hope that they will believe in you?- seeing that a party of them heard the word of allah, and perverted it knowingly after they understood it. p: have ye any hope that they will be true to you when a party of them used to listen to the word of allah, then used to change it, after they had understood it, knowingly? s: do you then hope that they would believe in you, and a party from among them indeed used to hear the word of allah, then altered it after they had understood it, and they know (this). . y: behold! when they meet the men of faith, they say: "we believe": but when they meet each other in private, they say: "shall you tell them what allah hath revealed to you, that they may engage you in argument about it before your lord?"- do ye not understand (their aim)? p: and when they fall in with those who believe, they say: we believe. but when they go apart one with another they say: prate ye to them of that which allah hath disclosed to you that they may contend with you before your lord concerning it? have ye then no sense? s: and when they meet those who believe they say: we believe, and when they are alone one with another they say: do you talk to them of what allah has disclosed to you that they may contend with you by this before your lord? do you not then understand? . y: know they not that allah knoweth what they conceal and what they reveal? p: are they then unaware that allah knoweth that which they keep hidden and that which they proclaim? s: do they not know that allah knows what they keep secret and what they make known? . y: and there are among them illiterates, who know not the book, but (see therein their own) desires, and they do nothing but conjecture. p: among them are unlettered folk who know the scripture not except from hearsay. they but guess. s: and there are among them illiterates who know not the book but only lies, and they do but conjecture. . y: then woe to those who write the book with their own hands, and then say: "this is from allah," to traffic with it for miserable price!- woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby. p: therefore woe be unto those who write the scripture with their hands and then say, "this is from allah," that they may purchase a small gain therewith. woe unto them for that their hands have written, and woe unto them for that they earn thereby. s: woe, then, to those who write the book with their hands and then say: this is from allah, so that they may take for it a small price; therefore woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn. . y: and they say: "the fire shall not touch us but for a few numbered days:" say: "have ye taken a promise from allah, for he never breaks his promise? or is it that ye say of allah what ye do not know?" p: and they say: the fire (of punishment) will not touch us save for a certain number of days. say: have ye received a covenant from allah - truly allah will not break his covenant - or tell ye concerning allah that which ye know not? s: and they say: fire shall not touch us but for a few days. say: have you received a promise from allah, then allah will not fail to perform his promise, or do you speak against allah what you do not know? . y: nay, those who seek gain in evil, and are girt round by their sins,- they are companions of the fire: therein shall they abide (for ever). p: nay, but whosoever hath done evil and his sin surroundeth him; such are rightful owners of the fire; they will abide therein. s: yea, whoever earns evil and his sins beset him on every side, these are the inmates of the fire; in it they shall abide. . y: but those who have faith and work righteousness, they are companions of the garden: therein shall they abide (for ever). p: and those who believe and do good works: such are rightful owners of the garden. they will abide therein. s: and (as for) those who believe and do good deeds, these are the dwellers of the garden; in it they shall abide. . y: and remember we took a covenant from the children of israel (to this effect): worship none but allah; treat with kindness your parents and kindred, and orphans and those in need; speak fair to the people; be steadfast in prayer; and practise regular charity. then did ye turn back, except a few among you, and ye backslide (even now). p: and (remember) when we made a covenant with the children of israel, (saying): worship none save allah (only), and be good to parents and to kindred and to orphans and the needy, and speak kindly to mankind; and establish worship and pay the poor-due. then, after that, ye slid back, save a few of you, being averse. s: and when we made a covenant with the children of israel: you shall not serve any but allah and (you shall do) good to (your) parents, and to the near of kin and to the orphans and the needy, and you shall speak to men good words and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate. then you turned back except a few of you and (now too) you turn aside. . y: and remember we took your covenant (to this effect): shed no blood amongst you, nor turn out your own people from your homes: and this ye solemnly ratified, and to this ye can bear witness. p: and when we made with you a covenant (saying): shed not the blood of your people nor turn (a party of) your people out of your dwellings. then ye ratified (our covenant) and ye were witnesses (thereto). s: and when we made a covenant with you: you shall not shed your blood and you shall not turn your people out of your cities; then you gave a promise while you witnessed. . y: after this it is ye, the same people, who slay among yourselves, and banish a party of you from their homes; assist (their enemies) against them, in guilt and rancour; and if they come to you as captives, ye ransom them, though it was not lawful for you to banish them. then is it only a part of the book that ye believe in, and do ye reject the rest? but what is the reward for those among you who behave like this but disgrace in this life?- and on the day of judgment they shall be consigned to the most grievous penalty. for allah is not unmindful of what ye do. p: yet ye it is who slay each other and drive out a party of your people from their homes, supporting one another against them by sin and transgression? - and if they came to you as captives ye would ransom them, whereas their expulsion was itself unlawful for you - believe ye in part of the scripture and disbelieve ye in part thereof? and what is the reward of those who do so save ignominy in the life of the world, and on the day of resurrection they will be consigned to the most grievous doom. for allah is not unaware of what ye do. s: yet you it is who slay your people and turn a party from among you out of their homes, backing each other up against them unlawfully and exceeding the limits; and if they should come to you, as captives you would ransom them-- while their very turning out was unlawful for you. do you then believe in a part of the book and disbelieve in the other? what then is the re ward of such among you as do this but disgrace in the life of this world, and on the day of resurrection they shall be sent back to the most grievous chastisement, and allah is not at all heedless of what you do. . y: these are the people who buy the life of this world at the price of the hereafter: their penalty shall not be lightened nor shall they be helped. p: such are those who buy the life of the world at the price of the hereafter. their punishment will not be lightened, neither will they have support. s: these are they who buy the life of this world for the hereafter, so their chastisement shall not be lightened nor shall they be helped. . y: we gave moses the book and followed him up with a succession of messengers; we gave jesus the son of mary clear (signs) and strengthened him with the holy spirit. is it that whenever there comes to you a messenger with what ye yourselves desire not, ye are puffed up with pride?- some ye called impostors, and others ye slay! p: and verily we gave unto moses the scripture and we caused a train of messengers to follow after him, and we gave unto jesus, son of mary, clear proofs (of allah's sovereignty), and we supported him with the holy spirit. is it ever so, that, when there cometh unto you a messenger (from allah) with that which ye yourselves desire not, ye grow arrogant, and some ye disbelieve and some ye slay? s: and most certainly we gave musa the book and we sent messengers after him one after another; and we gave isa, the son of marium, clear arguments and strengthened him with the holy spirit, what! whenever then a messenger came to you with that which your souls did not desire, you were insolent so you called some liars and some you slew. . y: they say, "our hearts are the wrappings (which preserve allah's word: we need no more)." nay, allah's curse is on them for their blasphemy: little is it they believe. p: and they say: our hearts are hardened. nay, but allah hath cursed them for their unbelief. little is that which they believe. s: and they say: our hearts are covered. nay, allah has cursed them on account of their unbelief; so little it is that they believe. . y: and when there comes to them a book from allah, confirming what is with them,- although from of old they had prayed for victory against those without faith,- when there comes to them that which they (should) have recognised, they refuse to believe in it but the curse of allah is on those without faith. p: and when there cometh unto them a scripture from allah, confirming that in their possession - though before that they were asking for a signal triumph over those who disbelieved - and when there cometh unto them that which they know (to be the truth) they disbelieve therein. the curse of allah is on disbelievers. s: and when there came to them a book from allah verifying that which they have, and aforetime they used to pray for victory against those who disbelieve, but when there came to them (prophet) that which they did not recognize, they disbelieved in him; so allah's curse is on the unbelievers. . y: miserable is the price for which they have sold their souls, in that they deny (the revelation) which allah has sent down, in insolent envy that allah of his grace should send it to any of his servants he pleases: thus have they drawn on themselves wrath upon wrath. and humiliating is the punishment of those who reject faith. p: evil is that for which they sell their souls: that they should disbelieve in that which allah hath revealed, grudging that allah should reveal of his bounty unto whom he will of his slaves. they have incurred anger upon anger. for disbelievers is a shameful doom. s: evil is that for which they have sold their souls-- that they should deny what allah has revealed, out of envy that allah should send down of his grace on whomsoever of his servants he pleases; so they have made themselves deserving of wrath upon wrath, and there is a disgraceful punishment for the unbelievers. . y: when it is said to them: "believe in what allah hath sent down," they say, "we believe in what was sent down to us": yet they reject all besides, even if it be truth confirming what is with them. say: "why then have ye slain the prophets of allah in times gone by, if ye did indeed believe?" p: and when it is said unto them: believe in that which allah hath revealed, they say: we believe in that which was revealed unto us. and they disbelieve in that which cometh after it, though it is the truth confirming that which they possess. say (unto them, o muhammad): why then slew ye the prophets of allah aforetime, if ye are (indeed) believers? s: and when it is said to them, believe in what allah has revealed, they say: we believe in that which was revealed to us; and they deny what is besides that, while it is the truth verifying that which they have. say: why then did you kill allah's prophets before if you were indeed believers? . y: there came to you moses with clear (signs); yet ye worshipped the calf (even) after that, and ye did behave wrongfully. p: and moses came unto you with clear proofs (of allah's sovereignty), yet, while he was away, ye chose the calf (for worship) and ye were wrong-doers. s: and most certainly musa came to you with clear arguments, then you took the calf (for a god) in his absence and you were unjust. . y: and remember we took your covenant and we raised above you (the towering height) of mount (sinai): (saying): "hold firmly to what we have given you, and hearken (to the law)": they said: "we hear, and we disobey": and they had to drink into their hearts (of the taint) of the calf because of their faithlessness. say: "vile indeed are the behests of your faith if ye have any faith!" p: and when we made with you a covenant and caused the mount to tower above you, (saying): hold fast by that which we have given you, and hear (our word), they said: we hear and we rebel. and (worship of) the calf was made to sink into their hearts because of their rejection (of the covenant). say (unto them): evil is that which your belief enjoineth on you, if ye are believers. s: and when we made a covenant with you and raised the mountain over you: take hold of what we have given you with firmness and be obedient. they said: we hear and disobey. and they were made to imbibe (the love of) the calf into their hearts on account of their unbelief say: evil is that which your belief bids you if you are believers. . y: say: "if the last home, with allah, be for you specially, and not for anyone else, then seek ye for death, if ye are sincere." p: say (unto them): if the abode of the hereafter in the providence of allah is indeed for you alone and not for others of mankind (as ye pretend), then long for death (for ye must long for death) if ye are truthful. s: say: if the future abode with allah is specially for you to the exclusion of the people, then invoke death if you are truthful. . y: but they will never seek for death, on account of the (sins) which their hands have sent on before them. and allah is well-acquainted with the wrong-doers. p: but they will never long for it, because of that which their own hands have sent before them. allah is aware of evil-doers. s: and they will never invoke it on account of what their hands have sent before, and allah knows the unjust. . y: thou wilt indeed find them, of all people, most greedy of life,-even more than the idolaters: each one of them wishes he could be given a life of a thousand years: but the grant of such life will not save him from (due) punishment. for allah sees well all that they do. p: and thou wilt find them greediest of mankind for life and (greedier) than the idolaters. (each) one of them would like to be allowed to live a thousand years. and to live (a thousand years) would be no means remove him from the doom. allah is seer of what they do. s: and you will most certainly find them the greediest of men for life (greedier) than even those who are polytheists; every one of them loves that he should be granted a life of a thousand years, and his being granted a long life will in no way remove him further off from the chastisement, and allah sees what they do. . y: say: whoever is an enemy to gabriel-for he brings down the (revelation) to thy heart by allah's will, a confirmation of what went before, and guidance and glad tidings for those who believe,- p: say (o muhammad, to mankind): who is an enemy to gabriel! for he it is who hath revealed (this scripture) to thy heart by allah's leave, confirming that which was (revealed) before it, and a guidance and glad tidings to believers; s: say: whoever is the enemy of jibreel-- for surely he revealed it to your heart by allah's command, verifying that which is before it and guidance and good news for the believers. . y: whoever is an enemy to allah and his angels and messengers, to gabriel and michael,- lo! allah is an enemy to those who reject faith. p: who is an enemy to allah, and his angels and his messengers, and gabriel and michael! then, lo! allah (himself) is an enemy to the disbelievers. s: whoever is the enemy of allah and his angels and his messengers and jibreel and meekaeel, so surely allah is the enemy of the unbelievers. . y: we have sent down to thee manifest signs (ayat); and none reject them but those who are perverse. p: verily we have revealed unto thee clear tokens, and only miscreants will disbelieve in them. s: and certainly we have revealed to you clear communications and none disbelieve in them except the transgressors. . y: is it not (the case) that every time they make a covenant, some party among them throw it aside?- nay, most of them are faithless. p: is it ever so that when they make a covenant a party of them set it aside? the truth is, most of them believe not. s: what! whenever they make a covenant, a party of them cast it aside? nay, most of them do not believe. . y: and when there came to them a messenger from allah, confirming what was with them, a party of the people of the book threw away the book of allah behind their backs, as if (it had been something) they did not know! p: and when there cometh unto them a messenger from allah, confirming that which they possess, a party of those who have received the scripture fling the scripture of allah behind their backs as if they knew not, s: and when there came to them a messenger from allah verifying that which they have, a party of those who were given the book threw the book of allah behind their backs as if they knew nothing. . y: they followed what the evil ones gave out (falsely) against the power of solomon: the blasphemers were, not solomon, but the evil ones, teaching men magic, and such things as came down at babylon to the angels harut and marut. but neither of these taught anyone (such things) without saying: "we are only for trial; so do not blaspheme." they learned from them the means to sow discord between man and wife. but they could not thus harm anyone except by allah's permission. and they learned what harmed them, not what profited them. and they knew that the buyers of (magic) would have no share in the happiness of the hereafter. and vile was the price for which they did sell their souls, if they but knew! p: and follow that which the devils falsely related against the kingdom of solomon. solomon disbelieved not; but the devils disbelieved, teaching mankind magic and that which was revealed to the two angels in babel, harut and marut. nor did they (the two angels) teach it to anyone till they had said: we are only a temptation, therefore disbelieve not (in the guidance of allah). and from these two (angles) people learn that by which they cause division between man and wife; but they injure thereby no-one save by allah's leave. and they learn that which harmeth them and profiteth them not. and surely they do know that he who trafficketh therein will have no (happy) portion in the hereafter; and surely evil is the price for which they sell their souls, if they but knew. s: and they followed what the shaitans chanted of sorcery in the reign of sulaiman, and sulaiman was not an unbeliever, but the shaitans disbelieved, they taught men sorcery and that was sent down to the two angels at babel, harut and marut, yet these two taught no man until they had said, "surely we are only a trial, therefore do not be a disbeliever." even then men learned from these two, magic by which they might cause a separation between a man and his wife; and they cannot hurt with it any one except with allah's permission, and they learned what harmed them and did not profit them, and certainly they know that he who bought it should have no share of good in the hereafter and evil was the price for which they sold their souls, had they but known this. . y: if they had kept their faith and guarded themselves from evil, far better had been the reward from their lord, if they but knew! p: and if they had believed and kept from evil, a recompense from allah would be better, if they only knew. s: and if they had believed and guarded themselves (against evil), reward from allah would certainly have been better; had they but known (this). . y: o ye of faith! say not (to the messenger) words of ambiguous import, but words of respect; and hearken (to him): to those without faith is a grievous punishment. p: o ye who believe, say not (unto the prophet): "listen to us" but say "look upon us," and be ye listeners. for disbelievers is a painful doom. s: o you who believe! do not say raina and say unzurna and listen, and for the unbelievers there is a painful chastisement. . y: it is never the wish of those without faith among the people of the book, nor of the pagans, that anything good should come down to you from your lord. but allah will choose for his special mercy whom he will - for allah is lord of grace abounding. p: neither those who disbelieve among the people of the scripture nor the idolaters love that there should be sent down unto you any good thing from your lord. but allah chooseth for his mercy whom he will, and allah is of infinite bounty. s: those who disbelieve from among the followers of the book do not like, nor do the polytheists, that the good should be sent down to you from your lord, and allah chooses especially whom he pleases for his mercy, and allah is the lord of mighty grace. . y: none of our revelations do we abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but we substitute something better or similar: knowest thou not that allah hath power over all things? p: nothing of our revelation (even a single verse) do we abrogate or cause be forgotten, but we bring (in place) one better or the like thereof. knowest thou not that allah is able to do all things? s: whatever communications we abrogate or cause to be forgotten, we bring one better than it or like it. do you not know that allah has power over all things? . y: knowest thou not that to allah belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth? and besides him ye have neither patron nor helper. p: knowest thou not that it is allah unto whom belongeth the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth; and ye have not, beside allah, any guardian or helper? s: do you not know that allah's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and that besides allah you have no guardian or helper? . y: would ye question your messenger as moses was questioned of old? but whoever changeth from faith to unbelief, hath strayed without doubt from the even way. p: or would ye question your messenger as moses was questioned aforetime? he who chooseth disbelief instead of faith, verily he hath gone astray from a plain road. s: rather you wish to put questions to your messenger, as musa was questioned before; and whoever adopts unbelief instead of faith, he indeed has lost the right direction of the way. . y: quite a number of the people of the book wish they could turn you (people) back to infidelity after ye have believed, from selfish envy, after the truth hath become manifest unto them: but forgive and overlook, till allah accomplish his purpose; for allah hath power over all things. p: many of the people of the scripture long to make you disbelievers after your belief, through envy on their own account, after the truth hath become manifest unto them. forgive and be indulgent (toward them) until allah give command. lo! allah is able to do all things. s: many of the followers of the book wish that they could turn you back into unbelievers after your faith, out of envy from themselves, (even) after the truth has become manifest to them; but pardon and forgive, so that allah should bring about his command; surely allah has power over all things. . y: and be steadfast in prayer and regular in charity: and whatever good ye send forth for your souls before you, ye shall find it with allah: for allah sees well all that ye do. p: establish worship, and pay the poor-due; and whatever of good ye send before (you) for your souls, ye will find it with allah. lo! allah is seer of what ye do. s: and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and whatever good you send before for yourselves, you shall find it with allah; surely allah sees what you do. . y: and they say: "none shall enter paradise unless he be a jew or a christian." those are their (vain) desires. say: "produce your proof if ye are truthful." p: and they say: none entereth paradise unless he be a jew or a christian. these are their own desires. say: bring your proof (of what ye state) if ye are truthful. s: and they say: none shall enter the garden (or paradise) except he who is a jew or a christian. these are their vain desires. say: bring your proof if you are truthful. . y: nay,- whoever submits his whole self to allah and is a doer of good,- he will get his reward with his lord; on such shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. p: nay, but whosoever surrendereth his purpose to allah while doing good, his reward is with his lord; and there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve. s: yes! whoever submits himself entirely to allah and he is the doer of good (to others) he has his reward from his lord, and there is no fear for him nor shall he grieve. . y: the jews say: "the christians have naught (to stand) upon"; and the christians say: "the jews have naught (to stand) upon." yet they (profess to) study the (same) book. like unto their word is what those say who know not; but allah will judge between them in their quarrel on the day of judgment. p: and the jews say the christians follow nothing (true), and the christians say the jews follow nothing (true); yet both are readers of the scripture. even thus speak those who know not. allah will judge between them on the day of resurrection concerning that wherein they differ. s: and the jews say: the christians do not follow anything (good) and the christians say: the jews do not follow anything (good) while they recite the (same) book. even thus say those who have no knowledge, like to what they say; so allah shall judge between them on the day of resurrection in what they differ. . y: and who is more unjust than he who forbids that in places for the worship of allah, allah's name should be celebrated? - whose zeal is (in fact) to ruin them? it was not fitting that such should themselves enter them except in fear. for them there is nothing but disgrace in this world, and in the world to come, an exceeding torment. p: and who doth greater wrong than he who forbiddeth the approach to the sanctuaries of allah lest his name should be mentioned therein, and striveth for their ruin. as for such, it was never meant that they should enter them except in fear. theirs in the world is ignominy and theirs in the hereafter is an awful doom. s: and who is more unjust than he who prevents (men) from the masjids of allah, that his name should be remembered in them, and strives to ruin them? (as for) these, it was not proper for them that they should have entered them except in fear; they shall meet with disgrace in this world, and they shall have great chastisement in the hereafter. . y: to allah belong the east and the west: whithersoever ye turn, there is the presence of allah. for allah is all-pervading, all-knowing. p: unto allah belong the east and the west, and whithersoever ye turn, there is allah's countenance. lo! allah is all-embracing, all-knowing. s: and allah's is the east and the west, therefore, whither you turn, thither is allah's purpose; surely allah is amplegiving, knowing. . y: they say: "allah hath begotten a son": glory be to him.-nay, to him belongs all that is in the heavens and on earth: everything renders worship to him. p: and they say: allah hath taken unto himself a son. be he glorified! nay, but whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth is his. all are subservient unto him. s: and they say: allah has taken to himself a son. glory be to him; rather, whatever is in the heavens and the earth is his; all are obedient to him. . y: to him is due the primal origin of the heavens and the earth: when he decreeth a matter, he saith to it: "be," and it is. p: the originator of the heavens and the earth! when he decreeth a thing, he saith unto it only: be! and it is. s: wonderful originator of the heavens and the earth, and when he decrees an affair, he only says to it, be, so there it is. . y: say those without knowledge: "why speaketh not allah unto us? or why cometh not unto us a sign?" so said the people before them words of similar import. their hearts are alike. we have indeed made clear the signs unto any people who hold firmly to faith (in their hearts). p: and those who have no knowledge say: why doth not allah speak unto us, or some sign come unto us? even thus, as they now speak, spake those (who were) before them. their hearts are all alike. we have made clear the revelations for people who are sure. s: and those who have no knowledge say: why does not allah speak to us or a sign come to us? even thus said those before them, the like of what they say; their hearts are all alike. indeed we have made the communications clear for a people who are sure. . y: verily we have sent thee in truth as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner: but of thee no question shall be asked of the companions of the blazing fire. p: lo! we have sent thee (o muhammad) with the truth, a bringer of glad tidings and a warner. and thou wilt not be asked about the owners of hell-fire. s: surely we have sent you with the truth as a bearer of good news and as a warner, and you shall not be called upon to answer for the companions of the flaming fire. . y: never will the jews or the christians be satisfied with thee unless thou follow their form of religion. say: "the guidance of allah,-that is the (only) guidance." wert thou to follow their desires after the knowledge which hath reached thee, then wouldst thou find neither protector nor helper against allah. p: and the jews will not be pleased with thee, nor will the christians, till thou follow their creed. say: lo! the guidance of allah (himself) is guidance. and if thou shouldst follow their desires after the knowledge which hath come unto thee, then wouldst thou have from allah no protecting guardian nor helper. s: and the jews will not be pleased with you, nor the christians until you follow their religion. say: surely allah's guidance, that is the (true) guidance. and if you follow their desires after the knowledge that has come to you, you shall have no guardian from allah, nor any helper. . y: those to whom we have sent the book study it as it should be studied: they are the ones that believe therein: those who reject faith therein,- the loss is their own. p: those unto whom we have given the scripture, who read it with the right reading, those believe in it. and whoso disbelieveth in it, those are they who are the losers. s: those to whom we have given the book read it as it ought to be read. these believe in it; and whoever disbelieves in it, these it is that are the losers. . y: o children of israel! call to mind the special favour which i bestowed upon you, and that i preferred you to all others (for my message). p: o children of israel! remember my favour wherewith i favoured you and how i preferred you to (all) creatures. s: o children of israel, call to mind my favor which i bestowed on you and that i made you excel the nations. . y: then guard yourselves against a-day when one soul shall not avail another, nor shall compensation be accepted from her nor shall intercession profit her nor shall anyone be helped (from outside). p: and guard (yourselves) against a day when no soul will in aught avail another, nor will compensation be accepted from it, nor will intercession be of use to it; nor will they be helped. s: and be on your guard against a day when no soul shall avail another in the least neither shall any compensation be accepted from it, nor shall intercession profit it, nor shall they be helped. . y: and remember that abraham was tried by his lord with certain commands, which he fulfilled: he said: "i will make thee an imam to the nations." he pleaded: "and also (imams) from my offspring!" he answered: "but my promise is not within the reach of evil-doers." p: and (remember) when his lord tried abraham with (his) commands, and he fulfilled them, he said: lo! i have appointed thee a leader for mankind. (abraham) said: and of my offspring (will there be leaders)? he said: my covenant includeth not wrong-doers. s: and when his lord tried ibrahim with certain words, he fulfilled them. he said: surely i will make you an imam of men. ibrahim said: and of my offspring? my covenant does not include the unjust, said he. . y: remember we made the house a place of assembly for men and a place of safety; and take ye the station of abraham as a place of prayer; and we covenanted with abraham and isma'il, that they should sanctify my house for those who compass it round, or use it as a retreat, or bow, or prostrate themselves (therein in prayer). p: and when we made the house (at makka) a resort for mankind and sanctuary, (saying): take as your place of worship the place where abraham stood (to pray). and we imposed a duty upon abraham and ishmael, (saying): purify my house for those who go around and those who meditate therein and those who bow down and prostrate themselves (in worship). s: and when we made the house a pilgrimage for men and a (place of) security, and: appoint for yourselves a place of prayer on the standing-place of ibrahim. and we enjoined ibrahim and ismail saying: purify my house for those who visit (it) and those who abide (in it) for devotion and those who bow down (and) those who prostrate themselves. . y: and remember abraham said: "my lord, make this a city of peace, and feed its people with fruits,-such of them as believe in allah and the last day." he said: "(yea), and such as reject faith,-for a while will i grant them their pleasure, but will soon drive them to the torment of fire,- an evil destination (indeed)!" p: and when abraham prayed: my lord! make this a region of security and bestow upon its people fruits, such of them as believe in allah and the last day, he answered: as for him who disbelieveth, i shall leave him in contentment for a while, then i shall compel him to the doom of fire - a hapless journey's end! s: and when ibrahim said: my lord, make it a secure town and provide its people with fruits, such of them as believe in allah and the last day. he said: and whoever disbelieves, i will grant him enjoyment for a short while, then i will drive him to the chastisement of the fire; and it is an evil destination. . y: and remember abraham and isma'il raised the foundations of the house (with this prayer): "our lord! accept (this service) from us: for thou art the all-hearing, the all-knowing." p: and when abraham and ishmael were raising the foundations of the house, (abraham prayed): our lord! accept from us (this duty). lo! thou, only thou, art the hearer, the knower. s: and when ibrahim and ismail raised the foundations of the house: our lord! accept from us; surely thou art the hearing, the knowing: . y: "our lord! make of us muslims, bowing to thy (will), and of our progeny a people muslim, bowing to thy (will); and show us our place for the celebration of (due) rites; and turn unto us (in mercy); for thou art the oft-returning, most merciful." p: our lord! and make us submissive unto thee and of our seed a nation submissive unto thee, and show us our ways of worship, and relent toward us. lo! thou, only thou, art the relenting, the merciful. s: our lord! and make us both submissive to thee and (raise) from our offspring a nation submitting to thee, and show us our ways of devotion and turn to us (mercifully), surely thou art the oft-returning (to mercy), the merciful. . y: "our lord! send amongst them a messenger of their own, who shall rehearse thy signs to them and instruct them in scripture and wisdom, and sanctify them: for thou art the exalted in might, the wise." p: our lord! and raise up in their midst a messenger from among them who shall recite unto them thy revelations, and shall instruct them in the scripture and in wisdom and shall make them grow. lo! thou, only thou, art the mighty, wise. s: our lord! and raise up in them a messenger from among them who shall recite to them thy communications and teach them the book and the wisdom, and purify them; surely thou art the mighty, the wise. . y: and who turns away from the religion of abraham but such as debase their souls with folly? him we chose and rendered pure in this world: and he will be in the hereafter in the ranks of the righteous. p: and who forsaketh the religion of abraham save him who befooleth himself? verily we chose him in the world, and lo! in the hereafter he is among the righteous. s: and who forsakes the religion of ibrahim but he who makes himself a fool, and most certainly we chose him in this world, and in the hereafter he is most surely among the righteous. . y: behold! his lord said to him: "bow (thy will to me):" he said: "i bow (my will) to the lord and cherisher of the universe." p: when his lord said unto him: surrender! he said: i have surrendered to the lord of the worlds. s: when his lord said to him, be a muslim, he said: i submit myself to the lord of the worlds. . y: and this was the legacy that abraham left to his sons, and so did jacob; "oh my sons! allah hath chosen the faith for you; then die not except in the faith of islam." p: the same did abraham enjoin upon his sons, and also jacob, (saying): o my sons! lo! allah hath chosen for you the (true) religion; therefore die not save as men who have surrendered (unto him). s: and the same did ibrahim enjoin on his sons and (so did) yaqoub. o my sons! surely allah has chosen for you (this) faith, therefore die not unless you are muslims. . y: were ye witnesses when death appeared before jacob? behold, he said to his sons: "what will ye worship after me?" they said: "we shall worship thy god and the god of thy fathers, of abraham, isma'il and isaac,- the one (true) allah: to him we bow (in islam)." p: or were ye present when death came to jacob, when he said unto his sons: what will ye worship after me? they said: we shall worship thy god, the god of thy fathers, abraham and ishmael and isaac, one allah, and unto him we have surrendered. s: nay! were you witnesses when death visited yaqoub, when he said to his sons: what will you serve after me? they said: we will serve your god and the god of your fathers, ibrahim and ismail and ishaq, one allah only, and to him do we submit. . y: that was a people that hath passed away. they shall reap the fruit of what they did, and ye of what ye do! of their merits there is no question in your case! p: those are a people who have passed away. theirs is that which they earned, and yours is that which ye earn. and ye will not be asked of what they used to do. s: this is a people that have passed away; they shall have what they earned and you shall have what you earn, and you shall not be called upon to answer for what they did. . y: they say: "become jews or christians if ye would be guided (to salvation)." say thou: "nay! (i would rather) the religion of abraham the true, and he joined not gods with allah." p: and they say: be jews or christians, then ye will be rightly guided. say (unto them, o muhammad): nay, but (we follow) the religion of abraham, the upright, and he was not of the idolaters. s: and they say: be jews or christians, you will be on the right course. say: nay! (we follow) the religion of ibrahim, the hanif, and he was not one of the polytheists. . y: say ye: "we believe in allah, and the revelation given to us, and to abraham, isma'il, isaac, jacob, and the tribes, and that given to moses and jesus, and that given to (all) prophets from their lord: we make no difference between one and another of them: and we bow to allah (in islam)." p: say (o muslims): we believe in allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto abraham, and ishmael, and isaac, and jacob, and the tribes, and that which moses and jesus received, and that which the prophets received from their lord. we make no distinction between any of them, and unto him we have surrendered. s: say: we believe in allah and (in) that which had been revealed to us, and (in) that which was revealed to ibrahim and ismail and ishaq and yaqoub and the tribes, and (in) that which was given to musa and isa, and (in) that which was given to the prophets from their lord, we do not make any distinction between any of them, and to him do we submit. . y: so if they believe as ye believe, they are indeed on the right path; but if they turn back, it is they who are in schism; but allah will suffice thee as against them, and he is the all-hearing, the all-knowing. p: and if they believe in the like of that which ye believe, then are they rightly guided. but if they turn away, then are they in schism, and allah will suffice thee (for defence) against them. he is the hearer, the knower. s: if then they believe as you believe in him, they are indeed on the right course, and if they turn back, then they are only in great opposition, so allah will suffice you against them, and he is the hearing, the knowing. . y: (our religion is) the baptism of allah: and who can baptize better than allah? and it is he whom we worship. p: (we take our) colour from allah, and who is better than allah at colouring. we are his worshippers. s: (receive) the baptism of allah, and who is better than allah in baptising? and him do we serve. . y: say: will ye dispute with us about allah, seeing that he is our lord and your lord; that we are responsible for our doings and ye for yours; and that we are sincere (in our faith) in him? p: say (unto the people of the scripture): dispute ye with us concerning allah when he is our lord and your lord? ours are our works and yours your works. we look to him alone. s: say: do you dispute with us about allah, and he is our lord and your lord, and we shall have our deeds and you shall have your deeds, and we are sincere to him. . y: or do ye say that abraham, isma'il isaac, jacob and the tribes were jews or christians? say: do ye know better than allah? ah! who is more unjust than those who conceal the testimony they have from allah? but allah is not unmindful of what ye do! p: or say ye that abraham, and ishmael, and isaac, and jacob, and the tribes were jews or christians? say: do ye know best, or doth allah? and who is more unjust than he who hideth a testimony which he hath received from allah? allah is not unaware of what ye do. s: nay! do you say that ibrahim and ismail and yaqoub and the tribes were jews or christians? say: are you better knowing or allah? and who is more unjust than he who conceals a testimony that he has from allah? and allah is not at all heedless of what you do. . y: that was a people that hath passed away. they shall reap the fruit of what they did, and ye of what ye do! of their merits there is no question in your case: p: those are a people who have passed away; theirs is that which they earned and yours that which ye earn. and ye will not be asked of what they used to do. s: this is a people that have passed away; they shall have what they earned and you shall have what you earn, and you shall not be called upon to answer for what they did. . y: the fools among the people will say: "what hath turned them from the qibla to which they were used?" say: to allah belong both east and west: he guideth whom he will to a way that is straight. p: the foolish of the people will say: what hath turned them from the qiblah which they formerly observed? say: unto allah belong the east and the west. he guideth whom he will unto a straight path. s: the fools among the people will say: what has turned them from their qiblah which they had? say: the east and the west belong only to allah; he guides whom he likes to the right path. . y: thus, have we made of you an ummat justly balanced, that ye might be witnesses over the nations, and the messenger a witness over yourselves; and we appointed the qibla to which thou wast used, only to test those who followed the messenger from those who would turn on their heels (from the faith). indeed it was (a change) momentous, except to those guided by allah. and never would allah make your faith of no effect. for allah is to all people most surely full of kindness, most merciful. p: thus we have appointed you a middle nation, that ye may be witnesses against mankind, and that the messenger may be a witness against you. and we appointed the qiblah which ye formerly observed only that we might know him who followeth the messenger, from him who turneth on his heels. in truth it was a hard (test) save for those whom allah guided. but it was not allah's purpose that your faith should be in vain, for allah is full of pity, merciful toward mankind. s: and thus we have made you a medium (just) nation that you may be the bearers of witness to the people and (that) the messenger may be a bearer of witness to you; and we did not make that which you would have to be the qiblah but that we might distinguish him who follows the messenger from him who turns back upon his heels, and this was surely hard except for those whom allah has guided aright; and allah was not going to make your faith to be fruitless; most surely allah is affectionate, merciful to the people. . y: we see the turning of thy face (for guidance) to the heavens: now shall we turn thee to a qibla that shall please thee. turn then thy face in the direction of the sacred mosque: wherever ye are, turn your faces in that direction. the people of the book know well that that is the truth from their lord. nor is allah unmindful of what they do. p: we have seen the turning of thy face to heaven (for guidance, o muhammad). and now verily we shall make thee turn (in prayer) toward a qiblah which is dear to thee. so turn thy face toward the inviolable place of worship, and ye (o muslims), wheresoever ye may be, turn your faces (when ye pray) toward it. lo! those who have received the scripture know that (this revelation) is the truth from their lord. and allah is not unaware of what they do. s: indeed we see the turning of your face to heaven, so we shall surely turn you to a qiblah which you shall like; turn then your face towards the sacred mosque, and wherever you are, turn your face towards it, and those who have been given the book most surely know that it is the truth from their lord; and allah is not at all heedless of what they do. . y: even if thou wert to bring to the people of the book all the signs (together), they would not follow thy qibla; nor art thou going to follow their qibla; nor indeed will they follow each other's qibla. if thou after the knowledge hath reached thee, wert to follow their (vain) desires,-then wert thou indeed (clearly) in the wrong. p: and even if thou broughtest unto those who have received the scripture all kinds of portents, they would not follow thy qiblah, nor canst thou be a follower of their qiblah; nor are some of them followers of the qiblah of others. and if thou shouldst follow their desires after the knowledge which hath come unto thee, then surely wert thou of the evil-doers. s: and even if you bring to those who have been given the book every sign they would not follow your qiblah, nor can you be a follower of their qiblah, neither are they the followers of each other's qiblah, and if you follow their desires after the knowledge that has come to you, then you shall most surely be among the unjust. . y: the people of the book know this as they know their own sons; but some of them conceal the truth which they themselves know. p: those unto whom we gave the scripture recognise (this revelation) as they recognise their sons. but lo! a party of them knowingly conceal the truth. s: those whom we have given the book recognize him as they recognize their sons, and a party of them most surely conceal the truth while they know (it). . y: the truth is from thy lord; so be not at all in doubt. p: it is the truth from thy lord (o muhammad), so be not thou of those who waver. s: the truth is from your lord, therefore you should not be of the doubters. . y: to each is a goal to which allah turns him; then strive together (as in a race) towards all that is good. wheresoever ye are, allah will bring you together. for allah hath power over all things. p: and each one hath a goal toward which he turneth; so vie with one another in good works. wheresoever ye may be, allah will bring you all together. lo! allah is able to do all things. s: and every one has a direction to which he should turn, therefore hasten to (do) good works; wherever you are, allah will bring you all together; surely allah has power over all things. . y: from whencesoever thou startest forth, turn thy face in the direction of the sacred mosque; that is indeed the truth from the lord. and allah is not unmindful of what ye do. p: and whencesoever thou comest forth (for prayer, o muhammad) turn thy face toward the inviolable place of worship. lo! it is the truth from thy lord. allah is not unaware of what ye do. s: and from whatsoever place you come forth, turn your face towards the sacred mosque; and surely it is the very truth from your lord, and allah is not at all heedless of what you do. . y: so from whencesoever thou startest forth, turn thy face in the direction of the sacred mosque; and wheresoever ye are, turn your face thither: that there be no ground of dispute against you among the people, except those of them that are bent on wickedness; so fear them not, but fear me; and that i may complete my favours on you, and ye may (consent to) be guided; p: whencesoever thou comest forth turn thy face toward the inviolable place of worship; and wheresoever ye may be (o muslims) turn your faces toward it (when ye pray) so that men may have no argument against you, save such of them as do injustice - fear them not, but fear me! - and so that i may complete my grace upon you, and that ye may be guided. s: and from whatsoever place you come forth, turn your face towards the sacred mosque; and wherever you are turn your faces towards it, so that people shall have no accusation against you, except such of them as are unjust; so do not fear them, and fear me, that i may complete my favor on you and that you may walk on the right course. . y: a similar (favour have ye already received) in that we have sent among you a messenger of your own, rehearsing to you our signs, and sanctifying you, and instructing you in scripture and wisdom, and in new knowledge. p: even as we have sent unto you a messenger from among you, who reciteth unto you our revelations and causeth you to grow, and teacheth you the scripture and wisdom, and teacheth you that which ye knew not. s: even as we have sent among you a messenger from among you who recites to you our communications and purifies you and teaches you the book and the wisdom and teaches you that which you did not know. . y: then do ye remember me; i will remember you. be grateful to me, and reject not faith. p: therefore remember me, i will remember you. give thanks to me, and reject not me. s: therefore remember me, i will remember you, and be thankful to me, and do not be ungrateful to me. . y: o ye who believe! seek help with patient perseverance and prayer; for allah is with those who patiently persevere. p: o ye who believe! seek help in steadfastness and prayer. lo! allah is with the steadfast. s: o you who believe! seek assistance through patience and prayer; surely allah is with the patient. . y: and say not of those who are slain in the way of allah: "they are dead." nay, they are living, though ye perceive (it) not. p: and call not those who are slain in the way of allah "dead." nay, they are living, only ye perceive not. s: and do not speak of those who are slain in allah's way as dead; nay, (they are) alive, but you do not perceive. . y: be sure we shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the fruits (of your toil), but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere, p: and surely we shall try you with something of fear and hunger, and loss of wealth and lives and crops; but give glad tidings to the steadfast, s: and we will most certainly try you with somewhat of fear and hunger and loss of property and lives and fruits; and give good news to the patient, . y: who say, when afflicted with calamity: "to allah we belong, and to him is our return":- p: who say, when a misfortune striketh them: lo! we are allah's and lo! unto him we are returning. s: who, when a misfortune befalls them, say: surely we are allah's and to him we shall surely return. . y: they are those on whom (descend) blessings from allah, and mercy, and they are the ones that receive guidance. p: such are they on whom are blessings from their lord, and mercy. such are the rightly guided. s: those are they on whom are blessings and mercy from their lord, and those are the followers of the right course. . y: behold! safa and marwa are among the symbols of allah. so if those who visit the house in the season or at other times, should compass them round, it is no sin in them. and if any one obeyeth his own impulse to good,- be sure that allah is he who recogniseth and knoweth. p: lo! (the mountains) as-safa and al-marwah are among the indications of allah. it is therefore no sin for him who is on pilgrimage to the house (of allah) or visiteth it, to go around them (as the pagan custom is). and he who doeth good of his own accord, (for him) lo! allah is responsive, aware. s: surely the safa and the marwa are among the signs appointed by allah; so whoever makes a pilgrimage to the house or pays a visit (to it), there is no blame on him if he goes round them both; and whoever does good spontaneously, then surely allah is grateful, knowing. . y: those who conceal the clear (signs) we have sent down, and the guidance, after we have made it clear for the people in the book,-on them shall be allah's curse, and the curse of those entitled to curse,- p: lo! those who hide the proofs and the guidance which we revealed, after we had made it clear to mankind in the scripture: such are accursed of allah and accursed of those who have the power to curse. s: surely those who conceal the clear proofs and the guidance that we revealed after we made it clear in the book for men, these it is whom allah shall curse, and those who curse shall curse them (too). . y: except those who repent and make amends and openly declare (the truth): to them i turn; for i am oft-returning, most merciful. p: except those who repent and amend and make manifest (the truth). these it is toward whom i relent. i am the relenting, the merciful. s: except those who repent and amend and make manifest (the truth), these it is to whom i turn (mercifully); and i am the oft-returning (to mercy), the merciful. . y: those who reject faith, and die rejecting,- on them is allah's curse, and the curse of angels, and of all mankind; p: lo! those who disbelieve, and die while they are disbelievers; on them is the curse of allah and of angels and of men combined. s: surely those who disbelieve and die while they are disbelievers, these it is on whom is the curse of allah and the angels and men all; . y: they will abide therein: their penalty will not be lightened, nor will respite be their (lot). p: they ever dwell therein. the doom will not be lightened for them, neither will they be reprieved. s: abiding in it; their chastisement shall not be lightened nor shall they be given respite. . y: and your allah is one allah: there is no god but he, most gracious, most merciful. p: your allah is one allah; there is no god save him, the beneficent, the merciful. s: and your allah is one allah! there is no god but he; he is the beneficent, the merciful. . y: behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth; in the alternation of the night and the day; in the sailing of the ships through the ocean for the profit of mankind; in the rain which allah sends down from the skies, and the life which he gives therewith to an earth that is dead; in the beasts of all kinds that he scatters through the earth; in the change of the winds, and the clouds which they trail like their slaves between the sky and the earth;- (here) indeed are signs for a people that are wise. p: lo! in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the difference of night and day, and the ships which run upon the sea with that which is of use to men, and the water which allah sendeth down from the sky, thereby reviving the earth after its death, and dispersing all kinds of beasts therein, and (in) the ordinance of the winds, and the clouds obedient between heaven and earth: are signs (of allah's sovereignty) for people who have sense. s: most surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day, and the ships that run in the sea with that which profits men, and the water that allah sends down from the cloud, then gives life with it to the earth after its death and spreads in it all (kinds of) animals, and the changing of the winds and the clouds made subservient between the heaven and the earth, there are signs for a people who understand. . y: yet there are men who take (for worship) others besides allah, as equal (with allah): they love them as they should love allah. but those of faith are overflowing in their love for allah. if only the unrighteous could see, behold, they would see the penalty: that to allah belongs all power, and allah will strongly enforce the penalty. p: yet of mankind are some who take unto themselves (objects of worship which they set as) rivals to allah, loving them with a love like (that which is the due) of allah (only) - those who believe are stauncher in their love for allah - oh, that those who do evil had but known, (on the day) when they behold the doom, that power belongeth wholly to allah, and that allah is severe in punishment! s: and there are some among men who take for themselves objects of worship besides allah, whom they love as they love allah, and those who believe are stronger in love for allah and o, that those who are unjust had seen, when they see the chastisement, that the power is wholly allah's and that allah is severe in requiting (evil). . y: then would those who are followed clear themselves of those who follow (them): they would see the penalty, and all relations between them would be cut off. p: (on the day) when those who were followed disown those who followed (them), and they behold the doom, and all their aims collapse with them. s: when those who were followed shall renounce those who followed (them), and they see the chastisement and their ties are cut asunder. . y: and those who followed would say: "if only we had one more chance, we would clear ourselves of them, as they have cleared themselves of us." thus will allah show them (the fruits of) their deeds as (nothing but) regrets. nor will there be a way for them out of the fire. p: and those who were but followers will say: if a return were possible for us, we would disown them even as they have disowned us. thus will allah show them their own deeds as anguish for them, and they will not emerge from the fire. s: and those who followed shall say: had there been for us a return, then we would renounce them as they have renounced us. thus will allah show them their deeds to be intense regret to them, and they shall not come forth from the fire. . y: o ye people! eat of what is on earth, lawful and good; and do not follow the footsteps of the evil one, for he is to you an avowed enemy. p: o mankind! eat of that which is lawful and wholesome in the earth, and follow not the footsteps of the devil. lo! he is an open enemy for you. s: o men! eat the lawful and good things out of what is in the earth, and do not follow the footsteps of the shaitan; surely he is your open enemy. . y: for he commands you what is evil and shameful, and that ye should say of allah that of which ye have no knowledge. p: he enjoineth upon you only the evil and the foul, and that ye should tell concerning allah that which ye know not. s: he only enjoins you evil and indecency, and that you may speak against allah what you do not know. . y: when it is said to them: "follow what allah hath revealed:" they say: "nay! we shall follow the ways of our fathers." what! even though their fathers were void of wisdom and guidance? p: and when it is said unto them: follow that which allah hath revealed, they say: we follow that wherein we found our fathers. what! even though their fathers were wholly unintelligent and had no guidance? s: and when it is said to them, follow what allah has revealed, they say: nay! we follow what we found our fathers upon. what! and though their fathers had no sense at all, nor did they follow the right way. . y: the parable of those who reject faith is as if one were to shout like a goat-herd, to things that listen to nothing but calls and cries: deaf, dumb, and blind, they are void of wisdom. p: the likeness of those who disbelieve (in relation to the messenger) is as the likeness of one who calleth unto that which heareth naught except a shout and cry. deaf, dumb, blind, therefore they have no sense. s: and the parable of those who disbelieve is as the parable of one who calls out to that which hears no more than a call and a cry; deaf, dumb (and) blind, so they do not understand. . y: o ye who believe! eat of the good things that we have provided for you, and be grateful to allah, if it is him ye worship. p: o ye who believe! eat of the good things wherewith we have provided you, and render thanks to allah if it is (indeed) he whom ye worship. s: o you who believe! eat of the good things that we have provided you with, and give thanks to allah if him it is that you serve. . y: he hath only forbidden you dead meat, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that on which any other name hath been invoked besides that of allah. but if one is forced by necessity, without wilful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits,- then is he guiltless. for allah is oft-forgiving most merciful. p: he hath forbidden you only carrion, and blood, and swineflesh, and that which hath been immolated to (the name of) any other than allah. but he who is driven by necessity, neither craving nor transgressing, it is no sin for him. lo! allah is forgiving, merciful. s: he has only forbidden you what dies of itself, and blood, and flesh of swine, and that over which any other (name) than (that of) allah has been invoked; but whoever is driven to necessity, not desiring, nor exceeding the limit, no sin shall be upon him; surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: those who conceal allah's revelations in the book, and purchase for them a miserable profit,- they swallow into themselves naught but fire; allah will not address them on the day of resurrection. nor purify them: grievous will be their penalty. p: lo! those who hide aught of the scripture which allah hath revealed and purchase a small gain therewith, they eat into their bellies nothing else than fire. allah will not speak to them on the day of resurrection, nor will he make them grow. theirs will be a painful doom. s: surely those who conceal any part of the book that allah has revealed and take for it a small price, they eat nothing but fire into their bellies, and allah will not speak to them on the day of resurrection, nor will he purify them, and they shall have a painful chastisement. . y: they are the ones who buy error in place of guidance and torment in place of forgiveness. ah! what boldness (they show) for the fire! p: those are they who purchase error at the price of guidance, and torment at the price of pardon. how constant are they in their strife to reach the fire! s: these are they who buy error for the right direction and chastisement for forgiveness; how bold they are to encounter fire. . y: (their doom is) because allah sent down the book in truth but those who seek causes of dispute in the book are in a schism far (from the purpose). p: that is because allah hath revealed the scripture with the truth. lo! those who find (a cause of) disagreement in the scripture are in open schism. s: this is because allah has revealed the book with the truth; and surely those who go against the book are in a great opposition. . y: it is not righteousness that ye turn your faces towards east or west; but it is righteousness- to believe in allah and the last day, and the angels, and the book, and the messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer, and practice regular charity; to fulfil the contracts which ye have made; and to be firm and patient, in pain (or suffering) and adversity, and throughout all periods of panic. such are the people of truth, the allah-fearing. p: it is not righteousness that ye turn your faces to the east and the west; but righteous is he who believeth in allah and the last day and the angels and the scripture and the prophets; and giveth wealth, for love of him, to kinsfolk and to orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and to those who ask, and to set slaves free; and observeth proper worship and payeth the poor-due. and those who keep their treaty when they make one, and the patient in tribulation and adversity and time of stress. such are they who are sincere. such are the allah-fearing. s: it is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards the east and the west, but righteousness is this that one should believe in allah and the last day and the angels and the book and the prophets, and give away wealth out of love for him to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for (the emancipation of) the captives, and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate; and the performers of their promise when they make a promise, and the patient in distress and affliction and in time of conflicts-- these are they who are true (to themselves) and these are they who guard (against evil). . y: o ye who believe! the law of equality is prescribed to you in cases of murder: the free for the free, the slave for the slave, the woman for the woman. but if any remission is made by the brother of the slain, then grant any reasonable demand, and compensate him with handsome gratitude, this is a concession and a mercy from your lord. after this whoever exceeds the limits shall be in grave penalty. p: o ye who believe! retaliation is prescribed for you in the matter of the murdered; the freeman for the freeman, and the slave for the slave, and the female for the female. and for him who is forgiven somewhat by his (injured) brother, prosecution according to usage and payment unto him in kindness. this is an alleviation and a mercy from your lord. he who transgresseth after this will have a painful doom. s: o you who believe! retaliation is prescribed for you in the matter of the slain, the free for the free, and the slave for the slave, and the female for the female, but if any remission is made to any one by his (aggrieved) brother, then prosecution (for the bloodwit) should be made according to usage, and payment should be made to him in a good manner; this is an alleviation from your lord and a mercy; so whoever exceeds the limit after this he shall have a painful chastisement. . y: in the law of equality there is (saving of) life to you, o ye men of understanding; that ye may restrain yourselves. p: and there is life for you in retaliation, o men of understanding, that ye may ward off (evil). s: and there is life for you in (the law of) retaliation, o men of understanding, that you may guard yourselves. . y: it is prescribed, when death approaches any of you, if he leave any goods that he make a bequest to parents and next of kin, according to reasonable usage; this is due from the allah-fearing. p: it is prescribed for you, when death approacheth one of you, if he leave wealth, that he bequeath unto parents and near relatives in kindness. (this is) a duty for all those who ward off (evil). s: bequest is prescribed for you when death approaches one of you, if he leaves behind wealth for parents and near relatives, according to usage, a duty (incumbent) upon those who guard (against evil). . y: if anyone changes the bequest after hearing it, the guilt shall be on those who make the change. for allah hears and knows all things. p: and whoso changeth (the will) after he hath heard it - the sin thereof is only upon those who change it. lo! allah is hearer, knower. s: whoever then alters it after he has heard it, the sin of it then is only upon those who alter it; surely allah is hearing, knowing. . y: but if anyone fears partiality or wrong-doing on the part of the testator, and makes peace between (the parties concerned), there is no wrong in him: for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: but he who feareth from a testator some unjust or sinful clause, and maketh peace between the parties, (it shall be) no sin for him. lo! allah is forgiving, merciful. s: but he who fears an inclination to a wrong course or an act of disobedience on the part of the testator, and effects an agreement between the parties, there is no blame on him. surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: o ye who believe! fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint,- p: o ye who believe! fasting is prescribed for you, even as it was prescribed for those before you, that ye may ward off (evil); s: o you who believe! fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may guard (against evil). . y: (fasting) for a fixed number of days; but if any of you is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed number (should be made up) from days later. for those who can do it (with hardship), is a ransom, the feeding of one that is indigent. but he that will give more, of his own free will,- it is better for him. and it is better for you that ye fast, if ye only knew. p: (fast) a certain number of days; and (for) him who is sick among you, or on a journey, (the same) number of other days; and for those who can afford it there is a ransom: the feeding of a man in need - but whoso doeth good of his own accord, it is better for him: and that ye fast is better for you if ye did but know - s: for a certain number of days; but whoever among you is sick or on a journey, then (he shall fast) a (like) number of other days; and those who are not able to do it may effect a redemption by feeding a poor man; so whoever does good spontaneously it is better for him; and that you fast is better for you if you know. . y: ramadhan is the (month) in which was sent down the qur'an, as a guide to mankind, also clear (signs) for guidance and judgment (between right and wrong). so every one of you who is present (at his home) during that month should spend it in fasting, but if any one is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed period (should be made up) by days later. allah intends every facility for you; he does not want to put to difficulties. (he wants you) to complete the prescribed period, and to glorify him in that he has guided you; and perchance ye shall be grateful. p: the month of ramadan in which was revealed the qur'an, a guidance for mankind, and clear proofs of the guidance, and the criterion (of right and wrong). and whosoever of you is present, let him fast the month, and whosoever of you is sick or on a journey, (let him fast the same) number of other days. allah desireth for you ease; he desireth not hardship for you; and (he desireth) that ye should complete the period, and that ye should magnify allah for having guided you, and that peradventure ye may be thankful. s: the month of ramazan is that in which the quran was revealed, a guidance to men and clear proofs of the guidance and the distinction; therefore whoever of you is present in the month, he shall fast therein, and whoever is sick or upon a journey, then (he shall fast) a (like) number of other days; allah desires ease for you, and he does not desire for you difficulty, and (he desires) that you should complete the number and that you should exalt the greatness of allah for his having guided you and that you may give thanks. . y: when my servants ask thee concerning me, i am indeed close (to them): i listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on me: let them also, with a will, listen to my call, and believe in me: that they may walk in the right way. p: and when my servants question thee concerning me, then surely i am nigh. i answer the prayer of the suppliant when he crieth unto me. so let them hear my call and let them trust in me, in order that they may be led aright. s: and when my servants ask you concerning me, then surely i am very near; i answer the prayer of the suppliant when he calls on me, so they should answer my call and believe in me that they may walk in the right way. . y: permitted to you, on the night of the fasts, is the approach to your wives. they are your garments and ye are their garments. allah knoweth what ye used to do secretly among yourselves; but he turned to you and forgave you; so now associate with them, and seek what allah hath ordained for you, and eat and drink, until the white thread of dawn appear to you distinct from its black thread; then complete your fast till the night appears; but do not associate with your wives while ye are in retreat in the mosques. those are limits (set by) allah: approach not nigh thereto. thus doth allah make clear his signs to men: that they may learn self-restraint. p: it is made lawful for you to go in unto your wives on the night of the fast. they are raiment for you and ye are raiment for them. allah is aware that ye were deceiving yourselves in this respect and he hath turned in mercy toward you and relieved you. so hold intercourse with them and seek that which allah hath ordained for you, and eat and drink until the white thread becometh distinct to you from the black thread of the dawn. then strictly observe the fast till nightfall and touch them not, but be at your devotions in the mosques. these are the limits imposed by allah, so approach them not. thus allah expoundeth his revelation to mankind that they may ward off (evil). s: it is made lawful to you to go into your wives on the night of the fast; they are an apparel for you and you are an apparel for them; allah knew that you acted unfaithfully to yourselves, so he has turned to you (mercifully) and removed from you (this burden); so now be in contact with them and seek what allah has ordained for you, and eat and drink until the whiteness of the day becomes distinct from the blackness of the night at dawn, then complete the fast till night, and have not contact with them while you keep to the mosques; these are the limits of allah, so do not go near them. thus does allah make clear his communications for men that they may guard (against evil). . y: and do not eat up your property among yourselves for vanities, nor use it as bait for the judges, with intent that ye may eat up wrongfully and knowingly a little of (other) people's property. p: and eat not up your property among yourselves in vanity, nor seek by it to gain the hearing of the judges that ye may knowingly devour a portion of the property of others wrongfully. s: and do not swallow up your property among yourselves by false means, neither seek to gain access thereby to the judges, so that you may swallow up a part of the property of men wrongfully while you know. . y: they ask thee concerning the new moons. say: they are but signs to mark fixed periods of time in (the affairs of) men, and for pilgrimage. it is no virtue if ye enter your houses from the back: it is virtue if ye fear allah. enter houses through the proper doors: and fear allah: that ye may prosper. p: they ask thee, (o muhammad), of new moons, say: they are fixed seasons for mankind and for the pilgrimage. it is not righteousness that ye go to houses by the backs thereof (as do the idolaters at certain seasons), but the righteous man is he who wardeth off (evil). so go to houses by the gates thereof, and observe your duty to allah, that ye may be successful. s: they ask you concerning the new moon. say: they are times appointed for (the benefit of) men, and (for) the pilgrimage; and it is not righteousness that you should enter the houses at their backs, but righteousness is this that one should guard (against evil); and go into the houses by their doors and be careful (of your duty) to allah, that you may be successful. . y: fight in the cause of allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for allah loveth not transgressors. p: fight in the way of allah against those who fight against you, but begin not hostilities. lo! allah loveth not aggressors. s: and fight in the way of allah with those who fight with you, and do not exceed the limits, surely allah does not love those who exceed the limits. . y: and slay them wherever ye catch them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out; for tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter; but fight them not at the sacred mosque, unless they (first) fight you there; but if they fight you, slay them. such is the reward of those who suppress faith. p: and slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution is worse than slaughter. and fight not with them at the inviolable place of worship until they first attack you there, but if they attack you (there) then slay them. such is the reward of disbelievers. s: and kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than slaughter, and do not fight with them at the sacred mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they do fight you, then slay them; such is the recompense of the unbelievers. . y: but if they cease, allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: but if they desist, then lo! allah is forgiving, merciful. s: but if they desist, then surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: and fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in allah; but if they cease, let there be no hostility except to those who practise oppression. p: and fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for allah. but if they desist, then let there be no hostility except against wrong-doers. s: and fight with them until there is no persecution, and religion should be only for allah, but if they desist, then there should be no hostility except against the oppressors. . y: the prohibited month for the prohibited month,- and so for all things prohibited,- there is the law of equality. if then any one transgresses the prohibition against you, transgress ye likewise against him. but fear allah, and know that allah is with those who restrain themselves. p: the forbidden month for the forbidden month, and forbidden things in retaliation. and one who attacketh you, attack him in like manner as he attacked you. observe your duty to allah, and know that allah is with those who ward off (evil). s: the sacred month for the sacred month and all sacred things are (under the law of) retaliation; whoever then acts aggressively against you, inflict injury on him according to the injury he has inflicted on you and be careful (of your duty) to allah and know that allah is with those who guard (against evil). . y: and spend of your substance in the cause of allah, and make not your own hands contribute to (your) destruction; but do good; for allah loveth those who do good. p: spend your wealth for the cause of allah, and be not cast by your own hands to ruin; and do good. lo! allah loveth the beneficent. s: and spend in the way of allah and cast not yourselves to perdition with your own hands, and do good (to others); surely allah loves the doers of good. . y: and complete the hajj or 'umra in the service of allah. but if ye are prevented (from completing it), send an offering for sacrifice, such as ye may find, and do not shave your heads until the offering reaches the place of sacrifice. and if any of you is ill, or has an ailment in his scalp, (necessitating shaving), (he should) in compensation either fast, or feed the poor, or offer sacrifice; and when ye are in peaceful conditions (again), if any one wishes to continue the 'umra on to the hajj, he must make an offering, such as he can afford, but if he cannot afford it, he should fast three days during the hajj and seven days on his return, making ten days in all. this is for those whose household is not in (the precincts of) the sacred mosque. and fear allah, and know that allah is strict in punishment. p: perform the pilgrimage and the visit (to makka) for allah. and if ye are prevented, then send such gifts as can be obtained with ease, and shave not your heads until the gifts have reached their destination. and whoever among you is sick or hath an ailment of the head must pay a ransom of fasting or almsgiving or offering. and if ye are in safety, then whosoever contenteth himself with the visit for the pilgrimage (shall give) such gifts as can be had with ease. and whosoever cannot find (such gifts), then a fast of three days while on the pilgrimage, and of seven when ye have returned; that is, ten in all. that is for him whoso folk are not present at the inviolable place of worship. observe your duty to allah, and know that allah is severe in punishment. s: and accomplish the pilgrimage and the visit for allah, but if, you are prevented, (send) whatever offering is easy to obtain, and do not shave your heads until the offering reaches its destination; but whoever among you is sick or has an ailment of the head, he (should effect) a compensation by fasting or alms or sacrificing, then when you are secure, whoever profits by combining the visit with the pilgrimage (should take) what offering is easy to obtain; but he who cannot find (any offering) should fast for three days during the pilgrimage and for seven days when you return; these (make) ten (days) complete; this is for him whose family is not present in the sacred mosque, and be careful (of your duty) to allah, and know that allah is severe in requiting (evil). . y: for hajj are the months well known. if any one undertakes that duty therein, let there be no obscenity, nor wickedness, nor wrangling in the hajj. and whatever good ye do, (be sure) allah knoweth it. and take a provision (with you) for the journey, but the best of provisions is right conduct. so fear me, o ye that are wise. p: the pilgrimage is (in) the well-known months, and whoever is minded to perform the pilgrimage therein (let him remember that) there is (to be) no lewdness nor abuse nor angry conversation on the pilgrimage. and whatsoever good ye do allah knoweth it. so make provision for yourselves (hereafter); for the best provision is to ward off evil. therefore keep your duty unto me, o men of understanding. s: the pilgrimage is (performed in) the well-known months; so whoever determines the performance of the pilgrimage therein, there shall be no intercourse nor fornication nor quarrelling amongst one another; and whatever good you do, allah knows it; and make provision, for surely the provision is the guarding of oneself, and be careful (of your duty) to me, o men of understanding. . y: it is no crime in you if ye seek of the bounty of your lord (during pilgrimage). then when ye pour down from (mount) arafat, celebrate the praises of allah at the sacred monument, and celebrate his praises as he has directed you, even though, before this, ye went astray. p: it is no sin for you that ye seek the bounty of your lord (by trading). but, when ye press on in the multitude from 'arafat, remember allah by the sacred monument. remember him as he hath guided you, although before ye were of those astray. s: there is no blame on you in seeking bounty from your lord, so when you hasten on from "arafat", then remember allah near the holy monument, and remember him as he has guided you, though before that you were certainly of the erring ones. . y: then pass on at a quick pace from the place whence it is usual for the multitude so to do, and ask for allah's forgiveness. for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: then hasten onward from the place whence the multitude hasteneth onward, and ask forgiveness of allah. lo! allah is forgiving, merciful. s: then hasten on from the place from which the people hasten on and ask the forgiveness of allah; surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: so when ye have accomplished your holy rites, celebrate the praises of allah, as ye used to celebrate the praises of your fathers,- yea, with far more heart and soul. there are men who say: "our lord! give us (thy bounties) in this world!" but they will have no portion in the hereafter. p: and when ye have completed your devotions, then remember allah as ye remember your fathers or with a more lively remembrance. but of mankind is he who saith: "our lord! give unto us in the world," and he hath no portion in the hereafter. s: so when you have performed your devotions, then laud allah as you lauded your fathers, rather a greater lauding. but there are some people who say, our lord! give us in the world, and they shall have no resting place. . y: and there are men who say: "our lord! give us good in this world and good in the hereafter, and defend us from the torment of the fire!" p: and of them (also) is he who saith: "our lord! give unto us in the world that which is good and in the hereafter that which is good, and guard us from the doom of fire." s: and there are some among them who say: our lord! grant us good in this world and good in the hereafter, and save us from the chastisement of the fire. . y: to these will be allotted what they have earned; and allah is quick in account. p: for them there is in store a goodly portion out of that which they have earned. allah is swift at reckoning. s: they shall have (their) portion of what they have earned, and allah is swift in reckoning. . y: celebrate the praises of allah during the appointed days. but if any one hastens to leave in two days, there is no blame on him, and if any one stays on, there is no blame on him, if his aim is to do right. then fear allah, and know that ye will surely be gathered unto him. p: remember allah through the appointed days. then whoso hasteneth (his departure) by two days, it is no sin for him, and whoso delayeth, it is no sin for him; that is for him who wardeth off (evil). be careful of your duty to allah, and know that unto him ye will be gathered. s: and laud allah during the numbered days; then whoever hastens off in two days, there is no blame on him, and whoever remains behind, there is no blame on him, (this is) for him who guards (against evil), and be careful (of your duty) to allah, and know that you shall be gathered together to him. . y: there is the type of man whose speech about this world's life may dazzle thee, and he calls allah to witness about what is in his heart; yet is he the most contentious of enemies. p: and of mankind there is he whoso conversation on the life of this world pleaseth thee (muhammad), and he calleth allah to witness as to that which is in his heart; yet he is the most rigid of opponents. s: and among men is he whose speech about the life of this world causes you to wonder, and he calls on allah to witness as to what is in his heart, yet he is the most violent of adversaries. . y: when he turns his back, his aim everywhere is to spread mischief through the earth and destroy crops and cattle. but allah loveth not mischief. p: and when he turneth away (from thee) his effort in the land is to make mischief therein and to destroy the crops and the cattle; and allah loveth not mischief. s: and when he turns back, he runs along in the land that he may cause mischief in it and destroy the tilth and the stock, and allah does not love mischief-making. . y: when it is said to him, "fear allah", he is led by arrogance to (more) crime. enough for him is hell;-an evil bed indeed (to lie on)! p: and when it is said unto him: be careful of thy duty to allah, pride taketh him to sin. hell will settle his account, an evil resting-place. s: and when it is said to him, guard against (the punishment of) allah; pride carries him off to sin, therefore hell is sufficient for him; and certainly it is an evil resting place. . y: and there is the type of man who gives his life to earn the pleasure of allah: and allah is full of kindness to (his) devotees. p: and of mankind is he who would sell himself, seeking the pleasure of allah; and allah hath compassion on (his) bondmen. s: and among men is he who sells himself to seek the pleasure of allah; and allah is affectionate to the servants. . y: o ye who believe! enter into islam whole-heartedly; and follow not the footsteps of the evil one; for he is to you an avowed enemy. p: o ye who believe! come, all of you, into submission (unto him); and follow not the footsteps of the devil. lo! he is an open enemy for you. s: o you who believe! enter into submission one and all and do not follow the footsteps of shaitan; surely he is your open enemy. . y: if ye backslide after the clear (signs) have come to you, then know that allah is exalted in power, wise. p: and if ye slide back after the clear proofs have come unto you, then know that allah is mighty, wise. s: but if you slip after clear arguments have come to you, then know that allah is mighty, wise. . y: will they wait until allah comes to them in canopies of clouds, with angels (in his train) and the question is (thus) settled? but to allah do all questions go back (for decision). p: wait they for naught else than that allah should come unto them in the shadows of the clouds with the angels? then the case would be already judged. all cases go back to allah (for judgment). s: they do not wait aught but that allah should come to them in the shadows of the clouds along with the angels, and the matter has (already) been decided; and (all) matters are returned to allah. . y: ask the children of israel how many clear (signs) we have sent them. but if any one, after allah's favour has come to him, substitutes (something else), allah is strict in punishment. p: ask of the children of israel how many a clear revelation we gave them! he who altereth the grace of allah after it hath come unto him (for him), lo! allah is severe in punishment. s: ask the israelites how many a clear sign have we given them; and whoever changes the favor of allah after it has come to him, then surely allah is severe in requiting (evil). . y: the life of this world is alluring to those who reject faith, and they scoff at those who believe. but the righteous will be above them on the day of resurrection; for allah bestows his abundance without measure on whom he will. p: beautified is the life of the world for those who disbelieve; they make a jest of the believers. but those who keep their duty to allah will be above them on the day of resurrection. allah giveth without stint to whom he will. s: the life of this world is made to seem fair to those who disbelieve, and they mock those who believe, and those who guard (against evil) shall be above them on the day of resurrection; and allah gives means of subsistence to whom he pleases without measure. . y: mankind was one single nation, and allah sent messengers with glad tidings and warnings; and with them he sent the book in truth, to judge between people in matters wherein they differed; but the people of the book, after the clear signs came to them, did not differ among themselves, except through selfish contumacy. allah by his grace guided the believers to the truth, concerning that wherein they differed. for allah guided whom he will to a path that is straight. p: mankind were one community, and allah sent (unto them) prophets as bearers of good tidings and as warners, and revealed therewith the scripture with the truth that it might judge between mankind concerning that wherein they differed. and only those unto whom (the scripture) was given differed concerning it, after clear proofs had come unto them, through hatred one of another. and allah by his will guided those who believe unto the truth of that concerning which they differed. allah guideth whom he will unto a straight path. s: (all) people are a single nation; so allah raised prophets as bearers of good news and as warners, and he revealed with them the book with truth, that it might judge between people in that in which they differed; and none but the very people who were given it differed about it after clear arguments had come to them, revolting among themselves; so allah has guided by his will those who believe to the truth about which they differed and allah guides whom he pleases to the right path. . y: or do ye think that ye shall enter the garden (of bliss) without such (trials) as came to those who passed away before you? they encountered suffering and adversity, and were so shaken in spirit that even the messenger and those of faith who were with him cried: "when (will come) the help of allah?" ah! verily, the help of allah is (always) near! p: or think ye that ye will enter paradise while yet there hath not come unto you the like of (that which came to) those who passed away before you? affliction and adversity befell them, they were shaken as with earthquake, till the messenger (of allah) and those who believed along with him said: when cometh allah's help? now surely allah's help is nigh. s: or do you think that you would enter the garden while yet the state of those who have passed away before you has not come upon you; distress and affliction befell them and they were shaken violently, so that the messenger and those who believed with him said: when will the help of allah come? now surely the help of allah is nigh! . y: they ask thee what they should spend (in charity). say: whatever ye spend that is good, is for parents and kindred and orphans and those in want and for wayfarers. and whatever ye do that is good,- allah knoweth it well. p: they ask thee, (o muhammad), what they shall spend. say: that which ye spend for good (must go) to parents and near kindred and orphans and the needy and the wayfarer. and whatsoever good ye do, lo! allah is aware of it. s: they ask you as to what they should spend. say: whatever wealth you spend, it is for the parents and the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer, and whatever good you do, allah surely knows it. . y: fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. but it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. but allah knoweth, and ye know not. p: warfare is ordained for you, though it is hateful unto you; but it may happen that ye hate a thing which is good for you, and it may happen that ye love a thing which is bad for you. allah knoweth, ye know not. s: fighting is enjoined on you, and it is an object of dislike to you; and it may be that you dislike a thing while it is good for you, and it may be that you love a thing while it is evil for you, and allah knows, while you do not know. . y: they ask thee concerning fighting in the prohibited month. say: "fighting therein is a grave (offence); but graver is it in the sight of allah to prevent access to the path of allah, to deny him, to prevent access to the sacred mosque, and drive out its members." tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter. nor will they cease fighting you until they turn you back from your faith if they can. and if any of you turn back from their faith and die in unbelief, their works will bear no fruit in this life and in the hereafter; they will be companions of the fire and will abide therein. p: they question thee (o muhammad) with regard to warfare in the sacred month. say: warfare therein is a great (transgression), but to turn (men) from the way of allah, and to disbelieve in him and in the inviolable place of worship, and to expel his people thence, is a greater sin with allah; for persecution is worse than killing. and they will not cease from fighting against you till they have made you renegades from your religion, if they can. and whoso becometh a renegade and dieth in his disbelief: such are they whose works have fallen both in the world and the hereafter. such are rightful owners of the fire: they will abide therein. s: they ask you concerning the sacred month about fighting in it. say: fighting in it is a grave matter, and hindering (men) from allah's way and denying him, and (hindering men from) the sacred mosque and turning its people out of it, are still graver with allah, and persecution is graver than slaughter; and they will not cease fighting with you until they turn you back from your religion, if they can; and whoever of you turns back from his religion, then he dies while an unbeliever-- these it is whose works shall go for nothing in this world and the hereafter, and they are the inmates of the fire; therein they shall abide. . y: those who believed and those who suffered exile and fought (and strove and struggled) in the path of allah,- they have the hope of the mercy of allah: and allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: lo! those who believe, and those who emigrate (to escape the persecution) and strive in the way of allah, these have hope of allah's mercy. allah is forgiving, merciful. s: surely those who believed and those who fled (their home) and strove hard in the way of allah these hope for the mercy of allah and allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: they ask thee concerning wine and gambling. say: "in them is great sin, and some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit." they ask thee how much they are to spend; say: "what is beyond your needs." thus doth allah make clear to you his signs: in order that ye may consider- p: they question thee about strong drink and games of chance. say: in both is great sin, and (some) utility for men; but the sin of them is greater than their usefulness. and they ask thee what they ought to spend. say: that which is superfluous. thus allah maketh plain to you (his) revelations, that haply ye may reflect. s: they ask you about intoxicants and games of chance. say: in both of them there is a great sin and means of profit for men, and their sin is greater than their profit. and they ask you as to what they should spend. say: what you can spare. thus does allah make clear to you the communications, that you may ponder, . y: (their bearings) on this life and the hereafter. they ask thee concerning orphans. say: "the best thing to do is what is for their good; if ye mix their affairs with yours, they are your brethren; but allah knows the man who means mischief from the man who means good. and if allah had wished, he could have put you into difficulties: he is indeed exalted in power, wise." p: upon the world and the hereafter. and they question thee concerning orphans. say: to improve their lot is best. and if ye mingle your affairs with theirs, then (they are) your brothers. allah knoweth him who spoileth from him who improveth. had allah willed he could have overburdened you. allah is mighty, wise. s: on this world and the hereafter. and they ask you concerning the orphans say: to set right for them (their affairs) is good, and if you become co-partners with them, they are your brethren; and allah knows the mischief-maker and the pacemaker, and if allah had pleased, he would certainly have caused you to fall into a difficulty; surely allah is mighty, wise. . y: do not marry unbelieving women (idolaters), until they believe: a slave woman who believes is better than an unbelieving woman, even though she allures you. nor marry (your girls) to unbelievers until they believe: a man slave who believes is better than an unbeliever, even though he allures you. unbelievers do (but) beckon you to the fire. but allah beckons by his grace to the garden (of bliss) and forgiveness, and makes his signs clear to mankind: that they may celebrate his praise. p: wed not idolatresses till they believe; for lo! a believing bondwoman is better than an idolatress though she please you; and give not your daughters in marriage to idolaters till they believe, for lo! a believing slave is better than an idolater though he please you. these invite unto the fire, and allah inviteth unto the garden, and unto forgiveness by his grace, and expoundeth his revelations to mankind that haply they may remember. s: and do not marry the idolatresses until they believe, and certainly a believing maid is better than an idolatress woman, even though she should please you; and do not give (believing women) in marriage to idolaters until they believe, and certainly a believing servant is better than an idolater, even though he should please you; these invite to the fire, and allah invites to the garden and to forgiveness by his will, and makes clear his communications to men, that they may be mindful. . y: they ask thee concerning women's courses. say: they are a hurt and a pollution: so keep away from women in their courses, and do not approach them until they are clean. but when they have purified themselves, ye may approach them in any manner, time, or place ordained for you by allah. for allah loves those who turn to him constantly and he loves those who keep themselves pure and clean. p: they question thee (o muhammad) concerning menstruation. say: it is an illness, so let women alone at such times and go not in unto them till they are cleansed. and when they have purified themselves, then go in unto them as allah hath enjoined upon you. truly allah loveth those who turn unto him, and loveth those who have a care for cleanness. s: and they ask you about menstruation. say: it is a discomfort; therefore keep aloof from the women during the menstrual discharge and do not go near them until they have become clean; then when they have cleansed themselves, go in to them as allah has commanded you; surely allah loves those who turn much (to him), and he loves those who purify themselves. . y: your wives are as a tilth unto you; so approach your tilth when or how ye will; but do some good act for your souls beforehand; and fear allah. and know that ye are to meet him (in the hereafter), and give (these) good tidings to those who believe. p: your women are a tilth for you (to cultivate) so go to your tilth as ye will, and send (good deeds) before you for your souls, and fear allah, and know that ye will (one day) meet him. give glad tidings to believers, (o muhammad). s: your wives are a tilth for you, so go into your tilth when you like, and do good beforehand for yourselves, and be careful (of your duty) to allah, and know that you will meet him, and give good news to the believers. . y: and make not allah's (name) an excuse in your oaths against doing good, or acting rightly, or making peace between persons; for allah is one who heareth and knoweth all things. p: and make not allah, by your oaths, a hindrance to your being righteous and observing your duty unto him and making peace among mankind. allah is hearer, knower. s: and make not allah because of your swearing (by him) an obstacle to your doing good and guarding (against evil) and making peace between men, and allah is hearing, knowing. . y: allah will not call you to account for thoughtlessness in your oaths, but for the intention in your hearts; and he is oft-forgiving, most forbearing. p: allah will not take you to task for that which is unintentional in your oaths. but he will take you to task for that which your hearts have garnered. allah is forgiving, clement. s: allah does not call you to account for what is vain in your oaths, but he will call you to account for what your hearts have earned, and allah is forgiving, forbearing. . y: for those who take an oath for abstention from their wives, a waiting for four months is ordained; if then they return, allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: those who forswear their wives must wait four months; then, if they change their mind, lo! allah is forgiving, merciful. s: those who swear that they will not go in to their wives should wait four months; so if they go back, then allah is surely forgiving, merciful. . y: but if their intention is firm for divorce, allah heareth and knoweth all things. p: and if they decide upon divorce (let them remember that) allah is hearer, knower. s: and if they have resolved on a divorce, then allah is surely hearing, knowing. . y: divorced women shall wait concerning themselves for three monthly periods. nor is it lawful for them to hide what allah hath created in their wombs, if they have faith in allah and the last day. and their husbands have the better right to take them back in that period, if they wish for reconciliation. and women shall have rights similar to the rights against them, according to what is equitable; but men have a degree (of advantage) over them. and allah is exalted in power, wise. p: women who are divorced shall wait, keeping themselves apart, three (monthly) courses. and it is not lawful for them that they should conceal that which allah hath created in their wombs if they are believers in allah and the last day. and their husbands would do better to take them back in that case if they desire a reconciliation. and they (women) have rights similar to those (of men) over them in kindness, and men are a degree above them. allah is mighty, wise. s: and the divorced women should keep themselves in waiting for three courses; and it is not lawful for them that they should conceal what allah has created in their wombs, if they believe in allah and the last day; and their husbands have a better right to take them back in the meanwhile if they wish for reconciliation; and they have rights similar to those against them in a just manner, and the men are a degree above them, and allah is mighty, wise. . y: a divorce is only permissible twice: after that, the parties should either hold together on equitable terms, or separate with kindness. it is not lawful for you, (men), to take back any of your gifts (from your wives), except when both parties fear that they would be unable to keep the limits ordained by allah. if ye (judges) do indeed fear that they would be unable to keep the limits ordained by allah, there is no blame on either of them if she give something for her freedom. these are the limits ordained by allah; so do not transgress them if any do transgress the limits ordained by allah, such persons wrong (themselves as well as others). p: divorce must be pronounced twice and then (a woman) must be retained in honour or released in kindness. and it is not lawful for you that ye take from women aught of that which ye have given them; except (in the case) when both fear that they may not be able to keep within the limits (imposed by) allah. and if ye fear that they may not be able to keep the limits of allah, in that case it is no sin for either of them if the woman ransom herself. these are the limits (imposed by) allah. transgress them not. for whoso transgresseth allah's limits: such are wrong-doers. s: divorce may be (pronounced) twice, then keep (them) in good fellowship or let (them) go with kindness; and it is not lawful for you to take any part of what you have given them, unless both fear that they cannot keep within the limits of allah; then if you fear that they cannot keep within the limits of allah, there is no blame on them for what she gives up to become free thereby. these are the limits of allah, so do not exceed them and whoever exceeds the limits of allah these it is that are the unjust. . y: so if a husband divorces his wife (irrevocably), he cannot, after that, re-marry her until after she has married another husband and he has divorced her. in that case there is no blame on either of them if they re-unite, provided they feel that they can keep the limits ordained by allah. such are the limits ordained by allah, which he makes plain to those who understand. p: and if he hath divorced her (the third time), then she is not lawful unto him thereafter until she hath wedded another husband. then if he (the other husband) divorce her it is no sin for both of them that they come together again if they consider that they are able to observe the limits of allah. these are the limits of allah. he manifesteth them for people who have knowledge. s: so if he divorces her she shall not be lawful to him afterwards until she marries another husband; then if he divorces her there is no blame on them both if they return to each other (by marriage), if they think that they can keep within the limits of allah, and these are the limits of allah which he makes clear for a people who know. . y: when ye divorce women, and they fulfil the term of their ('iddat), either take them back on equitable terms or set them free on equitable terms; but do not take them back to injure them, (or) to take undue advantage; if any one does that; he wrongs his own soul. do not treat allah's signs as a jest, but solemnly rehearse allah's favours on you, and the fact that he sent down to you the book and wisdom, for your instruction. and fear allah, and know that allah is well acquainted with all things. p: when ye have divorced women, and they have reached their term, then retain them in kindness or release them in kindness. retain them not to their hurt so that ye transgress (the limits). he who doeth that hath wronged his soul. make not the revelations of allah a laughing-stock (by your behaviour), but remember allah's grace upon you and that which he hath revealed unto you of the scripture and of wisdom, whereby he doth exhort you. observe your duty to allah and know that allah is aware of all things. s: and when you divorce women and they reach their prescribed time, then either retain them in good fellowship or set them free with liberality, and do not retain them for injury, so that you exceed the limits, and whoever does this, he indeed is unjust to his own soul; and do not take allah's communications for a mockery, and remember the favor of allah upon you, and that which he has revealed to you of the book and the wisdom, admonishing you thereby; and be careful (of your duty to) allah, and know that allah is the knower of all things. . y: when ye divorce women, and they fulfil the term of their ('iddat), do not prevent them from marrying their (former) husbands, if they mutually agree on equitable terms. this instruction is for all amongst you, who believe in allah and the last day. that is (the course making for) most virtue and purity amongst you and allah knows, and ye know not. p: and when ye have divorced women and they reach their term, place not difficulties in the way of their marrying their husbands if it is agreed between them in kindness. this is an admonition for him among you who believeth in allah and the last day. that is more virtuous for you, and cleaner. allah knoweth; ye know not. s: and when you have divorced women and they have ended-- their term (of waiting), then do not prevent them from marrying their husbands when they agree among themselves in a lawful manner; with this is admonished he among you who believes in allah and the last day, this is more profitable and purer for you; and allah knows while you do not know. . y: the mothers shall give suck to their offspring for two whole years, if the father desires to complete the term. but he shall bear the cost of their food and clothing on equitable terms. no soul shall have a burden laid on it greater than it can bear. no mother shall be treated unfairly on account of her child. nor father on account of his child, an heir shall be chargeable in the same way. if they both decide on weaning, by mutual consent, and after due consultation, there is no blame on them. if ye decide on a foster-mother for your offspring, there is no blame on you, provided ye pay (the mother) what ye offered, on equitable terms. but fear allah and know that allah sees well what ye do. p: mothers shall suckle their children for two whole years; (that is) for those who wish to complete the suckling. the duty of feeding and clothing nursing mothers in a seemly manner is upon the father of the child. no-one should be charged beyond his capacity. a mother should not be made to suffer because of her child, nor should he to whom the child is born (be made to suffer) because of his child. and on the (father's) heir is incumbent the like of that (which was incumbent on the father). if they desire to wean the child by mutual consent and (after) consultation, it is no sin for them; and if ye wish to give your children out to nurse, it is no sin for you, provide that ye pay what is due from you in kindness. observe your duty to allah, and know that allah is seer of what ye do. s: and the mothers should suckle their children for two whole years for him who desires to make complete the time of suckling; and their maintenance and their clothing must be-- borne by the father according to usage; no soul shall have imposed upon it a duty but to the extent of its capacity; neither shall a mother be made to suffer harm on account of her child, nor a father on account of his child, and a similar duty (devolves) on the (father's) heir, but if both desire weaning by mutual consent and counsel, there is no blame on them, and if you wish to engage a wet-nurse for your children, there is no blame on you so long as you pay what you promised for according to usage; and be careful of (your duty to) allah and know that allah sees what you do. . y: if any of you die and leave widows behind, they shall wait concerning themselves four months and ten days: when they have fulfilled their term, there is no blame on you if they dispose of themselves in a just and reasonable manner. and allah is well acquainted with what ye do. p: such of you as die and leave behind them wives, they (the wives) shall wait, keeping themselves apart, four months and ten days. and when they reach the term (prescribed for them) then there is no sin for you in aught that they may do with themselves in decency. allah is informed of what ye do. s: and (as for) those of you who die and leave wives behind, they should keep themselves in waiting for four months and ten days; then when they have fully attained their term, there is no blame on you for what they do for themselves in a lawful manner; and allah is aware of what you do. . y: there is no blame on you if ye make an offer of betrothal or hold it in your hearts. allah knows that ye cherish them in your hearts: but do not make a secret contract with them except in terms honourable, nor resolve on the tie of marriage till the term prescribed is fulfilled. and know that allah knoweth what is in your hearts, and take heed of him; and know that allah is oft-forgiving, most forbearing. p: there is no sin for you in that which ye proclaim or hide in your minds concerning your troth with women. allah knoweth that ye will remember them. but plight not your troth with women except by uttering a recognised form of words. and do not consummate the marriage until (the term) prescribed is run. know that allah knoweth what is in your minds, so beware of him; and know that allah is forgiving, clement. s: and there is no blame on you respecting that which you speak indirectly in the asking of (such) women in marriage or keep (the proposal) concealed within your minds; allah knows that you will mention them, but do not give them a promise in secret unless you speak in a lawful manner, and do not confirm the marriage tie until the writing is fulfilled, and know that allah knows what is in your minds, therefore beware of him, and know that allah is forgiving, forbearing. . y: there is no blame on you if ye divorce women before consummation or the fixation of their dower; but bestow on them (a suitable gift), the wealthy according to his means, and the poor according to his means;- a gift of a reasonable amount is due from those who wish to do the right thing. p: it is no sin for you if ye divorce women while yet ye have not touched them, nor appointed unto them a portion. provide for them, the rich according to his means, and the straitened according to his means, a fair provision. (this is) a bounden duty for those who do good. s: there is no blame on you if you divorce women when you have not touched them or appointed for them a portion, and make provision for them, the wealthy according to his means and the straitened in circumstances according to his means, a provision according to usage; (this is) a duty on the doers of good (to others). . y: and if ye divorce them before consummation, but after the fixation of a dower for them, then the half of the dower (is due to them), unless they remit it or (the man's half) is remitted by him in whose hands is the marriage tie; and the remission (of the man's half) is the nearest to righteousness. and do not forget liberality between yourselves. for allah sees well all that ye do. p: if ye divorce them before ye have touched them and ye have appointed unto them a portion, then (pay the) half of that which ye appointed, unless they (the women) agree to forgo it, or he agreeth to forgo it in whose hand is the marriage tie. to forgo is nearer to piety. and forget not kindness among yourselves. allah is seer of what ye do. s: and if you divorce them before you have touched them and you have appointed for them a portion, then (pay to them) half of what you have appointed, unless they relinquish or he should relinquish in whose hand is the marriage tie; and it is nearer to righteousness that you should relinquish; and do not neglect the giving of free gifts between you; surely allah sees what you do. . y: guard strictly your (habit of) prayers, especially the middle prayer; and stand before allah in a devout (frame of mind). p: be guardians of your prayers, and of the midmost prayer, and stand up with devotion to allah. s: attend constantly to prayers and to the middle prayer and stand up truly obedient to allah. . y: if ye fear (an enemy), pray on foot, or riding, (as may be most convenient), but when ye are in security, celebrate allah's praises in the manner he has taught you, which ye knew not (before). p: and if ye go in fear, then (pray) standing or on horseback. and when ye are again in safety, remember allah, as he hath taught you that which (heretofore) ye knew not. s: but if you are in danger, then (say your prayers) on foot or on horseback; and when you are secure, then remember allah, as. he has taught you what you did not know. . y: those of you who die and leave widows should bequeath for their widows a year's maintenance and residence; but if they leave (the residence), there is no blame on you for what they do with themselves, provided it is reasonable. and allah is exalted in power, wise. p: (in the case of) those of you who are about to die and leave behind them wives, they should bequeath unto their wives a provision for the year without turning them out, but if they go out (of their own accord) there is no sin for you in that which they do of themselves within their rights. allah is mighty, wise. s: and those of you who die and leave wives behind, (make) a bequest in favor of their wives of maintenance for a year without turning (them) out, then if they themselves go away, there is no blame on you for what they do of lawful deeds by themselves, and allah is mighty, wise. . y: for divorced women maintenance (should be provided) on a reasonable (scale). this is a duty on the righteous. p: for divorced women a provision in kindness: a duty for those who ward off (evil). s: and for the divorced women (too) provision (must be made) according to usage; (this is) a duty on those who guard (against evil). . y: thus doth allah make clear his signs to you: in order that ye may understand. p: thus allah expoundeth unto you his revelations so that ye may understand. s: allah thus makes clear to you his communications that you may understand. . y: didst thou not turn by vision to those who abandoned their homes, though they were thousands (in number), for fear of death? allah said to them: "die": then he restored them to life. for allah is full of bounty to mankind, but most of them are ungrateful. p: bethink thee (o muhammad) of those of old, who went forth from their habitations in their thousands, fearing death, and allah said unto them: die; and then he brought them back to life. lo! allah is a lord of kindness to mankind, but most of mankind give not thanks. s: have you not considered those who went forth from their homes, for fear of death, and they were thousands, then allah said to them, die; again he gave them life; most surely allah is gracious to people, but most people are not grateful. . y: then fight in the cause of allah, and know that allah heareth and knoweth all things. p: fight in the way of allah, and know that allah is hearer, knower. s: and fight in the way of allah, and know that allah is hearing, knowing. . y: who is he that will loan to allah a beautiful loan, which allah will double unto his credit and multiply many times? it is allah that giveth (you) want or plenty, and to him shall be your return. p: who is it that will lend unto allah a goodly loan, so that he may give it increase manifold? allah straiteneth and enlargeth. unto him ye will return. s: who is it that will offer of allah a goodly gift, so he will multiply it to him manifold, and allah straitens and amplifies, and you shall be returned to him. . y: hast thou not turned thy vision to the chiefs of the children of israel after (the time of) moses? they said to a prophet (that was) among them: "appoint for us a king, that we may fight in the cause of allah." he said: "is it not possible, if ye were commanded to fight, that that ye will not fight?" they said: "how could we refuse to fight in the cause of allah, seeing that we were turned out of our homes and our families?" but when they were commanded to fight, they turned back, except a small band among them. but allah has full knowledge of those who do wrong. p: bethink thee of the leaders of the children of israel after moses, how they said unto a prophet whom they had: set up for us a king and we will fight in allah's way. he said: would ye then refrain from fighting if fighting were prescribed for you? they said: why should we not fight in allah's way when we have been driven from our dwellings with our children? yet, when fighting was prescribed for them, they turned away, all save a few of them. allah is aware of evil-doers. s: have you not considered the chiefs of the children of israel after musa, when they said to a prophet of theirs: raise up for us a king, (that) we may fight in the way of allah. he said: may it not be that you would not fight if fighting is ordained for you? they said: and what reason have we that we should not fight in the way of allah, and we have indeed been compelled to abandon our homes and our children. but when fighting was ordained for them, they turned back, except a few of them, and allah knows the unjust. . y: their prophet said to them: "allah hath appointed talut as king over you." they said: "how can he exercise authority over us when we are better fitted than he to exercise authority, and he is not even gifted, with wealth in abundance?" he said: "allah hath chosen him above you, and hath gifted him abundantly with knowledge and bodily prowess: allah granteth his authority to whom he pleaseth. allah careth for all, and he knoweth all things." p: their prophet said unto them: lo! allah hath raised up saul to be a king for you. they said: how can he have kingdom over us when we are more deserving of the kingdom than he is, since he hath not been given wealth enough? he said: lo! allah hath chosen him above you, and hath increased him abundantly in wisdom and stature. allah bestoweth his sovereignty on whom he will. allah is all-embracing, all-knowing. s: and their prophet said to them: surely allah has raised talut to be a king over you. they said: how can he hold kingship over us while we have a greater right to kingship than he, and he has not been granted an abundance of wealth? he said: surely allah has chosen him in preference to you, and he has increased him abundantly in knowledge and physique, and allah grants his kingdom to whom he pleases, and allah is amplegiving, knowing. . y: and (further) their prophet said to them: "a sign of his authority is that there shall come to you the ark of the covenant, with (an assurance) therein of security from your lord, and the relics left by the family of moses and the family of aaron, carried by angels. in this is a symbol for you if ye indeed have faith." p: and their prophet said unto them: lo! the token of his kingdom is that there shall come unto you the ark wherein is peace of reassurance from your lord, and a remnant of that which the house of moses and the house of aaron left behind, the angels bearing it. lo! herein shall be a token for you if (in truth) ye are believers. s: and the prophet said to them: surely the sign of his kingdom is, that there shall come to you the chest in which there is tranquillity from your lord and residue of the relics of what the children of musa and the children of haroun have left, the angels bearing it; most surely there is a sign in this for those who believe. . y: when talut set forth with the armies, he said: "allah will test you at the stream: if any drinks of its water, he goes not with my army: only those who taste not of it go with me: a mere sip out of the hand is excused." but they all drank of it, except a few. when they crossed the river,- he and the faithful ones with him,- they said: "this day we cannot cope with goliath and his forces." but those who were convinced that they must meet allah, said: "how oft, by allah's will, hath a small force vanquished a big one? allah is with those who steadfastly persevere." p: and when saul set out with the army, he said: lo! allah will try you by (the ordeal of) a river. whosoever therefore drinketh thereof he is not of me, and whosoever tasteth it not he is of me, save him who taketh (thereof) in the hollow of his hand. but they drank thereof, all save a few of them. and after he had crossed (the river), he and those who believed with him, they said: we have no power this day against goliath and his hosts. but those who knew that they would meet allah exclaimed: how many a little company hath overcome a mighty host by allah's leave! allah is with the steadfast. s: so when talut departed with the forces, he said: surely allah will try you with a river; whoever then drinks from it, he is not of me, and whoever does not taste of it, he is surely of me, except he who takes with his hand as much of it as fills the hand; but with the exception of a few of them they drank from it. so when he had crossed it, he and those who believed with him, they said: we have today no power against jalut and his forces. those who were sure that they would meet their lord said: how often has a small party vanquished a numerous host by allah's permission, and allah is with the patient. . y: when they advanced to meet goliath and his forces, they prayed: "our lord! pour out constancy on us and make our steps firm: help us against those that reject faith." p: and when they went into the field against goliath and his hosts they said: our lord! bestow on us endurance, make our foothold sure, and give us help against the disbelieving folk. s: and when they went out against jalut and his forces they said: our lord, pour down upon us patience, and make our steps firm and assist us against the unbelieving people. . y: by allah's will they routed them; and david slew goliath; and allah gave him power and wisdom and taught him whatever (else) he willed. and did not allah check one set of people by means of another, the earth would indeed be full of mischief: but allah is full of bounty to all the worlds. p: so they routed them by allah's leave and david slew goliath; and allah gave him the kingdom and wisdom, and taught him of that which he willeth. and if allah had not repelled some men by others the earth would have been corrupted. but allah is a lord of kindness to (his) creatures. s: so they put them to flight by allah's permission. and dawood slew jalut, and allah gave him kingdom and wisdom, and taught him of what he pleased. and were it not for allah's repelling some men with others, the earth would certainly be in a state of disorder; but allah is gracious to the creatures. . y: these are the signs of allah: we rehearse them to thee in truth: verily thou art one of the messengers. p: these are the portents of allah which we recite unto thee (muhammad) with truth, and lo! thou art of the number of (our) messengers; s: these are the communications of allah: we recite them to you with truth; and most surely you are (one) of the messengers. . y: those messengers we endowed with gifts, some above others: to one of them allah spoke; others he raised to degrees (of honour); to jesus the son of mary we gave clear (signs), and strengthened him with the holy spirit. if allah had so willed, succeeding generations would not have fought among each other, after clear (signs) had come to them, but they (chose) to wrangle, some believing and others rejecting. if allah had so willed, they would not have fought each other; but allah fulfilleth his plan. p: of those messengers, some of whom we have caused to excel others, and of whom there are some unto whom allah spake, while some of them he exalted (above others) in degree; and we gave jesus, son of mary, clear proofs (of allah's sovereignty) and we supported him with the holy spirit. and if allah had so wiled it, those who followed after them would not have fought one with another after the clear proofs had come unto them. but they differed, some of them believing and some disbelieving. and if allah had so willed it, they would not have fought one with another; but allah doeth what he will. s: we have made some of these messengers to excel the others among them are they to whom allah spoke, and some of them he exalted by (many degrees of) rank; and we gave clear miracles to isa son of marium, and strengthened him with the holy spirit. and if allah had pleased, those after them would not have fought one with another after clear arguments had come to them, but they disagreed; so there were some of them who believed and others who denied; and if allah had pleased they would not have fought one with another, but allah brings about what he intends. . y: o ye who believe! spend out of (the bounties) we have provided for you, before the day comes when no bargaining (will avail), nor friendship nor intercession. those who reject faith they are the wrong-doers. p: o ye who believe! spend of that wherewith we have provided you ere a day come when there will be no trafficking, nor friendship, nor intercession. the disbelievers, they are the wrong-doers. s: o you who believe! spend out of what we have given you before the day comes in which there is no bargaining, neither any friendship nor intercession, and the unbelievers-- they are the unjust. . y: allah! there is no god but he,-the living, the self-subsisting, eternal. no slumber can seize him nor sleep. his are all things in the heavens and on earth. who is there can intercede in his presence except as he permitteth? he knoweth what (appeareth to his creatures as) before or after or behind them. nor shall they compass aught of his knowledge except as he willeth. his throne doth extend over the heavens and the earth, and he feeleth no fatigue in guarding and preserving them for he is the most high, the supreme (in glory). p: allah! there is no deity save him, the alive, the eternal. neither slumber nor sleep overtaketh him. unto him belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. who is he that intercedeth with him save by his leave? he knoweth that which is in front of them and that which is behind them, while they encompass nothing of his knowledge save what he will. his throne includeth the heavens and the earth, and he is never weary of preserving them. he is the sublime, the tremendous. s: allah is he besides whom there is no god, the everliving, the self-subsisting by whom all subsist; slumber does not overtake him nor sleep; whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is his; who is he that can intercede with him but by his permission? he knows what is before them and what is behind them, and they cannot comprehend anything out of his knowledge except what he pleases, his knowledge extends over the heavens and the earth, and the preservation of them both tires him not, and he is the most high, the great. . y: let there be no compulsion in religion: truth stands out clear from error: whoever rejects evil and believes in allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. and allah heareth and knoweth all things. p: there is no compulsion in religion. the right direction is henceforth distinct from error. and he who rejecteth false deities and believeth in allah hath grasped a firm handhold which will never break. allah is hearer, knower. s: there is no compulsion in religion; truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error; therefore, whoever disbelieves in the shaitan and believes in allah he indeed has laid hold on the firmest handle, which shall not break off, and allah is hearing, knowing. . y: allah is the protector of those who have faith: from the depths of darkness he will lead them forth into light. of those who reject faith the patrons are the evil ones: from light they will lead them forth into the depths of darkness. they will be companions of the fire, to dwell therein (for ever). p: allah is the protecting guardian of those who believe. he bringeth them out of darkness into light. as for those who disbelieve, their patrons are false deities. they bring them out of light into darkness. such are rightful owners of the fire. they will abide therein. s: allah is the guardian of those who believe. he brings them out of the darkness into the light; and (as to) those who disbelieve, their guardians are shaitans who take them out of the light into the darkness; they are the inmates of the fire, in it they shall abide. . y: hast thou not turned thy vision to one who disputed with abraham about his lord, because allah had granted him power? abraham said: "my lord is he who giveth life and death." he said: "i give life and death". said abraham: "but it is allah that causeth the sun to rise from the east: do thou then cause him to rise from the west." thus was he confounded who (in arrogance) rejected faith. nor doth allah give guidance to a people unjust. p: bethink thee of him who had an argument with abraham about his lord, because allah had given him the kingdom; how, when abraham said: my lord is he who giveth life and causeth death, he answered: i give life and cause death. abraham said: lo! allah causeth the sun to rise in the east, so do thou cause it to come up from the west. thus was the disbeliever abashed. and allah guideth not wrongdoing folk. s: have you not considered him (namrud) who disputed with ibrahim about his lord, because allah had given him the kingdom? when ibrahim said: my lord is he who gives life and causes to die, he said: i give life and cause death. ibrahim said: so surely allah causes the sun to rise from the east, then make it rise from the west; thus he who disbelieved was confounded; and allah does not guide aright the unjust people. . y: or (take) the similitude of one who passed by a hamlet, all in ruins to its roofs. he said: "oh! how shall allah bring it (ever) to life, after (this) its death?" but allah caused him to die for a hundred years, then raised him up (again). he said: "how long didst thou tarry (thus)?" he said: "(perhaps) a day or part of a day." he said: "nay, thou hast tarried thus a hundred years; but look at thy food and thy drink; they show no signs of age; and look at thy donkey: and that we may make of thee a sign unto the people, look further at the bones, how we bring them together and clothe them with flesh." when this was shown clearly to him, he said: "i know that allah hath power over all things." p: or (bethink thee of) the like of him who, passing by a township which had fallen into utter ruin, exclaimed: how shall allah give this township life after its death? and allah made him die a hundred years, then brought him back to life. he said: how long hast thou tarried? (the man) said: i have tarried a day or part of a day. (he) said: nay, but thou hast tarried for a hundred years. just look at thy food and drink which have not rotted! look at thine ass! and, that we may make thee a token unto mankind, look at the bones, how we adjust them and then cover them with flesh! and when (the matter) became clear unto him, he said: i know now that allah is able to do all things. s: or the like of him (uzair) who passed by a town, and it had fallen down upon its roofs; he said: when will allah give it life after its death? so allah caused him to die for a hundred years, then raised him to life. he said: how long have you tarried? he said: i have tarried a day, or a part of a day. said he: nay! you have tarried a hundred years; then look at your food and drink-- years have not passed over it; and look at your ass; and that we may make you a sign to men, and look at the bones, how we set them together, then clothed them with flesh; so when it became clear to him, he said: i know that allah has power over all things. . y: when abraham said: "show me, lord, how you will raise the dead," he replied: "have you no faith?" he said "yes, but just to reassure my heart." allah said, "take four birds, draw them to you, and cut their bodies to pieces. scatter them over the mountain-tops, then call them back. they will come swiftly to you. know that allah is mighty, wise." p: and when abraham said (unto his lord): my lord! show me how thou givest life to the dead, he said: dost thou not believe? abraham said: yea, but (i ask) in order that my heart may be at ease. (his lord) said: take four of the birds and cause them to incline unto thee, then place a part of them on each hill, then call them, they will come to thee in haste, and know that allah is mighty, wise. s: and when ibrahim said: my lord! show me how thou givest life to the dead, he said: what! and do you not believe? he said: yes, but that my heart may be at ease. he said: then take four of the birds, then train them to follow you, then place on every mountain a part of them, then call them, they will come to you flying; and know that allah is mighty, wise. . y: the parable of those who spend their substance in the way of allah is that of a grain of corn: it groweth seven ears, and each ear hath a hundred grains. allah giveth manifold increase to whom he pleaseth: and allah careth for all and he knoweth all things. p: the likeness of those who spend their wealth in allah's way is as the likeness of a grain which groweth seven ears, in every ear a hundred grains. allah giveth increase manifold to whom he will. allah is all-embracing, all-knowing. s: the parable of those who spend their property in the way of allah is as the parable of a grain growing seven ears (with) a hundred grains in every ear; and allah multiplies for whom he pleases; and allah is ample-giving, knowing. . y: those who spend their substance in the cause of allah, and follow not up their gifts with reminders of their generosity or with injury,-for them their reward is with their lord: on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. p: those who spend their wealth for the cause of allah and afterward make not reproach and injury to follow that which they have spent; their reward is with their lord, and there shall no fear come upon them, neither shall they grieve. s: (as for) those who spend their property in the way of allah, then do not follow up what they have spent with reproach or injury, they shall have their reward from their lord, and they shall have no fear nor shall they grieve. . y: kind words and the covering of faults are better than charity followed by injury. allah is free of all wants, and he is most-forbearing. p: a kind word with forgiveness is better than almsgiving followed by injury. allah is absolute, clement. s: kind speech and forgiveness is better than charity followed by injury; and allah is self-sufficient, forbearing. . y: o ye who believe! cancel not your charity by reminders of your generosity or by injury,- like those who spend their substance to be seen of men, but believe neither in allah nor in the last day. they are in parable like a hard, barren rock, on which is a little soil: on it falls heavy rain, which leaves it (just) a bare stone. they will be able to do nothing with aught they have earned. and allah guideth not those who reject faith. p: o ye who believe! render not vain your almsgiving by reproach and injury, like him who spendeth his wealth only to be seen of men and believeth not in allah and the last day. his likeness is as the likeness of a rock whereon is dust of earth; a rainstorm smiteth it, leaving it smooth and bare. they have no control of aught of that which they have gained. allah guideth not the disbelieving folk. s: o you who believe! do not make your charity worthless by reproach and injury, like him who spends his property to be seen of men and does not believe in allah and the last day; so his parable is as the parable of a smooth rock with earth upon it, then a heavy rain falls upon it, so it leaves it bare; they shall not be able to gain anything of what they have earned; and allah does not guide the unbelieving people. . y: and the likeness of those who spend their substance, seeking to please allah and to strengthen their souls, is as a garden, high and fertile: heavy rain falls on it but makes it yield a double increase of harvest, and if it receives not heavy rain, light moisture sufficeth it. allah seeth well whatever ye do. p: and the likeness of those who spend their wealth in search of allah's pleasure, and for the strengthening of their souls, is as the likeness of a garden on a height. the rainstorm smiteth it and it bringeth forth its fruit twofold. and if the rainstorm smite it not, then the shower. allah is seer of what ye do. s: and the parable of those who spend their property to seek the pleasure of allah and for the certainty 'of their souls is as the parable of a garden on an elevated ground, upon which heavy rain falls so it brings forth its fruit twofold but if heavy rain does not fall upon it, then light rain (is sufficient); and allah sees what you do. . y: does any of you wish that he should have a garden with date-palms and vines and streams flowing underneath, and all kinds of fruit, while he is stricken with old age, and his children are not strong (enough to look after themselves)- that it should be caught in a whirlwind, with fire therein, and be burnt up? thus doth allah make clear to you (his) signs; that ye may consider. p: would any of you like to have a garden of palm-trees and vines, with rivers flowing underneath it, with all kinds of fruit for him therein; and old age hath stricken him and he hath feeble offspring; and a fiery whirlwind striketh it and it is (all) consumed by fire. thus allah maketh plain his revelations unto you, in order that ye may give thought. s: does one of you like that he should have a garden of palms and vines with streams flowing beneath it; he has in it all kinds of fruits; and old age has overtaken him and he has weak offspring, when, (lo!) a whirlwind with fire in it smites it so it becomes blasted; thus allah makes the communications clear to you, that you may reflect. . y: o ye who believe! give of the good things which ye have (honourably) earned, and of the fruits of the earth which we have produced for you, and do not even aim at getting anything which is bad, in order that out of it ye may give away something, when ye yourselves would not receive it except with closed eyes. and know that allah is free of all wants, and worthy of all praise. p: o ye who believe! spend of the good things which ye have earned, and of that which we bring forth from the earth for you, and seek not the bad (with intent) to spend thereof (in charity) when ye would not take it for yourselves save with disdain; and know that allah is absolute, owner of praise. s: o you who believe! spend (benevolently) of the good things that you earn and or what we have brought forth for you out of the earth, and do not aim at what is bad that you may spend (in alms) of it, while you would not take it yourselves unless you have its price lowered, and know that allah is self-sufficient, praiseworthy. . y: the evil one threatens you with poverty and bids you to conduct unseemly. allah promiseth you his forgiveness and bounties. and allah careth for all and he knoweth all things. p: the devil promiseth you destitution and enjoineth on you lewdness. but allah promiseth you forgiveness from himself with bounty. allah is all-embracing, all-knowing. s: shaitan threatens you with poverty and enjoins you to be niggardly, and allah promises you forgiveness from himself and abundance; and allah is ample-giving, knowing. . y: he granteth wisdom to whom he pleaseth; and he to whom wisdom is granted receiveth indeed a benefit overflowing; but none will grasp the message but men of understanding. p: he giveth wisdom unto whom he will, and he unto whom wisdom is given, he truly hath received abundant good. but none remember except men of understanding. s: he grants wisdom to whom he pleases, and whoever is granted wisdom, he indeed is given a great good and none but men of understanding mind. . y: and whatever ye spend in charity or devotion, be sure allah knows it all. but the wrong-doers have no helpers. p: whatever alms ye spend or vow ye vow, lo! allah knoweth it. wrong-doers have no helpers. s: and whatever alms you give or (whatever) vow you vow, surely allah knows it; and the unjust shall have no helpers. . y: if ye disclose (acts of) charity, even so it is well, but if ye conceal them, and make them reach those (really) in need, that is best for you: it will remove from you some of your (stains of) evil. and allah is well acquainted with what ye do. p: if ye publish your almsgiving, it is well, but if ye hide it and give it to the poor, it will be better for you, and will atone for some of your ill-deeds. allah is informed of what ye do. s: if you give alms openly, it is well, and if you hide it and give it to the poor, it is better for you; and this will do away with some of your evil deeds; and allah is aware of what you do. . y: it is not required of thee (o messenger), to set them on the right path, but allah sets on the right path whom he pleaseth. whatever of good ye give benefits your own souls, and ye shall only do so seeking the "face" of allah. whatever good ye give, shall be rendered back to you, and ye shall not be dealt with unjustly. p: the guiding of them is not thy duty (o muhammad), but allah guideth whom he will. and whatsoever good thing ye spend, it is for yourselves, when ye spend not save in search of allah's countenance; and whatsoever good thing ye spend, it will be repaid to you in full, and ye will not be wronged. s: to make them walk in the right way is not incumbent on you, but allah guides aright whom he pleases; and whatever good thing you spend, it is to your own good; and you do not spend but to seek allah's pleasure; and whatever good things you spend shall be paid back to you in full, and you shall not be wronged. . y: (charity is) for those in need, who, in allah's cause are restricted (from travel), and cannot move about in the land, seeking (for trade or work): the ignorant man thinks, because of their modesty, that they are free from want. thou shalt know them by their (unfailing) mark: they beg not importunately from all the sundry. and whatever of good ye give, be assured allah knoweth it well. p: (alms are) for the poor who are straitened for the cause of allah, who cannot travel in the land (for trade). the unthinking man accounteth them wealthy because of their restraint. thou shalt know them by their mark: they do not beg of men with importunity. and whatsoever good thing ye spend, lo! allah knoweth it. s: (alms are) for the poor who are confined in the way of allah-- they cannot go about in the land; the ignorant man thinks them to be rich on account of (their) abstaining (from begging); you can recognise them by their mark; they do not beg from men importunately; and whatever good thing you spend, surely allah knows it. . y: those who (in charity) spend of their goods by night and by day, in secret and in public, have their reward with their lord: on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. p: those who spend their wealth by night and day, by stealth and openly, verily their reward is with their lord, and their shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve. s: (as for) those who spend their property by night and by day, secretly and openly, they shall have their reward from their lord and they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve. . y: those who devour usury will not stand except as stand one whom the evil one by his touch hath driven to madness. that is because they say: "trade is like usury," but allah hath permitted trade and forbidden usury. those who after receiving direction from their lord, desist, shall be pardoned for the past; their case is for allah (to judge); but those who repeat (the offence) are companions of the fire: they will abide therein (for ever). p: those who swallow usury cannot rise up save as he ariseth whom the devil hath prostrated by (his) touch. that is because they say: trade is just like usury; whereas allah permitteth trading and forbiddeth usury. he unto whom an admonition from his lord cometh, and (he) refraineth (in obedience thereto), he shall keep (the profits of) that which is past, and his affair (henceforth) is with allah. as for him who returneth (to usury) - such are rightful owners of the fire. they will abide therein. s: those who swallow down usury cannot arise except as one whom shaitan has prostrated by (his) touch does rise. that is because they say, trading is only like usury; and allah has allowed trading and forbidden usury. to whomsoever then the admonition has come from his lord, then he desists, he shall have what has already passed, and his affair is in the hands of allah; and whoever returns (to it)-- these arc the inmates of the fire; they shall abide in it. . y: allah will deprive usury of all blessing, but will give increase for deeds of charity: for he loveth not creatures ungrateful and wicked. p: allah hath blighted usury and made almsgiving fruitful. allah loveth not the impious and guilty. s: allah does not bless usury, and he causes charitable deeds to prosper, and allah does not love any ungrateful sinner. . y: those who believe, and do deeds of righteousness, and establish regular prayers and regular charity, will have their reward with their lord: on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. p: lo! those who believe and do good works and establish worship and pay the poor-due, their reward is with their lord and there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve. s: surely they who believe and do good deeds and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate they shall have their reward from their lord, and they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve. . y: o ye who believe! fear allah, and give up what remains of your demand for usury, if ye are indeed believers. p: o ye who believe! observe your duty to allah, and give up what remaineth (due to you) from usury, if ye are (in truth) believers. s: o you who believe! be careful of (your duty to) allah and relinquish what remains (due) from usury, if you are believers. . y: if ye do it not, take notice of war from allah and his messenger: but if ye turn back, ye shall have your capital sums: deal not unjustly, and ye shall not be dealt with unjustly. p: and if ye do not, then be warned of war (against you) from allah and his messenger. and if ye repent, then ye have your principal (without interest). wrong not, and ye shall not be wronged. s: but if you do (it) not, then be apprised of war from allah and his messenger; and if you repent, then you shall have your capital; neither shall you make (the debtor) suffer loss, nor shall you be made to suffer loss. . y: if the debtor is in a difficulty, grant him time till it is easy for him to repay. but if ye remit it by way of charity, that is best for you if ye only knew. p: and if the debtor is in straitened circumstances, then (let there be) postponement to (the time of) ease; and that ye remit the debt as almsgiving would be better for you if ye did but know. s: and if (the debtor) is in straitness, then let there be postponement until (he is in) ease; and that you remit (it) as alms is better for you, if you knew. . y: and fear the day when ye shall be brought back to allah. then shall every soul be paid what it earned, and none shall be dealt with unjustly. p: and guard yourselves against a day in which ye will be brought back to allah. then every soul will be paid in full that which it hath earned, and they will not be wronged. s: and guard yourselves against a day in which you shall be returned to allah; then every soul shall be paid back in full what it has earned, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly. . y: o ye who believe! when ye deal with each other, in transactions involving future obligations in a fixed period of time, reduce them to writing let a scribe write down faithfully as between the parties: let not the scribe refuse to write: as allah has taught him, so let him write. let him who incurs the liability dictate, but let him fear his lord allah, and not diminish aught of what he owes. if they party liable is mentally deficient, or weak, or unable himself to dictate, let his guardian dictate faithfully, and get two witnesses, out of your own men, and if there are not two men, then a man and two women, such as ye choose, for witnesses, so that if one of them errs, the other can remind her. the witnesses should not refuse when they are called on (for evidence). disdain not to reduce to writing (your contract) for a future period, whether it be small or big: it is juster in the sight of allah, more suitable as evidence, and more convenient to prevent doubts among yourselves but if it be a transaction which ye carry out on the spot among yourselves, there is no blame on you if ye reduce it not to writing. but take witness whenever ye make a commercial contract; and let neither scribe nor witness suffer harm. if ye do (such harm), it would be wickedness in you. so fear allah; for it is good that teaches you. and allah is well acquainted with all things. if ye are on a journey, and cannot find a scribe, a pledge with possession (may serve the purpose). and if one of you deposits a thing on trust with another, let the trustee (faithfully) discharge his trust, and let him fear his lord conceal not evidence; for whoever conceals it, - his heart is tainted with sin. and allah knoweth all that ye do. p: o ye who believe! when ye contract a debt for a fixed term, record it in writing. let a scribe record it in writing between you in (terms of) equity. no scribe should refuse to write as allah hath taught him, so let him write, and let him who incurreth the debt dictate, and let him observe his duty to allah his lord, and diminish naught thereof. but if he who oweth the debt is of low understanding, or weak, or unable himself to dictate, then let the guardian of his interests dictate in (terms of) equity. and call to witness, from among your men, two witnesses. and if two men be not (at hand) then a man and two women, of such as ye approve as witnesses, so that if the one erreth (through forgetfulness) the other will remember. and the witnesses must not refuse when they are summoned. be not averse to writing down (the contract) whether it be small or great, with (record of) the term thereof. that is more equitable in the sight of allah and more sure for testimony, and the best way of avoiding doubt between you; save only in the case when it is actual merchandise which ye transfer among yourselves from hand to hand. in that case it is no sin for you if ye write it not. and have witnesses when ye sell one to another, and let no harm be done to scribe or witness. if ye do (harm to them) lo! it is a sin in you. observe your duty to allah. allah is teaching you. and allah is knower of all things. s: o you who believe! when you deal with each other in contracting a debt for a fixed time, then write it down; and let a scribe write it down between you with fairness; and the scribe should not refuse to write as allah has taught him, so he should write; and let him who owes the debt dictate, and he should be careful of (his duty to) allah, his lord, and not diminish anything from it; but if he who owes the debt is unsound in understanding, or weak, or (if) he is not able to dictate himself, let his guardian dictate with fairness; and call in to witness from among your men two witnesses; but if there are not two men, then one man and two women from among those whom you choose to be witnesses, so that if one of the two errs, the second of the two may remind the other; and the witnesses should not refuse when they are summoned; and be not averse to writing it (whether it is) small or large, with the time of its falling due; this is more equitable in the sight of allah and assures greater accuracy in testimony, and the nearest (way) that you may not entertain doubts (afterwards), except when it is ready merchandise which you give and take among yourselves from hand to hand, then there is no blame on you in not writing it down; and have witnesses when you barter with one another, and let no harm be done to the scribe or to the witness; and if you do (it) then surely it will be a transgression in you, and be careful of (your duty) to allah, allah teaches you, and allah knows all things. . y: if ye are on a journey, and cannot find a scribe, a pledge with possession (may serve the purpose). and if one of you deposits a thing on trust with another, let the trustee (faithfully) discharge his trust, and let him fear his lord. conceal not evidence; for whoever conceals it,- his heart is tainted with sin. and allah knoweth all that ye do. p: if ye be on a journey and cannot find a scribe, then a pledge in hand (shall suffice). and if one of you entrusteth to another let him who is trusted deliver up that which is entrusted to him (according to the pact between them) and let him observe his duty to allah his lord. hide not testimony. he who hideth it, verily his heart is sinful. allah is aware of what ye do. s: and if you are upon a journey and you do not find a scribe, then (there may be) a security taken into possession; but if one of you trusts another, then he who is trusted should deliver his trust, and let him be careful (of his duty to) allah, his lord; and do not conceal testimony, and whoever conceals it, his heart is surely sinful; and allah knows what you do. . y: to allah belongeth all that is in the heavens and on earth. whether ye show what is in your minds or conceal it, allah calleth you to account for it. he forgiveth whom he pleaseth, and punisheth whom he pleaseth, for allah hath power over all things. p: unto allah (belongeth) whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth; and whether ye make known what is in your minds or hide it, allah will bring you to account for it. he will forgive whom he will and he will punish whom he will. allah is able to do all things. s: whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is allah's; and whether you manifest what is in your minds or hide it, allah will call you to account according to it; then he will forgive whom he pleases and chastise whom he pleases, and allah has power over all things. . y: the messenger believeth in what hath been revealed to him from his lord, as do the men of faith. each one (of them) believeth in allah, his angels, his books, and his messengers. "we make no distinction (they say) between one and another of his messengers." and they say: "we hear, and we obey: (we seek) thy forgiveness, our lord, and to thee is the end of all journeys." p: the messenger believeth in that which hath been revealed unto him from his lord and (so do) believers. each one believeth in allah and his angels and his scriptures and his messengers - we make no distinction between any of his messengers - and they say: we hear, and we obey. (grant us) thy forgiveness, our lord. unto thee is the journeying. s: the messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from his lord, and (so do) the believers; they all believe in allah and his angels and his books and his messengers; we make no difference between any of his messengers; and they say: we hear and obey, our lord! thy forgiveness (do we crave), and to thee is the eventual course. . y: on no soul doth allah place a burden greater than it can bear. it gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns. (pray:) "our lord! condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; our lord! lay not on us a burden like that which thou didst lay on those before us; our lord! lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. blot out our sins, and grant us forgiveness. have mercy on us. thou art our protector; help us against those who stand against faith." p: allah tasketh not a soul beyond its scope. for it (is only) that which it hath earned, and against it (only) that which it hath deserved. our lord! condemn us not if we forget, or miss the mark! our lord! lay not on us such a burden as thou didst lay on those before us! our lord! impose not on us that which we have not the strength to bear! pardon us, absolve us and have mercy on us, thou, our protector, and give us victory over the disbelieving folk. s: allah does not impose upon any soul a duty but to the extent of its ability; for it is (the benefit of) what it has earned and upon it (the evil of) what it has wrought: our lord! do not punish us if we forget or make a mistake; our lord! do not lay on us a burden as thou didst lay on those before us, our lord do not impose upon us that which we have not the strength to bear; and pardon us and grant us protection and have mercy on us, thou art our patron, so help us against the unbelieving people. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-e-imran (the family of 'imran, the house of 'imran) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: a. l. m. p: alim. lam. mim. s: alif lam mim. . y: allah! there is no god but he,-the living, the self-subsisting, eternal. p: allah! there is no god save him, the alive, the eternal. s: allah, (there is) no god but he, the everliving, the self-subsisting by whom all things subsist. . y: it is he who sent down to thee (step by step), in truth, the book, confirming what went before it; and he sent down the law (of moses) and the gospel (of jesus) before this, as a guide to mankind, and he sent down the criterion (of judgment between right and wrong). p: he hath revealed unto thee (muhammad) the scripture with truth, confirming that which was (revealed) before it, even as he revealed the torah and the gospel. s: he has revealed to you the book with truth, verifying that which is before it, and he revealed the tavrat and the injeel aforetime, a guidance for the people, and he sent the furqan. . y: then those who reject faith in the signs of allah will suffer the severest penalty, and allah is exalted in might, lord of retribution. p: aforetime, for a guidance to mankind; and hath revealed the criterion (of right and wrong). lo! those who disbelieve the revelations of allah, theirs will be a heavy doom. allah is mighty, able to requite (the wrong). s: surely they who disbelieve in the communications of allah they shall have a severe chastisement; and allah is mighty, the lord of retribution. . y: from allah, verily nothing is hidden on earth or in the heavens. p: lo! nothing in the earth or in the heavens is hidden from allah. s: allah-- surely nothing is hidden from him in the earth or in the heaven. . y: he it is who shapes you in the wombs as he pleases. there is no god but he, the exalted in might, the wise. p: he it is who fashioneth you in the wombs as pleaseth him. there is no allah save him, the almighty, the wise. s: he it is who shapes you in the wombs as he likes; there is no god but he, the mighty, the wise. . y: he it is who has sent down to thee the book: in it are verses basic or fundamental (of established meaning); they are the foundation of the book: others are allegorical. but those in whose hearts is perversity follow the part thereof that is allegorical, seeking discord, and searching for its hidden meanings, but no one knows its hidden meanings except allah. and those who are firmly grounded in knowledge say: "we believe in the book; the whole of it is from our lord:" and none will grasp the message except men of understanding. p: he it is who hath revealed unto thee (muhammad) the scripture wherein are clear revelations - they are the substance of the book - and others (which are) allegorical. but those in whose hearts is doubt pursue, forsooth, that which is allegorical seeking (to cause) dissension by seeking to explain it. none knoweth its explanation save allah. and those who are of sound instruction say: we believe therein; the whole is from our lord; but only men of understanding really heed. s: he it is who has revealed the book to you; some of its verses are decisive, they are the basis of the book, and others are allegorical; then as for those in whose hearts there is perversity they follow the part of it which is allegorical, seeking to mislead and seeking to give it (their own) interpretation, but none knows its interpretation except allah, and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say: we believe in it, it is all from our lord; and none do mind except those having understanding. . y: "our lord!" (they say), "let not our hearts deviate now after thou hast guided us, but grant us mercy from thine own presence; for thou art the grantor of bounties without measure." p: our lord! cause not our hearts to stray after thou hast guided us, and bestow upon us mercy from thy presence. lo! thou, only thou, art the bestower. s: our lord! make not our hearts to deviate after thou hast guided us aright, and grant us from thee mercy; surely thou art the most liberal giver. . y: "our lord! thou art he that will gather mankind together against a day about which there is no doubt; for allah never fails in his promise." p: our lord! lo! it is thou who gatherest mankind together to a day of which there is no doubt. lo! allah faileth not to keep the tryst. s: our lord! surely thou art the gatherer of men on a day about which there is no doubt; surely allah will not fail (his) promise. . y: those who reject faith,- neither their possessions nor their (numerous) progeny will avail them aught against allah: they are themselves but fuel for the fire. p: (on that day) neither the riches nor the progeny of those who disbelieve will aught avail them with allah. they will be fuel for fire. s: (as for) those who disbelieve, surely neither their wealth nor their children shall avail them in the least against allah, and these it is who are the fuel of the fire. . y: (their plight will be) no better than that of the people of pharaoh, and their predecessors: they denied our signs, and allah called them to account for their sins. for allah is strict in punishment. p: like pharaoh's folk and those who were before them, they disbelieved our revelations and so allah seized them for their sins. and allah is severe in punishment. s: like the striving of the people of firon and those before them; they rejected our communications, so allah destroyed them on account of their faults; and allah is severe in requiting (evil). . y: say to those who reject faith: "soon will ye be vanquished and gathered together to hell,-an evil bed indeed (to lie on)!" p: say (o muhammad) unto those who disbelieve: ye shall be overcome and gathered unto hell, an evil resting-place. s: say to those who disbelieve: you shall be vanquished, and driven together to hell; and evil is the resting-place. . y: "there has already been for you a sign in the two armies that met (in combat): one was fighting in the cause of allah, the other resisting allah; these saw with their own eyes twice their number. but allah doth support with his aid whom he pleaseth. in this is a warning for such as have eyes to see." p: there was a token for you in two hosts which met: one army fighting in the way of allah, and another disbelieving, whom they saw as twice their number, clearly, with their very eyes. thus allah strengtheneth with his succour whom he will. lo! herein verily is a lesson for those who have eyes. s: indeed there was a sign for you in the two hosts (which) met together in encounter; one party fighting in the way of allah and the other unbelieving, whom they saw twice as many as themselves with the sight of the eye and allah strengthens with his aid whom he pleases; most surely there is a lesson in this for those who have sight. . y: fair in the eyes of men is the love of things they covet: women and sons; heaped-up hoards of gold and silver; horses branded (for blood and excellence); and (wealth of) cattle and well-tilled land. such are the possessions of this world's life; but in nearness to allah is the best of the goals (to return to). p: beautified for mankind is love of the joys (that come) from women and offspring; and stored-up heaps of gold and silver, and horses branded (with their mark), and cattle and land. that is comfort of the life of the world. allah! with him is a more excellent abode. s: the love of desires, of women and sons and hoarded treasures of gold and silver and well bred horses and cattle and tilth, is made to seem fair to men; this is the provision of the life of this world; and allah is he with whom is the good goal (of life). . y: say: shall i give you glad tidings of things far better than those? for the righteous are gardens in nearness to their lord, with rivers flowing beneath; therein is their eternal home; with companions pure (and holy); and the good pleasure of allah. for in allah's sight are (all) his servants,- p: say: shall i inform you of something better than that? for those who keep from evil, with their lord, are gardens underneath which rivers flow wherein they will abide, and pure companions, and contentment from allah. allah is seer of his bondmen, s: say: shall i tell you what is better than these? for those who guard (against evil) are gardens with their lord, beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them, and pure mates and allah's pleasure; and allah sees the servants. . y: (namely), those who say: "our lord! we have indeed believed: forgive us, then, our sins, and save us from the agony of the fire;"- p: those who say: our lord! lo! we believe. so forgive us our sins and guard us from the punishment of fire; s: those who say: our lord! surely we believe, therefore forgive us our faults and save us from the chastisement of the fire. . y: those who show patience, firmness and self-control; who are true (in word and deed); who worship devoutly; who spend (in the way of allah); and who pray for forgiveness in the early hours of the morning. p: the steadfast, and the truthful, and the obedient, those who spend (and hoard not), those who pray for pardon in the watches of the night. s: the patient, and the truthful, and the obedient, and those who spend (benevolently) and those who ask forgiveness in the morning times. . y: there is no god but he: that is the witness of allah, his angels, and those endued with knowledge, standing firm on justice. there is no god but he, the exalted in power, the wise. p: allah (himself) is witness that there is no god save him. and the angels and the men of learning (too are witness). maintaining his creation in justice, there is no god save him the almighty, the wise. s: allah bears witness that there is no god but he, and (so do) the angels and those possessed of knowledge, maintaining his creation with justice; there is no god but he, the mighty, the wise. . y: the religion before allah is islam (submission to his will): nor did the people of the book dissent therefrom except through envy of each other, after knowledge had come to them. but if any deny the signs of allah, allah is swift in calling to account. p: lo! religion with allah (is) the surrender (to his will and guidance). those who (formerly) received the scripture differed only after knowledge came unto them, through transgression among themselves. whoso disbelieveth the revelations of allah (will find that) lo! allah is swift at reckoning. s: surely the (true) religion with allah is islam, and those to whom the book had been given did not show opposition but after knowledge had come to them, out of envy among themselves; and whoever disbelieves in the communications of allah then surely allah is quick in reckoning. . y: so if they dispute with thee, say: "i have submitted my whole self to allah and so have those who follow me." and say to the people of the book and to those who are unlearned: "do ye (also) submit yourselves?" if they do, they are in right guidance, but if they turn back, thy duty is to convey the message; and in allah's sight are (all) his servants. p: and if they argue with thee, (o muhammad), say: i have surrendered my purpose to allah and (so have) those who follow me. and say unto those who have received the scripture and those who read not: have ye (too) surrendered? if they surrender, then truly they are rightly guided, and if they turn away, then it is thy duty only to convey the message (unto them). allah is seer of (his) bondmen. s: but if they dispute with you, say: i have submitted myself entirely to allah and (so) every one who follows me; and say to those who have been given the book and the unlearned people: do you submit yourselves? so if they submit then indeed they follow the right way; and if they turn back, then upon you is only the delivery of the message and allah sees the servants. . y: as to those who deny the signs of allah and in defiance of right, slay the prophets, and slay those who teach just dealing with mankind, announce to them a grievous penalty. p: lo! those who disbelieve the revelations of allah, and slay the prophets wrongfully, and slay those of mankind who enjoin equity: promise them a painful doom. s: surely (as for) those who disbelieve in the communications of allah and slay the prophets unjustly and slay those among men who enjoin justice, announce to them a painful chastisement. . y: they are those whose works will bear no fruit in this world and in the hereafter nor will they have anyone to help. p: those are they whose works have failed in the world and the hereafter; and they have no helpers. s: those are they whose works shall become null in this world as well as the hereafter, and they shall have no helpers. . y: hast thou not turned thy vision to those who have been given a portion of the book? they are invited to the book of allah, to settle their dispute, but a party of them turn back and decline (the arbitration). p: hast thou not seen how those who have received a portion of the scripture invoke the scripture of allah (in their disputes) that it may judge between them; then a faction of them turn away, being opposed (to it)? s: have you not considered those (jews) who are given a portion of the book? they are invited to the book of allah that it might decide between them, then a part of them turn back and they withdraw. . y: this because they say: "the fire shall not touch us but for a few numbered days": for their forgeries deceive them as to their own religion. p: that is because they say: the fire will not touch us save for a certain number of days. that which they used to invent hath deceived them regarding their religion. s: this is because they say: the fire shall not touch us but for a few days; and what they have forged deceives them in the matter of their religion. . y: but how (will they fare) when we gather them together against a day about which there is no doubt, and each soul will be paid out just what it has earned, without (favour or) injustice? p: how (will it be with them) when we have brought them all together to a day of which there is no doubt, when every soul will be paid in full what it hath earned, and they will not be wronged. s: then how will it be when we shall gather them together on a day about which there is no doubt, and every soul shall be fully paid what it has earned, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly? . y: say: "o allah! lord of power (and rule), thou givest power to whom thou pleasest, and thou strippest off power from whom thou pleasest: thou enduest with honour whom thou pleasest, and thou bringest low whom thou pleasest: in thy hand is all good. verily, over all things thou hast power." p: say: o allah! owner of sovereignty! thou givest sovereignty unto whom thou wilt, and thou withdrawest sovereignty from whom thou wilt. thou exaltest whom thou wilt, and thou abasest whom thou wilt. in thy hand is the good. lo! thou art able to do all things. s: say: o allah, master of the kingdom! thou givest the kingdom to whomsoever thou pleasest and takest away the kingdom from whomsoever thou pleasest, and thou exaltest whom thou pleasest and abasest whom thou pleasest in thine hand is the good; surety, thou hast power over all things. . y: "thou causest the night to gain on the day, and thou causest the day to gain on the night; thou bringest the living out of the dead, and thou bringest the dead out of the living; and thou givest sustenance to whom thou pleasest, without measure." p: thou causest the night to pass into the day, and thou causest the day to pass into the night. and thou bringest forth the living from the dead, and thou bringest forth the dead from the living. and thou givest sustenance to whom thou choosest, without stint. s: thou makest the night to pass into the day and thou makest the day to pass into the night, and thou bringest forth the living from the dead and thou bringest forth the dead from the living, and thou givest sustenance to whom thou pleasest without measure. . y: let not the believers take for friends or helpers unbelievers rather than believers: if any do that, in nothing will there be help from allah: except by way of precaution, that ye may guard yourselves from them. but allah cautions you (to remember) himself; for the final goal is to allah. p: let not the believers take disbelievers for their friends in preference to believers. whoso doeth that hath no connection with allah unless (it be) that ye but guard yourselves against them, taking (as it were) security. allah biddeth you beware (only) of himself. unto allah is the journeying. s: let not the believers take the unbelievers for friends rather than believers; and whoever does this, he shall have nothing of (the guardianship of) allah, but you should guard yourselves against them, guarding carefully; and allah makes you cautious of (retribution from) himself; and to allah is the eventual coming. . y: say: "whether ye hide what is in your hearts or reveal it, allah knows it all: he knows what is in the heavens, and what is on earth. and allah has power over all things." p: say, (o muhammad): whether ye hide that which is in your breasts or reveal it, allah knoweth it. he knoweth that which is in the heavens and that which is in the earth, and allah is able to do all things. s: say: whether you hide what is in your hearts or manifest it, allah knows it, and he knows whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth, and allah has power over all things. . y: "on the day when every soul will be confronted with all the good it has done, and all the evil it has done, it will wish there were a great distance between it and its evil. but allah cautions you (to remember) himself. and allah is full of kindness to those that serve him." p: on the day when every soul will find itself confronted with all that it hath done of good and all that it hath done of evil (every soul) will long that there might be a mighty space of distance between it and that (evil). allah biddeth you beware of him. and allah is full of pity for (his) bondmen. s: on the day that every soul shall find present what it has done of good and what it has done of evil, it shall wish that between it and that (evil) there were a long duration of time; and allah makes you to be cautious of (retribution from) himself; and allah is compassionate to the servants. . y: say: "if ye do love allah, follow me: allah will love you and forgive you your sins: for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful." p: say, (o muhammad, to mankind): if ye love allah, follow me; allah will love you and forgive you your sins. allah is forgiving, merciful. s: say: if you love allah, then follow me, allah will love you and forgive you your faults, and allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: say: "obey allah and his messenger": but if they turn back, allah loveth not those who reject faith. p: say: obey allah and the messenger. but if they turn away, lo! allah loveth not the disbelievers (in his guidance). s: say: obey allah and the messenger; but if they turn back, then surely allah does not love the unbelievers. . y: allah did choose adam and noah, the family of abraham, and the family of 'imran above all people,- p: lo! allah preferred adam and noah and the family of abraham and the family of 'imran above (all his) creatures. s: surely allah chose adam and nuh and the descendants of ibrahim and the descendants of imran above the nations. . y: offspring, one of the other: and allah heareth and knoweth all things. p: they were descendants one of another. allah is hearer, knower. s: offspring one of the other; and allah is hearing, knowing. . y: behold! a woman of 'imran said: "o my lord! i do dedicate unto thee what is in my womb for thy special service: so accept this of me: for thou hearest and knowest all things." p: (remember) when the wife of 'imran said: my lord! i have vowed unto thee that which is in my belly as a consecrated (offering). accept it from me. lo! thou, only thou, art the hearer, the knower! s: when a woman of imran said: my lord! surely i vow to thee what is in my womb, to be devoted (to thy service); accept therefore from me, surely thou art the hearing, the knowing. . y: when she was delivered, she said: "o my lord! behold! i am delivered of a female child!"- and allah knew best what she brought forth- "and no wise is the male like the female. i have named her mary, and i commend her and her offspring to thy protection from the evil one, the rejected." p: and when she was delivered she said: my lord! lo! i am delivered of a female - allah knew best of what she was delivered - the male is not as the female; and lo! i have named her mary, and lo! i crave thy protection for her and for her offspring from satan the outcast. s: so when she brought forth, she said: my lord! surely i have brought it forth a female-- and allah knew best what she brought forth-- and the male is not like the female, and i have named it marium, and i commend her and her offspring into thy protection from the accursed shaitan. . y: right graciously did her lord accept her: he made her grow in purity and beauty: to the care of zakariya was she assigned. every time that he entered (her) chamber to see her, he found her supplied with sustenance. he said: "o mary! whence (comes) this to you?" she said: "from allah: for allah provides sustenance to whom he pleases without measure." p: and her lord accepted her with full acceptance and vouchsafed to her a goodly growth; and made zachariah her guardian. whenever zachariah went into the sanctuary where she was, he found that she had food. he said: o mary! whence cometh unto thee this (food)? she answered: it is from allah. allah giveth without stint to whom he will. s: so her lord accepted her with a good acceptance and made her grow up a good growing, and gave her into the charge of zakariya; whenever zakariya entered the sanctuary to (see) her, he found with her food. he said: o marium! whence comes this to you? she said: it is from allah. surely allah gives to whom he pleases without measure. . y: there did zakariya pray to his lord, saying: "o my lord! grant unto me from thee a progeny that is pure: for thou art he that heareth prayer!" p: then zachariah prayed unto his lord and said: my lord! bestow upon me of thy bounty goodly offspring. lo! thou art the hearer of prayer. s: there did zakariya pray to his lord; he said: my lord! grant me from thee good offspring; surely thou art the hearer of prayer. . y: while he was standing in prayer in the chamber, the angels called unto him: "allah doth give thee glad tidings of yahya, witnessing the truth of a word from allah, and (be besides) noble, chaste, and a prophet,- of the (goodly) company of the righteous." p: and the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary: allah giveth thee glad tidings of (a son whose name is) john, (who cometh) to confirm a word from allah lordly, chaste, a prophet of the righteous. s: then the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary: that allah gives you the good news of yahya verifying a word from allah, and honorable and chaste and a prophet from among the good ones. . y: he said: "o my lord! how shall i have son, seeing i am very old, and my wife is barren?" "thus," was the answer, "doth allah accomplish what he willeth." p: he said: my lord! how can i have a son when age hath overtaken me already and my wife is barren? (the angel) answered: so (it will be). allah doeth what he will. s: he said: my lord! when shall there be a son (born) to me, and old age has already come upon me, and my wife is barren? he said: even thus does allah what he pleases. . y: he said: "o my lord! give me a sign!" "thy sign," was the answer, "shall be that thou shalt speak to no man for three days but with signals. then celebrate the praises of thy lord again and again, and glorify him in the evening and in the morning." p: he said: my lord! appoint a token for me. (the angel) said: the token unto thee (shall be) that thou shalt not speak unto mankind three days except by signs. remember thy lord much, and praise (him) in the early hours of night and morning. s: he said: my lord! appoint a sign for me. said he: your sign is that you should not speak to men for three days except by signs; and remember your lord much and glorify him in the evening and the morning. . y: behold! the angels said: "o mary! allah hath chosen thee and purified thee- chosen thee above the women of all nations." p: and when the angels said: o mary! lo! allah hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above (all) the women of creation. s: and when the angels said: o marium! surely allah has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the world. . y: "o mary! worship thy lord devoutly: prostrate thyself, and bow down (in prayer) with those who bow down." p: o mary! be obedient to thy lord, prostrate thyself and bow with those who bow (in worship). s: o marium! keep to obedience to your lord and humble yourself, and bow down with those who bow. . y: this is part of the tidings of the things unseen, which we reveal unto thee (o messenger!) by inspiration: thou wast not with them when they cast lots with arrows, as to which of them should be charged with the care of mary: nor wast thou with them when they disputed (the point). p: this is of the tidings of things hidden. we reveal it unto thee (muhammad). thou wast not present with them when they threw their pens (to know) which of them should be the guardian of mary, nor wast thou present with them when they quarrelled (thereupon). s: this is of the announcements relating to the unseen which we reveal to you; and you were not with them when they cast their pens (to decide) which of them should have marium in his charge, and you were not with them when they contended one with another. . y: behold! the angels said: "o mary! allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him: his name will be christ jesus, the son of mary, held in honour in this world and the hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to allah;" p: (and remember) when the angels said: o mary! lo! allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the messiah, jesus, son of mary, illustrious in the world and the hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto allah). s: when the angels said: o marium, surely allah gives you good news with a word from him (of one) whose name is the '. messiah, isa son of marium, worthy of regard in this world and the hereafter and of those who are made near (to allah). . y: "he shall speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. and he shall be (of the company) of the righteous." p: he will speak unto mankind in his cradle and in his manhood, and he is of the righteous. s: and he shall speak to the people when in the cradle and when of old age, and (he shall be) one of the good ones. . y: she said: "o my lord! how shall i have a son when no man hath touched me?" he said: "even so: allah createth what he willeth: when he hath decreed a plan, he but saith to it, 'be,' and it is!" p: she said: my lord! how can i have a child when no mortal hath touched me? he said: so (it will be). allah createth what he will. if he decreeth a thing, he saith unto it only: be! and it is. s: she said: my lord! when shall there be a son (born) to i me, and man has not touched me? he said: even so, allah creates what he pleases; when he has decreed a matter, he only says to it, be, and it is. . y: "and allah will teach him the book and wisdom, the law and the gospel," p: and he will teach him the scripture and wisdom, and the torah and the gospel, s: and he will teach him the book and the wisdom and the tavrat and the injeel. . y: "and (appoint him) a messenger to the children of israel, (with this message): 'i have come to you, with a sign from your lord, in that i make for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by allah's leave: and i heal those born blind, and the lepers, and i quicken the dead, by allah's leave; and i declare to you what ye eat, and what ye store in your houses. surely therein is a sign for you if ye did believe;" p: and will make him a messenger unto the children of israel, (saying): lo! i come unto you with a sign from your lord. lo! i fashion for you out of clay the likeness of a bird, and i breathe into it and it is a bird, by allah's leave. i heal him who was born blind, and the leper, and i raise the dead, by allah's leave. and i announce unto you what ye eat and what ye store up in your houses. lo! herein verily is a portent for you, if ye are to be believers. s: and (make him) a messenger to the children of israel: that i have come to you with a sign from your lord, that i determine for you out of dust like the form of a bird, then i breathe into it and it becomes a bird with allah's permission and i heal the blind and the leprous, and bring the dead to life with allah's permission and i inform you of what you should eat and what you should store in your houses; most surely there is a sign in this for you, if you are believers. . y: "'(i have come to you), to attest the law which was before me. and to make lawful to you part of what was (before) forbidden to you; i have come to you with a sign from your lord. so fear allah, and obey me.'" p: and (i come) confirming that which was before me of the torah, and to make lawful some of that which was forbidden unto you. i come unto you with a sign from your lord, so keep your duty to allah and obey me. s: and a verifier of that which is before me of the taurat and that i may allow you part of that which has been forbidden to you, and i have come to you with a sign from your lord therefore be careful of (your duty to) allah and obey me. . y: "'it is allah who is my lord and your lord; then worship him. this is a way that is straight.'" p: lo! allah is my lord and your lord, so worship him. that is a straight path. s: surely allah is my lord and your lord, therefore serve him; this is the right path. . y: when jesus found unbelief on their part he said: "who will be my helpers to (the work of) allah?" said the disciples: "we are allah's helpers: we believe in allah, and do thou bear witness that we are muslims." p: but when jesus became conscious of their disbelief, he cried: who will be my helpers in the cause of allah? the disciples said: we will be allah's helpers. we believe in allah, and bear thou witness that we have surrendered (unto him). s: but when isa perceived unbelief on their part, he said who will be my helpers in allah's way? the disciples said: we are helpers (in the way) of allah: we believe in allah and bear witness that we are submitting ones. . y: "our lord! we believe in what thou hast revealed, and we follow the messenger; then write us down among those who bear witness." p: our lord! we believe in that which thou hast revealed and we follow him whom thou hast sent. enroll us among those who witness (to the truth). s: our lord! we believe in what thou hast revealed and we follow the messenger, so write us down with those who bear witness. . y: and (the unbelievers) plotted and planned, and allah too planned, and the best of planners is allah. p: and they (the disbelievers) schemed, and allah schemed (against them): and allah is the best of schemers. s: and they planned and allah (also) planned, and allah is the best of planners. . y: behold! allah said: "o jesus! i will take thee and raise thee to myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; i will make those who follow thee superior to those who reject faith, to the day of resurrection: then shall ye all return unto me, and i will judge between you of the matters wherein ye dispute." p: (and remember) when allah said: o jesus! lo! i am gathering thee and causing thee to ascend unto me, and am cleansing thee of those who disbelieve and am setting those who follow thee above those who disbelieve until the day of resurrection. then unto me ye will (all) return, and i shall judge between you as to that wherein ye used to differ. s: and when allah said: o isa, i am going to terminate the period of your stay (on earth) and cause you to ascend unto me and purify you of those who disbelieve and make those who follow you above those who disbelieve to the day of resurrection; then to me shall be your return, so i will decide between you concerning that in which you differed. . y: "as to those who reject faith, i will punish them with terrible agony in this world and in the hereafter, nor will they have anyone to help." p: as for those who disbelieve i shall chastise them with a heavy chastisement in the world and the hereafter; and they will have no helpers. s: then as to those who disbelieve, i will chastise them with severe chastisement in this world and the hereafter, and they shall have no helpers. . y: "as to those who believe and work righteousness, allah will pay them (in full) their reward; but allah loveth not those who do wrong." p: and as for those who believe and do good works, he will pay them their wages in full. allah loveth not wrong-doers. s: and as to those who believe and do good deeds, he will pay them fully their rewards; and allah does not love the unjust. . y: "this is what we rehearse unto thee of the signs and the message of wisdom." p: this (which) we recite unto thee is a revelation and a wise reminder. s: this we recite to you of the communications and the wise reminder. . y: the similitude of jesus before allah is as that of adam; he created him from dust, then said to him: "be". and he was. p: lo! the likeness of jesus with allah is as the likeness of adam. he created him of dust, then he said unto him: be! and he is. s: surely the likeness of isa is with allah as the likeness of adam; he created him from dust, then said to him, be, and he was. . y: the truth (comes) from allah alone; so be not of those who doubt. p: (this is) the truth from thy lord (o muhammad), so be not thou of those who waver. s: (this is) the truth from your lord, so be not of the disputers. . y: if any one disputes in this matter with thee, now after (full) knowledge hath come to thee, say: "come! let us gather together,- our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves: then let us earnestly pray, and invoke the curse of allah on those who lie!" p: and whoso disputeth with thee concerning him, after the knowledge which hath come unto thee, say (unto him): come! we will summon our sons and your sons, and our women and your women, and ourselves and yourselves, then we will pray humbly (to our lord) and (solemnly) invoke the curse of allah upon those who lie. s: but whoever disputes with you in this matter after what has come to you of knowledge, then say: come let us call our sons and your sons and our women and your women and our near people and your near people, then let us be earnest in prayer, and pray for the curse of allah on the liars. . y: this is the true account: there is no god except allah; and allah - he is indeed the exalted in power, the wise. p: lo! this verily is the true narrative. there is no god save allah, and lo! allah, he verily is, is the mighty, the wise. s: most surely this is the true explanation, and there is no god but allah; and most surely allah-- he is the mighty, the wise. . y: but if they turn back, allah hath full knowledge of those who do mischief. p: and if they turn away, then lo! allah is aware of (who are) the corrupters. s: but if they turn back, then surely allah knows the mischief-makers. . y: say: "o people of the book! come to common terms as between us and you: that we worship none but allah; that we associate no partners with him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, lords and patrons other than allah." if then they turn back, say ye: "bear witness that we (at least) are muslims (bowing to allah's will)." p: say: o people of the scripture! come to an agreement between us and you: that we shall worship none but allah, and that we shall ascribe no partner unto him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside allah. and if they turn away, then say: bear witness that we are they who have surrendered (unto him). s: say: o followers of the book! come to an equitable proposition between us and you that we shall not serve any but allah and (that) we shall not associate aught with him, and (that) some of us shall not take others for lords besides allah; but if they turn back, then say: bear witness that we are muslims. . y: ye people of the book! why dispute ye about abraham, when the law and the gospel were not revealed till after him? have ye no understanding? p: o people of the scripture! why will ye argue about abraham, when the torah and the gospel were not revealed till after him? have ye then no sense? s: o followers of the book! why do you dispute about ibrahim, when the taurat and the injeel were not revealed till after him; do you not then understand? . y: ah! ye are those who fell to disputing (even) in matters of which ye had some knowledge! but why dispute ye in matters of which ye have no knowledge? it is allah who knows, and ye who know not! p: lo! ye are those who argue about that whereof ye have some knowledge: why then argue ye concerning that whereof ye have no knowledge? allah knoweth. ye know not. s: behold! you are they who disputed about that of which you had knowledge; why then do you dispute about that of which you have no knowledge? and allah knows while you do not know. . y: abraham was not a jew nor yet a christian; but he was true in faith, and bowed his will to allah's (which is islam), and he joined not gods with allah. p: abraham was not a jew, nor yet a christian; but he was an upright man who had surrendered (to allah), and he was not of the idolaters. s: ibrahim was not a jew nor a christian but he was (an) upright (man), a muslim, and he was not one of the polytheists. . y: without doubt, among men, the nearest of kin to abraham, are those who follow him, as are also this prophet and those who believe: and allah is the protector of those who have faith. p: lo! those of mankind who have the best claim to abraham are those who followed him, and this prophet and those who believe (with him); and allah is the protecting guardian of the believers. s: most surely the nearest of people to ibrahim are those who followed him and this prophet and those who believe and allah is the guardian of the believers. . y: it is the wish of a section of the people of the book to lead you astray. but they shall lead astray (not you), but themselves, and they do not perceive! p: a party of the people of the scripture long to make you go astray; and they make none to go astray except themselves, but they perceive not. s: a party of the followers of the book desire that they should lead you astray, and they lead not astray but themselves, and they do not perceive. . y: ye people of the book! why reject ye the signs of allah, of which ye are (yourselves) witnesses? p: o people of the scripture! why disbelieve ye in the revelations of allah, when ye (yourselves) bear witness (to their truth)? s: o followers of the book! why do you disbelieve in the communications of allah while you witness (them)? . y: ye people of the book! why do ye clothe truth with falsehood, and conceal the truth, while ye have knowledge? p: o people of the scripture! why confound ye truth with falsehood and knowingly conceal the truth? s: o followers of the book! why do you confound the truth with the falsehood and hide the truth while you know? . y: a section of the people of the book say: "believe in the morning what is revealed to the believers, but reject it at the end of the day; perchance they may (themselves) turn back;" p: and a party of the people of the scripture say: believe in that which hath been revealed unto those who believe at the opening of the day, and disbelieve at the end thereof, in order that they may return; s: and a party of the followers of the book say: avow belief in that which has been revealed to those who believe, in the first part of the day, and disbelieve at the end of it, perhaps they go back on their religion. . y: "and believe no one unless he follows your religion." say: "true guidance is the guidance of allah: (fear ye) lest a revelation be sent to someone (else) like unto that which was sent unto you? or that those (receiving such revelation) should engage you in argument before your lord?" say: "all bounties are in the hand of allah: he granteth them to whom he pleaseth: and allah careth for all, and he knoweth all things." p: and believe not save in one who followeth your religion - say (o muhammad): lo! the guidance is allah's guidance - that anyone is given the like of that which was given unto you or that they may argue with you in the presence of their lord. say (o muhammad): lo! the bounty is in allah's hand. he bestoweth it on whom he will. allah is all-embracing, all-knowing. s: and do not believe but in him who follows your religion. say: surely the (true) guidance is the guidance of allah-- that one may be given (by him) the like of what you were given; or they would contend with you by an argument before your lord. say: surely grace is in the hand of allah, he gives it to whom he pleases; and allah is ample-giving, knowing. . y: for his mercy he specially chooseth whom he pleaseth; for allah is the lord of bounties unbounded. p: he selecteth for his mercy whom he will. allah is of infinite bounty. s: he specially chooses for his mercy whom he pleases; and allah is the lord of mighty grace. . y: among the people of the book are some who, if entrusted with a hoard of gold, will (readily) pay it back; others, who, if entrusted with a single silver coin, will not repay it unless thou constantly stoodest demanding, because, they say, "there is no call on us (to keep faith) with these ignorant (pagans)." but they tell a lie against allah, and (well) they know it. p: among the people of the scripture there is he who, if thou trust him with a weight of treasure, will return it to thee. and among them there is he who, if thou trust him with a piece of gold, will not return it to thee unless thou keep standing over him. that is because they say: we have no duty to the gentiles. they speak a lie concerning allah knowingly. s: and among the followers of the book there are some such that if you entrust one (of them) with a heap of wealth, he shall pay it back to you; and among them there are some such that if you entrust one (of them) with a dinar he shall not pay it back to you except so long as you remain firm in demanding it; this is because they say: there is not upon us in the matter of the unlearned people any way (to reproach); and they tell a lie against allah while they know. . y: nay.- those that keep their plighted faith and act aright,-verily allah loves those who act aright. p: nay, but (the chosen of allah is) he who fulfilleth his pledge and wardeth off (evil); for lo! allah loveth those who ward off (evil). s: yea, whoever fulfills his promise and guards (against evil)-- then surely allah loves those who guard (against evil). . y: as for those who sell the faith they owe to allah and their own plighted word for a small price, they shall have no portion in the hereafter: nor will allah (deign to) speak to them or look at them on the day of judgment, nor will he cleans them (of sin): they shall have a grievous penalty. p: lo! those who purchase a small gain at the cost of allah's covenant and their oaths, they have no portion in the hereafter. allah will neither speak to them nor look upon them on the day of resurrection, nor will he make them grow. theirs will be a painful doom. s: (as for) those who take a small price for the covenant of allah and their own oaths-- surely they shall have no portion in the hereafter, and allah will not speak to them, nor will he look upon them on the day of resurrection nor will he purify them, and they shall have a painful chastisement. . y: there is among them a section who distort the book with their tongues: (as they read) you would think it is a part of the book, but it is no part of the book; and they say, "that is from allah," but it is not from allah: it is they who tell a lie against allah, and (well) they know it! p: and lo! there is a party of them who distort the scripture with their tongues, that ye may think that what they say is from the scripture, when it is not from the scripture. and they say: it is from allah, when it is not from allah; and they speak a lie concerning allah knowingly. s: most surely there is a party amongst those who distort the book with their tongue that you may consider it to be (a part) of the book, and they say, it is from allah, while it is not from allah, and they tell a lie against allah whilst they know. . y: it is not (possible) that a man, to whom is given the book, and wisdom, and the prophetic office, should say to people: "be ye my worshippers rather than allah's": on the contrary (he would say) "be ye worshippers of him who is truly the cherisher of all: for ye have taught the book and ye have studied it earnestly." p: it is not (possible) for any human being unto whom allah had given the scripture and wisdom and the prophethood that he should afterwards have said unto mankind: be slaves of me instead of allah; but (what he said was): be ye faithful servants of the lord by virtue of your constant teaching of the scripture and of your constant study thereof. s: it is not meet for a mortal that allah should give him the book and the wisdom and prophethood, then he should say to men: be my servants rather than allah's; but rather (he would say): be worshippers of the lord because of your teaching the book and your reading (it yourselves). . y: nor would he instruct you to take angels and prophets for lords and patrons. what! would he bid you to unbelief after ye have bowed your will (to allah in islam)? p: and he commanded you not that ye should take the angels and the prophets for lords. would he command you to disbelieve after ye had surrendered (to allah)? s: and neither would he enjoin you that you should take the angels and the prophets for lords; what! would he enjoin you with unbelief after you are muslims? . y: behold! allah took the covenant of the prophets, saying: "i give you a book and wisdom; then comes to you a messenger, confirming what is with you; do ye believe in him and render him help." allah said: "do ye agree, and take this my covenant as binding on you?" they said: "we agree." he said: "then bear witness, and i am with you among the witnesses." p: when allah made (his) covenant with the prophets, (he said): behold that which i have given you of the scripture and knowledge. and afterward there will come unto you a messenger, confirming that which ye possess. ye shall believe in him and ye shall help him. he said: do ye agree, and will ye take up my burden (which i lay upon you) in this (matter)? they answered: we agree. he said: then bear ye witness. i will be a witness with you. s: and when allah made a covenant through the prophets: certainly what i have given you of book and wisdom-- then a messenger comes to you verifying that which is with you, you must believe in him, and you must aid him. he said: do you affirm and accept my compact in this (matter)? they said: we do affirm. he said: then bear witness, and i (too) am of the bearers of witness with you. . y: if any turn back after this, they are perverted transgressors. p: then whosoever after this shall turn away: they will be miscreants. s: whoever therefore turns back after this, these it is that are the transgressors. . y: do they seek for other than the religion of allah?-while all creatures in the heavens and on earth have, willing or unwilling, bowed to his will (accepted islam), and to him shall they all be brought back. p: seek they other than the religion of allah, when unto him submitteth whosoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and unto him they will be returned. s: is it then other than allah's religion that they seek (to follow), and to him submits whoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and to him shall they be returned. . y: say: "we believe in allah, and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to abraham, isma'il, isaac, jacob, and the tribes, and in (the books) given to moses, jesus, and the prophets, from their lord: we make no distinction between one and another among them, and to allah do we bow our will (in islam)." p: say (o muhammad): we believe in allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto abraham and ishmael and isaac and jacob and the tribes, and that which was vouchsafed unto moses and jesus and the prophets from their lord. we make no distinction between any of them, and unto him we have surrendered. s: say: we believe in allah and what has been revealed to us, and what was revealed to ibrahim and ismail and ishaq and yaqoub and the tribes, and what was given to musa and isa and to the prophets from their lord; we do not make any distinction between any of them, and to him do we submit. . y: if anyone desires a religion other than islam (submission to allah), never will it be accepted of him; and in the hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good). p: and whoso seeketh as religion other than the surrender (to allah) it will not be accepted from him, and he will be a loser in the hereafter. s: and whoever desires a religion other than islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers. . y: how shall allah guide those who reject faith after they accepted it and bore witness that the messenger was true and that clear signs had come unto them? but allah guides not a people unjust. p: how shall allah guide a people who disbelieved after their belief and (after) they bore witness that the messenger is true and after clear proofs (of allah's sovereignty) had come unto them. and allah guideth not wrongdoing folk. s: how shall allah guide a people who disbelieved after their believing and (after) they had borne witness that the messenger was true and clear arguments had come to them; and allah does not guide the unjust people. . y: of such the reward is that on them (rests) the curse of allah, of his angels, and of all mankind;- p: as for such, their guerdon is that on them rests the curse of allah and of angels and of men combined. s: (as for) these, their reward is that upon them is the curse of allah and the angels and of men, all together. . y: in that will they dwell; nor will their penalty be lightened, nor respite be (their lot);- p: they will abide therein. their doom will not be lightened, neither will they be reprieved; s: abiding in it; their chastisement shall not be lightened nor shall they be respited. . y: except for those that repent (even) after that, and make amends; for verily allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: save those who afterward repent and do right. lo! allah is forgiving, merciful. s: except those who repent after that and amend, then surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: but those who reject faith after they accepted it, and then go on adding to their defiance of faith,- never will their repentance be accepted; for they are those who have (of set purpose) gone astray. p: lo! those who disbelieve after their (profession of) belief, and afterward grow violent in disbelief: their repentance will not be accepted. and such are those who are astray. s: surely, those who disbelieve after their believing, then increase in unbelief, their repentance shall not be accepted, and these are they that go astray. . y: as to those who reject faith, and die rejecting,- never would be accepted from any such as much gold as the earth contains, though they should offer it for ransom. for such is (in store) a penalty grievous, and they will find no helpers. p: lo! those who disbelieve, and die in disbelief, the (whole) earth full of gold would not be accepted from such an one if it were offered as a ransom (for his soul). theirs will be a painful doom and they will have no helpers. s: surely, those who disbelieve and die while they are unbelievers, the earth full of gold shall not be accepted from one of them, though he should offer to ransom himself with it, these it is who shall have a painful chastisement, and they shall have no helpers. . y: by no means shall ye attain righteousness unless ye give (freely) of that which ye love; and whatever ye give, of a truth allah knoweth it well. p: ye will not attain unto piety until ye spend of that which ye love. and whatsoever ye spend, allah is aware thereof. s: by no means shall you attain to righteousness until you spend (benevolently) out of what you love; and whatever thing you spend, allah surely knows it. . y: all food was lawful to the children of israel, except what israel made unlawful for itself, before the law (of moses) was revealed. say: "bring ye the law and study it, if ye be men of truth." p: all food was lawful unto the children of israel, save that which israel forbade himself, (in days) before the torah was revealed. say: produce the torah and read it (unto us) if ye are truthful. s: all food was lawful to the children of israel except that which israel had forbidden to himself, before the taurat was revealed. say: bring then the taurat and read it, if you are truthful. . y: if any, after this, invent a lie and attribute it to allah, they are indeed unjust wrong-doers. p: and whoever shall invent a falsehood after that concerning allah, such will be wrong-doers. s: then whoever fabricates a lie against allah after this, these it is that are the unjust. . y: say: "allah speaketh the truth: follow the religion of abraham, the sane in faith; he was not of the pagans." p: say: allah speaketh truth. so follow the religion of abraham, the upright. he was not of the idolaters. s: say: allah has spoken the truth, therefore follow the religion of ibrahim, the upright one; and he was not one of the polytheists. . y: the first house (of worship) appointed for men was that at bakka: full of blessing and of guidance for all kinds of beings: p: lo! the first sanctuary appointed for mankind was that at becca, a blessed place, a guidance to the peoples; s: most surely the first house appointed for men is the one at bekka, blessed and a guidance for the nations. . y: in it are signs manifest; (for example), the station of abraham; whoever enters it attains security; pilgrimage thereto is a duty men owe to allah,- those who can afford the journey; but if any deny faith, allah stands not in need of any of his creatures. p: wherein are plain memorials (of allah's guidance); the place where abraham stood up to pray; and whosoever entereth it is safe. and pilgrimage to the house is a duty unto allah for mankind, for him who can find a way thither. as for him who disbelieveth, (let him know that) lo! allah is independent of (all) creatures. s: in it are clear signs, the standing place of ibrahim, and whoever enters it shall be secure, and pilgrimage to the house is incumbent upon men for the sake of allah, (upon) every one who is able to undertake the journey to it; and whoever disbelieves, then surely allah is self-sufficient, above any need of the worlds. . y: say: "o people of the book! why reject ye the signs of allah, when allah is himself witness to all ye do?" p: say: o people of the scripture! why disbelieve ye in the revelations of allah, when allah (himself) is witness of what ye do? s: say: o followers of the book! why do you disbelieve in the communications of allah? and allah is a witness of what you do. . y: say: "o ye people of the book! why obstruct ye those who believe, from the path of allah, seeking to make it crooked, while ye were yourselves witnesses (to allah's covenant)? but allah is not unmindful of all that ye do." p: say: o people of the scripture! why drive ye back believers from the way of allah, seeking to make it crooked, when ye are witnesses (to allah's guidance)? allah is not unaware of what ye do. s: say: o followers of the book! why do you hinder him who believes from the way of allah? you seek (to make) it crooked, while you are witness, and allah is not heedless of what you do. . y: o ye who believe! if ye listen to a faction among the people of the book, they would (indeed) render you apostates after ye have believed! p: o ye who believe! if ye obey a party of those who have received the scripture they will make you disbelievers after your belief. s: o you who believe! if you obey a party from among those who have been given the book, they will turn you back as unbelievers after you have believed. . y: and how would ye deny faith while unto you are rehearsed the signs of allah, and among you lives the messenger? whoever holds firmly to allah will be shown a way that is straight. p: how can ye disbelieve, when it is ye unto whom allah's revelations are recited, and his messenger is in your midst? he who holdeth fast to allah, he indeed is guided unto a right path. s: but how can you disbelieve while it is you to whom the communications of allah are recited, and among you is his messenger? and whoever holds fast to allah, he indeed is guided to the right path. . y: o ye who believe! fear allah as he should be feared, and die not except in a state of islam. p: o ye who believe! observe your duty to allah with right observance, and die not save as those who have surrendered (unto him) s: o you who believe! be careful of (your duty to) allah with the care which is due to him, and do not die unless you are muslims. . y: and hold fast, all together, by the rope which allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude allah's favour on you; for ye were enemies and he joined your hearts in love, so that by his grace, ye became brethren; and ye were on the brink of the pit of fire, and he saved you from it. thus doth allah make his signs clear to you: that ye may be guided. p: and hold fast, all of you together, to the cable of allah, and do not separate. and remember allah's favour unto you: how ye were enemies and he made friendship between your hearts so that ye became as brothers by his grace; and (how) ye were upon the brink of an abyss of fire, and he did save you from it. thus allah maketh clear his revelations unto you, that haply ye may be guided, s: and hold fast by the covenant of allah all together and be not disunited, and remember the favor of allah on you when you were enemies, then he united your hearts so by his favor you became brethren; and you were on the brink of a pit of fire, then he saved you from it, thus does allah make clear to you his communications that you may follow the right way. . y: let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong: they are the ones to attain felicity. p: and there may spring from you a nation who invite to goodness, and enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency. such are they who are successful. s: and from among you there should be a party who invite to good and enjoin what is right and forbid the wrong, and these it is that shall be successful. . y: be not like those who are divided amongst themselves and fall into disputations after receiving clear signs: for them is a dreadful penalty,- p: and be ye not as those who separated and disputed after the clear proofs had come unto them. for such there is an awful doom, s: and be not like those who became divided and disagreed after clear arguments had come to them, and these it is that shall have a grievous chastisement. . y: on the day when some faces will be (lit up with) white, and some faces will be (in the gloom of) black: to those whose faces will be black, (will be said): "did ye reject faith after accepting it? taste then the penalty for rejecting faith." p: on the day when (some) faces will be whitened and (some) faces will be blackened; and as for those whose faces have been blackened, it will be said unto them: disbelieved ye after your (profession of) belief? then taste the punishment for that ye disbelieved. s: on the day when (some) faces shall turn white and (some) faces shall turn black; then as to those whose faces turn black: did you disbelieve after your believing? taste therefore the chastisement because you disbelieved. . y: but those whose faces will be (lit with) white,- they will be in (the light of) allah's mercy: therein to dwell (for ever). p: and as for those whose faces have been whitened, in the mercy of allah they dwell for ever. s: and as to those whose faces turn white, they shall be in allah's mercy; in it they shall-abide. . y: these are the signs of allah: we rehearse them to thee in truth: and allah means no injustice to any of his creatures. p: these are revelations of allah. we recite them unto thee in truth. allah willeth no injustice to (his) creatures. s: these are the communications of allah which we recite to you with truth, and allah does not desire any injustice to the creatures. . y: to allah belongs all that is in the heavens and on earth: to him do all questions go back (for decision). p: unto allah belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth; and unto allah all things are returned. s: and whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is allah's; and to allah all things return. . y: ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in allah. if only the people of the book had faith, it were best for them: among them are some who have faith, but most of them are perverted transgressors. p: ye are the best community that hath been raised up for mankind. ye enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency; and ye believe in allah. and if the people of the scripture had believed it had been better for them. some of them are believers; but most of them are evil-livers. s: you are the best of the nations raised up for (the benefit of) men; you enjoin what is right and forbid the wrong and believe in allah; and if the followers of the book had believed it would have been better for them; of them (some) are believers and most of them are transgressors. . y: they will do you no harm, barring a trifling annoyance; if they come out to fight you, they will show you their backs, and no help shall they get. p: they will not harm you save a trifling hurt, and if they fight against you they will turn and flee. and afterward they will not be helped. s: they shall by no means harm you but with a slight evil; and if they fight with you they shall turn (their) backs to you, then shall they not be helped. . y: shame is pitched over them (like a tent) wherever they are found, except when under a covenant (of protection) from allah and from men; they draw on themselves wrath from allah, and pitched over them is (the tent of) destitution. this because they rejected the signs of allah, and slew the prophets in defiance of right; this because they rebelled and transgressed beyond bounds. p: ignominy shall be their portion wheresoever they are found save (where they grasp) a rope from allah and a rope from men. they have incurred anger from their lord, and wretchedness is laid upon them. that is because they used to disbelieve the revelations of allah, and slew the prophets wrongfully. that is because they were rebellious and used to transgress. s: abasement is made to cleave to them wherever they are found, except under a covenant with allah and a covenant with men, and they have become deserving of wrath from allah, and humiliation is made to cleave to them; this is because they disbelieved in the communications of allah and slew the prophets unjustly; this is because they disobeyed and exceeded the limits. . y: not all of them are alike: of the people of the book are a portion that stand (for the right): they rehearse the signs of allah all night long, and they prostrate themselves in adoration. p: they are not all alike. of the people of the scripture there is a staunch community who recite the revelations of allah in the night season, falling prostrate (before him). s: they are not all alike; of the followers of the book there is an upright party; they recite allah's communications in the nighttime and they adore (him). . y: they believe in allah and the last day; they enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong; and they hasten (in emulation) in (all) good works: they are in the ranks of the righteous. p: they believe in allah and the last day, and enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency, and vie one with another in good works. these are of the righteous. s: they believe in allah and the last day, and they enjoin what is right and forbid the wrong and they strive with one another in hastening to good deeds, and those are among the good. . y: of the good that they do, nothing will be rejected of them; for allah knoweth well those that do right. p: and whatever good they do, they will not be denied the meed thereof. allah is aware of those who ward off (evil). s: and whatever good they do, they shall not be denied it, and allah knows those who guard (against evil). . y: those who reject faith,- neither their possessions nor their (numerous) progeny will avail them aught against allah: they will be companions of the fire,-dwelling therein (for ever). p: lo! the riches and the progeny of those who disbelieve will not avail them aught against allah; and such are rightful owners of the fire. they will abide therein. s: (as for) those who disbelieve, surely neither their wealth nor their children shall avail them in the least against allah; and these are the inmates of the fire; therein they shall abide. . y: what they spend in the life of this (material) world may be likened to a wind which brings a nipping frost: it strikes and destroys the harvest of men who have wronged their own souls: it is not allah that hath wronged them, but they wrong themselves. p: the likeness of that which they spend in this life of the world is as the likeness of a biting, icy wind which smiteth the harvest of a people who have wronged themselves, and devastateth it. allah wronged them not, but they do wrong themselves. s: the likeness of what they spend in the life of this world is as the likeness of wind in which is intense cold (that) smites the seed produce of a people who haw done injustice to their souls and destroys it; and allah is not unjust to them, but they are unjust to themselves. . y: o ye who believe! take not into your intimacy those outside your ranks: they will not fail to corrupt you. they only desire your ruin: rank hatred has already appeared from their mouths: what their hearts conceal is far worse. we have made plain to you the signs, if ye have wisdom. p: o ye who believe! take not for intimates others than your own folk, who would spare no pains to ruin you; they love to hamper you. hatred is revealed by (the utterance of) their mouths, but that which their breasts hide is greater. we have made plain for you the revelations if ye will understand. s: o you who believe! do not take for intimate friends from among others than your own people; they do not fall short of inflicting loss upon you; they love what distresses you; vehement hatred has already appeared from out of their mouths, and what their breasts conceal is greater still; indeed, we have made the communications clear to you, if you will understand. . y: ah! ye are those who love them, but they love you not,- though ye believe in the whole of the book. when they meet you, they say, "we believe": but when they are alone, they bite off the very tips of their fingers at you in their rage. say: "perish in you rage; allah knoweth well all the secrets of the heart." p: lo! ye are those who love them though they love you not, and ye believe in all the scripture. when they fall in with you they say: we believe; but when they go apart they bite their finger-tips at you, for rage. say: perish in your rage! lo! allah is aware of what is hidden in (your) breasts. s: lo! you are they who will love them while they do not love you, and you believe in the book (in) the whole of it; and when they meet you they say: we believe, and when they are alone, they bite the ends of their fingers in rage against you. say: die in your rage; surely allah knows what is in the breasts. . y: if aught that is good befalls you, it grieves them; but if some misfortune overtakes you, they rejoice at it. but if ye are constant and do right, not the least harm will their cunning do to you; for allah compasseth round about all that they do. p: if a lucky chance befall you, it is evil unto them, and if disaster strike you they rejoice thereat. but if ye persevere and keep from evil their guile will never harm you. lo! allah is surrounding what they do. s: if good befalls you, it grieves them, and if an evil afflicts you, they rejoice at it; and if you are patient and guard yourselves, their scheme will not injure you in any way; surely allah comprehends what they do. . y: remember that morning thou didst leave thy household (early) to post the faithful at their stations for battle: and allah heareth and knoweth all things: p: and when thou settedst forth at daybreak from thy housefolk to assign to the believers their positions for the battle, allah was hearer, knower. s: and when you did go forth early in the morning from your family to lodge the believers in encampments for war and allah is hearing, knowing. . y: remember two of your parties meditated cowardice; but allah was their protector, and in allah should the faithful (ever) put their trust. p: when two parties of you almost fell away, and allah was their protecting friend. in allah let believers put their trust. s: when two parties from among you had determined that they should show cowardice, and allah was the guardian of them both, and in allah should the believers trust. . y: allah had helped you at badr, when ye were a contemptible little force; then fear allah; thus may ye show your gratitude. p: allah had already given you the victory at badr, when ye were contemptible. so observe your duty to allah in order that ye may be thankful. s: and allah did certainly assist you at badr when you were weak; be careful of (your duty to) allah then, that you may give thanks. . y: remember thou saidst to the faithful: is it not enough for you that allah should help you with three thousand angels (specially) sent down? p: when thou didst say unto the believers: is it not sufficient for you that your lord should support you with three thousand angels sent down (to your help)? s: when you said to the believers: does it not suffice you that your lord should assist you with three thousand of the angels sent down? . y: "yea, - if ye remain firm, and act aright, even if the enemy should rush here on you in hot haste, your lord would help you with five thousand angels making a terrific onslaught." p: nay, but if ye persevere, and keep from evil, and (the enemy) attack you suddenly, your lord will help you with five thousand angels sweeping on. s: yea! if you remain patient and are on your guard, and they come upon you in a headlong manner, your lord will assist you with five thousand of the havoc-making angels. . y: allah made it but a message of hope for you, and an assurance to your hearts: (in any case) there is no help except from allah. the exalted, the wise: p: allah ordained this only as a message of good cheer for you, and that thereby your hearts might be at rest - victory cometh only from allah, the mighty, the wise - s: and allah did not make it but as good news for you, and that your hearts might be at ease thereby, and victory is only from allah, the mighty, the wise. . y: that he might cut off a fringe of the unbelievers or expose them to infamy, and they should then be turned back, frustrated of their purpose. p: that he may cut off a part of those who disbelieve, or overwhelm them so that they retire, frustrated. s: that he may cut off a portion from among those who disbelieve, or abase them so that they should return disappointed of attaining what they desired. . y: not for thee, (but for allah), is the decision: whether he turn in mercy to them, or punish them; for they are indeed wrong-doers. p: it is no concern at all of thee (muhammad) whether he relent toward them or punish them; for they are evil-doers. s: you have no concern in the affair whether he turns to them (mercifully) or chastises them, for surely they are unjust. . y: to allah belongeth all that is in the heavens and on earth. he forgiveth whom he pleaseth and punisheth whom he pleaseth; but allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: unto allah belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. he forgiveth whom he will, and punisheth whom he will. allah is forgiving, merciful. s: and whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is allah's; he forgives whom he pleases and chastises whom he pleases; and allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: o ye who believe! devour not usury, doubled and multiplied; but fear allah; that ye may (really) prosper. p: o ye who believe! devour not usury, doubling and quadrupling (the sum lent). observe your duty to allah, that ye may be successful. s: o you who believe! do not devour usury, making it double and redouble, and be careful of (your duty to) allah, that you may be successful. . y: fear the fire, which is repaired for those who reject faith: p: and ward off (from yourselves) the fire prepared for disbelievers. s: and guard yourselves against the fire which has been prepared for the unbelievers. . y: and obey allah and the messenger; that ye may obtain mercy. p: and obey allah and the messenger, that ye may find mercy. s: and obey allah and the messenger, that you may be shown mercy. . y: be quick in the race for forgiveness from your lord, and for a garden whose width is that (of the whole) of the heavens and of the earth, prepared for the righteous,- p: and vie one with another for forgiveness from your lord, and for a paradise as wide as are the heavens and the earth, prepared for those who ward off (evil); s: and hasten to forgiveness from your lord; and a garden, the extensiveness of which is (as) the heavens and the earth, it is prepared for those who guard (against evil). . y: those who spend (freely), whether in prosperity, or in adversity; who restrain anger, and pardon (all) men;- for allah loves those who do good;- p: those who spend (of that which allah hath given them) in ease and in adversity, those who control their wrath and are forgiving toward mankind; allah loveth the good; s: those who spend (benevolently) in ease as well as in straitness, and those who restrain (their) anger and pardon men; and allah loves the doers of good (to others). . y: and those who, having done something to be ashamed of, or wronged their own souls, earnestly bring allah to mind, and ask for forgiveness for their sins,- and who can forgive sins except allah?- and are never obstinate in persisting knowingly in (the wrong) they have done. p: and those who, when they do an evil thing or wrong themselves, remember allah and implore forgiveness for their sins - who forgiveth sins save allah only? - and will not knowingly repeat (the wrong) they did. s: and those who when they commit an indecency or do injustice to their souls remember allah and ask forgiveness for their faults-- and who forgives the faults but allah, and (who) do not knowingly persist in what they have done. . y: for such the reward is forgiveness from their lord, and gardens with rivers flowing underneath,- an eternal dwelling: how excellent a recompense for those who work (and strive)! p: the reward of such will be forgiveness from their lord, and gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide for ever - a bountiful reward for workers! s: (as for) these-- their reward is forgiveness from their lord, and gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them, and excellent is the reward of the laborers. . y: many were the ways of life that have passed away before you: travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those who rejected truth. p: systems have passed away before you. do but travel in the land and see the nature of the consequence for those who did deny (the messengers). s: indeed there have been examples before you; therefore travel in the earth and see what was the end of the rejecters. . y: here is a plain statement to men, a guidance and instruction to those who fear allah! p: this is a declaration for mankind, a guidance and an admonition unto those who ward off (evil) s: this is a clear statement for men, and a guidance and an admonition to those who guard (against evil). . y: so lose not heart, nor fall into despair: for ye must gain mastery if ye are true in faith. p: faint not nor grieve, for ye will overcome them if ye are (indeed) believers. s: and be not infirm, and be not grieving, and you shall have the upper hand if you are believers. . y: if a wound hath touched you, be sure a similar wound hath touched the others. such days (of varying fortunes) we give to men and men by turns: that allah may know those that believe, and that he may take to himself from your ranks martyr-witnesses (to truth). and allah loveth not those that do wrong. p: if ye have received a blow, the (disbelieving) people have received a blow the like thereof. these are (only) the vicissitudes which we cause to follow one another for mankind, to the end that allah may know those who believe and may choose witnesses from among you; and allah loveth not wrong-doers. s: if a wound has afflicted you (at ohud), a wound like it has also afflicted the (unbelieving) people; and we bring these days to men by turns, and that allah may know those who believe and take witnesses from among you; and allah does not love the unjust. . y: allah's object also is to purge those that are true in faith and to deprive of blessing those that resist faith. p: and that allah may prove those who believe, and may blight the disbelievers. s: and that he may purge those who believe and deprive the unbelievers of blessings. . y: did ye think that ye would enter heaven without allah testing those of you who fought hard (in his cause) and remained steadfast? p: or deemed ye that ye would enter paradise while yet allah knoweth not those of you who really strive, nor knoweth those (of you) who are steadfast? s: do you think that you will enter the garden while allah has not yet known those who strive hard from among you, and (he has not) known the patient. . y: ye did indeed wish for death before ye met him: now ye have seen him with your own eyes, (and ye flinch!) p: and verily ye used to wish for death before ye met it (in the field). now ye have seen it with your eyes! s: and certainly you desired death before you met it, so indeed you have seen it and you look (at it) . y: muhammad is no more than a messenger: many were the messenger that passed away before him. if he died or were slain, will ye then turn back on your heels? if any did turn back on his heels, not the least harm will he do to allah; but allah (on the other hand) will swiftly reward those who (serve him) with gratitude. p: muhammad is but a messenger, messengers (the like of whom) have passed away before him. will it be that, when he dieth or is slain, ye will turn back on your heels? he who turneth back on his heels doth no hurt to allah, and allah will reward the thankful. s: and muhammad is no more than a messenger; the messengers have already passed away before him; if then he dies or is killed will you turn back upon your heels? and whoever turns back upon his heels, he will by no means do harm to allah in the least and allah will reward the grateful. . y: nor can a soul die except by allah's leave, the term being fixed as by writing. if any do desire a reward in this life, we shall give it to him; and if any do desire a reward in the hereafter, we shall give it to him. and swiftly shall we reward those that (serve us with) gratitude. p: no soul can ever die except by allah's leave and at a term appointed. whoso desireth the reward of the world, we bestow on him thereof; and whoso desireth the reward of the hereafter, we bestow on him thereof. we shall reward the thankful. s: and a soul will not die but with the permission of allah the term is fixed; and whoever desires the reward of this world, i shall give him of it, and whoever desires the reward of the hereafter i shall give him of it, and i will reward the grateful. . y: how many of the prophets fought (in allah's way), and with them (fought) large bands of godly men? but they never lost heart if they met with disaster in allah's way, nor did they weaken (in will) nor give in. and allah loves those who are firm and steadfast. p: and with how many a prophet have there been a number of devoted men who fought (beside him). they quailed not for aught that befell them in the way of allah, nor did they weaken, nor were they brought low. allah loveth the steadfast. s: and how many a prophet has fought with whom were many worshippers of the lord; so they did not become weak-hearted on account of what befell them in allah's way, nor did they weaken, nor did they abase themselves; and allah loves the patient. . y: all that they said was: "our lord! forgive us our sins and anything we may have done that transgressed our duty: establish our feet firmly, and help us against those that resist faith." p: their cry was only that they said: our lord! forgive us for our sins and wasted efforts, make our foothold sure, and give us victory over the disbelieving folk. s: and their saying was no other than that they said: our lord! forgive us our faults and our extravagance in our affair and make firm our feet and help us against the unbelieving people. . y: and allah gave them a reward in this world, and the excellent reward of the hereafter. for allah loveth those who do good. p: so allah gave them the reward of the world and the good reward of the hereafter. allah loveth those whose deeds are good. s: so allah gave them the reward of this world and better reward of the hereafter and allah loves those who do good (to others). . y: o ye who believe! if ye obey the unbelievers, they will drive you back on your heels, and ye will turn back (from faith) to your own loss. p: o ye who believe! if ye obey those who disbelieve, they will make you turn back on your heels, and ye turn back as losers. s: o you who believe! if you obey those who disbelieve they will turn you back upon your heels, so you will turn back losers. . y: nay, allah is your protector, and he is the best of helpers. p: but allah is your protector, and he is the best of helpers. s: nay! allah is your patron and he is the best of the helpers. . y: soon shall we cast terror into the hearts of the unbelievers, for that they joined companions with allah, for which he had sent no authority: their abode will be the fire: and evil is the home of the wrong-doers! p: we shall cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve because they ascribe unto allah partners, for which no warrant hath been revealed. their habitation is the fire, and hapless the abode of the wrong-doers. s: we will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve, because they set up with allah that for which he has sent down no authority, and their abode is the fire, and evil is the abode of the unjust. . y: allah did indeed fulfil his promise to you when ye with his permission were about to annihilate your enemy,-until ye flinched and fell to disputing about the order, and disobeyed it after he brought you in sight (of the booty) which ye covet. among you are some that hanker after this world and some that desire the hereafter. then did he divert you from your foes in order to test you but he forgave you: for allah is full of grace to those who believe. p: allah verily made good his promise unto you when ye routed them by his leave, until (the moment) when your courage failed you, and ye disagreed about the order and ye disobeyed, after he had shown you that for which ye long. some of you desired the world, and some of you desired the hereafter. therefore he made you flee from them, that he might try you. yet now he hath forgiven you. allah is a lord of kindness to believers. s: and certainly allah made good to you his promise when you slew them by his permission, until when you became weak-hearted and disputed about the affair and disobeyed after he had shown you that which you loved; of you were some who desired this world and of you were some who desired the hereafter; then he turned you away from them that he might try you; and he has certainly pardoned you, and allah is gracious to the believers. . y: behold! ye were climbing up the high ground, without even casting a side glance at any one, and the messenger in your rear was calling you back. there did allah give you one distress after another by way of requital, to teach you not to grieve for (the booty) that had escaped you and for (the ill) that had befallen you. for allah is well aware of all that ye do. p: when ye climbed (the hill) and paid no heed to anyone, while the messenger, in your rear, was calling you (to fight). therefor he rewarded you grief for (his) grief, that (he might teach) you not to sorrow either for that which ye missed or for that which befell you. allah is informed of what ye do. s: when you ran off precipitately and did not wait for any one, and the messenger was calling you from your rear, so he gave you another sorrow instead of (your) sorrow, so that you might not grieve at what had escaped you, nor (at) what befell you; and allah is aware of what you do. . y: after (the excitement) of the distress, he sent down calm on a band of you overcome with slumber, while another band was stirred to anxiety by their own feelings, moved by wrong suspicions of allah-suspicions due to ignorance. they said: "what affair is this of ours?" say thou: "indeed, this affair is wholly allah's." they hide in their minds what they dare not reveal to thee. they say (to themselves): "if we had had anything to do with this affair, we should not have been in the slaughter here." say: "even if you had remained in your homes, those for whom death was decreed would certainly have gone forth to the place of their death"; but (all this was) that allah might test what is in your breasts and purge what is in your hearts. for allah knoweth well the secrets of your hearts. p: then, after grief, he sent down security for you. as slumber did it overcome a party of you, while (the other) party, who were anxious on their own account, thought wrongly of allah, the thought of ignorance. they said: have we any part in the cause? say (o muhammad): the cause belongeth wholly to allah. they hide within themselves (a thought) which they reveal not unto thee, saying: had we had any part in the cause we should not have been slain here. say: even though ye had been in your houses, those appointed to be slain would have gone forth to the places where they were to lie. (all this hath been) in order that allah might try what is in your breasts and prove what is in your hearts. allah is aware of what is hidden in the breasts (of men). s: then after sorrow he sent down security upon you, a calm coming upon a party of you, and (there was) another party whom their own souls had rendered anxious; they entertained about allah thoughts of ignorance quite unjustly, saying: we have no hand in the affair. say: surely the affair is wholly (in the hands) of allah. they conceal within their souls what they would not reveal to you. they say: had we any hand in the affair, we would not have been slain here. say: had you remained in your houses, those for whom slaughter was ordained would certainly have gone forth to the places where they would be slain, and that allah might test what was in your breasts and that he might purge what was in your hearts; and allah knows what is in the breasts. . y: those of you who turned back on the day the two hosts met,-it was satan who caused them to fail, because of some (evil) they had done. but allah has blotted out (their fault): for allah is oft-forgiving, most forbearing. p: lo! those of you who turned back on the day when the two hosts met, satan alone it was who caused them to backslide, because of some of that which they have earned. now allah hath forgiven them. lo! allah is forgiving, clement. s: (as for) those of you who turned back on the day when the two armies met, only the shaitan sought to cause them to make a slip on account of some deeds they had done, and certainly allah has pardoned them; surely allah is forgiving, forbearing. . y: o ye who believe! be not like the unbelievers, who say of their brethren, when they are travelling through the earth or engaged in fighting: "if they had stayed with us, they would not have died, or been slain." this that allah may make it a cause of sighs and regrets in their hearts. it is allah that gives life and death, and allah sees well all that ye do. p: o ye who believe! be not as those who disbelieved and said of their brethren who went abroad in the land or were fighting in the field: if they had been (here) with us they would not have died or been killed: that allah may make it anguish in their hearts. allah giveth life and causeth death; and allah is seer of what ye do. s: o you who believe! be not like those who disbelieve and say of their brethren when they travel in the earth or engage in fighting: had they been with us, they would not have died and they would not have been slain; so allah makes this to be an intense regret in their hearts; and allah gives life and causes death and allah sees what you do. . y: and if ye are slain, or die, in the way of allah, forgiveness and mercy from allah are far better than all they could amass. p: and what though ye be slain in allah's way or die therein? surely pardon from allah and mercy are better than all that they amass. s: and if you are slain in the way of allah or you die, certainly forgiveness from allah and mercy is better than what they amass. . y: and if ye die, or are slain, lo! it is unto allah that ye are brought together. p: what though ye be slain or die, when unto allah ye are gathered? s: and if indeed you die or you are slain, certainly to allah shall you be gathered together. . y: it is part of the mercy of allah that thou dost deal gently with them wert thou severe or harsh-hearted, they would have broken away from about thee: so pass over (their faults), and ask for (allah's) forgiveness for them; and consult them in affairs (of moment). then, when thou hast taken a decision put thy trust in allah. for allah loves those who put their trust (in him). p: it was by the mercy of allah that thou wast lenient with them (o muhammad), for if thou hadst been stern and fierce of heart they would have dispersed from round about thee. so pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult with them upon the conduct of affairs. and when thou art resolved, then put thy trust in allah. lo! allah loveth those who put their trust (in him). s: thus it is due to mercy from allah that you deal with them gently, and had you been rough, hard hearted, they would certainly have dispersed from around you; pardon them therefore and ask pardon for them, and take counsel with them in the affair; so when you have decided, then place your trust in allah; surely allah loves those who trust. . y: if allah helps you, none can overcome you: if he forsakes you, who is there, after that, that can help you? in allah, then, let believers put their trust. p: if allah is your helper none can overcome you, and if he withdraw his help from you, who is there who can help you after him? in allah let believers put their trust. s: if allah assists you, then there is none that can overcome you, and if he forsakes you, who is there then that can assist you after him? and on allah should the believers rely. . y: no prophet could (ever) be false to his trust. if any person is so false, he shall, on the day of judgment, restore what he misappropriated; then shall every soul receive its due,- whatever it earned,- and none shall be dealt with unjustly. p: it is not for any prophet to embezzle. whoso embezzleth will bring what he embezzled with him on the day of resurrection. then every soul will be paid in full what it hath earned; and they will not be wronged. s: and it is not attributable to a prophet that he should act unfaithfully; and he who acts unfaithfully shall bring that in respect of which he has acted unfaithfully on the day of resurrection; then shall every soul be paid back fully what it has earned, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly. . y: is the man who follows the good pleasure of allah like the man who draws on himself the wrath of allah, and whose abode is in hell?- a woeful refuge! p: is one who followeth the pleasure of allah as one who hath earned condemnation from allah, whose habitation is the fire, a hapless journey's end? s: is then he who follows the pleasure of allah like him who has made himself deserving of displeasure from allah, and his abode is hell; and it is an evil destination. . y: they are in varying gardens in the sight of allah, and allah sees well all that they do. p: there are degrees (of grace and reprobation) with allah, and allah is seer of what they do. s: there are (varying) grades with allah, and allah sees what they do. . y: allah did confer a great favour on the believers when he sent among them a messenger from among themselves, rehearsing unto them the signs of allah, sanctifying them, and instructing them in scripture and wisdom, while, before that, they had been in manifest error. p: allah verily hath shown grace to the believers by sending unto them a messenger of their own who reciteth unto them his revelations, and causeth them to grow, and teacheth them the scripture and wisdom; although before (he came to them) they were in flagrant error. s: certainly allah conferred a benefit upon the believers when he raised among them a messenger from among themselves, reciting to them his communications and purifying them, and teaching them the book and the wisdom, although before that they were surely in manifest error. . y: what! when a single disaster smites you, although ye smote (your enemies) with one twice as great, do ye say?- "whence is this?" say (to them): "it is from yourselves: for allah hath power over all things." p: and was it so, when a disaster smote you, though ye had smitten (them with a disaster) twice (as great), that ye said: how is this? say (unto them, o muhammad): it is from yourselves. lo! allah is able to do all things. s: what! when a misfortune befell you, and you had certainly afflicted (the unbelievers) with twice as much, you began to say: whence is this? say: it is from yourselves; surely allah has power over all things. . y: what ye suffered on the day the two armies met, was with the leave of allah, in order that he might test the believers,- p: that which befell you, on the day when the two armies met, was by permission of allah; that he might know the true believers; s: and what befell you on the day when the two armies met (at ohud) was with allah's knowledge, and that he might know the believers. . y: and the hypocrites also. these were told: "come, fight in the way of allah, or (at least) drive (the foe from your city)." they said: "had we known how to fight, we should certainly have followed you." they were that day nearer to unbelief than to faith, saying with their lips what was not in their hearts but allah hath full knowledge of all they conceal. p: and that he might know the hypocrites, unto whom it was said: come, fight in the way of allah, or defend yourselves. they answered: if we knew aught of fighting we would follow you. on that day they were nearer disbelief than faith. they utter with their mouths a thing which is not in their hearts. allah is best aware of what they hide. s: and that he might know the hypocrites; and it was said to them: come, fight in allah's way, or defend yourselves. they said: if we knew fighting, we would certainly have followed you. they were on that day much nearer to unbelief than to belief. they say with their mouths what is not in their hearts, and allah best knows what they conceal. . y: (they are) the ones that say, (of their brethren slain), while they themselves sit (at ease): "if only they had listened to us they would not have been slain." say: "avert death from your own selves, if ye speak the truth." p: those who, while they sat at home, said of their brethren (who were fighting for the cause of allah): if they had been guided by us they would not have been slain. say (unto them, o muhammad): then avert death from yourselves if ye are truthful. s: those who said of their brethren whilst they (themselves) held back: had they obeyed us, they would not have been killed. say: then avert death from yourselves if you speak the truth. . y: think not of those who are slain in allah's way as dead. nay, they live, finding their sustenance in the presence of their lord; p: think not of those, who are slain in the way of allah, as dead. nay, they are living. with their lord they have provision. s: and reckon not those who are killed in allah's way as dead; nay, they are alive (and) are provided sustenance from their lord; . y: they rejoice in the bounty provided by allah: and with regard to those left behind, who have not yet joined them (in their bliss), the (martyrs) glory in the fact that on them is no fear, nor have they (cause to) grieve. p: jubilant (are they) because of that which allah hath bestowed upon them of his bounty, rejoicing for the sake of those who have not joined them but are left behind: that there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve. s: rejoicing in what allah has given them out of his grace and they rejoice for the sake of those who, (being left) behind them, have not yet joined them, that they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve. . y: they glory in the grace and the bounty from allah, and in the fact that allah suffereth not the reward of the faithful to be lost (in the least). p: they rejoice because of favour from allah and kindness, and that allah wasteth not the wage of the believers. s: they rejoice on account of favor from allah and (his) grace, and that allah will not waste the reward of the believers. . y: of those who answered the call of allah and the messenger, even after being wounded, those who do right and refrain from wrong have a great reward;- p: as for those who heard the call of allah and his messenger after the harm befell them (in the fight); for such of them as do right and ward off (evil), there is great reward. s: (as for) those who responded (at ohud) to the call of allah and the messenger after the wound had befallen them, those among them who do good (to others) and guard (against evil) shall have a great reward. . y: men said to them: "a great army is gathering against you": and frightened them: but it (only) increased their faith: they said: "for us allah sufficeth, and he is the best disposer of affairs." p: those unto whom men said: lo! the people have gathered against you, therefor fear them. (the threat of danger) but increased the faith of them and they cried: allah is sufficient for us! most excellent is he in whom we trust! s: those to whom the people said: surely men have gathered against you, therefore fear them, but this increased their faith, and they said: allah is sufficient for us and most excellent is the protector. . y: and they returned with grace and bounty from allah: no harm ever touched them: for they followed the good pleasure of allah: and allah is the lord of bounties unbounded. p: so they returned with grace and favour from allah, and no harm touched them. they followed the good pleasure of allah, and allah is of infinite bounty. s: so they returned with favor from allah and (his) grace, no evil touched them and they followed the pleasure of allah; and allah is the lord of mighty grace. . y: it is only the evil one that suggests to you the fear of his votaries: be ye not afraid of them, but fear me, if ye have faith. p: it is only the devil who would make (men) fear his partisans. fear them not; fear me, if ye are true believers. s: it is only the shaitan that causes you to fear from his friends, but do not fear them, and fear me if you are believers. . y: let not those grieve thee who rush headlong into unbelief: not the least harm will they do to allah: allah's plan is that he will give them no portion in the hereafter, but a severe punishment. p: let not their conduct grieve thee, who run easily to disbelief, for lo! they injure allah not at all. it is allah's will to assign them no portion in the hereafter, and theirs will be an awful doom. s: and let not those grieve you who fall into unbelief hastily; surely they can do no harm to allah at all; allah intends that he should not give them any portion in the hereafter, and they shall have a grievous chastisement. . y: those who purchase unbelief at the price of faith,- not the least harm will they do to allah, but they will have a grievous punishment. p: those who purchase disbelief at the price of faith harm allah not at all, but theirs will be a painful doom. s: surely those who have bought unbelief at the price of faith shall do no harm at all to allah, and they shall have a painful chastisement. . y: let not the unbelievers think that our respite to them is good for themselves: we grant them respite that they may grow in their iniquity: but they will have a shameful punishment. p: and let not those who disbelieve imagine that the rein we give them bodeth good unto their souls. we only give them rein that they may grow in sinfulness. and theirs will be a shameful doom. s: and let not those who disbelieve think that our granting them respite is better for their souls; we grant them respite only that they may add to their sins; and they shall have a disgraceful chastisement. . y: allah will not leave the believers in the state in which ye are now, until he separates what is evil from what is good nor will he disclose to you the secrets of the unseen. but he chooses of his messengers (for the purpose) whom he pleases. so believe in allah. and his messengers: and if ye believe and do right, ye have a reward without measure. p: it is not (the purpose) of allah to leave you in your present state till he shall separate the wicked from the good. and it is not (the purpose of) allah to let you know the unseen. but allah chooseth of his messengers whom he will, (to receive knowledge thereof). so believe in allah and his messengers. if ye believe and ward off (evil), yours will be a vast reward. s: on no account will allah leave the believers in the condition which you are in until he separates the evil from the good; nor is allah going to make you acquainted with the unseen, but allah chooses of his messengers whom he pleases; therefore believe in allah and his messengers; and if you believe and guard (against evil), then you shall have a great reward. . y: and let not those who covetously withhold of the gifts which allah hath given them of his grace, think that it is good for them: nay, it will be the worse for them: soon shall the things which they covetously withheld be tied to their necks like a twisted collar, on the day of judgment. to allah belongs the heritage of the heavens and the earth; and allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do. p: and let not those who hoard up that which allah hath bestowed upon them of his bounty think that it is better for them. nay, it is worse for them. that which they hoard will be their collar on the day of resurrection. allah's is the heritage of the heavens and the earth, and allah is informed of what ye do. s: and let not those deem, who are niggardly in giving away that which allah has granted them out of his grace, that it is good for them; nay, it is worse for them; they shall have that whereof they were niggardly made to cleave to their necks on the resurrection day; and allah's is the heritage of the heavens and the earth; and allah is aware of what you do. . y: allah hath heard the taunt of those who say: "truly, allah is indigent and we are rich!"- we shall certainly record their word and (their act) of slaying the prophets in defiance of right, and we shall say: "taste ye the penalty of the scorching fire!" p: verily allah heard the saying of those who said, (when asked for contributions to the war): "allah, forsooth, is poor, and we are rich!" we shall record their saying with their slaying of the prophets wrongfully and we shall say: taste ye the punishment of burning! s: allah has certainly heard the saying of those who said: surely allah is poor and we are rich. i will record what they say, and their killing the prophets unjustly, and i will say: taste the chastisement of burning. . y: "this is because of the (unrighteous deeds) which your hands sent on before ye: for allah never harms those who serve him." p: this is on account of that which your own hands have sent before (you to the judgment). allah is no oppressor of (his) bondmen. s: this is for what your own hands have sent before and because allah is not in the least unjust to the servants. . y: they (also) said: "allah took our promise not to believe in an messenger unless he showed us a sacrifice consumed by fire (from heaven)." say: "there came to you messengers before me, with clear signs and even with what ye ask for: why then did ye slay them, if ye speak the truth?" p: (the same are) those who say: lo! allah hath charged us that we believe not in any messenger until he bring us an offering which fire (from heaven) shall devour. say (unto them, o muhammad): messengers came unto you before me with miracles, and with that (very miracle) which ye describe. why then did ye slay them? (answer that) if ye are truthful! s: (those are they) who said: surely allah has enjoined us that we should not believe in any messenger until he brings us an offering which the fire consumes. say: indeed, there came to you messengers before me with clear arguments and with that which you demand; why then did you kill them if you are truthful? . y: then if they reject thee, so were rejected messengers before thee, who came with clear signs, books of dark prophecies, and the book of enlightenment. p: and if they deny thee, even so did they deny messengers who were before thee, who came with miracles and with the psalms and with the scripture giving light. s: but if they reject you, so indeed were rejected before you messengers who came with clear arguments and scriptures and the illuminating book. . y: every soul shall have a taste of death: and only on the day of judgment shall you be paid your full recompense. only he who is saved far from the fire and admitted to the garden will have attained the object (of life): for the life of this world is but goods and chattels of deception. p: every soul will taste of death. and ye will be paid on the day of resurrection only that which ye have fairly earned. whoso is removed from the fire and is made to enter paradise, he indeed is triumphant. the life of this world is but comfort of illusion. s: every soul shall taste of death, and you shall only be paid fully your reward on the resurrection day; then whoever is removed far away from the fire and is made to enter the garden he indeed has attained the object; and the life of this world is nothing but a provision of vanities. . y: ye shall certainly be tried and tested in your possessions and in your personal selves; and ye shall certainly hear much that will grieve you, from those who received the book before you and from those who worship many gods. but if ye persevere patiently, and guard against evil,-then that will be a determining factor in all affairs. p: assuredly ye will be tried in your property and in your persons, and ye will hear much wrong from those who were given the scripture before you, and from the idolaters. but if ye persevere and ward off (evil), then that is of the steadfast heart of things. s: you shall certainly be tried respecting your wealth and your souls, and you shall certainly hear from those who have been given the book before you and from those who are polytheists much annoying talk; and if you are patient and guard (against evil), surely this is one of the affairs (which should be) determined upon. . y: and remember allah took a covenant from the people of the book, to make it known and clear to mankind, and not to hide it; but they threw it away behind their backs, and purchased with it some miserable gain! and vile was the bargain they made! p: and (remember) when allah laid a charge on those who had received the scripture (he said): ye are to expound it to mankind and not to hide it. but they flung it behind their backs and bought thereby a little gain. verily evil is that which they have gained thereby. s: and when allah made a covenant with those who were given the book: you shall certainly make it known to men and you shall not hide it; but they cast it behind their backs and took a small price for it; so evil is that which they buy. . y: think not that those who exult in what they have brought about, and love to be praised for what they have not done,- think escape the penalty. for them is a penalty grievous indeed. p: think not that those who exult in what they have given, and love to be praised for what they have not done - think not, they are in safety from the doom. a painful doom is theirs. s: do not think those who rejoice for what they have done and love that they should be praised for what they have not done-- so do by no means think them to be safe from the chastisement, and they shall have a painful chastisement. . y: to allah belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth; and allah hath power over all things. p: unto allah belongeth the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth. allah is able to do all things. s: and allah's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and allah has power over all things. . y: behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day,- there are indeed signs for men of understanding,- p: lo! in the creation of the heavens and the earth and (in) the difference of night and day are tokens (of his sovereignty) for men of understanding, s: most surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day there are signs for men who understand. . y: men who celebrate the praises of allah, standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth, (with the thought): "our lord! not for naught hast thou created (all) this! glory to thee! give us salvation from the penalty of the fire." p: such as remember allah, standing, sitting, and reclining, and consider the creation of the heavens and the earth, (and say): our lord! thou createdst not this in vain. glory be to thee! preserve us from the doom of fire. s: those who remember allah standing and sitting and lying on their sides and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: our lord! thou hast not created this in vain! glory be to thee; save us then from the chastisement of the fire: . y: "our lord! any whom thou dost admit to the fire, truly thou coverest with shame, and never will wrong-doers find any helpers!" p: our lord! whom thou causest to enter the fire: him indeed thou hast confounded. for evil-doers there will be no helpers. s: our lord! surely whomsoever thou makest enter the fire, him thou hast indeed brought to disgrace, and there shall be no helpers for the unjust: . y: "our lord! we have heard the call of one calling (us) to faith, 'believe ye in the lord,' and we have believed. our lord! forgive us our sins, blot out from us our iniquities, and take to thyself our souls in the company of the righteous." p: our lord! lo! we have heard a crier calling unto faith: "believe ye in your lord!" so we believed. our lord! therefor forgive us our sins, and remit from us our evil deeds, and make us die the death of the righteous. s: our lord! surely we have heard a preacher calling to the faith, saying: believe in your lord, so we did believe; our lord! forgive us therefore our faults, and cover our evil deeds and make us die with the righteous. . y: "our lord! grant us what thou didst promise unto us through thine messengers, and save us from shame on the day of judgment: for thou never breakest thy promise." p: our lord! and give us that which thou hast promised to us by thy messengers. confound us not upon the day of resurrection. lo! thou breakest not the tryst. s: our lord! and grant us what thou hast promised us by thy messengers; and disgrace us not on the day of resurrection; surely thou dost not fail to perform the promise. . y: and their lord hath accepted of them, and answered them: "never will i suffer to be lost the work of any of you, be he male or female: ye are members, one of another: those who have left their homes, or been driven out therefrom, or suffered harm in my cause, or fought or been slain,- verily, i will blot out from them their iniquities, and admit them into gardens with rivers flowing beneath;- a reward from the presence of allah, and from his presence is the best of rewards." p: and their lord hath heard them (and he saith): lo! i suffer not the work of any worker, male or female, to be lost. ye proceed one from another. so those who fled and were driven forth from their homes and suffered damage for my cause, and fought and were slain, verily i shall remit their evil deeds from them and verily i shall bring them into gardens underneath which rivers flow - a reward from allah. and with allah is the fairest of rewards. s: so their lord accepted their prayer: that i will not waste the work of a worker among you, whether male or female, the one of you being from the other; they, therefore, who fled and were turned out of their homes and persecuted in my way and who fought and were slain, i will most certainly cover their evil deeds, and i will most certainly make them enter gardens beneath which rivers flow; a reward from allah, and with allah is yet better reward. . y: let not the strutting about of the unbelievers through the land deceive thee: p: let not the vicissitude (of the success) of those who disbelieve, in the land, deceive thee (o muhammad). s: let it not deceive you that those who disbelieve go to and fro in the cities fearlessly. . y: little is it for enjoyment: their ultimate abode is hell: what an evil bed (to lie on)! p: it is but a brief comfort. and afterward their habitation will be hell, an ill abode. s: a brief enjoyment! then their abode is hell, and evil is the resting-place. . y: on the other hand, for those who fear their lord, are gardens, with rivers flowing beneath; therein are they to dwell (for ever),- a gift from the presence of allah; and that which is in the presence of allah is the best (bliss) for the righteous. p: but those who keep their duty to their lord, for them are gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will be safe for ever. a gift of welcome from their lord. that which allah hath in store is better for the righteous. s: but as to those who are careful of (their duty to) their lord, they shall have gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding in them; an entertainment from their lord, and that which is with allah is best for the righteous. . y: and there are, certainly, among the people of the book, those who believe in allah, in the revelation to you, and in the revelation to them, bowing in humility to allah: they will not sell the signs of allah for a miserable gain! for them is a reward with their lord, and allah is swift in account. p: and lo! of the people of the scripture there are some who believe in allah and that which is revealed unto you and that which was revealed unto them, humbling themselves before allah. they purchase not a trifling gain at the price of the revelations of allah. verily their reward is with their lord. lo! allah is swift to take account. s: and most surely of the followers of the book there are those who believe in allah and (in) that which has been revealed to you and (in) that which has been revealed to them, being lowly before allah; they do not take a small price for the communications of allah; these it is that have their reward with their lord; surely allah is quick in reckoning. . y: o ye who believe! persevere in patience and constancy; vie in such perseverance; strengthen each other; and fear allah; that ye may prosper. p: o ye who believe! endure, outdo all others in endurance, be ready, and observe your duty to allah, in order that ye may succeed. s: o you who believe! be patient and excel in patience and remain steadfast, and be careful of (your duty to) allah, that you may be successful. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : an-nisa (women) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: o mankind! reverence your guardian-lord, who created you from a single person, created, of like nature, his mate, and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women;- reverence allah, through whom ye demand your mutual (rights), and (reverence) the wombs (that bore you): for allah ever watches over you. p: o mankind! be careful of your duty to your lord who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women. be careful of your duty toward allah in whom ye claim (your rights) of one another, and toward the wombs (that bare you). lo! allah hath been a watcher over you. s: o people! be careful of (your duty to) your lord, who created you from a single being and created its mate of the same (kind) and spread from these two, many men and women; and be careful of (your duty to) allah, by whom you demand one of another (your rights), and (to) the ties of relationship; surely allah ever watches over you. . y: to orphans restore their property (when they reach their age), nor substitute (your) worthless things for (their) good ones; and devour not their substance (by mixing it up) with your won. for this is indeed a great sin. p: give unto orphans their wealth. exchange not the good for the bad (in your management thereof) nor absorb their wealth into your own wealth. lo! that would be a great sin. s: and give to the orphans their property, and do not substitute worthless (things) for (their) good (ones), and do not devour their property (as an addition) to your own property; this is surely a great crime. . y: if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, marry women of your choice, two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice. p: and if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans, marry of the women, who seem good to you, two or three or four; and if ye fear that ye cannot do justice (to so many) then one (only) or (the captives) that your right hands possess. thus it is more likely that ye will not do injustice. s: and if you fear that you cannot act equitably towards orphans, then marry such women as seem good to you, two and three and four; but if you fear that you will not do justice (between them), then (marry) only one or what your right hands possess; this is more proper, that you may not deviate from the right course. . y: and give the women (on marriage) their dower as a free gift; but if they, of their own good pleasure, remit any part of it to you, take it and enjoy it with right good cheer. p: and give unto the women (whom ye marry) free gift of their marriage portions; but if they of their own accord remit unto you a part thereof, then ye are welcome to absorb it (in your wealth). s: and give women their dowries as a free gift, but if they of themselves be pleased to give up to you a portion of it, then eat it with enjoyment and with wholesome result. . y: to those weak of understanding make not over your property, which allah hath made a means of support for you, but feed and clothe them therewith, and speak to them words of kindness and justice. p: give not unto the foolish (what is in) your (keeping of their) wealth, which allah hath given you to maintain; but feed and clothe them from it, and speak kindly unto them. s: and do not give away your property which allah has made for you a (means of) support to the weak of understanding, and maintain them out of (the profits of) it, and clothe them and speak to them words of honest advice. . y: make trial of orphans until they reach the age of marriage; if then ye find sound judgment in them, release their property to them; but consume it not wastefully, nor in haste against their growing up. if the guardian is well-off, let him claim no remuneration, but if he is poor, let him have for himself what is just and reasonable. when ye release their property to them, take witnesses in their presence: but all-sufficient is allah in taking account. p: prove orphans till they reach the marriageable age; then, if ye find them of sound judgment, deliver over unto them their fortune; and devour it not by squandering and in haste lest they should grow up whoso (of the guardians) is rich, let him abstain generously (from taking of the property of orphans); and whoso is poor let him take thereof in reason (for his guardianship). and when ye deliver up their fortune unto orphans, have (the transaction) witnessed in their presence. allah sufficeth as a reckoner. s: and test the orphans until they attain puberty; then if you find in them maturity of intellect, make over to them their property, and do not consume it extravagantly and hastily, lest they attain to full age; and whoever is rich, let him abstain altogether, and whoever is poor, let him eat reasonably; then when you make over to them their property, call witnesses in their presence; and allah is enough as a reckoner. . y: from what is left by parents and those nearest related there is a share for men and a share for women, whether the property be small or large,-a determinate share. p: unto the men (of a family) belongeth a share of that which parents and near kindred leave, and unto the women a share of that which parents and near kindred leave, whether it be little or much - a legal share. s: men shall have a portion of what the parents and the near relatives leave, and women shall have a portion of what the parents and the near relatives leave, whether there is little or much of it; a stated portion. . y: but if at the time of division other relatives, or orphans or poor, are present, feed them out of the (property), and speak to them words of kindness and justice. p: and when kinsfolk and orphans and the needy are present at the division (of the heritage), bestow on them therefrom and speak kindly unto them. s: and when there are present at the division the relatives and the orphans and the needy, give them (something) out of it and speak to them kind words. . y: let those (disposing of an estate) have the same fear in their minds as they would have for their own if they had left a helpless family behind: let them fear allah, and speak words of appropriate (comfort). p: and let those fear (in their behaviour toward orphans) who if they left behind them weak offspring would be afraid for them. so let them mind their duty to allah, and speak justly. s: and let those fear who, should they leave behind them weakly offspring, would fear on their account, so let them be careful of (their duty to) allah, and let them speak right words. . y: those who unjustly eat up the property of orphans, eat up a fire into their own bodies: they will soon be enduring a blazing fire! p: lo! those who devour the wealth of orphans wrongfully, they do but swallow fire into their bellies, and they will be exposed to burning flame. s: (as for) those who swallow the property of the orphans unjustly, surely they only swallow fire into their bellies and they shall enter burning fire. . y: allah (thus) directs you as regards your children's (inheritance): to the male, a portion equal to that of two females: if only daughters, two or more, their share is two-thirds of the inheritance; if only one, her share is a half. for parents, a sixth share of the inheritance to each, if the deceased left children; if no children, and the parents are the (only) heirs, the mother has a third; if the deceased left brothers (or sisters) the mother has a sixth. (the distribution in all cases is) after the payment of legacies and debts. ye know not whether your parents or your children are nearest to you in benefit. these are settled portions ordained by allah; and allah is all-knowing, all-wise. p: allah chargeth you concerning (the provision for) your children: to the male the equivalent of the portion of two females, and if there be women more than two, then theirs is two-thirds of the inheritance, and if there be one (only) then the half. and to each of his parents a sixth of the inheritance, if he have a son; and if he have no son and his parents are his heirs, then to his mother appertaineth the third; and if he have brethren, then to his mother appertaineth the sixth, after any legacy he may have bequeathed, or debt (hath been paid). your parents and your children: ye know not which of them is nearer unto you in usefulness. it is an injunction from allah. lo! allah is knower, wise. s: allah enjoins you concerning your children: the male shall have the equal of the portion of two females; then if they are more than two females, they shall have two-thirds of what the deceased has left, and if there is one, she shall have the half; and as for his parents, each of them shall have the sixth of what he has left if he has a child, but if he has no child and (only) his two parents inherit him, then his mother shall have the third; but if he has brothers, then his mother shall have the sixth after (the payment of) a bequest he may have bequeathed or a debt; your parents and your children, you know not which of them is the nearer to you in usefulness; this is an ordinance from allah: surely allah is knowing, wise. . y: in what your wives leave, your share is a half, if they leave no child; but if they leave a child, ye get a fourth; after payment of legacies and debts. in what ye leave, their share is a fourth, if ye leave no child; but if ye leave a child, they get an eighth; after payment of legacies and debts. if the man or woman whose inheritance is in question, has left neither ascendants nor descendants, but has left a brother or a sister, each one of the two gets a sixth; but if more than two, they share in a third; after payment of legacies and debts; so that no loss is caused (to any one). thus is it ordained by allah; and allah is all-knowing, most forbearing. p: and unto you belongeth a half of that which your wives leave, if they have no child; but if they have a child then unto you the fourth of that which they leave, after any legacy they may have bequeathed, or debt (they may have contracted, hath been paid). and unto them belongeth the fourth of that which ye leave if ye have no child, but if ye have a child then the eighth of that which ye leave, after any legacy ye may have bequeathed, or debt (ye may have contracted, hath been paid). and if a man or a woman have a distant heir (having left neither parent nor child), and he (or she) have a brother or a sister (only on the mother's side) then to each of them twain (the brother and the sister) the sixth, and if they be more than two, then they shall be sharers in the third, after any legacy that may have been bequeathed or debt (contracted) not injuring (the heirs by willing away more than a third of the heritage) hath been paid. a commandment from allah. allah is knower, indulgent. s: and you shall have half of what your wives leave if they have no child, but if they have a child, then you shall have a fourth of what they leave after (payment of) any bequest they may have bequeathed or a debt; and they shall have the fourth of what you leave if you have no child, but if you have a child then they shall have the eighth of what you leave after (payment of) a bequest you may have bequeathed or a debt; and if a man or a woman leaves property to be inherited by neither parents nor offspring, and he (or she) has a brother or a sister, then each of them two shall have the sixth, but if they are more than that, they shall be sharers in the third after (payment of) any bequest that may have been bequeathed or a debt that does not harm (others); this is an ordinance from allah: and allah is knowing, forbearing. . y: those are limits set by allah: those who obey allah and his messenger will be admitted to gardens with rivers flowing beneath, to abide therein (for ever) and that will be the supreme achievement. p: these are the limits (imposed by) allah. whoso obeyeth allah and his messenger, he will make him enter gardens underneath which rivers flow, where such will dwell for ever. that will be the great success. s: these are allah's limits, and whoever obeys allah and his messenger, he will cause him to enter gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them; and this is the great achievement. . y: but those who disobey allah and his messenger and transgress his limits will be admitted to a fire, to abide therein: and they shall have a humiliating punishment. p: and whoso disobeyeth allah and his messenger and transgresseth his limits, he will make him enter fire, where he will dwell for ever; his will be a shameful doom. s: and whoever disobeys allah and his messenger and goes beyond his limits, he will cause him to enter fire to abide in it, and he shall have an abasing chastisement. . y: if any of your women are guilty of lewdness, take the evidence of four (reliable) witnesses from amongst you against them; and if they testify, confine them to houses until death do claim them, or allah ordain for them some (other) way. p: as for those of your women who are guilty of lewdness, call to witness four of you against them. and if they testify (to the truth of the allegation) then confine them to the houses until death take them or (until) allah appoint for them a way (through new legislation). s: and as for those who are guilty of an indecency from among your women, call to witnesses against them four (witnesses) from among you; then if they bear witness confine them to the houses until death takes them away or allah opens some way for them. . y: if two men among you are guilty of lewdness, punish them both. if they repent and amend, leave them alone; for allah is oft-returning, most merciful. p: and as for the two of you who are guilty thereof, punish them both. and if they repent and improve, then let them be. lo! allah is ever relenting, merciful. s: and as for the two who are guilty of indecency from among you, give them both a punishment; then if they repent and amend, turn aside from them; surely allah is oft-returning (to mercy), the merciful. . y: allah accept the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and repent soon afterwards; to them will allah turn in mercy: for allah is full of knowledge and wisdom. p: forgiveness is only incumbent on allah toward those who do evil in ignorance (and) then turn quickly (in repentance) to allah. these are they toward whom allah relenteth. allah is ever knower, wise. s: repentance with allah is only for those who do evil in ignorance, then turn (to allah) soon, so these it is to whom allah turns (mercifully), and allah is ever knowing, wise. . y: of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil, until death faces one of them, and he says, "now have i repented indeed;" nor of those who die rejecting faith: for them have we prepared a punishment most grievous. p: the forgiveness is not for those who do ill-deeds until, when death attendeth upon one of them, he saith: lo! i repent now; nor yet for those who die while they are disbelievers. for such we have prepared a painful doom. s: and repentance is not for those who go on doing evil deeds, until when death comes to one of them, he says: surely now i repent; nor (for) those who die while they are unbelievers. these are they for whom we have prepared a painful chastisement. . y: o ye who believe! ye are forbidden to inherit women against their will. nor should ye treat them with harshness, that ye may take away part of the dower ye have given them,-except where they have been guilty of open lewdness; on the contrary live with them on a footing of kindness and equity. if ye take a dislike to them it may be that ye dislike a thing, and allah brings about through it a great deal of good. p: o ye who believe! it is not lawful for you forcibly to inherit the women (of your deceased kinsmen), nor (that) ye should put constraint upon them that ye may take away a part of that which ye have given them, unless they be guilty of flagrant lewdness. but consort with them in kindness, for if ye hate them it may happen that ye hate a thing wherein allah hath placed much good. s: o you who believe! it is not lawful for you that you should take women as heritage against (their) will, and do not straiten them in order that you may take part of what you have given them, unless they are guilty of manifest indecency, and treat them kindly; then if you hate them, it may be that you dislike a thing while allah has placed abundant good in it. . y: but if ye decide to take one wife in place of another, even if ye had given the latter a whole treasure for dower, take not the least bit of it back: would ye take it by slander and manifest wrong? p: and if ye wish to exchange one wife for another and ye have given unto one of them a sum of money (however great), take nothing from it. would ye take it by the way of calumny and open wrong? s: and if you wish to have (one) wife in place of another and you have given one of them a heap of gold, then take not from it anything; would you take it by slandering (her) and (doing her) manifest wrong? . y: and how could ye take it when ye have gone in unto each other, and they have taken from you a solemn covenant? p: how can ye take it (back) after one of you hath gone in unto the other, and they have taken a strong pledge from you? s: and how can you take it when one of you has already gone in to the other and they have made with you a firm covenant? . y: and marry not women whom your fathers married,- except what is past: it was shameful and odious,- an abominable custom indeed. p: and marry not those women whom your fathers married, except what hath already happened (of that nature) in the past. lo! it was ever lewdness and abomination, and an evil way. s: and marry not woman whom your fathers married, except what has already passed; this surely is indecent and hateful, and it is an evil way. . y: prohibited to you (for marriage) are:- your mothers, daughters, sisters; father's sisters, mother's sisters; brother's daughters, sister's daughters; foster-mothers (who gave you suck), foster-sisters; your wives' mothers; your step-daughters under your guardianship, born of your wives to whom ye have gone in,- no prohibition if ye have not gone in;- (those who have been) wives of your sons proceeding from your loins; and two sisters in wedlock at one and the same time, except for what is past; for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful;- p: forbidden unto you are your mothers, and your daughters, and your sisters, and your father's sisters, and your mother's sisters, and your brother's daughters and your sister's daughters, and your foster-mothers, and your foster-sisters, and your mothers-in-law, and your step-daughters who are under your protection (born) of your women unto whom ye have gone in - but if ye have not gone in unto them, then it is no sin for you (to marry their daughters) - and the wives of your sons who (spring) from your own loins. and (it is forbidden unto you) that ye should have two sisters together, except what hath already happened (of that nature) in the past. lo! allah is ever forgiving, merciful. s: forbidden to you are your mothers and your daughters and your sisters and your paternal aunts and your maternal aunts and brothers' daughters and sisters' daughters and your mothers that have suckled you and your foster-sisters and mothers of your wives and your step-daughters who are in your guardianship, (born) of your wives to whom you have gone in, but if you have not gone in to them, there is no blame on you (in marrying them), and the wives of your sons who are of your own loins and that you should have two sisters together, except what has already passed; surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: also (prohibited are) women already married, except those whom your right hands possess: thus hath allah ordained (prohibitions) against you: except for these, all others are lawful, provided ye seek (them in marriage) with gifts from your property,- desiring chastity, not lust, seeing that ye derive benefit from them, give them their dowers (at least) as prescribed; but if, after a dower is prescribed, agree mutually (to vary it), there is no blame on you, and allah is all-knowing, all-wise. p: and all married women (are forbidden unto you) save those (captives) whom your right hands possess. it is a decree of allah for you. lawful unto you are all beyond those mentioned, so that ye seek them with your wealth in honest wedlock, not debauchery. and those of whom ye seek content (by marrying them), give unto them their portions as a duty. and there is no sin for you in what ye do by mutual agreement after the duty (hath been done). lo! allah is ever knower, wise. s: and all married women except those whom your right hands possess (this is) allah's ordinance to you, and lawful for you are (all women) besides those, provided that you seek (them) with your property, taking (them) in marriage not committing fornication. then as to those whom you profit by, give them their dowries as appointed; and there is no blame on you about what you mutually agree after what is appointed; surely allah is knowing, wise. . y: if any of you have not the means wherewith to wed free believing women, they may wed believing girls from among those whom your right hands possess: and allah hath full knowledge about your faith. ye are one from another: wed them with the leave of their owners, and give them their dowers, according to what is reasonable: they should be chaste, not lustful, nor taking paramours: when they are taken in wedlock, if they fall into shame, their punishment is half that for free women. this (permission) is for those among you who fear sin; but it is better for you that ye practise self-restraint. and allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: and whoso is not able to afford to marry free, believing women, let them marry from the believing maids whom your right hands possess. allah knoweth best (concerning) your faith. ye (proceed) one from another; so wed them by permission of their folk, and give unto them their portions in kindness, they being honest, not debauched nor of loose conduct. and if when they are honourably married they commit lewdness they shall incur the half of the punishment (prescribed) for free women (in that case). this is for him among you who feareth to commit sin. but to have patience would be better for you. allah is forgiving, merciful. s: and whoever among you has not within his power ampleness of means to marry free believing women, then (he may marry) of those whom your right hands possess from among your believing maidens; and allah knows best your faith: you are (sprung) the one from the other; so marry them with the permission of their masters, and give them their dowries justly, they being chaste, not fornicating, nor receiving paramours; and when they are taken in marriage, then if they are guilty of indecency, they shall suffer half the punishment which is (inflicted) upon free women. this is for him among you who fears falling into evil; and that you abstain is better for you, and allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: allah doth wish to make clear to you and to show you the ordinances of those before you; and (he doth wish to) turn to you (in mercy): and allah is all-knowing, all-wise. p: allah would explain to you and guide you by the examples of those who were before you, and would turn to you in mercy. allah is knower, wise. s: allah desires to explain to you, and to guide you into the ways of those before you, and to turn to you (mercifully), and allah is knowing, wise. . y: allah doth wish to turn to you, but the wish of those who follow their lusts is that ye should turn away (from him),- far, far away. p: and allah would turn to you in mercy; but those who follow vain desires would have you go tremendously astray. s: and allah desires that he should turn to you (mercifully), and those who follow (their) lusts desire that you should deviate (with) a great deviation. . y: allah doth wish to lighten your (difficulties): for man was created weak (in flesh). p: allah would make the burden light for you, for man was created weak. s: allah desires that he should make light your burdens, and man is created weak. . y: o ye who believe! eat not up your property among yourselves in vanities: but let there be amongst you traffic and trade by mutual good-will: nor kill (or destroy) yourselves: for verily allah hath been to you most merciful! p: o ye who believe! squander not your wealth among yourselves in vanity, except it be a trade by mutual consent, and kill not one another. lo! allah is ever merciful unto you. s: o you who believe! do not devour your property among yourselves falsely, except that it be trading by your mutual consent; and do not kill your people; surely allah is merciful to you. . y: if any do that in rancour and injustice,- soon shall we cast them into the fire: and easy it is for allah. p: whoso doeth that through aggression and injustice, we shall cast him into fire, and that is ever easy for allah. s: and whoever does this aggressively and unjustly, we will soon cast him into fire; and this is easy to allah. . y: if ye (but) eschew the most heinous of the things which ye are forbidden to do, we shall expel out of you all the evil in you, and admit you to a gate of great honour. p: if ye avoid the great (things) which ye are forbidden, we will remit from you your evil deeds and make you enter at a noble gate. s: if you shun the great sins which you are forbidden, we will do away with your small sins and cause you to enter an honorable place of entering. . y: and in no wise covet those things in which allah hath bestowed his gifts more freely on some of you than on others: to men is allotted what they earn, and to women what they earn: but ask allah of his bounty. for allah hath full knowledge of all things. p: and covet not the thing in which allah hath made some of you excel others. unto men a fortune from that which they have earned, and unto women a fortune from that which they have earned. (envy not one another) but ask allah of his bounty. lo! allah is ever knower of all things. s: and do not covet that by which allah has made some of you excel others; men shall have the benefit of what they earn and women shall have the benefit of what they earn; and ask allah of his grace; surely allah knows all things. . y: to (benefit) every one, we have appointed shares and heirs to property left by parents and relatives. to those, also, to whom your right hand was pledged, give their due portion. for truly allah is witness to all things. p: and unto each we have appointed heirs of that which parents and near kindred leave; and as for those with whom your right hands have made a covenant, give them their due. lo! allah is ever witness over all things. s: and to every one we have appointed heirs of what parents and near relatives leave; and as to those with whom your rights hands have ratified agreements, give them their portion; surely allah is a witness over all things. . y: men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means. therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the husband's) absence what allah would have them guard. as to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (next), refuse to share their beds, (and last) beat them (lightly); but if they return to obedience, seek not against them means (of annoyance): for allah is most high, great (above you all). p: men are in charge of women, because allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). so good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which allah hath guarded. as for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them. then if they obey you, seek not a way against them. lo! allah is ever high, exalted, great. s: men are the maintainers of women because allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely allah is high, great. . y: if ye fear a breach between them twain, appoint (two) arbiters, one from his family, and the other from hers; if they wish for peace, allah will cause their reconciliation: for allah hath full knowledge, and is acquainted with all things. p: and if ye fear a breach between them twain (the man and wife), appoint an arbiter from his folk and an arbiter from her folk. if they desire amendment allah will make them of one mind. lo! allah is ever knower, aware. s: and if you fear a breach between the two, then appoint judge from his people and a judge from her people; if they both desire agreement, allah will effect harmony between them, surely allah is knowing, aware. . y: serve allah, and join not any partners with him; and do good- to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, those in need, neighbours who are near, neighbours who are strangers, the companion by your side, the wayfarer (ye meet), and what your right hands possess: for allah loveth not the arrogant, the vainglorious;- p: and serve allah. ascribe no thing as partner unto him. (show) kindness unto parents, and unto near kindred, and orphans, and the needy, and unto the neighbour who is of kin (unto you) and the neighbour who is not of kin, and the fellow-traveller and the wayfarer and (the slaves) whom your right hands possess. lo! allah loveth not such as are proud and boastful, s: and serve allah and do not associate any thing with him and be good to the parents and to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the neighbor of (your) kin and the alien neighbor, and the companion in a journey and the wayfarer and those whom your right hands possess; surely allah does not love him who is proud, boastful; . y: (nor) those who are niggardly or enjoin niggardliness on others, or hide the bounties which allah hath bestowed on them; for we have prepared, for those who resist faith, a punishment that steeps them in contempt;- p: who hoard their wealth and enjoin avarice on others, and hide that which allah hath bestowed upon them of his bounty. for disbelievers we prepare a shameful doom; s: those who are niggardly and bid people to be niggardly and hide what allah has given them out of his grace; and we have prepared for the unbelievers a disgraceful chastisement. . y: not those who spend of their substance, to be seen of men, but have no faith in allah and the last day: if any take the evil one for their intimate, what a dreadful intimate he is! p: and (also) those who spend their wealth in order to be seen of men, and believe not in allah nor the last day. whoso taketh satan for a comrade, a bad comrade hath he. s: and those who spend their property (in alms) to be seen of the people and do not believe in allah nor in the last day; and as for him whose associate is the shaitan, an evil associate is he! . y: and what burden were it on them if they had faith in allah and in the last day, and they spent out of what allah hath given them for sustenance? for allah hath full knowledge of them. p: what have they (to fear) if they believe in allah and the last day and spend (aright) of that which allah hath bestowed upon them, when allah is ever aware of them (and all they do)? s: and what (harm) would it have done them if they had believed in allah and the last day and spent (benevolently) of what allah had given them? and allah knows them. . y: allah is never unjust in the least degree: if there is any good (done), he doubleth it, and giveth from his own presence a great reward. p: lo! allah wrongeth not even of the weight of an ant; and if there is a good deed, he will double it and will give (the doer) from his presence an immense reward. s: surely allah does not do injustice to the weight of an atom, and if it is a good deed he multiplies it and gives from himself a great reward. . y: how then if we brought from each people a witness, and we brought thee as a witness against these people! p: but how (will it be with them) when we bring of every people a witness, and we bring thee (o muhammad) a witness against these? s: how will it be, then, when we bring from every people a witness and bring you as a witness against these? . y: on that day those who reject faith and disobey the messenger will wish that the earth were made one with them: but never will they hide a single fact from allah! p: on that day those who disbelieved and disobeyed the messenger will wish that they were level with the ground, and they can hide no fact from allah. s: on that day will those who disbelieve and disobey the messenger desire that the earth were levelled with them, and they shall not hide any word from allah. . y: o ye who believe! approach not prayers with a mind befogged, until ye can understand all that ye say,- nor in a state of ceremonial impurity (except when travelling on the road), until after washing your whole body. if ye are ill, or on a journey, or one of you cometh from offices of nature, or ye have been in contact with women, and ye find no water, then take for yourselves clean sand or earth, and rub therewith your faces and hands. for allah doth blot out sins and forgive again and again. p: o ye who believe! draw not near unto prayer when ye are drunken, till ye know that which ye utter, nor when ye are polluted, save when journeying upon the road, till ye have bathed. and if ye be ill, or on a journey, or one of you cometh from the closet, or ye have touched women, and ye find not water, then go to high clean soil and rub your faces and your hands (therewith). lo! allah is benign, forgiving. s: o you who believe! do not go near prayer when you are intoxicated until you know (well) what you say, nor when you are under an obligation to perform a bath-- unless (you are) travelling on the road-- until you have washed yourselves; and if you are sick, or on a journey, or one of you come from the privy or you have touched the women, and you cannot find water, betake yourselves to pure earth, then wipe your faces and your hands; surely allah is pardoning, forgiving. . y: hast thou not turned thy vision to those who were given a portion of the book? they traffic in error, and wish that ye should lose the right path. p: seest thou not those unto whom a portion of the scripture hath been given, how they purchase error, and seek to make you (muslims) err from the right way? s: have you not considered those to whom a portion of the book has been given? they buy error and desire that you should go astray from the way. . y: but allah hath full knowledge of your enemies: allah is enough for a protector, and allah is enough for a helper. p: allah knoweth best (who are) your enemies. allah is sufficient as a guardian, and allah is sufficient as a supporter. s: and allah best knows your enemies; and allah suffices as a guardian, and allah suffices as a helper. . y: of the jews there are those who displace words from their (right) places, and say: "we hear and we disobey"; and "hear what is not heard"; and "ra'ina"; with a twist of their tongues and a slander to faith. if only they had said: "we hear and we obey"; and "do hear"; and "do look at us"; it would have been better for them, and more proper; but allah hath cursed them for their unbelief; and but few of them will believe. p: some of those who are jews change words from their context and say: "we hear and disobey; hear thou as one who heareth not" and "listen to us!" distorting with their tongues and slandering religion. if they had said: "we hear and we obey: hear thou, and look at us" it had been better for them, and more upright. but allah hath cursed them for their disbelief, so they believe not, save a few. s: of those who are jews (there are those who) alter words from their places and say: we have heard and we disobey and: hear, may you not be made to hear! and: raina, distorting (the word) with their tongues and taunting about religion; and if they had said (instead): we have heard and we obey, and hearken, and unzurna it would have been better for them and more upright; but allah has cursed them on account of their unbelief, so they do not believe but a little. . y: o ye people of the book! believe in what we have (now) revealed, confirming what was (already) with you, before we change the face and fame of some (of you) beyond all recognition, and turn them hindwards, or curse them as we cursed the sabbath-breakers, for the decision of allah must be carried out. p: o ye unto whom the scripture hath been given! believe in what we have revealed confirming that which ye possess, before we destroy countenances so as to confound them, or curse them as we cursed the sabbath-breakers (of old time). the commandment of allah is always executed. s: o you who have been given the book! believe that which we have revealed, verifying what you have, before we alter faces then turn them on their backs, or curse them as we cursed the violaters of the sabbath, and the command of allah shall be executed. . y: allah forgiveth not that partners should be set up with him; but he forgiveth anything else, to whom he pleaseth; to set up partners with allah is to devise a sin most heinous indeed. p: lo! allah forgiveth not that a partner should be ascribed unto him. he forgiveth (all) save that to whom he will. whoso ascribeth partners to allah, he hath indeed invented a tremendous sin. s: surely allah does not forgive that anything should be associated with him, and forgives what is besides that to whomsoever he pleases; and whoever associates anything with allah, he devises indeed a great sin. . y: hast thou not turned thy vision to those who claim sanctity for themselves? nay-but allah doth sanctify whom he pleaseth. but never will they fail to receive justice in the least little thing. p: hast thou not seen those who praise themselves for purity? nay, allah purifieth whom he will, and they will not be wronged even the hair upon a date-stone. s: have you not considered those who attribute purity to themselves? nay, allah purifies whom he pleases; and they shall not be wronged the husk of a date stone. . y: behold! how they invent a lie against allah! but that by itself is a manifest sin! p: see, how they invent lies about allah! that of itself is flagrant sin. s: see how they forge the lie against allah, and this is sufficient as a manifest sin. . y: hast thou not turned thy vision to those who were given a portion of the book? they believe in sorcery and evil, and say to the unbelievers that they are better guided in the (right) way than the believers! p: hast thou not seen those unto whom a portion of the scripture hath been given, how they believe in idols and false deities, and how they say of those (idolaters) who disbelieve: "these are more rightly guided than those who believe"? s: have you not seen those to whom a portion of the book has been given? they believe in idols and false deities and say of those who disbelieve: these are better guided in the path than those who believe. . y: they are (men) whom allah hath cursed: and those whom allah hath cursed, thou wilt find, have no one to help. p: those are they whom allah hath cursed, and he whom allah hath cursed, thou (o muhammad) wilt find for him no helper. s: those are they whom allah has cursed, and whomever allah curses you shall not find any helper for him. . y: have they a share in dominion or power? behold, they give not a farthing to their fellow-men? p: or have they even a share in the sovereignty? then in that case, they would not give mankind even the speck on a date-stone. s: or have they a share in the kingdom? but then they would not give to people even the speck in the date stone. . y: or do they envy mankind for what allah hath given them of his bounty? but we had already given the people of abraham the book and wisdom, and conferred upon them a great kingdom. p: or are they jealous of mankind because of that which allah of his bounty hath bestowed upon them? for we bestowed upon the house of abraham (of old) the scripture and wisdom, and we bestowed on them a mighty kingdom. s: or do they envy the people for what allah has given them of his grace? but indeed we have given to ibrahim's children the book and the wisdom, and we have given them a grand kingdom. . y: some of them believed, and some of them averted their faces from him: and enough is hell for a burning fire. p: and of them were (some) who believed therein and of them were (some) who turned away from it. hell is sufficient for (their) burning. s: so of them is he who believes in him, and of them is he who turns away from him, and hell is sufficient to burn. . y: those who reject our signs, we shall soon cast into the fire: as often as their skins are roasted through, we shall change them for fresh skins, that they may taste the penalty: for allah is exalted in power, wise. p: lo! those who disbelieve our revelations, we shall expose them to the fire. as often as their skins are consumed we shall exchange them for fresh skins that they may taste the torment. lo! allah is ever mighty, wise. s: (as for) those who disbelieve in our communications, we shall make them enter fire; so oft as their skins are thoroughly burned, we will change them for other skins, that they may taste the chastisement; surely allah is mighty, wise. . y: but those who believe and do deeds of righteousness, we shall soon admit to gardens, with rivers flowing beneath,- their eternal home: therein shall they have companions pure and holy: we shall admit them to shades, cool and ever deepening. p: and as for those who believe and do good works, we shall make them enter gardens underneath which rivers flow - to dwell therein for ever; there for them are pure companions - and we shall make them enter plenteous shade. s: and (as for) those who believe and do good deeds, we will make them enter gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them for ever; they shall have therein pure mates, and we shall make them enter a dense shade. . y: allah doth command you to render back your trusts to those to whom they are due; and when ye judge between man and man, that ye judge with justice: verily how excellent is the teaching which he giveth you! for allah is he who heareth and seeth all things. p: lo! allah commandeth you that ye restore deposits to their owners, and, if ye judge between mankind, that ye judge justly. lo! comely is this which allah admonisheth you. lo! allah is ever hearer, seer. s: surely allah commands you to make over trusts to their owners and that when you judge between people you judge with justice; surely allah admonishes you with what is excellent; surely allah is seeing, hearing. . y: o ye who believe! obey allah, and obey the messenger, and those charged with authority among you. if ye differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to allah and his messenger, if ye do believe in allah and the last day: that is best, and most suitable for final determination. p: o ye who believe! obey allah, and obey the messenger and those of you who are in authority; and if ye have a dispute concerning any matter, refer it to allah and the messenger if ye are (in truth) believers in allah and the last day. that is better and more seemly in the end. s: o you who believe! obey allah and obey the messenger and those in authority from among you; then if you quarrel about anything, refer it to allah and the messenger, if you believe in allah and the last day; this is better and very good in the end. . y: hast thou not turned thy vision to those who declare that they believe in the revelations that have come to thee and to those before thee? their (real) wish is to resort together for judgment (in their disputes) to the evil one, though they were ordered to reject him. but satan's wish is to lead them astray far away (from the right). p: hast thou not seen those who pretend that they believe in that which is revealed unto thee and that which was revealed before thee, how they would go for judgment (in their disputes) to false deities when they have been ordered to abjure them? satan would mislead them far astray. s: have you not seen those who assert that they believe in what has been revealed to you and what was revealed before you? they desire to summon one another to the judgment of the shaitan, though they were commanded to deny him, and the shaitan desires to lead them astray into a remote error. . y: when it is said to them: "come to what allah hath revealed, and to the messenger": thou seest the hypocrites avert their faces from thee in disgust. p: and when it is said unto them: come unto that which allah hath revealed and unto the messenger, thou seest the hypocrites turn from thee with aversion. s: and when it is said to them: come to what allah has revealed and to the messenger, you will see the hypocrites turning away from you with (utter) aversion. . y: how then, when they are seized by misfortune, because of the deeds which they hands have sent forth? then they come to thee, swearing by allah: "we meant no more than good-will and conciliation!" p: how would it be if a misfortune smote them because of that which their own hands have sent before (them)? then would they come unto thee, swearing by allah that they were seeking naught but harmony and kindness. s: but how will it be when misfortune befalls them on account of what their hands have sent before? then they will come to you swearing by allah: we did not desire (anything) but good and concord. . y: those men,-allah knows what is in their hearts; so keep clear of them, but admonish them, and speak to them a word to reach their very souls. p: those are they, the secrets of whose hearts allah knoweth. so oppose them and admonish them, and address them in plain terms about their souls. s: these are they of whom allah knows what is in their hearts; therefore turn aside from them and admonish them, and speak to them effectual words concerning themselves. . y: we sent not a messenger, but to be obeyed, in accordance with the will of allah. if they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come unto thee and asked allah's forgiveness, and the messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found allah indeed oft-returning, most merciful. p: we sent no messenger save that he should be obeyed by allah's leave. and if, when they had wronged themselves, they had but come unto thee and asked forgiveness of allah, and asked forgiveness of the messenger, they would have found allah forgiving, merciful. s: and we did not send any messenger but that he should be obeyed by allah's permission; and had they, when they were unjust to themselves, come to you and asked forgiveness of allah and the messenger had (also) asked forgiveness for them, they would have found allah oft-returning (to mercy), merciful. . y: but no, by the lord, they can have no (real) faith, until they make thee judge in all disputes between them, and find in their souls no resistance against thy decisions, but accept them with the fullest conviction. p: but nay, by thy lord, they will not believe (in truth) until they make thee judge of what is in dispute between them and find within themselves no dislike of that which thou decidest, and submit with full submission. s: but no! by your lord! they do not believe (in reality) until they make you a judge of that which has become a matter of disagreement among them, and then do not find any straitness in their hearts as to what you have decided and submit with entire submission. . y: if we had ordered them to sacrifice their lives or to leave their homes, very few of them would have done it: but if they had done what they were (actually) told, it would have been best for them, and would have gone farthest to strengthen their (faith); p: and if we had decreed for them: lay down your lives or go forth from your dwellings, but few of them would have done it; though if they did what they are exhorted to do it would be better for them, and more strengthening; s: and if we had prescribed for them: lay down your lives or go forth from your homes, they would not have done it except a few of them; and if they had done what they were admonished, it would have certainly been better for them and best in strengthening (them); . y: and we should then have given them from our presence a great reward; p: and then we should bestow upon them from our presence an immense reward, s: and then we would certainly have given them from ourselves a great reward. . y: and we should have shown them the straight way. p: and should guide them unto a straight path. s: and we would certainly have guided them in the right path. . y: all who obey allah and the messenger are in the company of those on whom is the grace of allah,- of the prophets (who teach), the sincere (lovers of truth), the witnesses (who testify), and the righteous (who do good): ah! what a beautiful fellowship! p: whoso obeyeth allah and the messenger, they are with those unto whom allah hath shown favour, of the prophets and the saints and the martyrs and the righteous. the best of company are they! s: and whoever obeys allah and the messenger, these are with those upon whom allah has bestowed favors from among the prophets and the truthful and the martyrs and the good, and a goodly company are they! . y: such is the bounty from allah: and sufficient is it that allah knoweth all. p: that is bounty from allah, and allah sufficeth as knower. s: this is grace from allah, and sufficient is allah as the knower. . y: o ye who believe! take your precautions, and either go forth in parties or go forth all together. p: o ye who believe! take your precautions, then advance the proven ones, or advance all together. s: o you who believe! take your precaution, then go forth in detachments or go forth in a body. . y: there are certainly among you men who would tarry behind: if a misfortune befalls you, they say: "allah did favour us in that we were not present among them." p: lo! among you there is he who loitereth; and if disaster overtook you, he would say: allah hath been gracious unto me since i was not present with them. s: and surely among you is he who would certainly hang back! if then a misfortune befalls you he says: surely allah conferred a benefit on me that i was not present with them. . y: but if good fortune comes to you from allah, they would be sure to say - as if there had never been ties of affection between you and them- "oh! i wish i had been with them; a fine thing should i then have made of it!" p: and if a bounty from allah befell you, he would surely cry, as if there had been no love between you and him: oh, would that i had been with them, then should i have achieved a great success! s: and if grace from allah come to you, he would certainly cry out, as if there had not been any friendship between you and him: would that i had been with them, then i should have attained a mighty good fortune. . y: let those fight in the cause of allah who sell the life of this world for the hereafter. to him who fighteth in the cause of allah,- whether he is slain or gets victory - soon shall we give him a reward of great (value). p: let those fight in the way of allah who sell the life of this world for the other. whoso fighteth in the way of allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him we shall bestow a vast reward. s: therefore let those fight in the way of allah, who sell this world's life for the hereafter; and whoever fights in the way of allah, then be he slain or be he victorious, we shall grant him a mighty reward. . y: and why should ye not fight in the cause of allah and of those who, being weak, are ill-treated (and oppressed)?- men, women, and children, whose cry is: "our lord! rescue us from this town, whose people are oppressors; and raise for us from thee one who will protect; and raise for us from thee one who will help!" p: how should ye not fight for the cause of allah and of the feeble among men and of the women and the children who are crying: our lord! bring us forth from out this town of which the people are oppressors! oh, give us from thy presence some protecting friend! oh, give us from thy presence some defender! s: and what reason have you that you should not fight in the way of allah and of the weak among the men and the women and the children, (of) those who say: our lord! cause us to go forth from this town, whose people are oppressors, and give us from thee a guardian and give us from thee a helper. . y: those who believe fight in the cause of allah, and those who reject faith fight in the cause of evil: so fight ye against the friends of satan: feeble indeed is the cunning of satan. p: those who believe do battle for the cause of allah; and those who disbelieve do battle for the cause of idols. so fight the minions of the devil. lo! the devil's strategy is ever weak. s: those who believe fight in the way of allah, and those who disbelieve fight in the way of the shaitan. fight therefore against the friends of the shaitan; surely the strategy of the shaitan is weak. . y: hast thou not turned thy vision to those who were told to hold back their hands (from fight) but establish regular prayers and spend in regular charity? when (at length) the order for fighting was issued to them, behold! a section of them feared men as - or even more than - they should have feared allah: they said: "our lord! why hast thou ordered us to fight? wouldst thou not grant us respite to our (natural) term, near (enough)?" say: "short is the enjoyment of this world: the hereafter is the best for those who do right: never will ye be dealt with unjustly in the very least!" p: hast thou not seen those unto whom it was said: withhold your hands, establish worship and pay the poor due, but when fighting was prescribed for them behold! a party of them fear mankind even as their fear of allah or with greater fear, and say: our lord! why hast thou ordained fighting for us? if only thou wouldst give us respite yet a while! say (unto them, o muhammad): the comfort of this world is scant; the hereafter will be better for him who wardeth off (evil); and ye will not be wronged the down upon a date-stone. s: have you not seen those to whom it was said: withhold your hands, and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate; but when fighting is prescribed for them, lo! a party of them fear men as they ought to have feared allah, or (even) with a greater fear, and say: our lord! why hast thou ordained fighting for us? wherefore didst thou not grant us a delay to a near end? say: the provision of this world is short, and the hereafter is better for him who guards (against evil); and you shall not be wronged the husk of a date stone. . y: "wherever ye are, death will find you out, even if ye are in towers built up strong and high!" if some good befalls them, they say, "this is from allah"; but if evil, they say, "this is from thee" (o prophet). say: "all things are from allah." but what hath come to these people, that they fail to understand a single fact? p: wheresoever ye may be, death will overtake you, even though ye were in lofty towers. yet if a happy thing befalleth them they say: this is from allah; and if an evil thing befalleth them they say: this is of thy doing (o muhammad). say (unto them): all is from allah. what is amiss with these people that they come not nigh to understand a happening? s: wherever you are, death will overtake you, though you are in lofty towers, and if a benefit comes to them, they say: this is from allah; and if a misfortune befalls them, they say: this is from you. say: all is from allah, but what is the matter with these people that they do not make approach to understanding what is told (them)? . y: whatever good, (o man!) happens to thee, is from allah; but whatever evil happens to thee, is from thy (own) soul. and we have sent thee as a messenger to (instruct) mankind. and enough is allah for a witness. p: whatever of good befalleth thee (o man) it is from allah, and whatever of ill befalleth thee it is from thyself. we have sent thee (muhammad) as a messenger unto mankind and allah is sufficient as witness. s: whatever benefit comes to you (o man!), it is from allah, and whatever misfortune befalls you, it is from yourself, and we have sent you (o prophet!), to mankind as a messenger; and allah is sufficient as a witness. . y: he who obeys the messenger, obeys allah: but if any turn away, we have not sent thee to watch over their (evil deeds). p: whoso obeyeth the messenger hath obeyed allah, and whoso turneth away: we have not sent thee as a warder over them. s: whoever obeys the messenger, he indeed obeys allah, and whoever turns back, so we have not sent you as a keeper over them. . y: they have "obedience" on their lips; but when they leave thee, a section of them meditate all night on things very different from what thou tellest them. but allah records their nightly (plots): so keep clear of them, and put thy trust in allah, and enough is allah as a disposer of affairs. p: and they say: (it is) obedience; but when they have gone forth from thee a party of them spend the night in planning other than what thou sayest. allah recordeth what they plan by night. so oppose them and put thy trust in allah. allah is sufficient as trustee. s: and they say: obedience. but when they go out from your presence, a party of them decide by night upon doing otherwise than what you say; and allah writes down what they decide by night, therefore turn aside from them and trust in allah, and allah is sufficient as a protector. . y: do they not consider the qur'an (with care)? had it been from other than allah, they would surely have found therein much discrepancy. p: will they not then ponder on the qur'an? if it had been from other than allah they would have found therein much incongruity. s: do they not then meditate on the quran? and if it were from any other than allah, they would have found in it many a discrepancy. . y: when there comes to them some matter touching (public) safety or fear, they divulge it. if they had only referred it to the messenger, or to those charged with authority among them, the proper investigators would have tested it from them (direct). were it not for the grace and mercy of allah unto you, all but a few of you would have fallen into the clutches of satan. p: and if any tidings, whether of safety or fear, come unto them, they noise it abroad, whereas if they had referred it to the messenger and to such of them as are in authority, those among them who are able to think out the matter would have known it. if it had not been for the grace of allah upon you and his mercy ye would have followed satan, save a few (of you). s: and when there comes to them news of security or fear they spread it abroad; and if they had referred it to the messenger and to those in authority among them, those among them who can search out the knowledge of it would have known it, and were it not for the grace of allah upon you and his mercy, you would have certainly followed the shaitan save a few. . y: then fight in allah's cause - thou art held responsible only for thyself - and rouse the believers. it may be that allah will restrain the fury of the unbelievers; for allah is the strongest in might and in punishment. p: so fight (o muhammad) in the way of allah thou art not taxed (with the responsibility for anyone) except thyself - and urge on the believers. peradventure allah will restrain the might of those who disbelieve. allah is stronger in might and stronger in inflicting punishment. s: fight then in allah's way; this is not imposed on you except in relation to yourself, and rouse the believers to ardor maybe allah will restrain the fighting of those who disbelieve and allah is strongest in prowess and strongest to give an exemplary punishment. . y: whoever recommends and helps a good cause becomes a partner therein: and whoever recommends and helps an evil cause, shares in its burden: and allah hath power over all things. p: whoso interveneth in a good cause will have the reward thereof, and whoso interveneth in an evil cause will bear the consequence thereof. allah overseeth all things. s: whoever joins himself (to another) in a good cause shall have a share of it, and whoever joins himself (to another) in an evil cause shall have the responsibility of it, and allah controls all things. . y: when a (courteous) greeting is offered you, meet it with a greeting still more courteous, or (at least) of equal courtesy. allah takes careful account of all things. p: when ye are greeted with a greeting, greet ye with a better than it or return it. lo! allah taketh count of all things. s: and when you are greeted with a greeting, greet with a better (greeting) than it or return it; surely allah takes account of all things. . y: allah! there is no god but he: of a surety he will gather you together against the day of judgment, about which there is no doubt. and whose word can be truer than allah's? p: allah! there is no god save him. he gathereth you all unto a day of resurrection whereof there is no doubt. who is more true in statement than allah? s: allah, there is no god but he-- he will most certainly gather you together on the resurrection day, there is no doubt in it; and who is more true in word than allah? . y: why should ye be divided into two parties about the hypocrites? allah hath upset them for their (evil) deeds. would ye guide those whom allah hath thrown out of the way? for those whom allah hath thrown out of the way, never shalt thou find the way. p: what aileth you that ye are become two parties regarding the hypocrites, when allah cast them back (to disbelief) because of what they earned? seek ye to guide him whom allah hath sent astray? he whom allah sendeth astray, for him thou (o muhammad) canst not find a road. s: what is the matter with you, then, that you have become two parties about the hypocrites, while allah has made them return (to unbelief) for what they have earned? do you wish to guide him whom allah has caused to err? and whomsoever allah causes to err, you shall by no means find a way for him. . y: they but wish that ye should reject faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing (as they): but take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of allah (from what is forbidden). but if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from their ranks;- p: they long that ye should disbelieve even as they disbelieve, that ye may be upon a level (with them). so choose not friends from them till they forsake their homes in the way of allah; if they turn back (to enmity) then take them and kill them wherever ye find them, and choose no friend nor helper from among them, s: they desire that you should disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you might be (all) alike; therefore take not from among them friends until they fly (their homes) in allah's way; but if they turn back, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them, and take not from among them a friend or a helper. . y: except those who join a group between whom and you there is a treaty (of peace), or those who approach you with hearts restraining them from fighting you as well as fighting their own people. if allah had pleased, he could have given them power over you, and they would have fought you: therefore if they withdraw from you but fight you not, and (instead) send you (guarantees of) peace, then allah hath opened no way for you (to war against them). p: except those who seek refuge with a people between whom and you there is a covenant, or (those who) come unto you because their hearts forbid them to make war on you or make war on their own folk. had allah willed he could have given them power over you so that assuredly they would have fought you. so, if they hold aloof from you and wage not war against you and offer you peace, allah alloweth you no way against them. s: except those who reach a people between whom and you there is an alliance, or who come to you, their hearts shrinking from fighting you or fighting their own people; and if allah had pleased, he would have given them power over you, so that they should have certainly fought you; therefore if they withdraw from you and do not fight you and offer you peace, then allah has not given you a way against them. . y: others you will find that wish to gain your confidence as well as that of their people: every time they are sent back to temptation, they succumb thereto: if they withdraw not from you nor give you (guarantees) of peace besides restraining their hands, seize them and slay them wherever ye get them: in their case we have provided you with a clear argument against them. p: ye will find others who desire that they should have security from you, and security from their own folk. so often as they are returned to hostility they are plunged therein. if they keep not aloof from you nor offer you peace nor hold their hands, then take them and kill them wherever ye find them. against such we have given you clear warrant. s: you will find others who desire that they should be safe from you and secure from their own people; as often as they are sent back to the mischief they get thrown into it headlong; therefore if they do not withdraw from you, and (do not) offer you peace and restrain their hands, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them; and against these we have given you a clear authority. . y: never should a believer kill a believer; but (if it so happens) by mistake, (compensation is due): if one (so) kills a believer, it is ordained that he should free a believing slave, and pay compensation to the deceased's family, unless they remit it freely. if the deceased belonged to a people at war with you, and he was a believer, the freeing of a believing slave (is enough). if he belonged to a people with whom ye have treaty of mutual alliance, compensation should be paid to his family, and a believing slave be freed. for those who find this beyond their means, (is prescribed) a fast for two months running: by way of repentance to allah: for allah hath all knowledge and all wisdom. p: it is not for a believer to kill a believer unless (it be) by mistake. he who hath killed a believer by mistake must set free a believing slave, and pay the blood-money to the family of the slain, unless they remit it as a charity. if he (the victim) be of a people hostile unto you, and he is a believer, then (the penance is) to set free a believing slave. and if he cometh of a folk between whom and you there is a covenant, then the blood-money must be paid unto his folk and (also) a believing slave must be set free. and whoso hath not the wherewithal must fast two consecutive months. a penance from allah. allah is knower, wise. s: and it does not behoove a believer to kill a believer except by mistake, and whoever kills a believer by mistake, he should free a believing slave, and blood-money should be paid to his people unless they remit it as alms; but if he be from a tribe hostile to you and he is a believer, the freeing of a believing slave (suffices), and if he is from a tribe between whom and you there is a convenant, the blood-money should be paid to his people along with the freeing of a believing slave; but he who cannot find (a slave) should fast for two months successively: a penance from allah, and allah is knowing, wise. . y: if a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is hell, to abide therein (for ever): and the wrath and the curse of allah are upon him, and a dreadful penalty is prepared for him. p: whoso slayeth a believer of set purpose, his reward is hell for ever. allah is wroth against him and he hath cursed him and prepared for him an awful doom. s: and whoever kills a believer intentionally, his punishment is hell; he shall abide in it, and allah will send his wrath on him and curse him and prepare for him a painful chastisement. . y: o ye who believe! when ye go abroad in the cause of allah, investigate carefully, and say not to any one who offers you a salutation: "thou art none of a believer!" coveting the perishable goods of this life: with allah are profits and spoils abundant. even thus were ye yourselves before, till allah conferred on you his favours: therefore carefully investigate. for allah is well aware of all that ye do. p: o ye who believe! when ye go forth (to fight) in the way of allah, be careful to discriminate, and say not unto one who offereth you peace: "thou art not a believer," seeking the chance profits of this life (so that ye may despoil him). with allah are plenteous spoils. even thus (as he now is) were ye before; but allah hath since then been gracious unto you. therefore take care to discriminate. allah is ever informed of what ye do. s: o you who believe! when you go to war in allah's way, make investigation, and do not say to any one who offers you peace: you are not a believer. do you seek goods of this world's life! but with allah there are abundant gains; you too were such before, then allah conferred a benefit on you; therefore make investigation; surely allah is aware of what you do. . y: not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and receive no hurt, and those who strive and fight in the cause of allah with their goods and their persons. allah hath granted a grade higher to those who strive and fight with their goods and persons than to those who sit (at home). unto all (in faith) hath allah promised good: but those who strive and fight hath he distinguished above those who sit (at home) by a special reward,- p: those of the believers who sit still, other than those who have a (disabling) hurt, are not on an equality with those who strive in the way of allah with their wealth and lives. allah hath conferred on those who strive with their wealth and lives a rank above the sedentary. unto each allah hath promised good, but he hath bestowed on those who strive a great reward above the sedentary; s: the holders back from among the believers, not having any injury, and those who strive hard in allah's way with their property and their persons are not equal; allah has made the strivers with their property and their persons to excel the holders back a (high) degree, and to each (class) allah has promised good; and allah shall grant to the strivers above the holders back a mighty reward: . y: ranks specially bestowed by him, and forgiveness and mercy. for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: degrees of rank from him, and forgiveness and mercy. allah is ever forgiving, merciful. s: (high) degrees from him and protection and mercy, and allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: when angels take the souls of those who die in sin against their souls, they say: "in what (plight) were ye?" they reply: "weak and oppressed were we in the earth." they say: "was not the earth of allah spacious enough for you to move yourselves away (from evil)?" such men will find their abode in hell,- what an evil refuge! - p: lo! as for those whom the angels take (in death) while they wrong themselves, (the angels) will ask: in what were ye engaged? they will say: we were oppressed in the land. (the angels) will say: was not allah's earth spacious that ye could have migrated therein? as for such, their habitation will be hell, an evil journey's end; s: surely (as for) those whom the angels cause to die while they are unjust to their souls, they shall say: in what state were you? they shall say: we were weak in the earth. they shall say: was not allah's earth spacious, so that you should have migrated therein? so these it is whose abode is hell, and it is an evil resort; . y: except those who are (really) weak and oppressed - men, women, and children - who have no means in their power, nor (a guide-post) to their way. p: except the feeble among men, and the women, and the children, who are unable to devise a plan and are not shown a way. s: except the weak from among the men and the children who have not in their power the means nor can they find a way (to escape); . y: for these, there is hope that allah will forgive: for allah doth blot out (sins) and forgive again and again. p: as for such, it may be that allah will pardon them. allah is ever clement, forgiving. s: so these, it may be, allah will pardon them, and allah is pardoning, forgiving. . y: he who forsakes his home in the cause of allah, finds in the earth many a refuge, wide and spacious: should he die as a refugee from home for allah and his messenger, his reward becomes due and sure with allah: and allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: whoso migrateth for the cause of allah will find much refuge and abundance in the earth, and whoso forsaketh his home, a fugitive unto allah and his messenger, and death overtaketh him, his reward is then incumbent on allah. allah is ever forgiving, merciful. s: and whoever flies in allah's way, he will find in the earth many a place of refuge and abundant resources, and whoever goes forth from his house flying to allah and his messenger, and then death overtakes him, his reward is indeed with allah and allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: when ye travel through the earth, there is no blame on you if ye shorten your prayers, for fear the unbelievers may attack you: for the unbelievers are unto you open enemies. p: and when ye go forth in the land, it is no sin for you to curtail (your) worship if ye fear that those who disbelieve may attack you. in truth the disbelievers are an open enemy to you. s: and when you journey in the earth, there is no blame on you if you shorten the prayer, if you fear that those who disbelieve will cause you distress, surely the unbelievers are your open enemy. . y: when thou (o messenger) art with them, and standest to lead them in prayer, let one party of them stand up (in prayer) with thee, taking their arms with them: when they finish their prostrations, let them take their position in the rear. and let the other party come up which hath not yet prayed - and let them pray with thee, taking all precaution, and bearing arms: the unbelievers wish, if ye were negligent of your arms and your baggage, to assault you in a single rush. but there is no blame on you if ye put away your arms because of the inconvenience of rain or because ye are ill; but take (every) precaution for yourselves. for the unbelievers allah hath prepared a humiliating punishment. p: and when thou (o muhammad) art among them and arrangest (their) worship for them, let only a party of them stand with thee (to worship) and let them take their arms. then when they have performed their prostrations let them fall to the rear and let another party come that hath not worshipped and let them worship with thee, and let them take their precaution and their arms. those who disbelieve long for you to neglect your arms and your baggage that they may attack you once for all. it is no sin for you to lay aside your arms, if rain impedeth you or ye are sick. but take your precaution. lo! allah prepareth for the disbelievers shameful punishment. s: and when you are among them and keep up the prayer for them, let a party of them stand up with you, and let them take their arms; then when they have prostrated themselves let them go to your rear, and let another party who have not prayed come forward and pray with you, and let them take their precautions and their arms; (for) those who disbelieve desire that you may be careless of your arms and your luggage, so that they may then turn upon you with a sudden united attack, and there is no blame on you, if you are annoyed with rain or if you are sick, that you lay down your arms, and take your precautions; surely allah has prepared a disgraceful chastisement for the unbelievers. . y: when ye pass (congregational) prayers, celebrate allah's praises, standing, sitting down, or lying down on your sides; but when ye are free from danger, set up regular prayers: for such prayers are enjoined on believers at stated times. p: when ye have performed the act of worship, remember allah, standing, sitting and reclining. and when ye are in safety, observe proper worship. worship at fixed times hath been enjoined on the believers. s: then when you have finished the prayer, remember allah standing and sitting and reclining; but when you are secure (from danger) keep up prayer; surely prayer is a timed ordinance for the believers. . y: and slacken not in following up the enemy: if ye are suffering hardships, they are suffering similar hardships; but ye have hope from allah, while they have none. and allah is full of knowledge and wisdom. p: relent not in pursuit of the enemy. if ye are suffering, lo! they suffer even as ye suffer and ye hope from allah that for which they cannot hope. allah is ever knower, wise. s: and be not weak hearted in pursuit of the enemy; if you suffer pain, then surely they (too) suffer pain as you suffer pain, and you hope from allah what they do not hope; and allah is knowing, wise. . y: we have sent down to thee the book in truth, that thou mightest judge between men, as guided by allah: so be not (used) as an advocate by those who betray their trust; p: lo! we reveal unto thee the scripture with the truth, that thou mayst judge between mankind by that which allah showeth thee. and be not thou a pleader for the treacherous; s: surely we have revealed the book to you with the truth that you may judge between people by means of that which allah has taught you; and be not an advocate on behalf of the treacherous. . y: but seek the forgiveness of allah; for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: and seek forgiveness of allah. lo! allah is ever forgiving, merciful. s: and ask forgiveness of allah; surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: contend not on behalf of such as betray their own souls; for allah loveth not one given to perfidy and crime: p: and plead not on behalf of (people) who deceive themselves. lo! allah loveth not one who is treacherous and sinful. s: and do not plead on behalf of those who act unfaithfully to their souls; surely allah does not love him who is treacherous, sinful; . y: they may hide (their crimes) from men, but they cannot hide (them) from allah, seeing that he is in their midst when they plot by night, in words that he cannot approve: and allah doth compass round all that they do. p: they seek to hide from men and seek not to hide from allah. he is with them when by night they hold discourse displeasing unto him. allah ever surroundeth what they do. s: they hide themselves from men and do not hide themselves from allah, and he is with them when they meditate by night words which please him not, and allah encompasses what they do. . y: ah! these are the sort of men on whose behalf ye may contend in this world; but who will contend with allah on their behalf on the day of judgment, or who will carry their affairs through? p: ho! ye are they who pleaded for them in the life of the world. but who will plead with allah for them on the day of resurrection, or who will then be their defender? s: behold! you are they who (may) plead for them in this world's life, but who will plead for them with allah on the resurrection day, or who shall be their protector? . y: if any one does evil or wrongs his own soul but afterwards seeks allah's forgiveness, he will find allah oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: yet whoso doeth evil or wrongeth his own soul, then seeketh pardon of allah, will find allah forgiving, merciful. s: and whoever does evil or acts unjustly to his soul, then asks forgiveness of allah, he shall find allah forgiving, merciful. . y: and if any one earns sin, he earns it against his own soul: for allah is full of knowledge and wisdom. p: whoso committeth sin committeth it only against himself. allah is ever knower, wise. s: and whoever commits a sin, he only commits it against his own soul; and allah is knowing, wise. . y: but if any one earns a fault or a sin and throws it on to one that is innocent, he carries (on himself) (both) a falsehood and a flagrant sin. p: and whoso committeth a delinquency or crime, then throweth (the blame) thereof upon the innocent, hath burdened himself with falsehood and a flagrant crime. s: and whoever commits a fault or a sin, then accuses of it one innocent, he indeed takes upon himself the burden of a calumny and a manifest sin. . y: but for the grace of allah to thee and his mercy, a party of them would certainly have plotted to lead thee astray. but (in fact) they will only lead their own souls astray, and to thee they can do no harm in the least. for allah hath sent down to thee the book and wisdom and taught thee what thou knewest not (before): and great is the grace of allah unto thee. p: but for the grace of allah upon thee (muhammad), and his mercy, a party of them had resolved to mislead thee, but they will mislead only themselves and they will hurt thee not at all. allah revealeth unto thee the scripture and wisdom, and teacheth thee that which thou knewest not. the grace of allah toward thee hath been infinite. s: and were it not for allah's grace upon you and his mercy a party of them had certainly designed to bring you to perdition and they do not bring (aught) to perdition but their own souls, and they shall not harm you in any way, and allah has revealed to you the book and the wisdom, and he has taught you what you did not know, and allah's grace on you is very great. . y: in most of their secret talks there is no good: but if one exhorts to a deed of charity or justice or conciliation between men, (secrecy is permissible): to him who does this, seeking the good pleasure of allah, we shall soon give a reward of the highest (value). p: there is no good in much of their secret conferences save (in) him who enjoineth almsgiving and kindness and peace-making among the people. whoso doeth that, seeking the good pleasure of allah, we shall bestow on him a vast reward. s: there is no good in most of their secret counsels except (in his) who enjoins charity or goodness or reconciliation between people; and whoever does this seeking allah's pleasure, we will give him a mighty reward. . y: if anyone contends with the messenger even after guidance has been plainly conveyed to him, and follows a path other than that becoming to men of faith, we shall leave him in the path he has chosen, and land him in hell,- what an evil refuge! p: and whoso opposeth the messenger after the guidance (of allah) hath been manifested unto him, and followeth other than the believer's way, we appoint for him that unto which he himself hath turned, and expose him unto hell - a hapless journey's end! s: and whoever acts hostilely to the messenger after that guidance has become manifest to him, and follows other than the way of the believers, we will turn him to that to which he has (himself) turned and make him enter hell; and it is an evil resort. . y: allah forgiveth not (the sin of) joining other gods with him; but he forgiveth whom he pleaseth other sins than this: one who joins other gods with allah, hath strayed far, far away (from the right). p: lo! allah pardoneth not that partners should be ascribed unto him. he pardoneth all save that to whom he will. whoso ascribeth partners unto allah hath wandered far astray. s: surely allah does not forgive that anything should be associated with him, and he forgives what is besides this to whom he pleases; and whoever associates anything with allah, he indeed strays off into a remote error. . y: (the pagans), leaving him, call but upon female deities: they call but upon satan the persistent rebel! p: they invoke in his stead only females; they pray to none else than satan, a rebel. s: they do not call besides him on anything but idols, and they do not call on anything but a rebellious shaitan. . y: allah did curse him, but he said: "i will take of thy servants a portion marked off;" p: whom allah cursed, and he said: surely i will take of thy bondmen an appointed portion, s: allah has cursed him; and he said: most certainly i will take of thy servants an appointed portion: . y: "i will mislead them, and i will create in them false desires; i will order them to slit the ears of cattle, and to deface the (fair) nature created by allah." whoever, forsaking allah, takes satan for a friend, hath of a surety suffered a loss that is manifest. p: and surely i will lead them astray, and surely i will arouse desires in them, and surely i will command them and they will cut the cattle' ears, and surely i will command them and they will change allah's creation. whoso chooseth satan for a patron instead of allah is verily a loser and his loss is manifest. s: and most certainly i will lead them astray and excite in them vain desires, and bid them so that they shall slit the ears of the cattle, and most certainly i will bid them so that they shall alter allah's creation; and whoever takes the shaitan for a guardian rather than allah he indeed shall suffer a manifest loss. . y: satan makes them promises, and creates in them false desires; but satan's promises are nothing but deception. p: he promiseth them and stirreth up desires in them, and satan promiseth them only to beguile. s: he gives them promises and excites vain desires in them; and the shaitan does not promise them but to deceive. . y: they (his dupes) will have their dwelling in hell, and from it they will find no way of escape. p: for such, their habitation will be hell, and they will find no refuge therefrom. s: these are they whose abode is hell, and they shall not find any refuge from it. . y: but those who believe and do deeds of righteousness,- we shall soon admit them to gardens, with rivers flowing beneath,-to dwell therein for ever. allah's promise is the truth, and whose word can be truer than allah's? p: but as for those who believe and do good works we shall bring them into gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide for ever. it is a promise from allah in truth; and who can be more truthful than allah in utterance? s: and (as for) those who believe and do good, we will make them enter into gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide therein for ever; (it is) a promise of allah, true (indeed), and who is truer of word than allah? . y: not your desires, nor those of the people of the book (can prevail): whoever works evil, will be requited accordingly. nor will he find, besides allah, any protector or helper. p: it will not be in accordance with your desires, nor the desires of the people of the scripture. he who doeth wrong will have the recompense thereof, and will not find against allah any protecting friend or helper. s: (this) shall not be in accordance with your vain desires nor in accordance with the vain desires of the followers of the book; whoever does evil, he shall be requited with it, and besides allah he will find for himself neither a guardian nor a helper. . y: if any do deeds of righteousness,- be they male or female - and have faith, they will enter heaven, and not the least injustice will be done to them. p: and whoso doeth good works, whether of male or female, and he (or she) is a believer, such will enter paradise and they will not be wronged the dint in a date-stone. s: and whoever does good deeds whether male or female and he (or she) is a believer-- these shall enter the garden, and they shall not be dealt with a jot unjustly. . y: who can be better in religion than one who submits his whole self to allah, does good, and follows the way of abraham the true in faith? for allah did take abraham for a friend. p: who is better in religion than he who surrendereth his purpose to allah while doing good (to men) and followeth the tradition of abraham, the upright? allah (himself) chose abraham for friend. s: and who has a better religion than he who submits himself entirely to allah? and he is the doer of good (to others) and follows the faith of ibrahim, the upright one, and allah took ibrahim as a friend. . y: but to allah belong all things in the heavens and on earth: and he it is that encompasseth all things. p: unto allah belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. allah ever surroundeth all things. s: and whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is allah's; and allah encompasses all things. . y: they ask thy instruction concerning the women say: allah doth instruct you about them: and (remember) what hath been rehearsed unto you in the book, concerning the orphans of women to whom ye give not the portions prescribed, and yet whom ye desire to marry, as also concerning the children who are weak and oppressed: that ye stand firm for justice to orphans. there is not a good deed which ye do, but allah is well-acquainted therewith. p: they consult thee concerning women. say: allah giveth you decree concerning them, and the scripture which hath been recited unto you (giveth decree), concerning female orphans and those unto whom ye give not that which is ordained for them though ye desire to marry them, and (concerning) the weak among children, and that ye should deal justly with orphans. whatever good ye do, lo! allah is ever aware of it. s: and they ask you a decision about women. say: allah makes known to you his decision concerning them, and that which is recited to you in the book concerning female orphans whom you do not give what is appointed for them while you desire to marry them, and concerning the weak among children, and that you should deal towards orphans with equity; and whatever good you do, allah surely knows it. . y: if a wife fears cruelty or desertion on her husband's part, there is no blame on them if they arrange an amicable settlement between themselves; and such settlement is best; even though men's souls are swayed by greed. but if ye do good and practise self-restraint, allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do. p: if a woman feareth ill treatment from her husband, or desertion, it is no sin for them twain if they make terms of peace between themselves. peace is better. but greed hath been made present in the minds (of men). if ye do good and keep from evil, lo! allah is ever informed of what ye do. s: and if a woman fears ill usage or desertion on the part of her husband, there is no blame on them, if they effect a reconciliation between them, and reconciliation is better, and avarice has been made to be present in the (people's) minds; and if you do good (to others) and guard (against evil), then surely allah is aware of what you do. . y: ye are never able to be fair and just as between women, even if it is your ardent desire: but turn not away (from a woman) altogether, so as to leave her (as it were) hanging (in the air). if ye come to a friendly understanding, and practise self-restraint, allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: ye will not be able to deal equally between (your) wives, however much ye wish (to do so). but turn not altogether away (from one), leaving her as in suspense. if ye do good and keep from evil, lo! allah is ever forgiving, merciful. s: and you have it not in your power to do justice between wives, even though you may wish (it), but be not disinclined (from one) with total disinclination, so that you leave her as it were in suspense; and if you effect a reconciliation and guard (against evil), then surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: but if they disagree (and must part), allah will provide abundance for all from his all-reaching bounty: for allah is he that careth for all and is wise. p: but if they separate, allah will compensate each out of his abundance. allah is ever all-embracing, all-knowing. s: and if they separate, allah will render them both free from want out of his ampleness, and allah is ample-giving, wise. . y: to allah belong all things in the heavens and on earth. verily we have directed the people of the book before you, and you (o muslims) to fear allah. but if ye deny him, lo! unto allah belong all things in the heavens and on earth, and allah is free of all wants, worthy of all praise. p: unto allah belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. and we charged those who received the scripture before you, and (we charge) you, that ye keep your duty toward allah. and if ye disbelieve, lo! unto allah belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth, and allah is ever absolute, owner of praise. s: and whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is allah's and certainly we enjoined those who were given the book before you and (we enjoin) you too that you should be careful of (your duty to) allah; and if you disbelieve, then surely whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is allah's and allah is self-sufficient, praise-worthy. . y: yea, unto allah belong all things in the heavens and on earth, and enough is allah to carry through all affairs. p: unto allah belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. and allah is sufficient as defender. s: and whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is allah's, and allah is sufficient as a protector. . y: if it were his will, he could destroy you, o mankind, and create another race; for he hath power this to do. p: if he will, he can remove you, o people, and produce others (in your stead). allah is able to do that. s: if he please, he can make you pass away, o people! and bring others; and allah has the power to do this. . y: if any one desires a reward in this life, in allah's (gift) is the reward (both) of this life and of the hereafter: for allah is he that heareth and seeth (all things). p: whoso desireth the reward of the world, (let him know that) with allah is the reward of the world and the hereafter. allah is ever hearer, seer. s: whoever desires the reward of this world, then with allah is the reward of this world and the hereafter; and allah is hearing, seeing. . y: o ye who believe! stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for allah can best protect both. follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest ye swerve, and if ye distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do. p: o ye who believe! be ye staunch in justice, witnesses for allah, even though it be against yourselves or (your) parents or (your) kindred, whether (the case be of) a rich man or a poor man, for allah is nearer unto both (them ye are). so follow not passion lest ye lapse (from truth) and if ye lapse or fall away, then lo! allah is ever informed of what ye do. s: o you who believe! be maintainers of justice, bearers of witness of allah's sake, though it may be against your own selves or (your) parents or near relatives; if he be rich or poor, allah is nearer to them both in compassion; therefore do not follow (your) low desires, lest you deviate; and if you swerve or turn aside, then surely allah is aware of what you do. . y: o ye who believe! believe in allah and his messenger, and the scripture which he hath sent to his messenger and the scripture which he sent to those before (him). any who denieth allah, his angels, his books, his messengers, and the day of judgment, hath gone far, far astray. p: o ye who believe! believe in allah and his messenger and the scripture which he hath revealed unto his messenger, and the scripture which he revealed aforetime. whoso disbelieveth in allah and his angels and his scriptures and his messengers and the last day, he verily hath wandered far astray. s: o you who believe! believe in allah and his messenger and the book which he has revealed to his messenger and the book which he revealed before; and whoever disbelieves in allah and his angels and his messengers and the last day, he indeed strays off into a remote error. . y: those who believe, then reject faith, then believe (again) and (again) reject faith, and go on increasing in unbelief,- allah will not forgive them nor guide them nor guide them on the way. p: lo! those who believe, then disbelieve and then (again) believe, then disbelieve, and then increase in disbelief, allah will never pardon them, nor will he guide them unto a way. s: surely (as for) those who believe then disbelieve, again believe and again disbelieve, then increase in disbelief, allah will not forgive them nor guide them in the (right) path. . y: to the hypocrites give the glad tidings that there is for them (but) a grievous penalty;- p: bear unto the hypocrites the tidings that for them there is a painful doom; s: announce to the hypocrites that they shall have a painful chastisement: . y: yea, to those who take for friends unbelievers rather than believers: is it honour they seek among them? nay,- all honour is with allah. p: those who chose disbelievers for their friends instead of believers! do they look for power at their hands? lo! all power appertaineth to allah. s: those who take the unbelievers for guardians rather than believers. do they seek honor from them? then surely all honor is for allah. . y: already has he sent you word in the book, that when ye hear the signs of allah held in defiance and ridicule, ye are not to sit with them unless they turn to a different theme: if ye did, ye would be like them. for allah will collect the hypocrites and those who defy faith - all in hell:- p: he hath already revealed unto you in the scripture that, when ye hear the revelations of allah rejected and derided, (ye) sit not with them (who disbelieve and mock) until they engage in some other conversation. lo! in that case (if ye stayed) ye would be like unto them. lo! allah will gather hypocrites and disbelievers, all together, into hell; s: and indeed he has revealed to you in the book that when you hear allah's communications disbelieved in and mocked at do not sit with them until they enter into some other discourse; surely then you would be like them; surely allah will gather together the hypocrites and the unbelievers all in hell. . y: (these are) the ones who wait and watch about you: if ye do gain a victory from allah, they say: "were we not with you?"- but if the unbelievers gain a success, they say (to them): "did we not gain an advantage over you, and did we not guard you from the believers?" but allah will judge betwixt you on the day of judgment. and never will allah grant to the unbelievers a way (to triumphs) over the believers. p: those who wait upon occasion in regard to you and, if a victory cometh unto you from allah, say: are we not with you? and if the disbelievers meet with a success say: had we not the mastery of you, and did we not protect you from the believers? - allah will judge between you at the day of resurrection, and allah will not give the disbelievers any way (of success) against the believers. s: those who wait for (some misfortune to befall) you; then if you have a victory from allah they say: were we not with you? and if there is a chance for the unbelievers, they say: did we not acquire the mastery over you and defend you from the believers? so allah shall judge between you on the day of resurrection, and allah will by no means give the unbelievers a way against the believers. . y: the hypocrites - they think they are over-reaching allah, but he will over-reach them: when they stand up to prayer, they stand without earnestness, to be seen of men, but little do they hold allah in remembrance; p: lo! the hypocrites seek to beguile allah, but it is he who beguileth them. when they stand up to worship they perform it languidly and to be seen of men, and are mindful of allah but little; s: surely the hypocrites strive to deceive allah, and he shall requite their deceit to them, and when they stand up to prayer they stand up sluggishly; they do it only to be seen of men and do not remember allah save a little. . y: (they are) distracted in mind even in the midst of it,- being (sincerely) for neither one group nor for another whom allah leaves straying,- never wilt thou find for him the way. p: swaying between this (and that), (belonging) neither to these nor to those. he whom allah causeth to go astray, thou (o muhammad) wilt not find a way for him: s: wavering between that (and this), (belonging) neither to these nor to those; and whomsoever allah causes to err, you shall not find a way for him. . y: o ye who believe! take not for friends unbelievers rather than believers: do ye wish to offer allah an open proof against yourselves? p: o ye who believe! choose not disbelievers for (your) friends in place of believers. would ye give allah a clear warrant against you? s: o you who believe! do not take the unbelievers for friends rather than the believers; do you desire that you should give to allah a manifest proof against yourselves? . y: the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of the fire: no helper wilt thou find for them;- p: lo! the hypocrites (will be) in the lowest deep of the fire, and thou wilt find no helper for them; s: surely the hypocrites are in the lowest stage of the fire and you shall not find a helper for them. . y: except for those who repent, mend (their lives) hold fast to allah, and purify their religion as in allah's sight: if so they will be (numbered) with the believers. and soon will allah grant to the believers a reward of immense value. p: save those who repent and amend and hold fast to allah and make their religion pure for allah (only). those are with the believers. and allah will bestow on the believers an immense reward. s: except those who repent and amend and hold fast to allah and are sincere in their religion to allah, these are with the believers, and allah will grant the believers a mighty reward. . y: what can allah gain by your punishment, if ye are grateful and ye believe? nay, it is allah that recogniseth (all good), and knoweth all things. p: what concern hath allah for your punishment if ye are thankful (for his mercies) and believe (in him)? allah was ever responsive, aware. s: why should allah chastise you if you are grateful and believe? and allah is the multiplier of rewards, knowing. . y: allah loveth not that evil should be noised abroad in public speech, except where injustice hath been done; for allah is he who heareth and knoweth all things. p: allah loveth not the utterance of harsh speech save by one who hath been wronged. allah is ever hearer, knower. s: allah does not love the public utterance of hurtful speech unless (it be) by one to whom injustice has been done; and allah is hearing, knowing. . y: whether ye publish a good deed or conceal it or cover evil with pardon, verily allah doth blot out (sins) and hath power (in the judgment of values). p: if ye do good openly or keep it secret, or forgive evil, lo! allah is ever forgiving, powerful. s: if you do good openly or do it in secret or pardon an evil then surely allah is pardoning, powerful. . y: those who deny allah and his messengers, and (those who) wish to separate allah from his messengers, saying: "we believe in some but reject others": and (those who) wish to take a course midway,- p: lo! those who disbelieve in allah and his messengers, and seek to make distinction between allah and his messengers, and say: we believe in some and disbelieve in others, and seek to choose a way in between; s: surely those who disbelieve in allah and his messengers and (those who) desire to make a distinction between allah and his messengers and say: we believe in some and disbelieve in others, and desire to take a course between (this and) that. . y: they are in truth (equally) unbelievers; and we have prepared for unbelievers a humiliating punishment. p: such are disbelievers in truth; and for disbelievers we prepare a shameful doom. s: these it is that are truly unbelievers, and we have prepared for the unbelievers a disgraceful chastisement. . y: to those who believe in allah and his messengers and make no distinction between any of the messengers, we shall soon give their (due) rewards: for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: but those who believe in allah and his messengers and make no distinction between any of them, unto them allah will give their wages; and allah was ever forgiving, merciful. s: and those who believe in allah and his messengers and do not make a distinction between any of them-- allah will grant them their rewards; and allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: the people of the book ask thee to cause a book to descend to them from heaven: indeed they asked moses for an even greater (miracle), for they said: "show us allah in public," but they were dazed for their presumption, with thunder and lightning. yet they worshipped the calf even after clear signs had come to them; even so we forgave them; and gave moses manifest proofs of authority. p: the people of the scripture ask of thee that thou shouldst cause an (actual) book to descend upon them from heaven. they asked a greater thing of moses aforetime, for they said: show us allah plainly. the storm of lightning seized them for their wickedness. then (even after that) they chose the calf (for worship) after clear proofs (of allah's sovereignty) had come unto them. and we forgave them that! and we bestowed on moses evident authority. s: the followers of the book ask you to bring down to them a book from heaven; so indeed they demanded of musa a greater thing than that, for they said: show us allah manifestly; so the lightning overtook them on account of their injustice. then they took the calf (for a god), after clear signs had come to them, but we pardoned this; and we gave to musa clear authority. . y: and for their covenant we raised over them (the towering height) of mount (sinai); and (on another occasion) we said: "enter the gate with humility"; and (once again) we commanded them: "transgress not in the matter of the sabbath." and we took from them a solemn covenant. p: and we caused the mount to tower above them at (the taking of) their covenant: and we bade them: enter the gate, prostrate! and we bode them: transgress not the sabbath! and we took from them a firm covenant. s: and we lifted the mountain (sainai) over them at (the taking of the covenant) and we said to them: enter the door making obeisance; and we said to them: do not exceed the limits of the sabbath, and we made with them a firm covenant. . y: (they have incurred divine displeasure): in that they broke their covenant; that they rejected the signs of allah; that they slew the messengers in defiance of right; that they said, "our hearts are the wrappings (which preserve allah's word; we need no more)";- nay, allah hath set the seal on their hearts for their blasphemy, and little is it they believe;- p: then because of their breaking of their covenant, and their disbelieving in the revelations of allah, and their slaying of the prophets wrongfully, and their saying: our hearts are hardened - nay, but allah set a seal upon them for their disbelief, so that they believe not save a few - s: therefore, for their breaking their covenant and their disbelief in the communications of allah and their killing the prophets wrongfully and their saying: our hearts are covered; nay! allah set a seal upon them owing to their unbelief, so they shall not believe except a few. . y: that they rejected faith; that they uttered against mary a grave false charge; p: and because of their disbelief and of their speaking against mary a tremendous calumny; s: and for their unbelief and for their having uttered against marium a grievous calumny. . y: that they said (in boast), "we killed christ jesus the son of mary, the messenger of allah";- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not:- p: and because of their saying: we slew the messiah, jesus son of mary, allah's messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain. s: and their saying: surely we have killed the messiah, isa son of marium, the messenger of allah; and they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but it appeared to them so (like isa) and most surely those who differ therein are only in a doubt about it; they have no knowledge respecting it, but only follow a conjecture, and they killed him not for sure. . y: nay, allah raised him up unto himself; and allah is exalted in power, wise;- p: but allah took him up unto himself. allah was ever mighty, wise. s: nay! allah took him up to himself; and allah is mighty, wise. . y: and there is none of the people of the book but must believe in him before his death; and on the day of judgment he will be a witness against them;- p: there is not one of the people of the scripture but will believe in him before his death, and on the day of resurrection he will be a witness against them - s: and there is not one of the followers of the book but most certainly believes in this before his death, and on the day of resurrection he (isa) shall be a witness against them. . y: for the iniquity of the jews we made unlawful for them certain (foods) good and wholesome which had been lawful for them;- in that they hindered many from allah's way;- p: because of the wrongdoing of the jews we forbade them good things which were (before) made lawful unto them, and because of their much hindering from allah's way, s: wherefore for the iniquity of those who are jews did we disallow to them the good things which had been made lawful for them and for their hindering many (people) from allah's way. . y: that they took usury, though they were forbidden; and that they devoured men's substance wrongfully;- we have prepared for those among them who reject faith a grievous punishment. p: and of their taking usury when they were forbidden it, and of their devouring people's wealth by false pretences, we have prepared for those of them who disbelieve a painful doom. s: and their taking usury though indeed they were forbidden it and their devouring the property of people falsely, and we have prepared for the unbelievers from among them a painful chastisement. . y: but those among them who are well-grounded in knowledge, and the believers, believe in what hath been revealed to thee and what was revealed before thee: and (especially) those who establish regular prayer and practise regular charity and believe in allah and in the last day: to them shall we soon give a great reward. p: but those of them who are firm in knowledge and the believers believe in that which is revealed unto thee, and that which was revealed before thee, especially the diligent in prayer and those who pay the poor-due, the believers in allah and the last day. upon these we shall bestow immense reward. s: but the firm in knowledge among them and the believers believe in what has been revealed to you and what was revealed before you, and those who keep up prayers and those who give the poor-rate and the believers in allah and the last day, these it is whom we will give a mighty reward. . y: we have sent thee inspiration, as we sent it to noah and the messengers after him: we sent inspiration to abraham, isma'il, isaac, jacob and the tribes, to jesus, job, jonah, aaron, and solomon, and to david we gave the psalms. p: lo! we inspire thee as we inspired noah and the prophets after him, as we inspired abraham and ishmael and isaac and jacob and the tribes, and jesus and job and jonah and aaron and solomon, and as we imparted unto david the psalms; s: surely we have revealed to you as we revealed to nuh, and the prophets after him, and we revealed to ibrahim and ismail and ishaq and yaqoub and the tribes, and isa and ayub and yunus and haroun and sulaiman and we gave to dawood psalms. . y: of some messengers we have already told thee the story; of others we have not;- and to moses allah spoke direct;- p: and messengers we have mentioned unto thee before and messengers we have not mentioned unto thee; and allah spake directly unto moses; s: and (we sent) messengers we have mentioned to you before and messengers we have not mentioned to you; and to musa, allah addressed his word, speaking (to him): . y: messengers who gave good news as well as warning, that mankind, after (the coming) of the messengers, should have no plea against allah: for allah is exalted in power, wise. p: messengers of good cheer and of warning, in order that mankind might have no argument against allah after the messengers. allah was ever mighty, wise. s: (we sent) messengers as the givers of good news and as warners, so that people should not have a plea against allah after the (coming of) messengers; and allah is mighty, wise. . y: but allah beareth witness that what he hath sent unto thee he hath sent from his (own) knowledge, and the angels bear witness: but enough is allah for a witness. p: but allah (himself) testifieth concerning that which he hath revealeth unto thee; in his knowledge hath he revealed it; and the angels also testify. and allah is sufficient witness. s: but allah bears witness by what he has revealed to you that he has revealed it with his knowledge, and the angels bear witness (also); and allah is sufficient as a witness. . y: those who reject faith and keep off (men) from the way of allah, have verily strayed far, far away from the path. p: lo! those who disbelieve and hinder (others) from the way of allah, they verily have wandered far astray. s: surely (as for) those who disbelieve and hinder (men) from allah's way, they indeed have strayed off into a remote error. . y: those who reject faith and do wrong,- allah will not forgive them nor guide them to any way- p: lo! those who disbelieve and deal in wrong, allah will never forgive them, neither will he guide them unto a road, s: surely (as for) those who disbelieve and act unjustly allah will not forgive them nor guide them to a path, . y: except the way of hell, to dwell therein for ever. and this to allah is easy. p: except the road of hell, wherein they will abide for ever. and that is ever easy for allah. s: except the path of hell, to abide in it for ever, and this is easy to allah. . y: o mankind! the messenger hath come to you in truth from allah: believe in him: it is best for you. but if ye reject faith, to allah belong all things in the heavens and on earth: and allah is all-knowing, all-wise. p: o mankind! the messenger hath come unto you with the truth from your lord. therefor believe; (it is) better for you. but if ye disbelieve, still, lo! unto allah belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth. allah is ever knower, wise. s: o people! surely the messenger has come to you with the truth from your lord, therefore believe, (it shall be) good for you and if you disbelieve, then surely whatever is in the heavens and the earth is allah's; and allah is knowing, wise. . y: o people of the book! commit no excesses in your religion: nor say of allah aught but the truth. christ jesus the son of mary was (no more than) a messenger of allah, and his word, which he bestowed on mary, and a spirit proceeding from him: so believe in allah and his messengers. say not "trinity": desist: it will be better for you: for allah is one allah: glory be to him: (far exalted is he) above having a son. to him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. and enough is allah as a disposer of affairs. p: o people of the scripture! do not exaggerate in your religion nor utter aught concerning allah save the truth. the messiah, jesus son of mary, was only a messenger of allah, and his word which he conveyed unto mary, and a spirit from him. so believe in allah and his messengers, and say not "three" - cease! (it is) better for you! - allah is only one allah. far is it removed from his transcendent majesty that he should have a son. his is all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. and allah is sufficient as defender. s: o followers of the book! do not exceed the limits in your religion, and do not speak (lies) against allah, but (speak) the truth; the messiah, isa son of marium is only a messenger of allah and his word which he communicated to marium and a spirit from him; believe therefore in allah and his messengers, and say not, three. desist, it is better for you; allah is only one allah; far be it from his glory that he should have a son, whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is his, and allah is sufficient for a protector. . y: christ disdaineth nor to serve and worship allah, nor do the angels, those nearest (to allah): those who disdain his worship and are arrogant,-he will gather them all together unto himself to (answer). p: the messiah will never scorn to be a slave unto allah, nor will the favoured angels. whoso scorneth his service and is proud, all such will he assemble unto him; s: the messiah does by no means disdain that he should be a servant of allah, nor do the angels who are near to him, and whoever disdains his service and is proud, he will gather them all together to himself. . y: but to those who believe and do deeds of righteousness, he will give their (due) rewards,- and more, out of his bounty: but those who are disdainful and arrogant, he will punish with a grievous penalty; nor will they find, besides allah, any to protect or help them. p: then, as for those who believed and did good works, unto them will he pay their wages in full, adding unto them of his bounty; and as for those who were scornful and proud, them will he punish with a painful doom. and they will not find for them, against allah, any protecting friend or helper. s: then as for those who believe and do good, he will pay them fully their rewards and give them more out of his grace; and as for those who disdain and are proud, he will chastise them with a painful chastisement. and they shall not find for themselves besides allah a guardian or a helper. . y: o mankind! verily there hath come to you a convincing proof from your lord: for we have sent unto you a light (that is) manifest. p: o mankind! now hath a proof from your lord come unto you, and we have sent down unto you a clear light; s: o people! surely there has come to you manifest proof from your lord and we have sent to you clear light. . y: then those who believe in allah, and hold fast to him,- soon will he admit them to mercy and grace from himself, and guide them to himself by a straight way. p: as for those who believe in allah, and hold fast unto him, them he will cause to enter into his mercy and grace, and will guide them unto him by a straight road. s: then as for those who believe in allah and hold fast by him, he will cause them to enter into his mercy and grace and guide them to himself on a right path. . y: they ask thee for a legal decision. say: allah directs (thus) about those who leave no descendants or ascendants as heirs. if it is a man that dies, leaving a sister but no child, she shall have half the inheritance: if (such a deceased was) a woman, who left no child, her brother takes her inheritance: if there are two sisters, they shall have two-thirds of the inheritance (between them): if there are brothers and sisters, (they share), the male having twice the share of the female. thus doth allah make clear to you (his law), lest ye err. and allah hath knowledge of all things. p: they ask thee for a pronouncement. say: allah hath pronounced for you concerning distant kindred. if a man die childless and he have a sister, hers is half the heritage, and he would have inherited from her had she died childless. and if there be two sisters, then theirs are two-thirds of the heritage, and if they be brethren, men and women, unto the male is the equivalent of the share of two females. allah expoundeth unto you, so that ye err not. allah is knower of all things. s: they ask you for a decision of the law. say: allah gives you a decision concerning the person who has neither parents nor offspring; if a man dies (and) he has no son and he has a sister, she shall have half of what he leaves, and he shall be her heir she has no son; but if there be two (sisters), they shall have two-thirds of what he leaves; and if there are brethren, men and women, then the male shall have the like of the portion of two females; allah makes clear to you, lest you err; and allah knows all things. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-maeda (the table, the table spread) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: o ye who believe! fulfil (all) obligations. lawful unto you (for food) are all four-footed animals, with the exceptions named: but animals of the chase are forbidden while ye are in the sacred precincts or in pilgrim garb: for allah doth command according to his will and plan. p: o ye who believe! fulfil your indentures. the beast of cattle is made lawful unto you (for food) except that which is announced unto you (herein), game being unlawful when ye are on the pilgrimage. lo! allah ordaineth that which pleaseth him. s: o you who believe! fulfill the obligations. the cattle quadrupeds are allowed to you except that which is recited to you, not violating the prohibition against game when you are entering upon the performance of the pilgrimage; surely allah orders what he desires. . y: o ye who believe! violate not the sanctity of the symbols of allah, nor of the sacred month, nor of the animals brought for sacrifice, nor the garlands that mark out such animals, nor the people resorting to the sacred house, seeking of the bounty and good pleasure of their lord. but when ye are clear of the sacred precincts and of pilgrim garb, ye may hunt and let not the hatred of some people in (once) shutting you out of the sacred mosque lead you to transgression (and hostility on your part). help ye one another in righteousness and piety, but help ye not one another in sin and rancour: fear allah: for allah is strict in punishment. p: o ye who believe! profane not allah's monuments nor the sacred month nor the offerings nor the garlands, nor those repairing to the sacred house, seeking the grace and pleasure of their lord. but when ye have left the sacred territory, then go hunting (if ye will). and let not your hatred of a folk who (once) stopped your going to the inviolable place of worship seduce you to transgress; but help ye one another unto righteousness and pious duty. help not one another unto sin and transgression, but keep your duty to allah. lo! allah is severe in punishment. s: o you who believe! do not violate the signs appointed by allah nor the sacred month, nor (interfere with) the offerings, nor the sacrificial animals with garlands, nor those going to the sacred house seeking the grace and pleasure of their lord; and when you are free from the obligations of the pilgrimage, then hunt, and let not hatred of a people-- because they hindered you from the sacred masjid-- incite you to exceed the limits, and help one another in goodness and piety, and do not help one another in sin and aggression; and be careful of (your duty to) allah; surely allah is severe in requiting (evil). . y: forbidden to you (for food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which hath been invoked the name of other than allah; that which hath been killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by being gored to death; that which hath been (partly) eaten by a wild animal; unless ye are able to slaughter it (in due form); that which is sacrificed on stone (altars); (forbidden) also is the division (of meat) by raffling with arrows: that is impiety. this day have those who reject faith given up all hope of your religion: yet fear them not but fear me. this day have i perfected your religion for you, completed my favour upon you, and have chosen for you islam as your religion. but if any is forced by hunger, with no inclination to transgression, allah is indeed oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: forbidden unto you (for food) are carrion and blood and swineflesh, and that which hath been dedicated unto any other than allah, and the strangled, and the dead through beating, and the dead through falling from a height, and that which hath been killed by (the goring of) horns, and the devoured of wild beasts, saving that which ye make lawful (by the death-stroke), and that which hath been immolated unto idols. and (forbidden is it) that ye swear by the divining arrows. this is an abomination. this day are those who disbelieve in despair of (ever harming) your religion; so fear them not, fear me! this day have i perfected your religion for you and completed my favour unto you, and have chosen for you as religion al-islam. whoso is forced by hunger, not by will, to sin: (for him) lo! allah is forgiving, merciful. s: forbidden to you is that which dies of itself, and blood, and flesh of swine, and that on which any other name than that of allah has been invoked, and the strangled (animal) and that beaten to death, and that killed by a fall and that killed by being smitten with the horn, and that which wild beasts have eaten, except what you slaughter, and what is sacrificed on stones set up (for idols) and that you divide by the arrows; that is a transgression. this day have those who disbelieve despaired of your religion, so fear them not, and fear me. this day have i perfected for you your religion and completed my favor on you and chosen for you islam as a religion; but whoever is compelled by hunger, not inclining willfully to sin, then surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: they ask thee what is lawful to them (as food). say: lawful unto you are (all) things good and pure: and what ye have taught your trained hunting animals (to catch) in the manner directed to you by allah: eat what they catch for you, but pronounce the name of allah over it: and fear allah; for allah is swift in taking account. p: they ask thee (o muhammad) what is made lawful for them. say: (all) good things are made lawful for you. and those beasts and birds of prey which ye have trained as hounds are trained, ye teach them that which allah taught you; so eat of that which they catch for you and mention allah's name upon it, and observe your duty to allah. lo! allah is swift to take account. s: they ask you as to what is allowed to them. say: the good things are allowed to you, and what you have taught the beasts and birds of prey, training them to hunt-- you teach them of what allah has taught you-- so eat of that which they catch for you and mention the name of allah over it; and be careful of (your duty to) allah; surely allah is swift in reckoning. . y: this day are (all) things good and pure made lawful unto you. the food of the people of the book is lawful unto you and yours is lawful unto them. (lawful unto you in marriage) are (not only) chaste women who are believers, but chaste women among the people of the book, revealed before your time,- when ye give them their due dowers, and desire chastity, not lewdness, nor secret intrigues if any one rejects faith, fruitless is his work, and in the hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good). p: this day are (all) good things made lawful for you. the food of those who have received the scripture is lawful for you, and your food is lawful for them. and so are the virtuous women of the believers and the virtuous women of those who received the scripture before you (lawful for you) when ye give them their marriage portions and live with them in honour, not in fornication, nor taking them as secret concubines. whoso denieth the faith, his work is vain and he will be among the losers in the hereafter. s: this day (all) the good things are allowed to you; and the food of those who have been given the book is lawful for you and your food is lawful for them; and the chaste from among the believing women and the chaste from among those who have been given the book before you (are lawful for you); when you have given them their dowries, taking (them) in marriage, not fornicating nor taking them for paramours in secret; and whoever denies faith, his work indeed is of no account, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers. . y: o ye who believe! when ye prepare for prayer, wash your faces, and your hands (and arms) to the elbows; rub your heads (with water); and (wash) your feet to the ankles. if ye are in a state of ceremonial impurity, bathe your whole body. but if ye are ill, or on a journey, or one of you cometh from offices of nature, or ye have been in contact with women, and ye find no water, then take for yourselves clean sand or earth, and rub therewith your faces and hands, allah doth not wish to place you in a difficulty, but to make you clean, and to complete his favour to you, that ye may be grateful. p: o ye who believe! when ye rise up for prayer, wash you faces, and your hands up to the elbows, and lightly rub your heads and (wash) your feet up to the ankles. and if ye are unclean, purify yourselves. and if ye are sick or on a journey, or one of you cometh from the closet, or ye have had contact with women, and ye find not water, then go to clean, high ground and rub your faces and your hands with some of it. allah would not place a burden on you, but he would purify you and would perfect his grace upon you, that ye may give thanks. s: o you who believe! when you rise up to prayer, wash your faces and your hands as far as the elbows, and wipe your heads and your feet to the ankles; and if you are under an obligation to perform a total ablution, then wash (yourselves) and if you are sick or on a journey, or one of you come from the privy, or you have touched the women, and you cannot find water, betake yourselves to pure earth and wipe your faces and your hands therewith, allah does not desire to put on you any difficulty, but he wishes to purify you and that he may complete his favor on you, so that you may be grateful. . y: and call in remembrance the favour of allah unto you, and his covenant, which he ratified with you, when ye said: "we hear and we obey": and fear allah, for allah knoweth well the secrets of your hearts. p: remember allah's grace upon you and his covenant by which he bound you when ye said: we hear and we obey; and keep your duty to allah. lo! he knoweth what is in the breasts (of men). s: and remember the favor of allah on you and his covenant with which he bound you firmly, when you said: we have heard and we obey, and be careful of (your duty to) allah, surely allah knows what is in the breasts. . y: o ye who believe! stand out firmly for allah, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. be just: that is next to piety: and fear allah. for allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do. p: o ye who believe! be steadfast witnesses for allah in equity, and let not hatred of any people seduce you that ye deal not justly. deal justly, that is nearer to your duty. observe your duty to allah. lo! allah is informed of what ye do. s: o you who believe! be upright for allah, bearers of witness with justice, and let not hatred of a people incite you not to act equitably; act equitably, that is nearer to piety, and he careful of (your duty to) allah; surely allah is aware of what you do. . y: to those who believe and do deeds of righteousness hath allah promised forgiveness and a great reward. p: allah hath promised those who believe and do good works: theirs will be forgiveness and immense reward. s: allah has promised to those who believe and do good deeds (that) they shall have forgiveness and a mighty reward. . y: those who reject faith and deny our signs will be companions of hell-fire. p: and they who disbelieve and deny our revelations, such are rightful owners of hell. s: and (as for) those who disbelieve and reject our communications, these are the companions of the name. . y: o ye who believe! call in remembrance the favour of allah unto you when certain men formed the design to stretch out their hands against you, but (allah) held back their hands from you: so fear allah. and on allah let believers put (all) their trust. p: o ye who believe! remember allah's favour unto you, how a people were minded to stretch out their hands against you but he withheld their hands from you; and keep your duty to allah. in allah let believers put their trust. s: o you who believe! remember allah's favor on you when a people had determined to stretch forth their hands towards you, but he withheld their hands from you, and be careful of (your duty to) allah; and on allah let the believers rely. . y: allah did aforetime take a covenant from the children of israel, and we appointed twelve captains among them. and allah said: "i am with you: if ye (but) establish regular prayers, practise regular charity, believe in my messengers, honour and assist them, and loan to allah a beautiful loan, verily i will wipe out from you your evils, and admit you to gardens with rivers flowing beneath; but if any of you, after this, resisteth faith, he hath truly wandered from the path or rectitude." p: allah made a covenant of old with the children of israel and we raised among them twelve chieftains, and allah said: lo! i am with you. if ye establish worship and pay the poor-due, and believe in my messengers and support them, and lend unto allah a kindly loan, surely i shall remit your sins, and surely i shall bring you into gardens underneath which rivers flow. whoso among you disbelieveth after this will go astray from a plain road. s: and certainly allah made a covenant with the children of israel, and we raised up among them twelve chieftains; and allah said: surely i am with you; if you keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and believe in my messengers and assist them and offer to allah a goodly gift, i will most certainly cover your evil deeds, and i will most certainly cause you to enter into gardens beneath which rivers flow, but whoever disbelieves from among you after that, he indeed shall lose the right way. . y: but because of their breach of their covenant, we cursed them, and made their hearts grow hard; they change the words from their (right) places and forget a good part of the message that was sent them, nor wilt thou cease to find them- barring a few - ever bent on (new) deceits: but forgive them, and overlook (their misdeeds): for allah loveth those who are kind. p: and because of their breaking their covenant, we have cursed them and made hard their hearts. they change words from their context and forget a part of that whereof they were admonished. thou wilt not cease to discover treachery from all save a few of them. but bear with them and pardon them. lo! allah loveth the kindly. s: but on account of their breaking their covenant we cursed them and made their hearts hard; they altered the words from their places and they neglected a portion of what they were reminded of; and you shall always discover treachery in them excepting a few of them; so pardon them and turn away; surely allah loves those who do good (to others). . y: from those, too, who call themselves christians, we did take a covenant, but they forgot a good part of the message that was sent them: so we estranged them, with enmity and hatred between the one and the other, to the day of judgment. and soon will allah show them what it is they have done. p: and with those who say: "lo! we are christians," we made a covenant, but they forgot a part of that whereof they were admonished. therefor we have stirred up enmity and hatred among them till the day of resurrection, when allah will inform them of their handiwork. s: and with those who say, we are christians, we made a covenant, but they neglected a portion of what they were reminded of, therefore we excited among them enmity and hatred to the day of resurrection; and allah will inform them of what they did. . y: o people of the book! there hath come to you our messenger, revealing to you much that ye used to hide in the book, and passing over much (that is now unnecessary): there hath come to you from allah a (new) light and a perspicuous book, - p: o people of the scripture! now hath our messenger come unto you, expounding unto you much of that which ye used to hide in the scripture, and forgiving much. now hath come unto you light from allah and plain scripture. s: o followers of the book! indeed our messenger has come to you making clear to you much of what you concealed of the book and passing over much; indeed, there has come to you light and a clear book from allah; . y: wherewith allah guideth all who seek his good pleasure to ways of peace and safety, and leadeth them out of darkness, by his will, unto the light,- guideth them to a path that is straight. p: whereby allah guideth him who seeketh his good pleasure unto paths of peace. he bringeth them out of darkness unto light by his decree, and guideth them unto a straight path. s: with it allah guides him who will follow his pleasure into the ways of safety and brings them out of utter darkness into light by his will and guides them to the right path. . y: in blasphemy indeed are those that say that allah is christ the son of mary. say: "who then hath the least power against allah, if his will were to destroy christ the son of mary, his mother, and all every - one that is on the earth? for to allah belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that is between. he createth what he pleaseth. for allah hath power over all things." p: they indeed have disbelieved who say: lo! allah is the messiah, son of mary. say: who then can do aught against allah, if he had willed to destroy the messiah son of mary, and his mother and everyone on earth? allah's is the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them. he createth what he will. and allah is able to do all things. s: certainly they disbelieve who say: surely, allah-- he is the messiah, son of marium. say: who then could control anything as against allah when he wished to destroy the messiah son of marium and his mother and all those on the earth? and allah's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and what is between them; he creates what he pleases; and allah has power over all things, . y: (both) the jews and the christians say: "we are sons of allah, and his beloved." say: "why then doth he punish you for your sins? nay, ye are but men,- of the men he hath created: he forgiveth whom he pleaseth, and he punisheth whom he pleaseth: and to allah belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that is between: and unto him is the final goal (of all)" p: the jews and christians say: we are sons of allah and his loved ones. say: why then doth he chastise you for your sins? nay, ye are but mortals of his creating. he forgiveth whom he will, and chastiseth whom he will. allah's is the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, and unto him is the journeying. s: and the jews and the christians say: we are the sons of allah and his beloved ones. say: why does he then chastise you for your faults? nay, you are mortals from among those whom he has created, he forgives whom he pleases and chastises whom he pleases; and allah's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, and to him is the eventual coming. . y: o people of the book! now hath come unto you, making (things) clear unto you, our messenger, after the break in (the series of) our messengers, lest ye should say: "there came unto us no bringer of glad tidings and no warner (from evil)": but now hath come unto you a bringer of glad tidings and a warner (from evil). and allah hath power over all things. p: o people of the scripture! now hath our messenger come unto you to make things plain unto you after an interval (of cessation) of the messengers, lest ye should say: there came not unto us a messenger of cheer nor any warner. now hath a messenger of cheer and a warner come unto you. allah is able to do all things. s: o followers of the book! indeed our messenger has come to you explaining to you after a cessation of the (mission of the) messengers, lest you say: there came not to us a giver of good news or a warner, so indeed there has come to you a giver of good news and a warner; and allah has power over all things. . y: remember moses said to his people: "o my people! call in remembrance the favour of allah unto you, when he produced prophets among you, made you kings, and gave you what he had not given to any other among the peoples." p: and (remember) when moses said unto his people: o my people! remember allah's favour unto you, how he placed among you prophets, and he made you kings, and gave you that (which) he gave not to any (other) of (his) creatures. s: and when musa said to his people: o my people! remember the favor of allah upon you when he raised prophets among you and made you kings and gave you what he had not given to any other among the nations. . y: "o my people! enter the holy land which allah hath assigned unto you, and turn not back ignominiously, for then will ye be overthrown, to your own ruin." p: o my people! go into the holy land which allah hath ordained for you. turn not in flight, for surely ye turn back as losers: s: o my people! enter the holy land which allah has prescribed for you and turn not on your backs for then you will turn back losers. . y: they said: "o moses! in this land are a people of exceeding strength: never shall we enter it until they leave it: if (once) they leave, then shall we enter." p: they said: o moses! lo! a giant people (dwell) therein and lo! we go not in till they go forth from thence. when they go forth from thence, then we will enter (not till then). s: they said: o musa! surely there is a strong race in it, and we will on no account enter it until they go out from it, so if they go out from it, then surely we will enter. . y: (but) among (their) allah-fearing men were two on whom allah had bestowed his grace: they said: "assault them at the (proper) gate: when once ye are in, victory will be yours; but on allah put your trust if ye have faith." p: then out spake two of those who feared (their lord, men) unto whom allah had been gracious: enter in upon them by the gate, for if ye enter by it, lo! ye will be victorious. so put your trust (in allah) if ye are indeed believers. s: two men of those who feared, upon both of whom allah had bestowed a favor, said: enter upon them by the gate, for when you have entered it you shall surely be victorious, and on allah should you rely if you are believers. . y: they said: "o moses! while they remain there, never shall we be able to enter, to the end of time. go thou, and thy lord, and fight ye two, while we sit here (and watch)." p: they said: o moses! we will never enter (the land) while they are in it. so go thou and thy lord and fight! we will sit here. s: they said: o musa! we shall never enter it so long as they are in it; go therefore you and your lord, then fight you both surely we will here sit down. . y: he said: "o my lord! i have power only over myself and my brother: so separate us from this rebellious people!" p: he said: my lord! i have control of none but myself and my brother, so distinguish between us and the wrong-doing folk. s: he said: my lord! surely i have no control (upon any) but my own self and my brother; therefore make a separation between us and the nation of transgressors. . y: allah said: "therefore will the land be out of their reach for forty years: in distraction will they wander through the land: but sorrow thou not over these rebellious people." p: (their lord) said: for this the land will surely be forbidden them for forty years that they will wander in the earth, bewildered. so grieve not over the wrongdoing folk. s: he said: so it shall surely be forbidden to them for forty years, they shall wander about in the land, therefore do not grieve for the nation of transgressors. . y: recite to them the truth of the story of the two sons of adam. behold! they each presented a sacrifice (to allah): it was accepted from one, but not from the other. said the latter: "be sure i will slay thee." "surely," said the former, "allah doth accept of the sacrifice of those who are righteous." p: but recite unto them with truth the tale of the two sons of adam, how they offered each a sacrifice, and it was accepted from the one of them and it was not accepted from the other. (the one) said: i will surely kill thee. (the other) answered: allah accepteth only from those who ward off (evil). s: and relate to them the story of the two sons of adam with truth when they both offered an offering, but it was accepted from one of them and was not accepted from the other. he said: i will most certainly slay you. (the other) said: allah only accepts from those who guard (against evil). . y: "if thou dost stretch thy hand against me, to slay me, it is not for me to stretch my hand against thee to slay thee: for i do fear allah, the cherisher of the worlds." p: even if thou stretch out thy hand against me to kill me, i shall not stretch out my hand against thee to kill thee, lo! i fear allah, the lord of the worlds. s: if you will stretch forth your hand towards me to slay me, i am not one to stretch forth my hand towards you to slay you surely i fear allah, the lord of the worlds: . y: "for me, i intend to let thee draw on thyself my sin as well as thine, for thou wilt be among the companions of the fire, and that is the reward of those who do wrong." p: lo! i would rather thou shouldst bear the punishment of the sin against me and thine own sin and become one of the owners of the fire. that is the reward of evil-doers. s: surely i wish that you should bear the sin committed against me and your own sin, and so you would be of the inmates of the fire, and this is the recompense of the unjust. . y: the (selfish) soul of the other led him to the murder of his brother: he murdered him, and became (himself) one of the lost ones. p: but (the other's) mind imposed on him the killing of his brother, so he slew him and became one of the losers. s: then his mind facilitated to him the slaying of his brother so he slew him; then he became one of the losers. . y: then allah sent a raven, who scratched the ground, to show him how to hide the shame of his brother. "woe is me!" said he; "was i not even able to be as this raven, and to hide the shame of my brother?" then he became full of regrets- p: then allah sent a raven scratching up the ground, to show him how to hide his brother's naked corpse. he said: woe unto me! am i not able to be as this raven and so hide my brother's naked corpse? and he became repentant. s: then allah sent a crow digging up the earth so that he might show him how he should cover the dead body of his brother. he said: woe me! do i lack the strength that i should be like this crow and cover the dead body of my brother? so he became of those who regret. . y: on that account: we ordained for the children of israel that if any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people. then although there came to them our messengers with clear signs, yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land. p: for that cause we decreed for the children of israel that whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind. our messengers came unto them of old with clear proofs (of allah's sovereignty), but afterwards lo! many of them became prodigals in the earth. s: for this reason did we prescribe to the children of israel that whoever slays a soul, unless it be for manslaughter or for mischief in the land, it is as though he slew all men; and whoever keeps it alive, it is as though he kept alive all men; and certainly our messengers came to them with clear arguments, but even after that many of them certainly act extravagantly in the land. . y: the punishment of those who wage war against allah and his messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the hereafter; p: the only reward of those who make war upon allah and his messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. such will be their degradation in the world, and in the hereafter theirs will be an awful doom; s: the punishment of those who wage war against allah and his messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement, . y: except for those who repent before they fall into your power: in that case, know that allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: save those who repent before ye overpower them. for know that allah is forgiving, merciful. s: except those who repent before you have them in your power; so know that allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: o ye who believe! do your duty to allah, seek the means of approach unto him, and strive with might and main in his cause: that ye may prosper. p: o ye who believe! be mindful of your duty to allah, and seek the way of approach unto him, and strive in his way in order that ye may succeed. s: o you who believe! be careful of (your duty to) allah and seek means of nearness to him and strive hard in his way that you may be successful. . y: as to those who reject faith,- if they had everything on earth, and twice repeated, to give as ransom for the penalty of the day of judgment, it would never be accepted of them, theirs would be a grievous penalty. p: as for those who disbelieve, lo! if all that is in the earth were theirs, and as much again therewith, to ransom them from the doom on the day of resurrection, it would not be accepted from them. theirs will be a painful doom. s: surely (as for) those who disbelieve, even if they had what is in the earth, all of it, and the like of it with it, that they might ransom themselves with it from the punishment of the day of resurrection, it shall not be accepted from them, and they shall have a painful punishment. . y: their wish will be to get out of the fire, but never will they get out therefrom: their penalty will be one that endures. p: they will wish to come forth from the fire, but they will not come forth from it. theirs will be a lasting doom. s: they would desire to go forth from the fire, and they shall not go forth from it, and they shall have a lasting punishment. . y: as to the thief, male or female, cut off his or her hands: a punishment by way of example, from allah, for their crime: and allah is exalted in power. p: as for the thief, both male and female, cut off their hands. it is the reward of their own deeds, an exemplary punishment from allah. allah is mighty, wise. s: and (as for) the man who steals and the woman who steals, cut off their hands as a punishment for what they have earned, an exemplary punishment from allah; and allah is mighty, wise. . y: but if the thief repents after his crime, and amends his conduct, allah turneth to him in forgiveness; for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: but whoso repenteth after his wrongdoing and amendeth, lo! allah will relent toward him. lo! allah is forgiving, merciful. s: but whoever repents after his iniquity and reforms (himself), then surely allah will turn to him (mercifully); surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: knowest thou not that to allah (alone) belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth? he punisheth whom he pleaseth, and he forgiveth whom he pleaseth: and allah hath power over all things. p: knowest thou not that unto allah belongeth the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth? he punisheth whom he will, and forgiveth whom he will. allah is able to do all things. s: do you not know that allah-- his is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; he chastises whom he pleases; and forgives whom he pleases and allah has power over all things. . y: o messenger! let not those grieve thee, who race each other into unbelief: (whether it be) among those who say "we believe" with their lips but whose hearts have no faith; or it be among the jews,- men who will listen to any lie,- will listen even to others who have never so much as come to thee. they change the words from their (right) times and places: they say, "if ye are given this, take it, but if not, beware!" if any one's trial is intended by allah, thou hast no authority in the least for him against allah. for such - it is not allah's will to purify their hearts. for them there is disgrace in this world, and in the hereafter a heavy punishment. p: o messenger! let not them grieve thee who vie one with another in the race to disbelief, of such as say with their mouths: "we believe," but their hearts believe not, and of the jews: listeners for the sake of falsehood, listeners on behalf of other folk who come not unto thee, changing words from their context and saying: if this be given unto you, receive it, but if this be not given unto you, then beware! he whom allah doometh unto sin, thou (by thine efforts) wilt avail him naught against allah. those are they for whom the will of allah is that he cleanse not their hearts. theirs in the world will be ignominy, and in the hereafter an awful doom; s: o messenger! let not those grieve you who strive together in hastening to unbelief from among those who say with their mouths: we believe, and their hearts do not believe, and from among those who are jews; they are listeners for the sake of a lie, listeners for another people who have not come to you; they alter the words from their places, saying: if you are given this, take it, and if you are not given this, be cautious; and as for him whose temptation allah desires, you cannot control anything for him with allah. those are they for whom allah does not desire that he should purify their hearts; they shall have disgrace in this world, and they shall have a grievous chastisement in the hereafter. . y: (they are fond of) listening to falsehood, of devouring anything forbidden. if they do come to thee, either judge between them, or decline to interfere. if thou decline, they cannot hurt thee in the least. if thou judge, judge in equity between them. for allah loveth those who judge in equity. p: listeners for the sake of falsehood! greedy for illicit gain! if then they have recourse unto thee (muhammad) judge between them or disclaim jurisdiction. if thou disclaimest jurisdiction, then they cannot harm thee at all. but if thou judgest, judge between them with equity. lo! allah loveth the equitable. s: (they are) listeners of a lie, devourers of what is forbidden; therefore if they come to you, judge between them or turn aside from them, and if you turn aside from them, they shall not harm you in any way; and if you judge, judge between them with equity; surely allah loves those who judge equitably. . y: but why do they come to thee for decision, when they have (their own) law before them?- therein is the (plain) command of allah; yet even after that, they would turn away. for they are not (really) people of faith. p: how come they unto thee for judgment when they have the torah, wherein allah hath delivered judgment (for them)? yet even after that they turn away. such (folk) are not believers. s: and how do they make you a judge and they have the taurat wherein is allah's judgment? yet they turn back after that, and these are not the believers. . y: it was we who revealed the law (to moses): therein was guidance and light. by its standard have been judged the jews, by the prophets who bowed (as in islam) to allah's will, by the rabbis and the doctors of law: for to them was entrusted the protection of allah's book, and they were witnesses thereto: therefore fear not men, but fear me, and sell not my signs for a miserable price. if any do fail to judge by (the light of) what allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) unbelievers. p: lo! we did reveal the torah, wherein is guidance and a light, by which the prophets who surrendered (unto allah) judged the jews, and the rabbis and the priests (judged) by such of allah's scripture as they were bidden to observe, and thereunto were they witnesses. so fear not mankind, but fear me. and my revelations for a little gain. whoso judgeth not by that which allah hath revealed: such are disbelievers. s: surely we revealed the taurat in which was guidance and light; with it the prophets who submitted themselves (to allah) judged (matters) for those who were jews, and the masters of divine knowledge and the doctors, because they were required to guard (part) of the book of allah, and they were witnesses thereof; therefore fear not the people and fear me, and do not take a small price for my communications; and whoever did not judge by what allah revealed, those are they that are the unbelievers. . y: we ordained therein for them: "life for life, eye for eye, nose or nose, ear for ear, tooth for tooth, and wounds equal for equal." but if any one remits the retaliation by way of charity, it is an act of atonement for himself. and if any fail to judge by (the light of) what allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) wrong-doers. p: and we prescribed for them therein: the life for the life, and the eye for the eye, and the nose for the nose, and the ear for the ear, and the tooth for the tooth, and for wounds retaliation. but whoso forgoeth it (in the way of charity) it shall be expiation for him. whoso judgeth not by that which allah hath revealed: such are wrong-doers. s: and we prescribed to them in it that life is for life, and eye for eye, and nose for nose, and ear for ear, and tooth for tooth, and (that there is) reprisal in wounds; but he who foregoes it, it shall be an expiation for him; and whoever did not judge by what allah revealed, those are they that are the unjust. . y: and in their footsteps we sent jesus the son of mary, confirming the law that had come before him: we sent him the gospel: therein was guidance and light, and confirmation of the law that had come before him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear allah. p: and we caused jesus, son of mary, to follow in their footsteps, confirming that which was (revealed) before him in the torah, and we bestowed on him the gospel wherein is guidance and a light, confirming that which was (revealed) before it in the torah - a guidance and an admonition unto those who ward off (evil). s: and we sent after them in their footsteps isa, son of marium, verifying what was before him of the taurat and we gave him the injeel in which was guidance and light, and verifying what was before it of taurat and a guidance and an admonition for those who guard (against evil). . y: let the people of the gospel judge by what allah hath revealed therein. if any do fail to judge by (the light of) what allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) those who rebel. p: let the people of the gospel judge by that which allah hath revealed therein. whoso judgeth not by that which allah hath revealed: such are evil-livers. s: and the followers of the injeel should have judged by what allah revealed in it; and whoever did not judge by what allah revealed, those are they that are the transgressors. . y: to thee we sent the scripture in truth, confirming the scripture that came before it, and guarding it in safety: so judge between them by what allah hath revealed, and follow not their vain desires, diverging from the truth that hath come to thee. to each among you have we prescribed a law and an open way. if allah had so willed, he would have made you a single people, but (his plan is) to test you in what he hath given you: so strive as in a race in all virtues. the goal of you all is to allah; it is he that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute; p: and unto thee have we revealed the scripture with the truth, confirming whatever scripture was before it, and a watcher over it. so judge between them by that which allah hath revealed, and follow not their desires away from the truth which hath come unto thee. for each we have appointed a divine law and a traced-out way. had allah willed he could have made you one community. but that he may try you by that which he hath given you (he hath made you as ye are). so vie one with another in good works. unto allah ye will all return, and he will then inform you of that wherein ye differ. s: and we have revealed to you the book with the truth, verifying what is before it of the book and a guardian over it, therefore judge between them by what allah has revealed, and do not follow their low desires (to turn away) from the truth that has come to you; for every one of you did we appoint a law and a way, and if allah had pleased he would have made you (all) a single people, but that he might try you in what he gave you, therefore strive with one another to hasten to virtuous deeds; to allah is your return, of all (of you), so he will let you know that in which you differed; . y: and this (he commands): judge thou between them by what allah hath revealed, and follow not their vain desires, but beware of them lest they beguile thee from any of that (teaching) which allah hath sent down to thee. and if they turn away, be assured that for some of their crime it is allah's purpose to punish them. and truly most men are rebellious. p: so judge between them by that which allah hath revealed, and follow not their desires, but beware of them lest they seduce thee from some part of that which allah hath revealed unto thee. and if they turn away, then know that allah's will is to smite them for some sin of theirs. lo! many of mankind are evil-livers. s: and that you should judge between them by what allah has revealed, and do not follow their low desires, and be cautious of them, lest they seduce you from part of what allah has revealed to you; but if they turn back, then know that allah desires to afflict them on account of some of their faults; and most surely many of the people are transgressors. . y: do they then seek after a judgment of (the days of) ignorance? but who, for a people whose faith is assured, can give better judgment than allah? p: is it a judgment of the time of (pagan) ignorance that they are seeking? who is better than allah for judgment to a people who have certainty (in their belief)? s: is it then the judgment of (the times of) ignorance that they desire? and who is better than allah to judge for a people who are sure? . y: o ye who believe! take not the jews and the christians for your friends and protectors: they are but friends and protectors to each other. and he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them. verily allah guideth not a people unjust. p: o ye who believe! take not the jews and the christians for friends. they are friends one to another. he among you who taketh them for friends is (one) of them. lo! allah guideth not wrongdoing folk. s: o you who believe! do not take the jews and the christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely allah does not guide the unjust people. . y: those in whose hearts is a disease - thou seest how eagerly they run about amongst them, saying: "we do fear lest a change of fortune bring us disaster." ah! perhaps allah will give (thee) victory, or a decision according to his will. then will they repent of the thoughts which they secretly harboured in their hearts. p: and thou seest those in whose heart is a disease race toward them, saying: we fear lest a change of fortune befall us. and it may happen that allah will vouchsafe (unto thee) the victory, or a commandment from his presence. then will they repent them of their secret thoughts. s: but you will see those in whose hearts is a disease hastening towards them, saying: we fear lest a calamity should befall us; but it may be that allah will bring the victory or a punishment from himself, so that they shall be regretting on account of what they hid in their souls. . y: and those who believe will say: "are these the men who swore their strongest oaths by allah, that they were with you?" all that they do will be in vain, and they will fall into (nothing but) ruin. p: then will the believers say (unto the people of the scripture): are these they who swore by allah their most binding oaths that they were surely with you? their works have failed, and they have become the losers. s: and those who believe will say: are these they who swore by allah with the most forcible of their oaths that they were most surely with you? their deeds shall go for nothing, so they shall become losers. . y: o ye who believe! if any from among you turn back from his faith, soon will allah produce a people whom he will love as they will love him,- lowly with the believers, mighty against the rejecters, fighting in the way of allah, and never afraid of the reproaches of such as find fault. that is the grace of allah, which he will bestow on whom he pleaseth. and allah encompasseth all, and he knoweth all things. p: o ye who believe! whoso of you becometh a renegade from his religion, (know that in his stead) allah will bring a people whom he loveth and who love him, humble toward believers, stern toward disbelievers, striving in the way of allah, and fearing not the blame of any blamer. such is the grace of allah which he giveth unto whom he will. allah is all-embracing, all-knowing. s: o you who believe! whoever from among you turns back from his religion, then allah will bring a people, he shall love them and they shall love him, lowly before the believers, mighty against the unbelievers, they shall strive hard in allah's way and shall not fear the censure of any censurer; this is allah's face, he gives it to whom he pleases, and allah is ample-giving, knowing. . y: your (real) friends are (no less than) allah, his messenger, and the (fellowship of) believers,- those who establish regular prayers and regular charity, and they bow down humbly (in worship). p: your guardian can be only allah; and his messenger and those who believe, who establish worship and pay the poordue, and bow down (in prayer). s: only allah is your vali and his messenger and those who believe, those who keep up prayers and pay the poor-rate while they bow. . y: as to those who turn (for friendship) to allah, his messenger, and the (fellowship of) believers,- it is the fellowship of allah that must certainly triumph. p: and whoso taketh allah and his messenger and those who believe for guardian (will know that), lo! the party of allah, they are the victorious. s: and whoever takes allah and his messenger and those who believe for a guardian, then surely the party of allah are they that shall be triumphant. . y: o ye who believe! take not for friends and protectors those who take your religion for a mockery or sport,- whether among those who received the scripture before you, or among those who reject faith; but fear ye allah, if ye have faith (indeed). p: o ye who believe! choose not for guardians such of those who received the scripture before you, and of the disbelievers, as make a jest and sport of your religion. but keep your duty to allah if ye are true believers. s: o you who believe! do not take for guardians those who take your religion for a mockery and a joke, from among those who were given the book before you and the unbelievers; and be careful of (your duty to) allah if you are believers. . y: when ye proclaim your call to prayer they take it (but) as mockery and sport; that is because they are a people without understanding. p: and when ye call to prayer they take it for a jest and sport. that is because they are a folk who understand not. s: and when you call to prayer they make it a mockery and a joke; this is because they are a people who do not understand. . y: say: "o people of the book! do ye disapprove of us for no other reason than that we believe in allah, and the revelation that hath come to us and that which came before (us), and (perhaps) that most of you are rebellious and disobedient?" p: say: o people of the scripture! do ye blame us for aught else than that we believe in allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed aforetime, and because most of you are evil-livers? s: say: o followers of the book! do you find fault with us (for aught) except that we believe in allah and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed before, and that most of you are transgressors? . y: say: "shall i point out to you something much worse than this, (as judged) by the treatment it received from allah? those who incurred the curse of allah and his wrath, those of whom some he transformed into apes and swine, those who worshipped evil;- these are (many times) worse in rank, and far more astray from the even path!" p: shall i tell thee of a worse (case) than theirs for retribution with allah? (worse is the case of him) whom allah hath cursed, him on whom his wrath hath fallen and of whose sort allah hath turned some to apes and swine, and who serveth idols. such are in worse plight and further astray from the plain road. s: say: shall i inform you of (him who is) worse than this in retribution from allah? (worse is he) whom allah has cursed and brought his wrath upon, and of whom he made apes and swine, and he who served the shaitan; these are worse in place and more erring from the straight path. . y: when they come to thee, they say: "we believe": but in fact they enter with a mind against faith, and they go out with the same but allah knoweth fully all that they hide. p: when they come unto you (muslims), they say: we believe; but they came in unbelief and they went out in the same; and allah knoweth best what they were hiding. s: and when they come to you, they say: we believe; and indeed they come in with unbelief and indeed they go forth with it; and allah knows best what they concealed. . y: many of them dost thou see, racing each other in sin and rancour, and their eating of things forbidden. evil indeed are the things that they do. p: and thou seest many of them vying one with another in sin and transgression and their devouring of illicit gain. verily evil is what they do. s: and you will see many of them striving with one another to hasten in sin and exceeding the limits, and their eating of what is unlawfully acquired; certainly evil is that which they do. . y: why do not the rabbis and the doctors of law forbid them from their (habit of) uttering sinful words and eating things forbidden? evil indeed are their works. p: why do not the rabbis and the priests forbid their evil-speaking and their devouring of illicit gain? verily evil is their handiwork. s: why do not the learned men and the doctors of law prohibit them from their speaking of what is sinful and their eating of what is unlawfully acquired? certainly evil is that which they work. . y: the jews say: "allah's hand is tied up." be their hands tied up and be they accursed for the (blasphemy) they utter. nay, both his hands are widely outstretched: he giveth and spendeth (of his bounty) as he pleaseth. but the revelation that cometh to thee from allah increaseth in most of them their obstinate rebellion and blasphemy. amongst them we have placed enmity and hatred till the day of judgment. every time they kindle the fire of war, allah doth extinguish it; but they (ever) strive to do mischief on earth. and allah loveth not those who do mischief. p: the jews say: allah's hand is fettered. their hands are fettered and they are accursed for saying so. nay, but both his hands are spread out wide in bounty. he bestoweth as he will. that which hath been revealed unto thee from thy lord is certain to increase the contumacy and disbelief of many of them, and we have cast among them enmity and hatred till the day of resurrection. as often as they light a fire for war, allah extinguisheth it. their effort is for corruption in the land, and allah loveth not corrupters. s: and the jews say: the hand of allah is tied up! their hands shall be shackled and they shall be cursed for what they say. nay, both his hands are spread out, he expends as he pleases; and what has been revealed to you from your lord will certainly make many of them increase in inordinacy and unbelief; and we have put enmity and hatred among them till the day of resurrection; whenever they kindle a fire for war allah puts it out, and they strive to make mischief in the land; and allah does not love the mischief-makers. . y: if only the people of the book had believed and been righteous, we should indeed have blotted out their iniquities and admitted them to gardens of bliss. p: if only the people of the scripture would believe and ward off (evil), surely we should remit their sins from them and surely we should bring them into gardens of delight. s: and if the followers of the book had believed and guarded (against evil) we would certainly have covered their evil deeds and we would certainly have made them enter gardens of bliss, . y: if only they had stood fast by the law, the gospel, and all the revelation that was sent to them from their lord, they would have enjoyed happiness from every side. there is from among them a party on the right course: but many of them follow a course that is evil. p: if they had observed the torah and the gospel and that which was revealed unto them from their lord, they would surely have been nourished from above them and from beneath their feet. among them there are people who are moderate, but many of them are of evil conduct. s: and if they had kept up the taurat and the injeel and that which was revealed to them from their lord, they would certainly have eaten from above them and from beneath their feet there is a party of them keeping to the moderate course, and (as for) most of them, evil is that which they do. . y: o messenger! proclaim the (message) which hath been sent to thee from thy lord. if thou didst not, thou wouldst not have fulfilled and proclaimed his mission. and allah will defend thee from men (who mean mischief). for allah guideth not those who reject faith. p: o messenger! make known that which hath been revealed unto thee from thy lord, for if thou do it not, thou wilt not have conveyed his message. allah will protect thee from mankind. lo! allah guideth not the disbelieving folk. s: o messenger! deliver what bas been revealed to you from your lord; and if you do it not, then you have not delivered his message, and allah will protect you from the people; surely allah will not guide the unbelieving people. . y: say: "o people of the book! ye have no ground to stand upon unless ye stand fast by the law, the gospel, and all the revelation that has come to you from your lord." it is the revelation that cometh to thee from thy lord, that increaseth in most of them their obstinate rebellion and blasphemy. but sorrow thou not over (these) people without faith. p: say o people of the scripture! ye have naught (of guidance) till ye observe the torah and the gospel and that which was revealed unto you from your lord. that which is revealed unto thee (muhammad) from thy lord is certain to increase the contumacy and disbelief of many of them. but grieve not for the disbelieving folk. s: say: o followers of the book! you follow no good till you keep up the taurat and the injeel and that which is revealed to you from your lord; and surely that which has been revealed to you from your lord shall make many of them increase in inordinacy and unbelief; grieve not therefore for the unbelieving people. . y: those who believe (in the qur'an), those who follow the jewish (scriptures), and the sabians and the christians,- any who believe in allah and the last day, and work righteousness,- on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. p: lo! those who believe, and those who are jews, and sabaeans, and christians - whosoever believeth in allah and the last day and doeth right - there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve. s: surely those who believe and those who are jews and the sabians and the christians whoever believes in allah and the last day and does good-- they shall have no fear nor shall they grieve. . y: we took the covenant of the children of israel and sent them messengers, every time, there came to them a messenger with what they themselves desired not - some (of these) they called impostors, and some they (go so far as to) slay. p: we made a covenant of old with the children of israel and we sent unto them messengers. as often as a messenger came unto them with that which their souls desired not (they became rebellious). some (of them) they denied and some they slew. s: certainly we made a covenant with the children of israel and we sent to them messengers; whenever there came to them a messenger with what that their souls did not desire, some (of them) did they call liars and some they slew. . y: they thought there would be no trial (or punishment); so they became blind and deaf; yet allah (in mercy) turned to them; yet again many of them became blind and deaf. but allah sees well all that they do. p: they thought no harm would come of it, so they were wilfully blind and deaf. and afterward allah turned (in mercy) toward them. now (even after that) are many of them wilfully blind and deaf. allah is seer of what they do. s: and they thought that there would be no affliction, so they became blind and deaf; then allah turned to them mercifully, but many of them became blind and deaf; and allah is well seeing what they do. . y: they do blaspheme who say: "allah is christ the son of mary." but said christ: "o children of israel! worship allah, my lord and your lord." whoever joins other gods with allah,- allah will forbid him the garden, and the fire will be his abode. there will for the wrong-doers be no one to help. p: they surely disbelieve who say: lo! allah is the messiah, son of mary. the messiah (himself) said: o children of israel, worship allah, my lord and your lord. lo! whoso ascribeth partners unto allah, for him allah hath forbidden paradise. his abode is the fire. for evil-doers there will be no helpers. s: certainly they disbelieve who say: surely allah, he is the messiah, son of marium; and the messiah said: o children of israel! serve allah, my lord and your lord. surely whoever associates (others) with allah, then allah has forbidden to him the garden, and his abode is the fire; and there shall be no helpers for the unjust. . y: they do blaspheme who say: allah is one of three in a trinity: for there is no god except one allah. if they desist not from their word (of blasphemy), verily a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among them. p: they surely disbelieve who say: lo! allah is the third of three; when there is no god save the one allah. if they desist not from so saying a painful doom will fall on those of them who disbelieve. s: certainly they disbelieve who say: surely allah is the third (person) of the three; and there is no god but the one allah, and if they desist not from what they say, a painful chastisement shall befall those among them who disbelieve. . y: why turn they not to allah, and seek his forgiveness? for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: will they not rather turn unto allah and seek forgiveness of him? for allah is forgiving, merciful. s: will they not then turn to allah and ask his forgiveness? and allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: christ the son of mary was no more than a messenger; many were the messengers that passed away before him. his mother was a woman of truth. they had both to eat their (daily) food. see how allah doth make his signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are deluded away from the truth! p: the messiah, son of mary, was no other than a messenger, messengers (the like of whom) had passed away before him. and his mother was a saintly woman. and they both used to eat (earthly) food. see how we make the revelations clear for them, and see how they are turned away! s: the messiah, son of marium is but a messenger; messengers before him have indeed passed away; and his mother was a truthful woman; they both used to eat food. see how we make the communications clear to them, then behold, how they are turned away. . y: say: "will ye worship, besides allah, something which hath no power either to harm or benefit you? but allah,- he it is that heareth and knoweth all things." p: say: serve ye in place of allah that which possesseth for you neither hurt nor use? allah it is who is the hearer, the knower. s: say: do you serve besides allah that which does not control for you any harm, or any profit? and allah-- he is the hearing, the knowing. . y: say: "o people of the book! exceed not in your religion the bounds (of what is proper), trespassing beyond the truth, nor follow the vain desires of people who went wrong in times gone by,- who misled many, and strayed (themselves) from the even way." p: say: o people of the scripture! stress not in your religion other than the truth, and follow not the vain desires of folk who erred of old and led many astray, and erred from a plain road. s: say: o followers of the book! be not unduly immoderate in your religion, and do not follow the low desires of people who went astray before and led many astray and went astray from the right path. . y: curses were pronounced on those among the children of israel who rejected faith, by the tongue of david and of jesus the son of mary: because they disobeyed and persisted in excesses. p: those of the children of israel who went astray were cursed by the tongue of david, and of jesus, son of mary. that was because they rebelled and used to transgress. s: those who disbelieved from among the children of israel were cursed by the tongue of dawood and isa, son of marium; this was because they disobeyed and used to exceed the limit. . y: nor did they (usually) forbid one another the iniquities which they committed: evil indeed were the deeds which they did. p: they restrained not one another from the wickedness they did. verily evil was that they used to do! s: they used not to forbid each other the hateful things (which) they did; certainly evil was that which they did. . y: thou seest many of them turning in friendship to the unbelievers. evil indeed are (the works) which their souls have sent forward before them (with the result), that allah's wrath is on them, and in torment will they abide. p: thou seest many of them making friends with those who disbelieve. surely ill for them is that which they themselves send on before them: that allah will be wroth with them and in the doom they will abide. s: you will see many of them befriending those who disbelieve; certainly evil is that which their souls have sent before for them, that allah became displeased with them and in chastisement shall they abide. . y: if only they had believed in allah, in the prophet, and in what hath been revealed to him, never would they have taken them for friends and protectors, but most of them are rebellious wrong-doers. p: if they believed in allah and the prophet and that which is revealed unto him, they would not choose them for their friends. but many of them are of evil conduct. s: and had they believed in allah and the prophet and what was revealed to him, they would not have taken them for friends but! most of them are transgressors. . y: strongest among men in enmity to the believers wilt thou find the jews and pagans; and nearest among them in love to the believers wilt thou find those who say, "we are christians": because amongst these are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world, and they are not arrogant. p: thou wilt find the most vehement of mankind in hostility to those who believe (to be) the jews and the idolaters. and thou wilt find the nearest of them in affection to those who believe (to be) those who say: lo! we are christians. that is because there are among them priests and monks, and because they are not proud. s: certainly you will find the most violent of people in enmity for those who believe (to be) the jews and those who are polytheists, and you will certainly find the nearest in friendship to those who believe (to be) those who say: we are christians; this is because there are priests and monks among them and because they do not behave proudly. . y: and when they listen to the revelation received by the messenger, thou wilt see their eyes overflowing with tears, for they recognise the truth: they pray: "our lord! we believe; write us down among the witnesses." p: when they listen to that which hath been revealed unto the messengers, thou seest their eyes overflow with tears because of their recognition of the truth. they say: our lord, we believe. inscribe us as among the witnesses. s: and when they hear what has been revealed to the messenger you will see their eyes overflowing with tears on account of the truth that they recognize; they say: our lord! we believe, so write us down with the witnesses (of truth). . y: "what cause can we have not to believe in allah and the truth which has come to us, seeing that we long for our lord to admit us to the company of the righteous?" p: how should we not believe in allah and that which hath come unto us of the truth. and (how should we not) hope that our lord will bring us in along with righteous folk? s: and what (reason) have we that we should not believe in allah and in the truth that has come to us, while we earnestly desire that our lord should cause us to enter with the good people? . y: and for this their prayer hath allah rewarded them with gardens, with rivers flowing underneath,- their eternal home. such is the recompense of those who do good. p: allah hath rewarded them for that their saying - gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide for ever. that is the reward of the good. s: therefore allah rewarded them on account of what they said, with gardens in which rivers flow to abide in them; and this is the reward of those who do good (to others). . y: but those who reject faith and belie our signs,- they shall be companions of hell-fire. p: but those who disbelieve and deny our revelations, they are owners of hell-fire. s: and (as for) those who disbelieve and reject our communications, these are the companions of the flame. . y: o ye who believe! make not unlawful the good things which allah hath made lawful for you, but commit no excess: for allah loveth not those given to excess. p: o ye who believe! forbid not the good things which allah hath made lawful for you, and transgress not, lo! allah loveth not transgressors. s: o you who believe! do not forbid (yourselves) the good things which allah has made lawful for you and do not exceed the limits; surely allah does not love those who exceed the limits. . y: eat of the things which allah hath provided for you, lawful and good; but fear allah, in whom ye believe. p: eat of that which allah hath bestowed on you as food lawful and good, and keep your duty to allah in whom ye are believers. s: and eat of the lawful and good (things) that allah has given you, and be careful of (your duty to) allah, in whom you believe. . y: allah will not call you to account for what is futile in your oaths, but he will call you to account for your deliberate oaths: for expiation, feed ten indigent persons, on a scale of the average for the food of your families; or clothe them; or give a slave his freedom. if that is beyond your means, fast for three days. that is the expiation for the oaths ye have sworn. but keep to your oaths. thus doth allah make clear to you his signs, that ye may be grateful. p: allah will not take you to task for that which is unintentional in your oaths, but he will take you to task for the oaths which ye swear in earnest. the expiation thereof is the feeding of ten of the needy with the average of that wherewith ye feed your own folk, or the clothing of them, or the liberation of a slave, and for him who findeth not (the wherewithal to do so) then a three days' fast. this is the expiation of your oaths when ye have sworn; and keep your oaths. thus allah expoundeth unto you his revelations in order that ye may give thanks. s: allah does not call you to account for what is vain in your oaths, but he calls you to account for the making of deliberate oaths; so its expiation is the feeding of ten poor men out of the middling (food) you feed your families with, or their clothing, or the freeing of a neck; but whosoever cannot find (means) then fasting for three days; this is the expiation of your oaths when you swear; and guard your oaths. thus does allah make clear to you his communications, that you may be fateful. . y: o ye who believe! intoxicants and gambling, (dedication of) stones, and (divination by) arrows, are an abomination,- of satan's handwork: eschew such (abomination), that ye may prosper. p: o ye who believe! strong drink and games of chance and idols and divining arrows are only an infamy of satan's handiwork. leave it aside in order that ye may succeed. s: o you who believe! intoxicants and games of chance and (sacrificing to) stones set up and (dividing by) arrows are only an uncleanness, the shaitan's work; shun it therefore that you may be successful. . y: satan's plan is (but) to excite enmity and hatred between you, with intoxicants and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of allah, and from prayer: will ye not then abstain? p: satan seeketh only to cast among you enmity and hatred by means of strong drink and games of chance, and to turn you from remembrance of allah and from (his) worship. will ye then have done? s: the shaitan only desires to cause enmity and hatred to spring in your midst by means of intoxicants and games of chance, and to keep you off from the remembrance of allah and from prayer. will you then desist? . y: obey allah, and obey the messenger, and beware (of evil): if ye do turn back, know ye that it is our messenger's duty to proclaim (the message) in the clearest manner. p: obey allah and obey the messenger, and beware! but if ye turn away, then know that the duty of our messenger is only plain conveyance (of the message). s: and obey allah and obey the messenger and be cautious; but if you turn back, then know that only a clear deliverance of the message is (incumbent) on our messenger. . y: on those who believe and do deeds of righteousness there is no blame for what they ate (in the past), when they guard themselves from evil, and believe, and do deeds of righteousness,- (or) again, guard themselves from evil and believe,- (or) again, guard themselves from evil and do good. for allah loveth those who do good. p: there shall be no sin (imputed) unto those who believe and do good works for what they may have eaten (in the past). so be mindful of your duty (to allah), and believe, and do good works; and again: be mindful of your duty, and believe; and once again: be mindful of your duty, and do right. allah loveth the good. s: on those who believe and do good there is no blame for what they eat, when they are careful (of their duty) and believe and do good deeds, then they are careful (of their duty) and believe, then they are careful (of their duty) and do good (to others), and allah loves those who do good (to others). . y: o ye who believe! allah doth but make a trial of you in a little matter of game well within reach of your hands and your lances, that he may test who feareth him unseen: any who transgress thereafter, will have a grievous penalty. p: o ye who believe! allah will surely try you somewhat (in the matter) of the game which ye take with your hands and your spears, that allah may know him who feareth him in secret. whoso transgresseth after this, for him there is a painful doom. s: o you who believe! allah will certainly try you in respect of some game which your hands and your lances can reach, that allah might know who fears him in secret; but whoever exceeds the limit after this, he shall have a painful punishment. . y: o ye who believe! kill not game while in the sacred precincts or in pilgrim garb. if any of you doth so intentionally, the compensation is an offering, brought to the ka'ba, of a domestic animal equivalent to the one he killed, as adjudged by two just men among you; or by way of atonement, the feeding of the indigent; or its equivalent in fasts: that he may taste of the penalty of his deed. allah forgives what is past: for repetition allah will exact from him the penalty. for allah is exalted, and lord of retribution. p: o ye who believe! kill no wild game while ye are on the pilgrimage. whoso of you killeth it of set purpose he shall pay its forfeit in the equivalent of that which he hath killed, of domestic animals, the judge to be two men among you known for justice, (the forfeit) to be brought as an offering to the ka'bah; or, for expiation, he shall feed poor persons, or the equivalent thereof in fasting, that he may taste the evil consequences of his deed. allah forgiveth whatever (of this kind) may have happened in the past, but whoso relapseth, allah will take retribution from him. allah is mighty, able to requite (the wrong). s: o you who believe! do not kill game while you are on pilgrimage, and whoever among you shall kill it intentionally, the compensation (of it) is the like of what he killed, from the cattle, as two just persons among you shall judge, as an offering to be brought to the kaaba or the expiation (of it) is the feeding of the poor or the equivalent of it in fasting, that he may taste the unwholesome result of his deed; allah has pardoned what is gone by; and whoever returns (to it), allah will inflict retribution on him; and allah is mighty, lord of retribution. . y: lawful to you is the pursuit of water-game and its use for food,- for the benefit of yourselves and those who travel; but forbidden is the pursuit of land-game;- as long as ye are in the sacred precincts or in pilgrim garb. and fear allah, to whom ye shall be gathered back. p: to hunt and to eat the fish of the sea is made lawful for you, a provision for you and for seafarers; but to hunt on land is forbidden you so long as ye are on the pilgrimage. be mindful of your duty to allah, unto whom ye will be gathered. s: lawful to you is the game of the sea and its food, a provision for you and for the travellers, and the game of the land is forbidden to you so long as you are on pilgrimage, and be careful of (your duty to) allah, to whom you shall be gathered. . y: allah made the ka'ba, the sacred house, an asylum of security for men, as also the sacred months, the animals for offerings, and the garlands that mark them: that ye may know that allah hath knowledge of what is in the heavens and on earth and that allah is well acquainted with all things. p: allah hath appointed the ka'bah, the sacred house, a standard for mankind, and the sacred month and the offerings and the garlands. that is so that ye may know that allah knoweth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth, and that allah is knower of all things. s: allah has made the kaaba, the sacred house, a maintenance for the people, and the sacred month and the offerings and the sacrificial animals with garlands; this is that you may know that allah knows whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth, and that allah is the knower of all things. . y: know ye that allah is strict in punishment and that allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: know that allah is severe in punishment, but that allah (also) is forgiving, merciful. s: know that allah is severe in requiting (evil) and that allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: the messenger's duty is but to proclaim (the message). but allah knoweth all that ye reveal and ye conceal. p: the duty of the messenger is only to convey (the message). allah knoweth what ye proclaim and what ye hide. s: nothing is (incumbent) on the messenger but to deliver (the message), and allah knows what you do openly and what you hide. . y: say: "not equal are things that are bad and things that are good, even though the abundance of the bad may dazzle thee; so fear allah, o ye that understand; that (so) ye may prosper." p: say: the evil and the good are not alike even though the plenty of the evil attract thee. so be mindful of your duty to allah, o men of understanding, that ye may succeed. s: say: the bad and the good are not equal, though the abundance of the bad may please you; so be careful of (your duty to) allah, o men of understanding, that you may be successful. . y: o ye who believe! ask not questions about things which, if made plain to you, may cause you trouble. but if ye ask about things when the qur'an is being revealed, they will be made plain to you, allah will forgive those: for allah is oft-forgiving, most forbearing. p: o ye who believe! ask not of things which, if they were made unto you, would trouble you; but if ye ask of them when the qur'an is being revealed, they will be made known unto you. allah pardoneth this, for allah is forgiving, clement. s: o you who believe! do not put questions about things which if declared to you may trouble you, and if you question about them when the quran is being revealed, they shall be declared to you; allah pardons this, and allah is forgiving, forbearing. . y: some people before you did ask such questions, and on that account lost their faith. p: a folk before you asked (for such disclosures) and then disbelieved therein. s: a people before you indeed asked such questions, and then became disbelievers on account of them. . y: it was not allah who instituted (superstitions like those of) a slit-ear she-camel, or a she-camel let loose for free pasture, or idol sacrifices for twin-births in animals, or stallion-camels freed from work: it is blasphemers who invent a lie against allah; but most of them lack wisdom. p: allah hath not appointed anything in the nature of a bahirah or a sa'ibah or a wasilah or a hami, but those who disbelieve invent a lie against allah. most of them have no sense. s: allah has not ordained (the making of) a bahirah or a saibah or a wasilah or a hami but those who disbelieve fabricate a lie against allah, and most of them do not understand. . y: when it is said to them: "come to what allah hath revealed; come to the messenger": they say: "enough for us are the ways we found our fathers following." what! even though their fathers were void of knowledge and guidance? p: and when it is said unto them: come unto that which allah hath revealed and unto the messenger, they say: enough for us is that wherein we found our fathers. what! even though their fathers had no knowledge whatsoever, and no guidance? s: and when it is said to them, come to what allah has revealed and to the messenger, they say: that on which we found our fathers is sufficient for us. what! even though their fathers knew nothing and did not follow the right way. . y: o ye who believe! guard your own souls: if ye follow (right) guidance, no hurt can come to you from those who stray. to goal of you all is to allah: it is he that will show you the truth of all that ye do. p: o ye who believe! ye have charge of your own souls. he who erreth cannot injure you if ye are rightly guided. unto allah ye will all return; and then he will inform you of what ye used to do. s: o you who believe! take care of your souls; he who errs cannot hurt you when you are on the right way; to allah is your return, of all (of you), so he will inform you of what you did. . y: o ye who believe! when death approaches any of you, (take) witnesses among yourselves when making bequests,- two just men of your own (brotherhood) or others from outside if ye are journeying through the earth, and the chance of death befalls you (thus). if ye doubt (their truth), detain them both after prayer, and let them both swear by allah: "we wish not in this for any worldly gain, even though the (beneficiary) be our near relation: we shall hide not the evidence before allah: if we do, then behold! the sin be upon us!" p: o ye who believe! let there be witnesses between you when death draweth nigh unto one of you, at the time of bequest - two witnesses, just men from among you, or two others from another tribe, in case ye are campaigning in the land and the calamity of death befall you. ye shall empanel them both after the prayer, and, if ye doubt, they shall be made to swear by allah (saying): we will not take a bribe, even though it were (on behalf of) a near kinsman nor will we hide the testimony of allah, for then indeed we should be of the sinful. s: o you who believe! call to witness between you when death draws nigh to one of you, at the time of making the will, two just persons from among you, or two others from among others than you, if you are travelling in the land and the calamity of death befalls you; the two (witnesses) you should detain after the prayer; then if you doubt (them), they shall both swear by allah, (saying): we will not take for it a price, though there be a relative, and we will not hide the testimony of allah for then certainly we should be among the sinners. . y: but if it gets known that these two were guilty of the sin (of perjury), let two others stand forth in their places,- nearest in kin from among those who claim a lawful right: let them swear by allah: "we affirm that our witness is truer than that of those two, and that we have not trespassed (beyond the truth): if we did, behold! the wrong be upon us!" p: but then, if it is afterwards ascertained that both of them merit (the suspicion of) sin, let two others take their place of those nearly concerned, and let them swear by allah, (saying): verily our testimony is truer than their testimony and we have not transgressed (the bounds of duty), for them indeed we should be of the evil-doers. s: then if it becomes known that they both have been guilty of a sin, two others shall stand up in their place from among those who have a claim against them, the two nearest in kin; so they two should swear by allah: certainly our testimony is truer than the testimony of those two, and we have not exceeded the limit, for then most surely we should be of the unjust. . y: that is most suitable: that they may give the evidence in its true nature and shape, or else they would fear that other oaths would be taken after their oaths. but fear allah, and listen (to his counsel): for allah guideth not a rebellious people: p: thus it is more likely that they will bear true witness or fear that after their oaths the oaths (of others) will be taken. so be mindful of your duty (to allah) and hearken. allah guideth not the froward folk. s: this is more proper in order that they should give testimony truly or fear that other oaths be given after their oaths; and be careful of (your duty to) allah, and hear; and allah does not guide the transgressing people. . y: one day will allah gather the messengers together, and ask: "what was the response ye received (from men to your teaching)?" they will say: "we have no knowledge: it is thou who knowest in full all that is hidden." p: in the day when allah gathereth together the messengers, and saith: what was your response (from mankind)? they say: we have no knowledge. lo! thou, only thou art the knower of things hidden, s: on the day when allah will assemble the messengers, then say: what answer were you given? they shall say: we have no knowledge, surely thou art the great knower of the unseen things. . y: then will allah say: "o jesus the son of mary! recount my favour to thee and to thy mother. behold! i strengthened thee with the holy spirit, so that thou didst speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. behold! i taught thee the book and wisdom, the law and the gospel and behold! thou makest out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, by my leave, and thou breathest into it and it becometh a bird by my leave, and thou healest those born blind, and the lepers, by my leave. and behold! thou bringest forth the dead by my leave. and behold! i did restrain the children of israel from (violence to) thee when thou didst show them the clear signs, and the unbelievers among them said: 'this is nothing but evident magic.'" p: when allah saith: o jesus, son of mary! remember my favour unto thee and unto thy mother; how i strengthened thee with the holy spirit, so that thou spakest unto mankind in the cradle as in maturity; and how i taught thee the scripture and wisdom and the torah and the gospel; and how thou didst shape of clay as it were the likeness of a bird by my permission, and didst blow upon it and it was a bird by my permission, and thou didst heal him who was born blind and the leper by my permission; and how thou didst raise the dead by my permission; and how i restrained the children of israel from (harming) thee when thou camest unto them with clear proofs, and those of them who disbelieved exclaimed: this is naught else than mere magic; s: when allah will say: o isa son of marium! remember my favor on you and on your mother, when i strengthened you i with the holy spirit, you spoke to the people in the cradle and i when of old age, and when i taught you the book and the wisdom and the taurat and the injeel; and when you determined out of clay a thing like the form of a bird by my permission, then you breathed into it and it became a bird by my permission, and you healed the blind and the leprous by my permission; and when you brought forth the dead by my permission; and when i withheld the children of israel from you when you came to them with clear arguments, but those who disbelieved among them said: this is nothing but clear enchantment. . y: "and behold! i inspired the disciples to have faith in me and mine messenger: they said, 'we have faith, and do thou bear witness that we bow to allah as muslims'". p: and when i inspired the disciples, (saying): believe in me and in my messenger, they said: we believe. bear witness that we have surrendered (unto thee) "we are muslims". s: and when i revealed to the disciples, saying, believe in me and my messenger, they said: we believe and bear witness that we submit (ourselves). . y: behold! the disciples, said: "o jesus the son of mary! can thy lord send down to us a table set (with viands) from heaven?" said jesus: "fear allah, if ye have faith." p: when the disciples said: o jesus, son of mary! is thy lord able to send down for us a table spread with food from heaven? he said: observe your duty to allah, if ye are true believers. s: when the disciples said: o isa son of marium! will your lord consent to send down to us food from heaven? he said: be careful of (your duty to) allah if you are believers. . y: they said: "we only wish to eat thereof and satisfy our hearts, and to know that thou hast indeed told us the truth; and that we ourselves may be witnesses to the miracle." p: (they said:) we wish to eat thereof, that we may satisfy our hearts and know that thou hast spoken truth to us, and that thereof we may be witnesses. s: they said: we desire that we should eat of it and that our hearts should be at rest, and that we may know that you have indeed spoken the truth to us and that we may be of the witnesses to it. . y: said jesus the son of mary: "o allah our lord! send us from heaven a table set (with viands), that there may be for us - for the first and the last of us - a solemn festival and a sign from thee; and provide for our sustenance, for thou art the best sustainer (of our needs)." p: jesus, son of mary, said: o allah, lord of us! send down for us a table spread with food from heaven, that it may be a feast for us, for the first of us and for the last of us, and a sign from thee. give us sustenance, for thou art the best of sustainers. s: isa the son of marium said: o allah, our lord! send down to us food from heaven which should be to us an ever-recurring happiness, to the first of us and to the last of us, and a sign from thee, and grant us means of subsistence, and thou art the best of the providers. . y: allah said: "i will send it down unto you: but if any of you after that resisteth faith, i will punish him with a penalty such as i have not inflicted on any one among all the peoples." p: allah said: lo! i send it down for you. and whoso disbelieveth of you afterward, him surely will i punish with a punishment wherewith i have not punished any of (my) creatures. s: allah said: surely i will send it down to you, but whoever shall disbelieve afterwards from among you, surely i will chastise him with a chastisement with which i will not chastise, anyone among the nations. . y: and behold! allah will say: "o jesus the son of mary! didst thou say unto men, worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of allah'?" he will say: "glory to thee! never could i say what i had no right (to say). had i said such a thing, thou wouldst indeed have known it. thou knowest what is in my heart, thou i know not what is in thine. for thou knowest in full all that is hidden." p: and when allah saith: o jesus, son of mary! didst thou say unto mankind: take me and my mother for two gods beside allah? he saith: be glorified! it was not mine to utter that to which i had no right. if i used to say it, then thou knewest it. thou knowest what is in my mind, and i know not what is in thy mind. lo! thou, only thou, art the knower of things hidden? s: and when allah will say: o isa son of marium! did you say to men, take me and my mother for two gods besides allah he will say: glory be to thee, it did not befit me that i should say what i had no right to (say); if i had said it, thou wouldst indeed have known it; thou knowest what is in my mind, and i do not know what is in thy mind, surely thou art the great knower of the unseen things. . y: "never said i to them aught except what thou didst command me to say, to wit, 'worship allah, my lord and your lord'; and i was a witness over them whilst i dwelt amongst them; when thou didst take me up thou wast the watcher over them, and thou art a witness to all things." p: i spake unto them only that which thou commandedst me, (saying): worship allah, my lord and your lord. i was a witness of them while i dwelt among them, and when thou tookest me thou wast the watcher over them. thou art witness over all things. s: i did not say to them aught save what thou didst enjoin me with: that serve allah, my lord and your lord, and i was a witness of them so long as i was among them, but when thou didst cause me to die, thou wert the watcher over them, and thou art witness of all things. . y: "if thou dost punish them, they are thy servant: if thou dost forgive them, thou art the exalted in power, the wise." p: if thou punish them, lo! they are thy slaves, and if thou forgive them (lo! they are thy slaves). lo! thou, only thou, art the mighty, the wise. s: if thou shouldst chastise them, then surely they are thy servants; and if thou shouldst forgive them, then surely thou art the mighty, the wise. . y: allah will say: "this is a day on which the truthful will profit from their truth: theirs are gardens, with rivers flowing beneath,- their eternal home: allah well-pleased with them, and they with allah: that is the great salvation, (the fulfilment of all desires)." p: allah saith: this is a day in which their truthfulness profiteth the truthful, for theirs are gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they are secure for ever, allah taking pleasure in them and they in him. that is the great triumph. s: allah will say: this is the day when their truth shall benefit the truthful ones; they shall have gardens beneath which rivers flow to abide in them for ever: allah is well pleased with them and they are well pleased with allah; this is the mighty achievement. . y: to allah doth belong the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, and it is he who hath power over all things. p: unto allah belongeth the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is therein, and he is able to do all things. s: allah's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and what is in them; and he has power over all things. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-anaam (cattle, livestock) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: praise be allah, who created the heavens and the earth, and made the darkness and the light. yet those who reject faith hold (others) as equal, with their guardian-lord. p: praise be to allah, who hath created the heavens and the earth, and hath appointed darkness and light. yet those who disbelieve ascribe rivals unto their lord. s: all praise is due to allah, who created the heavens and the earth and made the darkness and the light; yet those who disbelieve set up equals with their lord. . y: he it is created you from clay, and then decreed a stated term (for you). and there is in his presence another determined term; yet ye doubt within yourselves! p: he it is who hath created you from clay, and hath decreed a term for you. a term is fixed with him. yet still ye doubt! s: he it is who created you from clay, then he decreed a term; and there is a term named with him; still you doubt. . y: and he is allah in the heavens and on earth. he knoweth what ye hide, and what ye reveal, and he knoweth the (recompense) which ye earn (by your deeds). p: he is allah in the heavens and in the earth. he knoweth both your secret and your utterance, and he knoweth what ye earn. s: and he is allah in the heavens and in the earth; he knows your secret (thoughts) and your open (words), and he knows what you earn. . y: but never did a single one of the signs of their lord reach them, but they turned away therefrom. p: never came there unto them a revelation of the revelations of allah but they did turn away from it. s: and there does not come to them any communication of the communications of their lord but they turn aside from it. . y: and now they reject the truth when it reaches them: but soon shall they learn the reality of what they used to mock at. p: and they denied the truth when it came unto them. but there will come unto them the tidings of that which they used to deride. s: so they have indeed rejected the truth when it came to them; therefore the truth of what they mocked at will shine upon them. . y: see they not how many of those before them we did destroy?- generations we had established on the earth, in strength such as we have not given to you - for whom we poured out rain from the skies in abundance, and gave (fertile) streams flowing beneath their (feet): yet for their sins we destroyed them, and raised in their wake fresh generations (to succeed them). p: see they not how many a generation we destroyed before them, whom we had established in the earth more firmly than we have established you, and we shed on them abundant showers from the sky, and made the rivers flow beneath them. yet we destroyed them for their sins, and created after them another generation. s: do they not consider how many a generation we have destroyed before them, whom we had established in the earth as we have not established you, and we sent the clouds pouring rain on them in abundance, and we made the rivers to flow beneath them, then we destroyed them on account of their faults and raised up after them another generation. . y: if we had sent unto thee a written (message) on parchment, so that they could touch it with their hands, the unbelievers would have been sure to say: "this is nothing but obvious magic!" p: had we sent down unto thee (muhammad) (actual) writing upon parchment, so that they could feel it with their hands, those who disbelieve would have said: this is naught else than mere magic. s: and if we had sent to you a writing on a paper, then they had touched it with their hands, certainly those who disbelieve would have said: this is nothing but clear enchantment. . y: they say: "why is not an angel sent down to him?" if we did send down an angel, the matter would be settled at once, and no respite would be granted them. p: they say: why hath not an angel been sent down unto him? if we sent down an angel, then the matter would be judged; no further time would be allowed them (for reflection). s: and they say: why has not an angel been sent down to him? and had we sent down an angel, the matter would have certainly been decided and then they would not have been respited. . y: if we had made it an angel, we should have sent him as a man, and we should certainly have caused them confusion in a matter which they have already covered with confusion. p: had we appointed him (our messenger) an angel, we assuredly had made him (as) a man (that he might speak to men); and (thus) obscured for them (the truth) they (now) obscure. s: and if we had made him angel, we would certainly have made him a man, and we would certainly have made confused to them what they make confused. . y: mocked were (many) messengers before thee; but their scoffers were hemmed in by the thing that they mocked. p: messengers (of allah) have been derided before thee, but that whereat they scoffed surrounded such of them as did deride. s: and certainly messengers before you were mocked at, but that which they mocked at encompassed the scoffers among them. . y: say: "travel through the earth and see what was the end of those who rejected truth." p: say (unto the disbelievers): travel in the land, and see the nature of the consequence for the rejecters! s: say: travel in the land, then see what was the end of the rejecters. . y: say: "to whom belongeth all that is in the heavens and on earth?" say: "to allah. he hath inscribed for himself (the rule of) mercy. that he will gather you together for the day of judgment, there is no doubt whatever. it is they who have lost their own souls, that will not believe." p: say: unto whom belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth? say: unto allah. he hath prescribed for himself mercy, that he may bring you all together to the day of resurrection whereof there is no doubt. those who ruin their souls will not believe. s: say: to whom belongs what is in the heavens and the earth? say: to allah; he has ordained mercy on himself; most certainly he will gather you on the resurrection day-- there is no doubt about it. (as for) those who have lost their souls, they will not believe. . y: "to him belongeth all that dwelleth (or lurketh) in the night and the day. for he is the one who heareth and knoweth all things." p: unto him belongeth whatsoever resteth in the night and the day. he is the hearer, the knower. s: and to him belongs whatever dwells in the night and the day; and he is the hearing, the knowing. . y: say: "shall i take for my protector any other than allah, the maker of the heavens and the earth? and he it is that feedeth but is not fed." say: "nay! but i am commanded to be the first of those who bow to allah (in islam), and be not thou of the company of those who join gods with allah." p: say: shall i choose for a protecting friend other than allah, the originator of the heavens and the earth, who feedeth and is never fed? say: i am ordered to be the first to surrender (unto him). and be not thou (o muhammad) of the idolaters. s: say: shall i take a guardian besides allah, the originator of the heavens and the earth, and he feeds (others) and is not (himself) fed. say: i am commanded to be the first who submits himself, and you should not be of the polytheists. . y: say: "i would, if i disobeyed my lord, indeed have fear of the penalty of a mighty day." p: say: i fear, if i rebel against my lord, the retribution of an awful day. s: say: surely i fear, if i disobey my lord, the chastisement of a grievous day. . y: "on that day, if the penalty is averted from any, it is due to allah's mercy; and that would be (salvation), the obvious fulfilment of all desire." p: he from whom (such retribution) is averted on that day, (allah) hath in truth had mercy on him. that will be the signal triumph. s: he from whom it is averted on that day, allah indeed has shown mercy to him; and this is a manifest achievement. . y: "if allah touch thee with affliction, none can remove it but he; if he touch thee with happiness, he hath power over all things." p: if allah touch thee with affliction, there is none that can relieve therefrom save him, and if he touch thee with good fortune (there is none that can impair it); for he is able to do all things. s: and if allah touch you with affliction, there is none to take it off but he; and if he visit you with good, then he has power over all things. . y: "he is the irresistible, (watching) from above over his worshippers; and he is the wise, acquainted with all things." p: he is the omnipotent over his slaves, and he is the wise, the knower. s: and he is the supreme, above his servants; and he is the wise, the aware. . y: say: "what thing is most weighty in evidence?" say: "allah is witness between me and you; this qur'an hath been revealed to me by inspiration, that i may warn you and all whom it reaches. can ye possibly bear witness that besides allah there is another allah?" say: "nay! i cannot bear witness!" say: "but in truth he is the one allah, and i truly am innocent of (your blasphemy of) joining others with him." p: say (o muhammad): what thing is of most weight in testimony? say: allah is witness between me and you. and this qur'an hath been inspired in me, that i may warn therewith you and whomsoever it may reach. do ye in sooth bear witness that there are gods beside allah? say: i bear no such witness. say: he is only one allah. lo! i am innocent of that which ye associate (with him). s: say: what thing is the weightiest in testimony? say: allah is witness between you and me; and this quran has been revealed to me that with it i may warn you and whomsoever it reaches. do you really bear witness that there are other gods with allah? say: i do not bear witness. say: he is only one allah, and surely i am clear of that which you set up (with him). . y: those to whom we have given the book know this as they know their own sons. those who have lost their own souls refuse therefore to believe. p: those unto whom we gave the scripture recognise (this revelation) as they recognise their sons. those who ruin their own souls will not believe. s: those whom we have given the book recognize him as they recognize their sons; (as for) those who have lost their souls, they will not believe. . y: who doth more wrong than he who inventeth a lie against allah or rejecteth his signs? but verily the wrong-doers never shall prosper. p: who doth greater wrong than he who inventeth a lie against allah or denieth his revelations? lo! the wrongdoers will not be successful. s: and who is more unjust than he who forges a lie against allah or (he who) gives the lie to his communications; surely the unjust will not be successful. . y: one day shall we gather them all together: we shall say to those who ascribed partners (to us): "where are the partners whom ye (invented and) talked about?" p: and on the day we gather them together we shall say unto those who ascribed partners (unto allah): where are (now) those partners of your make-believe? s: and on the day when we shall gather them all together, then shall we say to those who associated others (with allah): where are your associates whom you asserted? . y: there will then be (left) no subterfuge for them but to say: "by allah our lord, we were not those who joined gods with allah." p: then will they have no contention save that they will say: by allah, our lord, we never were idolaters. s: then their excuse would be nothing but that they would say: by allah, our lord, we were not polytheists. . y: behold! how they lie against their own souls! but the (lie) which they invented will leave them in the lurch. p: see how they lie against themselves, and (how) the thing which they devised hath failed them! s: see how they lie against their own souls, and that which they forged has passed away from them. . y: of them there are some who (pretend to) listen to thee; but we have thrown veils on their hearts, so they understand it not, and deafness in their ears; if they saw every one of the signs, not they will believe in them; in so much that when they come to thee, they (but) dispute with thee; the unbelievers say: "these are nothing but tales of the ancients." p: of them are some who listen unto thee, but we have placed upon their hearts veils, lest they should understand, and in their ears a deafness. if they saw every token they would not believe therein; to the point that, when they come unto thee to argue with thee, the disbelievers say: this is naught else than fables of the men of old. s: and of them is he who hearkens to you, and we have cast veils over their hearts lest they understand it and a heaviness into their ears; and even if they see every sign they will not believe in it; so much so that when they come to you they only dispute with you; those who disbelieve say: this is naught but the stories of the ancients. . y: others they keep away from it, and themselves they keep away; but they only destroy their own souls, and they perceive it not. p: and they forbid (men) from it and avoid it, and they ruin none save themselves, though they perceive not. s: and they prohibit (others) from it and go far away from it, and they only bring destruction upon their own souls while they do not perceive. . y: if thou couldst but see when they are confronted with the fire! they will say: "would that we were but sent back! then would we not reject the signs of our lord, but would be amongst those who believe!" p: if thou couldst see when they are set before the fire and say: oh, would that we might return! then would we not deny the revelations of our lord but we would be of the believers! s: and could you see when they are made to stand before the fire, then they shall say: would that we were sent back, and we would not reject the communications of our lord and we would be of the believers. . y: yea, in their own (eyes) will become manifest what before they concealed. but if they were returned, they would certainly relapse to the things they were forbidden, for they are indeed liars. p: nay, but that hath become clear unto them which before they used to hide. and if they were sent back they would return unto that which they are forbidden. lo! they are liars. s: nay, what they concealed before shall become manifest to them; and if they were sent back, they would certainly go back to that which they are forbidden, and most surely they are liars. . y: and they (sometimes) say: "there is nothing except our life on this earth, and never shall we be raised up again." p: and they say: there is naught save our life of the world, and we shall not be raised (again). s: and they say: there is nothing but our life of this world, and we shall not be raised. . y: if thou couldst but see when they are confronted with their lord! he will say: "is not this the truth?" they will say: "yea, by our lord!" he will say: "taste ye then the penalty, because ye rejected faith." p: if thou couldst see when they are set before their lord! he will say: is not this real? they will say: yea, verily, by our lord! he will say: taste now the retribution for that ye used to disbelieve. s: and could you see when they are made to stand before their lord. he will say: is not this the truth? they will say: yea! by our lord. he will say: taste then the chastisement because you disbelieved. . y: lost indeed are they who treat it as a falsehood that they must meet allah,- until on a sudden the hour is on them, and they say: "ah! woe unto us that we took no thought of it"; for they bear their burdens on their backs, and evil indeed are the burdens that they bear? p: they indeed are losers who deny their meeting with allah until, when the hour cometh on them suddenly, they cry: alas for us, that we neglected it! they bear upon their backs their burdens. ah, evil is that which they bear! s: they are losers indeed who reject the meeting of allah; until when the hour comes upon them all of a sudden they shall say: o our grief for our neglecting it! and they shall bear their burdens on their backs; now surely evil is that which they bear. . y: what is the life of this world but play and amusement? but best is the home in the hereafter, for those who are righteous. will ye not then understand? p: naught is the life of the world save a pastime and a spot. better far is the abode of the hereafter for those who keep their duty (to allah). have ye then no sense? s: and this world's life is naught but a play and an idle sport and certainly the abode of the hereafter is better for those who guard (against evil); do you not then understand? . y: we know indeed the grief which their words do cause thee: it is not thee they reject: it is the signs of allah, which the wicked contemn. p: we know well how their talk grieveth thee, though in truth they deny not thee (muhammad) but evil-doers flout the revelations of allah. s: we know indeed that what they say certainly grieves you, but surely they do not call you a liar; but the unjust deny the communications of allah. . y: rejected were the messengers before thee: with patience and constancy they bore their rejection and their wrongs, until our aid did reach them: there is none that can alter the words (and decrees) of allah. already hast thou received some account of those messengers. p: messengers indeed have been denied before thee, and they were patient under the denial and the persecution till our succour reached them. there is none to alter the decisions of allah. already there hath reached thee (somewhat) of the tidings of the messengers (we sent before). s: and certainly messengers before you were rejected, but they were patient on being rejected and persecuted until our help came to them; and there is none to change the words of allah, and certainly there has come to you some information about the messengers. . y: if their spurning is hard on thy mind, yet if thou wert able to seek a tunnel in the ground or a ladder to the skies and bring them a sign,- (what good?). if it were allah's will, he could gather them together unto true guidance: so be not thou amongst those who are swayed by ignorance (and impatience)! p: and if their aversion is grievous unto thee, then, if thou canst, seek a way down into the earth or a ladder unto the sky that thou mayst bring unto them a portent (to convince them all)! - if allah willed, he could have brought them all together to the guidance - so be not thou among the foolish ones. s: and if their turning away is hard on you, then if you can seek an opening (to go down) into the earth or a ladder (to ascend up) to heaven so that you should bring them a sign and if allah had pleased he would certainly have gathered them all on guidance, therefore be not of the ignorant. . y: those who listen (in truth), be sure, will accept: as to the dead, allah will raise them up; then will they be turned unto him. p: only those can accept who hear. as for the dead, allah will raise them up; then unto him they will be returned. s: only those accept who listen; and (as to) the dead, allah will raise them, then to him they shall be returned. . y: they say: "why is not a sign sent down to him from his lord?" say: "allah hath certainly power to send down a sign: but most of them understand not." p: they say: why hath no portent been sent down upon him from his lord? say: lo! allah is able to send down a portent. but most of them know not. s: and they say: why has not a sign been sent down to him from his lord? say: surely allah is able to send down a sign, but most of them do not know. . y: there is not an animal (that lives) on the earth, nor a being that flies on its wings, but (forms part of) communities like you. nothing have we omitted from the book, and they (all) shall be gathered to their lord in the end. p: there is not an animal in the earth, nor a flying creature flying on two wings, but they are peoples like unto you. we have neglected nothing in the book (of our decrees). then unto their lord they will be gathered. s: and there is no animal that walks upon the earth nor a bird that flies with its two wings but (they are) genera like yourselves; we have not neglected anything in the book, then to their lord shall they be gathered. . y: those who reject our signs are deaf and dumb,- in the midst of darkness profound: whom allah willeth, he leaveth to wander: whom he willeth, he placeth on the way that is straight. p: those who deny our revelations are deaf and dumb in darkness. whom allah will sendeth astray, and whom he will he placeth on a straight path. s: and they who reject our communications are deaf and dumb, in utter darkness; whom allah pleases he causes to err and whom he pleases he puts on the right way. . y: say: "think ye to yourselves, if there come upon you the wrath of allah, or the hour (that ye dread), would ye then call upon other than allah?- (reply) if ye are truthful!" p: say: can ye see yourselves, if the punishment of allah come upon you or the hour come upon you, (calling upon other than allah)? do ye then call (for help) to any other than allah? (answer that) if ye are truthful. s: say: tell me if the chastisement of allah should overtake you or the hour should come upon you, will you call (on others) besides allah, if you are truthful? . y: "nay,- on him would ye call, and if it be his will, he would remove (the distress) which occasioned your call upon him, and ye would forget (the false gods) which ye join with him!" p: nay, but unto him ye call, and he removeth that because of which ye call unto him, if he will, and ye forget whatever partners ye ascribed unto him. s: nay, him you call upon, so he clears away that for which you pray if he pleases and you forget what you set up (with him). . y: before thee we sent (messengers) to many nations, and we afflicted the nations with suffering and adversity, that they might learn humility. p: we have sent already unto peoples that were before thee, and we visited them with tribulation and adversity, in order that they might grow humble. s: and certainly we sent (messengers) to nations before you then we seized them with distress and affliction in order that they might humble themselves. . y: when the suffering reached them from us, why then did they not learn humility? on the contrary their hearts became hardened, and satan made their (sinful) acts seem alluring to them. p: if only, when our disaster came on them, they had been humble! but their hearts were hardened and the devil made all that they used to do seem fair unto them! s: yet why did they not, when our punishment came to them, humble themselves? but their hearts hardened and the shaitan made what they did fair-seeming to them. . y: but when they forgot the warning they had received, we opened to them the gates of all (good) things, until, in the midst of their enjoyment of our gifts, on a sudden, we called them to account, when lo! they were plunged in despair! p: then, when they forgot that whereof they had been reminded, we opened unto them the gates of all things till, even as they were rejoicing in that which they were given, we seized them unawares, and lo! they were dumbfounded. s: but when they neglected that with which they had been admonished, we opened for them the doors of all things, until when they rejoiced in what they were given we seized them suddenly; then lo! they were in utter despair. . y: of the wrong-doers the last remnant was cut off. praise be to allah, the cherisher of the worlds. p: so of the people who did wrong the last remnant was cut off. praise be to allah, lord of the worlds! s: so the roots of the people who were unjust were cut off; and all praise is due to allah, the lord of the worlds. . y: say: "think ye, if allah took away your hearing and your sight, and sealed up your hearts, who - a god other than allah - could restore them to you?" see how we explain the signs by various (symbols); yet they turn aside. p: say: have ye imagined, if allah should take away your hearing and your sight and seal your hearts, who is the god who could restore it to you save allah? see how we display the revelations unto them! yet still they turn away. s: say: have you considered that if allah takes away your hearing and your sight and sets a seal on your hearts, who is the god besides allah that can bring it to you? see how we repeat the communications, yet they turn away. . y: say: "think ye, if the punishment of allah comes to you, whether suddenly or openly, will any be destroyed except those who do wrong?" p: say: can ye see yourselves, if the punishment of allah come upon you unawares or openly? would any perish save wrongdoing folk? s: say: have you considered if the chastisement of allah should overtake you suddenly or openly, will any be destroyed but the unjust people? . y: we send the messengers only to give good news and to warn: so those who believe and mend (their lives),- upon them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. p: we send not the messengers save as bearers of good news and warners. whoso believeth and doeth right, there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve. s: and we send not messengers but as announcers of good news and givers of warning, then whoever believes and acts aright, they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve. . y: but those who reject our signs,- them shall punishment touch, for that they ceased not from transgressing. p: but as for those who deny our revelations, torment will afflict them for that they used to disobey. s: and (as for) those who reject our communications, chastisement shall afflict them because they transgressed. . y: say: "i tell you not that with me are the treasures of allah, nor do i know what is hidden, nor do i tell you i am an angel. i but follow what is revealed to me." say: "can the blind be held equal to the seeing?" will ye then consider not? p: say (o muhammad, to the disbelievers): i say not unto you (that) i possess the treasures of allah, nor that i have knowledge of the unseen; and i say not unto you: lo! i am an angel. i follow only that which is inspired in me. say: are the blind man and the seer equal? will ye not then take thought? s: say: i do not say to you, i have with me the treasures of allah, nor do i know the unseen, nor do i say to you that i am an angel; i do not follow aught save that which is revealed to me. say: are the blind and the seeing one alike? do you not then reflect? . y: give this warning to those in whose (hearts) is the fear that they will be brought (to judgment) before their lord: except for him they will have no protector nor intercessor: that they may guard (against evil). p: warn hereby those who fear (because they know) that they will be gathered unto their lord, for whom there is no protecting ally nor intercessor beside him, that they may ward off (evil). s: and warn with it those who fear that they shall be gathered to their lord-- there is no guardian for them, nor any intercessor besides him-- that they may guard (against evil). . y: send not away those who call on their lord morning and evening, seeking his face. in naught art thou accountable for them, and in naught are they accountable for thee, that thou shouldst turn them away, and thus be (one) of the unjust. p: repel not those who call upon their lord at morn and evening, seeking his countenance. thou art not accountable for them in aught, nor are they accountable for thee in aught, that thou shouldst repel them and be of the wrong-doers. s: and do not drive away those who call upon their lord in the morning and the evening, they desire only his favor; neither are you answerable for any reckoning of theirs, nor are they answerable for any reckoning of yours, so that you should drive them away and thus be of the unjust. . y: thus did we try some of them by comparison with others, that they should say: "is it these then that allah hath favoured from amongst us?" doth not allah know best those who are grateful? p: and even so do we try some of them by others, that they say: are these they whom allah favoureth among us? is not allah best aware of the thanksgivers? s: and thus do we try some of them by others so that they say: are these they upon whom allah has conferred benefit from among us? does not allah best know the grateful? . y: when those come to thee who believe in our signs, say: "peace be on you: your lord had inscribed for himself (the rule of) mercy: verily, if any of you did evil in ignorance, and thereafter repented, and amend (his conduct), lo! he is oft-forgiving, most merciful." p: and when those who believe in our revelations come unto thee, say: peace be unto you! your lord hath prescribed for himself mercy, that whoso of you doeth evil through ignorance and repenteth afterward thereof and doeth right, (for him) lo! he is forgiving, merciful. s: and when those who believe in our communications come to you, say: peace be on you, your lord has ordained mercy on himself, (so) that if any one of you does evil in ignorance, then turns after that and acts aright, then he is forgiving, merciful. . y: thus do we explain the signs in detail: that the way of the sinners may be shown up. p: thus do we expound the revelations that the way of the unrighteous may be manifest. s: and thus do we make distinct the communications and so that the way of the guilty may become clear. . y: say: "i am forbidden to worship those - others than allah - whom ye call upon." say: "i will not follow your vain desires: if i did, i would stray from the path, and be not of the company of those who receive guidance." p: say: i am forbidden to worship those on whom ye call instead of allah. say: i will not follow your desires, for then should i go astray and i should not be of the rightly guided. s: say: i am forbidden to serve those whom you call upon besides allah. say: i do not follow your low desires, for then indeed i should have gone astray and i should not be of those who go aright. . y: say: "for me, i (work) on a clear sign from my lord, but ye reject him. what ye would see hastened, is not in my power. the command rests with none but allah: he declares the truth, and he is the best of judges." p: say: i am (relying) on clear proof from my lord, while ye deny him. i have not that for which ye are impatient. the decision is for allah only. he telleth the truth and he is the best of deciders. s: say: surely i have manifest proof from my lord and you call it a lie; i have not with me that which you would hasten; the judgment is only allah's; he relates the truth and he is the best of deciders. . y: say: "if what ye would see hastened were in my power, the matter would be settled at once between you and me. but allah knoweth best those who do wrong." p: say: if i had that for which ye are impatient, then would the case (ere this) have been decided between me and you. allah is best aware of the wrong-doers. s: say: if that which you desire to hasten were with me, the matter would have certainly been decided between you and me; and allah best knows the unjust. . y: with him are the keys of the unseen, the treasures that none knoweth but he. he knoweth whatever there is on the earth and in the sea. not a leaf doth fall but with his knowledge: there is not a grain in the darkness (or depths) of the earth, nor anything fresh or dry (green or withered), but is (inscribed) in a record clear (to those who can read). p: and with him are the keys of the invisible. none but he knoweth them. and he knoweth what is in the land and the sea. not a leaf falleth but he knoweth it, not a grain amid the darkness of the earth, naught of wet or dry but (it is noted) in a clear record. s: and with him are the keys of the unseen treasures-- none knows them but he; and he knows what is in the land and the sea, and there falls not a leaf but he knows it, nor a grain in the darkness of the earth, nor anything green nor dry but (it is all) in a clear book. . y: it is he who doth take your souls by night, and hath knowledge of all that ye have done by day: by day doth he raise you up again; that a term appointed be fulfilled; in the end unto him will be your return; then will he show you the truth of all that ye did. p: he it is who gathereth you at night and knoweth that which ye commit by day. then he raiseth you again to life therein, that the term appointed (for you) may be accomplished. and afterward unto him is your return. then he will proclaim unto you what ye used to do. s: and he it is who takes your souls at night (in sleep), and he knows what you acquire in the day, then he raises you up therein that an appointed term may be fulfilled; then to him is your return, then he will inform you of what you were doing. . y: he is the irresistible, (watching) from above over his worshippers, and he sets guardians over you. at length, when death approaches one of you, our angels take his soul, and they never fail in their duty. p: he is the omnipotent over his slaves. he sendeth guardians over you until, when death cometh unto one of you, our messengers receive him, and they neglect not. s: and he is the supreme, above his servants, and he sends keepers over you; until when death comes to one of you, our messengers cause him to die, and they are not remiss. . y: then are men returned unto allah, their protector, the (only) reality: is not his the command? and he is the swiftest in taking account. p: then are they restored unto allah, their lord, the just. surely his is the judgment. and he is the most swift of reckoners. s: then are they sent back to allah, their master, the true one; now surely his is the judgment and he is swiftest in taking account. . y: say: "who is it that delivereth you from the dark recesses of land and sea, when ye call upon him in humility and silent terror: 'if he only delivers us from these (dangers), (we vow) we shall truly show our gratitude'?" p: say: who delivereth you from the darkness of the land and the sea? ye call upon him humbly and in secret, (saying): if we are delivered from this (fear) we truly will be of the thankful. s: say: who is it that delivers you from the dangers of the land and the sea (when) you call upon him (openly) humiliating yourselves, and in secret: if he delivers us from this, we should certainly be of the grateful ones. . y: say "it is allah that delivereth you from these and all (other) distresses: and yet ye worship false gods!" p: say: allah delivereth you from this and from all affliction. yet ye attribute partners unto him. s: say: allah delivers you from them and from every distress, but again you set up others (with him). . y: say: "he hath power to send calamities on you, from above and below, or to cover you with confusion in party strife, giving you a taste of mutual vengeance - each from the other." see how we explain the signs by various (symbols); that they may understand. p: say: he is able to send punishment upon you from above you or from beneath your feet, or to bewilder you with dissension and make you taste the tyranny one of another. see how we display the revelations so that they may understand. s: say: he has the power that he should send on you a chastisement from above you or from beneath your feet, or that he should throw you into confusion, (making you) of different parties; and make some of you taste the fighting of others. see how we repeat the communications that they may understand. . y: but thy people reject this, though it is the truth. say: "not mine is the responsibility for arranging your affairs;" p: thy people (o muhammad) have denied it, though it is the truth. say: i am not put in charge of you. s: and your people call it a lie and it is the very truth. say: i am not placed in charge of you. . y: "for every message is a limit of time, and soon shall ye know it." p: for every announcement there is a term, and ye will come to know. s: for every prophecy is a term, and you will come to know (it). . y: when thou seest men engaged in vain discourse about our signs, turn away from them unless they turn to a different theme. if satan ever makes thee forget, then after recollection, sit not thou in the company of those who do wrong. p: and when thou seest those who meddle with our revelations, withdraw from them until they meddle with another topic. and if the devil cause thee to forget, sit not, after the remembrance, with the congregation of wrong-doers. s: and when you see those who enter into false discourses about our communications, withdraw from them until they enter into some other discourse, and if the shaitan causes you to forget, then do not sit after recollection with the unjust people. . y: on their account no responsibility falls on the righteous, but (their duty) is to remind them, that they may (learn to) fear allah. p: those who ward off (evil) are not accountable for them in aught, but the reminder (must be given them) that haply they (too) may ward off (evil). s: and nought of the reckoning of their (deeds) shall be against those who guard (against evil), but (theirs) is only to remind, haply they may guard. . y: leave alone those who take their religion to be mere play and amusement, and are deceived by the life of this world. but proclaim (to them) this (truth): that every soul delivers itself to ruin by its own acts: it will find for itself no protector or intercessor except allah: if it offered every ransom, (or reparation), none will be accepted: such is (the end of) those who deliver themselves to ruin by their own acts: they will have for drink (only) boiling water, and for punishment, one most grievous: for they persisted in rejecting allah. p: and forsake those who take their religion for a pastime and a jest, and whom the life of the world beguileth. remind (mankind) hereby lest a soul be destroyed by what it earneth. it hath beside allah no protecting ally nor intercessor, and though it offer every compensation it will not be accepted from it. those are they who perish by their own deserts. for them is drink of boiling water and a painful doom, because they disbelieved. s: and leave those who have taken their religion for a play and an idle sport, and whom this world's life has deceived, and remind (them) thereby lest a soul should be given up to destruction for what it has earned; it shall not have besides allah any guardian nor an intercessor, and if it should seek to give every compensation, it shall not be accepted from it; these are they who shall be given up to destruction for what they earned; they shall have a drink of boiling water and a painful chastisement because they disbelieved. . y: say: "shall we indeed call on others besides allah,- things that can do us neither good nor harm,- and turn on our heels after receiving guidance from allah? - like one whom the evil ones have made into a fool, wandering bewildered through the earth, his friends calling, come to us', (vainly) guiding him to the path." say: "allah's guidance is the (only) guidance, and we have been directed to submit ourselves to the lord of the worlds;-" p: say: shall we cry, instead of unto allah, unto that which neither profiteth us nor hurteth us, and shall we turn back after allah hath guided us, like one bewildered whom the devils have infatuated in the earth, who hath companions who invite him to the guidance (saying): come unto us? say: lo! the guidance of allah is guidance, and we are ordered to surrender to the lord of the worlds, s: say: shall we call on that besides allah, which does not benefit us nor harm us, and shall we be returned back on our heels after allah has guided us, like him whom the shaitans have made to fall down perplexed in the earth? he has companions who call him to the right way, (saying): come to us. say: surely the guidance of allah, that is the (true) guidance, and we are commanded that we should submit to the lord of the worlds. . y: "to establish regular prayers and to fear allah: for it is to him that we shall be gathered together." p: and to establish worship and be dutiful to him, and he it is unto whom ye will be gathered. s: and that you should keep up prayer and be careful of (your duty to) him; and he it is to whom you shall be gathered. . y: it is he who created the heavens and the earth in true (proportions): the day he saith, "be," behold! it is. his word is the truth. his will be the dominion the day the trumpet will be blown. he knoweth the unseen as well as that which is open. for he is the wise, well acquainted (with all things). p: he it is who created the heavens and the earth in truth. in the day when he saith: be! it is. his word is the truth, and his will be the sovereignty on the day when the trumpet is blown. knower of the invisible and the visible, he is the wise, the aware. s: and he it is who has created the heavens and the earth with truth, and on the day he says: be, it is. his word is the truth, and his is the kingdom on the day when the trumpet shall be blown; the knower of the unseen and the seen; and he is the wise, the aware. . y: lo! abraham said to his father azar: "takest thou idols for gods? for i see thee and thy people in manifest error." p: (remember) when abraham said unto his father azar: takest thou idols for gods? lo! i see thee and thy folk in error manifest. s: and when ibrahim said to his sire, azar: do you take idols for gods? surely i see you and your people in manifest error. . y: so also did we show abraham the power and the laws of the heavens and the earth, that he might (with understanding) have certitude. p: thus did we show abraham the kingdom of the heavens and the earth that he might be of those possessing certainty: s: and thus did we show ibrahim the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and that he might be of those who are sure. . y: when the night covered him over, he saw a star: he said: "this is my lord." but when it set, he said: "i love not those that set." p: when the night grew dark upon him he beheld a star. he said: this is my lord. but when it set, he said: i love not things that set. s: so when the night over-shadowed him, he saw a star; said he: is this my lord? so when it set, he said: i do not love the setting ones. . y: when he saw the moon rising in splendour, he said: "this is my lord." but when the moon set, he said: "unless my lord guide me, i shall surely be among those who go astray." p: and when he saw the moon uprising, he exclaimed: this is my lord. but when it set, he said: unless my lord guide me, i surely shall become one of the folk who are astray. s: then when he saw the moon rising, he said: is this my lord? so when it set, he said: if my lord had not guided me i should certainly be of the erring people. . y: when he saw the sun rising in splendour, he said: "this is my lord; this is the greatest (of all)." but when the sun set, he said: "o my people! i am indeed free from your (guilt) of giving partners to allah." p: and when he saw the sun uprising, he cried: this is my lord! this is greater! and when it set he exclaimed: o my people! lo! i am free from all that ye associate (with him). s: then when he saw the sun rising, he said: is this my lord? is this the greatest? so when it set, he said: o my people! surely i am clear of what you set up (with allah). . y: "for me, i have set my face, firmly and truly, towards him who created the heavens and the earth, and never shall i give partners to allah." p: lo! i have turned my face toward him who created the heavens and the earth, as one by nature upright, and i am not of the idolaters. s: surely i have turned myself, being upright, wholly to him who originated the heavens and the earth, and i am not of the polytheists. . y: his people disputed with him. he said: "(come) ye to dispute with me, about allah, when he (himself) hath guided me? i fear not (the beings) ye associate with allah: unless my lord willeth, (nothing can happen). my lord comprehendeth in his knowledge all things. will ye not (yourselves) be admonished?" p: his people argued with him. he said: dispute ye with me concerning allah when he hath guided me? i fear not at all that which ye set up beside him unless my lord willeth aught. my lord includeth all things in his knowledge. will ye not then remember? s: and his people disputed with him. he said: do you dispute with me respecting allah? and he has guided me indeed; and i do not fear in any way those that you set up with him, unless my lord pleases; my lord comprehends all things in his knowledge; will you not then mind? . y: "how should i fear (the beings) ye associate with allah, when ye fear not to give partners to allah without any warrant having been given to you? which of (us) two parties hath more right to security? (tell me) if ye know." p: how should i fear that which ye set up beside him, when ye fear not to set up beside allah that for which he hath revealed unto you no warrant? which of the two factions hath more right to safety? (answer me that) if ye have knowledge. s: and how should i fear what you have set up (with him), while you do not fear that you have set up with allah that for which he has not sent down to you any authority; which then of the two parties is surer of security, if you know? . y: "it is those who believe and confuse not their beliefs with wrong - that are (truly) in security, for they are on (right) guidance." p: those who believe and obscure not their belief by wrongdoing, theirs is safety; and they are rightly guided. s: those who believe and do not mix up their faith with iniquity, those are they who shall have the security and they are those who go aright. . y: that was the reasoning about us, which we gave to abraham (to use) against his people: we raise whom we will, degree after degree: for thy lord is full of wisdom and knowledge. p: that is our argument. we gave it unto abraham against his folk. we raise unto degrees of wisdom whom we will. lo! thy lord is wise, aware. s: and this was our argument which we gave to ibrahim against his people; we exalt in dignity whom we please; surely your lord is wise, knowing. . y: we gave him isaac and jacob: all (three) guided: and before him, we guided noah, and among his progeny, david, solomon, job, joseph, moses, and aaron: thus do we reward those who do good: p: and we bestowed upon him isaac and jacob; each of them we guided; and noah did we guide aforetime; and of his seed (we guided) david and solomon and job and joseph and moses and aaron. thus do we reward the good. s: and we gave to him ishaq and yaqoub; each did we guide, and nuh did we guide before, and of his descendants, dawood and sulaiman and ayub and yusuf and haroun; and thus do we reward those who do good (to others). . y: and zakariya and john, and jesus and elias: all in the ranks of the righteous: p: and zachariah and john and jesus and elias. each one (of them) was of the righteous. s: and zakariya and yahya and isa and ilyas; every one was of the good; . y: and isma'il and elisha, and jonas, and lot: and to all we gave favour above the nations: p: and ishmael and elisha and jonah and lot. each one (of them) did we prefer above (our) creatures, s: and ismail and al-yasha and yunus and lut; and every one we made to excel (in) the worlds: . y: (to them) and to their fathers, and progeny and brethren: we chose them, and we guided them to a straight way. p: with some of their forefathers and their offspring and their brethren; and we chose them and guided them unto a straight path. s: and from among their fathers and their descendants and their brethren, and we chose them and guided them into the right way. . y: this is the guidance of allah: he giveth that guidance to whom he pleaseth, of his worshippers. if they were to join other gods with him, all that they did would be vain for them. p: such is the guidance of allah wherewith he guideth whom he will of his bondmen. but if they had set up (for worship) aught beside him, (all) that they did would have been vain. s: this is allah's guidance, he guides thereby whom he pleases of his servants; and if they had set up others (with him), certainly what they did would have become ineffectual for them. . y: these were the men to whom we gave the book, and authority, and prophethood: if these (their descendants) reject them, behold! we shall entrust their charge to a new people who reject them not. p: those are they unto whom we gave the scripture and command and prophethood. but if these disbelieve therein, then indeed we shall entrust it to a people who will not be disbelievers therein. s: these are they to whom we gave the book and the wisdom and the prophecy; therefore if these disbelieve in it we have already entrusted with it a people who are not disbelievers in it. . y: those were the (prophets) who received allah's guidance: copy the guidance they received; say: "no reward for this do i ask of you: this is no less than a message for the nations." p: those are they whom allah guideth, so follow their guidance. say (o muhammad, unto mankind): i ask of you no fee for it. lo! it is naught but a reminder to (his) creatures. s: these are they whom allah guided, therefore follow their guidance. say: i do not ask you for any reward for it; it is nothing but a reminder to the nations. . y: no just estimate of allah do they make when they say: "nothing doth allah send down to man (by way of revelation)" say: "who then sent down the book which moses brought?- a light and guidance to man: but ye make it into (separate) sheets for show, while ye conceal much (of its contents): therein were ye taught that which ye knew not- neither ye nor your fathers." say: "allah (sent it down)": then leave them to plunge in vain discourse and trifling. p: and they measure not the power of allah its true measure when they say: allah hath naught revealed unto a human being. say (unto the jews who speak thus): who revealed the book which moses brought, a light and guidance for mankind, which ye have put on parchments which ye show, but ye hide much (thereof), and (by which) ye were taught that which ye knew not yourselves nor (did) your fathers (know it)? say: allah. then leave them to their play of cavilling. s: and they do not assign to allah the attributes due to him when they say: allah has not revealed anything to a mortal. say: who revealed the book which musa brought, a light and a guidance to men, which you make into scattered writings which you show while you conceal much? and you were taught what you did not know, (neither) you nor your fathers. say: allah then leave them sporting in their vain discourses. . y: and this is a book which we have sent down, bringing blessings, and confirming (the revelations) which came before it: that thou mayest warn the mother of cities and all around her. those who believe in the hereafter believe in this (book), and they are constant in guarding their prayers. p: and this is a blessed scripture which we have revealed, confirming that which (was revealed) before it, that thou mayst warn the mother of villages and those around her. those who believe in the hereafter believe herein, and they are careful of their worship. s: and this is a book we have revealed, blessed, verifying that which is before it, and that you may warn the metropolis and those around her; and those who believe in the hereafter believe in it, and they attend to their prayers constantly. . y: who can be more wicked than one who inventeth a lie against allah, or saith, "i have received inspiration," when he hath received none, or (again) who saith, "i can reveal the like of what allah hath revealed"? if thou couldst but see how the wicked (do fare) in the flood of confusion at death! - the angels stretch forth their hands, (saying), "yield up your souls: this day shall ye receive your reward,- a penalty of shame, for that ye used to tell lies against allah, and scornfully to reject of his signs!" p: who is guilty of more wrong than he who forgeth a lie against allah, or saith: i am inspired, when he is not inspired in aught; and who saith: i will reveal the like of that which allah hath revealed? if thou couldst see, when the wrong-doers reach the pangs of death and the angels stretch their hands out (saying): deliver up your souls. this day ye are awarded doom of degradation for that ye spake concerning allah other than the truth, and used to scorn his portents. s: and who is more unjust than he who forges a lie against allah, or says: it has been revealed to me; while nothing has been revealed to him, and he who says: i can reveal the like of what allah has revealed? and if you had seen when the unjust shall be in the agonies of death and the angels shall spread forth their hands: give up your souls; today shall you be recompensed with an ignominious chastisement because you spoke against allah other than the truth and (because) you showed pride against his communications. . y: "and behold! ye come to us bare and alone as we created you for the first time: ye have left behind you all (the favours) which we bestowed on you: we see not with you your intercessors whom ye thought to be partners in your affairs: so now all relations between you have been cut off, and your (pet) fancies have left you in the lurch!" p: now have ye come unto us solitary as we did create you at the first, and ye have left behind you all that we bestowed upon you, and we behold not with you those your intercessors, of whom ye claimed that they possessed a share in you. now is the bond between you severed, and that which ye presumed hath failed you. s: and certainly you have come to us alone as we created you at first, and you have left behind your backs the things which we gave you, and we do not see with you your intercessors about whom you asserted that they were (allah's) associates in respect to you; certainly the ties between you are now cut off and what you asserted is gone from you. . y: it is allah who causeth the seed-grain and the date-stone to split and sprout. he causeth the living to issue from the dead, and he is the one to cause the dead to issue from the living. that is allah: then how are ye deluded away from the truth? p: lo! allah (it is) who splitteth the grain of corn and the date-stone (for sprouting). he bringeth forth the living from the dead, and is the bringer-forth of the dead from the living. such is allah. how then are ye perverted? s: surely allah causes the grain and the stone to germinate; he brings forth the living from the dead and he is the bringer forth of the dead from the living; that is allah! how are you then turned away. . y: he it is that cleaveth the day-break (from the dark): he makes the night for rest and tranquillity, and the sun and moon for the reckoning (of time): such is the judgment and ordering of (him), the exalted in power, the omniscient. p: he is the cleaver of the daybreak, and he hath appointed the night for stillness, and the sun and the moon for reckoning. that is the measuring of the mighty, the wise. s: he causes the dawn to break; and he has made the night for rest, and the sun and the moon for reckoning; this is an arrangement of the mighty, the knowing. . y: it is he who maketh the stars (as beacons) for you, that ye may guide yourselves, with their help, through the dark spaces of land and sea: we detail our signs for people who know. p: and he it is who hath set for you the stars that ye may guide your course by them amid the darkness of the land and the sea. we have detailed our revelations for a people who have knowledge. s: and he it is who has made the stars for you that you might follow the right way thereby in the darkness of the land and the sea; truly we have made plain the communications for a people who know. . y: it is he who hath produced you from a single person: here is a place of sojourn and a place of departure: we detail our signs for people who understand. p: and he it is who hath produced you from a single being, and (hath given you) a habitation and a repository. we have detailed our revelations for a people who have understanding. s: and he it is who has brought you into being from a single soul, then there is (for you) a resting-place and a depository; indeed we have made plain the communications for a people who understand. . y: it is he who sendeth down rain from the skies: with it we produce vegetation of all kinds: from some we produce green (crops), out of which we produce grain, heaped up (at harvest); out of the date-palm and its sheaths (or spathes) (come) clusters of dates hanging low and near: and (then there are) gardens of grapes, and olives, and pomegranates, each similar (in kind) yet different (in variety): when they begin to bear fruit, feast your eyes with the fruit and the ripeness thereof. behold! in these things there are signs for people who believe. p: he it is who sendeth down water from the sky, and therewith we bring forth buds of every kind; we bring forth the green blade from which we bring forth the thick-clustered grain; and from the date-palm, from the pollen thereof, spring pendant bunches; and (we bring forth) gardens of grapes, and the olive and the pomegranate, alike and unlike. look upon the fruit thereof, when they bear fruit, and upon its ripening. lo! herein verily are portents for a people who believe. s: and he it is who sends down water from the cloud, then we bring forth with it buds of all (plants), then we bring forth from it green (foliage) from which we produce grain piled up (in the ear); and of the palm-tree, of the sheaths of it, come forth clusters (of dates) within reach, and gardens of grapes and olives and pomegranates, alike and unlike; behold the fruit of it when it yields the fruit and the ripening of it; most surely there are signs in this for a people who believe. . y: yet they make the jinns equals with allah, though allah did create the jinns; and they falsely, having no knowledge, attribute to him sons and daughters. praise and glory be to him! (for he is) above what they attribute to him! p: yet they ascribe as partners unto him the jinn, although he did create them, and impute falsely, without knowledge, sons and daughters unto him. glorified be he and high exalted above (all) that they ascribe (unto him). s: and they make the jinn associates with allah, while he created them, and they falsely attribute to him sons and daughters without knowledge; glory be to him, and highly exalted is he above what they ascribe (to him). . y: to him is due the primal origin of the heavens and the earth: how can he have a son when he hath no consort? he created all things, and he hath full knowledge of all things. p: the originator of the heavens and the earth! how can he have a child, when there is for him no consort, when he created all things and is aware of all things? s: wonderful originator of the heavens and the earth! how could he have a son when he has no consort, and he (himself) created everything, and he is the knower of all things. . y: that is allah, your lord! there is no god but he, the creator of all things: then worship ye him: and he hath power to dispose of all affairs. p: such is allah, your lord. there is no god save him, the creator of all things, so worship him. and he taketh care of all things. s: that is allah, your lord, there is no god but he; the creator of all things, therefore serve him, and he has charge of all things. . y: no vision can grasp him, but his grasp is over all vision: he is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things. p: vision comprehendeth him not, but he comprehendeth (all) vision. he is the subtle, the aware. s: vision comprehends him not, and he comprehends (all) vision; and he is the knower of subtleties, the aware. . y: "now have come to you, from your lord, proofs (to open your eyes): if any will see, it will be for (the good of) his own soul; if any will be blind, it will be to his own (harm): i am not (here) to watch over your doings." p: proofs have come unto you from your lord, so whoso seeth, it is for his own good, and whoso is blind is blind to his own hurt. and i am not a keeper over you. s: indeed there have come to you clear proofs from your lord; whoever will therefore see, it is for his own soul and whoever will be blind, it shall be against himself and i am not a keeper over you. . y: thus do we explain the signs by various (symbols): that they may say, "thou hast taught (us) diligently," and that we may make the matter clear to those who know. p: thus do we display our revelations that they may say (unto thee, muhammad): "thou hast studied," and that we may make (it) clear for people who have knowledge. s: and thus do we repeat the communications and that they may say: you have read; and that we may make it clear to a people who know. . y: follow what thou art taught by inspiration from thy lord: there is no god but he: and turn aside from those who join gods with allah. p: follow that which is inspired in thee from thy lord; there is no allah save him; and turn away from the idolaters. s: follow what is revealed to you from your lord; there is no god but he; and withdraw from the polytheists. . y: if it had been allah's plan, they would not have taken false gods: but we made thee not one to watch over their doings, nor art thou set over them to dispose of their affairs. p: had allah willed, they had not been idolatrous. we have not set thee as a keeper over them, nor art thou responsible for them. s: and if allah had pleased, they would not have set up others (with him) and we have not appointed you a keeper over them, and you are not placed in charge of them. . y: revile not ye those whom they call upon besides allah, lest they out of spite revile allah in their ignorance. thus have we made alluring to each people its own doings. in the end will they return to their lord, and we shall then tell them the truth of all that they did. p: revile not those unto whom they pray beside allah lest they wrongfully revile allah through ignorance. thus unto every nation have we made their deed seem fair. then unto their lord is their return, and he will tell them what they used to do. s: and do not abuse those whom they call upon besides allah, lest exceeding the limits they should abuse allah out of ignorance. thus have we made fair seeming to every people their deeds; then to their lord shall be their return, so he will inform them of what they did. . y: they swear their strongest oaths by allah, that if a (special) sign came to them, by it they would believe. say: "certainly (all) signs are in the power of allah: but what will make you (muslims) realise that (even) if (special) signs came, they will not believe."? p: and they swear a solemn oath by allah that if there come unto them a portent they will believe therein. say; portents are with allah and (so is) that which telleth you that if such came unto them they would not believe. s: and they swear by allah with the strongest of their oaths, that if a sign came to them they would most certainly believe in it. say: signs are only with allah; and what should make you know that when it comes they will not believe? . y: we (too) shall turn to (confusion) their hearts and their eyes, even as they refused to believe in this in the first instance: we shall leave them in their trespasses, to wander in distraction. p: we confound their hearts and their eyes. as they believed not therein at the first, we let them wander blindly on in their contumacy. s: and we will turn their hearts and their sights, even as they did not believe in it the first time, and we will leave them in their inordinacy, blindly wandering on. . y: even if we did send unto them angels, and the dead did speak unto them, and we gathered together all things before their very eyes, they are not the ones to believe, unless it is in allah's plan. but most of them ignore (the truth). p: and though we should send down the angels unto them, and the dead should speak unto them, and we should gather against them all things in array, they would not believe unless allah so willed. howbeit, most of them are ignorant. s: and even if we had sent down to them the angels and the dead had spoken to them and we had brought together all things before them, they would not believe unless allah pleases, but most of them are ignorant. . y: likewise did we make for every messenger an enemy,- evil ones among men and jinns, inspiring each other with flowery discourses by way of deception. if thy lord had so planned, they would not have done it: so leave them and their inventions alone. p: thus have we appointed unto every prophet an adversary - devils of humankind and jinn who inspire in one another plausible discourse through guile. if thy lord willed, they would not do so; so leave them alone with their devising; s: and thus did we make for every prophet an enemy, the shaitans from among men and jinn, some of them suggesting to others varnished falsehood to deceive (them), and had your lord pleased they would not have done it, therefore leave them and that which they forge. . y: to such (deceit) let the hearts of those incline, who have no faith in the hereafter: let them delight in it, and let them earn from it what they may. p: that the hearts of those who believe not in the hereafter may incline thereto, and that they may take pleasure therein, and that they may earn what they are earning. s: and that the hearts of those who do not believe in the hereafter may incline to it and that they may be well pleased with it and that they may earn what they are going to earn (of evil). . y: say: "shall i seek for judge other than allah? - when he it is who hath sent unto you the book, explained in detail." they know full well, to whom we have given the book, that it hath been sent down from thy lord in truth. never be then of those who doubt. p: shall i seek other than allah for judge, when he it is who hath revealed unto you (this) scripture, fully explained? those unto whom we gave the scripture (aforetime) know that it is revealed from thy lord in truth. so be not thou (o muhammad) of the waverers. s: shall i then seek a judge other than allah? and he it is who has revealed to you the book (which is) made plain; and those whom we have given the book know that it is revealed by your lord with truth, therefore you should not be of the disputers. . y: the word of thy lord doth find its fulfilment in truth and in justice: none can change his words: for he is the one who heareth and knoweth all. p: perfected is the word of thy lord in truth and justice. there is naught that can change his words. he is the hearer, the knower. s: and the word of your lord has been accomplished truly and justly; there is none who can change his words, and he is the hearing, the knowing. . y: wert thou to follow the common run of those on earth, they will lead thee away from the way of allah. they follow nothing but conjecture: they do nothing but lie. p: if thou obeyedst most of those on earth they would mislead thee far from allah's way. they follow naught but an opinion, and they do but guess. s: and if you obey most of those in the earth, they will lead you astray from allah's way; they follow but conjecture and they only lie. . y: thy lord knoweth best who strayeth from his way: he knoweth best who they are that receive his guidance. p: lo! thy lord, he knoweth best who erreth from his way; and he knoweth best (who are) the rightly guided. s: surely your lord-- he best knows who goes astray from his way, and he best knows those who follow the right course. . y: so eat of (meats) on which allah's name hath been pronounced, if ye have faith in his signs. p: eat of that over which the name of allah hath been mentioned, if ye are believers in his revelations. s: therefore eat of that on which allah's name has been mentioned if you are believers in his communications. . y: why should ye not eat of (meats) on which allah's name hath been pronounced, when he hath explained to you in detail what is forbidden to you - except under compulsion of necessity? but many do mislead (men) by their appetites unchecked by knowledge. thy lord knoweth best those who transgress. p: how should ye not eat of that over which the name of allah hath been mentioned, when he hath explained unto you that which is forbidden unto you unless ye are compelled thereto. but lo! many are led astray by their own lusts through ignorance. lo! thy lord, he is best aware of the transgressors. s: and what reason have you that you should not eat of that on which allah's name has been mentioned, and he has already made plain to you what he has forbidden to you-- excepting what you are compelled to; and most surely many would lead (people) astray by their low desires out of ignorance; surely your lord-- he best knows those who exceed the limits. . y: eschew all sin, open or secret: those who earn sin will get due recompense for their "earnings." p: forsake the outwardness of sin and the inwardness thereof. lo! those who garner sin will be awarded that which they have earned. s: and abandon open and secret sin; surely they who earn sin shall be recompensed with what they earned. . y: eat not of (meats) on which allah's name hath not been pronounced: that would be impiety. but the evil ones ever inspire their friends to contend with you if ye were to obey them, ye would indeed be pagans. p: and eat not of that whereon allah's name hath not been mentioned, for lo! it is abomination. lo! the devils do inspire their minions to dispute with you. but if ye obey them, ye will be in truth idolaters. s: and do not eat of that on which allah's name has not been mentioned, and that is most surely a transgression; and most surely the shaitans suggest to their friends that they should contend with you; and if you obey them, you shall most surely be polytheists. . y: can he who was dead, to whom we gave life, and a light whereby he can walk amongst men, be like him who is in the depths of darkness, from which he can never come out? thus to those without faith their own deeds seem pleasing. p: is he who was dead and we have raised him unto life, and set for him a light wherein he walketh among men, as him whose similitude is in utter darkness whence he cannot emerge? thus is their conduct made fairseeming for the disbelievers. s: is he who was dead then we raised him to life and made for him a light by which he walks among the people, like him whose likeness is that of one in utter darkness whence he cannot come forth? thus what they did was made fair seeming to the unbelievers. . y: thus have we placed leaders in every town, its wicked men, to plot (and burrow) therein: but they only plot against their own souls, and they perceive it not. p: and thus have we made in every city great ones of its wicked ones, that they should plot therein. they do but plot against themselves, though they perceive not. s: and thus have we made in every town the great ones to be its guilty ones, that they may plan therein; and they do not plan but against their own souls, and they do not perceive. . y: when there comes to them a sign (from allah), they say: "we shall not believe until we receive one (exactly) like those received by allah's messengers." allah knoweth best where (and how) to carry out his mission. soon will the wicked be overtaken by humiliation before allah, and a severe punishment, for all their plots. p: and when a token cometh unto them, they say: we will not believe till we are given that which allah's messengers are given. allah knoweth best with whom to place his message. humiliation from allah and heavy punishment will smite the guilty for their scheming. s: and when a communication comes to them they say: we will not believe till we are given the like of what allah's messengers are given. allah best knows where he places his message. there shall befall those who are guilty humiliation from allah and severe chastisement because of what they planned. . y: those whom allah (in his plan) willeth to guide,- he openeth their breast to islam; those whom he willeth to leave straying,- he maketh their breast close and constricted, as if they had to climb up to the skies: thus doth allah (heap) the penalty on those who refuse to believe. p: and whomsoever it is allah's will to guide, he expandeth his bosom unto the surrender, and whomsoever it is his will to send astray, he maketh his bosom close and narrow as if he were engaged in sheer ascent. thus allah layeth ignominy upon those who believe not. s: therefore (for) whomsoever allah intends that he would guide him aright, he expands his breast for islam, and (for) whomsoever he intends that he should cause him to err, he makes his breast strait and narrow as though he were ascending upwards; thus does allah lay uncleanness on those who do not believe. . y: this is the way of thy lord, leading straight: we have detailed the signs for those who receive admonition. p: this is the path of thy lord, a straight path. we have detailed our revelations for a people who take heed. s: and this is the path of your lord, (a) right (path); indeed we have made the communications clear for a people who mind. . y: for them will be a home of peace in the presence of their lord: he will be their friend, because they practised (righteousness). p: for them is the abode of peace with their lord. he will be their protecting friend because of what they used to do. s: they shall have the abode of peace with their lord, and he is their guardian because of what they did. . y: one day will he gather them all together, (and say): "o ye assembly of jinns! much (toll) did ye take of men." their friends amongst men will say: "our lord! we made profit from each other: but (alas!) we reached our term - which thou didst appoint for us." he will say: "the fire be your dwelling-place: you will dwell therein for ever, except as allah willeth." for thy lord is full of wisdom and knowledge. p: in the day when he will gather them together (he will say): o ye assembly of the jinn! many of humankind did ye seduce. and their adherents among humankind will say: our lord! we enjoyed one another, but now we have arrived at the appointed term which thou appointedst for us. he will say: fire is your home. abide therein for ever, save him whom allah willeth (to deliver). lo! thy lord is wise, aware. s: and on the day when he shall gather them all together: o assembly of jinn! you took away a great part of mankind. and their friends from among the men shall say: our lord! some of us profited by others and we have reached our appointed term which thou didst appoint for us. he shall say: the fire is your abode, to abide in it, except as allah is pleased; surely your lord is wise, knowing. . y: thus do we make the wrong-doers turn to each other, because of what they earn. p: thus we let some of the wrong-doers have power over others because of what they are wont to earn. s: and thus do we make some of the iniquitous to befriend others on account of what they earned. . y: "o ye assembly of jinns and men! came there not unto you messengers from amongst you, setting forth unto you my signs, and warning you of the meeting of this day of yours?" they will say: "we bear witness against ourselves." it was the life of this world that deceived them. so against themselves will they bear witness that they rejected faith. p: o ye assembly of the jinn and humankind! came there not unto you messengers of your own who recounted unto you my tokens and warned you of the meeting of this your day? they will say: we testify against ourselves. and the life of the world beguiled them. and they testify against themselves that they were disbelievers. s: o assembly of jinn and men! did there not come to you messengers from among you, relating to you my communications and warning you of the meeting of this day of yours? they shall say: we bear witness against ourselves; and this world's life deceived them, and they shall bear witness against their own souls that they were unbelievers. . y: (the messengers were sent) thus, for thy lord would not destroy for their wrong-doing men's habitations whilst their occupants were unwarned. p: this is because thy lord destroyeth not the townships arbitrarily while their people are unconscious (of the wrong they do). s: this is because your lord would not destroy towns unjustly while their people were negligent. . y: to all are degrees (or ranks) according to their deeds: for thy lord is not unmindful of anything that they do. p: for all there will be ranks from what they did. thy lord is not unaware of what they do. s: and all have degrees according to what they do; and your lord is not heedless of what they do. . y: thy lord is self-sufficient, full of mercy: if it were his will, he could destroy you, and in your place appoint whom he will as your successors, even as he raised you up from the posterity of other people. p: thy lord is the absolute, the lord of mercy. if he will, he can remove you and can cause what he will to follow after you, even as he raised you from the seed of other folk. s: and your lord is the self-sufficient one, the lord of mercy; if he pleases, he may take you off, and make whom he pleases successors after you, even as he raised you up from the seed of another people. . y: all that hath been promised unto you will come to pass: nor can ye frustrate it (in the least bit). p: lo! that which ye are promised will surely come to pass, and ye cannot escape. s: surely what you are threatened with must come to pass and you cannot escape (it). . y: say: "o my people! do whatever ye can: i will do (my part): soon will ye know who it is whose end will be (best) in the hereafter: certain it is that the wrong-doers will not prosper." p: say (o muhammad): o my people! work according to your power. lo! i too am working. thus ye will come to know for which of us will be the happy sequel. lo! the wrong-doers will not be successful. s: say: o my people! act according to your ability; i too am acting; so you will soon come to know, for whom (of us) will be the (good) end of the abode; surely the unjust shall not be successful. . y: out of what allah hath produced in abundance in tilth and in cattle, they assigned him a share: they say, according to their fancies: "this is for allah, and this" - for our "partners"! but the share of their "partners" reacheth not allah, whilst the share of allah reacheth their "partners"! evil (and unjust) is their assignment! p: they assign unto allah, of the crops and cattle which he created, a portion, and they say: "this is allah's" - in their make-believe - "and this is for (his) partners in regard to us." thus that which (they assign) unto his partners in them reacheth not allah and that which (they assign) unto allah goeth to their (so-called) partners. evil is their ordinance. s: and they set apart a portion for allah out of what he has created of tilth and cattle, and say: this is for allah-- so they assert-- and this for our associates; then what is for their associates, it reaches not to allah, and whatever is (set apart) for allah, it reaches to their associates; evil is that which they judge. . y: even so, in the eyes of most of the pagans, their "partners" made alluring the slaughter of their children, in order to lead them to their own destruction, and cause confusion in their religion. if allah had willed, they would not have done so: but leave alone them and their inventions. p: thus have their (so-called) partners (of allah) made the killing of their children to seem fair unto many of the idolaters, that they may ruin them and make their faith obscure for them. had allah willed (it otherwise), they had not done so. so leave them alone with their devices. s: and thus their associates have made fair seeming to most of the polytheists the killing of their children, that they may cause them to perish and obscure for them their religion; and if allah had pleased, they would not have done it, therefore leave them and that which they forge. . y: and they say that such and such cattle and crops are taboo, and none should eat of them except those whom - so they say - we wish; further, there are cattle forbidden to yoke or burden, and cattle on which, (at slaughter), the name of allah is not pronounced; - inventions against allah's name: soon will he requite them for their inventions. p: and they say: such cattle and crops are forbidden. no-one is to eat of them save whom we will - in their make-believe - cattle whose backs are forbidden, cattle over which they mention not the name of allah. (all that is) a lie against him. he will repay them for that which they invent. s: and they say: these are cattle and tilth prohibited, none shall eat them except such as we please-- so they assert-- and cattle whose backs are forbidden, and cattle on which they would not mention allah's name-- forging a lie against him; he shall requite them for what they forged. . y: they say: "what is in the wombs of such and such cattle is specially reserved (for food) for our men, and forbidden to our women; but if it is still-born, then all have share therein." for their (false) attribution (of superstitions to allah), he will soon punish them: for he is full of wisdom and knowledge. p: and they say: that which is in the bellies of such cattle is reserved for our males and is forbidden to our wives; but if it be born dead, then they (all) may be partakers thereof. he will reward them for their attribution (of such ordinances unto him). lo, he is wise, aware. s: and they say: what is in the wombs of these cattle is specially for our males, and forbidden to our wives, and if it be stillborn, then they are all partners in it; he will reward them for their attributing (falsehood to allah); surely he is wise, knowing. . y: lost are those who slay their children, from folly, without knowledge, and forbid food which allah hath provided for them, inventing (lies) against allah. they have indeed gone astray and heeded no guidance. p: they are losers who besottedly have slain their children without knowledge, and have forbidden that which allah bestowed upon them, inventing a lie against allah. they indeed have gone astray and are not guided. s: they are lost indeed who kill their children foolishly without knowledge, and forbid what allah has given to them forging a lie against allah; they have indeed gone astray, and they are not the followers of the right course. . y: it is he who produceth gardens, with trellises and without, and dates, and tilth with produce of all kinds, and olives and pomegranates, similar (in kind) and different (in variety): eat of their fruit in their season, but render the dues that are proper on the day that the harvest is gathered. but waste not by excess: for allah loveth not the wasters. p: he it is who produceth gardens trellised and untrellised, and the date-palm, and crops of divers flavour, and the olive and the pomegranate, like and unlike. eat ye of the fruit thereof when it fruiteth, and pay the due thereof upon the harvest day, and be not prodigal. lo! allah loveth not the prodigals. s: and he it is who produces gardens (of vine), trellised and untrellised, and palms and seed-produce of which the fruits are of various sorts, and olives and pomegranates, like and unlike; eat of its fruit when it bears fruit, and pay the due of it on the day of its reaping, and do not act extravagantly; surely he does not love the extravagant. . y: of the cattle are some for burden and some for meat: eat what allah hath provided for you, and follow not the footsteps of satan: for he is to you and avowed enemy. p: and of the cattle (he produceth) some for burdens, some for food. eat of that which allah hath bestowed upon you, and follow not the footsteps of the devil, for lo! he is an open foe to you. s: and of cattle (he created) beasts of burden and those which are fit for slaughter only; eat of what allah has given you and do not follow the footsteps of the shaitan; surely he is your open enemy. . y: (take) eight (head of cattle) in (four) pairs: of sheep a pair, and of goats a pair; say, hath he forbidden the two males, or the two females, or (the young) which the wombs of the two females enclose? tell me with knowledge if ye are truthful: p: eight pairs: of the sheep twain, and of the goats twain. say: hath he forbidden the two males or the two females, or that which the wombs of the two females contain? expound to me (the case) with knowledge, if ye are truthful. s: eight in pairs-- two of sheep and two of goats. say: has he forbidden the two males or the two females or that which the wombs of the two females contain? inform me with knowledge if you are truthful. . y: of camels a pair, and oxen a pair; say, hath he forbidden the two males, or the two females, or (the young) which the wombs of the two females enclose? - were ye present when allah ordered you such a thing? but who doth more wrong than one who invents a lie against allah, to lead astray men without knowledge? for allah guideth not people who do wrong. p: and of the camels twain and of the oxen twain. say: hath he forbidden the two males or the two females, or that which the wombs of the two females contain; or were ye by to witness when allah commanded you (all) this? then who doth greater wrong than he who deviseth a lie concerning allah, that he may lead mankind astray without knowledge. lo! allah guideth not wrongdoing folk. s: and two of camels and two of cows. say: has he forbidden the two males or the two females or that which the wombs of the two females contain? or were you witnesses when allah enjoined you this? who, then, is more unjust than he who forges a lie against allah that he should lead astray men without knowledge? surely allah does not guide the unjust people. . y: say: "i find not in the message received by me by inspiration any (meat) forbidden to be eaten by one who wishes to eat it, unless it be dead meat, or blood poured forth, or the flesh of swine,- for it is an abomination - or, what is impious, (meat) on which a name has been invoked, other than allah's". but (even so), if a person is forced by necessity, without wilful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits,- thy lord is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: say: i find not in that which is revealed unto me aught prohibited to an eater that he eat thereof, except it be carrion, or blood poured forth, or swineflesh - for that verily is foul - or the abomination which was immolated to the name of other than allah. but whoso is compelled (thereto), neither craving nor transgressing, (for him) lo! thy lord is forgiving, merciful. s: say: i do not find in that which has been revealed to me anything forbidden for an eater to eat of except that it be what has died of itself, or blood poured forth, or flesh of swine-- for that surely is unclean-- or that which is a transgression, other than (the name of) allah having been invoked on it; but whoever is driven to necessity, not desiring nor exceeding the limit, then surely your lord is forgiving, merciful. . y: for those who followed the jewish law, we forbade every (animal) with undivided hoof, and we forbade them that fat of the ox and the sheep, except what adheres to their backs or their entrails, or is mixed up with a bone: this in recompense for their wilful disobedience: for we are true (in our ordinances). p: unto those who are jews we forbade every animal with claws. and of the oxen and the sheep forbade we unto them the fat thereof save that upon the backs or the entrails, or that which is mixed with the bone. that we awarded them for their rebellion. and lo! we verily are truthful. s: and to those who were jews we made unlawful every animal having claws, and of oxen and sheep we made unlawful to them the fat of both, except such as was on their backs or the entrails or what was mixed with bones: this was a punishment we gave them on account of their rebellion, and we are surely truthful. . y: if they accuse thee of falsehood, say: "your lord is full of mercy all-embracing; but from people in guilt never will his wrath be turned back." p: so if they give the lie to thee (muhammad), say: your lord is a lord of all-embracing mercy, and his wrath will never be withdrawn from guilty folk. s: but if they give you the lie, then say: your lord is the lord of all-encompassing mercy; and his punishment cannot be averted from the guilty people. . y: those who give partners (to allah) will say: "if allah had wished, we should not have given partners to him nor would our fathers; nor should we have had any taboos." so did their ancestors argue falsely, until they tasted of our wrath. say: "have ye any (certain) knowledge? if so, produce it before us. ye follow nothing but conjecture: ye do nothing but lie." p: they who are idolaters will say: had allah willed, we had not ascribed (unto him) partners neither had our fathers, nor had we forbidden aught. thus did those who were before them give the lie (to allah's messengers) till they tasted of the fear of us. say: have ye any knowledge that ye can adduce for us? lo! ye follow naught but an opinion, lo! ye do but guess. s: those who are polytheists will say: if allah had pleased we would not have associated (aught with him) nor our fathers, nor would we have forbidden (to ourselves) anything; even so did those before them reject until they tasted our punishment. say: have you any knowledge with you so you should bring it forth to us? you only follow a conjecture and you only tell lies. . y: say: "with allah is the argument that reaches home: if it had been his will, he could indeed have guided you all." p: say - for allah's is the final argument - had he willed he could indeed have guided all of you. s: say: then allah's is the conclusive argument; so if he please, he would certainly guide you all. . y: say: "bring forward your witnesses to prove that allah did forbid so and so." if they bring such witnesses, be not thou amongst them: nor follow thou the vain desires of such as treat our signs as falsehoods, and such as believe not in the hereafter: for they hold others as equal with their guardian-lord. p: say: come, bring your witnesses who can bear witness that allah forbade (all) this. and if they bear witness, do not thou bear witness with them. follow thou not the whims of those who deny our revelations, those who believe not in the hereafter and deem (others) equal with their lord. s: say: bring your witnesses who should bear witness that allah has forbidden this, then if they bear witness, do not bear witness with them; and follow not the low desires of those who reject our communications and of those who do not believe in the hereafter, and they make (others) equal to their lord. . y: say: "come, i will rehearse what allah hath (really) prohibited you from": join not anything as equal with him; be good to your parents; kill not your children on a plea of want;- we provide sustenance for you and for them;- come not nigh to shameful deeds. whether open or secret; take not life, which allah hath made sacred, except by way of justice and law: thus doth he command you, that ye may learn wisdom. p: say: come, i will recite unto you that which your lord hath made a sacred duty for you: that ye ascribe no thing as partner unto him and that ye do good to parents, and that ye slay not your children because of penury - we provide for you and for them - and that ye draw not nigh to lewd things whether open or concealed. and that ye slay not the life which allah hath made sacred, save in the course of justice. this he hath command you, in order that ye may discern. s: say: come i will recite what your lord has forbidden to you-- (remember) that you do not associate anything with him and show kindness to your parents, and do not slay your children for (fear of) poverty-- we provide for you and for them-- and do not draw nigh to indecencies, those of them which are apparent and those which are concealed, and do not kill the soul which allah has forbidden except for the requirements of justice; this he has enjoined you with that you may understand. . y: and come not nigh to the orphan's property, except to improve it, until he attain the age of full strength; give measure and weight with (full) justice;- no burden do we place on any soul, but that which it can bear;- whenever ye speak, speak justly, even if a near relative is concerned; and fulfil the covenant of allah: thus doth he command you, that ye may remember. p: and approach not the wealth of the orphan save with that which is better, till he reach maturity. give full measure and full weight, in justice. we task not any soul beyond its scope. and if ye give your word, do justice thereunto, even though it be (against) a kinsman; and fulfil the covenant of allah. this he commandeth you that haply ye may remember. s: and do not approach the property of the orphan except in the best manner until he attains his maturity, and give full measure and weight with justice-- we do not impose on any soul a duty except to the extent of its ability; and when you speak, then be just though it be (against) a relative, and fulfill allah's covenant; this he has enjoined you with that you may be mindful; . y: verily, this is my way, leading straight: follow it: follow not (other) paths: they will scatter you about from his (great) path: thus doth he command you, that ye may be righteous. p: and (he commandeth you, saying): this is my straight path, so follow it. follow not other ways, lest ye be parted from his way. this hath he ordained for you, that ye may ward off (evil). s: and (know) that this is my path, the right one therefore follow it, and follow not (other) ways, for they will lead you away from his way; this he has enjoined you with that you may guard (against evil). . y: moreover, we gave moses the book, completing (our favour) to those who would do right, and explaining all things in detail,- and a guide and a mercy, that they might believe in the meeting with their lord. p: again, we gave the scripture unto moses, complete for him who would do good, an explanation of all things, a guidance and a mercy, that they might believe in the meeting with their lord. s: again, we gave the book to musa to complete (our blessings) on him who would do good (to others), and making plain all things and a guidance and a mercy, so that they should believe in the meeting of their lord. . y: and this is a book which we have revealed as a blessing: so follow it and be righteous, that ye may receive mercy: p: and this is a blessed scripture which we have revealed. so follow it and ward off (evil), that ye may find mercy. s: and this is a book we have revealed, blessed; therefore follow it and guard (against evil) that mercy may be shown to you. . y: lest ye should say: "the book was sent down to two peoples before us, and for our part, we remained unacquainted with all that they learned by assiduous study:" p: lest ye should say: the scripture was revealed only to two sects before us, and we in sooth were unaware of what they read; s: lest you say that the book was only revealed to two parties before us and we were truly unaware of what they read. . y: or lest ye should say: "if the book had only been sent down to us, we should have followed its guidance better than they." now then hath come unto you a clear (sign) from your lord,- and a guide and a mercy: then who could do more wrong than one who rejecteth allah's signs, and turneth away therefrom? in good time shall we requite those who turn away from our signs, with a dreadful penalty, for their turning away. p: or lest ye should say: if the scripture had been revealed unto us, we surely had been better guided than are they. now hath there come unto you a clear proof from your lord, a guidance and mercy; and who doeth greater wrong than he who denieth the revelations of allah, and turneth away from them? we award unto those who turn away from our revelations an evil doom because of their aversion. s: or lest you should say: if the book had been revealed to us, we would certainly have been better guided than they, so indeed there has come to you clear proof from your lord, and guidance and mercy. who then is more unjust than he who rejects allah's communications and turns away from them? we will reward those who turn away from our communications with an evil chastisement because they turned away. . y: are they waiting to see if the angels come to them, or thy lord (himself), or certain of the signs of thy lord! the day that certain of the signs of thy lord do come, no good will it do to a soul to believe in them then if it believed not before nor earned righteousness through its faith. say: "wait ye: we too are waiting." p: wait they, indeed, for nothing less than that the angels should come unto them, or thy lord should come, or there should come one of the portents from thy lord? in the day when one of the portents from thy lord cometh, its belief availeth naught a soul which theretofore believed not, nor in its belief earned good (by works). say: wait ye! lo! we (too) are waiting. s: they do not wait aught but that the angels should come to them, or that your lord should come, or that some of the signs of your lord should come. on the day when some of the signs of your lord shall come, its faith shall not profit a soul which did not believe before, or earn good through its faith. say: wait; we too are waiting. . y: as for those who divide their religion and break up into sects, thou hast no part in them in the least: their affair is with allah: he will in the end tell them the truth of all that they did. p: lo! as for those who sunder their religion and become schismatics, no concern at all hast thou with them. their case will go to allah, who then will tell them what they used to do. s: surely they who divided their religion into parts and became sects, you have no concern with them; their affair is only with allah, then he will inform them of what they did. . y: he that doeth good shall have ten times as much to his credit: he that doeth evil shall only be recompensed according to his evil: no wrong shall be done unto (any of) them. p: whoso bringeth a good deed will receive tenfold the like thereof, while whoso bringeth an ill-deed will be awarded but the like thereof; and they will not be wronged. s: whoever brings a good deed, he shall have ten like it, and whoever brings an evil deed, he shall be recompensed only with the like of it, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly. . y: say: "verily, my lord hath guided me to a way that is straight,- a religion of right,- the path (trod) by abraham the true in faith, and he (certainly) joined not gods with allah." p: say: lo! as for me, my lord hath guided me unto a straight path, a right religion, the community of abraham, the upright, who was no idolater. s: say: surely, (as for) me, my lord has guided me to the right path; (to) a most right religion, the faith of ibrahim the upright one, and he was not of the polytheists. . y: say: "truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death, are (all) for allah, the cherisher of the worlds:" p: say: lo! my worship and my sacrifice and my living and my dying are for allah, lord of the worlds. s: say. surely my prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are (all) for allah, the lord of the worlds; . y: no partner hath he: this am i commanded, and i am the first of those who bow to his will. p: he hath no partner. this am i commanded, and i am first of those who surrender (unto him). s: no associate has he; and this am i commanded, and i am the first of those who submit. . y: say: "shall i seek for (my) cherisher other than allah, when he is the cherisher of all things (that exist)? every soul draws the meed of its acts on none but itself: no bearer of burdens can bear of burdens can bear the burden of another. your goal in the end is towards allah: he will tell you the truth of the things wherein ye disputed." p: say: shall i seek another than allah for lord, when he is lord of all things? each soul earneth only on its own account, nor doth any laden bear another's load. then unto your lord is your return and he will tell you that wherein ye differed. s: say: what! shall i seek a lord other than allah? and he is the lord of all things; and no soul earns (evil) but against itself, and no bearer of burden shall bear the burden of another; then to your lord is your return, so he will inform you of that in which you differed. . y: it is he who hath made you (his) agents, inheritors of the earth: he hath raised you in ranks, some above others: that he may try you in the gifts he hath given you: for thy lord is quick in punishment: yet he is indeed oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: he it is who hath placed you as viceroys of the earth and hath exalted some of you in rank above others, that he may try you by (the test of) that which he hath given you. lo! thy lord is swift in prosecution, and lo! he verily is forgiving, merciful. s: and he it is who has made you successors in the land and raised some of you above others by (various) grades, that he might try you by what he has given you; surely your lord is quick to requite (evil), and he is most surely the forgiving, the merciful. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-araf (the heights) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: alif, lam, mim, sad. p: alif. lam. mim. sad. s: alif lam mim suad. . y: a book revealed unto thee,- so let thy heart be oppressed no more by any difficulty on that account,- that with it thou mightest warn (the erring) and teach the believers. p: (it is) a scripture that is revealed unto thee (muhammad) - so let there be no heaviness in thy heart therefrom - that thou mayst warn thereby, and (it is) a reminder unto believers. s: a book revealed to you-- so let there be no straitness in your breast on account of it-- that you may warn thereby, and a reminder close to the believers. . y: follow (o men!) the revelation given unto you from your lord, and follow not, as friends or protectors, other than him. little it is ye remember of admonition. p: (saying): follow that which is sent down unto you from your lord, and follow no protecting friends beside him. little do ye recollect! s: follow what has been revealed to you from your lord and do not follow guardians besides him, how little do you mind. . y: how many towns have we destroyed (for their sins)? our punishment took them on a sudden by night or while they slept for their afternoon rest. p: how many a township have we destroyed! as a raid by night, or while they slept at noon, our terror came unto them. s: and how many a town that we destroyed, so our punishment came to it by night or while they slept at midday. . y: when (thus) our punishment took them, no cry did they utter but this: "indeed we did wrong." p: no plea had they, when our terror came unto them, save that they said: lo! we were wrong-doers. s: yet their cry, when our punishment came to them, was nothing but that they said: surely we were unjust. . y: then shall we question those to whom our message was sent and those by whom we sent it. p: then verily we shall question those unto whom (our message) hath been sent, and verily we shall question the messengers. s: most certainly then we will question those to whom (the messengers) were sent, and most certainly we will also question the messengers; . y: and verily, we shall recount their whole story with knowledge, for we were never absent (at any time or place). p: then verily we shall narrate unto them (the event) with knowledge, for we were not absent (when it came to pass). s: then most certainly we will relate to them with knowledge, and we were not absent. . y: the balance that day will be true (to nicety): those whose scale (of good) will be heavy, will prosper: p: the weighing on that day is the true (weighing). as for those whose scale is heavy, they are the successful. s: and the measuring out on that day will be just; then as for him whose measure (of good deeds) is heavy, those are they who shall be successful; . y: those whose scale will be light, will be their souls in perdition, for that they wrongfully treated our signs. p: and as for those whose scale is light: those are they who lose their souls because they used to wrong our revelations. s: and as for him whose measure (of good deeds) is light those are they who have made their souls suffer loss because they disbelieved in our communications. . y: it is we who have placed you with authority on earth, and provided you therein with means for the fulfilment of your life: small are the thanks that ye give! p: and we have given you (mankind) power in the earth, and appointed for you therein livelihoods. little give ye thanks! s: and certainly we have established you in the earth and made in it means of livelihood for you; little it is that you give thanks. . y: it is we who created you and gave you shape; then we bade the angels prostrate to adam, and they prostrate; not so iblis; he refused to be of those who prostrate. p: and we created you, then fashioned you, then told the angels: fall ye prostrate before adam! and they fell prostrate, all save iblis, who was not of those who make prostration. s: and certainly we created you, then we fashioned you, then we said to the angels: prostrate to adam. so they did prostrate except iblis; he was not of those who prostrated. . y: (allah) said: "what prevented thee from prostrating when i commanded thee?" he said: "i am better than he: thou didst create me from fire, and him from clay." p: he said: what hindered thee that thou didst not fall prostrate when i bade thee? (iblis) said: i am better than him. thou createdst me of fire while him thou didst create of mud. s: he said: what hindered you so that you did not prostrate when i commanded you? he said: i am better than he: thou hast created me of fire, while him thou didst create of dust. . y: (allah) said: "get thee down from this: it is not for thee to be arrogant here: get out, for thou art of the meanest (of creatures)." p: he said: then go down hence! it is not for thee to show pride here, so go forth! lo! thou art of those degraded. s: he said: then get forth from this (state), for it does not befit you to behave proudly therein. go forth, therefore, surely you are of the abject ones. . y: he said: "give me respite till the day they are raised up." p: he said: reprieve me till the day when they are raised (from the dead). s: he said: respite me until the day when they are raised up. . y: (allah) said: "be thou among those who have respite." p: he said: lo! thou art of those reprieved. s: he said: surely you are of the respited ones. . y: he said: "because thou hast thrown me out of the way, lo! i will lie in wait for them on thy straight way:" p: he said: now, because thou hast sent me astray, verily i shall lurk in ambush for them on thy right path. s: he said: as thou hast caused me to remain disappointed i will certainly lie in wait for them in thy straight path. . y: "then will i assault them from before them and behind them, from their right and their left: nor wilt thou find, in most of them, gratitude (for thy mercies)." p: then i shall come upon them from before them and from behind them and from their right hands and from their left hands, and thou wilt not find most of them beholden (unto thee). s: then i will certainly come to them from before them and from behind them, and from their right-hand side and from their left-hand side; and thou shalt not find most of them thankful. . y: (allah) said: "get out from this, disgraced and expelled. if any of them follow thee,- hell will i fill with you all." p: he said: go forth from hence, degraded, banished. as for such of them as follow thee, surely i will fill hell with all of you. s: he said: get out of this (state), despised, driven away; whoever of them will follow you, i will certainly fill hell with you all. . y: "o adam! dwell thou and thy wife in the garden, and enjoy (its good things) as ye wish: but approach not this tree, or ye run into harm and transgression." p: and (unto man): o adam! dwell thou and thy wife in the garden and eat from whence ye will, but come not nigh this tree lest ye become wrong-doers. s: and (we said): o adam! dwell you and your wife in the garden; so eat from where you desire, but do not go near this tree, for then you will be of the unjust. . y: then began satan to whisper suggestions to them, bringing openly before their minds all their shame that was hidden from them (before): he said: "your lord only forbade you this tree, lest ye should become angels or such beings as live for ever." p: then satan whispered to them that he might manifest unto them that which was hidden from them of their shame, and he said: your lord forbade you from this tree only lest ye should become angels or become of the immortals. s: but the shaitan made an evil suggestion to them that he might make manifest to them what had been hidden from them of their evil inclinations, and he said: your lord has not forbidden you this tree except that you may not both become two angels or that you may (not) become of the immortals. . y: and he swore to them both, that he was their sincere adviser. p: and he swore unto them (saying): lo! i am a sincere adviser unto you. s: and he swore to them both: most surely i am a sincere adviser to you. . y: so by deceit he brought about their fall: when they tasted of the tree, their shame became manifest to them, and they began to sew together the leaves of the garden over their bodies. and their lord called unto them: "did i not forbid you that tree, and tell you that satan was an avowed enemy unto you?" p: thus did he lead them on with guile. and when they tasted of the tree their shame was manifest to them and they began to hide (by heaping) on themselves some of the leaves of the garden. and their lord called them, (saying): did i not forbid you from that tree and tell you: lo! satan is an open enemy to you? s: then he caused them to fall by deceit; so when they tasted of the tree, their evil inclinations became manifest to them, and they both began to cover themselves with the leaves of the garden; and their lord called out to them: did i not forbid you both from that tree and say to you that the shaitan is your open enemy? . y: they said: "our lord! we have wronged our own souls: if thou forgive us not and bestow not upon us thy mercy, we shall certainly be lost." p: they said: our lord! we have wronged ourselves. if thou forgive us not and have not mercy on us, surely we are of the lost! s: they said: our lord! we have been unjust to ourselves, and if thou forgive us not, and have (not) mercy on us, we shall certainly be of the losers. . y: (allah) said: "get ye down. with enmity between yourselves. on earth will be your dwelling-place and your means of livelihood,- for a time." p: he said: go down (from hence), one of you a foe unto the other. there will be for you on earth a habitation and provision for a while. s: he said: get forth, some of you, the enemies of others, and there is for you in the earth an abode and a provision for a time. . y: he said: "therein shall ye live, and therein shall ye die; but from it shall ye be taken out (at last)." p: he said: there shall ye live, and there shall ye die, and thence shall ye be brought forth. s: he (also) said: therein shall you live, and therein shall you die, and from it shall you be raised. . y: o ye children of adam! we have bestowed raiment upon you to cover your shame, as well as to be an adornment to you. but the raiment of righteousness,- that is the best. such are among the signs of allah, that they may receive admonition! p: o children of adam! we have revealed unto you raiment to conceal your shame, and splendid vesture, but the raiment of restraint from evil, that is best. this is of the revelations of allah, that they may remember. s: o children of adam! we have indeed sent down to you clothing to cover your shame, and (clothing) for beauty and clothing that guards (against evil), that is the best. this is of the communications of allah that they may be mindful. . y: o ye children of adam! let not satan seduce you, in the same manner as he got your parents out of the garden, stripping them of their raiment, to expose their shame: for he and his tribe watch you from a position where ye cannot see them: we made the evil ones friends (only) to those without faith. p: o children of adam! let not satan seduce you as he caused your (first) parents to go forth from the garden and tore off from them their robe (of innocence) that he might manifest their shame to them. lo! he seeth you, he and his tribe, from whence ye see him not. lo! we have made the devils protecting friends for those who believe not. s: o children of adam! let not the shaitan cause you to fall into affliction as he expelled your parents from the garden, pulling off from them both their clothing that he might show them their evil inclinations, he surely sees you, he as well as his host, from whence you cannot see them; surely we have made the shaitans to be the guardians of those who do not believe. . y: when they do aught that is shameful, they say: "we found our fathers doing so"; and "allah commanded us thus": say: "nay, allah never commands what is shameful: do ye say of allah what ye know not?" p: and when they do some lewdness they say: we found our fathers doing it and allah hath enjoined it on us. say: allah, verily, enjoineth not lewdness. tell ye concerning allah that which ye know not? s: and when they commit an indecency they say: we found our fathers doing this, and allah has enjoined it on us. say: surely allah does not enjoin indecency; do you say against allah what you do not know? . y: say: "my lord hath commanded justice; and that ye set your whole selves (to him) at every time and place of prayer, and call upon him, making your devotion sincere as in his sight: such as he created you in the beginning, so shall ye return." p: say: my lord enjoineth justice. and set your faces upright (toward him) at every place of worship and call upon him, making religion pure for him (only). as he brought you into being, so return ye (unto him). s: say: my lord has enjoined justice, and set upright your faces at every time of prayer and call on him, being sincere to him in obedience; as he brought you forth in the beginning, so shall you also return. . y: some he hath guided: others have (by their choice) deserved the loss of their way; in that they took the evil ones, in preference to allah, for their friends and protectors, and think that they receive guidance. p: a party hath he led aright, while error hath just hold over (another) party, for lo! they choose the devils for protecting supporters instead of allah and deem that they are rightly guided. s: a part has he guided aright and (as for another) part, error is justly their due, surely they took the shaitans for guardians beside allah, and they think that they are followers of the right way. . y: o children of adam! wear your beautiful apparel at every time and place of prayer: eat and drink: but waste not by excess, for allah loveth not the wasters. p: o children of adam! look to your adornment at every place of worship, and eat and drink, but be not prodigal. lo! he loveth not the prodigals. s: o children of adam! attend to your embellishments at every time of prayer, and eat and drink and be not extravagant; surely he does not love the extravagant. . y: say: who hath forbidden the beautiful (gifts) of allah, which he hath produced for his servants, and the things, clean and pure, (which he hath provided) for sustenance? say: they are, in the life of this world, for those who believe, (and) purely for them on the day of judgment. thus do we explain the signs in detail for those who understand. p: say: who hath forbidden the adornment of allah which he hath brought forth for his bondmen, and the good things of his providing? say: such, on the day of resurrection, will be only for those who believed during the life of the world. thus do we detail our revelations for people who have knowledge. s: say: who has prohibited the embellishment of allah which he has brought forth for his servants and the good provisions? say: these are for the believers in the life of this world, purely (theirs) on the resurrection day; thus do we make the communications clear for a people who know. . y: say: the things that my lord hath indeed forbidden are: shameful deeds, whether open or secret; sins and trespasses against truth or reason; assigning of partners to allah, for which he hath given no authority; and saying things about allah of which ye have no knowledge. p: say: my lord forbiddeth only indecencies, such of them as are apparent and such as are within, and sin and wrongful oppression, and that ye associate with allah that for which no warrant hath been revealed, and that ye tell concerning allah that which ye know not. s: say: my lord has only prohibited indecencies, those of them that are apparent as well as those that are concealed, and sin and rebellion without justice, and that you associate with allah that for which he has not sent down any authority, and that you say against allah what you do not know. . y: to every people is a term appointed: when their term is reached, not an hour can they cause delay, nor (an hour) can they advance (it in anticipation). p: and every nation hath its term, and when its term cometh, they cannot put it off an hour nor yet advance (it). s: and for every nation there is a doom, so when their doom is come they shall not remain behind the least while, nor shall they go before. . y: o ye children of adam! whenever there come to you messengers from amongst you, rehearsing my signs unto you,- those who are righteous and mend (their lives),- on them shall be no fear nor shall they grieve. p: o children of adam! when messengers of your own come unto you who narrate unto you my revelations, then whosoever refraineth from evil and amendeth - there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve. s: o children of adam! if there come to you messengers from among you relating to you my communications, then whoever shall guard (against evil) and act aright-- they shall have no fear nor shall they grieve. . y: but those who reject our signs and treat them with arrogance,- they are companions of the fire, to dwell therein (for ever). p: but they who deny our revelations and scorn them - each are rightful owners of the fire; they will abide therein. s: and (as for) those who reject our communications and turn away from them haughtily-- these are the inmates of the fire they shall abide in it. . y: who is more unjust than one who invents a lie against allah or rejects his signs? for such, their portion appointed must reach them from the book (of decrees): until, when our messengers (of death) arrive and take their souls, they say: "where are the things that ye used to invoke besides allah?" they will reply, "they have left us in the lurch," and they will bear witness against themselves, that they had rejected allah. p: who doeth greater wrong than he who inventeth a lie concerning allah or denieth our tokens. (for such) their appointed portion of the book (of destiny) reacheth them till, when our messengers come to gather them, they say: where (now) is that to which ye cried beside allah? they say: they have departed from us. and they testify against themselves that they were disbelievers. s: who is then more unjust than he who forges a lie against allah or rejects his communications? (as for) those, their portion of the book shall reach them, until when our messengers come to them causing them to die, they shall say: where is that which you used to call upon besides allah? they would say: they are gone away from us; and they shall bear witness against themselves that they were unbelievers. . y: he will say: "enter ye in the company of the peoples who passed away before you - men and jinns, - into the fire." every time a new people enters, it curses its sister-people (that went before), until they follow each other, all into the fire. saith the last about the first: "our lord! it is these that misled us: so give them a double penalty in the fire." he will say: "doubled for all": but this ye do not understand. p: he saith: enter into the fire among nations of the jinn and humankind who passed away before you. every time a nation entereth, it curseth its sister (nation) till, when they have all been made to follow one another thither, the last of them saith unto the first of them: our lord! these led us astray, so give them double torment of the fire. he saith: for each one there is double (torment), but ye know not. s: he will say: enter into fire among the nations that have passed away before you from among jinn and men; whenever a nation shall enter, it shall curse its sister, until when they have all come up with one another into it; the last of them shall say with regard to the foremost of them: our lord! these led us astray therefore give them a double chastisement of the fire. he will say: every one shall have double but you do not know. . y: then the first will say to the last: "see then! no advantage have ye over us; so taste ye of the penalty for all that ye did!" p: and the first of them saith unto the last of them: ye were no whit better than us, so taste the doom for what ye used to earn. s: and the foremost of them will say to the last of them: so you have no preference over us; therefore taste the chastisement for what you earned. . y: to those who reject our signs and treat them with arrogance, no opening will there be of the gates of heaven, nor will they enter the garden, until the camel can pass through the eye of the needle: such is our reward for those in sin. p: lo! they who deny our revelations and scorn them, for them the gates of heaven will nor be opened not will they enter the garden until the camel goeth through the needle's eye. thus do we requite the guilty. s: surely (as for) those who reject our communications and turn away from them haughtily, the doors of heaven shall not be opened for them, nor shall they enter the garden until the camel pass through the eye of the needle; and thus do we reward the guilty. . y: for them there is hell, as a couch (below) and folds and folds of covering above: such is our requital of those who do wrong. p: theirs will be a bed of hell, and over them coverings (of hell). thus do we requite wrong-doers. s: they shall have a bed of hell-fire and from above them coverings (of it); and thus do we reward the unjust. . y: but those who believe and work righteousness,- no burden do we place on any soul, but that which it can bear,- they will be companions of the garden, therein to dwell (for ever). p: but (as for) those who believe and do good works - we tax not any soul beyond its scope - such are rightful owners of the garden. they abide therein. s: and (as for) those who believe and do good we do not impose on any soul a duty except to the extent of its ability-- they are the dwellers of the garden; in it they shall abide. . y: and we shall remove from their hearts any lurking sense of injury;- beneath them will be rivers flowing;- and they shall say: "praise be to allah, who hath guided us to this (felicity): never could we have found guidance, had it not been for the guidance of allah: indeed it was the truth, that the messengers of our lord brought unto us." and they shall hear the cry: "behold! the garden before you! ye have been made its inheritors, for your deeds (of righteousness)." p: and we remove whatever rancour may be in their hearts. rivers flow beneath them. and they say: the praise to allah, who hath guided us to this. we could not truly have been led aright if allah had not guided us. verily the messengers of our lord did bring the truth. and it is cried unto them: this is the garden. ye inherit it for what ye used to do. s: and we will remove whatever of ill-feeling is in their breasts; the rivers shall flow beneath them and they shall say: all praise is due to allah who guided us to this, and we would not have found the way had it not been that allah had guided us; certainly the messengers of our lord brought the truth; and it shall be cried out to them that this is the garden of which you are made heirs for what you did. . y: the companions of the garden will call out to the companions of the fire: "we have indeed found the promises of our lord to us true: have you also found your lord's promises true?" they shall say, "yes"; but a crier shall proclaim between them: "the curse of allah is on the wrong-doers;-" p: and the dwellers of the garden cry unto the dwellers of the fire: we have found that which our lord promised us (to be) the truth. have ye (too) found that which your lord promised the truth? they say: yea, verily. and a crier in between them crieth: the curse of allah is on evil-doers, s: and the dwellers of the garden will call out to the inmates of the fire: surely we have found what our lord promised us to be true; have you too found what your lord promised to be true? they will say: yes. then a crier will cry out among them that the curse of allah is on the unjust. . y: "those who would hinder (men) from the path of allah and would seek in it something crooked: they were those who denied the hereafter." p: who debar (men) from the path of allah and would have it crooked, and who are disbelievers in the last day. s: who hinder (people) from allah's way and seek to make it crooked, and they are disbelievers in the hereafter. . y: between them shall be a veil, and on the heights will be men who would know every one by his marks: they will call out to the companions of the garden, "peace on you": they will not have entered, but they will have an assurance (thereof). p: between them is a veil. and on the heights are men who know them all by their marks. and they call unto the dwellers of the garden: peace be unto you! they enter it not although they hope (to enter). s: and between the two there shall be a veil, and on the most elevated places there shall be men who know all by their marks, and they shall call out to the dwellers of the garden: peace be on you; they shall not have yet entered it, though they hope. . y: when their eyes shall be turned towards the companions of the fire, they will say: "our lord! send us not to the company of the wrong-doers." p: and when their eyes are turned toward the dwellers of the fire, they say: our lord! place us not with the wrong-doing folk. s: and when their eyes shall be turned towards the inmates of the fire, they shall say: our lord! place us not with the unjust people. . y: the men on the heights will call to certain men whom they will know from their marks, saying: "of what profit to you were your hoards and your arrogant ways?" p: and the dwellers on the heights call unto men whom they know by their marks, (saying): what did your multitude and that in which ye took your pride avail you? s: and the dwellers of the most elevated places shall call out to men whom they will recognize by their marks saying: of no avail were to you your amassings and your behaving haughtily: . y: "behold! are these not the men whom you swore that allah with his mercy would never bless? enter ye the garden: no fear shall be on you, nor shall ye grieve." p: are these they of whom ye swore that allah would not show them mercy? (unto them it hath been said): enter the garden. no fear shall come upon you nor is it ye who will grieve. s: are these they about whom you swore that allah will not bestow mercy on them? enter the garden; you shall have no fear, nor shall you grieve. . y: the companions of the fire will call to the companions of the garden: "pour down to us water or anything that allah doth provide for your sustenance." they will say: "both these things hath allah forbidden to those who rejected him." p: and the dwellers of the fire cry out unto the dwellers of the garden: pour on us some water or some wherewith allah hath provided you. they say: lo! allah hath forbidden both to disbelievers (in his guidance), s: and the inmates of the fire shall call out to the dwellers of the garden, saying: pour on us some water or of that which allah has given you. they shall say: surely allah has prohibited them both to the unbelievers. . y: "such as took their religion to be mere amusement and play, and were deceived by the life of the world." that day shall we forget them as they forgot the meeting of this day of theirs, and as they were wont to reject our signs. p: who took their religion for a sport and pastime, and whom the life of the world beguiled. so this day we have forgotten them even as they forgot the meeting of this their day and as they used to deny our tokens. s: who take their religion for an idle sport and a play and this life's world deceives them; so today we forsake them, as they neglected the meeting of this day of theirs and as they denied our communications. . y: for we had certainly sent unto them a book, based on knowledge, which we explained in detail,- a guide and a mercy to all who believe. p: verily we have brought them a scripture which we expounded with knowledge, a guidance and a mercy for a people who believe. s: and certainly we have brought them a book which we have made clear with knowledge, a guidance and a mercy for a people who believe. . y: do they just wait for the final fulfilment of the event? on the day the event is finally fulfilled, those who disregarded it before will say: "the messengers of our lord did indeed bring true (tidings). have we no intercessors now to intercede on our behalf? or could we be sent back? then should we behave differently from our behaviour in the past." in fact they will have lost their souls, and the things they invented will leave them in the lurch. p: await they aught save the fulfilment thereof? on the day when the fulfilment thereof cometh, those who were before forgetful thereof will say: the messengers of our lord did bring the truth! have we any intercessors, that they may intercede for us? or can we be returned (to life on earth), that we may act otherwise than we used to act? they have lost their souls, and that which they devised hath failed them. s: do they wait for aught but its final sequel? on the day when its final sequel comes about, those who neglected it before will say: indeed the messengers of our lord brought the truth; are there for us then any intercessors so that they should intercede on our behalf? or could we be sent back so that we should do (deeds) other than those which we did? indeed they have lost their souls and that which they forged has gone away from them. . y: your guardian-lord is allah, who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and is firmly established on the throne (of authority): he draweth the night as a veil o'er the day, each seeking the other in rapid succession: he created the sun, the moon, and the stars, (all) governed by laws under his command. is it not his to create and to govern? blessed be allah, the cherisher and sustainer of the worlds! p: lo! your lord is allah who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then mounted he the throne. he covereth the night with the day, which is in haste to follow it, and hath made the sun and the moon and the stars subservient by his command. his verily is all creation and commandment. blessed be allah, the lord of the worlds! s: surely your lord is allah, who created the heavens and the earth in six periods of time, and he is firm in power; he throws the veil of night over the day, which it pursues incessantly; and (he created) the sun and the moon and the stars, made subservient by his command; surely his is the creation and the command; blessed is allah, the lord of the worlds. . y: call on your lord with humility and in private: for allah loveth not those who trespass beyond bounds. p: (o mankind!) call upon your lord humbly and in secret. lo! he loveth not aggressors. s: call on your lord humbly and secretly; surely he does not love those who exceed the limits. . y: do no mischief on the earth, after it hath been set in order, but call on him with fear and longing (in your hearts): for the mercy of allah is (always) near to those who do good. p: work not confusion in the earth after the fair ordering (thereof). and call on him in fear and hope. lo! the mercy of allah is nigh unto the good. s: and do not make mischief in the earth after its reformation, and call on him fearing and hoping; surely the mercy of allah is nigh to those who do good (to others). . y: it is he who sendeth the winds like heralds of glad tidings, going before his mercy: when they have carried the heavy-laden clouds, we drive them to a land that is dead, make rain to descend thereon, and produce every kind of harvest therewith: thus shall we raise up the dead: perchance ye may remember. p: and he it is who sendeth the winds as tidings heralding his mercy, till, when they bear a cloud heavy (with rain), we lead it to a dead land, and then cause water to descend thereon and thereby bring forth fruits of every kind. thus bring we forth the dead. haply ye may remember. s: and he it is who sends forth the winds bearing good news before his mercy, until, when they bring up a laden cloud, we drive it to a dead land, then we send down water on it, then bring forth with it of fruits of all kinds; thus shall we bring forth the dead that you may be mindful. . y: from the land that is clean and good, by the will of its cherisher, springs up produce, (rich) after its kind: but from the land that is bad, springs up nothing but that which is niggardly: thus do we explain the signs by various (symbols) to those who are grateful. p: as for the good land, its vegetation cometh forth by permission of its lord; while as for that which is bad, only the useless cometh forth (from it). thus do we recount the tokens for people who give thanks. s: and as for the good land, its vegetation springs forth (abundantly) by the permission of its lord, and (as for) that which is inferior (its herbage) comes forth but scantily; thus do we repeat the communications for a people who give thanks. . y: we sent noah to his people. he said: "o my people! worship allah! ye have no other god but him. i fear for you the punishment of a dreadful day!" p: we sent noah (of old) unto his people, and he said: o my people! serve allah. ye have no other allah save him. lo! i fear for you the retribution of an awful day. s: certainly we sent nuh to his people, so he said: o my people! serve allah, you have no god other than him; surely i fear for you the chastisement of a grievous day. . y: the leaders of his people said: "ah! we see thee evidently wandering (in mind)." p: the chieftains of his people said: lo! we see thee surely in plain error. s: the chiefs of his people said: most surely we see you in clear error. . y: he said: "o my people! no wandering is there in my (mind): on the contrary i am a messenger from the lord and cherisher of the worlds!" p: he said: o my people! there is no error in me, but i am a messenger from the lord of the worlds. s: he said: o my people! there is no error in me, but i am a messenger from the lord of the worlds. . y: "i but fulfil towards you the duties of my lord's mission: sincere is my advice to you, and i know from allah something that ye know not." p: i convey unto you the messages of my lord and give good counsel unto you, and know from allah that which ye know not. s: i deliver to you the messages of my lord, and i offer you good advice and i know from allah what you do not know. . y: "do ye wonder that there hath come to you a message from your lord, through a man of your own people, to warn you,- so that ye may fear allah and haply receive his mercy?" p: marvel ye that there should come unto you a reminder from your lord by means of a man among you, that he may warn you, and that ye may keep from evil, and that haply ye may find mercy. s: what! do you wonder that a reminder has come to you from your lord through a man from among you, that he might warn you and that you might guard (against evil) and so that mercy may be shown to you? . y: but they rejected him, and we delivered him, and those with him, in the ark: but we overwhelmed in the flood those who rejected our signs. they were indeed a blind people! p: but they denied him, so we saved him and those with him in the ship, and we drowned those who denied our tokens. lo! they were blind folk. s: but they called him a liar, so we delivered him and those with him in the ark, and we drowned those who rejected our communications; surely they were a blind people. . y: to the 'ad people, (we sent) hud, one of their (own) brethren: he said: "o my people! worship allah! ye have no other god but him will ye not fear (allah)?" p: and unto (the tribe of) a'ad (we sent) their brother, hud. he said: o my people! serve allah. ye have no other allah save him. will ye not ward off (evil)? s: and to ad (we sent) their brother hud. he said: o my people! serve allah, you have no god other than him; will you not then guard (against evil)? . y: the leaders of the unbelievers among his people said: "ah! we see thou art an imbecile!" and "we think thou art a liar!" p: the chieftains of his people, who were disbelieving, said: lo! we surely see thee in foolishness, and lo! we deem thee of the liars. s: the chiefs of those who disbelieved from among his people said: most surely we see you in folly, and most surely we think you to be of the liars. . y: he said: "o my people! i am no imbecile, but (i am) a messenger from the lord and cherisher of the worlds!" p: he said: o my people! there is no foolishness in me, but i am a messenger from the lord of the worlds. s: he said: o my people! there is no folly in me, but i am a messenger of the lord of the worlds. . y: "i but fulfil towards you the duties of my lord's mission: i am to you a sincere and trustworthy adviser." p: i convey unto you the messages of my lord and am for you a true adviser. s: i deliver to you the messages of my lord and i am a faithful adviser to you: . y: "do ye wonder that there hath come to you a message from your lord through a man of your own people, to warn you? call in remembrance that he made you inheritors after the people of noah, and gave you a stature tall among the nations. call in remembrance the benefits (ye have received) from allah: that so ye may prosper." p: marvel ye that there should come unto you a reminder from your lord by means of a man among you, that he may warn you? remember how he made you viceroys after noah's folk, and gave you growth of stature. remember (all) the bounties of your lord, that haply ye may be successful. s: what! do you wonder that a reminder has come to you from your lord through a man from among you that he might warn you? and remember when he made you successors after nuh's people and increased you in excellence in respect of make; therefore remember the benefits of allah, that you may be successful. . y: they said: "comest thou to us, that we may worship allah alone, and give up the cult of our fathers? bring us what thou threatenest us with, if so be that thou tellest the truth!" p: they said: hast come unto us that we should serve allah alone, and forsake what our fathers worshipped? then bring upon us that wherewith thou threatenest us if thou art of the truthful! s: they said: have you come to us that we may serve allah alone and give up what our fathers used to serve? then bring to us what you threaten us with, if you are of the truthful ones. . y: he said: "punishment and wrath have already come upon you from your lord: dispute ye with me over names which ye have devised - ye and your fathers,- without authority from allah? then wait: i am amongst you, also waiting." p: he said: terror and wrath from your lord have already fallen on you. would ye wrangle with me over names which ye have named, ye and your fathers, for which no warrant from allah hath been revealed? then await (the consequence), lo! i (also) am of those awaiting (it). s: he said: indeed uncleanness and wrath from your lord have lighted upon you; what! do you dispute with me about names which you and your fathers have given? allah has not sent any authority for them; wait then, i too with you will be of those who wait. . y: we saved him and those who adhered to him. by our mercy, and we cut off the roots of those who rejected our signs and did not believe. p: and we saved him and those with him by a mercy from us, and we cut the root of those who denied our revelations and were not believers. s: so we delivered him and those with him by mercy from us, and we cut off the last of those who rejected our communications and were not believers. . y: to the thamud people (we sent) salih, one of their own brethren: he said: "o my people! worship allah: ye have no other god but him. now hath come unto you a clear (sign) from your lord! this she-camel of allah is a sign unto you: so leave her to graze in allah's earth, and let her come to no harm, or ye shall be seized with a grievous punishment." p: and to (the tribe of) thamud (we sent) their brother salih. he said: o my people! serve allah. ye have no other allah save him. a wonder from your lord hath come unto you. lo! this is the camel of allah, a token unto you; so let her feed in allah's earth, and touch her not with hurt lest painful torment seize you. s: and to samood (we sent) their brother salih. he said: o my people! serve allah, you have no god other than him; clear proof indeed has come to you from your lord; this is (as) allah's she-camel for you-- a sign, therefore leave her alone to pasture on allah's earth, and do not touch her with any harm, otherwise painful chastisement will overtake you. . y: "and remember how he made you inheritors after the 'ad people and gave you habitations in the land: ye build for yourselves palaces and castles in (open) plains, and carve out homes in the mountains; so bring to remembrance the benefits (ye have received) from allah, and refrain from evil and mischief on the earth." p: and remember how he made you viceroys after a'ad and gave you station in the earth. ye choose castles in the plains and hew the mountains into dwellings. so remember (all) the bounties of allah and do not evil, making mischief in the earth. s: and remember when he made you successors after ad and settled you in the land-- you make mansions on its plains and hew out houses in the mountains-- remember therefore allah's benefits and do not act corruptly in the land, making mischief. . y: the leaders of the arrogant party among his people said to those who were reckoned powerless - those among them who believed: "know ye indeed that salih is a messenger from his lord?" they said: "we do indeed believe in the revelation which hath been sent through him." p: the chieftains of his people, who were scornful, said unto those whom they despised, unto such of them as believed: know ye that salih is one sent from his lord? they said: lo! in that wherewith he hath been sent we are believers. s: the chief of those who behaved proudly among his people said to those who were considered weak, to those who believed from among them: do you know that salih is sent by his lord? they said: surely we are believers in what he has been sent with. . y: the arrogant party said: "for our part, we reject what ye believe in." p: those who were scornful said: lo! in that which ye believe we are disbelievers. s: those who were haughty said: surely we are deniers of what you believe in. . y: then they ham-strung the she-camel, and insolently defied the order of their lord, saying: "o salih! bring about thy threats, if thou art a messenger (of allah)!" p: so they hamstrung the she-camel, and they flouted the commandment of their lord, and they said: o salih! bring upon us that thou threatenest if thou art indeed of those sent (from allah). s: so they slew the she-camel and revolted against their lord's commandment, and they said: o salih! bring us what you threatened us with, if you are one of the messengers. . y: so the earthquake took them unawares, and they lay prostrate in their homes in the morning! p: so the earthquake seized them, and morning found them prostrate in their dwelling-place. s: then the earthquake overtook them, so they became motionless bodies in their abode. . y: so salih left them, saying: "o my people! i did indeed convey to you the message for which i was sent by my lord: i gave you good counsel, but ye love not good counsellors!" p: and (salih) turned from them and said: o my people! i delivered my lord's message unto you and gave you good advice, but ye love not good advisers. s: then he turned away from them and said: o my people i did certainly deliver to you the message of my lord, and i gave you good advice, but you do not love those who give good advice. . y: we also (sent) lut: he said to his people: "do ye commit lewdness such as no people in creation (ever) committed before you?" p: and lot! (remember) when he said unto his folk: will ye commit abomination such as no creature ever did before you? s: and (we sent) lut when he said to his people: what! do you commit an indecency which any one in the world has not done before you? . y: "for ye practise your lusts on men in preference to women: ye are indeed a people transgressing beyond bounds." p: lo! ye come with lust unto men instead of women. nay, but ye are wanton folk. s: most surely you come to males in lust besides females; nay you are an extravagant people. . y: and his people gave no answer but this: they said, "drive them out of your city: these are indeed men who want to be clean and pure!" p: and the answer of his people was only that they said (one to another): turn them out of your township. they are folk, forsooth, who keep pure. s: and the answer of his people was no other than that they said: turn them out of your town, surely they are a people who seek to purify (themselves). . y: but we saved him and his family, except his wife: she was of those who legged behind. p: and we rescued him and his household, save his wife, who was of those who stayed behind. s: so we delivered him and his followers, except his wife; she was of those who remained behind. . y: and we rained down on them a shower (of brimstone): then see what was the end of those who indulged in sin and crime! p: and we rained a rain upon them. see now the nature of the consequence of evil-doers! s: and we rained upon them a rain; consider then what was the end of the guilty. . y: to the madyan people we sent shu'aib, one of their own brethren: he said: "o my people! worship allah; ye have no other god but him. now hath come unto you a clear (sign) from your lord! give just measure and weight, nor withhold from the people the things that are their due; and do no mischief on the earth after it has been set in order: that will be best for you, if ye have faith." p: and unto midian (we sent) their brother, shu'eyb. he said: o my people! serve allah. ye have no other allah save him. lo! a clear proof hath come unto you from your lord; so give full measure and full weight and wrong not mankind in their goods, and work not confusion in the earth after the fair ordering thereof. that will be better for you, if ye are believers. s: and to madyan (we sent) their brother shu'aib. he said: o my people! serve allah, you have no god other than him; clear proof indeed has come to you from your lord, therefore give full measure and weight and do not diminish to men their things, and do not make mischief in the land after its reform; this is better for you if you are believers: . y: "and squat not on every road, breathing threats, hindering from the path of allah those who believe in him, and seeking in it something crooked; but remember how ye were little, and he gave you increase. and hold in your mind's eye what was the end of those who did mischief." p: lurk not on every road to threaten (wayfarers), and to turn away from allah's path him who believeth in him, and to seek to make it crooked. and remember, when ye were but few, how he did multiply you. and see the nature of the consequence for the corrupters! s: and do not lie in wait in every path, threatening and turning away from allah's way him who believes in him and seeking to make it crooked; and remember when you were few then he multiplied you, and consider what was the end of the mischief-makers. . y: "and if there is a party among you who believes in the message with which i have been sent, and a party which does not believe, hold yourselves in patience until allah doth decide between us: for he is the best to decide." p: and if there is a party of you which believeth in that wherewith i have been sent, and there is a party which believeth not, then have patience until allah judge between us. he is the best of all who deal in judgment. s: and if there is a party of you who believe in that with which am sent, and another party who do not believe, then wait patiently until allah judges between us; and he is the best of the judges. . y: the leaders, the arrogant party among his people, said: "o shu'aib! we shall certainly drive thee out of our city - (thee) and those who believe with thee; or else ye (thou and they) shall have to return to our ways and religion." he said: "what! even though we do detest (them)?" p: the chieftains of his people, who were scornful, said: surely we will drive thee out, o shu'eyb, and those who believe with thee, from our township, unless ye return to our religion. he said: even though we hate it? s: the chiefs, those who were proud from among his people said: we will most certainly turn you out, o shu'aib, and (also) those who believe with you, from our town, or you shall come back to our faith. he said: what! though we dislike (it)? . y: "we should indeed invent a lie against allah, if we returned to your ways after allah hath rescued us therefrom; nor could we by any manner of means return thereto unless it be as in the will and plan of allah, our lord. our lord can reach out to the utmost recesses of things by his knowledge. in allah is our trust. our lord! decide thou between us and our people in truth, for thou art the best to decide." p: we should have invented a lie against allah if we returned to your religion after allah hath rescued us from it. it is not for us to return to it unless allah our lord should (so) will. our lord comprehendeth all things in knowledge. in allah do we put our trust. our lord! decide with truth between us and our folk, for thou art the best of those who make decision. s: indeed we shall have forged a lie against allah if we go back to your religion after allah has delivered us from it, and it befits us not that we should go back to it, except if allah our lord please: our lord comprehends all things in his knowledge; in allah do we trust: our lord! decide between us and our people with truth; and thou art the best of deciders. . y: the leaders, the unbelievers among his people, said: "if ye follow shu'aib, be sure then ye are ruined!" p: but the chieftains of his people, who were disbelieving, said: if ye follow shu'eyb, then truly ye shall be the losers. s: and the chiefs of those who disbelieved from among his people said: if you follow shu'aib, you shall then most surely be losers. . y: but the earthquake took them unawares, and they lay prostrate in their homes before the morning! p: so the earthquake seized them and morning found them prostrate in their dwelling-place. s: then the earthquake overtook them, so they became motionless bodies in their abode. . y: the men who reject shu'aib became as if they had never been in the homes where they had flourished: the men who rejected shu'aib - it was they who were ruined! p: those who denied shu'eyb became as though they had not dwelt there. those who denied shu'eyb, they were the losers. s: those who called shu'aib a liar were as though they had never dwelt therein; those who called shu'aib a liar, they were the losers. . y: so shu'aib left them, saying: "o my people! i did indeed convey to you the messages for which i was sent by my lord: i gave you good counsel, but how shall i lament over a people who refuse to believe!" p: so he turned from them and said: o my people! i delivered my lord's messages unto you and gave you good advice; then how can i sorrow for a people that rejected (truth)? s: so he turned away from them and said: o my people! certainly i delivered to you the messages of my lord and i gave you good advice; how shall i then be sorry for an unbelieving people? . y: whenever we sent a prophet to a town, we took up its people in suffering and adversity, in order that they might learn humility. p: and we sent no prophet unto any township but we did afflict its folk with tribulation and adversity that haply they might grow humble. s: and we did not send a prophet in a town but we overtook its people with distress and affliction in order that they might humble themselves. . y: then we changed their suffering into prosperity, until they grew and multiplied, and began to say: "our fathers (too) were touched by suffering and affluence" ... behold! we called them to account of a sudden, while they realised not (their peril). p: then changed we the evil plight for good till they grew affluent and said: tribulation and distress did touch our fathers. then we seized them unawares, when they perceived not. s: then we gave them good in the place of evil until they became many and said: distress and happiness did indeed befall our fathers. then we took them by surprise while they did not perceive. . y: if the people of the towns had but believed and feared allah, we should indeed have opened out to them (all kinds of) blessings from heaven and earth; but they rejected (the truth), and we brought them to book for their misdeeds. p: and if the people of the townships had believed and kept from evil, surely we should have opened for them blessings from the sky and from the earth. but (unto every messenger) they gave the lie, and so we seized them on account of what they used to earn. s: and if the people of the towns had believed and guarded (against evil) we would certainly have opened up for them blessings from the heaven and the earth, but they rejected, so we overtook them for what they had earned. . y: did the people of the towns feel secure against the coming of our wrath by night while they were asleep? p: are the people of the townships then secure from the coming of our wrath upon them as a night-raid while they sleep? s: what! do the people of the towns then feel secure from our punishment coming to them by night while they sleep? . y: or else did they feel secure against its coming in broad daylight while they played about (care-free)? p: or are the people of the townships then secure from the coming of our wrath upon them in the daytime while they play? s: what! do the people of the towns feel secure from our punishment coming to them in the morning while they play? . y: did they then feel secure against the plan of allah?- but no one can feel secure from the plan of allah, except those (doomed) to ruin! p: are they then secure from allah's scheme? none deemeth himself secure from allah's scheme save folk that perish. s: what! do they then feel secure from allah's plan? but none feels secure from allah's plan except the people who shall perish. . y: to those who inherit the earth in succession to its (previous) possessors, is it not a guiding, (lesson) that, if we so willed, we could punish them (too) for their sins, and seal up their hearts so that they could not hear? p: is it not an indication to those who inherit the land after its people (who thus reaped the consequence of evil-doing) that, if we will, we can smite them for their sins and print upon their hearts so that they hear not? s: is it not clear to those who inherit the earth after its (former) residents that if we please we would afflict them on account of their faults and set a seal on their hearts so they would not hear. . y: such were the towns whose story we (thus) relate unto thee: there came indeed to them their messengers with clear (signs): but they would not believe what they had rejected before. thus doth allah seal up the hearts of those who reject faith. p: such were the townships. we relate some tidings of them unto thee (muhammad). their messengers verily came unto them with clear proofs (of allah's sovereignty), but they could not believe because they had before denied. thus doth allah print upon the hearts of disbelievers (that they hear not). s: these towns-- we relate to you some of their stories, and certainly their messengers came to them with clear arguments, but they would not believe in what they rejected at first; thus does allah set a seal over the hearts of the unbelievers. . y: most of them we found not men (true) to their covenant: but most of them we found rebellious and disobedient. p: we found no (loyalty to any) covenant in most of them. nay, most of them we found wrong-doers. s: and we did not find in most of them any (faithfulness to) covenant, and we found most of them to be certainly transgressors. . y: then after them we sent moses with our signs to pharaoh and his chiefs, but they wrongfully rejected them: so see what was the end of those who made mischief. p: then, after them, we sent moses with our tokens unto pharaoh and his chiefs, but they repelled them. now, see the nature of the consequence for the corrupters! s: then we raised after them musa with our communications to firon and his chiefs, but they disbelieved in them; consider then what was the end of the mischief makers. . y: moses said: "o pharaoh! i am a messenger from the lord of the worlds,-" p: moses said: o pharaoh! lo! i am a messenger from the lord of the worlds, s: and musa said: o firon! surely i am a messenger from the lord of the worlds: . y: "one for whom it is right to say nothing but truth about allah. now have i come unto you (people), from your lord, with a clear (sign): so let the children of israel depart along with me." p: approved upon condition that i speak concerning allah nothing but the truth. i come unto you (lords of egypt) with a clear proof from your lord. so let the children of israel go with me. s: (i am) worthy of not saying anything about allah except the truth: i have come to you indeed with clear proof from your lord, therefore send with me the children of israel. . y: (pharaoh) said: "if indeed thou hast come with a sign, show it forth,- if thou tellest the truth." p: (pharaoh) said: if thou comest with a token, then produce it, if thou art of those who speak the truth. s: he said: if you have come with a sign, then bring it, if you are of the truthful ones. . y: then (moses) threw his rod, and behold! it was a serpent, plain (for all to see)! p: then he flung down his staff and lo! it was a serpent manifest; s: so he threw his rod, then lo! it was a clear serpent. . y: and he drew out his hand, and behold! it was white to all beholders! p: and he drew forth his hand (from his bosom), and lo! it was white for the beholders. s: and he drew forth his hand, and lo! it was white to the beholders. . y: said the chiefs of the people of pharaoh: "this is indeed a sorcerer well-versed." p: the chiefs of pharaoh's people said: lo! this is some knowing wizard, s: the chiefs of firon's people said: most surely this is an enchanter possessed of knowledge: . y: "his plan is to get you out of your land: then what is it ye counsel?" p: who would expel you from your land. now what do ye advise? s: he intends to turn you out of your land. what counsel do you then give? . y: they said: "keep him and his brother in suspense (for a while); and send to the cities men to collect-" p: they said (unto pharaoh): put him off (a while) - him and his brother - and send into the cities summoners, s: they said: put him off and his brother, and send collectors into the cities: . y: "and bring up to thee all (our) sorcerers well-versed." p: to bring each knowing wizard unto thee. s: that they may bring to you every enchanter possessed of knowledge. . y: so there came the sorcerers to pharaoh: they said, "of course we shall have a (suitable) reward if we win!" p: and the wizards came to pharaoh, saying: surely there will be a reward for us if we are victors. s: and the enchanters came to firon (and) said: we must surely have a reward if we are the prevailing ones. . y: he said: "yea, (and more),- for ye shall in that case be (raised to posts) nearest (to my person)." p: he answered: yes, and surely ye shall be of those brought near (to me). s: he said: yes, and you shall certainly be of those who are near (to me). . y: they said: "o moses! wilt thou throw (first), or shall we have the (first) throw?" p: they said: o moses! either throw (first) or let us be the first throwers? s: they said: o musa! will you cast, or shall we be the first to cast? . y: said moses: "throw ye (first)." so when they threw, they bewitched the eyes of the people, and struck terror into them: for they showed a great (feat of) magic. p: he said: throw! and when they threw they cast a spell upon the people's eyes, and overawed them, and produced a mighty spell. s: he said: cast. so when they cast, they deceived the people's eyes and frightened them, and they produced a mighty enchantment. . y: we put it into moses's mind by inspiration: "throw (now) thy rod": and behold! it swallows up straight away all the falsehoods which they fake! p: and we inspired moses (saying): throw thy staff! and lo! it swallowed up their lying show. s: and we revealed to musa, saying: cast your rod; then lo! it devoured the lies they told. . y: thus truth was confirmed, and all that they did was made of no effect. p: thus was the truth vindicated and that which they were doing was made vain. s: so the truth was established, and what they did became null. . y: so the (great ones) were vanquished there and then, and were made to look small. p: thus were they there defeated and brought low. s: thus they were vanquished there, and they went back abased. . y: but the sorcerers fell down prostrate in adoration. p: and the wizards fell down prostrate, s: and the enchanters were thrown down, prostrating (themselves). . y: saying: "we believe in the lord of the worlds,-" p: crying: we believe in the lord of the worlds, s: they said: we believe in the lord of the worlds, . y: "the lord of moses and aaron." p: the lord of moses and aaron. s: the lord of musa and haroun. . y: said pharaoh: "believe ye in him before i give you permission? surely this is a trick which ye have planned in the city to drive out its people: but soon shall ye know (the consequences)." p: pharaoh said: ye believe in him before i give you leave! lo! this is the plot that ye have plotted in the city that ye may drive its people hence. but ye shall come to know! s: firon said: do you believe in him before i have given you permission? surely this is a plot which you have secretly devised in this city, that you may turn out of it its people, but you shall know: . y: "be sure i will cut off your hands and your feet on apposite sides, and i will cause you all to die on the cross." p: surely i shall have your hands and feet cut off upon alternate sides. then i shall crucify you every one. s: i will certainly cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, then will i crucify you all together. . y: they said: "for us, we are but sent back unto our lord:" p: they said: lo! we are about to return unto our lord! s: they said: surely to our lord shall we go back: . y: "but thou dost wreak thy vengeance on us simply because we believed in the signs of our lord when they reached us! our lord! pour out on us patience and constancy, and take our souls unto thee as muslims (who bow to thy will)!" p: thou takest vengeance on us only forasmuch as we believed the tokens of our lord when they came unto us. our lord! vouchsafe unto us steadfastness and make us die as men who have surrendered (unto thee). s: and you do not take revenge on us except because we have believed in the communications of our lord when they came to us! our lord: pour out upon us patience and cause us to die in submission. . y: said the chiefs of pharaoh's people: "wilt thou leave moses and his people, to spread mischief in the land, and to abandon thee and thy gods?" he said: "their male children will we slay; (only) their females will we save alive; and we have over them (power) irresistible." p: the chiefs of pharaoh's people said: (o king), wilt thou suffer moses and his people to make mischief in the land, and flout thee and thy gods? he said: we will slay their sons and spare their women, for lo! we are in power over them. s: and the chiefs of firon's people said: do you leave musa and his people to make mischief in the land and to forsake you and your gods? he said: we will slay their sons and spare their women, and surely we are masters over them. . y: said moses to his people: "pray for help from allah, and (wait) in patience and constancy: for the earth is allah's, to give as a heritage to such of his servants as he pleaseth; and the end is (best) for the righteous." p: and moses said unto his people: seek help in allah and endure. lo! the earth is allah's. he giveth it for an inheritance to whom he will. and lo! the sequel is for those who keep their duty (unto him). s: musa said to his people: ask help from allah and be patient; surely the land is allah's; he causes such of his servants to inherit it as he pleases, and the end is for those who guard (against evil). . y: they said: "we have had (nothing but) trouble, both before and after thou camest to us." he said: "it may be that your lord will destroy your enemy and make you inheritors in the earth; that so he may try you by your deeds." p: they said: we suffered hurt before thou camest unto us, and since thou hast come unto us. he said: it may be that your lord is going to destroy your adversary and make you viceroys in the earth, that he may see how ye behave. s: they said: we have been persecuted before you came to us and since you have come to us. he said: it may be that your lord will destroy your enemy and make you rulers in the land, then he will see how you act. . y: we punished the people of pharaoh with years (of droughts) and shortness of crops; that they might receive admonition. p: and we straitened pharaoh's folk with famine and dearth of fruits, that peradventure they might heed. s: and certainly we overtook firon's people with droughts and diminution of fruits that they may be mindful. . y: but when good (times) came, they said, "this is due to us;" when gripped by calamity, they ascribed it to evil omens connected with moses and those with him! behold! in truth the omens of evil are theirs in allah's sight, but most of them do not understand! p: but whenever good befell them, they said: this is ours; and whenever evil smote them they ascribed it to the evil auspices of moses and those with him. surely their evil auspice was only with allah. but most of them knew not. s: but when good befell them they said: this is due to us; and when evil afflicted them, they attributed it to the ill-luck of musa and those with him; surely their evil fortune is only from allah but most of them do not know. . y: they said (to moses): "whatever be the signs thou bringest, to work therewith thy sorcery on us, we shall never believe in thee." p: and they said: whatever portent thou bringest wherewith to bewitch us, we shall not put faith in thee. s: and they said: whatever sign you may bring to us to charm us with it-- we will not believe in you. . y: so we sent (plagues) on them: wholesale death, locusts, lice, frogs, and blood: signs openly self-explained: but they were steeped in arrogance,- a people given to sin. p: so we sent against them the flood and the locusts and the vermin and the frogs and the blood - a succession of clear signs. but they were arrogant and became a guilty folk. s: therefore we sent upon them widespread death, and the locusts and the lice and the frog and the blood, clear signs; but they behaved haughtily and they were a guilty people. . y: every time the penalty fell on them, they said: "o moses! on your behalf call on thy lord in virtue of his promise to thee: if thou wilt remove the penalty from us, we shall truly believe in thee, and we shall send away the children of israel with thee." p: and when the terror fell on them they cried: o moses! pray for us unto thy lord, because he hath a covenant with thee. if thou removest the terror from us we verily will trust thee and will let the children of israel go with thee. s: and when the plague fell upon them, they said: o musa! pray for us to your lord as he has promised with you, if you remove the plague from us, we will certainly believe in you and we will certainly send away with you the children of israel. . y: but every time we removed the penalty from them according to a fixed term which they had to fulfil,- behold! they broke their word! p: but when we did remove from them the terror for a term which they must reach, behold! they broke their covenant. s: but when we removed the plague from them till a term which they should attain lo! they broke (the promise). . y: so we exacted retribution from them: we drowned them in the sea, because they rejected our signs and failed to take warning from them. p: therefore we took retribution from them; therefore we drowned them in the sea: because they denied our revelations and were heedless of them. s: therefore we inflicted retribution on them and drowned them in the sea because they rejected our signs and were heedless of them. . y: and we made a people, considered weak (and of no account), inheritors of lands in both east and west, - lands whereon we sent down our blessings. the fair promise of thy lord was fulfilled for the children of israel, because they had patience and constancy, and we levelled to the ground the great works and fine buildings which pharaoh and his people erected (with such pride). p: and we caused the folk who were despised to inherit the eastern parts of the land and the western parts thereof which we had blessed. and the fair word of thy lord was fulfilled for the children of israel because of their endurance; and we annihilated (all) that pharaoh and his folk had done and that they had contrived. s: and we made the people who were deemed weak to inherit the eastern lands and the western ones which we had blessed; and the good word of your lord was fulfilled in the children of israel because they bore up (sufferings) patiently; and we utterly destroyed what firon and his people had wrought and what they built. . y: we took the children of israel (with safety) across the sea. they came upon a people devoted entirely to some idols they had. they said: "o moses! fashion for us a god like unto the gods they have." he said: "surely ye are a people without knowledge." p: and we brought the children of israel across the sea, and they came unto a people who were given up to idols which they had. they said: o moses! make for us a god even as they have gods. he said: lo! ye are a folk who know not. s: and we made the children of israel to pass the sea; then they came upon a people who kept to the worship of their idols they said: o musa! make for us a god as they have (their) gods he said: surely you are a people acting ignorantly: . y: "as to these folk,- the cult they are in is (but) a fragment of a ruin, and vain is the (worship) which they practise." p: lo! as for these, their way will be destroyed and all that they are doing is in vain. s: (as to) these, surely that about which they are shall be brought to naught and that which they do is vain. . y: he said: "shall i seek for you a god other than the (true) allah, when it is allah who hath endowed you with gifts above the nations?" p: he said: shall i seek for you a god other than allah when he hath favoured you above (all) creatures? s: he said: what! shall i seek for you a god other than allah while he has made you excel (all) created things? . y: and remember we rescued you from pharaoh's people, who afflicted you with the worst of penalties, who slew your male children and saved alive your females: in that was a momentous trial from your lord. p: and (remember) when we did deliver you from pharaoh's folk who were afflicting you with dreadful torment, slaughtering your sons and sparing your women. that was a tremendous trial from your lord. s: and when we delivered you from firon's people who subjected you to severe torment, killing your sons and sparing your women, and in this there was a great trial from your lord. . y: we appointed for moses thirty nights, and completed (the period) with ten (more): thus was completed the term (of communion) with his lord, forty nights. and moses had charged his brother aaron (before he went up): "act for me amongst my people: do right, and follow not the way of those who do mischief." p: and when we did appoint for moses thirty nights (of solitude), and added to them ten, and he completed the whole time appointed by his lord of forty nights; and moses said unto his brother, aaron: take my place among the people. do right, and follow not the way of mischief-makers. s: and we appointed with musa a time of thirty nights and completed them with ten (more), so the appointed time of his lord was complete forty nights, and musa said to his brother haroun: take my place among my people, and act well and do not follow the way of the mischief-makers. . y: when moses came to the place appointed by us, and his lord addressed him, he said: "o my lord! show (thyself) to me, that i may look upon thee." allah said: "by no means canst thou see me (direct); but look upon the mount; if it abide in its place, then shalt thou see me." when his lord manifested his glory on the mount, he made it as dust. and moses fell down in a swoon. when he recovered his senses he said: "glory be to thee! to thee i turn in repentance, and i am the first to believe." p: and when moses came to our appointed tryst and his lord had spoken unto him, he said: my lord! show me (thy self), that i may gaze upon thee. he said: thou wilt not see me, but gaze upon the mountain! if it stand still in its place, then thou wilt see me. and when his lord revealed (his) glory to the mountain he sent it crashing down. and moses fell down senseless. and when he woke he said: glory unto thee! i turn unto thee repentant, and i am the first of (true) believers. s: and when musa came at our appointed time and his lord spoke to him, he said: my lord! show me (thyself), so that i may look upon thee. he said: you cannot (bear to) see me but look at the mountain, if it remains firm in its place, then will you see me; but when his lord manifested his glory to the mountain he made it crumble and musa fell down in a swoon; then when he recovered, he said: glory be to thee, i turn to thee, and i am the first of the believers. . y: (allah) said: "o moses! i have chosen thee above (other) men, by the mission i (have given thee) and the words i (have spoken to thee): take then the (revelation) which i give thee, and be of those who give thanks." p: he said: o moses! i have preferred thee above mankind by my messages and by my speaking (unto thee). so hold that which i have given thee, and be among the thankful. s: he said: o musa! surely i have chosen you above the people with my messages and with my words, therefore take hold of what i give to you and be of the grateful ones. . y: and we ordained laws for him in the tablets in all matters, both commanding and explaining all things, (and said): "take and hold these with firmness, and enjoin thy people to hold fast by the best in the precepts: soon shall i show you the homes of the wicked,- (how they lie desolate)." p: and we wrote for him, upon the tablets, the lesson to be drawn from all things and the explanation of all things, then (bade him): hold it fast; and command thy people (saying): take the better (course made clear) therein. i shall show thee the abode of evil-livers. s: and we ordained for him in the tablets admonition of every kind and clear explanation of all things; so take hold of them with firmness and enjoin your people to take hold of what is best thereof; i will show you the abode of the transgressors. . y: those who behave arrogantly on the earth in defiance of right - them will i turn away from my signs: even if they see all the signs, they will not believe in them; and if they see the way of right conduct, they will not adopt it as the way; but if they see the way of error, that is the way they will adopt. for they have rejected our signs, and failed to take warning from them. p: i shall turn away from my revelations those who magnify themselves wrongfully in the earth, and if they see each token believe it not, and if they see the way of righteousness choose it nor for (their) way, and if they see the way of error choose if for (their) way. that is because they deny our revelations and are used to disregard them. s: i will turn away from my communications those who are unjustly proud in the earth; and if they see every sign they will not believe in it; and if they see the way of rectitude they do not take it for a way, and if they see the way of error, they take it for a way; this is because they rejected our communications and were heedless of them. . y: those who reject our signs and the meeting in the hereafter,- vain are their deeds: can they expect to be rewarded except as they have wrought? p: those who deny our revelations and the meeting of the hereafter, their works are fruitless. are they requited aught save what they used to do? s: and (as to) those who reject our communications and the meeting of the hereafter, their deeds are null. shall they be rewarded except for what they have done? . y: the people of moses made, in his absence, out of their ornaments, the image of calf, (for worship): it seemed to low: did they not see that it could neither speak to them, nor show them the way? they took it for worship and they did wrong. p: and the folk of moses, after (he left them), chose a calf (for worship), (made) out of their ornaments, of saffron hue, which gave a lowing sound. saw they not that it spake not unto them nor guided them to any way? they chose it, and became wrong-doers. s: and musa's people made of their ornaments a calf after him, a (mere) body, which gave a mooing sound. what! could they not see that it did not speak to them nor guide them in the way? they took it (for worship) and they were unjust. . y: when they repented, and saw that they had erred, they said: "if our lord have not mercy upon us and forgive us, we shall indeed be of those who perish." p: and when they feared the consequences thereof and saw that they had gone astray, they said: unless our lord have mercy on us and forgive us, we verily are of the lost. s: and when they repented and saw that they had gone astray, they said: if our lord show not mercy to us and forgive us we shall certainly be of the losers. . y: when moses came back to his people, angry and grieved, he said: "evil it is that ye have done in my place in my absence: did ye make haste to bring on the judgment of your lord?" he put down the tablets, seized his brother by (the hair of) his head, and dragged him to him. aaron said: "son of my mother! the people did indeed reckon me as naught, and went near to slaying me! make not the enemies rejoice over my misfortune, nor count thou me amongst the people of sin." p: and when moses returned unto his people, angry and grieved, he said: evil is that (course) which ye took after i had left you. would ye hasten on the judgment of your lord? and he cast down the tablets, and he seized his brother by the head, dragging him toward him. he said: son of my mother! lo! the folk did judge me weak and almost killed me. oh, make not mine enemies to triumph over me and place me not among the evil-doers. s: and when musa returned to his people, wrathful (and) in violent grief, he said: evil is it that you have done after me; did you turn away from the bidding of your lord? and he threw down the tablets and seized his brother by the head, dragging him towards him. he said: son of my mother! surely the people reckoned me weak and had well-nigh slain me, therefore make not the enemies to rejoice over me and count me not among the unjust people. . y: moses prayed: "o my lord! forgive me and my brother! admit us to thy mercy! for thou art the most merciful of those who show mercy!" p: he said: my lord! have mercy on me and on my brother; bring us into thy mercy, thou the most merciful of all who show mercy. s: he said: my lord! forgive me and my brother and cause us to enter into thy mercy, and thou art the most merciful of the merciful ones. . y: those who took the calf (for worship) will indeed be overwhelmed with wrath from their lord, and with shame in this life: thus do we recompense those who invent (falsehoods). p: lo! those who chose the calf (for worship), terror from their lord and humiliation will come upon them in the life of the world. thus do we requite those who invent a lie. s: (as for) those who took the calf (for a god), surely wrath from their lord and disgrace in this world's life shall overtake them, and thus do we recompense the devisers of lies. . y: but those who do wrong but repent thereafter and (truly) believe,- verily thy lord is thereafter oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: but those who do ill-deeds and afterward repent and believe - lo! for them, afterward, allah is forgiving, merciful. s: and (as to) those who do evil deeds, then repent after that and believe, your lord after that is most surely forgiving, merciful. . y: when the anger of moses was appeased, he took up the tablets: in the writing thereon was guidance and mercy for such as fear their lord. p: then, when the anger of moses abated, he took up the tablets, and in their inscription there was guidance and mercy for all those who fear their lord. s: and when musa's anger calmed down he took up the tablets, and in the writing thereof was guidance and mercy for those who fear for the sake of their lord. . y: and moses chose seventy of his people for our place of meeting: when they were seized with violent quaking, he prayed: "o my lord! if it had been thy will thou couldst have destroyed, long before, both them and me: wouldst thou destroy us for the deeds of the foolish ones among us? this is no more than thy trial: by it thou causest whom thou wilt to stray, and thou leadest whom thou wilt into the right path. thou art our protector: so forgive us and give us thy mercy; for thou art the best of those who forgive." p: and moses chose of his people seventy men for our appointed tryst and, when the trembling came on them, he said: my lord! if thou hadst willed thou hadst destroyed them long before, and me with them. wilt thou destroy us for that which the ignorant among us did? it is but thy trial (of us). thou sendest whom thou wilt astray and guidest whom thou wilt: thou art our protecting friend, therefore forgive us and have mercy on us, thou, the best of all who show forgiveness. s: and musa chose out of his people seventy men for our appointment; so when the earthquake overtook them, he said: my lord! if thou hadst pleased, thou hadst destroyed them before and myself (too); wilt thou destroy us for what the fools among us have done? it is naught but thy trial, thou makest err with it whom thou pleasest and guidest whom thou pleasest: thou art our guardian, therefore forgive us and have mercy on us, and thou art the best of the forgivers. . y: "and ordain for us that which is good, in this life and in the hereafter: for we have turned unto thee." he said: "with my punishment i visit whom i will; but my mercy extendeth to all things. that (mercy) i shall ordain for those who do right, and practise regular charity, and those who believe in our signs;-" p: and ordain for us in this world that which is good, and in the hereafter (that which is good), lo! we have turned unto thee. he said: i smite with my punishment whom i will, and my mercy embraceth all things, therefore i shall ordain it for those who ward off (evil) and pay the poor-due, and those who believe our revelations; s: and ordain for us good in this world's life and in the hereafter, for surely we turn to thee. he said: (as for) my chastisement, i will afflict with it whom i please, and my mercy encompasses all things; so i will ordain it (specially) for those who guard (against evil) and pay the poor-rate, and those who believe in our communications. . y: "those who follow the messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own (scriptures),- in the law and the gospel;- for he commands them what is just and forbids them what is evil; he allows them as lawful what is good (and pure) and prohibits them from what is bad (and impure); he releases them from their heavy burdens and from the yokes that are upon them. so it is those who believe in him, honour him, help him, and follow the light which is sent down with him,- it is they who will prosper." p: those who follow the messenger, the prophet who can neither read nor write, whom they will find described in the torah and the gospel (which are) with them. he will enjoin on them that which is right and forbid them that which is wrong. he will make lawful for them all good things and prohibit for them only the foul; and he will relieve them of their burden and the fetters that they used to wear. then those who believe in him, and honour him, and help him, and follow the light which is sent down with him: they are the successful. s: those who follow the messenger-prophet, the ummi, whom they find written down with them in the taurat and the injeel (who) enjoins them good and forbids them evil, and makes lawful to them the good things and makes unlawful to them impure things, and removes from them their burden and the shackles which were upon them; so (as for) those who believe in him and honor him and help him, and follow the light which has been sent down with him, these it is that are the successful. . y: say: "o men! i am sent unto you all, as the messenger of allah, to whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth: there is no god but he: it is he that giveth both life and death. so believe in allah and his messenger, the unlettered prophet, who believeth in allah and his words: follow him that (so) ye may be guided." p: say (o muhammad): o mankind! lo! i am the messenger of allah to you all - (the messenger of) him unto whom belongeth the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth. there is no god save him. he quickeneth and he giveth death. so believe in allah and his messenger, the prophet who can neither read nor write, who believeth in allah and in his words, and follow him that haply ye may be led aright. s: say: o people! surely i am the messenger of allah to you all, of him whose is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth there is no god but he; he brings to life and causes to die therefore believe in allah and his messenger, the ummi prophet who believes in allah and his words, and follow him so that you may walk in the right way. . y: of the people of moses there is a section who guide and do justice in the light of truth. p: and of moses' folk there is a community who lead with truth and establish justice therewith. s: and of musa's people was a party who guided (people) with the truth, and thereby did they do justice. . y: we divided them into twelve tribes or nations. we directed moses by inspiration, when his (thirsty) people asked him for water: "strike the rock with thy staff": out of it there gushed forth twelve springs: each group knew its own place for water. we gave them the shade of clouds, and sent down to them manna and quails, (saying): "eat of the good things we have provided for you": (but they rebelled); to us they did no harm, but they harmed their own souls. p: we divided them into twelve tribes, nations; and we inspired moses, when his people asked him for water, saying: smite with thy staff the rock! and there gushed forth therefrom twelve springs, so that each tribe knew their drinking-place. and we caused the white cloud to overshadow them and sent down for them the manna and the quails (saying): eat of the good things wherewith we have provided you. they wronged us not, but they were wont to wrong themselves. s: and we divided them into twelve tribes, as nations; and we revealed to musa when his people asked him for water: strike the rock with your staff, so outflowed from it twelve springs; each tribe knew its drinking place; and we made the clouds to give shade over them and we sent to them manna and quails: eat of the good things we have given you. and they did not do us any harm, but they did injustice to their own souls. . y: and remember it was said to them: "dwell in this town and eat therein as ye wish, but say the word of humility and enter the gate in a posture of humility: we shall forgive you your faults; we shall increase (the portion of) those who do good." p: and when it was said unto them: dwell in this township and eat therefrom whence ye will, and say "repentance," and enter the gate prostrate; we shall forgive you your sins; we shall increase (reward) for the right-doers. s: and when it was said to them: reside in this town and eat from it wherever you wish, and say, put down from us our heavy burdens: and enter the gate making obeisance, we will forgive you your wrongs: we will give more to those who do good (to others). . y: but the transgressors among them changed the word from that which had been given them so we sent on them a plague from heaven. for that they repeatedly transgressed. p: but those of them who did wrong changed the word which had been told them for another saying, and we sent down upon them wrath from heaven for their wrongdoing. s: but those who were unjust among them changed it for a saying other than that which had been spoken to them; so we sent upon them a pestilence from heaven because they were unjust. . y: ask them concerning the town standing close by the sea. behold! they transgressed in the matter of the sabbath. for on the day of their sabbath their fish did come to them, openly holding up their heads, but on the day they had no sabbath, they came not: thus did we make a trial of them, for they were given to transgression. p: ask them (o muhammad) of the township that was by the sea, how they did break the sabbath, how their big fish came unto them visibly upon their sabbath day and on a day when they did not keep sabbath came they not unto them. thus did we try them for that they were evil-livers. s: and ask them about the town which stood by the sea; when they exceeded the limits of the sabbath, when their fish came to them on the day of their sabbath, appearing on the surface of the water, and on the day on which they did not keep the sabbath they did not come to them; thus did we try them because they transgressed. . y: when some of them said: "why do ye preach to a people whom allah will destroy or visit with a terrible punishment?"- said the preachers: "to discharge our duty to your lord, and perchance they may fear him." p: and when a community among them said: why preach ye to a folk whom allah is about to destroy or punish with an awful doom, they said: in order to be free from guilt before your lord, and that haply they may ward off (evil). s: and when a party of them said: why do you admonish a with a severe chastisement? they said: to be free from blame before your lord, and that haply they may guard (against evil). . y: when they disregarded the warnings that had been given them, we rescued those who forbade evil; but we visited the wrong-doers with a grievous punishment because they were given to transgression. p: and when they forgot that whereof they had been reminded, we rescued those who forbade wrong, and visited those who did wrong with dreadful punishment because they were evil-livers. s: so when they neglected what they had been reminded of, we delivered those who forbade evil and we overtook those who were unjust with an evil chastisement because they transgressed. . y: when in their insolence they transgressed (all) prohibitions, we said to them: "be ye apes, despised and rejected." p: so when they took pride in that which they had been forbidden, we said unto them: be ye apes despised and loathed! s: therefore when they revoltingly persisted in what they had been forbidden, we said to them: be (as) apes, despised and hated. . y: behold! thy lord did declare that he would send against them, to the day of judgment, those who would afflict them with grievous penalty. thy lord is quick in retribution, but he is also oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: and (remember) when thy lord proclaimed that he would raise against them till the day of resurrection those who would lay on them a cruel torment. lo! verily thy lord is swift in prosecution and lo! verily he is forgiving, merciful. s: and when your lord announced that he would certainly send against them to the day of resurrection those who would subject them to severe torment; most surely your lord is quick to requite (evil) and most surely he is forgiving, merciful. . y: we broke them up into sections on this earth. there are among them some that are the righteous, and some that are the opposite. we have tried them with both prosperity and adversity: in order that they might turn (to us). p: and we have sundered them in the earth as (separate) nations. some of them are righteous, and some far from that. and we have tried them with good things and evil things that haply they might return. s: and we cut them up on the earth into parties, (some) of them being righteous and (others) of them falling short of that, and we tried them with blessings and misfortunes that they might turn. . y: after them succeeded an (evil) generation: they inherited the book, but they chose (for themselves) the vanities of this world, saying (for excuse): "(everything) will be forgiven us." (even so), if similar vanities came their way, they would (again) seize them. was not the covenant of the book taken from them, that they would not ascribe to allah anything but the truth? and they study what is in the book. but best for the righteous is the home in the hereafter. will ye not understand? p: and a generation hath succeeded them who inherited the scriptures. they grasp the goods of this low life (as the price of evil-doing) and say: it will be forgiven us. and if there came to them (again) the offer of the like, they would accept it (and would sin again). hath not the covenant of the scripture been taken on their behalf that they should not speak aught concerning allah save the truth? and they have studied that which is therein. and the abode of the hereafter is better, for those who ward off (evil). have ye then no sense? s: then there came after them an evil posterity who inherited the book, taking only the frail good of this low life and saying: it will be forgiven us. and if the like good came to them, they would take it (too). was not a promise taken from them in the book that they would not speak anything about allah but the truth, and they have read what is in it; and the abode of the hereafter is better for those who guard (against evil). do you not then understand? . y: as to those who hold fast by the book and establish regular prayer,- never shall we suffer the reward of the righteous to perish. p: and as for those who make (men) keep the scripture, and establish worship - lo! we squander not the wages of reformers. s: and (as for) those who hold fast by the book and keep up prayer, surely we do not waste the reward of the right doers. . y: when we shook the mount over them, as if it had been a canopy, and they thought it was going to fall on them (we said): "hold firmly to what we have given you, and bring (ever) to remembrance what is therein; perchance ye may fear allah." p: and when we shook the mount above them as it were a covering, and they supposed that it was going to fall upon them (and we said): hold fast that which we have given you, and remember that which is therein, that ye may ward off (evil). s: and when we shook the mountain over them as if it were a covering overhead, and they thought that it was going to fall down upon them: take hold of what we have given you with firmness, and be mindful of what is in it, so that you may guard (against evil). . y: when thy lord drew forth from the children of adam - from their loins - their descendants, and made them testify concerning themselves, (saying): "am i not your lord (who cherishes and sustains you)?"- they said: "yea! we do testify!" (this), lest ye should say on the day of judgment: "of this we were never mindful": p: and (remember) when thy lord brought forth from the children of adam, from their reins, their seed, and made them testify of themselves, (saying): am i not your lord? they said: yea, verily. we testify. (that was) lest ye should say at the day of resurrection: lo! of this we were unaware; s: and when your lord brought forth from the children of adam, from their backs, their descendants, and made them bear witness against their own souls: am i not your lord? they said: yes! we bear witness. lest you should say on the day of resurrection: surely we were heedless of this. . y: or lest ye should say: "our fathers before us may have taken false gods, but we are (their) descendants after them: wilt thou then destroy us because of the deeds of men who were futile?" p: or lest ye should say: (it is) only (that) our fathers ascribed partners to allah of old and we were (their) seed after them. wilt thou destroy us on account of that which those who follow falsehood did? s: or you should say: only our fathers associated others (with allah) before, and we were an offspring after them: wilt thou then destroy us for what the vain doers did? . y: thus do we explain the signs in detail; and perchance they may turn (unto us). p: thus we detail the revelations, that haply they may return. s: and thus do we make clear the communications, and that haply they might return. . y: relate to them the story of the man to whom we sent our signs, but he passed them by: so satan followed him up, and he went astray. p: recite unto them the tale of him to whom we gave our revelations, but he sloughed them off, so satan overtook him and he became of those who lead astray. s: and recite to them the narrative of him to whom we give our communications, but he withdraws himself from them, so the shaitan overtakes him, so he is of those who go astray. . y: if it had been our will, we should have elevated him with our signs; but he inclined to the earth, and followed his own vain desires. his similitude is that of a dog: if you attack him, he lolls out his tongue, or if you leave him alone, he (still) lolls out his tongue. that is the similitude of those who reject our signs; so relate the story; perchance they may reflect. p: and had we willed we could have raised him by their means, but he clung to the earth and followed his own lust. therefor his likeness is as the likeness of a dog: if thou attackest him he panteth with his tongue out, and if thou leavest him he panteth with his tongue out. such is the likeness of the people who deny our revelations. narrate unto them the history (of the men of old), that haply they may take thought. s: and if we had pleased, we would certainly have exalted him thereby; but he clung to the earth and followed his low desire, so his parable is as the parable of the dog; if you attack him he lolls out his tongue; and if you leave him alone he lolls out his tongue; this is the parable of the people who reject our communications; therefore relate the narrative that they may reflect. . y: evil as an example are people who reject our signs and wrong their own souls. p: evil as an example are the folk who denied our revelations, and were wont to wrong themselves. s: evil is the likeness of the people who reject our communications and are unjust to their own souls. . y: whom allah doth guide,- he is on the right path: whom he rejects from his guidance,- such are the persons who perish. p: he whom allah leadeth, he indeed is led aright, while he whom allah sendeth astray - they indeed are losers. s: whomsoever allah guides, he is the one who follows the right way; and whomsoever he causes to err, these are the losers. . y: many are the jinns and men we have made for hell: they have hearts wherewith they understand not, eyes wherewith they see not, and ears wherewith they hear not. they are like cattle,- nay more misguided: for they are heedless (of warning). p: already have we urged unto hell many of the jinn and humankind, having hearts wherewith they understand not, and having eyes wherewith they see not, and having ears wherewith they hear not. these are as the cattle - nay, but they are worse! these are the neglectful. s: and certainly we have created for hell many of the jinn and the men; they have hearts with which they do not understand, and they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear; they are as cattle, nay, they are in worse errors; these are the heedless ones. . y: the most beautiful names belong to allah: so call on him by them; but shun such men as use profanity in his names: for what they do, they will soon be requited. p: allah's are the fairest names. invoke him by them. and leave the company of those who blaspheme his names. they will be requited what they do. s: and allah's are the best names, therefore call on him thereby, and leave alone those who violate the sanctity of his names; they shall be recompensed for what they did. . y: of those we have created are people who direct (others) with truth. and dispense justice therewith. p: and of those whom we created there is a nation who guide with the truth and establish justice therewith. s: and of those whom we have created are a people who guide with the truth and thereby they do justice. . y: those who reject our signs, we shall gradually visit with punishment, in ways they perceive not; p: and those who deny our revelations - step by step we lead them on from whence they know not. s: and (as to) those who reject our communications, we draw them near (to destruction) by degrees from whence they know not. . y: respite will i grant unto them: for my scheme is strong (and unfailing). p: i give them rein (for) lo! my scheme is strong. s: and i grant them respite; surely my scheme is effective. . y: do they not reflect? their companion is not seized with madness: he is but a perspicuous warner. p: have they not bethought them (that) there is no madness in their comrade? he is but a plain warner. s: do they not reflect that their companion has not unsoundness in mind; he is only a plain warner. . y: do they see nothing in the government of the heavens and the earth and all that allah hath created? (do they not see) that it may well be that their term is nigh drawing to an end? in what message after this will they then believe? p: have they not considered the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and what things allah hath created, and that it may be that their own term draweth nigh? in what fact after this will they believe? s: do they not consider the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and whatever things allah has created, and that may be their doom shall have drawn nigh; what announcement would they then believe in after this? . y: to such as allah rejects from his guidance, there can be no guide: he will leave them in their trespasses, wandering in distraction. p: those whom allah sendeth astray, there is no guide for them. he leaveth them to wander blindly on in their contumacy. s: whomsoever allah causes to err, there is no guide for him; and he leaves them alone in their inordinacy, blindly wandering on. . y: they ask thee about the (final) hour - when will be its appointed time? say: "the knowledge thereof is with my lord (alone): none but he can reveal as to when it will occur. heavy were its burden through the heavens and the earth. only, all of a sudden will it come to you." they ask thee as if thou wert eager in search thereof: say: "the knowledge thereof is with allah (alone), but most men know not." p: they ask thee of the (destined) hour, when will it come to port. say: knowledge thereof is with my lord only. he alone will manifest it at its proper time. it is heavy in the heavens and the earth. it cometh not to you save unawares. they question thee as if thou couldst be well informed thereof. say: knowledge thereof is with allah only, but most of mankind know not. s: they ask you about the hour, when will be its taking place? say: the knowledge of it is only with my lord; none but he shall manifest it at its time; it will be momentous in the heavens and the earth; it will not come on you but of a sudden. they ask you as if you were solicitous about it. say: its knowledge is only with allah, but most people do not know. . y: say: "i have no power over any good or harm to myself except as allah willeth. if i had knowledge of the unseen, i should have multiplied all good, and no evil should have touched me: i am but a warner, and a bringer of glad tidings to those who have faith." p: say: for myself i have no power to benefit, nor power to hurt, save that which allah willeth. had i knowledge of the unseen, i should have abundance of wealth, and adversity would not touch me. i am but a warner, and a bearer of good tidings unto folk who believe. s: say: i do not control any benefit or harm for my own soul except as allah please; and had i known the unseen i would have had much of good and no evil would have touched me; i am nothing but a warner and the giver of good news to a people who believe. . y: it is he who created you from a single person, and made his mate of like nature, in order that he might dwell with her (in love). when they are united, she bears a light burden and carries it about (unnoticed). when she grows heavy, they both pray to allah their lord, (saying): "if thou givest us a goodly child, we vow we shall (ever) be grateful." p: he it is who did create you from a single soul, and therefrom did make his mate that he might take rest in her. and when he covered her she bore a light burden, and she passed (unnoticed) with it, but when it became heavy they cried unto allah, their lord, saying: if thou givest unto us aright we shall be of the thankful. s: he it is who created you from a single being, and of the same (kind) did he make his mate, that he might incline to her; so when he covers her she bears a light burden, then moves about with it; but when it grows heavy, they both call upon allah, their lord: if thou givest us a good one, we shall certainly be of the grateful ones. . y: but when he giveth them a goodly child, they ascribe to others a share in the gift they have received: but allah is exalted high above the partners they ascribe to him. p: but when he gave unto them aright, they ascribed unto him partners in respect of that which he had given them. high is he exalted above all that they associate (with him). s: but when he gives them a good one, they set up with him associates in what he has given them; but high is allah above what they associate (with him). . y: do they indeed ascribe to him as partners things that can create nothing, but are themselves created? p: attribute they as partners to allah those who created naught, but are themselves created, s: what! they associate (with him) that which does not create any thing, while they are themselves created! . y: no aid can they give them, nor can they aid themselves! p: and cannot give them help, nor can they help themselves? s: and they have no power to give them help, nor can they help themselves. . y: if ye call them to guidance, they will not obey: for you it is the same whether ye call them or ye hold your peace! p: and if ye call them to the guidance, they follow you not. whether ye call them or are silent is all one for you. s: and if you invite them to guidance, they will not follow you; it is the same to you whether you invite them or you are silent. . y: verily those whom ye call upon besides allah are servants like unto you: call upon them, and let them listen to your prayer, if ye are (indeed) truthful! p: lo! those on whom ye call beside allah are slaves like unto you. call on them now, and let them answer you, if ye are truthful! s: surely those whom you call on besides allah are in a state of subjugation like yourselves; therefore call on them, then let them answer you if you are truthful. . y: have they feet to walk with? or hands to lay hold with? or eyes to see with? or ears to hear with? say: "call your 'god-partners', scheme (your worst) against me, and give me no respite!" p: have they feet wherewith they walk, or have they hands wherewith they hold, or have they eyes wherewith they see, or have they ears wherewith they hear? say: call upon your (so-called) partners (of allah), and then contrive against me, spare me not! s: have they feet with which they walk, or have they hands with which they hold, or have they eyes with which they see, or have they ears with which they hear? say: call your associates, then make a struggle (to prevail) against me and give me no respite. . y: "for my protector is allah, who revealed the book (from time to time), and he will choose and befriend the righteous." p: lo! my protecting friend is allah who revealeth the scripture. he befriendeth the righteous. s: surely my guardian is allah, who revealed the book, and he befriends the good. . y: "but those ye call upon besides him, are unable to help you, and indeed to help themselves." p: they on whom ye call beside him have no power to help you, nor can they help you, nor can they help themselves. s: and those whom you call upon besides him are not able to help you, nor can they help themselves. . y: if thou callest them to guidance, they hear not. thou wilt see them looking at thee, but they see not. p: and if ye (muslims) call them to the guidance they hear not; and thou (muhammad) seest them looking toward thee, but they see not. s: and if you invite them to guidance, they do not hear; and you see them looking towards you, yet they do not see. . y: hold to forgiveness; command what is right; but turn away from the ignorant. p: keep to forgiveness (o muhammad), and enjoin kindness, and turn away from the ignorant. s: take to forgiveness and enjoin good and turn aside from the ignorant. . y: if a suggestion from satan assail thy (mind), seek refuge with allah; for he heareth and knoweth (all things). p: and if a slander from the devil wound thee, then seek refuge in allah. lo! he is hearer, knower. s: and if a false imputation from the shaitan afflict you, seek refuge in allah; surely he is hearing, knowing. . y: those who fear allah, when a thought of evil from satan assaults them, bring allah to remembrance, when lo! they see (aright)! p: lo! those who ward off (evil), when a glamour from the devil troubleth them, they do but remember (allah's guidance) and behold them seers! s: surely those who guard (against evil), when a visitation from the shaitan afflicts them they become mindful, then lo! they see. . y: but their brethren (the evil ones) plunge them deeper into error, and never relax (their efforts). p: their brethren plunge them further into error and cease not. s: and their brethren increase them in error, then they cease not. . y: if thou bring them not a revelation, they say: "why hast thou not got it together?" say: "i but follow what is revealed to me from my lord: this is (nothing but) lights from your lord, and guidance, and mercy, for any who have faith." p: and when thou bringest not a verse for them they say: why hast thou not chosen it? say: i follow only that which is inspired in me from my lord. this (qur'an) is insight from your lord, and a guidance and a mercy for a people that believe. s: and when you bring them not a revelation they say: why do you not forge it? say: i only follow what is revealed to me from my lord; these are clear proofs from your lord and a guidance and a mercy for a people who believe. . y: when the qur'an is read, listen to it with attention, and hold your peace: that ye may receive mercy. p: and when the qur'an is recited, give ear to it and pay heed, that ye may obtain mercy. s: and when the quran is recited, then listen to it and remain silent, that mercy may be shown to you. . y: and do thou (o reader!) bring thy lord to remembrance in thy (very) soul, with humility and in reverence, without loudness in words, in the mornings and evenings; and be not thou of those who are unheedful. p: and do thou (o muhammad) remember thy lord within thyself humbly and with awe, below thy breath, at morn and evening. and be not thou of the neglectful. s: and remember your lord within yourself humbly and fearing and in a voice not loud in the morning and the evening and be not of the heedless ones. . y: those who are near to thy lord, disdain not to do him worship: they celebrate his praises, and prostrate before him. p: lo! those who are with thy lord are not too proud to do him service, but they praise him and prostrate before him. s: surely those who are with your lord are not too proud to serve him, and they declare his glory and prostrate in humility before him. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-anfal (spoils of war, booty) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: they ask thee concerning (things taken as) spoils of war. say: "(such) spoils are at the disposal of allah and the messenger: so fear allah, and keep straight the relations between yourselves: obey allah and his messenger, if ye do believe." p: they ask thee (o muhammad) of the spoils of war. say: the spoils of war belong to allah and the messenger, so keep your duty to allah, and adjust the matter of your difference, and obey allah and his messenger, if ye are (true) believers. s: they ask you about the windfalls. say: the windfalls are for allah and the messenger. so be careful of (your duty to) allah and set aright matters of your difference, and obey allah and his messenger if you are believers. . y: for, believers are those who, when allah is mentioned, feel a tremor in their hearts, and when they hear his signs rehearsed, find their faith strengthened, and put (all) their trust in their lord; p: they only are the (true) believers whose hearts feel fear when allah is mentioned, and when his revelations are recited unto them they increase their faith, and who trust in their lord; s: those only are believers whose hearts become full of fear when allah is mentioned, and when his communications are recited to them they increase them in faith, and in their lord do they trust. . y: who establish regular prayers and spend (freely) out of the gifts we have given them for sustenance: p: who establish worship and spend of that we have bestowed on them. s: those who keep up prayer and spend (benevolently) out of what we have given them. . y: such in truth are the believers: they have grades of dignity with their lord, and forgiveness, and generous sustenance: p: those are they who are in truth believers. for them are grades (of honour) with their lord, and pardon, and a bountiful provision. s: these are the believers in truth; they shall have from their lord exalted grades and forgiveness and an honorable sustenance. . y: just as thy lord ordered thee out of thy house in truth, even though a party among the believers disliked it, p: even as thy lord caused thee (muhammad) to go forth from thy home with the truth, and lo! a party of the believers were averse (to it). s: even as your lord caused you to go forth from your house with the truth, though a party of the believers were surely averse; . y: disputing with thee concerning the truth after it was made manifest, as if they were being driven to death and they (actually) saw it. p: disputing with thee of the truth after it had been made manifest, as if they were being driven to death visible. s: they disputed with you about the truth after it had become clear, (and they went forth) as if they were being driven to death while they saw (it). . y: behold! allah promised you one of the two (enemy) parties, that it should be yours: ye wished that the one unarmed should be yours, but allah willed to justify the truth according to his words and to cut off the roots of the unbelievers;- p: and when allah promised you one of the two bands (of the enemy) that it should be yours, and ye longed that other than the armed one might be yours. and allah willed that he should cause the truth to triumph by his words, and cut the root of the disbelievers; s: and when allah promised you one of the two parties that it shall be yours and you loved that the one not armed should he yours and allah desired to manifest the truth of what was true by his words and to cut off the root of the unbelievers. . y: that he might justify truth and prove falsehood false, distasteful though it be to those in guilt. p: that he might cause the truth to triumph and bring vanity to naught, however much the guilty might oppose; s: that he may manifest the truth of what was true and show the falsehood of what was false, though the guilty disliked. . y: remember ye implored the assistance of your lord, and he answered you: "i will assist you with a thousand of the angels, ranks on ranks." p: when ye sought help of your lord and he answered you (saying): i will help you with a thousand of the angels, rank on rank. s: when you sought aid from your lord, so he answered you: i will assist you with a thousand of the angels following one another. . y: allah made it but a message of hope, and an assurance to your hearts: (in any case) there is no help except from allah: and allah is exalted in power, wise. p: allah appointed it only as good tidings, and that your hearts thereby might be at rest. victory cometh only by the help of allah. lo! allah is mighty, wise. s: and allah only gave it as a good news and that your hearts might be at ease thereby; and victory is only from allah; surely allah is mighty, wise. . y: remember he covered you with a sort of drowsiness, to give you calm as from himself, and he caused rain to descend on you from heaven, to clean you therewith, to remove from you the stain of satan, to strengthen your hearts, and to plant your feet firmly therewith. p: when he made the slumber fall upon you as a reassurance from him and sent down water from the sky upon you, that thereby he might purify you, and remove from you the fear of satan, and make strong your hearts and firm (your) feet thereby. s: when he caused calm to fall on you as a security from him and sent down upon you water from the cloud that he might thereby purify you, and take away from you the uncleanness of the shaitan, and that he might fortify your hearts and steady (your) footsteps thereby. . y: remember thy lord inspired the angels (with the message): "i am with you: give firmness to the believers: i will instil terror into the hearts of the unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them." p: when thy lord inspired the angels, (saying): i am with you. so make those who believe stand firm. i will throw fear into the hearts of those who disbelieve. then smite the necks and smite of them each finger. s: when your lord revealed to the angels: i am with you, therefore make firm those who believe. i will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them. . y: this because they contended against allah and his messenger: if any contend against allah and his messenger, allah is strict in punishment. p: that is because they opposed allah and his messenger. whoso opposeth allah and his messenger, (for him) lo! allah is severe in punishment. s: this is because they acted adversely to allah and his messenger; and whoever acts adversely to allah and his messenger-- then surely allah is severe in requiting (evil). . y: thus (will it be said): "taste ye then of the (punishment): for those who resist allah, is the penalty of the fire." p: that (is the award), so taste it, and (know) that for disbelievers is the torment of the fire. s: this-- taste it, and (know) that for the unbelievers is the chastisement of fire. . y: o ye who believe! when ye meet the unbelievers in hostile array, never turn your backs to them. p: o ye who believe! when ye meet those who disbelieve in battle, turn not your backs to them. s: o you who believe! when you meet those who disbelieve marching for war, then turn not your backs to them. . y: if any do turn his back to them on such a day - unless it be in a stratagem of war, or to retreat to a troop (of his own)- he draws on himself the wrath of allah, and his abode is hell,- an evil refuge (indeed)! p: whoso on that day turneth his back to them, unless maneuvering for battle or intent to join a company, he truly hath incurred wrath from allah, and his habitation will be hell, a hapless journey's end. s: and whoever shall turn his back to them on that day-- unless he turn aside for the sake of fighting or withdraws to a company-- then he, indeed, becomes deserving of allah's wrath, and his abode is hell; and an evil destination shall it be. . y: it is not ye who slew them; it was allah: when thou threwest (a handful of dust), it was not thy act, but allah's: in order that he might test the believers by a gracious trial from himself: for allah is he who heareth and knoweth (all things). p: ye (muslims) slew them not, but allah slew them. and thou (muhammad) threwest not when thou didst throw, but allah threw, that he might test the believers by a fair test from him. lo! allah is hearer, knower. s: so you did not slay them, but it was allah who slew them, and you did not smite when you smote (the enemy), but it was allah who smote, and that he might confer upon the believers a good gift from himself; surely allah is hearing, knowing. . y: that, and also because allah is he who makes feeble the plans and stratagem of the unbelievers. p: that (is the case); and (know) that allah (it is) who maketh weak the plan of disbelievers. s: this, and that allah is the weakener of the struggle of the unbelievers. . y: (o unbelievers!) if ye prayed for victory and judgment, now hath the judgment come to you: if ye desist (from wrong), it will be best for you: if ye return (to the attack), so shall we. not the least good will your forces be to you even if they were multiplied: for verily allah is with those who believe! p: (o qureysh!) if ye sought a judgment, now hath the judgment come unto you. and if ye cease (from persecuting the believers) it will be better for you, but if ye return (to the attack) we also shall return. and your host will avail you naught, however numerous it be, and (know) that allah is with the believers (in his guidance). s: if you demanded a judgment, the judgment has then indeed come to you; and if you desist, it will be better for you; and if you turn back (to fight), we (too) shall turn back, and your forces shall avail you nothing, though they may be many, and (know) that allah is with the believers. . y: o ye who believe! obey allah and his messenger, and turn not away from him when ye hear (him speak). p: o ye who believe! obey allah and his messenger, and turn not away from him when ye hear (him speak). s: o you who believe! obey allah and his messenger and do not turn back from him while you hear. . y: nor be like those who say, "we hear," but listen not: p: be not as those who say, we hear, and they hear not. s: and be not like those who said, we hear, and they did not obey. . y: for the worst of beasts in the sight of allah are the deaf and the dumb,- those who understand not. p: lo! the worst of beasts in allah's sight are the deaf, the dumb, who have no sense. s: surely the vilest of animals, in allah's sight, are the deaf, the dumb, who do not understand. . y: if allah had found in them any good. he would indeed have made them listen: (as it is), if he had made them listen, they would but have turned back and declined (faith). p: had allah known of any good in them he would have made them hear, but had he made them hear they would have turned away, averse. s: and if allah had known any good in them he would have made them hear, and if he makes them hear they would turn back while they withdraw. . y: o ye who believe! give your response to allah and his messenger, when he calleth you to that which will give you life; and know that allah cometh in between a man and his heart, and that it is he to whom ye shall (all) be gathered. p: o ye who believe! obey allah, and the messenger when he calleth you to that which quickeneth you, and know that allah cometh in between the man and his own heart, and that he it is unto whom ye will be gathered. s: o you who believe! answer (the call of) allah and his messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life; and know that allah intervenes between man and his heart, and that to him you shall be gathered. . y: and fear tumult or oppression, which affecteth not in particular (only) those of you who do wrong: and know that allah is strict in punishment. p: and guard yourselves against a chastisement which cannot fall exclusively on those of you who are wrong-doers, and know that allah is severe in punishment. s: and fear an affliction which may not smite those of you in particular who are unjust; and know that allah is severe in requiting (evil). . y: call to mind when ye were a small (band), despised through the land, and afraid that men might despoil and kidnap you; but he provided a safe asylum for you, strengthened you with his aid, and gave you good things for sustenance: that ye might be grateful. p: and remember, when ye were few and reckoned feeble in the land, and were in fear lest men should extirpate you, how he gave you refuge, and strengthened you with his help, and made provision of good things for you, that haply ye might be thankful. s: and remember when you were few, deemed weak in the land, fearing lest people might carry you off by force, but he sheltered you and strengthened you with his aid and gave you of the good things that you may give thanks. . y: o ye that believe! betray not the trust of allah and the messenger, nor misappropriate knowingly things entrusted to you. p: o ye who believe! betray not allah and his messenger, nor knowingly betray your trusts. s: o you who believe! be not unfaithful to allah and the messenger, nor be unfaithful to your trusts while you know. . y: and know ye that your possessions and your progeny are but a trial; and that it is allah with whom lies your highest reward. p: and know that your possessions and your children are a test, and that with allah is immense reward. s: and know that your property and your children are a temptation, and that allah is he with whom there is a mighty reward. . y: o ye who believe! if ye fear allah, he will grant you a criterion (to judge between right and wrong), remove from you (all) evil (that may afflict) you, and forgive you: for allah is the lord of grace unbounded. p: o ye who believe! if ye keep your duty to allah, he will give you discrimination (between right and wrong) and will rid you of your evil thoughts and deeds, and will forgive you. allah is of infinite bounty. s: o you who believe! if you are careful of (your duty to) allah, he will grant you a distinction and do away with your evils and forgive you; and allah is the lord of mighty grace. . y: remember how the unbelievers plotted against thee, to keep thee in bonds, or slay thee, or get thee out (of thy home). they plot and plan, and allah too plans; but the best of planners is allah. p: and when those who disbelieve plot against thee (o muhammad) to wound thee fatally, or to kill thee or to drive thee forth; they plot, but allah (also) plotteth; and allah is the best of plotters. s: and when those who disbelieved devised plans against you that they might confine you or slay you or drive you away; and they devised plans and allah too had arranged a plan; and allah is the best of planners. . y: when our signs are rehearsed to them, they say: "we have heard this (before): if we wished, we could say (words) like these: these are nothing but tales of the ancients." p: and when our revelations are recited unto them they say: we have heard. if we wish we can speak the like of this. lo! this is naught but fables of the men of old. s: and when our communications are recited to them, they say: we have heard indeed; if we pleased we could say the like of it; this is nothing but the stories of the ancients. . y: remember how they said: "o allah if this is indeed the truth from thee, rain down on us a shower of stones form the sky, or send us a grievous penalty." p: and when they said: o allah! if this be indeed the truth from thee, then rain down stones on us or bring on us some painful doom! s: and when they said: o allah! if this is the truth from thee, then rain upon us stones from heaven or inflict on us a painful punishment. . y: but allah was not going to send them a penalty whilst thou wast amongst them; nor was he going to send it whilst they could ask for pardon. p: but allah would not punish them while thou wast with them, nor will he punish them while they seek forgiveness. s: but allah was not going to chastise them while you were among them, nor is allah going to chastise them while yet they ask for forgiveness. . y: but what plea have they that allah should not punish them, when they keep out (men) from the sacred mosque - and they are not its guardians? no men can be its guardians except the righteous; but most of them do not understand. p: what (plea) have they that allah should not punish them, when they debar (his servants) from the inviolable place of worship, though they are not its fitting guardians. its fitting guardians are those only who keep their duty to allah. but most of them know not. s: and what (excuse) have they that allah should not chastise them while they hinder (men) from the sacred mosque and they are not (fit to be) guardians of it; its guardians are only those who guard (against evil), but most of them do not know. . y: their prayer at the house (of allah) is nothing but whistling and clapping of hands: (its only answer can be), "taste ye the penalty because ye blasphemed." p: and their worship at the (holy) house is naught but whistling and hand-clapping. therefore (it is said unto them): taste of the doom because ye disbelieve. s: and their prayer before the house is nothing but whistling and clapping of hands; taste then the chastisement, for you disbelieved. . y: the unbelievers spend their wealth to hinder (man) from the path of allah, and so will they continue to spend; but in the end they will have (only) regrets and sighs; at length they will be overcome: and the unbelievers will be gathered together to hell;- p: lo! those who disbelieve spend their wealth in order that they may debar (men) from the way of allah. they will spend it, then it will become an anguish for them, then they will be conquered. and those who disbelieve will be gathered unto hell, s: surely those who disbelieve spend their wealth to hinder (people) from the way of allah; so they shall spend it, then it shall be to them an intense regret, then they shall be overcome; and those who disbelieve shall be driven together to hell. . y: in order that allah may separate the impure from the pure, put the impure, one on another, heap them together, and cast them into hell. they will be the ones to have lost. p: that allah may separate the wicked from the good, the wicked will he place piece upon piece, and heap them all together, and consign them unto hell. such verily are the losers. s: that allah might separate the impure from the good, and put the impure, some of it upon the other, and pile it up together, then cast it into hell; these it is that are the losers. . y: say to the unbelievers, if (now) they desist (from unbelief), their past would be forgiven them; but if they persist, the punishment of those before them is already (a matter of warning for them). p: tell those who disbelieve that if they cease (from persecution of believers) that which is past will be forgiven them; but if they return (thereto) then the example of the men of old hath already gone (before them, for a warning). s: say to those who disbelieve, if they desist, that which is past shall be forgiven to them; and if they return, then what happened to the ancients has already passed. . y: and fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in allah altogether and everywhere; but if they cease, verily allah doth see all that they do. p: and fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is all for allah. but if they cease, then lo! allah is seer of what they do. s: and fight with them until there is no more persecution and religion should be only for allah; but if they desist, then surely allah sees what they do. . y: if they refuse, be sure that allah is your protector - the best to protect and the best to help. p: and if they turn away, then know that allah is your befriender - a transcendent patron, a transcendent helper! s: and if they turn back, then know that allah is your patron; most excellent is the patron and most excellent the helper. . y: and know that out of all the booty that ye may acquire (in war), a fifth share is assigned to allah,- and to the messenger, and to near relatives, orphans, the needy, and the wayfarer,- if ye do believe in allah and in the revelation we sent down to our servant on the day of testing,- the day of the meeting of the two forces. for allah hath power over all things. p: and know that whatever ye take as spoils of war, lo! a fifth thereof is for allah, and for the messenger and for the kinsman (who hath need) and orphans and the needy and the wayfarer, if ye believe in allah and that which we revealed unto our slave on the day of discrimination, the day when the two armies met. and allah is able to do all things. s: and know that whatever thing you gain, a fifth of it is for allah and for the messenger and for the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer, if you believe in allah and in that which we revealed to our servant, on the day of distinction, the day on which the two parties met; and allah has power over all things. . y: remember ye were on the hither side of the valley, and they on the farther side, and the caravan on lower ground than ye. even if ye had made a mutual appointment to meet, ye would certainly have failed in the appointment: but (thus ye met), that allah might accomplish a matter already enacted; that those who died might die after a clear sign (had been given), and those who lived might live after a clear sign (had been given). and verily allah is he who heareth and knoweth (all things). p: when ye were on the near bank (of the valley) and they were on the yonder bank, and the caravan was below you (on the coast plain). and had ye trysted to meet one another ye surely would have failed to keep the tryst, but (it happened, as it did, without the forethought of either of you) that allah might conclude a thing that must be done; that he who perished (on that day) might perish by a clear proof (of his sovereignty) and he who survived might survive by a clear proof (of his sovereignty). lo! allah in truth is hearer, knower. s: when you were on the nearer side (of the valley) and they were on the farthest side, while the caravan was in a lower place than you; and if you had mutually made an appointment, you would certainly have broken away from the appointment, but-- in order that allah might bring about a matter which was to be done, that he who would perish might perish by clear proof, and he who would live might live by clear proof; and most surely allah is hearing, knowing; . y: remember in thy dream allah showed them to thee as few: if he had shown them to thee as many, ye would surely have been discouraged, and ye would surely have disputed in (your) decision; but allah saved (you): for he knoweth well the (secrets) of (all) hearts. p: when allah showed them unto thee (o muhammad) in thy dream as few in number, and if he had shown them to thee as many, ye (muslims) would have faltered and would have quarreled over the affair. but allah saved (you). lo! he knoweth what is in the breasts (of men). s: when allah showed them to you in your dream as few; and if he had shown them to you as many you would certainly have become weak-hearted and you would have disputed about the matter, but allah saved (you); surely he is the knower of what is in the breasts. . y: and remember when ye met, he showed them to you as few in your eyes, and he made you appear as contemptible in their eyes: that allah might accomplish a matter already enacted. for to allah do all questions go back (for decision). p: and when he made you (muslims), when ye met (them), see them with your eyes as few, and lessened you in their eyes, (it was) that allah might conclude a thing that must be done. unto allah all things are brought back. s: and when he showed them to you, when you met, as few in your eyes and he made you to appear little in their eyes, in order that allah might bring about a matter which was to be done, and to allah are all affairs returned. . y: o ye who believe! when ye meet a force, be firm, and call allah in remembrance much (and often); that ye may prosper: p: o ye who believe! when ye meet an army, hold firm and think of allah much, that ye may be successful. s: o you who believe! when you meet a party, then be firm, and remember allah much, that you may be successful. . y: and obey allah and his messenger; and fall into no disputes, lest ye lose heart and your power depart; and be patient and persevering: for allah is with those who patiently persevere: p: and obey allah and his messenger, and dispute not one with another lest ye falter and your strength depart from you; but be steadfast! lo! allah is with the steadfast. s: and obey allah and his messenger and do not quarrel for then you will be weak in hearts and your power will depart, and be patient; surely allah is with the patient. . y: and be not like those who started from their homes insolently and to be seen of men, and to hinder (men) from the path of allah: for allah compasseth round about all that they do. p: be not as those who came forth from their dwellings boastfully and to be seen of men, and debar (men) from the way of allah, while allah is surrounding all they do. s: and be not like those who came forth from their homes in great exultation and to be seen of men, and (who) turn away from the way of allah, and allah comprehends what they do. . y: remember satan made their (sinful) acts seem alluring to them, and said: "no one among men can overcome you this day, while i am near to you": but when the two forces came in sight of each other, he turned on his heels, and said: "lo! i am clear of you; lo! i see what ye see not; lo! i fear allah: for allah is strict in punishment." p: and when satan made their deeds seem fair to them and said: no one of mankind can conquer you this day, for i am your protector. but when the armies came in sight of one another, he took flight, saying: lo! i am guiltless of you. lo! i see that which ye see not. lo! i fear allah. and allah is severe in punishment. s: and when the shaitan made their works fair seeming to them, and said: no one can overcome you this day, and surely i am your protector: but when the two parties came in sight of each other he turned upon his heels, and said: surely i am clear of you, surely i see what you do not see, surely i fear allah; and allah is severe in requiting (evil). . y: lo! the hypocrites say, and those in whose hearts is a disease: "these people,- their religion has misled them." but if any trust in allah, behold! allah is exalted in might, wise. p: when the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease said: their religion hath deluded these. whoso putteth his trust in allah (will find that) lo! allah is mighty, wise. s: when the hypocrites and those in whose hearts was disease said: their religion has deceived them; and whoever trusts in allah, then surely allah is mighty, wise. . y: if thou couldst see, when the angels take the souls of the unbelievers (at death), (how) they smite their faces and their backs, (saying): "taste the penalty of the blazing fire-" p: if thou couldst see how the angels receive those who disbelieve, smiting faces and their backs and (saying): taste the punishment of burning! s: and had you seen when the angels will cause to die those who disbelieve, smiting their faces and their backs, and (saying): taste the punishment of burning. . y: "because of (the deeds) which your (own) hands sent forth; for allah is never unjust to his servants:" p: this is for that which your own hands have sent before (to the judgment), and (know) that allah is not a tyrant to his slaves. s: this is for what your own hands have sent on before, and because allah is not in the least unjust to the servants; . y: "(deeds) after the manner of the people of pharaoh and of those before them: they rejected the signs of allah, and allah punished them for their crimes: for allah is strong, and strict in punishment:" p: (their way is) as the way of pharaoh's folk and those before them; they disbelieved the revelations of allah, and allah took them in their sins. lo! allah is strong, severe in punishment. s: in the manner of the people of firon and those before them; they disbelieved in allah's communications, therefore allah destroyed them on account of their faults; surely allah is strong, severe in requiting (evil). . y: "because allah will never change the grace which he hath bestowed on a people until they change what is in their (own) souls: and verily allah is he who heareth and knoweth (all things)." p: that is because allah never changeth the grace he hath bestowed on any people until they first change that which is in their hearts, and (that is) because allah is hearer, knower. s: this is because allah has never changed a favor which he has conferred upon a people until they change their own condition; and because allah is hearing, knowing; . y: "(deeds) after the manner of the people of pharaoh and those before them": they treated as false the signs of their lord: so we destroyed them for their crimes, and we drowned the people of pharaoh: for they were all oppressors and wrong-doers. p: (their way is) as the way of pharaoh's folk and those before them; they denied the revelations of their lord, so we destroyed them in their sins. and we drowned the folk of pharaoh. all were evil-doers. s: in the manner of the people of firon and those before them; they rejected the communications of their lord, therefore we destroyed them on account of their faults and we drowned firon's people, and they were all unjust. . y: for the worst of beasts in the sight of allah are those who reject him: they will not believe. p: lo! the worst of beasts in allah's sight are the ungrateful who will not believe. s: surely the vilest of animals in allah's sight are those who disbelieve, then they would not believe. . y: they are those with whom thou didst make a covenant, but they break their covenant every time, and they have not the fear (of allah). p: those of them with whom thou madest a treaty, and then at every opportunity they break their treaty, and they keep not duty (to allah). s: those with whom you make an agreement, then they break their agreement every time and they do not guard (against punishment). . y: if ye gain the mastery over them in war, disperse, with them, those who follow them, that they may remember. p: if thou comest on them in the war, deal with them so as to strike fear in those who are behind them, that haply they may remember. s: therefore if you overtake them in fighting, then scatter by (making an example of) them those who are in their rear, that they may be mindful. . y: if thou fearest treachery from any group, throw back (their covenant) to them, (so as to be) on equal terms: for allah loveth not the treacherous. p: and if thou fearest treachery from any folk, then throw back to them (their treaty) fairly. lo! allah loveth not the treacherous. s: and if you fear treachery on the part of a people, then throw back to them on terms of equality; surely allah does not love the treacherous. . y: let not the unbelievers think that they can get the better (of the godly): they will never frustrate (them). p: and let not those who disbelieve suppose that they can outstrip (allah's purpose). lo! they cannot escape. s: and let not those who disbelieve think that they shall come in first; surely they will not escape. . y: against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies, of allah and your enemies, and others besides, whom ye may not know, but whom allah doth know. whatever ye shall spend in the cause of allah, shall be repaid unto you, and ye shall not be treated unjustly. p: make ready for them all thou canst of (armed) force and of horses tethered, that thereby ye may dismay the enemy of allah and your enemy, and others beside them whom ye know not. allah knoweth them. whatsoever ye spend in the way of allah it will be repaid to you in full, and ye will not be wronged. s: and prepare against them what force you can and horses tied at the frontier, to frighten thereby the enemy of allah and your enemy and others besides them, whom you do not know (but) allah knows them; and whatever thing you will spend in allah's way, it will be paid back to you fully and you shall not be dealt with unjustly. . y: but if the enemy incline towards peace, do thou (also) incline towards peace, and trust in allah: for he is one that heareth and knoweth (all things). p: and if they incline to peace, incline thou also to it, and trust in allah. lo! he, even he, is the hearer, the knower. s: and if they incline to peace, then incline to it and trust in allah; surely he is the hearing, the knowing. . y: should they intend to deceive thee,- verily allah sufficeth thee: he it is that hath strengthened thee with his aid and with (the company of) the believers; p: and if they would deceive thee, then lo! allah is sufficient for thee. he it is who supporteth thee with his help and with the believers, s: and if they intend to deceive you-- then surely allah is sufficient for you; he it is who strengthened you with his help and with the believers, . y: and (moreover) he hath put affection between their hearts: not if thou hadst spent all that is in the earth, couldst thou have produced that affection, but allah hath done it: for he is exalted in might, wise. p: and (as for the believers) hath attuned their hearts. if thou hadst spent all that is in the earth thou couldst not have attuned their hearts, but allah hath attuned them. lo! he is mighty, wise. s: and united their hearts; had you spent all that is in the earth, you could not have united their hearts, but allah united them; surely he is mighty, wise. . y: o prophet! sufficient unto thee is allah,- (unto thee) and unto those who follow thee among the believers. p: o prophet! allah is sufficient for thee and those who follow thee of the believers. s: o prophet! allah is sufficient for you and (for) such of the believers as follow you. . y: o prophet! rouse the believers to the fight. if there are twenty amongst you, patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred: if a hundred, they will vanquish a thousand of the unbelievers: for these are a people without understanding. p: o prophet! exhort the believers to fight. if there be of you twenty steadfast they shall overcome two hundred, and if there be of you a hundred (steadfast) they shall overcome a thousand of those who disbelieve, because they (the disbelievers) are a folk without intelligence. s: o prophet! urge the believers to war; if there are twenty patient ones of you they shall overcome two hundred, and if there are a hundred of you they shall overcome a thousand of those who disbelieve, because they are a people who do not understand. . y: for the present, allah hath lightened your (task), for he knoweth that there is a weak spot in you: but (even so), if there are a hundred of you, patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred, and if a thousand, they will vanquish two thousand, with the leave of allah: for allah is with those who patiently persevere. p: now hath allah lightened your burden, for he knoweth that there is weakness in you. so if there be of you a steadfast hundred they shall overcome two hundred, and if there be of you a thousand (steadfast) they shall overcome two thousand by permission of allah. allah is with the steadfast. s: for the present allah has made light your burden, and he knows that there is weakness in you; so if there are a hundred patient ones of you they shall overcome two hundred, and if there are a thousand they shall overcome two thousand by allah's permission, and allah is with the patient. . y: it is not fitting for a prophet that he should have prisoners of war until he hath thoroughly subdued the land. ye look for the temporal goods of this world; but allah looketh to the hereafter: and allah is exalted in might, wise. p: it is not for any prophet to have captives until he hath made slaughter in the land. ye desire the lure of this world and allah desireth (for you) the hereafter, and allah is mighty, wise. s: it is not fit for a prophet that he should take captives unless he has fought and triumphed in the land; you desire the frail goods of this world, while allah desires (for you) the hereafter; and allah is mighty, wise. . y: had it not been for a previous ordainment from allah, a severe penalty would have reached you for the (ransom) that ye took. p: had it not been for an ordinance of allah which had gone before, an awful doom had come upon you on account of what ye took. s: were it not for an ordinance from allah that had already gone forth, surely there would have befallen you a great chastisement for what you had taken to. . y: but (now) enjoy what ye took in war, lawful and good: but fear allah: for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: now enjoy what ye have won, as lawful and good, and keep your duty to allah. lo! allah is forgiving, merciful. s: eat then of the lawful and good (things) which you have acquired in war, and be careful of (your duty to) allah; surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: o prophet! say to those who are captives in your hands: "if allah findeth any good in your hearts, he will give you something better than what has been taken from you, and he will forgive you: for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful." p: o prophet! say unto those captives who are in your hands: if allah knoweth any good in your hearts he will give you better than that which hath been taken from you, and will forgive you. lo! allah is forgiving, merciful. s: o prophet! say to those of the captives who are in your hands: if allah knows anything good in your hearts, he will give to you better than that which has been taken away from you and will forgive you, and allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: but if they have treacherous designs against thee, (o messenger!), they have already been in treason against allah, and so hath he given (thee) power over them. and allah so he who hath (full) knowledge and wisdom. p: and if they would betray thee, they betrayed allah before, and he gave (thee) power over them. allah is knower, wise. s: and if they intend to act unfaithfully towards you, so indeed they acted unfaithfully towards allah before, but he gave (you) mastery over them; and allah is knowing, wise. . y: those who believed, and adopted exile, and fought for the faith, with their property and their persons, in the cause of allah, as well as those who gave (them) asylum and aid,- these are (all) friends and protectors, one of another. as to those who believed but came not into exile, ye owe no duty of protection to them until they come into exile; but if they seek your aid in religion, it is your duty to help them, except against a people with whom ye have a treaty of mutual alliance. and (remember) allah seeth all that ye do. p: lo! those who believed and left their homes and strove with their wealth and their lives for the cause of allah, and those who took them in and helped them: these are protecting friends one of another. and those who believed but did not leave their homes, ye have no duty to protect them till they leave their homes; but if they seek help from you in the matter of religion then it is your duty to help (them) except against a folk between whom and you there is a treaty. allah is seer of what ye do. s: surely those who believed and fled (their homes) and struggled hard in allah's way with their property and their souls, and those who gave shelter and helped-- these are guardians of each other; and (as for) those who believed and did not fly, not yours is their guardianship until they fly; and if they seek aid from you in the matter of religion, aid is incumbent on you except against a people between whom and you there is a treaty, and allah sees what you do. . y: the unbelievers are protectors, one of another: unless ye do this, (protect each other), there would be tumult and oppression on earth, and great mischief. p: and those who disbelieve are protectors one of another - if ye do not so, there will be confusion in the land, and great corruption. s: and (as for) those who disbelieve, some of them are the guardians of others; if you will not do it, there will be in the land persecution and great mischief. . y: those who believe, and adopt exile, and fight for the faith, in the cause of allah as well as those who give (them) asylum and aid,- these are (all) in very truth the believers: for them is the forgiveness of sins and a provision most generous. p: those who believed and left their homes and strove for the cause of allah, and those who took them in and helped them - these are the believers in truth. for them is pardon, and bountiful provision. s: and (as for) those who believed and fled and struggled hard in allah's way, and those who gave shelter and helped, these are the believers truly; they shall have forgiveness and honorable provision. . y: and those who accept faith subsequently, and adopt exile, and fight for the faith in your company,- they are of you. but kindred by blood have prior rights against each other in the book of allah. verily allah is well-acquainted with all things. p: and those who afterwards believed and left their homes and strove along with you, they are of you; and those who are akin are nearer one to another in the ordinance of allah. lo! allah is knower of all things. s: and (as for) those who believed afterwards and fled and struggled hard along with you, they are of you; and the possessors of relationships are nearer to each other in the ordinance of allah; surely allah knows all things. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-tawba (repentance, dispensation) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- . y: a (declaration) of immunity from allah and his messenger, to those of the pagans with whom ye have contracted mutual alliances:- p: freedom from obligation (is proclaimed) from allah and his messenger toward those of the idolaters with whom ye made a treaty. s: (this is a declaration of) immunity by allah and his messenger towards those of the idolaters with whom you made an agreement. . y: go ye, then, for four months, backwards and forwards, (as ye will), throughout the land, but know ye that ye cannot frustrate allah (by your falsehood) but that allah will cover with shame those who reject him. p: travel freely in the land four months, and know that ye cannot escape allah and that allah will confound the disbelievers (in his guidance). s: so go about in the land for four months and know that you cannot weaken allah and that allah will bring disgrace to the unbelievers. . y: and an announcement from allah and his messenger, to the people (assembled) on the day of the great pilgrimage,- that allah and his messenger dissolve (treaty) obligations with the pagans. if then, ye repent, it were best for you; but if ye turn away, know ye that ye cannot frustrate allah. and proclaim a grievous penalty to those who reject faith. p: and a proclamation from allah and his messenger to all men on the day of the greater pilgrimage that allah is free from obligation to the idolaters, and (so is) his messenger. so, if ye repent, it will be better for you; but if ye are averse, then know that ye cannot escape allah. give tidings (o muhammad) of a painful doom to those who disbelieve, s: and an announcement from allah and his messenger to the people on the day of the greater pilgrimage that allah and his messenger are free from liability to the idolaters; therefore if you repent, it will be better for you, and if you turn back, then know that you will not weaken allah; and announce painful punishment to those who disbelieve. . y: (but the treaties are) not dissolved with those pagans with whom ye have entered into alliance and who have not subsequently failed you in aught, nor aided any one against you. so fulfil your engagements with them to the end of their term: for allah loveth the righteous. p: excepting those of the idolaters with whom ye (muslims) have a treaty, and who have since abated nothing of your right nor have supported anyone against you. (as for these), fulfil their treaty to them till their term. lo! allah loveth those who keep their duty (unto him). s: except those of the idolaters with whom you made an agreement, then they have not failed you in anything and have not backed up any one against you, so fulfill their agreement to the end of their term; surely allah loves those who are careful (of their duty). . y: but when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the pagans wherever ye find them, an seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them: for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. but if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free. lo! allah is forgiving, merciful. s: so when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: if one amongst the pagans ask thee for asylum, grant it to him, so that he may hear the word of allah; and then escort him to where he can be secure. that is because they are men without knowledge. p: and if anyone of the idolaters seeketh thy protection (o muhammad), then protect him so that he may hear the word of allah, and afterward convey him to his place of safety. that is because they are a folk who know not. s: and if one of the idolaters seek protection from you, grant him protection till he hears the word of allah, then make him attain his place of safety; this is because they are a people who do not know. . y: how can there be a league, before allah and his messenger, with the pagans, except those with whom ye made a treaty near the sacred mosque? as long as these stand true to you, stand ye true to them: for allah doth love the righteous. p: how can there be a treaty with allah and with his messenger for the idolaters save those with whom ye made a treaty at the inviolable place of worship? so long as they are true to you, be true to them. lo! allah loveth those who keep their duty. s: how can there be an agreement for the idolaters with allah and with his messenger; except those with whom you made an agreement at the sacred mosque? so as long as they are true to you, be true to them; surely allah loves those who are careful (of their duty). . y: how (can there be such a league), seeing that if they get an advantage over you, they respect not in you the ties either of kinship or of covenant? with (fair words from) their mouths they entice you, but their hearts are averse from you; and most of them are rebellious and wicked. p: how (can there be any treaty for the others) when, if they have the upper hand of you, they regard not pact nor honour in respect of you? they satisfy you with their mouths the while their hearts refuse. and most of them are wrongdoers. s: how (can it be)! while if they prevail against you, they would not pay regard in your case to ties of relationship, nor those of covenant; they please you with their mouths while their hearts do not consent; and most of them are transgressors. . y: the signs of allah have they sold for a miserable price, and (many) have they hindered from his way: evil indeed are the deeds they have done. p: they have purchased with the revelations of allah a little gain, so they debar (men) from his way. lo! evil is that which they are wont to do. s: they have taken a small price for the communications of allah, so they turn away from his way; surely evil is it that they do. . y: in a believer they respect not the ties either of kinship or of covenant! it is they who have transgressed all bounds. p: and they observe toward a believer neither pact nor honour. these are they who are transgressors. s: they do not pay regard to ties of relationship nor those of covenant in the case of a believer; and these are they who go beyond the limits. . y: but (even so), if they repent, establish regular prayers, and practise regular charity,- they are your brethren in faith: (thus) do we explain the signs in detail, for those who understand. p: but if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then are they your brethren in religion. we detail our revelations for a people who have knowledge. s: but if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, they are your brethren in faith; and we make the communications clear for a people who know. . y: but if they violate their oaths after their covenant, and taunt you for your faith,- fight ye the chiefs of unfaith: for their oaths are nothing to them: that thus they may be restrained. p: and if they break their pledges after their treaty (hath been made with you) and assail your religion, then fight the heads of disbelief - lo! they have no binding oaths - in order that they may desist. s: and if they break their oaths after their agreement and (openly) revile your religion, then fight the leaders of unbelief-- surely their oaths are nothing-- so that they may desist. . y: will ye not fight people who violated their oaths, plotted to expel the messenger, and took the aggressive by being the first (to assault) you? do ye fear them? nay, it is allah whom ye should more justly fear, if ye believe! p: will ye not fight a folk who broke their solemn pledges, and purposed to drive out the messenger and did attack you first? what! fear ye them? now allah hath more right that ye should fear him, if ye are believers. s: what! will you not fight a people who broke their oaths and aimed at the expulsion of the messenger, and they attacked you first; do you fear them? but allah is most deserving that you should fear him, if you are believers. . y: fight them, and allah will punish them by your hands, cover them with shame, help you (to victory) over them, heal the breasts of believers, p: fight them! allah will chastise them at your hands, and he will lay them low and give you victory over them, and he will heal the breasts of folk who are believers. s: fight them, allah will punish them by your hands and bring them to disgrace, and assist you against them and heal the hearts of a believing people. . y: and still the indignation of their hearts. for allah will turn (in mercy) to whom he will; and allah is all-knowing, all-wise. p: and he will remove the anger of their hearts. allah relenteth toward whom he will. allah is knower, wise. s: and remove the rage of their hearts; and allah turns (mercifully) to whom he pleases, and allah is knowing, wise. . y: or think ye that ye shall be abandoned, as though allah did not know those among you who strive with might and main, and take none for friends and protectors except allah, his messenger, and the (community of) believers? but allah is well-acquainted with (all) that ye do. p: or deemed ye that ye would be left (in peace) when allah yet knoweth not those of you who strive, choosing for familiar none save allah and his messenger and the believers? allah is informed of what ye do. s: what! do you think that you will be left alone while allah has not yet known those of you who have struggled hard and have not taken any one as an adherent besides allah and his messenger and the believers; and allah is aware of what you do. . y: it is not for such as join gods with allah, to visit or maintain the mosques of allah while they witness against their own souls to infidelity. the works of such bear no fruit: in fire shall they dwell. p: it is not for the idolaters to tend allah's sanctuaries, bearing witness against themselves of disbelief. as for such, their works are vain and in the fire they will abide. s: the idolaters have no right to visit the mosques of allah while bearing witness to unbelief against themselves, these it is whose doings are null, and in the fire shall they abide. . y: the mosques of allah shall be visited and maintained by such as believe in allah and the last day, establish regular prayers, and practise regular charity, and fear none (at all) except allah. it is they who are expected to be on true guidance. p: he only shall tend allah's sanctuaries who believeth in allah and the last day and observeth proper worship and payeth the poor-due and feareth none save allah. for such (only) is it possible that they can be of the rightly guided. s: only he shall visit the mosques of allah who believes in allah and the latter day, and keeps up prayer and pays the poor-rate and fears none but allah; so (as for) these, it may be that they are of the followers of the right course. . y: do ye make the giving of drink to pilgrims, or the maintenance of the sacred mosque, equal to (the pious service of) those who believe in allah and the last day, and strive with might and main in the cause of allah? they are not comparable in the sight of allah: and allah guides not those who do wrong. p: count ye the slaking of a pilgrim's thirst and tendance of the inviolable place of worship as (equal to the worth of) him who believeth in allah and the last day, and striveth in the way of allah? they are not equal in the sight of allah. allah guideth not wrongdoing folk. s: what! do you make (one who undertakes) the giving of drink to the pilgrims and the guarding of the sacred mosque like him who believes in allah and the latter day and strives hard in allah's way? they are not equal with allah; and allah does not guide the unjust people. . y: those who believe, and suffer exile and strive with might and main, in allah's cause, with their goods and their persons, have the highest rank in the sight of allah: they are the people who will achieve (salvation). p: those who believe, and have left their homes and striven with their wealth and their lives in allah's way are of much greater worth in allah's sight. these are they who are triumphant. s: those who believed and fled (their homes), and strove hard in allah's way with their property and their souls, are much higher in rank with allah; and those are they who are the achievers (of their objects). . y: their lord doth give them glad tidings of a mercy from himself, of his good pleasure, and of gardens for them, wherein are delights that endure: p: their lord giveth them good tidings of mercy from him, and acceptance, and gardens where enduring pleasure will be theirs; s: their lord gives them good news of mercy from himself and (his) good pleasure and gardens, wherein lasting blessings shall be theirs; . y: they will dwell therein for ever. verily in allah's presence is a reward, the greatest (of all). p: there they will abide for ever. lo! with allah there is immense reward. s: abiding therein for ever; surely allah has a mighty reward with him. . y: o ye who believe! take not for protectors your fathers and your brothers if they love infidelity above faith: if any of you do so, they do wrong. p: o ye who believe! choose not your fathers nor your brethren for friends if they take pleasure in disbelief rather than faith. whoso of you taketh them for friends, such are wrong-doers. s: o you who believe! do not take your fathers and your brothers for guardians if they love unbelief more than belief; and whoever of you takes them for a guardian, these it is that are the unjust. . y: say: if it be that your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your mates, or your kindred; the wealth that ye have gained; the commerce in which ye fear a decline: or the dwellings in which ye delight - are dearer to you than allah, or his messenger, or the striving in his cause;- then wait until allah brings about his decision: and allah guides not the rebellious. p: say: if your fathers, and your sons, and your brethren, and your wives, and your tribe, and the wealth ye have acquired, and merchandise for which ye fear that there will no sale, and dwellings ye desire are dearer to you than allah and his messenger and striving in his way: then wait till allah bringeth his command to pass. allah guideth not wrongdoing folk. s: say: if your fathers and your sons and your brethren and your mates and your kinsfolk and property which you have acquired, and the slackness of trade which you fear and dwellings which you like, are dearer to you than allah and his messenger and striving in his way, then wait till allah brings about his command: and allah does not guide the transgressing people. . y: assuredly allah did help you in many battle-fields and on the day of hunain: behold! your great numbers elated you, but they availed you naught: the land, for all that it is wide, did constrain you, and ye turned back in retreat. p: allah hath given you victory on many fields and on the day of huneyn, when ye exulted in your multitude but it availed you naught, and the earth, vast as it is, was straitened for you; then ye turned back in flight; s: certainly allah helped you in many battlefields and on the day of hunain, when your great numbers made you vain, but they availed you nothing and the earth became strait to you notwithstanding its spaciousness, then you turned back retreating. . y: but allah did pour his calm on the messenger and on the believers, and sent down forces which ye saw not: he punished the unbelievers; thus doth he reward those without faith. p: then allah sent his peace of reassurance down upon his messenger and upon the believers, and sent down hosts ye could not see, and punished those who disbelieved. such is the reward of disbelievers. s: then allah sent down his tranquillity upon his messenger and upon the believers, and sent down hosts which you did not see, and chastised those who disbelieved, and that is the reward of the unbelievers. . y: again will allah, after this, turn (in mercy) to whom he will: for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: then afterward allah will relent toward whom he will; for allah is forgiving, merciful. s: then will allah after this turn (mercifully) to whom he pleases, and allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: o ye who believe! truly the pagans are unclean; so let them not, after this year of theirs, approach the sacred mosque. and if ye fear poverty, soon will allah enrich you, if he wills, out of his bounty, for allah is all-knowing, all-wise. p: o ye who believe! the idolaters only are unclean. so let them not come near the inviolable place of worship after this their year. if ye fear poverty (from the loss of their merchandise) allah shall preserve you of his bounty if he will. lo! allah is knower, wise. s: o you who believe! the idolaters are nothing but unclean, so they shall not approach the sacred mosque after this year; and if you fear poverty then allah will enrich you out of his grace if he please; surely allah is knowing wise. . y: fight those who believe not in allah nor the last day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by allah and his messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of truth, (even if they are) of the people of the book, until they pay the jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. p: fight against such of those who have been given the scripture as believe not in allah nor the last day, and forbid not that which allah hath forbidden by his messenger, and follow not the religion of truth, until they pay the tribute readily, being brought low. s: fight those who do not believe in allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what allah and his messenger have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection. . y: the jews call 'uzair a son of allah, and the christians call christ the son of allah. that is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. allah's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the truth! p: and the jews say: ezra is the son of allah, and the christians say: the messiah is the son of allah. that is their saying with their mouths. they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved of old. allah (himself) fighteth against them. how perverse are they! s: and the jews say: uzair is the son of allah; and the christians say: the messiah is the son of allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may allah destroy them; how they are turned away! . y: they take their priests and their anchorites to be their lords in derogation of allah, and (they take as their lord) christ the son of mary; yet they were commanded to worship but one allah: there is no god but he. praise and glory to him: (far is he) from having the partners they associate (with him). p: they have taken as lords beside allah their rabbis and their monks and the messiah son of mary, when they were bidden to worship only one allah. there is no god save him. be he glorified from all that they ascribe as partner (unto him)! s: they have taken their doctors of law and their monks for lords besides allah, and (also) the messiah son of marium and they were enjoined that they should serve one allah only, there is no god but he; far from his glory be what they set up (with him). . y: fain would they extinguish allah's light with their mouths, but allah will not allow but that his light should be perfected, even though the unbelievers may detest (it). p: fain would they put out the light of allah with their mouths, but allah disdaineth (aught) save that he shall perfect his light, however much the disbelievers are averse. s: they desire to put out the light of allah with their mouths, and allah will not consent save to perfect his light, though the unbelievers are averse. . y: it is he who hath sent his messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, to proclaim it over all religion, even though the pagans may detest (it). p: he it is who hath sent his messenger with the guidance and the religion of truth, that he may cause it to prevail over all religion, however much the idolaters may be averse. s: he it is who sent his messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, that he might cause it to prevail over all religions, though the polytheists may be averse. . y: o ye who believe! there are indeed many among the priests and anchorites, who in falsehood devour the substance of men and hinder (them) from the way of allah. and there are those who bury gold and silver and spend it not in the way of allah: announce unto them a most grievous penalty- p: o ye who believe! lo! many of the (jewish) rabbis and the (christian) monks devour the wealth of mankind wantonly and debar (men) from the way of allah. they who hoard up gold and silver and spend it not in the way of allah, unto them give tidings (o muhammad) of a painful doom, s: o you who believe! most surely many of the doctors of law and the monks eat away the property of men falsely, and turn (them) from allah's way; and (as for) those who hoard up gold and silver and do not spend it in allah's way, announce to them a painful chastisement, . y: on the day when heat will be produced out of that (wealth) in the fire of hell, and with it will be branded their foreheads, their flanks, and their backs, their flanks, and their backs.- "this is the (treasure) which ye buried for yourselves: taste ye, then, the (treasures) ye buried!" p: on the day when it will (all) be heated in the fire of hell, and their foreheads and their flanks and their backs will be branded therewith (and it will be said unto them): here is that which ye hoarded for yourselves. now taste of what ye used to hoard. s: on the day when it shall be heated in the fire of hell, then their foreheads and their sides and their backs shall be branded with it; this is what you hoarded up for yourselves, therefore taste what you hoarded. . y: the number of months in the sight of allah is twelve (in a year)- so ordained by him the day he created the heavens and the earth; of them four are sacred: that is the straight usage. so wrong not yourselves therein, and fight the pagans all together as they fight you all together. but know that allah is with those who restrain themselves. p: lo! the number of the months with allah is twelve months by allah's ordinance in the day that he created the heavens and the earth. four of them are sacred: that is the right religion. so wrong not yourselves in them. and wage war on all of the idolaters as they are waging war on all of you. and know that allah is with those who keep their duty (unto him). s: surely the number of months with allah is twelve months in allah's ordinance since the day when he created the heavens and the earth, of these four being sacred; that is the right reckoning; therefore be not unjust to yourselves regarding them, and fight the polytheists all together as they fight you all together; and know that allah is with those who guard (against evil). . y: verily the transposing (of a prohibited month) is an addition to unbelief: the unbelievers are led to wrong thereby: for they make it lawful one year, and forbidden another year, in order to adjust the number of months forbidden by allah and make such forbidden ones lawful. the evil of their course seems pleasing to them. but allah guideth not those who reject faith. p: postponement (of a sacred month) is only an excess of disbelief whereby those who disbelieve are misled; they allow it one year and forbid it (another) year, that they may make up the number of the months which allah hath hallowed, so that they allow that which allah hath forbidden. the evil of their deeds is made fairseeming unto them. allah guideth not the disbelieving folk. s: postponing (of the sacred month) is only an addition in unbelief, wherewith those who disbelieve are led astray, violating it one year and keeping it sacred another, that they may agree in the number (of months) that allah has made sacred, and thus violate what allah has made sacred; the evil of their doings is made fairseeming to them; and allah does not guide the unbelieving people. . y: o ye who believe! what is the matter with you, that, when ye are asked to go forth in the cause of allah, ye cling heavily to the earth? do ye prefer the life of this world to the hereafter? but little is the comfort of this life, as compared with the hereafter. p: o ye who believe! what aileth you that when it is said unto you: go forth in the way of allah, ye are bowed down to the ground with heaviness. take ye pleasure in the life of the world rather than in the hereafter? the comfort of the life of the world is but little in the hereafter. s: o you who believe! what (excuse) have you that when it is said to you: go forth in allah's way, you should incline heavily to earth; are you contented with this world's life instead of the hereafter? but the provision of this world's life compared with the hereafter is but little. . y: unless ye go forth, he will punish you with a grievous penalty, and put others in your place; but him ye would not harm in the least. for allah hath power over all things. p: if ye go not forth he will afflict you with a painful doom, and will choose instead of you a folk other than you. ye cannot harm him at all. allah is able to do all things. s: if you do not go forth, he will chastise you with a painful chastisement and bring in your place a people other than you, and you will do him no harm; and allah has power over all things. . y: if ye help not (your leader), (it is no matter): for allah did indeed help him, when the unbelievers drove him out: he had no more than one companion; they two were in the cave, and he said to his companion, "have no fear, for allah is with us": then allah sent down his peace upon him, and strengthened him with forces which ye saw not, and humbled to the depths the word of the unbelievers. but the word of allah is exalted to the heights: for allah is exalted in might, wise. p: if ye help him not, still allah helped him when those who disbelieve drove him forth, the second of two; when they two were in the cave, when he said unto his comrade: grieve not. lo! allah is with us. then allah caused his peace of reassurance to descend upon him and supported him with hosts ye cannot see, and made the word of those who disbelieved the nethermost, while allah's word it was that became the uppermost. allah is mighty, wise. s: if you will not aid him, allah certainly aided him when those who disbelieved expelled him, he being the second of the two, when they were both in the cave, when he said to his companion: grieve not, surely allah is with us. so allah sent down his tranquillity upon him and strengthened him with hosts which you did not see, and made lowest the word of those who disbelieved; and the word of allah, that is the highest; and allah is mighty, wise. . y: go ye forth, (whether equipped) lightly or heavily, and strive and struggle, with your goods and your persons, in the cause of allah. that is best for you, if ye (but) knew. p: go forth, light-armed and heavy-armed, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the way of allah! that is best for you if ye but knew. s: go forth light and heavy, and strive hard in allah's way with your property and your persons; this is better for you, if you know. . y: if there had been immediate gain (in sight), and the journey easy, they would (all) without doubt have followed thee, but the distance was long, (and weighed) on them. they would indeed swear by allah, "if we only could, we should certainly have come out with you": they would destroy their own souls; for allah doth know that they are certainly lying. p: had it been a near adventure and an easy journey they had followed thee, but the distance seemed too far for them. yet will they swear by allah (saying): if we had been able we would surely have set out with you. they destroy their souls, and allah knoweth that they verily are liars. s: had it been a near advantage and a short journey, they would certainly have followed you, but the tedious journey was too long for them; and they swear by allah: if we had been able, we would certainly have gone forth with you; they cause their own souls to perish, and allah knows that they are most surely liars. . y: allah give thee grace! why didst thou grant them exemption until those who told the truth were seen by thee in a clear light, and thou hadst proved the liars? p: allah forgive thee (o muhammad)! wherefore didst thou grant them leave ere those who told the truth were manifest to thee and thou didst know the liars? s: allah pardon you! why did you give them leave until those who spoke the truth had become manifest to you and you had known the liars? . y: those who believe in allah and the last day ask thee for no exemption from fighting with their goods and persons. and allah knoweth well those who do their duty. p: those who believe in allah and the last day ask no leave of thee lest they should strive with their wealth and their lives. allah is aware of those who keep their duty (unto him). s: they do not ask leave of you who believe in allah and the latter day (to stay away) from striving hard with their property and their persons, and allah knows those who guard (against evil). . y: only those ask thee for exemption who believe not in allah and the last day, and whose hearts are in doubt, so that they are tossed in their doubts to and fro. p: they alone ask leave of thee who believe not in allah and the last day, and whose hearts feel doubt, so in their doubt they waver. s: they only ask leave of you who do not believe in allah and the latter day and their hearts are in doubt, so in their doubt do they waver. . y: if they had intended to come out, they would certainly have made some preparation therefor; but allah was averse to their being sent forth; so he made them lag behind, and they were told, "sit ye among those who sit (inactive)." p: and if they had wished to go forth they would assuredly have made ready some equipment, but allah was averse to their being sent forth and held them back and it was said (unto them): sit ye with the sedentary! s: and if they had intended to go forth, they would certainly have provided equipment for it, but allah did not like their going forth, so he withheld them, and it was said (to them): hold back with those who hold back. . y: if they had come out with you, they would not have added to your (strength) but only (made for) disorder, hurrying to and fro in your midst and sowing sedition among you, and there would have been some among you who would have listened to them. but allah knoweth well those who do wrong. p: had they gone forth among you they had added to you naught save trouble and had hurried to and fro among you, seeking to cause sedition among you; and among you there are some who would have listened to them. allah is aware of evil-doers. s: had they gone forth with you, they would not have added to you aught save corruption, and they would certainly have hurried about among you seeking (to sow) dissension among you, and among you there are those who hearken for their sake; and allah knows the unjust. . y: indeed they had plotted sedition before, and upset matters for thee, until,- the truth arrived, and the decree of allah became manifest much to their disgust. p: aforetime they sought to cause sedition and raised difficulties for thee till the truth came and the decree of allah was made manifest, though they were loth. s: certainly they sought (to sow) dissension before, and they meditated plots against you until the truth came, and allah's commandment prevailed although they were averse (from it). . y: among them is (many) a man who says: "grant me exemption and draw me not into trial." have they not fallen into trial already? and indeed hell surrounds the unbelievers (on all sides). p: of them is he who saith: grant me leave (to stay at home) and tempt me not. surely it is into temptation that they (thus) have fallen. lo! hell verily is all around the disbelievers. s: and among them there is he who says: allow me and do not try me. surely into trial have they already tumbled down, and most surely hell encompasses the unbelievers. . y: if good befalls thee, it grieves them; but if a misfortune befalls thee, they say, "we took indeed our precautions beforehand," and they turn away rejoicing. p: if good befalleth thee (o muhammad) it afflicteth them, and if calamity befalleth thee, they say: we took precaution, and they turn away well pleased. s: if good befalls you, it grieves them, and if hardship afflicts you, they say: indeed we had taken care of our affair before; and they turn back and are glad. . y: say: "nothing will happen to us except what allah has decreed for us: he is our protector": and on allah let the believers put their trust. p: say: naught befalleth us save that which allah hath decreed for us. he is our protecting friend. in allah let believers put their trust! s: say: nothing will afflict us save what allah has ordained for us; he is our patron; and on allah let the believers rely. . y: say: "can you expect for us (any fate) other than one of two glorious things- (martyrdom or victory)? but we can expect for you either that allah will send his punishment from himself, or by our hands. so wait (expectant); we too will wait with you." p: say: can ye await for us aught save one of two good things (death or victory in allah's way)? while we await for you that allah will afflict you with a doom from him or at our hands. await then! lo! we are awaiting with you. s: say: do you await for us but one of two most excellent things? and we await for you that allah will afflict you with punishment from himself or by our hands. so wait; we too will wait with you. . y: say: "spend (for the cause) willingly or unwillingly: not from you will it be accepted: for ye are indeed a people rebellious and wicked." p: say: pay (your contribution), willingly or unwillingly, it will not be accepted from you. lo! ye were ever froward folk. s: say: spend willingly or unwillingly, it shall not be accepted from you; surely you are a transgressing people. . y: the only reasons why their contributions are not accepted are: that they reject allah and his messenger; that they come to prayer without earnestness; and that they offer contributions unwillingly. p: and naught preventeth that their contributions should be accepted from them save that they have disbelieved in allah and in his messenger, and they come not to worship save as idlers, and pay not (their contribution) save reluctantly. s: and nothing hinders their spendings being accepted from them, except that they disbelieve in allah and in his messenger and they do not come to prayer but while they are sluggish, and they do not spend but while they are unwilling. . y: let not their wealth nor their (following in) sons dazzle thee: in reality allah's plan is to punish them with these things in this life, and that their souls may perish in their (very) denial of allah. p: so let not their riches nor their children please thee (o muhammad). allah thereby intendeth but to punish them in the life of the world and that their souls shall pass away while they are disbelievers. s: let not then their property and their children excite your admiration; allah only wishes to chastise them with these in this world's life and (that) their souls may depart while they are unbelievers. . y: they swear by allah that they are indeed of you; but they are not of you: yet they are afraid (to appear in their true colours). p: and they swear by allah that they are in truth of you, when they are not of you, but they are folk who are afraid. s: and they swear by allah that they are most surely of you, and they are not of you, but they are a people who are afraid (of you). . y: if they could find a place to flee to, or caves, or a place of concealment, they would turn straightaway thereto, with an obstinate rush. p: had they but found a refuge, or caverns, or a place to enter, they surely had resorted thither swift as runaways. s: if they could find a refuge or cave or a place to enter into, they would certainly have turned thereto, running away in all haste. . y: and among them are men who slander thee in the matter of (the distribution of) the alms: if they are given part thereof, they are pleased, but if not, behold! they are indignant! p: and of them is he who defameth thee in the matter of the alms. if they are given thereof they are content, and if they are not given thereof, behold! they are enraged. s: and of them there are those who blame you with respect to the alms; so if they are given from it they are pleased, and if they are not given from it, lo! they are full of rage. . y: if only they had been content with what allah and his messenger gave them, and had said, "sufficient unto us is allah! allah and his messenger will soon give us of his bounty: to allah do we turn our hopes!" (that would have been the right course). p: (how much more seemly) had they been content with that which allah and his messenger had given them and had said: allah sufficeth us. allah will give us of his bounty, and (also) his messenger. unto allah we are suppliants. s: and if they were content with what allah and his messenger gave them, and had said: allah is sufficient for us; allah will soon give us (more) out of his grace and his messenger too; surely to allah do we make our petition. . y: alms are for the poor and the needy, and those employed to administer the (funds); for those whose hearts have been (recently) reconciled (to truth); for those in bondage and in debt; in the cause of allah; and for the wayfarer: (thus is it) ordained by allah, and allah is full of knowledge and wisdom. p: the alms are only for the poor and the needy, and those who collect them, and those whose hearts are to be reconciled, and to free the captives and the debtors, and for the cause of allah, and (for) the wayfarer; a duty imposed by allah. allah is knower, wise. s: alms are only for the poor and the needy, and the officials (appointed) over them, and those whose hearts are made to incline (to truth) and the (ransoming of) captives and those in debts and in the way of allah and the wayfarer; an ordinance from allah; and allah is knowing, wise. . y: among them are men who molest the prophet and say, "he is (all) ear." say, "he listens to what is best for you: he believes in allah, has faith in the believers, and is a mercy to those of you who believe." but those who molest the messenger will have a grievous penalty. p: and of them are those who vex the prophet and say: he is only a hearer. say: a hearer of good for you, who believeth in allah and is true to the believers, and a mercy for such of you as believe. those who vex the messenger of allah, for them there is a painful doom. s: and there are some of them who molest the prophet and say: he is one who believes every thing that he hears; say: a hearer of good for you (who) believes in allah and believes the faithful and a mercy for those of you who believe; and (as for) those who molest the messenger of allah, they shall have a painful punishment. . y: to you they swear by allah. in order to please you: but it is more fitting that they should please allah and his messenger, if they are believers. p: they swear by allah to you (muslims) to please you, but allah, with his messenger, hath more right that they should please him if they are believers. s: they swear to you by allah that they might please you and, allah, as well as his messenger, has a greater right that they should please him, if they are believers. . y: know they not that for those who oppose allah and his messenger, is the fire of hell?- wherein they shall dwell. that is the supreme disgrace. p: know they not that whoso opposeth allah and his messenger, his verily is fire of hell, to abide therein? that is the extreme abasement. s: do they not know that whoever acts in opposition to allah and his messenger, he shall surely have the fire of hell to abide in it? that is the grievous abasement. . y: the hypocrites are afraid lest a sura should be sent down about them, showing them what is (really passing) in their hearts. say: "mock ye! but verily allah will bring to light all that ye fear (should be revealed)." p: the hypocrites fear lest a surah should be revealed concerning them, proclaiming what is in their hearts. say: scoff (your fill)! lo! allah is disclosing what ye fear. s: the hypocrites fear lest a chapter should be sent down to them telling them plainly of what is in their hearts. say: go on mocking, surely allah will bring forth what you fear. . y: if thou dost question them, they declare (with emphasis): "we were only talking idly and in play." say: "was it at allah, and his signs, and his messenger, that ye were mocking?" p: and if thou ask them (o muhammad) they will say: we did but talk and jest. say: was it at allah and his revelations and his messenger that ye did scoff? s: and if you should question them, they would certainly say: we were only idly discoursing and sporting. say: was it at allah and his communications and his messenger that you mocked? . y: make ye no excuses: ye have rejected faith after ye had accepted it. if we pardon some of you, we will punish others amongst you, for that they are in sin. p: make no excuse. ye have disbelieved after your (confession of) belief. if we forgive a party of you, a party of you we shall punish because they have been guilty. s: do not make excuses; you have denied indeed after you had believed; if we pardon a party of you, we will chastise (another) party because they are guilty. . y: the hypocrites, men and women, (have an understanding) with each other: they enjoin evil, and forbid what is just, and are close with their hands. they have forgotten allah; so he hath forgotten them. verily the hypocrites are rebellious and perverse. p: the hypocrites, both men and women, proceed one from another. they enjoin the wrong, and they forbid the right, and they withhold their hands (from spending for the cause of allah). they forget allah, so he hath forgotten them. lo! the hypocrites, they are the transgressors. s: the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women are all alike; they enjoin evil and forbid good and withhold their hands; they have forsaken allah, so he has forsaken them; surely the hypocrites are the transgressors. . y: allah hath promised the hypocrites men and women, and the rejecters, of faith, the fire of hell: therein shall they dwell: sufficient is it for them: for them is the curse of allah, and an enduring punishment,- p: allah promiseth the hypocrites, both men and women, and the disbelievers fire of hell for their abode. it will suffice them. allah curseth them, and theirs is lasting torment. s: allah has promised the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women and the unbelievers the fire of hell to abide therein; it is enough for them; and allah has cursed them and they shall have lasting punishment. . y: as in the case of those before you: they were mightier than you in power, and more flourishing in wealth and children. they had their enjoyment of their portion: and ye have of yours, as did those before you; and ye indulge in idle talk as they did. they!- their work are fruitless in this world and in the hereafter, and they will lose (all spiritual good). p: even as those before you who were mightier than you in strength, and more affluent than you in wealth and children. they enjoyed their lot awhile, so ye enjoy your lot awhile even as those before you did enjoy their lot awhile. and ye prate even as they prated. such are they whose works have perished in the world and the hereafter. such are they who are the losers. s: like those before you; they were stronger than you in power and more abundant in wealth and children, so they enjoyed their portion; thus have you enjoyed your portion as those before you enjoyed their portion; and you entered into vain discourses like the vain discourses in which entered those before you. these are they whose works are null in this world and the hereafter, and these are they who are the losers. . y: hath not the story reached them of those before them?- the people of noah, and 'ad, and thamud; the people of abraham, the men of midian, and the cities overthrown. to them came their messengers with clear signs. it is not allah who wrongs them, but they wrong their own souls. p: hath not the fame of those before them reached them - the folk of noah, a'ad, thamud, the folk of abraham, the dwellers of midian and the disasters (which befell them)? their messengers (from allah) came unto them with proofs (of allah's sovereignty). so allah surely wronged them not, but they did wrong themselves. s: has not the news of those before them come to them; of the people of nuh and ad and samood, and the people of ibrahim and the dwellers of madyan and the overthrown cities; their messengers came to them with clear arguments; so it was not allah who should do them injustice, but they were unjust to themselves. . y: the believers, men and women, are protectors one of another: they enjoin what is just, and forbid what is evil: they observe regular prayers, practise regular charity, and obey allah and his messenger. on them will allah pour his mercy: for allah is exalted in power, wise. p: and the believers, men and women, are protecting friends one of another; they enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, and they establish worship and they pay the poor-due, and they obey allah and his messenger. as for these, allah will have mercy on them. lo! allah is mighty, wise. s: and (as for) the believing men and the believing women, they are guardians of each other; they enjoin good and forbid evil and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, and obey allah and his messenger; (as for) these, allah will show mercy to them; surely allah is mighty, wise. . y: allah hath promised to believers, men and women, gardens under which rivers flow, to dwell therein, and beautiful mansions in gardens of everlasting bliss. but the greatest bliss is the good pleasure of allah: that is the supreme felicity. p: allah promiseth to the believers, men and women, gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide - blessed dwellings in gardens of eden. and - greater (far)! - acceptance from allah. that is the supreme triumph. s: allah has promised to the believing men and the believing women gardens, beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them, and goodly dwellings in gardens of perpetual abode; and best of all is allah's goodly pleasure; that is the grand achievement. . y: o prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and be firm against them. their abode is hell,- an evil refuge indeed. p: o prophet! strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites! be harsh with them. their ultimate abode is hell, a hapless journey's end. s: o prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination. . y: they swear by allah that they said nothing (evil), but indeed they uttered blasphemy, and they did it after accepting islam; and they meditated a plot which they were unable to carry out: this revenge of theirs was (their) only return for the bounty with which allah and his messenger had enriched them! if they repent, it will be best for them; but if they turn back (to their evil ways), allah will punish them with a grievous penalty in this life and in the hereafter: they shall have none on earth to protect or help them. p: they swear by allah that they said nothing (wrong), yet they did say the word of disbelief, and did disbelieve after their surrender (to allah). and they purposed that which they could not attain, and they sought revenge only that allah by his messenger should enrich them of his bounty. if they repent it will be better for them; and if they turn away, allah will afflict them with a painful doom in the world and the hereafter, and they have no protecting friend nor helper in the earth. s: they swear by allah that they did not speak, and certainly they did speak, the word of unbelief, and disbelieved after their islam, and they had determined upon what they have not been able to effect, and they did not find fault except because allah and his messenger enriched them out of his grace; therefore if they repent, it will be good for them; and if they turn back, allah will chastise them with a painful chastisement in this world and the hereafter, and they shall not have in the land any guardian or a helper. . y: amongst them are men who made a covenant with allah, that if he bestowed on them of his bounty, they would give (largely) in charity, and be truly amongst those who are righteous. p: and of them is he who made a covenant with allah (saying): if he give us of his bounty we will give alms and become of the righteous. s: and there are those of them who made a covenant with allah: if he give us out of his grace, we will certainly give alms and we will certainly be of the good. . y: but when he did bestow of his bounty, they became covetous, and turned back (from their covenant), averse (from its fulfilment). p: yet when he gave them of his bounty, they hoarded it and turned away, averse; s: but when he gave them out of his grace, they became niggardly of it and they turned back and they withdrew. . y: so he hath put as a consequence hypocrisy into their hearts, (to last) till the day, whereon they shall meet him: because they broke their covenant with allah, and because they lied (again and again). p: so he hath made the consequence (to be) hypocrisy in their hearts until the day when they shall meet him, because they broke their word to allah that they promised him, and because they lied. s: so he made hypocrisy to follow as a consequence into their hearts till the day when they shall meet him because they failed to perform towards allah what they had promised with him and because they told lies. . y: know they not that allah doth know their secret (thoughts) and their secret counsels, and that allah knoweth well all things unseen? p: know they not that allah knoweth both their secret and the thought that they confide, and that allah is the knower of things hidden? s: do they not know that allah knows their hidden thoughts and their secret counsels, and that allah is the great knower of the unseen things? . y: those who slander such of the believers as give themselves freely to (deeds of) charity, as well as such as can find nothing to give except the fruits of their labour,- and throw ridicule on them,- allah will throw back their ridicule on them: and they shall have a grievous penalty. p: those who point at such of the believers as give the alms willingly and such as can find naught to give but their endeavours, and deride them - allah (himself) derideth them. theirs will be a painful doom. s: they who taunt those of the faithful who give their alms freely, and those who give to the extent of their earnings and scoff at them; allah will pay them back their scoffing, and they shall have a painful chastisement. . y: whether thou ask for their forgiveness, or not, (their sin is unforgivable): if thou ask seventy times for their forgiveness, allah will not forgive them: because they have rejected allah and his messenger: and allah guideth not those who are perversely rebellious. p: ask forgiveness for them (o muhammad), or ask not forgiveness for them; though thou ask forgiveness for them seventy times allah will not forgive them. that is because they disbelieved in allah and his messenger, and allah guideth not wrongdoing folk. s: ask forgiveness for them or do not ask forgiveness for them; even if you ask forgiveness for them seventy times, allah will not forgive them; this is because they disbelieve in allah and his messenger, and allah does not guide the transgressing people. . y: those who were left behind (in the tabuk expedition) rejoiced in their inaction behind the back of the messenger of allah: they hated to strive and fight, with their goods and their persons, in the cause of allah: they said, "go not forth in the heat." say, "the fire of hell is fiercer in heat." if only they could understand! p: those who were left behind rejoiced at sitting still behind the messenger of allah, and were averse to striving with their wealth and their lives in allah's way. and they said: go not forth in the heat! say: the fire of hell is more intense of heat, if they but understood. s: those who were left behind were glad on account of their sitting behind allah's messenger and they were averse from striving in allah's way with their property and their persons, and said: do not go forth in the heat. say: the fire of hell is much severe in heat. would that they understood (it). . y: let them laugh a little: much will they weep: a recompense for the (evil) that they do. p: then let them laugh a little: they will weep much, as the reward of what they used to earn. s: therefore they shall laugh little and weep much as a recompense for what they earned. . y: if, then, allah bring thee back to any of them, and they ask thy permission to come out (with thee), say: "never shall ye come out with me, nor fight an enemy with me: for ye preferred to sit inactive on the first occasion: then sit ye (now) with those who lag behind." p: if allah bring thee back (from the campaign) unto a party of them and they ask of thee leave to go out (to fight), then say unto them: ye shall never more go out with me nor fight with me against a foe. ye were content with sitting still the first time. so sit still, with the useless. s: therefore if allah brings you back to a party of them and then they ask your permission to go forth, say: by no means shall you ever go forth with me and by no means shall you fight an enemy with me; surely you chose to sit the first time, therefore sit (now) with those who remain behind. . y: nor do thou ever pray for any of them that dies, nor stand at his grave; for they rejected allah and his messenger, and died in a state of perverse rebellion. p: and never (o muhammad) pray for one of them who dieth, nor stand by his grave. lo! they disbelieved in allah and his messenger, and they died while they were evil-doers. s: and never offer prayer for any one of them who dies and do not stand by his grave; surely they disbelieve in allah and his messenger and they shall die in transgression. . y: nor let their wealth nor their (following in) sons dazzle thee: allah's plan is to punish them with these things in this world, and that their souls may perish in their (very) denial of allah. p: let not their wealth nor their children please thee! allah purposeth only to punish them thereby in the world, and that their souls shall pass away while they are disbelievers. s: and let not their property and their children excite your admiration; allah only wishes to chastise them with these in this world and (that) their souls may depart while they are unbelievers. . y: when a sura comes down, enjoining them to believe in allah and to strive and fight along with his messenger, those with wealth and influence among them ask thee for exemption, and say: "leave us (behind): we would be with those who sit (at home)." p: and when a surah is revealed (which saith): believe in allah and strive along with his messenger, the men of wealth among them still ask leave of thee and say: suffer us to be with those who sit (at home). s: and whenever a chapter is revealed, saying: believe in allah and strive hard along with his messenger, those having ampleness of means ask permission of you and say: leave us (behind), that we may be with those who sit. . y: they prefer to be with (the women), who remain behind (at home): their hearts are sealed and so they understand not. p: they are content that they should be with the useless and their hearts are sealed, so that they apprehend not. s: they preferred to be with those who remained behind, and a seal is set on their hearts so they do not understand. . y: but the messenger, and those who believe with him, strive and fight with their wealth and their persons: for them are (all) good things: and it is they who will prosper. p: but the messenger and those who believe with him strive with their wealth and their lives. such are they for whom are the good things. such are they who are the successful. s: but the messenger and those who believe with him strive hard with their property and their persons; and these it is who shall have the good things and these it is who shall be successful. . y: allah hath prepared for them gardens under which rivers flow, to dwell therein: that is the supreme felicity. p: allah hath made ready for them gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide. that is the supreme triumph. s: allah has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them; that is the great achievement. . y: and there were, among the desert arabs (also), men who made excuses and came to claim exemption; and those who were false to allah and his messenger (merely) sat inactive. soon will a grievous penalty seize the unbelievers among them. p: and those among the wandering arabs who had an excuse came in order that permission might be granted them. and those who lied to allah and his messenger sat at home. a painful doom will fall on those of them who disbelieve. s: and the defaulters from among the dwellers of the desert came that permission may be given to them and they sat (at home) who lied to allah and his messenger; a painful chastisement shall afflict those of them who disbelieved. . y: there is no blame on those who are infirm, or ill, or who find no resources to spend (on the cause), if they are sincere (in duty) to allah and his messenger: no ground (of complaint) can there be against such as do right: and allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: not unto the weak nor unto the sick nor unto those who can find naught to spend is any fault (to be imputed though they stay at home) if they are true to allah and his messenger. not unto the good is there any road (of blame). allah is forgiving, merciful. s: it shall be no crime in the weak, nor in the sick, nor in those who do not find what they should spend (to stay behind), so long as they are sincere to allah and his messenger; there is no way (to blame) against the doers of good; and allah is forgiving, merciful; . y: nor (is there blame) on those who came to thee to be provided with mounts, and when thou saidst, "i can find no mounts for you," they turned back, their eyes streaming with tears of grief that they had no resources wherewith to provide the expenses. p: nor unto those whom, when they came to thee (asking) that thou shouldst mount them, thou didst tell: i cannot find whereon to mount you. they turned back with eyes flowing with tears, for sorrow that they could not find the means to spend. s: nor in those who when they came to you that you might carry them, you said: i cannot find that on which to carry you; they went back while their eyes overflowed with tears on account of grief for not finding that which they should spend. . y: the ground (of complaint) is against such as claim exemption while they are rich. they prefer to stay with the (women) who remain behind: allah hath sealed their hearts; so they know not (what they miss). p: the road (of blame) is only against those who ask for leave of thee (to stay at home) when they are rich. they are content to be with the useless. allah hath sealed their hearts so that they know not. s: the way (to blame) is only against those who ask permission of you though they are rich; they have chosen to be with those who remained behind, and allah has set a seal upon their hearts so they do not know. . y: they will present their excuses to you when ye return to them. say thou: "present no excuses: we shall not believe you: allah hath already informed us of the true state of matters concerning you: it is your actions that allah and his messenger will observe: in the end will ye be brought back to him who knoweth what is hidden and what is open: then will he show you the truth of all that ye did." p: they will make excuse to you (muslims) when ye return unto them. say: make no excuse, for we shall not believe you. allah hath told us tidings of you. allah and his messenger will see your conduct, and then ye will be brought back unto him who knoweth the invisible as well as the visible, and he will tell you what ye used to do. s: they will excuse themselves to you when you go back to them. say: urge no excuse, by no means will we believe you; indeed allah has informed us of matters relating to you; and now allah and his messenger will see your doings, then you shall be brought back to the knower of the unseen and the seen, then he will inform you of what you did. . y: they will swear to you by allah, when ye return to them, that ye may leave them alone. so leave them alone: for they are an abomination, and hell is their dwelling-place,-a fitting recompense for the (evil) that they did. p: they will swear by allah unto you, when ye return unto them, that ye may let them be. let them be, for lo! they are unclean, and their abode is hell as the reward for what they used to earn. s: they will swear to you by allah when you return to them so that you may turn aside from them; so do turn aside from them; surely they are unclean and their abode is hell; a recompense for what they earned. . y: they will swear unto you, that ye may be pleased with them but if ye are pleased with them, allah is not pleased with those who disobey. p: they swear unto you, that ye may accept them. though ye accept them. allah verily accepteth not wrongdoing folk. s: they will swear to you that you may be pleased with them; but if you are pleased with them, yet surely allah is not pleased with the transgressing people. . y: the arabs of the desert are the worst in unbelief and hypocrisy, and most fitted to be in ignorance of the command which allah hath sent down to his messenger: but allah is all-knowing, all-wise. p: the wandering arabs are more hard in disbelief and hypocrisy, and more likely to be ignorant of the limits which allah hath revealed unto his messenger. and allah is knower, wise. s: the dwellers of the desert are very hard in unbelief and hypocrisy, and more disposed not to know the limits of what allah has revealed to his messenger; and allah is knowing, wise. . y: some of the desert arabs look upon their payments as a fine, and watch for disasters for you: on them be the disaster of evil: for allah is he that heareth and knoweth (all things). p: and of the wandering arabs there is he who taketh that which he expendeth (for the cause of allah) as a loss, and awaiteth (evil) turns of fortune for you (that he may be rid of it). the evil turn of fortune will be theirs. allah is hearer, knower. s: and of the dwellers of the desert are those who take what they spend to be a fine, and they wait (the befalling of) calamities to you; on them (will be) the evil calamity; and allah is hearing, knowing. . y: but some of the desert arabs believe in allah and the last day, and look on their payments as pious gifts bringing them nearer to allah and obtaining the prayers of the messenger. aye, indeed they bring them nearer (to him): soon will allah admit them to his mercy: for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: and of the wandering arabs there is he who believeth in allah and the last day, and taketh that which he expendeth and also the prayers of the messenger as acceptable offerings in the sight of allah. lo! verily it is an acceptable offering for them. allah will bring them into his mercy. lo! allah is forgiving, merciful. s: and of the dwellers of the desert are those who believe in allah and the latter day and take what they spend to be (means of) the nearness of allah and the messenger's prayers; surely it shall be means of nearness for them; allah will make them enter into his mercy; surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: the vanguard (of islam)- the first of those who forsook (their homes) and of those who gave them aid, and (also) those who follow them in (all) good deeds,- well-pleased is allah with them, as are they with him: for them hath he prepared gardens under which rivers flow, to dwell therein for ever: that is the supreme felicity. p: and the first to lead the way, of the muhajirin and the ansar, and those who followed them in goodness - allah is well pleased with them and they are well pleased with him, and he hath made ready for them gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide for ever. that is the supreme triumph. s: and (as for) the foremost, the first of the muhajirs and the ansars, and those who followed them in goodness, allah is well pleased with them and they are well pleased with him, and he has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them for ever; that is the mighty achievement. . y: certain of the desert arabs round about you are hypocrites, as well as (desert arabs) among the medina folk: they are obstinate in hypocrisy: thou knowest them not: we know them: twice shall we punish them: and in addition shall they be sent to a grievous penalty. p: and among those around you of the wandering arabs there are hypocrites, and among the townspeople of al-madinah (there are some who) persist in hypocrisy whom thou (o muhammad) knowest not. we, we know them, and we shall chastise them twice; then they will be relegated to a painful doom. s: and from among those who are round about you of the dwellers of the desert there are hypocrites, and from among the people of medina (also); they are stubborn in hypocrisy; you do not know them; we know them; we will chastise them twice then shall they be turned back to a grievous chastisement. . y: others (there are who) have acknowledged their wrong-doings: they have mixed an act that was good with another that was evil. perhaps allah will turn unto them (in mercy): for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: and (there are) others who have acknowledged their faults. they mixed a righteous action with another that was bad. it may be that allah will relent toward them. lo! allah is forgiving, merciful. s: and others have confessed their faults, they have mingled a good deed and an evil one; may be allah will turn to them (mercifully); surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: of their goods, take alms, that so thou mightest purify and sanctify them; and pray on their behalf. verily thy prayers are a source of security for them: and allah is one who heareth and knoweth. p: take alms of their wealth, wherewith thou mayst purify them and mayst make them grow, and pray for them. lo! thy prayer is an assuagement for them. allah is hearer, knower. s: take alms out of their property, you would cleanse them and purify them thereby, and pray for them; surely your prayer is a relief to them; and allah is hearing, knowing. . y: know they not that allah doth accept repentance from his votaries and receives their gifts of charity, and that allah is verily he, the oft-returning, most merciful? p: know they not that allah is he who accepteth repentance from his bondmen and taketh the alms, and that allah is he who is the relenting, the merciful. s: do they not know that allah accepts repentance from his servants and takes the alms, and that allah is the oft-returning (to mercy), the merciful? . y: and say: "work (righteousness): soon will allah observe your work, and his messenger, and the believers: soon will ye be brought back to the knower of what is hidden and what is open: then will he show you the truth of all that ye did." p: and say (unto them): act! allah will behold your actions, and (so will) his messenger and the believers, and ye will be brought back to the knower of the invisible and the visible, and he will tell you what ye used to do. s: and say: work; so allah will see your work and (so will) his messenger and the believers; and you shall be brought back to the knower of the unseen and the seen, then he will inform you of what you did. . y: there are (yet) others, held in suspense for the command of allah, whether he will punish them, or turn in mercy to them: and allah is all-knowing, wise. p: and (there are) others who await allah's decree, whether he will punish them or will forgive them. allah is knower, wise. s: and others are made to await allah's command, whether he chastise them or whether he turn to them (mercifully), and allah is knowing, wise. . y: and there are those who put up a mosque by way of mischief and infidelity - to disunite the believers - and in preparation for one who warred against allah and his messenger aforetime. they will indeed swear that their intention is nothing but good; but allah doth declare that they are certainly liars. p: and as for those who chose a place of worship out of opposition and disbelief, and in order to cause dissent among the believers, and as an outpost for those who warred against allah and his messenger aforetime, they will surely swear: we purposed naught save good. allah beareth witness that they verily are liars. s: and those who built a masjid to cause harm and for unbelief and to cause disunion among the believers and an ambush to him who made war against allah and his messenger before; and they will certainly swear: we did not desire aught but good; and allah bears witness that they are most surely liars. . y: never stand thou forth therein. there is a mosque whose foundation was laid from the first day on piety; it is more worthy of the standing forth (for prayer) therein. in it are men who love to be purified; and allah loveth those who make themselves pure. p: never stand (to pray) there. a place of worship which was found upon duty (to allah) from the first day is more worthy that thou shouldst stand (to pray) therein, wherein are men who love to purify themselves. allah loveth the purifiers. s: never stand in it; certainly a masjid founded on piety from the very first day is more deserving that you should stand in it; in it are men who love that they should be purified; and allah loves those who purify themselves. . y: which then is best? - he that layeth his foundation on piety to allah and his good pleasure? - or he that layeth his foundation on an undermined sand-cliff ready to crumble to pieces? and it doth crumble to pieces with him, into the fire of hell. and allah guideth not people that do wrong. p: is he who founded his building upon duty to allah and his good pleasure better; or he who founded his building on the brink of a crumbling, overhanging precipice so that it toppled with him into the fire of hell? allah guideth not wrongdoing folk. s: is he, therefore, better who lays his foundation on fear of allah and (his) good pleasure, or he who lays his foundation on the edge of a cracking hollowed bank, so it broke down with him into the fire of hell; and allah does not guide the unjust people. . y: the foundation of those who so build is never free from suspicion and shakiness in their hearts, until their hearts are cut to pieces. and allah is all-knowing, wise. p: the building which they built will never cease to be a misgiving in their hearts unless their hearts be torn to pieces. allah is knower, wise. s: the building which they have built will ever continue to be a source of disquiet in their hearts, except that their hearts get cut into pieces; and allah is knowing, wise. . y: allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of paradise): they fight in his cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on him in truth, through the law, the gospel, and the qur'an: and who is more faithful to his covenant than allah? then rejoice in the bargain which ye have concluded: that is the achievement supreme. p: lo! allah hath bought from the believers their lives and their wealth because the garden will be theirs: they shall fight in the way of allah and shall slay and be slain. it is a promise which is binding on him in the torah and the gospel and the qur'an. who fulfilleth his covenant better than allah? rejoice then in your bargain that ye have made, for that is the supreme triumph. s: surely allah has bought of the believers their persons and their property for this, that they shall have the garden; they fight in allah's way, so they slay and are slain; a promise which is binding on him in the taurat and the injeel and the quran; and who is more faithful to his covenant than allah? rejoice therefore in the pledge which you have made; and that is the mighty achievement. . y: those that turn (to allah) in repentance; that serve him, and praise him; that wander in devotion to the cause of allah: that bow down and prostrate themselves in prayer; that enjoin good and forbid evil; and observe the limit set by allah;- (these do rejoice). so proclaim the glad tidings to the believers. p: (triumphant) are those who turn repentant (to allah), those who serve (him), those who praise (him), those who fast, those who bow down, those who fall prostrate (in worship), those who enjoin the right and who forbid the wrong and those who keep the limits (ordained) of allah - and give glad tidings to believers! s: they who turn (to allah), who serve (him), who praise (him), who fast, who bow down, who prostrate themselves, who enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil, and who keep the limits of allah; and give good news to the believers. . y: it is not fitting, for the prophet and those who believe, that they should pray for forgiveness for pagans, even though they be of kin, after it is clear to them that they are companions of the fire. p: it is not for the prophet, and those who believe, to pray for the forgiveness of idolaters even though they may be near of kin (to them) after it hath become clear that they are people of hell-fire. s: it is not (fit) for the prophet and those who believe that they should ask forgiveness for the polytheists, even though they should be near relatives, after it has become clear to them that they are inmates of the flaming fire. . y: and abraham prayed for his father's forgiveness only because of a promise he had made to him. but when it became clear to him that he was an enemy to allah, he dissociated himself from him: for abraham was most tender-hearted, forbearing. p: the prayer of abraham for the forgiveness of his father was only because of a promise he had promised him, but when it had become clear unto him that he (his father) was an enemy to allah he (abraham) disowned him. lo! abraham was soft of heart, long-suffering. s: and ibrahim asking forgiveness for his sire was only owing to a promise which he had made to him; but when it became clear to him that he was an enemy of allah, he declared himself to be clear of him; most surely ibrahim was very tender-hearted forbearing. . y: and allah will not mislead a people after he hath guided them, in order that he may make clear to them what to fear (and avoid)- for allah hath knowledge of all things. p: it was never allah's (part) that he should send a folk astray after he had guided them until he had made clear unto them what they should avoid. lo! allah is aware of all things. s: it is not (attributable to) allah that he should lead a people astray after he has guided them; he even makes clear to them what they should guard against; surely allah knows all things. . y: unto allah belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth. he giveth life and he taketh it. except for him ye have no protector nor helper. p: lo! allah! unto him belongeth the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth. he quickeneth and he giveth death. and ye have, instead of allah, no protecting friend nor helper. s: surely allah's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; he brings to life and causes to die; and there is not for you besides allah any guardian or helper. . y: allah turned with favour to the prophet, the muhajirs, and the ansar,- who followed him in a time of distress, after that the hearts of a part of them had nearly swerved (from duty); but he turned to them (also): for he is unto them most kind, most merciful. p: allah hath turned in mercy to the prophet, and to the muhajirin and the ansar who followed him in the hour of hardship. after the hearts of a party of them had almost swerved aside, then turned he unto them in mercy. lo! he is full of pity, merciful for them. s: certainly allah has turned (mercifully) to the prophet and those who fled (their homes) and the helpers who followed him in the hour of straitness after the hearts of a part of them were about to deviate, then he turned to them (mercifully); surely to them he is compassionate, merciful. . y: (he turned in mercy also) to the three who were left behind; (they felt guilty) to such a degree that the earth seemed constrained to them, for all its spaciousness, and their (very) souls seemed straitened to them,- and they perceived that there is no fleeing from allah (and no refuge) but to himself. then he turned to them, that they might repent: for allah is oft-returning, most merciful. p: and to the three also (did he turn in mercy) who were left behind, when the earth, vast as it is, was straitened for them, and their own souls were straitened for them till they bethought them that there is no refuge from allah save toward him. then turned he unto them in mercy that they (too) might turn (repentant unto him). lo! allah! he is the relenting, the merciful. s: and to the three who were left behind, until the earth became strait to them notwithstanding its spaciousness and their souls were also straitened to them; and they knew it for certain that there was no refuge from allah but in him; then he turned to them (mercifully) that they might turn (to him); surely allah is the oft-returning (to mercy), the merciful. . y: o ye who believe! fear allah and be with those who are true (in word and deed). p: o ye who believe! be careful of your duty to allah, and be with the truthful. s: o you who believe! be careful of (your duty to) allah and be with the true ones. . y: it was not fitting for the people of medina and the bedouin arabs of the neighbourhood, to refuse to follow allah's messenger, nor to prefer their own lives to his: because nothing could they suffer or do, but was reckoned to their credit as a deed of righteousness,- whether they suffered thirst, or fatigue, or hunger, in the cause of allah, or trod paths to raise the ire of the unbelievers, or received any injury whatever from an enemy: for allah suffereth not the reward to be lost of those who do good;- p: it is not for the townsfolk of al-madinah and for those around them of the wandering arabs so stay behind the messenger of allah and prefer their lives to his life. that is because neither thirst nor toil nor hunger afflicteth them in the way of allah, nor step they any step that angereth the disbelievers, nor gain they from the enemy a gain, but a good deed is recorded for them therefor. lo! allah loseth not the wages of the good. s: it did not beseem the people of medina and those round about them of the dwellers of the desert to remain behind the messenger of allah, nor should they desire (anything) for themselves in preference to him; this is because there afflicts them not thirst or fatigue or hunger in allah's way, nor do they tread a path which enrages the unbelievers, nor do they attain from the enemy what they attain, but a good work is written down to them on account of it; surely allah does not waste the reward of the doers of good; . y: nor could they spend anything (for the cause) - small or great- nor cut across a valley, but the deed is inscribed to their credit: that allah may requite their deed with the best (possible reward). p: nor spend they any spending, small or great, nor do they cross a valley, but it is recorded for them, that allah may repay them the best of what they used to do. s: nor do they spend anything that may be spent, small or great, nor do they traverse a valley, but it is written down to their credit, that allah may reward them with the best of what they have done. . y: nor should the believers all go forth together: if a contingent from every expedition remained behind, they could devote themselves to studies in religion, and admonish the people when they return to them,- that thus they (may learn) to guard themselves (against evil). p: and the believers should not all go out to fight. of every troop of them, a party only should go forth, that they (who are left behind) may gain sound knowledge in religion, and that they may warn their folk when they return to them, so that they may beware. s: and it does not beseem the believers that they should go forth all together; why should not then a company from every party from among them go forth that they may apply themselves to obtain understanding in religion, and that they may warn their people when they come back to them that they may be cautious? . y: o ye who believe! fight the unbelievers who gird you about, and let them find firmness in you: and know that allah is with those who fear him. p: o ye who believe! fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you, and know that allah is with those who keep their duty (unto him). s: o you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness; and know that allah is with those who guard (against evil). . y: whenever there cometh down a sura, some of them say: "which of you has had his faith increased by it?" yea, those who believe,- their faith is increased and they do rejoice. p: and whenever a surah is revealed there are some of them who say: which one of you hath thus increased in faith? as for those who believe, it hath increased them in faith and they rejoice (therefor). s: and whenever a chapter is revealed, there are some of them who say: which of you has it strengthened in faith? then as for those who believe, it strengthens them in faith and they rejoice. . y: but those in whose hearts is a disease,- it will add doubt to their doubt, and they will die in a state of unbelief. p: but as for those in whose hearts is disease, it only addeth wickedness to their wickedness, and they die while they are disbelievers. s: and as for those in whose hearts is a disease, it adds uncleanness to their uncleanness and they die while they are unbelievers. . y: see they not that they are tried every year once or twice? yet they turn not in repentance, and they take no heed. p: see they not that they are tested once or twice in every year? still they turn not in repentance, neither pay they heed. s: do they not see that they are tried once or twice in every year, yet they do not turn (to allah) nor do they mind. . y: whenever there cometh down a sura, they look at each other, (saying), "doth anyone see you?" then they turn aside: allah hath turned their hearts (from the light); for they are a people that understand not. p: and whenever a surah is revealed, they look one at another (as who should say): doth anybody see you? then they turn away. allah turneth away their hearts because they are a folk who understand not. s: and whenever a chapter is revealed, they cast glances at one another: does any one see you? then they turn away: allah has turned away their hearts because they are a people who do not understand. . y: now hath come unto you a messenger from amongst yourselves: it grieves him that ye should perish: ardently anxious is he over you: to the believers is he most kind and merciful. p: there hath come unto you a messenger, (one) of yourselves, unto whom aught that ye are overburdened is grievous, full of concern for you, for the believers full of pity, merciful. s: certainly a messenger has come to you from among yourselves; grievous to him is your falling into distress, excessively solicitous respecting you; to the believers (he is) compassionate, . y: but if they turn away, say: "allah sufficeth me: there is no god but he: on him is my trust,- he the lord of the throne (of glory) supreme!" p: now, if they turn away (o muhammad) say: allah sufficeth me. there is no god save him. in him have i put my trust, and he is lord of the tremendous throne. s: but if they turn back, say: allah is sufficient for me, there is no god but he; on him do i rely, and he is the lord of mighty power. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : yunus (jonah) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: a.l.r. these are the ayats of the book of wisdom. p: alif. lam. ra. these are verses of the wise scripture. s: alif lam ra. these are the verses of the wise book. . y: is it a matter of wonderment to men that we have sent our inspiration to a man from among themselves?- that he should warn mankind (of their danger), and give the good news to the believers that they have before their lord the lofty rank of truth. (but) say the unbelievers: "this is indeed an evident sorcerer!" p: is it a wonder for mankind that we have inspired a man among them, saying: warn mankind and bring unto those who believe the good tidings that they have a sure footing with their lord? the disbelievers say: lo! this is a mere wizard. s: what! is it a wonder to the people that we revealed to a man from among themselves, saying: warn the people and give good news to those who believe that theirs is a footing of firmness with their lord. the unbelievers say: this is most surely a manifest enchanter. . y: verily your lord is allah, who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and is firmly established on the throne (of authority), regulating and governing all things. no intercessor (can plead with him) except after his leave (hath been obtained). this is allah your lord; him therefore serve ye: will ye not receive admonition? p: lo! your lord is allah who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then he established himself upon the throne, directing all things. there is no intercessor (with him) save after his permission. that is allah, your lord, so worship him. oh, will ye not remind? s: surely your lord is allah, who created the heavens and the earth in six periods, and he is firm in power, regulating the affair, there is no intercessor except after his permission; this is allah, your lord, therefore serve him; will you not then mind? . y: to him will be your return- of all of you. the promise of allah is true and sure. it is he who beginneth the process of creation, and repeateth it, that he may reward with justice those who believe and work righteousness; but those who reject him will have draughts of boiling fluids, and a penalty grievous, because they did reject him. p: unto him is the return of all of you; it is a promise of allah in truth. lo! he produceth creation, then reproduceth it, that he may reward those who believe and do good works with equity; while, as for those who disbelieve, theirs will be a boiling drink and painful doom because they disbelieved. s: to him is your return, of all (of you); the promise of allah (made) in truth; surely he begins the creation in the first instance, then he reproduces it, that he may with justice recompense those who believe and do good; and (as for) those who disbelieve, they shall have a drink of hot water and painful punishment because they disbelieved. . y: it is he who made the sun to be a shining glory and the moon to be a light (of beauty), and measured out stages for her; that ye might know the number of years and the count (of time). nowise did allah create this but in truth and righteousness. (thus) doth he explain his signs in detail, for those who understand. p: he it is who appointed the sun a splendour and the moon a light, and measured for her stages, that ye might know the number of the years, and the reckoning. allah created not (all) that save in truth. he detaileth the revelations for people who have knowledge. s: he it is who made the sun a shining brightness and the moon a light, and ordained for it mansions that you might know the computation of years and the reckoning. allah did not create it but with truth; he makes the signs manifest for a people who know. . y: verily, in the alternation of the night and the day, and in all that allah hath created, in the heavens and the earth, are signs for those who fear him. p: lo! in the difference of day and night and all that allah hath created in the heavens and the earth are portents, verily, for folk who ward off (evil). s: most surely in the variation of the night and the day, and what allah has created in the heavens and the earth, there are signs for a people who guard (against evil). . y: those who rest not their hope on their meeting with us, but are pleased and satisfied with the life of the present, and those who heed not our signs,- p: lo! those who expect not the meeting with us but desire the life of the world and feel secure therein, and those who are neglectful of our revelations, s: surely those who do not hope in our meeting and are pleased with this world's life and are content with it, and those who are heedless of our communications: . y: their abode is the fire, because of the (evil) they earned. p: their home will be the fire because of what they used to earn. s: (as for) those, their abode is the fire because of what they earned. . y: those who believe, and work righteousness,- their lord will guide them because of their faith: beneath them will flow rivers in gardens of bliss. p: lo! those who believe and do good works, their lord guideth them by their faith. rivers will flow beneath them in the gardens of delight, s: surely (as for) those who believe and do good, their lord will guide them by their faith; there shall flow from beneath them rivers in gardens of bliss. . y: (this will be) their cry therein: "glory to thee, o allah!" and "peace" will be their greeting therein! and the close of their cry will be: "praise be to allah, the cherisher and sustainer of the worlds!" p: their prayer therein will be: glory be to thee, o allah! and their greeting therein will be: peace. and the conclusion of their prayer will be: praise be to allah, lord of the worlds! s: their cry in it shall be: glory to thee, o allah! and their greeting in it shall be: peace; and the last of their cry shall be: praise be to allah, the lord of the worlds. . y: if allah were to hasten for men the ill (they have earned) as they would fain hasten on the good,- then would their respite be settled at once. but we leave those who rest not their hope on their meeting with us, in their trespasses, wandering in distraction to and fro. p: if allah were to hasten on for men the ill (that they have earned) as they would hasten on the good, their respite would already have expired. but we suffer those who look not for the meeting with us to wander blindly on in their contumacy. s: and if allah should hasten the evil to men as they desire the hastening on of good, their doom should certainly have been decreed for them; but we leave those alone who hope not for our meeting in their inordinacy, blindly wandering on. . y: when trouble toucheth a man, he crieth unto us (in all postures)- lying down on his side, or sitting, or standing. but when we have solved his trouble, he passeth on his way as if he had never cried to us for a trouble that touched him! thus do the deeds of transgressors seem fair in their eyes! p: and if misfortune touch a man he crieth unto us, (while reclining) on his side, or sitting or standing, but when we have relieved him of the misfortune he goeth his way as though he had not cried unto us because of a misfortune that afflicted him. thus is what they do made (seeming) fair unto the prodigal. s: and when affliction touches a man, he calls on us, whether lying on his side or sitting or standing; but when we remove his affliction from him, he passes on as though he had never called on us on account of an affliction that touched him; thus that which they do is made fair-seeming to the extravagant. . y: generations before you we destroyed when they did wrong: their messengers came to them with clear-signs, but they would not believe! thus do we requite those who sin! p: we destroyed the generations before you when they did wrong; and their messengers (from allah) came unto them with clear proofs (of his sovereignty) but they would not believe. thus do we reward the guilty folk. s: and certainly we did destroy generations before you when they were unjust, and their messengers had come to them with clear arguments, and they would not believe; thus do we recompense the guilty people. . y: then we made you heirs in the land after them, to see how ye would behave! p: then we appointed you viceroys in the earth after them, that we might see how ye behave. s: then we made you successors in the land after them so that we may see how you act. . y: but when our clear signs are rehearsed unto them, those who rest not their hope on their meeting with us, say: "bring us a reading other than this, or change this," say: "it is not for me, of my own accord, to change it: i follow naught but what is revealed unto me: if i were to disobey my lord, i should myself fear the penalty of a great day (to come)." p: and when our clear revelations are recited unto them, they who look not for the meeting with us say: bring a lecture other than this, or change it. say (o muhammad): it is not for me to change it of my accord. i only follow that which is inspired in me. lo! if i disobey my lord i fear the retribution of an awful day. s: and when our clear communications are recited to them, those who hope not for our meeting say: bring a quran other than this or change it. say: it does not beseem me that i should change it of myself; i follow naught but what is revealed to me; surely i fear, if i disobey my lord, the punishment of a mighty day. . y: say: "if allah had so willed, i should not have rehearsed it to you, nor would he have made it known to you. a whole life-time before this have i tarried amongst you: will ye not then understand?" p: say: if allah had so willed i should not have recited it to you nor would he have made it known to you. i dwelt among you a whole lifetime before it (came to me). have ye then no sense? s: say: if allah had desired (otherwise) i would not have recited it to you, nor would he have taught it to you; indeed i have lived a lifetime among you before it; do you not then understand? . y: who doth more wrong than such as forge a lie against allah, or deny his signs? but never will prosper those who sin. p: who doeth greater wrong than he who inventeth a lie concerning allah and denieth his revelations? lo! the guilty never are successful. s: who is then more unjust than who forges a lie against allah or (who) gives the lie to his communications? surely the guilty shall not be successful. . y: they serve, besides allah, things that hurt them not nor profit them, and they say: "these are our intercessors with allah." say: "do ye indeed inform allah of something he knows not, in the heavens or on earth?- glory to him! and far is he above the partners they ascribe (to him)!" p: they worship beside allah that which neither hurteth them nor profiteth them, and they say: these are our intercessors with allah. say: would ye inform allah of (something) that he knoweth not in the heavens or in the earth? praised be he and high exalted above all that ye associate (with him)! s: and they serve beside allah what can neither harm them nor profit them, and they say: these are our intercessors with allah. say: do you (presume to) inform allah of what he knows not in the heavens and the earth? glory be to him, and supremely exalted is he above what they set up (with him). . y: mankind was but one nation, but differed (later). had it not been for a word that went forth before from thy lord, their differences would have been settled between them. p: mankind were but one community; then they differed; and had it not been for a word that had already gone forth from thy lord it had been judged between them in respect of that wherein they differ. s: and people are naught but a single nation, so they disagree; and had not a word already gone forth from your lord, the matter would have certainly been decided between them in respect of that concerning which they disagree. . y: they say: "why is not a sign sent down to him from his lord?" say: "the unseen is only for allah (to know), then wait ye: i too will wait with you." p: and they will say: if only a portent were sent down upon him from his lord! then say, (o muhammad): the unseen belongeth to allah. so wait! lo! i am waiting with you. s: and they say: why is not a sign sent to him from his lord? say: the unseen is only for allah; therefore wait-- surely i too, with you am of those who wait. . y: when we make mankind taste of some mercy after adversity hath touched them, behold! they take to plotting against our signs! say: "swifter to plan is allah!" verily, our messengers record all the plots that ye make! p: and when we cause mankind to taste of mercy after some adversity which had afflicted them, behold! they have some plot against our revelations. say: allah is more swift in plotting. lo! our messengers write down that which ye plot. s: and when we make people taste of mercy after an affliction touches them, lo! they devise plans against our communication. say: allah is quicker to plan; surely our messengers write down what you plan. . y: he it is who enableth you to traverse through land and sea; so that ye even board ships;- they sail with them with a favourable wind, and they rejoice there at; then comes a stormy wind and the waves come to them from all sides, and they think they are being overwhelmed: they cry unto allah, sincerely offering (their) duty unto him saying, "if thou dost deliver us from this, we shall truly show our gratitude!" p: he it is who maketh you to go on the land and the sea till, when ye are in the ships and they sail with them with a fair breeze and they are glad therein, a storm-wind reacheth them and the wave cometh unto them from every side and they deem that they are overwhelmed therein; (then) they cry unto allah, making their faith pure for him only: if thou deliver us from this, we truly will be of the thankful. s: he it is who makes you travel by land and sea; until when you are in the ships, and they sail on with them in a pleasant breeze, and they rejoice, a violent wind overtakes them and the billows surge in on them from all sides, and they become certain that they are encompassed about, they pray to allah, being sincere to him in obedience: if thou dost deliver us from this, we will most certainly be of the grateful ones. . y: but when he delivereth them, behold! they transgress insolently through the earth in defiance of right! o mankind! your insolence is against your own souls,- an enjoyment of the life of the present: in the end, to us is your return, and we shall show you the truth of all that ye did. p: yet when he hath delivered them, behold! they rebel in the earth wrongfully. o mankind! your rebellion is only against yourselves. (ye have) enjoyment of the life of the world; then unto us is your return and we shall proclaim unto you what ye used to do. s: but when he delivers them, lo! they are unjustly rebellious in the earth. o men! your rebellion is against your own souls-- provision (only) of this world's life-- then to us shall be your return, so we will inform you of what you did. . y: the likeness of the life of the present is as the rain which we send down from the skies: by its mingling arises the produce of the earth- which provides food for men and animals: (it grows) till the earth is clad with its golden ornaments and is decked out (in beauty): the people to whom it belongs think they have all powers of disposal over it: there reaches it our command by night or by day, and we make it like a harvest clean-mown, as if it had not flourished only the day before! thus do we explain the signs in detail for those who reflect. p: the similitude of the life of the world is only as water which we send down from the sky, then the earth's growth of that which men and cattle eat mingleth with it till, when the earth hath taken on her ornaments and is embellished, and her people deem that they are masters of her, our commandment cometh by night or by day and we make it as reaped corn as if it had not flourished yesterday. thus do we expound the revelations for people who reflect. s: the likeness of this world's life is only as water which we send down from the cloud, then the herbage of the earth of which men and cattle eat grows luxuriantly thereby, until when the earth puts on its golden raiment and it becomes garnished, and its people think that they have power over it, our command comes to it, by night or by day, so we render it as reaped seed; produce, as though it had not been in existence yesterday; thus do we make clear the communications for a people who reflect. . y: but allah doth call to the home of peace: he doth guide whom he pleaseth to a way that is straight. p: and allah summoneth to the abode of peace, and leadeth whom he will to a straight path. s: and allah invites to the abode of peace and guides whom he pleases into the right path. . y: to those who do right is a goodly (reward)- yea, more (than in measure)! no darkness nor shame shall cover their faces! they are companions of the garden; they will abide therein (for aye)! p: for those who do good is the best (reward) and more (thereto). neither dust nor ignominy cometh near their faces. such are rightful owners of the garden; they will abide therein. s: for those who do good is good (reward) and more (than this); and blackness or ignominy shall not cover their faces; these are the dwellers of the garden; in it they shall abide. . y: but those who have earned evil will have a reward of like evil: ignominy will cover their (faces): no defender will they have from (the wrath of) allah: their faces will be covered, as it were, with pieces from the depth of the darkness of night: they are companions of the fire: they will abide therein (for aye)! p: and those who earn ill-deeds, (for them) requital of each ill-deed by the like thereof; and ignominy overtaketh them - they have no protector from allah - as if their faces had been covered with a cloak of darkest night. such are rightful owners of the fire; they will abide therein. s: and (as for) those who have earned evil, the punishment of an evil is the like of it, and abasement shall come upon them-- they shall have none to protect them from allah-- as if their faces had been covered with slices of the dense darkness of night; these are the inmates of the fire; in it they shall abide. . y: one day shall we gather them all together. then shall we say to those who joined gods (with us): "to your place! ye and those ye joined as 'partners'." we shall separate them, and their 'partners' shall say: "it was not us that ye worshipped!" p: on the day when we gather them all together, then we say unto those who ascribed partners (unto us): stand back, ye and your (pretended) partners (of allah)! and we separate them, the one from the other, and their (pretended) partners say: it was not us ye worshipped. s: and on the day when we will gather them all together, then we will say to those who associated others (with allah): keep where you are, you and your associates; then we shall separate them widely one from another and their associates would say: it was not us that you served: . y: "enough is allah for a witness between us and you: we certainly knew nothing of your worship of us!" p: allah sufficeth as a witness between us and you, that we were unaware of your worship. s: therefore allah is sufficient as a witness between us and you that we were quite unaware of your serving (us). . y: there will every soul prove (the fruits of) the deeds it sent before: they will be brought back to allah their rightful lord, and their invented falsehoods will leave them in the lurch. p: there doth every soul experience that which it did aforetime, and they are returned unto allah, their rightful lord, and that which they used to invent hath failed them. s: there shall every soul become acquainted with what it sent before, and they shall be brought back to allah, their true patron, and what they devised shall escape from them. . y: say: "who is it that sustains you (in life) from the sky and from the earth? or who is it that has power over hearing and sight? and who is it that brings out the living from the dead and the dead from the living? and who is it that rules and regulates all affairs?" they will soon say, "allah". say, "will ye not then show piety (to him)?" p: say (unto them, o muhammad): who provideth for you from the sky and the earth, or who owneth hearing and sight; and who bringeth forth the living from the dead and bringeth forth the dead from the living; and who directeth the course? they will say: allah. then say: will ye not then keep your duty (unto him)? s: say: who gives you sustenance from the heaven and the earth? or who controls the hearing and the sight? and who brings forth the living from the dead, and brings forth the dead from the living? and who regulates the affairs? then they will say: allah. say then: will you not then guard (against evil)? . y: such is allah, your real cherisher and sustainer: apart from truth, what (remains) but error? how then are ye turned away? p: such then is allah, your rightful lord. after the truth what is there saving error? how then are ye turned away! s: this then is allah, your true lord; and what is there after the truth but error; how are you then turned back? . y: thus is the word of thy lord proved true against those who rebel: verily they will not believe. p: thus is the word of thy lord justified concerning those who do wrong: that they believe not. s: thus does the word of your lord prove true against those who transgress that they do not believe. . y: say: "of your 'partners', can any originate creation and repeat it?" say: "it is allah who originates creation and repeats it: then how are ye deluded away (from the truth)?" p: say: is there of your partners (whom ye ascribe unto allah) one that produceth creation and then reproduceth it? say: allah produceth creation, then reproduceth it. how then, are ye misled! s: say: is there any one among your associates who can bring into existence the creation in the first instance, then reproduce it? say: allah brings the creation into existence, then he reproduces it; how are you then turned away? . y: say: "of your 'partners' is there any that can give any guidance towards truth?" say: "it is allah who gives guidance towards truth, is then he who gives guidance to truth more worthy to be followed, or he who finds not guidance (himself) unless he is guided? what then is the matter with you? how judge ye?" p: say: is there of your partners (whom ye ascribe unto allah) one that leadeth to the truth? say: allah leadeth to the truth. is he who leadeth to the truth more deserving that he should be followed, or he who findeth not the way unless he (himself) be guided. what aileth you? how judge ye? s: say: is there any of your associates who guides to the truth? say: allah guides to the truth. is he then who guides to the truth more worthy to be followed, or he who himself does not go aright unless he is guided? what then is the matter with you; how do you judge? . y: but most of them follow nothing but fancy: truly fancy can be of no avail against truth. verily allah is well aware of all that they do. p: most of them follow not but conjecture. assuredly conjecture can by no means take the place of truth. lo! allah is aware of what they do. s: and most of them do not follow (anything) but conjecture; surely conjecture will not avail aught against the truth; surely allah is cognizant of what they do. . y: this qur'an is not such as can be produced by other than allah; on the contrary it is a confirmation of (revelations) that went before it, and a fuller explanation of the book - wherein there is no doubt - from the lord of the worlds. p: and this qur'an is not such as could ever be invented in despite of allah; but it is a confirmation of that which was before it and an exposition of that which is decreed for mankind - therein is no doubt - from the lord of the worlds. s: and this quran is not such as could be forged by those besides allah, but it is a verification of that which is before it and a clear explanation of the book, there is no doubt in it, from the lord of the worlds. . y: or do they say, "he forged it"? say: "bring then a sura like unto it, and call (to your aid) anyone you can besides allah, if it be ye speak the truth!" p: or say they: he hath invented it? say: then bring a surah like unto it, and call (for help) on all ye can besides allah, if ye are truthful. s: or do they say: he has forged it? say: then bring a chapter like this and invite whom you can besides allah, if you are truthful. . y: nay, they charge with falsehood that whose knowledge they cannot compass, even before the elucidation thereof hath reached them: thus did those before them make charges of falsehood: but see what was the end of those who did wrong! p: nay, but they denied that, the knowledge whereof they could not compass, and whereof the interpretation (in events) hath not yet come unto them. even so did those before them deny. then see what was the consequence for the wrong-doers! s: nay, they reject that of which they have no comprehensive knowledge, and the final sequel of it has not yet come to them; even thus did those before them reject (the truth); see then what was the end of the unjust. . y: of them there are some who believe therein, and some who do not: and thy lord knoweth best those who are out for mischief. p: and of them is he who believeth therein, and of them is he who believeth not therein, and thy lord is best aware of the corrupters. s: and of them is he who believes in it, and of them is he who does not believe in it, and your lord best knows the mischief-makers. . y: if they charge thee with falsehood, say: "my work to me, and yours to you! ye are free from responsibility for what i do, and i for what ye do!" p: and if they deny thee, say: unto me my work, and unto you your work. ye are innocent of what i do, and i am innocent of what ye do. s: and if they call you a liar, say: my work is for me and your work for you; you are clear of what i do and i am clear of what you do. . y: among them are some who (pretend to) listen to thee: but canst thou make the deaf to hear,- even though they are without understanding? p: and of them are some who listen unto thee. but canst thou make the deaf to hear even though they apprehend not? s: and there are those of them who hear you, but can you make the deaf to hear though they will not understand? . y: and among them are some who look at thee: but canst thou guide the blind,- even though they will not see? p: and of them is he who looketh toward thee. but canst thou guide the blind even though they see not? s: and there are those of them who look at you, but can you show the way to the blind though they will not see? . y: verily allah will not deal unjustly with man in aught: it is man that wrongs his own soul. p: lo! allah wrongeth not mankind in aught; but mankind wrong themselves. s: surely allah does not do any injustice to men, but men are unjust to themselves. . y: one day he will gather them together: (it will be) as if they had tarried but an hour of a day: they will recognise each other: assuredly those will be lost who denied the meeting with allah and refused to receive true guidance. p: and on the day when he shall gather them together, (when it will seem) as though they had tarried but an hour of the day, recognising one another, those will verily have perished who denied the meeting with allah and were not guided. s: and on the day when he will gather them as though they had not stayed but an hour of the day, they will know each other. they will perish indeed who called the meeting with allah to be a lie, and they are not followers of the right direction. . y: whether we show thee (realised in thy life-time) some part of what we promise them,- or we take thy soul (to our mercy) (before that),- in any case, to us is their return: ultimately allah is witness, to all that they do. p: whether we let thee (o muhammad) behold something of that which we promise them or (whether we) cause thee to die, still unto us is their return, and allah, moreover, is witness over what they do. s: and if we show you something of what we threaten them with, or cause you to die, yet to us is their return, and allah is the bearer of witness to what they do. . y: to every people (was sent) a messenger: when their messenger comes (before them), the matter will be judged between them with justice, and they will not be wronged. p: and for every nation there is a messenger. and when their messenger cometh (on the day of judgment) it will be judged between them fairly, and they will not be wronged. s: and every nation had a messenger; so when their messenger came, the matter was decided between them with justice and they shall not be dealt with unjustly. . y: they say: "when will this promise come to pass,- if ye speak the truth?" p: and they say: when will this promise be fulfilled, if ye are truthful? s: and they say: when will this threat come about, if you are truthful? . y: say: "i have no power over any harm or profit to myself except as allah willeth. to every people is a term appointed: when their term is reached, not an hour can they cause delay, nor (an hour) can they advance (it in anticipation)." p: say: i have no power to hurt or benefit myself, save that which allah willeth. for every nation there is an appointed time. when their time cometh, then they cannot put it off an hour, nor hasten (it). s: say: i do not control for myself any harm, or any benefit except what allah pleases; every nation has a term; when their term comes, they shall not then remain behind for an hour, nor can they go before (their time). . y: say: "do ye see,- if his punishment should come to you by night or by day,- what portion of it would the sinners wish to hasten?" p: say: have ye thought: when his doom cometh unto you as a raid by night, or in the (busy) day; what is there of it that the guilty ones desire to hasten? s: say: tell me if his punishment overtakes you by night or by day! what then is there of it that the guilty would hasten on? . y: "would ye then believe in it at last, when it actually cometh to pass?" (it will then be said): 'ah! now? and ye wanted (aforetime) to hasten it on!' p: is it (only) then, when it hath befallen you, that ye will believe? what! (believe) now, when (until now) ye have been hastening it on (through disbelief)? s: and when it comes to pass, will you believe in it? what! now (you believe), and already you wished to have it hastened on. . y: "at length will be said to the wrong-doers: 'taste ye the enduring punishment! ye get but the recompense of what ye earned!'" p: then will it be said unto those who dealt unjustly taste the torment of eternity. are ye requited aught save what ye used to earn? s: then it shall be said to those who were unjust: taste abiding chastisement; you are not requited except for what you earned. . y: they seek to be informed by thee: "is that true?" say: "aye! by my lord! it is the very truth! and ye cannot frustrate it!" p: and they ask thee to inform them (saying): is it true? say: yea, by my lord, verily it is true, and ye cannot escape. s: and they ask you: is that true? say: aye! by my lord! it is most surely the truth, and you will not escape. . y: every soul that hath sinned, if it possessed all that is on earth, would fain give it in ransom: they would declare (their) repentance when they see the penalty: but the judgment between them will be with justice, and no wrong will be done unto them. p: and if each soul that doeth wrong had all that is in the earth it would seek to ransom itself therewith; and they will feel remorse within them, when they see the doom. but it hath been judged between them fairly and they are not wronged. s: and if every soul that has done injustice had all that is in the earth, it would offer it for ransom, and they will manifest regret when they see the chastisement and the matter shall be decided between them with justice and they shall not be dealt with unjustly. . y: is it not (the case) that to allah belongeth whatever is in the heavens and on earth? is it not (the case) that allah's promise is assuredly true? yet most of them understand not. p: lo! verily all that is in the heavens and the earth is allah's. lo! verily allah's promise is true. but most of them know not. s: now surely allah's is what is in the heavens and the earth; now surely allah's promise is true, but most of them do not know. . y: it is he who giveth life and who taketh it, and to him shall ye all be brought back. p: he quickeneth and giveth death, and unto him ye will be returned. s: he gives life and causes death, and to him you shall be brought back. . y: o mankind! there hath come to you a direction from your lord and a healing for the (diseases) in your hearts,- and for those who believe, a guidance and a mercy. p: o mankind! there hath come unto you an exhortation from your lord, a balm for that which is in the breasts, a guidance and a mercy for believers. s: o men! there has come to you indeed an admonition from your lord and a healing for what is in the breasts and a guidance and a mercy for the believers. . y: say: "in the bounty of allah. and in his mercy,- in that let them rejoice": that is better than the (wealth) they hoard. p: say: in the bounty of allah and in his mercy: therein let them rejoice. it is better than what they hoard. s: say: in the grace of allah and in his mercy-- in that they should rejoice; it is better than that which they gather. . y: say: "see ye what things allah hath sent down to you for sustenance? yet ye hold forbidden some things thereof and (some things) lawful." say: "hath allah indeed permitted you, or do ye invent (things) to attribute to allah?" p: say: have ye considered what provision allah hath sent down for you, how ye have made of it lawful and unlawful? hath allah permitted you, or do ye invent a lie concerning allah? s: say: tell me what allah has sent down for you of sustenance, then you make (a part) of it unlawful and (a part) lawful. say: has allah commanded you, or do you forge a lie against allah? . y: and what think those who invent lies against allah, of the day of judgment? verily allah is full of bounty to mankind, but most of them are ungrateful. p: and what think those who invent a lie concerning allah (will be their plight) upon the day of resurrection? lo! allah truly is bountiful toward mankind, but most of them give not thanks. s: and what will be the thought of those who forge lies against allah on the day of resurrection? most surely allah is the lord of grace towards men, but most of them do not give thanks. . y: in whatever business thou mayest be, and whatever portion thou mayest be reciting from the qur'an,- and whatever deed ye (mankind) may be doing,- we are witnesses thereof when ye are deeply engrossed therein. nor is hidden from thy lord (so much as) the weight of an atom on the earth or in heaven. and not the least and not the greatest of these things but are recorded in a clear record. p: and thou (muhammad) art not occupied with any business and thou recitest not a lecture from this (scripture), and ye (mankind) perform no act, but we are witness of you when ye are engaged therein. and not an atom's weight in the earth or in the sky escapeth your lord, nor what is less than that or greater than that, but it is (written) in a clear book. s: and you are not (engaged) in any affair, nor do you recite concerning it any portion of the quran, nor do you do any work but we are witnesses over you when you enter into it, and there does not lie concealed from your lord the weight of an atom in the earth or in the heaven, nor any thing less than that nor greater, but it is in a clear book. . y: behold! verily on the friends of allah there is no fear, nor shall they grieve; p: lo! verily the friends of allah are (those) on whom fear (cometh) not, nor do they grieve? s: now surely the friends of allah-- they shall have no fear nor shall they grieve. . y: those who believe and (constantly) guard against evil;- p: those who believe and keep their duty (to allah). s: those who believe and guarded (against evil): . y: for them are glad tidings, in the life of the present and in the hereafter; no change can there be in the words of allah. this is indeed the supreme felicity. p: theirs are good tidings in the life of the world and in the hereafter - there is no changing the words of allah - that is the supreme triumph. s: they shall have good news in this world's life and in the hereafter; there is no changing the words of allah; that is the mighty achievement. . y: let not their speech grieve thee: for all power and honour belong to allah: it is he who heareth and knoweth (all things). p: and let not their speech grieve thee (o muhammad). lo! power belongeth wholly to allah. he is the hearer, the knower. s: and let not their speech grieve you; surely might is wholly allah's; he is the hearing, the knowing. . y: behold! verily to allah belong all creatures, in the heavens and on earth. what do they follow who worship as his "partners" other than allah? they follow nothing but fancy, and they do nothing but lie. p: lo! is it not unto allah that belongeth whosoever is in the heavens and whosoever is in the earth? those who follow aught instead of allah follow not (his) partners. they follow only a conjecture, and they do but guess. s: now, surely, whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is allah's; and they do not (really) follow any associates, who call on others besides allah; they do not follow (anything) but conjectures, and they only lie. . y: he it is that hath made you the night that ye may rest therein, and the day to make things visible (to you). verily in this are signs for those who listen (to his message). p: he it is who hath appointed for you the night that ye should rest therein and the day giving sight. lo! herein verily are portents for a folk that heed. s: he it is who made for you the night that you might rest in it, and the day giving light; most surely there are signs in it for a people who would hear. . y: they say: "allah hath begotten a son!" - glory be to him! he is self-sufficient! his are all things in the heavens and on earth! no warrant have ye for this! say ye about allah what ye know not? p: they say: allah hath taken (unto him) a son - glorified be he! he hath no needs! his is all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. ye have no warrant for this. tell ye concerning allah that which ye know not? s: they say: allah has taken a son (to himself)! glory be to him: he is the self-sufficient: his is what is in the heavens and what is in the earth; you have no authority for this; do you say against allah what you do not know? . y: say: "those who invent a lie against allah will never prosper." p: say: verily those who invent a lie concerning allah will not succeed. s: say: those who forge a lie against allah shall not be successful. . y: a little enjoyment in this world!- and then, to us will be their return, then shall we make them taste the severest penalty for their blasphemies. p: this world's portion (will be theirs), then unto us is their return. then we make them taste a dreadful doom because they used to disbelieve. s: (it is only) a provision in this world, then to us shall be their return; then we shall make them taste severe punishment because they disbelieved. . y: relate to them the story of noah. behold! he said to his people: "o my people, if it be hard on your (mind) that i should stay (with you) and commemorate the signs of allah,- yet i put my trust in allah. get ye then an agreement about your plan and among your partners, so your plan be on to you dark and dubious. then pass your sentence on me, and give me no respite." p: recite unto them the story of noah, when he told his people: o my people! if my sojourn (here) and my reminding you by allah's revelations are an offence unto you, in allah have i put my trust, so decide upon your course of action you and your partners. let not your course of action be in doubt for you. then have at me, give me no respite. s: and recite to them the story of nuh when he said to his people: o my people! if my stay and my reminding (you) by the communications of allah is hard on you-- yet on allah do i rely-- then resolve upon your affair and (gather) your associates, then let not your affair remain dubious to you, then have it executed against me and give me no respite: . y: "but if ye turn back, (consider): no reward have i asked of you: my reward is only due from allah, and i have been commanded to be of those who submit to allah's will (in islam)." p: but if ye are averse i have asked of you no wage. my wage is the concern of allah only, and i am commanded to be of those who surrender (unto him). s: but if you turn back, i did not ask for any reward from you; my reward is only with allah, and i am commanded that i should be of those who submit. . y: they rejected him, but we delivered him, and those with him, in the ark, and we made them inherit (the earth), while we overwhelmed in the flood those who rejected our signs. then see what was the end of those who were warned (but heeded not)! p: but they denied him, so we saved him and those with him in the ship, and made them viceroys (in the earth), while we drowned those who denied our revelations. see then the nature of the consequence for those who had been warned. s: but they rejected him, so we delivered him and those with him in the ark, and we made them rulers and drowned those who rejected our communications; see then what was the end of the (people) warned. . y: then after him we sent (many) messengers to their peoples: they brought them clear signs, but they would not believe what they had already rejected beforehand. thus do we seal the hearts of the transgressors. p: then, after him, we sent messengers unto their folk, and they brought them clear proofs. but they were not ready to believe in that which they before denied. thus print we on the hearts of the transgressors. s: then did we raise up after him messengers to their people, so they came to them with clear arguments, but they would not believe in what they had rejected before; thus it is that we set seals upon the hearts of those who exceed the limits. . y: then after them sent we moses and aaron to pharaoh and his chiefs with our signs. but they were arrogant: they were a people in sin. p: then, after them, we sent moses and aaron unto pharaoh and his chiefs with our revelations, but they were arrogant and were a guilty folk. s: then did we send up after them musa and haroun to firon and his chiefs with our signs, but they showed pride and they were a guilty people. . y: when the truth did come to them from us, they said: "this is indeed evident sorcery!" p: and when the truth from our presence came unto them, they said: lo! this is mere magic. s: so when the truth came to them from us they said: this is most surely clear enchantment! . y: said moses: "say ye (this) about the truth when it hath (actually) reached you? is sorcery (like) this? but sorcerers will not prosper." p: moses said: speak ye (so) of the truth when it hath come unto you? is this magic? now magicians thrive not. s: musa said: do you say (this) of the truth when it has come to you? is it magic? and the magicians are not successful. . y: they said: "hast thou come to us to turn us away from the ways we found our fathers following,- in order that thou and thy brother may have greatness in the land? but not we shall believe in you!" p: they said: hast thou come unto us to pervert us from that (faith) in which we found our fathers, and that you two may own the place of greatness in the land? we will not believe you two. s: they said: have you come to us to turn us away from what we found our fathers upon, and (that) greatness in the land should be for you two? and we are not going to believe in you. . y: said pharaoh: "bring me every sorcerer well versed." p: and pharaoh said: bring every cunning wizard unto me. s: and firon said: bring to me every skillful magician. . y: when the sorcerers came, moses said to them: "throw ye what ye (wish) to throw!" p: and when the wizards came, moses said unto them: cast your cast! s: and when the magicians came, musa said to them: cast down what you have to cast. . y: when they had had their throw, moses said: "what ye have brought is sorcery: allah will surely make it of no effect: for allah prospereth not the work of those who make mischief." p: and when they had cast, moses said: that which ye have brought is magic. lo! allah will make it vain. lo! allah upholdeth not the work of mischief-makers. s: so when they cast down, musa said to them: what you have brought is deception; surely allah will make it naught; surely allah does not make the work of mischief-makers to thrive. . y: "and allah by his words doth prove and establish his truth, however much the sinners may hate it!" p: and allah will vindicate the truth by his words, however much the guilty be averse. s: and allah will show the truth to be the truth by his words, though the guilty may be averse (to it). . y: but none believed in moses except some children of his people, because of the fear of pharaoh and his chiefs, lest they should persecute them; and certainly pharaoh was mighty on the earth and one who transgressed all bounds. p: but none trusted moses, save some scions of his people, (and they were) in fear of pharaoh and their chiefs, that he would persecute them. lo! pharaoh was verily a tyrant in the land, and lo! he verily was of the wanton. s: but none believed in musa except the offspring of his people, on account of the fear of firon and their chiefs, lest he should persecute them; and most surely firon was lofty in the land; and most surely he was of the extravagant. . y: moses said: "o my people! if ye do (really) believe in allah, then in him put your trust if ye submit (your will to his)." p: and moses said: o my people! if ye have believed in allah then put trust in him, if ye have indeed surrendered (unto him)! s: and musa said: o my people! if you believe in allah, then rely on him (alone) if you submit (to allah). . y: they said: "in allah do we put out trust. our lord! make us not a trial for those who practise oppression;" p: they said: in allah we put trust. our lord! oh, make us not a lure for the wrongdoing folk; s: so they said: on allah we rely: o our lord! make us not subject to the persecution of the unjust people: . y: "and deliver us by thy mercy from those who reject (thee)." p: and, of thy mercy, save us from the folk that disbelieve. s: and do thou deliver us by thy mercy from the unbelieving people. . y: we inspired moses and his brother with this message: "provide dwellings for your people in egypt, make your dwellings into places of worship, and establish regular prayers: and give glad tidings to those who believe!" p: and we inspired moses and his brother, (saying): appoint houses for your people in egypt and make your houses oratories, and establish worship. and give good news to the believers. s: and we revealed to musa and his brother, saying: take for your people houses to abide in egypt and make your houses places of worship and keep up prayer and give good news to the believers. . y: moses prayed: "our lord! thou hast indeed bestowed on pharaoh and his chiefs splendour and wealth in the life of the present, and so, our lord, they mislead (men) from thy path. deface our lord, the features of their wealth, and send hardness to their hearts, so they will not believe until they see the grievous penalty." p: and moses said: our lord! lo! thou hast given pharaoh and his chiefs splendour and riches in the life of the world, our lord! that they may lead men astray from thy way. our lord! destroy their riches and harden their hearts so that they believe not till they see the painful doom. s: and musa said: our lord! surely thou hast given to firon and his chiefs finery and riches in this world's life, to this end, our lord, that they lead (people) astray from thy way: our lord! destroy their riches and harden their hearts so that they believe not until they see the painful punishment. . y: allah said: "accepted is your prayer (o moses and aaron)! so stand ye straight, and follow not the path of those who know not." p: he said: your prayer is heard. do ye twain keep to the straight path, and follow not the road of those who have no knowledge. s: he said: the prayer of you both has indeed been accepted, therefore continue in the right way and do not follow the path of those who do not know. . y: we took the children of israel across the sea: pharaoh and his hosts followed them in insolence and spite. at length, when overwhelmed with the flood, he said: "i believe that there is no god except him whom the children of israel believe in: i am of those who submit (to allah in islam)." p: and we brought the children of israel across the sea, and pharaoh with his hosts pursued them in rebellion and transgression, till, when the (fate of) drowning overtook him, he exclaimed: i believe that there is no god save him in whom the children of israel believe, and i am of those who surrender (unto him). s: and we made the children of israel to pass through the sea, then firon and his hosts followed them for oppression and tyranny; until when drowning overtook him, he said: i believe that there is no god but he in whom the children of israel believe and i am of those who submit. . y: (it was said to him): "ah now!- but a little while before, wast thou in rebellion!- and thou didst mischief (and violence)!" p: what! now! when hitherto thou hast rebelled and been of the wrong-doers? s: what! now! and indeed you disobeyed before and you were of the mischief-makers. . y: "this day shall we save thee in the body, that thou mayest be a sign to those who come after thee! but verily, many among mankind are heedless of our signs!" p: but this day we save thee in thy body that thou mayst be a portent for those after thee. lo! most of mankind are heedless of our portents. s: but we will this day deliver you with your body that you may be a sign to those after you, and most surely the majority of the people are heedless to our communications. . y: we settled the children of israel in a beautiful dwelling-place, and provided for them sustenance of the best: it was after knowledge had been granted to them, that they fell into schisms. verily allah will judge between them as to the schisms amongst them, on the day of judgment. p: and we verily did allot unto the children of israel a fixed abode, and did provide them with good things; and they differed not until the knowledge came unto them. lo! thy lord will judge between them on the day of resurrection concerning that wherein they used to differ. s: and certainly we lodged the children of israel in a goodly abode and we provided them with good things; but they did not disagree until the knowledge had come to them; surely your lord will judge between them on the resurrection day concerning that in which they disagreed. . y: if thou wert in doubt as to what we have revealed unto thee, then ask those who have been reading the book from before thee: the truth hath indeed come to thee from thy lord: so be in no wise of those in doubt. p: and if thou (muhammad) art in doubt concerning that which we reveal unto thee, then question those who read the scripture (that was) before thee. verily the truth from thy lord hath come unto thee. so be not thou of the waverers. s: but if you are in doubt as to what we have revealed to you, ask those who read the book before you; certainly the truth has come to you from your lord, therefore you should not be of the disputers. . y: nor be of those who reject the signs of allah, or thou shalt be of those who perish. p: and be not thou of those who deny the revelations of allah, for then wert thou of the losers. s: and you should not be of those who reject the communications of allah, (for) then you should be one of the losers. . y: those against whom the word of thy lord hath been verified would not believe- p: lo! those for whom the word of thy lord (concerning sinners) hath effect will not believe, s: surely those against whom the word of your lord has proved true will not believe, . y: even if every sign was brought unto them,- until they see (for themselves) the penalty grievous. p: though every token come unto them, till they see the painful doom. s: though every sign should come to them, until they witness the painful chastisement. . y: why was there not a single township (among those we warned), which believed,- so its faith should have profited it,- except the people of jonah? when they believed, we removed from them the penalty of ignominy in the life of the present, and permitted them to enjoy (their life) for a while. p: if only there had been a community (of all those that were destroyed of old) that believed and profited by its belief as did the folk of jonah! when they believed we drew off from them the torment of disgrace in the life of the world and gave them comfort for a while. s: and wherefore was there not a town which should believe so that their belief should have profited them but the people of yunus? when they believed, we removed from them the chastisement of disgrace in this world's life and we gave them provision till a time. . y: if it had been thy lord's will, they would all have believed,- all who are on earth! wilt thou then compel mankind, against their will, to believe! p: and if thy lord willed, all who are in the earth would have believed together. wouldst thou (muhammad) compel men until they are believers? s: and if your lord had pleased, surely all those who are in the earth would have believed, all of them; will you then force men till they become believers? . y: no soul can believe, except by the will of allah, and he will place doubt (or obscurity) on those who will not understand. p: it is not for any soul to believe save by the permission of allah. he hath set uncleanness upon those who have no sense. s: and it is not for a soul to believe except by allah's permission; and he casts uncleanness on those who will not understand. . y: say: "behold all that is in the heavens and on earth"; but neither signs nor warners profit those who believe not. p: say: behold what is in the heavens and the earth! but revelations and warnings avail not folk who will not believe. s: say: consider what is it that is in the heavens and the earth; and signs and warners do not avail a people who would not believe. . y: do they then expect (any thing) but (what happened in) the days of the men who passed away before them? say: "wait ye then: for i, too, will wait with you." p: what expect they save the like of the days of those who passed away before them? say: expect then! i am with you among the expectant. s: what do they wait for then but the like of the days of those who passed away before them? say: wait then; surely i too am with you of those who wait. . y: in the end we deliver our messengers and those who believe: thus is it fitting on our part that we should deliver those who believe! p: then shall we save our messengers and the believers, in like manner (as of old). it is incumbent upon us to save believers. s: then we deliver our messengers and those who believe-- even so (now), it is binding on us (that) we deliver the believers. . y: say: "o ye men! if ye are in doubt as to my religion, (behold!) i worship not what ye worship, other than allah! but i worship allah - who will take your souls (at death): i am commanded to be (in the ranks) of the believers," p: say (o muhammad): o mankind! if ye are in doubt of my religion, then (know that) i worship not those whom ye worship instead of allah, but i worship allah who causeth you to die, and i have been commanded to be of the believers. s: say: o people! if you are in doubt as to my religion, then (know that) i do not serve those whom you serve besides allah but i do serve allah, who will cause you to die, and i am commanded that i should be of the believers. . y: "and further (thus): 'set thy face towards religion with true piety, and never in any wise be of the unbelievers;'" p: and, (o muhammad) set thy purpose resolutely for religion, as a man by nature upright, and be not of those who ascribe partners (to allah). s: and that you should keep your course towards the religion uprightly; and you should not be of the polytheists. . y: "'nor call on any, other than allah;- such will neither profit thee nor hurt thee: if thou dost, behold! thou shalt certainly be of those who do wrong.'" p: and cry not, beside allah, unto that which cannot profit thee nor hurt thee, for if thou didst so then wert thou of the wrong-doers. s: and do not call besides allah on that which can neither benefit you nor harm you, for if you do then surely you will in that case be of the unjust. . y: if allah do touch thee with hurt, there is none can remove it but he: if he do design some benefit for thee, there is none can keep back his favour: he causeth it to reach whomsoever of his servants he pleaseth. and he is the oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: if allah afflicteth thee with some hurt, there is none who can remove it save him; and if he desireth good for thee, there is none who can repel his bounty. he striketh with it whom he will of his bondmen. he is the forgiving, the merciful. s: and if allah should afflict you with harm, then there is none to remove it but he; and if he intends good to you there is none to repel his grace; he brings it to whom he pleases of his servants; and he is the forgiving, the merciful. . y: say: "o ye men! now truth hath reached you from your lord! those who receive guidance, do so for the good of their own souls; those who stray, do so to their own loss: and i am not (set) over you to arrange your affairs." p: say: o mankind! now hath the truth from your lord come unto you. so whosoever is guided, is guided only for (the good of) his soul, and whosoever erreth erreth only against it. and i am not a warder over you. s: say: o people! indeed there has come to you the truth from your lord, therefore whoever goes aright, he goes aright only for the good of his own soul, and whoever goes astray, he goes astray only to the detriment of it, and i am not a custodian over you. . y: follow thou the inspiration sent unto thee, and be patient and constant, till allah do decide: for he is the best to decide. p: and (o muhammad) follow that which is inspired in thee, and forbear until allah give judgment. and he is the best of judges. s: and follow what is revealed to you and be patient till allah should give judgment, and he is the best of the judges. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : hud (hud) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: a. l. r. (this is) a book, with verses basic or fundamental (of established meaning), further explained in detail,- from one who is wise and well-acquainted (with all things): p: alif. lam. ra. (this is) a scripture the revelations whereof are perfected and then expounded. (it cometh) from one wise, informed, s: alif lam ra (this is) a book, whose verses are made decisive, then are they made plain, from the wise, all-aware: . y: (it teacheth) that ye should worship none but allah. (say): "verily i am (sent) unto you from him to warn and to bring glad tidings:" p: (saying): serve none but allah. lo! i am unto you from him a warner and a bringer of good tidings. s: that you shall not serve (any) but allah; surely i am a warner for you from him and a giver of good news, . y: "(and to preach thus), 'seek ye the forgiveness of your lord, and turn to him in repentance; that he may grant you enjoyment, good (and true), for a term appointed, and bestow his abounding grace on all who abound in merit! but if ye turn away, then i fear for you the penalty of a great day:'" p: and (bidding you): ask pardon of your lord and turn to him repentant. he will cause you to enjoy a fair estate until a time appointed. he giveth his bounty unto every bountiful one. but if ye turn away, lo! (then) i fear for you the retribution of an awful day. s: and you that ask forgiveness of your lord, then turn to him; he will provide you with a goodly provision to an appointed term and bestow his grace on every one endowed with grace, and if you turn back, then surely i fear for you the chastisement of a great day. . y: "'to allah is your return, and he hath power over all things.'" p: unto allah is your return, and he is able to do all things. s: to allah is your return, and he has power over all things. . y: behold! they fold up their hearts, that they may lie hid from him! ah even when they cover themselves with their garments, he knoweth what they conceal, and what they reveal: for he knoweth well the (inmost secrets) of the hearts. p: lo! now they fold up their breasts that they may hide (their thoughts) from him. at the very moment when they cover themselves with their clothing, allah knoweth that which they keep hidden and that which they proclaim. lo! he is aware of what is in the breasts (of men). s: now surely they fold up their breasts that they may conceal (their enmity) from him; now surely, when they use their garments as a covering, he knows what they conceal and what they make public; surely he knows what is in the breasts. . y: there is no moving creature on earth but its sustenance dependeth on allah: he knoweth the time and place of its definite abode and its temporary deposit: all is in a clear record. p: and there is not a beast in the earth but the sustenance thereof dependeth on allah. he knoweth its habitation and its repository. all is in a clear record. s: and there is no animal in the earth but on allah is the sustenance of it, and he knows its resting place and its depository all (things) are in a manifest book. . y: he it is who created the heavens and the earth in six days - and his throne was over the waters - that he might try you, which of you is best in conduct. but if thou wert to say to them, "ye shall indeed be raised up after death", the unbelievers would be sure to say, "this is nothing but obvious sorcery!" p: and he it is who created the heavens and the earth in six days - and his throne was upon the water - that he might try you, which of you is best in conduct. yet if thou (o muhammad) sayest: lo! ye will be raised again after death! those who disbelieve will surely say: this is naught but mere magic. s: and he it is who created the heavens and the earth in six periods-- and his dominion (extends) on the water-- that he might manifest to you, which of you is best in action, and if you say, surely you shall be raised up after death, those who disbelieve would certainly say: this is nothing but clear magic. . y: if we delay the penalty for them for a definite term, they are sure to say, "what keeps it back?" ah! on the day it (actually) reaches them, nothing will turn it away from them, and they will be completely encircled by that which they used to mock at! p: and if we delay for them the doom until a reckoned time, they will surely say: what withholdeth it? verily on the day when it cometh unto them, it cannot be averted from them, and that which they derided will surround them. s: and if we hold back from them the punishment until a stated period of time, they will certainly say: what prevents it? now surely on the day when it will come to them, it shall not be averted from them and that which they scoffed at shall beset them. . y: if we give man a taste of mercy from ourselves, and then withdraw it from him, behold! he is in despair and (falls into) blasphemy. p: and if we cause man to taste some mercy from us and afterward withdraw it from him, lo! he is despairing, thankless. s: and if we make man taste mercy from us, then take it off from him, most surely he is despairing, ungrateful. . y: but if we give him a taste of (our) favours after adversity hath touched him, he is sure to say, "all evil has departed from me:" behold! he falls into exultation and pride. p: and if we cause him to taste grace after some misfortune that had befallen him, he saith: the ills have gone from me. lo! he is exultant, boastful; s: and if we make him taste a favor after distress has afflicted him, he will certainly say: the evils are gone away from me. most surely he is exulting, boasting; . y: not so do those who show patience and constancy, and work righteousness; for them is forgiveness (of sins) and a great reward. p: save those who persevere and do good works. theirs will be forgiveness and a great reward. s: except those who are patient and do good, they shall have forgiveness and a great reward. . y: perchance thou mayest (feel the inclination) to give up a part of what is revealed unto thee, and thy heart feeleth straitened lest they say, "why is not a treasure sent down unto him, or why does not an angel come down with him?" but thou art there only to warn! it is allah that arrangeth all affairs! p: a likely thing, that thou wouldst forsake aught of that which hath been revealed unto thee, and that thy breast should be straitened for it, because they say: why hath not a treasure been sent down for him, or an angel come with him? thou art but a warner, and allah is in charge of all things. s: then, it may be that you will give up part of what is revealed to you and your breast will become straitened by it because they say: why has not a treasure been sent down upon him or an angel come with him? you are only a warner; and allah is custodian over all things. . y: or they may say, "he forged it," say, "bring ye then ten suras forged, like unto it, and call (to your aid) whomsoever ye can, other than allah!- if ye speak the truth!" p: or they say: he hath invented it. say: then bring ten surahs, the like thereof, invented, and call on everyone ye can beside allah, if ye are truthful! s: or, do they say: he has forged it. say: then bring ten forged chapters like it and call upon whom you can besides allah, if you are truthful. . y: "if then they (your false gods) answer not your (call), know ye that this revelation is sent down (replete) with the knowledge of allah, and that there is no god but he! will ye even then submit (to islam)?" p: and if they answer not your prayer, then know that it is revealed only in the knowledge of allah; and that there is no god save him. will ye then be (of) those who surrender? s: but if they do not answer you, then know that it is revealed by allah's knowledge and that there is no god but he; will you then submit? . y: those who desire the life of the present and its glitter,- to them we shall pay (the price of) their deeds therein,- without diminution. p: whoso desireth the life of the world and its pomp, we shall repay them their deeds herein, and therein they will not be wronged. s: whoever desires this world's life and its finery, we will pay them in full their deeds therein, and they shall not be made to suffer loss in respect of them. . y: they are those for whom there is nothing in the hereafter but the fire: vain are the designs they frame therein, and of no effect and the deeds that they do! p: those are they for whom is naught in the hereafter save the fire. (all) that they contrive here is vain and (all) that they are wont to do is fruitless. s: these are they for whom there is nothing but fire in the hereafter, and what they wrought in it shall go for nothing, and vain is what they do. . y: can they be (like) those who accept a clear (sign) from their lord, and whom a witness from himself doth teach, as did the book of moses before it,- a guide and a mercy? they believe therein; but those of the sects that reject it,- the fire will be their promised meeting-place. be not then in doubt thereon: for it is the truth from thy lord: yet many among men do not believe! p: is he (to be counted equal with them) who relieth on a clear proof from his lord, and a witness from him reciteth it, and before it was the book of moses, an example and a mercy? such believe therein, and whoso disbelieveth therein of the clans, the fire is his appointed place. so be not thou in doubt concerning it. lo! it is the truth from thy lord; but most of mankind believe not. s: is he then who has with him clear proof from his lord, and a witness from him recites it and before it (is) the book of musa, a guide and a mercy? these believe in it; and whoever of the (different) parties disbelieves in it, surely it is the truth from your lord, but most men do not believe. . y: who doth more wrong than those who invent a lie against allah? they will be turned back to the presence of their lord, and the witnesses will say, "these are the ones who lied against their lord! behold! the curse of allah is on those who do wrong!-" p: who doeth greater wrong than he who inventeth a lie concerning allah? such will be brought before their lord, and the witnesses will say: these are they who lied concerning their lord. now the curse of allah is upon wrong-doers, s: and who is more unjust than he who forges a lie against allah? these shall be brought before their lord, and the witnesses shall say: these are they who lied against their lord. now surely the curse of allah is on the unjust. . y: "those who would hinder (men) from the path of allah and would seek in it something crooked: these were they who denied the hereafter!" p: who debar (men) from the way of allah and would have it crooked, and who are disbelievers in the hereafter. s: who turn away from the path of allah and desire to make it crooked; and they are disbelievers in the hereafter. . y: they will in no wise frustrate (his design) on earth, nor have they protectors besides allah! their penalty will be doubled! they lost the power to hear, and they did not see! p: such will not escape in the earth, nor have they any protecting friends beside allah. for them the torment will be double. they could not bear to hear, and they used not to see. s: these shall not escape in the earth, nor shall they have any guardians besides allah; the punishment shall be doubled for them, they could not bear to hear and they did not see. . y: they are the ones who have lost their own souls: and the (fancies) they invented have left them in the lurch! p: such are they who have lost their souls, and that which they used to invent hath failed them. s: these are they who have lost their souls, and what they forged is gone from them. . y: without a doubt, these are the very ones who will lose most in the hereafter! p: assuredly in the hereafter they will be the greatest losers. s: truly in the hereafter they are the greatest losers. . y: but those who believe and work righteousness, and humble themselves before their lord,- they will be companions of the gardens, to dwell therein for aye! p: lo! those who believe and do good works and humble themselves before their lord: such are rightful owners of the garden; they will abide therein. s: surely (as to) those who believe and do good and humble themselves to their lord, these are the dwellers of the garden, in it they will abide. . y: these two kinds (of men) may be compared to the blind and deaf, and those who can see and hear well. are they equal when compared? will ye not then take heed? p: the similitude of the two parties is as the blind and the deaf and the seer and the hearer. are they equal in similitude? will ye not then be admonished? s: the likeness of the two parties is as the blind and the deaf and the seeing and the hearing: are they equal in condition? will you not then mind? . y: we sent noah to his people (with a mission): "i have come to you with a clear warning:" p: and we sent noah unto his folk (and he said): lo! i am a plain warner unto you. s: and certainly we sent nuh to his people: surely i am a plain warner for you: . y: "that ye serve none but allah: verily i do fear for you the penalty of a grievous day." p: that ye serve none, save allah. lo! i fear for you the retribution of a painful day. s: that you shall not serve any but allah, surely i fear for you the punishment of a painful day. . y: but the chiefs of the unbelievers among his people said: "we see (in) thee nothing but a man like ourselves: nor do we see that any follow thee but the meanest among us, in judgment immature: nor do we see in you (all) any merit above us: in fact we thing ye are liars!" p: the chieftains of his folk, who disbelieved, said: we see thee but a mortal like us, and we see not that any follow thee save the most abject among us, without reflection. we behold in you no merit above us - nay, we deem you liars. s: but the chiefs of those who disbelieved from among his people said: we do not consider you but a mortal like ourselves, and we do not see any have followed you but those who are the meanest of us at first thought and we do not see in you any excellence over us; nay, we deem you liars. . y: he said: "o my people! see ye if (it be that) i have a clear sign from my lord, and that he hath sent mercy unto me from his own presence, but that the mercy hath been obscured from your sight? shall we compel you to accept it when ye are averse to it?" p: he said: o my people! bethink you, if i rely on a clear proof from my lord and there hath come unto me a mercy from his presence, and it hath been made obscure to you, can we compel you to accept it when ye are averse thereto? s: he said: o my people! tell me if i have with me clear proof from my lord, and he has granted me mercy from himself and it has been made obscure to you; shall we constrain you to (accept) it while you are averse from it? . y: "and o my people! i ask you for no wealth in return: my reward is from none but allah: but i will not drive away (in contempt) those who believe: for verily they are to meet their lord, and ye i see are the ignorant ones!" p: and o my people! i ask of you no wealth therefor. my reward is the concern only of allah, and i am not going to thrust away those who believe - lo! they have to meet their lord! - but i see you a folk that are ignorant. s: and, o my people! i ask you not for wealth in return for it; my reward is only with allah and i am not going to drive away those who believe; surely they shall meet their lord, but i consider you a people who are ignorant: . y: "and o my people! who would help me against allah if i drove them away? will ye not then take heed?" p: and, o my people! who would deliver me from allah if i thrust them away? will ye not then reflect? s: and, o my people! who will help me against allah if i drive them away? will you not then mind? . y: "i tell you not that with me are the treasures of allah, nor do i know what is hidden, nor claim i to be an angel. nor yet do i say, of those whom your eyes do despise that allah will not grant them (all) that is good: allah knoweth best what is in their souls: i should, if i did, indeed be a wrong-doer." p: i say not unto you: "i have the treasures of allah" nor "i have knowledge of the unseen," nor say i: "lo! i am an angel!" nor say i unto those whom your eyes scorn that allah will not give them good - allah knoweth best what is in their hearts - lo! then indeed i should be of the wrong-doers. s: and i do not say to you that i have the treasures of allah and i do not know the unseen, nor do i say that i am an angel, nor do i say about those whom your eyes hold in mean estimation (that) allah will never grant them (any) good-- allah knows best what is in their souls-- for then most surely i should be of the unjust. . y: they said: "o noah! thou hast disputed with us, and (much) hast thou prolonged the dispute with us: now bring upon us what thou threatenest us with, if thou speakest the truth!" p: they said: o noah! thou hast disputed with us and multiplied disputation with us; now bring upon us that wherewith thou threatenest us, if thou art of the truthful. s: they said: o nuh! indeed you have disputed with us and lengthened dispute with us, therefore bring to us what you threaten us with, if you are of the truthful ones. . y: he said: "truly, allah will bring it on you if he wills,- and then, ye will not be able to frustrate it!" p: he said: only allah will bring it upon you if he will, and ye can by no means escape. s: he said: allah only will bring it to you if he please, and you will not escape: . y: "of no profit will be my counsel to you, much as i desire to give you (good) counsel, if it be that allah willeth to leave you astray: he is your lord! and to him will ye return!" p: my counsel will not profit you if i were minded to advise you, if allah's will is to keep you astray. he is your lord and unto him ye will be brought back. s: and if i intend to give you good advice, my advice will not profit you if allah intended that he should leave you to go astray; he is your lord, and to him shall you be returned. . y: or do they say, "he has forged it"? say: "if i had forged it, on me were my sins! and i am free of the sins of which ye are guilty!" p: or say they (again): he hath invented it? say: if i have invented it, upon me be my crimes, but i am innocent of (all) that ye commit. s: or do they say: he has forged it? say: if i have forged it, on me is my guilt, and i am clear of that of which you are guilty. . y: it was revealed to noah: "none of thy people will believe except those who have believed already! so grieve no longer over their (evil) deeds." p: and it was inspired in noah, (saying): no-one of thy folk will believe save him who hath believed already. be not distressed because of what they do. s: and it was revealed to nuh: that none of your people will believe except those who have already believed, therefore do not grieve at what they do: . y: "but construct an ark under our eyes and our inspiration, and address me no (further) on behalf of those who are in sin: for they are about to be overwhelmed (in the flood)." p: build the ship under our eyes and by our inspiration, and speak not unto me on behalf of those who do wrong. lo! they will be drowned. s: and make the ark before our eyes and (according to) our revelation, and do not speak to me in respect of those who are unjust; surely they shall be drowned. . y: forthwith he (starts) constructing the ark: every time that the chiefs of his people passed by him, they threw ridicule on him. he said: "if ye ridicule us now, we (in our turn) can look down on you with ridicule likewise!" p: and he was building the ship, and every time that chieftains of his people passed him, they made mock of him. he said: though ye make mock of us, yet we mock at you even as ye mock; s: and he began to make the ark; and whenever the chiefs from among his people passed by him they laughed at him. he said: if you laugh at us, surely we too laugh at you as you laugh (at us). . y: "but soon will ye know who it is on whom will descend a penalty that will cover them with shame,- on whom will be unloosed a penalty lasting:" p: and ye shall know to whom a punishment that will confound him cometh, and upon whom a lasting doom will fall. s: so shall you know who it is on whom will come a chastisement which will disgrace him, and on whom will lasting chastisement come down. . y: at length, behold! there came our command, and the fountains of the earth gushed forth! we said: "embark therein, of each kind two, male and female, and your family - except those against whom the word has already gone forth,- and the believers." but only a few believed with him. p: (thus it was) till, when our commandment came to pass and the oven gushed forth water, we said: load therein two of every kind, a pair (the male and female), and thy household, save him against whom the word hath gone forth already, and those who believe. and but a few were they who believed with him. s: until when our command came and water came forth from the valley, we said: carry in it two of all things, a pair, and your own family-- except those against whom the word has already gone forth, and those who believe. and there believed not with him but a few. . y: so he said: "embark ye on the ark, in the name of allah, whether it move or be at rest! for my lord is, be sure, oft-forgiving, most merciful!" p: and he said: embark therein! in the name of allah be its course and its mooring. lo! my lord is forgiving, merciful. s: and he said: embark in it, in the name of allah be its sailing and its anchoring; most surely my lord is forgiving, merciful. . y: so the ark floated with them on the waves (towering) like mountains, and noah called out to his son, who had separated himself (from the rest): "o my son! embark with us, and be not with the unbelievers!" p: and it sailed with them amid waves like mountains, and noah cried unto his son - and he was standing aloof - o my son! come ride with us, and be not with the disbelievers. s: and it moved on with them amid waves like mountains; and nuh called out to his son, and he was aloof: o my son! embark with us and be not with the unbelievers. . y: the son replied: "i will betake myself to some mountain: it will save me from the water." noah said: "this day nothing can save, from the command of allah, any but those on whom he hath mercy!" and the waves came between them, and the son was among those overwhelmed in the flood. p: he said: i shall betake me to some mountain that will save me from the water. (noah) said: this day there is none that saveth from the commandment of allah save him on whom he hath had mercy. and the wave came in between them, so he was among the drowned. s: he said: i will betake myself for refuge to a mountain that shall protect me from the water. nuh said: there is no protector today from allah's punishment but he who has mercy; and a wave intervened between them, so he was of the drowned. . y: then the word went forth: "o earth! swallow up thy water, and o sky! withhold (thy rain)!" and the water abated, and the matter was ended. the ark rested on mount judi, and the word went forth: "away with those who do wrong!" p: and it was said: o earth! swallow thy water and, o sky! be cleared of clouds! and the water was made to subside. and the commandment was fulfilled. and it (the ship) came to rest upon (the mount) al-judi and it was said: a far removal for wrongdoing folk! s: and it was said: o earth, swallow down your water, and o cloud, clear away; and the water was made to abate and the affair was decided, and the ark rested on the judi, and it was said: away with the unjust people. . y: and noah called upon his lord, and said: "o my lord! surely my son is of my family! and thy promise is true, and thou art the justest of judges!" p: and noah cried unto his lord and said: my lord! lo! my son is of my household! surely thy promise is the truth and thou are the most just of judges. s: and nuh cried out to his lord and said: my lord! surely my son is of my family, and thy promise is surely true, and thou art the most just of the judges. . y: he said: "o noah! he is not of thy family: for his conduct is unrighteous. so ask not of me that of which thou hast no knowledge! i give thee counsel, lest thou act like the ignorant!" p: he said: o noah! lo! he is not of thy household; lo! he is of evil conduct, so ask not of me that whereof thou hast no knowledge. i admonish thee lest thou be among the ignorant. s: he said: o nuh! surely he is not of your family; surely he is (the doer of) other than good deeds, therefore ask not of me that of which you have no knowledge; surely i admonish you lest you may be of the ignorant. . y: noah said: "o my lord! i do seek refuge with thee, lest i ask thee for that of which i have no knowledge. and unless thou forgive me and have mercy on me, i should indeed be lost!" p: he said: my lord! lo! in thee do i seek refuge (from the sin) that i should ask of thee that whereof i have no knowledge. unless thou forgive me and have mercy on me i shall be among the lost. s: he said: my lord! i seek refuge in thee from asking thee that of which i have no knowledge; and if thou shouldst not forgive me and have mercy on me, i should be of the losers. . y: the word came: "o noah! come down (from the ark) with peace from us, and blessing on thee and on some of the peoples (who will spring) from those with thee: but (there will be other) peoples to whom we shall grant their pleasures (for a time), but in the end will a grievous penalty reach them from us." p: it was said (unto him): o noah! go thou down (from the mountain) with peace from us and blessings upon thee and some nations (that will spring) from those with thee. (there will be other) nations unto whom we shall give enjoyment a long while and then a painful doom from us will overtake them. s: it was said: o nuh! descend with peace from us and blessings on you and on the people from among those who are with you, and there shall be nations whom we will afford provisions, then a painful punishment from us shall afflict them. . y: such are some of the stories of the unseen, which we have revealed unto thee: before this, neither thou nor thy people knew them. so persevere patiently: for the end is for those who are righteous. p: this is of the tidings of the unseen which we inspire in thee (muhammad). thou thyself knewest it not, nor did thy folk (know it) before this. then have patience. lo! the sequel is for those who ward off (evil). s: these are announcements relating to the unseen which we reveal to you, you did not know them-- (neither) you nor your people-- before this; therefore be patient; surely the end is for those who guard (against evil). . y: to the 'ad people (we sent) hud, one of their own brethren. he said: "o my people! worship allah! ye have no other god but him. (your other gods) ye do nothing but invent!" p: and unto (the tribe of) a'ad (we sent) their brother, hud. he said: o my people! serve allah! ye have no other allah save him. lo! ye do but invent. s: and to ad (we sent) their brother hud. he said: o my people! serve allah, you have no god other than he; you are nothing but forgers (of lies). . y: "o my people! i ask of you no reward for this (message). my reward is from none but him who created me: will ye not then understand?" p: o my people! i ask of you no reward for it. lo! my reward is the concern only of him who made me. have ye then no sense? s: o my people! i do not ask of you any reward for it; my reward is only with him who created me; do you not then understand? . y: "and o my people! ask forgiveness of your lord, and turn to him (in repentance): he will send you the skies pouring abundant rain, and add strength to your strength: so turn ye not back in sin!" p: and, o my people! ask forgiveness of your lord, then turn unto him repentant; he will cause the sky to rain abundance on you and will add unto you strength to your strength. turn not away, guilty! s: and, o my people! ask forgiveness of your lord, then turn to him; he will send on you clouds pouring down abundance of rain and add strength to your strength, and do not turn back guilty. . y: they said: "o hud! no clear (sign) that hast thou brought us, and we are not the ones to desert our gods on thy word! nor shall we believe in thee!" p: they said: o hud! thou hast brought us no clear proof and we are not going to forsake our gods on thy (mere) saying, and we are not believers in thee. s: they said: o hud! you have not brought to us any clear argument and we are not going to desert our gods for your word, and we are not believers in you: . y: "we say nothing but that (perhaps) some of our gods may have seized thee with imbecility." he said: "i call allah to witness, and do ye bear witness, that i am free from the sin of ascribing, to him," p: we say naught save that one of our gods hath possessed thee in an evil way. he said: i call allah to witness, and do ye (too) bear witness, that i am innocent of (all) that ye ascribe as partners (to allah) s: we cannot say aught but that some of our gods have smitten you with evil. he said: surely i call allah to witness, and do you bear witness too, that i am clear of what you associate (with allah). . y: "other gods as partners! so scheme (your worst) against me, all of you, and give me no respite." p: beside him. so (try to) circumvent me, all of you, give me no respite. s: besides him, therefore scheme against me all together; then give me no respite: . y: "i put my trust in allah, my lord and your lord! there is not a moving creature, but he hath grasp of its forelock. verily, it is my lord that is on a straight path." p: lo! i have put my trust in allah, my lord and your lord. not an animal but he doth grasp it by the forelock! lo! my lord is on a straight path. s: surely i rely on allah, my lord and your lord; there is no living creature but he holds it by its forelock; surely my lord is on the right path. . y: "if ye turn away,- i (at least) have conveyed the message with which i was sent to you. my lord will make another people to succeed you, and you will not harm him in the least. for my lord hath care and watch over all things." p: and if ye turn away, still i have conveyed unto you that wherewith i was sent unto you, and my lord will set in place of you a folk other than you. ye cannot injure him at all. lo! my lord is guardian over all things. s: but if you turn back, then indeed i have delivered to you the message with which i have been sent to you, and my lord will bring another people in your place, and you cannot do him any harm; surely my lord is the preserver of all things. . y: so when our decree issued, we saved hud and those who believed with him, by (special) grace from ourselves: we saved them from a severe penalty. p: and when our commandment came to pass we saved hud and those who believed with him by a mercy from us; we saved them from a harsh doom. s: and when our decree came to pass, we delivered hud and those who believed with him with mercy from us, and we delivered them from a hard chastisement. . y: such were the 'ad people: they rejected the signs of their lord and cherisher; disobeyed his messengers; and followed the command of every powerful, obstinate transgressor. p: and such were a'ad. they denied the revelations of their lord and flouted his messengers and followed the command of every froward potentate. s: and this was ad; they denied the communications of their lord, and disobeyed his messengers and followed the bidding of every insolent opposer (of truth). . y: and they were pursued by a curse in this life,- and on the day of judgment. ah! behold! for the 'ad rejected their lord and cherisher! ah! behold! removed (from sight) were 'ad the people of hud! p: and a curse was made to follow them in the world and on the day of resurrection. lo! a'ad disbelieved in their lord. a far removal for a'ad, the folk of hud! s: and they were overtaken by curse in this world and on the resurrection day; now surely ad disbelieved in their lord; now surely, away with ad, the people of hud. . y: to the thamud people (we sent) salih, one of their own brethren. he said: "o my people! worship allah: ye have no other god but him. it is he who hath produced you from the earth and settled you therein: then ask forgiveness of him, and turn to him (in repentance): for my lord is (always) near, ready to answer." p: and unto (the tribe of) thamud (we sent) their brother salih. he said: o my people! serve allah, ye have no other allah save him. he brought you forth from the earth and hath made you husband it. so ask forgiveness of him and turn unto him repentant. lo! my lord is nigh, responsive. s: and to samood (we sent) their brother salih. he said: o my people! serve allah, you have no god other than he; he brought you into being from the earth, and made you dwell in it, therefore ask forgiveness of him, then turn to him; surely my lord is nigh, answering. . y: they said: "o salih! thou hast been of us! a centre of our hopes hitherto! dost thou (now) forbid us the worship of what our fathers worshipped? but we are really in suspicious (disquieting) doubt as to that to which thou invitest us." p: they said: o salih! thou hast been among us hitherto as that wherein our hope was placed. dost thou ask us not to worship what our fathers worshipped? lo! we verily are in grave doubt concerning that to which thou callest us. s: they said: o salih! surely you were one amongst us in whom great expectations were placed before this; do you (now) forbid us from worshipping what our fathers worshipped? and as to that which you call us to, most surely we are in disquieting doubt. . y: he said: "o my people! do ye see? if i have a clear (sign) from my lord and he hath sent mercy unto me from himself,- who then can help me against allah if i were to disobey him? what then would ye add to my (portion) but perdition?" p: he said: o my people! bethink you: if i am (acting) on clear proof from my lord and there hath come unto me a mercy from him, who will save me from allah if i disobey him? ye would add to me naught save perdition. s: he said: o my people! tell me if i have clear proof from my lord and he has granted to me mercy from himself-- who will then help me against allah if i disobey him? therefore you do not add to me other than loss: . y: "and o my people! this she-camel of allah is a symbol to you: leave her to feed on allah's (free) earth, and inflict no harm on her, or a swift penalty will seize you!" p: o my people! this is the camel of allah, a token unto you, so suffer her to feed in allah's earth, and touch her not with harm lest a near torment seize you. s: and, o my people! this will be (as) allah's she-camel for you, a sign; therefore leave her to pasture on allah's earth and do not touch her with evil, for then a near chastisement will overtake you. . y: but they did ham-string her. so he said: "enjoy yourselves in your homes for three days: (then will be your ruin): (behold) there a promise not to be belied!" p: but they hamstrung her, and then he said: enjoy life in your dwelling-place three days! this is a threat that will not be belied. s: but they slew her, so he said: enjoy yourselves in your abode for three days, that is a promise not to be belied. . y: when our decree issued, we saved salih and those who believed with him, by (special) grace from ourselves - and from the ignominy of that day. for thy lord - he is the strong one, and able to enforce his will. p: so, when our commandment came to pass, we saved salih, and those who believed with him, by a mercy from us, from the ignominy of that day. lo, thy lord! he is the strong, the mighty. s: so when our decree came to pass, we delivered salih and those who believed with him by mercy from us, and (we saved them) from the disgrace of that day; surely your lord is the strong, the mighty. . y: the (mighty) blast overtook the wrong-doers, and they lay prostrate in their homes before the morning,- p: and the (awful) cry overtook those who did wrong, so that morning found them prostrate in their dwellings, s: and the rumbling overtook those who were unjust, so they became motionless bodies in their abodes, . y: as if they had never dwelt and flourished there. ah! behold! for the thamud rejected their lord and cherisher! ah! behold! removed (from sight) were the thamud! p: as though they had not dwelt there. lo! thamud disbelieved in their lord. a far removal for thamud! s: as though they had never dwelt in them; now surely did samood disbelieve in their lord; now surely, away with samood. . y: there came our messengers to abraham with glad tidings. they said, "peace!" he answered, "peace!" and hastened to entertain them with a roasted calf. p: and our messengers came unto abraham with good news. they said: peace! he answered: peace! and delayed not to bring a roasted calf. s: and certainly our messengers came to ibrahim with good news. they said: peace. peace, said he, and he made no delay in bringing a roasted calf. . y: but when he saw their hands went not towards the (meal), he felt some mistrust of them, and conceived a fear of them. they said: "fear not: we have been sent against the people of lut." p: and when he saw their hands reached not to it, he mistrusted them and conceived a fear of them. they said: fear not! lo! we are sent unto the folk of lot. s: but when he saw that their hands were not extended towards it, he deemed them strange and conceived fear of them. . they said: fear not, surely we are sent to lut's people. . y: and his wife was standing (there), and she laughed: but we gave her glad tidings of isaac, and after him, of jacob. p: and his wife, standing by laughed when we gave her good tidings (of the birth) of isaac, and, after isaac, of jacob. s: and his wife was standing (by), so she laughed, then we gave her the good news of ishaq and after ishaq of (a son's son) yaqoub. . y: she said: "alas for me! shall i bear a child, seeing i am an old woman, and my husband here is an old man? that would indeed be a wonderful thing!" p: she said: oh woe is me! shall i bear a child when i am an old woman, and this my husband is an old man? lo! this is a strange thing! s: she said: o wonder! shall i bear a son when i am an extremely old woman and this my husband an extremely old man? most surely this is a wonderful thing. . y: they said: "dost thou wonder at allah's decree? the grace of allah and his blessings on you, o ye people of the house! for he is indeed worthy of all praise, full of all glory!" p: they said: wonderest thou at the commandment of allah? the mercy of allah and his blessings be upon you, o people of the house! lo! he is owner of praise, owner of glory! s: they said: do you wonder at allah's bidding? the mercy of allah and his blessings are on you, o people of the house, surely he is praised, glorious. . y: when fear had passed from (the mind of) abraham and the glad tidings had reached him, he began to plead with us for lut's people. p: and when the awe departed from abraham, and the glad news reached him, he pleaded with us on behalf of the folk of lot. s: so when fear had gone away from ibrahim and good news came to him, he began to plead with us for lut's people. . y: for abraham was, without doubt, forbearing (of faults), compassionate, and given to look to allah. p: lo! abraham was mild, imploring, penitent. s: most surely ibrahim was forbearing, tender-hearted, oft-returning (to allah): . y: o abraham! seek not this. the decree of thy lord hath gone forth: for them there cometh a penalty that cannot be turned back! p: (it was said) o abraham! forsake this! lo! thy lord's commandment hath gone forth, and lo! there cometh unto them a doom which cannot be repelled. s: o ibrahim! leave off this, surely the decree of your lord has come to pass, and surely there must come to them a chastisement that cannot be averted. . y: when our messengers came to lut, he was grieved on their account and felt himself powerless (to protect) them. he said: "this is a distressful day." p: and when our messengers came unto lot, he was distressed and knew not how to protect them. he said: this is a distressful day. s: and when our messengers came to lut, he was grieved for them, and he lacked strength to protect them, and said: this is a hard day. . y: and his people came rushing towards him, and they had been long in the habit of practising abominations. he said: "o my people! here are my daughters: they are purer for you (if ye marry)! now fear allah, and cover me not with shame about my guests! is there not among you a single right-minded man?" p: and his people came unto him, running towards him - and before then they used to commit abominations - he said: o my people! here are my daughters! they are purer for you. beware of allah, and degrade me not in (the person of) my guests. is there not among you any upright man? s: and his people came to him, (as if) rushed on towards him, and already they did evil deeds. he said: o my people! these are my daughters-- they are purer for you, so guard against (the punishment of) allah and do not disgrace me with regard to my guests; is there not among you one right-minded man? . y: they said: "well dost thou know we have no need of thy daughters: indeed thou knowest quite well what we want!" p: they said: well thou knowest that we have no right to thy daughters, and well thou knowest what we want. s: they said: certainly you know that we have no claim on your daughters, and most surely you know what we desire. . y: he said: "would that i had power to suppress you or that i could betake myself to some powerful support." p: he said: would that i had strength to resist you or had some strong support (among you)! s: he said: ah! that i had power to suppress you, rather i shall have recourse to a strong support. . y: (the messengers) said: "o lut! we are messengers from thy lord! by no means shall they reach thee! now travel with thy family while yet a part of the night remains, and let not any of you look back: but thy wife (will remain behind): to her will happen what happens to the people. morning is their time appointed: is not the morning nigh?" p: (the messengers) said: o lot! lo! we are messengers of thy lord; they shall not reach thee. so travel with thy people in a part of the night, and let not one of you turn round - (all) save thy wife. lo! that which smiteth them will smite her (also). lo! their tryst is (for) the morning. is not the morning nigh? s: they said: o lut! we are the messengers of your lord; they shall by no means reach you; so remove your followers in a part of the night-- and let none of you turn back-- except your wife, for surely whatsoever befalls them shall befall her; surely their appointed time is the morning; is not the morning nigh? . y: when our decree issued, we turned (the cities) upside down, and rained down on them brimstones hard as baked clay, spread, layer on layer,- p: so when our commandment came to pass we overthrew (that township) and rained upon it stones of clay, one after another, s: so when our decree came to pass, we turned them upside down and rained down upon them stones, of what had been decreed, one after another. . y: marked as from thy lord: nor are they ever far from those who do wrong! p: marked with fire in the providence of thy lord (for the destruction of the wicked). and they are never far from the wrong-doers. s: marked (for punishment) with your lord and it is not far off from the unjust. . y: to the madyan people (we sent) shu'aib, one of their own brethren: he said: "o my people! worship allah: ye have no other god but him. and give not short measure or weight: i see you in prosperity, but i fear for you the penalty of a day that will compass (you) all round." p: and unto midian (we sent) their brother shu'eyb. he said: o my people! serve allah. ye have no other allah save him! and give not short measure and short weight. lo! i see you well-to-do, and lo! i fear for you the doom of a besetting day. s: and to madyan (we sent) their brother shu'aib. he said: o my people! serve allah, you have no god other than he, and do not give short measure and weight: surely i see you in prosperity and surely i fear for you the punishment of an all-encompassing day. . y: "and o my people! give just measure and weight, nor withhold from the people the things that are their due: commit not evil in the land with intent to do mischief." p: o my people! give full measure and full weight in justice, and wrong not people in respect of their goods. and do not evil in the earth, causing corruption. s: and, o my people! give full measure and weight fairly, and defraud not men their things, and do not act corruptly in the land, making mischief: . y: "that which is left you by allah is best for you, if ye (but) believed! but i am not set over you to keep watch!" p: that which allah leaveth with you is better for you if ye are believers; and i am not a keeper over you. s: what remains with allah is better for you if you are believers, and i am not a keeper over you. . y: they said: "o shu'aib! does thy (religion of) prayer command thee that we leave off the worship which our fathers practised, or that we leave off doing what we like with our property? truly, thou art the one that forbeareth with faults and is right-minded!" p: they said: o shu'eyb! doth thy way of prayer command thee that we should forsake that which our fathers (used to) worship, or that we (should leave off) doing what we will with our own property. lo! thou art the mild, the guide to right behaviour. s: they said: o shu'aib! does your prayer enjoin you that we should forsake what our fathers worshipped or that we should not do what we please with regard to our property? forsooth you are the forbearing, the right-directing one. . y: he said: "o my people! see ye whether i have a clear (sign) from my lord, and he hath given me sustenance (pure and) good as from himself? i wish not, in opposition to you, to do that which i forbid you to do. i only desire (your) betterment to the best of my power; and my success (in my task) can only come from allah. in him i trust, and unto him i look." p: he said: o my people! bethink you: if i am (acting) on a clear proof from my lord and he sustaineth me with fair sustenance from him (how can i concede aught to you)? i desire not to do behind your backs that which i ask you not to do. i desire naught save reform so far as i am able. my welfare is only in allah. in him i trust and unto him i turn (repentant). s: he said: o my people! have you considered if i have a clear proof from my lord and he has given me a goodly sustenance from himself, and i do not desire that in opposition to you i should betake myself to that which i forbid you: i desire nothing but reform so far as i am able, and with none but allah is the direction of my affair to a right issue; on him do i rely and to him do i turn: . y: "and o my people! let not my dissent (from you) cause you to sin, lest ye suffer a fate similar to that of the people of noah or of hud or of salih, nor are the people of lut far off from you!" p: and, o my people! let not the schism with me cause you to sin so that there befall you that which befell the folk of noah and the folk of hud, and the folk of salih; and the folk of lot are not far off from you. s: and, o my people! let not opposition to me make you guilty so that there may befall you the like of what befell the people of nuh, or the people of hud, or the people of salih, nor are the people of lut far off from you; . y: "but ask forgiveness of your lord, and turn unto him (in repentance): for my lord is indeed full of mercy and loving-kindness." p: ask pardon of your lord and then turn unto him (repentant). lo! my lord is merciful, loving. s: and ask forgiveness of your lord, then turn to him; surely my lord is merciful, loving-kind. . y: they said: "o shu'aib! much of what thou sayest we do not understand! in fact among us we see that thou hast no strength! were it not for thy family, we should certainly have stoned thee! for thou hast among us no great position!" p: they said: o shu'eyb! we understand not much of that thou tellest, and lo! we do behold thee weak among us. but for thy family, we should have stoned thee, for thou art not strong against us. s: they said: o shu'aib! we do not understand much of what you say and most surely we see you to be weak among us, and were it not for your family we would surely stone you, and you are not mighty against us. . y: he said: "o my people! is then my family of more consideration with you than allah? for ye cast him away behind your backs (with contempt). but verily my lord encompasseth on all sides all that ye do!" p: he said: o my people! is my family more to be honoured by you than allah? and ye put him behind you, neglected! lo! my lord surroundeth what ye do. s: he said: o my people! is my family more esteemed by you than allah? and you neglect him as a thing cast behind your back; surely my lord encompasses what you do: . y: "and o my people! do whatever ye can: i will do (my part): soon will ye know who it is on whom descends the penalty of ignominy; and who is a liar! and watch ye! for i too am watching with you!" p: and, o my people! act according to your power, lo! i (too) am acting. ye will soon know on whom there cometh a doom that will abase him, and who it is that lieth. and watch! lo! i am a watcher with you. s: and, o my people! act according to your ability, i too am acting; you will come to know soon who it is on whom will light the punishment that will disgrace him and who it is that is a liar, and watch, surely i too am watching with you. . y: when our decree issued, we saved shu'aib and those who believed with him, by (special) mercy from ourselves: but the (mighty) blast did seize the wrong-doers, and they lay prostrate in their homes by the morning,- p: and when our commandment came to pass we saved shu'eyb and those who believed with him by a mercy from us; and the (awful) cry seized those who did injustice, and morning found them prostrate in their dwellings, s: and when our decree came to pass we delivered shu'aib, and those who believed with him by mercy from us, and the rumbling overtook those who were unjust so they became motionless bodies in their abodes, . y: as if they had never dwelt and flourished there! ah! behold! how the madyan were removed (from sight) as were removed the thamud! p: as though they had not dwelt there. a far removal for midian, even as thamud had been removed afar! s: as though they had never dwelt in them; now surely perdition overtook madyan as had perished samood. . y: and we sent moses, with our clear (signs) and an authority manifest, p: and verily we sent moses with our revelations and a clear warrant s: and certainly we sent musa with our communications and a clear authority, . y: unto pharaoh and his chiefs: but they followed the command of pharaoh and the command of pharaoh was no right (guide). p: unto pharaoh and his chiefs, but they did follow the command of pharaoh, and the command of pharaoh was no right guide. s: to firon and his chiefs, but they followed the bidding of firon, and firon's bidding was not right-directing. . y: he will go before his people on the day of judgment, and lead them into the fire (as cattle are led to water): but woeful indeed will be the place to which they are led! p: he will go before his people on the day of resurrection and will lead them to the fire for watering-place. ah, hapless is the watering-place (whither they are) led. s: he shall lead his people on the resurrection day, and bring them down to the fire; and evil the place to which they are brought. . y: and they are followed by a curse in this (life) and on the day of judgment: and woeful is the gift which shall be given (unto them)! p: a curse is made to follow them in the world and on the day of resurrection. hapless is the gift (that will be) given (them). s: and they are overtaken by curse in this (world), and on the resurrection day, evil the gift which shall be given. . y: these are some of the stories of communities which we relate unto thee: of them some are standing, and some have been mown down (by the sickle of time). p: that is (something) of the tidings of the townships (which were destroyed of old). we relate it unto thee (muhammad). some of them are standing and some (already) reaped. s: this is an account of (the fate of) the towns which we relate to you; of them are some that stand and (others) mown down. . y: it was not we that wronged them: they wronged their own souls: the deities, other than allah, whom they invoked, profited them no whit when there issued the decree of thy lord: nor did they add aught (to their lot) but perdition! p: we wronged them not, but they did wrong themselves; and their gods on whom they call beside allah availed them naught when came thy lord's command; they added to them naught save ruin. s: and we did not do them injustice, but they were unjust to themselves, so their gods whom they called upon besides allah did not avail them aught when the decree of your lord came to pass; and they added but to their ruin. . y: such is the chastisement of thy lord when he chastises communities in the midst of their wrong: grievous, indeed, and severe is his chastisement. p: even thus is the grasp of thy lord when he graspeth the townships while they are doing wrong. lo! his grasp is painful, very strong. s: and such is the punishment of your lord when he punishes the towns while they are unjust; surely his punishment is painful, severe. . y: in that is a sign for those who fear the penalty of the hereafter: that is a day for which mankind will be gathered together: that will be a day of testimony. p: lo! herein verily there is a portent for those who fear the doom of the hereafter. that is a day unto which mankind will be gathered, and that is a day that will be witnessed. s: most surely there is a sign in this for him who fears the chastisement of the hereafter; this is a day on which the people shall be gathered together and this is a day that shall be witnessed. . y: nor shall we delay it but for a term appointed. p: and we defer it only to a term already reckoned. s: and we do not delay it but to an appointed term. . y: the day it arrives, no soul shall speak except by his leave: of those (gathered) some will be wretched and some will be blessed. p: on the day when it cometh no soul will speak except by his permission; some among them will be wretched, (others) glad. s: on the day when it shall come, no soul shall speak except with his permission, then (some) of them shall be unhappy and (others) happy. . y: those who are wretched shall be in the fire: there will be for them therein (nothing but) the heaving of sighs and sobs: p: as for those who will be wretched (on that day) they will be in the fire; sighing and wailing will be their portion therein, s: so as to those who are unhappy, they shall be in the fire; for them shall be sighing and groaning in it: . y: they will dwell therein for all the time that the heavens and the earth endure, except as thy lord willeth: for thy lord is the (sure) accomplisher of what he planneth. p: abiding there so long as the heavens and the earth endure save for that which thy lord willeth. lo! thy lord is doer of what he will. s: abiding therein so long as the heavens and the earth endure, except as your lord please; surely your lord is the mighty doer of what he intends. . y: and those who are blessed shall be in the garden: they will dwell therein for all the time that the heavens and the earth endure, except as thy lord willeth: a gift without break. p: and as for those who will be glad (that day) they will be in the garden, abiding there so long as the heavens and the earth endure save for that which thy lord willeth: a gift unfailing. s: and as to those who are made happy, they shall be in the garden, abiding in it as long as the heavens and the earth endure, except as your lord please; a gift which shall never be cut off. . y: be not then in doubt as to what these men worship. they worship nothing but what their fathers worshipped before (them): but verily we shall pay them back (in full) their portion without (the least) abatement. p: so be not thou in doubt concerning that which these (folk) worship. they worship only as their fathers worshipped aforetime. lo! we shall pay them their whole due unabated. s: therefore be not in doubt as to what these worship; they do not worship but as their fathers worshipped before; and most surely we will pay them back in full their portion undiminished. . y: we certainly gave the book to moses, but differences arose therein: had it not been that a word had gone forth before from thy lord, the matter would have been decided between them, but they are in suspicious doubt concerning it. p: and we verily gave unto moses the scripture, and there was strife thereupon; and had it not been for a word that had already gone forth from thy lord, the case would have been judged between them, and lo! they are in grave doubt concerning it. s: and certainly we gave the book to musa, but it was gone against; and had not a word gone forth from your lord, the matter would surely have been decided between them; and surely they are in a disquieting doubt about it. . y: and, of a surety, to all will your lord pay back (in full the recompense) of their deeds: for he knoweth well all that they do. p: and lo! unto each thy lord will verily repay his works in full. lo! he is informed of what they do. s: and your lord will most surely pay back to all their deeds in full; surely he is aware of what they do. . y: therefore stand firm (in the straight path) as thou art commanded,- thou and those who with thee turn (unto allah); and transgress not (from the path): for he seeth well all that ye do. p: so tread thou the straight path as thou art commanded, and those who turn (unto allah) with thee, and transgress not. lo! he is seer of what ye do. s: continue then in the right way as you are commanded, as also he who has turned (to allah) with you, and be not inordinate (o men!), surely he sees what you do. . y: and incline not to those who do wrong, or the fire will seize you; and ye have no protectors other than allah, nor shall ye be helped. p: and incline not toward those who do wrong lest the fire touch you, and ye have no protecting friends against allah, and afterward ye would not be helped. s: and do not incline to those who are unjust, lest the fire touch you, and you have no guardians besides allah, then you shall not be helped. . y: and establish regular prayers at the two ends of the day and at the approaches of the night: for those things, that are good remove those that are evil: be that the word of remembrance to those who remember (their lord): p: establish worship at the two ends of the day and in some watches of the night. lo! good deeds annul ill-deeds. this is reminder for the mindful. s: and keep up prayer in the two parts of the day and in the first hours of the night; surely good deeds take away evil deeds this is a reminder to the mindful. . y: and be steadfast in patience; for verily allah will not suffer the reward of the righteous to perish. p: and have patience, (o muhammad), for lo! allah loseth not the wages of the good. s: and be patient, for surely allah does not waste the reward of the good-doers. . y: why were there not, among the generations before you, persons possessed of balanced good sense, prohibiting (men) from mischief in the earth - except a few among them whom we saved (from harm)? but the wrong-doers pursued the enjoyment of the good things of life which were given them, and persisted in sin. p: if only there had been among the generations before you men possessing a remnant (of good sense) to warn (their people) from corruption in the earth, as did a few of those whom we saved from them! the wrong-doers followed that by which they were made sapless, and were guilty. s: but why were there not among the generations before you those possessing understanding, who should have forbidden the making of mischief in the earth, except a few of those whom we delivered from among them? and those who were unjust went after what they are made to enjoy of plenty, and they were guilty. . y: nor would thy lord be the one to destroy communities for a single wrong-doing, if its members were likely to mend. p: in truth thy lord destroyed not the townships tyrannously while their folk were doing right. s: and it did not beseem your lord to have destroyed the towns tyrannously, while their people acted well. . y: if thy lord had so willed, he could have made mankind one people: but they will not cease to dispute. p: and if thy lord had willed, he verily would have made mankind one nation, yet they cease not differing, s: and if your lord had pleased he would certainly have made people a single nation, and they shall continue to differ. . y: except those on whom thy lord hath bestowed his mercy: and for this did he create them: and the word of thy lord shall be fulfilled: "i will fill hell with jinns and men all together." p: save him on whom thy lord hath mercy; and for that he did create them. and the word of thy lord hath been fulfilled: verily i shall fill hell with the jinn and mankind together. s: except those on whom your lord has mercy; and for this did he create them; and the word of your lord is fulfilled: certainly i will fill hell with the jinn and the men, all together. . y: all that we relate to thee of the stories of the messengers,- with it we make firm thy heart: in them there cometh to thee the truth, as well as an exhortation and a message of remembrance to those who believe. p: and all that we relate unto thee of the story of the messengers is in order that thereby we may make firm thy heart. and herein hath come unto thee the truth and an exhortation and a reminder for believers. s: and all we relate to you of the accounts of the messengers is to strengthen your heart therewith; and in this has come to you the truth and an admonition, and a reminder to the believers. . y: say to those who do not believe: "do what ever ye can: we shall do our part;" p: and say unto those who believe not: act according to your power. lo! we (too) are acting. s: and say to those who do not believe: act according to your state; surely we too are acting. . y: "and wait ye! we too shall wait." p: and wait! lo! we (too) are waiting. s: and wait; surely we are waiting also. . y: to allah do belong the unseen (secrets) of the heavens and the earth, and to him goeth back every affair (for decision): then worship him, and put thy trust in him: and thy lord is not unmindful of aught that ye do. p: and allah's is the invisible of the heavens and the earth, and unto him the whole matter will be returned. so worship him and put thy trust in him. lo! thy lord is not unaware of what ye (mortals) do. s: and allah's is the unseen in the heavens and the earth, and to him is returned the whole of the affair; therefore serve him and rely on him, and your lord is not heedless of what you do. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : yusuf (joseph) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: a.l.r. these are the symbols (or verses) of the perspicuous book. p: alif. lam. ra. these are verse of the scripture that maketh plain. s: alif lam ra. these are the verses of the book that makes (things) manifest. . y: we have sent it down as an arabic qur'an, in order that ye may learn wisdom. p: lo! we have revealed it, a lecture in arabic, that ye may understand. s: surely we have revealed it-- an arabic quran-- that you may understand. . y: we do relate unto thee the most beautiful of stories, in that we reveal to thee this (portion of the) qur'an: before this, thou too was among those who knew it not. p: we narrate unto thee (muhammad) the best of narratives in that we have inspired in thee this qur'an, though aforetime thou wast of the heedless. s: we narrate to you the best of narratives, by our revealing to you this quran, though before this you were certainly one of those who did not know. . y: behold! joseph said to his father: "o my father! i did see eleven stars and the sun and the moon: i saw them prostrate themselves to me!" p: when joseph said unto his father: o my father! lo! i saw in a dream eleven planets and the sun and the moon, i saw them prostrating themselves unto me. s: when yusuf said to his father: o my father! surely i saw eleven stars and the sun and the moon-- i saw them making obeisance to me. . y: said (the father): "my (dear) little son! relate not thy vision to thy brothers, lest they concoct a plot against thee: for satan is to man an avowed enemy!" p: he said: o my dear son! tell not thy brethren of thy vision, lest they plot a plot against thee. lo! satan is for man an open foe. s: he said: o my son! do not relate your vision to your brothers, lest they devise a plan against you; surely the shaitan is an open enemy to man. . y: "thus will thy lord choose thee and teach thee the interpretation of stories (and events) and perfect his favour to thee and to the posterity of jacob - even as he perfected it to thy fathers abraham and isaac aforetime! for allah is full of knowledge and wisdom." p: thus thy lord will prefer thee and will teach thee the interpretation of events, and will perfect his grace upon thee and upon the family of jacob as he perfected it upon thy forefathers, abraham and isaac. lo! thy lord is knower, wise. s: and thus will your lord choose you and teach you the interpretation of sayings and make his favor complete to you and to the children of yaqoub, as he made it complete before to your fathers, ibrahim and ishaq; surely your lord is knowing, wise. . y: verily in joseph and his brethren are signs (or symbols) for seekers (after truth). p: verily in joseph and his brethren are signs (of allah's sovereignty) for the inquiring. s: certainly in yusuf and his brothers there are signs for the inquirers. . y: they said: "truly joseph and his brother are loved more by our father than we: but we are a goodly body! really our father is obviously wandering (in his mind)!" p: when they said: verily joseph and his brother are dearer to our father than we are, many though we be. lo! our father is in plain aberration. s: when they said: certainly yusuf and his brother are dearer to our father than we, though we are a (stronger) company; most surely our father is in manifest error: . y: "slay ye joseph or cast him out to some (unknown) land, that so the favour of your father may be given to you alone: (there will be time enough) for you to be righteous after that!" p: (one said): kill joseph or cast him to some (other) land, so that your father's favour may be all for you, and (that) ye may afterward be righteous folk. s: slay yusuf or cast him (forth) into some land, so that your father's regard may be exclusively for you, and after that you may be a righteous people. . y: said one of them: "slay not joseph, but if ye must do something, throw him down to the bottom of the well: he will be picked up by some caravan of travellers." p: one among them said: kill not joseph but, if ye must be doing, fling him into the depth of the pit; some caravan will find him. s: a speaker from among them said: do not slay yusuf, and cast him down into the bottom of the pit if you must do (it), (so that) some of the travellers may pick him up. . y: they said: "o our father! why dost thou not trust us with joseph,- seeing we are indeed his sincere well-wishers?" p: they said: o our father! why wilt thou not trust us with joseph, when lo! we are good friends to him? s: they said: o our father! what reason have you that you do not trust in us with respect to yusuf? and most surely we are his sincere well-wishers: . y: "send him with us tomorrow to enjoy himself and play, and we shall take every care of him." p: send him with us to-morrow that he may enjoy himself and play. and lo! we shall take good care of him. s: send him with us tomorrow that he may enjoy himself and sport, and surely we will guard him well. . y: (jacob) said: "really it saddens me that ye should take him away: i fear lest the wolf should devour him while ye attend not to him." p: he said: lo! in truth it saddens me that ye should take him with you, and i fear less the wolf devour him while ye are heedless of him. s: he said: surely it grieves me that you should take him off, and i fear lest the wolf devour him while you are heedless of him. . y: they said: "if the wolf were to devour him while we are (so large) a party, then should we indeed (first) have perished ourselves!" p: they said: if the wolf should devour him when we are (so strong) a band, then surely we should have already perished. s: they said: surely if the wolf should devour him notwithstanding that we are a (strong) company, we should then certainly be losers. . y: so they did take him away, and they all agreed to throw him down to the bottom of the well: and we put into his heart (this message): 'of a surety thou shalt (one day) tell them the truth of this their affair while they know (thee) not' p: then, when they led him off, and were of one mind that they should place him in the depth of the pit, we inspired in him: thou wilt tell them of this deed of theirs when they know (thee) not. s: so when they had gone off with him and agreed that they should put him down at the bottom of the pit, and we revealed to him: you will most certainly inform them of this their affair while they do not perceive. . y: then they came to their father in the early part of the night, weeping. p: and they came weeping to their father in the evening. s: and they came to their father at nightfall, weeping. . y: they said: "o our father! we went racing with one another, and left joseph with our things; and the wolf devoured him.... but thou wilt never believe us even though we tell the truth." p: saying: o our father! we went racing one with another, and left joseph by our things, and the wolf devoured him, and thou believest not our saying even when we speak the truth. s: they said: o our father! surely we went off racing and left yusuf by our goods, so the wolf devoured him, and you will not believe us though we are truthful. . y: they stained his shirt with false blood. he said: "nay, but your minds have made up a tale (that may pass) with you, (for me) patience is most fitting: against that which ye assert, it is allah (alone) whose help can be sought".. p: and they came with false blood on his shirt. he said: nay, but your minds have beguiled you into something. (my course is) comely patience. and allah it is whose help is to be sought in that (predicament) which ye describe. s: and they brought his shirt with false blood upon it. he said: nay, your souls have made the matter light for you, but patience is good and allah is he whose help is sought for against what you describe. . y: then there came a caravan of travellers: they sent their water-carrier (for water), and he let down his bucket (into the well)...he said: "ah there! good news! here is a (fine) young man!" so they concealed him as a treasure! but allah knoweth well all that they do! p: and there came a caravan, and they sent their waterdrawer. he let down his pail (into the pit). he said: good luck! here is a youth. and they hid him as a treasure, and allah was aware of what they did. s: and there came travellers and they sent their water-drawer and he let down his bucket. he said: o good news! this is a youth; and they concealed him as an article of merchandise, and allah knew what they did. . y: the (brethren) sold him for a miserable price, for a few dirhams counted out: in such low estimation did they hold him! p: and they sold him for a low price, a number of silver coins; and they attached no value to him. s: and they sold him for a small price, a few pieces of silver, and they showed no desire for him. . y: the man in egypt who bought him, said to his wife: "make his stay (among us) honourable: may be he will bring us much good, or we shall adopt him as a son." thus did we establish joseph in the land, that we might teach him the interpretation of stories (and events). and allah hath full power and control over his affairs; but most among mankind know it not. p: and he of egypt who purchased him said unto his wife: receive him honourably. perchance he may prove useful to us or we may adopt him as a son. thus we established joseph in the land that we might teach him the interpretation of events. and allah was predominant in his career, but most of mankind know not. s: and the egyptian who bought him said to his wife: give him an honorable abode, maybe he will be useful to us, or we may adopt him as a son. and thus did we establish yusuf in the land and that we might teach him the interpretation of sayings; and allah is the master of his affair, but most people do not know. . y: when joseph attained his full manhood, we gave him power and knowledge: thus do we reward those who do right. p: and when he reached his prime we gave him wisdom and knowledge. thus we reward the good. s: and when he had attained his maturity, we gave him wisdom and knowledge: and thus do we reward those who do good. . y: but she in whose house he was, sought to seduce him from his (true) self: she fastened the doors, and said: "now come, thou (dear one)!" he said: "allah forbid! truly (thy husband) is my lord! he made my sojourn agreeable! truly to no good come those who do wrong!" p: and she, in whose house he was, asked of him an evil act. she bolted the doors and said: come! he said: i seek refuge in allah! lo! he is my lord, who hath treated me honourably. lo! wrong-doers never prosper. s: and she in whose house he was sought to make himself yield (to her), and she made fast the doors and said: come forward. he said: i seek allah's refuge, surely my lord made good my abode: surely the unjust do not prosper. . y: and (with passion) did she desire him, and he would have desired her, but that he saw the evidence of his lord: thus (did we order) that we might turn away from him (all) evil and shameful deeds: for he was one of our servants, sincere and purified. p: she verily desired him, and he would have desired her if it had not been that he saw the argument of his lord. thus it was, that we might ward off from him evil and lewdness. lo! he was of our chosen slaves. s: and certainly she made for him, and he would have made for her, were it not that he had seen the manifest evidence of his lord; thus (it was) that we might turn away from him evil and indecency, surely he was one of our sincere servants. . y: so they both raced each other to the door, and she tore his shirt from the back: they both found her lord near the door. she said: "what is the (fitting) punishment for one who formed an evil design against thy wife, but prison or a grievous chastisement?" p: and they raced with one another to the door, and she tore his shirt from behind, and they met her lord and master at the door. she said: what shall be his reward, who wisheth evil to thy folk, save prison or a painful doom? s: and they both hastened to the door, and she rent his shirt from behind and they met her husband at the door. she said: what is the punishment of him who intends evil to your wife except imprisonment or a painful chastisement? . y: he said: "it was she that sought to seduce me - from my (true) self." and one of her household saw (this) and bore witness, (thus):- "if it be that his shirt is rent from the front, then is her tale true, and he is a liar!" p: (joseph) said: she it was who asked of me an evil act. and a witness of her own folk testified: if his shirt is torn from before, then she speaketh truth and he is of the liars. s: he said: she sought to make me yield (to her); and a witness of her own family bore witness: if his shirt is rent from front, she speaks the truth and he is one of the liars: . y: "but if it be that his shirt is torn from the back, then is she the liar, and he is telling the truth!" p: and if his shirt is torn from behind, then she hath lied and he is of the truthful. s: and if his shirt is rent from behind, she tells a lie and he is one of the truthful. . y: so when he saw his shirt,- that it was torn at the back,- (her husband) said: "behold! it is a snare of you women! truly, mighty is your snare!" p: so when he saw his shirt torn from behind, he said: lo! this is of the guile of you women. lo! the guile of you is very great. s: so when he saw his shirt rent from behind, he said: surely it is a guile of you women; surely your guile is great: . y: "o joseph, pass this over! (o wife), ask forgiveness for thy sin, for truly thou hast been at fault!" p: o joseph! turn away from this, and thou, (o woman), ask forgiveness for thy sin. lo! thou art of the faulty. s: o yusuf! turn aside from this; and (o my wife)! ask forgiveness for your fault, surely you are one of the wrong-doers. . y: ladies said in the city: "the wife of the (great) 'aziz is seeking to seduce her slave from his (true) self: truly hath he inspired her with violent love: we see she is evidently going astray." p: and women in the city said: the ruler's wife is asking of her slave-boy an ill-deed. indeed he has smitten her to the heart with love. we behold her in plain aberration. s: and women in the city said: the chief's wife seeks her slave to yield himself (to her), surely he has affected her deeply with (his) love; most surely we see her in manifest error. . y: when she heard of their malicious talk, she sent for them and prepared a banquet for them: she gave each of them a knife: and she said (to joseph), "come out before them." when they saw him, they did extol him, and (in their amazement) cut their hands: they said, "allah preserve us! no mortal is this! this is none other than a noble angel!" p: and when she heard of their sly talk, she sent to them and prepared for them a cushioned couch (to lie on at the feast) and gave to every one of them a knife and said (to joseph): come out unto them! and when they saw him they exalted him and cut their hands, exclaiming: allah blameless! this is no a human being. this is not other than some gracious angel. s: so when she heard of their sly talk she sent for them and prepared for them a repast, and gave each of them a knife, and said (to yusuf): come forth to them. so when they saw him, they deemed him great, and cut their hands (in amazement), and said: remote is allah (from imperfection); this is not a mortal; this is but a noble angel. . y: she said: "there before you is the man about whom ye did blame me! i did seek to seduce him from his (true) self but he did firmly save himself guiltless!.... and now, if he doth not my bidding, he shall certainly be cast into prison, and (what is more) be of the company of the vilest!" p: she said: this is he on whose account ye blamed me. i asked of him an evil act, but he proved continent, but if he do not my behest he verily shall be imprisoned, and verily shall be of those brought low. s: she said: this is he with respect to whom you blamed me, and certainly i sought his yielding himself (to me), but he abstained, and if he does not do what i bid him, he shall certainly be imprisoned, and he shall certainly be of those who are in a state of ignominy. . y: he said: "o my lord! the prison is more to my liking than that to which they invite me: unless thou turn away their snare from me, i should (in my youthful folly) feel inclined towards them and join the ranks of the ignorant." p: he said: o my lord! prison is more dear than that unto which they urge me, and if thou fend not off their wiles from me i shall incline unto them and become of the foolish. s: he said: my lord! the prison house is dearer to me than that to which they invite me; and if thou turn not away their device from me, i will yearn towards them and become (one) of the ignorant. . y: so his lord hearkened to him (in his prayer), and turned away from him their snare: verily he heareth and knoweth (all things). p: so his lord heard his prayer and fended off their wiles from him. lo! he is hearer, knower. s: thereupon his lord accepted his prayer and turned away their guile from him; surely he is the hearing, the knowing. . y: then it occurred to the men, after they had seen the signs, (that it was best) to imprison him for a time. p: and it seemed good to them (the men-folk) after they had seen the signs (of his innocence) to imprison him for a time. s: then it occurred to them after they had seen the signs that they should imprison him till a time. . y: now with him there came into the prison two young men. said one of them: "i see myself (in a dream) pressing wine." said the other: "i see myself (in a dream) carrying bread on my head, and birds are eating, thereof." "tell us" (they said) "the truth and meaning thereof: for we see thou art one that doth good (to all)." p: and two young men went to prison with him. one of them said: i dreamed that i was pressing wine. the other said: i dreamed that i was carrying upon my head bread whereof the birds were eating. announce unto us the interpretation, for we see thee of those good (at interpretation). s: and two youths entered the prison with him. one of them said: i saw myself pressing wine. and the other said: i saw myself carrying bread on my head, of which birds ate. inform us of its interpretation; surely we see you to be of the doers of good. . y: he said: "before any food comes (in due course) to feed either of you, i will surely reveal to you the truth and meaning of this ere it befall you: that is part of the (duty) which my lord hath taught me. i have (i assure you) abandoned the ways of a people that believe not in allah and that (even) deny the hereafter." p: he said: the food which ye are given (daily) shall not come unto you but i shall tell you the interpretation ere it cometh unto you. this is of that which my lord hath taught me. lo! i have forsaken the religion of folk who believe not in allah and are disbelievers in the hereafter. s: he said: there shall not come to you the food with which you are fed, but i will inform you both of its interpretation before it comes to you; this is of what my lord has taught me; surely i have forsaken the religion of a people who do not believe in allah, and they are deniers of the hereafter: . y: "and i follow the ways of my fathers,- abraham, isaac, and jacob; and never could we attribute any partners whatever to allah: that (comes) of the grace of allah to us and to mankind: yet most men are not grateful." p: and i have followed the religion of my fathers, abraham and isaac and jacob. it never was for us to attribute aught as partner to allah. this is of the bounty of allah unto us (the seed of abraham) and unto mankind; but most men give not thanks. s: and i follow the religion of my fathers, ibrahim and ishaq and yaqoub; it beseems us not that we should associate aught with allah; this is by allah's grace upon us and on mankind, but most people do not give thanks: . y: "o my two companions of the prison! (i ask you): are many lords differing among themselves better, or the one allah, supreme and irresistible?" p: o my fellow-prisoners! are divers lords better, or allah the one, almighty? s: o my two mates of the prison! are sundry lords better or allah the one, the supreme? . y: "if not him, ye worship nothing but names which ye have named,- ye and your fathers,- for which allah hath sent down no authority: the command is for none but allah: he hath commanded that ye worship none but him: that is the right religion, but most men understand not..." p: those whom ye worship beside him are but names which ye have named, ye and your fathers. allah hath revealed no sanction for them. the decision rests with allah only, who hath commanded you that ye worship none save him. this is the right religion, but most men know not. s: you do not serve besides him but names which you have named, you and your fathers; allah has not sent down any authority for them; judgment is only allah's; he has commanded that you shall not serve aught but him; this is the right religion but most people do not know: . y: "o my two companions of the prison! as to one of you, he will pour out the wine for his lord to drink: as for the other, he will hang from the cross, and the birds will eat from off his head. (so) hath been decreed that matter whereof ye twain do enquire..." p: o my two fellow-prisoners! as for one of you, he will pour out wine for his lord to drink; and as for the other, he will be crucified so that the birds will eat from his head. thus is the case judged concerning which ye did inquire. s: o my two mates of the prison! as for one of you, he shall give his lord to drink wine; and as for the other, he shall be crucified, so that the birds shall eat from his head, the matter is decreed concerning which you inquired. . y: and of the two, to that one whom he consider about to be saved, he said: "mention me to thy lord." but satan made him forget to mention him to his lord: and (joseph) lingered in prison a few (more) years. p: and he said unto him of the twain who he knew would be released: mention me in the presence of thy lord. but satan caused him to forget to mention it to his lord, so he (joseph) stayed in prison for some years. s: and he said to him whom he knew would be delivered of the two: remember me with your lord; but the shaitan caused him to forget mentioning (it) to his lord, so he remained in the prison a few years. . y: the king (of egypt) said: "i do see (in a vision) seven fat kine, whom seven lean ones devour, and seven green ears of corn, and seven (others) withered. o ye chiefs! expound to me my vision if it be that ye can interpret visions." p: and the king said: lo! i saw in a dream seven fat kine which seven lean were eating, and seven green ears of corn and other (seven) dry. o notables! expound for me my vision, if ye can interpret dreams. s: and the king said: surely i see seven fat kine which seven lean ones devoured; and seven green ears and (seven) others dry: o chiefs! explain to me my dream, if you can interpret the dream. . y: they said: "a confused medley of dreams: and we are not skilled in the interpretation of dreams." p: they answered: jumbled dreams! and we are not knowing in the interpretation of dreams. s: they said: confused dreams, and we do not know the interpretation of dreams. . y: but the man who had been released, one of the two (who had been in prison) and who now bethought him after (so long) a space of time, said: "i will tell you the truth of its interpretation: send ye me (therefore)." p: and he of the two who was released, and (now) at length remembered, said: i am going to announce unto you the interpretation, therefore send me forth. s: and of the two (prisoners) he who had found deliverance and remembered after a long time said: i will inform you of its interpretation, so let me go: . y: "o joseph!" (he said) "o man of truth! expound to us (the dream) of seven fat kine whom seven lean ones devour, and of seven green ears of corn and (seven) others withered: that i may return to the people, and that they may understand." p: (and when he came to joseph in the prison, he exclaimed): joseph! o thou truthful one! expound for us the seven fat kine which seven lean were eating and the seven green ears of corn and other (seven) dry, that i may return unto the people, so that they may know. s: yusuf! o truthful one! explain to us seven fat kine which seven lean ones devoured, and seven green ears and (seven) others dry, that i may go back to the people so that they may know. . y: (joseph) said: "for seven years shall ye diligently sow as is your wont: and the harvests that ye reap, ye shall leave them in the ear,- except a little, of which ye shall eat." p: he said: ye shall sow seven years as usual, but that which ye reap, leave it in the ear, all save a little which ye eat. s: he said: you shall sow for seven years continuously, then what you reap leave it in its ear except a little of which you eat. . y: "then will come after that (period) seven dreadful (years), which will devour what ye shall have laid by in advance for them,- (all) except a little which ye shall have (specially) guarded." p: then after that will come seven hard years which will devour all that ye have prepared for them, save a little of that which ye have stored. s: then there shall come after that seven years of hardship which shall eat away all that you have beforehand laid up in store for them, except a little of what you shall have preserved: . y: "then will come after that (period) a year in which the people will have abundant water, and in which they will press (wine and oil)." p: then, after that, will come a year when the people will have plenteous crops and when they will press (wine and oil). s: then there will come after that a year in which people shall have rain and in which they shall press (grapes). . y: so the king said: "bring ye him unto me." but when the messenger came to him, (joseph) said: "go thou back to thy lord, and ask him, 'what is the state of mind of the ladies who cut their hands'? for my lord is certainly well aware of their snare." p: and the king said: bring him unto me. and when the messenger came unto him, he (joseph) said: return unto thy lord and ask him what was the case of the women who cut their hands. lo! my lord knoweth their guile. s: and the king said: bring him to me. so when the messenger came to him, he said: go back to your lord and ask him, what is the case of the women who cut their hands; surely my lord knows their guile. . y: (the king) said (to the ladies): "what was your affair when ye did seek to seduce joseph from his (true) self?" the ladies said: "allah preserve us! no evil know we against him!" said the 'aziz's wife: "now is the truth manifest (to all): it was i who sought to seduce him from his (true) self: he is indeed of those who are (ever) true (and virtuous)." p: he (the king) (then sent for those women and) said: what happened when ye asked an evil act of joseph? they answered: allah blameless! we know no evil of him. said the wife of the ruler: now the truth is out. i asked of him an evil act, and he is surely of the truthful. s: he said: how was your affair when you sought yusuf to yield himself (to you)? they said: remote is allah (from imperfection), we knew of no evil on his part. the chief's wife said: now has the truth become established: i sought him to yield himself (to me), and he is most surely of the truthful ones. . y: "this (say i), in order that he may know that i have never been false to him in his absence, and that allah will never guide the snare of the false ones." p: (then joseph said: i asked for) this, that he (my lord) may know that i betrayed him not in secret, and that surely allah guideth not the snare of the betrayers. s: this is that he might know that i have not been unfaithful to him in secret and that allah does not guide the device of the unfaithful. . y: "nor do i absolve my own self (of blame): the (human) soul is certainly prone to evil, unless my lord do bestow his mercy: but surely my lord is oft-forgiving, most merciful." p: i do not exculpate myself. lo! the (human) soul enjoineth unto evil, save that whereon my lord hath mercy. lo! my lord is forgiving, merciful. s: and i do not declare myself free, most surely (man's) self is wont to command (him to do) evil, except such as my lord has had mercy on, surely my lord is forgiving, merciful. . y: so the king said: "bring him unto me; i will take him specially to serve about my own person." therefore when he had spoken to him, he said: "be assured this day, thou art, before our own presence, with rank firmly established, and fidelity fully proved!" p: and the king said: bring him unto me that i may attach him to my person. and when he had talked with him he said: lo! thou art to-day in our presence established and trusted. s: and the king said: bring him to me, i will choose him for myself. so when he had spoken with him, he said: surely you are in our presence today an honorable, a faithful one. . y: (joseph) said: "set me over the store-houses of the land: i will indeed guard them, as one that knows (their importance)." p: he said: set me over the storehouses of the land. lo! i am a skilled custodian. s: he said: place me (in authority) over the treasures of the land, surely i am a good keeper, knowing well. . y: thus did we give established power to joseph in the land, to take possession therein as, when, or where he pleased. we bestow of our mercy on whom we please, and we suffer not, to be lost, the reward of those who do good. p: thus gave we power to joseph in the land. he was the owner of it where he pleased. we reach with our mercy whom we will. we lose not the reward of the good. s: and thus did we give to yusuf power in the land-- he had mastery in it wherever he liked; we send down our mercy on whom we please, and we do not waste the reward of those who do good. . y: but verily the reward of the hereafter is the best, for those who believe, and are constant in righteousness. p: and the reward of the hereafter is better, for those who believe and ward off (evil). s: and certainly the reward of the hereafter is much better for those who believe and guard (against evil). . y: then came joseph's brethren: they entered his presence, and he knew them, but they knew him not. p: and joseph's brethren came and presented themselves before him, and he knew them but they knew him not. s: and yusuf's brothers came and went in to him, and he knew them, while they did not recognize him. . y: and when he had furnished them forth with provisions (suitable) for them, he said: "bring unto me a brother ye have, of the same father as yourselves, (but a different mother): see ye not that i pay out full measure, and that i do provide the best hospitality?" p: and when he provided them with their provision he said: bring unto me a brother of yours from your father. see ye not that i fill up the measure and i am the best of hosts? s: and when he furnished them with their provision, he said: bring to me a brother of yours from your father; do you not see that i give full measure and that i am the best of hosts? . y: "now if ye bring him not to me, ye shall have no measure (of corn) from me, nor shall ye (even) come near me." p: and if ye bring him not unto me, then there shall be no measure for you with me, nor shall ye draw near. s: but if you do not bring him to me, you shall have no measure (of corn) from me, nor shall you come near me. . y: they said: "we shall certainly seek to get our wish about him from his father: indeed we shall do it." p: they said: we will try to win him from his father: that we will surely do. s: they said: we will strive to make his father yield in respect of him, and we are sure to do (it). . y: and (joseph) told his servants to put their stock-in-trade (with which they had bartered) into their saddle-bags, so they should know it only when they returned to their people, in order that they might come back. p: he said unto his young men: place their merchandise in their saddlebags, so that they may know it when they go back to their folk, and so will come again. s: and he said to his servants: put their money into their bags that they may recognize it when they go back to their family, so that they may come back. . y: now when they returned to their father, they said: "o our father! no more measure of grain shall we get (unless we take our brother): so send our brother with us, that we may get our measure; and we will indeed take every care of him." p: so when they went back to their father they said: o our father! the measure is denied us, so send with us our brother that we may obtain the measure, surely we will guard him well. s: so when they returned to their father, they said: o our father, the measure is withheld from us, therefore send with us our brother, (so that) we may get the measure, and we will most surely guard him. . y: he said: "shall i trust you with him with any result other than when i trusted you with his brother aforetime? but allah is the best to take care (of him), and he is the most merciful of those who show mercy!" p: he said: can i entrust him to you save as i entrusted his brother to you aforetime? allah is better at guarding, and he is the most merciful of those who show mercy. s: he said: i cannot trust in you with respect to him, except as i trusted in you with respect to his brother before; but allah is the best keeper, and he is the most merciful of the merciful ones. . y: then when they opened their baggage, they found their stock-in-trade had been returned to them. they said: "o our father! what (more) can we desire? this our stock-in-trade has been returned to us: so we shall get (more) food for our family; we shall take care of our brother; and add (at the same time) a full camel's load (of grain to our provisions). this is but a small quantity." p: and when they opened their belongings they discovered that their merchandise had been returned to them. they said: o our father! what (more) can we ask? here is our merchandise returned to us. we shall get provision for our folk and guard our brother, and we shall have the extra measure of a camel (load). this (that we bring now) is a light measure. s: and when they opened their goods, they found their money returned to them. they said: o our father! what (more) can we desire? this is our property returned to us, and we will bring corn for our family and guard our brother, and will have in addition the measure of a camel (load); this is an easy measure. . y: (jacob) said: "never will i send him with you until ye swear a solemn oath to me, in allah's name, that ye will be sure to bring him back to me unless ye are yourselves hemmed in (and made powerless)." and when they had sworn their solemn oath, he said: "over all that we say, be allah the witness and guardian!" p: he said: i will not send him with you till ye give me an undertaking in the name of allah that ye will bring him back to me, unless ye are surrounded. and when they gave him their undertaking he said: allah is the warden over what we say. s: he said: i will by no means send him with you until you give me a firm covenant in allah's name that you will most certainly bring him back to me, unless you are completely surrounded. and when they gave him their covenant, he said: allah is the one in whom trust is placed as regards what we say. . y: further he said: "o my sons! enter not all by one gate: enter ye by different gates. not that i can profit you aught against allah (with my advice): none can command except allah: on him do i put my trust: and let all that trust put their trust on him." p: and he said: o my sons! go not in by one gate; go in by different gates. i can naught avail you as against allah. lo! the decision rests with allah only. in him do i put my trust, and in him let all the trusting put their trust. s: and he said: o my sons! do not (all) enter by one gate and enter by different gates and i cannot avail you aught against allah; judgment is only allah's; on him do i rely, and on him let those who are reliant rely. . y: and when they entered in the manner their father had enjoined, it did not profit them in the least against (the plan of) allah: it was but a necessity of jacob's soul, which he discharged. for he was, by our instruction, full of knowledge (and experience): but most men know not. p: and when they entered in the manner which their father had enjoined, it would have naught availed them as against allah; it was but a need of jacob's soul which he thus satisfied; and lo! he was a lord of knowledge because we had taught him; but most of mankind know not. s: and when they had entered as their father had bidden them, it did not avail them aught against allah, but (it was only) a desire in the soul of yaqoub which he satisfied; and surely he was possessed of knowledge because we had given him knowledge, but most people do not know. . y: now when they came into joseph's presence, he received his (full) brother to stay with him. he said (to him): "behold! i am thy (own) brother; so grieve not at aught of their doings." p: and when they went in before joseph, he took his brother unto him, saying: lo! i, even i, am thy brother, therefore sorrow not for what they did. s: and when they went in to yusuf. he lodged his brother with himself, saying: i am your brother, therefore grieve not at what they do. . y: at length when he had furnished them forth with provisions (suitable) for them, he put the drinking cup into his brother's saddle-bag. then shouted out a crier: "o ye (in) the caravan! behold! ye are thieves, without doubt!" p: and when he provided them with their provision, he put the drinking-cup in his brother's saddlebag, and then a crier cried: o camel-riders! lo! ye are surely thieves! s: so when he furnished them with their provisions, (someone) placed the drinking cup in his brother's bag. then a crier cried out: o caravan! you are most surely thieves. . y: they said, turning towards them: "what is it that ye miss?" p: they cried, coming toward them: what is it ye have lost? s: they said while they were facing them: what is it that you miss? . y: they said: "we miss the great beaker of the king; for him who produces it, is (the reward of) a camel load; i will be bound by it." p: they said: we have lost the king's cup, and he who bringeth it shall have a camel-load, and i (said joseph) am answerable for it. s: they said: we miss the king's drinking cup, and he who shall bring it shall have a camel-load and i am responsible for it. . y: (the brothers) said: "by allah! well ye know that we came not to make mischief in the land, and we are no thieves!" p: they said: by allah, well ye know we came not to do evil in the land, and are no thieves. s: they said: by allah! you know for certain that we have not come to make mischief in the land, and we are not thieves. . y: (the egyptians) said: "what then shall be the penalty of this, if ye are (proved) to have lied?" p: they said: and what shall be the penalty for it, if ye prove liars? s: they said: but what shall be the requital of this, if you are liars? . y: they said: "the penalty should be that he in whose saddle-bag it is found, should be held (as bondman) to atone for the (crime). thus it is we punish the wrong-doers!" p: they said: the penalty for it! he in whose bag (the cup) is found, he is the penalty for it. thus we requite wrong-doers. s: they said: the requital of this is that the person in whose bag it is found shall himself be (held for) the satisfaction thereof; thus do we punish the wrongdoers. . y: so he began (the search) with their baggage, before (he came to) the baggage of his brother: at length he brought it out of his brother's baggage. thus did we plan for joseph. he could not take his brother by the law of the king except that allah willed it (so). we raise to degrees (of wisdom) whom we please: but over all endued with knowledge is one, the all-knowing. p: then he (joseph) began the search with their bags before his brother's bag, then he produced it from his brother's bag. thus did we contrive for joseph. he could not have taken his brother according to the king's law unless allah willed. we raise by grades (of mercy) whom we will, and over every lord of knowledge there is one more knowing. s: so he began with their sacks before the sack of his brother, then he brought it out from his brother's sack. thus did we plan for the sake of yusuf; it was not (lawful) that he should take his brother under the king's law unless allah pleased; we raise the degrees of whomsoever we please, and above every one possessed of knowledge is the all-knowing one. . y: they said: "if he steals, there was a brother of his who did steal before (him)." but these things did joseph keep locked in his heart, revealing not the secrets to them. he (simply) said (to himself): "ye are the worse situated; and allah knoweth best the truth of what ye assert!" p: they said: if he stealeth, a brother of his stole before. but joseph kept it secret in his soul and revealed it not unto them. he said (within himself): ye are in worse case, and allah knoweth best (the truth of) that which ye allege. s: they said: if he steal, a brother of his did indeed steal before; but yusuf kept it secret in his heart and did not disclose it to them. he said: you are in an evil condition and allah knows best what you state. . y: they said: "o exalted one! behold! he has a father, aged and venerable, (who will grieve for him); so take one of us in his place; for we see that thou art (gracious) in doing good." p: they said: o ruler of the land! lo! he hath a very aged father, so take one of us instead of him. lo! we behold thee of those who do kindness. s: they said: o chief! he has a father, a very old man, therefore retain one of us in his stead; surely we see you to be of the doers of good. . y: he said: "allah forbid that we take other than him with whom we found our property: indeed (if we did so), we should be acting wrongfully." p: he said: allah forbid that we should seize save him with whom we found our property; then truly we should be wrong-doers. s: he said: allah protect us that we should seize other than him with whom we found our property, for then most surely we would be unjust. . y: now when they saw no hope of his (yielding), they held a conference in private. the leader among them said: "know ye not that your father did take an oath from you in allah's name, and how, before this, ye did fail in your duty with joseph? therefore will i not leave this land until my father permits me, or allah commands me; and he is the best to command." p: so, when they despaired of (moving) him, they conferred together apart. the eldest of them said: know ye not how your father took an undertaking from you in allah's name and how ye failed in the case of joseph aforetime? therefore i shall not go forth from the land until my father giveth leave or allah judgeth for me. he is the best of judges. s: then when they despaired of him, they retired, conferring privately together. the eldest of them said: do you not know that your father took from you a covenant in allah's name, and how you fell short of your duty with respect to yusuf before? therefore i will by no means depart from this land until my father permits me or allah decides for me, and he is the best of the judges: . y: "turn ye back to your father, and say, 'o our father! behold! thy son committed theft! we bear witness only to what we know, and we could not well guard against the unseen!" p: return unto your father and say: o our father! lo! thy son hath stolen. we testify only to that which we know; we are not guardians of the unseen. s: go back to your father and say: o our father! surely your son committed theft, and we do not bear witness except to what we have known, and we could not keep watch over the unseen: . y: "'ask at the town where we have been and the caravan in which we returned, and (you will find) we are indeed telling the truth.'" p: ask the township where we were, and the caravan with which we travelled hither. lo! we speak the truth. s: and inquire in the town in which we were and the caravan with which we proceeded, and most surely we are truthful. . y: jacob said: "nay, but ye have yourselves contrived a story (good enough) for you. so patience is most fitting (for me). maybe allah will bring them (back) all to me (in the end). for he is indeed full of knowledge and wisdom." p: (and when they came unto their father and had spoken thus to him) he said: nay, but your minds have beguiled you into something. (my course is) comely patience! it may be that allah will bring them all unto me. lo! he, only he, is the knower, the wise. s: he (yaqoub) said: nay, your souls have made a matter light for you, so patience is good; maybe allah will bring them all together to me; surely he is the knowing, the wise. . y: and he turned away from them, and said: "how great is my grief for joseph!" and his eyes became white with sorrow, and he fell into silent melancholy. p: and he turned away from them and said: alas, my grief for joseph! and his eyes were whitened with the sorrow that he was suppressing. s: and he turned away from them, and said: o my sorrow for yusuf! and his eyes became white on account of the grief, and he was a repressor (of grief). . y: they said: "by allah! (never) wilt thou cease to remember joseph until thou reach the last extremity of illness, or until thou die!" p: they said: by allah, thou wilt never cease remembering joseph till thy health is ruined or thou art of those who perish! s: they said: by allah! you will not cease to remember yusuf until you are a prey to constant disease or (until) you are of those who perish. . y: he said: "i only complain of my distraction and anguish to allah, and i know from allah that which ye know not..." p: he said: i expose my distress and anguish only unto allah, and i know from allah that which ye know not. s: he said: i only complain of my grief and sorrow to allah, and i know from allah what you do not know. . y: "o my sons! go ye and enquire about joseph and his brother, and never give up hope of allah's soothing mercy: truly no one despairs of allah's soothing mercy, except those who have no faith." p: go, o my sons, and ascertain concerning joseph and his brother, and despair not of the spirit of allah. lo! none despaireth of the spirit of allah save disbelieving folk. s: o my sons! go and inquire respecting yusuf and his brother, and despair not of allah's mercy; surely none despairs of allah's mercy except the unbelieving people. . y: then, when they came (back) into (joseph's) presence they said: "o exalted one! distress has seized us and our family: we have (now) brought but scanty capital: so pay us full measure, (we pray thee), and treat it as charity to us: for allah doth reward the charitable." p: and when they came (again) before him (joseph) they said: o ruler! misfortune hath touched us and our folk, and we bring but poor merchandise, so fill for us the measure and be charitable unto us. lo! allah will requite the charitable, s: so when they came in to him, they said: o chief! distress has afflicted us and our family and we have brought scanty money, so give us full measure and be charitable to us; surely allah rewards the charitable. . y: he said: "know ye how ye dealt with joseph and his brother, not knowing (what ye were doing)?" p: he said: know ye what ye did unto joseph and his brother in your ignorance? s: he said: do you know how you treated yusuf and his brother when you were ignorant? . y: they said: "art thou indeed joseph?" he said, "i am joseph, and this is my brother: allah has indeed been gracious to us (all): behold, he that is righteous and patient,- never will allah suffer the reward to be lost, of those who do right." p: they said: is it indeed thou who art joseph? he said: i am joseph and this is my brother. allah hath shown us favour. lo! he who wardeth off (evil) and endureth (findeth favour); for lo! allah loseth not the wages of the kindly. s: they said: are you indeed yusuf? he said: i am yusuf and this is my brother; allah has indeed been gracious to us; surely he who guards (against evil) and is patient (is rewarded) for surely allah does not waste the reward of those who do good. . y: they said: "by allah! indeed has allah preferred thee above us, and we certainly have been guilty of sin!" p: they said: by allah, verily allah hath preferred thee above us, and we were indeed sinful. s: they said: by allah! now has allah certainly chosen you over us, and we were certainly sinners. . y: he said: "this day let no reproach be (cast) on you: allah will forgive you, and he is the most merciful of those who show mercy!" p: he said: have no fear this day! may allah forgive you, and he is the most merciful of those who show mercy. s: he said: (there shall be) no reproof against you this day; allah may forgive you, and he is the most merciful of the merciful. . y: "go with this my shirt, and cast it over the face of my father: he will come to see (clearly). then come ye (here) to me together with all your family." p: go with this shirt of mine and lay it on my father's face, he will become (again) a seer; and come to me with all your folk. s: take this my shirt and cast it on my father's face, he will (again) be able to see, and come to me with all your families. . y: when the caravan left (egypt), their father said: "i do indeed scent the presence of joseph: nay, think me not a dotard." p: when the caravan departed their father had said: truly i am conscious of the breath of joseph, though ye call me dotard. s: and when the caravan had departed, their father said: most surely i perceive the greatness of yusuf, unless you pronounce me to be weak in judgment. . y: they said: "by allah! truly thou art in thine old wandering mind." p: (those around him) said: by allah, lo! thou art in thine old aberration. s: they said: by allah, you are most surely in your old error. . y: then when the bearer of the good news came, he cast (the shirt) over his face, and he forthwith regained clear sight. he said: "did i not say to you, 'i know from allah that which ye know not?'" p: then, when the bearer of glad tidings came, he laid it on his face and he became a seer once more. he said: said i not unto you that i know from allah that which ye know not? s: so when the bearer of good news came he cast it on his face, so forthwith he regained his sight. he said: did i not say to you that i know from allah what you do not know? . y: they said: "o our father! ask for us forgiveness for our sins, for we were truly at fault." p: they said: o our father! ask forgiveness of our sins for us, for lo! we were sinful. s: they said: o our father! ask forgiveness of our faults for us, surely we were sinners. . y: he said: "soon will i ask my lord for forgiveness for you: for he is indeed oft-forgiving, most merciful." p: he said: i shall ask forgiveness for you of my lord. lo! he is the forgiving, the merciful. s: he said: i will ask for you forgiveness from my lord; surely he is the forgiving, the merciful. . y: then when they entered the presence of joseph, he provided a home for his parents with himself, and said: "enter ye egypt (all) in safety if it please allah." p: and when they came in before joseph, he took his parents unto him, and said: come into egypt safe, if allah will! s: then when they came in to yusuf, he took his parents to lodge with him and said: enter safe into egypt, if allah please. . y: and he raised his parents high on the throne (of dignity), and they fell down in prostration, (all) before him. he said: "o my father! this is the fulfilment of my vision of old! allah hath made it come true! he was indeed good to me when he took me out of prison and brought you (all here) out of the desert, (even) after satan had sown enmity between me and my brothers. verily my lord understandeth best the mysteries of all that he planneth to do, for verily he is full of knowledge and wisdom." p: and he placed his parents on the dais and they fell down before him prostrate, and he said: o my father! this is the interpretation of my dream of old. my lord hath made it true, and he hath shown me kindness, since he took me out of the prison and hath brought you from the desert after satan had made strife between me and my brethren. lo! my lord is tender unto whom he will. he is the knower, the wise. s: and he raised his parents upon the throne and they fell down in prostration before him, and he said: o my father! this is the significance of my vision of old; my lord has indeed made it to be true; and he was indeed kind to me when he brought me forth from the prison and brought you from the desert after the shaitan had sown dissensions between me and my brothers, surely my lord is benignant to whom he pleases; surely he is the knowing, the wise. . y: "o my lord! thou hast indeed bestowed on me some power, and taught me something of the interpretation of dreams and events,- o thou creator of the heavens and the earth! thou art my protector in this world and in the hereafter. take thou my soul (at death) as one submitting to thy will (as a muslim), and unite me with the righteous." p: o my lord! thou hast given me (something) of sovereignty and hast taught me (something) of the interpretation of events - creator of the heavens and the earth! thou art my protecting guardian in the world and the hereafter. make me to die muslim (unto thee), and join me to the righteous. s: my lord! thou hast given me of the kingdom and taught me of the interpretation of sayings: originator of the heavens and the earth! thou art my guardian in this world and the hereafter; make me die a muslim and join me with the good. . y: such is one of the stories of what happened unseen, which we reveal by inspiration unto thee; nor wast thou (present) with them then when they concerted their plans together in the process of weaving their plots. p: this is of the tidings of the unseen which we inspire in thee (muhammad). thou wast not present with them when they fixed their plan and they were scheming. s: this is of the announcements relating to the unseen (which) we reveal to you, and you were not with them when they resolved upon their affair, and they were devising plans. . y: yet no faith will the greater part of mankind have, however ardently thou dost desire it. p: and though thou try much, most men will not believe. s: and most men will not believe though you desire it eagerly. . y: and no reward dost thou ask of them for this: it is no less than a message for all creatures. p: thou askest them no fee for it. it is naught else than a reminder unto the peoples. s: and you do not ask them for a reward for this; it is nothing but a reminder for all mankind. . y: and how many signs in the heavens and the earth do they pass by? yet they turn (their faces) away from them! p: how many a portent is there in the heavens and the earth which they pass by with face averted! s: and how many a sign in the heavens and the earth which they pass by, yet they turn aside from it. . y: and most of them believe not in allah without associating (other as partners) with him! p: and most of them believe not in allah except that they attribute partners (unto him). s: and most of them do not believe in allah without associating others (with him). . y: do they then feel secure from the coming against them of the covering veil of the wrath of allah,- or of the coming against them of the (final) hour all of a sudden while they perceive not? p: deem they themselves secure from the coming on them of a pall of allah's punishment, or the coming of the hour suddenly while they are unaware? s: do they then feel secure that there may come to them an extensive chastisement from allah or (that) the hour may come to them suddenly while they do not perceive? . y: say thou: "this is my way: i do invite unto allah,- on evidence clear as the seeing with one's eyes,- i and whoever follows me. glory to allah! and never will i join gods with allah!" p: say: this is my way: i call on allah with sure knowledge. i and whosoever followeth me - glory be to allah! - and i am not of the idolaters. s: say: this is my way: i call to allah, i and those who follow me being certain, and glory be to allah, and i am not one of the polytheists. . y: nor did we send before thee (as messengers) any but men, whom we did inspire,- (men) living in human habitations. do they not travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those before them? but the home of the hereafter is best, for those who do right. will ye not then understand? p: we sent not before thee (any messengers) save men whom we inspired from among the folk of the townships - have they not travelled in the land and seen the nature of the consequence for those who were before them? and verily the abode of the hereafter, for those who ward off (evil), is best. have ye then no sense? - s: and we have not sent before you but men from (among) the people of the towns, to whom we sent revelations. have they not then travelled in the land and seen what was the end of those before them? and certainly the abode of the hereafter is best for those who guard (against evil); do you not then understand? . y: (respite will be granted) until, when the messengers give up hope (of their people) and (come to) think that they were treated as liars, there reaches them our help, and those whom we will are delivered into safety. but never will be warded off our punishment from those who are in sin. p: till, when the messengers despaired and thought that they were denied, then came unto them our help, and whom we would was saved. and our wrath cannot be warded from the guilty. s: until when the messengers despaired and the people became sure that they were indeed told a lie, our help came to them and whom we pleased was delivered; and our punishment is not averted from the guilty people. . y: there is, in their stories, instruction for men endued with understanding. it is not a tale invented, but a confirmation of what went before it,- a detailed exposition of all things, and a guide and a mercy to any such as believe. p: in their history verily there is a lesson for men of understanding. it is no invented story but a confirmation of the existing (scripture) and a detailed explanation of everything, and a guidance and a mercy for folk who believe. s: in their histories there is certainly a lesson for men of understanding. it is not a narrative which could be forged, but a verification of what is before it and a distinct explanation of all things and a guide and a mercy to a people who believe. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-rad (the thunder) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: a.l.m.r. these are the signs (or verses) of the book: that which hath been revealed unto thee from thy lord is the truth; but most men believe not. p: alif. lam. mim. ra. these are verses of the scripture. that which is revealed unto thee from thy lord is the truth, but most of mankind believe not. s: alif lam mim ra. these are the verses of the book; and that which is revealed to you from your lord is the truth, but most people do not believe. . y: allah is he who raised the heavens without any pillars that ye can see; is firmly established on the throne (of authority); he has subjected the sun and the moon (to his law)! each one runs (its course) for a term appointed. he doth regulate all affairs, explaining the signs in detail, that ye may believe with certainty in the meeting with your lord. p: allah it is who raised up the heavens without visible supports, then mounted the throne, and compelled the sun and the moon to be of service, each runneth unto an appointed term; he ordereth the course; he detaileth the revelations, that haply ye may be certain of the meeting with your lord. s: allah is he who raised the heavens without any pillars that you see, and he is firm in power and he made the sun and the moon subservient (to you); each one pursues its course to an appointed time; he regulates the affair, making clear the signs that you may be certain of meeting your lord. . y: and it is he who spread out the earth, and set thereon mountains standing firm and (flowing) rivers: and fruit of every kind he made in pairs, two and two: he draweth the night as a veil o'er the day. behold, verily in these things there are signs for those who consider! p: and he it is who spread out the earth and placed therein firm hills and flowing streams, and of all fruits he placed therein two spouses (male and female). he covereth the night with the day. lo! herein verily are portents for people who take thought. s: and he it is who spread the earth and made in it firm mountains and rivers, and of all fruits he has made in it two kinds; he makes the night cover the day; most surely there are signs in this for a people who reflect. . y: and in the earth are tracts (diverse though) neighbouring, and gardens of vines and fields sown with corn, and palm trees - growing out of single roots or otherwise: watered with the same water, yet some of them we make more excellent than others to eat. behold, verily in these things there are signs for those who understand! p: and in the earth are neighbouring tracts, vineyards and ploughed lands, and date-palms, like and unlike, which are watered with one water. and we have made some of them to excel others in fruit. lo! herein verily are portents for people who have sense. s: and in the earth there are tracts side by side and gardens of grapes and corn and palm trees having one root and (others) having distinct roots-- they are watered with one water, and we make some of them excel others in fruit; most surely there are signs in this for a people who understand. . y: if thou dost marvel (at their want of faith), strange is their saying: "when we are (actually) dust, shall we indeed then be in a creation renewed?" they are those who deny their lord! they are those round whose necks will be yokes (of servitude): they will be companions of the fire, to dwell therein (for aye)! p: and if thou wonderest, then wondrous is their saying: when we are dust, are we then forsooth (to be raised) in a new creation? such are they who disbelieve in their lord; such have carcans on their necks; such are rightful owners of the fire, they will abide therein. s: and if you would wonder, then wondrous is their saying: what! when we are dust, shall we then certainly be in a new creation? these are they who disbelieve in their lord, and these have chains on their necks, and they are the inmates of the fire; in it they shall abide. . y: they ask thee to hasten on the evil in preference to the good: yet have come to pass, before them, (many) exemplary punishments! but verily thy lord is full of forgiveness for mankind for their wrong-doing, and verily thy lord is (also) strict in punishment. p: and they bid thee hasten on the evil rather than the good, when exemplary punishments have indeed occurred before them. but lo! thy lord is rich in pardon for mankind despite their wrong, and lo! thy lord is strong in punishment. s: and they ask you to hasten on the evil before the good, and indeed there have been exemplary punishments before them; and most surely your lord is the lord of forgiveness to people, notwithstanding their injustice; and most surely your lord is severe in requiting (evil). . y: and the unbelievers say: "why is not a sign sent down to him from his lord?" but thou art truly a warner, and to every people a guide. p: those who disbelieve say: if only some portent were sent down upon him from his lord! thou art a warner only, and for every folk a guide. s: and those who disbelieve say: why has not a sign been sent down upon him from his lord? you are only a warner and (there is) a guide for every people. . y: allah doth know what every female (womb) doth bear, by how much the wombs fall short (of their time or number) or do exceed. every single thing is before his sight, in (due) proportion. p: allah knoweth that which every female beareth and that which the wombs absorb and that which they grow. and everything with him is measured. s: allah knows what every female bears, and that of which the wombs fall short of completion and that in which they increase; and there is a measure with him of everything. . y: he knoweth the unseen and that which is open: he is the great, the most high. p: he is the knower of the invisible and the visible, the great, the high exalted. s: the knower of the unseen and the seen, the great, the most high. . y: it is the same (to him) whether any of you conceal his speech or declare it openly; whether he lie hid by night or walk forth freely by day. p: alike of you is he who hideth the saying and he who noiseth it abroad, he who lurketh in the night and he who goeth freely in the daytime. s: alike (to him) among you is he who conceals (his) words and he who speaks them openly, and he who hides himself by night and (who) goes forth by day. . y: for each (such person) there are (angels) in succession, before and behind him: they guard him by command of allah. allah does not change a people's lot unless they change what is in their hearts. but when (once) allah willeth a people's punishment, there can be no turning it back, nor will they find, besides him, any to protect. p: for him are angels ranged before him and behind him, who guard him by allah's command. lo! allah changeth not the condition of a folk until they (first) change that which is in their hearts; and if allah willeth misfortune for a folk there is none that can repel it, nor have they a defender beside him. s: for his sake there are angels following one another, before him and behind him, who guard him by allah's commandment; surely allah does not change the condition of a people until they change their own condition; and when allah intends evil to a people, there is no averting it, and besides him they have no protector. . y: it is he who doth show you the lightning, by way both of fear and of hope: it is he who doth raise up the clouds, heavy with (fertilising) rain! p: he it is who showeth you the lightning, a fear and a hope, and raiseth the heavy clouds. s: he it is who shows you the lightning causing fear and hope and (who) brings up the heavy cloud. . y: nay, thunder repeateth his praises, and so do the angels, with awe: he flingeth the loud-voiced thunder-bolts, and therewith he striketh whomsoever he will..yet these (are the men) who (dare to) dispute about allah, with the strength of his power (supreme)! p: the thunder hymneth his praise and (so do) the angels for awe of him. he launcheth the thunderbolts and smiteth with them whom he will while they dispute (in doubt) concerning allah, and he is mighty in wrath. s: and the thunder declares his glory with his praise, and the angels too for awe of him; and he sends the thunderbolts and smites with them whom he pleases, yet they dispute concerning allah, and he is mighty in prowess. . y: for him (alone) is prayer in truth: any others that they call upon besides him hear them no more than if they were to stretch forth their hands for water to reach their mouths but it reaches them not: for the prayer of those without faith is nothing but (futile) wandering (in the mind). p: unto him is the real prayer. those unto whom they pray beside allah respond to them not at all, save as (is the response to) one who stretcheth forth his hands toward water (asking) that it may come unto his mouth, and it will never reach it. the prayer of disbelievers goeth (far) astray. s: to him is due the true prayer; and those whom they pray to besides allah give them no answer, but (they are) like one who stretches forth his two hands towards water that it may reach his mouth, but it will not reach it; and the prayer of the unbelievers is only in error. . y: whatever beings there are in the heavens and the earth do prostrate themselves to allah (acknowledging subjection),- with good-will or in spite of themselves: so do their shadows in the morning and evenings. p: and unto allah falleth prostrate whosoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, as do their shadows in the morning and the evening hours. s: and whoever is in the heavens and the earth makes obeisance to allah only, willingly and unwillingly, and their shadows too at morn and eve. . y: say: "who is the lord and sustainer of the heavens and the earth?" say: "(it is) allah." say: "do ye then take (for worship) protectors other than him, such as have no power either for good or for harm to themselves?" say: "are the blind equal with those who see? or the depths of darkness equal with light?" or do they assign to allah partners who have created (anything) as he has created, so that the creation seemed to them similar? say: "allah is the creator of all things: he is the one, the supreme and irresistible." p: say (o muhammad): who is lord of the heavens and the earth? say: allah. say: take ye then (others) beside him for protectors, which, even for themselves, have neither benefit nor hurt? say: is the blind man equal to the seer, or is darkness equal to light? or assign they unto allah partners who created the like of his creation so that the creation (which they made and his creation) seemed alike to them? say: allah is the creator of all things, and he is the one, the almighty. s: say: who is the lord of the heavens and the earth?-- say: allah. say: do you take then besides him guardians who do not control any profit or harm for themselves? say: are the blind and the seeing alike? or can the darkness and the light be equal? or have they set up with allah associates who have created creation like his, so that what is created became confused to them? say: allah is the creator of all things, and he is the one, the supreme. . y: he sends down water from the skies, and the channels flow, each according to its measure: but the torrent bears away to foam that mounts up to the surface. even so, from that (ore) which they heat in the fire, to make ornaments or utensils therewith, there is a scum likewise. thus doth allah (by parables) show forth truth and vanity. for the scum disappears like forth cast out; while that which is for the good of mankind remains on the earth. thus doth allah set forth parables. p: he sendeth down water from the sky, so that valleys flow according to their measure, and the flood beareth (on its surface) swelling foam - from that which they smelt in the fire in order to make ornaments and tools riseth a foam like unto it - thus allah coineth (the similitude of) the true and the false. then, as for the foam, it passeth away as scum upon the banks, while, as for that which is of use to mankind, it remaineth in the earth. thus allah coineth the similitudes. s: he sends down water from the cloud, then watercourses flow (with water) according to their measure, and the torrent bears along the swelling foam, and from what they melt in the fire for the sake of making ornaments or apparatus arises a scum like it; thus does allah compare truth and falsehood; then as for the scum, it passes away as a worthless thing; and as for that which profits the people, it tarries in the earth; thus does allah set forth parables. . y: for those who respond to their lord, are (all) good things. but those who respond not to him,- even if they had all that is in the heavens and on earth, and as much more, (in vain) would they offer it for ransom. for them will the reckoning be terrible: their abode will be hell,- what a bed of misery! p: for those who answered allah's call is bliss; and for those who answered not his call, if they had all that is in the earth, and therewith the like thereof, they would proffer it as ransom. such will have a woeful reckoning, and their habitation will be hell, a dire abode. s: for those who respond to their lord is good; and (as for) those who do not respond to him, had they all that is in the earth and the like thereof with it they would certainly offer it for a ransom. (as for) those, an evil reckoning shall be theirs and their abode is hell, and evil is the resting-place. . y: is then one who doth know that that which hath been revealed unto thee from thy lord is the truth, like one who is blind? it is those who are endued with understanding that receive admonition;- p: is he who knoweth that what is revealed unto thee from thy lord is the truth like him who is blind? but only men of understanding heed; s: is he then who knows that what has been revealed to you from your lord is the truth like him who is blind? only those possessed of understanding will mind, . y: those who fulfil the covenant of allah and fail not in their plighted word; p: such as keep the pact of allah, and break not the covenant; s: those who fulfil the promise of allah and do not break the covenant, . y: those who join together those things which allah hath commanded to be joined, hold their lord in awe, and fear the terrible reckoning; p: such as unite that which allah hath commandeth should be joined, and fear their lord, and dread a woeful reckoning; s: and those who join that which allah has bidden to be joined and have awe of their lord and fear the evil reckoning. . y: those who patiently persevere, seeking the countenance of their lord; establish regular prayers; spend, out of (the gifts) we have bestowed for their sustenance, secretly and openly; and turn off evil with good: for such there is the final attainment of the (eternal) home,- p: such as persevere in seeking their lord's countenance and are regular in prayer and spend of that which we bestow upon them secretly and openly, and overcome evil with good. theirs will be the sequel of the (heavenly) home, s: and those who are constant, seeking the pleasure of their lord, and keep up prayer and spend (benevolently) out of what we have given them secretly and openly and repel evil with good; as for those, they shall have the (happy) issue of the abode, . y: gardens of perpetual bliss: they shall enter there, as well as the righteous among their fathers, their spouses, and their offspring: and angels shall enter unto them from every gate (with the salutation): p: gardens of eden which they enter, along with all who do right of their fathers and their helpmeets and their seed. the angels enter unto them from every gate, s: the gardens of perpetual abode which they will enter along with those who do good from among their parents and their spouses and their offspring; and the angels will enter in upon them from every gate: . y: "peace unto you for that ye persevered in patience! now how excellent is the final home!" p: (saying): peace be unto you because ye persevered. ah, passing sweet will be the sequel of the (heavenly) home. s: peace be on you because you were constant, how excellent, is then, the issue of the abode. . y: but those who break the covenant of allah, after having plighted their word thereto, and cut asunder those things which allah has commanded to be joined, and work mischief in the land;- on them is the curse; for them is the terrible home! p: and those who break the covenant of allah after ratifying it, and sever that which allah hath commanded should be joined, and make mischief in the earth: theirs is the curse and theirs the ill abode. s: and those who break the covenant of allah after its confirmation and cut asunder that which allah has ordered to be joined and make mischief in the land; (as for) those, upon them shall be curse and they shall have the evil (issue) of the abode. . y: allah doth enlarge, or grant by (strict) measure, the sustenance (which he giveth) to whomso he pleaseth. (the wordly) rejoice in the life of this world: but the life of this world is but little comfort in the hereafter. p: allah enlargeth livelihood for whom he will, and straiteneth (it for whom he will); and they rejoice in the life of the world, whereas the life of the world is but brief comfort as compared with the hereafter. s: allah amplifies and straitens the means of subsistence for whom he pleases; and they rejoice in this world's life, and this world's life is nothing compared with the hereafter but a temporary enjoyment. . y: the unbelievers say: "why is not a sign sent down to him from his lord?" say: "truly allah leaveth, to stray, whom he will; but he guideth to himself those who turn to him in penitence,-" p: those who disbelieve say: if only a portent were sent down upon him from his lord! say: lo! allah sendeth whom he will astray, and guideth unto himself all who turn (unto him), s: and those who disbelieve say: why is not a sign sent down upon him by his lord? say: surely allah makes him who will go astray, and guides to himself those who turn (to him). . y: "those who believe, and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of allah: for without doubt in the remembrance of allah do hearts find satisfaction." p: who have believed and whose hearts have rest in the remembrance of allah. verily in the remembrance of allah do hearts find rest! s: those who believe and whose hearts are set at rest by the remembrance of allah; now surely by allah's remembrance are the hearts set at rest. . y: "for those who believe and work righteousness, is (every) blessedness, and a beautiful place of (final) return." p: those who believe and do right: joy is for them, and bliss (their) journey's end. s: (as for) those who believe and do good, a good final state shall be theirs and a goodly return. . y: thus have we sent thee amongst a people before whom (long since) have (other) peoples (gone and) passed away; in order that thou mightest rehearse unto them what we send down unto thee by inspiration; yet do they reject (him), the most gracious! say: "he is my lord! there is no god but he! on him is my trust, and to him do i turn!" p: thus we send thee (o muhammad) unto a nation, before whom other nations have passed away, that thou mayst recite unto them that which we have inspired in thee, while they are disbelievers in the beneficent. say: he is my lord; there is no god save him. in him do i put my trust and unto him is my recourse. s: and thus we have sent you among a nation before which other nations have passed away, that you might recite to them what we have revealed to you and (still) they deny the beneficent allah. say: he is my lord, there is no god but he; on him do i rely and to him is my return. . y: if there were a qur'an with which mountains were moved, or the earth were cloven asunder, or the dead were made to speak, (this would be the one!) but, truly, the command is with allah in all things! do not the believers know, that, had allah (so) willed, he could have guided all mankind (to the right)? but the unbelievers,- never will disaster cease to seize them for their (ill) deeds, or to settle close to their homes, until the promise of allah come to pass, for, verily, allah will not fail in his promise. p: had it been possible for a lecture to cause the mountains to move, or the earth to be torn asunder, or the dead to speak, (this qur'an would have done so). nay, but allah's is the whole command. do not those who believe know that, had allah willed, he could have guided all mankind? as for those who disbelieve, disaster ceaseth not to strike them because of what they do, or it dwelleth near their home until the threat of allah come to pass. lo! allah faileth not to keep the tryst. s: and even if there were a quran with which the mountains were made to pass away, or the earth were travelled over with it, or the dead were made to speak thereby; nay! the commandment is wholly allah's, have not yet those who believe known that if allah please he would certainly guide all the people? and (as for) those who disbelieve, there will not cease to afflict them because of what they do a repelling calamity, or it will alight close by their abodes, until the promise of allah comes about; surely allah will not fail in (his) promise. . y: mocked were (many) messengers before thee: but i granted respite to the unbelievers, and finally i punished them: then how (terrible) was my requital! p: and verily messengers (of allah) were mocked before thee, but long i bore with those who disbelieved. at length i seized them, and how (awful) was my punishment! s: and messengers before you were certainly mocked at, but i gave respite to those who disbelieved, then i destroyed them; how then was my requital (of evil)? . y: is then he who standeth over every soul (and knoweth) all that it doth, (like any others)? and yet they ascribe partners to allah. say: "but name them! is it that ye will inform him of something he knoweth not on earth, or is it (just) a show of words?" nay! to those who believe not, their pretence seems pleasing, but they are kept back (thereby) from the path. and those whom allah leaves to stray, no one can guide. p: is he who is aware of the deserts of every soul (as he who is aware of nothing)? yet they ascribe unto allah partners. say: name them. is it that ye would inform him of something which he knoweth not in the earth? or is it but a way of speaking? nay but their contrivance is made seeming fair for those who disbelieve and they are kept from the right road. he whom allah sendeth astray, for him there is no guide. s: is he then who watches every soul as to what it earns? and yet they give associates to allah! say: give them a name; nay, do you mean to inform him of what he does not know in the earth, or (do you affirm this) by an outward saying? rather, their plans are made to appear fair-seeming to those who disbelieve, and they are kept back from the path; and whom allah makes err, he shall have no guide. . y: for them is a penalty in the life of this world, but harder, truly, is the penalty of the hereafter: and defender have they none against allah. p: for them is torment in the life of the world, and verily the doom of the hereafter is more painful, and they have no defender from allah. s: they shall have chastisement in this world's life, and the chastisement of the hereafter is certainly more grievous, and they shall have no protector against allah. . y: the parable of the garden which the righteous are promised!- beneath it flow rivers: perpetual is the enjoyment thereof and the shade therein: such is the end of the righteous; and the end of unbelievers in the fire. p: a similitude of the garden which is promised unto those who keep their duty (to allah): underneath it rivers flow; its food is everlasting, and its shade; this is the reward of those who keep their duty, while the reward of disbelievers is the fire. s: a likeness of the garden which the righteous are promised; there flow beneath it rivers, its food and shades are perpetual; this is the requital of those who guarded (against evil), and the requital of the unbelievers is the fire. . y: those to whom we have given the book rejoice at what hath been revealed unto thee: but there are among the clans those who reject a part thereof. say: "i am commanded to worship allah, and not to join partners with him. unto him do i call, and unto him is my return." p: those unto whom we gave the scripture rejoice in that which is revealed unto thee. and of the clans there are who deny some of it. say: i am commanded only that i serve allah and ascribe unto him no partner. unto him i cry, and unto him is my return. s: and those to whom we have given the book rejoice in that which has been revealed to you, and of the confederates are some who deny a part of it. say: i am only commanded that i should serve allah and not associate anything with him, to him do i invite (you) and to him is my return. . y: thus have we revealed it to be a judgment of authority in arabic. wert thou to follow their (vain) desires after the knowledge which hath reached thee, then wouldst thou find neither protector nor defender against allah. p: thus have we revealed it, a decisive utterance in arabic; and if thou shouldst follow their desires after that which hath come unto thee of knowledge, then truly wouldst thou have from allah no protecting friend nor defender. s: and thus have we revealed it, a true judgment in arabic, and if you follow their low desires after what has come to you of knowledge, you shall not have against allah any guardian or a protector. . y: we did send messengers before thee, and appointed for them wives and children: and it was never the part of a messenger to bring a sign except as allah permitted (or commanded). for each period is a book (revealed). p: and verily we sent messengers (to mankind) before thee, and we appointed for them wives and offspring, and it was not (given) to any messenger that he should bring a portent save by allah's leave. for everything there is a time prescribed. s: and certainly we sent messengers before you and gave them wives and children, and it is not in (the power of) a messenger to bring a sign except by allah's permission; for every term there is an appointment. . y: allah doth blot out or confirm what he pleaseth: with him is the mother of the book. p: allah effaceth what he will, and establisheth (what he will), and with him is the source of ordinance. s: allah makes to pass away and establishes what he pleases, and with him is the basis of the book. . y: whether we shall show thee (within thy life-time) part of what we promised them or take to ourselves thy soul (before it is all accomplished),- thy duty is to make (the message) reach them: it is our part to call them to account. p: whether we let thee see something of that which we have promised them, or make thee die (before its happening), thine is but conveyance (of the message). ours the reckoning. s: and we will either let you see part of what we threaten them with or cause you to die, for only the delivery of the message is (incumbent) on you, while calling (them) to account is our (business). . y: see they not that we gradually reduce the land (in their control) from its outlying borders? (where) allah commands, there is none to put back his command: and he is swift in calling to account. p: see they not how we aim to the land, reducing it of its outlying parts? (when) allah doometh there is none that can postpone his doom, and he is swift at reckoning. s: do they not see that we are bringing destruction upon the land by curtailing it of its sides? and allah pronounces a doom-- there is no repeller of his decree, and he is swift to take account. . y: those before them did (also) devise plots; but in all things the master-planning is allah's he knoweth the doings of every soul: and soon will the unbelievers know who gets home in the end. p: those who were before them plotted; but all plotting is allah's. he knoweth that which each soul earneth. the disbelievers will come to know for whom will be the sequel of the (heavenly) home. s: and those before them did indeed make plans, but all planning is allah's; he knows what every soul earns, and the unbelievers shall come to know for whom is the (better) issue of the abode. . y: the unbelievers say: "no messenger art thou." say: "enough for a witness between me and you is allah, and such as have knowledge of the book." p: they who disbelieve say: thou art no messenger (of allah). say: allah, and whosoever hath knowledge of the scripture, is sufficient witness between me and you. s: and those who disbelieve say: you are not a messenger. say: allah is sufficient as a witness between me and you and whoever has knowledge of the book. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : ibrahim (abraham) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: a. l. r. a book which we have revealed unto thee, in order that thou mightest lead mankind out of the depths of darkness into light - by the leave of their lord - to the way of (him) the exalted in power, worthy of all praise!- p: alif. lam. ra. (this is) a scripture which we have revealed unto thee (muhammad) that thereby thou mayst bring forth mankind from darkness unto light, by the permission of their lord, unto the path of the mighty, the owner of praise, s: alif lam ra. (this is) a book which we have revealed to you that you may bring forth men, by their lord's permission from utter darkness into light-- to the way of the mighty, the praised one, . y: of allah, to whom do belong all things in the heavens and on earth! but alas for the unbelievers for a terrible penalty (their unfaith will bring them)!- p: allah, unto whom belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. and woe unto the disbelievers from an awful doom; s: (of) allah, whose is whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth; and woe to the unbelievers on account of the severe chastisement, . y: those who love the life of this world more than the hereafter, who hinder (men) from the path of allah and seek therein something crooked: they are astray by a long distance. p: those who love the life of the world more than the hereafter, and debar (men) from the way of allah and would have it crooked: such are far astray. s: (to) those who love this world's life more than the hereafter, and turn away from allah's path and desire to make it crooked; these are in a great error. . y: we sent not a messenger except (to teach) in the language of his (own) people, in order to make (things) clear to them. now allah leaves straying those whom he pleases and guides whom he pleases: and he is exalted in power, full of wisdom. p: and we never sent a messenger save with the language of his folk, that he might make (the message) clear for them. then allah sendeth whom he will astray, and guideth whom he will. he is the mighty, the wise. s: and we did not send any messenger but with the language of his people, so that he might explain to them clearly; then allah makes whom he pleases err and he guides whom he pleases and he is the mighty, the wise. . y: we sent moses with our signs (and the command). "bring out thy people from the depths of darkness into light, and teach them to remember the days of allah." verily in this there are signs for such as are firmly patient and constant,- grateful and appreciative. p: we verily sent moses with our revelations, saying: bring thy people forth from darkness unto light. and remind them of the days of allah. lo! therein are revelations for each steadfast, thankful (heart). s: and certainly we sent musa with our communications, saying: bring forth your people from utter darkness into light and remind them of the days of allah; most surely there are signs in this for every patient, grateful one. . y: remember! moses said to his people: "call to mind the favour of allah to you when he delivered you from the people of pharaoh: they set you hard tasks and punishments, slaughtered your sons, and let your women-folk live: therein was a tremendous trial from your lord." p: and (remind them) how moses said unto his people: remember allah's favour unto you when he delivered you from pharaoh's folk who were afflicting you with dreadful torment, and were slaying your sons and sparing your women; that was a tremendous trial from your lord. s: and when musa said to his people: call to mind allah's favor to you when he delivered you from firon's people, who subjected you to severe torment, and slew your sons and spared your women; and in this there was a great trial from your lord. . y: and remember! your lord caused to be declared (publicly): "if ye are grateful, i will add more (favours) unto you; but if ye show ingratitude, truly my punishment is terrible indeed." p: and when your lord proclaimed: if ye give thanks, i will give you more; but if ye are thankless, lo! my punishment is dire. s: and when your lord made it known: if you are grateful, i would certainly give to you more, and if you are ungrateful, my chastisement is truly severe. . y: and moses said: "if ye show ingratitude, ye and all on earth together, yet is allah free of all wants, worthy of all praise." p: and moses said: though ye and all who are in the earth prove thankless, lo! allah verily is absolute, owner of praise. s: and musa said: if you are ungrateful, you and those on earth all together, most surely allah is self-sufficient, praised; . y: has not the story reached you, (o people!), of those who (went) before you? - of the people of noah, and 'ad, and thamud? - and of those who (came) after them? none knows them but allah. to them came messengers with clear (signs); but they put their hands up to their mouths, and said: "we do deny (the mission) on which ye have been sent, and we are really in suspicious (disquieting) doubt as to that to which ye invite us." p: hath not the history of those before you reached you: the folk of noah, and (the tribes of) a'ad and thamud, and those after them? none save allah knoweth them. their messengers came unto them with clear proofs, but they thrust their hands into their mouths, and said: lo! we disbelieve in that wherewith ye have been sent, and lo! we are in grave doubt concerning that to which ye call us. s: has not the account reached you of those before you, of the people of nuh and ad and samood, and those after them? none knows them but allah. their messengers come to them with clear arguments, but they thrust their hands into their mouths and said: surely we deny that with which you are sent, and most surely we are in serious doubt as to that to which you invite us. . y: their messengers said: "is there a doubt about allah, the creator of the heavens and the earth? it is he who invites you, in order that he may forgive you your sins and give you respite for a term appointed!" they said: "ah! ye are no more than human, like ourselves! ye wish to turn us away from the (gods) our fathers used to worship: then bring us some clear authority." p: their messengers said: can there be doubt concerning allah, the creator of the heavens and the earth? he calleth you that he may forgive you your sins and reprieve you unto an appointed term. they said: ye are but mortals like us, who would fain turn us away from what our fathers used to worship. then bring some clear warrant. s: their messengers said: is there doubt about allah, the maker of the heavens and the earth? he invites you to forgive you your faults and to respite you till an appointed term. they said: you are nothing but mortals like us; you wish to turn us away from what our fathers used to worship; bring us therefore some clear authority. . y: their messengers said to them: "true, we are human like yourselves, but allah doth grant his grace to such of his servants as he pleases. it is not for us to bring you an authority except as allah permits. and on allah let all men of faith put their trust." p: their messengers said unto them: we are but mortals like you, but allah giveth grace unto whom he will of his slaves. it is not ours to bring you a warrant unless by the permission of allah. in allah let believers put their trust! s: their messengers said to them: we are nothing but mortals like yourselves, but allah bestows (his) favors on whom he pleases of his servants, and it is not for us that we should bring you an authority except by allah's permission; and on allah should the believers rely. . y: "no reason have we why we should not put our trust on allah. indeed he has guided us to the ways we (follow). we shall certainly bear with patience all the hurt you may cause us. for those who put their trust should put their trust on allah." p: how should we not put our trust in allah when he hath shown us our ways? we surely will endure the hurt ye do us. in allah let the trusting put their trust. s: and what reason have we that we should not rely on allah? and he has indeed guided us in our ways; and certainly we would bear with patience your persecution of us; and on allah should the reliant rely. . y: and the unbelievers said to their messengers: "be sure we shall drive you out of our land, or ye shall return to our religion." but their lord inspired (this message) to them: "verily we shall cause the wrong-doers to perish!" p: and those who disbelieved said unto their messengers: verily we will drive you out from our land, unless ye return to our religion. then their lord inspired them, (saying): verily we shall destroy the wrong-doers, s: and those who disbelieved said to their messengers: we will most certainly drive you forth from our land, or else you shall come back into our religion. so their lord revealed to them: most certainly we will destroy the unjust. . y: "and verily we shall cause you to abide in the land, and succeed them. this for such as fear the time when they shall stand before my tribunal,- such as fear the punishment denounced." p: and verily we shall make you to dwell in the land after them. this is for him who feareth my majesty and feareth my threats. s: and most certainly we will settle you in the land after them; this is for him who fears standing in my presence and who fears my threat. . y: but they sought victory and decision (there and then), and frustration was the lot of every powerful obstinate transgressor. p: and they sought help (from their lord) and every froward potentate was bought to naught; s: and they asked for judgment and every insolent opposer was disappointed: . y: in front of such a one is hell, and he is given, for drink, boiling fetid water. p: hell is before him, and he is made to drink a festering water, s: hell is before him and he shall be given to drink of festering water: . y: in gulps will he sip it, but never will he be near swallowing it down his throat: death will come to him from every quarter, yet will he not die: and in front of him will be a chastisement unrelenting. p: which he sippeth but can hardly swallow, and death cometh unto him from every side while yet he cannot die, and before him is a harsh doom. s: he will drink it little by little and will not be able to swallow it agreeably, and death will come to him from every quarter, but he shall not die; and there shall be vehement chastisement before him. . y: the parable of those who reject their lord is that their works are as ashes, on which the wind blows furiously on a tempestuous day: no power have they over aught that they have earned: that is the straying far, far (from the goal). p: a similitude of those who disbelieve in their lord: their works are as ashes which the wind bloweth hard upon a stormy day. they have no control of aught that they have earned. that is the extreme failure. s: the parable of those who disbelieve in their lord: their actions are like ashes on which the wind blows hard on a stormy day; they shall not have power over any thing out of what they have earned; this is the great error. . y: seest thou not that allah created the heavens and the earth in truth? if he so will, he can remove you and put (in your place) a new creation? p: hast thou not seen that allah hath created the heavens and the earth with truth? if he will, he can remove you and bring (in) some new creation; s: do you not see that allah created the heavens and the earth with truth? if he please he will take you off and bring a new creation, . y: nor is that for allah any great matter. p: and that is no great matter for allah. s: and this is not difficult for allah. . y: they will all be marshalled before allah together: then will the weak say to those who were arrogant, "for us, we but followed you; can ye then avail us to all against the wrath of allah?" they will reply, "if we had received the guidance of allah, we should have given it to you: to us it makes no difference (now) whether we rage, or bear (these torments) with patience: for ourselves there is no way of escape." p: they all come forth unto their lord. then those who were despised say unto those who were scornful: we were unto you a following, can ye then avert from us aught of allah's doom? they say: had allah guided us, we should have guided you. whether we rage or patiently endure is (now) all one for us; we have no place of refuge. s: and they shall all come forth before allah, then the weak shall say to those who were proud: surely we were your followers, can you therefore avert from us any part of the chastisement of allah? they would say: if allah had guided us, we too would have guided you; it is the same to us whether we are impatient (now) or patient, there is no place for us to fly to. . y: and satan will say when the matter is decided: "it was allah who gave you a promise of truth: i too promised, but i failed in my promise to you. i had no authority over you except to call you but ye listened to me: then reproach not me, but reproach your own souls. i cannot listen to your cries, nor can ye listen to mine. i reject your former act in associating me with allah. for wrong-doers there must be a grievous penalty." p: and satan saith, when the matter hath been decided: lo! allah promised you a promise of truth; and i promised you, then failed you. and i had no power over you save that i called unto you and ye obeyed me. so blame not, but blame yourselves. i cannot help you, nor can ye help me, lo! i disbelieved in that which ye before ascribed to me. lo! for wrong-doers is a painful doom. s: and the shaitan shall say after the affair is decided: surely allah promised you the promise of truth, and i gave you promises, then failed to keep them to you, and i had no authority over you, except that i called you and you obeyed me, therefore do not blame me but blame yourselves: i cannot be your aider (now) nor can you be my aiders; surely i disbelieved in your associating me with allah before; surely it is the unjust that shall have the painful punishment. . y: but those who believe and work righteousness will be admitted to gardens beneath which rivers flow,- to dwell therein for aye with the leave of their lord. their greeting therein will be: "peace!" p: and those who believed and did good works are made to enter gardens underneath which rivers flow, therein abiding by permission of their lord, their greeting therein: peace! s: and those who believe and do good are made to enter gardens, beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them by their lord's permission; their greeting therein is, peace. . y: seest thou not how allah sets forth a parable? - a goodly word like a goodly tree, whose root is firmly fixed, and its branches (reach) to the heavens,- of its lord. so allah sets forth parables for men, in order that they may receive admonition. p: seest thou not how allah coineth a similitude: a goodly saying, as a goodly tree, its root set firm, its branches reaching into heaven, s: have you not considered how allah sets forth a parable of a good word (being) like a good tree, whose root is firm and whose branches are in heaven, . y: it brings forth its fruit at all times, by the leave of its lord. so allah sets forth parables for men, in order that they may receive admonition. p: giving its fruit at every season by permission of its lord? allah coineth the similitudes for mankind in order that they may reflect. s: yielding its fruit in every season by the permission of its lord? and allah sets forth parables for men that they may be mindful. . y: and the parable of an evil word is that of an evil tree: it is torn up by the root from the surface of the earth: it has no stability. p: and the similitude of a bad saying is as a bad tree, uprooted from upon the earth, possessing no stability. s: and the parable of an evil word is as an evil tree pulled up from the earth's surface; it has no stability. . y: allah will establish in strength those who believe, with the word that stands firm, in this world and in the hereafter; but allah will leave, to stray, those who do wrong: allah doeth what he willeth. p: allah confirmeth those who believe by a firm saying in the life of the world and in the hereafter, and allah sendeth wrong-doers astray. and allah doeth what he will. s: allah confirms those who believe with the sure word in this world's life and in the hereafter, and allah causes the unjust to go astray, and allah does what he pleases. . y: hast thou not turned thy vision to those who have changed the favour of allah. into blasphemy and caused their people to descend to the house of perdition?- p: hast thou not seen those who gave the grace of allah in exchange for thanklessness and led their people down to the abode of loss, s: have you not seen those who have changed allah's favor for ungratefulness and made their people to alight into the abode of perdition; . y: into hell? they will burn therein,- an evil place to stay in! p: (even to) hell? they are exposed thereto. a hapless end! s: (into) hell? they shall enter into it and an evil place it is to settle in. . y: and they set up (idols) as equal to allah, to mislead (men) from the path! say: "enjoy (your brief power)! but verily ye are making straightway for hell!" p: and they set up rivals to allah that they may mislead (men) from his way. say: enjoy life (while ye may) for lo! your journey's end will be the fire. s: and they set up equals with allah that they may lead (people) astray from his path. say: enjoy yourselves, for surely your return is to the fire. . y: speak to my servants who have believed, that they may establish regular prayers, and spend (in charity) out of the sustenance we have given them, secretly and openly, before the coming of a day in which there will be neither mutual bargaining nor befriending. p: tell my bondmen who believe to establish worship and spend of that which we have given them, secretly and publicly, before a day cometh wherein there will be neither bargaining nor befriending. s: say to my servants who believe that they should keep up prayer and spend out of what we have given them secretly and openly before the coming of the day in which there shall be no bartering nor mutual befriending. . y: it is allah who hath created the heavens and the earth and sendeth down rain from the skies, and with it bringeth out fruits wherewith to feed you; it is he who hath made the ships subject to you, that they may sail through the sea by his command; and the rivers (also) hath he made subject to you. p: allah is he who created the heavens and the earth, and causeth water to descend from the sky, thereby producing fruits as food for you, and maketh the ships to be of service unto you, that they may run upon the sea at his command, and hath made of service unto you the rivers; s: allah is he who created the heavens and the earth and sent down water from the clouds, then brought forth with it fruits as a sustenance for you, and he has made the ships subservient to you, that they might run their course in the sea by his command, and he has made the rivers subservient to you. . y: and he hath made subject to you the sun and the moon, both diligently pursuing their courses; and the night and the day hath he (also) made subject to you. p: and maketh the sun and the moon, constant in their courses, to be of service unto you, and hath made of service unto you the night and the day. s: and he has made subservient to you the sun and the moon pursuing their courses, and he has made subservient to you the night and the day. . y: and he giveth you of all that ye ask for. but if ye count the favours of allah, never will ye be able to number them. verily, man is given up to injustice and ingratitude. p: and he giveth you of all ye ask of him, and if ye would count the bounty of allah ye cannot reckon it. lo! man is verily a wrong-doer, an ingrate. s: and he gives you of all that you ask him; and if you count allah's favors, you will not be able to number them; most surely man is very unjust, very ungrateful. . y: remember abraham said: "o my lord! make this city one of peace and security: and preserve me and my sons from worshipping idols." p: and when abraham said: my lord! make safe this territory, and preserve me and my sons from serving idols. s: and when ibrahim said: my lord! make this city secure, and save me and my sons from worshipping idols: . y: "o my lord! they have indeed led astray many among mankind; he then who follows my (ways) is of me, and he that disobeys me,- but thou art indeed oft-forgiving, most merciful." p: my lord! lo! they have led many of mankind astray. but whoso followeth me, he verily is of me. and whoso disobeyeth me - still thou art forgiving, merciful. s: my lord! surely they have led many men astray; then whoever follows me, he is surely of me, and whoever disobeys me, thou surely arc forgiving, merciful: . y: "o our lord! i have made some of my offspring to dwell in a valley without cultivation, by thy sacred house; in order, o our lord, that they may establish regular prayer: so fill the hearts of some among men with love towards them, and feed them with fruits: so that they may give thanks." p: our lord! lo! i have settled some of my posterity in an uncultivable valley near unto thy holy house, our lord! that they may establish proper worship; so incline some hearts of men that they may yearn toward them, and provide thou them with fruits in order that they may be thankful. s: o our lord! surely i have settled a part of my offspring in a valley unproductive of fruit near thy sacred house, our lord! that they may keep up prayer; therefore make the hearts of some people yearn towards them and provide them with fruits; haply they may be grateful: . y: "o our lord! truly thou dost know what we conceal and what we reveal: for nothing whatever is hidden from allah, whether on earth or in heaven." p: our lord! lo! thou knowest that which we hide and that which we proclaim. nothing in the earth or in the heaven is hidden from allah. s: o our lord! surely thou knowest what we hide and what we make public, and nothing in the earth nor any thing in heaven is hidden from allah: . y: "praise be to allah, who hath granted unto me in old age isma'il and isaac: for truly my lord is he, the hearer of prayer!" p: praise be to allah who hath given me, in my old age, ishmael and isaac! lo! my lord is indeed the hearer of prayer. s: praise be to allah, who has given me in old age ismail and ishaq; most surely my lord is the hearer of prayer: . y: o my lord! make me one who establishes regular prayer, and also (raise such) among my offspring o our lord! and accept thou my prayer. p: my lord! make me to establish proper worship, and some of my posterity (also); our lord! and accept my prayer. s: my lord! make me keep up prayer and from my offspring (too), o our lord, and accept my prayer: . y: "o our lord! cover (us) with thy forgiveness - me, my parents, and (all) believers, on the day that the reckoning will be established!" p: our lord! forgive me and my parents and believers on the day when the account is cast. s: o our lord! grant me protection and my parents and the believers on the day when the reckoning shall come to pass! . y: think not that allah doth not heed the deeds of those who do wrong. he but giveth them respite against a day when the eyes will fixedly stare in horror,- p: deem not that allah is unaware of what the wicked do. he but giveth them a respite till a day when eyes will stare (in terror), s: and do not think allah to be heedless of what the unjust do; he only respites them to a day on which the eyes shall be fixedly open, . y: they running forward with necks outstretched, their heads uplifted, their gaze returning not towards them, and their hearts a (gaping) void! p: as they come hurrying on in fear, their heads upraised, their gaze returning not to them, and their hearts as air. s: hastening forward, their heads upraised, their eyes not reverting to them and their hearts vacant. . y: so warn mankind of the day when the wrath will reach them: then will the wrong-doers say: "our lord! respite us (if only) for a short term: we will answer thy call, and follow the messengers!" "what! were ye not wont to swear aforetime that ye should suffer no decline?" p: and warn mankind of a day when the doom will come upon them, and those who did wrong will say: our lord! reprieve us for a little while. we will obey thy call and will follow the messengers. (it will be answered): did ye not swear before that there would be no end for you? s: and warn people of the day when the chastisement shall come to them, then those who were unjust will say: o our lord! respite us to a near term, (so) we shall respond to thy call and follow the messengers. what! did you not swear before (that) there will be no passing away for you! . y: "and ye dwelt in the dwellings of men who wronged their own souls; ye were clearly shown how we dealt with them; and we put forth (many) parables in your behoof!" p: and (have ye not) dwelt in the dwellings of those who wronged themselves (of old) and (hath it not) become plain to you how we dealt with them and made examples for you? s: and you dwell in the abodes of those who were unjust to themselves, and it is clear to you how we dealt with them and we have made (them) examples to you. . y: mighty indeed were the plots which they made, but their plots were (well) within the sight of allah, even though they were such as to shake the hills! p: verily they have plotted their plot, and their plot is with allah, though their plot were one whereby the mountains should be moved. s: and they have indeed planned their plan, but their plan is with allah, though their plan was such that the mountains should pass away thereby. . y: never think that allah would fail his messengers in his promise: for allah is exalted in power, - the lord of retribution. p: so think not that allah will fail to keep his promise to his messengers. lo! allah is mighty, able to requite (the wrong). s: therefore do not think allah (to be one) failing in his promise to his messengers; surely allah is mighty, the lord of retribution. . y: one day the earth will be changed to a different earth, and so will be the heavens, and (men) will be marshalled forth, before allah, the one, the irresistible; p: on the day when the earth will be changed to other than the earth, and the heavens (also will be changed) and they will come forth unto allah, the one, the almighty, s: on the day when the earth shall be changed into a different earth, and the heavens (as well), and they shall come forth before allah, the one, the supreme. . y: and thou wilt see the sinners that day bound together in fetters;- p: thou wilt see the guilty on that day linked together in chains, s: and you will see the guilty on that day linked together in chains. . y: their garments of liquid pitch, and their faces covered with fire; p: their raiment of pitch, and the fire covering their faces, s: their shirts made of pitch and the fire covering their faces . y: that allah may requite each soul according to its deserts; and verily allah is swift in calling to account. p: that allah may repay each soul what it hath earned. lo! allah is swift at reckoning. s: that allah may requite each soul (according to) what it has earned; surely allah is swift in reckoning. . y: here is a message for mankind: let them take warning therefrom, and let them know that he is (no other than) one allah: let men of understanding take heed. p: this is a clear message for mankind in order that they may be warned thereby, and that they may know that he is only one allah, and that men of understanding may take heed. s: this is a sufficient exposition for the people and that they may be warned thereby, and that they may know that he is one allah and that those possessed of understanding may mind. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-hijr (al-hijr, stoneland, rock city) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: a. l. r. these are the ayats of revelation,- of a qur'an that makes things clear. p: alif. lam. ra. these are verses of the scripture and a plain reading. s: alif lam ra. these are the verses of the book and (of) a quran that makes (things) clear. . y: again and again will those who disbelieve, wish that they had bowed (to allah's will) in islam. p: it may be that those who disbelieve wish ardently that they were muslims. s: often will those who disbelieve wish that they had been muslims. . y: leave them alone, to enjoy (the good things of this life) and to please themselves: let (false) hope amuse them: soon will knowledge (undeceive them). p: let them eat and enjoy life, and let (false) hope beguile them. they will come to know! s: leave them that they may eat and enjoy themselves and (that) hope may beguile them, for they will soon know. . y: never did we destroy a population that had not a term decreed and assigned beforehand. p: and we destroyed no township but there was a known decree for it. s: and never did we destroy a town but it had a term made known. . y: neither can a people anticipate its term, nor delay it. p: no nation can outstrip its term nor can they lag behind. s: no people can hasten on their doom nor can they postpone (it). . y: they say: "o thou to whom the message is being revealed! truly thou art mad (or possessed)!" p: and they say: o thou unto whom the reminder is revealed, lo! thou art indeed a madman! s: and they say: o you to whom the reminder has been revealed! you are most surely insane: . y: "why bringest thou not angels to us if it be that thou hast the truth?" p: why bringest thou not angels unto us, if thou art of the truthful? s: why do you not bring to us the angels if you are of the truthful ones? . y: we send not the angels down except for just cause: if they came (to the ungodly), behold! no respite would they have! p: we send not down the angels save with the fact, and in that case (the disbelievers) would not be tolerated. s: we do not send the angels but with truth, and then they would not be respited. . y: we have, without doubt, sent down the message; and we will assuredly guard it (from corruption). p: lo! we, even we, reveal the reminder, and lo! we verily are its guardian. s: surely we have revealed the reminder and we will most surely be its guardian. . y: we did send messengers before thee amongst the religious sects of old: p: we verily sent (messengers) before thee among the factions of the men of old. s: and certainly we sent (messengers) before you among the nations of yore. . y: but never came a messenger to them but they mocked him. p: and never came there unto them a messenger but they did mock him. s: and there never came a messenger to them but they mocked him. . y: even so do we let it creep into the hearts of the sinners - p: thus do we make it traverse the hearts of the guilty: s: thus do we make it to enter into the hearts of the guilty; . y: that they should not believe in the (message); but the ways of the ancients have passed away. p: they believe not therein, though the example of the men of old hath gone before. s: they do not believe in it, and indeed the example of the former people has already passed. . y: even if we opened out to them a gate from heaven, and they were to continue (all day) ascending therein, p: and even if we opened unto them a gate of heaven and they kept mounting through it, s: and even if we open to them a gateway of heaven, so that they ascend into it all the while, . y: they would only say: "our eyes have been intoxicated: nay, we have been bewitched by sorcery." p: they would say: our sight is wrong - nay, but we are folk bewitched. s: they would certainly say: only our eyes have been covered over, rather we are an enchanted people. . y: it is we who have set out the zodiacal signs in the heavens, and made them fair-seeming to (all) beholders; p: and verily in the heaven we have set mansions of the stars, and we have beautified it for beholders. s: and certainly we have made strongholds in the heaven and we have made it fair seeming to the beholders. . y: and (moreover) we have guarded them from every cursed devil: p: and we have guarded it from every outcast devil, s: and we guard it against every accursed shaitan, . y: but any that gains a hearing by stealth, is pursued by a flaming fire, bright (to see). p: save him who stealeth the hearing, and them doth a clear flame pursue. s: but he who steals a hearing, so there follows him a visible flame. . y: and the earth we have spread out (like a carpet); set thereon mountains firm and immovable; and produced therein all kinds of things in due balance. p: and the earth have we spread out, and placed therein firm hills, and caused each seemly thing to grow therein. s: and the earth-- we have spread it forth and made in it firm mountains and caused to grow in it of every suitable thing. . y: and we have provided therein means of subsistence,- for you and for those for whose sustenance ye are not responsible. p: and we have given unto you livelihoods therein, and unto those for whom ye provide not. s: and we have made in it means of subsistence for you and for him for whom you are not the suppliers. . y: and there is not a thing but its (sources and) treasures (inexhaustible) are with us; but we only send down thereof in due and ascertainable measures. p: and there is not a thing but with us are the stores thereof. and we send it not down save in appointed measure. s: and there is not a thing but with us are the treasures of it, and we do not send it down but in a known measure. . y: and we send the fecundating winds, then cause the rain to descend from the sky, therewith providing you with water (in abundance), though ye are not the guardians of its stores. p: and we send the winds fertilising, and cause water to descend from the sky, and give it you to drink. it is not ye who are the holders of the store thereof. s: and we send the winds fertilizing, then send down water from the cloud so we give it to you to drink of, nor is it you who store it up. . y: and verily, it is we who give life, and who give death: it is we who remain inheritors (after all else passes away). p: lo! and it is we, even we, who quicken and give death, and we are the inheritor. s: and most surely we bring to life and cause to die and we are the heirs. . y: to us are known those of you who hasten forward, and those who lag behind. p: and verily we know the eager among you and verily we know the laggards. s: and certainly we know those of you who have gone before and we certainly know those who shall come later. . y: assuredly it is thy lord who will gather them together: for he is perfect in wisdom and knowledge. p: lo! thy lord will gather them together. lo! he is wise, aware. s: and surely your lord will gather them together; surely he is wise, knowing. . y: we created man from sounding clay, from mud moulded into shape; p: verily we created man of potter's clay of black mud altered, s: and certainly we created man of clay that gives forth sound, of black mud fashioned in shape. . y: and the jinn race, we had created before, from the fire of a scorching wind. p: and the jinn did we create aforetime of essential fire. s: and the jinn we created before, of intensely hot fire. . y: behold! thy lord said to the angels: "i am about to create man, from sounding clay from mud moulded into shape;" p: and (remember) when thy lord said unto the angels: lo! i am creating a mortal out of potter's clay of black mud altered, s: and when your lord said to the angels: surely i am going to create a mortal of the essence of black mud fashioned in shape. . y: "when i have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of my spirit, fall ye down in obeisance unto him." p: so, when i have made him and have breathed into him of my spirit, do ye fall down, prostrating yourselves unto him. s: so when i have made him complete and breathed into him of my spirit, fall down making obeisance to him. . y: so the angels prostrated themselves, all of them together: p: so the angels fell prostrate, all of them together s: so the angels made obeisance, all of them together, . y: not so iblis: he refused to be among those who prostrated themselves. p: save iblis. he refused to be among the prostrate. s: but iblis (did it not); he refused to be with those who made obeisance. . y: (allah) said: "o iblis! what is your reason for not being among those who prostrated themselves?" p: he said: o iblis! what aileth thee that thou art not among the prostrate? s: he said: o iblis! what excuse have you that you are not with those who make obeisance? . y: (iblis) said: "i am not one to prostrate myself to man, whom thou didst create from sounding clay, from mud moulded into shape." p: he said: i am not one to prostrate myself unto a mortal whom thou hast created out of potter's clay of black mud altered! s: he said: i am not such that i should make obeisance to a mortal whom thou hast created of the essence of black mud fashioned in shape. . y: (allah) said: "then get thee out from here; for thou art rejected, accursed." p: he said: then go thou forth from hence, for lo! thou art outcast. s: he said: then get out of it, for surely you are driven away: . y: "and the curse shall be on thee till the day of judgment." p: and lo! the curse shall be upon thee till the day of judgment. s: and surely on you is curse until the day of judgment. . y: (iblis) said: "o my lord! give me then respite till the day the (dead) are raised." p: he said: my lord! reprieve me till the day when they are raised. s: he said: my lord! then respite me till the time when they are raised. . y: (allah) said: "respite is granted thee-" p: he said: then lo! thou art of those reprieved s: he said: so surely you are of the respited ones . y: "till the day of the time appointed." p: till the day of appointed time. s: till the period of the time made known. . y: (iblis) said: "o my lord! because thou hast put me in the wrong, i will make (wrong) fair-seeming to them on the earth, and i will put them all in the wrong,-" p: he said: my lord! because thou hast sent me astray, i verily shall adorn the path of error for them in the earth, and shall mislead them every one, s: he said: my lord! because thou hast made life evil to me, i will certainly make (evil) fair-seeming to them on earth, and i will certainly cause them all to deviate, . y: "except thy servants among them, sincere and purified (by thy grace)." p: save such of them as are thy perfectly devoted slaves. s: except thy servants from among them, the devoted ones. . y: (allah) said: "this (way of my sincere servants) is indeed a way that leads straight to me." p: he said: this is a right course incumbent upon me: s: he said: this is a right way with me: . y: "for over my servants no authority shalt thou have, except such as put themselves in the wrong and follow thee." p: lo! as for my slaves, thou hast no power over any of them save such of the froward as follow thee, s: surely. as regards my servants, you have no authority over them except those who follow you of the deviators. . y: and verily, hell is the promised abode for them all! p: and lo! for all such, hell will be the promised place. s: and surely hell is the promised place of them all: . y: to it are seven gates: for each of those gates is a (special) class (of sinners) assigned. p: it hath seven gates, and each gate hath an appointed portion. s: it has seven gates; for every gate there shall be a separate party of them. . y: the righteous (will be) amid gardens and fountains (of clear-flowing water). p: lo! those who ward off (evil) are among gardens and watersprings. s: surely those who guard (against evil) shall be in the midst of gardens and fountains: . y: (their greeting will be): "enter ye here in peace and security." p: (and it is said unto them): enter them in peace, secure. s: enter them in peace, secure. . y: and we shall remove from their hearts any lurking sense of injury: (they will be) brothers (joyfully) facing each other on thrones (of dignity). p: and we remove whatever rancour may be in their breasts. as brethren, face to face, (they rest) on couches raised. s: and we will root out whatever of rancor is in their breasts-- (they shall be) as brethren, on raised couches, face to face. . y: there no sense of fatigue shall touch them, nor shall they (ever) be asked to leave. p: toil cometh not unto them there, nor will they be expelled from thence. s: toil shall not afflict them in it, nor shall they be ever ejected from it. . y: tell my servants that i am indeed the oft-forgiving, most merciful; p: announce, (o muhammad) unto my slaves that verily i am the forgiving, the merciful, s: inform my servants that i am the forgiving, the merciful, . y: and that my penalty will be indeed the most grievous penalty. p: and that my doom is the dolorous doom. s: and that my punishment-- that is the painful punishment. . y: tell them about the guests of abraham. p: and tell them of abraham's guests, s: and inform them of the guests of ibrahim: . y: when they entered his presence and said, "peace!" he said, "we feel afraid of you!" p: (how) when they came in unto him, and said: peace. he said: lo! we are afraid of you. s: when they entered upon him, they said, peace. he said: surely we are afraid of you. . y: they said: "fear not! we give thee glad tidings of a son endowed with wisdom." p: they said: be not afraid! lo! we bring thee good tidings of a boy possessing wisdom. s: they said: be not afraid, surely we give you the good news of a boy, possessing knowledge. . y: he said: "do ye give me glad tidings that old age has seized me? of what, then, is your good news?" p: he said: bring ye me good tidings (of a son) when old age hath overtaken me? of what then can ye bring good tidings? s: he said: do you give me good news (of a son) when old age has come upon me?-- of what then do you give me good news! . y: they said: "we give thee glad tidings in truth: be not then in despair!" p: they said: we bring thee good tidings in truth. so be not thou of the despairing. s: they said: we give you good news with truth, therefore be not of the despairing. . y: he said: "and who despairs of the mercy of his lord, but such as go astray?" p: he said: and who despaireth of the mercy of his lord save those who are astray? s: he said: and who despairs of the mercy of his lord but the erring ones? . y: abraham said: "what then is the business on which ye (have come), o ye messengers (of allah)?" p: he said: and afterward what is your business, o ye messengers (of allah)? s: he said: what is your business then, o messengers? . y: they said: "we have been sent to a people (deep) in sin," p: they said: we have been sent unto a guilty folk, s: they said: surely we are sent towards a guilty people, . y: "excepting the adherents of lut: them we are certainly (charged) to save (from harm),- all -" p: (all) save the family of lot. them we shall deliver every one, s: except lut's followers: we will most surely deliver them all, . y: "except his wife, who, we have ascertained, will be among those who will lag behind." p: except his wife, of whom we had decreed that she should be of those who stay behind. s: except his wife; we ordained that she shall surely be of those who remain behind. . y: at length when the messengers arrived among the adherents of lut, p: and when the messengers came unto the family of lot, s: so when the messengers came to lut's followers, . y: he said: "ye appear to be uncommon folk." p: he said: lo! ye are folk unknown (to me). s: he said: surely you are an unknown people. . y: they said: "yea, we have come to thee to accomplish that of which they doubt." p: they said: nay, but we bring thee that concerning which they keep disputing, s: they said: nay, we have come to you with that about which they disputed. . y: "we have brought to thee that which is inevitably due, and assuredly we tell the truth." p: and bring thee the truth, and lo! we are truth-tellers. s: and we have come to you with the truth, and we are most surely truthful. . y: "then travel by night with thy household, when a portion of the night (yet remains), and do thou bring up the rear: let no one amongst you look back, but pass on whither ye are ordered." p: so travel with thy household in a portion of the night, and follow thou their backs. let none of you turn round, but go whither ye are commanded. s: therefore go forth with your followers in a part of the night and yourself follow their rear, and let not any one of you turn round, and go forth whither you are commanded. . y: and we made known this decree to him, that the last remnants of those (sinners) should be cut off by the morning. p: and we made plain the case to him, that the root of them (who did wrong) was to be cut at early morn. s: and we revealed to him this decree, that the roots of these shall be cut off in the morning. . y: the inhabitants of the city came in (mad) joy (at news of the young men). p: and the people of the city came, rejoicing at the news (of new arrivals). s: and the people of the town came rejoicing. . y: lut said: "these are my guests: disgrace me not:" p: he said: lo! they are my guests. affront me not! s: he said: surely these are my guests, therefore do not disgrace me, . y: "but fear allah, and shame me not." p: and keep your duty to allah, and shame me not! s: and guard against (the punishment of) allah and do not put me to shame. . y: they said: "did we not forbid thee (to speak) for all and sundry?" p: they said; have we not forbidden you from (entertaining) anyone? s: they said: have we not forbidden you from (other) people? . y: he said: "there are my daughters (to marry), if ye must act (so)." p: he said: here are my daughters, if ye must be doing (so). s: he said: these are my daughters, if you will do (aught). . y: verily, by thy life (o prophet), in their wild intoxication, they wander in distraction, to and fro. p: by thy life (o muhammad) they moved blindly in the frenzy of approaching death. s: by your life! they were blindly wandering on in their intoxication. . y: but the (mighty) blast overtook them before morning, p: then the (awful) cry overtook them at the sunrise. s: so the rumbling overtook them (while) entering upon the time of sunrise; . y: and we turned (the cities) upside down, and rained down on them brimstones hard as baked clay. p: and we utterly confounded them, and we rained upon them stones of heated clay. s: thus did we turn it upside down, and rained down upon them stones of what had been decreed. . y: behold! in this are signs for those who by tokens do understand. p: lo! therein verily are portents for those who read the signs. s: surely in this are signs for those who examine. . y: and the (cities were) right on the high-road. p: and lo! it is upon a road still uneffaced. s: and surely it is on a road that still abides. . y: behold! in this is a sign for those who believed. p: lo! therein is indeed a portent for believers. s: most surely there is a sign in this for the believers. . y: and the companions of the wood were also wrong-doers; p: and the dwellers in the wood indeed were evil-doers. s: and the dwellers of the thicket also were most surely unjust. . y: so we exacted retribution from them. they were both on an open highway, plain to see. p: so we took vengeance on them; and lo! they both are on a high-road plain to see. s: so we inflicted retribution on them, and they are both, indeed, on an open road (still) pursued. . y: the companions of the rocky tract also rejected the messengers: p: and the dwellers in al-hijr denied (our) messengers. s: and the dwellers of the rock certainly rejected the messengers; . y: we sent them our signs, but they persisted in turning away from them. p: and we gave them our revelations, but they were averse to them. s: and we gave them our communications, but they turned aside from them; . y: out of the mountains did they hew (their) edifices, (feeling themselves) secure. p: and they used to hew out dwellings from the hills, (wherein they dwelt) secure. s: and they hewed houses in the mountains in security. . y: but the (mighty) blast seized them of a morning, p: but the (awful) cry overtook them at the morning hour, s: so the rumbling overtook them in the morning; . y: and of no avail to them was all that they did (with such art and care)! p: and that which they were wont to count as gain availed them not. s: and what they earned did not avail them. . y: we created not the heavens, the earth, and all between them, but for just ends. and the hour is surely coming (when this will be manifest). so overlook (any human faults) with gracious forgiveness. p: we created not the heavens and the earth and all that is between them save with truth, and lo! the hour is surely coming. so forgive, (o muhammad), with a gracious forgiveness. s: and we did not create the heavens and the earth and what is between them two but in truth; and the hour is most surely coming, so turn away with kindly forgiveness. . y: for verily it is thy lord who is the master-creator, knowing all things. p: lo! thy lord! he is the all-wise creator. s: surely your lord is the creator of all things, the knowing. . y: and we have bestowed upon thee the seven oft-repeated (verses) and the grand qur'an. p: we have given thee seven of the oft-repeated (verses) and the great qur'an. s: and certainly we have given you seven of the oft-repeated (verses) and the grand quran. . y: strain not thine eyes. (wistfully) at what we have bestowed on certain classes of them, nor grieve over them: but lower thy wing (in gentleness) to the believers. p: strain not thine eyes toward that which we cause some wedded pairs among them to enjoin, and be not grieved on their account, and lower thy wing (in tenderness) for the believers. s: do not strain your eyes after what we have given certain classes of them to enjoy, and do not grieve for them, and make yourself gentle to the believers. . y: and say: "i am indeed he that warneth openly and without ambiguity,"- p: and say: lo! i, even i, am a plain warner, s: and say: surely i am the plain warner. . y: (of just such wrath) as we sent down on those who divided (scripture into arbitrary parts),- p: such as we send down for those who make division, s: like as we sent down on the dividers . y: (so also on such) as have made qur'an into shreds (as they please). p: those who break the qur'an into parts. s: those who made the quran into shreds. . y: therefore, by the lord, we will, of a surety, call them to account, p: them, by thy lord, we shall question, every one, s: so, by your lord, we would most certainly question them all, . y: for all their deeds. p: of what they used to do. s: as to what they did. . y: therefore expound openly what thou art commanded, and turn away from those who join false gods with allah. p: so proclaim that which thou art commanded, and withdraw from the idolaters. s: therefore declare openly what you are bidden and turn aside from the polytheists. . y: for sufficient are we unto thee against those who scoff,- p: lo! we defend thee from the scoffers, s: surely we will suffice you against the scoffers . y: those who adopt, with allah, another god: but soon will they come to know. p: who set some other god along with allah. but they will come to know. s: those who set up another god with allah; so they shall soon know. . y: we do indeed know how thy heart is distressed at what they say. p: well know we that thy bosom is oppressed by what they say, s: and surely we know that your breast straitens at what they say; . y: but celebrate the praises of thy lord, and be of those who prostrate themselves in adoration. p: but hymn the praise of thy lord, and be of those who make prostration (unto him). s: therefore celebrate the praise of your lord, and be of those who make obeisance. . y: and serve thy lord until there come unto thee the hour that is certain. p: and serve thy lord till the inevitable cometh unto thee. s: and serve your lord until there comes to you that which is certain. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : an-nahl (the bee) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: (inevitable) cometh (to pass) the command of allah: seek ye not then to hasten it: glory to him, and far is he above having the partners they ascribe unto him! p: the commandment of allah will come to pass, so seek not ye to hasten it. glorified and exalted be he above all that they associate (with him). s: allah's commandment has come, therefore do not desire to hasten it; glory be to him, and highly exalted be he above what they associate (with him). . y: he doth send down his angels with inspiration of his command, to such of his servants as he pleaseth, (saying): "warn (man) that there is no god but i: so do your duty unto me." p: he sendeth down the angels with the spirit of his command unto whom he will of his bondmen, (saying): warn mankind that there is no god save me, so keep your duty unto me. s: he sends down the angels with the inspiration by his commandment on whom he pleases of his servants, saying: give the warning that there is no god but me, therefore be careful (of your duty) to me. . y: he has created the heavens and the earth for just ends: far is he above having the partners they ascribe to him! p: he hath created the heavens and the earth with truth. high be he exalted above all that they associate (with him). s: he created the heavens and the earth with the truth, highly exalted be he above what they associate (with him). . y: he has created man from a sperm-drop; and behold this same (man) becomes an open disputer! p: he hath created man from a drop of fluid, yet behold! he is an open opponent. s: he created man from a small seed and lo! he is an open contender. . y: and cattle he has created for you (men): from them ye derive warmth, and numerous benefits, and of their (meat) ye eat. p: and the cattle hath he created, whence ye have warm clothing and uses, and whereof ye eat; s: and he created the cattle for you; you have in them warm clothing and (many) advantages, and of them do you eat. . y: and ye have a sense of pride and beauty in them as ye drive them home in the evening, and as ye lead them forth to pasture in the morning. p: and wherein is beauty for you, when ye bring them home, and when ye take them out to pasture. s: and there is beauty in them for you when you drive them back (to home), and when you send them forth (to pasture). . y: and they carry your heavy loads to lands that ye could not (otherwise) reach except with souls distressed: for your lord is indeed most kind, most merciful, p: and they bear your loads for you unto a land ye could not reach save with great trouble to yourselves. lo! your lord is full of pity, merciful. s: and they carry your heavy loads to regions which you could not reach but with distress of the souls; most surely your lord is compassionate, merciful. . y: and (he has created) horses, mules, and donkeys, for you to ride and use for show; and he has created (other) things of which ye have no knowledge. p: and horses and mules and asses (hath he created) that ye may ride them, and for ornament. and he createth that which ye know not. s: and (he made) horses and mules and asses that you might ride upon them and as an ornament; and he creates what you do not know. . y: and unto allah leads straight the way, but there are ways that turn aside: if allah had willed, he could have guided all of you. p: and allah's is the direction of the way, and some (roads) go not straight. and had he willed he would have led you all aright. s: and upon allah it rests to show the right way, and there are some deviating (ways); and if he please he would certainly guide you all aright. . y: it is he who sends down rain from the sky: from it ye drink, and out of it (grows) the vegetation on which ye feed your cattle. p: he it is who sendeth down water from the sky, whence ye have drink, and whence are trees on which ye send your beasts to pasture. s: he it is who sends down water from the cloud for you; it gives drink, and by it (grow) the trees upon which you pasture. . y: with it he produces for you corn, olives, date-palms, grapes and every kind of fruit: verily in this is a sign for those who give thought. p: therewith he causeth crops to grow for you, and the olive and the date-palm and grapes and all kinds of fruit. lo! herein is indeed a portent for people who reflect. s: he causes to grow for you thereby herbage, and the olives, and the palm trees, and the grapes, and of all the fruits; most surely there is a sign in this for a people who reflect. . y: he has made subject to you the night and the day; the sun and the moon; and the stars are in subjection by his command: verily in this are signs for men who are wise. p: and he hath constrained the night and the day and the sun and the moon to be of service unto you, and the stars are made subservient by his command. lo! herein indeed are portents for people who have sense. s: and he has made subservient for you the night and the day and the sun and the moon, and the stars are made subservient by his commandment; most surely there are signs in this for a people who ponder; . y: and the things on this earth which he has multiplied in varying colours (and qualities): verily in this is a sign for men who celebrate the praises of allah (in gratitude). p: and whatsoever he hath created for you in the earth of divers hues, lo! therein is indeed a portent for people who take heed. s: and what he has created in the earth of varied hues most surely there is a sign in this for a people who are mindful. . y: it is he who has made the sea subject, that ye may eat thereof flesh that is fresh and tender, and that ye may extract therefrom ornaments to wear; and thou seest the ships therein that plough the waves, that ye may seek (thus) of the bounty of allah and that ye may be grateful. p: and he it is who hath constrained the sea to be of service that ye eat fresh meat from thence, and bring forth from thence ornaments which ye wear. and thou seest the ships ploughing it that ye (mankind) may seek of his bounty and that haply ye may give thanks. s: and he it is who has made the sea subservient that you may eat fresh flesh from it and bring forth from it ornaments which you wear, and you see the ships cleaving through it, and that you might seek of his bounty and that you may give thanks. . y: and he has set up on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with you; and rivers and roads; that ye may guide yourselves; p: and he hath cast into the earth firm hills that it quake not with you, and streams and roads that ye may find a way. s: and he has cast great mountains in the earth lest it might be convulsed with you, and rivers and roads that you may go aright, . y: and marks and sign-posts; and by the stars (men) guide themselves. p: and landmarks (too), and by the star they find a way. s: and landmarks; and by the stars they find the right way. . y: is then he who creates like one that creates not? will ye not receive admonition? p: is he then who createth as him who createth not? will ye not then remember? s: is he then who creates like him who does not create? do you not then mind? . y: if ye would count up the favours of allah, never would ye be able to number them: for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: and if ye would count the favour of allah ye cannot reckon it. lo! allah is indeed forgiving, merciful. s: and if you would count allah's favors, you will not be able to number them; most surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: and allah doth know what ye conceal, and what ye reveal. p: and allah knoweth that which ye keep hidden and that which ye proclaim. s: and allah knows what you conceal and what you do openly. . y: those whom they invoke besides allah create nothing and are themselves created. p: those unto whom they cry beside allah created naught, but are themselves created. s: and those whom they call on besides allah have not created anything while they are themselves created; . y: (they are things) dead, lifeless: nor do they know when they will be raised up. p: (they are) dead, not living. and they know not when they will be raised. s: dead (are they), not living, and they know not when they shall be raised. . y: your allah is one allah: as to those who believe not in the hereafter, their hearts refuse to know, and they are arrogant. p: your allah is one allah. but as for those who believe not in the hereafter their hearts refuse to know, for they are proud. s: your god is one allah; so (as for) those who do not believe in the hereafter, their hearts are ignorant and they are proud. . y: undoubtedly allah doth know what they conceal, and what they reveal: verily he loveth not the arrogant. p: assuredly allah knoweth that which they keep hidden and that which they proclaim. lo! he loveth not the proud. s: truly allah knows what they hide and what they manifest; surely he does not love the proud. . y: when it is said to them, "what is it that your lord has revealed?" they say, "tales of the ancients!" p: and when it is said unto them: what hath your lord revealed? they say: (mere) fables of the men of old, s: and when it is said to them, what is it that your lord has revealed? they say: stories of the ancients; . y: let them bear, on the day of judgment, their own burdens in full, and also (something) of the burdens of those without knowledge, whom they misled. alas, how grievous the burdens they will bear! p: that they may bear their burdens undiminished on the day of resurrection, with somewhat of the burdens of those whom they mislead without knowledge. ah! evil is that which they bear! s: that they may bear their burdens entirely on the day of resurrection and also of the burdens of those whom they lead astray without knowledge; now surely evil is what they bear. . y: those before them did also plot (against allah's way): but allah took their structures from their foundations, and the roof fell down on them from above; and the wrath seized them from directions they did not perceive. p: those before them plotted, so allah struck at the foundations of their building, and then the roof fell down upon them from above them, and the doom came on them whence they knew not; s: those before them did indeed devise plans, but allah demolished their building from the foundations, so the roof fell down on them from above them, and the punishment came to them from whence they did not perceive. . y: then, on the day of judgment, he will cover them with shame, and say: "where are my 'partners' concerning whom ye used to dispute (with the godly)?" those endued with knowledge will say: "this day, indeed, are the unbelievers covered with shame and misery,-" p: then on the day of resurrection he will disgrace them and will say: where are my partners, for whose sake ye opposed (my guidance)? those who have been given knowledge will say: disgrace this day and evil are upon the disbelievers, s: then on the resurrection day he will bring them to disgrace and say: where are the associates you gave me, for whose sake you became hostile? those who are given the knowledge will say: surely the disgrace and the evil are this day upon the unbelievers: . y: "(namely) those whose lives the angels take in a state of wrong-doing to their own souls." then would they offer submission (with the pretence), "we did no evil (knowingly)." (the angels will reply), "nay, but verily allah knoweth all that ye did;" p: whom the angels cause to die while they are wronging themselves. then will they make full submission (saying): we used not to do any wrong. nay! surely allah is knower of what ye used to do. s: those whom the angels cause to die while they are unjust to themselves. then would they offer submission: we used not to do any evil. aye! surely allah knows what you did. . y: "so enter the gates of hell, to dwell therein. thus evil indeed is the abode of the arrogant." p: so enter the gates of hell, to dwell therein for ever. woeful indeed will be the lodging of the arrogant. s: therefore enter the gates of hell, to abide therein; so certainly evil is the dwelling place of the proud. . y: to the righteous (when) it is said, "what is it that your lord has revealed?" they say, "all that is good." to those who do good, there is good in this world, and the home of the hereafter is even better and excellent indeed is the home of the righteous,- p: and it is said unto those who ward off (evil): what hath your lord revealed? they say: good. for those who do good in this world there is a good (reward) and the home of the hereafter will be better. pleasant indeed will be the home of those who ward off (evil) - s: and it is said to those who guard (against evil): what is it that your lord has revealed? they say, good. for those who do good in this world is good, and certainly the abode of the hereafter is better; and certainly most excellent is the abode of those who guard (against evil); . y: gardens of eternity which they will enter: beneath them flow (pleasant) rivers: they will have therein all that they wish: thus doth allah reward the righteous,- p: gardens of eden which they enter, underneath which rivers flow, wherein they have what they will. thus allah repayeth those who ward off (evil), s: the gardens of perpetuity, they shall enter them, rivers flowing beneath them; they shall have in them what they please. thus does allah reward those who guard (against evil), . y: (namely) those whose lives the angels take in a state of purity, saying (to them), "peace be on you; enter ye the garden, because of (the good) which ye did (in the world)." p: those whom the angels cause to die (when they are) good. they say: peace be unto you! enter the garden because of what ye used to do. s: those whom the angels cause to die in a good state, saying: peace be on you: enter the garden for what you did. . y: do the (ungodly) wait until the angels come to them, or there comes the command of thy lord (for their doom)? so did those who went before them. but allah wronged them not: nay, they wronged their own souls. p: await they aught say that the angels should come unto them or thy lord's command should come to pass? even so did those before them. allah wronged them not, but they did wrong themselves, s: they do not wait aught but that the angels should come to them or that the commandment of your lord should come to pass. thus did those before them; and allah was not unjust to them, but they were unjust to themselves. . y: but the evil results of their deeds overtook them, and that very (wrath) at which they had scoffed hemmed them in. p: so that the evils of what they did smote them, and that which they used to mock surrounded them. s: so the evil (consequences) of what they did shall afflict them and that which they mocked shall encompass them. . y: the worshippers of false gods say: "if allah had so willed, we should not have worshipped aught but him - neither we nor our fathers,- nor should we have prescribed prohibitions other than his." so did those who went before them. but what is the mission of messengers but to preach the clear message? p: and the idolaters say: had allah willed, we had not worshipped aught beside him, we and our fathers, nor had we forbidden aught without (command from) him. even so did those before them. are the messengers charged with aught save plain conveyance (of the message)? s: and they who give associates (to allah) say: if allah had pleased, we would not have served anything besides allah, (neither) we nor our fathers, nor would we have prohibited anything without (order from) him. thus did those before them; is then aught incumbent upon the messengers except a plain delivery (of the message)? . y: for we assuredly sent amongst every people a messenger, (with the command), "serve allah, and eschew evil": of the people were some whom allah guided, and some on whom error became inevitably (established). so travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those who denied (the truth). p: and verily we have raised in every nation a messenger, (proclaiming): serve allah and shun false gods. then some of them (there were) whom allah guided, and some of them (there were) upon whom error had just hold. do but travel in the land and see the nature of the consequence for the deniers! s: and certainly we raised in every nation a messenger saying: serve allah and shun the shaitan. so there were some of them whom allah guided and there were others against whom error was due; therefore travel in the land, then see what was the end of the rejecters. . y: if thou art anxious for their guidance, yet allah guideth not such as he leaves to stray, and there is none to help them. p: even if thou (o muhammad) desirest their right guidance, still allah assuredly will not guide him who misleadeth. such have no helpers. s: if you desire for their guidance, yet surely allah does not guide him who leads astray, nor shall they have any helpers. . y: they swear their strongest oaths by allah, that allah will not raise up those who die: nay, but it is a promise (binding) on him in truth: but most among mankind realise it not. p: and they swear by allah their most binding oaths (that) allah will not raise up him who dieth. nay, but it is a promise (binding) upon him in truth, but most of mankind know not, s: and they swear by allah with the most energetic of their oaths: allah will not raise up him who dies. yea! it is a promise binding on him, quite true, but most people do not know; . y: (they must be raised up), in order that he may manifest to them the truth of that wherein they differ, and that the rejecters of truth may realise that they had indeed (surrendered to) falsehood. p: that he may explain unto them that wherein they differ, and that those who disbelieved may know that they were liars. s: so that he might make manifest to them that about which they differ, and that those who disbelieve might know that they were liars. . y: for to anything which we have willed, we but say the word, "be", and it is. p: and our word unto a thing, when we intend it, is only that we say unto it: be! and it is. s: our word for a thing when we intend it, is only that we say to it, be, and it is. . y: to those who leave their homes in the cause of allah, after suffering oppression,- we will assuredly give a goodly home in this world; but truly the reward of the hereafter will be greater. if they only realised (this)! p: and those who became fugitives for the cause of allah after they had been oppressed, we verily shall give them goodly lodging in the world, and surely the reward of the hereafter is greater, if they but knew; s: and those who fly for allah's sake after they are oppressed, we will most certainly give them a good abode in the world, and the reward of the hereafter is certainly much greater, did they but know; . y: (they are) those who persevere in patience, and put their trust on their lord. p: such as are steadfast and put their trust in allah. s: those who are patient and on their lord do they rely. . y: and before thee also the messengers we sent were but men, to whom we granted inspiration: if ye realise this not, ask of those who possess the message. p: and we sent not (as our messengers) before thee other than men whom we inspired - ask the followers of the remembrance if ye know not! - s: and we did not send before you any but men to whom we sent revelation-- so ask the followers of the reminder if you do not know-- . y: (we sent them) with clear signs and books of dark prophecies; and we have sent down unto thee (also) the message; that thou mayest explain clearly to men what is sent for them, and that they may give thought. p: with clear proofs and writings; and we have revealed unto thee the remembrance that thou mayst explain to mankind that which hath been revealed for them, and that haply they may reflect. s: with clear arguments and scriptures; and we have revealed to you the reminder that you may make clear to men what has been revealed to them, and that haply they may reflect. . y: do then those who devise evil (plots) feel secure that allah will not cause the earth to swallow them up, or that the wrath will not seize them from directions they little perceive?- p: are they who plan ill-deeds then secure that allah will not cause the earth to swallow them, or that the doom will not come on them whence they know not? s: do they then who plan evil (deeds) feel secure (of this) that allah will not cause the earth to swallow them or that punishment may not overtake them from whence they do not perceive? . y: or that he may not call them to account in the midst of their goings to and fro, without a chance of their frustrating him?- p: or that he will not seize them in their going to and fro so that there be no escape for them? s: or that he may not seize them in the course of their journeys, then shall they not escape; . y: or that he may not call them to account by a process of slow wastage - for thy lord is indeed full of kindness and mercy. p: or that he will not seize them with a gradual wasting? lo! thy lord is indeed full of pity, merciful. s: or that he may not seize them by causing them to suffer gradual loss, for your lord is most surely compassionate, merciful. . y: do they not look at allah's creation, (even) among (inanimate) things,- how their (very) shadows turn round, from the right and the left, prostrating themselves to allah, and that in the humblest manner? p: have they not observed all things that allah hath created, how their shadows incline to the right and to the left, making prostration unto allah, and they are lowly? s: do they not consider every thing that allah has created? its (very) shadows return from right and left, making obeisance to allah while they are in utter abasement. . y: and to allah doth obeisance all that is in the heavens and on earth, whether moving (living) creatures or the angels: for none are arrogant (before their lord). p: and unto allah maketh prostration whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth of living creatures, and the angels (also) and they are not proud. s: and whatever creature that is in the heavens and that is in the earth makes obeisance to allah (only), and the angels (too) and they do not show pride. . y: they all revere their lord, high above them, and they do all that they are commanded. p: they fear their lord above them, and do what they are bidden. s: they fear their lord above them and do what they are commanded. . y: allah has said: "take not (for worship) two gods: for he is just one allah: then fear me (and me alone)." p: allah hath said: choose not two gods. there is only one allah. so of me, me only, be in awe. s: and allah has said: take not two gods, he is only one allah; so of me alone should you be afraid. . y: to him belongs whatever is in the heavens and on earth, and to him is duty due always: then will ye fear other than allah? p: unto him belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth, and religion is his for ever. will ye then fear any other than allah? s: and whatever is in the heavens and the earth is his, and to him should obedience be (rendered) constantly; will you then guard against other than (the punishment of) allah? . y: and ye have no good thing but is from allah: and moreover, when ye are touched by distress, unto him ye cry with groans; p: and whatever of comfort ye enjoy, it is from allah. then, when misfortune reacheth you, unto him ye cry for help. s: and whatever favor is (bestowed) on you it is from allah; then when evil afflicts you, to him do you cry for aid. . y: yet, when he removes the distress from you, behold! some of you turn to other gods to join with their lord- p: and afterward, when he hath rid you of the misfortune, behold! a set of you attribute partners to their lord, s: yet when he removes the evil from you, lo! a party of you associate others with their lord; . y: (as if) to show their ingratitude for the favours we have bestowed on them! then enjoy (your brief day): but soon will ye know (your folly)! p: so as to deny that which we have given them. then enjoy life (while ye may), for ye will come to know. s: so that they be ungrateful for what we have given them; then enjoy yourselves; for soon will you know. . y: and they (even) assign, to things they do not know, a portion out of that which we have bestowed for their sustenance! by allah, ye shall certainly be called to account for your false inventions. p: and they assign a portion of that which we have given them unto what they know not. by allah! but ye will indeed be asked concerning (all) that ye used to invent. s: and they set apart for what they do not know a portion of what we have given them. by allah, you shall most certainly be questioned about that which you forged. . y: and they assign daughters for allah! - glory be to him! - and for themselves (sons,- the issue) they desire! p: and they assign unto allah daughters - be he glorified! - and unto themselves what they desire; s: and they ascribe daughters to allah, glory be to him; and for themselves (they would have) what they desire. . y: when news is brought to one of them, of (the birth of) a female (child), his face darkens, and he is filled with inward grief! p: when if one of them receiveth tidings of the birth of a female, his face remaineth darkened, and he is wroth inwardly. s: and when a daughter is announced to one of them his face becomes black and he is full of wrath. . y: with shame does he hide himself from his people, because of the bad news he has had! shall he retain it on (sufferance and) contempt, or bury it in the dust? ah! what an evil (choice) they decide on? p: he hideth himself from the folk because of the evil of that whereof he hath had tidings, (asking himself): shall he keep it in contempt, or bury it beneath the dust. verily evil is their judgment. s: he hides himself from the people because of the evil of that which is announced to him. shall he keep it with disgrace or bury it (alive) in the dust? now surely evil is what they judge. . y: to those who believe not in the hereafter, applies the similitude of evil: to allah applies the highest similitude: for he is the exalted in power, full of wisdom. p: for those who believe not in the hereafter is an evil similitude, and allah's is the sublime similitude. he is the mighty, the wise. s: for those who do not believe in the hereafter is an evil attribute, and allah's is the loftiest attribute; and he is the mighty, the wise. . y: if allah were to punish men for their wrong-doing, he would not leave, on the (earth), a single living creature: but he gives them respite for a stated term: when their term expires, they would not be able to delay (the punishment) for a single hour, just as they would not be able to anticipate it (for a single hour). p: if allah were to take mankind to task for their wrong-doing, he would not leave hereon a living creature, but he reprieveth them to an appointed term, and when their term cometh they cannot put (it) off an hour nor (yet) advance (it). s: and if allah had destroyed men for their iniquity, he would not leave on the earth a single creature, but he respites them till an appointed time; so when their doom will come they shall not be able to delay (it) an hour nor can they bring (it) on (before its time). . y: they attribute to allah what they hate (for themselves), and their tongues assert the falsehood that all good things are for themselves: without doubt for them is the fire, and they will be the first to be hastened on into it! p: and they assign unto allah that which they (themselves) dislike, and their tongues expound the lie that the better portion will be theirs. assuredly theirs will be the fire, and they will be abandoned. s: and they ascribe to allah what they (themselves) hate and their tongues relate the lie that they shall have the good; there is no avoiding it that for them is the fire and that they shall be sent before. . y: by allah, we (also) sent (our messengers) to peoples before thee; but satan made, (to the wicked), their own acts seem alluring: he is also their patron today, but they shall have a most grievous penalty. p: by allah, we verily sent messengers unto the nations before thee, but the devil made their deeds fairseeming unto them. so he is their patron this day, and theirs will be a painful doom. s: by allah, most certainly we sent (messengers) to nations before you, but the shaitan made their deeds fair-seeming to them, so he is their guardian today, and they shall have a painful punishment. . y: and we sent down the book to thee for the express purpose, that thou shouldst make clear to them those things in which they differ, and that it should be a guide and a mercy to those who believe. p: and we have revealed the scripture unto thee only that thou mayst explain unto them that wherein they differ, and (as) a guidance and a mercy for a people who believe. s: and we have not revealed to you the book except that you may make clear to them that about which they differ, and (as) a guidance and a mercy for a people who believe. . y: and allah sends down rain from the skies, and gives therewith life to the earth after its death: verily in this is a sign for those who listen. p: allah sendeth down water from the sky and therewith reviveth the earth after her death. lo! herein is indeed a portent for a folk who hear. s: and allah has sent down water from the cloud and therewith given life to the earth after its death; most surely there is a sign in this for a people who would listen. . y: and verily in cattle (too) will ye find an instructive sign. from what is within their bodies between excretions and blood, we produce, for your drink, milk, pure and agreeable to those who drink it. p: and lo! in the cattle there is a lesson for you. we give you to drink of that which is in their bellies, from betwixt the refuse and the blood, pure milk palatable to the drinkers. s: and most surely there is a lesson for you in the cattle; we give you to drink of what is in their bellies-- from betwixt the feces and the blood-- pure milk, easy and agreeable to swallow for those who drink. . y: and from the fruit of the date-palm and the vine, ye get out wholesome drink and food: behold, in this also is a sign for those who are wise. p: and of the fruits of the date-palm, and grapes, whence ye derive strong drink and (also) good nourishment. lo! therein is indeed a portent for people who have sense. s: and of the fruits of the palms and the grapes-- you obtain from them intoxication and goodly provision; most surely there is a sign in this for a people who ponder. . y: and thy lord taught the bee to build its cells in hills, on trees, and in (men's) habitations; p: and thy lord inspired the bee, saying: choose thou habitations in the hills and in the trees and in that which they thatch; s: and your lord revealed to the bee saying: make hives in the mountains and in the trees and in what they build: . y: then to eat of all the produce (of the earth), and find with skill the spacious paths of its lord: there issues from within their bodies a drink of varying colours, wherein is healing for men: verily in this is a sign for those who give thought. p: then eat of all fruits, and follow the ways of thy lord, made smooth (for thee). there cometh forth from their bellies a drink divers of hues, wherein is healing for mankind. lo! herein is indeed a portent for people who reflect. s: then eat of all the fruits and walk in the ways of your lord submissively. there comes forth from within it a beverage of many colours, in which there is healing for men; most surely there is a sign in this for a people who reflect. . y: it is allah who creates you and takes your souls at death; and of you there are some who are sent back to a feeble age, so that they know nothing after having known (much): for allah is all-knowing, all-powerful. p: and allah createth you, then causeth you to die, and among you is he who is brought back to the most abject stage of life, so that he knoweth nothing after (having had) knowledge. lo! allah is knower, powerful. s: and allah has created you, then he causes you to die, and of you is he who is brought back to the worst part of life, so that after having knowledge he does not know anything; surely allah is knowing, powerful. . y: allah has bestowed his gifts of sustenance more freely on some of you than on others: those more favoured are not going to throw back their gifts to those whom their right hands possess, so as to be equal in that respect. will they then deny the favours of allah? p: and allah hath favoured some of you above others in provision. now those who are more favoured will by no means hand over their provision to those (slaves) whom their right hands possess, so that they may be equal with them in respect thereof. is it then the grace of allah that they deny? s: and allah has made some of you excel others in the means of subsistence, so those who are made to excel do not give away their sustenance to those whom their right hands possess so that they should be equal therein; is it then the favor of allah which they deny? . y: and allah has made for you mates (and companions) of your own nature, and made for you, out of them, sons and daughters and grandchildren, and provided for you sustenance of the best: will they then believe in vain things, and be ungrateful for allah's favours?- p: and allah hath given you wives of your own kind, and hath given you, from your wives, sons and grandsons, and hath made provision of good things for you. is it then in vanity that they believe and in the grace of allah that they disbelieve? s: and allah has made wives for you from among yourselves, and has given you sons and grandchildren from your wives, and has given you of the good things; is it then in the falsehood that they believe while it is in the favor of allah that they disbelieve? . y: and worship others than allah,- such as have no power of providing them, for sustenance, with anything in heavens or earth, and cannot possibly have such power? p: and they worship beside allah that which owneth no provision whatsoever for them from the heavens or the earth, nor have they (whom they worship) any power. s: and they serve besides allah that which does not control for them any sustenance at all from the heavens and the earth, nor have they any power. . y: invent not similitudes for allah: for allah knoweth, and ye know not. p: so coin not similitudes for allah. lo! allah knoweth; ye know not. s: therefore do not give likenesses to allah; surely allah knows and you do not know. . y: allah sets forth the parable (of two men: one) a slave under the dominion of another; he has no power of any sort; and (the other) a man on whom we have bestowed goodly favours from ourselves, and he spends thereof (freely), privately and publicly: are the two equal? (by no means;) praise be to allah. but most of them understand not. p: allah coineth a similitude: (on the one hand) a (mere) chattel slave, who hath control of nothing, and (on the other hand) one on whom we have bestowed a fair provision from us, and he spendeth thereof secretly and openly. are they equal? praise be to allah! but most of them know not. s: allah sets forth a parable: (consider) a slave, the property of another, (who) has no power over anything, and one whom we have granted from ourselves a goodly sustenance so he spends from it secretly and openly; are the two alike? (all) praise is due to allah! nay, most of them do not know. . y: allah sets forth (another) parable of two men: one of them dumb, with no power of any sort; a wearisome burden is he to his master; whichever way be directs him, he brings no good: is such a man equal with one who commands justice, and is on a straight way? p: and allah coineth a similitude: two men, one of them dumb, having control of nothing, and he is a burden on his owner; whithersoever he directeth him to go, he bringeth no good. is he equal with one who enjoineth justice and followeth a straight path (of conduct)? s: and allah sets forth a parable of two men; one of them is dumb, not able to do anything, and he is a burden to his master; wherever he sends him, he brings no good; can he be held equal with him who enjoins what is just, and he (himself) is on the right path? . y: to allah belongeth the mystery of the heavens and the earth. and the decision of the hour (of judgment) is as the twinkling of an eye, or even quicker: for allah hath power over all things. p: and unto allah belongeth the unseen of the heavens and the earth, and the matter of the hour (of doom) is but as a twinkling of the eye, or it is nearer still. lo! allah is able to do all things. s: and allah's is the unseen of the heavens and the earth; and the matter of the hour is but as the twinkling of an eye or it is higher still; surely allah has power over all things. . y: it is he who brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers when ye knew nothing; and he gave you hearing and sight and intelligence and affections: that ye may give thanks (to allah). p: and allah brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers knowing nothing, and gave you hearing and sight and hearts that haply ye might give thanks. s: and allah has brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers-- you did not know anything-- and he gave you hearing and sight and hearts that you may give thanks. . y: do they not look at the birds, held poised in the midst of (the air and) the sky? nothing holds them up but (the power of) allah. verily in this are signs for those who believe. p: have they not seen the birds obedient in mid-air? none holdeth them save allah. lo! herein, verily, are portents for a people who believe. s: do they not see the birds, constrained in the middle of the sky? none withholds them but allah; most surely there are signs in this for a people who believe. . y: it is allah who made your habitations homes of rest and quiet for you; and made for you, out of the skins of animals, (tents for) dwellings, which ye find so light (and handy) when ye travel and when ye stop (in your travels); and out of their wool, and their soft fibres (between wool and hair), and their hair, rich stuff and articles of convenience (to serve you) for a time. p: and allah hath given you in your houses an abode, and hath given you (also), of the hides of cattle, houses which ye find light (to carry) on the day of migration and on the day of pitching camp; and of their wool and their fur and their hair, caparison and comfort for a while. s: and allah has given you a place to abide in your houses, and he has given you tents of the skins of cattle which you find light to carry on the day of your march and on the day of your halting, and of their wool and their fur and their hair (he has given you) household stuff and a provision for a time. . y: it is allah who made out of the things he created, some things to give you shade; of the hills he made some for your shelter; he made you garments to protect you from heat, and coats of mail to protect you from your (mutual) violence. thus does he complete his favours on you, that ye may bow to his will (in islam). p: and allah hath given you, of that which he hath created, shelter from the sun; and hath given you places of refuge in the mountains, and hath given you coats to ward off the heat from you, and coats (of armour) to save you from your own foolhardiness. thus doth he perfect his favour unto you, in order that ye may surrender (unto him). s: and allah has made for you of what he has created shelters, and he has given you in the mountains places of retreat, and he has given you garments to preserve you from the heat and coats of mail to preserve you in your fighting; even thus does he complete his favor upon you, that haply you may submit. . y: but if they turn away, thy duty is only to preach the clear message. p: then, if they turn away, thy duty (o muhammad) is but plain conveyance (of the message). s: but if they turn back, then on you devolves only the clear deliverance (of the message). . y: they recognise the favours of allah; then they deny them; and most of them are (creatures) ungrateful. p: they know the favour of allah and then deny it. most of them are ingrates. s: they recognize the favor of allah, yet they deny it, and most of them are ungrateful. . y: one day we shall raise from all peoples a witness: then will no excuse be accepted from unbelievers, nor will they receive any favours. p: and (bethink you of) the day when we raise up of every nation a witness, then there is no leave for disbelievers, nor are they allowed to make amends. s: and on the day when we will raise up a witness out of every nation, then shall no permission be given to those who disbelieve, nor shall they be made to solicit favor. . y: when the wrong-doers (actually) see the penalty, then will it in no way be mitigated, nor will they then receive respite. p: and when those who did wrong behold the doom, it will not be made light for them, nor will they be reprieved. s: and when those who are unjust shall see the chastisement, it shall not be lightened for them, nor shall they be respited. . . y: when those who gave partners to allah will see their "partners", they will say: "our lord! these are our 'partners,' those whom we used to invoke besides thee." but they will throw back their word at them (and say): "indeed ye are liars!" p: and when those who ascribed partners to allah behold those partners of theirs, they will say: our lord! these are our partners unto whom we used to cry instead of thee. but they will fling to them the saying: lo! ye verily are liars! s: and when those who associate (others with allah) shall see their associate-gods, they shall say: our lord, these are our associate-gods on whom we called besides thee. but they will give them back the reply: most surely you are liars. . y: that day shall they (openly) show (their) submission to allah; and all their inventions shall leave them in the lurch. p: and they proffer unto allah submission on that day, and all that they used to invent hath failed them. s: and they shall tender submission to allah on that day; and what they used to forge shall depart from them. . y: those who reject allah and hinder (men) from the path of allah - for them will we add penalty to penalty; for that they used to spread mischief. p: for those who disbelieve and debar (men) from the way of allah, we add doom to doom because they wrought corruption, s: (as for) those who disbelieve and turn away from allah's way, we will add chastisement to their chastisement because they made mischief. . y: one day we shall raise from all peoples a witness against them, from amongst themselves: and we shall bring thee as a witness against these (thy people): and we have sent down to thee the book explaining all things, a guide, a mercy, and glad tidings to muslims. p: and (bethink you of) the day when we raise in every nation a witness against them of their own folk, and we bring thee (muhammad) as a witness against these. and we reveal the scripture unto thee as an exposition of all things, and a guidance and a mercy and good tidings for those who have surrendered (to allah). s: and on the day when we will raise up in every people a witness against them from among themselves, and bring you as a witness against these-- and we have revealed the book to you explaining clearly everything, and a guidance and mercy and good news for those who submit. . y: allah commands justice, the doing of good, and liberality to kith and kin, and he forbids all shameful deeds, and injustice and rebellion: he instructs you, that ye may receive admonition. p: lo! allah enjoineth justice and kindness, and giving to kinsfolk, and forbiddeth lewdness and abomination and wickedness. he exhorteth you in order that ye may take heed. s: surely allah enjoins the doing of justice and the doing of good (to others) and the giving to the kindred, and he forbids indecency and evil and rebellion; he admonishes you that you may be mindful. . y: fulfil the covenant of allah when ye have entered into it, and break not your oaths after ye have confirmed them; indeed ye have made allah your surety; for allah knoweth all that ye do. p: fulfil the covenant of allah when ye have covenanted, and break not your oaths after the asseveration of them, and after ye have made allah surety over you. lo! allah knoweth what ye do. s: and fulfill the covenant of allah when you have made a covenant, and do not break the oaths after making them fast, and you have indeed made allah a surety for you; surely allah knows what you do. . y: and be not like a woman who breaks into untwisted strands the yarn which she has spun, after it has become strong. nor take your oaths to practise deception between yourselves, lest one party should be more numerous than another: for allah will test you by this; and on the day of judgment he will certainly make clear to you (the truth of) that wherein ye disagree. p: and be not like unto her who unravelleth the thread, after she hath made it strong, to thin filaments, making your oaths a deceit between you because of a nation being more numerous than (another) nation. allah only trieth you thereby, and he verily will explain to you on the day of resurrection that wherein ye differed. s: and be not like her who unravels her yarn, disintegrating it into pieces after she has spun it strongly. you make your oaths to be means of deceit between you because (one) nation is more numerous than (another) nation. allah only tries you by this; and he will most certainly make clear to you on the resurrection day that about which you differed. . y: if allah so willed, he could make you all one people: but he leaves straying whom he pleases, and he guides whom he pleases: but ye shall certainly be called to account for all your actions. p: had allah willed he could have made you (all) one nation, but he sendeth whom he will astray and guideth whom he will, and ye will indeed be asked of what ye used to do. s: and if allah please he would certainly make you a single nation, but he causes to err whom he pleases and guides whom he pleases; and most certainly you will be questioned as to what you did. . y: and take not your oaths, to practise deception between yourselves, with the result that someone's foot may slip after it was firmly planted, and ye may have to taste the evil (consequences) of having hindered (men) from the path of allah, and a mighty wrath descend on you. p: make not your oaths a deceit between you, lest a foot should slip after being firmly planted and ye should taste evil forasmuch as ye debarred (men) from the way of allah, and yours should be an awful doom. s: and do not make your oaths a means of deceit between you, lest a foot should slip after its stability and you should taste evil because you turned away from allah's way and grievous punishment be your (lot). . y: nor sell the covenant of allah for a miserable price: for with allah is (a prize) far better for you, if ye only knew. p: and purchase not a small gain at the price of allah's covenant. lo! that which allah hath is better for you, if ye did but know. s: and do not take a small price in exchange for allah's covenant; surely what is with allah is better for you, did you but know. . y: what is with you must vanish: what is with allah will endure. and we will certainly bestow, on those who patiently persevere, their reward according to the best of their actions. p: that which ye have wasteth away, and that which allah hath remaineth. and verily we shall pay those who are steadfast a recompense in proportion to the best of what they used to do. s: what is with you passes away and what is with allah is enduring; and we will most certainly give to those who are patient their reward for the best of what they did. . y: whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has faith, verily, to him will we give a new life, a life that is good and pure and we will bestow on such their reward according to the best of their actions. p: whosoever doeth right, whether male or female, and is a believer, him verily we shall quicken with good life, and we shall pay them a recompense in proportion to the best of what they used to do. s: whoever does good whether male or female and he is a believer, we will most certainly make him live a happy life, and we will most certainly give them their reward for the best of what they did. . y: when thou dost read the qur'an, seek allah's protection from satan the rejected one. p: and when thou recitest the qur'an, seek refuge in allah from satan the outcast. s: so when you recite the quran, seek refuge with allah from the accursed shaitan, . y: no authority has he over those who believe and put their trust in their lord. p: lo! he hath no power over those who believe and put trust in their lord. s: surely he has no authority over those who believe and rely on their lord. . y: his authority is over those only, who take him as patron and who join partners with allah. p: his power is only over those who make a friend of him, and those who ascribe partners unto him (allah). s: his authority is only over those who befriend him and those who associate others with him. . y: when we substitute one revelation for another,- and allah knows best what he reveals (in stages),- they say, "thou art but a forger": but most of them understand not. p: and when we put a revelation in place of (another) revelation, - and allah knoweth best what he revealeth - they say: lo! thou art but inventing. most of them know not. s: and when we change (one) communication for (another) communication, and allah knows best what he reveals, they say: you are only a forger. nay, most of them do not know. . y: say, the holy spirit has brought the revelation from thy lord in truth, in order to strengthen those who believe, and as a guide and glad tidings to muslims. p: say: the holy spirit hath delivered it from thy lord with truth, that it may confirm (the faith of) those who believe, and as guidance and good tidings for those who have surrendered (to allah). s: say: the holy spirit has revealed it from your lord with the truth, that it may establish those who believe and as a guidance and good news for those who submit. . y: we know indeed that they say, "it is a man that teaches him." the tongue of him they wickedly point to is notably foreign, while this is arabic, pure and clear. p: and we know well that they say: only a man teacheth him. the speech of him at whom they falsely hint is outlandish, and this is clear arabic speech. s: and certainly we know that they say: only a mortal teaches him. the tongue of him whom they reproach is barbarous, and this is clear arabic tongue. . y: those who believe not in the signs of allah,- allah will not guide them, and theirs will be a grievous penalty. p: lo! those who disbelieve the revelations of allah, allah guideth them not and theirs will be a painful doom. s: (as for) those who do not believe in allah's communications, surely allah will not guide them, and they shall have a painful punishment. . y: it is those who believe not in the signs of allah, that forge falsehood: it is they who lie! p: only they invent falsehood who believe not allah's revelations, and (only) they are the liars. s: only they forge the lie who do not believe in allah's communications, and these are the liars. . y: any one who, after accepting faith in allah, utters unbelief,- except under compulsion, his heart remaining firm in faith - but such as open their breast to unbelief, on them is wrath from allah, and theirs will be a dreadful penalty. p: whoso disbelieveth in allah after his belief - save him who is forced thereto and whose heart is still content with the faith - but whoso findeth ease in disbelief: on them is wrath from allah. theirs will be an awful doom. s: he who disbelieves in allah after his having believed, not he who is compelled while his heart is at rest on account of faith, but he who opens (his) breast to disbelief-- on these is the wrath of allah, and they shall have a grievous chastisement. . y: this because they love the life of this world better than the hereafter: and allah will not guide those who reject faith. p: that is because they have chosen the life of the world rather than the hereafter, and because allah guideth not the disbelieving folk. s: this is because they love this world's life more than the hereafter, and because allah does not guide the unbelieving people. . y: those are they whose hearts, ears, and eyes allah has sealed up, and they take no heed. p: such are they whose hearts and ears and eyes allah hath sealed. and such are the heedless. s: these are they on whose hearts and their hearing and their eyes allah has set a seal, and these are the heedless ones. . y: without doubt, in the hereafter they will perish. p: assuredly in the hereafter they are the losers. s: no doubt that in the hereafter they will be the losers. . y: but verily thy lord,- to those who leave their homes after trials and persecutions,- and who thereafter strive and fight for the faith and patiently persevere,- thy lord, after all this is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: then lo! thy lord - for those who became fugitives after they had been persecuted, and then fought and were steadfast - lo! thy lord afterward is (for them) indeed forgiving, merciful. s: yet surely your lord, with respect to those who fly after they are persecuted, then they struggle hard and are patient, most surely your lord after that is forgiving, merciful. . y: one day every soul will come up struggling for itself, and every soul will be recompensed (fully) for all its actions, and none will be unjustly dealt with. p: on the day when every soul will come pleading for itself, and every soul will be repaid what it did, and they will not be wronged. s: (remember) the day when every soul shall come, pleading for itself and every soul shall be paid in full what it has done, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly. . y: allah sets forth a parable: a city enjoying security and quiet, abundantly supplied with sustenance from every place: yet was it ungrateful for the favours of allah: so allah made it taste of hunger and terror (in extremes) (closing in on it) like a garment (from every side), because of the (evil) which (its people) wrought. p: allah coineth a similitude: a township that dwelt secure and well content, its provision coming to it in abundance from every side, but it disbelieved in allah's favours, so allah made it experience the garb of dearth and fear because of what they used to do. s: and allah sets forth a parable: (consider) a town safe and secure to which its means of subsistence come in abundance from every quarter; but it became ungrateful to allah's favors, therefore allah made it to taste the utmost degree of hunger and fear because of what they wrought. . y: and there came to them a messenger from among themselves, but they falsely rejected him; so the wrath seized them even in the midst of their iniquities. p: and verily there had come unto them a messenger from among them, but they had denied him, and so the torment seized them while they were wrong-doers. s: and certainly there came to them a messenger from among them, but they rejected him, so the punishment overtook them while they were unjust. . y: so eat of the sustenance which allah has provided for you, lawful and good; and be grateful for the favours of allah, if it is he whom ye serve. p: so eat of the lawful and good food which allah hath provided for you, and thank the bounty of your lord if it is him ye serve. s: therefore eat of what allah has given you, lawful and good (things), and give thanks for allah's favor if him do you serve. . y: he has only forbidden you dead meat, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and any (food) over which the name of other than allah has been invoked. but if one is forced by necessity, without wilful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits,- then allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: he hath forbidden for you only carrion and blood and swineflesh and that which hath been immolated in the name of any other than allah; but he who is driven thereto, neither craving nor transgressing, lo! then allah is forgiving, merciful. s: he has only forbidden you what dies of itself and blood and flesh of swine and that over which any other name than that of allah has been invoked, but whoever is driven to necessity, not desiring nor exceeding the limit, then surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: but say not - for any false thing that your tongues may put forth,- "this is lawful, and this is forbidden," so as to ascribe false things to allah. for those who ascribe false things to allah, will never prosper. p: and speak not, concerning that which your own tongues qualify (as clean or unclean), the falsehood: "this is lawful, and this is forbidden," so that ye invent a lie against allah. lo! those who invent a lie against allah will not succeed. s: and, for what your tongues describe, do not utter the lie, (saying) this is lawful and this is unlawful, in order to forge a lie against allah; surely those who forge the lie against allah shall not prosper. . y: (in such falsehood) is but a paltry profit; but they will have a most grievous penalty. p: a brief enjoyment (will be theirs); and theirs a painful doom. s: a little enjoyment and they shall have a painful punishment. . y: to the jews we prohibited such things as we have mentioned to thee before: we did them no wrong, but they were used to doing wrong to themselves. p: and unto those who are jews we have forbidden that which we have already related unto thee. and we wronged them not, but they were wont to wrong themselves. s: and for those who were jews we prohibited what we have related to you already, and we did them no injustice, but they were unjust to themselves. . y: but verily thy lord,- to those who do wrong in ignorance, but who thereafter repent and make amends,- thy lord, after all this, is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: then lo! thy lord - for those who do evil in ignorance and afterward repent and amend - lo! (for them) thy lord is afterward indeed forgiving, merciful. s: yet surely your lord, with respect to those who do an evil in ignorance, then turn after that and make amends, most surely your lord after that is forgiving, merciful. . y: abraham was indeed a model, devoutly obedient to allah, (and) true in faith, and he joined not gods with allah: p: lo! abraham was a nation obedient to allah, by nature upright, and he was not of the idolaters; s: surely ibrahim was an exemplar, obedient to allah, upright, and he was not of the polytheists. . y: he showed his gratitude for the favours of allah, who chose him, and guided him to a straight way. p: thankful for his bounties; he chose him and he guided him unto a straight path. s: grateful for his favors; he chose him and guided him on the right path. . y: and we gave him good in this world, and he will be, in the hereafter, in the ranks of the righteous. p: and we gave him good in the world, and in the hereafter he is among the righteous. s: and we gave him good in this world, and in the next he will most surely be among the good. . y: so we have taught thee the inspired (message), "follow the ways of abraham the true in faith, and he joined not gods with allah." p: and afterward we inspired thee (muhammad, saying): follow the religion of abraham, as one by nature upright. he was not of the idolaters. s: then we revealed to you: follow the faith of ibrahim, the upright one, and he was not of the polytheists. . y: the sabbath was only made (strict) for those who disagreed (as to its observance); but allah will judge between them on the day of judgment, as to their differences. p: the sabbath was appointed only for those who differed concerning it, and lo! thy lord will judge between them on the day of resurrection concerning that wherein they used to differ. s: the sabbath was ordained only for those who differed about it, and most surely your lord will judge between them on the resurrection day concerning that about which they differed. . y: invite (all) to the way of thy lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy lord knoweth best, who have strayed from his path, and who receive guidance. p: call unto the way of thy lord with wisdom and fair exhortation, and reason with them in the better way. lo! thy lord is best aware of him who strayeth from his way, and he is best aware of those who go aright. s: call to the way of your lord with wisdom and goodly exhortation, and have disputations with them in the best manner; surely your lord best knows those who go astray from his path, and he knows best those who follow the right way. . y: and if ye do catch them out, catch them out no worse than they catch you out: but if ye show patience, that is indeed the best (course) for those who are patient. p: if ye punish, then punish with the like of that wherewith ye were afflicted. but if ye endure patiently, verily it is better for the patient. s: and if you take your turn, then retaliate with the like of that with which you were afflicted; but if you are patient, it will certainly be best for those who are patient. . y: and do thou be patient, for thy patience is but from allah; nor grieve over them: and distress not thyself because of their plots. p: endure thou patiently (o muhammad). thine endurance is only by (the help of) allah. grieve not for them, and be not in distress because of that which they devise. s: and be patient and your patience is not but by (the assistance of) allah, and grieve not for them, and do not distress yourself at what they plan. . y: for allah is with those who restrain themselves, and those who do good. p: lo! allah is with those who keep their duty unto him and those who are doers of good. s: surely allah is with those who guard (against evil) and those who do good (to others). --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-isra (isra', the night journey, children of israel) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: glory to (allah) who did take his servant for a journey by night from the sacred mosque to the farthest mosque, whose precincts we did bless,- in order that we might show him some of our signs: for he is the one who heareth and seeth (all things). p: glorified be he who carried his servant by night from the inviolable place of worship to the far distant place of worship the neighbourhood whereof we have blessed, that we might show him of our tokens! lo! he, only he, is the hearer, the seer. s: glory be to him who made his servant to go on a night from the sacred mosque to the remote mosque of which we have blessed the precincts, so that we may show to him some of our signs; surely he is the hearing, the seeing. . y: we gave moses the book, and made it a guide to the children of israel, (commanding): "take not other than me as disposer of (your) affairs." p: we gave unto moses the scripture, and we appointed it a guidance for the children of israel, saying: choose no guardian beside me. s: and we gave musa the book and made it a guidance to the children of israel, saying: do not take a protector besides me; . y: o ye that are sprung from those whom we carried (in the ark) with noah! verily he was a devotee most grateful. p: (they were) the seed of those whom we carried (in the ship) along with noah. lo! he was a grateful slave. s: the offspring of those whom we bore with nuh; surely he was a grateful servant. . y: and we gave (clear) warning to the children of israel in the book, that twice would they do mischief on the earth and be elated with mighty arrogance (and twice would they be punished)! p: and we decreed for the children of israel in the scripture: ye verily will work corruption in the earth twice, and ye will become great tyrants. s: and we had made known to the children of israel in the book: most certainly you will make mischief in the land twice, and most certainly you will behave insolently with great insolence. . y: when the first of the warnings came to pass, we sent against you our servants given to terrible warfare: they entered the very inmost parts of your homes; and it was a warning (completely) fulfilled. p: so when the time for the first of the two came, we roused against you slaves of ours of great might who ravaged (your) country, and it was a threat performed. s: so when the promise for the first of the two came, we sent over you our servants, of mighty prowess, so they went to and fro among the houses, and it was a promise to be accomplished. . y: then did we grant you the return as against them: we gave you increase in resources and sons, and made you the more numerous in man-power. p: then we gave you once again your turn against them, and we aided you with wealth and children and made you more in soldiery. s: then we gave you back the turn to prevail against them, and aided you with wealth and children and made you a numerous band. . y: if ye did well, ye did well for yourselves; if ye did evil, (ye did it) against yourselves. so when the second of the warnings came to pass, (we permitted your enemies) to disfigure your faces, and to enter your temple as they had entered it before, and to visit with destruction all that fell into their power. p: (saying): if ye do good, ye do good for your own souls, and if ye do evil, it is for them (in like manner). so, when the time for the second (of the judgments) came (we roused against you others of our slaves) to ravage you, and to enter the temple even as they entered it the first time, and to lay waste all that they conquered with an utter wasting. s: if you do good, you will do good for your own souls, and if you do evil, it shall be for them. so when the second promise came (we raised another people) that they may bring you to grief and that they may enter the mosque as they entered it the first time, and that they might destroy whatever they gained ascendancy over with utter destruction. . y: it may be that your lord may (yet) show mercy unto you; but if ye revert (to your sins), we shall revert (to our punishments): and we have made hell a prison for those who reject (all faith). p: it may be that your lord will have mercy on you, but if ye repeat (the crime) we shall repeat (the punishment), and we have appointed hell a dungeon for the disbelievers. s: it may be that your lord will have mercy on you, and if you again return (to disobedience) we too will return (to punishment), and we have made hell a prison for the unbelievers. . y: verily this qur'an doth guide to that which is most right (or stable), and giveth the glad tidings to the believers who work deeds of righteousness, that they shall have a magnificent reward; p: lo! this qur'an guideth unto that which is straightest, and giveth tidings unto the believers who do good works that theirs will be a great reward. s: surely this quran guides to that which is most upright and gives good news to the believers who do good that they shall have a great reward. . y: and to those who believe not in the hereafter, (it announceth) that we have prepared for them a penalty grievous (indeed). p: and that those who believe not in the hereafter, for them we have prepared a painful doom. s: and that (as for) those who do not believe in the hereafter, we have prepared for them a painful chastisement. . y: the prayer that man should make for good, he maketh for evil; for man is given to hasty (deeds). p: man prayeth for evil as he prayeth for good; for man was ever hasty. s: and man prays for evil as he ought to pray for good, and man is ever hasty. . y: we have made the night and the day as two (of our) signs: the sign of the night have we obscured, while the sign of the day we have made to enlighten you; that ye may seek bounty from your lord, and that ye may know the number and count of the years: all things have we explained in detail. p: and we appoint the night and the day two portents. then we make dark the portent of the night, and we make the portent of the day sight-giving, that ye may seek bounty from your lord, and that ye may know the computation of the years, and the reckoning; and everything have we expounded with a clear expounding. s: and we have made the night and the day two signs, then we have made the sign of the night to pass away and we have made the sign of the day manifest, so that you may seek grace from your lord, and that you might know the numbering of years and the reckoning; and we have explained everything with distinctness. . y: every man's fate we have fastened on his own neck: on the day of judgment we shall bring out for him a scroll, which he will see spread open. p: and every man's augury have we fastened to his own neck, and we shall bring forth for him on the day of resurrection a book which he will find wide open. s: and we have made every man's actions to cling to his neck, and we will bring forth to him on the resurrection day a book which he will find wide open: . y: (it will be said to him:) "read thine (own) record: sufficient is thy soul this day to make out an account against thee." p: (and it will be said unto him): read thy book. thy soul sufficeth as reckoner against thee this day. s: read your book; your own self is sufficient as a reckoner against you this day. . y: who receiveth guidance, receiveth it for his own benefit: who goeth astray doth so to his own loss: no bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another: nor would we visit with our wrath until we had sent a messenger (to give warning). p: whosoever goeth right, it is only for (the good of) his own soul that he goeth right, and whosoever erreth, erreth only to its hurt. no laden soul can bear another's load, we never punish until we have sent a messenger. s: whoever goes aright, for his own soul does he go aright; and whoever goes astray, to its detriment only does he go astray: nor can the bearer of a burden bear the burden of another, nor do we chastise until we raise a messenger. . y: when we decide to destroy a population, we (first) send a definite order to those among them who are given the good things of this life and yet transgress; so that the word is proved true against them: then (it is) we destroy them utterly. p: and when we would destroy a township we send commandment to its folk who live at ease, and afterward they commit abomination therein, and so the word (of doom) hath effect for it, and we annihilate it with complete annihilation. s: and when we wish to destroy a town, we send our commandment to the people of it who lead easy lives, but they transgress therein; thus the word proves true against it, so we destroy it with utter destruction. . y: how many generations have we destroyed after noah? and enough is thy lord to note and see the sins of his servants. p: how many generations have we destroyed since noah! and allah sufficeth as knower and beholder of the sins of his slaves. s: and how many of the generations did we destroy after nuh! and your lord is sufficient as knowing and seeing with regard to his servants' faults. . y: if any do wish for the transitory things (of this life), we readily grant them - such things as we will, to such person as we will: in the end have we provided hell for them: they will burn therein, disgraced and rejected. p: whoso desireth that (life) which hasteneth away, we hasten for him therein what we will for whom we please. and afterward we have appointed for him hell; he will endure the heat thereof, condemned, rejected. s: whoever desires this present life, we hasten to him therein what we please for whomsoever we desire, then we assign to him the hell; he shall enter it despised, driven away. . y: those who do wish for the (things of) the hereafter, and strive therefor with all due striving, and have faith,- they are the ones whose striving is acceptable (to allah). p: and whoso desireth the hereafter and striveth for it with the effort necessary, being a believer; for such, their effort findeth favour (with their lord). s: and whoever desires the hereafter and strives for it as he ought to strive and he is a believer; (as for) these, their striving shall surely be accepted. . y: of the bounties of thy lord we bestow freely on all- these as well as those: the bounties of thy lord are not closed (to anyone). p: each do we supply, both these and those, from the bounty of thy lord. and the bounty of thy lord can never be walled up. s: all do we aid-- these as well as those-- out of the bounty of your lord, and the bounty of your lord is not confined. . y: see how we have bestowed more on some than on others; but verily the hereafter is more in rank and gradation and more in excellence. p: see how we prefer one of them above another, and verily the hereafter will be greater in degrees and greater in preferment. s: see how we have made some of them to excel others, and certainly the hereafter is much superior in respect of excellence. . y: take not with allah another object of worship; or thou (o man!) wilt sit in disgrace and destitution. p: set not up with allah any other god (o man) lest thou sit down reproved, forsaken. s: do not associate with allah any other god, lest you sit down despised, neglected. . y: thy lord hath decreed that ye worship none but him, and that ye be kind to parents. whether one or both of them attain old age in thy life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honour. p: thy lord hath decreed, that ye worship none save him, and (that ye show) kindness to parents. if one of them or both of them attain old age with thee, say not "fie" unto them nor repulse them, but speak unto them a gracious word. s: and your lord has commanded that you shall not serve (any) but him, and goodness to your parents. if either or both of them reach old age with you, say not to them (so much as) "ugh" nor chide them, and speak to them a generous word. . y: and, out of kindness, lower to them the wing of humility, and say: "my lord! bestow on them thy mercy even as they cherished me in childhood." p: and lower unto them the wing of submission through mercy, and say: my lord! have mercy on them both as they did care for me when i was little. s: and make yourself submissively gentle to them with compassion, and say: o my lord! have compassion on them, as they brought me up (when i was) little. . y: your lord knoweth best what is in your hearts: if ye do deeds of righteousness, verily he is most forgiving to those who turn to him again and again (in true penitence). p: your lord is best aware of what is in your minds. if ye are righteous, then lo! he was ever forgiving unto those who turn (unto him). s: your lord knows best what is in your minds; if you are good, then he is surely forgiving to those who turn (to him) frequently. . y: and render to the kindred their due rights, as (also) to those in want, and to the wayfarer: but squander not (your wealth) in the manner of a spendthrift. p: give the kinsman his due, and the needy, and the wayfarer, and squander not (thy wealth) in wantonness. s: and give to the near of kin his due and (to) the needy and the wayfarer, and do not squander wastefully. . y: verily spendthrifts are brothers of the evil ones; and the evil one is to his lord (himself) ungrateful. p: lo! the squanderers were ever brothers of the devils, and the devil was ever an ingrate to his lord. s: surely the squanderers are the fellows of the shaitans and the shaitan is ever ungrateful to his lord. . y: and even if thou hast to turn away from them in pursuit of the mercy from thy lord which thou dost expect, yet speak to them a word of easy kindness. p: but if thou turn away from them, seeking mercy from thy lord, for which thou hopest, then speak unto them a reasonable word. s: and if you turn away from them to seek mercy from your lord, which you hope for, speak to them a gentle word. . y: make not thy hand tied (like a niggard's) to thy neck, nor stretch it forth to its utmost reach, so that thou become blameworthy and destitute. p: and let not thy hand be chained to thy neck nor open it with a complete opening, lest thou sit down rebuked, denuded. s: and do not make your hand to be shackled to your neck nor stretch it forth to the utmost (limit) of its stretching forth, lest you should (afterwards) sit down blamed, stripped off. . y: verily thy lord doth provide sustenance in abundance for whom he pleaseth, and he provideth in a just measure. for he doth know and regard all his servants. p: lo! thy lord enlargeth the provision for whom he will, and straiteneth (it for whom he will). lo, he was ever knower, seer of his slaves. s: surely your lord makes plentiful the means of subsistence for whom he pleases and he straitens (them); surely he is ever aware of, seeing, his servants. . y: kill not your children for fear of want: we shall provide sustenance for them as well as for you. verily the killing of them is a great sin. p: slay not your children, fearing a fall to poverty, we shall provide for them and for you. lo! the slaying of them is great sin. s: and do not kill your children for fear of poverty; we give them sustenance and yourselves (too); surely to kill them is a great wrong. . y: nor come nigh to adultery: for it is a shameful (deed) and an evil, opening the road (to other evils). p: and come not near unto adultery. lo! it is an abomination and an evil way. s: and go not nigh to fornication; surely it is an indecency and an evil way. . y: nor take life - which allah has made sacred - except for just cause. and if anyone is slain wrongfully, we have given his heir authority (to demand qisas or to forgive): but let him not exceed bounds in the matter of taking life; for he is helped (by the law). p: and slay not the life which allah hath forbidden save with right. whoso is slain wrongfully, we have given power unto his heir, but let him not commit excess in slaying. lo! he will be helped. s: and do not kill any one whom allah has forbidden, except for a just cause, and whoever is slain unjustly, we have indeed given to his heir authority, so let him not exceed the just limits in slaying; surely he is aided. . y: come not nigh to the orphan's property except to improve it, until he attains the age of full strength; and fulfil (every) engagement, for (every) engagement will be enquired into (on the day of reckoning). p: come not near the wealth of the orphan save with that which is better till he come to strength; and keep the covenant. lo! of the covenant it will be asked. s: and draw not near to the property of the orphan except in a goodly way till he attains his maturity and fulfill the promise; surely (every) promise shall be questioned about. . y: give full measure when ye measure, and weigh with a balance that is straight: that is the most fitting and the most advantageous in the final determination. p: fill the measure when ye measure, and weigh with a right balance; that is meet, and better in the end. s: and give full measure when you measure out, and weigh with a true balance; this is fair and better in the end. . y: and pursue not that of which thou hast no knowledge; for every act of hearing, or of seeing or of (feeling in) the heart will be enquired into (on the day of reckoning). p: (o man), follow not that whereof thou hast no knowledge. lo! the hearing and the sight and the heart - of each of these it will be asked. s: and follow not that of which you have not the knowledge; surely the hearing and the sight and the heart, all of these, shall be questioned about that. . y: nor walk on the earth with insolence: for thou canst not rend the earth asunder, nor reach the mountains in height. p: and walk not in the earth exultant. lo! thou canst not rend the earth, nor canst thou stretch to the height of the hills. s: and do not go about in the land exultingly, for you cannot cut through the earth nor reach the mountains in height. . y: of all such things the evil is hateful in the sight of thy lord. p: the evil of all that is hateful in the sight of thy lord. s: all this-- the evil of it-- is hateful in the sight of your lord. . y: these are among the (precepts of) wisdom, which thy lord has revealed to thee. take not, with allah, another object of worship, lest thou shouldst be thrown into hell, blameworthy and rejected. p: this is (part) of that wisdom wherewith thy lord hath inspired thee (o muhammad). and set not up with allah any other god, lest thou be cast into hell, reproved, abandoned. s: this is of what your lord has revealed to you of wisdom, and do not associate any other god with allah lest you should be thrown into hell, blamed, cast away. . y: has then your lord (o pagans!) preferred for you sons, and taken for himself daughters among the angels? truly ye utter a most dreadful saying! p: hath your lord then distinguished you (o men of makka) by giving you sons, and hath chosen for himself females from among the angels? lo! verily ye speak an awful word! s: what! has then your lord preferred to give you sons, and (for himself) taken daughters from among the angels? most surely you utter a grievous saying. . y: we have explained (things) in various (ways) in this qur'an, in order that they may receive admonition, but it only increases their flight (from the truth)! p: we verily have displayed (our warnings) in this qur'an that they may take heed, but it increaseth them in naught save aversion. s: and certainly we have repeated (warnings) in this quran that they may be mindful, but it does not add save to their aversion. . y: say: if there had been (other) gods with him, as they say,- behold, they would certainly have sought out a way to the lord of the throne! p: say (o muhammad, to the disbelievers): if there were other gods along with him, as they say, then had they sought a way against the lord of the throne. s: say: if there were with him gods as they say, then certainly they would have been able to seek a way to the lord of power. . y: glory to him! he is high above all that they say!- exalted and great (beyond measure)! p: glorified is he, and high exalted above what they say! s: glory be to him and exalted be he in high exaltation above what they say. . y: the seven heavens and the earth, and all beings therein, declare his glory: there is not a thing but celebrates his praise; and yet ye understand not how they declare his glory! verily he is oft-forbearing, most forgiving! p: the seven heavens and the earth and all that is therein praise him, and there is not a thing but hymneth his praise; but ye understand not their praise. lo! he is ever clement, forgiving. s: the seven heavens declare his glory and the earth (too), and those who are in them; and there is not a single thing but glorifies him with his praise, but you do not understand their glorification; surely he is forbearing, forgiving. . y: when thou dost recite the qur'an, we put, between thee and those who believe not in the hereafter, a veil invisible: p: and when thou recitest the qur'an we place between thee and those who believe not in the hereafter a hidden barrier; s: and when you recite the quran, we place between you and those who do not believe in the hereafter a hidden barrier; . y: and we put coverings over their hearts (and minds) lest they should understand the qur'an, and deafness into their ears: when thou dost commemorate thy lord and him alone in the qur'an, they turn on their backs, fleeing (from the truth). p: and we place upon their hearts veils lest they should understand it, and in their ears a deafness; and when thou makest mention of thy lord alone in the qur'an, they turn their backs in aversion. s: and we have placed coverings on their hearts and a heaviness in their ears lest they understand it, and when you mention your lord alone in the quran they turn their backs in aversion. . y: we know best why it is they listen, when they listen to thee; and when they meet in private conference, behold, the wicked say, "ye follow none other than a man bewitched!" p: we are best aware of what they wish to hear when they give ear to thee and when they take secret counsel, when the evil-doers say: ye follow but a man bewitched. s: we know best what they listen to when they listen to you, and when they take counsel secretly, when the unjust say: you follow only a man deprived of reason. . y: see what similes they strike for thee: but they have gone astray, and never can they find a way. p: see what similitudes they coin for thee, and thus are all astray, and cannot find a road! s: see what they liken you to! so they have gone astray and cannot find the way. . y: they say: "what! when we are reduced to bones and dust, should we really be raised up (to be) a new creation?" p: and they say: when we are bones and fragments, shall we forsooth, be raised up as a new creation? s: and they say: what! when we shall have become bones and decayed particles, shall we then certainly be raised up, being a new creation? . y: say: "(nay!) be ye stones or iron," p: say: be ye stones or iron s: say: become stones or iron, . y: "or created matter which, in your minds, is hardest (to be raised up),- (yet shall ye be raised up)!" then will they say: "who will cause us to return?" say: "he who created you first!" then will they wag their heads towards thee, and say, "when will that be?" say, "may be it will be quite soon!" p: or some created thing that is yet greater in your thoughts! then they will say: who shall bring us back (to life). say: he who created you at the first. then will they shake their heads at thee, and say: when will it be? say: it will perhaps be soon; s: or some other creature of those which are too hard (to receive life) in your minds! but they will say: who will return us? say: who created you at first. still they will shake their heads at you and say: when will it be? say: maybe it has drawn nigh. . y: "it will be on a day when he will call you, and ye will answer (his call) with (words of) his praise, and ye will think that ye tarried but a little while!" p: a day when he will call you and ye will answer with his praise, and ye will think that ye have tarried but a little while. s: on the day when he will call you forth, then shall you obey him, giving him praise, and you will think that you tarried but a little (while). . y: say to my servants that they should (only) say those things that are best: for satan doth sow dissensions among them: for satan is to man an avowed enemy. p: tell my bondmen to speak that which is kindlier. lo! the devil soweth discord among them. lo! the devil is for man an open foe. s: and say to my servants (that) they speak that which is best; surely the shaitan sows dissensions among them; surely the shaitan is an open enemy to man. . y: it is your lord that knoweth you best: if he please, he granteth you mercy, or if he please, punishment: we have not sent thee to be a disposer of their affairs for them. p: your lord is best aware of you. if he will, he will have mercy on you, or if he will, he will punish you. we have not sent thee (o muhammad) as a warden over them. s: your lord knows you best; he will have mercy on you if he pleases, or he will chastise you if he pleases; and we have not sent you as being in charge of them. . y: and it is your lord that knoweth best all beings that are in the heavens and on earth: we did bestow on some prophets more (and other) gifts than on others: and we gave to david (the gift of) the psalms. p: and thy lord is best aware of all who are in the heavens and the earth. and we preferred some of the prophets above others, and unto david we gave the psalms. s: and your lord best knows those who are in the heavens and the earth; and certainly we have made some of the prophets to excel others, and to dawood we gave a scripture. . y: say: "call on those - besides him - whom ye fancy: they have neither the power to remove your troubles from you nor to change them." p: say: cry unto those (saints and angels) whom ye assume (to be gods) beside him, yet they have no power to rid you of misfortune nor to change. s: say: call on those whom you assert besides him, so they shall not control the removal of distress from you nor (its) transference. . y: those whom they call upon do desire (for themselves) means of access to their lord, - even those who are nearest: they hope for his mercy and fear his wrath: for the wrath of thy lord is something to take heed of. p: those unto whom they cry seek the way of approach to their lord, which of them shall be the nearest; they hope for his mercy and they fear his doom. lo! the doom of thy lord is to be shunned. s: those whom they call upon, themselves seek the means of access to their lord-- whoever of them is nearest-- and they hope for his mercy and fear his chastisement; surely the chastisement of your lord is a thing to be cautious of. . y: there is not a population but we shall destroy it before the day of judgment or punish it with a dreadful penalty: that is written in the (eternal) record. p: there is not a township but we shall destroy it ere the day of resurrection, or punish it with dire punishment. that is set forth in the book (of our decrees). s: and there is not a town but we will destroy it before the day of resurrection or chastise it with a severe chastisement; this is written in the divine ordinance. . y: and we refrain from sending the signs, only because the men of former generations treated them as false: we sent the she-camel to the thamud to open their eyes, but they treated her wrongfully: we only send the signs by way of terror (and warning from evil). p: naught hindereth us from sending portents save that the folk of old denied them. and we gave thamud the she-camel - a clear portent save to warn. s: and nothing could have hindered us that we should send signs except that the ancients rejected them; and we gave to samood the she-camel-- a manifest sign-- but on her account they did injustice, and we do not send signs but to make (men) fear. . y: behold! we told thee that thy lord doth encompass mankind round about: we granted the vision which we showed thee, but as a trial for men,- as also the cursed tree (mentioned) in the qur'an: we put terror (and warning) into them, but it only increases their inordinate transgression! p: and (it was a warning) when we told thee: lo! thy lord encompasseth mankind, and we appointed the sight which we showed thee as an ordeal for mankind, and (likewise) the accursed tree in the qur'an. we warn them, but it increaseth them in naught save gross impiety. s: and when we said to you: surely your lord encompasses men; and we did not make the vision which we showed you but a trial for men and the cursed tree in the quran as well; and we cause them to fear, but it only adds to their great inordinacy. . y: behold! we said to the angels: "bow down unto adam": they bowed down except iblis: he said, "shall i bow down to one whom thou didst create from clay?" p: and when we said unto the angels: fall down prostrate before adam and they fell prostrate all save iblis, he said: shall i fall prostrate before that which thou hast created of clay? s: and when we said to the angels: make obeisance to adam; they made obeisance, but iblis (did it not). he said: shall i make obeisance to him whom thou hast created of dust? . y: he said: "seest thou? this is the one whom thou hast honoured above me! if thou wilt but respite me to the day of judgment, i will surely bring his descendants under my sway - all but a few!" p: he said: seest thou this (creature) whom thou hast honoured above me, if thou give me grace until the day of resurrection i verily will seize his seed, save but a few. s: he said: tell me, is this he whom thou hast honored above me? if thou shouldst respite me to the day of resurrection, i will most certainly cause his progeny to perish except a few. . y: (allah) said: "go thy way; if any of them follow thee, verily hell will be the recompense of you (all)- an ample recompense." p: he said: go, and whosoever of them followeth thee - lo! hell will be your payment, ample payment. s: he said: be gone! for whoever of them will follow you, then surely hell is your recompense, a full recompense: . y: "lead to destruction those whom thou canst among them, with thy (seductive) voice; make assaults on them with thy cavalry and thy infantry; mutually share with them wealth and children; and make promises to them." but satan promises them nothing but deceit. p: and excite any of them whom thou canst with thy voice, and urge thy horse and foot against them, and be a partner in their wealth and children, and promise them. satan promiseth them only to deceive. s: and beguile whomsoever of them you can with your voice, and collect against them your forces riding and on foot, and share with them in wealth and children, and hold out promises to them; and the shaitan makes not promises to them but to deceive: . y: "as for my servants, no authority shalt thou have over them:" enough is thy lord for a disposer of affairs. p: lo! my (faithful) bondmen - over them thou hast no power, and thy lord sufficeth as (their) guardian. s: surely (as for) my servants, you have no authority over them; and your lord is sufficient as a protector. . y: your lord is he that maketh the ship go smoothly for you through the sea, in order that ye may seek of his bounty. for he is unto you most merciful. p: (o mankind), your lord is he who driveth for you the ship upon the sea that ye may seek of his bounty. lo! he was ever merciful toward you. s: your lord is he who speeds the ships for you in the sea that you may seek of his grace; surely he is ever merciful to you. . y: when distress seizes you at sea, those that ye call upon - besides himself - leave you in the lurch! but when he brings you back safe to land, ye turn away (from him). most ungrateful is man! p: and when harm toucheth you upon the sea, all unto whom ye cry (for succour) fail save him (alone), but when he bringeth you safe to land, ye turn away, for man was ever thankless. s: and when distress afflicts you in the sea, away go those whom you call on except he; but when he brings you safe to the land, you turn aside; and man is ever ungrateful. . y: do ye then feel secure that he will not cause you to be swallowed up beneath the earth when ye are on land, or that he will not send against you a violent tornado (with showers of stones) so that ye shall find no one to carry out your affairs for you? p: feel ye then secure that he will not cause a slope of the land to engulf you, or send a sand-storm upon you, and then ye will find that ye have no protector? s: what! do you then feel secure that he will not cause a tract of land to engulf you or send on you a tornado? then you shall not find a protector for yourselves. . y: or do ye feel secure that he will not send you back a second time to sea and send against you a heavy gale to drown you because of your ingratitude, so that ye find no helper. therein against us? p: or feel ye secure that he will not return you to that (plight) a second time, and send against you a hurricane of wind and drown you for your thanklessness, and then ye will not find therein that ye have any avenger against us? s: or, do you feel secure that he will (not) take you back into it another time, then send on you a fierce gale and thus drown you on account of your ungratefulness? then you shall not find any aider against us in the matter. . y: we have honoured the sons of adam; provided them with transport on land and sea; given them for sustenance things good and pure; and conferred on them special favours, above a great part of our creation. p: verily we have honoured the children of adam. we carry them on the land and the sea, and have made provision of good things for them, and have preferred them above many of those whom we created with a marked preferment. s: and surely we have honored the children of adam, and we carry them in the land and the sea, and we have given them of the good things, and we have made them to excel by an appropriate excellence over most of those whom we have created. . y: one day we shall call together all human beings with their (respective) imams: those who are given their record in their right hand will read it (with pleasure), and they will not be dealt with unjustly in the least. p: on the day when we shall summon all men with their record, whoso is given his book in his right hand - such will read their book and they will not be wronged a shred. s: (remember) the day when we will call every people with their imam; then whoever is given his book in his right hand, these shall read their book; and they shall not be dealt with a whit unjustly. . y: but those who were blind in this world, will be blind in the hereafter, and most astray from the path. p: whoso is blind here will be blind in the hereafter, and yet further from the road. s: and whoever is blind in this, he shall (also) be blind in the hereafter; and more erring from the way. . y: and their purpose was to tempt thee away from that which we had revealed unto thee, to substitute in our name something quite different; (in that case), behold! they would certainly have made thee (their) friend! p: and they indeed strove hard to beguile thee (muhammad) away from that wherewith we have inspired thee, that thou shouldst invent other than it against us; and then would they have accepted thee as a friend. s: and surely they had purposed to turn you away from that which we have revealed to you, that you should forge against us other than that, and then they would certainly have taken you for a friend. . y: and had we not given thee strength, thou wouldst nearly have inclined to them a little. p: and if we had not made thee wholly firm thou mightest almost have inclined unto them a little. s: and had it not been that we had already established you, you would certainly have been near to incline to them a little; . y: in that case we should have made thee taste an equal portion (of punishment) in this life, and an equal portion in death: and moreover thou wouldst have found none to help thee against us! p: then had we made thee taste a double (punishment) of living and a double (punishment) of dying, then hadst thou found no helper against us. s: in that case we would certainly have made you to taste a double (punishment) in this life and a double (punishment) after death, then you would not have found any helper against us. . y: their purpose was to scare thee off the land, in order to expel thee; but in that case they would not have stayed (therein) after thee, except for a little while. p: and they indeed wished to scare thee from the land that they might drive thee forth from thence, and then they would have stayed (there) but a little after thee. s: and surely they purposed to unsettle you from the land that they might expel you from it, and in that case they will not tarry behind you but a little. . y: (this was our) way with the messengers we sent before thee: thou wilt find no change in our ways. p: (such was our) method in the case of those whom we sent before thee (to mankind), and thou wilt not find for our method aught of power to change. s: (this is our) course with regard to those of our messengers whom we sent before you, and you shall not find a change in our course. . y: establish regular prayers - at the sun's decline till the darkness of the night, and the morning prayer and reading: for the prayer and reading in the morning carry their testimony. p: establish worship at the going down of the sun until the dark of night, and (the recital of) the qur'an at dawn. lo! (the recital of) the qur'an at dawn is ever witnessed. s: keep up prayer from the declining of the sun till the darkness of the night and the morning recitation; surely the morning recitation is witnessed. . y: and pray in the small watches of the morning: (it would be) an additional prayer (or spiritual profit) for thee: soon will thy lord raise thee to a station of praise and glory! p: and some part of the night awake for it, a largess for thee. it may be that thy lord will raise thee to a praised estate. s: and during a part of the night, pray tahajjud beyond what is incumbent on you; maybe your lord will raise you to a position of great glory. . y: say: "o my lord! let my entry be by the gate of truth and honour, and likewise my exit by the gate of truth and honour; and grant me from thy presence an authority to aid (me)." p: and say: my lord! cause me to come in with a firm incoming and to go out with a firm outgoing. and give me from thy presence a sustaining power. s: and say: my lord! make me to enter a goodly entering, and cause me to go forth a goodly going forth, and grant me from near thee power to assist (me). . y: and say: "truth has (now) arrived, and falsehood perished: for falsehood is (by its nature) bound to perish." p: and say: truth hath come and falsehood hath vanished away. lo! falsehood is ever bound to vanish. s: and say: the truth has come and the falsehood has vanished; surely falsehood is a vanishing (thing). . y: we send down (stage by stage) in the qur'an that which is a healing and a mercy to those who believe: to the unjust it causes nothing but loss after loss. p: and we reveal of the qur'an that which is a healing and a mercy for believers though it increase the evil-doers in naught save ruin. s: and we reveal of the quran that which is a healing and a mercy to the believers, and it adds only to the perdition of the unjust. . y: yet when we bestow our favours on man, he turns away and becomes remote on his side (instead of coming to us), and when evil seizes him he gives himself up to despair! p: and when we make life pleasant unto man, he turneth away and is averse; and when ill toucheth him he is in despair. s: and when we bestow favor on man, he turns aside and behaves proudly, and when evil afflicts him, he is despairing. . y: say: "everyone acts according to his own disposition: but your lord knows best who it is that is best guided on the way." p: say: each one doth according to his rule of conduct, and thy lord is best aware of him whose way is right. s: say: every one acts according to his manner; but your lord best knows who is best guided in the path. . y: they ask thee concerning the spirit (of inspiration). say: "the spirit (cometh) by command of my lord: of knowledge it is only a little that is communicated to you, (o men!)" p: they are asking thee concerning the spirit. say: the spirit is by command of my lord, and of knowledge ye have been vouchsafed but little. s: and they ask you about the soul. say: the soul is one of the commands of my lord, and you are not given aught of knowledge but a little. . y: if it were our will, we could take away that which we have sent thee by inspiration: then wouldst thou find none to plead thy affair in that matter as against us,- p: and if we willed we could withdraw that which we have revealed unto thee, then wouldst thou find no guardian for thee against us in respect thereof. s: and if we please, we should certainly take away that which we have revealed to you, then you would not find for it any protector against us. . y: except for mercy from thy lord: for his bounty is to thee (indeed) great. p: (it is naught) save mercy from thy lord. lo! his kindness unto thee was ever great. s: but on account of mercy from your lord-- surely his grace to you is abundant. . y: say: "if the whole of mankind and jinns were to gather together to produce the like of this qur'an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they backed up each other with help and support." p: say: verily, though mankind and the jinn should assemble to produce the like of this qur'an, they could not produce the like thereof though they were helpers one of another. s: say: if men and jinn should combine together to bring the like of this quran, they could not bring the like of it, though some of them were aiders of others. . y: and we have explained to man, in this qur'an, every kind of similitude: yet the greater part of men refuse (to receive it) except with ingratitude! p: and verily we have displayed for mankind in this qur'an all kind of similitudes, but most of mankind refuse aught save disbelief. s: and certainly we have explained for men in this quran every kind of similitude, but most men do not consent to aught but denying. . y: they say: "we shall not believe in thee, until thou cause a spring to gush forth for us from the earth," p: and they say: we will not put faith in thee till thou cause a spring to gush forth from the earth for us; s: and they say: we will by no means believe in you until you cause a fountain to gush forth from the earth for us. . y: "or (until) thou have a garden of date trees and vines, and cause rivers to gush forth in their midst, carrying abundant water;" p: or thou have a garden of date-palms and grapes, and cause rivers to gush forth therein abundantly; s: or you should have a garden of palms and grapes in the midst of which you should cause rivers to flow forth, gushing out. . y: "or thou cause the sky to fall in pieces, as thou sayest (will happen), against us; or thou bring allah and the angels before (us) face to face:" p: or thou cause the heaven to fall upon us piecemeal, as thou hast pretended, or bring allah and the angels as a warrant; s: or you should cause the heaven to come down upon us in pieces as you think, or bring allah and the angels face to face (with us). . y: "or thou have a house adorned with gold, or thou mount a ladder right into the skies. no, we shall not even believe in thy mounting until thou send down to us a book that we could read." say: "glory to my lord! am i aught but a man,- a messenger?" p: or thou have a house of gold; or thou ascend up into heaven, and even then we will put no faith in thine ascension till thou bring down for us a book that we can read. say (o muhammad): my lord be glorified! am i aught save a mortal messenger? s: or you should have a house of gold, or you should ascend into heaven, and we will not believe in your ascending until you bring down to us a book which we may read. say: glory be to my lord; am i aught but a mortal messenger? . y: what kept men back from belief when guidance came to them, was nothing but this: they said, "has allah sent a man (like us) to be (his) messenger?" p: and naught prevented mankind from believing when the guidance came unto them save that they said: hath allah sent a mortal as (his) messenger? s: and nothing prevented people from believing when the guidance came to them except that they said: what! has allah raised up a mortal to be a messenger? . y: say, "if there were settled, on earth, angels walking about in peace and quiet, we should certainly have sent them down from the heavens an angel for a messenger." p: say: if there were in the earth angels walking secure, we had sent down for them from heaven an angel as messenger. s: say: had there been in the earth angels walking about as settlers, we would certainly have sent down to them from the heaven an angel as a messenger. . y: say: "enough is allah for a witness between me and you: for he is well acquainted with his servants, and he sees (all things)." p: say: allah sufficeth for a witness between me and you. lo! he is knower, seer of his slaves. s: say: allah suffices as a witness between me and you; surely he is aware of his servants, seeing. . y: it is he whom allah guides, that is on true guidance; but he whom he leaves astray - for such wilt thou find no protector besides him. on the day of judgment we shall gather, them together, prone on their faces, blind, dumb, and deaf: their abode will be hell: every time it shows abatement, we shall increase from them the fierceness of the fire. p: and he whom allah guideth, he is led aright; while, as for him whom he sendeth astray, for them thou wilt find no protecting friends beside him, and we shall assemble them on the day of resurrection on their faces, blind, dumb and deaf; their habitation will be hell; whenever it abateth, we increase the flame for them. s: and whomsoever allah guides, he is the follower of the right way, and whomsoever he causes to err, you shall not find for him guardians besides him; and we will gather them together on the day of resurrection on their faces, blind and dumb and deaf; their abode is hell; whenever it becomes allayed we will add to their burning. . y: that is their recompense, because they rejected our signs, and said, "when we are reduced to bones and broken dust, should we really be raised up (to be) a new creation?" p: that is their reward because they disbelieved our revelations and said: when we are bones and fragments shall we, forsooth, be raised up as a new creation? s: this is their retribution because they disbelieved in our communications and said what! when we shall have become bones and decayed particles, shall we then indeed be raised up into a new creation? . y: see they not that allah, who created the heavens and the earth, has power to create the like of them (anew)? only he has decreed a term appointed, of which there is no doubt. but the unjust refuse (to receive it) except with ingratitude. p: have they not seen that allah who created the heavens and the earth is able to create the like of them, and hath appointed for them an end whereof there is no doubt? but the wrong-doers refuse aught save disbelief. s: do they not consider that allah, who created the heavens and the earth, is able to create their like, and he has appointed for them a doom about which there is no doubt? but the unjust do not consent to aught but denying. . y: say: "if ye had control of the treasures of the mercy of my lord, behold, ye would keep them back, for fear of spending them: for man is (every) niggardly!" p: say (unto them): if ye possessed the treasures of the mercy of my lord, ye would surely hold them back for fear of spending, for man was ever grudging. s: say: if you control the treasures of the mercy of my lord, then you would withhold (them) from fear of spending, and man is niggardly. . y: to moses we did give nine clear signs: as the children of israel: when he came to them, pharaoh said to him: "o moses! i consider thee, indeed, to have been worked upon by sorcery!" p: and verily we gave unto moses nine tokens, clear proofs (of allah's sovereignty). do but ask the children of israel how he came unto them, then pharaoh said unto him: lo! i deem thee one bewitched, o moses. s: and certainly we gave musa nine clear signs; so ask the children of israel. when he came to them, firon said to him: most surely i deem you, o musa, to be a man deprived of reason. . y: moses said, "thou knowest well that these things have been sent down by none but the lord of the heavens and the earth as eye-opening evidence: and i consider thee indeed, o pharaoh, to be one doomed to destruction!" p: he said: in truth thou knowest that none sent down these (portents) save the lord of the heavens and the earth as proofs, and lo! (for my part) i deem thee lost, o pharaoh. s: he said: truly you know that none but the lord of the heavens and the earth has sent down these as clear proof and most surely i believe you, o firon, to be given over to perdition. . y: so he resolved to remove them from the face of the earth: but we did drown him and all who were with him. p: and he wished to scare them from the land, but we drowned him and those with him, all together. s: so he desired to destroy them out of the earth, but we drowned him and those with him all together; . y: and we said thereafter to the children of israel, "dwell securely in the land (of promise)": but when the second of the warnings came to pass, we gathered you together in a mingled crowd. p: and we said unto the children of israel after him: dwell in the land; but when the promise of the hereafter cometh to pass we shall bring you as a crowd gathered out of various nations. s: and we said to the israelites after him: dwell in the land: and when the promise of the next life shall come to pass, we will bring you both together in judgment. . y: we sent down the (qur'an) in truth, and in truth has it descended: and we sent thee but to give glad tidings and to warn (sinners). p: with truth have we sent it down, and with truth hath it descended. and we have sent thee as naught else save a bearer of good tidings and a warner. s: and with truth have we revealed it, and with truth did it come; and we have not sent you but as the giver of good news and as a warner. . y: (it is) a qur'an which we have divided (into parts from time to time), in order that thou mightest recite it to men at intervals: we have revealed it by stages. p: and (it is) a qur'an that we have divided, that thou mayst recite it unto mankind at intervals, and we have revealed it by (successive) revelation. s: and it is a quran which we have revealed in portions so that you may read it to the people by slow degrees, and we have revealed it, revealing in portions. . y: say: "whether ye believe in it or not, it is true that those who were given knowledge beforehand, when it is recited to them, fall down on their faces in humble prostration," p: say: believe therein or believe not, lo! those who were given knowledge before it, when it is read unto them, fall down prostrate on their faces, adoring, s: say: believe in it or believe not; surely those who are given the knowledge before it fall down on their faces, making obeisance when it is recited to them. . y: "and they say: 'glory to our lord! truly has the promise of our lord been fulfilled!'" p: saying: glory to our lord! verily the promise of our lord must be fulfilled. s: and they say: glory be to our lord! most surely the promise of our lord was to be fulfilled. . y: they fall down on their faces in tears, and it increases their (earnest) humility. p: they fall down on their faces, weeping, and it increaseth humility in them. s: and they fall down on their faces weeping, and it adds to their humility. . y: say: "call upon allah, or call upon rahman: by whatever name ye call upon him, (it is well): for to him belong the most beautiful names. neither speak thy prayer aloud, nor speak it in a low tone, but seek a middle course between." p: say (unto mankind): cry unto allah, or cry unto the beneficent, unto whichsoever ye cry (it is the same). his are the most beautiful names. and thou (muhammad), be not loud-voiced in thy worship nor yet silent therein, but follow a way between. s: say: call upon allah or call upon, the beneficent allah; whichever you call upon, he has the best names; and do not utter your prayer with a very raised voice nor be silent with regard to it, and seek a way between these. . y: say: "praise be to allah, who begets no son, and has no partner in (his) dominion: nor (needs) he any to protect him from humiliation: yea, magnify him for his greatness and glory!" p: and say: praise be to allah, who hath not taken unto himself a son, and who hath no partner in the sovereignty, nor hath he any protecting friend through dependence. and magnify him with all magnificence. s: and say: (all) praise is due to allah, who has not taken a son and who has not a partner in the kingdom, and who has not a helper to save him from disgrace; and proclaim his greatness magnifying (him). --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-kahf (the cave) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: praise be to allah, who hath sent to his servant the book, and hath allowed therein no crookedness: p: praise be to allah who hath revealed the scripture unto his slave, and hath not placed therein any crookedness, s: (all) praise is due to allah, who revealed the book to his servant and did not make in it any crookedness. . y: (he hath made it) straight (and clear) in order that he may warn (the godless) of a terrible punishment from him, and that he may give glad tidings to the believers who work righteous deeds, that they shall have a goodly reward, p: (but hath made it) straight, to give warning of stern punishment from him, and to bring unto the believers who do good works the news that theirs will be a fair reward, s: rightly directing, that he might give warning of severe punishment from him and give good news to the believers who do good that they shall have a goodly reward, . y: wherein they shall remain for ever: p: wherein they will abide for ever; s: staying in it for ever; . y: further, that he may warn those (also) who say, "allah hath begotten a son": p: and to warn those who say: allah hath chosen a son, s: and warn those who say: allah has taken a son. . y: no knowledge have they of such a thing, nor had their fathers. it is a grievous thing that issues from their mouths as a saying what they say is nothing but falsehood! p: (a thing) whereof they have no knowledge, nor (had) their fathers, dreadful is the word that cometh out of their mouths. they speak naught but a lie. s: they have no knowledge of it, nor had their fathers; a grievous word it is that comes out of their mouths; they speak nothing but a lie. . y: thou wouldst only, perchance, fret thyself to death, following after them, in grief, if they believe not in this message. p: yet it may be, if they believe not in this statement, that thou (muhammad) wilt torment thy soul with grief over their footsteps. s: then maybe you will kill yourself with grief, sorrowing after them, if they do not believe in this announcement. . y: that which is on earth we have made but as a glittering show for the earth, in order that we may test them - as to which of them are best in conduct. p: lo! we have placed all that is on the earth as an ornament thereof that we may try them: which of them is best in conduct. s: surely we have made whatever is on the earth an embellishment for it, so that we may try them (as to) which of them is best in works. . y: verily what is on earth we shall make but as dust and dry soil (without growth or herbage). p: and lo! we shall make all that is thereon a barren mound. s: and most surely we will make what is on it bare ground without herbage. . y: or dost thou reflect that the companions of the cave and of the inscription were wonders among our sign? p: or deemest thou that the people of the cave and the inscription are a wonder among our portents? s: or, do you think that the fellows of the cave and the inscription were of our wonderful signs? . y: behold, the youths betook themselves to the cave: they said, "our lord! bestow on us mercy from thyself, and dispose of our affair for us in the right way!" p: when the young men fled for refuge to the cave and said: our lord! give us mercy from thy presence, and shape for us right conduct in our plight. s: when the youths sought refuge in the cave, they said: our lord! grant us mercy from thee, and provide for us a right course in our affair. . y: then we draw (a veil) over their ears, for a number of years, in the cave, (so that they heard not): p: then we sealed up their hearing in the cave for a number of years. s: so we prevented them from hearing in the cave for a number of years. . y: then we roused them, in order to test which of the two parties was best at calculating the term of years they had tarried! p: and afterward we raised them up that we might know which of the two parties would best calculate the time that they had tarried. s: then we raised them up that we might know which of the two parties was best able to compute the time for which they remained. . y: we relate to thee their story in truth: they were youths who believed in their lord, and we advanced them in guidance: p: we narrate unto thee their story with truth. lo! they were young men who believed in their lord, and we increased them in guidance. s: we relate to you their story with the truth; surely they were youths who believed in their lord and we increased them in guidance. . y: we gave strength to their hearts: behold, they stood up and said: "our lord is the lord of the heavens and of the earth: never shall we call upon any god other than him: if we did, we should indeed have uttered an enormity!" p: and we made firm their hearts when they stood forth and said: our lord is the lord of the heavens and the earth. we cry unto no god beside him, for then should we utter an enormity. s: and we strengthened their hearts with patience, when they stood up and said: our lord is the lord of the heavens and the earth; we will by no means call upon any god besides him, for then indeed we should have said an extravagant thing. . y: "these our people have taken for worship gods other than him: why do they not bring forward an authority clear (and convincing) for what they do? who doth more wrong than such as invent a falsehood against allah?" p: these, our people, have chosen (other) gods beside him though they bring no clear warrant (vouchsafed) to them. and who doth greater wrong than he who inventeth a lie concerning allah? s: these our people have taken gods besides him; why do they not produce any clear authority in their support? who is then more unjust than he who forges a lie against allah? . y: "when ye turn away from them and the things they worship other than allah, betake yourselves to the cave: your lord will shower his mercies on you and disposes of your affair towards comfort and ease." p: and when ye withdraw from them and that which they worship except allah, then seek refuge in the cave; your lord will spread for you of his mercy and will prepare for you a pillow in your plight. s: and when you forsake them and what they worship save allah, betake yourselves for refuge to the cave; your lord will extend to you largely of his mercy and provide for you a profitable course in your affair. . y: thou wouldst have seen the sun, when it rose, declining to the right from their cave, and when it set, turning away from them to the left, while they lay in the open space in the midst of the cave. such are among the signs of allah: he whom allah, guides is rightly guided; but he whom allah leaves to stray,- for him wilt thou find no protector to lead him to the right way. p: and thou mightest have seen the sun when it rose move away from their cave to the right, and when it set go past them on the left, and they were in the cleft thereof. that was (one) of the portents of allah. he whom allah guideth, he indeed is led aright, and he whom he sendeth astray, for him thou wilt not find a guiding friend. s: and you might see the sun when it rose, decline from their cave towards the right hand, and when it set, leave them behind on the left while they were in a wide space thereof. this is of the signs of allah; whomsoever allah guides, he is the rightly guided one, and whomsoever he causes to err, you shall not find for him any friend to lead (him) aright. . y: thou wouldst have deemed them awake, whilst they were asleep, and we turned them on their right and on their left sides: their dog stretching forth his two fore-legs on the threshold: if thou hadst come up on to them, thou wouldst have certainly turned back from them in flight, and wouldst certainly have been filled with terror of them. p: and thou wouldst have deemed them waking though they were asleep, and we caused them to turn over to the right and the left, and their dog stretching out his paws on the threshold. if thou hadst observed them closely thou hadst assuredly turned away from them in flight, and hadst been filled with awe of them. s: and you might think them awake while they were asleep and we turned them about to the right and to the left, while their dog (lay) outstretching its paws at the entrance; if you looked at them you would certainly turn back from them in flight, and you would certainly be filled with awe because of them. . y: such (being their state), we raised them up (from sleep), that they might question each other. said one of them, "how long have ye stayed (here)?" they said, "we have stayed (perhaps) a day, or part of a day." (at length) they (all) said, "allah (alone) knows best how long ye have stayed here.... now send ye then one of you with this money of yours to the town: let him find out which is the best food (to be had) and bring some to you, that (ye may) satisfy your hunger therewith: and let him behave with care and courtesy, and let him not inform any one about you." p: and in like manner we awakened them that they might question one another. a speaker from among them said: how long have ye tarried? they said: we have tarried a day or some part of a day, (others) said: your lord best knoweth what ye have tarried. now send one of you with this your silver coin unto the city, and let him see what food is purest there and bring you a supply thereof. let him be courteous and let no man know of you. s: and thus did we rouse them that they might question each other. a speaker among them said: how long have you tarried? they said: we have tarried for a day or a part of a day. (others) said: your lord knows best how long you have tarried. now send one of you with this silver (coin) of yours to the city, then let him see which of them has purest food, so let him bring you provision from it, and let him behave with gentleness, and by no means make your case known to any one: . y: "for if they should come upon you, they would stone you or force you to return to their cult, and in that case ye would never attain prosperity." p: for they, if they should come to know of you, will stone you or turn you back to their religion; then ye will never prosper. s: for surely if they prevail against you they would stone you to death or force you back to their religion, and then you will never succeed. . y: thus did we make their case known to the people, that they might know that the promise of allah is true, and that there can be no doubt about the hour of judgment. behold, they dispute among themselves as to their affair. (some) said, "construct a building over them": their lord knows best about them: those who prevailed over their affair said, "let us surely build a place of worship over them." p: and in like manner we disclosed them (to the people of the city) that they might know that the promise of allah is true, and that, as for the hour, there is no doubt concerning it. when (the people of the city) disputed of their case among themselves, they said: build over them a building; their lord knoweth best concerning them. those who won their point said: we verily shall build a place of worship over them. s: and thus did we make (men) to get knowledge of them that they might know that allah's promise is true and that as for the hour there is no doubt about it. when they disputed among themselves about their affair and said: erect an edifice over them-- their lord best knows them. those who prevailed in their affair said: we will certainly raise a masjid over them. . y: (some) say they were three, the dog being the fourth among them; (others) say they were five, the dog being the sixth,- doubtfully guessing at the unknown; (yet others) say they were seven, the dog being the eighth. say thou: "my lord knoweth best their number; it is but few that know their (real case)." enter not, therefore, into controversies concerning them, except on a matter that is clear, nor consult any of them about (the affair of) the sleepers. p: (some) will say: they were three, their dog the fourth, and (some) say: five, their dog the sixth, guessing at random; and (some) say: seven, and their dog the eighth. say (o muhammad): my lord is best aware of their number. none knoweth them save a few. so contend not concerning them except with an outward contending, and ask not any of them to pronounce concerning them. s: (some) say: (they are) three, the fourth of them being their dog; and (others) say: five, the sixth of them being their dog, making conjectures at what is unknown; and (others yet) say: seven, and the eighth of them is their dog. say: my lord best knows their number, none knows them but a few; therefore contend not in the matter of them but with an outward contention, and do not question concerning them any of them. . y: nor say of anything, "i shall be sure to do so and so tomorrow"- p: and say not of anything: lo! i shall do that tomorrow, s: and do not say of anything: surely i will do it tomorrow, . y: without adding, "so please allah!" and call thy lord to mind when thou forgettest, and say, "i hope that my lord will guide me ever closer (even) than this to the right road." p: except if allah will. and remember thy lord when thou forgettest, and say: it may be that my lord guideth me unto a nearer way of truth than this. s: unless allah pleases; and remember your lord when you forget and say: maybe my lord will guide me to a nearer course to the right than this. . y: so they stayed in their cave three hundred years, and (some) add nine (more) p: and (it is said) they tarried in their cave three hundred years and add nine. s: and they remained in their cave three hundred years and (some) add (another) nine. . y: say: "allah knows best how long they stayed: with him is (the knowledge of) the secrets of the heavens and the earth: how clearly he sees, how finely he hears (everything)! they have no protector other than him; nor does he share his command with any person whatsoever." p: say: allah is best aware how long they tarried. his is the invisible of the heavens and the earth. how clear of sight is he and keen of hearing! they have no protecting friend beside him, and he maketh none to share in his government. s: say: allah knows best how long they remained; to him are (known) the unseen things of the heavens and the earth; how clear his sight and how clear his hearing! there is none to be a guardian for them besides him, and he does not make any one his associate in his judgment. . y: and recite (and teach) what has been revealed to thee of the book of thy lord: none can change his words, and none wilt thou find as a refuge other than him. p: and recite that which hath been revealed unto thee of the scripture of thy lord. there is none who can change his words, and thou wilt find no refuge beside him. s: and recite what has been revealed to you of the book of your lord, there is none who can alter his words; and you shall not find any refuge besides him. . y: and keep thy soul content with those who call on their lord morning and evening, seeking his face; and let not thine eyes pass beyond them, seeking the pomp and glitter of this life; no obey any whose heart we have permitted to neglect the remembrance of us, one who follows his own desires, whose case has gone beyond all bounds. p: restrain thyself along with those who cry unto their lord at morn and evening, seeking his countenance; and let not thine eyes overlook them, desiring the pomp of the life of the world; and obey not him whose heart we have made heedless of our remembrance, who followeth his own lust and whose case hath been abandoned. s: and withhold yourself with those who call on their lord morning and evening desiring his goodwill, and let not your eyes pass from them, desiring the beauties of this world's life; and do not follow him whose heart we have made unmindful to our remembrance, and he follows his low desires and his case is one in which due bounds are exceeded. . y: say, "the truth is from your lord": let him who will believe, and let him who will, reject (it): for the wrong-doers we have prepared a fire whose (smoke and flames), like the walls and roof of a tent, will hem them in: if they implore relief they will be granted water like melted brass, that will scald their faces, how dreadful the drink! how uncomfortable a couch to recline on! p: say: (it is) the truth from the lord of you (all). then whosoever will, let him believe, and whosoever will, let him disbelieve. lo! we have prepared for disbelievers fire. its tent encloseth them. if they ask for showers, they will be showered with water like to molten lead which burneth the faces. calamitous the drink and ill the resting-place! s: and say: the truth is from your lord, so let him who please believe, and let him who please disbelieve; surely we have prepared for the iniquitous a fire, the curtains of which shall encompass them about; and if they cry for water, they shall be given water like molten brass which will scald their faces; evil the drink and ill the resting-place. . y: as to those who believe and work righteousness, verily we shall not suffer to perish the reward of any who do a (single) righteous deed. p: lo! as for those who believe and do good works - lo! we suffer not the reward of one whose work is goodly to be lost. s: surely (as for) those who believe and do good, we do not waste the reward of him who does a good work. . y: for them will be gardens of eternity; beneath them rivers will flow; they will be adorned therein with bracelets of gold, and they will wear green garments of fine silk and heavy brocade: they will recline therein on raised thrones. how good the recompense! how beautiful a couch to recline on! p: as for such, theirs will be gardens of eden, wherein rivers flow beneath them; therein they will be given armlets of gold and will wear green robes of finest silk and gold embroidery, reclining upon throne therein. blest the reward, and fair the resting-place! s: these it is for whom are gardens of perpetuity beneath which rivers flow, ornaments shall be given to them therein of bracelets of gold, and they shall wear green robes of fine silk and thick silk brocade interwoven with gold, reclining therein on raised couches; excellent the recompense and goodly the resting place. . y: set forth to them the parable of two men: for one of them we provided two gardens of grape-vines and surrounded them with date palms; in between the two we placed corn-fields. p: coin for them a similitude: two men, unto one of whom we had assigned two gardens of grapes, and we had surrounded both with date-palms and had put between them tillage. s: and set forth to them a parable of two men; for one of them we made two gardens of grape vines, and we surrounded them both with palms, and in the midst of them we made cornfields. . y: each of those gardens brought forth its produce, and failed not in the least therein: in the midst of them we caused a river to flow. p: each of the gardens gave its fruit and withheld naught thereof. and we caused a river to gush forth therein. s: both these gardens yielded their fruits, and failed not aught thereof, and we caused a river to gush forth in their midst, . y: (abundant) was the produce this man had: he said to his companion, in the course of a mutual argument: "more wealth have i than you, and more honour and power in (my following of) men." p: and he had fruit. and he said unto his comrade, when he spake with him: i am more than thee in wealth, and stronger in respect of men. s: and he possessed much wealth; so he said to his companion, while he disputed with him: i have greater wealth than you, and am mightier in followers. . y: he went into his garden in a state (of mind) unjust to his soul: he said, "i deem not that this will ever perish," p: and he went into his garden, while he (thus) wronged himself. he said: i think not that all this will ever perish. s: and he entered his garden while he was unjust to himself. he said: i do not think that this will ever perish, . y: "nor do i deem that the hour (of judgment) will (ever) come: even if i am brought back to my lord, i shall surely find (there) something better in exchange." p: i think not that the hour will ever come, and if indeed i am brought back unto my lord i surely shall find better than this as a resort. s: and i do not think the hour will come, and even if i am returned to my lord i will most certainly find a returning place better than this. . y: his companion said to him, in the course of the argument with him: "dost thou deny him who created thee out of dust, then out of a sperm-drop, then fashioned thee into a man?" p: his comrade, when he (thus) spake with him, exclaimed: disbelievest thou in him who created thee of dust, then of a drop (of seed), and then fashioned thee a man? s: his companion said to him while disputing with him: do you disbelieve in him who created you from dust, then from a small seed, then he made you a perfect man? . y: "but (i think) for my part that he is allah, my lord, and none shall i associate with my lord." p: but he is allah, my lord, and i ascribe unto my lord no partner. s: but as for me, he, allah, is my lord, and i do not associate anyone with my lord. . y: "why didst thou not, as thou wentest into thy garden, say: 'allah's will (be done)! there is no power but with allah!' if thou dost see me less than thee in wealth and sons," p: if only, when thou enteredst thy garden, thou hadst said: that which allah willeth (will come to pass)! there is no strength save in allah! though thou seest me as less than thee in wealth and children, s: and wherefore did you not say when you entered your garden: it is as allah has pleased, there is no power save in allah? if you consider me to be inferior to you in wealth and children, . y: "it may be that my lord will give me something better than thy garden, and that he will send on thy garden thunderbolts (by way of reckoning) from heaven, making it (but) slippery sand!-" p: yet it may be that my lord will give me better than thy garden, and will send on it a bolt from heaven, and some morning it will be a smooth hillside, s: then maybe my lord will give me what is better than your garden, and send on it a thunderbolt from heaven so that it shall become even ground without plant, . y: "or the water of the garden will run off underground so that thou wilt never be able to find it." p: or some morning the water thereof will be lost in the earth so that thou canst not make search for it. s: or its waters should sink down into the ground so that you are unable to find it. . y: so his fruits (and enjoyment) were encompassed (with ruin), and he remained twisting and turning his hands over what he had spent on his property, which had (now) tumbled to pieces to its very foundations, and he could only say, "woe is me! would i had never ascribed partners to my lord and cherisher!" p: and his fruit was beset (with destruction). then began he to wring his hands for all that he had spent upon it, when (now) it was all ruined on its trellises, and to say: would that i had ascribed no partner to my lord! s: and his wealth was destroyed; so he began to wring his hands for what he had spent on it, while it lay, having fallen down upon its roofs, and he said: ah me! would that i had not associated anyone with my lord. . y: nor had he numbers to help him against allah, nor was he able to deliver himself. p: and he had no troop of men to help him as against allah, nor could he save himself. s: and he had no host to help him besides allah nor could he defend himself. . y: there, the (only) protection comes from allah, the true one. he is the best to reward, and the best to give success. p: in this case is protection only from allah, the true, he is best for reward, and best for consequence. s: here is protection only allah's, the true one; he is best in (the giving of) reward and best in requiting. . y: set forth to them the similitude of the life of this world: it is like the rain which we send down from the skies: the earth's vegetation absorbs it, but soon it becomes dry stubble, which the winds do scatter: it is (only) allah who prevails over all things. p: and coin for them the similitude of the life of the world as water which we send down from the sky, and the vegetation of the earth mingleth with it and then becometh dry twigs that the winds scatter. allah is able to do all things. s: and set forth to them parable of the life of this world: like water which we send down from the cloud so the herbage of the earth becomes tangled on account of it, then it becomes dry broken into pieces which the winds scatter; and allah is the holder of power over all things. . y: wealth and sons are allurements of the life of this world: but the things that endure, good deeds, are best in the sight of thy lord, as rewards, and best as (the foundation for) hopes. p: wealth and children are an ornament of the life of the world. but the good deeds which endure are better in thy lord's sight for reward, and better in respect of hope. s: wealth and children are an adornment of the life of this world; and the ever-abiding, the good works, are better with your lord in reward and better in expectation. . y: one day we shall remove the mountains, and thou wilt see the earth as a level stretch, and we shall gather them, all together, nor shall we leave out any one of them. p: and (bethink you of) the day when we remove the hills and ye see the earth emerging, and we gather them together so as to leave not one of them behind. s: and the day on which we will cause the mountains to pass away and you will see the earth a levelled plain and we will gather them and leave not any one of them behind. . y: and they will be marshalled before thy lord in ranks, (with the announcement), "now have ye come to us (bare) as we created you first: aye, ye thought we shall not fulfill the appointment made to you to meet (us)!": p: and they are set before thy lord in ranks (and it is said unto them): now verily have ye come unto us as we created you at the first. but ye thought that we had set no tryst for you. s: and they shall be brought before your lord, standing in ranks: now certainly you have come to us as we created you at first. nay, you thought that we had not appointed to you a time of the fulfillment of the promise. . y: and the book (of deeds) will be placed (before you); and thou wilt see the sinful in great terror because of what is (recorded) therein; they will say, "ah! woe to us! what a book is this! it leaves out nothing small or great, but takes account thereof!" they will find all that they did, placed before them: and not one will thy lord treat with injustice. p: and the book is placed, and thou seest the guilty fearful of that which is therein, and they say: what kind of a book is this that leaveth not a small thing nor a great thing but hath counted it! and they find all that they did confronting them, and thy lord wrongeth no-one. s: and the book shall be placed, then you will see the guilty fearing from what is in it, and they will say: ah! woe to us! what a book is this! it does not omit a small one nor a great one, but numbers them (all); and what they had done they shall find present (there); and your lord does not deal unjustly with anyone. . y: behold! we said to the angels, "bow down to adam": they bowed down except iblis. he was one of the jinns, and he broke the command of his lord. will ye then take him and his progeny as protectors rather than me? and they are enemies to you! evil would be the exchange for the wrong-doers! p: and (remember) when we said unto the angels: fall prostrate before adam, and they fell prostrate, all save iblis. he was of the jinn, so he rebelled against his lord's command. will ye choose him and his seed for your protecting friends instead of me, when they are an enemy unto you? calamitous is the exchange for evil-doers. s: and when we said to the angels: make obeisance to adam; they made obeisance but iblis (did it not). he was of the jinn, so he transgressed the commandment of his lord. what! would you then take him and his offspring for friends rather than me, and they are your enemies? evil is (this) change for the unjust. . y: i called them not to witness the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor (even) their own creation: nor is it for helpers such as me to take as lead (men) astray! p: i made them not to witness the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor their own creation; nor choose i misleaders for (my) helpers. s: i did not make them witnesses of the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor of the creation of their own souls; nor could i take those who lead (others) astray for aiders. . y: one day he will say, "call on those whom ye thought to be my partners," and they will call on them, but they will not listen to them; and we shall make for them a place of common perdition. p: and (be mindful of) the day when he will say: call those partners of mine whom ye pretended. then they will cry unto them, but they will not hear their prayer, and we shall set a gulf of doom between them. s: and on the day when he shall say: call on those whom you considered to be my associates. so they shall call on them, but they shall not answer them, and we will cause a separation between them. . y: and the sinful shall see the fire and apprehend that they have to fall therein: no means will they find to turn away therefrom. p: and the guilty behold the fire and know that they are about to fall therein, and they find no way of escape thence. s: and the guilty shall see the fire, then they shall know that they are going to fall into it, and they shall not find a place to which to turn away from it. . y: we have explained in detail in this qur'an, for the benefit of mankind, every kind of similitude: but man is, in most things, contentious. p: and verily we have displayed for mankind in this qur'an all manner of similitudes, but man is more than anything contentious. s: and certainly we have explained in this quran every kind of example, and man is most of all given to contention. . y: and what is there to keep back men from believing, now that guidance has come to them, nor from praying for forgiveness from their lord, but that (they ask that) the ways of the ancients be repeated with them, or the wrath be brought to them face to face? p: and naught hindereth mankind from believing when the guidance cometh unto them, and from asking forgiveness of their lord unless (it be that they wish) that the judgment of the men of old should come upon them or (that) they should be confronted with the doom. s: and nothing prevents men from believing when the guidance comes to them, and from asking forgiveness of their lord, except that what happened to the ancients should overtake them, or that the chastisement should come face to face with them. . y: we only send the messengers to give glad tidings and to give warnings: but the unbelievers dispute with vain argument, in order therewith to weaken the truth, and they treat my signs as a jest, as also the fact that they are warned! p: we send not the messengers save as bearers of good news and warners. those who disbelieve contend with falsehood in order to refute the truth thereby. and they take our revelations and that wherewith they are threatened as a jest. s: and we do not send messengers but as givers of good news and warning, and those who disbelieve make a false contention that they may render null thereby the truth, and they take my communications and that with which they are warned for a mockery. . y: and who doth more wrong than one who is reminded of the signs of his lord, but turns away from them, forgetting the (deeds) which his hands have sent forth? verily we have set veils over their hearts lest they should understand this, and over their ears, deafness, if thou callest them to guidance, even then will they never accept guidance. p: and who doth greater wrong than he who hath been reminded of the revelations of his lord, yet turneth away from them and forgetteth what his hands send forward (to the judgment)? lo! on their hearts we have placed coverings so that they understand not, and in their ears a deafness. and though thou call them to the guidance, in that case they can never be led aright. s: and who is more unjust than he who is reminded of the communications of his lord, then he turns away from them and forgets what his two hands have sent before? surely we have placed veils over their hearts lest they should understand it and a heaviness in their ears; and if you call them to the guidance, they will not ever follow the right course in that case. . y: but your lord is most forgiving, full of mercy. if he were to call them (at once) to account for what they have earned, then surely he would have hastened their punishment: but they have their appointed time, beyond which they will find no refuge. p: thy lord is the forgiver, full of mercy. if he took them to task (now) for what they earn, he would hasten on the doom for them; but theirs is an appointed term from which they will find no escape. s: and your lord is forgiving, the lord of mercy; were he to punish them for what they earn, he would certainly have hastened the chastisement for them; but for them there is an appointed time from which they shall not find a refuge. . y: such were the populations we destroyed when they committed iniquities; but we fixed an appointed time for their destruction. p: and (all) those townships! we destroyed them when they did wrong, and we appointed a fixed time for their destruction. s: and (as for) these towns, we destroyed them when they acted unjustly, and we have appointed a time for their destruction. . y: behold, moses said to his attendant, "i will not give up until i reach the junction of the two seas or (until) i spend years and years in travel." p: and when moses said unto his servant: i will not give up until i reach the point where the two rivers meet, though i march on for ages. s: and when musa said to his servant: i will not cease until i reach the junction of the two rivers or i will go on for years. . y: but when they reached the junction, they forgot (about) their fish, which took its course through the sea (straight) as in a tunnel. p: and when they reached the point where the two met, they forgot their fish, and it took its way into the waters, being free. s: so when they had reached the junction of the two (rivers) they forgot their fish, and it took its way into the sea, going away. . y: when they had passed on (some distance), moses said to his attendant: "bring us our early meal; truly we have suffered much fatigue at this (stage of) our journey." p: and when they had gone further, he said unto his servant: bring us our breakfast. verily we have found fatigue in this our journey. s: but when they had gone farther, he said to his servant: bring to us our morning meal, certainly we have met with fatigue from this our journey. . y: he replied: "sawest thou (what happened) when we betook ourselves to the rock? i did indeed forget (about) the fish: none but satan made me forget to tell (you) about it: it took its course through the sea in a marvellous way!" p: he said: didst thou see, when we took refuge on the rock, and i forgot the fish - and none but satan caused me to forget to mention it - it took its way into the waters by a marvel. s: he said: did you see when we took refuge on the rock then i forgot the fish, and nothing made me forget to speak of it but the shaitan, and it took its way into the river; what a wonder! . y: moses said: "that was what we were seeking after:" so they went back on their footsteps, following (the path they had come). p: he said: this is that which we have been seeking. so they retraced their steps again. s: he said: this is what we sought for; so they returned retracing their footsteps. . y: so they found one of our servants, on whom we had bestowed mercy from ourselves and whom we had taught knowledge from our own presence. p: then found they one of our slaves, unto whom we had given mercy from us, and had taught him knowledge from our presence. s: then they found one from among our servants whom we had granted mercy from us and whom we had taught knowledge from ourselves. . y: moses said to him: "may i follow thee, on the footing that thou teach me something of the (higher) truth which thou hast been taught?" p: moses said unto him: may i follow thee, to the end that thou mayst teach me right conduct of that which thou hast been taught? s: musa said to him: shall i follow you on condition that you should teach me right knowledge of what you have been taught? . y: (the other) said: "verily thou wilt not be able to have patience with me!" p: he said: lo! thou canst not bear with me. s: he said: surely you cannot have patience with me . y: "and how canst thou have patience about things about which thy understanding is not complete?" p: how canst thou bear with that whereof thou canst not compass any knowledge? s: and how can you have patience in that of which you have not got a comprehensive knowledge? . y: moses said: "thou wilt find me, if allah so will, (truly) patient: nor shall i disobey thee in aught." p: he said: allah willing, thou shalt find me patient and i shall not in aught gainsay thee. s: he said: if allah pleases, you will find me patient and i shall not disobey you in any matter. . y: the other said: "if then thou wouldst follow me, ask me no questions about anything until i myself speak to thee concerning it." p: he said: well, if thou go with me, ask me not concerning aught till i myself make mention of it unto thee. s: he said: if you would follow me, then do not question me about any thing until i myself speak to you about it. . y: so they both proceeded: until, when they were in the boat, he scuttled it. said moses: "hast thou scuttled it in order to drown those in it? truly a strange thing hast thou done!" p: so they twain set out till, when they were in the ship, he made a hole therein. (moses) said: hast thou made a hole therein to drown the folk thereof? thou verily hast done a dreadful thing. s: so they went (their way) until when they embarked in the boat he made a hole in it. (musa) said: have you made a hole in it to drown its inmates? certainly you have done a grievous thing. . y: he answered: "did i not tell thee that thou canst have no patience with me?" p: he said: did i not tell thee that thou couldst not bear with me? s: he said: did i not say that you will not be able to have patience with me? . y: moses said: "rebuke me not for forgetting, nor grieve me by raising difficulties in my case." p: (moses) said: be not wroth with me that i forgot, and be not hard upon me for my fault. s: he said: blame me not for what i forgot, and do not constrain me to a difficult thing in my affair. . y: then they proceeded: until, when they met a young man, he slew him. moses said: "hast thou slain an innocent person who had slain none? truly a foul (unheard of) thing hast thou done!" p: so they twain journeyed on till, when they met a lad, he slew him. (moses) said: what! hast thou slain an innocent soul who hath slain no man? verily thou hast done a horrid thing. s: so they went on until, when they met a boy, he slew him. (musa) said: have you slain an innocent person otherwise than for manslaughter? certainly you have done an evil thing. . y: he answered: "did i not tell thee that thou canst have no patience with me?" p: he said: did i not tell thee that thou couldst not bear with me? s: he said: did i not say to you that you will not be able to have patience with me? . y: (moses) said: "if ever i ask thee about anything after this, keep me not in thy company: then wouldst thou have received (full) excuse from my side." p: (moses) said: if i ask thee after this concerning aught, keep not company with me. thou hast received an excuse from me. s: he said: if i ask you about anything after this, keep me not in your company; indeed you shall have (then) found an excuse in my case. . y: then they proceeded: until, when they came to the inhabitants of a town, they asked them for food, but they refused them hospitality. they found there a wall on the point of falling down, but he set it up straight. (moses) said: "if thou hadst wished, surely thou couldst have exacted some recompense for it!" p: so they twain journeyed on till, when they came unto the folk of a certain township, they asked its folk for food, but they refused to make them guests. and they found therein a wall upon the point of falling into ruin, and he repaired it. (moses) said: if thou hadst wished, thou couldst have taken payment for it. s: so they went on until when they came to the people of a town, they asked them for food, but they refused to entertain them as guests. then they found in it a wall which was on the point of falling, so he put it into a right state. (musa) said: if you had pleased, you might certainly have taken a recompense for it. . y: he answered: "this is the parting between me and thee: now will i tell thee the interpretation of (those things) over which thou wast unable to hold patience." p: he said: this is the parting between thee and me! i will announce unto thee the interpretation of that thou couldst not bear with patience. s: he said: this shall be separation between me and you; now i will inform you of the significance of that with which you could not have patience. . y: "as for the boat, it belonged to certain men in dire want: they plied on the water: i but wished to render it unserviceable, for there was after them a certain king who seized on every boat by force." p: as for the ship, it belonged to poor people working on the river, and i wished to mar it, for there was a king behind them who is taking every ship by force. s: as for the boat, it belonged to (some) poor men who worked on the river and i wished that i should damage it, and there was behind them a king who seized every boat by force. . y: "as for the youth, his parents were people of faith, and we feared that he would grieve them by obstinate rebellion and ingratitude (to allah and man)." p: and as for the lad, his parents were believers and we feared lest he should oppress them by rebellion and disbelief. s: and as for the boy, his parents were believers and we feared lest he should make disobedience and ingratitude to come upon them: . y: "so we desired that their lord would give them in exchange (a son) better in purity (of conduct) and closer in affection." p: and we intended that their lord should change him for them for one better in purity and nearer to mercy. s: so we desired that their lord might give them in his place one better than him in purity and nearer to having compassion. . y: "as for the wall, it belonged to two youths, orphans, in the town; there was, beneath it, a buried treasure, to which they were entitled: their father had been a righteous man: so thy lord desired that they should attain their age of full strength and get out their treasure - a mercy (and favour) from thy lord. i did it not of my own accord. such is the interpretation of (those things) over which thou wast unable to hold patience." p: and as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and there was beneath it a treasure belonging to them, and their father had been righteous, and thy lord intended that they should come to their full strength and should bring forth their treasure as a mercy from their lord; and i did it not upon my own command. such is the interpretation of that wherewith thou couldst not bear. s: and as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and there was beneath it a treasure belonging to them, and their father was a righteous man; so your lord desired that they should attain their maturity and take out their treasure, a mercy from your lord, and i did not do it of my own accord. this is the significance of that with which you could not have patience. . y: they ask thee concerning zul-qarnain. say, "i will rehearse to you something of his story." p: they will ask thee of dhu'l-qarneyn. say: i shall recite unto you a remembrance of him. s: and they ask you about zulqarnain. say: i will recite to you an account of him. . y: verily we established his power on earth, and we gave him the ways and the means to all ends. p: lo! we made him strong in the land and gave him unto every thing a road. s: surely we established him in the land and granted him means of access to every thing. . y: one (such) way he followed, p: and he followed a road s: so he followed a course. . y: until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it set in a spring of murky water: near it he found a people: we said: "o zul-qarnain! (thou hast authority,) either to punish them, or to treat them with kindness." p: till, when he reached the setting-place of the sun, he found it setting in a muddy spring, and found a people thereabout. we said: o dhu'l-qarneyn! either punish or show them kindness. s: until when he reached the place where the sun set, he found it going down into a black sea, and found by it a people. we said: o zulqarnain! either give them a chastisement or do them a benefit. . y: he said: "whoever doth wrong, him shall we punish; then shall he be sent back to his lord; and he will punish him with a punishment unheard-of (before)." p: he said: as for him who doeth wrong, we shall punish him, and then he will be brought back unto his lord, who will punish him with awful punishment! s: he said: as to him who is injust, we will chastise him, then shall he be returned to his lord, and he will chastise him with an exemplary chastisement: . y: "but whoever believes, and works righteousness,- he shall have a goodly reward, and easy will be his task as we order it by our command." p: but as for him who believeth and doeth right, good will be his reward, and we shall speak unto him a mild command. s: and as for him who believes and does good, he shall have goodly reward, and we will speak to him an easy word of our command. . y: then followed he (another) way, p: then he followed a road s: then he followed (another) course. . y: until, when he came to the rising of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom we had provided no covering protection against the sun. p: till, when he reached the rising-place of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom we had appointed no shelter therefrom. s: until when he reached the land of the rising of the sun, he found it rising on a people to whom we had given no shelter from it; . y: (he left them) as they were: we completely understood what was before him. p: so (it was). and we knew all concerning him. s: even so! and we had a full knowledge of what he had. . y: then followed he (another) way, p: then he followed a road s: then he followed (another) course. . y: until, when he reached (a tract) between two mountains, he found, beneath them, a people who scarcely understood a word. p: till, when he came between the two mountains, he found upon their hither side a folk that scarce could understand a saying. s: until when he reached (a place) between the two mountains, he found on that side of them a people who could hardly understand a word. . y: they said: "o zul-qarnain! the gog and magog (people) do great mischief on earth: shall we then render thee tribute in order that thou mightest erect a barrier between us and them?" p: they said: o dhu'l-qarneyn! lo! gog and magog are spoiling the land. so may we pay thee tribute on condition that thou set a barrier between us and them? s: they said: o zulqarnain! surely gog and magog make mischief in the land. shall we then pay you a tribute on condition that you should raise a barrier between us and them. . y: he said: "(the power) in which my lord has established me is better (than tribute): help me therefore with strength (and labour): i will erect a strong barrier between you and them:" p: he said: that wherein my lord hath established me is better (than your tribute). do but help me with strength (of men), i will set between you and them a bank. s: he said: that in which my lord has established me is better, therefore you only help me with workers, i will make a fortified barrier between you and them; . y: "bring me blocks of iron." at length, when he had filled up the space between the two steep mountain-sides, he said, "blow (with your bellows)" then, when he had made it (red) as fire, he said: "bring me, that i may pour over it, molten lead." p: give me pieces of iron - till, when he had levelled up (the gap) between the cliffs, he said: blow! - till, when he had made it a fire, he said: bring me molten copper to pour thereon. s: bring me blocks of iron; until when he had filled up the space between the two mountain sides, he said: blow, until when he had made it (as) fire, he said: bring me molten brass which i may pour over it. . y: thus were they made powerless to scale it or to dig through it. p: and (gog and magog) were not able to surmount, nor could they pierce (it). s: so they were not able to scale it nor could they make a hole in it. . y: he said: "this is a mercy from my lord: but when the promise of my lord comes to pass, he will make it into dust; and the promise of my lord is true." p: he said: this is a mercy from my lord; but when the promise of my lord cometh to pass, he will lay it low, for the promise of my lord is true. s: he said: this is a mercy from my lord, but when the promise of my lord comes to pass he will make it level with the ground, and the promise of my lord is ever true. . y: on that day we shall leave them to surge like waves on one another: the trumpet will be blown, and we shall collect them all together. p: and on that day we shall let some of them surge against others, and the trumpet will be blown. then we shall gather them together in one gathering. s: and on that day we will leave a part of them in conflict with another part, and the trumpet will be blown, so we will gather them all together; . y: and we shall present hell that day for unbelievers to see, all spread out,- p: on that day we shall present hell to the disbelievers, plain to view, s: and we will bring forth hell, exposed to view, on that day before the unbelievers. . y: (unbelievers) whose eyes had been under a veil from remembrance of me, and who had been unable even to hear. p: those whose eyes were hoodwinked from my reminder, and who could not bear to hear. s: they whose eyes were under a cover from my reminder and they could not even hear. . y: do the unbelievers think that they can take my servants as protectors besides me? verily we have prepared hell for the unbelievers for (their) entertainment. p: do the disbelievers reckon that they can choose my bondmen as protecting friends beside me? lo! we have prepared hell as a welcome for the disbelievers. s: what! do then those who disbelieve think that they can take my servants to be guardians besides me? surely we have prepared hell for the entertainment of the unbelievers. . y: say: "shall we tell you of those who lose most in respect of their deeds?"- p: say: shall we inform you who will be the greatest losers by their works? s: say: shall we inform you of the greatest losers in (their) deeds? . y: "those whose efforts have been wasted in this life, while they thought that they were acquiring good by their works?" p: those whose effort goeth astray in the life of the world, and yet they reckon that they do good work. s: (these are) they whose labor is lost in this world's life and they think that they are well versed in skill of the work of hands. . y: they are those who deny the signs of their lord and the fact of their having to meet him (in the hereafter): vain will be their works, nor shall we, on the day of judgment, give them any weight. p: those are they who disbelieve in the revelations of their lord and in the meeting with him. therefor their works are vain, and on the day of resurrection we assign no weight to them. s: these are they who disbelieve in the communications of their lord and his meeting, so their deeds become null, and therefore we will not set up a balance for them on the day of resurrection. . y: that is their reward, hell, because they rejected faith, and took my signs and my messengers by way of jest. p: that is their reward: hell, because they disbelieved, and made a jest of our revelations and our messengers. s: thus it is that their recompense is hell, because they disbelieved and held my communications and my messengers in mockery. . y: as to those who believe and work righteous deeds, they have, for their entertainment, the gardens of paradise, p: lo! those who believe and do good works, theirs are the gardens of paradise for welcome, s: surely (as for) those who believe and do good deeds, their place of entertainment shall be the gardens of paradise, . y: wherein they shall dwell (for aye): no change will they wish for from them. p: wherein they will abide, with no desire to be removed from thence. s: abiding therein; they shall not desire removal from them. . y: say: "if the ocean were ink (wherewith to write out) the words of my lord, sooner would the ocean be exhausted than would the words of my lord, even if we added another ocean like it, for its aid." p: say: though the sea became ink for the words of my lord, verily the sea would be used up before the words of my lord were exhausted, even though we brought the like thereof to help. s: say: if the sea were ink for the words of my lord, the sea would surely be consumed before the words of my lord are exhausted, though we were to bring the like of that (sea) to add thereto. . y: say: "i am but a man like yourselves, (but) the inspiration has come to me, that your allah is one allah: whoever expects to meet his lord, let him work righteousness, and, in the worship of his lord, admit no one as partner." p: say: i am only a mortal like you. my lord inspireth in me that your allah is only one allah. and whoever hopeth for the meeting with his lord, let him do righteous work, and make none sharer of the worship due unto his lord. s: say: i am only a mortal like you; it is revealed to me that your god is one allah, therefore whoever hopes to meet his lord, he should do good deeds, and not join any one in the service of his lord. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : maryam (mary) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: kaf. ha. ya. 'ain. sad. p: kaf. ha. ya. a'in. sad. s: kaf ha ya ain suad. . y: (this is) a recital of the mercy of thy lord to his servant zakariya. p: a mention of the mercy of thy lord unto his servant zachariah. s: a mention of the mercy of your lord to his servant zakariya. . y: behold! he cried to his lord in secret, p: when he cried unto his lord a cry in secret, s: when he called upon his lord in a low voice, . y: praying: "o my lord! infirm indeed are my bones, and the hair of my head doth glisten with grey: but never am i unblest, o my lord, in my prayer to thee!" p: saying: my lord! lo! the bones of me wax feeble and my head is shining with grey hair, and i have never been unblest in prayer to thee, my lord. s: he said: my lord! surely my bones are weakened and my head flares with hoariness, and, my lord! i have never been unsuccessful in my prayer to thee: . y: "now i fear (what) my relatives (and colleagues) (will do) after me: but my wife is barren: so give me an heir as from thyself,"- p: lo! i fear my kinsfolk after me, since my wife is barren. oh, give me from thy presence a successor, s: and surely i fear my cousins after me, and my wife is barren, therefore grant me from thyself an heir, . y: "(one that) will (truly) represent me, and represent the posterity of jacob; and make him, o my lord! one with whom thou art well-pleased!" p: who shall inherit of me and inherit (also) of the house of jacob. and make him, my lord, acceptable (unto thee). s: who should inherit me and inherit from the children of yaqoub, and make him, my lord, one in whom thou art well pleased. . y: (his prayer was answered): "o zakariya! we give thee good news of a son: his name shall be yahya: on none by that name have we conferred distinction before." p: (it was said unto him): o zachariah! lo! we bring thee tidings of a son whose name is john; we have given the same name to none before (him). s: o zakariya! surely we give you good news of a boy whose name shall be yahya: we have not made before anyone his equal. . y: he said: "o my lord! how shall i have a son, when my wife is barren and i have grown quite decrepit from old age?" p: he said: my lord! how can i have a son when my wife is barren and i have reached infirm old age? s: he said: o my lord! when shall i have a son, and my wife is barren, and i myself have reached indeed the extreme degree of old age? . y: he said: "so (it will be) thy lord saith, 'that is easy for me: i did indeed create thee before, when thou hadst been nothing!'" p: he said: so (it will be). thy lord saith: it is easy for me, even as i created thee before, when thou wast naught. s: he said: so shall it be, your lord says: it is easy to me, and indeed i created you before, when you were nothing. . y: (zakariya) said: "o my lord! give me a sign." "thy sign," was the answer, "shall be that thou shalt speak to no man for three nights, although thou art not dumb." p: he said: my lord! appoint for me some token. he said: thy token is that thou, with no bodily defect, shalt not speak unto mankind three nights. s: he said: my lord! give me a sign. he said: your sign is that you will not be able to speak to the people three nights while in sound health. . y: so zakariya came out to his people from him chamber: he told them by signs to celebrate allah's praises in the morning and in the evening. p: then he came forth unto his people from the sanctuary, and signified to them: glorify your lord at break of day and fall of night. s: so he went forth to his people from his place of worship, then he made known to them that they should glorify (allah) morning and evening. . y: (to his son came the command): "o yahya! take hold of the book with might": and we gave him wisdom even as a youth, p: (and it was said unto his son): o john! hold fast the scripture. and we gave him wisdom when a child, s: o yahya! take hold of the book with strength, and we granted him wisdom while yet a child, . y: and piety (for all creatures) as from us, and purity: he was devout, p: and compassion from our presence, and purity; and he was devout, s: and tenderness from us and purity, and he was one who guarded (against evil), . y: and kind to his parents, and he was not overbearing or rebellious. p: and dutiful toward his parents. and he was not arrogant, rebellious. s: and dutiful to his parents, and he was not insolent, disobedient. . y: so peace on him the day he was born, the day that he dies, and the day that he will be raised up to life (again)! p: peace on him the day he was born, and the day he dieth and the day he shall be raised alive! s: and peace on him on the day he was born, and on the day he dies, and on the day he is raised to life. . y: relate in the book (the story of) mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place in the east. p: and make mention of mary in the scripture, when she had withdrawn from her people to a chamber looking east, s: and mention marium in the book when she drew aside from her family to an eastern place; . y: she placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then we sent her our angel, and he appeared before her as a man in all respects. p: and had chosen seclusion from them. then we sent unto her our spirit and it assumed for her the likeness of a perfect man. s: so she took a veil (to screen herself) from them; then we sent to her our spirit, and there appeared to her a well-made man. . y: she said: "i seek refuge from thee to (allah) most gracious: (come not near) if thou dost fear allah." p: she said: lo! i seek refuge in the beneficent one from thee, if thou art allah-fearing. s: she said: surely i fly for refuge from you to the beneficent allah, if you are one guarding (against evil). . y: he said: "nay, i am only a messenger from thy lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy son." p: he said: i am only a messenger of thy lord, that i may bestow on thee a faultless son. s: he said: i am only a messenger of your lord: that i will give you a pure boy. . y: she said: "how shall i have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and i am not unchaste?" p: she said: how can i have a son when no mortal hath touched me, neither have i been unchaste? s: she said: when shall i have a boy and no mortal has yet touched me, nor have i been unchaste? . y: he said: "so (it will be): thy lord saith, 'that is easy for me: and (we wish) to appoint him as a sign unto men and a mercy from us': it is a matter (so) decreed." p: he said: so (it will be). thy lord saith: it is easy for me. and (it will be) that we may make of him a revelation for mankind and a mercy from us, and it is a thing ordained. s: he said: even so; your lord says: it is easy to me: and that we may make him a sign to men and a mercy from us, and it is a matter which has been decreed. . y: so she conceived him, and she retired with him to a remote place. p: and she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a far place. s: so she conceived him; then withdrew herself with him to a remote place. . y: and the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree: she cried (in her anguish): "ah! would that i had died before this! would that i had been a thing forgotten and out of sight!" p: and the pangs of childbirth drove her unto the trunk of the palm-tree. she said: oh, would that i had died ere this and had become a thing of naught, forgotten! s: and the throes (of childbirth) compelled her to betake herself to the trunk of a palm tree. she said: oh, would that i had died before this, and had been a thing quite forgotten! . y: but (a voice) cried to her from beneath the (palm-tree): "grieve not! for thy lord hath provided a rivulet beneath thee;" p: then (one) cried unto her from below her, saying: grieve not! thy lord hath placed a rivulet beneath thee, s: then (the child) called out to her from beneath her: grieve not, surely your lord has made a stream to flow beneath you; . y: "and shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree: it will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee." p: and shake the trunk of the palm-tree toward thee, thou wilt cause ripe dates to fall upon thee. s: and shake towards you the trunk of the palmtree, it will drop on you fresh ripe dates: . y: "so eat and drink and cool (thine) eye. and if thou dost see any man, say, 'i have vowed a fast to (allah) most gracious, and this day will i enter into not talk with any human being'" p: so eat and drink and be consoled. and if thou meetest any mortal, say: lo! i have vowed a fast unto the beneficent, and may not speak this day to any mortal. s: so eat and drink and refresh the eye. then if you see any mortal, say: surely i have vowed a fast to the beneficent allah, so i shall not speak to any man today. . y: at length she brought the (babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms). they said: "o mary! truly an amazing thing hast thou brought!" p: then she brought him to her own folk, carrying him. they said: o mary! thou hast come with an amazing thing. s: and she came to her people with him, carrying him (with her). they said: o marium! surely you have done a strange thing. . y: "o sister of aaron! thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!" p: o sister of aaron! thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot. s: o sister of haroun! your father was not a bad man, nor, was your mother an unchaste woman. . y: but she pointed to the babe. they said: "how can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?" p: then she pointed to him. they said: how can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy? s: but she pointed to him. they said: how should we speak to one who was a child in the cradle? . y: he said: "i am indeed a servant of allah: he hath given me revelation and made me a prophet;" p: he spake: lo! i am the slave of allah. he hath given me the scripture and hath appointed me a prophet, s: he said: surely i am a servant of allah; he has given me the book and made me a prophet; . y: "and he hath made me blessed wheresoever i be, and hath enjoined on me prayer and charity as long as i live;" p: and hath made me blessed wheresoever i may be, and hath enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as i remain alive, s: and he has made me blessed wherever i may be, and he has enjoined on me prayer and poor-rate so long as i live; . y: "(he) hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable;" p: and (hath made me) dutiful toward her who bore me, and hath not made me arrogant, unblest. s: and dutiful to my mother, and he has not made me insolent, unblessed; . y: "so peace is on me the day i was born, the day that i die, and the day that i shall be raised up to life (again)"! p: peace on me the day i was born, and the day i die, and the day i shall be raised alive! s: and peace on me on the day i was born, and on the day i die, and on the day i am raised to life. . y: such (was) jesus the son of mary: (it is) a statement of truth, about which they (vainly) dispute. p: such was jesus, son of mary: (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt. s: such is isa, son of marium; (this is) the saying of truth about which they dispute. . y: it is not befitting to (the majesty of) allah that he should beget a son. glory be to him! when he determines a matter, he only says to it, "be", and it is. p: it befitteth not (the majesty of) allah that he should take unto himself a son. glory be to him! when he decreeth a thing, he saith unto it only: be! and it is. s: it beseems not allah that he should take to himself a son, glory be to him; when he has decreed a matter he only says to it "be," and it is. . y: verily allah is my lord and your lord: him therefore serve ye: this is a way that is straight. p: and lo! allah is my lord and your lord. so serve him. that is the right path. s: and surely allah is my lord and your lord, therefore serve him; this is the right path. . y: but the sects differ among themselves: and woe to the unbelievers because of the (coming) judgment of a momentous day! p: the sects among them differ: but woe unto the disbelievers from the meeting of an awful day. s: but parties from among them disagreed with each other, so woe to those who disbelieve, because of presence on a great day. . y: how plainly will they see and hear, the day that they will appear before us! but the unjust today are in error manifest! p: see and hear them on the day they come unto us! yet the evil-doers are to-day in error manifest. s: how clearly shall they hear and how clearly shall they see on the day when they come to us; but the unjust this day are in manifest error. . y: but warn them of the day of distress, when the matter will be determined: for (behold,) they are negligent and they do not believe! p: and warn them of the day of anguish when the case hath been decided. now they are in a state of carelessness, and they believe not. s: and warn them of the day of intense regret, when the matter shall have been decided; and they are (now) in negligence and they do not believe. . y: it is we who will inherit the earth, and all beings thereon: to us will they all be returned. p: lo! we, only we, inherit the earth and all who are thereon, and unto us they are returned. s: surely we inherit the earth and all those who are on it, and to us they shall be returned. . y: (also) mention in the book (the story of) abraham: he was a man of truth, a prophet. p: and make mention (o muhammad) in the scripture of abraham. lo! he was a saint, a prophet. s: and mention ibrahim in the book; surely he was a truthful man, a prophet. . y: behold, he said to his father: "o my father! why worship that which heareth not and seeth not, and can profit thee nothing?" p: when he said unto his father: o my father! why worshippest thou that which heareth not nor seeth, nor can in aught avail thee? s: when he said to his father; o my father! why do you worship what neither hears nor sees, nor does it avail you in the least: . y: "o my father! to me hath come knowledge which hath not reached thee: so follow me: i will guide thee to a way that is even and straight." p: o my father! lo! there hath come unto me of knowledge that which came not unto thee. so follow me, and i will lead thee on a right path. s: o my father! truly the knowledge has come to me which has not come to you, therefore follow me, i will guide you on a right path: . y: "o my father! serve not satan: for satan is a rebel against (allah) most gracious." p: o my father! serve not the devil. lo! the devil is a rebel unto the beneficent. s: o my father! serve not the shaitan, surely the shaitan is disobedient to the beneficent allah: . y: "o my father! i fear lest a penalty afflict thee from (allah) most gracious, so that thou become to satan a friend." p: o my father! lo! i fear lest a punishment from the beneficent overtake thee so that thou become a comrade of the devil. s: o my father! surely i fear that a punishment from the beneficent allah should afflict you so that you should be a friend of the shaitan. . y: (the father) replied: "dost thou hate my gods, o abraham? if thou forbear not, i will indeed stone thee: now get away from me for a good long while!" p: he said: rejectest thou my gods, o abraham? if thou cease not, i shall surely stone thee. depart from me a long while! s: he said: do you dislike my gods, o ibrahim? if you do not desist i will certainly revile you, and leave me for a time. . y: abraham said: "peace be on thee: i will pray to my lord for thy forgiveness: for he is to me most gracious." p: he said: peace be unto thee! i shall ask forgiveness of my lord for thee. lo! he was ever gracious unto me. s: he said: peace be on you, i will pray to my lord to forgive you; surely he is ever affectionate to me: . y: "and i will turn away from you (all) and from those whom ye invoke besides allah: i will call on my lord: perhaps, by my prayer to my lord, i shall be not unblest." p: i shall withdraw from you and that unto which ye pray beside allah, and i shall pray unto my lord. it may be that, in prayer unto my lord, i shall not be unblest. s: and i will withdraw from you and what you call on besides allah, and i will call upon my lord; may be i shall not remain unblessed in calling upon my lord. . y: when he had turned away from them and from those whom they worshipped besides allah, we bestowed on him isaac and jacob, and each one of them we made a prophet. p: so, when he had withdrawn from them and that which they were worshipping beside allah, we gave him isaac and jacob. each of them we made a prophet. s: so when he withdrew from them and what they worshipped besides allah, we gave to him ishaq and yaqoub, and each one of them we made a prophet. . y: and we bestowed of our mercy on them, and we granted them lofty honour on the tongue of truth. p: and we gave them of our mercy, and assigned to them a high and true renown. s: and we granted to them of our mercy, and we left (behind them) a truthful mention of eminence for them. . y: also mention in the book (the story of) moses: for he was specially chosen, and he was a messenger (and) a prophet. p: and make mention in the scripture of moses. lo! he was chosen, and he was a messenger (of allah), a prophet. s: and mention musa in the book; surely he was one purified, and he was a messenger, a prophet. . y: and we called him from the right side of mount (sinai), and made him draw near to us, for mystic (converse). p: we called him from the right slope of the mount, and brought him nigh in communion. s: and we called to him from the blessed side of the mountain, and we made him draw nigh, holding communion (with us). . y: and, out of our mercy, we gave him his brother aaron, (also) a prophet. p: and we bestowed upon him of our mercy his brother aaron, a prophet (likewise). s: and we gave to him out of our mercy his brother haroun a prophet. . y: also mention in the book (the story of) isma'il: he was (strictly) true to what he promised, and he was a messenger (and) a prophet. p: and make mention in the scripture of ishmael. lo! he was a keeper of his promise, and he was a messenger (of allah), a prophet. s: and mention ismail in the book; surely he was truthful in (his) promise, and he was a messenger, a prophet. . y: he used to enjoin on his people prayer and charity, and he was most acceptable in the sight of his lord. p: he enjoined upon his people worship and almsgiving, and was acceptable in the sight of his lord. s: and he enjoined on his family prayer and almsgiving, and was one in whom his lord was well pleased. . y: also mention in the book the case of idris: he was a man of truth (and sincerity), (and) a prophet: p: and make mention in the scripture of idris. lo! he was a saint, a prophet; s: and mention idris in the book; surely he was a truthful man, a prophet, . y: and we raised him to a lofty station. p: and we raised him to high station. s: and we raised him high in heaven. . y: those were some of the prophets on whom allah did bestow his grace,- of the posterity of adam, and of those who we carried (in the ark) with noah, and of the posterity of abraham and israel of those whom we guided and chose. whenever the signs of (allah) most gracious were rehearsed to them, they would fall down in prostrate adoration and in tears. p: these are they unto whom allah showed favour from among the prophets, of the seed of adam and of those whom we carried (in the ship) with noah, and of the seed of abraham and israel, and from among those whom we guided and chose. when the revelations of the beneficent were recited unto them, they fell down, adoring and weeping. s: these are they on whom allah bestowed favors, from among the prophets of the seed of adam, and of those whom we carried with nuh, and of the seed of ibrahim and israel, and of those whom we guided and chose; when the communications of the beneficent allah were recited to them, they fell down making obeisance and weeping. . y: but after them there followed a posterity who missed prayers and followed after lusts soon, then, will they face destruction,- p: now there hath succeeded them a later generation whom have ruined worship and have followed lusts. but they will meet deception. s: but there came after them an evil generation, who neglected prayers and followed and sensual desires, so they win meet perdition, . y: except those who repent and believe, and work righteousness: for these will enter the garden and will not be wronged in the least,- p: save him who shall repent and believe and do right. such will enter the garden, and they will not be wronged in aught - s: except such as repent and believe and do good, these shall enter the garden, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly in any way: . y: gardens of eternity, those which (allah) most gracious has promised to his servants in the unseen: for his promise must (necessarily) come to pass. p: gardens of eden, which the beneficent hath promised to his slaves in the unseen. lo! his promise is ever sure of fulfilment - s: the gardens of perpetuity which the beneficent allah has promised to his servants while unseen; surely his promise shall come to pass. . y: they will not there hear any vain discourse, but only salutations of peace: and they will have therein their sustenance, morning and evening. p: they hear therein no idle talk, but only peace; and therein they have food for morn and evening. s: they shall not hear therein any vain discourse, but only: peace, and they shall have their sustenance therein morning and evening. . y: such is the garden which we give as an inheritance to those of our servants who guard against evil. p: such is the garden which we cause the devout among our bondmen to inherit. s: this is the garden which we cause those of our servants to inherit who guard (against evil). . y: (the angels say:) "we descend not but by command of thy lord: to him belongeth what is before us and what is behind us, and what is between: and thy lord never doth forget,"- p: we (angels) come not down save by commandment of thy lord. unto him belongeth all that is before us and all that is behind us and all that is between those two, and thy lord was never forgetful - s: and we do not descend but by the command of your lord; to him belongs whatever is before us and whatever is behind us and whatever is between these, and your lord is not forgetful. . y: "lord of the heavens and of the earth, and of all that is between them; so worship him, and be constant and patient in his worship: knowest thou of any who is worthy of the same name as he?" p: lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them! therefor, worship thou him and be thou steadfast in his service. knowest thou one that can be named along with him? s: the lord of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, so serve him and be patient in his service. do you know any one equal to him? . y: man says: "what! when i am dead, shall i then be raised up alive?" p: and man saith: when i am dead, shall i forsooth be brought forth alive? s: and says man: what! when i am dead shall i truly be brought forth alive? . y: but does not man call to mind that we created him before out of nothing? p: doth not man remember that we created him before, when he was naught? s: does not man remember that we created him before, when he was nothing? . y: so, by thy lord, without doubt, we shall gather them together, and (also) the evil ones (with them); then shall we bring them forth on their knees round about hell; p: and, by thy lord, verily we shall assemble them and the devils, then we shall bring them, crouching, around hell. s: so by your lord! we will most certainly gather them together and the shaitans, then shall we certainly cause them to be present round hell on their knees. . y: then shall we certainly drag out from every sect all those who were worst in obstinate rebellion against (allah) most gracious. p: then we shall pluck out from every sect whichever of them was most stubborn in rebellion to the beneficent. s: then we will most certainly draw forth from every sect of them him who is most exorbitantly rebellious against the beneficent allah. . y: and certainly we know best those who are most worthy of being burned therein. p: and surely we are best aware of those most worthy to be burned therein. s: again we do certainly know best those who deserve most to be burned therein. . y: not one of you but will pass over it: this is, with thy lord, a decree which must be accomplished. p: there is not one of you but shall approach it. that is a fixed ordinance of thy lord. s: and there is not one of you but shall come to it; this is an unavoidable decree of your lord. . y: but we shall save those who guarded against evil, and we shall leave the wrong-doers therein, (humbled) to their knees. p: then we shall rescue those who kept from evil, and leave the evil-doers crouching there. s: and we will deliver those who guarded (against evil), and we will leave the unjust therein on their knees. . y: when our clear signs are rehearsed to them, the unbelievers say to those who believe, "which of the two sides is best in point of position? which makes the best show in council?" p: and when our clear revelations are recited unto them, those who disbelieve say unto those who believe: which of the two parties (yours or ours) is better in position, and more imposing as an army? s: and when our clear communications are recited to them, those who disbelieve say to those who believe: which of the two parties is best in abiding and best in assembly? . y: but how many (countless) generations before them have we destroyed, who were even better in equipment and in glitter to the eye? p: how many a generation have we destroyed before them, who were more imposing in respect of gear and outward seeming! s: and how many of the generations have we destroyed before them who were better in respect of goods and outward appearance! . y: say: "if any men go astray, (allah) most gracious extends (the rope) to them, until, when they see the warning of allah (being fulfilled) - either in punishment or in (the approach of) the hour,- they will at length realise who is worst in position, and (who) weakest in forces!" p: say: as for him who is in error, the beneficent will verily prolong his span of life until, when they behold that which they were promised, whether it be punishment (in the world), or the hour (of doom), they will know who is worse in position and who is weaker as an army. s: say: as for him who remains in error, the beneficent allah will surely prolong his length of days, until they see what they were threatened with, either the punishment or the hour; then they shall know who is in more evil plight and weaker in forces. . y: "and allah doth advance in guidance those who seek guidance: and the things that endure, good deeds, are best in the sight of thy lord, as rewards, and best in respect of (their) eventual return." p: allah increaseth in right guidance those who walk aright, and the good deeds which endure are better in thy lord's sight for reward, and better for resort. s: and allah increases in guidance those who go aright; and ever-abiding good works are with your lord best in recompense and best in yielding fruit. . y: hast thou then seen the (sort of) man who rejects our signs, yet says: "i shall certainly be given wealth and children?" p: hast thou seen him who disbelieveth in our revelations and saith: assuredly i shall be given wealth and children? s: have you, then, seen him who disbelieves in our communications and says: i shall certainly be given wealth and children? . y: has he penetrated to the unseen, or has he taken a contract with (allah) most gracious? p: hath he perused the unseen, or hath he made a pact with the beneficent? s: has he gained knowledge of the unseen, or made a covenant with the beneficent allah? . y: nay! we shall record what he says, and we shall add and add to his punishment. p: nay, but we shall record that which he saith and prolong for him a span of torment. s: by no means! we write down what he says, and we will lengthen to him the length of the chastisement, . y: to us shall return all that he talks of and he shall appear before us bare and alone. p: and we shall inherit from him that whereof he spake, and he will come unto us, alone (without his wealth and children). s: and we will inherit of him what he says, and he shall come to us alone. . y: and they have taken (for worship) gods other than allah, to give them power and glory! p: and they have chosen (other) gods beside allah that they may be a power for them. s: and they have taken gods besides allah, that they should be to them a source of strength; . y: instead, they shall reject their worship, and become adversaries against them. p: nay, but they will deny their worship of them, and become opponents unto them. s: by no means! they shall soon deny their worshipping them, and they shall be adversaries to them. . y: seest thou not that we have set the evil ones on against the unbelievers, to incite them with fury? p: seest thou not that we have set the devils on the disbelievers to confound them with confusion? s: do you not see that we have sent the shaitans against the unbelievers, inciting them by incitement? . y: so make no haste against them, for we but count out to them a (limited) number (of days). p: so make no haste against them (o muhammad). we do but number unto them a sum (of days). s: therefore be not in haste against them, we only number out to them a number (of days). . y: the day we shall gather the righteous to (allah) most gracious, like a band presented before a king for honours, p: on the day when we shall gather the righteous unto the beneficent, a goodly company. s: the day on which we will gather those who guard (against evil) to the beneficent allah to receive honors, . y: and we shall drive the sinners to hell, like thirsty cattle driven down to water,- p: and drive the guilty unto hell, a weary herd, s: and we will drive the guilty to hell thirsty . y: none shall have the power of intercession, but such a one as has received permission (or promise) from (allah) most gracious. p: they will have no power of intercession, save him who hath made a covenant with his lord. s: they shall not control intercession, save he who has made a covenant with the beneficent allah. . y: they say: "(allah) most gracious has begotten a son!" p: and they say: the beneficent hath taken unto himself a son. s: and they say: the beneficent allah has taken (to himself) a son. . y: indeed ye have put forth a thing most monstrous! p: assuredly ye utter a disastrous thing s: certainly you have made an abominable assertion . y: at it the skies are ready to burst, the earth to split asunder, and the mountains to fall down in utter ruin, p: whereby almost the heavens are torn, and the earth is split asunder and the mountains fall in ruins, s: the heavens may almost be rent thereat, and the earth cleave asunder, and the mountains fall down in pieces, . y: that they should invoke a son for (allah) most gracious. p: that ye ascribe unto the beneficent a son, s: that they ascribe a son to the beneficent allah. . y: for it is not consonant with the majesty of (allah) most gracious that he should beget a son. p: when it is not meet for (the majesty of) the beneficent that he should choose a son. s: and it is not worthy of the beneficent allah that he should take (to himself) a son. . y: not one of the beings in the heavens and the earth but must come to (allah) most gracious as a servant. p: there is none in the heavens and the earth but cometh unto the beneficent as a slave. s: there is no one in the heavens and the earth but will come to the beneficent allah as a servant. . y: he does take an account of them (all), and hath numbered them (all) exactly. p: verily he knoweth them and numbereth them with (right) numbering. s: certainly he has a comprehensive knowledge of them and he has numbered them a (comprehensive) numbering. . y: and everyone of them will come to him singly on the day of judgment. p: and each one of them will come unto him on the day of resurrection, alone. s: and every one of them will come to him on the day of resurrection alone. . y: on those who believe and work deeds of righteousness, will (allah) most gracious bestow love. p: lo! those who believe and do good works, the beneficent will appoint for them love. s: surely (as for) those who believe and do good deeds for them will allah bring about love. . y: so have we made the (qur'an) easy in thine own tongue, that with it thou mayest give glad tidings to the righteous, and warnings to people given to contention. p: and we make (this scripture) easy in thy tongue, (o muhammad) only that thou mayst bear good tidings therewith unto those who ward off (evil), and warn therewith the froward folk. s: so we have only made it easy in your tongue that you may give good news thereby to those who guard (against evil) and warn thereby a vehemently contentious people. . y: but how many (countless) generations before them have we destroyed? canst thou find a single one of them (now) or hear (so much as) a whisper of them? p: and how many a generation before them have we destroyed! canst thou (muhammad) see a single man of them, or hear from them the slightest sound? s: and how many a generation have we destroyed before them! do you see any one of them or hear a sound of them? --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : ta-ha (ta-ha) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: ta-ha. p: ta. ha. s: ta ha. . y: we have not sent down the qur'an to thee to be (an occasion) for thy distress, p: we have not revealed unto thee (muhammad) this qur'an that thou shouldst be distressed, s: we have not revealed the quran to you that you may be unsuccessful. . y: but only as an admonition to those who fear (allah),- p: but as a reminder unto him who feareth, s: nay, it is a reminder to him who fears: . y: a revelation from him who created the earth and the heavens on high. p: a revelation from him who created the earth and the high heavens, s: a revelation from him who created the earth and the high heavens. . y: (allah) most gracious is firmly established on the throne (of authority). p: the beneficent one, who is established on the throne. s: the beneficent allah is firm in power. . y: to him belongs what is in the heavens and on earth, and all between them, and all beneath the soil. p: unto him belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth, and whatsoever is between them, and whatsoever is beneath the sod. s: his is what is in the heavens and what is in the earth and what is between them two and what is beneath the ground. . y: if thou pronounce the word aloud, (it is no matter): for verily he knoweth what is secret and what is yet more hidden. p: and if thou speakest aloud, then lo! he knoweth the secret (thought) and (that which is yet) more hidden. s: and if you utter the saying aloud, then surely he knows the secret, and what is yet more hidden. . y: allah! there is no god but he! to him belong the most beautiful names. p: allah! there is no god save him. his are the most beautiful names. s: allah-- there is no god but he; his are the very best names. . y: has the story of moses reached thee? p: hath there come unto thee the story of moses? s: and has the story of musa come to you? . y: behold, he saw a fire: so he said to his family, "tarry ye; i perceive a fire; perhaps i can bring you some burning brand therefrom, or find some guidance at the fire." p: when he saw a fire and said unto his folk: lo! wait! i see a fire afar off. peradventure i may bring you a brand therefrom or may find guidance at the fire. s: when he saw fire, he said to his family: stop, for surely i see a fire, haply i may bring to you therefrom a live coal or find a guidance at the fire. . y: but when he came to the fire, a voice was heard: "o moses!" p: and when he reached it, he was called by name: o moses! s: so when he came to it, a voice was uttered: o musa: . y: "verily i am thy lord! therefore (in my presence) put off thy shoes: thou art in the sacred valley tuwa." p: lo! i, even i, am thy lord. so take off thy shoes, for lo! thou art in the holy valley of tuwa. s: surely i am your lord, therefore put off your shoes; surely you are in the sacred valley, tuwa, . y: "i have chosen thee: listen, then, to the inspiration (sent to thee)." p: and i have chosen thee, so hearken unto that which is inspired. s: and i have chosen you, so listen to what is revealed: . y: "verily, i am allah: there is no god but i: so serve thou me (only), and establish regular prayer for celebrating my praise." p: lo! i, even i, am allah, there is no god save me. so serve me and establish worship for my remembrance. s: surely i am allah, there is no god but i, therefore serve me and keep up prayer for my remembrance: . y: "verily the hour is coming - my design is to keep it hidden - for every soul to receive its reward by the measure of its endeavour." p: lo! the hour is surely coming. but i will to keep it hidden, that every soul may be rewarded for that which it striveth (to achieve). s: surely the hour is coming-- i am about to make it manifest-- so that every soul may be rewarded as it strives: . y: "therefore let not such as believe not therein but follow their own lusts, divert thee therefrom, lest thou perish!".. p: therefor, let not him turn thee aside from (the thought of) it who believeth not therein but followeth his own desire, lest thou perish. s: therefore let not him who believes not in it and follows his low desires turn you away from it so that you should perish; . y: "and what is that in the right hand, o moses?" p: and what is that in thy right hand, o moses? s: and what is this in your right hand, o musa! . y: he said, "it is my rod: on it i lean; with it i beat down fodder for my flocks; and in it i find other uses." p: he said: this is my staff whereon i lean, and wherewith i bear down branches for my sheep, and wherein i find other uses. s: he said: this is my staff: i recline on it and i beat the leaves with it to make them fall upon my sheep, and i have other uses for it. . y: (allah) said, "throw it, o moses!" p: he said: cast it down, o moses! s: he said: cast it down, o musa! . y: he threw it, and behold! it was a snake, active in motion. p: so he cast it down, and lo! it was a serpent, gliding. s: so he cast it down; and lo! it was a serpent running. . y: (allah) said, "seize it, and fear not: we shall return it at once to its former condition".. p: he said: grasp it and fear not. we shall return it to its former state. s: he said: take hold of it and fear not; we will restore it to its former state: . y: "now draw thy hand close to thy side: it shall come forth white (and shining), without harm (or stain),- as another sign,"- p: and thrust thy hand within thine armpit, it will come forth white without hurt. (that will be) another token. s: and press your hand to your side, it shall come out white without evil: another sign: . y: "in order that we may show thee (two) of our greater signs." p: that we may show thee (some) of our greater portents, s: that we may show you of our greater signs: . y: "go thou to pharaoh, for he has indeed transgressed all bounds." p: go thou unto pharaoh! lo! he hath transgressed (the bounds). s: go to firon, surely he has exceeded all limits. . y: (moses) said: "o my lord! expand me my breast;" p: (moses) said: my lord! relieve my mind s: he said: o my lord! expand my breast for me, . y: "ease my task for me;" p: and ease my task for me; s: and make my affair easy to me, . y: "and remove the impediment from my speech," p: and loose a knot from my tongue, s: and loose the knot from my tongue, . y: "so they may understand what i say:" p: that they may understand my saying. s: (that) they may understand my word; . y: "and give me a minister from my family," p: appoint for me a henchman from my folk, s: and give to me an aider from my family: . y: "aaron, my brother;" p: aaron, my brother. s: haroun, my brother, . y: "add to my strength through him," p: confirm my strength with him s: strengthen my back by him, . y: "and make him share my task:" p: and let him share my task, s: and associate him (with me) in my affair, . y: "that we may celebrate thy praise without stint," p: that we may glorify thee much s: so that we should glorify thee much, . y: "and remember thee without stint:" p: and much remember thee. s: and remember thee oft. . y: "for thou art he that (ever) regardeth us." p: lo! thou art ever seeing us. s: surely, thou art seeing us. . y: (allah) said: "granted is thy prayer, o moses!" p: he said: thou art granted thy request, o moses. s: he said: you are indeed granted your petition, o musa . y: "and indeed we conferred a favour on thee another time (before)." p: and indeed, another time, already we have shown thee favour, s: and certainly we bestowed on you a favor at another time; . y: "behold! we sent to thy mother, by inspiration, the message:" p: when we inspired in thy mother that which is inspired, s: when we revealed to your mother what was revealed; . y: "'throw (the child) into the chest, and throw (the chest) into the river: the river will cast him up on the bank, and he will be taken up by one who is an enemy to me and an enemy to him': but i cast (the garment of) love over thee from me: and (this) in order that thou mayest be reared under mine eye." p: saying: throw him into the ark, and throw it into the river, then the river shall throw it on to the bank, and there an enemy to me and an enemy to him shall take him. and i endued thee with love from me that thou mightest be trained according to my will, s: saying: put him into a chest, then cast it down into the river, then the river shall throw him on the shore; there shall take him up one who is an enemy to me and enemy to him, and i cast down upon you love from me, and that you might be brought up before my eyes; . y: "behold! thy sister goeth forth and saith, 'shall i show you one who will nurse and rear the (child)?' so we brought thee back to thy mother, that her eye might be cooled and she should not grieve. then thou didst slay a man, but we saved thee from trouble, and we tried thee in various ways. then didst thou tarry a number of years with the people of midian. then didst thou come hither as ordained, o moses!" p: when thy sister went and said: shall i show you one who will nurse him? and we restored thee to thy mother that her eyes might be refreshed and might not sorrow. and thou didst kill a man and we delivered thee from great distress, and tried thee with a heavy trial. and thou didst tarry years among the folk of midian. then camest thou (hither) by (my) providence, o moses, s: when your sister went and said: shall i direct you to one who will take charge of him? so we brought you back to your mother, that her eye might be cooled and she should not grieve and you killed a man, then we delivered you from the grief, and we tried you with (a severe) trying. then you stayed for years among the people of madyan; then you came hither as ordained, o musa. . y: "and i have prepared thee for myself (for service)".. p: and i have attached thee to myself. s: and i have chosen you for myself: . y: "go, thou and thy brother, with my signs, and slacken not, either of you, in keeping me in remembrance." p: go, thou and thy brother, with my tokens, and be not faint in remembrance of me. s: go you and your brother with my communications and be not remiss in remembering me; . y: "go, both of you, to pharaoh, for he has indeed transgressed all bounds;" p: go, both of you, unto pharaoh. lo! he hath transgressed (the bounds). s: go both to firon, surely he has become inordinate; . y: "but speak to him mildly; perchance he may take warning or fear (allah)." p: and speak unto him a gentle word, that peradventure he may heed or fear. s: then speak to him a gentle word haply he may mind or fear. . y: they (moses and aaron) said: "our lord! we fear lest he hasten with insolence against us, or lest he transgress all bounds." p: they said: our lord! lo! we fear that he may be beforehand with us or that he may play the tyrant. s: both said: o our lord! surely we fear that he may hasten to do evil to us or that he may become inordinate. . y: he said: "fear not: for i am with you: i hear and see (everything)." p: he said: fear not. lo! i am with you twain, hearing and seeing. s: he said: fear not, surely i am with you both: i do hear and see. . y: "so go ye both to him, and say, 'verily we are messengers sent by thy lord: send forth, therefore, the children of israel with us, and afflict them not: with a sign, indeed, have we come from thy lord! and peace to all who follow guidance!" p: so go ye unto him and say: lo! we are two messengers of thy lord. so let the children of israel go with us, and torment them not. we bring thee a token from thy lord. and peace will be for him who followeth right guidance. s: so go you both to him and say: surely we are two messengers of your lord; therefore send the children of israel with us and do not torment them! indeed we have brought to you a communication from your lord, and peace is on him who follows the guidance; . y: "'verily it has been revealed to us that the penalty (awaits) those who reject and turn away.'" p: lo! it hath been revealed unto us that the doom will be for him who denieth and turneth away. s: surely it has been revealed to us that the chastisement will surely come upon him who rejects and turns back. . y: (when this message was delivered), (pharaoh) said: "who, then, o moses, is the lord of you two?" p: (pharaoh) said: who then is the lord of you twain, o moses? s: (firon) said: and who is your lord, o musa? . y: he said: "our lord is he who gave to each (created) thing its form and nature, and further, gave (it) guidance." p: he said: our lord is he who gave unto everything its nature, then guided it aright. s: he said: our lord is he who gave to everything its creation, then guided it (to its goal). . y: (pharaoh) said: "what then is the condition of previous generations?" p: he said: what then is the state of the generations of old? s: he said: then what is the state of the former generations? . y: he replied: "the knowledge of that is with my lord, duly recorded: my lord never errs, nor forgets,"- p: he said: the knowledge thereof is with my lord in a record. my lord neither erreth nor forgetteth, s: he said: the knowledge thereof is with my lord in a book, my lord errs not, nor does he forget; . y: "he who has, made for you the earth like a carpet spread out; has enabled you to go about therein by roads (and channels); and has sent down water from the sky." with it have we produced diverse pairs of plants each separate from the others. p: who hath appointed the earth as a bed and hath threaded roads for you therein and hath sent down water from the sky and thereby we have brought forth divers kinds of vegetation, s: who made the earth for you an expanse and made for you therein paths and sent down water from the cloud; then thereby we have brought forth many species of various herbs. . y: eat (for yourselves) and pasture your cattle: verily, in this are signs for men endued with understanding. p: (saying): eat ye and feed your cattle. lo! herein verily are portents for men of thought. s: eat and pasture your cattle; most surely there are signs in this for those endowed with understanding. . y: from the (earth) did we create you, and into it shall we return you, and from it shall we bring you out once again. p: thereof we created you, and thereunto we return you, and thence we bring you forth a second time. s: from it we created you and into it we shall send you back and from it will we raise you a second time. . y: and we showed pharaoh all our signs, but he did reject and refuse. p: and we verily did show him all our tokens, but he denied them and refused. s: and truly we showed him our signs, all of them, but he rejected and refused. . y: he said: "hast thou come to drive us out of our land with thy magic, o moses?" p: he said: hast come to drive us out from our land by thy magic, o moses? s: said he: have you come to us that you should turn us out of our land by your magic, o musa? . y: "but we can surely produce magic to match thine! so make a tryst between us and thee, which we shall not fail to keep - neither we nor thou - in a place where both shall have even chances." p: but we surely can produce for thee magic the like thereof; so appoint a tryst between us and you, which neither we nor thou shall fail to keep, at a place convenient (to us both). s: so we too will produce before you magic like it, therefore make between us and you an appointment, which we should not break, (neither) we nor you, (in) a central place. . y: moses said: "your tryst is the day of the festival, and let the people be assembled when the sun is well up." p: (moses) said: your tryst shall be the day of the feast, and let the people assemble when the sun hath risen high. s: (musa) said: your appointment is the day of the festival and let the people be gathered together in the early forenoon. . y: so pharaoh withdrew: he concerted his plan, and then came (back). p: then pharaoh went and gathered his strength, then came (to the appointed tryst). s: so firon turned his back and settled his plan, then came. . y: moses said to him: "woe to you! forge not ye a lie against allah, lest he destroy you (at once) utterly by chastisement: the forger must suffer frustration!" p: moses said unto them: woe unto you! invent not a lie against allah, lest he extirpate you by some punishment. he who lieth faileth miserably. s: musa said to them: woe to you! do not forge a lie against allah, lest he destroy you by a punishment, and he who forges (a lie) indeed fails to attain (his desire). . y: so they disputed, one with another, over their affair, but they kept their talk secret. p: then they debated one with another what they must do, and they kept their counsel secret. s: so they disputed with one another about their affair and kept the discourse secret. . y: they said: "these two are certainly (expert) magicians: their object is to drive you out from your land with their magic, and to do away with your most cherished institutions". p: they said: lo! these are two wizards who would drive you out from your country by their magic, and destroy your best traditions; s: they said: these are most surely two magicians who wish to turn you out from your land by their magic and to take away your best traditions. . y: "therefore concert your plan, and then assemble in (serried) ranks: he wins (all along) today who gains the upper hand." p: so arrange your plan, and come in battle line. whoso is uppermost this day will be indeed successful. s: therefore settle your plan, then come standing in ranks and he will prosper indeed this day who overcomes. . y: they said: "o moses! whether wilt thou that thou throw (first) or that we be the first to throw?" p: they said: o moses! either throw first, or let us be the first to throw? s: they said: o musa! will you cast, or shall we be the first who cast down? . y: he said, "nay, throw ye first!" then behold their ropes and their rods-so it seemed to him on account of their magic - began to be in lively motion! p: he said: nay, do ye throw! then lo! their cords and their staves, by their magic, appeared to him as though they ran. s: he said: nay! cast down. then lo! their cords and their rods-- it was imaged to him on account of their magic as if they were running. . y: so moses conceived in his mind a (sort of) fear. p: and moses conceived a fear in his mind. s: so musa conceived in his mind a fear. . y: we said: "fear not! for thou hast indeed the upper hand:" p: we said: fear not! lo! thou art the higher. s: we said: fear not, surely you shall be the uppermost, . y: "throw that which is in thy right hand: quickly will it swallow up that which they have faked what they have faked is but a magician's trick: and the magician thrives not, (no matter) where he goes." p: throw that which is in thy right hand! it will eat up that which they have made. lo! that which they have made is but a wizard's artifice, and a wizard shall not be successful to whatever point (of skill) he may attain. s: and cast down what is in your right hand; it shall devour what they have wrought; they have wrought only the plan of a magician, and the magician shall not be successful wheresoever he may come from. . y: so the magicians were thrown down to prostration: they said, "we believe in the lord of aaron and moses". p: then the wizards were (all) flung down prostrate, crying: we believe in the lord of aaron and moses. s: and the magicians were cast down making obeisance; they said: we believe in the lord of haroun and musa. . y: (pharaoh) said: "believe ye in him before i give you permission? surely this must be your leader, who has taught you magic! be sure i will cut off your hands and feet on opposite sides, and i will have you crucified on trunks of palm-trees: so shall ye know for certain, which of us can give the more severe and the more lasting punishment!" p: (pharaoh) said: ye put faith in him before i give you leave. lo! he is your chief who taught you magic. now surely i shall cut off your hands and your feet alternately, and i shall crucify you on the trunks of palm trees, and ye shall know for certain which of us hath sterner and more lasting punishment. s: (firon) said: you believe in him before i give you leave; most surely he is the chief of you who taught you enchantment, therefore i will certainly cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and i will certainly crucify you on the trunks of the palm trees, and certainly you will come to know which of us is the more severe and the more abiding in chastising. . y: they said: "never shall we regard thee as more than the clear signs that have come to us, or than him who created us! so decree whatever thou desirest to decree: for thou canst only decree (touching) the life of this world." p: they said: we choose thee not above the clear proofs that have come unto us, and above him who created us. so decree what thou wilt decree. thou wilt end for us only this life of the world. s: they said: we do not prefer you to what has come to us of clear arguments and to he who made us, therefore decide what you are going to decide; you can only decide about this world's life. . y: "for us, we have believed in our lord: may he forgive us our faults, and the magic to which thou didst compel us: for allah is best and most abiding." p: lo! we believe in our lord, that he may forgive us our sins and the magic unto which thou didst force us. allah is better and more lasting. s: surely we believe in our lord that he may forgive us our sins and the magic to which you compelled us; and allah is better and more abiding. . y: verily he who comes to his lord as a sinner (at judgment),- for him is hell: therein shall he neither die nor live. p: lo! whoso cometh guilty unto his lord, verily for him is hell. there he will neither die nor live. s: whoever comes to his lord (being) guilty, for him is surely hell; he shall not die therein, nor shall he live. . y: but such as come to him as believers who have worked righteous deeds,- for them are ranks exalted,- p: but whoso cometh unto him a believer, having done good works, for such are the high stations; s: and whoever comes to him a believer (and) he has done good deeds indeed, these it is who shall have the high ranks, . y: gardens of eternity, beneath which flow rivers: they will dwell therein for aye: such is the reward of those who purify themselves (from evil). p: gardens of eden underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide for ever. that is the reward of him who groweth. s: the gardens of perpetuity, beneath which rivers flow, to abide therein; and this is the reward of him who has purified himself. . y: we sent an inspiration to moses: "travel by night with my servants, and strike a dry path for them through the sea, without fear of being overtaken (by pharaoh) and without (any other) fear." p: and verily we inspired moses, saying: take away my slaves by night and strike for them a dry path in the sea, fearing not to be overtaken, neither being afraid (of the sea). s: and certainly we revealed to musa, saying: travel by night with my servants, then make for them a dry path in the sea, not fearing to be overtaken, nor being afraid. . y: then pharaoh pursued them with his forces, but the waters completely overwhelmed them and covered them up. p: then pharaoh followed them with his hosts and there covered them that which did cover them of the sea. s: and firon followed them with his armies, so there came upon them of the sea that which came upon them. . y: pharaoh led his people astray instead of leading them aright. p: and pharaoh led his folk astray, he did not guide them. s: and firon led astray his people and he did not guide (them) aright. . y: o ye children of israel! we delivered you from your enemy, and we made a covenant with you on the right side of mount (sinai), and we sent down to you manna and quails: p: o children of israel! we delivered you from your enemy, and we made a covenant with you on the holy mountain's side, and sent down on you the manna and the quails, s: o children of israel! indeed we delivered you from your enemy, and we made a covenant with you on the blessed side of the mountain, and we sent to you the manna and the quails. . y: (saying): "eat of the good things we have provided for your sustenance, but commit no excess therein, lest my wrath should justly descend on you: and those on whom descends my wrath do perish indeed!" p: (saying): eat of the good things wherewith we have provided you, and transgress not in respect thereof lest my wrath come upon you: and he on whom my wrath cometh, he is lost indeed. s: eat of the good things we have given you for sustenance, and be not inordinate with respect to them, lest my wrath should be due to you, and to whomsoever my wrath is due be shall perish indeed. . y: "but, without doubt, i am (also) he that forgives again and again, to those who repent, believe, and do right, who,- in fine, are ready to receive true guidance." p: and lo! verily i am forgiving toward him who repenteth and believeth and doeth good, and afterward walketh aright. s: and most surely i am most forgiving to him who repents and believes and does good, then continues to follow the right direction. . y: (when moses was up on the mount, allah said:) "what made thee hasten in advance of thy people, o moses?" p: and (it was said): what hath made thee hasten from thy folk, o moses? s: and what caused you to hasten from your people, o musa? . y: he replied: "behold, they are close on my footsteps: i hastened to thee, o my lord, to please thee." p: he said: they are close upon my track. i hastened unto thee, my lord, that thou mightest be well pleased. s: he said: they are here on my track and i hastened on to thee, my lord, that thou mightest be pleased. . y: (allah) said: "we have tested thy people in thy absence: the samiri has led them astray." p: he said: lo! we have tried thy folk in thine absence, and as-samiri hath misled them. s: he said: so surely we have tried your people after you, and the samiri has led them astray. . y: so moses returned to his people in a state of indignation and sorrow. he said: "o my people! did not your lord make a handsome promise to you? did then the promise seem to you long (in coming)? or did ye desire that wrath should descend from your lord on you, and so ye broke your promise to me?" p: then moses went back unto his folk, angry and sad. he said: o my people! hath not your lord promised you a fair promise? did the time appointed then appear too long for you, or did ye wish that wrath from your lord should come upon you, that ye broke tryst with me? s: so musa returned to his people wrathful, sorrowing. said he: o my people! did not your lord promise you a goodly promise: did then the time seem long to you, or did you wish that displeasure from your lord should be due to you, so that you broke (your) promise to me? . y: they said: "we broke not the promise to thee, as far as lay in our power: but we were made to carry the weight of the ornaments of the (whole) people, and we threw them (into the fire), and that was what the samiri suggested." p: they said: we broke not tryst with thee of our own will, but we were laden with burdens of ornaments of the folk, then cast them (in the fire), for thus as-samiri proposed. s: they said: we did not break (our) promise to you of our own accord, but we were made to bear the burdens of the ornaments of the people, then we made a casting of them, and thus did the samiri suggest. . y: "then he brought out (of the fire) before the (people) the image of a calf: it seemed to low: so they said: this is your god, and the god of moses, but (moses) has forgotten!" p: then he produced for them a calf, of saffron hue, which gave forth a lowing sound. and they cried: this is your god and the god of moses, but he hath forgotten. s: so he brought forth for them a calf, a (mere) body, which had a mooing sound, so they said: this is your god and the god of musa, but he forgot. . y: could they not see that it could not return them a word (for answer), and that it had no power either to harm them or to do them good? p: see they not, then, that it returneth no saying unto them and possesseth for them neither hurt nor use? s: what! could they not see that it did not return to them a reply, and (that) it did not control any harm or benefit for them? . y: aaron had already, before this said to them: "o my people! ye are being tested in this: for verily your lord is (allah) most gracious; so follow me and obey my command." p: and aaron indeed had told them beforehand: o my people! ye are but being seduced therewith, for lo! your lord is the beneficent, so follow me and obey my order. s: and certainly haroun had said to them before: o my people! you are only tried by it, and surely your lord is the beneficent allah, therefore follow me and obey my order. . y: they had said: "we will not abandon this cult, but we will devote ourselves to it until moses returns to us." p: they said: we shall by no means cease to be its votaries till moses return unto us. s: they said: we will by no means cease to keep to its worship until musa returns to us. . y: (moses) said: "o aaron! what kept thee back, when thou sawest them going wrong," p: he (moses) said: o aaron! what held thee back when thou didst see them gone astray, s: (musa) said: o haroun! what prevented you, when you saw them going astray, . y: "from following me? didst thou then disobey my order?" p: that thou followedst me not? hast thou then disobeyed my order? s: so that you did not follow me? did you then disobey my order? . y: (aaron) replied: "o son of my mother! seize (me) not by my beard nor by (the hair of) my head! truly i feared lest thou shouldst say, 'thou has caused a division among the children of israel, and thou didst not respect my word!'" p: he said: o son of my mother! clutch not my beard nor my head! i feared lest thou shouldst say: thou hast caused division among the children of israel, and hast not waited for my word. s: he said: o son of my mother! seize me not by my beard nor by my head; surely i was afraid lest you should say: you have caused a division among the children of israel and not waited for my word. . y: (moses) said: "what then is thy case, o samiri?" p: (moses) said: and what hast thou to say, o samiri? s: he said: what was then your object, o samiri? . y: he replied: "i saw what they saw not: so i took a handful (of dust) from the footprint of the messenger, and threw it (into the calf): thus did my soul suggest to me." p: he said: i perceived what they perceive not, so i seized a handful from the footsteps of the messenger, and then threw it in. thus my soul commended to me. s: he said: i saw (jibreel) what they did not see, so i took a handful (of the dust) from the footsteps of the messenger, then i threw it in the casting; thus did my soul commend to me. . y: (moses) said: "get thee gone! but thy (punishment) in this life will be that thou wilt say, 'touch me not'; and moreover (for a future penalty) thou hast a promise that will not fail: now look at thy god, of whom thou hast become a devoted worshipper: we will certainly (melt) it in a blazing fire and scatter it broadcast in the sea!" p: (moses) said: then go! and lo! in this life it is for thee to say: touch me not! and lo! there is for thee a tryst thou canst not break. now look upon thy god of which thou hast remained a votary. verily we will burn it and will scatter its dust over the sea. s: he said: begone then, surely for you it will be in this life to say, touch (me) not; and surely there is a threat for you, which shall not be made to fail to you, and look at your god to whose worship you kept (so long); we will certainly burn it, then we will certainly scatter it a (wide) scattering in the sea. . y: but the god of you all is the one allah: there is no god but he: all things he comprehends in his knowledge. p: your god is only allah, than whom there is no other god. he embraceth all things in his knowledge. s: your god is only allah, there is no god but he; he comprehends all things in (his) knowledge. . y: thus do we relate to thee some stories of what happened before: for we have sent thee a message from our own presence. p: thus relate we unto thee (muhammad) some tidings of that which happened of old, and we have given thee from our presence a reminder. s: thus do we relate to you (some) of the news of what has gone before; and indeed we have given to you a reminder from ourselves. . y: if any do turn away therefrom, verily they will bear a burden on the day of judgment; p: whoso turneth away from it, he verily will bear a burden on the day of resurrection, s: whoever turns aside from it, he shall surely bear a burden on the day of resurrection, . y: they will abide in this (state): and grievous will the burden be to them on that day,- p: abiding under it - an evil burden for them on the day of resurrection, s: abiding in this (state), and evil will it be for them to bear on the day of resurrection; . y: the day when the trumpet will be sounded: that day, we shall gather the sinful, blear-eyed (with terror). p: the day when the trumpet is blown. on that day we assemble the guilty white-eyed (with terror), s: on the day when the trumpet shall be blown, and we will gather the guilty, blue-eyed, on that day; . y: in whispers will they consult each other: "yet tarried not longer than ten (days);" p: murmuring among themselves: ye have tarried but ten (days). s: they shall consult together secretly: you did tarry but ten (centuries). . y: we know best what they will say, when their leader most eminent in conduct will say: "ye tarried not longer than a day!" p: we are best aware of what they utter when their best in conduct say: ye have tarried but a day. s: we know best what they say, when the fairest of them in course would say: you tarried but a day. . y: they ask thee concerning the mountains: say, "my lord will uproot them and scatter them as dust;" p: they will ask thee of the mountains (on that day). say: my lord will break them into scattered dust. s: and they ask you about the mountains. say: my lord will carry them away from the roots. . y: "he will leave them as plains smooth and level;" p: and leave it as an empty plain, s: then leave it a plain, smooth level . y: "nothing crooked or curved wilt thou see in their place." p: wherein thou seest neither curve nor ruggedness. s: you shall not see therein any crookedness or unevenness. . y: on that day will they follow the caller (straight): no crookedness (can they show) him: all sounds shall humble themselves in the presence of (allah) most gracious: nothing shalt thou hear but the tramp of their feet (as they march). p: on that day they follow the summoner who deceiveth not, and voices are hushed for the beneficent, and thou hearest but a faint murmur. s: on that day they shall follow the inviter, there is no crookedness in him, and the voices shall be low before the beneficent allah so that you shall not hear aught but a soft sound. . y: on that day shall no intercession avail except for those for whom permission has been granted by (allah) most gracious and whose word is acceptable to him. p: on that day no intercession availeth save (that of) him unto whom the beneficent hath given leave and whose word he accepteth. s: on that day shall no intercession avail except of him whom the beneficent allah allows and whose word he is pleased with. . y: he knows what (appears to his creatures as) before or after or behind them: but they shall not compass it with their knowledge. p: he knoweth (all) that is before them and (all) that is behind them, while they cannot compass it in knowledge. s: he knows what is before them and what is behind them, while they do not comprehend it in knowledge. . y: (all) faces shall be humbled before (him) - the living, the self-subsisting, eternal: hopeless indeed will be the man that carries iniquity (on his back). p: and faces humble themselves before the living, the eternal. and he who beareth (a burden of) wrongdoing is indeed a failure (on that day). s: and the faces shall be humbled before the living, the self-subsistent allah, and he who bears iniquity is indeed a failure. . y: but he who works deeds of righteousness, and has faith, will have no fear of harm nor of any curtailment (of what is his due). p: and he who hath done some good works, being a believer, he feareth not injustice nor begrudging (of his wage). s: and whoever does good works and he is a believer, he shall have no fear of injustice nor of the withholding of his due. . y: thus have we sent this down - an arabic qur'an - and explained therein in detail some of the warnings, in order that they may fear allah, or that it may cause their remembrance (of him). p: thus we have revealed it as a lecture in arabic, and have displayed therein certain threats, that peradventure they may keep from evil or that it may cause them to take heed. s: and thus have we sent it down an arabic quran, and have distinctly set forth therein of threats that they may guard (against evil) or that it may produce a reminder for them. . y: high above all is allah, the king, the truth! be not in haste with the qur'an before its revelation to thee is completed, but say, "o my lord! advance me in knowledge." p: then exalted be allah, the true king! and hasten not (o muhammad) with the qur'an ere its revelation hath been perfected unto thee, and say: my lord! increase me in knowledge. s: supremely exalted is therefore allah, the king, the truth, and do not make haste with the quran before its revelation is made complete to you and say: o my lord! increase me in knowledge. . y: we had already, beforehand, taken the covenant of adam, but he forgot: and we found on his part no firm resolve. p: and verily we made a covenant of old with adam, but he forgot, and we found no constancy in him. s: and certainly we gave a commandment to adam before, but he forgot; and we did not find in him any determination. . y: when we said to the angels, "prostrate yourselves to adam", they prostrated themselves, but not iblis: he refused. p: and when we said unto the angels: fall prostrate before adam, they fell prostrate (all) save iblis; he refused. s: and when we said to the angels: make obeisance to adam, they made obeisance, but iblis (did it not); he refused. . y: then we said: "o adam! verily, this is an enemy to thee and thy wife: so let him not get you both out of the garden, so that thou art landed in misery." p: therefor we said: o adam! this is an enemy unto thee and unto thy wife, so let him not drive you both out of the garden so that thou come to toil. s: so we said: o adam! this is an enemy to you and to your wife; therefore let him not drive you both forth from the garden so that you should be unhappy; . y: "there is therein (enough provision) for thee not to go hungry nor to go naked," p: it is (vouchsafed) unto thee that thou hungerest not therein nor art naked, s: surely it is (ordained) for you that you shall not be hungry therein nor bare of clothing; . y: "nor to suffer from thirst, nor from the sun's heat." p: and that thou thirstest not therein nor art exposed to the sun's heat. s: and that you shall not be thirsty therein nor shall you feel the heat of the sun. . y: but satan whispered evil to him: he said, "o adam! shall i lead thee to the tree of eternity and to a kingdom that never decays?" p: but the devil whispered to him, saying: o adam! shall i show thee the tree of immortality and power that wasteth not away? s: but the shaitan made an evil suggestion to him; he said: o adam! shall i guide you to the tree of immortality and a kingdom which decays not? . y: in the result, they both ate of the tree, and so their nakedness appeared to them: they began to sew together, for their covering, leaves from the garden: thus did adam disobey his lord, and allow himself to be seduced. p: then they twain ate thereof, so that their shame became apparent unto them, and they began to hide by heaping on themselves some of the leaves of the garden. and adam disobeyed his lord, so went astray. s: then they both ate of it, so their evil inclinations became manifest to them, and they both began to cover themselves with leaves of the garden, and adam disobeyed his lord, so his life became evil (to him). . y: but his lord chose him (for his grace): he turned to him, and gave him guidance. p: then his lord chose him, and relented toward him, and guided him. s: then his lord chose him, so he turned to him and guided (him). . y: he said: "get ye down, both of you,- all together, from the garden, with enmity one to another: but if, as is sure, there comes to you guidance from me, whosoever follows my guidance, will not lose his way, nor fall into misery." p: he said: go down hence, both of you, one of you a foe unto the other. but when there come unto you from me a guidance, then whoso followeth my guidance, he will not go astray nor come to grief. s: he said: get forth you two therefrom, all (of you), one of you (is) enemy to another. so there will surely come to you guidance from me, then whoever follows my guidance, he shall not go astray nor be unhappy; . y: "but whosoever turns away from my message, verily for him is a life narrowed down, and we shall raise him up blind on the day of judgment." p: but he who turneth away from remembrance of me, his will be a narrow life, and i shall bring him blind to the assembly on the day of resurrection. s: and whoever turns away from my reminder, his shall be a straitened life, and we will raise him on the day of resurrection, blind. . y: he will say: "o my lord! why hast thou raised me up blind, while i had sight (before)?" p: he will say: my lord! wherefor hast thou gathered me (hither) blind, when i was wont to see? s: he shall say: my lord! why hast thou raised me blind and i was a seeing one indeed? . y: (allah) will say: "thus didst thou, when our signs came unto thee, disregard them: so wilt thou, this day, be disregarded." p: he will say: so (it must be). our revelations came unto thee but thou didst forget them. in like manner thou art forgotten this day. s: he will say: even so, our communications came to you but you neglected them; even thus shall you be forsaken this day. . y: and thus do we recompense him who transgresses beyond bounds and believes not in the signs of his lord: and the penalty of the hereafter is far more grievous and more enduring. p: thus do we reward him who is prodigal and believeth not the revelations of his lord; and verily the doom of the hereafter will be sterner and more lasting. s: and thus do we recompense him who is extravagant and does not believe in the communications of his lord, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is severer and more lasting. . y: is it not a warning to such men (to call to mind) how many generations before them we destroyed, in whose haunts they (now) move? verily, in this are signs for men endued with understanding. p: is it not a guidance for them (to know) how many a generation we destroyed before them, amid whose dwellings they walk? lo! therein verily are signs for men of thought. s: does it not then direct them aright how many of the generations in whose dwelling-places they go about we destroyed before them? most surely there are signs in this for those endowed with understanding. . y: had it not been for a word that went forth before from thy lord, (their punishment) must necessarily have come; but there is a term appointed (for respite). p: and but for a decree that had already gone forth from thy lord, and a term already fixed, the judgment would have been inevitable (in this world). s: and had there not been a word (that had) already gone forth from your lord and an appointed term, it would surely have been made to cleave (to them). . y: therefore be patient with what they say, and celebrate (constantly) the praises of thy lord, before the rising of the sun, and before its setting; yea, celebrate them for part of the hours of the night, and at the sides of the day: that thou mayest have (spiritual) joy. p: therefor (o muhammad), bear with what they say, and celebrate the praise of thy lord ere the rising of the sun and ere the going down thereof. and glorify him some hours of the night and at the two ends of the day, that thou mayst find acceptance. s: bear then patiently what they say, and glorify your lord by the praising of him before the rising of the sun and before its setting, and during hours of the night do also glorify (him) and during parts of the day, that you may be well pleased. . y: nor strain thine eyes in longing for the things we have given for enjoyment to parties of them, the splendour of the life of this world, through which we test them: but the provision of thy lord is better and more enduring. p: and strain not thine eyes toward that which we cause some wedded pairs among them to enjoy, the flower of the life of the world, that we may try them thereby. the provision of thy lord is better and more lasting. s: and do not stretch your eyes after that with which we have provided different classes of them, (of) the splendor of this world's life, that we may thereby try them; and the sustenance (given) by your lord is better and more abiding. . y: enjoin prayer on thy people, and be constant therein. we ask thee not to provide sustenance: we provide it for thee. but the (fruit of) the hereafter is for righteousness. p: and enjoin upon thy people worship, and be constant therein. we ask not of thee a provision: we provided for thee. and the sequel is for righteousness. s: and enjoin prayer on your followers, and steadily adhere to it; we do not ask you for subsistence; we do give you subsistence, and the (good) end is for guarding (against evil). . y: they say: "why does he not bring us a sign from his lord?" has not a clear sign come to them of all that was in the former books of revelation? p: and they say: if only he would bring us a miracle from his lord! hath there not come unto them the proof of what is in the former scriptures? s: and they say: why does he not bring to us a sign from his lord? has not there come to them a clear evidence of what is in the previous books? . y: and if we had inflicted on them a penalty before this, they would have said: "our lord! if only thou hadst sent us a messenger, we should certainly have followed thy signs before we were humbled and put to shame." p: and if we had destroyed them with some punishment before it, they would assuredly have said: our lord! if only thou hadst sent unto us a messenger, so that we might have followed thy revelations before we were (thus) humbled and disgraced! s: and had we destroyed them with chastisement before this, they would certainly have said: o our lord! why didst thou not send to us a messenger, for then we should have followed thy communications before that we met disgrace and shame. . y: say: "each one (of us) is waiting: wait ye, therefore, and soon shall ye know who it is that is on the straight and even way, and who it is that has received guidance." p: say: each is awaiting; so await ye! ye will come to know who are the owners of the path of equity, and who is right. s: say: every one (of us) is awaiting, therefore do await: so you will come to know who is the follower of the even path and who goes aright. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-anbiya (the prophets) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: closer and closer to mankind comes their reckoning: yet they heed not and they turn away. p: their reckoning draweth nigh for mankind, while they turn away in heedlessness. s: their reckoning has drawn near to men, and in heedlessness are they turning aside. . y: never comes (aught) to them of a renewed message from their lord, but they listen to it as in jest,- p: never cometh there unto them a new reminder from their lord but they listen to it while they play, s: there comes not to them a new reminder from their lord but they hear it while they sport, . y: their hearts toying as with trifles. the wrong-doers conceal their private counsels, (saying), "is this (one) more than a man like yourselves? will ye go to witchcraft with your eyes open?" p: with hearts preoccupied. and they confer in secret. the wrong-doers say: is this other than a mortal like you? will ye then succumb to magic when ye see (it)? s: their hearts trifling; and those who are unjust counsel together in secret: he is nothing but a mortal like yourselves; what! will you then yield to enchantment while you see? . y: say: "my lord knoweth (every) word (spoken) in the heavens and on earth: he is the one that heareth and knoweth (all things)." p: he saith: my lord knoweth what is spoken in the heaven and the earth. he is the hearer, the knower. s: he said: my lord knows what is spoken in the heaven and the earth, and he is the hearing, the knowing. . y: "nay," they say, "(these are) medleys of dream! - nay, he forged it! - nay, he is (but) a poet! let him then bring us a sign like the ones that were sent to (prophets) of old!" p: nay, say they, (these are but) muddled dreams; nay, he hath but invented it; nay, he is but a poet. let him bring us a portent even as those of old (who were allah's messengers) were sent (with portents). s: nay! say they: medleys of dreams; nay! he has forged it; nay! he is a poet; so let him bring to us a sign as the former (prophets) were sent (with). . y: (as to those) before them, not one of the populations which we destroyed believed: will these believe? p: not a township believed of those which we destroyed before them (though we sent them portents): would they then believe? s: there did not believe before them any town which we destroyed, will they then believe? . y: before thee, also, the messengers we sent were but men, to whom we granted inspiration: if ye realise this not, ask of those who possess the message. p: and we sent not (as our messengers) before thee other than men, whom we inspired. ask the followers of the reminder if ye know not? s: and we did not send before you any but men to whom we sent revelation, so ask the followers of the reminder if you do not know. . y: nor did we give them bodies that ate no food, nor were they exempt from death. p: we gave them not bodies that would not eat food, nor were they immortals. s: and we did not make them bodies not eating the food, and they were not to abide (forever). . y: in the end we fulfilled to them our promise, and we saved them and those whom we pleased, but we destroyed those who transgressed beyond bounds. p: then we fulfilled the promise unto them. so we delivered them and whom we would, and we destroyed the prodigals. s: then we made our promise good to them, so we delivered them and those whom we pleased, and we destroyed the extravagant. . y: we have revealed for you (o men!) a book in which is a message for you: will ye not then understand? p: now we have revealed unto you a scripture wherein is your reminder. have ye then no sense? s: certainly we have revealed to you a book in which is your good remembrance; what! do you not then understand? . y: how many were the populations we utterly destroyed because of their iniquities, setting up in their places other peoples? p: how many a community that dealt unjustly have we shattered, and raised up after them another folk! s: and how many a town which was iniquitous did we demolish, and we raised up after it another people! . y: yet, when they felt our punishment (coming), behold, they (tried to) flee from it. p: and, when they felt our might, behold them fleeing from it! s: so when they felt our punishment, lo! they began to fly . y: flee not, but return to the good things of this life which were given you, and to your homes in order that ye may be called to account. p: (but it was said unto them): flee not, but return to that (existence) which emasculated you and to your dwellings, that ye may be questioned. s: do not fly (now) and come back to what you were made to lead easy lives in and to your dwellings, haply you will be questioned. . y: they said: "ah! woe to us! we were indeed wrong-doers!" p: they cried: alas for us! we were wrong-doers. s: they said: o woe to us! surely we were unjust. . y: and that cry of theirs ceased not, till we made them as a field that is mown, as ashes silent and quenched. p: and this their crying ceased not till we made them as reaped corn, extinct. s: and this ceased not to be their cry till we made them cut . y: not for (idle) sport did we create the heavens and the earth and all that is between! p: we created not the heaven and the earth and all that is between them in play. s: and we did not create the heaven and the earth and what is between them for sport. . y: if it had been our wish to take (just) a pastime, we should surely have taken it from the things nearest to us, if we would do (such a thing)! p: if we had wished to find a pastime, we could have found it in our presence - if we ever did. s: had we wished to make a diversion, we would have made it from before ourselves: by no means would we do (it). . y: nay, we hurl the truth against falsehood, and it knocks out its brain, and behold, falsehood doth perish! ah! woe be to you for the (false) things ye ascribe (to us). p: nay, but we hurl the true against the false, and it doth break its head and lo! it vanisheth. and yours will be woe for that which ye ascribe (unto him). s: nay! we cast the truth against the falsehood, so that it breaks its head, and lo! it vanishes; and woe to you for what you describe; . y: to him belong all (creatures) in the heavens and on earth: even those who are in his (very) presence are not too proud to serve him, nor are they (ever) weary (of his service): p: unto him belongeth whosoever is in the heavens and the earth. and those who dwell in his presence are not too proud to worship him, nor do they weary; s: and whoever is in the heavens and the earth is his; and those who are with him are not proud to serve him, nor do they grow weary. . y: they celebrate his praises night and day, nor do they ever flag or intermit. p: they glorify (him) night and day; they flag not. s: they glorify (him) by night and day; they are never languid. . y: or have they taken (for worship) gods from the earth who can raise (the dead)? p: or have they chosen gods from the earth who raise the dead? s: or have they taken gods from the earth who raise (the dead). . y: if there were, in the heavens and the earth, other gods besides allah, there would have been confusion in both! but glory to allah, the lord of the throne: (high is he) above what they attribute to him! p: if there were therein gods beside allah, then verily both (the heavens and the earth) had been disordered. glorified be allah, the lord of the throne, from all that they ascribe (unto him). s: if there had been in them any gods except allah, they would both have certainly been in a state of disorder; therefore glory be to allah, the lord of the dominion, above what they attribute (to him). . y: he cannot be questioned for his acts, but they will be questioned (for theirs). p: he will not be questioned as to that which he doeth, but they will be questioned. s: he cannot be questioned concerning what he does and they shall be questioned. . y: or have they taken for worship (other) gods besides him? say, "bring your convincing proof: this is the message of those with me and the message of those before me." but most of them know not the truth, and so turn away. p: or have they chosen other gods beside him? say: bring your proof (of their godhead). this is the reminder of those with me and those before me, but most of them know not the truth and so they are averse. s: or, have they taken gods besides him? say: bring your proof; this is the reminder of those with me and the reminder of those before me. nay! most of them do not know the truth, so they turn aside. . y: not a messenger did we send before thee without this inspiration sent by us to him: that there is no god but i; therefore worship and serve me. p: and we sent no messenger before thee but we inspired him, (saying): there is no god save me (allah), so worship me. s: and we did not send before you any messenger but we revealed to him that there is no god but me, therefore serve me. . y: and they say: "(allah) most gracious has begotten offspring." glory to him! they are (but) servants raised to honour. p: and they say: the beneficent hath taken unto himself a son. be he glorified! nay, but (those whom they call sons) are honoured slaves; s: and they say: the beneficent allah has taken to himself a son. glory be to him. nay! they are honored servants; . y: they speak not before he speaks, and they act (in all things) by his command. p: they speak not until he hath spoken, and they act by his command. s: they do not precede him in speech and (only) according to his commandment do they act. . y: he knows what is before them, and what is behind them, and they offer no intercession except for those who are acceptable, and they stand in awe and reverence of his (glory). p: he knoweth what is before them and what is behind them, and they cannot intercede except for him whom he accepteth, and they quake for awe of him. s: he knows what is before them and what is behind them, and they do not intercede except for him whom he approves and for fear of him they tremble. . y: if any of them should say, "i am a god besides him", such a one we should reward with hell: thus do we reward those who do wrong. p: and one of them who should say: lo! i am a god beside him, that one we should repay with hell. thus we repay wrong-doers. s: and whoever of them should say: surely i am a god besides him, such a one do we recompense with hell; thus do, we recompense the unjust. . y: do not the unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of creation), before we clove them asunder? we made from water every living thing. will they not then believe? p: have not those who disbelieve known that the heavens and the earth were of one piece, then we parted them, and we made every living thing of water? will they not then believe? s: do not those who disbelieve see that the heavens and the earth were closed up, but we have opened them; and we have made of water everything living, will they not then believe? . y: and we have set on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with them, and we have made therein broad highways (between mountains) for them to pass through: that they may receive guidance. p: and we have placed in the earth firm hills lest it quake with them, and we have placed therein ravines as roads that haply they may find their way. s: and we have made great mountains in the earth lest it might be convulsed with them, and we have made in it wide ways that they may follow a right direction. . y: and we have made the heavens as a canopy well guarded: yet do they turn away from the signs which these things (point to)! p: and we have made the sky a roof withheld (from them). yet they turn away from its portents. s: and we have made the heaven a guarded canopy and (yet) they turn aside from its signs. . y: it is he who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon: all (the celestial bodies) swim along, each in its rounded course. p: and he it is who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. they float, each in an orbit. s: and he it is who created the night and the day and the sun and the moon; all (orbs) travel along swiftly in their celestial spheres. . y: we granted not to any man before thee permanent life (here): if then thou shouldst die, would they live permanently? p: we appointed immortality for no mortal before thee. what! if thou diest, can they be immortal! s: and we did not ordain abiding for any mortal before you. what! then if you die, will they abide? . y: every soul shall have a taste of death: and we test you by evil and by good by way of trial: to us must ye return. p: every soul must taste of death, and we try you with evil and with good, for ordeal. and unto us ye will be returned. s: every soul must taste of death and we try you by evil and good by way of probation; and to us you shall be brought back. . y: when the unbelievers see thee, they treat thee not except with ridicule. "is this," (they say), "the one who talks of your gods?" and they blaspheme at the mention of (allah) most gracious! p: and when those who disbelieve behold thee, they but choose thee out for mockery, (saying): is this he who maketh mention of your gods? and they would deny all mention of the beneficent. s: and when those who disbelieve see you, they do not take you but for one to be scoffed at: is this he who speaks of your gods? and they are deniers at the mention of the beneficent allah. . y: man is a creature of haste: soon (enough) will i show you my signs; then ye will not ask me to hasten them! p: man is made of haste. i shall show you my portents, but ask me not to hasten. s: man is created of haste; now will i show to you my signs, therefore do not ask me to hasten (them) on. . y: they say: "when will this promise come to pass, if ye are telling the truth?" p: and they say: when will this promise (be fulfilled), if ye are truthful? s: and they say: when will this threat come to pass if you are truthful? . y: if only the unbelievers knew (the time) when they will not be able to ward off the fire from their faces, nor yet from their backs, and (when) no help can reach them! p: if those who disbelieved but knew the time when they will not be able to drive off the fire from their faces and from their backs, and they will not be helped! s: had those who disbelieve but known (of the time) when they shall not be able to ward off the fire from their faces nor from their backs, nor shall they be helped. . y: nay, it may come to them all of a sudden and confound them: no power will they have then to avert it, nor will they (then) get respite. p: nay, but it will come upon them unawares so that it will stupefy them, and they will be unable to repel it, neither will they be reprieved. s: nay, it shall come on them all of a sudden and cause them to become confounded, so they shall not have the power to avert it, nor shall they be respited. . y: mocked were (many) messenger before thee; but their scoffers were hemmed in by the thing that they mocked. p: messengers before thee, indeed, were mocked, but that whereat they mocked surrounded those who scoffed at them. s: and certainly messengers before you were scoffed at, then there befell those of them who scoffed that at which they had scoffed. . y: say: "who can keep you safe by night and by day from (the wrath of) (allah) most gracious?" yet they turn away from the mention of their lord. p: say: who guardeth you in the night or in the day from the beneficent? nay, but they turn away from mention of their lord! s: say: who guards you by night and by day from the beneficent allah? nay, they turn aside at the mention of their lord. . y: or have they gods that can guard them from us? they have no power to aid themselves, nor can they be defended from us. p: or have they gods who can shield them from us? they cannot help themselves nor can they be defended from us. s: or, have they gods who can defend them against us? they shall not be able to assist themselves, nor shall they be defended from us. . y: nay, we gave the good things of this life to these men and their fathers until the period grew long for them; see they not that we gradually reduce the land (in their control) from its outlying borders? is it then they who will win? p: nay, but we gave these and their fathers ease until life grew long for them. see they not how we aim to the land, reducing it of its outlying parts? can they then be the victors? s: nay, we gave provision to these and their fathers until life was prolonged to them. do they not then see that we are visiting the land, curtailing it of its sides? shall they then prevail? . y: say, "i do but warn you according to revelation": but the deaf will not hear the call, (even) when they are warned! p: say (o muhammad, unto mankind): i warn you only by the inspiration. but the deaf hear not the call when they are warned. s: say: i warn you only by revelation; and the deaf do not hear the call whenever they are warned. . y: if but a breath of the wrath of thy lord do touch them, they will then say, "woe to us! we did wrong indeed!" p: and if a breath of thy lord's punishment were to touch them, they assuredly would say: alas for us! lo! we were wrong-doers. s: and if a blast of the chastisement of your lord were to touch them, they will certainly say: o woe to us! surely we were unjust. . y: we shall set up scales of justice for the day of judgment, so that not a soul will be dealt with unjustly in the least, and if there be (no more than) the weight of a mustard seed, we will bring it (to account): and enough are we to take account. p: and we set a just balance for the day of resurrection so that no soul is wronged in aught. though it be of the weight of a grain of mustard seed, we bring it. and we suffice for reckoners. s: and we will set up a just balance on the day of resurrection, so no soul shall be dealt with unjustly in the least; and though there be the weight of a grain of mustard seed, (yet) will we bring it, and sufficient are we to take account. . y: in the past we granted to moses and aaron the criterion (for judgment), and a light and a message for those who would do right,- p: and we verily gave moses and aaron the criterion (of right and wrong) and a light and a reminder for those who keep from evil, s: and certainly we gave to musa and haroun the furqan and a light and a reminder for those who would guard (against evil). . y: those who fear their lord in their most secret thoughts, and who hold the hour (of judgment) in awe. p: those who fear their lord in secret and who dread the hour (of doom). s: (for) those who fear their lord in secret and they are fearful of the hour. . y: and this is a blessed message which we have sent down: will ye then reject it? p: this is a blessed reminder that we have revealed: will ye then reject it? s: and this is a blessed reminder which we have revealed; will you then deny it? . y: we bestowed aforetime on abraham his rectitude of conduct, and well were we acquainted with him. p: and we verily gave abraham of old his proper course, and we were aware of him, s: and certainly we gave to ibrahim his rectitude before, and we knew him fully well. . y: behold! he said to his father and his people, "what are these images, to which ye are (so assiduously) devoted?" p: when he said unto his father and his folk: what are these images unto which ye pay devotion? s: when he said to his father and his people: what are these images to whose worship you cleave? . y: they said, "we found our fathers worshipping them." p: they said: we found our fathers worshippers of them. s: they said: we found our fathers worshipping them. . y: he said, "indeed ye have been in manifest error - ye and your fathers." p: he said: verily ye and your fathers were in plain error. s: he said: certainly you have been, (both) you and your fathers, in manifest error. . y: they said, "have you brought us the truth, or are you one of those who jest?" p: they said: bringest thou unto us the truth, or art thou some jester? s: they said: have you brought to us the truth, or are you one of the triflers? . y: he said, "nay, your lord is the lord of the heavens and the earth, he who created them (from nothing): and i am a witness to this (truth)." p: he said: nay, but your lord is the lord of the heavens and the earth, who created them; and i am of those who testify unto that. s: he said: nay! your lord is the lord of the heavens and the earth, who brought them into existence, and i am of those who bear witness to this: . y: "and by allah, i have a plan for your idols - after ye go away and turn your backs".. p: and, by allah, i shall circumvent your idols after ye have gone away and turned your backs. s: and, by allah! i will certainly do something against your idols after you go away, turning back. . y: so he broke them to pieces, (all) but the biggest of them, that they might turn (and address themselves) to it. p: then he reduced them to fragments, all save the chief of them, that haply they might have recourse to it. s: so he broke them into pieces, except the chief of them, that haply they may return to it. . y: they said, "who has done this to our gods? he must indeed be some man of impiety!" p: they said: who hath done this to our gods? surely it must be some evil-doer. s: they said: who has done this to our gods? most surely he is one of the unjust. . y: they said, "we heard a youth talk of them: he is called abraham." p: they said: we heard a youth make mention of them, who is called abraham. s: they said: we heard a youth called ibrahim speak of them. . y: they said, "then bring him before the eyes of the people, that they may bear witness." p: they said: then bring him (hither) before the people's eyes that they may testify. s: said they: then bring him before the eyes of the people, perhaps they may bear witness. . y: they said, "art thou the one that did this with our gods, o abraham?" p: they said: is it thou who hast done this to our gods, o abraham? s: they said: have you done this to our gods, o ibrahim? . y: he said: "nay, this was done by - this is their biggest one! ask them, if they can speak intelligently!" p: he said: but this, their chief hath done it. so question them, if they can speak. s: he said: surely (some doer) has done it; the chief of them is this, therefore ask them, if they can speak. . y: so they turned to themselves and said, "surely ye are the ones in the wrong!" p: then gathered they apart and said: lo! ye yourselves are the wrong-doers. s: then they turned to themselves and said: surely you yourselves are the unjust; . y: then were they confounded with shame: (they said), "thou knowest full well that these (idols) do not speak!" p: and they were utterly confounded, and they said: well thou knowest that these speak not. s: then they were made to hang down their heads: certainly you know that they do not speak. . y: (abraham) said, "do ye then worship, besides allah, things that can neither be of any good to you nor do you harm?" p: he said: worship ye then instead of allah that which cannot profit you at all, nor harm you? s: he said: what! do you then serve besides allah what brings you not any benefit at all, nor does it harm you? . y: "fie upon you, and upon the things that ye worship besides allah! have ye no sense?".. p: fie on you and all that ye worship instead of allah! have ye then no sense? s: fie on you and on what you serve besides allah; what! do you not then understand? . y: they said, "burn him and protect your gods, if ye do (anything at all)!" p: they cried: burn him and stand by your gods, if ye will be doing. s: they said: burn him and help your gods, if you are going to do (anything). . y: we said, "o fire! be thou cool, and (a means of) safety for abraham!" p: we said: o fire, be coolness and peace for abraham, s: we said: o fire! be a comfort and peace to ibrahim; . y: then they sought a stratagem against him: but we made them the ones that lost most! p: and they wished to set a snare for him, but we made them the greater losers. s: and they desired a war on him, but we made them the greatest losers. . y: but we delivered him and (his nephew) lut (and directed them) to the land which we have blessed for the nations. p: and we rescued him and lot (and brought them) to the land which we have blessed for (all) peoples. s: and we delivered him as well as lut (removing them) to the land which we had blessed for all people. . y: and we bestowed on him isaac and, as an additional gift, (a grandson), jacob, and we made righteous men of every one (of them). p: and we bestowed upon him isaac, and jacob as a grandson. each of them we made righteous. s: and we gave him ishaq and yaqoub, a son's son, and we made (them) all good. . y: and we made them leaders, guiding (men) by our command, and we sent them inspiration to do good deeds, to establish regular prayers, and to practise regular charity; and they constantly served us (and us only). p: and we made them chiefs who guide by our command, and we inspired in them the doing of good deeds and the right establishment of worship and the giving of alms, and they were worshippers of us (alone). s: and we made them imams who guided (people) by our command, and we revealed to them the doing of good and the keeping up of prayer and the giving of the alms, and us (alone) did they serve; . y: and to lut, too, we gave judgment and knowledge, and we saved him from the town which practised abominations: truly they were a people given to evil, a rebellious people. p: and unto lot we gave judgment and knowledge, and we delivered him from the community that did abominations. lo! they were folk of evil, lewd. s: and (as for) lut, we gave him wisdom and knowledge, and we delivered him from the town which wrought abominations; surely they were an evil people, transgressors; . y: and we admitted him to our mercy: for he was one of the righteous. p: and we brought him in unto our mercy. lo! he was of the righteous. s: and we took him into our mercy; surely he was of the good. . y: (remember) noah, when he cried (to us) aforetime: we listened to his (prayer) and delivered him and his family from great distress. p: and noah, when he cried of old, we heard his prayer and saved him and his household from the great affliction. s: and nuh, when he cried aforetime, so we answered him, and delivered him and his followers from the great calamity. . y: we helped him against people who rejected our signs: truly they were a people given to evil: so we drowned them (in the flood) all together. p: and delivered him from the people who denied our revelations. lo! they were folk of evil, therefor did we drown them all. s: and we helped him against the people who rejected our communications; surely they were an evil people, so we drowned them all. . y: and remember david and solomon, when they gave judgment in the matter of the field into which the sheep of certain people had strayed by night: we did witness their judgment. p: and david and solomon, when they gave judgment concerning the field, when people's sheep had strayed and browsed therein by night; and we were witnesses to their judgment. s: and dawood and sulaiman when they gave judgment concerning the field when the people's sheep pastured therein by night, and we were bearers of witness to their judgment. . y: to solomon we inspired the (right) understanding of the matter: to each (of them) we gave judgment and knowledge; it was our power that made the hills and the birds celebrate our praises, with david: it was we who did (all these things). p: and we made solomon to understand (the case); and unto each of them we gave judgment and knowledge. and we subdued the hills and the birds to hymn (his) praise along with david. we were the doers (thereof). s: so we made sulaiman to understand it; and to each one we gave wisdom and knowledge; and we made the mountains, and the birds to celebrate our praise with dawood; and we were the doers. . y: it was we who taught him the making of coats of mail for your benefit, to guard you from each other's violence: will ye then be grateful? p: and we taught him the art of making garments (of mail) to protect you in your daring. are ye then thankful? s: and we taught him the making of coats of mail for you, that they might protect you in your wars; will you then be grateful? . y: (it was our power that made) the violent (unruly) wind flow (tamely) for solomon, to his order, to the land which we had blessed: for we do know all things. p: and unto solomon (we subdued) the wind in its raging. it set by his command toward the land which we had blessed. and of everything we are aware. s: and (we made subservient) to sulaiman the wind blowing violent, pursuing its course by his command to the land which we had blessed, and we are knower of all things. . y: and of the evil ones, were some who dived for him, and did other work besides; and it was we who guarded them. p: and of the evil ones (subdued we unto him) some who dived (for pearls) for him and did other work, and we were warders unto them. s: and of the rebellious people there were those who dived for him and did other work besides that, and we kept guard over them; . y: and (remember) job, when he cried to his lord, "truly distress has seized me, but thou art the most merciful of those that are merciful." p: and job, when he cried unto his lord, (saying): lo! adversity afflicteth me, and thou art most merciful of all who show mercy. s: and ayub, when he cried to his lord, (saying): harm has afflicted me, and thou art the most merciful of the merciful. . y: so we listened to him: we removed the distress that was on him, and we restored his people to him, and doubled their number,- as a grace from ourselves, and a thing for commemoration, for all who serve us. p: then we heard his prayer and removed that adversity from which he suffered, and we gave him his household (that he had lost) and the like thereof along with them, a mercy from our store, and a remembrance for the worshippers; s: therefore we responded to him and took off what harm he had, and we gave him his family and the like of them with them: a mercy from us and a reminder to the worshippers. . y: and (remember) isma'il, idris, and zul-kifl, all (men) of constancy and patience; p: and (mention) ishmael, and idris, and dhu'l-kifl. all were of the steadfast. s: and ismail and idris and zulkifl; all were of the patient ones; . y: we admitted them to our mercy: for they were of the righteous ones. p: and we brought them in unto our mercy. lo! they are among the righteous. s: and we caused them to enter into our mercy, surely they were of the good ones. . y: and remember zun-nun, when he departed in wrath: he imagined that we had no power over him! but he cried through the depths of darkness, "there is no god but thou: glory to thee: i was indeed wrong!" p: and (mention) dhu'n-nun, when he went off in anger and deemed that we had no power over him, but he cried out in the darkness, saying: there is no god save thee. be thou glorified! lo! i have been a wrong-doer. s: and yunus, when he went away in wrath, so he thought that we would not straiten him, so he called out among afflictions: there is no god but thou, glory be to thee; surely i am of those who make themselves to suffer loss. . y: so we listened to him: and delivered him from distress: and thus do we deliver those who have faith. p: then we heard his prayer and saved him from the anguish. thus we save believers. s: so we responded to him and delivered him from the grief and thus do we deliver the believers. . y: and (remember) zakariya, when he cried to his lord: "o my lord! leave me not without offspring, though thou art the best of inheritors." p: and zachariah, when he cried unto his lord: my lord! leave me not childless, though thou art the best of inheritors. s: and zakariya, when he cried to his lord: o my lord leave me not alone; and thou art the best of inheritors. . y: so we listened to him: and we granted him yahya: we cured his wife's (barrenness) for him. these (three) were ever quick in emulation in good works; they used to call on us with love and reverence, and humble themselves before us. p: then we heard his prayer, and bestowed upon him john, and adjusted his wife (to bear a child) for him. lo! they used to vie one with the other in good deeds, and they cried unto us in longing and in fear, and were submissive unto us. s: so we responded to him and gave him yahya and made his wife fit for him; surely they used to hasten, one with another, in deeds of goodness and to call upon us, hoping and fearing; and they were humble before us. . y: and (remember) her who guarded her chastity: we breathed into her of our spirit, and we made her and her son a sign for all peoples. p: and she who was chaste, therefor we breathed into her (something) of our spirit and made her and her son a token for (all) peoples. s: and she who guarded her chastity, so we breathed into her of our inspiration and made her and her son a sign for the nations. . y: verily, this brotherhood of yours is a single brotherhood, and i am your lord and cherisher: therefore serve me (and no other). p: lo! this, your religion, is one religion, and i am your lord, so worship me. s: surely this islam is your religion, one religion (only), and i am your lord, therefore serve me. . y: but (later generations) cut off their affair (of unity), one from another: (yet) will they all return to us. p: and they have broken their religion (into fragments) among them, (yet) all are returning unto us. s: and they broke their religion (into sects) between them: to us shall all come back. . y: whoever works any act of righteousness and has faith,- his endeavour will not be rejected: we shall record it in his favour. p: then whoso doeth some good works and is a believer, there will be no rejection of his effort. lo! we record (it) for him. s: therefore whoever shall do of good deeds and he is a believer, there shall be no denying of his exertion, and surely we will write (it) down for him. . y: but there is a ban on any population which we have destroyed: that they shall not return, p: and there is a ban upon any community which we have destroyed: that they shall not return. s: and it is binding on a town which we destroy that they shall not return. . y: until the gog and magog (people) are let through (their barrier), and they swiftly swarm from every hill. p: until, when gog and magog are let loose, and they hasten out of every mound, s: even when gog and magog are let loose and they shall break forth from every elevated place. . y: then will the true promise draw nigh (of fulfilment): then behold! the eyes of the unbelievers will fixedly stare in horror: "ah! woe to us! we were indeed heedless of this; nay, we truly did wrong!" p: and the true promise draweth nigh; then behold them, staring wide (in terror), the eyes of those who disbelieve! (they say): alas for us! we (lived) in forgetfulness of this. ah, but we were wrong-doers! s: and the true promise shall draw nigh, then lo! the eyes of those who disbelieved shall be fixedly open: o woe to us! surely we were in a state of heedlessness as to this; nay, we were unjust. . y: verily ye, (unbelievers), and the (false) gods that ye worship besides allah, are (but) fuel for hell! to it will ye (surely) come! p: lo! ye (idolaters) and that which ye worship beside allah are fuel of hell. thereunto ye will come. s: surely you and what you worship besides allah are the firewood of hell; to it you shall come. . y: if these had been gods, they would not have got there! but each one will abide therein. p: if these had been gods they would not have come thither, but all will abide therein. s: had these been gods, they would not have come to it and all shall abide therein. . y: there, sobbing will be their lot, nor will they there hear (aught else). p: therein wailing is their portion, and therein they hear not. s: for them therein shall be groaning and therein they shall not hear. . y: those for whom the good (record) from us has gone before, will be removed far therefrom. p: lo! those unto whom kindness hath gone forth before from us, they will be far removed from thence. s: surely (as for) those for whom the good has already gone forth from us, they shall be kept far off from it; . y: not the slightest sound will they hear of hell: what their souls desired, in that will they dwell. p: they will not hear the slightest sound thereof, while they abide in that which their souls desire. s: they will not hear its faintest sound, and they shall abide in that which their souls long for. . y: the great terror will bring them no grief: but the angels will meet them (with mutual greetings): "this is your day,- (the day) that ye were promised." p: the supreme horror will not grieve them, and the angels will welcome them, (saying): this is your day which ye were promised; s: the great fearful event shall not grieve them, and the angels shall meet them: this is your day which you were promised. . y: the day that we roll up the heavens like a scroll rolled up for books (completed),- even as we produced the first creation, so shall we produce a new one: a promise we have undertaken: truly shall we fulfil it. p: the day when we shall roll up the heavens as a recorder rolleth up a written scroll. as we began the first creation, we shall repeat it. (it is) a promise (binding) upon us. lo! we are to perform it. s: on the day when we will roll up heaven like the rolling up of the scroll for writings, as we originated the first creation, (so) we shall reproduce it; a promise (binding on us); surely we will bring it about. . y: before this we wrote in the psalms, after the message (given to moses): "my servants the righteous, shall inherit the earth." p: and verily we have written in the scripture, after the reminder: my righteous slaves will inherit the earth: s: and certainly we wrote in the book after the reminder that (as for) the land, my righteous servants shall inherit it. . y: verily in this (qur'an) is a message for people who would (truly) worship allah. p: lo! there is a plain statement for folk who are devout. s: most surely in this is a message to a people who serve . y: we sent thee not, but as a mercy for all creatures. p: we sent thee not save as a mercy for the peoples. s: and we have not sent you but as a mercy to the worlds. . y: say: "what has come to me by inspiration is that your allah is one allah: will ye therefore bow to his will (in islam)?" p: say: it is only inspired in me that your allah is one allah. will ye then surrender (unto him)? s: say: it is only revealed to me that your allah is one allah; will you then submit? . y: but if they turn back, say: "i have proclaimed the message to you all alike and in truth; but i know not whether that which ye are promised is near or far." p: but if they are averse, then say: i have warned you all alike, although i know not whether nigh or far is that which ye are promised. s: but if they turn back, say: i have given you warning in fairness and i do not know whether what you are threatened with is near or far: . y: "it is he who knows what is open in speech and what ye hide (in your hearts)." p: lo! he knoweth that which is said openly, and that which ye conceal. s: surely he knows what is spoken openly and he knows what you hide: . y: "i know not but that it may be a trial for you, and a grant of (worldly) livelihood (to you) for a time." p: and i know not but that this may be a trial for you, and enjoyment for a while. s: and i do not know if this may be a trial for you and a provision till a time. . y: say: "o my lord! judge thou in truth!" "our lord most gracious is the one whose assistance should be sought against the blasphemies ye utter!" p: he saith: my lord! judge thou with truth. our lord is the beneficent, whose help is to be implored against that which ye ascribe (unto him). s: he said: o my lord! judge thou with truth; and our lord is the beneficent allah, whose help is sought against what you ascribe (to him). --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-hajj (the pilgrimage) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: o mankind! fear your lord! for the convulsion of the hour (of judgment) will be a thing terrible! p: o mankind! fear your lord. lo! the earthquake of the hour (of doom) is a tremendous thing. s: o people! guard against (the punishment from) your lord; surely the violence of the hour is a grievous thing. . y: the day ye shall see it, every mother giving suck shall forget her suckling-babe, and every pregnant female shall drop her load (unformed): thou shalt see mankind as in a drunken riot, yet not drunk: but dreadful will be the wrath of allah. p: on the day when ye behold it, every nursing mother will forget her nursling and every pregnant one will be delivered of her burden, and thou (muhammad) wilt see mankind as drunken, yet they will not be drunken, but the doom of allah will be strong (upon them). s: on the day when you shall see it, every woman giving suck shall quit in confusion what she suckled, and every pregnant woman shall lay down her burden, and you shall see men intoxicated, and they shall not be intoxicated but the chastisement of allah will be severe. . y: and yet among men there are such as dispute about allah, without knowledge, and follow every evil one obstinate in rebellion! p: among mankind is he who disputeth concerning allah without knowledge, and followeth each froward devil; s: and among men there is he who disputes about allah without knowledge and follows every rebellious shaitan; . y: about the (evil one) it is decreed that whoever turns to him for friendship, him will he lead astray, and he will guide him to the penalty of the fire. p: for him it is decreed that whoso taketh him for friend, he verily will mislead him and will guide him to the punishment of the flame. s: against him it is written down that whoever takes him for a friend, he shall lead him astray and conduct him to the chastisement of the burning fire. . y: o mankind! if ye have a doubt about the resurrection, (consider) that we created you out of dust, then out of sperm, then out of a leech-like clot, then out of a morsel of flesh, partly formed and partly unformed, in order that we may manifest (our power) to you; and we cause whom we will to rest in the wombs for an appointed term, then do we bring you out as babes, then (foster you) that ye may reach your age of full strength; and some of you are called to die, and some are sent back to the feeblest old age, so that they know nothing after having known (much), and (further), thou seest the earth barren and lifeless, but when we pour down rain on it, it is stirred (to life), it swells, and it puts forth every kind of beautiful growth (in pairs). p: o mankind! if ye are in doubt concerning the resurrection, then lo! we have created you from dust, then from a drop of seed, then from a clot, then from a little lump of flesh shapely and shapeless, that we may make (it) clear for you. and we cause what we will to remain in the wombs for an appointed time, and afterward we bring you forth as infants, then (give you growth) that ye attain your full strength. and among you there is he who dieth (young), and among you there is he who is brought back to the most abject time of life, so that, after knowledge, he knoweth naught. and thou (muhammad) seest the earth barren, but when we send down water thereon, it doth thrill and swell and put forth every lovely kind (of growth). s: o people! if you are in doubt about the raising, then surely we created you from dust, then from a small seed, then from a clot, then from a lump of flesh, complete in make and incomplete, that we may make clear to you; and we cause what we please to stay in the wombs till an appointed time, then we bring you forth as babies, then that you may attain your maturity; and of you is he who is caused to die, and of you is he who is brought back to the worst part of life, so that after having knowledge he does not know anything; and you see the earth sterile land, but when we send down on it the water, it stirs and swells and brings forth of every kind a beautiful herbage. . y: this is so, because allah is the reality: it is he who gives life to the dead, and it is he who has power over all things. p: that is because allah, he is the truth and because he quickeneth the dead, and because he is able to do all things; s: this is because allah is the truth and because he gives life to the dead and because he has power over all things, . y: and verily the hour will come: there can be no doubt about it, or about (the fact) that allah will raise up all who are in the graves. p: and because the hour will come, there is no doubt thereof; and because allah will raise those who are in the graves. s: and because the hour is coming, there is no doubt about it; and because allah shall raise up those who are in the graves. . y: yet there is among men such a one as disputes about allah, without knowledge, without guidance, and without a book of enlightenment,- p: and among mankind is he who disputeth concerning allah without knowledge or guidance or a scripture giving light, s: and among men there is he who disputes about allah without knowledge and without guidance and without an illuminating book, . y: (disdainfully) bending his side, in order to lead (men) astray from the path of allah: for him there is disgrace in this life, and on the day of judgment we shall make him taste the penalty of burning (fire). p: turning away in pride to beguile (men) from the way of allah. for him in this world is ignominy, and on the day of resurrection we make him taste the doom of burning. s: turning away haughtily that he may lead (others) astray from the way of allah; for him is disgrace in this world, and on the day of resurrection we will make him taste the punishment of burning: . y: (it will be said): "this is because of the deeds which thy hands sent forth, for verily allah is not unjust to his servants." p: (and unto him it will be said): this is for that which thy two hands have sent before, and because allah is no oppressor of his slaves. s: this is due to what your two hands have sent before, and because allah is not in the least unjust to the servants. . y: there are among men some who serve allah, as it were, on the verge: if good befalls them, they are, therewith, well content; but if a trial comes to them, they turn on their faces: they lose both this world and the hereafter: that is loss for all to see! p: and among mankind is he who worshippeth allah upon a narrow marge so that if good befalleth him he is content therewith, but if a trial befalleth him, he falleth away utterly. he loseth both the world and the hereafter. that is the sheer loss. s: and among men is he who serves allah (standing) on the verge, so that if good befalls him he is satisfied therewith, but if a trial afflict him he turns back headlong; he loses this world as well as the hereafter; that is a manifest loss. . y: they call on such deities, besides allah, as can neither hurt nor profit them: that is straying far indeed (from the way)! p: he calleth, beside allah, unto that which hurteth him not nor benefiteth him. that is the far error. s: he calls besides allah upon that which does not harm him and that which does not profit him, that is the great straying. . y: (perhaps) they call on one whose hurt is nearer than his profit: evil, indeed, is the patron, and evil the companion (or help)! p: he calleth unto him whose harm is nearer than his benefit; verily an evil patron and verily an evil friend! s: he calls upon him whose harm is nearer than his profit; evil certainly is the guardian and evil certainly is the associate. . y: verily allah will admit those who believe and work righteous deeds, to gardens, beneath which rivers flow: for allah carries out all that he plans. p: lo! allah causeth those who believe and do good works to enter gardens underneath which rivers flow. lo! allah doth what he intendeth. s: surely allah will cause those who believe and do good deeds to enter gardens beneath which rivers flow, surely allah does what he pleases. . y: if any think that allah will not help him (his messenger) in this world and the hereafter, let him stretch out a rope to the ceiling and cut (himself) off: then let him see whether his plan will remove that which enrages (him)! p: whoso is wont to think (through envy) that allah will not give him (muhammad) victory in the world and the hereafter (and is enraged at the thought of his victory), let him stretch a rope up to the roof (of his dwelling), and let him hang himself. then let him see whether his strategy dispelleth that whereat he rageth! s: whoever thinks that allah will not assist him in this life and the hereafter, let him stretch a rope to the ceiling, then let him cut (it) off, then let him see if his struggle will take away that at which he is enraged. . y: thus have we sent down clear signs; and verily allah doth guide whom he will! p: thus we reveal it as plain revelations, and verily allah guideth whom he will. s: and thus have we revealed it, being clear arguments, and because allah guides whom he intends. . y: those who believe (in the qur'an), those who follow the jewish (scriptures), and the sabians, christians, magians, and polytheists,- allah will judge between them on the day of judgment: for allah is witness of all things. p: lo! those who believe (this revelation), and those who are jews, and the sabaeans and the christians and the magians and the idolaters - lo! allah will decide between them on the day of resurrection. lo! allah is witness over all things. s: surely those who believe and those who are jews and the sabeans and the christians and the magians and those who associate (others with allah)-- surely allah will decide between them on the day of resurrection; surely allah is a witness over all things. . y: seest thou not that to allah bow down in worship all things that are in the heavens and on earth,- the sun, the moon, the stars; the hills, the trees, the animals; and a great number among mankind? but a great number are (also) such as are fit for punishment: and such as allah shall disgrace,- none can raise to honour: for allah carries out all that he wills. p: hast thou not seen that unto allah payeth adoration whosoever is in the heavens and whosoever is in the earth, and the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the hills, and the trees, and the beasts, and many of mankind, while there are many unto whom the doom is justly due. he whom allah scorneth, there is none to give him honour. lo! allah doeth what he will. s: do you not see that allah is he, whom obeys whoever is in the heavens and whoever is in the earth, and the sun and the moon and the stars, and the mountains and the trees, and the animals and many of the people; and many there are against whom chastisement has become necessary; and whomsoever allah abases, there is none who can make him honorable; surely allah does what he pleases. . y: these two antagonists dispute with each other about their lord: but those who deny (their lord),- for them will be cut out a garment of fire: over their heads will be poured out boiling water. p: these twain (the believers and the disbelievers) are two opponents who contend concerning their lord. but as for those who disbelieve, garments of fire will be cut out for them; boiling fluid will be poured down on their heads, s: these are two adversaries who dispute about their lord; then (as to) those who disbelieve, for them are cut out garments of fire, boiling water shall be poured over their heads. . y: with it will be scalded what is within their bodies, as well as (their) skins. p: whereby that which is in their bellies, and their skins too, will be melted; s: with it shall be melted what is in their bellies and (their) skins as well. . y: in addition there will be maces of iron (to punish) them. p: and for them are hooked rods of iron. s: and for them are whips of iron. . y: every time they wish to get away therefrom, from anguish, they will be forced back therein, and (it will be said), "taste ye the penalty of burning!" p: whenever, in their anguish, they would go forth from thence they are driven back therein and (it is said unto them): taste the doom of burning. s: whenever they will desire to go forth from it, from grief, they shall be turned back into it, and taste the chastisement of burning. . y: allah will admit those who believe and work righteous deeds, to gardens beneath which rivers flow: they shall be adorned therein with bracelets of gold and pearls; and their garments there will be of silk. p: lo! allah will cause those who believe and do good works to enter gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will be allowed armlets of gold, and pearls, and their raiment therein will be silk. s: surely allah will make those who believe and do good deeds enter gardens beneath which rivers flow; they shall be adorned therein with bracelets of gold and (with) pearls, and their garments therein shall be of silk. . y: for they have been guided (in this life) to the purest of speeches; they have been guided to the path of him who is worthy of (all) praise. p: they are guided unto gentle speech; they are guided unto the path of the glorious one. s: and they are guided to goodly words and they are guided into the path of the praised one. . y: as to those who have rejected (allah), and would keep back (men) from the way of allah, and from the sacred mosque, which we have made (open) to (all) men - equal is the dweller there and the visitor from the country - and any whose purpose therein is profanity or wrong-doing - them will we cause to taste of a most grievous penalty. p: lo! those who disbelieve and bar (men) from the way of allah and from the inviolable place of worship, which we have appointed for mankind together, the dweller therein and the nomad: whosoever seeketh wrongful partiality therein, him we shall cause to taste a painful doom. s: surely (as for) those who disbelieve, and hinder (men) from allah's way and from the sacred mosque which we have made equally for all men, (for) the dweller therein and (for) the visitor, and whoever shall incline therein to wrong unjustly, we will make him taste of a painful chastisement. . y: behold! we gave the site, to abraham, of the (sacred) house, (saying): "associate not anything (in worship) with me; and sanctify my house for those who compass it round, or stand up, or bow, or prostrate themselves (therein in prayer)." p: and (remember) when we prepared for abraham the place of the (holy) house, saying: ascribe thou no thing as partner unto me, and purify my house for those who make the round (thereof) and those who stand and those who bow and make prostration. s: and when we assigned to ibrahim the place of the house, saying: do not associate with me aught, and purify my house for those who make the circuit and stand to pray and bow and prostrate themselves. . y: "and proclaim the pilgrimage among men: they will come to thee on foot and (mounted) on every kind of camel, lean on account of journeys through deep and distant mountain highways;" p: and proclaim unto mankind the pilgrimage. they will come unto thee on foot and on every lean camel; they will come from every deep ravine, s: and proclaim among men the pilgrimage: they will come to you on foot and on every lean camel, coming from every remote path, . y: "that they may witness the benefits (provided) for them, and celebrate the name of allah, through the days appointed, over the cattle which he has provided for them (for sacrifice): then eat ye thereof and feed the distressed ones in want." p: that they may witness things that are of benefit to them, and mention the name of allah on appointed days over the beast of cattle that he hath bestowed upon them. then eat thereof and feed therewith the poor unfortunate. s: that they may witness advantages for them and mention the name of allah during stated days over what he has given them of the cattle quadrupeds, then eat of them and feed the distressed one, the needy. . y: "then let them complete the rites prescribed for them, perform their vows, and (again) circumambulate the ancient house." p: then let them make an end of their unkemptness and pay their vows and go around the ancient house. s: then let them accomplish their needful acts of shaving and cleansing, and let them fulfil their vows and let them go round the ancient house. . y: such (is the pilgrimage): whoever honours the sacred rites of allah, for him it is good in the sight of his lord. lawful to you (for food in pilgrimage) are cattle, except those mentioned to you (as exception): but shun the abomination of idols, and shun the word that is false,- p: that (is the command). and whoso magnifieth the sacred things of allah, it will be well for him in the sight of his lord. the cattle are lawful unto you save that which hath been told you. so shun the filth of idols, and shun lying speech, s: that (shall be so); and whoever respects the sacred ordinances of allah, it is better for him with his lord; and the cattle are made lawful for you, except that which is recited to you, therefore avoid the uncleanness of the idols and avoid false words, . y: being true in faith to allah, and never assigning partners to him: if anyone assigns partners to allah, is as if he had fallen from heaven and been snatched up by birds, or the wind had swooped (like a bird on its prey) and thrown him into a far-distant place. p: turning unto allah (only), not ascribing partners unto him; for whoso ascribeth partners unto allah, it is as if he had fallen from the sky and the birds had snatched him or the wind had blown him to a far-off place. s: being upright for allah, not associating aught with him and whoever associates (others) with allah, it is as though he had fallen from on high, then the birds snatch him away or the wind carries him off to a far-distant place. . y: such (is his state): and whoever holds in honour the symbols of allah, (in the sacrifice of animals), such (honour) should come truly from piety of heart. p: that (is the command). and whoso magnifieth the offerings consecrated to allah, it surely is from devotion of the hearts, s: that (shall be so); and whoever respects the signs of allah, this surely is (the outcome) of the piety of hearts. . y: in them ye have benefits for a term appointed: in the end their place of sacrifice is near the ancient house. p: therein are benefits for you for an appointed term; and afterward they are brought for sacrifice unto the ancient house. s: you have advantages in them till a fixed time, then their place of sacrifice is the ancient house. . y: to every people did we appoint rites (of sacrifice), that they might celebrate the name of allah over the sustenance he gave them from animals (fit for food). but your allah is one allah: submit then your wills to him (in islam): and give thou the good news to those who humble themselves,- p: and for every nation have we appointed a ritual, that they may mention the name of allah over the beast of cattle that he hath given them for food; and your allah is one allah, therefor surrender unto him. and give good tidings (o muhammad) to the humble, s: and to every nation we appointed acts of devotion that they may mention the name of allah on what he has given them of the cattle quadrupeds; so your allah is one allah, therefore to him should you submit, and give good news to the humble, . y: to those whose hearts when allah is mentioned, are filled with fear, who show patient perseverance over their afflictions, keep up regular prayer, and spend (in charity) out of what we have bestowed upon them. p: whose hearts fear when allah is mentioned, and the patient of whatever may befall them, and those who establish worship and who spend of that we have bestowed on them. s: (to) those whose hearts tremble when allah is mentioned, and those who are patient under that which afflicts them, and those who keep up prayer, and spend (benevolently) out of what we have given them. . y: the sacrificial camels we have made for you as among the symbols from allah: in them is (much) good for you: then pronounce the name of allah over them as they line up (for sacrifice): when they are down on their sides (after slaughter), eat ye thereof, and feed such as (beg not but) live in contentment, and such as beg with due humility: thus have we made animals subject to you, that ye may be grateful. p: and the camels! we have appointed them among the ceremonies of allah. therein ye have much good. so mention the name of allah over them when they are drawn up in lines. then when their flanks fall (dead), eat thereof and feed the beggar and the suppliant. thus have we made them subject unto you, that haply ye may give thanks. s: and (as for) the camels, we have made them of the signs of the religion of allah for you; for you therein is much good; therefore mention the name of allah on them as they stand in a row, then when they fall down eat of them and feed the poor man who is contented and the beggar; thus have we made them subservient to you, that you may be grateful. . y: it is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches allah: it is your piety that reaches him: he has thus made them subject to you, that ye may glorify allah for his guidance to you and proclaim the good news to all who do right. p: their flesh and their food reach not allah, but the devotion from you reacheth him. thus have we made them subject unto you that ye may magnify allah that he hath guided you. and give good tidings (o muhammad) to the good. s: there does not reach allah their flesh nor their blood, but to him is acceptable the guarding (against evil) on your part; thus has he made them subservient to you, that you may magnify allah because he has guided you aright; and give good news to those who do good (to others). . y: verily allah will defend (from ill) those who believe: verily, allah loveth not any that is a traitor to faith, or show ingratitude. p: lo! allah defendeth those who are true. lo! allah loveth not each treacherous ingrate. s: surely allah will defend those who believe; surely allah does not love any one who is unfaithful, ungrateful. . y: to those against whom war is made, permission is given (to fight), because they are wronged;- and verily, allah is most powerful for their aid;- p: sanction is given unto those who fight because they have been wronged; and allah is indeed able to give them victory; s: permission (to fight) is given to those upon whom war is made because they are oppressed, and most surely allah is well able to assist them; . y: (they are) those who have been expelled from their homes in defiance of right,- (for no cause) except that they say, "our lord is allah". did not allah check one set of people by means of another, there would surely have been pulled down monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, in which the name of allah is commemorated in abundant measure. allah will certainly aid those who aid his (cause);- for verily allah is full of strength, exalted in might, (able to enforce his will). p: those who have been driven from their homes unjustly only because they said: our lord is allah - for had it not been for allah's repelling some men by means of others, cloisters and churches and oratories and mosques, wherein the name of allah is oft mentioned, would assuredly have been pulled down. verily allah helpeth one who helpeth him. lo! allah is strong, almighty - s: those who have been expelled from their homes without a just cause except that they say: our lord is allah. and had there not been allah's repelling some people by others, certainly there would have been pulled down cloisters and churches and synagogues and mosques in which allah's name is much remembered; and surely allah will help him who helps his cause; most surely allah is strong, mighty. . y: (they are) those who, if we establish them in the land, establish regular prayer and give regular charity, enjoin the right and forbid wrong: with allah rests the end (and decision) of (all) affairs. p: those who, if we give them power in the land, establish worship and pay the poor-due and enjoin kindness and forbid iniquity. and allah's is the sequel of events. s: those who, should we establish them in the land, will keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and enjoin good and forbid evil; and allah's is the end of affairs. . y: if they treat thy (mission) as false, so did the peoples before them (with their prophets),- the people of noah, and 'ad and thamud; p: if they deny thee (muhammad), even so the folk of noah, and (the tribes of) a'ad and thamud, before thee, denied (our messengers); s: and if they reject you, then already before you did the people of nuh and ad and samood reject (prophets). . y: those of abraham and lut; p: and the folk of abraham and the folk of lot; s: and the people of ibrahim and the people of lut, . y: and the companions of the madyan people; and moses was rejected (in the same way). but i granted respite to the unbelievers, and (only) after that did i punish them: but how (terrible) was my rejection (of them)! p: (and) the dwellers in midian. and moses was denied; but i indulged the disbelievers a long while, then i seized them, and how (terrible) was my abhorrence! s: as well as those of madyan and musa (too) was rejected, but i gave respite to the unbelievers, then did i overtake them, so how (severe) was my disapproval. . y: how many populations have we destroyed, which were given to wrong-doing? they tumbled down on their roofs. and how many wells are lying idle and neglected, and castles lofty and well-built? p: how many a township have we destroyed while it was sinful, so that it lieth (to this day) in ruins, and (how many) a deserted well and lofty tower! s: so how many a town did we destroy while it was unjust, so it was fallen down upon its roofs, and (how many a) deserted well and palace raised high. . y: do they not travel through the land, so that their hearts (and minds) may thus learn wisdom and their ears may thus learn to hear? truly it is not their eyes that are blind, but their hearts which are in their breasts. p: have they not travelled in the land, and have they hearts wherewith to feel and ears wherewith to hear? for indeed it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts, which are within the bosoms, that grow blind. s: have they not travelled in the land so that they should have hearts with which to understand, or ears with which to hear? for surely it is not the eyes that are blind, but blind are the hearts which are in the breasts. . y: yet they ask thee to hasten on the punishment! but allah will not fail in his promise. verily a day in the sight of thy lord is like a thousand years of your reckoning. p: and they will bid thee hasten on the doom, and allah faileth not his promise, but lo! a day with allah is as a thousand years of what ye reckon. s: and they ask you to hasten on the punishment, and allah will by no means fail in his promise, and surely a day with your lord is as a thousand years of what you number. . y: and to how many populations did i give respite, which were given to wrong-doing? in the end i punished them. to me is the destination (of all). p: and how many a township did i suffer long though it was sinful! then i grasped it. unto me is the return. s: and how many a town to which i gave respite while it was unjust, then i overtook it, and to me is the return. . y: say: "o men! i am (sent) to you only to give a clear warning:" p: say: o mankind! i am only a plain warner unto you. s: say: o people! i am only a plain warner to you. . y: "those who believe and work righteousness, for them is forgiveness and a sustenance most generous." p: those who believe and do good works, for them is pardon and a rich provision; s: then (as for) those who believe and do good, they shall have forgiveness and an honorable sustenance. . y: "but those who strive against our signs, to frustrate them,- they will be companions of the fire." p: while those who strive to thwart our revelations, such are rightful owners of the fire. s: and (as for) those who strive to oppose our communications, they shall be the inmates of the flaming fire. . y: never did we send a messenger or a prophet before thee, but, when he framed a desire, satan threw some (vanity) into his desire: but allah will cancel anything (vain) that satan throws in, and allah will confirm (and establish) his signs: for allah is full of knowledge and wisdom: p: never sent we a messenger or a prophet before thee but when he recited (the message) satan proposed (opposition) in respect of that which he recited thereof. but allah abolisheth that which satan proposeth. then allah establisheth his revelations. allah is knower, wise; s: and we did not send before you any messenger or prophet, but when he desired, the shaitan made a suggestion respecting his desire; but allah annuls that which the shaitan casts, then does allah establish his communications, and allah is knowing, wise, . y: that he may make the suggestions thrown in by satan, but a trial for those in whose hearts is a disease and who are hardened of heart: verily the wrong-doers are in a schism far (from the truth): p: that he may make that which the devil proposeth a temptation for those in whose hearts is a disease, and those whose hearts are hardened - lo! the evil-doers are in open schism - s: so that he may make what the shaitan casts a trial for those in whose hearts is disease and those whose hearts are hard; and most surely the unjust are in a great opposition, . y: and that those on whom knowledge has been bestowed may learn that the (qur'an) is the truth from thy lord, and that they may believe therein, and their hearts may be made humbly (open) to it: for verily allah is the guide of those who believe, to the straight way. p: and that those who have been given knowledge may know that it is the truth from thy lord, so that they may believe therein and their hearts may submit humbly unto him. lo! allah verily is guiding those who believe unto a right path. s: and that those who have been given the knowledge may know that it is the truth from your lord, so they may believe in it and their hearts may be lowly before it; and most surely allah is the guide of those who believe into a right path. . y: those who reject faith will not cease to be in doubt concerning (revelation) until the hour (of judgment) comes suddenly upon them, or there comes to them the penalty of a day of disaster. p: and those who disbelieve will not cease to be in doubt thereof until the hour come upon them unawares, or there come unto them the doom of a disastrous day. s: and those who disbelieve shall not cease to be in doubt concerning it until the hour overtakes them suddenly, or there comes on them the chastisement of a destructive day. . y: on that day of dominion will be that of allah: he will judge between them: so those who believe and work righteous deeds will be in gardens of delight. p: the sovereignty on that day will be allah's, he will judge between them. then those who believed and did good works will be in gardens of delight, s: the kingdom on that day shall be allah's; he will judge between them; so those who believe and do good will be in gardens of bliss. . y: and for those who reject faith and deny our signs, there will be a humiliating punishment. p: while those who disbelieved and denied our revelations, for them will be a shameful doom. s: and (as for) those who disbelieve in and reject our communications, these it is who shall have a disgraceful chastisement. . y: those who leave their homes in the cause of allah, and are then slain or die,- on them will allah bestow verily a goodly provision: truly allah is he who bestows the best provision. p: those who fled their homes for the cause of allah and then were slain or died, allah verily will provide for them a good provision. lo! allah, he verily is best of all who make provision. s: and (as for) those who fly in allah's way and are then slain or die, allah will most certainly grant them a goodly sustenance, and most surely allah is the best giver of sustenance. . y: verily he will admit them to a place with which they shall be well pleased: for allah is all-knowing, most forbearing. p: assuredly he will cause them to enter by an entry that they will love. lo! allah verily is knower, indulgent. s: he will certainly cause them to enter a place of entrance which they shall be well pleased with, and most surely allah is knowing, forbearing. . y: that (is so). and if one has retaliated to no greater extent than the injury he received, and is again set upon inordinately, allah will help him: for allah is one that blots out (sins) and forgives (again and again). p: that (is so). and whoso hath retaliated with the like of that which he was made to suffer and then hath (again) been wronged, allah will succour him. lo! allah verily is mild, forgiving. s: that (shall be so); and he who retaliates with the like of that with which he has been afflicted and he has been oppressed, allah will most certainly aid him; most surely allah is pardoning, forgiving. . y: that is because allah merges night into day, and he merges day into night, and verily it is allah who hears and sees (all things). p: that is because allah maketh the night to pass into the day and maketh the day to pass into the night, and because allah is hearer, seer. s: that is because allah causes the night to enter into the day and causes the day to enter into the night, and because allah is hearing, seeing. . y: that is because allah - he is the reality; and those besides him whom they invoke,- they are but vain falsehood: verily allah is he, most high, most great. p: that is because allah, he is the true, and that whereon they call instead of him, it is the false, and because allah, he is the high, the great. s: that is because allah is the truth, and that what they call upon besides him-- that is the falsehood, and because allah is the high, the great. . y: seest thou not that allah sends down rain from the sky, and forthwith the earth becomes clothed with green? for allah is he who understands the finest mysteries, and is well-acquainted (with them). p: seest thou not how allah sendeth down water from the sky and then the earth becometh green upon the morrow? lo! allah is subtile, aware. s: do you not see that allah sends down water from the cloud so the earth becomes green? surely allah is benignant, aware. . y: to him belongs all that is in the heavens and on earth: for verily allah,- he is free of all wants, worthy of all praise. p: unto him belongeth all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. lo! allah, he verily is the absolute, the owner of praise. s: his is whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth; and most surely allah is the self-sufficient, the praised. . y: seest thou not that allah has made subject to you (men) all that is on the earth, and the ships that sail through the sea by his command? he withholds the sky (rain) from failing on the earth except by his leave: for allah is most kind and most merciful to man. p: hast thou not seen how allah hath made all that is in the earth subservient unto you? and the ship runneth upon the sea by his command, and he holdeth back the heaven from falling on the earth unless by his leave. lo! allah is, for mankind, full of pity, merciful. s: do you not see that allah has made subservient to you whatsoever is in the earth and the ships running in the sea by his command? and he withholds the heaven from falling on the earth except with his permission; most surely allah is compassionate, merciful to men. . y: it is he who gave you life, will cause you to die, and will again give you life: truly man is a most ungrateful creature! p: and he it is who gave you life, then he will cause you to die, and then will give you life (again). lo! man is verily an ingrate. s: and he it is who has brought you to life, then he will cause you to die, then bring you to life (again); most surely man is ungrateful. . y: to every people have we appointed rites and ceremonies which they must follow: let them not then dispute with thee on the matter, but do thou invite (them) to thy lord: for thou art assuredly on the right way. p: unto each nation have we given sacred rites which they are to perform; so let them not dispute with thee of the matter, but summon thou unto thy lord. lo! thou indeed followest right guidance. s: to every nation we appointed acts of devotion which they observe, therefore they should not dispute with you about the matter and call to your lord; most surely you are on a right way. . y: if they do wrangle with thee, say, "allah knows best what it is ye are doing." p: and if they wrangle with thee, say: allah is best aware of what ye do. s: and if they contend with you, say: allah best knows what you do. . y: "allah will judge between you on the day of judgment concerning the matters in which ye differ." p: allah will judge between you on the day of resurrection concerning that wherein ye used to differ. s: allah will judge between you on the day of resurrection respecting that in which you differ. . y: knowest thou not that allah knows all that is in heaven and on earth? indeed it is all in a record, and that is easy for allah. p: hast thou not known that allah knoweth all that is in the heaven and the earth? lo! it is in a record. lo! that is easy for allah. s: do you not know that allah knows what is in the heaven and the earth? surely this is in a book; surely this is easy to allah. . y: yet they worship, besides allah, things for which no authority has been sent down to them, and of which they have (really) no knowledge: for those that do wrong there is no helper. p: and they worship instead of allah that for which he hath sent down no warrant, and that whereof they have no knowledge. for evil-doers there is no helper. s: and they serve besides allah that for which he has not sent any authority, and that of which they have no knowledge; and for the unjust there shall be no helper. . y: when our clear signs are rehearsed to them, thou wilt notice a denial on the faces of the unbelievers! they nearly attack with violence those who rehearse our signs to them. say, "shall i tell you of something (far) worse than these signs? it is the fire (of hell)! allah has promised it to the unbelievers! and evil is that destination!" p: and when our revelations are recited unto them, thou knowest the denial in the faces of those who disbelieve; they all but attack those who recite our revelations unto them. say: shall i proclaim unto you worse than that? the fire! allah hath promised it for those who disbelieve. a hapless journey's end! s: and when our clear communications are recited to them you will find denial on the faces of those who disbelieve; they almost spring upon those who recite to them our communications. say: shall i inform you of what is worse than this? the fire; allah has promised it to those who disbelieve; and how evil the resort! . y: o men! here is a parable set forth! listen to it! those on whom, besides allah, ye call, cannot create (even) a fly, if they all met together for the purpose! and if the fly should snatch away anything from them, they would have no power to release it from the fly. feeble are those who petition and those whom they petition! p: o mankind! a similitude is coined, so pay ye heed to it: lo! those on whom ye call beside allah will never create a fly though they combine together for the purpose. and if the fly took something from them, they could not rescue it from it. so weak are (both) the seeker and the sought! s: o people! a parable is set forth, therefore listen to it: surely those whom you call upon besides allah cannot create fly, though they should all gather for it, and should the fly snatch away anything from them, they could not take it back from it; weak are the invoker and the invoked. . y: no just estimate have they made of allah: for allah is he who is strong and able to carry out his will. p: they measure not allah his rightful measure. lo! allah is strong, almighty. s: they have not estimated allah with the estimation that is due to him; most surely allah is strong, mighty. . y: allah chooses messengers from angels and from men for allah is he who hears and sees (all things). p: allah chooseth from the angels messengers, and (also) from mankind. lo! allah is hearer, seer. s: allah chooses messengers from among the angels and from among the men; surely allah is hearing, seeing. . y: he knows what is before them and what is behind them: and to allah go back all questions (for decision). p: he knoweth all that is before them and all that is behind them, and unto allah all things are returned. s: he knows what is before them and what is behind them and to allah are all affairs turned back. . y: o ye who believe! bow down, prostrate yourselves, and adore your lord; and do good; that ye may prosper. p: o ye who believe! bow down and prostrate yourselves, and worship your lord, and do good, that haply ye may prosper. s: o you who believe! bow down and prostrate yourselves and serve your lord, and do good that you may succeed. . y: and strive in his cause as ye ought to strive, (with sincerity and under discipline). he has chosen you, and has imposed no difficulties on you in religion; it is the cult of your father abraham. it is he who has named you muslims, both before and in this (revelation); that the messenger may be a witness for you, and ye be witnesses for mankind! so establish regular prayer, give regular charity, and hold fast to allah! he is your protector - the best to protect and the best to help! p: and strive for allah with the endeavour which is his right. he hath chosen you and hath not laid upon you in religion any hardship; the faith of your father abraham (is yours). he hath named you muslims of old time and in this (scripture), that the messenger may be a witness against you, and that ye may be witnesses against mankind. so establish worship, pay the poor-due, and hold fast to allah. he is your protecting friend. a blessed patron and a blessed helper! s: and strive hard in (the way of) allah, (such) a striving a is due to him; he has chosen you and has not laid upon you an hardship in religion; the faith of your father ibrahim; he named you muslims before and in this, that the messenger may be a bearer of witness to you, and you may be bearers of witness to the people; therefore keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and hold fast by allah; he is your guardian; how excellent the guardian and how excellent the helper! --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-mumenoon (the believers) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: the believers must (eventually) win through,- p: successful indeed are the believers s: successful indeed are the believers, . y: those who humble themselves in their prayers; p: who are humble in their prayers, s: who are humble in their prayers, . y: who avoid vain talk; p: and who shun vain conversation, s: and who keep aloof from what is vain, . y: who are active in deeds of charity; p: and who are payers of the poor-due; s: and who are givers of poor-rate, . y: who abstain from sex, p: and who guard their modesty - s: and who guard their private parts, . y: except with those joined to them in the marriage bond, or (the captives) whom their right hands possess,- for (in their case) they are free from blame, p: save from their wives or the (slaves) that their right hands possess, for then they are not blameworthy, s: except before their mates or those whom their right hands possess, for they surely are not blameable, . y: but those whose desires exceed those limits are transgressors;- p: but whoso craveth beyond that, such are transgressors - s: but whoever seeks to go beyond that, these are they that exceed the limits; . y: those who faithfully observe their trusts and their covenants; p: and who are shepherds of their pledge and their covenant, s: and those who are keepers of their trusts and their covenant, . y: and who (strictly) guard their prayers;- p: and who pay heed to their prayers. s: and those who keep a guard on their prayers; . y: these will be the heirs, p: these are the heirs s: these are they who are the heirs, . y: who will inherit paradise: they will dwell therein (for ever). p: who will inherit paradise. there they will abide. s: who shall inherit the paradise; they shall abide therein. . y: man we did create from a quintessence (of clay); p: verily we created man from a product of wet earth; s: and certainly we created man of an extract of clay, . y: then we placed him as (a drop of) sperm in a place of rest, firmly fixed; p: then placed him as a drop (of seed) in a safe lodging; s: then we made him a small seed in a firm resting-place, . y: then we made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood; then of that clot we made a (foetus) lump; then we made out of that lump bones and clothed the bones with flesh; then we developed out of it another creature. so blessed be allah, the best to create! p: then fashioned we the drop a clot, then fashioned we the clot a little lump, then fashioned we the little lump bones, then clothed the bones with flesh, and then produced it as another creation. so blessed be allah, the best of creators! s: then we made the seed a clot, then we made the clot a lump of flesh, then we made (in) the lump of flesh bones, then we clothed the bones with flesh, then we caused it to grow into another creation, so blessed be allah, the best of the creators. . y: after that, at length ye will die. p: then lo! after that ye surely die. s: then after that you will most surely die. . y: again, on the day of judgment, will ye be raised up. p: then lo! on the day of resurrection ye are raised (again). s: then surely on the day of resurrection you shall be raised. . y: and we have made, above you, seven tracts; and we are never unmindful of (our) creation. p: and we have created above you seven paths, and we are never unmindful of creation. s: and certainly we made above you seven heavens; and never are we heedless of creation. . y: and we send down water from the sky according to (due) measure, and we cause it to soak in the soil; and we certainly are able to drain it off (with ease). p: and we send down from the sky water in measure, and we give it lodging in the earth, and lo! we are able to withdraw it. s: and we send down water from the cloud according to a measure, then we cause it to settle in the earth, and most surely we are able to carry it away. . y: with it we grow for you gardens of date-palms and vines: in them have ye abundant fruits: and of them ye eat (and have enjoyment),- p: then we produce for you therewith gardens of date-palms and grapes, wherein is much fruit for you and whereof ye eat; s: then we cause to grow thereby gardens of palm trees and grapes for you; you have in them many fruits and from them do you eat; . y: also a tree springing out of mount sinai, which produces oil, and relish for those who use it for food. p: and a tree that springeth forth from mount sinai that groweth oil and relish for the eaters. s: and a tree that grows out of mount sinai which produces oil and a condiment for those who eat. . y: and in cattle (too) ye have an instructive example: from within their bodies we produce (milk) for you to drink; there are, in them, (besides), numerous (other) benefits for you; and of their (meat) ye eat; p: and lo! in the cattle there is verily a lesson for you. we give you to drink of that which is in their bellies, and many uses have ye in them, and of them do ye eat; s: and most surely there is a lesson for you in the cattle: we make you to drink of what is in their bellies, and you have in them many advantages and of them you eat, . y: an on them, as well as in slips, ye side. p: and on them and on the ship ye are carried. s: and on them and on the ships you are borne. . y: (further, we sent a long line of prophets for your instruction). we sent noah to his people: he said, "o my people! worship allah! ye have no other god but him. will ye not fear (him)?" p: and we verily sent noah unto his folk, and he said: o my people! serve allah. ye have no other allah save him. will ye not ward off (evil)? s: and certainly we sent nuh to his people, and he said: o my people! serve allah, you have no god other than him; will you not then guard (against evil)? . y: the chiefs of the unbelievers among his people said: "he is no more than a man like yourselves: his wish is to assert his superiority over you: if allah had wished (to send messengers), he could have sent down angels; never did we hear such a thing (as he says), among our ancestors of old." p: but the chieftains of his folk, who disbelieved, said: this is only a mortal like you who would make himself superior to you. had allah willed, he surely could have sent down angels. we heard not of this in the case of our fathers of old. s: and the chiefs of those who disbelieved from among his people said: he is nothing but a mortal like yourselves who desires that he may have superiority over you, and if allah had pleased, he could certainly have sent down angels. we have not heard of this among our fathers of yore: . y: (and some said): "he is only a man possessed: wait (and have patience) with him for a time." p: he is only a man in whom is a madness, so watch him for a while. s: he is only a madman, so bear with him for a time. . y: (noah) said: "o my lord! help me: for that they accuse me of falsehood!" p: he said: my lord! help me because they deny me. s: he said: o my lord! help me against their calling me a liar. . y: so we inspired him (with this message): "construct the ark within our sight and under our guidance: then when comes our command, and the fountains of the earth gush forth, take thou on board pairs of every species, male and female, and thy family- except those of them against whom the word has already gone forth: and address me not in favour of the wrong-doers; for they shall be drowned (in the flood)." p: then we inspired in him, saying: make the ship under our eyes and our inspiration. then, when our command cometh and the oven gusheth water, introduce therein of every (kind) two spouses, and thy household save him thereof against whom the word hath already gone forth. and plead not with me on behalf of those who have done wrong. lo! they will be drowned. s: so we revealed to him, saying: make the ark before our eyes and (according to) our revelation; and when our command is given and the valley overflows, take into it of every kind a pair, two, and your followers, except those among them against whom the word has gone forth, and do not speak to me in respect of those who are unjust; surely they shall be drowned. . y: and when thou hast embarked on the ark - thou and those with thee,- say: "praise be to allah, who has saved us from the people who do wrong." p: and when thou art on board the ship, thou and whoso is with thee, then say: praise be to allah who hath saved us from the wrongdoing folk! s: and when you are firmly seated, you and those with you, in the ark, say: all praise is due to allah who delivered us from the unjust people: . y: and say: "o my lord! enable me to disembark with thy blessing: for thou art the best to enable (us) to disembark." p: and say: my lord! cause me to land at a blessed landing-place, for thou art best of all who bring to land. s: and say: o my lord! cause me to disembark a blessed alighting, and thou art the best to cause to alight. . y: verily in this there are signs (for men to understand); (thus) do we try (men). p: lo! herein verily are portents, for lo! we are ever putting (mankind) to the test. s: most surely there are signs in this, and most surely we are ever trying (men). . y: then we raised after them another generation. p: then, after them, we brought forth another generation; s: then we raised up after them another generation. . y: and we sent to them a messenger from among themselves, (saying), "worship allah! ye have no other god but him. will ye not fear (him)?" p: and we sent among them a messenger of their own, saying: serve allah, ye have no other allah save him. will ye not ward off (evil)? s: so we sent among them a messenger from among them, saying: serve allah, you have no god other than him; will you not then guard (against evil)? . y: and the chiefs of his people, who disbelieved and denied the meeting in the hereafter, and on whom we had bestowed the good things of this life, said: "he is no more than a man like yourselves: he eats of that of which ye eat, and drinks of what ye drink." p: and the chieftains of his folk, who disbelieved and denied the meeting of the hereafter, and whom we had made soft in the life of the world, said: this is only a mortal like you, who eateth of that whereof ye eat and drinketh of that ye drink. s: and the chiefs of his people who disbelieved and called the meeting of the hereafter a lie, and whom we had given plenty to enjoy in this world's life, said: this is nothing but a mortal like yourselves, eating of what you eat from and drinking of what you drink. . y: "if ye obey a man like yourselves, behold, it is certain ye will be lost." p: if ye were to obey a mortal like yourselves, then, lo! ye surely would be losers. s: and if you obey a mortal like yourselves, then most surely you will be losers: . y: "does he promise that when ye die and become dust and bones, ye shall be brought forth (again)?" p: doth he promise you that you, when ye are dead and have become dust and bones, will (again) be brought forth? s: what! does he threaten you that when you are dead and become dust and bones that you shall then be brought forth? . y: "far, very far is that which ye are promised!" p: begone, begone, with that which ye are promised! s: far, far is that which you are threatened with. . y: "there is nothing but our life in this world! we shall die and we live! but we shall never be raised up again!" p: there is naught but our life of the world; we die and we live, and we shall not be raised (again). s: there is naught but our life in this world; we die and we live and we shall not be raised again. . y: "he is only a man who invents a lie against allah, but we are not the ones to believe in him!" p: he is only a man who hath invented a lie about allah. we are not going to put faith in him. s: he is naught but a man who has forged a lie against allah, and we are not going to believe in him. . y: (the prophet) said: "o my lord! help me: for that they accuse me of falsehood." p: he said: my lord! help me because they deny me. s: he said: o my lord! help me against their calling me a liar. . y: (allah) said: "in but a little while, they are sure to be sorry!" p: he said: in a little while they surely will become repentant. s: he said: in a little while they will most certainly be repenting. . y: then the blast overtook them with justice, and we made them as rubbish of dead leaves (floating on the stream of time)! so away with the people who do wrong! p: so the (awful) cry overtook them rightfully, and we made them like as wreckage (that a torrent hurleth). a far removal for wrongdoing folk! s: so the punishment overtook them in justice, and we made them as rubbish; so away with the unjust people. . y: then we raised after them other generations. p: then after them we brought forth other generations. s: then we raised after them other generations. . y: no people can hasten their term, nor can they delay (it). p: no nation can outstrip its term, nor yet postpone it. s: no people can hasten on their doom nor can they postpone (it). . y: then sent we our messengers in succession: every time there came to a people their messenger, they accused him of falsehood: so we made them follow each other (in punishment): we made them as a tale (that is told): so away with a people that will not believe! p: then we sent our messengers one after another. whenever its messenger came unto a nation they denied him; so we caused them to follow one another (to disaster) and we made them bywords. a far removal for folk who believe not! s: then we sent our messengers one after another; whenever there came to a people their messenger, they called him a liar, so we made some of them follow others and we made them stories; so away with a people who do not believe! . y: then we sent moses and his brother aaron, with our signs and authority manifest, p: then we sent moses and his brother aaron with our tokens and a clear warrant, s: then we sent musa and his brother haroun, with our communications and a clear authority, . y: to pharaoh and his chiefs: but these behaved insolently: they were an arrogant people. p: unto pharaoh and his chiefs, but they scorned (them) and they were despotic folk. s: to firon and his chiefs, but they behaved haughtily and they were an insolent people. . y: they said: "shall we believe in two men like ourselves? and their people are subject to us!" p: and they said: shall we put faith in two mortals like ourselves, and whose folk are servile unto us? s: and they said: what! shall we believe in two mortals like ourselves while their people serve us? . y: so they accused them of falsehood, and they became of those who were destroyed. p: so they denied them, and became of those who were destroyed. s: so they rejected them and became of those who were destroyed. . y: and we gave moses the book, in order that they might receive guidance. p: and we verily gave moses the scripture, that haply they might go aright. s: and certainly we gave musa the book that they may follow a right direction. . y: and we made the son of mary and his mother as a sign: we gave them both shelter on high ground, affording rest and security and furnished with springs. p: and we made the son of mary and his mother a portent, and we gave them refuge on a height, a place of flocks and watersprings. s: and we made the son of marium and his mother a sign, and we gave them a shelter on a lofty ground having meadows and springs. . y: o ye messengers! enjoy (all) things good and pure, and work righteousness: for i am well-acquainted with (all) that ye do. p: o ye messengers! eat of the good things, and do right. lo! i am aware of what ye do. s: o messengers! eat of the good things and do good; surely i know what you do. . y: and verily this brotherhood of yours is a single brotherhood, and i am your lord and cherisher: therefore fear me (and no other). p: and lo! this your religion is one religion and i am your lord, so keep your duty unto me. s: and surely this your religion is one religion and i am your lord, therefore be careful (of your duty) to me. . y: but people have cut off their affair (of unity), between them, into sects: each party rejoices in that which is with itself. p: but they (mankind) have broken their religion among them into sects, each group rejoicing in its tenets. s: but they cut off their religion among themselves into sects, each part rejoicing in that which is with them. . y: but leave them in their confused ignorance for a time. p: so leave them in their error till a time. s: therefore leave them in their overwhelming ignorance till . y: do they think that because we have granted them abundance of wealth and sons, p: think they that in the wealth and sons wherewith we provide them s: do they think that by what we aid them with of wealth and children, . y: we would hasten them on in every good? nay, they do not understand. p: we hasten unto them with good things? nay, but they perceive not. s: we are hastening to them of good things? nay, they do not perceive. . y: verily those who live in awe for fear of their lord; p: lo! those who go in awe for fear of their lord. s: surely they who from fear of their lord are cautious, . y: those who believe in the signs of their lord; p: and those who believe in the revelations of their lord, s: and those who believe in the communications of their lord, . y: those who join not (in worship) partners with their lord; p: and those who ascribe not partners unto their lord, s: and those who do not associate (aught) with their lord, . y: and those who dispense their charity with their hearts full of fear, because they will return to their lord;- p: and those who give that which they give with hearts afraid because they are about to return unto their lord, s: and those who give what they give (in alms) while their hearts are full of fear that to their lord they must return, . y: it is these who hasten in every good work, and these who are foremost in them. p: these race for the good things, and they shall win them in the race. s: these hasten to good things and they are foremost in (attaining) them. . y: on no soul do we place a burden greater than it can bear: before us is a record which clearly shows the truth: they will never be wronged. p: and we task not any soul beyond its scope, and with us is a record which speaketh the truth, and they will not be wronged. s: and we do not lay on any soul a burden except to the extent of its ability, and with us is a book which speaks the truth, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly. . y: but their hearts are in confused ignorance of this; and there are, besides that, deeds of theirs, which they will (continue) to do,- p: nay, but their hearts are in ignorance of this (qur'an), and they have other works, besides, which they are doing; s: nay, their hearts are in overwhelming ignorance with respect to it and they have besides this other deeds which they do. . y: until, when we seize in punishment those of them who received the good things of this world, behold, they will groan in supplication! p: till when we grasp their luxurious ones with the punishment, behold! they supplicate. s: until when we overtake those who lead easy lives among them with punishment, lo! they cry for succor. . y: (it will be said): "groan not in supplication this day: for ye shall certainly not be helped by us." p: supplicate not this day! assuredly ye will not be helped by us. s: cry not for succor this day; surely you shall not be given help from us. . y: "my signs used to be rehearsed to you, but ye used to turn back on your heels"- p: my revelations were recited unto you, but ye used to turn back on your heels, s: my communications were indeed recited to you, but you used to turn back on your heels, . y: "in arrogance: talking nonsense about the (qur'an), like one telling fables by night." p: in scorn thereof. nightly did ye rave together. s: in arrogance; talking nonsense about the quran, and left him like one telling fables by night. . y: do they not ponder over the word (of allah), or has anything (new) come to them that did not come to their fathers of old? p: have they not pondered the word, or hath that come unto them which came not unto their fathers of old? s: is it then that they do not ponder over what is said, or is it that there has come to them that which did not come to their fathers of old? . y: or do they not recognise their messenger, that they deny him? p: or know they not their messenger, and so reject him? s: or is it that they have not recognized their messenger, so that they deny him? . y: or do they say, "he is possessed"? nay, he has brought them the truth, but most of them hate the truth. p: or say they: there is a madness in him? nay, but he bringeth them the truth; and most of them are haters of the truth. s: or do they say: there is madness in him? nay! he has brought them the truth, and most of them are averse from the truth. . y: if the truth had been in accord with their desires, truly the heavens and the earth, and all beings therein would have been in confusion and corruption! nay, we have sent them their admonition, but they turn away from their admonition. p: and if the truth had followed their desires, verily the heavens and the earth and whosoever is therein had been corrupted. nay, we have brought them their reminder, but from their reminder they now turn away. s: and should the truth follow their low desires, surely the heavens and the earth and all those who are therein would have perished. nay! we have brought to them their reminder, but from their reminder they turn aside. . y: or is it that thou askest them for some recompense? but the recompense of thy lord is best: he is the best of those who give sustenance. p: or dost thou ask of them (o muhammad) any tribute? but the bounty of thy lord is better, for he is best of all who make provision. s: or is it that you ask them a recompense? but the recompense of your lord is best, and he is the best of those who provide sustenance. . y: but verily thou callest them to the straight way; p: and lo! thou summonest them indeed unto a straight path. s: and most surely you invite them to a right way. . y: and verily those who believe not in the hereafter are deviating from that way. p: and lo! those who believe not in the hereafter are indeed astray from the path. s: and most surely those who do not believe in the hereafter are deviating from the way. . y: if we had mercy on them and removed the distress which is on them, they would obstinately persist in their transgression, wandering in distraction to and fro. p: though we had mercy on them and relieved them of the harm afflicting them, they still would wander blindly on in their contumacy. s: and if we show mercy to them and remove the distress they have, they would persist in their inordinacy, blindly wandering on. . y: we inflicted punishment on them, but they humbled not themselves to their lord, nor do they submissively entreat (him)!- p: already have we grasped them with punishment, but they humble not themselves unto their lord, nor do they pray, s: and already we overtook them with chastisement, but they were not submissive to their lord, nor do they humble themselves. . y: until we open on them a gate leading to a severe punishment: then lo! they will be plunged in despair therein! p: until, when we open for them the gate of extreme punishment, behold! they are aghast thereat. s: until when we open upon them a door of severe chastisement, lo! they are in despair at it. . y: it is he who has created for you (the faculties of) hearing, sight, feeling and understanding: little thanks it is ye give! p: he it is who hath created for you ears and eyes and hearts. small thanks give ye! s: and he it is who made for you the ears and the eyes and the hearts; little is it that you give thanks. . y: and he has multiplied you through the earth, and to him shall ye be gathered back. p: and he it is who hath sown you broadcast in the earth, and unto him ye will be gathered. s: and he it is who multiplied you in the earth, and to him you shall be gathered. . y: it is he who gives life and death, and to him (is due) the alternation of night and day: will ye not then understand? p: and he it is who giveth life and causeth death, and his is the difference of night and day. have ye then no sense? s: and he it is who gives life and causes death, and (in) his (control) is the alternation of the night and the day; do you not then understand? . y: on the contrary they say things similar to what the ancients said. p: nay, but they say the like of that which said the men of old; s: nay, they say the like of what the ancients said: . y: they say: "what! when we die and become dust and bones, could we really be raised up again?" p: they say: when we are dead and have become (mere) dust and bones, shall we then, forsooth, be raised again? s: they say: what! when we are dead and become dust and bones, shall we then be raised? . y: "such things have been promised to us and to our fathers before! they are nothing but tales of the ancients!" p: we were already promised this, we and our forefathers. lo! this is naught but fables of the men of old. s: certainly we are promised this, and (so were) our fathers aforetime; this is naught but stories of those of old. . y: say: "to whom belong the earth and all beings therein? (say) if ye know!" p: say: unto whom (belongeth) the earth and whosoever is therein, if ye have knowledge? s: say: whose is the earth, and whoever is therein, if you know? . y: they will say, "to allah!" say: "yet will ye not receive admonition?" p: they will say: unto allah. say: will ye not then remember? s: they will say: allah's. say: will you not then mind? . y: say: "who is the lord of the seven heavens, and the lord of the throne (of glory) supreme?" p: say: who is lord of the seven heavens, and lord of the tremendous throne? s: say: who is the lord of the seven heavens and the lord of the mighty dominion? . y: they will say, "(they belong) to allah." say: "will ye not then be filled with awe?" p: they will say: unto allah (all that belongeth). say: will ye not then keep duty (unto him)? s: they will say: (this is) allah's. say: will you not then guard (against evil)? . y: say: "who is it in whose hands is the governance of all things,- who protects (all), but is not protected (of any)? (say) if ye know." p: say: in whose hand is the dominion over all things and he protecteth, while against him there is no protection, if ye have knowledge? s: say: who is it in whose hand is the kingdom of all things and who gives succor, but against him succor is not given, if you do but know? . y: they will say, "(it belongs) to allah." say: "then how are ye deluded?" p: they will say: unto allah (all that belongeth). say: how then are ye bewitched? s: they will say: (this is) allah's. say: from whence are you then deceived? . y: we have sent them the truth: but they indeed practise falsehood! p: nay, but we have brought them the truth, and lo! they are liars. s: nay! we have brought to them the truth, and most surely they are liars. . y: no son did allah beget, nor is there any god along with him: (if there were many gods), behold, each god would have taken away what he had created, and some would have lorded it over others! glory to allah! (he is free) from the (sort of) things they attribute to him! p: allah hath not chosen any son, nor is there any god along with him; else would each god have assuredly championed that which he created, and some of them would assuredly have overcome others. glorified be allah above all that they allege. s: never did allah take to himself a son, and never was there with him any (other) god-- in that case would each god have certainly taken away what he created, and some of them would certainly have overpowered others; glory be to allah above what they describe! . y: he knows what is hidden and what is open: too high is he for the partners they attribute to him! p: knower of the invisible and the visible! and exalted be he over all that they ascribe as partners (unto him)! s: the knower of the unseen and the seen, so may he be exalted above what they associate (with him). . y: say: "o my lord! if thou wilt show me (in my lifetime) that which they are warned against,"- p: say: my lord! if thou shouldst show me that which they are promised. s: say: o my lord! if thou shouldst make me see what they are threatened with: . y: "then, o my lord! put me not amongst the people who do wrong!" p: my lord! then set me not among the wrongdoing folk. s: my lord! then place me not with the unjust. . y: and we are certainly able to show thee (in fulfilment) that against which they are warned. p: and verily we are able to show thee that which we have promised them. s: and most surely we are well able to make you see what we threaten them with. . y: repel evil with that which is best: we are well acquainted with the things they say. p: repel evil with that which is better. we are best aware of that which they allege. s: repel evil by what is best; we know best what they describe. . y: and say "o my lord! i seek refuge with thee from the suggestions of the evil ones." p: and say: my lord! i seek refuge in thee from suggestions of the evil ones, s: and say: o my lord! i seek refuge in thee from the evil suggestions of the shaitans; . y: "and i seek refuge with thee o my lord! lest they should come near me." p: and i seek refuge in thee, my lord, lest they be present with me, s: and i seek refuge in thee! o my lord! from their presence. . y: (in falsehood will they be) until, when death comes to one of them, he says: "o my lord! send me back (to life),"- p: until, when death cometh unto one of them, he saith: my lord! send me back, s: until when death overtakes one of them, he says: send me back, my lord, send me back; . y: "in order that i may work righteousness in the things i neglected." - "by no means! it is but a word he says."- before them is a partition till the day they are raised up. p: that i may do right in that which i have left behind! but nay! it is but a word that he speaketh; and behind them is a barrier until the day when they are raised. s: haply i may do good in that which i have left. by no means! it is a (mere) word that he speaks; and before them is a barrier until the day they are raised. . y: then when the trumpet is blown, there will be no more relationships between them that day, nor will one ask after another! p: and when the trumpet is blown there will be no kinship among them that day, nor will they ask of one another. s: so when the trumpet is blown, there shall be no ties of relationship between them on that day, nor shall they ask of each other. . y: then those whose balance (of good deeds) is heavy,- they will attain salvation: p: then those whose scales are heavy, they are the successful. s: then as for him whose good deeds are preponderant, these are the successful. . y: but those whose balance is light, will be those who have lost their souls, in hell will they abide. p: and those whose scales are light are those who lose their souls, in hell abiding. s: and as for him whose good deeds are light, these are they who shall have lost their souls, abiding in hell. . y: the fire will burn their faces, and they will therein grin, with their lips displaced. p: the fire burneth their faces, and they are glum therein. s: the fire shall scorch their faces, and they therein shall be in severe affliction. . y: "were not my signs rehearsed to you, and ye did but treat them as falsehood?" p: (it will be said): were not my revelations recited unto you, and then ye used to deny them? s: were not my communications recited to you? but you used to reject them. . y: they will say: "our lord! our misfortune overwhelmed us, and we became a people astray!" p: they will say: our lord! our evil fortune conquered us, and we were erring folk. s: they shall say: o our lord! our adversity overcame us and we were an erring people: . y: "our lord! bring us out of this: if ever we return (to evil), then shall we be wrong-doers indeed!" p: our lord! oh, bring us forth from hence! if we return (to evil) then indeed we shall be wrong-doers. s: o our lord! take us out of it; then if we return (to evil) surely we shall be unjust. . y: he will say: "be ye driven into it (with ignominy)! and speak ye not to me!" p: he saith: begone therein, and speak not unto me. s: he shall say: go away into it and speak not to me; . y: "a part of my servants there was, who used to pray 'our lord! we believe; then do thou forgive us, and have mercy upon us: for thou art the best of those who show mercy!" p: lo! there was a party of my slaves who said: our lord! we believe, therefor forgive us and have mercy on us for thou art best of all who show mercy; s: surely there was a party of my servants who said: o our lord! we believe, so do thou forgive us and have mercy on us, and thou art the best of the merciful ones. . y: "but ye treated them with ridicule, so much so that (ridicule of) them made you forget my message while ye were laughing at them!" p: but ye chose them for a laughing-stock until they caused you to forget remembrance of me, while ye laughed at them. s: but you took them for a mockery until they made you forget my remembrance and you used to laugh at them. . y: "i have rewarded them this day for their patience and constancy: they are indeed the ones that have achieved bliss..." p: lo! i have rewarded them this day forasmuch as they were steadfast; and they surely are the triumphant. s: surely i have rewarded them this day because they were patient, that they are the achievers. . y: he will say: "what number of years did ye stay on earth?" p: he will say: how long tarried ye in the earth, counting by years? s: he will say: how many years did you tarry in the earth? . y: they will say: "we stayed a day or part of a day: but ask those who keep account." p: they will say: we tarried by a day or part of a day. ask of those who keep count! s: they will say: we tarried a day or part of a day, but ask those who keep account. . y: he will say: "ye stayed not but a little,- if ye had only known!" p: he will say: ye tarried but a little if ye only knew. s: he will say: you did tarry but a little-- had you but known (it): . y: "did ye then think that we had created you in jest, and that ye would not be brought back to us (for account)?" p: deemed ye then that we had created you for naught, and that ye would not be returned unto us? s: what! did you then think that we had created you in vain and that you shall not be returned to us? . y: therefore exalted be allah, the king, the reality: there is no god but he, the lord of the throne of honour! p: now allah be exalted, the true king! there is no god save him, the lord of the throne of grace. s: so exalted be allah, the true king; no god is there but he, the lord of the honorable dominion. . y: if anyone invokes, besides allah, any other god, he has no authority therefor; and his reckoning will be only with his lord! and verily the unbelievers will fail to win through! p: he who crieth unto any other god along with allah hath no proof thereof. his reckoning is only with his lord. lo! disbelievers will not be successful. s: and whoever invokes with allah another god-- he has no proof of this-- his reckoning is only with his lord; surely the unbelievers shall not be successful. . y: so say: "o my lord! grant thou forgiveness and mercy for thou art the best of those who show mercy!" p: and (o muhammad) say: my lord! forgive and have mercy, for thou art best of all who show mercy. s: and say: o my lord! forgive and have mercy, and thou art the best of the merciful ones. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-noor (the light) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: a sura which we have sent down and which we have ordained in it have we sent down clear signs, in order that ye may receive admonition. p: (here is) a surah which we have revealed and enjoined, and wherein we have revealed plain tokens, that haply ye may take heed. s: (this is) a chapter which we have revealed and made obligatory and in which we have revealed clear communications that you may be mindful. . y: the woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication,- flog each of them with a hundred stripes: let not compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by allah, if ye believe in allah and the last day: and let a party of the believers witness their punishment. p: the adulterer and the adulteress, scourge ye each one of them (with) a hundred stripes. and let not pity for the twain withhold you from obedience to allah, if ye believe in allah and the last day. and let a party of believers witness their punishment. s: (as for) the fornicatress and the fornicator, flog each of them, (giving) a hundred stripes, and let not pity for them detain you in the matter of obedience to allah, if you believe in allah and the last day, and let a party of believers witness their chastisement. . y: let no man guilty of adultery or fornication marry and but a woman similarly guilty, or an unbeliever: nor let any but such a man or an unbeliever marry such a woman: to the believers such a thing is forbidden. p: the adulterer shall not marry save an adulteress or an idolatress, and the adulteress none shall marry save an adulterer or an idolater. all that is forbidden unto believers. s: the fornicator shall not marry any but a fornicatress or idolatress, and (as for) the fornicatress, none shall marry her but a fornicator or an idolater; and it is forbidden to the believers. . y: and those who launch a charge against chaste women, and produce not four witnesses (to support their allegations),- flog them with eighty stripes; and reject their evidence ever after: for such men are wicked transgressors;- p: and those who accuse honourable women but bring not four witnesses, scourge them (with) eighty stripes and never (afterward) accept their testimony - they indeed are evil-doers - s: and those who accuse free women then do not bring four witnesses, flog them, (giving) eighty stripes, and do not admit any evidence from them ever; and these it is that are the transgressors, . y: unless they repent thereafter and mend (their conduct); for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: save those who afterward repent and make amends. (for such) lo! allah is forgiving, merciful. s: except those who repent after this and act aright, for surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: and for those who launch a charge against their spouses, and have (in support) no evidence but their own,- their solitary evidence (can be received) if they bear witness four times (with an oath) by allah that they are solemnly telling the truth; p: as for those who accuse their wives but have no witnesses except themselves; let the testimony of one of them be four testimonies, (swearing) by allah that he is of those who speak the truth; s: and (as for) those who accuse their wives and have no witnesses except themselves, the evidence of one of these (should be taken) four times, bearing allah to witness that he is most surely of the truthful ones. . y: and the fifth (oath) (should be) that they solemnly invoke the curse of allah on themselves if they tell a lie. p: and yet a fifth, invoking the curse of allah on him if he is of those who lie. s: and the fifth (time) that the curse of allah be on him if he is one of the liars. . y: but it would avert the punishment from the wife, if she bears witness four times (with an oath) by allah, that (her husband) is telling a lie; p: and it shall avert the punishment from her if she bear witness before allah four times that the thing he saith is indeed false, s: and it shall avert the chastisement from her if she testify four times, bearing allah to witness that he is most surely one of the liars; . y: and the fifth (oath) should be that she solemnly invokes the wrath of allah on herself if (her accuser) is telling the truth. p: and a fifth (time) that the wrath of allah be upon her if he speaketh truth. s: and the fifth (time) that the wrath of allah be on her if he is one of the truthful. . y: if it were not for allah's grace and mercy on you, and that allah is oft-returning, full of wisdom,- (ye would be ruined indeed). p: and had it not been for the grace of allah and his mercy unto you, and that allah is clement, wise, (ye had been undone). s: and were it not for allah's grace upon you and his mercy-- and that allah is oft-returning (to mercy), wise! . y: those who brought forward the lie are a body among yourselves: think it not to be an evil to you; on the contrary it is good for you: to every man among them (will come the punishment) of the sin that he earned, and to him who took on himself the lead among them, will be a penalty grievous. p: lo! they who spread the slander are a gang among you. deem it not a bad thing for you; nay, it is good for you. unto every man of them (will be paid) that which he hath earned of the sin; and as for him among them who had the greater share therein, his will be an awful doom. s: surely they who concocted the lie are a party from among you. do not regard it an evil to you; nay, it is good for you. every man of them shall have what he has earned of sin; and (as for) him who took upon himself the main part thereof, he shall have a grievous chastisement. . y: why did not the believers - men and women - when ye heard of the affair,- put the best construction on it in their own minds and say, "this (charge) is an obvious lie"? p: why did not the believers, men and women, when ye heard it, think good of their own folk, and say: it is a manifest untruth? s: why did not the believing men and the believing women, when you heard it, think well of their own people, and say: this is an evident falsehood? . y: why did they not bring four witnesses to prove it? when they have not brought the witnesses, such men, in the sight of allah, (stand forth) themselves as liars! p: why did they not produce four witnesses? since they produce not witnesses, they verily are liars in the sight of allah. s: why did they not bring four witnesses of it? but as they have not brought witnesses they are liars before allah. . y: were it not for the grace and mercy of allah on you, in this world and the hereafter, a grievous penalty would have seized you in that ye rushed glibly into this affair. p: had it not been for the grace of allah and his mercy unto you in the world and the hereafter an awful doom had overtaken you for that whereof ye murmured. s: and were it not for allah's grace upon you and his mercy in this world and the hereafter, a grievous chastisement would certainly have touched you on account of the discourse which you entered into. . y: behold, ye received it on your tongues, and said out of your mouths things of which ye had no knowledge; and ye thought it to be a light matter, while it was most serious in the sight of allah. p: when ye welcomed it with your tongues, and uttered with your mouths that whereof ye had no knowledge, ye counted it a trifle. in the sight of allah it is very great. s: when you received it with your tongues and spoke with your mouths what you had no knowledge of, and you deemed it an easy matter while with allah it was grievous. . y: and why did ye not, when ye heard it, say? - "it is not right of us to speak of this: glory to allah! this is a most serious slander!" p: wherefor, when ye heard it, said ye not: it is not for us to speak of this. glory be to thee (o allah)! this is awful calumny. s: and why did you not, when you heard it, say: it does not beseem us that we should talk of it; glory be to thee! this is a great calumny? . y: allah doth admonish you, that ye may never repeat such (conduct), if ye are (true) believers. p: allah admonisheth you that ye repeat not the like thereof ever, if ye are (in truth) believers. s: allah admonishes you that you should not return to the like of it ever again if you are believers. . y: and allah makes the signs plain to you: for allah is full of knowledge and wisdom. p: and he expoundeth unto you the revelations. allah is knower, wise. s: and allah makes clear to you the communications; and allah is knowing, wise. . y: those who love (to see) scandal published broadcast among the believers, will have a grievous penalty in this life and in the hereafter: allah knows, and ye know not. p: lo! those who love that slander should be spread concerning those who believe, theirs will be a painful punishment in the world and the hereafter. allah knoweth. ye know not. s: surely (as for) those who love that scandal should circulate respecting those who believe, they shall have a grievous chastisement in this world and the hereafter; and allah knows, while you do not know. . y: were it not for the grace and mercy of allah on you, and that allah is full of kindness and mercy, (ye would be ruined indeed). p: had it not been for the grace of allah and his mercy unto you, and that allah is clement, merciful, (ye had been undone). s: and were it not for allah's grace on you and his mercy, and that allah is compassionate, merciful. . y: o ye who believe! follow not satan's footsteps: if any will follow the footsteps of satan, he will (but) command what is shameful and wrong: and were it not for the grace and mercy of allah on you, not one of you would ever have been pure: but allah doth purify whom he pleases: and allah is one who hears and knows (all things). p: o ye who believe! follow not the footsteps of the devil. unto whomsoever followeth the footsteps of the devil, lo! he commandeth filthiness and wrong. had it not been for the grace of allah and his mercy unto you, not one of you would ever have grown pure. but allah causeth whom he will to grow. and allah is hearer, knower. s: o you who believe! do not follow the footsteps of the shaitan, and whoever follows the footsteps of the shaitan, then surely he bids the doing of indecency and evil; and were it not for allah's grace upon you and his mercy, not one of you would have ever been pure, but allah purifies whom he pleases; and allah is hearing, knowing. . y: let not those among you who are endued with grace and amplitude of means resolve by oath against helping their kinsmen, those in want, and those who have left their homes in allah's cause: let them forgive and overlook, do you not wish that allah should forgive you? for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: and let not those who possess dignity and ease among you swear not to give to the near of kin and to the needy, and to fugitives for the cause of allah. let them forgive and show indulgence. yearn ye not that allah may forgive you? allah is forgiving, merciful. s: and let not those of you who possess grace and abundance swear against giving to the near of kin and the poor and those who have fled in allah's way, and they should pardon and turn away. do you not love that allah should forgive you? and allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: those who slander chaste women, indiscreet but believing, are cursed in this life and in the hereafter: for them is a grievous penalty,- p: lo! as for those who traduce virtuous, believing women (who are) careless, cursed are they in the world and the hereafter. theirs will be an awful doom. s: surely those who accuse chaste believing women, unaware (of the evil), are cursed in this world and the hereafter, and they shall have a grievous chastisement. . y: on the day when their tongues, their hands, and their feet will bear witness against them as to their actions. p: on the day when their tongues and their hands and their feet testify against them as to what they used to do, s: on the day when their tongues and their hands and their feet shall bear witness against them as to what they did. . y: on that day allah will pay them back (all) their just dues, and they will realise that allah is the (very) truth, that makes all things manifest. p: on that day allah will pay them their just due, and they will know that allah, he is the manifest truth. s: on that day allah will pay back to them in full their just reward, and they shall know that allah is the evident truth. . y: women impure are for men impure, and men impure for women impure and women of purity are for men of purity, and men of purity are for women of purity: these are not affected by what people say: for them there is forgiveness, and a provision honourable. p: vile women are for vile men, and vile men for vile women. good women are for good men, and good men for good women; such are innocent of that which people say: for them is pardon and a bountiful provision. s: unclean things are for unclean ones and unclean ones are for unclean things, and the good things are for good ones and the good ones are for good things; these are free from what they say; they shall have forgiveness and an honorable sustenance. . y: o ye who believe! enter not houses other than your own, until ye have asked permission and saluted those in them: that is best for you, in order that ye may heed (what is seemly). p: o ye who believe! enter not houses other than your own without first announcing your presence and invoking peace upon the folk thereof. that is better for you, that ye may be heedful. s: o you who believe! do not enter houses other than your own houses until you have asked permission and saluted their inmates; this is better for you, that you may be mindful. . y: if ye find no one in the house, enter not until permission is given to you: if ye are asked to go back, go back: that makes for greater purity for yourselves: and allah knows well all that ye do. p: and if ye find no-one therein, still enter not until permission hath been given. and if it be said unto you: go away again, then go away, for it is purer for you. allah knoweth what ye do. s: but if you do not find any one therein, then do not enter them until permission is given to you; and if it is said to you: go back, then go back; this is purer for you; and allah is cognizant of what you do. . y: it is no fault on your part to enter houses not used for living in, which serve some (other) use for you: and allah has knowledge of what ye reveal and what ye conceal. p: (it is) no sin for you to enter uninhabited houses wherein is comfort for you. allah knoweth what ye proclaim and what ye hide. s: it is no sin in you that you enter uninhabited houses wherein you have your necessaries; and allah knows what you do openly and what you hide. . y: say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: and allah is well acquainted with all that they do. p: tell the believing men to lower their gaze and be modest. that is purer for them. lo! allah is aware of what they do. s: say to the believing men that they cast down their looks and guard their private parts; that is purer for them; surely allah is aware of what they do. . y: and say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband's fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. and o ye believers! turn ye all together towards allah, that ye may attain bliss. p: and tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils over their bosoms, and not to reveal their adornment save to their own husbands or fathers or husbands' fathers, or their sons or their husbands' sons, or their brothers or their brothers' sons or sisters' sons, or their women, or their slaves, or male attendants who lack vigour, or children who know naught of women's nakedness. and let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. and turn unto allah together, o believers, in order that ye may succeed. s: and say to the believing women that they cast down their looks and guard their private parts and do not display their ornaments except what appears thereof, and let them wear their head-coverings over their bosoms, and not display their ornaments except to their husbands or their fathers, or the fathers of their husbands, or their sons, or the sons of their husbands, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or those whom their right hands possess, or the male servants not having need (of women), or the children who have not attained knowledge of what is hidden of women; and let them not strike their feet so that what they hide of their ornaments may be known; and turn to allah all of you, o believers! so that you may be successful. . y: marry those among you who are single, or the virtuous ones among yourselves, male or female: if they are in poverty, allah will give them means out of his grace: for allah encompasseth all, and he knoweth all things. p: and marry such of you as are solitary and the pious of your slaves and maid-servants. if they be poor, allah will enrich them of his bounty. allah is of ample means, aware. s: and marry those among you who are single and those who are fit among your male slaves and your female slaves; if they are needy, allah will make them free from want out of his grace; and allah is ample-giving, knowing. . y: let those who find not the wherewithal for marriage keep themselves chaste, until allah gives them means out of his grace. and if any of your slaves ask for a deed in writing (to enable them to earn their freedom for a certain sum), give them such a deed if ye know any good in them: yea, give them something yourselves out of the means which allah has given to you. but force not your maids to prostitution when they desire chastity, in order that ye may make a gain in the goods of this life. but if anyone compels them, yet, after such compulsion, is allah, oft-forgiving, most merciful (to them), p: and let those who cannot find a match keep chaste till allah give them independence by his grace. and such of your slaves as seek a writing (of emancipation), write it for them if ye are aware of aught of good in them, and bestow upon them of the wealth of allah which he hath bestowed upon you. force not your slave-girls to whoredom that ye may seek enjoyment of the life of the world, if they would preserve their chastity. and if one force them, then (unto them), after their compulsion, lo! allah will be forgiving, merciful. s: and let those who do not find the means to marry keep chaste until allah makes them free from want out of his grace. and (as for) those who ask for a writing from among those whom your right hands possess, give them the writing if you know any good in them, and give them of the wealth of allah which he has given you; and do not compel your slave girls to prostitution, when they desire to keep chaste, in order to seek the frail good of this world's life; and whoever compels them, then surely after their compulsion allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: we have already sent down to you verses making things clear, an illustration from (the story of) people who passed away before you, and an admonition for those who fear (allah). p: and verily we have sent down for you revelations that make plain, and the example of those who passed away before you. an admonition unto those who ward off (evil). s: and certainly we have sent to you clear communications and a description of those who have passed away before you, and an admonition to those who guard (against evil). . y: allah is the light of the heavens and the earth. the parable of his light is as if there were a niche and within it a lamp: the lamp enclosed in glass: the glass as it were a brilliant star: lit from a blessed tree, an olive, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil is well-nigh luminous, though fire scarce touched it: light upon light! allah doth guide whom he will to his light: allah doth set forth parables for men: and allah doth know all things. p: allah is the light of the heavens and the earth. the similitude of his light is as a niche wherein is a lamp. the lamp is in a glass. the glass is as it were a shining star. (this lamp is) kindled from a blessed tree, an olive neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil would almost glow forth (of itself) though no fire touched it. light upon light. allah guideth unto his light whom he will. and allah speaketh to mankind in allegories, for allah is knower of all things. s: allah is the light of the heavens and the earth; a likeness of his light is as a niche in which is a lamp, the lamp is in a glass, (and) the glass is as it were a brightly shining star, lit from a blessed olive-tree, neither eastern nor western, the oil whereof almost gives light though fire touch it not-- light upon light-- allah guides to his light whom he pleases, and allah sets forth parables for men, and allah is cognizant of all things. . y: (lit is such a light) in houses, which allah hath permitted to be raised to honour; for the celebration, in them, of his name: in them is he glorified in the mornings and in the evenings, (again and again),- p: (this lamp is found) in houses which allah hath allowed to be exalted and that his name shall be remembered therein. therein do offer praise to him at morn and evening. s: in houses which allah has permitted to be exalted and that his name may be remembered in them; there glorify him therein in the mornings and the evenings, . y: by men whom neither traffic nor merchandise can divert from the remembrance of allah, nor from regular prayer, nor from the practice of regular charity: their (only) fear is for the day when hearts and eyes will be transformed (in a world wholly new),- p: men whom neither merchandise nor sale beguileth from remembrance of allah and constancy in prayer and paying to the poor their due; who fear a day when hearts and eyeballs will be overturned; s: men whom neither merchandise nor selling diverts from the remembrance of allah and the keeping up of prayer and the giving of poor-rate; they fear a day in which the hearts and eyes shall turn about; . y: that allah may reward them according to the best of their deeds, and add even more for them out of his grace: for allah doth provide for those whom he will, without measure. p: that allah may reward them with the best of what they did, and increase reward for them of his bounty. allah giveth blessings without stint to whom he will. s: that allah may give them the best reward of what they have done, and give them more out of his grace; and allah gives sustenance to whom he pleases without measure. . y: but the unbelievers,- their deeds are like a mirage in sandy deserts, which the man parched with thirst mistakes for water; until when he comes up to it, he finds it to be nothing: but he finds allah (ever) with him, and allah will pay him his account: and allah is swift in taking account. p: as for those who disbelieve, their deeds are as a mirage in a desert. the thirsty one supposeth it to be water till he cometh unto it and findeth it naught, and findeth, in the place thereof, allah who payeth him his due; and allah is swift at reckoning. s: and (as for) those who disbelieve, their deeds are like the mirage in a desert, which the thirsty man deems to be water; until when he comes to it he finds it to be naught, and there he finds allah, so he pays back to him his reckoning in full; and allah is quick in reckoning; . y: or (the unbelievers' state) is like the depths of darkness in a vast deep ocean, overwhelmed with billow topped by billow, topped by (dark) clouds: depths of darkness, one above another: if a man stretches out his hands, he can hardly see it! for any to whom allah giveth not light, there is no light! p: or as darkness on a vast, abysmal sea. there covereth him a wave, above which is a wave, above which is a cloud. layer upon layer of darkness. when he holdeth out his hand he scarce can see it. and he for whom allah hath not appointed light, for him there is no light. s: or like utter darkness in the deep sea: there covers it a wave above which is another wave, above which is a cloud, (layers of) utter darkness one above another; when he holds out his hand, he is almost unable to see it; and to whomsoever allah does not give light, he has no light. . y: seest thou not that it is allah whose praises all beings in the heavens and on earth do celebrate, and the birds (of the air) with wings outspread? each one knows its own (mode of) prayer and praise. and allah knows well all that they do. p: hast thou not seen that allah, he it is whom all who are in the heavens and the earth praise, and the birds in their flight? of each he knoweth verily the worship and the praise; and allah is aware of what they do. s: do you not see that allah is he whom do glorify all those who are in the heavens and the earth, and the (very) birds with expanded wings? he knows the prayer of each one and its glorification, and allah is cognizant of what they do. . y: yea, to allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth; and to allah is the final goal (of all). p: and unto allah belongeth the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth, and unto allah is the journeying. s: and allah's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and to allah is the eventual coming. . y: seest thou not that allah makes the clouds move gently, then joins them together, then makes them into a heap? - then wilt thou see rain issue forth from their midst. and he sends down from the sky mountain masses (of clouds) wherein is hail: he strikes therewith whom he pleases and he turns it away from whom he pleases, the vivid flash of his lightning well-nigh blinds the sight. p: hast thou not seen how allah wafteth the clouds, then gathereth them, then maketh them layers, and thou seest the rain come forth from between them; he sendeth down from the heaven mountains wherein is hail, and smiteth therewith whom he will, and averteth it from whom he will. the flashing of his lightning all but snatcheth away the sight. s: do you not see that allah drives along the clouds, then gathers them together, then piles them up, so that you see the rain coming forth from their midst? and he sends down of the clouds that are (like) mountains wherein is hail, afflicting therewith whom he pleases and turning it away from whom he pleases; the flash of his lightning almost takes away the sight. . y: it is allah who alternates the night and the day: verily in these things is an instructive example for those who have vision! p: allah causeth the revolution of the day and the night. lo! herein is indeed a lesson for those who see. s: allah turns over the night and the day; most surely there is a lesson in this for those who have sight. . y: and allah has created every animal from water: of them there are some that creep on their bellies; some that walk on two legs; and some that walk on four. allah creates what he wills for verily allah has power over all things. p: allah hath created every animal of water. of them is (a kind) that goeth upon its belly and (a kind) that goeth upon two legs and (a kind) that goeth upon four. allah createth what he will. lo! allah is able to do all things. s: and allah has created from water every living creature: so of them is that which walks upon its belly, and of them is that which walks upon two feet, and of them is that which walks upon four; allah creates what he pleases; surely allah has power over all things. . y: we have indeed sent down signs that make things manifest: and allah guides whom he wills to a way that is straight. p: verily we have sent down revelations and explained them. allah guideth whom he will unto a straight path. s: certainly we have revealed clear communications, and allah guides whom he pleases to the right way. . y: they say, "we believe in allah and in the messenger, and we obey": but even after that, some of them turn away: they are not (really) believers. p: and they say: we believe in allah and the messenger, and we obey; then after that a faction of them turn away. such are not believers. s: and they say: we believe in allah and in the messenger and we obey; then a party of them turn back after this, and these are not believers. . y: when they are summoned to allah and his messenger, in order that he may judge between them, behold some of them decline (to come). p: and when they appeal unto allah and his messenger to judge between them, lo! a faction of them are averse; s: and when they are called to allah and his messenger that he may judge between them, lo! a party of them turn aside. . y: but if the right is on their side, they come to him with all submission. p: but if right had been with them they would have come unto him willingly. s: and if the truth be on their side, they come to him quickly, obedient. . y: is it that there is a disease in their hearts? or do they doubt, or are they in fear, that allah and his messenger will deal unjustly with them? nay, it is they themselves who do wrong. p: is there in their hearts a disease, or have they doubts, or fear they lest allah and his messenger should wrong them in judgment? nay, but such are evil-doers. s: is there in their hearts a disease, or are they in doubt, or do they fear that allah and his messenger will act wrongfully towards them? nay! they themselves are the unjust. . y: the answer of the believers, when summoned to allah and his messenger, in order that he may judge between them, is no other than this: they say, "we hear and we obey": it is such as these that will attain felicity. p: the saying of (all true) believers when they appeal unto allah and his messenger to judge between them is only that they say: we hear and we obey. and such are the successful. s: the response of the believers, when they are invited to allah and his messenger that he may judge between them, is only to say: we hear and we obey; and these it is that are the successful. . y: it is such as obey allah and his messenger, and fear allah and do right, that will win (in the end), p: he who obeyeth allah and his messenger, and feareth allah, and keepeth duty (unto him): such indeed are the victorious. s: and he who obeys allah and his messenger, and fears allah, and is careful of (his duty to) him, these it is that are the achievers. . y: they swear their strongest oaths by allah that, if only thou wouldst command them, they would leave (their homes). say: "swear ye not; obedience is (more) reasonable; verily, allah is well acquainted with all that ye do." p: they swear by allah solemnly that, if thou order them, they will go forth. say: swear not; known obedience (is better). lo! allah is informed of what ye do. s: and they swear by allah with the most energetic of their oaths that if you command them they would certainly go forth. say: swear not; reasonable obedience (is desired); surely allah is aware of what you do. . y: say: "obey allah, and obey the messenger: but if ye turn away, he is only responsible for the duty placed on him and ye for that placed on you. if ye obey him, ye shall be on right guidance. the messenger's duty is only to preach the clear (message)." p: say: obey allah and obey the messenger. but if ye turn away, then (it is) for him (to do) only that wherewith he hath been charged, and for you (to do) only that wherewith ye have been charged. if ye obey him, ye will go aright. but the messenger hath no other charge than to convey (the message) plainly. s: say: obey allah and obey the messenger; but if you turn back, then on him rests that which is imposed on him and on you rests that which is imposed on you; and if you obey him, you are on the right way; and nothing rests on the messenger but clear delivering (of the message). . y: allah has promised, to those among you who believe and work righteous deeds, that he will, of a surety, grant them in the land, inheritance (of power), as he granted it to those before them; that he will establish in authority their religion - the one which he has chosen for them; and that he will change (their state), after the fear in which they (lived), to one of security and peace: 'they will worship me (alone) and not associate aught with me. 'if any do reject faith after this, they are rebellious and wicked. p: allah hath promised such of you as believe and do good work that he will surely make them to succeed (the present rulers) in the earth even as he caused those who were before them to succeed (others); and that he will surely establish for them their religion which he hath approved for them, and will give them in exchange safety after their fear. they serve me. they ascribe no thing as partner unto me. those who disbelieve henceforth, they are the miscreants. s: allah has promised to those of you who believe and do good that he will most certainly make them rulers in the earth as he made rulers those before them, and that he will most certainly establish for them their religion which he has chosen for them, and that he will most certainly, after their fear, give them security in exchange; they shall serve me, not associating aught with me; and whoever is ungrateful after this, these it is who are the transgressors. . y: so establish regular prayer and give regular charity; and obey the messenger; that ye may receive mercy. p: establish worship and pay the poor-due and obey the messenger, that haply ye may find mercy. s: and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and obey the messenger, so that mercy may be shown to you. . y: never think thou that the unbelievers are going to frustrate (allah's plan) on earth: their abode is the fire,- and it is indeed an evil refuge! p: think not that the disbelievers can escape in the land. fire will be their home - a hapless journey's end! s: think not that those who disbelieve shall escape in the earth, and their abode is the fire; and certainly evil is the resort! . y: o ye who believe! let those whom your right hands possess, and the (children) among you who have not come of age ask your permission (before they come to your presence), on three occasions: before morning prayer; the while ye doff your clothes for the noonday heat; and after the late-night prayer: these are your three times of undress: outside those times it is not wrong for you or for them to move about attending to each other: thus does allah make clear the signs to you: for allah is full of knowledge and wisdom. p: o ye who believe! let your slaves, and those of you who have not come to puberty, ask leave of you at three times (before they come into your presence): before the prayer of dawn, and when ye lay aside your raiment for the heat of noon, and after the prayer of night. three times of privacy for you. it is no sin for them or for you at other times, when some of you go round attendant upon others (if they come into your presence without leave). thus allah maketh clear the revelations for you. allah is knower, wise. s: o you who believe! let those whom your right hands possess and those of you who have not attained to puberty ask permission of you three times; before the morning prayer, and when you put off your clothes at midday in summer, and after the prayer of the nightfall; these are three times of privacy for you; neither is it a sin for you nor for them besides these, some of you must go round about (waiting) upon others; thus does allah make clear to you the communications, and allah is knowing, wise. . y: but when the children among you come of age, let them (also) ask for permission, as do those senior to them (in age): thus does allah make clear his signs to you: for allah is full of knowledge and wisdom. p: and when the children among you come to puberty then let them ask leave even as those before them used to ask it. thus allah maketh clear his revelations for you. allah is knower, wise. s: and when the children among you have attained to puberty, let them seek permission as those before them sought permission; thus does allah make clear to you his communications, and allah is knowing, wise. . y: such elderly women as are past the prospect of marriage,- there is no blame on them if they lay aside their (outer) garments, provided they make not a wanton display of their beauty: but it is best for them to be modest: and allah is one who sees and knows all things. p: as for women past child-bearing, who have no hope of marriage, it is no sin for them if they discard their (outer) clothing in such a way as not to show adornment. but to refrain is better for them. allah is hearer, knower. s: and (as for) women advanced in years who do not hope for a marriage, it is no sin for them if they put off their clothes without displaying their ornaments; and if they restrain themselves it is better for them; and allah is hearing, knowing. . y: it is no fault in the blind nor in one born lame, nor in one afflicted with illness, nor in yourselves, that ye should eat in your own houses, or those of your fathers, or your mothers, or your brothers, or your sisters, or your father's brothers or your father's sisters, or your mother's brothers, or your mother's sisters, or in houses of which the keys are in your possession, or in the house of a sincere friend of yours: there is no blame on you, whether ye eat in company or separately. but if ye enter houses, salute each other - a greeting of blessing and purity as from allah. thus does allah make clear the signs to you: that ye may understand. p: no blame is there upon the blind nor any blame upon the lame nor any blame upon the sick nor on yourselves if ye eat from your houses, or the houses of your fathers, or the houses of your mothers, or the houses of your brothers, or the houses of your sisters, or the houses of your fathers' brothers, or the houses of your fathers' sisters, or the houses of your mothers' brothers, or the houses of your mothers' sisters, or (from that) whereof ye hold the keys, or (from the house) of a friend. no sin shall it be for you whether ye eat together or apart. but when ye enter houses, salute one another with a greeting from allah, blessed and sweet. thus allah maketh clear his revelations for you, that haply ye may understand. s: there is no blame on the blind man, nor is there blame on the lame, nor is there blame on the sick, nor on yourselves that you eat from your houses, or your fathers' houses or your mothers' houses, or your brothers' houses, or your sisters' houses, or your paternal uncles' houses, or your paternal aunts' houses, or your maternal uncles' houses, or your maternal aunts' houses, or what you possess the keys of, or your friends' (houses). it is no sin in you that you eat together or separately. so when you enter houses, greet your people with a salutation from allah, blessed (and) goodly; thus does allah make clear to you the communications that you may understand. . y: only those are believers, who believe in allah and his messenger: when they are with him on a matter requiring collective action, they do not depart until they have asked for his leave; those who ask for thy leave are those who believe in allah and his messenger; so when they ask for thy leave, for some business of theirs, give leave to those of them whom thou wilt, and ask allah for their forgiveness: for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: they only are the true believers who believe in allah and his messenger and, when they are with him on some common errand, go not away until they have asked leave of him. lo! those who ask leave of thee, those are they who believe in allah and his messenger. so, if they ask thy leave for some affair of theirs, give leave to whom thou wilt of them, and ask for them forgiveness of allah. lo! allah is forgiving, merciful. s: only those are believers who believe in allah and his messenger, and when they are with him on a momentous affair they go not away until they have asked his permission; surely they who ask your permission are they who believe in allah and his messenger; so when they ask your permission for some affair of theirs, give permission to whom you please of them and ask forgiveness for them from allah; surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: deem not the summons of the messenger among yourselves like the summons of one of you to another: allah doth know those of you who slip away under shelter of some excuse: then let those beware who withstand the messenger's order, lest some trial befall them, or a grievous penalty be inflicted on them. p: make not the calling of the messenger among you as your calling one of another. allah knoweth those of you who steal away, hiding themselves. and let those who conspire to evade orders beware lest grief or painful punishment befall them. s: do not hold the messenger's calling (you) among you to be like your calling one to the other; allah indeed knows those who steal away from among you, concealing themselves; therefore let those beware who go against his order lest a trial afflict them or there befall them a painful chastisement. . y: be quite sure that to allah doth belong whatever is in the heavens and on earth. well doth he know what ye are intent upon: and one day they will be brought back to him, and he will tell them the truth of what they did: for allah doth know all things. p: lo! verily unto allah belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth. he knoweth your condition. and (he knoweth) the day when they are returned unto him so that he may inform them of what they did. allah is knower of all things. s: now surely allah's is whatever is in the heavens and the earth; he knows indeed that to which you are conforming yourselves; and on the day on which they are returned to him he will inform them of what they did; and allah is cognizant of all things. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-furqan (the criterion, the standard) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: blessed is he who sent down the criterion to his servant, that it may be an admonition to all creatures;- p: blessed is he who hath revealed unto his slave the criterion (of right and wrong), that he may be a warner to the peoples. s: blessed is he who sent down the furqan upon his servant that he may be a warner to the nations; . y: he to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth: no son has he begotten, nor has he a partner in his dominion: it is he who created all things, and ordered them in due proportions. p: he unto whom belongeth the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth, he hath chosen no son nor hath he any partner in the sovereignty. he hath created everything and hath meted out for it a measure. s: he, whose is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and who did not take to himself a son, and who has no associate in the kingdom, and who created everything, then ordained for it a measure. . y: yet have they taken, besides him, gods that can create nothing but are themselves created; that have no control of hurt or good to themselves; nor can they control death nor life nor resurrection. p: yet they choose beside him other gods who create naught but are themselves created, and possess not hurt nor profit for themselves, and possess not death nor life, nor power to raise the dead. s: and they have taken besides him gods, who do not create anything while they are themselves created, and they control not for themselves any harm or profit, and they control not death nor life, nor raising (the dead) to life. . y: but the misbelievers say: "naught is this but a lie which he has forged, and others have helped him at it." in truth it is they who have put forward an iniquity and a falsehood. p: those who disbelieve say: this is naught but a lie that he hath invented, and other folk have helped him with it, so that they have produced a slander and a lie. s: and those who disbelieve say: this is nothing but a lie which he has forged, and other people have helped him at it; so indeed they have done injustice and (uttered) a falsehood. . y: and they say: "tales of the ancients, which he has caused to be written: and they are dictated before him morning and evening." p: and they say: fables of the men of old which he hath had written down so that they are dictated to him morn and evening. s: and they say: the stories of the ancients-- he has got them written-- so these are read out to him morning and evening. . y: say: "the (qur'an) was sent down by him who knows the mystery (that is) in the heavens and the earth: verily he is oft-forgiving, most merciful." p: say (unto them, o muhammad): he who knoweth the secret of the heavens and the earth hath revealed it. lo! he ever is forgiving, merciful. s: say: he has revealed it who knows the secret in the heavens and the earth; surely he is ever forgiving, merciful. . y: and they say: "what sort of a messenger is this, who eats food, and walks through the streets? why has not an angel been sent down to him to give admonition with him?" p: and they say: what aileth this messenger (of allah) that he eateth food and walketh in the markets? why is not an angel sent down unto him, to be a warner with him. s: and they say: what is the matter with this messenger that he eats food and goes about in the markets; why has not an angel been sent down to him, so that he should have been a warner with him? . y: "or (why) has not a treasure been bestowed on him, or why has he (not) a garden for enjoyment?" the wicked say: "ye follow none other than a man bewitched." p: or (why is not) treasure thrown down unto him, or why hath he not a paradise from whence to eat? and the evil-doers say: ye are but following a man bewitched. s: or (why is not) a treasure sent down to him, or he is made to have a garden from which he should eat? and the unjust say: you do not follow any but a man deprived of reason. . y: see what kinds of comparisons they make for thee! but they have gone astray, and never a way will they be able to find! p: see how they coin similitudes for thee, so that they are all astray and cannot find a road! s: see what likenesses do they apply to you, so they have gone astray, therefore they shall not be able to find a way. . y: blessed is he who, if that were his will, could give thee better (things) than those,- gardens beneath which rivers flow; and he could give thee palaces (secure to dwell in). p: blessed is he who, if he will, will assign thee better than (all) that - gardens underneath which rivers flow - and will assign thee mansions. s: blessed is he who, if he please, will give you what is better than this, gardens beneath which rivers flow, and he will give you palaces. . y: nay they deny the hour (of the judgment to come): but we have prepared a blazing fire for such as deny the hour: p: nay, but they deny (the coming of) the hour, and for those who deny (the coming of) the hour we have prepared a flame. s: but they reject the hour, and we have prepared a burning fire for him who rejects the hour. . y: when it sees them from a place far off, they will hear its fury and its ranging sigh. p: when it seeth them from afar, they hear the crackling and the roar thereof. s: when it shall come into their sight from a distant place, they shall hear its vehement raging and roaring. . y: and when they are cast, bound together into a constricted place therein, they will plead for destruction there and then! p: and when they are flung into a narrow place thereof, chained together, they pray for destruction there. s: and when they are cast into a narrow place in it, bound, they shall there call out for destruction. . y: "this day plead not for a single destruction: plead for destruction oft-repeated!" p: pray not that day for one destruction, but pray for many destructions! s: call not this day for one destruction, but call for destructions many. . y: say: "is that best, or the eternal garden, promised to the righteous? for them, that is a reward as well as a goal (of attainment)." p: say: is that (doom) better or the garden of immortality which is promised unto those who ward off (evil)? it will be their reward and journey's end. s: say: is this better or the abiding garden which those who guard (against evil) are promised? that shall be a reward and a resort for them. . y: "for them there will be therein all that they wish for: they will dwell (there) for aye: a promise to be prayed for from thy lord." p: therein abiding, they have all that they desire. it is for thy lord a promise that must be fulfilled. s: they shall have therein what they desire abiding (in it); it is a promise which it is proper to be prayed for from your lord. . y: the day he will gather them together as well as those whom they worship besides allah, he will ask: "was it ye who let these my servants astray, or did they stray from the path themselves?" p: and on the day when he will assemble them and that which they worship instead of allah and will say: was it ye who misled these my slaves or did they (themselves) wander from the way? s: and on the day when he shall gather them, and whatever they served besides allah, he shall say: was it you who led astray these my servants, or did they themselves go astray from the path? . y: they will say: "glory to thee! not meet was it for us that we should take for protectors others besides thee: but thou didst bestow, on them and their fathers, good things (in life), until they forgot the message: for they were a people (worthless and) lost." p: they will say: be thou glorified! it was not for us to choose any protecting friends beside thee; but thou didst give them and their fathers ease till they forgot the warning and became lost folk. s: they shall say: glory be to thee; it was not beseeming for us that we should take any guardians besides thee, but thou didst make them and their fathers to enjoy until they forsook the reminder, and they were a people in perdition, . y: (allah will say): "now have they proved you liars in what ye say: so ye cannot avert (your penalty) nor (get) help." and whoever among you does wrong, him shall we cause to taste of a grievous penalty. p: thus they will give you the lie regarding what ye say, then ye can neither avert (the doom) nor obtain help. and whoso among you doeth wrong, we shall make him taste great torment. s: so they shall indeed give you the lie in what you say, then you shall not be able to ward off or help, and whoever among you is unjust, we will make him taste a great chastisement. . y: and the messengers whom we sent before thee were all (men) who ate food and walked through the streets: we have made some of you as a trial for others: will ye have patience? for allah is one who sees (all things). p: we never sent before thee any messengers but lo! they verily ate food and walked in the markets. and we have appointed some of you a test for others: will ye be steadfast? and thy lord is ever seer. s: and we have not sent before you any messengers but they most surely ate food and went about in the markets; and we have made some of you a trial for others; will you bear patiently? and your lord is ever seeing. . y: such as fear not the meeting with us (for judgment) say: "why are not the angels sent down to us, or (why) do we not see our lord?" indeed they have an arrogant conceit of themselves, and mighty is the insolence of their impiety! p: and those who look not for a meeting with us say: why are angels not sent down unto us and (why) do we not see our lord! assuredly they think too highly of themselves and are scornful with great pride. s: and those who do not hope for our meeting, say: why have not angels been sent down upon us, or (why) do we not see our lord? now certainly they are too proud of themselves and have revolted in great revolt. . y: the day they see the angels,- no joy will there be to the sinners that day: the (angels) will say: "there is a barrier forbidden (to you) altogether!" p: on the day when they behold the angels, on that day there will be no good tidings for the guilty; and they will cry: a forbidding ban! s: on the day when they shall see the angels, there shall be no joy on that day for the guilty, and they shall say: it is a forbidden thing totally prohibited. . y: and we shall turn to whatever deeds they did (in this life), and we shall make such deeds as floating dust scattered about. p: and we shall turn unto the work they did and make it scattered motes. s: and we will proceed to what they have done of deeds, so we shall render them as scattered floating dust. . y: the companions of the garden will be well, that day, in their abode, and have the fairest of places for repose. p: those who have earned the garden on that day will be better in their home and happier in their place of noonday rest; s: the dwellers of the garden shall on that day be in a better abiding-place and a better resting-place. . y: the day the heaven shall be rent asunder with clouds, and angels shall be sent down, descending (in ranks),- p: a day when the heaven with the clouds will be rent asunder and the angels will be sent down, a grand descent. s: and on the day when the heaven shall burst asunder with the clouds, and the angels shall be sent down descending (in ranks). . y: that day, the dominion as of right and truth, shall be (wholly) for (allah) most merciful: it will be a day of dire difficulty for the misbelievers. p: the sovereignty on that day will be the true (sovereignty) belonging to the beneficent one, and it will be a hard day for disbelievers. s: the kingdom on that day shall rightly belong to the beneficent allah, and a hard day shall it be for the unbelievers. . y: the day that the wrong-doer will bite at his hands, he will say, "oh! would that i had taken a (straight) path with the messenger!" p: on the day when the wrong-doer gnaweth his hands, he will say: ah, would that i had chosen a way together with the messenger (of allah)! s: and the day when the unjust one shall bite his hands saying: o! would that i had taken a way with the messenger; . y: "ah! woe is me! would that i had never taken such a one for a friend!" p: alas for me! ah, would that i had never taken such a one for friend! s: o woe is me! would that i had not taken such a one for a friend! . y: "he did lead me astray from the message (of allah) after it had come to me! ah! the evil one is but a traitor to man!" p: he verily led me astray from the reminder after it had reached me. satan was ever man's deserter in the hour of need. s: certainly he led me astray from the reminder after it had come to me; and the shaitan fails to aid man. . y: then the messenger will say: "o my lord! truly my people took this qur'an for just foolish nonsense." p: and the messenger saith: o my lord! lo! mine own folk make this qur'an of no account. s: and the messenger cried out: o my lord! surely my people have treated this quran as a forsaken thing. . y: thus have we made for every prophet an enemy among the sinners: but enough is thy lord to guide and to help. p: even so have we appointed unto every prophet an opponent from among the guilty; but allah sufficeth for a guide and helper. s: and thus have we made for every prophet an enemy from among the sinners and sufficient is your lord as a guide and a helper. . y: those who reject faith say: "why is not the qur'an revealed to him all at once? thus (is it revealed), that we may strengthen thy heart thereby, and we have rehearsed it to thee in slow, well-arranged stages, gradually." p: and those who disbelieve say: why is the qur'an not revealed unto him all at once? (it is revealed) thus that we may strengthen thy heart therewith; and we have arranged it in right order. s: and those who disbelieve say: why has not the quran been revealed to him all at once? thus, that we may strengthen your heart by it and we have arranged it well in arranging. . y: and no question do they bring to thee but we reveal to thee the truth and the best explanation (thereof). p: and they bring thee no similitude but we bring thee the truth (as against it), and better (than their similitude) as argument. s: and they shall not bring to you any argument, but we have brought to you (one) with truth and best in significance. . y: those who will be gathered to hell (prone) on their faces,- they will be in an evil plight, and, as to path, most astray. p: those who will be gathered on their faces unto hell: such are worse in plight and further from the right road. s: (as for) those who shall be gathered upon their faces to hell, they are in a worse plight and straying farther away from the path. . y: (before this,) we sent moses the book, and appointed his brother aaron with him as minister; p: we verily gave moses the scripture and placed with him his brother aaron as henchman. s: and certainly we gave musa the book and we appointed with him his brother haroun an aider. . y: and we command: "go ye both, to the people who have rejected our signs:" and those (people) we destroyed with utter destruction. p: then we said: go together unto the folk who have denied our revelations. then we destroyed them, a complete destruction. s: then we said: go you both to the people who rejected our communications; so we destroyed them with utter destruction. . y: and the people of noah,- when they rejected the messengers, we drowned them, and we made them as a sign for mankind; and we have prepared for (all) wrong-doers a grievous penalty;- p: and noah's folk, when they denied the messengers, we drowned them and made of them a portent for mankind. we have prepared a painful doom for evil-doers. s: and the people of nuh, when they rejected the messengers, we drowned them, and made them a sign for men, and we have prepared a painful punishment for the unjust; . y: as also 'ad and thamud, and the companions of the rass, and many a generation between them. p: and (the tribes of) a'ad and thamud, and the dwellers in ar-rass, and many generations in between. s: and ad and samood and the dwellers of the rass and many generations between them. . y: to each one we set forth parables and examples; and each one we broke to utter annihilation (for their sins). p: each (of them) we warned by examples, and each (of them) we brought to utter ruin. s: and to every one we gave examples and every one did we destroy with utter destruction. . y: and the (unbelievers) must indeed have passed by the town on which was rained a shower of evil: did they not then see it (with their own eyes)? but they fear not the resurrection. p: and indeed they have passed by the township whereon was rained the fatal rain. can it be that they have not seen it? nay, but they hope for no resurrection. s: and certainly they have (often) passed by the town on which was rained an evil rain; did they not then see it? nay! they did not hope to be raised again. . y: when they see thee, they treat thee no otherwise than in mockery: "is this the one whom allah has sent as a messenger?" p: and when they see thee (o muhammad) they treat thee only as a jest (saying): is this he whom allah sendeth as a messenger? s: and when they see you, they do not take you for aught but a mockery: is this he whom allah has raised to be a messenger? . y: "he indeed would well-nigh have misled us from our gods, had it not been that we were constant to them!" - soon will they know, when they see the penalty, who it is that is most misled in path! p: he would have led us far away from our gods if we had not been staunch to them. they will know, when they behold the doom, who is more astray as to the road. s: he had well-nigh led us astray from our gods had we not adhered to them patiently! and they will know, when they see the punishment, who is straying farther off from the path. . y: seest thou such a one as taketh for his god his own passion (or impulse)? couldst thou be a disposer of affairs for him? p: hast thou seen him who chooseth for his god his own lust? wouldst thou then be guardian over him? s: have you seen him who takes his low desires for his god? will you then be a protector over him? . y: or thinkest thou that most of them listen or understand? they are only like cattle;- nay, they are worse astray in path. p: or deemest thou that most of them hear or understand? they are but as the cattle - nay, but they are farther astray? s: or do you think that most of them do hear or understand? they are nothing but as cattle; nay, they are straying farther off from the path. . y: hast thou not turned thy vision to thy lord?- how he doth prolong the shadow! if he willed, he could make it stationary! then do we make the sun its guide; p: hast thou not seen how thy lord hath spread the shade - and if he willed he could have made it still - then we have made the sun its pilot; s: have you not considered (the work of) your lord, how he extends the shade? and if he had pleased he would certainly have made it stationary; then we have made the sun an indication of it; . y: then we draw it in towards ourselves,- a contraction by easy stages. p: then we withdraw it unto us, a gradual withdrawal? s: then we take it to ourselves, taking little by little. . y: and he it is who makes the night as a robe for you, and sleep as repose, and makes the day (as it were) a resurrection. p: and he it is who maketh night a covering for you, and sleep repose, and maketh day a resurrection. s: and he it is who made the night a covering for you, and the sleep a rest, and he made the day to rise up again. . y: and he it is who sends the winds as heralds of glad tidings, going before his mercy, and we send down pure water from the sky,- p: and he it is who sendeth the winds, glad tidings heralding his mercy, and we send down purifying water from the sky, s: and he it is who sends the winds as good news before his mercy; and we send down pure water from the cloud, . y: that with it we may give life to a dead land, and slake the thirst of things we have created,- cattle and men in great numbers. p: that we may give life thereby to a dead land, and we give many beasts and men that we have created to drink thereof. s: that we may give life thereby to a dead land and give it for drink, out of what we have created, to cattle and many people. . y: and we have distributed the (water) amongst them, in order that they may celebrate (our) praises, but most men are averse (to aught) but (rank) ingratitude. p: and verily we have repeated it among them that they may remember, but most of mankind begrudge aught save ingratitude. s: and certainly we have repeated this to them that they may be mindful, but the greater number of men do not consent to aught except denying. . y: had it been our will, we could have sent a warner to every centre of population. p: if we willed, we could raise up a warner in every village. s: and if we had pleased we would certainly have raised a warner in every town. . y: therefore listen not to the unbelievers, but strive against them with the utmost strenuousness, with the (qur'an). p: so obey not the disbelievers, but strive against them herewith with a great endeavour. s: so do not follow the unbelievers, and strive against them a mighty striving with it. . y: it is he who has let free the two bodies of flowing water: one palatable and sweet, and the other salt and bitter; yet has he made a barrier between them, a partition that is forbidden to be passed. p: and he it is who hath given independence to the two seas (though they meet); one palatable, sweet, and the other saltish, bitter; and hath set a bar and a forbidding ban between them. s: and he it is who has made two seas to flow freely, the one sweet that subdues thirst by its sweetness, and the other salt that burns by its saltness; and between the two he has made a barrier and inviolable obstruction. . y: it is he who has created man from water: then has he established relationships of lineage and marriage: for thy lord has power (over all things). p: and he it is who hath created man from water, and hath appointed for him kindred by blood and kindred by marriage; for thy lord is ever powerful. s: and he it is who has created man from the water, then he has made for him blood relationship and marriage relationship, and your lord is powerful. . y: yet do they worship, besides allah, things that can neither profit them nor harm them: and the misbeliever is a helper (of evil), against his own lord! p: yet they worship instead of allah that which can neither benefit them nor hurt them. the disbeliever was ever a partisan against his lord. s: and they serve besides allah that which neither profits them nor causes them harm; and the unbeliever is a partisan against his lord. . y: but thee we only sent to give glad tidings and admonition. p: and we have sent thee (o muhammad) only as a bearer of good tidings and a warner. s: and we have not sent you but as a giver of good news and as a warner. . y: say: "no reward do i ask of you for it but this: that each one who will may take a (straight) path to his lord." p: say: i ask of you no reward for this, save that whoso will may choose a way unto his lord. s: say: i do not ask you aught in return except that he who will, may take the way to his lord. . y: and put thy trust in him who lives and dies not; and celebrate his praise; and enough is he to be acquainted with the faults of his servants;- p: and trust thou in the living one who dieth not, and hymn his praise. he sufficeth as the knower of his bondmen's sins, s: and rely on the ever-living who dies not, and celebrate his praise; and sufficient is he as being aware of the faults of his servants, . y: he who created the heavens and the earth and all that is between, in six days, and is firmly established on the throne (of authority): allah most gracious: ask thou, then, about him of any acquainted (with such things). p: who created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six days, then he mounted the throne. the beneficent! ask anyone informed concerning him! s: who created the heavens and the earth and what is between them in six periods, and he is firmly established on the throne of authority; the beneficent allah, so ask respecting it one aware. . y: when it is said to them, "prostrate to (allah) most gracious!", they say, "and what is (allah) most gracious? shall we prostrate to that which thou commandest us?" and it increases their flight (from the truth). p: and when it is said unto them: prostrate to the beneficent! they say: and what is the beneficent? are we to prostrate to whatever thou (muhammad) biddest us? and it increaseth aversion in them. s: and when it is said to them: prostrate to the beneficent allah, they say: and what is the allah of beneficence? shall we prostrate to what you bid us? and it adds to their aversion. . y: blessed is he who made constellations in the skies, and placed therein a lamp and a moon giving light; p: blessed be he who hath placed in the heaven mansions of the stars, and hath placed therein a great lamp and a moon giving light! s: blessed is he who made the constellations in the heavens and made therein a lamp and a shining moon. . y: and it is he who made the night and the day to follow each other: for such as have the will to celebrate his praises or to show their gratitude. p: and he it is who hath appointed night and day in succession, for him who desireth to remember, or desireth thankfulness. s: and he it is who made the night and the day to follow each other for him who desires to be mindful or desires to be thankful. . y: and the servants of (allah) most gracious are those who walk on the earth in humility, and when the ignorant address them, they say, "peace!"; p: the (faithful) slaves of the beneficent are they who walk upon the earth modestly, and when the foolish ones address them answer: peace; s: and the servants of the beneficent allah are they who walk on the earth in humbleness, and when the ignorant address them, they say: peace. . y: those who spend the night in adoration of their lord prostrate and standing; p: and who spend the night before their lord, prostrate and standing, s: and they who pass the night prostrating themselves before their lord and standing. . y: those who say, "our lord! avert from us the wrath of hell, for its wrath is indeed an affliction grievous,"- p: and who say: our lord! avert from us the doom of hell; lo! the doom thereof is anguish; s: and they who say: o our lord! turn away from us the punishment of hell, surely the punishment thereof is a lasting evil. . y: "evil indeed is it as an abode, and as a place to rest in"; p: lo! it is wretched as abode and station; s: surely it is an evil abode and (evil) place to stay. . y: those who, when they spend, are not extravagant and not niggardly, but hold a just (balance) between those (extremes); p: and those who, when they spend, are neither prodigal nor grudging; and there is ever a firm station between the two; s: and they who when they spend, are neither extravagant nor parsimonious, and (keep) between these the just mean. . y: those who invoke not, with allah, any other god, nor slay such life as allah has made sacred except for just cause, nor commit fornication; - and any that does this (not only) meets punishment, p: and those who cry not unto any other god along with allah, nor take the life which allah hath forbidden save in (course of) justice, nor commit adultery - and whoso doeth this shall pay the penalty; s: and they who do not call upon another god with allah and do not slay the soul, which allah has forbidden except in the requirements of justice, and (who) do not commit fornication and he who does this shall find a requital of sin; . y: (but) the penalty on the day of judgment will be doubled to him, and he will dwell therein in ignominy,- p: the doom will be doubled for him on the day of resurrection, and he will abide therein disdained for ever; s: the punishment shall be doubled to him on the day of resurrection, and he shall abide therein in abasement; . y: unless he repents, believes, and works righteous deeds, for allah will change the evil of such persons into good, and allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful, p: save him who repenteth and believeth and doth righteous work; as for such, allah will change their evil deeds to good deeds. allah is ever forgiving, merciful. s: except him who repents and believes and does a good deed; so these are they of whom allah changes the evil deeds to good ones; and allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: and whoever repents and does good has truly turned to allah with an (acceptable) conversion;- p: and whosoever repenteth and doeth good, he verily repenteth toward allah with true repentance - s: and whoever repents and does good, he surely turns to allah a (goodly) turning. . y: those who witness no falsehood, and, if they pass by futility, they pass by it with honourable (avoidance); p: and those who will not witness vanity, but when they pass near senseless play, pass by with dignity. s: and they who do not bear witness to what is false, and when they pass by what is vain, they pass by nobly. . y: those who, when they are admonished with the signs of their lord, droop not down at them as if they were deaf or blind; p: and those who, when they are reminded of the revelations of their lord, fall not deaf and blind thereat. s: and they who, when reminded of the communications of their lord, do not fall down thereat deaf and blind. . y: and those who pray, "our lord! grant unto us wives and offspring who will be the comfort of our eyes, and give us (the grace) to lead the righteous." p: and who say: our lord! vouchsafe us comfort of our wives and of our offspring, and make us patterns for (all) those who ward off (evil). s: and they who say: o our lord! grant us in our wives and our offspring the joy of our eyes, and make us guides to those who guard (against evil). . y: those are the ones who will be rewarded with the highest place in heaven, because of their patient constancy: therein shall they be met with salutations and peace, p: they will be awarded the high place forasmuch as they were steadfast, and they will meet therein with welcome and the ward of peace, s: these shall be rewarded with high places because they were patient, and shall be met therein with greetings and salutations. . y: dwelling therein;- how beautiful an abode and place of rest! p: abiding there for ever. happy is it as abode and station! s: abiding therein; goodly the abode and the resting-place. . y: say (to the rejecters): "my lord is not uneasy because of you if ye call not on him: but ye have indeed rejected (him), and soon will come the inevitable (punishment)!" p: say (o muhammad, unto the disbelievers): my lord would not concern himself with you but for your prayer. but now ye have denied (the truth), therefor there will be judgment. s: say: my lord would not care for you were it not for your prayer; but you have indeed rejected (the truth), so that which shall cleave shall come. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-shuara (the poets) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: ta. sin. mim. p: ta. sin. mim. s: ta sin mim. . y: these are verses of the book that makes (things) clear. p: these are revelations of the scripture that maketh plain. s: these are the verses of the book that makes (things) clear. . y: it may be thou frettest thy soul with grief, that they do not become believers. p: it may be that thou tormentest thyself (o muhammad) because they believe not. s: perhaps you will kill yourself with grief because they do not believe. . y: if (such) were our will, we could send down to them from the sky a sign, to which they would bend their necks in humility. p: if we will, we can send down on them from the sky a portent so that their necks would remain bowed before it. s: if we please, we should send down upon them a sign from the heaven so that their necks should stoop to it. . y: but there comes not to them a newly-revealed message from (allah) most gracious, but they turn away therefrom. p: never cometh there unto them a fresh reminder from the beneficent one, but they turn away from it. s: and there does not come to them a new reminder from the beneficent allah but they turn aside from it. . y: they have indeed rejected (the message): so they will know soon (enough) the truth of what they mocked at! p: now they have denied (the truth); but there will come unto them tidings of that whereat they used to scoff. s: so they have indeed rejected (the truth), therefore the news of that which they mock shall soon come to them. . y: do they not look at the earth,- how many noble things of all kinds we have produced therein? p: have they not seen the earth, how much of every fruitful kind we make to grow therein? s: do they not see the earth, how many of every noble kind we have caused to grow in it? . y: verily, in this is a sign: but most of them do not believe. p: lo! herein is indeed a portent; yet most of them are not believers. s: most surely there is a sign in that, but most of them will not believe. . y: and verily, thy lord is he, the exalted in might, most merciful. p: and lo! thy lord! he is indeed the mighty, the merciful. s: and most surely your lord is the mighty, the merciful. . y: behold, thy lord called moses: "go to the people of iniquity,"- p: and when thy lord called moses, saying: go unto the wrongdoing folk, s: and when your lord called out to musa, saying: go to the unjust people, . y: "the people of the pharaoh: will they not fear allah?" p: the folk of pharaoh. will they not ward off (evil)? s: the people of firon: will they not guard (against evil)? . y: he said: "o my lord! i do fear that they will charge me with falsehood:" p: he said: my lord! lo! i fear that they will deny me, s: he said: o my lord! surely i fear that they will reject me; . y: "my breast will be straitened. and my speech may not go (smoothly): so send unto aaron." p: and i shall be embarrassed, and my tongue will not speak plainly, therefor send for aaron (to help me). s: and by breast straitens, and my tongue is not eloquent, therefore send thou to haroun (to help me); . y: "and (further), they have a charge of crime against me; and i fear they may slay me." p: and they have a crime against me, so i fear that they will kill me. s: and they have a crime against me, therefore i fear that they may slay me. . y: allah said: "by no means! proceed then, both of you, with our signs; we are with you, and will listen (to your call)." p: he said: nay, verily. so go ye twain with our tokens. lo! we shall be with you, hearing. s: he said: by no means, so go you both with our signs; surely we are with you, hearing; . y: "so go forth, both of you, to pharaoh, and say: 'we have been sent by the lord and cherisher of the worlds;'" p: and come together unto pharaoh and say: lo! we bear a message of the lord of the worlds, s: then come to firon and say: surely we are the messengers of the lord of the worlds: . y: "'send thou with us the children of israel.'" p: (saying): let the children of israel go with us. s: then send with us the children of israel. . y: (pharaoh) said: "did we not cherish thee as a child among us, and didst thou not stay in our midst many years of thy life?" p: (pharaoh) said (unto moses): did we not rear thee among us as a child? and thou didst dwell many years of thy life among us, s: (firon) said: did we not bring you up as a child among us, and you tarried among us for (many) years of your life? . y: "and thou didst a deed of thine which (thou knowest) thou didst, and thou art an ungrateful (wretch)!" p: and thou didst that thy deed which thou didst, and thou wast one of the ingrates. s: and you did (that) deed of yours which you did, and you are one of the ungrateful. . y: moses said: "i did it then, when i was in error." p: he said: i did it then, when i was of those who are astray. s: he said: i did it then while i was of those unable to see the right course; . y: "so i fled from you (all) when i feared you; but my lord has (since) invested me with judgment (and wisdom) and appointed me as one of the messengers." p: then i fled from you when i feared you, and my lord vouchsafed me a command and appointed me (of the number) of those sent (by him). s: so i fled from you when i feared you, then my lord granted me wisdom and made me of the messengers; . y: "and this is the favour with which thou dost reproach me,- that thou hast enslaved the children of israel!" p: and this is the past favour wherewith thou reproachest me: that thou hast enslaved the children of israel. s: and is it a favor of which you remind me that you have enslaved the children of israel? . y: pharaoh said: "and what is the 'lord and cherisher of the worlds'?" p: pharaoh said: and what is the lord of the worlds? s: firon said: and what is the lord of the worlds? . y: (moses) said: "the lord and cherisher of the heavens and the earth, and all between,- if ye want to be quite sure." p: (moses) said: lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, if ye had but sure belief. s: he said: the lord of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, if you would be sure. . y: (pharaoh) said to those around: "did ye not listen (to what he says)?" p: (pharaoh) said unto those around him: hear ye not? s: (firon) said to those around him: do you not hear? . y: (moses) said: "your lord and the lord of your fathers from the beginning!" p: he said: your lord and the lord of your fathers. s: he said: your lord and the lord of your fathers of old. . y: (pharaoh) said: "truly your messenger who has been sent to you is a veritable madman!" p: (pharaoh) said: lo! your messenger who hath been sent unto you is indeed a madman! s: said he: most surely your messenger who is sent to you is mad. . y: (moses) said: "lord of the east and the west, and all between! if ye only had sense!" p: he said: lord of the east and the west and all that is between them, if ye did but understand. s: he said: the lord of the east and the west and what is between them, if you understand. . y: (pharaoh) said: "if thou dost put forward any god other than me, i will certainly put thee in prison!" p: (pharaoh) said: if thou choosest a god other than me, i assuredly shall place thee among the prisoners. s: said he: if you will take a god besides me, i will most certainly make you one of the imprisoned. . y: (moses) said: "even if i showed you something clear (and) convincing?" p: he said: even though i show thee something plain? s: he said: what! even if i bring to you something manifest? . y: (pharaoh) said: "show it then, if thou tellest the truth!" p: (pharaoh) said: produce it then, if thou art of the truthful! s: said he: bring it then, if you are of the truthful ones. . y: so (moses) threw his rod, and behold, it was a serpent, plain (for all to see)! p: then he flung down his staff and it became a serpent manifest, s: so he cast down his rod, and lo! it was an obvious serpent, . y: and he drew out his hand, and behold, it was white to all beholders! p: and he drew forth his hand and lo! it was white to the beholders. s: and he drew forth his hand, and lo! it appeared white to the onlookers. . y: (pharaoh) said to the chiefs around him: "this is indeed a sorcerer well-versed:" p: (pharaoh) said unto the chiefs about him: lo! this is verily a knowing wizard, s: (firon) said to the chiefs around him: most surely this is a skillful magician, . y: "his plan is to get you out of your land by his sorcery; then what is it ye counsel?" p: who would drive you out of your land by his magic. now what counsel ye? s: who desires to turn you out of your land with his magic; what is it then that you advise? . y: they said: "keep him and his brother in suspense (for a while), and dispatch to the cities heralds to collect-" p: they said: put him off, (him) and his brother, and send into the cities summoners, s: they said: give him and his brother respite and send heralds into the cities; . y: "and bring up to thee all (our) sorcerers well-versed." p: who shall bring unto thee every knowing wizard. s: that they should bring to you every skillful magician. . y: so the sorcerers were got together for the appointment of a day well-known, p: so the wizards were gathered together at a set time on a day appointed. s: so the magicians were gathered together at the appointed time on the fixed day, . y: and the people were told: "are ye (now) assembled?"- p: and it was said unto the people: are ye (also) gathering? s: and it was said to the people: will you gather together? . y: "that we may follow the sorcerers (in religion) if they win?" p: (they said): aye, so that we may follow the wizards if they are the winners. s: haply we may follow the magicians, if they are the vanquishers. . y: so when the sorcerers arrived, they said to pharaoh: "of course - shall we have a (suitable) reward if we win?" p: and when the wizards came they said unto pharaoh: will there surely be a reward for us if we are the winners? s: and when the magicians came, they said to firon: shall we get a reward if we are the vanquishers? . y: he said: "yea, (and more),- for ye shall in that case be (raised to posts) nearest (to my person)." p: he said: aye, and ye will then surely be of those brought near (to me). s: he said: yes, and surely you will then be of those who are made near. . y: moses said to them: "throw ye - that which ye are about to throw!" p: moses said unto them: throw what ye are going to throw! s: musa said to them: cast what you are going to cast. . y: so they threw their ropes and their rods, and said: "by the might of pharaoh, it is we who will certainly win!" p: then they threw down their cords and their staves and said: by pharaoh's might, lo! we verily are the winners. s: so they cast down their cords and their rods and said: by firon's power, we shall most surely be victorious. . y: then moses threw his rod, when, behold, it straightway swallows up all the falsehoods which they fake! p: then moses threw his staff and lo! it swallowed that which they did falsely show. s: then musa cast down his staff and lo! it swallowed up the lies they told. . y: then did the sorcerers fall down, prostrate in adoration, p: and the wizards were flung prostrate, s: and the magicians were thrown down prostrate; . y: saying: "we believe in the lord of the worlds," p: crying: we believe in the lord of the worlds, s: they said: we believe in the lord of the worlds: . y: "the lord of moses and aaron." p: the lord of moses and aaron. s: the lord of musa and haroun. . y: said (pharaoh): "believe ye in him before i give you permission? surely he is your leader, who has taught you sorcery! but soon shall ye know!" - "be sure i will cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and i will cause you all to die on the cross!" p: (pharaoh) said: ye put your faith in him before i give you leave. lo! he doubtless is your chief who taught you magic! but verily ye shall come to know. verily i will cut off your hands and your feet alternately, and verily i will crucify you every one. s: said he: you believe in him before i give you permission; most surely he is the chief of you who taught you the magic, so you shall know: certainly i will cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and certainly i will crucify you all. . y: they said: "no matter! for us, we shall but return to our lord!" p: they said: it is no hurt, for lo! unto our lord we shall return. s: they said: no harm; surely to our lord we go back; . y: "only, our desire is that our lord will forgive us our faults, that we may become foremost among the believers!" p: lo! we ardently hope that our lord will forgive us our sins because we are the first of the believers. s: surely we hope that our lord will forgive us our wrongs because we are the first of the believers. . y: by inspiration we told moses: "travel by night with my servants; for surely ye shall be pursued." p: and we inspired moses, saying: take away my slaves by night, for ye will be pursued. s: and we revealed to musa, saying: go away with my servants travelling by night, surely you will be pursued. . y: then pharaoh sent heralds to (all) the cities, p: then pharaoh sent into the cities summoners, s: so firon sent heralds into the cities; . y: (saying): "these (israelites) are but a small band," p: (who said): lo! these indeed are but a little troop, s: most surely these are a small company; . y: "and they are raging furiously against us;" p: and lo! they are offenders against us. s: and most surely they have enraged us; . y: "but we are a multitude amply fore-warned." p: and lo! we are a ready host. s: and most surely we are a vigilant multitude. . y: so we expelled them from gardens, springs, p: thus did we take them away from gardens and watersprings, s: so we turned them out of gardens and springs, . y: treasures, and every kind of honourable position; p: and treasures and a fair estate. s: and treasures and goodly dwellings, . y: thus it was, but we made the children of israel inheritors of such things. p: thus (were those things taken from them) and we caused the children of israel to inherit them. s: even so. and we gave them as a heritage to the children of israel. . y: so they pursued them at sunrise. p: and they overtook them at sunrise. s: then they pursued them at sunrise. . y: and when the two bodies saw each other, the people of moses said: "we are sure to be overtaken." p: and when the two hosts saw each other, those with moses said: lo! we are indeed caught. s: so when the two hosts saw each other, the companions of musa cried out: most surely we are being overtaken. . y: (moses) said: "by no means! my lord is with me! soon will he guide me!" p: he said: nay, verily! for lo! my lord is with me. he will guide me. s: he said: by no means; surely my lord is with me: he will show me a way out. . y: then we told moses by inspiration: "strike the sea with thy rod." so it divided, and each separate part became like the huge, firm mass of a mountain. p: then we inspired moses, saying: smite the sea with thy staff. and it parted, and each part was as a mountain vast. s: then we revealed to musa: strike the sea with your staff. so it had cloven asunder, and each part was like a huge mound. . y: and we made the other party approach thither. p: then brought we near the others to that place. s: and we brought near, there, the others. . y: we delivered moses and all who were with him; p: and we saved moses and those with him, every one; s: and we saved musa and those with him, all of them. . y: but we drowned the others. p: and we drowned the others. s: then we drowned the others. . y: verily in this is a sign: but most of them do not believe. p: lo! herein is indeed a portent, yet most of them are not believers. s: most surely there is a sign in this, but most of them do not believe. . y: and verily thy lord is he, the exalted in might, most merciful. p: and lo, thy lord! he is indeed the mighty, the merciful. s: and most surely your lord is the mighty, the merciful. . y: and rehearse to them (something of) abraham's story. p: recite unto them the story of abraham: s: and recite to them the story of ibrahim. . y: behold, he said to his father and his people: "what worship ye?" p: when he said unto his father and his folk: what worship ye? s: when he said to his father and his people: what do you worship? . y: they said: "we worship idols, and we remain constantly in attendance on them." p: they said: we worship idols, and are ever devoted unto them. s: they said: we worship idols, so we shall be their votaries. . y: he said: "do they listen to you when ye call (on them)," p: he said: do they hear you when ye cry? s: he said: do they hear you when you call? . y: "or do you good or harm?" p: or do they benefit or harm you? s: or do they profit you or cause you harm? . y: they said: "nay, but we found our fathers doing thus (what we do)." p: they said: nay, but we found our fathers acting on this wise. s: they said: nay, we found our fathers doing so. . y: he said: "do ye then see whom ye have been worshipping,"- p: he said: see now that which ye worship, s: he said: have you then considered what you have been worshipping: . y: "ye and your fathers before you?"- p: ye and your forefathers! s: you and your ancient sires. . y: "for they are enemies to me; not so the lord and cherisher of the worlds;" p: lo! they are (all) an enemy unto me, save the lord of the worlds, s: surely they are enemies to me, but not (so) the lord of the worlds; . y: "who created me, and it is he who guides me;" p: who created me, and he doth guide me, s: who created me, then he has shown me the way: . y: "who gives me food and drink," p: and who feedeth me and watereth me. s: and he who gives me to eat and gives me to drink: . y: "and when i am ill, it is he who cures me;" p: and when i sicken, then he healeth me, s: and when i am sick, then he restores me to health . y: "who will cause me to die, and then to life (again);" p: and who causeth me to die, then giveth me life (again), s: and he who will cause me to die, then give me life; . y: "and who, i hope, will forgive me my faults on the day of judgment...." p: and who, i ardently hope, will forgive me my sin on the day of judgment. s: and who, i hope, will forgive me my mistakes on the day of judgment. . y: "o my lord! bestow wisdom on me, and join me with the righteous;" p: my lord! vouchsafe me wisdom and unite me to the righteous. s: my lord: grant me wisdom, and join me with the good . y: "grant me honourable mention on the tongue of truth among the latest (generations);" p: and give unto me a good report in later generations. s: and ordain for me a goodly mention among posterity . y: "make me one of the inheritors of the garden of bliss;" p: and place me among the inheritors of the garden of delight, s: and make me of the heirs of the garden of bliss . y: "forgive my father, for that he is among those astray;" p: and forgive my father. lo! he is of those who err. s: and forgive my father, for surely he is of those who have gone astray; . y: "and let me not be in disgrace on the day when (men) will be raised up;"- p: and abase me not on the day when they are raised, s: and disgrace me not on the day when they are raised . y: "the day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail," p: the day when wealth and sons avail not (any man) s: the day on which property will not avail, nor sons . y: "but only he (will prosper) that brings to allah a sound heart;" p: save him who bringeth unto allah a whole heart. s: except him who comes to allah with a heart free (from evil). . y: "to the righteous, the garden will be brought near," p: and the garden will be brought nigh for those who ward off (evil). s: and the garden shall be brought near for those who guard (against evil), . y: "and to those straying in evil, the fire will be placed in full view;" p: and hell will appear plainly to the erring. s: and the hell shall be made manifest to the erring ones, . y: "and it shall be said to them: 'where are the (gods) ye worshipped-'" p: and it will be said unto them: where is (all) that ye used to worship s: and it shall be said to them: where are those that you used to worship; . y: "'besides allah? can they help you or help themselves?'" p: instead of allah? can they help you or help themselves? s: besides allah? can they help you or yet help themselves? . y: "then they will be thrown headlong into the (fire),- they and those straying in evil," p: then will they be hurled therein, they and the seducers s: so they shall be thrown down into it, they and the erring ones, . y: "and the whole hosts of iblis together." p: and the hosts of iblis, together. s: and the hosts of the shaitan, all. . y: "they will say there in their mutual bickerings:" p: and they will say, when they are quarrelling therein: s: they shall say while they contend therein: . y: "'by allah, we were truly in an error manifest," p: by allah, of a truth we were in error manifest s: by allah! we were certainly in manifest error, . y: "'when we held you as equals with the lord of the worlds;" p: when we made you equal with the lord of the worlds. s: when we made you equal to the lord of the worlds; . y: "'and our seducers were only those who were steeped in guilt." p: it was but the guilty who misled us. s: and none but the guilty led us astray; . y: "'now, then, we have none to intercede (for us),'" p: now we have no intercessors s: so we have no intercessors, . y: "'nor a single friend to feel (for us).'" p: nor any loving friend. s: nor a true friend; . y: "'now if we only had a chance of return we shall truly be of those who believe!'" p: oh, that we had another turn (on earth), that we might be of the believers! s: but if we could but once return, we would be of the believers. . y: verily in this is a sign but most of them do not believe. p: lo! herein is indeed a portent, yet most of them are not believers! s: most surely there is a sign in this, but most of them do not believe. . y: and verily thy lord is he, the exalted in might, most merciful. p: and lo, thy lord! he is indeed the mighty, the merciful. s: and most surely your lord is the mighty, the merciful. . y: the people of noah rejected the messengers. p: noah's folk denied the messengers (of allah), s: the people of nuh rejected the messengers. . y: behold, their brother noah said to them: "will ye not fear (allah)?" p: when their brother noah said unto them: will ye not ward off (evil)? s: when their brother nuh said to them: will you not guard (against evil)? . y: "i am to you a messenger worthy of all trust:" p: lo! i am a faithful messenger unto you, s: surely i am a faithful messenger to you; . y: "so fear allah, and obey me." p: so keep your duty to allah, and obey me. s: therefore guard against (the punishment of) allah and obey me . y: "no reward do i ask of you for it: my reward is only from the lord of the worlds:" p: and i ask of you no wage therefor; my wage is the concern only of the lord of the worlds. s: and i do not ask you any reward for it; my reward is only with the lord of the worlds: . y: "so fear allah, and obey me." p: so keep your duty to allah, and obey me. s: so guard against (the punishment of) allah and obey me. . y: they said: "shall we believe in thee when it is the meanest that follow thee?" p: they said: shall we put faith in thee, when the lowest (of the people) follow thee? s: they said: shall we believe in you while the meanest follow you? . y: he said: "and what do i know as to what they do?" p: he said: and what knowledge have i of what they may have been doing (in the past)? s: he said: and what knowledge have i of what they do? . y: "their account is only with my lord, if ye could (but) understand." p: lo! their reckoning is my lord's concern, if ye but knew; s: their account is only with my lord, if you could perceive . y: "i am not one to drive away those who believe." p: and i am not (here) to repulse believers. s: and i am not going to drive away the believers; . y: "i am sent only to warn plainly in public." p: i am only a plain warner. s: i am naught but a plain warner. . y: they said: "if thou desist not, o noah! thou shalt be stoned (to death)." p: they said: if thou cease not, o noah, thou wilt surely be among those stoned (to death). s: they said: if you desist not, o nuh, you shall most certainly be of those stoned to death. . y: he said: "o my lord! truly my people have rejected me." p: he said: my lord! lo! my own folk deny me. s: he said: my lord! surely my people give me the lie! . y: "judge thou, then, between me and them openly, and deliver me and those of the believers who are with me." p: therefor judge thou between us, a (conclusive) judgment, and save me and those believers who are with me. s: therefore judge thou between me and them with a (just) judgment, and deliver me and those who are with me of the believers. . y: so we delivered him and those with him, in the ark filled (with all creatures). p: and we saved him and those with him in the laden ship. s: so we delivered him and those with him in the laden ark. . y: thereafter we drowned those who remained behind. p: then afterward we drowned the others. s: then we drowned the rest afterwards . y: verily in this is a sign: but most of them do not believe. p: lo! herein is indeed a portent, yet most of them are not believers. s: most surely there is a sign in this, but most of them do not believe. . y: and verily thy lord is he, the exalted in might, most merciful. p: and lo, thy lord, he is indeed the mighty, the merciful. s: and most surely your lord is the mighty, the merciful. . y: the 'ad (people) rejected the messengers. p: (the tribe of) a'ad denied the messengers (of allah). s: ad gave the lie to the messengers. . y: behold, their brother hud said to them: "will ye not fear (allah)?" p: when their brother hud said unto them: will ye not ward off (evil)? s: when their brother hud said to them: will you not guard (against evil)? . y: "i am to you a messenger worthy of all trust:" p: lo! i am a faithful messenger unto you, s: surely i am a faithful messenger to you; . y: "so fear allah and obey me." p: so keep your duty to allah and obey me. s: therefore guard against (the punishment of) allah and obey me: . y: "no reward do i ask of you for it: my reward is only from the lord of the worlds." p: and i ask of you no wage therefor; my wage is the concern only of the lord of the worlds. s: and i do not ask you any reward for it; surely my reward is only with the lord of the worlds; . y: "do ye build a landmark on every high place to amuse yourselves?" p: build ye on every high place a monument for vain delight? s: do you build on every height a monument? vain is it that you do: . y: "and do ye get for yourselves fine buildings in the hope of living therein (for ever)?" p: and seek ye out strongholds, that haply ye may last for ever? s: and you make strong fortresses that perhaps you may . y: "and when ye exert your strong hand, do ye do it like men of absolute power?" p: and if ye seize by force, seize ye as tyrants? s: and when you lay hands (on men) you lay hands (like) tyrants; . y: "now fear allah, and obey me." p: rather keep your duty to allah, and obey me. s: so guard against (the punishment of) allah and obey me . y: "yea, fear him who has bestowed on you freely all that ye know." p: keep your duty toward him who hath aided you with (the good things) that ye know, s: and be careful of (your duty to) him who has given you abundance of what you know. . y: "freely has he bestowed on you cattle and sons,"- p: hath aided you with cattle and sons. s: he has given you abundance of cattle and children . y: "and gardens and springs." p: and gardens and watersprings. s: and gardens and fountains; . y: "truly i fear for you the penalty of a great day." p: lo! i fear for you the retribution of an awful day. s: surely i fear for you the chastisement of a grievous day . y: they said: "it is the same to us whether thou admonish us or be not among (our) admonishers!" p: they said: it is all one to us whether thou preachest or art not of those who preach; s: they said: it is the same to us whether you admonish or are not one of the admonishers; . y: "this is no other than a customary device of the ancients," p: this is but a fable of the men of old, s: this is naught but a custom of the ancients; . y: "and we are not the ones to receive pains and penalties!" p: and we shall not be doomed. s: and we are not going to be punished. . y: so they rejected him, and we destroyed them. verily in this is a sign: but most of them do not believe. p: and they denied him; therefor we destroyed them. lo! herein is indeed a portent, yet most of them are not believers. s: so they gave him the lie, then we destroyed them. most surely there is a sign in this, but most of them do not believe. . y: and verily thy lord is he, the exalted in might, most merciful. p: and lo! thy lord, he is indeed the mighty, the merciful. s: and most surely your lord is the mighty, the merciful. . y: the thamud (people) rejected the messengers. p: (the tribe of) thamud denied the messengers (of allah) s: samood gave the lie to the messengers . y: behold, their brother salih said to them: "will you not fear (allah)?" p: when their brother salih said unto them: will ye not ward off (evil)? s: when their brother salih said to them: will you not guard (against evil)? . y: "i am to you a messenger worthy of all trust." p: lo! i am a faithful messenger unto you, s: surely i am a faithful messenger to you . y: "so fear allah, and obey me." p: so keep your duty to allah and obey me. s: therefore guard against (the punishment of) allah and obey me: . y: "no reward do i ask of you for it: my reward is only from the lord of the worlds." p: and i ask of you no wage therefor; my wage is the concern only of the lord of the worlds. s: and i do not ask you any reward for it; my reward is only with the lord of the worlds: . y: "will ye be left secure, in (the enjoyment of) all that ye have here?"- p: will ye be left secure in that which is here before us, s: will you be left secure in what is here; . y: "gardens and springs," p: in gardens and watersprings. s: in gardens and fountains, . y: "and corn-fields and date-palms with spathes near breaking (with the weight of fruit)?" p: and tilled fields and heavy-sheathed palm-trees, s: and cornfields and palm-trees having fine spadices? . y: "and ye carve houses out of (rocky) mountains with great skill." p: though ye hew out dwellings in the mountain, being skilful? s: and you hew houses out of the mountains exultingly; . y: "but fear allah and obey me;" p: therefor keep your duty to allah and obey me, s: therefore guard against (the punishment of) allah and obey me; . y: "and follow not the bidding of those who are extravagant,"- p: and obey not the command of the prodigal, s: and do not obey the bidding of the extravagant, . y: "who make mischief in the land, and mend not (their ways)." p: who spread corruption in the earth, and reform not. s: who make mischief in the land and do not act aright. . y: they said: "thou art only one of those bewitched!" p: they said: thou art but one of the bewitched; s: they said: you are only of the deluded ones; . y: "thou art no more than a mortal like us: then bring us a sign, if thou tellest the truth!" p: thou art but a mortal like us. so bring some token if thou art of the truthful. s: you are naught but a mortal like ourselves; so bring a sign if you are one of the truthful. . y: he said: "here is a she-camel: she has a right of watering, and ye have a right of watering, (severally) on a day appointed." p: he said: (behold) this she-camel. she hath the right to drink (at the well), and ye have the right to drink, (each) on an appointed day. s: he said: this is a she-camel; she shall have her portion of water, and you have your portion of water on an appointed time; . y: "touch her not with harm, lest the penalty of a great day seize you." p: and touch her not with ill lest there come on you the retribution of an awful day. s: and do not touch her with evil, lest the punishment of a grievous day should overtake you. . y: but they ham-strung her: then did they become full of regrets. p: but they hamstrung her, and then were penitent. s: but they hamstrung her, then regretted; . y: but the penalty seized them. verily in this is a sign: but most of them do not believe. p: so the retribution came on them. lo! herein is indeed a portent, yet most of them are not believers. s: so the punishment overtook them. most surely there is a sign in this, but most of them do not believe. . y: and verily thy lord is he, the exalted in might, most merciful. p: and lo! thy lord! he is indeed the mighty, the merciful. s: and most surely your lord is the mighty, the merciful. . y: the people of lut rejected the messengers. p: the folk of lot denied the messengers (of allah), s: the people of lut gave the lie to the messengers. . y: behold, their brother lut said to them: "will ye not fear (allah)?" p: when their brother lot said unto them: will ye not ward off (evil)? s: when their brother lut said to them: will you not guard (against evil)? . y: "i am to you a messenger worthy of all trust." p: lo! i am a faithful messenger unto you, s: surely i am a faithful messenger to you; . y: "so fear allah and obey me." p: so keep your duty to allah and obey me. s: therefore guard against (the punishment of) allah and obey me: . y: "no reward do i ask of you for it: my reward is only from the lord of the worlds." p: and i ask of you no wage therefor; my wage is the concern only of the lord of the worlds. s: and i do not ask you any reward for it; my reward is only with the lord of the worlds; . y: "of all the creatures in the world, will ye approach males," p: what! of all creatures do ye come unto the males, s: what! do you come to the males from among the creatures . y: "and leave those whom allah has created for you to be your mates? nay, ye are a people transgressing (all limits)!" p: and leave the wives your lord created for you? nay, but ye are froward folk. s: and leave what your lord has created for you of your wives? nay, you are a people exceeding limits. . y: they said: "if thou desist not, o lut! thou wilt assuredly be cast out!" p: they said: if thou cease not, o lot, thou wilt soon be of the outcast. s: they said: if you desist not, o lut! you shall surely be of those who are expelled. . y: he said: "i do detest your doings." p: he said: i am in truth of those who hate your conduct. s: he said: surely i am of those who utterly abhor your doing; . y: "o my lord! deliver me and my family from such things as they do!" p: my lord! save me and my household from what they do. s: my lord! deliver me and my followers from what they do. . y: so we delivered him and his family,- all, p: so we saved him and his household, every one, s: so we delivered him and his followers all, . y: except an old woman who lingered behind. p: save an old woman among those who stayed behind. s: except an old woman, among those who remained behind. . y: but the rest we destroyed utterly. p: then afterward we destroyed the others. s: then we utterly destroyed the others. . y: we rained down on them a shower (of brimstone): and evil was the shower on those who were admonished (but heeded not)! p: and we rained on them a rain. and dreadful is the rain of those who have been warned. s: and we rained down upon them a rain, and evil was the rain on those warned. . y: verily in this is a sign: but most of them do not believe. p: lo! herein is indeed a portent, yet most of them are not believers. s: most surely there is a sign in this, but most of them do not believe. . y: and verily thy lord is he, the exalted in might most merciful. p: and lo! thy lord, he is indeed the mighty, the merciful. s: and most surely your lord is the mighty, the merciful. . y: the companions of the wood rejected the messengers. p: the dwellers in the wood (of midian) denied the messengers (of allah), s: the dwellers of the thicket gave the lie to the messengers. . y: behold, shu'aib said to them: "will ye not fear (allah)?" p: when shu'eyb said unto them: will ye not ward off (evil)? s: when shu'aib said to them: will you not guard (against evil)? . y: "i am to you a messenger worthy of all trust." p: lo! i am a faithful messenger unto you, s: surely i am a faithful messenger to you; . y: "so fear allah and obey me." p: so keep your duty to allah and obey me. s: therefore guard against (the punishment of) allah and obey me: . y: "no reward do i ask of you for it: my reward is only from the lord of the worlds." p: and i ask of you no wage for it; my wage is the concern only of the lord of the worlds. s: and i do not ask you any reward for it, my reward is only with the lord of the worlds; . y: "give just measure, and cause no loss (to others by fraud)." p: give full measure, and be not of those who give less (than the due). s: give a full measure and be not of those who diminish; . y: "and weigh with scales true and upright." p: and weigh with the true balance. s: and weigh (things) with a right balance, . y: "and withhold not things justly due to men, nor do evil in the land, working mischief." p: wrong not mankind in their goods, and do not evil, making mischief, in the earth. s: and do not wrong men of their things, and do not act corruptly in the earth, making mischief. . y: "and fear him who created you and (who created) the generations before (you)." p: and keep your duty unto him who created you and the generations of the men of old. s: and guard against (the punishment of) him who created you and the former nations. . y: they said: "thou art only one of those bewitched!" p: they said: thou art but one of the bewitched; s: they said: you are only of those deluded; . y: "thou art no more than a mortal like us, and indeed we think thou art a liar!" p: thou art but a mortal like us, and lo! we deem thee of the liars. s: and you are naught but a mortal like ourselves, and we know you to be certainly of the liars. . y: "now cause a piece of the sky to fall on us, if thou art truthful!" p: then make fragments of the heaven fall upon us, if thou art of the truthful. s: therefore cause a portion of the heaven to come down upon us, if you are one of the truthful. . y: he said: "my lord knows best what ye do." p: he said: my lord is best aware of what ye do. s: he said: my lord knows best what you do. . y: but they rejected him. then the punishment of a day of overshadowing gloom seized them, and that was the penalty of a great day. p: but they denied him, so there came on them the retribution of the day of gloom. lo! it was the retribution of an awful day. s: but they called him a liar, so the punishment of the day of covering overtook them; surely it was the punishment of a grievous day. . y: verily in that is a sign: but most of them do not believe. p: lo! herein is indeed a portent; yet most of them are not believers. s: most surely there is a sign in this, but most of them do not believe. . y: and verily thy lord is he, the exalted in might, most merciful. p: and lo! thy lord! he is indeed the mighty, the merciful. s: and most surely your lord is mighty, the merciful. . y: verily this is a revelation from the lord of the worlds: p: and lo! it is a revelation of the lord of the worlds, s: and most surely this is a revelation from the lord of the worlds. . y: with it came down the spirit of faith and truth- p: which the true spirit hath brought down s: the faithful spirit has descended with it, . y: to thy heart and mind, that thou mayest admonish. p: upon thy heart, that thou mayst be (one) of the warners, s: upon your heart that you may be of the warners . y: in the perspicuous arabic tongue. p: in plain arabic speech. s: in plain arabic language. . y: without doubt it is (announced) in the mystic books of former peoples. p: and lo! it is in the scriptures of the men of old. s: and most surely the same is in the scriptures of the ancients. . y: is it not a sign to them that the learned of the children of israel knew it (as true)? p: is it not a token for them that the doctors of the children of israel know it? s: is it not a sign to them that the learned men of the israelites know it? . y: had we revealed it to any of the non-arabs, p: and if we had revealed it unto one of any other nation than the arabs, s: and if we had revealed it to any of the foreigners . y: and had he recited it to them, they would not have believed in it. p: and he had read it unto them, they would not have believed in it. s: so that he should have recited it to them, they would not have believed therein. . y: thus have we caused it to enter the hearts of the sinners. p: thus do we make it traverse the hearts of the guilty. s: thus have we caused it to enter into the hearts of the guilty. . y: they will not believe in it until they see the grievous penalty; p: they will not believe in it till they behold the painful doom, s: they will not believe in it until they see the painful punishment. . y: but the (penalty) will come to them of a sudden, while they perceive it not; p: so that it will come upon them suddenly, when they perceive not. s: and it shall come to them all of a sudden, while they shall not perceive; . y: then they will say: "shall we be respited?" p: then they will say: are we to be reprieved? s: then they will say: shall we be respited? . y: do they then ask for our penalty to be hastened on? p: would they (now) hasten on our doom? s: what! do they still seek to hasten on our punishment? . y: seest thou? if we do let them enjoy (this life) for a few years, p: hast thou then seen, if we content them for (long) years, s: have you then considered if we let them enjoy themselves for years, . y: yet there comes to them at length the (punishment) which they were promised! p: and then cometh that which they were promised, s: then there comes to them that with which they are threatened, . y: it will profit them not that they enjoyed (this life)! p: (how) that wherewith they were contented naught availeth them? s: that which they were made to enjoy shall not avail them? . y: never did we destroy a population, but had its warners - p: and we destroyed no township but it had its warners s: and we did not destroy any town but it had (its) warners, . y: by way of reminder; and we never are unjust. p: for reminder, for we never were oppressors. s: to remind, and we are never unjust. . y: no evil ones have brought down this (revelation): p: the devils did not bring it down. s: and the shaitans have not come down with it. . y: it would neither suit them nor would they be able (to produce it). p: it is not meet for them, nor is it in their power, s: and it behoves them not, and they have not the power to do (it). . y: indeed they have been removed far from even (a chance of) hearing it. p: lo! verily they are banished from the hearing. s: most surely they are far removed from the hearing of it. . y: so call not on any other god with allah, or thou wilt be among those under the penalty. p: therefor invoke not with allah another god, lest thou be one of the doomed. s: so call not upon another god with allah, lest you be of those who are punished. . y: and admonish thy nearest kinsmen, p: and warn thy tribe of near kindred, s: and warn your nearest relations, . y: and lower thy wing to the believers who follow thee. p: and lower thy wing (in kindness) unto those believers who follow thee. s: and be kind to him who follows you of the believers. . y: then if they disobey thee, say: "i am free (of responsibility) for what ye do!" p: and if they (thy kinsfolk) disobey thee, say: lo! i am innocent of what they do. s: but if they disobey you, then say: surely i am clear of what you do. . y: and put thy trust on the exalted in might, the merciful,- p: and put thy trust in the mighty, the merciful. s: and rely on the mighty, the merciful, . y: who seeth thee standing forth (in prayer), p: who seeth thee when thou standest up (to pray) s: who sees you when you stand up. . y: and thy movements among those who prostrate themselves, p: and (seeth) thine abasement among those who fall prostrate (in worship). s: and your turning over and over among those who prostrate themselves before allah. . y: for it is he who heareth and knoweth all things. p: lo! he, only he, is the hearer, the knower. s: surely he is the hearing, the knowing. . y: shall i inform you, (o people!), on whom it is that the evil ones descend? p: shall i inform you upon whom the devils descend? s: shall i inform you (of him) upon whom the shaitans descend? . y: they descend on every lying, wicked person, p: they descend on every sinful, false one. s: they descend upon every lying, sinful one, . y: (into whose ears) they pour hearsay vanities, and most of them are liars. p: they listen eagerly, but most of them are liars. s: they incline their ears, and most of them are liars. . y: and the poets,- it is those straying in evil, who follow them: p: as for poets, the erring follow them. s: and as to the poets, those who go astray follow them. . y: seest thou not that they wander distracted in every valley?- p: hast thou not seen how they stray in every valley, s: do you not see that they wander about bewildered in every valley? . y: and that they say what they practise not?- p: and how they say that which they do not? s: and that they say that which they do not do, . y: except those who believe, work righteousness, engage much in the remembrance of allah, and defend themselves only after they are unjustly attacked. and soon will the unjust assailants know what vicissitudes their affairs will take! p: save those who believe and do good works, and remember allah much, and vindicate themselves after they have been wronged. those who do wrong will come to know by what a (great) reverse they will be overturned! s: except those who believe and do good and remember allah much, and defend themselves after they are oppressed; and they who act unjustly shall know to what final place of turning they shall turn back. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-naml (the ant, the ants) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: these are verses of the qur'an,-a book that makes (things) clear; p: ta. sin. these are revelations of the qur'an and a scripture that maketh plain; s: ta sin! these are the verses of the quran and the book that makes (things) clear, . y: a guide: and glad tidings for the believers,- p: a guidance and good tidings for believers s: a guidance and good news for the believers, . y: those who establish regular prayers and give in regular charity, and also have (full) assurance of the hereafter. p: who establish worship and pay the poor-due and are sure of the hereafter. s: who keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, and of the hereafter, they are sure. . y: as to those who believe not in the hereafter, we have made their deeds pleasing in their eyes; and so they wander about in distraction. p: lo! as for those who believe not in the hereafter, we have made their works fairseeming unto them so that they are all astray. s: as to those who do not believe in the hereafter, we have surely made their deeds fair-seeming to them, but they blindly wander on. . y: such are they for whom a grievous penalty is (waiting); and in the hereafter theirs will be the greatest loss. p: those are they for whom is the worst of punishment, and in the hereafter they will be the greatest losers. s: these are they who shall have an evil punishment, and in the hereafter they shall be the greatest losers. . y: as to thee, the qur'an is bestowed upon thee from the presence of one who is wise and all-knowing. p: lo! as for thee (muhammad), thou verily receivest the qur'an from the presence of one wise, aware. s: and most surely you are made to receive the quran from the wise, the knowing allah. . y: behold! moses said to his family: "i perceive a fire; soon will i bring you from there some information, or i will bring you a burning brand to light our fuel, that ye may warm yourselves." p: (remember) when moses said unto his household: lo! i spy afar off a fire; i will bring you tidings thence, or bring to you a borrowed flame that ye may warm yourselves. s: when musa said to his family: surely i see fire; i will bring to you from it some news, or i will bring to you therefrom a burning firebrand so that you may warm yourselves. . y: but when he came to the (fire), a voice was heard: "blessed are those in the fire and those around: and glory to allah, the lord of the worlds!" p: but when he reached it, he was called, saying: blessed is whosoever is in the fire and whosoever is round about it! and glorified be allah, the lord of the worlds! s: so when he came to it a voice was uttered saying: blessed is whoever is in the fire and whatever is about it; and glory be to allah, the lord of the worlds; . y: "o moses! verily, i am allah, the exalted in might, the wise!..." p: o moses! lo! it is i, allah, the mighty, the wise. s: o musa! surely i am allah, the mighty, the wise; . y: "now do thou throw thy rod!" but when he saw it moving (of its own accord) as if it had been a snake, he turned back in retreat, and retraced not his steps: "o moses!" (it was said), "fear not: truly, in my presence, those called as messengers have no fear,"- p: and throw down thy staff! but when he saw it writhing as it were a demon, he turned to flee headlong; (but it was said unto him): o moses! fear not! the emissaries fear not in my presence, s: and cast down your staff. so when he saw it in motion as if it were a serpent, he turned back retreating and did not return: o musa! fear not; surely the messengers shall not fear in my presence; . y: "but if any have done wrong and have thereafter substituted good to take the place of evil, truly, i am oft-forgiving, most merciful." p: save him who hath done wrong and afterward hath changed evil for good. and lo! i am forgiving, merciful. s: neither he who has been unjust, then he does good instead after evil, for surely i am the forgiving, the merciful: . y: "now put thy hand into thy bosom, and it will come forth white without stain (or harm): (these are) among the nine signs (thou wilt take) to pharaoh and his people: for they are a people rebellious in transgression." p: and put thy hand into the bosom of thy robe, it will come forth white but unhurt. (this will be one) among nine tokens unto pharaoh and his people lo! they were ever evil-living folk. s: and enter your hand into the opening of your bosom, it shall come forth white without evil; among nine signs to firon and his people, surely they are a transgressing people. . y: but when our signs came to them, that should have opened their eyes, they said: "this is sorcery manifest!" p: but when our tokens came unto them, plain to see, they said: this is mere magic, s: so when our clear signs came to them, they said: this is clear enchantment. . y: and they rejected those signs in iniquity and arrogance, though their souls were convinced thereof: so see what was the end of those who acted corruptly! p: and they denied them, though their souls acknowledged them, for spite and arrogance. then see the nature of the consequence for the wrong-doers! s: and they denied them unjustly and proudly while their soul had been convinced of them; consider, then how was the end of the mischief-makers. . y: we gave (in the past) knowledge to david and solomon: and they both said: "praise be to allah, who has favoured us above many of his servants who believe!" p: and we verily gave knowledge unto david and solomon, and they said: praise be to allah, who hath preferred us above many of his believing slaves! s: and certainly we gave knowledge to dawood and sulaiman, and they both said: praise be to allah, who has made us to excel many of his believing servants. . y: and solomon was david's heir. he said: "o ye people! we have been taught the speech of birds, and on us has been bestowed (a little) of all things: this is indeed grace manifest (from allah.)" p: and solomon was david's heir. and he said: o mankind! lo! we have been taught the language of birds, and have been given (abundance) of all things. this surely is evident favour. s: and sulaiman was dawood's heir, and he said: o men! we have been taught the language of birds, and we have been given all things; most surely this is manifest grace. . y: and before solomon were marshalled his hosts,- of jinns and men and birds, and they were all kept in order and ranks. p: and there were gathered together unto solomon his armies of the jinn and humankind, and of the birds, and they were set in battle order; s: and his hosts of the jinn and the men and the birds were gathered to him, and they were formed into groups. . y: at length, when they came to a (lowly) valley of ants, one of the ants said: "o ye ants, get into your habitations, lest solomon and his hosts crush you (under foot) without knowing it." p: till, when they reached the valley of the ants, an ant exclaimed: o ants! enter your dwellings lest solomon and his armies crush you, unperceiving. s: until when they came to the valley of the naml, a namlite said: o naml! enter your houses, (that) sulaiman and his hosts may not crush you while they do not know. . y: so he smiled, amused at her speech; and he said: "o my lord! so order me that i may be grateful for thy favours, which thou hast bestowed on me and on my parents, and that i may work the righteousness that will please thee: and admit me, by thy grace, to the ranks of thy righteous servants." p: and (solomon) smiled, laughing at her speech, and said: my lord, arouse me to be thankful for thy favour wherewith thou hast favoured me and my parents, and to do good that shall be pleasing unto thee, and include me in (the number of) thy righteous slaves. s: so he smiled, wondering at her word, and said: my lord! grant me that i should be grateful for thy favor which thou hast bestowed on me and on my parents, and that i should do good such as thou art pleased with, and make me enter, by thy mercy, into thy servants, the good ones. . y: and he took a muster of the birds; and he said: "why is it i see not the hoopoe? or is he among the absentees?" p: and he sought among the birds and said: how is it that i see not the hoopoe, or is he among the absent? s: and he reviewed the birds, then said: how is it i see not the hoopoe or is it that he is of the absentees? . y: "i will certainly punish him with a severe penalty, or execute him, unless he bring me a clear reason (for absence)." p: i verily will punish him with hard punishment or i verily will slay him, or he verily shall bring me a plain excuse. s: i will most certainly punish him with a severe punishment, or kill him, or he shall bring to me a clear plea. . y: but the hoopoe tarried not far: he (came up and) said: "i have compassed (territory) which thou hast not compassed, and i have come to thee from saba with tidings true." p: but he was not long in coming, and he said: i have found out (a thing) that thou apprehendest not, and i come unto thee from sheba with sure tidings. s: and he tarried not long, then said: i comprehend that which you do not comprehend and i have brought to you a sure information from sheba. . y: "i found (there) a woman ruling over them and provided with every requisite; and she has a magnificent throne." p: lo! i found a woman ruling over them, and she hath been given (abundance) of all things, and hers is a mighty throne. s: surely i found a woman ruling over them, and she has been given abundance and she has a mighty throne: . y: "i found her and her people worshipping the sun besides allah: satan has made their deeds seem pleasing in their eyes, and has kept them away from the path,- so they receive no guidance,"- p: i found her and her people worshipping the sun instead of allah; and satan maketh their works fairseeming unto them, and debarreth them from the way (of truth), so that they go not aright; s: i found her and her people adoring the sun instead of allah, and the shaitan has made their deeds fair-seeming to them and thus turned them from the way, so they do not go aright; . y: "(kept them away from the path), that they should not worship allah, who brings to light what is hidden in the heavens and the earth, and knows what ye hide and what ye reveal." p: so that they worship not allah, who bringeth forth the hidden in the heavens and the earth, and knoweth what ye hide and what ye proclaim, s: that they do not make obeisance to allah, who brings forth what is hidden in the heavens and the earth and knows what you hide and what you make manifest: . y: "allah!- there is no god but he!- lord of the throne supreme!" p: allah; there is no god save him, the lord of the tremendous throne. s: allah, there is no god but he: he is the lord of mighty power. . y: (solomon) said: "soon shall we see whether thou hast told the truth or lied!" p: (solomon) said: we shall see whether thou speakest truth or whether thou art of the liars. s: he said: we will see whether you have told the truth or whether you are of the liars: . y: "go thou, with this letter of mine, and deliver it to them: then draw back from them, and (wait to) see what answer they return"... p: go with this my letter and throw it down unto them; then turn away and see what (answer) they return, s: take this my letter and hand it over to them, then turn away from them and see what (answer) they return. . y: (the queen) said: "ye chiefs! here is delivered to me - a letter worthy of respect." p: (the queen of sheba) said (when she received the letter): o chieftains! lo! there hath been thrown unto me a noble letter. s: she said: o chief! surely an honorable letter has been delivered to me . y: "it is from solomon, and is (as follows): 'in the name of allah, most gracious, most merciful:'" p: lo! it is from solomon, and lo! it is: in the name of allah, the beneficent, the merciful; s: surely it is from sulaiman, and surely it is in the name of allah, the beneficent, the merciful; . y: "'be ye not arrogant against me, but come to me in submission (to the true religion).'" p: exalt not yourselves against me, but come unto me as those who surrender. s: saying: exalt not yourselves against me and come to me in submission. . y: she said: "ye chiefs! advise me in (this) my affair: no affair have i decided except in your presence." p: she said: o chieftains! pronounce for me in my case. i decide no case till ye are present with me. s: she said: o chiefs! give me advice respecting my affair: i never decide an affair until you are in my presence. . y: they said: "we are endued with strength, and given to vehement war: but the command is with thee; so consider what thou wilt command." p: they said: we are lords of might and lords of great prowess, but it is for thee to command; so consider what thou wilt command. s: they said: we are possessors of strength and possessors of mighty prowess, and the command is yours, therefore see what you will command. . y: she said: "kings, when they enter a country, despoil it, and make the noblest of its people its meanest thus do they behave." p: she said: lo! kings, when they enter a township, ruin it and make the honour of its people shame. thus will they do. s: she said: surely the kings, when they enter a town, ruin it and make the noblest of its people to be low, and thus they (always) do; . y: "but i am going to send him a present, and (wait) to see with what (answer) return (my) ambassadors." p: but lo! i am going to send a present unto them, and to see with what (answer) the messengers return. s: and surely i am going to send a present to them, and shall wait to see what (answer) do the messengers bring back. . y: now when (the embassy) came to solomon, he said: "will ye give me abundance in wealth? but that which allah has given me is better than that which he has given you! nay it is ye who rejoice in your gift!" p: so when (the envoy) came unto solomon, (the king) said: what! would ye help me with wealth? but that which allah hath given me is better than that which he hath given you. nay it is ye (and not i) who exult in your gift. s: so when he came to sulaiman, he said: what! will you help me with wealth? but what allah has given me is better than what he has given you. nay, you are exultant because of your present; . y: "go back to them, and be sure we shall come to them with such hosts as they will never be able to meet: we shall expel them from there in disgrace, and they will feel humbled (indeed)." p: return unto them. we verily shall come unto them with hosts that they cannot resist, and we shall drive them out from thence with shame, and they will be abased. s: go back to them, so we will most certainly come to them with hosts which they shall have no power to oppose, and we will most certainly expel them therefrom in abasement, and they shall be in a state of ignominy. . y: he said (to his own men): "ye chiefs! which of you can bring me her throne before they come to me in submission?" p: he said: o chiefs! which of you will bring me her throne before they come unto me, surrendering? s: he said: o chiefs! which of you can bring to me her throne before they come to me in submission? . y: said an 'ifrit, of the jinns: "i will bring it to thee before thou rise from thy council: indeed i have full strength for the purpose, and may be trusted." p: a stalwart of the jinn said: i will bring it thee before thou canst rise from thy place. lo! i verily am strong and trusty for such work. s: one audacious among the jinn said: i will bring it to you before you rise up from your place; and most surely i am strong (and) trusty for it. . y: said one who had knowledge of the book: "i will bring it to thee within the twinkling of an eye!" then when (solomon) saw it placed firmly before him, he said: "this is by the grace of my lord!- to test me whether i am grateful or ungrateful! and if any is grateful, truly his gratitude is (a gain) for his own soul; but if any is ungrateful, truly my lord is free of all needs, supreme in honour !" p: one with whom was knowledge of the scripture said: i will bring it thee before thy gaze returneth unto thee. and when he saw it set in his presence, (solomon) said: this is of the bounty of my lord, that he may try me whether i give thanks or am ungrateful. whosoever giveth thanks he only giveth thanks for (the good of) his own soul; and whosoever is ungrateful (is ungrateful only to his own soul's hurt). for lo! my lord is absolute in independence, bountiful. s: one who had the knowledge of the book said: i will bring it to you in the twinkling of an eye. then when he saw it settled beside him, he said: this is of the grace of my lord that he may try me whether i am grateful or ungrateful; and whoever is grateful, he is grateful only for his own soul, and whoever is ungrateful, then surely my lord is self-sufficient, honored. . y: he said: "transform her throne out of all recognition by her: let us see whether she is guided (to the truth) or is one of those who receive no guidance." p: he said: disguise her throne for her that we may see whether she will go aright or be of those not rightly guided. s: he said: alter her throne for her, we will see whether she follows the right way or is of those who do not go aright. . y: so when she arrived, she was asked, "is this thy throne?" she said, "it was just like this; and knowledge was bestowed on us in advance of this, and we have submitted to allah (in islam)." p: so, when she came, it was said (unto her): is thy throne like this? she said: (it is) as though it were the very one. and (solomon said): we were given the knowledge before her and we had surrendered (to allah). s: so when she came, it was said: is your throne like this? she said: it is as it were the same, and we were given the knowledge before it, and we were submissive. . y: and he diverted her from the worship of others besides allah: for she was (sprung) of a people that had no faith. p: and (all) that she was wont to worship instead of allah hindered her, for she came of disbelieving folk. s: and what she worshipped besides allah prevented her, surely she was of an unbelieving people. . y: she was asked to enter the lofty palace: but when she saw it, she thought it was a lake of water, and she (tucked up her skirts), uncovering her legs. he said: "this is but a palace paved smooth with slabs of glass." she said: "o my lord! i have indeed wronged my soul: i do (now) submit (in islam), with solomon, to the lord of the worlds." p: it was said unto her: enter the hall. and when she saw it she deemed it a pool and bared her legs. (solomon) said: lo! it is a hall, made smooth, of glass. she said: my lord! lo! i have wronged myself, and i surrender with solomon unto allah, the lord of the worlds. s: it was said to her: enter the palace; but when she saw it she deemed it to be a great expanse of water, and bared her legs. he said: surely it is a palace made smooth with glass. she said: my lord! surely i have been unjust to myself, and i submit with sulaiman to allah, the lord of the worlds. . y: we sent (aforetime), to the thamud, their brother salih, saying, "serve allah": but behold, they became two factions quarrelling with each other. p: and we verily sent unto thamud their brother salih, saying: worship allah. and lo! they (then) became two parties quarrelling. s: and certainly we sent to samood their brother salih, saying: serve allah; and lo! they became two sects quarrelling with each other. . y: he said: "o my people! why ask ye to hasten on the evil in preference to the good? if only ye ask allah for forgiveness, ye may hope to receive mercy." p: he said: o my people! why will ye hasten on the evil rather than the good? why will ye not ask pardon of allah, that ye may receive mercy. s: he said: o my people! why do you seek to hasten on the evil before the good? why do you not ask forgiveness of allah so that you may be dealt with mercifully? . y: they said: "ill omen do we augur from thee and those that are with thee". he said: "your ill omen is with allah; yea, ye are a people under trial." p: they said: we augur evil of thee and those with thee. he said: your evil augury is with allah. nay, but ye are folk that are being tested. s: they said: we have met with ill luck on account of you and on account of those with you. he said: the cause of your evil fortune is with allah; nay, you are a people who are tried. . y: there were in the city nine men of a family, who made mischief in the land, and would not reform. p: and there were in the city nine persons who made mischief in the land and reformed not. s: and there were in the city nine persons who made mischief in the land and did not act aright. . y: they said: "swear a mutual oath by allah that we shall make a secret night attack on him and his people, and that we shall then say to his heir (when he seeks vengeance): 'we were not present at the slaughter of his people, and we are positively telling the truth.'" p: they said: swear one to another by allah that we verily will attack him and his household by night, and afterward we will surely say unto his friend: we witnessed not the destruction of his household. and lo! we are truthtellers. s: they said: swear to each other by allah that we will certainly make a sudden attack on him and his family by night, then we will say to his heir: we did not witness the destruction of his family, and we are most surely truthful. . y: they plotted and planned, but we too planned, even while they perceived it not. p: so they plotted a plot: and we plotted a plot, while they perceived not. s: and they planned a plan, and we planned a plan while they perceived not. . y: then see what was the end of their plot!- this, that we destroyed them and their people, all (of them). p: then see the nature of the consequence of their plotting, for lo! we destroyed them and their people, every one. s: see, then, how was the end of their plan that we destroyed them and their people, all (of them). . y: now such were their houses, - in utter ruin, - because they practised wrong-doing. verily in this is a sign for people of knowledge. p: see, yonder are their dwellings empty and in ruins because they did wrong. lo! herein is indeed a portent for a people who have knowledge. s: so those are their houses fallen down because they were unjust, most surely there is a sign in this for a people who know. . y: and we saved those who believed and practised righteousness. p: and we saved those who believed and used to ward off (evil). s: and we delivered those who believed and who guarded (against evil). . y: (we also sent) lut (as a messenger): behold, he said to his people, "do ye do what is shameful though ye see (its iniquity)?" p: and lot! when he said unto his folk: will ye commit abomination knowingly? s: and (we sent) lut, when he said to his people: what! do you commit indecency while you see? . y: would ye really approach men in your lusts rather than women? nay, ye are a people (grossly) ignorant! p: must ye seek lust after men instead of women? nay, but ye are folk who act senselessly. s: what! do you indeed approach men lustfully rather than women? nay, you are a people who act ignorantly. . y: but his people gave no other answer but this: they said, "drive out the followers of lut from your city: these are indeed men who want to be clean and pure!" p: but the answer of his folk was naught save that they said: expel the household of lot from your township, for they (forsooth) are folk who would keep clean! s: but the answer of his people was no other except that they said: turn out lut's followers from your town; surely they are a people who would keep pure! . y: but we saved him and his family, except his wife; her we destined to be of those who lagged behind. p: then we saved him and his household save his wife; we destined her to be of those who stayed behind. s: but we delivered him and his followers except his wife; we ordained her to be of those who remained behind. . y: and we rained down on them a shower (of brimstone): and evil was the shower on those who were admonished (but heeded not)! p: and we rained a rain upon them. dreadful is the rain of those who have been warned. s: and we rained on them a rain, and evil was the rain of those who had been warned. . y: say: praise be to allah, and peace on his servants whom he has chosen (for his message). (who) is better?- allah or the false gods they associate (with him)? p: say (o muhammad): praise be to allah, and peace be on his slaves whom he hath chosen! is allah best, or (all) that ye ascribe as partners (unto him)? s: say: praise be to allah and peace on his servants whom he has chosen: is allah better, or what they associate (with him)? . y: or, who has created the heavens and the earth, and who sends you down rain from the sky? yea, with it we cause to grow well-planted orchards full of beauty of delight: it is not in your power to cause the growth of the trees in them. (can there be another) god besides allah? nay, they are a people who swerve from justice. p: is not he (best) who created the heavens and the earth, and sendeth down for you water from the sky wherewith we cause to spring forth joyous orchards, whose trees it never hath been yours to cause to grow. is there any allah beside allah? nay, but they are folk who ascribe equals (unto him)! s: nay, he who created the heavens and the earth, and sent down for you water from the cloud; then we cause to grow thereby beautiful gardens; it is not possible for you that you should make the trees thereof to grow. is there a god with allah? nay! they are people who deviate. . y: or, who has made the earth firm to live in; made rivers in its midst; set thereon mountains immovable; and made a separating bar between the two bodies of flowing water? (can there be another) god besides allah? nay, most of them know not. p: is not he (best) who made the earth a fixed abode, and placed rivers in the folds thereof, and placed firm hills therein, and hath set a barrier between the two seas? is there any allah beside allah? nay, but most of them know not! s: or, who made the earth a restingplace, and made in it rivers, and raised on it mountains and placed between the two seas a barrier. is there a god with allah? nay! most of them do not know! . y: or, who listens to the (soul) distressed when it calls on him, and who relieves its suffering, and makes you (mankind) inheritors of the earth? (can there be another) god besides allah? little it is that ye heed! p: is not he (best) who answereth the wronged one when he crieth unto him and removeth the evil, and hath made you viceroys of the earth? is there any god beside allah? little do they reflect! s: or, who answers the distressed one when he calls upon him and removes the evil, and he will make you successors in the earth. is there a god with allah? little is it that you mind! . y: or, who guides you through the depths of darkness on land and sea, and who sends the winds as heralds of glad tidings, going before his mercy? (can there be another) god besides allah?- high is allah above what they associate with him! p: is not he (best) who guideth you in the darkness of the land and the sea, he who sendeth the winds as heralds of his mercy? is there any god beside allah? high exalted be allah from all that they ascribe as partner (unto him)! s: or, who guides you in utter darkness of the land and the sea, and who sends the winds as good news before his mercy. is there a god with allah? exalted by allah above what they associate (with him). . y: or, who originates creation, then repeats it, and who gives you sustenance from heaven and earth? (can there be another) god besides allah? say, "bring forth your argument, if ye are telling the truth!" p: is not he (best) who produceth creation, then reproduceth it, and who provideth for you from the heaven and the earth? is there any god beside allah? say: bring your proof, if ye are truthful! s: or, who originates the creation, then reproduces it and who gives you sustenance from the heaven and the earth. is there a god with allah? say: bring your proof if you are truthful. . y: say: none in the heavens or on earth, except allah, knows what is hidden: nor can they perceive when they shall be raised up (for judgment). p: say (o muhammad): none in the heavens and the earth knoweth the unseen save allah; and they know not when they will be raised (again). s: say: no one in the heavens and the earth knows the unseen but allah; and they do not know when they shall be raised. . y: still less can their knowledge comprehend the hereafter: nay, they are in doubt and uncertainty thereanent; nay, they are blind thereunto! p: nay, but doth their knowledge reach to the hereafter? nay, for they are in doubt concerning it. nay, for they cannot see it. s: nay, their knowledge respecting the hereafter is slight and hasty; nay, they are in doubt about it; nay, they are quite blind to it. . y: the unbelievers say: "what! when we become dust,- we and our fathers,- shall we really be raised (from the dead)?" p: yet those who disbelieve say: when we have become dust like our fathers, shall we verily be brought forth (again)? s: and those who disbelieve say: what! when we have become dust and our fathers (too), shall we certainly be brought forth? . y: "it is true we were promised this,- we and our fathers before (us): these are nothing but tales of the ancients." p: we were promised this, forsooth, we and our fathers. (all) this is naught but fables of the men of old. s: we have certainly been promised this, we and our fathers before; these are naught but stories of the ancients. . y: say: "go ye through the earth and see what has been the end of those guilty (of sin)." p: say (unto them, o muhammad): travel in the land and see the nature of the sequel for the guilty! s: say: travel in the earth, then see how was the end of the guilty. . y: but grieve not over them, nor distress thyself because of their plots. p: and grieve thou not for them, nor be in distress because of what they plot (against thee). s: and grieve not for them and be not distressed because of what they plan. . y: they also say: "when will this promise (come to pass)? (say) if ye are truthful." p: and they say: when (will) this promise (be fulfilled), if ye are truthful? s: and they say: when will this threat come to pass, if you are truthful? . y: say: "it may be that some of the events which ye wish to hasten on may be (close) in your pursuit!" p: say: it may be that a part of that which ye would hasten on is close behind you. s: say: maybe there may have drawn near to you somewhat of that which you seek to hasten on. . y: but verily thy lord is full of grace to mankind: yet most of them are ungrateful. p: lo! thy lord is full of bounty for mankind, but most of them do not give thanks. s: and surely your lord is the lord of grace to men, but most of them are not grateful. . y: and verily thy lord knoweth all that their hearts do hide. as well as all that they reveal. p: lo! thy lord knoweth surely all that their bosoms hide, and all that they proclaim. s: and most surely your lord knows what their breasts conceal and what they manifest. . y: nor is there aught of the unseen, in heaven or earth, but is (recorded) in a clear record. p: and there is nothing hidden in the heaven or the earth but it is in a clear record. s: and there is nothing concealed in the heaven and the earth but it is in a clear book. . y: verily this qur'an doth explain to the children of israel most of the matters in which they disagree. p: lo! this qur'an narrateth unto the children of israel most of that concerning which they differ. s: surely this quran declares to the children of israel most of what they differ in. . y: and it certainly is a guide and a mercy to those who believe. p: and lo! it is a guidance and a mercy for believers. s: and most surely it is a guidance and a mercy for the believers. . y: verily thy lord will decide between them by his decree: and he is exalted in might, all-knowing. p: lo! thy lord will judge between them of his wisdom, and he is the mighty, the wise. s: surely your lord will judge between them by his judgment, and he is the mighty, the knowing. . y: so put thy trust in allah: for thou art on (the path of) manifest truth. p: therefor (o muhammad) put thy trust in allah, for thou (standest) on the plain truth. s: therefore rely on allah; surely you are on the clear truth. . y: truly thou canst not cause the dead to listen, nor canst thou cause the deaf to hear the call, (especially) when they turn back in retreat. p: lo! thou canst not make the dead to hear, nor canst thou make the deaf to hear the call when they have turned to flee; s: surely you do not make the dead to hear, and you do not make the deaf to hear the call when they go back retreating. . y: nor canst thou be a guide to the blind, (to prevent them) from straying: only those wilt thou get to listen who believe in our signs, and they will bow in islam. p: nor canst thou lead the blind out of their error. thou canst make none to hear, save those who believe our revelations and who have surrendered. s: nor can you be a guide to the blind out of their error; you cannot make to bear (any one) except those who believe in our communications, so they submit. . y: and when the word is fulfilled against them (the unjust), we shall produce from the earth a beast to (face) them: he will speak to them, for that mankind did not believe with assurance in our signs. p: and when the word is fulfilled concerning them, we shall bring forth a beast of the earth to speak unto them because mankind had not faith in our revelations. s: and when the word shall come to pass against them, we shall bring forth for them a creature from the earth that shall wound them, because people did not believe in our communications. . y: one day we shall gather together from every people a troop of those who reject our signs, and they shall be kept in ranks,- p: and (remind them of) the day when we shall gather out of every nation a host of those who denied our revelations, and they will be set in array; s: and on the day when we will gather from every nation a party from among those who rejected our communications, then they shall be formed into groups. . y: until, when they come (before the judgment-seat), (allah) will say: "did ye reject my signs, though ye comprehended them not in knowledge, or what was it ye did?" p: till, when they come (before their lord), he will say: did ye deny my revelations when ye could not compass them in knowledge, or what was it that ye did? s: until when they come, he will say: did you reject my communications while you had no comprehensive knowledge of them? or what was it that you did? . y: and the word will be fulfilled against them, because of their wrong-doing, and they will be unable to speak (in plea). p: and the word will be fulfilled concerning them because they have done wrong, and they will not speak. s: and the word shall come to pass against them because they were unjust, so they shall not speak. . y: see they not that we have made the night for them to rest in and the day to give them light? verily in this are signs for any people that believe! p: have they not seen how we have appointed the night that they may rest therein, and the day sight-giving? lo! therein verily are portents for a people who believe. s: do they not consider that we have made the night that they may rest therein, and the day to give light? most surely there are signs in this for a people who believe. . y: and the day that the trumpet will be sounded - then will be smitten with terror those who are in the heavens, and those who are on earth, except such as allah will please (to exempt): and all shall come to his (presence) as beings conscious of their lowliness. p: and (remind them of) the day when the trumpet will be blown, and all who are in the heavens and the earth will start in fear, save him whom allah willeth. and all come unto him, humbled. s: and on the day when the trumpet shall be blown, then those who are in the heavens and those who are in the earth shall be terrified except such as allah please, and all shall come to him abased. . y: thou seest the mountains and thinkest them firmly fixed: but they shall pass away as the clouds pass away: (such is) the artistry of allah, who disposes of all things in perfect order: for he is well acquainted with all that ye do. p: and thou seest the hills thou deemest solid flying with the flight of clouds: the doing of allah who perfecteth all things. lo! he is informed of what ye do. s: and you see the mountains, you think them to be solid, and they shall pass away as the passing away of the cloud-- the handiwork of allah who has made every thing thoroughly; surely he is aware of what you do. . y: if any do good, good will (accrue) to them therefrom; and they will be secure from terror that day. p: whoso bringeth a good deed will have better than its worth; and such are safe from fear that day. s: whoever brings good, he shall have better than it; and they shall be secure from terror on the day. . y: and if any do evil, their faces will be thrown headlong into the fire: "do ye receive a reward other than that which ye have earned by your deeds?" p: and whoso bringeth an ill-deed, such will be flung down on their faces in the fire. are ye rewarded aught save what ye did? s: and whoever brings evil, these shall be thrown down on their faces into the fire; shall you be rewarded (for) aught except what you did? . y: for me, i have been commanded to serve the lord of this city, him who has sanctified it and to whom (belong) all things: and i am commanded to be of those who bow in islam to allah's will,- p: (say): i (muhammad) am commanded only to serve the lord of this land which he hath hallowed, and unto whom all things belong. and i am commanded to be of those who surrender (unto him), s: i am commanded only that i should serve the lord of this city, who has made it sacred, and his are all things; and i am commanded that i should be of these who submit; . y: and to rehearse the qur'an: and if any accept guidance, they do it for the good of their own souls, and if any stray, say: "i am only a warner". p: and to recite the qur'an. and whoso goeth right, goeth right only for (the good of) his own soul; and as for him who goeth astray - (unto him) say: lo! i am only a warner. s: and that i should recite the quran. therefore whoever goes aright, he goes aright for his own soul, and whoever goes astray, then say: i am only one of the warners. . y: and say: "praise be to allah, who will soon show you his signs, so that ye shall know them"; and thy lord is not unmindful of all that ye do. p: and say: praise be to allah who will show you his portents so that ye shall know them. and thy lord is not unaware of what ye (mortals) do. s: and say: praise be to allah, he will show you his signs so that you shall recognize them; nor is your lord heedless of what you do. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-qasas (the story, stories) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: ta. sin. mim. p: ta. sin. mim. s: ta sin mim. . y: these are verses of the book that makes (things) clear. p: these are revelations of the scripture that maketh plain. s: these are the verses of the book that makes (things) clear. . y: we rehearse to thee some of the story of moses and pharaoh in truth, for people who believe. p: we narrate unto thee (somewhat) of the story of moses and pharaoh with truth, for folk who believe. s: we recite to you from the account of musa and firon with truth for people who believe. . y: truly pharaoh elated himself in the land and broke up its people into sections, depressing a small group among them: their sons he slew, but he kept alive their females: for he was indeed a maker of mischief. p: lo! pharaoh exalted himself in the earth and made its people castes. a tribe among them he oppressed, killing their sons and sparing their women. lo! he was of those who work corruption. s: surely firon exalted himself in the land and made its people into parties, weakening one party from among them; he slaughtered their sons and let their women live; surely he was one of the mischiefmakers. . y: and we wished to be gracious to those who were being depressed in the land, to make them leaders (in faith) and make them heirs, p: and we desired to show favour unto those who were oppressed in the earth, and to make them examples and to make them the inheritors, s: and we desired to bestow a favor upon those who were deemed weak in the land, and to make them the imams, and to make them the heirs, . y: to establish a firm place for them in the land, and to show pharaoh, haman, and their hosts, at their hands, the very things against which they were taking precautions. p: and to establish them in the earth, and to show pharaoh and haman and their hosts that which they feared from them. s: and to grant them power in the land, and to make firon and haman and their hosts see from them what they feared. . y: so we sent this inspiration to the mother of moses: "suckle (thy child), but when thou hast fears about him, cast him into the river, but fear not nor grieve: for we shall restore him to thee, and we shall make him one of our messengers." p: and we inspired the mother of moses, saying: suckle him and, when thou fearest for him, then cast him into the river and fear not nor grieve. lo! we shall bring him back unto thee and shall make him (one) of our messengers. s: and we revealed to musa's mothers, saying: give him suck, then when you fear for him, cast him into the river and do not fear nor grieve; surely we will bring him back to you and make him one of the messengers. . y: then the people of pharaoh picked him up (from the river): (it was intended) that (moses) should be to them an adversary and a cause of sorrow: for pharaoh and haman and (all) their hosts were men of sin. p: and the family of pharaoh took him up, that he might become for them an enemy and a sorrow, lo! pharaoh and haman and their hosts were ever sinning. s: and firon's family took him up that he might be an enemy and a grief for them; surely firon and haman and their hosts were wrongdoers. . y: the wife of pharaoh said: "(here is) joy of the eye, for me and for thee: slay him not. it may be that he will be use to us, or we may adopt him as a son." and they perceived not (what they were doing)! p: and the wife of pharaoh said: (he will be) a consolation for me and for thee. kill him not. peradventure he may be of use to us, or we may choose him for a son. and they perceived not. s: and firon's wife said: a refreshment of the eye to me and to you; do not slay him; maybe he will be useful to us, or we may take him for a son; and they did not perceive. . y: but there came to be a void in the heart of the mother of moses: she was going almost to disclose his (case), had we not strengthened her heart (with faith), so that she might remain a (firm) believer. p: and the heart of the mother of moses became void, and she would have betrayed him if we had not fortified her heart, that she might be of the believers. s: and the heart of musa's mother was free (from anxiety) she would have almost disclosed it had we not strengthened her heart so that she might be of the believers. . y: and she said to the sister of (moses), "follow him" so she (the sister) watched him in the character of a stranger. and they knew not. p: and she said unto his sister: trace him. so she observed him from afar, and they perceived not. s: and she said to his sister: follow him up. so she watched him from a distance while they did not perceive, . y: and we ordained that he refused suck at first, until (his sister came up and) said: "shall i point out to you the people of a house that will nourish and bring him up for you and be sincerely attached to him?"... p: and we had before forbidden foster-mothers for him, so she said: shall i show you a household who will rear him for you and take care of him? s: and we ordained that he refused to suck any foster mother before, so she said: shall i point out to you the people of a house who will take care of him for you, and they will be benevolent to him? . y: thus did we restore him to his mother, that her eye might be comforted, that she might not grieve, and that she might know that the promise of allah is true: but most of them do not understand. p: so we restored him to his mother that she might be comforted and not grieve, and that she might know that the promise of allah is true. but most of them know not. s: so we gave him back to his mother that her eye might be refreshed, and that she might no grieve, and that she might know that the promise of allah is true, but most of them do not know. . y: when he reached full age, and was firmly established (in life), we bestowed on him wisdom and knowledge: for thus do we reward those who do good. p: and when he reached his full strength and was ripe, we gave him wisdom and knowledge. thus do we reward the good. s: and when he attained his maturity and became full grown, we granted him wisdom and knowledge; and thus do we reward those who do good (to others). . y: and he entered the city at a time when its people were not watching: and he found there two men fighting,- one of his own religion, and the other, of his foes. now the man of his own religion appealed to him against his foe, and moses struck him with his fist and made an end of him. he said: "this is a work of evil (satan): for he is an enemy that manifestly misleads!" p: and he entered the city at a time of carelessness of its folk, and he found therein two men fighting, one of his own caste, and the other of his enemies; and he who was of his caste asked him for help against him who was of his enemies. so moses struck him with his fist and killed him. he said: this is of the devil's doing. lo! he is an enemy, a mere misleader. s: and he went into the city at a time of unvigilance on the part of its people, so he found therein two men fighting, one being of his party and the other of his foes, and he who was of his party cried out to him for help against him who was of his enemies, so musa struck him with his fist and killed him. he said: this is on account of the shaitan's doing; surely he is an enemy, openly leading astray. . y: he prayed: "o my lord! i have indeed wronged my soul! do thou then forgive me!" so (allah) forgave him: for he is the oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: he said: my lord! lo! i have wronged my soul, so forgive me. then he forgave him. lo! he is the forgiving, the merciful. s: he said: my lord! surely i have done harm to myself, so do thou protect me. so he protected him; surely he is the forgiving, the merciful. . y: he said: "o my lord! for that thou hast bestowed thy grace on me, never shall i be a help to those who sin!" p: he said: my lord! forasmuch as thou hast favoured me, i will nevermore be a supporter of the guilty. s: he said: my lord! because thou hast bestowed a favor on me, i shall never be a backer of the guilty. . y: so he saw the morning in the city, looking about, in a state of fear, when behold, the man who had, the day before, sought his help called aloud for his help (again). moses said to him: "thou art truly, it is clear, a quarrelsome fellow!" p: and morning found him in the city, fearing, vigilant, when behold! he who had appealed to him the day before cried out to him for help. moses said unto him: lo! thou art indeed a mere hothead. s: and he was in the city, fearing, awaiting, when lo! he who had asked his assistance the day before was crying out to him for aid. musa said to him: you are most surely one erring manifestly. . y: then, when he decided to lay hold of the man who was an enemy to both of them, that man said: "o moses! is it thy intention to slay me as thou slewest a man yesterday? thy intention is none other than to become a powerful violent man in the land, and not to be one who sets things right!" p: and when he would have fallen upon the man who was an enemy unto them both, he said: o moses! wouldst thou kill me as thou didst kill a person yesterday. thou wouldst be nothing but a tyrant in the land, thou wouldst not be of the reformers. s: so when he desired to seize him who was an enemy to them both, he said: o musa! do you intend to kill me as you killed a person yesterday? you desire nothing but that you should be a tyrant in the land, and you do not desire to be of those who act aright. . y: and there came a man, running, from the furthest end of the city. he said: "o moses! the chiefs are taking counsel together about thee, to slay thee: so get thee away, for i do give thee sincere advice." p: and a man came from the uttermost part of the city, running. he said: o moses! lo! the chiefs take counsel against thee to slay thee; therefor escape. lo! i am of those who give thee good advice. s: and a man came running from the remotest part of the city. he said: o musa! surely the chiefs are consulting together to slay you, therefore depart (at once); surely i am of those who wish well to you. . y: he therefore got away therefrom, looking about, in a state of fear. he prayed "o my lord! save me from people given to wrong-doing." p: so he escaped from thence, fearing, vigilant. he said: my lord! deliver me from the wrongdoing folk. s: so he went forth therefrom, fearing, awaiting, (and) he said: my lord! deliver me from the unjust people. . y: then, when he turned his face towards (the land of) madyan, he said: "i do hope that my lord will show me the smooth and straight path." p: and when he turned his face toward midian, he said: peradventure my lord will guide me in the right road. s: and when he turned his face towards madyan, he said: maybe my lord will guide me in the right path. . y: and when he arrived at the watering (place) in madyan, he found there a group of men watering (their flocks), and besides them he found two women who were keeping back (their flocks). he said: "what is the matter with you?" they said: "we cannot water (our flocks) until the shepherds take back (their flocks): and our father is a very old man." p: and when he came unto the water of midian he found there a whole tribe of men, watering. and he found apart from them two women keeping back (their flocks). he said: what aileth you? the two said: we cannot give (our flocks) to drink till the shepherds return from the water; and our father is a very old man. s: and when he came to the water of madyan, he found on it a group of men watering, and he found besides them two women keeping back (their flocks). he said: what is the matter with you? they said: we cannot water until the shepherds take away (their sheep) from the water, and our father is a very old man. . y: so he watered (their flocks) for them; then he turned back to the shade, and said: "o my lord! truly am i in (desperate) need of any good that thou dost send me!"... p: so he watered (their flock) for them. then he turned aside into the shade, and said: my lord! i am needy of whatever good thou sendest down for me. s: so he watered (their sheep) for them, then went back to the shade and said: my lord! surely i stand in need of whatever good thou mayest send down to me. . y: afterwards one of the (damsels) came (back) to him, walking bashfully. she said: "my father invites thee that he may reward thee for having watered (our flocks) for us." so when he came to him and narrated the story, he said: "fear thou not: (well) hast thou escaped from unjust people." p: then there came unto him one of the two women, walking shyly. she said: lo! my father biddeth thee, that he may reward thee with a payment for that thou didst water (the flock) for us. then, when he came unto him and told him the (whole) story, he said: fear not! thou hast escaped from the wrongdoing folk. s: then one of the two women came to him walking bashfully. she said: my father invites you that he may give you the reward of your having watered for us. so when he came to him and gave to him the account, he said: fear not, you are secure from the unjust people. . y: said one of the (damsels): "o my (dear) father! engage him on wages: truly the best of men for thee to employ is the (man) who is strong and trusty".... p: one of the two women said: o my father! hire him! for the best (man) that thou canst hire in the strong, the trustworthy. s: said one of them: o my father! employ him, surely the best of those that you can employ is the strong man, the faithful one. . y: he said: "i intend to wed one of these my daughters to thee, on condition that thou serve me for eight years; but if thou complete ten years, it will be (grace) from thee. but i intend not to place thee under a difficulty: thou wilt find me, indeed, if allah wills, one of the righteous." p: he said: lo! i fain would marry thee to one of these two daughters of mine on condition that thou hirest thyself to me for (the term of) eight pilgrimages. then if thou completest ten it will be of thine own accord, for i would not make it hard for thee. allah willing, thou wilt find me of the righteous. s: he said: i desire to marry one of these two daughters of mine to you on condition that you should serve me for eight years; but if you complete ten, it will be of your own free will, and i do not wish to be hard to you; if allah please, you will find me one of the good. . y: he said: "be that (the agreement) between me and thee: whichever of the two terms i fulfil, let there be no ill-will to me. be allah a witness to what we say." p: he said: that (is settled) between thee and me. whichever of the two terms i fulfil, there will be no injustice to me, and allah is surety over what we say. s: he said: this shall be (an agreement) between me and you; whichever of the two terms i fulfill, there shall be no wrongdoing to me; and allah is a witness of what we say. . y: now when moses had fulfilled the term, and was travelling with his family, he perceived a fire in the direction of mount tur. he said to his family: "tarry ye; i perceive a fire; i hope to bring you from there some information, or a burning firebrand, that ye may warm yourselves." p: then, when moses had fulfilled the term, and was travelling with his housefolk, he saw in the distance a fire and said unto his housefolk: bide ye (here). lo! i see in the distance a fire; peradventure i shall bring you tidings thence, or a brand from the fire that ye may warm yourselves. s: so when musa had fulfilled the term, and he journeyed with his family, he perceived on this side of the mountain a fire. he said to his family: wait, i have seen a fire, maybe i will bring to you from it some news or a brand of fire, so that you may warm yourselves. . y: but when he came to the (fire), a voice was heard from the right bank of the valley, from a tree in hallowed ground: "o moses! verily i am allah, the lord of the worlds...." p: and when he reached it, he was called from the right side of the valley in the blessed field, from the tree: o moses! lo! i, even i, am allah, the lord of the worlds; s: and when he came to it, a voice was uttered from the right side of the valley in the blessed spot of the bush, saying: o musa! surely i am allah, the lord of the worlds. . y: "now do thou throw thy rod!" but when he saw it moving (of its own accord) as if it had been a snake, he turned back in retreat, and retraced not his steps: "o moses!" (it was said), "draw near, and fear not: for thou art of those who are secure." p: throw down thy staff. and when he saw it writhing as it had been a demon, he turned to flee headlong, (and it was said unto him): o moses! draw nigh and fear not. lo! thou art of those who are secure. s: and saying: cast down you staff. so when he saw it in motion as if it were a serpent, he turned back retreating, and did not return. o musa! come forward and fear not; surely you are of those who are secure; . y: "move thy hand into thy bosom, and it will come forth white without stain (or harm), and draw thy hand close to thy side (to guard) against fear. those are the two credentials from thy lord to pharaoh and his chiefs: for truly they are a people rebellious and wicked." p: thrust thy hand into the bosom of thy robe it will come forth white without hurt. and guard thy heart from fear. then these shall be two proofs from your lord unto pharaoh and his chiefs. lo! they are evil-living folk. s: enter your hand into the opening of your bosom, it will come forth white without evil, and draw your hand to yourself to ward off fear: so these two shall be two arguments from your lord to firon and his chiefs, surely they are a transgressing people. . y: he said: "o my lord! i have slain a man among them, and i fear lest they slay me." p: he said: my lord! lo! i killed a man among them and i fear that they will kill me. s: he said: my lord! surely i killed one of them, so i fear lest they should slay me; . y: "and my brother aaron - he is more eloquent in speech than i: so send him with me as a helper, to confirm (and strengthen) me: for i fear that they may accuse me of falsehood." p: my brother aaron is more eloquent than me in speech. therefor send him with me as a helper to confirm me. lo! i fear that they will give the lie to me. s: and my brother, haroun, he is more eloquent of tongue than i, therefore send him with me as an aider, verifying me: surely i fear that they would reject me. . y: he said: "we will certainly strengthen thy arm through thy brother, and invest you both with authority, so they shall not be able to touch you: with our sign shall ye triumph,- you two as well as those who follow you." p: he said: we will strengthen thine arm with thy brother, and we will give unto you both power so that they cannot reach you for our portents. ye twain, and those who follow you, will be the winners. s: he said: we will strengthen your arm with your brother, and we will give you both an authority, so that they shall not reach you; (go) with our signs; you two and those who follow you shall be uppermost. . y: when moses came to them with our clear signs, they said: "this is nothing but sorcery faked up: never did we head the like among our fathers of old!" p: but when moses came unto them with our clear tokens, they said: this is naught but invented magic. we never heard of this among our fathers of old. s: so when musa came to them with our clear signs, they said: this is nothing but forged enchantment, and we never heard of it amongst our fathers of old. . y: moses said: "my lord knows best who it is that comes with guidance from him and whose end will be best in the hereafter: certain it is that the wrong-doers will not prosper." p: and moses said: my lord is best aware of him who bringeth guidance from his presence, and whose will be the sequel of the home (of bliss). lo! wrong-doers will not be successful. s: and musa said: my lord knows best who comes with guidance from him, and whose shall be the good end of the abode; surely the unjust shall not be successful. . y: pharaoh said: "o chiefs! no god do i know for you but myself: therefore, o haman! light me a (kiln to bake bricks) out of clay, and build me a lofty palace, that i may mount up to the god of moses: but as far as i am concerned, i think (moses) is a liar!" p: and pharaoh said: o chiefs! i know not that ye have a god other than me, so kindle for me (a fire), o haman, to bake the mud; and set up for me a lofty tower in order that i may survey the god of moses; and lo! i deem him of the liars. s: and firon said: o chiefs! i do not know of any god for you besides myself; therefore kindle a fire for me, o haman, for brick, then prepare for me a lofty building so that i may obtain knowledge of musa's god, and most surely i think him to be one of the liars. . y: and he was arrogant and insolent in the land, beyond reason,- he and his hosts: they thought that they would not have to return to us! p: and he and his hosts were haughty in the land without right, and deemed that they would never be brought back to us. s: and he was unjustly proud in the land, he and his hosts, and they deemed that they would not be brought back to us. . y: so we seized him and his hosts, and we flung them into the sea: now behold what was the end of those who did wrong! p: therefor we seized him and his hosts, and abandoned them unto the sea. behold the nature of the consequence for evil-doers! s: so we caught hold of him and his hosts, then we cast them into the sea, and see how was the end of the unjust. . y: and we made them (but) leaders inviting to the fire; and on the day of judgment no help shall they find. p: and we made them patterns that invite unto the fire, and on the day of resurrection they will not be helped. s: and we made them imams who call to the fire, and on the day of resurrection they shall not be assisted. . y: in this world we made a curse to follow them and on the day of judgment they will be among the loathed (and despised). p: and we made a curse to follow them in this world, and on the day of resurrection they will be among the hateful. s: and we caused a curse to follow them in this world, and on the day of resurrection they shall be of those made to appear hideous. . y: we did reveal to moses the book after we had destroyed the earlier generations, (to give) insight to men, and guidance and mercy, that they might receive admonition. p: and we verily gave the scripture unto moses after we had destroyed the generations of old: clear testimonies for mankind, and a guidance and a mercy, that haply they might reflect. s: and certainly we gave musa the book after we had destroyed the former generations, clear arguments for men and a guidance and a mercy, that they may be mindful. . y: thou wast not on the western side when we decreed the commission to moses, nor wast thou a witness (of those events). p: and thou (muhammad) wast not on the western side (of the mount) when we expounded unto moses the commandment, and thou wast not among those present; s: and you were not on the western side when we revealed to musa the commandment, and you were not among the witnesses; . y: but we raised up (new) generations, and long were the ages that passed over them; but thou wast not a dweller among the people of madyan, rehearsing our signs to them; but it is we who send messengers (with inspiration). p: but we brought forth generations, and their lives dragged on for them. and thou wast not a dweller in midian, reciting unto them our revelations, but we kept sending (messengers to men). s: but we raised up generations, then life became prolonged to them; and you were not dwelling among the people of madyan, reciting to them our communications, but we were the senders. . y: nor wast thou at the side of (the mountain of) tur when we called (to moses). yet (art thou sent) as mercy from thy lord, to give warning to a people to whom no warner had come before thee: in order that they may receive admonition. p: and thou was not beside the mount when we did call; but (the knowledge of it is) a mercy from thy lord that thou mayst warn a folk unto whom no warner came before thee, that haply they may give heed. s: and you were not on this side of the mountain when we called, but a mercy from your lord that you may warn a people to whom no warner came before you, that they may be mindful. . y: if (we had) not (sent thee to the quraish),- in case a calamity should seize them for (the deeds) that their hands have sent forth, they might say: "our lord! why didst thou not sent us a messenger? we should then have followed thy signs and been amongst those who believe!" p: otherwise, if disaster should afflict them because of that which their own hands have sent before (them), they might say: our lord! why sentest thou no messenger unto us, that we might have followed thy revelations and been of the believers? s: and were it not that there should befall them a disaster for what their hands have sent before, then they should say: our lord! why didst thou not send to us a messenger so that we should have followed thy communications and been of the believers! . y: but (now), when the truth has come to them from ourselves, they say, "why are not (signs) sent to him, like those which were sent to moses?" do they not then reject (the signs) which were formerly sent to moses? they say: "two kinds of sorcery, each assisting the other!" and they say: "for us, we reject all (such things)!" p: but when there came unto them the truth from our presence, they said: why is he not given the like of what was given unto moses? did they not disbelieve in that which was given unto moses of old? they say: two magics that support each other; and they say: lo! in both we are disbelievers. s: but (now) when the truth has come to them from us, they say: why is he not given the like of what was given to musa? what! did they not disbelieve in what musa was given before? they say: two magicians backing up each other; and they say: surely we are unbelievers in all. . y: say: "then bring ye a book from allah, which is a better guide than either of them, that i may follow it! (do), if ye are truthful!" p: say (unto them, o muhammad): then bring a scripture from the presence of allah that giveth clearer guidance than these two (that) i may follow it, if ye are truthful. s: say: then bring some (other) book from allah which is a better guide than both of them, (that) i may follow it, if you are truthful. . y: but if they hearken not to thee, know that they only follow their own lusts: and who is more astray than one who follow his own lusts, devoid of guidance from allah? for allah guides not people given to wrong-doing. p: and if they answer thee not, then know that what they follow is their lusts. and who goeth farther astray than he who followeth his lust without guidance from allah. lo! allah guideth not wrongdoing folk. s: but if they do not answer you, then know that they only follow their low desires; and who is more erring than he who follows his low desires without any guidance from allah? surely allah does not guide the unjust people. . y: now have we caused the word to reach them themselves, in order that they may receive admonition. p: and now verily we have caused the word to reach them, that haply they may give heed. s: and certainly we have made the word to reach them so that they may be mindful. . y: those to whom we sent the book before this,- they do believe in this (revelation): p: those unto whom we gave the scripture before it, they believe in it, s: (as to) those whom we gave the book before it, they are believers in it. . y: and when it is recited to them, they say: "we believe therein, for it is the truth from our lord: indeed we have been muslims (bowing to allah's will) from before this." p: and when it is recited unto them, they say: we believe in it. lo! it is the truth from our lord. lo! even before it we were of those who surrender (unto him). s: and when it is recited to them they say: we believe in it surely it is the truth from our lord; surely we were submitters before this. . y: twice will they be given their reward, for that they have persevered, that they avert evil with good, and that they spend (in charity) out of what we have given them. p: these will be given their reward twice over, because they are steadfast and repel evil with good, and spend of that wherewith we have provided them, s: these shall be granted their reward twice, because they are steadfast and they repel evil with good and spend out of what we have given them. . y: and when they hear vain talk, they turn away therefrom and say: "to us our deeds, and to you yours; peace be to you: we seek not the ignorant." p: and when they hear vanity they withdraw from it and say: unto us our works and unto you your works. peace be unto you! we desire not the ignorant. s: and when they hear idle talk they turn aside from it and say: we shall have our deeds and you shall have your deeds; peace be on you, we do not desire the ignorant. . y: it is true thou wilt not be able to guide every one, whom thou lovest; but allah guides those whom he will and he knows best those who receive guidance. p: lo! thou (o muhammad) guidest not whom thou lovest, but allah guideth whom he will. and he is best aware of those who walk aright. s: surely you cannot guide whom you love, but allah guides whom he pleases, and he knows best the followers of the right way. . y: they say: "if we were to follow the guidance with thee, we should be snatched away from our land." have we not established for them a secure sanctuary, to which are brought as tribute fruits of all kinds,- a provision from ourselves? but most of them understand not. p: and they say: if we were to follow the guidance with thee we should be torn out of our land. have we not established for them a sure sanctuary, whereunto the produce of all things is brought (in trade), a provision from our presence? but most of them know not. s: and they say: if we follow the guidance with you, we shall be carried off from our country. what! have we not settled them in a safe, sacred territory to which fruits of every kind shall be drawn?-- a sustenance from us; but most of them do not know. . y: and how many populations we destroyed, which exulted in their life (of ease and plenty)! now those habitations of theirs, after them, are deserted,- all but a (miserable) few! and we are their heirs! p: and how many a community have we destroyed that was thankless for its means of livelihood! and yonder are their dwellings, which have not been inhabited after them save a little. and we, even we, were the inheritors. s: and how many a town have we destroyed which exulted in its means of subsistence, so these are their abodes, they have not been dwelt in after them except a little, and we are the inheritors, . y: nor was thy lord the one to destroy a population until he had sent to its centre a messenger, rehearsing to them our signs; nor are we going to destroy a population except when its members practise iniquity. p: and never did thy lord destroy the townships, till he had raised up in their mother(-town) a messenger reciting unto them our revelations. and never did we destroy the townships unless the folk thereof were evil-doers. s: and your lord never destroyed the towns until he raised in their metropolis a messenger, reciting to them our communications, and we never destroyed the towns except when their people were unjust. . y: the (material) things which ye are given are but the conveniences of this life and the glitter thereof; but that which is with allah is better and more enduring: will ye not then be wise? p: and whatsoever ye have been given is a comfort of the life of the world and an ornament thereof; and that which allah hath is better and more lasting. have ye then no sense? s: and whatever things you have been given are only a provision of this world's life and its adornment, and whatever is with allah is better and more lasting; do you not then understand? . y: are (these two) alike?- one to whom we have made a goodly promise, and who is going to reach its (fulfilment), and one to whom we have given the good things of this life, but who, on the day of judgment, is to be among those brought up (for punishment)? p: is he whom we have promised a fair promise which he will find (true) like him whom we suffer to enjoy awhile the comfort of the life of the world, then on the day of resurrection he will be of those arraigned? s: is he to whom we have promised a goodly promise which he shall meet with like him whom we have provided with the provisions of this world's life, then on the day of resurrection he shall be of those who are brought up? . y: that day (allah) will call to them, and say "where are my 'partners'?- whom ye imagined (to be such)?" p: on the day when he will call unto them and say: where are my partners whom ye imagined? s: and on the day when he will call them and say: where are those whom you deemed to be my associates? . y: those against whom the charge will be proved, will say: "our lord! these are the ones whom we led astray: we led them astray, as we were astray ourselves: we free ourselves (from them) in thy presence: it was not us they worshipped." p: those concerning whom the word will have come true will say: our lord! these are they whom we led astray. we led them astray even as we ourselves were astray. we declare our innocence before thee: us they never worshipped. s: those against whom the sentence has become confirmed will say: our lord! these are they whom we caused to err; we caused them to err as we ourselves did err; to thee we declare ourselves to be clear (of them); they never served us. . y: it will be said (to them): "call upon your 'partners' (for help)": they will call upon them, but they will not listen to them; and they will see the penalty (before them); (how they will wish) 'if only they had been open to guidance!' p: and it will be said: cry unto your (so-called) partners (of allah). and they will cry unto them, and they will give no answer unto them, and they will see the doom. ah, if they had but been guided! s: and it will be said: call your associate-gods. so they will call upon them, but they will not answer them, and they shall see the punishment; would that they had followed the right way! . y: that day (allah) will call to them, and say: "what was the answer ye gave to the messengers?" p: and on the day when he will call unto them and say: what answer gave ye to the messengers? s: and on the day when he shall call them and say: what was the answer you gave to the messengers? . y: then the (whole) story that day will seem obscure to them (like light to the blind) and they will not be able (even) to question each other. p: on that day (all) tidings will be dimmed for them, nor will they ask one of another, s: then the pleas shall become obscure to them on that day, so they shall not ask each other. . y: but any that (in this life) had repented, believed, and worked righteousness, will have hopes to be among those who achieve salvation. p: but as for him who shall repent and believe and do right, he haply may be one of the successful. s: but as to him who repents and believes and does good, maybe he will be among the successful: . y: thy lord does create and choose as he pleases: no choice have they (in the matter): glory to allah! and far is he above the partners they ascribe (to him)! p: thy lord bringeth to pass what he willeth and chooseth. they have never any choice. glorified be allah and exalted above all that they associate (with him)! s: and your lord creates and chooses whom he pleases; to choose is not theirs; glory be to allah, and exalted be he above what they associate (with him). . y: and thy lord knows all that their hearts conceal and all that they reveal. p: and thy lord knoweth what their breasts conceal, and what they publish. s: and your lord knows what their breasts conceal and what they manifest. . y: and he is allah: there is no god but he. to him be praise, at the first and at the last: for him is the command, and to him shall ye (all) be brought back. p: and he is allah; there is no god save him. his is all praise in the former and the latter (state), and his is the command, and unto him ye will be brought back. s: and he is allah, there is no god but he! all praise is due to him in this (life) and the hereafter, and his is the judgment, and to him you shall be brought back. . y: say: see ye? if allah were to make the night perpetual over you to the day of judgment, what god is there other than allah, who can give you enlightenment? will ye not then hearken? p: say: have ye thought, if allah made night everlasting for you till the day of resurrection, who is a god beside allah who could bring you light? will ye not then hear? s: say: tell me, if allah were to make the night to continue incessantly on you till the day of resurrection, who is the god besides allah that could bring you light? do you not then hear? . y: say: see ye? if allah were to make the day perpetual over you to the day of judgment, what god is there other than allah, who can give you a night in which ye can rest? will ye not then see? p: say: have ye thought, if allah made day everlasting for you till the day of resurrection, who is a god beside allah who could bring you night wherein ye rest? will ye not then see? s: say: tell me, if allah were to make the day to continue incessantly on you till the day of resurrection, who is the god besides allah that could bring you the night in which you take rest? do you not then see? . y: it is out of his mercy that he has made for you night and day,- that ye may rest therein, and that ye may seek of his grace;- and in order that ye may be grateful. p: of his mercy hath he appointed for you night and day, that therein ye may rest, and that ye may seek his bounty, and that haply ye may be thankful. s: and out of his mercy he has made for you the night and the day, that you may rest therein, and that you may seek of his grace, and that you may give thanks. . y: the day that he will call on them, he will say: "where are my 'partners'? whom ye imagined (to be such)?" p: and on the day when he shall call unto them and say: where are my partners whom ye pretended? s: and on the day when he shall call them and say: where are those whom you deemed to be my associates? . y: and from each people shall we draw a witness, and we shall say: "produce your proof": then shall they know that the truth is in allah (alone), and the (lies) which they invented will leave them in lurch. p: and we shall take out from every nation a witness and we shall say: bring your proof. then they will know that allah hath the truth, and all that they invented will have failed them. s: and we will draw forth from among every nation a witness and say: bring your proof; then shall they know that the truth is allah's, and that which they forged shall depart from them. . y: qarun was doubtless, of the people of moses; but he acted insolently towards them: such were the treasures we had bestowed on him that their very keys would have been a burden to a body of strong men, behold, his people said to him: "exult not, for allah loveth not those who exult (in riches)." p: now korah was of moses' folk, but he oppressed them; and we gave him so much treasure that the stores thereof would verily have been a burden for a troop of mighty men. when his own folk said unto him: exult not; lo! allah loveth not the exultant; s: surely qaroun was of the people of musa, but he rebelled against them, and we had given him of the treasures, so much so that his hoards of wealth would certainly weigh down a company of men possessed of great strength. when his people said to him: do not exult, surely allah does not love the exultant; . y: "but seek, with the (wealth) which allah has bestowed on thee, the home of the hereafter, nor forget thy portion in this world: but do thou good, as allah has been good to thee, and seek not (occasions for) mischief in the land: for allah loves not those who do mischief." p: but seek the abode of the hereafter in that which allah hath given thee and neglect not thy portion of the world, and be thou kind even as allah hath been kind to thee, and seek not corruption in the earth; lo! allah loveth not corrupters, s: and seek by means of what allah has given you the future abode, and do not neglect your portion of this world, and do good (to others) as allah has done good to you, and do not seek to make mischief in the land, surely allah does not love the mischief-makers. . y: he said: "this has been given to me because of a certain knowledge which i have." did he not know that allah had destroyed, before him, (whole) generations,- which were superior to him in strength and greater in the amount (of riches) they had collected? but the wicked are not called (immediately) to account for their sins. p: he said: i have been given it only on account of knowledge i possess. knew he not that allah had destroyed already of the generations before him men who were mightier than him in strength and greater in respect of following? the guilty are not questioned of their sins. s: he said: i have been given this only on account of the knowledge i have. did he not know that allah had destroyed before him of the generations those who were mightier in strength than he and greater in assemblage? and the guilty shall not be asked about their faults. . y: so he went forth among his people in the (pride of his wordly) glitter. said those whose aim is the life of this world: "oh! that we had the like of what qarun has got! for he is truly a lord of mighty good fortune!" p: then went he forth before his people in his pomp. those who were desirous of the life of the world said: ah, would that we had the like of what hath been given unto korah! lo! he is lord of rare good fortune. s: so he went forth to his people in his finery. those who desire this world's life said: o would that we had the like of what qaroun is given; most surely he is possessed of mighty good fortune. . y: but those who had been granted (true) knowledge said: "alas for you! the reward of allah (in the hereafter) is best for those who believe and work righteousness: but this none shall attain, save those who steadfastly persevere (in good)." p: but those who had been given knowledge said: woe unto you! the reward of allah for him who believeth and doeth right is better, and only the steadfast will obtain it. s: and those who were given the knowledge said: woe to you! allah's reward is better for him who believes and does good, and none is made to receive this except the patient. . y: then we caused the earth to swallow up him and his house; and he had not (the least little) party to help him against allah, nor could he defend himself. p: so we caused the earth to swallow him and his dwelling-place. then he had no host to help him against allah, nor was he of those who can save themselves. s: thus we made the earth to swallow up him and his abode; so he had no body of helpers to assist him against allah nor was he of those who can defend themselves. . y: and those who had envied his position the day before began to say on the morrow: "ah! it is indeed allah who enlarges the provision or restricts it, to any of his servants he pleases! had it not been that allah was gracious to us, he could have caused the earth to swallow us up! ah! those who reject allah will assuredly never prosper." p: and morning found those who had coveted his place but yesterday crying: ah, welladay! allah enlargeth the provision for whom he will of his slaves and straiteneth it (for whom he will). if allah had not been gracious unto us he would have caused it to swallow us (also). ah, welladay! the disbelievers never prosper. s: and those who yearned for his place only the day before began to say: ah! (know) that allah amplifies and straitens the means of subsistence for whom he pleases of his servants; had not allah been gracious to us, he would most surely have abased us; ah! (know) that the ungrateful are never successful. . y: that home of the hereafter we shall give to those who intend not high-handedness or mischief on earth: and the end is (best) for the righteous. p: as for that abode of the hereafter we assign it unto those who seek not oppression in the earth, nor yet corruption. the sequel is for those who ward off (evil). s: (as for) that future abode, we assign it to those who have no desire to exalt themselves in the earth nor to make mischief and the good end is for those who guard (against evil) . y: if any does good, the reward to him is better than his deed; but if any does evil, the doers of evil are only punished (to the extent) of their deeds. p: whoso bringeth a good deed, he will have better than the same; while as for him who bringeth an ill-deed, those who do ill-deeds will be requited only what they did. s: whoever brings good, he shall have better than it, and whoever brings evil, those who do evil shall not be rewarded (for) aught except what they did. . y: verily he who ordained the qur'an for thee, will bring thee back to the place of return. say: "my lord knows best who it is that brings true guidance, and who is in manifest error." p: lo! he who hath given thee the qur'an for a law will surely bring thee home again. say: my lord is best aware of him who bringeth guidance and him who is in error manifest. s: most surely he who has made the quran binding on you will bring you back to the destination. say: my lord knows best him who has brought the guidance and him who is in manifest error. . y: and thou hadst not expected that the book would be sent to thee except as a mercy from thy lord: therefore lend not thou support in any way to those who reject (allah's message). p: thou hadst no hope that the scripture would be inspired in thee; but it is a mercy from thy lord, so never be a helper to the disbelievers. s: and you did not expect that the book would be inspired to you, but it is a mercy from your lord, therefore be not a backer-up of the unbelievers. . y: and let nothing keep thee back from the signs of allah after they have been revealed to thee: and invite (men) to thy lord, and be not of the company of those who join gods with allah. p: and let them not divert thee from the revelations of allah after they have been sent down unto thee; but call (mankind) unto thy lord, and be not of those who ascribe partners (unto him). s: and let them not turn you aside from the communications of allah after they have been revealed to you, and call (men) to your lord and be not of the polytheists. . y: and call not, besides allah, on another god. there is no god but he. everything (that exists) will perish except his own face. to him belongs the command, and to him will ye (all) be brought back. p: and cry not unto any other god along with allah. there is no god save him. everything will perish save his countenance. his is the command, and unto him ye will be brought back. s: and call not with allah any other god; there is no god but he, every thing is perishable but he; his is the judgment, and to him you shall be brought back. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-ankaboot (the spider) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: a.l.m. p: alif. lam. mim. s: alif lam mim. . y: do men think that they will be left alone on saying, "we believe", and that they will not be tested? p: do men imagine that they will be left (at ease) because they say, we believe, and will not be tested with affliction? s: do men think that they will be left alone on saying, we believe, and not be tried? . y: we did test those before them, and allah will certainly know those who are true from those who are false. p: lo! we tested those who were before you. thus allah knoweth those who are sincere, and knoweth those who feign. s: and certainly we tried those before them, so allah will certainly know those who are true and he will certainly know the liars. . y: do those who practise evil think that they will get the better of us? evil is their judgment! p: or do those who do ill-deeds imagine that they can outstrip us? evil (for them) is that which they decide. s: or do they who work evil think that they will escape us? evil is it that they judge! . y: for those whose hopes are in the meeting with allah (in the hereafter, let them strive); for the term (appointed) by allah is surely coming and he hears and knows (all things). p: whoso looketh forward to the meeting with allah (let him know that) allah's reckoning is surely nigh, and he is the hearer, the knower. s: whoever hopes to meet allah, the term appointed by allah will then most surely come; and he is the hearing, the knowing. . y: and if any strive (with might and main), they do so for their own souls: for allah is free of all needs from all creation. p: and whosoever striveth, striveth only for himself, for lo! allah is altogether independent of (his) creatures. s: and whoever strives hard, he strives only for his own soul; most surely allah is self-sufficient, above (need of) the worlds. . y: those who believe and work righteous deeds,- from them shall we blot out all evil (that may be) in them, and we shall reward them according to the best of their deeds. p: and as for those who believe and do good works, we shall remit from them their evil deeds and shall repay them the best that they did. s: and (as for) those who believe and do good, we will most certainly do away with their evil deeds and we will most certainly reward them the best of what they did. . y: we have enjoined on man kindness to parents: but if they (either of them) strive (to force) thee to join with me (in worship) anything of which thou hast no knowledge, obey them not. ye have (all) to return to me, and i will tell you (the truth) of all that ye did. p: we have enjoined on man kindness to parents; but if they strive to make thee join with me that of which thou hast no knowledge, then obey them not. unto me is your return and i shall tell you what ye used to do. s: and we have enjoined on man goodness to his parents, and if they contend with you that you should associate (others) with me, of which you have no knowledge, do not obey them, to me is your return, so i will inform you of what you did. . y: and those who believe and work righteous deeds,- them shall we admit to the company of the righteous. p: and as for those who believe and do good works, we verily shall make them enter in among the righteous. s: and (as for) those who believe and do good, we will most surely cause them to enter among the good. . y: then there are among men such as say, "we believe in allah"; but when they suffer affliction in (the cause of) allah, they treat men's oppression as if it were the wrath of allah! and if help comes (to thee) from thy lord, they are sure to say, "we have (always) been with you!" does not allah know best all that is in the hearts of all creation? p: of mankind is he who saith: we believe in allah, but, if he be made to suffer for the sake of allah, he mistaketh the persecution of mankind for allah's punishment; and then, if victory cometh from thy lord, will say: lo! we were with you (all the while). is not allah best aware of what is in the bosoms of (his) creatures? s: and among men is he who says: we believe in allah; but when he is persecuted in (the way of) allah he thinks the persecution of men to be as the chastisement of allah; and if there come assistance from your lord, they would most certainly say: surely we were with you. what! is not allah the best knower of what is in the breasts of mankind. . y: and allah most certainly knows those who believe, and as certainly those who are hypocrites. p: verily allah knoweth those who believe, and verily he knoweth the hypocrites. s: and most certainly allah will know those who believe and most certainly he will know the hypocrites. . y: and the unbelievers say to those who believe: "follow our path, and we will bear (the consequences) of your faults." never in the least will they bear their faults: in fact they are liars! p: those who disbelieve say unto those who believe: follow our way (of religion) and we verily will bear your sins (for you). they cannot bear aught of their sins. lo! they verily are liars. s: and those who disbelieve say to those who believe: follow our path and we will bear your wrongs. and never shall they be the bearers of any of their wrongs; most surely they are liars. . y: they will bear their own burdens, and (other) burdens along with their own, and on the day of judgments they will be called to account for their falsehoods. p: but they verily will bear their own loads and other loads beside their own, and they verily will be questioned on the day of resurrection concerning that which they invented. s: and most certainly they shall carry their own burdens, and other burdens with their own burdens, and most certainly they shall be questioned on the resurrection day as to what they forged. . y: we (once) sent noah to his people, and he tarried among them a thousand years less fifty: but the deluge overwhelmed them while they (persisted in) sin. p: and verily we sent noah (as our messenger) unto his folk, and he continued with them for a thousand years save fifty years; and the flood engulfed them, for they were wrong-doers. s: and certainly we sent nuh to his people, so he remained among them a thousand years save fifty years. and the deluge overtook them, while they were unjust. . y: but we saved him and the companions of the ark, and we made the (ark) a sign for all peoples! p: and we rescued him and those with him in the ship, and made of it a portent for the peoples. s: so we delivered him and the inmates of the ark, and made it a sign to the nations. . y: and (we also saved) abraham: behold, he said to his people, "serve allah and fear him: that will be best for you- if ye understand!" p: and abraham! (remember) when he said unto his folk: serve allah, and keep your duty unto him; that is better for you if ye did but know. s: and (we sent) ibrahim, when he said to his people: serve allah and be careful of (your duty to) him; this is best for you, if you did but know: . y: "for ye do worship idols besides allah, and ye invent falsehood. the things that ye worship besides allah have no power to give you sustenance: then seek ye sustenance from allah, serve him, and be grateful to him: to him will be your return." p: ye serve instead of allah only idols, and ye only invent a lie. lo! those whom ye serve instead of allah own no provision for you. so seek your provision from allah, and serve him, and give thanks unto him, (for) unto him ye will be brought back. s: you only worship idols besides allah and you create a lie surely they whom you serve besides allah do not control for you any sustenance, therefore seek the sustenance from allah and serve him and be grateful to him; to him you shall be brought back. . y: "and if ye reject (the message), so did generations before you: and the duty of the messenger is only to preach publicly (and clearly)." p: but if ye deny, then nations have denied before you. the messenger is only to convey (the message) plainly. s: and if you reject (the truth), nations before you did indeed reject (the truth); and nothing is incumbent on the messenger but a plain delivering (of the message). . y: see they not how allah originates creation, then repeats it: truly that is easy for allah. p: see they not how allah produceth creation, then reproduceth it? lo! for allah that is easy. s: what! do they not consider how allah originates the creation, then reproduces it? surely that is easy to allah. . y: say: "travel through the earth and see how allah did originate creation; so will allah produce a later creation: for allah has power over all things." p: say (o muhammad): travel in the land and see how he originated creation, then allah bringeth forth the later growth. lo! allah is able to do all things. s: say: travel in the earth and see how he makes the first creation, then allah creates the latter creation; surely allah has power over all things. . y: "he punishes whom he pleases, and he grants mercy to whom he pleases, and towards him are ye turned." p: he punisheth whom he will and showeth mercy unto whom he will, and unto him ye will be turned. s: he punishes whom he pleases and has mercy on whom he pleases, and to him you shall be turned back. . y: "not on earth nor in heaven will ye be able (fleeing) to frustrate (his plan), nor have ye, besides allah, any protector or helper." p: ye cannot escape (from him) in the earth or in the sky, and beside allah there is for you no friend or helper. s: and you shall not escape in the earth nor in the heaven, and you have neither a protector nor a helper besides allah. . y: those who reject the signs of allah and the meeting with him (in the hereafter),- it is they who shall despair of my mercy: it is they who will (suffer) a most grievous penalty. p: those who disbelieve in the revelations of allah and in (their) meeting with him, such have no hope of my mercy. for such there is a painful doom. s: and (as to) those who disbelieve in the communications of allah and his meeting, they have despaired of my mercy, and these it is that shall have a painful punishment. . y: so naught was the answer of (abraham's) people except that they said: "slay him or burn him." but allah did save him from the fire. verily in this are signs for people who believe. p: but the answer of his folk was only that they said: "kill him" or "burn him." then allah saved him from the fire. lo! herein verily are portents for folk who believe. s: so naught was the answer of his people except that they said: slay him or burn him; then allah delivered him from the fire; most surely there are signs in this for a people who believe. . y: and he said: "for you, ye have taken (for worship) idols besides allah, out of mutual love and regard between yourselves in this life; but on the day of judgment ye shall disown each other and curse each other: and your abode will be the fire, and ye shall have none to help." p: he said: ye have chosen only idols instead of allah. the love between you is only in the life of the world. then on the day of resurrection ye will deny each other and curse each other, and your abode will be the fire, and ye will have no helpers. s: and he said: you have only taken for yourselves idols besides allah by way of friendship between you in this world's life, then on the resurrection day some of you shall deny others, and some of you shall curse others, and your abode is the fire, and you shall not have any helpers. . y: but lut had faith in him: he said: "i will leave home for the sake of my lord: for he is exalted in might, and wise." p: and lot believed him, and said: lo! i am a fugitive unto my lord. lo! he, only he, is the mighty, the wise. s: and lut believed in him, and he said: i am fleeing to my lord, surely he is the mighty, the wise. . y: and we gave (abraham) isaac and jacob, and ordained among his progeny prophethood and revelation, and we granted him his reward in this life; and he was in the hereafter (of the company) of the righteous. p: and we bestowed on him isaac and jacob, and we established the prophethood and the scripture among his seed, and we gave him his reward in the world, and lo! in the hereafter he verily is among the righteous. s: and we granted him ishaq and yaqoub, and caused the prophethood and the book to remain in his seed, and we gave him his reward in this world, and in the hereafter he will most surely be among the good. . y: and (remember) lut: behold, he said to his people: "ye do commit lewdness, such as no people in creation (ever) committed before you." p: and lot! (remember) when he said unto his folk: lo! ye commit lewdness such as no creature did before you. s: and (we sent) lut when he said to his people: most surely you are guilty of an indecency which none of the nations has ever done before you; . y: "do ye indeed approach men, and cut off the highway?- and practise wickedness (even) in your councils?" but his people gave no answer but this: they said: "bring us the wrath of allah if thou tellest the truth." p: for come ye not in unto males, and cut ye not the road (for travellers), and commit ye not abomination in your meetings? but the answer of his folk was only that they said: bring allah's doom upon us if thou art a truthteller! s: what! do you come to the males and commit robbery on the highway, and you commit evil deeds in your assemblies? but nothing was the answer of his people except that they said: bring on us allah's punishment, if you are one of the truthful. . y: he said: "o my lord! help thou me against people who do mischief!" p: he said: my lord! give me victory over folk who work corruption. s: he said: my lord! help me against the mischievous people. . y: when our messengers came to abraham with the good news, they said: "we are indeed going to destroy the people of this township: for truly they are (addicted to) crime." p: and when our messengers brought abraham the good news, they said: lo! we are about to destroy the people of that township, for its people are wrong-doers. s: and when our messengers came to ibrahim with the good news, they said: surely we are going to destroy the people of this town, for its people are unjust. . y: he said: "but there is lut there." they said: "well do we know who is there: we will certainly save him and his following,- except his wife: she is of those who lag behind!" p: he said: lo! lot is there. they said: we are best aware of who is there. we are to deliver him and his household, all save his wife, who is of those who stay behind. s: he said: surely in it is lut. they said: we know well who is in it; we shall certainly deliver him and his followers, except his wife; she shall be of those who remain behind. . y: and when our messengers came to lut, he was grieved on their account, and felt himself powerless (to protect) them: but they said: "fear thou not, nor grieve: we are (here) to save thee and thy following, except thy wife: she is of those who lag behind." p: and when our messengers came unto lot, he was troubled upon their account, for he could not protect them; but they said: fear not, nor grieve! lo! we are to deliver thee and thy household, (all) save thy wife, who is of those who stay behind. s: and when our messengers came to lut he was grieved on account of them, and he felt powerless (to protect) them; and they said: fear not, nor grieve; surely we will deliver you and your followers, except your wife; she shall be of those who remain behind. . y: "for we are going to bring down on the people of this township a punishment from heaven, because they have been wickedly rebellious." p: lo! we are about to bring down upon the folk of this township a fury from the sky because they are evil-livers. s: surely we will cause to come down upon the people of this town a punishment from heaven, because they transgressed. . y: and we have left thereof an evident sign, for any people who (care to) understand. p: and verily of that we have left a clear sign for people who have sense. s: and certainly we have left a clear sign of it for a people who understand. . y: to the madyan (people) (we sent) their brother shu'aib. then he said: "o my people! serve allah, and fear the last day: nor commit evil on the earth, with intent to do mischief." p: and unto midian we sent shu'eyb, their brother. he said: o my people! serve allah, and look forward to the last day, and do not evil, making mischief, in the earth. s: and to madyan (we sent) their brother shuaib, so he said: o my people! serve allah and fear the latter day and do not act corruptly in the land, making mischief. . y: but they rejected him: then the mighty blast seized them, and they lay prostrate in their homes by the morning. p: but they denied him, and the dreadful earthquake took them, and morning found them prostrate in their dwelling place. s: but they rejected him, so a severe earthquake overtook them, and they became motionless bodies in their abode. . y: (remember also) the 'ad and the thamud (people): clearly will appear to you from (the traces) of their buildings (their fate): the evil one made their deeds alluring to them, and kept them back from the path, though they were gifted with intelligence and skill. p: and (the tribes of) a'ad and thamud! (their fate) is manifest unto you from their (ruined and deserted) dwellings. satan made their deeds seem fair unto them and so debarred them from the way, though they were keen observers. s: and (we destroyed) ad and samood, and from their dwellings (this) is apparent to you indeed; and the shaitan made their deeds fair-seeming to them, so he kept them back from the path, though they were endowed with intelligence and skill, . y: (remember also) qarun, pharaoh, and haman: there came to them moses with clear signs, but they behaved with insolence on the earth; yet they could not overreach (us). p: and korah, pharaoh and haman! moses came unto them with clear proofs (of allah's sovereignty), but they were boastful in the land. and they were not winners (in the race). s: and (we destroyed) qaroun and firon and haman; and certainly musa came to them with clear arguments, but they behaved haughtily in the land; yet they could not outstrip (us). . y: each one of them we seized for his crime: of them, against some we sent a violent tornado (with showers of stones); some were caught by a (mighty) blast; some we caused the earth to swallow up; and some we drowned (in the waters): it was not allah who injured (or oppressed) them: they injured (and oppressed) their own souls. p: so we took each one in his sin; of them was he on whom we sent a hurricane, and of them was he who was overtaken by the (awful) cry, and of them was he whom we caused the earth to swallow, and of them was he whom we drowned. it was not for allah to wrong them, but they wronged themselves. s: so each we punished for his sin; of them was he on whom we sent down a violent storm, and of them was he whom the rumbling overtook, and of them was he whom we made to be swallowed up by the earth, and of them was he whom we drowned; and it did not beseem allah that he should be unjust to them, but they were unjust to their own souls. . y: the parable of those who take protectors other than allah is that of the spider, who builds (to itself) a house; but truly the flimsiest of houses is the spider's house;- if they but knew. p: the likeness of those who choose other patrons than allah is as the likeness of the spider when she taketh unto herself a house, and lo! the frailest of all houses is the spider's house, if they but knew. s: the parable of those who take guardians besides allah is as the parable of the spider that makes for itself a house; and most surely the frailest of the houses is the spider's house did they but know. . y: verily allah doth know of (every thing) whatever that they call upon besides him: and he is exalted (in power), wise. p: lo! allah knoweth what thing they invoke instead of him. he is the mighty, the wise. s: surely allah knows whatever thing they call upon besides him; and he is the mighty, the wise. . y: and such are the parables we set forth for mankind, but only those understand them who have knowledge. p: as for these similitudes, we coin them for mankind, but none will grasp their meaning save the wise. s: and (as for) these examples, we set them forth for men, and none understand them but the learned. . y: allah created the heavens and the earth in true (proportions): verily in that is a sign for those who believe. p: allah created the heavens and the earth with truth. lo! therein is indeed a portent for believers. s: allah created the heavens and the earth with truth; most surely there is a sign in this for the believers. . y: recite what is sent of the book by inspiration to thee, and establish regular prayer: for prayer restrains from shameful and unjust deeds; and remembrance of allah is the greatest (thing in life) without doubt. and allah knows the (deeds) that ye do. p: recite that which hath been inspired in thee of the scripture, and establish worship. lo! worship preserveth from lewdness and iniquity, but verily remembrance of allah is more important. and allah knoweth what ye do. s: recite that which has been revealed to you of the book and keep up prayer; surely prayer keeps (one) away from indecency and evil, and certainly the remembrance of allah is the greatest, and allah knows what you do. . y: and dispute ye not with the people of the book, except with means better (than mere disputation), unless it be with those of them who inflict wrong (and injury): but say, "we believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; our allah and your allah is one; and it is to him we bow (in islam)." p: and argue not with the people of the scripture unless it be in (a way) that is better, save with such of them as do wrong; and say: we believe in that which hath been revealed unto us and revealed unto you; our allah and your allah is one, and unto him we surrender. s: and do not dispute with the followers of the book except by what is best, except those of them who act unjustly, and say: we believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you, and our allah and your allah is one, and to him do we submit. . y: and thus (it is) that we have sent down the book to thee. so the people of the book believe therein, as also do some of these (pagan arabs): and none but unbelievers reject our signs. p: in like manner we have revealed unto thee the scripture, and those unto whom we gave the scripture aforetime will believe therein; and of these (also) there are some who believe therein. and none deny our revelations save the disbelievers. s: and thus have we revealed the book to you. so those whom we have given the book believe in it, and of these there are those who believe in it, and none deny our communications except the unbelievers. . y: and thou wast not (able) to recite a book before this (book came), nor art thou (able) to transcribe it with thy right hand: in that case, indeed, would the talkers of vanities have doubted. p: and thou (o muhammad) wast not a reader of any scripture before it, nor didst thou write it with thy right hand, for then might those have doubted, who follow falsehood. s: and you did not recite before it any book, nor did you transcribe one with your right hand, for then could those who say untrue things have doubted. . y: nay, here are signs self-evident in the hearts of those endowed with knowledge: and none but the unjust reject our signs. p: but it is clear revelations in the hearts of those who have been given knowledge, and none deny our revelations save wrong-doers. s: nay! these are clear communications in the breasts of those who are granted knowledge; and none deny our communications except the unjust. . y: ye they say: "why are not signs sent down to him from his lord?" say: "the signs are indeed with allah: and i am indeed a clear warner." p: and they say: why are not portents sent down upon him from his lord? say: portents are with allah only, and i am but a plain warner. s: and they say: why are not signs sent down upon him from his lord? say: the signs are only with allah, and i am only a plain warner. . y: and is it not enough for them that we have sent down to thee the book which is rehearsed to them? verily, in it is mercy and a reminder to those who believe. p: is it not enough for them that we have sent down unto thee the scripture which is read unto them? lo! herein verily is mercy, and a reminder for folk who believe. s: is it not enough for them that we have revealed to you the book which is recited to them? most surely there is mercy in this and a reminder for a people who believe. . y: say: "enough is allah for a witness between me and you: he knows what is in the heavens and on earth." and it is those who believe in vanities and reject allah, that will perish (in the end). p: say (unto them, o muhammad): allah sufficeth for witness between me and you. he knoweth whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth. and those who believe in vanity and disbelieve in allah, they it is who are the losers. s: say: allah is sufficient as a witness between me and you; he knows what is in the heavens and the earth. and (as for) those who believe in the falsehood and disbelieve in allah, these it is that are the losers. . y: they ask thee to hasten on the punishment (for them): had it not been for a term (of respite) appointed, the punishment would certainly have come to them: and it will certainly reach them,- of a sudden, while they perceive not! p: they bid thee hasten on the doom (of allah). and if a term had not been appointed, the doom would assuredly have come unto them (ere now). and verily it will come upon them suddenly when they perceive not. s: and they ask you to hasten on the chastisement; and had not a term been appointed, the chastisement would certainly have come to them; and most certainly it will come to them all of a sudden while they will not perceive. . y: they ask thee to hasten on the punishment: but, of a surety, hell will encompass the rejecters of faith!- p: they bid thee hasten on the doom, when lo! hell verily will encompass the disbelievers. s: they ask you to hasten on the chastisement, and most surely hell encompasses the unbelievers; . y: on the day that the punishment shall cover them from above them and from below them, and (a voice) shall say: "taste ye (the fruits) of your deeds!" p: on the day when the doom will overwhelm them from above them and from underneath their feet, and he will say: taste what ye used to do! s: on the day when the chastisement shall cover them from above them, and from beneath their feet; and he shall say: taste what you did. . y: o my servants who believe! truly, spacious is my earth: therefore serve ye me - (and me alone)! p: o my bondmen who believe! lo! my earth is spacious. therefor serve me only. s: o my servants who believe! surely my earth is vast, therefore me alone should you serve. . y: every soul shall have a taste of death: in the end to us shall ye be brought back. p: every soul will taste of death. then unto us ye will be returned. s: every soul must taste of death, then to us you shall be brought back. . y: but those who believe and work deeds of righteousness - to them shall we give a home in heaven,- lofty mansions beneath which flow rivers,- to dwell therein for aye;- an excellent reward for those who do (good)!- p: those who believe and do good works, them verily we shall house in lofty dwellings of the garden underneath which rivers flow. there they will dwell secure. how sweet the guerdon of the toilers, s: and (as for) those who believe and do good, we will certainly give them abode in the high places in gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein; how good the reward of the workers: . y: those who persevere in patience, and put their trust, in their lord and cherisher. p: who persevere, and put their trust in their lord! s: those who are patient, and on their lord do they rely. . y: how many are the creatures that carry not their own sustenance? it is allah who feeds (both) them and you: for he hears and knows (all things). p: and how many an animal there is that beareth not its own provision! allah provideth for it and for you. he is the hearer, the knower. s: and how many a living creature that does not carry its sustenance: allah sustains it and yourselves; and he is the hearing, the knowing. . y: if indeed thou ask them who has created the heavens and the earth and subjected the sun and the moon (to his law), they will certainly reply, "allah". how are they then deluded away (from the truth)? p: and if thou wert to ask them: who created the heavens and the earth, and constrained the sun and the moon (to their appointed work)? they would say: allah. how then are they turned away? s: and if you ask them, who created the heavens and the earth and made the sun and the moon subservient, they will certainly say, allah. whence are they then turned away? . y: allah enlarges the sustenance (which he gives) to whichever of his servants he pleases; and he (similarly) grants by (strict) measure, (as he pleases): for allah has full knowledge of all things. p: allah maketh the provision wide for whom he will of his bondmen, and straiteneth it for whom (he will). lo! allah is aware of all things. s: allah makes abundant the means of subsistence for whom he pleases of his servants, and straitens them for whom (he pleases) surely allah is cognizant of all things. . y: and if indeed thou ask them who it is that sends down rain from the sky, and gives life therewith to the earth after its death, they will certainly reply, "allah!" say, "praise be to allah!" but most of them understand not. p: and if thou wert to ask them: who causeth water to come down from the sky, and therewith reviveth the earth after its death? they verily would say: allah. say: praise be to allah! but most of them have no sense. s: and if you ask them who is it that sends down water from the clouds, then gives life to the earth with it after its death, they will certainly say, allah. say: all praise is due to allah. nay, most of them do not understand. . y: what is the life of this world but amusement and play? but verily the home in the hereafter,- that is life indeed, if they but knew. p: this life of the world is but a pastime and a game. lo! the home of the hereafter - that is life, if they but knew. s: and this life of the world is nothing but a sport and a play; and as for the next abode, that most surely is the life-- did they but know! . y: now, if they embark on a boat, they call on allah, making their devotion sincerely (and exclusively) to him; but when he has delivered them safely to (dry) land, behold, they give a share (of their worship to others)!- p: and when they mount upon the ships they pray to allah, making their faith pure for him only, but when he bringeth them safe to land, behold! they ascribe partners (unto him), s: so when they ride in the ships they call upon allah, being sincerely obedient to him, but when he brings them safe to the land, lo! they associate others (with him); . y: disdaining ungratefully our gifts, and giving themselves up to (worldly) enjoyment! but soon will they know. p: that they may disbelieve in that which we have given them, and that they may take their ease. but they will come to know. s: thus they become ungrateful for what we have given them, so that they may enjoy; but they shall soon know. . y: do they not then see that we have made a sanctuary secure, and that men are being snatched away from all around them? then, do they believe in that which is vain, and reject the grace of allah? p: have they not seen that we have appointed a sanctuary immune (from violence), while mankind are ravaged all around them? do they then believe in falsehood and disbelieve in the bounty of allah? s: do they not see that we have made a sacred territory secure, while men are carried off by force from around them? will they still believe in the falsehood and disbelieve in the favour of allah? . y: and who does more wrong than he who invents a lie against allah or rejects the truth when it reaches him? is there not a home in hell for those who reject faith? p: who doeth greater wrong than he who inventeth a lie concerning allah, or denieth the truth when it cometh unto him? is not there a home in hell for disbelievers? s: and who is more unjust than one who forges a lie against allah, or gives the lie to the truth when it has come to him? will not in hell be the abode of the unbelievers? . y: and those who strive in our (cause),- we will certainly guide them to our paths: for verily allah is with those who do right. p: as for those who strive in us, we surely guide them to our paths, and lo! allah is with the good. s: and (as for) those who strive hard for us, we will most certainly guide them in our ways; and allah is most surely with the doers of good. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-room (the romans, the byzantines) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: a. l. m. p: alif. lam. mim. s: alif lam mim. . y: the roman empire has been defeated- p: the romans have been defeated, s: the romans are vanquished, . y: in a land close by; but they, (even) after (this) defeat of theirs, will soon be victorious- p: in the nearer land, and they, after their defeat will be victorious, s: in a near land, and they, after being vanquished, shall overcome, . y: within a few years. with allah is the decision, in the past and in the future: on that day shall the believers rejoice- p: within ten years - allah's is the command in the former case and in the latter - and in that day believers will rejoice, s: within a few years. allah's is the command before and after; and on that day the believers shall rejoice, . y: with the help of allah. he helps whom he will, and he is exalted in might, most merciful. p: in allah's help to victory. he helpeth to victory whom he will. he is the mighty, the merciful. s: with the help of allah; he helps whom he pleases; and he is the mighty, the merciful; . y: (it is) the promise of allah. never does allah depart from his promise: but most men understand not. p: it is a promise of allah. allah faileth not his promise, but most of mankind know not. s: (this is) allah's promise! allah will not fail his promise, but most people do not know. . y: they know but the outer (things) in the life of this world: but of the end of things they are heedless. p: they know only some appearance of the life of the world, and are heedless of the hereafter. s: they know the outward of this world's life, but of the hereafter they are absolutely heedless. . y: do they not reflect in their own minds? not but for just ends and for a term appointed, did allah create the heavens and the earth, and all between them: yet are there truly many among men who deny the meeting with their lord (at the resurrection)! p: have they not pondered upon themselves? allah created not the heavens and the earth, and that which is between them, save with truth and for a destined end. but truly many of mankind are disbelievers in the meeting with their lord. s: do they not reflect within themselves: allah did not create the heavens and the earth and what is between them two but with truth, and (for) an appointed term? and most surely most of the people are deniers of the meeting of their lord. . y: do they not travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those before them? they were superior to them in strength: they tilled the soil and populated it in greater numbers than these have done: there came to them their messengers with clear (signs). (which they rejected, to their own destruction): it was not allah who wronged them, but they wronged their own souls. p: have they not travelled in the land and seen the nature of the consequence for those who were before them? they were stronger than these in power, and they dug the earth and built upon it more than these have built. messengers of their own came unto them with clear proofs (of allah's sovereignty). surely allah wronged them not, but they did wrong themselves. s: have they not travelled in the earth and seen how was the end of those before them? they were stronger than these in prowess, and dug up the earth, and built on it in greater abundance than these have built on it, and there came to them their messengers with clear arguments; so it was not beseeming for allah that he should deal with them unjustly, but they dealt unjustly with their own souls. . y: in the long run evil in the extreme will be the end of those who do evil; for that they rejected the signs of allah, and held them up to ridicule. p: then evil was the consequence to those who dealt in evil, because they denied the revelations of allah and made a mock of them. s: then evil was the end of those who did evil, because they | rejected the communications of allah and used to mock them. . y: it is allah who begins (the process of) creation; then repeats it; then shall ye be brought back to him. p: allah produceth creation, then he reproduceth it, then unto him ye will be returned. s: allah originates the creation, then reproduces it, then to him you shall be brought back. . y: on the day that the hour will be established, the guilty will be struck dumb with despair. p: and in the day when the hour riseth the unrighteous will despair. s: and at the time when the hour shall come the guilty shall be in despair. . y: no intercessor will they have among their "partners" and they will (themselves) reject their "partners". p: there will be none to intercede for them of those whom they made equal with allah. and they will reject their partners (whom they ascribed unto him). s: and they shall not have any intercessors from among their gods they have joined with allah, and they shall be deniers of their associate-gods. . y: on the day that the hour will be established,- that day shall (all men) be sorted out. p: in the day when the hour cometh, in that day they will be sundered. s: and at the time when the hour shall come, at that time they shall become separated one from the other. . y: then those who have believed and worked righteous deeds, shall be made happy in a mead of delight. p: as for those who believed and did good works, they will be made happy in a garden. s: then as to those who believed and did good, they shall be made happy in a garden. . y: and those who have rejected faith and falsely denied our signs and the meeting of the hereafter,- such shall be brought forth to punishment. p: but as for those who disbelieved and denied our revelations, and denied the meeting of the hereafter, such will be brought to doom. s: and as to those who disbelieved and rejected our communications and the meeting of the hereafter, these shall be brought over to the chastisement. . y: so (give) glory to allah, when ye reach eventide and when ye rise in the morning; p: so glory be to allah when ye enter the night and when ye enter the morning - s: therefore glory be to allah when you enter upon the time of the evening and when you enter upon the time of the morning. . y: yea, to him be praise, in the heavens and on earth; and in the late afternoon and when the day begins to decline. p: unto him be praise in the heavens and the earth! - and at the sun's decline and in the noonday. s: and to him belongs praise in the heavens and the earth, and at nightfall and when you are at midday. . y: it is he who brings out the living from the dead, and brings out the dead from the living, and who gives life to the earth after it is dead: and thus shall ye be brought out (from the dead). p: he bringeth forth the living from the dead, and he bringeth forth the dead from the living, and he reviveth the earth after her death. and even so will ye be brought forth. s: he brings forth the living from the dead and brings forth the dead from the living, and gives life to the earth after its death, and thus shall you be brought forth. . y: among his signs in this, that he created you from dust; and then,- behold, ye are men scattered (far and wide)! p: and of his signs is this: he created you of dust, and behold you human beings, ranging widely! s: and one of his signs is that he created you from dust, then lo! you are mortals (who) scatter. . y: and among his signs is this, that he created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquillity with them, and he has put love and mercy between your (hearts): verily in that are signs for those who reflect. p: and of his signs is this: he created for you helpmeets from yourselves that ye might find rest in them, and he ordained between you love and mercy. lo! herein indeed are portents for folk who reflect. s: and one of his signs is that he created mates for you from yourselves that you may find rest in them, and he put between you love and compassion; most surely there are signs in this for a people who reflect. . y: and among his signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations in your languages and your colours: verily in that are signs for those who know. p: and of his signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the difference of your languages and colours. lo! herein indeed are portents for men of knowledge. s: and one of his signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the diversity of your tongues and colors; most surely there are signs in this for the learned. . y: and among his signs is the sleep that ye take by night and by day, and the quest that ye (make for livelihood) out of his bounty: verily in that are signs for those who hearken. p: and of his signs is your slumber by night and by day, and your seeking of his bounty. lo! herein indeed are portents for folk who heed. s: and one of his signs is your sleeping and your seeking of his grace by night and (by) day; most surely there are signs in this for a people who would hear. . y: and among his signs, he shows you the lightning, by way both of fear and of hope, and he sends down rain from the sky and with it gives life to the earth after it is dead: verily in that are signs for those who are wise. p: and of his signs is this: he showeth you the lightning for a fear and for a hope, and sendeth down water from the sky, and thereby quickeneth the earth after her death. lo! herein indeed are portents for folk who understand. s: and one of his signs is that he shows you the lightning for fear and for hope, and sends down water from the clouds then gives life therewith to the earth after its death; most surely there are signs in this for a people who understand. . y: and among his signs is this, that heaven and earth stand by his command: then when he calls you, by a single call, from the earth, behold, ye (straightway) come forth. p: and of his signs is this: the heavens and the earth stand fast by his command, and afterward, when he calleth you, lo! from the earth ye will emerge. s: and one of his signs is that the heaven and the earth subsist by his command, then when he calls you with a (single) call from out of the earth, lo! you come forth. . y: to him belongs every being that is in the heavens and on earth: all are devoutly obedient to him. p: unto him belongeth whosoever is in the heavens and the earth. all are obedient unto him. s: and his is whosoever is in the heavens and the earth; all are obedient to him. . y: it is he who begins (the process of) creation; then repeats it; and for him it is most easy. to him belongs the loftiest similitude (we can think of) in the heavens and the earth: for he is exalted in might, full of wisdom. p: he it is who produceth creation, then reproduceth it, and it is easier for him. his is the sublime similitude in the heavens and the earth. he is the mighty, the wise. s: and he it is who originates the creation, then reproduces it, and it is easy to him; and his are the most exalted attributes in the heavens and the earth, and he is the mighty, the wise. . y: he does propound to you a similitude from your own (experience): do ye have partners among those whom your right hands possess, to share as equals in the wealth we have bestowed on you? do ye fear them as ye fear each other? thus do we explain the signs in detail to a people that understand. p: he coineth for you a similitude of yourselves. have ye, from among those whom your right hands possess, partners in the wealth we have bestowed upon you, equal with you in respect thereof, so that ye fear them as ye fear each other (that ye ascribe unto us partners out of that which we created)? thus we display the revelations for people who have sense. s: he sets forth to you a parable relating to yourselves: have you among those whom your right hands possess partners in what we have given you for sustenance, so that with respect to it you are alike; you fear them as you fear each other? thus do we make the communications distinct for a people who understand. . y: nay, the wrong-doers (merely) follow their own lusts, being devoid of knowledge. but who will guide those whom allah leaves astray? to them there will be no helpers. p: nay, but those who do wrong follow their own lusts without knowledge. who is able to guide him whom allah hath sent astray? for such there are no helpers. s: nay! those who are unjust follow their low desires without any knowledge; so who can guide him whom allah makes err? and they shall have no helpers. . y: so set thou thy face steadily and truly to the faith: (establish) allah's handiwork according to the pattern on which he has made mankind: no change (let there be) in the work (wrought) by allah: that is the standard religion: but most among mankind understand not. p: so set thy purpose (o muhammad) for religion as a man by nature upright - the nature (framed) of allah, in which he hath created man. there is no altering (the laws of) allah's creation. that is the right religion, but most men know not - s: then set your face upright for religion in the right state-- the nature made by allah in which he has made men; there is no altering of allah's creation; that is the right religion, but most people do not know-- . y: turn ye back in repentance to him, and fear him: establish regular prayers, and be not ye among those who join gods with allah,- p: turning unto him (only); and be careful of your duty unto him and establish worship, and be not of those who ascribe partners (unto him); s: turning to him, and be careful of (your duty to) him and keep up prayer and be not of the polytheists, . y: those who split up their religion, and become (mere) sects,- each party rejoicing in that which is with itself! p: of those who split up their religion and became schismatics, each sect exulting in its tenets. s: of those who divided their religion and became sects, every sect rejoicing in what they had with them. . y: when trouble touches men, they cry to their lord, turning back to him in repentance: but when he gives them a taste of mercy as from himself, behold, some of them pay part-worship to other god's besides their lord,- p: and when harm toucheth men they cry unto their lord, turning to him in repentance; then, when they have tasted of his mercy, behold! some of them attribute partners to their lord. s: and when harm afflicts men, they call upon their lord, turning to him, then when he makes them taste of mercy from him, lo! some of them begin to associate (others) with their lord, . y: (as if) to show their ingratitude for the (favours) we have bestowed on them! then enjoy (your brief day); but soon will ye know (your folly). p: so as to disbelieve in that which we have given them. (unto such it is said): enjoy yourselves awhile, but ye will come to know. s: so as to be ungrateful for what we have given them; but enjoy yourselves (for a while), for you shall soon come to know. . y: or have we sent down authority to them, which points out to them the things to which they pay part-worship? p: or have we revealed unto them any warrant which speaketh of that which they associate with him? s: or, have we sent down upon them an authority so that it speaks of that which they associate with him? . y: when we give men a taste of mercy, they exult thereat: and when some evil afflicts them because of what their (own) hands have sent forth, behold, they are in despair! p: and when we cause mankind to taste of mercy they rejoice therein; but if an evil thing befall them as the consequence of their own deeds, lo! they are in despair! s: and when we make people taste of mercy they rejoice in it, and if an evil befall them for what their hands have already wrought, lo! they are in despair. . y: see they not that allah enlarges the provision and restricts it, to whomsoever he pleases? verily in that are signs for those who believe. p: see they not that allah enlargeth the provision for whom he will, and straiteneth (it for whom he will). lo! herein indeed are portents for folk who believe. s: do they not see that allah makes ample provision for whom he pleases, or straitens? most surely there are signs in this for a people who believe. . y: so give what is due to kindred, the needy, and the wayfarer. that is best for those who seek the countenance, of allah, and it is they who will prosper. p: so give to the kinsman his due, and to the needy, and to the wayfarer. that is best for those who seek allah's countenance. and such are they who are successful. s: then give to the near of kin his due, and to the needy and the wayfarer; this is best for those who desire allah's pleasure, and these it is who are successful. . y: that which ye lay out for increase through the property of (other) people, will have no increase with allah: but that which ye lay out for charity, seeking the countenance of allah, (will increase): it is these who will get a recompense multiplied. p: that which ye give in usury in order that it may increase on (other) people's property hath no increase with allah; but that which ye give in charity, seeking allah's countenance, hath increase manifold. s: and whatever you lay out as usury, so that it may increase in the property of men, it shall not increase with allah; and whatever you give in charity, desiring allah's pleasure-- it is these (persons) that shall get manifold. . y: it is allah who has created you: further, he has provided for your sustenance; then he will cause you to die; and again he will give you life. are there any of your (false) "partners" who can do any single one of these things? glory to him! and high is he above the partners they attribute (to him)! p: allah is he who created you and then sustained you, then causeth you to die, then giveth life to you again. is there any of your (so-called) partners (of allah) that doeth aught of that? praised and exalted be he above what they associate (with him)! s: allah is he who created you, then gave you sustenance, then he causes you to die, then brings you to life. is there any of your associate-gods who does aught of it? glory be to him, and exalted be he above what they associate (with him). . y: mischief has appeared on land and sea because of (the meed) that the hands of men have earned, that (allah) may give them a taste of some of their deeds: in order that they may turn back (from evil). p: corruption doth appear on land and sea because of (the evil) which men's hands have done, that he may make them taste a part of that which they have done, in order that they may return. s: corruption has appeared in the land and the sea on account of what the hands of men have wrought, that he may make them taste a part of that which they have done, so that they may return. . y: say: "travel through the earth and see what was the end of those before (you): most of them worshipped others besides allah." p: say (o muhammad, to the disbelievers): travel in the land, and see the nature of the consequence for those who were before you! most of them were idolaters. s: say: travel in the land, then see how was the end of those before; most of them were polytheists. . y: but set thou thy face to the right religion before there come from allah the day which there is no chance of averting: on that day shall men be divided (in two). p: so set thy purpose resolutely for the right religion, before the inevitable day cometh from allah. on that day mankind will be sundered- s: then turn thy face straight to the right religion before there come from allah the day which cannot be averted; on that day they shall become separated. . y: those who reject faith will suffer from that rejection: and those who work righteousness will spread their couch (of repose) for themselves (in heaven): p: whoso disbelieveth must (then) bear the consequences of his disbelief, while those who do right make provision for themselves - s: whoever disbelieves, he shall be responsible for his disbelief, and whoever does good, they prepare (good) for their own souls, . y: that he may reward those who believe and work righteous deeds, out of his bounty. for he loves not those who reject faith. p: that he may reward out of his bounty those who believe and do good works. lo! he loveth not the disbelievers (in his guidance). s: that he may reward those who believe and do good out of his grace; surely he does not love the unbelievers. . y: among his signs is this, that he sends the winds, as heralds of glad tidings, giving you a taste of his (grace and) mercy,- that the ships may sail (majestically) by his command and that ye may seek of his bounty: in order that ye may be grateful. p: and of his signs is this: he sendeth herald winds to make you taste his mercy, and that the ships may sail at his command, and that ye may seek his favour, and that haply ye may be thankful. s: and one of his signs is that he sends forth the winds bearing good news, and that he may make your taste of his mercy, and that the ships may run by his command, and that you may seek of his grace, and that you may be grateful. . y: we did indeed send, before thee, messengers to their (respective) peoples, and they came to them with clear signs: then, to those who transgressed, we meted out retribution: and it was due from us to aid those who believed. p: verily we sent before thee (muhammad) messengers to their own folk. then we took vengeance upon those who were guilty (in regard to them). to help believers is ever incumbent upon us. s: and certainly we sent before you messengers to their people, so they came to them with clear arguments, then we gave the punishment to those who were guilty; and helping the believers is ever incumbent on us. . y: it is allah who sends the winds, and they raise the clouds: then does he spread them in the sky as he wills, and break them into fragments, until thou seest rain-drops issue from the midst thereof: then when he has made them reach such of his servants as he wills behold, they do rejoice!- p: allah is he who sendeth the winds so that they raise clouds, and spreadeth them along the sky as pleaseth him, and causeth them to break and thou seest the rain downpouring from within them. and when he maketh it to fall on whom he will of his bondmen, lo! they rejoice; s: allah is he who sends forth the winds so they raise a cloud, then he spreads it forth in the sky as he pleases, and he breaks it up so that you see the rain coming forth from inside it; then when he causes it to fall upon whom he pleases of his servants, lo! they are joyful, . y: even though, before they received (the rain) - just before this - they were dumb with despair! p: though before that, even before it was sent down upon them, they were in despair. s: though they were before this, before it was sent down upon them, confounded in sure despair. . y: then contemplate (o man!) the memorials of allah's mercy!- how he gives life to the earth after its death: verily the same will give life to the men who are dead: for he has power over all things. p: look, therefore, at the prints of allah's mercy (in creation): how he quickeneth the earth after her death. lo! he verily is the quickener of the dead, and he is able to do all things. s: look then at the signs of allah's mercy, how he gives life to the earth after its death, most surely he will raise the dead to life; and he has power over all things. . y: and if we (but) send a wind from which they see (their tilth) turn yellow,- behold, they become, thereafter, ungrateful (unbelievers)! p: and if we sent a wind and they beheld it yellow, they verily would still continue in their disbelief. s: and if we send a wind and they see it to be yellow, they would after that certainly continue to disbelieve, . y: so verily thou canst not make the dead to hear, nor canst thou make the deaf to hear the call, when they show their backs and turn away. p: for verily thou (muhammad) canst not make the dead to hear, nor canst thou make the deaf to hear the call when they have turned to flee. s: for surely you cannot, make the dead to hear and you cannot make the deaf to hear the call, when they turn back and flee. . y: nor canst thou lead back the blind from their straying: only those wilt thou make to hear, who believe in our signs and submit (their wills in islam). p: nor canst thou guide the blind out of their error. thou canst make none to hear save those who believe in our revelations so that they surrender (unto him). s: nor can you lead away the blind out of their error. you cannot make to hear any but those who believe in our communications so they shall submit. . y: it is allah who created you in a state of (helpless) weakness, then gave (you) strength after weakness, then, after strength, gave (you) weakness and a hoary head: he creates as he wills, and it is he who has all knowledge and power. p: allah is he who shaped you out of weakness, then appointed after weakness strength, then, after strength, appointed weakness and grey hair. he createth what he will. he is the knower, the mighty. s: allah is he who created you from a state of weakness then he gave strength after weakness, then ordained weakness and hoary hair after strength; he creates what he pleases, and he is the knowing, the powerful. . y: on the day that the hour (of reckoning) will be established, the transgressors will swear that they tarried not but an hour: thus were they used to being deluded! p: and on the day when the hour riseth the guilty will vow that they did tarry but an hour - thus were they ever deceived. s: and at the time when the hour shall come, the guilty shall swear (that) they did not tarry but an hour; thus are they ever turned away. . y: but those endued with knowledge and faith will say: "indeed ye did tarry, within allah's decree, to the day of resurrection, and this is the day of resurrection: but ye - ye were not aware!" p: but those to whom knowledge and faith are given will say: the truth is, ye have tarried, by allah's decree, until the day of resurrection. this is the day of resurrection, but ye used not to know. s: and those who are given knowledge and faith will say: certainly you tarried according to the ordinance of allah till the day of resurrection, so this is the day of resurrection, but you did not know. . y: so on that day no excuse of theirs will avail the transgressors, nor will they be invited (then) to seek grace (by repentance). p: in that day their excuses will not profit those who did injustice, nor will they be allowed to make amends. s: but on that day their excuse shall not profit those who were unjust, nor shall they be regarded with goodwill. . y: verily we have propounded for men, in this qur'an every kind of parable: but if thou bring to them any sign, the unbelievers are sure to say, "ye do nothing but talk vanities." p: verily we have coined for mankind in this qur'an all kinds of similitudes; and indeed if thou camest unto them with a miracle, those who disbelieve would verily exclaim: ye are but tricksters! s: and certainly we have set forth for men every kind of example in this quran; and if you should bring them a communication, those who disbelieve would certainly say: you are naught but false claimants. . y: thus does allah seal up the hearts of those who understand not. p: thus doth allah seal the hearts of those who know not. s: thus does allah set a seal on the hearts of those who do not know. . y: so patiently persevere: for verily the promise of allah is true: nor let those shake thy firmness, who have (themselves) no certainty of faith. p: so have patience (o muhammad)! allah's promise is the very truth, and let not those who have no certainty make thee impatient. s: therefore be patient; surely the promise of allah is true and let not those who have no certainty hold you in light estimation. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : luqman (luqman) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: a. l. m. p: alif. lam. mim. s: alif lam mim. . y: these are verses of the wise book,- p: these are revelations of the wise scripture, s: these are verses of the book of wisdom . y: a guide and a mercy to the doers of good,- p: a guidance and a mercy for the good, s: a guidance and a mercy for the doers of goodness, . y: those who establish regular prayer, and give regular charity, and have (in their hearts) the assurance of the hereafter. p: those who establish worship and pay the poor-due and have sure faith in the hereafter. s: those who keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and they are certain of the hereafter. . y: these are on (true) guidance from their lord: and these are the ones who will prosper. p: such have guidance from their lord. such are the successful. s: these are on a guidance from their lord, and these are they who are successful: . y: but there are, among men, those who purchase idle tales, without knowledge (or meaning), to mislead (men) from the path of allah and throw ridicule (on the path): for such there will be a humiliating penalty. p: and of mankind is he who payeth for mere pastime of discourse, that he may mislead from allah's way without knowledge, and maketh it the butt of mockery. for such there is a shameful doom. s: and of men is he who takes instead frivolous discourse to lead astray from allah's path without knowledge, and to take it for a mockery; these shall have an abasing chastisement. . y: when our signs are rehearsed to such a one, he turns away in arrogance, as if he heard them not, as if there were deafness in both his ears: announce to him a grievous penalty. p: and when our revelations are recited unto him he turneth away in pride as if he heard them not, as if there were a deafness in his ears. so give him tidings of a painful doom. s: and when our communications are recited to him, he turns back proudly, as if he had not heard them, as though in his ears were a heaviness, therefore announce to him a painful chastisement. . y: for those who believe and work righteous deeds, there will be gardens of bliss,- p: lo! those who believe and do good works, for them are the gardens of delight, s: (as for) those who believe and do good, they shall surely have gardens of bliss, . y: to dwell therein. the promise of allah is true: and he is exalted in power, wise. p: wherein they will abide. it is a promise of allah in truth. he is the mighty, the wise. s: abiding in them; the promise of allah; (a) true (promise), and he is the mighty, the wise. . y: he created the heavens without any pillars that ye can see; he set on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with you; and he scattered through it beasts of all kinds. we send down rain from the sky, and produce on the earth every kind of noble creature, in pairs. p: he hath created the heavens without supports that ye can see, and hath cast into the earth firm hills, so that it quake not with you; and he hath dispersed therein all kinds of beasts. and we send down water from the sky and we cause (plants) of every goodly kind to grow therein. s: he created the heavens without pillars as you see them, and put mountains upon the earth lest it might convulse with you, and he spread in it animals of every kind; and we sent down water from the cloud, then caused to grow therein (vegetation) of every noble kind. . y: such is the creation of allah: now show me what is there that others besides him have created: nay, but the transgressors are in manifest error. p: this is the creation of allah. now show me that which those (ye worship) beside him have created. nay, but the wrong-doers are in error manifest! s: this is allah's creation, but show me what those besides him have created. nay, the unjust are in manifest error. . y: we bestowed (in the past) wisdom on luqman: "show (thy) gratitude to allah." any who is (so) grateful does so to the profit of his own soul: but if any is ungrateful, verily allah is free of all wants, worthy of all praise. p: and verily we gave luqman wisdom, saying: give thanks unto allah; and whosoever giveth thanks, he giveth thanks for (the good of) his soul. and whosoever refuseth - lo! allah is absolute, owner of praise. s: and certainly we gave wisdom to luqman, saying: be grateful to allah. and whoever is grateful, he is only grateful for his own soul; and whoever is ungrateful, then surely allah is self-sufficient, praised. . y: behold, luqman said to his son by way of instruction: "o my son! join not in worship (others) with allah: for false worship is indeed the highest wrong-doing." p: and (remember) when luqman said unto his son, when he was exhorting him: o my dear son! ascribe no partners unto allah. lo! to ascribe partners (unto him) is a tremendous wrong - s: and when luqman said to his son while he admonished him: o my son! do not associate aught with allah; most surely polytheism is a grievous iniquity- . y: and we have enjoined on man (to be good) to his parents: in travail upon travail did his mother bear him, and in years twain was his weaning: (hear the command), "show gratitude to me and to thy parents: to me is (thy final) goal." p: and we have enjoined upon man concerning his partners - his mother beareth him in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is in two years - give thanks unto me and unto thy parents. unto me is the journeying. s: and we have enjoined man in respect of his parents-- his mother bears him with faintings upon faintings and his weaning takes two years-- saying: be grateful to me and to both your parents; to me is the eventual coming. . y: "but if they strive to make thee join in worship with me things of which thou hast no knowledge, obey them not; yet bear them company in this life with justice (and consideration), and follow the way of those who turn to me (in love): in the end the return of you all is to me, and i will tell you the truth (and meaning) of all that ye did." p: but if they strive with thee to make thee ascribe unto me as partner that of which thou hast no knowledge, then obey them not. consort with them in the world kindly, and follow the path of him who repenteth unto me. then unto me will be your return, and i shall tell you what ye used to do - s: and if they contend with you that you should associate with me what you have no knowledge of, do not obey them, and keep company with them in this world kindly, and follow the way of him who turns to me, then to me is your return, then will i inform you of what you did-- . y: "o my son!" (said luqman), "if there be (but) the weight of a mustard-seed and it were (hidden) in a rock, or (anywhere) in the heavens or on earth, allah will bring it forth: for allah understands the finest mysteries, (and) is well-acquainted (with them)." p: o my dear son! lo! though it be but the weight of a grain of mustard-seed, and though it be in a rock, or in the heavens, or in the earth, allah will bring it forth. lo! allah is subtile, aware. s: o my son! surely if it is the very weight of the grain of a mustard-seed, even though it is in (the heart of) rock, or (high above) in the heaven or (deep down) in the earth, allah will bring it (to light); surely allah is knower of subtleties, aware; . y: "o my son! establish regular prayer, enjoin what is just, and forbid what is wrong: and bear with patient constancy whatever betide thee; for this is firmness (of purpose) in (the conduct of) affairs." p: o my dear son! establish worship and enjoin kindness and forbid iniquity, and persevere whatever may befall thee. lo! that is of the steadfast heart of things. s: o my son! keep up prayer and enjoin the good and forbid the evil, and bear patiently that which befalls you; surely these acts require courage; . y: "and swell not thy cheek (for pride) at men, nor walk in insolence through the earth; for allah loveth not any arrogant boaster." p: turn not thy cheek in scorn toward folk, nor walk with pertness in the land. lo! allah loveth not each braggart boaster. s: and do not turn your face away from people in contempt, nor go about in the land exulting overmuch; surely allah does not love any self-conceited boaster; . y: "and be moderate in thy pace, and lower thy voice; for the harshest of sounds without doubt is the braying of the ass." p: be modest in thy bearing and subdue thy voice. lo! the harshest of all voices is the voice of the ass. s: and pursue the right course in your going about and lower your voice; surely the most hateful of voices is braying of the asses. . y: do ye not see that allah has subjected to your (use) all things in the heavens and on earth, and has made his bounties flow to you in exceeding measure, (both) seen and unseen? yet there are among men those who dispute about allah, without knowledge and without guidance, and without a book to enlighten them! p: see ye not how allah hath made serviceable unto you whatsoever is in the skies and whatsoever is in the earth and hath loaded you with his favours both without and within? yet of mankind is he who disputeth concerning allah, without knowledge or guidance or a scripture giving light. s: do you not see that allah has made what is in the heavens and what is in the earth subservient to you, and made complete to you his favors outwardly and inwardly? and among men is he who disputes in respect of allah though having no knowledge nor guidance, nor a book giving light. . y: when they are told to follow the (revelation) that allah has sent down, they say: "nay, we shall follow the ways that we found our fathers (following)." what! even if it is satan beckoning them to the penalty of the (blazing) fire? p: and if it be said unto them: follow that which allah hath revealed, they say: nay, but we follow that wherein we found our fathers. what! even though the devil were inviting them unto the doom of flame? s: and when it is said to them: follow what allah has revealed, they say: nay, we follow that on which we found our fathers. what! though the shaitan calls them to the chastisement of the burning fire! . y: whoever submits his whole self to allah, and is a doer of good, has grasped indeed the most trustworthy hand-hold: and with allah rests the end and decision of (all) affairs. p: whosoever surrendereth his purpose to allah while doing good, he verily hath grasped the firm hand-hold. unto allah belongeth the sequel of all things. s: and whoever submits himself wholly to allah and he is the doer of good (to others), he indeed has taken hold of the firmest thing upon which one can lay hold; and allah's is the end of affairs. . y: but if any reject faith, let not his rejection grieve thee: to us is their return, and we shall tell them the truth of their deeds: for allah knows well all that is in (men's) hearts. p: and whosoever disbelieveth, let not his disbelief afflict thee (o muhammad). unto us is their return, and we shall tell them what they did. lo! allah is aware of what is in the breasts (of men). s: and whoever disbelieves, let not his disbelief grieve you; to us is their return, then will we inform them of what they did surely allah is the knower of what is in the breasts. . y: we grant them their pleasure for a little while: in the end shall we drive them to a chastisement unrelenting. p: we give them comfort for a little, and then we drive them to a heavy doom. s: we give them to enjoy a little, then will we drive them to a severe chastisement. . y: if thou ask them, who it is that created the heavens and the earth. they will certainly say, "allah". say: "praise be to allah!" but most of them understand not. p: if thou shouldst ask them: who created the heavens and the earth? they would answer: allah. say: praise be to allah! but most of them know not. s: and if you ask them who created the heavens and the earth, they will certainly say: allah. say: (all) praise is due to allah; nay! most of them do not know. . y: to allah belong all things in heaven and earth: verily allah is he (that is) free of all wants, worthy of all praise. p: unto allah belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth. lo! allah, he is the absolute, the owner of praise. s: what is in the heavens and the earth is allah's; surely allah is the self-sufficient, the praised. . y: and if all the trees on earth were pens and the ocean (were ink), with seven oceans behind it to add to its (supply), yet would not the words of allah be exhausted (in the writing): for allah is exalted in power, full of wisdom. p: and if all the trees in the earth were pens, and the sea, with seven more seas to help it, (were ink), the words of allah could not be exhausted. lo! allah is mighty, wise. s: and were every tree that is in the earth (made into) pens and the sea (to supply it with ink), with seven more seas to increase it, the words of allah would not come to an end; surely allah is mighty, wise. . y: and your creation or your resurrection is in no wise but as an individual soul: for allah is he who hears and sees (all things). p: your creation and your raising (from the dead) are only as (the creation and the raising of) a single soul. lo! allah is hearer, knower. s: neither your creation nor your raising is anything but as a single soul; surely allah is hearing, seeing. . y: seest thou not that allah merges night into day and he merges day into night; that he has subjected the sun, and the moon (to his law), each running its course for a term appointed; and that allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do? p: hast thou not seen how allah causeth the night to pass into the day and causeth the day to pass into the night, and hath subdued the sun and the moon (to do their work), each running unto an appointed term; and that allah is informed of what ye do? s: do you not see that allah makes the night to enter into the day, and he makes the day to enter into the night, and he has made the sun and the moon subservient (to you); each pursues its course till an appointed time; and that allah is aware of what you do? . y: that is because allah is the (only) reality, and because whatever else they invoke besides him is falsehood; and because allah,- he is the most high, most great. p: that (is so) because allah, he is the true, and that which they invoke beside him is the false, and because allah, he is the sublime, the great. s: this is because allah is the truth, and that which they call upon besides him is the falsehood, and that allah is the high, the great. . y: seest thou not that the ships sail through the ocean by the grace of allah?- that he may show you of his signs? verily in this are signs for all who constantly persevere and give thanks. p: hast thou not seen how the ships glide on the sea by allah's grace, that he may show you of his wonders? lo! therein indeed are portents for every steadfast, grateful (heart). s: do you not see that the ships run on in the sea by allah's favor that he may show you of his signs? most surely there are signs in this for every patient endurer, grateful one. . y: when a wave covers them like the canopy (of clouds), they call to allah, offering him sincere devotion. but when he has delivered them safely to land, there are among them those that halt between (right and wrong). but none reject our signs except only a perfidious ungrateful (wretch)! p: and if a wave enshroudeth them like awnings, they cry unto allah, making their faith pure for him only. but when he bringeth them safe to land, some of them compromise. none denieth our signs save every traitor ingrate. s: and when a wave like mountains covers them they call upon allah, being sincere to him in obedience, but when he brings them safe to the land, some of them follow the middle course; and none denies our signs but every perfidious, ungrateful one. . y: o mankind! do your duty to your lord, and fear (the coming of) a day when no father can avail aught for his son, nor a son avail aught for his father. verily, the promise of allah is true: let not then this present life deceive you, nor let the chief deceiver deceive you about allah. p: o mankind! keep your duty to your lord and fear a day when the parent will not be able to avail the child in aught, nor the child to avail the parent. lo! allah's promise is the very truth. let not the life of the world beguile you, nor let the deceiver beguile you, in regard to allah. s: o people! guard against (the punishment of) your lord and dread the day when a father shall not make any satisfaction for his son, nor shall the child be the maker of any satisfaction for his father; surely the promise of allah is true, therefore let not this world's life deceive you, nor let the arch-deceiver deceive you in respect of allah. . y: verily the knowledge of the hour is with allah (alone). it is he who sends down rain, and he who knows what is in the wombs. nor does any one know what it is that he will earn on the morrow: nor does any one know in what land he is to die. verily with allah is full knowledge and he is acquainted (with all things). p: lo! allah! with him is knowledge of the hour. he sendeth down the rain, and knoweth that which is in the wombs. no soul knoweth what it will earn to-morrow, and no soul knoweth in what land it will die. lo! allah is knower, aware. s: surely allah is he with whom is the knowledge of the hour, and he sends down the rain and he knows what is in the wombs; and no one knows what he shall earn on the morrow; and no one knows in what land he shall die; surely allah is knowing, aware. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : as-sajda (the prostration, worship, adoration) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: a. l. m. p: alif. lam. mim s: alif lam mim. . y: (this is) the revelation of the book in which there is no doubt,- from the lord of the worlds. p: the revelation of the scripture whereof there is no doubt is from the lord of the worlds. s: the revelation of the book, there is no doubt in it, is from the lord of the worlds. . y: or do they say, "he has forged it"? nay, it is the truth from thy lord, that thou mayest admonish a people to whom no warner has come before thee: in order that they may receive guidance. p: or say they: he hath invented it? nay, but it is the truth from thy lord, that thou mayst warn a folk to whom no warner came before thee, that haply they may walk aright. s: or do they say: he has forged it? nay! it is the truth from your lord that you may warn a people to whom no warner has come before you, that they may follow the right direction. . y: it is allah who has created the heavens and the earth, and all between them, in six days, and is firmly established on the throne (of authority): ye have none, besides him, to protect or intercede (for you): will ye not then receive admonition? p: allah it is who created the heavens and the earth, and that which is between them, in six days. then he mounted the throne. ye have not, beside him, a protecting friend or mediator. will ye not then remember? s: allah is he who created the heavens and the earth and what is between them in six periods, and he mounted the throne (of authority); you have not besides him any guardian or any intercessor, will you not then mind? . y: he rules (all) affairs from the heavens to the earth: in the end will (all affairs) go up to him, on a day, the space whereof will be (as) a thousand years of your reckoning. p: he directeth the ordinance from the heaven unto the earth; then it ascendeth unto him in a day, whereof the measure is a thousand years of that ye reckon. s: he regulates the affair from the heaven to the earth; then shall it ascend to him in a day the measure of which is a thousand years of what you count. . y: such is he, the knower of all things, hidden and open, the exalted (in power), the merciful;- p: such is the knower of the invisible and the visible, the mighty, the merciful, s: this is the knower of the unseen and the seen, the mighty the merciful, . y: he who has made everything which he has created most good: he began the creation of man with (nothing more than) clay, p: who made all things good which he created, and he began the creation of man from clay; s: who made good everything that he has created, and he began the creation of man from dust. . y: and made his progeny from a quintessence of the nature of a fluid despised: p: then he made his seed from a draught of despised fluid; s: then he made his progeny of an extract, of water held in light estimation. . y: but he fashioned him in due proportion, and breathed into him something of his spirit. and he gave you (the faculties of) hearing and sight and feeling (and understanding): little thanks do ye give! p: then he fashioned him and breathed into him of his spirit; and appointed for you hearing and sight and hearts. small thanks give ye! s: then he made him complete and breathed into him of his spirit, and made for you the ears and the eyes and the hearts; little is it that you give thanks. . y: and they say: "what! when we lie, hidden and lost, in the earth, shall we indeed be in a creation renewed? nay, they deny the meeting with their lord." p: and they say: when we are lost in the earth, how can we then be re-created? nay but they are disbelievers in the meeting with their lord. s: and they say: what! when we have become lost in the earth, shall we then certainly be in a new creation? nay! they are disbelievers in the meeting of their lord. . y: say: "the angel of death, put in charge of you, will (duly) take your souls: then shall ye be brought back to your lord." p: say: the angel of death, who hath charge concerning you, will gather you, and afterward unto your lord ye will be returned. s: say: the angel of death who is given charge of you shall cause you to die, then to your lord you shall be brought back. . y: if only thou couldst see when the guilty ones will bend low their heads before their lord, (saying:) "our lord! we have seen and we have heard: now then send us back (to the world): we will work righteousness: for we do indeed (now) believe." p: couldst thou but see when the guilty hang their heads before their lord, (and say): our lord! we have now seen and heard, so send us back; we will do right, now we are sure. s: and could you but see when the guilty shall hang down their heads before their lord: our lord! we have seen and we have heard, therefore send us back, we will do good; surely (now) we are certain. . y: if we had so willed, we could certainly have brought every soul its true guidance: but the word from me will come true, "i will fill hell with jinns and men all together." p: and if we had so willed, we could have given every soul its guidance, but the word from me concerning evildoers took effect: that i will fill hell with the jinn and mankind together. s: and if we had pleased we would certainly have given to every soul its guidance, but the word (which had gone forth) from me was just: i will certainly fill hell with the jinn and men together. . y: "taste ye then - for ye forgot the meeting of this day of yours, and we too will forget you - taste ye the penalty of eternity for your (evil) deeds!" p: so taste (the evil of your deeds). forasmuch as ye forgot the meeting of this your day, lo! we forget you. taste the doom of immortality because of what ye used to do. s: so taste, because you neglected the meeting of this day of yours; surely we forsake you; and taste the abiding chastisement for what you did. . y: only those believe in our signs, who, when they are recited to them, fall down in prostration, and celebrate the praises of their lord, nor are they (ever) puffed up with pride. p: only those believe in our revelations who, when they are reminded of them, fall down prostrate and hymn the praise of their lord, and they are not scornful, s: only they believe in our communications who, when they are reminded of them, fall down in prostration and celebrate the praise of their lord, and they are not proud. . y: their limbs do forsake their beds of sleep, the while they call on their lord, in fear and hope: and they spend (in charity) out of the sustenance which we have bestowed on them. p: who forsake their beds to cry unto their lord in fear and hope, and spend of that we have bestowed on them. s: their sides draw away from (their) beds, they call upon their lord in fear and in hope, and they spend (benevolently) out of what we have given them. . y: now no person knows what delights of the eye are kept hidden (in reserve) for them - as a reward for their (good) deeds. p: no soul knoweth what is kept hid for them of joy, as a reward for what they used to do. s: so no soul knows what is hidden for them of that which will refresh the eyes; a reward for what they did. . y: is then the man who believes no better than the man who is rebellious and wicked? not equal are they. p: is he who is a believer like unto him who is an evil-liver? they are not alike. s: is he then who is a believer like him who is a transgressor? they are not equal. . y: for those who believe and do righteous deeds are gardens as hospitable homes, for their (good) deeds. p: but as for those who believe and do good works, for them are the gardens of retreat - a welcome (in reward) for what they used to do. s: as for those who believe and do good, the gardens are their abiding-place; an entertainment for what they did. . y: as to those who are rebellious and wicked, their abode will be the fire: every time they wish to get away therefrom, they will be forced thereinto, and it will be said to them: "taste ye the penalty of the fire, the which ye were wont to reject as false." p: and as for those who do evil, their retreat is the fire. whenever they desire to issue forth from thence, they are brought back thither. unto them it is said: taste the torment of the fire which ye used to deny. s: and as for those who transgress, their abode is the fire; whenever they desire to go forth from it they shall be brought back into it, and it will be said to them: taste the chastisement of the fire which you called a lie. . y: and indeed we will make them taste of the penalty of this (life) prior to the supreme penalty, in order that they may (repent and) return. p: and verily we make them taste the lower punishment before the greater, that haply they may return. s: and most certainly we will make them taste of the nearer chastisement before the greater chastisement that haply they may turn. . y: and who does more wrong than one to whom are recited the signs of his lord, and who then turns away therefrom? verily from those who transgress we shall exact (due) retribution. p: and who doth greater wrong than he who is reminded of the revelations of his lord, then turneth from them. lo! we shall requite the guilty. s: and who is more unjust than he who is reminded of the communications of his lord, then he turns away from them? surely we will give punishment to the guilty. . y: we did indeed aforetime give the book to moses: be not then in doubt of its reaching (thee): and we made it a guide to the children of israel. p: we verily gave moses the scripture; so be not ye in doubt of his receiving it; and we appointed it a guidance for the children of israel. s: and certainly we gave the book to musa, so be not in doubt concerning the receiving of it, and we made it a guide for the children of israel. . y: and we appointed, from among them, leaders, giving guidance under our command, so long as they persevered with patience and continued to have faith in our signs. p: and when they became steadfast and believed firmly in our revelations, we appointed from among them leaders who guided by our command. s: and we made of them imams to guide by our command when they were patient, and they were certain of our communications. . y: verily thy lord will judge between them on the day of judgment, in the matters wherein they differ (among themselves) p: lo! thy lord will judge between them on the day of resurrection concerning that wherein they used to differ. s: surely your lord will judge between them on the day of resurrection concerning that wherein they differ. . y: does it not teach them a lesson, how many generations we destroyed before them, in whose dwellings they (now) go to and fro? verily in that are signs: do they not then listen? p: is it not a guidance for them (to observe) how many generations we destroyed before them, amid whose dwelling places they do walk? lo! therein verily are portents! will they not then heed? s: does it not point out to them the right way, how many of the generations, in whose abodes they go about, did we destroy before them? most surely there are signs in this; will they not then hear? . y: and do they not see that we do drive rain to parched soil (bare of herbage), and produce therewith crops, providing food for their cattle and themselves? have they not the vision? p: have they not seen how we lead the water to the barren land and therewith bring forth crops whereof their cattle eat, and they themselves? will they not then see? s: do they not see that we drive the water to a land having no herbage, then we bring forth thereby seed-produce of which their cattle and they themselves eat; will they not then see? . y: they say: "when will this decision be, if ye are telling the truth?" p: and they say: when cometh this victory (of yours) if ye are truthful? s: and they say: when will this judgment take place, if you are truthful? . y: say: "on the day of decision, no profit will it be to unbelievers if they (then) believe! nor will they be granted a respite." p: say (unto them): on the day of the victory the faith of those who disbelieve (and who then will believe) will not avail them, neither will they be reprieved. s: say: on the day of judgment the faith of those who (now) disbelieve will not profit them, nor will they be respited. . y: so turn away from them, and wait: they too are waiting. p: so withdraw from them (o muhammad), and await (the event). lo! they (also) are awaiting (it). s: therefore turn away from them and wait, surely they too are waiting. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-ahzab (the clans, the coalition, the combined forces) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: o prophet! fear allah, and hearken not to the unbelievers and the hypocrites: verily allah is full of knowledge and wisdom. p: o prophet! keep thy duty to allah and obey not the disbelievers and the hypocrites. lo! allah is knower, wise. s: o prophet! be careful of (your duty to) allah and do not comply with (the wishes of) the unbelievers and the hypocrites; surely allah is knowing, wise; . y: but follow that which comes to thee by inspiration from thy lord: for allah is well acquainted with (all) that ye do. p: and follow that which is inspired in thee from thy lord. lo! allah is aware of what ye do. s: and follow what is revealed to you from your lord; surely allah is aware of what you do; . y: and put thy trust in allah, and enough is allah as a disposer of affairs. p: and put thy trust in allah, for allah is sufficient as trustee. s: and rely on allah; and allah is sufficient for a protector. . y: allah has not made for any man two hearts in his (one) body: nor has he made your wives whom ye divorce by zihar your mothers: nor has he made your adopted sons your sons. such is (only) your (manner of) speech by your mouths. but allah tells (you) the truth, and he shows the (right) way. p: allah hath not assigned unto any man two hearts within his body, nor hath he made your wives whom ye declare (to be your mothers) your mothers, nor hath he made those whom ye claim (to be your sons) your sons. this is but a saying of your mouths. but allah saith the truth and he showeth the way. s: allah has not made for any man two hearts within him; nor has he made your wives whose backs you liken to the backs of your mothers as your mothers, nor has he made those whom you assert to be your sons your real sons; these are the words of your mouths; and allah speaks the truth and he guides to the way. . y: call them by (the names of) their fathers: that is juster in the sight of allah. but if ye know not their father's (names, call them) your brothers in faith, or your maulas. but there is no blame on you if ye make a mistake therein: (what counts is) the intention of your hearts: and allah is oft-returning, most merciful. p: proclaim their real parentage. that will be more equitable in the sight of allah. and if ye know not their fathers, then (they are) your brethren in the faith, and your clients. and there is no sin for you in the mistakes that ye make unintentionally, but what your hearts purpose (that will be a sin for you). allah is ever forgiving, merciful. s: assert their relationship to their fathers; this is more equitable with allah; but if you do not know their fathers, then they are your brethren in faith and your friends; and there is no blame on you concerning that in which you made a mistake, but (concerning) that which your hearts do purposely (blame may rest on you), and allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: the prophet is closer to the believers than their own selves, and his wives are their mothers. blood-relations among each other have closer personal ties, in the decree of allah. than (the brotherhood of) believers and muhajirs: nevertheless do ye what is just to your closest friends: such is the writing in the decree (of allah). p: the prophet is closer to the believers than their selves, and his wives are (as) their mothers. and the owners of kinship are closer one to another in the ordinance of allah than (other) believers and the fugitives (who fled from mecca), except that ye should do kindness to your friends. this is written in the book (of nature). s: the prophet has a greater claim on the faithful than they have on themselves, and his wives are (as) their mothers; and the possessors of relationship have the better claim in the ordinance of allah to inheritance, one with respect to another, than (other) believers, and (than) those who have fled (their homes), except that you do some good to your friends; this is written in the book. . y: and remember we took from the prophets their covenant: as (we did) from thee: from noah, abraham, moses, and jesus the son of mary: we took from them a solemn covenant: p: and when we exacted a covenant from the prophets, and from thee (o muhammad) and from noah and abraham and moses and jesus son of mary. we took from them a solemn covenant; s: and when we made a covenant with the prophets and with you, and with nuh and ibrahim and musa and isa, son of marium, and we made with them a strong covenant, . y: that (allah) may question the (custodians) of truth concerning the truth they (were charged with): and he has prepared for the unbelievers a grievous penalty. p: that he may ask the loyal of their loyalty. and he hath prepared a painful doom for the unfaithful. s: that he may question the truthful of their truth, and he has prepared for the unbelievers a painful punishment. . y: o ye who believe! remember the grace of allah, (bestowed) on you, when there came down on you hosts (to overwhelm you): but we sent against them a hurricane and forces that ye saw not: but allah sees (clearly) all that ye do. p: o ye who believe! remember allah's favour unto you when there came against you hosts, and we sent against them a great wind and hosts ye could not see. and allah is ever seer of what ye do. s: o you who believe! call to mind the favor of allah to you when there came down upon you hosts, so we sent against them a strong wind and hosts, that you saw not, and allah is seeing what you do. . y: behold! they came on you from above you and from below you, and behold, the eyes became dim and the hearts gaped up to the throats, and ye imagined various (vain) thoughts about allah! p: when they came upon you from above you and from below you, and when eyes grew wild and hearts reached to the throats, and ye were imagining vain thoughts concerning allah. s: when they came upon you from above you and from below you, and when the eyes turned dull, and the hearts rose up to the throats, and you began to think diverse thoughts of allah. . y: in that situation were the believers tried: they were shaken as by a tremendous shaking. p: there were the believers sorely tried, and shaken with a mighty shock. s: there the believers were tried and they were shaken with severe shaking. . y: and behold! the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease (even) say: "allah and his messenger promised us nothing but delusion!" p: and when the hypocrites, and those in whose hearts is a disease, were saying: allah and his messenger promised us naught but delusion. s: and when the hypocrites and those in whose hearts was a disease began to say: allah and his messenger did not promise us (victory) but only to deceive. . y: behold! a party among them said: "ye men of yathrib! ye cannot stand (the attack)! therefore go back!" and a band of them ask for leave of the prophet, saying, "truly our houses are bare and exposed," though they were not exposed they intended nothing but to run away. p: and when a party of them said: o folk of yathrib! there is no stand (possible) for you, therefor turn back. and certain of them (even) sought permission of the prophet, saying: our homes lie open (to the enemy). and they lay not open. they but wished to flee. s: and when a party of them said: o people of yasrib! there is no place to stand for you (here), therefore go back; and a party of them asked permission of the prophet, saying. surely our houses are exposed; and they were not exposed; they only desired to fly away. . y: and if an entry had been effected to them from the sides of the (city), and they had been incited to sedition, they would certainly have brought it to pass, with none but a brief delay! p: if the enemy had entered from all sides and they had been exhorted to treachery, they would have committed it, and would have hesitated thereupon but little. s: and if an entry were made upon them from the outlying parts of it, then they were asked to wage war, they would certainly have done it, and they would not have stayed in it but a little while. . y: and yet they had already covenanted with allah not to turn their backs, and a covenant with allah must (surely) be answered for. p: and verily they had already sworn unto allah that they would not turn their backs (to the foe). an oath to allah must be answered for. s: and certainly they had made a covenant with allah before, (that) they would not turn (their) backs; and allah's covenant shall be inquired of. . y: say: "running away will not profit you if ye are running away from death or slaughter; and even if (ye do escape), no more than a brief (respite) will ye be allowed to enjoy!" p: say: flight will not avail you if ye flee from death or killing, and then ye dwell in comfort but a little while. s: say: flight shall not do you any good if you fly from death or slaughter, and in that case you will not be allowed to enjoy yourselves but a little. . y: say: "who is it that can screen you from allah if it be his wish to give you punishment or to give you mercy?" nor will they find for themselves, besides allah, any protector or helper. p: say: who is he who can preserve you from allah if he intendeth harm for you, or intendeth mercy for you. they will not find that they have any friend or helper other than allah. s: say: who is it that can withhold you from allah if he intends to do you evil, rather he intends to show you mercy? and they will not find for themselves besides allah any guardian or a helper. . y: verily allah knows those among you who keep back (men) and those who say to their brethren, "come along to us", but come not to the fight except for just a little while. p: allah already knoweth those of you who hinder, and those who say unto their brethren: "come ye hither unto us!" and they come not to the stress of battle save a little, s: allah knows indeed those among you who hinder others and those who say to their brethren: come to us; and they come not to the fight but a little, . y: covetous over you. then when fear comes, thou wilt see them looking to thee, their eyes revolving, like (those of) one over whom hovers death: but when the fear is past, they will smite you with sharp tongues, covetous of goods. such men have no faith, and so allah has made their deeds of none effect: and that is easy for allah. p: being sparing of their help to you (believers). but when the fear cometh, then thou (muhammad) seest them regarding thee with rolling eyes like one who fainteth unto death. then, when the fear departeth, they scald you with sharp tongues in their greed for wealth (from the spoil). such have not believed. therefor allah maketh their deeds fruitless. and that is easy for allah. s: being niggardly with respect to you; but when fear comes, you will see them looking to you, their eyes rolling like one swooning because of death; but when the fear is gone they smite you with sharp tongues, being niggardly of the good things. these have not believed, therefore allah has made their doing naught; and this is easy to allah. . y: they think that the confederates have not withdrawn; and if the confederates should come (again), they would wish they were in the deserts (wandering) among the bedouins, and seeking news about you (from a safe distance); and if they were in your midst, they would fight but little. p: they hold that the clans have not retired (for good); and if the clans should advance (again), they would fain be in the desert with the wandering arabs, asking for the news of you; and if they were among you, they would not give battle, save a little. s: they think the allies are not gone, and if the allies should come (again) they would fain be in the deserts with the desert arabs asking for news about you, and if they were among you they would not fight save a little. . y: ye have indeed in the messenger of allah a beautiful pattern (of conduct) for any one whose hope is in allah and the final day, and who engages much in the praise of allah. p: verily in the messenger of allah ye have a good example for him who looketh unto allah and the last day, and remembereth allah much. s: certainly you have in the messenger of allah an excellent exemplar for him who hopes in allah and the latter day and remembers allah much. . y: when the believers saw the confederate forces, they said: "this is what allah and his messenger had promised us, and allah and his messenger told us what was true." and it only added to their faith and their zeal in obedience. p: and when the true believers saw the clans, they said: this is that which allah and his messenger promised us. allah and his messenger are true. it did but confirm them in their faith and resignation. s: and when the believers saw the allies, they said: this is what allah and his messenger promised us, and allah and his messenger spoke the truth; and it only increased them in faith and submission. . y: among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with allah: of them some have completed their vow (to the extreme), and some (still) wait: but they have never changed (their determination) in the least: p: of the believers are men who are true to that which they covenanted with allah. some of them have paid their vow by death (in battle), and some of them still are waiting; and they have not altered in the least; s: of the believers are men who are true to the covenant which they made with allah: so of them is he who accomplished his vow, and of them is he who yet waits, and they have not changed in the least; . y: that allah may reward the men of truth for their truth, and punish the hypocrites if that be his will, or turn to them in mercy: for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: that allah may reward the true men for their truth, and punish the hypocrites if he will, or relent toward them (if he will). lo! allah is forgiving, merciful. s: that allah may reward the truthful for their truth, and punish the hypocrites if he please or turn to them (mercifully); surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: and allah turned back the unbelievers for (all) their fury: no advantage did they gain; and enough is allah for the believers in their fight. and allah is full of strength, able to enforce his will. p: and allah repulsed the disbelievers in their wrath; they gained no good. allah averted their attack from the believers. allah is ever strong, mighty. s: and allah turned back the unbelievers in their rage; they did not obtain any advantage, and allah sufficed the believers in fighting; and allah is strong, mighty. . y: and those of the people of the book who aided them - allah did take them down from their strongholds and cast terror into their hearts. (so that) some ye slew, and some ye made prisoners. p: and he brought those of the people of the scripture who supported them down from their strongholds, and cast panic into their hearts. some ye slew, and ye made captive some. s: and he drove down those of the followers of the book who backed them from their fortresses and he cast awe into their hearts; some you killed and you took captive another part. . y: and he made you heirs of their lands, their houses, and their goods, and of a land which ye had not frequented (before). and allah has power over all things. p: and he caused you to inherit their land and their houses and their wealth, and land ye have not trodden. allah is ever able to do all things. s: and he made you heirs to their land and their dwellings and their property, and (to) a land which you have not yet trodden, and allah has power over all things. . y: o prophet! say to thy consorts: "if it be that ye desire the life of this world, and its glitter,- then come! i will provide for your enjoyment and set you free in a handsome manner." p: o prophet! say unto thy wives: if ye desire the world's life and its adornment, come! i will content you and will release you with a fair release. s: o prophet! say to your wives: if you desire this world's life and its adornment, then come, i will give you a provision and allow you to depart a goodly departing; . y: but if ye seek allah and his messenger, and the home of the hereafter, verily allah has prepared for the well-doers amongst you a great reward. p: but if ye desire allah and his messenger and the abode of the hereafter, then lo! allah hath prepared for the good among you an immense reward. s: and if you desire allah and his messenger and the latter abode, then surely allah has prepared for the doers of good among you a mighty reward. . y: o consorts of the prophet! if any of you were guilty of evident unseemly conduct, the punishment would be doubled to her, and that is easy for allah. p: o ye wives of the prophet! whosoever of you committeth manifest lewdness, the punishment for her will be doubled, and that is easy for allah. s: o wives of the prophet! whoever of you commits an open indecency, the punishment shall be increased to her doubly; and this is easy to allah. . y: but any of you that is devout in the service of allah and his messenger, and works righteousness,- to her shall we grant her reward twice: and we have prepared for her a generous sustenance. p: and whosoever of you is submissive unto allah and his messenger and doeth right, we shall give her reward twice over, and we have prepared for her a rich provision. s: and whoever of you is obedient to allah and his messenger and does good, we will give to her her reward doubly, and we have prepared for her an honorable sustenance. . y: o consorts of the prophet! ye are not like any of the (other) women: if ye do fear (allah), be not too complacent of speech, lest one in whose heart is a disease should be moved with desire: but speak ye a speech (that is) just. p: o ye wives of the prophet! ye are not like any other women. if ye keep your duty (to allah), then be not soft of speech, lest he in whose heart is a disease aspire (to you), but utter customary speech. s: o wives of the prophet! you are not like any other of the women; if you will be on your guard, then be not soft in (your) speech, lest he in whose heart is a disease yearn; and speak a good word. . y: and stay quietly in your houses, and make not a dazzling display, like that of the former times of ignorance; and establish regular prayer, and give regular charity; and obey allah and his messenger. and allah only wishes to remove all abomination from you, ye members of the family, and to make you pure and spotless. p: and stay in your houses. bedizen not yourselves with the bedizenment of the time of ignorance. be regular in prayer, and pay the poor-due, and obey allah and his messenger. allah's wish is but to remove uncleanness far from you, o folk of the household, and cleanse you with a thorough cleansing. s: and stay in your houses and do not display your finery like the displaying of the ignorance of yore; and keep up prayer, and pay the poor-rate, and obey allah and his messenger. allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, o people of the house! and to purify you a (thorough) purifying. . y: and recite what is rehearsed to you in your homes, of the signs of allah and his wisdom: for allah understands the finest mysteries and is well-acquainted (with them). p: and bear in mind that which is recited in your houses of the revelations of allah and wisdom. lo! allah is subtile, aware. s: and keep to mind what is recited in your houses of the communications of allah and the wisdom; surely allah is knower of subtleties, aware. . y: for muslim men and women,- for believing men and women, for devout men and women, for true men and women, for men and women who are patient and constant, for men and women who humble themselves, for men and women who give in charity, for men and women who fast (and deny themselves), for men and women who guard their chastity, and for men and women who engage much in allah's praise,- for them has allah prepared forgiveness and great reward. p: lo! men who surrender unto allah, and women who surrender, and men who believe and women who believe, and men who obey and women who obey, and men who speak the truth and women who speak the truth, and men who persevere (in righteousness) and women who persevere, and men who are humble and women who are humble, and men who give alms and women who give alms, and men who fast and women who fast, and men who guard their modesty and women who guard (their modesty), and men who remember allah much and women who remember - allah hath prepared for them forgiveness and a vast reward. s: surely the men who submit and the women who submit, and the believing men and the believing women, and the obeying men and the obeying women, and the truthful men and the truthful women, and the patient men and the patient women and the humble men and the humble women, and the almsgiving men and the almsgiving women, and the fasting men and the fasting women, and the men who guard their private parts and the women who guard, and the men who remember allah much and the women who remember-- allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a mighty reward. . y: it is not fitting for a believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by allah and his messenger to have any option about their decision: if any one disobeys allah and his messenger, he is indeed on a clearly wrong path. p: and it becometh not a believing man or a believing woman, when allah and his messenger have decided an affair (for them), that they should (after that) claim any say in their affair; and whoso is rebellious to allah and his messenger, he verily goeth astray in error manifest. s: and it behoves not a believing man and a believing woman that they should have any choice in their matter when allah and his messenger have decided a matter; and whoever disobeys allah and his messenger, he surely strays off a manifest straying. . y: behold! thou didst say to one who had received the grace of allah and thy favour: "retain thou (in wedlock) thy wife, and fear allah." but thou didst hide in thy heart that which allah was about to make manifest: thou didst fear the people, but it is more fitting that thou shouldst fear allah. then when zaid had dissolved (his marriage) with her, with the necessary (formality), we joined her in marriage to thee: in order that (in future) there may be no difficulty to the believers in (the matter of) marriage with the wives of their adopted sons, when the latter have dissolved with the necessary (formality) (their marriage) with them. and allah's command must be fulfilled. p: and when thou saidst unto him on whom allah hath conferred favour and thou hast conferred favour: keep thy wife to thyself, and fear allah. and thou didst hide in thy mind that which allah was to bring to light, and thou didst fear mankind whereas allah hath a better right that thou shouldst fear him. so when zeyd had performed that necessary formality (of divorce) from her, we gave her unto thee in marriage, so that (henceforth) there may be no sin for believers in respect of wives of their adopted sons, when the latter have performed the necessary formality (of release) from them. the commandment of allah must be fulfilled. s: and when you said to him to whom allah had shown favor and to whom you had shown a favor: keep your wife to yourself and be careful of (your duty to) allah; and you concealed in your soul what allah would bring to light, and you feared men, and allah had a greater right that you should fear him. but when zaid had accomplished his want of her, we gave her to you as a wife, so that there should be no difficulty for the believers in respect of the wives of their adopted sons, when they have accomplished their want of them; and allah's command shall be performed. . y: there can be no difficulty to the prophet in what allah has indicated to him as a duty. it was the practice (approved) of allah amongst those of old that have passed away. and the command of allah is a decree determined. p: there is no reproach for the prophet in that which allah maketh his due. that was allah's way with those who passed away of old - and the commandment of allah is certain destiny - s: there is no harm in the prophet doing that which allah has ordained for him; such has been the course of allah with respect to those who have gone before; and the command of allah is a decree that is made absolute: . y: (it is the practice of those) who preach the messages of allah, and fear him, and fear none but allah. and enough is allah to call (men) to account. p: who delivered the messages of allah and feared him, and feared none save allah. allah keepeth good account. s: those who deliver the messages of allah and fear him, and do not fear any one but allah; and allah is sufficient to take account. . y: muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but (he is) the messenger of allah, and the seal of the prophets: and allah has full knowledge of all things. p: muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the messenger of allah and the seal of the prophets; and allah is ever aware of all things. s: muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the messenger of allah and the last of the prophets; and allah is cognizant of all things. . y: o ye who believe! celebrate the praises of allah, and do this often; p: o ye who believe! remember allah with much remembrance. s: o you who believe! remember allah, remembering frequently, . y: and glorify him morning and evening. p: and glorify him early and late. s: and glorify him morning and evening. . y: he it is who sends blessings on you, as do his angels, that he may bring you out from the depths of darkness into light: and he is full of mercy to the believers. p: he it is who blesseth you, and his angels (bless you), that he may bring you forth from darkness unto light; and he is ever merciful to the believers. s: he it is who sends his blessings on you, and (so do) his angels, that he may bring you forth out of utter darkness into the light; and he is merciful to the believers. . y: their salutation on the day they meet him will be "peace!"; and he has prepared for them a generous reward. p: their salutation on the day when they shall meet him will be: peace. and he hath prepared for them a goodly recompense. s: their salutation on the day that they meet him shall be, peace, and he has prepared for them an honourable reward. . y: o prophet! truly we have sent thee as a witness, a bearer of glad tidings, and warner,- p: o prophet! lo! we have sent thee as a witness and a bringer of good tidings and a warner. s: o prophet! surely we have sent you as a witness, and as a bearer of good news and as a warner, . y: and as one who invites to allah's (grace) by his leave, and as a lamp spreading light. p: and as a summoner unto allah by his permission, and as a lamp that giveth light. s: and as one inviting to allah by his permission, and as a light-giving torch. . y: then give the glad tidings to the believers, that they shall have from allah a very great bounty. p: and announce unto the believers the good tidings that they will have great bounty from allah. s: and give to the believers the good news that they shall have a great grace from allah. . y: and obey not (the behests) of the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and heed not their annoyances, but put thy trust in allah. for enough is allah as a disposer of affairs. p: and incline not to the disbelievers and the hypocrites. disregard their noxious talk, and put thy trust in allah. allah is sufficient as trustee. s: and be not compliant to the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and leave unregarded their annoying talk, and rely on allah; and allah is sufficient as a protector. . y: o ye who believe! when ye marry believing women, and then divorce them before ye have touched them, no period of 'iddat have ye to count in respect of them: so give them a present. and set them free in a handsome manner. p: o ye who believe! if ye wed believing women and divorce them before ye have touched them, then there is no period that ye should reckon. but content them and release them handsomely. s: o you who believe! when you marry the believing women, then divorce them before you touch them, you have in their case no term which you should reckon; so make some provision for them and send them forth a goodly sending forth. . y: o prophet! we have made lawful to thee thy wives to whom thou hast paid their dowers; and those whom thy right hand possesses out of the prisoners of war whom allah has assigned to thee; and daughters of thy paternal uncles and aunts, and daughters of thy maternal uncles and aunts, who migrated (from makka) with thee; and any believing woman who dedicates her soul to the prophet if the prophet wishes to wed her;- this only for thee, and not for the believers (at large); we know what we have appointed for them as to their wives and the captives whom their right hands possess;- in order that there should be no difficulty for thee. and allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: o prophet! lo! we have made lawful unto thee thy wives unto whom thou hast paid their dowries, and those whom thy right hand possesseth of those whom allah hath given thee as spoils of war, and the daughters of thine uncle on the father's side and the daughters of thine aunts on the father's side, and the daughters of thine uncle on the mother's side and the daughters of thine aunts on the mother's side who emigrated with thee, and a believing woman if she give herself unto the prophet and the prophet desire to ask her in marriage - a privilege for thee only, not for the (rest of) believers - we are aware of that which we enjoined upon them concerning their wives and those whom their right hands possess - that thou mayst be free from blame, for allah is ever forgiving, merciful. s: o prophet! surely we have made lawful to you your wives whom you have given their dowries, and those whom your right hand possesses out of those whom allah has given to you as prisoners of war, and the daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters of your paternal aunts, and the daughters of your maternal uncles and the daughters of your maternal aunts who fled with you; and a believing woman if she gave herself to the prophet, if the prophet desired to marry her-- specially for you, not for the (rest of) believers; we know what we have ordained for them concerning their wives and those whom their right hands possess in order that no blame may attach to you; and allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: thou mayest defer (the turn of) any of them that thou pleasest, and thou mayest receive any thou pleasest: and there is no blame on thee if thou invite one whose (turn) thou hadst set aside. this were nigher to the cooling of their eyes, the prevention of their grief, and their satisfaction - that of all of them - with that which thou hast to give them: and allah knows (all) that is in your hearts: and allah is all-knowing, most forbearing. p: thou canst defer whom thou wilt of them and receive unto thee whom thou wilt, and whomsoever thou desirest of those whom thou hast set aside (temporarily), it is no sin for thee (to receive her again); that is better; that they may be comforted and not grieve, and may all be pleased with what thou givest them. allah knoweth what is in your hearts (o men), and allah is ever forgiving, clement. s: you may put off whom you please of them, and you may take to you whom you please, and whom you desire of those whom you had separated provisionally; no blame attaches to you; this is most proper, so that their eyes may be cool and they may not grieve, and that they should be pleased, all of them with what you give them, and allah knows what is in your hearts; and allah is knowing, forbearing. . y: it is not lawful for thee (to marry more) women after this, nor to change them for (other) wives, even though their beauty attract thee, except any thy right hand should possess (as handmaidens): and allah doth watch over all things. p: it is not allowed thee to take (other) women henceforth, nor that thou shouldst change them for other wives even though their beauty pleased thee, save those whom thy right hand possesseth. and allah is ever watcher over all things. s: it is not allowed to you to take women afterwards, nor that you should change them for other wives, though their beauty be pleasing to you, except what your right hand possesses and allah is watchful over all things. . y: o ye who believe! enter not the prophet's houses,- until leave is given you,- for a meal, (and then) not (so early as) to wait for its preparation: but when ye are invited, enter; and when ye have taken your meal, disperse, without seeking familiar talk. such (behaviour) annoys the prophet: he is ashamed to dismiss you, but allah is not ashamed (to tell you) the truth. and when ye ask (his ladies) for anything ye want, ask them from before a screen: that makes for greater purity for your hearts and for theirs. nor is it right for you that ye should annoy allah's messenger, or that ye should marry his widows after him at any time. truly such a thing is in allah's sight an enormity. p: o ye who believe! enter not the dwellings of the prophet for a meal without waiting for the proper time, unless permission be granted you. but if ye are invited, enter, and, when your meal is ended, then disperse. linger not for conversation. lo! that would cause annoyance to the prophet, and he would be shy of (asking) you (to go); but allah is not shy of the truth. and when ye ask of them (the wives of the prophet) anything, ask it of them from behind a curtain. that is purer for your hearts and for their hearts. and it is not for you to cause annoyance to the messenger of allah, nor that ye should ever marry his wives after him. lo! that in allah's sight would be an enormity. s: o you who believe! do not enter the houses of the prophet unless permission is given to you for a meal, not waiting for its cooking being finished-- but when you are invited, enter, and when you have taken the food, then disperse-- not seeking to listen to talk; surely this gives the prophet trouble, but he forbears from you, and allah does not forbear from the truth. and when you ask of them any goods, ask of them from behind a curtain; this is purer for your hearts and (for) their hearts; and it does not behove you that you should give trouble to the messenger of allah, nor that you should marry his wives after him ever; surely this is grievous in the sight of allah. . y: whether ye reveal anything or conceal it, verily allah has full knowledge of all things. p: whether ye divulge a thing or keep it hidden, lo! allah is ever knower of all things. s: if you do a thing openly or do it in secret, then surely allah is cognizant of all things. . y: there is no blame (on these ladies if they appear) before their fathers or their sons, their brothers, or their brother's sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or the (slaves) whom their right hands possess. and, (ladies), fear allah; for allah is witness to all things. p: it is no sin for them (thy wives) (to converse freely) with their fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or the sons of their sisters or of their own women, or their slaves. o women! keep your duty to allah. lo! allah is ever witness over all things. s: there is no blame on them in respect of their fathers, nor their brothers, nor their brothers' sons, nor their sisters' sons nor their own women, nor of what their right hands possess; and be careful of (your duty to) allah; surely allah is a witness of all things. . y: allah and his angels send blessings on the prophet: o ye that believe! send ye blessings on him, and salute him with all respect. p: lo! allah and his angels shower blessings on the prophet. o ye who believe! ask blessings on him and salute him with a worthy salutation. s: surely allah and his angels bless the prophet; o you who believe! call for (divine) blessings on him and salute him with a (becoming) salutation. . y: those who annoy allah and his messenger - allah has cursed them in this world and in the hereafter, and has prepared for them a humiliating punishment. p: lo! those who malign allah and his messenger, allah hath cursed them in the world and the hereafter, and hath prepared for them the doom of the disdained. s: surely (as for) those who speak evil things of allah and his messenger, allah has cursed them in this world and the here after, and he has prepared for them a chastisement bringing disgrace. . y: and those who annoy believing men and women undeservedly, bear (on themselves) a calumny and a glaring sin. p: and those who malign believing men and believing women undeservedly, they bear the guilt of slander and manifest sin. s: and those who speak evil things of the believing men and the believing women without their having earned (it), they are guilty indeed of a false accusation and a manifest sin. . y: o prophet! tell thy wives and daughters, and the believing women, that they should cast their outer garments over their persons (when abroad): that is most convenient, that they should be known (as such) and not molested. and allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: o prophet! tell thy wives and thy daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close round them (when they go abroad). that will be better, so that they may be recognised and not annoyed. allah is ever forgiving, merciful. s: o prophet! say to your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers that they let down upon them their over-garments; this will be more proper, that they may be known, and thus they will not be given trouble; and allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: truly, if the hypocrites, and those in whose hearts is a disease, and those who stir up sedition in the city, desist not, we shall certainly stir thee up against them: then will they not be able to stay in it as thy neighbours for any length of time: p: if the hypocrites, and those in whose hearts is a disease, and the alarmists in the city do not cease, we verily shall urge thee on against them, then they will be your neighbours in it but a little while. s: if the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease and the agitators in the city do not desist, we shall most certainly set you over them, then they shall not be your neighbors in it but for a little while; . y: they shall have a curse on them: whenever they are found, they shall be seized and slain (without mercy). p: accursed, they will be seized wherever found and slain with a (fierce) slaughter. s: cursed: wherever they are found they shall be seized and murdered, a (horrible) murdering. . y: (such was) the practice (approved) of allah among those who lived aforetime: no change wilt thou find in the practice (approved) of allah. p: that was the way of allah in the case of those who passed away of old; thou wilt not find for the way of allah aught of power to change. s: (such has been) the course of allah with respect to those who have gone before; and you shall not find any change in the course of allah. . y: men ask thee concerning the hour: say, "the knowledge thereof is with allah (alone)": and what will make thee understand?- perchance the hour is nigh! p: men ask thee of the hour. say: the knowledge of it is with allah only. what can convey (the knowledge) unto thee? it may be that the hour is nigh. s: men ask you about the hour; say: the knowledge of it is only with allah, and what will make you comprehend that the hour may be nigh. . y: verily allah has cursed the unbelievers and prepared for them a blazing fire,- p: lo! allah hath cursed the disbelievers, and hath prepared for them a flaming fire, s: surely allah has cursed the unbelievers and has prepared for them a burning fire, . y: to dwell therein for ever: no protector will they find, nor helper. p: wherein they will abide for ever. they will find (then) no protecting friend nor helper. s: to abide therein for a long time; they shall not find a protector or a helper. . y: the day that their faces will be turned upside down in the fire, they will say: "woe to us! would that we had obeyed allah and obeyed the messenger!" p: on the day when their faces are turned over in the fire, they say: oh, would that we had obeyed allah and had obeyed his messenger! s: on the day when their faces shall be turned back into the fire, they shall say: o would that we had obeyed allah and obeyed the messenger! . y: and they would say: "our lord! we obeyed our chiefs and our great ones, and they misled us as to the (right) path." p: and they say: our lord! lo! we obeyed our princes and great men, and they misled us from the way. s: and they shall say: o our lord! surely we obeyed our leaders and our great men, so they led us astray from the path; . y: "our lord! give them double penalty and curse them with a very great curse!" p: our lord! oh, give them double torment and curse them with a mighty curse. s: o our lord! give them a double punishment and curse them with a great curse. . y: o ye who believe! be ye not like those who vexed and insulted moses, but allah cleared him of the (calumnies) they had uttered: and he was honourable in allah's sight. p: o ye who believe! be not as those who slandered moses, but allah proved his innocence of that which they alleged, and he was well esteemed in allah's sight. s: o you who believe! be not like those who spoke evil things of musa, but allah cleared him of what they said, and he was worthy of regard with allah. . y: o ye who believe! fear allah, and (always) say a word directed to the right: p: o ye who believe! guard your duty to allah, and speak words straight to the point; s: o you who believe! be careful of (your duty to) allah and speak the right word, . y: that he may make your conduct whole and sound and forgive you your sins: he that obeys allah and his messenger, has already attained the highest achievement. p: he will adjust your works for you and will forgive you your sins. whosoever obeyeth allah and his messenger, he verily hath gained a signal victory. s: he will put your deeds into a right state for you, and forgive you your faults; and whoever obeys allah and his messenger, he indeed achieves a mighty success. . y: we did indeed offer the trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains; but they refused to undertake it, being afraid thereof: but man undertook it;- he was indeed unjust and foolish;- p: lo! we offered the trust unto the heavens and the earth and the hills, but they shrank from bearing it and were afraid of it. and man assumed it. lo! he hath proved a tyrant and a fool. s: surely we offered the trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to be unfaithful to it and feared from it, and man has turned unfaithful to it; surely he is unjust, ignorant; . y: (with the result) that allah has to punish the hypocrites, men and women, and the unbelievers, men and women, and allah turns in mercy to the believers, men and women: for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: so allah punisheth hypocritical men and hypocritical women, and idolatrous men and idolatrous women. but allah pardoneth believing men and believing women, and allah is ever forgiving, merciful. s: so allah will chastise the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women and the polytheistic men and the polytheistic women, and allah will turn (mercifully) to the believing women, and allah is forgiving, merciful. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : saba (saba, sheba) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: praise be to allah, to whom belong all things in the heavens and on earth: to him be praise in the hereafter: and he is full of wisdom, acquainted with all things. p: praise be to allah, unto whom belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. his is the praise in the hereafter, and he is the wise, the aware. s: (all) praise is due to allah, whose is what is in the heavens and what is in the earth, and to him is due (all) praise in the hereafter; and he is the wise, the aware. . y: he knows all that goes into the earth, and all that comes out thereof; all that comes down from the sky and all that ascends thereto and he is the most merciful, the oft-forgiving. p: he knoweth that which goeth into the earth and that which cometh forth from it, and that descendeth from the heaven and that which ascendeth into it. he is the merciful, the forgiving. s: he knows that which goes down into the earth and that which comes out of it, and that which comes down from the heaven and that which goes up to it; and he is the merciful, the forgiving. . y: the unbelievers say, "never to us will come the hour": say, "nay! but most surely, by my lord, it will come upon you;- by him who knows the unseen,- from whom is not hidden the least little atom in the heavens or on earth: nor is there anything less than that, or greater, but is in the record perspicuous:" p: those who disbelieve say: the hour will never come unto us. say: nay, by my lord, but it is coming unto you surely. (he is) the knower of the unseen. not an atom's weight, or less than that or greater, escapeth him in the heavens or in the earth, but it is in a clear record, s: and those who disbelieve say: the hour shall not come upon us. say: yea! by my lord, the knower of the unseen, it shall certainly come upon you; not the weight of an atom becomes absent from him, in the heavens or in the earth, and neither less than that nor greater, but (all) is in a clear book, . y: "that he may reward those who believe and work deeds of righteousness: for such is forgiveness and a sustenance most generous." p: that he may reward those who believe and do good works. for them is pardon and a rich provision. s: that he may reward those who believe and do good; these it is for whom is forgiveness and an honorable sustenance. . y: but those who strive against our signs, to frustrate them,- for such will be a penalty,- a punishment most humiliating. p: but those who strive against our revelations, challenging (us), theirs will be a painful doom of wrath. s: and (as for) those who strive hard in opposing our communications, these it is for whom is a painful chastisement of an evil kind. . y: and those to whom knowledge has come see that the (revelation) sent down to thee from thy lord - that is the truth, and that it guides to the path of the exalted (in might), worthy of all praise. p: those who have been given knowledge see that what is revealed unto thee from thy lord is the truth and leadeth unto the path of the mighty, the owner of praise. s: and those to whom the knowledge has been given see that which has been revealed to you from your lord, that is the truth, and it guides into the path of the mighty, the praised. . y: the unbelievers say (in ridicule): "shall we point out to you a man that will tell you, when ye are all scattered to pieces in disintegration, that ye shall (then be raised) in a new creation?" p: those who disbelieve say: shall we show you a man who will tell you (that) when ye have become dispersed in dust with most complete dispersal still, even then, ye will be created anew? s: and those who disbelieve say: shall we point out to you a man who informs you that when you are scattered the utmost scattering you shall then be most surely (raised) in (to) a new creation? . y: "has he invented a falsehood against allah, or has a spirit (seized) him?"- nay, it is those who believe not in the hereafter, that are in (real) penalty, and in farthest error. p: hath he invented a lie concerning allah, or is there in him a madness? nay, but those who disbelieve in the hereafter are in torment and far error. s: he has forged a lie against allah or there is madness in him. nay! those who do not believe in the hereafter are in torment and in great error. . y: see they not what is before them and behind them, of the sky and the earth? if we wished, we could cause the earth to swallow them up, or cause a piece of the sky to fall upon them. verily in this is a sign for every devotee that turns to allah (in repentance). p: have they not observed what is before them and what is behind them of the sky and the earth? if we will, we can make the earth swallow them, or cause obliteration from the sky to fall on them. lo! herein surely is a portent for every slave who turneth (to allah) repentant. s: do they not then consider what is before them and what is behind them of the heaven and the earth? if we please we will make them disappear in the land or bring down upon them a portion from the heaven; most surely there is a sign in this for every servant turning (to allah). . y: we bestowed grace aforetime on david from ourselves: "o ye mountains! sing ye back the praises of allah with him! and ye birds (also)! and we made the iron soft for him;"- p: and assuredly we gave david grace from us, (saying): o ye hills and birds, echo his psalms of praise! and we made the iron supple unto him, s: and certainly we gave to dawood excellence from us: o mountains! sing praises with him, and the birds; and we made the iron pliant to him, . y: (commanding), "make thou coast of mail, balancing well the rings of chain armour, and work ye righteousness; for be sure i see (clearly) all that ye do." p: saying: make thou long coats of mail and measure the links (thereof). and do ye right. lo! i am seer of what ye do. s: saying: make ample (coats of mail), and assign a time to the making of coats of mail and do good; surely i am seeing what you do. . y: and to solomon (we made) the wind (obedient): its early morning (stride) was a month's (journey), and its evening (stride) was a month's (journey); and we made a font of molten brass to flow for him; and there were jinns that worked in front of him, by the leave of his lord, and if any of them turned aside from our command, we made him taste of the penalty of the blazing fire. p: and unto solomon (we gave) the wind, whereof the morning course was a month's journey and the evening course a month's journey, and we caused the fount of copper to gush forth for him, and (we gave him) certain of the jinn who worked before him by permission of his lord. and such of them as deviated from our command, them we caused to taste the punishment of flaming fire. s: and (we made) the wind (subservient) to sulaiman, which made a month's journey in the morning and a month's journey in the evening, and we made a fountain of molten copper to flow out for him, and of the jinn there were those who worked before him by the command of his lord; and whoever turned aside from our command from among them, we made him taste of the punishment of burning. . y: they worked for him as he desired, (making) arches, images, basons as large as reservoirs, and (cooking) cauldrons fixed (in their places): "work ye, sons of david, with thanks! but few of my servants are grateful!" p: they made for him what he willed: synagogues and statues, basins like wells and boilers built into the ground. give thanks, o house of david! few of my bondmen are thankful. s: they made for him what he pleased of fortresses and images, and bowls (large) as watering-troughs and cooking-pots that will not move from their place; give thanks, o family of dawood! and very few of my servants are grateful. . y: then, when we decreed (solomon's) death, nothing showed them his death except a little worm of the earth, which kept (slowly) gnawing away at his staff: so when he fell down, the jinns saw plainly that if they had known the unseen, they would not have tarried in the humiliating penalty (of their task). p: and when we decreed death for him, nothing showed his death to them save a creeping creature of the earth which gnawed away his staff. and when he fell the jinn saw clearly how, if they had known the unseen, they would not have continued in despised toil. s: but when we decreed death for him, naught showed them his death but a creature of the earth that ate away his staff; and when it fell down, the jinn came to know plainly that if they had known the unseen, they would not have tarried in abasing torment. . y: there was, for saba, aforetime, a sign in their home-land - two gardens to the right and to the left. "eat of the sustenance (provided) by your lord, and be grateful to him: a territory fair and happy, and a lord oft-forgiving!" p: there was indeed a sign for sheba in their dwelling-place: two gardens on the right hand and the left (as who should say): eat of the provision of your lord and render thanks to him. a fair land and an indulgent lord! s: certainly there was a sign for saba in their abode; two gardens on the right and the left; eat of the sustenance of your lord and give thanks to him: a good land and a forgiving lord! . y: but they turned away (from allah), and we sent against them the flood (released) from the dams, and we converted their two garden (rows) into "gardens" producing bitter fruit, and tamarisks, and some few (stunted) lote-trees. p: but they were froward, so we sent on them the flood of 'iram, and in exchange for their two gardens gave them two gardens bearing bitter fruit, the tamarisk and here and there a lote-tree. s: but they turned aside, so we sent upon them a torrent of which the rush could not be withstood, and in place of their two gardens we gave to them two gardens yielding bitter fruit and (growing) tamarisk and a few lote-trees. . y: that was the requital we gave them because they ungratefully rejected faith: and never do we give (such) requital except to such as are ungrateful rejecters. p: this we awarded them because of their ingratitude. punish we ever any save the ingrates? s: this we requited them with because they disbelieved; and we do not punish any but the ungrateful. . y: between them and the cities on which we had poured our blessings, we had placed cities in prominent positions, and between them we had appointed stages of journey in due proportion: "travel therein, secure, by night and by day." p: and we set, between them and the towns which we had blessed, towns easy to be seen, and we made the stage between them easy, (saying): travel in them safely both by night and day. s: and we made between them and the towns which we had blessed (other) towns to be easily seen, and we apportioned the journey therein: travel through them nights and days, secure. . y: but they said: "our lord! place longer distances between our journey-stages": but they wronged themselves (therein). at length we made them as a tale (that is told), and we dispersed them all in scattered fragments. verily in this are signs for every (soul that is) patiently constant and grateful. p: but they said: our lord! make the stage between our journeys longer. and they wronged themselves, therefore we made them bywords (in the land) and scattered them abroad, a total scattering. lo! herein verily are portents for each steadfast, grateful (heart). s: and they said: o our lord! make spaces to be longer between our journeys; and they were unjust to themselves so we made them stories and scattered them with an utter scattering; most surely there are signs in this for every patient, grateful one. . y: and on them did satan prove true his idea, and they followed him, all but a party that believed. p: and satan indeed found his calculation true concerning them, for they follow him, all save a group of true believers. s: and certainly the shaitan found true his conjecture concerning them, so they follow him, except a party of the believers. . y: but he had no authority over them,- except that we might test the man who believes in the hereafter from him who is in doubt concerning it: and thy lord doth watch over all things. p: and he had no warrant whatsoever against them, save that we would know him who believeth in the hereafter from him who is in doubt thereof; and thy lord (o muhammad) taketh note of all things. s: and he has no authority over them, but that we may distinguish him who believes in the hereafter from him who is in doubt concerning it; and your lord is the preserver of all things. . y: say: "call upon other (gods) whom ye fancy, besides allah: they have no power,- not the weight of an atom,- in the heavens or on earth: no (sort of) share have they therein, nor is any of them a helper to allah." p: say (o muhammad): call upon those whom ye set up beside allah! they possess not an atom's weight either in the heavens or in the earth, nor have they any share in either, nor hath he an auxiliary among them. s: say: call upon those whom you assert besides allah; they do not control the weight of an atom in the heavens or in the earth nor have they any partnership in either, nor has he among them any one to back (him) up. . y: "no intercession can avail in his presence, except for those for whom he has granted permission. so far (is this the case) that, when terror is removed from their hearts (at the day of judgment, then) will they say, 'what is it that your lord commanded?' they will say, 'that which is true and just'; and he is the most high, most great." p: no intercession availeth with him save for him whom he permitteth. yet, when fear is banished from their hearts, they say: what was it that your lord said? they say: the truth. and he is the sublime, the great. s: and intercession will not avail aught with him save of him whom he permits. until when fear shall be removed from their hearts, they shall say: what is it that your lord said? they shall say: the truth. and he is the most high, the great. . y: say: "who gives you sustenance, from the heavens and the earth?" say: "it is allah; and certain it is that either we or ye are on right guidance or in manifest error!" p: say: who giveth you provision from the sky and the earth? say: allah, lo! we or you assuredly are rightly guided or in error manifest. s: say: who gives you the sustenance from the heavens and the earth? say: allah. and most surely we or you are on a right way or in manifest error. . y: say: "ye shall not be questioned as to our sins, nor shall we be questioned as to what ye do." p: say: ye will not be asked of what we committed, nor shall we be asked of what ye do. s: say: you will not be questioned as to what we are guilty of, nor shall we be questioned as to what you do. . y: say: "our lord will gather us together and will in the end decide the matter between us (and you) in truth and justice: and he is the one to decide, the one who knows all." p: say: our lord will bring us all together, then he will judge between us with truth. he is the all-knowing judge. s: say: our lord will gather us together, then will he judge between us with the truth; and he is the greatest judge, the all-knowing. . y: say: "show me those whom ye have joined with him as partners: by no means (can ye). nay, he is allah, the exalted in power, the wise." p: say: show me those whom ye have joined unto him as partners. nay (ye dare not)! for he is allah, the mighty, the wise. s: say: show me those whom you have joined with him as associates; by no means (can you do it). nay! he is allah, the mighty, the wise. . y: we have not sent thee but as a universal (messenger) to men, giving them glad tidings, and warning them (against sin), but most men understand not. p: and we have not sent thee (o muhammad) save as a bringer of good tidings and a warner unto all mankind; but most of mankind know not. s: and we have not sent you but to all the men as a bearer of good news and as a warner, but most men do not know. . y: they say: "when will this promise (come to pass) if ye are telling the truth?" p: and they say: when is this promise (to be fulfilled) if ye are truthful? s: and they say: when will this promise be (fulfilled) if you are truthful? . y: say: "the appointment to you is for a day, which ye cannot put back for an hour nor put forward." p: say (o muhammad): yours is the promise of a day which ye cannot postpone nor hasten by an hour. s: say: you have the appointment of a day from which you cannot hold back any while, nor can you bring it on. . y: the unbelievers say: "we shall neither believe in this scripture nor in (any) that (came) before it." couldst thou but see when the wrong-doers will be made to stand before their lord, throwing back the word (of blame) on one another! those who had been despised will say to the arrogant ones: "had it not been for you, we should certainly have been believers!" p: and those who disbelieve say: we believe not in this qur'an nor in that which was before it; but oh, if thou couldst see, when the wrong-doers are brought up before their lord, how they cast the blame one to another; how those who were despised (in the earth) say unto those who were proud: but for you, we should have been believers. s: and those who disbelieve say: by no means will we believe in this quran, nor in that which is before it; and could you see when the unjust shall be made to stand before their lord, bandying words one with another! those who were reckoned weak shall say to those who were proud: had it not been for you we would certainly have been believers. . y: the arrogant ones will say to those who had been despised: "was it we who kept you back from guidance after it reached you? nay, rather, it was ye who transgressed." p: those who were proud say unto those who were despised: did we drive you away from the guidance after it had come unto you? nay, but ye were guilty. s: those who were proud shall say to those who were deemed weak: did we turn you away from the guidance after it had come to you? nay, you (yourselves) were guilty. . y: those who had been despised will say to the arrogant ones: "nay! it was a plot (of yours) by day and by night: behold! ye (constantly) ordered us to be ungrateful to allah and to attribute equals to him!" they will declare (their) repentance when they see the penalty: we shall put yokes on the necks of the unbelievers: it would only be a requital for their (ill) deeds. p: those who were despised say unto those who were proud: nay but (it was your) scheming night and day, when ye commanded us to disbelieve in allah and set up rivals unto him. and they are filled with remorse when they behold the doom; and we place carcans on the necks of those who disbelieved. are they requited aught save what they used to do? s: and those who were deemed weak shall say to those who were proud. nay, (it was) planning by night and day when you told us to disbelieve in allah and to set up likes with him. and they shall conceal regret when they shall see the punishment; and we will put shackles on the necks of those who disbelieved; they shall not be requited but what they did. . y: never did we send a warner to a population, but the wealthy ones among them said: "we believe not in the (message) with which ye have been sent." p: and we sent not unto any township a warner, but its pampered ones declared: lo! we are disbelievers in that wherewith ye have been sent. s: and we never sent a warner to a town but those who led lives in ease in it said: we are surely disbelievers in what you are sent with. . y: they said: "we have more in wealth and in sons, and we cannot be punished." p: and they say: we are more (than you) in wealth and children. we are not the punished! s: and they say: we have more wealth and children, and we shall not be punished. . y: say: "verily my lord enlarges and restricts the provision to whom he pleases, but most men understand not." p: say (o muhammad): lo! my lord enlargeth the provision for whom he will and narroweth it (for whom he will). but most of mankind know not. s: say: surely my lord amplifies the means of subsistence for whom he pleases and straitens (for whom he pleases), but most men do not know. . y: it is not your wealth nor your sons, that will bring you nearer to us in degree: but only those who believe and work righteousness - these are the ones for whom there is a multiplied reward for their deeds, while secure they (reside) in the dwellings on high! p: and it is not your wealth nor your children that will bring you near unto us, but he who believeth and doeth good (he draweth near). as for such, theirs will be twofold reward for what they did and they will dwell secure in lofty halls. s: and not your wealth nor your children, are the things which bring you near us in station, but whoever believes and does good, these it is for whom is a double reward for what they do, and they shall be secure in the highest places. . y: those who strive against our signs, to frustrate them, will be given over into punishment. p: and as for those who strive against our revelations, challenging, they will be brought to the doom. s: and (as for) those who strive in opposing our communications, they shall be caused to be brought to the chastisement. . y: say: "verily my lord enlarges and restricts the sustenance to such of his servants as he pleases: and nothing do ye spend in the least (in his cause) but he replaces it: for he is the best of those who grant sustenance." p: say: lo! my lord enlargeth the provision for whom he will of his bondmen, and narroweth (it) for him. and whatsoever ye spend (for good) he replaceth it. and he is the best of providers. s: say: surely my lord amplifies the means of subsistence for whom he pleases of his servants and straitens (them) for whom (he pleases), and whatever thing you spend, he exceeds it in reward, and he is the best of sustainers. . y: one day he will gather them all together, and say to the angels, "was it you that these men used to worship?" p: and on the day when he will gather them all together, he will say unto the angels: did these worship you? s: and on the day when he will gather them all together, then will he say to the angels: did these worship you? . y: they will say, "glory to thee! our (tie) is with thee - as protector - not with them. nay, but they worshipped the jinns: most of them believed in them." p: they will say: be thou glorified. thou (alone) art our guardian, not them! nay, but they worshipped the jinn; most of them were believers in them. s: they shall say: glory be to thee! thou art our guardian, not they; nay! they worshipped the jinn; most of them were believers in them. . y: so on that day no power shall they have over each other, for profit or harm: and we shall say to the wrong-doers, "taste ye the penalty of the fire,- the which ye were wont to deny!" p: that day ye will possess no use nor hurt one for another. and we shall say unto those who did wrong: taste the doom of the fire which ye used to deny. s: so on that day one of you shall not control profit or harm for another, and we will say to those who were unjust: taste the chastisement of the fire which you called a lie. . y: when our clear signs are rehearsed to them, they say, "this is only a man who wishes to hinder you from the (worship) which your fathers practised." and they say, "this is only a falsehood invented!" and the unbelievers say of the truth when it comes to them, "this is nothing but evident magic!" p: and if our revelations are recited unto them in plain terms, they say: this is naught else than a man who would turn you away from what your fathers used to worship; and they say: this is naught else than an invented lie. those who disbelieve say of the truth when it reacheth them: this is naught else than mere magic. s: and when our clear communications are recited to them, they say: this is naught but a man who desires to turn you away from that which your fathers worshipped. and they say: this is naught but a lie that is forged. and those who disbelieve say of the truth when it comes to them: this is only clear enchantment. . y: but we had not given them books which they could study, nor sent messengers to them before thee as warners. p: and we have given them no scriptures which they study, nor sent we unto them, before thee, any warner. s: and we have not given them any books which they read, nor did we send to them before you a warner. . y: and their predecessors rejected (the truth); these have not received a tenth of what we had granted to those: yet when they rejected my messengers, how (terrible) was my rejection (of them)! p: those before them denied, and these have not attained a tithe of that which we bestowed on them (of old); yet they denied my messengers. how intense then was my abhorrence (of them)! s: and those before them rejected (the truth), and these have not yet attained a tenth of what we gave them, but they gave the lie to my messengers, then how was the manifestation of my disapproval? . y: say: "i do admonish you on one point: that ye do stand up before allah,- (it may be) in pairs, or (it may be) singly,- and reflect (within yourselves): your companion is not possessed: he is no less than a warner to you, in face of a terrible penalty." p: say (unto them, o muhammad): i exhort you unto one thing only: that ye awake, for allah's sake, by twos and singly, and then reflect: there is no madness in your comrade. he is naught else than a warner unto you in face of a terrific doom. s: say: i exhort you only to one thing, that rise up for allah's sake in twos and singly, then ponder: there is no madness in your fellow-citizen; he is only a warner to you before a severe chastisement. . y: say: "no reward do i ask of you: it is (all) in your interest: my reward is only due from allah: and he is witness to all things." p: say: whatever reward i might have asked of you is yours. my reward is the affair of allah only. he is witness over all things. s: say: whatever reward i have asked of you, that is only for yourselves; my reward is only with allah, and he is a witness of all things. . y: say: "verily my lord doth cast the (mantle of) truth (over his servants),- he that has full knowledge of (all) that is hidden." p: say: lo! my lord hurleth the truth. (he is) the knower of things hidden. s: say: surely my lord utters the truth, the great knower of the unseen. . y: say: "the truth has arrived, and falsehood neither creates anything new, nor restores anything." p: say: the truth hath come, and falsehood showeth not its face and will not return. s: say: the truth has come, and the falsehood shall vanish and shall not come back. . y: say: "if i am astray, i only stray to the loss of my own soul: but if i receive guidance, it is because of the inspiration of my lord to me: it is he who hears all things, and is (ever) near." p: say: if i err, i err only to my own loss, and if i am rightly guided it is because of that which my lord hath revealed unto me. lo! he is hearer, nigh. s: say: if i err, i err only against my own soul, and if i follow a right direction, it is because of what my lord reveals to me; surely he is hearing, nigh. . y: if thou couldst but see when they will quake with terror; but then there will be no escape (for them), and they will be seized from a position (quite) near. p: couldst thou but see when they are terrified with no escape, and are seized from near at hand, s: and could you see when they shall become terrified, but (then) there shall be no escape and they shall be seized upon from a near place, . y: and they will say, "we do believe (now) in the (truth)"; but how could they receive (faith) from a position (so) far off,- p: and say: we (now) believe therein. but how can they reach (faith) from afar off, s: and they shall say: we believe in it. and how shall the attaining (of faith) be possible to them from a distant place? . y: seeing that they did reject faith (entirely) before, and that they (continually) cast (slanders) on the unseen from a position far off? p: when they disbelieved in it of yore. they aim at the unseen from afar off. s: and they disbelieved in it before, and they utter conjectures with regard to the unseen from a distant place. . y: and between them and their desires, is placed a barrier, as was done in the past with their partisans: for they were indeed in suspicious (disquieting) doubt. p: and a gulf is set between them and that which they desire, as was done for people of their kind of old. lo! they were in hopeless doubt. s: and a barrier shall be placed between them and that which they desire, as was done with the likes of them before: surely they are in a disquieting doubt. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : fatir (the angels, originator) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: praise be to allah, who created (out of nothing) the heavens and the earth, who made the angels, messengers with wings,- two, or three, or four (pairs): he adds to creation as he pleases: for allah has power over all things. p: praise be to allah, the creator of the heavens and the earth, who appointeth the angels messengers having wings two, three and four. he multiplieth in creation what he will. lo! allah is able to do all things. s: all praise is due to allah, the originator of the heavens and the earth, the maker of the angels, messengers flying on wings, two, and three, and four; he increases in creation what he pleases; surely allah has power over all things. . y: what allah out of his mercy doth bestow on mankind there is none can withhold: what he doth withhold, there is none can grant, apart from him: and he is the exalted in power, full of wisdom. p: that which allah openeth unto mankind of mercy none can withhold it; and that which he withholdeth none can release thereafter. he is the mighty, the wise. s: whatever allah grants to men of (his) mercy, there is none to withhold it, and what he withholds there is none to send it forth after that, and he is the mighty, the wise. . y: o men! call to mind the grace of allah unto you! is there a creator, other than allah, to give you sustenance from heaven or earth? there is no god but he: how then are ye deluded away from the truth? p: o mankind! remember allah's grace toward you! is there any creator other than allah who provideth for you from the sky and the earth? there is no god save him. whither then are ye turned? s: o men! call to mind the favor of allah on you; is there any creator besides allah who gives you sustenance from the heaven and the earth? there is no god but he; whence are you then turned away? . y: and if they reject thee, so were messengers rejected before thee: to allah go back for decision all affairs. p: and if they deny thee, (o muhammad), messengers (of allah) were denied before thee. unto allah all things are brought back. s: and if they call you a liar, truly messengers before you were called liars, and to allah are all affairs returned. . y: o men! certainly the promise of allah is true. let not then this present life deceive you, nor let the chief deceiver deceive you about allah. p: o mankind! lo! the promise of allah is true. so let not the life of the world beguile you, and let not the (avowed) beguiler beguile you with regard to allah. s: o men! surely the promise of allah is true, therefore let not the life of this world deceive you, and let not the archdeceiver deceive you respecting allah. . y: verily satan is an enemy to you: so treat him as an enemy. he only invites his adherents, that they may become companions of the blazing fire. p: lo! the devil is an enemy for you, so treat him as an enemy. he only summoneth his faction to be owners of the flaming fire. s: surely the shaitan is your enemy, so take him for an enemy; he only invites his party that they may be inmates of the burning fire. . y: for those who reject allah, is a terrible penalty: but for those who believe and work righteous deeds, is forgiveness, and a magnificent reward. p: those who disbelieve, theirs will be an awful doom; and those who believe and do good works, theirs will be forgiveness and a great reward. s: (as for) those who disbelieve, they shall have a severe punishment, and (as for) those who believe and do good, they shall have forgiveness and a great reward. . y: is he, then, to whom the evil of his conduct is made alluring, so that he looks upon it as good, (equal to one who is rightly guided)? for allah leaves to stray whom he wills, and guides whom he wills. so let not thy soul go out in (vainly) sighing after them: for allah knows well all that they do! p: is he, the evil of whose deeds is made fairseeming unto him so that he deemeth it good, (other than satan's dupe)? allah verily sendeth whom he will astray, and guideth whom he will; so let not thy soul expire in sighings for them. lo! allah is aware of what they do! s: what! is he whose evil deed is made fairseeming to him so much so that he considers it good? now surely allah makes err whom he pleases and guides aright whom he pleases, so let not your soul waste away in grief for them; surely allah is cognizant of what they do. . y: it is allah who sends forth the winds, so that they raise up the clouds, and we drive them to a land that is dead, and revive the earth therewith after its death: even so (will be) the resurrection! p: and allah it is who sendeth the winds and they raise a cloud; then we lead it unto a dead land and revive therewith the earth after its death. such is the resurrection. s: and allah is he who sends the winds so they raise a cloud, then we drive it on to a dead country, and therewith we give life to the earth after its death; even so is the quickening. . y: if any do seek for glory and power,- to allah belong all glory and power. to him mount up (all) words of purity: it is he who exalts each deed of righteousness. those that lay plots of evil,- for them is a penalty terrible; and the plotting of such will be void (of result). p: whoso desireth power (should know that) all power belongeth to allah. unto him good words ascend, and the pious deed doth he exalt; but those who plot iniquities, theirs will be an awful doom; and the plotting of such (folk) will come to naught. s: whoever desires honor, then to allah belongs the honor wholly. to him do ascend the good words; and the good deeds, lift them up, and (as for) those who plan evil deeds, they shall have a severe chastisement; and (as for) their plan, it shall perish. . y: and allah did create you from dust; then from a sperm-drop; then he made you in pairs. and no female conceives, or lays down (her load), but with his knowledge. nor is a man long-lived granted length of days, nor is a part cut off from his life, but is in a decree (ordained). all this is easy to allah. p: allah created you from dust, then from a little fluid, then he made you pairs (the male and female). no female beareth or bringeth forth save with his knowledge. and no-one groweth old who groweth old, nor is aught lessened of his life, but it is recorded in a book, lo! that is easy for allah. s: and allah created you of dust, then of the life-germ, then he made you pairs; and no female bears, nor does she bring forth, except with his knowledge; and no one whose life is lengthened has his life lengthened, nor is aught diminished of one's life, but it is all in a book; surely this is easy to allah. . y: nor are the two bodies of flowing water alike,- the one palatable, sweet, and pleasant to drink, and the other, salt and bitter. yet from each (kind of water) do ye eat flesh fresh and tender, and ye extract ornaments to wear; and thou seest the ships therein that plough the waves, that ye may seek (thus) of the bounty of allah that ye may be grateful. p: and the two seas are not alike: this, fresh, sweet, good to drink, this (other) bitter, salt. and from them both ye eat fresh meat and derive the ornament that ye wear. and thou seest the ship cleaving them with its prow that ye may seek of his bounty, and that haply ye may give thanks. s: and the two seas are not alike: the one sweet, that subdues thirst by its excessive sweetness, pleasant to drink; and the other salt, that burns by its saltness; yet from each of them you eat fresh flesh and bring forth ornaments which you wear; and you see the ships cleave through it that you may seek of his bounty and that you may be grateful. . y: he merges night into day, and he merges day into night, and he has subjected the sun and the moon (to his law): each one runs its course for a term appointed. such is allah your lord: to him belongs all dominion. and those whom ye invoke besides him have not the least power. p: he maketh the night to pass into the day and he maketh the day to pass into the night. he hath subdued the sun and moon to service. each runneth unto an appointed term. such is allah, your lord; his is the sovereignty; and those unto whom ye pray instead of him own not so much as the white spot on a date-stone. s: he causes the night to enter in upon the day, and he causes the day to enter in upon the night, and he has made subservient (to you) the sun and the moon; each one follows its course to an appointed time; this is allah, your lord, his is the kingdom; and those whom you call upon besides him do not control a straw. . y: if ye invoke them, they will not listen to your call, and if they were to listen, they cannot answer your (prayer). on the day of judgment they will reject your "partnership". and none, (o man!) can tell thee (the truth) like the one who is acquainted with all things. p: if ye pray unto them they hear not your prayer, and if they heard they could not grant it you. on the day of resurrection they will disown association with you. none can inform you like him who is aware. s: if you call on them they shall not hear your call, and even if they could hear they shall not answer you; and on the resurrection day they will deny your associating them (with allah); and none can inform you like the one who is aware. . y: o ye men! it is ye that have need of allah: but allah is the one free of all wants, worthy of all praise. p: o mankind! ye are the poor in your relation to allah. and allah! he is the absolute, the owner of praise. s: o men! you are they who stand in need of allah, and allah is he who is the self-sufficient, the praised one. . y: if he so pleased, he could blot you out and bring in a new creation. p: if he will, he can be rid of you and bring (instead of you) some new creation. s: if he please, he will take you off and bring a new generation. . y: nor is that (at all) difficult for allah. p: that is not a hard thing for allah. s: and this is not hard to allah. . y: nor can a bearer of burdens bear another's burdens if one heavily laden should call another to (bear) his load. not the least portion of it can be carried (by the other). even though he be nearly related. thou canst but admonish such as fear their lord unseen and establish regular prayer. and whoever purifies himself does so for the benefit of his own soul; and the destination (of all) is to allah. p: and no burdened soul can bear another's burden, and if one heavy laden crieth for (help with) his load, naught of it will be lifted even though he (unto whom he crieth) be of kin. thou warnest only those who fear their lord in secret, and have established worship. he who groweth (in goodness), groweth only for himself, (he cannot by his merit redeem others). unto allah is the journeying. s: and a burdened soul cannot bear the burden of another and if one weighed down by burden should cry for (another to carry) its burden, not aught of it shall be carried, even though he be near of kin. you warn only those who fear their lord in secret and keep up prayer; and whoever purifies himself, he purifies himself only for (the good of) his own soul; and to allah is the eventual coming. . y: the blind and the seeing are not alike; p: the blind man is not equal with the seer; s: and the blind and the seeing are not alike . y: nor are the depths of darkness and the light; p: nor is darkness (tantamount to) light; s: nor the darkness and the light, . y: nor are the (chilly) shade and the (genial) heat of the sun: p: nor is the shadow equal with the sun's full heat; s: nor the shade and the heat, . y: nor are alike those that are living and those that are dead. allah can make any that he wills to hear; but thou canst not make those to hear who are (buried) in graves. p: nor are the living equal with the dead. lo! allah maketh whom he will to hear. thou canst not reach those who are in the graves. s: neither are the living and the dead alike. surely allah makes whom he pleases hear, and you cannot make those hear who are in the graves. . y: thou art no other than a warner. p: thou art but a warner. s: you are naught but a warner. . y: verily we have sent thee in truth, as a bearer of glad tidings, and as a warner: and there never was a people, without a warner having lived among them (in the past). p: lo! we have sent thee with the truth, a bearer of glad tidings and a warner; and there is not a nation but a warner hath passed among them. s: surely we have sent you with the truth as a bearer of good news and a warner; and there is not a people but a warner has gone among them. . y: and if they reject thee, so did their predecessors, to whom came their messengers with clear signs, books of dark prophecies, and the book of enlightenment. p: and if they deny thee, those before them also denied. their messengers came unto them with clear proofs (of allah's sovereignty), and with the psalms and the scripture giving light. s: and if they call you a liar, so did those before them indeed call (their messengers) liars; their messengers had come to them with clear arguments, and with scriptures, and with the illuminating book. . y: in the end did i punish those who rejected faith: and how (terrible) was my rejection (of them)! p: then seized i those who disbelieved, and how intense was my abhorrence! s: then did i punish those who disbelieved, so how was the manifestation of my disapproval? . y: seest thou not that allah sends down rain from the sky? with it we then bring out produce of various colours. and in the mountains are tracts white and red, of various shades of colour, and black intense in hue. p: hast thou not seen that allah causeth water to fall from the sky, and we produce therewith fruit of divers hues; and among the hills are streaks white and red, of divers hues, and (others) raven-black; s: do you not see that allah sends down water from the cloud, then we bring forth therewith fruits of various colors; and in the mountains are streaks, white and red, of various hues and (others) intensely black? . y: and so amongst men and crawling creatures and cattle, are they of various colours. those truly fear allah, among his servants, who have knowledge: for allah is exalted in might, oft-forgiving. p: and of men and beasts and cattle, in like manner, divers hues? the erudite among his bondmen fear allah alone. lo! allah is mighty, forgiving. s: and of men and beasts and cattle are various species of it likewise; those of his servants only who are possessed of knowledge fear allah; surely allah is mighty, forgiving. . y: those who rehearse the book of allah, establish regular prayer, and spend (in charity) out of what we have provided for them, secretly and openly, hope for a commerce that will never fail: p: lo! those who read the scripture of allah, and establish worship, and spend of that which we have bestowed on them secretly and openly, they look forward to imperishable gain, s: surely they who recite the book of allah and keep up prayer and spend out of what we have given them secretly and openly, hope for a gain which will not perish. . y: for he will pay them their meed, nay, he will give them (even) more out of his bounty: for he is oft-forgiving, most ready to appreciate (service). p: that he will pay them their wages and increase them of his grace. lo! he is forgiving, responsive. s: that he may pay them back fully their rewards and give them more out of his grace: surely he is forgiving, multiplier of rewards. . y: that which we have revealed to thee of the book is the truth,- confirming what was (revealed) before it: for allah is assuredly- with respect to his servants - well acquainted and fully observant. p: as for that which we inspire in thee of the scripture, it is the truth confirming that which was (revealed) before it. lo! allah is indeed observer, seer of his slaves. s: and that which we have revealed to you of the book, that is the truth verifying that which is before it; most surely with respect to his servants allah is aware, seeing. . y: then we have given the book for inheritance to such of our servants as we have chosen: but there are among them some who wrong their own souls; some who follow a middle course; and some who are, by allah's leave, foremost in good deeds that is the highest grace. p: then we gave the scripture as inheritance unto those whom we elected of our bondmen. but of them are some who wrong themselves and of them are some who are lukewarm, and of them are some who outstrip (others) through good deeds, by allah's leave. that is the great favour! s: then we gave the book for an inheritance to those whom we chose from among our servants; but of them is he who makes his soul to suffer a loss, and of them is he who takes a middle course, and of them is he who is foremost in deeds of goodness by allah's permission; this is the great excellence. . y: gardens of eternity will they enter: therein will they be adorned with bracelets of gold and pearls; and their garments there will be of silk. p: gardens of eden! they enter them wearing armlets of gold and pearl and their raiment therein is silk. s: gardens of perpetuity, they shall enter therein; they shad be made to wear therein bracelets of gold and pearls, and their dress therein shall be silk. . y: and they will say: "praise be to allah, who has removed from us (all) sorrow: for our lord is indeed oft-forgiving ready to appreciate (service):" p: and they say: praise be to allah who hath put grief away from us. lo! our lord is forgiving, bountiful, s: and they shall say: (all) praise is due to allah, who has made grief to depart from us; most surely our lord is forgiving, multiplier of rewards, . y: "who has, out of his bounty, settled us in a home that will last: no toil nor sense of weariness shall touch us therein." p: who, of his grace, hath installed us in the mansion of eternity, where toil toucheth us not nor can weariness affect us. s: who has made us alight in a house abiding for ever out of his grace; toil shall not touch us therein, nor shall fatigue therein afflict us. . y: but those who reject (allah) - for them will be the fire of hell: no term shall be determined for them, so they should die, nor shall its penalty be lightened for them. thus do we reward every ungrateful one! p: but as for those who disbelieve, for them is fire of hell; it taketh not complete effect upon them so that they can die, nor is its torment lightened for them. thus we punish every ingrate. s: and (as for) those who disbelieve, for them is the fire of hell; it shall not be finished with them entirely so that they should die, nor shall the chastisement thereof be lightened to them: even thus do we retribute every ungrateful one. . y: therein will they cry aloud (for assistance): "our lord! bring us out: we shall work righteousness, not the (deeds) we used to do!" - "did we not give you long enough life so that he that would should receive admonition? and (moreover) the warner came to you. so taste ye (the fruits of your deeds): for the wrong-doers there is no helper." p: and they cry for help there, (saying): our lord! release us; we will do right, not (the wrong) that we used to do. did not we grant you a life long enough for him who reflected to reflect therein? and the warner came unto you. now taste (the flavour of your deeds), for evil-doers have no helper. s: and they shall cry therein for succour: o our lord! take us out, we will do good deeds other than those which we used to do. did we not preserve you alive long enough, so that he who would be mindful in it should mind? and there came to you the warner; therefore taste; because for the unjust, there is no helper. . y: verily allah knows (all) the hidden things of the heavens and the earth: verily he has full knowledge of all that is in (men's) hearts. p: lo! allah is the knower of the unseen of the heavens and the earth. lo! he is aware of the secret of (men's) breasts. s: surely allah is the knower of what is unseen in the heavens and the earth; surely he is cognizant of what is in the hearts. . y: he it is that has made you inheritors in the earth: if, then, any do reject (allah), their rejection (works) against themselves: their rejection but adds to the odium for the unbelievers in the sight of their lord: their rejection but adds to (their own) undoing. p: he it is who hath made you regents in the earth; so he who disbelieveth, his disbelief be on his own head. their disbelief increaseth for the disbelievers, in their lord's sight, naught save abhorrence. their disbelief increaseth for the disbelievers naught save loss. s: he it is who made you rulers in the land; therefore whoever disbelieves, his unbelief is against himself; and their unbelief does not increase the disbelievers with their lord in anything except hatred; and their unbelief does not increase the disbelievers in anything except loss. . y: say: "have ye seen (these) 'partners' of yours whom ye call upon besides allah? show me what it is they have created in the (wide) earth. or have they a share in the heavens? or have we given them a book from which they (can derive) clear (evidence)?- nay, the wrong-doers promise each other nothing but delusions." p: say: have ye seen your partner-gods to whom ye pray beside allah? show me what they created of the earth! or have they any portion in the heavens? or have we given them a scripture so they act on clear proof therefrom? nay, the evil-doers promise one another only to deceive. s: say: have you considered your associates which you call upon besides allah? show me what part of the earth they have created, or have they any share in the heavens; or, have we given them a book so that they follow a clear argument thereof? nay, the unjust do not hold out promises one to another but only to deceive. . y: it is allah who sustains the heavens and the earth, lest they cease (to function): and if they should fail, there is none - not one - can sustain them thereafter: verily he is most forbearing, oft-forgiving. p: lo! allah graspeth the heavens and the earth that they deviate not, and if they were to deviate there is not one that could grasp them after him. lo! he is ever clement, forgiving. s: surely allah upholds the heavens and the earth lest they come to naught; and if they should come to naught, there is none who can uphold them after him; surely he is the forbearing, the forgiving. . y: they swore their strongest oaths by allah that if a warner came to them, they would follow his guidance better than any (other) of the peoples: but when a warner came to them, it has only increased their flight (from righteousness),- p: and they swore by allah, their most binding oath, that if a warner came unto them they would be more tractable than any of the nations; yet, when a warner came unto them it aroused in them naught save repugnance, s: and they swore by allah with the strongest of their oaths that if there came to them a warner they would be better guided than any of the nations; but when there came to them a warner it increased them in naught but aversion. . y: on account of their arrogance in the land and their plotting of evil, but the plotting of evil will hem in only the authors thereof. now are they but looking for the way the ancients were dealt with? but no change wilt thou find in allah's way (of dealing): no turning off wilt thou find in allah's way (of dealing). p: (shown in their) behaving arrogantly in the land and plotting evil; and the evil plot encloseth but the men who make it. then, can they expect aught save the treatment of the folk of old? thou wilt not find for allah's way of treatment any substitute, nor wilt thou find for allah's way of treatment aught of power to change. s: (in) behaving proudly in the land and in planning evil; and the evil plans shall not beset any save the authors of it. then should they wait for aught except the way of the former people? for you shall not find any alteration in the course of allah; and you shall not find any change in the course of allah. . y: do they not travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those before them,- though they were superior to them in strength? nor is allah to be frustrated by anything whatever in the heavens or on earth: for he is all-knowing. all-powerful. p: have they not travelled in the land and seen the nature of the consequence for those who were before them, and they were mightier than these in power? allah is not such that aught in the heavens or in the earth escapeth him. lo! he is the wise, the mighty. s: have they not travelled in the land and seen how was the end of those before them while they were stronger than these in power? and allah is not such that any thing in the heavens or in the earth should escape him; surely he is knowing, powerful. . y: if allah were to punish men according to what they deserve. he would not leave on the back of the (earth) a single living creature: but he gives them respite for a stated term: when their term expires, verily allah has in his sight all his servants. p: if allah took mankind to task by that which they deserve, he would not leave a living creature on the surface of the earth; but he reprieveth them unto an appointed term, and when their term cometh - then verily (they will know that) allah is ever seer of his slaves. s: and were allah to punish men for what they earn, he would not leave on the back of it any creature, but he respites them till an appointed term; so when their doom shall come, then surely allah is seeing with respect to his servants. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : ya-seen (ya-seen) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: ya sin. p: ya sin. s: ya seen. . y: by the qur'an, full of wisdom,- p: by the wise qur'an, s: i swear by the quran full of wisdom . y: thou art indeed one of the messengers, p: lo! thou art of those sent s: most surely you are one of the messengers . y: on a straight way. p: on a straight path, s: on a right way. . y: it is a revelation sent down by (him), the exalted in might, most merciful. p: a revelation of the mighty, the merciful, s: a revelation of the mighty, the merciful. . y: in order that thou mayest admonish a people, whose fathers had received no admonition, and who therefore remain heedless (of the signs of allah). p: that thou mayst warn a folk whose fathers were not warned, so they are heedless. s: that you may warn a people whose fathers were not warned, so they are heedless. . y: the word is proved true against the greater part of them: for they do not believe. p: already hath the judgment, (for their infidelity) proved true of most of them, for they believe not. s: certainly the word has proved true of most of them, so they do not believe. . y: we have put yokes round their necks right up to their chins, so that their heads are forced up (and they cannot see). p: lo! we have put on their necks carcans reaching unto the chins, so that they are made stiff-necked. s: surely we have placed chains on their necks, and these reach up to their chins, so they have their heads raised aloft. . y: and we have put a bar in front of them and a bar behind them, and further, we have covered them up; so that they cannot see. p: and we have set a bar before them and a bar behind them, and (thus) have covered them so that they see not. s: and we have made before them a barrier and a barrier behind them, then we have covered them over so that they do not see. . y: the same is it to them whether thou admonish them or thou do not admonish them: they will not believe. p: whether thou warn them or thou warn them not, it is alike for them, for they believe not. s: and it is alike to them whether you warn them or warn them not: they do not believe. . y: thou canst but admonish such a one as follows the message and fears the (lord) most gracious, unseen: give such a one, therefore, good tidings, of forgiveness and a reward most generous. p: thou warnest only him who followeth the reminder and feareth the beneficent in secret. to him bear tidings of forgiveness and a rich reward. s: you can only warn him who follows the reminder and fears the beneficent allah in secret; so announce to him forgiveness and an honorable reward. . y: verily we shall give life to the dead, and we record that which they send before and that which they leave behind, and of all things have we taken account in a clear book (of evidence). p: lo! we it is who bring the dead to life. we record that which they send before (them), and their footprints. and all things we have kept in a clear register. s: surely we give life to the dead, and we write down what they have sent before and their footprints, and we have recorded everything in a clear writing. . y: set forth to them, by way of a parable, the (story of) the companions of the city. behold, there came messengers to it. p: coin for them a similitude: the people of the city when those sent (from allah) came unto them; s: and set out to them an example of the people of the town, when the messengers came to it. . y: when we (first) sent to them two messengers, they rejected them: but we strengthened them with a third: they said, "truly, we have been sent on a mission to you." p: when we sent unto them twain, and they denied them both, so we reinforced them with a third, and they said: lo! we have been sent unto you. s: when we sent to them two, they rejected both of them, then we strengthened (them) with a third, so they said: surely we are messengers to you. . y: the (people) said: "ye are only men like ourselves; and (allah) most gracious sends no sort of revelation: ye do nothing but lie." p: they said: ye are but mortals like unto us. the beneficent hath naught revealed. ye do but lie! s: they said: you are naught but mortals like ourselves, nor has the beneficent allah revealed anything; you only lie. . y: they said: "our lord doth know that we have been sent on a mission to you:" p: they answered: our lord knoweth that we are indeed sent unto you, s: they said: our lord knows that we are most surely messengers to you. . y: "and our duty is only to proclaim the clear message." p: and our duty is but plain conveyance (of the message). s: and nothing devolves on us but a clear deliverance (of the message). . y: the (people) said: "for us, we augur an evil omen from you: if ye desist not, we will certainly stone you. and a grievous punishment indeed will be inflicted on you by us." p: (the people of the city) said: we augur ill of you. if ye desist not, we shall surely stone you, and grievous torture will befall you at our hands. s: they said: surely we augur evil from you; if you do not desist, we will certainly stone you, and there shall certainly afflict vou a painful chastisement from us. . y: they said: "your evil omens are with yourselves: (deem ye this an evil omen). if ye are admonished? nay, but ye are a people transgressing all bounds!" p: they said: your evil augury be with you! is it because ye are reminded (of the truth)? nay, but ye are froward folk! s: they said: your evil fortune is with you; what! if you are reminded! nay, you are an extravagant people. . y: then there came running, from the farthest part of the city, a man, saying, "o my people! obey the messengers:" p: and there came from the uttermost part of the city a man running. he cried: o my people! follow those who have been sent! s: and from the remote part of the city there came a man running, he said: o my people! follow the messengers; . y: "obey those who ask no reward of you (for themselves), and who have themselves received guidance." p: follow those who ask of you no fee, and who are rightly guided. s: follow him who does not ask you for reward, and they are the followers of the right course; . y: "it would not be reasonable in me if i did not serve him who created me, and to whom ye shall (all) be brought back." p: for what cause should i not serve him who hath created me, and unto whom ye will be brought back? s: and what reason have i that i should not serve him who brought me into existence? and to him you shall be brought back; . y: "shall i take (other) gods besides him? if (allah) most gracious should intend some adversity for me, of no use whatever will be their intercession for me, nor can they deliver me." p: shall i take (other) gods in place of him when, if the beneficent should wish me any harm, their intercession will avail me naught, nor can they save? s: what! shall i take besides him gods whose intercession, if the beneficent allah should desire to afflict me with a harm, shall not avail me aught, nor shall they be able to deliver me? . y: "i would indeed, if i were to do so, be in manifest error." p: then truly i should be in error manifest. s: in that case i shall most surely be in clear error: . y: "for me, i have faith in the lord of you (all): listen, then, to me!" p: lo! i have believed in your lord, so hear me! s: surely i believe in your lord, therefore hear me. . y: it was said: "enter thou the garden." he said: "ah me! would that my people knew (what i know)!"- p: it was said (unto him): enter paradise. he said: would that my people knew, s: it was said: enter the garden. he said: o would that my people had known, . y: "for that my lord has granted me forgiveness and has enrolled me among those held in honour!" p: with what (munificence) my lord hath pardoned me and made me of the honoured ones! s: of that on account of which my lord has forgiven me and made me of the honored ones! . y: and we sent not down against his people, after him, any hosts from heaven, nor was it needful for us so to do. p: we sent not down against his people after him a host from heaven, nor do we ever send. s: and we did not send down upon his people after him any hosts from heaven, nor do we ever send down. . y: it was no more than a single mighty blast, and behold! they were (like ashes) quenched and silent. p: it was but one shout, and lo! they were extinct. s: it was naught but a single cry, and lo! they were still. . y: ah! alas for (my) servants! there comes not a messenger to them but they mock him! p: ah, the anguish for the bondmen! never came there unto them a messenger but they did mock him! s: alas for the servants! there comes not to them a messenger but they mock at him. . y: see they not how many generations before them we destroyed? not to them will they return: p: have they not seen how many generations we destroyed before them, which indeed returned not unto them; s: do they not consider how many of the generations have we destroyed before them, because they do not turn to them? . y: but each one of them all - will be brought before us (for judgment). p: but all, without exception, will be brought before us. s: and all of them shall surely be brought before us. . y: a sign for them is the earth that is dead: we do give it life, and produce grain therefrom, of which ye do eat. p: a token unto them is the dead earth. we revive it, and we bring forth from it grain so that they eat thereof; s: and a sign to them is the dead earth: we give life to it and bring forth from it grain sq they eat of it. . y: and we produce therein orchard with date-palms and vines, and we cause springs to gush forth therein: p: and we have placed therein gardens of the date-palm and grapes, and we have caused springs of water to gush forth therein, s: and we make therein gardens of palms and grapevines and we make springs to flow forth in it, . y: that they may enjoy the fruits of this (artistry): it was not their hands that made this: will they not then give thanks? p: that they may eat of the fruit thereof, and their hands made it not. will they not, then, give thanks? s: that they may eat of the fruit thereof, and their hands did not make it; will they not then be grateful? . y: glory to allah, who created in pairs all things that the earth produces, as well as their own (human) kind and (other) things of which they have no knowledge. p: glory be to him who created all the sexual pairs, of that which the earth groweth, and of themselves, and of that which they know not! s: glory be to him who created pairs of all things, of what the earth grows, and of their kind and of what they do not know. . y: and a sign for them is the night: we withdraw therefrom the day, and behold they are plunged in darkness; p: a token unto them is night. we strip it of the day, and lo! they are in darkness. s: and a sign to them is the night: we draw forth from it the day, then lo! they are in the dark; . y: and the sun runs his course for a period determined for him: that is the decree of (him), the exalted in might, the all-knowing. p: and the sun runneth on unto a resting-place for him. that is the measuring of the mighty, the wise. s: and the sun runs on to a term appointed for it; that is the ordinance of the mighty, the knowing. . y: and the moon,- we have measured for her mansions (to traverse) till she returns like the old (and withered) lower part of a date-stalk. p: and for the moon we have appointed mansions till she return like an old shrivelled palm-leaf. s: and (as for) the moon, we have ordained for it stages till it becomes again as an old dry palm branch. . y: it is not permitted to the sun to catch up the moon, nor can the night outstrip the day: each (just) swims along in (its own) orbit (according to law). p: it is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor doth the night outstrip the day. they float each in an orbit. s: neither is it allowable to the sun that it should overtake the moon, nor can the night outstrip the day; and all float on in a sphere. . y: and a sign for them is that we bore their race (through the flood) in the loaded ark; p: and a token unto them is that we bear their offspring in the laden ship, s: and a sign to them is that we bear their offspring in the laden ship. . y: and we have created for them similar (vessels) on which they ride. p: and have created for them of the like thereof whereon they ride. s: and we have created for them the like of it, what they will ride on. . y: if it were our will, we could drown them: then would there be no helper (to hear their cry), nor could they be delivered, p: and if we will, we drown them, and there is no help for them, neither can they be saved; s: and if we please, we can drown them, then there shall be no succorer for them, nor shall they be rescued, . y: except by way of mercy from us, and by way of (world) convenience (to serve them) for a time. p: unless by mercy from us and as comfort for a while. s: but (by) mercy from us and for enjoyment till a time. . y: when they are told, "fear ye that which is before you and that which will be after you, in order that ye may receive mercy," (they turn back). p: when it is said unto them: beware of that which is before you and that which is behind you, that haply ye may find mercy (they are heedless). s: and when it is said to them: guard against what is before you and what is behind you, that mercy may be had on you. . y: not a sign comes to them from among the signs of their lord, but they turn away therefrom. p: never came a token of the tokens of their lord to them, but they did turn away from it! s: and there comes not to them a communication of the communications of their lord but they turn aside from it. . y: and when they are told, "spend ye of (the bounties) with which allah has provided you," the unbelievers say to those who believe: "shall we then feed those whom, if allah had so willed, he would have fed, (himself)?- ye are in nothing but manifest error." p: and when it is said unto them: spend of that wherewith allah hath provided you, those who disbelieve say unto those who believe: shall we feed those whom allah, if he willed, would feed? ye are in naught else than error manifest. s: and when it is said to them: spend out of what allah has given you, those who disbelieve say to those who believe: shall we feed him whom, if allah please, he could feed? you are in naught but clear error. . y: further, they say, "when will this promise (come to pass), if what ye say is true?" p: and they say: when will this promise be fulfilled, if ye are truthful? s: and they say: when will this threat come to pass, if you are truthful? . y: they will not (have to) wait for aught but a single blast: it will seize them while they are yet disputing among themselves! p: they await but one shout, which will surprise them while they are disputing. s: they wait not for aught but a single cry which will overtake them while they yet contend with one another. . y: no (chance) will they then have, by will, to dispose (of their affairs), nor to return to their own people! p: then they cannot make bequest, nor can they return to their own folk. s: so they shall not be able to make a bequest, nor shall they return to their families. . y: the trumpet shall be sounded, when behold! from the sepulchres (men) will rush forth to their lord! p: and the trumpet is blown and lo! from the graves they hie unto their lord, s: and the trumpet shall be blown, when lo! from their graves they shall hasten on to their lord. . y: they will say: "ah! woe unto us! who hath raised us up from our beds of repose?"... (a voice will say:) "this is what (allah) most gracious had promised. and true was the word of the messengers!" p: crying: woe upon us! who hath raised us from our place of sleep? this is that which the beneficent did promise, and the messengers spoke truth. s: they shall say: o woe to us! who has raised us up from our sleeping-place? this is what the beneficent allah promised and the messengers told the truth. . y: it will be no more than a single blast, when lo! they will all be brought up before us! p: it is but one shout, and behold them brought together before us! s: there would be naught but a single cry, when lo! they shall all be brought before us. . y: then, on that day, not a soul will be wronged in the least, and ye shall but be repaid the meeds of your past deeds. p: this day no soul is wronged in aught; nor are ye requited aught save what ye used to do. s: so this day no soul shall be dealt with unjustly in the least; and you shall not be rewarded aught but that which you did. . y: verily the companions of the garden shall that day have joy in all that they do; p: lo! those who merit paradise this day are happily employed, s: surely the dwellers of the garden shall on that day be in an occupation quite happy. . y: they and their associates will be in groves of (cool) shade, reclining on thrones (of dignity); p: they and their wives, in pleasant shade, on thrones reclining; s: they and their wives shall be in shades, reclining on raised couches. . y: (every) fruit (enjoyment) will be there for them; they shall have whatever they call for; p: theirs the fruit (of their good deeds) and theirs (all) that they ask; s: they shall have fruits therein, and they shall have whatever they desire. . y: "peace!" - a word (of salutation) from a lord most merciful! p: the word from a merciful lord (for them) is: peace! s: peace: a word from a merciful lord. . y: "and o ye in sin! get ye apart this day!" p: but avaunt ye, o ye guilty, this day! s: and get aside today, o guilty ones! . y: "did i not enjoin on you, o ye children of adam, that ye should not worship satan; for that he was to you an enemy avowed?"- p: did i not charge you, o ye sons of adam, that ye worship not the devil - lo! he is your open foe! s: did i not charge you, o children of adam! that you should not serve the shaitan? surely he is your open enemy, . y: "and that ye should worship me, (for that) this was the straight way?" p: but that ye worship me? that was the right path. s: and that you should serve me; this is the right way. . y: "but he did lead astray a great multitude of you. did ye not, then, understand?" p: yet he hath led astray of you a great multitude. had ye then no sense? s: and certainly he led astray numerous people from among you. what! could you not then understand? . y: "this is the hell of which ye were (repeatedly) warned!" p: this is hell which ye were promised (if ye followed him). s: this is the hell with which you were threatened. . y: "embrace ye the (fire) this day, for that ye (persistently) rejected (truth)." p: burn therein this day for that ye disbelieved. s: enter into it this day because you disbelieved. . y: that day shall we set a seal on their mouths. but their hands will speak to us, and their feet bear witness, to all that they did. p: this day we seal up their mouths, and their hands speak out to us and their feet bear witness as to what they used to earn. s: on that day we will set a seal upon their mouths, and their hands shall speak to us, and their feet shall bear witness of what they earned. . y: if it had been our will, we could surely have blotted out their eyes; then should they have run about groping for the path, but how could they have seen? p: and had we willed, we verily could have quenched their eyesight so that they should struggle for the way. then how could they have seen? s: and if we please we would certainly put out their eyes, then they would run about groping for the way, but how should they see? . y: and if it had been our will, we could have transformed them (to remain) in their places; then should they have been unable to move about, nor could they have returned (after error). p: and had we willed, we verily could have fixed them in their place, making them powerless to go forward or turn back. s: and if we please we would surely transform them in their place, then they would not be able to go on, nor will they return. . y: if we grant long life to any, we cause him to be reversed in nature: will they not then understand? p: he whom we bring unto old age, we reverse him in creation (making him go back to weakness after strength). have ye then no sense? s: and whomsoever we cause to live long, we reduce (him) to an abject state in constitution; do they not then understand? . y: we have not instructed the (prophet) in poetry, nor is it meet for him: this is no less than a message and a qur'an making things clear: p: and we have not taught him (muhammad) poetry, nor is it meet for him. this is naught else than a reminder and a lecture making plain, s: and we have not taught him poetry, nor is it meet for him; it is nothing but a reminder and a plain quran, . y: that it may give admonition to any (who are) alive, and that the charge may be proved against those who reject (truth). p: to warn whosoever liveth, and that the word may be fulfilled against the disbelievers. s: that it may warn him who would have life, and (that) the word may prove true against the unbelievers. . y: see they not that it is we who have created for them - among the things which our hands have fashioned - cattle, which are under their dominion?- p: have they not seen how we have created for them of our handiwork the cattle, so that they are their owners, s: do they not see that we have created cattle for them, out of what our hands have wrought, so they are their masters? . y: and that we have subjected them to their (use)? of them some do carry them and some they eat: p: and have subdued them unto them, so that some of them they have for riding, some for food? s: and we have subjected them to them, so some of them they have to ride upon, and some of them they eat. . y: and they have (other) profits from them (besides), and they get (milk) to drink. will they not then be grateful? p: benefits and (divers) drinks have they from them. will they not then give thanks? s: and therein they have advantages and drinks; will they not then be grateful? . y: yet they take (for worship) gods other than allah, (hoping) that they might be helped! p: and they have taken (other) gods beside allah, in order that they may be helped. s: and they have taken gods besides allah that they may be helped. . y: they have not the power to help them: but they will be brought up (before our judgment-seat) as a troop (to be condemned). p: it is not in their power to help them; but they (the worshippers) are unto them a host in arms. s: (but) they shall not be able to assist them, and they shall be a host brought up before them. . y: let not their speech, then, grieve thee. verily we know what they hide as well as what they disclose. p: so let not their speech grieve thee (o muhammad). lo! we know what they conceal and what proclaim. s: therefore let not their speech grieve you; surely we know what they do in secret and what they do openly. . y: doth not man see that it is we who created him from sperm? yet behold! he (stands forth) as an open adversary! p: hath not man seen that we have created him from a drop of seed? yet lo! he is an open opponent. s: does not man see that we have created him from the small seed? then lo! he is an open disputant. . y: and he makes comparisons for us, and forgets his own (origin and) creation: he says, "who can give life to (dry) bones and decomposed ones (at that)?" p: and he hath coined for us a similitude, and hath forgotten the fact of his creation, saying: who will revive these bones when they have rotted away? s: and he strikes out a likeness for us and forgets his own creation. says he: who will give life to the bones when they are rotten? . y: say, "he will give them life who created them for the first time! for he is well-versed in every kind of creation!"- p: say: he will revive them who produced them at the first, for he is knower of every creation, s: say: he will give life to them who brought them into existence at first, and he is cognizant of all creation, . y: "the same who produces for you fire out of the green tree, when behold! ye kindle therewith (your own fires)!" p: who hath appointed for you fire from the green tree, and behold! ye kindle from it. s: he who has made for you the fire (to burn) from the green tree, so that with it you kindle (fire). . y: "is not he who created the heavens and the earth able to create the like thereof?" - yea, indeed! for he is the creator supreme, of skill and knowledge (infinite)! p: is not he who created the heavens and the earth able to create the like of them? aye, that he is! for he is the all-wise creator, s: is not he who created the heavens and the earth able to create the like of them? yea! and he is the creator (of all), the knower. . y: verily, when he intends a thing, his command is, "be", and it is! p: but his command, when he intendeth a thing, is only that he saith unto it: be! and it is. s: his command, when he intends anything, is only to say to it: be, so it is. . y: so glory to him in whose hands is the dominion of all things: and to him will ye be all brought back. p: therefor glory be to him in whose hand is the dominion over all things! unto him ye will be brought back. s: therefore glory be to him in whose hand is the kingdom of all things, and to him you shall be brought back. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : as-saaffat (those who set the ranks, drawn up in ranks) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: by those who range themselves in ranks, p: by those who set the ranks in battle order s: i swear by those who draw themselves out in ranks . y: and so are strong in repelling (evil), p: and those who drive away (the wicked) with reproof s: then those who drive away with reproof, . y: and thus proclaim the message (of allah)! p: and those who read (the word) for a reminder, s: then those who recite, being mindful, . y: verily, verily, your allah is one!- p: lo! thy lord is surely one; s: most surely your allah is one: . y: lord of the heavens and of the earth and all between them, and lord of every point at the rising of the sun! p: lord of the heavens and of the earth and all that is between them, and lord of the sun's risings. s: the lord of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, and lord of the easts. . y: we have indeed decked the lower heaven with beauty (in) the stars,- p: lo! we have adorned the lowest heaven with an ornament, the planets; s: surely we have adorned the nearest heaven with an adornment, the stars, . y: (for beauty) and for guard against all obstinate rebellious evil spirits, p: with security from every froward devil. s: and (there is) a safeguard against every rebellious shaitan. . y: (so) they should not strain their ears in the direction of the exalted assembly but be cast away from every side, p: they cannot listen to the highest chiefs for they are pelted from every side, s: they cannot listen to the exalted assembly and they are thrown at from every side, . y: repulsed, for they are under a perpetual penalty, p: outcast, and theirs is a perpetual torment; s: being driven off, and for them is a perpetual chastisement, . y: except such as snatch away something by stealth, and they are pursued by a flaming fire, of piercing brightness. p: save him who snatcheth a fragment, and there pursueth him a piercing flame. s: except him who snatches off but once, then there follows him a brightly shining flame. . y: just ask their opinion: are they the more difficult to create, or the (other) beings we have created? them have we created out of a sticky clay! p: then ask them (o muhammad): are they stronger as a creation, or those (others) whom we have created? lo! we created them of plastic clay. s: then ask them whether they are stronger in creation or those (others) whom we have created. surely we created them of firm clay. . y: truly dost thou marvel, while they ridicule, p: nay, but thou dost marvel when they mock s: nay! you wonder while they mock, . y: and, when they are admonished, pay no heed,- p: and heed not when they are reminded, s: and when they are reminded, they mind not, . y: and, when they see a sign, turn it to mockery, p: and seek to scoff when they behold a portent. s: and when they see a sign they incite one another to scoff, . y: and say, "this is nothing but evident sorcery!" p: and they say: lo! this is mere magic; s: and they say: this is nothing but clear magic: . y: "what! when we die, and become dust and bones, shall we (then) be raised up (again)?" p: when we are dead and have become dust and bones, shall we then, forsooth, be raised (again)? s: what! when we are dead and have become dust and bones, shall we then certainly be raised, . y: "and also our fathers of old?" p: and our forefathers? s: or our fathers of yore? . y: say thou: "yea, and ye shall then be humiliated (on account of your evil)." p: say (o muhammad): ye, in truth; and ye will be brought low. s: say: aye! and you shall be abject. . y: then it will be a single (compelling) cry; and behold, they will begin to see! p: there is but one shout, and lo! they behold, s: so it shall only be a single cry, when lo! they shall see. . y: they will say, "ah! woe to us! this is the day of judgment!" p: and say: ah, woe for us! this is the day of judgment. s: and they shall say: o woe to us! this is the day of requital. . y: (a voice will say,) "this is the day of sorting out, whose truth ye (once) denied!" p: this is the day of separation, which ye used to deny. s: this is the day of the judgment which you called a lie. . y: "bring ye up", it shall be said, "the wrong-doers and their wives, and the things they worshipped-" p: (and it is said unto the angels): assemble those who did wrong, together with their wives and what they used to worship s: gather together those who were unjust and their associates, and what they used to worship . y: "besides allah, and lead them to the way to the (fierce) fire!" p: instead of allah, and lead them to the path to hell; s: besides allah, then lead them to the way to hell. . y: "but stop them, for they must be asked:" p: and stop them, for they must be questioned. s: and stop them, for they shall be questioned: . y: "'what is the matter with you that ye help not each other?'" p: what aileth you that ye help not one another? s: what is the matter with you that you do not help each other? . y: nay, but that day they shall submit (to judgment); p: nay, but this day they make full submission. s: nay! on that day they shall be submissive. . y: and they will turn to one another, and question one another. p: and some of them draw near unto others, mutually questioning. s: and some of them shall advance towards others, questioning each other. . y: they will say: "it was ye who used to come to us from the right hand (of power and authority)!" p: they say: lo! ye used to come unto us, imposing, (swearing that ye spoke the truth). s: they shall say: surely you used to come to us from the right side. . y: they will reply: "nay, ye yourselves had no faith!" p: they answer: nay, but ye (yourselves) were not believers. s: they shall say: nay, you (yourselves) were not believers; . y: "nor had we any authority over you. nay, it was ye who were a people in obstinate rebellion!" p: we had no power over you, but ye were wayward folk. s: and we had no authority over you, but you were an inordinate people; . y: "so now has been proved true, against us, the word of our lord that we shall indeed (have to) taste (the punishment of our sins)." p: now the word of our lord hath been fulfilled concerning us. lo! we are about to taste (the doom). s: so the sentence of our lord has come to pass against us: (now) we shall surely taste; . y: "we led you astray: for truly we were ourselves astray." p: thus we misled you. lo! we were (ourselves) astray. s: so we led you astray, for we ourselves were erring. . y: truly, that day, they will (all) share in the penalty. p: then lo! this day they (both) are sharers in the doom. s: so they shall on that day be sharers in the chastisement one with another. . y: verily that is how we shall deal with sinners. p: lo! thus deal we with the guilty. s: surely thus do we deal with the guilty. . y: for they, when they were told that there is no god except allah, would puff themselves up with pride, p: for when it was said unto them, there is no god save allah, they were scornful s: surely they used to behave proudly when it was said to them: there is no god but allah; . y: and say: "what! shall we give up our gods for the sake of a poet possessed?" p: and said: shall we forsake our gods for a mad poet? s: and to say: what! shall we indeed give up our gods for the sake of a mad poet? . y: nay! he has come with the (very) truth, and he confirms (the message of) the messengers (before him). p: nay, but he brought the truth, and he confirmed those sent (before him). s: nay: he has come with the truth and verified the messengers. . y: ye shall indeed taste of the grievous penalty;- p: lo! (now) verily ye taste the painful doom - s: most surely you will taste the painful punishment. . y: but it will be no more than the retribution of (the evil) that ye have wrought;- p: ye are requited naught save what ye did - s: and you shall not be rewarded except (for) what you did. . y: but the sincere (and devoted) servants of allah,- p: save single-minded slaves of allah; s: save the servants of allah, the purified ones. . y: for them is a sustenance determined, p: for them there is a known provision, s: for them is a known sustenance, . y: fruits (delights); and they (shall enjoy) honour and dignity, p: fruits. and they will be honoured s: fruits, and they shall be highly honored, . y: in gardens of felicity, p: in the gardens of delight, s: in gardens of pleasure, . y: facing each other on thrones (of dignity): p: on couches facing one another; s: on thrones, facing each other. . y: round will be passed to them a cup from a clear-flowing fountain, p: a cup from a gushing spring is brought round for them, s: a bowl shall be made to go round them from water running out of springs, . y: crystal-white, of a taste delicious to those who drink (thereof), p: white, delicious to the drinkers, s: white, delicious to those who drink. . y: free from headiness; nor will they suffer intoxication therefrom. p: wherein there is no headache nor are they made mad thereby. s: there shall be no trouble in it, nor shall they be exhausted therewith. . y: and besides them will be chaste women, restraining their glances, with big eyes (of wonder and beauty). p: and with them are those of modest gaze, with lovely eyes, s: and with them shall be those who restrain the eyes, having beautiful eyes; . y: as if they were (delicate) eggs closely guarded. p: (pure) as they were hidden eggs (of the ostrich). s: as if they were eggs carefully protected. . y: then they will turn to one another and question one another. p: and some of them draw near unto others, mutually questioning. s: then shall some of them advance to others, questioning each other. . y: one of them will start the talk and say: "i had an intimate companion (on the earth)," p: a speaker of them saith: lo! i had a comrade s: a speaker from among them shall say: surely i had a comrade of mine, . y: "who used to say, 'what! art thou amongst those who bear witness to the truth (of the message)?" p: who used to say: art thou in truth of those who put faith (in his words)? s: who said: what! are you indeed of those who accept (the truth)? . y: "'when we die and become dust and bones, shall we indeed receive rewards and punishments?'" p: can we, when we are dead and have become mere dust and bones - can we (then) verily be brought to book? s: what! when we are dead and have become dust and bones, shall we then be certainly brought to judgment? . y: (a voice) said: "would ye like to look down?" p: he saith: will ye look? s: he shall say: will you look on? . y: he looked down and saw him in the midst of the fire. p: then looketh he and seeth him in the depth of hell. s: then he looked down and saw him in the midst of hell. . y: he said: "by allah! thou wast little short of bringing me to perdition!" p: he saith: by allah, thou verily didst all but cause my ruin, s: he shall say: by allah! you had almost caused me to perish; . y: "had it not been for the grace of my lord, i should certainly have been among those brought (there)!" p: and had it not been for the favour of my lord, i too had been of those haled forth (to doom). s: and had it not been for the favor of my lord, i would certainly have been among those brought up. . y: "is it (the case) that we shall not die," p: are we then not to die s: is it then that we are not going to die, . y: "except our first death, and that we shall not be punished?" p: saving our former death, and are we not to be punished? s: except our previous death? and we shall not be chastised? . y: verily this is the supreme achievement! p: lo! this is the supreme triumph. s: most surely this is the mighty achievement. . y: for the like of this let all strive, who wish to strive. p: for the like of this, then, let the workers work. s: for the like of this then let the workers work. . y: is that the better entertainment or the tree of zaqqum? p: is this better as a welcome, or the tree of zaqqum? s: is this better as an entertainment or the tree of zaqqum? . y: for we have truly made it (as) a trial for the wrong-doers. p: lo! we have appointed it a torment for wrong-doers. s: surely we have made it to be a trial to the unjust. . y: for it is a tree that springs out of the bottom of hell-fire: p: lo! it is a tree that springeth in the heart of hell. s: surely it is a tree that-grows in the bottom of the hell; . y: the shoots of its fruit-stalks are like the heads of devils: p: its crop is as it were the heads of devils s: its produce is as it were the heads of the serpents. . y: truly they will eat thereof and fill their bellies therewith. p: and lo! they verily must eat thereof, and fill (their) bellies therewith. s: then most surely they shall eat of it and fill (their) bellies with it. . y: then on top of that they will be given a mixture made of boiling water. p: and afterward, lo! thereupon they have a drink of boiling water s: then most surely they shall have after it to drink of a mixture prepared in boiling water. . y: then shall their return be to the (blazing) fire. p: and afterward, lo! their return is surely unto hell. s: then most surely their return shall be to hell. . y: truly they found their fathers on the wrong path; p: they indeed found their fathers astray, s: surely they found their fathers going astray, . y: so they (too) were rushed down on their footsteps! p: but they make haste (to follow) in their footsteps. s: so in their footsteps they are being hastened on. . y: and truly before them, many of the ancients went astray;- p: and verily most of the men of old went astray before them, s: and certainly most of the ancients went astray before them, . y: but we sent aforetime, among them, (messengers) to admonish them;- p: and verily we sent among them warners. s: and certainly we sent among them warners. . y: then see what was the end of those who were admonished (but heeded not),- p: then see the nature of the consequence for those warned, s: then see how was the end of those warned, . y: except the sincere (and devoted) servants of allah. p: save single-minded slaves of allah. s: except the servants of allah, the purified ones. . y: (in the days of old), noah cried to us, and we are the best to hear prayer. p: and noah verily prayed unto us, and gracious was the hearer of his prayer. s: and nuh did certainly call upon us, and most excellent answerer of prayer are we. . y: and we delivered him and his people from the great calamity, p: and we saved him and his household from the great distress, s: and we delivered him and his followers from the mighty distress. . y: and made his progeny to endure (on this earth); p: and made his seed the survivors, s: and we made his offspring the survivors. . y: and we left (this blessing) for him among generations to come in later times: p: and left for him among the later folk (the salutation): s: and we perpetuated to him (praise) among the later generations. . y: "peace and salutation to noah among the nations!" p: peace be unto noah among the peoples! s: peace and salutation to nuh among the nations. . y: thus indeed do we reward those who do right. p: lo! thus do we reward the good. s: thus do we surely reward the doers of good. . y: for he was one of our believing servants. p: lo! he is one of our believing slaves. s: surely he was of our believing servants. . y: then the rest we overwhelmed in the flood. p: then we did drown the others. s: then we drowned the others . y: verily among those who followed his way was abraham. p: and lo! of his persuasion verily was abraham s: and most surely ibrahim followed his way. . y: behold! he approached his lord with a sound heart. p: when he came unto his lord with a whole heart; s: when he came to his lord with a free heart, . y: behold! he said to his father and to his people, "what is that which ye worship?" p: when he said unto his father and his folk: what is it that ye worship? s: when he said to his father and his people: what is it that you worship? . y: "is it a falsehood- gods other than allah- that ye desire?" p: is it a falsehood - gods beside allah - that ye desire? s: a lie-- gods besides allah-- do you desire? . y: "then what is your idea about the lord of the worlds?" p: what then is your opinion of the lord of the worlds? s: what is then your idea about the lord of the worlds? . y: then did he cast a glance at the stars. p: and he glanced a glance at the stars s: then he looked at the stars, looking up once, . y: and he said, "i am indeed sick (at heart)!" p: then said: lo! i feel sick! s: then he said: surely i am sick (of your worshipping these). . y: so they turned away from him, and departed. p: and they turned their backs and went away from him. s: so they went away from him, turning back. . y: then did he turn to their gods and said, "will ye not eat (of the offerings before you)?..." p: then turned he to their gods and said: will ye not eat? s: then he turned aside to their gods secretly and said: what! do you not eat? . y: "what is the matter with you that ye speak not (intelligently)?" p: what aileth you that ye speak not? s: what is the matter with you that you do not speak? . y: then did he turn upon them, striking (them) with the right hand. p: then he attacked them, striking with his right hand. s: then he turned against them secretly, smiting them with the right hand. . y: then came (the worshippers) with hurried steps, and faced (him). p: and (his people) came toward him, hastening. s: so they (people) advanced towards him, hastening. . y: he said: "worship ye that which ye have (yourselves) carved?" p: he said: worship ye that which ye yourselves do carve s: said he: what! do you worship what you hew out? . y: "but allah has created you and your handwork!" p: when allah hath created you and what ye make? s: and allah has created you and what you make. . y: they said, "build him a furnace, and throw him into the blazing fire!" p: they said: build for him a building and fling him in the red-hotfire. s: they said: build for him a furnace, then cast him into the burning fire. . y: (this failing), they then sought a stratagem against him, but we made them the ones most humiliated! p: and they designed a snare for him, but we made them the undermost. s: and they desired a war against him, but we brought them low. . y: he said: "i will go to my lord! he will surely guide me!" p: and he said: lo! i am going unto my lord who will guide me. s: and he said: surely i fly to my lord; he will guide me. . y: "o my lord! grant me a righteous (son)!" p: my lord! vouchsafe me of the righteous. s: my lord! grant me of the doers of good deeds. . y: so we gave him the good news of a boy ready to suffer and forbear. p: so we gave him tidings of a gentle son. s: so we gave him the good news of a boy, possessing forbearance. . y: then, when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him, he said: "o my son! i see in vision that i offer thee in sacrifice: now see what is thy view!" (the son) said: "o my father! do as thou art commanded: thou will find me, if allah so wills one practising patience and constancy!" p: and when (his son) was old enough to walk with him, (abraham) said: o my dear son, i have seen in a dream that i must sacrifice thee. so look, what thinkest thou? he said: o my father! do that which thou art commanded. allah willing, thou shalt find me of the steadfast. s: and when he attained to working with him, he said: o my son! surely i have seen in a dream that i should sacrifice you; consider then what you see. he said: o my father! do what you are commanded; if allah please, you will find me of the patient ones. . y: so when they had both submitted their wills (to allah), and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice), p: then, when they had both surrendered (to allah), and he had flung him down upon his face, s: so when they both submitted and he threw him down upon his forehead, . y: we called out to him "o abraham!" p: we called unto him: o abraham! s: and we called out to him saying: o ibrahim! . y: "thou hast already fulfilled the vision!" - thus indeed do we reward those who do right. p: thou hast already fulfilled the vision. lo! thus do we reward the good. s: you have indeed shown the truth of the vision; surely thus do we reward the doers of good: . y: for this was obviously a trial- p: lo! that verily was a clear test. s: most surely this is a manifest trial. . y: and we ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice: p: then we ransomed him with a tremendous victim. s: and we ransomed him with a feat sacrifice. . y: and we left (this blessing) for him among generations (to come) in later times: p: and we left for him among the later folk (the salutation): s: and we perpetuated (praise) to him among the later generations. . y: "peace and salutation to abraham!" p: peace be unto abraham! s: peace be on ibrahim. . y: thus indeed do we reward those who do right. p: thus do we reward the good. s: thus do we reward the doers of good. . y: for he was one of our believing servants. p: lo! he is one of our believing slaves. s: surely he was one of our believing servants. . y: and we gave him the good news of isaac - a prophet,- one of the righteous. p: and we gave him tidings of the birth of isaac, a prophet of the righteous. s: and we gave him the good news of ishaq, a prophet among the good ones. . y: we blessed him and isaac: but of their progeny are (some) that do right, and (some) that obviously do wrong, to their own souls. p: and we blessed him and isaac. and of their seed are some who do good, and some who plainly wrong themselves. s: and we showered our blessings on him and on ishaq; and of their offspring are the doers of good, and (also) those who are clearly unjust to their own souls. . y: again (of old) we bestowed our favour on moses and aaron, p: and we verily gave grace unto moses and aaron, s: and certainly we conferred a favor on musa and haroun. . y: and we delivered them and their people from (their) great calamity; p: and saved them and their people from the great distress, s: and we delivered them both and their people from the mighty distress. . y: and we helped them, so they overcame (their troubles); p: and helped them so that they became the victors. s: and we helped them, so they were the vanquishers. . y: and we gave them the book which helps to make things clear; p: and we gave them the clear scripture s: and we gave them both the book that made (things) clear. . y: and we guided them to the straight way. p: and showed them the right path. s: and we guided them both on the right way. . y: and we left (this blessing) for them among generations (to come) in later times: p: and we left for them among the later folk (the salutation): s: and we perpetuated (praise) to them among the later generations. . y: "peace and salutation to moses and aaron!" p: peace be unto moses and aaron! s: peace be on musa and haroun. . y: thus indeed do we reward those who do right. p: lo! thus do we reward the good. s: even thus do we reward the doers of good. . y: for they were two of our believing servants. p: lo! they are two of our believing slaves. s: surely they were both of our believing servants. . y: so also was elias among those sent (by us). p: and lo! elias was of those sent (to warn), s: and ilyas was most surely of the messengers. . y: behold, he said to his people, "will ye not fear (allah)?" p: when he said unto his folk: will ye not ward off (evil)? s: when he said to his people: do you not guard (against evil)? . y: "will ye call upon baal and forsake the best of creators,"- p: will ye cry unto baal and forsake the best of creators, s: what! do you call upon ba'l and forsake the best of the creators, . y: "allah, your lord and cherisher and the lord and cherisher of your fathers of old?" p: allah, your lord and lord of your forefathers? s: allah, your lord and the lord of your fathers of yore? . y: but they rejected him, and they will certainly be called up (for punishment),- p: but they denied him, so they surely will be haled forth (to the doom) s: but they called him a liar, therefore they shall most surely be brought up. . y: except the sincere and devoted servants of allah (among them). p: save single-minded slaves of allah. s: but not the servants of allah, the purified ones. . y: and we left (this blessing) for him among generations (to come) in later times: p: and we left for him among the later folk (the salutation): s: and we perpetuated to him (praise) among the later generations. . y: "peace and salutation to such as elias!" p: peace be unto elias! s: peace be on ilyas. . y: thus indeed do we reward those who do right. p: lo! thus do we reward the good. s: even thus do we reward the doers of good. . y: for he was one of our believing servants. p: lo! he is one of our believing slaves. s: surely he was one of our believing servants. . y: so also was lut among those sent (by us). p: and lo! lot verily was of those sent (to warn). s: and lut was most surely of the messengers. . y: behold, we delivered him and his adherents, all p: when we saved him and his household, every one, s: when we delivered him and his followers, all-- . y: except an old woman who was among those who lagged behind: p: save an old woman among those who stayed behind; s: except an old woman (who was) amongst those who tarried. . y: then we destroyed the rest. p: then we destroyed the others. s: then we destroyed the others. . y: verily, ye pass by their (sites), by day- p: and lo! ye verily pass by (the ruin of) them in the morning s: and most surely you pass by them in the morning, . y: and by night: will ye not understand? p: and at night-time; have ye then no sense? s: and at night; do you not then understand? . y: so also was jonah among those sent (by us). p: and lo! jonah verily was of those sent (to warn) s: and yunus was most surely of the messengers. . y: when he ran away (like a slave from captivity) to the ship (fully) laden, p: when he fled unto the laden ship, s: when he ran away to a ship completely laden, . y: he (agreed to) cast lots, and he was condemned: p: and then drew lots and was of those rejected; s: so he shared (with them), but was of those who are cast off. . y: then the big fish did swallow him, and he had done acts worthy of blame. p: and the fish swallowed him while he was blameworthy; s: so the fish swallowed him while he did that for which he blamed himself. . y: had it not been that he (repented and) glorified allah, p: and had he not been one of those who glorify (allah) s: but had it not been that he was of those who glorify (us), . y: he would certainly have remained inside the fish till the day of resurrection. p: he would have tarried in its belly till the day when they are raised; s: he would certainly have tarried in its belly to the day when they are raised. . y: but we cast him forth on the naked shore in a state of sickness, p: then we cast him on a desert shore while he was sick; s: then we cast him on to the vacant surface of the earth while he was sick. . y: and we caused to grow, over him, a spreading plant of the gourd kind. p: and we caused a tree of gourd to grow above him; s: and we caused to grow up for him a gourdplant. . y: and we sent him (on a mission) to a hundred thousand (men) or more. p: and we sent him to a hundred thousand (folk) or more s: and we sent him to a hundred thousand, rather they exceeded. . y: and they believed; so we permitted them to enjoy (their life) for a while. p: and they believed, therefor we gave them comfort for a while. s: and they believed, so we gave them provision till a time. . y: now ask them their opinion: is it that thy lord has (only) daughters, and they have sons?- p: now ask them (o muhammad): hath thy lord daughters whereas they have sons? s: then ask them whether your lord has daughters and they have sons. . y: or that we created the angels female, and they are witnesses (thereto)? p: or created we the angels females while they were present? s: or did we create the angels females while they were witnesses? . y: is it not that they say, from their own invention, p: lo! it is of their falsehood that they say: s: now surely it is of their own lie that they say: . y: "allah has begotten children"? but they are liars! p: allah hath begotten. allah! verily they tell a lie. s: allah has begotten; and most surely they are liars. . y: did he (then) choose daughters rather than sons? p: (and again of their falsehood): he hath preferred daughters to sons. s: has he chosen daughters in preference to sons? . y: what is the matter with you? how judge ye? p: what aileth you? how judge ye? s: what is the matter with you, how is it that you judge? . y: will ye not then receive admonition? p: will ye not then reflect? s: will you not then mind? . y: or have ye an authority manifest? p: or have ye a clear warrant? s: or have you a clear authority? . y: then bring ye your book (of authority) if ye be truthful! p: then produce your writ, if ye are truthful. s: then bring your book, if you are truthful. . y: and they have invented a blood-relationship between him and the jinns: but the jinns know (quite well) that they have indeed to appear (before his judgment-seat)! p: and they imagine kinship between him and the jinn, whereas the jinn know well that they will be brought before (him). s: and they assert a relationship between him and the jinn; and certainly the jinn do know that they shall surely be brought up; . y: glory to allah! (he is free) from the things they ascribe (to him)! p: glorified be allah from that which they attribute (unto him), s: glory be to allah (for freedom) from what they describe; . y: not (so do) the servants of allah, sincere and devoted. p: save single-minded slaves of allah. s: but not so the servants of allah, the purified ones. . y: for, verily, neither ye nor those ye worship- p: lo! verily, ye and that which ye worship, s: so surely you and what you worship, . y: can lead (any) into temptation concerning allah, p: ye cannot excite (anyone) against him. s: not against him can you cause (any) to fall into trial, . y: except such as are (themselves) going to the blazing fire! p: save him who is to burn in hell. s: save him who will go to hell. . y: (those ranged in ranks say): "not one of us but has a place appointed;" p: there is not one of us but hath his known position. s: and there is none of us but has an assigned place, . y: "and we are verily ranged in ranks (for service);" p: lo! we, even we are they who set the ranks, s: and most surely we are they who draw themselves out in ranks, . y: "and we are verily those who declare (allah's) glory!" p: lo! we, even we are they who hymn his praise s: and we are most surely they who declare the glory (of allah). . y: and there were those who said, p: and indeed they used to say: s: and surely they used to say: . y: "if only we had had before us a message from those of old," p: if we had but a reminder from the men of old s: had we a reminder from those of yore, . y: "we should certainly have been servants of allah, sincere (and devoted)!" p: we would be single-minded slaves of allah. s: we would certainly have been the servants of allah-- the purified ones. . y: but (now that the qur'an has come), they reject it: but soon will they know! p: yet (now that it is come) they disbelieve therein; but they will come to know. s: but (now) they disbelieve in it, so they will come to know. . y: already has our word been passed before (this) to our servants sent (by us), p: and verily our word went forth of old unto our bondmen sent (to warn) s: and certainly our word has already gone forth in respect of our servants, the messengers: . y: that they would certainly be assisted, p: that they verily would be helped, s: most surely they shall be the assisted ones . y: and that our forces,- they surely must conquer. p: and that our host, they verily would be the victors. s: and most surely our host alone shall be the victorious ones. . y: so turn thou away from them for a little while, p: so withdraw from them (o muhammad) awhile, s: therefore turn away from them till a time, . y: and watch them (how they fare), and they soon shall see (how thou farest)! p: and watch, for they will (soon) see. s: and (then) see them, so they too shall see. . y: do they wish (indeed) to hurry on our punishment? p: would they hasten on our doom? s: what! would they then hasten on our chastisement? . y: but when it descends into the open space before them, evil will be the morning for those who were warned (and heeded not)! p: but when it cometh home to them, then it will be a hapless morning for those who have been warned. s: but when it shall descend in their court, evil shall then be the morning of the warned ones. . y: so turn thou away from them for a little while, p: withdraw from them awhile s: and turn away from them till a time . y: and watch (how they fare) and they soon shall see (how thou farest)! p: and watch, for they will (soon) see. s: and (then) see, for they too shall see. . y: glory to thy lord, the lord of honour and power! (he is free) from what they ascribe (to him)! p: glorified be thy lord, the lord of majesty, from that which they attribute (unto him) s: glory be to your lord, the lord of honor, above what they describe. . y: and peace on the messengers! p: and peace be unto those sent (to warn). s: and peace be on the messengers. . y: and praise to allah, the lord and cherisher of the worlds. p: and praise be to allah, lord of the worlds! s: and all praise is due to allah, the lord of the worlds. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : sad (the letter sad) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: sad: by the qur'an, full of admonition: (this is the truth). p: sad. by the renowned qur'an, s: suad, i swear by the quran, full of admonition. . y: but the unbelievers (are steeped) in self-glory and separatism. p: nay, but those who disbelieve are in false pride and schism. s: nay! those who disbelieve are in self-exaltation and opposition. . y: how many generations before them did we destroy? in the end they cried (for mercy)- when there was no longer time for being saved! p: how many a generation we destroyed before them, and they cried out when it was no longer the time for escape! s: how many did we destroy before them of the generations, then they cried while the time of escaping had passed away. . y: so they wonder that a warner has come to them from among themselves! and the unbelievers say, "this is a sorcerer telling lies!" p: and they marvel that a warner from among themselves hath come unto them, and the disbelievers say: this is a wizard, a charlatan. s: and they wonder that there has come to them a warner from among themselves, and the disbelievers say: this is an enchanter, a liar. . y: "has he made the gods (all) into one allah? truly this is a wonderful thing!" p: maketh he the gods one allah? lo! that is an astounding thing. s: what! makes he the gods a single allah? a strange thing is this, to be sure! . y: and the leader among them go away (impatiently), (saying), "walk ye away, and remain constant to your gods! for this is truly a thing designed (against you)!" p: the chiefs among them go about, exhorting: go and be staunch to your gods! lo! this is a thing designed. s: and the chief persons of them break forth, saying: go and steadily adhere to your gods; this is most surely a thing sought after. . y: "we never heard (the like) of this among the people of these latter days: this is nothing but a made-up tale!" p: we have not heard of this in later religion. this is naught but an invention. s: we never heard of this in the former faith; this is nothing but a forgery: . y: "what! has the message been sent to him - (of all persons) among us?"...but they are in doubt concerning my (own) message! nay, they have not yet tasted my punishment! p: hath the reminder been unto him (alone) among us? nay, but they are in doubt concerning my reminder; nay but they have not yet tasted my doom. s: has the reminder been revealed to him from among us? nay! they are in doubt as to my reminder. nay! they have not yet tasted my chastisement! . y: or have they the treasures of the mercy of thy lord,- the exalted in power, the grantor of bounties without measure? p: or are theirs the treasures of the mercy of thy lord, the mighty, the bestower? s: or is it that they have the treasures of the mercy of your lord, the mighty, the great giver? . y: or have they the dominion of the heavens and the earth and all between? if so, let them mount up with the ropes and means (to reach that end)! p: or is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them theirs? then let them ascend by ropes! s: or is it that theirs is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and what is between them? then let them ascend by any means. . y: but there - will be put to flight even a host of confederates. p: a defeated host are (all) the factions that are there. s: a host of deserters of the allies shall be here put to flight. . y: before them (were many who) rejected messengers,- the people of noah, and 'ad, and pharaoh, the lord of stakes, p: the folk of noah before them denied (their messenger) and (so did the tribe of) a'ad, and pharaoh firmly planted, s: the people of nuh and ad, and firon, the lord of spikes, rejected (messengers) before them. . y: and thamud, and the people of lut, and the companions of the wood; - such were the confederates. p: and (the tribe of) thamud, and the folk of lot, and the dwellers in the wood: these were the factions. s: and samood and the people of lut and the dwellers of the thicket; these were the parties. . y: not one (of them) but rejected the messengers, but my punishment came justly and inevitably (on them). p: not one of them but did deny the messengers, therefor my doom was justified, s: there was none of them but called the messengers liars, so just was my retribution. . y: these (today) only wait for a single mighty blast, which (when it comes) will brook no delay. p: these wait for but one shout, there will be no second thereto. s: nor do these await aught but a single cry, there being no delay in it. . y: they say: "our lord! hasten to us our sentence (even) before the day of account!" p: they say: our lord! hasten on for us our fate before the day of reckoning. s: and they say: o our lord! hasten on to us our portion before the day of reckoning. . y: have patience at what they say, and remember our servant david, the man of strength: for he ever turned (to allah). p: bear with what they say, and remember our bondman david, lord of might, lo! he was ever turning in repentance (toward allah). s: bear patiently what they say, and remember our servant dawood, the possessor of power; surely he was frequent in returning (to allah). . y: it was we that made the hills declare, in unison with him, our praises, at eventide and at break of day, p: lo! we subdued the hills to hymn the praises (of their lord) with him at nightfall and sunrise, s: surely we made the mountains to sing the glory (of allah) in unison with him at the evening and the sunrise, . y: and the birds gathered (in assemblies): all with him did turn (to allah). p: and the birds assembled; all were turning unto him. s: and the birds gathered together; all joined in singing with him. . y: we strengthened his kingdom, and gave him wisdom and sound judgment in speech and decision. p: we made his kingdom strong and gave him wisdom and decisive speech. s: and we strengthened his kingdom and we gave him wisdom and a clear judgment. . y: has the story of the disputants reached thee? behold, they climbed over the wall of the private chamber; p: and hath the story of the litigants come unto thee? how they climbed the wall into the royal chamber; s: and has there come to you the story of the litigants, when they made an entry into the private chamber by ascending over the walls? . y: when they entered the presence of david, and he was terrified of them, they said: "fear not: we are two disputants, one of whom has wronged the other: decide now between us with truth, and treat us not with injustice, but guide us to the even path..." p: how they burst in upon david, and he was afraid of them. they said: be not afraid! (we are) two litigants, one of whom hath wronged the other, therefor judge aright between us; be not unjust; and show us the fair way. s: when they entered in upon dawood and he was frightened at them, they said: fear not; two litigants, of whom one has acted wrongfully towards the other, therefore decide between us with justice, and do not act unjustly, and guide us to the right way. . y: "this man is my brother: he has nine and ninety ewes, and i have (but) one: yet he says, 'commit her to my care,' and is (moreover) harsh to me in speech." p: lo! this my brother hath ninety and nine ewes while i had one ewe; and he said: entrust it to me, and he conquered me in speech. s: surely this is my brother; he has ninety-nine ewes and i have a single ewe; but he said: make it over to me, and he has prevailed against me in discourse. . y: (david) said: "he has undoubtedly wronged thee in demanding thy (single) ewe to be added to his (flock of) ewes: truly many are the partners (in business) who wrong each other: not so do those who believe and work deeds of righteousness, and how few are they?"...and david gathered that we had tried him: he asked forgiveness of his lord, fell down, bowing (in prostration), and turned (to allah in repentance). p: (david) said: he hath wronged thee in demanding thine ewe in addition to his ewes, and lo! many partners oppress one another, save such as believe and do good works, and they are few. and david guessed that we had tried him, and he sought forgiveness of his lord, and he bowed himself and fell down prostrate and repented. s: he said: surely he has been unjust to you in demanding your ewe (to add) to his own ewes; and most surely most of the partners act wrongfully towards one another, save those who believe and do good, and very few are they; and dawood was sure that we had tried him, so he sought the protection of his lord and he fell down bowing and turned time after time (to him). . y: so we forgave him this (lapse): he enjoyed, indeed, a near approach to us, and a beautiful place of (final) return. p: so we forgave him that; and lo! he had access to our presence and a happy journey's end. s: therefore we rectified for him this, and most surely he had a nearness to us and an excellent resort. . y: o david! we did indeed make thee a vicegerent on earth: so judge thou between men in truth (and justice): nor follow thou the lusts (of thy heart), for they will mislead thee from the path of allah: for those who wander astray from the path of allah, is a penalty grievous, for that they forget the day of account. p: (and it was said unto him): o david! lo! we have set thee as a viceroy in the earth; therefor judge aright between mankind, and follow not desire that it beguile thee from the way of allah. lo! those who wander from the way of allah have an awful doom, forasmuch as they forgot the day of reckoning. s: o dawood! surely we have made you a ruler in the land; so judge between men with justice and do not follow desire, lest it should lead you astray from the path of allah; (as for) those who go astray from the path of allah, they shall surely have a severe punishment because they forgot the day of reckoning. . y: not without purpose did we create heaven and earth and all between! that were the thought of unbelievers! but woe to the unbelievers because of the fire (of hell)! p: and we created not the heaven and the earth and all that is between them in vain. that is the opinion of those who disbelieve. and woe unto those who disbelieve, from the fire! s: and we did not create the heaven and the earth and what is between them in vain; that is the opinion of those who disbelieve then woe to those who disbelieve on account of the fire. . y: shall we treat those who believe and work deeds of righteousness, the same as those who do mischief on earth? shall we treat those who guard against evil, the same as those who turn aside from the right? p: shall we treat those who believe and do good works as those who spread corruption in the earth; or shall we treat the pious as the wicked? s: shall we treat those who believe and do good like the mischief-makers in the earth? or shall we make those who guard (against evil) like the wicked? . y: (here is) a book which we have sent down unto thee, full of blessings, that they may mediate on its signs, and that men of understanding may receive admonition. p: (this is) a scripture that we have revealed unto thee, full of blessing, that they may ponder its revelations, and that men of understanding may reflect. s: (it is) a book we have revealed to you abounding in good that they may ponder over its verses, and that those endowed with understanding may be mindful. . y: to david we gave solomon (for a son),- how excellent in our service! ever did he turn (to us)! p: and we bestowed on david, solomon. how excellent a slave! lo! he was ever turning in repentance (toward allah). s: and we gave to dawood sulaiman, most excellent the servant! surely he was frequent in returning (to allah). . y: behold, there were brought before him, at eventide coursers of the highest breeding, and swift of foot; p: when there were shown to him at eventide lightfooted coursers s: when there were brought to him in the evening (horses) still when standing, swift when running-- . y: and he said, "truly do i love the love of good, with a view to the glory of my lord,"- until (the sun) was hidden in the veil (of night): p: and he said: lo! i have preferred the good things (of the world) to the remembrance of my lord; till they were taken out of sight behind the curtain. s: then he said: surely i preferred the good things to the remembrance of my lord-- until the sun set and time for asr prayer was over, (he said): . y: "bring them back to me." then began he to pass his hand over (their) legs and their necks. p: (then he said): bring them back to me, and fell to slashing (with his sword their) legs and necks. s: bring them back to me; so he began to slash (their) legs and necks. . y: and we did try solomon: we placed on his throne a body (without life); but he did turn (to us in true devotion): p: and verily we tried solomon, and set upon his throne a (mere) body. then did he repent. s: and certainly we tried sulaiman, and we put on his throne a (mere) body, so he turned (to allah). . y: he said, "o my lord! forgive me, and grant me a kingdom which, (it may be), suits not another after me: for thou art the grantor of bounties (without measure)." p: he said: my lord! forgive me and bestow on me sovereignty such as shall not belong to any after me. lo! thou art the bestower. s: he said: my lord! do thou forgive me and grant me a kingdom which is not fit for (being inherited by) anyone after me; . y: then we subjected the wind to his power, to flow gently to his order, whithersoever he willed,- p: so we made the wind subservient unto him, setting fair by his command whithersoever he intended. s: then we made the wind subservient to him; it made his command to run gently wherever he desired, . y: as also the evil ones, (including) every kind of builder and diver,- p: and the unruly, every builder and diver (made we subservient), s: and the shaitans, every builder and diver, . y: as also others bound together in fetters. p: and others linked together in chains, s: and others fettered in chains. . y: "such are our bounties: whether thou bestow them (on others) or withhold them, no account will be asked." p: (saying): this is our gift, so bestow thou, or withhold, without reckoning. s: this is our free gift, therefore give freely or withhold, without reckoning. . y: and he enjoyed, indeed, a near approach to us, and a beautiful place of (final) return. p: and lo! he hath favour with us, and a happy journey's end. s: and most surely he had a nearness to us and an excellent resort. . y: commemorate our servant job. behold he cried to his lord: "the evil one has afflicted me with distress and suffering!" p: and make mention (o muhammad) of our bondman job, when he cried unto his lord (saying): lo! the devil doth afflict me with distress and torment. s: and remember our servant ayyub, when he called upon his lord: the shaitan has afflicted me with toil and torment. . y: (the command was given:) "strike with thy foot: here is (water) wherein to wash, cool and refreshing, and (water) to drink." p: (and it was said unto him): strike the ground with thy foot. this (spring) is a cool bath and a refreshing drink. s: urge with your foot; here is a cool washing-place and a drink. . y: and we gave him (back) his people, and doubled their number,- as a grace from ourselves, and a thing for commemoration, for all who have understanding. p: and we bestowed on him (again) his household and therewith the like thereof, a mercy from us, and a memorial for men of understanding. s: and we gave him his family and the like of them with them, as a mercy from us, and as a reminder to those possessed of understanding. . y: "and take in thy hand a little grass, and strike therewith: and break not (thy oath)." truly we found him full of patience and constancy. how excellent in our service! ever did he turn (to us)! p: and (it was said unto him): take in thine hand a branch and smite therewith, and break not thine oath. lo! we found him steadfast, how excellent a slave! lo! he was ever turning in repentance (to his lord). s: and take in your hand a green branch and beat her with it and do not break your oath; surely we found him patient; most excellent the servant! surely he was frequent in returning (to allah). . y: and commemorate our servants abraham, isaac, and jacob, possessors of power and vision. p: and make mention of our bondmen, abraham, isaac and jacob, men of parts and vision. s: and remember our servants ibrahim and ishaq and yaqoub, men of power and insight. . y: verily we did choose them for a special (purpose)- proclaiming the message of the hereafter. p: lo! we purified them with a pure thought, remembrance of the home (of the hereafter). s: surely we purified them by a pure quality, the keeping in mind of the (final) abode. . y: they were, in our sight, truly, of the company of the elect and the good. p: lo! in our sight they are verily of the elect, the excellent. s: and most surely they were with us, of the elect, the best. . y: and commemorate isma'il, elisha, and zul-kifl: each of them was of the company of the good. p: and make mention of ishmael and elisha and dhu'l-kifl. all are of the chosen. s: and remember ismail and al-yasha and zulkifl; and they were all of the best. . y: this is a message (of admonition): and verily, for the righteous, is a beautiful place of (final) return,- p: this is a reminder. and lo! for those who ward off (evil) is a happy journey's end, s: this is a reminder; and most surely there is an excellent resort for those who guard (against evil), . y: gardens of eternity, whose doors will (ever) be open to them; p: gardens of eden, whereof the gates are opened for them, s: the gardens of perpetuity, the doors are opened for them. . y: therein will they recline (at ease): therein can they call (at pleasure) for fruit in abundance, and (delicious) drink; p: wherein, reclining, they call for plenteous fruit and cool drink (that is) therein. s: reclining therein, calling therein for many fruits and drink. . y: and beside them will be chaste women restraining their glances, (companions) of equal age. p: and with them are those of modest gaze, companions. s: and with them shall be those restraining their eyes, equals in age. . y: such is the promise made, to you for the day of account! p: this it is that ye are promised for the day of reckoning. s: this is what you are promised for the day of reckoning. . y: truly such will be our bounty (to you); it will never fail;- p: lo! this in truth is our provision, which will never waste away. s: most surely this is our sustenance; it shall never come to an end; . y: yea, such! but - for the wrong-doers will be an evil place of (final) return!- p: this (is for the righteous). and lo! for the transgressors there will be an evil journey's end, s: this (shall be so); and most surely there is an evil resort for the inordinate ones; . y: hell!- they will burn therein, - an evil bed (indeed, to lie on)!- p: hell, where they will burn, an evil resting-place. s: hell; they shall enter it, so evil is the resting-place. . y: yea, such! - then shall they taste it,- a boiling fluid, and a fluid dark, murky, intensely cold!- p: here is a boiling and an ice-cold draught, so let them taste it, s: this (shall be so); so let them taste it, boiling and intensely cold (drink). . y: and other penalties of a similar kind, to match them! p: and other (torment) of the kind in pairs (the two extremes)! s: and other (punishment) of the same kind-- of various sorts. . y: here is a troop rushing headlong with you! no welcome for them! truly, they shall burn in the fire! p: here is an army rushing blindly with you. (those who are already in the fire say): no word of welcome for them. lo! they will roast at the fire. s: this is an army plunging in without consideration along with you; no welcome for them, surely they shall enter fire. . y: (the followers shall cry to the misleaders:) "nay, ye (too)! no welcome for you! it is ye who have brought this upon us! now evil is (this) place to stay in!" p: they say: nay, but you (misleaders), for you there is no word of welcome. ye prepared this for us (by your misleading). now hapless is the plight. s: they shall say: nay! you-- no welcome to you: you did proffer it to us, so evil is the resting-place. . y: they will say: "our lord! whoever brought this upon us,- add to him a double penalty in the fire!" p: they say: our lord! whoever did prepare this for us, oh, give him double portion of the fire! s: they shall say: our lord! whoever prepared it first for us, add thou to him a double chastisement in the fire. . y: and they will say: "what has happened to us that we see not men whom we used to number among the bad ones?" p: and they say: what aileth us that we behold not men whom we were wont to count among the wicked? s: and they shall say: what is the matter with us that we do not see men whom we used to count among the vicious? . y: "did we treat them (as such) in ridicule, or have (our) eyes failed to perceive them?" p: did we take them (wrongly) for a laughing-stock, or have our eyes missed them? s: was it that we (only) took them in scorn, or have our eyes (now) turned aside from them? . y: truly that is just and fitting,- the mutual recriminations of the people of the fire! p: lo! that is very truth: the wrangling of the dwellers in the fire. s: that most surely is the truth: the contending one with another of the inmates of the fire. . y: say: "truly am i a warner: no god is there but the one allah, supreme and irresistible,"- p: say (unto them, o muhammad): i am only a warner, and there is no allah save allah, the one, the absolute, s: say: i am only a warner, and there is no god but allah, the one, the subduer (of all): . y: "the lord of the heavens and the earth, and all between,- exalted in might, able to enforce his will, forgiving again and again." p: lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, the mighty, the pardoning. s: the lord of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, the mighty, the most forgiving. . y: say: "that is a message supreme (above all),"- p: say: it is tremendous tidings s: say: it is a message of importance, . y: "from which ye do turn away!" p: whence ye turn away! s: (and) you are turning aside from it: . y: "no knowledge have i of the chiefs on high, when they discuss (matters) among themselves." p: i had no knowledge of the highest chiefs when they disputed; s: i had no knowledge of the exalted chiefs when they contended: . y: "only this has been revealed to me: that i am to give warning plainly and publicly." p: it is revealed unto me only that i may be a plain warner. s: naught is revealed to me save that i am a plain warner. . y: behold, thy lord said to the angels: "i am about to create man from clay:" p: when thy lord said unto the angels: lo! i am about to create a mortal out of mire, s: when your lord said to the angels; surely i am going to create a mortal from dust: . y: "when i have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of my spirit, fall ye down in obeisance unto him." p: and when i have fashioned him and breathed into him of my spirit, then fall down before him prostrate, s: so when i have made him complete and breathed into him of my spirit, then fall down making obeisance to him. . y: so the angels prostrated themselves, all of them together: p: the angels fell down prostrate, every one, s: and the angels did obeisance, all of them, . y: not so iblis: he was haughty, and became one of those who reject faith. p: saving iblis; he was scornful and became one of the disbelievers. s: but not iblis: he was proud and he was one of the unbelievers. . y: (allah) said: "o iblis! what prevents thee from prostrating thyself to one whom i have created with my hands? art thou haughty? or art thou one of the high (and mighty) ones?" p: he said: o iblis! what hindereth thee from falling prostrate before that which i have created with both my hands? art thou too proud or art thou of the high exalted? s: he said: o iblis! what prevented you that you should do obeisance to him whom i created with my two hands? are you proud or are you of the exalted ones? . y: (iblis) said: "i am better than he: thou createdst me from fire, and him thou createdst from clay." p: he said: i am better than him. thou createdst me of fire, whilst him thou didst create of clay. s: he said: i am better than he; thou hast created me of fire, and him thou didst create of dust. . y: (allah) said: "then get thee out from here: for thou art rejected, accursed." p: he said: go forth from hence, for lo! thou art outcast, s: he said: then get out of it, for surely you are driven away: . y: "and my curse shall be on thee till the day of judgment." p: and lo! my curse is on thee till the day of judgment. s: and surely my curse is on you to the day of judgment. . y: (iblis) said: "o my lord! give me then respite till the day the (dead) are raised." p: he said: my lord! reprieve me till the day when they are raised. s: he said: my lord! then respite me to the day that they are raised. . y: (allah) said: "respite then is granted thee-" p: he said: lo! thou art of those reprieved s: he said: surely you are of the respited ones, . y: "till the day of the time appointed." p: until the day of the time appointed. s: till the period of the time made known. . y: (iblis) said: "then, by thy power, i will put them all in the wrong,"- p: he said: then, by thy might, i surely will beguile them every one, s: he said: then by thy might i will surely make them live an evil life, all, . y: "except thy servants amongst them, sincere and purified (by thy grace)." p: save thy single-minded slaves among them. s: except thy servants from among them, the purified ones. . y: (allah) said: "then it is just and fitting- and i say what is just and fitting-" p: he said: the truth is, and the truth i speak, s: he said: the truth then is and the truth do i speak: . y: "that i will certainly fill hell with thee and those that follow thee,- every one." p: that i shall fill hell with thee and with such of them as follow thee, together. s: that i will most certainly fill hell with you and with those among them who follow you, all. . y: say: "no reward do i ask of you for this (qur'an), nor am i a pretender." p: say (o muhammad, unto mankind): i ask of you no fee for this, and i am no simulating. s: say: i do not ask you for any reward for it; nor am i of those who affect: . y: "this is no less than a message to (all) the worlds." p: lo! it is naught else than a reminder for all peoples s: it is nothing but a reminder to the nations; . y: "and ye shall certainly know the truth of it (all) after a while." p: and ye will come in time to know the truth thereof. s: and most certainly you will come to know about it after a time. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : az-zumar (the troops, throngs) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: the revelation of this book is from allah, the exalted in power, full of wisdom. p: the revelation of the scripture is from allah, the mighty, the wise. s: the revelation of the book is from allah, the mighty, the wise. . y: verily it is we who have revealed the book to thee in truth: so serve allah, offering him sincere devotion. p: lo! we have revealed the scripture unto thee (muhammad) with truth; so worship allah, making religion pure for him (only). s: surely we have revealed to you the book with the truth, therefore serve allah, being sincere to him in obedience. . y: is it not to allah that sincere devotion is due? but those who take for protectors other than allah (say): "we only serve them in order that they may bring us nearer to allah." truly allah will judge between them in that wherein they differ. but allah guides not such as are false and ungrateful. p: surely pure religion is for allah only. and those who choose protecting friends beside him (say): we worship them only that they may bring us near unto allah. lo! allah will judge between them concerning that wherein they differ. lo! allah guideth not him who is a liar, an ingrate. s: now, surely, sincere obedience is due to allah (alone) and (as for) those who take guardians besides him, (saying), we do not serve them save that they may make us nearer to allah, surely allah will judge between them in that in which they differ; surely allah does not guide him aright who is a liar, ungrateful. . y: had allah wished to take to himself a son, he could have chosen whom he pleased out of those whom he doth create: but glory be to him! (he is above such things.) he is allah, the one, the irresistible. p: if allah had willed to choose a son, he could have chosen what he would of that which he hath created. be he glorified! he is allah, the one, the absolute. s: if allah desire to take a son to himself, he will surely choose those he pleases from what he has created. glory be to him: he is allah, the one, the subduer (of all). . y: he created the heavens and the earth in true (proportions): he makes the night overlap the day, and the day overlap the night: he has subjected the sun and the moon (to his law): each one follows a course for a time appointed. is not he the exalted in power - he who forgives again and again? p: he hath created the heavens and the earth with truth. he maketh night to succeed day, and he maketh day to succeed night, and he constraineth the sun and the moon to give service, each running on for an appointed term. is not he the mighty, the forgiver? s: he has created the heavens and the earth with the truth; he makes the night cover the day and makes the day overtake the night, and he has made the sun and the moon subservient; each one runs on to an assigned term; now surely he is the mighty, the great forgiver. . y: he created you (all) from a single person: then created, of like nature, his mate; and he sent down for you eight head of cattle in pairs: he makes you, in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, one after another, in three veils of darkness. such is allah, your lord and cherisher: to him belongs (all) dominion. there is no god but he: then how are ye turned away (from your true centre)? p: he created you from one being, then from that (being) he made its mate; and he hath provided for you of cattle eight kinds. he created you in the wombs of your mothers, creation after creation, in a threefold gloom. such is allah, your lord. his is the sovereignty. there is no god save him. how then are ye turned away? s: he has created you from a single being, then made its mate of the same (kind), and he has made for you eight of the cattle in pairs. he creates you in the wombs of your mothers-- a creation after a creation-- in triple darkness; that is allah your lord, his is the kingdom; there is no god but he; whence are you then turned away? . y: if ye reject (allah), truly allah hath no need of you; but he liketh not ingratitude from his servants: if ye are grateful, he is pleased with you. no bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another. in the end, to your lord is your return, when he will tell you the truth of all that ye did (in this life). for he knoweth well all that is in (men's) hearts. p: if ye are thankless, yet allah is independent of you, though he is not pleased with thanklessness for his bondmen; and if ye are thankful he is pleased therewith for you. no laden soul will bear another's load. then unto your lord is your return; and he will tell you what ye used to do. lo! he knoweth what is in the breasts (of men). s: if you are ungrateful, then surely allah is self-sufficient above all need of you; and he does not like ungratefulness in his servants; and if you are grateful, he likes it in you; and no bearer of burden shall bear the burden of another; then to your lord is your return, then will he inform you of what you did; surely he is cognizant of what is in the breasts. . y: when some trouble toucheth man, he crieth unto his lord, turning to him in repentance: but when he bestoweth a favour upon him as from himself, (man) doth forget what he cried and prayed for before, and he doth set up rivals unto allah, thus misleading others from allah's path. say, "enjoy thy blasphemy for a little while: verily thou art (one) of the companions of the fire!" p: and when some hurt toucheth man, he crieth unto his lord, turning unto him (repentant). then, when he granteth him a boon from him he forgetteth that for which he cried unto him before, and setteth up rivals to allah that he may beguile (men) from his way. say (o muhammad, unto such a one): take pleasure in thy disbelief a while. lo! thou art of the owners of the fire. s: and when distress afflicts a man he calls upon his lord turning to him frequently; then when he makes him possess a favor from him, he forgets that for which he called upon him before, and sets up rivals to allah that he may cause (men) to stray off from his path. say: enjoy yourself in your ungratefulness a little, surely you are of the inmates of the fire. . y: is one who worships devoutly during the hour of the night prostrating himself or standing (in adoration), who takes heed of the hereafter, and who places his hope in the mercy of his lord - (like one who does not)? say: "are those equal, those who know and those who do not know? it is those who are endued with understanding that receive admonition." p: is he who payeth adoration in the watches of the night, prostrate and standing, bewaring of the hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his lord, (to be accounted equal with a disbeliever)? say (unto them, o muhammad): are those who know equal with those who know not? but only men of understanding will pay heed. s: what! he who is obedient during hours of the night, prostrating himself and standing, takes care of the hereafter and hopes for the mercy of his lord! say: are those who know and those who do not know alike? only the men of understanding are mindful. . y: say: "o ye my servants who believe! fear your lord, good is (the reward) for those who do good in this world. spacious is allah's earth! those who patiently persevere will truly receive a reward without measure!" p: say: o my bondmen who believe! observe your duty to your lord. for those who do good in this world there is good, and allah's earth is spacious. verily the steadfast will be paid their wages without stint. s: say: o my servants who believe! be careful of (your duty to) your lord; for those who do good in this world is good, and allah's earth is spacious; only the patient will be paid back their reward in full without measure. . y: say: "verily, i am commanded to serve allah with sincere devotion;" p: say (o muhammad): lo! i am commanded to worship allah, making religion pure for him (only). s: say: i am commanded that i should serve allah, being sincere to him in obedience. . y: "and i am commanded to be the first of those who bow to allah in islam." p: and i am commanded to be the first of those who are muslims (surrender unto him). s: and i am commanded that i shall be the first of those who submit. . y: say: "i would, if i disobeyed my lord, indeed have fear of the penalty of a mighty day." p: say: lo! if i should disobey my lord, i fear the doom of a tremendous day. s: say: i fear, if i disobey my lord, the chastisement of a grievous day. . y: say: "it is allah i serve, with my sincere (and exclusive) devotion:" p: say: allah i worship, making my religion pure for him (only). s: say: allah (it is whom) i serve, being sincere to him in my obedience: . y: "serve ye what ye will besides him." say: "truly, those in loss are those who lose their own souls and their people on the day of judgment: ah! that is indeed the (real and) evident loss!" p: then worship what ye will beside him. say: the losers will be those who lose themselves and their housefolk on the day of resurrection. ah, that will be the manifest loss! s: serve then what you like besides him. say: the losers surely are those who shall have lost themselves and their families on the day of resurrection; now surely that is the clear loss. . y: they shall have layers of fire above them, and layers (of fire) below them: with this doth allah warn off his servants: "o my servants! then fear ye me!" p: they have an awning of fire above them and beneath them a dais (of fire). with this doth allah appall his bondmen. o my bondmen, therefor fear me! s: they shall have coverings of fire above them and coverings beneath them; with that allah makes his servants to fear, so be careful of (your duty to) me, o my servants! . y: those who eschew evil,- and fall not into its worship,- and turn to allah (in repentance),- for them is good news: so announce the good news to my servants,- p: and those who put away false gods lest they should worship them and turn to allah in repentance, for them there are glad tidings. therefore give good tidings (o muhammad) to my bondmen s: and (as for) those who keep off from the worship of the idols and turn to allah, they shall have good news, therefore give good news to my servants, . y: those who listen to the word, and follow the best (meaning) in it: those are the ones whom allah has guided, and those are the ones endued with understanding. p: who hear advice and follow the best thereof. such are those whom allah guideth, and such are men of understanding. s: those who listen to the word, then follow the best of it; those are they whom allah has guided, and those it is who are the men of understanding. . y: is, then, one against whom the decree of punishment is justly due (equal to one who eschews evil)? wouldst thou, then, deliver one (who is) in the fire? p: is he on whom the word of doom is fulfilled (to be helped), and canst thou (o muhammad) rescue him who is in the fire? s: what! as for him then against whom the sentence of chastisement is due: what! can you save him who is in the fire? . y: but it is for those who fear their lord. that lofty mansions, one above another, have been built: beneath them flow rivers (of delight): (such is) the promise of allah: never doth allah fail in (his) promise. p: but those who keep their duty to their lord, for them are lofty halls with lofty halls above them, built (for them), beneath which rivers flow. (it is) a promise of allah. allah faileth not his promise. s: but (as for) those who are careful of (their duty to) their lord, they shall have high places, above them higher places, built (for them), beneath which flow rivers; (this is) the promise of allah: allah will not fail in (his) promise. . y: seest thou not that allah sends down rain from the sky, and leads it through springs in the earth? then he causes to grow, therewith, produce of various colours: then it withers; thou wilt see it grow yellow; then he makes it dry up and crumble away. truly, in this, is a message of remembrance to men of understanding. p: hast thou not seen how allah hath sent down water from the sky and hath caused it to penetrate the earth as watersprings, and afterward thereby produceth crops of divers hues; and afterward they wither and thou seest them turn yellow; then he maketh them chaff. lo! herein verily is a reminder for men of understanding. s: do you not see that allah sends down water from the cloud, then makes it go along in the earth in springs, then brings forth therewith herbage of various colors, then it withers so that you see it becoming yellow, then he makes it a thing crushed and broken into pieces? most surely there is a reminder in this for the men of understanding. . y: is one whose heart allah has opened to islam, so that he has received enlightenment from allah, (no better than one hard-hearted)? woe to those whose hearts are hardened against celebrating the praises of allah! they are manifestly wandering (in error)! p: is he whose bosom allah hath expanded for al-islam, so that he followeth a light from his lord, (as he who disbelieveth)? then woe unto those whose hearts are hardened against remembrance of allah. such are in plain error. s: what! is he whose heart allah has opened for islam so that he is in a light from his lord (like the hard-hearted)? nay, woe to those whose hearts are hard against the remembrance of allah; those are in clear error. . y: allah has revealed (from time to time) the most beautiful message in the form of a book, consistent with itself, (yet) repeating (its teaching in various aspects): the skins of those who fear their lord tremble thereat; then their skins and their hearts do soften to the celebration of allah's praises. such is the guidance of allah: he guides therewith whom he pleases, but such as allah leaves to stray, can have none to guide. p: allah hath (now) revealed the fairest of statements, a scripture consistent, (wherein promises of reward are) paired (with threats of punishment), whereat doth creep the flesh of those who fear their lord, so that their flesh and their hearts soften to allah's reminder. such is allah's guidance, wherewith he guideth whom he will. and him whom allah sendeth astray, for him there is no guide. s: allah has revealed the best announcement, a book conformable in its various parts, repeating, whereat do shudder the skins of those who fear their lord, then their skins and their hearts become pliant to the remembrance of allah; this is allah's guidance, he guides with it whom he pleases; and (as for) him whom allah makes err, there is no guide for him. . y: is, then, one who has to fear the brunt of the penalty on the day of judgment (and receive it) on his face, (like one guarded therefrom)? it will be said to the wrong-doers: "taste ye (the fruits of) what ye earned!" p: is he then, who will strike his face against the awful doom upon the day of resurrection (as he who doeth right)? and it will be said unto the wrong-doers: taste what ye used to earn. s: is he then who has to guard himself with his own person against the evil chastisement on the resurrection day? and it will be said to the unjust: taste what you earned. . y: those before them (also) rejected (revelation), and so the punishment came to them from directions they did not perceive. p: those before them denied, and so the doom came on them whence they knew not. s: those before them rejected (prophets), therefore there came to them the chastisement from whence they perceived not. . y: so allah gave them a taste of humiliation in the present life, but greater is the punishment of the hereafter, if they only knew! p: thus allah made them taste humiliation in the life of the world, and verily the doom of the hereafter will be greater if they did but know. s: so allah made them taste the disgrace in this world's life, and certainly the punishment of the hereafter is greater; did they but know! . y: we have put forth for men, in this qur'an every kind of parable, in order that they may receive admonition. p: and verily we have coined for mankind in this qur'an all kinds of similitudes, that haply they may reflect; s: and certainly we have set forth to men in this quran similitudes of every sort that they may mind. . y: (it is) a qur'an in arabic, without any crookedness (therein): in order that they may guard against evil. p: a lecture in arabic, containing no crookedness, that haply they may ward off (evil). s: an arabic quran without any crookedness, that they may guard (against evil). . y: allah puts forth a parable a man belonging to many partners at variance with each other, and a man belonging entirely to one master: are those two equal in comparison? praise be to allah! but most of them have no knowledge. p: allah coineth a similitude: a man in relation to whom are several part-owners, quarrelling, and a man belonging wholly to one man. are the two equal in similitude? praise be to allah! but most of them know not. s: allah sets forth an example: there is a slave in whom are (several) partners differing with one another, and there is another slave wholly owned by one man. are the two alike in condition? (all) praise is due to allah. nay! most of them do not know. . y: truly thou wilt die (one day), and truly they (too) will die (one day). p: lo! thou wilt die, and lo! they will die; s: surely you shall die and they (too) shall surely die. . y: in the end will ye (all), on the day of judgment, settle your disputes in the presence of your lord. p: then lo! on the day of resurrection, before your lord ye will dispute. s: then surely on the day of resurrection you will contend one with another before your lord. . y: who, then, doth more wrong than one who utters a lie concerning allah, and rejects the truth when it comes to him; is there not in hell an abode for blasphemers? p: and who doth greater wrong than he who telleth a lie against allah, and denieth the truth when it reacheth him? will not the home of disbelievers be in hell? s: who is then more unjust than he who utters a lie against allah and (he who) gives the lie to the truth when it comes to him; is there not in hell an abode for the unbelievers? . y: and he who brings the truth and he who confirms (and supports) it - such are the men who do right. p: and whoso bringeth the truth and believeth therein - such are the dutiful. s: and he who brings the truth and (he who) accepts it as the truth-- these are they that guard (against evil). . y: they shall have all that they wish for, in the presence of their lord: such is the reward of those who do good: p: they shall have what they will of their lord's bounty. that is the reward of the good: s: they shall have with their lord what they please; that is the reward of the doers of good; . y: so that allah will turn off from them (even) the worst in their deeds and give them their reward according to the best of what they have done. p: that allah will remit from them the worst of what they did, and will pay them for reward the best they used to do. s: so that allah will do away with the worst of what they did and give them their reward for the best of what they do. . y: is not allah enough for his servant? but they try to frighten thee with other (gods) besides him! for such as allah leaves to stray, there can be no guide. p: will not allah defend his slave? yet they would frighten thee with those beside him. he whom allah sendeth astray, for him there is no guide. s: is not allah sufficient for his servant? and they seek to frighten you with those besides him; and whomsoever allah makes err, there is no guide for him. . y: and such as allah doth guide there can be none to lead astray. is not allah exalted in power, (able to enforce his will), lord of retribution? p: and he whom allah guideth, for him there can be no misleader. is not allah mighty, able to requite (the wrong)? s: and whom allah guides, there is none that can lead him astray; is not allah mighty, the lord of retribution? . y: if indeed thou ask them who it is that created the heavens and the earth, they would be sure to say, "allah". say: "see ye then? the things that ye invoke besides allah,- can they, if allah wills some penalty for me, remove his penalty?- or if he wills some grace for me, can they keep back his grace?" say: "sufficient is allah for me! in him trust those who put their trust." p: and verily, if thou shouldst ask them: who created the heavens and the earth? they will say: allah. say: bethink you then of those ye worship beside allah, if allah willed some hurt for me, could they remove from me his hurt; or if he willed some mercy for me, could they restrain his mercy? say: allah is my all. in him do (all) the trusting put their trust. s: and should you ask them, who created the heavens and the earth? they would most certainly say: allah. say: have you then considered that what you call upon besides allah, would they, if allah desire to afflict me with harm, be the removers of his harm, or (would they), if allah desire to show me mercy, be the withholders of his mercy? say: allah is sufficient for me; on him do the reliant rely. . y: say: "o my people! do whatever ye can: i will do (my part): but soon will ye know-" p: say: o my people! act in your manner. lo! i (too) am acting. thus ye will come to know s: say: o my people! work in your place, surely i am a worker, so you will come to know. . y: "who it is to whom comes a penalty of ignominy, and on whom descends a penalty that abides." p: who it is unto whom cometh a doom that will abase him, and on whom there falleth everlasting doom. s: who it is to whom there shall come a punishment which will disgrace him and to whom will be due a lasting punishment. . y: verily we have revealed the book to thee in truth, for (instructing) mankind. he, then, that receives guidance benefits his own soul: but he that strays injures his own soul. nor art thou set over them to dispose of their affairs. p: lo! we have revealed unto thee (muhammad) the scripture for mankind with truth. then whosoever goeth right it is for his soul, and whosoever strayeth, strayeth only to its hurt. and thou art not a warder over them. s: surely we have revealed to you the book with the truth for the sake of men; so whoever follows the right way, it is for his own soul and whoever errs, he errs only to its detriment; and you are not a custodian over them. . y: it is allah that takes the souls (of men) at death; and those that die not (he takes) during their sleep: those on whom he has passed the decree of death, he keeps back (from returning to life), but the rest he sends (to their bodies) for a term appointed verily in this are signs for those who reflect. p: allah receiveth (men's) souls at the time of their death, and that (soul) which dieth not (yet) in its sleep. he keepeth that (soul) for which he hath ordained death and dismisseth the rest till an appointed term. lo! herein verily are portents for people who take thought. s: allah takes the souls at the time of their death, and those that die not during their sleep; then he withholds those on whom he has passed the decree of death and sends the others back till an appointed term; most surely there are signs in this for a people who reflect. . y: what! do they take for intercessors others besides allah? say: "even if they have no power whatever and no intelligence?" p: or choose they intercessors other than allah? say: what! even though they have power over nothing and have no intelligence? s: or have they taken intercessors besides allah? say: what! even though they did not ever have control over anything, nor do they understand. . y: say: "to allah belongs exclusively (the right to grant) intercession: to him belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth: in the end, it is to him that ye shall be brought back." p: say: unto allah belongeth all intercession. his is the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth. and afterward unto him ye will be brought back. s: say: allah's is the intercession altogether; his is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, then to him you shall be brought back. . y: when allah, the one and only, is mentioned, the hearts of those who believe not in the hereafter are filled with disgust and horror; but when (gods) other than he are mentioned, behold, they are filled with joy! p: and when allah alone is mentioned, the hearts of those who believe not in the hereafter are repelled, and when those (whom they worship) beside him are mentioned, behold! they are glad. s: and when allah alone is mentioned, the hearts of those who do not believe in the hereafter shrink, and when those besides him are mentioned, lo! they are joyful. . y: say: "o allah! creator of the heavens and the earth! knower of all that is hidden and open! it is thou that wilt judge between thy servants in those matters about which they have differed." p: say: o allah! creator of the heavens and the earth! knower of the invisible and the visible! thou wilt judge between thy slaves concerning that wherein they used to differ. s: say: o allah! originator of the heavens and the earth, knower of the unseen and the seen! thou (only) judgest between thy servants as to that wherein they differ. . y: even if the wrong-doers had all that there is on earth, and as much more, (in vain) would they offer it for ransom from the pain of the penalty on the day of judgment: but something will confront them from allah, which they could never have counted upon! p: and though those who do wrong possess all that is in the earth, and therewith as much again, they verily will seek to ransom themselves therewith on the day of resurrection from the awful doom; and there will appear unto them, from their lord, that wherewith they never reckoned. s: and had those who are unjust all that is in the earth and the like of it with it, they would certainly offer it as ransom (to be saved) from the evil of the punishment on the day of resurrection; and what they never thought of shall become plain to them from allah. . y: for the evils of their deeds will confront them, and they will be (completely) encircled by that which they used to mock at! p: and the evils that they earned will appear unto them, and that whereat they used to scoff will surround them. s: and the evil (consequences) of what they wrought shall become plain to them, and the very thing they mocked at shall beset them. . y: now, when trouble touches man, he cries to us: but when we bestow a favour upon him as from ourselves, he says, "this has been given to me because of a certain knowledge (i have)!" nay, but this is but a trial, but most of them understand not! p: now when hurt toucheth a man he crieth unto us, and afterward when we have granted him a boon from us, he saith: only by force of knowledge i obtained it. nay, but it is a test. but most of them know not. s: so when harm afflicts a man he calls upon us; then, when we give him a favor from us, he says: i have been given it only by means of knowledge. nay, it is a trial, but most of them do not know. . y: thus did the (generations) before them say! but all that they did was of no profit to them. p: those before them said it, yet (all) that they had earned availed them not; s: those before them did say it indeed, but what they earned availed them not. . y: nay, the evil results of their deeds overtook them. and the wrong-doers of this (generation)- the evil results of their deeds will soon overtake them (too), and they will never be able to frustrate (our plan)! p: but the evils that they earned smote them; and such of these as do wrong, the evils that they earn will smite them; they cannot escape. s: so there befell them the evil (consequences) of what they earned; and (as for) those who are unjust from among these, there shall befall them the evil (consequences) of what they earn, and they shall not escape. . y: know they not that allah enlarges the provision or restricts it, for any he pleases? verily, in this are signs for those who believe! p: know they not that allah enlargeth providence for whom he will, and straiteneth it (for whom he will). lo! herein verily are portents for people who believe. s: do they not know that allah makes ample the means of subsistence to whom he pleases, and he straitens; most surely there are signs in this for a people who believe. . y: say: "o my servants who have transgressed against their souls! despair not of the mercy of allah: for allah forgives all sins: for he is oft-forgiving, most merciful." p: say: o my slaves who have been prodigal to their own hurt! despair not of the mercy of allah, who forgiveth all sins. lo! he is the forgiving, the merciful. s: say: o my servants! who have acted extravagantly against their own souls, do not despair of the mercy of allah; surely allah forgives the faults altogether; surely he is the forgiving the merciful. . y: "turn ye to our lord (in repentance) and bow to his (will), before the penalty comes on you: after that ye shall not be helped." p: turn unto your lord repentant, and surrender unto him, before there come unto you the doom, when ye cannot be helped. s: and return to your lord time after time and submit to him before there comes to you the punishment, then you shall not be helped. . y: "and follow the best of (the courses) revealed to you from your lord, before the penalty comes on you - of a sudden while ye perceive not!"- p: and follow the better (guidance) of that which is revealed unto you from your lord, before the doom cometh on you suddenly when ye know not, s: and follow the best that has been revealed to you from your lord before there comes to you the punishment all of a sudden while you do not even perceive; . y: "lest the soul should (then) say: 'ah! woe is me!- in that i neglected (my duty) towards allah, and was but among those who mocked!'"- p: lest any soul should say: alas, my grief that i was unmindful of allah, and i was indeed among the scoffers! s: lest a soul should say: o woe to me! for what i fell short of my duty to allah, and most surely i was of those who laughed to scorn; . y: "or (lest) it should say: 'if only allah had guided me, i should certainly have been among the righteous!'"- p: or should say: if allah had but guided me i should have been among the dutiful! s: or it should say: had allah guided me, i would certainly have been of those who guard (against evil); . y: "or (lest) it should say when it (actually) sees the penalty: 'if only i had another chance, i should certainly be among those who do good!'" p: or should say, when it seeth the doom: oh, that i had but a second chance that i might be among the righteous! s: or it should say when it sees the punishment: were there only a returning for me, i should be of the doers of good. . y: "(the reply will be:) 'nay, but there came to thee my signs, and thou didst reject them: thou wast haughty, and became one of those who reject faith!'" p: (but now the answer will be): nay, for my revelations came unto thee, but thou didst deny them and wast scornful and wast among the disbelievers. s: aye! my communications came to you, but you rejected them, and you were proud and you were one of the unbelievers. . y: on the day of judgment wilt thou see those who told lies against allah;- their faces will be turned black; is there not in hell an abode for the haughty? p: and on the day of resurrection thou (muhammad) seest those who lied concerning allah with their faces blackened. is not the home of the scorners in hell? s: and on the day of resurrection you shall see those who lied against allah; their faces shall be blackened. is there not in hell an abode for the proud? . y: but allah will deliver the righteous to their place of salvation: no evil shall touch them, nor shall they grieve. p: and allah delivereth those who ward off (evil) because of their deserts. evil toucheth them not, nor do they grieve. s: and allah shall deliver those who guard (against evil) with their achievement; evil shall not touch them, nor shall they grieve. . y: allah is the creator of all things, and he is the guardian and disposer of all affairs. p: allah is creator of all things, and he is guardian over all things. s: allah is the creator of every thing and he has charge over every thing. . y: to him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth: and those who reject the signs of allah,- it is they who will be in loss. p: his are the keys of the heavens and the earth, and they who disbelieve the revelations of allah - such are they who are the losers. s: his are the treasures of the heavens and the earth; and (as for) those who disbelieve in the communications of allah, these it is that are the losers. . y: say: "is it some one other than allah that ye order me to worship, o ye ignorant ones?" p: say (o muhammad, to the disbelievers): do ye bid me serve other than allah? o ye fools! s: say: what! do you then bid me serve others than allah, o ignorant men? . y: but it has already been revealed to thee,- as it was to those before thee,- "if thou wert to join (gods with allah), truly fruitless will be thy work (in life), and thou wilt surely be in the ranks of those who lose (all spiritual good)". p: and verily it hath been revealed unto thee as unto those before thee (saying): if thou ascribe a partner to allah thy work will fail and thou indeed wilt be among the losers. s: and certainly, it has been revealed to you and to those before you: surely if you associate (with allah), your work would certainly come to naught and you would certainly be of the losers. . y: nay, but worship allah, and be of those who give thanks. p: nay, but allah must thou serve, and be among the thankful! s: nay! but serve allah alone and be of the thankful. . y: no just estimate have they made of allah, such as is due to him: on the day of judgment the whole of the earth will be but his handful, and the heavens will be rolled up in his right hand: glory to him! high is he above the partners they attribute to him! p: and they esteem not allah as he hath the right to be esteemed, when the whole earth is his handful on the day of resurrection, and the heavens are rolled in his right hand. glorified is he and high exalted from all that they ascribe as partner (unto him). s: and they have not honored allah with the honor that is due to him; and the whole earth shall be in his grip on the day of resurrection and the heavens rolled up in his right hand; glory be to him, and may he be exalted above what they associate (with him). . y: the trumpet will (just) be sounded, when all that are in the heavens and on earth will swoon, except such as it will please allah (to exempt). then will a second one be sounded, when, behold, they will be standing and looking on! p: and the trumpet is blown, and all who are in the heavens and all who are in the earth swoon away, save him whom allah willeth. then it is blown a second time, and behold them standing waiting! s: and the trumpet shall be blown, so all those that are in the heavens and all those that are in the earth shall swoon, except such as allah please; then it shall be blown again, then lo! they shall stand up awaiting. . y: and the earth will shine with the glory of its lord: the record (of deeds) will be placed (open); the prophets and the witnesses will be brought forward and a just decision pronounced between them; and they will not be wronged (in the least). p: and the earth shineth with the light of her lord, and the book is set up, and the prophets and the witnesses are brought, and it is judged between them with truth, and they are not wronged. s: and the earth shall beam with the light of its lord, and the book shall be laid down, and the prophets and the witnesses shall be brought up, and judgment shall be given between them with justice, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly. . y: and to every soul will be paid in full (the fruit) of its deeds; and (allah) knoweth best all that they do. p: and each soul is paid in full for what it did. and he is best aware of what they do. s: and every soul shall be paid back fully what it has done, and he knows best what they do. . y: the unbelievers will be led to hell in crowd: until, when they arrive, there, its gates will be opened. and its keepers will say, "did not messengers come to you from among yourselves, rehearsing to you the signs of your lord, and warning you of the meeting of this day of yours?" the answer will be: "true: but the decree of punishment has been proved true against the unbelievers!" p: and those who disbelieve are driven unto hell in troops till, when they reach it and the gates thereof are opened, and the warders thereof say unto them: came there not unto you messengers of your own, reciting unto you the revelations of your lord and warning you of the meeting of this your day? they say: yea, verily. but the word of doom of disbelievers is fulfilled. s: and those who disbelieve shall be driven to hell in companies; until, when they come to it, its doors shall be opened, and the keepers of it shall say to them: did not there come to you messengers from among you reciting to you the communications of your lord and warning you of the meeting of this day of yours? they shall say: yea! but the sentence of punishment was due against the unbelievers. . y: (to them) will be said: "enter ye the gates of hell, to dwell therein: and evil is (this) abode of the arrogant!" p: it is said (unto them): enter ye the gates of hell to dwell therein. thus hapless is the journey's end of the scorners. s: it shall be said: enter the gates of hell to abide therein; so evil is the abode of the proud. . y: and those who feared their lord will be led to the garden in crowds: until behold, they arrive there; its gates will be opened; and its keepers will say: "peace be upon you! well have ye done! enter ye here, to dwell therein." p: and those who keep their duty to their lord are driven unto the garden in troops till, when they reach it, and the gates thereof are opened, and the warders thereof say unto them: peace be unto you! ye are good, so enter ye (the garden of delight), to dwell therein; s: and those who are careful of (their duty to) their lord shall be conveyed to the garden in companies; until when they come to it, and its doors shall be opened, and the keepers of it shall say to them: peace be on you, you shall be happy; therefore enter it to abide. . y: they will say: "praise be to allah, who has truly fulfilled his promise to us, and has given us (this) land in heritage: we can dwell in the garden as we will: how excellent a reward for those who work (righteousness)!" p: they say: praise be to allah, who hath fulfilled his promise unto us and hath made us inherit the land, sojourning in the garden where we will! so bounteous is the wage of workers. s: and they shall say: (all) praise is due to allah, who has made good to us his promise, and he has made us inherit the land; we may abide in the garden where we please; so goodly is the reward of the workers. . y: and thou wilt see the angels surrounding the throne (divine) on all sides, singing glory and praise to their lord. the decision between them (at judgment) will be in (perfect) justice, and the cry (on all sides) will be, "praise be to allah, the lord of the worlds!" p: and thou (o muhammad) seest the angels thronging round the throne, hymning the praises of their lord. and they are judged aright. and it is said: praise be to allah, the lord of the worlds! s: and you shall see the angels going round about the throne glorifying the praise of their lord; and judgment shall be given between them with justice, and it shall be said: all praise is due to allah, the lord of the worlds. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-ghafir (the forgiver (god) ) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: ha mim. p: ha. mim. s: ha mim. . y: the revelation of this book is from allah, exalted in power, full of knowledge,- p: the revelation of the scripture is from allah, the mighty, the knower, s: the revelation of the book is from allah, the mighty, the knowing, . y: who forgiveth sin, accepteth repentance, is strict in punishment, and hath a long reach (in all things). there is no god but he: to him is the final goal. p: the forgiver of sin, the accepter of repentance, the stern in punishment, the bountiful. there is no god save him. unto him is the journeying. s: the forgiver of the faults and the acceptor of repentance, severe to punish, lord of bounty; there is no god but he; to him is the eventual coming. . y: none can dispute about the signs of allah but the unbelievers. let not, then, their strutting about through the land deceive thee! p: none argue concerning the revelations of allah save those who disbelieve, so let not their turn of fortune in the land deceive thee (o muhammad). s: none dispute concerning the communications of allah but those who disbelieve, therefore let not their going to and fro in the cities deceive you. . y: but (there were people) before them, who denied (the signs),- the people of noah, and the confederates (of evil) after them; and every people plotted against their prophet, to seize him, and disputed by means of vanities, therewith to condemn the truth; but it was i that seized them! and how (terrible) was my requital! p: the folk of noah and the factions after them denied (their messengers) before these, and every nation purposed to seize their messenger and argued falsely, (thinking) thereby to refute the truth. then i seized them, and how (awful) was my punishment. s: the people of nuh and the parties after them rejected (prophets) before them, and every nation purposed against their messenger to destroy him, and they disputed by means of the falsehood that they might thereby render null the truth, therefore i destroyed them; how was then my retribution! . y: thus was the decree of thy lord proved true against the unbelievers; that truly they are companions of the fire! p: thus was the word of thy lord concerning those who disbelieve fulfilled: that they are owners of the fire. s: and thus did the word of your lord prove true against those who disbelieved that they are the inmates of the fire. . y: those who sustain the throne (of allah) and those around it sing glory and praise to their lord; believe in him; and implore forgiveness for those who believe: "our lord! thy reach is over all things, in mercy and knowledge. forgive, then, those who turn in repentance, and follow thy path; and preserve them from the penalty of the blazing fire!" p: those who bear the throne, and all who are round about it, hymn the praises of their lord and believe in him and ask forgiveness for those who believe (saying): our lord! thou comprehendest all things in mercy and knowledge, therefor forgive those who repent and follow thy way. ward off from them the punishment of hell. s: those who bear the power and those around him celebrate the praise of their lord and believe in him and ask protection for those who believe: our lord! thou embracest all things in mercy and knowledge, therefore grant protection to those who turn (to thee) and follow thy way, and save them from the punishment of the hell: . y: "and grant, our lord! that they enter the gardens of eternity, which thou hast promised to them, and to the righteous among their fathers, their wives, and their posterity! for thou art (he), the exalted in might, full of wisdom." p: our lord! and make them enter the gardens of eden which thou hast promised them, with such of their fathers and their wives and their descendants as do right. lo! thou, only thou, art the mighty, the wise. s: our lord! and make them enter the gardens of perpetuity which thou hast promised to them and those who do good of their fathers and their wives and their offspring, surely thou are the mighty, the wise. . y: "and preserve them from (all) ills; and any whom thou dost preserve from ills that day,- on them wilt thou have bestowed mercy indeed: and that will be truly (for them) the highest achievement". p: and ward off from them ill-deeds; and he from whom thou wardest off ill-deeds that day, him verily hast thou taken into mercy. that is the supreme triumph. s: and keep them from evil deeds, and whom thou keepest from evil deeds this day, indeed thou hast mercy on him, and that is the mighty achievement. . y: the unbelievers will be addressed: "greater was the aversion of allah to you than (is) your aversion to yourselves, seeing that ye were called to the faith and ye used to refuse." p: lo! (on that day) those who disbelieve are informed by proclamation: verily allah's abhorrence is more terrible than your abhorrence one of another, when ye were called unto the faith but did refuse. s: surely those who disbelieve shall be cried out to: certainly allah's hatred (of you) when you were called upon to the faith and you rejected, is much greater than your hatred of yourselves. . y: they will say: "our lord! twice hast thou made us without life, and twice hast thou given us life! now have we recognised our sins: is there any way out (of this)?" p: they say: our lord! twice hast thou made us die, and twice hast thou made us live. now we confess our sins. is there any way to go out? s: they shall say: our lord! twice didst thou make us subject to death, and twice hast thou given us life, so we do confess our faults; is there then a way to get out? . y: (the answer will be:) "this is because, when allah was invoked as the only (object of worship), ye did reject faith, but when partners were joined to him, ye believed! the command is with allah, most high, most great!" p: (it is said unto them): this is (your plight) because, when allah only was invoked, ye disbelieved, but when some partner was ascribed to him ye were believing. but the command belongeth only to allah, the sublime, the majestic. s: that is because when allah alone was called upon, you disbelieved, and when associates were given to him, you believed; so judgment belongs to allah, the high, the great. . y: he it is who showeth you his signs, and sendeth down sustenance for you from the sky: but only those receive admonition who turn (to allah). p: he it is who showeth you his portents, and sendeth down for you provision from the sky. none payeth heed save him who turneth (unto him) repentant. s: he it is who shows you his signs and sends down for you sustenance from heaven, and none minds but he who turns (to him) again and again. . y: call ye, then, upon allah with sincere devotion to him, even though the unbelievers may detest it. p: therefor (o believers) pray unto allah, making religion pure for him (only), however much the disbelievers be averse - s: therefore call upon allah, being sincere to him in obedience, though the unbelievers are averse: . y: raised high above ranks (or degrees), (he is) the lord of the throne (of authority): by his command doth he send the spirit (of inspiration) to any of his servants he pleases, that it may warn (men) of the day of mutual meeting,- p: the exalter of ranks, the lord of the throne. he causeth the spirit of his command upon whom he will of his slaves, that he may warn of the day of meeting, s: possessor of the highest rank, lord of power: he makes the inspiration to light by his command upon whom he pleases of his servants, that he may warn (men) of the day of meeting. . y: the day whereon they will (all) come forth: not a single thing concerning them is hidden from allah. whose will be the dominion that day? that of allah, the one the irresistible! p: the day when they come forth, nothing of them being hidden from allah. whose is the sovereignty this day? it is allah's, the one, the almighty. s: (of) the day when they shall come forth, nothing concerning them remains hidden to allah. to whom belongs the kingdom this day? to allah, the one, the subduer (of all). . y: that day will every soul be requited for what it earned; no injustice will there be that day, for allah is swift in taking account. p: this day is each soul requited that which it hath earned; no wrong (is done) this day. lo! allah is swift at reckoning. s: this day every soul shall be rewarded for what it has earned; no injustice (shall be done) this day; surely allah is quick in reckoning. . y: warn them of the day that is (ever) drawing near, when the hearts will (come) right up to the throats to choke (them); no intimate friend nor intercessor will the wrong-doers have, who could be listened to. p: warn them (o muhammad) of the day of the approaching (doom), when the hearts will be choking the throats, (when) there will be no friend for the wrong-doers, nor any intercessor who will be heard. s: and warn them of the day that draws near, when hearts shall rise up to the throats, grieving inwardly; the unjust shall not have any compassionate friend nor any intercessor who should be obeyed. . y: (allah) knows of (the tricks) that deceive with the eyes, and all that the hearts (of men) conceal. p: he knoweth the traitor of the eyes, and that which the bosoms hide. s: he knows the stealthy looks and that which the breasts conceal. . y: and allah will judge with (justice and) truth: but those whom (men) invoke besides him, will not (be in a position) to judge at all. verily it is allah (alone) who hears and sees (all things). p: allah judgeth with truth, while those to whom they cry instead of him judge not at all. lo! allah, he is the hearer, the seer. s: and allah judges with the truth; and those whom they call upon besides him cannot judge aught; surely allah is the hearing, the seeing. . y: do they not travel through the earth and see what was the end of those before them? they were even superior to them in strength, and in the traces (they have left) in the land: but allah did call them to account for their sins, and none had they to defend them against allah. p: have they not travelled in the land to see the nature of the consequence for those who disbelieved before them? they were mightier than these in power and (in the) traces (which they left behind them) in the earth. yet allah seized them for their sins, and they had no protector from allah. s: have they not travelled in the earth and seen how was the end of those who were before them? mightier than these were they in strength-- and in fortifications in the land, but allah destroyed them for their sins; and there was not for them any defender against allah. . y: that was because there came to them their messengers with clear (signs), but they rejected them: so allah called them to account: for he is full of strength, strict in punishment. p: that was because their messengers kept bringing them clear proofs (of allah's sovereignty) but they disbelieved; so allah seized them. lo! he is strong, severe in punishment. s: that was because there came to them their messengers with clear arguments, but they rejected (them), therefore allah destroyed them; surely he is strong, severe in retribution. . y: of old we sent moses, with our signs and an authority manifest, p: and verily we sent moses with our revelations and a clear warrant s: and certainly we sent musa with our communications and clear authority, . y: to pharaoh, haman, and qarun; but they called (him) "a sorcerer telling lies!"... p: unto pharaoh and haman and korah, but they said: a lying sorcerer! s: to firon and haman and qaroun, but they said: a lying magician. . y: now, when he came to them in truth, from us, they said, "slay the sons of those who believe with him, and keep alive their females," but the plots of unbelievers (end) in nothing but errors (and delusions)!... p: and when he brought them the truth from our presence, they said: slay the sons of those who believe with him, and spare their women. but the plot of disbelievers is in naught but error. s: so when he brought to them the truth from us, they said: slay the sons of those who believe with him and keep their women alive; and the struggle of the unbelievers will only come to a state of perdition. . y: said pharaoh: "leave me to slay moses; and let him call on his lord! what i fear is lest he should change your religion, or lest he should cause mischief to appear in the land!" p: and pharaoh said: suffer me to kill moses, and let him cry unto his lord. lo! i fear that he will alter your religion or that he will cause confusion in the land. s: and firon said: let me alone that i may slay musa and let him call upon his lord; surely i fear that he will change your religion or that he will make mischief to appear in the land. . y: moses said: "i have indeed called upon my lord and your lord (for protection) from every arrogant one who believes not in the day of account!" p: moses said: lo! i seek refuge in my lord and your lord from every scorner who believeth not in a day of reckoning. s: and musa said: surely i take refuge with my lord and-- your lord from every proud one who does not believe in the day of reckoning. . y: a believer, a man from among the people of pharaoh, who had concealed his faith, said: "will ye slay a man because he says, 'my lord is allah'?- when he has indeed come to you with clear (signs) from your lord? and if he be a liar, on him is (the sin of) his lie: but, if he is telling the truth, then will fall on you something of the (calamity) of which he warns you: truly allah guides not one who transgresses and lies!" p: and a believing man of pharaoh's family, who hid his faith, said: would ye kill a man because he saith: my lord is allah, and hath brought you clear proofs from your lord? if he is lying, then his lie is upon him; and if he is truthful, then some of that wherewith he threateneth you will strike you. lo! allah guideth not one who is a prodigal, a liar. s: and a believing man of firon's people who hid his faith said: what! will you slay a man because he says: my lord is allah, and indeed he has brought to you clear arguments from your lord? and if he be a liar, on him will be his lie, and if he be truthful, there will befall you some of that which he threatens you (with); surely allah does not guide him who is extravagant, a liar: . y: "o my people! yours is the dominion this day: ye have the upper hand in the land: but who will help us from the punishment of allah, should it befall us?" pharaoh said: "i but point out to you that which i see (myself); nor do i guide you but to the path of right!" p: o my people! yours is the kingdom to-day, ye being uppermost in the land. but who would save us from the wrath of allah should it reach us? pharaoh said: i do but show you what i think, and i do but guide you to wise policy. s: o my people! yours is the kingdom this day, being masters in the land, but who will help us against the punishment of allah if it come to us? firon said: i do not show you aught but that which i see (myself), and i do not make you follow any but the right way. . y: then said the man who believed: "o my people! truly i do fear for you something like the day (of disaster) of the confederates (in sin)!"- p: and he who believed said: o my people! lo! i fear for you a fate like that of the factions (of old); s: and he who believed said: o my people! surely i fear for you the like of what befell the parties: . y: "something like the fate of the people of noah, the 'ad, and the thamud, and those who came after them: but allah never wishes injustice to his servants." p: a plight like that of noah's folk, and a'ad and thamud, and those after them, and allah willeth no injustice for (his) slaves. s: the like of what befell the people of nuh and ad and samood and those after them, and allah does not desire injustice for (his) servants; . y: "and o my people! i fear for you a day when there will be mutual calling (and wailing),"- p: and, o my people! lo! i fear for you a day of summoning, s: and, o my people! i fear for you the day of calling out, . y: "a day when ye shall turn your backs and flee: no defender shall ye have from allah: any whom allah leaves to stray, there is none to guide..." p: a day when ye will turn to flee, having no preserver from allah: and he whom allah sendeth astray, for him there is no guide. s: the day on which you will turn back retreating; there shall be no savior for you from allah, and whomsoever allah causes to err, there is no guide for him: . y: "and to you there came joseph in times gone by, with clear signs, but ye ceased not to doubt of the (mission) for which he had come: at length, when he died, ye said: 'no messenger will allah send after him.' thus doth allah leave to stray such as transgress and live in doubt,"- p: and verily joseph brought you of old clear proofs, yet ye ceased not to be in doubt concerning what he brought you till, when he died, ye said: allah will not send any messenger after him. thus allah deceiveth him who is a prodigal, a doubter. s: and certainly yusuf came to you before with clear arguments, but you ever remained in doubt as to what he brought; until when he died, you said: allah will never raise a messenger after him. thus does allah cause him to err who is extravagant, a doubter, . y: "(such) as dispute about the signs of allah, without any authority that hath reached them, grievous and odious (is such conduct) in the sight of allah and of the believers. thus doth allah, seal up every heart - of arrogant and obstinate transgressors." p: those who wrangle concerning the revelations of allah without any warrant that hath come unto them, it is greatly hateful in the sight of allah and in the sight of those who believe. thus doth allah print on every arrogant, disdainful heart. s: those who dispute concerning the communications of allah without any authority that he has given them; greatly hated is it by allah and by those who believe. thus does allah set a seal over the heart of every proud, haughty one. . y: pharaoh said: "o haman! build me a lofty palace, that i may attain the ways and means-" p: and pharaoh said: o haman! build for me a tower that haply i may reach the roads, s: and firon said: o haman! build for me a tower that i may attain the means of access, . y: "the ways and means of (reaching) the heavens, and that i may mount up to the god of moses: but as far as i am concerned, i think (moses) is a liar!" thus was made alluring, in pharaoh's eyes, the evil of his deeds, and he was hindered from the path; and the plot of pharaoh led to nothing but perdition (for him). p: the roads of the heavens, and may look upon the god of moses, though verily i think him a liar. thus was the evil that he did made fairseeming unto pharaoh, and he was debarred from the (right) way. the plot of pharaoh ended but in ruin. s: the means of access to the heavens, then reach the god of musa, and i surely think him to be a liar. and thus the evil of his deed was made fairseeming to firon, and he was turned away from the way; and the struggle of firon was not (to end) in aught but destruction. . y: the man who believed said further: "o my people! follow me: i will lead you to the path of right." p: and he who believed said: o my people! follow me. i will show you the way of right conduct. s: and he who believed said: o my people! follow me, i will guide you to the right course; . y: "o my people! this life of the present is nothing but (temporary) convenience: it is the hereafter that is the home that will last." p: o my people! lo! this life of the world is but a passing comfort, and lo! the hereafter, that is the enduring home. s: o my people! this life of the world is only a (passing) enjoyment, and surely the hereafter is the abode to settle; . y: "he that works evil will not be requited but by the like thereof: and he that works a righteous deed - whether man or woman - and is a believer- such will enter the garden (of bliss): therein will they have abundance without measure." p: whoso doeth an ill-deed, he will be repaid the like thereof, while whoso doeth right, whether male or female, and is a believer, (all) such will enter the garden, where they will be nourished without stint. s: whoever does an evil, he shall not be recompensed (with aught) but the like of it, and whoever does good, whether male or female, and he is a believer, these shall enter the garden, in which they shall be given sustenance without measure. . y: "and o my people! how (strange) it is for me to call you to salvation while ye call me to the fire!" p: and, o my people! what aileth me that i call you unto deliverance when ye call me unto the fire? s: and, o my people! how is it that i call you to salvation and you call me to the fire? . y: "ye do call upon me to blaspheme against allah, and to join with him partners of whom i have no knowledge; and i call you to the exalted in power, who forgives again and again!" p: ye call me to disbelieve in allah and ascribe unto him as partners that whereof i have no knowledge, while i call you unto the mighty, the forgiver. s: you call on me that i should disbelieve in allah and associate with him that of which i have no knowledge, and i call you to the mighty, the most forgiving; . y: "without doubt ye do call me to one who is not fit to be called to, whether in this world, or in the hereafter; our return will be to allah; and the transgressors will be companions of the fire!" p: assuredly that whereunto ye call me hath no claim in the world or in the hereafter, and our return will be unto allah, and the prodigals will be owners of the fire. s: no doubt that what you call me to has no title to be called to in this world, nor in the hereafter, and that our turning back is to allah, and that the extravagant are the inmates of the fire; . y: "soon will ye remember what i say to you (now), my (own) affair i commit to allah: for allah (ever) watches over his servants." p: and ye will remember what i say unto you. i confide my cause unto allah. lo! allah is seer of (his) slaves. s: so you shall remember what i say to you, and i entrust my affair to allah, surely allah sees the servants. . y: then allah saved him from (every) ill that they plotted (against him), but the burnt of the penalty encompassed on all sides the people of pharaoh. p: so allah warded off from him the evils which they plotted, while a dreadful doom encompassed pharaoh's folk, s: so allah protected him from the evil (consequences) of what they planned, and the most evil punishment overtook firon's people: . y: in front of the fire will they be brought, morning and evening: and (the sentence will be) on the day that judgment will be established: "cast ye the people of pharaoh into the severest penalty!" p: the fire; they are exposed to it morning and evening; and on the day when the hour upriseth (it is said): cause pharaoh's folk to enter the most awful doom. s: the fire; they shall be brought before it (every) morning and evening and on the day when the hour shall come to pass: make firon's people enter the severest chastisement. . y: behold, they will dispute with each other in the fire! the weak ones (who followed) will say to those who had been arrogant, "we but followed you: can ye then take (on yourselves) from us some share of the fire?" p: and when they wrangle in the fire, the weak say unto those who were proud: lo! we were a following unto you; will ye therefor rid us of a portion of the fire? s: and when they shall contend one with another in the fire, then the weak shall say to those who were proud: surely we were your followers; will you then avert from us a portion of the fire? . y: those who had been arrogant will say: "we are all in this (fire)! truly, allah has judged between (his) servants!" p: those who were proud say: lo! we are all (together) herein. lo! allah hath judged between (his) slaves. s: those who were proud shall say: surely we are all in it: surely allah has judged between the servants. . y: those in the fire will say to the keepers of hell: "pray to your lord to lighten us the penalty for a day (at least)!" p: and those in the fire say unto the guards of hell: entreat your lord that he relieve us of a day of the torment. s: and those who are in the fire shall say to the keepers of hell: call upon your lord that he may lighten to us one day of the punishment. . y: they will say: "did there not come to you your messengers with clear signs?" they will say, "yes". they will reply, "then pray (as ye like)! but the prayer of those without faith is nothing but (futile wandering) in (mazes of) error!" p: they say: came not your messengers unto you with clear proofs? they say: yea, verily. they say: then do ye pray, although the prayer of disbelievers is in vain. s: they shall say: did not your messengers come to you with clear arguments? they shall say: yea. they shall say: then call. and the call of the unbelievers is only in error. . y: we will, without doubt, help our messengers and those who believe, (both) in this world's life and on the day when the witnesses will stand forth,- p: lo! we verily do help our messengers, and those who believe, in the life of the world and on the day when the witnesses arise, s: most surely we help our messengers, and those who believe, in this world's life and on the day when the witnesses shall stand up, . y: the day when no profit will it be to wrong-doers to present their excuses, but they will (only) have the curse and the home of misery. p: the day when their excuse availeth not the evil-doers, and theirs is the curse, and theirs the ill abode. s: the day on which their excuse shall not benefit the unjust, and for them is curse and for them is the evil abode. . y: we did aforetime give moses the (book of) guidance, and we gave the book in inheritance to the children of israel,- p: and we verily gave moses the guidance, and we caused the children of israel to inherit the scripture, s: and certainly we gave musa the guidance, and we made the children of israel inherit the book, . y: a guide and a message to men of understanding. p: a guide and a reminder for men of understanding. s: a guidance and a reminder to the men of understanding. . y: patiently, then, persevere: for the promise of allah is true: and ask forgiveness for thy fault, and celebrate the praises of thy lord in the evening and in the morning. p: then have patience (o muhammad). lo! the promise of allah is true. and ask forgiveness of thy sin, and hymn the praise of thy lord at fall of night and in the early hours. s: therefore be patient; surely the promise of allah is true; and ask protection for your fault and sing the praise of your lord in the evening and the morning. . y: those who dispute about the signs of allah without any authority bestowed on them,- there is nothing in their breasts but (the quest of) greatness, which they shall never attain to: seek refuge, then, in allah: it is he who hears and sees (all things). p: lo! those who wrangle concerning the revelations of allah without a warrant having come unto them, there is naught else in their breasts save pride which they will never attain. so take thou refuge in allah. lo! he, only he, is the hearer, the seer. s: surely (as for) those who dispute about the communications of allah without any authority that has come to them, there is naught in their breasts but (a desire) to become great which they shall never attain to; therefore seek refuge in allah, surely he is the hearing, the seeing. . y: assuredly the creation of the heavens and the earth is a greater (matter) than the creation of men: yet most men understand not. p: assuredly the creation of the heavens and the earth is greater than the creation of mankind; but most of mankind know not. s: certainly the creation of the heavens and the earth is greater than the creation of the men, but most people do not know. . y: not equal are the blind and those who (clearly) see: nor are (equal) those who believe and work deeds of righteousness, and those who do evil. little do ye learn by admonition! p: and the blind man and the seer are not equal, neither are those who believe and do good works (equal with) the evil-doer. little do ye reflect! s: and the blind and the seeing are not alike, nor those who believe and do good and the evil-doer; little is it that you are mindful. . y: the hour will certainly come: therein is no doubt: yet most men believe not. p: lo! the hour is surely coming, there is no doubt thereof; yet most of mankind believe not. s: most surely the hour is coming, there is no doubt therein, but most people do not believe. . y: and your lord says: "call on me; i will answer your (prayer): but those who are too arrogant to serve me will surely find themselves in hell - in humiliation!" p: and your lord hath said: pray unto me and i will hear your prayer. lo! those who scorn my service, they will enter hell, disgraced. s: and your lord says: call upon me, i will answer you; surely those who are too proud for my service shall soon enter hell abased. . y: it is allah who has made the night for you, that ye may rest therein, and the day as that which helps (you) to see. verily allah is full of grace and bounty to men: yet most men give no thanks. p: allah it is who hath appointed for you night that ye may rest therein, and day for seeing. lo! allah is a lord of bounty for mankind, yet most of mankind give not thanks. s: allah is he who made for you the night that you may rest therein and the day to see; most surely allah is gracious to men, but most men do not give thanks. . y: such is allah, your lord, the creator of all things, there is no god but he: then how ye are deluded away from the truth! p: such is allah, your lord, the creator of all things, there is no god save him. how then are ye perverted? s: that is allah, your lord, the creator of everything; there is no god but he; whence are you then turned away? . y: thus are deluded those who are wont to reject the signs of allah. p: thus are they perverted who deny the revelations of allah. s: thus were turned away those who denied the communications of allah. . y: it is allah who has made for you the earth as a resting place, and the sky as a canopy, and has given you shape- and made your shapes beautiful,- and has provided for you sustenance, of things pure and good;- such is allah your lord. so glory to allah, the lord of the worlds! p: allah it is who appointed for you the earth for a dwelling-place and the sky for a canopy, and fashioned you and perfected your shapes, and hath provided you with good things. such is allah, your lord. then blessed be allah, the lord of the worlds! s: allah is he who made the earth a resting-place for you and the heaven a canopy, and he formed you, then made goodly your forms, and he provided you with goodly things; that is allah, your lord; blessed then is allah, the lord of the worlds. . y: he is the living (one): there is no god but he: call upon him, giving him sincere devotion. praise be to allah, lord of the worlds! p: he is the living one. there is no god save him. so pray unto him, making religion pure for him (only). praise be to allah, the lord of the worlds! s: he is the living, there is no god but he, therefore call on him, being sincere to him in obedience; (all) praise is due to allah, the lord of the worlds. . y: say: "i have been forbidden to invoke those whom ye invoke besides allah,- seeing that the clear signs have come to me from my lord; and i have been commanded to bow (in islam) to the lord of the worlds." p: say (o muhammad): i am forbidden to worship those unto whom ye cry beside allah since there have come unto me clear proofs from my lord, and i am commanded to surrender to the lord of the worlds. s: say: i am forbidden to serve those whom you call upon besides allah when clear arguments have come to me from my lord, and i am commanded that i should submit to the lord of the worlds. . y: it is he who has created you from dust then from a sperm-drop, then from a leech-like clot; then does he get you out (into the light) as a child: then lets you (grow and) reach your age of full strength; then lets you become old,- though of you there are some who die before;- and lets you reach a term appointed; in order that ye may learn wisdom. p: he it is who created you from dust, then from a drop (of seed) then from a clot, then bringeth you forth as a child, then (ordaineth) that ye attain full strength and afterward that ye become old men - though some among you die before - and that ye reach an appointed term, that haply ye may understand. s: he it is who created you from dust, then from a small life-germ, then from a clot, then he brings you forth as a child, then that you may attain your maturity, then that you may be old-- and of you there are some who are caused to die before-- and that you may reach an appointed term, and that you may understand. . y: it is he who gives life and death; and when he decides upon an affair, he says to it, "be", and it is. p: he it is who quickeneth and giveth death. when he ordaineth a thing, he saith unto it only: be! and it is. s: he it is who gives life and brings death, so when he decrees an affair, he only says to it: be, and it is. . y: seest thou not those that dispute concerning the signs of allah? how are they turned away (from reality)?- p: hast thou not seen those who wrangle concerning the revelations of allah, how they are turned away? - s: have you not seen those who dispute with respect to the communications of allah: how are they turned away? . y: those who reject the book and the (revelations) with which we sent our messengers: but soon shall they know,- p: those who deny the scripture and that wherewith we send our messengers. but they will come to know, s: those who reject the book and that with which we have sent our messenger; but they shall soon come to know, . y: when the yokes (shall be) round their necks, and the chains; they shall be dragged along- p: when carcans are about their necks and chains. they are dragged s: when the fetters and the chains shall be on their necks; they shall be dragged . y: in the boiling fetid fluid: then in the fire shall they be burned; p: through boiling waters; then they are thrust into the fire. s: into boiling water, then in the fire shall they be burned; . y: then shall it be said to them: "where are the (deities) to which ye gave part-worship-" p: then it is said unto them: where are (all) that ye used to make partners (in the sovereignty) s: then shall it be said to them: where is that which you used to set up . y: "in derogation of allah?" they will reply: "they have left us in the lurch: nay, we invoked not, of old, anything (that had real existence)." thus does allah leave the unbelievers to stray. p: beside allah? they say: they have failed us; but we used not to pray to anything before. thus doth allah send astray the disbelievers (in his guidance). s: besides allah? they shall say: they are gone away from us, nay, we used not to call upon anything before. thus does allah confound the unbelievers. . y: "that was because ye were wont to rejoice on the earth in things other than the truth, and that ye were wont to be insolent." p: (and it is said unto them): this is because ye exulted in the earth without right, and because ye were petulant. s: that is because you exulted in the land unjustly and because you behaved insolently. . y: "enter ye the gates of hell, to dwell therein: and evil is (this) abode of the arrogant!" p: enter ye the gates of hell, to dwell therein. evil is the habitation of the scornful. s: enter the gates of hell to abide therein, evil then is the abode of the proud. . y: so persevere in patience; for the promise of allah is true: and whether we show thee (in this life) some part of what we promise them,- or we take thy soul (to our mercy) (before that),-(in any case) it is to us that they shall (all) return. p: then have patience (o muhammad). lo! the promise of allah is true. and whether we let thee see a part of that which we promise them, or (whether) we cause thee to die, still unto us they will be brought back. s: so be patient, surely the promise of allah is true. so should we make you see part of what we threaten them with, or should we cause you to die, to us shall they be returned. . y: we did aforetime send messengers before thee: of them there are some whose story we have related to thee, and some whose story we have not related to thee. it was not (possible) for any messenger to bring a sign except by the leave of allah: but when the command of allah issued, the matter was decided in truth and justice, and there perished, there and then those who stood on falsehoods. p: verily we sent messengers before thee, among them those of whom we have told thee, and some of whom we have not told thee; and it was not given to any messenger that he should bring a portent save by allah's leave, but when allah's commandment cometh (the cause) is judged aright, and the followers of vanity will then be lost. s: and certainly we sent messengers before you: there are some of them that we have mentioned to you and there are others whom we have not mentioned to you, and it was not meet for a messenger that he should bring a sign except with allah's permission, but when the command of allah came, judgment was given with truth, and those who treated (it) as a lie were lost. . y: it is allah who made cattle for you, that ye may use some for riding and some for food; p: allah it is who hath appointed for you cattle, that ye may ride on some of them, and eat of some - s: allah is he who made the cattle for you that you may ride on some of them, and some of them you eat. . y: and there are (other) advantages in them for you (besides); that ye may through them attain to any need (there may be) in your hearts; and on them and on ships ye are carried. p: (many) benefits ye have from them - and that ye may satisfy by their means a need that is in your breasts, and may be borne upon them as upon the ship. s: and there are advantages for you in them, and that you may attain thereon a want which is in your breasts, and upon them and upon the ships you are borne. . y: and he shows you (always) his signs: then which of the signs of allah will ye deny? p: and he showeth you his tokens. which, then, of the tokens of allah do ye deny? s: and he shows you his signs: which then of allah's signs will you deny? . y: do they not travel through the earth and see what was the end of those before them? they were more numerous than these and superior in strength and in the traces (they have left) in the land: yet all that they accomplished was of no profit to them. p: have they not travelled in the land to see the nature of the consequence for those before them? they were more numerous than these, and mightier in power and (in the) traces (which they left behind them) in the earth. but all that they used to earn availed them not. s: have they not then journeyed in the land and seen how was the end of those before them? they were more (in numbers) than these and greater in strength and in fortifications in the land, but what they earned did not avail them. . y: for when their messengers came to them with clear signs, they exulted in such knowledge (and skill) as they had; but that very (wrath) at which they were wont to scoff hemmed them in. p: and when their messengers brought them clear proofs (of allah's sovereignty) they exulted in the knowledge they (themselves) possessed. and that which they were wont to mock befell them. s: then when their messengers came to them with clear arguments, they exulted in what they had with them of knowledge, and there beset them that which they used to mock. . y: but when they saw our punishment, they said: "we believe in allah,- the one allah - and we reject the partners we used to join with him." p: then, when they saw our doom, they said: we believe in allah only and reject (all) that we used to associate (with him). s: but when they saw our punishment, they said: we believe in allah alone and we deny what we used to associate with him. . y: but their professing the faith when they (actually) saw our punishment was not going to profit them. (such has been) allah's way of dealing with his servants (from the most ancient times). and even thus did the rejecters of allah perish (utterly)! p: but their faith could not avail them when they saw our doom. this is allah's law which hath ever taken course for his bondmen. and then the disbelievers will be ruined. s: but their belief was not going to profit them when they had seen our punishment; (this is) allah's law, which has indeed obtained in the matter of his servants, and there the unbelievers are lost. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : fussilat (explained in detail) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: ha mim: p: ha. mim. s: ha mim! . y: a revelation from (allah), most gracious, most merciful;- p: a revelation from the beneficent, the merciful, s: a revelation from the beneficent, the merciful allah: . y: a book, whereof the verses are explained in detail;- a qur'an in arabic, for people who understand;- p: a scripture whereof the verses are expounded, a lecture in arabic for people who have knowledge, s: a book of which the verses are made plain, an arabic quran for a people who know: . y: giving good news and admonition: yet most of them turn away, and so they hear not. p: good tidings and a warning. but most of them turn away so that they hear not. s: a herald of good news and a warner, but most of them turn aside so they hear not. . y: they say: "our hearts are under veils, (concealed) from that to which thou dost invite us, and in our ears in a deafness, and between us and thee is a screen: so do thou (what thou wilt); for us, we shall do (what we will!)" p: and they say: our hearts are protected from that unto which thou (o muhammad) callest us, and in our ears there is a deafness, and between us and thee there is a veil. act, then. lo! we also shall be acting. s: and they say: our hearts are under coverings from that to which you call us, and there is a heaviness in our ears, and a veil hangs between us and you, so work, we too are working. . y: say thou: "i am but a man like you: it is revealed to me by inspiration, that your allah is one allah: so stand true to him, and ask for his forgiveness." and woe to those who join gods with allah,- p: say (unto them o muhammad): i am only a mortal like you. it is inspired in me that your allah is one allah, therefor take the straight path unto him and seek forgiveness of him. and woe unto the idolaters, s: say: i am only a mortal like you; it is revealed to me that your allah is one allah, therefore follow the right way to him and ask his forgiveness; and woe to the polytheists; . y: those who practise not regular charity, and who even deny the hereafter. p: who give not the poor-due, and who are disbelievers in the hereafter. s: (to) those who do not give poor-rate and they are unbelievers in the hereafter. . y: for those who believe and work deeds of righteousness is a reward that will never fail. p: lo! as for those who believe and do good works, for them is a reward enduring. s: (as for) those who believe and do good, they shall surely have a reward never to be cut off. . y: say: is it that ye deny him who created the earth in two days? and do ye join equals with him? he is the lord of (all) the worlds. p: say (o muhammad, unto the idolaters): disbelieve ye verily in him who created the earth in two days, and ascribe ye unto him rivals? he (and none else) is the lord of the worlds. s: say: what! do you indeed disbelieve in him who created the earth in two periods, and do you set up equals with him? that is the lord of the worlds. . y: he set on the (earth), mountains standing firm, high above it, and bestowed blessings on the earth, and measure therein all things to give them nourishment in due proportion, in four days, in accordance with (the needs of) those who seek (sustenance). p: he placed therein firm hills rising above it, and blessed it and measured therein its sustenance in four days, alike for (all) who ask; s: and he made in it mountains above its surface, and he blessed therein and made therein its foods, in four periods: alike for the seekers. . y: moreover he comprehended in his design the sky, and it had been (as) smoke: he said to it and to the earth: "come ye together, willingly or unwillingly." they said: "we do come (together), in willing obedience." p: then turned he to the heaven when it was smoke, and said unto it and unto the earth: come both of you, willingly or loth. they said: we come, obedient. s: then he directed himself to the heaven and it is a vapor, so he said to it and to the earth: come both, willingly or unwillingly. they both said: we come willingly. . y: so he completed them as seven firmaments in two days, and he assigned to each heaven its duty and command. and we adorned the lower heaven with lights, and (provided it) with guard. such is the decree of (him) the exalted in might, full of knowledge. p: then he ordained them seven heavens in two days and inspired in each heaven its mandate; and we decked the nether heaven with lamps, and rendered it inviolable. that is the measuring of the mighty, the knower. s: so he ordained them seven heavens in two periods, and revealed in every heaven its affair; and we adorned the lower heaven with brilliant stars and (made it) to guard; that is the decree of the mighty, the knowing. . y: but if they turn away, say thou: "i have warned you of a stunning punishment (as of thunder and lightning) like that which (overtook) the 'ad and the thamud!" p: but if they turn away, then say: i warn you of a thunderbolt like the thunderbolt (which fell of old upon the tribes) of a'ad and thamud; s: but if they turn aside, then say: i have warned you of a scourge like the scourge of ad and samood. . y: behold, the messengers came to them, from before them and behind them, (preaching): "serve none but allah." they said, "if our lord had so pleased, he would certainly have sent down angels (to preach). now we reject your mission (altogether)." p: when their messengers came unto them from before them and behind them, saying: worship none but allah! they said: if our lord had willed, he surely would have sent down angels (unto us), so lo! we are disbelievers in that wherewith ye have been sent. s: when their messengers came to them from before them and from behind them, saying, serve nothing but allah, they said: if our lord had pleased he would certainly have sent down angels, so we are surely unbelievers in that with which you are sent. . y: now the 'ad behaved arrogantly through the land, against (all) truth and reason, and said: "who is superior to us in strength?" what! did they not see that allah, who created them, was superior to them in strength? but they continued to reject our signs! p: as for a'ad, they were arrogant in the land without right, and they said: who is mightier than us in power? could they not see that allah who created them, he was mightier than them in power? and they denied our revelations. s: then as to ad, they were unjustly proud in the land, and they said: who is mightier in strength than we? did they not see that allah who created them was mightier than they in strength, and they denied our communications? . y: so we sent against them a furious wind through days of disaster, that we might give them a taste of a penalty of humiliation in this life; but the penalty of a hereafter will be more humiliating still: and they will find no help. p: therefor we let loose on them a raging wind in evil days, that we might make them taste the torment of disgrace in the life of the world. and verily the doom of the hereafter will be more shameful, and they will not be helped. s: so we sent on them a furious wind in unlucky days, that we may make them taste the chastisement of abasement in this world's life; and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is much more abasing, and they shall not be helped. . y: as to the thamud, we gave them guidance, but they preferred blindness (of heart) to guidance: so the stunning punishment of humiliation seized them, because of what they had earned. p: and as for thamud, we gave them guidance, but they preferred blindness to the guidance, so the bolt of the doom of humiliation overtook them because of what they used to earn. s: and as to samood, we showed them the right way, but they chose error above guidance, so there overtook them the scourge of an abasing chastisement for what they earned. . y: but we delivered those who believed and practised righteousness. p: and we delivered those who believed and used to keep their duty to allah. s: and we delivered those who believed and guarded (against evil). . y: on the day that the enemies of allah will be gathered together to the fire, they will be marched in ranks. p: and (make mention of) the day when the enemies of allah are gathered unto the fire, they are driven on s: and on the day that the enemies of allah shall be brought together to the fire, then they shall be formed into groups. . y: at length, when they reach the (fire), their hearing, their sight, and their skins will bear witness against them, as to (all) their deeds. p: till, when they reach it, their ears and their eyes and their skins testify against them as to what they used to do. s: until when they come to it, their ears and their eyes and their skins shall bear witness against them as to what they did. . y: they will say to their skins: "why bear ye witness against us?" they will say: "allah hath given us speech,- (he) who giveth speech to everything: he created you for the first time, and unto him were ye to return." p: and they say unto their skins: why testify ye against us? they say: allah hath given us speech who giveth speech to all things, and who created you at the first, and unto whom ye are returned. s: and they shall say to their skins: why have you borne witness against us? they shall say: allah who makes everything speak has made us speak, and he created you at first, and to him you shall be brought back. . y: "ye did not seek to hide yourselves, lest your hearing, your sight, and your skins should bear witness against you! but ye did think that allah knew not many of the things that ye used to do!" p: ye did not hide yourselves lest your ears and your eyes and your skins should testify against you, but ye deemed that allah knew not much of what ye did. s: and you did not veil yourselves lest your ears and your eyes and your skins should bear witness against you, but you thought that allah did not know most of what you did. . y: "but this thought of yours which ye did entertain concerning your lord, hath brought you to destruction, and (now) have ye become of those utterly lost!" p: that, your thought which ye did think about your lord, hath ruined you; and ye find yourselves (this day) among the lost. s: and that was your (evil) thought which you entertained about your lord that has tumbled you down into perdition, so are you become of the lost ones. . y: if, then, they have patience, the fire will be a home for them! and if they beg to be received into favour, into favour will they not (then) be received. p: and though they are resigned, yet the fire is still their home; and if they ask for favour, yet they are not of those unto whom favour can be shown. s: then if they will endure, still the fire is their abode, and if they ask for goodwill, then are they not of those who shall be granted goodwill. . y: and we have destined for them intimate companions (of like nature), who made alluring to them what was before them and behind them; and the sentence among the previous generations of jinns and men, who have passed away, is proved against them; for they are utterly lost. p: and we assigned them comrades (in the world), who made their present and their past fairseeming unto them. and the word concerning nations of the jinn and humankind who passed away before them hath effect for them. lo! they were ever losers. s: and we have appointed for them comrades so they have made fair-seeming to them what is before them and what is behind them, and the word proved true against them-- among the nations of the jinn and the men that have passed away before them-- that they shall surely be losers. . y: the unbelievers say: "listen not to this qur'an, but talk at random in the midst of its (reading), that ye may gain the upper hand!" p: those who disbelieve say: heed not this qur'an, and drown the hearing of it; haply ye may conquer. s: and those who disbelieve say: do not listen to this quran and make noise therein, perhaps you may overcome. . y: but we will certainly give the unbelievers a taste of a severe penalty, and we will requite them for the worst of their deeds. p: but verily we shall cause those who disbelieve to taste an awful doom, and verily we shall requite them the worst of what they used to do. s: therefore we will most certainly make those who disbelieve taste a severe punishment, and we will most certainly reward them for the evil deeds they used to do. . y: such is the requital of the enemies of allah,- the fire: therein will be for them the eternal home: a (fit) requital, for that they were wont to reject our signs. p: that is the reward of allah's enemies: the fire. therein is their immortal home, payment forasmuch as they denied our revelations. s: that is the reward of the enemies of allah-- the fire; for them therein shall be the house of long abiding; a reward for their denying our communications. . y: and the unbelievers will say: "our lord! show us those, among jinns and men, who misled us: we shall crush them beneath our feet, so that they become the vilest (before all)." p: and those who disbelieve will say: our lord! show us those who beguiled us of the jinn and humankind. we will place them underneath our feet that they may be among the nethermost. s: and those who disbelieve will say: our lord! show us those who led us astray from among the jinn and the men that we may trample them under our feet so that they may be of the lowest. . y: in the case of those who say, "our lord is allah", and, further, stand straight and steadfast, the angels descend on them (from time to time): "fear ye not!" (they suggest), "nor grieve! but receive the glad tidings of the garden (of bliss), the which ye were promised!" p: lo! those who say: our lord is allah, and afterward are upright, the angels descend upon them, saying: fear not nor grieve, but hear good tidings of the paradise which ye are promised. s: (as for) those who say: our lord is allah, then continue in the right way, the angels descend upon them, saying: fear not, nor be grieved, and receive good news of the garden which you were promised. . y: "we are your protectors in this life and in the hereafter: therein shall ye have all that your souls shall desire; therein shall ye have all that ye ask for!"- p: we are your protecting friends in the life of the world and in the hereafter. there ye will have (all) that your souls desire, and there ye will have (all) for which ye pray. s: we are your guardians in this world's life and in the hereafter, and you shall have therein what your souls desire and you shall have therein what you ask for: . y: "a hospitable gift from one oft-forgiving, most merciful!" p: a gift of welcome from one forgiving, merciful. s: a provision from the forgiving, the merciful. . y: who is better in speech than one who calls (men) to allah, works righteousness, and says, "i am of those who bow in islam"? p: and who is better in speech than him who prayeth unto his lord and doeth right, and saith: lo! i am of those who are muslims (surrender unto him). s: and who speaks better than he who calls to allah while he himself does good, and says: i am surely of those who submit? . y: nor can goodness and evil be equal. repel (evil) with what is better: then will he between whom and thee was hatred become as it were thy friend and intimate! p: the good deed and the evil deed are not alike. repel the evil deed with one which is better, then lo! he, between whom and thee there was enmity (will become) as though he was a bosom friend. s: and not alike are the good and the evil. repel (evil) with what is best, when lo! he between whom and you was enmity would be as if he were a warm friend. . y: and no one will be granted such goodness except those who exercise patience and self-restraint,- none but persons of the greatest good fortune. p: but none is granted it save those who are steadfast, and none is granted it save the owner of great happiness. s: and none are made to receive it but those who are patient, and none are made to receive it but those who have a mighty good fortune. . y: and if (at any time) an incitement to discord is made to thee by the evil one, seek refuge in allah. he is the one who hears and knows all things. p: and if a whisper from the devil reach thee (o muhammad) then seek refuge in allah. lo! he is the hearer, the knower. s: and if an interference of the shaitan should cause you mischief, seek refuge in allah; surely he is the hearing, the knowing. . y: among his signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. do not prostrate to the sun and the moon, but prostrate to allah, who created them, if it is him ye wish to serve. p: and of his portents are the night and the day and the sun and the moon. do not prostrate to the sun or the moon; but prostrate to allah who created them, if it is in truth him whom ye worship. s: and among his signs are the night and the day and the sun and the moon; do not prostrate to the sun nor to the moon; and prostrate to allah who created them, if him it is that you serve. . y: but if they (unbelievers) are arrogant, (no matter): for in the presence of thy lord are those who celebrate his praises by night and by day. and they never flag (nor feel themselves above it). p: but if they are too proud - still those who are with thy lord glorify him night and day, and tire not. s: but if they are proud, yet those with your lord glorify him during the night and the day, and they are not tired. . y: and among his signs in this: thou seest the earth barren and desolate; but when we send down rain to it, it is stirred to life and yields increase. truly, he who gives life to the (dead) earth can surely give life to (men) who are dead. for he has power over all things. p: and of his portents (is this): that thou seest the earth lowly, but when we send down water thereon it thrilleth and groweth. lo! he who quickeneth it is verily the quickener of the dead. lo! he is able to do all things. s: and among his signs is this, that you see the earth still, but when we send down on it the water, it stirs and swells: most surely he who gives it life is the giver of life to the dead; surely he has power over all things. . y: those who pervert the truth in our signs are not hidden from us. which is better?- he that is cast into the fire, or he that comes safe through, on the day of judgment? do what ye will: verily he seeth (clearly) all that ye do. p: lo! those who distort our revelations are not hid from us. is he who is hurled into the fire better, or he who cometh secure on the day of resurrection? do what ye will. lo! he is seer of what ye do. s: surely they who deviate from the right way concerning our communications are not hidden from us. what! is he then who is cast into the fire better, or he who comes safe on the day of resurrection? do what you like, surely he sees what you do. . y: those who reject the message when it comes to them (are not hidden from us). and indeed it is a book of exalted power. p: lo! those who disbelieve in the reminder when it cometh unto them (are guilty), for lo! it is an unassailable scripture. s: surely those who disbelieve in the reminder when it comes to them, and most surely it is a mighty book: . y: no falsehood can approach it from before or behind it: it is sent down by one full of wisdom, worthy of all praise. p: falsehood cannot come at it from before it or from behind it. (it is) a revelation from the wise, the owner of praise. s: falsehood shall not come to it from before it nor from behind it; a revelation from the wise, the praised one. . y: nothing is said to thee that was not said to the messengers before thee: that thy lord has at his command (all) forgiveness as well as a most grievous penalty. p: naught is said unto thee (muhammad) save what was said unto the messengers before thee. lo! thy lord is owner of forgiveness, and owner (also) of dire punishment. s: naught is said to you but what was said indeed to the messengers before you; surely your lord is the lord of forgiveness and the lord of painful retribution. . y: had we sent this as a qur'an (in the language) other than arabic, they would have said: "why are not its verses explained in detail? what! (a book) not in arabic and (a messenger) an arab?" say: "it is a guide and a healing to those who believe; and for those who believe not, there is a deafness in their ears, and it is blindness in their (eyes): they are (as it were) being called from a place far distant!" p: and if we had appointed it a lecture in a foreign tongue they would assuredly have said: if only its verses were expounded (so that we might understand)? what! a foreign tongue and an arab? - say unto them (o muhammad): for those who believe it is a guidance and a healing; and as for those who disbelieve, there is a deafness in their ears, and it is blindness for them. such are called to from afar. s: and if we had made it a quran in a foreign tongue, they would certainly have said: why have not its communications been made clear? what! a foreign (tongue) and an arabian! say: it is to those who believe a guidance and a healing; and (as for) those who do not believe, there is a heaviness in their ears and it is obscure to them; these shall be called to from a far-off place. . y: we certainly gave moses the book aforetime: but disputes arose therein. had it not been for a word that went forth before from thy lord, (their differences) would have been settled between them: but they remained in suspicious disquieting doubt thereon. p: and we verily gave moses the scripture, but there hath been dispute concerning it; and but for a word that had already gone forth from thy lord, it would ere now have been judged between them; but lo! they are in hopeless doubt concerning it. s: and certainly we gave the book to musa, but it has been differed about, and had not a word already gone forth from your lord, judgment would certainly have been given between them; and most surely they are in a disquieting doubt about it. . y: whoever works righteousness benefits his own soul; whoever works evil, it is against his own soul: nor is thy lord ever unjust (in the least) to his servants. p: whoso doeth right it is for his soul, and whoso doeth wrong it is against it. and thy lord is not at all a tyrant to his slaves. s: whoever does good, it is for his own soul, and whoever does evil, it is against it; and your lord is not in the least unjust to the servants. . y: to him is referred the knowledge of the hour (of judgment: he knows all): no date-fruit comes out of its sheath, nor does a female conceive (within her womb) nor bring forth (young) but by his knowledge. the day that (allah) will propound to them the (question), "where are the partners (ye attributed) to me?" they will say, "we do assure thee not one of us can bear witness!" p: unto him is referred (all) knowledge of the hour. and no fruits burst forth from their sheaths, and no female carrieth or bringeth forth but with his knowledge. and on the day when he calleth unto them: where are now my partners? they will say: we confess unto thee, not one of us is a witness (for them). s: to him is referred the knowledge of the hour, and there come not forth any of the fruits from their coverings, nor does a female bear, nor does she give birth, but with his knowledge; and on the day when he shall call out to them, where are (those whom you called) my associates? they shall say: we declare to thee, none of us is a witness. . y: the (deities) they used to invoke aforetime will leave them in the lurch, and they will perceive that they have no way of escape. p: and those to whom they used to cry of old have failed them, and they perceive they have no place of refuge. s: and away from them shall go what they called upon before, and they shall know for certain that there is no escape for them. . y: man does not weary of asking for good (things), but if ill touches him, he gives up all hope (and) is lost in despair. p: man tireth not of praying for good, and if ill toucheth him, then he is disheartened, desperate. s: man is never tired of praying for good, and if evil touch him, then he is despairing, hopeless. . y: when we give him a taste of some mercy from ourselves, after some adversity has touched him, he is sure to say, "this is due to my (merit): i think not that the hour (of judgment) will (ever) be established; but if i am brought back to my lord, i have (much) good (stored) in his sight!" but we will show the unbelievers the truth of all that they did, and we shall give them the taste of a severe penalty. p: and verily, if we cause him to taste mercy after some hurt that hath touched him, he will say: this is my own; and i deem not that the hour will ever rise, and if i am brought back to my lord, i surely shall be better off with him - but we verily shall tell those who disbelieve (all) that they did, and we verily shall make them taste hard punishment. s: and if we make him taste mercy from us after distress that has touched him, he would most certainly say: this is of me, and i do not think the hour will come to pass, and if i am sent back to my lord, i shall have with him sure good; but we will most certainly inform those who disbelieved of what they did, and we will most certainly make them taste of hard chastisement. . y: when we bestow favours on man, he turns away, and gets himself remote on his side (instead of coming to us); and when evil seizes him, (he comes) full of prolonged prayer! p: when we show favour unto man, he withdraweth and turneth aside, but when ill toucheth him then he aboundeth in prayer. s: and when we show favor to man, he turns aside and withdraws himself; and when evil touches him, he makes lengthy supplications. . y: say: "see ye if the (revelation) is (really) from allah, and yet do ye reject it? who is more astray than one who is in a schism far (from any purpose)?" p: bethink you: if it is from allah and ye reject it - who is further astray than one who is at open feud (with allah)? s: say: tell me if it is from allah; then you disbelieve in it, who is in greater error than he who is in a prolonged opposition? . y: soon will we show them our signs in the (furthest) regions (of the earth), and in their own souls, until it becomes manifest to them that this is the truth. is it not enough that thy lord doth witness all things? p: we shall show them our portents on the horizons and within themselves until it will be manifest unto them that it is the truth. doth not thy lord suffice, since he is witness over all things? s: we will soon show them our signs in the universe and in their own souls, until it will become quite clear to them that it is the truth. is it not sufficient as regards your lord that he is a witness over all things? . y: ah indeed! are they in doubt concerning the meeting with their lord? ah indeed! it is he that doth encompass all things! p: how! are they still in doubt about the meeting with their lord? lo! is not he surrounding all things? s: now surely they are in doubt as to the meeting of their lord; now surely he encompasses all things. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : ash-shura (council, consultation) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: ha-mim. p: ha. mim. s: ha mim. . y: 'ain. sin. qaf. p: a'in. sin. qaf. s: ain sin qaf. . y: thus doth (he) send inspiration to thee as (he did) to those before thee,- allah, exalted in power, full of wisdom. p: thus allah the mighty, the knower inspireth thee (muhammad) as (he inspired) those before thee. s: thus does allah, the mighty, the wise, reveal to you, and (thus he revealed) to those before you. . y: to him belongs all that is in the heavens and on earth: and he is most high, most great. p: unto him belongeth all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth, and he is the sublime, the tremendous. s: his is what is in the heavens and what is in the earth, and he is the high, the great. . y: the heavens are almost rent asunder from above them (by him glory): and the angels celebrate the praises of their lord, and pray for forgiveness for (all) beings on earth: behold! verily allah is he, the oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: almost might the heavens above be rent asunder while the angels hymn the praise of their lord and ask forgiveness for those on the earth. lo! allah, he is the forgiver, the merciful. s: the heavens may almost rend asunder from above them and the angels sing the praise of their lord and ask forgiveness for those on earth; now surely allah is the forgiving, the merciful. . y: and those who take as protectors others besides him,- allah doth watch over them; and thou art not the disposer of their affairs. p: and as for those who choose protecting friends beside him, allah is warden over them, and thou art in no wise a guardian over them. s: and (as for) those who take guardians besides him, allah watches over them, and you have not charge over them. . y: thus have we sent by inspiration to thee an arabic qur'an: that thou mayest warn the mother of cities and all around her,- and warn (them) of the day of assembly, of which there is no doubt: (when) some will be in the garden, and some in the blazing fire. p: and thus we have inspired in thee a lecture in arabic, that thou mayst warn the mother-town and those around it, and mayst warn of a day of assembling whereof there is no doubt. a host will be in the garden, and a host of them in the flame. s: and thus have we revealed to you an arabic quran, that you may warn the mother city and those around it, and that you may give warning of the day of gathering together wherein is no doubt; a party shall be in the garden and (another) party in the burning fire. . y: if allah had so willed, he could have made them a single people; but he admits whom he will to his mercy; and the wrongdoers will have no protector nor helper. p: had allah willed, he could have made them one community, but allah bringeth whom he will into his mercy. and the wrong-doers have no friend nor helper. s: and if allah had pleased he would surely have made them a single community, but he makes whom he pleases enter into his mercy, and the unjust it is that shall have no guardian or helper. . y: what! have they taken (for worship) protectors besides him? but it is allah,- he is the protector, and it is he who gives life to the dead: it is he who has power over all things, p: or have they chosen protecting friends besides him? but allah, he (alone) is the protecting friend. he quickeneth the dead, and he is able to do all things. s: or have they taken guardians besides him? but allah is the guardian, and he gives life to the dead, and he has power over all things. . y: whatever it be wherein ye differ, the decision thereof is with allah: such is allah my lord: in him i trust, and to him i turn. p: and in whatsoever ye differ, the verdict therein belongeth to allah. such is my lord, in whom i put my trust, and unto whom i turn. s: and in whatever thing you disagree, the judgment thereof is (in) allah's (hand); that is allah, my lord, on him do i rely and to him do i turn time after time. . y: (he is) the creator of the heavens and the earth: he has made for you pairs from among yourselves, and pairs among cattle: by this means does he multiply you: there is nothing whatever like unto him, and he is the one that hears and sees (all things). p: the creator of the heavens and the earth. he hath made for you pairs of yourselves, and of the cattle also pairs, whereby he multiplieth you. naught is as his likeness; and he is the hearer, the seer. s: the originator of the heavens and the earth; he made mates for you from among yourselves, and mates of the cattle too, multiplying you thereby; nothing like a likeness of him; and he is the hearing, the seeing. . y: to him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth: he enlarges and restricts. the sustenance to whom he will: for he knows full well all things. p: his are the keys of the heavens and the earth. he enlargeth providence for whom he will and straiteneth (it for whom he will). lo! he is knower of all things. s: his are the treasures of the heavens and the earth; he makes ample and straitens the means of subsistence for whom he pleases; surely he is cognizant of all things. . y: the same religion has he established for you as that which he enjoined on noah - the which we have sent by inspiration to thee - and that which we enjoined on abraham, moses, and jesus: namely, that ye should remain steadfast in religion, and make no divisions therein: to those who worship other things than allah, hard is the (way) to which thou callest them. allah chooses to himself those whom he pleases, and guides to himself those who turn (to him). p: he hath ordained for you that religion which he commended unto noah, and that which we inspire in thee (muhammad), and that which we commended unto abraham and moses and jesus, saying: establish the religion, and be not divided therein. dreadful for the idolaters is that unto which thou callest them. allah chooseth for himself whom he will, and guideth unto himself him who turneth (toward him). s: he has made plain to you of the religion what he enjoined upon nuh and that which we have revealed to you and that which we enjoined upon ibrahim and musa and isa that keep to obedience and be not divided therein; hard to the unbelievers is that which you call them to; allah chooses for himself whom he pleases, and guides to himself him who turns (to him), frequently. . y: and they became divided only after knowledge reached them,- through selfish envy as between themselves. had it not been for a word that went forth before from thy lord, (tending) to a term appointed, the matter would have been settled between them: but truly those who have inherited the book after them are in suspicious (disquieting) doubt concerning it. p: and they were not divided until after the knowledge came unto them, through rivalry among themselves; and had it not been for a word that had already gone forth from thy lord for an appointed term, it surely had been judged between them. and those who were made to inherit the scripture after them are verily in hopeless doubt concerning it. s: and they did not become divided until after knowledge had come to them out of envy among themselves; and had not a word gone forth from your lord till an appointed term, certainly judgment would have been given between them; and those who were made to inherit the book after them are most surely in disquieting doubt concerning it. . y: now then, for that (reason), call (them to the faith), and stand steadfast as thou art commanded, nor follow thou their vain desires; but say: "i believe in the book which allah has sent down; and i am commanded to judge justly between you. allah is our lord and your lord: for us (is the responsibility for) our deeds, and for you for your deeds. there is no contention between us and you. allah will bring us together, and to him is (our) final goal." p: unto this, then, summon (o muhammad). and be thou upright as thou art commanded, and follow not their lusts, but say: i believe in whatever scripture allah hath sent down, and i am commanded to be just among you. allah is our lord and your lord. unto us our works and unto you your works; no argument between us and you. allah will bring us together, and unto him is the journeying. s: to this then go on inviting, and go on steadfastly on the right way as you are commanded, and do not follow their low desires, and say: i believe in what allah has revealed of the book, and i am commanded to do justice between you: allah is our lord and your lord; we shall have our deeds and you shall have your deeds; no plea need there be (now) between us and you: allah will gather us together, and to him is the return. . y: but those who dispute concerning allah after he has been accepted,- futile is their dispute in the sight of their lord: on them will be a penalty terrible. p: and those who argue concerning allah after he hath been acknowledged, their argument hath no weight with their lord, and wrath is upon them and theirs will be an awful doom. s: and (as for) those who dispute about allah after that obedience has been rendered to him, their plea is null with their lord, and upon them is wrath, and for them is severe punishment. . y: it is allah who has sent down the book in truth, and the balance (by which to weigh conduct). and what will make thee realise that perhaps the hour is close at hand? p: allah it is who hath revealed the scripture with truth, and the balance. how canst thou know? it may be that the hour is nigh. s: allah it is who revealed the book with truth, and the balance, and what shall make you know that haply the hour be nigh? . y: only those wish to hasten it who believe not in it: those who believe hold it in awe, and know that it is the truth. behold, verily those that dispute concerning the hour are far astray. p: those who believe not therein seek to hasten it, while those who believe are fearful of it and know that it is the truth. are not they who dispute, in doubt concerning the hour, far astray? s: those who do not believe in it would hasten it on, and those who believe are in fear from it, and they know that it is the truth. now most surely those who dispute obstinately concerning the hour are in a great error. . y: gracious is allah to his servants: he gives sustenance to whom he pleases: and he has power and can carry out his will. p: allah is gracious unto his slaves. he provideth for whom he will. and he is the strong, the mighty. s: allah is benignant to his servants; he gives sustenance to whom he pleases, and he is the strong, the mighty. . y: to any that desires the tilth of the hereafter, we give increase in his tilth, and to any that desires the tilth of this world, we grant somewhat thereof, but he has no share or lot in the hereafter. p: whoso desireth the harvest of the hereafter, we give him increase in its harvest. and whoso desireth the harvest of the world, we give him thereof, and he hath no portion in the hereafter. s: whoever desires the gain of the hereafter, we will give him more of that again; and whoever desires-- the gain of this world, we give him of it, and in the hereafter he has no portion. . y: what! have they partners (in godhead), who have established for them some religion without the permission of allah? had it not been for the decree of judgment, the matter would have been decided between them (at once). but verily the wrongdoers will have a grievous penalty. p: or have they partners (of allah) who have made lawful for them in religion that which allah allowed not? and but for a decisive word (gone forth already), it would have been judged between them. lo! for wrong-doers is a painful doom. s: or have they associates who have prescribed for them any religion that allah does not sanction? and were it not for the word of judgment, decision would have certainly been given between them; and surely the unjust shall have a painful punishment. . y: thou wilt see the wrong-doers in fear on account of what they have earned, and (the burden of) that must (necessarily) fall on them. but those who believe and work righteous deeds will be in the luxuriant meads of the gardens: they shall have, before their lord, all that they wish for. that will indeed be the magnificent bounty (of allah). p: thou seest the wrong-doers fearful of that which they have earned, and it will surely befall them, while those who believe and do good works (will be) in flowering meadows of the gardens, having what they wish from their lord. this is the great preferment. s: you will see the unjust fearing on account of what they have earned, and it must befall them; and those who believe and do good shall be in the meadows of the gardens; they shall have what they please with their lord: that is the great grace. . y: that is (the bounty) whereof allah gives glad tidings to his servants who believe and do righteous deeds. say: "no reward do i ask of you for this except the love of those near of kin." and if any one earns any good, we shall give him an increase of good in respect thereof: for allah is oft-forgiving, most ready to appreciate (service). p: this it is which allah announceth unto his bondmen who believe and do good works. say (o muhammad, unto mankind): i ask of you no fee therefor, save loving kindness among kinsfolk. and whoso scoreth a good deed we add unto its good for him. lo! allah is forgiving, responsive. s: that is of which allah gives the good news to his servants, (to) those who believe and do good deeds. say: i do not ask of you any reward for it but love for my near relatives; and whoever earns good, we give him more of good therein; surely allah is forgiving, grateful. . y: what! do they say, "he has forged a falsehood against allah"? but if allah willed, he could seal up thy heart. and allah blots out vanity, and proves the truth by his words. for he knows well the secrets of all hearts. p: or say they: he hath invented a lie concerning allah? if allah willed, he could have sealed thy heart (against them). and allah will wipe out the lie and will vindicate the truth by his words. lo! he is aware of what is hidden in the breasts (of men). s: or do they say: he has forged a lie against allah? but if allah pleased, he would seal your heart; and allah will blot out the falsehood and confirm the truth with his words; surely he is cognizant of what is in the breasts. . y: he is the one that accepts repentance from his servants and forgives sins: and he knows all that ye do. p: and he it is who accepteth repentance from his bondmen, and pardoneth the evil deeds, and knoweth what ye do, s: and he it is who accepts repentance from his servants and pardons the evil deeds and he knows what you do; . y: and he listens to those who believe and do deeds of righteousness, and gives them increase of his bounty: but for the unbelievers their is a terrible penalty. p: and accepteth those who do good works, and giveth increase unto them of his bounty. and as for disbelievers, theirs will be an awful doom. s: and he answers those who believe and do good deeds, and gives them more out of his grace; and (as for) the unbelievers, they shall have a severe punishment. . y: if allah were to enlarge the provision for his servants, they would indeed transgress beyond all bounds through the earth; but he sends (it) down in due measure as he pleases. for he is with his servants well acquainted, watchful. p: and if allah were to enlarge the provision for his slaves they would surely rebel in the earth, but he sendeth down by measure as he willeth. lo! he is informed, a seer of his bondmen. s: and if allah should amplify the provision for his servants they would certainly revolt in the earth; but he sends it down according to a measure as he pleases; surely he is aware of, seeing, his servants. . y: he is the one that sends down rain (even) after (men) have given up all hope, and scatters his mercy (far and wide). and he is the protector, worthy of all praise. p: and he it is who sendeth down the saving rain after they have despaired, and spreadeth out his mercy. he is the protecting friend, the praiseworthy. s: and he it is who sends down the rain after they have despaired, and he unfolds his mercy; and he is the guardian, the praised one. . y: and among his signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the living creatures that he has scattered through them: and he has power to gather them together when he wills. p: and of his portents is the creation of the heaven and the earth, and of whatever beasts he hath dispersed therein. and he is able to gather them when he will. s: and one of his signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and what he has spread forth in both of them of living beings; and when he pleases he is all-powerful to gather them together. . y: whatever misfortune happens to you, is because on the things your hands have wrought, and for many (of them) he grants forgiveness. p: whatever of misfortune striketh you, it is what your right hands have earned. and he forgiveth much. s: and whatever affliction befalls you, it is on account of what your hands have wrought, and (yet) he pardons most (of your faults). . y: nor can ye frustrate (aught), (fleeing) through the earth; nor have ye, besides allah, any one to protect or to help. p: ye cannot escape in the earth, for beside allah ye have no protecting friend nor any helper. s: and you cannot escape in the earth, and you shall not have a guardian or a helper besides allah. . y: and among his signs are the ships, smooth-running through the ocean, (tall) as mountains. p: and of his portents are the ships, like banners on the sea; s: and among his signs are the ships in the sea like mountains. . y: if it be his will he can still the wind: then would they become motionless on the back of the (ocean). verily in this are signs for everyone who patiently perseveres and is grateful. p: if he will he calmeth the wind so that they keep still upon its surface - lo! herein verily are signs for every steadfast grateful (heart)- s: if he pleases, he causes the wind to become still so that they lie motionless on its back; most surely there are signs in this for every patient, grateful one, . y: or he can cause them to perish because of the (evil) which (the men) have earned; but much doth he forgive. p: or he causeth them to perish on account of that which they have earned - and he forgiveth much - s: or he may make them founder for what they have earned, and (even then) pardon most; . y: but let those know, who dispute about our signs, that there is for them no way of escape. p: and that those who argue concerning our revelations may know they have no refuge. s: and (that) those who dispute about our communications may know; there is no place of refuge for them. . y: whatever ye are given (here) is (but) a convenience of this life: but that which is with allah is better and more lasting: (it is) for those who believe and put their trust in their lord: p: now whatever ye have been given is but a passing comfort for the life of the world, and that which allah hath is better and more lasting for those who believe and put their trust in their lord, s: so whatever thing you are given, that is only a provision of this world's life, and what is with allah is better and more lasting for those who believe and rely on their lord. . y: those who avoid the greater crimes and shameful deeds, and, when they are angry even then forgive; p: and those who shun the worst of sins and indecencies and, when they are wroth, forgive, s: and those who shun the great sins and indecencies, and whenever they are angry they forgive. . y: those who hearken to their lord, and establish regular prayer; who (conduct) their affairs by mutual consultation; who spend out of what we bestow on them for sustenance; p: and those who answer the call of their lord and establish worship, and whose affairs are a matter of counsel, and who spend of what we have bestowed on them, s: and those who respond to their lord and keep up prayer, and their rule is to take counsel among themselves, and who spend out of what we have given them. . y: and those who, when an oppressive wrong is inflicted on them, (are not cowed but) help and defend themselves. p: and those who, when great wrong is done to them, defend themselves, s: and those who, when great wrong afflicts them, defend themselves. . y: the recompense for an injury is an injury equal thereto (in degree): but if a person forgives and makes reconciliation, his reward is due from allah: for (allah) loveth not those who do wrong. p: the guerdon of an ill-deed is an ill the like thereof. but whosoever pardoneth and amendeth, his wage is the affair of allah. lo! he loveth not wrong-doers. s: and the recompense of evil is punishment like it, but whoever forgives and amends, he shall have his reward from allah; surely he does not love the unjust. . y: but indeed if any do help and defend themselves after a wrong (done) to them, against such there is no cause of blame. p: and whoso defendeth himself after he hath suffered wrong - for such, there is no way (of blame) against them. s: and whoever defends himself after his being oppressed, these it is against whom there is no way (to blame). . y: the blame is only against those who oppress men and wrong-doing and insolently transgress beyond bounds through the land, defying right and justice: for such there will be a penalty grievous. p: the way (of blame) is only against those who oppress mankind, and wrongfully rebel in the earth. for such there is a painful doom. s: the way (to blame) is only against those who oppress men and revolt in the earth unjustly; these shall have a painful punishment. . y: but indeed if any show patience and forgive, that would truly be an exercise of courageous will and resolution in the conduct of affairs. p: and verily whoso is patient and forgiveth - lo! that, verily, is (of) the steadfast heart of things. s: and whoever is patient and forgiving, these most surely are actions due to courage. . y: for any whom allah leaves astray, there is no protector thereafter. and thou wilt see the wrong-doers, when in sight of the penalty, say: "is there any way (to effect) a return?" p: he whom allah sendeth astray, for him there is no protecting friend after him. and thou (muhammad) wilt see the evil-doers when they see the doom, (how) they say: is there any way of return? s: and whomsoever allah makes err, he has no guardian after him; and you shall see the unjust, when they see the punishment, saying: is there any way to return? . y: and thou wilt see them brought forward to the (penalty), in a humble frame of mind because of (their) disgrace, (and) looking with a stealthy glance. and the believers will say: "those are indeed in loss, who have given to perdition their own selves and those belonging to them on the day of judgment. behold! truly the wrong-doers are in a lasting penalty!" p: and thou wilt see them exposed to (the fire), made humble by disgrace, and looking with veiled eyes. and those who believe will say: lo! the (eternal) losers are they who lose themselves and their housefolk on the day of resurrection. lo! are not the wrong-doers in perpetual torment? s: and you shall see them brought before it humbling themselves because of the abasements, looking with a faint glance. and those who believe shall say: surely the losers are they who have lost themselves and their followers on the resurrection day. now surely the iniquitous shall remain in lasting chastisement. . y: and no protectors have they to help them, other than allah. and for any whom allah leaves to stray, there is no way (to the goal). p: and they will have no protecting friends to help them instead of allah. he whom allah sendeth astray, for him there is no road. s: and they shall have no friends to help them besides allah; and-- whomsoever allah makes err, he shall have no way. . y: hearken ye to your lord, before there come a day which there will be no putting back, because of (the ordainment of) allah! that day there will be for you no place of refuge nor will there be for you any room for denial (of your sins)! p: answer the call of your lord before there cometh unto you from allah a day which there is no averting. ye have no refuge on that day, nor have ye any (power of) refusal. s: hearken to your lord before there comes the day from allah for which there shall be no averting; you shall have no refuge on that day, nor shall it be yours to make a denial. . y: if then they run away, we have not sent thee as a guard over them. thy duty is but to convey (the message). and truly, when we give man a taste of a mercy from ourselves, he doth exult thereat, but when some ill happens to him, on account of the deeds which his hands have sent forth, truly then is man ungrateful! p: but if they are averse, we have not sent thee as a warder over them. thine is only to convey (the message). and lo! when we cause man to taste of mercy from us he exulteth therefor. and if some evil striketh them because of that which their own hands have sent before, then lo! man is an ingrate. s: but if they turn aside, we have not sent you as a watcher over them; on you is only to deliver (the message); and surely when we make man taste mercy from us, he rejoices thereat; and if an evil afflicts them on account of what their hands have already done, then-surely man is ungrateful. . y: to allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. he creates what he wills (and plans). he bestows (children) male or female according to his will (and plan), p: unto allah belongeth the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth. he createth what he will. he bestoweth female (offspring) upon whom he will, and bestoweth male (offspring) upon whom he will; s: allah's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; he creates what he pleases; he grants to whom he pleases daughters and grants to whom he pleases sons. . y: or he bestows both males and females, and he leaves barren whom he will: for he is full of knowledge and power. p: or he mingleth them, males and females, and he maketh barren whom he will. lo! he is knower, powerful. s: or he makes them of both sorts, male and female; and he makes whom he pleases barren; surely he is the knowing, the powerful. . y: it is not fitting for a man that allah should speak to him except by inspiration, or from behind a veil, or by the sending of a messenger to reveal, with allah's permission, what allah wills: for he is most high, most wise. p: and it was not (vouchsafed) to any mortal that allah should speak to him unless (it be) by revelation or from behind a veil, or (that) he sendeth a messenger to reveal what he will by his leave. lo! he is exalted, wise. s: and it is not for any mortal that allah should speak to them, they could not bear to hear and they did not see. . y: and thus have we, by our command, sent inspiration to thee: thou knewest not (before) what was revelation, and what was faith; but we have made the (qur'an) a light, wherewith we guide such of our servants as we will; and verily thou dost guide (men) to the straight way,- p: and thus have we inspired in thee (muhammad) a spirit of our command. thou knewest not what the scripture was, nor what the faith. but we have made it a light whereby we guide whom we will of our bondmen. and lo! thou verily dost guide unto a right path, s: and thus did we reveal to you an inspired book by our command. you did not know what the book was, nor (what) the faith (was), but we made it a light, guiding thereby whom we please of our servants; and most surely you show the way to the right path: . y: the way of allah, to whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on earth. behold (how) all affairs tend towards allah! p: the path of allah, unto whom belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. do not all things reach allah at last? s: the path of allah, whose is whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth; now surely to allah do all affairs eventually come. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : az-zukhruf (ornaments of gold, luxury) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: ha-mim. p: ha. mim. s: ha mim. . y: by the book that makes things clear,- p: by the scripture which maketh plain, s: i swear by the book that makes things clear: . y: we have made it a qur'an in arabic, that ye may be able to understand (and learn wisdom). p: lo! we have appointed it a lecture, in arabic that haply ye may understand. s: surely we have made it an arabic quran that you may understand. . y: and verily, it is in the mother of the book, in our presence, high (in dignity), full of wisdom. p: and lo! in the source of decrees, which we possess, it is indeed sublime, decisive. s: and surely it is in the original of the book with us, truly elevated, full of wisdom. . y: shall we then take away the message from you and repel (you), for that ye are a people transgressing beyond bounds? p: shall we utterly ignore you because ye are a wanton folk? s: what! shall we then turn away the reminder from you altogether because you are an extravagant people? . y: but how many were the prophets we sent amongst the peoples of old? p: how many a prophet did we send among the men of old! s: and how many a prophet have we sent among the ancients. . y: and never came there a prophet to them but they mocked him. p: and never came there unto them a prophet but they used to mock him. s: and there came not to them a prophet but they mocked at him. . y: so we destroyed (them)- stronger in power than these;- and (thus) has passed on the parable of the peoples of old. p: then we destroyed men mightier than these in prowess; and the example of the men of old hath gone (before them). s: then we destroyed those who were stronger than these in prowess, and the case of the ancients has gone before, . y: if thou wert to question them, 'who created the heavens and the earth?' they would be sure to reply, 'they were created by (him), the exalted in power, full of knowledge';- p: and if thou (muhammad) ask them: who created the heavens and the earth, they will surely answer: the mighty, the knower created them; s: and if you should ask them, who created the heavens and the earth? they would most certainly say: the mighty, the knowing one, has created them; . y: (yea, the same that) has made for you the earth (like a carpet) spread out, and has made for you roads (and channels) therein, in order that ye may find guidance (on the way); p: who made the earth a resting-place for you, and placed roads for you therein, that haply ye may find your way; s: he who made the earth a resting-place for you, and made in it ways for you that you may go aright; . y: that sends down (from time to time) rain from the sky in due measure;- and we raise to life therewith a land that is dead; even so will ye be raised (from the dead);- p: and who sendeth down water from the sky in (due) measure, and we revive a dead land therewith. even so will ye be brought forth; s: and he who sends down water from the cloud according to a measure, then we raise to life thereby a dead country, even thus shall you be brought forth; . y: that has created pairs in all things, and has made for you ships and cattle on which ye ride, p: he who created all the pairs, and appointed for you ships and cattle whereupon ye ride. s: and he who created pairs of all things, and made for you of the ships and the cattle what you ride on, . y: in order that ye may sit firm and square on their backs, and when so seated, ye may celebrate the (kind) favour of your lord, and say, "glory to him who has subjected these to our (use), for we could never have accomplished this (by ourselves)," p: that ye may mount upon their backs, and may remember your lord's favour when ye mount thereon, and may say: glorified be he who hath subdued these unto us, and we were not capable (of subduing them); s: that you may firmly sit on their backs, then remember the favor of your lord when you are firmly seated thereon, and say: glory be to him who made this subservient to us and we were not able to do it, . y: "and to our lord, surely, must we turn back!" p: and lo! unto our lord we surely are returning. s: and surely to our lord we must return. . y: yet they attribute to some of his servants a share with him (in his godhead)! truly is man a blasphemous ingrate avowed! p: and they allot to him a portion of his bondmen! lo! man is verily a mere ingrate. s: and they assign to him a part of his servants; man, to be sure, is clearly ungrateful. . y: what! has he taken daughters out of what he himself creates, and granted to you sons for choice? p: or chooseth he daughters of all that he hath created, and honoureth he you with sons? s: what! has he taken daughters to himself of what he himself creates and chosen you to have sons? . y: when news is brought to one of them of (the birth of) what he sets up as a likeness to (allah) most gracious, his face darkens, and he is filled with inward grief! p: and if one of them hath tidings of that which he likeneth to the beneficent one, his countenance becometh black and he is full of inward rage. s: and when one of them is given news of that of which he sets up as a likeness for the beneficent allah, his face becomes black and he is full of rage. . y: is then one brought up among trinkets, and unable to give a clear account in a dispute (to be associated with allah)? p: (liken they then to allah) that which is bred up in outward show, and in dispute cannot make itself plain? s: what! that which is made in ornaments and which in contention is unable to make plain speech! . y: and they make into females angels who themselves serve allah. did they witness their creation? their evidence will be recorded, and they will be called to account! p: and they make the angels, who are the slaves of the beneficent, females. did they witness their creation? their testimony will be recorded and they will be questioned. s: and they make the angels-- them who are the servants of the beneficent allah-- female (divinities). what! did they witness their creation? their evidence shall be written down and they shall be questioned. . y: ("ah!") they say, "if it had been the will of (allah) most gracious, we should not have worshipped such (deities)!" of that they have no knowledge! they do nothing but lie! p: and they say: if the beneficent one had (so) willed, we should not have worshipped them. they have no knowledge whatsoever of that. they do but guess. s: and they say: if the beneficent allah had pleased, we should never have worshipped them. they have no knowledge of this; they only lie. . y: what! have we given them a book before this, to which they are holding fast? p: or have we given them any scripture before (this qur'an) so that they are holding fast thereto? s: or have we given them a book before it so that they hold fast to it? . y: nay! they say: "we found our fathers following a certain religion, and we do guide ourselves by their footsteps." p: nay, for they say only: lo! we found our fathers following a religion, and we are guided by their footprints. s: nay! they say: we found our fathers on a course, and surely we are guided by their footsteps. . y: just in the same way, whenever we sent a warner before thee to any people, the wealthy ones among them said: "we found our fathers following a certain religion, and we will certainly follow in their footsteps." p: and even so we sent not a warner before thee (muhammad) into any township but its luxurious ones said: lo! we found our fathers following a religion, and we are following their footprints. s: and thus, we did not send before you any warner in a town, but those who led easy lives in it said: surely we found our fathers on a course, and surely we are followers of their footsteps. . y: he said: "what! even if i brought you better guidance than that which ye found your fathers following?" they said: "for us, we deny that ye (prophets) are sent (on a mission at all)." p: (and the warner) said: what! even though i bring you better guidance than that ye found your fathers following? they answered: lo! in what ye bring we are disbelievers. s: (the warner) said: what! even if i bring to you a better guide than that on which you found your fathers? they said: surely we are unbelievers in that with which you are sent. . y: so we exacted retribution from them: now see what was the end of those who rejected (truth)! p: so we requited them. then see the nature of the consequence for the rejecters! s: so we inflicted retribution on them, then see how was the end of the rejecters. . y: behold! abraham said to his father and his people: "i do indeed clear myself of what ye worship:" p: and when abraham said unto his father and his folk: lo! i am innocent of what ye worship s: and when ibrahim said to his father and his people: surely i am clear of what you worship, . y: "(i worship) only him who made me, and he will certainly guide me." p: save him who did create me, for he will surely guide me. s: save him who created me, for surely he will guide me. . y: and he left it as a word to endure among those who came after him, that they may turn back (to allah). p: and he made it a word enduring among his seed, that haply they might return. s: and he made it a word to continue in his posterity that they may return. . y: yea, i have given the good things of this life to these (men) and their fathers, until the truth has come to them, and a messenger making things clear. p: nay, but i let these and their fathers enjoy life (only) till there should come unto them the truth and a messenger making plain. s: nay! i gave them and their fathers to enjoy until there came to them the truth and a messenger making manifest (the truth). . y: but when the truth came to them, they said: "this is sorcery, and we do reject it." p: and now that the truth hath come unto them they say: this is mere magic, and lo! we are disbelievers therein. s: and when there came to them the truth they said: this is magic, and surely we are disbelievers in it. . y: also, they say: "why is not this qur'an sent down to some leading man in either of the two (chief) cities?" p: and they say: if only this qur'an had been revealed to some great man of the two towns? s: and they say: why was not this quran revealed to a man of importance in the two towns? . y: is it they who would portion out the mercy of thy lord? it is we who portion out between them their livelihood in the life of this world: and we raise some of them above others in ranks, so that some may command work from others. but the mercy of thy lord is better than the (wealth) which they amass. p: is it they who apportion thy lord's mercy? we have apportioned among them their livelihood in the life of the world, and raised some of them above others in rank that some of them may take labour from others; and the mercy of thy lord is better than (the wealth) that they amass. s: will they distribute the mercy of your lord? we distribute among them their livelihood in the life of this world, and we have exalted some of them above others in degrees, that some of them may take others in subjection; and the mercy of your lord is better than what they amass. . y: and were it not that (all) men might become of one (evil) way of life, we would provide, for everyone that blasphemes against (allah) most gracious, silver roofs for their houses and (silver) stair-ways on which to go up, p: and were it not that mankind would have become one community, we might well have appointed, for those who disbelieve in the beneficent, roofs of silver for their houses and stairs (of silver) whereby to mount, s: and were it not that all people had been a single nation, we would certainly have assigned to those who disbelieve in the beneficent allah (to make) of silver the roofs of their houses and the stairs by which they ascend. . y: and (silver) doors to their houses, and thrones (of silver) on which they could recline, p: and for their houses doors (of silver) and couches of silver whereon to recline, s: and the doors of their houses and the couches on which they recline, . y: and also adornments of gold. but all this were nothing but conveniences of the present life: the hereafter, in the sight of thy lord is for the righteous. p: and ornaments of gold. yet all that would have been but a provision of the life of the world. and the hereafter with your lord would have been for those who keep from evil. s: and (other) embellishments of gold; and all this is naught but provision of this world's life, and the hereafter is with your lord only for those who guard (against evil). . y: if anyone withdraws himself from remembrance of (allah) most gracious, we appoint for him an evil one, to be an intimate companion to him. p: and he whose sight is dim to the remembrance of the beneficent, we assign unto him a devil who becometh his comrade; s: and whoever turns himself away from the remembrance of the beneficent allah, we appoint for him a shaitan, so he becomes his associate. . y: such (evil ones) really hinder them from the path, but they think that they are being guided aright! p: and lo! they surely turn them from the way of allah, and yet they deem that they are rightly guided; s: and most surely they turn them away from the path, and they think that they are guided aright: . y: at length, when (such a one) comes to us, he says (to his evil companion): "would that between me and thee were the distance of east and west!" ah! evil is the companion (indeed)! p: till, when he cometh unto us, he saith (unto his comrade): ah, would that between me and thee there were the distance of the two horizons - an evil comrade! s: until when he comes to us, he says: o would that between me and you there were the distance of the east and the west; so evil is the associate! . y: when ye have done wrong, it will avail you nothing, that day, that ye shall be partners in punishment! p: and it profiteth you not this day, because ye did wrong, that ye will be sharers in the doom. s: and since you were unjust, it will not profit you this day that you are sharers in the chastisement. . y: canst thou then make the deaf to hear, or give direction to the blind or to such as (wander) in manifest error? p: canst thou (muhammad) make the deaf to hear, or canst thou guide the blind or him who is in error manifest? s: what! can you then make the deaf to hear or guide the blind and him who is in clear error? . y: even if we take thee away, we shall be sure to exact retribution from them, p: and if we take thee away, we surely shall take vengeance on them, s: but if we should take you away, still we shall inflict retribution on them; . y: or we shall show thee that (accomplished) which we have promised them: for verily we shall prevail over them. p: or (if) we show thee that wherewith we threaten them; for lo! we have complete command of them. s: rather we will certainly show you that which we have promised them; for surely we are the possessors of full power over them. . y: so hold thou fast to the revelation sent down to thee; verily thou art on a straight way. p: so hold thou fast to that which is inspired in thee. lo! thou art on a right path. s: therefore hold fast to that which has been revealed to you; surely you are on the right path. . y: the (qur'an) is indeed the message, for thee and for thy people; and soon shall ye (all) be brought to account. p: and lo! it is in truth a reminder for thee and for thy folk; and ye will be questioned. s: and most surely it is a reminder for you and your people, and you shall soon be questioned. . y: and question thou our messengers whom we sent before thee; did we appoint any deities other than (allah) most gracious, to be worshipped? p: and ask those of our messengers whom we sent before thee: did we ever appoint gods to be worshipped beside the beneficent? s: and ask those of our messengers whom we sent before you: did we ever appoint gods to be worshipped besides the beneficent allah? . y: we did send moses aforetime, with our signs, to pharaoh and his chiefs: he said, "i am a messenger of the lord of the worlds." p: and verily we sent moses with our revelations unto pharaoh and his chiefs, and he said: i am a messenger of the lord of the worlds. s: and certainly we sent musa with our communications to firon and his chiefs, so he said: surely i am the messenger of the lord of the worlds. . y: but when he came to them with our signs, behold they ridiculed them. p: but when he brought them our tokens, behold! they laughed at them. s: but when he came to them with our signs, lo! they laughed at them. . y: we showed them sign after sign, each greater than its fellow, and we seized them with punishment, in order that they might turn (to us). p: and every token that we showed them was greater than its sister (token), and we grasped them with the torment, that haply they might turn again. s: and we did not show them a sign but it was greater than its like, and we overtook them with chastisement that they may turn. . y: and they said, "o thou sorcerer! invoke thy lord for us according to his covenant with thee; for we shall truly accept guidance." p: and they said: o wizard! entreat thy lord for us by the pact that he hath made with thee. lo! we verily will walk aright. s: and they said: o magician! call on your lord for our sake, as he has made the covenant with you; we shall surely be the followers of the right way. . y: but when we removed the penalty from them, behold, they broke their word. p: but when we eased them of the torment, behold! they broke their word. s: but when we removed from them the chastisement, lo! they broke the pledge. . y: and pharaoh proclaimed among his people, saying: "o my people! does not the dominion of egypt belong to me, (witness) these streams flowing underneath my (palace)? what! see ye not then?" p: and pharaoh caused a proclamation to be made among his people saying: o my people! is not mine the sovereignty of egypt and these rivers flowing under me? can ye not then discern? s: and firon proclaimed amongst his people: o my people! is not the kingdom of egypt mine? and these rivers flow beneath me; do you not then see? . y: "am i not better than this (moses), who is a contemptible wretch and can scarcely express himself clearly?" p: i am surely better than this fellow, who is despicable and can hardly make (his meaning) plain! s: nay! i am better than this fellow, who is contemptible, and who can hardly speak distinctly: . y: "then why are not gold bracelets bestowed on him, or (why) come (not) with him angels accompanying him in procession?" p: why, then, have armlets of gold not been set upon him, or angels sent along with him? s: but why have not bracelets of gold been put upon him, or why have there not come with him angels as companions? . y: thus did he make fools of his people, and they obeyed him: truly were they a people rebellious (against allah). p: thus he persuaded his people to make light (of moses), and they obeyed him. lo! they were a wanton folk. s: so he incited his people to levity and they obeyed him: surely they were a transgressing people. . y: when at length they provoked us, we exacted retribution from them, and we drowned them all. p: so, when they angered us, we punished them and drowned them every one. s: then when they displeased us, we inflicted a retribution on them, so we drowned them all together, . y: and we made them (a people) of the past and an example to later ages. p: and we made them a thing past, and an example for those after (them). s: and we made them a precedent and example to the later generations. . y: when (jesus) the son of mary is held up as an example, behold, thy people raise a clamour thereat (in ridicule)! p: and when the son of mary is quoted as an example, behold! the folk laugh out, s: and when a description of the son of marium is given, lo! your people raise a clamor thereat. . y: and they say, "are our gods best, or he?" this they set forth to thee, only by way of disputation: yea, they are a contentious people. p: and say: are our gods better, or is he? they raise not the objection save for argument. nay! but they are a contentious folk. s: and they say: are our gods better, or is he? they do not set it forth to you save by way of disputation; nay, they are a contentious people. . y: he was no more than a servant: we granted our favour to him, and we made him an example to the children of israel. p: he is nothing but a slave on whom we bestowed favour, and we made him a pattern for the children of israel. s: he was naught but a servant on whom we bestowed favor, and we made him an example for the children of israel. . y: and if it were our will, we could make angels from amongst you, succeeding each other on the earth. p: and had we willed we could have set among you angels to be viceroys in the earth. s: and if we please, we could make among you angels to be successors in the land. . y: and (jesus) shall be a sign (for the coming of) the hour (of judgment): therefore have no doubt about the (hour), but follow ye me: this is a straight way. p: and lo! verily there is knowledge of the hour. so doubt ye not concerning it, but follow me. this is the right path. s: and most surely it is a knowledge of the hour, therefore have no doubt about it and follow me: this is the right path. . y: let not the evil one hinder you: for he is to you an enemy avowed. p: and let not satan turn you aside. lo! he is an open enemy for you. s: and let not the shaitan prevent you; surely he is your open enemy. . y: when jesus came with clear signs, he said: "now have i come to you with wisdom, and in order to make clear to you some of the (points) on which ye dispute: therefore fear allah and obey me." p: when jesus came with clear proofs (of allah's sovereignty), he said: i have come unto you with wisdom, and to make plain some of that concerning which ye differ. so keep your duty to allah, and obey me. s: and when isa came with clear arguments he said: i have come to you indeed with wisdom, and that i may make clear to you part of what you differ in; so be careful of (your duty to) allah and obey me: . y: "for allah, he is my lord and your lord: so worship ye him: this is a straight way." p: lo! allah, he is my lord and your lord. so worship him. this is a right path. s: surely allah is my lord and your lord, therefore serve him; this is the right path: . y: but sects from among themselves fell into disagreement: then woe to the wrong-doers, from the penalty of a grievous day! p: but the factions among them differed. then woe unto those who do wrong from the doom of a painful day. s: but parties from among them differed, so woe to those who were unjust because of the chastisement of a painful day. . y: do they only wait for the hour - that it should come on them all of a sudden, while they perceive not? p: await they aught save the hour, that it shall come upon them suddenly, when they know not? s: do they wait for aught but the hour, that it should come upon them all of a sudden while they do not perceive? . y: friends on that day will be foes, one to another,- except the righteous. p: friends on that day will be foes one to another, save those who kept their duty (to allah). s: the friends shall on that day be enemies one to another, except those who guard (against evil). . y: my devotees! no fear shall be on you that day, nor shall ye grieve,- p: o my slaves! for you there is no fear this day, nor is it ye who grieve; s: o my servants! there is no fear for you this day, nor shall you grieve. . y: (being) those who have believed in our signs and bowed (their wills to ours) in islam. p: (ye) who believed our revelations and were self-surrendered, s: those who believed in our communications and were submissive: . y: enter ye the garden, ye and your wives, in (beauty and) rejoicing. p: enter the garden, ye and your wives, to be made glad. s: enter the garden, you and your wives; you shall be made happy. . y: to them will be passed round, dishes and goblets of gold: there will be there all that the souls could desire, all that their ayes could delight in: and ye shall abide therein (for eye). p: therein are brought round for them trays of gold and goblets, and therein is all that souls desire and eyes find sweet. and ye are immortal therein. s: there shall be sent round to them golden bowls and drinking-cups and therein shall be what their souls yearn after and (wherein) the eyes shall delight, and you shall abide therein. . y: such will be the garden of which ye are made heirs for your (good) deeds (in life). p: this is the garden which ye are made to inherit because of what ye used to do. s: and this is the garden which you are given as an inheritance on account of what you did. . y: ye shall have therein abundance of fruit, from which ye shall have satisfaction. p: therein for you is fruit in plenty whence to eat. s: for you therein are many fruits of which you shall eat. . y: the sinners will be in the punishment of hell, to dwell therein (for aye): p: lo! the guilty are immortal in hell's torment. s: surely the guilty shall abide in the chastisement of hell. . y: nowise will the (punishment) be lightened for them, and in despair will they be there overwhelmed. p: it is not relaxed for them, and they despair therein. s: it shall not be abated from them and they shall therein be despairing. . y: nowise shall we be unjust to them: but it is they who have been unjust themselves. p: we wronged them not, but they it was who did the wrong. s: and we are not unjust to them, but they themselves were unjust. . y: they will cry: "o malik! would that thy lord put an end to us!" he will say, "nay, but ye shall abide!" p: and they cry: o master! let thy lord make an end of us. he saith: lo! here ye must remain. s: and they shall call out: o malik! let your lord make an end of us. he shall say: surely you shall tarry. . y: verily we have brought the truth to you: but most of you have a hatred for truth. p: we verily brought the truth unto you, but ye were, most of you, averse to the truth. s: certainly we have brought you the truth, but most of you are averse to the truth. . y: what! have they settled some plan (among themselves)? but it is we who settle things. p: or do they determine any thing (against the prophet)? lo! we (also) are determining. s: or have they settled an affair? then surely we are the settlers. . y: or do they think that we hear not their secrets and their private counsels? indeed (we do), and our messengers are by them, to record. p: or deem they that we cannot hear their secret thoughts and private confidences? nay, but our envoys, present with them, do record. s: or do they think that we do not hear what they conceal and their secret discourses? aye! and our messengers with them write down. . y: say: "if (allah) most gracious had a son, i would be the first to worship." p: say (o muhammad): if the beneficent one hath a son, then, i shall be first among the worshippers. (but there is no son). s: say: if the beneficent allah has a son, i am the foremost of those who serve. . y: glory to the lord of the heavens and the earth, the lord of the throne (of authority)! (he is free) from the things they attribute (to him)! p: glorified be the lord of the heavens and the earth, the lord of the throne, from that which they ascribe (unto him)! s: glory to the lord of the heavens and the earth, the lord of power, from what they describe. . y: so leave them to babble and play (with vanities) until they meet that day of theirs, which they have been promised. p: so let them flounder (in their talk) and play until they meet the day which they are promised. s: so leave them plunging into false discourses and sporting until they meet their day which they are threatened with. . y: it is he who is allah in heaven and allah on earth; and he is full of wisdom and knowledge. p: and he it is who in the heaven is allah, and in the earth allah. he is the wise, the knower. s: and he it is who is allah in the heavens and allah in the earth; and he is the wise, the knowing. . y: and blessed is he to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all between them: with him is the knowledge of the hour (of judgment): and to him shall ye be brought back. p: and blessed be he unto whom belongeth the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, and with whom is knowledge of the hour, and unto whom ye will be returned. s: and blessed is he whose is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, and with him is the knowledge of the hour, and to him shall you be brought back. . y: and those whom they invoke besides allah have no power of intercession;- only he who bears witness to the truth, and they know (him). p: and those unto whom they cry instead of him possess no power of intercession, saving him who beareth witness unto the truth knowingly. s: and those whom they call upon besides him have no authority for intercession, but he who bears witness of the truth and they know (him). . y: if thou ask them, who created them, they will certainly say, allah: how then are they deluded away (from the truth)? p: and if thou ask them who created them, they will surely say: allah. how then are they turned away? s: and if you should ask them who created them, they would certainly say: allah. whence are they then turned back? . y: (allah has knowledge) of the (prophet's) cry, "o my lord! truly these are people who will not believe!" p: and he saith: o my lord! lo! these are a folk who believe not. s: consider his cry: o my lord! surely they are a people who do not believe. . y: but turn away from them, and say "peace!" but soon shall they know! p: then bear with them (o muhammad) and say: peace. but they will come to know. s: so turn away from them and say, peace, for they shall soon come to know. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : ad-dukhan (smoke) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: ha-mim. p: ha. mim. s: ha mim! . y: by the book that makes things clear;- p: by the scripture that maketh plain s: i swear by the book that makes manifest (the truth). . y: we sent it down during a blessed night: for we (ever) wish to warn (against evil). p: lo! we revealed it on a blessed night - lo! we are ever warning - s: surely we revealed it on a blessed night surely we are ever warning-- . y: in the (night) is made distinct every affair of wisdom, p: whereon every wise command is made clear s: therein every wise affair is made distinct, . y: by command, from our presence. for we (ever) send (revelations), p: as a command from our presence - lo! we are ever sending - s: a command from us; surely we are the senders (of messengers), . y: as mercy from thy lord: for he hears and knows (all things); p: a mercy from thy lord. lo! he, even he is the hearer, the knower, s: a mercy from your lord, surely he is the hearing, the knowing, . y: the lord of the heavens and the earth and all between them, if ye (but) have an assured faith. p: lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, if ye would be sure. s: the lord of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, if you would be sure. . y: there is no god but he: it is he who gives life and gives death,- the lord and cherisher to you and your earliest ancestors. p: there is no god save him. he quickeneth and giveth death; your lord and lord of your forefathers. s: there is no god but he; he gives life and causes death, your lord and the lord of your fathers of yore. . y: yet they play about in doubt. p: nay, but they play in doubt. s: nay, they are in doubt, they sport. . y: then watch thou for the day that the sky will bring forth a kind of smoke (or mist) plainly visible, p: but watch thou (o muhammad) for the day when the sky will produce visible smoke s: therefore keep waiting for the day when the heaven shall bring an evident smoke, . y: enveloping the people: this will be a penalty grievous. p: that will envelop the people. this will be a painful torment. s: that shall overtake men; this is a painful punishment. . y: (they will say:) "our lord! remove the penalty from us, for we do really believe!" p: (then they will say): our lord relieve us of the torment. lo! we are believers. s: our lord! remove from us the punishment; surely we are believers. . y: how shall the message be (effectual) for them, seeing that an messenger explaining things clearly has (already) come to them,- p: how can there be remembrance for them, when a messenger making plain (the truth) had already come unto them, s: how shall they be reminded, and there came to them a messenger making clear (the truth), . y: yet they turn away from him and say: "tutored (by others), a man possessed!" p: and they had turned away from him and said: one taught (by others), a madman? s: yet they turned their backs on him and said: one taught (by others), a madman. . y: we shall indeed remove the penalty for a while, (but) truly ye will revert (to your ways). p: lo! we withdraw the torment a little. lo! ye return (to disbelief). s: surely we will remove the punishment a little, (but) you will surely return (to evil). . y: one day we shall seize you with a mighty onslaught: we will indeed (then) exact retribution! p: on the day when we shall seize them with the greater seizure, (then) in truth we shall punish. s: on the day when we will seize (them) with the most violent seizing; surely we will inflict retribution. . y: we did, before them, try the people of pharaoh: there came to them a messenger most honourable, p: and verily we tried before them pharaoh's folk, when there came unto them a noble messenger, s: and certainly we tried before them the people of firon, and there came to them a noble messenger, . y: saying: "restore to me the servants of allah: i am to you a messenger worthy of all trust;" p: saying: give up to me the slaves of allah. lo! i am a faithful messenger unto you. s: saying: deliver to me the servants of allah, surely i am a faithful messenger to you, . y: "and be not arrogant as against allah: for i come to you with authority manifest." p: and saying: be not proud against allah. lo! i bring you a clear warrant. s: and that do not exalt yourselves against allah, surely i will bring to you a clear authority: . y: "for me, i have sought safety with my lord and your lord, against your injuring me." p: and lo! i have sought refuge in my lord and your lord lest ye stone me to death. s: and surely i take refuge with my lord and your lord that you should stone me to death: . y: "if ye believe me not, at least keep yourselves away from me." p: and if ye put no faith in me, then let me go. s: and if you do not believe in me, then leave me alone. . y: (but they were aggressive:) then he cried to his lord: "these are indeed a people given to sin." p: and he cried unto his lord, (saying): these are guilty folk. s: then he called upon his lord: these are a guilty people. . y: (the reply came:) "march forth with my servants by night: for ye are sure to be pursued." p: then (his lord commanded): take away my slaves by night. lo! ye will be followed, s: so go forth with my servants by night; surely you will be pursued: . y: "and leave the sea as a furrow (divided): for they are a host (destined) to be drowned." p: and leave the sea behind at rest, for lo! they are a drowned host. s: and leave the sea intervening; surely they are a host that shall be drowned. . y: how many were the gardens and springs they left behind, p: how many were the gardens and the watersprings that they left behind, s: how many of the gardens and fountains have they left! . y: and corn-fields and noble buildings, p: and the cornlands and the goodly sites s: and cornfields and noble places! . y: and wealth (and conveniences of life), wherein they had taken such delight! p: and pleasant things wherein they took delight! s: and goodly things wherein they rejoiced; . y: thus (was their end)! and we made other people inherit (those things)! p: even so (it was), and we made it an inheritance for other folk; s: thus (it was), and we gave them as a heritage to another people. . y: and neither heaven nor earth shed a tear over them: nor were they given a respite (again). p: and the heaven and the earth wept not for them, nor were they reprieved. s: so the heaven and the earth did not weep for them, nor were they respited. . y: we did deliver aforetime the children of israel from humiliating punishment, p: and we delivered the children of israel from the shameful doom; s: and certainly we delivered the children of israel from the abasing chastisement, . y: inflicted by pharaoh, for he was arrogant (even) among inordinate transgressors. p: (we delivered them) from pharaoh. lo! he was a tyrant of the wanton ones. s: from firon; surely he was haughty, (and) one of the extravagant. . y: and we chose them aforetime above the nations, knowingly, p: and we chose them, purposely, above (all) creatures. s: and certainly we chose them, having knowledge, above the nations. . y: and granted them signs in which there was a manifest trial. p: and we gave them portents wherein was a clear trial. s: and we gave them of the communications wherein was clear blessing. . y: as to these (quraish), they say forsooth: p: lo! these, forsooth, are saying: s: most surely these do say: . y: "there is nothing beyond our first death, and we shall not be raised again." p: there is naught but our first death, and we shall not be raised again. s: there is naught but our first death and we shall not be raised again. . y: "then bring (back) our forefathers, if what ye say is true!" p: bring back our fathers, if ye speak the truth! s: so bring our fathers (back), if you are truthful. . y: what! are they better than the people of tubba and those who were before them? we destroyed them because they were guilty of sin. p: are they better, or the folk of tubb'a and those before them? we destroyed them, for surely they were guilty. s: are they better or the people of tubba and those before them? we destroyed them, for surely they were guilty. . y: we created not the heavens, the earth, and all between them, merely in (idle) sport: p: and we created not the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them, in play. s: and we did not create the heavens and the earth and what is between them in sport. . y: we created them not except for just ends: but most of them do not understand. p: we created them not save with truth; but most of them know not. s: we did not create them both but with the truth, but most of them do not know. . y: verily the day of sorting out is the time appointed for all of them,- p: assuredly the day of decision is the term for all of them, s: surely the day of separation is their appointed term, of all of them . y: the day when no protector can avail his client in aught, and no help can they receive, p: a day when friend can in naught avail friend, nor can they be helped, s: the day on which a friend shall not avail (his) friend aught, nor shall they be helped, . y: except such as receive allah's mercy: for he is exalted in might, most merciful. p: save him on whom allah hath mercy. lo! he is the mighty, the merciful. s: save those on whom allah shall have mercy; surely he is the mighty the merciful. . y: verily the tree of zaqqum p: lo! the tree of zaqqum, s: surely the tree of the zaqqum, . y: will be the food of the sinful,- p: the food of the sinner! s: is the food of the sinful . y: like molten brass; it will boil in their insides. p: like molten brass, it seetheth in their bellies s: like dregs of oil; it shall boil in (their) bellies, . y: like the boiling of scalding water. p: as the seething of boiling water. s: like the boiling of hot water. . y: (a voice will cry:) "seize ye him and drag him into the midst of the blazing fire!" p: (and it will be said): take him and drag him to the midst of hell, s: seize him, then drag him down into the middle of the hell; . y: "then pour over his head the penalty of boiling water," p: then pour upon his head the torment of boiling water. s: then pour above his head of the torment of the boiling water: . y: "taste thou (this)! truly wast thou mighty, full of honour!" p: (saying): taste! lo! thou wast forsooth the mighty, the noble! s: taste; you forsooth are the mighty, the honorable: . y: "truly this is what ye used to doubt!" p: lo! this is that whereof ye used to doubt. s: surely this is what you disputed about. . y: as to the righteous (they will be) in a position of security, p: lo! those who kept their duty will be in a place secured. s: surely those who guard (against evil) are in a secure place, . y: among gardens and springs; p: amid gardens and watersprings, s: in gardens and springs; . y: dressed in fine silk and in rich brocade, they will face each other; p: attired in silk and silk embroidery, facing one another. s: they shall wear of fine and thick silk, (sitting) face to face; . y: so; and we shall join them to fair women with beautiful, big, and lustrous eyes. p: even so (it will be). and we shall wed them unto fair ones with wide, lovely eyes. s: thus (shall it be), and we will wed them with houris pure, beautiful ones. . y: there can they call for every kind of fruit in peace and security; p: they call therein for every fruit in safety. s: they shall call therein for every fruit in security; . y: nor will they there taste death, except the first death; and he will preserve them from the penalty of the blazing fire,- p: they taste not death therein, save the first death. and he hath saved them from the doom of hell, s: they shall not taste therein death except the first death, and he will save them from the punishment of the hell, . y: as a bounty from thy lord! that will be the supreme achievement! p: a bounty from thy lord. that is the supreme triumph. s: a grace from your lord; this is the great achievement. . y: verily, we have made this (qur'an) easy, in thy tongue, in order that they may give heed. p: and we have made (this scripture) easy in thy language only that they may heed. s: so have we made it easy in your tongue that they may be mindful. . y: so wait thou and watch; for they (too) are waiting. p: wait then (o muhammad). lo! they (too) are waiting. s: therefore wait; surely they are waiting. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-jathiya (crouching) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: ha-mim. p: ha. mim. s: ha mim. . y: the revelation of the book is from allah the exalted in power, full of wisdom. p: the revelation of the scripture is from allah, the mighty, the wise. s: the revelation of the book is from allah, the mighty, the wise. . y: verily in the heavens and the earth, are signs for those who believe. p: lo! in the heavens and the earth are portents for believers. s: most surely in the heavens and the earth there are signs for the believers. . y: and in the creation of yourselves and the fact that animals are scattered (through the earth), are signs for those of assured faith. p: and in your creation, and all the beasts that he scattereth in the earth, are portents for a folk whose faith is sure. s: and in your (own) creation and in what he spreads abroad of animals there are signs for a people that are sure; . y: and in the alternation of night and day, and the fact that allah sends down sustenance from the sky, and revives therewith the earth after its death, and in the change of the winds,- are signs for those that are wise. p: and the difference of night and day and the provision that allah sendeth down from the sky and thereby quickeneth the earth after her death, and the ordering of the winds, are portents for a people who have sense. s: and (in) the variation of the night and the day, and (in) what allah sends down of sustenance from the cloud, then gives life thereby to the earth after its death, and (in) the changing of the winds, there are signs for a people who understand. . y: such are the signs of allah, which we rehearse to thee in truth; then in what exposition will they believe after (rejecting) allah and his signs? p: these are the portents of allah which we recite unto thee (muhammad) with truth. then in what fact, after allah and his portents, will they believe? s: these are the communications of allah which we recite to you with truth; then in what announcement would they believe after allah and his communications? . y: woe to each sinful dealer in falsehoods: p: woe unto each sinful liar, s: woe to every sinful liar, . y: he hears the signs of allah rehearsed to him, yet is obstinate and lofty, as if he had not heard them: then announce to him a penalty grievous! p: who heareth the revelations of allah recited unto him, and then continueth in pride as though he heard them not. give him tidings of a painful doom. s: who hears the communications of allah recited to him, then persists proudly as though he had not heard them; so announce to him a painful punishment. . y: and when he learns something of our signs, he takes them in jest: for such there will be a humiliating penalty. p: and when he knoweth aught of our revelations he maketh it a jest. for such there is a shameful doom. s: and when he comes to know of any of our communications, he takes it for a jest; these it is that shall have abasing chastisement. . y: in front of them is hell: and of no profit to them is anything they may have earned, nor any protectors they may have taken to themselves besides allah: for them is a tremendous penalty. p: beyond them there is hell, and that which they have earned will naught avail them, nor those whom they have chosen for protecting friends beside allah. theirs will be an awful doom. s: before them is hell, and there shall not avail them aught of what they earned, nor those whom they took for guardians besides allah, and they shall have a grievous punishment. . y: this is (true) guidance and for those who reject the signs of their lord, is a grievous penalty of abomination. p: this is guidance. and those who disbelieve the revelations of their lord, for them there is a painful doom of wrath. s: this is guidance; and (as for) those who disbelieve in the communications of their lord, they shall have a painful punishment on account of uncleanness. . y: it is allah who has subjected the sea to you, that ships may sail through it by his command, that ye may seek of his bounty, and that ye may be grateful. p: allah it is who hath made the sea of service unto you that the ships may run thereon by his command, and that ye may seek of his bounty, and that haply ye may be thankful; s: allah is he who made subservient to you the sea that the ships may run therein by his command, and that you may seek of his grace, and that you may give thanks. . y: and he has subjected to you, as from him, all that is in the heavens and on earth: behold, in that are signs indeed for those who reflect. p: and hath made of service unto you whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth; it is all from him. lo! herein verily are portents for a people who reflect. s: and he has made subservient to you whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth, all, from himself; most surely there are signs in this for a people who reflect. . y: tell those who believe, to forgive those who do not look forward to the days of allah: it is for him to recompense (for good or ill) each people according to what they have earned. p: tell those who believe to forgive those who hope not for the days of allah; in order that he may requite folk what they used to earn. s: say to those who believe (that) they forgive those who do not fear the days of allah that he may reward a people for what they earn. . y: if any one does a righteous deed, it ensures to the benefit of his own soul; if he does evil, it works against (his own soul). in the end will ye (all) be brought back to your lord. p: whoso doeth right, it is for his soul, and whoso doeth wrong, it is against it. and afterward unto your lord ye will be brought back. s: whoever does good, it is for his own soul, and whoever does evil, it is against himself; then you shall be brought back to your-- lord. . y: we did aforetime grant to the children of israel the book, the power of command, and prophethood; we gave them, for sustenance, things good and pure; and we favoured them above the nations. p: and verily we gave the children of israel the scripture and the command and the prophethood, and provided them with good things and favoured them above (all) peoples; s: and certainly we gave the book and the wisdom and the prophecy to the children of israel, and we gave them of the goodly things, and we made them excel the nations. . y: and we granted them clear signs in affairs (of religion): it was only after knowledge had been granted to them that they fell into schisms, through insolent envy among themselves. verily thy lord will judge between them on the day of judgment as to those matters in which they set up differences. p: and gave them plain commandments. and they differed not until after the knowledge came unto them, through rivalry among themselves. lo! thy lord will judge between them on the day of resurrection concerning that wherein they used to differ. s: and we gave them clear arguments in the affair, but they did not differ until after knowledge had come to them out of envy among themselves; surely your lord will judge between them on the day of resurrection concerning that wherein they differed. . y: then we put thee on the (right) way of religion: so follow thou that (way), and follow not the desires of those who know not. p: and now have we set thee (o muhammad) on a clear road of (our) commandment; so follow it, and follow not the whims of those who know not. s: then we have made you follow a course in the affair, therefore follow it, and do not follow the low desires of those who do not know. . y: they will be of no use to thee in the sight of allah: it is only wrong-doers (that stand as) protectors, one to another: but allah is the protector of the righteous. p: lo! they can avail thee naught against allah. and lo! as for the wrong-doers, some of them are friends of others; and allah is the friend of those who ward off (evil). s: surely they shall not avail you in the least against allah; and surely the unjust are friends of each other, and allah is the guardian of those who guard (against evil). . y: these are clear evidences to men and a guidance and mercy to those of assured faith. p: this is clear indication for mankind, and a guidance and a mercy for a folk whose faith is sure. s: these are clear proofs for men, and a guidance and a mercy for a people who are sure. . y: what! do those who seek after evil ways think that we shall hold them equal with those who believe and do righteous deeds,- that equal will be their life and their death? ill is the judgment that they make. p: or do those who commit ill-deeds suppose that we shall make them as those who believe and do good works, the same in life and death? bad is their judgment! s: nay! do those who have wrought evil deeds think that we will make them like those who believe and do good-- that their life and their death shall be equal? evil it is that they judge. . y: allah created the heavens and the earth for just ends, and in order that each soul may find the recompense of what it has earned, and none of them be wronged. p: and allah hath created the heavens and the earth with truth, and that every soul may be repaid what it hath earned. and they will not be wronged. s: and allah created the heavens and the earth with truth and that every soul may be rewarded for what it has earned and they shall not be wronged. . y: then seest thou such a one as takes as his god his own vain desire? allah has, knowing (him as such), left him astray, and sealed his hearing and his heart (and understanding), and put a cover on his sight. who, then, will guide him after allah (has withdrawn guidance)? will ye not then receive admonition? p: hast thou seen him who maketh his desire his god, and allah sendeth him astray purposely, and sealeth up his hearing and his heart, and setteth on his sight a covering? then who will lead him after allah (hath condemned him)? will ye not then heed? s: have you then considered him who takes his low desire for his god, and allah has made him err having knowledge and has set a seal upon his ear and his heart and put a covering upon his eye. who can then guide him after allah? will you not then be mindful? . y: and they say: "what is there but our life in this world? we shall die and we live, and nothing but time can destroy us." but of that they have no knowledge: they merely conjecture: p: and they say: there is naught but our life of the world; we die and we live, and naught destroyeth us save time; when they have no knowledge whatsoever of (all) that; they do but guess. s: and they say: there is nothing but our life in this world; we live and die and nothing destroys us but time, and they have no knowledge of that; they only conjecture. . y: and when our clear signs are rehearsed to them their argument is nothing but this: they say, "bring (back) our forefathers, if what ye say is true!" p: and when our clear revelations are recited unto them their only argument is that they say: bring (back) our fathers then, if ye are truthful. s: and when our clear communications are recited to them, their argument is no other than that they say: bring our fathers (back) if you are truthful. . y: say: "it is allah who gives you life, then gives you death; then he will gather you together for the day of judgment about which there is no doubt": but most men do not understand. p: say (unto them, o muhammad): allah giveth life to you, then causeth you to die, then gathereth you unto the day of resurrection whereof there is no doubt. but most of mankind know not. s: say: allah gives you life, then he makes you die, then will he gather you to the day of resurrection wherein is no doubt, but most people do not know. . y: to allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and the day that the hour of judgment is established,- that day will the dealers in falsehood perish! p: and unto allah belongeth the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth; and on the day when the hour riseth, on that day those who follow falsehood will be lost. s: and allah's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; and on the day when the hour shall come to pass, on that day shall they perish who say false things. . y: and thou wilt see every sect bowing the knee: every sect will be called to its record: "this day shall ye be recompensed for all that ye did!" p: and thou wilt see each nation crouching, each nation summoned to its record. (and it will be said unto them): this day ye are requited what ye used to do. s: and you shall see every nation kneeling down; every nation shall be called to its book: today you shall be rewarded for what you did. . y: "this our record speaks about you with truth: for we were wont to put on record all that ye did." p: this our book pronounceth against you with truth. lo! we have caused (all) that ye did to be recorded. s: this is our book that speaks against you with justice; surely we wrote what you did, . y: then, as to those who believed and did righteous deeds, their lord will admit them to his mercy that will be the achievement for all to see. p: then, as for those who believed and did good works, their lord will bring them in unto his mercy. that is the evident triumph. s: then as to those who believed and did good, their lord will make them enter into his mercy; that is the manifest achievement. . y: but as to those who rejected allah, (to them will be said): "were not our signs rehearsed to you? but ye were arrogant, and were a people given to sin!" p: and as for those who disbelieved (it will be said unto them): were not our revelations recited unto you? but ye were scornful and became a guilty folk. s: as to those who disbelieved: what! were not my communications recited to you? but you were proud and you were a guilty people. . y: "and when it was said that the promise of allah was true, and that the hour- there was no doubt about its (coming), ye used to say, 'we know not what is the hour: we only think it is an idea, and we have no firm assurance.'" p: and when it was said: lo! allah's promise is the truth, and there is no doubt of the hour's coming, ye said: we know not what the hour is. we deem it naught but a conjecture, and we are by no means convinced. s: and when it was said, surely the promise of allah is true and as for the hour, there is no doubt about it, you said: we do not know what the hour is; we do not think (that it will come to pass) save a passing thought, and we are not at all sure. . y: then will appear to them the evil (fruits) of what they did, and they will be completely encircled by that which they used to mock at! p: and the evils of what they did will appear unto them, and that which they used to deride will befall them. s: and the evil (consequences) of what they did shall become manifest to them and that which they mocked shall encompass them. . y: it will also be said: "this day we will forget you as ye forgot the meeting of this day of yours! and your abode is the fire, and no helpers have ye!" p: and it will be said: this day we forget you, even as ye forgot the meeting of this your day; and your habitation is the fire, and there is none to help you. s: and it shall be said: today we forsake you as you neglected the meeting of this day of yours and your abode is the fire, and there are not for you any helpers: . y: "this, because ye used to take the signs of allah in jest, and the life of the world deceived you:" (from) that day, therefore, they shall not be taken out thence, nor shall they be received into grace. p: this, forasmuch as ye made the revelations of allah a jest, and the life of the world beguiled you. therefor this day they come not forth from thence, nor can they make amends. s: that is because you took the communications of allah for a jest and the life of this world deceived you. so on that day they shall not be brought forth from it, nor shall they be granted goodwill. . y: then praise be to allah, lord of the heavens and lord of the earth,- lord and cherisher of all the worlds! p: then praise be to allah, lord of the heavens and lord of the earth, the lord of the worlds. s: therefore to allah is due (all) praise, the lord of the heavens and the lord of the earth, the lord of the worlds. . y: to him be glory throughout the heavens and the earth: and he is exalted in power, full of wisdom! p: and unto him (alone) belongeth majesty in the heavens and the earth, and he is the mighty, the wise. s: and to him belongs greatness in the heavens and the earth, and he is the mighty, the wise. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-ahqaf (the wind-curved sandhills, the dunes) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: ha-mim. p: ha. mim. s: ha mim. . y: the revelation of the book is from allah the exalted in power, full of wisdom. p: the revelation of the scripture is from allah the mighty, the wise. s: the revelation of the book is from allah, the mighty, the wise. . y: we created not the heavens and the earth and all between them but for just ends, and for a term appointed: but those who reject faith turn away from that whereof they are warned. p: we created not the heavens and the earth and all that is between them save with truth, and for a term appointed. but those who disbelieve turn away from that whereof they are warned. s: we did not create the heavens and the earth and what is between them two save with truth and (for) an appointed term; and those who disbelieve turn aside from what they are warned of. . y: say: "do ye see what it is ye invoke besides allah? show me what it is they have created on earth, or have they a share in the heavens bring me a book (revealed) before this, or any remnant of knowledge (ye may have), if ye are telling the truth!" p: say (unto them, o muhammad): have ye thought on all that ye invoke beside allah? show me what they have created of the earth. or have they any portion in the heavens? bring me a scripture before this (scripture), or some vestige of knowledge (in support of what ye say), if ye are truthful. s: say: have you considered what you call upon besides allah? show me what they have created of the earth, or have they a share in the heavens? bring me a book before this or traces of knowledge, if you are truthful. . y: and who is more astray than one who invokes besides allah, such as will not answer him to the day of judgment, and who (in fact) are unconscious of their call (to them)? p: and who is further astray than those who, instead of allah, pray unto such as hear not their prayer until the day of resurrection, and are unconscious of their prayer, s: and who is in greater error than he who calls besides allah upon those that will not answer him till the day of resurrection and they are heedless of their call? . y: and when mankind are gathered together (at the resurrection), they will be hostile to them and reject their worship (altogether)! p: and when mankind are gathered (to the judgment) will become enemies for them, and will become deniers of having been worshipped. s: and when men are gathered together they shall be their enemies, and shall be deniers of their worshipping (them). . y: when our clear signs are rehearsed to them, the unbelievers say, of the truth when it comes to them: "this is evident sorcery!" p: and when our clear revelations are recited unto them, those who disbelieve say of the truth when it reacheth them: this is mere magic. s: and when our clear communications are recited to them, those who disbelieve say with regard to the truth when it comes to them: this is clear magic. . y: or do they say, "he has forged it"? say: "had i forged it, then can ye obtain no single (blessing) for me from allah. he knows best of that whereof ye talk (so glibly)! enough is he for a witness between me and you! and he is oft-forgiving, most merciful." p: or say they: he hath invented it? say (o muhammad): if i have invented it, still ye have no power to support me against allah. he is best aware of what ye say among yourselves concerning it. he sufficeth for a witness between me and you. and he is the forgiving, the merciful. s: nay! they say: he has forged it. say: if i have forged it, you do not control anything for me from allah; he knows best what you utter concerning it; he is enough as a witness between me and you, and he is the forgiving, the merciful. . y: say: "i am no bringer of new-fangled doctrine among the messengers, nor do i know what will be done with me or with you. i follow but that which is revealed to me by inspiration; i am but a warner open and clear." p: say: i am no new thing among the messengers (of allah), nor know i what will be done with me or with you. i do but follow that which is inspired in me, and i am but a plain warner. s: say: i am not the first of the messengers, and i do not know what will be done with me or with you: i do not follow anything but that which is revealed to me, and i am nothing but a plain warner. . y: say: "see ye? if (this teaching) be from allah, and ye reject it, and a witness from among the children of israel testifies to its similarity (with earlier scripture), and has believed while ye are arrogant, (how unjust ye are!) truly, allah guides not a people unjust." p: bethink you: if it is from allah and ye disbelieve therein, and a witness of the children of israel hath already testified to the like thereof and hath believed, and ye are too proud (what plight is yours)? lo! allah guideth not wrong-doing folk. s: say: have you considered if it is from allah, and you disbelieve in it, and a witness from among the children of israel has borne witness of one like it, so he believed, while you are big with pride; surely allah does not guide the unjust people. . y: the unbelievers say of those who believe: "if (this message) were a good thing, (such men) would not have gone to it first, before us!" and seeing that they guide not themselves thereby, they will say, "this is an (old,) falsehood!" p: and those who disbelieve say of those who believe: if it had been (any) good, they would not have been before us in attaining it. and since they will not be guided by it, they say: this is an ancient lie; s: and those who disbelieve say concerning those who believe: if it had been a good, they would not have gone ahead of us therein. and as they do not seek to be rightly directed thereby, they say: it is an old lie. . y: and before this, was the book of moses as a guide and a mercy: and this book confirms (it) in the arabic tongue; to admonish the unjust, and as glad tidings to those who do right. p: when before it there was the scripture of moses, an example and a mercy; and this is a confirming scripture in the arabic language, that it may warn those who do wrong and bring good tidings for the righteous. s: and before it the book of musa was a guide and a mercy: and this is a book verifying (it) in the arabic language that it may warn those who are unjust and as good news for the doers of good. . y: verily those who say, "our lord is allah," and remain firm (on that path),- on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. p: lo! those who say: our lord is allah, and thereafter walk aright, there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve. s: surely those who say, our lord is allah, then they continue on the right way, they shall have no fear nor shall they grieve. . y: such shall be companions of the gardens, dwelling therein (for aye): a recompense for their (good) deeds. p: such are rightful owners of the garden, immortal therein, as a reward for what they used to do. s: these are the dwellers of the garden, abiding therein: a reward for what they did. . y: we have enjoined on man kindness to his parents: in pain did his mother bear him, and in pain did she give him birth. the carrying of the (child) to his weaning is (a period of) thirty months. at length, when he reaches the age of full strength and attains forty years, he says, "o my lord! grant me that i may be grateful for thy favour which thou has bestowed upon me, and upon both my parents, and that i may work righteousness such as thou mayest approve; and be gracious to me in my issue. truly have i turned to thee and truly do i bow (to thee) in islam." p: and we have commended unto man kindness toward parents. his mother beareth him with reluctance, and bringeth him forth with reluctance, and the bearing of him and the weaning of him is thirty months, till, when he attaineth full strength and reacheth forty years, he saith: my lord! arouse me that i may give thanks for the favour wherewith thou hast favoured me and my parents, and that i may do right acceptable unto thee. and be gracious unto me in the matter of my seed. lo! i have turned unto thee repentant, and lo! i am of those who surrender (unto thee). s: and we have enjoined on man doing of good to his parents; with trouble did his mother bear him and with trouble did she bring him forth; and the bearing of him and the weaning of him was thirty months; until when he attains his maturity and reaches forty years, he says: my lord! grant me that i may give thanks for thy favor which thou hast bestowed on me and on my parents, and that i may do good which pleases thee and do good to me in respect of my offspring; surely i turn to thee, and surely i am of those who submit. . y: such are they from whom we shall accept the best of their deeds and pass by their ill deeds: (they shall be) among the companions of the garden: a promise! of truth, which was made to them (in this life). p: those are they from whom we accept the best of what they do, and overlook their evil deeds. (they are) among the owners of the garden. this is the true promise which they were promised (in the world). s: these are they from whom we accept the best of what they have done and pass over their evil deeds, among the dwellers of the garden; the promise of truth which they were promised. . y: but (there is one) who says to his parents, "fie on you! do ye hold out the promise to me that i shall be raised up, even though generations have passed before me (without rising again)?" and they two seek allah's aid, (and rebuke the son): "woe to thee! have faith! for the promise of allah is true." but he says, "this is nothing but tales of the ancients!" p: and whoso saith unto his parents: fie upon you both! do ye threaten me that i shall be brought forth (again) when generations before me have passed away? and they twain cry unto allah for help (and say): woe unto thee! believe! lo! the promise of allah is true. but he saith: this is naught save fables of the men of old: s: and he who says to his parents: fie on you! do you threaten me that i shall be brought forth when generations have already passed away before me? and they both call for allah's aid: woe to you! believe, surely the promise of allah is true. but he says: this is nothing but stories of the ancients. . y: such are they against whom is proved the sentence among the previous generations of jinns and men, that have passed away; for they will be (utterly) lost. p: such are those on whom the word concerning nations of the jinn and mankind which have passed away before them hath effect. lo! they are the losers. s: these are they against whom the word has proved true among nations of the jinn and the men that have already passed away before them; surely they are losers. . y: and to all are (assigned) degrees according to the deeds which they (have done), and in order that (allah) may recompense their deeds, and no injustice be done to them. p: and for all there will be ranks from what they do, that he may pay them for their deeds; and they will not be wronged. s: and for all are degrees according to what they did, and that he may pay them back fully their deeds and they shall not be wronged. . y: and on the day that the unbelievers will be placed before the fire, (it will be said to them): "ye received your good things in the life of the world, and ye took your pleasure out of them: but today shall ye be recompensed with a penalty of humiliation: for that ye were arrogant on earth without just cause, and that ye (ever) transgressed." p: and on the day when those who disbelieve are exposed to the fire (it will be said): ye squandered your good things in the life of the world and sought comfort therein. now this day ye are rewarded with the doom of ignominy because ye were disdainful in the land without a right, and because ye used to transgress. s: and on the day when those who disbelieve shall be brought before the fire: you did away with your good things in your life of the world and you enjoyed them for a while, so today you shall be rewarded with the punishment of abasement because you were unjustly proud in the land and because you transgressed. . y: mention (hud) one of 'ad's (own) brethren: behold, he warned his people about the winding sand-tracts: but there have been warners before him and after him: "worship ye none other than allah: truly i fear for you the penalty of a mighty day." p: and make mention (o muhammad) of the brother of a'ad when he warned his folk among the wind-curved sandhills - and verily warners came and went before and after him - saying: serve none but allah. lo! i fear for you the doom of a tremendous day. s: and mention the brother of ad; when he warned his people in the sandy plains,-- and indeed warners came before him and after him-- saying serve none but allah; surely i fear for you the punishment of a grievous day. . y: they said: "hast thou come in order to turn us aside from our gods? then bring upon us the (calamity) with which thou dost threaten us, if thou art telling the truth?" p: they said: hast come to turn us away from our gods? then bring upon us that wherewith thou threatenest us, if thou art of the truthful. s: they said: have you come to us to turn us away from our gods; then bring us what you threaten us with, if you are of the truthful ones. . y: he said: "the knowledge (of when it will come) is only with allah: i proclaim to you the mission on which i have been sent: but i see that ye are a people in ignorance!".. p: he said: the knowledge is with allah only. i convey unto you that wherewith i have been sent, but i see you are a folk that know not. s: he said: the knowledge is only with allah, and i deliver to you the message with which i am sent, but i see you are a people who are ignorant. . y: then, when they saw the (penalty in the shape of) a cloud traversing the sky, coming to meet their valleys, they said, "this cloud will give us rain!" "nay, it is the (calamity) ye were asking to be hastened!- a wind wherein is a grievous penalty!" p: then, when they beheld it as a dense cloud coming toward their valleys, they said: here is a cloud bringing us rain. nay, but it is that which ye did seek to hasten, a wind wherein is painful torment, s: so when they saw it as a cloud appearing in the sky advancing towards their valleys, they said: this is a cloud which will give us rain. nay! it is what you sought to hasten on, a blast of wind in which is a painful punishment, . y: "everything will it destroy by the command of its lord!" then by the morning they - nothing was to be seen but (the ruins of) their houses! thus do we recompense those given to sin! p: destroying all things by commandment of its lord. and morning found them so that naught could be seen save their dwellings. thus do we reward the guilty folk. s: destroying everything by the command of its lord, so they became such that naught could be seen except their dwellings. thus do we reward the guilty people. . y: and we had firmly established them in a (prosperity and) power which we have not given to you (ye quraish!) and we had endowed them with (faculties of) hearing, seeing, heart and intellect: but of no profit to them were their (faculties of) hearing, sight, and heart and intellect, when they went on rejecting the signs of allah; and they were (completely) encircled by that which they used to mock at! p: and verily we had empowered them with that wherewith we have not empowered you, and had assigned them ears and eyes and hearts; but their ears and eyes and hearts availed them naught since they denied the revelations of allah; and what they used to mock befell them. s: and certainly we had established them in what we have not established you in, and we had given-- them ears and eyes and hearts, but neither their ears, nor their eyes, nor their hearts availed them aught, since they denied the communications of allah, and that which they mocked encompassed them. . y: we destroyed aforetime populations round about you; and we have shown the signs in various ways, that they may turn (to us). p: and verily we have destroyed townships round about you, and displayed (for them) our revelation, that haply they might return. s: and certainly we destroyed the towns which are around you, and we repeat the communications that they might turn. . y: why then was no help forthcoming to them from those whom they worshipped as gods, besides allah, as a means of access (to allah)? nay, they left them in the lurch: but that was their falsehood and their invention. p: then why did those whom they had chosen for gods as a way of approach (unto allah) not help them? nay, but they did fail them utterly. and (all) that was their lie, and what they used to invent. s: why did not then those help them whom they took for gods besides allah to draw (them) nigh (to him)? nay! they were lost to them; and this was their lie and what they forged. . y: behold, we turned towards thee a company of jinns (quietly) listening to the qur'an: when they stood in the presence thereof, they said, "listen in silence!" when the (reading) was finished, they returned to their people, to warn (them of their sins). p: and when we inclined toward thee (muhammad) certain of the jinn, who wished to hear the qur'an and, when they were in its presence, said: give ear! and, when it was finished, turned back to their people, warning. s: and when we turned towards you a party of the jinn who listened to the quran; so when they came to it, they said: be silent; then when it was finished, they turned back to their people warning (them). . y: they said, "o our people! we have heard a book revealed after moses, confirming what came before it: it guides (men) to the truth and to a straight path." p: they said: o our people! lo! we have heard a scripture which hath been revealed after moses, confirming that which was before it, guiding unto the truth and a right road. s: they said: o our people! we have listened to a book revealed after musa verifying that which is before it, guiding to the truth and to a right path: . y: "o our people, hearken to the one who invites (you) to allah, and believe in him: he will forgive you your faults, and deliver you from a penalty grievous." p: o our people! respond to allah's summoner and believe in him. he will forgive you some of your sins and guard you from a painful doom. s: o our people! accept the divine caller and believe in him, he will forgive you of your faults and protect you from a painful punishment. . y: "if any does not hearken to the one who invites (us) to allah, he cannot frustrate (allah's plan) on earth, and no protectors can he have besides allah: such men (wander) in manifest error." p: and whoso respondeth not to allah's summoner he can nowise escape in the earth, and he hath no protecting friends instead of him. such are in error manifest. s: and whoever does not accept the-divine caller, he shall not escape in the earth and he shall not have guardians besides him, these are in manifest error. . y: see they not that allah, who created the heavens and the earth, and never wearied with their creation, is able to give life to the dead? yea, verily he has power over all things. p: have they not seen that allah, who created the heavens and the earth and was not wearied by their creation, is able to give life to the dead? aye, he verily is able to do all things. s: have they not considered that allah, who created the heavens and the earth and was not tired by their creation, is able to give life to the dead? aye! he has surely power over all things. . y: and on the day that the unbelievers will be placed before the fire, (they will be asked,) "is this not the truth?" they will say, "yea, by our lord!" (one will say:) "then taste ye the penalty, for that ye were wont to deny (truth)!" p: and on the day when those who disbelieve are exposed to the fire (they will be asked): is not this real? they will say: yea, by our lord. he will say: then taste the doom for that ye disbelieved. s: and on the day when those who disbelieve shall be brought before the fire: is it not true? they shall say: aye! by our lord! he will say: then taste the punishment, because you disbelieved. . y: therefore patiently persevere, as did (all) messengers of inflexible purpose; and be in no haste about the (unbelievers). on the day that they see the (punishment) promised them, (it will be) as if they had not tarried more than an hour in a single day. (thine but) to proclaim the message: but shall any be destroyed except those who transgress? p: then have patience (o muhammad) even as the stout of heart among the messengers (of old) had patience, and seek not to hasten on (the doom) for them. on the day when they see that which they are promised (it will seem to them) as though they had tarried but an hour of daylight. a clear message. shall any be destroyed save evil-living folk? s: therefore bear up patiently as did the messengers endowed with constancy bear up with patience and do not seek to hasten for them (their doom). on the day that they shall see what they are promised they shall be as if they had not tarried save an hour of the day. a sufficient exposition! shall then any be destroyed save the transgressing people? --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : muhammad (muhammad) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: those who reject allah and hinder (men) from the path of allah,- their deeds will allah render astray (from their mark). p: those who disbelieve and turn (men) from the way of allah, he rendereth their actions vain. s: (as for) those who disbelieve and turn away from allah's way, he shall render their works ineffective. . y: but those who believe and work deeds of righteousness, and believe in the (revelation) sent down to muhammad - for it is the truth from their lord,- he will remove from them their ills and improve their condition. p: and those who believe and do good works and believe in that which is revealed unto muhammad - and it is the truth from their lord - he riddeth them of their ill-deeds and improveth their state. s: and (as for) those who believe and do good, and believe in what has been revealed to muhammad, and it is the very truth from their lord, he will remove their evil from them and improve their condition. . y: this because those who reject allah follow vanities, while those who believe follow the truth from their lord: thus does allah set forth for men their lessons by similitudes. p: that is because those who disbelieve follow falsehood and because those who believe follow the truth from their lord. thus allah coineth their similitudes for mankind. s: that is because those who disbelieve follow falsehood, and have given them their dowries, taking (them) in marriage, not fornicating nor taking them for paramours in secret; and whoever denies faith, his work indeed is of no account, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers. . y: therefore, when ye meet the unbelievers (in fight), smite at their necks; at length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly (on them): thereafter (is the time for) either generosity or ransom: until the war lays down its burdens. thus (are ye commanded): but if it had been allah's will, he could certainly have exacted retribution from them (himself); but (he lets you fight) in order to test you, some with others. but those who are slain in the way of allah,- he will never let their deeds be lost. p: now when ye meet in battle those who disbelieve, then it is smiting of the necks until, when ye have routed them, then making fast of bonds; and afterward either grace or ransom till the war lay down its burdens. that (is the ordinance). and if allah willed he could have punished them (without you) but (thus it is ordained) that he may try some of you by means of others. and those who are slain in the way of allah, he rendereth not their actions vain. s: so when you meet in battle those who disbelieve, then smite the necks until when you have overcome them, then make (them) prisoners, and afterwards either set them free as a favor or let them ransom (themselves) until the war terminates. that (shall be so); and if allah had pleased he would certainly have exacted what is due from them, but that he may try some of you by means of others; and (as for) those who are slain in the way of allah, he will by no means allow their deeds to perish. . y: soon will he guide them and improve their condition, p: he will guide them and improve their state, s: he will guide them and improve their condition. . y: and admit them to the garden which he has announced for them. p: and bring them in unto the garden which he hath made known to them. s: and cause them to enter the garden which he has made known to them. . y: o ye who believe! if ye will aid (the cause of) allah, he will aid you, and plant your feet firmly. p: o ye who believe! if ye help allah, he will help you and will make your foothold firm. s: o you who believe! if you help (the cause of) allah, he will help you and make firm your feet. . y: but those who reject (allah),- for them is destruction, and (allah) will render their deeds astray (from their mark). p: and those who disbelieve, perdition is for them, and he will make their actions vain. s: and (as for) those who disbelieve, for them is destruction and he has made their deeds ineffective. . y: that is because they hate the revelation of allah; so he has made their deeds fruitless. p: that is because they are averse to that which allah hath revealed, therefor maketh he their actions fruitless. s: that is because they hated what allah revealed, so he rendered their deeds null. . y: do they not travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those before them (who did evil)? allah brought utter destruction on them, and similar (fates await) those who reject allah. p: have they not travelled in the land to see the nature of the consequence for those who were before them? allah wiped them out. and for the disbelievers there will be the like thereof. s: have they not then journeyed in the land and seen how was the end of those before them: allah brought down destruction upon them, and the unbelievers shall have the like of it. . y: that is because allah is the protector of those who believe, but those who reject allah have no protector. p: that is because allah is patron of those who believe, and because the disbelievers have no patron. s: that is because allah is the protector of those who believe, and because the unbelievers shall have no protector for them. . y: verily allah will admit those who believe and do righteous deeds, to gardens beneath which rivers flow; while those who reject allah will enjoy (this world) and eat as cattle eat; and the fire will be their abode. p: lo! allah will cause those who believe and do good works to enter gardens underneath which rivers flow; while those who disbelieve take their comfort in this life and eat even as the cattle eat, and the fire is their habitation. s: surely allah will make those who believe and do good enter gardens beneath which rivers flow; and those who disbelieve enjoy themselves and eat as the beasts eat, and the fire is their abode. . y: and how many cities, with more power than thy city which has driven thee out, have we destroyed (for their sins)? and there was none to aid them. p: and how many a township stronger than thy township (o muhammad) which hath cast thee out, have we destroyed, and they had no helper! s: and how many a town which was far more powerful than the town of yours which has driven you out: we destroyed them so there was no helper for them. . y: is then one who is on a clear (path) from his lord, no better than one to whom the evil of his conduct seems pleasing, and such as follow their own lusts? p: is he who relieth on a clear proof from his lord like those for whom the evil that they do is beautified while they follow their own lusts? s: what! is he who has a clear argument from his lord like him to whom the evil of his work is made fairseeming: and they follow their low desires. . y: (here is) a parable of the garden which the righteous are promised: in it are rivers of water incorruptible; rivers of milk of which the taste never changes; rivers of wine, a joy to those who drink; and rivers of honey pure and clear. in it there are for them all kinds of fruits; and grace from their lord. (can those in such bliss) be compared to such as shall dwell for ever in the fire, and be given, to drink, boiling water, so that it cuts up their bowels (to pieces)? p: a similitude of the garden which those who keep their duty (to allah) are promised: therein are rivers of water unpolluted, and rivers of milk whereof the flavour changeth not, and rivers of wine delicious to the drinkers, and rivers of clear-run honey; therein for them is every kind of fruit, with pardon from their lord. (are those who enjoy all this) like those who are immortal in the fire and are given boiling water to drink so that it teareth their bowels? s: a parable of the garden which those guarding (against evil) are promised: therein are rivers of water that does not alter, and rivers of milk the taste whereof does not change, and rivers of drink delicious to those who drink, and rivers of honey clarified and for them therein are all fruits and protection from their lord. (are these) like those who abide in the fire and who are made to drink boiling water so it rends their bowels asunder. . y: and among them are men who listen to thee, but in the end, when they go out from thee, they say to those who have received knowledge, "what is it he said just then?" such are men whose hearts allah has sealed, and who follow their own lusts. p: among them are some who give ear unto thee (muhammad) till, when they go forth from thy presence they say unto those who have been given knowledge: what was that he said just now? those are they whose hearts allah hath sealed, and they follow their own lusts. s: and there are those of them who seek to listen to you, until when they go forth from you, they say to those who have been given the knowledge: what was it that he said just now? these are they upon whose hearts allah has set a seal and they follow their low desires. . y: but to those who receive guidance, he increases the (light of) guidance, and bestows on them their piety and restraint (from evil). p: while as for those who walk aright, he addeth to their guidance, and giveth them their protection (against evil). s: and (as for) those who follow the right direction, he increases them in guidance and gives them their guarding (against evil). . y: do they then only wait for the hour,- that it should come on them of a sudden? but already have come some tokens thereof, and when it (actually) is on them, how can they benefit then by their admonition? p: await they aught save the hour, that it should come upon them unawares? and the beginnings thereof have already come. but how, when it hath come upon them, can they take their warning? s: do they then wait for aught but the hour that it should come to them all of a sudden? now indeed the tokens of it have (already) come, but how shall they have their reminder when it comes on them? . y: know, therefore, that there is no god but allah, and ask forgiveness for thy fault, and for the men and women who believe: for allah knows how ye move about and how ye dwell in your homes. p: so know (o muhammad) that there is no god save allah, and ask forgiveness for thy sin and for believing men and believing women. allah knoweth (both) your place of turmoil and your place of rest. s: so know that there is no god but allah, and, ask protection for your fault and for the believing men and the believing women; and allah knows the place of your returning and the place of your abiding. . y: those who believe say, "why is not a sura sent down (for us)?" but when a sura of basic or categorical meaning is revealed, and fighting is mentioned therein, thou wilt see those in whose hearts is a disease looking at thee with a look of one in swoon at the approach of death. but more fitting for them- p: and those who believe say: if only a surah were revealed! but when a decisive surah is revealed and war is mentioned therein, thou seest those in whose hearts is a disease looking at thee with the look of men fainting unto death. therefor woe unto them! s: and those who believe say: why has not a chapter been revealed? but when a decisive chapter is revealed, and fighting is mentioned therein you see those in whose hearts is a disease look to you with the look of one fainting because of death. woe to them then! . y: were it to obey and say what is just, and when a matter is resolved on, it were best for them if they were true to allah. p: obedience and a civil word. then, when the matter is determined, if they are loyal to allah it will be well for them. s: obedience and a gentle word (was proper); but when the affair becomes settled, then if they remain true to allah it would certainly be better for them. . y: then, is it to be expected of you, if ye were put in authority, that ye will do mischief in the land, and break your ties of kith and kin? p: would ye then, if ye were given the command, work corruption in the land and sever your ties of kinship? s: but if you held command, you were sure to make mischief in the land and cut off the ties of kinship! . y: such are the men whom allah has cursed for he has made them deaf and blinded their sight. p: such are they whom allah curseth so that he deafeneth them and maketh blind their eyes. s: those it is whom allah has cursed so he has made them deaf and blinded their eyes. . y: do they not then earnestly seek to understand the qur'an, or are their hearts locked up by them? p: will they then not meditate on the qur'an, or are there locks on the hearts? s: do they not then reflect on the quran? nay, on the hearts there are locks. . y: those who turn back as apostates after guidance was clearly shown to them,- the evil one has instigated them and busied them up with false hopes. p: lo! those who turn back after the guidance hath been manifested unto them, satan hath seduced them, and he giveth them the rein. s: surely (as for) those who return on their backs after that guidance has become manifest to them, the shaitan has made it a light matter to them; and he gives them respite. . y: this, because they said to those who hate what allah has revealed, "we will obey you in part of (this) matter"; but allah knows their (inner) secrets. p: that is because they say unto those who hate what allah hath revealed: we will obey you in some matters; and allah knoweth their secret talk. s: that is because they say to those who hate what allah has revealed: we will obey you in some of the affairs; and allah knows their secrets. . y: but how (will it be) when the angels take their souls at death, and smite their faces and their backs? p: then how (will it be with them) when the angels gather them, smiting their faces and their backs! s: but how will it be when the angels cause them to die smiting their backs. . y: this because they followed that which called forth the wrath of allah, and they hated allah's good pleasure; so he made their deeds of no effect. p: that will be because they followed that which angereth allah, and hated that which pleaseth him. therefor he hath made their actions vain. s: that is because they follow what is displeasing to allah and are averse to his pleasure, therefore he has made null their deeds. . y: or do those in whose hearts is a disease, think that allah will not bring to light all their rancour? p: or do those in whose hearts is a disease deem that allah will not bring to light their (secret) hates? s: or do those in whose hearts is a disease think that allah will not bring forth their spite? . y: had we so wiled, we could have shown them up to thee, and thou shouldst have known them by their marks: but surely thou wilt know them by the tone of their speech! and allah knows all that ye do. p: and if we would, we could show them unto thee (muhammad) so that thou shouldst know them surely by their marks. and thou shalt know them by the burden of their talk. and allah knoweth your deeds. s: and if we please we would have made you know them so that you would certainly have recognized them by their marks and most certainly you can recognize them by the intent of (their) speech; and allah knows your deeds. . y: and we shall try you until we test those among you who strive their utmost and persevere in patience; and we shall try your reported (mettle). p: and verily we shall try you till we know those of you who strive hard (for the cause of allah) and the steadfast, and till we test your record. s: and most certainly we will try you until we have known those among you who exert themselves hard, and the patient, and made your case manifest. . y: those who reject allah, hinder (men) from the path of allah, and resist the messenger, after guidance has been clearly shown to them, will not injure allah in the least, but he will make their deeds of no effect. p: lo! those who disbelieve and turn from the way of allah and oppose the messenger after the guidance hath been manifested unto them, they hurt allah not a jot, and he will make their actions fruitless. s: surely those who disbelieve and turn away from allah's way and oppose the messenger after that guidance has become clear to them cannot harm allah in any way, and he will make null their deeds. . y: o ye who believe! obey allah, and obey the messenger, and make not vain your deeds! p: o ye who believe! obey allah and obey the messenger, and render not your actions vain. s: o you who believe! obey allah and obey the messenger, and do not make your deeds of no effect. . y: those who reject allah, and hinder (men) from the path of allah, then die rejecting allah,- allah will not forgive them. p: lo! those who disbelieve and turn from the way of allah and then die disbelievers, allah surely will not pardon them. s: surely those who disbelieve and turn away from allah's way, then they die while they are unbelievers, allah will by no means forgive them. . y: be not weary and faint-hearted, crying for peace, when ye should be uppermost: for allah is with you, and will never put you in loss for your (good) deeds. p: so do not falter and cry out for peace when ye (will be) the uppermost, and allah is with you, and he will not grudge (the reward of) your actions. s: and be not slack so as to cry for peace and you have the upper hand, and allah is with you, and he will not bring your deeds to naught. . y: the life of this world is but play and amusement: and if ye believe and guard against evil, he will grant you your recompense, and will not ask you (to give up) your possessions. p: the life of the world is but a sport and a pastime. and if ye believe and ward off (evil). he will give you your wages, and will not ask of you your wordly wealth. s: the life of this world is only idle sport and play, and if you believe and guard (against evil) he will give you your rewards, and will not ask of you your possessions. . y: if he were to ask you for all of them, and press you, ye would covetously withhold, and he would bring out all your ill-feeling. p: if he should ask it of you and importune you, ye would hoard it, and he would bring to light your (secret) hates. s: if he should ask you for it and urge you, you will be niggardly, and he will bring forth your malice. . y: behold, ye are those invited to spend (of your substance) in the way of allah: but among you are some that are niggardly. but any who are niggardly are so at the expense of their own souls. but allah is free of all wants, and it is ye that are needy. if ye turn back (from the path), he will substitute in your stead another people; then they would not be like you! p: lo! ye are those who are called to spend in the way of allah, yet among you there are some who hoard. and as for him who hoardeth, he hoardeth only from his soul. and allah is the rich, and ye are the poor. and if ye turn away he will exchange you for some other folk, and they will not be the likes of you. s: behold! you are those who are called upon to spend in allah's way, but among you are those who are niggardly, and whoever is niggardly is niggardly against his own soul; and allah is self-sufficient and you have need (of him), and if you turn back he will bring in your place another people, then they will not be like you. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-fath (victory, conquest) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: verily we have granted thee a manifest victory: p: lo! we have given thee (o muhammad) a signal victory, s: surely we have given to you a clear victory . y: that allah may forgive thee thy faults of the past and those to follow; fulfil his favour to thee; and guide thee on the straight way; p: that allah may forgive thee of thy sin that which is past and that which is to come, and may perfect his favour unto thee, and may guide thee on a right path, s: that allah may forgive your community their past faults and those to follow and complete his favor to you and keep you on a right way, . y: and that allah may help thee with powerful help. p: and that allah may help thee with strong help - s: and that allah might help you with a mighty help. . y: it is he who sent down tranquillity into the hearts of the believers, that they may add faith to their faith;- for to allah belong the forces of the heavens and the earth; and allah is full of knowledge and wisdom;- p: he it is who sent down peace of reassurance into the hearts of the believers that they might add faith unto their faith. allah's are the hosts of the heavens and the earth, and allah is ever knower, wise - s: he it is who sent down tranquillity into the hearts of the believers that they might have more of faith added to their faith-- and allah's are the hosts of the heavens and the earth, and allah is knowing, wise- . y: that he may admit the men and women who believe, to gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell therein for aye, and remove their ills from them;- and that is, in the sight of allah, the highest achievement (for man),- p: that he may bring the believing men and the believing women into gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide, and may remit from them their evil deeds - that, in the sight of allah, is the supreme triumph - s: that he may cause the believing men and the believing women to enter gardens beneath which rivers flow to abide therein and remove from them their evil; and that is a grand achievement with allah; . y: and that he may punish the hypocrites, men and women, and the polytheists, men and women, who imagine an evil opinion of allah. on them is a round of evil: the wrath of allah is on them: he has cursed them and got hell ready for them: and evil is it for a destination. p: and may punish the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women, and the idolatrous men and the idolatrous women, who think an evil thought concerning allah. for them is the evil turn of fortune, and allah is wroth against them and hath cursed them, and hath made ready for them hell, a hapless journey's end. s: and (that) he may punish the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women, and the polytheistic men and the polytheistic women, the entertainers of evil thoughts about allah. on them is the evil turn, and allah is wroth with them and has cursed them and prepared hell for them, and evil is the resort. . y: for to allah belong the forces of the heavens and the earth; and allah is exalted in power, full of wisdom. p: allah's are the hosts of the heavens and the earth, and allah is ever mighty, wise. s: and allah's are the hosts of the heavens and the earth; and allah is mighty, wise. . y: we have truly sent thee as a witness, as a bringer of glad tidings, and as a warner: p: lo! we have sent thee (o muhammad) as a witness and a bearer of good tidings and a warner, s: surely we have sent you as a witness and as a bearer of good news and as a warner, . y: in order that ye (o men) may believe in allah and his messenger, that ye may assist and honour him, and celebrate his praise morning and evening. p: that ye (mankind) may believe in allah and his messenger, and may honour him, and may revere him, and may glorify him at early dawn and at the close of day. s: that you may believe in allah and his messenger and may aid him and revere him; and (that) you may declare his glory, morning and evening. . y: verily those who plight their fealty to thee do no less than plight their fealty to allah: the hand of allah is over their hands: then any one who violates his oath, does so to the harm of his own soul, and any one who fulfils what he has covenanted with allah,- allah will soon grant him a great reward. p: lo! those who swear allegiance unto thee (muhammad), swear allegiance only unto allah. the hand of allah is above their hands. so whosoever breaketh his oath, breaketh it only to his soul's hurt; while whosoever keepeth his covenant with allah, on him will he bestow immense reward. s: surely those who swear allegiance to you do but swear allegiance to allah; the hand of allah is above their hands. therefore whoever breaks (his faith), he breaks it only to the injury of his own soul, and whoever fulfills what he has covenanted with allah, he will grant him a mighty reward. . y: the desert arabs who lagged behind will say to thee: "we were engaged in (looking after) our flocks and herds, and our families: do thou then ask forgiveness for us." they say with their tongues what is not in their hearts. say: "who then has any power at all (to intervene) on your behalf with allah, if his will is to give you some loss or to give you some profit? but allah is well acquainted with all that ye do." p: those of the wandering arabs who were left behind will tell thee: our possessions and our households occupied us, so ask forgiveness for us! they speak with their tongues that which is not in their hearts. say: who can avail you aught against allah, if he intend you hurt or intend you profit? nay, but allah is ever aware of what ye do. s: those of the dwellers of the desert who were left behind will say to you: our property and our families kept us busy, so ask forgiveness for us. they say with their tongues what is not in their hearts. say: then who can control anything for you from allah if he intends to do you harm or if he intends to do you good; nay, allah is aware of what you do: . y: "nay, ye thought that the messenger and the believers would never return to their families; this seemed pleasing in your hearts, and ye conceived an evil thought, for ye are a people lost (in wickedness)." p: nay, but ye deemed that the messenger and the believers would never return to their own folk, and that was made fairseeming in your hearts, and ye did think an evil thought, and ye were worthless folk. s: nay! you rather thought that the messenger and the believers would not return to their families ever, and that was made fairseeming to your hearts and you thought an evil thought and you were a people doomed to perish. . y: and if any believe not in allah and his messenger, we have prepared, for those who reject allah, a blazing fire! p: and so for him who believeth not in allah and his messenger - lo! we have prepared a flame for disbelievers. s: and whoever does not believe in allah and his messenger, then surely we have prepared burning fire for the unbelievers. . y: to allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth: he forgives whom he wills, and he punishes whom he wills: but allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: and allah's is the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth. he forgiveth whom he will, and punisheth whom he will. and allah is ever forgiving, merciful. s: and allah's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; he forgives whom he pleases and punishes whom he pleases, and allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: those who lagged behind (will say), when ye (are free to) march and take booty (in war): "permit us to follow you." they wish to change allah's decree: say: "not thus will ye follow us: allah has already declared (this) beforehand": then they will say, "but ye are jealous of us." nay, but little do they understand (such things). p: those who were left behind will say, when ye set forth to capture booty: let us go with you. they fain would change the verdict of allah. say (unto them, o muhammad): ye shall not go with us. thus hath allah said beforehand. then they will say: ye are envious of us. nay, but they understand not, save a little. s: those who are left behind will say when you set forth for the gaining of acquisitions: allow us (that) we may follow you. they desire to change the world of allah. say: by no means shall you follow us; thus did allah say before. but they will say: nay! you are jealous of us. nay! they do not understand but a little. . y: say to the desert arabs who lagged behind: "ye shall be summoned (to fight) against a people given to vehement war: then shall ye fight, or they shall submit. then if ye show obedience, allah will grant you a goodly reward, but if ye turn back as ye did before, he will punish you with a grievous penalty." p: say unto those of the wandering arabs who were left behind: ye will be called against a folk of mighty prowess, to fight them until they surrender; and if ye obey, allah will give you a fair reward; but if ye turn away as ye did turn away before, he will punish you with a painful doom. s: say to those of the dwellers of the desert who were left behind: you shall soon be invited (to fight) against a people possessing mighty prowess; you will fight against them until they submit; then if you obey, allah will grant you a good reward; and if you turn back as you turned back before, he will punish you with a painful punishment. . y: no blame is there on the blind, nor is there blame on the lame, nor on one ill (if he joins not the war): but he that obeys allah and his messenger,- (allah) will admit him to gardens beneath which rivers flow; and he who turns back, (allah) will punish him with a grievous penalty. p: there is no blame for the blind, nor is there blame for the lame, nor is there blame for the sick (that they go not forth to war). and whoso obeyeth allah and his messenger, he will make him enter gardens underneath which rivers flow; and whoso turneth back, him will he punish with a painful doom. s: there is no harm in the blind, nor is there any harm in the lame, nor is there any harm in the sick (if they do not go forth); and whoever obeys allah and his messenger, he will cause him to enter gardens beneath which rivers flow, and whoever turns back, he will punish him with a painful punishment. . y: allah's good pleasure was on the believers when they swore fealty to thee under the tree: he knew what was in their hearts, and he sent down tranquillity to them; and he rewarded them with a speedy victory; p: allah was well pleased with the believers when they swore allegiance unto thee beneath the tree, and he knew what was in their hearts, and he sent down peace of reassurance on them, and hath rewarded them with a near victory; s: certainly allah was well pleased with the believers when they swore allegiance to you under the tree, and he knew what was in their hearts, so he sent down tranquillity on them and rewarded them with a near victory, . y: and many gains will they acquire (besides): and allah is exalted in power, full of wisdom. p: and much booty that they will capture. allah is ever mighty, wise. s: and many acquisitions which they will take; and allah is mighty, wise. . y: allah has promised you many gains that ye shall acquire, and he has given you these beforehand; and he has restrained the hands of men from you; that it may be a sign for the believers, and that he may guide you to a straight path; p: allah promiseth you much booty that ye will capture, and hath given you this in advance, and hath withheld men's hands from you, that it may be a token for the believers, and that he may guide you on a right path. s: allah promised you many acquisitions which you will take, then he hastened on this one for you and held back the hands of men from you, and that it may be a sign for the believers and that he may guide you on a right path. . y: and other gains (there are), which are not within your power, but which allah has compassed: and allah has power over all things. p: and other (gain), which ye have not been able to achieve, allah will compass it, allah is able to do all things. s: and others which you have not yet been able to achieve allah has surely encompassed them, and allah has power over all things. . y: if the unbelievers should fight you, they would certainly turn their backs; then would they find neither protector nor helper. p: and if those who disbelieve join battle with you they will take to flight, and afterward they will find no protecting friend nor helper. s: and if those who disbelieve fight with you, they would certainly turn (their) backs, then they would not find any protector or a helper. . y: (such has been) the practice (approved) of allah already in the past: no change wilt thou find in the practice (approved) of allah. p: it is the law of allah which hath taken course aforetime. thou wilt not find for the law of allah aught of power to change. s: such has been the course of allah that has indeed run before, and you shall not find a change in allah's course. . y: and it is he who has restrained their hands from you and your hands from them in the midst of makka, after that he gave you the victory over them. and allah sees well all that ye do. p: and he it is who hath withheld men's hands from you, and hath withheld your hands from them, in the valley of mecca, after he had made you victors over them. allah is seer of what ye do. s: and he it is who held back their hands from you and your hands from them in the valley of mecca after he had given you victory over them; and allah is seeing what you do. . y: they are the ones who denied revelation and hindered you from the sacred mosque and the sacrificial animals, detained from reaching their place of sacrifice. had there not been believing men and believing women whom ye did not know that ye were trampling down and on whose account a crime would have accrued to you without (your) knowledge, (allah would have allowed you to force your way, but he held back your hands) that he may admit to his mercy whom he will. if they had been apart, we should certainly have punished the unbelievers among them with a grievous punishment. p: these it was who disbelieved and debarred you from the inviolable place of worship, and debarred the offering from reaching its goal. and if it had not been for believing men and believing women, whom ye know not - lest ye should tread them under foot and thus incur guilt for them unknowingly; that allah might bring into his mercy whom he will - if (the believers and the disbelievers) had been clearly separated we verily had punished those of them who disbelieved with painful punishment. s: it is they who disbelieved and turned you away from the sacred mosque and (turned off) the offering withheld from arriving at its destined place; and were it not for the believing men and the believing women, whom, not having known, you might have trodden down, and thus something hateful might have afflicted you on their account without knowledge-- so that allah may cause to enter into his mercy whomsoever he pleases; had they been widely separated one from another, we would surely have punished those who disbelieved from among them with a painful punishment. . y: while the unbelievers got up in their hearts heat and cant - the heat and cant of ignorance,- allah sent down his tranquillity to his messenger and to the believers, and made them stick close to the command of self-restraint; and well were they entitled to it and worthy of it. and allah has full knowledge of all things. p: when those who disbelieve had set up in their hearts zealotry, the zealotry of the age of ignorance, then allah sent down his peace of reassurance upon his messenger and upon the believers and imposed on them the word of self-restraint, for they were worthy of it and meet for it. and allah is aware of all things. s: when those who disbelieved harbored in their hearts (feelings of) disdain, the disdain of (the days of) ignorance, but allah sent down his tranquillity on his messenger and on the believers, and made them keep the word of guarding (against evil), and they were entitled to it and worthy of it; and allah is cognizant of all things. . y: truly did allah fulfil the vision for his messenger: ye shall enter the sacred mosque, if allah wills, with minds secure, heads shaved, hair cut short, and without fear. for he knew what ye knew not, and he granted, besides this, a speedy victory. p: allah hath fulfilled the vision for his messenger in very truth. ye shall indeed enter the inviolable place of worship, if allah will, secure, (having your hair) shaven and cut, not fearing. but he knoweth that which ye know not, and hath given you a near victory beforehand. s: certainly allah had shown to his messenger the vision with truth: you shall most certainly enter the sacred mosque, if allah pleases, in security, (some) having their heads shaved and (others) having their hair cut, you shall not fear, but he knows what you do not know, so he brought about a near victory before that. . y: it is he who has sent his messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, to proclaim it over all religion: and enough is allah for a witness. p: he it is who hath sent his messenger with the guidance and the religion of truth, that he may cause it to prevail over all religion. and allah sufficeth as a witness. s: he it is who sent his messenger with the guidance and the true religion that he may make it prevail over all the religions; and allah is enough for a witness. . y: muhammad is the messenger of allah; and those who are with him are strong against unbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other. thou wilt see them bow and prostrate themselves (in prayer), seeking grace from allah and (his) good pleasure. on their faces are their marks, (being) the traces of their prostration. this is their similitude in the taurat; and their similitude in the gospel is: like a seed which sends forth its blade, then makes it strong; it then becomes thick, and it stands on its own stem, (filling) the sowers with wonder and delight. as a result, it fills the unbelievers with rage at them. allah has promised those among them who believe and do righteous deeds forgiveness, and a great reward. p: muhammad is the messenger of allah. and those with him are hard against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves. thou (o muhammad) seest them bowing and falling prostrate (in worship), seeking bounty from allah and (his) acceptance. the mark of them is on their foreheads from the traces of prostration. such is their likeness in the torah and their likeness in the gospel - like as sown corn that sendeth forth its shoot and strengtheneth it and riseth firm upon its stalk, delighting the sowers - that he may enrage the disbelievers with (the sight of) them. allah hath promised, unto such of them as believe and do good works, forgiveness and immense reward. s: muhammad is the messenger of allah, and those with him are firm of heart against the unbelievers, compassionate among themselves; you will see them bowing down, prostrating themselves, seeking grace from allah and pleasure; their marks are in their faces because of the effect of prostration; that is their description in the taurat and their description in the injeel; like as seed-produce that puts forth its sprout, then strengthens it, so it becomes stout and stands firmly on its stem, delighting the sowers that he may enrage the unbelievers on account of them; allah has promised those among them who believe and do good, forgiveness and a great reward. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-hujraat (the private apartments, the inner apartments) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: o ye who believe! put not yourselves forward before allah and his messenger; but fear allah: for allah is he who hears and knows all things. p: o ye who believe! be not forward in the presence of allah and his messenger, and keep your duty to allah. lo! allah is hearer, knower. s: o you who believe! be not forward in the presence of allah and his messenger, and be careful of (your duty to) allah; surely allah is hearing, knowing. . y: o ye who believe! raise not your voices above the voice of the prophet, nor speak aloud to him in talk, as ye may speak aloud to one another, lest your deeds become vain and ye perceive not. p: o ye who believe! lift not up your voices above the voice of the prophet, nor shout when speaking to him as ye shout one to another, lest your works be rendered vain while ye perceive not. s: o you who believe! do not raise your voices above the voice of the prophet, and do not speak loud to him as you speak loud to one another, lest your deeds became null while you do not perceive. . y: those that lower their voices in the presence of allah's messenger,- their hearts has allah tested for piety: for them is forgiveness and a great reward. p: lo! they who subdue their voices in the presence of the messenger of allah, those are they whose hearts allah hath proven unto righteousness. theirs will be forgiveness and immense reward. s: surely those who lower their voices before allah's messenger are they whose hearts allah has proved for guarding (against evil); they shall have forgiveness and a great reward. . y: those who shout out to thee from without the inner apartments - most of them lack understanding. p: lo! those who call thee from behind the private apartments, most of them have no sense. s: (as for) those who call out to you from behind the private chambers, surely most of them do not understand. . y: if only they had patience until thou couldst come out to them, it would be best for them: but allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: and if they had had patience till thou camest forth unto them, it had been better for them. and allah is forgiving, merciful. s: and if they wait patiently until you come out to them, it would certainly be better for them, and allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: o ye who believe! if a wicked person comes to you with any news, ascertain the truth, lest ye harm people unwittingly, and afterwards become full of repentance for what ye have done. p: o ye who believe! if an evil-liver bring you tidings, verify it, lest ye smite some folk in ignorance and afterward repent of what ye did. s: o you who believe! if an evil-doer comes to you with a report, look carefully into it, lest you harm a people in ignorance, then be sorry for what you have done. . y: and know that among you is allah's messenger: were he, in many matters, to follow your (wishes), ye would certainly fall into misfortune: but allah has endeared the faith to you, and has made it beautiful in your hearts, and he has made hateful to you unbelief, wickedness, and rebellion: such indeed are those who walk in righteousness;- p: and know that the messenger of allah is among you. if he were to obey you in much of the government, ye would surely be in trouble; but allah hath endeared the faith to you and hath beautified it in your hearts, and hath made disbelief and lewdness and rebellion hateful unto you. such are they who are the rightly guided. s: and know that among you is allah's messenger; should he obey you in many a matter, you would surely fall into distress, but allah has endeared the faith to you and has made it seemly in your hearts, and he has made hateful to you unbelief and transgression and disobedience; these it is that are the followers of a right way. . y: a grace and favour from allah; and allah is full of knowledge and wisdom. p: (it is) a bounty and a grace from allah; and allah is knower, wise. s: by grace from allah and as a favor; and allah is knowing, wise. . y: if two parties among the believers fall into a quarrel, make ye peace between them: but if one of them transgresses beyond bounds against the other, then fight ye (all) against the one that transgresses until it complies with the command of allah; but if it complies, then make peace between them with justice, and be fair: for allah loves those who are fair (and just). p: and if two parties of believers fall to fighting, then make peace between them. and if one party of them doeth wrong to the other, fight ye that which doeth wrong till it return unto the ordinance of allah; then, if it return, make peace between them justly, and act equitably. lo! allah loveth the equitable. s: and if two parties of the believers quarrel, make peace between them; but if one of them acts wrongfully towards the other, fight that which acts wrongfully until it returns to allah's command; then if it returns, make peace between them with justice and act equitably; surely allah loves those who act equitably. . y: the believers are but a single brotherhood: so make peace and reconciliation between your two (contending) brothers; and fear allah, that ye may receive mercy. p: the believers are naught else than brothers. therefore make peace between your brethren and observe your duty to allah that haply ye may obtain mercy. s: the believers are but brethren, therefore make peace between your brethren and be careful of (your duty to) allah that mercy may be had on you. . y: o ye who believe! let not some men among you laugh at others: it may be that the (latter) are better than the (former): nor let some women laugh at others: it may be that the (latter) are better than the (former): nor defame nor be sarcastic to each other, nor call each other by (offensive) nicknames: ill-seeming is a name connoting wickedness, (to be used of one) after he has believed: and those who do not desist are (indeed) doing wrong. p: o ye who believe! let not a folk deride a folk who may be better than they (are), not let women (deride) women who may be better than they are; neither defame one another, nor insult one another by nicknames. bad is the name of lewdness after faith. and whoso turneth not in repentance, such are evil-doers. s: o you who believe! let not (one) people laugh at (another) people perchance they may be better than they, nor let women (laugh) at (other) women, perchance they may be better than they; and do not find fault with your own people nor call one another by nicknames; evil is a bad name after faith, and whoever does not turn, these it is that are the unjust. . y: o ye who believe! avoid suspicion as much (as possible): for suspicion in some cases is a sin: and spy not on each other behind their backs. would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? nay, ye would abhor it...but fear allah: for allah is oft-returning, most merciful. p: o ye who believe! shun much suspicion; for lo! some suspicion is a crime. and spy not, neither backbite one another. would one of you love to eat the flesh of his dead brother? ye abhor that (so abhor the other)! and keep your duty (to allah). lo! allah is relenting, merciful. s: o you who believe! avoid most of suspicion, for surely suspicion in some cases is a sin, and do not spy nor let some of you backbite others. does one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? but you abhor it; and be careful of (your duty to) allah, surely allah is oft-returning (to mercy), merciful. . y: o mankind! we created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each other). verily the most honoured of you in the sight of allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. and allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things). p: o mankind! lo! we have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. lo! the noblest of you, in the sight of allah, is the best in conduct. lo! allah is knower, aware. s: o you men! surely we have created you of a male and a female, and made you tribes and families that you may know each other; surely the most honorable of you with allah is the one among you most careful (of his duty); surely allah is knowing, aware. . y: the desert arabs say, "we believe." say, "ye have no faith; but ye (only) say, 'we have submitted our wills to allah,' for not yet has faith entered your hearts. but if ye obey allah and his messenger, he will not belittle aught of your deeds: for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful." p: the wandering arabs say: we believe. say (unto them, o muhammad): ye believe not, but rather say "we submit," for the faith hath not yet entered into your hearts. yet, if ye obey allah and his messenger, he will not withhold from you aught of (the reward of) your deeds. lo! allah is forgiving, merciful. s: the dwellers of the desert say: we believe. say: you do not believe but say, we submit; and faith has not yet entered into your hearts; and if you obey allah and his messenger, he will not diminish aught of your deeds; surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: only those are believers who have believed in allah and his messenger, and have never since doubted, but have striven with their belongings and their persons in the cause of allah: such are the sincere ones. p: the (true) believers are those only who believe in allah and his messenger and afterward doubt not, but strive with their wealth and their lives for the cause of allah. such are the sincere. s: the believers are only those who believe in allah and his messenger then they doubt not and struggle hard with their wealth and their lives in the way of allah; they are the truthful ones. . y: say: "what! will ye instruct allah about your religion? but allah knows all that is in the heavens and on earth: he has full knowledge of all things." p: say (unto them, o muhammad): would ye teach allah your religion, when allah knoweth all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth, and allah is aware of all things? s: say: do you apprise allah of your religion, and allah knows what is in the heavens and what is in the earth; and allah is cognizant of all things. . y: they impress on thee as a favour that they have embraced islam. say, "count not your islam as a favour upon me: nay, allah has conferred a favour upon you that he has guided you to the faith, if ye be true and sincere." p: they make it a favour unto thee (muhammad) that they have surrendered (unto him). say: deem not your surrender a favour unto me; but allah doth confer a favour on you, inasmuch as he hath led you to the faith, if ye are earnest. s: they think that they lay you under an obligation by becoming muslims. say: lay me not under obligation by your islam: rather allah lays you under an obligation by guiding you to the faith if you are truthful. . y: "verily allah knows the secrets of the heavens and the earth: and allah sees well all that ye do." p: lo! allah knoweth the unseen of the heavens and the earth. and allah is seer of what ye do. s: surely allah knows the unseen things of the heavens and the earth; and allah sees what you do. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : qaf (the letter qaf) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: qaf: by the glorious qur'an (thou art allah's messenger). p: qaf. by the glorious qur'an, s: qaf. i swear by the glorious quran (that muhammad is the messenger of allah) . y: but they wonder that there has come to them a warner from among themselves. so the unbelievers say: "this is a wonderful thing!" p: nay, but they marvel that a warner of their own hath come unto them; and the disbelievers say: this is a strange thing: s: nay! they wonder that there has come to them a warner from among themselves, so the unbelievers say: this is a wonderful thing: . y: "what! when we die and become dust, (shall we live again?) that is a (sort of) return far (from our understanding)." p: when we are dead and have become dust (shall we be brought back again)? that would be a far return! s: what! when we are dead and have become dust? that is afar (from probable) return. . y: we already know how much of them the earth takes away: with us is a record guarding (the full account). p: we know that which the earth taketh of them, and with us is a recording book. s: we know indeed what the earth diminishes of them, and with us is a writing that preserves. . y: but they deny the truth when it comes to them: so they are in a confused state. p: nay, but they have denied the truth when it came unto them, therefor they are now in troubled case. s: nay, they rejected the truth when it came to them, so they are (now) in a state of confusion. . y: do they not look at the sky above them?- how we have made it and adorned it, and there are no flaws in it? p: have they not then observed the sky above them, how we have constructed it and beautified it, and how there are no rifts therein? s: do they not then look up to heaven above them how we have made it and adorned it and it has no gaps? . y: and the earth- we have spread it out, and set thereon mountains standing firm, and produced therein every kind of beautiful growth (in pairs)- p: and the earth have we spread out, and have flung firm hills therein, and have caused of every lovely kind to grow thereon, s: and the earth, we have made it plain and cast in it mountains and we have made to grow therein of all beautiful kinds, . y: to be observed and commemorated by every devotee turning (to allah). p: a vision and a reminder for every penitent slave. s: to give sight and as a reminder to every servant who turns frequently (to allah). . y: and we send down from the sky rain charted with blessing, and we produce therewith gardens and grain for harvests; p: and we send down from the sky blessed water whereby we give growth unto gardens and the grain of crops, s: and we send down from the cloud water abounding in good, then we cause to grow thereby gardens and the grain that is reaped, . y: and tall (and stately) palm-trees, with shoots of fruit-stalks, piled one over another;- p: and lofty date-palms with ranged clusters, s: and the tall palm-trees having spadices closely set one above another, . y: as sustenance for (allah's) servants;- and we give (new) life therewith to land that is dead: thus will be the resurrection. p: provision (made) for men; and therewith we quicken a dead land. even so will be the resurrection of the dead. s: a sustenance for the servants, and we give life thereby to a dead land; thus is the rising. . y: before them was denied (the hereafter) by the people of noah, the companions of the rass, the thamud, p: the folk of noah denied (the truth) before them, and (so did) the dwellers at ar-rass and (the tribe of) thamud, s: (others) before them rejected (prophets): the people of nuh and the dwellers of ar-rass and samood, . y: the 'ad, pharaoh, the brethren of lut, p: and (the tribe of) a'ad, and pharaoh, and the brethren of lot, s: and ad and firon and lut's brethren, . y: the companions of the wood, and the people of tubba'; each one (of them) rejected the messengers, and my warning was duly fulfilled (in them). p: and the dwellers in the wood, and the folk of tubb'a: every one denied their messengers, therefor my threat took effect. s: and the dwellers of the grove and the people of tuba; all rejected the messengers, so my threat came to pass. . y: were we then weary with the first creation, that they should be in confused doubt about a new creation? p: were we then worn out by the first creation? yet they are in doubt about a new creation. s: were we then fatigued with the first creation? yet are they in doubt with regard to a new creation. . y: it was we who created man, and we know what dark suggestions his soul makes to him: for we are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein. p: we verily created man and we know what his soul whispereth to him, and we are nearer to him than his jugular vein. s: and certainly we created man, and we know what his mind suggests to him, and we are nearer to him than his life-vein. . y: behold, two (guardian angels) appointed to learn (his doings) learn (and noted them), one sitting on the right and one on the left. p: when the two receivers receive (him), seated on the right hand and on the left, s: when the two receivers receive, sitting on the right and on the left. . y: not a word does he utter but there is a sentinel by him, ready (to note it). p: he uttereth no word but there is with him an observer ready. s: he utters not a word but there is by him a watcher at hand. . y: and the stupor of death will bring truth (before his eyes): "this was the thing which thou wast trying to escape!" p: and the agony of death cometh in truth. (and it is said unto him): this is that which thou wast wont to shun. s: and the stupor of death will come in truth; that is what you were trying to escape. . y: and the trumpet shall be blown: that will be the day whereof warning (had been given). p: and the trumpet is blown. this is the threatened day. s: and the trumpet shall be blown; that is the day of the threatening. . y: and there will come forth every soul: with each will be an (angel) to drive, and an (angel) to bear witness. p: and every soul cometh, along with it a driver and a witness. s: and every soul shall come, with it a driver and a witness. . y: (it will be said:) "thou wast heedless of this; now have we removed thy veil, and sharp is thy sight this day!" p: (and unto the evil-doer it is said): thou wast in heedlessness of this. now we have removed from thee thy covering, and piercing is thy sight this day. s: certainly you were heedless of it, but now we have removed from you your veil, so your sight today is sharp. . y: and his companion will say: "here is (his record) ready with me!" p: and (unto the evil-doer) his comrade saith: this is that which i have ready (as testimony). s: and his companions shall say: this is what is ready with me. . y: (the sentence will be:) "throw, throw into hell every contumacious rejecter (of allah)!"- p: (and it is said): do ye twain hurl to hell each rebel ingrate, s: do cast into hell every ungrateful, rebellious one, . y: "who forbade what was good, transgressed all bounds, cast doubts and suspicions;" p: hinderer of good, transgressor, doubter, s: forbidder of good, exceeder of limits, doubter, . y: "who set up another god beside allah: throw him into a severe penalty." p: who setteth up another god along with allah. do ye twain hurl him to the dreadful doom. s: who sets up another god with allah, so do cast him into severe chastisement. . y: his companion will say: "our lord! i did not make him transgress, but he was (himself) far astray." p: his comrade saith: our lord! i did not cause him to rebel, but he was (himself) far gone in error. s: his companion will say: our lord! i did not lead him into inordinacy but he himself was in a great error. . y: he will say: "dispute not with each other in my presence: i had already in advance sent you warning." p: he saith: contend not in my presence, when i had already proffered unto you the warning. s: he will say: do not quarrel in my presence, and indeed i gave you the threatening beforehand: . y: "the word changes not before me, and i do not the least injustice to my servants." p: the sentence that cometh from me cannot be changed, and i am in no wise a tyrant unto the slaves. s: my word shall not be changed, nor am i in the least unjust to the servants. . y: one day we will ask hell, "art thou filled to the full?" it will say, "are there any more (to come)?" p: on the day when we say unto hell: art thou filled? and it saith: can there be more to come? s: on the day that we will say to hell: are you filled up? and it will say: are there any more? . y: and the garden will be brought nigh to the righteous,- no more a thing distant. p: and the garden is brought nigh for those who kept from evil, no longer distant. s: and the garden shall be brought near to those who guard (against evil), not far off: . y: (a voice will say:) "this is what was promised for you,- for every one who turned (to allah) in sincere repentance, who kept (his law)," p: (and it is said): this is that which ye were promised. (it is) for every penitent and heedful one, s: this is what you were promised, (it is) for every one who turns frequently (to allah), keeps (his limits); . y: "who feared (allah) most gracious unseen, and brought a heart turned in devotion (to him):" p: who feareth the beneficent in secret and cometh with a contrite heart. s: who fears the beneficent allah in secret and comes with a penitent heart: . y: "enter ye therein in peace and security; this is a day of eternal life!" p: enter it in peace. this is the day of immortality. s: enter it in peace, that is the day of abiding. . y: there will be for them therein all that they wish, and more besides in our presence. p: there they have all that they desire, and there is more with us. s: they have therein what they wish and with us is more yet. . y: but how many generations before them did we destroy (for their sins),- stronger in power than they? then did they wander through the land: was there any place of escape (for them)? p: and how many a generation we destroyed before them, who were mightier than these in prowess so that they overran the lands! had they any place of refuge (when the judgment came)? s: and how many a generation did we destroy before them who were mightier in prowess than they, so they went about and about in the lands. is there a place of refuge? . y: verily in this is a message for any that has a heart and understanding or who gives ear and earnestly witnesses (the truth). p: lo! therein verily is a reminder for him who hath a heart, or giveth ear with full intelligence. s: most surely there is a reminder in this for him who has a heart or he gives ear and is a witness. . y: we created the heavens and the earth and all between them in six days, nor did any sense of weariness touch us. p: and verily we created the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them, in six days, and naught of weariness touched us. s: and certainly we created the heavens and the earth and what is between them in six periods and there touched us not any fatigue. . y: bear, then, with patience, all that they say, and celebrate the praises of thy lord, before the rising of the sun and before (its) setting. p: therefor (o muhammad) bear with what they say, and hymn the praise of thy lord before the rising and before the setting of the sun; s: therefore be patient of what they say, and sing the praise of your lord before the rising of the sun and before the setting. . y: and during part of the night, (also,) celebrate his praises, and (so likewise) after the postures of adoration. p: and in the night-time hymn his praise, and after the (prescribed) prostrations. s: and glorify him in the night and after the prayers. . y: and listen for the day when the caller will call out from a place quiet near,- p: and listen on the day when the crier crieth from a near place, s: and listen on the day when the crier shall cry from a near place . y: the day when they will hear a (mighty) blast in (very) truth: that will be the day of resurrection. p: the day when they will hear the (awful) cry in truth. that is the day of coming forth (from the graves). s: the day when they shall hear the cry in truth; that is the day of coming forth. . y: verily it is we who give life and death; and to us is the final goal- p: lo! we it is who quicken and give death, and unto us is the journeying. s: surely we give life and cause to die, and to us is the eventual coming; . y: the day when the earth will be rent asunder, from (men) hurrying out: that will be a gathering together,- quite easy for us. p: on the day when the earth splitteth asunder from them, hastening forth (they come). that is a gathering easy for us (to make). s: the day on which the earth shall cleave asunder under them, they will make haste; that is a gathering together easy to us. . y: we know best what they say; and thou art not one to overawe them by force. so admonish with the qur'an such as fear my warning! p: we are best aware of what they say, and thou (o muhammad) art in no wise a compeller over them. but warn by the qur'an him who feareth my threat. s: we know best what they say, and you are not one to compel them; therefore remind him by means of the quran who fears my threat. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : adh-dhariyat (the winnowing winds) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: by the (winds) that scatter broadcast; p: by those that winnow with a winnowing s: i swear by the wind that scatters far and wide, . y: and those that lift and bear away heavy weights; p: and those that bear the burden (of the rain) s: then those clouds bearing the load (of minute things in space). . y: and those that flow with ease and gentleness; p: and those that glide with ease (upon the sea) s: then those (ships) that glide easily, . y: and those that distribute and apportion by command;- p: and those who distribute (blessings) by command, s: then those (angels who) distribute blessings by our command; . y: verily that which ye are promised is true; p: lo! that wherewith ye are threatened is indeed true, s: what you are threatened with is most surely true, . y: and verily judgment and justice must indeed come to pass. p: and lo! the judgment will indeed befall. s: and the judgment must most surely come about. . y: by the sky with (its) numerous paths, p: by the heaven full of paths, s: i swear by the heaven full of ways. . y: truly ye are in a doctrine discordant, p: lo! ye, forsooth, are of various opinion (concerning the truth). s: most surely you are at variance with each other in what you say, . y: through which are deluded (away from the truth) such as would be deluded. p: he is made to turn away from it who is (himself) averse. s: he is turned away from it who would be turned away. . y: woe to the falsehood-mongers,- p: accursed be the conjecturers s: cursed be the liars, . y: those who (flounder) heedless in a flood of confusion: p: who are careless in an abyss! s: who are in a gulf (of ignorance) neglectful; . y: they ask, "when will be the day of judgment and justice?" p: they ask: when is the day of judgment? s: they ask: when is the day of judgment? . y: (it will be) a day when they will be tried (and tested) over the fire! p: (it is) the day when they will be tormented at the fire, s: (it is) the day on which they shall be tried at the fire. . y: "taste ye your trial! this is what ye used to ask to be hastened!" p: (and it will be said unto them): taste your torment (which ye inflicted). this is what ye sought to hasten. s: taste your persecution! this is what you would hasten on. . y: as to the righteous, they will be in the midst of gardens and springs, p: lo! those who keep from evil will dwell amid gardens and watersprings, s: surely those who guard (against evil) shall be in gardens and fountains. . y: taking joy in the things which their lord gives them, because, before then, they lived a good life. p: taking that which their lord giveth them; for lo! aforetime they were doers of good; s: taking what their lord gives them; surely they were before that, the doers of good. . y: they were in the habit of sleeping but little by night, p: they used to sleep but little of the night, s: they used to sleep but little in the night. . y: and in the hour of early dawn, they (were found) praying for forgiveness; p: and ere the dawning of each day would seek forgiveness, s: and in the morning they asked forgiveness. . y: and in their wealth and possessions (was remembered) the right of the (needy), him who asked, and him who (for some reason) was prevented (from asking). p: and in their wealth the beggar and the outcast had due share. s: and in their property was a portion due to him who begs and to him who is denied (good). . y: on the earth are signs for those of assured faith, p: and in the earth are portents for those whose faith is sure. s: and in the earth there are signs for those who are sure, . y: as also in your own selves: will ye not then see? p: and (also) in yourselves. can ye then not see? s: and in your own souls (too); will you not then see? . y: and in heaven is your sustenance, as (also) that which ye are promised. p: and in the heaven is your providence and that which ye are promised; s: and in the heaven is your sustenance and what you are threatened with. . y: then, by the lord of heaven and earth, this is the very truth, as much as the fact that ye can speak intelligently to each other. p: and by the lord of the heavens and the earth, it is the truth, even as (it is true) that ye speak. s: and by the lord of the heavens and the earth! it is most surely the truth, just as you do speak. . y: has the story reached thee, of the honoured guests of abraham? p: hath the story of abraham's honoured guests reached thee (o muhammad)? s: has there come to you information about the honored guests of ibrahim? . y: behold, they entered his presence, and said: "peace!" he said, "peace!" (and thought), "these seem unusual people." p: when they came in unto him and said: peace! he answered, peace! (and thought): folk unknown (to me). s: when they entered upon him, they said: peace. peace, said he, a strange people. . y: then he turned quickly to his household, brought out a fatted calf, p: then he went apart unto his housefolk so that they brought a fatted calf; s: then he turned aside to his family secretly and brought a fat (roasted) calf, . y: and placed it before them... he said, "will ye not eat?" p: and he set it before them, saying: will ye not eat? s: so he brought it near them. he said: what! will you not eat? . y: (when they did not eat), he conceived a fear of them. they said, "fear not," and they gave him glad tidings of a son endowed with knowledge. p: then he conceived a fear of them. they said: fear not! and gave him tidings of (the birth of) a wise son. s: so he conceived in his mind a fear on account of them. they said: fear not. and they gave him the good news of a boy possessing knowledge. . y: but his wife came forward (laughing) aloud: she smote her forehead and said: "a barren old woman!" p: then his wife came forward, making moan, and smote her face, and cried: a barren old woman! s: then his wife came up in great grief, and she struck her face and said: an old barren woman! . y: they said, "even so has thy lord spoken: and he is full of wisdom and knowledge." p: they said: even so saith thy lord. lo! he is the wise, the knower. s: they said: thus says your lord: surely he is the wise, the knowing. . y: (abraham) said: "and what, o ye messengers, is your errand (now)?" p: (abraham) said: and (afterward) what is your errand, o ye sent (from allah)? s: he said: what is your affair then, o messengers! . y: they said, "we have been sent to a people (deep) in sin;"- p: they said: lo! we are sent unto a guilty folk, s: they said: surely we are sent to a guilty people, . y: "to bring on, on them, (a shower of) stones of clay (brimstone)," p: that we may send upon them stones of clay, s: that we may send down upon them stone of clay, . y: "marked as from thy lord for those who trespass beyond bounds." p: marked by thy lord for (the destruction of) the wanton. s: sent forth from your lord for the extravagant. . y: then we evacuated those of the believers who were there, p: then we brought forth such believers as were there. s: then we brought forth such as were therein of the believers. . y: but we found not there any just (muslim) persons except in one house: p: but we found there but one house of those surrendered (to allah). s: but we did not find therein save a (single) house of those who submitted (the muslims). . y: and we left there a sign for such as fear the grievous penalty. p: and we left behind therein a portent for those who fear a painful doom. s: and we left therein a sign for those who fear the painful punishment. . y: and in moses (was another sign): behold, we sent him to pharaoh, with authority manifest. p: and in moses (too, there is a portent) when we sent him unto pharaoh with clear warrant, s: and in musa: when we sent him to firon with clear authority. . y: but (pharaoh) turned back with his chiefs, and said, "a sorcerer, or one possessed!" p: but he withdrew (confiding) in his might, and said: a wizard or a madman. s: but he turned away with his forces and said: a magician or a mad man. . y: so we took him and his forces, and threw them into the sea; and his was the blame. p: so we seized him and his hosts and flung them in the sea, for he was reprobate. s: so we seized him and his hosts and hurled them into the sea and he was blamable. . y: and in the 'ad (people) (was another sign): behold, we sent against them the devastating wind: p: and in (the tribe of) a'ad (there is a portent) when we sent the fatal wind against them. s: and in ad: when we sent upon them the destructive wind. . y: it left nothing whatever that it came up against, but reduced it to ruin and rottenness. p: it spared naught that it reached, but made it (all) as dust. s: it did not leave aught on which it blew, but it made it like ashes. . y: and in the thamud (was another sign): behold, they were told, "enjoy (your brief day) for a little while!" p: and in (the tribe of) thamud (there is a portent) when it was told them: take your ease awhile. s: and in samood: when it was said to them: enjoy yourselves for a while. . y: but they insolently defied the command of their lord: so the stunning noise (of an earthquake) seized them, even while they were looking on. p: but they rebelled against their lord's decree, and so the thunderbolt overtook them even while they gazed; s: but they revolted against the commandment of their lord, so the rumbling overtook them while they saw. . y: then they could not even stand (on their feet), nor could they help themselves. p: and they were unable to rise up, nor could they help themselves. s: so they were not able to rise up, nor could they defend themselves- . y: so were the people of noah before them for they wickedly transgressed. p: and the folk of noah aforetime. lo! they were licentious folk. s: and the people of nuh before, surely they were a transgressing people. . y: with power and skill did we construct the firmament: for it is we who create the vastness of pace. p: we have built the heaven with might, and we it is who make the vast extent (thereof). s: and the heaven, we raised it high with power, and most surely we are the makers of things ample. . y: and we have spread out the (spacious) earth: how excellently we do spread out! p: and the earth have we laid out, how gracious is the spreader (thereof)! s: and the earth, we have made it a wide extent; how well have we then spread (it) out. . y: and of every thing we have created pairs: that ye may receive instruction. p: and all things we have created by pairs, that haply ye may reflect. s: and of everything we have created pairs that you may be mindful. . y: hasten ye then (at once) to allah: i am from him a warner to you, clear and open! p: therefor flee unto allah; lo! i am a plain warner unto you from him. s: therefore fly to allah, surely i am a plain warner to you from him. . y: and make not another an object of worship with allah: i am from him a warner to you, clear and open! p: and set not any other god along with allah; lo! i am a plain warner unto you from him. s: and do not set up with allah another god: surely i am a plain warner to you from him. . y: similarly, no messenger came to the people before them, but they said (of him) in like manner, "a sorcerer, or one possessed"! p: even so there came no messenger unto those before them but they said: a wizard or a madman! s: thus there did not come to those before them a messenger but they said: a magician or a mad man. . y: is this the legacy they have transmitted, one to another? nay, they are themselves a people transgressing beyond bounds! p: have they handed down (the saying) as an heirloom one unto another? nay, but they are froward folk. s: have they charged each other with this? nay! they are an inordinate people. . y: so turn away from them: not thine is the blame. p: so withdraw from them (o muhammad), for thou art in no wise blameworthy, s: then turn your back upon them for you are not to blame; . y: but teach (thy message) for teaching benefits the believers. p: and warn, for warning profiteth believers. s: and continue to remind, for surely the reminder profits the believers. . y: i have only created jinns and men, that they may serve me. p: i created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship me. s: and i have not created the jinn and the men except that they should serve me. . y: no sustenance do i require of them, nor do i require that they should feed me. p: i seek no livelihood from them, nor do i ask that they should feed me. s: i do not desire from them any sustenance and i do not desire that they should feed me. . y: for allah is he who gives (all) sustenance,- lord of power,- steadfast (for ever). p: lo! allah! he it is that giveth livelihood, the lord of unbreakable might. s: surely allah is the bestower of sustenance, the lord of power, the strong. . y: for the wrong-doers, their portion is like unto the portion of their fellows (of earlier generations): then let them not ask me to hasten (that portion)! p: and lo! for those who (now) do wrong there is an evil day like unto the evil day (which came for) their likes (of old); so let them not ask me to hasten on (that day). s: so surely those who are unjust shall have a portion like the portion of their companions, therefore let them not ask me to hasten on. . y: woe, then, to the unbelievers, on account of that day of theirs which they have been promised! p: and woe unto those who disbelieve, from (that) their day which they are promised. s: therefore woe to those who disbelieve because of their day which they are threatened with. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : at-tur (the mount) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: by the mount (of revelation); p: by the mount, s: i swear by the mountain, . y: by a decree inscribed p: and a scripture inscribed s: and the book written . y: in a scroll unfolded; p: on fine parchment unrolled, s: in an outstretched fine parchment, . y: by the much-frequented fane; p: and the house frequented, s: and the house (kaaba) that is visited, . y: by the canopy raised high; p: and the roof exalted, s: and the elevated canopy . y: and by the ocean filled with swell;- p: and the sea kept filled, s: and the swollen sea . y: verily, the doom of thy lord will indeed come to pass;- p: lo! the doom of thy lord will surely come to pass; s: most surely the punishment of your lord will come to pass; . y: there is none can avert it;- p: there is none that can ward it off. s: there shall be none to avert it; . y: on the day when the firmament will be in dreadful commotion. p: on the day when the heaven will heave with (awful) heaving, s: on the day when the heaven shall move from side to side . y: and the mountains will fly hither and thither. p: and the mountains move away with (awful) movement, s: and the mountains shall pass away passing away (altogether). . y: then woe that day to those that treat (truth) as falsehood;- p: then woe that day unto the deniers s: so woe on that day to those who reject (the truth), . y: that play (and paddle) in shallow trifles. p: who play in talk of grave matters; s: those who sport entering into vain discourses. . y: that day shall they be thrust down to the fire of hell, irresistibly. p: the day when they are thrust with a (disdainful) thrust, into the fire of hell. s: the day on which they shall be driven away to the fire of hell with violence. . y: "this," it will be said, "is the fire,- which ye were wont to deny!" p: (and it is said unto them): this is the fire which ye were wont to deny. s: this is the fire which you used to give the lie to. . y: "is this then a fake, or is it ye that do not see?" p: is this magic, or do ye not see? s: is it magic then or do you not see? . y: "burn ye therein: the same is it to you whether ye bear it with patience, or not: ye but receive the recompense of your (own) deeds." p: endure the heat thereof, and whether ye are patient of it or impatient of it is all one for you. ye are only being paid for what ye used to do. s: enter into it, then bear (it) patiently, or do not bear (it) patiently, it is the same to you; you shall be requited only (for) what you did. . y: as to the righteous, they will be in gardens, and in happiness,- p: lo! those who kept their duty dwell in gardens and delight, s: surely those who guard (against evil) shall be in gardens and bliss . y: enjoying the (bliss) which their lord hath bestowed on them, and their lord shall deliver them from the penalty of the fire. p: happy because of what their lord hath given them, and (because) their lord hath warded off from them the torment of hell-fire. s: rejoicing because of what their lord gave them, and their lord saved them from the punishment of the burning fire. . y: (to them will be said:) "eat and drink ye, with profit and health, because of your (good) deeds." p: (and it is said unto them): eat and drink in health (as a reward) for what ye used to do, s: eat and drink pleasantly for what you did, . y: they will recline (with ease) on thrones (of dignity) arranged in ranks; and we shall join them to companions, with beautiful big and lustrous eyes. p: reclining on ranged couches. and we wed them unto fair ones with wide, lovely eyes. s: reclining on thrones set in lines, and we will unite them to large-eyed beautiful ones. . y: and those who believe and whose families follow them in faith,- to them shall we join their families: nor shall we deprive them (of the fruit) of aught of their works: (yet) is each individual in pledge for his deeds. p: and they who believe and whose seed follow them in faith, we cause their seed to join them (there), and we deprive them of nought of their (life's) work. every man is a pledge for that which he hath earned. s: and (as for) those who believe and their offspring follow them in faith, we will unite with them their offspring and we will not diminish to them aught of their work; every man is responsible for what he shall have wrought. . y: and we shall bestow on them, of fruit and meat, anything they shall desire. p: and we provide them with fruit and meat such as they desire. s: and we will aid them with fruit and flesh such as they desire. . y: they shall there exchange, one with another, a (loving) cup free of frivolity, free of all taint of ill. p: there they pass from hand to hand a cup wherein is neither vanity nor cause of sin. s: they shall pass therein from one to another a cup wherein there shall be nothing vain nor any sin. . y: round about them will serve, (devoted) to them, young male servants (handsome) as pearls well-guarded. p: and there go round, waiting on them menservants of their own, as they were hidden pearls. s: and round them shall go boys of theirs as if they were hidden pearls. . y: they will advance to each other, engaging in mutual enquiry. p: and some of them draw near unto others, questioning, s: and some of them shall advance towards others questioning each other. . y: they will say: "aforetime, we were not without fear for the sake of our people." p: saying: lo! of old, when we were with our families, we were ever anxious; s: saying: surely we feared before on account of our families: . y: "but allah has been good to us, and has delivered us from the penalty of the scorching wind." p: but allah hath been gracious unto us and hath preserved us from the torment of the breath of fire. s: but allah has been gracious to us and he has saved us from the punishment of the hot wind: . y: "truly, we did call unto him from of old: truly it is he, the beneficent, the merciful!" p: lo! we used to pray unto him of old. lo! he is the benign, the merciful. s: surely we called upon him before: surely he is the benign, the merciful. . y: therefore proclaim thou the praises (of thy lord): for by the grace of thy lord, thou art no (vulgar) soothsayer, nor art thou one possessed. p: therefor warn (men, o muhammad). by the grace of allah thou art neither soothsayer nor madman. s: therefore continue to remind, for by the grace of your lord, you are not a soothsayer, or a madman. . y: or do they say:- "a poet! we await for him some calamity (hatched) by time!" p: or say they: (he is) a poet, (one) for whom we may expect the accident of time? s: or do they say: a poet, we wait for him the evil accidents of time. . y: say thou: "await ye!- i too will wait along with you!" p: say (unto them): except (your fill)! lo! i am with you among the expectant. s: say: wait, for surely i too with you am of those who wait. . y: is it that their faculties of understanding urge them to this, or are they but a people transgressing beyond bounds? p: do their minds command them to do this, or are they an outrageous folk? s: nay! do their understandings bid them this? or are they an inordinate people? . y: or do they say, "he fabricated the (message)"? nay, they have no faith! p: or say they: he hath invented it? nay, but they will not believe! s: or do they say: he has forged it. nay! they do not believe. . y: let them then produce a recital like unto it,- if (it be) they speak the truth! p: then let them produce speech the like thereof, if they are truthful. s: then let them bring an announcement like it if they are truthful. . y: were they created of nothing, or were they themselves the creators? p: or were they created out of naught? or are they the creators? s: or were they created without there being anything, or are they the creators? . y: or did they create the heavens and the earth? nay, they have no firm belief. p: or did they create the heavens and the earth? nay, but they are sure of nothing! s: or did they create the heavens and the earth? nay! they have no certainty. . y: or are the treasures of thy lord with them, or are they the managers (of affairs)? p: or do they own the treasures of thy lord? or have they been given charge (thereof)? s: or have they the treasures of your lord with them? or have they been set in absolute authority? . y: or have they a ladder, by which they can (climb up to heaven and) listen (to its secrets)? then let (such a) listener of theirs produce a manifest proof. p: or have they any stairway (unto heaven) by means of which they overhear (decrees). then let their listener produce some warrant manifest! s: or have they the means by which they listen? then let their listener bring a clear authority. . y: or has he only daughters and ye have sons? p: or hath he daughters whereas ye have sons? s: or has he daughters while you have sons? . y: or is it that thou dost ask for a reward, so that they are burdened with a load of debt?- p: or askest thou (muhammad) a fee from them so that they are plunged in debt? s: or do you ask them for a reward, so that they are overburdened by a debt? . y: or that the unseen in it their hands, and they write it down? p: or possess they the unseen so that they can write (it) down? s: or have they the unseen so that they write (it) down? . y: or do they intend a plot (against thee)? but those who defy allah are themselves involved in a plot! p: or seek they to ensnare (the messenger)? but those who disbelieve, they are the ensnared! s: or do they desire a war? but those who disbelieve shall be the vanquished ones in war. . y: or have they a god other than allah? exalted is allah far above the things they associate with him! p: or have they any god beside allah? glorified be allah from all that they ascribe as partner (unto him)! s: or have they a god other than allah? glory be to allah from what they set up (with him). . y: were they to see a piece of the sky falling (on them), they would (only) say: "clouds gathered in heaps!" p: and if they were to see a fragment of the heaven falling, they would say: a heap of clouds. s: and if they should see a portion of the heaven coming down, they would say: piled up clouds. . y: so leave them alone until they encounter that day of theirs, wherein they shall (perforce) swoon (with terror),- p: then let them be (o muhammad), till they meet their day, in which they will be thunder-stricken, s: leave them then till they meet that day of theirs wherein they shall be made to swoon (with terror): . y: the day when their plotting will avail them nothing and no help shall be given them. p: a day in which their guile will naught avail them, nor will they be helped. s: the day on which their struggle shall not avail them aught, nor shall they be helped. . y: and verily, for those who do wrong, there is another punishment besides this: but most of them understand not. p: and verily, for those who do wrong, there is a punishment beyond that. but most of them know not. s: and surely those who are unjust shall have a punishment besides that (in the world), but most of them do not know. . y: now await in patience the command of thy lord: for verily thou art in our eyes: and celebrate the praises of thy lord the while thou standest forth, p: so wait patiently (o muhammad) for thy lord's decree, for surely thou art in our sight; and hymn the praise of thy lord when thou uprisest, s: and wait patiently for the judgment of your lord, for surely you are before our eyes, and sing the praise of your lord when you rise; . y: and for part of the night also praise thou him,- and at the retreat of the stars! p: and in the night-time also hymn his praise, and at the setting of the stars. s: and in the night, give him glory too, and at the setting of the stars. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : an-najm (the star) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: by the star when it goes down,- p: by the star when it setteth, s: i swear by the star when it goes down. . y: your companion is neither astray nor being misled. p: your comrade erreth not, nor is deceived; s: your companion does not err, nor does he go astray; . y: nor does he say (aught) of (his own) desire. p: nor doth he speak of (his own) desire. s: nor does he speak out of desire. . y: it is no less than inspiration sent down to him: p: it is naught save an inspiration that is inspired, s: it is naught but revelation that is revealed, . y: he was taught by one mighty in power, p: which one of mighty powers hath taught him, s: the lord of mighty power has taught him, . y: endued with wisdom: for he appeared (in stately form); p: one vigorous; and he grew clear to view s: the lord of strength; so he attained completion, . y: while he was in the highest part of the horizon: p: when he was on the uppermost horizon. s: and he is in the highest part of the horizon. . y: then he approached and came closer, p: then he drew nigh and came down s: then he drew near, then he bowed . y: and was at a distance of but two bow-lengths or (even) nearer; p: till he was (distant) two bows' length or even nearer, s: so he was the measure of two bows or closer still. . y: so did (allah) convey the inspiration to his servant- (conveyed) what he (meant) to convey. p: and he revealed unto his slave that which he revealed. s: and he revealed to his servant what he revealed. . y: the (prophet's) (mind and) heart in no way falsified that which he saw. p: the heart lied not (in seeing) what it saw. s: the heart was not untrue in (making him see) what he saw. . y: will ye then dispute with him concerning what he saw? p: will ye then dispute with him concerning what he seeth? s: what! do you then dispute with him as to what he saw? . y: for indeed he saw him at a second descent, p: and verily he saw him yet another time s: and certainly he saw him in another descent, . y: near the lote-tree beyond which none may pass: p: by the lote-tree of the utmost boundary, s: at the farthest lote-tree; . y: near it is the garden of abode. p: nigh unto which is the garden of abode. s: near which is the garden, the place to be resorted to. . y: behold, the lote-tree was shrouded (in mystery unspeakable!) p: when that which shroudeth did enshroud the lote-tree, s: when that which covers covered the lote-tree; . y: (his) sight never swerved, nor did it go wrong! p: the eye turned not aside nor yet was overbold. s: the eye did not turn aside, nor did it exceed the limit. . y: for truly did he see, of the signs of his lord, the greatest! p: verily he saw one of the greater revelations of his lord. s: certainly he saw of the greatest signs of his lord. . y: have ye seen lat. and 'uzza, p: have ye thought upon al-lat and al-'uzza s: have you then considered the lat and the uzza, . y: and another, the third (goddess), manat? p: and manat, the third, the other? s: and manat, the third, the last? . y: what! for you the male sex, and for him, the female? p: are yours the males and his the females? s: what! for you the males and for him the females! . y: behold, such would be indeed a division most unfair! p: that indeed were an unfair division! s: this indeed is an unjust division! . y: these are nothing but names which ye have devised,- ye and your fathers,- for which allah has sent down no authority (whatever). they follow nothing but conjecture and what their own souls desire!- even though there has already come to them guidance from their lord! p: they are but names which ye have named, ye and your fathers, for which allah hath revealed no warrant. they follow but a guess and that which (they) themselves desire. and now the guidance from their lord hath come unto them. s: they are naught but names which you have named, you and your fathers; allah has not sent for them any authority. they follow naught but conjecture and the low desires which (their) souls incline to; and certainly the guidance has come to them from their lord. . y: nay, shall man have (just) anything he hankers after? p: or shall man have what he coveteth? s: or shall man have what he wishes? . y: but it is to allah that the end and the beginning (of all things) belong. p: but unto allah belongeth the after (life), and the former. s: nay! for allah is the hereafter and the former (life). . y: how many-so-ever be the angels in the heavens, their intercession will avail nothing except after allah has given leave for whom he pleases and that he is acceptable to him. p: and how many angels are in the heavens whose intercession availeth naught save after allah giveth leave to whom he chooseth and accepteth. s: and how many an angel is there in the heavens whose intercession does not avail at all except after allah has given permission to whom he pleases and chooses. . y: those who believe not in the hereafter, name the angels with female names. p: lo! it is those who disbelieve in the hereafter who name the angels with the names of females. s: most surely they who do not believe in the hereafter name the angels with female names. . y: but they have no knowledge therein. they follow nothing but conjecture; and conjecture avails nothing against truth. p: and they have no knowledge thereof. they follow but a guess, and lo! a guess can never take the place of the truth. s: and they have no knowledge of it; they do not follow anything but conjecture, and surely conjecture does not avail against the truth at all. . y: therefore shun those who turn away from our message and desire nothing but the life of this world. p: then withdraw (o muhammad) from him who fleeth from our remembrance and desireth but the life of the world. s: therefore turn aside from him who turns his back upon our reminder and does not desire anything but this world's life. . y: that is as far as knowledge will reach them. verily thy lord knoweth best those who stray from his path, and he knoweth best those who receive guidance. p: such is their sum of knowledge. lo! thy lord is best aware of him who strayeth, and he is best aware of him whom goeth right. s: that is their goal of knowledge; surely your lord knows best him who goes astray from his path and he knows best him who follows the right direction. . y: yea, to allah belongs all that is in the heavens and on earth: so that he rewards those who do evil, according to their deeds, and he rewards those who do good, with what is best. p: and unto allah belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth, that he may reward those who do evil with that which they have done, and reward those who do good with goodness. s: and allah's is what is in the heavens and what is in the earth, that he may reward those who do evil according to what they do, and (that) he may reward those who do good with goodness. . y: those who avoid great sins and shameful deeds, only (falling into) small faults,- verily thy lord is ample in forgiveness. he knows you well when he brings you out of the earth, and when ye are hidden in your mothers' wombs. therefore justify not yourselves: he knows best who it is that guards against evil. p: those who avoid enormities of sin and abominations, save the unwilled offences - (for them) lo! thy lord is of vast mercy. he is best aware of you (from the time) when he created you from the earth, and when ye were hidden in the bellies of your mothers. therefor ascribe not purity unto yourselves. he is best aware of him who wardeth off (evil). s: those who keep aloof from the great sins and the indecencies but the passing idea; surely your lord is liberal in forgiving. he knows you best when he brings you forth from the earth and when you are embryos in the wombs of your mothers; therefore do not attribute purity to your souls; he knows him best who guards (against evil). . y: seest thou one who turns back, p: didst thou (o muhammad) observe him who turned away, s: have you then seen him who turns his back? . y: gives a little, then hardens (his heart)? p: and gave a little, then was grudging? s: and gives a little and (then) withholds. . y: what! has he knowledge of the unseen so that he can see? p: hath he knowledge of the unseen so that he seeth? s: has he the knowledge of the unseen so that he can see? . y: nay, is he not acquainted with what is in the books of moses- p: or hath he not had news of what is in the books of moses s: or, has he not been informed of what is in the scriptures of musa? . y: and of abraham who fulfilled his engagements?- p: and abraham who paid his debt: s: and (of) ibrahim who fulfilled (the commandments): . y: namely, that no bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another; p: that no laden one shall bear another's load, s: that no bearer of burden shall bear the burden of another- . y: that man can have nothing but what he strives for; p: and that man hath only that for which he maketh effort, s: and that man shall have nothing but what he strives for- . y: that (the fruit of) his striving will soon come in sight: p: and that his effort will be seen. s: and that his striving shall soon be seen- . y: then will he be rewarded with a reward complete; p: and afterward he will be repaid for it with fullest payment; s: then shall he be rewarded for it with the fullest reward- . y: that to thy lord is the final goal; p: and that thy lord, he is the goal; s: and that to your lord is the goal- . y: that it is he who granteth laughter and tears; p: and that he it is who maketh laugh, and maketh weep, s: and that he it is who makes (men) laugh and makes (them) weep; . y: that it is he who granteth death and life; p: and that he it is who giveth death and giveth life; s: and that he it is who causes death and gives life- . y: that he did create in pairs,- male and female, p: and that he createth the two spouses, the male and the female, s: and that he created pairs, the male and the female . y: from a seed when lodged (in its place); p: from a drop (of seed) when it is poured forth; s: from the small seed when it is adapted . y: that he hath promised a second creation (raising of the dead); p: and that he hath ordained the second bringing forth; s: and that on him is the bringing forth a second time; . y: that it is he who giveth wealth and satisfaction; p: and that he it is who enricheth and contenteth; s: and that he it is who enriches and gives to hold; . y: that he is the lord of sirius (the mighty star); p: and that he it is who is the lord of sirius; s: and that he is the lord of the sirius; . y: and that it is he who destroyed the (powerful) ancient 'ad (people), p: and that he destroyed the former (tribe of) a'ad, s: and that he did destroy the ad of old . y: and the thamud nor gave them a lease of perpetual life. p: and (the tribe of) thamud he spared not; s: and samood, so he spared not . y: and before them, the people of noah, for that they were (all) most unjust and most insolent transgressors, p: and the folk of noah aforetime, lo! they were more unjust and more rebellious; s: and the people of nuh before; surely they were most unjust and inordinate; . y: and he destroyed the overthrown cities (of sodom and gomorrah). p: and al-mu'tafikah he destroyed s: and the overthrown cities did he overthrow, . y: so that (ruins unknown) have covered them up. p: so that there covered them that which did cover. s: so there covered them that which covered. . y: then which of the gifts of thy lord, (o man,) wilt thou dispute about? p: concerning which then, of the bounties of thy lord, canst thou dispute? s: which of your lord's benefits will you then dispute about? . y: this is a warner, of the (series of) warners of old! p: this is a warner of the warners of old. s: this is a warner of the warners of old. . y: the (judgment) ever approaching draws nigh: p: the threatened hour is nigh. s: the near event draws nigh. . y: no (soul) but allah can lay it bare. p: none beside allah can disclose it. s: there shall be none besides allah to remove it. . y: do ye then wonder at this recital? p: marvel ye then at this statement, s: do you then wonder at this announcement? . y: and will ye laugh and not weep,- p: and laugh and not weep, s: and will you laugh and not weep? . y: wasting your time in vanities? p: while ye amuse yourselves? s: while you are indulging in varieties. . y: but fall ye down in prostration to allah, and adore (him)! p: rather prostrate yourselves before allah and serve him. s: so make obeisance to allah and serve (him). --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-qamar (the moon) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: the hour (of judgment) is nigh, and the moon is cleft asunder. p: the hour drew nigh and the moon was rent in twain. s: the hour drew nigh and the moon did rend asunder. . y: but if they see a sign, they turn away, and say, "this is (but) transient magic." p: and if they behold a portent they turn away and say: prolonged illusion. s: and if they see a miracle they turn aside and say: transient magic. . y: they reject (the warning) and follow their (own) lusts but every matter has its appointed time. p: they denied (the truth) and followed their own lusts. yet everything will come to a decision. s: and they call (it) a lie, and follow their low desires; and every affair has its appointed term. . y: there have already come to them recitals wherein there is (enough) to check (them), p: and surely there hath come unto them news whereof the purport should deter, s: and certainly some narratives have come to them wherein is prevention-- . y: mature wisdom;- but (the preaching of) warners profits them not. p: effective wisdom; but warnings avail not. s: consummate wisdom-- but warnings do not avail; . y: therefore, (o prophet,) turn away from them. the day that the caller will call (them) to a terrible affair, p: so withdraw from them (o muhammad) on the day when the summoner summoneth unto a painful thing. s: so turn (your) back on them (for) the day when the inviter shall invite them to a hard task, . y: they will come forth,- their eyes humbled - from (their) graves, (torpid) like locusts scattered abroad, p: with downcast eyes, they come forth from the graves as they were locusts spread abroad, s: their eyes cast down, going forth from their graves as if they were scattered locusts, . y: hastening, with eyes transfixed, towards the caller!- "hard is this day!", the unbelievers will say. p: hastening toward the summoner; the disbelievers say: this is a hard day. s: hastening to the inviter. the unbelievers shall say: this is a hard day. . y: before them the people of noah rejected (their messenger): they rejected our servant, and said, "here is one possessed!", and he was driven out. p: the folk of noah denied before them, yea, they denied our slave and said: a madman; and he was repulsed. s: before them the people of nuh rejected, so they rejected our servant and called (him) mad, and he was driven away. . y: then he called on his lord: "i am one overcome: do thou then help (me)!" p: so he cried unto his lord, saying: i am vanquished, so give help. s: therefore he called upon his lord: i am overcome, come thou then to help. . y: so we opened the gates of heaven, with water pouring forth. p: then opened we the gates of heaven with pouring water s: so we opened the gates of the cloud with water pouring . y: and we caused the earth to gush forth with springs, so the waters met (and rose) to the extent decreed. p: and caused the earth to gush forth springs, so that the waters met for a predestined purpose. s: and we made water to flow forth in the land in springs, so the water gathered together according to a measure already ordained. . y: but we bore him on an (ark) made of broad planks and caulked with palm-fibre: p: and we carried him upon a thing of planks and nails, s: and we bore him on that which was made of planks and nails . y: she floats under our eyes (and care): a recompense to one who had been rejected (with scorn)! p: that ran (upon the waters) in our sight, as a reward for him who was rejected. s: sailing, before our eyes, a reward for him who was denied. . y: and we have left this as a sign (for all time): then is there any that will receive admonition? p: and verily we left it as a token; but is there any that remembereth? s: and certainly we left it as a sign, but is there anyone who . y: but how (terrible) was my penalty and my warning? p: then see how (dreadful) was my punishment after my warnings! s: how (great) was then my punishment and my warning! . y: and we have indeed made the qur'an easy to understand and remember: then is there any that will receive admonition? p: and in truth we have made the qur'an easy to remember; but is there any that remembereth? s: and certainly we have made the quran easy for remembrance, but is there anyone who will mind? . y: the 'ad (people) (too) rejected (truth): then how terrible was my penalty and my warning? p: (the tribe of) a'ad rejected warnings. then how (dreadful) was my punishment after my warnings. s: ad treated (the truth) as a lie, so how (great) was my punishment and my warning! . y: for we sent against them a furious wind, on a day of violent disaster, p: lo! we let loose on them a raging wind on a day of constant calamity, s: surely we sent on them a tornado in a day of bitter ill-luck . y: plucking out men as if they were roots of palm-trees torn up (from the ground). p: sweeping men away as though they were uprooted trunks of palm-trees. s: tearing men away as if they were the trunks of palm-trees torn up. . y: yea, how (terrible) was my penalty and my warning! p: then see how (dreadful) was my punishment after my warnings! s: how (great) was then my punishment and my warning! . y: but we have indeed made the qur'an easy to understand and remember: then is there any that will receive admonition? p: and in truth we have made the qur'an easy to remember; but is there any that remembereth? s: and certainly we have made the quran easy for remembrance, but is there anyone who will mind? . y: the thamud (also) rejected (their) warners. p: (the tribe of) thamud rejected warnings s: samood rejected the warning. . y: for they said: "what! a man! a solitary one from among ourselves! shall we follow such a one? truly should we then be straying in mind, and mad!" p: for they said; is it a mortal man, alone among us, that we are to follow? then indeed we should fall into error and madness. s: so they said: what! a single mortal from among us! shall we follow him? most surely we shall in that case be in sure error and distress: . y: "is it that the message is sent to him, of all people amongst us? nay, he is a liar, an insolent one!" p: hath the remembrance been given unto him alone among us? nay, but he is a rash liar. s: has the reminder been made to light upon him from among us? nay! he is an insolent liar! . y: ah! they will know on the morrow, which is the liar, the insolent one! p: (unto their warner it was said): to-morrow they will know who is the rash liar. s: tomorrow shall they know who is the liar, the insolent one. . y: for we will send the she-camel by way of trial for them. so watch them, (o salih), and possess thyself in patience! p: lo! we are sending the she-camel as a test for them; so watch them and have patience; s: surely we are going to send the she-camel as a trial for them; therefore watch them and have patience. . y: and tell them that the water is to be divided between them: each one's right to drink being brought forward (by suitable turns). p: and inform them that the water is to be shared between (her and) them. every drinking will be witnessed. s: and inform them that the water is shared between them; every share of the water shall be regulated. . y: but they called to their companion, and he took a sword in hand, and hamstrung (her). p: but they call their comrade and he took and hamstrung (her). s: but they called their companion, so he took (the sword) and slew (her). . y: ah! how (terrible) was my penalty and my warning! p: then see how (dreadful) was my punishment after my warnings! s: how (great) was then my punishment and my warning! . y: for we sent against them a single mighty blast, and they became like the dry stubble used by one who pens cattle. p: lo! we sent upon them one shout, and they became as the dry twigs (rejected by) the builder of a cattle-fold. s: surely we sent upon them a single cry, so they were like the dry fragments of trees which the maker of an enclosure collects. . y: and we have indeed made the qur'an easy to understand and remember: then is there any that will receive admonition? p: and in truth we have made the qur'an easy to remember; but is there any that remembereth? s: and certainly we have made the quran easy for remembrance, but is there anyone who will mind? . y: the people of lut rejected (his) warning. p: the folk of lot rejected warnings. s: the people of lut treated the warning as a lie. . y: we sent against them a violent tornado with showers of stones, (which destroyed them), except lut's household: them we delivered by early dawn,- p: lo! we sent a storm of stones upon them (all) save the family of lot, whom we rescued in the last watch of the night, s: surely we sent upon them a stonestorm, except lut's followers; we saved them a little before daybreak, . y: as a grace from us: thus do we reward those who give thanks. p: as grace from us. thus we reward him who giveth thanks. s: a favor from us; thus do we reward him who gives thanks. . y: and (lut) did warn them of our punishment, but they disputed about the warning. p: and he indeed had warned them of our blow, but they did doubt the warnings. s: and certainly he warned them of our violent seizure, but they obstinately disputed the warning. . y: and they even sought to snatch away his guests from him, but we blinded their eyes. (they heard:) "now taste ye my wrath and my warning." p: they even asked of him his guests for an ill purpose. then we blinded their eyes (and said): taste now my punishment after my warnings! s: and certainly they endeavored to turn him from his guests, but we blinded their eyes; so taste my chastisement and my warning. . y: early on the morrow an abiding punishment seized them: p: and in truth the punishment decreed befell them early in the morning. s: and certainly a lasting chastisement overtook them in the morning. . y: "so taste ye my wrath and my warning." p: now taste my punishment after my warnings! s: so taste my chastisement and my warning. . y: and we have indeed made the qur'an easy to understand and remember: then is there any that will receive admonition? p: and in truth we have made the qur'an easy to remember; but is there any that remembereth? s: and certainly we have made the quran easy for remembrance, but is there anyone who will mind? . y: to the people of pharaoh, too, aforetime, came warners (from allah). p: and warnings came in truth unto the house of pharaoh s: and certainly the warning came to firon's people. . y: the (people) rejected all our signs; but we seized them with such penalty (as comes) from one exalted in power, able to carry out his will. p: who denied our revelations, every one. therefore we grasped them with the grasp of the mighty, the powerful. s: they rejected all our communications, so we overtook them after the manner of a mighty, powerful one. . y: are your unbelievers, (o quraish), better than they? or have ye an immunity in the sacred books? p: are your disbelievers better than those, or have ye some immunity in the scriptures? s: are the unbelievers of yours better than these, or is there an exemption for you in the scriptures? . y: or do they say: "we acting together can defend ourselves"? p: or say they: we are a host victorious? s: or do they say: we are a host allied together to help each other? . y: soon will their multitude be put to flight, and they will show their backs. p: the hosts will all be routed and will turn and flee. s: soon shall the hosts be routed, and they shall turn (their) backs. . y: nay, the hour (of judgment) is the time promised them (for their full recompense): and that hour will be most grievous and most bitter. p: nay, but the hour (of doom) is their appointed tryst, and the hour will be more wretched and more bitter (than their earthly failure). s: nay, the hour is their promised time, and the hour shall be most grievous and bitter. . y: truly those in sin are the ones straying in mind, and mad. p: lo! the guilty are in error and madness. s: surely the guilty are in error and distress. . y: the day they will be dragged through the fire on their faces, (they will hear:) "taste ye the touch of hell!" p: on the day when they are dragged into the fire upon their faces (it is said unto them): feel the touch of hell. s: on the day when they shall be dragged upon their faces into the fire; taste the touch of hell. . y: verily, all things have we created in proportion and measure. p: lo! we have created every thing by measure. s: surely we have created everything according to a measure. . y: and our command is but a single (act),- like the twinkling of an eye. p: and our commandment is but one (commandment), as the twinkling of an eye. s: and our command is but one, as the twinkling of an eye. . y: and (oft) in the past, have we destroyed gangs like unto you: then is there any that will receive admonition? p: and verily we have destroyed your fellows; but is there any that remembereth? s: and certainly we have already destroyed the likes of you, but is there anyone who will mind? . y: all that they do is noted in (their) books (of deeds): p: and every thing they did is in the scriptures, s: and everything they have done is in the writings. . y: every matter, small and great, is on record. p: and every small and great thing is recorded. s: and everything small and great is written down. . y: as to the righteous, they will be in the midst of gardens and rivers, p: lo! the righteous will dwell among gardens and rivers, s: surely those who guard (against evil) shall be in gardens and rivers, . y: in an assembly of truth, in the presence of a sovereign omnipotent. p: firmly established in the favour of a mighty king. s: in the seat of honor with a most powerful king. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : ar-rahman (the beneficent, the mercy giving) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: (allah) most gracious! p: the beneficent s: the beneficent allah, . y: it is he who has taught the qur'an. p: hath made known the qur'an. s: taught the quran. . y: he has created man: p: he hath created man. s: he created man, . y: he has taught him speech (and intelligence). p: he hath taught him utterance. s: taught him the mode of expression. . y: the sun and the moon follow courses (exactly) computed; p: the sun and the moon are made punctual. s: the sun and the moon follow a reckoning. . y: and the herbs and the trees - both (alike) prostrate in adoration. p: the stars and the trees prostrate. s: and the herbs and the trees do prostrate (to him). . y: and the firmament has he raised high, and he has set up the balance (of justice), p: and the sky he hath uplifted; and he hath set the measure, s: and the heaven, he raised it high, and he made the balance . y: in order that ye may not transgress (due) balance. p: that ye exceed not the measure, s: that you may not be inordinate in respect of the measure. . y: so establish weight with justice and fall not short in the balance. p: but observe the measure strictly, nor fall short thereof. s: and keep up the balance with equity and do not make the measure deficient. . y: it is he who has spread out the earth for (his) creatures: p: and the earth hath he appointed for (his) creatures, s: and the earth, he has set it for living creatures; . y: therein is fruit and date-palms, producing spathes (enclosing dates); p: wherein are fruit and sheathed palm-trees, s: therein is fruit and palms having sheathed clusters, . y: also corn, with (its) leaves and stalk for fodder, and sweet-smelling plants. p: husked grain and scented herb. s: and the grain with (its) husk and fragrance. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: he created man from sounding clay like unto pottery, p: he created man of clay like the potter's, s: he created man from dry clay like earthen vessels, . y: and he created jinns from fire free of smoke: p: and the jinn did he create of smokeless fire. s: and he created the jinn of a flame of fire. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: (he is) lord of the two easts and lord of the two wests: p: lord of the two easts, and lord of the two wests! s: lord of the east and lord of the west. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: he has let free the two bodies of flowing water, meeting together: p: he hath loosed the two seas. they meet. s: he has made the two seas to flow freely (so that) they meet together: . y: between them is a barrier which they do not transgress: p: there is a barrier between them. they encroach not (one upon the other). s: between them is a barrier which they cannot pass. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: out of them come pearls and coral: p: there cometh forth from both of them the pearl and coral-stone. s: there come forth from them pearls, both large and small. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: and his are the ships sailing smoothly through the seas, lofty as mountains: p: his are the ships displayed upon the sea, like banners. s: and his are the ships reared aloft in the sea like mountains. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: all that is on earth will perish: p: everyone that is thereon will pass away; s: everyone on it must pass away. . y: but will abide (for ever) the face of thy lord,- full of majesty, bounty and honour. p: there remaineth but the countenance of thy lord of might and glory. s: and there will endure for ever the person of your lord, the lord of glory and honor. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: of him seeks (its need) every creature in the heavens and on earth: every day in (new) splendour doth he (shine)! p: all that are in the heavens and the earth entreat him. every day he exerciseth (universal) power. s: all those who are in the heavens and the earth ask of him; every moment he is in a state (of glory). . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: soon shall we settle your affairs, o both ye worlds! p: we shall dispose of you, o ye two dependents (man and jinn). s: soon will we apply ourselves to you, o you two armies. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: o ye assembly of jinns and men! if it be ye can pass beyond the zones of the heavens and the earth, pass ye! not without authority shall ye be able to pass! p: o company of jinn and men, if ye have power to penetrate (all) regions of the heavens and the earth, then penetrate (them)! ye will never penetrate them save with (our) sanction. s: o assembly of the jinn and the men! if you are able to pass through the regions of the heavens and the earth, then pass through; you cannot pass through but with authority. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: on you will be sent (o ye evil ones twain!) a flame of fire (to burn) and a smoke (to choke): no defence will ye have: p: there will be sent, against you both, heat of fire and flash of brass, and ye will not escape. s: the flames of fire and smoke will be sent on you two, then you will not be able to defend yourselves. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: when the sky is rent asunder, and it becomes red like ointment: p: and when the heaven splitteth asunder and becometh rosy like red hide- s: and when the heaven is rent asunder, and then becomes red like red hide. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? - s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: on that day no question will be asked of man or jinn as to his sin. p: on that day neither man nor jinni will be questioned of his sin. s: so on that day neither man nor jinni shall be asked about his sin. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: (for) the sinners will be known by their marks: and they will be seized by their forelocks and their feet. p: the guilty will be known by their marks, and will be taken by the forelocks and the feet. s: the guilty shall be recognized by their marks, so they shall be seized by the forelocks and the feet. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: this is the hell which the sinners deny. p: this is hell which the guilty deny. s: this is the hell which the guilty called a lie. . y: in its midst and in the midst of boiling hot water will they wander round! p: they go circling round between it and fierce, boiling water. s: round about shall they go between it and hot, boiling water. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: but for such as fear the time when they will stand before (the judgment seat of) their lord, there will be two gardens- p: but for him who feareth the standing before his lord there are two gardens. s: and for him who fears to stand before his lord are two gardens. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny?- p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: containing all kinds (of trees and delights);- p: of spreading branches. s: having in them various kinds. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny?- p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: in them (each) will be two springs flowing (free); p: wherein are two fountains flowing. s: in both of them are two fountains flowing. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny?- p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: in them will be fruits of every kind, two and two. p: wherein is every kind of fruit in pairs. s: in both of them are two pairs of every fruit. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: they will recline on carpets, whose inner linings will be of rich brocade: the fruit of the gardens will be near (and easy of reach). p: reclining upon couches lined with silk brocade, the fruit of both the gardens near to hand. s: reclining on beds, the inner coverings of which are of silk brocade; and the fruits of the two gardens shall be within reach. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: in them will be (maidens), chaste, restraining their glances, whom no man or jinn before them has touched;- p: therein are those of modest gaze, whom neither man nor jinn will have touched before them. s: in them shall be those who restrained their eyes; before them neither man nor jinn shall have touched them. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny?- p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: like unto rubies and coral. p: (in beauty) like the jacynth and the coral-stone. s: as though they were rubies and pearls. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: is there any reward for good - other than good? p: is the reward of goodness aught save goodness? s: is the reward of goodness aught but goodness? . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: and besides these two, there are two other gardens,- p: and beside them are two other gardens, s: and besides these two are two (other) gardens: . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny?- p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: dark-green in colour (from plentiful watering). p: dark green with foliage. s: both inclining to blackness. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: in them (each) will be two springs pouring forth water in continuous abundance: p: wherein are two abundant springs. s: in both of them are two springs gushing forth. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: in them will be fruits, and dates and pomegranates: p: wherein is fruit, the date-palm and pomegranate. s: in both are fruits and palms and pomegranates. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: in them will be fair (companions), good, beautiful:- p: wherein (are found) the good and beautiful companions- s: in them are goodly things, beautiful ones. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny?- p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? - s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: companions restrained (as to their glances), in (goodly) pavilions;- p: fair ones, close-guarded in pavilions - s: pure ones confined to the pavilions. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny?- p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? - s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: whom no man or jinn before them has touched;- p: whom neither man nor jinn will have touched before them - s: man has not touched them before them nor jinn. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny?- p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: reclining on green cushions and rich carpets of beauty. p: reclining on green cushions and fair carpets. s: reclining on green cushions and beautiful carpets. . y: then which of the favours of your lord will ye deny? p: which is it, of the favours of your lord, that ye deny? s: which then of the bounties of your lord will you deny? . y: blessed be the name of thy lord, full of majesty, bounty and honour. p: blessed be the name of thy lord, mighty and glorious! s: blessed be the name of your lord, the lord of glory and honor! --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-waqia (the event, the inevitable) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: when the event inevitable cometh to pass, p: when the event befalleth - s: when the great event comes to pass, . y: then will no (soul) entertain falsehood concerning its coming. p: there is no denying that it will befall - s: there is no belying its coming to pass-- . y: (many) will it bring low; (many) will it exalt; p: abasing (some), exalting (others); s: abasing (one party), exalting (the other), . y: when the earth shall be shaken to its depths, p: when the earth is shaken with a shock s: when the earth shall be shaken with a (severe) shaking, . y: and the mountains shall be crumbled to atoms, p: and the hills are ground to powder s: and the mountains shall be made to crumble with (an awful) crumbling, . y: becoming dust scattered abroad, p: so that they become a scattered dust, s: so that they shall be as scattered dust. . y: and ye shall be sorted out into three classes. p: and ye will be three kinds: s: and you shall be three sorts. . y: then (there will be) the companions of the right hand;- what will be the companions of the right hand? p: (first) those on the right hand; what of those on the right hand? s: then (as to) the companions of the right hand; how happy are the companions of the right hand! . y: and the companions of the left hand,- what will be the companions of the left hand? p: and (then) those on the left hand; what of those on the left hand? s: and (as to) the companions of the left hand; how wretched are the companions of the left hand! . y: and those foremost (in faith) will be foremost (in the hereafter). p: and the foremost in the race, the foremost in the race: s: and the foremost are the foremost, . y: these will be those nearest to allah: p: those are they who will be brought nigh s: these are they who are drawn nigh (to allah), . y: in gardens of bliss: p: in gardens of delight; s: in the gardens of bliss. . y: a number of people from those of old, p: a multitude of those of old s: a numerous company from among the first, . y: and a few from those of later times. p: and a few of those of later time. s: and a few from among the latter. . y: (they will be) on thrones encrusted (with gold and precious stones), p: on lined couches, s: on thrones decorated, . y: reclining on them, facing each other. p: reclining therein face to face. s: reclining on them, facing one another. . y: round about them will (serve) youths of perpetual (freshness), p: there wait on them immortal youths s: round about them shall go youths never altering in age, . y: with goblets, (shining) beakers, and cups (filled) out of clear-flowing fountains: p: with bowls and ewers and a cup from a pure spring s: with goblets and ewers and a cup of pure drink; . y: no after-ache will they receive therefrom, nor will they suffer intoxication: p: wherefrom they get no aching of the head nor any madness, s: they shall not be affected with headache thereby, nor shall they get exhausted, . y: and with fruits, any that they may select: p: and fruit that they prefer s: and fruits such as they choose, . y: and the flesh of fowls, any that they may desire. p: and flesh of fowls that they desire. s: and the flesh of fowl such as they desire. . y: and (there will be) companions with beautiful, big, and lustrous eyes,- p: and (there are) fair ones with wide, lovely eyes, s: and pure, beautiful ones, . y: like unto pearls well-guarded. p: like unto hidden pearls, s: the like of the hidden pearls: . y: a reward for the deeds of their past (life). p: reward for what they used to do. s: a reward for what they used to do. . y: not frivolity will they hear therein, nor any taint of ill,- p: there hear they no vain speaking nor recrimination s: they shall not hear therein vain or sinful discourse, . y: only the saying, "peace! peace". p: (naught) but the saying: peace, (and again) peace. s: except the word peace, peace. . y: the companions of the right hand,- what will be the companions of the right hand? p: and those on the right hand; what of those on the right hand? s: and the companions of the right hand; how happy are the companions of the right hand! . y: (they will be) among lote-trees without thorns, p: among thornless lote-trees s: amid thornless lote-trees, . y: among talh trees with flowers (or fruits) piled one above another,- p: and clustered plantains, s: and banana-trees (with fruits), one above another. . y: in shade long-extended, p: and spreading shade, s: and extended shade, . y: by water flowing constantly, p: and water gushing, s: and water flowing constantly, . y: and fruit in abundance. p: and fruit in plenty s: and abundant fruit, . y: whose season is not limited, nor (supply) forbidden, p: neither out of reach nor yet forbidden, s: neither intercepted nor forbidden, . y: and on thrones (of dignity), raised high. p: and raised couches; s: and exalted thrones. . y: we have created (their companions) of special creation. p: lo! we have created them a (new) creation s: surely we have made them to grow into a (new) growth, . y: and made them virgin - pure (and undefiled), - p: and made them virgins, s: then we have made them virgins, . y: beloved (by nature), equal in age,- p: lovers, friends, s: loving, equals in age, . y: for the companions of the right hand. p: for those on the right hand; s: for the sake of the companions of the right hand. . y: a (goodly) number from those of old, p: a multitude of those of old s: a numerous company from among the first, . y: and a (goodly) number from those of later times. p: and a multitude of those of later time. s: and a numerous company from among the last. . y: the companions of the left hand,- what will be the companions of the left hand? p: and those on the left hand: what of those on the left hand? s: and those of the left hand, how wretched are those of the left hand! . y: (they will be) in the midst of a fierce blast of fire and in boiling water, p: in scorching wind and scalding water s: in hot wind and boiling water, . y: and in the shades of black smoke: p: and shadow of black smoke, s: and the shade of black smoke, . y: nothing (will there be) to refresh, nor to please: p: neither cool nor refreshing. s: neither cool nor honorable. . y: for that they were wont to be indulged, before that, in wealth (and luxury), p: lo! heretofore they were effete with luxury s: surely they were before that made to live in ease and plenty. . y: and persisted obstinately in wickedness supreme! p: and used to persist in the awful sin. s: and they persisted in the great violation. . y: and they used to say, "what! when we die and become dust and bones, shall we then indeed be raised up again?"- p: and they used to say: when we are dead and have become dust and bones, shall we then, forsooth, be raised again, s: and they used to say: what! when we die and have become dust and bones, shall we then indeed be raised? . y: "(we) and our fathers of old?" p: and also our forefathers? s: or our fathers of yore? . y: say: "yea, those of old and those of later times," p: say (unto them, o muhammad): lo! those of old and those of later time s: say: the first and the last, . y: "all will certainly be gathered together for the meeting appointed for a day well-known." p: will all be brought together to the tryst of an appointed day. s: shall most surely be gathered together for the appointed hour of a known day. . y: "then will ye truly,- o ye that go wrong, and treat (truth) as falsehood!"- p: then lo! ye, the erring, the deniers, s: then shall you, o you who err and call it a lie! . y: "ye will surely taste of the tree of zaqqum." p: ye verily will eat of a tree called zaqqum s: most surely eat of a tree of zaqqoom, . y: "then will ye fill your insides therewith," p: and will fill your bellies therewith; s: and fill (your) bellies with it; . y: "and drink boiling water on top of it:" p: and thereon ye will drink of boiling water, s: then drink over it of boiling water; . y: "indeed ye shall drink like diseased camels raging with thirst!" p: drinking even as the camel drinketh. s: and drink as drinks the thirsty camel. . y: such will be their entertainment on the day of requital! p: this will be their welcome on the day of judgment. s: this is their entertainment on the day of requital. . y: it is we who have created you: why will ye not witness the truth? p: we created you. will ye then admit the truth? s: we have created you, why do you not then assent? . y: do ye then see?- the (human seed) that ye throw out,- p: have ye seen that which ye emit? s: have you considered the seed? . y: is it ye who create it, or are we the creators? p: do ye create it or are we the creator? s: is it you that create it or are we the creators? . y: we have decreed death to be your common lot, and we are not to be frustrated p: we mete out death among you, and we are not to be outrun, s: we have ordained death among you and we are not to be overcome, . y: from changing your forms and creating you (again) in (forms) that ye know not. p: that we may transfigure you and make you what ye know not. s: in order that we may bring in your place the likes of you and make you grow into what you know not. . y: and ye certainly know already the first form of creation: why then do ye not celebrate his praises? p: and verily ye know the first creation. why, then, do ye not reflect? s: and certainly you know the first growth, why do you not then mind? . y: see ye the seed that ye sow in the ground? p: have ye seen that which ye cultivate? s: have you considered what you sow? . y: is it ye that cause it to grow, or are we the cause? p: is it ye who foster it, or are we the fosterer? s: is it you that cause it to grow, or are we the causers of growth? . y: were it our will, we could crumble it to dry powder, and ye would be left in wonderment, p: if we willed, we verily could make it chaff, then would ye cease not to exclaim: s: if we pleased, we should have certainly made it broken down into pieces, then would you begin to lament: . y: (saying), "we are indeed left with debts (for nothing):" p: lo! we are laden with debt! s: surely we are burdened with debt: . y: "indeed are we shut out (of the fruits of our labour)" p: nay, but we are deprived! s: nay! we are deprived. . y: see ye the water which ye drink? p: have ye observed the water which ye drink? s: have you considered the water which you drink? . y: do ye bring it down (in rain) from the cloud or do we? p: is it ye who shed it from the raincloud, or are we the shedder? s: is it you that send it down from the clouds, or are we the senders? . y: were it our will, we could make it salt (and unpalatable): then why do ye not give thanks? p: if we willed we verily could make it bitter. why then, give ye not thanks? s: if we pleased, we would have made it salty; why do you not then give thanks? . y: see ye the fire which ye kindle? p: have ye observed the fire which ye strike out; s: have you considered the fire which you strike? . y: is it ye who grow the tree which feeds the fire, or do we grow it? p: was it ye who made the tree thereof to grow, or were we the grower? s: is it you that produce the trees for it, or are we the producers? . y: we have made it a memorial (of our handiwork), and an article of comfort and convenience for the denizens of deserts. p: we, even we, appointed it a memorial and a comfort for the dwellers in the wilderness. s: we have made it a reminder and an advantage for the wayfarers of the desert. . y: then celebrate with praises the name of thy lord, the supreme! p: therefor (o muhammad), praise the name of thy lord, the tremendous. s: therefore glorify the name of your lord, the great. . y: furthermore i call to witness the setting of the stars,- p: nay, i swear by the places of the stars - s: but nay! i swear by the falling of stars; . y: and that is indeed a mighty adjuration if ye but knew,- p: and lo! that verily is a tremendous oath, if ye but knew - s: and most surely it is a very great oath if you only knew; . y: that this is indeed a qur'an most honourable, p: that (this) is indeed a noble qur'an s: most surely it is an honored quran, . y: in book well-guarded, p: in a book kept hidden s: in a book that is protected . y: which none shall touch but those who are clean: p: which none toucheth save the purified, s: none shall touch it save the purified ones. . y: a revelation from the lord of the worlds. p: a revelation from the lord of the worlds. s: a revelation by the lord of the worlds. . y: is it such a message that ye would hold in light esteem? p: is it this statement that ye scorn, s: do you then hold this announcement in contempt? . y: and have ye made it your livelihood that ye should declare it false? p: and make denial thereof your livelihood? s: and to give (it) the lie you make your means of subsistence. . y: then why do ye not (intervene) when (the soul of the dying man) reaches the throat,- p: why, then, when (the soul) cometh up to the throat (of the dying) s: why is it not then that when it (soul) comes up to the throat, . y: and ye the while (sit) looking on,- p: and ye are at that moment looking s: and you at that time look on-- . y: but we are nearer to him than ye, and yet see not,- p: and we are nearer unto him than ye are, but ye see not- s: and we are nearer to it than you, but you do not see- . y: then why do ye not,- if you are exempt from (future) account,- p: why then, if ye are not in bondage (unto us), s: then why is it not-- if you are not held under authority-- . y: call back the soul, if ye are true (in the claim of independence)? p: do ye not force it back, if ye are truthful? s: that you send it (not) back-- if you are truthful? . y: thus, then, if he be of those nearest to allah, p: thus if he is of those brought nigh, s: then if he is one of those drawn nigh (to allah), . y: (there is for him) rest and satisfaction, and a garden of delights. p: then breath of life, and plenty, and a garden of delight. s: then happiness and bounty and a garden of bliss. . y: and if he be of the companions of the right hand, p: and if he is of those on the right hand, s: and if he is one of those on the right hand, . y: (for him is the salutation), "peace be unto thee", from the companions of the right hand. p: then (the greeting) "peace be unto thee" from those on the right hand. s: then peace to you from those on the right hand. . y: and if he be of those who treat (truth) as falsehood, who go wrong, p: but if he is of the rejecters, the erring, s: and if he is one of the rejecters, the erring ones, . y: for him is entertainment with boiling water. p: then the welcome will be boiling water s: he shall have an entertainment of boiling water, . y: and burning in hell-fire. p: and roasting at hell-fire. s: and burning in hell. . y: verily, this is the very truth and certainly. p: lo! this is certain truth. s: most surely this is a certain truth. . y: so celebrate with praises the name of thy lord, the supreme. p: therefor (o muhammad) praise the name of thy lord, the tremendous. s: therefore glorify the name of your lord, the great. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-hadid (the iron) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: whatever is in the heavens and on earth,- let it declare the praises and glory of allah: for he is the exalted in might, the wise. p: all that is in the heavens and the earth glorifieth allah; and he is the mighty, the wise. s: whatever is in the heavens and the earth declares the glory of allah, and he is the mighty, the wise. . y: to him belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth: it is he who gives life and death; and he has power over all things. p: his is the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth; he quickeneth and he giveth death; and he is able to do all things. s: his is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; he gives life and causes death; and he has power over all things. . y: he is the first and the last, the evident and the immanent: and he has full knowledge of all things. p: he is the first and the last, and the outward and the inward; and he is knower of all things. s: he is the first and the last and the ascendant (over all) and the knower of hidden things, and he is cognizant of all things. . y: he it is who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and is moreover firmly established on the throne (of authority). he knows what enters within the earth and what comes forth out of it, what comes down from heaven and what mounts up to it. and he is with you wheresoever ye may be. and allah sees well all that ye do. p: he it is who created the heavens and the earth in six days; then he mounted the throne. he knoweth all that entereth the earth and all that emergeth therefrom and all that cometh down from the sky and all that ascendeth therein; and he is with you wheresoever ye may be. and allah is seer of what ye do. s: he it is who created the heavens and the earth in six periods, and he is firm in power; he knows that which goes deep down into the earth and that which comes forth out of it, and that which comes down from the heaven and that which goes up into it, and he is with you wherever you are; and allah sees what you do. . y: to him belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth: and all affairs are referred back to allah. p: his is the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth, and unto allah (all) things are brought back. s: his is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; and to allah are (all) affairs returned. . y: he merges night into day, and he merges day into night; and he has full knowledge of the secrets of (all) hearts. p: he causeth the night to pass into the day, and he causeth the day to pass into the night, and he is knower of all that is in the breasts. s: he causes the night to enter in upon the day, and causes the day to enter in upon the night, and he is cognizant of what is in the hearts. . y: believe in allah and his messenger, and spend (in charity) out of the (substance) whereof he has made you heirs. for, those of you who believe and spend (in charity),- for them is a great reward. p: believe in allah and his messenger, and spend of that whereof he hath made you trustees; and such of you as believe and spend (aright), theirs will be a great reward. s: believe in allah and his messenger, and spend out of what he has made you to be successors of; for those of you who believe and spend shall have a great reward. . y: what cause have ye why ye should not believe in allah?- and the messenger invites you to believe in your lord, and has indeed taken your covenant, if ye are men of faith. p: what aileth you that ye believe not in allah, when the messenger calleth you to believe in your lord, and he hath already made a covenant with you, if ye are believers? s: and what reason have you that you should not believe in allah? and the messenger calls on you that you may believe in your lord, and indeed he has made a covenant with you if you are believers. . y: he is the one who sends to his servant manifest signs, that he may lead you from the depths of darkness into the light and verily allah is to you most kind and merciful. p: he it is who sendeth down clear revelations unto his slave, that he may bring you forth from darkness unto light; and lo! for you, allah is full of pity, merciful. s: he it is who sends down clear communications upon his servant, that he may bring you forth from utter darkness into light; and most surely allah is kind, merciful to you. . y: and what cause have ye why ye should not spend in the cause of allah?- for to allah belongs the heritage of the heavens and the earth. not equal among you are those who spent (freely) and fought, before the victory, (with those who did so later). those are higher in rank than those who spent (freely) and fought afterwards. but to all has allah promised a goodly (reward). and allah is well acquainted with all that ye do. p: and what aileth you that ye spend not in the way of allah when unto allah belongeth the inheritance of the heavens and the earth? those who spent and fought before the victory are not upon a level (with the rest of you). such are greater in rank than those who spent and fought afterwards. unto each hath allah promised good. and allah is informed of what ye do. s: and what reason have you that you should not spend in allah's way? and allah's is the inheritance of the heavens and the earth, not alike among you are those who spent before the victory and fought (and those who did not): they are more exalted in rank than those who spent and fought afterwards; and allah has promised good to all; and allah is aware of what you do. . y: who is he that will loan to allah a beautiful loan? for (allah) will increase it manifold to his credit, and he will have (besides) a liberal reward. p: who is he that will lend unto allah a goodly loan, that he may double it for him and his may be a rich reward? s: who is there that will offer to allah a good gift so he will double it for him, and he shall have an excellent reward. . y: one day shalt thou see the believing men and the believing women- how their light runs forward before them and by their right hands: (their greeting will be): "good news for you this day! gardens beneath which flow rivers! to dwell therein for aye! this is indeed the highest achievement!" p: on the day when thou (muhammad) wilt see the believers, men and women, their light shining forth before them and on their right hands, (and wilt hear it said unto them): glad news for you this day: gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein ye are immortal. that is the supreme triumph. s: on that day you will see the faithful men and the faithful women-- their light running before them and on their right hand-- good news for you today: gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide therein, that is the grand achievement. . y: one day will the hypocrites- men and women - say to the believers: "wait for us! let us borrow (a light) from your light!" it will be said: "turn ye back to your rear! then seek a light (where ye can)!" so a wall will be put up betwixt them, with a gate therein. within it will be mercy throughout, and without it, all alongside, will be (wrath and) punishment! p: on the day when the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women will say unto those who believe: look on us that we may borrow from your light! it will be said: go back and seek for light! then there will separate them a wall wherein is a gate, the inner side whereof containeth mercy, while the outer side thereof is toward the doom. s: on the day when the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women will say to those who believe: wait for us, that we may have light from your light; it shall be said: turn back and seek a light. then separation would be brought about between them, with a wall having a door in it; (as for) the inside of it, there shall be mercy in it, and (as for) the outside of it, before it there shall be punishment. . y: (those without) will call out, "were we not with you?" (the others) will reply, "true! but ye led yourselves into temptation; ye looked forward (to our ruin); ye doubted (allah's promise); and (your false) desires deceived you; until there issued the command of allah. and the deceiver deceived you in respect of allah." p: they will cry unto them (saying): were we not with you? they will say: yea, verily; but ye tempted one another, and hesitated, and doubted, and vain desires beguiled you till the ordinance of allah came to pass; and the deceiver deceived you concerning allah; s: they will cry out to them: were we not with you? they shall say: yea! but you caused yourselves to fall into temptation, and you waited and doubted, and vain desires deceived you till the threatened punishment of allah came, while the archdeceiver deceived you about allah. . y: "this day shall no ransom be accepted of you, nor of those who rejected allah. your abode is the fire: that is the proper place to claim you: and an evil refuge it is!" p: so this day no ransom can be taken from you nor from those who disbelieved. your home is the fire; that is your patron, and a hapless journey's end. s: so today ransom shall not be accepted from you nor from those who disbelieved; your abode is the fire; it is your friend and evil is the resort. . y: has not the time arrived for the believers that their hearts in all humility should engage in the remembrance of allah and of the truth which has been revealed (to them), and that they should not become like those to whom was given revelation aforetime, but long ages passed over them and their hearts grew hard? for many among them are rebellious transgressors. p: is not the time ripe for the hearts of those who believe to submit to allah's reminder and to the truth which is revealed, that they become not as those who received the scripture of old but the term was prolonged for them and so their hearts were hardened, and many of them are evil-livers. s: has not the time yet come for those who believe that their hearts should be humble for the remembrance of allah and what has come down of the truth? and (that) they should not be like those who were given the book before, but the time became prolonged to them, so their hearts hardened, and most of them are transgressors. . y: know ye (all) that allah giveth life to the earth after its death! already have we shown the signs plainly to you, that ye may learn wisdom. p: know that allah quickeneth the earth after its death. we have made clear our revelations for you, that haply ye may understand. s: know that allah gives life to the earth after its death; indeed, we have made the communications clear to you that you may understand. . y: for those who give in charity, men and women, and loan to allah a beautiful loan, it shall be increased manifold (to their credit), and they shall have (besides) a liberal reward. p: lo! those who give alms, both men and women, and lend unto allah a goodly loan, it will be doubled for them, and theirs will be a rich reward. s: surely (as for) the charitable men and the charitable women and (those who) set apart for allah a goodly portion, it shall be doubled for them and they shall have a noble reward. . y: and those who believe in allah and his messengers- they are the sincere (lovers of truth), and the witnesses (who testify), in the eyes of their lord: they shall have their reward and their light. but those who reject allah and deny our signs,- they are the companions of hell-fire. p: and those who believe in allah and his messengers, they are the loyal, and the martyrs are with their lord; they have their reward and their light; while as for those who disbelieve and deny our revelations, they are owners of hell-fire. s: and (as for) those who believe in allah and his messengers, these it is that are the truthful and the faithful ones in the sight of their lord: they shall have their reward and their light, and (as for) those who disbelieve and reject our communications, these are the inmates of the hell. . y: know ye (all), that the life of this world is but play and amusement, pomp and mutual boasting and multiplying, (in rivalry) among yourselves, riches and children. here is a similitude: how rain and the growth which it brings forth, delight (the hearts of) the tillers; soon it withers; thou wilt see it grow yellow; then it becomes dry and crumbles away. but in the hereafter is a penalty severe (for the devotees of wrong). and forgiveness from allah and (his) good pleasure (for the devotees of allah). and what is the life of this world, but goods and chattels of deception? p: know that the life of the world is only play, and idle talk, and pageantry, and boasting among you, and rivalry in respect of wealth and children; as the likeness of vegetation after rain, whereof the growth is pleasing to the husbandman, but afterward it drieth up and thou seest it turning yellow, then it becometh straw. and in the hereafter there is grievous punishment, and (also) forgiveness from allah and his good pleasure, whereas the life of the world is but matter of illusion. s: know that this world's life is only sport and play and gaiety and boasting among yourselves, and a vying in the multiplication of wealth and children, like the rain, whose causing the vegetation to grow, pleases the husbandmen, then it withers away so that you will see it become yellow, then it becomes dried up and broken down; and in the hereafter is a severe chastisement and (also) forgiveness from allah and (his) pleasure; and this world's life is naught but means of deception. . y: be ye foremost (in seeking) forgiveness from your lord, and a garden (of bliss), the width whereof is as the width of heaven and earth, prepared for those who believe in allah and his messengers: that is the grace of allah, which he bestows on whom he pleases: and allah is the lord of grace abounding. p: race one with another for forgiveness from your lord and a garden whereof the breadth is as the breadth of the heavens and the earth, which is in store for those who believe in allah and his messengers. such is the bounty of allah, which he bestoweth upon whom he will, and allah is of infinite bounty. s: hasten to forgiveness from your lord and to a garden the extensiveness of which is as the extensiveness of the heaven and the earth; it is prepared for those who believe in allah and his messengers; that is the grace of allah: he gives it to whom he pleases, and allah is the lord of mighty grace. . y: no misfortune can happen on earth or in your souls but is recorded in a decree before we bring it into existence: that is truly easy for allah: p: naught of disaster befalleth in the earth or in yourselves but it is in a book before we bring it into being - lo! that is easy for allah - s: no evil befalls on the earth nor in your own souls, but it is in a book before we bring it into existence; surely that is easy to allah: . y: in order that ye may not despair over matters that pass you by, nor exult over favours bestowed upon you. for allah loveth not any vainglorious boaster,- p: that ye grieve not for the sake of that which hath escaped you, nor yet exult because of that which hath been given. allah loveth not all prideful boasters, s: so that you may not grieve for what has escaped you, nor be exultant at what he has given you; and allah does not love any arrogant boaster: . y: such persons as are covetous and commend covetousness to men. and if any turn back (from allah's way), verily allah is free of all needs, worthy of all praise. p: who hoard and who enjoin upon the people avarice. and whosoever turneth away, still allah is the absolute, the owner of praise. s: those who are niggardly and enjoin niggardliness on men; and whoever turns back, then surely allah is he who is the self-sufficient, the praised. . y: we sent aforetime our messengers with clear signs and sent down with them the book and the balance (of right and wrong), that men may stand forth in justice; and we sent down iron, in which is (material for) mighty war, as well as many benefits for mankind, that allah may test who it is that will help, unseen, him and his messengers: for allah is full of strength, exalted in might (and able to enforce his will). p: we verily sent our messengers with clear proofs, and revealed with them the scripture and the balance, that mankind may observe right measure; and he revealed iron, wherein is mighty power and (many) uses for mankind, and that allah may know him who helpeth him and his messengers, though unseen. lo! allah is strong, almighty. s: certainly we sent our messengers with clear arguments, and sent down with them the book and the balance that men may conduct themselves with equity; and we have made the iron, wherein is great violence and advantages to men, and that allah may know who helps him and his messengers in the secret; surely allah is strong, mighty. . y: and we sent noah and abraham, and established in their line prophethood and revelation: and some of them were on right guidance. but many of them became rebellious transgressors. p: and we verily sent noah and abraham and placed the prophethood and the scripture among their seed, and among them there is he who goeth right, but many of them are evil-livers. s: and certainly we sent nuh and ibrahim and we gave to their offspring the (gift of) prophecy and the book; so there are among them those who go aright, and most of them are transgressors. . y: then, in their wake, we followed them up with (others of) our messengers: we sent after them jesus the son of mary, and bestowed on him the gospel; and we ordained in the hearts of those who followed him compassion and mercy. but the monasticism which they invented for themselves, we did not prescribe for them: (we commanded) only the seeking for the good pleasure of allah; but that they did not foster as they should have done. yet we bestowed, on those among them who believed, their (due) reward, but many of them are rebellious transgressors. p: then we caused our messengers to follow in their footsteps; and we caused jesus, son of mary, to follow, and gave him the gospel, and placed compassion and mercy in the hearts of those who followed him. but monasticism they invented - we ordained it not for them - only seeking allah's pleasure, and they observed it not with right observance. so we give those of them who believe their reward, but many of them are evil-livers. s: then we made our messengers to follow in their footsteps, and we sent isa son of marium afterwards, and we gave him the injeel, and we put in the hearts of those who followed him kindness and mercy; and (as for) monkery, they innovated it-- we did not prescribe it to them-- only to seek allah's pleasure, but they did not observe it with its due observance; so we gave to those of them who believed their reward, and most of them are transgressors. . y: o ye that believe! fear allah, and believe in his messenger, and he will bestow on you a double portion of his mercy: he will provide for you a light by which ye shall walk (straight in your path), and he will forgive you (your past): for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: o ye who believe! be mindful of your duty to allah and put faith in his messenger. he will give you twofold of his mercy and will appoint for you a light wherein ye shall walk, and will forgive you. allah is forgiving, merciful; s: o you who believe! be careful of (your duty to) allah and believe in his messenger: he will give you two portions of his mercy, and make for you a light with which you will walk, and forgive you, and allah is forgiving, merciful; . y: that the people of the book may know that they have no power whatever over the grace of allah, that (his) grace is (entirely) in his hand, to bestow it on whomsoever he wills. for allah is the lord of grace abounding. p: that the people of the scripture may know that they control naught of the bounty of allah, but that the bounty is in allah's hand to give to whom he will. and allah is of infinite bounty. s: so that the followers of the book may know that they do not control aught of the grace of allah, and that grace is in allah's hand, he gives it to whom he pleases; and allah is the lord of mighty grace. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-mujadila (she that disputeth, the pleading woman) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: allah has indeed heard (and accepted) the statement of the woman who pleads with thee concerning her husband and carries her complaint (in prayer) to allah: and allah (always) hears the arguments between both sides among you: for allah hears and sees (all things). p: allah hath heard the saying of her that disputeth with thee (muhammad) concerning her husband, and complaineth unto allah. and allah heareth your colloquy. lo! allah is hearer, knower. s: allah indeed knows the plea of her who pleads with you about her husband and complains to allah, and allah knows the contentions of both of you; surely allah is hearing, seeing. . y: if any men among you divorce their wives by zihar (calling them mothers), they cannot be their mothers: none can be their mothers except those who gave them birth. and in fact they use words (both) iniquitous and false: but truly allah is one that blots out (sins), and forgives (again and again). p: such of you as put away your wives (by saying they are as their mothers) - they are not their mothers; none are their mothers except those who gave them birth - they indeed utter an ill word and a lie. and lo! allah is forgiving, merciful. s: (as for) those of you who put away their wives by likening their backs to the backs of their mothers, they are not their mothers; their mothers are no others than those who gave them birth; and most surely they utter a hateful word and a falsehood and most surely allah is pardoning, forgiving. . y: but those who divorce their wives by zihar, then wish to go back on the words they uttered,- (it is ordained that such a one) should free a slave before they touch each other: thus are ye admonished to perform: and allah is well acquainted with (all) that ye do. p: those who put away their wives (by saying they are as their mothers) and afterward would go back on that which they have said, (the penalty) in that case (is) the freeing of a slave before they touch one another. unto this ye are exhorted; and allah is informed of what ye do. s: and (as for) those who put away their wives by likening their backs to the backs of their mothers then would recall what they said, they should free a captive before they touch each other; to that you are admonished (to conform); and allah is aware of what you do. . y: and if any has not (the wherewithal), he should fast for two months consecutively before they touch each other. but if any is unable to do so, he should feed sixty indigent ones, this, that ye may show your faith in allah and his messenger. those are limits (set by) allah. for those who reject (him), there is a grievous penalty. p: and he who findeth not (the wherewithal), let him fast for two successive months before they touch one another; and for him who is unable to do so (the penance is) the feeding of sixty needy ones. this, that ye may put trust in allah and his messenger. such are the limits (imposed by allah); and for disbelievers is a painful doom. s: but whoever has not the means, let him fast for two months successively before they touch each other; then as for him who is not able, let him feed sixty needy ones; that is in order that you may have faith in allah and his messenger, and these are allah's limits, and the unbelievers shall have a painful punishment. . y: those who resist allah and his messenger will be humbled to dust, as were those before them: for we have already sent down clear signs. and the unbelievers (will have) a humiliating penalty,- p: lo! those who oppose allah and his messenger will be abased even as those before them were abased; and we have sent down clear tokens, and for disbelievers is a shameful doom s: surely those who act in opposition to allah and his messenger shall be laid down prostrate as those before them were laid down prostrate; and indeed we have revealed clear communications, and the unbelievers shall have an abasing chastisement. . y: on the day that allah will raise them all up (again) and show them the truth (and meaning) of their conduct. allah has reckoned its (value), though they may have forgotten it, for allah is witness to all things. p: on the day when allah will raise them all together and inform them of what they did. allah hath kept account of it while they forgot it. and allah is witness over all things. s: on the day when allah will raise them up all together, then inform them of what they did: allah has recorded it while they have forgotten it; and allah is a witness of all things. . y: seest thou not that allah doth know (all) that is in the heavens and on earth? there is not a secret consultation between three, but he makes the fourth among them, - nor between five but he makes the sixth,- nor between fewer nor more, but he is in their midst, wheresoever they be: in the end will he tell them the truth of their conduct, on the day of judgment. for allah has full knowledge of all things. p: hast thou not seen that allah knoweth all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth? there is no secret conference of three but he is their fourth, nor of five but he is their sixth, nor of less than that or more but he is with them wheresoever they may be; and afterward, on the day of resurrection, he will inform them of what they did. lo! allah is knower of all things. s: do you not see that allah knows whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth? nowhere is there a secret counsel between three persons but he is the fourth of them, nor (between) five but he is the sixth of them, nor less than that nor more but he is with them wheresoever they are; then he will inform them of what they did on the day of resurrection: surely allah is cognizant of all things. . y: turnest thou not thy sight towards those who were forbidden secret counsels yet revert to that which they were forbidden (to do)? and they hold secret counsels among themselves for iniquity and hostility, and disobedience to the messenger. and when they come to thee, they salute thee, not as allah salutes thee, (but in crooked ways): and they say to themselves, "why does not allah punish us for our words?" enough for them is hell: in it will they burn, and evil is that destination! p: hast thou not observed those who were forbidden conspiracy and afterward returned to that which they had been forbidden, and (now) conspire together for crime and wrongdoing and disobedience toward the messenger? and when they come unto thee they greet thee with a greeting wherewith allah greeteth thee not, and say within themselves: why should allah punish us for what we say? hell will suffice them; they will feel the heat thereof - a hapless journey's end! s: have you not seen those who are forbidden secret counsels, then they return to what they are forbidden, and they hold secret counsels for sin and revolt and disobedience to the messenger, and when they come to you they greet you with a greeting with which allah does not greet you, and they say in themselves: why does not allah punish us for what we say? hell is enough for them; they shall enter it, and evil is the resort. . y: o ye who believe! when ye hold secret counsel, do it not for iniquity and hostility, and disobedience to the prophet; but do it for righteousness and self-restraint; and fear allah, to whom ye shall be brought back. p: o ye who believe! when ye conspire together, conspire not together for crime and wrongdoing and disobedience toward the messenger, but conspire together for righteousness and piety, and keep your duty toward allah, unto whom ye will be gathered. s: o you who believe! when you confer together in private, do not give to each other counsel of sin and revolt and disobedience to the messenger, and give to each other counsel of goodness and guarding (against evil); and be careful of (your duty to) allah, to whom you shall be gathered together. . y: secret counsels are only (inspired) by the evil one, in order that he may cause grief to the believers; but he cannot harm them in the least, except as allah permits; and on allah let the believers put their trust. p: lo! conspiracy is only of the devil, that he may vex those who believe; but he can harm them not at all unless by allah's leave. in allah let believers put their trust. s: secret counsels are only (the work) of the shaitan that he may cause to grieve those who believe, and he cannot hurt them in the least except with allah's permission, and on allah let the believers rely. . y: o ye who believe! when ye are told to make room in the assemblies, (spread out and) make room: (ample) room will allah provide for you. and when ye are told to rise up, rise up: allah will raise up, to (suitable) ranks (and degrees), those of you who believe and who have been granted (mystic) knowledge: and allah is well acquainted with all ye do. p: o ye who believe! when it is said unto you: make room! in assemblies, then make room; allah will make way for you (hereafter). and when it is said: come up higher! go up higher; allah will exalt those who believe among you, and those who have knowledge, to high ranks. allah is informed of what ye do. s: o you who believe! when it is said to you, make room in (your) assemblies, then make ample room, allah will give you ample, and when it is said: rise up, then rise up. allah will exalt those of you who believe, and those who are given knowledge, in high degrees; and allah is aware of what you do. . y: o ye who believe! when ye consult the messenger in private, spend something in charity before your private consultation. that will be best for you, and most conducive to purity (of conduct). but if ye find not (the wherewithal), allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: o ye who believe! when ye hold conference with the messenger, offer an alms before your conference. that is better and purer for you. but if ye cannot find (the wherewithal) then lo! allah is forgiving, merciful. s: o you who believe! when you consult the messenger, then offer something in charity before your consultation; that is better for you and purer; but if you do not find, then surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: is it that ye are afraid of spending sums in charity before your private consultation (with him)? if, then, ye do not so, and allah forgives you, then (at least) establish regular prayer; practise regular charity; and obey allah and his messenger. and allah is well acquainted with all that ye do. p: fear ye to offer alms before your conference? then, when ye do it not and allah hath forgiven you, establish worship and pay the poor-due and obey allah and his messenger. and allah is aware of what ye do. s: do you fear that you will not (be able to) give in charity before your consultation? so when you do not do it and allah has turned to you (mercifully), then keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and obey allah and his messenger; and allah is aware of what you do. . y: turnest thou not thy attention to those who turn (in friendship) to such as have the wrath of allah upon them? they are neither of you nor of them, and they swear to falsehood knowingly. p: hast thou not seen those who take for friends a folk with whom allah is wroth? they are neither of you nor of them, and they swear a false oath knowingly. s: have you not seen those who befriend a people with whom allah is wroth? they are neither of you nor of them, and they swear falsely while they know. . y: allah has prepared for them a severe penalty: evil indeed are their deeds. p: allah hath prepared for them a dreadful doom. evil indeed is that which they are wont to do. s: allah has prepared for them a severe punishment; surely what they do is evil. . y: they have made their oaths a screen (for their misdeeds): thus they obstruct (men) from the path of allah: therefore shall they have a humiliating penalty. p: they make a shelter of their oaths and turn (men) from the way of allah; so theirs will be a shameful doom. s: they make their oaths to serve as a cover so they turn away from allah's way; therefore they shall have an abasing chastisement. . y: of no profit whatever to them, against allah, will be their riches nor their sons: they will be companions of the fire, to dwell therein (for aye)! p: their wealth and their children will avail them naught against allah. such are rightful owners of the fire; they will abide therein. s: neither their wealth nor their children shall avail them aught against allah; they are the inmates of the fire, therein they shall abide. . y: one day will allah raise them all up (for judgment): then will they swear to him as they swear to you: and they think that they have something (to stand upon). no, indeed! they are but liars! p: on the day when allah will raise them all together, then will they swear unto him as they (now) swear unto you, and they will fancy that they have some standing. lo! is it not they who are the liars? s: on the day that allah will raise them up all, then they will swear to him as they swear to you, and they think that they have something; now surely they are the liars. . y: the evil one has got the better of them: so he has made them lose the remembrance of allah. they are the party of the evil one. truly, it is the party of the evil one that will perish! p: the devil hath engrossed them and so hath caused them to forget remembrance of allah. they are the devil's party. lo! is it not the devil's party who will be the losers? s: the shaitan has gained the mastery over them, so he has made them forget the remembrance of allah; they are the shaitan's party; now surely the shaitan's party are the losers. . y: those who resist allah and his messenger will be among those most humiliated. p: lo! those who oppose allah and his messenger, they will be among the lowest. s: surely (as for) those who are in opposition to allah and his messenger; they shall be among the most abased. . y: allah has decreed: "it is i and my messengers who must prevail": for allah is one full of strength, able to enforce his will. p: allah hath decreed: lo! i verily shall conquer, i and my messengers. lo! allah is strong, almighty. s: allah has written down: i will most certainly prevail, i and my messengers; surely allah is strong, mighty. . y: thou wilt not find any people who believe in allah and the last day, loving those who resist allah and his messenger, even though they were their fathers or their sons, or their brothers, or their kindred. for such he has written faith in their hearts, and strengthened them with a spirit from himself. and he will admit them to gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell therein (for ever). allah will be well pleased with them, and they with him. they are the party of allah. truly it is the party of allah that will achieve felicity. p: thou wilt not find folk who believe in allah and the last day loving those who oppose allah and his messenger, even though they be their fathers or their sons or their brethren or their clan. as for such, he hath written faith upon their hearts and hath strengthened them with a spirit from him, and he will bring them into gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide. allah is well pleased with them, and they are well pleased with him. they are allah's party. lo! is it not allah's party who are the successful? s: you shall not find a people who believe in allah and the latter day befriending those who act in opposition to allah and his messenger, even though they were their (own) fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their kinsfolk; these are they into whose hearts he has impressed faith, and whom he has strengthened with an inspiration from him: and he will cause them to enter gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein; allah is well-pleased with them and they are well-pleased with him these are allah's party: now surely the party of allah are the successful ones. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-hashr (exile, banishment) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: whatever is in the heavens and on earth, let it declare the praises and glory of allah: for he is the exalted in might, the wise. p: all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth glorifieth allah, and he is the mighty, the wise. s: whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth declares the glory of allah, and he is the mighty, the wise. . y: it is he who got out the unbelievers among the people of the book from their homes at the first gathering (of the forces). little did ye think that they would get out: and they thought that their fortresses would defend them from allah! but the (wrath of) allah came to them from quarters from which they little expected (it), and cast terror into their hearts, so that they destroyed their dwellings by their own hands and the hands of the believers, take warning, then, o ye with eyes (to see)! p: he it is who hath caused those of the people of the scripture who disbelieved to go forth from their homes unto the first exile. ye deemed not that they would go forth, while they deemed that their strongholds would protect them from allah. but allah reached them from a place whereof they reckoned not, and cast terror in their hearts so that they ruined their houses with their own hands and the hands of the believers. so learn a lesson, o ye who have eyes! s: he it is who caused those who disbelieved of the followers of the book to go forth from their homes at the first banishment you did not think that they would go forth, while they were certain that their fortresses would defend them against allah; but allah came to them whence they did not expect, and cast terror into their hearts; they demolished their houses with their own hands and the hands of the believers; therefore take a lesson, o you who have eyes! . y: and had it not been that allah had decreed banishment for them, he would certainly have punished them in this world: and in the hereafter they shall (certainly) have the punishment of the fire. p: and if allah had not decreed migration for them, he verily would have punished them in the world, and theirs in the hereafter is the punishment of the fire. s: and had it not been that allah had decreed for them the exile, he would certainly have punished them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have chastisement of the fire. . y: that is because they resisted allah and his messenger: and if any one resists allah, verily allah is severe in punishment. p: that is because they were opposed to allah and his messenger; and whoso is opposed to allah, (for him) verily allah is stern in reprisal. s: that is because they acted in opposition to allah and his messenger, and whoever acts in opposition to allah, then surely allah is severe in retributing (evil). . y: whether ye cut down (o ye muslim!) the tender palm-trees, or ye left them standing on their roots, it was by leave of allah, and in order that he might cover with shame the rebellious transgresses. p: whatsoever palm-trees ye cut down or left standing on their roots, it was by allah's leave, in order that he might confound the evil-livers. s: whatever palm-tree you cut down or leave standing upon its roots, it is by allah's command, and that he may abase the transgressors. . y: what allah has bestowed on his messenger (and taken away) from them - for this ye made no expedition with either cavalry or camelry: but allah gives power to his messengers over any he pleases: and allah has power over all things. p: and that which allah gave as spoil unto his messenger from them, ye urged not any horse or riding-camel for the sake thereof, but allah giveth his messenger lordship over whom he will. allah is able to do all things. s: and whatever allah restored to his messenger from them you did not press forward against it any horse or a riding camel but allah gives authority to his messengers against whom he pleases, and allah has power over all things. . y: what allah has bestowed on his messenger (and taken away) from the people of the townships,- belongs to allah,- to his messenger and to kindred and orphans, the needy and the wayfarer; in order that it may not (merely) make a circuit between the wealthy among you. so take what the messenger assigns to you, and deny yourselves that which he withholds from you. and fear allah; for allah is strict in punishment. p: that which allah giveth as spoil unto his messenger from the people of the townships, it is for allah and his messenger and for the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer, that it become not a commodity between the rich among you. and whatsoever the messenger giveth you, take it. and whatsoever he forbiddeth, abstain (from it). and keep your duty to allah. lo! allah is stern in reprisal. s: whatever allah has restored to his messenger from the people of the towns, it is for allah and for the messenger, and for the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer, so that it may not be a thing taken by turns among the rich of you, and whatever the messenger gives you, accept it, and from whatever he forbids you, keep back, and be careful of (your duty to) allah; surely allah is severe in retributing (evil): . y: (some part is due) to the indigent muhajirs, those who were expelled from their homes and their property, while seeking grace from allah and (his) good pleasure, and aiding allah and his messenger: such are indeed the sincere ones:- p: and (it is) for the poor fugitives who have been driven out from their homes and their belongings, who seek bounty from allah and help allah and his messenger. they are the loyal. s: (it is) for the poor who fled their homes and their possessions, seeking grace of allah and (his) pleasure, and assisting allah and his messenger: these it is that are the truthful. . y: but those who before them, had homes (in medina) and had adopted the faith,- show their affection to such as came to them for refuge, and entertain no desire in their hearts for things given to the (latter), but give them preference over themselves, even though poverty was their (own lot). and those saved from the covetousness of their own souls,- they are the ones that achieve prosperity. p: those who entered the city and the faith before them love those who flee unto them for refuge, and find in their breasts no need for that which hath been given them, but prefer (the fugitives) above themselves though poverty become their lot. and whoso is saved from his own avarice - such are they who are successful. s: and those who made their abode in the city and in the faith before them love those who have fled to them, and do not find in their hearts a need of what they are given, and prefer (them) before themselves though poverty may afflict them, and whoever is preserved from the niggardliness of his soul, these it is that are the successful ones. . y: and those who came after them say: "our lord! forgive us, and our brethren who came before us into the faith, and leave not, in our hearts, rancour (or sense of injury) against those who have believed. our lord! thou art indeed full of kindness, most merciful." p: and those who came (into the faith) after them say: our lord! forgive us and our brethren who were before us in the faith, and place not in our hearts any rancour toward those who believe. our lord! thou art full of pity, merciful. s: and those who come after them say: our lord! forgive us and those of our brethren who had precedence of us in faith, and do not allow any spite to remain in our hearts towards those who believe, our lord! surely thou art kind, merciful. . y: hast thou not observed the hypocrites say to their misbelieving brethren among the people of the book? - "if ye are expelled, we too will go out with you, and we will never hearken to any one in your affair; and if ye are attacked (in fight) we will help you". but allah is witness that they are indeed liars. p: hast thou not observed those who are hypocrites, (how) they tell their brethren who disbelieve among the people of the scripture: if ye are driven out, we surely will go out with you, and we will never obey anyone against you, and if ye are attacked we verily will help you. and allah beareth witness that they verily are liars. s: have you not seen those who have become hypocrites? they say to those of their brethren who disbelieve from among the followers of the book: if you are driven forth, we shall certainly go forth with you, and we will never obey any one concerning you, and if you are fought against, we will certainly help you, and allah bears witness that they are most surely liars. . y: if they are expelled, never will they go out with them; and if they are attacked (in fight), they will never help them; and if they do help them, they will turn their backs; so they will receive no help. p: (for) indeed if they are driven out they go not out with them, and indeed if they are attacked they help them not, and indeed if they had helped them they would have turned and fled, and then they would not have been victorious. s: certainly if these are driven forth, they will not go forth with them, and if they are fought against, they will not help them, and even if they help-them, they will certainly turn (their) backs, then they shall not be helped. . y: of a truth ye are stronger (than they) because of the terror in their hearts, (sent) by allah. this is because they are men devoid of understanding. p: ye are more awful as a fear in their bosoms than allah. that is because they are a folk who understand not. s: you are certainly greater in being feared in their hearts than allah; that is because they are a people who do not understand. . y: they will not fight you (even) together, except in fortified townships, or from behind walls. strong is their fighting (spirit) amongst themselves: thou wouldst think they were united, but their hearts are divided: that is because they are a people devoid of wisdom. p: they will not fight against you in a body save in fortified villages or from behind walls. their adversity among themselves is very great. ye think of them as a whole whereas their hearts are divers. that is because they are a folk who have no sense. s: they will not fight against you in a body save in fortified towns or from behind walls; their fighting between them is severe, you may think them as one body, and their hearts are disunited; that is because they are a people who have no sense. . y: like those who lately preceded them, they have tasted the evil result of their conduct; and (in the hereafter there is) for them a grievous penalty;- p: on the likeness of those (who suffered) a short time before them, they taste the ill effects of their own conduct, and theirs is painful punishment. s: like those before them shortly; they tasted the evil result of their affair, and they shall have a painful punishment. . y: (their allies deceived them), like the evil one, when he says to man, "deny allah": but when (man) denies allah, (the evil one) says, "i am free of thee: i do fear allah, the lord of the worlds!" p: (and the hypocrites are) on the likeness of the devil when he telleth man to disbelieve, then, when he disbelieveth saith: lo! i am quit of thee. lo! i fear allah, the lord of the worlds. s: like the shaitan when he says to man: disbelieve, but when he disbelieves, he says: i am surely clear of you; surely i fear allah, the lord of the worlds. . y: the end of both will be that they will go into the fire, dwelling therein for ever. such is the reward of the wrong-doers. p: and the consequence for both will be that they are in the fire, therein abiding. such is the reward of evil-doers. s: therefore the end of both of them is that they are both in the fire to abide therein, and that is the reward of the unjust. . y: o ye who believe! fear allah, and let every soul look to what (provision) he has sent forth for the morrow. yea, fear allah: for allah is well-acquainted with (all) that ye do. p: o ye who believe! observe your duty to allah. and let every soul look to that which it sendeth on before for the morrow. and observe your duty to allah. lo! allah is informed of what ye do. s: o you who believe! be careful of (your duty to) allah, and let every soul consider what it has sent on for the morrow, and be careful of (your duty to) allah; surely allah is aware of what you do. . y: and be ye not like those who forgot allah; and he made them forget their own souls! such are the rebellious transgressors! p: and be not ye as those who forgot allah, therefor he caused them to forget their souls. such are the evil-doers. s: and be not like those who forsook allah, so he made them forsake their own souls: these it is that are the transgressors. . y: not equal are the companions of the fire and the companions of the garden: it is the companions of the garden, that will achieve felicity. p: not equal are the owners of the fire and the owners of the garden. the owners of the garden, they are the victorious. s: not alike are the inmates of the fire and the dwellers of the garden: the dwellers of the garden are they that are the achievers. . y: had we sent down this qur'an on a mountain, verily, thou wouldst have seen it humble itself and cleave asunder for fear of allah. such are the similitudes which we propound to men, that they may reflect. p: if we had caused this qur'an to descend upon a mountain, thou (o muhammad) verily hadst seen it humbled, rent asunder by the fear of allah. such similitudes coin we for mankind that haply they may reflect. s: had we sent down this quran on a mountain, you would certainly have seen it falling down, splitting asunder because of the fear of allah, and we set forth these parables to men that they may reflect. . y: allah is he, than whom there is no other god;- who knows (all things) both secret and open; he, most gracious, most merciful. p: he is allah, than whom there is no other god, the knower of the invisible and the visible. he is the beneficent, merciful. s: he is allah besides whom there is no god; the knower of the unseen and the seen; he is the beneficent, the merciful. . y: allah is he, than whom there is no other god;- the sovereign, the holy one, the source of peace (and perfection), the guardian of faith, the preserver of safety, the exalted in might, the irresistible, the supreme: glory to allah! (high is he) above the partners they attribute to him. p: he is allah, than whom there is no other god, the sovereign lord, the holy one, peace, the keeper of faith, the guardian, the majestic, the compeller, the superb. glorified be allah from all that they ascribe as partner (unto him). s: he is allah, besides whom there is no god; the king, the holy, the giver of peace, the granter of security, guardian over all, the mighty, the supreme, the possessor of every greatness glory be to allah from what they set up (with him). . y: he is allah, the creator, the evolver, the bestower of forms (or colours). to him belong the most beautiful names: whatever is in the heavens and on earth, doth declare his praises and glory: and he is the exalted in might, the wise. p: he is allah, the creator, the shaper out of naught, the fashioner. his are the most beautiful names. all that is in the heavens and the earth glorifieth him, and he is the mighty, the wise. s: he is allah the creator, the maker, the fashioner; his are the most excellent names; whatever is in the heavens and the earth declares his glory; and he is the mighty, the wise. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-mumtahina (she that is to be examined, examining her) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: o ye who believe! take not my enemies and yours as friends (or protectors),- offering them (your) love, even though they have rejected the truth that has come to you, and have (on the contrary) driven out the prophet and yourselves (from your homes), (simply) because ye believe in allah your lord! if ye have come out to strive in my way and to seek my good pleasure, (take them not as friends), holding secret converse of love (and friendship) with them: for i know full well all that ye conceal and all that ye reveal. and any of you that does this has strayed from the straight path. p: o ye who believe! choose not my enemy and your enemy for allies. do ye give them friendship when they disbelieve in that truth which hath come unto you, driving out the messenger and you because ye believe in allah, your lord? if ye have come forth to strive in my way and seeking my good pleasure, (show them not friendship). do ye show friendship unto them in secret, when i am best aware of what ye hide and what ye proclaim? and whosoever doeth it among you, he verily hath strayed from the right way. s: o you who believe! do not take my enemy and your enemy for friends: would you offer them love while they deny what has come to you of the truth, driving out the messenger and yourselves because you believe in allah, your lord? if you go forth struggling hard in my path and seeking my pleasure, would you manifest love to them? and i know what you conceal and what you manifest; and whoever of you does this, he indeed has gone astray from the straight path. . y: if they were to get the better of you, they would behave to you as enemies, and stretch forth their hands and their tongues against you for evil: and they desire that ye should reject the truth. p: if they have the upper hand of you, they will be your foes, and will stretch out their hands and their tongues toward you with evil (intent), and they long for you to disbelieve. s: if they find you, they will be your enemies, and will stretch forth towards you their hands and their tongues with evil, and they ardently desire that you may disbelieve. . y: of no profit to you will be your relatives and your children on the day of judgment: he will judge between you: for allah sees well all that ye do. p: your ties of kindred and your children will avail you naught upon the day of resurrection. he will part you. allah is seer of what ye do. s: your relationship would not profit you, nor your children on the day of resurrection; he will decide between you; and allah sees what you do. . y: there is for you an excellent example (to follow) in abraham and those with him, when they said to their people: "we are clear of you and of whatever ye worship besides allah: we have rejected you, and there has arisen, between us and you, enmity and hatred for ever,- unless ye believe in allah and him alone": but not when abraham said to his father: "i will pray for forgiveness for thee, though i have no power (to get) aught on thy behalf from allah." (they prayed): "our lord! in thee do we trust, and to thee do we turn in repentance: to thee is (our) final goal." p: there is a goodly pattern for you in abraham and those with him, when they told their folk: lo! we are guiltless of you and all that ye worship beside allah. we have done with you. and there hath arisen between us and you hostility and hate for ever until ye believe in allah only - save that which abraham promised his father (when he said): i will ask forgiveness for thee, though i own nothing for thee from allah - our lord! in thee we put our trust, and unto thee we turn repentant, and unto thee is the journeying. s: indeed, there is for you a good example in ibrahim and those with him when they said to their people: surely we are clear of you and of what you serve besides allah; we declare ourselves to be clear of you, and enmity and hatred have appeared between us and you forever until you believe in allah alone-- but not in what ibrahim said to his father: i would certainly ask forgiveness for you, and i do not control for you aught from allah-- our lord! on thee do we rely, and to thee do we turn, and to thee is the eventual coming: . y: "our lord! make us not a (test and) trial for the unbelievers, but forgive us, our lord! for thou art the exalted in might, the wise." p: our lord! make us not a prey for those who disbelieve, and forgive us, our lord! lo! thou, only thou, are the mighty, the wise. s: our lord! do not make us a trial for those who disbelieve, and forgive us, our lord! surely thou art the mighty, the wise. . y: there was indeed in them an excellent example for you to follow,- for those whose hope is in allah and in the last day. but if any turn away, truly allah is free of all wants, worthy of all praise. p: verily ye have in them a goodly pattern for everyone who looketh to allah and the last day. and whosoever may turn away, lo! still allah, he is the absolute, the owner of praise. s: certainly there is for you in them a good example, for him who fears allah and the last day; and whoever turns back, then surely allah is the self-sufficient, the praised. . y: it may be that allah will grant love (and friendship) between you and those whom ye (now) hold as enemies. for allah has power (over all things); and allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: it may be that allah will ordain love between you and those of them with whom ye are at enmity. allah is mighty, and allah is forgiving, merciful. s: it may be that allah will bring about friendship between you and those whom you hold to be your enemies among them; and allah is powerful; and allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: allah forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not for (your) faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: for allah loveth those who are just. p: allah forbiddeth you not those who warred not against you on account of religion and drove you not out from your homes, that ye should show them kindness and deal justly with them. lo! allah loveth the just dealers. s: allah does not forbid you respecting those who have not made war against you on account of (your) religion, and have not driven you forth from your homes, that you show them kindness and deal with them justly; surely allah loves the doers of justice. . y: allah only forbids you, with regard to those who fight you for (your) faith, and drive you out of your homes, and support (others) in driving you out, from turning to them (for friendship and protection). it is such as turn to them (in these circumstances), that do wrong. p: allah forbiddeth you only those who warred against you on account of religion and have driven you out from your homes and helped to drive you out, that ye make friends of them. whosoever maketh friends of them - (all) such are wrong-doers. s: allah only forbids you respecting those who made war upon you on account of (your) religion, and drove you forth from your homes and backed up (others) in your expulsion, that you make friends with them, and whoever makes friends with them, these are the unjust. . y: o ye who believe! when there come to you believing women refugees, examine (and test) them: allah knows best as to their faith: if ye ascertain that they are believers, then send them not back to the unbelievers. they are not lawful (wives) for the unbelievers, nor are the (unbelievers) lawful (husbands) for them. but pay the unbelievers what they have spent (on their dower), and there will be no blame on you if ye marry them on payment of their dower to them. but hold not to the guardianship of unbelieving women: ask for what ye have spent on their dowers, and let the (unbelievers) ask for what they have spent (on the dowers of women who come over to you). such is the command of allah: he judges (with justice) between you. and allah is full of knowledge and wisdom. p: o ye who believe! when believing women come unto you as fugitives, examine them. allah is best aware of their faith. then, if ye know them for true believers, send them not back unto the disbelievers. they are not lawful for them (the disbelievers), nor are they (the disbelievers) lawful for them. and give them (the disbelievers) that which they have spent (upon them). and it is no sin for you to marry such women when ye have given them their dues. and hold not to the ties of disbelieving women; and ask for (the return of) that which ye have spent; and let them (the disbelievers) ask for that which they have spent. that is the judgment of allah. he judgeth between you. allah is knower, wise. s: o you who believe! when believing women come to you flying, then examine them; allah knows best their faith; then if you find them to be believing women, do not send them back to the unbelievers, neither are these (women) lawful for them, nor are those (men) lawful for them, and give them what they have spent; and no blame attaches to you in marrying them when you give them their dowries; and hold not to the ties of marriage of unbelieving women, and ask for what you have spent, and let them ask for what they have spent. that is allah's judgment; he judges between you, and allah is knowing, wise. . y: and if any of your wives deserts you to the unbelievers, and ye have an accession (by the coming over of a woman from the other side), then pay to those whose wives have deserted the equivalent of what they had spent (on their dower). and fear allah, in whom ye believe. p: and if any of your wives have gone from you unto the disbelievers and afterward ye have your turn (of triumph), then give unto those whose wives have gone the like of that which they have spent, and keep your duty to allah in whom ye are believers. s: and if anything (out of the dowries) of your wives has passed away from you to the unbelievers, then your turn comes, give to those whose wives have gone away the like of what they have spent, and be careful of (your duty to) allah in whom you believe. . y: o prophet! when believing women come to thee to take the oath of fealty to thee, that they will not associate in worship any other thing whatever with allah, that they will not steal, that they will not commit adultery (or fornication), that they will not kill their children, that they will not utter slander, intentionally forging falsehood, and that they will not disobey thee in any just matter,- then do thou receive their fealty, and pray to allah for the forgiveness (of their sins): for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: o prophet! if believing women come unto thee, taking oath of allegiance unto thee that they will ascribe no thing as partner unto allah, and will neither steal nor commit adultery nor kill their children, nor produce any lie that they have devised between their hands and feet, nor disobey thee in what is right, then accept their allegiance and ask allah to forgive them. lo! allah is forgiving, merciful. s: o prophet! when believing women come to you giving you a pledge that they will not associate aught with allah, and will not steal, and will not commit fornication, and will not kill their children, and will not bring a calumny which they have forged of themselves, and will not disobey you in what is good, accept their pledge, and ask forgiveness for them from allah; surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: o ye who believe! turn not (for friendship) to people on whom is the wrath of allah, of the hereafter they are already in despair, just as the unbelievers are in despair about those (buried) in graves. p: o ye who believe! be not friendly with a folk with whom allah is wroth, (a folk) who have despaired of the hereafter as the disbelievers despair of those who are in the graves. s: o you who believe! do not make friends with a people with whom allah is wroth; indeed they despair of the hereafter as the unbelievers despair of those in tombs. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : as-saff (the ranks, battle array) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: whatever is in the heavens and on earth, let it declare the praises and glory of allah: for he is the exalted in might, the wise. p: all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth glorifieth allah, and he is the mighty, the wise. s: whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth declares the glory of allah; and he is the mighty, the wise. . y: o ye who believe! why say ye that which ye do not? p: o ye who believe! why say ye that which ye do not? s: o you who believe! why do you say that which you do not do? . y: grievously odious is it in the sight of allah that ye say that which ye do not. p: it is most hateful in the sight of allah that ye say that which ye do not. s: it is most hateful to allah that you should say that which you do not do. . y: truly allah loves those who fight in his cause in battle array, as if they were a solid cemented structure. p: lo! allah loveth them who battle for his cause in ranks, as if they were a solid structure. s: surely allah loves those who fight in his way in ranks as if they were a firm and compact wall. . y: and remember, moses said to his people: "o my people! why do ye vex and insult me, though ye know that i am the messenger of allah (sent) to you?" then when they went wrong, allah let their hearts go wrong. for allah guides not those who are rebellious transgressors. p: and (remember) when moses said unto his people: o my people! why persecute ye me, when ye well know that i am allah's messenger unto you? so when they went astray allah sent their hearts astray. and allah guideth not the evil-living folk. s: and when musa said to his people: o my people! why do you give me trouble? and you know indeed that i am allah's messenger to you; but when they turned aside, allah made their hearts turn aside, and allah does not guide the transgressing people. . y: and remember, jesus, the son of mary, said: "o children of israel! i am the messenger of allah (sent) to you, confirming the law (which came) before me, and giving glad tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name shall be ahmad." but when he came to them with clear signs, they said, "this is evident sorcery!" p: and when jesus son of mary said: o children of israel! lo! i am the messenger of allah unto you, confirming that which was (revealed) before me in the torah, and bringing good tidings of a messenger who cometh after me, whose name is the praised one. yet when he hath come unto them with clear proofs, they say: this is mere magic. s: and when isa son of marium said: o children of israel! surely i am the messenger of allah to you, verifying that which is before me of the taurat and giving the good news of a messenger who will come after me, his name being ahmad, but when he came to them with clear arguments they said: this is clear magic. . y: who doth greater wrong than one who invents falsehood against allah, even as he is being invited to islam? and allah guides not those who do wrong. p: and who doeth greater wrong than he who inventeth a lie against allah when he is summoned unto al-islam? and allah guideth not wrongdoing folk. s: and who is more unjust than he who forges a lie against allah and he is invited to islam, and allah does not guide the unjust people. . y: their intention is to extinguish allah's light (by blowing) with their mouths: but allah will complete (the revelation of) his light, even though the unbelievers may detest (it). p: fain would they put out the light of allah with their mouths, but allah will perfect his light however much the disbelievers are averse. s: they desire to put out the light of allah with their mouths but allah will perfect his light, though the unbelievers may be averse. . y: it is he who has sent his messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, that he may proclaim it over all religion, even though the pagans may detest (it). p: he it is who hath sent his messenger with the guidance and the religion of truth, that he may make it conqueror of all religion however much idolaters may be averse. s: he it is who sent his messenger with the guidance and the true religion, that he may make it overcome the religions, all of them, though the polytheists may be averse. . y: o ye who believe! shall i lead you to a bargain that will save you from a grievous penalty?- p: o ye who believe! shall i show you a commerce that will save you from a painful doom? s: o you who believe! shall i lead you to a merchandise which may deliver you from a painful chastisement? . y: that ye believe in allah and his messenger, and that ye strive (your utmost) in the cause of allah, with your property and your persons: that will be best for you, if ye but knew! p: ye should believe in allah and his messenger, and should strive for the cause of allah with your wealth and your lives. that is better for you, if ye did but know. s: you shall believe in allah and his messenger, and struggle hard in allah's way with your property and your lives; that is better for you, did you but know! . y: he will forgive you your sins, and admit you to gardens beneath which rivers flow, and to beautiful mansions in gardens of eternity: that is indeed the supreme achievement. p: he will forgive you your sins and bring you into gardens underneath which rivers flow, and pleasant dwellings in gardens of eden. that is the supreme triumph. s: he will forgive you your faults and cause you to enter into gardens, beneath which rivers flow, and goodly dwellings in gardens of perpetuity; that is the mighty achievement; . y: and another (favour will he bestow,) which ye do love,- help from allah and a speedy victory. so give the glad tidings to the believers. p: and (he will give you) another (blessing) which ye love: help from allah and present victory. give good tidings (o muhammad) to believers. s: and yet another (blessing) that you love: help from allah and a victory near at hand; and give good news to the believers. . y: o ye who believe! be ye helpers of allah: as said jesus the son of mary to the disciples, "who will be my helpers to (the work of) allah?" said the disciples, "we are allah's helpers!" then a portion of the children of israel believed, and a portion disbelieved: but we gave power to those who believed, against their enemies, and they became the ones that prevailed. p: o ye who believe! be allah's helpers, even as jesus son of mary said unto the disciples: who are my helpers for allah? they said: we are allah's helpers. and a party of the children of israel believed, while a party disbelieved. then we strengthened those who believed against their foe, and they became the uppermost. s: o you who believe! be helpers (in the cause) of allah, as isa son of marium said to (his) disciples: who are my helpers in the cause of allah? the disciples said: we are helpers (in the cause) of allah. so a party of the children of israel believed and another party disbelieved; then we aided those who believed against their enemy, and they became uppermost. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-jumua (the congregation, friday) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: whatever is in the heavens and on earth, doth declare the praises and glory of allah,- the sovereign, the holy one, the exalted in might, the wise. p: all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth glorifieth allah, the sovereign lord, the holy one, the mighty, the wise. s: whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth declares the glory of allah, the king, the holy, the mighty, the wise. . y: it is he who has sent amongst the unlettered a messenger from among themselves, to rehearse to them his signs, to sanctify them, and to instruct them in scripture and wisdom,- although they had been, before, in manifest error;- p: he it is who hath sent among the unlettered ones a messenger of their own, to recite unto them his revelations and to make them grow, and to teach them the scripture and wisdom, though heretofore they were indeed in error manifest, s: he it is who raised among the inhabitants of mecca a messenger from among themselves, who recites to them his communications and purifies them, and teaches them the book and the wisdom, although they were before certainly in clear error, . y: as well as (to confer all these benefits upon) others of them, who have not already joined them: and he is exalted in might, wise. p: along with others of them who have not yet joined them. he is the mighty, the wise. s: and others from among them who have not yet joined them; and he is the mighty, the wise. . y: such is the bounty of allah, which he bestows on whom he will: and allah is the lord of the highest bounty. p: that is the bounty of allah; which he giveth unto whom he will. allah is of infinite bounty. s: that is allah's grace; he grants it to whom he pleases, and allah is the lord of mighty grace. . y: the similitude of those who were charged with the (obligations of the) mosaic law, but who subsequently failed in those (obligations), is that of a donkey which carries huge tomes (but understands them not). evil is the similitude of people who falsify the signs of allah: and allah guides not people who do wrong. p: the likeness of those who are entrusted with the law of moses, yet apply it not, is as the likeness of the ass carrying books. wretched is the likeness of folk who deny the revelations of allah. and allah guideth not wrongdoing folk. s: the likeness of those who were charged with the taurat, then they did not observe it, is as the likeness of the ass bearing books, evil is the likeness of the people who reject the communications of allah; and allah does not guide the unjust people. . y: say: "o ye that stand on judaism! if ye think that ye are friends to allah, to the exclusion of (other) men, then express your desire for death, if ye are truthful!" p: say (o muhammad): o ye who are jews! if ye claim that ye are favoured of allah apart from (all) mankind, then long for death if ye are truthful. s: say: o you who are jews, if you think that you are the favorites of allah to the exclusion of other people, then invoke death if you are truthful. . y: but never will they express their desire (for death), because of the (deeds) their hands have sent on before them! and allah knows well those that do wrong! p: but they will never long for it because of all that their own hands have sent before, and allah is aware of evil-doers. s: and they will never invoke it because of what their hands have sent before; and allah is cognizant of the unjust. . y: say: "the death from which ye flee will truly overtake you: then will ye be sent back to the knower of things secret and open: and he will tell you (the truth of) the things that ye did!" p: say (unto them, o muhammad): lo! the death from which ye shrink will surely meet you, and afterward ye will be returned unto the knower of the invisible and the visible, and he will tell you what ye used to do. s: say: (as for) the death from which you flee, that will surely overtake you, then you shall be sent back to the knower of the unseen and the seen, and he will inform you of that which you did. . y: o ye who believe! when the call is proclaimed to prayer on friday (the day of assembly), hasten earnestly to the remembrance of allah, and leave off business (and traffic): that is best for you if ye but knew! p: o ye who believe! when the call is heard for the prayer of the day of congregation, haste unto remembrance of allah and leave your trading. that is better for you if ye did but know. s: o you who believe! when the call is made for prayer on friday, then hasten to the remembrance of allah and leave off trading; that is better for you, if you know. . y: and when the prayer is finished, then may ye disperse through the land, and seek of the bounty of allah: and celebrate the praises of allah often (and without stint): that ye may prosper. p: and when the prayer is ended, then disperse in the land and seek of allah's bounty, and remember allah much, that ye may be successful. s: but when the prayer is ended, then disperse abroad in the land and seek of allah's grace, and remember allah much, that you may be successful. . y: but when they see some bargain or some amusement, they disperse headlong to it, and leave thee standing. say: "the (blessing) from the presence of allah is better than any amusement or bargain! and allah is the best to provide (for all needs)." p: but when they spy some merchandise or pastime they break away to it and leave thee standing. say: that which allah hath is better than pastime and than merchandise, and allah is the best of providers. s: and when they see merchandise or sport they break up for it, and leave you standing. say: what is with allah is better than sport and (better) than merchandise, and allah is the best of sustainers. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-munafiqoon (the hypocrites) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: when the hypocrites come to thee, they say, "we bear witness that thou art indeed the messenger of allah." yea, allah knoweth that thou art indeed his messenger, and allah beareth witness that the hypocrites are indeed liars. p: when the hypocrites come unto thee (o muhammad), they say: we bear witness that thou art indeed allah's messenger. and allah knoweth that thou art indeed his messenger, and allah beareth witness that the hypocrites indeed are speaking falsely. s: when the hypocrites come to you, they say: we bear witness that you are most surely allah's messenger; and allah knows that you are most surely his messenger, and allah bears witness that the hypocrites are surely liars. . y: they have made their oaths a screen (for their misdeeds): thus they obstruct (men) from the path of allah: truly evil are their deeds. p: they make their faith a pretext so that they may turn (men) from the way of allah. verily evil is that which they are wont to do, s: they make their oaths a shelter, and thus turn away from allah's way; surely evil is that which they do. . y: that is because they believed, then they rejected faith: so a seal was set on their hearts: therefore they understand not. p: that is because they believed, then disbelieved, therefore their hearts are sealed so that they understand not. s: that is because they believe, then disbelieve, so a seal is set upon their hearts so that they do not understand. . y: when thou lookest at them, their exteriors please thee; and when they speak, thou listenest to their words. they are as (worthless as hollow) pieces of timber propped up, (unable to stand on their own). they think that every cry is against them. they are the enemies; so beware of them. the curse of allah be on them! how are they deluded (away from the truth)! p: and when thou seest them their figures please thee; and if they speak thou givest ear unto their speech. (they are) as though they were blocks of wood in striped cloaks. they deem every shout to be against them. they are the enemy, so beware of them. allah confound them! how they are perverted! s: and when you see them, their persons will please you, and if they speak, you will listen to their speech; (they are) as if they were big pieces of wood clad with garments; they think every cry to be against them. they are the enemy, therefore beware of them; may allah destroy them, whence are they turned back? . y: and when it is said to them, "come, the messenger of allah will pray for your forgiveness", they turn aside their heads, and thou wouldst see them turning away their faces in arrogance. p: and when it is said unto them: come! the messenger of allah will ask forgiveness for you! they avert their faces and thou seest them turning away, disdainful. s: and when it is said to them: come, the messenger of allah will ask forgiveness for you, they turn back their heads and you may see them turning away while they are big with pride. . y: it is equal to them whether thou pray for their forgiveness or not. allah will not forgive them. truly allah guides not rebellious transgressors. p: whether thou ask forgiveness for them or ask not forgiveness for them is all one for them; allah will not forgive them. lo! allah guideth not the evil-living folk. s: it is alike to them whether you beg forgiveness for them or do not beg forgiveness for them; allah will never forgive them; surely allah does not guide the transgressing people. . y: they are the ones who say, "spend nothing on those who are with allah's messenger, to the end that they may disperse (and quit medina)." but to allah belong the treasures of the heavens and the earth; but the hypocrites understand not. p: they it is who say: spend not on behalf of those (who dwell) with allah's messenger that they may disperse (and go away from you); when allah's are the treasures of the heavens and the earth; but the hypocrites comprehend not. s: they it is who say: do not spend upon those who are with the messenger of allah until they break up. and allah's are the treasures of the heavens and the earth, but the hypocrites do not understand. . y: they say, "if we return to medina, surely the more honourable (element) will expel therefrom the meaner." but honour belongs to allah and his messenger, and to the believers; but the hypocrites know not. p: they say: surely, if we return to al-madinah the mightier will soon drive out the weaker; when might belongeth to allah and to his messenger and to the believers; but the hypocrites know not. s: they say: if we return to medina, the mighty will surely drive out the meaner therefrom; and to allah belongs the might and to his messenger and to the believers, but the hypocrites do not know. . y: o ye who believe! let not your riches or your children divert you from the remembrance of allah. if any act thus, the loss is their own. p: o ye who believe! let not your wealth nor your children distract you from remembrance of allah. those who do so, they are the losers. s: o you who believe! let not your wealth, or your children, divert you from the remembrance of allah; and whoever does that, these are the losers. . y: and spend something (in charity) out of the substance which we have bestowed on you, before death should come to any of you and he should say, "o my lord! why didst thou not give me respite for a little while? i should then have given (largely) in charity, and i should have been one of the doers of good". p: and spend of that wherewith we have provided you before death cometh unto one of you and he saith: my lord! if only thou wouldst reprieve me for a little while, then i would give alms and be among the righteous. s: and spend out of what we have given you before death comes to one of you, so that he should say: my lord! why didst thou not respite me to a near term, so that i should have given alms and been of the doers of good deeds? . y: but to no soul will allah grant respite when the time appointed (for it) has come; and allah is well acquainted with (all) that ye do. p: but allah reprieveth no soul when its term cometh, and allah is informed of what ye do. s: and allah does not respite a soul when its appointed term has come, and allah is aware of what you do. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : at-taghabun (mutual disillusion, haggling) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: whatever is in the heavens and on earth, doth declare the praises and glory of allah: to him belongs dominion, and to him belongs praise: and he has power over all things. p: all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth glorifieth allah; unto him belongeth sovereignty and unto him belongeth praise, and he is able to do all things. s: whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth declares the glory of allah; to him belongs the kingdom, and to him is due (all) praise, and he has power over all things. . y: it is he who has created you; and of you are some that are unbelievers, and some that are believers: and allah sees well all that ye do. p: he it is who created you, but one of you is a disbeliever and one of you is a believer, and allah is seer of what ye do. s: he it is who created you, but one of you is an unbeliever and another of you is a believer; and allah sees what you do. . y: he has created the heavens and the earth in just proportions, and has given you shape, and made your shapes beautiful: and to him is the final goal. p: he created the heavens and the earth with truth, and he shaped you and made good your shapes, and unto him is the journeying. s: he created the heavens and the earth with truth, and he formed you, then made goodly your forms, and to him is the ultimate resort. . y: he knows what is in the heavens and on earth; and he knows what ye conceal and what ye reveal: yea, allah knows well the (secrets) of (all) hearts. p: he knoweth all that is in the heavens and the earth, and he knoweth what ye conceal and what ye publish. and allah is aware of what is in the breasts (of men). s: he knows what is in the heavens and the earth, and he knows what you hide and what you manifest; and allah is cognizant of what is in the hearts. . y: has not the story reached you, of those who rejected faith aforetime? so they tasted the evil result of their conduct; and they had a grievous penalty. p: hath not the story reached you of those who disbelieved of old and so did taste the ill-effects of their conduct, and theirs will be a painful doom. s: has there not come to you the story of those who disbelieved before, then tasted the evil result of their conduct, and they had a painful punishment? . y: that was because there came to them messengers with clear signs, but they said: "shall (mere) human beings direct us?" so they rejected (the message) and turned away. but allah can do without (them): and allah is free of all needs, worthy of all praise. p: that was because their messengers (from allah) kept coming unto them with clear proofs (of allah's sovereignty), but they said: shall mere mortals guide us? so they disbelieved and turned away, and allah was independent (of them). allah is absolute, owner of praise. s: that is because there came to them their messengers with clear arguments, but they said: shall mortals guide us? so they disbelieved and turned back, and allah does not stand in need (of anything), and allah is self-sufficient, praised. . y: the unbelievers think that they will not be raised up (for judgment). say: "yea, by my lord, ye shall surely be raised up: then shall ye be told (the truth) of all that ye did. and that is easy for allah." p: those who disbelieve assert that they will not be raised again. say (unto them, o muhammad): yea, verily, by my lord! ye will be raised again and then ye will be informed of what ye did; and that is easy for allah. s: those who disbelieve think that they shall never be raised. say: aye! by my lord! you shall most certainly be raised, then you shall most certainly be informed of what you did; and that is easy to allah. . y: believe, therefore, in allah and his messenger, and in the light which we have sent down. and allah is well acquainted with all that ye do. p: so believe in allah and his messenger and the light which we have revealed. and allah is informed of what ye do. s: therefore believe in allah and his messenger and the light which we have revealed; and allah is aware of what you do. . y: the day that he assembles you (all) for a day of assembly,- that will be a day of mutual loss and gain (among you), and those who believe in allah and work righteousness,- he will remove from them their ills, and he will admit them to gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell therein for ever: that will be the supreme achievement. p: the day when he shall gather you unto the day of assembling, that will be a day of mutual disillusion. and whoso believeth in allah and doeth right, he will remit from him his evil deeds and will bring him unto gardens underneath which rivers flow, therein to abide for ever. that is the supreme triumph. s: on the day that he will gather you for the day of gathering, that is the day of loss and gain; and whoever believes in allah and does good, he will remove from him his evil and cause him to enter gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide therein forever; that is the great achievement. . y: but those who reject faith and treat our signs as falsehoods, they will be companions of the fire, to dwell therein for aye: and evil is that goal. p: but those who disbelieve and deny our revelations, such are owners of the fire; they will abide therein - a hapless journey's end! s: and (as for) those who disbelieve and reject our communications, they are the inmates of the fire, to abide therein and evil is the resort. . y: no kind of calamity can occur, except by the leave of allah: and if any one believes in allah, (allah) guides his heart (aright): for allah knows all things. p: no calamity befalleth save by allah's leave. and whosoever believeth in allah, he guideth his heart. and allah is knower of all things. s: no affliction comes about but by allah's permission; and whoever believes in allah, he guides aright his heart; and allah is cognizant of all things. . y: so obey allah, and obey his messenger: but if ye turn back, the duty of our messenger is but to proclaim (the message) clearly and openly. p: obey allah and obey his messenger; but if ye turn away, then the duty of our messenger is only to convey (the message) plainly. s: and obey allah and obey the messenger, but if you turn back, then upon our messenger devolves only the clear delivery (of the message). . y: allah! there is no god but he: and on allah, therefore, let the believers put their trust. p: allah! there is no god save him. in allah, therefore, let believers put their trust. s: allah, there is no god but he; and upon allah, then, let the believers rely. . y: o ye who believe! truly, among your wives and your children are (some that are) enemies to yourselves: so beware of them! but if ye forgive and overlook, and cover up (their faults), verily allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: o ye who believe! lo! among your wives and your children there are enemies for you, therefor beware of them. and if ye efface and overlook and forgive, then lo! allah is forgiving, merciful. s: o you who believe! surely from among your wives and your children there is an enemy to you; therefore beware of them; and if you pardon and forbear and forgive, then surely allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: your riches and your children may be but a trial: but in the presence of allah, is the highest, reward. p: your wealth and your children are only a temptation, whereas allah! with him is an immense reward. s: your possessions and your children are only a trial, and allah it is with whom is a great reward. . y: so fear allah as much as ye can; listen and obey and spend in charity for the benefit of your own soul and those saved from the covetousness of their own souls,- they are the ones that achieve prosperity. p: so keep your duty to allah as best ye can, and listen, and obey, and spend; that is better for your souls. and whoso is saved from his own greed, such are the successful. s: therefore be careful of (your duty to) allah as much as you can, and hear and obey and spend, it is better for your souls; and whoever is saved from the greediness of his soul, these it is that are the successful. . y: if ye loan to allah, a beautiful loan, he will double it to your (credit), and he will grant you forgiveness: for allah is most ready to appreciate (service), most forbearing,- p: if ye lend unto allah a goodly loan, he will double it for you and will forgive you, for allah is responsive, clement, s: if you set apart for allah a goodly portion, he will double it for you and forgive you; and allah is the multiplier (of rewards), forbearing, . y: knower of what is open, exalted in might, full of wisdom. p: knower of the invisible and the visible, the mighty, the wise. s: the knower of the unseen and the seen, the mighty, the wise. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : at-talaq (divorce) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: o prophet! when ye do divorce women, divorce them at their prescribed periods, and count (accurately), their prescribed periods: and fear allah your lord: and turn them not out of their houses, nor shall they (themselves) leave, except in case they are guilty of some open lewdness, those are limits set by allah: and any who transgresses the limits of allah, does verily wrong his (own) soul: thou knowest not if perchance allah will bring about thereafter some new situation. p: o prophet! when ye (men) put away women, put them away for their (legal) period and reckon the period, and keep your duty to allah, your lord. expel them not from their houses nor let them go forth unless they commit open immorality. such are the limits (imposed by) allah; and whoso transgresseth allah's limits, he verily wrongeth his soul. thou knowest not: it may be that allah will afterward bring some new thing to pass. s: o prophet! when you divorce women, divorce them for their prescribed time, and calculate the number of the days prescribed, and be careful of (your duty to) allah, your lord. do not drive them out of their houses, nor should they themselves go forth, unless they commit an open indecency; and these are the limits of allah, and whoever goes beyond the limits of allah, he indeed does injustice to his own soul. you do not know that allah may after that bring about reunion. . y: thus when they fulfil their term appointed, either take them back on equitable terms or part with them on equitable terms; and take for witness two persons from among you, endued with justice, and establish the evidence (as) before allah. such is the admonition given to him who believes in allah and the last day. and for those who fear allah, he (ever) prepares a way out, p: then, when they have reached their term, take them back in kindness or part from them in kindness, and call to witness two just men among you, and keep your testimony upright for allah. whoso believeth in allah and the last day is exhorted to act thus. and whosoever keepeth his duty to allah, allah will appoint a way out for him, s: so when they have reached their prescribed time, then retain them with kindness or separate them with kindness, and call to witness two men of justice from among you, and give upright testimony for allah. with that is admonished he who believes in allah and the latter day; and whoever is careful of (his duty to) allah, he will make for him an outlet, . y: and he provides for him from (sources) he never could imagine. and if any one puts his trust in allah, sufficient is (allah) for him. for allah will surely accomplish his purpose: verily, for all things has allah appointed a due proportion. p: and will provide for him from (a quarter) whence he hath no expectation. and whosoever putteth his trust in allah, he will suffice him. lo! allah bringeth his command to pass. allah hath set a measure for all things. s: and give him sustenance from whence he thinks not; and whoever trusts in allah, he is sufficient for him; surely allah attains his purpose; allah indeed has appointed a measure for everything. . y: such of your women as have passed the age of monthly courses, for them the prescribed period, if ye have any doubts, is three months, and for those who have no courses (it is the same): for those who carry (life within their wombs), their period is until they deliver their burdens: and for those who fear allah, he will make their path easy. p: and for such of your women as despair of menstruation, if ye doubt, their period (of waiting) shall be three months, along with those who have it not. and for those with child, their period shall be till they bring forth their burden. and whosoever keepeth his duty to allah, he maketh his course easy for him. s: and (as for) those of your women who have despaired of menstruation, if you have a doubt, their prescribed time shall be three months, and of those too who have not had their courses; and (as for) the pregnant women, their prescribed time is that they lay down their burden; and whoever is careful of (his duty to) allah he will make easy for him his affair. . y: that is the command of allah, which he has sent down to you: and if any one fears allah, he will remove his ills, from him, and will enlarge his reward. p: that is the commandment of allah which he revealeth unto you. and whoso keepeth his duty to allah, he will remit from him his evil deeds and magnify reward for him. s: that is the command of allah which he has revealed to you, and whoever is careful of (his duty to) allah, he will remove from him his evil and give him a big reward. . y: let the women live (in 'iddat) in the same style as ye live, according to your means: annoy them not, so as to restrict them. and if they carry (life in their wombs), then spend (your substance) on them until they deliver their burden: and if they suckle your (offspring), give them their recompense: and take mutual counsel together, according to what is just and reasonable. and if ye find yourselves in difficulties, let another woman suckle (the child) on the (father's) behalf. p: lodge them where ye dwell, according to your wealth, and harass them not so as to straiten life for them. and if they are with child, then spend for them till they bring forth their burden. then, if they give suck for you, give them their due payment and consult together in kindness; but if ye make difficulties for one another, then let some other woman give suck for him (the father of the child). s: lodge them where you lodge according to your means, and do not injure them in order that you may straiten them; and if they are pregnant, spend on them until they lay down their burden; then if they suckle for you, give them their recompense and enjoin one another among you to do good; and if you disagree, another (woman) shall suckle for him. . y: let the man of means spend according to his means: and the man whose resources are restricted, let him spend according to what allah has given him. allah puts no burden on any person beyond what he has given him. after a difficulty, allah will soon grant relief. p: let him who hath abundance spend of his abundance, and he whose provision is measured, let him spend of that which allah hath given him. allah asketh naught of any soul save that which he hath given it. allah will vouchsafe, after hardship, ease. s: let him who has abundance spend out of his abundance and whoever has his means of subsistence straitened to him, let him spend out of that which allah has given him; allah does not lay on any soul a burden except to the extent to which he has granted it; allah brings about ease after difficulty. . y: how many populations that insolently opposed the command of their lord and of his messengers, did we not then call to account,- to severe account?- and we imposed on them an exemplary punishment. p: and how many a community revolted against the ordinance of its lord and his messengers, and we called it to a stern account and punished it with dire punishment, s: and how many a town which rebelled against the commandment of its lord and his messengers, so we called it to account severely and we chastised it (with) a stern chastisement. . y: then did they taste the evil result of their conduct, and the end of their conduct was perdition. p: so that it tasted the ill-effects of its conduct, and the consequence of its conduct was loss. s: so it tasted the evil result of its conduct, and the end of its affair was perdition. . y: allah has prepared for them a severe punishment (in the hereafter). therefore fear allah, o ye men of understanding - who have believed!- for allah hath indeed sent down to you a message,- p: allah hath prepared for them stern punishment; so keep your duty to allah, o men of understanding! o ye who believe! now allah hath sent down unto you a reminder, s: allah has prepared for them severe chastisement, therefore be careful of (your duty to) allah, o men of understanding who believe! allah has indeed revealed to you a reminder, . y: a messenger, who rehearses to you the signs of allah containing clear explanations, that he may lead forth those who believe and do righteous deeds from the depths of darkness into light. and those who believe in allah and work righteousness, he will admit to gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell therein for ever: allah has indeed granted for them a most excellent provision. p: a messenger reciting unto you the revelations of allah made plain, that he may bring forth those who believe and do good works from darkness unto light. and whosoever believeth in allah and doeth right, he will bring him into gardens underneath which rivers flow, therein to abide for ever. allah hath made good provision for him. s: a messenger who recites to you the clear communications of allah so that he may bring forth those who believe and do good deeds from darkness into light; and whoever believes in allah and does good deeds, he will cause him to enter gardens beneath which rivers now, to abide therein forever, allah has indeed given him a goodly sustenance. . y: allah is he who created seven firmaments and of the earth a similar number. through the midst of them (all) descends his command: that ye may know that allah has power over all things, and that allah comprehends, all things in (his) knowledge. p: allah it is who hath created seven heavens, and of the earth the like thereof. the commandment cometh down among them slowly, that ye may know that allah is able to do all things, and that allah surroundeth all things in knowledge. s: allah is he who created seven heavens, and of the earth the like of them; the decree continues to descend among them, that you may know that allah has power over all things and that allah indeed encompasses all things in (his) knowledge. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : at-tahrim (banning, prohibition) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: o prophet! why holdest thou to be forbidden that which allah has made lawful to thee? thou seekest to please thy consorts. but allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: o prophet! why bannest thou that which allah hath made lawful for thee, seeking to please thy wives? and allah is forgiving, merciful. s: o prophet! why do you forbid (yourself) that which allah has made lawful for you; you seek to please your wives; and allah is forgiving, merciful. . y: allah has already ordained for you, (o men), the dissolution of your oaths (in some cases): and allah is your protector, and he is full of knowledge and wisdom. p: allah hath made lawful for you (muslims) absolution from your oaths (of such a kind), and allah is your protector. he is the knower, the wise. s: allah indeed has sanctioned for you the expiation of your oaths and allah is your protector, and he is the knowing the wise. . y: when the prophet disclosed a matter in confidence to one of his consorts, and she then divulged it (to another), and allah made it known to him, he confirmed part thereof and repudiated a part. then when he told her thereof, she said, "who told thee this?" he said, "he told me who knows and is well-acquainted (with all things)." p: when the prophet confided a fact unto one of his wives and when she afterward divulged it and allah apprised him thereof, he made known (to her) part thereof and passed over part. and when he told it her she said: who hath told thee? he said: the knower, the aware hath told me. s: and when the prophet secretly communicated a piece of information to one of his wives-- but when she informed (others) of it, and allah made him to know it, he made known part of it and avoided part; so when he informed her of it, she said: who informed you of this? he said: the knowing, the one aware, informed me. . y: if ye two turn in repentance to him, your hearts are indeed so inclined; but if ye back up each other against him, truly allah is his protector, and gabriel, and (every) righteous one among those who believe,- and furthermore, the angels - will back (him) up. p: if ye twain turn unto allah repentant, (ye have cause to do so) for your hearts desired (the ban); and if ye aid one another against him (muhammad) then lo! allah, even he, is his protecting friend, and gabriel and the righteous among the believers; and furthermore the angels are his helpers. s: if you both turn to allah, then indeed your hearts are already inclined (to this); and if you back up each other against him, then surely allah it is who is his guardian, and jibreel and the believers that do good, and the angels after that are the aiders. . y: it may be, if he divorced you (all), that allah will give him in exchange consorts better than you,- who submit (their wills), who believe, who are devout, who turn to allah in repentance, who worship (in humility), who travel (for faith) and fast,- previously married or virgins. p: it may happen that his lord, if he divorce you, will give him in your stead wives better than you, submissive (to allah), believing, pious, penitent, devout, inclined to fasting, widows and maids. s: maybe, his lord, if he divorce you, will give him in your place wives better than you, submissive, faithful, obedient, penitent, adorers, fasters, widows and virgins. . y: o ye who believe! save yourselves and your families from a fire whose fuel is men and stones, over which are (appointed) angels stern (and) severe, who flinch not (from executing) the commands they receive from allah, but do (precisely) what they are commanded. p: o ye who believe! ward off from yourselves and your families a fire whereof the fuel is men and stones, over which are set angels strong, severe, who resist not allah in that which he commandeth them, but do that which they are commanded. s: o you who believe! save yourselves and your families from a fire whose fuel is men and stones; over it are angels stern and strong, they do not disobey allah in what he commands them, and do as they are commanded. . y: (they will say), "o ye unbelievers! make no excuses this day! ye are being but requited for all that ye did!" p: (then it will be said): o ye who disbelieve! make no excuses for yourselves this day. ye are only being paid for what ye used to do. s: o you who disbelieve! do not urge excuses today; you shall be rewarded only according to what you did. . y: o ye who believe! turn to allah with sincere repentance: in the hope that your lord will remove from you your ills and admit you to gardens beneath which rivers flow,- the day that allah will not permit to be humiliated the prophet and those who believe with him. their light will run forward before them and by their right hands, while they say, "our lord! perfect our light for us, and grant us forgiveness: for thou hast power over all things." p: o ye who believe! turn unto allah in sincere repentance! it may be that your lord will remit from you your evil deeds and bring you into gardens underneath which rivers flow, on the day when allah will not abase the prophet and those who believe with him. their light will run before them and on their right hands; they will say: our lord! perfect our light for us, and forgive us! lo! thou art able to do all things. s: o you who believe! turn to allah a sincere turning; maybe your lord will remove from you your evil and cause you to enter gardens beneath which rivers flow, on the day on which allah will not abase the prophet and those who believe with him; their light shall run on before them and on their right hands; they shall say: our lord! make perfect for us our light, and grant us protection, surely thou hast power over all things. . y: o prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and be firm against them. their abode is hell,- an evil refuge (indeed). p: o prophet! strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be stern with them. hell will be their home, a hapless journey's end. s: o prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and be hard against them; and their abode is hell; and evil is the resort. . y: allah sets forth, for an example to the unbelievers, the wife of noah and the wife of lut: they were (respectively) under two of our righteous servants, but they were false to their (husbands), and they profited nothing before allah on their account, but were told: "enter ye the fire along with (others) that enter!" p: allah citeth an example for those who disbelieve: the wife of noah and the wife of lot, who were under two of our righteous slaves yet betrayed them so that they (the husbands) availed them naught against allah and it was said (unto them): enter the fire along with those who enter. s: allah sets forth an example to those who disbelieve the wife of nuh and the wife of lut: they were both under two of our righteous servants, but they acted treacherously towards them so they availed them naught against allah, and it was said: enter both the fire with those who enter. . y: and allah sets forth, as an example to those who believe the wife of pharaoh: behold she said: "o my lord! build for me, in nearness to thee, a mansion in the garden, and save me from pharaoh and his doings, and save me from those that do wrong"; p: and allah citeth an example for those who believe: the wife of pharaoh when she said: my lord! build for me a home with thee in the garden, and deliver me from pharaoh and his work, and deliver me from evil-doing folk; s: and allah sets forth an example to those who believe the wife of firon when she said: my lord! build for me a house with thee in the garden and deliver me from firon and his doing, and deliver me from the unjust people: . y: and mary the daughter of 'imran, who guarded her chastity; and we breathed into (her body) of our spirit; and she testified to the truth of the words of her lord and of his revelations, and was one of the devout (servants). p: and mary, daughter of 'imran, whose body was chaste, therefor we breathed therein something of our spirit. and she put faith in the words of her lord and his scriptures, and was of the obedient. s: and marium, the daughter of imran, who guarded her chastity, so we breathed into her of our inspiration and she accepted the truth of the words of her lord and his books, and she was of, the obedient ones. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-mulk (the sovereignty, control) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: blessed be he in whose hands is dominion; and he over all things hath power;- p: blessed is he in whose hand is the sovereignty, and, he is able to do all things. s: blessed is he in whose hand is the kingdom, and he has power over all things, . y: he who created death and life, that he may try which of you is best in deed: and he is the exalted in might, oft-forgiving;- p: who hath created life and death that he may try you which of you is best in conduct; and he is the mighty, the forgiving, s: who created death and life that he may try you-- which of you is best in deeds; and he is the mighty, the forgiving, . y: he who created the seven heavens one above another: no want of proportion wilt thou see in the creation of (allah) most gracious. so turn thy vision again: seest thou any flaw? p: who hath created seven heavens in harmony. thou (muhammad) canst see no fault in the beneficent one's creation; then look again: canst thou see any rifts? s: who created the seven heavens one above another; you see no incongruity in the creation of the beneficent allah; then look again, can you see any disorder? . y: again turn thy vision a second time: (thy) vision will come back to thee dull and discomfited, in a state worn out. p: then look again and yet again, thy sight will return unto thee weakened and made dim. s: then turn back the eye again and again; your look shall come back to you confused while it is fatigued. . y: and we have, (from of old), adorned the lowest heaven with lamps, and we have made such (lamps) (as) missiles to drive away the evil ones, and have prepared for them the penalty of the blazing fire. p: and verily we have beautified the world's heaven with lamps, and we have made them missiles for the devils, and for them we have prepared the doom of flame. s: and certainly we have adorned this lower heaven with lamps and we have made these missiles for the shaitans, and we have prepared for them the chastisement of burning. . y: for those who reject their lord (and cherisher) is the penalty of hell: and evil is (such), destination. p: and for those who disbelieve in their lord there is the doom of hell, a hapless journey's end! s: and for those who disbelieve in their lord is the punishment of hell, and evil is the resort. . y: when they are cast therein, they will hear the (terrible) drawing in of its breath even as it blazes forth, p: when they are flung therein they hear its roaring as it boileth up, s: when they shall be cast therein, they shall hear a loud moaning of it as it heaves, . y: almost bursting with fury: every time a group is cast therein, its keepers will ask, "did no warner come to you?" p: as it would burst with rage. whenever a (fresh) host is flung therein the wardens thereof ask them: came there unto you no warner? s: almost bursting for fury. whenever a group is cast into it, its keeper shall ask them: did there not come to you a warner? . y: they will say: "yes indeed; a warner did come to us, but we rejected him and said, 'allah never sent down any (message): ye are nothing but an egregious delusion!'" p: they say: yea, verily, a warner came unto us; but we denied and said: allah hath naught revealed; ye are in naught but a great error. s: they shall say: yea! indeed there came to us a warner, but we rejected (him) and said: allah has not revealed anything, you are only in a great error. . y: they will further say: "had we but listened or used our intelligence, we should not (now) be among the companions of the blazing fire!" p: and they say: had we been wont to listen or have sense, we had not been among the dwellers in the flames. s: and they shall say: had we but listened or pondered, we should not have been among the inmates of the burning fire. . y: they will then confess their sins: but far will be (forgiveness) from the companions of the blazing fire! p: so they acknowledge their sins; but far removed (from mercy) are the dwellers in the flames. s: so they shall acknowledge their sins, but far will be (forgiveness) from the inmates of the burning fire. . y: as for those who fear their lord unseen, for them is forgiveness and a great reward. p: lo! those who fear their lord in secret, theirs will be forgiveness and a great reward. s: (as for) those who fear their lord in secret, they shall surely have forgiveness and a great reward. . y: and whether ye hide your word or publish it, he certainly has (full) knowledge, of the secrets of (all) hearts. p: and keep your opinion secret or proclaim it, lo! he is knower of all that is in the breasts (of men). s: and conceal your word or manifest it; surely he is cognizant of what is in the hearts. . y: should he not know,- he that created? and he is the one that understands the finest mysteries (and) is well-acquainted (with them). p: should he not know what he created? and he is the subtile, the aware. s: does he not know, who created? and he is the knower of the subtleties, the aware. . y: it is he who has made the earth manageable for you, so traverse ye through its tracts and enjoy of the sustenance which he furnishes: but unto him is the resurrection. p: he it is who hath made the earth subservient unto you, so walk in the paths thereof and eat of his providence. and unto him will be the resurrection (of the dead). s: he it is who made the earth smooth for you, therefore go about in the spacious sides thereof, and eat of his sustenance, and to him is the return after death. . y: do ye feel secure that he who is in heaven will not cause you to be swallowed up by the earth when it shakes (as in an earthquake)? p: have ye taken security from him who is in the heaven that he will not cause the earth to swallow you when lo! it is convulsed? s: are you secure of those in the heaven that he should not make the earth to swallow you up? then lo! it shall be in a state of commotion. . y: or do ye feel secure that he who is in heaven will not send against you a violent tornado (with showers of stones), so that ye shall know how (terrible) was my warning? p: or have ye taken security from him who is in the heaven that he will not let loose on you a hurricane? but ye shall know the manner of my warning. s: or are you secure of those in the heaven that he should not send down upon you a punishment? then shall you know how was my warning. . y: but indeed men before them rejected (my warning): then how (terrible) was my rejection (of them)? p: and verily those before them denied, then (see) the manner of my wrath (with them)! s: and certainly those before them rejected (the truth), then how was my disapproval. . y: do they not observe the birds above them, spreading their wings and folding them in? none can uphold them except (allah) most gracious: truly (allah) most gracious: truly it is he that watches over all things. p: have they not seen the birds above them spreading out their wings and closing them? naught upholdeth them save the beneficent. lo! he is seer of all things. s: have they not seen the birds above them expanding (their wings) and contracting (them)? what is it that withholds them save the beneficent allah? surely he sees everything. . y: nay, who is there that can help you, (even as) an army, besides (allah) most merciful? in nothing but delusion are the unbelievers. p: or who is he that will be an army unto you to help you instead of the beneficent? the disbelievers are in naught but illusion. s: or who is it that will be a host for you to assist you besides the beneficent allah? the unbelievers are only in deception. . y: or who is there that can provide you with sustenance if he were to withhold his provision? nay, they obstinately persist in insolent impiety and flight (from the truth). p: or who is he that will provide for you if he should withhold his providence? nay, but they are set in pride and frowardness. s: or who is it that will give you sustenance if he should withhold his sustenance? nay! they persist in disdain and aversion. . y: is then one who walks headlong, with his face grovelling, better guided,- or one who walks evenly on a straight way? p: is he who goeth groping on his face more rightly guided, or he who walketh upright on a straight road? s: what! is he who goes prone upon his face better guided or he who walks upright upon a straight path? . y: say: "it is he who has created you (and made you grow), and made for you the faculties of hearing, seeing, feeling and understanding: little thanks it is ye give." p: say (unto them, o muhammad): he it is who gave you being, and hath assigned unto you ears and eyes and hearts. small thanks give ye! s: say: he it is who brought you into being and made for you the ears and the eyes and the hearts: little is it that you give thanks. . y: say: "it is he who has multiplied you through the earth, and to him shall ye be gathered together." p: say: he it is who multiplieth you in the earth, and unto whom ye will be gathered. s: say: he it is who multiplied you in the earth and to him you shall be gathered. . y: they ask: when will this promise be (fulfilled)? - if ye are telling the truth. p: and they say: when (will) this promise (be fulfilled), if ye are truthful? s: and they say: when shall this threat be (executed) if you are truthful? . y: say: "as to the knowledge of the time, it is with allah alone: i am (sent) only to warn plainly in public." p: say: the knowledge is with allah only, and i am but a plain warner; s: say: the knowledge (thereof) is only with allah and i am only a plain warner. . y: at length, when they see it close at hand, grieved will be the faces of the unbelievers, and it will be said (to them): "this is (the promise fulfilled), which ye were calling for!" p: but when they see it nigh, the faces of those who disbelieve will be awry, and it will be said (unto them): this is that for which ye used to call. s: but when they shall see it nigh, the faces of those who disbelieve shall be sorry, and it shall be said; this is that which you used to call for. . y: say: "see ye?- if allah were to destroy me, and those with me, or if he bestows his mercy on us,- yet who can deliver the unbelievers from a grievous penalty?" p: say (o muhammad): have ye thought: whether allah causeth me (muhammad) and those with me to perish or hath mercy on us, still, who will protect the disbelievers from a painful doom? s: say: have you considered if allah should destroy me and those with me-- rather he will have mercy on us; yet who will protect the unbelievers from a painful punishment? . y: say: "he is (allah) most gracious: we have believed in him, and on him have we put our trust: so, soon will ye know which (of us) it is that is in manifest error." p: say: he is the beneficent. in him we believe and in him we put our trust. and ye will soon know who it is that is in error manifest. s: say: he is the beneficent allah, we believe in him and on him do we rely, so you shall come to know who it is that is in clear error. . y: say: "see ye?- if your stream be some morning lost (in the underground earth), who then can supply you with clear-flowing water?" p: say: have ye thought: if (all) your water were to disappear into the earth, who then could bring you gushing water? s: say: have you considered if your water should go down, who is it then that will bring you flowing water? --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-qalam (the pen) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: nun. by the pen and the (record) which (men) write,- p: nun. by the pen and that which they write (therewith), s: noon. i swear by the pen and what the angels write, . y: thou art not, by the grace of thy lord, mad or possessed. p: thou art not, for thy lord's favour unto thee, a madman. s: by the grace of your lord you are not mad. . y: nay, verily for thee is a reward unfailing: p: and lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. s: and most surely you shall have a reward never to be cut off. . y: and thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character. p: and lo! thou art of a tremendous nature. s: and most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality. . y: soon wilt thou see, and they will see, p: and thou wilt see and they will see s: so you shall see, and they (too) shall see, . y: which of you is afflicted with madness. p: which of you is the demented. s: which of you is afflicted with madness. . y: verily it is thy lord that knoweth best, which (among men) hath strayed from his path: and he knoweth best those who receive (true) guidance. p: lo! thy lord is best aware of him who strayeth from his way, and he is best aware of those who walk aright. s: surely your lord best knows him who errs from his way, and he best knows the followers of the right course. . y: so hearken not to those who deny (the truth). p: therefor obey not thou the rejecters s: so do not yield to the rejecters. . y: their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. p: who would have had thee compromise, that they may compromise. s: they wish that you should be pliant so they (too) would be pliant. . y: heed not the type of despicable men,- ready with oaths, p: neither obey thou each feeble oath-monger, s: and yield not to any mean swearer . y: a slanderer, going about with calumnies, p: detracter, spreader abroad of slanders, s: defamer, going about with slander . y: (habitually) hindering (all) good, transgressing beyond bounds, deep in sin, p: hinderer of the good, transgressor, malefactor s: forbidder of good, outstepping the limits, sinful, . y: violent (and cruel),- with all that, base-born,- p: greedy therewithal, intrusive. s: ignoble, besides all that, base-born; . y: because he possesses wealth and (numerous) sons. p: it is because he is possessed of wealth and children s: because he possesses wealth and sons. . y: when to him are rehearsed our signs, "tales of the ancients", he cries! p: that, when our revelations are recited unto him, he saith: mere fables of the men of old. s: when our communications are recited to him, he says: stories of those of yore. . y: soon shall we brand (the beast) on the snout! p: we shall brand him on the nose. s: we will brand him on the nose. . y: verily we have tried them as we tried the people of the garden, when they resolved to gather the fruits of the (garden) in the morning. p: lo! we have tried them as we tried the owners of the garden when they vowed that they would pluck its fruit next morning, s: surely we will try them as we tried the owners of the garden, when they swore that they would certainly cut off the produce in the morning, . y: but made no reservation, ("if it be allah's will"). p: and made no exception (for the will of allah); s: and were not willing to set aside a portion (for the poor). . y: then there came on the (garden) a visitation from thy lord, (which swept away) all around, while they were asleep. p: then a visitation from thy lord came upon it while they slept s: then there encompassed it a visitation from your lord while they were sleeping. . y: so the (garden) became, by the morning, like a dark and desolate spot, (whose fruit had been gathered). p: and in the morning it was as if plucked. s: so it became as black, barren land. . y: as the morning broke, they called out, one to another,- p: and they cried out one unto another in the morning, s: and they called out to each other in the morning, . y: "go ye to your tilth (betimes) in the morning, if ye would gather the fruits." p: saying: run unto your field if ye would pluck (the fruit). s: saying: go early to your tilth if you would cut (the produce). . y: so they departed, conversing in secret low tones, (saying)- p: so they went off, saying one unto another in low tones: s: so they went, while they consulted together secretly, . y: "let not a single indigent person break in upon you into the (garden) this day." p: no needy man shall enter it to-day against you. s: saying: no poor man shall enter it today upon you. . y: and they opened the morning, strong in an (unjust) resolve. p: they went betimes, strong in (this) purpose. s: and in the morning they went, having the power to prevent. . y: but when they saw the (garden), they said: "we have surely lost our way:" p: but when they saw it, they said: lo! we are in error! s: but when they saw it, they said: most surely we have gone astray . y: "indeed we are shut out (of the fruits of our labour)!" p: nay, but we are desolate! s: nay! we are made to suffer privation. . y: said one of them, more just (than the rest): "did i not say to you, 'why not glorify (allah)?'" p: the best among them said: said i not unto you: why glorify ye not (allah)? s: the best of them said: did i not say to you, why do you not glorify (allah)? . y: they said: "glory to our lord! verily we have been doing wrong!" p: they said: glorified be our lord! lo! we have been wrong-doers. s: they said: glory be to our lord, surely we were unjust. . y: then they turned, one against another, in reproach. p: then some of them drew near unto others, self-reproaching. s: then some of them advanced against others, blaming each other. . y: they said: "alas for us! we have indeed transgressed!" p: they said: alas for us! in truth we were outrageous. s: said they: o woe to us! surely we were inordinate: . y: "it may be that our lord will give us in exchange a better (garden) than this: for we do turn to him (in repentance)!" p: it may be that our lord will give us better than this in place thereof. lo! we beseech our lord. s: maybe, our lord will give us instead one better than it; surely to our lord do we make our humble petition. . y: such is the punishment (in this life); but greater is the punishment in the hereafter,- if only they knew! p: such was the punishment. and verily the punishment of the hereafter is greater if they did but know. s: such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! . y: verily, for the righteous, are gardens of delight, in the presence of their lord. p: lo! for those who keep from evil are gardens of bliss with their lord. s: surely those who guard (against evil) shall have with their lord gardens of bliss. . y: shall we then treat the people of faith like the people of sin? p: shall we then treat those who have surrendered as we treat the guilty? s: what! shall we then make (that is, treat) those who submit as the guilty? . y: what is the matter with you? how judge ye? p: what aileth you? how foolishly ye judge! s: what has happened to you? how do you judge? . y: or have ye a book through which ye learn- p: or have ye a scripture wherein ye learn s: or have you a book wherein you read, . y: that ye shall have, through it whatever ye choose? p: that ye shall indeed have all that ye choose? s: that you have surely therein what you choose? . y: or have ye covenants with us to oath, reaching to the day of judgment, (providing) that ye shall have whatever ye shall demand? p: or have ye a covenant on oath from us that reacheth to the day of judgment, that yours shall be all that ye ordain? s: or have you received from us an agreement confirmed by an oath extending to the day of resurrection that you shall surely have what you demand? . y: ask thou of them, which of them will stand surety for that! p: ask them (o muhammad) which of them will vouch for that! s: ask them which of them will vouch for that, . y: or have they some "partners" (in godhead)? then let them produce their "partners", if they are truthful! p: or have they other gods? then let them bring their other gods if they are truthful, s: or have they associates if they are truthful. . y: the day that the shin shall be laid bare, and they shall be summoned to bow in adoration, but they shall not be able,- p: on the day when it befalleth in earnest, and they are ordered to prostrate themselves but are not able, s: on the day when there shall be a severe affliction, and they shall be called upon to make obeisance, but they shall not be able, . y: their eyes will be cast down,- ignominy will cover them; seeing that they had been summoned aforetime to bow in adoration, while they were whole, (and had refused). p: with eyes downcast, abasement stupefying them. and they had been summoned to prostrate themselves while they were yet unhurt. s: their looks cast down, abasement shall overtake them; and they were called upon to make obeisance indeed while yet they were safe. . y: then leave me alone with such as reject this message: by degrees shall we punish them from directions they perceive not. p: leave me (to deal) with those who give the lie to this pronouncement. we shall lead them on by steps from whence they know not. s: so leave me and him who rejects this announcement; we will overtake them by degrees, from whence they perceive not: . y: a (long) respite will i grant them: truly powerful is my plan. p: yet i bear with them, for lo! my scheme is firm. s: and i do bear with them, surely my plan is firm. . y: or is it that thou dost ask them for a reward, so that they are burdened with a load of debt?- p: or dost thou (muhammad) ask a fee from them so that they are heavily taxed? s: or do you ask from them a reward, so that they are burdened with debt? . y: or that the unseen is in their hands, so that they can write it down? p: or is the unseen theirs that they can write (thereof)? s: or have they (the knowledge of) the unseen, so that they write (it) down? . y: so wait with patience for the command of thy lord, and be not like the companion of the fish,- when he cried out in agony. p: but wait thou for thy lord's decree, and be not like him of the fish, who cried out in despair. s: so wait patiently for the judgment of your lord, and be not like the companion of the fish, when he cried while he was in distress. . y: had not grace from his lord reached him, he would indeed have been cast off on the naked shore, in disgrace. p: had it not been that favour from his lord had reached him he surely had been cast into the wilderness while he was reprobate. s: were it not that favor from his lord had overtaken him, he would certainly have been cast down upon the naked found while he was blamed. . y: thus did his lord choose him and make him of the company of the righteous. p: but his lord chose him and placed him among the righteous. s: then his lord chose him, and he made him of the good. . y: and the unbelievers would almost trip thee up with their eyes when they hear the message; and they say: "surely he is possessed!" p: and lo! those who disbelieve would fain disconcert thee with their eyes when they hear the reminder, and they say: lo! he is indeed mad; s: and those who disbelieve would almost smite you with their eyes when they hear the reminder, and they say: most surely he is mad. . y: but it is nothing less than a message to all the worlds. p: when it is naught else than a reminder to creation. s: and it is naught but a reminder to the nations. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-haaqqa (the reality) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: the sure reality! p: the reality! s: the sure calamity! . y: what is the sure reality? p: what is the reality? s: what is the sure calamity! . y: and what will make thee realise what the sure reality is? p: ah, what will convey unto thee what the reality is! s: and what would make you realize what the sure calamity is! . y: the thamud and the 'ad people (branded) as false the stunning calamity! p: (the tribes of) thamud and a'ad disbelieved in the judgment to come. s: samood and ad called the striking calamity a lie. . y: but the thamud,- they were destroyed by a terrible storm of thunder and lightning! p: as for thamud, they were destroyed by the lightning. s: then as to samood, they were destroyed by an excessively severe punishment. . y: and the 'ad, they were destroyed by a furious wind, exceedingly violent; p: and as for a'ad, they were destroyed by a fierce roaring wind, s: and as to ad, they were destroyed by a roaring, violent blast. . y: he made it rage against them seven nights and eight days in succession: so that thou couldst see the (whole) people lying prostrate in its (path), as they had been roots of hollow palm-trees tumbled down! p: which he imposed on them for seven long nights and eight long days so that thou mightest have seen men lying overthrown, as they were hollow trunks of palm-trees. s: which he made to prevail against them for seven nights and eight days unremittingly, so that you might have seen the people therein prostrate as if they were the trunks of hollow palms. . y: then seest thou any of them left surviving? p: canst thou (o muhammad) see any remnant of them? s: do you then see of them one remaining? . y: and pharaoh, and those before him, and the cities overthrown, committed habitual sin. p: and pharaoh and those before him, and the communities that were destroyed, brought error, s: and firon and those before him and the overthrown cities continuously committed sins. . y: and disobeyed (each) the messenger of their lord; so he punished them with an abundant penalty. p: and they disobeyed the messenger of their lord, therefor did he grip them with a tightening grip. s: and they disobeyed the messenger of their lord, so he punished them with a vehement punishment. . y: we, when the water (of noah's flood) overflowed beyond its limits, carried you (mankind), in the floating (ark), p: lo! when the waters rose, we carried you upon the ship s: surely we bore you up in the ship when the water rose high, . y: that we might make it a message unto you, and that ears (that should hear the tale and) retain its memory should bear its (lessons) in remembrance. p: that we might make it a memorial for you, and that remembering ears (that heard the story) might remember. s: so that we may make it a reminder to you, and that the retaining ear might retain it. . y: then, when one blast is sounded on the trumpet, p: and when the trumpet shall sound one blast s: and when the trumpet is blown with a single blast, . y: and the earth is moved, and its mountains, and they are crushed to powder at one stroke,- p: and the earth with the mountains shall be lifted up and crushed with one crash, s: and the earth and the mountains are borne away and crushed with a single crushing. . y: on that day shall the (great) event come to pass. p: then, on that day will the event befall. s: on that day shall the great event come to pass, . y: and the sky will be rent asunder, for it will that day be flimsy, p: and the heaven will split asunder, for that day it will be frail. s: and the heaven shall cleave asunder, so that on that day it shall be frail, . y: and the angels will be on its sides, and eight will, that day, bear the throne of thy lord above them. p: and the angels will be on the sides thereof, and eight will uphold the throne of thy lord that day, above them. s: and the angels shall be on the sides thereof; and above them eight shall bear on that day your lord's power. . y: that day shall ye be brought to judgment: not an act of yours that ye hide will be hidden. p: on that day ye will be exposed; not a secret of you will be hidden. s: on that day you shall be exposed to view-- no secret of yours shall remain hidden. . y: then he that will be given his record in his right hand will say: "ah here! read ye my record!" p: then, as for him who is given his record in his right hand, he will say: take, read my book! s: then as for him who is given his book in his right hand, he will say: lo! read my book: . y: "i did really understand that my account would (one day) reach me!" p: surely i knew that i should have to meet my reckoning. s: surely i knew that i shall meet my account. . y: and he will be in a life of bliss, p: then he will be in blissful state s: so he shall be in a life of pleasure, . y: in a garden on high, p: in a high garden s: in a lofty garden, . y: the fruits whereof (will hang in bunches) low and near. p: whereof the clusters are in easy reach. s: the fruits of which are near at hand: . y: "eat ye and drink ye, with full satisfaction; because of the (good) that ye sent before you, in the days that are gone!" p: (and it will be said unto those therein): eat and drink at ease for that which ye sent on before you in past days. s: eat and drink pleasantly for what you did beforehand in the days gone by. . y: and he that will be given his record in his left hand, will say: "ah! would that my record had not been given to me!" p: but as for him who is given his record in his left hand, he will say: oh, would that i had not been given my book s: and as for him who is given his book in his left hand he shall say: o would that my book had never been given me: . y: "and that i had never realised how my account (stood)!" p: and knew not what my reckoning! s: and i had not known what my account was: . y: "ah! would that (death) had made an end of me!" p: oh, would that it had been death! s: o would that it had made an end (of me): . y: "of no profit to me has been my wealth!" p: my wealth hath not availed me, s: my wealth has availed me nothing: . y: "my power has perished from me!"... p: my power hath gone from me. s: my authority is gone away from me. . y: (the stern command will say): "seize ye him, and bind ye him," p: (it will be said): take him and fetter him s: lay hold on him, then put a chain on him, . y: "and burn ye him in the blazing fire." p: and then expose him to hell-fire s: then cast him into the burning fire, . y: "further, make him march in a chain, whereof the length is seventy cubits!" p: and then insert him in a chain whereof the length is seventy cubits. s: then thrust him into a chain the length of which is seventy cubits. . y: "this was he that would not believe in allah most high." p: lo! he used not to believe in allah the tremendous, s: surely he did not believe in allah, the great, . y: "and would not encourage the feeding of the indigent!" p: and urged not on the feeding of the wretched. s: nor did he urge the feeding of the poor. . y: "so no friend hath he here this day." p: therefor hath he no lover here this day, s: therefore he has not here today a true friend, . y: "nor hath he any food except the corruption from the washing of wounds," p: nor any food save filth s: nor any food except refuse, . y: "which none do eat but those in sin." p: which none but sinners eat. s: which none but the wrongdoers eat. . y: so i do call to witness what ye see, p: but nay! i swear by all that ye see s: but nay! i swear by that which you see, . y: and what ye see not, p: and all that ye see not s: and that which you do not see. . y: that this is verily the word of an honoured messenger; p: that it is indeed the speech of an illustrious messenger. s: most surely, it is the word brought by an honored messenger, . y: it is not the word of a poet: little it is ye believe! p: it is not poet's speech - little is it that ye believe! s: and it is not the word of a poet; little is it that you believe; . y: nor is it the word of a soothsayer: little admonition it is ye receive. p: nor diviner's speech - little is it that ye remember! s: nor the word of a soothsayer; little is it that you mind. . y: (this is) a message sent down from the lord of the worlds. p: it is a revelation from the lord of the worlds. s: it is a revelation from the lord of the worlds. . y: and if the messenger were to invent any sayings in our name, p: and if he had invented false sayings concerning us, s: and if he had fabricated against us some of the sayings, . y: we should certainly seize him by his right hand, p: we assuredly had taken him by the right hand s: we would certainly have seized him by the right hand, . y: and we should certainly then cut off the artery of his heart: p: and then severed his life-artery, s: then we would certainly have cut off his aorta. . y: nor could any of you withhold him (from our wrath). p: and not one of you could have held us off from him. s: and not one of you could have withheld us from him. . y: but verily this is a message for the allah-fearing. p: and lo! it is a warrant unto those who ward off (evil). s: and most surely it is a reminder for those who guard (against evil). . y: and we certainly know that there are amongst you those that reject (it). p: and lo! we know that some among you will deny (it). s: and most surely we know that some of you are rejecters. . y: but truly (revelation) is a cause of sorrow for the unbelievers. p: and lo! it is indeed an anguish for the disbelievers. s: and most surely it is a great grief to the unbelievers. . y: but verily it is truth of assured certainty. p: and lo! it is absolute truth. s: and most surely it is the true certainty . y: so glorify the name of thy lord most high. p: so glorify the name of thy tremendous lord. s: therefore-glorify the name of your lord, the great. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-maarij (the ascending stairways) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: a questioner asked about a penalty to befall- p: a questioner questioned concerning the doom about to fall s: one demanding, demanded the chastisement which must befall . y: the unbelievers the which there is none to ward off,- p: upon the disbelievers, which none can repel, s: the unbelievers-- there is none to avert it-- . y: (a penalty) from allah, lord of the ways of ascent. p: from allah, lord of the ascending stairways s: from allah, the lord of the ways of ascent. . y: the angels and the spirit ascend unto him in a day the measure whereof is (as) fifty thousand years: p: (whereby) the angels and the spirit ascend unto him in a day whereof the span is fifty thousand years. s: to him ascend the angels and the spirit in a day the measure of which is fifty thousand years. . y: therefore do thou hold patience,- a patience of beautiful (contentment). p: but be patient (o muhammad) with a patience fair to see. s: therefore endure with a goodly patience. . y: they see the (day) indeed as a far-off (event): p: lo! they behold it afar off s: surely they think it to be far off, . y: but we see it (quite) near. p: while we behold it nigh: s: and we see it nigh. . y: the day that the sky will be like molten brass, p: the day when the sky will become as molten copper, s: on the day when the heaven shall be as molten copper . y: and the mountains will be like wool, p: and the hills become as flakes of wool, s: and the mountains shall be as tufts of wool . y: and no friend will ask after a friend, p: and no familiar friend will ask a question of his friend s: and friend shall not ask of friend . y: though they will be put in sight of each other,- the sinner's desire will be: would that he could redeem himself from the penalty of that day by (sacrificing) his children, p: though they will be given sight of them. the guilty man will long to be able to ransom himself from the punishment of that day at the price of his children s: (though) they shall be made to see each other. the guilty one would fain redeem himself from the chastisement of that day by (sacrificing) his children, . y: his wife and his brother, p: and his spouse and his brother s: and his wife and his brother . y: his kindred who sheltered him, p: and his kin that harboured him s: and the nearest of his kinsfolk who gave him shelter, . y: and all, all that is on earth,- so it could deliver him: p: and all that are in the earth, if then it might deliver him. s: and all those that are in the earth, (wishing) then (that) this might deliver him. . y: by no means! for it would be the fire of hell!- p: but nay! for lo! it is the fire of hell s: by no means! surely it is a flaming fire . y: plucking out (his being) right to the skull!- p: eager to roast; s: dragging by the head, . y: inviting (all) such as turn their backs and turn away their faces (from the right). p: it calleth him who turned and fled (from truth), s: it shall claim him who turned and fled (from truth), . y: and collect (wealth) and hide it (from use)! p: and hoarded (wealth) and withheld it. s: and amasses (wealth) then shuts it up. . y: truly man was created very impatient;- p: lo! man was created anxious, s: surely man is created of a hasty temperament . y: fretful when evil touches him; p: fretful when evil befalleth him s: being greatly grieved when evil afflicts him . y: and niggardly when good reaches him;- p: and, when good befalleth him, grudging; s: and niggardly when good befalls him . y: not so those devoted to prayer;- p: save worshippers. s: except those who pray, . y: those who remain steadfast to their prayer; p: who are constant at their worship s: those who are constant at their prayer . y: and those in whose wealth is a recognised right. p: and in whose wealth there is a right acknowledged s: and those in whose wealth there is a fixed portion. . y: for the (needy) who asks and him who is prevented (for some reason from asking); p: for the beggar and the destitute; s: for him who begs and for him who is denied (good) . y: and those who hold to the truth of the day of judgment; p: and those who believe in the day of judgment, s: and those who accept the truth of the judgment day . y: and those who fear the displeasure of their lord,- p: and those who are fearful of their lord's doom - s: and those who are fearful of the chastisement of their lord-- . y: for their lord's displeasure is the opposite of peace and tranquillity;- p: lo! the doom of their lord is that before which none can feel secure- s: surely the chastisement of their lord is (a thing) not to be felt secure of-- . y: and those who guard their chastity, p: and those who preserve their chastity s: and those who guard their private parts, . y: except with their wives and the (captives) whom their right hands possess,- for (then) they are not to be blamed, p: save with their wives and those whom their right hands possess, for thus they are not blameworthy; s: except in the case of their wives or those whom their right hands possess-- for these surely are not to be blamed, . y: but those who trespass beyond this are transgressors;- p: but whoso seeketh more than that, those are they who are transgressors; s: but he who seeks to go beyond this, these it is that go beyond the limits-- . y: and those who respect their trusts and covenants; p: and those who keep their pledges and their covenant, s: and those who are faithful to their trusts and their covenant . y: and those who stand firm in their testimonies; p: and those who stand by their testimony s: and those who are upright in their testimonies, . y: and those who guard (the sacredness) of their worship;- p: and those who are attentive at their worship. s: and those who keep a guard on their prayer, . y: such will be the honoured ones in the gardens (of bliss). p: these will dwell in gardens, honoured. s: those shall be in gardens, honored. . y: now what is the matter with the unbelievers that they rush madly before thee- p: what aileth those who disbelieve, that they keep staring toward thee (o muhammad), open-eyed, s: but what is the matter with those who disbelieve that they hasten on around you, . y: from the right and from the left, in crowds? p: on the right and on the left, in groups? s: on the right hand and on the left, in sundry parties? . y: does every man of them long to enter the garden of bliss? p: doth every man among them hope to enter the garden of delight? s: does every man of them desire that he should be made to enter the garden of bliss? . y: by no means! for we have created them out of the (base matter) they know! p: nay, verily. lo! we created them from what they know. s: by no means! surely we have created them of what they know. . y: now i do call to witness the lord of all points in the east and the west that we can certainly- p: but nay! i swear by the lord of the rising-places and the setting-places (of the planets) that we verily are able s: but nay! i swear by the lord of the easts and the wests that we are certainly able . y: substitute for them better (men) than they; and we are not to be defeated (in our plan). p: to replace them by (others) better than them. and we are not to be outrun. s: to bring instead (others) better than them, and we shall not be overcome. . y: so leave them to plunge in vain talk and play about, until they encounter that day of theirs which they have been promised!- p: so let them chat and play until they meet their day which they are promised, s: therefore leave them alone to go on with the false discourses and to sport until they come face to face with that day of theirs with which they are threatened; . y: the day whereon they will issue from their sepulchres in sudden haste as if they were rushing to a goal-post (fixed for them),- p: the day when they come forth from the graves in haste, as racing to a goal, s: the day on which they shall come forth from their graves in haste, as if they were hastening on to a goal, . y: their eyes lowered in dejection,- ignominy covering them (all over)! such is the day the which they are promised! p: with eyes aghast, abasement stupefying them: such is the day which they are promised. s: their eyes cast down; disgrace shall overtake them; that is the day which they were threatened with. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : nooh (nooh) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: we sent noah to his people (with the command): "do thou warn thy people before there comes to them a grievous penalty." p: lo! we sent noah unto his people (saying): warn thy people ere the painful doom come unto them. s: surely we sent nuh to his people, saying: warn your people before there come upon them a painful chastisement. . y: he said: "o my people! i am to you a warner, clear and open:" p: he said: o my people! lo! i am a plain warner unto you s: he said: o my people! surely i am a plain warner to you: . y: "that ye should worship allah, fear him and obey me:" p: (bidding you): serve allah and keep your duty unto him and obey me, s: that you should serve allah and be careful of (your duty to) him and obey me: . y: "so he may forgive you your sins and give you respite for a stated term: for when the term given by allah is accomplished, it cannot be put forward: if ye only knew." p: that he may forgive you somewhat of your sins and respite you to an appointed term. lo! the term of allah, when it cometh, cannot be delayed, if ye but knew. s: he will forgive you some of your faults and grant you a delay to an appointed term; surely the term of allah when it comes is not postponed; did you but know! . y: he said: "o my lord! i have called to my people night and day:" p: he said: my lord! lo! i have called unto my people night and day s: he said: o my lord! surely i have called my people by night and by day! . y: "but my call only increases (their) flight (from the right)." p: but all my calling doth but add to their repugnance; s: but my call has only made them flee the more: . y: "and every time i have called to them, that thou mightest forgive them, they have (only) thrust their fingers into their ears, covered themselves up with their garments, grown obstinate, and given themselves up to arrogance." p: and lo! whenever i call unto them that thou mayst pardon them they thrust their fingers in their ears and cover themselves with their garments and persist (in their refusal) and magnify themselves in pride. s: and whenever i have called them that thou mayest forgive them, they put their fingers in their ears, cover themselves with their garments, and persist and are puffed up with pride: . y: "so i have called to them aloud;" p: and lo! i have called unto them aloud, s: then surely i called to them aloud: . y: "further i have spoken to them in public and secretly in private," p: and lo! i have made public proclamation unto them, and i have appealed to them in private. s: then surely i spoke to them in public and i spoke to them in secret: . y: "saying, 'ask forgiveness from your lord; for he is oft-forgiving;'" p: and i have said: seek pardon of your lord. lo! he was ever forgiving. s: then i said, ask forgiveness of your lord, surely he is the most forgiving: . y: "'he will send rain to you in abundance;'" p: he will let loose the sky for you in plenteous rain, s: he will send down upon you the cloud, pouring down abundance of rain: . y: "'give you increase in wealth and sons; and bestow on you gardens and bestow on you rivers (of flowing water).'" p: and will help you with wealth and sons, and will assign unto you gardens and will assign unto you rivers. s: and help you with wealth and sons, and make for you gardens, and make for you rivers. . y: "'what is the matter with you, that ye place not your hope for kindness and long-suffering in allah,'"- p: what aileth you that ye hope not toward allah for dignity s: what is the matter with you that you fear not the greatness of allah? . y: "'seeing that it is he that has created you in diverse stages?'" p: when he created you by (divers) stages? s: and indeed he has created you through various grades: . y: "'see ye not how allah has created the seven heavens one above another,'" p: see ye not how allah hath created seven heavens in harmony, s: do you not see how allah has created the seven heavens one above another, . y: "'and made the moon a light in their midst, and made the sun as a (glorious) lamp?'" p: and hath made the moon a light therein, and made the sun a lamp? s: and made the moon therein a light, and made the sun a lamp? . y: "'and allah has produced you from the earth growing (gradually),'" p: and allah hath caused you to grow as a growth from the earth, s: and allah has made you grow out of the earth as a growth: . y: "'and in the end he will return you into the (earth), and raise you forth (again at the resurrection)?'" p: and afterward he maketh you return thereto, and he will bring you forth again, a (new) forthbringing. s: then he returns you to it, then will he bring you forth a (new) bringing forth: . y: "'and allah has made the earth for you as a carpet (spread out),'" p: and allah hath made the earth a wide expanse for you s: and allah has made for you the earth a wide expanse, . y: "'that ye may go about therein, in spacious roads.'" p: that ye may thread the valley-ways thereof. s: that you may go along therein in wide paths. . y: noah said: "o my lord! they have disobeyed me, but they follow (men) whose wealth and children give them no increase but only loss." p: noah said: my lord! lo! they have disobeyed me and followed one whose wealth and children increase him in naught save ruin; s: nuh said: my lord! surely they have disobeyed me and followed him whose wealth and children have added to him nothing but loss. . y: "and they have devised a tremendous plot." p: and they have plotted a mighty plot, s: and they have planned a very great plan. . y: "and they have said (to each other), 'abandon not your gods: abandon neither wadd nor suwa', neither yaguth nor ya'uq, nor nasr';"- p: and they have said: forsake not your gods. forsake not wadd, nor suwa', nor yaghuth and ya'uq and nasr. s: and they say: by no means leave your gods, nor leave wadd, nor suwa; nor yaghus, and yauq and nasr. . y: "they have already misled many; and grant thou no increase to the wrong-doers but in straying (from their mark)." p: and they have led many astray, and thou increasest the wrong-doers in naught save error. s: and indeed they have led astray many, and do not increase the unjust in aught but error. . y: because of their sins they were drowned (in the flood), and were made to enter the fire (of punishment): and they found- in lieu of allah- none to help them. p: because of their sins they were drowned, then made to enter a fire. and they found they had no helpers in place of allah. s: because of their wrongs they were drowned, then made to enter fire, so they did not find any helpers besides allah. . y: and noah, said: "o my lord! leave not of the unbelievers, a single one on earth!" p: and noah said: my lord! leave not one of the disbelievers in the land. s: and nuh said: my lord! leave not upon the land any dweller from among the unbelievers: . y: "for, if thou dost leave (any of) them, they will but mislead thy devotees, and they will breed none but wicked ungrateful ones." p: if thou shouldst leave them, they will mislead thy slaves and will beget none save lewd ingrates. s: for surely if thou leave them they will lead astray thy servants, and will not beget any but immoral, ungrateful (children) . y: "o my lord! forgive me, my parents, all who enter my house in faith, and (all) believing men and believing women: and to the wrong-doers grant thou no increase but in perdition!" p: my lord! forgive me and my parents and him who entereth my house believing, and believing men and believing women, and increase not the wrong-doers in aught save ruin. s: my lord! forgive me and my parents and him who enters my house believing, and the believing men and the believing women; and do not increase the unjust in aught but destruction! --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-jinn (the jinn) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: say: it has been revealed to me that a company of jinns listened (to the qur'an). they said, 'we have really heard a wonderful recital! p: say (o muhammad): it is revealed unto me that a company of the jinn gave ear, and they said: lo! we have heard a marvellous qur'an, s: say: it has been revealed to me that a party of the jinn listened, and they said: surely we have heard a wonderful quran, . y: 'it gives guidance to the right, and we have believed therein: we shall not join (in worship) any (gods) with our lord. p: which guideth unto righteousness, so we believe in it and we ascribe no partner unto our lord. s: guiding to the right way, so we believe in it, and we will not set up any one with our lord: . y: 'and exalted is the majesty of our lord: he has taken neither a wife nor a son. p: and (we believe) that he - exalted be the glory of our lord! - hath taken neither wife nor son, s: and that he-- exalted be the majesty of our lord-- has not taken a consort, nor a son: . y: 'there were some foolish ones among us, who used to utter extravagant lies against allah; p: and that the foolish one among us used to speak concerning allah an atrocious lie. s: and that the foolish amongst us used to forge extravagant things against allah: . y: 'but we do think that no man or spirit should say aught that is untrue against allah.' p: and lo! we had supposed that humankind and jinn would not speak a lie concerning allah - s: and that we thought that men and jinn did not utter a lie against allah: . y: 'true, there were persons among mankind who took shelter with persons among the jinns, but they increased them in folly. p: and indeed (o muhammad) individuals of humankind used to invoke the protection of individuals of the jinn, so that they increased them in revolt (against allah); s: and that persons from among men used to seek refuge with persons from among jinn, so they increased them in wrongdoing: . y: 'and they (came to) think as ye thought, that allah would not raise up any one (to judgment).' p: and indeed they supposed, even as ye suppose, that allah would not raise anyone (from the dead) - s: and that they thought as you think, that allah would not raise anyone: . y: 'and we pried into the secrets of heaven; but we found it filled with stern guards and flaming fires.' p: and (the jinn who had listened to the qur'an said): we had sought the heaven but had found it filled with strong warders and meteors. s: and that we sought to reach heaven, but we found it filled with strong guards and flaming stars. . y: 'we used, indeed, to sit there in (hidden) stations, to (steal) a hearing; but any who listen now will find a flaming fire watching him in ambush.' p: and we used to sit on places (high) therein to listen. but he who listeneth now findeth a flame in wait for him; s: and that we used to sit in some of the sitting-places thereof to steal a hearing, but he who would (try to) listen now would find a flame lying in wait for him: . y: 'and we understand not whether ill is intended to those on earth, or whether their lord (really) intends to guide them to right conduct.' p: and we know not whether harm is boded unto all who are in the earth, or whether their lord intendeth guidance for them. s: and that we know not whether evil is meant for those who are on earth or whether their lord means to bring them good: . y: 'there are among us some that are righteous, and some the contrary: we follow divergent paths.' p: and among us there are righteous folk and among us there are far from that. we are sects having different rules. s: and that some of us are good and others of us are below that: we are sects following different ways: . y: 'but we think that we can by no means frustrate allah throughout the earth, nor can we frustrate him by flight.' p: and we know that we cannot escape from allah in the earth, nor can we escape by flight. s: and that we know that we cannot escape allah in the earth, nor can we escape him by flight: . y: 'and as for us, since we have listened to the guidance, we have accepted it: and any who believes in his lord has no fear, either of a short (account) or of any injustice.' p: and when we heard the guidance, we believed therein, and whoso believeth in his lord, he feareth neither loss nor oppression. s: and that when we heard the guidance, we believed in it; so whoever believes in his lord, he should neither fear loss nor being overtaken (by disgrace): . y: 'amongst us are some that submit their wills (to allah), and some that swerve from justice. now those who submit their wills - they have sought out (the path) of right conduct': p: and there are among us some who have surrendered (to allah) and there are among us some who are unjust. and whoso hath surrendered to allah, such have taken the right path purposefully. s: and that some of us are those who submit, and some of us are the deviators; so whoever submits, these aim at the right way: . y: 'but those who swerve,- they are (but) fuel for hell-fire'- p: and as for those who are unjust, they are firewood for hell. s: and as to the deviators, they are fuel of hell: . y: (and allah's message is): "if they (the pagans) had (only) remained on the (right) way, we should certainly have bestowed on them rain in abundance." p: if they (the idolaters) tread the right path, we shall give them to drink of water in abundance s: and that if they should keep to the (right) way, we would certainly give them to drink of abundant water, . y: "that we might try them by that (means). but if any turns away from the remembrance of his lord, he will cause him to undergo a severe penalty." p: that we may test them thereby, and whoso turneth away from the remembrance of his lord; he will thrust him into ever-growing torment. s: so that we might try them with respect to it; and whoever turns aside from the reminder of his lord, he will make him enter into an afflicting chastisement: . y: "and the places of worship are for allah (alone): so invoke not any one along with allah;" p: and the places of worship are only for allah, so pray not unto anyone along with allah. s: and that the mosques are allah's, therefore call not upon any one with allah: . y: "yet when the devotee of allah stands forth to invoke him, they just make round him a dense crowd." p: and when the slave of allah stood up in prayer to him, they crowded on him, almost stifling. s: and that when the servant of allah stood up calling upon him, they wellnigh crowded him (to death). . y: say: "i do no more than invoke my lord, and i join not with him any (false god)." p: say (unto them, o muhammad): i pray unto allah only, and ascribe unto him no partner. s: say: i only call upon my lord, and i do not associate any one with him. . y: say: "it is not in my power to cause you harm, or to bring you to right conduct." p: say: lo! i control not hurt nor benefit for you. s: say: i do not control for you evil or good. . y: say: "no one can deliver me from allah (if i were to disobey him), nor should i find refuge except in him," p: say: lo! none can protect me from allah, nor can i find any refuge beside him s: say: surely no one can protect me against allah, nor can i find besides him any place of refuge: . y: "unless i proclaim what i receive from allah and his messages: for any that disobey allah and his messenger,- for them is hell: they shall dwell therein for ever." p: (mine is) but conveyance (of the truth) from allah, and his messages; and whoso disobeyeth allah and his messenger, lo! his is fire of hell, wherein such dwell for ever. s: (it is) only a delivering (of communications) from allah and his messages; and whoever disobeys allah and his messenger surely he shall have the fire of hell to abide therein for a long time. . y: at length, when they see (with their own eyes) that which they are promised,- then will they know who it is that is weakest in (his) helper and least important in point of numbers. p: till (the day) when they shall behold that which they are promised (they may doubt); but then they will know (for certain) who is weaker in allies and less in multitude. s: until when they see what they are threatened with, then shall they know who is weaker in helpers and fewer in number. . y: say: "i know not whether the (punishment) which ye are promised is near, or whether my lord will appoint for it a distant term." p: say (o muhammad, unto the disbelievers): i know not whether that which ye are promised is nigh, or if my lord hath set a distant term for it. s: say: i do not know whether that with which you are threatened be nigh or whether my lord will appoint for it a term: . y: "he (alone) knows the unseen, nor does he make any one acquainted with his mysteries,"- p: (he is) the knower of the unseen, and he revealeth unto none his secret, s: the knower of the unseen! so he does not reveal his secrets to any, . y: "except a messenger whom he has chosen: and then he makes a band of watchers march before him and behind him," p: save unto every messenger whom he hath chosen, and then he maketh a guard to go before him and a guard behind him s: except to him whom he chooses as a messenger; for surely he makes a guard to march before him and after him, . y: "that he may know that they have (truly) brought and delivered the messages of their lord: and he surrounds (all the mysteries) that are with them, and takes account of every single thing." p: that he may know that they have indeed conveyed the messages of their lord. he surroundeth all their doings, and he keepeth count of all things. s: so that he may know that they have truly delivered the messages of their lord, and he encompasses what is with them and he records the number of all things. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-muzzammil (the enshrouded one, bundled up) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: o thou folded in garments! p: o thou wrapped up in thy raiment! s: o you who have wrapped up in your garments! . y: stand (to prayer) by night, but not all night,- p: keep vigil the night long, save a little - s: rise to pray in the night except a little, . y: half of it,- or a little less, p: a half thereof, or abate a little thereof s: half of it, or lessen it a little, . y: or a little more; and recite the qur'an in slow, measured rhythmic tones. p: or add (a little) thereto - and chant the qur'an in measure, s: or add to it, and recite the quran as it ought to be recited. . y: soon shall we send down to thee a weighty message. p: for we shall charge thee with a word of weight. s: surely we will make to light upon you a weighty word. . y: truly the rising by night is most potent for governing (the soul), and most suitable for (framing) the word (of prayer and praise). p: lo! the vigil of the night is (a time) when impression is more keen and speech more certain. s: surely the rising by night is the firmest way to tread and the best corrective of speech. . y: true, there is for thee by day prolonged occupation with ordinary duties: p: lo! thou hast by day a chain of business. s: surely you have in the day time a long occupation. . y: but keep in remembrance the name of thy lord and devote thyself to him whole-heartedly. p: so remember the name of thy lord and devote thyself with a complete devotion - s: and remember the name of your lord and devote yourself to him with (exclusive) devotion. . y: (he is) lord of the east and the west: there is no god but he: take him therefore for (thy) disposer of affairs. p: lord of the east and the west; there is no god save him; so choose thou him alone for thy defender - s: the lord of the east and the west-- there is no god but he-- therefore take him for a protector. . y: and have patience with what they say, and leave them with noble (dignity). p: and bear with patience what they utter, and part from them with a fair leave-taking. s: and bear patiently what they say and avoid them with a becoming avoidance. . y: and leave me (alone to deal with) those in possession of the good things of life, who (yet) deny the truth; and bear with them for a little while. p: leave me to deal with the deniers, lords of ease and comfort (in this life); and do thou respite them awhile. s: and leave me and the rejecters, the possessors of ease and plenty, and respite them a little. . y: with us are fetters (to bind them), and a fire (to burn them), p: lo! with us are heavy fetters and a raging fire, s: surely with us are heavy fetters and a flaming fire, . y: and a food that chokes, and a penalty grievous. p: and food which choketh (the partaker), and a painful doom s: and food that chokes and a painful punishment, . y: one day the earth and the mountains will be in violent commotion. and the mountains will be as a heap of sand poured out and flowing down. p: on the day when the earth and the hills rock, and the hills become a heap of running sand. s: on the day when the earth and the mountains shall quake and the mountains shall become (as) heaps of sand let loose. . y: we have sent to you, (o men!) a messenger, to be a witness concerning you, even as we sent a messenger to pharaoh. p: lo! we have sent unto you a messenger as witness against you, even as we sent unto pharaoh a messenger. s: surely we have sent to you a messenger, a witness against you, as we sent a messenger to firon. . y: but pharaoh disobeyed the messenger; so we seized him with a heavy punishment. p: but pharaoh rebelled against the messenger, whereupon we seized him with no gentle grip. s: but firon disobeyed the messenger, so we laid on him a violent hold. . y: then how shall ye, if ye deny (allah), guard yourselves against a day that will make children hoary-headed?- p: then how, if ye disbelieve, will ye protect yourselves upon the day which will turn children grey, s: how, then, will you guard yourselves, if you disbelieve, on the day which shall make children grey-headed? . y: whereon the sky will be cleft asunder? his promise needs must be accomplished. p: the very heaven being then rent asunder. his promise is to be fulfilled. s: the heaven shall rend asunder thereby; his promise is ever brought to fulfillment. . y: verily this is an admonition: therefore, whoso will, let him take a (straight) path to his lord! p: lo! this is a reminder. let him who will, then, choose a way unto his lord. s: surely this is a reminder, then let him, who will take the way to his lord. . y: thy lord doth know that thou standest forth (to prayer) nigh two-thirds of the night, or half the night, or a third of the night, and so doth a party of those with thee. but allah doth appoint night and day in due measure he knoweth that ye are unable to keep count thereof. so he hath turned to you (in mercy): read ye, therefore, of the qur'an as much as may be easy for you. he knoweth that there may be (some) among you in ill-health; others travelling through the land, seeking of allah's bounty; yet others fighting in allah's cause, read ye, therefore, as much of the qur'an as may be easy (for you); and establish regular prayer and give regular charity; and loan to allah a beautiful loan. and whatever good ye send forth for your souls ye shall find it in allah's presence,- yea, better and greater, in reward and seek ye the grace of allah: for allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful. p: lo! thy lord knoweth how thou keepest vigil sometimes nearly two-thirds of the night, or (sometimes) half or a third thereof, as do a party of those with thee. allah measureth the night and the day. he knoweth that ye count it not, and turneth unto you in mercy. recite, then, of the qur'an that which is easy for you. he knoweth that there are sick folk among you, while others travel in the land in search of allah's bounty, and others (still) are fighting for the cause of allah. so recite of it that which is easy (for you), and establish worship and pay the poor-due, and (so) lend unto allah a goodly loan. whatsoever good ye send before you for your souls, ye will find it with allah, better and greater in the recompense. and seek forgiveness of allah. lo! allah is forgiving, merciful. s: surely your lord knows that you pass in prayer nearly two-thirds of the night, and (sometimes) half of it, and (sometimes) a third of it, and (also) a party of those with you; and allah measures the night and the day. he knows that you are not able to do it, so he has turned to you (mercifully), therefore read what is easy of the quran. he knows that there must be among you sick, and others who travel in the land seeking of the bounty of allah, and others who fight in allah's way, therefore read as much of it as is easy (to you), and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and offer to allah a goodly gift, and whatever of good you send on beforehand for yourselves, you will find it with allah; that is best and greatest in reward; and ask forgiveness of allah; surely allah is forgiving, merciful. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-muddaththir (the cloaked one, the man wearing a cloak) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: o thou wrapped up (in the mantle)! p: o thou enveloped in thy cloak, s: o you who are clothed! . y: arise and deliver thy warning! p: arise and warn! s: arise and warn, . y: and thy lord do thou magnify! p: thy lord magnify, s: and your lord do magnify, . y: and thy garments keep free from stain! p: thy raiment purify, s: and your garments do purify, . y: and all abomination shun! p: pollution shun! s: and uncleanness do shun, . y: nor expect, in giving, any increase (for thyself)! p: and show not favour, seeking wordly gain! s: and bestow not favors that you may receive again with increase, . y: but, for thy lord's (cause), be patient and constant! p: for the sake of thy lord, be patient! s: and for the sake of your lord, be patient. . y: finally, when the trumpet is sounded, p: for when the trumpet shall sound, s: for when the trumpet is sounded, . y: that will be- that day - a day of distress,- p: surely that day will be a day of anguish, s: that, at that time, shall be a difficult day, . y: far from easy for those without faith. p: not of ease, for disbelievers. s: for the unbelievers, anything but easy. . y: leave me alone, (to deal) with the (creature) whom i created (bare and) alone!- p: leave me (to deal) with him whom i created lonely, s: leave me and him whom i created alone, . y: to whom i granted resources in abundance, p: and then bestowed upon him ample means, s: and give him vast riches, . y: and sons to be by his side!- p: and sons abiding in his presence s: and sons dwelling in his presence, . y: to whom i made (life) smooth and comfortable! p: and made (life) smooth for him. s: and i adjusted affairs for him adjustably; . y: yet is he greedy-that i should add (yet more);- p: yet he desireth that i should give more. s: and yet he desires that i should add more! . y: by no means! for to our signs he has been refractory! p: nay! for lo! he hath been stubborn to our revelations. s: by no means! surely he offers opposition to our communications. . y: soon will i visit him with a mount of calamities! p: on him i shall impose a fearful doom. s: i will make a distressing punishment overtake him. . y: for he thought and he plotted;- p: for lo! he did consider; then he planned - s: surely he reflected and guessed, . y: and woe to him! how he plotted!- p: (self-)destroyed is he, how he planned! s: but may he be cursed how he plotted; . y: yea, woe to him; how he plotted!- p: again (self-)destroyed is he, how he planned! - s: again, may he be cursed how he plotted; . y: then he looked round; p: then looked he, s: then he looked, . y: then he frowned and he scowled; p: then frowned he and showed displeasure. s: then he frowned and scowled, . y: then he turned back and was haughty; p: then turned he away in pride s: then he turned back and was big with pride, . y: then said he: "this is nothing but magic, derived from of old;" p: and said: this is naught else than magic from of old; s: then he said: this is naught but enchantment, narrated (from others); . y: "this is nothing but the word of a mortal!" p: this is naught else than speech of mortal man. s: this is naught but the word of a mortal. . y: soon will i cast him into hell-fire! p: him shall i fling unto the burning. s: i will cast him into hell. . y: and what will explain to thee what hell-fire is? p: - ah, what will convey unto thee what that burning is! - s: and what will make you realize what hell is? . y: naught doth it permit to endure, and naught doth it leave alone!- p: it leaveth naught; it spareth naught s: it leaves naught nor does it spare aught. . y: darkening and changing the colour of man! p: it shrivelleth the man. s: it scorches the mortal. . y: over it are nineteen. p: above it are nineteen. s: over it are nineteen. . y: and we have set none but angels as guardians of the fire; and we have fixed their number only as a trial for unbelievers,- in order that the people of the book may arrive at certainty, and the believers may increase in faith,- and that no doubts may be left for the people of the book and the believers, and that those in whose hearts is a disease and the unbelievers may say, "what symbol doth allah intend by this?" thus doth allah leave to stray whom he pleaseth, and guide whom he pleaseth: and none can know the forces of thy lord, except he and this is no other than a warning to mankind. p: we have appointed only angels to be wardens of the fire, and their number have we made to be a stumbling-block for those who disbelieve; that those to whom the scripture hath been given may have certainty, and that believers may increase in faith; and that those to whom the scripture hath been given and believers may not doubt; and that those in whose hearts there is disease, and disbelievers, may say: what meaneth allah by this similitude? thus allah sendeth astray whom he will, and whom he will he guideth. none knoweth the hosts of thy lord save him. this is naught else than a reminder unto mortals. s: and we have not made the wardens of the fire others than angels, and we have not made their number but as a trial for those who disbelieve, that those who have been given the book may be certain and those who believe may increase in faith, and those who have been given the book and the believers may not doubt, and that those in whose hearts is a disease and the unbelievers may say: what does allah mean by this parable? thus does allah make err whom he pleases, and he guides whom he pleases, and none knows the hosts of your lord but he himself; and this is naught but a reminder to the mortals. . y: nay, verily: by the moon, p: nay, by the moon s: nay; i swear by the moon, . y: and by the night as it retreateth, p: and the night when it withdraweth s: and the night when it departs, . y: and by the dawn as it shineth forth,- p: and the dawn when it shineth forth, s: and the daybreak when it shines; . y: this is but one of the mighty (portents), p: lo! this is one of the greatest (portents) s: surely it (hell) is one of the gravest (misfortunes), . y: a warning to mankind,- p: as a warning unto men, s: a warning to mortals, . y: to any of you that chooses to press forward, or to follow behind;- p: unto him of you who will advance or hang back. s: to him among you who wishes to go forward or remain behind. . y: every soul will be (held) in pledge for its deeds. p: every soul is a pledge for its own deeds; s: every soul is held in pledge for what it earns, . y: except the companions of the right hand. p: save those who will stand on the right hand. s: except the people of the right hand, . y: (they will be) in gardens (of delight): they will question each other, p: in gardens they will ask one another s: in gardens, they shall ask each other . y: and (ask) of the sinners: p: concerning the guilty: s: about the guilty: . y: "what led you into hell fire?" p: what hath brought you to this burning? s: what has brought you into hell? . y: they will say: "we were not of those who prayed;" p: they will answer: we were not of those who prayed s: they shall say: we were not of those who prayed; . y: "nor were we of those who fed the indigent;" p: nor did we feed the wretched. s: and we used not to feed the poor; . y: "but we used to talk vanities with vain talkers;" p: we used to wade (in vain dispute) with (all) waders, s: and we used to enter into vain discourse with those who entered into vain discourses. . y: "and we used to deny the day of judgment," p: and we used to deny the day of judgment, s: and we used to call the day of judgment a lie; . y: "until there came to us (the hour) that is certain." p: till the inevitable came unto us. s: till death overtook us. . y: then will no intercession of (any) intercessors profit them. p: the mediation of no mediators will avail them then. s: so the intercession of intercessors shall not avail them. . y: then what is the matter with them that they turn away from admonition?- p: why now turn they away from the admonishment, s: what is then the matter with them, that they turn away from the admonition, . y: as if they were affrighted asses, p: as they were frightened asses s: as if they were asses taking fright . y: fleeing from a lion! p: fleeing from a lion? s: that had fled from a lion? . y: forsooth, each one of them wants to be given scrolls (of revelation) spread out! p: nay, but everyone of them desireth that he should be given open pages (from allah). s: nay; every one of them desires that he may be given pages spread out; . y: by no means! but they fear not the hereafter, p: nay, verily. they fear not the hereafter. s: nay! but they do not fear the hereafter. . y: nay, this surely is an admonition: p: nay, verily. lo! this is an admonishment. s: nay! it is surely an admonition. . y: let any who will, keep it in remembrance! p: so whosoever will may heed. s: so whoever pleases may mind it. . y: but none will keep it in remembrance except as allah wills: he is the lord of righteousness, and the lord of forgiveness. p: and they will not heed unless allah willeth (it). he is the fount of fear. he is the fount of mercy. s: and they will not mind unless allah please. he is worthy to be feared and worthy to forgive. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-qiyama (the rising of the dead, resurrection) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: i do call to witness the resurrection day; p: nay, i swear by the day of resurrection; s: nay! i swear by the day of resurrection. . y: and i do call to witness the self-reproaching spirit: (eschew evil). p: nay, i swear by the accusing soul (that this scripture is true). s: nay! i swear by the self-accusing soul. . y: does man think that we cannot assemble his bones? p: thinketh man that we shall not assemble his bones? s: does man think that we shall not gather his bones? . y: nay, we are able to put together in perfect order the very tips of his fingers. p: yea, verily. we are able to restore his very fingers! s: yea! we are able to make complete his very fingertips . y: but man wishes to do wrong (even) in the time in front of him. p: but man would fain deny what is before him. s: nay! man desires to give the lie to what is before him. . y: he questions: "when is the day of resurrection?" p: he asketh: when will be this day of resurrection? s: he asks: when is the day of resurrection? . y: at length, when the sight is dazed, p: but when sight is confounded s: so when the sight becomes dazed, . y: and the moon is buried in darkness. p: and the moon is eclipsed s: and the moon becomes dark, . y: and the sun and moon are joined together,- p: and sun and moon are united, s: and the sun and the moon are brought together, . y: that day will man say: "where is the refuge?" p: on that day man will cry: whither to flee! s: man shall say on that day: whither to fly to? . y: by no means! no place of safety! p: alas! no refuge! s: by no means! there shall be no place of refuge! . y: before thy lord (alone), that day will be the place of rest. p: unto thy lord is the recourse that day. s: with your lord alone shall on that day be the place of rest. . y: that day will man be told (all) that he put forward, and all that he put back. p: on that day man is told the tale of that which he hath sent before and left behind. s: man shall on that day be informed of what he sent before and (what he) put off. . y: nay, man will be evidence against himself, p: oh, but man is a telling witness against himself, s: nay! man is evidence against himself, . y: even though he were to put up his excuses. p: although he tender his excuses. s: though he puts forth his excuses. . y: move not thy tongue concerning the (qur'an) to make haste therewith. p: stir not thy tongue herewith to hasten it. s: do not move your tongue with it to make haste with it, . y: it is for us to collect it and to promulgate it: p: lo! upon us (resteth) the putting together thereof and the reading thereof. s: surely on us (devolves) the collecting of it and the reciting of it. . y: but when we have promulgated it, follow thou its recital (as promulgated): p: and when we read it, follow thou the reading; s: therefore when we have recited it, follow its recitation. . y: nay more, it is for us to explain it (and make it clear): p: then lo! upon us (resteth) the explanation thereof. s: again on us (devolves) the explaining of it. . y: nay, (ye men!) but ye love the fleeting life, p: nay, but ye do love the fleeting now s: nay! but you love the present life, . y: and leave alone the hereafter. p: and neglect the hereafter. s: and neglect the hereafter. . y: some faces, that day, will beam (in brightness and beauty);- p: that day will faces be resplendent, s: (some) faces on that day shall be bright, . y: looking towards their lord; p: looking toward their lord; s: looking to their lord. . y: and some faces, that day, will be sad and dismal, p: and that day will other faces be despondent, s: and (other) faces on that day shall be gloomy, . y: in the thought that some back-breaking calamity was about to be inflicted on them; p: thou wilt know that some great disaster is about to fall on them. s: knowing that there will be made to befall them some great calamity. . y: yea, when (the soul) reaches to the collar-bone (in its exit), p: nay, but when the life cometh up to the throat s: nay! when it comes up to the throat, . y: and there will be a cry, "who is a magician (to restore him)?" p: and men say: where is the wizard (who can save him now)? s: and it is said: who will be a magician? . y: and he will conclude that it was (the time) of parting; p: and he knoweth that it is the parting; s: and he is sure that it is the (hour of) parting . y: and one leg will be joined with another: p: and agony is heaped on agony; s: and affliction is combined with affliction; . y: that day the drive will be (all) to thy lord! p: unto thy lord that day will be the driving. s: to your lord on that day shall be the driving. . y: so he gave nothing in charity, nor did he pray!- p: for he neither trusted, nor prayed. s: so he did not accept the truth, nor did he pray, . y: but on the contrary, he rejected truth and turned away! p: but he denied and flouted. s: but called the truth a lie and turned back, . y: then did he stalk to his family in full conceit! p: then went he to his folk with glee. s: then he went to his followers, walking away in haughtiness. . y: woe to thee, (o men!), yea, woe! p: nearer unto thee and nearer, s: nearer to you (is destruction) and nearer, . y: again, woe to thee, (o men!), yea, woe! p: again nearer unto thee and nearer (is the doom). s: again (consider how) nearer to you and nearer. . y: does man think that he will be left uncontrolled, (without purpose)? p: thinketh man that he is to be left aimless? s: does man think that he is to be left to wander without an aim? . y: was he not a drop of sperm emitted (in lowly form)? p: was he not a drop of fluid which gushed forth? s: was he not a small seed in the seminal elements, . y: then did he become a leech-like clot; then did (allah) make and fashion (him) in due proportion. p: then he became a clot; then (allah) shaped and fashioned s: then he was a clot of blood, so he created (him) then made (him) perfect. . y: and of him he made two sexes, male and female. p: and made of him a pair, the male and female. s: then he made of him two kinds, the male and the female. . y: has not he, (the same), the power to give life to the dead? p: is not he (who doeth so) able to bring the dead to life? s: is not he able to give life to the dead? --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-insan (man) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: has there not been over man a long period of time, when he was nothing - (not even) mentioned? p: hath there come upon man (ever) any period of time in which he was a thing unremembered? s: there surely came over man a period of time when he was a thing not worth mentioning. . y: verily we created man from a drop of mingled sperm, in order to try him: so we gave him (the gifts), of hearing and sight. p: lo! we create man from a drop of thickened fluid to test him; so we make him hearing, knowing. s: surely we have created man from a small life-germ uniting (itself): we mean to try him, so we have made him hearing, seeing. . y: we showed him the way: whether he be grateful or ungrateful (rests on his will). p: lo! we have shown him the way, whether he be grateful or disbelieving. s: surely we have shown him the way: he may be thankful or unthankful. . y: for the rejecters we have prepared chains, yokes, and a blazing fire. p: lo! we have prepared for disbelievers manacles and carcans and a raging fire. s: surely we have prepared for the unbelievers chains and shackles and a burning fire. . y: as to the righteous, they shall drink of a cup (of wine) mixed with kafur,- p: lo! the righteous shall drink of a cup whereof the mixture is of kafur, s: surely the righteous shall drink of a cup the admixture of which is camphor, . y: a fountain where the devotees of allah do drink, making it flow in unstinted abundance. p: a spring wherefrom the slaves of allah drink, making it gush forth abundantly, s: a fountain from which the servants of allah shall drink; they make it to flow a (goodly) flowing forth. . y: they perform (their) vows, and they fear a day whose evil flies far and wide. p: (because) they perform the vow and fear a day whereof the evil is wide-spreading, s: they fulfill vows and fear a day the evil of which shall be spreading far and wide. . y: and they feed, for the love of allah, the indigent, the orphan, and the captive,- p: and feed with food the needy wretch, the orphan and the prisoner, for love of him, s: and they give food out of love for him to the poor and the orphan and the captive: . y: (saying), "we feed you for the sake of allah alone: no reward do we desire from you, nor thanks." p: (saying): we feed you, for the sake of allah only. we wish for no reward nor thanks from you; s: we only feed you for allah's sake; we desire from you neither reward nor thanks: . y: "we only fear a day of distressful wrath from the side of our lord." p: lo! we fear from our lord a day of frowning and of fate. s: surely we fear from our lord a stern, distressful day. . y: but allah will deliver them from the evil of that day, and will shed over them a light of beauty and (blissful) joy. p: therefor allah hath warded off from them the evil of that day, and hath made them find brightness and joy; s: therefore allah win guard them from the evil of that day and cause them to meet with ease and happiness; . y: and because they were patient and constant, he will reward them with a garden and (garments of) silk. p: and hath awarded them for all that they endured, a garden and silk attire; s: and reward them, because they were patient, with garden and silk, . y: reclining in the (garden) on raised thrones, they will see there neither the sun's (excessive heat) nor (the moon's) excessive cold. p: reclining therein upon couches, they will find there neither (heat of) a sun nor bitter cold. s: reclining therein on raised couches, they shall find therein neither (the severe heat of) the sun nor intense cold. . y: and the shades of the (garden) will come low over them, and the bunches (of fruit), there, will hang low in humility. p: the shade thereof is close upon them and the clustered fruits thereof bow down. s: and close down upon them (shall be) its shadows, and its fruits shall be made near (to them), being easy to reach. . y: and amongst them will be passed round vessels of silver and goblets of crystal,- p: goblets of silver are brought round for them, and beakers (as) of glass s: and there shall be made to go round about them vessels of silver and goblets which are of glass, . y: crystal-clear, made of silver: they will determine the measure thereof (according to their wishes). p: (bright as) glass but (made) of silver, which they (themselves) have measured to the measure (of their deeds). s: (transparent as) glass, made of silver; they have measured them according to a measure. . y: and they will be given to drink there of a cup (of wine) mixed with zanjabil,- p: there are they watered with a cup whereof the mixture is of zanjabil, s: and they shall be made to drink therein a cup the admixture of which shall be ginger, . y: a fountain there, called salsabil. p: (the water of) a spring therein, named salsabil. s: (of) a fountain therein which is named salsabil. . y: and round about them will (serve) youths of perpetual (freshness): if thou seest them, thou wouldst think them scattered pearls. p: there wait on them immortal youths, whom, when thou seest, thou wouldst take for scattered pearls. s: and round about them shall go youths never altering in age; when you see them you will think them to be scattered pearls. . y: and when thou lookest, it is there thou wilt see a bliss and a realm magnificent. p: when thou seest, thou wilt see there bliss and high estate. s: and when you see there, you shall see blessings and a great kingdom. . y: upon them will be green garments of fine silk and heavy brocade, and they will be adorned with bracelets of silver; and their lord will give to them to drink of a wine pure and holy. p: their raiment will be fine green silk and gold embroidery. bracelets of silver will they wear. their lord will slake their thirst with a pure drink. s: upon them shall be garments of fine green silk and thick silk interwoven with gold, and they shall be adorned with bracelets of silver, and their lord shall make them drink a pure drink. . y: "verily this is a reward for you, and your endeavour is accepted and recognised." p: (and it will be said unto them): lo! this is a reward for you. your endeavour (upon earth) hath found acceptance. s: surely this is a reward for you, and your striving shall be recompensed. . y: it is we who have sent down the qur'an to thee by stages. p: lo! we, even we, have revealed unto thee the qur'an, a revelation; s: surely we ourselves have revealed the quran to you revealing (it) in portions. . y: therefore be patient with constancy to the command of thy lord, and hearken not to the sinner or the ingrate among them. p: so submit patiently to thy lord's command, and obey not of them any guilty one or disbeliever. s: therefore wait patiently for the command of your lord, and obey not from among them a sinner or an ungrateful one. . y: and celebrate the name or thy lord morning and evening, p: remember the name of thy lord at morn and evening. s: and glorify the name of your lord morning and evening. . y: and part of the night, prostrate thyself to him; and glorify him a long night through. p: and worship him (a portion) of the night. and glorify him through the livelong night. s: and during part of the night adore him, and give glory to him (a) long (part of the) night. . y: as to these, they love the fleeting life, and put away behind them a day (that will be) hard. p: lo! these love fleeting life, and put behind them (the remembrance of) a grievous day. s: surely these love the transitory and neglect a grievous day before them. . y: it is we who created them, and we have made their joints strong; but, when we will, we can substitute the like of them by a complete change. p: we, even we, created them, and strengthened their frame. and when we will, we can replace them, bringing others like them in their stead. s: we created them and made firm their make, and when we please we will bring in their place the likes of them by a change. . y: this is an admonition: whosoever will, let him take a (straight) path to his lord. p: lo! this is an admonishment, that whosoever will may choose a way unto his lord. s: surely this is a reminder, so whoever pleases takes to his lord a way. . y: but ye will not, except as allah wills; for allah is full of knowledge and wisdom. p: yet ye will not, unless allah willeth. lo! allah is knower, wise. s: and you do not please except that allah please, surely allah is knowing, wise; . y: he will admit to his mercy whom he will; but the wrong-doers,- for them has he prepared a grievous penalty. p: he maketh whom he will to enter his mercy, and for evil-doers hath prepared a painful doom. s: he makes whom he pleases to enter into his mercy; and (as for) the unjust, he has prepared for them a painful chastisement. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-mursalat (the emissaries, winds sent forth) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: by the (winds) sent forth one after another (to man's profit); p: by the emissary winds, (sent) one after another s: i swear by the emissary winds, sent one after another (for men's benefit), . y: which then blow violently in tempestuous gusts, p: by the raging hurricanes, s: by the raging hurricanes, . y: and scatter (things) far and wide; p: by those which cause earth's vegetation to revive; s: which scatter clouds to their destined places, . y: then separate them, one from another, p: by those who winnow with a winnowing, s: then separate them one from another, . y: then spread abroad a message, p: by those who bring down the reminder, s: then i swear by the angels who bring down the revelation, . y: whether of justification or of warning;- p: to excuse or to warn, s: to clear or to warn. . y: assuredly, what ye are promised must come to pass. p: surely that which ye are promised will befall. s: most surely what you are threatened with must come to pass. . y: then when the stars become dim; p: so when the stars are put out, s: so when the stars are made to lose their light, . y: when the heaven is cleft asunder; p: and when the sky is riven asunder, s: and when the heaven is rent asunder, . y: when the mountains are scattered (to the winds) as dust; p: and when the mountains are blown away, s: and when the mountains are carried away as dust, . y: and when the messengers are (all) appointed a time (to collect);- p: and when the messengers are brought unto their time appointed - s: and when the messengers are gathered at their appointed time . y: for what day are these (portents) deferred? p: for what day is the time appointed? s: to what day is the doom fixed? . y: for the day of sorting out. p: for the day of decision. s: to the day of decision. . y: and what will explain to thee what is the day of sorting out? p: and what will convey unto thee what the day of decision is! - s: and what will make you comprehend what the day of decision is? . y: ah woe, that day, to the rejecters of truth! p: woe unto the repudiators on that day! s: woe on that day to the rejecters. . y: did we not destroy the men of old (for their evil)? p: destroyed we not the former folk, s: did we not destroy the former generations? . y: so shall we make later (generations) follow them. p: then caused the latter folk to follow after? s: then did we follow them up with later ones. . y: thus do we deal with men of sin. p: thus deal we ever with the guilty. s: even thus shall we deal with the guilty. . y: ah woe, that day, to the rejecters of truth! p: woe unto the repudiators on that day! s: woe on that day to the rejecters. . y: have we not created you from a fluid (held) despicable?- p: did we not create you from a base fluid s: did we not create you from contemptible water? . y: the which we placed in a place of rest, firmly fixed, p: which we laid up in a safe abode s: then we placed it in a secure resting-place, . y: for a period (of gestation), determined (according to need)? p: for a known term? s: till an appointed term, . y: for we do determine (according to need); for we are the best to determine (things). p: thus we arranged. how excellent is our arranging! s: so we proportion it-- how well are we at proportioning (things). . y: ah woe, that day! to the rejecters of truth! p: woe unto the repudiators on that day! s: woe on that day to the rejecters. . y: have we not made the earth (as a place) to draw together. p: have we not made the earth a receptacle s: have we not made the earth to draw together to itself, . y: the living and the dead, p: both for the living and the dead, s: the living and the dead, . y: and made therein mountains standing firm, lofty (in stature); and provided for you water sweet (and wholesome)? p: and placed therein high mountains and given you to drink sweet water therein? s: and made therein lofty mountains, and given you to drink of sweet water? . y: ah woe, that day, to the rejecters of truth! p: woe unto the repudiators on that day! s: woe on that day to the rejecters. . y: (it will be said:) "depart ye to that which ye used to reject as false!" p: (it will be said unto them:) depart unto that (doom) which ye used to deny; s: walk on to that which you called a lie. . y: "depart ye to a shadow (of smoke ascending) in three columns," p: depart unto the shadow falling threefold, s: walk on to the covering having three branches, . y: "(which yields) no shade of coolness, and is of no use against the fierce blaze." p: (which yet is) no relief nor shelter from the flame. s: neither having the coolness of the shade nor availing against the flame. . y: "indeed it throws about sparks (huge) as forts," p: lo! it throweth up sparks like the castles, s: surely it sends up sparks like palaces, . y: "as if there were (a string of) yellow camels (marching swiftly)." p: (or) as it might be camels of bright yellow hue. s: as if they were tawny camels. . y: ah woe, that day, to the rejecters of truth! p: woe unto the repudiators on that day! s: woe on that day to the rejecters. . y: that will be a day when they shall not be able to speak. p: this is a day wherein they speak not, s: this is the day on which they shall not speak, . y: nor will it be open to them to put forth pleas. p: nor are they suffered to put forth excuses. s: and permission shall not be given to them so that they should offer excuses. . y: ah woe, that day, to the rejecters of truth! p: woe unto the repudiators on that day! s: woe on that day to the rejecters. . y: that will be a day of sorting out! we shall gather you together and those before (you)! p: this is the day of decision, we have brought you and the men of old together. s: this is the day of decision: we have gathered you and those of yore. . y: now, if ye have a trick (or plot), use it against me! p: if now ye have any wit, outwit me. s: so if you have a plan, plan against me (now). . y: ah woe, that day, to the rejecters of truth! p: woe unto the repudiators on that day! s: woe on that day to the rejecters. . y: as to the righteous, they shall be amidst (cool) shades and springs (of water). p: lo! those who kept their duty are amid shade and fountains, s: surely those who guard (against evil) shall be amid shades and fountains, . y: and (they shall have) fruits,- all they desire. p: and fruits such as they desire. s: and fruits such as they desire. . y: "eat ye and drink ye to your heart's content: for that ye worked (righteousness)." p: (unto them it is said:) eat, drink and welcome, o ye blessed, in return for what ye did. s: eat and drink pleasantly because of what you did. . y: thus do we certainly reward the doers of good. p: thus do we reward the good. s: surely thus do we reward the doers of good. . y: ah woe, that day, to the rejecters of truth! p: woe unto the repudiators on that day! s: woe on that day to the rejecters. . y: (o ye unjust!) eat ye and enjoy yourselves (but) a little while, for that ye are sinners. p: eat and take your ease (on earth) a little. lo! ye are guilty. s: eat and enjoy yourselves for a little; surely you are guilty. . y: ah woe, that day, to the rejecters of truth! p: woe unto the repudiators on that day! s: woe on that day to the rejecters. . y: and when it is said to them, "prostrate yourselves!" they do not so. p: when it is said unto them: bow down, they bow not down! s: and where it is said to them: bow down, they do not bow down. . y: ah woe, that day, to the rejecters of truth! p: woe unto the repudiators on that day! s: woe on that day to the rejecters. . y: then what message, after that, will they believe in? p: in what statement, after this, will they believe? s: in what announcement, then, after it, will they believe? --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : an-naba (the tidings, the announcement) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: concerning what are they disputing? p: whereof do they question one another? s: of what do they ask one another? . y: concerning the great news, p: (it is) of the awful tidings, s: about the great event, . y: about which they cannot agree. p: concerning which they are in disagreement. s: about which they differ? . y: verily, they shall soon (come to) know! p: nay, but they will come to know! s: nay! they shall soon come to know . y: verily, verily they shall soon (come to) know! p: nay, again, but they will come to know! s: nay! nay! they shall soon know. . y: have we not made the earth as a wide expanse, p: have we not made the earth an expanse, s: have we not made the earth an even expanse? . y: and the mountains as pegs? p: and the high hills bulwarks? s: and the mountains as projections (thereon)? . y: and (have we not) created you in pairs, p: and we have created you in pairs, s: and we created you in pairs, . y: and made your sleep for rest, p: and have appointed your sleep for repose, s: and we made your sleep to be rest (to you), . y: and made the night as a covering, p: and have appointed the night as a cloak, s: and we made the night to be a covering, . y: and made the day as a means of subsistence? p: and have appointed the day for livelihood. s: and we made the day for seeking livelihood. . y: and (have we not) built over you the seven firmaments, p: and we have built above you seven strong (heavens), s: and we made above you seven strong ones, . y: and placed (therein) a light of splendour? p: and have appointed a dazzling lamp, s: and we made a shining lamp, . y: and do we not send down from the clouds water in abundance, p: and have sent down from the rainy clouds abundant water, s: and we send down from the clouds water pouring forth abundantly, . y: that we may produce therewith corn and vegetables, p: thereby to produce grain and plant, s: that we may bring forth thereby corn and herbs, . y: and gardens of luxurious growth? p: and gardens of thick foliage. s: and gardens dense and luxuriant. . y: verily the day of sorting out is a thing appointed, p: lo! the day of decision is a fixed time, s: surely the day of decision is (a day) appointed: . y: the day that the trumpet shall be sounded, and ye shall come forth in crowds; p: a day when the trumpet is blown and ye come in multitudes, s: the day on which the trumpet shall be blown so you shall come forth in hosts, . y: and the heavens shall be opened as if there were doors, p: and the heaven is opened and becometh as gates, s: and the heaven shall be opened so that it shall be all openings, . y: and the mountains shall vanish, as if they were a mirage. p: and the hills are set in motion and become as a mirage. s: and the mountains shall be moved off so that they shall remain a mere semblance. . y: truly hell is as a place of ambush, p: lo! hell lurketh in ambush, s: surely hell lies in wait, . y: for the transgressors a place of destination: p: a home for the rebellious. s: a place of resort for the inordinate, . y: they will dwell therein for ages. p: they will abide therein for ages. s: living therein for ages. . y: nothing cool shall they taste therein, nor any drink, p: therein taste they neither coolness nor (any) drink s: they shall not taste therein cool nor drink . y: save a boiling fluid and a fluid, dark, murky, intensely cold, p: save boiling water and a paralysing cold: s: but boiling and intensely cold water, . y: a fitting recompense (for them). p: reward proportioned (to their evil deeds). s: requital corresponding. . y: for that they used not to fear any account (for their deeds), p: for lo! they looked not for a reckoning; s: surely they feared not the account, . y: but they (impudently) treated our signs as false. p: they called our revelations false with strong denial. s: and called our communications a lie, giving the lie (to the truth). . y: and all things have we preserved on record. p: everything have we recorded in a book. s: and we have recorded everything in a book, . y: "so taste ye (the fruits of your deeds); for no increase shall we grant you, except in punishment." p: so taste (of that which ye have earned). no increase do we give you save of torment. s: so taste! for we will not add to you aught but chastisement. . y: verily for the righteous there will be a fulfilment of (the heart's) desires; p: lo! for the duteous is achievement - s: surely for those who guard (against evil) is achievement, . y: gardens enclosed, and grapevines; p: gardens enclosed and vineyards, s: gardens and vineyards, . y: and voluptuous women of equal age; p: and voluptuous women of equal age; s: and voluptuous women of equal age; . y: and a cup full (to the brim). p: and a full cup. s: and a pure cup. . y: no vanity shall they hear therein, nor untruth:- p: there hear they never vain discourse, nor lying - s: they shall not hear therein any vain words nor lying. . y: recompense from thy lord, a gift, (amply) sufficient, p: requital from thy lord - a gift in payment - s: a reward from your lord, a gift according to a reckoning: . y: (from) the lord of the heavens and the earth, and all between, (allah) most gracious: none shall have power to argue with him. p: lord of the heavens and the earth, and (all) that is between them, the beneficent; with whom none can converse. s: the lord of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, the beneficent allah, they shall not be able to address him. . y: the day that the spirit and the angels will stand forth in ranks, none shall speak except any who is permitted by (allah) most gracious, and he will say what is right. p: on the day when the angels and the spirit stand arrayed, they speak not, saving him whom the beneficent alloweth and who speaketh right. s: the day on which the spirit and the angels shall stand in ranks; they shall not speak except he whom the beneficent allah permits and who speaks the right thing. . y: that day will be the sure reality: therefore, whoso will, let him take a (straight) return to his lord! p: that is the true day. so whoso will should seek recourse unto his lord. s: that is the sure day, so whoever desires may take refuge with his lord. . y: verily, we have warned you of a penalty near, the day when man will see (the deeds) which his hands have sent forth, and the unbeliever will say, "woe unto me! would that i were (mere) dust!" p: lo! we warn you of a doom at hand, a day whereon a man will look on that which his own hands have sent before, and the disbeliever will cry: "would that i were dust!" s: surely we have warned you of a chastisement near at hand: the day when man shall see what his two hands have sent before, and the unbeliever shall say: o! would that i were dust! --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : an-naziat (those who drag forth, soul-snatchers) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: by the (angels) who tear out (the souls of the wicked) with violence; p: by those who drag forth to destruction, s: i swear by the angels who violently pull out the souls of the wicked, . y: by those who gently draw out (the souls of the blessed); p: by the meteors rushing, s: and by those who gently draw out the souls of the blessed, . y: and by those who glide along (on errands of mercy), p: by the lone stars floating, s: and by those who float in space, . y: then press forward as in a race, p: by the angels hastening, s: then those who are foremost going ahead, . y: then arrange to do (the commands of their lord), p: and those who govern the event, s: then those who regulate the affair. . y: one day everything that can be in commotion will be in violent commotion, p: on the day when the first trump resoundeth. s: the day on which the quaking one shall quake, . y: followed by oft-repeated (commotions): p: and the second followeth it, s: what must happen afterwards shall follow it. . y: hearts that day will be in agitation; p: on that day hearts beat painfully s: hearts on that day shall palpitate, . y: cast down will be (their owners') eyes. p: while eyes are downcast s: their eyes cast down. . y: they say (now): "what! shall we indeed be returned to (our) former state?" p: (now) they are saying: shall we really be restored to our first state s: they say: shall we indeed be restored to (our) first state? . y: "what! - when we shall have become rotten bones?" p: even after we are crumbled bones? s: what! when we are rotten bones? . y: they say: "it would, in that case, be a return with loss!" p: they say: then that would be a vain proceeding. s: they said: that then would be a return occasioning loss. . y: but verily, it will be but a single (compelling) cry, p: surely it will need but one shout, s: but it shall be only a single cry, . y: when, behold, they will be in the (full) awakening (to judgment). p: and lo! they will be awakened. s: when lo! they shall be wakeful. . y: has the story of moses reached thee? p: hath there come unto thee the history of moses? s: has not there come to you the story of musa? . y: behold, thy lord did call to him in the sacred valley of tuwa:- p: how his lord called him in the holy vale of tuwa, s: when his lord called upon him in the holy valley, twice, . y: "go thou to pharaoh for he has indeed transgressed all bounds:" p: (saying:) go thou unto pharaoh - lo! he hath rebelled - s: go to firon, surely he has become inordinate. . y: "and say to him, 'wouldst thou that thou shouldst be purified (from sin)'?"- p: and say (unto him): hast thou (will) to grow (in grace)? s: then say: have you (a desire) to purify yourself: . y: "'and that i guide thee to thy lord, so thou shouldst fear him?'" p: then i will guide thee to thy lord and thou shalt fear (him). s: and i will guide you to your lord so that you should fear. . y: then did (moses) show him the great sign. p: and he showed him the tremendous token. s: so he showed him the mighty sign. . y: but (pharaoh) rejected it and disobeyed (guidance); p: but he denied and disobeyed, s: but he rejected (the truth) and disobeyed. . y: further, he turned his back, striving hard (against allah). p: then turned he away in haste, s: then he went back hastily. . y: then he collected (his men) and made a proclamation, p: then gathered he and summoned s: then he gathered (men) and called out. . y: saying, "i am your lord, most high". p: and proclaimed: "i (pharaoh) am your lord the highest." s: then he said: i am your lord, the most high. . y: but allah did punish him, (and made an) example of him, - in the hereafter, as in this life. p: so allah seized him (and made him) an example for the after (life) and for the former. s: so allah seized him with the punishment of the hereafter and the former life. . y: verily in this is an instructive warning for whosoever feareth (allah). p: lo! herein is indeed a lesson for him who feareth. s: most surely there is in this a lesson to him who fears. . y: what! are ye the more difficult to create or the heaven (above)? (allah) hath constructed it: p: are ye the harder to create, or is the heaven that he built? s: are you the harder to create or the heaven? he made it. . y: on high hath he raised its canopy, and he hath given it order and perfection. p: he raised the height thereof and ordered it; s: he raised high its height, then put it into a right good state. . y: its night doth he endow with darkness, and its splendour doth he bring out (with light). p: and he made dark the night thereof, and he brought forth the morn thereof. s: and he made dark its night and brought out its light. . y: and the earth, moreover, hath he extended (to a wide expanse); p: and after that he spread the earth, s: and the earth, he expanded it after that. . y: he draweth out therefrom its moisture and its pasture; p: and produced therefrom the water thereof and the pasture thereof, s: he brought forth from it its water and its pasturage. . y: and the mountains hath he firmly fixed;- p: and he made fast the hills, s: and the mountains, he made them firm, . y: for use and convenience to you and your cattle. p: a provision for you and for your cattle. s: a provision for you and for your cattle. . y: therefore, when there comes the great, overwhelming (event),- p: but when the great disaster cometh, s: but when the great predominating calamity comes; . y: the day when man shall remember (all) that he strove for, p: the day when man will call to mind his (whole) endeavour, s: the day on which man shall recollect what he strove after, . y: and hell-fire shall be placed in full view for (all) to see,- p: and hell will stand forth visible to him who seeth, s: and the hell shall be made manifest to him who sees . y: then, for such as had transgressed all bounds, p: then, as for him who rebelled s: then as for him who is inordinate, . y: and had preferred the life of this world, p: and chose the life of the world, s: and prefers the life of this world, . y: the abode will be hell-fire; p: lo! hell will be his home. s: then surely the hell, that is the abode. . y: and for such as had entertained the fear of standing before their lord's (tribunal) and had restrained (their) soul from lower desires, p: but as for him who feared to stand before his lord and restrained his soul from lust, s: and as for him who fears to stand in the presence of his lord and forbids the soul from low desires, . y: their abode will be the garden. p: lo! the garden will be his home. s: then surely the garden-- that is the abode. . y: they ask thee about the hour,-'when will be its appointed time? p: they ask thee of the hour: when will it come to port? s: they ask you about the hour, when it will come. . y: wherein art thou (concerned) with the declaration thereof? p: why (ask they)? what hast thou to tell thereof? s: about what! you are one to remind of it. . y: with thy lord in the limit fixed therefor. p: unto thy lord belongeth (knowledge of) the term thereof. s: to your lord is the goal of it. . y: thou art but a warner for such as fear it. p: thou art but a warner unto him who feareth it. s: you are only a warner to him who would fear it. . y: the day they see it, (it will be) as if they had tarried but a single evening, or (at most till) the following morn! p: on the day when they behold it, it will be as if they had but tarried for an evening or the morn thereof. s: on the day that they see it, it will be as though they had not tarried but the latter part of a day or the early part of it. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : abasa (he frowned) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: (the prophet) frowned and turned away, p: he frowned and turned away s: he frowned and turned (his) back, . y: because there came to him the blind man (interrupting). p: because the blind man came unto him. s: because there came to him the blind man. . y: but what could tell thee but that perchance he might grow (in spiritual understanding)?- p: what could inform thee but that he might grow (in grace) s: and what would make you know that he would purify himself, . y: or that he might receive admonition, and the teaching might profit him? p: or take heed and so the reminder might avail him? s: or become reminded so that the reminder should profit him? . y: as to one who regards himself as self-sufficient, p: as for him who thinketh himself independent, s: as for him who considers himself free from need (of you), . y: to him dost thou attend; p: unto him thou payest regard. s: to him do you address yourself. . y: though it is no blame to thee if he grow not (in spiritual understanding). p: yet it is not thy concern if he grow not (in grace). s: and no blame is on you if he would not purify himself . y: but as to him who came to thee striving earnestly, p: but as for him who cometh unto thee with earnest purpose s: and as to him who comes to you striving hard, . y: and with fear (in his heart), p: and hath fear, s: and he fears, . y: of him wast thou unmindful. p: from him thou art distracted. s: from him will you divert yourself. . y: by no means (should it be so)! for it is indeed a message of instruction: p: nay, but verily it is an admonishment, s: nay! surely it is an admonishment. . y: therefore let whoso will, keep it in remembrance. p: so let whosoever will pay heed to it, s: so let him who pleases mind it. . y: (it is) in books held (greatly) in honour, p: on honoured leaves s: in honored books, . y: exalted (in dignity), kept pure and holy, p: exalted, purified, s: exalted, purified, . y: (written) by the hands of scribes- p: (set down) by scribes s: in the hands of scribes . y: honourable and pious and just. p: noble and righteous. s: noble, virtuous. . y: woe to man! what hath made him reject allah; p: man is (self-)destroyed: how ungrateful! s: cursed be man! how ungrateful is he! . y: from what stuff hath he created him? p: from what thing doth he create him? s: of what thing did he create him? . y: from a sperm-drop: he hath created him, and then mouldeth him in due proportions; p: from a drop of seed. he createth him and proportioneth him, s: of a small seed; he created him, then he made him according to a measure, . y: then doth he make his path smooth for him; p: then maketh the way easy for him, s: then (as for) the way-- he has made it easy (for him) . y: then he causeth him to die, and putteth him in his grave; p: then causeth him to die, and burieth him; s: then he causes him to die, then assigns to him a grave, . y: then, when it is his will, he will raise him up (again). p: then, when he will, he bringeth him again to life. s: then when he pleases, he will raise him to life again. . y: by no means hath he fulfilled what allah hath commanded him. p: nay, but (man) hath not done what he commanded him. s: nay; but he has not done what he bade him. . y: then let man look at his food, (and how we provide it): p: let man consider his food: s: then let man look to his food, . y: for that we pour forth water in abundance, p: how we pour water in showers s: that we pour down the water, pouring (it) down in abundance, . y: and we split the earth in fragments, p: then split the earth in clefts s: then we cleave the earth, cleaving (it) asunder, . y: and produce therein corn, p: and cause the grain to grow therein s: then we cause to grow therein the grain, . y: and grapes and nutritious plants, p: and grapes and green fodder s: and grapes and clover, . y: and olives and dates, p: and olive-trees and palm-trees s: and the olive and the palm, . y: and enclosed gardens, dense with lofty trees, p: and garden-closes of thick foliage s: and thick gardens, . y: and fruits and fodder,- p: and fruits and grasses: s: and fruits and herbage . y: for use and convenience to you and your cattle. p: provision for you and your cattle. s: a provision for you and for your cattle. . y: at length, when there comes the deafening noise,- p: but when the shout cometh s: but when the deafening cry comes, . y: that day shall a man flee from his own brother, p: on the day when a man fleeth from his brother s: the day on which a man shall fly from his brother, . y: and from his mother and his father, p: and his mother and his father s: and his mother and his father, . y: and from his wife and his children. p: and his wife and his children, s: and his spouse and his son-- . y: each one of them, that day, will have enough concern (of his own) to make him indifferent to the others. p: every man that day will have concern enough to make him heedless (of others). s: every man of them shall on that day have an affair which will occupy him. . y: some faces that day will be beaming, p: on that day faces will be bright as dawn, s: (many) faces on that day shall be bright, . y: laughing, rejoicing. p: laughing, rejoicing at good news; s: laughing, joyous. . y: and other faces that day will be dust-stained, p: and other faces, on that day, with dust upon them, s: and (many) faces on that day, on them shall be dust, . y: blackness will cover them: p: veiled in darkness, s: darkness shall cover them. . y: such will be the rejecters of allah, the doers of iniquity. p: those are the disbelievers, the wicked. s: these are they who are unbelievers, the wicked. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : at-takwir (the overthrowing) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: when the sun (with its spacious light) is folded up; p: when the sun is overthrown, s: when the sun is covered, . y: when the stars fall, losing their lustre; p: and when the stars fall, s: and when the stars darken, . y: when the mountains vanish (like a mirage); p: and when the hills are moved, s: and when the mountains are made to pass away, . y: when the she-camels, ten months with young, are left untended; p: and when the camels big with young are abandoned, s: and when the camels are left untended, . y: when the wild beasts are herded together (in the human habitations); p: and when the wild beasts are herded together, s: and when the wild animals are made to go forth, . y: when the oceans boil over with a swell; p: and when the seas rise, s: and when the seas are set on fire, . y: when the souls are sorted out, (being joined, like with like); p: and when souls are reunited, s: and when souls are united, . y: when the female (infant), buried alive, is questioned - p: and when the girl-child that was buried alive is asked s: and when the female infant buried alive is asked . y: for what crime she was killed; p: for what sin she was slain, s: for what sin she was killed, . y: when the scrolls are laid open; p: and when the pages are laid open, s: and when the books are spread, . y: when the world on high is unveiled; p: and when the sky is torn away, s: and when the heaven has its covering removed, . y: when the blazing fire is kindled to fierce heat; p: and when hell is lighted, s: and when the hell is kindled up, . y: and when the garden is brought near;- p: and when the garden is brought nigh, s: and when the garden is brought nigh, . y: (then) shall each soul know what it has put forward. p: (then) every soul will know what it hath made ready. s: every soul shall (then) know what it has prepared. . y: so verily i call to witness the planets - that recede, p: oh, but i call to witness the planets, s: but nay! i swear by the stars, . y: go straight, or hide; p: the stars which rise and set, s: that run their course (and) hide themselves, . y: and the night as it dissipates; p: and the close of night, s: and the night when it departs, . y: and the dawn as it breathes away the darkness;- p: and the breath of morning s: and the morning when it brightens, . y: verily this is the word of a most honourable messenger, p: that this is in truth the word of an honoured messenger, s: most surely it is the word of an honored messenger, . y: endued with power, with rank before the lord of the throne, p: mighty, established in the presence of the lord of the throne, s: the processor of strength, having an honorable place with the lord of the dominion, . y: with authority there, (and) faithful to his trust. p: (one) to be obeyed, and trustworthy; s: one (to be) obeyed, and faithful in trust. . y: and (o people!) your companion is not one possessed; p: and your comrade is not mad. s: and your companion is not gone mad. . y: and without doubt he saw him in the clear horizon. p: surely he beheld him on the clear horizon. s: and of a truth he saw himself on the clear horizon. . y: neither doth he withhold grudgingly a knowledge of the unseen. p: and he is not avid of the unseen. s: nor of the unseen is he a tenacious concealer. . y: nor is it the word of an evil spirit accursed. p: nor is this the utterance of a devil worthy to be stoned. s: nor is it the word of the cursed shaitan, . y: when whither go ye? p: whither then go ye? s: whither then will you go? . y: verily this is no less than a message to (all) the worlds: p: this is naught else than a reminder unto creation, s: it is naught but a reminder for the nations, . y: (with profit) to whoever among you wills to go straight: p: unto whomsoever of you willeth to walk straight. s: for him among you who pleases to go straight. . y: but ye shall not will except as allah wills,- the cherisher of the worlds. p: and ye will not, unless (it be) that allah willeth, the lord of creation. s: and you do not please except that allah please, the lord of the worlds. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-infitar (the cleaving, bursting apart) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: when the sky is cleft asunder; p: when the heaven is cleft asunder, s: when the heaven becomes cleft asunder, . y: when the stars are scattered; p: when the planets are dispersed, s: and when the stars become dispersed, . y: when the oceans are suffered to burst forth; p: when the seas are poured forth, s: and when the seas are made to flow forth, . y: and when the graves are turned upside down;- p: and the sepulchres are overturned, s: and when the graves are laid open, . y: (then) shall each soul know what it hath sent forward and (what it hath) kept back. p: a soul will know what it hath sent before (it) and what left behind. s: every soul shall know what it has sent before and held back. . y: o man! what has seduced thee from thy lord most beneficent?- p: o man! what hath made thee careless concerning thy lord, the bountiful, s: o man! what has beguiled you from your lord, the gracious one, . y: him who created thee. fashioned thee in due proportion, and gave thee a just bias; p: who created thee, then fashioned, then proportioned thee? s: who created you, then made you complete, then made you symmetrical? . y: in whatever form he wills, does he put thee together. p: into whatsoever form he will, he casteth thee. s: into whatever form he pleased he constituted you. . y: nay! but ye do reject right and judgment! p: nay, but ye deny the judgment. s: nay! but you give the lie to the judgment day, . y: but verily over you (are appointed angels) to protect you,- p: lo! there are above you guardians, s: and most surely there are keepers over you . y: kind and honourable,- writing down (your deeds): p: generous and recording, s: honorable recorders, . y: they know (and understand) all that ye do. p: who know (all) that ye do. s: they know what you do. . y: as for the righteous, they will be in bliss; p: lo! the righteous verily will be in delight. s: most surely the righteous are in bliss, . y: and the wicked - they will be in the fire, p: and lo! the wicked verily will be in hell; s: and most surely the wicked are in burning fire, . y: which they will enter on the day of judgment, p: they will burn therein on the day of judgment, s: they shall enter it on the day of judgment. . y: and they will not be able to keep away therefrom. p: and will not be absent thence. s: and they shall by no means be absent from it. . y: and what will explain to thee what the day of judgment is? p: ah, what will convey unto thee what the day of judgment is! s: and what will make you realize what the day of judgment is? . y: again, what will explain to thee what the day of judgment is? p: again, what will convey unto thee what the day of judgment is! s: again, what will make you realize what the day of judgment is? . y: (it will be) the day when no soul shall have power (to do) aught for another: for the command, that day, will be (wholly) with allah. p: a day on which no soul hath power at all for any (other) soul. the (absolute) command on that day is allah's. s: the day on which no soul shall control anything for (another) soul; and the command on that day shall be entirely allah's. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-mutaffifin (defrauding, the cheats, cheating) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: woe to those that deal in fraud,- p: woe unto the defrauders: s: woe to the defrauders, . y: those who, when they have to receive by measure from men, exact full measure, p: those who when they take the measure from mankind demand it full, s: who, when they take the measure (of their dues) from men take it fully, . y: but when they have to give by measure or weight to men, give less than due. p: but if they measure unto them or weight for them, they cause them loss. s: but when they measure out to others or weigh out for them, they are deficient. . y: do they not think that they will be called to account?- p: do such (men) not consider that they will be raised again s: do not these think that they shall be raised again . y: on a mighty day, p: unto an awful day, s: for a mighty day, . y: a day when (all) mankind will stand before the lord of the worlds? p: the day when (all) mankind stand before the lord of the worlds? s: the day on which men shall stand before the lord of the worlds? . y: nay! surely the record of the wicked is (preserved) in sijjin. p: nay, but the record of the vile is in sijjin - s: nay! most surely the record of the wicked is in the sijjin. . y: and what will explain to thee what sijjin is? p: ah! what will convey unto thee what sijjin is! - s: and what will make you know what the sijjin is? . y: (there is) a register (fully) inscribed. p: a written record. s: it is a written book. . y: woe, that day, to those that deny- p: woe unto the repudiators on that day! s: woe on that day to the rejecters, . y: those that deny the day of judgment. p: those who deny the day of judgment s: who give the lie to the day of judgment. . y: and none can deny it but the transgressor beyond bounds the sinner! p: which none denieth save each criminal transgressor, s: and none gives the lie to it but every exceeder of limits, sinful one . y: when our signs are rehearsed to him, he says, "tales of the ancients!" p: who, when thou readest unto him our revelations, saith: (mere) fables of the men of old. s: when our communications are recited to him, he says: stories of those of yore. . y: by no means! but on their hearts is the stain of the (ill) which they do! p: nay, but that which they have earned is rust upon their hearts. s: nay! rather, what they used to do has become like rust upon their hearts. . y: verily, from (the light of) their lord, that day, will they be veiled. p: nay, but surely on that day they will be covered from (the mercy of) their lord. s: nay! most surely they shall on that day be debarred from their lord. . y: further, they will enter the fire of hell. p: then lo! they verily will burn in hell, s: then most surely they shall enter the burning fire. . y: further, it will be said to them: "this is the (reality) which ye rejected as false!" p: and it will be said (unto them): this is that which ye used to deny. s: then shall it be said: this is what you gave the lie to. . y: nay, verily the record of the righteous is (preserved) in 'illiyin. p: nay, but the record of the righteous is in 'illiyin - s: nay! most surely the record of the righteous shall be in the iliyin. . y: and what will explain to thee what 'illiyun is? p: ah, what will convey unto thee what 'illiyin is! - s: and what will make you know what the highest iliyin is? . y: (there is) a register (fully) inscribed, p: a written record, s: it is a written book, . y: to which bear witness those nearest (to allah). p: attested by those who are brought near (unto their lord). s: those who are drawn near (to allah) shall witness it. . y: truly the righteous will be in bliss: p: lo! the righteous verily are in delight, s: most surely the righteous shall be in bliss, . y: on thrones (of dignity) will they command a sight (of all things): p: on couches, gazing, s: on thrones, they shall gaze; . y: thou wilt recognise in their faces the beaming brightness of bliss. p: thou wilt know in their faces the radiance of delight. s: you will recognize in their faces the brightness of bliss. . y: their thirst will be slaked with pure wine sealed: p: they are given to drink of a pure wine, sealed, s: they are made to quaff of a pure drink that is sealed (to others). . y: the seal thereof will be musk: and for this let those aspire, who have aspirations: p: whose seal is musk - for this let (all) those strive who strive for bliss - s: the sealing of it is (with) musk; and for that let the aspirers aspire. . y: with it will be (given) a mixture of tasnim: p: and mixed with water of tasnim, s: and the admixture of it is a water of tasnim, . y: a spring, from (the waters) whereof drink those nearest to allah. p: a spring whence those brought near (to allah) drink. s: a fountain from which drink they who are drawn near (to allah). . y: those in sin used to laugh at those who believed, p: lo! the guilty used to laugh at those who believed, s: surely they who are guilty used to laugh at those who believe. . y: and whenever they passed by them, used to wink at each other (in mockery); p: and wink one to another when they passed them; s: and when they passed by them, they winked at one another. . y: and when they returned to their own people, they would return jesting; p: and when they returned to their own folk, they returned jesting; s: and when they returned to their own followers they returned exulting. . y: and whenever they saw them, they would say, "behold! these are the people truly astray!" p: and when they saw them they said: lo! these have gone astray. s: and when they saw them, they said: most surely these are in error; . y: but they had not been sent as keepers over them! p: yet they were not sent as guardians over them. s: and they were not sent to be keepers over them. . y: but on this day the believers will laugh at the unbelievers: p: this day it is those who believe who have the laugh of disbelievers, s: so today those who believe shall laugh at the unbelievers; . y: on thrones (of dignity) they will command (a sight) (of all things). p: on high couches, gazing. s: on thrones, they will look. . y: will not the unbelievers have been paid back for what they did? p: are not the disbelievers paid for what they used to do? s: surely the disbelievers are rewarded as they did. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-inshiqaq (the sundering, splitting open) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: when the sky is rent asunder, p: when the heaven is split asunder s: when the heaven bursts asunder, . y: and hearkens to (the command of) its lord, and it must needs (do so);- p: and attentive to her lord in fear, s: and obeys its lord and it must. . y: and when the earth is flattened out, p: and when the earth is spread out s: and when the earth is stretched, . y: and casts forth what is within it and becomes (clean) empty, p: and hath cast out all that was in her, and is empty s: and casts forth what is in it and becomes empty, . y: and hearkens to (the command of) its lord,- and it must needs (do so);- (then will come home the full reality). p: and attentive to her lord in fear! s: and obeys its lord and it must. . y: o thou man! verily thou art ever toiling on towards thy lord- painfully toiling,- but thou shalt meet him. p: thou, verily, o man, art working toward thy lord a work which thou wilt meet (in his presence). s: o man! surely you must strive (to attain) to your lord, a hard striving until you meet him. . y: then he who is given his record in his right hand, p: then whoso is given his account in his right hand s: then as to him who is given his book in his right hand, . y: soon will his account be taken by an easy reckoning, p: he truly will receive an easy reckoning s: he shall be reckoned with by an easy reckoning, . y: and he will turn to his people, rejoicing! p: and will return unto his folk in joy. s: and he shall go back to his people joyful. . y: but he who is given his record behind his back,- p: but whoso is given his account behind his back, s: and as to him who is given his book behind his back, . y: soon will he cry for perdition, p: he surely will invoke destruction s: he shall call for perdition, . y: and he will enter a blazing fire. p: and be thrown to scorching fire. s: and enter into burning fire. . y: truly, did he go about among his people, rejoicing! p: he verily lived joyous with his folk, s: surely he was (erstwhile) joyful among his followers. . y: truly, did he think that he would not have to return (to us)! p: he verily deemed that he would never return (unto allah). s: surely he thought that he would never return. . y: nay, nay! for his lord was (ever) watchful of him! p: nay, but lo! his lord is ever looking on him! s: yea! surely his lord does ever see him. . y: so i do call to witness the ruddy glow of sunset; p: oh, i swear by the afterglow of sunset, s: but nay! i swear by the sunset redness, . y: the night and its homing; p: and by the night and all that it enshroudeth, s: and the night and that which it drives on, . y: and the moon in her fullness: p: and by the moon when she is at the full, s: and the moon when it grows full, . y: ye shall surely travel from stage to stage. p: that ye shall journey on from plane to plane. s: that you shall most certainly enter one state after another. . y: what then is the matter with them, that they believe not?- p: what aileth them, then, that they believe not s: but what is the matter with them that they do not believe, . y: and when the qur'an is read to them, they fall not prostrate, p: and, when the qur'an is recited unto them, worship not (allah)? s: and when the quran is recited to them they do not make obeisance? . y: but on the contrary the unbelievers reject (it). p: nay, but those who disbelieve will deny; s: nay! those who disbelieve give the lie to the truth. . y: but allah has full knowledge of what they secrete (in their breasts) p: and allah knoweth best what they are hiding. s: and allah knows best what they hide, . y: so announce to them a penalty grievous, p: so give them tidings of a painful doom, s: so announce to them a painful punishment, . y: except to those who believe and work righteous deeds: for them is a reward that will never fail. p: save those who believe and do good works, for theirs is a reward unfailing. s: except those who believe and do good; for them is a reward that shall never be cut off. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-burooj (the mansions of the stars, constellations) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: by the sky, (displaying) the zodiacal signs; p: by the heaven, holding mansions of the stars, s: i swear by the mansions of the stars, . y: by the promised day (of judgment); p: and by the promised day. s: and the promised day, . y: by one that witnesses, and the subject of the witness;- p: and by the witness and that whereunto he beareth testimony, s: and the bearer of witness and those against whom the witness is borne. . y: woe to the makers of the pit (of fire), p: (self-)destroyed were the owners of the ditch s: cursed be the makers of the pit, . y: fire supplied (abundantly) with fuel: p: of the fuel-fed fire, s: of the fire (kept burning) with fuel, . y: behold! they sat over against the (fire), p: when they sat by it, s: when they sat by it, . y: and they witnessed (all) that they were doing against the believers. p: and were themselves the witnesses of what they did to the believers. s: and they were witnesses of what they did with the believers. . y: and they ill-treated them for no other reason than that they believed in allah, exalted in power, worthy of all praise!- p: they had naught against them save that they believed in allah, the mighty, the owner of praise, s: and they did not take vengeance on them for aught except that they believed in allah, the mighty, the praised, . y: him to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth! and allah is witness to all things. p: him unto whom belongeth the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth; and allah is of all things the witness. s: whose is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; and allah is a witness of all things. . y: those who persecute (or draw into temptation) the believers, men and women, and do not turn in repentance, will have the penalty of hell: they will have the penalty of the burning fire. p: lo! they who persecute believing men and believing women and repent not, theirs verily will be the doom of hell, and theirs the doom of burning. s: surely (as for) those who persecute the believing men and the believing women, then do not repent, they shall have the chastisement of hell, and they shall have the chastisement of burning. . y: for those who believe and do righteous deeds, will be gardens; beneath which rivers flow: that is the great salvation, (the fulfilment of all desires), p: lo! those who believe and do good works, theirs will be gardens underneath which rivers flow. that is the great success. s: surely (as for) those who believe and do good, they shall have gardens beneath which rivers flow, that is the great achievement. . y: truly strong is the grip (and power) of thy lord. p: lo! the punishment of thy lord is stern. s: surely the might of your lord is great. . y: it is he who creates from the very beginning, and he can restore (life). p: lo! he it is who produceth, then reproduceth, s: surely he it is who originates and reproduces, . y: and he is the oft-forgiving, full of loving-kindness, p: and he is the forgiving, the loving, s: and he is the forgiving, the loving, . y: lord of the throne of glory, p: lord of the throne of glory, s: lord of the arsh, the glorious, . y: doer (without let) of all that he intends. p: doer of what he will. s: the great doer of what he will. . y: has the story reached thee, of the forces- p: hath there come unto thee the story of the hosts s: has not there come to you the story of the hosts, . y: of pharaoh and the thamud? p: of pharaoh and (the tribe of) thamud? s: of firon and samood? . y: and yet the unbelievers (persist) in rejecting (the truth)! p: nay, but those who disbelieve live in denial s: nay! those who disbelieve are in (the act of) giving the lie to the truth. . y: but allah doth encompass them from behind! p: and allah, all unseen, surroundeth them. s: and allah encompasses them on every side. . y: nay, this is a glorious qur'an, p: nay, but it is a glorious qur'an. s: nay! it is a glorious quran, . y: (inscribed) in a tablet preserved! p: on a guarded tablet. s: in a guarded tablet. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : at-tariq (the morning star, the nightcomer) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: by the sky and the night-visitant (therein);- p: by the heaven and the morning star s: i swear by the heaven and the comer by night; . y: and what will explain to thee what the night-visitant is?- p: - ah, what will tell thee what the morning star is! s: and what will make you know what the comer by night is? . y: (it is) the star of piercing brightness;- p: - the piercing star! s: the star of piercing brightness; . y: there is no soul but has a protector over it. p: no human soul but hath a guardian over it. s: there is not a soul but over it is a keeper. . y: now let man but think from what he is created! p: so let man consider from what he is created. s: so let man consider of what he is created: . y: he is created from a drop emitted- p: he is created from a gushing fluid s: he is created of water pouring forth, . y: proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs: p: that issued from between the loins and ribs. s: coming from between the back and the ribs. . y: surely (allah) is able to bring him back (to life)! p: lo! he verily is able to return him (unto life) s: most surely he is able to return him (to life). . y: the day that (all) things secret will be tested, p: on the day when hidden thoughts shall be searched out. s: on the day when hidden things shall be made manifest, . y: (man) will have no power, and no helper. p: then will he have no might nor any helper. s: he shall have neither strength nor helper. . y: by the firmament which returns (in its round), p: by the heaven which giveth the returning rain, s: i swear by the raingiving heavens, . y: and by the earth which opens out (for the gushing of springs or the sprouting of vegetation),- p: and the earth which splitteth (with the growth of trees and plants) s: and the earth splitting (with plants); . y: behold this is the word that distinguishes (good from evil): p: lo! this (qur'an) is a conclusive word, s: most surely it is a decisive word, . y: it is not a thing for amusement. p: it is no pleasantry. s: and it is no joke. . y: as for them, they are but plotting a scheme, p: lo! they plot a plot (against thee, o muhammad) s: surely they will make a scheme, . y: and i am planning a scheme. p: and i plot a plot (against them). s: and i (too) will make a scheme. . y: therefore grant a delay to the unbelievers: give respite to them gently (for awhile). p: so give a respite to the disbelievers. deal thou gently with them for a while. s: so grant the unbelievers a respite: let them alone for a --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-ala (the most high, glory to your lord in the highest) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: glorify the name of thy guardian-lord most high, p: praise the name of thy lord the most high, s: glorify the name of your lord, the most high, . y: who hath created, and further, given order and proportion; p: who createth, then disposeth; s: who creates, then makes complete, . y: who hath ordained laws. and granted guidance; p: who measureth, then guideth; s: and who makes (things) according to a measure, then guides (them to their goal), . y: and who bringeth out the (green and luscious) pasture, p: who bringeth forth the pasturage, s: and who brings forth herbage, . y: and then doth make it (but) swarthy stubble. p: then turneth it to russet stubble. s: then makes it dried up, dust-colored. . y: by degrees shall we teach thee to declare (the message), so thou shalt not forget, p: we shall make thee read (o muhammad) so that thou shalt not forget s: we will make you recite so you shall not forget, . y: except as allah wills: for he knoweth what is manifest and what is hidden. p: save that which allah willeth. lo! he knoweth the disclosed and that which still is hidden; s: except what allah pleases, surely he knows the manifest, and what is hidden. . y: and we will make it easy for thee (to follow) the simple (path). p: and we shall ease thy way unto the state of ease. s: and we will make your way smooth to a state of ease. . y: therefore give admonition in case the admonition profits (the hearer). p: therefor remind (men), for of use is the reminder. s: therefore do remind, surely reminding does profit. . y: the admonition will be received by those who fear (allah): p: he will heed who feareth, s: he who fears will mind, . y: but it will be avoided by those most unfortunate ones, p: but the most hapless will flout it, s: and the most unfortunate one will avoid it, . y: who will enter the great fire, p: he who will be flung to the great fire s: who shall enter the great fire; . y: in which they will then neither die nor live. p: wherein he will neither die nor live. s: then therein he shall neither live nor die. . y: but those will prosper who purify themselves, p: he is successful who groweth, s: he indeed shall be successful who purifies himself, . y: and glorify the name of their guardian-lord, and (lift their hearts) in prayer. p: and remembereth the name of his lord, so prayeth, s: and magnifies the name of his lord and prays. . y: nay (behold), ye prefer the life of this world; p: but ye prefer the life of the world s: nay! you prefer the life of this world, . y: but the hereafter is better and more enduring. p: although the hereafter is better and more lasting. s: while the hereafter is better and more lasting. . y: and this is in the books of the earliest (revelation),- p: lo! this is in the former scrolls. s: most surely this is in the earlier scriptures, . y: the books of abraham and moses. p: the books of abraham and moses. s: the scriptures of ibrahim and musa. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-ghashiya (the overwhelming, the pall) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: has the story reached thee of the overwhelming (event)? p: hath there come unto thee tidings of the overwhelming? s: has not there come to you the news of the overwhelming calamity? . y: some faces, that day, will be humiliated, p: on that day (many) faces will be downcast, s: (some) faces on that day shall be downcast, . y: labouring (hard), weary,- p: toiling, weary, s: laboring, toiling, . y: the while they enter the blazing fire,- p: scorched by burning fire, s: entering into burning fire, . y: the while they are given, to drink, of a boiling hot spring, p: drinking from a boiling spring, s: made to drink from a boiling spring. . y: no food will there be for them but a bitter dhari' p: no food for them save bitter thorn-fruit s: they shall have no food but of thorns, . y: which will neither nourish nor satisfy hunger. p: which doth not nourish nor release from hunger. s: which will neither fatten nor avail against hunger. . y: (other) faces that day will be joyful, p: in that day other faces will be calm, s: (other) faces on that day shall be happy, . y: pleased with their striving,- p: glad for their effort past, s: well-pleased because of their striving, . y: in a garden on high, p: in a high garden s: in a lofty garden, . y: where they shall hear no (word) of vanity: p: where they hear no idle speech, s: wherein you shall not hear vain talk. . y: therein will be a bubbling spring: p: wherein is a gushing spring, s: therein is a fountain flowing, . y: therein will be thrones (of dignity), raised on high, p: wherein are couches raised s: therein are thrones raised high, . y: goblets placed (ready), p: and goblets set at hand s: and drinking-cups ready placed, . y: and cushions set in rows, p: and cushions ranged s: and cushions set in a row, . y: and rich carpets (all) spread out. p: and silken carpets spread. s: and carpets spread out. . y: do they not look at the camels, how they are made?- p: will they not regard the camels, how they are created? s: will they not then consider the camels, how they are created? . y: and at the sky, how it is raised high?- p: and the heaven, how it is raised? s: and the heaven, how it is reared aloft, . y: and at the mountains, how they are fixed firm?- p: and the hills, how they are set up? s: and the mountains, how they are firmly fixed, . y: and at the earth, how it is spread out? p: and the earth, how it is spread? s: and the earth, how it is made a vast expanse? . y: therefore do thou give admonition, for thou art one to admonish. p: remind them, for thou art but an admonisher, s: therefore do remind, for you are only a reminder. . y: thou art not one to manage (men's) affairs. p: thou art not at all a warder over them. s: you are not a watcher over them; . y: but if any turn away and reject allah,- p: but whoso is averse and disbelieveth, s: but whoever turns back and disbelieves, . y: allah will punish him with a mighty punishment, p: allah will punish him with direst punishment. s: allah will chastise him with the greatest chastisement. . y: for to us will be their return; p: lo! unto us is their return s: surely to us is their turning back, . y: then it will be for us to call them to account. p: and ours their reckoning. s: then surely upon us is the taking of their account. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-fajr (the dawn, daybreak) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: by the break of day p: by the dawn s: i swear by the daybreak, . y: by the nights twice five; p: and ten nights, s: and the ten nights, . y: by the even and odd (contrasted); p: and the even and the odd, s: and the even and the odd, . y: and by the night when it passeth away;- p: and the night when it departeth, s: and the night when it departs. . y: is there (not) in these an adjuration (or evidence) for those who understand? p: there surely is an oath for thinking man. s: truly in that there is an oath for those who possess understanding. . y: seest thou not how thy lord dealt with the 'ad (people),- p: dost thou not consider how thy lord dealt with (the tribe of) a'ad, s: have you not considered how your lord dealt with ad, . y: of the (city of) iram, with lofty pillars, p: with many-columned iram, s: (the people of) aram, possessors of lofty buildings, . y: the like of which were not produced in (all) the land? p: the like of which was not created in the lands; s: the like of which were not created in the (other) cities; . y: and with the thamud (people), who cut out (huge) rocks in the valley?- p: and with (the tribe of) thamud, who clove the rocks in the valley; s: and (with) samood, who hewed out the rocks in the valley, . y: and with pharaoh, lord of stakes? p: and with pharaoh, firm of might, s: and (with) firon, the lord of hosts, . y: (all) these transgressed beyond bounds in the lands, p: who (all) were rebellious (to allah) in these lands, s: who committed inordinacy in the cities, . y: and heaped therein mischief (on mischief). p: and multiplied iniquity therein? s: so they made great mischief therein? . y: therefore did thy lord pour on them a scourge of diverse chastisements: p: therefore thy lord poured on them the disaster of his punishment. s: therefore your lord let down upon them a portion of the chastisement. . y: for thy lord is (as a guardian) on a watch-tower. p: lo! thy lord is ever watchful. s: most surely your lord is watching. . y: now, as for man, when his lord trieth him, giving him honour and gifts, then saith he, (puffed up), "my lord hath honoured me." p: as for man, whenever his lord trieth him by honouring him, and is gracious unto him, he saith: my lord honoureth me. s: and as for man, when his lord tries him, then treats him with honor and makes him lead an easy life, he says: my lord honors me. . y: but when he trieth him, restricting his subsistence for him, then saith he (in despair), "my lord hath humiliated me!" p: but whenever he trieth him by straitening his means of life, he saith: my lord despiseth me. s: but when he tries him (differently), then straitens to him his means of subsistence, he says: my lord has disgraced me. . y: nay, nay! but ye honour not the orphans! p: nay, but ye (for your part) honour not the orphan s: nay! but you do not honor the orphan, . y: nor do ye encourage one another to feed the poor!- p: and urge not on the feeding of the poor. s: nor do you urge one another to feed the poor, . y: and ye devour inheritance - all with greed, p: and ye devour heritages with devouring greed. s: and you eat away the heritage, devouring (everything) indiscriminately, . y: and ye love wealth with inordinate love! p: and love wealth with abounding love. s: and you love wealth with exceeding love. . y: nay! when the earth is pounded to powder, p: nay, but when the earth is ground to atoms, grinding, grinding, s: nay! when the earth is made to crumble to pieces, . y: and thy lord cometh, and his angels, rank upon rank, p: and thy lord shall come with angels, rank on rank, s: and your lord comes and (also) the angels in ranks, . y: and hell, that day, is brought (face to face),- on that day will man remember, but how will that remembrance profit him? p: and hell is brought near that day; on that day man will remember, but how will the remembrance (then avail him)? s: and hell is made to appear on that day. on that day shall man be mindful, and what shall being mindful (then) avail him? . y: he will say: "ah! would that i had sent forth (good deeds) for (this) my (future) life!" p: he will say: ah, would that i had sent before me (some provision) for my life! s: he shall say: o! would that i had sent before for (this) my life! . y: for, that day, his chastisement will be such as none (else) can inflict, p: none punisheth as he will punish on that day! s: but on that day shall no one chastise with (anything like) his chastisement, . y: and his bonds will be such as none (other) can bind. p: none bindeth as he then will bind. s: and no one shall bind with (anything like) his binding. . y: (to the righteous soul will be said:) "o (thou) soul, in (complete) rest and satisfaction!" p: but ah! thou soul at peace! s: o soul that art at rest! . y: "come back thou to thy lord,- well pleased (thyself), and well-pleasing unto him!" p: return unto thy lord, content in his good pleasure! s: return to your lord, well-pleased (with him), well-pleasing (him), . y: "enter thou, then, among my devotees!" p: enter thou among my bondmen! s: so enter among my servants, . y: "yea, enter thou my heaven!" p: enter thou my garden! s: and enter into my garden. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-balad (the city, this countryside) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: i do call to witness this city;- p: nay, i swear by this city - s: nay! i swear by this city. . y: and thou art a freeman of this city;- p: and thou art an indweller of this city - s: and you shall be made free from obligation in this city-- . y: and (the mystic ties of) parent and child;- p: and the begetter and that which he begat, s: and the begetter and whom he begot. . y: verily we have created man into toil and struggle. p: we verily have created man in an atmosphere: s: certainly we have created man to be in distress. . y: thinketh he, that none hath power over him? p: thinketh he that none hath power over him? s: does he think that no one has power over him? . y: he may say (boastfully); wealth have i squandered in abundance! p: and he saith: i have destroyed vast wealth: s: he shall say: i have wasted much wealth. . y: thinketh he that none beholdeth him? p: thinketh he that none beholdeth him? s: does he think that no one sees him? . y: have we not made for him a pair of eyes?- p: did we not assign unto him two eyes s: have we not given him two eyes, . y: and a tongue, and a pair of lips?- p: and a tongue and two lips, s: and a tongue and two lips, . y: and shown him the two highways? p: and guide him to the parting of the mountain ways? s: and pointed out to him the two conspicuous ways? . y: but he hath made no haste on the path that is steep. p: but he hath not attempted the ascent - s: but he would not attempt the uphill road, . y: and what will explain to thee the path that is steep?- p: ah, what will convey unto thee what the ascent is! - s: and what will make you comprehend what the uphill road is? . y: (it is:) freeing the bondman; p: (it is) to free a slave, s: (it is) the setting free of a slave, . y: or the giving of food in a day of privation p: and to feed in the day of hunger. s: or the giving of food in a day of hunger . y: to the orphan with claims of relationship, p: an orphan near of kin, s: to an orphan, having relationship, . y: or to the indigent (down) in the dust. p: or some poor wretch in misery, s: or to the poor man lying in the dust. . y: then will he be of those who believe, and enjoin patience, (constancy, and self-restraint), and enjoin deeds of kindness and compassion. p: and to be of those who believe and exhort one another to perseverance and exhort one another to pity. s: then he is of those who believe and charge one another to show patience, and charge one another to show compassion. . y: such are the companions of the right hand. p: their place will be on the right hand. s: these are the people of the right hand. . y: but those who reject our signs, they are the (unhappy) companions of the left hand. p: but those who disbelieve our revelations, their place will be on the left hand. s: and (as for) those who disbelieve in our communications, they are the people of the left hand. . y: on them will be fire vaulted over (all round). p: fire will be an awning over them. s: on them is fire closed over. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : ash-shams (the sun) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: by the sun and his (glorious) splendour; p: by the sun and his brightness, s: i swear by the sun and its brilliance, . y: by the moon as she follows him; p: and the moon when she followeth him, s: and the moon when it follows the sun, . y: by the day as it shows up (the sun's) glory; p: and the day when it revealeth him, s: and the day when it shows it, . y: by the night as it conceals it; p: and the night when it enshroudeth him, s: and the night when it draws a veil over it, . y: by the firmament and its (wonderful) structure; p: and the heaven and him who built it, s: and the heaven and him who made it, . y: by the earth and its (wide) expanse: p: and the earth and him who spread it, s: and the earth and him who extended it, . y: by the soul, and the proportion and order given to it; p: and a soul and him who perfected it s: and the soul and him who made it perfect, . y: and its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right;- p: and inspired it (with conscience of) what is wrong for it and (what is) right for it. s: then he inspired it to understand what is right and wrong for it; . y: truly he succeeds that purifies it, p: he is indeed successful who causeth it to grow, s: he will indeed be successful who purifies it, . y: and he fails that corrupts it! p: and he is indeed a failure who stunteth it. s: and he will indeed fail who corrupts it. . y: the thamud (people) rejected (their prophet) through their inordinate wrong-doing, p: (the tribe of) thamud denied (the truth) in their rebellious pride, s: samood gave the lie (to the truth) in their inordinacy, . y: behold, the most wicked man among them was deputed (for impiety). p: when the basest of them broke forth s: when the most unfortunate of them broke forth with . y: but the messenger of allah said to them: "it is a she-camel of allah! and (bar her not from) having her drink!" p: and the messenger of allah said: it is the she-camel of allah, so let her drink! s: so allah's messenger said to them (leave alone) allah's she-camel, and (give) her (to) drink. . y: then they rejected him (as a false prophet), and they hamstrung her. so their lord, on account of their crime, obliterated their traces and made them equal (in destruction, high and low)! p: but they denied him, and they hamstrung her, so allah doomed them for their sin and razed (their dwellings). s: but they called him a liar and slaughtered her, therefore their lord crushed them for their sin and levelled them (with the ground). . y: and for him is no fear of its consequences. p: he dreadeth not the sequel (of events). s: and he fears not its consequence. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-lail (the night) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: by the night as it conceals (the light); p: by the night enshrouding s: i swear by the night when it draws a veil, . y: by the day as it appears in glory; p: and the day resplendent s: and the day when it shines in brightness, . y: by (the mystery of) the creation of male and female;- p: and him who hath created male and female, s: and the creating of the male and the female, . y: verily, (the ends) ye strive for are diverse. p: lo! your effort is dispersed (toward divers ends). s: your striving is most surely (directed to) various (ends). . y: so he who gives (in charity) and fears (allah), p: as for him who giveth and is dutiful (toward allah) s: then as for him who gives away and guards (against evil), . y: and (in all sincerity) testifies to the best,- p: and believeth in goodness; s: and accepts the best, . y: we will indeed make smooth for him the path to bliss. p: surely we will ease his way unto the state of ease. s: we will facilitate for him the easy end. . y: but he who is a greedy miser and thinks himself self-sufficient, p: but as for him who hoardeth and deemeth himself independent, s: and as for him who is niggardly and considers himself free from need (of allah), . y: and gives the lie to the best,- p: and disbelieveth in goodness; s: and rejects the best, . y: we will indeed make smooth for him the path to misery; p: surely we will ease his way unto adversity. s: we will facilitate for him the difficult end. . y: nor will his wealth profit him when he falls headlong (into the pit). p: his riches will not save him when he perisheth. s: and his wealth will not avail him when he perishes. . y: verily we take upon ourselves to guide, p: lo! ours it is (to give) the guidance s: surely ours is it to show the way, . y: and verily unto us (belong) the end and the beginning. p: and lo! unto us belong the latter portion and the former. s: and most surely ours is the hereafter and the former. . y: therefore do i warn you of a fire blazing fiercely; p: therefor have i warned you of the flaming fire s: therefore i warn you of the fire that flames: . y: none shall reach it but those most unfortunate ones p: which only the most wretched must endure, s: none shall enter it but the most unhappy, . y: who give the lie to truth and turn their backs. p: he who denieth and turneth away. s: who gives the lie (to the truth) and turns (his) back. . y: but those most devoted to allah shall be removed far from it,- p: far removed from it will be the righteous s: and away from it shall be kept the one who guards most (against evil), . y: those who spend their wealth for increase in self-purification, p: who giveth his wealth that he may grow (in goodness). s: who gives away his wealth, purifying himself . y: and have in their minds no favour from anyone for which a reward is expected in return, p: and none hath with him any favour for reward, s: and no one has with him any boon for which he should be rewarded, . y: but only the desire to seek for the countenance of their lord most high; p: except as seeking (to fulfil) the purpose of his lord most high. s: except the seeking of the pleasure of his lord, the most high. . y: and soon will they attain (complete) satisfaction. p: he verily will be content. s: and he shall soon be well-pleased. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : ad-dhuha (the morning hours, morning bright) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: by the glorious morning light, p: by the morning hours s: i swear by the early hours of the day, . y: and by the night when it is still,- p: and by the night when it is stillest, s: and the night when it covers with darkness. . y: thy guardian-lord hath not forsaken thee, nor is he displeased. p: thy lord hath not forsaken thee nor doth he hate thee, s: your lord has not forsaken you, nor has he become displeased, . y: and verily the hereafter will be better for thee than the present. p: and verily the latter portion will be better for thee than the former, s: and surely what comes after is better for you than that which has gone before. . y: and soon will thy guardian-lord give thee (that wherewith) thou shalt be well-pleased. p: and verily thy lord will give unto thee so that thou wilt be content. s: and soon will your lord give you so that you shall be well pleased. . y: did he not find thee an orphan and give thee shelter (and care)? p: did he not find thee an orphan and protect (thee)? s: did he not find you an orphan and give you shelter? . y: and he found thee wandering, and he gave thee guidance. p: did he not find thee wandering and direct (thee)? s: and find you lost (that is, unrecognized by men) and guide (them to you)? . y: and he found thee in need, and made thee independent. p: did he not find thee destitute and enrich (thee)? s: and find you in want and make you to be free from want? . y: therefore, treat not the orphan with harshness, p: therefor the orphan oppress not, s: therefore, as for the orphan, do not oppress (him). . y: nor repulse the petitioner (unheard); p: therefor the beggar drive not away, s: and as for him who asks, do not chide (him), . y: but the bounty of thy lord - rehearse and proclaim! p: therefor of the bounty of thy lord be thy discourse. s: and as for the favor of your lord, do announce (it). --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-inshirah (solace, consolation, relief) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: have we not expanded thee thy breast?- p: have we not caused thy bosom to dilate, s: have we not expanded for you your breast, . y: and removed from thee thy burden p: and eased thee of the burden s: and taken off from you your burden, . y: the which did gall thy back?- p: which weighed down thy back; s: which pressed heavily upon your back, . y: and raised high the esteem (in which) thou (art held)? p: and exalted thy fame? s: and exalted for you your esteem? . y: so, verily, with every difficulty, there is relief: p: but lo! with hardship goeth ease, s: surely with difficulty is ease. . y: verily, with every difficulty there is relief. p: lo! with hardship goeth ease; s: with difficulty is surely ease. . y: therefore, when thou art free (from thine immediate task), still labour hard, p: so when thou art relieved, still toil s: so when you are free, nominate. . y: and to thy lord turn (all) thy attention. p: and strive to please thy lord. s: and make your lord your exclusive object. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : at-tin (the fig, the figtree) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: by the fig and the olive, p: by the fig and the olive, s: i swear by the fig and the olive, . y: and the mount of sinai, p: by mount sinai, s: and mount sinai, . y: and this city of security,- p: and by this land made safe; s: and this city made secure, . y: we have indeed created man in the best of moulds, p: surely we created man of the best stature s: certainly we created man in the best make. . y: then do we abase him (to be) the lowest of the low,- p: then we reduced him to the lowest of the low, s: then we render him the lowest of the low. . y: except such as believe and do righteous deeds: for they shall have a reward unfailing. p: save those who believe and do good works, and theirs is a reward unfailing. s: except those who believe and do good, so they shall have a reward never to be cut off. . y: then what can, after this, contradict thee, as to the judgment (to come)? p: so who henceforth will give the lie to thee about the judgment? s: then who can give you the lie after (this) about the judgment? . y: is not allah the wisest of judges? p: is not allah the most conclusive of all judges? s: is not allah the best of the judges? --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-alaq (the clot, read) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: proclaim! (or read!) in the name of thy lord and cherisher, who created- p: read: in the name of thy lord who createth, s: read in the name of your lord who created. . y: created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood: p: createth man from a clot. s: he created man from a clot. . y: proclaim! and thy lord is most bountiful,- p: read: and thy lord is the most bounteous, s: read and your lord is most honorable, . y: he who taught (the use of) the pen,- p: who teacheth by the pen, s: who taught (to write) with the pen . y: taught man that which he knew not. p: teacheth man that which he knew not. s: taught man what he knew not. . y: nay, but man doth transgress all bounds, p: nay, but verily man is rebellious s: nay! man is most surely inordinate, . y: in that he looketh upon himself as self-sufficient. p: that he thinketh himself independent! s: because he sees himself free from want. . y: verily, to thy lord is the return (of all). p: lo! unto thy lord is the return. s: surely to your lord is the return. . y: seest thou one who forbids- p: hast thou seen him who dissuadeth s: have you seen him who forbids . y: a votary when he (turns) to pray? p: a slave when he prayeth? s: a servant when he prays? . y: seest thou if he is on (the road of) guidance?- p: hast thou seen if he relieth on the guidance (of allah) s: have you considered if he were on the right way, . y: or enjoins righteousness? p: or enjoineth piety? s: or enjoined guarding (against evil)? . y: seest thou if he denies (truth) and turns away? p: hast thou seen if he denieth (allah's guidance) and is froward? s: have you considered if he gives the lie to the truth and turns (his) back? . y: knoweth he not that allah doth see? p: is he then unaware that allah seeth? s: does he not know that allah does see? . y: let him beware! if he desist not, we will drag him by the forelock,- p: nay, but if he cease not we will seize him by the forelock - s: nay! if he desist not, we would certainly smite his forehead, . y: a lying, sinful forelock! p: the lying, sinful forelock - s: a lying, sinful forehead. . y: then, let him call (for help) to his council (of comrades): p: then let him call upon his henchmen! s: then let him summon his council, . y: we will call on the angels of punishment (to deal with him)! p: we will call the guards of hell. s: we too would summon the braves of the army. . y: nay, heed him not: but bow down in adoration, and bring thyself the closer (to allah)! p: nay, obey not thou him. but prostrate thyself, and draw near (unto allah). s: nay! obey him not, and make obeisance and draw nigh (to allah). --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-qadr (power, fate) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: we have indeed revealed this (message) in the night of power: p: lo! we revealed it on the night of predestination. s: surely we revealed it on the grand night. . y: and what will explain to thee what the night of power is? p: ah, what will convey unto thee what the night of power is! s: and what will make you comprehend what the grand night . y: the night of power is better than a thousand months. p: the night of power is better than a thousand months. s: the grand night is better than a thousand months. . y: therein come down the angels and the spirit by allah's permission, on every errand: p: the angels and the spirit descend therein, by the permission of their lord, with all decrees. s: the angels and gibreel descend in it by the permission of their lord for every affair, . y: peace!... this until the rise of morn! p: (the night is) peace until the rising of the dawn. s: peace! it is till the break of the morning. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-bayyina (the clear proof, evidence) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: those who reject (truth), among the people of the book and among the polytheists, were not going to depart (from their ways) until there should come to them clear evidence,- p: those who disbelieve among the people of the scripture and the idolaters could not have left off (erring) till the clear proof came unto them, s: those who disbelieved from among the followers of the book and the polytheists could not have separated (from the faithful) until there had come to them the clear evidence: . y: a messenger from allah, rehearsing scriptures kept pure and holy: p: a messenger from allah, reading purified pages s: a messenger from allah, reciting pure pages, . y: wherein are laws (or decrees) right and straight. p: containing correct scriptures. s: wherein are all the right ordinances. . y: nor did the people of the book make schisms, until after there came to them clear evidence. p: nor were the people of the scripture divided until after the clear proof came unto them. s: and those who were given the book did not become divided except after clear evidence had come to them. . y: and they have been commanded no more than this: to worship allah, offering him sincere devotion, being true (in faith); to establish regular prayer; and to practise regular charity; and that is the religion right and straight. p: and they are ordered naught else than to serve allah, keeping religion pure for him, as men by nature upright, and to establish worship and to pay the poor-due. that is true religion. s: and they were not enjoined anything except that they should serve allah, being sincere to him in obedience, upright, and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, and that is the right religion. . y: those who reject (truth), among the people of the book and among the polytheists, will be in hell-fire, to dwell therein (for aye). they are the worst of creatures. p: lo! those who disbelieve, among the people of the scripture and the idolaters, will abide in fire of hell. they are the worst of created beings. s: surely those who disbelieve from among the followers of the book and the polytheists shall be in the fire of hell, abiding therein; they are the worst of men. . y: those who have faith and do righteous deeds,- they are the best of creatures. p: (and) lo! those who believe and do good works are the best of created beings. s: (as for) those who believe and do good, surely they are the best of men. . y: their reward is with allah: gardens of eternity, beneath which rivers flow; they will dwell therein for ever; allah well pleased with them, and they with him: all this for such as fear their lord and cherisher. p: their reward is with their lord: gardens of eden underneath which rivers flow, wherein they dwell for ever. allah hath pleasure in them and they have pleasure in him. this is (in store) for him who feareth his lord. s: their reward with their lord is gardens of perpetuity beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein for ever; allah is well pleased with them and they are well pleased with him; that is for him who fears his lord. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-zalzala (the earthquake) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: when the earth is shaken to her (utmost) convulsion, p: when earth is shaken with her (final) earthquake s: when the earth is shaken with her (violent) shaking, . y: and the earth throws up her burdens (from within), p: and earth yieldeth up her burdens, s: and the earth brings forth her burdens, . y: and man cries (distressed): 'what is the matter with her?'- p: and man saith: what aileth her? s: and man says: what has befallen her? . y: on that day will she declare her tidings: p: that day she will relate her chronicles, s: on that day she shall tell her news, . y: for that thy lord will have given her inspiration. p: because thy lord inspireth her. s: because your lord had inspired her. . y: on that day will men proceed in companies sorted out, to be shown the deeds that they (had done). p: that day mankind will issue forth in scattered groups to be shown their deeds. s: on that day men shall come forth in sundry bodies that they may be shown their works. . y: then shall anyone who has done an atom's weight of good, see it! p: and whoso doeth good an atom's weight will see it then, s: so. he who has done an atom's weight of good shall see it . y: and anyone who has done an atom's weight of evil, shall see it. p: and whoso doeth ill an atom's weight will see it then. s: and he who has done an atom's weight of evil shall see it. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-adiyat (the courser, the chargers) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: by the (steeds) that run, with panting (breath), p: by the snorting courses, s: i swear by the runners breathing pantingly, . y: and strike sparks of fire, p: striking sparks of fire s: then those that produce fire striking, . y: and push home the charge in the morning, p: and scouring to the raid at dawn, s: then those that make raids at morn, . y: and raise the dust in clouds the while, p: then, therewith, with their trail of dust, s: then thereby raise dust, . y: and penetrate forthwith into the midst (of the foe) en masse;- p: cleaving, as one, the centre (of the foe), s: then rush thereby upon an assembly: . y: truly man is, to his lord, ungrateful; p: lo! man is an ingrate unto his lord s: most surely man is ungrateful to his lord. . y: and to that (fact) he bears witness (by his deeds); p: and lo! he is a witness unto that; s: and most surely he is a witness of that. . y: and violent is he in his love of wealth. p: and lo! in the love of wealth he is violent. s: and most surely he is tenacious in the love of wealth. . y: does he not know,- when that which is in the graves is scattered abroad, p: knoweth he not that, when the contents of the graves are poured forth s: does he not then know when what is in the graves is raised, . y: and that which is (locked up) in (human) breasts is made manifest- p: and the secrets of the breasts are made known, s: and what is in the breasts is made apparent? . y: that their lord had been well-acquainted with them, (even to) that day? p: on that day will their lord be perfectly informed concerning them. s: most surely their lord that day shall be fully aware of them. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-qaria (the calamity, the stunning blow, the disaster) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: the (day) of noise and clamour: p: the calamity! s: the terrible calamity! . y: what is the (day) of noise and clamour? p: what is the calamity? s: what is the terrible calamity! . y: and what will explain to thee what the (day) of noise and clamour is? p: ah, what will convey unto thee what the calamity is! s: and what will make you comprehend what the terrible calamity is? . y: (it is) a day whereon men will be like moths scattered about, p: a day wherein mankind will be as thickly-scattered moths s: the day on which men shall be as scattered moths, . y: and the mountains will be like carded wool. p: and the mountains will become as carded wool. s: and the mountains shall be as loosened wool. . y: then, he whose balance (of good deeds) will be (found) heavy, p: then, as for him whose scales are heavy (with good works), s: then as for him whose measure of good deeds is heavy, . y: will be in a life of good pleasure and satisfaction. p: he will live a pleasant life. s: he shall live a pleasant life. . y: but he whose balance (of good deeds) will be (found) light,- p: but as for him whose scales are light, s: and as for him whose measure of good deeds is light, . y: will have his home in a (bottomless) pit. p: a bereft and hungry one will be his mother, s: his abode shall be the abyss. . y: and what will explain to thee what this is? p: ah, what will convey unto thee what she is! - s: and what will make you know what it is? . y: (it is) a fire blazing fiercely! p: raging fire. s: a burning fire. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : at-takathur (rivalry in world increase, competition) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: the mutual rivalry for piling up (the good things of this world) diverts you (from the more serious things), p: rivalry in worldly increase distracteth you s: abundance diverts you, . y: until ye visit the graves. p: until ye come to the graves. s: until you come to the graves. . y: but nay, ye soon shall know (the reality). p: nay, but ye will come to know! s: nay! you shall soon know, . y: again, ye soon shall know! p: nay, but ye will come to know! s: nay! nay! you shall soon know. . y: nay, were ye to know with certainty of mind, (ye would beware!) p: nay, would that ye knew (now) with a sure knowledge! s: nay! if you had known with a certain knowledge, . y: ye shall certainly see hell-fire! p: for ye will behold hell-fire. s: you should most certainly have seen the hell; . y: again, ye shall see it with certainty of sight! p: aye, ye will behold it with sure vision. s: then you shall most certainly see it with the eye of certainty; . y: then, shall ye be questioned that day about the joy (ye indulged in)! p: then, on that day, ye will be asked concerning pleasure. s: then on that day you shall most certainly be questioned about the boons. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-asr (the declining day, eventide, the epoch) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: by (the token of) time (through the ages), p: by the declining day, s: i swear by the time, . y: verily man is in loss, p: lo! man is a state of loss, s: most surely man is in loss, . y: except such as have faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of truth, and of patience and constancy. p: save those who believe and do good works, and exhort one another to truth and exhort one another to endurance. s: except those who believe and do good, and enjoin on each other truth, and enjoin on each other patience. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-humaza (the traducer, the gossipmonger) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: woe to every (kind of) scandal-monger and-backbiter, p: woe unto every slandering traducer, s: woe to every slanderer, defamer, . y: who pileth up wealth and layeth it by, p: who hath gathered wealth (of this world) and arranged it. s: who amasses wealth and considers it a provision (against mishap); . y: thinking that his wealth would make him last for ever! p: he thinketh that his wealth will render him immortal. s: he thinks that his wealth will make him immortal. . y: by no means! he will be sure to be thrown into that which breaks to pieces, p: nay, but verily he will be flung to the consuming one. s: nay! he shall most certainly be hurled into the crushing disaster, . y: and what will explain to thee that which breaks to pieces? p: ah, what will convey unto thee what the consuming one is! s: and what will make you realize what the crushing disaster is? . y: (it is) the fire of (the wrath of) allah kindled (to a blaze), p: (it is) the fire of allah, kindled, s: it is the fire kindled by allah, . y: the which doth mount (right) to the hearts: p: which leapeth up over the hearts (of men). s: which rises above the hearts. . y: it shall be made into a vault over them, p: lo! it is closed in on them s: surely it shall be closed over upon them, . y: in columns outstretched. p: in outstretched columns. s: in extended columns. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-fil (the elephant) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: seest thou not how thy lord dealt with the companions of the elephant? p: hast thou not seen how thy lord dealt with the owners of the elephant? s: have you not considered how your lord dealt with the possessors of the elephant? . y: did he not make their treacherous plan go astray? p: did he not bring their stratagem to naught, s: did he not cause their war to end in confusion, . y: and he sent against them flights of birds, p: and send against them swarms of flying creatures, s: and send down (to prey) upon them birds in flocks, . y: striking them with stones of baked clay. p: which pelted them with stones of baked clay, s: casting against them stones of baked clay, . y: then did he make them like an empty field of stalks and straw, (of which the corn) has been eaten up. p: and made them like green crops devoured (by cattle)? s: so he rendered them like straw eaten up? --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : quraish (winter, quraysh) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: for the covenants (of security and safeguard enjoyed) by the quraish, p: for the taming of qureysh. s: for the protection of the qureaish-- . y: their covenants (covering) journeys by winter and summer,- p: for their taming (we cause) the caravans to set forth in winter and summer. s: their protection during their trading caravans in the winter and the summer-- . y: let them adore the lord of this house, p: so let them worship the lord of this house, s: so let them serve the lord of this house . y: who provides them with food against hunger, and with security against fear (of danger). p: who hath fed them against hunger and hath made them safe from fear. s: who feeds them against hunger and gives them security against fear. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-maun (small kindnesses, almsgiving, have you seen) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: seest thou one who denies the judgment (to come)? p: hast thou observed him who belieth religion? s: have you considered him who calls the judgment a lie? . y: then such is the (man) who repulses the orphan (with harshness), p: that is he who repelleth the orphan, s: that is the one who treats the orphan with harshness, . y: and encourages not the feeding of the indigent. p: and urgeth not the feeding of the needy. s: and does not urge (others) to feed the poor. . y: so woe to the worshippers p: ah, woe unto worshippers s: so woe to the praying ones, . y: who are neglectful of their prayers, p: who are heedless of their prayer; s: who are unmindful of their prayers, . y: those who (want but) to be seen (of men), p: who would be seen (at worship) s: who do (good) to be seen, . y: but refuse (to supply) (even) neighbourly needs. p: yet refuse small kindnesses! s: and withhold the necessaries of life. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-kauther (abundance, plenty) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: to thee have we granted the fount (of abundance). p: lo! we have given thee abundance; s: surely we have given you kausar, . y: therefore to thy lord turn in prayer and sacrifice. p: so pray unto thy lord, and sacrifice. s: therefore pray to your lord and make a sacrifice. . y: for he who hateth thee, he will be cut off (from future hope). p: lo! it is thy insulter (and not thou) who is without posterity. s: surely your enemy is the one who shall be without posterity, --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-kafiroon (the disbelievers, atheists) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: say: o ye that reject faith! p: say: o disbelievers! s: say: o unbelievers! . y: i worship not that which ye worship, p: i worship not that which ye worship; s: i do not serve that which you serve, . y: nor will ye worship that which i worship. p: nor worship ye that which i worship. s: nor do you serve him whom i serve: . y: and i will not worship that which ye have been wont to worship, p: and i shall not worship that which ye worship. s: nor am i going to serve that which you serve, . y: nor will ye worship that which i worship. p: nor will ye worship that which i worship. s: nor are you going to serve him whom i serve: . y: to you be your way, and to me mine. p: unto you your religion, and unto me my religion. s: you shall have your religion and i shall have my religion. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : an-nasr (succour, divine support) total verses: revealed at: madina --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: when comes the help of allah, and victory, p: when allah's succour and the triumph cometh s: when there comes the help of allah and the victory, . y: and thou dost see the people enter allah's religion in crowds, p: and thou seest mankind entering the religion of allah in troops, s: and you see men entering the religion of allah in companies, . y: celebrate the praises of thy lord, and pray for his forgiveness: for he is oft-returning (in grace and mercy). p: then hymn the praises of thy lord, and seek forgiveness of him. lo! he is ever ready to show mercy. s: then celebrate the praise of your lord, and ask his forgiveness; surely he is oft-returning (to mercy). --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-masadd (palm fibre, the flame) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: perish the hands of the father of flame! perish he! p: the power of abu lahab will perish, and he will perish. s: perdition overtake both hands of abu lahab, and he will perish. . y: no profit to him from all his wealth, and all his gains! p: his wealth and gains will not exempt him. s: his wealth and what he earns will not avail him. . y: burnt soon will he be in a fire of blazing flame! p: he will be plunged in flaming fire, s: he shall soon burn in fire that flames, . y: his wife shall carry the (crackling) wood - as fuel!- p: and his wife, the wood-carrier, s: and his wife, the bearer of fuel, . y: a twisted rope of palm-leaf fibre round her (own) neck! p: will have upon her neck a halter of palm-fibre. s: upon her neck a halter of strongly twisted rope. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-ikhlas (sincerity) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: say: he is allah, the one and only; p: say: he is allah, the one! s: say: he, allah, is one. . y: allah, the eternal, absolute; p: allah, the eternally besought of all! s: allah is he on whom all depend. . y: he begetteth not, nor is he begotten; p: he begetteth not nor was begotten. s: he begets not, nor is he begotten. . y: and there is none like unto him. p: and there is none comparable unto him. s: and none is like him. --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : al-falaq (the daybreak, dawn) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: say: i seek refuge with the lord of the dawn, p: say: i seek refuge in the lord of the daybreak s: say: i seek refuge in the lord of the dawn, . y: from the mischief of created things; p: from the evil of that which he created; s: from the evil of what he has created, . y: from the mischief of darkness as it overspreads; p: from the evil of the darkness when it is intense, s: and from the evil of the utterly dark night when it comes, . y: from the mischief of those who practise secret arts; p: and from the evil of malignant witchcraft, s: and from the evil of those who blow on knots, . y: and from the mischief of the envious one as he practises envy. p: and from the evil of the envier when he envieth. s: and from the evil of the envious when he envies --------------------------------------------------------------------- chapter : an-nas (mankind) total verses: revealed at: makka --------------------------------------------------------------------- in the name of allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. . y: say: i seek refuge with the lord and cherisher of mankind, p: say: i seek refuge in the lord of mankind, s: say: i seek refuge in the lord of men, . y: the king (or ruler) of mankind, p: the king of mankind, s: the king of men, . y: the god (or judge) of mankind,- p: the god of mankind, s: the god of men, . y: from the mischief of the whisperer (of evil), who withdraws (after his whisper),- p: from the evil of the sneaking whisperer, s: from the evil of the whisperings of the slinking (shaitan), . y: (the same) who whispers into the hearts of mankind,- p: who whispereth in the hearts of mankind, s: who whispers into the hearts of men, . y: among jinns and among men. p: of the jinn and of mankind. s: from among the jinn and the men. cosmic consciousness the man-god whom we await by ali nomad contents chapter i the new birth; what it is; instances described the religions and philosophies of the orient and the occident compared; their chief difference; the mistaken idea of death. cosmic consciousness not common in the orient. why? what the earnest disciple strives for. the real and the unreal. buddha's agonized yearnings; why he was moved by them with such irresistible power; the ultimate victory. the identity of the absolute; the oriental teachings; "the spiritual maxims of brother lawrence;" the seemingly miraculous power of the oriental initiate; does he really "talk" to birds and animals? how they learn to know and read "the heart of the world." the inner temples throughout japan. the strange experience of a zen (a holy order of japan), student-priest in attaining _mukti_. the key to realization. an address by manikyavasayar, one of the great tamil saints of southern india. the hindu conception of cosmic consciousness. the japanese idea of the state. the buddhist "life-saving" monasteries; how the priests extend their consciousness to immeasurable distances at will. the last incarnation of god in india. his marvelous insight. the urge of the spiritual yearning for the "voice of the mother." his twelve years of struggle. his final illumination. the unutterable bliss pictured in his own words. what the persian mystics allusion to "union with the beloved" signifies; its exoteric and its esoteric meaning. the "way of the gods." the chief difference between the message of jesus and that of other holy men. the famous "song of solomon" and the different interpretations; a new version. a french writer's evident glimpses of the new birth. man's relation to the universe. chapter ii. man's relation to god and to his fellow-men the great riddle and a new solution. the persistence of the ideal of perfected man; has it any basis in history? the superlative faculty of spiritual sight as depicted by artists, painters and sculptors. symbols of consciousness. the way in which the higher consciousness expresses itself. certain peculiar traits which distinguish those destined to the influx. the abode of the gods; the conditioned promise of godhood in man. what is nirvana? the vedantan idea. the christian idea. did jesus teach the kingdom of god on earth? is there a basis for belief in physical immortality? a new explanation. the perilous paths. those who "will see god." evolution of consciousness from prehistoric man to the highest developed beings. chapter iii areas of consciousness the divine spark. consciousness the essence of everything. axioms of universal occultism. the great central light. the teachings of oriental seers regarding the ultimate goal. different stages of mankind. births in consciousness. physical consciousness: its limitations. mental consciousness: the jungles of the mind. soul consciousness; whither it leads. the irresistible urge. why we obey it. sayings of ancient manuscripts. perfecting light. the disciple's test. awakening of the divine man. is he now on earth? what is meant by the awakening of the inner self. is the _atman_ asleep? the doctrine of illusion; its relation to cosmic consciousness. chapter iv self-ness and selflessness the dark ages. the esoteric meaning of religious practices. the penetrating power of spiritual insight. the mystery of conversion. the paradox of self-attainment and the necessity for selflessness. the oriental teachings regarding the self. the wisdom of the illumined master. the test of fitness for nirvana. what caused buddha the greatest anxiety? experiences of oriental sages and their testimony. what correlation exists between buddha's desire and the attainment of cosmic consciousness among occidental disciples. chapter v instances of illumination and its after effects the wonderful brilliancy of illumination. dr. bucke's description of the cosmic light; his opinion regarding the possibility of becoming more general. peculiar methods of producing spiritual ecstacy, as described by lord tennyson and others. the power and presence of god, as a reality. the dissolution of race barriers. the effacement of the sense of sin among the illuminati. what is meant by the phrase "naked and unashamed." will such a state ever exist on the earth? efforts of those who have experienced cosmic consciousness to express the experience; the strange similarity found in all attempts. is there any evidence that cosmic consciousness is possible to all? chapter vi examples of cosmic consciousness, who have founded new systems of religion the simple religion of early japan. the inner or secret shrine: its esoteric and its exoteric office. the mystic brotherhoods. why the esoteric meanings have always been veiled. the great teachers and the uniformity of their instructions. philosophy as taught by vivekananda. the fundamental doctrine of buddhism. have the present-day buddhists lost the key? is religion necessary to illumination? the fruits of cosmic consciousness. chapter vii moses, the law-giver the salient features of the law as given by moses to his people. had the ancient hebrews any knowledge of illumination and its results? the symbol of liberation. its esoteric meaning. chapter viii gautama--the compassionate prenatal conditions influencing buddha. his strange temperament. his peculiar trances and their effect upon him. why buddha endured such terrible struggles; is suffering necessary to cosmic consciousness? from what was buddha finally liberated? the simplicity of buddha's commandments in the light of cosmic consciousness. the fundamental truths taught by buddha and all other sages. buddha's own words regarding death and nirvana. last words to his disciples. how the teachings of buddha compare with the vision of cosmic consciousness. his method of development of spiritual consciousness. chapter ix jesus of nazareth the astonishing similarity found in all religious precepts; the distinguishing feature of the teachings as delivered by jesus. his repeated allusion to "the light within." the great commandment he gave to his disciples. love the basis of the teachings of all illumined minds. the "second coming of christ." the signs of the times. chapter x paul of tarsus his undoubted experience of illumination and its effects. was paul changed by "conversion," or what was the wonderful power that altered his whole life? why paul sought seclusion after his illumination. characteristics of all illumined ones. the desire for simplicity. paul's incomparable description of "the love that never faileth." the safe guide to illumination. the "first fruits of the spirit," as prophesied by paul. chapter xi mohammed mohammed a predestined leader. condition of arabia at his birth. prophecies of a messiah. his peculiar psychic temperament; his frequent attacks of catalepsy; his sufferings because of doubt; his never-ceasing urge toward a final revelation. his changed state after the revelation on mt. hara. his unswerving belief in his mission; his devotion to truth; his simplicity and humility. his claim to cosmic consciousness. chapter xii emanuel swedenborg swedenborg's early life. his sudden change from materialism. the difficulty of clear enunciation. his unfailing belief in the divinity of his revelations. how they compare with experiences of others. the frequent reception of the light. the blessing of cosmic consciousness. chapter xiii modern examples of intellectual cosmic consciousness: emerson; tolstoi; balzac the way to illumination through intellectual cultivation; emerson a notable example; the cosmic note in his essays and conversations. emerson's religious nature. his familiarity with oriental philosophy; his remarkable discrimination; the peculiar penetrating quality of his intellect. his never failing assurance of unity with the divine. his belief in a spiritual life. did emerson predict a millenium? his writings as they reflect light upon his attainment of cosmic consciousness. leo tolstoi--russian philosopher tolstoi the strangest and most unusual figure of the nineteenth century; his almost unbearable sufferings; his avowed materialism; his horror of death; the prevailing gloom of his writings and to what due. incidents in his life previous to his illumination. the remarkable and radical change made by his experience. to what was due tolstoi's great struggle and suffering? why the great philosopher sought to die in a hut. his idea not one of penance. the signal change in his life after illumination. what he says of this. honore de balzac balzac's classification as of the psychic temperament. his amazing power of magnetic attraction. his feminine refinement in dress. his power of inspiration gave him his place in french literature. the dominant motive of all his writings. his unshakable conviction of immortality. his power to function on both planes of consciousness. the lesson to be drawn from seraphita. balzac's evident intention, and why veiled. the inevitable conclusion to be drawn from the symbolical character. chapter xiv illumination as expressed in the poetical temperament poetry the language of cosmic consciousness. unconscious instruments of the cosmic law. the true poet and the maker of rhymes. the mission and scope of the poetical temperament. how "temperament" affects expression. no royal road to illumination. teaching of oriental mysticism. whitman's extraordinary experience. his idea of "perfections." lord tennyson's two distinct states of consciousness; his early boyhood and strange experiences. facts about his illumination. the after effects. tennyson's vision of the future. wordsworth, the poet of nature. how he attained and lost spiritual illumination. how he again received the great light. the evidences of two states of consciousness. outline of his illumination. noguchi--a most remarkable instance of illumination in early youth; lines expressive of an exalted state of consciousness; how it resulted in later life. the strange case of william sharp and "fiona macleod:" a perfect example of dual consciousness; the distinguishing features of the self and the self; the fine line of demarcation. how the writer succeeded in living two distinct lives and the result. remarkable contribution to literature. a puzzling instance of phases of consciousness. chapter xv methods of attainment: the way of illumination the four oriental methods of liberation. the goal of the soul's pilgrimage. strange theory advanced. revolutionary results that follow. how to perceive the actuality of the higher self. gaining immortality "in the flesh;" what revelation has promised and its substantiation in modern science. the prize and the price. some valuable yoga exercises to induce spiritual ecstacy. what "union with god" really means. the "brahmic bliss" of the upanashads. the new race; its powers and privileges. "the man-god whom we await" as described by emerson. the self and symbol thou most divine! above all women above all men in consciousness. thou in thy nearness to me hast shown me paths of love. yea; walks that lead from hell to the great light; where life and love do ever reign. thou hast taught to me a patience to behold whatever state; however beautiful and joyful; however ugly and sorrowful. to know that these are--all!--but the glimmerings of the greater life-- expressions of the infinite. according to the finality of that moment now to come; in the eternal now, which thou sweet presence, hast awakened me to-- i see the light--the way. an everlasting illumination that takes me to the gate; the open door to the house of god. there i find most priceless jewels; the key to all the ways, that lead from _om_ to thee. a mistake--an off-turn from the apparent road of right is but the bruising of thy temple, calling thy self--thy soul-- the god within; showing thee, the _nita_ of it all; which is but the half of me. and as thy consciousness of the two the _nita_ and the _ita_, comes to thee a three is formed--the trinity is found. through thee the deity hast spoken uniting the two in the one; revealing the illusion of mortality the message of _om_ to the illumined. --ali nomad. argument man is essentially a spiritual being. the source of this spiritual omniscience we may not, in our finite intelligence, fully cognize, because full cognition would preclude the possibility of finite expression. the destiny of man is perfection. man perfected becomes a god. "only the gods are immortal," we are told. let us consider what this means, supposing it to be an axiom of truth. mortality is subject to change and death. mortality is the manifest--the stage upon which "man in his life plays many parts." immortality, is what the word says it is--godhood re-cognized in the mortal. "im" or, "om"--the more general term--stands for the changeless. birthless. deathless. unnamable power that holds the worlds in space, and puts intelligence into man. biologists, even though they were to succeed in reproducing life by chemical processes from so-called "lifeless" (sterilized) _matter_, making so high a form of manifestation as man himself, yet could never name _the power by which they accomplished it_. always there must remain the unknownable--the absolute. "om," therefore, is the word we use to express this omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent power. the term "mortal" we have already defined. the compound immortal, applied to individual man, stands for one who has made his "at-one-ment" with om, and who has, while still in the mortal body, re-cognized himself as one with om. this is what it means to escape the "second death," to which the merely mortal consciousness is subject. this is the goal of every human life; this is the essence, the _substance_ of all religious systems and all philosophies. the only chance for disputation among theologians and philosophers, lies in the way of accomplishing this at-one-ment. there is not the slightest opportunity for a difference of opinion as what they wish to accomplish. admitting then, that the goal of every soul is the same--immortality--(the mortal consciousness cognizing itself as om), we come to a consideration of the evidence we may find in support of this axiom. this evidence we do _not_ find satisfactory, in spirit communication; in psychic experiences; in hypnotic phenomena; and astral trips; important, and reliable as these many psychic research phenomena are. these are not satisfactory or convincing evidences of our at-one-ment with om, because they do not preclude the probability of the "second death;" but on the contrary, they verify it. however, aside from all these psychic phenomena, there is a phase of human experience, much more rare but becoming somewhat general, that transcends phenomena of every kind. the western world has given to these experiences the term "cosmic consciousness," which term is self explanatory. the orientals have long known of this goal of the soul, and they have terms to express this, varying with the many types of the oriental mind, but all meaning the same thing. this meaning, from our occidental viewpoint, is best translated in the term liberation, signifying to be set free from the limitations of sense, and of self-consciousness, and to have glimpsed the larger area of consciousness, that takes in the very cosmos. this experience is accompanied by a great light, whether this light is manifested as spiritual, or as intellectual power, determines its expression. the object of this book is to call attention to some of the more pronounced instances of this illumination, and to classify them, according as they have been expressed through religions enthusiasm; poetical fervor; or great intellectual power. but we have also one other argument to make, and this we present with a conviction of its _truth_, while conceding that it must remain a _theory_, until proven, each individual, man or woman, for himself and herself. the postulate is this: immortality (i.e. godhood) is bi-sexual. no male person can by any possibility become an immortal god, in, of and by himself; no female person can be complete without the "other half" that makes the one. each and every soul, therefore, has its spiritual counterpart--its "other half," with which it unites on the spiritual plane, when the time comes for attainment of immortality. sex is an eternal verity. the entire cosmos is bi-sexual. everything in the visible universe; in the manifest, is the result of this universal principle. "as above so below," is a safe rule, as far as the idea goes. this hypothesis does not preclude _perfection_ above, of that which we find below, but any radical reversion or repudiation of nature is inconceivable. "male and female created he them." this being true, male and female must they return to the source from which they sprung, completing the circle, and gaining what? _consciousness of godhood; of completeness in counterpartal union. not absorption_ of consciousness, but _union_, which is quite a different idea. out of this counterpartal union a race of gods will be born, and these _supermen_, shall "inherit the earth" making it a "fit dwelling place for the gods." this earth is now being made fit. this fact may seem a far distant hope if we do not judge with the eyes of the seer, but its proof lies in the emancipation of woman. its evidences are many and varied, but the awakening of woman is the _cause_. this awakening of woman constitutes the first rays of the dawn--that long-looked for millenium, which many of us have regarded as a mere figure of speech, instead of as a literal truth. the argument is not that there has been no individual awakening until the present time; but that never before in the finite history of the world has there been such a general awakening, and as it is self evident that conditions will reflect the idea of the majority, the fact that woman is being given her rightful place in the sense-conscious life, proves that the earth will be a fit dwelling place for a higher order of beings than have hitherto constituted the majority. the numerous instances of illumination, or cosmic consciousness which are forcing attention at the present time, prove that there is a _race-awakening_ to a realization of our unity with om. another point which we trust these pages will make clear is this: so-called "revelation" is neither a personal "discovery," nor any special act of a divine power. "god spake thus and so to me," is a phrase which the self-conscious initiate employs, _because he has lost sight of the_ cosmic light, or because he finds it expedient to use that phraseology in delivering the message of cosmic consciousness. if we will substitute the term "_initiation_," for the term "_revelation_," we will have a clearer idea of the truth. perhaps some of our readers will feel that the terms mean the same, but for the most part, those who have employed the word "revelation," have used it as implying that the plan of the cosmos was unfinished, and that the creator, having found some person suitable to convey the latest decision to mankind, natural laws had been suspended and the revelation made. it is to correct this view, that we emphasize the distinction between the two words. the cosmos is complete. "as it was in the beginning, it is now and ever shall be, worlds without end." a circle is without beginning or end. we, in our individual consciousness may traverse this circle, but our failure to realize its completeness does not change the fact that it is finished. we can not add to the universal consciousness; nor take away therefrom. but we can extend our own area of consciousness from the narrow limits of the personal self, into the heights and depths of the atman and who shall set limitations to the power of the atman, the higher self, when it has attained at-one-ment with om? it is not the purpose of this book to trace the spiritual ascent of man further than to point out the wide gulf between the degrees of consciousness manifested in the lower animals and that of human consciousness; again tracing in the human, the ever-widening area of his cognition of the personal self, and its needs, to the awakening of the soul and its needs; which needs include the welfare of all living things as an absolute necessity to individual happiness. altruism, therefore, is not a virtue. it is a means of self-preservation--without this degree of initiation into the boundless area of universal, or cosmic consciousness, we may not escape the karmic law. the revelations, therefore, upon which are founded the numerous religious systems, are comparable with the many and various degrees of initiation into that which is. they represent the degree which the initiate has taken in the lodge. it may be argued that this fact of individual initiation into the ever-present truth of being, as into a lodge, offers no proof that this earth is to ultimately become a heaven. it may be that this planet is the outer-most lodge room and that there will never be a sufficient number of initiates to make the earth a fit dwelling place for a higher order of beings than now inhabit it. this may, indeed, be true. but all evidence tends toward the hope that even the planet itself will come under the regenerating power of illumination. all prophecies embody this promise; all that we know of what materialists call "evolution" and occultists might well name "uncovering of consciousness," points to a time when "god's will," "shall be done on earth as it is in heaven." all who have attained to cosmic consciousness in whatever degree, have prophecied a _time_, when this blessing would descend upon every one; but the difficulty in adequately explaining this great gift seems also to have been the burden of their cry. jesus sought repeatedly to describe to his hearers the wonders of the cosmic sense, but realized that he was too far in advance of the cyclic end; but even as at that time, a number of disciples were capable of receiving the illumination, so to-day, a larger number are capable of attainment. if this number is great enough to bring about the regeneration--the perfecting--of the earth conditions, then it _must be accomplished_. we believe that it is. we make the claim that the millenium _has dawned_; and although it may be many years before the light of the morning breaks into the full light of the day, yet the rays of the dawn are dispelling the world's long night. in his powerful and prophetic story "in the days of the comet," h.g. wells, tells of a _great change_ that comes over the world following an atmospheric phenomenon in which a "green vapor" is generated in the clouds and falls upon the earth with instantaneous effect. as this peculiar vapor descends, it has the effect of putting every one to sleep; this sleep continues for three days and when people finally awake, their interior nature has undergone a complete change. where before they "saw dimly," they now see clearly; the petty differences and quarrels are perceived in their true perspective. instead of place, and power, and influence, and wealth, being all-important goals of ambition as before the change, every one now strives to be of service to the world. love and kindness become greater factors than commercial expediency and business success. in many respects, wells' description of the great change and its effect upon people, corresponds with the effect of illumination. the sense of entering into the very heart of things; of growing plants; the birds and the little wood animals; the intense sympathy and understanding of life described by him, sounds like the effect of cosmic consciousness, as related by nearly all who have attained it. how the world's activities are resumed after the change, and under what vastly different incentives people work, form a part of the story, which is written as fiction, but which contains the seed of a great truth. this truth is expressed in science, as human achievement, and in religion as fulfilled prophecy, but the truth is the same. both religion and science point to a _time_ when this earth will know freedom from strife and suffering. even the elements which have hitherto been regarded as beyond the boundaries of man's will, may be completely controlled; not _may be_, but _will be_. manual labor will cease. national eugenic societies will put a stop to war, when they come to the inevitable conclusion, that no race can by any possibility be improved, while the most perfect physical species are reserved for armies. awakening woman will refuse--indeed they are now refusing--to bear children to be shot down in warfare, and crushed under the juggernaut of commercial competition. those who realize the signs of the times, look for the birth of cosmic consciousness as a race-consciousness, foreshadowing the new day; the "second coming of christ," not as a personal, vicarious sacrifice, but as a factor in human attainment. "for i am persuaded," said st. paul, "that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of god." if we interpret this in the light of cosmic consciousness, we realize that we shall know, and _experience_ that boundless, deathless, perfect, satisfying, complete and all-embracing love which is the goal of immortality; which is an attribute (we may say the _one_ attribute) of god. we are not looking for the birth of _a_ christ-child, but of _the_ christ-child; we are not looking for a second coming of _a_ man who shall be as jesus was, but we are anticipating the coming of _the_ man (homo), who shall be cosmically conscious, even as was jesus of nazareth; as was guatama, the buddha. that there may be one man and one woman who shall first achieve this consciousness and realization is barely possible, but the preponderance of evidence is for a more general awakening to the light of illumination. "we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in the twinkling of an eye," said st. paul. the prophecy of "the woman clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet," is not of _a_ woman, but of woman, in the light of a race of men who have attained cosmic consciousness. nothing more is needed to make a heaven of earth, than that the great light and love that comes of illumination, shall become dominant. it will solve all problems, because problems arise only because we are groping in the dark. the elimination of selfishness; of condemnation; of fear and anger, and doubt, must have far greater power for universal happiness and well-being than all the systems which theology or science or politics could devise. indeed, all these systems are sporadic and empirical attempts to express the vague dawning of illumination. in the fullness of its light, the need for systems will have passed away. chapter i the new birth: what it is: instances described the chief difference between the religions and the philosophies of the orient and those of the occident, lies in the fact that the oriental systems, methods, and practices, emphasize the assumption that the goal of these efforts, is attainable at any moment, as it were. that is, oriental religion--speaking in the broad sense--teaches that the disciple need not wait for the experience called death to liberate the self, the _atman_, from the enchantment or delusion, the _maya_, of the external world. indeed, the oriental devotee well knows that physical death, _mrityu_, is not a guarantee of liberation; does not necessarily bring with it immortality. he well recognizes that physical death is but a procedure in existence. death does not of itself, change the condition of _maya_, in which the disciple is bound until such a time, as he has earned liberation--_mukti_, which condition may be defined as immunity from further incarnation. immortality is our rightful heritage but it must be claimed,--yea, it must be _earned_. it is a mistake to imagine that death makes man immortal. immortality is an attribute of the gods. but since all souls possess a spark of the divine essence of brahman (the absolute), _mukti_ may be attained by earnest seeking, and thus immortality be _realized_. this condition of awakening, is variously named among oriental sages and chelas, such for instance as glimpsing the _brahmic splendor; mutki; samadhi; moksha; entering nirvana_; becoming "_twice-born_." in recent years there have come to light in the occident a number of instances of the attainment of this state, and these have been described as "cosmic consciousness;" "illumination;" "liberation;" the "baptism of the holy ghost;" and becoming "immersed in the great white light." baptism, which is a ceremony very generally incorporated into religious systems, is a symbol of this esoteric truth, namely the necessity for illumination in order that the soul may be "saved" from further incarnations--from further experience. the term cosmic consciousness as well describes this condition of the disciple, as any words can, perhaps, although the term liberation is more literal, since the influx of this state of being, is actually the liberation of the _atman_, the eternal self, from the illusion of the external, or _maya_. contrary to the general belief, instances of cosmic consciousness are not extremely rare, although they are not at all general. particularly is this true in the orient, where the chief concern as it were, of the people has for centuries been the realization of this state of liberation. the oriental initiate in the study of religious practices, realizes that these devotions are for the sole purpose of attaining _mukti_, whereas in the occident, the very general idea held by the religious devotee, is one of penance; of propitiation of deity. this truth applies essentially to the initiate, the aspirant for priesthood, or guru-ship. no qualified priest or guru of the orient harbors any doubt regarding the _object_, or purpose of religious practices. the attainment of the spiritual experience described in occidental language as "cosmic consciousness" is the goal. the goal is not a peaceful death; nor yet an humble entrance into heaven as a place of abode; nor is it the ultimate satisfying of a god of extreme justice; the "eye for an eye" god of the fear-stricken theologian. one purpose only, actuates the earnest disciple, like a glorious star lighting the path of the mariner on life's troublous sea. that goal is the attainment of that beatific state in which is revealed to the soul and the mind, the real and the unreal; the eternal substance of truth, and the shifting kaleidoscope of _maya_. nor can there be any purpose in the pursuit of either religion or philosophy other than this attainment; nor does the unceasing practice of rites and ceremonies; of contemplation; renunciation; prayers; fasting; penance; devotion; service; adoration; absteminousness; or isolation, insure the attainment of this state of bliss. there is no bartering; no assurance of reward for good conduct. it is not as though one would say, "ah, my child, if thou wouldst purchase liberation thou shalt follow this recipe." no golden promises of speedy entrance into paradise may be given the disciple. nor any exact rules, or laws of equation by virtue of which the goal shall be reached. nor yet may any specific time be correctly estimated in which to serve a novitiate, before final initiation. many indeed, attain a high degree of spirituality, and yet not have found the key of perfect liberation, although the goal may be not far off. many, very many, on earth to-day, are living so close to the borderland of the new birth that they catch fleeting glimpses of the longed-for freedom, but the full import of its meaning does not dawn. there is yet another veil, however thin, between them and the light. the buddha spent seven years in an intense longing and desire to attain that liberation which brought him consciousness of godhood--deliverance from the sense of sin and sorrow that had oppressed him; immunity from the necessity for reincarnation. jesus became a _christ_ only after passing through the agonies of gethsemane. a christ is one who has found liberation; who has been born again in his individual consciousness into the inner areas of consciousness which are of the _atman_, and this attainment establishes his identity with the absolute. all oriental religions and philosophies teach that this state of consciousness, is possible to all men; therefore all men are gods in embryo. but no philosophy or religion may promise the devotee the realization of this grace, nor yet can they deny its possible attainment to any. strangely enough, if we estimate men by externalities, we discover that there is no measure by which the supra-conscious man may be measured. the obscure and unlearned have been known to possess this wonderful power which dissolves the seeming, and leaves only the contemplation of the real. so also, men of great learning have experienced this rebirth; but it would seem that much cultivation of the intellectual qualities, unless accompanied by an humble and reverent spirit, frequently acts as a barrier to the realization of supra-consciousness. in "texts of taoism," kwang-tse, one of the illuminati, writes: "he whose mind is thus grandly fixed, emits a heavenly light. in him who emits this heavenly light, men see the true man (i.e., the _atman_; the self). when a man has cultivated himself to this point, thenceforth he remains constant in himself. when he is thus constant in himself, what is merely the human element will leave him, but heaven will help him. those whom heaven helps, we call the sons of heaven. those who would, by learning, attain to this, seek for what they _can not learn_." thus it will be seen, that according to the reports offered us by this wise man, that which men call learning guarantees no power regarding that area of consciousness which brings illumination--liberation from enchantment, of the senses--_mukti_. again, in the case of jacob boehme, the german mystic, although he left tomes of manuscript, it is asserted authoritatively, that he "possessed no learning" as that word is understood to mean accumulated knowledge. in "the spiritual maxims" of brother lawrence, the carmelite monk, we find this: "you must realize that you reach god through the heart, and not through the mind." "stupidity is closer to deliverance than intellect which innovates," is a phrase ascribed to a mohammedan saint, and do not modern theologians report with enthusiasm, the unlettered condition of jesus? in the orient, the would-be initiate shuts out the voice of the world, that he may know the heart of the world. many, very many, are the years of isolation and preparation which such an earnest one accepts in order that he may attain to that state of supra-consciousness in which "nothing is hidden that shall not be revealed" to his clarified vision. in the inner temples throughout japan, for example, there are persons who have not only attained this state of consciousness, but who have also retained it, to such a degree and to such an extent, that no event of cosmic import may occur in any part of the world, without these illumined ones instantly becoming aware of its happening, and indeed, this knowledge is possessed by them _before_ the event has taken place in the external world, since their consciousness is not limited to time, space, or place (relative terms only), but is cosmic, or universal. this power is not comparable with what occidental psychism knows as "clairvoyance," or "spirit communication." the state of consciousness is wholly unlike anything which modern spiritualism reports in its phenomena. far from being in any degree a suspension of consciousness as is what is known as mediumship, this power partakes of the quality of omniscience. it harmonizes with and blends into all the various degrees and qualities of consciousness in the cosmos, and becomes "at-one" with the universal heart-throb. a zen student priest was once discovered lying face downward on the grass of the hill outside the temple; his limbs were rigid, and not a pulse throbbed in his tense and immovable form. he was allowed to remain undisturbed as long as he wished. when at length he stood up, his face wore an expression of terrible anguish. it seemed to have grown old. his _guru_ stood beside him and gently asked: "what did you, my son?" "o, my master," cried out the youth, "i have heard and felt all the burdens of the world. i know how the mother feels when she looks upon her starving babe. i have heard the cry of the hunted things in the woods; i have felt the horror of fear; i have borne the lashes and the stripes of the convict; i have entered the heart of the outcast and the shame-stricken; i have been old and unloved and i have sought refuge in self-destruction; i have lived a thousand lives of sorrow and strife and of fear, and o, my master, i would that i could efface this anguish from the heart of the world." the _guru_ looked in wonder upon the young priest and he said, "it is well, my son. soon thou shalt know that the burden is lifted." great compassion, the attribute of the lord buddha, was the key which opened to this young student priest, the door of _mukti_, and although his compassion was not less, after he had entered into that blissful realization, yet so filled did he become with a sense of bliss and inexpressible realization of eternal love, that all consciousness of sorrow was soon wiped out. this condition of effacement of all identity, as it were, with sorrow, sin, and death, seems inseparable from the attainment of liberation, and has been testified to by all who have recorded their emotions in reaching this state of consciousness. in other respects, the acquisition of this supra-consciousness varies greatly with the initiate. in all instances, there is also an overwhelming conviction of the transitory character of the external world, and the emptiness of all man-bestowed honors and riches. a story is told of the mohammedan saint fudail ibn tyad, which well illustrates this. the caliph harun-al-rashid, learning of the extreme simplicity and asceticism of his life exclaimed, "o, saint, how great is thy self-abnegation." to which the saint made answer: "thine is greater." "thou dost but jest," said the caliph in wonderment. "nay, not so, great caliph," replied the saint. "i do but make abnegation of this world which is transitory, and thou makest abnegation of the next which will last forever." however, the phrase, "self-abnegation," predicates the concept of sacrifice; the giving up of something much to be desired, while, as a matter of truth, there arises in the consciousness of the illumined one, a natural contempt for the "baubles" of externality; therefore there is no sacrifice. nothing is given up. on the contrary, the gain is infinitely great. manikyavasayar, one of the great tamil saints of southern india, addressed a gathering of disciples thus: "why go about sucking from each flower, the droplet of honey, when the heavy mass of pure and sweet honey is available?" by which he questioned why they sought with such eagerness the paltry pleasures of this world, when the state of cosmic consciousness might be attained. the thought of india, is however, one of ceaseless repudiation of all that is external, and the hindu conception of _mukti_, or cosmic consciousness, differs in many respects from that reported by the illumined in other countries, even while all reports have many emotions in common. again we find that reports of the cosmic influx, differ with the century in which the illumined one lived. this may be accounted for in the fact that an experience so essentially spiritual can not be accurately expressed in terms of sense consciousness. far different from the hindu idea, for example, is the report of a woman who lived in japan in the early part of the nineteenth century. this woman was very poor and obscure, making her frugal living by braiding mats. so intense was her consciousness of unity with all that is, that on seeing a flower growing by the wayside, she would "enter into its spirit," as she said, with an ecstacy of enjoyment, that would cause her to become momentarily entranced. she was known to the country people around her as _sho-nin_, meaning literally "above man in consciousness." it is said that the wild animals of the wood, were wont to come to her door, and she talked to them, as though they were humans. an injured hare came limping to her door in the early morning hours and "spoke" to her. upon which, she arose and dressed, and opened the door of her dwelling with words of greeting, as she would use to a neighbor. she washed the soil from the injured foot, and "loved" it back to wholeness, so that when the hare departed there was no trace of injury. she declared that she spoke to and was answered by, the birds and the flowers, and the animals, just as she was by persons. indeed, among the high priests of the jains, and the zens (sects which may be classed as highly developed occultists), entering into animal consciousness, is a power possessed by all initiates. passing along a highway near a zen temple, the driver of a cart was stopped by a priest, who gently said: "my good man, with some of the money you have in your purse please buy your faithful horse a bucket of oats. he tells me he has been so long fed on rice straw that he is despondent." to the occidental mind this will doubtless appear to be the result of keen observation, the priest being able to see from the appearance of the animal that he was fed on straw. they will believe, perhaps, that the priest expressed his observations in the manner described to more fully impress the driver, but this conclusion will be erroneous. the priest, possessing the enlarged or all-inclusive consciousness which in the west is termed "cosmic," actually did speak to the horse. nor is this fact one which the western mind should be unable to follow. science proves the fact of consciousness existing in the atoms composing even what has been termed _inanimate_ objects. how much more comprehensible to our understanding is the consciousness of an animate organism, even though this organism be not more complex than the horse. there is a buddhist monastery built high on the cliff overlooking the japan inland sea, which is called a "life-saving" monastery. the priests who preside over this temple, possess the power of extending their consciousness over many miles of sea, and on a vibration attuned to a pitch above the sound of wind and wave, so that they can hear a call of distress from fishermen who need their help. this fact being admitted, might be accounted for by the uninitiated, as a wonderfully "trained ear," which by cultivation and long practice detects sounds at a seemingly miraculous distance. but the priests know how many are in a wrecked boat, and can describe them, and "converse" with them, although the fishermen are not aware that they have "talked" to the priest. sri ramakrishna paramahamsa, the latest incarnation of god in india, and the master to whom the late swami vivekananda gives such high praise and devotion, lived almost wholly in that exalted state of consciousness which would appear to be more essentially _spiritual_, than _cosmic_ in the strict sense of the latter word, since _cosmic_ should certainly imply all-inclusiveness, rather than wholly _spiritual_ (spiritual being here used as an extremely high vibration of the cosmos). we learn that sri ramakrishna was a man comparatively unlettered, and yet his insight was so marvelous, his consciousness so exalted that the most learned pundits honored and respected him as one who had attained unto the goal of all effort--liberation, _mukti_, while to many persons throughout india to-day, and indeed throughout the whole world, he is looked upon as an incarnation of krishna. it is related of sri ramakrishna that his yearning for truth (his mother, he called it), was so great that he finally became unfit to conduct services in the temple, and retired to a little wood near by. here he seemed to be lost in concentration upon the one thought, to such an extent that had it not been for devoted attendants, who actually put food into his mouth, the sage would have starved to death. he had so completely lost all thought of himself and his surroundings that he could not tell when the day dawned or when the night fell. so terrible was his yearning for the voice of truth that when day after day passed and the light he longed for had not come to him he would weep in agony. nor could any words or argument dissuade him from his purpose. he once said to swami vivekananda: "my son, suppose there is a bag of gold in yonder room, and a robber is in the next room. do you think that robber can sleep? he cannot. his mind will be always thinking how he can enter that room and obtain possession of that gold. do you think, then, that a man firmly persuaded that there is a reality behind all these appearances, that there is a god, that there is one who never dies, one who is infinite bliss, a bliss compared with which these pleasures of the senses are simply playthings,--can rest contented without struggling to attain it? no, he will become mad with longing." at length, after almost twelve years unceasing effort, and undivided purpose sri ramakrishna was rewarded with what has been described as "a torrent of spiritual light, deluging his mind and giving him peace." this wonderful insight he displayed in all the after years of his earthly mission, and he not only attained glimpses of the cosmic conscious state, but he also retained the illumination, and the power to impart to a great degree, the realization of that state of being which he himself possessed. like the lord buddha, this indian sage also describes his experience as accompanied by "unbounded light." speaking of this strange and overpowering sense of being immersed in light, sri ramakrishna described it thus: "the living light to which the earnest devotee is drawn doth not burn. it is like the light coming from a gem, shining yet soft, cool and soothing. it burneth not. it giveth peace and joy." this effect of great light, is an almost invariable accompaniment of supra-consciousness, although there are instances of undoubted cosmic consciousness in which the realization has been a more gradual growth, rather than a sudden influx, in which the phenomenon of _light_ is not greatly marked. mohammed is said to have swooned with the "intolerable splendor" of the flood of white light which broke upon him, after many days of constant prayer and meditation, in the solitude of the cavern outside the gates of mecca. similar is the description of the attainment of cosmic consciousness, given by the persian mystics, although it is evident that the sufis regarded the result as reunion with "the other half" of the soul in exile. the burden of their cry is love, and "union with the beloved" is the longed-for goal of all earthly strife and experience. whether this reunion be considered from the standpoint of finding the other half of the perfect one, as exemplified in the present-day search for the soul mate, or whether it be considered in the light of a spiritual merging into the one eternal absolute is the question of questions. certainly the terms used to express this state of spiritual ecstacy are words which might readily be applied to lovers united in marriage. one thing is certain, the sufis did not personify the deity, except symbolically, and the "beloved one" is impartially referred to as masculine or feminine, even as modern thought has come to realize god as father-mother. in all mystical writings, we find the conclusion that there is no _one way_ in which the seeker may find reunion with the beloved. "the ways of god are as the number of the souls of men," declare the followers of islam, and "for the love that thou wouldst find demands the sacrifice of self to the end that the heart may be filled with the passion to stand within the holy of holies, in which alone the mysteries of the true beloved can be revealed unto thee," is also a sufi sentiment, although it might also be christian or mohammedan, or vedantan. indeed, if the student of esotericism, searches deeply enough, he will find a surprising unity of sentiment, and even of expression, in all the variety of religions and philosophies, including christianity. it has been said that the chief difference between the message of jesus and those of the holy men of other races, and times, lies in the fact that jesus, more than his predecessors, emphasized the importance of love. but consider the following lines from jami, the persian mystic: "gaze, till gazing out of gazing grew to being her i gazed on, she and i no more, but in one undivided being blended. all that is not one must ever suffer with the wound of absence; and whoever in love's city enters, finds but room for one and but in oneness, union." these lines express that religious ecstacy which results from spiritual aspiration, or they express the union of the individual soul with its mate according to the viewpoint. in any event, they are an excellent description of the realization of that much-to-be-desired consciousness which is fittingly described in occidental phraseology as "cosmic consciousness." whether this realization is the result of union with the soul's "other half," or whether it is an impersonal reunion with the causeless cause, the absolute, from which we are earth wanderers, is not the direct purpose of this volume to answer, although the question will be answered, and that soon. from whence and by whom we are not prepared to say, but the "signs and portents" which precede the solution of this problem have already made their appearance. christian students of the persian mystics, take exception to statements like the above, and regard them as "erotic," rather than spiritual. mahmud shabistari employs the following symbolism, but unquestionably seeks to express the same emotion: "go, sweep out the chamber of your heart, make it ready to be the dwelling-place of the beloved. when you depart out, he will enter in, in you, void of your_self_, will he display his beauty." the "song of solomon" is in a similar key, and whether the wise king referred to that state of _samadhi_ which accompanies certain experiences of cosmic consciousness, or whether he was reciting love-lyrics, must be a moot question. the personal note in the famous "song" has been accounted for by many commentators, on the grounds that solomon had only partial glimpses of the supra-conscious state, and that, in other words, he frequently "backslid" from divine contemplation, and allowed his yearning for the state of liberation, to express itself in love of woman. an attribute of the possession of cosmic consciousness is wisdom, and this solomon is said to have possessed far beyond his contemporaries, and to a degree incompatible with his years. it is said that he built and consecrated a "temple for the lord," and that, as a result of his extreme piety and devotion to god, he was vouchsafed a vision of god. as these reports have come to us through many stages of church history and as solomon lived many centuries before the birth of jesus, it seems hardly fitting to ascribe the raptures of solomon as typifying the love of the church (the bride) for christ (the bridegroom). rather, it is easier to believe, the wisdom of the king argues a degree of consciousness far beyond that of the self-conscious man, and he rose to the quality of spiritual realization, expressing itself in a love and longing for that soul communion which may be construed as quite personal, referring to a personal, though doubtless non-corporeal union with his spiritual complement. although the pronoun "he" is used, signifying that solomon's longing was what theology terms "spiritual" and consequently impersonal, meaning god the absolute, yet we suggest that the use of the masculine pronoun may be due entirely to the translators and commentators (of whom there have been many), and that, in their zeal to reconcile the song with the ecclesiastical ideas of spirituality, the gender of the pronoun has been changed. we submit that the idea is more than possible, and indeed in view of the avowed predilections of the ancient king and sage, it is highly probable. he sings: "let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth for his love is better than wine." again he cries: "behold thou art fair my love, behold thou art fair, thou _hast dove's eyes_." the realization of _mukti_, i.e., the power of the _atman_ to transcend the physical, is thus expressed by solomon, clearly indicating that he had found liberation: "my beloved spoke and said unto me, 'rise up my love my fair one, and come away. for lo, the winter is passed, the rain is over and gone. "'the flowers appear upon the earth; the time of singing of birds has come, and the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land. "'the fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vine with the tender grapes gives a goodly smell. arise my love, my fair one, and come away.'" it is assumed that these lines do not refer to a personal hegira, but rather to the act of withdrawing the self from the things of the outer life, and fixing it in contemplation upon the larger life, the supra-conscious life, but there is no reason to doubt that they may refer to a longing to commune with the beautiful and tender things of nature. another point to be noted is that in the spring and early summer it is with difficulty that the mind can be made to remain fixed upon the petty details of everyday business life. the awakening of the earth from the long cold sleep of winter is typical of the awakening of the mind from its hypnotisms of external consciousness. instinctively, there arises a realization of the divinity of creative activity, and the mind soars up to the higher vibrations and awakes to the real purpose of life, more or less fully, according to individual development. this has given rise to the assumption, predicated by some writers on cosmic consciousness, that this state of consciousness is attained in the early summer months, and the instances cited would seem to corroborate this assumption. but, as a poet has sung, "it is always summer in the soul," so there is no specific time, nor age, in which individual cosmic consciousness may be attained. a point which we suggest, and which is verified by the apparent connection between the spring months, and the full realization of cosmic consciousness, is the point that this phenomenon comes through contemplation and desire for love. whether this love be expressed as the awakening of creative life, as in nature's springtime, or whether it be expressed as love of the lover for his bride; the dove for his mate; the mother for her child, or as the religious devotee for the lord, the key that unlocks the door to illumination of body, soul and spirit, is love, "the maker, the monarch and savior of all," but whether this love in its fullness of perfection may be found in that perfect spiritual mating, which we see exemplified in the tender, but ardent mating of the dove (the symbol of purity and peace), or whether it means spiritual union with the absolute is not conclusive. the mystery of seraphita, balzac's wonderful creation, is an evidence that balzac had glimpses of that perfect union, which gives rise to the experience called cosmic consciousness. it is well to remember that in every instance of cosmic consciousness, the person experiencing this state, finds it practically impossible to fully describe the state, or its exact significance. therefore, when these efforts have been made, we must expect to find the description colored very materially by the habit of _thought_, of the person having the experience. balzac was essentially religious, but he was also extremely suggestible, and, until very recently, theology and religion were supposed to be synonymous, or at least to walk hand in hand. balzac's early training and his environment, as well as the thought of the times in which he lived, were calculated to inspire in him the fallacious belief that god would have us renounce the love of our fellow beings, for love of him. balzac makes "louis lambert" renounce his great passion for pauline, and seems to suggest that this renunciation led to the subsequent realization of cosmic consciousness, which he unquestionably experienced. nor is it possible to say that it did not, since renunciation of the lower must inevitably lead to the higher, and we give up the lesser only that we may enjoy the greater. in "seraphita" balzac expressed what may be termed spiritual love and that spiritual union with the beloved, which the sufis believed to be the result of a perfect and complete "mating," between the sexes, on the spiritual plane, regardless of physical proximity or recognition, but which is also elsewhere described as the soul's glimpse of its union with the absolute or god. the former view is individual, while the latter is impersonal, and may, or may not, involve absorption of individual consciousness. in subsequent chapters we shall again refer to balzac's illumination as expressed in his writings, and will now take up the question of man's relation to the universe, as it appears in the light of cosmic consciousness, or liberation. chapter ii man's relation to god and to his fellow-men the riddle of the sphinx is no riddle at all. the strange figure, the lower part animal; the upper part human; and the sprouting wings epitomize the growth and development of man from the animal, or physical (carnal), consciousness to the soul consciousness, represented by woman's head and breast, to the supra-conscious, winged god. no higher conception of life has ever emanated from any source, than the concept of man developed to a state of perfection represented by wings (a symbol of freedom). these winged humans are sometimes called angels and sometimes gods, although the words may not be synonymous. the point is, that no theory of life and its purposes seems more general or more unescapable than that of man's growth from sin (limitations) to god-hood--freedom. whether this consummation is brought about through an unbroken chain of upward tendencies from the lowest forms of life to the highest; or whether it is symbolized by the old theologic idea of man's fall from godhood to sin, the fact remains that we know no other ideal than that represented by perfected man; and we know no lower idea than that of man still in the animal stage of consciousness. artists, painters, sculptors, wishing to depict the beauty of spiritual things, must still use the human idea for a model--refined, spiritualized, supra-human, but still man. it is a truism that man epitomizes the universe. therefore, the law of growth, which science names evolution, may be studied and applied with equal precision and accuracy to the individual; to a body of individuals called a nation; and to worlds, or planets. the evolution of an individual is accomplished when he has learned through the various avenues of experience, the fact of his own godhood; and when he has established his union with that indescribable spiritual essence which is called om; god; nirvana; samadhi; brahm; kami; allah; and the absolute. a japanese term is _dai zikaku_. the zen sect of japanese buddhists say _daigo tettei_, and one who has attained to this superior phase of consciousness is called sho-nin, meaning literally "above man." emerson, the great american seer, expressed this nameless one, as the oversoul, and herbert spencer, the intellectual giant of england, used the term universal energy. emerson was a seer; spencer was a scientist, which word, until recently, was a synonym for materialist. but what are words? mere symbols of consciousness, and subject to change and evolvement, as man's consciousness evolves. the student of truth will recognize in these different words, exactly the same meaning. the "eternal energy from which all things proceed" is a phrase identical with "the oversoul," or "the absolute," from which all manifestation comes. man's evolution, then, is an evolution in consciousness, from the subjective _awareness_ of the monad to a realization of the entire cosmos. each phase of life is a specific degree of consciousness and each successive degree brings the individual nearer to the realization of the _sum_ of all degrees of consciousness, into godhood--the highest degree which we can conceive. such, briefly, is a statement of that phenomenon which is attracting the attention of occidental students of psychology, and which has been fittingly termed "the attainment of cosmic consciousness." the phrase expresses a degree of consciousness which includes the entire cosmos--not only this planet called earth, and everything thereon, but also the spheres of the constellation. not that this degree of consciousness carries with it the power to express in words, that which it is. in fact, the one who has had this marvelous awakening, cannot adequately describe, or even _retain_, a full comprehension of what it signifies. all-inclusive knowledge would indeed, preclude the possibility of expression. therefore, even if it were possible to retain in the finite mind, the full realization of cosmic consciousness, words could not be found in which to express it to others. thought is the creator of words, but thought is but the material which the mind employs, and cosmic consciousness transcends the mind, engulfs the soul, and reaches to the trackless areas of spirit. it may be doubted if any one may retain a full realization of cosmic consciousness, and remain in the physical body. great and wonderful as have been the experiences of those who have sought to relate their sensations, it is probable that these flashes of insight have been in the nature of cosmic _perception_, and have lacked full realization. of those who have had glimpses of that larger area of consciousness which includes an awareness of eternal unity with the cosmos, there are, we believe, many more than students of the subject have any idea of. this century marks a distinct epoch in what is called evolution. the end of a _kalpa_, or cycle of manifestation, is symbolized by the presence on a planet of many avatars, masters, and angels. by their very presence these enlightened ones arouse in all who are ready for the experience a glimpse of that state of being to which all souls are destined, and to which all shall ultimately attain. a time when "gods shall walk the earth" is a prophecy which all nations have heard and looked forward to. that time is now. we see the effect of their presence in peace conferences; in abolition of child labor; in prison reform; in the amalgamation of the races; in attempts at social equality; in national eugenic societies, and above all, as we have before stated, in the emancipation of woman. in fact, it is seen in all the various ways in which the higher consciousness finds expression. one of the characteristic signs of this awakening, the millenium dawn, as it has been named, lies in a very general optimism shining through the mists of doubt and unrest and inexpressible desire, which accompany the new birth in consciousness. amid the seeming chaos of present day conditions is it not easy to discern the coming of that dawn of which all great ones of earth have foretold--a time when "the earth shall be made a fit habitation for the gods"? "the heavens" is a term employed to specify the constellation which is composed of planets and stars, but we use the term "heaven" also to mean a state of happiness and bliss attainable through certain methods, a consideration of which we will take up later. the immediate point is that this planet is being prepared for a position in the solar system consistent with that which is the abode of the gods--heaven. this proposition is made in its literal meaning. corroborative of this statement, which is consistent with all prophecies, is the information recently given to the world, by camille flammarion, and other great astronomers, that "the earth is changing its position in the heavens at an astonishing rate." the idea that "there shall be no night there," is foreshadowed by the estimate that this change will give to the earth a perpetual and uniform light, and heat. the new thought preachment of physical immortality is but a faint and imperfect perception of this time, when "there shall be no death," because the animal man, subject to change, shall give place to the changeless, deathless, spiritual man; not through cataclysms, and destruction, but through the natural birth into a higher consciousness. the occidental mind is easily affrighted by a name. perhaps we should not specify the occidental mind, but rather the mind of man among all races is easily put to sleep by the hypnotism of a word. the word pantheism is a bugaboo to the occidentalist. he fears the destruction of the monistic faith, if he admits that man is in essence a god, and that therefore there are many gods in the one god, even as there are many members to the one physical organism. nevertheless all literature, whether sacred or profane, teaches the attainment of godhood by man. this can not mean other than the attainment of _realization_ of godhood, by the individual and the _retention_ of this realization to the end that reincarnation shall cease and identity with the cosmic, principle, be established, beyond further loss, or doubt, or strife, or death. this is what it means to attain to cosmic consciousness. it is inclusive consciousness. it is not absorption into the vast unknown, in the sense of annihilation of identity. it is consciousness _plus_, not minus. an ancient writing says: "and thou shalt awake as from a long dream. thou shalt be like the perfume arising from the flower in which it has been so long enclosed. and thou wilt float above the opened flower. and thou wilt say 'there is time before me in eternity.'" there is nothing in the testimony of those who have described, as best they could, their emotions upon attainment of this consciousness, which would argue the absorption of the individual soul into the absolute. there is no testimony to argue that the attainment of cosmic consciousness, carries with it anything approaching annihilation of _sentiency_. rather it would seem to testify to an acceleration of all the higher faculties. that this would be a more apt interpretation may be seen by comparing the different reports of those experiencing the phenomenon of illumination. nevertheless there has been much controversy regarding the meaning of the terms nirvana; samadhi; dai zikaku, etc.--words expressing the condition which we are considering under the phrase cosmic consciousness. what is nirvana? let us consider briefly, what is meant by nirvana, and see if it is not highly probable that the word describes the state of consciousness which we are considering, referring later on to the question, and its interpretation by the various schools of religion and philosophy. it is apparent that the most learned sages of the orient fail to agree as to the exact meaning of nirvana. occidental writers and leaders of the theosophical philosophy, differ somewhat as to its import, but at the same time we find enough unity on this point to make it evident that the state of nirvana is a desirable attainment--the goal of the religious enthusiast. going back for a moment, to a consideration of the earliest recorded religion of japan, we find that sintoism means literally "the way of the gods," meaning the way in which men who have become god-like, found the path that led thereunto, but as to exactly what conditions are represented by godhood, how indeed, is it possible for man to _know_, much less to express? since we are conscious of a divine and irresistible urge toward the attainment of this state of being, it is hardly consistent with what we know of merely _human_ nature, that the way lies in the direction of loss of identity, or in other words, in what is popularly comprehended as _absorption_. that this idea prevails in many oriental sects of buddhism and vedanta we are aware, but we are confident that this idea is erroneous, and comes from the fact that it is impossible to describe the condition of consciousness enjoyed by the initiate into nirvana, which term we believe, is identical, or at least comparable with cosmic consciousness. the very fact that external life represents so universal a struggle for attainment of this state of being, or higher consciousness, indicates at least, even if it does not actually _guarantee_ a fuller, deeper, more complete state of consciousness than hitherto enjoyed, rather than an absorption or annihilation of any of that dearly bought consciousness which distinguishes the self from its environment, and which says with conviction "i am." it is admitted that those who have experienced liberation, illumination, _mukti_, have reported their sensations with such relative vagueness and with such apparent variance of conclusion as regards the _meaning_ of the experience that the reader is left to his own interpretation of the character of that state of being, other than a general uniformity of description. referring to the pleasure which the lower nature feels under certain conditions, the late swami vivekananda says: "the whole idea of this nature is to make the soul know that it is entirely separate from nature and when the soul knows this, nature has no more attraction for it. but the whole of nature vanishes only for that man who has become free. there will always remain an infinite number of others for whom nature will go on working." but did vivekananda employ the phrase "nature has no more attraction for him," to describe the sensation of unappreciativeness of the wonders of the natural world? we think not. rather the gentle-hearted sage meant to report the fact that the soul is no longer _held in bondage_ to the external world, when it has once attained supra-consciousness. if this expression referred to the pleasure the true lover of nature feels in the out-of-doors, he might well say "i trust that i shall never attain to that state of consciousness. or if attainment be compulsory, then shall i prolong the time of accomplishment as long as possible." and who would blame him? why should we strive for the attainment of a state of being described so unattractively as to give us the impression of entire _loss_ of so enjoyable and unselfish a sensation as love of nature? the vedantic idea, according to interpreted translations is that out of the absolute, the all (om), we _come_, and therefore back to it we go, being now in our present state of consciousness, en route, as it were to return. but returning to _what_? that is the unanswerable problem of all religions; all philosophies; all science. if we _return_ to a void, such as some interpreters of the vedas declare, then surely this urge within mankind toward this annihilatory state would hardly be expected. it would be inconsistent with that instinct of self-preservation which we are told is the first law of nature. compared to this vedantic concept of the absolute, the christian's simple, and very empirical ideal of eternal happiness is preferable. to walk streets paved with gold and play a harp incessantly while chanting doleful praises to a deity who ought to become wearied of the never-ceasing adulation, would still be a more desirable goal of our strife, than that so inaccurately and unattractively described by many students of oriental religions and philosophies as the state _nirvana_, or _samadhi_. again quoting from vivekananda's raja yoga: "there are not wanting persons who think that this manifest state (our present existence) is the highest state of man. thinkers of great caliber are of the opinion that we are manifested specimens of undifferentiated being, and this differentiated state is _higher than the absolute_." although as vivekananda says there are thinkers who make this claim, the idea does not find ready acceptance among theologians, either eastern, or western. neither do philosophers, as a general thing incline to adopt this view. the reason for this general disinclination is not difficult of discovery. it is due to the present state of man on this planet. if man, as we see and know mankind, is the highest state of being (not merely of manifestation, but of being) "then," they say, "we have nothing to hope for." but have we not? may we not hope that man will _manifest_, on this planet a fuller realization, of that which he _is_ in _being_, and that, far from dissolving what consciousness he has, he will but _plus_ this consciousness by a larger--an all-embracing consciousness that shall make earth a fit habitation for god-like men? in vivekananda's raja yoga we find the following: "there was an old solution that man, after death, remained the same; that all his good sides, minus his evil sides, remained forever. logically stated, this means that man's goal is the world; this world meaning earth carried to a state higher and with elimination of its evils is the state they call heaven. this theory, on the face of it, is absurd and puerile because it cannot be. there cannot be good without evil, or evil without good. to live in a world where there is all good and no evil, is what sanskrit logicians call a 'dream in the air.'" it is not necessary to argue here that there is no such thing as positive evil. st. paul said: "i know and am persuaded that nothing is unclean of itself; save that to him who accounteth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean." and again we are assured that "there is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so;" which means that evil has no more foundation in reality than has thought, and thought is ever-changing; transitory. evil therefore may be entirely eliminated by thought, since it is created by thought. that there is a condition of mankind which has been alluded to as "evil" is self-evident. the term has been employed to describe a condition of either an individual, or a society, or a nation or a race, wherein there is in harmony; disease; unhappiness. anything that makes for suffering on any plane of consciousness, may be termed "evil" as here used. let us consider for a moment if it be illogical to imagine a world in which this in harmony has been eliminated. imagine a family in which all the members radiate love and unselfish consideration. add to this, or we may say complementary to this, we have perfect health and prosperity; and over and above all we have a conviction of immortality, eliminating doubt and fear and worry as to future sorrows or partings, with no knowledge that there are others in the world suffering. do we not find it quite possible, to say the least, and even desirable, to live in such a family, particularly if we had previously acquired a knowledge of that which is evil and that which is good--merely terms used to describe limited, or enlarged consciousness. if we admit the desirability of living in such a family, why not in such a world? "logically stated," says the hindu swami, "this means that man's goal is this world (earth planet); carried to a state higher and with the elimination of its evils, this world is the state (place) they call heaven." again we must question. why not? this planet we call earth, is a great and marvelous work, whether it be the work of an abstract god, or whether it be the work of the god in man. and whether this earth be the gift of an abstract god, or whether it be the generating bed of the life now upon it, the fact remains that we have no business to despise the gift, or the work of self-generation. our business is to enhance its beauties and eliminate its ugliness. why have we prayed that the will of god which is love, "be done on earth as it is in the heavens," if we despise the planet and hope to leave it? although the general impression given in all religious systems is that the perfected soul leaves this earth, yet there is nothing in any of them to prove that it does so, or if it has hitherto, that it shall continue so to do. we have no right to assume that the outer life--the external, manifested life which we perceive with our physical senses, is all there is to this earth and that when we leave this outer life, we go to some other _place_. the _invisible_ life on this planet is unquestionably far greater than the _visible_ but both visible and invisible doubtless belong to the planet earth. the absolute, presumably occupies all space, and therefore it may as reasonably be postulated that this state of nirvana or samadhi, may be entered within the area of this planet's vibrations, as in that of the other planets. the finite mind cannot conceive of a state of being apart from motion, space or time, even though these concepts are crude in their relation to the state of consciousness to which the sum of all consciousness is tending, whether the individual would, or not. we speak of "the heavens" when we refer to the immeasurable, and little known region of the solar system, and we use the same term when we refer to a state of being in which the perfected soul of man will finally enter. and this term implies that when we are thus in heaven, we are _with_ god, if not _absorbed into_ god. jesus, the master, taught the coming of the kingdom of god _on earth_ and urged mankind to _pray_ for its coming, asking that the will of god (or gods) be done on earth as it is in the heavens, from which it is not illogical to infer that the earth itself, as a planet, is not outside the pale of that blissful state which we ascribe to god, and which, at the same time, we expect to enter without being swallowed up in the sense that we lose that consciousness which cognizes itself as an eternal verity. if then, the "heavens" as applied to the planets revolving above the earth in the solar system, and "heaven" as a term used to describe a state of happiness, bliss, samadhi, nirvana, or "life with god," be synonymous it may reasonably be inferred that in the solar system are planets upon which live sentient beings, in a state to which we on earth, are seeking to attain; a state wherein so-called evil has been eliminated and the good retained. in fact, we may see with none too prophetic eyes the elimination of evil right here in the visible. all who have attained a glimpse of illumination have reported the loss of the "sense of sin and death," and have retained this feeling of security and "all-is-well-ness" as long as they have lived thereafter. from the old conception of "evil" as a positive, opposing and independent force, modern thought, in all its branches, namely science; religion; social evolution, and philosophy, has arrived at the conclusion that evil is not a power or force in and of itself, but that it is evidence of a limited degree of consciousness which sees only one side of a subject--only a limited area of an infinitely wide and varied manifestation of the one supreme consciousness. therefore, it is, that evil per se, does not exist as power, but that it is the effect of a misapplication of power. the cure then, for this state of relativity, is found logically enough, in an extension of individual consciousness. that this idea is logical may be deduced from the fact that as the mind expands, through the various channels of learning; observation; contact with each other, and by the many roads of experience, altruism becomes more general. almost every one readily admits that the world is "growing better," as they express it. this means that the individual consciousness is becoming broadened, deepened, enlarged; and this enlargement makes it possible to show that the happiness of each one, means the happiness of all, and that no one human life can reach the goal of freedom and eternal life (_mukti_, which can mean nothing less than godhood) unless he does so by some one of the many paths of selflessness. up through the perilous paths and the devious ways of brute consciousness toward a more or less perfect perception of that blissful state which the illumined have sought to describe, each individual has come to his present state; and it is only by virtue of the ability to look back over the path, and to look onward a little into relative futurity, that each may record the fact of his gain in consciousness, and what this gain means to the future of this earth. but who is there who cannot see that each step in attainment of consciousness brings with it a corresponding freedom from suffering? the planet itself does not make us suffer. the latest discoveries of astronomers indicate that as the standard of morality (using the term "morality" in its true sense), becomes higher, the position of the earth itself becomes changed, in its relation to the solar system. in this way, it is expected that a uniform temperature will prevail all over the earth's surface; and with the cessation of war, and of competition (which is mental warfare) cataclysms, storms, and earthquakes will cease. when we come, as we will, in succeeding chapters of this book, to a review of the experiences of those who have attained cosmic consciousness (mukti) we will find that, in each instance, there has come a realization of the _nothingness_ of sin and consequent suffering. the trouble then, is not with the earth as a planet, but with the lack of consciousness of earth's inhabitants, which lack makes possible all the suffering which afflicts human life. those who have attained to the state of cosmic consciousness in both occidental and oriental instances of this perception, have reported an abiding sense of rest and peace and satisfaction--a condition which we associate with accepted ideals of heaven as taught in occidental creeds and among some schools of oriental philosophers, and sects of religious worship. there is a far greater unity of idea between the oriental and the occidental methods and systems, as to the _goal_ of ultimate attainment than is generally believed, or understood. the highest expression of japanese buddhism differs from hindu buddhism and from vedanta, and the many other forms of hindu philosophy and religion, in the same way that the japanese, as a nation, differ from their hindu brothers. the japanese emphasize, more than do the hindus, the preservation of the nation, and to this end, they are called more "practical" minded, but with the japanese, as with all the orientals, we find an intense contempt for any one who would seek to preserve his physical existence, or hesitate at any personal sacrifice. this unwritten code has its origin, as have all oriental traditions and concepts, in the teachings of religious systems. according to oriental ethics, the person is very low in the scale of consciousness, when he considers his physical body as of comparative consequence, when the question of expediency, or of the welfare of his country, is in the balance. nevertheless, japan has offered, far more than has india, a fertile field for the growth of materialism, owing to the fact that underlying the apparent observance of and loyalty to, religious practices, the japanese temperament inclines to a practical application of the wisdom attained through religious instruction. therefore we find among the illumined ones of japanese history, sages who taught the attainment of liberation through paths which are not generally accepted by interpreters of hinduism. for example, among the orthodox sintoists, (the original religion of the japanese, before the advent of buddhism), we find that cleanliness of mind and body, was taught as the prime essential to attainment of unity with _kami_, rather than contemplation, meditation and isolation, as with the hindus. and in the christian world we have a corresponding admonition in the phrase "cleanliness is next to godliness." simple as this rule of conduct is, it nevertheless embodies the key to the situation, inasmuch as we are assured that "blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see god." again jesus told his hearers that they "must become as little children," evidently meaning that they must possess the clean, pure, guileless mind of a little child, if they would reach the goal of liberation, from strife; death (repeated incarnation); and all so-called "evil." to this end man is striving, whether by rites and ceremonies of religion; by worship; by contemplation; by effort and struggle; by invention; by aspiration; by sacrifice; or by whatever path, or device, or system. what, then is the goal, and how may it be attained? before taking up this question, let us go back a little over the history of human life and attainment, and trace, briefly, the evolution of consciousness, from pre-historic man, to the highest examples of human devotion and wisdom, of which, happily, the world affords not a few instances. chapter iii areas of consciousness consciousness may be termed, simply, "the divine spark," which enters into every form and phase of manifested life emanating from that one eternal power which materialists designate as "energy" and which occultists, both oriental and occidental, best define as "aum," god! the absolute--the divine mind, and many other terms. consciousness, therefore, enters into everything--is the life essence of everything. the materialistic hypothesis formerly predicated the axiom that there were two distinct phases of manifestation, namely organic and inorganic. organic life was sentient, or conscious, while inorganic life was insensate--a structure acted upon from forces outside itself, and dependent upon an exterior force for its action. other names for this differentiation, would be "matter" and "spirit." the point is, that the old materialistic philosophy failed to recognize the fact that consciousness, in varying degrees, characterizes all manifested life. this fact every phase of oriental philosophy recognized, and always has recognized. the assumption of the christian science devotee, that there is anything new in the postulate that "all is spirit," is possible only because of his ignorance of oriental philosophy, as will be seen later on in these pages, when we take up the relative comparison between the oriental and the occidental systems of "salvation." to resume therefore, we postulate the following recognized axioms of universal occultism. all life is sentient or conscious. all life is from the one source, and therefore contains this "divine spark." all manifestation expresses degrees or phases of consciousness. the degree of this consciousness fixes the status of the organism, and determines its classification, whether it is organic or inorganic; simple, or complex. every cell, each separate cell, in fact, has its own consciousness--that is each cell is a center of this power that we term consciousness; a group of cells with this power focalized to a given point, or center, makes an organ of consciousness, and so on up the scale through many many degrees of complexity of organism, until we come to man. webster defines consciousness as "the ability to know ones mental operations." but, we do not take this definition in occultism, for the obvious reason, that it is not possible to state arbitrarily whether or not, the cell "knows its operations," and since all operations are necessarily mental in the final analysis, we assume that there is a phase of consciousness below that of cognition of "self," which may be termed "the unconscious consciousness," which again is synonymous with the phrase "automatic cerebration." coming up through the various myriad degrees of sub-conscious life (sub being here used as below self consciousness) we arrive at the stage of simple consciousness which characterizes the animal kingdom, remembering that consciousness in the abstract is not a _condition_, or state of environment. it is one of the eternal verities. it _is_ just as aum _is_. the attainment of a wider and wider area of consciousness, is but the _uncovering_, or the attracting to a central point or to an individual organism of _this that is_. thus consciousness, in the abstract, may say of itself "before creation was, i am." that is what is meant when it is said that god is omnipotent, and omniscient. the difference between mere power, or energy, and consciousness, whether considered from the standpoint of the organic or the inorganic kingdom, may be likened to the difference between a blind force, and a power that knows itself. consciousness is practically the great central light that "lighteth every man that cometh into the world." without consciousness, manifestation would be darkness. thus it is said, "the light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not." this applies to that tiny spark of divinity in which consciousness exists but where there is not realization of its divinity. this fact is not applicable to the inorganic, or the animal kingdoms alone. many men are not conscious of the light that shineth within them, save as there is an aggregate of cell consciousness which recognizes its focalized power as an organism. manifestation then, is the vehicle (carrying character) of universal consciousness, and we may logically assume that manifestation is due to the necessity of developing individualized entities, who may, through successive phases of conscious unfoldment, or uncovering of areas of being, become gods. the western writers, and indeed, many oriental seers prefer to put it thus: "become fit to dwell with god, in eternal bliss and power." to dwell with god, must be to become gods. once more, we must remember that only gods are immortal. souls continue to exist after the physical body has been discarded, for the reason that no body in these days, lives as long as its psychic counterpart or dweller. but, although the soul continues to exist on another plane of note of the _scale of vibration_, it does not argue that the identity shall continue eternally, except in such instances, as when the soul through numbers of incarnations shall have finally accomplished the purpose of its pilgrimage and attained to _mukti_ (liberation from the law of change and death). returning to a consideration of what may be said to constitute certain specific phases of consciousness, we will take into consideration the phase of consciousness, which we see expressed in the mineral kingdom. that there is a distinct and separate character of consciousness thus expressed is evident from the fact that there is a law of chemical affinity, i.e. attraction and repulsion, which causes different minerals to respond, or to refuse to respond, as the case may be, to certain conditions or chemical processes, more or less crude in character. from this to the vegetable kingdom we assume a step in advance, as vegetable life measured by complexity and refinement, responds with a greater degree of sensitiveness to the laws of evolution, as expressed in cultivation, selection and environment. even in this phase of manifestation, we find the law of being, is measured by the perfection of species. evolution of inorganic life, is as real, and as much a part of the plan, (or whatever name we choose), as is organic, and self-conscious life. that which is less perfect, measured by the law of beauty and usefulness, we find gradually being exterminated. that the earth, as a planet, is obeying this cosmic law of evolution from grossness to refinement; from crudity to perfection; from the limited to the all-inclusive, is indisputable. as the motor power of electricity has become general, we find that beasts of burden are fast disappearing from the earth, according to the law of the "survival of the fittest," this law, always being subject to change. the "fittest" means that which is best fitted to the conditions of the time. brute force survives among brutes, in the degree that it is strong or weak; coming out of that expression of law into the mental areas of consciousness, we find that the _mentally_ fit survive among those who live only in the areas of the mind; so on, into the spiritual, we will find the "survival of the fittest" will be those who are best fitted for spiritual eternity--for godhood. coming again, to our consideration of the term consciousness, we will take a brief survey of that phase of consciousness which we see manifested in the forms of life that have the power to move from their immediate environment; such for instance would include the fish in the sea; insect life; reptiles; the birds in the air; and all forms of animal life. while expressing a very limited degree of consciousness, yet there is evident a certain degree or aggregate of cell consciousness, which transcends that of the mineral and vegetable life. this apparently _advanced_ degree of consciousness, does not, as we have stated, presuppose a nearer approach to immortality, however, for the reason that we apply the law of the survival of the fittest to all manifestation, and that which is best fitted for certain stages of the planet's life during the process of evolvement, may be most unfitted for succeeding stages, and will, by the inexorable law of survival, be discontinued--discarded, even as the properties and stage-settings of a drama are thrown aside, when the play has been "taken off the boards." it is admitted, therefore, that those forms of life having the power of locomotion, involve a more complex degree of consciousness, than does that of the mineral or vegetable. in that phase of life that we see possessing the power to move, to change its immediate environment, even though not capable of changing its _habitat_ we may perceive the beginning of that consciousness expressed as "free-will." here, we assume, the organism recognizes its self as distinct from its environment, and from its counterparts, etc., but this recognition has not sufficient consciousness to _assert_ that recognition, and so we say that there is no _self_-consciousness. there is what occultists have agreed to call simple consciousness, but this does not include a realization of identity, as apart from environment. this may be better understood if we separate these degrees or phases of consciousness into groups, applicable to the human organism, leaving, for a time the consideration of whether or not some human specimens are higher in the scales than are some animals. physical, or sense consciousness, is shared alike by man and the animals. beyond this phase of consciousness we may classify the human species in the following terms: physical self-consciousness. mental self-consciousness. soul (individual) "i" consciousness. spiritual self-consciousness. physical self-consciousness is that phase of self-recognition which knows itself as a body distinct from its neighbors; from its natural environment. this awareness of the self it is that actuated pre-historic man when he manifested the blind force that is sometimes called "self-preservation," which force has erroneously been termed "the first law of nature." preservation of this physical self is the most "primitive" law of nature, but not "first" in the sense that it is the most important, or the strongest. the world's long list of heroes refutes this idea. the pre-historic species of human, then, in common with his brother, the animal, sought to preserve this physical self, because he felt that this physical self, his body, was all there was of him, and he wished to preserve it, even as the _wise_ man of to-day, sacrifices everything to the preservation of the moral and spiritual self which he realizes is the _real_ of him. to this end, he cultivated physical force, sufficient to overcome his environment; and as he developed a little of that consciousness which we term mental (using the term merely as a part of the physical organism called the brain), he realized that co-operation would greatly enhance his chances for self-preservation, and therefore, this mental consciousness impelled him to annex to his forces other physical organisms so that their united strength might preserve each other. this side of the story of man's evolution in consciousness is not however a part of our present work, and we will therefore leave it, for a brief consideration of the successive steps in attainment of consciousness, leading through devious paths, and through millions of relative time called years, into the present state of man's consciousness which in so many instances presages the oncoming of that state, called liberation, or illumination--mukti. through mental self-consciousness the way has been long and arduous. there are many, many degrees of this phase of consciousness, and to this phase we owe what is called our present civilization. the true occultist, whether viewing manifestation from the standpoint of oriental or of occidental ideals, realizes that everything is right which makes for human betterment, and that _dharma_ (right-action) consists in acting in accordance with the highest motive of which one's consciousness is capable. that our present civilization is most _uncivilized_ in many respects, will be admitted by all whose range of consciousness has touched in any degree, the infinite areas of wisdom expressed in altruistic action. but, though the path be long, and thorny, the cycle is closing, and many have reached the goal through its zigzag course. but, underlying, as it were, and upholding and uplifting the expression of sense consciousness in which so many persons seem lost to-day, there are evidences of a consciousness which _observes the effects_, of this tremendous mental activity, and knows itself as something apart from, and superior to this manifestation. this, we define as soul--individualized expression of the spiritual consciousness--the central light, which as we previously quoted, "lighteth every man that cometh into the world." many there are who merely _perceive_ this. to them there is a vague and indefinable _something_ which seems to realize that the operations of the mind are something phenomenal and apart from the _real_ self. psychology, even so empirical a psychology as is possible of demonstration in western schools and colleges, evidences the fact that there is a far greater field of mental operation than is covered by the outer, or _mental_ consciousness. the outer, or objective action of the mind, considers but one subject, one question, one problem at a time. many varied _phases_ of this problem may present themselves, but the mental forces are focalized upon one subject at a time. and yet to state that but one idea, thought-concept, or desire, can enter the mind at a time, is not a safe assumption. after many centuries of material strife, with the object of satisfying the demands of human life, the conviction is forcing itself upon people in all walks of life, that wealth, ambition, power and possessions, do not give us the answer to the eternal unescapable and insistent question of the way to happiness. this means that there is awakening in the human race more generally than at any other time in recorded history, a realization that the human organism is not merely a physical aggregate of cells, nor yet that it is mind individualized and in operation for the purpose of exercising new powers. the fact is becoming apparent that all discovery is but an uncovering of those vast areas of consciousness which are limitless; and which include not only all life on this planet, but all life in the cosmos. in short, cosmic consciousness is becoming _perceived_, by a vast majority, and is being _realized_ by not a few. but in the immediate future of the race, we find the next step, for the majority to be that of soul-consciousness. back of thought, like a guardian angel stands the desire of the soul, stimulating and directing; back of action stands thought, as the master directs the servant, or as the captain decides the course of the ship. spiritual evolution may be understood, or at least _perceived_, from a study of physical and mental evolution. from the crude to the perfect is the law; if this perfection of species, or of phases, could be attained without pain, it were well. pain comes from lack of wisdom to realize that out of the lower the higher inevitably springs, as the butterfly springs from the cocoon; as the flower springs from the seed; "as above so below" is a translation of an old sinto saying, which also bids us "trust in kami and keep clean." again it is said "to him who overcometh, will i give the inheritance." _overcoming_ may be variously interpreted. in the past, it has been presented to the initiate, as sacrifice. if so it be, then is it because of lack of that wisdom which knows that there is no sacrifice in exchanging the physical for the spiritual--the ephemeral for the abiding. says the ancient manuscripts: "the body is purified by water, the mind by truth, the soul by knowledge and austerity, the reason by wisdom." but as the groping, undeveloped soul struggles for consciousness, it reaches out for the gratification of mental desires. the soul is moved by desire for perfect happiness. the mind seeks to satisfy this craving for happiness in increased activities; in accumulation; in so-called pleasure, i.e. always looking outside--thinking outside, living in the outside--the _maya_. but the soul has but one answer to this quest for happiness. it is love, because only love and wisdom give immortality--which is self-preservation in the true sense. it is written in the shruti: "brahman is wisdom and bliss." no higher text can be given the disciple. wisdom comes from reflection upon the results of experience, in the search for happiness. when the mind has sounded the depths of its resources, and the urge forward can not be appeased, when the voice of the inner self--the soul, cannot be silenced; the disciple pauses to ask _the way_. he wants to know what it is all about, and why it is that all he has so striven and struggled for fails to satisfy. he wants to know how to avoid pain; and how to find the most direct road to that satisfaction which endures; and which is not synonymous with the so-called "pleasures" of the senses. when this stage of development has been reached, the disciple is ready for another phase of experience which shall extend his consciousness into those areas of knowledge, in which the real is distinguishable from the illusory. experience will then teach him that only love is real. that which is for the permanent good of all, as opposed to that which is transitory and only seemingly satisfying to the few, may be said to constitute the perception of the real, and the avoidance of illusion. to exchange a present seeming advantage to the physical environment, for a future and permanent satisfaction of the soul is the prerogative of the wise--the soul that has discovered itself and its mission. in all organisms below the scale of the human, there is a constant growth in complexity of organism, with specialization of functions. when we come to this last-mentioned stage of human development, we find that there is no more specialization in the way of development of the physical functions. instead, there is a determined effort at perfecting the higher functions, through the gradations of consciousness, until the spiritual consciousness of the individual entity has been awakened. then, indeed, has been awakened the "divine man" and the path to immortality is henceforth comparatively short, although by no means strewn with roses, judged from the limited standard of relativity. a man's karma simply and mathematically, proves the direction of his former desires. karma does not punish or reward, as is frequently imagined. the general impression that one is reaping "good or bad karma" according as his life is one of pleasure or of pain, is not the solution of the problem of karma, and has no relation to the law of karmic action. if a soul has in a previous life outgrown or outworn that evolutionary phase of development, in which the mind seeks temporary pleasures, and has come to the place where he wants to distinguish the real from the illusory, his karma, in compliance with the law of desire, will bring him in relation to those conditions which will teach him to know the real from the illusory, and in those conditions he will experience pain because he will, if he remain in the activities of the world, be acting contrary to the ideas of the _average_. thus, to the onlooker, and in accordance with the general misinterpretation of the law of karma, he will be thought to have reaped a "bad" karma, while as a matter of reality, he will be making very rapid strides on the path to godhood. said a famous japanese high priest: "desire is the bird that carries the soul to the object in which his mind is immersed, and thus his future actions are the result." this means that by the law of desire, acting in accordance with the evolutionary pilgrimage of the soul, the karma is produced. the american poet, lowell, says: "no man is born into the world whose work is not born with him." however, whether or not this applies to man in the first stages of his upward climb to the goal of attainment of conscious godhood, it most assuredly applies to those souls who have become aware of their purpose, and who have made a _conscious_ choice of their karma. and of this class of souls, the world to-day has a goodly number. the end of a kalpa finds many avatars, and angels on earth, and however obscured the mind of these may become in the fog of illusion, the inner light guides them through its mists to the safe accomplishment of their mission. there is a story of a buddhist priest, who when dying, was comforted by his loving disciples with the reminder that he was at last entering upon a state of bliss and rest. to which the earnest one replied: "never so long as there is misery to be assuaged, shall i enter nirvana. i shall be reborn where the need is greatest. i shall wish to be reborn in the nethermost depths of hell, because that is the place that most needs enlightenment; that is the place to point out the path to deliverance; that is the place where the light will shine most brightly." thus it will be seen we may not readily determine what is "good" and what is "bad" karma, by judging from external conditions. as we are told that we may entertain "angels unawares," so we may pass the world's avatars upon the street, and judging from the external, the physical environment, we may not know them from the vampire souls that contact them. the point of our present consideration is that this "year of grace," meaning not the mere twelve months of the calendar year, but the century, is the end of the present _kalpa_ (cycle), and demonstrates that period of evolution has terminated, and the era is at hand when spiritual alchemy shall transform the old into the new, and that the desire, which has so long ministered to the wants of the physical body, shall be turned (converted) into the channels that lead to spiritual consciousness. the undefined, instinctive urge that has actuated so many intrepid souls, is becoming recognized for what it is--the awakening of the inner self; the blind groping in the dark will cease and there shall arise a race of human beings liberated; free; aware of their spiritual origin and their inherent divinity. all who have conformed their life activities to the divine law of action, which may be tersely stated as "not mine, but thine, dear brother," will have achieved the goal of the soul's purpose--will have found nirvana. chapter iv self-ness and selflessness during what is historically known as the dark ages, the esoteric meaning of religious practices became obscured. this is true no less, and no more, of oriental countries, than of european. the long night through which the earth passed during that time and since, but foreshadowed a coming dawn. in the still very imperfect light of the dawning day, truth is seen but dimly, and its rays appear distorted, whereas, when seen with the "pure and spotless eye" they are straight and clear and simple. indeed, the very simplicity of truth causes her to pass unnoticed. while to the superficial observer; the student who is mentally eager but who lacks the wonderful penetrating power of spiritual insight, there seems to be a great complexity in oriental philosophy, the fact is, that the entire aggregation of systems is simple enough when we have the key. one of the stumbling blocks; the inexplicable enigma to many occidental students, is the problem of the preservation, of the self, and the constant admonition to become selfless. the two appear paradoxical. how may the self acquire consciousness and yet become selfless? throughout the oriental teachings, no matter which of the many systems we study, we find the oft-repeated declaration that liberation can never be accomplished and nirvana reached, by him "who holds to the idea of self." it is this universally recognized aphorism which has given rise to the erroneous conception of nirvana as absorption of all identity. hakuin daisi, the st. paul of japanese buddhism, cautioned his disciples that they must "absorb the self into the whole, the cosmos, if they would never die," and jesus assured his hearers that "he who loses his life for my sake shall find it." christians have taken this simple statement to mean that he who endured persecution and death because of his espousal of christianity, would be rewarded in the way that a king bestows lands and titles, for defense of his person and throne. this is the limited viewpoint of the personal self; it is far from being consistent with the wisdom of the illumined master. he who has sufficient spiritual consciousness to desire the welfare of _all_, even though his own life and his own possessions were the price therefore, can not lose his life. such a one is fit for immortality and his godhood is claimed by the very act of renunciation--not as a reward bestowed for such renunciation. by the very act of willingness to lose the self we find the self. not the self of externality. not the self that says "i am a white man; or a black man; or a yellow man; or a red man." that says "i am john smith"--or any other name. the awareness of this kind of selfhood, this personal self, is like looking at one's reflection in the mirror and saying, "ah, i have on a becoming attire," or "my face looks sickly to-day." it is the same "i" that looked yesterday and found the face looking excellently well, so that there must have been consciousness behind the observation, that could take cognizance of the difference in appearance of yesterday's reflection and that which met that cognizing eye to-day. eagerness to retain consciousness of the personal self blocks the way of illumination which uncovers the real, the greater, the higher self--the _atman_. this constant adjuration to sink the self into the absolute, is what has given rise to so much difference of interpretation as to the meaning of _mukti_, liberation. it sounds paradoxical to state that it is only by giving up all consciousness of self, that immortal self-hood is gained. thus has arisen all the confusion as to the meaning of "absorption into a state of bliss." how may the self realize a state of selflessness and yet not be lost in a sea of _un_ consciousness? only one who is capable of self-sacrifice were he called upon, can correctly answer this question, and by what may be termed the very _law of equation_, the sacrifice becomes impossible. should any one seek to bargain with himself to pay the price of loss of self, so that he might gain the higher, fuller life, his sacrifice would be in vain because it would not be selflessness, but selfishness--there could be no _sacrifice_, were it a bargain. let no one think that this unchanging law of the cosmos is in the nature of either reward or punishment, or that it was devised by the gods, as a method of initiation--a test of fitness for nirvana. even though the test be applied by the gods, it is not of their planning. it _is_, just as the absolute _is_, and analysis of the way and wherefrom is not possible of contemplation. if it sometimes appears that illumined ones have seemed to infer a loss of identity of the self, it should be remembered that not only have these reported instances of liberation (cosmic consciousness attained), been vague, but they have necessarily suffered from the impossibility of describing that which is indescribable. we should also remember that translators employ the words in the english language which most nearly express their interpretation of the original meaning. words are at best but clumsy symbols. perfect bliss is voiceless--inexpressible. this does not, however, mean that perfect bliss is nothingness. rather is it _everything-ness_, in that it is all-embracing in its realization. in complete realization of the cosmos nothing is excluded. exclusiveness is a concomitant of the state of consciousness pertinent to the personal self, which state is not excluded from the consciousness described as cosmic, _nirvana_ or _mukti_, but on the contrary, is included in it, even as the simple vibrations of the musical scale are included in the great harmonies of wagner's compositions. "he who has realized brahman becomes silent," says ramakrishna. "discussions and argumentations exist so long as the realization of the absolute does not come. if you melt butter in a pan over a fire, how long does it make a noise? so long as there is water in it. when the water is evaporated it ceases to make further noise. the soul of the seeker after brahman may be compared to fresh butter. discussions and argumentations of a seeker are like the noise caused during the process of purification by the fire of knowledge. as the water of egotism and worldliness is evaporated and the soul becomes purer, all noise of debates and discussions ceases and absolute silence reigns in the state of _samadhi_." a better translation of the word "noise" would be "sputtering." sound is not necessarily _noise_. the idea conveyed is not intended to be a condition in which the soul becomes anæsthetized as it were, but a state of _knowing_, and the effort and the sputtering of _questioning_ and _searching_ is passed. the same gospel better expresses the meaning thus: "the bee buzzes so long as it is outside the lotus, and does not settle down in its heart to drink of the honey. as soon as it tastes of the honey all buzzing is at an end. similarly all noise of discussion ceases when the soul of the neophyte begins to drink the nectar of divine love, at the lotus feet of the blissful one." who will not say that the bee is more satisfied when he has found and drank of the honey than when he is buzzingly seeking it? surely it is not necessary to be of one mind, in order that we may be of one heart. even though we were as "like as two peas in a pod," it is well to note that the two peas are _two_ spheres--nature has made them separate and distinct despite their close resemblance. to unite with the absolute should correspond to this unity of all hearts in the desire for a common effort to establish harmony, while we permit to each individual the freedom of mind; of taste; of choice of pursuits; of choice of pleasure; of discrimination; and preservation of identity. our contention is that _mukti_, or liberation (which we believe to be identical with attainment of cosmic consciousness) does not mean an absorption into the universal, the absolute, brahm, to the extent of annihilation of identity. and we claim that this view finds corroboration in the best interpretation of oriental philosophies and religions, as well as in the christian doctrine. says nagasena, the buddhist sage: "he who is not free from passion experiences both the taste of food, and also the passion due to that taste; while he who is free from passion experiences the taste of food but no passion." hence we discover that the state of illumination, _samadhi_, or _mukti_, according to the most enlightened and logical interpretation, means a calm and peaceful consciousness, undisturbed by passion. but we should not interpret the word "passion" as here used, to mean absence of all sensation, feeling or knowledge. there is absolutely no arbitrary interpretation or translation of the words of buddha, nor can there be. the same is true of confucius; of mohammed; of krishna; of laotze; of jesus; of all the teachers and philosophers of the world. who of you who read these words has not listened to debates and endless discussions as to what even so modern a writer as emerson or whitman, or nietzche or kobo daisi, or some other, may have meant by certain statements? in the samyutta nikaya we read: "let a man who holds the self clear, keep that self free from wickedness." this does not imply annihilation of identity, _absorption_ of consciousness, although it has been so interpreted by many students. on the contrary, instead of losing consciousness of the self (which is not merely the personality), we _find_ the real self. as an adult we realize more consciousness than we do as infants. not that we possess more consciousness. we cannot acquire consciousness as we accumulate _things_. we can not add one iota to the sum of consciousness, but we can and do uncover portion upon portion of the vast area of consciousness which _is_. says the dhammapada: "as kinsmen, friends and lovers salute a man who has been long away and returns safe from afar; in like manner his good deeds receive him who has done good, and who has gone from this world to the other, as kinsmen receive a friend on his return." if this state of _mukti_ were annihilation of individual consciousness it would hardly be an incentive to do good deeds, except that good deeds in themselves bring happiness, but if the bringing of happiness did not also bring with it a larger consciousness, it would not be true happiness, but merely a _condition_, and conditions are always subject to change. "it is not separateness you should hope and long for; it is _union_--the sense of oneness with all that is, that has ever been and that can ever be--the sense that shall _enlarge the horizon of your being_, to the limits of the universe; to the boundaries of time and space; that shall lift you up into a new plane far beyond, outside all mean and miserable care for self. why stand shrinking there? give up the fool's paradise of 'this is i'; 'this is mine.' it is the great reality you are asked to grasp. leap forward without fear. you shall find yourself in the ambrosial waters of nirvana and sport with the arhats who have conquered birth and death." this admonition to give up the struggle and strife for separateness is interpreted by many to declare for annihilation of consciousness of identity, but we contend that _union_ is in no wise akin to annihilation, and since this assurance of union is further described as an enlargement of the horizon of _your being_, it is evident that your being can not be enlarged by becoming annihilated, or even _absorbed into_ the absolute, as in that event it would cease to be _your being_. moreover, you are told that you will "sport with the arhats who have conquered birth and death." arhats are alluded to in the plural, and not as one being. to be sure there may be a final state of absorption of consciousness far beyond this state of being which is described as nirvana. theosophy lays much stress upon the assumption that the attainment of godhood is possible to every human soul, but that this godhood must inevitably have an ultimate conclusion. that is, there is a _place_ or heaven, which is called the devachanic plane, and this plane, or place, is inhabited by "gods," for a definite period, approximating thousands of years, but that the final conclusion must be, absorption of identity into the universal reservoir of mind, or consciousness. but we may readily see that beyond the devachanic plane, we may not penetrate with the limited consciousness which takes cognizance of external conditions. any attempt, therefore, at a description of what occurs to the individual consciousness beyond the areas of devachan, must be futile. the argument that most logically postulates the assumption that all identity, or differentiation of consciousness, becomes absorbed into the absolute, is based upon the fact that we remember nothing of previous states of consciousness. that is, the devious pathway by which the advanced and progressive individual has reached his present state or realization of consciousness, is shrouded in oblivion. from this it is not unnatural to assume that since we have come out of the void, having apparently no memory or realization of what preceded this coming, we will return to the same state, when we shall have completed the round of evolution. this postulate, is, however, merely the result of our limited power of comprehension, and may or may not be true. the answer is as yet inexplicable to the finite mind, considered from the standpoint of relative proof. if it were a fact, that all oriental sages experiencing the phenomenon of liberation, _mukti_, had reported what would seem to be annihilation of identity of consciousness, we still maintain that this fact would not be proof sufficient upon which to postulate this conclusion, for the very obvious reason that the present era promises what occidental theology, science, and philosophy unite in designating as a "new dispensation," wherein the "old shall pass away," and a "new order" shall be established. "look how the fine and valuable gold-dust shifts through the screen, leaving only the useless stones and debris in the catches; even so that which is infinitely fine substance becomes lost when sifted through the screen of the limited mind of man," said a wise japanese high priest. however, it is our contention that buddhism, far indeed from postulating the assumption that individual consciousness is swallowed up in the absolute, as is frequently understood by occidental translators of buddhistic writings, announces a calm and unquestioning conviction in the power of man to attain to immortality, and consequent godhood, through contemplation of faith in his own identity with the _supreme one_. when we consider that there are in the religion of buddhism, as many as sixty different expositions of the teachings of the lord buddha, and that these vary, even as the christian sects vary in their interpretations and presentments of the instructions of the master, jesus of nazareth, we begin to have some idea of the difficulties of correct interpretation of the obscure and mystical language in which _mukti_ is ever described. one of the most quoted of the translations of the life of buddha, reaches the english readers through devious ways, namely, from the sanskrit into chinese, and from the chinese into english, and again edited by an english scientist who is also an oriental scholar. we must also consider the poverty of the english language when used to describe supra-conscious experiences, or what modern thought terms metaphysics. only within very recent times, approximating twenty-five years, there have been coined innumerable words in the english language. the advances made in mechanical, scientific, ethical and philosophical thought, have made this a necessity, while, when it comes to an attempt at clarifying the meaning of mystical terms, a very wide range of interpretation is imperative. buddha, addressing his servant, says: "kandaka, take this gem and going back to where my father is, lay it reverently before him, to signify my heart's relation to him." it is related that the gem mentioned was a beryl, which in the language of gems signifies purity and peace. it must be remembered that all oriental languages give power to gems, perfumes and talismanic symbols. this fact makes direct translation of oriental writings a difficult task for the occidental scholar, who, until recently at least, gave no power to so-called "inanimate" things. "and then for me request the king to stifle every fickle feeling of affection, and say that i, to escape from birth and age and death, have entered the forest of painful discipline. "not that i may get a heavenly birth, much less because i have no tenderness of heart, or that i cherish any cause of bitterness, but only that i may escape this weight of sorrow; the accumulated long-night weight of covetous desire. i now desire to ease the load, so that it may be overthrown forever; therefore i seek the way of ultimate escape. "if i should gain the way of emancipation, then shall i never need to put away my kindred, to leave my home, to sever ties of love. o grieve not for your son. the five desires of sense beget the sorrow; those held by lust themselves induce sorrow; my very ancestors, victorious kings, have handed down to me their kingly wealth; i, thinking only on eternal bliss, put it all away." the meaning here conveyed is simple enough to understand. from a long line of ancestors who had ruled with the unquestioned authority of oriental monarchs, the young prince felt that he had inherited much that would retard his soul's freedom. the examples of kings and emperors who have abandoned their possessions have been too few to cause us to believe that they have held these possessions as naught. through rivers of blood; through ages of despotism, and self-seeking, kings and emperors have maintained their vested rights bequeathing to their progeny the same desires; the same covetousness of worldly power; the same consideration for the lesser self; the same hypnotism that takes account of caste. to escape from these fetters of the soul, into a realization of the eternal oneness of life, was no easy task for the inheritor of such desires and beliefs and appetites as an ancestry of rulers imposes. and prince siddhartha was anxious to escape reincarnation--a theory or conviction inseparable from oriental religion. his reference to "fickle affection" means literally that selfish affection of the parent, which would retain the fleeting joy of a few short earthly years of companionship, while the larger and more perfect love would bid the child seek its birthright of godhood. the word "fickle" here would more properly be translated transitory. buddha's desire to escape from a continuous round of deaths and "leave-takings from kindred," does not necessarily imply an absorption into the absolute; it may as logically be interpreted to mean, that liberation from the hypnotisms of externality _(mukti)_ insures the possession and power of the gods--power over physical life and death, and this power need not mean a cessation from individual consciousness, but rather, a full realization of individual _unity_ with the sum of all consciousness. there is another mistaken interpretation of the means of attainment of that state of liberation, which has been alluded to in so many varied terms. the fact that buddha, like many of the oriental masters, sought the seclusion of the forest; the isolation, and simplicity of the hermit,--has given rise to the belief, almost universally held among oriental disciples, that liberation from _maya_, the delusions of the world, can not be attained save by these methods. monasteries are the result of this idea, and this buddhistic practice was adopted by the first christian church, since which time the real purpose and intention of the monastery and the nunnery have become lost in the concept of sacrifice or punishment. the christian monk almost invariably retires to a monastery, not for the purpose of consciously attaining to that enlarged area of consciousness which insures liberation, _mukti_, but as an "outward and visible sign" that he is willing to undergo the sacrifice of worldly pleasures at the behest of the lord jesus. thus, the real object of retirement is lost, and the sacrifice again becomes in the nature of a "bargain." in the bhagavad-gita, we find these words: "renunciation and yoga by action both lead to the highest bliss; of the two, yoga by action is verily better than renunciation of action. he who is harmonized by yoga, the self-purified, self-ruled, the senses subdued, whose self is the self of all beings, although _acting_, yet is such an one not _affected_. "he who acteth, placing all action in the _eternal_, abandoning attachment, is unaffected by sin as a lotus leaf by the waters." this is interpreted according to the viewpoint of the translator, even as, among an audience of ten thousand persons, we may find almost as many interpretations, and shades of meaning of a musical composition. true, the oriental meaning _seems_ to be the one that we shall cease to love friends, relatives, and lovers, abandoning them as one would abandon the furniture of one's household when outworn, and no longer of service. we do not accept this interpretation. to abandon one's friends, one's loved ones, yea, even one's would-be enemies is equivalent to leaving one's companions on a sinking raft and, without sentiment or remorse, save one's physical self from destruction. no higher sentiment is known to struggling humanity than love of each other. "greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for a friend." oriental or occidental philosophy, whichever may be presented to the mind, as an unfailing guide, should be distrusted, if that philosophy prescribes the abandonment of lover, friend, relative, neighbor, brother, companion. that is, if we accept the dictionary meaning of the word "abandoned" as translated into english. a western avatar has said: "i will not have what my brother can not," and in this we heartily concur, not hesitating to say that until all human life shall accept and realize the fullness of this message, we shall not, as a race, have attained to the inheritance that is ours. but shall we then believe, that the oriental doctrine is erroneous? not necessarily. errors of interpretation are not only natural but inevitable, and this interpretation of abandonment is in line with the idea of sacrifice (using the word in its old sense of paying a debt), which prevailed throughout all the centuries just passed--centuries in which the idea of god was estimated by the conduct of the kings and monarchs of earth. a later revelation or dispensation has given what the illumined one said was a "new commandment," and it is one more in accord with our ideals of godhood. "a new commandment i give unto you, that ye _love_ one another." but love, like everything which _is_, means much or little, according as the soul is advanced in knowledge, or is undeveloped. perfect and complete love is not selfish; it desires not possession, but union. there is a world of difference between the two words. "the soul enchained is man, and free from chain is god," said sri ramakrishna. and the soul is enchained by illusion--by mistaking the effect for the cause, and by regarding the effect as the real, instead of realizing the incompleteness; the limitedness; the unsatisfying character of the changing--the external. not that the pursuit of the external is sinful, but it is unsatisfying, while the soul that has caught a glimpse of that wonderful ecstasy of illumination, has found that which satisfies. upon this point of attainment of complete satisfaction, and certainty, all who have experienced the consciousness we are considering seem to agree, according to the testimony here submitted. chapter v instances of illumination and its effects the term illumination seems a fitting description of the state of consciousness which is frequently alluded to as cosmic consciousness. without the light of understanding, which is a spiritual quality, words themselves are meaningless. when the mind becomes illumined the spirit of the word is clear and where before the meaning was clouded, or perhaps altogether obscured, there comes to the illumined one a depth of comprehension undreamed of by the merely sense-conscious person. if we consider the recorded instances of illumination found among occidentals, we will find that such extreme intensity of effort as that which is reported of sri ramakrishna, and other oriental sages, does not appear. it would seem that the late dr. richard maurice bucke of toronto, canada, was the first in this country to present a specific classification of what he termed the "new" consciousness, and to describe in some detail, he experience of himself and others, notably walt whitman. dr. bucke's first public exposition of these experiences was made at a congress of the british medical association in montreal, canada, in september of the year . dr. bucke described this state of consciousness--a subject that seemed to him at that time to be a new one--in the following words: "but of infinitely more importance than telepathy, and so-called spiritualism--no matter what explanation we give of these, or what their future is destined to be--is the final act here touched upon. this is, that superimposed upon self-consciousness as is that faculty upon simple consciousness, a third and higher form of consciousness is at present making its appearance in our race. this higher form of consciousness, when it appears, occurs as it must, at the full maturity of the individual, at or about the age of thirty-five, but almost always between the ages of thirty and forty. there have been occasional cases of it for the last two thousand years, and it is becoming more and more common. in fact, in all appearances, as far as observed, it obeys the laws to which every nascent faculty is subject. many more or less perfect examples of this new faculty exist in the world to-day, and it has been my privilege to know personally and to have had the opportunity of studying, several men and women who have possessed it. in the course of a few more milleniums there should be born from the present human race, a higher type of man, possessing this higher type of consciousness. this new race, as it may well be called, would occupy toward us, a position such as that occupied by us toward the simple conscious 'alulus homo.' the advent of this higher, better and happier race, would simply justify the long agony of its birth through countless ages of our past. and it is the first article of my belief, some of the grounds for which i have endeavored to lay before you, that a new race is in course of evolution." at a subsequent date, having given the subject further consideration and having collected data corroborative of his former observations, dr. bucke said: "i have, in the last three years, collected twenty-three cases of this so-called cosmic consciousness. in each case the onset or incoming of the new faculty is always sudden, instantaneous. among the unusual feelings the mind experiences, is a sudden sense of being immersed in flame or in a brilliant light. this occurs entirely without worrying or outward cause, and may happen at noonday or in the middle of the night, and the person at first feels that he is becoming insane. "along with these feelings comes a sense of immortality; not merely a feeling of certainty that there is a future life,--that would be a small matter--but a pronounced _consciousness_ that the life now being lived is eternal, death being seen as a trivial incident which does not affect its continuity. "further, there is annihilation of the sense of sin, and an intellectual competency, not simply surpassing the old plane, but on an entirely new and higher plane. * * * the cosmic conscious race will not be the race that exists to-day, any more than the present is the same race that existed prior to the evolution of self-consciousness. a new race is being born from us, and this new race will in the near future, possess the earth." dr. bucke later published an article in a current magazine, illustrating the illumination of his friend walt whitman, and supplemented with an account of his own experience. we quote briefly from dr. bucke's account of his own experience: "i had spent the evening in a great city with some friends reading and discussing poetry and philosophy. we had occupied ourselves with wordsworth, shelley, browning, and especially whitman. we parted at midnight. i had a long drive in a hansom to my lodgings. my mind, deeply under the influence of the ideas, images and emotions called up by the reading and talk, was calm and peaceful. i was in a state of quiet, almost passive enjoyment, not actually thinking, but letting ideas, images and emotions flow of themselves, as it were, through my mind. all at once, without warning of any kind, i found myself wrapped in a flame-colored cloud. for an instant i thought of fire, an immense conflagration somewhere close by in that great city. the next moment i knew that the fire was within myself." while dr. bucke is unquestionably right in his estimate of the fact that "a new race is being born," as he expresses it, there can scarcely be any question of individual age, in which the new consciousness may be expected. physical maturity can have nothing whatever to do with the matter, since the acquisition of supra-consciousness is a matter of the maturity of the soul. this completement of the cycle of the soul's pilgrimage and service, may come at any age, as far as the physical body is concerned. indeed, science records no definite age at which even physical maturity is invariably reached, although there is an approximate age. a case recently widely commented upon was that of a child of six years who showed every symptom of senility or old age, which could hardly be possible without having passed what we call "maturity." again, we find that some persons retain every indication of youth, both of mind and body, long after their contemporaries have reached and passed middle age. it is coming more and more to be admitted that age is relative, and that what we know as the relative is the effect of mental operations. mental operations are subject to change--to enlargement. the advent of cosmic consciousness is, therefore, not subject to what we know as time, as applied to physical development. nor should we speak of cosmic consciousness as an acquisition, but rather as a _realization_, since the consciousness _is_, at all times. it always has been, it will always be. our relation to it changes, as we develop from the sense conscious to the self-conscious state and finally to what we term the "cosmic" conscious state. this latter must of necessity have been as yet only imperfectly realized, even by those of the illuminati, who are known to the world as avatars and saviours. several instances of the possession of cosmic consciousness by children, are personally known to the writer. a well-known woman writer in america thus describes a succession of experiences in what were evidently conditions of cosmic consciousness, although as she said, she did not until many years later realize what had taken place. like lord alfred tennyson, who tells of inducing in himself a state of spiritual ecstasy or liberation, by repeatedly intoning his own name, this lady acquired the habit of repeating in wonder and awe the name by which she was called in the household, which was an abbreviation of her baptismal name. the effect is best described in her own words: "it seems to me that i never could quite become accustomed to hear myself addressed by name. when some member of the household would call me from study or play--even at the early age of five or six years--i would instantly be seized with a feeling of great and almost overwhelming awe and amazement, at the sound, which i knew was in some way associated with me. "i found it extremely difficult to identity myself with that name, and often when alone would repeat the name over and over, trying to find a solution of the 'why and wherefore.' "at length this wonderment grew upon me to such an extent that i felt i must see this self of me that was called by a name. "i acquired the habit of standing on a chair to gaze into the mirror above the chest of drawers in my mother's bed-room, and putting my face close to the mirror, i would gaze and gaze into the eyes i saw there, and repeat over and over the name which seemed to me not to belong to that 'other self' hidden behind those eyes. on one occasion i became quite entranced and fell from the chair, after which i refrained from looking into the mirror, although i did not for many years get over the feeling of wonderment at the sound of my own name, and many times, on repeating the name aloud, i would feel myself being lifted up into what seemed to me the clouds above my head, until i felt myself being 'melted,' as i termed it, into the moving cloud of soft transparent light. "at this time i was between seven and eight years of age, and although i was far beyond children of my age, in my school studies, i was frequently admonished for being 'stupid,' owing to the fact that i could not remember the names of objects, nor could i be trusted on an errand. "while walking from our house to the grocer's, scarcely a block away, i would feel that sudden wonderment and awe of my name steal over me, and again i would be transported to some unknown, yet immanent region, utterly losing consciousness of my surroundings. i would sometimes awake to find myself standing before the counter of the grocery store, struggling to remember who and where i was, and what it was that i had been sent to that strange place for." this lady relates that she never dared to tell of her strange experiences, although she did not "outgrow" them until early womanhood, when she dropped the abbreviation of her name, and assumed her full baptismal name. whether this latter fact had anything to do with the cessation of the experience is doubtful. at the same time, she declares that she can even now induce the same sensations, and transport herself into childhood again by repeating her childhood name. the following extract from a paper published in london, england, in , gives a description of an experience of a young man who had fallen into a condition which the physicians pronounced "catalepsy." this young man was at the time a medical student, and had always exhibited a tendency to entrancement, or catalepsy. on recovering from one of these cataleptic attacks, and being asked to give a description of his sensations or experiences, the young man said: "i felt a kind of soothing slumber stealing over me. i became aware that i was floating in a vast ocean of light and joy. i was here, there, and everywhere. i was everybody and everybody was i. i knew i was i, and yet i knew that i was much more than myself. indeed, it seemed to me that there was no division. that all the universe was in me and i in it, and yet nothing was lost or swallowed up. everything was alive with a joy that would never diminish." such, in substance, was the attempt of this young man to describe what all who have experienced cosmic consciousness unite in saying is indescribable, for the very obvious reason that there are no words in which to express what is wordless, and inexpressible. this authentic account of a young man under twenty years of age, however, serves to prove that there is no special age of physical maturity in which the attainment of this state of consciousness may be expected. this account was published seven years previous to dr. bucke's statement, and yet, since it is not quoted in dr. bucke's account, it is most unlikely that he had seen the article. certainly the young man had never heard of the experience which dr. bucke later records, as "cosmic consciousness," and yet the similarity of the experience, with the many which have been recorded is almost startling. the salient point in this account, as in most of the others which have found their way into public print, is the feeling of being in perfect harmony and union with everything in the universe. "i was everything and everything was i," said this young man, and again "i was here, there and everywhere at once," he says in an effort to describe something which in the very nature of it, must be indescribable in terms of sense consciousness. illustrative of the connection between religious ecstasy and cosmic consciousness, we find the experience of an illiterate negro woman, a celebrated religious and anti-slavery worker of the early part of the last century. this woman was known as "sojourner truth" and was at least forty years of age in , when she was given her freedom under a law which freed all slaves in new york state, who had attained the age of forty years. sojourner truth never learned to read or write, and her education consisted almost entirely of that presentation of religious truth which finds its most successful converts in revivalism. with this fact in mind, nothing less than the attainment of a wonderful degree of spiritual consciousness could account for her marvelous power of description, and her ready flow of language, when "exhorting." mrs. harriet beecher stowe wrote of her, in an article published in the atlantic monthly, as early as : "i do not recollect ever to have been conversant with any one who had more of that silent and subtle power which we call personal presence, than this woman. in the modern spiritualistic phraseology, she would be described as having a 'strong sphere.'" the wonderful mental endowment which seems to follow as a complement to the experience of illumination, when not already present, as in the case of whitman, for example, is characteristic of "sojourner truth," or isabella, as she was baptized. naturally, this mental power, seemingly inconsistent with her humble origin, and her unlettered condition, is evidenced along those lines which made up the sum and substance of her life. judging her from the broader concept of philosophy, isabella appears somewhat fanatical, but the influence of her life and work was so great, that wendell phillips wrote of her: "i once heard her describe the captain of a slave ship going up to judgment, followed by his victims as they gathered from the depths of the sea, in a strain that reminded me of clarence's dream in shakespeare, and equalled it. the anecdotes of her ready wit and quick striking replies are numberless. but the whole together give little idea of the rich, quaint, poetic and often profound speech of a most remarkable person, who used to say to us: 'you read books; god himself talks to me.'" isabella's conviction that she had "talked to god," was unshakable, and was, indeed, the dynamic force which moved her. she was accustomed to tell of the strange and startling experience in which she met god face to face, and in which she said to him: "oh, god, i didn't know as you was so big." in the new england magazine for march, , there was given a full account of the work of this noted negro woman. commenting on her sense of awe of the immensity of god "when she met him," the writer says: "the consciousness of god's presence was like a fire around her and she was afraid, till she began to feel that somebody stood between her and this brilliant presence; and after a while she knew that this somebody loved her. at first, she thought it must be cato, a preacher whom she knew or deencia or sally--people who had been her friends. "we are not told whether these persons were living or dead, or whether she thought they had come in the flesh, or in the spirit to her relief. however this may be, she soon perceived that their images looked vile and black and could not be the beautiful presence that shielded her from the fires of god. she began to experiment with her inner vision, and found that when she said to the presence 'i know you, i know you,' she perceived a light; but when she said 'i don't know you,' the light went out. "at last, she became aware that it was jesus who was shielding her and loving her, and the world grew bright, her troubled thoughts were banished, and her heart was filled with praise and with love for all creatures. 'lord, lord,' she cried, 'i can love even de white folks.'" the question will legitimately arise here, as to the authenticity of an experience in which jesus is said to be personally guiding and shielding her, but it must be remembered that the mind is the medium through which the spiritual realization must be _expressed_ and, as has been stated previously, the description of the phenomenon of illumination, particularly when experienced in a sudden influx must partake of the character of the mind of the illumined one. william james, late professor of psychology of harvard university, in his exhaustive book _the varieties of religious experiences_, in the chapter on "the value of saintliness," says: "now in the matter of intellectual standards, we must bear in mind that it is unfair, where we find narrowness of mind, always to impute it as a vice to the individual for in religious and theological matters, he probably absorbs his narrowness from his generation. moreover, we must not confound the essentials of saintliness with its accidents, which are the special determination of these passions at any historical moment. in these determinations the saints will usually be loyal to the temporary idols of their tribe." applying this explanation to the case of "sojourner truth," we may realize that the literal conception of jesus as her guide and shield, was a mental image, inevitable with her, as jesus was the motive power of her every thought and act. and although at the moment of her illumination, she realized the "bigness" of god, later, in arranging and recording the phenomenon, in her mental note-book, she tabulated it with all she knew of god--the religious enthusiasm of her work of conversion to the religion of jesus. says james, commenting upon the question of conversion in human experience: and this tendency to what seems a narrow and limited viewpoint: "if you open the chapter on 'association,' of any treatise on psychology, you will read that a man's ideas, aims and objects form diverse internal groups, and systems, relatively independent of one another. each 'aim' which he follows awakens a certain specific kind of interested excitement, and gathers a certain group of ideas together in subordination to it as its associates." it is perhaps natural to assume that most instances of the attainment of illumination, have been inseparable from religious devotion, or at least contemplative mysticism. this view is held almost exclusively by orientals, and seems to have been shared to a great extent by western commentators upon the subject. a notable example among occidentals, bearing the religious aspect, and one which is important from the fact that the person detailing his experience, was a man of mental training, is the case of rev. charles g. finney, formerly president of oberlin college. in his "memoirs," dr. finney describes what orthodox christians generally call the "baptism of the holy spirit": "i had retired to a back room for prayer," writes dr. finney, "and there was no fire or light in the room; nevertheless it appeared to me as if it were perfectly light. as i went in and shut the door after me, it seemed as if i met the lord jesus christ face to face. it did not occur to me then nor did it for some time afterwards, that it was wholly a mental state. "on the contrary, it seemed to me a reality, that he stood before me and i fell down at his feet and poured out my soul to him. i wept aloud like a child and made such confessions as i could with choked utterance. "it seemed to me that i bathed his feet with my tears, and yet i had no distinct impression that i touched him, that i recollect. as i turned and was about to take my seat, i received a mighty baptism of the holy ghost. "without any expectation, without even having the thought in my mind, that there was any such thing for me, without any recollection that i had ever heard the thing mentioned, by any person in the world, the holy spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me body and soul. "i could feel the impression like the waves of electricity going through me and through me. indeed, it seemed to come in _waves of liquid love_. for i could not express it in any other way. it seemed like the very breath of god. i can recollect distinctly that it seemed to fan me like immense wings. no words can express the wonderful love that was shed abroad in my heart. "i wept aloud with joy and love. these waves came over me, and over me, one after the other, until i recollect that i cried out, 'i shall die if these waves continue to pass over me.' i said 'lord, i cannot bear any more.'" we will note, that although dr. finney says that he could not remember ever having heard the thing mentioned by any person, yet he felt "the baptism of the holy spirit." it is practically impossible that dr. finney could have lived in an age and a community which was essentially strict in its orthodoxy, without having heard of the phrase "baptism of the holy spirit," even though the words had escaped his immediate recollection. however, the point that characterizes dr. finney's experience, in common with all others, is that of seeing an intense light, and of the realization of the overwhelming force of love. the relation of this experience to a creed or system of religion, is something which, we believe, may be accounted for, as professor james has said, on the fact of "historical determination." until very recently, the idea that spirituality was impossible save in connection with religious systems, and rigid discipline, has been quite general. in the case of dr. finney, we find that all his life previous to this experience he had been noted for his simplicity and child-like trust. following his illumination we learn that he became a man of great influence, and power, because of "the wonderful humanity which he radiated." similar in experience, in its effects, is a case related by theodore f. seward, the well-known american philanthropist, mr. seward relates the following story: "the strange experience which i here relate came to a friend whom i knew intimately, and from whose lips i received the account. it is a lady in middle life, who has for years been an earnest seeker for truth and spiritual light. she was alone in her room sewing. "thinking, as was her wont, of spiritual things and feeling a strong sense of the presence and power of god, she suddenly had a consciousness of being surrounded by a brilliant white light, which seemed to radiate from her person. the light continued for some minutes, and at the same time, she felt a great spiritual uplifting and an enlargement of her mental powers, as if the limitations of the body were transcended, and her soul's capacities were in a measure set free for the moment. the experience was unique, above and beyond the ordinary current of human life, and while the vision or impression passed away, a permanent effect was produced upon her mind. she had never heard the term 'cosmic consciousness,' and did not know that the subject it covers is beginning to be discussed." it must be noted that in these experiences, the idea most strongly felt was the one of the "power and presence of god," and we are impressed with the fact that, no matter how varied may be the _creeds_ of the world, as founded by "saviours" and incarnations of god, there is a unity among all races, as to the fact of a one supreme universal power, which is aum, the absolute, and which must represent perfect love and perfect peace, since all who have glimpsed their unity with this power, testify to a feeling of happiness, peace and satisfaction, rare and exalted. by comparing the experience of those who have attained this state of liberation from illusion, through religious rites and ceremonies, or "sacrifice to god," as it is not infrequently called, with the experience of those who have recorded the phenomenon, apparently arriving at the goal through intellectual and moral aspiration, we will find that the results are almost identical, and the after-effects similar. it has been said that those who attain liberation have invariably sought to found a new system of worship, and this fact has given rise to the many paths or methods of attainment which have been taught by various illumined ones, both in the orient and in the western world, supplementary as it were to the main great religious systems. we will take a short survey of a few of these systems in japan and india in comparatively modern times, or at least during the last two thousand years, which is modern compared to the history of the orient. chapter vi examples of cosmic consciousness, who have founded new systems of religion the early religion of japan, before the advent of buddhism, was extremely simple. it consists of the postulate that there was but one god, _kami_, from him all things came, and to him all things shall return. as has been stated previously, the chief injunction of shintoism is: "keep your body and your mind clean, and trust _kami_." shintoism literally translated, means "the way to god," and includes the belief that all persons ultimately reach the place where god dwells, and become "one with him." in present day interpretations and descriptions of shintoism, we read of the "heathen" belief that _kami_ himself dwells in person, in the "inner temple" or sacred place of shinto temples. this idea doubtless exists as a reality among the very ignorant superstitious devotees, much as among the ignorant catholics we find the unquestioned belief that the actual body and blood of jesus the christ is contained in the eucharist. the shinto temple always contains an "inner or sacred shrine," which is equivalent to the "holy of holies," of the mystic brotherhoods, and typifies the fact that _within_ and not _without_, will be found the god in man, by finding which, man reaches liberation, or cessation from the cycle of births and deaths. a shinto funeral is an occasion for rejoicing, because the departed one may be a step farther on the way to god, and since his ancestors were directly responsible, as a favor, for his occasion to become reborn, thus fulfilling the law of _karma_, the shintoist pays much respect to his ancestors. the advent of buddhism into japan was made possible by the simple fact that the people were becoming somewhat disgruntled with shintoism, because of its emphasis upon the never-to-be questioned postulate that the mikado and his progeny was the direct gift of _kami_ to his people, to be obeyed without demur, and to be adored as divine. several generations of mikados who did not fulfil the ideal of deity--an ideal to which even savages attach the qualities of justice and mercy--left the masses ready and eager to grasp at a religion that gave them some other personified god, than the mikado, much as a drowning man clutches at a straw. the lord buddha was a prince, therefore worship of him would not be an absolutely impossible step--an unforgivable breach of contract with the mikado, and as he exhibited the qualities of humility and mercy and tolerance, he was welcomed. the religion of japan is to-day regarded as buddhistic, although the imperial family, and consequently the army and the navy are to all outward appearance, shintoists. coming, then, to a consideration of the varying sects of buddhism in japan, and the corresponding sects in india, we find that there have been nine different incarnations of god, and that another, and, it is believed the final one, is expected. the intelligent and open minded seeker after truth of whatever race or color, will find in the instructions given man by each and every great teacher, whether we believe in them as especially "divine" or as mere humans who have attained to the realization of their godhood (_avatars,_) a complete unity of _purpose_, and if these teachers differ in _method of attainment_, it is only because of the immutable fact that there can be no _one and only_ way of attainment. methods and systems are established consistently with the age and character of those whom they are designed to assist in finding the way. and again we must emphasize the fact that by the phrase "the way," we mean the way to a realization of the godhood within the inner temple of man's threefold nature. thus, the intelligent, unprejudiced student of the religions and philosophies of all times and all races, will find that, while there are many and diverse paths to the goal of "salvation," the goal itself means unity with the causeless cause, wherein exists perfection. perhaps it has been left for the expected incarnate god, which christians speak of as "the second coming of christ," to make clear the problem as to whether this attainment or completement means an absorption of individual consciousness, or whether it will be an adding to the present incarnation, of the memory of past lives, in such a manner that no consciousness shall be lost, but all shall be found. in considering instances of cosmic consciousness, _mukti_, which have been recorded as distinctly religious experiences, and the effect of this attainment, the system best known to the occident, is contained in the philosophy of vedanta, expounded and interpreted to western understanding by the late swami vivekananda. but it should be understood that the philosophy taught by vivekananda is not strictly orthodox hinduism. it bears the same relation to the old religious systems of india that unitarianism bears to orthodox christianity such as we find in catholicism, and its off-shoots. vivekananda honored and revered and followed, according to his interpretation of the message, sri ramakrishna, whom an increasing number of hindus regard as the latest incarnation of aum--the absolute. not that the reader is to understand, that sri ramakrishna's message contradicted the essential character of the basic principles of orthodox hinduism, as set down in the vedas and the upanashads. the same difference of _emphasis_ upon certain points, or interpretations of meaning exists in the orient, as in the western world, in regard to the possible meaning of the scriptures. sri ramakrishna, who passed from this earth life at cossipore, in , was a disciple of the vedanta system, as founded by vyasa, or by badarayana, authorities failing to agree as to which of these traditional sages of india founded the vedantic system of religion or philosophy. vedanta, particularly as interpreted by sri ramakrishna and his successors, offers a wider field of effort, and a more intellectual consideration of hindu religion than that of the yoga system as interpreted from the original sankhya system by patanjali, about b.c. patanjali's sutras are considered the most complete system of yoga practice, for the purpose of mental control, and psychic development. patanjali's sutras are almost identical with those employed in the zen sect of buddhist monasteries, throughout japan. these sutras, together with buddhist mantrams will be considered in a subsequent chapter, devoted to the development of spiritual consciousness as taught by the oriental sages and philosophers. one other great teacher of modern times who has left a large following, was lord gauranga, who was born in india in the early part of the fifteenth century. gauranga was worshipped as the lord god, whether with his consent, or without, it is not exactly clear, even though his biographers are united on the fact of his divine origin. those who have espoused the message of gauranga claim that he brought to the world "a beautiful religion, such as had never before been known." but, as this claim is made for all teachers and founders of religions and philosophies, we suggest that the reader compare the message of lord gauranga with those of other avatars and teachers. lord gauranga's message is known as vaishnavitism, and we will here consider only those passages of his doctrine which shed light upon his attainment of cosmic consciousness. certainly his breadth of mind, and his standards of tolerance, justice and consideration for all other systems of worship, would indicate his claim to cosmic consciousness. one of the contentions of the vaishnavas is that they alone of all religious faiths, admit the divine birth and mission of the founders of all religions. thus the christians have declared that jesus was the only son of god; the buddhists have claimed buddha; the hebrews have clung tenaciously to their prophets as the only true messengers from heaven, and the mohammedans have refused, until the present century, to even sit at the table with the "infidels" who would not acknowledge mohammed as the only true incarnation of allah. it is well to remember that these claims have been made by the blind followers of these great teachers, and that it is almost certain that not any one of them made such claim for himself. certainly he did not, if he had attained to spiritual consciousness. one passage from the doctrines of gauranga is almost identical with many others who have sought to express the feeling of security, of _deathlessness_ which comes to the soul which has realized cosmic consciousness. he says: "my beloved, whether you clasp me unto your heart, or you crush me by that embrace, it is all the same to me. for you are no other than my own, the sole partner of my soul." the gospel of gauranga and his followers is, indeed, much more a gospel of love, than of methods of worship, or of intellectual research. the realization of our union with god, in deathless love, is the key-note of the message, and this great joy or bliss comes to the soul as soon as it has attained illumination through love. god is alluded to in vaishnavism most frequently as _anandamaya_--meaning all joy. vaishnavism more nearly resembles the gospel of jesus, as taught by orthodoxy, than it does the vedantic systems, since it does, not claim that god is _within each_ human organism, as the seed is within the fruit, but that, by love, we may gain heaven or the state or place where god dwells. "if you would worship god, as the giver of bounties, then shall the prayer be answered, and further connection cut off, god having answered the demand. so if you would worship god in simple love, he will send love. the real devotee seeks to establish a relationship with god which will endure. he will ask only to worship and love god, and pray that his soul may cling to god in divine reverence and love." thus, say the vaishnavas, "god serves as he is served, in absolute justice." another salient point which the followers of lord gauranga emphasize, is the "all-sweetness" of god. this idea is impressed, doubtless that the devotee may not feel an impossible barrier between himself and so great and all-powerful a being, as god, when his omnipotence is considered. the idea is similar to that of the roman church, which bids its untutored children to select some patron saint, or to say prayers to the virgin mary, because these characters were once human and seem to be nearer, and more approachable than the great god whose majesty and all-mightiness have been exploited. be that as it may, the fact remains, that lord gauranga is said to have earned the devotion and love of some of the most learned pundits of india and, according to a recent biographer, "he had all the frailties of a man; he ate and slept like a man. in short, he behaved generally like an ordinary human being, but yet he succeeded in extorting from the foremost sages of india, the worship and reverence due a god." the fact that lord gauranga "behaved like a man," is comforting, to say the least, and presages the coming of a day when "behaving like a man" will not be considered ungodly. when that time shall have arrived, surely there will be less mysticism of the hysterical variety and probably fewer hypocrites. very unlike lord gauranga, is the report of a writer of india, who tells of the effects of cosmic consciousness upon tukaram, considered to be one of the greatest saints and poets of ancient india. tukaram lived early in the sixteenth century, some years later than lord gauranga. this maharashtra saint is chiefly remembered for his beautiful description of the effects of illumination, in which he likens the human soul to the bride, and the bridegroom is god. this poem is called "love's lament," and might have been written by an impassioned lover to his promised bride. the life of tukaram, like that of the late sri ramakrishna paramanansa, was one long agony of yearning and struggle for that peace of soul which he craved. one of his chroniclers thus describes, in brief, the final struggle and the subsequent attainment of illumination of this good man: "selfless, he sought to gather no crowds of idle admiring disciples about him, but followed what his conscience dictated. he listened not to the counsel of his relatives and friends, who thought he had gone mad; and he bore in patience the well-meant but harsh rebukes of his second wife. after a long mental struggle, the agonies of which he has recorded in heart-rending words, now entreating god in the tenderest of terms, now resigning himself to despair, now appealing with the petulance of a pet child for what he deemed his birthright, now apologizing in all humility for thus taking liberties with his mother-god, he succeeded at last in gaining a restful place of beatitude--a state in which he merged his soul in the universal soul,"--that is, illumination, or cosmic consciousness. sadasiva brahman, one of the great siddhas, and a comparatively modern sage of india, left a sanskrit poem called _atmavidyavilasa_, which gives a comprehensive description of the experience and the effects of illumination, as for example: "the sage whose mind by the grace of his blessed guru is merged in his own true nature (existence, intelligence, and bliss absolute), that great illumined one, wise, with all egotism suppressed, and extremely delighted _within himself_, sports in joy." "he who is himself alone, who has known the secret of bliss, who has firmly embraced peace, who is magnanimous and whose feelings other than those of the _atman_, have been allayed, that person sports on his pleasant couch of self-bliss." "the pure moon of the prince of recluses, who is fit to be worshipped by gods and whose moonlight of intelligence that dispels the darkness of ignorance causes the lily of the earth to blossom, shines forth in the abode of the all-pervading essence of light." the above stanzas represent a more impersonal idea of the bliss of attainment than those of many others who have experienced illumination, but they emphasize the same point that we find throughout all writings of the illuminati, namely, the realization of the kingdom _within_, rather than without, and the necessity of selflessness--meaning the subjugation of the lesser self, the mental, to the soul. we come now to a consideration of the life and character of the lord buddha, whose influence is still stronger in all parts of the world than that of any other person who has ever taught the precepts of attainment. in japan, for example, buddhism, in its various branches, or interpretations, is the religion of the vast majority and even where shintoism is the method of worship, the influence of buddhism may be seen. so too, we find in japan, a form of buddhism, which shows evidences of the influence of shintoism, but i think it may be admitted that japan, above all other countries, represents to-day, the religion of buddhism. buddhism has been called the "religion of enlightenment," but the term "illumination" as it is used to describe the attainment of cosmic consciousness, is what is meant, rather than the purely intellectual quality which we are accustomed to think of as enlightenment. sakyamuni, another name for buddhism, means also illumination, or realization of the saving character of the light within. the lamp is the most important symbol in, buddhism, as it typifies the divine flame or illumination (which is cosmic consciousness), as the goal of the disciple. another interpretation of the symbol of the lamp, is that of the power of the lamp to shed its rays to light the way of those who are traveling "in the gloom," and by so doing, it lights the flame of illumination in others, without diminishing its own power. an article of faith reads: "as one holds out a lamp in the darkness that those who have eyes may see the objects, even so has the doctrine been made clear by the lord in manifold exposition." again, in the _book of the great decease_, we learn that buddha admonished his disciples to "dwell as lamps unto yourselves." another symbol used throughout japan as a means of teaching the masses the essential doctrines of "the compassionate one," has become familiar to occidental people as a sort of "curio." it is that of the three monkeys carved in wood or ivory. one monkey is covering his eyes with both paws; another has stopped his ears; and the third has his paw pressed tightly over his mouth. the lesson briefly told is to "see no evil; hear no evil; speak no evil," and the reason that the monkey is employed as the symbol, is because the monkey, more than any other animal, resembles primitive man. if, then, we would rise from the monkey, or animal condition (the physical or animal part of the human organism), we must avoid a karma of consciousness of evil. buddhism is full of symbolism, and these symbols must be interpreted according to the age, or of the individual consciousness of the interpreter, or the translator. but the fundamental doctrine of buddha is essentially one of renunciation as applied to the things of the world. nevertheless this quality of renunciation has been greatly exaggerated during the centuries, because of the fact that the lord buddha had so much to give up, viewed from the standpoint of worldly ethics. in the following "sayings of buddha," we find that the quest of the noble sage was for that supraconsciousness wherein change and decay were _not_, rather than that he regarded the things of the senses, as sinful. for example: "it is not that i am careless about beauty, or am ignorant of human joys; but only that i see on all the impress of change; therefore, my heart is sad and heavy." or this: "a hollow compliance and a protesting heart, such method is not for me to follow: i now will seek a noble law, unlike the worldly methods known to men. i will oppose disease, and change and death, and strive against the mischief wrought by these, on men." according to the _samyutta nikaya_, the twelve _nidanas_ (or chain of consequences) are: "on ignorance depends karma; "on karma depends consciousness; "on consciousness depends name and form; "on name and form depends the six organs of sense." "on contact depends sensation; "on sensation depends desire; "on desire depends attachment; "on attachment depends existence; "on existence depends birth; "on birth depend old age and death, sorrow, lamentation, misery, grief, and despair. "thus does this entire aggregation of misery arise." having arrived at this conclusion, the problem may be solved by learning how to avoid existence. but, let us consider what the term "existence" means. the common acceptance of the word, as used in the english, seems to include _being_; but if we will consider the word in its literal meaning, when analyzed, we find that it comes from "est" (to be), and the prefix "ex," meaning actually "_not-being_." the word _being_, is a synonym for eternal life--for deity. it does not savor of anything that has been created, or that will terminate. _being is_, therefore, to cease to _ex_-ist, is to cease to live under the spell of the illusory and changing quality of _maya_, or externality. far from meaning to be "wiped out," or absorbed into the absolute, in the sense of complete loss of consciousness, it means the eternal retention of consciousness, unhampered by the delusion of sense as a reality. to escape from this chain of illusory ideas, and their consequences, the obvious necessity is to claim the soul's right to _being_. this is done by dispelling ignorance (_a-vidya_) by vidya (knowledge). thus karma ceases: "on the cessation of karma ceases consciousness of self; "on the cessation of this consciousness of self, cease name and form; "on the cessation of name and form, cease the organs of sense; "on the cessation of sense, ceases contact; "on the cessation of contact, ceases sensation; "on the cessation of sensation, ceases desire; "on the cessation of desire ceases attachment; "on the cessation of attachment ceases existence; "on the cessation of existence, ceases birth. "on the cessation of birth cease old age, and death; sorrow; lamentation; misery; grief and despair. thus does the entire aggregation of misery cease." but, as to the exact interpretation of all these, buddha himself says: "ye must rely upon the truth; this is your highest, strongest vantage ground; the foolish masters practicing superficial wisdom, grasp not the meaning of the truth; but to receive the law, not skillfully to handle words and sentences, the meaning then is hard to know, as in the night-time, if traveling and seeking for a house, if all be dark within, how difficult to find." but let it be understood, that buddhism as now taught and practiced is necessarily colored by the effect of the centuries which have elapsed since the lord buddha lived and taught the precepts of his illumination. modern buddhism, as a religious system of worship bears the same relation to prince siddhartha, as does modern christianity to jesus of nazareth. a short review of the life and character of the personalities around whom the great religious systems of the world have been formed will aid us in perceiving the unity of thought and character of the illumined, and the similarity of reports as to the effect of this realization of cosmic consciousness will be apparent. chapter vii moses, the law-giver the salient feature of the law as given by moses unto his people, the jews, is that of strict cleanliness of mind and body. in this we find a similarity to the oft-repeated behest of gautama, the buddha, who constantly admonished his followers to keep their hearts pure and their minds and bodies clean. this spirit of cleanliness finds also a counterpart in the saying ascribed to jesus, "blessed are the pure in heart." the cleanliness here referred to is doubtless not so much physical neatness as mental purity of thought--thought free from doubt and calumny and petty deceits and hypocrisy and selfishness and debasing perversions of the life forces; but during various stages of history we find that all teachings have their esoteric and their exoteric application. the law, as enunciated by moses, according to the jewish reports, laid much stress upon physical cleanliness, as an attribute of godhood. but moses, if we may credit reports, was something far more inspired and illumined than a mere physical culturist--commendable as is personal cleanliness--and his admonitions were the result of that fine sense of discrimination and enlightenment which comes from cosmic perception even if he had not experienced the deeper, fuller realization of liberation, of which buddha is a shining example. it is evident that the laws laid down by moses were taught and practised by the egyptians many many years prior to the time in which moses lived, which from the most reliable authorities, must have been about four to five hundred years before the exodus. this does not detract from the evidence that the great egyptian-hebrew, was a man of wonderful intellectual attainments, and from what we know of modern examples of illumination, he also possessed a degree of cosmic consciousness. the story of the seemingly miraculous birth of moses, and the mystery with which his ancestry is surrounded, is also typical of one who has attained to cosmic consciousness. the illumined one realizes his birthlessness and his deathlessness, and expresses it in symbolism, meaning of course, the realization that as the spirit is never born and can never die, the idea of age is an unreality--and should find no place in the consciousness of one who regards himself as an indestructible atom of the cosmos. but the evidences regarding the probable illumination of moses are to be found in the reports of his ascension of mt. sinai, and what occurred there. the phenomenon of the great light which is inseparable from instances of cosmic consciousness, and which gives to the phenomenon its name "illumination," was apparently marked in the case of moses. the "burning bush," which he describes is the experience of the mind when the illusion of sense has ceased, even temporarily, to obscure the mental vision. "and the angel of the lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire, and out of the midst of a bush; and he looked and behold, the bush burned with fire and the bush was not consumed." there is a subtler interpretation to this report than that usually given, even by those who realize that this expression is an evidence of the sudden influx of supra consciousness which attends the soul's liberation from the limits of sense consciousness. the "burning bush" is synonymous with the "tree of life" which is ever alive with the "fires of creation." all who realize liberation are endowed with the power to understand this symbol. for those who have not attained to this degree of consciousness, the esoteric meaning is necessarily hidden. the phenomenon of the strange mystical light which seems to enfold and bathe the illumined one, is concisely expressed in the case of moses. "and it came to pass, that when moses came down from mount sinai with the tablets of the testimony in hand, that moses wist not that the skin of his face shone, or sent forth beams by reason of his speaking with him. "and when aaron and all the children of israel saw moses behold! the skin of his face shone and they were afraid to come nigh him." again we find in the case of moses, a momentary fear of the phenomenon which he was experiencing, in the influx of light and the sound of the voice which seems to accompany the light. the interpretation given the words spoken, and the identity of the voice is ever dependent upon the time and character of the mind experiencing the illumination. thus moses claims to have heard the voice of the god of the hebrews, but the probabilities are, that the "voice" is the mental operations of the person experiencing the phenomenon of supra-consciousness, and this interpretation will vary with what professor james calls the "historical determination," i.e. it is dependent upon the age in which the illumined one lived, and upon the character of the impressions previously absorbed. this apparent difference of report, as to the identity of the "voice," is of small import. the salient point is that each person relating his experience has heard a _voice_ giving more or less explicit instructions and promises. in each instance it has been characterized as the voice of the god of their desire, _and adoration_. certainly, whatever may be our opinions as to whether god, as we understand the term, talked to moses, giving him such explicit commands as the great leader afterwards laid down to his people accompanied by the insurmountable barrier to dissent or discussion, "thus saith the lord," we can but admit that the prophet was possessed of intellectual power far in advance of his time, and his laws did indeed, save his people from self destruction, through uncleanliness and strife, and dense ignorance. the ten commandments have been the "word of god" to all men for lo! these many ages, and even jesus could but add one other commandment to those already in use: "another commandment give i unto you--_that ye love one another_." to sum up the evidences of cosmic consciousness, or illumination, as reported in the case of moses, we find: the experience of great light as seen on horeb. the "voice" which he calls the voice of "the lord." the sudden and momentary fear, and humility. the shining of his face and form, as though bathed in light. the subsequent intellectual superiority over those of his time. the perfect assurance and confidence of authority and "salvation." the desire for solitude, which caused him to die alone in the vale of moab. the intense desire to uplift his people to a higher consciousness. chapter viii gautama--the compassionate gautama, prince of the house of siddhartha, of the sakya class, was born in northern india in the township of kapilavastu, in the year b.c., according to the best authorities, as interpreted and reported by max muller. the japanese tradition agrees with this, practically, stating that o shaka sama (signifying one born of wisdom and love) was born as a kotai si, crown prince of the maghada country. we have the assurance that as a youth, gautama, like jesus, exhibited a serious mindedness and an insight into matters spiritual, which astonished and dumbfounded his hearers, and the sages who gave him respectful attention. some accounts even go so far as to state that at the very moment of his birth the young prince was able to speak, and that his words ascended "even to the gods of the uppermost brahma-world." divesting the traditions that surround the birth and early life of the world's great masters, of much that has been interpolated by a designing priesthood, we may yet conclude that a certain seriousness, and a deep sympathy with the sorrows of their fellowmen, would naturally characterize these inspired ones, even while they were still in their early youth. it is evident that the young prince siddhartha was subject to meditation and that these meditations led at times to complete trance. it is reported that one day while out riding in all the pomp and accoutrements of the son of a ruling king, he was visited by an angel (a messenger from the gods of devachan), and told that if he would lessen the sorrows of the world that he must renounce his right to his father's kingdom and go into the jungle, becoming a hermit, and devoting his life to fasting, prayer and meditation, in order to fit himself for the work of preaching the "way of liberation," which consisted of, first of all, to take no life; be pure in mind; be as the humblest, which latter admonition found little favor with the world of his personal environment where caste was and still is, a seemingly ineradicable race-thought. the sorrows of humanity weighed heavily upon his heart, and the superficialities of the wealthy and ostentatious court in which he lived, irked his outspoken and truth-loving spirit. surrounded, as he was, by wealth and ease, with time for contemplation and a mind given to philosophic speculation, the young prince found no sense of comfort or permanent satisfaction in his own immunity from want and sorrow. he pondered long upon the way to become freed from the "successive round of births and deaths," and thus pondering, he sought solitude in which to find his questions answered. fasting and penance have ever been the gist of the instruction given to those who would "find the way to god," and so to this end gautama fasted and prayed, and practised self-sacrifice. but the attainment of liberation was not easy, and siddhartha suffered long and practiced self-mortification assiduously, at length being rewarded; and "there arose within him the eye to perceive the great and noble truths which had been handed down; the knowledge of their nature; the understanding of their cause; the wisdom that lights the true path; the light that expels darkness." the terrible struggle which characterized the attainment of cosmic consciousness, by so many of the sages and saviours of history, is, we believe, clue to the fact that no one individual may hope to rise so immeasurably above the plane of the race-consciousness of his day and age, except through intense and overwhelming desire. gautama abandoned his heritage, his relatives, his wife to whom he was devoted, and his infant son, as we have previously stated, not because illumination is purchasable at so terrible a price, but because his desire to _know_ transcended all other desires, and in order to be free from the demands made upon him, he must of necessity, seek solitude. few examples of the attainment of cosmic consciousness are as complete and of such fullness, as that attained by buddha, and no instance which history affords has left so great an effect upon the world. it is estimated that at least one-third of the human race are buddhists. this is not saying that any such number of persons are like unto buddha, nor do we contend that this is any evidence that his message is greater or more fraught with truth than that of other illumined ones. the intelligent student of occultism in all its phases will arrive, sooner or later, at the inevitable conclusion that all illumined souls have seen and have taught the same fundamental truth. buddha was convinced that in the absolute, or first cause, there could be no sin and consequently no sorrow, and he persistently sought to inaugurate such systems of conduct and such a standard of morals as would lead the disciple back to godhood, or liberation from the "wheel of causation." to keep the mind pure and clean was the burden of his cry, well knowing that the mind is the fertile field wherein illusions of sense consciousness thrive. he says: "mind is the root (of evil); actions proceed from the mind. if anyone speak or act from a corrupt mind, suffering will follow, as the dust follows the rolling wheel." that we can not expect to escape the result of our thoughts and acts was ever a doctrine of buddha, albeit, he seems also to have sought to make clear to his disciples, the unreality of sin as a part of the indestructible "first cause." many buddhist sects interpret the doctrines of buddha to deny a belief in a future existence, in at least as far as identity is concerned, but this conception is not consistent with the most reliable reports, neither is it in keeping with the extreme peace and satisfaction which all illumined ones experience. if extinction of identity were the goal of illumination, it is inconceivable that the illumined ones should report the attainment of perfect satisfaction and bliss. besides, it is clearly stated that gautama told his disciples that he had already entered nirvana, while yet in the body. "my mind is free from passions; is released from the follies of the world. i have gained the victory," said lord buddha to his disciple ananda. it is also asserted that buddha appeared in his own "glorified body" to his disciples after his physical dissolution, plainly indicating that far from being swallowed up in the absolute, he had acquired godhood in his present body. detailing the advantages of a pure life, buddha said to his disciples: "the virtuous man rejoices in this world, and he will rejoice in the next; in both worlds has he joy. he rejoices, he exults, seeing the purity of his deed." again, alluding to a sage (rahan), buddha is reported to have said: "he is indeed blest, having conquered all his passions, and attained the state of nirvana." this alluded to the acquisition of _nirvana_ while still in the physical body. in other words, as we of this century understand the teaching, he had experienced cosmic consciousness. the modern version of the commandments of buddha are almost identical with those of the christian creed, and these commandments are, as we have previously observed, the same that moses laid down for the guidance of his people. that they were old before moses was born, is also more than problematical. it is also more than probable that buddha did not personally write the ethical code which we now find submitted as the "commandments of buddha," but that buddha merely emphasized them. these commandments are not, however, understood, by the intelligent buddhist as "sacred," in the sense that "god spoke unto buddha." moses doubtless assumed to have been divinely instructed in the law, although that supposition may be erroneous. he may have had in mind the same fundamental idea which all those expressing cosmic consciousness have had, that of being a mouthpiece of a higher power, rather than to attract to themselves any adulation or worship, as being specially divine. the "commandments," therefore, as translated and ascribed to modern buddhism, are an ethical and moral code for the _mortal_ consciousness, rather than a _formula_ for developing cosmic consciousness. these commandments are: --thou shalt kill no animal whatever, from the meanest insect up to man. --thou shalt not steal. --thou shalt not violate the wife of another. --thou shalt speak no word that is false. --thou shalt not drink wine, nor anything that may intoxicate. --thou shalt avoid all anger, hatred and bitter language. --thou shalt not indulge in idle and vain talk, but shall do all for others. --thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods. --thou shalt not harbor envy, nor pride, nor revenge, nor malice, nor the desire of thy neighbor's death or misfortune. --thou shalt not follow the doctrines of false gods. and the devotee is assured, even as in the christian creed, that "he who keeps these commandments, shall enter nirvana--the rest of buddha." but let it be understood that gautama, the lord buddha, did not formulate these commandments. neither are they considered as infallible formulæ, by the enlightened buddhist. they constitute the ethical and moral code of the undeveloped man in all ages of the world, and among all peoples. they had become traditional long before buddha came to interpret "the way of the gods." but gautama, like jesus, was an evolutionist, and not a revolutionist. he came "not to destroy, but to fulfill," and so buddha paid no attention to the code of morals as it stood, but merely contented himself with emphasizing the importance of unselfishness--purity of heart and mind, because he realized that the mental world is the trap of the soul, even as "the elephant is held tethered by a galucchi creeper." buddha taught the way of emancipation of the soul held in bondage by means of the illusions of _maya_, even as the elephant is held in captivity by so weak a thing as a galucchi creeper, which could be broken by a single effort. that many who keep the commandments are yet a long way from cosmic consciousness must be apparent to all. therefore we are justified in assuming that the mere keeping of the commandments will not bring about _mukti_. many a man follows the letter of the law, and escapes prison, but if he does this through fear of punishment, and not because of a desire to maintain peace that his neighbors may be benefited, then he is not keeping the spirit of the law at all, and his reward is a negative one. according to the most reliable authorities, buddha died in his eightieth year, having spent about fifty years in preaching, in healing the sick, in conversing with exalted beings in the heavenly worlds, and in leaving at will his physical body and visiting other worlds. buddha prophesied his coming dissolution, and expressed to his disciples, a hope that they would realize that he still lived, even when his physical body should have become ashes. as his last hour approached, buddha summoned his disciples, and after a moment's silent meditation, he addressed himself to ananda, his relative; as well as his favorite disciple, thus: "when i shall have disappeared from this state of existence, and be no longer with you, do not believe that the buddha has left you, and ceased to dwell among you. do not think therefore, nor believe, that the buddha has disappeared, and is no more with you." from these words, it is evident that the state of nirvana which buddha assured his followers that he had already attained, did not argue loss of identity, nor translation to another planet. nor is there anywhere in the sayings of buddha, rightly interpreted, any suggestion of expecting or desiring personal worship. this, the great sage particularly avoided, as indeed have all illumined ones. it is evident that gautama the buddha had experienced that divine influx of light and wisdom in which he sought for others the happiness he had gained for himself, and to this end he was eager to leave to his friends and disciples such rules of conduct of life as should aid them in attaining the divine peace that comes from illumination. but that he founded a religious system of worship of himself, is wholly unbelievable in the light of a study of comparative religions and the wisdom which illumination confers. to realize that one has attained to immortality, and claimed his birthright of godhood, is not synonymous with the claim to worship as the one eternal source of life. it is a part of human weakness to insist upon idealizing the personality of a teacher, and this tendency becomes in time merged into actual worship, whereas the teacher, if he or she be truly illumined, seeks only to inculcate the philosophy which will bring his faithful followers into a realization of cosmic consciousness. the points which characterize the person who has experienced a degree of illumination (entered into cosmic consciousness), were particularly evident in the life and character of gautama, the buddha. they may be summed up thus: a marked seriousness in youth. a great sympathy and compassion with the sorrows of others. a deep tenderness for all forms of life. a realization of the nothingness of caste and pomp and power. the firm conviction that he was instructed by angels. the wonderful magnetism and illumination of his person. the firm conviction of immortality--released from the "wheel of life" as he expressed it. the knowledge of when and where he was to pass out from the life of the body. the love of solitude and meditation. the intellectual power maintained even into old age. the unselfish desire to help others. great and never-failing sympathy with suffering, a divine patience, and insight into the hearts of all forms of life, earned for this great soul the name "buddha--the compassionate." chapter ix jesus of nazareth turning now to the next in order of the world's great masters, or illumined ones, we come to a consideration of jesus of nazareth, in whose name the great moral system of religion, called "christianity," is promulgated. it has been conclusively shown that the essential features of the present-day _system_ of religion, known as christianity, were instituted by paul rather than by jesus, and that the system itself, like buddhism, is the work of the followers of the great teacher, rather than that of the master. our present concern, however, is not with the system or method of the church, but with those historic facts which bear upon the question of the illumination of jesus, classifying him, not as an incarnate son of god, in the accepted theological interpretation, but in the light of cosmic consciousness. jesus the christ was born, according to the most reliable authorities, about six hundred years after gautama, the buddha. whether or not the nazarene was familiar with the buddhist doctrines or whether he spent the years of his life which are shrouded in mystery, in the inner temples of either thibet, india, persia, china, or other oriental country, will doubtless always be a disputed point among controversialists. the fact does not matter, either way. there is an encouraging similarity in the fundamentals of all religious precepts, arguing that when a teacher is really inspired, the truth makes friends with him or her. some writers on the subject of illumination give exact dates when the flash of cosmic consciousness came to the various teachers of the world, but these dates are problematical, and they are also inconsequential. that jesus was among those historic characters who had attained cosmic consciousness, there can be no possible doubt, even though his exact words will be disputed. enough has come down to us through the ages to prove the fact that jesus knew and taught the illusory character of external life (_maya_) and that he was himself absolutely certain of the "kingdom within," which he admonished his hearers to seek, rather than to live so much in the external. this he did because he well knew that constant dwelling in the external consciousness led not to liberation. _the light within_, was the substance of his cry, and that light, when perceived, leads to illumination of everything, both the within and the without. the transfiguration of jesus was undoubtedly the effect of his being in a supra-conscious state, a state of exaltation, in which many mystics enter at more or less frequent intervals, according to their mode of life, and their objective environment. "and he was transfigured before them; and his garments became exceedingly white," we are told in the gospels, and there are many persons in the world to-day possessing the power of the inner or clairvoyant vision (not identical with cosmic consciousness), who have witnessed similar phenomena. in the "sermon on the mount," we find that jesus spoke with such certainty and such authority, as one who had experienced the very essence of the cosmic conscious state, and was already freed from the illusions of the senses. his words, like those of all who have sought to give directions and instructions for the attainment of freedom from externality, are capable of interpretation in various ways, according to the degree of consciousness of the age in which the interpretations have been made. for example, we find these words of jesus given different meanings, and in fact, there have been many and diverse discussions and conclusions as to exactly what the master did mean by them: "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." let us examine the phrase, and see if it accords with our ideas of cosmic consciousness. to be "poor in spirit," is not consistent with our understanding of the requirements for the expansion of the soul. those who take this phrase literally, and who are opposed to religious concepts, as a factor in human betterment, are fond of using this phrase as an evidence of the fanaticism of jesus, and his concurrence in the worldly habit of exploiting the poor, and "riding the backs of the wage slaves," as our socialist brothers put it. now let us, for a moment, consider the phrase _as a person who possessed cosmic consciousness would have said it_. one possessing the cosmic sense, viewing the external more as a trap of the senses, than as realities, would readily perceive that to amass wealth (external possessions), the mind must be in harmony with the methods and the ideals of the world, rather than that it should be concentrated upon the "things of the spirit." this idea is expressed in the phrase, "no man can serve two masters," and while we are not prepared to say that the possession of worldly goods is absolutely _impossible_ to the attainment of cosmic consciousness--observation, reflection, and intuition will unite in the conclusion that they are more or less _improbable_. if then, we will interpret these sayings of jesus in the light of a broader outlook than was possible to the understanding of his chroniclers, we will find that what he doubtless said was: "_blessed in spirit_ are the poor, for theirs shall be the kingdom of heaven." and in his vision, which extended beyond the times in which he lived, and foresaw that the attainment of cosmic consciousness must involve a degree of physical hardship, he said: "blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." a survey of the world's progress will readily prove the fact that those who have bent their talents and their energies toward the uplift of the race, have done so under great stress, and in the face of persistent opposition. this opposition is an accompaniment to altruistic effort, for the very obvious reason that the race-thought of the world is still materialistic. the thoughts that predominate are commercial. this is due to the fact that those who are wealthy have large financial interests to maintain; business problems to solve; that take about all their time. the poor find the maintenance of physical existence a task that absorbs the greater part of their mortal mind, and therefore, those who are devoting their time and talents to the work of regeneration (the coming of the cosmic sense), are necessarily in the minority, and the majority rules in thought, as in act. the present metaphysical movement lays great stress upon worldly success and "attraction" of wealth, as an evidence of possession of power and truth, but the law of equation proves that we obtain _that which we most desire_. a religious system which amasses great wealth in a short time does so, only because its _dominant_ teaching inspires the desire for worldly advancement, as the _prime requisite_. the same is true of an individual, as of a system. not that the attainment of cosmic consciousness is absolutely impossible to a rich man, because a man may inherit riches and position and power, as in the case of prince siddhartha, the lord buddha; or he may have set in motion certain currents of desire for wealth, and later in life may change that desire, when naturally, the "business" he has created will follow the law which instigated it, and increasing wealth will result. but, let it be known, that buddha renounced all his possessions, and there are many instances to-day of renunciation of worldly life and wealth, in order to attain to that supreme consciousness in which the illumined one possesses all that he desires, even though he have but one coat to his back. let it not be thought that we mean to infer that god is partial to poverty, and that the rich man will be excluded from the attainment of the kingdom, merely because of his riches; but if riches be any man's aim, then assuredly he cannot "serve two masters" and it will not be possible for him to become illumined while in pursuit of worldly goods. jesus said: "it is easier for a camel to go through the needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." it is now thoroughly established that the "needle's eye" was the name given to a certain narrow and difficult pass through which camels bearing heavy burdens, could not find room to pass, and jesus sought to convey to his hearers the truth that persons bearing in their mental desires the load of many possessions, would hardly find room for the one supreme desire which would bring them into the kingdom (the possession of cosmic consciousness). but the most significant of the utterances of the illumined nazarene is the one in which he said: "except ye become as little children, ye can in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven." the possession of cosmic consciousness brings with it, invariably, the simplicity, the faith and _innocence_ of a little child. the child is pleased with natural pleasures, and does not know the worldly standard of valuation. and above all, the soul, while still attached to the physical body, is like a little child. the attainment of cosmic consciousness is possible only to one who has first "got acquainted with his soul"; when we are really soul-conscious we possess the innocence (not ignorance), of a little child, and we also possess a child's wisdom. we are, in other words, "as wise as the serpent and as harmless as the dove." wisdom brings with it harmlessness. the truly wise person would not wilfully harm any living thing; wisdom knows no revenge; no "eye for an eye" philosophy; makes no demands. and what may be considered the second most significant remark of the master _is_ this: "the kingdom of god cometh not with observation; neither shall they say lo, here; or lo, there, for lo, the kingdom of heaven is within you." jesus, although forced by the conventions of the time in which he taught to conform to the laws laid down by the scribes and pharisees, influenced by the strict views of the israelites, who honored the law laid down by moses and the prophets, still possessed cosmic consciousness to such an extent that he knew the folly of judging others by outward appearance, and also of promising them cosmic consciousness in return for obedience to prescribed rules or commandments. when it would seem to his critics that he did not sufficiently emphasize the traditional laws, that he was seemingly making it too simple and too easy for people to live, they sought to trap him into a statement that would oppose the accepted commandments. but this jesus steadfastly refused to do. "i came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it," he said. like all those who have experienced cosmic consciousness, his policy was one of construction, and not of destruction. evolution accomplishes peacefully what revolution seeks to do by force. jesus laid little stress upon the commandments as they stood. he neither sought to emphasize them, nor to criticise them. all that he said was: "a new commandment give i unto you: that ye love one another." all truly illumined minds have made love the basis of their teaching, well knowing that where true love reigns there can be no destruction. love conquers fear--the arch-enemy of mankind. love makes it impossible to harm the thing loved, and universal love would make it impossible, for one experiencing it, to consciously bring the slightest pain to any living thing. therefore jesus taught repeatedly the doctrine of love, and he made no new commandments other than this. it has been said that inasmuch as jesus laid greater emphasis upon this one great need than had any previous inspired teacher, he deserves greater honor. theologians whose purpose it is to promulgate the doctrine of christianity as superior to others, use this argument in support of their contention that jesus was the only true son of god. but this view will be recognized as prejudiced, and lacking in the very essentials taught and practiced by the christ. in the light of illumination, it will readily be perceived that all persons expressing any considerable degree of cosmic consciousness, have taught the same fundamental and simple truths, as witness the following: do as you would be done by.--_persian._ do not that to a neighbor which you would take ill from him.--_grecian_. what you would not wish done to yourself, do not unto others.--_chinese_. one should seek for others the happiness one desires for oneself.--_buddhist_. he sought for others the good he desired for himself. let him pass on.--_egyptian_. all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do you even so to them.--_christian_. let none of you treat his brother in a way he himself would dislike to be treated.--_mohammedan_. the true rule in life is to guard and do by the things of others as they do by their own.--_hindu_. the law imprinted on the hearts of all men is to love the members of society as themselves.--_roman_. whatsoever you do not wish your neighbor to do to you, do not unto him. this is the whole law. the rest is a mere exposition of it.--_jewish_. while it is probable that jesus gave no directions or methods of attainment, yet the records of his sayings give the clue to the character of his instruction to those of his students who were capable of understanding, particularly as shown in a recently discovered papyrus, authentically identified as belonging to the early christians. this-papyrus was discovered by egyptian explorers in . although the papyrus was more or less mutilated, the meaning is sufficiently clear to justify the translators in inserting certain words. however, we will here quote only such of the "sayings" as were decipherable, without having anything supplied by translators. evidently having been asked when his kingdom should be realized on earth he answered: "when ye return to the state of innocence which existed before the fall" (i.e., when manifestation will be perceived in its illusory character, and the soul freed from the enchantment of the mortal consciousness). "i am come to end the sacrifices and if ye cease not from sacrificing, the wrath shall not cease from you." this evidently corresponds to his saying, "they who use the sword, shall perish by the sword." the conclusion is obvious that hate and destruction beget their kind, and that love is the only power that can prevent the continuation of destruction. this may with equal logic, be applied to the sacrifice of animal and bird life for food, as well as the sacrifices of blood which formed a part of ancient ritual. his disciples said unto him: "when will thou be manifest to us, and when shall we see thee?" he saith: "when ye shall be stripped and not be ashamed." the time is near at hand, when the body will not be regarded as something vile and unworthy; something of which to be ashamed and to keep covered, as if god's handiwork were vile. in fact, the function of sex, from the extreme of ancient sex worship to the present extreme of sex degradation, shall soon be established in its rightful place. it is not the purpose of this book to deal with this important subject, so we will say no more here. nevertheless, this saying attributed to jesus, the christ, resurrected as it has been in this century, is timely. it is almost universally conceded that the time of the "second coming of christ" is already at hand. just what this second coming means, is interpreted differently by theologians, philosophers, scientists, poets and prophets, but there is a unanimous belief that the time is here and now. those who have the comprehension to read the signs of the times, are cheerfully expectant of radical changes in our attitude toward the function of sex and the divinity of love. "when the two shall be one, and the outside as the inside, and the male as the female, neither male nor female--these things if ye do, the kingdom of my father shall come." again, the meaning of these words depends upon the degree of illumination of the person reading them. they mean the present inevitable equality of the sexes, when each individual will count not as a mere man or a mere woman, but as an important factor in the world's redemption. or, it will appeal to a few as the promised time when every soul which has completed the circle, ended its karma, and claimed its god-hood, unites with the soul of its mate, the two blending into one perfect whole--the father-mother god of the new dispensation. again we find in these newly discovered papyri a phrase bearing upon this subject: to the question of salome: "how long shall death reign?" the lord answered: "as long as ye women give birth. for i am come to make an end to the works of the woman." then salome said to him: "then have i done well that i have not given birth?" to this the lord replied: "eat of every herb, but of the bitter one eat not." when salome asked when it shall be known what she asked, the lord said: "when you tread under foot the covering of shame, and when two is made one, and the male with the female, neither male nor female." "how be it, he who longs to be rich is like a man who drinketh sea water: the more he drinketh the more thirsty he becomes, and never leaves off drinking till he perish." "blessed is he who also fasts that he may feed the poor, for it is more blessed to give than to receive." "let thy alms sweat in thy hand until thou knowest to whom thou givest." it is not probable that any one who reads these words will make the mistake of assuming that jesus advised us to inquire into the character or the antecedents of the one on whom we are to bestow a gift. neither are we expected to ascertain whether he belongs to our "lodge" or not. if you give alms as though to an inferior; if you assume a self-righteous mind; if you give for hope of reward; then withhold your gift. in fact, unless you can realize that you are giving as though to yourself, keep your gift. it will do neither you nor the one receiving it, any good whatsoever. "good things must come. he is blessed through whom they come." this presages the coming of the kingdom of love on earth, as a foregone conclusion. yet, those who lend themselves _consciously_, as _servants_ of the cause--helpers in the establishment of the new order--are blessed. "love covereth a multitude of sins, so be not joyful save when you look upon your brother's countenance in love." "let not the sun go down upon your wrath, for the greatest of crimes is this: if a man shall sadden his brother's spirit." "for our possessions are in heaven; therefore, sons of men, purchase unto yourselves by these transitory things which are not yours, _what is yours_, and shall not pass away." for the lord has said in a mystery: "unless ye make the right as the left; the left as the right; the top as the bottom; and the front as the backward, ye shall not know the kingdom of god." "keep the flesh holy and the seal undented, that ye may receive eternal life." "if a man shall sadden his brother's spirit." this indeed is the greatest of all crimes, because out of man's inhumanity to man springs all the sin and sorrow of the world. "unless ye make the right as the left; the top as the bottom; the front as the backward." the meaning should be clear enough and the words are worthy of the illumined mind of jesus of nazareth. the great sin is separation; segregation; "my and mine" as opposed to "thee and thine." to the truly illumined one there can be no "mine," as distinct from another's. the sinner is no less my brother than is the saint. the beggar is as dear to me as is the rich man. every man is a king. there are no "chosen of god" to the one who has entered cosmic consciousness. "for our possessions are in heaven. use, therefore, the things of earth, while ye are living in the flesh (sons of men), in such a way and to such purpose that they will not enchain you in the maze of manifestation, and thereby require that you postpone your claim to immortality." this statement is distinct enough, as is also the one: "he who longs to be rich is like a man drinking sea water. the more he drinketh, the more thirsty he becomes and _never leaves off drinking until he perisheth_." the hypnotism of the external world is too well illustrated to need further comment. the man who enters upon the pursuit of worldly possessions; temporal power; personal ambition; thinking that when he shall have attained all these, then will he turn to the solution of the mystery of mysteries, finds himself caught in the trap of his desires, and he can not escape. he is under the spell of enchantment, wherein the unreal appears as real, and the real becomes the illusory. to sum up, the fragmentary accounts we have of the life and character of the man jesus are conclusive proof that he had entered into full realization of cosmic consciousness. like lord gautama, he appeared to his disciples after he had left the physical body, "glorified," as one who had taken on immortality. nor was there ever, it would appear, any doubt in the mind of jesus, of his right to godhood, while retaining, also, his self-consciousness. the intellectual superiority. the wonderful spiritual magnetism and attraction of his presence. the absolute, unwavering conviction of his mission, and of his immortality. the transfiguration, after his "temptation" and his prophetic vision. his great love and compassion for even his enemies. these are what made him indeed a christ. the term "christ" and the term "buddha" are synonymous. they both mean one who has entered into his godhood. one who has attained to cosmic consciousness, leaving forever the limitations of the lower self. chapter x paul of tarsus the system of worship known as christianity owes its systematic foundation to paul of tarsus. paul's sudden conversion from zealous persecution of the followers of jesus of nazareth to an equally zealous propaganda of the gospel of light, offers a perfect example of the peculiar oncoming of cosmic consciousness. paul evidently occupied a position of authority among the jews and it is equally probable that he was near the same age as jesus, as he is referred to as a "young man named saul" in bible accounts of the persecution of the early christians. his illumination occurred shortly after the crucifixion, probably within two or three years. in acts, chapter - , we read: "and saul was consenting unto his death (stephen). and at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at jerusalem and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of judea, and samaria, except the apostles. "and devout men carried stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. "as for saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and hailing men and women, committed them to prison. "and saul, yet breathing out threatenings, and slaughter against the disciples of the lord, went unto the high priest and desired of him letters to damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound, unto jerusalem. "and as he journeyed he came near unto damascus, and suddenly there shone round about him a light from heaven. "and he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him: 'saul, saul, why persecutest thou me?' "and he said: 'who art thou, lord?' and the lord said: 'i am jesus, whom thou persecutest; it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.' "and he trembling and astonished, said: 'lord, what wilt thou have me do?' "and the lord said unto him: 'arise and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.' "and the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no man. "and saul arose from the earth, and when his eyes were opened he saw no man; but they led him by the hand and brought him into damascus. "and he was three days without sight and neither did eat nor drink. "and there was a certain disciple at damascus, named ananias, and to him said the lord in a vision: 'ananias;' and he said: 'lord, behold, i am here.' and the lord said unto him: 'arise and go into the street called straight, and enquire in the house of judas for one called saul of tarsus; for behold, he prayeth. and hath seen in a vision a man named ananias coming in and putting his hand on him that he might receive his sight.' then ananias answered: 'lord, i have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done by thy saints at jerusalem. and here he hath authority from the high priests to bind all that call on thy name.' but the lord said unto him: 'go thy way; for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the gentiles, and kings, and children of israel. for i will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.' "and ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him, said: 'brother saul, the lord, even jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the holy ghost.' and immediately there fell from his eyes, as it had been scales; and he received sight forthwith, and arose and was baptized." like all those who have entered cosmic consciousness, paul sought the blessing of solitude, that he might readjust himself to his changed viewpoint, since he now saw things in the light of the larger consciousness. he says: "immediately i conferred, not with flesh and blood; neither went i up to jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but i went away into arabia; and again i returned unto damascus." the irresistible longing to get away from the sights and sounds of the external world, is one of the most characteristic phases of illumination. it is only in order that they may take up the work of bringing to others this great blessing that those who have entered into the larger consciousness, eventually bring themselves to enter the life of the world. thus, we find that paul's great desire to bring the light to others, took him again to damascus; and from the records we have of his utterances and his mode of living, we may gather some idea of the great change which illumination made in him. certain statements, which characterize all who possess cosmic consciousness, in any degree of fullness, emanate from the converted paul. he says: "i must needs glory though it is not expedient, but i will come to visions and revelations of the lord--for if i should desire to glory i shall not be foolish; for i shall speak the truth; but i forbear, lest any man should account of me above that which he seeth me to be, or heareth from me. and by reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations--wherefore that i should not be exalted overmuch, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of satan to buffet me." one of the characteristics of the illumined is a deep humility. this is not in any sense an abasement of the self; not in any sense a feeling that it is necessary to "bow down and worship;" nor yet a tinge of that nameless fear, which the carnal-minded self feels in the presence of exalted beings. it is a humility born of the desire to make every one know and feel a sense of kinship with him; he hesitates to reveal all that has been revealed to him, lest those who hear his words may think he is either "speaking foolishly," through egotism, or else that they may look upon him as a being superior, more exalted, than themselves. and a divine compassion and love for his fellow being characterizes the illumined. again, paul wishes to make clear the fact that he is still living in the physical body; living the life of a body, and until liberated from the conditions that influence the external world, he is himself subject to the lesser consciousness, and he does not want them to expect more of the personal self, than that personal self is capable of, under the conditions in which he lives. he desires no personal exaltation, or praise, therefore he hesitates to speak fully of his own revelations, but prefers to teach by reference to the experiences of others. nevertheless, he tries to make clear the fact that he is not merely preaching a "belief," which he has embraced because of doubt or fear, or because it is a creed. indeed, he is free from the "law" and is, therefore, not merely following a system, neither the old one which he has abandoned, nor a new one which he has accepted. he speaks from the "lord," which is no other than the highest authority that man may know--namely, the authority that comes from the realization of his own imperishable godhood--the effect of cosmic consciousness. he says: "for i make known to you brethren, as touching the gospel as preached by me, that it is not after man. for neither did i receive it from man, nor was i taught it, but it came to me through revelation of christ. "christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. but before faith came, we were kept inward under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. for ye are all sons of god through faith in christ. for with freedom did christ set us free." this we take to refer to his former adherence to, and belief in, the system of worship taught by the jews, as a necessary and probably the only "way of salvation" acceptable to god. he wishes his hearers to understand that he is not bound by adherence to any creed; neither the old one, nor yet the new one, but that what he preached came from the light of cosmic consciousness, in which there is no law, nor sense of law. cosmic consciousness gives to the illumined one a sense of freedom (christ means cosmic consciousness, and not a personality). cosmic consciousness confers, above all else, perhaps, a sense of freedom from every form of bondage. the duty and the obligations that bind the average person, are impossible to the cosmically conscious one. not that he displays indifference toward the welfare and the rights of others. far from that, he feels an added sense of responsibility for the irresponsible; an overwhelming compassion for the unfortunate, and a relationship greater than ever to mankind. but this sense of freedom causes him to do all _in love_, which he hitherto did because it was so "laid down in the law." again st. paul makes this plain: "the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance; against such as these there is no law--neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." when we are armored with the "fruit of the spirit," we have no need for rules of conduct; for methods of salvation; or for any of the bonds that are necessary to the merely sense-conscious man. plainly, paul recognized the fact that systems of religion, of philosophy, of rules and ethics of intercourse, are necessary only so long as man remains on the sense-conscious plane. when illumination comes, there comes with it absolute freedom. god does not want to be worshipped on bended knee; by rites and ceremonies; by obedience to commandments, but the undisciplined soul acquires power and poise through these exercises, and in time grows to the full stature of god-consciousness. nor is intellectual greatness to be confounded with the godlike character of the one who has attained to illumination. elsewhere in these pages we have made the distinction between knowledge and wisdom. knowledge alone can never bring a soul into the path of illumination. wisdom will point the way, but love is the unerring guide to the very goal. st. paul's expression of this fact is concise, and to the point. this observation alone, stamps him as one possessing a very high degree of realization of what cosmic consciousness is. "if any man thinketh that he is wise among you in this world, let him become a fool that he may become wise. for the wisdom of this world is foolishness to god." the worldly wise man or woman asks "how much do i get?" the truly wise person cares nothing at all for possessions. he only asks "how much can i give?" and although we find in the marts of commercialism a contempt for the gullible, and the credulous; the trusting and the confiding, let it be known that the "smart" bargainer will indeed smart for his smartness, for in the light of cosmic consciousness, this alleged "wisdom" of men, appears as utter foolishness; wasted effort; a perversion of opportunity. because "all these things shall pass away." love alone is imperishable. love alone is the savior of the human race, and whenever we fail to act from motives of love, we are disloyal to the light within us. again says st. paul: "if i speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, i am as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. "and if i have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if i have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, i am nothing. "and if i bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if i give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing. "_love never faileth_. "but whether there be prophecies they shall be done away; whether there be tongues they shall cease; whether there be knowledge it shall be done away. for we know in part and we prophecy in part, but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away." it must be remembered that in the days of st. paul the high priests and the prophets were accounted the wisest and most exalted persons in the community. the ability to prophecy presupposed a special favor of the god of the jews. st. paul's exposition of the changed viewpoint that comes to one who has entered into cosmic consciousness, was therefore aptly illustrated by his open avowal that there was a far greater power--a more exalted state of consciousness, than that of the gift of prophecy and of "knowing all mysteries;" that state of one in which love was the ruler, and in order that they might the more fully comprehend the simplicity, and yet the perfection, of this state of consciousness, he made clear the fact that no one truly who became "a new creature", as he characterized this change, ever exalted himself, or made high claims; or became exclusive, or "superior," or "holy," in the sense the latter word had been used. how, then, would they know when they had attained to this state of consciousness, of which he spoke, and which they but dimly understood? how might they know when they had found this great love that was to make them "a new creature"? first of all, they might know because: _love never faileth_. love suffereth long and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself; is not puffed up, does not behave unseemly; seeketh not its own; is not provoked; taketh not account of evil; rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; beareth all things; believeth all things; hopeth all things; endureth all things. in fact, _love never faileth_. love is always a safe guide. no matter what may be said to the contrary; no matter how much suffering it entails; no matter how seemingly fruitless the sacrifice; or how ungrateful the results, _love_ never faileth. how can it fail when we "seek not our own," but only love for love's own sake, without regard to compensation or gratitude? st. paul, with all who have expressed in any considerable degree this cosmic realization, seems to have expected a time, when cosmic consciousness should become so general, as to bring the kingdom of love upon earth. this corresponds to the millenium, which has always been prophesied, and which the present era fulfills, in all the "signs of the times" that were to usher in the dawn. moreover, the idea that there shall come a time when death shall be overcome, is a persistent part of every prophecy, and of every religious cult. in these days we find that science is speculating upon the probability of discovering a specific for senile death, as well as for the final elimination of death from disease and accidents. whether or not this is to be the manner of "overcoming the last enemy," the fact remains that the almost universally held idea of physical immortality has a basis in fact, which this postulate of science symbolizes. "for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortality must put on immortality, but when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 'death is swallowed up in victory.'" so said st. paul, and his words show clearly that before his time there had been a prophecy and belief in the final triumph of love over death, not as an article of faith, but as a common knowledge. st. paul speaks of the time when "we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. "and then come to the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to god, even the father; when he shall have abolished all rule, all authority, and all power." unquestionably, if all men on earth in the flesh and in the astral, were to come into the light of the cosmic consciousness, there would be no need for laws, for authority or power. the kingdom, which signifies the earth as a planet, would indeed be delivered to god, which means love, and "love never faileth." and while we admit that these words of st. paul may be applied to individual attainment of cosmic consciousness, and not refer to an era of earth life, in which the fruits of this larger consciousness are to be gathered in the physical, yet we maintain that the argument for such an hypothesis is strong indeed. he says: "for the earnest expectation of creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of god." for the term "sons of god" interpret "those who have attained cosmic consciousness," and we may readily parallel this with the many allusions to the earth's redemption, with which history is strewn. to "redeem" the earth is quite comparable with the idea of redeeming any part of the earth's surface--either as a nation, or as a tract of land--which is not yielding the best that it is capable of. in the cosmogony of the heavens, the planet earth may well be likened to a territory that has possibilities, but which needs cultivation; encouragement; work; to bring out its possibilities and make it a place of comfort and enlightenment. so we have been informed--and an understanding of deeper occultism will bear out the information--that this earth is being made a "fit habitation for the gods" (i.e., cosmically conscious beings, to whom love is the only authority necessary). paul clearly alludes to the redemption of the body, as well as the continuance of the life of the soul, when he says: "for the creation was subject to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of god. for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. and not only so, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the spirit, even we ourselves, waiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body." st. paul declared that even those who had glimpsed that wonderful illumination (which have the first fruits of the spirit), are not free from the travail of the sense-conscious world, until such time as the cycle has been completed, and those who "are already in christ, and then they that are christ's at his coming," shall have made possible the perfected creation, and brought about the reign of love on earth. so that, when a sufficient number of souls shall have attained to this illumination (cosmic consciousness), the "last enemy shall be overcome." that this present era gives promise of this hope, is evident. the attainment of cosmic consciousness brings with it immunity from reincarnation, as a necessity--as a law, but it does not provide against the coming of avatars--"sons of god," who are to "deliver creation from the bondage of corruption." this also is clearly stated by paul: "there is no condemnation to them that are in christ. for the law of the spirit of life in christ made me free from the law of sin and death." there never is any doubt in the minds of those who have attained cosmic consciousness, that they are spiritual beings and immortal--free from the law of karma; neither is there any thought of evil or of condemnation. they know that men are gods in embryo and that until they have been born into the cosmic consciousness--the realization of their _reality as spirit_, they must travail; but this sense-conscious state is not to be condemned any more than the child is to be condemned because it has not yet grown to adultship. the advice of st. paul himself was simple enough and straight-forward enough. it was devoid of all subtleties; free from complexity; free from fear, or haste, or doubt, or strife, while confidently awaiting the universal attainment of illumination. to the question as to what path to follow; what should be done to gain this great boon, if the law of the ancient hebrews was not to be followed in its literal significance, paul said: "whatsoever things are honest; whatsoever things are true; whatsoever things are just; whatsoever things are pure; whatsoever things are lovely; whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, _think on these things_." which is to say, do not seek the letter of the way of illumination. do not look for forms and ceremonies and rules and systems, but look for that which is clean and pure and good wherever it may be found. in st. paul we have fulfilled all the points that characterize those who have been blessed with the great illumination. his broad outlook upon humanity, which refused to see evil or to condemn where formerly he had been noted for his zeal in bringing to condemnation all whom he believed to be heretics; his conviction of immortality; his humility, as far as personal aggrandizement was concerned; the great light in which was revealed to him the truth; the annihilation of the idea of sin and death; the realization that systems and laws and methods of worship and giving of alms and all the by-paths which formerly he had deemed necessary, were as naught compared to the great illuminating, all-embracing power of love--the savior whose kingdom should sometime be established upon earth--the time being when cosmic consciousness should be general. chapter xi mohammed despite the fact that the followers of mohammed, the prophet, are among the most fanatical and prejudiced of all religious sects, mohammed himself was unquestionably among the illumined ones of earth, and had attained and retained a high degree of cosmic consciousness. the wars; the persecutions; the horrors that have been committed in the name of islam, are perhaps a little more atrocious than any in history although the unspeakable cruelties of the inquisition would seem to have no parallel. the religion of persia, wrongly alluded to as "fire-worship," marks zoroaster as among the illuminati, but as the present volume is concerned, in the religious aspect of it, only with those cases of illumination which we are classifying among the present great religious systems, we cite the case of mohammed, the arab, as one clearly establishing the characteristic points of illumination. when mohammed was born, in the early part of the fifth century, the condition of his countrymen was primitive in the extreme. the most powerful force among them was tribal or clan loyalty, and a corresponding hatred of, and readiness to make war with, opposing clans. although at the time of mohammed's birth, christianity had made great headway in different parts of the old world, it had made very little impress upon the arabs. they worshipped their tribal gods, and there are traces of a belief in a supreme god (allah ta-ala), but they were not as a race inclined to a deeply religious sentiment. one and all, whether given to superstitions or denying a belief in allah, they dreaded the dark after-life and although the different tribes made their yearly pilgrimages to mecca, and faithfully kissed the stone that had fallen from heaven in the days of adam, the inspiration of their ancient prophets had long since died, and a new prophet was expected and looked for. the yearly pilgrimage to mecca, which was at once the center of trade and the goal of the religious enthusiast, was observed by all the tribes of arabia, but it is a question whether the pilgrimage was not more often made in a holiday spirit than in that of the devotee to the _kaabeh,_ the most sacred temple in all arabia. indeed, it is agreed by all commentators, that the ancient arab, "in the time of ignorance," before the coming of mohammed, knew little and cared less about those spiritual qualities that look beyond the physical; not questioning, as did mohammed, what lies beyond this vale of strife, whose only exit is the dark and inscrutable face of death. besides the tribal gods, individual households had their special penates, to whom was due the first and the last salam of the returning or out-going host. but in spite of all this superstitious apparatus, the arabs were never a religious people. in the old days, as now, they were reckless, skeptical, materialistic. they had their gods and their divining arrows, but they were ready to demolish both if the responses proved contrary to their wishes. a great majority believed in no future life, nor in a reckoning day of good and evil. such, then, was the condition of thought among the various tribes when mohammed was born. it was not, however, until he was past forty years of age, that the revelations came to him, and although it was some time later that these were set down, together with his admonitions and counsel to his followers, it is believed that they are for the most part well authenticated, as the koran was compiled during mohammed's lifetime, and thus, in the original, doubtless represents an authentic account of mohammed's experiences. it is related that mohammed's father died before his son's birth and his mother six years later. thus mohammed was left to the care of his grandfather, the virtual chief of mecca. the venerable chief lived but two years and mohammed, who was a great favorite with his grandfather, became the special charge of his uncle, aboo-talib, whose devotion never wavered, even during the trying later years, when mohammed's persecutions caused the uncle untold hardships and trials. at an early age mohammed took up the life of a sheep herder, caring for the herds of his kinsmen. this step became necessary because the once princely fortune of his noble ancestors had dwindled to almost the extreme of poverty, but although the occupation of sheep herder was despised by the tribes, it is said that mohammed himself in later life often alluded to his early calling as the time when "god called him." at the age of twenty-five he took up the more desirable post of camel driver, and was taken into the employ of a wealthy kinswoman, khadeejeh, whom he afterwards married, although she was fifteen years his senior--a disparity in age which means far more in the east, where physical charm and beauty are the only requisites for a wife, than it does in the west where men look more to the mental endowments of a wife than to the fleeting charm of youth. it is also to mohammed's credit that his devotion to his first wife never wavered to the day of her death and, indeed, as long as he himself lived he spoke with reverence and deep affection of khadeejeh. we learn that the next fifteen years were lived in the usual manner of a man of his station. khadeejeh brought him wealth and this gave him the necessary time and ease in which to meditate, and the never-varying devotion and trust of his faithful wife brought him repose and the power to aid his impoverished uncle, and to be regarded among the tribes as a man of influence. his simple, unostentatious, and even ascetic life during these years was noted. he was known as a man of extremely refined tastes and sensitive though not querulous nature. a commentator says of him: "his constitution was extremely delicate. he was nervously afraid of bodily pain; he would sob and roar under it. eminently unpractical in the common things of life, he was gifted with mighty powers of imagination, elevation of mind, delicacy and refinement of feeling. "he is more modest than a virgin behind her curtain," it has been said of him. "he was most indulgent to his inferiors and would not allow his awkward little page to be scolded, whatever he did. he was most affectionate toward his family. he was very fond of children, and would stop them in the streets and pat their little cheeks. he never struck anyone in his life. the worst expression he ever made use of in conversation was: 'what has come to him--may his forehead be darkened with mud.' "when asked to curse some one he replied: 'i have not been sent to curse, but to be a mercy to mankind.' he visited the sick, followed any bier he met, accepted the invitation of a slave to dinner, mended his own clothes, milked his goats and waited upon himself. "he never withdrew his hand out of another's palm, and turned not before the other had turned. "he was the most faithful protector of those he protected, the sweetest and most agreeable in conversation; those who saw him were suddenly filled with reverence; those who came to him, loved him. they who described him would say: 'i have never seen his like, either before or after.' "he was, however, very nervous and restless withal, often low-spirited, downcast as to heart and eyes. yet he would at times suddenly break through these broodings, become gay, talkative, jocular, chiefly among his own." this picture corresponds with the temperament which is alluded to as the "artistic," or "psychic" temperament, and allowing that in these days there is much posing and pretense, we still must admit that the quality known as "temperament" is a psychological study suggesting a stage of development hitherto unclassified. it is said also, that in his youth mohammed was subject to attacks of catalepsy, evidencing an organism peculiarly "psychic." it is evident that mohammed regarded himself as one having a mission upon earth, even before he had received the revelations which announced him as a prophet chosen of allah, for he long brooded over the things of the spirit, and although he had not, up to his fortieth year, openly protested against the fetish worship of the kureysh, yet he was regarded as one who had a different idea of worship from that of the men with whom he came in contact. gradually, he became more and more inclined to solitude, and made frequent excursions into the hills, and in his solitary wanderings, he suffered agonies of doubt and self distrust, fearing lest he be self-deceived, and again, lest he be indeed called to become a prophet of god and fail in his mission. here in a cave, the revelation came. mohammed had spent nights and days in fasting and prayer beseeching god for some sign, some word that would settle his doubts and agonies of distrust and longing for an answer to life's riddle. it is related that suddenly during the watches of the night, mohammed awoke to find his solitary cave filled with a great and wondrous light out of which issued a voice saying: "cry, cry aloud." "what shall i cry?" he answers, and the voice answered: "cry in the name of thy lord who hath created; he hath created man from a clot of blood. cry--and thy lord is the most bountiful, who hath taught by the pen; he hath taught man that which he knew not." it is reported that almost immediately, mohammed felt his intelligence illuminated with the light of spiritual understanding, and all that had previously vexed his spirit with doubt and non-comprehension, was clear as crystal to his understanding. nevertheless, this feeling of assurance did not remain with him at that time, definitely, for we are told that "mohammed arose trembling and went to khadeejeh and told her what he had seen and heard; and she did her woman's part and believed in him and soothed his terror and bade him hope for the future. yet he could not believe in himself. was he not perhaps, mad? or possessed by a devil? were these voices of a truth from god? and so he went again on the solitary wanderings, hearing strange sounds, and thinking them at one time the testimony of heaven and at another the temptings of satan, or the ravings of madness. doubting, wondering, hoping, he had fain put an end to a life which had become intolerable in its changings from the hope of heaven to the hell of despair, when he again heard the voice: 'thou art the messenger of god and i am gabriel.' conviction at length seized hold upon him; he was indeed to bring a message of good tidings to the arabs, the message of god through his angel gabriel. he went back to his faithful wife exhausted in mind and body, but with his doubts laid at rest." with the history of the spread of mohammed's message we are not concerned in this volume. the fact that his own nearest of kin, those of his own household, believed in his divine mission, and held to him with unwavering faith during the many years of persecution that followed, is proof that mohammed was indeed a man who had attained illumination. if the condition of woman did not rise to the heights which we have a right to expect of the cosmic conscious man of the future, we must remember that eastern traditions have ever given woman an inferior place, and for the matter of that, st. paul himself seems to have shared the then general belief in the inferiority of the female. it is undeniable that mohammed's domestic relations were of the most agreeable character; his kindness and consideration were without parallel; his harem was made up for the most part of women who were refused and scorned by other men; widows of his friends. and the fact that the prophet was a man of the most abstemious habits argues the claim that compassion and kindness was the motive in most instances where he took to himself another and yet another wife. however, the points which we are here dealing with, are those which directly relate to mohammed's unquestioned illumination and the spirit of his utterances as contained in the ku-ran, corroborate the experience of buddha, of jesus, and of all whose illumination has resulted in the establishment of a religious system. mohammed taught, first of all, the fact of the one god. "there is no god but allah," was his cry, and, following the example, or at least paralleling the example of jesus, he "destroyed their idols" and substituted the worship of one god, in place of the tribal deities, which were a constant source of disputation among the clans. compare the following, which is one of the five daily prayers of the faithful muslim, with the lord's prayer as used in christian theology. "in the name of god, the compassionate--the merciful. praise be to god, the lord of the worlds, the compassionate, the merciful. the king of the day of judgment. thee do we worship and of thee do we beg assistance. guide us in the right way, the way of those to whom thou hast been gracious, not of those with whom thou art wroth, nor of the erring." mohammed never tired of telling his disciples and followers that god was "the very-forgiving." among the many and sometimes strangely varied attributes of god (the absolute), we find this characteristic most strongly and persistently dwelt upon--the ever ready forgiveness and mercifulness of god. every _soorah_ of the _kur-an_ begins with the words: "in the name of god, the compassionate, the merciful," but, even as jesus laid persistent emphasis upon the _love_ of god, and yet up to very recent times, christianity taught the _fear and wrath_ of god, losing sight of the one great and important fact that _god is love_, and that _love is god_, so the muslims overlooked the _real_ message, and the greatness and the power and the fearfulness of god, is the incentive of the followers of the illumined mohammed. the following extracts from the kur-an are almost identical with many passages in the holy scriptures of the christian, and are comparable with the sayings of the lord buddha. "god. there is no god but he, the ever-living, the ever-subsisting. slumber seizeth him not nor sleep. to him belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. who is he that shall intercede with him, save by his permission?" the muslim is a fatalist, but this may be due less to the teachings of the prophet than to the peculiar quality of the arab nature, which makes him stake everything, even his own liberty upon the cast of a die. the leading doctrine of the all-powerfulness of god seems to warrant the belief in fatalism--belief which offers a stumbling block to all theologians, all philosophers, all thinkers. if god is omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, how and where and in what manner can be explained the necessity of individual effort? this problem is not at all clear to the western mind, and it is equally obscure to that of the east. it is said of mohammed that when asked concerning the doctrine of "fatalism" he would show more anger than at any other question that could be put to him. he found it impossible to explain that while all knowledge was god's, yet the individual was responsible for his own salvation, by virtue of his good deeds and words. nevertheless, it is not unlikely that mohammed possessed the key to this seeming riddle; but how could it be possible to speak in a language which was totally incomprehensible to them of this knowledge--the language of cosmic consciousness? like jesus, who said: "many things i have to tell you, but you can not bear (understand) them now," so, we may well believe that mohammed was hard-pressed to find language comprehensible to his followers, in which to explain the all-knowingness and all-powerfulness of god, and at the same time, not have them fall into the error of the _fatal_ doctrine of fatalism. but throughout all his teachings mohammed's chief concern seemed to be to draw his people away from their worship of idols, and to this end he laid constant and repeated emphasis upon the one-ness of god; the all-ness, the completeness of the one god; always adding "_the compassionate_, the loving." this constant allusion to the all-ness of god is in line with all who have attained to cosmic consciousness. nothing more impresses the illumined mind, than the fact that the universe is one--uni--(one)--verse--(song)--one glorious harmony when taken in its entirety, but when broken up and segregated, and set at variance, we find discord, even as the score of a grand operatic composition when played in unison makes perfect harmony but when incomplete, is nerve-racking. like all inspired teachers, mohammed taught the end of the world of sense, and the coming of the day of judgment, and the final reign of peace and love. this may, of course, be interpreted literally, and applied to a life other than that which is to be lived on this planet, but it may also with equal logic be assumed that mohammed foresaw the dawn of cosmic consciousness as a race-endowment, belonging to the inheritors of this sphere called earth. in either event the ultimate is the same, whether the one who suffers and attains, comes into his own in some plane or place in the heavens, or whether he becomes at-one with god, the absolute love and power of the spheres, and "inherits the earth," in the days of the on-coming higher degree of consciousness, which we are here considering. that mohammed realized the nothingness of form and ritual, except it be accompanied by sincerity and understanding, is evident in the following: "your turning your faces _in prayer_, towards the east and the west, is not piety; but the pious is he who believeth in god, and the last day, and in the angels and in the scripture; and the prophets, and who giveth money notwithstanding his love of it to relations and orphans, and to the needy and the son of the road, and to the askers for the _freeing of slaves_; and who performeth prayer and giveth the alms, and those who perform their covenant when they covenant; and the patient in adversity and affliction and the time of violence. these are they who have been true; and these are they who fear god." parallel with the doctrine taught by buddha, and jesus, is the advice to overcome evil with good. in our modern metaphysical language, we must dissolve the vibrations of hate, by the power of love, instead of opposing hate with hate, war with war, revenge with revenge. mohammed expressed this doctrine of non-resistance thus: "turn away evil by that which is better; and lo, he, between whom and thyself was enmity, shall become as though he were a warm friend." "but none is endowed with this, except those who have been patient and none is endowed with it, except he who is greatly favored." mohammed meant by these words "he who is greatly favored," to explain that in order to see the wisdom and the glory of such conduct, one must have attained to spiritual consciousness. this was especially a new doctrine to the people to whom he was preaching, because it was considered cowardice to fail to resent a blow. pride of family and birth was the strongest trait in the arab nature. in furtherance of this doing good to others, we find these words: "if ye are greeted with a greeting, then greet ye with a better greeting, or at least return it; verily. god taketh count of these things. if there be any under a difficulty wait until it be easy; but if ye remit it as alms, it will be better for you." mohammed here referred to debtors and creditors; as he was talking to traders, merchants, men who were constantly buying and selling, this admonition was in line with his teaching, which was to "do unto others that which you would that they do unto you." in further compliance with his doctrine of doing good for good's sake mohammed said: "if ye manifest alms, good will it be; but if ye conceal them and give them to the poor, it will be better for you; and it will expiate some of your sins." alms-giving, as an ostentatious display among church members, was here given its rightful place. it is well and good to give openly to organizations, but it is better to give to individuals who need it, secretly and quietly to give, without hope, or expectation, or desire for thanks, or for reward, to give for the love of giving, for the sole wish to make others happy. this desire to bestow upon others the happiness which has come to them, is a characteristic of the cosmic conscious man or woman. it is comforting to know that mohammed, like buddha and the man of sorrows; and like sri ramakrishna, the saint of india, at length attained unto that peaceful calm that comes to one who has found the way of illumination. it is doubtless impossible for the merely sense-conscious person to form any adequate idea of the inward urge; the agony of doubts and questionings; the imperative necessity such a one feels, to _know_. the sense-conscious person reads of the lives of these men and wonders why they could not be happy with the things of the world. the temptation that we are told came to jesus in the garden, is typical of the state of transition from sense-consciousness to cosmic consciousness. the sense-conscious person regards the _things of the senses_ as important. he is actuated by ambition or self-seeking or by love of physical comfort or by physical activity, to _obtain_ the possessions of sense. to such as these, the agonies of mind; the physical hardships; the ever-ready forgiveness and the desire for peace and love of the illuminate seem almost weaknesses. therefore, they can not fully comprehend the satisfaction which comes to the one who has come into a realization of illumination, through the years of mental tribulation such as that endured by mohammed and jesus and buddha. we are told that the prophet repeatedly refuted the suggestion of his adoring followers that he was god himself come to earth. "it is wonderful," says one of his commentators, "with his temptations, how great a humility was ever is, how little he assumed of all the godlike attributes men forced upon him. his whole life is one long argument for his loyalty to truth. he had but one answer for his worshippers, 'i am no more than a man; i am only human.' * * * he was sublimely confident of this single attribute that he was the messenger of the lord of the daybreak, and that the words he spake came verily from him. he was fully persuaded that god had sent him to do a great work among his people in arabia. nervous to the verge of madness, subject to hysteria, given to wild dreaming in solitary places, his was a temperament that easily lends itself to religious enthusiasm." while it may be argued that mohammed did not possess cosmic consciousness in the degree of fullness which we find in the life of st. paul, for example, we must take into consideration the temperament of the arab, and the conditions under which he labored. but that he had attained a high degree of illumination is beyond dispute. this fact is evidenced by the following salient points characteristic of cosmic consciousness: a fine sensitive, highly-strung organization; a deep and serious thoughtfulness, especially regarding the realities of life; an indifference to the call of personal ambition; love of solitude and the mental urge that demands to know the answer to life's riddle. following the time of illumination on mount hara we find mohammed possessing a conviction of the truth of immortality and the goodness of god; we find him also with a wonderful power to draw people to him in loving service; and the irresistible desire to bring to his people the message of immortal life, and the necessity to look more to spiritual things than to the things of the flesh. added to this, we find mohammed changed from a shrinking, sensitive youth, given to much reflection and silent meditation, into a man with perfect confidence in his own mission and in his ultimate victory. chapter xii emanuel swedenborg while the swedenborgians, as a religious sect, are not numerically sufficient to be reckoned among the world's great religions, it is yet a fact that the followers of the great swedish seer and scientist hold a prominent place among the innumerable sects which the beginning of this century finds flourishing. swedenborg was born in stockholm, in january, , and lived to the advanced age of eighty-four years. swedenborg was well born; he was the son of a bishop of the swedish church, and during his lifetime held many positions of honor. he was a friend and adviser of the king, and his expert knowledge of mining engineering gave him a place among the scientists of his age. he was a voluminous writer, his early work being confined to the phases of materialistic science, notably on mines and metals, and later upon man, in his physiological aspect. his "de cerebro and psychologia rationales," published in his fifty-seventh year, showed a different swedenborg from the one to whom his colleagues were accustomed to refer with much respect. this book dealt with man, not as a product of brute creation, but as an evolutionary creature, having at least a possibility of divine origin. it is, however, his "arcana coelestia" upon which "the church of the new jerusalem" is founded; and it is this work which caused swedenborg's friends and colleagues to determine that he had become insane. it is, in fact, only within very recent years, that the so-called scientific world has deigned to regard swedenborg's revelations with any degree of serious and respectful attention. swedenborg's illumination was not, like that of so many others, who have founded a new religion, a sudden influx of spiritual consciousness, but rather a gradual leading up to the inevitable goal, by virtue of serious thought, deep study, and a high order of mentality. but that the swedish seer received, in full measure, the blessing of cosmic consciousness, is beyond doubt. swedenborg's extremely simple habits of life; his freedom from any desire for display, or for those social advantages into which he was born; his gentleness and unassuming manner, of which much is written by his followers, all point to him as one upon whom the blessing might readily descend. swedenborg was a vegetarian, but this seems not to be a necessary characteristic of those possessing illumination, although, when cosmic consciousness shall have become almost general, vegetarianism must inevitably come with it, as animal life will disappear from the earth. swedenborg, like many others who have perceived the cosmic light, evidently believed that he had been specially selected and consecrated for the work of the new church. that is, he took his illumination, not as an initiation into the higher degrees of cosmic truth, but as a special and personal revelation. this view characterizes those who founded a new, or a reformed religious system, while as a matter of truth, the light that comes is a part of the cosmic plan, and not, as swedenborg and others imagine, as a personal revelation. however, swedenborg considered himself a direct instrument in the hands of god, and god is alluded to as a personality. he believed that his great mission was to disclose the true nature of the bible, and to prove that it was actually the inspired word of god, having an esoteric meaning, which has wrongly been interpreted to apply to the creation of a material world, and to its history and its people, but that when understood, it explains clearly, the nature of god, and the nature of man, and their relation to each other. it should be remembered that at the time swedenborg wrote his theological works, the church had fallen into rank materialism and superstition. that swedenborg should have received his illumination, or revelation, direct from the lord, only serves to prove that the mortal consciousness clothes the revelation with whatever personality appeals to it, as having authority. thus, the angel gabriel was the dictator in the case of mohammed, and the "blessed mother" of the hindu reveals to them the vision of _mukti_. swedenborg says of his vision: "god appeared to me and said, 'i am the lord god, the creator and redeemer of the world. i have chosen thee to unfold the spiritual sense of the holy scriptures. i will myself dictate to thee what thou shalt write.'" in "the true christian religion," published shortly before his death he says: "since the lord can not manifest himself in person as has been shown, and yet he has foretold that he would come and establish a new church, which is the new jerusalem, it follows that he is to do it, by means of a man, who is able not only to receive the doctrines of this church with his understanding, but also to publish them by the press. that the lord has manifested himself before me, his servant, and sent me on this office, and that, after this, he opened the sight of my spirit, and thus let me into the spiritual world, and gave me to see the heavens and the hells and also to speak with spirits and angels, and this now continually for many years, i testify in truth; and also that, from the first day of that call, i have not received anything that pertains to the doctrines of that church from my angel, but from the lord alone, while i read the word." it is stated with great positiveness by swedenborg's followers, and indeed, apparently by the seer himself, if we may take as authoritative, the translations of his works, that the revelations accorded to him covered a period of many years, whereas, we find in most instances of cosmic consciousness, the illumined ones have alluded to some specific time, as the great event, even while claiming that the effect of this illumination remains indefinitely--in fact, forms a part of a wider area of consciousness which is ever increasing. but when we take the numerous instances of revelations, in which the devout ones firmly believe that they and they alone have been accorded the vision, we must realize that this phenomenon is impersonal, looked at as a favor to any one human being. by that we mean that illumination comes to every soul who has earned it, just as mathematically as the sun seems to set, after the earth has made its hourly journey. perhaps this comparison is not as clear as to say: when the normal child has grown to manhood or womanhood, his consciousness has widened, beyond that of the infant; not excluding that of the infant but inclusive of all hitherto acquired knowledge. without in any degree lessening the importance and the verity of swedenborg's visions, it may be assumed that his record of these visions and their meaning has partaken more or less of the limitations of mortal mind. spiritual consciousness can not be set down in terms of sense. the external world symbolizes spiritual truths; each interpreter must of necessity weave into his interpretation and attempt at finite expression of these truths, something of his own mortal consciousness; and this "mortal mind" consciousness is bound to partake of the time and age, and conditions of environment of the person who has experienced the revelation. making due allowance, therefore, for the impossibility of exact expression of any spiritual illumination, we find in the revelation of swedenborg exactly what we find in all who have attained to cosmic consciousness, namely, the absolute, confidential assurance of immortal life: the conviction that creation is under divine love and wisdom, administered by cosmic law and order, or justice, and the final "redemption" (i.e., evolution), of all men. in his "conjugal love," swedenborg touches upon the premise which we declare, as the foundation of all cosmic consciousness, namely the attainment of spiritual union with the "mate" which we believe to be inseparable from all creation; the reunited principle which we see expressed in the male and female, whether in plant, bird, animal, man, or angel; the "twain made one" which jesus declared would be the sign manual of the coming of his kingdom; that is, the coming of cosmic consciousness--the kingdom of pure and perfect love upon earth as it is in the heavens. in corinthians ( : ) we read: "for as the woman is of the man so is the man also of the woman; for the woman is not without the man, nor the man without the woman _in the lord_." which is to say, that in the attainment of cosmic consciousness (_in the lord_), the "twain are made one," and immortality (i.e., immunity from reincarnation) is gained, because of this union. god is a bi-sexual being. this fact is evidenced throughout all creation. to attain to immortality is to become as god. in this day and age of the world we have come into a realization of the father-mother idea of godhood, clearly and literally signifying the coming consciousness which is bi-sexual; male and female; perfect counterparts, or complements and through which alone, this earth can be made a "fit dwelling place for gods." this, too, is the message of the great seer swedenborg, as it relates to love, as it is, when rightly understood and interpreted, of all who have felt the blessing of perfection, as exemplified in illumination. the fundamental points of swedenborg's doctrine agree with those of all other illumined ones, who have founded a system of worship; a "way of illumination" it may be called; or in whose name such systems have been formed. that is, he testified to: a conviction of immortality; a realization of absolute justice, whereby all souls shall finally come into cosmic consciousness. an actual time when christ (the cosmic illumination) shall come to earth. a great and abiding love for and patience with the frailties of his sense-conscious fellow-beings; a transcendent desire to bestow upon all men, the blessing of cosmic consciousness. few if any, have ever attained a full and complete realization of cosmic consciousness and remained in the physical body. those who have attained and retained the highest degree of this glimpse of the paradise of the gods, find it practically impossible to describe or explain the sensations experienced, even though they are more convinced of the truth and the reality of this realm than of anything in the merely sense-conscious life. lastly, let us not lose sight of the all-important fact that no one system, creed, philosophy, or way of illumination will answer for all types and degrees of men. "all things work together for good" to those who have the keenness of vision which precedes the full attainment of cosmic consciousness, as well as to those who have grasped its full significance. the characteristic evidence of the potentiality of the present era of the world, is preeminently that of a desire for unity. this desire is expressed in all the avenues of external life; its inner meaning is obscured by commercialism and self-interest, as in trusts and labor unions, but it is there nevertheless--the symbol of the inner urge toward unity in consciousness. it is found in efforts at communism, and in allied reform movements. it is particularly evident in the breaking down of church prejudices. in these days a catholic priest and a jewish rabbi find it not only expedient but mutually helpful, to unite in the work of municipal reform; in the abolition of child labor; in all things that will bring a better state of existence into daily human life. the business man uses the phrase "let us get together on this" without knowing that he is expressing in terms of sense-consciousness, the urge of his own and his fellow beings' inner mind, which senses the fact of our unescapable brotherhood. all religious systems then, are good, as are all systems of philosophy. they are good because they are an attempt at bringing into the perspective of the mortal mind the reality of the soul and the soul life; the rule of the spiritually conscious ego over the physical body in order that we may now, in our present incarnation, claim immortality. chapter xiii modern examples of intellectual cosmic consciousness: emerson; tolstoi; balzac passing over the ancient philosophers, aristotle, albertus magnus, plotinus, marcus aurelius, pascal, socrates, plato, aspasia, and others, all of whom had glimpsed, if not fully attained, cosmic consciousness, we come to a consideration of those cases in our own day and age, in which this superior consciousness has found expression through intellectual rather than through religious channels. of these latter, no more illustrious example can be cited than that of ralph waldo emerson, the sage of concord. emerson's nature was essentially religious, but his religion was not of the emotional quality so often found among enthusiasts, and which is almost always openly expressed when this religious enthusiasm is not balanced by intellectuality. analysis is frequently a foe to inspiration, but there are fare instances where the intellect is of such a penetrating and extraordinary quality that it carries the power of analysis into the unseen; in fact what we habitually term the unseen is a part of the visible to this type of mind. true intellect is a natural inheritance, a karmic attribute. the spurious kind is the result of education, and it invariably has its limitations. it stops short of the finer vibrations of consciousness and denies the reality of the inner life of man--which inner life constitutes the _real_ to the character of intellect that penetrates beyond _maya_. of such a quality of intellect is that exemplified in emerson. no mere tabulator of facts was he, but a dissector of the causes back of all the manifestation which he observed and studied and classified with the mental power of a god. nor is there lacking ample proof that emerson experienced the phenomenon of the suddenness of cosmic consciousness--a degree of which he seems to have possessed from earliest youth. in his essay on nature, we find these words: "crossing a bare common in snow puddles at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence of special good fortune, i have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration. i am glad to the brink of fear." emerson here alluded to a feeling of fear, which seems to have been experienced during a certain stage by many of those who have entered into cosmic consciousness. this fear is doubtless due to the presence in the human organism of what we may term the "animal instinct," which is an inheritance of the physical body. this same peculiar phenomenon oppresses almost everyone when coming into contact with a new and hitherto untried force. a certain lady, who relates her experience in entering into the cosmic conscious state, says: "a certain part of me was unafraid, certain, secure and content, at the same time my mortal consciousness felt an almost overwhelming sense of fear." continuing, emerson says: "all mean egotism vanishes. i become a transparent eyeball; i am nothing; i see all; the currents of the universal being circulate through me; i am part or particle of god." emerson's powerful intellect would naturally describe such an experience in intellectual terms rather than, as in the instances heretofore recorded, in religious phraseology, but it must not be inferred that emerson was less religious, in the true sense, than was mohammed or st. paul. emerson lived in an age when orthodoxy flourished, and he and his associates of the transcendentalist cult, were regarded as non-religious, if not actually heretical. therefore, it is that emerson's keen intellect was brought to bear upon everything he encountered, not only in his own intimate experience but also in all that he read and heard, lest he be trapped into committing the error which he saw all about him, namely, of mistaking an accepted viewpoint as an article of actual faith. his way to the great light lay through the jungle of the mind, but he found the path clear and plain and he left a torchlight along the way. emerson fully recognized the illusory character of external life, and the eternal verity of the soul, as witness: "if the red slayer thinks he slays, or if the slain thinks he is slain, they know not well, the subtle ways, i keep and pass and turn again." horrible as is war, because of the spirit of hate and destruction it embodies and keeps alive, yet the fact remains that man in his soul knows that he can neither slay nor be slain by the mere act of destroying the physical shell called the body. it is inconceivable that human beings would lend themselves to warfare, if they did not know, as a part of that area of supra-consciousness, that there is a _something_ over which bullets have no power. this fact, regarded as a more or less vague _belief_ to the majority, becomes incontrovertible fact to the person who has entered cosmic consciousness. his view is reversed, and where he formerly looked from the sense-conscious plane forward into a _possible_ spiritual plane, he now gazes back over the path from the spiritual heights and sees the winding road that led upward to the elevation, much as a traveller on the mountain top looks back and for the first time sees all of the devious trail over which he has, climbed to his present vantage point. during the journey there had been many times when he could only see the next step ahead, and nothing but his faith in the assurance of his fellow men who had attained the summit of that mountain, could ever have sustained him through the perils of the climb, but once on the heights, his backward view takes in the details of the journey and sees not "through a glass darkly," but in the clear light of achievement. such is the effect of cosmic consciousness to the one who has seen the light. "one of the benefits of a college education," says emerson, "is to show the boy its little avail." does this imply that an unlettered mind is desirable? not necessarily, but there is a phase of intellectual culture that is detrimental while it lasts. it is as though one were to choke up a perfectly flowing stream which yielded the moisture to fertile lands, by filling the bed of the stream with rocks and sticks. the flow of the spiritual currents becomes clogged by the activities of the mind in its acquisition of mere knowledge, and before that knowledge has been turned into wisdom. the same truth is expressed in the aphorism "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing." it is dangerous because it chains the mind to the external things of life, whereas the totally unlettered (we do not use the term ignorant here) person will, if he have his heart filled with love, perceive the reality of spiritual things that transcend mere knowledge of the physical universe. beyond this plane of mortal mind-consciousness, which is fitly described as "dangerous," there is the wide open area of cosmic _perception_, which may lead ultimately to the limitless areas of cosmic consciousness. if, therefore, an education, whether acquired in or out of college, so whets the grain of the mind that it becomes keen and fine enough to realize that knowledge is valuable _only_ as it leads to real wisdom, then indeed it is a benefit; unless it does this, it is temporarily an obstruction. out of the lower into the higher vibration; out of sense-consciousness into cosmic consciousness; out of organization and limitations into freedom--the freedom of perfection, is the law and the purpose. this emerson with his clearness of spiritual vision, saw, and this premise he subjected to the microscopic lens of his penetrating intellect. in his essay on fate he says: "fate involves amelioration. no statement of the universe can have any soundness which does not admit its ascending effort. the direction of the whole and of the parts is toward benefit. behind every individual closes organization; before him opens liberty. * * * the better; the best. the first and worse races are dead. the second and imperfect races are dying out, or remain for the maturing of higher. in the latest race, in man, every generosity, every new perception, the love and praise he extorts from his fellows, are certificates of advance _out of fate into freedom_." this phrase, "out of fate into freedom," may be read to mean, literally, out of the bondage of the sense-conscious life which entails rebirth and continued experience, into the light of illumination which makes us free. further commenting, emerson says: "liberation of the will from the sheaths and clogs of organization which he has outgrown _is the end and aim of the world_ * * * the whole circle of animal life--tooth against tooth, devouring war, war for food, a yelp of pain and a grunt of triumph, until at last the whole menagerie, the whole chemical mass, is mellowed and refined _for higher use_ * * *" the sense of unity which is so inseparable from the cosmic conscious state, was always uppermost in emerson's mind. neither did he ever present as unity that state of consciousness that may be termed organization-consciousness--group-consciousness it is often called. he realized that the person who stands for individualism is much more than apt to recognize his indissoluble relationship with the cosmos. a perception of unity is a complement of individualism. that which, in modern metaphysical phraseology, is best termed "the absolute," was expressed by emerson as the over-soul, and this term meant something much greater, more unescapable than the anthropomorphic god of the church-goers. his assurance of unity with this divine spiritual essence was perfect. it savors more of what is termed the religious view of life than of the philosophic, but we contend that in the coming era of the cosmic conscious man, all life will be religious, in the true sense, and that there will be no dividing line between philosophy and worship, because worship will consist of living the life of the spiritual man, and not in any set forms or rites. bearing upon this we find emerson saying: "not thanks, not prayer, seem quite the highest or truest name for our communion with the infinite--but glad and conspiring reception--reception that becomes giving in its turn as the receiver is only the all-giver in part and in infancy. i cannot--nor can any man--speak precisely of things so sublime, but it seems to me the wit of man, his strength, his grace, and his tendency, his art, is the grace and the presence of god. it is beyond explanation. when all is said and done, _the rapt saint is found the only logician._ not exhortation nor argument becomes our lips, but paeans of joy and praise. but not of adulation; we are too nearly related in the deep of the mind to that we honor. it is god in us that checks the language of petition by a grander thought. in the bottom of the heart it is said, 'i am and by me, o child, this fair body and world of thine stands and grows; i am, all things are mine; and all mine are thine.'" we could quote passages from the essays ad infinitum, showing conclusively that the cosmic conscious plane had been attained and retained by this great philosopher--one of the first of the early part of the century, which has been prophesied as the beginning of the first faint lights of the dawn, but enough has been offered for our present purpose, that of establishing the salient points of the cosmic conscious man or woman, which points are the complete assurance of the eternal verity and indestructibility of the soul; of its ultimate and inevitable victory over _maya_ or the "wheel of causation"; and the joyousness and the sense of at-one-ness with the universe, which comes to the illumined one, bespeaking an unquenchable optimism and an utter destruction of the sense of sin--points which characterize all who have attained to this supra-conscious state of being. these points are all expressed repeatedly in all emerson's utterances and mark him as one of the most illumined philosophers, as he was one of the greatest intellects of the last century, or of any other century. leo tolstoi: russian philosopher a strange, lonely and wonderful figure was tolstoi, novelist, philosopher, socialist, artist and reformer. great souls are always lonely souls, estimated by sense-conscious humans. in the midst of the so-called pleasures and luxuries of the senses, a wise soul appears as barren of comfort as is a desert of foliage. without the divine optimism that comes from soul-consciousness, such a one could not endure the life of the body: without the absolute assurance that comes with cosmic consciousness, men like the late count tolstoi must needs die of soul-loneliness. from early childhood up to the time of his illumination tolstoi indulged in seriousness of thought. like mohammed, great and overpowering desire to fathom the mystery of death took possession of him. he was ever haunted by an excessive dread of the "darkness of the grave," and in his essay, "childhood," he describes with that wonderful realism, which characterizes all his works, the effect on a child's mind of seeing the face of his dead mother. this may be taken in a sense as biographical, although it is not probable that tolstoi here alludes to the death of his own mother as she died when he was too young to have remembered. he describes the scene in the words of irteniev: "i could not believe that this was her face. i began to look at it more closely, and gradually discovered in it the familiar and beloved features. i shuddered with fear when i became sure that it was indeed she, but why were the closed eyes so fallen in? why was she so terribly pale, and why was there a blackish mark under the clear skin on one cheek?" a terror of death, and yet a haunting urge that compelled him to be forever thinking upon the mystery of it, is the dominant note in every line of tolstoi's writings up to the time which he describes as "a change" that came over him. for example, when count leo was in his d year, his brother nicolai died. leo was present at the bedside and described the scene with the utmost frankness regarding its effect upon his mind; and again we note that awful fear and hopeless questioning which characterizes the sense-conscious man whose intellect has been cultivated to the very edge of the line which separates the self-conscious life from the cosmic conscious. this questioning, with the fear and dread and terror of death and of the "ceaseless round of births" and the cares and sorrows of existence was what drove prince siddhartha from his father's court and mohammed into the mountains to meditate and pray until the answer came in the light of illumination. it came to tolstoi through the very intensity of his powers of reason and analysis; through the sword-like quality of mental urge--a much more sorrowful path than the one through the simple way of love and service and prayer. his comments upon the death of his brother give us a vivid idea of the state of mind of the tolstoi of that age: "never in my life has anything had such an effect upon me. he was right (referring to his brother's words) when he said to me there is nothing worse than death, and if you remember that death is the inevitable goal of all that lives, then it must be confessed that there is nothing poorer than life. why should we be so careful when at the end of all things nothing remains of what was once nicolai tolstoi? suddenly he started up and murmured in alarm: 'what is this?' he saw that he was passing into nothingness." from the above it will be seen that the tolstoi of those days was a materialist pure and simple. "he saw that he was passing into nothingness," he said of his brother, as though there could be no question as to the nothingness of the individual consciousness that he had known as nicolai, his brother. this soul-harrowing materialism haunted tolstoi during all the years of his youth and early manhood, and threw him constantly into fits of melancholy and inner brooding. he could neither dismiss the subject from his mind, nor could he bring into the area of his mortal consciousness that serene contemplation and optimistic line of reasoning which marks all that emerson wrote. tolstoi's morbid horror of decay and death was not in any sense due to a lack of physical courage. it was the inevitable repulsion of a strong and robust animalism of the body, coupled with a powerful mentality--both of which are barriers to the "still small voice" of the soul, through which alone comes the conviction of the nothingness of death. a biographer says of tolstoi: "the fit of the fear of death which at the end of the seventies brought him to the verge of suicide, was not the first and apparently not the last and at any rate not the only one. he felt something like it fifteen years before when his brother nicolai died. then he fell ill and conjectured the presence of the complaint that killed his brother--consumption. he had constant pain in his chest and side. he had to go and try to cure himself in the steppe by a course of koumiss, and did actually cure himself. formerly these recurrent attacks of spiritual or physical weakness were cured in him, not by any mental or moral upheavals, but simply by his vitality, its exuberance and intoxication." the birth of the new consciousness which came to tolstoi a few years later, was born into existence through these terrible struggles and mental agonies, inevitable because of the very nature of his heredity and education and environment. although as we know, he came of gentle-folk, there was much of the russian peasant in tolstoi's makeup. his organism, both as to physical and mental elements, was like a piece of solid iron, untempered by the refining processes of an inherent spirituality. his never-ceasing struggle for attainment of the degree of cosmic consciousness which he finally reached was wholly an intellectual struggle. he possessed such a power of analysis, such a depth of intellectual perception, that he must needs go on or go mad with the strain of the question unanswered. to such a mind, the admonition to "never mind about those questions; don't think about them," fell upon dull ears. he could no more cease thinking upon the mysteries of life and death than he could cease respiration. nor could he blindly trust. he must _know_. nothing is more unescapable than the soul's urge toward freedom--and freedom can be won only by liberation from the bondage of illusion. tolstoi's friends and biographers agree that along about his forty-fifth year, a great moral and religious change took place. the whole trend of his thoughts turned from the mortal consciousness to that inner self whence issues the higher qualities of mankind. from a man who, although he was a great writer and a russian nobleman, was yet a man like others of his kind, influenced by traditionary ideas of class and outward appearance; a man of conventional habits and ideas; tolstoi emerged a free soul. he shook off the illusion of historical life and culture, and stood upon free, moral ground, estimating himself and his fellows by means of an insight which ignores the world's conventions and despises the world's standards of success. in short, tolstoi had received illumination and henceforth should he reckoned among those of the new birth. in his own words, written in , this change is described: "five years ago a change took place in me. i began to experience at first times of mental vacuity, of cessation of life, as if i did not know why i was to live or what i was to do. these suspensions of life always found expression in the same problem, 'why am i here?' and then 'what next?' i had lived and lived and gone on and on till i had drawn near a precipice; i saw clearly that before me there lay nothing but destruction. with all my might i endeavored to escape from this life. and suddenly i, a happy man, began to hide my bootlaces that i might not hang myself between the wardrobes in my room when undressing at night; and ceased to take a gun with me out shooting, so as to avoid temptation by these two means of freeing myself from this life. * * * "i lived in this way (that is to say, in communion with the people) for two years; and a change took place in me. what befell me was that the life of our class--the wealthy and cultured--not only became repulsive to me, but lost all significance. all our actions, our judgments, science, and art itself, appeared to me in a new light. i realized that it was all self-indulgence, and that it was useless to look for any meaning in it. i hated myself and acknowledged the truth. now it had all become clear to me." from this time on, tolstoi's life was that of one who had entered into cosmic consciousness, as we note the effects in others. desire for solitude a taste for the simple, natural things of life, possessed him. the primitive peasants and their coarse but wholesome food appealed to him. it was not a penance that tolstoi imposed upon himself, that caused him to abandon the life of a country gentleman for that of a hut in the woods. the penance would come to such a one from enforced living in the glare of the world's artificialities. cosmic consciousness bestows above all things a taste for simplicity; it restores the normal condition of mankind, the intimacy with nature and the feeling of kinship with nature-children. it is not our purpose here to enter into any detailed biography of these instances of cosmic consciousness. the point we wish to make is the fact that the birth of this new consciousness frequently comes through much mental travail and agonies of doubt, speculation and questioning; but that it is worth the price paid, however seemingly great, there can be no possible distrust. honore de balzac balzac should head this chapter, if we were considering these philosophers in chronological order, as balzac was born in , preceding emerson by a matter of four years. but balzac's peculiar temperament, might almost be classed as a religious rather than strictly intellectual example of cosmic consciousness. of the latter phase or expression of this "new" sense, as present-day writers frequently call it, emerson is the most perfect example, because he was the most balanced; the most literary, in the strict interpretation of the word. balzac's place in literature is due far more to his wonderful spiritual insight, and his powerful imagination, than to his intellectuality, or to literary style. but that he was an almost complete case of cosmic consciousness is evident in all he wrote and in all he did. his life was absolutely consistent with the cosmic conscious man, living in a world where the race consciousness has not yet risen to the heights of the spiritually conscious life. bucke comments upon his decision against the state of matrimony, because, as balzac himself declared, it would be an obstacle to the perfectibility of his interior senses, and to his flight through the spiritual worlds, and says: "when we consider the antagonistic attitude of so many of the great cases toward this relation (gautama, jesus, paul, whitman, etc.), there seems little doubt that anything like general possession of cosmic consciousness must abolish marriage as we know it to-day." balzac explains this seeming aversion to the marriage state _as we know it to-day_, in his two books, written during his early thirties, namely, louis lambert and seraphita. "louis lambert" is regarded as in the nature of an autobiography, since balzac, like his mouthpiece, louis, viewed everything from an inner sense--from intuition, or the soul faculties, rather than from the standard of mere intellectual observation, analysis and synthesis. this inner sense, so real and so thoroughly understandable to those possessing it, is almost, if not quite, impossible of description to the complete comprehension of those who have no intimate relationship with this inner vision. to the person who views life from the inner sense, the soul sense (which is the approach to, and is included in, cosmic consciousness), the external or physical life is like a mirror reflecting, more or less inaccurately, the reality--the soul is the gazer, and the visible life is what he sees. balzac expresses this view in all he says and does. "all we are is in the soul," he says, and the perfection or the imperfection of what we externalize, depends upon the development of the soul. it is this marvelously developed inner vision that makes marriage, on the sense-conscious plane, which is the plane upon which we know marriage as it is to-day, objectionable to balzac. his spirit had already united with its spiritual counterpart, and his soul sought the embodiment of that union in the flesh. this he did not find in the perfection and completeness which from his inner view he knew to exist. barriers of caste, or class; of time and space; of age; of race and color; of condition; may intervene between counterparts on the physical plane; nay, one may be manifesting in the physical body and the other have abandoned the body, but as there is neither time nor space nor condition to the spirit, this union may have been sought and found, and _reflected to_ the mortal consciousness, in which case marriage with anything less than the _one_ true counterpart would be unsatisfactory, if not altogether objectionable. with this view in mind, seraphita becomes as lucid a bit of reading as anything to be found in literature. seraphita is the perfected being--the god into which man is developing, or more properly speaking, _unfolding_, since man must unfold into that from which he started, but with consciousness added. everywhere, in ancient and modern mysticism, we find the assumption that god is dual--male and female. the old hebrew word for god is plural--elohim. humankind invariably and persistently, even though half-mockingly, alludes to man and wife as "one"; and men and women speak of each other, when married, as "my other half." that which persists has a basis in fact, and symbolizes the perfect type. what we know of marriage as it is to-day, proves to us beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the man-made institution of marriage does not make man and woman one, nor insure that two halves of the same whole are united. the highest type of men and women to-day are at best but half-gods, but these are prophecies of the future race, "the man-god whom we await" as emerson puts it. but that which we await is the man-woman-god, the perfected being, of whom balzac writes in seraphita. it has been said that madame hanska, whom the author finally married only six months previous to his death, was the original of seraphita, but it would seem that this great affection, tender and enduring as it was, partook far more of a beautiful friendship between two souls who knew and understood each other's needs, than it did of that blissful and ecstatic union of counterparts, which everywhere is described by those who have experienced it, as a sensation of _melting or merging into_ the other's being. seraphita is the embodiment, in human form, of the _idea_ expressed in the world-old belief in a perfected being; whose perfection was complete when the two halves of the _one_ should have found each other. the inference is very generally made that balzac believed in and sought to express the idea of a bi-sexual individual--a _personality_ who is complete in himself or herself _as a person_; one in which the intuitive, feminine principle and the reasoning, masculine principle had become perfectly balanced--in short, an androgynous human. this idea is apparently further substantiated by the fact that seraphita was loved by minna, a beautiful young girl to whom seraphita was always seraphitus, an ideal lover; and by wilfrid, to whom seraphita represented his ideal of feminine loveliness, both in mind and body; a young girl possessing marvelous, almost miraculous, wisdom, but yet a woman with human passions and human virtues--his ideal of wifehood and motherhood. but whatever the idea that balzac intended to convey, whether, as is generally believed, seraphita was an androgynous being, or whether she symbolized the perfection of soul-union, our contention is that this union is not a creation of the imagination, but the accomplishment of the plan of creation--the final goal of earthly pilgrimage; the raison d'etre of love itself. one argument against the idea that seraphita was intended to illustrate an androgynous being, rather than a perfected human, who had her spiritual mate, is found in the words in which she refused to marry wilfrid, although balzac makes it plainly evident that she was attracted to wilfrid with a degree of sense-attraction, due to the fact that she was still living within the environment of the physical, and therefore subject to the illusions of the mortal, even while her spiritual consciousness was so fully developed as to enable her to perceive and realize the difference between an attraction that was based largely upon sense, and that which was of the soul. wilfrid says to her: "have you no soul that you are not seduced by the prospect of consoling a great man, who will sacrifice all to live with you in a little house by the border of a lake?" "but," answers seraphita, "i am loved with a love without bounds." and when wilfrid with insane anger and jealousy asked who it was whom seraphita loved and who loved her, she answered "god." at another time, when minna, to whom she had often spoken in veiled terms of a mysterious being who loved her and whom she loved, asked her who this person was, she answered: "i can love nothing here on earth." "what dost thou love then?" asked minna. "heaven" was the reply. this obscurity and uncertainty as to what manner of love it was that absorbed seraphita, and who was the object of it, could not have been possible had it been the usual devotion of the _religeuse_. seraphita, whose consciousness extended far beyond that of the people about her, could not have explained to her friends that the invisible realms were as real to her as the visible universe was to those with only sense-consciousness. it was impossible to explain to them that she had found and knew her mate, even though she had not met him in the physical body. to wilfrid she said she loved "god." to minna she used the term "heaven," and when minna questioned: "but art thou worthy of heaven when thou despisest the creatures of god?" seraphita answered: "couldst thou love two beings at once? would a lover be a lover if he did not fill the heart? should he not be the first, the last, the only one? she who loves will she not quit the world for her lover? her entire family becomes a memory; she has no longer a relative. the lover! she has given him her whole soul. if she has kept a fraction of it, she does not love. to love feebly, is that to love? the word of the lover makes all her joy, and quivers in her veins like a purple deeper than blood; his glance is a light which penetrates her; she dissolves in him; there, where he is, all is beautiful; he is warmth to the soul: he irradiates everything; near him could one know cold or night? he is never absent; he is ever within us; we think in him, to him, for him. minna, that is the-way i love." and when minna, like wilfrid, "seized by a devouring jealousy," demanded to know "whom?" seraphita answered, "god." this she did because the one whom she loved became her god. we are told that "love makes gods of men." perfect love, the love of those who are spiritual-mates--soul-mates--the "man-woman-god whom we await," becomes an immortal: and immortals are gods. moreover if seraphita had intended to teach the love of the religious devotee to the absolute instead of a perfected sex-love, she would not have pointed out to both wilfrid and minna that which she, in her superior vision, her supra-consciousness, perceived, namely, that wilfrid and minna were really intended for spiritual mates, and that what they each saw in her was really a prophecy of their own perfected and spiritualized love. the subject is one that is positively incomprehensible and unexplainable to the average mind. all mystic literature, when read with the eyes of understanding, exalts and spiritualizes sex. the latter day degeneration of sex is the "trail of the serpent," which woman is to crush with her heel. and woman is crushing it to-day, although to the superficial observer, who sees only surface conditions, it would appear as though woman had fallen from her high estate, to take her place on a footing with man. this view is the exoteric, and not the esoteric, one. they who have ears hear the inner voice, and they who have eyes see with the inner sight. the mystery of sex is the eternal mystery which each must solve for himself before he can comprehend it, and when solved eliminates all sense of sin and shame; brings illumination in which everything is made clear and makes man-woman immortal--_a_ god. swedenborg's theory of heaven as a never-ending honeymoon in which spiritually-mated humans dwell, has been denounced by many as "shocking" to a refined and sensitive mind. but this idea is shocking only because even the most advanced minds are seldom illumined, their advancement being along the lines of intellectual research and _acquired knowledge_, which, as we have previously explained, is not synonymous with _interior wisdom_. the illumined mind is bound to find in the eternal and ever-present fact of sex, the key to the mysteries--the password to immortal godhood. the subject is one that cannot be set forth in printed words; this fact is, indeed, the very plan of illumination. it cannot be _taught_. it must be _found_. only those who have glimpsed its truth can even imperfectly point the way in which it _may_ be discovered. no teacher can guarantee it. it is the most evanescent, the most delicate, the most indescribable thing in the cosmos. it is therefore the most readily misinterpreted and misunderstood. balzac doubtless understood, not as a matter of perception of a truth but as an experience, and this fact, if no other, marks him as one having a very high degree of cosmic consciousness. seraphita called herself a "specialist." when minna inquired how it was that seraphitus could read the souls of men, the answer was: "i have the gift of specialism. specialism is an inward sight that can penetrate all things; you will understand its full meaning only through comparison. in the great cities of europe works are produced by which the human hand seeks to represent the effects of the moral nature as well as those of the physical nature, as well as those of the ideas in marble. the sculptor acts on the stone; he fashions it; he puts a realm of ideas into it. there are statues which the hand of man has endowed with the faculty of representing the whole noble side of humanity, or the evil side of it; most men see in such marbles a human figure and nothing more; a few older men, a little higher in the scale of being, perceive a fraction of the thoughts expressed in the statue; but the initiates in the secrets of art are of the same intellect as the sculptor; they see in his work the whole universe of thought. such persons are in themselves the principles of art; they bear within them a mirror which reflects nature in her slightest manifestations. well, so it is with me; i have within me a mirror before which the moral nature, with its causes and its effects, appears and is reflected. entering thus into the consciousness of others i am able to divine both the future and the past * * * though what i have said does not define the gift of specialism, for to conceive the nature of that gift we must possess it." this describes in terms similar to those employed by others who possess cosmic consciousness, the results of this inner light, which seraphita calls a "mirror." and yet, with this seemingly exhaustive and lucid exposition of the effects of illumination, seraphita declares that "to conceive the nature of this gift we must possess it." balzac further comments upon what he terms this gift of specialism, which is cosmic consciousness or illumination, thus: "the specialist is necessarily the loftiest expression of man--the link which connects the visible to the superior worlds. he acts, he sees, he feels through his _inner being_. the abstractive _thinks_. the instinctive simply _acts_. hence three degrees for man. as an instinctive he is below the level; as an abstractive he attains it; as a specialist he rises above it. specialism opens to man his true career; the infinite dawns upon him--he catches a glimpse of his destiny." the merely sense-conscious man is the man-animal; the abstractive man is the average man and woman in the world to-day--the human who is evolving out of the mental into the spiritual consciousness. the specialist is the cosmic conscious one, the one who "catches a glimpse of his destiny." balzac, in company with all who attain cosmic consciousness, had a great capacity for suffering; and this soul-loneliness became crystalized into spiritual wisdom, which he expressed in the words and in the manner most likely to be accepted by the world. how else can that divine union to which we are heirs and for which we are either blindly, consciously, or supra-consciously, striving, be described and exploited without danger of defilement and degeneracy, save and except by the phrase "unity with god"? all mystics have found it necessary to veil the "secret of secrets," lest the unworthy (because _unready_) defile it with his gaze, even as the sinful devotee prostrates himself hiding his face, while the priest raises the chalice containing the holy eucharist in the ceremony of the mass. chapter xiv illumination as expressed in the poetical temperament poetry is the natural language of cosmic consciousness. "the music of the spheres" is a literal expression, as all who have ever _glimpsed_ the beauties of the spiritual realms will testify. "poets are the trumpets which sing to battle. poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world," said shelley. not that all poets are aware, in their mortal consciousness, of their divine mission, or of their spiritual glimpses. the outer mind, the mortal or carnal mind--that part of our organism whose office it is to take care of the physical body, for its preservation and its well-being, may be so dominant as, to hold in bondage the _atman_, but it can not utterly silence its voice. thus the true poet is also a seer; a prophet; a spiritually-conscious being, for such time, or during such phases of inspiration, as he becomes imbued with the spirit of poetry. a person who writes rhymes is not necessarily a poet. so, too, there are poets who do not express their inspirations according to the rules of metre and syntax. between that which balzac tabulated as the "abstractive" type of human evolvement and that which is fully cosmic in consciousness, there are many and diverse degrees of the higher faculties; but the poet always expresses some one of these degrees of the higher consciousness; indeed some poets are of that versatile nature that they run the entire gamut of the emotional nature, now descending to the ordinary normal consciousness which takes account only of the personal self; again ascending to the heights of the impersonal fearlessness and unassailable confidence that is the heritage of those who have reached the full stature of the "man-god whom we await"--the cosmic conscious race that is to be. all commentators upon modern instances of illumination unite in regarding walt whitman as one of the most, if not _the most_, perfect example of whom we have any record of cosmic consciousness and its sublime effects upon the character and personality of the illumined one. whitman is a sublime type for reasons which are of first importance in their relation to character as viewed from the ideals of the cosmic conscious race-to-be. moralists have criticized whitman as immoral; religionists have deplored his lack of a religious creed; literary critics have denied his claim to high rank in the world of literature; but walt whitman is unquestionably without a peer in the roundness of his genius; in the simplicity of his soul; in the catholicity of his sympathy; in the perfect poise and self-control and imperturbability of his kindness. his biographers agree as to his never-failing good nature. he was without any of those fits of unrest and temperamental eccentricities which are supposed to be the "sign manual" of the child of the poetic muse. in whitman it would seem that all those petty prejudices against any nationality or class of men, were entirely absent. he exalted the common-place, not as a pose, nor because he had given himself to that task, but because to him there was no common-place. in the cosmic perception of the universe, everything is exalted to the plane of _fitness_. as to the pure all things are pure, so to the one who is steeped in the sublimity of divine illumination, there is no high or low, no good or bad, no white or black, or rich or poor; all--all is a part of the plan, and, in its place in cosmic evolution, it _fits_. whitman cries: "all! all! let others ignore what they may, i make the poem of evil also, i commemorate that part also; i am myself just as much evil as good, and my nation is, and i say there, is in fact no evil." compared to the religious aspect of cosmic consciousness in which, previous to the time of illumination, the devotee had striven to rise to spiritual heights through disdaining the flesh, this note of whitman's is a new note--the nothingness of evil as such; the righteousness of the flesh and the holiness of earthly, or human, love, bespeaks the prophet of the new dispensation; the time hinted of by jesus, the master, when he said, "when the twain shall be one and the outside as the inside," as a sign and symbol of the blessed time to come when the kingdom he spoke of (not his personal kingdom, but the kingdom which he represented, the kingdom of love), should come upon earth. whitman's illumination is essentially poetic; not that it is not also intellectual and moral; but after his experience--at least an experience more notable than any hitherto recorded by him, in or about his thirty-fifth year--we find his conversation invariably reflecting the beauty and poetical imagery of his mind. he may be said to have lived and moved and had his being in a state of blissful unconsciousness of anything unclean or impure, or unnatural. this absence of _consciousness of evil_ is in no wise synonymous with a type of person who _exalts_ his undeveloped animal tendencies under the guise of liberation from a sense of sin. neither is this discrimination easy of attainment to any but those who _realize_ in their own hearts the very distinct difference between the nothingness of sin and the pretended acceptance of perversions as purity. while we are on this point we must again emphasize the truth that cosmic consciousness cannot be gained by prescription; there is no royal road to _mukti_. liberation from the lower _manas_ can not be bought or sold, it can not be explained or comprehended, save by those to whom the attainment of such a state is at least _possible_ if not _probable_. illustrative of his sense of unity with all life (one of the most salient characteristics of the fully cosmic conscious man), are these lines of whitman's: "voyaging to every port, to dicker and adventure; hurrying with the modern crowd, as eager and fickle as any; hot toward one i hate, ready in my madness to knife him; solitary at midnight in my back yard, my thoughts gone from me a long while; walking the hills of judea, with the beautiful gentle god by my side; speeding through space--speeding through heaven and the stars." oriental mysticism tells us that one of the attributes of the liberated one is the power to read the hearts and souls of all men; to feel what they feel; and to so unite with them in consciousness that we _are_ for the time being the very person or thing we contemplate. if this be indeed the test of godhood, whitman expresses it in every line: "the disdain and calmness of olden martyrs; the mother condemned for a witch, burnt with dry wood, her children gazing on; the hounded slave that flags in the race, leans by the fence, blowing, covered with sweat; the twinges that sting like needles his legs and neck--the murderous buckshot and the bullets; all these i feel, or am." seeking to express the sense of knowing and especially of _feeling_, and the bigness and broadness of life, the scorn of petty aims and strife; in short, that interior perception which illumination brings, he says: "have you reckoned a thousand acres much? have you reckoned the earth much? have you practised so long to learn to read? have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of poems? stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of all poems; you shall possess the good of the earth and sun--there are millions of suns left; you shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the spectres in books; you shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me; you shall listen to all sides, and filter them from yourself. i have heard what the talkers were talking, the talk of the beginning and the end; but i do not talk of the beginning nor the end. * * * * * "there was never any more inception than there is now; nor any more youth or age than there is now; and will never be any more perfection than there is now, nor any more heaven or hell than there is now." a perception of eternity as an ever-present reality is one of the characteristic signs of the inception of the new birth. birth and death become nothing more nor yet less, than events in the procedure of eternal life; age becomes merely a graduation garment; god and heaven are not separated from us by any reality; they become every-day facts. whitman tells of the annihilation of any sense of separateness from his soul side, in the following words: "clear and sweet is my soul, and clear and sweet is all that is not my soul." he did not confound his mortal consciousness, the lower _manas_, with the higher--the soul; neither did he recognize an impassable gulf between them. while admittedly ascending to the higher consciousness from the lower, whitman refused to follow the example of the saints and sages of old, and mortify or despise the lower self--the manifestation. he had indeed _struck the balance_; he recognized his dual nature, each in its rightful place and with its rightful possessions, and refused to abase either "i am" to the other. he literally "rendered unto cæsar the things that are cæsar's," by claiming for the flesh the purity and the cleanliness of god's handiwork. in whitman, too, we find an almost perfect realization of immortality and of blissfulness of life and the complete harmony and unity of his soul with _all there is_. following closely upon the experience that seems to have been the most vivid of the many instances of illumination which he enjoyed throughout a long life, he wrote the following lines, indicative of the emotions immediately associated with the influx of illumination: "swiftly arose and spread around me, the peace and joy and knowledge that pass all the art and argument of earth; and i know that the hand of god is the elder hand of my own, and i know that the spirit of god is the eldest brother of my own, and that all the men ever born are also my brothers, and the women my sisters and lovers, and that a kelson of creation is love." in lines written in , about seven years after the first vivid instance of the experience of illumination which afterward became oft-recurrent, whitman speaks of what he calls "perfections," and from what he writes we may assume that he referred to those possessing cosmic consciousness, and the practical impossibility of describing this peculiarity and accounting for the alteration it makes in character and outlook. says whitman: "only themselves understand themselves, and the like of themselves, as souls only understand souls." it has been pointed out that whitman more perfectly illustrates the type of the coming man--the cosmic conscious race, because whitman's illumination seems to have come without the terrible agonies of doubt and prayer and mortification of the flesh, which characterize so many of those saints and sages of whom we read in sacred literature. but it must not be inferred from this that whitman's life was devoid of suffering. a biographer says of him: "he has loved the earth, sun, animals; despised riches, given alms to every one that asked; stood up for the stupid and crazy; devoted his income and labor to others; according to the command of the divine voice; and was impelled by the divine impulse; and now for reward he is poor, despised, sick, paralyzed, neglected, dying. his message to men, to the delivery of which he devoted his life, which has been dearer in his eyes (for man's sake) than wife, children, life itself, is unread, or scoffed and jeered at. what shall he say to god? he says that god knows him through and through, and that he is willing to leave himself in god's hands." but above and beyond all this, is the sense of oneness with all who suffer which is ever a heritage of the cosmic conscious one, even while he is, at the same time, the recipient of states of bliss and certainty of immortality, and melting soul-love, incomprehensible and indescribable to the non-initiate. whitman's calm and poise was not that of the ice-encrusted egotist. it is the poise of the perfectly balanced man-god equally aware of his human and his divine attributes; and justly estimating both; nor drawing too fine a line between. "i embody all presence outlawed or suffering; see myself in prison, shaped like another man, and feel the dull unintermitted pain. * * * * * "for me the keepers of convicts shoulder their carbines and keep watch; it is i left out in the morning, and barr'd at night. not a mutineer walks handcuffed to jail, but i am handcuffed and walk by his side; * * * * * "not a youngster is taken for larceny, but i go up too, and am tried and sentenced. not a cholera patient lies at the last gasp but i also lie at the last gasp; my face is ash-colored--my sinews gnarl--away from me people retreat. * * * * * "askers embody themselves in me, and i am embodied in them; i project my hat, sit shame-faced and beg." if any one imagines that whitman was not a religious man, let him read the following: "i say that no man has ever yet been half devout enough; none has ever yet adored or worshipped half enough; none has begun to think how divine he himself is, and how certain the future is." there is a sublime confidence and worship in these words which belittles the churchman's hope and prayer that god may be good to him and bless him with a future life. whitman's philosophy, less specific as to method, is assuredly more certain, more faithful in effect. whitman had the experience of being immersed in a sea of light and love, so frequently a phenomenon of illumination; he retained throughout all his life a complete and perfect assurance of immortality. his sense of union with and relationship to all living things was as much a part of him as the color of his eyes and hair; he did not have to remind himself of it, as a religious duty. he experienced a keen joy in nature and in the innocent, childlike pleasures of everyday things, and at the same time possessed a splendid intellect. all consciousness of sin or evil had been erased from his mind and actually had no place in his life. alfred, lord tennyson in the case of lord tennyson, we have a definite recognition of two distinct states of consciousness, finally culminating in a clear experience of cosmic consciousness; this experience was so positive as to leave no doubt or indecision in his mind regarding the reality of the spiritual, and the illusory character of the external life. in truth tennyson had so fixed his consciousness in the spiritual rather than in the external, that he looked out from that inner self, as through the windows of a house; he was prepared, as he said, to believe that his body was but an imaginary symbol of himself, but nothing and no one could persuade him that the real tennyson, the _i am_ consciousness of being which was he, was other than spiritual, eternal, undying. like so many others, notably whitman, who have realized a more or less full degree of cosmic consciousness, tennyson was deeply and reverently religious, although not partisanly connected with church work. tennyson's early boyhood was marked by experiences which usually befall persons of the psychic temperament. as he himself described these states of consciousness, they were moments in which the ego transcended the limits of self consciousness and entered the limitless realm of spirit. they do not tabulate with the ordinary trance condition of the spiritualistic medium, who subjects his own self consciousness to a "control," although tennyson always believed that the best of his writings were inspired by, and written under "the direct influence of higher intelligences, of whose presence he was distinctly conscious. he felt them near him and his mind was impressed by their ideas." the point which we emphasize is that these peculiar states of consciousness are not synonymous with the western idea of trance as seen in mediumship, although tennyson uses the term "trance" in describing them. he says: "a kind of walking trance i have frequently had, quite up from boyhood, when i have been all alone. this has often come upon me through repeating my own name to myself silently until all at once, as it were, out of the intensity of the consciousness of individuality, the individuality itself seemed to dissolve and fade into boundless being." it is a fact that children of a peculiarly sensitive or psychic temperament seem to have strange ideas regarding the name by which they are called, and not infrequently become confused and filled with an inexplicable wonderment at the sound of their own name. this phenomenon is much less rare than is generally known. in tennyson's "ancient sage" this experience of entering into cosmic consciousness is thus described: "more than once when i sat all alone, revolving in myself, the word that is the symbol of myself, the mortal limit of the self was loosed, and passed into the nameless, as a cloud melts into heaven. i touched my limbs; the limbs were strange, not mine; and yet no shade of doubt, but utter clearness, and thro' loss of self the gain of such large life as matched with ours were sun to spark--unshadowable in words. themselves but shadows of a shadow-world." tennyson's illumination is certain, clearly defined, distinct and characteristic, although his poems are much less cosmic than those of whitman and of many others. there is, however, in the above, all that is descriptive of that state of consciousness which accompanies liberation from the illusion--the _enchantment_ of the merely mortal existence. words are, as tennyson fitly says, but "shadows of a shadow-world"; how then may we hope to define in terms comprehensible to sense-consciousness only, emotions and experiences which involve loss of _self_, and at the same time gain of the _self_? tennyson's frequent excursions into the realm of spiritual consciousness while still a child, bears out our contention that many children not infrequently have this experience, and either through reserve or from lack of ability to explain it, keep the matter to themselves; generally losing or "outgrowing" the tendency as they enter the activities of school life, and the mortal mind becomes dominant in them. this is especially true of the rising generation, and we personally know several clearly defined instances which have been reported to us, during conversations upon the theme of cosmic consciousness. yone noguchi any one who has ever had the good fortune to read a little book of verse entitled "from the eastern seas," by yone noguchi, a young japanese, will at once pronounce them a beautiful and perhaps perfect example of verse that may be correctly labeled "cosmic." noguchi was under nineteen years of age when he penned these verses, but they are thoughts and expressions possible only to one who lives the greater part of his life within the illumination of the cosmic sense. they are so delicate as to have little, if any, of the mortal in them. it is also significant that noguchi in these later years (he is now only a little past thirty), does not reproduce this cosmic atmosphere in his writings to such an extent, due no doubt to the fact that his daily occupation (that of professor of languages in the imperial college of tokio), compels his outer attention, excluding the fullness of the inner vision. the following lines, are perfect as an exposition of spiritual consciousness in which the lesser self has become submerged: "underneath the shade of the trees, myself passed into somewhere as a cloud. i see my soul floating upon the face of the deep, nay the faceless face of the deepless deep-- ah, the seas of loneliness. the silence-waving waters, ever shoreless, bottomless, colorless, have no shadow of my passing soul. i, without wisdom, without foolishness, without goodness, without badness--am like god, a negative god at least." the almost perpetual state of spiritual consciousness in which the young poet lived at this time is apparent in the following lines: "when i am lost in the deep body of the mist on a hill, the universe seems built with me as its pillar. am i the god upon the face of the deep, nay-- the deepless deepness in the beginning?" and the following, possible of comprehension only to one who has glimpsed the eternal verity of man's spiritual reality, and the shadow-like quality of the external; could have been written only by one freed from the bonds of illusion: "the mystic silence of the moon, gradually revived in me immortality; the sorrow that gently stirred was melancholy-sweet; sorrow is higher far than joy, the sweetest sorrow is supreme amid all the passions. i had no sorrow of mortal heart: my sorrow was one given before the human sorrows were given me. mortal speech died from me: my speech was one spoken before god bestowed on me human speech. there is nothing like the moon-night when i, parted from the voice of the city, drink deep of infinity with peace from another, a stranger sphere. there is nothing like the moon-night when the rich, noble stars and maiden roses interchange their long looks of love. when i raise my face from the land of loss unto the golden air, and calmly learn how perfect it is to grow still as a star. there is nothing like the moon-night when i walk upon the freshest dews, and amid the warmest breezes, with all the thought of god and all the bliss of man, as adam not yet driven from eden, and to whom eve was not yet born. what a bird dreams in the moonlight is my dream: what a rose sings is my song." the true poet does not need individual experiences of either sorrow or of joy. his spirit is so attuned to the song of the universe; so sympathetic with the moans of earthly trials, that every vibration from the heart of the universe reaches him; stabs him with its sorrow, or irradiates his being with joy. jesus is fitly portrayed to us as "the man of sorrows"; even while we recognize him as a self-conscious son of god--an immortal being fully aware of his escape from enchantment, and his heirship to paradise. cosmic consciousness bestows a bliss that is past all words to describe and it also quickens the sympathies and attunes the soul to the vibrations of the heart-cries of the struggling evolving ones who are still travailing in the pains of the new birth. we must be willing to endure the suffering _in order that we may realize_ the joy; not because joy is the reward for suffering, but because it is only by losing sight of the personal self that we become aware of that inner self which is immortal and blissful; and when we become aware of the reality of that inner self, we know that we are united with _the all_, and must feel with all. it would be impossible in one volume to enumerate all the poets who have given evidence of supra-consciousness. as has been previously pointed out, all true poets are at least temporarily aware of their dual nature--rather, one should say, the dual phases of their consciousness. many, perhaps, do not function beyond the higher planes of the psychic vibrations, but even these are aware of the reality of the soul, and the illusion of the sense-conscious, mortal life. dante; the brownings; shelley; swinbourne; goethe; milton; keats; rosetti; shakespeare; pope; lowell--where should we stop, did we essay to draw a line? wordsworth wordsworth, the poet of nature has given us in his own words, so clearly cut an outline of his illumination, that we can not resist recording here the salient points which mark his experience as that of cosmic consciousness, transcending the more frequent phenomenon of soul-consciousness and its psychic functions. wordsworth's ode to immortality epitomizes the lesson of the yoga sutras--out of the absolute we come, and return to immortal bliss with consciousness added. wordsworth also affords an excellent example of our contention that cosmic consciousness does not come to us at any specific age or time. wordsworth distinctly says that as a child he possessed this faculty, as for example his oft-repeated words, both in conversation and in his biography: "nothing was more difficult for me in childhood than to admit the notion of death, as a state applicable to my own being. it was not so much from feelings of animal vivacity that my difficulty came, as from a sense of the indomitableness of the spirit within me. i used to brood over the stories of enoch and elijah, and almost to persuade myself that, whatever might become of others, i should be translated, in something of the same way, to heaven. with a feeling congenial to this, i was often unable to think of external things as having external existence, and i communed with all that i saw as something not apart from, but inherent in, my own immaterial nature. many times while going to school have i grasped at a wall or tree, to recall myself from this abyss of idealism to the reality." in later life, wordsworth lost the realization of this supra-consciousness, in what a commentator calls a "fever of rationalism"; but the power of that wonderful spiritual vision, pronounced in his youth, could not be utterly lost and soon after he reached his thirtieth year, he again becomes the spiritual poet, fully conscious of his higher nature--the cosmic conscious self. william sharp--"fiona macleod" a pronounced instance of the two phases of consciousness, is that of the late william sharp, one of the best known writers of the modern english school. it was not until after the death of william sharp, that the secret of this dual personality was given to the public, although a few of his most intimates had known it for several years. in the "memoirs" compiled by elizabeth sharp, wife of the writer, we find the following: "the life of william sharp divides itself naturally into two halves: the first ends with the publication by william sharp of 'vistas,' and the second begins with 'pharais,' the first book signed _fiona macleod_." in these memoirs, the point is made obvious that _fiona macleod_ is not merely a _nom de plume_; neither is she an obsessing personality; a guide or "control," as the spiritualists know that phenomenon. _fiona macleod_, always referred to by william sharp as "she," is his own higher self--the cosmic consciousness of the spiritual man which was so nearly balanced in the personality of william sharp as to _appear_ to the casual observer as another person. it is said that the identity of _fiona macleod_, as expressed in the manuscript put out under that name, was seldom suspected to be that of william sharp, so different was the style and the tone of the work of these two phases of the same personality. in this connection it may be well to quote his wife's opinion regarding the two phases of personality, answering the belief of yeats the irish poet that he believed william sharp to be the most extraordinary psychic he ever encountered and saying that _fiona macleod_ was evidently a distinct personality. in the memoirs, mrs. sharp comments upon this and says: "it is true, as i have said, that william sharp seemed a different person when the fiona mood was on him; but that he had no recollection of what he said in that mood was not the case--the psychic visionary power belonged exclusively to neither; it influenced both and was dictated by laws he did not understand." mrs. sharp refers to william sharp and fiona, as two persons, saying that "it influenced both," but both sides of his personality rather than both personalities, is what she claims. in further explanation she writes: "i remember from early days how he would speak of the momentary curious 'dazzle in the brain,' which preceded the falling away of all material things and precluded some inner vision of great beauty, or great presences, or some symbolic import--that would pass as rapidly as it came. i have been beside him when he has been in trance and i have felt the room throb with heightened vibration." one of the "dream-visions" which william sharp experienced shortly before his last illness, is headed "elemental symbolism," and was recorded by him in these beautiful words: "i saw self, or life, symbolized all about me as a limitless, fathomless and lonely sea. i took a handful and threw it into the grey silence of ocean air, and it returned at once as a swift and potent flame, a red fire crested with brown sunrise, rushing from between the lips of sky and sea to the sound as of innumerable trumpets." "in another dream he visited a land where there was no more war, where all men and women were equal; where humans, birds and beasts were no longer at enmity, or preyed on one another. and he was told that the young men of the land had to serve two years as missionaries to those who lived at the uttermost boundaries. 'to what end?' he asked. 'to cast out fear, our last enemy.' in the house of his host he was struck by the beauty of a framed painting that seemed to vibrate with rich colors. 'who painted that?' he asked. his host smiled, 'we have long since ceased to use brushes and paints. that is a thought projected from the artist's brain, and its duration will be proportionate with its truth.'" in explanation of why he chose to put out so much of the creative work of his brain under the signature of a woman, and how he happened to use the name _fiona macleod_, sharp explained that when he began to realize how strong was the feminine element in the book _pharais_, he decided to issue the book under a woman's name and _fiona macleod_ "flashed ready-made" into his mind. "my truest self, the self who is below all other selves must find expression," he explained. the self that is _above_ the other self is what he should have said. the following extracts are from the _fiona macleod_ phase of william sharp and are characteristic of the self, as evidenced in all instances of illumination, particularly as these expressions refer to the nothingness of death, and the beauty and power of love. "do not speak of the spiritual life as 'another life'; there is no 'other life'; what we mean by that, is with us now. the great misconception of death is that it is the only door to another world." this testimony corroborates that of whitman as well as of st. paul, notwithstanding all the centuries that separate the two. st. paul did not say that man _will have_ a spiritual body, but that he _has_ a spiritual body as well as a corporeal body. after the experience of his illumination, william sharp, writing as _fiona macleod_ constantly testified to the ever-present reality of his spiritual life; a life far more real to him than the sense-conscious life although he alluded to it as his dream. in one place he says: "now truly, is dreamland no longer a phantasy of sleep, but a loveliness so great that, like deep music, there could be no words wherewith to measure it, but only the breathless unspoken speech of the soul upon whom has fallen the secret dews." of the impossibility of adequately explaining the mystery of illumination and the sensations it inspires, he says, speaking through the self of _fiona macleod_: "i write, not because i know a mystery, and would reveal it, but because i have known a mystery and am to-day as a child before it, and can neither reveal nor interpret it." this is comparable with whitman's "when i try to describe the best, i can not. my tongue is ineffectual on its pivots." another sentence from _fiona_: "there is a great serenity in the thought of death, when it is known to be the gate of life." like all who have gained the great blessing, the revelation to the mind of that higher self, that _we are_, william sharp suffered keenly. the despair of the world was his, co-equal with the joy of the spirit. indeed, his is at once the gift and the burden of the illuminati. mrs. mona caird said of him: "he was almost encumbered by the infinity of his perceptions; by the thronging interests, intuitions, glimpses of wonders, beauties, and mysteries which made life for him a pageant and a splendor such as is only disclosed to the soul that has to bear the torment and revelations of genius." the burden of the world's sorrow; the longings and aspirations of the soul that has glimpsed, or that has more fully cognized the realms of the spirit which are its rightful home; are ever a part of the price of liberation. the illumined mind sees and hears and feels the vibrations that emanate from all who are travailing in the meshes of the sense-conscious life; but through all the sympathetic sorrow, there runs the thread of a divine assurance and certainty of profound joy--a bliss that passes comprehension or description. mrs. sharp, in the final conclusion of the _memoirs_ says "to quote my husband's own words--ever below all the stress and failure, below all the triumph of his toil, lay the _beauty of his dream_." in accordance with an oft-repeated request, these lines are inscribed on the iona cross carved in lava, which marks the grave wherein is laid to rest the earthly form of william sharp: "farewell to the known and exhausted, welcome the unknown and illimitable." and this: "love is more great than we conceive, and death is the keeper of unknown redemptions." they are from his higher self; from the illumined "dominion of dreams." chapter xv methods of attainment: the way of illumination oriental philosophies recognize four important methods of yoga. yoga is the word which signifies "uniting with god." from what has gone before in these pages, the reader will understand that unity with god means to us, the uncovering of the god-nature within or above, the human personality; it means the attainment and retainment in _fullness_ of cosmic consciousness. we do not believe that any one retains full and complete realization of cosmic consciousness and remains in the physical body. the numerous instances to which we allude in former chapters, are at best, but temporary flights into that state, which is the goal of the soul's pilgrimage, and the only means of escape from the "ceaseless round of births and deaths" which so weighed upon the heart of gautama. the paths of yoga then, are the methods by which the mind, in the personal self, is made to perceive the reality of the higher self, and its relation to the supreme intelligence--the absolute. the various methods or paths are pointed out, but no one, nor all of these paths guarantees illumination as a _reward_ for diligence. that which is in the _heart_ of the disciple is the key that unlocks the door. these paths are called: _karma yoga; raja yoga; gnani yoga; bhakti yoga_. _karma yoga_ is the path of cheerful submission to the conditions in which the disciple finds himself, believing that those conditions are his because of his needs, and in order that he may fulfill that which he has attracted to himself. the admonition "whatever thy hand finds to do that doest thou with all thy heart," sums up the lessons of the path of karma yoga. the urge to achieve: to do; to accomplish; to strive and attain, actuates those who have, whether with conscious intent, or because of a vague "inward urge," devoted their lives to taking an active part in the material or intellectual achievements of the race. there are those who are blindly following (as far as their mental operations are concerned), the path of karma yoga; that is, they work without knowing why they work; they work because they are compelled to do so, as slaves of the law; these will work their way out of that necessity of fulfillment, in the course of time, even though they blindly follow the urge; but, if they could be made to work as masters of the conditions under which they labor, instead of as slaves to environment, they would find themselves at the end of that path. karma yoga would have been accomplished. "work as those work who are ambitious" but be not thou enslaved by the delusion of personal ambition--this is the password to liberation from karma yoga. _raja yoga_ is the way of the strongly individualized _will_. "_knowledge is power_" is the hope which encourages the disciple on the path of raja yoga. he seeks to master the personal self by meditation, by concentration of will; by self discipline and sacrifice. when the ego gains complete control over the mental faculties, so that the mind may be directed as the individual will suggests, the student has mastered the path of raja yoga. if his mastery is complete, he finds himself regarding his body as the instrument of the self, and the body and its functions are under the guidance of the ego; the mind is the lever with which this self raises the consciousness from the lower to the higher vibrations. the student who has mastered raja yoga can induce the trance state; control his dreams as well as his waking thoughts; he may learn to practice magic in its higher aspects, but unless he is extremely careful this power will tempt him to use his knowledge for selfish or unworthy purposes. let the student of raja yoga bear in mind the one great and high purpose of his efforts, which should be: the realization of his spiritual nature, and the development of his individual self, so that it finally merges into the spiritual self, thus gaining immortality "in the flesh." does this "flesh" mean the physical body? not necessarily, because this that we see and name "the physical body" is not the real body, any more than the clothing that covers it, is the person, although frequently we recognize acquaintances _by their clothing_. immortality in the flesh means cessation from further incarnations, the last and present personality including all others in consciousness, until we can say, "i, manifesting in the physical, as so-and-so, am now and forever immortal, remembering other manifestations which were not sufficiently complete, but which added to the sum of my consciousness until now i _know myself a deathless being_." to those who seek the path of raja yoga, we recommend meditation upon patanjali's yoga sutras, of which there are several translations, differing slightly as to interpretation. we have selected some of the most important, from the translations by johnston. they are designed to make clear the difference between the self of personality, and the self, or _atman_ which manifests in personality: "the personal self seeks to feast upon life, through a failure to perceive the distinction between the personal self and the spiritual man. all personal experience really exists for the sake of another: namely, the spiritual man. by perfectly concentrated meditation on experience for the sake of the self, comes a knowledge of the spiritual man." the wise person seeks experience in order that he may attain to the standard of the spiritual man; doing all things for the lessons that they teach; working "as those work who are ambitious," and yet having no personal ambition. looking on all life, and at the self of personality and knowing the illusion of the self he is raising the personal self to the spiritual plane; but always he has the handicap of the desires of the lower self, the personal, which "seeks to feast on life," because it is born of the external, and its inherent appetites are for the satisfaction and pleasures of that physical self. we do not say to look upon the body with its needs and its desires, as an enemy to be overcome; or that its allurements are dangerous although pleasurable. no. we say to the student, "control the desires of the body. make them do the bidding of the self, because it is only by so doing that you can gain the immortal heights of god-hood, looking down upon the fleeting dream of personality, with its so-called pleasures, as a bad nightmare compared to the joys that await the immortals." therefore, concentrate upon experience for the sake of the self that you are, and learn the lesson of your experience, throwing aside the experience itself, as you would cast aside the skin of an orange from which the juice had been extracted. don't fill the areas of your mortal mind with rubbish--with memories of "benefits forgot;" or loves unrequited; or friendships broken; or misspent hours; or unhallowed words and acts. cull from each day's experience all that helps to develop the spiritual man--all that will stand the test of immortality--kind words and deeds; principle maintained; a wrong forgiven; a service cheerfully extended; a tolerance and generosity for the mistakes of others as well as for your own. these seem small things to the personal self--the ambitious, the gloating, the sense-desiring self of the personality; we scarcely take them into account, but to the self that is seeking immortality, these are the grains of wheat from the load of chaff; the diamond in the carbon; the wings upon which the spirit soars to realms of bliss. _meditate upon this sutra._ "by perfectly concentrated meditation upon the heart, the interior being, comes the knowledge of consciousness." the heart is the guide of the inner nature, as the head is of the outer. love, the most high god, is not born in the head, but in the heart. the heart travails in pain through sorrow and loss and compassion and pity and loneliness and aspiration and sensitiveness; and lo! there is born from this pain, the spiritual self, which embraces the lesser consciousness, enfolding all your consciousness in the softness and bliss of pure, seraphic love--the heritage of your immortality. _meditate long and wisely upon this sutra._ "through perfectly concentrated meditation on the light in the head, come the visions of the masters who have attained; or through the divining power of intuition he knows all things." there is a point in the head, anatomically named "the pineal gland"; this is frequently alluded to as the seat of the soul, but the soul is not confined within the body, therefore, it is in the nature of a key between the sense-conscious self and the spiritually conscious self; it is like a central receiving station, and may be "called up," and aroused to consciousness by meditation. realizing and focusing the light of the spiritual nature upon this part of the head, opens up those unexplored areas of consciousness in which the masters dwell, and the student knows by intuition, which is a higher aspect of reason, many things which were heretofore incomprehensible to the merely sense-conscious man. the spiritual self is not a being unlike and wholly foreign to our concept of the perfect mortal-man; all the powers of discernment which we find in mortal consciousness are accentuated, intensified, refined; all grossness, all imperfections and embarrassments removed; pleasure sensitized to ecstasy; love glorified to worship. "shapeliness, beauty, force, the temper of the diamond; these are the endowments of that body." the spiritual body is shapely, strong, beautiful, imperishable, as the diamond, with all its brilliancy. no vapory, uncertain, or _unreal being_, but the real, with the husk of sense-consciousness dropped off, and only the kernels of truth buried in the chaff of experience, retained from the experiences of the personal self. "when the spiritual man is perfectly disentangled from the psychic body, he attains to mastery over all things and to a knowledge of all." the spiritual self, the cosmic conscious self, must not be confounded with the psychic body, which is formed from the emotions--passions; fears; hatreds; ambitions; resentments; envy; regrets. know thyself as a being superior to all baser emotions, and the mastery over them is complete. they are not destroyed, but converted into love--the everlasting source of life. "there should be complete overcoming of allurement or pride in the invitations of the different regions of life, lest attachment to things evil arise once more." it is said that the disciples, seeking the paths of yoga, reach three degrees or stages of development; first, those who are just entering the path; second, those who are in the realm of allurements, subject to temptations; third, those who have won the victory over the senses and the external life--_maya_; fourth, those who are firmly entrenched behind the bulwark of certainty; the spiritual being realized: cosmic consciousness attained and retained. "by absence of all self indulgence at this point, also, the seeds of bondage of sorrow are destroyed, and pure spiritual being is attained." self-abnegation and self-sacrifice have ever been the way of spiritual development; but we are prone to misunderstand and mistake the true interpretation of this admonition; men shut themselves in monasteries and women become nuns and recluses _as a penance_, in order to purchase, as it were, absolution (at-one-ness with the absolute, which knows not sin); this is not the point intended here. spiritual consciousness can not be bought; the desires of the personal self may be _sublimated_ into divine force and power, through recognizing the desires of the self as baubles which attract and fill the eye, until we fail to see the glories of that which awaits us. "thereafter, the whole personal being bends toward illumination, full of the spirit of eternal life." here again, we have assurance that the spiritually-conscious man, the "luminous body" is not a being apart from the self that we know our inner nature to be, but rather it _is_ the inner self even as we in our ignorance and our lack of initiation, know it, raised to a higher realm of consciousness; our desires refined, spiritualized, made pure, and our faculties strengthened and immortalized. we do not withdraw from experience but we draw from experience the _lesson_--the hidden wisdom of the initiate. _meditate upon these sutras._ "he who, after he has attained, is wholly free from self, is set in a cloud of holiness which is called illumination. this is the true spiritual consciousness." this aphorism is self-explanatory. he who attains illumination, and afterward lives and acts from the inner consciousness--the _spiritual man_, is free from the desires of the sense-conscious life, with its consequent disappointments; he sees everything from the spiritual, rather than the mental point of view, and understands the phrase "and behold, all was good." "_thereon comes surcease from sorrow and the burden of toil._" the one who has attained cosmic consciousness, acting always from the self, and not from personal desires, is set free from karma; he has fulfilled the cycle; he makes no more bondage for himself; he is free and is already immortal. "when that condition of consciousness is reached, which is far-reaching, and not confined to the body, which is outside the body and not conditioned by it, then the veil which conceals the light is worn away." the acquisition of spiritual consciousness, illumination, endows the mortal mind also, with a degree of power sufficient to penetrate the veil of illusion--the _maya_; the disciple then sees for the first time, all things in their true light. the separation between the personal self, and the spiritual being that we are, is so fine as to be like a cob-web veil, and yet how few penetrate it. the suddenness with which this awakening (for it is like awakening from a dream of the senses), comes, startles and surprises us, and then we become astonished at the transparency of the bonds that bound us to the limitations of the mortal, when we might have soared to realms of light. "by perfectly concentrated meditation on the correlation of the body with the ether, and by thinking of it as light as thistle-down, will come the power to traverse the ether." the zens say that the way of the gods is through the air and afterwards in the ether. this means that we must evolve from the physical to the psychic, and thence to the etheric or spiritual body. this is the way of the many. it is only the few who attain to perfect spiritual consciousness while manifesting in the physical, but these do not have to undergo "the second death" which is the dropping off of the psychic body, and assuming the spiritual body. they attain to immortality _in the flesh_, (i.e., in the present personality). "thereupon will come the manifestation of the atomic and other powers, which are the endowment of the body, together with its unassailable force." the body here referred to, it must be borne in mind, is the etheric or spiritual body, which possesses the power to disintegrate matter; the power to annihilate time and space; so that he may look backward into remote antiquity and forward into boundless futurity; or as the commentator says, "he can touch the moon with the tip of his finger"; the power of levitation and limitless extension; the power of command; the power of creative will. these are the endowments of the spiritual body with which the disciple is seeking to establish his identity--that he may overcome the second death and become immortal _in consciousness_, here and now. of this spiritual, or etheric body it is said, "fire burns it not; water wets it not; the sword cleaves it not; dry winds parch it not. it is unassailable." _meditate upon this sutra._ "for him who discerns between the mind and the spiritual man (the self) there comes perfect fruition of the longing after the real being." when the disciple has once grasped the fact that he _is_ a soul, and _possesses_ a mind and a physical covering, he has entered on the way of illumination, and must inevitably reach the goal; then shall he find "perfect fruition of the longing" after the perfect self, and its completement in union with the love that he craves. "have you, in lonely darkness longed for companionship and consolation? you shall have angels and archangels for your friends and all the immortal hosts of the dawn." such are the yoga sutras, or aphorisms, as enunciated by patanjali. if the aspiring one were to give up a whole lifetime to their practice, gaining at last the consciousness of immortal life and love, what a small price to pay. _raja yoga_ with its methods and exercises, is the path of knowledge, through application; concentration; meditation. the practice of raja yoga will lead the student to the path of gnani yoga; and to the realization that bhakti yoga, the way of love and service will be included, not as an arduous task; not as a study, or as a means to an end, but because of the love of it. _gnani yoga_ comes as complementary to practice of the sutras because knowledge applied for the purpose of spiritual attainment brings _wisdom_. _gnani yoga_, then, is the path of wisdom. the follower of gnani yoga seeks the occult or hidden wisdom, and always has before him the idea of whether this or that be of the self, the _atman_, or of the self, the personal, gradually eliminating from his desires all that does not answer the test of its reality in spiritual consciousness; he welcomes experiences of all kinds, as so many lessons from which he extracts the fine grain of truth, and throws aside the husks; he accepts nothing blindly or in faith, but "proves all things holding fast to that which is good"; not that he lacks faith, but because the very nature of his inquiry is to discover the interior nature and its relation to god. there are many in the world of to-day who feel the urge toward the path of gnani yoga, because of the conviction that is forcing itself upon every truly enlightened mind, that civilization with all its wonderful achievements, does not promise happiness, or solve the question of the soul's urge. in short, the educated, and the well conditioned, if he be a thinker, and not submerged in _maya_, lost in the personal self, inevitably finds himself searching for the _real_ in all this labyrinth of mind creations and sea of emotions, and then as a rule, he seeks the path of gnani yoga, because his intellect must be satisfied, even though his heart calls. the mystic, the teacher, and the philosopher are following the path of gnani; so is the true occultist, but many who deal in so-called occultism are employing _knowledge_ only, entirely missing the higher quality--_wisdom_. _bhakti yoga_, the path of self-surrender; the thorny way through the emotions; the "blood of the heart," is the short cut to illumination, if such a thing could be. but there is no "short cut"; nor yet a long road. some one has said there are as many ways to god as there are souls. and yet, all persons who are on the upward climb, are demonstrating some one of these four paths, or a combination of the paths. it is, however, a significant fact that we do not hear anything of the great intellectual attainments of the three great masters--krishna, buddha and jesus, but only of their great compassion; their wonderful love for mankind, and all living things. st. paul, who was probably an educated man, as he held a position of prominence among those in authority, previous to his conversion, laid particular stress upon the love-nature as the way of illumination. and jesus repeatedly said "love is the fulfilling of the law." what is the law? the law of evolution and involution; of generation and regeneration; when the time should come, that love was to reign on the planet earth as it does in the heavens above the earth, then should the kingdom of which he foretold "be at hand," and in conclusion of this _to-be_, jesus promised that the law would be fulfilled when love should come. so swami vivekananda in his exposition of vedanta declares: "love is higher than work, than yoga; than knowledge. day and night think of god in the midst of all your activities. the daily necessary thoughts can all be thought through god. eat to him, drink to him, sleep to him, see him in all. let us open ourselves to the one divine actor, and let him act and do nothing ourselves. complete self-surrender is the only way. put out self, lose it; forget it." let us substitute for the words "god," and "him," the one word love, and see what it is that we are told to do. love of doing good frees us from work, even though we labor from early dawn until the night falls; so, too, if we have some loved one for whom we strive, we can endure every hardship with equanimity, as far as our own comfort is concerned. few human beings in the world to-day are so enmeshed in the personal self as to work merely for the gratification of selfish instincts. the hard-working man, whether laborer or banker, must have some one else for whom he struggles and strives; otherwise, he descends to a level below that of the brute. this is the reason for the family; the lodge; the community; the nation; there must be some motive other than the preservation of the personal self, in order to develop the higher quality of love which embraces the world, until the spirit of a christ takes possession of the human and he would gladly offer himself a sacrifice to the world, if by so doing he could eliminate all the pain from the world. how natural it is to feel, when we see a loved one suffering, that we would gladly take upon ourselves that pain; the heart fills with love until it aches with the burden of it; this love enlarged, expanded and impersonal in its application is the same love with which we are told to love god, and to "do all for him." do all for love of all the other hearts in the universe that feel as we feel when their loved ones suffer--that is the way to love god--it is the only way we know. we only know divine love through human love: human love is divine when it is unselfish and eternal--not fed upon carnality, but anchored in spiritual complement. the story of abou ben adhem ("may his tribe increase") tells us how we may know who loves the lord. the angel wrote the names of those who loved the lord most faithfully and fully, and coming to abou ben adhem asked if he should write his name, and received the reply that he could not say whether he deeply loved the lord, but he was quite certain that the angel could "write me as one who loves his fellow-men." and, lo! when the list was made and the names of all who loved the lord recorded, abou ben adhem's name headed the list. the vedanta philosophy teaches non-attachment and vivekananda himself says: "to love any one personally is bondage. love all alike then all desires fall off." to love only the personal self of any one binds us to the sorrow of loss and of separation and disappointment; but to love any one spiritually is to establish a bond which can never be broken; which insures reunion, and defies time and space. we can not love all alike, though we can love all humanity impersonally. all desires that have their root in the sense-conscious plane of expression, will fall off when the heart is anchored in spiritual love; but let it be understood that spiritual love is not opposed to human love; we do not grow into spiritual love by denying the human, but by plussing the human. spiritual consciousness is all that is good and pure and noble, and satisfying in the mortal and infinitely more. it is the love of personal self _plus_ the _self_--the _atman_. love is never unrequited. it is never wasted; never foolish. love is its own self-justification; if it be real love, and not vanity, or self admiration, misnamed, give it freely, and don't ask for a return; don't ask whither it leads; only ask if it is real--if the love you feel is for the object of your love, or if it is for yourself--for you to possess and to minister to your pleasure; ask whether it is from the senses or from the heart. the way of the _bhakti yoga_, is the way of love and service, because service to our fellow beings, is the inevitable complement of love. where we truly love, we gladly serve. it has been said: "the chela treads a hair-line." that is to say, the initiate must be prepared to meet defeat at every turn. not defeat of his object of attainment, but the personal defeat that so many seek in the delusion that the world's ideal of success is the real success. in conclusion we can only repeat what has been told and retold many times by all inspired ones, of whatever creed and race; namely, think and act always from the _inner self_, cheerfully taking the consequences of your choice. let not the opinions of the illusory world of the senses balk and thwart you. let not the "worldly-wise" swerve you from your ideal and your faith in the final goal of your earthly pilgrimage--the attainment of spiritual consciousness _in your present personality_; this is the meaning of immortality in the flesh doubt not this. make love your ideal; your guide; your final goal; look for the inner self of all whom you meet. "learn to look into the _hearts_ of men," says the injunction in light on the path; dismiss from your mind all the accumulation of traditional concepts and prejudices that are not grounded in love, and above all _falter not_, nor doubt--no matter what seeming hardships you encounter in your earthly pilgrimage; they are but the indian-clubs of your soul's gymnasium--experience. "meet with triumph and disaster, and treat these _two impostors_ just the same." triumph and disaster as seen with the eyes of sense-consciousness are both illusions; but don't for this reason cease your work. the phrase "you must work out your own salvation" is true. so also, you must be willing to do your part in working out the salvation of the world; salvation means simply the realization of the spiritual being that you are--the attainment of that state of illumination which guarantees immortality. experience teaches one important lesson: our sense-conscious life is filled with symbolic language if we have the inner eye of discernment. an unescapable truth is symbolized in our daily life by the evidence that we get nothing for nothing. everything has its price. immortality godhood, will not be handed to you on a silver salver; neither can any one withhold it from you, if you desire it above all things. and, altho' it has its price, yet _you can not buy it_. a seeming paradox, but the initiate will see it all clearly enough when the time comes. "he who would scale the heights of understanding from whence the soul looks out forever free must falter not; nor fail; all truth demanding though he bear the cross and know gethsemane." * * * * * the discouraged student says to himself: "if truth demands such sorrow and sacrifice as this, i will not serve her. it is a false god that would so try his devotees." have you not said it? the toll you pay is not to the divine self within, but to the "keepers of the threshold," that guard the entrance to the dwelling place of the illuminati. earthly lodges and brotherhoods are symbols of the higher initiations. there is a common mistake in the idea that the invisible states of consciousness are chaotic, or radically different from the visible. "as below, so above, and as above so below" is an aphorism constantly held before the eyes of the would-be initiate. each of whom, must interpret and know it for himself. if the student finds the raja yoga sutras difficult of comprehension or of practice let him meditate upon the following mantrams: i know myself to be above the false concepts which assail the personal self that i _appear_ to be. i am united with the all-seeing all-knowing consciousness. i abide in the consciousness of the indestructibility and omniscience of being. i rest secure and content in the integrity of cosmic law which shall lead my soul unto its own, guaranteeing immortal love. i unite myself with that power that makes for righteousness. therefore nothing shall dismay or defeat me, because i am at-one with the limitless areas of spiritual consciousness. my mind is the dynamic center through which my soul manifests the love which illumines the world. only good can come to the world through me. much that is called mental science, new thought and christian science has for its aim and ideal, avoidance of all that does not make for personal well-being, and worldly success. avoid this ideal; distrust this motive. be ever willing to sacrifice the personal self to the real self, _if need be_. if the ideal is truly the desire for _illumination_, and not for self-gratification, the mind will soon learn to distinguish between the lesser and the greater. have you longed for perfect, satisfying _human_ love? you shall have it plussed a thousand fold in immortal spiritual union with _your_ god. summary. in the foregoing chapters we have set forth only a few of the facts and instances which the inquirer will find, if he but seek, of the reality of a supra-conscious faculty, no less actual, than are the faculties of the sense-conscious human, which type forms the average of the race. this faculty, or rather we should say _these faculties_--because they find expression in many ways, through avenues correlative to the physical senses--prove the existence of a realm of consciousness, far above the planes of the mortal or sense-conscious man, and transcending the region known as the astral and psychic areas of consciousness. all who have reported their experiences in contacting this illimitable region unite in the essential points of experience, namely: the experience is indescribable. it confers an unshakable conviction of immortality. it discloses the fact that we are now living in this supra-conscious realm; that it is not something which we acquire after death; it _is_ not _to be_. this realm is characterized by a beautiful, wonderful radiant iridescent light. "_o green fire of life, pulse of the world, o love."_ it fills the heart with a great and all-embracing love, establishing a realization of the silent brotherhood of the cosmos, demolishing all barriers of race and color and class and condition. illumination is inclusive. it knows no separation. it announces the fact that every person is right from his point of view. "that nothing walks with aimless feet; that no one life shall be destroyed; or cast as rubbish on the void; when god hath made the pile complete." that life and love and joy unutterable are the reward of the seeker; and that there is no one and only path. all systems; all creeds; all methods that are formulated and upheld by altruism are righteous, and that the real is the spiritual--the external is a dream from which the world is awakening to the consciousness of the spiritual man--the _atman_--the self that is ageless; birthless; deathless--divine. on all sides are evidences that the race is entering upon this new consciousness. so many are weary with the strife and struggle and noise of the sense-conscious life. the illusions of possessions which break in our hands as we grasp them; of empty titles of so-called "honor," builded upon prowess in war; the feverish race after wealth--cold as the marble palaces which it builds to shut in its worshippers--all these things are becoming skeleton-like and no longer deceive those who are even remotely discerning the new birth. the new heraldry will have for its badge of royalty "love and service to my fellow beings," displacing the "dieu et mon droit" of the ancient ideal. the dawn is here. are you awake? "--in the heart of to-day is the word of to-morrow. the builders of joy are the children of sorrow." jesus the last great initiate by edouard schure mr. schure in this volume, has done much to strengthen the belief that jesus was an essene, in whom a messianic consciousness was awakened by special initiation. a remarkable full account is given of his experiences among the essenes and how his early life, (about which the bible is so reticent) was spent studying with the advanced occult masters. the problem of how jesus became the messiah, he holds to be not capable of solution without the aid of intuition and esoteric tradition. the life of the great teacher as pictured by the writer is one to be dreamed over and capable of imparting both knowledge and stimulus to that inner life which is in so many undeveloped and even unsuspected. bound silk cloth. price $ . postpaid. * * * * * krishna and orpheus the great initiates of the east and west by edouard schure the lives and teachings of these two great masters who preceeded jesus are very much like the latter's. you cannot help noting the remarkable resemblance they bear to each other. krishna's virgin birth, his youth, initiation, the doctrine of the initiates, triumph and death, are all told in a fashion that shows that mr. schure has devoted much time to thought and research work. the mighty religious of india, egypt and greece are passed in rapid review and the author declares that while from the outside they present nothing but chaos, the root idea of their founders and prophets presents a key to them all. bound in silk cloth. price $ . postpaid. _theosophical manuals. no. ._ death--and after? by annie besant. ( th thousand) theosophical publishing society london and benares city agents, percy lund humphries & co. amen corner, london, e.c. _price one shilling_ preface. _few words are needed in sending this little book out into the world. it is the third of a series of manuals designed to meet the public demand for a simple exposition of theosophical teachings. some have complained that our literature is at once too abstruse, too technical, and too expensive for the ordinary reader, and it is our hope that the present series may succeed in supplying what is a very real want. theosophy is not only for the learned; it is for all. perhaps among those who in these little books catch their first glimpse of its teachings, there may be a few who will be led by them to penetrate more deeply into its philosophy, its science, and its religion, facing its abstruser problems with the student's zeal and the neophyte's ardour. but these manuals are not written for the eager student, whom no initial difficulties can daunt; they are written for the busy men and women of the work-a-day world, and seek to make plain some of the great truths that render life easier to bear and death easier to face. written by servants of the masters who are the elder brothers of our race, they can have no other object than to serve our fellow-men._ death--and after? who does not remember the story of the christian missionary in britain, sitting one evening in the vast hall of a saxon king, surrounded by his thanes, having come thither to preach the gospel of his master; and as he spoke of life and death and immortality, a bird flew in through an unglazed window, circled the hall in its flight, and flew out once more into the darkness of the night. the christian priest bade the king see in the flight of the bird within the hall the transitory life of man, and claimed for his faith that it showed the soul, in passing from the hall of life, winging its way not into the darkness of night, but into the sunlit radiance of a more glorious world. out of the darkness, through the open window of birth, the life of a man comes to the earth; it dwells for a while before our eyes; into the darkness, through the open window of death, it vanishes out of our sight. and man has questioned ever of religion, whence comes it? whither goes it? and the answers have varied with the faiths. to-day, many a hundred year since paulinus talked with edwin, there are more people in christendom who question whether man has a spirit to come anywhence or to go anywhither than, perhaps, in the world's history could ever before have been found at one time. and the very christians who claim that death's terrors have been abolished, have surrounded the bier and the tomb with more gloom and more dismal funeral pomp than have the votaries of any other creed. what can be more depressing than the darkness in which a house is kept shrouded, while the dead body is awaiting sepulture? what more repellent than the sweeping robes of lustreless crape, and the purposed hideousness of the heavy cap in which the widow laments the "deliverance" of her husband "from the burden of the flesh"? what more revolting than the artificially long faces of the undertaker's men, the drooping "weepers", the carefully-arranged white handkerchiefs, and, until lately, the pall-like funeral cloaks? during the last few years, a great and marked improvement has been made. the plumes, cloaks, and weepers have well-nigh disappeared. the grotesquely ghastly hearse is almost a thing of the past, and the coffin goes forth heaped over with flowers instead of shrouded in the heavy black velvet pall. men and women, though still wearing black, do not roll themselves up in shapeless garments like sable winding-sheets, as if trying to see how miserable they could make themselves by the imposition of artificial discomforts. welcome common-sense has driven custom from its throne, and has refused any longer to add these gratuitous annoyances to natural human grief. in literature and in art, alike, this gloomy fashion of regarding death has been characteristic of christianity. death has been painted as a skeleton grasping a scythe, a grinning skull, a threatening figure with terrible face and uplifted dart, a bony scarecrow shaking an hour-glass--all that could alarm and repel has been gathered round this rightly-named king of terrors. milton, who has done so much with his stately rhythm to mould the popular conceptions of modern christianity, has used all the sinewy strength of his magnificent diction to surround with horror the figure of death. the other shape, if shape it might be called, that shape had none distinguishable in member, joint, or limb, or substance might be called that shadow seemed, for each seemed either; black it stood as night, fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell, and shook a dreadful dart; what seemed his head the likeness of a kingly crown had on. satan was now at hand, and from his seat the monster moving onward came as fast, with horrid strides; hell trembled as he strode.... ... so spoke the grisly terror: and in shape so speaking, and so threatening, grew tenfold more dreadful and deform.... ... but he, my inbred enemy, forth issued, brandishing his fatal dart, made to destroy: i fled, and cried out _death!_ hell trembled at the hideous name, and sighed from all her caves, and back resounded _death_.[ ] that such a view of death should be taken by the professed followers of a teacher said to have "brought life and immortality to light" is passing strange. the claim, that as late in the history of the world as a mere eighteen centuries ago the immortality of the spirit in man was brought to light, is of course transparently absurd, in the face of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary available on all hands. the stately egyptian ritual with its _book of the dead_, in which are traced the post-mortem journeys of the soul, should be enough, if it stood alone, to put out of court for ever so preposterous a claim. hear the cry of the soul of the righteous: o ye, who make the escort of the god, stretch out to me your arms, for i become one of you. (xvii. .) hail to thee, osiris, lord of light, dwelling in the mighty abode, in the bosom of the absolute darkness. i come to thee, a purified soul; my two hands are around thee. (xxi. .) i open heaven; i do what was commanded in memphis. i have knowledge of my heart; i am in possession of my heart, i am in possession of my arms, i am in possession of my legs, at the will of myself. my soul is not imprisoned in my body at the gates of amenti. (xxvi. , .) not to multiply to weariness quotations from a book that is wholly composed of the doings and sayings of the disembodied man, let it suffice to give the final judgment on the victorious soul: the defunct shall be deified among the gods in the lower divine region, he shall never be rejected.... he shall drink from the current of the celestial river.... his soul shall not be imprisoned, since it is a soul that brings salvation to those near it. the worms shall not devour it. (clxiv. - .) the general belief in re-incarnation is enough to prove that the religions of which it formed a central doctrine believed in the survival of the soul after death; but one may quote as an example a passage from the _ordinances of manu_, following on a disquisition on metempsychosis, and answering the question of deliverance from rebirths. amid all these holy acts, the knowledge of self [should be translated, knowledge of the _self_, atmâ] is said (to be) the highest; this indeed is the foremost of all sciences, since from it immortality is obtained.[ ] the testimony of the great zarathustrean religion is clear, as is shown by the following, translated from the _avesta_, in which, the journey of the soul after death having been described, the ancient scripture proceeds: the soul of the pure man goes the first step and arrives at (the paradise) humata; the soul of the pure man takes the second step and arrives at (the paradise) hukhta; it goes the third step and arrives at (the paradise) hvarst; the soul of the pure man takes the fourth step and arrives at the eternal lights. to it speaks a pure one deceased before, asking it: how art thou, o pure deceased, come away from the fleshy dwellings, from the earthly possessions, from the corporeal world hither to the invisible, from the perishable world hither to the imperishable, as it happened to thee--to whom hail! then speaks ahura-mazda: ask not him whom thou asketh, (for) he is come on the fearful, terrible, trembling way, the separation of body and soul.[ ] the persian _desatir_ speaks with equal definiteness. this work consists of fifteen books, written by persian prophets, and was written originally in the avestaic language; "god" is ahura-mazda, or yazdan: god selected man from animals to confer on him the soul, which is a substance free, simple, immaterial, non-compounded and non-appetitive. and that becomes an angel by improvement. by his profound wisdom and most sublime intelligence, he connected the soul with the material body. if he (man) does good in the material body, and has a good knowledge and religion he is _hartasp_.... as soon as he leaves this material body, i (god) take him up to the world of angels, that he may have an interview with the angels, and behold me. and if he is not hartasp, but has wisdom and abstains from vice, i will promote him to the rank of angels. every person in proportion to his wisdom and piety will find a place in the rank of wise men, among the heavens and stars. and in that region of happiness he will remain for ever.[ ] in china, the immemorial custom of worshipping the souls of ancestors shows how completely the life of man was regarded as extending beyond the tomb. the _shû king_--placed by mr. james legge as the most ancient of chinese classics, containing historical documents ranging from b.c. - --is full of allusions to these souls, who with other spiritual beings, watch over the affairs of their descendants and the welfare of the kingdom. thus pan-kang, ruling from b.c. - , exhorts his subjects: my object is to support and nourish you all. i think of my ancestors (who are now) the spiritual sovereigns.... were i to err in my government, and remain long here, my high sovereign (the founder of our dynasty) would send down on me great punishment for my crime, and say, "why do you oppress my people?" if you, the myriads of the people, do not attend to the perpetuation of your lives, and cherish one mind with me, the one man, in my plans, the former kings will send down on you great punishment for your crime, and say, "why do you not agree with our young grandson, but go on to forfeit your virtue?" when they punish you from above, you will have no way of escape.... your ancestors and fathers will (now) cut you off and abandon you, and not save you from death.[ ] indeed, so practical is this chinese belief, held to-day as in those long-past ages, that "the change that men call death" seems to play a very small part in the thoughts and lives of the people of the flowery land. these quotations, which might be multiplied a hundred-fold, may suffice to prove the folly of the idea that immortality came to "light through the gospel". the whole ancient world basked in the full sunshine of belief in the immortality of man, lived in it daily, voiced it in its literature, went with it in calm serenity through the gate of death. it remains a problem why christianity, which vigorously and joyously re-affirmed it, should have growing in its midst the unique terror of death that has played so large a part in its social life, its literature, and its art. it is not simply the belief in hell that has surrounded the grave with horror, for other religions have had their hells, and yet their followers have not been harassed by this shadowy fear. the chinese, for instance, who take death as such a light and trivial thing, have a collection of hells quite unique in their varied unpleasantness. maybe the difference is a question of race rather than of creed; that the vigorous life of the west shrinks from its antithesis, and that its unimaginative common-sense finds a bodiless condition too lacking in solidity of comfort; whereas the more dreamy, mystical east, prone to meditation, and ever seeking to escape from the thraldom of the senses during earthly life, looks on the disembodied state as eminently desirable, and as most conducive to unfettered thought. ere passing to the consideration of the history of man in the post-mortem state, it is necessary, however briefly, to state the constitution of man, as viewed by the esoteric philosophy, for we must have in mind the constituents of his being ere we can understand their disintegration. man then consists of _the immortal triad_: atmâ. buddhi. manas. _the perishable quaternary_: kâma. prâna. etheric double. dense body. the dense body is the physical body, the visible, tangible outer form, composed of various tissues. the etheric double is the ethereal counterpart of the body, composed of the physical ethers. prâna is vitality, the integrating energy that co-ordinates the physical molecules and holds them together in a definite organism; it is the life-breath within the organism, the portion of the universal life-breath, appropriated by the organism during the span of existence that we speak of as "a life". kâma is the aggregate of appetites, passions, and emotions, common to man and brute. manas is the thinker in us, the intelligence. buddhi is the vehicle wherein atmâ, the spirit, dwells, and in which alone it can manifest. now the link between the immortal triad and the perishable quaternary is manas, which is dual during earth life, or incarnation, and functions as higher manas and lower manas. higher manas sends out a ray, lower manas, which works in and through the human brain, functioning there as brain-consciousness, as the ratiocinating intelligence. this mingles with kâma, the passional nature, the passions and emotions thus becoming a part of mind, as defined in western psychology. and so we have the link formed between the higher and lower natures in man, this kâma-manas belonging to the higher by its mânasic, and to the lower by its kâmic, elements. as this forms the battleground during life, so does it play an important part in post-mortem existence. we might now classify our seven principles a little differently, having in view this mingling in kâma-manas of perishable and imperishable elements: { atmâ. _immortal_. { buddhi. { higher-manas. _conditionally immortal_. kâma-manas. { prâna. _mortal_. { etheric double. { dense body. some christian writers have adopted a classification similar to this, declaring spirit to be inherently immortal, as being divine; soul to be conditionally immortal, _i.e._, capable of winning immortality by uniting itself with spirit; body to be inherently mortal. the majority of uninstructed christians chop man into two, the body that perishes at death, and the something--called indifferently soul or spirit--that survives death. this last classification--if classification it may be called--is entirely inadequate, if we are to seek any rational explanation, or even lucid statement, of the phenomena of post-mortem existence. the tripartite view of man's nature gives a more reasonable representation of his constitution, but is inadequate to explain many phenomena. the septenary division alone gives a reasonable theory consistent with the facts we have to deal with, and therefore, though it may seem elaborate, the student will do wisely to make himself familiar with it. if he were studying only the body, and desired to understand its activities, he would have to classify its tissues at far greater length and with far more minuteness than i am using here. he would have to learn the differences between muscular, nervous, glandular, bony, cartilaginous, epithelial, connective, tissues, and all their varieties; and if he rebelled, in his ignorance, against such an elaborate division, it would be explained to him that only by such an analysis of the different components of the body can the varied and complicated phenomena of life-activity be understood. one kind of tissue is wanted for support, another for movement, another for secretion, another for absorption, and so on; and if each kind does not have its own distinctive name, dire confusion and misunderstanding must result, and physical functions remain unintelligible. in the long run time is gained, as well as clearness, by learning a few necessary technical terms, and as clearness is above all things needed in trying to explain and to understand very complicated post-mortem phenomena, i find myself compelled--contrary to my habit in these elementary papers--to resort to these technical names at the outset, for the english language has as yet no equivalents for them, and the use of long descriptive phrases is extremely cumbersome and inconvenient. for myself, i believe that very much of the antagonism between the adherents of the esoteric philosophy and those of spiritualism has arisen from confusion of terms, and consequent misunderstanding of each others meaning. one eminent spiritualist lately impatiently said that he did not see the need of exact definition, and that he meant by spirit all the part of man's nature that survived death, and was not body. one might as well insist on saying that man's body consists of bone and blood, and asked to define blood, answer: "oh! i mean everything that is not bone." a clear definition of terms, and a rigid adherence to them when once adopted, will at least enable us all to understand each other, and that is the first step to any fruitful comparison of experiences. the fate of the body. the human body is constantly undergoing a process of decay and of reconstruction. first builded into the etheric form in the womb of the mother, it is built up continually by the insetting of fresh materials. with every moment tiny molecules are passing away from it; with every moment tiny molecules are streaming into it. the outgoing stream is scattered over the environment, and helps to rebuild bodies of all kinds in the mineral, vegetable, animal, and human kingdoms, the physical basis of all these being one and the same. the idea that the human tabernacle is built by countless _lives_, just in the same way as the rocky crust of our earth was, has nothing repulsive in it for the true mystic.... science teaches us that the living as well as the dead organism of both man and animal are swarming with bacteria of a hundred various kinds; that from without we are threatened with the invasion of microbes with every breath we draw, and from within by leucomaines, robes, ærobes, anærobes, and what not. but science never yet went so far as to assert with the occult doctrine that our bodies, as well as those of animals, plants, and stones, are themselves altogether built up of such beings, which, except larger species, no microscope can detect. so far as regards the purely animal and material portion of man, science is on its way to discoveries that will go far towards corroborating this theory. chemistry and physiology are the two great magicians of the future, who are destined to open the eyes of mankind to the great physical truths. with every day, the identity between the animal and physical man, between the plant and man, and even between the reptile and its nest, the rock, and man, is more and more clearly shown. the physical and chemical constituents of all being found to be identical, chemical science may well say that there is no difference between the matter which composes the ox and that which forms man. but the occult doctrine is far more explicit. it says: not only the chemical compounds are the same, but the same infinitesimal _invisible lives_ compose the atoms of the bodies of the mountain and the daisy, of man and the ant, of the elephant, and of the tree which shelters him from the sun. each particle--whether you call it organic or inorganic--_is a life_.[ ] these "lives" which, separate and independent, are the minute vehicles of prâna, aggregated together form the molecules and cells of the physical body, and they stream in and stream out, during all the years of bodily life, thus forming a continual bridge between man and his environment. controlling these are the "fiery lives," the devourers, which constrain these to their work of building up the cells of the body, so that they work harmoniously and in order, subordinated to the higher manifestation of life in the complex organism called man. these fiery lives on our plane correspond, in this controlling and organising function, with the one life of the universe,[ ] and when they no longer exercise this function in the human body, the lower lives run rampant, and begin to break down the hitherto definitely organised body. during bodily life they are marshalled as an army; marching in regular order under the command of a general, performing various evolutions, keeping step, moving as a single body. at "death" they become a disorganised and tumultuous mob, rushing hither and thither, jostling each other, tumbling over each other, with no common object, no generally recognised authority. the body is never more alive than when it is dead; but it is alive in its units, and dead in its totality; alive as a congeries, dead as an organism. science regards man as an aggregation of atoms temporarily united by a mysterious force called the life-principle. to the materialist, the only difference between a living and a dead body is that in the one case that force is active, in the other latent. when it is extinct or entirely latent, the molecules obey a superior attraction, which draws them asunder and scatters them through space. this dispersion must be death, if it is possible to conceive such a thing as death, where the very molecules of the dead body manifest an intense vital energy.... says eliphas levi: "change attests movement, and movement only reveals life. the corpse would not decompose if it were dead; all the molecules which compose it are living and struggle to separate."[ ] those who have read _the seven principles of man_,[ ] know that the etheric double is the vehicle of prâna, the life-principle, or vitality. through the etheric double prâna exercises the controlling and co-ordinating force spoken of above, and "death" takes triumphant possession of the body when the etheric double is finally withdrawn and the delicate cord which unites it with the body is snapped. the process of withdrawal has been watched by clairvoyants, and definitely described. thus andrew jackson davis, "the poughkeepsie seer", describes how he himself watched this escape of the ethereal body, and he states that the magnetic cord did not break for some thirty-six hours after apparent death. others have described, in similar terms, how they saw a faint violet mist rise from the dying body, gradually condensing into a figure which was the counterpart of the expiring person, and attached to that person by a glistening thread. the snapping of the thread means the breaking of the last magnetic link between the dense body and the remaining principles of the human constitution; the body has dropped away from the man; he is excarnated, disembodied; six principles still remain as his constitution immediately after death, the seventh, or the dense body, being left as a cast-off garment. death consists, indeed, in a repeated process of unrobing, or unsheathing. the immortal part of man shakes off from itself, one after the other, its outer casings, and--as the snake from its skin, the butterfly from its chrysalis--emerges from one after another, passing into a higher state of consciousness. now it is the fact that this escape from the body, and this dwelling of the conscious entity either in the vehicle called the body of desire, the kâmic or astral body, or in a yet more ethereal thought body, can be effected during earth-life; so that man may become familiar with the excarnated condition, and it may lose for him all the terrors that encircle the unknown. he can know himself as a conscious entity in either of these vehicles, and so prove to his own satisfaction that "life" does not depend on his functioning through the physical body. why should a man who has thus repeatedly "shed" his lower bodies, and has found the process result, not in unconsciousness, but in a vastly extended freedom and vividness of life--why should he fear the final casting away of his fetters, and the freeing of his immortal self from what he realises as the prison of the flesh? this view of human life is an essential part of the esoteric philosophy. man is primarily divine, a spark of the divine life. this living flame, passing out from the central fire, weaves for itself coverings within which it dwells, and thus becomes the triad, the atmâ-buddhi-manas, the reflection of the immortal self. this sends out its ray, which becomes encased in grosser matter, in the desire body, or kâmic elements, the passional nature, and in the etheric double and the physical body. the once free immortal intelligence thus entangled, enswathed, enchained, works heavily and laboriously through the coatings that enwrap it. in its own nature it remains ever the free bird of heaven, but its wings are bound to its side by the matter into which it is plunged. when man recognises his own inherent nature, he learns to open his prison doors occasionally and escapes from his encircling gaol; first he learns to identify himself with the immortal triad, and rises above the body and its passions into a pure mental and moral life; then he learns that the conquered body cannot hold him prisoner, and he unlocks its door and steps out into the sunshine of his true life. so when death unlocks the door for him, he knows the country into which he emerges, having trodden its ways at his own will. and at last he grows to recognise that fact of supreme importance, that "life" has nothing to do with body and with this material plane; that life is his conscious existence, unbroken, unbreakable, and that the brief interludes in that life, during which he sojourns on earth, are but a minute fraction of his conscious existence, and a fraction, moreover, during which he is less alive, because of the heavy coverings which weigh him down. for only during these interludes (save in exceptional cases) may he wholly lose his consciousness of continued life, being surrounded by these coverings which delude him and blind him to the truth of things, making that real which is illusion, and that stable which is transitory. the sunlight ranges over the universe, and at incarnation we step out of it into the twilight of the body, and see but dimly during the period of our incarceration; at death we step out of the prison again into the sunlight, and are nearer to the reality. short are the twilight periods, and long the periods of the sunlight; but in our blinded state we call the twilight life, and to us it is the real existence, while we call the sunlight death, and shiver at the thought of passing into it. well did giordano bruno, one of the greatest teachers of our philosophy in the middle ages, state the truth as to the body and man. of the real man he says: he will be present in the body in such wise that the best part of himself will be absent from it, and will join himself by an indissoluble sacrament to divine things, in such a way that he will not feel either love or hatred of things mortal. considering himself as master, and that he ought not to be servant and slave to his body, which he would regard only as the prison which holds his liberty in confinement, the glue which smears his wings, chains which bind fast his hands, stocks which fix his feet, veil which hides his view. let him not be servant, captive, ensnared, chained, idle, stolid, and blind, for the body which he himself abandons cannot tyrannise over him, so that thus the spirit in a certain degree comes before him as the corporeal world, and matter is subject to the divinity and to nature.[ ] when once we thus come to regard the body, and by conquering it we gain our liberty, death loses for us all his terrors, and at his touch the body slips from us as a garment, and we stand out from it erect and free. on the same lines of thought dr. franz hartmann writes: according to certain views of the west man is a developed ape. according to the views of indian sages, which also coincide with those of the philosophers of past ages and with the teachings of the christian mystics, man is a god, who is united during his earthly life, through his own carnal tendencies, to an animal (his animal nature). the god who dwells within him endows man with wisdom. the animal endows him with force. after death, _the god effects his own release from the man_ by departing from the animal body. as man carries within him this divine consciousness, it is his task to battle with his animal inclinations, and to raise himself above them, by the help of the divine principle, a task which the animal cannot achieve, and which therefore is not demanded of it.[ ] the "man", using the word in the sense of personality, as it is used in the latter half of this sentence, is only conditionally immortal; the true man, the evolving god, releases himself, and so much of the personality goes with him as has raised itself into union with the divine. the body thus left to the rioting of the countless lives--previously held in constraint by prâna, acting through its vehicle the etheric double--begins to decay, that is to break up, and with the disintegration of its cells and molecules, its particles pass away into other combinations. on our return to earth we may meet again some of those same countless lives that in a previous incarnation made of our then body their passing dwelling; but all that we are just now concerned with is the breaking up of the body whose life-span is over, and its fate is complete disintegration. to the dense body, then, death means dissolution as an organism, the loosing of the bonds that united the many into one. the fate of the etheric double. the etheric double is the ethereal counterpart of the gross body of man. it is the double that is sometimes seen during life in the neighbourhood of the body, and its absence from the body is generally marked by the heaviness or semi-lethargy of the latter. acting as the reservoir, or vehicle, of the life-principle during earth-life, its withdrawal from the body is naturally marked by the lowering of all vital functions, even while the cord which unites the two is still unbroken. as has been already said, the snapping of the cord means the death of the body. when the etheric double finally quits the body, it does not travel to any distance from it. normally it remains floating over the body, the state of consciousness being dreamy and peaceful, unless tumultuous distress and violent emotion surround the corpse from which it has just issued. and here it may be well to say that during the slow process of dying, while the etheric double is withdrawing from the body, taking with it the higher principles, as after it has withdrawn, extreme quiet and self-control should be observed in the chamber of death. for during this time the whole life passes swiftly in review before the ego, the individual, as those have related who have passed in drowning into this unconscious and pulseless state. a master has written: _at the last moment the whole life is reflected in our memory, and emerges from all the forgotten nooks and corners, picture after picture, one event after another.... the man may often appear dead, yet from the last pulsation, from and between the last throbbing of his heart and the moment when the last spark of animal heat leaves the body_, the brain thinks, _and the ego lives over in those few brief seconds his whole life. speak in whispers, ye who assist at a deathbed, and find yourselves in the solemn presence of death. especially have ye to keep quiet just after death has laid her clammy hand upon the body. speak in whispers, i say, lest ye disturb the quiet ripple of thought, and hinder the busy work of the past, casting its reflection upon the veil of the future._[ ] this is the time during which the thought-images of the ended earth-life, clustering around their maker, group and interweave themselves into the completed image of that life, and are impressed in their totality on the astral light. the dominant tendencies, the strongest thought-habits, assert their pre-eminence, and stamp themselves as the characteristics which will appear as "innate qualities" in the succeeding incarnation. this balancing-up of the life-issues, this reading of the kârmic records, is too solemn and momentous a thing to be disturbed by the ill-timed wailings of personal relatives and friends. at the solemn moment of death every man, even when death is sudden, sees the whole of his past life marshalled before him, in its minutest details. for one short instant the _personal_ become one with the _individual_ and all-knowing ego. but this instant is enough to show to him the whole chain of causes which have been at work during his life. he sees and now understands himself as he is, unadorned by flattery or self-deception. he reads his life, remaining as a spectator, looking down into the arena he is quitting.[ ] this vivid sight is succeeded, in the ordinary person, by the dreamy, peaceful semi-consciousness spoken of above, as the etheric double floats above the body to which it has belonged, now completely separated from it. sometimes this double is seen by persons in the house, or in the neighbourhood, when the thought of the dying has been strongly turned to some one left behind, when some anxiety has been in the mind at the last, something left undone which needed doing, or when some local disturbance has shaken the tranquillity of the passing entity. under these conditions, or others of a similar nature, the double may be seen or heard; when seen, it shows the dreamy, hazy consciousness alluded to, is silent, vague in its aspect, unresponsive. as the days go on, the five higher principles gradually disengage themselves from the etheric double, and shake this off as they previously shook off the grosser body. they pass on, as a fivefold entity, into a state to be next studied, leaving the etheric double, with the dense body of which it is the counterpart, thus becoming an ethereal corpse, as much as the body had become a dense corpse. this ethereal corpse remains near the dense one, and they disintegrate together; clairvoyants see these ethereal wraiths in churchyards, sometimes showing likeness to the dead dense body, sometimes as violet mists or lights. such an ethereal corpse has been seen by a friend of my own, passing through the horribly repulsive stages of decomposition, a ghastly vision in face of which clairvoyance was certainly no blessing. the process goes on _pari passu_, until all but the actual bony skeleton of the dense body is completely disintegrated, and the particles have gone to form other combinations. one of the great advantages of cremation--apart from all sanitary conditions--lies in the swift restoration to mother nature of the physical elements composing the dense and ethereal corpses, brought about by the burning. instead of slow and gradual decomposition, swift dissociation takes place, and no physical remnants are left, working possible mischief. the ethereal corpse may to some extent be revivified for a short period after its death. dr. hartmann says: the fresh corpse of a person who has suddenly been killed may be galvanised into a semblance of life by the application of a galvanic battery. likewise the astral corpse of a person may be brought back into an artificial life by being infused with a part of the life principle of the medium. if that corpse is one of a very intellectual person, it may talk very intellectually; and if it was that of a fool it will talk like a fool.[ ] this mischievous procedure can only be carried out in the neighbourhood of the corpse, and for a very limited time after death, but there are cases on record of such galvanising of the ethereal corpse, performed at the grave of the departed person. needless to say that such a process belongs distinctly to "black" magic, and is wholly evil. ethereal corpses, like dense ones, if not swiftly destroyed by burning, should be left in the silence and the darkness, a silence and a darkness that it is the worst profanity to break. kÂmaloka, and the fate of prÂna and kÂma. loka is a sanskrit word that may be translated as place, world, land, so that kâmaloka is literally the place or the world of kâma, kâma being the name of that part of the human organism that includes all the passions, desires, and emotions which man has in common with the lower animals.[ ] in this division of the universe, the kâmaloka, dwell all the human entities that have shaken off the dense body and its ethereal double, but have not yet disentangled themselves from the passional and emotional nature. kâmaloka has many other tenants, but we are concerned only with the human beings who have lately passed through the gateway of death, and it is on these that we must concentrate our study. a momentary digression may be pardoned on the question of the existence of regions in the universe, other than the physical, peopled with intelligent beings. the existence of such regions is postulated by the esoteric philosophy, and is known to the adepts and to very many less highly evolved men and women by personal experience; all that is needed for the study of these regions is the evolution of the faculties latent in every man; a "living" man, in ordinary parlance, can leave his dense and ethereal bodies behind him, and explore these regions without going through death's gateway. thus we read in the _theosophist_ that real knowledge may be acquired by the spirit in the living man coming into conscious relations with the world of spirit. as in the case, say, of an initiated adept, who brings back upon earth with him the clear and distinct recollection--correct to a detail--of facts gathered, and the information obtained, in the invisible sphere of _realities_.[ ] in this way those regions become to him matters of knowledge as definite, as certain, as familiar, as if he should travel to africa in ordinary fashion, explore its deserts, and return to his own land the richer for the knowledge and experience gained. a seasoned african explorer would care but little for the criticisms passed on his report by persons who had never been thither; he might tell what he saw, describe the animals whose habits he had studied, sketch the country he had traversed, sum up its products and its characteristics. if he was contradicted, laughed at, set right, by untravelled critics, he would be neither ruffled nor distressed, but would merely leave them alone. ignorance cannot convince knowledge by repeated asseveration of its nescience. the opinion of a hundred persons on a subject on which they are wholly ignorant is of no more weight than the opinion of one such person. evidence is strengthened by many consenting witnesses, testifying each to his knowledge of a fact, but nothing multiplied a thousand times remains nothing. strange, indeed, would it be if all the space around us be empty, mere waste void, and the inhabitants of earth the only forms in which intelligence could clothe itself. as dr. huxley said: without stepping beyond the analogy of that which is known, it is easy to people the cosmos with entities, in ascending scale, until we reach something practically indistinguishable from omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience.[ ] if these entities did not have organs of sense like our own, if their senses responded to vibrations different from those which affect ours, they and we might walk side by side, pass each other, meet each other, pass through each other, and yet be never the wiser as to each other's existence. mr. crookes gives us a glimpse of the possibility of such unconscious co-existence of intelligent beings, and but a very slight effort of imagination is needed to realise the conception. it is not improbable that other sentient beings have organs of sense which do not respond to some or any of the rays to which our eyes are sensitive, but are able to appreciate other vibrations to which we are blind. such beings would practically be living in a different world to our own. imagine, for instance, what idea we should form of surrounding objects were we endowed with eyes not sensitive to the ordinary rays of light, but sensitive to the vibrations concerned in electric and magnetic phenomena. glass and crystal would be among the most opaque of bodies. metals would be more or less transparent, and a telegraph wire through the air would look like a long narrow hole drilled through an impervious solid body. a dynamo in active work would resemble a conflagration, whilst a permanent magnet would realise the dream of mediæval mystics, and become an everlasting lamp with no expenditure of energy or consumption of fuel.[ ] kâmaloka is a region peopled by intelligent and semi-intelligent entities, just as our own is thus peopled; it is crowded, like our world, with many types and forms of living things, as diverse from each other as a blade of grass is different from a tiger, a tiger from a man. it interpenetrates our own world and is interpenetrated by it, but, as the states of matter in the two worlds differ, they co-exist without the knowledge of the intelligent beings in either. only under abnormal circumstances can consciousness of each other's presence arise among the inhabitants of the two worlds; by certain peculiar training a living human being can come into conscious contact with and control many of the sub-human denizens of kâmaloka; human beings, who have quitted earth and in whom the kâmic elements were strong, may very readily be attracted by the kâmic elements in embodied men, and by their help become conscious again of the presence of the scenes they had left; and human beings still embodied may set up methods of communication with the disembodied, and may, as said, leave their own bodies for awhile, and become conscious in kâmaloka by the use of faculties through which they have accustomed their consciousness to act. the point which is here to be clearly grasped is the existence of kâmaloka as a definite region, inhabited by a large diversity of entities, among whom are disembodied human beings. from this necessary digression we return to the particular human being whose fate, as a type, we may be said to be tracing, and of whose dense body and etheric double we have already disposed. let us contemplate him in the state of very brief duration that follows the shaking off of these two casings. says h.p. blavatsky, after quoting from plutarch a description of the man after death: here you have our doctrine, which shows man a _septenary_ during life; a _quintile_ just after death, in kâmaloka.[ ] prâna, the portion of the life-energy appropriated by the man in his embodied state, having lost its vehicle, the ethereal double, which, with the physical body, has slipped away from its controlling energy, must pass back into the great life-reservoir of the universe. as water enclosed in a glass vessel and plunged into a tank mingles with the surrounding water if the vessel be broken, so prâna, as the bodies drop from it, mingles again with the life universal. it is only "just after death" that man is a quintile, or fivefold in his constitution, for prâna, as a distinctively human principle, cannot remain appropriated when its vehicle disintegrates. the man now is clothed, but with the kâma rûpa, or body of kâma, the desire body, a body of astral matter, often termed "fluidic," so easily does it, during earth-life, take any form impressed upon it from without or moulded from within. the living man is there, the immortal triad, still clad in the last of its terrestrial garments, in the subtle, sensitive, responsive form which lent it during embodiment the power to feel, to desire, to enjoy, to suffer, in the physical world. when the man dies, his three lower principles leave him for ever; _i.e._, body, life, and the vehicle of the latter, the etheric body, or the double of the living man. and then his four principles--the central or middle principle (the animal soul or kâma rûpa, with what it has assimilated from the lower manas) and the higher triad--find themselves in kâmaloka.[ ] this desire body undergoes a marked change soon after death. the different densities of the astral matter of which it is composed arrange themselves in a series of shells or envelopes, the densest being outside, shutting the consciousness away from all but very limited contact and expression. the consciousness turns in on itself, if left undisturbed, and prepares itself for the next step onwards, while the desire body gradually disintegrates, shell after shell. up to the point of this re-arrangement of the matter of the desire body, the post-mortem experience of all is much the same; it is a "dreamy, peaceful semi-consciousness," as before said, and this, in the happiest cases, passes without vivid awakening into the deeper "pre-devachanic unconsciousness" which ends with the blissful wakening in devachan, for the period of repose that intervenes between two incarnations. but as, at this point, different possibilities arise, let us trace a normal uninterrupted progression in kâmaloka, up to the threshold of devachan, and then we can return to consider other classes of circumstances. if a person has led a pure life, and has steadfastly striven to rise and to identify himself with the higher rather than the lower parts of his nature, after shaking off the dense body and the etheric double, and after prâna has re-mingled with the ocean of life, and he is clothed only with the kâma rûpa, the passional elements in him, being but weak and accustomed to comparatively little activity, will not be able to assert themselves strongly in kâmaloka. now during earth-life kâma and the lower manas are strongly united and interwoven with each other; in the case we are considering kâma is weak, and the lower manas has purified kâma to a great extent. the mind, woven with the passions, emotions, and desires, has purified them, and has assimilated their pure part, absorbed it into itself, so that all that is left of kâma is a mere residue, easily to be gotten rid of, from which the immortal triad can readily free itself. slowly this immortal triad, the true man, draws in all his forces; he draws into himself the memories of the earth-life just ended, its loves, its hopes, its aspirations, and prepares to pass out of kâmaloka into the blissful rest of devachan, the "abode of the gods", or as some say, "the land of bliss". kâmaloka is an astral locality, the limbus of scholastic theology, the hades of the ancients, and, strictly speaking, a _locality_ only in a relative sense. it has neither a definite area, nor boundary, but exists _within_ subjective space, _i.e._, is beyond our sensuous perceptions. still it exists, and it is there that the astral _eidolons_ of all the beings that have lived, animals included, await their _second death_. for the animals it comes with the disintegration and the entire fading out of their astral particles to the last. for the human _eidolon_ it begins when the atmâ-buddhi-mânasic triad is said to "separate" itself from its lower principles or the reflection of the ex-personality, by falling into the devachanic state.[ ] this second death is the passage, then, of the immortal triad from the kâmalokic sphere, so closely related to the earth sphere, into the higher state of devachan, of which we must speak later. the type of man we are considering passes through this, in the peaceful dreamy state already described, and, if left undisturbed, will not regain full consciousness until these stages are passed through, and peace gives way to bliss. but during the whole period that the four principles--the immortal triad and kâma--remain in kâmaloka, whether the period be long or short, days or centuries, they are within the reach of the earth-influences. in the case of such a person as we have been describing, an awakening may be caused by the passionate sorrow and desires of friends left on earth, and these violently vibrating kâmic elements in the embodied persons may set up vibrations in the desire body of the disembodied, and so reach and rouse the lower manas, not yet withdrawn to and reunited with its parent, the spiritual intelligence. thus it may be roused from its dreamy state to vivid remembrance of the earth-life so lately left, and may--if any sensitive or medium is concerned, either directly, or indirectly through one of these grieving friends in communication with the medium--use the medium's etheric and dense bodies to speak or write to those left behind. this awakening is often accompanied with acute suffering, and even if this be avoided, the natural process of the triad freeing itself is rudely disturbed, and the completion of its freedom is delayed. in speaking of this possibility of communication during the period immediately succeeding death and before the freed man passes on into devachan, h.p. blavatsky says: whether any living mortal, save a few exceptional cases--when the intensity of the desire in the dying person to return for some purpose forced the higher consciousness _to remain awake_, and, therefore, it was really the _individuality_, the "spirit", that communicated--has derived much benefit from the return of the spirit into the _objective_ plane is another question. the spirit is dazed after death, and falls very soon into what we call "pre-devachanic unconsciousness."[ ] intense desire may move the disembodied entity to spontaneously return to the sorrowing ones left behind, but this spontaneous return is rare in the case of persons of the type we are just now considering. if they are left at peace, they will generally sleep themselves quietly into devachan, and so avoid any struggle or suffering in connection with the second death. on the final escape of the immortal triad there is left behind in kâmaloka only the desire body, the "shell" or mere empty phantom, which gradually disintegrates; but it will be better to deal with this in considering the next type, the average man or woman, without marked spirituality of an elevated kind, but also without marked evil tendencies. when an average man or woman reaches kâmaloka, the spiritual intelligence is clothed with a desire body, which possesses considerable vigour and vitality; the lower manas, closely interwoven with kâma during the earth-life just ended, having lived much in the enjoyment of objects of sense and in the pleasures of the emotions, cannot quickly disentangle itself from the web of its own weaving, and return to its parent mind, the source of its own being. hence a considerable delay in the world of transition, in kâmaloka, while the desires wear out and fade away to a point at which they can no longer detain the soul with their clinging arms. as said, during the period that the immortal triad and kâma remain together in kâmaloka, communication between the disembodied entity and the embodied entities on earth is possible. such communication will generally be welcomed by these disembodied ones, because their desires and emotions still cling to the earth they have left, and the mind has not sufficiently lived on its own plane to find therein full satisfaction and contentment. the lower manas still yearns towards kâmic gratifications and the vivid highly coloured sensations of earth-life, and can by these yearnings be drawn back to the scenes it has regretfully quitted. speaking of the possibility of communication between the ego of the deceased person and a medium, h.p. blavatsky says in the _theosophist_,[ ] as from the teachings received by her from the adept brothers, that such communication may occur during two intervals: interval the first is that period between the physical death and the merging of the spiritual ego into that state which is known in the arhat esoteric doctrine as bar-do. we have translated this as the "gestation" period [pre-devachanic]. some of the communications made through mediums are from this source, from the disembodied entity, thus drawn back to the earth-sphere--a cruel kindness, delaying its forward evolution and introducing an element of disharmony into what should be an orderly progression. the period in kâmaloka is thus lengthened, the desire body is fed and its hold on the ego is maintained, and thus is the freedom of the soul deferred, the immortal swallow being still held down by the bird-lime of earth. persons who have led an evil life, who have gratified and stimulated their animal passions, and have full fed the desire body while they have starved even the lower mind--these remain for long, denizens of kâmaloka, and are filled with yearnings for the earth-life they have left, and for the animal delights that they can no longer--in the absence of the physical body--directly taste. these gather round the medium and the sensitive, endeavouring to utilise them for their own gratification, and these are among the more dangerous of the forces so rashly confronted in their ignorance by the thoughtless and the curious. another class of disembodied entities includes those whose lives on earth have been prematurely cut short, by their own act, the act of others, or by accident. their fate in kâmaloka depends on the conditions which surrounded their outgoings from earthly life, for not all suicides are guilty of _felo de se_, and the measure of responsibility may vary within very wide limits. the condition of such has been thus described: _suicides, although not wholly dissevered from their sixth and seventh principles, and quite potent in the séance room, nevertheless to the day when they would have died a natural death, are separated from their higher principles by a gulf. the sixth and seventh principles remain passive and negative, whereas in cases of_ accidental death _the higher and the lower groups actually attract each other. in cases of good and innocent egos, moreover, the latter gravitates irresistibly toward the sixth and seventh, and thus either slumbers surrounded by happy dreams, or sleeps a dreamless profound sleep until the hour strikes. with a little reflection and an eye to the eternal justice and fitness of things, you will see why. the victim, whether good or bad, is irresponsible for his death. even if his death were due to some action in a previous life or an antecedent birth, was an act, in short, of the law of retribution, still it was not the_ direct _result of an act deliberately committed by the_ personal _ego of that life during which he happened to be killed. had he been allowed to live longer he might have atoned for his antecedent sins still more effectually, and even now, the ego having been made to pay off the debt of his maker, the personal ego is free from the blows of retributive justice. the dhyân chohans, who have no hand in the guidance of the living human ego, protect the helpless victim when it is violently thrust out of its element into a new one, before it is matured and made fit and ready for it._ these, whether suicides or killed by accident, can communicate with those in earth-life, but much to their own injury. as said above, the good and innocent sleep happily till the life-period is over. but where the victim of an accident is depraved and gross, his fate is a sad one. _unhappy shades, if sinful and sensual, they wander about (not shells, for their connection with their two higher principles is not quite broken) until their_ death-_hour comes. cut off in the full flush of earthly passions which bind them to familiar scenes, they are enticed by the opportunities which mediums afford to gratify them vicariously. they are the pishâchas, the incubi and succubæ of mediæval times; the demons of thirst, gluttony, lust, and avarice--elementaries of intensified craft, wickedness, and cruelty; provoking their victims to horrid crimes, and revelling in their commission! they not only ruin their victims, but these psychic vampires, borne along by the torrent of their hellish impulses, at last--at the fixed close of their natural period of life--they are carried out of the earth's aura into regions where for ages they endure exquisite suffering and end with entire destruction. * * * * * now the causes producing the "new being" and determining the nature of karma are trishnâ (tanhâ)--thirst, desire for sentient existence--and upâdâna, which is the realisation or consummation of trishnâ, or that desire. and both of these the medium helps to develop_ ne plus ultra _in an elementary, be he a suicide or a victim. the rule is that a person who dies a natural death will remain from "a few hours to several short years" within the earth's attraction--_i.e._, the kâmaloka. but exceptions are the cases of suicides and those who die a violent death in general. hence, one of such egos who was destined to live, say, eighty or ninety years--but who either killed himself or was killed by some accident, let us suppose at the age of twenty--would have to pass in the kâmaloka not "a few years," but in his case sixty or seventy years, as an elementary, or rather an "earth-walker," since he is not, unfortunately for him, even a "shell." happy, thrice happy, in comparison, are those disembodied entities who sleep their long slumber and live in dream in the bosom of space! and woe to those whose trishnâ will attract them to mediums, and woe to the latter who tempt them with such an easy upâdâna. for, in grasping them and satisfying their thirst for life, the medium helps to develop in them--is, in fact, the cause of--a new set of skandhas, a new body with far worse tendencies and passions than the one they lost. all the future of this new body will be determined thus, not only by the karma of demerit of the previous set or group, but also by that of the new set of the future being. were the mediums and spiritualists but to know, as i said, that with every new "angel-guide" they welcome with rapture, they entice the latter into a upâdâna, which will be productive of untold evils for the new ego that will be reborn under its nefarious shadow, and that with every séance, especially for materialization, they multiply the causes for misery, causes that will make the unfortunate ego fail in his spiritual birth, or be reborn into a far worse existence than ever--they would, perhaps, be less lavish in their hospitality._ premature death brought on by vicious courses, by over-study, or by voluntary sacrifice for some great cause, will bring about delay in kâmaloka, but the state of the disembodied entity will depend on the motive that cut short the life. _there are very few, if any, of the men who indulge in these vices, who feel perfectly sure that such a course of action will lead them eventually to premature death. such is the penalty of mâyâ. the "vices" will not escape their punishment; but it is the_ cause, _not the effect, that will be punished, especially an unforeseen, though probable effect. as well call a man a "suicide" who meets his death in a storm at sea, as one who kills himself with "over-study". water is liable to drown a man, and too much brain work to produce a softening of the brain matter which may carry him away. in such a case no one ought to cross the_ kâlapâni, _nor even to take a bath for fear of getting faint in it and drowned (for we all know of such cases), nor should a man do his duty, least of all sacrifice himself for even a laudable and highly beneficial cause as many of us do. motive is everything, and man is punished in a case of direct responsibility, never otherwise. in the victim's case the natural hour of death was anticipated_ accidentally, _while in that of the suicide death is brought on voluntarily and with a full and deliberate knowledge of its immediate consequences. thus a man who causes his death in a fit of temporary insanity is_ not _a_ felo de se, _to the great grief and often trouble of the life insurance companies. nor is he left a prey to the temptations of the kâmaloka, but falls_ asleep _like any other victim._ the population of kâmaloka is thus recruited with a peculiarly dangerous element by all the acts of violence, legal and illegal, which wrench the physical body from the soul and send the latter into kâmaloka clad in the desire body, throbbing with pulses of hatred, passion, emotion, palpitating with longings for revenge, with unsatiated lusts. a murderer in the body is not a pleasant member of society, but a murderer suddenly expelled from the body is a far more dangerous entity; society may protect itself against the first, but in its present state of ignorance it is defenceless as against the second. finally, the immortal triad sets itself free from the desire body, and passes out of kâmaloka; the higher manas draws back its ray, coloured with the life-scenes it has passed through, and carrying with it the experiences gained through the personality it has informed. the labourer is called in from the field, and he returns home bearing his sheaves with him, rich or poor, according to the fruitage of the life. when the triad has quitted kâmaloka, it passes wholly out of the sphere of earth attractions: _as soon as it has stepped outside the kâmaloka--crossed the "golden bridge" leading to the "seven golden mountains"--the ego can confabulate no more with easy-going mediums._ there are some exceptional possibilities of reaching such an ego, that will be explained later, but the ego is out of the reach of the ordinary medium and cannot be recalled into the earth-sphere. but ere we follow the further course of the triad, we must consider the fate of the now deserted desire body, left as a mere _reliquum_ in kâmaloka. kÂmaloka. the shells. the shell is the desire body, emptied of the triad, which has now passed onwards; it is the third of the transitory garments of soul, cast aside and left in kâmaloka to disintegrate. when the past earth-life has been noble, or even when it has been of average purity and utility, this shell retains but little vitality after the passing onwards of the triad, and rapidly dissolves. its molecules, however, retain, during this process of disintegration, the impressions made upon them during the earth-life, the tendency to vibrate in response to stimuli constantly experienced during that period. every student of physiology is familiar with what is termed automatic action, with the tendency of cells to repeat vibrations originally set up by purposive action; thus are formed what we term habits, and we unconsciously repeat motions which at first were done with thought. so strong is this automatism of the body, that, as everyone knows by experience, it is difficult to break off the use of a phrase or of a gesture that has become "habitual." now the desire body is during earth-life the recipient of and the respondent to all stimuli from without, and it also continually receives and responds to stimuli from the lower manas. in it are set up habits, tendencies to repeat automatically familiar vibrations, vibrations of love and desire, vibrations imaging past experiences of all kinds. just as the hand may repeat a familiar gesture, so may the desire body repeat a familiar feeling or thought. and when the triad has left it, this automatism remains, and the shell may thus simulate feelings and thoughts which are empty of all true intelligence and will. many of the responses to eager enquiries at _séances_ come from such shells, drawn to the neighbourhood of friends and relatives by the magnetic attractions so long familiar and dear, and automatically responding to the waves of emotion and remembrance, to the impulse of which they had so often answered during the lately closed earth-life. phrases of affection, moral platitudes, memories of past events, will be all the communications such shells can make, but these may be literally poured out under favourable conditions under the magnetic stimuli freely applied by the embodied friends and relatives. in cases where the lower manas during earth-life has been strongly attached to material objects and to intellectual pursuits directed by a self-seeking motive, the desire body may have acquired a very considerable automatism of an intellectual character, and may give forth responses of considerable intellectual merit. but still the mark of non-originality will be present: the apparent intellectuality will only give out reproductions, and there will be no sign of the new and independent thought which would be the inevitable outcome of a strong intelligence working with originality amid new surroundings. intellectual sterility brands the great majority of communications from the "spirit world"; reflections of earthly scenes, earthly conditions, earthly arrangements, are plentiful, but we usually seek in vain for strong, new thought, worthy of intelligences freed from the prison of the flesh. the communications of a loftier kind occasionally granted are, for the most part, from non-human intelligences, attracted by the pure atmosphere of the medium or sitters. and there is an ever-present danger in this commerce with the shells. just because they are shells, and nothing more, they answer to the impulses that strike on them from without, and easily become malicious and mischievous, automatically responding to evil vibrations. thus a medium, or sitters of poor moral character, will impress the shells that flock around them with impulses of a low order, and any animal desires, petty and foolish thoughts, will set up similar vibrations in the blindly responsive shells. again, the shell is very easily taken possession of by elementals, the semi-conscious forces working in the kingdoms of nature, and may be used by them as a convenient vehicle for many a prank and trick. the etheric double of the medium, and the desire bodies emptied of their immortal tenants, give the material basis by which elementals can work many a curious and startling result; and frequenters of _séances_ may be confidently appealed to, and asked whether many of the childish freaks with which they are familiar--pullings of hair, pinchings, slaps, throwing about of objects, piling up of furniture, playing on accordions, &c.--are not more rationally accounted for as the tricky vagaries of sub-human forces, than as the actions of "spirits" who, while in the body, were certainly incapable of such vulgarities. let us leave the shells alone to peacefully dissolve into their elements, and mingle once again in the crucible of nature. the authors of the _perfect way_ put very well the real character of the shell. the true "ghost" consists of the exterior and earthly portion of the soul, that portion which, being weighted with cares, attachments, and memories merely mundane, is detached by the soul and remains in the astral sphere, an existence more or less definite and personal, and capable of holding, through a sensitive, converse with the living. it is, however, but as a cast-off vestment of the soul, and is incapable of endurance _as ghost_. the true soul and real person, the _anima divina_, parts at death with all those lower affections which would have retained it near its earthly haunts.[ ] if we would find our beloved, it is not among the decaying remnants in kâmaloka that we should seek them. "why seek ye the living among the dead?" kÂmaloka. the elementaries. the word "elementary" has been so loosely used that it has given rise to a good deal of confusion. it is thus defined by h.p. blavatsky: properly, the disembodied _souls_ of the depraved; these souls having, at some time prior to death, separated from themselves their divine spirits, and so lost their chance for immortality. but at the present stage of learning it has been thought best to apply the term to the spooks or phantoms of disembodied persons, in general to those whose temporary habitation is the kâmaloka.... once divorced from their higher triads and their bodies, these souls remain in their kâma rûpic envelopes, and are irresistibly drawn to the earth amid elements congenial to their gross natures. their stay in the kâmaloka varies as to its duration; but ends invariably in disintegration, dissolving like a column of mist, atom by atom, in the surrounding elements.[ ] students of this series of manuals know that it is possible for the lower manas to so entangle itself with kâma as to wrench itself away from its source, and this is spoken of in occultism as "the loss of the soul."[ ] it is, in other words, the loss of the personal self, which has separated itself from its parent, the higher ego, and has thus doomed itself to perish. such a soul, having thus separated itself from the immortal triad during its earth-life, becomes a true elementary, after it has quitted the dense and etheric bodies. then, clad in its desire body, it lives for awhile, for a longer or shorter time according to the vigour of its vitality, a wholly evil thing, dangerous and malignant, seeking to renew its fading vitality by any means laid open to it by the folly or ignorance of still embodied souls. its ultimate fate is, indeed, destruction, but it may work much evil on its way to its self-chosen doom. the word elementary is, however, very often used to describe the lower manas in its garment the desire body, not broken away from the higher principles, but not yet absorbed into its parent, the higher manas. such elementaries may be in any stage of progress, harmless or mischievous. some writers, again, use elementary as a synonym for shell, and so cause increased confusion. the word should at least be restricted to the desire body _plus_ lower manas, whether that lower manas be disentangling itself from the kâmic elements, in order that it may be re-absorbed into its source, or separated from the higher ego, and therefore on the road to destruction. devachan. among the various conceptions presented by the esoteric philosophy, there are few, perhaps, which the western mind has found more difficulty in grasping than that of devachan, or devasthân, the devaland, or land of the gods.[ ] and one of the chief difficulties has arisen from the free use of the words illusion, dream-state, and other similar terms, as denoting the devachanic consciousness--a general sense of unreality having thus come to pervade the whole conception of devachan. when the eastern thinker speaks of the present earthly life as mâyâ, illusion, dream, the solid western at once puts down the phrases as allegorical and fanciful, for what can be less illusory, he thinks, than this world of buying and selling, of beefsteaks and bottled stout. but when similar terms are applied to a state beyond death--a state which to him is misty and unreal in his own religion, and which, as he sadly feels, is lacking in all the substantial comforts dear to the family man--then he accepts the words in their most literal and prosaic meaning, and speaks of devachan as a delusion in his own sense of the word. it may be well, therefore, on the threshold of devachan to put this question of "illusion" in its true light. in a deep metaphysical sense all that is conditioned is illusory. all phenomena are literally "appearances", the outer masks in which the one reality shows itself forth in our changing universe. the more "material" and solid the appearance, the further is it from reality, and therefore the more illusory it is. what can be a greater fraud than our body, so apparently solid, stable, visible and tangible? it is a constantly changing congeries of minute living particles, an attractive centre into which stream continually myriads of tiny invisibles, that become visible by their aggregation at this centre, and then stream away again, becoming invisible by reason of their minuteness as they separate off from this aggregation. in comparison with this ever-shifting but apparently stable body how much less illusory is the mind, which is able to expose the pretensions of the body and put it in its true light. the mind is constantly imposed on by the senses, and consciousness, the most real thing in us, is apt to regard itself as the unreal. in truth, it is the thought-world that is the nearest to reality, and things become more and more illusory as they take on more and more of a phenomenal character. again, the mind is permanent as compared with the transitory physical world. for the "mind" is only a clumsy name for the living thinker in us, the true and conscious entity, the inner man, "that was, that is, and will be, for whom the hour shall never strike". the less deeply this inner man is plunged into matter, the less unreal is his life; and when he has shaken off the garments he donned at incarnation, his physical, ethereal, and passional bodies, then he is nearer to the soul of things than he was before, and though veils of illusion still dim his vision they are far thinner than those which clouded it when round him was wrapped the garment of the flesh. his freer and less illusory life is that which is without the body, and the disembodied is, comparatively speaking, his normal state. out of this normal state he plunges into physical life for brief periods in order that he may gain experiences otherwise unattainable, and bring them back to enrich his more abiding condition. as a diver may plunge into the depths of the ocean to seek a pearl, so the thinker plunges into the depths of the ocean of life to seek the pearl of experience; but he does not stay there long; it is not his own element; he rises up again into his own atmosphere and shakes off from him the heavier element he leaves. and therefore it is truly said of the soul that has escaped from earth that it has returned to its own place, for its home is the "land of the gods", and here on earth it is an exile and a prisoner. this view was very clearly put by a master of wisdom in a conversation reported by h.p. blavatsky, and printed under the title "life and death."[ ] the following extracts state the case: _the vedântins, acknowledging two kinds of conscious existence, the terrestrial and the spiritual, point only to the latter as an undoubted actuality. as to the terrestrial life, owing to its changeability and shortness, it is nothing but an illusion of our senses. our life in the spiritual spheres must be thought an actuality because it is there that lives our endless, never-changing immortal i, the sûtrâtmâ. whereas in every new incarnation it clothes itself in a perfectly different personality, a temporary and short-lived one.... the very essence of all this, that is to say, spirit, force, and matter, has neither end nor beginning, but the shape acquired by this triple unity during its incarnations, their exterior, so to speak, is nothing but a mere illusion of personal conceptions. this is why we call the posthumous life the only reality, and the terrestrial one, including the personality itself, only imaginary._ why in this case should we call the reality sleep, and the phantasm waking? _this comparison was made by me to facilitate your comprehension. from the standpoint of your terrestrial notions it is perfectly accurate._ note the words: "from the standpoint of your terrestrial notions," for they are the key to all the phrases used about devachan as an "illusion." our gross physical matter is not there; the limitations imposed by it are not there; the mind is in its own realm, where to will is to create, where to think is to see. and so, when the master was asked: "would it not be better to say that death is nothing but a birth for a new life, or still better, a going back to eternity?" he answered: _this is how it really is, and i have nothing to say against such a way of putting it. only with our accepted views of material life the words "live" and "exist" are not applicable to the purely subjective condition after death; and were they employed in our philosophy without a rigid definition of their meanings, the vedântins would soon arrive at the ideas which are common in our times among the american spiritualists, who preach about spirits marrying among themselves and with mortals. as amongst the true, not nominal, christians so amongst the vedântins--the life on the other side of the grave is the land where there are no_ _tears, no sighs, where there is neither marrying nor giving in marriage, and where the just realise their full perfection._ the dread of materialising mental and spiritual conceptions has always been very strong among the philosophers and oral teachers of the far east. their constant effort has been to free the thinker as far as possible from the bonds of matter even while he is embodied, to open the cage for the divine swallow, even though he must return to it for awhile. they are ever seeking "to spiritualise the material", while in the west the continual tendency has been "to materialise the spiritual". so the indian describes the life of the freed soul in all the terms that make it least material--illusion, dream, and so on--whereas the hebrew endeavours to delineate it in terms descriptive of the material luxury and splendour of earth--marriage feast, streets of gold, thrones and crowns of solid metal and precious stones; the western has followed the materialising conceptions of the hebrew, and pictures a heaven which is merely a double of earth with earth's sorrows extracted, until we reach the grossest of all, the modern summerland, with its "spirit-husbands", "spirit-wives", and "spirit-infants" that go to school and college, and grow up into spirit-adults. in "notes on devachan",[ ] someone who evidently writes with knowledge remarks of the devachanî: _the_ à priori _ideas of space and time do not control his perceptions; for he absolutely creates and annihilates them at the same time. physical existence has its cumulative intensity from infancy to prime, and its diminishing energy from dotage to death; so the dream-life of devachan is lived correspondentially. nature cheats no more the devachanî than she does the living physical man. nature provides for him far more_ real _bliss and happiness_ there _than she does_ here, _where all the conditions of evil and chance are against him. to call the devachan existence a "dream" in any other sense than that of a conventional term, is to renounce for ever the knowledge of the esoteric doctrine, the sole custodian of truth._ "dream" only in the sense that it is not of this plane of gross matter, that it belongs not to the physical world. let us try and take a general view of the life of the eternal pilgrim, the inner man, the human soul, during a cycle of incarnation. before he commences his new pilgrimage--for many pilgrimages lie behind him in the past, during which he gained the powers which enable him to tread the present one--he is a spiritual being, but one who has already passed out of the passive condition of pure spirit, and who by previous experience of matter in past ages has evolved intellect, the self-conscious mind. but this evolution by experience is far from being complete, even so far as to make him master of matter; his ignorance leaves him a prey to all the illusions of gross matter, so soon as he comes into contact with it, and he is not fit to be a builder of a universe, being subject to the deceptive visions caused by gross matter--as a child, looking through a piece of blue glass, imagines all the outside world to be blue. the object of a cycle of incarnation is to free him from these illusions, so that when he is surrounded by and working in gross matter he may retain clear vision and not be blinded by illusion. now the cycle of incarnation is made up of two alternating states: a short one called life on earth, during which the pilgrim-god is plunged into gross matter, and a comparatively long one, called life in devachan, during which he is encircled by subtle matter, illusive still, but far less illusive than that of earth. the second state may fairly be called his normal one, as it is of enormous extent as compared with the breaks in it that he spends upon earth; it is comparatively normal also, as being less removed from his essential divine life; he is less encased in matter, less deluded by its swiftly-changing appearances. slowly and gradually, by reiterated experiences, gross matter loses its power over him and becomes his servant instead of his tyrant. in the partial freedom of devachan he assimilates his experiences on earth, still partly dominated by them--at first, indeed, almost completely dominated by them so that the devachanic life is merely a sublimated continuation of the earth-life--but gradually freeing himself more and more as he recognises them as transitory and external, until he can move through any region of our universe with unbroken self-consciousness, a true lord of mind, the free and triumphant god. such is the triumph of the divine nature manifested in the flesh, the subduing of every form of matter to be the obedient instrument of spirit. thus the master said: _the spiritual ego of the man moves in eternity like a pendulum between the hours of life and death, but if these_ _hours, the periods of life terrestrial and life posthumous, are limited in their continuation, and even the very number of such breaks in eternity between sleep and waking, between illusion and reality, have their beginning as well as their end, the spiritual pilgrim himself is eternal. therefore the_ hours of his posthumous life, _when unveiled he stands face to face with truth, and the short-lived mirages of his terrestrial existence are far from him,_ compose _or make up, in our ideas,_ the only reality. _such breaks, in spite of the fact that they are finite, do double service to the sûtrâtmâ, which, perfecting itself constantly, follows without vacillation, though very slowly, the road leading to its last transformation, when, reaching its aim at last, it becomes a divine being. they not only contribute to the reaching of this goal, but without these finite breaks sûtrâtmâ-buddhi could never reach it. sûtrâtmâ is the actor, and its numerous and different incarnations are the actor's parts. i suppose you would not apply to these parts, and so much the less to their costumes, the term of personality. like an actor the soul is bound to play, during the cycle of births up to the very threshold of parinirvâna, many such parts, which often are disagreeable to it, but like a bee, collecting its honey from every flower, and leaving the rest to feed the worms of the earth, our spiritual individuality, the sûtrâtmâ, collecting only the nectar of moral qualities and consciousness from every terrestrial personality in which it has to clothe itself, forced by karma, unites at last all these qualities in one, having then become a perfect being, a dhyân chohan._[ ] it is very significant, in this connection, that every devachanic stage is conditioned by the earth-stage that precedes it, and the man can only assimilate in devachan the kinds of experience he has been gathering on earth. _a colourless, flavourless personality has a colourless, feeble devachanic state._[ ] husband, father, student, patriot, artist, christian, buddhist--he must work out the effects of his earth-life in his devachanic life; he cannot eat and assimilate more food than he has gathered; he cannot reap more harvest than he has sown seed. it takes but a moment to cast a seed into a furrow; it takes many a month for that seed to grow into the ripened ear; but according to the kind of the seed is the ear that grows from it, and according to the nature of the brief earth-life is the grain reaped in the field of aanroo. _there is a change of occupation, a continual change in devachan, just as much and far more than there is in the life of any man or woman who happens to follow in his or her whole life one sole occupation, whatever it may be, with this difference, that to the devachanî this spiritual occupation is always pleasant and fills his life with rapture. life in devachan is the function of the aspirations of earth-life; not the indefinite prolongation of that "single instant," but its infinite developments, the various incidents and events based upon and outflowing from that one "single moment" or moments. the dreams of the objective become the realities of the subjective existence.... the reward provided by nature for men who are benevolent in a large systematic way, and who have not focussed their affections on an individual or speciality, is that, if pure, they pass the quicker for that through the kâma and rûpa lokas into the higher sphere of tribhuvana, since it is one where the formulation of abstract ideas and the consideration of general principles fill the thought of its occupant._[ ] into devachan enters nothing that defileth, for gross matter has been left behind with all its attributes on earth and in kâmaloka. but if the sower has sowed but little seed, the devachanic harvest will be meagre, and the growth of the soul will be delayed by the paucity of the nutriment on which it has to feed. hence the enormous importance of the earth-life, _the field of sowing, the place where experience is to be gathered_. it conditions, regulates, limits, the growth of the soul; it yields the rough ore which the soul then takes in hand, and works upon during the devachanic stage, smelting it, forging it, tempering it, into the weapons it will take back with it for its next earth-life. the experienced soul in devachan will make for itself a splendid instrument for its next earth-life; the inexperienced one will forge a poor blade enough; but in each case the only material available is that brought from earth. in devachan the soul, as it were, sifts and sorts out its experiences; it lives a comparatively free life, and gradually gains the power to estimate the earthly experiences at their real value; it works out thoroughly and completely as objective realities all the ideas of which it only conceived the germ on earth. thus, noble aspiration is a germ which the soul would work out into a splendid realisation in devachan, and it would bring back with it to earth for its next incarnation that mental image, to be materialised on earth when opportunity offers and suitable environment presents itself. for the mind sphere is the sphere of creation, and earth only the place for materialising the pre-existent thought. and the soul is as an architect that works out his plans in silence and deep meditation, and then brings them forth into the outer world where his edifice is to be builded; out of the knowledge gained in his past life, the soul draws his plans for the next, and he returns to earth to put into objective material form the edifices he has planned. this is the description of a logos in creative activity: whilst brahmâ formerly, in the beginning of the kalpas, was meditating on creation, there appeared a creation beginning with ignorance and consisting of darkness.... brahmâ, beholding that it was defective, designed another; and whilst he thus meditated, the animal creation was manifested.... beholding this creation also imperfect, brahmâ again meditated, and a third creation appeared, abounding with the quality of goodness.[ ] the objective manifestation follows the mental meditation; first idea, then form. hence it will be seen that the notion current among many theosophists that devachan is waste time, is but one of the illusions due to the gross matter that blinds them, and that their impatience of the idea of devachan arises from the delusion that fussing about in gross matter is the only real activity. whereas, in truth, all effective action has its source in deep meditation, and out of the silence comes ever the creative word. action on this plane would be less feeble and inefficient if it were the mere blossom of the profound root of meditation, and if the soul embodied passed oftener out of the body into devachan during earth-life, there would be less foolish action and consequent waste of time. for devachan is a state of consciousness, the consciousness of the soul escaped for awhile from the net of gross matter, and may be entered at any time by one who has learned to withdraw his soul from the senses as the tortoise withdraws itself within its shell. and then, coming forth once more, action is prompt, direct, purposeful, and the time "wasted" in meditation is more than saved by the directness and strength of the mind-engendered act. devachan is the sphere of the mind, as said, it is the land of the gods, or the souls. in the before quoted "notes on devachan" we read: _there are two fields of causal manifestations: the objective and the subjective. the grosser energies find their outcome in the new personality of each birth in the cycle of evoluting individuality. the moral and spiritual activities find their sphere of effects in devachan._ as the moral and spiritual activities are the most important, and as on the development of these depends the growth of the true man, and therefore the accomplishing of "the object of creation, the liberation of soul", we may begin to understand something of the vast importance of the devachanic state. the devachanÎ. when the triad has shaken off its last garment, it crosses the threshold of devachan, and becomes "a devachanî". we have seen that it is in a peaceful dreamy state before this passage out of the earth sphere, the "second death", or "pre-devachanic unconsciousness". this condition is otherwise spoken of as the "gestation" period, because it precedes the birth of the ego into the devachanic life. regarded from the earth-sphere the passage is death, while regarded from that of devachan it is birth. thus we find in "notes on devachan": _as in actual earth-life, so there is for the ego in devachan the first flutter of psychic life, the attainment of prime, the gradual exhaustion of force passing into semi-consciousness and lethargy, total oblivion, and--not death but birth, birth into another personality, and the resumption of action which daily begets new congeries of causes that must be worked out in another term of devachan, and still another physical birth as a new personality. what the lives in devachan and upon earth shall be respectively in each instance is determined by karma, and this weary round of birth must be ever and ever run through until the being reaches the end of the seventh round, or attains in the interim the wisdom of an arhat, then that of a buddha, and thus gets relieved for a round or two._ when the devachanic entity is born into this new sphere it has passed beyond recall to earth. the embodied soul may rise to it, but it cannot be drawn back to our world. on this a master has spoken decisively: _from sukhâvatî down to the "territory of doubt," there is a variety of spiritual states, but ... as soon as it has stepped outside the kâmaloka, crossed the "golden bridge" leading to the "seven golden mountains," the ego can confabulate no more with easy-going mediums. no ernest or joey has ever returned from the rûpa loka, let alone the arupa loka, to hold sweet intercourse with men._ in the "notes on devachan," again, we read: _certainly the new ego, once that it is reborn (in devachan), retains for a certain time--proportionate to its earth-life--a complete recollection "of his life on earth"; but it can never revisit the earth from devachan except in re-incarnation._ the devachanî is generally spoken of as the immortal triad, atmâ-buddhi-manas, but it is well always to bear in mind that atman is no individual property of any man, but is the divine essence which has no body, no form, which is imponderable, invisible, and indivisible, that which does not _exist_ and yet _is_, as the buddhists say of nirvâna. it only overshadows the mortal; that which enters into him and pervades the whole body being only it's omni-present rays or light, radiated through buddhi, its vehicle and direct emanation.[ ] buddhi and manas united, with this overshadowing of atmâ, form the devachanî; now, as we have seen in studying the seven principles, manas is dual during earth-life, and the lower manas is redrawn into the higher during the kâmalokic interlude. by this reuniting of the ray and its source, manas re-becomes one, and carries the pure and noble experiences of the earth-life into devachan with it, thus maintaining the past personality as the marked characteristic of the devachanî, and it is in this prolongation of the "personal ego", so to speak, that the "illusion" of the devachanî consists. were the mânasic entity free from all illusion, it would see all egos as its brother-souls, and looking back over its past would recognise all the varied relationships it had borne to others in many lives, as the actor would remember the many parts he had played with other actors, and would think of each brother actor as a man, and not in the parts he had played as his father, his son, his judge, his murderer, his master, his friend. the deeper human relationship would prevent the brother actors from identifying each other with their parts, and so the perfected spiritual egos, recognising their deep unity and full brotherhood, would no longer be deluded by the trappings of earthly relationships. but the devachanî, at least in the lower stages, is still within the personal boundaries of his past earth-life; he is shut into the relationships of the one incarnation; his paradise is peopled with those he "_loved best with an undying love, that holy feeling that alone survives_," and thus the purified personal ego is the salient feature, as above said, in the devachanî. again quoting from the "notes on devachan": "_who goes to devachan?" the personal ego, of course; but beatified, purified, holy. every ego--the combination of the sixth and seventh principles[ ]--which after the period of unconscious gestation is reborn into the devachan, is of necessity as innocent and pure as a new-born babe. the fact of his being reborn at all shows the preponderance of good over evil in his old personality. and while the karma [of evil] steps aside for the time being to follow him in his future earth re-incarnation, he brings along with him but the karma of his good deeds, words and thoughts into this devachan. "bad" is a relative term for us--as you were told more than once before--and the law of retribution is the only law that never errs. hence all those who have not slipped down into the mire of unredeemable sin and bestiality go to the devachan. they will have to pay for their sins, voluntary and involuntary, later on. meanwhile they are rewarded; receive the effects of the causes produced by them._ now in some people a sense of repulsion arises at the idea that the ties they form on earth in one life are not to be permanent in eternity. but let us look at the question calmly for a moment. when a mother first clasps her baby-son in her arms, that one relationship seems perfect, and if the child should die, her longing would be to re-possess him as her babe; but as he lives on through youth to manhood the tie changes, and the protective love of the mother and the clinging obedience of the child merge into a different love of friends and comrades, richer than ordinary friendship from the old recollections; yet later, when the mother is aged and the son in the prime of middle life, their positions are reversed and the son protects while the mother depends on him for guidance. would the relation have been more perfect had it ceased in infancy with only the one tie, or is it not the richer and the sweeter from the different strands of which the tie is woven? and so with egos; in many lives they may hold to each other many relationships, and finally, standing as brothers of the lodge closely knit together, may look back over past lives and see themselves in earth-life related in the many ways possible to human beings, till the cord is woven of every strand of love and duty; would not the final unity be the richer not the poorer for the many-stranded tie? "finally", i say; but the word is only of this cycle, for what lies beyond, of wider life and less separateness, no mind of man may know. to me it seems that this very variety of experiences makes the tie stronger, not weaker, and that it is a rather thin and poor thing to know oneself and another in only one little aspect of many-sided humanity for endless ages of years; a thousand or so years of one person in one character would, to me, be ample, and i should prefer to know him or her in some new aspect of his nature. but those who object to this view need not feel distressed, for they will enjoy the presence of their beloved in the one personal aspect held by him or her in the one incarnation they are conscious of _for as long as the desire for that presence remains_. only let them not desire to impose their own form of bliss on everybody else, nor insist that the kind of happiness which seems to them at this stage the only one desirable and satisfying, must be stereotyped to all eternity, through all the millions of years that lie before us. nature gives to each in devachan the satisfaction of all pure desires, and manas there exercises that faculty of his innate divinity, that he "never wills in vain". will not this suffice? but leaving aside disputes as to what may be to us "happiness" in a future separated from our present by millions of years, so that we are no more fitted now to formulate its conditions than is a child, playing with its dolls, to formulate the deeper joys and interests of its maturity, let us understand that, according to the teachings of the esoteric philosophy, the devachanî is surrounded by all he loved on earth, with pure affection, and the union being on the plane of the ego, not on the physical plane, it is free from all the sufferings which would be inevitable were the devachanî present in consciousness on the physical plane with all its illusory and transitory joys and sorrows. it is surrounded by its beloved in the higher consciousness, but is not agonised by the knowledge of what they are suffering in the lower consciousness, held in the bonds of the flesh. according to the orthodox christian view, death is a separation, and the "spirits of the dead" wait for reunion until those they love also pass through death's gateway, or--according to some--until after the judgment-day is over. as against this the esoteric philosophy teaches that death cannot touch the higher consciousness of man, and that it can only separate those who love each other so far as their lower vehicles are concerned; the man living on earth, blinded by matter, feels separated from those who have passed onwards, but the devachanî, says h.p. blavatsky, has a complete conviction "that there is no such thing as death at all", having left behind it all those vehicles over which death has power. therefore, to its less blinded eyes, its beloved are still with it; for it, the veil of matter that separates has been torn away. a mother dies, leaving behind her little helpless children, whom she adores, perhaps a beloved husband also. we say that her "spirit" or ego--that individuality which is now wholly impregnated, for the entire devachanic period, with the noblest feelings held by its late _personality, i.e._, love for her children, pity for those who suffer, and so on--is now entirely separated from the "vale of tears," that its future bliss consists in that blessed ignorance of all the woes it left behind ... that the _post-mortem_ spiritual consciousness of the mother will represent to her that she lives surrounded by her children and all those whom she loved; that no gap, no link will be missing to make her disembodied state the most perfect and absolute happiness.[ ] and so again: as to the ordinary mortal his bliss in devachan is complete. it is an absolute oblivion of all that gave it pain or sorrow in the past incarnation, and even oblivion of the fact that such things as pain or sorrow exist at all. the devachanî lives its intermediate cycle between two incarnations surrounded by everything it had aspired to in vain, and in the companionship of everything it loved on earth. it has reached the fulfilment of all its soul-yearnings. and thus it lives throughout long centuries an existence of _unalloyed_ happiness, which is the reward for its sufferings in earth-life. in short, it bathes in a sea of uninterrupted felicity spanned only by events of still greater felicity in degree.[ ] when we take the wider sweep in thought demanded by the esoteric philosophy, a far more fascinating prospect of persistent love and union between individual egos rolls itself out before our eyes than was offered to us by the more limited creed of exoteric christendom. "mothers love their children with an immortal love," says h.p. blavatsky, and the reason for this immortality in love is easily grasped when we realise that it is the same egos that play so many parts in the drama of life, that the experience of each part is recorded in the memory of the soul, and that between the souls there is no separation, though during incarnation they may not realise the fact in its fulness and beauty. we are with those whom we have lost in material form, and far, far nearer to them now than when they were alive. and it is not only in the fancy of the devachanî, as some may imagine, but in reality. for pure divine love is not merely the blossom of a human heart, but has its roots in eternity. spiritual holy love is immortal, and karma brings sooner or later all those who loved each other with such a spiritual affection to incarnate once more in the same family group.[ ] love "has its roots in eternity", and those to whom on earth we are strongly drawn are the egos we have loved in past earth-lives and dwelt with in devachan; coming back to earth these enduring bonds of love draw us together yet again, and add to the strength and beauty of the tie, and so on and on till all illusions are lived down, and the strong and perfected egos stand side by side, sharing the experience of their well-nigh illimitable past. the return to earth. at length the causes that carried the ego into devachan are exhausted, the experiences gathered have been wholly assimilated, and the soul begins to feel again the thirst for sentient material life that can be gratified only on the physical plane. the greater the degree of spirituality reached, the purer and loftier the preceding earth-life, the longer the stay in devachan, the world of spiritual, pure, and lofty effects. [i am here ignoring the special conditions surrounding one who is forcing his own evolution, and has entered on the path that leads to adeptship within a very limited number of lives.] the "average time [in devachan] is from ten to fifteen centuries", h.p. blavatsky tells us, and the fifteen centuries cycle is the one most plainly marked in history.[ ] but in modern life this period has much shortened, in consequence of the greater attraction exercised by physical objects over the heart of man. further, it must be remembered that the "average time" is not the time spent in devachan by any person. if one person spends there years, and another fifty, the "average" is . the devachanic period is longer or shorter according to the type of life which preceded it; the more there was of spiritual, intellectual, and emotional activity of a lofty kind, the longer will be the gathering in of the harvest; the more there was of activity directed to selfish gain on earth, the shorter will be the devachanic period. when the experiences are assimilated, be the time long or short, the ego is ready to return, and he brings back with him his now increased experience, and any further gains he may have made in devachan along the lines of abstract thought; for, while in devachan, in one sense we can acquire more knowledge; that is, we can develop further any faculty which we loved and strove after during life, provided it is concerned with abstract and ideal things, such as music, painting, poetry, &c.[ ] but the ego meets, as he crosses the threshold of devachan on his way outwards--dying out of devachan to be reborn on earth--he meets in the "atmosphere of the terrestrial plane", the seeds of evil sown in his preceding life on earth. during the devachanic rest he has been free from all pain, all sorrow, but the evil he did in his past has been in a state of suspended animation, not of death. as seeds sown in the autumn for the spring-time lie dormant beneath the surface of the soil, but touched by the soft rain and penetrating warmth of sun begin to swell and the embryo expands and grows, so do the seeds of evil we have sown lie dormant while the soul takes its rest in devachan, but shoot out their roots into the new personality which begins to form itself for the incarnation of the returning man. the ego has to take up the burden of his past, and these germs or seeds, coming over as the harvest of the past life, are the skandhas, to borrow a convenient word from our buddhist brethren. they consist of material qualities, sensations, abstract ideas, tendencies of mind, mental powers, and while the pure aroma of these attached itself to the ego and passed with it into devachan, all that was gross, base and evil remained in the state of suspended animation spoken of above. these are taken up by the ego as he passes outwards towards terrestrial life, and are built into the new "man of flesh" which the true man is to inhabit. and so the round of births and deaths goes on, the turning of the wheel of life; the treading of the cycle of necessity, until the work is done and the building of the perfect man is completed. nirvÂna. what devachan is to each earth-life, nirvâna is to the finished cycle of re-incarnation, but any effective discussion of that glorious state would here be out of place. it is mentioned only to round off the "after" of death, for no word of man, strictly limited within the narrow bounds of his lower consciousness, may avail to explain what nirvâna is, can do aught save disfigure it in striving to describe. what it is not may be roughly, baldly stated--it is not "annihilation", it is not destruction of consciousness. mr. a.p. sinnett has put effectively and briefly the absurdity of many of the ideas current in the west about nirvâna. he has been speaking of absolute consciousness, and proceeds: we may use such phrases as intellectual counters, but for no ordinary mind--dominated by its physical brain and brain-born intellect--can they have a living signification. all that words can convey is that nirvâna is a sublime state of conscious rest in omniscience. it would be ludicrous, after all that has gone before, to turn to the various discussions which have been carried on by students of exoteric buddhism as to whether nirvâna does or does not mean annihilation. worldly similes fall short of indicating the feeling with which the graduates of esoteric science regard such a question. does the last penalty of the law mean the highest honour of the peerage? is a wooden spoon the emblem of the most illustrious pre-eminence in learning? such questions as these but faintly symbolise the extravagance of the question whether nirvâna is held by buddhism to be equivalent to annihilation.[ ] so we learn from the _secret doctrine_ that the nirvânî returns to cosmic activity in a new cycle of manifestation, and that _the thread of radiance which is imperishable and dissolves only in nirvâna, re-emerges from it in its integrity on the day when the great law calls all things back into action._[ ] communications between the earth and other spheres. we are now in position to discriminate between the various kinds of communication possible between those whom we foolishly divide into "dead" and "living," as though the body were the man, or the man could die. "communications between the embodied and the disembodied" would be a more satisfactory phrase. first, let us put aside as unsuitable the word spirit: spirit does not communicate with spirit in any way conceivable by us. that highest principle is not yet manifest in the flesh; it remains the hidden fount of all, the eternal energy, one of the poles of being in manifestation. the word is loosely used to denote lofty intelligences, who live and move beyond all conditions of matter imaginable by us, but pure spirit is at present as inconceivable by us as pure matter. and as in dealing with possible "communications" we have average human beings as recipients, we may as well exclude the word spirit as much as possible, and so get rid of ambiguity. but in quotations the word often occurs, in deference to the habit of the day, and it then denotes the ego. taking the stages through which the living man passes after "death", or the shaking off of the body, we can readily classify the communications that may be received, or the appearances that may be seen: i. while the soul has shaken off only the dense body, and remains still clothed in the etheric double. this is a brief period only, but during it the disembodied soul may show itself, clad in this ethereal garment. for a very short period after death, while the incorporeal principles remain within the sphere of our earth's attraction, it is _possible_ for spirit, under _peculiar_ and _favourable_ conditions, to appear.[ ] it makes no communications during this brief interval, nor while dwelling in this form. such "ghosts" are silent, dreamy, like sleep-walkers, and indeed they are nothing more than astral sleep-walkers. equally irresponsive, but capable of expressing a single thought, as of sorrow, anxiety, accident, murder, &c., are apparitions which are merely a thought of the dying, taking shape in the astral world, and carried by the dying person's will to some particular person, with whom the dying intensely longs to communicate. such a thought, sometimes called a mayâvi rûpa, or illusory form _may be often thrown into objectivity, as in the case of apparitions after death; but, unless it is projected with the knowledge of (whether latent or potential), or owing to the intensity of the desire to see or appear to some one shooting through, the dying brain, the apparition will be simply automatical; it will not be due to any sympathetic attraction, or to any act of volition, any more than the reflection of a person passing unconsciously near a mirror is due to the desire of the latter._ when the soul has left the etheric double, shaking it off as it shook off the dense body, the double thus left as a mere empty corpse may be galvanised into an "artificial life"; but fortunately the method of such galvanisation is known to few. ii. while the soul is in kâmaloka. this period is of very variable duration. the soul is clad in an astral body, the last but one of its perishable garments, and while thus clad it can utilise the physical bodies of a medium, thus consciously procuring for itself an instrument whereby it can act on the world it has left, and communicate with those living in the body. in this way it may give information as to facts known to itself only, or to itself and another person, in the earth-life just closed; and for as long as it remains within the terrestrial atmosphere such communication is possible. the harm and the peril of such communication has been previously explained, whether the lower manas be united with the divine triad and so on its way to devachan, or wrenched from it and on its way to destruction. iii. while the soul is in devachan, if an embodied soul is capable of rising to its sphere, or of coming into _rapport_ with it. to the devachanî, as we have seen, the beloved are present in consciousness and full communication, the egos being in touch with each other, though one is embodied and one is disembodied, but the higher consciousness of the embodied rarely affects the brain. as a matter of fact, all that we know on the physical plane of our friend, while we both are embodied, is the mental image caused by the impression he makes on us. this is, to our consciousness, our friend, and lacks nothing in objectivity. a similar image is present to the consciousness of the devachanî, and to him lacks nothing in objectivity. as the physical plane friend is visible to an observer on earth, so is the mental plane friend visible to an observer on that plane. the amount of the friend that ensouls the image is dependent on his own evolution, a highly evolved person being capable of far more communication with a devachanî than one who is unevolved. communication when the body is sleeping is easier than when it is awake, and many a vivid "dream" of one on the other side of death is a real interview with him in kâmaloka or in devachan. love beyond the grave, illusion though you may call it,[ ] has a magic and divine potency that re-acts on the living. a mother's ego, filled with love for the imaginary children it sees near itself, living a life of happiness, as real to it as when on earth--that love will always be felt by the children in flesh. it will manifest in their dreams and often in various events--in providential protections and escapes, for love is a strong shield, and is not limited by space or time. as with this devachanic "mother", so with the rest of human relationships and attachments, save the purely selfish or material.[ ] remembering that a thought becomes an active entity, capable of working good or evil, we easily see that as embodied souls can send to those they love helping and protecting forces, so the devachanî, thinking of those dear to him, may send out such helpful and protective thoughts, to act as veritable guardian angels round his beloved on earth. but this is a very different thing from the "spirit" of the mother coming back to earth to be the almost helpless spectator of the child's woes. the soul embodied may sometimes escape from its prison of flesh, and come into relations with the devachanî. h.p. blavatsky writes: whenever years after the death of a person his spirit is claimed to have "wandered back to earth" to give advice to those it loved, it is always in a subjective vision, in dream or in trance, and in that case it is the soul of the living seer that is drawn to the _disembodied_ spirit, and not the latter which wanders back to our spheres.[ ] where the sensitive, or medium, is of a pure and lofty nature, this rising of the freed ego to the devachanî is practicable, and naturally gives the impression to the sensitive that the departed ego has come back to him. the devachanî is wrapped in its happy "illusion", and _the souls, or astral egos, of pure loving sensitives, labouring under the same delusion, think their loved ones come down to them on earth, while it is their own spirits that are raised towards those in the devachan._[ ] this attraction can be exercised by the departed soul from kâmaloka or from devachan: a "spirit" or the spiritual ego, cannot _descend_ to the medium, but it can _attract_ the spirit of the latter to itself, and it can do this only during the two intervals--before and after its "gestation period". interval the first is that period between the physical death and the merging of the spiritual ego into that state which is known in the arhat esoteric doctrine as "bar-do". we have translated this as the "gestation period", and it lasts from a few days to several years, according to the evidence of the adepts. interval the second lasts so long as the merits of the old [personal] ego entitle the being to reap the fruit of its reward in its new regenerated egoship. it occurs after the gestation period is over, and the new spiritual ego is reborn--like the fabled phoenix from its ashes--from the old one. the locality which the former inhabits is called by the northern buddhist occultists "devachan."[ ] so also may the incorporeal principles of pure sensitives be placed _en rapport_ with disembodied souls, although information thus obtained is not reliable, partly in consequence of the difficulty of transferring to the physical brain the impressions received, and partly from the difficulty of observing accurately, when the seer is untrained.[ ] a pure medium's ego can be drawn to and made, for an instant, to unite in a magnetic(?) relation with a real disembodied spirit, whereas the soul of an impure medium can only confabulate with the _astral soul_, or shell, of the deceased. the former possibility explains those extremely rare cases of direct writing in recognised autographs, and of messages from the higher class of disembodied intelligences. but the confusion in messages thus obtained is considerable, not only from the causes above-named, but also because even the best and purest sensitive can at most only be placed at any time _en rapport_ with a particular spiritual entity, and can only know, see, and feel what that particular entity knows, sees, and feels. hence much possibility of error if generalisations are indulged in, since each devachanî lives in his own paradise, and there is no "peeping down to earth," nor is there any _conscious_ communication with the flying souls that come as it were to learn where the spirits are, what they are doing, and what they think, feel, and see. what then is being _en rapport_? it is simply an identity of molecular vibration between the astral part of the incarnated sensitive and the astral part of the dis-incarnated personality. the spirit of the sensitive gets "odylised", so to speak, by the aura of the spirit, whether this be hybernating in the earthly region or dreaming in the devachan; identity of molecular vibration is established, and for a brief space the sensitive becomes the departed personality, and writes in its handwriting, uses its language, and thinks its thoughts. at such times sensitives may believe that those with whom they are for the moment _en rapport_ descend to earth and communicate with them, whereas, in reality, it is merely their own spirits which, being correctly attuned to those others, are for the time blended with them.[ ] in a special case under examination, h.p. blavatsky said that the communication might have come from an elementary, but that it was far more likely that the medium's spirit really became _en rapport_ with some spiritual entity in devachan, the thoughts, knowledge, and sentiments of which formed the substance, while the medium's own personality and pre-existing ideas more or less governed the forms of the communication.[ ] while these communications are not reliable in the facts and opinions stated, we would remark that it may _possibly_ be that there really is a distinct spiritual entity impressing our correspondent's mind. in other words, there may, for all we know, be some spirit, with whom his spiritual nature becomes habitually, for the time, thoroughly harmonised, and whose thoughts, language, &c., become his for the time, the result being that this spirit seems to communicate with him.... it is possible (though by no means probable) that he habitually passes into a state of _rapport_ with a genuine spirit, and, for the time, is assimilated therewith, thinking (to a great extent if not entirely) the thoughts that spirit would think, writing in its handwriting, &c. but even so, mr. terry must not fancy that that spirit is consciously communicating with him, or knows in any way anything of him, or any other person or thing on earth. it is simply that, the _rapport_ established, he, mr. terry, becomes for the nonce assimilated with that other personality, and thinks, speaks, and writes as it would have done on earth.... the molecules of his astral nature may from time to time vibrate in perfect unison with those of some spirit of such a person, now in devachan, and the result may be that he appears to be in communication with that spirit, and to be advised, &c., by him, and clairvoyants may see in the astral light a picture of the earth-life form of that spirit. iv. communications other than those from disembodied souls, passing through normal _post mortem_ states. (a) _from shells._ these, while but the cast-off garment of the liberated soul, retain for some time the impress of their late inhabitant, and reproduce automatically his habits of thought and expression, just as a physical body will automatically repeat habitual gestures. reflex action is as possible to the desire body as to the physical, but all reflex action is marked by its character of repetition, and absence of all power to initiate movement. it answers to a stimulus with an appearance of purposive action, but it initiates nothing. when people "sit for development", or when at a _séance_ they anxiously hope and wait for messages from departed friends, they supply just the stimulus needed, and obtain the signs of recognition for which they expectantly watch. (b) _from elementaries._ these, possessing the lower capacities of the mind, _i.e._, all the intellectual faculties that found their expression through the physical brain during life, may produce communications of a highly intellectual character. these, however, are rare, as may be seen from a survey of the messages published as received from "departed spirits". (c) _from elementals._ these semi-conscious centres of force play a great part at _séances_, and are mostly the agents who are active in producing physical phenomena. they throw about or carry objects, make noises, ring bells, etc., etc. sometimes they play pranks with shells, animating them and representing them to be the spirits of great personalities who have lived on earth, but who have sadly degenerated in the "spirit-world", judging by their effusions. sometimes, in materialising _séances_, they busy themselves in throwing pictures from the astral light on the fluidic forms produced, so causing them to assume likenesses of various persons. there are also elementals of a high type who occasionally communicate with very gifted mediums, "shining ones" from other spheres. (d) _from nirmânakâyas._ for these communications, as for the two classes next mentioned, the medium must be of a very pure and lofty nature. the nirmânakâya is a perfected man, who has cast aside his physical body but retains his other lower principles, and remains in the earth-sphere for the sake of helping forward the evolution of mankind. nirmânakâyas have, out of pity for mankind and those they left on earth, renounced the nirvânic state. such an adept, or saint, or whatever you may call him, believing it a selfish act to rest in bliss while mankind groans under the burden of misery produced by ignorance, renounces nirvâna and determines to remain invisible _in spirit_ on this earth. they have no material body, as they have left it behind; but otherwise they remain with all their principles even _in astral life_ in our sphere. and such can and do communicate with a few elect ones, only surely not with _ordinary_ mediums.[ ] (e) _from adepts now living on earth._ these often communicate with their disciples, without using the ordinary methods of communication, and when any tie exists, perchance from some past incarnation, between an adept and a medium, constituting that medium a disciple, a message from the adept might readily be mistaken for a message from a "spirit". the receipt of such messages by precipitated writing or spoken words is within the knowledge of some. (f) _from the medium's higher ego._ where a pure and earnest man or woman is striving after the light, this upward striving is met by a downward reaching of the higher nature, and light from the higher streams downward, illuminating the lower consciousness. then the lower mind is, for the time, united with its parent, and transmits as much of its knowledge as it is able to retain. from this brief sketch it will be seen how varied may be the sources from which communications apparently from "the other side of death" may be received. as said by h.p. blavatsky: the variety of the causes of phenomena is great, and one need be an adept, and actually look into and examine what transpires, in order to be able to explain in each case what really underlies it.[ ] to complete the statement it may be added that what the average soul can do when it has passed through the gateway of death, it can do on this side, and communications may be as readily obtained by writing, in trance, and by the other means of receiving messages, from embodied as from disembodied souls. if each developed within himself the powers of his own soul, instead of drifting about aimlessly, or ignorantly plunging into dangerous experiments, knowledge might be safely accumulated and the evolution of the soul might be accelerated. this one thing is sure: man is to-day a living soul, over whom death has no power, and the key of the prison-house of the body is in his own hands, so that he may learn its use if he will. it is because his true self, while blinded by the body, has lost touch with other selves, that death has been a gulf instead of a gateway between embodied and disembodied souls. * * * * * appendix. the following passage on the fate of suicides is taken from the _theosophist_, september, . we do not pretend--we are not permitted--to deal exhaustively with the question at present, but we may refer to one of the most important classes of entities, who can participate in objective phenomena, other than elementaries and elementals. this class comprises the spirits of conscious sane suicides. they are _spirits_, and not _shells_, because there is not in their cases, at any rate until later, a total and permanent divorce between the fourth and fifth principles on the one hand, and the sixth and seventh on the other. the two duads are divided, they exist apart, but a line of connection still unites them, they may yet reunite, and the sorely threatened personality avert its doom; the fifth principle still holds in its hands the clue by which, traversing the labyrinth of earthly sins and passions, it may regain the sacred penetralia. but for the time, though really a spirit, and therefore so designated, it is practically not far removed from a shell. this class of spirit can undoubtedly communicate with men, but, as a rule, its members have to pay dearly for exercising the privilege, while it is scarcely possible for them to do otherwise than lower and debase the moral nature of those with and through whom they have much communication. it is merely, broadly speaking, a question of degree; of much or little injury resulting from such communication; the cases in which real, permanent good can arise are too absolutely exceptional to require consideration. understand how the case stands. the unhappy being revolting against the trials of life--trials, the results of its own former actions, trials, heaven's merciful medicine for the mentally and spiritually diseased--determines, instead of manfully taking arms against a sea of troubles, to let the curtain drop, and, as it fancies, end them. it destroys the body, but finds itself precisely as much alive mentally as before. it had an appointed life-term determined by an intricate web of prior causes, which its own wilful sudden act cannot shorten. that term must run out its appointed sands. you may smash the lower half of the hand hour-glass, so that the impalpable sand shooting from the upper bell is dissipated by the passing aerial currents as it issues; but that stream will run on, unnoticed though it remain, until the whole store in that upper receptacle is exhausted. so you may destroy the body, but not the appointed period of sentient existence, foredoomed (because simply the effect of a plexus of causes) to intervene before the dissolution of the personality; this must run on for its appointed period. this is so in other cases, _e.g._, those of the victims of accident or violence; they, too, have to complete their life-term, and of these, too, we may speak on another occasion--but here it is sufficient to notice that, whether good or bad, their mental attitude at the time of death alters wholly their subsequent position. they, too, have to wait on within the "region of desires" until their wave of life runs on to and reaches its appointed shore, but they wait on, wrapped in dreams soothing and blissful, or the reverse, according to their mental and moral state at, and prior to the fatal hour, but nearly exempt from further material temptations, and, broadly speaking, incapable (except just at the moment of real death) of communicating _scio motu_ with mankind, though not wholly beyond the possible reach of the higher forms of the "accursed science," necromancy. the question is a profoundly abstruse one; it would be impossible to explain within the brief space still remaining to us, how the conditions immediately after death differ so entirely as they do in the case ( ) of the man who deliberately _lays down_ (not merely _risks_) his life from altruistic motives in the hope of saving those of others; and ( ) of him who deliberately sacrifices his life from selfish motives, in the hope of escaping trials and troubles which loom before him. nature or providence, fate, or god, being merely a self-adjusting machine, it would at first sight seem as if the results must be identical in both cases. but, machine though it be, we must remember that it is a machine _sui generis_-- out of himself he span the eternal web of right and wrong; and ever feels the subtlest thrill, the slenderest thread along. a machine compared with whose perfect sensitiveness and adjustment the highest human intellect is but a coarse clumsy replica, _in petto_. and we must remember that thoughts and motives are material, and at times marvellously potent material, forces, and we may then begin to comprehend why the hero, sacrificing his life on pure altruistic grounds, sinks as his life-blood ebbs away into a sweet dream, wherein all that he wishes and all that he loves, come smiling round his sunny way, only to wake into active or objective consciousness when reborn in the region of happiness, while the poor unhappy and misguided mortal who, seeking to elude fate, selfishly loosens the silver string and breaks the golden bowl, finds himself terribly alive and awake, instinct with all the evil cravings and desires that embittered his world-life, without a body in which to gratify these, and capable of only such partial alleviation as is possible by more or less vicarious gratification, and this only at the cost of the ultimate complete rupture with his sixth and seventh principles, and consequent ultimate annihilation after, alas! prolonged periods of suffering. let it not be supposed that there is no hope for this class--the sane deliberate suicide. if, bearing steadfastly his cross, he suffers patiently his punishment, striving against carnal appetites still alive in him, in all their intensity, though, of course, each in proportion to the degree to which it had been indulged in earth-life. if, we say, he bears this humbly, never allowing himself to be tempted here or there into unlawful gratifications of unholy desires, then when his fated death-hour strikes, his four higher principles reunite, and, in the final separation that then ensues, it may well be that all may be well with him, and that he passes on to the gestation period and its subsequent developments. * * * * * footnotes: [footnote : book ii., from lines - . the whole passage bristles with horrors.] [footnote : xii. . trans., of burnell and hopkins.] [footnote : from the translation of dhunjeebhoy jamsetjee medhora, _zoroastrian and some other ancient systems_, xxvii.] [footnote : trans., by mirza mohamed hadi. _the platonist_, .] [footnote : _the sacred books of the east_, iii, , .] [footnote : _secret doctrine_, vol. i. p. .] [footnote : see _ibid._, p. .] [footnote : _isis unveiled_, vol. i. p. .] [footnote : theosophical manuals, no. .] [footnote : _the heroic enthusiasts_, trans., by l. williams. part ii. pp. , .] [footnote : _cremation_, theosophical siftings, vol. iii.] [footnote : _man: fragments of forgotten history_, pp. , .] [footnote : _key to theosophy_, h.p. blavatsky, p. . third edition.] [footnote : _magic, white and black_, dr. franz hartmann, pp. , . third edition.] [footnote : see _the seven principles of man_, pp. - .] [footnote : _theosophist_, march, , p. , note.] [footnote : _essays upon some controverted questions_, p. .] [footnote : _fortnightly review_, , p. .] [footnote : _key to theosophy_, p. .] [footnote : _ibid._, p. .] [footnote : _key to theosophy_, p. ] [footnote : _ibid._, p. .] [footnote : june, , art. "seeming discrepancies."] [footnote : pp. , . ed. .] [footnote : _theosophical glossary_, elementaries.] [footnote : see _the seven principles of man_, p.p. - .] [footnote : the name sukhâvatî, borrowed from tibetan buddhism, is sometimes used instead of that of devachan. sukhâvatî, according to schlagintweit, is "the abode of the blessed, into which ascend those who have accumulated much merit by the practice of virtues", and "involves the deliverance from metempsychosis" (_buddhism in tibet_, p. ). according to the prasanga school, the higher path leads to nirvâna, the lower to sukhâvatî. but eitel calls sukhâvatî "the nirvâna of the common people, where the saints revel in physical bliss for æons, until they reënter the circle of transmigration" (_sanskrit-chinese dictionary_). eitel, however, under "amitâbha" states that the "popular mind" regards the "paradise of the west" as "the haven of final redemption from the eddies of transmigration". when used by one of the teachers of the esoteric philosophy it covers the higher devachanic states, but from all of these the soul comes back to earth.] [footnote : see _lucifer_, oct, , vol. xi. no. .] [footnote : _the path_, may, .] [footnote : _ibid._] [footnote : "notes on devachan," as cited.] [footnote : "notes on devachan," as before. there are a variety of stages in devachan; the rûpa loka is an inferior stage, where the soul is still surrounded by forms. it has escaped from these personalities in the tribhuvana.] [footnote : _vishnu purâna_, bk. i. ch. v.] [footnote : _key to theosophy_, p. . third edition.] [footnote : sixth and seventh in the older nomenclature, fifth and sixth in the later--_i.e._, manas and buddhi.] [footnote : _key to theosophy_, p. . third edition.] [footnote : _ibid._, p. .] [footnote : _ibid._, p. .] [footnote : see manual no. _re-incarnation_, pp. , . third edition.] [footnote : _key to theosophy_, p. . third edition.] [footnote : _esoteric buddhism_, p. . eighth edition.] [footnote : quoted in the _secret doctrine_, vol. ii. p. . the student will do well to read, for a fair presentation of the subject, g.r.s. mead's "note on nirvâna" in _lucifer_, for march, april, and may, . (re-printed in _theosophical siftings_).] [footnote : _theosophist_, sept., , p. .] [footnote : see on "illusion" what was said under the heading "devachan".] [footnote : _key to theosophy_, p. . third edition.] [footnote : _theosophist_, sept. .] [footnote : "notes on devachan", _path_, june, , p. .] [footnote : _theosophist_, june, , p. .] [footnote : summarised from article in _theosophist_, sept., .] [footnote : _ibid._, p. .] [footnote : _ibid._, p. .] [footnote : _key to theosophy,_ p. .] [footnote : _theosophist_, sept., , p. .] * * * * * index. accident, death by, . appendix, . astral body, , fate of, . astral shell or soul, . _avesta_, quoted, . blavatsky, h.p., quoted, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . _book of the dead_, quoted, . bruno, giordano, quoted, . _buddhism in tibet_, quoted, , (note). communications between earth and other spheres, . " between earth and soul in etheric body, . " between earth, and soul in devachan, , " between earth and soul in kâmaloka, . " from adepts now living, . " from elementals, . " from elementaries, . " from medium's higher ego, . " from nirmânakâyas, . " from shells, , . _controverted questions, essays upon some_, quoted, . _cremation_, quoted, . cycle of incarnation, et seq. death, a gateway, . " chinese ideas of, . " christian ideas of, . " egyptian ideas of, . " theosophic ideas of, . _desatir_, quoted, . devachan, , . et seq. devachan, passing into, of the average-living, . devachan, the soul in, . devachanî, the, et seq. earth, the return to, . egos, many lives of, et seq. elementals, , . elementaries, , . _esoteric buddhism_, quoted, . etheric double, , et seq., , , et seq. fiery lives, . _fortnightly review_, quoted, . _heroic enthusiasts, the_, quoted, . immortal triad, the, , , , , , . _isis unveiled_, quoted, . kâmaloka, , , , , , . kâmaloka, the soul in, . kâma rûpa, . _key to theosophy_, quoted, , , , , , , , , . _lucifer_, quoted, , . _magic, white and black_, quoted, . _man: fragments of forgotten history_, quoted, . man: how made, et seq. mâyâ, . medium, communications from higher egos of, . nirvâna, . _ordinances of manu_, quoted, . _paradise lost_, quoted, . _path_, quoted, , , , , et seq. _perfect way_, quoted, . perishable quaternary, . pishâchas, . prâna, , . premature death, , . re-incarnation, , . _sanskrit-chinese dictionary_, quoted, (footnote: ). _seven principles of man_, quoted, , . shell, astral soul, or, . shells, the, . _shû king_, quoted, . soul, growth of, in devachan, , " powers of the, . " relations of, with devachanî, et seq. " the disembodied, et seq. spiritualism and esoteric philosophy, . suicides, , et seq., . _theosophical glossary_, quoted, . _theosophical siftings_, quoted, . _theosophist, the_, quoted, , , , , et seq. _theosophist. the_, summarised, , , . unconscious co-existence of intelligent beings, et seq. _vishnu purâna_, quoted, . * * * * * produced from scanned images of public domain material from the google print project.) elementary theosophy l. w. rogers los angeles theosophical book concern copyright by l. w. rogers preface to comprehend the significance of great world changes, before time has fully done his work, is difficult. while mighty events are still in their formative period the future is obscure. but our inability to outline the future cannot blind us to the unmistakable trend of the evolutionary forces at work. one thing that is clear is that our boasted christian civilization is the theater in which has been staged the most un-christian war of recorded history and in which human atrocity has reached a point that leaves us vaguely groping for a rational explanation of it. another obvious fact is that the more than twenty nations involved have been forced into measures and methods before unknown and which wholly transform the recognized function and powers of governments. with these startling facts of religious and political significance before us thoughtful people are beginning to ask if we are not upon the threshold of a complete breaking down of modern civilization and the birth of a new order of things, in which direct government by the people throughout the entire world will be coincident with the rise of a universal religion based on the brotherhood of man. in such a time any contribution to current literature that will help to clear the ground of misconceptions and to bring to the attention of those interested in such things, that set of fundamental natural truths known as theosophy, may perhaps be helpful. whether or not the world is about to recast its ethical code there can at least be no doubt that it is eagerly seeking reliable evidence that we live after bodily death and that it will welcome a hypothesis of immortality that is inherently reasonable and therefore satisfies the intellect as well as the heart. those who are dissatisfied with the old answers to the riddle of existence and demand that faith and reason shall walk hand in hand, may find in the following pages some explanation of the puzzling things in life--an explanation that disregards neither the intuitions of religion nor the facts of science. of course no pretension is made of fully covering the ground. the book is a student's presentation of some of the phases of theosophy as he understands them. they are presented with no authority whatever, and are merely an attempt to discuss in simple language some of the fundamental truths about the human being. no claim is made to originality but it is hoped that by putting the old truths in a somewhat different way, with new illustrations and arguments, they may perhaps be seen from a new viewpoint. the intention has been to present elementary theosophy simply and clearly and in the language familiar to the ordinary newspaper reader. all technical terms and expressions have been avoided and the reader will not find a single foreign word in the book. l. w. r. contents i. theosophy ii. the immanence of god iii. the evolution of the soul iv. life after bodily death v. the evolutionary field vi. the mechanism of consciousness vii. death viii. the astral world ix. rebirth: its reasonableness x. rebirth: its justice xi. rebirth: its necessity xii. why we do not remember xiii. vicarious atonement xiv. the forces we generate xv. superphysical evolution chapter i. theosophy rediscovery is one of the methods of progress. very much that we believe to be original with us at the time of its discovery or invention proves in time to have been known to earlier civilizations. the elevator, or lift, is a very modern invention and we supposed it to be a natural development of our civilization, with its intensive characteristics, until an antiquarian startled us with the announcement that it was used in rome over two thousand years ago; not, of course, as we use it, but for the same purpose, and involving the same principles. a half century ago our scientific men were enthusiastic over the truths of evolution that were being discovered and placed before western civilization. but as we learn more and more of the thought and intellectual life of the orient it becomes clear that the idea of evolution permeated that part of the world centuries ago. even the most recent and startling scientific discoveries occasionally serve to prove that what we supposed to be the fantastic beliefs of the ancients were really truths of nature that we were not yet able to comprehend! the transmutation of metals is an example. we have already gone far enough in that direction to show that the alchemists of old were not the foolish and superstitious people we supposed them to be. we have given far too little credit to past civilizations and we are coming to understand now that we have rated them too low. our modesty must necessarily increase as it becomes clearer that much of our supposed contribution to the world's progress is not invention but rediscovery. we are beginning to see that it is not safe to put aside without careful examination an idea or a belief that was current in the world thousands of years ago. like the supposed folly of the alchemists it may contain profound truths of nature that have thus far been foreign to our modes of thinking. theosophy is both very old and very new--very old because the principles it contains were known and taught in the oldest civilizations, and very new because it includes the latest investigations of the present day. it is sometimes said by those who desire to speak lightly of it that it is a philosophy borrowed from the buddhists, or at least from the orient. that is, of course, an erroneous view. it is true that the buddhists hold some beliefs in common with theosophists. it is also true that methodists hold some beliefs in common with unitarians, but that does not show that unitarianism was borrowed from wesley! when different people study the same facts of nature they are likely to arrive at substantially the same conclusions. theosophy is based upon certain truths of nature. those who study those truths and formulate a belief from them must reasonably be expected to resemble theosophists in their views. buddhism is not unique in resembling theosophy. in the same list may be placed the vedanta philosophy, the cabala of the jews, the teachings of the christian gnostics, and the philosophy of the stoics. the more general charge must also be denied; theosophy is not something transplanted from the orient. it belongs to the race, as the earth does, and cannot be localized, even to a continent. as it is taught today in europe and america it is probably unknown to the masses of the orient, for the great general truths it embodies have here the special application and peculiar emphasis required by a totally different civilization. but that theosophical principles were earlier known and more widely accepted in the orient is quite true. that fact can in no possible way lessen their value to us. precisely the same thing is true of the principles of mathematics. the science of mathematics reached european civilization directly from the arabs, but we do not foolishly decline to make use of the knowledge on that account. the literal meaning of the word theosophy is self-evident--knowledge of god. it has three aspects, determined by the different ways in which the human being acquires knowledge--through the study of concrete facts, by the study of the relationship of the individual consciousness to its source, and through the use of reasoning faculties in constructing a logical explanation of life and its purpose. in one aspect it is, therefore, a science. it deals with the tangible, with the facts and phenomena of the material scientist and makes its appeal to the evidence of the physical senses. in another aspect it is a religion. it deals with the relationship between the source of all consciousness and its multiplicity of individual expressions; with the complex relationships that arise between these personalities; with the duties and obligations which thus come into existence; with the evolution of the individual consciousness and its ultimate translation to higher spheres. in its other aspect it is a philosophy of life. it deals with man, his origin, his evolution, his destiny. it seeks to explain the universe and to throw a flood of light upon the problem of existence that will enable those who study its wisdom to go forward in their evolution rapidly, safely and comfortably, instead of blundering onward in the darkness of ignorance, reaping as they go the painful harvests of misdirected energy. while theosophy is distinctly a science and a philosophy it is not, in the same full sense, a religion. it has its distinctive religious aspect, it is true, but when we speak of a religion we usually have in mind a certain set of religious dogmas and a church that propagates them. theosophy is a universal thing like mathematics--a body of natural truths applicable to all phases of life. it sees all religions as equally important, as peculiarly adapted to the varying civilizations in which they are found, and it presents a synthesis of the fundamental principles upon which all of them rest. from all of this it will be seen that there is a vast difference between theosophy and theology. theosophy declares the immortality of man but not as a religious belief. it appeals to the scientific facts in relation to the nature of consciousness. it knows no such word as "faith," as it is ordinarily used. its faith arises from the constancy of natural law, the balance and sanity of nature, and the harmonious adjustment of the universe. theosophy is very ancient in that it is the great fund of ancient wisdom about man and his earth, that has come down through countless centuries, reaching far back into prehistoric times. but added to that hoary wisdom are the up-to-date facts that have been acquired by its most successful students, who have evolved their consciousness to levels transcending the physical senses--facts which, however, do not derive their authority from the method of their discovery but from their inherent reasonableness. a detailed discussion of such methods of consciousness and the proper value to be placed upon such investigations rightly belongs to another chapter. it is enough now to warn the reader against the error of confusing the pronouncements of pseudo psychism with the work of the psychic scientists who have already done much toward placing a scientific foundation beneath the universal hope of immortality. chapter ii. the immanence of god the antagonism between scientific and religious thought was the cause of the greatest controversy in the intellectual world in the nineteenth century. if the early teaching of the christian church had not been lost the conflict could not have arisen. the gnostic philosophers, who were the intellect and heart of the church, had a knowledge of nature so true that it could not possibly come into collision with any fact of science. but unfortunately they were enormously outnumbered by the ignorant and the authority passed wholly into their hands. it was inevitable that misunderstanding should follow. the gross materialization of the early teaching, the superstition, the bigotry and the persecution of the middle ages was a perfectly natural result. that perverted, materialistic view has come down to us, and even now gives trend to the religious thought of western civilization. of that degradation of the early teaching the encyclopedia britannica says: the conception of god as wholly external to man, a purely mechanical theory of creation, is throughout christendom regarded as false to the teaching of the new testament as also to christian experience. it is, indeed, false to the teaching of the christ but if it is so regarded "throughout christendom" it is only on the part of its scholars; most certainly not by the masses of the people. the popular conception is undeniably that the relationship between god and man is identical with that between an inventor and an animated machine. it is an absolutely anthropomorphic view of the supreme being and thinks of god as being apart from man in precisely the same sense that a father is apart from his son. it may be an exalted, idealized conception of the relationship of father and son but it is nevertheless just that relationship, and along that line runs practically all the teaching and preaching of those who speak officially in modern religious interpretation. emerson sought to counteract that popular misconception but he was regarded as a heretic by all but an infinitesimal portion of the church. the idea of the immanence of god is as different from the popular conception as noontide is different from midnight. it is so radically different that one who accepts that ancient belief must put aside his old ideas of what man is and raise him in dignity and potential power to a level that will, at first, seem actually startling; for it means, in its uttermost significance that god and man are but two phases of the one eternal life and consciousness that constitute our universe! the idea of the immanence of god is that he _is_ the universe; that the solar system is an emanation of the supreme being as clouds are an emanation of the sea, and that the relationship between god and man is not merely that of father and son but also that of ocean and raindrop. this conception makes man _a part of_ god, having potentially within him all the attributes and powers of the supreme being. it is the idea that nothing exists except god and that humanity is one portion of him, and one phase of his being, as clouds are one expression of the waters that constitute the sea. the immanence of god is a conception of the universe that puts science and religion into perfect harmony with each other because miraculous creation disappears and evolutionary creation takes its place. although the anthropomorphic idea of god has such widespread dominion in occidental thought the immanence of god is plainly taught and repeatedly emphasized in the christian scriptures. "for in him we live, and move, and have our being," is certainly very explicit and admits of no anthropomorphic interpretation. it could not be said that a son lives and moves in his father. the declaration presents the relationship of a lesser consciousness within a greater, and constituting a part of it. the essentially divine nature of man is made clear in the declaration in genesis that he is an image of god. to say that the likeness is on the material side would, of course, be absurd. in divine essence, in latent power, in potential spirituality, man is an image of god, because he is a part of him. the same idea is more directly put in the psalms with the assertion, "ye are gods."[a] if the idea of the immanence of god is sound man, as a literal fragment of the consciousness of the supreme being, is an embryo god, destined to ultimately evolve his latent powers into perfect expression. the oneness of life was explicitly asserted by jesus in his teaching. emerson's teaching of the immanence of god is unmistakable in both his prose and poetry. "there is no bar or wall," he says, "in the soul where man, the effect, ceases and god, the cause, begins." still more explicitly he puts it: the realms of being to no other bow; not only all are thine, but all are thou. the statement is as complete as it is emphatic. "not only all are thine, _but all are thou_." it's an unqualified assertion that humanity is a part of god, as leaves are part of a tree--not something a tree has created in the sense that a man creates a machine but something that is an emanation of the tree, and is a living part of it. thus only has god made man. humanity is a growth, a development, an emanation, an evolutionary expression of the supreme being. it is upon the unity of all life that theosophy bases its declaration of universal brotherhood, regarding it as a fact in nature. the immanence of god gives a scientific basis of morality. the theosophical conception is that men are separated in form but are united in the one consciousness which is the life base of the universe. their relationship to each other is somewhat like that of the fingers to each other--they are separate individuals on the form side but they are united in the one consciousness that animates the hand. if we imagine each finger to possess a consciousness of its own, which is limited to itself and cannot pass beyond to the hand, we shall have a fair analogy of the unity and identity of interests of all living things. under such circumstances an injury to one finger would not appear to the others as an injury to them, but if the finger consciousness could be extended to the hand the reality of the injury to all would be apparent. likewise an injury to any human being is literally an injury to the race. the race does not recognize the truth of it just because, and only because, of the limitation of consciousness. lowell put the fact clearly when he said: he's true to god who's true to man; wherever wrong is done to the humblest and weakest 'neath the all-beholding sun, that wrong is also done to us; and they are slaves most base whose love of right is for themselves, and not for all the race. he's true to god who's true to man because they are one life; because they are but different expressions of the one eternal consciousness; because they are as inseparable as the light and warmth of the sun. it follows that being true to man is fidelity to god. the popular idea is that people should be moral because that sort of conduct is pleasing to the supreme being and that he will, in the life beyond physical existence, in some way punish those who have broken the moral laws. it is belief in an external authority that threatens punishment as a deterrent to law breaking, as a state devises penalties commensurate with offenses. but the immanence of god represents a condition in which not punishments, but consequences, automatically follow all violations of natural law. under such a state of affairs it would require no penalties, but only knowledge, to insure right conduct, for it would be perceived that there is no possible escape from the consequences of an evil act. it is not difficult to see the relative value of the two systems of thought when put to a practical test in human affairs. imagine an unscrupulous man of great mental capacity who is amassing an enormous fortune through sharp practices that enable him to acquire the earnings of others while he safely keeps just within the limits of the law. we can point out to him that while he is not violating the law, and cannot therefore be prosecuted, he is nevertheless inflicting injury upon others and consequently public opinion will condemn him. but such a man usually cares nothing at all for public opinion and he sees no good reason why he should not continue in his injurious work. but if he can be made to understand that all life is one and that we are so knit together in consciousness that an injury to another must ultimately react upon the person who inflicts it; if he once clearly understands that to enslave another is to put chains upon himself, that to maim another is to strike himself, he will require neither the fear of an exterior hell nor the threat of legal penalties to induce him to follow a moral course. he would see that his own larger and true self-interest could be served only when his conduct was in harmony with the welfare of all. it is but a simple statement of the truth to say that the immanence of god furnishes a scientific basis of morality. footnotes: [a] psalms lxxxii-- . chapter iii. the evolution of the soul if we accept the idea of the immanence of god we shall be forced to abandon belief in a miraculous instantaneous creation of man and the earth on which he exists. the old, absurd, unscientific, impossible idea that the race came from an original human pair must be replaced by the hypothesis of the evolution of the soul. it was about the fact of evolution that the great storm of controversy raged between scientists and theologians in the middle of the nineteenth century, and later. the evolutionary truths were not at first well understood. they seemed to question or deny the existence of god. deep within humanity is intuitive religious belief. it is a natural faith that transcends all facts, like the faith of a child in its mother. because evolution was contrary to all preconceived ideas of the earth's inception it seemed at first to shatter faith and destroy hope, and against fact and reason itself rose the protest of intuition with spiritual intensity. people felt more than they reasoned and cried out that science was about to destroy the belief in god. but time has proved that they had merely misinterpreted the meaning of evolution. further understanding has shown that, instead of destroying the belief in god, evolution has given us a new and better understanding of the whole matter and has placed the hope of immortality on firmer ground than it previously occupied. evolution is an established and generally accepted fact. no educated person now thinks of questioning it. it is settled beyond dispute that all things in the physical world have become what they are through a long, slow, gradual evolution and that organisms the most perfect in form and most complex in function have evolved from simpler ones. the age of miracle has passed and belief in miracle has passed so far as its relation to the material world is concerned. it is no longer necessary to have a belief in an anthropomorphic god, performing feats in defiance of natural law, in order to account for that which exists. science has reduced the cosmos to comprehension and shown that, given nebulous physical matter, we can understand how the earth came into existence. but why should we stop with the application of the laws of evolution to material things? only the outright materialist, who asserts that life is a product of matter, can logically do so, and so great an authority in the scientific world as sir oliver lodge has asserted that there is no longer any such thing as scientific materialism.[b] those who accept the idea of the existence of the soul at all must necessarily accept the idea of the evolution of the soul. how can consciousness possibly escape the laws that evolve the media for the expression of consciousness? there must be the evolution of mind as certainly as there is evolution of matter. the material and the spiritual, form and life, are inseparable. indeed, scientific progress has now brought us to the point where matter, as such, practically disappears and we are face to face with the fact that matter is really but a manifestation of force. how, then, is it longer possible to speak of the soul and not accept the evolution of the soul? psychology is no less a science than physiology. the phenomena of consciousness are as definitely studied as physical phenomena, and it is no more difficult to account for a myriad souls than to account for a million suns and their planets. the scientists who have taken the position that the universe has a spiritual side as well as a material side are among the most eminent and distinguished of the modern world. if evolution has produced the starry heavens from the material side it has likewise evolved the human souls of our world and others from the spiritual side. it is no more difficult to understand the one than the other. from the scientific viewpoint the old popular belief in the creation of the earth and the race by an act suddenly accomplished is, of course, preposterous. if we could know nothing back of the present moment and were called upon to account for the world as we see it--with its cities, its ships and railways, its cultivated fields and parks--many people who still believe in instantaneous creation of the soul would save themselves much mental exertion by declaring that god had made it all as it stands for the use and entertainment of man. but we know that it is utterly absurd to think of the world leaping into existence instantaneously--nothing existing one day and all trains running on time between ready-made cities the next, carrying ready-made people about. it sounds ridiculous only because we are putting it in material terms, but in very truth it is less ludicrous than thinking of the instantaneous creation of the creators of cities and railways. the idea that we are a sudden creation is only possible because of the very vague ideas of what human souls are. the chief difficulty with the popular notion that a human soul is as new as the body it inhabits is that it is a vague and indefinite conception of life, and the moment we begin to think seriously about it the weakness of the idea becomes apparent. such a notion has no relationship to the processes of reasoning. how can one reason with a man who believes it possible for a soul to spring into existence from the void? what is the use in reasoning about the "whys and wherefores" when it settles the whole matter to say: "god did it"? one thing that prevents us from believing not only that millions of souls were created in the twinkling of an eye, but also that the world as it now is was likewise suddenly created, is that we happen to know quite definitely the history of the world a little way into the past, and that history affirms that the earth and all life on it is the product of slow evolutionary growth. the evolution of the soul places the realm of religion on a scientific basis. not only the origin of the soul but its development and its destiny at once appear in a new light. the mind is instinctively impressed with the dignity of the idea of the evolution of the soul, which, with its corollary, the immanence of god, makes the divinity of man a fact in nature. footnotes: [b] raymond: or life and death. chapter iv. life after bodily death one of the really remarkable facts of modern life is the disinclination to accept at apparent value the scientific and other evidence there is to prove that consciousness persists after the death of the physical body. there is in existence a large amount of such evidence and much of it is offered by scientists of the highest standing; and yet the average man continues to speak of the subject as though nothing about it had yet been definitely learned. it is the tendency of the human mind to adjust itself very slowly to the truth, as it is discovered. sometimes a generation passes away between the discovery and the general acceptance of a great truth. when we recall the intense opposition to the introduction of steam-driven boats and vehicles, and the slowness with which the world settles down to any radical change in its methods of thinking, it will perhaps seem less remarkable that the truth about the life after bodily death has waited so long for general recognition. the evidence upon which a belief in the continuity of consciousness is based is of two kinds--that furnished by physical science and that furnished by psychic science. together they make a very complete case. the printed evidence of the first division--physical science--is voluminous. in addition to that gathered by the society for psychical research there are the researches and experiments by the scientists of england, france and italy, among whom are crookes, lodge, flammarion and lombroso. crookes was a pioneer in the work of studying the human consciousness and tracing its activities beyond the change called death. all of that keenness of intellect and great scientific knowledge, which has enabled him to make so many valuable discoveries and inventions, and has won for him world-wide fame, were brought to bear upon the subject, and for a period of four years he patiently investigated and experimented. many illustrated articles prepared by him, fully describing his work, were published at the time in _the journal of science_ of which he was then the editor. three vital points in psychic research were established by sir william crookes. one was that there is psychic force. he demonstrated its existence by levitation. he showed next, that the force is directed by intelligence. by various clever experiments he obtained most conclusive evidence of that fact. he then demonstrated that the intelligence directing the force is not that of living people. crookes also went exhaustively into the subject of materialization and here, again, he was remarkably successful. he was the first scientist to photograph the materialized human form and engage in direct conversation with the person who thus returned from the mysterious life beyond. this evidence from the camera must be regarded as particularly interesting. it was received with much amazement at the time, but that was before we had revised our erroneous ideas about the nature of matter and before the day of liquid air. materialization is no longer a startling idea, for that is precisely what liquid air is--a condensation of invisible matter to the point where it becomes tangible and can be weighed, measured, seen and otherwise known to the physical senses. all these things sir william crookes did upon his own premises and under the most rigid scientific conditions. all the methods and mechanism known to modern science were employed and he finally announced his complete satisfaction and acceptance of the genuineness of the phenomena observed. as sir william crookes was the earliest, sir oliver lodge is the latest of the famous scientists who have taken up the investigation of the continuity of consciousness. in a lecture upon the subject, before the society for the advancement of science, he declared not only that the subject of life after physical death was one which science might legitimately and profitably investigate but that the existence of an invisible realm had been established. he declared the continent of an invisible world had been discovered, and added, "already a band of daring investigators have landed on its treacherous but promising shores." different scientists make a specialty of certain kinds of psychic investigation and while crookes made a detailed and careful study of materialization lodge has given equally painstaking efforts to investigations by the use of that class of sensitives known as "mediums." a medium is not necessarily a clairvoyant, and usually is not clairvoyant. a person in whose body the etheric matter easily separates from the physical matter is a medium and can readily be utilized as a sort of telephone between the visible and the invisible planes. a medium is an abnormal person and is a good medium in proportion to the degree of abnormality. if the etheric matter of the body is easily extruded the physical body readily falls into the trance condition and the mechanism of conversation can be operated by the so-called "dead" person who has temporarily taken possession of it. in such cases it is not the medium who speaks for the living-dead communicator. he is speaking directly himself, but he may often do it with great difficulty and not always succeed in accurately expressing the thought he has in mind. he may have to contend with other thoughts, moods and emotions than his own and to those who understand something of his difficulties it is not strange that such communications are frequently unsatisfactory. it is not often that an analogy can be found that will give a physical plane comprehension of a superphysical condition, but perhaps a faint understanding may be had by thinking of a "party line" telephone that any one of a dozen people may use at any moment he can succeed in getting possession of it. a listener attempting to communicate with one of them may find that several others are constantly "switching in," much to his confusion. if distinction of voices due to sound were eliminated and then a stenographic record were to be made of all words reaching the listener he would find that it would often be fragmentary and trivial. that would not, however, prove that the conversation did not come from living beings nor that there was not at least one intelligent person among them. that scientists engaged in psychic research have similar experiences proves nothing more. it seems to be a common opinion that the evidential value of such psychic communications, even under the direction of a skilful scientist, cannot be very great. but there are ways of knowing. it is not at all difficult for the investigator to confine his work, not only to incidents unknown to the medium, but to scientific facts which the medium can not possibly comprehend. it is a matter of common knowledge that mediums are usually people without technical scientific knowledge. some of them have some degree of education and some of them are illiterate. some of the most celebrated belong to the peasant class of europe. let us suppose that sir oliver lodge is about to attempt to communicate with a scientist who has passed on to join the living dead. he will ask technical scientific questions that nobody but a scientist can answer and that the medium can by no possibility even understand when they are answered. or suppose he gets a communication from the medium's hand signed by a great author. the living dead man writes a criticism, let us say, of some new book and does it in his characteristic style, full of the power of keen analysis and sound literary judgment. surely nobody can believe that the medium is producing such things on her own account. if she could do so she would not be earning her living as a medium. but the scientists do not stop there. we often hear the expression "cross-correspondence." just what do they mean by that and in what way does it prove the personal identity of a dead man who is communicating? the principle may be illustrated by the hotel clerk's method. sometimes a guest leaves a sum of money with the clerk, and he wishes to be perfectly sure of his identity when he returns to claim it. he requests the guest to put his signature on a card. then he tears the card in two, gives him one piece and keeps the other. that gives him a double proof of identity. when he comes for his money he must first give his name and then produce the piece of card that fits into the ragged edge of the piece the clerk has retained, the two together making the whole and restoring the signature. it's one of the simplest but most satisfactory proofs possible. neither piece of that card alone is intelligible. if one piece should be lost and others should find it nobody could read it or make anything of it. nobody could guess the name unless he had the other piece. he knows only about the part he holds. he may be a thief and may earnestly desire to use what he has found to defraud, but he is helpless because he has only one of the two parts it requires to make an intelligible whole. that is the principle involved in identity by cross-correspondence. part of a message is written through one medium and part through another medium at another time in another place and neither part presents a complete statement or has coherence until it is fitted into the other part; and that prevents a medium who is dishonest from manufacturing a story that may be more or less plausible. we are by no means wholly dependent upon scientific investigation for evidence that the dead still live. hundreds of people are sufficiently sensitive to have some personal knowledge of the matter. the number is far beyond what it appears to be for two reasons. one is that the average person fears ridicule and keeps his own counsel about his occult experience. the other is the feeling that communications from departed relatives are too sacred and personal for public discussion. tens of thousands of people have seen demonstrations at spiritualistic seances which, while possessing little evidential value from the scientific viewpoint, nevertheless have a legitimate place in the great mass of psychic phenomena. but more convincing is the evidence furnished in hundreds of homes where some member of the family acts as automatic writer or medium. the most convincing evidence is not always scientific evidence. what can be more convincing than the evidence furnished in one's home by members of the family? there is much such evidence, obtained both through mediums and by automatic writing. automatic writing--that is, the control of the hand of a living person to record the thoughts of another who has lost the physical body--is perhaps one of the least objectionable ways in which communications have come from the astral world, and to it we are indebted for some useful books with interesting accounts of the life in the unseen regions. here, of course, as elsewhere, discrimination must be used, for the wise and foolish, the useful and useless are to be found side by side. in accepting or rejecting, one must use his common sense just as he does on this plane in separating the valuable from the worthless. in such matters we should not lose sight of the fact that the living dead are unchanged in intellect and morality. the genius here is the genius there and the living fool is not different from the dead one. it is often those who know the least who are the most anxious to tell it and the medium or automatic writer sometimes gives them the opportunity. consequently we get many foolish communications and an enormous amount of commonplace platitude is delivered at seances. but it is equally true that unquestionable proof of personal identity is sometimes secured. there is much valuable non-scientific evidence that the consciousness survives the loss of the physical body and it frequently comes from sources that insure respectful attention. the two following stories of that kind are cited as corroboration of the scientific evidence. little touches of the personality often constitute the most convincing of all evidence. it is one thing to show that people in general live after physical death. it is quite a different matter to establish the personal identity of one of them who is communicating, and that is one of the vital points involved. w. j. stillman, the eminent journalist, gives us some valuable evidence on personal identity. in his earlier years he had studied art in london. shortly before the death of turner, the great artist had volunteered to give stillman some advice on painting, but had not redeemed the promise at the time of passing away. stillman had a friend whose daughter was mediumistic and he decided to experiment. immediately on beginning the seance the young girl was taken possession of by an entity claiming to be turner. stillman asked his question silently, speaking no words, but mentally requesting turner to write his name. the only reply was an emphatic shake of the head. he then asked if he would give some advice on painting. the response was another decided negative. stillman felt that he was foolishly wasting his time and declared the seance at an end. but the girl sat silent. then after a moment she slowly arose with the air of decrepitude, took a lithograph from the wall and went through the pantomime of stretching a sheet of paper on a drawing board, sharpening a pencil, tracing the outline, the washing-in of a drawing, etc., and then proceeded to show a simple but surprising method of taking out the lights. "do you mean to say that turner got his effects in that way?" asked the incredulous young artist. the answer was an emphatic affirmative. stillman then asked if the central passage of sunlight and shadow through rain in the well known drawing "llanthony abbey" by turner, had been done in that way and was answered by another emphatic affirmative. so sure was the young artist that this could not be true that he gave it up in disgust and abruptly left. a few weeks later stillman was calling upon ruskin and related the experience. ruskin, who had known the celebrated dead artist intimately, declared that the contrariness of the medium at the beginning of the seance was remarkably characteristic of turner. but what was much more to the point, in the way of evidence, was that the drawing in question was in ruskin's possession and eagerly it was brought down from the wall for examination. after close scrutiny the great art critic and the young artist agreed that, beyond dispute, the drawing _had_ been done in the way described. such evidence has an added value when it comes from those who are neither spiritualists nor professional investigators, but who have the things they doubt thrust upon them in such convincing manner that they feel impelled to record their experience for the enlightenment of others. in the last literary work[c] done by carl schurz, we are given, quite incidentally, his testimony that at a seance soon after the civil war he was told the future in such detail as to leave no possible room for the explanation of coincidence. it was in july, , when schurz was on his way to washington, whither he had been summoned by president johnson, that he stopped in philadelphia at the home of his friend, dr. tiedemann. the doctor's daughter, about fifteen years old, could do automatic writing. as a matter of interest and amusement in the family circle the girl gave an exhibition of her psychic abilities. when schurz was invited to ask for a communication he not unnaturally requested one from the recently deceased president lincoln, for he had been personally acquainted with him. the girl wrote a message purporting to come from lincoln. it related to politics and proved, in time, to have been an accurate prophecy of most unexpected facts which would not transpire for more than three years! schurz lived in wisconsin at the time and had no intention of changing his residence, nor did he do so until two years later. the message which the girl wrote asserted that schurz would be elected to the united states senate _from missouri_. he did not regard the message as authentic and naturally enough considered the prophecy absurd. in he took up his residence in st. louis and in january, , he was elected united states senator by the missouri legislature. so far as the scientific evidence is concerned, it will be understood, of course, that no attempt is here made to present that. the intention is merely to call attention to some of the eminent scientists who have done notable work and to mention a few of the more interesting discoveries made. those who desire to come into possession of the evidence in full will find upon examination that it is voluminous. from the viewpoint of physical science alone the evidence of the continuity of consciousness is not only convincing but conclusive. yet occult science has much more to offer. to those who have no personal knowledge of the existence of occult faculties, such evidence can be offered only upon the inherent reasonableness of the statements made. the truth of clairvoyance, like all other truths, must slowly win its way to general acceptance. while large numbers of people still scoff at it, even as the world not so very long ago scoffed at hypnotism as a fantastic theory with no foundation in fact, there is nevertheless a large and rapidly growing number who personally know the truth about clairvoyance. there is every conceivable grade of clairvoyant power and some degree of superphysical sensitiveness is becoming rather common. there are two distinct kinds of clairvoyance and that which is most in evidence with the public is not calculated to inspire confidence. it is employed almost exclusively in what is known as "fortune telling" and is often practiced by those who are interested only in the money they can earn by it. as a matter of course, trickery and fraud are found associated with it among such people, and those amongst them who are both capable and honest suffer on account of it. the fortune telling clairvoyant is usually one who was born with "second sight," as the scotch have named it, and almost without an exception they do not in the least understand its rationale. they find certain facts in their consciousness that could not be known to them by the physical senses, but why or how they get the information they do not know. that form of clairvoyance is a sensitiveness related to the sympathetic nervous system, the center of which is the solar plexus. it has no relationship whatever to the mind, no association with intelligence, and will often--indeed, commonly--be possessed by the most ignorant and uncouth. it is much more common among indians and negroes than among more highly evolved people. it is vestigial and will slowly disappear from the race. it belongs to the realm of emotion, not thought. the higher clairvoyance, the only true "clear seeing," is associated with the cerebro-spinal nervous system and its seat is in the brain. it is not a "natural gift"[d] like the other, although it is latent in all human beings. it has been highly developed in some who have had the unusual opportunity of long training under the direct supervision of great psychic scientists. such clairvoyants are never to be found among the fortune tellers. only people with serious views of life and intense devotion to human service would have the patience and endurance to undergo such training and only those of singular purity of life would have any possibility of success. such clairvoyants are people of keen intelligence. by special training and tremendous effort, not possible to most of us, they have pressed forward in evolution and attained a development that the race will be many a century in reaching. it is by the use of this exalted order of clairvoyance that invisible realms are explored, and additional knowledge is accumulated to the ancient wisdom. such a clairvoyant is not a medium. the medium surrenders his physical mechanism for the use of another, who speaks through it, and at the close of the seance the medium knows nothing of what has occurred. the clairvoyant is always in possession of his senses and is fully aware of what is occurring. he is the explorer and discoverer. he deals with the facts of the life after bodily death in a different way than the physical scientist does but it is soon found by the student that the physical scientist and the psychic scientist corroborate each other. together they bring overwhelming evidence to support the hypothesis that life is eternal; that the consciousness we have at this moment will never cease to be; that our individuality, with all its present memories, will eternally persist; that what we call death is in reality but a forward step in an orderly evolutionary journey and an entrance upon a more joyous phase of life, which is not remarkably different from that we live today. the sum total of the knowledge that we have gained through the combined work of the physical scientists and the occult scientists leads us to the conclusion that the death of the physical body means neither the annihilation of consciousness nor a radical change in consciousness. it is, in fact, but the release of consciousness from its confinement to the physical form, as a song-bird is released from a cage to the joyous freedom of a wider world, where woods and stream and field and sky give new impulse to its innate characteristics. footnotes: [c] reminiscences of carl schurz, vol. iii, p. . [d] there are, of course, really no natural gifts. nature does not favor some and ignore others. when a few possess what others do not have, they earned it by giving special attention to its development or as in the case of the psychic sensitiveness of the sympathetic nervous system, it is vestigial, and has been possessed by the race in earlier ages. chapter v. the evolutionary field in a treatise on elementary theosophy the solar system may be reckoned as our universe and we shall have no need of considering more than a small fragment of even that. it is septenary in constitution, as may be seen in its vibrations expressed in color and sound. beyond the seven colors of the prism we have only tints and outside the seven notes we can get only overtones or undertones. there are likewise seven planes in the system but less than half of them require our attention, for the evolutionary field of the human soul is the three lower planes, known as the physical, astral and mental. when the human being has outgrown them in evolution he passes on to superhuman evolution. the word "plane," so often encountered in theosophical literature, should perhaps have some definition. it has a wide application and is used as a synonym for region, place, sphere or world. in referring to the physical plane the term embraces all we know of earth and sky and life through the physical senses. there are seven planes in our solar system because of the seven different combinations of its ultimate atoms. each plane consists of a totally different grade of matter than the next plane, but all have for their base the ultimate atom of the solar system. when modern science discovered, to its astonishment, that the physical atom was a composite body it confirmed the theosophical teaching that the ultimate physical atom was _not_ the final point of division. theosophy teaches that when the ultimate physical atom is disintegrated its particles become the coarsest matter of the next plane or region above it--the astral plane. the process repeated with astral matter results in driving its ultimate atom from the highest level of the astral plane or world to the lowest of the mental plane. that scientist who said that the atom is the brick of the universe stated a great truth, for of its combinations all forms are built; and if the idea be applied to the ultimate atom of the solar system it will then be true that of such "bricks" all the planes are built. the relationship of the planes to each other is that of interpenetrating spheres of matter. the physical plane, consisting of the earth and its atmosphere, is surrounded and interpenetrated by the astral plane, or world, which is an enormously larger globe of exceedingly tenuous matter. this vast sphere of invisible matter is _within_ the earth as well as beyond it, interpenetrating every atom of physical matter to the earth's center. its grossest grade of matter is so rare, and its vibrations so intense, that they cannot affect the physical senses and therefore we remain unconscious of it while that matter moves freely through all physical objects. we are unconscious of its life and activities for precisely the same reason that we know nothing of the messages of intelligence carried on the vibrations of the wireless telegraph, although they pass through the room where we sit. we have no sense organs with which it is possible to register such vibrations. messages conveying intelligence of tremendous import, involving the movements of vast armies, the fall of empires and the destinies of great nations, flow through the very space we occupy but we are wholly unconscious of them. even so we remain blind and deaf to the stupendous activities of life and consciousness in the astral world, notwithstanding the fact that it surrounds and permeates us while its forms, unseen and unfelt, move through the physical world as freely as water flows through a sieve. the mental world constitutes a region of our earth still more vast than the astral portion of it. as the astral sphere encloses the physical globe, the mental encompasses both, enclosing them and also interpenetrating them to the earth's center. the term "mental world" may seem confusing to some because we are accustomed to think of the mental and the material as being opposites. the mental world, or sphere, or plane, of theosophy, is a world of _matter_, not merely thought. it is matter, however, of such remarkable tenuosity that it may properly be called mind-stuff, and in its rarest levels it is said to be "formless" so far as the existence of what the physical senses know as form is concerned. all three of these worlds, or planes--the physical, astral and mental--are, then, worlds of matter, of form, of activity, of thought and of enterprise. they are concentric globes, the physical enclosed by the astral, and both physical and astral enclosed by the mental. within and without all physical matter are both astral and mental matter. every physical atom is surrounded and permeated by astral and mental matter. the relationship is precisely that which exists between the ether and the lower grades of physical matter. if the relationship of the three worlds--physical, astral and mental--is fully understood later confusion of thought will be avoided. physical language is not capable of fully expressing much with which students of the occult must deal. because there is nothing better for the purpose, words must be used that express but a part of the truth and may sometimes prove misleading unless the constitution and relationship of the three spheres is kept in mind. thus, it is necessary to speak of higher and lower worlds, or planes, inner or outer, and of the soul coming "down" into the material world when, as a matter of fact, _no movement in space_ is under consideration. the astral is commonly spoken of as an inner plane and while it truly is so because it can be known only to astral senses by a withdrawal of the consciousness from its exterior, material body, it is also true that the astral world is outside the physical because it envelops it as the sea does a sponge. we usually speak of coming down from higher planes to lower and that may be true not only in the sense of changing the state of consciousness from higher vibrations to lower ones but it _could_ mean a journey in space from a point in the astral plane above the physical globe to a point at its surface. "up" and "down" are relative, not absolute. "down" for us is toward the earth's center and "up" is the opposite direction. a spire in the occident and a spire in the orient are both said to be pointing upward but they are pointing in opposite directions. on most parts of the earth's surface we have four directions, while at the poles there is, of course, but one direction--south or north, as the case may be. east, west and north disappear at the north pole. reflection upon such facts leads one to at least faintly comprehend the possibility of space itself disappearing from the inner planes--space as we know it. the matter of each of the planes consists of seven classes. we are familiar with the solids, liquids and gases of the physical plane, and to them must be added four grades of the ether. the seven grades of matter of the astral and mental worlds constitute an important part of the mechanism for the soul's evolution, for they determine the state of consciousness in the life beyond the physical plane. but a study of those states of consciousness belongs to a later chapter. a difficulty which the student of theosophy should make an early effort to eliminate, is the tendency to think of invisible realms as unreal. it should not be forgotten that it is only the limitation of the physical senses that gives rise to the feeling of unreality beyond the visible. we should keep in mind the fact that the invisible realms are composed of matter as certainly as the air is matter, or a stone is matter. the water in a pan may evaporate, but it does not cease to be matter because it has passed beyond the ken of the physical senses. it will some time condense once more and play its part as the liquid, water, or as the solid, ice. only when matter is in certain forms can we know of its existence through the physical senses. we frequently hear people who are students of the occult speak of a deceased person as having left the earth. but passing into the astral plane, or world, is not, of course, leaving the earth. both the astral world and the mental world are divisions of the earth. as the atmosphere is invisible and yet is a part of the earth's physical matter, so the invisible astral and mental regions are other parts of the earth. they are properly called worlds because the activities in consciousness that make up existence there are as remote from ours as though they were upon another planet. we have erroneously supposed that with the physical senses we really see and know the earth, whereas we have known only that small fragment of the earth that consists of physical matter. beyond the limitation of our poor senses stretch in unsuspected grandeur vaster regions of our earth, swept by the vibrations of an intenser life. chapter vi. the mechanism of consciousness the soul is a center of consciousness within the all-consciousness, or the life of the solar logos; an individualized portion of the universal mind. that fragment of the divine life, with its latent god-like attributes, is expressed through a mechanism of consciousness that is formed of the matter of the various planes. naturally enough it is expressed more fully upon the higher planes than upon the lower. at a very high level it is known as the monad. when it reaches down into the higher subdivisions of the mental world it is the ego, a lesser expression of the same divine life that pours from the logos through the monad--lesser because it is then functioning through the denser matter of a lower level. the knowledge that has been gained about the nature of matter in recent years is helpful in understanding the activities of consciousness. the atom is found to be a center of force, and we are at the point where matter, as we have known it, disappears. all the force and consciousness of the solar system is, of course, but the life of the logos, and on higher planes the distinctions we observe here fade out. matter becomes a very different thing from the matter we know. the ether of the physical world is almost inconceivably tenuous matter. yet it is gross when compared to the lowest grade of astral matter. the matter of the mental world is enormously rarer than the most tenuous matter of the astral world. in view of these facts it requires no stress of the imagination to understand that the matter of the higher planes is responsive to the vibrations of consciousness. the outraying energies of the individualized center of consciousness act upon the matter of the plane and draw about it a film that slowly grows into a vehicle through which consciousness can be more fully expressed, and which serves as a point of vantage from which its expression can be extended to lower planes. the seven subdivisions of the mental world fall naturally into two groups, composed of the three higher and the four lower grades of matter. the ego, anchored in the matter of the two planes above the mental world, descends to the upper levels of the mental and the vesture of matter with which it clothes itself is known as the causal body. sending its energies downward, or outward, to the lower levels of the mental world, it establishes itself there in what slowly becomes a mental body. again in the astral world the process is repeated and a vehicle of consciousness is formed of astral matter. the physical body is the lowest and last of the vehicles to be formed and as it is slowly built, in the months preceding birth, the matter it contains falls into place under the operation of occult laws which permit no element of chance to enter into its construction. each of these bodies serves as a vehicle of consciousness on the plane to which it belongs. the soul is evolving simultaneously in each of the worlds, physical, astral and mental, and these various bodies enable it to receive the vibrations of the plane they belong to and thus to be conscious there. the mental body is the seat of intellectual activity. thought arises as a vibration in it and passes through the astral body into the physical brain. whenever we think we are using the mental body. the astral body is the seat of emotion. with it we feel. all emotion passes from it to the physical body to be expressed in the material world. the astral world is also called the emotional world, as the mental plane is called the mental world. the physical body is the soul's instrument of action. it attaches it to the physical world, enables the consciousness to contact material objects and to move and express on the material plane the thoughts and emotions generated in the mental and astral bodies. another part of the mechanism of consciousness is known as the etheric double. but it is only a link in the chain and not a body through which the soul can function. it is composed of the etheric matter of the physical world and connects the astral body with the physical body. as every atom of physical matter is surrounded and permeated by etheric matter, it follows that the physical body has its duplicate in etheric matter. "etheric double" is a very appropriate name since it is a perfect duplicate of the physical body in etheric matter. it serves the purpose of supplying the life force to the nervous system and is the medium through which sensation is conveyed. the action of an anaesthetic drives out so much of the matter of the etheric double that the connection is broken and sensation in the physical body ceases. one of the difficulties in the way of getting a clear conception of the constitution of man, and realizing that he is a soul functioning through various vehicles of consciousness, is the materialistic modes of thought common to occidental civilization. we are accustomed to thinking of the physical body itself as being the man, and if there is any thought at all of the consciousness surviving the death of the body it is very vague and indefinite as to where it exists and how it is expressed. very little thinking should be necessary to show the absurdity of the belief that the body is the man. two bodies may be alike, as in the case of twins, but the souls, the real men, may be absolutely unlike. the real man is superphysical. his intelligence or his stupidity, his genial disposition or his moroseness, his generosity or his selfishness, are but the manifestations of himself through the body by which they are expressed. the body itself is a mere aggregation of physical atoms, as a planet is, so organized that they constitute an instrument for a purpose. the mass of matter constituting the body is a variable mass. it may increase or diminish greatly, but the man remains unchanged. there is no permanent relationship between the man and the physical matter which he uses for his vehicle of consciousness. according to the physiologists every atom of the body changes within a period of a few years. the cells wear out, break down and pass away to be replaced by new matter. not a particle of the physical matter that was in our bodies seven years ago is there now, and none that is there now will remain. within seven years, or less, we shall have bodies composed of new matter as certainly as an infant's is. of course such reconstruction of the body does not change its appearance. it is built on the same lines. it is as it would be with some very old cathedral. as the centuries pass it must be slowly rebuilt. the floors wear out and are relaid. the roof serves its time and is replaced. the walls crumble first in one place and then another until they have been completely reconstructed. after a thousand years has passed there may be none of the original material in the building, yet its appearance is unchanged. the bodies we have today shall have passed away and will be growing in the trees and blooming in the flowers in a few years. the bodies we shall then have are now scattered through the world. they will be brought together during that time and will come from many parts of the earth. the physical senses continually deceive us and nowhere more than in our ideas about the physical body. it is an unstable mass of matter, in constant motion, with great gulfs of space between its atoms. emerson was very far ahead of his time and it took science a half century to catch up with him and learn that he had recorded a fact in nature when he wrote: atom from atom yawns as far as earth from moon, or star from star. in the _scientific american supplement_, commenting on our reconstructed ideas about matter, remarked that the actual mass of the physical body to the apparent mass was about one to one million! if the physical body is merely an organized mass of matter, continually varying, constantly coming and going, and having no permanent relationship to the consciousness that functions through it, what reason is there for believing that it is the man? does it seem strange that the center of consciousness should be able to draw about itself on the higher planes aggregations of matter and finally to express itself on the material plane through the mass of matter we call the body? if that is mysterious quite as miraculous things are going on constantly about us unnoticed. thoreau calls attention to the fact that we become so accustomed to the marvelous expressions of life all about us that we are oblivious of the phenomena that are taking place. commenting on the magic possible to nature he says: "though i do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, i have great faith in a seed--a, to me, equally mysterious origin for it. convince me that you have a seed there, and i am prepared to expect wonders.... in the spring of i planted six seeds sent to me from the patent office, and labeled, i think, 'poitrine jaune grosse,' large yellow squash. two came up, and one bore a squash which weighed ½ pounds, the other bore four, weighing together ¼ pounds. who would have believed that there was pounds of poitrine jaune grosse in that corner of my garden? these seeds were the bait i used to catch it, my ferrets which i sent into its burrow, my brace of terriers which unearthed it.... other seeds i have which will find other things in that corner of my garden. perfect alchemists i keep who can transmute substances without end, and thus the corner of my garden is an inexhaustible treasure-chest. here you can dig, not gold, but the value which gold merely represents; and there is no signor blitz about it. yet farmer's sons will stare by the hour to see a juggler draw ribbons from his throat, though he tells them it is all deception. surely, men love darkness rather than light."[e] a seed is a center of force through which life, at a much lower level than the human, flows and gathers about that center the material mass that serves the purpose of its lowly evolution. at the human level consciousness has become self-consciousness and a marvelously complex mechanism is required to express it and serve the purpose of its farther evolution. this complex mechanism of consciousness, composed of the various bodies through which the ego expresses itself at different levels, is used as a whole for functioning on the physical plane. but when the ego is functioning no farther down than the astral plane, the physical body is, of course, temporarily discarded. it is then in the condition known as sleep, or trance. sleep is the natural withdrawing of the consciousness from the physical body. when the separation occurs in the case of the medium it is called a trance. the cause of the inert condition of the physical body is the same in both cases--the withdrawal of the consciousness of the ego. the physical body is then unoccupied, but the consciousness maintains magnetic connection with it. in death that tie is severed and the consciousness can return to the body no more. instances in which the apparently dead are brought back to life are cases where the magnetic tie is not broken, notwithstanding there is every appearance of death. in form and feature the physical body has its exact duplicate in the astral body, and in it we function in the astral world whenever the separation between the two occurs, whether from sleep or death. in sleep the consciousness, expressing itself in the astral body in the astral world, may be turned dreamily inward or it may be turned outward and be vividly aware of the life and activities of that world. but there is small chance that any memory of it will come through into the physical consciousness upon awakening. occasionally, however, it does occur and then it is usually remembered as a very vivid dream. in illness, and other abnormal conditions, the connection between the physical and astral consciousness is much closer. at a comparatively high point in evolution the two states of consciousness merge. the man is then continuously conscious, and has a full memory in the physical brain of all his activities in the astral world during the hours when the physical body was asleep. consciousness is, of course, at its worst when expressed through the limitation of its lower vehicles. any person, whether brilliant or stupid, will be much abler and keener on the astral plane than on the physical, because in sleep, and after death, he has lost the limitations imposed by physical matter. but the degree of restriction is variable and depends much upon the _kind_ of matter of which the brain and body are composed; for the physical atoms vary greatly, and as they come and go in the passing years the body may either become purified and refined or it may grow grosser and coarser. by careful attention to food and drink, and by control of the emotions, the limitations of physical matter may be lessened and a much higher and more efficient state of consciousness in the physical body can be attained. footnotes: [e] the succession of forest trees.--thoreau. chapter vii. death perhaps one of the reasons why death is so commonly associated with a feeling of fear is because we give so little thought to it. most people seem never to think of the subject at all until death invades the home and threatens some member of the family. then terror fills the mind and all but paralyzes the reasoning faculties. such fear of death, so widespread in occidental civilization, is eloquent testimony to the materialism of our times. it is doubt about the future that causes fear of death. only when we have a scientific basis for the hope of immortality will the awful fear of death disappear. it is feared because it seems like annihilation. if people really believed in a heavenly existence beyond the physical life they could not possibly be filled with terror at the prospect of entering it. if a man's religion has not given him a genuine confidence in a future life, and made it as much of a reality to him as this life is, it has failed to do what we have a right to demand of religion. if it does not enable him to look upon the face of his dead without a doubt, or a fear, there is something wrong, either with his religion or with his comprehension of it. what possible reason is there for fearing death? a thing that is universal, that comes to all, can not be pernicious. to regard death as a disastrous thing would be an indictment of the sanity of nature. death is merely the close of a particular cycle of experience. it is the annihilation of nothing but the physical body, in its aspect of an instrument of activity and a vehicle of the consciousness upon the physical plane. the atoms of the body, drawn together in the human form for temporary use, are, in death, released from the cohesive force of a living organism and will return whence they came. in reality there is no such thing as death, unless it be strictly applied to the form, regarded as a temporary vehicle of consciousness. as for the consciousness, there is no death. there is life in a physical form and life out of it, but no such thing as the death, or cessation, of the individual intelligence. what we name "death" is but a change in the orderly evolution of life, and it is only because the phenomenon is viewed from the physical plane that such a term can be applied to it. from this plane it is death, or departure. but looked at from the astral world it is birth, or arrival. what we call birth is the beginning of the expression of the soul through a material body on the physical plane. it is an arrival. but from the astral viewpoint it is a departure and therefore is as logically a "death" there as departure from a physical body is here. so death and departure from one plane is simply birth, or arrival, upon another, although it is not, of course, birth as we know it. every process in nature has a part to play in evolution and therefore death is as necessary as life and as beneficial as birth. death is the destroyer of the useless. there is a time when each human being should die--that is to say, a time when the physical body has fulfilled its mission and completely accomplished the purpose for which it exists. to continue life in a physical body beyond that point is to waste energy and lose time in the evolutionary journey. under the action of what we call "diseases" the body becomes inefficient, or through the gradual breaking down of old age the senses grow dim and uncertain. the consciousness can no longer be keenly expressed through its impaired machine and it is decidedly to the advantage of the ego to withdraw from it. the soul is in the position of an artisan obliged to work with broken and rusted tools. good results are no longer possible. it is then that death comes, beneficently destroying the worn out instrument and releasing the consciousness from its too-often painful situation and permitting its escape into a field of unobstructed activity. death is painless. the breaking down of the body under the ravages of disease may cause pain, but that belongs to physical life, not death. distress may also be caused by groundless fear of death. but the dying person who does not know that death is upon him has no terror, and no pain, and sinks quietly to sleep. very little observation will convince one that the distress about a death-bed is invariably on the part of surviving friends, not on the part of the dying. those who are left behind remain within the limitations of the physical senses, and they are therefore separated from the so-called dead man, but he is not separated from them. it is because of that separation that the terror of death exists for them. but in that very fact is to be seen the great evolutionary value of death. the separation it causes intensifies love as nothing else could do. it is only when our friend is gone that we begin to appreciate his real value and comprehend how large a part he really played in our existence. as sudden silence gives the consciousness a keener realization of the sound that has just ceased, so death, by its contrast, gives a vivid, realistic touch to life. we all know how enormously the heart qualities are quickened by the death of a close friend. the whole nature is in some degree purified and spiritualized. selfishness is decreased and compassion expands. sympathy for others in distress is born, and thus a decided evolutionary advance is made. we have only to reflect upon the fact that separation without death produces the same effects in a minor key, to realize the evolutionary value of death. in constant association we grow careless and indifferent. but an absence of a month or two enables one to get a truer perspective of personal associations and thereafter life has new zest. a child regards its mother with a certain degree of appreciation but a short absence enormously increases its appreciation. all human beings come into closer and more sympathetic association after a period of separation, and the completeness of the separation caused by death renders it peculiarly efficacious in the development of the spiritual side of one's nature. it often requires death to turn attention away from materialistic life. frequently a family becomes completely absorbed in material success. there is no thought at all given to the higher life. wealth, position, power, fame, all the vanities of the world, hold them firmly. they become completely self-centered. then suddenly death enters and breaks the family circle, and the transient character of all they had been so strenuously striving for suddenly dawns upon them, and attention is turned to the nobler things of life. it is a well known fact that great wars are accompanied or followed with widespread spiritual awakening, and it is no doubt largely because the shadow of death has fallen on tens of thousands of households. it has sometimes been asked by doubtful critics if it would not be an improvement on nature's plan if the sorrow caused by the death of our friends were softened by direct knowledge of their continued existence. it is evidently the plan of nature to have the physical life and the astral life normally separated at our present level of evolution. some of the reasons have already been discussed. there are undoubtedly others that we are incapable of understanding, and still others that we can readily comprehend. if the higher, joyous life of the astral world were open to our consciousness, then concentration upon the duties of this life would be difficult, if not impossible. our life in the physical body may be compared to the tasks of children in school. they have serious business before them in the acquiring of knowledge and the development of the intellect. they can best accomplish the work when completely isolated from other phases of life. introduce into their work-day consciousness the joys of a child's existence, the circus, the military parade, the picnic and the dancing parties, and the purpose for which the school exists would be defeated. to exactly the extent that the consciousness is withdrawn from such things will desirable progress be made with the work of the school-room. and so it is with the limitation of our physical senses. it serves a purpose. but there is a point in human evolution where such limitation of the senses is no longer of any service and may be transcended. some people have attained it. they are those who have previously been referred to as the psychic scientists, with the higher clairvoyance of the cerebro-spinal system developed. it is an accomplishment to which all may aspire. none need submit to the separation commonly caused by death. by hard work in co-operating with nature's methods of evolution and by a serious and sustained effort to live the highest and most helpful life of which one is capable, it is possible in time to attain a level of consciousness where one has personal knowledge that the dead still live. but in the very work of rising to that level, the concentration previously enforced by the limitation of the physical senses will have been acquired. one of the common delusions about death is that some radical change in the nature of a person then takes place. this is no doubt due in part to the theological ideas that have come down to us from the time of the middle ages. it is popularly supposed that at death one comes to some sort of a judgment that classes him as either a saint qualified for eternal bliss or a fiend fit only for endless torture! the belief is based on that erroneous view of human nature that was common to the melodrama of a past generation and that will possibly have eternal life in the cheap novel. it represented the hero as unqualifiedly good and the villain as absolutely bad. the one had no flaw of character and the other had not a redeeming feature. but human nature does not thus express itself. the spark of divine life is in all, notwithstanding it is sometimes darkly hidden. on the other hand we find no perfected beings. the perfect heroes were merely creations of an imperfect imagination. at our halfway stage of evolution we find neither the absolutely good nor the hopelessly bad. why should the change we call death transform a human being? it is merely the loss of one part of the mechanism of consciousness. the soul, the thinker, has lost connection with the physical world because the physical body has ceased to exist. the mental body and the astral body remain and they enable him to think and feel. but he can not think more than he knows, nor feel what he has not evolved. all that has happened in death is that contact with the material world has been lost. one of the misconceptions is that death brings great wisdom, and we often hear of people getting into communication with those who have passed on, with the hope of obtaining valuable advice. it is true that death ushers one into a realm of wider consciousness and that in the astral world one can see a little further ahead and take a few more things into consideration. but--and it is a vital point--he would have no better judgment in determining a course of action than he had while here in the physical world. both mentally and emotionally he is unchanged. his grade of morality is neither better nor worse. his tolerance or narrowness remains what it previously was. if he was bigoted while here he is still bigoted there. if he was the unevolved ignoramus here he remains precisely that in the astral world. whether genius or fool, saint or villain, he remains unchanged and goes on with his evolutionary development, but in a world where emotion is the determining factor. death merely opens the door to a new and wider realm where the evolution of the soul proceeds. it would be difficult to say which is the greater misfortune--the delusions that make death the king of terrors, or the complacent belief that if death does not end all, it at least brings the soul to a judgment that ends all personal responsibility and settles one's fate forever. death can no more lessen responsibility or transform the moral nature than sleep can change character or determine destiny. the theosophical conception of death is as consoling as it is scientific. instead of the fear of death it gives us knowledge of continued life. instead of doubt and despair it gives us confidence and joy, for it guarantees the companionship once more of those we have known and loved, and erroneously supposed we have lost. chapter viii. the astral world when the physical body dies there is an interval between the loss of consciousness here and the dawning of the astral consciousness. during that interim a review of the life scenes takes place. everything between birth and death passes again through the consciousness, as it thus pauses in the etheric double, between the life activities of two worlds. then peaceful unconsciousness follows, from which the man awakes in the astral world. to those accustomed to thinking of the dying as passing to some remote heaven, where they become angels, it will perhaps sound startling to say that a dead man is not aware at first that the change we call death has taken place. yet that is a common experience. nor is it at all remarkable that it should be so with many. we have only to recall the fact that all physical matter is surrounded and permeated with astral matter to realize that the physical plane is duplicated in astral matter. not only the physical body of the human being but, of course, every physical object, has its astral duplicate. the dying man loses consciousness of the physical plane and awakes as from a sleep to the astral consciousness. he sees then the exact duplicate, in astral matter, of the familiar scenes he has left behind. he sees, too, his friends, for their astral bodies are replicas of their physical forms. and yet, notwithstanding all this there is a difference, though not a difference that enables him to comprehend what has occurred. he may know that only yesterday, or what seems to him to have been yesterday, he was ill and confined to his bed, and was perhaps told that he was about to die; and now he is not ill; indeed, he never felt so free from aches and pains in all his life. the pulsing energies and exhilaration of youth are his again! this mystifies him. he sees his friends and naturally speaks to them, but gets no reply and finds that he can not attract their attention. it must be remembered that he can not see their physical bodies any more than they can see his astral body. yet he truly sees them. if a so-called dead man and a living person look at the same instant at another living person they will both see him, but the latter sees the physical body while the former sees the astral body that surrounds and permeates it. under these circumstances it is not strange that the new arrival in the astral world is seized with a feeling of baffling mystery. he is in full possession of his reasoning faculties, and will power, but there is a puzzling limitation to his efforts to produce expected results. a partial analogy may be found in the case of a person suddenly stricken with aphasia over night. he rises in the morning, dresses, and goes about his accustomed duties without the slightest suspicion that any change has come to him until he takes up the morning paper and discovers that he can not read--that the familiar print simply means nothing to him! of course, in time the living dead man gets adjusted to the new life. he soon meets others in the astral world who have been there longer and they, sooner or later, succeed in convincing him that he is not having an exceptionally vivid dream. the astral world, as explained in a previous chapter, has seven subdivisions and the astral body contains matter belonging to each of them. while we have the physical body the matter of the astral body is in rapid circulation, every grade of it being constantly represented at the surface. but when the connection with the material plane is broken, a rearrangement of the matter of the astral body automatically takes place (unless it is prevented by an exercise of will power) and the grossest grade of matter thereafter occupies its surface. consequently the consciousness of the man is limited to that subdivision of the astral world represented by the lowest grade of matter which his astral body contains at the time of his death. this is a fact the importance of which it would be difficult to over emphasize, because his after-death state of consciousness, his joy or sorrow--in short, his temporary heaven or hell, depends upon his location in the astral world. there are three, and only three modes of death, or release from the physical body--by old age, by disease, or by violence. old age is the natural and desirable close of the chapter of physical plane experience. it is most desirable to live to ripe old age and accumulate a large harvest of experience. to live long and actively is excellent fortune. it is not well to pass into the astral world with strong physical desires. as old age comes on the desire forces subside. most of that grade of astral matter that is capable of expressing them has slowly disappeared. old age represents the most gradual loosening of the life forces from the material plane, and that has many advantages. release from the physical body by disease is next in order of desirability. it is a quicker and less complete breaking down of the connection with the physical world. nevertheless it is a condition in which much progress may be made in getting free from physical desires, as those who have had experience with invalids are aware. desires usually grow weaker with the progress of the disease that finally ends in death. release from the physical form by violence is, of course, the least desirable of the three, not merely because it is violence, but for the much more important reason that sudden death finds the man, as a rule, with a considerable amount of the lower grades of astral matter in his astral body. whether the death by violence is the result of accident, murder, suicide or legal execution, the astral plane conditions of consciousness are alike unfortunate, in that it is sudden death, not the manner of death, that permits entry upon the astral life before the lower grades of astral matter have been eliminated from the astral body. this is one reason why suicide is unfortunate--because it ushers the man into the astral world with more of the matter of the lower levels in his astral vehicle than would be there if he had lived out his normal physical life. purgatory is a term often applied to the lowest level of the astral world. the word is well chosen because it is there that the moral nature is purged of its impurities. strong desires cultivated and indulged during the life in the physical body are eliminated with the gross astral matter through which alone they can be expressed and, freed to that extent, the man passes to the next subdivision, and into its higher state of consciousness. in the astral life some people linger long on the lower levels while others know them not at all, but awaken to the blissful consciousness of the higher subdivisions. nature is everywhere consistent, grouping together people of a kind. it is, however, the manner in which one lives during physical life that determines his happiness or sorrow after death. the astral body, the seat of the emotions, is, like the physical body, constantly changing the matter that composes it. an emotion of any kind expresses itself as a vibration in the matter of the astral body. if it is a base emotion, such as anger, hatred, lust or cruelty, it throws into vibration the grossest of the astral body's matter, for only in that can it be expressed. if it is an exalted emotion, such as love, sympathy, devotion, courage or benevolence, it affects only the rarer grades of astral matter, for in them only can such feeling be expressed. with most people there is a constant mingling of a wide range of emotions, with a gain in one direction and a loss in another. one who fortunately understands the law of emotional cause and effect may make absolutely certain of a comfortable sojourn upon the astral plane after death. he would make it a rule to watch his emotions and control them, knowing that each time he indulged a gross one the vibration set up in his astral body would strengthen and vivify the grossest grade of matter in it, while pure and exalted emotions would strengthen the higher grades. ultimately, the grossest grade, becoming atrophied for the lack of activity, would drop away from him. the descriptions of purgatory given by the psychic scientists are calculated to induce even the reckless to avoid it. if we could bring together all the vilest men and women now living on the physical plane, the crudest of murderers, the most besotted drunkards, the vilest degenerates, the most conscienceless and vindictive fiends of every description, and huddle them together in hovels reeking with filth, and let them remain without any outward government, free to prey upon each other, we should perhaps have a faint comprehension of the reality of the lowest subdivision of the astral world. but no physical plane comparison can do it full justice, for we must remember that it is the emotional world and that the feelings of its inhabitants make its atmosphere in a way that would here be impossible. astral matter instantly and exactly reproduces emotion, so that the fiend or the sensualist looks exactly what he feels. even in the unresponsive physical matter, the evil in a man is often sufficiently expressed to fill those who behold him with terror. in the astral world every cruel thought and hideous emotion would express itself in visible form and the multitudinous emotions welling up in the lower level of the astral world would be as a loathsome swarm of reptiles gliding through its horrible life. add to all that the fact that the hopeless despair of its denizens gives an atmosphere of utter gloom and desolation, and we have a hell that leaves no need of other torture to check the course of the erring soul. and yet there is no suffering that is not self-imposed. it is both consistent and just that a man should associate with his kind and look upon himself in others until he grows sick of his own vileness and cries out in agony of spirit against his own moral offenses. it must not be assumed that every person dying with considerable matter belonging to the lower astral level still within his emotional body will necessarily pass through such experiences. it should never be forgotten that we are dealing with a matter of the utmost complexity and that even the most exhaustive description in print would present only a fragment of the truth. the conditions of consciousness on any subplane vary as individuals vary. some people on the lowest astral level are wholly unconscious of their surroundings. another variation is that some people find themselves floating in darkness and largely cut off from others--a sufficiently undesirable condition, and yet better than the fate of some. all states of astral consciousness are reactions from previous good or evil conduct and are, moreover, temporary conditions that will in time be left behind. in a different way and at a higher level there may be suffering on the astral plane that is purifying the nature. not all offenses against nature's laws are of so gross a type. there is the abuse of desire and the violation of conscience that may result in various kinds of regret and emotional distress. a desire of a refined type strongly built up upon the physical plane lives with an intenser vitality on the astral plane after the physical body can no longer gratify it. a glutton and a miser have strong desires of a very different type. each of them is likely to suffer on account of it during the astral life. they need not dwell upon the lowest level to get a reaction from their folly in the physical life. we can easily imagine the distress of the glutton in a world without food. there could be no distress because of hunger, for the astral body is not, like the physical body, renewed and maintained by what it consumes. but hunger and the gratification of the sense of taste are very different things. it is the latter that would trouble the gormand, and it is said that great suffering, as in the case of the drunkard, is his lot until the desire gradually disappears because of the impossibility of its gratification. the miser represents a subtler form of desire, but his greed for gold may be quite as intense as that of the glutton for sensual gratification. the accumulation of money has been the dominant thought of his life. he has created in his mind a wholly false value for money and it gives him real pain to part with a dollar of it. only dire necessity forces him to spend any portion of his hoard. it is not difficult to imagine his emotions when he is obliged to leave it behind and see others spend it freely. any kind of a desire that is related to the physical body is without means of gratification in the astral world and if such desire has been cultivated until it becomes strong enough to play an important part in one's life it will certainly give him more or less trouble after the loss of the physical body. whether it grows out of an over-refinement and excess in a natural appetite, as in the case of the epicure, or is simply an artificial thing that is unrelated to any natural demand, as in the case of the smoker, the inability to gratify the desire is equally distressing. the suffering that results could hardly be judged by what would follow on the physical plane when desire is thwarted, for in the astral life emotion expresses itself much more intensely. all of the suffering in the astral world, of whatever type, is the natural result of the thoughts, emotions and acts during the life on the physical plane. the astral world is that part of the mechanism for man's evolution that brings him up with a sharp turn when he is moving in the wrong direction. he is not being punished. the injurious forces he has generated are simply reacting upon him. this reaction, that sets him right, is as certain as in the case of the infant that picks up a live coal. it is merely less direct, and not so immediate in result, and it works itself out in a multiplicity of ways. one of the methods of reaction that helps to stamp out a fault is the automatic repetition of the unpleasant consequences of wrong doing. the murderer will serve for a general illustration. in the case of a deliberate, premeditated and cruel murder, the assassin is moved by such base motives as revenge or jealousy. the results of these, so far as their frightful consequences to the victim are concerned, do not in the least tend to deter the assassin from further deeds of violence. he feels gratified with his success and is quite satisfied with himself. only the possibility of detection and punishment troubles him. if they follow in due course they will accomplish something in correcting his erroneous views of life. but they will not be sufficient to register indelibly, in the very nature of the man, a proper sense of the horror of which he has been guilty. such a man can be impressed and his viewpoint changed only by consequences to himself. it is in the reaction in the astral life of the forces he has generated here that he gets the lesson that forces in upon his consciousness the horror inseparable from murder. if he escapes the physical plane consequences of his deed he will nevertheless come into contact in the astral world with conditions sufficiently horrible. he has made a tie with his victim that can not be broken until the scales of justice are balanced and nature's exaction has been paid to the uttermost. just what form of retribution will follow depends, of course, on the nature of the case. but the reaction is as certain as it is multiplex. one of its variants is the gruesome experience of always fleeing from the corpse of the victim, but with the utter impossibility of a moment's escape. in the case of a murderer who has been apprehended, tried, condemned and executed, the whole of the tragedy and its sequel would be, not only lived over in imagination but repeated automatically, in fact, and worked out in full detail in the plastic matter of the astral region. probably few people have the imagination to comprehend what the murderer feels of apprehension and fear at his trial when his life is in the balance; or what he suffers while hiding from justice and making futile efforts to escape the pursuing officers of the law; or what his emotions are as his hands are tied and he steps upon the death trap. all this is reproduced in the astral life, repeatedly. as one whose mind is completely filled with a subject--let us say something that is the cause of much anxiety--finds it impossible to turn his attention from it and think of other things, or go to sleep, and is impelled against his desire to think the matter over and over, so the assassin is enmeshed in the emotion web of his crime and can not escape from living and acting it all over and over again until a revulsion of feeling arouses him to full comprehension of the horror of his crime. again it should be said that no attempt is here made to give more than a very fragmentary description, and a few hints, of the manner in which the retributory laws of nature work. a writer on the subject should also be careful that, in pointing out the fact that to certain classes of offenders against nature's laws severe penalties accrue, the reader does not get the impression that suffering is the common lot in the astral life. the truth of the matter is that people who live clean, moderate lives, and refrain from generating forces that are injurious to others, will know nothing whatever of the unfortunate side of astral existence. in the limitations, the vexations, the physical aches and ills, the poverty, sorrow and suffering of the material plane, most of us are as near to hell-conditions of existence as we ever will be. the ordinary man of average morality has so little of the matter of the lowest level of the astral plane lingering in him that as a rule he would begin his postmortem existence on the next higher subdivision, which is the counterpart of the earth's surface. he would therefore have no knowledge of the hell that exists on the lower level. but that is not at all true of those who live grossly and freely indulge the emotions of anger, jealousy, hatred, revenge, and their kindred impulses, that often lead to violent crimes. it is possible to live the physical life so sanely, usefully, harmoniously and unselfishly that at the death of the physical body one will pass almost immediately to a joyous and useful career in the astral world. but while that is quite possible the unfortunate fact is that a great many people so color all their emotions with selfishness that the astral sojourn is unpleasantly affected by it. it is the emotions that determine the astral life and it is said that if they are directly selfish they bring the man into conditions on the astral plane that are very unpleasant. it must be expected that any idea we may form of the astral life will be incomplete, and inadequate to give a true conception what it is really like. perhaps the most comprehensible of the subplanes is that which reproduces the physical landscape in astral matter. there the average man will begin his conscious astral career. if we think of the world as we know it here and then imagine all that is material to have vanished from it we shall gain some comprehension of the situation. eliminate the necessity of providing food, clothing and shelter and nearly all of the labor of the race would cease. the tilling of the soil, the mining, the building, the manufacturing, and the transportation and exchange of the products of field and factory, constitute nearly the whole of human activity. in the astral life no food is required and one is clothed with astral matter from which garments are fashioned almost with the ease and rapidity of thought. no houses are needed for shelter. the astral body is not susceptible to degrees of heat and cold, and nothing there corresponds to our temperatures. there is no division of night and day, objects being self-luminous and light being perpetual. if we could drop out of physical life all need of physical labor, abolish all response to heat or cold, the need of food and houses, and add unlimited wealth or, to be more exact, give each person the power to possess all that wealth can confer and much that it can not, we would have an approach to a conception of the astral world from one viewpoint. each one entering the astral life has, of course, a fullness of liberty and freedom from responsibility that is not instantly comprehensible to the physical mind. there is nothing whatever that he must do. there is, however, plenty that he can do if he desires to be active. on the physical plane many people of wealth travel and amuse themselves with sight seeing. thousands of others would do so if it were possible. in the astral world it is possible and large numbers of people drift aimlessly about with no particular plans. multitudes belonging to various religious sects organize themselves into congregations, build edifices and spend much time in religious services. others amuse themselves building houses and constructing landscapes. it is not at all necessary, but the old habits live and influence activities. the average person in the astral world gives himself to idleness and the enjoyment of the intensified emotions of the astral life just as the majority of people would do here if it were possible to escape the round of duties so sternly imposed by their necessities. for a long time the most of them also make daily visits to the homes they have left behind on the physical plane. those who have a strong tie of affection with some member of the family frequently spend much time lingering around and going on little journeys about the premises or elsewhere with the loved one. they understand that the dead person is not perceived by the living one, but nevertheless they desire to be near. they do not have a full consciousness of all the living person is thinking and doing, but they are fully aware of the state of feeling, or emotion, and whether the living friend is pleasantly or unpleasantly affected by passing events. as the astral life becomes more and more familiar to the newly arrived individual he gets well settled in it and gradually readjusts his viewpoint to a truer perspective than he has here. as time passes he is less and less in touch with the affairs of the physical life and finally loses consciousness of them altogether as he passes on to the higher levels of the astral world. but there are many people who have a more serious view of life and who lose no opportunity of acquiring knowledge, and the astral world, which is called "the hall of learning" by students of the occult, presents remarkably good conditions to them. here we are limited in three dimensions of matter and hampered by the very narrow range of the physical senses. in the astral world matter has four dimensions and new and marvelous avenues of learning open before the student. those who are at all interested in music, or art of any kind, find both the field and the facilities enormously extended. those who study nature, whether by directly probing into her secrets or by cleverly combining her principles into new processes and inventions, have such opportunities as scientist and discoverer has not dreamed of on this plane. and so for all the thoughtful and studious there is a life of the most useful and fascinating kind in the astral world. but it must not be supposed that the opportunity of usefulness and progress is only for the studious. there as here the opportunity for useful work in helping humanity forward is boundless; for while poverty and disease have disappeared absolutely there is much philanthropic work of other kinds to be done. people are to be taught, for there, as here, the majority are sadly in need of knowledge of how to take advantage of nature's laws for our rapid progress, and how to live in harmony with them in order to get the greatest happiness from life. but the work to be done is by no means confined to teaching. the ignorance that makes the teaching so necessary has brought a great many people into the unfortunate condition, where immediate assistance is most urgently needed, and there is such a variety of helplessness that nobody need be idle. because of the false teaching upon the subject of life hereafter, people are bewildered when they become conscious in the astral life. many have had their minds so vividly impressed with the awful fate that awaits those who are not "saved" before death that they fall into a state of terror when at last they realize that death has really occurred. others, who may or may not be haunted with any such absurd misconceptions, cling so tenaciously to the physical life when about to leave it that there is not complete separation between the etheric double and astral body. the result is that the unfortunate person finds himself cut off from the physical world and yet not arrived in the astral! wrapped in a cloud of etheric matter he drifts for a time in terror of the unknown. those among the so-called dead who are kindly enough to rescue the distressed may come to their relief and give valuable assistance. perhaps the commonest thing that engages the attention of the astral worker is the fear that death brings to most people. they arrive in the astral world with the feeling that everything is unknown and uncertain. all preconceived ideas about the life after death have suddenly been found unreliable and they are afraid of, they know not what. they want to cling to anybody who knows something of the new world. when we remember that people are arriving in the astral world by the tens of thousands daily, even under normal conditions, it is evident that all who wish to be of service can find plenty to do. no special knowledge of the astral plane is necessary. common sense is a sufficient equipment, in such simple work, for those who desire to be useful instead of giving the entire time to the pleasures of that world. the work for the astral helpers ranges upward in complexity, of course, and there is profitable activity for those with the fullest knowledge and skill. they usually work in well organized groups and render service of great practical value. life on the astral plane has its end for the same reason that it comes to a close on the physical plane. nature's purpose has been accomplished and the man is ready to go on farther in his evolution. the length of the astral life varies just as it does in the physical world. some physical lives are very long and sometimes only when five scores of years, or more, have passed does the ego withdraw. other lives are very short and scarcely well begun when they unexpectedly come to a close. there is nevertheless a general average to be found. it is at least possible to make averages for different classes of people and to say that a majority of those who are of ordinary health and strength are likely to attain a stated age, while it is certain that the majority of those who have such, and such, a physical handicap will lose their physical bodies when they are much younger. such general rules may also be applied to the astral life. here a long and alert life is most desirable because the purpose of the physical plane is to gather experience that shall be transmuted into wisdom on a higher plane. it is a seed time against a later harvest. but the astral plane is, for the vast majority of the race, related to the purgative process. in that life the errors of the physical life are largely worked out and desires that have grown up like weeds in a garden are rooted out and the budding virtues are given a chance to grow. it is a corrective plane, where blunders are checked up and the moral perspective is re-established. naturally enough the sooner that can be done the better. the rule of a long life being most desirable on the physical plane is, therefore, reversed on the astral plane. it is the shortest life in the astral world that is the greatest prize, and it comes to those who have lived the purest and noblest lives while here. the sooner a man gets through the astral world and begins the reaping of his harvest on the mental plane, or heaven world, the better it is for him. the length of the astral sojourn depends primarily upon the durability of the astral body and that, in turn, depends upon the kind of a life he has lived here. let us suppose that he has lived a very gross and sensual life. all of the emotions of that type that he indulged built more gross matter in his astral body and also strengthened and vivified the lowest grade of matter that was already there. let us also imagine that he had an ungovernable temper and frequently gave way to outbursts of fury; further, that he was cruel and revengeful, seeking and finding many opportunities of inflicting injuries upon others. here we have a case for long life on the lower levels of the astral world. let us now consider a different type of man. he lives peacefully and harmoniously with those about him. he feels strong affection for wife and children. he has a host of friends because of his cheerful, helpful and sympathetic attitude toward others. he lives cleanly and thinks nobly. his mind is kept free from trivialities and his tongue is never employed in gossip. he makes a determined and persistent effort to eliminate pride, envy and ambition. he cultivates the habit of thinking first of the welfare of others and always last of himself--in short, tries hard to eliminate selfishness and see all things impersonally. such a man could know nothing whatever of the disagreeable part of the astral life and would pass quickly through even the higher subdivisions and reach the ecstatic happiness of the heaven world. from the lower subdivisions a man rises very gradually to the higher. he remains on a given level so long as is required to eliminate the matter of that level from his astral body. he is then immediately conscious on the next higher level. the grosser matter falls away because the man has at last stopped sending his life force through it. ungratified desire has finally worn itself out and he is free. the process can be greatly hastened or retarded by the man's attitude toward life. if he foolishly dwells upon his desires, he gives new vitality and prolonged life to them. if he can resolutely turn his mind to higher things he hastens his release. his fate is in his own hands, and he is fortunate indeed if he has a knowledge of such matters. one who dies in advanced years will pass more rapidly through the astral world than he would have done had he died in the full strength of manhood. as the years accumulate the emotions that vivify the lowest grades of astral matter are not so much in evidence and the matter in which they are expressed loses its vitality. that is an additional reason why it is desirable to live to old age in the physical world. the hold that the material world has upon the mind is one of the causes which greatly prolong existence in the astral world. some people give their time and thought so exclusively to material things that after they lose the physical body they cannot keep the mind away from the life that lies behind them. this difficulty does not necessarily arise wholly from having given one's energies entirely to personal ambition and material accumulation. sometimes the ruler of a country is so determined to still manage affairs, as far as possible, that this vivid interest in the physical world stretches out the period of astral life most unfortunately. ordinarily one's sojourn in the astral world is comparatively short, if we measure it in the terms of physical life. a person who has lived here seventy years may have thirty or forty years on the astral plane. but that will depend not only upon how he lived the physical life just closed but also upon his general position in human evolution. a savage of low type would have a comparatively long astral life while a man at the higher levels of civilization would have a comparatively short period there, while the man in the lower levels of civilized life might be said to come in at about midway between the two. but it must be remembered that these are very general estimates and that among civilized peoples individuals differ enormously. some will pass very slowly and, so far as lower levels are concerned, painfully, through astral life, while the sojourn of others there is measured in minutes, and they pass happily and almost instantaneously from physical death to the heaven world. but such people are the exception, not the rule. communication with those who have passed on into the astral world is possible, but not always desirable, for a number of reasons. as an evidence of the continuity of consciousness in the hands of the scientific investigator, such communications have been of the greatest value. as a consolation to those who have thus come again in touch with dead friends such messages have been of inestimable value to the bereaved, particularly when they have been received in the privacy of the family circle by some of its members. for a time those who have lost the physical body are usually within easy reach through the usual methods employed for the purpose and perhaps no harm is done by such communications unless they arouse anew the grief of those who have been left behind and thus greatly depress the departed. but after the living dead get farther along, and are practically out of touch with the material world, then directing their attention backward may be positively injurious to them. for that reason careful students of the occult seldom seek to obtain messages, or at least do it with proper consideration for all the circumstances of the particular case. due regard for the interests of those who have passed on, as well as for those who remain, requires that all the facts be given full weight. the truth of the matter is that it is our keen sense of loss that gives rise to the desire for a message of some sort. we long to once more get into touch with one that seems to be lost to us. we are not really thinking much about his welfare. as a matter of fact he has not lost sight of us and does not have our sense of separation. not only is he able to see us at all times and be conscious of our feelings and emotions, but during the hours when we are asleep he is in the fullest and freest communication with us and we with him. on awakening we usually have no memory of this and if we do we think it was a dream. but it is not so with him. his memory of it is perfect and the result is that he has not our sense of separation and loss at all. the result of knowledge upon the subject, that is readily gained by a study of the researches of the skilled occultists, is that one comes to feel that one should rest satisfied with the fact that we do converse with the dead nightly, and leave mediumistic communications to the scientific investigators. the natural order of things is that the person who passes into the astral world shall in time fix his mind exclusively upon the inner life and be completely divorced from physical plane affairs. that is the mental and emotional condition which permits of his rapid passage through levels where he should not linger. it is said that to turn his attention backward at this time may cause him acute distress. a reading of the christian scriptures with a knowledge of occultism often throws a new light upon the subject. an instance of this is to be found in the story of the woman of endor who is visited by saul in his quest for psychic information about the crisis that has been reached in the affairs of his kingdom. the woman went into trance and acted as a medium for a communication from samuel, who tells saul just what will occur in the impending battle. samuel's first words were a reproach to saul. "why hast thou disquieted me to bring me up?"[f] was his greeting. it is the language of one who is displeased. drawing his attention forcibly back to the material world by the strong desire saul had to communicate with him was evidently distressing to the dead king, hence the rebuke, "why hast thou _disquieted_ me?" what is here said on the subject of communication, however, has reference to general principles only. there is no intention of suggesting that it is always undesirable to communicate with those who have passed over. often those on the other side seek means of communicating and they should then find the most willing co-operation from this side. sometimes one who has left the physical plane life has a message of great importance to deliver and such a case reverses the general rule--he would be delayed if he could _not_ communicate. it would be decidedly to his advantage to free his mind of the matter. until he has done so he may remain in a restless condition and his case falls into the category of what the spiritualists call "earth bound." he may have left undone something that a message will set right, if he can get it through, or he may have secreted something that cannot be found because he died suddenly and had no opportunity to speak of it. or it may simply be a case of desiring to prove to materialistic friends the fact that the so-called dead are not dead, and are close at hand. it is sometimes possible for the important information to come through into physical life in the form of a dream by the living, and thus the recovery of valuables has followed.[g] in such a case the dream is a memory of facts well known in astral life but hidden from the waking consciousness by the unresponsive material brain. it sometimes happens that one who thus most earnestly desires to communicate but is wholly ignorant of how to accomplish his purpose causes a good deal of annoyance. his blundering attempts to use psychic force may be wholly abortive and result only in meaningless noises, raps, the tumbling of books or dishes from shelves or the aimless movement of furniture. annoyance is sometimes caused also by intention, on the part of those who think it is humorous to play pranks. it must be remembered that passing on to the astral life does not improve one's common sense. if while living here, he thought it amusing to astonish or delude somebody, or trick a friend into seriously accepting some absurd assertion as a fact, he still regards the same course as entertaining. this accounts for many of the foolish, and sometimes startling messages, or answers to questions, received at seances. it has often been asked why, if communication between the physical and astral planes is possible, we do not receive information that might lead to valuable discoveries and inventions. the very fact that death does not confer wisdom explains it in part. but an even more important fact is that communication is easy with the lower levels and correspondingly difficult as the higher levels are reached. all who have had much experience with seances are familiar with the fact that "guides" or "controls," that is, the persons in the invisible realms who direct the seance and frequently speak through the medium, are very often indians or others at a low level of evolution. the majority of the inhabitants of the astral levels with which communication is easy are not the type capable of furnishing ideas of any great value. it is on the higher levels that the man of intellectual power passes most of his astral life. the scientist or the inventor who has given so much thought to his work that he has been in some degree successful here is not likely to have much consciousness on lower levels. it is the highest of the seven subdivisions of the astral world that is the habitat of the person who has followed intellectual pursuits, during physical life, and with that level it is practically impossible for the ordinary medium to communicate. one of the objections to indiscriminate communication with the astral plane lies in the very fact that the lowest class of entities are most accessible. that not only accounts for the commonplace messages in such abundance, but it is frequently a source of actual danger, especially where people form "circles" for the purpose of rendering themselves more sensitive to psychic influences. in such cases it is common to accept every message as absolute truth. there is no doubt that as a rule the astral people in charge of such a gathering are earnest and honest. but they are neither all-wise nor all-powerful, and it sometimes comes about that some of the sitters are partially or wholly obsessed by astral entities, and that may prove to be an exceedingly serious matter. some people have thus lost their sanity and others their lives. it is, of course, only the gross type of astral person who has a desire to seize upon the physical body of another. the purpose is to gratify desires that have outlived the physical body. the dead drunkard is perhaps the commonest example of the obsessing entity, and if the obsession is only partial it may lead to nothing worse than strong and perhaps irresistible impulses toward alcoholic stimulation. obsession may, of course, occur without the psychic door being opened deliberately. but no obsession is possible, in any case, unless there is something within the victim responsive to the moral defect of the obsessing entity. partial obsessions are rather common and there are frequent inquiries as to the best means of treating such a case. it may amount only to the slight annoyance of astral people hanging about and refusing to depart or to actual persecution. in all such cases the victim is, of course, in conscious touch and communication with the intruders. one of the world's greatest authorities on the subject, who is a constant investigator of the unseen regions, has given detailed answer to two questioners, and what he says is of such practical value that it is well worth reproducing. the second question itself is enlightening as to the character of the obsessing entities. the first inquirer asks: "what is the best way to get rid of an excarnate human being who persists in occupying one's body?" the reply follows: "i should simply and absolutely decline to be so obsessed. the best and kindest plan would be to have an explanation with the dead person, to enquire what he wants and why he makes such persistent attempts. quite probably, he may be some ignorant soul who does not at all comprehend his new surroundings, and is striving madly to get into touch again with the only kind of life that he understands. in that case if matters are explained to him, he may be brought to a happier frame of mind and induced to cease his ill-directed efforts. or the poor creature may have something on his mind--some duty unfulfilled or some wrong unrighted; if this be so, and the matter can be arranged to his satisfaction, he may then be at peace. "if, however, he proves not to be amenable to reason, if in spite of all argument and explanation he refuses to abandon his reprehensible line of action, it will be necessary gently but firmly to resist him. every man has an inalienable right to the use of his own vehicles, and encroachments of this nature should not be permitted. if the lawful possessor of the body will confidently assert himself and use his own willpower no obsession can take place. "when such things occur, it is almost always because the victim has in the first place voluntarily yielded himself to the invading influence, and his first step therefore is to reverse that act of submission, to determine strongly to take matters into his own hands again and to resume control over his property. it is this reassertion of himself that is the fundamental requirement, and though much help may be given by wise friends, nothing which they can do will take the place of the development of willpower on the part of the victim, or obviate the necessity for it. the exact method of procedure will naturally vary according to the details of the case." the same authority answers another question on the same subject and he is here dealing with particular entities that he has evidently seen: "i have long been troubled by entities who constantly suggest evil ideas and make use of coarse and violent language. they are always urging me to take strong drink, and goading me on to the consumption of large quantities of meat. i have prayed earnestly, but with little avail, and am driven to my wits' end. what can i do?" to this appeal the psychic scientist replies: "you have indeed suffered greatly; but now you must make up your mind to suffer no more. you must take courage and make a firm stand. the power of these dead people over you is only in your fear of them. your own will is stronger than all theirs combined if you will only know that it is; if you turn upon them with vigor and determination they must yield before you. you have an inalienable right to the undisturbed use of your own vehicles, and you should insist on being left in peace. you would not tolerate an intrusion of filthy and disgusting beings into your house on the physical plane; why should you submit to it because the entities happen to be astral? if an insolent tramp forces himself into a man's house, the owner does not kneel down and pray--he kicks the tramp out; and that is precisely what you must do with these astral tramps. "you will no doubt say to yourself that when i give you this advice i do not know the terrible power of the particular demons who are afflicting you. that is exactly what they would like you to believe--what they will try to make you believe; but do not be so foolish as to listen to them. i know the type perfectly, and mean, despicable, bullying villains they are; they will torment a weak woman for months together, but will fly in cowardly terror the moment you turn upon them in righteous anger! i should just laugh at them, but i would drive them out, hold not a moment's parley with them. of course, they will bluster and show fight, because you have let them have their own way for so long that they will not tamely submit to expulsion; but face them with iron determination, set your will against them like an immovable rock, and down they will go. say to them: 'i am a spark of the divine fire, and by the power of the god within me i order you to depart!' never let yourself think for an instant of failure or of yielding; god is within you, and god cannot fail."[h] probably there is no astral subject of more vital importance to any of us than that of the right attitude of mind and emotion toward the living dead. it is commonly said that we can do nothing more for them when they have passed away from physical plane life, but a greater error could not easily be made. the connection with us is by no means severed. not only are they emotionally in touch with us but their emotions are very much keener than when they had a physical body through which to express them. they are now living in the astral body, the matter of which is enormously more responsive to emotional vibrations. a joyous emotion here would be tremendously more joyous there and a thing that would produce depression here would be a hundred times more depressing there. that fact should give pause to those who are inclined to think in sorrow, and with something of despair, about their friends who have passed on. they are not far away in space and our emotions affect them profoundly and instantly. we are all familiar with the fact that moods are communicable. the person who is cheerful cheers up others in his vicinity, while the one who is gloomy spreads gloom wherever he goes. it is a simple matter of vibrations. it is often within the power of a member of the family who habitually has "the blues" to destroy the happiness of the entire household. if we think of the most depressing effect that can be caused by sorrow on the physical plane, and then multiply its effectiveness by a hundred, we shall have no exaggeration of the astral effects of the emotions we indulge in the physical body. if, then, the sorrow of a weeping relative distresses us here it is clear that it must bring really keen distress to the one who is the subject of such grief. his life may thus be made miserable by the very persons who would be the last to cause him sorrow if they understood what they were doing. we can really help the so-called dead and make them very much happier by simply changing our mournful attitude toward them. all violent expressions of grief should be avoided and a determination to make the best of the matter should be cultivated. the situation may indeed be bad, but we make it very much worse by our mourning. the funeral customs of occidental civilization are quite consistent with its materialism. we act as nearly as possible as though we believe the dead are lost to us absolutely. we make matters as gloomy as possible. yet we are slowly improving. not so very long ago when anybody died those present stopped the ticking of the clock, drew down the window curtains, moved about on tiptoe, and acted generally in a way calculated to add as much as possible to the awe and the gloom. we still wear somber and depressing black and add all we can externally to our inward distress. a more sensible attitude of mind may be observed at any theosophical funeral and, with growing frequency, at the funerals among thinking people. a funeral should not be the occasion of a final expression of grief, but a gathering of friends who send kindly thoughts and helpful good wishes to the comrade whose life work in the physical world is finished. the general feeling should be very much like that of a party of friends who go to the pier to see a well loved traveler off on a long journey to remote parts of the earth for a sojourn of many years or possibly a lifetime. there should be constant thought of his welfare, not of the loss to his friends. grief that thinks of itself is an expression of selfishness and is detrimental to all. one should practice self control in such a matter just as one would control a feeling of anger under different circumstances. naturally enough the control of grief when one we love has passed on is none to easy. but any degree of success is much better than no effort, and will certainly help the one for whom we mourn. much can be accomplished by avoiding unnecessary incidents that bring vividly back the keen sense of loss. many people indulge the foolish custom of regularly visiting the cemetery where the body has been interred. a little analysis will show that this is only another evidence of our materialistic modes of thought, and the custom serves to perpetuate emotions that should never have existed. we can not, of course, think too often nor too tenderly of those who have passed on, but we should do nothing that leads us to think of them as being dead, or being far away. the fact that they are alive and well and happy and near should constantly fill the mind; and all of that, in nearly all cases, will be perfectly true if we do not foolishly destroy their peace of mind with our selfish sorrow. occasionally a hint on the subject comes from the astral plane people themselves. in the recent book[i] by sir oliver lodge, on his experiments in psychic research, there is a message from his son, who was killed in battle, agreeing to attend the family christmas dinner and to occupy the chair placed for him, provided they will all refrain from gloomy thoughts about him! no one who is informed on the subject of emotional reaction on the astral body, after the loss of the physical body, could be surprised by the conditions named by the young man. the advocates of cremation have a strong argument in the fact that the preservation of the body for a time, whether in a tomb or a grave, tends to keep grief alive. when the body is reduced to ashes the delusion that the body is somehow the man seems to have less of a material basis. visits to a tomb or grave are unfortunate, not alone because they renew grief through thinking upon it and thus cause great distress to those for whom we mourn, but also because the environment of a cemetery is one of the worst possible for the sorrowing. it is a dismal park of concentrated griefs where each mourner accentuates the emotional distress of all others. there is but one sensible attitude to take toward those we have lost by death--to think of them as living a joyous, busy life and at least calling on us daily even though most of us are not sensitive enough to be conscious of the fact. we should try to realize the truth of the matter and then readjust our habits to fit the facts. the average person who is afflicted with the erroneous ideas still so common, is doing an enormous amount of injury and bringing into the lives of the very people he loves a depression of which he little dreams, and which he can change to vivid pleasure by always thinking cheerfully of them and sending them daily thoughts of serenity and peace. footnotes: [f] samuel xxviii-- . [g] ch. , dreams and premonitions.--l. w. rogers. [h] the inner life.--leadbeater, vol. i. p. . [i] raymond: or life and death.--lodge. chapter ix. rebirth: its reasonableness life is the most elusive thing with which science has to deal but we have learned much about both life and matter in recent years, and it is a noteworthy fact that the more we learn the thinner become the ranks of the materialists. the only scientist of note who still declares his philosophy of materialism is haeckel, and of him a brother scientist has written, "he is, as it were, a surviving voice from the middle of the nineteenth century;" and, referring to haeckel's almost deserted ground in the scientific world, he declares that his voice "is as the voice of one crying in the wilderness, not as the pioneer or vanguard of an advancing army, but as the despairing shout of a standard-bearer, still bold and unflinching, but abandoned by the retreating ranks of his comrades as they march to new orders in a fresh and more idealistic direction." thus is the old ground of scientific materialism being deserted by all progressive scientists. while we do not yet know a great deal about life, science has gone far enough to permit a grasp of facts and principles from which conclusions may be logically drawn and working hypotheses constructed. sir oliver lodge, who is president of one of the great english universities, and ranks as one of the world's most eminent scientists, speaking of his conception of life, says that "it is dependent on matter for its phenomenal appearance--for its manifestation to us here and now, and for all its terrestrial activities; but otherwise i conceive that it is independent, that its essential existence is continuous and permanent, though its interactions with matter are discontinuous and temporary; and i conjecture that it is subject to a law of evolution--that a linear advance is open to it--whether it be in its phenomenal or in its occult state."[j] later in the same work he expresses the opinion "that life is something outside the scheme of mechanics--outside the categories of matter and energy; though it can nevertheless control and direct material forces...." in closing his volume on _life and matter_ this distinguished scientist says: "what is certain is that life possesses the power of vitalizing the complex material aggregates which exist on this planet, and of utilizing their energies for a time to display itself amid terrestrial surroundings; and then it seems to disappear or evaporate whence it came. it is perpetually arriving and perpetually disappearing. while it is here, if it is at a sufficiently high level, the animated material body moves about and strives after many objects, some worthy, some unworthy; it acquires thereby a certain individuality, a certain character. it may realize itself, moreover, becoming conscious of its own mental and spiritual existence; and it then begins to explore the mind which, like its own, it conceives must underlie the material fabric--half displayed, half concealed, by the environment, and intelligible only to a kindred spirit. thus the scheme of law and order dimly dawns on the nascent soul, and it begins to form clear conceptions of truth, goodness, and beauty; it may achieve something of permanent value, or a work of art or of literature; it may enter the region of emotion and may evolve ideas of the loftiest kind; it may degrade itself below the beasts, or it may soar till it is almost divine. "is it the material molecular aggregate that has of its own unaided latent power generated this individuality, acquired this character, felt these emotions, evolved these ideas? there are some who try to think that it is. there are others who recognize in this extraordinary development a contact between this material frame of things and a universe higher and other than anything known to our senses; a universe not dominated by physics and chemistry; but utilizing the interactions of matter for its own purpose; a universe where the human spirit is more at home than it is among these temporary collocations of atoms; a universe capable of infinite development, of noble contemplation and of lofty joy, long after this planet--nay, the whole solar system--shall have fulfilled its present sphere of destiny, and retired cold and lifeless upon its endless way." such a conception of life carries us very far from the old popular view of the origin of the race, but it is a conception that brings science and religion into perfect agreement and will enable us to understand human evolution and explain facts in life that would otherwise remain incomprehensible. the pre-existence of the soul, as a part of universal life, was taught and commonly accepted in the early christian period. if we accept the fact of evolution at all, and are not materialists, there is no escape from the belief of the pre-existence of the soul. indeed, not even materialism can save one from the necessity of accepting the pre-existence of the individualized consciousness that we call a human being. let us consider the human infant as we see it at birth. whence came it--how can we account for it in a universe of law and order? we can understand it from the physical side. its tiny body is a concourse of physical atoms with a prenatal history of a few months. but its mind, its consciousness, its emotions, what of them? the average man replies that god made them and they constitute the soul. but how and when were they "made"? even the material part of this infant did not spring miraculously and instantaneously into existence. how much less possible is it that the soul did so! if we say "god made it" we have explained nothing. but it is not necessary to deny that god creates the soul in order for us to move toward an understanding of how the soul came to be. it is only necessary to say that the process of its creation was evolutionary. nobody denies that the earth was created by evolution, although men may differ in opinion on the matter of a divine intelligence guiding its evolutionary development. the same principle must apply to the human intelligence. lodge wrote _life and matter_ as a reply to haeckel's _riddle of the universe_, which presented the latter's philosophy of materialism. but lodge did more than demolish haeckel's premises and leave him with not an inch of scientific ground to support his theory. the english scientist raised questions that have not been answered, and cannot be answered, by the scientific materialist. he points out that the materialist's philosophy has no explanation for "the extraordinary rapidity of development, which results in the production of a fully endowed individual in the course of some fraction of a century."[k] with those two dozen words lodge leaves the scientific materialist speechless; for all scientists are evolutionists, and it is impossible to account for "_the extraordinary rapidity of development_" by the laws of evolution. it is well known that the evolutionary age of anything depends upon its complexity. a simple form is comparatively young while a complex one has a long evolutionary history behind it. the earth is simple compared to a human being. if, then, it has required ages to evolve the earth to its present stage how long did it take to evolve the wonderfully complex mental and emotional nature of the human being that inhabits the earth? and thus lodge bottles haeckel up on his own premises and shows that the very evolutionary principles to which the german scientist appeals demolish his theory! he practically says to haeckel, "your philosophy, sir, fails to show how it is possible for the vacuous mind of the infant to evolve into the genius of the philosopher in thirty or forty years." in other words, if the infant is nothing but the form we see it would be utter absurdity to say that that mass of matter can evolve a high grade of intelligence within a few years when it takes centuries to make a slight evolutionary gain. look at an infant the day it is born. study its face. one might as well search the surface of a squash for some indication of intelligence. but wait only a little while and you shall have evidence not merely of intelligence but of emotions possible only to the highest order of life. clearly, here is not something evolved within a brief period from a mass of material atoms. such a theory would be as unscientific as the popular belief in miraculous creation at which the scientific materialist scoffs. the swift change from the vacuity of the infant mind to the intellectual power of the adult in the "fraction of a century" is not the creation of something but its _manifestation_--_the coming through into visible expression of that which already exists_. the soul, the consciousness, the real man, consisting of the whole of the mental and emotional nature, which has been built up through thousands of years of evolution, is coming once more to rebirth, to visible expression in a material body. the body is, of course, but the new physical instrument of the old soul--an instrument, as certainly as the violin is the instrument and a vehicle for the musician's expression. at every turn our materialistic conceptions mislead us and prevent the perception of nature's truth. it is because we think of the body as being actually the person, that it seems improbable that an old soul has entered the infant body. we think of the power and intelligence of an old soul and then look at the baby and find no indication of such things. but that is only because the baby body is such a new and undeveloped instrument that it is at first useless and only slowly can it be brought under control of the soul and made to express its intelligence and power. the body is a growing instrument, not a completed one. let us suppose that musical instruments grow as physical bodies do. suppose there was a time when the piano was keyless, as a baby is toothless. suppose that sounding boards have a period of immaturity and that the whole mechanism of the instrument is in a state that can only be characterized as infantile. if a master musician attempts to play on such a piano his performance would by no means be an indication of his ability. a competent critic who could hear the performance but not see the musician would promptly declare that no really great musician was touching the keys. and that is precisely the mistake we make in assuming that the immature body of an infant is capable of expressing the intellectual power of the old soul, or, to put it differently, denying that a returned, old soul is in possession of the infant body simply because there is no physical plane evidence of the fact. if pianos slowly grew to maturity then only when the instrument was mature could the master musician give a practical demonstration of his skill; and only when the physical body has reached its maturity can the soul that is using it fully express itself. in the early years of the physical body the soul is only very partially expressed through it. the entrance of the consciousness into the physical world is slow and gradual. it is somewhat like the growth of a plant, very gradual, but the analogy is not a good one, for a plant is very little like a human body. it is impossible to find a material equivalent of the dawning of consciousness on the physical plane. beginning about four and a half months before the birth of the physical body and continuing for a period of several years the soul, or consciousness, is engaged in the process of anchorage in the physical world. for a long time the center of consciousness remains above the material plane and during the early years of childhood the consciousness is divided between the astral and physical worlds, with the result that the child is often somewhat confused and brings fragments of astral consciousness into physical life. when the physical body is about seven years old the consciousness may be said to be centered on the physical plane, but only when the body and brain of the soul's new instrument are mature has the opportunity come for the fullest expression. some of the difficulties commonly associated in the mind with the thought of the pre-existence and rebirth of the soul will disappear if we do not lose sight of the fact that the soul is a center of consciousness, which is always consciousness somewhere, but which very gradually shifts its focus from plane to plane. its permanent home is in that body of filmy matter drawn about the ego in the higher levels of the heaven world. from that point it sends energies outward and draws about itself in the lower levels of the mental world a body, or vehicle of consciousness, that is not permanent but which will serve the purpose of functioning for a period on that plane. downward again the energies are sent, building about the center of consciousness on the astral plane a temporary body of astral matter, temporary in the same sense that the physical body is temporary, and which shall serve the consciousness in the astral, or emotional world, during the whole of the physical plane life and for some time afterward. still outward, or downward, the soul sends its energies till the material world is reached, when it begins to function partially, and very feebly, through the infant physical body. for the time being the soul's evolution lies on the physical plane where certain lessons are to be learned. after the early years of childhood are over the consciousness is firmly anchored here, where the chief work is to be done, during the hours of the waking consciousness. during sleep the ego temporarily lays aside the physical body and functions in the astral body in the astral world. the material body sleeping here is merely a deserted and empty vehicle, magnetically connected with the soul, and awaiting its return. as childhood, youth, maturity and old age pass, complex experiences come to the soul thus functioning here. other souls functioning through physical bodies are encountered and various relationships are established. out of the complexity of social, business, religious and political activities the soul gets a large and varied experience. sooner or later the death of the physical body closes the chapter. the gathering of such experience has ceased, not because the soul has acquired all possible physical world knowledge, but because its instrument of consciousness here has worn out. death cuts the soul off from its physical plane connection and the center of its consciousness is then shifted to the astral plane. there the purgative process goes forward, as explained in a previous chapter. as that proceeds the soul gradually gets free from one grade of astral matter after another and with the loss of each the man becomes conscious on a higher level. the physical body is lost suddenly but the matter of the astral body gradually wears away until there is so little left that the soul has lost connection with the astral world also. this means that the center of consciousness has shifted to the mental plane, or heaven world, where the man will function on the lower levels. there in the mental world, functioning through the vehicle of mental matter, a very important process goes on. the heaven world life is a harvest time in which assimilation of experience takes place. the consciousness there deeply broods over the experiences of life and extracts the essence from them which is transmuted into faculty and power for future greater expression. it is thus that the soul grows in wisdom and power through its long evolution. when the heaven life is finished, when the harvest of experience has been threshed out and the net gain has been built into the enduring causal body, the mental body, like the astral, has been completely dissipated. the end of a cycle of experience--of a day in the evolutionary school--has come and the physical, astral and mental bodies have all perished. nothing remains but the soul, the real man, the ego, functioning through the causal body which persists. from that the ego again sends the forces outward, in the first activity toward rebirth, first forming a new mental body by drawing about itself the matter of the lower levels of the mental plane, then securing a new astral body on the astral plane and finally taking possession of another infant body in process of formation on the physical plane, into which it will in due course be reborn. the period between these successive appearances of the soul in a succession of physical bodies varies greatly and depends on a number of things. the length of time spent upon the astral plane has already been discussed. the time spent in the heaven world depends upon the mental and moral forces generated during the physical and astral life. if there is a great harvest of experience it will require a longer time to transmute it, while, of course, one who has thought little and loved but little will have a shorter period there, for it is the heart and head forces that have their culmination in the mental world. the question is a rather complex one and other factors come into play, including the intensity of the heaven world life. in general terms, however, it can be said that the heaven life of the ordinarily intelligent person will commonly be a period several times the length of his combined physical and astral life. some people will have only two or three hundred years between incarnations while others may have six or seven centuries and still others a much longer period. in getting a right understanding of the subject of rebirth, or reincarnation, it is necessary to keep in mind the fact that the soul, or center of individualized consciousness, is the man and that the physical body is merely an instrument he uses for a number of years; that the causal body is his permanent body for the whole of human evolution; that the mental plane is his home plane and that from there he sends forth successive expressions of himself into these lower planes. with such facts before us there should be no confusion of thought about the successive personalities of an individual. yet we sometimes hear people speak of the absurdity of supposing that a person can be one man in one incarnation and another man at a later rebirth. of course no such thing occurs. an individual remains the same individual forever. "but," objects the critic, "may i not have been mr. jones, in england six hundred years ago, whereas i am now certainly mr. brown, in america at this moment? if so is that not a case of being two individuals?" it is certainly not a case of being two individuals. it is a case of one individual being expressed through a physical body six hundred years ago in england, dying from it, spending a fairly long period in the astral plane and heaven world, and then again expressing himself through another physical body in america at the present time. the confusion of thought on the part of the questioner arises from thinking of the physical body as being the man. but it is no more the man than the clothing he wears. it is true that he is known at one period as jones and at another as brown, but that no more affects his individuality than the assumption of an _alias_ by a fleeing criminal changes him. the name applies exclusively to the physical body, or personality, as distinguished from the individuality. that body is but the temporary clothing of the soul. let us suppose that a man's name were applied to his clothing and changed with his clothing as it does with his body. we might then know him as mr. lightclothes in the summer and as mr. darkclothes in the winter, but neither the change of clothing or name would in the least degree make him somebody else. the majority of women change their names in each incarnation. a man may know a certain woman as miss smith when she is a slip of a girl, free from care and with little serious thought of life. twenty years later she may be mrs. brown, his wife, a thoughtful matron, the mother of children. she has changed her name and greatly changed in character, too, but she is the same individual. it seems probable that a person may change quite as much between infancy and old age as between one incarnation and the next. even the difference between a youth of twenty years who is an artist and the same man at three score and ten who has given forty years to scientific study and research, may be enormous, but the individuality is, of course, identical. it has rapidly evolved and greatly improved, and that is just what occurs to the soul by repeated rebirths--steady evolutionary development of the eternal individual. the reincarnating process by which the soul evolves is somewhat analogous to the growth of a young physical body. the process consists of alternating periods of objective and subjective activity. how does the body of a child grow? it consumes food, the objective activity. it then digests and assimilates it, the subjective activity. these periods must alternate or there can be no growth, because neither alone is the complete process. the one is the complement of the other. so it is in the evolution of the soul by reincarnation. the experience of life is the food on which the soul grows. the physical plane existence is the objective period in which the food is gathered. at death the man passes into the invisible realms where the subjective process is carried on. he digests and assimilates his experiences and the gist is stored in the causal body and its growth includes an actual increase in size, just as in the case of the child's physical body. the same law governs mental and moral growth as it operates in our daily affairs. a young man is in college. how does his intellect grow? by precisely the same process of alternating periods of objective and subjective activity. in the class room the instructor puts a mathematical problem on the blackboard and explains it. with the outward senses of sight and hearing, aided by pencil and notebook, the student gathers the food for mental growth. this period of objective activity comes to an end and he then retires to the privacy of his room and there the subjective period begins. he deeply thinks over the problem. his material, the food for mental growth, is only a few notes that serve to keep the experience in his mind. at first all that they signify is not obvious, but as he turns the various points over and over in his mind their significance becomes clearer and fuller. it is the subjective process of digestion. little by little new light dawns in the student's mind. finally he has complete comprehension of the mathematical principles involved, and the process of assimilation is finished. this subjective period is the complement of the objective period and they must go on alternating or intellectual growth will stop. when the process of digestion and assimilation is finished the student must return to the classroom for further mental food and when he arrives it is by virtue of the fact that he did digest the previous lesson that he is able to take a higher and more difficult one. and precisely so it is with the reincarnating soul. in the interval between incarnations it so assimilates the experiences of the last physical life that it comes to rebirth with added abilities which enable it to take higher and more difficult lessons than it could previously master. in the case of both physical growth by eating and mental growth by instruction there is no possible escape from the law of alternating periods of objective and subjective activity. when the child has digested and assimilated a meal there is but one possible thing that can follow--return to his source of supply for another meal. when the student has digested and assimilated the lesson given to him the only possibility of further mental growth lies in his return to the class-room for more material. and so it is with the human soul in its work of evolving its latent powers and possibilities. there is no other road forward but the cyclic one that brings it back to the physical life incarnation after incarnation, but always at a higher point than it previously touched. the very hunger of the child that insures its return to the table for more food is analogous to the desire of the soul for sentient expression that brings it to rebirth. these alternating periods with the element of constant return are found everywhere in the economy of nature. all her evolutionary expressions are cyclic. but the cyclic movement is not in closed circles. it represents a spiral. the "evolutionary ladder" that the soul climbs is a winding stairway. in its upward progress it makes many rounds but it is always mounting and never returns to the same point. in each cycle, that is made up of the journey from the heaven world through the astral plane, into the physical and then back through the astral plane into the heaven world, it touches each of them at a higher point, or in a higher state of development, than it had previously attained. each rebirth finds it abler here to gather a larger harvest of experience and each return to the mental plane, or heaven world, finds it abler to digest and assimilate its experiences, and to comprehend more of the realities of the life of its home plane. this round, or cycle, through the physical, astral and mental regions, is a continuous progressive journey of the soul which began away back at the dawn of mind in man and will continue until he is the perfected mental and moral being. at each incarnation here he gathers experience in proportion to his alertness and to the opportunities his previous lives have made for him. he learns to help others, to be sympathetic, to be tolerant. such activities will give him pleasure in the astral life and joy and wisdom in the mental region, or heaven world. but he also does some evil things. he makes enemies, he generates hatred and he injures others. this will give him distress in the astral life and no results for soul growth or general progress in the heaven world. if he does an equal amount of good and harm his progress will be slow. if he does much good and little evil his progress will be rapid and his existence happy. if he is a man of great energy, and no very great moral development, and selfishly does much wrong, he will suffer much in the astral life. it often puzzles the student of elementary theosophy to be told that the soul passes through the purgation of the astral plane and goes on into the heaven world only to return to another incarnation and later to again enter the astral purgatory. why, it is asked, must one who has thus been purified be again purified? the astral reactions are the results of the blunders made in each incarnation. each of us in any given incarnation creates by his wrong doing the purgatory that awaits him after death. if he does no wrong there cannot possibly be any reaction. as a matter of occult fact the average good man will find the astral plane life a happy existence and will soon pass on to the blissful heaven world. as for the evil doer the suffering relates only to his evil deeds. let us say he has committed murder. when the reaction of the evil force he has generated is over and he passes on into the heaven plane it does not mean that he is incapable of future evil. it means that he has probably learned thoroughly the lesson that it is very foolish to take life. but there are many other lessons he has not learned. when he passes into the heaven world he leaves all evil behind him. he is as one who puts his shoes aside to enter a temple. the astral body, like the physical, has perished and it is the freed soul that enters the heaven world. but when he returns through the astral plane to reincarnation he is clothed again in astral matter and this new astral body is exactly representative of his attainments in evolution. in his coming incarnation he will have other physical plane experiences and learn other lessons. the next time probably he will not kill, but perhaps he will cheat and steal or be a drunkard. these errors will react upon him in the astral life that follows. in a coming incarnation he will be wise enough to be temperate and neither cheat nor steal; but perhaps he will be a gossip and work much evil through slander. this in turn will bring its pain. and so in time he will learn to generate no evil force at all but to live in good will and helpfulness toward everybody. then his progress will be rapid indeed, his life on all planes will be happy and the painful part of human evolution will be over. the purpose of evolution is no less obvious than the fact of evolution. evolution is an unfolding process in which the latent becomes the active and the inner life is more and more fully expressed in outer form. the development and improvement in form keeps pace with the necessities of the unfolding life. in the lowest levels of the animal kingdom the form is but a cell. but as the life comes into fuller and fuller expression, limbs for locomotion and, in due course, the organs for hearing, and seeing, and the other mechanism of the developing consciousness, are evolved. in the human kingdom the vehicle of consciousness comes to its highest possible form and then evolution goes on in the perfecting of the physical form. in the process of continually changing the matter of the body it is possible for the brain to be constantly improved and the whole body to grow more and more sensitive and gradually to become a better and truer expression of the evolving life within. in each incarnation the physical body thus improves. the evolution of life and form keep pace. ultimately perfection of form, as well as perfection of intellect and morality, will be reached and human evolution will be finished. the purpose of evolution, then, is clear. man is a god in the making--not actually, but only potentially a god, a being to whom all wisdom, perfect compassion and unlimited power are possible; and by the process of evolution he changes the latent into the active. he is at first only an individualized center of consciousness within the all-consciousness, a mere fragment of the divine life. his relationship to god is something like that of a seed to its plant, a product of it that has latent within it all the characteristics of the plant and the power to become a plant. it is not a plant and neither is man a god; but when it has sent out a sprout and taken root in the soil it is a plant in the making; and when the human being has begun to evolve his latent spiritual qualities he is a god in the making. the theosophical view is that man is essentially divine. critics sometimes ask why, if man is originally divine, it is necessary for him to pass through any evolutionary process. divinity here indicates merely the essential nature of the human being, not his possession of either knowledge or power or any degree of spiritual perfection. it is as though we should say that the infant son of a great king is royal. the word "royal," like the word "divine," indicates a relationship. the baby royalist is not a king. but he is a king in the making. he has much to learn. he must be educated in statecraft and he must evolve diplomacy. after much experience and development he will, in time, be capable of ruling an empire. at present this helpless infant bears little resemblance to a king. nevertheless, on the day of his birth he was as much royal as he will ever be. in the same sense the divinity of man represents potential possibilities rather than an obvious fact of the moment. man is an embryo god and, in time, he shall evolve faculties and powers that his present limited consciousness can not even comprehend. he is not an ephemeral creature of physical origin that lives a brief span to catch a glimpse of immortality and perish, but the deathless son of the living god, and by right divine he walks the upward way of eternal life. some people appear to accept evolution as a matter of course, in a general way, but they appear unwilling to admit that the race has really made any evolutionary progress. even scientific men have sometimes expressed doubt whether the world is growing better. in a newspaper interview an english scientist was quoted as saying a few years ago that the race is just as wicked today as at any time within recorded history. but if he was correctly reported it must have been a hasty expression of opinion which a little deliberation would have led him to revise. it is true that things are still bad enough but they are certainly enormously better than they were some centuries ago. to say that the world is full of crime and violence proves nothing; nor does even the fact that a civilized nation has reverted to the wartime practices of savage life furnish real ground for a pessimistic view. what we have to do in determining whether there has been any racial progress in morality is to take as our standard of measurement something that tests the collective conscience. how does the world of today view war and how did the world in the day of caesar regard it? there is plenty to shock us now but the very fact that it does shock us is the best evidence of moral progress. atrocities were expected and taken as a matter of course some centuries ago. they are not the rule now but the rare exception and those guilty of them are likely to make their name a by-word among nations. well within the era of recorded history the usages of nations' condemned prisoners of war to become slaves for life. now the rule is to feed and clothe them and at the close of the conflict to send them home. a simple thing like public sports may be used as a measure of public morals. they show what the collective conscience approves. in these days there is very little of brutality in public sports. professional pugilism still lingers, but barely lingers, in the most enlightened nations. in less progressive countries like spain and mexico bull fighting is popular. that is about all we can say against modern popular entertainment. but if we look backward to the roman period we find a cruelty in public sports that is comparatively shocking. gladiators were compelled to fight to the death and offenders were devoured by starving wild beasts and it all made a roman holiday. such "sports" would, of course, be utterly impossible anywhere in the world today. but at that time they were matters of course in the life of the world's greatest empire. the fact that the race has evolved morally and that the collective conscience marks a higher point on the ethical thermometer than in the past is too obvious for argument. now, how is that evolutionary progress to be accounted for? it will not do to say that the christian religion has wrought the change because, splendid as are the teachings of the christ, the world has not accepted them and shaped its civilization by them. if it had done so the world war would have been impossible. not only have the so-called christian nations wrangled and fought over commercial spoils through all their history but class has been arrayed against class and every gain in either personal liberty or economic improvement has been wrested by force from those who profited by the misfortunes of others. in other words, the particular improvements that should have been brought about by religion were compelled, not freely volunteered. all religious teaching helps but, allowing all we reasonably may for the influence of christianity, we are still unable to account for the change in the common conscience of the race, an evolutionary gain that has been going steadily on since long, long before the coming of the christ. how then shall we account for it? if the hypothesis of reincarnation is sound the progress of the race in morality becomes simple. the majority of the great groups of souls that constituted the civilized nations in the time when rome was mistress of the world have had several incarnations in that time and in each sojourn on the astral plane have had the severe lesson of the painful reaction from cruelty to others. thus does nature gradually change the cruel man to the merciful man. in every incarnation the soul grows more humane as well as more intelligent. all of the lessons learned in any incarnation are carried forward into the next life, and thus compassion grows until there is ultimately perfect sympathy with all suffering. both the progress of the soul and of the race are comprehensible from the viewpoint of reincarnation. except by that hypothesis how is it possible to explain such evolutionary progress? those who do not believe in the pre-existence of the soul and hold that it is in some way brought into being at the time of conception or birth, are put in the very illogical position of saying that the reason why the world is better now than it was in the roman period is because it pleases god to create a better kind of souls now than he created then! the tendency of large groups of people, tribes or nations, to act in a way that imitates, or nearly duplicates, what has been done centuries before by other tribes or nations, is such a common phenomenon that it has given rise to the declaration that history repeats itself. the fact of reincarnation shows why it repeats itself. a nation like the romans, or the carthaginians, are bound together in the subtle ties that are formed by the intimate relationships of constant association. the group tends to persist and the members of it are largely drawn together and regrouped in the following incarnations. all have evolved beyond the level of the previous centuries but the general traits and tendencies remain and the same general policies are likely to shape the national affairs. there comes a time in the existence of the great group, or nation, when the old environment will no longer serve for its further collective evolution as well as some other country. the majority then reincarnate elsewhere and the old country comes gradually to be inhabited by a different great group of souls. hence the remarkable difference in the people of a given nation in different periods. compare rome in the time of caesar to rome late in the middle ages, or compare the mighty civilization of ancient egypt with modern egypt. it is high-class egos that make a great nation and when a country has no more lessons to teach them, or rather when another country will serve as a better environment for their further progress, they return in rebirth to the more advantageous spot on the earth, and a different set of souls come into possession of the abandoned environment. the valley of the nile, that was once the home of an energetic people with a flourishing civilization would not now serve such a purpose. the center of virile civilization has shifted to central and northern europe because only that environment, in full touch with the great commercial stream of the economic world, can serve the purpose. as the world is today what could a pushing, energetic, up-to-date group of souls do if born into egypt? nothing but leave it. so they are not reincarnated there, but other souls that are at the point in evolution where the primitive life of an isolated country will give the simpler lessons they must acquire, inherit the abandoned environment. as an individual moves continually onward in each return to incarnation to professional and business environments that will enable him to put into effect all the new skill and wisdom he has gained, so a nation goes on to greater and greater opportunities. souls that made the greatness of greece and carthage and rome are now making the greatness of europe and america. such facts explain many things that have seemed puzzling. how, for example, was it possible for the world's greatest civilization to spring up suddenly in europe from barbarous peoples? when rome declined--declined because her people largely reincarnated elsewhere--europe was inhabited by slightly civilized hordes. to assume that since then, in a few centuries--a mere passing moment in the great lapse of time required for race evolution--the civilization today could arise, would be to ignore the fundamentals of evolution. but when we understand that great groups of old souls incarnate in the strong physical bodies which the more primitive peoples could bring into the world, the mystery of the rapid rise of a great civilization in europe is solved. the principle of rebirth holds also with the animal kingdom at a high level in it. the last phase of evolution in the animal kingdom is the individualizing of the consciousness. a particularly intelligent cat or dog, for example, may be just finishing animal evolution and will be reborn at the lowest human level. previous to its individualization it evolves in a group with others of its kind, animated by a common ensoulment that has not reached the level of complete self-consciousness. at that group-soul stage the experience of each animal in the group adds to the knowledge of all. this theosophical teaching on one of nature's most interesting facts enables us to understand many things that would otherwise remain mysterious. instinct has never been explained by science. some of its best known expressions are altogether mysterious. why does a young wild animal hide from the enemies of its kind but not from friends, when it has never seen either? a quail a day old will fall upon its side with a chip or small stone or bit of grass firmly clutched in its tiny claws to hide its body, and remain perfectly motionless at the approach of a human being, but will take no alarm at the passing of a squirrel or a rabbit. how does a young chick know the difference between a crow and a hawk? and why, in remote places like the antarctic regions, are both young and old birds and animals unafraid of man? the group-soul is a clear and simple explanation of all such phenomena. the youngest have the knowledge of the oldest because they are attached to the same group-soul, or source of consciousness. the young quails of this season come back to rebirth from the group-soul that is the storehouse of the experiences of the quails that were killed by men in past seasons, and thus all young things know the common enemy. in the remote regions referred to the killing proclivities of the human being have not become known and there is no "instinct" to warn. an excellent bit of evidence on the subject of the group-soul is the fact, often chronicled but not explained, that when telephone or telegraph lines are built in new countries the birds fly against the wires and are killed by thousands, the first season. but when the next season's birds are hatched they are wise and avoid the wires! if the group-soul were not a fact in nature it would naturally require a long time for wire education. no such sudden adjustment would be possible. reincarnation represents continuous evolution with no waste of time or loss of energy. death is not the sudden break in the life program that the popular belief pictures it. the common view of death is as erroneous as the common view of birth. if death were what most people believe it to be it would constitute a blunder of nature--an irrational interruption of orderly development. in nature's economy there is conservation of energy and no loss can arise through the change called death. if the popular belief that at death we go far away to a totally different kind of existence were sound then death would usually mean an enormous waste. a young man is educated for some particular work, engineering, architecture or statecraft, and graduates only perhaps to die soon afterward. all that time and energy spent in getting such an education would be largely lost either if death ends all, or is the last he will know of the material world. but nature does not thus blunder. her law of conservation is always operative. all the skill and wisdom acquired will be brought back in rebirth and will be used in the future incarnations. a child in school is a fair analogy for a soul in evolution. the child cannot get an education in a term nor in a year. he must return often to the same school, after the rest of regular vacations. he may use new books with higher lessons but he returns periodically to the same environment. continuous attendance would be as unthinkable as finishing his education in a single term. in evolution the soul returns periodically to the physical world, or plane, for the same reasons. continuous life here until all material experience is gained would be impossible. aside from the need of the double process of acquiring and digesting experience the physical body would become a hindrance to evolution. within certain limits the physical brain can respond to the requirements of the growing soul, but a new body is in time an absolute necessity to further evolution. if we give a little thought to the evolutionary progress the ordinary person must make to raise him to mental and moral perfection, the absurdity of a single lifetime becomes apparent. consider, a moment, intellectual perfection. it would mean a development of the mind to the point of genius in many directions. if we combine into one mind the attainments of the mathematical genius, the musical genius, the inventive genius, the statecraft genius, and so on until every line of intellectual activity is included, we then have only the perfect mental man. on the moral side we must add to that the combined qualities of the saints. then we have the perfected human being, with nothing more to be learned from incarnation here. his further evolution belongs to superphysical realms. in trying to comprehend the evolution of the soul, that slowly changes it life after life from the savage to the civilized state and finally raises it to perfection, it is helpful to observe how this great work corresponds to the smaller cycle of a single incarnation. a great character in history begins with helpless infancy. steadily he progresses, unfolding new power at each step. he passes through the graded schools, slowly acquiring elementary lessons. college follows with higher and more difficult mental acquirements. then he enters professional life and begins to use his intellect with more and more initiative. he moves on into public life with increased duties and responsibilities. from one post of honor he rises to another with increasing ability and mastery, until at last he is the head of a nation and has become a world figure. even so it is in the evolution of the soul. life by life we rise, evolving new powers and virtues amidst every increasing opportunities and responsibilities. in one incarnation we have conditions that evolve courage. in another we are thrown into situations that develop tolerance. in still another we acquire patience and balance. in all of these incarnations we steadily evolve intellect and strengthen all previously acquired virtues. in each life we find the new conditions that are necessary for the exercise of our added abilities and, ultimately, with the powers, the spiritual insight and the ripened wisdom of the gods themselves, we move forward to higher fields of evolution. footnotes: [j] "life and matter," lodge, p. , . [k] life and matter.--lodge, p. . chapter x. rebirth: its justice no matter how much we may differ in our view of the relationship between god and man there is general agreement about the attributes of the supreme being. all ascribe to him unlimited power, wisdom, love and, of course, the perfection of all those desirable qualities we see in human beings. the theosophical view is that all we know in man of power, wisdom, love, justice, beauty, harmony, et cetera, are faint but actual manifestations of the attributes of the deity. all who are not materialists, denying the existence of a supreme being, will agree that the wisdom and justice of god must be perfect. it would be illogical and inconsistent to limit or qualify his attributes. either he is all-wise and absolutely just, or else the materialist is right. we cannot have a deity at all unless he represents perfect justice. another point on which all but the materialists must agree is that creation is so ordered that the common welfare of humanity is best served by just the conditions of life that surround us. nothing is different from what it should be unless it is because of man's failure to do what he should do for his own welfare. if it were otherwise what would become of the argument that an omniscient god has ordered it as it is? if, then, things are as they should be in the truest interests of man, and we find things in life that, according to our views of creation, are not right and just, it necessarily follows that the views we hold are erroneous. the popular belief is that human beings constitute a special creation; that whenever a baby is born god creates a soul or consciousness for that body and that after a life of many years, or a few days, or a few minutes, as the case may be, the body dies and the consciousness goes to dwell in remote regions for ever and ever. if the person lived a good life and also believed in the current religion he will be "saved" and will be eternally happy. if he did not live a good life but finally "believed" before death he will be saved anyway and be just as happy as though he had lived right from the start. if he did live a good life, but was not born with the ability to believe easily, he will be lost and will be eternally miserable. according to this theory of special creation god makes people of all sorts. none of them can help being what they are created. some are wise and some are foolish. those who are smart enough to find the way of salvation will finally have heaven added to their original gift of wisdom. those who are not smart enough to find it will finally have hell added to their original lack of sense. this is what some people are pleased to call divine justice! it will hardly do to argue that the possibility that all may at last be happy in an endless heaven, makes it unimportant that there are inequalities now. the majority of the theologians do not admit that such a state awaits the whole of the human race, and the comparatively few who do believe it will hardly venture to assert that present justice can be determined by future happiness. even if we positively knew that eternal bliss awaited everybody after the close of this physical life how could that make it just that one person shall be born a congenital criminal and another shall be born a poet and philosopher? how could it make it right that one is born to life-long illness, suffering and poverty, while another inherits both wealth and a sound physical body? not even the certainty of future happiness would be compensation for present inequalities. but why should there be any such inequalities if god represents unlimited power and perfect justice? why should there be any poverty when, if he really created the soul itself instantaneously, he can as certainly create any necessary condition for the soul? why poverty and disease and suffering at all? there must be a better answer to such questions than that "it pleased god to have it so." it is surely little better than blasphemy to suggest that any kind of hard conditions for man are pleasing to the deity. to hold that any future condition of happiness can make present justice out of the truly terrible inequalities of life, would be much like a millionaire who has two sons giving one of them all the advantages of wealth, travel, skilled instructors and special care, while the other was permitted to wear rags and go hungry. if the neglected son asked why he was thus treated while his brother was most carefully provided for, the father might reply with some indignation, "you are to have plenty in the future! my will is so drawn that when i die my great wealth will be equally divided between you and your brother. you will then be a millionaire with more money than you can possibly spend. so don't be foolish about your hardships now. learn to starve like a gentleman!" the father's position in such a case would be just as reasonable as that of those who think a heaven hereafter can justify an earthly hell now. now let us take some of the particular facts of life that puzzle us and test them with the hypothesis of special creation, and also with the hypothesis of reincarnation, and see which can really explain them in a satisfactory manner. we will take some facts of real life. in a massachusetts prison there is an old man whose name became familiar to many of us in our youth. he was then known as jesse pomeroy, the boy murderer. the present generation scarcely knows him. but forty years or more ago he was talked about by all the newspapers. for the crime of murdering his playmates the boy was sent to prison for life. why did pomeroy become a noted criminal in childhood? if the theory of special creation is sound he was created and put in the world to fit himself for a future heaven. but he was created in such fashion that he was deficient in moral perception and he began life with an act that led to his expulsion from society. if god created this soul as we first knew him why was he not created with the moral balance of a law-abiding citizen so that he could have lived long and peacefully in civilized society and have been prepared for heaven at death? what could have been the purpose of giving him a brain that could not think soundly and a conscience that welcomed murder? that leads us inevitably to the question, why are criminals created at all? why are idiots created? the deeper we look into the facts of life the more unsatisfactory does the theory of special creation become because we find a thousand things that contradict it and show its inconsistency. if the purpose of god was to create a heaven to be enjoyed by those who reach it we cannot see why he should create a humanity the majority of which is incapable of ever attaining it. if he creates them as they come into the world at birth why are not all of them created wise and kind? why must most of them blunder through life, making all sorts of mistakes, bringing suffering to others by their unkindness or cruelty and only, in the end, to pass from a life of failure to eternal punishment for that failure? there is no reason, no justice, no sanity in such a theory. now let us turn to the explanation of reincarnation. according to that, pomeroy has had many past incarnations and will have many more. like all the rest of us he came up from primitive man. we have all learned the lessons of civilized life slowly by experience like children acquiring lessons from their books. the majority have come along well and developed a fair share of intellect in dealing with life's problems, and some degree of sympathy for others. some have evolved rapidly like hard working pupils and they are called geniuses. some have lagged behind and have learned very little. they are like the truants at school who have broken the rules and run away from their lessons. these laggards of the human race are the dullards and the criminals, who have moved so slowly incarnation after incarnation, or are so much younger in evolution, that they are now bringing savage traits into our present civilized life. reincarnation not only explains who and what the criminal is but it also explains away the hell with which special creation threatens him. no hell awaits him except that which he has created himself by what he has done. by the law of cause and effect all the cruelty and suffering he has inflicted will react upon him to his sorrow, but will also serve for his enlightenment. in his next incarnation the kind of body he will have and the environment in which he will live will be determined exactly by the thoughts and emotions and acts of this and past incarnations. he will therefore neither go to a heaven for which he is not fitted nor to a hell which he does not justly deserve. he will simply come back in another physical body and have a chance to try it again, but he will have to make the trial under the conditions which his conduct has merited. and what of the idiot? according to special creation we cannot possibly explain him. it would be blasphemous to believe that god creates a mindless man. if one soul is given a mind and another is not, and for no reason whatever, it is the most monstrous injustice that ever forced itself upon the understanding of man! think for a moment of the difference between the idiot and the normal person. the man of sound mind has before him the opportunity of progress, of mental and moral development. the avenues of business and professional life are open before him. he is free to try his powers and win his way. wealth, power and fame are all possible for him. all the joys of social life may be his. think of him surrounded by his family and friends, successful, satisfied, happy, and then think of the life of the idiot. language cannot express the horror of the contrast! if there were no other explanation of life than that of special creation it would change the world into the hopeless hell of a mad-house. again reincarnation saves us from either blasphemy or madness. the idiot, like the congenital cripple, differs from the normal man only in the body, which is the instrument of the soul. deformity of the body is a limitation of the ego who functions through it. a withered arm, a club foot, a deformed back, in this incarnation are results of unfortunate causes which that soul has generated in past lives. in idiocy the malformation is in the brain. of course this is not an accident. there is no element of chance which places the limitation in one body where it causes but little trouble and in another where it prevents mental activity and thus produces idiocy. in each case it is the exact working out of the law. the body of the idiot is the physical plane representation of a soul that has made a serious blunder in the past, possible by limiting another with cruel restraint, and the gross misuse of his intellect and power in that way has operated to prevent his using it at all in the present life. but such limitations belong to the outer planes. it is the form that limits and when the form perishes the limitation disappears. as with the criminal no hell is needed to punish the idiot. he has made his own hell by his mistake in the past and in this incarnation he must live in it and expiate his blunder. perhaps it may seem to some that since the idiot is incapable of realizing the life of the normal person the situation represents no real misfortune for him. but idiocy on the physical plane does not mean idiocy in the soul. even from the astral plane the ego may keenly feel the horror of functioning for a lifetime through such a physical body, as one here would feel the anguish of incarceration in a dungeon. the criminal and the idiot are striking illustrations of the failure of the theory of special creation to satisfactorily explain the facts of life. but if we turn to the other extreme and consider the most fortunate people in the world we shall find there, too, precisely the same failure to explain. by the hypothesis of special creation we find a gross injustice done to the soul born an ignoramus. yet we find others possessing enough intelligence for several people. in the case of macaulay we have the evidence in his own handwriting in a letter the date of which proves his age, that he was reading greek and latin and studying mathematics deeply when seven years old. there are many other cases of the remarkable display of talents in childhood, but a single instance will serve for all. it is all the better as an illustration because it is a contemporaneous case and the facts are known to scores of living people. it is recorded of william james sidis, of brookline, massachusetts, that at six years of age he entered a grammar school and in six months had completed the work of seven grades. at the age of seven he had gone so far with his mathematical studies that his father, professor boris sidis, could be of little assistance to him. he worked out the most abstruse and difficult problems with the greatest ease and invented new systems of computation which attracted much attention. when eight years old he entered the brookline high school and in six weeks had completed the mathematical course and began writing a book on astronomy. he then took up the study of french, german, latin and russian. on leaving school he took up mathematics as a specialty and invented a system of logarithms based on the number instead of . this was inspected by several well known mathematicians who pronounced it perfect in every detail. he applied for admission to harvard university but the authorities refused his petition on account of his youth, only, since he could have passed the examination with ease. he tried again the next year and was again refused on the same ground. but at eleven years of age, having passed the entrance examination for the massachusetts institute of technology, he was judged to know enough of chemistry and kindred subjects to make him eligible for admission to the harvard medical school. he then entered upon a special course at harvard because the ordinary course in college was far below the abilities of this boy of eleven years. professor james, of harvard, the famous psychologist, has pronounced him the greatest mental marvel he ever knew. it is said the young prodigy could recite pages of shakespeare from memory at an age when the ordinary boy is learning his alphabet. in the same city where young sidis was born we find the idiot. did god create them both as they were born or did they come up to their present difference of mental equipment through a process of evolution that accounts for it all satisfactorily? if the theory of special creation is sound why did not the idiot get at least a little of the intellect that sidis could so easily have spared? if they are the work of special creation it is impossible to find reason or justice in such terrible inequalities. but if reincarnation is god's method of creation the explanation of the difference between them becomes simple. sidis is not only an old soul but evidently one who has worked hard in past lives, throwing off the lassitude of the dense bodies and evolving the power of will that enabled him to triumph over obstacles, conquering all the enemies of intellectual progress and thus earning the fine physical body and brain he now possesses. his present abilities are but the sum total of the energies he has put forth in the past. the theory of special creation does not explain the facts of life. it lacks justice, it lacks harmony and it lacks consistency. it is not in accord with natural law. nature knows no such thing as special creation. to believe in special creation is to ignore all scientific facts and principles. on the other hand reincarnation is in harmony with science and with natural law. reincarnation is evolution and every kingdom of nature develops through evolution. the difference between the shriveled wild grain that struggles with the rock and soil for life enough to barely reproduce itself, and the plump wheat of the cultivated fields that feeds the world, is the work of evolution. the wild stalk produced the seed and from that seed came a better stalk. the better stalk produced a still better kernel and from that better kernel sprang a superior stalk to yield a higher grade of wheat than any of its predecessors. the stalk sprouts from the ground, matures, stores all its gain of growth within the seed and perishes. but from the seed springs its reincarnated form, to repeat the process that changes poor to good, good to better and better into best. and thus it is with the reincarnating soul. as the almost worthless grain through many seasons is slowly changed to perfect worth, the soul is by that same law of evolution slowly changed through many incarnations from the chaos of savage instincts to the law and order of the moral world. each incarnation yields some improvement. as the seed sprouts within the darkness of the soil and, perishing there, attains its full results in the higher realm of sun and air, drawing from the soil that which, stored within the grain, gives power to reproduce its better self, so the soul strikes anchorage in the lower planes and draws from its varied experiences that which, transmuted after the body's death, gives the power to return with greater life. attempts have been made to find some explanation of the mental and moral inequalities that exist at birth. in the earlier days of the study of evolution it was usually asserted that the human being inherits his mentality and morality from his parents. but even if that were true the injustice of one being born a genius and another a fool would remain. it is the fact of inequality that constitutes the injustice, and it is of no importance whether it comes about through heredity or otherwise. but as a matter of fact heredity is confined to the physical side of existence. as more and more is learned by observation the old theory of mental and moral heredity has lost ground until it can be said that it now has no recognition in the scientific world. nobody is better qualified to speak upon the subject than those with practical experience. dr. a. ritter, of the stanford university children's clinic, that has large numbers of defective children in charge, treating no less than sixteen hundred in a single year, says: "as to the definite causes of the prevalence of defective types, i cannot speak with finality or assurance. i do not agree with social or educational doctrinaires who assign the causes definitely to liquor, poverty, infectious diseases, or other social or moral shortcomings. the greatest minds of the world are hesitant in theorizing about this. there are a complex of causes which explain many of these cases, but no generalization fits absolutely. we may find a case which is not traceable to any of these conditions--_a case in which the antecedents would promise a perfectly normal child, and yet we are confronted with a defective child_. on the other hand, bright, normal children, even children of superior intelligence sometimes spring from such conditions."[l] a little reasoning about the facts concerning both genius and idiocy will make it clear that neither is inherited. if it were true that genius is inherited society would present a different appearance. there would be famous families of geniuses living in the world, in music, in poetry, in warfare, in invention, in art, if genius were inherited. the fact is that it is difficult to find even two geniuses in any family. the caesars, napoleons, edisons, lincolns, wagners, shakespeares, stand alone with neither great ancestors nor great descendants. we search in vain for great ancestors for such men; but if the theory of mental heredity were sound we should know their ancestors for precisely the same reason that we know them. heredity, then, does not explain whence genius comes; and if anybody had really traced genius from father, or grandfather, to son or grandson, we should still have no explanation of what genius is. we could then only regard it as the result of some strange chance; yet the scientist knows that laws of nature contain no such element. but the only reason why genius appears so incomprehensible is because we have not looked at it in the light of nature's truth. we have erroneously assumed that this is the only life we live on the physical plane, and therefore the time is too short for the evolution of genius. a man can become an expert in one lifetime but not a genius. but if we give him many incarnations to develop along certain lines he can become a genius of a given type. the soul that works strenuously at building up a certain faculty through many incarnations naturally develops qualities in the causal body that shine out brilliantly upon its return to a physical body and we have the genius. we evolve our mentality and morality, and there could be no justice in life if it were otherwise. there is no element of chance in getting a new physical body in the next incarnation. the body is the material expression of the self. it is as much the product of the self as the rose is of the bush, the apple of the tree, or the tulip of the bulb. the musician can no more get a body suitable to the blacksmith than the rose bush can produce an apple. we do not get bodies by lottery, like destitute people drawing clothing by numbers which might result in grotesque misfits. we do not get bodies at all, we evolve them, and in each incarnation the new body expresses all the soul has come to be up to that point in its evolution. such a view of life has a basis of absolute justice. every soul gets exactly what it has earned. the common belief in occidental civilization is that we live here for only sixty or seventy years and that then, when we die, we pass on to live eternally somewhere else, and that the whole of eternity, whether it is filled with pleasure or is horrible with pain, is made to depend on how we spent those few years of the physical life! such a fate would be unfair and unjust. if a schoolboy is incorrigible for a term it would not be fair to condemn him to lose all opportunity of getting an education. we would give him another chance at the following term. a little incident of disobedience from home life will illustrate the point involved. a quinine capsule was lying on the table. a three-year-old boy reached for it. his mother called across the room, "don't eat that, dearie, it isn't candy." but in a spirit of reckless mischief he hurried it into his mouth and quickly chewed it up! it was a very disagreeable but salutary lesson for the little fellow. it is an example of nature's methods. she is always consistent, and has a balanced relationship between cause and effect. but suppose in this case we throw her consistency aside as those who believe that eternal results will follow temporal effects are obliged to do. an ordinary lifetime compared to eternity is somewhat like that instant of disobedience compared to eighty years, but the illustration is not adequate because eternity never ends. as nearly as the principle can be applied it would be by saying to the child, "because you were disobedient for a second of time you shall taste quinine for eighty years!" if that punishment is injustice what must we call the infliction of an eternity of pain as the result of the errors committed in a lifetime? any hypothesis of existence that does not take into consideration the welfare of humanity is a false hypothesis. what plan can better serve the common welfare than a chance to redeem a failure? when a prisoner is condemned for a crime we do not deprive him of opportunities. we give him every possible chance to improve his character. god cannot be less just or merciful than man. rebirth is a new chance. every incarnation is another opportunity. if the popular idea of an eternal heaven and hell is sound, and there be few who find the "narrow way," the time will come when the majority of the race will have used their one opportunity of a brief lifetime, and have failed. if that were really true, it is easy to imagine what they would do with another opportunity if they had it! how long should opportunity be given? just as long as it will be used, and to deprive anybody of it when he is eager to redeem past errors is to ignore the principles of human welfare. therefore such a plan cannot be the true one. john j. ingalls personified opportunity and wrote: master of human destinies am i! fame, love and fortune on my footsteps wait; cities and fields i walk; i penetrate deserts and seas remote, and passing by hovel and mart and palace, soon or late i knock unbidden once at every gate. if sleeping, awake; if feasting, rise before i turn away. it is the hour of fate, and they who follow me reach every state mortals desire, and conquer every foe save death; but those who doubt or hesitate, condemned to failure, penury and woe, seek me in vain and uselessly implore; i answer not and i return no more. that is true enough from one viewpoint and profitably emphasizes the importance of promptly acting when the time for action arrives. but there is another truth to be expressed on the subject and it is well done by walter malone, who says: they do me wrong who say i come no more, when once i knock and fail to find you in; for every day i stand outside your door, and bid you awake and rise to fight and win. wail not for precious chances passed away; weep not for golden ages on the wane; each night i burn the records of the day, at sunrise every soul is born again. laugh like a boy at splendors that are sped; to vanished joys be blind and deaf and dumb; my judgments seal the dead past with its dead, but never bind a moment yet to come. though deep in mire, wring not your hands and weep, i lend my arm to all who say, "i can." what a magnificent view of human evolution! no ultimate failure possible because there is always another chance. the failure of one incarnation made good by the sincere efforts of the next. all the faults and frailties--the shadow blots of the past--vanishing in the light of a higher wisdom that has been won. no endless hell, no eternal torment; not even the ghosts of vanished chances to haunt the mind; but only the insistent voice of immortal opportunity, urging us to wake and rise to strive and win! footnotes: [l] interview in san francisco examiner, march , . chapter xi. rebirth: its necessity there are apparently but three ways in which anybody has attempted to explain the origin of the race. if two of these are shown to be impossible we have no course open to us but to accept the one which remains. one of the three theories is that of the materialist. another is the common belief that god created an original human pair and continues to create souls for babies. the third hypothesis is that of the evolution of the soul. the materialist's position seems to be, briefly, that the forces of nature, with no directive intelligence, are sufficient to account for man as we see him; that a continuing consciousness in the human being is a delusion; that immortality is a vain dream and that humanity has neither a past nor a future. yet the very facts of science to which the materialist appeals contradict such conclusions. this materialistic belief regards the human body as a self-sufficient machine whose brain generates thought. but the savage has a completely evolved physical body with eyes, ears and other organs like our own. his brain under the microscope shows no trace of difference in its material constitution from the brain of civilized man. indeed, his physical body is not only as complete a machine as ours but is likely to be materially sounder. why, then, if the brain produces thought, does not this savage produce the thoughts of a philosopher? if there is no directing soul back of the brain, why the marvelous difference in the product of the two brains? materialists go too far in the assumption that they can explain the phenomena of life. they can talk learnedly about it but they must stop short of the source of life. everything about anatomy and physiology they know, but the life that flows through the human machine remains unexplained. they can trace the circulation of the blood from the heart through the arteries, from the arteries across to the veins, from the veins back to the heart, but the greatest mind the race has produced cannot say what makes the heart beat. life has not been explained and cannot be explained from the materialist's viewpoint. every human being is a miracle. a fingernail is a mystery of evolution. it is formed from the same food that makes the flesh and it will continue to be formed regardless of the variety or quality of the food. why do certain particles become flesh or nails? who can draw the division line between them? with marvelous instruments and wondrous skill science has explored and mapped and charted the "tabernacle of clay," but it cannot throw a single ray of light upon the intelligence that animates it. materialism fails sadly enough in that direction, but still worse as a satisfactory interpretation of the panorama of the life about us. it is a philosophy of the gloomiest fatalism. it holds that we simply chance to be that which we are; that we are what we are merely because of fortuitous chemical and mechanical combinations. had the combinations chanced to be something different we should not be in existence. chance is the king of the materialist's world. according to this theory all abilities are the gifts of nature and all lack of them is the blind award of chance. no credit whatever is due to anybody for what he is, nor can anybody be logically blamed for his deficiencies. all are like men who, with closed eyes, draw something from a bag under compulsion. it is not to the credit of one that he got a prize nor to the discredit of another that he drew a blank. this hypothesis holds that recently we were not and that presently we shall cease to be; that we appear by chance, live our brief period, suffer or enjoy as it may happen and then pass to the oblivion of eternal silence; that all the thought, all the toil and the striving, all the effort and endurance were for nothing, and accomplished nothing. such a philosophy will not long survive the progress of our age. it lacks the balance of nature's principle of conservation. it lacks the completeness of universal law. it lacks the element of justice that is enthroned in every human consciousness and without which life would be a meaningless mockery and the world a chaos of despair. but the materialist's philosophy has no monopoly of bad points or undesirable beliefs. the old popular idea of a mechanical creation is equally at war with both fact and reason. that belief is that god created the world as men build houses, and added the human beings as men furnish their houses when built. it is the belief that he is still making souls as fast as bodies are being born in the world, that these souls begin their existence at birth, live here but one life and then pass on into either endless bliss or eternal pain. this idea differs from materialism in the matter of a governing intelligence and on immortality but it is remarkably like it in other ways. like materialism it is fatalistic because it makes man the helpless subject of resistless power. it merely puts an intelligent force as first cause where the materialist postulates blind force. the materialist says that all human characteristics are the gift of nature while according to the popular belief they are the gifts of god. in either case one class of human beings gets abilities that they have not earned and others get defects that they do not deserve. the intellectual man is favored without reason and the fool is handicapped without mercy. some come into the world with salvation assured by being well born while others are foredoomed to failure. predestination goes logically with such ideas. happily the world has long been growing away from the once wide-spread belief in predestination because it is too shocking to the modern sense of justice. but is the world at the same time catching the point that if there is but one life on earth and the soul is created at birth, then the very essence of predestination remains, because some are created with the wisdom to attain salvation and others are created without it? if the soul has no pre-existence it can have no responsibility at the time of birth. neither can it have any merit. one is born with a sound mind and moral insight. these qualities may lead to salvation but the man has done nothing to earn them. another is born with cruel and vicious tendencies and poor intellect. he may therefore miss salvation, but if he had no pre-existence he can have done nothing to deserve such a start in life. if we are really here for the first time then justice can be done only by giving us equal equipment at the start and equal opportunities afterward. think for a moment of the sweeping difference between human beings at birth. there is every degree of vice and virtue from the savage to the saint and every mental variation from the fool to the philosopher. if god really creates the soul at birth, then one is created wise and kind though he did nothing to earn it. another is created vicious and depraved. he did nothing to deserve it. one is showered with natural gifts to which he is not justly entitled. another is blighted with a stupidity he did nothing to incur; and we are asked to believe that god made them thus! such a belief is contrary to reason and to justice. it is easy to see why, in this old view of the relationship between god and man, salvation was to be by faith. it was impossible for a person to be saved by his merit because, if his qualities were given to him by god at birth, he had no merit. his very ability to comprehend spiritual truth and his moral strength to resist temptation, were conferred upon him, not earned by him. if this popular view is sound, human beings should be neither praised nor censured. they are simply human automata operated by such degree of mental and moral ability as god chose to assign to them. if this be true, genius should have no credit for its accomplishments, indolence no frown of disapproval, cowardice no lash of condemnation, tolerance no need of praise, cruelty no rebuke, virtue no applause and heroism no fame for its selfless sacrifice. and yet this absurd and illogical belief lingers in the minds of millions of people. it is believed because it always has been believed. if materialism is an impossible philosophy, then the popular belief that the soul is created at birth is also impossible. it is a theory that encumbers its belief in immortality with conditions that destroy justice and defy logic. that old form of belief has outlived its day. it was possible at any time only because there was too little information and, like the old belief that the world was flat, it must yield place to the newer knowledge. the truth of evolution is the stanchest friend of religion. it is the foundation on which may be built a scientific belief in a supreme being, a rational faith in immortality and a brotherhood of man that has a basis in nature itself. the very idea that was hastily thought to be destructive of a belief in god and heaven and immortality is rapidly becoming the most important witness to the truth of them all. while it is true that in the earliest days of evolution the most eminent scientists were agnostic, it is equally true that today the most eminent scientists of the world believe in the existence of the soul, and in its immortality, and base that belief upon scientific grounds. what is the essence of the facts of evolution and how does it give evidence against materialism and for immortality? evolution is an orderly unfolding from the single to the diversified, from the simple to the complex, in which process life evolves by passing from lower to higher forms and storing within itself the gist of the experiences gained in each. one of the vital facts that evolution establishes is that slow building is the order of creation. the horse is an example. he is traced backward with certainty to a small creature that resembles him very little indeed. ages were required to evolve the horse into his present intelligence and utility. another profoundly important fact in evolution is the continuity of life from body to body. the butterfly is frequently used as an illustration, but the principle holds with all the higher order of insects like ants, flies and bees. in the metamorphosis of the caterpillar we have a phenomenon so common that most people have personally observed it. watch, in imagination, its transformation that contradicts materialistic philosophy. the worm is a physical body occupied by an evolving life or intelligence. its physical body perishes and becomes part of the dust of the street. the life enters the grave of the chrysalis. the scientist takes that chrysalis, packs it in an ice house and leaves it frozen for a number of years. now a mere frost will kill either caterpillar or butterfly, but when the chrysalis is removed from the ice and brought into a higher temperature the triumphant life emerges in the form of the butterfly. this phenomenon proves that life does survive the loss of the body. the body of the caterpillar is dead and has turned to dust years ago, but the caterpillar that lived in it is not dead. it now lives again in the physical world in a physical body of a higher type. here, in an order of existence almost infinitely below man, we have an individual life existing in a physical form, passing from it and, after a number of years, taking possession of another form and living in that. who can admit such continuity of life for the insect and deny it for man? can there be a deathless something in a worm and not in a human being? even without the mass of physical evidence that exists upon the subject the logic of nature would lead us to confident conclusions. the knowledge of evolution which science has so far accumulated leads to four natural inferences. one is that man is immortal. another is that he has, like all creatures, slowly evolved to what he now is. a third is that both life, and the forms it uses, are evolving together, and the fourth is that lower orders evolve into higher and continually higher ones. the human soul evolves from the savage to the saint--from animal instincts to the self-sacrifice of martyrs and heroes. we cannot escape the conclusion that the race has evolved, is evolving and will continue to evolve until mental and moral perfection has been attained. if neither the theory of the materialist nor the popular notion that the soul is created at birth is satisfactory, we have only reincarnation left as a working hypothesis; and if we accept the evolution of the soul as a natural truth, then reincarnation becomes a necessity in explaining the known facts of life. but there are some students of life who appear to refuse the hypothesis of reincarnation while wishing to accept the idea of the evolution of the soul. but how would that be possible? if the soul is evolving it is under the necessity of developing by the laws of growth. they were discussed in chapter ix. those who desire to put their ideas about the soul and its immortality into harmony with the facts of evolution sometimes ask why it would not be possible for the soul to leave the material plane forever at the death of the physical body and then pursue its evolution on higher planes. in the vast universe there must be opportunity for all possible development, it is argued. but why go on into other regions when the lessons here have not been learned? that would be a violation of nature's law of the conservation of energy. the average human being is in the elementary grades, with scores of incarnations ahead of him before he will be in a position even to take advantage of his opportunities and thus make fairly rapid progress. to talk of going on to higher planes for further evolution is like proposing that a child shall leave the kindergarten and enter the university. we are evolving along two lines, the mental and moral, and a little consideration of the matter will make clear two important points--that we have much to learn and that the physical plane is wonderfully arranged for our instruction. we have conditions here for developing mentality that do not exist on higher planes. the absolute necessity of procuring food is an example. death is the penalty for failure to obtain it. hunger was the earliest spur to action at the lowest level of evolution and even now at our high point of attainment it is one of the chief factors of racial activity. in providing the necessities of life and in gratifying our multitude of desires mentality is developed. business and professional life rests upon these physical plane necessities and, engaged in solving the problems of civilization, the race evolves intellect. such problems do not, of course, exist on higher planes. while the mentality is thus being pushed along in evolution by our material necessities, the heart qualities are developed by the family ties in a way that could not be done elsewhere. in the nature of things the entrance of the soul to the physical plane is attended with helplessness. from the beginning it must have material necessities or die, and yet it can do nothing in its new infant body. again, as a rule, long before it leaves the physical plane old age has once more rendered it helpless. thus every human being must depend on the assistance of others at two critical periods of each incarnation. the help it receives, in infancy and old age, it pays back to the race, in the care of both the helpless young and the helpless old, when it is in the vigor of mature physical life. it is obvious that such experience develops the qualities of sympathy and compassion as no phase of business life could. the relationship of parent and child, husband and wife, evolves the heart qualities in a way that would be impossible in the totally different environment of higher planes. naturally enough, each plane has a specific work to do in the soul's evolution. we can no more learn in the highest planes the lessons the material world is designed to teach us than a pupil can acquire a knowledge of mathematics from his lessons in geography. hence the necessity for a periodical return to this life until its experiences have developed in us the qualities we lack. not only has each plane its special adaptability to particular needs of the soul in its evolution, but the two kinds of physical bodies--masculine and feminine--through which the soul functions, afford special advantages for acquiring the lessons of life. the soul on its home plane is, of course, sexless. sex, as we know it, is a differentiation arising from the soul's expression on lower planes. all characteristics of the soul itself, like intelligence, love, or devotion, are common to both sexes. the ego functioning through the masculine body has the opportunity of certain experiences that would be impossible in the feminine body, while, of course, the feminine form enables the ego to get experience that could not be known through the masculine body. a consideration of the widely different experiences of fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, will show how true this is. the lessons obtained in the masculine body are largely those of the head while in the feminine form they are lessons of the heart. when the ego puts forth its energies and begins descent into lower planes for another incarnation it is apparently beginning a cycle of experience in which either mentality or spirituality shall be the dominant note for that incarnation, and probably for several others. if it is to evolve for the time being through those experiences related to objective activity, with intellect as the guiding factor, the masculine body can best serve the purpose. but if the dominant note is to be spirituality, rather than mentality and the soul is, for the time, moving along the line of the heart side--the subjective, the intuitive--then the feminine body is the better vehicle in which such experience can be obtained. but to say that mentality is the dominant factor of masculine incarnation does not at all mean that men have a monopoly of the reasoning faculty. nor does the fact that other souls are being expressed through the feminine body mean that they have a fundamental spiritual advantage. some women are better reasoners than some men, while some men are more spiritual than some women. what it does mean is that a certain ego can express intellect better through a masculine body and intuition better through a feminine body. our ordinary language confirms the truth of the statement that men normally express more the head qualities and women more the heart qualities. we speak of men as being reasoners and of women as being intuitional and depending upon their impressions. the soul in the masculine body is for the time being getting experiences of the outer, objective activities. he is the home builder and protector, the bread winner, the battle fighter. the soul in the feminine body is, for the time, getting experience along the line of the inner, subjective life. she is the wife and mother, and her lessons are of the heart rather than the head. as we study nature we are more and more impressed with her wonderful mechanism for the evolution of the soul. it soon becomes clear to the student that every individual is, in each incarnation, thrown into precisely the circumstances required for the greatest possible progress of that particular ego. if the qualities of initiative and courage, for example, are to be developed, the masculine body admirably serves the purpose, while if sympathy and compassion need stimulation the feminine form is wonderfully effective for that kind of progress. it requires little reasoning to see that the soul would not continue to incarnate in one sex indefinitely. it must develop all its inner qualities. both intellect and compassion must reach perfect expression. such a consummation can, of course, be best attained by alternating sex experiences. but here again there is wide latitude in the operation of the law. the rule seems to be that ordinarily there are not less than three nor more than seven successive incarnations in one sex, and then the ego begins to express itself through a body of the other sex. by that rule it would commonly be for a period of from a few hundred years to some thousands of years, that the ego expresses itself through one sex before it changes to the other. one case is mentioned by the occult investigators in which for about thirty thousand years a certain ego had expressed itself only through the masculine form. at least no trace of a feminine incarnation could be found during that time. the necessity for rebirth becomes clearer and clearer as we study the nature of the human being and the inherent divine qualities he is unfolding. reincarnation is the method of evolution at the human level. only by physical plane experience can man's potential powers be aroused and so tremendous is the evolutionary work to be done that only a mere fragment of it can be accomplished in an ordinary lifetime. the absolute necessity of many rebirths is obvious. chapter xii. why we do not remember the loss of memory between incarnations and the failure to now recall any of our experiences previous to the present physical plane life has sometimes been cited as a negative kind of evidence against the hypothesis of rebirth. the point could not be made, however, by one who has studied the matter because close scrutiny will show that the loss of memory is a necessary part of reincarnation. the fact that we do not remember is in perfect harmony with the principles of evolution. indeed, the close student of the subject would be very much surprised if we could normally remember, because he does not get far until he sees, not only why we do not remember past incarnations but why we should not remember them. the very nature of the evolutionary work to be done by reincarnation necessitates a sacrifice of memory. one useful purpose of the confinement of consciousness in matter, through the use of a physical body, is that it narrows the scope of consciousness and thereby increases its efficiency. the consciousness of the ego sweeps over a vast range, forward and backward, including all past incarnations. but the limitation of matter which compels consciousness to be expressed through a physical body, focuses the attention on the evolutionary work immediately in hand. the brain becomes the instrument of consciousness but also, fortunately, the limitation of consciousness. if there were not loss of memory our minds would now range over the adventures of thousands of years in the past. it would encompass a vast drama with countless loves and hates, of many lives filled with pathos and tragedy. to thus distract the mind from the present life would retard our progress. when one is alone and in a secluded place one can think better and accomplish more than when in the midst of turbulent scenes and throngs of people. when there is less to think about the thinking is more effective. it is necessary to restrict the consciousness and limit the mind to the present life in order to get the most satisfactory results. the same truth is embodied in that old saying that whoever is jack of all trades is master of none. concentration alone can produce satisfactory results. if we would master the lessons of this life we must not take other lives within the field of consciousness. the very process of reincarnation is a coming out of the general into the particular, with the consequent narrowing of consciousness. we should keep in mind the fact that our true and permanent life is in the causal body, and on the mental plane, and that there, alone, is unbroken memory possible. the descent into matter in each incarnation is also beyond reach of the brain memory, of course. getting new bodies is the working out of natural law even as instinct works in animals. the whole animal kingdom, lacking the reasoning power of man, nevertheless adapts means to ends with unerring accuracy and with a depth of wisdom that is beyond our comprehension. and so is human evolution directed by impelling forces that are unknown to our waking consciousness. but our waking consciousness is only a small part of our consciousness--that fragment of it that can be expressed through the physical brain. the physical brain is a limitation of consciousness, and therefore of memory, as certainly as a mountain range is a limitation of sight and prevents one's knowing what lies beyond it. in higher realms we do know our wider life and vaster consciousness that includes the memory of our past incarnations. but when we come downward into another incarnation it is as though we were descending in a narrow vale within mountain ranges that stand between us and the wider world. memory is dependent on things not within the control of the will. memory often fails to establish facts which we wish to recall. we know, for example, the name of a certain person. there is no doubt that we know it and yet it is impossible to remember it at will. tomorrow it will flash upon us, but we cannot remember it now, try as we may. now, if memory fails to produce its record even when we have a mental picture of just how that person looks, and know just where we have met him, it is certainly not remarkable that with no such immediate connection with our last incarnation we fail to recall it. it was perhaps in another part of the world, and in another civilization, and is separated from us by the long interval between incarnations. of course memory likewise fails to produce that record. but all of our past experiences are within the soul, just as the records of all of the experiences of this life are in the mind whether we can connect them with the present moment or not. but it may be asked why it is that, if we do not remember events that have occurred in past lives and people we have seen before, we do not at least now have a knowledge of the facts previously familiar to us. what the soul gains from incarnation to incarnation is not concrete facts but something higher and far more valuable. it gains the essence of facts which gives the understanding of their true relationship; and this is the thing we call good judgment or common-sense. a man does not succeed in business because he knows a lot of facts, but because he knows what to do with the facts. an encyclopedia is full of facts but it cannot run a business. every theorist and dreamer is loaded with facts. the successful man is the one with balance and judgment. it might seem on first thought that one who has been a carpenter in a previous incarnation should have no need to learn the name and use of a saw, or one who has been a skillful penman to learn slowly to hold the pen and fashion the letters. but we must remember that the old soul is now breaking in a new physical instrument with which to express itself and that while it will be able to use all the skill it has previously evolved, its full expression must await the time when the new instrument has been brought into responsive action. the situation might be fairly illustrated by the case of a stenographer who is still using the original typewriter, in some remote corner of the earth, and who has not even seen or heard of any of the remarkable improvements made in such machines in the last thirty years. if his old machine were suddenly taken from him and a model of the present year were put in its place, it is obvious that he could at first make little use of it--not because he has no knowledge but because he must become accustomed to the new machine before he can express himself through it. it would have mechanism and appliances that he could not immediately manage. let us imagine also that all the characters are in a foreign language which must be mastered before the machine can be used. but the difficulties are not great enough yet for a fair illustration. we must also suppose that it is a living thing, with moods and emotions, and that it must pass through stages of growth comparable to infancy and youth. under these handicaps it would be certain that the stenographer would appear to have very little knowledge and to possess little skill. yet as a matter of fact it is merely the conditions that temporarily prevent him from expressing his wisdom and skill. the gist of knowledge gained in the past represents skill that has no dependence whatever upon brain memory. if a man should suffer a lapse of memory, as sometimes happens, and wander about unable to give his name or place of residence, such loss of memory does not prevent him using any skill he may have evolved. if he is an athlete he may not know in what gymnasium he evolved his great strength, but he can use it just as effectively regardless of the absence of memory. one who has been a skillful penman brings all his skill to the new incarnation but of course the new body must be trained to hold the pen and form the letters. every public school teacher knows that one child will quickly learn that and soon become a competent penman while another can by no possibility exhibit skill in that particular art. the reason is that one has previously evolved his skill and the other has not, and may not, for several more incarnations. it is sometimes objected that by the hypothesis of reincarnation we are required to go over the same ground again and again and learn what we have previously learned. but the criticism has no foundation in fact. there is undoubtedly some necessary recapitulation in the early part of the incarnation, just as there may be in the early part of a school term. but in the main we are thrown into new conditions which are calculated to develop additional faculties. we return to the same material world but we find it with a higher form of civilization than when we were here before. never before have we who are now here seen a civilization like this, with its age of iron and steam and electricity, with its marvelous opportunities for developing the mechanical faculty in human nature. and that is another bit of evidence of the beauty and utility of the evolutionary scheme. we come back always to greater opportunities than we have yet known. it is not only clear that the failure to remember the past has nothing to do with our ability to use the skill and wisdom we have previously evolved but it is equally obvious that it is the best of good fortune that we cannot remember the past. if we could do so that memory would keep alive the personal antagonisms of past reincarnations. nobody will deny that we have plenty of them in this incarnation or that the world would be the better if we could bury some of the present antagonisms in a like oblivion. if all quarreling neighbors were to suddenly lose memory of their feuds it would be an undeniable advantage to everybody concerned. nature's wisdom in veiling the past from us can be understood by observing the pernicious effects of remembering too long the blunders people make in this incarnation. take the case of a very young man who has charge of his employer's money and who, finding himself pressed for ready cash, makes the grave mistake of "borrowing" a hundred dollars without his employer's knowledge and consent. the young man really believes he is borrowing it and knows just where the money is to come from to replace it soon, and he thinks nobody but himself will ever know anything about it. but to his consternation the money that was due him in a few days cannot be collected in time and an unexpected examination of his books leads to his arrest for embezzlement. he is convicted, sent to prison for a year, and returns a marked man. thoughtless society closes its doors against him. he seeks employment in vain. nobody wants an ex-convict. he explains that he had no criminal intent and that he really was guilty of only an indiscretion and that he paid back the money later. but the world is too busy to listen. it sees only the court record, and that was against him. the public forgets, or never knows, the extenuating circumstances. but it never forgets two things--the verdict of guilty and the prison. the young man would almost give his life for a chance to wipe it all out, but it is impossible. it stands against him for life. but nature is wise. she does not permit our vicious traits to extend their injury too far. if we could remember from incarnation to incarnation that man's misfortune might afflict him for thousands of years. but by the wise plan of closing all accounts at the end of each incarnation the mischief of remembering the blunders of others comes to an end. in the next incarnation all start with clear records again. one of the objections that one sometimes hears against reincarnation is that it seems to separate us for long periods, if not forever, and that even when we meet those we have previously known and loved, there is no memory of the past. the answer to the first point is that the separation is wholly on the lower planes and that the time spent on the higher planes is often twenty times that given to the lower. separation is, of course, unavoidable on the physical plane, even where people live together in the same home. the average man spends most of the day at his office and sleeps about eight hours during the twenty-four. he is really separated from his family most of the time. but there is no such separation on higher planes and there is spent most of the whole period of evolution. the second point--that we do not now have the pleasure of knowing that our friends are those we knew and loved before--is not an important one. what is really important is that we again have them. if the ties of affection have been strong between us in the past there will be instant friendship when we meet for the first time in this incarnation. those with strong heart ties are certain to be drawn into very close association life after life. it has been observed through the investigations that egos have been husband and wife, or parent and child, again and again. the probability of such close relationships depends upon the strength of the ties of affection. but if such real bond between the souls is lacking the mere fact that they now have family relationships is no guarantee of such future intimate association. when two souls have strong ties arising out of past association the failure to remember that incarnation does not in the least weaken the ties. but it does mercifully hide the past contentions that are to be found in nearly all lives. the failure to remember previous incarnations will be more clearly understood if we now give some thought to the fact that the personality here on the material plane is only a fragment of the whole consciousness of the soul. as we come down into lower planes from the mental world each grosser grade of matter through which the ego expresses itself is a limitation of consciousness. on the astral plane each of us, whatever he may be here, is more alive and enjoys an actual extension of consciousness. on the mental plane he has enormously greater wisdom than here, with a still further extension of consciousness that is quite beyond the present comprehension of the brain intelligence. to put it differently, the ego really does not come into incarnation at all. it merely sends outward a ray from itself--a mere fragment of itself, as a man might put his hand down into the water of a shallow stream to gather bits of ore from which gold can be obtained. so the ego puts a finger, only, down into denser matter to get the general experience that can be transmuted into the gold of wisdom and skill. that finger of the ego, that we know as the personality, gathers the experience and then it is withdrawn into the ego. during the incarnation the personality has been animated by only a little of the ego's vast intelligence and that is why it blunders so often. but, veiled in dense matter, not much of the ego's consciousness can reach it. the relationship between the ego and the personality may be illustrated by that which exists between the brain consciousness and that of the finger-tip. the difference, of course, is great. the finger tip cannot see of hear or taste or smell. it is limited to one sense--touch. but it is a form of consciousness, and it can get experience and pass it on to the brain consciousness. a man may be addressing an audience and see some substance on the table before him. it may be sand or sugar. without interrupting his lecture he can put down his finger and get at the truth about the matter. the finger-tip gets the information and passes it on to the brain consciousness. meantime there has been no pause in the discourse. not a phrase nor a word nor the shading of a thought has been missed. the intellectual life went on in its completeness while the ray of intelligence sent down in the finger-tip got and reported the fact as it was. just so the life of the ego--the true self of each of us--goes forward on its home plane while the personality here gropes for its harvest of experience. some of those experiences will be painful to the personality, and the event will seem tragic here, but it will be a passing incident to the ego. in the illustration just used the substance on the table may prove to be neither sand nor sugar, but tiny bits of glass. some of the sharp points may penetrate the finger and pain follows. to the finger-tip consciousness it is a blinding flash of distress that is overwhelming. but to the brain consciousness it is a trivial incident. and thus it is with most of our painful experiences here. they do a useful work in our evolution and they are trifling incidents to the consciousness of the ego. the personality finishes its work and perishes, in the sense that it is drawn up and incorporated in the ego. most people identify themselves so fully with the personality that its loss seems like a tragedy to them. but that feeling will trouble them no longer when the ego is understood to be the real self. we might say that the relationship between the ego and the personality is like that between man and child. childhood will perish but only to be merged into manhood. when we look at that transformation from the viewpoint of the man it is quite satisfactory. but if looked at from the viewpoint of the child it may look appalling. if you should say to your son of three summers, "my child, the time will come when all these beautiful toys will be broken and lost and your little playmates will see you no more," you might cause him much distress. it would seem to his limited child consciousness nothing less than a tragic destruction of what makes life worth while. but when he reaches manhood he will look back with a smile to the trivial things of those early days. if there is something in his childhood of real, permanent value, it will persist in manhood. all the trivial and transient will have disappeared and he will be pleased that it is so, for manhood is the real life of the personality as the ego is the real self. as the memory of childhood lives in the brain of the man, so the memory of all the hundreds of incarnations persists in the causal body and is an eternal possession of the ego. when we are sufficiently evolved to raise the consciousness to the level of the causal body, while still living on the physical plane, as some people are now able to do, we shall thus temporarily recover the memory of past lives. when that time comes, however, the soul is sufficiently advanced to use such wider knowledge without injury to itself or others. chapter xiii. vicarious atonement back of the old doctrine of vicarious atonement is a profound and beautiful natural truth, but it has been degraded into a teaching that is as selfish and brutal as it is false. the natural truth is the sacrifice of the solar logos, or the deity of our system. the sacrifice consists of limiting himself in the matter of manifested worlds and it is reflected in the sacrifice of the christ and other great teachers who use their vast consciousness through a physical brain for the helping of the world. compared to the descent of such supermen into mundane spheres a mere physical death is a trifling sacrifice indeed. the help that such great spiritual beings have given mankind is incalculable and altogether beyond what we are able to comprehend. but for such sacrifice the race would be very, very far below its present evolutionary level. but to assume that such sacrifices relieve man from the necessity of developing his spiritual nature or in any degree nullify his personal responsibility is false and dangerous doctrine. nobody more than the theosophist pays to the christ the tribute of the most reverent gratitude. he also holds with st. paul that each must work out his own salvation. the belief in special creation arose in that period of our history when our ancestors knew little of nature. modern science was then unborn and superstition filled the western world. now that we do know the truths of nature, now that we know that creation is a continuous process that is still going on, it is time to abandon the old conceptions and bring religious beliefs and scientific principles into harmonious relationship. wherever it touches the practical affairs of life the old idea of special creation and special salvation fail to satisfy our sense of justice and of consistency. intuitively we know that any belief that is not in harmony with the facts of life is a wrong belief. the idea of special creation is not only inconsistent with the facts as science has found them, but it does not give us a sound basis for moral development. having started with the false idea of the special creation of the soul, which brings it into the world free from personal responsibility, it became a necessity to invent a special salvation to give any semblance of justice at all. now the vital point against this plan of salvation is that it denies the soul's personal responsibility and teaches that whatever the offenses against god and nature have been, they may be cancelled by the simple act of believing that another suffered and died in order that those sins might be forgiven. it is the pernicious doctrine that wrong doing by one can be set right by the sacrifice of another. it is simply astounding that such a belief could have survived the middle ages and should continue to find millions who accept it in these days of clearer thinking. but it seems that when people are taught a thing in childhood the mind accepts it then without reasoning and afterwards vaguely regards it as one of the established facts without thinking further of it at all. but upon reflection we see at once the impossibility of its being true. we hear of a lingering practice in a remote province of china, whereby a man convicted of a crime is permitted to hire a substitute to suffer the penalty in his stead. the law must have its victim and its supremacy must be upheld. we laugh at that and know well enough that punishing the unfortunate substitute, who sacrifices himself to obtain a sum of money that will provide for his family, cannot regenerate the offender. indeed, we see clearly that his willingness to shift the responsibility for his crime upon another only sinks him farther into iniquity. the only person who can gain in moral strength is the one who makes the sacrifice. let us suppose that that system of vicarious atonement for wrong doing were to be adopted generally. then every murderer who had the means would escape the consequences of his crime. every burglar who was successful enough to have the cash on hand could elude prison. every pickpocket could hire a substitute to suffer for him and thus continue his criminal career. every embezzler would have the money to purchase freedom. every corruptionist would be safe. every thief could laugh at the law. it would make a mockery of justice. it would place a premium upon crime and a handicap upon honesty and virtue. however bad the dishonest might be it would make them worse. it would necessarily lower the standard of their morality by shifting the burden of their sins to others. it would destroy personal responsibility, and personal responsibility is the basis of sound morals and the foundation of civilized society. yet that is precisely the sort of thing that goes with the belief in special creation and special salvation--the teaching that we are not responsible for our sins and that by believing that another assumed them and died for us we can escape the results of our wrong doing and thus be saved. what are we to be saved from? from nothing but ourselves. from our selfishness, from our capacity to do evil, from our willingness to inflict pain, from our lack of sympathy with all suffering and from the heartlessness that is willing to let others suffer in order that we may escape. salvation must necessarily mean capacity to enjoy heaven. the man who is willing to purchase bliss by the agony of another is unfit for heaven and could not recognize it if he were there. what do we think of a person here who shifts his sins upon another and while that other suffers he goes free and enjoys the fruits of his baseness? a heaven that is populated with those who see in vicarious atonement a happy arrangement for letting them in pleasantly and easily would not be worth having. it would be a heaven of selfishness and that would be no heaven at all. a real heaven can be composed only of those who have eliminated selfishness; only of those who want to help others instead of trying to dodge the consequences of their own acts; only of those who are manly and womanly and generous and just and true. nothing less than a recognition of personal responsibility can lead to a heaven like that. yet the theory of special salvation ignores it, waves it aside--in fact denies it! reincarnation represents personal responsibility and therefore absolute justice. it shows that, not merely in all the vast future, but also in this life and in every life, and all the time, our degree of happiness depends upon our present and past course. if reincarnation were generally understood it would necessarily raise the average of morality. it furnishes a deterrent for the evil doer and a tremendous incentive for the man who desires to obey natural law and be happy. it shows the one that there is no possible escape from evil deeds; that he must return life after life to associations and environments determined by the good or the ill he has done; that he can no more escape from his evil deeds than he can escape from himself; that he must ultimately suffer in turn the pain of every blow and the humiliation of every insult he has inflicted upon others. it assures the man of good intentions and right desires that every good deed shall rise up in the future to bless him; that all whom he has helped shall become his helpers hereafter; that even his good intentions that failed in their purpose through mistaken judgment, shall bring him joy in the future. what a splendid thing it is to know that every thought and act adds permanent value to the character; that all we learn in any life becomes an eternal possession; that we can add to our intellect, to our insight, to our compassion, to our wisdom, to our power, as certainly and definitely as a man can add to his bank account or permanent investments; that whatever we may be in this incarnation we can return again stronger and wiser and better. the hypothesis of reincarnation shows our inherent divinity and the method by which the latent becomes the actual. instead of the ignoble belief that we can fling our sins upon another it makes personal responsibility the keynote of life. it is the ethics of self-help. it is the moral code of self-reliance. it is the religion of self-respect. think of the utility as well as of the common-sense of a scheme of salvation that really saves us because it evolves us; that never denies us a chance to retrieve an error; that gives us an opportunity to right every wrong; that brings us back life after life until all enemies have been changed to friends; until all accounts are closed and balanced; until all our powers have been evolved, until intellect has become genius; until sympathy has become compassion and the last moral battle has been fought and won. chapter xiv. the forces we generate every human being is constantly generating three classes of forces, and they determine the kind of life he will lead here, the degree of success or failure that will characterize it, and the state of his consciousness on the inner planes after the death of his physical body. the law of rebirth brings us back to incarnation, but it is the law of action and reaction under which we evolve while here. the three classes of energies which we generate are those of thought, desire and action. they belong, in the order named, to the mental world, the astral world and the physical world. all people are constantly thinking and desiring and, with varying degrees of energy, are putting thought and desire into action. these forces sent out into the worlds of thought, emotion and action, produce certain reactions, or consequences, and to them the man is bound until justice is done and the soul has learned its evolutionary lesson. that thought and desire are forces as certainly as electricity is, the student of the occult well knows, but the world is not quite yet at the point where the fact is generally accepted. that, however, is the history of all human progress. when franklin began his experiments with electrical force almost nobody believed there was any such thing in existence. yet today we use it to carry our messages, run our trains and drive our machinery. had anybody predicted all that at the time of the first experiments he would have been considered extraordinarily foolish. what the world accepts or rejects at any particular time usually has very little to do with the facts. the general public can be expected to come trailing along, about a half century late, with its acceptance and approval. thought is a force or telepathy and hypnotism would be impossible. both have been scientifically demonstrated. the mental body grows by the process of thinking. the force generated in thinking reacts in the production of greater faculty for thinking, so that we literally create our mental abilities. the activities of thought change the mental body into a better and constantly better instrument through which the ego can express itself. but our thoughts also affect others and we thereby make ties with them that must work out sooner or later in associated experience. desires generate a kind of energy that plays a most important role in the drama of human evolution. the law operates to bring together the desirer and the object that aroused the desire. for the soul can only judge the wisdom of its desires by observing the result of gratifying them. thus do we acquire discrimination. it is usually a strong desire nature that brings trouble of various kinds and yet the force of desire it is that pushes all evolution onward. through experience the soul finally learns to control desire, to raise lower desires into higher ones and thus ultimately to attain non-attachment and liberation. actions are the physical expression of thoughts and desires and, as we are constantly simultaneously thinking, desiring and acting, very complex results arise. in the multitudinous activities of life we set up relationships with other souls, some of the results of which reach far into the future. the average man, with no knowledge of the laws under which he is evolving, is usually making both friends and foes for future incarnations and is often unwittingly laying up pain and sorrow for himself that a little occult knowledge would enable him to avoid. every injury that he inflicts will return to him, though not necessarily in kind. nature does not punish. she merely teaches and knows nothing of retaliations. her great concern seems to be that all souls shall get on in evolution and when a lesson is learned her purpose appears to be accomplished. the forces we generate in each incarnation shape and determine the next and succeeding ones. our friends, our families, our business associates, our nation, are determined by what we have thought and felt and done in the past and by the lessons it is necessary we shall learn. our wealth or poverty, our fame or obscurity, our strength or frailty, our intelligence or stupidity, our good or bad environment, our freedom or limitations, all grow out of the thoughts and emotions and acts in the past. from their consequences there is no possibility of escape. but that does not mean that we are the helpless slaves of fate from which there is no release. we who generated the forces can neutralize them. we can undo anything we have done. it only means that for a time we must work within the self-imposed limitations created by a wrong course in the past. those who are interested in the long-time discussion over free-will and determinism have often been impressed with the remarkably strong arguments that can be marshaled by each side to the controversy. either side, when presented alone, appears to be conclusive. the explanation lies in the fact that each is right, but only to a certain point. both free will and necessity are factors and when the theosophical viewpoint is understood the apparent contradiction disappears. we are temporarily bound, _but we did the binding_, by the desires we indulged and the emotions we freely harbored in the past. the condition of temporary restraint in which we now find ourselves may be likened to that of a party of gold hunters who go into alaska to locate mines. they are all aware that in that remote northern country navigation closes very early and that after the last boat leaves there is no possibility of getting out of that region until navigation opens again in the next season. some of them are discreet and reach the landing in ample time. others are careless. they continue their search for gold a little too long, and arrive at the river a day too late. the boat has sailed and they must become prisoners of the ice king. it's a great misfortune but they alone are responsible. they cannot escape from alaska for many months but within alaska they are absolutely free. they can build a cabin and either waste the time with idle games or seriously think and study. they are limited but free within the limitation, and the limitation itself was of their own making. it is precisely so with us in the environment of the present incarnation and with our various fortunes. we made them and, when the forces with which we did it are exhausted, we shall be free. meantime we can do much toward modification and improvement. the reactions from the forces we generate naturally do us exact justice just because they _are_ reactions. we reap precisely what we sow. the reaction may sometimes seem harsh but consideration of the matter from all points of view will show that mercy as well as justice is always a factor. let us consider the method by which nature changes recklessness into caution. a man is careless, we will say, about lighting a cigar and throwing the burning match down wherever it may happen to fall. he may go on doing that a long time with no serious result, yet all careful people know that he is a source of danger. some time ago a newspaper told the story of such a man, who passed along the street, lighted a cigaret and carelessly flung the flaming match from him. a nurse was passing with her charge in its tiny carriage. the match fell on some of the light, airy wraps of the infant and they burst into a blaze. before the fire could be extinguished the child was so badly burned that it died the next day. the moment such a case is stated we realize the necessity of something that will cure the man of such fatal carelessness. he is a menace to the lives and property in his vicinity. no law, however, can be invoked. he had no criminal intent but he is none the less dangerous for that, as the incident proved. we are helpless, however, to prevent his continued carelessness. but nature is not helpless. under the law of action and reaction he must reap as he has sown. it may be in the latter part of this incarnation, or it may be in a following one, but sooner or later his carelessness will react and he will lose his physical body in pain and distress and come to know personally just what his recklessness means. in the reaction, a part only of which is on the physical plane, he gets the experience that is necessary to set him right. the folly of his course is so driven in on his consciousness that he is changed from the careless man to the careful man. in no other way could his cure be brought about. it may be said that if a misfortune comes to us as the result of our wrong thinking and acting in a past life we can now know nothing of its cause and therefore we cannot profit by the reaction. but while we do not know in the limited consciousness of the physical brain the soul does know and in the wider consciousness the lesson is registered. the principles of justice are never violated in teaching the soul its evolutionary lessons. nothing can come to a man that he does not merit and that which often looks like a misfortune is only the beneficent working of the law seen from an angle that makes it illusory. but, it may be objected, how does theosophy see "beneficent working of the law" in the burning of a theater where a score of people lose their lives, including several children? how can theosophy explain that? how can it be explained by those who hold that the soul is created at birth? if god really brings the soul into its original expression in an infant body, why does he throw it out again in a few years, or even months? what can be the purpose? it would be difficult indeed to explain the death of children if the soul were created at birth. but let us look at it from the theosophical viewpoint. the child is an old soul with a young body. hark back to the case of the man whose carelessness caused the death of the baby in its carriage. he, and others like him, are again in incarnation and in the burning theater they get the reaction of the unfortunate forces they have generated. but why so many in some catastrophes? it may be asked. a principle is not affected by the number involved. if we can see justice in the death of one person we can see justice in the death of a hundred. it is simply class instruction. people of a kind have been drawn together. we should not forget that we see only a small fragment of any such case from the physical plane. we form an opinion, however, on that inadequate survey and are quick to declare our opinion of the justice or injustice involved. but our verdict depends wholly upon a viewpoint. let us suppose, for example, that a man strolls down the street and that, as he turns a corner, he suddenly comes upon a little tragedy of life. a young man is lying on the ground, battered and bleeding, while two others stand over him. what would the average man, coming suddenly on the scene say? he would probably indignantly blurt out "the ruffians!" and he would be inclined to assist the man who was down. but let us suppose that he had been a moment earlier. he would then have been in time to turn around the corner with the other men and would have seen him rush upon a defenseless woman, push her down, snatch her purse and dash away, but, fortunately, in the direction of the men who assaulted and stopped him. had the last arrival seen the entire affair he would have reversed his opinion and said that the thief got what he deserved. and so it is in our inadequate physical plane view of what we call a calamity. it may appear to involve an injustice, but only because we do not see the entire transaction. those who study the occult laws that shape human destiny may learn to use them for their rapid progress and for insuring a comfortable, as well as spiritually profitable, life journey. but before we can work successfully within the law we must know that the law really exists. most people seem either to believe there is no law that will certainly bring them the results of their good or evil thoughts and acts or that if there is such a law they can in some way dodge it and escape the consequence, and so we see them go along through life always doing the selfish thing or the thoughtless thing. they misstate facts, they engage in gossip, they harbor evil thoughts, they have their enemies and hate them, they scheme to bring discomfort and humiliation upon those whom they dislike. and then, when the harvest from this misdirected energy is ripe and they are misled by the falsehoods of others to their loss and injury, when they fall into the company of schemers and are swindled, when a false story is started about them, when--through no fault of the moment--they are plunged into discomfort and humiliation, they merely call it so much bad luck and go blindly on with their generation of wrong forces that will in due time bring another enforced reaping of pain. there is a law that regulates the pleasure and pain of daily life as certainly as there is a law that guides the earth in its orbit about the sun. that law of action and reaction is just as constant, accurate and immutable as the law of gravity that keeps our feet upon the ground while we come and go and think nothing at all about it. there is something almost terrifying in the immutability of all natural laws and their utterly impersonal aspect. they are the operation of forces which, in themselves, are not related to what we call good and bad. they simply are. the law of gravity will illustrate the point. it operates with no consideration whatever for character or motives. it holds all people, good and bad alike, firmly upon the earth while it whirls through space. if a saint and a fiend stumble over a precipice, it will hurl them both to the bottom with perfect impartiality. if the fiend, who may just have murdered a victim, is more cautious than the saint and avoids the precipice, the law has not favored him. he has merely reaped the reward of his alertness in spite of his bad morals. the saintly man may have come fresh from some deed of mercy but the law of gravity takes no account of that. when he stepped over the precipice, and was dashed to death, he paid the penalty of carelessness regardless of his benevolence. there is profound wisdom in the words "god is no respecter of persons," for, of course, all natural laws are but the expression of the divine will. but this immutability of natural law is not in the least terrifying when we come to look more closely at it. on the contrary it is within that very immutability that divine beneficence and compassion are hidden. it is only by the constancy if the changeless law that we can calculate with absolute certainty and surely attain the results at which we aim. it is because of the certainty that the doing of evil brings pain and the doing of good yields a return of happiness that we can control circumstances and determine destiny. why should there be such a law operating in the mental and moral realm? because only thus can we evolve. we must not only change from ignorance to wisdom but from selfishness to compassion, from wrong doing to perfect harmlessness. how would that be possible without the law of cause and effect, without action and reaction which brings pleasure for righteousness and pain for evil deeds? only under such a law can we learn what is the right and what is the wrong thing to do. if it is agreed that we are souls, that evolution is a fact, and that perfection is the goal of the human race, then the necessity for the law of action and reaction is as obvious as the reason for a law of gravity. the existence and operation of this law of cause and effect are set forth repeatedly in the christian scriptures. "with what measures ye mete it to others it shall be measured to you," is certainly explicit. in proverbs[m] we have this definite declaration: "whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein, and he that rolleth a stone, it shall return upon him." of course the language is figurative. no writer of common sense would assert that every time a workman digs a pit he shall tumble into it nor that whenever anybody rolls a stone it will roll back upon him! we dig pits in the moral world whenever we undermine the character of another with a false story, whether we originate it or merely repeat it, and into such a pit we shall ourselves fall, in the reaction of the law. we have loosened and set rolling the stones of envy and hatred and they shall return to crush us down to failure and humiliation in the reaction that follows. we have ignorantly generated evil forces under the law when we could have used it for our success and happiness. "judge not, that ye be not judged," is another statement of the law of action and reaction. it is not an assertion that we should not judge because we are not qualified nor because we may ignorantly wrong another with such a judgment. it is an explicit statement that the consequence of judging others is that we, in turn, shall be judged. if we criticize, we shall be criticized. if we condemn others for their faults and failures, we shall be condemned. if we are broad and tolerant and remain silent about the frailties of others we shall be tolerantly regarded by others. all of us who have studied the subject find in our daily lives the evidence of the truth of such biblical declarations. we know perfectly well that anger provokes anger and that conciliation wins concessions, while retaliation keeps a feud alive. we know that retort calls out retort, while silence restores the peace. in these little things it is usually within the power of either party to the trouble to have peace instead of turmoil--just a matter of self control. but in the larger events it is not always so. they are not invariably within our immediate control because they are often the results of causes generated in the past which we can no longer modify. and this brings us to a wider view of this law of cause and effect. if we look at the life history of an individual as it stretches out from birth to death it presents a remarkable record of events that appear to have no logical relationship to each other. in childhood, there may have been either great happiness or great sorrow and suffering regardless of the qualities of character we are considering, and there is nothing in the present life of the child to explain either. the child itself may be gentle and affectionate and yet it may be the recipient of gross abuse and cruel misunderstanding. in maturity we may find still greater mysteries. invariably there are mingled successes and failures, pleasures and pains. but when we come to analyze them we fail to find a satisfactory reason for them. we see that the successes often arrive when they are not warranted by anything that was done to win them, and for the want of any rational explanation we call it "good luck." we also observe that sometimes failure after failure comes when the man is not only doing his very best but when all of his plans will stand the test of sound business procedure. baffled again we throw logic to the winds and call it "bad luck." luck is a word we use to conceal our ignorance and our inability to trace the working of the law. suppose we were to ask a savage to explain how it is that a few minutes' time with the morning paper enables one to know what happened yesterday in london. he knows nothing of reporters and cables and presses. he cannot explain it. he cannot even comprehend it. but if he is a vain savage and does not wish to admit his ignorance he might solemnly assert that the reason we know is because we are lucky; and he would be using the word just as sensibly as we use it! if by luck we mean chance, there is no such thing in this world. chance means chaos and the absence of law. from the magnificent, orderly procession of a hundred million suns and their world systems that wheel majestically through space down to the very atom, with all of its electrons, the universe is a stupendous proclamation of the all-pervading presence of law. it is a mighty panorama of cause and effect. there is no such thing as chance. what then _is_ good luck? we know that people do receive benefits which they apparently have not earned. there simply cannot be a result without a cause. they have earned it in other lives when the conditions did not permit immediate harvesting of the results of the good forces generated and nature is paying the debt and making the balance of her books at a later period. it may be in the case of one that some specific act is attracting its reward, or it may be in the case of another that he is nearing the point in evolution where he no longer desires things for himself, only to discover that nature fairly flings her treasures at his feet. he has put himself in harmony with evolutionary law--with the divine plan, and nature withholds nothing. when we eliminate chance, then, we are forced to seek the cause of unexplained good or bad fortune beyond the boundaries of this life because there is nothing else we can do. we have results to explain and we know they do not come from causes that belong to this life. they must of necessity arise from causes generated in a past life. now the moment we get away from the narrow view that we began existence when we were born, all the mysteries about us disappear and we can fall back on natural law and logically explain everything. why does one person begin life with a good mind while another is born with small mental capacity? because one worked hard at life's problems in past incarnations while the other led a butterfly existence and merely amused himself. why does one move serenely through trying circumstances always maintaining a cheerful view of life while another loses control of his temper at the slightest annoyance and wears himself out with the trifling vexations of existence? only because one has for a long period practiced self control while the other has never given a thought to the matter. why is one so thoughtful of others that he wins universal love and admiration while another is so self centered that he makes no true friends at all? again past experience explains it. the one has studied the laws of destiny and lived by them while the other has not yet even learned of their existence. putting aside the old belief that the soul is created at birth, and keeping in mind the newer and scientific view that we have all lived many lives before, all the difficulties and perplexities at once disappear. we are no longer puzzled because we find in a man's life some good fortune when he has apparently done nothing to deserve it, for we see that he must have set the forces in motion in a previous life which now culminate in this result. we are no longer mystified because apparent causeless misfortunes befall him for we know that in the nature of things he did generate the causes in the past. a single incarnation has the same relation to the whole of the soul's evolution that a single day has to one incarnation. as the days are separated by the nights and yet all the days are related by the acts which run through them, so the incarnations are separated by periods of rest in the heaven world and yet all the incarnations are related by the thoughts and acts running through them. what a man does in his youth affects his old age, and what we did in our last incarnation is affecting the present one. the one is no more remarkable than the other. as we mould old age by youth so we are shaping the coming incarnation by this one. before we shall be able to see the utter reasonableness of the truth that what we are now is the result of our past we must have a clear understanding of the relationship between the soul and the body. the physical body in each incarnation is the material expression of the soul, of its moral power or weakness, of its wisdom or ignorance, of its purity or its grossness, just as one's face is, at each moment the expression of one's thought and emotion in physical matter. every change of consciousness registers itself in matter. a man has emotions. he feels a thrill of joy and his face proclaims the fact. he becomes angry, and the change from joy to anger is registered in physical matter so that all who see his face are aware of the change in his consciousness, which they cannot see. these are passing changes like sunshine and shadow and they are obvious to all. but we know that as the years pass the constant influence of consciousness moulds even physical matter into permanent form. a soul of sunny disposition finally comes to have benevolent features while one of morose tendency as certainly has a face of settled gloom. nobody can contact the soul of another with any physical sense we possess yet nobody has the slightest doubt of his ability to distinguish between a sunny, peaceful soul and a soul that is not in harmony with life. we know the difference only because consciousness moulds matter. but this is merely the surface indication. consciousness is continually influencing matter and the major part of its work is not visible to us. what the consciousness is, the body becomes. whether we are now brilliant or stupid, comely or deformed, is the result of the activities of consciousness, and the very grain of the flesh and the shape of the physical body are the registrations in matter of what we, the soul, thought and did in the past. consider a specific thing like deformity and we shall begin to see just why and how it may have come about. if in a past life a person was guilty of deliberate cruelty to another, and on account of it suffered great mental and emotional distress afterward, it would be no remarkable thing if the mental images of the injuries inflicted on his victim are reproduced in himself. in idiocy we have apparently merely a distorted brain so that the consciousness cannot function through it. might not that distortion of the physical brain easily be the result of violent reaction from cruelties in a past life? the consciousness that can be guilty of cruelty is seeing things crooked--out of proportion. otherwise it could not be cruel. this distortion in consciousness must register a corresponding distortion in matter, for the body is the faithful and accurate reflection of that consciousness. it is just because the body is the true and exact expression of the consciousness in physical matter that the palmist and phrenologist can sometimes give us such remarkable delineations of character. the record is there in hand and head for those who can read it. this broader outlook on the life journey, extending over a very long series of incarnations, gives us a wholly different view of the difficulties with which we have to contend and of the limitations which afflict us. it at once shows us that in the midst of apparent injustice there is really nothing but perfect justice for everybody; that all good fortune has been earned; that all bad fortune is deserved, and that each of us is, mentally and morally, what he has made himself. masefield put it well when he wrote: all that i rightly think or do, or make or spoil or bless or blast, is curse or blessing justly due for sloth or effort in the past. my life's a statement of the sum of vice indulged or overcome. and as i journey on the roads i shall be helped and healed and blessed. dear words shall cheer, and be as goads to urge to heights as yet unguessed. my road shall be the road i made. all that i gave shall be repaid. have we ever heard of a plan more just, of a truth more inspiring? it is surely a satisfying thought that every effort shall give increased power of intellect; that all kindly thought of others is a shield for our own protection in time of need; that every impulse of affection shall ripen into the love of comrades; that all noble thinking builds heroic character, with which we shall return, in some future time, to play to a still noble part in the world of men. footnotes: [m] proverbs, xxvi, . chapter xv. superphysical evolution if we accept the idea of evolution at all we cannot escape the conclusion that there is superphysical evolution. the belief that man is the highest intelligence in the universe, except god himself, would be utterly inconsistent with evolutionary facts and principles. evolution is a continuous unfolding from within, and it is only the limitation of our senses that leads us to set limitations to it. the one great life of the universe expresses itself in myriad forms and at innumerable levels of development. one of those levels is humanity. but as certainly as our consciousness has evolved to its present stage it shall go on to higher ones. orderly gradation is clearly nature's method of expression. a continuous, unbroken line of life reaches downward from man. its successive stages are seen in the animals, the reptiles, the insects and the microbes. even the great kingdoms into which the biologist divides life fade into each other almost imperceptibly and it becomes difficult to say where the vegetable kingdom stops and the animal kingdom begins. just as that continuous chain of life runs downward from man it must also rise above him until it merges in the supreme being. there must necessarily be the higher as well as the lower products of evolution. man is merely one link in the evolutionary chain. the human level is the point where consciousness has become completely individualized and is capable of turning back upon itself and studying its own inner processes. the thought of occidental civilization has been sadly fettered with materialism. it has scarcely dared to think beyond that which could be grasped with the hands. the physical senses were its outposts of investigation. what could not be seen or heard or felt had no existence for it. modern science explored the material universe and perfected its methods until the vast panorama of worlds could be intimately studied, and its illimitable scope and colossal grandeur be somewhat comprehended. but there was no study of life comparable to the vast stretch of worlds; for material science had made the remarkable blunder of assuming that the last word on the nature of matter had been said. then came the startling discoveries that revolutionized the accepted views of matter, that proved that the supposedly indivisible atom was a miniature universe, a tiny cosmos of force. the old theories about matter had to be thrown aside. they were as much out of date as the belief that the earth is flat. stripped of technical terms of expression the revised view of matter is, substantially, that it is the lowest expression of life; and now modern science is turning tardy attention to a study of the life side of the universe. the moment that is done the sense of consistency and the law of correspondence compel us to postulate a gradation of intelligences rising above man as man does above the insects. the scientific mind instantly grasps the inherent reasonableness of the existence of superphysical beings. writing on the subject of energy, nicola tesla says: "we can conceive of organized beings living without nourishment and deriving all the energy they need for the performance of their life functions from the ambient medium.*** there may be *** individualized material systems of beings, perhaps of gaseous constitution, or composed of substance still more tenuous. in view of this possibility--nay, probability--we cannot apodictically deny the existence of organized beings on a planet merely because the conditions on the same are unsuitable for the existence of life as we conceive it. we cannot even, with positive assurance, assert that some of them might not be present here in this our world, in the very midst of us, for their constitution and life manifestation may be such that we are unable to perceive them."[n] alfred russell wallace, who was called "the grand old man of science," wrote in one of his latest books: "i think we have got to recognize that between man and the ultimate god there is an almost infinite multitude of beings working in the universe at large, at tasks as definite and important as any we have to perform on earth. i imagine that the universe is peopled with spirits--that is, with intelligent beings with powers and duties akin to our own, but vaster. i think there is a gradual ascent from man upward and onward." while the scientist, still lacking the absolutely conclusive evidence, goes only to the point of asserting that it is reasonable and probable that supermen exist, the occultist asserts it as a fact within his personal knowledge.[o] so we have the direct testimony of the occultists, the endorsement of the scientists as to its probability, and, perhaps the most important of all, the inherent reasonableness of the idea. the relationship of the supermen, or great spiritual hierarchy, to the human race is that of teachers, guardians and directors. they superintend human evolution. but this does not mean in the very least the relationship that is expressed in the term "spirit guides" so frequently use by the spiritualist. that is a totally different thing. they seem to imply that the "spirit guide" gives direct instructions or orders to the person known as a "medium." if we were all thus controlled and directed what would become of free will? evolution can proceed only if we use our initiative in the affairs of life. if we were to be directed by the wisdom and will of others we would not evolve at all. we would be merely automata directed by others, and no matter how great they were we could never thus develop our judgment and self-reliance. it is not thus that the great spiritual hierarchy directs human evolution. it is, in part, by working with mankind en masse and bringing mental and moral forces to play upon them, thus stimulating latent spiritual forces from within. it is also by directly, or indirectly placing ideals instead of commands before the race. in another direction it is actual superintendence, or administration, or teaching, in a way that does not interfere with one's initiative or will. if the soul is to evolve it must have liberty--even the freedom to make mistakes. it is sometimes asked why, if the supermen exist, those who are in incarnation do not come out into the world and give us ocular evidence of the fact. it is pointed out that they could speedily convince the world by a display of superphysical force. but they are probably not in the least interested in convincing anybody of their existence. they _are_ interested in raising the general level of morality, of course, but such an exhibition would not make people morally better. the work of the supermen can best be done from higher planes than the physical. as for the very small number of the supermen who take physical bodies to better do their special work, they can best accomplish it from secluded places; and if they sometimes have reason to come out into the seething vibrations of our modern civilization it is easy to understand that they would not be conspicuously different from other men, to the ordinary observer. it is from the spiritual hierarchy that come all the religions of the world. there the question may arise, "then why do they differ so greatly?" because the peoples to whom they are given differ greatly. the difference of temperament and viewpoint between the orient and the occident is enormous. we are evolving along the outer, the objective, and our civilization represents the material conquest of nature. they are evolving the inner, the subjective. in the orient the common trend of conversation is philosophical, just as in the occident it is commercial. such different types of mind require somewhat different statements of ethics, but the fundamental principles of all religions are identical. when a new era in human evolution begins a world teacher comes into voluntary incarnation and founds a religion that is suited to the requirements of the new era. humanity is never left to grope along alone. all that it can comprehend and utilize is taught it in the various religions. world teachers, the christs and saviours of the race, have been appearing at propitious times since humanity began existence. most readers will probably agree that a world teacher known as the christ did come and found a religion nearly two thousand years ago. why do they think so? they reply that god so loved the world that he sent his son, the christ, to bring it light and life. if that is true how can we avoid the conclusion that he, or his predecessors, must have come many a time before? the belief that he came but once is consistent only with the erroneous notion that genesis is history instead of allegory, and that the earth is about six thousand years old! science has not determined its age but we know that it is very old, indeed. many eminent scientists have made rough estimates, taking into consideration all that we have learned from astronomy, geology and archeology. phillips, the geologist, basing his calculations upon the time required for the depositions of the stratified rocks, put the minimum age at thirty-eight million years and the maximum age at ninety-six million years. sir george darwin, basing his calculation wholly upon astronomical data, puts the earth's age at a minimum of fifty-six million years. joly arrived at his estimate by a calculation of the time required to produce the sodium content of the ocean, and concluded that the age of the earth is between eighty million and one hundred million years. sollas is said to have made careful study of the matter and he finds the minimum to be eighty million, and the maximum age to be one hundred and fifty million years. but perhaps the most exhaustive study of the matter, and that made by the use of the later scientific knowledge, was by bosler, of the french scientists. he bases his calculations upon the radio-activity of rocks and arrives at a minimum earth age of seven hundred and ten millions of years. thus it will be observed that as our knowledge grows the estimated age of the earth increases. in the face of such facts what becomes of the assertion that god so loved the world that he sent his son to help ignorant humanity about two thousand years ago--but never before? what about the hundreds of millions of human beings who lived and died before that time? did he care nothing for them? did he give his attention to humanity for a period of only two thousand years and neglect it for millions of years? two thousand years, compared to the age of the earth, is less than an hour in the ordinary life of a man. does anybody believe that god, in his great compassion, sent just one world teacher for that brief period? what would we say of a father who gave one hour of his whole life to his child and neglected him absolutely before and after that? countless millions of the people who lived and died prior to the coming of the christ were very much like ourselves. they belonged to ancient civilizations that often surpassed our own in many desirable characteristics. they were educated and cultured in their time and fashion. they were fathers and sons and mothers and daughters and husbands and wives, with the same kind of heart ties that we have. what of them? were they permitted to grope in the moral wilderness without a teacher or a ray of light? of course the idea is preposterous. if god so loved the world that he sent his son two thousand years ago he sent him, or some predecessor, very many times before. by the same token he will come again. the only logical escape from such a conclusion is in the materialist's belief that he never came at all. all religions crystalize, become materialized, and lose their spiritual significance. that is precisely what has happened to the various great religions of the modern world, including christianity. it is no longer the dynamic thing in the lives of the people it once was. that's why a world war was possible. the fault is not with the teachings of the christ. the trouble is that the world has not lived by them. we need a restatement of the old teachings in the terms of modern life that shall again make it a living force in the lives of men. it is when the world teacher is most needed that he comes; and when has the need been greater than now? the world war has demonstrated the failure of so-called christian civilization. we have seen the highest type of that civilization revert to the law of the jungle, deliberately disregard the usages of civilized warfare, and commit atrocities that would shame barbarians. we surely need no further proof that the christian religion has not accomplished all that the spiritual hierarchy had a right to hope for, and that the coming of the christ again is a necessity. but the spiritual hierarchy sends its great ambassadors only when the time is propitious, only when the world is ready to listen. perhaps such an event can never be predicted in terms of time, but only in those of conditions. when the strength of the nations is spent, when the slain totals appalling numbers, when few homes of high or low degree are without their terrible sacrifice, when the heart of the race is filled with anguish, when famine and disease have done their awful work, and humanity fully realizes what the reaction from greed, lust, cruelty and revenge actually means, the world will be ready to listen as it never listened before, and after that we may reasonably expect the christ to again appear to re-proclaim the ancient truth in terms of modern life. the supermen are not myths nor figments of imagination. they are as natural and comprehensive as human beings. in the regular order of evolution we shall reach their level and join their ranks while younger humanities shall attain our present estate. as the supermen rose we, too, shall rise. our past has been evolution's night. our present is its dawn. our future shall be its perfect day. think of that night from which we have emerged--a chaos of contending forces, a world in which might was the measure of right, a civilization of scepter and sword, of baron and serf, of master and slave. that, we have left behind us. think of the grey dawn that our civilization has reached--the dawn of a public conscience, of individual liberty, of collective welfare, of the sacredness of life, but with armed force still dominant, with war the arbiter of national destiny, with industrial slavery still lingering, with conflict between the higher aspirations and the lower desires still raging--a world of selfishness masked by civilized usage, a world of veneered cruelty and refined brutality. in all that we now live. but think of the coming results of evolution!--an era in which love shall replace force, when saber and cannon shall be unknown, when selfish desires shall be transmuted into noble service, when, finally, we shall finish the painful period of human evolution and join the spiritual hierarchy to direct the faltering steps of a younger race. footnotes: [n] "the conservation of energy," nicola tesla, century magazine, june . [o] an outline of theosophy, c. w. leadbeater, pp. - . [transcriber's note: the following corrections were made: p. : pretention to pretension (no pretension is made) p. : an to in (in another aspect it is a religion.) p. : thesosophy to theosophy (while theosophy is distinctly a science) p. : discusison to discussion (a detailed discussion of such methods) p. : nevertheelss to nevertheless (is nevertheless just that relationship) p. : explicilt to explicit (is certainly very explicit) p. : period to semi-colon (who's true to man;) p. : communciating to communicating (dead man who is communicating?) p. : extra 'the' removed (more convincing than the evidence) p. - : envelopes to envelops (because it envelops it) p. : oftens to often (often requires death) p. : repreduces to reproduces (exactly reproduces emotion) p. : consciouness to consciousness (finally loses consciousness) p. : of to or (or by cleverly combining) p. : strengthend to strengthened (strengthened and vivified) p. : slight to sight (has not lost sight of us) p. : communciate to communicate (had to communicate with him) p. : communcation to communication (subject of communication) p. : communciate to communicate (desires to communicate) p. : influnces to influences (sensitive to psychic influences) p. : persist to persists (who persists in occupying) p. : confidenty to confidently (will confidently assert himself) p. : close quote added (what can i do?") p. : missing comma added (while we do not yet know a great deal about life, science) p. : perect to perfect (perfect agreement) p. : extra 'and' removed (new and undeveloped) p. : thoughtul to thoughtful (a thoughtful matron) p. : methematical to mathematical (a mathematical problem) p. : if to it (it often puzzles) p. : from to form (highest possible form) p. : missing apostrophe added (of nations' condemned prisoners) p. : extra 'to' removed (civilization today could arise) p. : two erroneously reversed lines corrected (consciousness. the young quails of this season come / they are attached to the same group-soul, or source of) p. : crminal to criminal (a noted criminal) p. : possesing to possessing (we find others possessing) p. : blockquote formatted to match others in text p. : meed to need (no need of praise) p. : incalcuable to incalculable (is incalculable and altogether beyond) p. : responsibilty to responsibility (personal responsibility and therefore) p. : hapen to happen (may happen to fall) p. - : extinquished to extinguished (before the fire could be extinguished) p. : beneficient to beneficent ("beneficent working of the law") p. : phsical to physical (from the physical plane) p. : mistate to misstate (misstate facts) p. : atain to attain (and surely attain) p. : idocy to idiocy (in idiocy we have) p. : maesfield to masefield (masefield put it well) p. : blest to blessed (i shall be helped and healed and blessed.) p. : appodictically to apodictically (cannot apodictically deny) p. : superman to supermen (small number of the supermen) p. : it to is (it is easy to understand) p. : calcualations to calculations (he bases his calculations upon) p. : chrystalize to crystalize (all religions crystalize) p. : embassadors to ambassadors (sends its great ambassadors) irregularities in hyphenation (e.g. wide-spread vs. widespread, class-room vs. classroom) and variant spellings (e.g. cigaret) have not been corrected.] public domain works from the university of michigan digital libraries.) the future of islam by wilfrid scawen blunt "la taknatu addurru yontharu akduhu liauda ahsana fin nithami wa ajmala." "fear not. often pearls are unstrung to be put in better order." _published by permission of the proprietors of the "fortnightly review"_ london kegan paul, trench & co., , paternoster square preface. these essays, written for the _fortnightly review_ in the summer and autumn of , were intended as first sketches only of a maturer work which the author hoped, before giving finally to the public, to complete at leisure, and develop in a form worthy of critical acceptance, and of the great subject he had chosen. events, however, have marched faster than he at all anticipated, and it has become a matter of importance with him that the idea they were designed to illustrate should be given immediate and full publicity. the french, by their invasion of tunis, have precipitated the mohammedan movement in north africa; egypt has roused herself for a great effort of national and religious reform; and on all sides islam is seen to be convulsed by political portents of ever-growing intensity. he believes that his countrymen will in a very few months have to make their final choice in india, whether they will lead or be led by the wave of religious energy which is sweeping eastwards, and he conceives it of consequence that at least they should know the main issues of the problem before them. to shut their eyes to the great facts of contemporary history, because that history has no immediate connection with their daily life, is a course unworthy of a great nation; and in england, where the opinion of the people guides the conduct of affairs, can hardly fail to bring disaster. it should be remembered that the modern british empire, an agglomeration of races ruled by public opinion in a remote island, is an experiment new in the history of the world, and needs justification in exceptional enlightenment; and it must be remembered, too, that no empire ever yet was governed without a living policy. the author, therefore, has resolved to publish his work, crude as it is, without more delay, in the hope that it may be instrumental in guiding the national choice. he is, nevertheless, fully aware of its defects both in accuracy and completeness, and he can only hope that they may be pardoned him in view of the general truth of the picture he has drawn. since the last of these essays was written, their author has returned to egypt, and has there had the satisfaction of finding the ideas, vaguely foreshadowed by him as the dream of some few liberal ulema of the azhar, already a practical reality. cairo has now declared itself as the home of progressive thought in islam, and its university as the once more independent seat of arabian theology. secured from turkish interference by the national movement of the arabs, the ulema of the azhar have joined heart and soul with the party of reform. the importance of this event can hardly be overrated; and if, as now seems probable, a liberal mohammedan government by a free mohammedan people should establish itself firmly on the nile, it is beyond question that the basis of a social and political reformation for all islam has been laid. it is more than all a hopeful sign that extreme moderation with regard to the caliphate is observed by the egyptian leaders. independence, not opposition, is the motto of the party; and no rent has been made or is contemplated by them in the orthodox coat of islam. abd el hamid khan is still recognized as the actual emir el mumenin, and the restoration of a more legitimate caliphate is deferred for the day when its fate shall have overtaken the ottoman empire. this is as it should be. schism would only weaken the cause of religion, already threatened by a thousand enemies; and the premature appearance of an anti-caliph in egypt or arabia, however legitimate a candidate he might be by birth for the office, would divide the mohammedan world into two hostile camps, and so bring scandal and injury on the general cause. in the meantime, however, liberal thought will have a fair field for its development, and can hardly fail to extend its influence wherever the arabic language is spoken, and among all those races which look on the azhar as the centre of their intellectual life. this is a notable achievement, and one which patience may turn, perhaps in a very few years, to a more general triumph. there can be little doubt now that the death of abd el hamid, or his fall from empire, will be the signal for the return of the caliphate to cairo, and a formal renewal there by the arabian mind of its lost religious leadership. to mohammedans the author owes more than a word of apology. a stranger and a sojourner among them, he has ventured on an exposition of their domestic griefs, and has occasionally touched the ark of their religion with what will seem to them a profane hand; but his motive has been throughout a pure one, and he trusts that they will pardon him in virtue of the sympathy with them which must be apparent in every line that he has written. he has predicted for them great political misfortunes in the immediate future, because he believes that these are a necessary step in the process of their spiritual development; but he has a supreme confidence in islam, not only as a spiritual, but as a temporal system the heritage and gift of the arabian race, and capable of satisfying their most civilized wants; and he believes in the hour of their political resurgence. in the meantime he is convinced that he serves their interests best by speaking what he holds to be the truth regarding their situation. their day of empire has all but passed away, but there remains to them a day of social independence better than empire. enlightened, reformed and united in sympathy, mussulmans need not fear political destruction in their original homes, arabia, egypt, and north africa; and these must suffice them as a dar el islam till better days shall come. if the author can do anything to help them to preserve that independence they may count upon him freely within the limits of his strength, and he trusts to prove to them yet his sincerity in some worthier way than by the publication of these first essays. cairo, _january th, _. contents. page chapter i. census of the mohammedan world. the haj chapter ii. the modern question of the caliphate chapter iii. the true metropolis--mecca chapter iv. a mohammedan reformation chapter v. england's interest in islam the future of islam. chapter i. census of the mohammedan world. the haj. in the lull, which we hope is soon to break the storm of party strife in england, it may not perhaps be impossible to direct public attention to the rapid growth of questions which for the last few years have been agitating the religious mind of asia, and which are certain before long to present themselves as a very serious perplexity to british statesmen; questions, moreover, which if not dealt with by them betimes, it will later be found out of their power to deal with at all, though a vigorous policy at the present moment might yet solve them to this country's very great advantage. the revival which is taking place in the mohammedan world is indeed worthy of every englishman's attention, and it is difficult to believe that it has not received anxious consideration at the hands of those whose official responsibility lies chiefly in the direction of asia; but i am not aware that it has hitherto been placed in its true light before the english public, or that a quite definite policy regarding it may be counted on as existing in the counsels of the present cabinet. indeed, as regards the cabinet, the reverse may very well be the case. we know how suspicious english politicians are of policies which may be denounced by their enemies as speculative; and it is quite possible that the very magnitude of the problem to be solved in considering the future of islam may have caused it to be put aside there as one "outside the sphere of practical politics." the phrase is a convenient one, and is much used by those in power amongst us who would evade the labour or the responsibility of great decisions. yet that such a problem exists in a new and very serious form i do not hesitate to affirm, nor will my proposition, as i think, be doubted by any who have mingled much in the last few years with the mussulman populations of western asia. there it is easily discernible that great changes are impending, changes perhaps analogous to those which christendom underwent four hundred years ago, and that a new departure is urgently demanded of england if she would maintain even for a few years her position as the guide and arbiter of asiatic progress. it was not altogether without the design of gaining more accurate knowledge than i could find elsewhere on the subject of this mohammedan revival that i visited jeddah in the early part of the past winter, and that i subsequently spent some months in egypt and syria in the almost exclusive society of mussulmans. jeddah, i argued, the seaport of mecca and only forty miles distant from that famous centre of the moslem universe, would be the most convenient spot from which i could obtain such a bird's-eye view of islam as i was in search of; and i imagined rightly that i should there find myself in an atmosphere less provincial than that of cairo, or bagdad, or constantinople. jeddah is indeed in the pilgrim season the suburb of a great metropolis, and even a european stranger there feels that he is no longer in a world of little thoughts and local aspirations. on every side the politics he hears discussed are those of the great world, and the religion professed is that of a wider islam than he has been accustomed to in turkey or in india. there every race and language are represented, and every sect. indians, persians, moors, are there,--negroes from the niger, malays from java, tartars from the khanates, arabs from the french sahara, from oman and zanzibar, even, in chinese dress and undistinguishable from other natives of the celestial empire, mussulmans from the interior of china. as one meets these walking in the streets, one's view of islam becomes suddenly enlarged, and one finds oneself exclaiming with sir thomas browne, "truly the (mussulman) world is greater than that part of it geographers have described." the permanent population, too, of jeddah is a microcosm of islam. it is made up of individuals from every nation under heaven. besides the indigenous arab, who has given his language and his tone of thought to the rest, there is a mixed resident multitude descended from the countless pilgrims who have remained to live and die in the holy cities. these preserve, to a certain extent, their individuality, at least for a generation or two, and maintain a connection with the lands to which they owe their origin and the people who were their countrymen. thus there is constantly found at jeddah a free mart of intelligence for all that is happening in the world; and the common gossip of the bazaar retails news from every corner of the mussulman earth. it is hardly too much to say that one can learn more of modern islam in a week at jeddah than in a year elsewhere, for there the very shopkeepers discourse of things divine, and even the frank vice-consuls prophesy. the hejazi is less shy, too, of discussing religious matters than his fellow mussulmans are in other places. religion is, as it were, part of his stock-in-trade, and he is accustomed to parade it before strangers. with a european he may do this a little disdainfully, but still he will do it, and with less disguise or desire to please than is in most places the case. moreover--and this is important--it is almost always the practical side of questions that the commercial jeddan will put forward. he sees things from a political and economical point of view, rather than a doctrinal, and if fanatical, he is so from the same motives, and no others, which once moved the citizens of ephesus to defend the worship of their shrines. in other cities, cairo and constantinople excepted, the ulema, or learned men, of whom a stranger might seek instruction, would be found busying themselves mainly with doctrinal matters not always interesting at the present day, old-world arguments of koranic interpretation which have from time immemorial occupied the schools. but here even these are treated practically, and as they bear on the political aspect of the hour. for myself, i became speedily impressed with the advantage thus afforded me, and neglected no opportunity which offered itself for listening and asking questions, so that without pretending to the possession of more special skill than any intelligent inquirer might command, i obtained a mass of information i cannot but think to be of great value--while this in its turn served me later as an introduction to such mussulman divines as i afterwards met in the north. jeddah then realized all my hopes and gratified nearly all my curiosities. i will own, too, to having come away with more than a gratified curiosity, and to having found new worlds of thought and life in an atmosphere i had fancied to be only of decay. i was astonished at the vigorous life of islam, at its practical hopes and fears in this modern nineteenth century, and above all at its reality as a moral force; so that if i had not exactly come to scoff, i certainly remained, in a certain sense, to pray. at least i left it interested, as i had never thought to be, in the great struggle which seemed to me impending between the parties of reaction in islam and reform, and not a little hopeful as to its favourable issue. what this is likely to be i now intend to discuss. first, however, it will i think be as well to survey briefly the actual composition of the mohammedan world. it is only by a knowledge of the elements of which islam is made up that we can guess its future, and these are less generally known than they should be. a stranger from europe visiting the hejaz is, as i have said, irresistibly struck with the vastness of the religious world in whose centre he stands. mohammedanism to our western eyes seems almost bounded by the limits of the ottoman empire. the turk stands in our foreground, and has stood there from the days of bajazet, and in our vulgar tongue his name is still synonymous with moslem, so that we are apt to look upon him as, if not the only, at least the chief figure of islam. but from arabia we see things in a truer perspective, and become aware that beyond and without the ottoman dominions there are races and nations, no less truly followers of the prophet, beside whom the turk shrinks into numerical insignificance. we catch sight, it may be for the first time in their real proportions, of the old persian and mogul monarchies, of the forty million mussulmans of india, of the thirty million malays, of the fifteen million chinese, and the vast and yet uncounted mohammedan populations of central africa. we see, too, how important is still the arabian element, and how necessary it is to count with it, in any estimate we may form of islam's possible future. turkey, meanwhile, and constantinople, retire to a rather remote horizon, and the mussulman centre of gravity is as it were shifted from the north and west towards the south and east. i was at some pains while at jeddah to gain accurate statistics of the haj according to the various races and sects composing it, and with them of the populations they in some measure represent. the pilgrimage is of course no certain guide as to the composition of the mussulman world, for many accidents of distance and political circumstance interfere with calculations based on it. still to a certain extent a proportion is preserved between it and the populations which supply it; and in default of better, statistics of the haj afford us an index not without value of the degree of religious vitality existing in the various mussulman countries. my figures, which for convenience i have arranged in tabular form, are taken principally from an official record, kept for some years past at jeddah, of the pilgrims landed at that port, and checked as far as european subjects are concerned by reference to the consular agents residing there. they may therefore be relied upon as fairly accurate; while for the land pilgrimage i trust in part my own observations, made three years ago, in part statistics obtained at cairo and damascus. for the table of population in the various lands of islam i am obliged to go more directly to european sources of information. as may be supposed, no statistics on this point of any value were obtainable at jeddah; but by taking the figures commonly given in our handbooks, and supplementing and correcting these by reference to such persons as i could find who knew the countries, i have, i hope, arrived at an approximation to the truth, near enough to give a tolerable idea to general readers of the numerical proportions of islam. strict accuracy, however, i do not here pretend to, nor would it if obtainable materially help my present argument. the following is my table:-- table of the mecca pilgrimage of . | | | total of nationality of pilgrims. |arriving|arriving| mussulman |by sea. |by land.| population | | | represented. -----------------------------------------+--------+--------+------------ ottoman subjects including pilgrims from | | | syria and irak, but not from egypt or | | | arabia proper | , | , | , , | | | egyptians | , | , | , , | | | mogrebbins ("people of the west"), that | | | is to say arabic-speaking mussulmans | | | from the barbary states, tripoli, | | | tunis, algiers, and morocco. these are | | | always classed together and are not | | | easily distinguishable from each other | , | ... | , , | | | arabs from yemen | , | ... | , , | | | " " oman and hadramaut | , | ... | , , | | | " " nejd, assir, and hasa, most | | | of them wahhabites | ... | , | , , | | | " " hejaz, of these perhaps | | | , meccans | ... | , | , , | | | negroes from soudan | , | ... | , , (?) | | | " " zanzibar | , | ... | , , | | | malabari from the cape of good hope | | ... | | | | persians | , | , | , , | | | indians (british subjects) | , | ... | , , | | | malays, chiefly from java and dutch | | | subjects | , | ... | , , | | | chinese | | ... | , , | | | mongols from the khanates, included in | | | the ottoman haj | ... | ... | , , | | | lazis, circassians, tartars, etc. | | | (russian subjects), included in the | | | ottoman haj | ... | ... | , , | | | independent afghans and beluchis, | | | included in the indian and persian | | | hajs | ... | ... | , , |-----------------|------------ total of pilgrims present at arafat | , | total census of islam | , , the figures thus roundly given require explanation in order to be of their full value as a bird's-eye view of islam. i will take them as nearly as possible in the order in which they stand, grouping them, however, for further convenience sake under their various sectarian heads, for it must be remembered that islam, which in its institution was intended to be one community, political and religious, is now divided not only into many nations, but into many sects. all, however, hold certain fundamental beliefs, and all perform the pilgrimage to mecca, where they meet on common ground, and it is to this latter fact that the importance attached to the haj is mainly owing. the main beliefs common to all mussulmans are-- . a belief in one true god, the creator and ordainer of all things. . a belief in a future life of reward or punishment. . a belief in a divine revelation imparted first to adam and renewed at intervals to noah, to abraham, to moses, and to jesus christ, and last of all in its perfect form to mohammed. this revelation is not only one of dogma, but of practice. it claims to have taught an universal rule of life for all mankind in politics and legislation as well as in doctrine and in morals. this is called islam. . a belief in the koran as the literal word of god, and of its inspired interpretation by the prophet and his companions, preserved through tradition (hadith).[ ] these summed up in the well-known "kelemat" or act of faith, "there is no god but god, and mohammed is the apostle of god," form a common doctrinal basis for every sect of islam--and also common to all are the four religious acts, prayer, fasting, almsgiving and pilgrimage, ordained by the koran itself. on other points, however, both of belief and practice, they differ widely; so widely that the sects must be considered as not only distinct from, but hostile to, each other. they are nevertheless, it must be admitted, less absolutely irreconcileable than are the corresponding sects of christianity, for all allow the rest to be distinctly within the pale of islam, and they pray on occasion in each other's mosques and kneel at the same shrines on pilgrimage. neither do they condemn each other's errors as altogether damnable--except, i believe, in the case of the wahhabites, who accuse other moslems of polytheism and idolatry. the census of the four great sects may be thus roughly given-- . the sunites or orthodox mohammedans , , . the shiites or sect of ali , , . the abadites (abadhiyeh) , , . the wahhabites , , the _sunites_, or people of the path, are of course by far the most important of these. they stand in that relation to the other sects in which the catholic church stands to the various christian heresies, and claim alone to represent that continuous body of tradition political and religious, which is the sign of a living church. in addition to the dogmas already mentioned, they hold that, after the prophet and his companions, other authorised channels of tradition exist of hardly less authority with these. the sayings of the four first caliphs, as collected in the first century of the mohammedan era, they hold to be inspired and unimpeachable, as are to a certain extent the theological treatises of the four great doctors of islam, the imams abu hanifeh, malek, esh shafy, and hanbal, and after them, though with less and less authority, the "fetwas," or decisions of distinguished ulema, down to the present day. the collected body of teaching acquired from these sources is called the sheriat (in turkey the sheriati sherifeh) and is the canon law of islam. nor is it lawful that this should be gainsaid; while the imams themselves may not inaptly be compared to the fathers of our christian church. it is a dogma, too, with the sunites that they are not only an ecclesiastical but a political body, and that among them is the living representative of the temporal power of the prophet, in the person of his khalifeh or successor, though there is much division of opinion as to the precise line of succession in the past and the legitimate ownership of the title in the present. but this is too intricate and important a matter to be entered on at present. the sunites are then the body of authority and tradition, and being more numerous than the other three sects put together in a proportion of four and a half to one, have a good right to treat these as heretics. it must not, however, be supposed that even the sunites profess absolutely homogeneous opinions. the path of orthodox islam is no macadamised road such as the catholic church of christendom has become, but like one of its own haj routes goes winding on, a labyrinth of separate tracks, some near, some far apart, some clean out of sight of the rest. all lead, it is true, in the same main direction, and here and there in difficult ground where there is a mountain range to cross or where some defile narrows they are brought together, but otherwise they follow their own ways as the idiosyncrasy of race and disposition may dictate. there is no common authority in the world acknowledged as superior to the rest, neither is there any office corresponding even remotely with the infallible papacy. the mohammedan nations have for the most part each its separate school, composed of its own ulema and presided over by its own grand mufti or sheykh el islam, and these are independent of all external influence. if they meet at all it is at mecca, but even at mecca there is no college of cardinals, no central authority; and though occasionally cases are referred thither or to constantinople or cairo, the fetwas given are not of absolute binding power over the faithful in other lands. moreover, besides these national distinctions, there are three recognized schools of theology which divide between them the allegiance of the orthodox, and which, while not in theory opposed, do in fact represent as many distinct lines of religious thought. these it has been the fashion with european writers to describe as sects, but the name sect is certainly inaccurate, for the distinctions recognisable in their respective teachings are not more clearly marked than in those of our own church parties, the high, the low, and the broad. indeed a rather striking analogy may be traced between these three phases of english church teaching and the three so-called "orthodox sects" of islam. the three mohammedan schools are the hanefite, the malekite, and the shafite, while a fourth, the hanbalite, is usually added, but it numbers at the present day so few followers that we need not notice it.[ ] a few words will describe each of these. the _hanefite_ school of theology may be described as the school of the upper classes. it is the high and dry party of church and state, if such expressions can be used about islam. to it belongs the osmanli race, i believe without exception, the ruling race of the north, and their kinsmen who founded empires in central and southern asia. the official classes, too, in most parts of the world are hanefite, including the viceregal courts of egypt, tripoli, and tunis, and it would seem the courts of most of the indian princes. it is probably rather as a consequence of this than as its reason that it is the most conservative of schools, conservative in the true sense of leaving things exactly as they are. the turkish ulema have always insisted strongly on the dogma that the _ijtahad_, that is to say the elaboration of new doctrine, is absolutely closed; that nothing can be added to or taken away from the already existing body of religious law, and that no new _mujtahed_, or doctor of islam, can be expected who shall adapt that law to the life of the modern world. at the same time, while obstinate in matters of opinion, hanefism has become extremely lax as to practice. its moral teaching is held, and i believe justly, to be adapted only too closely to the taste of its chief supporters. it is accused by its enemies of having given the sanction of its toleration to the moral disorders common among the turks, their use of fermented drinks, their immoderate concubinage and other worse vices. it is, in fact, the official school of ottoman orthodoxy. it embraces most of those who at the present day support the revived spiritual pretensions of constantinople. the pilgrimage then described in our table as ottoman is mostly made up of men of this theological school. it must not, however, be supposed that anything like the whole number either of the pilgrims, or of the , , population they represent, is composed of turks. the true ottoman turk is probably now among the rarest of visitors to mecca, and it is doubtful whether the whole turkish census in europe and in asia amounts to more than four millions. with regard to the pilgrimage there is good reason why this should be the case. in turkey, all the able-bodied young men, who are the first material of the haj, are taken from other duties for military service, and hardly any now make their tour of the kaaba except in the sultan's uniform. rich merchants, the second material of the haj in other lands, are almost unknown among the turks; and the officials, the only well-to-do class in the empire, have neither leisure nor inclination to absent themselves from their worldly business of intrigue. besides, the official turk is already too civilized to put up readily with the real hardships of the haj. in spite of the alleviations effected by the steam navigation of the red sea, pilgrimage is still no small matter, and once landed at jeddah, all things are much as they were a hundred years ago, while the turk has changed. with his modern notion of dress and comfort he may indeed be excused for shrinking from the quaint nakedness of the pilgrim garb and the bare-headed march to arafat under a tropical sun. besides, there is the land journey still of three hundred miles to make before he can reach medina, and what to some would be worse hardship, a wearisome waiting afterwards in the unhealthy ports of hejaz. the turkish official, too, has learned to dispense with so many of the forms of his religion that he finds no difficulty in making himself excuses here. in fact, he seldom or never now performs the pilgrimage. the mass of the ottoman haj is made up of kurds, syrians, albanians, circassians, lazis, and tartars from russia and the khanates, of everything rather than real turks. nor are those that come distinguished greatly for their piety or learning. the school of st. sophia at constantinople has lost its old reputation as a seat of religious knowledge; and its ulema are known to be more occupied with the pursuit of court patronage than with any other science. so much indeed is this the case that serious students often prefer a residence at bokhara, or even in the heretical schools of persia, as a more real road to learning. turkey proper boasts at the present day few theologians of note, and still fewer independent thinkers. the egyptian haj is far more flourishing. speaking the language of arabia, the citizen of cairo is more at home in the holy places than any inhabitant of the northern towns can be. the customs of hejaz are very nearly his own customs, and its climate not much more severe than his. cairo, too, can boast a far more ancient political connection with mecca than constantinople can, for as early as the twelfth century the sultans of egypt were protectors of the holy places, while even since the ottoman conquest, the caliph's authority in arabia has been almost uninterruptedly interpreted by his representative at cairo. so lately as this was the position of things at mecca, and it is only since the opening of the suez canal that direct administration from constantinople has been seriously attempted. to the present day the viceroy of egypt shares with the sultan the privilege of sending a mahmal, or camel litter, to mecca every year with a covering for the kaaba. moreover the azhar mosque of cairo is the great university of arabic-speaking races, and its ulema have the highest reputation of any in islam. egyptian influence, therefore, must be reckoned as an important element in the forces which make up mohammedan opinion. the late khedive, it is true, did much to impair this by his infidelity and his coquetteries with europe, and under his reign the egyptian haj fell to a low level; but mohammed towfik, who is a sincere, though liberal mussulman, has already restored much of his country's prestige at mecca, and it is not unlikely that in time to come egypt, grown materially prosperous, may once more take a leading part in the politics of islam.[ ] but of this later. all three schools of theology are taught in the azhar mosque, and egyptians are divided, according to their class, between them. the viceroy and the ruling clique, men of ottoman origin, are hanefites, and so too are the descendants of the circassian beys, but the leading merchants of cairo and the common people of that city are shafites, while the fellahin of the delta are almost entirely malekite. malekite, too, are the tribes west of the nile, following the general rule of the population of africa.[ ] the _malekite_ school of religious thought differs widely from the hanefite. if the latter has been described as the high church party of islam, this must be described as the low. it is puritanical, fierce in its dogma, severe in its morals, and those who profess it are undoubtedly the most fervent, the most fanatical of believers. they represent more nearly than any other mussulmans the ancient earnestness of the prophet's companions, and the sword in their hand is ever the sword of god. piety too, ostensible and sincere, is found everywhere among the malekites. abd el kader, the soldier saint, is their type; and holy men by hereditary profession abound among them. the malekites believe with earnest faith in things supernatural, dreaming prophetic dreams, and seeing miracles performed as every-day occurrences. with the arabs of africa, unlike their kinsmen in arabia itself, to pray and fast is still a severe duty, and no class of mussulmans are more devout on pilgrimage. in algiers and morocco it is as common for a young man of fortune to build a mosque as it is for him to keep a large stud of horses. to do so poses him in the world, and a life of prayer is strictly a life of fashion. with regard to morals he is severe where the koran is severe, indulgent where it indulges. wine with him is an abomination, and asceticism with regard to meat and tobacco is often practised by him. on the whole he is respectable and respected; but the reforms he would impose on islam are too purely reactive to be altogether acceptable to the mass of mohammedans or suited to the urgent necessities of the age. it is conceivable, however, that should the revival of islam take the form of a religious war, the races of africa may be found taking the leading part in it. tripoli, tunis, algiers, and morocco contain hardy races of fighting men who may yet trouble europe; and fifty years of rule have not yet assimilated the french sahara. it is difficult to gain accurate statistics as to the proportion of pilgrims sent to mecca by these various states, but it would seem the algerian pilgrimage is the smallest. this is due mainly to hindrances raised by the french government, whose policy it is to isolate their province from the rest of the mussulman world. an algerian pilgrim is called upon to produce the sum of francs before he is permitted to embark for jeddah, and he is subjected to various other needless formalities. still the number sent is large and their fervour undoubted, though the upper classes, from a fear of losing credit with the french authorities, rather hold aloof. the mainstay of the mogrebbin haj are the moors. these have an immense name for zeal and religious courage at mecca, and for the great scrupulosity with which they perform their religious duties. there is too among the moors a far wider level of theological education than among most mussulmans. i made acquaintance while at jeddah with a young arab from shinghiat in senegal who, bedouin as he was, was an alem, and one sufficiently well versed in the sheriat to be referred to more than once in my presence on points of religious law and literature. i expressed my surprise at finding a bedouin thus learned, for he was evidently an arab of the arabs, but he told me his was no exceptional position, and that most bedouins in southern morocco could read the koran. the moors would have a still higher position in islam than that already given them were it not that they are on one point at variance with the mass of sunites. they do not acknowledge the modern caliphate. those therefore of the sunites who have acknowledged the ottoman claim are at issue with the moors. on all other points, however, the moors are sunites of the sunites. from the moor to the negro is but a step, though it is a step of race, perhaps of species. the political and religious connection of morocco with the soudan is a very close one, and, whatever may be the future of the mediterranean provinces fronting the spanish coast, it cannot be doubted that the moorish form of mohammedanism will be perpetuated in central africa. it is there, indeed, that islam has the best certainty of expansion and the fairest field for a propagation of its creed. statistics, if they could be obtained, would, i am convinced, show an immense mohammedan progress within the last hundred years among the negro races, nor is this to be wondered at. islam has so much to offer to the children of ham that it cannot fail to win them--so much more than any form of christianity or european progress can give. the christian missionary makes his way slowly in africa. he has no true brotherhood to offer the negro except in another life. he makes no appeal to a present sense of dignity in the man he would convert. what christian missionary takes a negress to wife or sits with the negro wholly as an equal at meat? their relations remain at best those of teacher with taught, master with servant, grown man with child. the mohammedan missionary from morocco meanwhile stands on a different footing. he says to the negro, "come up and sit beside me. give me your daughter and take mine. all who pronounce the formula of islam are equal in this world and in the next." in becoming a mussulman even a slave acquires immediate dignity and the right to despise all men, whatever their colour, who are not as himself. this is a bribe in the hand of the preacher of the koran, and one which has never appealed in vain to the enslaved races of the world.[ ] central africa then may be counted on as the inheritance of islam at no very distant day. it is already said to count ten millions of moslems. the _shafite_ school, the third of the four "orthodox sects," is the most flourishing of all in point of numbers, and it has characteristics which mark it out as the one best adapted to survive in the struggle which is impending between the schools of religious thought in islam. the shafites may be compared to our broad church, though without its immediate tendency to infidelity. with the shafites there is a disposition to widen rather than to narrow the area of theology. the hanefites and malekites proclaim loudly that inquiry has been closed and change is impossible, but the shafites are inclined to seek a new mujtahed who shall reconcile islam with the modern conditions of the world. they feel that there is something wrong in things as they are, for islam is no longer politically prosperous, and they would see it united once more and reorganized even at the expense of some dogmatic concessions. i know that many even of the shafites themselves will deny this, for no mussulman will willingly acknowledge that he is an advocate of change; but it is unquestionable that among members of their school such ideas are more frequently found than with the others. among the shafites, too, ideas of a moral reformation find a footing, and they speak more openly than the rest their suspicion that the house of othman, with its fornications and its bestialities and contempt of justice, has been the ruin of islam. arabian custom is the basis of its ideas upon this head, for most arabs out of africa if anything are shafites; and it is the school of the virtuous poor rather than of the licentious rich. it is more humane in its bearing towards jews and christians, finding a common ground with them in the worship of the one true god, the moral law propounded at various times to man, and the natural distinction between right and wrong. i may exaggerate this, perhaps, but something of it certainly exists, and it is a feeling that is growing. shafism has its stronghold at cairo, where the sheykh el islam has always belonged to this rite, but it is also the prevailing school in asia wherever mohammedanism has been introduced through the instrumentality of arabian missionaries. in india the mass of the mussulman population is shafite, especially in hyderabad and the bombay presidency, where the arab element is strongest, while hanefism is the school of the great people who derive their origin from the mogul conquests, and of many of the ulema who are in the habit of making their religious education complete in the hanefite schools of bokhara. wahhabism, too, in the present century has taken great hold of the poorer classes, and within the last few years a turkish propaganda has been at work among them with some success. but of this again later. the indian haj is the most numerous, and represents the largest population of all on our list, and it is besides the most wealthy. the indian mussulman has less to fear from the climate of arabia than the native of more northern lands, and few who can afford it fail to perform this religious duty at least once in their lives. the english government neither checks nor encourages the haj, and indeed of late years has shown a rather culpable negligence as to the interests of british subjects on pilgrimage. such at least is the opinion i heard constantly given at jeddah, and several recent incidents seem to prove that a little closer attention to this matter would be advisable. that ugly story which was told in our newspapers more than a year ago of the abandonment of a pilgrim ship in the red sea by her british captain is, i am sorry to say, a true one, and i heard it confirmed with every circumstance which could aggravate the charges made. the captain in a fit of panic left the ship without any substantial excuse, and if it had not been for the good conduct of a young man, his nephew, who, though ordered to leave too, refused out of humanity, there is little doubt that the vessel would have been lost. a very painful impression was produced on the jeddans while i was there by the news that this english captain had been sentenced for all punishment by an english court to two years' suspension of his certificate. indian pilgrims have besides been very roughly treated in hejaz by the authorities during the last year because they were british subjects, and this without obtaining any redress. such at least is the gossip of the town. however this may be, it seems to me astonishing that so important a matter as the indian haj should be left, as it now is, entirely in the hands of chance. the dutch do not so leave the management of their pilgrimage from java, which, it will be remarked, stands second only to india on my list in respect of numbers. their policy is a very definite one and seems justified by results. there is no disillusion, they argue, for a mussulman greater than to have visited mecca, and they say that a returned hajji is seldom heard to complain in java of his lot as the subject of a christian power. besides the disappointment which all pilgrims are wont to feel who come with exalted hopes and find their holy lands undistinguishable from the other lands of the world, the pilgrim to mecca certainly has to encounter a series of dangers and annoyances which he cannot but recognize to be the result of mussulman misgovernment. from the moment of his landing on the holy shore he finds himself beset with dangers. he is fleeced by the turkish officials, befooled by the religious touts of the towns, and sometimes robbed openly by actual highway robbers. the religious government of the land has no redress to offer him, and the turkish guardians of the peace who affect to rule are only potent in demanding fees. at every step he is waylaid and tricked and ill-treated. he finds the hejazi, the keepers of the holy places and privileged ciceroni of the shrines, shrewder as men of business than devout as believers, and he returns to his home a sadder and, the dutch say, a wiser man. i do not affirm that the dutch are right; but this is the principle they act on, and they boast of its success. we in india, as i have said, in our grand careless way, leave all these things to chance. india, nevertheless, still holds the first rank in the haj, and, all things considered, is now the most important land where the mohammedan faith is found. in the day of its greatness the mogul empire was second to no state in islam, and though its political power is in abeyance, the religion itself is by no means in decay. india has probably a closer connection at the present moment with mecca than any other country, and it is looked upon by many there as the mussulman land of the future. indeed, it may safely be affirmed that the course of events in india will determine more than anything else the destiny of mohammedanism in the immediate future of this and the next generation. the malays, though holding no very high position in the commonwealth of islam, are important from their numbers, their commercial prosperity, and, more than all to an european observer, from the fact that so many of them are dutch subjects. holland, if any lesson for the future can be learned in history, must in a few years find her fate linked with that of germany, and so too her colonies. i will not now enlarge upon the prospect thus opened, but it is a suggestive one, and worthy of all possible attention. for the moment the malays stand rather apart from other pilgrims at the shrines. they boast no great school of theology or particular religious complexion; and as pilgrims they are held in rather low esteem from their penurious ways. but they are a dark element in the future, which it is equally easy to under as to over rate. originally converted by, and to a certain degree descended from, arabs, they are, as far as i could learn, followers of the shafite teaching, and inclined to the broad rather than the narrow ways of islam. they number, according to the dutch consular agent at jeddah, thirty million souls, and are increasing rapidly both in java and in the other islands of the malay archipelago. another enigma are the chinese. i saw a few of them in the streets, and made inquiries as to them. but i could gain no certain information. i have heard them estimated as high as twenty millions and as low as five, but it is certain that they are very numerous.[ ] they established themselves in china, it is said, about the second century of islam, and their missionaries were men of arab race. they are found scattered in groups all over china, but principally inland, and have full enjoyment of their religion, being a united body which is respectable and makes itself respected--so much so that the "houi-tse," or people of the resurrection, as they are called, are employed in the highest offices of the chinese state.[ ] it is plain, however, that they are hardly at all connected with the modern life of islam, for it is only within the last few years that any of them have performed the pilgrimage; and if i include them in my lists as sunites and shafites it is in default of other classification. they probably hold to the mussulman world a position analogous in its isolation to that of the abyssinian church in christendom. they too, however, may one day make their existence felt; for china is no dead nation, only asleep. and with them our survey of orthodox islam ends. the heretical sects remain to us. of these the most notable without contestation is the shiite, or sect of ali, which traces its origin to the very day of the prophet's death, when abu bekr was elected caliph to ali's exclusion. i will not here renew the arguments urged in this old dispute more than to say that the dispute still exists, though it has long ceased to be the only cause of difference between shiah and suni. beginning merely as a political schism, the shiite sect is now distinctly a heresy, and one which has wandered far from the orthodox road. their principal features of quarrel with the sunites are--first, a repudiation of the caliphate and of all hierarchical authority whatsoever; secondly, the admission of a right of free judgment in individual doctors on matters of religion; and thirdly, a general tendency to superstitious beliefs unauthorized by the koran or by the written testimony of the prophet's companions. they also--and this is their great doctrinal quarrel with the unitarian sunites--believe in a series of incarnations of the twelve qualities of god in the persons of the "twelve imams," and in the advent of the last of them as a messiah, or "móhdy," doctrines which are especially advanced by the sheykhi school of shiism and minimized by the mutesharreh or orthodox. these last matters, however, are rather excrescences than necessary parts of shiism. they owe their prevalence, without doubt, to the persian mind, which is equally prone to scepticism and credulity, and where shiism has always had its stronghold. the religious constitution of the sect of ali has been described to me by a member of it who knows europe well as resembling in its organization the presbyterian church of scotland. that is to say, it acknowledges no head, temporal or spiritual, and each congregation represents a separate unit of authority in itself. there is no such functionary in persia as sheykh el islam, or grand mufti, and the shah claims to be neither imam nor caliph. each shiite doctor who has taken his degree at kerbela or ispahan may deliver his fetwa or opinion on points of doctrine, and the only test of his authority to preach or lead the prayer in mosque is his power of attracting a congregation. it is strange that in a sect which had its origin in an assertion of hereditary right to the caliphate everything hereditary should be now rigidly excluded. in theory, i believe the shias still hold that there is an imam and caliph, but they will not tolerate the pretension of any one now in authority to the title, and leave it in abeyance until the advent of the móhdy, or guide, who is to reunite islam and restore its fortunes. so much is this the case that, sovereign though he be and absolute master in persia, the shah is to the present day looked upon by the persians as a usurper, and he himself acknowledges the fact in a rather curious ceremony. it is a maxim with mussulmans of all sects that prayer is not valid if made in another man's house without his permission, and this being so, and the shah admitting that his palaces of right belong not to himself but to the móhdy, he is obliged to lease them according to legal form from an alem or mujtahed, acting for the supposed móhdy, before he can pray in them to his spiritual profit. it will be readily understood that, with such an organization and with such tendencies to deductive reasoning, a wide basis is given for divergence of opinion among the shiites, and that while the more highly educated of their mollahs occasionally preach absolute pantheism, others consult the grosser inclinations of the vulgar, and indulge their hearers with the most extravagant tales of miracle and superstition. these are a constant source of mockery to the sunites. among the more respectable shiite beliefs, however, there seems to be a general conviction in persia that a reform of islam is at hand, and that a new leader may be expected at any moment and from any quarter, so that enthusiasts are constantly found simulating the gifts of inspiration and affecting a divine mission. the history of the babites, so well described by m. de gobineau in his _religions of asia_, is a case in point, and similar occurrences are by no means rare in persia. i met at jeddah a highly educated persian gentleman, who informed me that he had himself been witness when a boy to a religious prodigy, notorious, if i remember rightly, at tabriz. on that occasion, one of these prophets being condemned to death by the supreme government, was bound to a cross with two of his companions, and after remaining suspended thus for several hours, was fired at by the royal troops. it then happened that, while the companions were dispatched at the first volley, the prophet himself remained unhurt, and, incredible to relate, the cords which bound him were cut by the bullets, and he fell to the ground on his feet. "you christians," said another persian gentleman once to me, "talk of your christ as the son of god and think it strange, but with us the occurrence is a common one. believe me we have 'sons of god' in nearly all our villages." thus, with the shiites, extremes meet. no moslems more readily adapt themselves to the superficial atheisms of europe than do the persians, and none are more ardently devout, as all who have witnessed the miracle play of the two imams will be obliged to admit. extremes, too, of morality are seen, fierce asceticisms and gross licentiousnesses. by no sect of islam is the duty of pilgrimage more religiously observed, or the prayers and ablutions required by their rule performed with a stricter ritual. but the very pilgrims who go on foot to mecca scruple not to drink wine there, and persian morality is everywhere a byword. in all these circumstances there is much to fear as well as to hope on the side of the shiite sect; but their future only indirectly involves that of islam proper. their whole census does not probably exceed fifteen millions, and it shows no tendency to increase. outside persia we find about one million irâki arabs, a few in syria and afghanistan, and at most five millions in india. one small group still maintains itself in the neighbourhood of medina, where it is tolerated rather than acknowledged, and a few shiites are to be found in most of the large cities of the west, but everywhere the sect of ali stands apart from and almost in a hostile attitude to the rest of islam. it is noticeable, however, that within the last fifty years the religious bitterness of shiite and sunite is sensibly in decline. the next most important of the heretical sects is the abadiyeh. these, according to some, are the religious descendants of the khawarij, a sect which separated itself from the califate in the time of the seyid ali, and, after a severe persecution in irak, took refuge at last in oman. whatever their present doctrines, they seem at first to have been like the shiites, political schismatics. they maintained that any mussulman, so long as he was not affected with heresy, might be chosen imam, and that he might be deposed for heresy or ill-conduct, and indeed that there was no absolute necessity for any imam at all. they are at present only found in oman and zanzibar, where they number, it is said, about four millions. till as late as the last century the imamate was an elective office among them, but with the accession of the abu saïd dynasty it became hereditary in that family.[ ] they reject all communion with the sunites, but i have not been able to discover that they hold any doctrines especially offensive to the mass of moslems. their differences are mainly negative, and consist in the rejection of califal history and authority later than the reign of omar, and of a vast number of traditions now incorporated in the sunite faith. allied to them but, as i understood, separate, are the zeïdites of yemen, who are possibly also descended from the khawarij. but, as the zeïdites are accustomed to conceal the fact of their heresy and to pass themselves when on pilgrimage as sunites, i could learn little about them. they were, till ten years ago, independent under the imams of sana, and it is certain that they repudiate the califate. in former times, before the first conquest of arabia by the turks, these imams were all powerful in hejaz, and on the destruction of the bagdad califate assumed the title of hami el harameyn, protector of the holy places. the turks, however, now occupy sana, and the office of imam is in abeyance. the zeïdites can hardly number more than two millions, and their only importance in the future lies in the fact of their geographical proximity to mecca, and in the fact that their sympathies lie on the side of liberality in opinion and reform in morals. neither zeïdites nor abadites have any adherents out of their own countries. of the wahhabites a more detailed account is needed, as although their numbers are small and their political importance less than it formerly was, the spirit of their reform movement still lives and exercises a potent influence on modern mohammedan ideas. i have described elsewhere[ ] the historical vicissitudes of the sect in arabia, and the decline of its fortunes in nejd, but a brief recapitulation of these may be allowed me. the early half of the last century was a period of religious stagnation in islam, almost as much as it was in christendom. faith, morals, and religious practice were at the lowest ebb among mussulmans, and it seemed to europeans who looked on as though the faith of mecca had attained its dotage, and was giving place to a non-curantist infidelity. politically and religiously the mussulman world was asleep, when suddenly it awoke, and like a young giant refreshed stood once more erect in arabia. the reform preached by abd el wahhab was radical. he began by breaking with the maxim held by the mass of the orthodox that inquiry on matters of faith was closed. he constituted himself a new mujtahed and founded a new school, neither hanafite, malekite, nor shafite, and called it the school of the unitarians, muwaheddin, a name still cherished by the wahhabites. he rejected positively all traditions but those of the companions of the prophet, and he denied the claims of any but the first four caliphs to have been legitimately elected. the koran was to be the only written law, and islam was to be again what it had been in the first decade of its existence. he established it politically in nejd on precisely its old basis at medina, and sought to extend it over the whole of arabia, perhaps of the world. i believe it is hardly now recognised by mohammedans how near abd el wahhab was to complete success. before the close of the eighteenth century the chiefs of the ibn saouds, champions of unitarian islam, had established their authority over all northern arabia as far as the euphrates, and in they took mecca and medina. in the meanwhile the wahhabite doctrines were gaining ground still further afield. india was at one time very near conversion, and in egypt, and north africa, and even in turkey many secretly subscribed to the new doctrines. two things, however, marred the plan of general reform and prevented its full accomplishment. in the first place the reform was too completely reactive. it took no account whatever of the progress of modern thought, and directly it attempted to leave arabia it found itself face to face with difficulties which only political as well as religious success could overcome. it was impossible, except by force of arms, to arabianise the world again, and nothing less than this was in contemplation. its second mistake, and that was one that a little of the prophet's prudence which always went hand in hand with his zeal might have avoided, was a too rigid insistance upon trifles. abd el wahhab condemned minarets and tombstones because neither were in use during the first years of islam. the minarets therefore were everywhere thrown down, and when the holy places of hejaz fell into the hands of his followers the tombs of saints which had for centuries been revered as objects of pilgrimage were levelled to the ground. even the prophet's tomb at medina was laid waste and the treasures it contained distributed among the soldiers of ibn saoud. this roused the indignation of all islam, and turned the tide of the wahhabite fortunes. respectable feeling which had hitherto been on their side now declared itself against them, and they never after regained their position as moral and social reformers. politically, too, it was the cause of their ruin. the outside mussulman world, looking upon them as sacrilegious barbarians, was afraid to visit mecca, and the pilgrimage declined so rapidly that the hejazi became alarmed. the source of their revenue they found cut off, and it seemed on the point of ceasing altogether. then they appealed to constantinople, urging the sultan to vindicate his claim to be protector of the holy places. what followed is well known. after the peace of paris sultan mahmud commissioned mehemet ali to deliver mecca and medina from the wahhabite heretics, and this he in time effected. the war was carried into nejd; deriyeh, their capital, was sacked, and ibn saoud himself taken prisoner and decapitated in front of st. sophia's at constantinople. the movement of reform in islam was thus put back for, perhaps, another hundred years. still the seed cast by abd el wahhab has not been entirely without fruit. wahhabism, as a political regeneration of the world, has failed, but the spirit of reform has remained. indeed, the present unquiet attitude of expectation in islam has been its indirect result. just as the lutheran reformation in europe, though it failed to convert the christian church, caused its real reform, so wahhabism has produced a real desire for reform if not yet reform itself in mussulmans. islam is no longer asleep, and were another and a wiser abd el wahhab to appear, not as a heretic, but in the body of the orthodox sect, he might play the part of loyola or borromeo with success. the present condition of the wahhabites as a sect is one of decline. in india, and i believe in other parts of southern asia, their missionaries still make converts and their preachers are held in high esteem. but at home in arabia their zeal has waxed cold, giving place to liberal ideas which in truth are far more congenial to the arabian mind. the ibn saoud dynasty no longer holds the first position in nejd, and ibn rashid who has taken their place, though nominally a wahhabite, has little of the wahhabite fanaticism. he is in fact a popular and national rather than a religious leader, and though still designated at constantinople as a pestilent heretic, is counted as their ally by the more liberal sunites. it is probable that he would not withhold his allegiance from a caliph of the legitimate house of koreysh. but this, too, is beyond the subject of the present chapter. with the wahhabites, then, our census of islam closes. it has given us, as i hope, a fairly accurate view of the forces which make up the mohammedan world, and though the enumeration of these cannot but be dull work, i do not think it will have been work done in vain. without it indeed it would be almost impossible to make clear the problem presented to us by modern islam or guess its solution. more interesting matter, however, lies before us, and in my next chapter i propose to introduce my reader to that burning question of the day in asia, the caliphate, and explain the position of the house of othman towards the mohammedan world. footnotes: [ ] the following is a formula of the faith:-- . that thou believest in god, the one god and none other with him, and that thou believest that mohammed is his servant and his apostle. . that thou believest in the holy angels and the holy books, the pentateuch, the psalms, the gospels and the koran. . that thou believest in the last day, and in the providence of god both for good and for evil. [ ] the hanbali ritual is now almost entirely confined to medina and kasim in central arabia. [ ] this was written before the events of last september, which have given a new impulse to liberalism in egypt, though it has taken the direction of mohammedan thought there out of the hands of the khedive. [ ] the exact composition of the azhar university is as follows. of the five hundred and odd sheykhs or professors, two hundred are shafite, two hundred malekite, one hundred hanefite, and five hanbalite. each of these sections has a supreme sheykh, chosen by itself, whose fetwa on questions concerning the school is decisive. there is, moreover, a sheykh el islam, also elected, who decides religious questions of general importance, and a grand mufti appointed by the government who gives fetwas on matters of law. the latter is hanefite, the former at the present moment shafite, as are the bulk of the students. these number about fifteen hundred. [ ] it is the secret of the rapid conversions in ancient days among the poor of the roman and persian empires, and it is the secret of those now taking place among the low-caste indians. [ ] the mohammedan revolts in yunan and kashgar, repressed with great ferocity by the chinese, have in late years temporarily diminished the mohammedan census; but there seems good reason to believe that they are making steady progress in the empire. [ ] compare m. huc's account of their origin. [ ] compare dr. badger's history of oman and sale's koran. [ ] lady anne blunt's _pilgrimage to nejd_. appendix. chapter ii. the modern question of the caliphate. about the year of our era ( of the hejra), selim i., padishah of the ottoman turks and emperor of constantinople, finding himself the most powerful prince of his day in islam, and wishing still further to consolidate his rule, conceived the idea of reviving in his own person the extinct glories of the caliphate. he had more than one claim to be considered their champion by orthodox mohammedans, for he was the grandson of that mahomet ii. who had finally extinguished the roman empire of the east, and he had himself just ended a successful campaign against the heretical shah of persia, head of the sect of ali. his only rivals among sunite princes were the sultan el hind, or, as we call him, the great mogul, the sultan el gharb, or emperor of morocco, and the mameluke sultan of egypt, then known to the world as _par excellence_ the sultan. with the two former, as rulers of what were remote lands of islam, selim seems to have troubled himself little; but he made war on egypt. in he invaded syria, its outlying province, and in he entered cairo. there he made prisoner the reigning mameluke, kansaw el ghouri, and had him publicly beheaded, or according to another account, received his head from a soldier, who had killed him where he lay on the ground after falling (for the sultan was an old man) from his horse. he then, in virtue of a very doubtful cession made to him of his rights by one motawakkel ibn omar el hakim, a descendant of the house of abbas, whom he found living as titular caliph in cairo, took to himself the following style and title: sultan es salatin, wa hakan el hawakin, malek el bahreyn, wa hami el barreyn, khalifeh rasul allah, emir el mumenin, wa sultan, wa khan--titles which may be thus interpreted: king of kings and lord of lords, monarch of the two seas (the mediterranean and the red sea), and protector of the two lands (hejaz and syria, the holy lands of islam), successor of the apostle of god, prince of the faithful, and emperor. it is said that he first had the satisfaction of hearing his name mentioned in the public prayers as caliph when he visited the great mosque of zacharias at aleppo on his return northwards in .[ ] such, in a few words, is historically the origin of the modern caliphate, and such are the titles now borne by selim's descendant, abd el hamid. it is difficult at this distance of time, and in the absence of detailed contemporary narratives, to do more than guess the effect on mussulmans of his day of selim's religious pretensions. to all alike, friends as well as foes, he must in the first instance have appeared as an usurper, for before him no man not of the house of koreysh, and so a kinsman of their prophet, had ever claimed to be his spiritual heir. indeed, it was a maxim with all schools of theology of all ages that descent from the koreysh was the first title to the caliphate; but we may reasonably suppose that within the limits of his own dominions, and even to the mass of the vulgar beyond them, the ottoman emperor's sublime proceedings met with approval. selim was a portentous figure in islam; and the splendour of his apparition in the north dazzled the eyes of all. mussulmans must have seen in him and his house the restorers of their political fortunes and the champion of their religion against christendom; and a departure from established rule in his favour may well have seemed justified to pious persons as the best hope for the future of their creed. selim was already temporal lord of the greater part of islam, and he might be expected thus to restore the spiritual sovereignty also. besides, to the ears of mussulmans of the sixteenth century, the caliphal title was no longer a familiar sound, and the title of sultan which selim already bore was that of the highest temporal authority they knew. the caliphate, if it existed at all, was in the modern world a less imposing name than the sultanate; and the two had since the destruction of bagdad become confused, as they still remain, in men's minds who do not any more now make common use of the older title. thus it was not difficult for the new sultan of damascus and cairo and medina to impose himself on the multitude--not merely as heir to the caliphal possessions, but to the title also of the caliphs and their spiritual rank. advantage, too, seems to have been taken in the first instance, as it has been subsequently, of the accidental resemblance of name between othman, selim's ancestor, and othman the third caliph. the vulgar ear caught the sound as one familiar to it, and was satisfied, for there is all the world in a name. with the ulema, however, it was necessary to be more precise; and we know that the question of the ottoman right to the spiritual succession of the prophet was one long and hotly debated in the schools. tradition was formal on the point of excluding aliens to the koreysh from this its legal inheritance, for mohammed himself had repeatedly distinguished his own tribe as being the sole heirs to his authority; nor would any doctor of the specially arabian schools listen to a departure from ideas so absolute. the hanefite school, however, representing those chiefly interested in accepting the ottoman pretension, undertook its legal defence, and succeeded, in spite of the one great obstacle of birth, in making out a very tolerable case for themselves and the beni othman--a case which, in the absence of any rival candidate to oppose to them, has since been tacitly accepted by the majority of the sunite ulema. the difficulty, however, was in practice settled by a compromise, and the dispute itself had long been forgotten by all but the learned, until within the present generation its arguments were once more dragged out publicly to serve a political purpose. the hanefite arguments are on this account interesting, and i have been at pains to ascertain and understand them; but perhaps before i state them in detail it will be best first briefly to run over the caliphal history of an earlier age and describe the state of things which selim's act superseded. orthodox mussulman writers recognize four distinct phases which the office of khalifeh has undergone, and four distinct periods of its history. the word khalifeh, derived from the arabic root _khalafa_, to "leave behind," signifies literally one left behind, and in the legal sense the relict or successor of the prophet and heir to his temporal and spiritual power. the _first_ historical phase noticed is one of pure theocracy, in which the caliph or successor of mohammed was saint as well as priest and king, and was to a certain extent inspired. it lasted thirty years only, and is represented by the four great caliphs--abu bekr, omar, othman, and ali--who receive from the faithful when they speak of them the title of seydna, or our lord. the _second_ phase, which lasted nearly six hundred years, is that of the arabian monarchy, in which the caliphate took the shape of hereditary temporal dominion. its representatives are neither saints nor doctors of the law, and stand on a quite different footing from those who precede them. they begin with mawiyeh ibn ommiyah, founder of the ommiad dynasty, and end with mostasem billah, the last sultan of the abbasides. the _third_ period is a phase of temporal inter-regnum during which for nearly three hundred years the khalifeh exercised no sovereign rights, and resided as a spiritual chief only, or as we should now say sheykh el islam, at cairo. the temporal authority of islam, which is theoretically supposed to have been continued without break even during this period, was then in delegation with the memluk sultans of egypt and other mussulman princes. the _last_ phase is that of the ottoman caliphate. as nearly all modern arguments respecting the caliphate appeal to examples in the earliest period, it will be well to consider the origin of its institution and the political basis of islam itself. mohammedan doctors affirm that the apostle of god, mohammed (on whose name be peace), when he fled from mecca, did so not as a rebellious citizen but as a pretender to authority. he was by birth a prince of the princely house of the koreysh, itself the noblest tribe of hejaz, and his grandfather had been supreme ruler in mecca. he established himself, therefore, with his companions in exile as head of an independent political community, following in this the ancient custom of arabia where sections constantly cut themselves off from the parent tribe and form new nations under the separate leadership of one or another member of their princely families. islam, therefore, was from its commencement a political as well as a religious body, and while mohammed preached to his disciples as a prophet, he also gave laws to them as their king and governor. he was their imam, the leader of their prayer, and he was their emir and kadi, prince and magistrate. thus the supreme temporal and spiritual authority became linked, and islam was from its beginning a nation no less than a church. as long as mohammed lived, this state of things remained unquestioned, and difficulties began only at his death. it is a point which has been much disputed what were the prophet's intentions regarding this event. in early times the sect of ali maintained that he had appointed his son-in-law his heir, and others have held that abu bekr had the nomination; but sunites are now mostly agreed that no individual appointment was made, and that the choice of a successor was left to be decided by election. in any case the procedure followed by mohammed's bereaved followers was elective, and its details were in strict accordance with that arabian custom on which the koranic law is mainly built. now, in an arab tribe, when the sheykh dies, the elders of the tribe, heads of its great houses and sections, assemble in one of their number's tent and, sitting in a circle, discuss the subject of his succession. theoretically, the choice of a successor is open to any one of them, for the tribe, however large, is all one great family, descended from a common ancestor, and though no one from without could be admitted to the supreme rule, any one from within the tribe can hold office. but in practice the choice is limited to a few persons. the reverence of the arabs for blood, and for selected strains of blood, prevent them, except in very exceptional cases, from changing the dynasty of their rulers. if the dead man has left behind him a son of full age and respectable qualities, he will, without dispute, be acknowledged sheykh. if not, an uncle, a nephew, or a cousin will be chosen. only in extreme circumstances of general danger, or of failure of heirs male, can the member of a new family reasonably aspire to power. moreover, there is no uniform law of election. the meeting does not pretend to give a right, only to confirm one; for the right lies not with the electors but with him who can maintain his election. there is, therefore, no formal system of voting, but the elders having ascertained who among the dead man's relations commands the strongest following, proceed to acknowledge him by the ceremony of giving him their hands. he then becomes their sheykh. it sometimes happens, however, that parties are so evenly divided between rival leaders that the tribe divides, one section going this way and the other that, until one of the leaders gives in his submission; otherwise the quarrel is decided by the sword. all these features of the arabian tribal system of succession may be noticed in the first elections to the caliphate. as soon as it was known that mohammed was indeed dead, a conclave composed of the elders and chief men of islam, self-constituted and recognizing no special popular mandate, assembled in the house of omar ibn el khattub. this conclave is known to jurists as the _ahl el helli wa el agde_, the people of the loosing and the knotting, because they assumed the duty of solving the knotty question of succession. a nice point had to be decided, just such a one as has in all ages been the cause of civil war in arabia. the prophet had left no son, but more than one near relation. moreover, at that moment the new nation of islam was in danger of internal disruption, and the religious and the civil elements in it were on the point of taking up arms against each other. the two chief candidates were ali ibn abutaleb and abu bekr, the one son-in-law and cousin and the other father-in-law of mohammed--ali represented the civil, abu bekr the religious party; and as it happened that the latter party was predominant at medina, it was on abu bekr that the choice fell. he was recognized as head of the more powerful faction, and the chiefs gave him their hands; while civil war was only prevented by the magnanimous submission of ali. this form of succession is held by most sunite doctors to be the authentic form intended by the prophet, nor did the three following elections differ from it in any essential point. it is only noticed that abu bekr designated omar as the most fitting person to succeed him, and so in a measure directed the choice of the ahl el agde. the caliph was in each instance elected by the elders at medina, and the choice confirmed by its general acknowledgment elsewhere. in the time of ali, however, a new principle began to make its appearance, which foreshadowed a change in the nature of the caliphate. the election of abu bekr, as i have said, was determined by the predominant religious feeling of the day. he was the holiest man in islam, and his government was throughout strictly theocratic. he not only administered the religious law, but was its interpreter and architect. he sat every day in the _mejlis_, or open court of justice, and decided there questions of divinity as well as of jurisprudence. he publicly led the prayer in the mosque, expounded the koran, and preached every friday from the pulpit. he combined in his person all the functions now divided between the sheykh el islam, the grand mufti, and the executive authorities. he was king and priest and magistrate, doctor of civil and religious law, and supreme referee on all matters whether of opinion or practice; he was, in a word, the pope of islam. nor did his three successors abate anything of abu bekr's pretensions. the only power they delegated was the command of the mussulman armies, which were then overrunning the world, and the government of the provinces these had conquered. ali, however, when he at last succeeded to the caliphate, found himself opposed by the very party whose candidate he had once been, and this party had gathered strength in the interval. with the conquest of the world worldly ideas had filled the hearts of mussulmans, and a strong reaction also had set in in favour of those specially national ideas of arabia which religious fervour had hitherto held in check. it was natural, indeed inevitable, that this should be the case, for many conquered nations had embraced the faith of islam, and, as mussulmans, had become the equals of their conquerors, so that what elements of pride existed in these found their gratification in ideas of race and birth rather than of religion, ideas which the conquered races could not share, and which were the special inheritance of arabia. the national party, then, had been reinforced, at the expense of the religious, among the koreysh, who were still at the head of all the affairs of state. their leader was mawiyeh ibn ommiyeh, a man of distinguished ability and of that charm of manner which high-born arabs know so well how to use to their political ends. he had for some years been governor of syria, and was more popular there than the pious ali; and syria, though not yet the nominal, was already the real seat of the mussulman government. mawiyeh therefore refused to accept ali's election at medina as valid, and finding himself supported by a rival ahl el agde at damascus, made that appeal to the sword which arabian usage sanctions as the ultimate right of all pretenders. religious writers agree in condemning mawiyeh for his revolt; and while his succession to ali is accepted as legal, they place him on quite a different level from the four caliphs who preceded him. in mawiyeh they see fulfilled that prediction of their prophet which announced that islam should be ruled for thirty years by an imam, and ever after by a king. mawiyeh is, indeed, the type of all the later mohammedan emperors. according to canon law, the head of the state is also head of the religion; but mawiyeh ceased to exercise religious functions in person. these, unlike his predecessors, he delegated to others, and neither led the prayer nor preached; nor was he held to be either the best or the most learned man in islam, as abu bekr and the rest had been. moreover--and this is the chief point noticed regarding him--he introduced the system of dynastic heredity into the caliphate, nominating his son yezid his successor in his own lifetime. the change, advantageous as it was politically, is regarded as a religious falling off. henceforth the caliphs, whether of the ommiad or afterwards of the abbaside families, were not in reality elected, though the form of confirmation by the ulema was gone through; and they affected to succeed by right of birth, not by the voice of the people. during the whole period of the arabian caliphate we only notice one prince of the faithful who busied himself much with religious learning, and few who personally exercised the magisterial functions. only once we read of an abbaside caliph insisting on his right of leading the prayer, and this was probably the effect of an accidental jealousy. as a rule the temporal government of islam was intrusted to a _sadrazzam_, or grand vizier, the spiritual duty of prayer to a _naïb_, or deputy imam, and the elaboration or interpretation of law and doctrine to such ulema or mujtaheddin as could command a following. the character of the khalifeh, however, was still essentially sacred. he was of the koreysh and of the blood of the prophet, and so was distinct from the other princes of the world. as their political power decayed, the abbasides fell indeed into the hands of adventurers who even occasionally used them as puppets for their own ambitious ends; but the office was respected, and neither the kurdish saladdin, nor togral bey, nor malek shah, nor any of the seljukian emirs el amara dared meddle personally with the title of caliph. the ommiad dynasty, founded by mawiyeh, reigned at damascus eighty-five years, and was then succeeded on a new appeal to the sword in a.d. by the descendants of another branch of the koreysh--the beni abbas--who transferred the capital of islam to bagdad, and survived as temporal sovereigns there for five hundred years. this second period of islam, though containing her greatest glories and her highest worldly prosperity, is held to be less complete by divines than the first thirty years which had preceded it. islam was no longer one. to say nothing of the persian and arabian schisms, the orthodox world itself was divided, and rival caliphs had established themselves independently in spain and egypt. moreover, during the last two centuries the temporal power of the caliphs was practically in delegation to the seljuk turks, who acted as mayors of the palace, and their spiritual power was unsupported by any show of sanctity or learning. it was terminated forcibly by the pagan holagu, who at the head of the mongols sacked bagdad in . the third period of caliphal history saw all temporal power wrested from the caliphs. islam, on the destruction of the arabian monarchy, resolved itself into a number of separate states, each governed by its own bey or sultan, who in his quality of temporal prince was head also of religion within his own dominions. the mongols, converted to the faith of mecca, founded a mohammedan empire in the east; the seljuk turks, replaced by the ottoman, reigned in asia minor; the barbary states had their own rulers; and egypt was governed by that strange dynasty of slaves, the mameluke sultans. nowhere was a supreme temporal head of islam to be seen, and the name of khalifeh as that of a reigning sovereign ceased any longer to be heard of in the world. only the nominal succession of the prophet was obscurely preserved at cairo, whither the survivors of the family of abbas had betaken themselves on the massacre of their house at bagdad. it is difficult to ascertain the precise position of these titular caliphs under the mameluke monarchy in egypt. that they were little known to the world in general is certain; and one is sometimes tempted to suspect the complete authenticity of the succession preserved through them. contemporary christian writers do not mention them, and it is evident from sir john mandeville and others that in egypt the egyptian sultan himself was talked of as head of the mussulman religion. i have heard their position compared with that of the present sheykhs el islam at constantinople--that is to say, they were appointed by the sultan, and were made use of by him as a means of securing mussulman allegiance--and i believe this to have been all their real status. they are cited, however, as in some sense sovereigns by hanefite teachers, whose argument it is that the succession of the prophet has never lapsed, or islam been without a recognized temporal head. the sultans, neither of egypt nor of india, nor till selim's time of the turkish empire, ever claimed for themselves the title of khalifeh, nor did the sherifal family of mecca, who alone of them might have claimed it legally as koreysh. neither did tamerlane nor any of the mussulman mongols who reigned at bagdad. the fact is, we may assume the caliphate was clean forgotten at the time selim bethought him of it as an instrument of power. it must, then, have been an interesting and startling novelty with mussulmans to hear of this new pretender to the ancient dignity--interesting, because the name khalifeh was connected with so many of the bygone glories of islam; startling, because he who claimed it seemed by birth incapable of doing so. the hanefite ulema, however, as i have said, undertook selim's defence, or rather that of his successors, for selim himself died not a year afterwards, and succeeded in proving, to the satisfaction of the majority of sunites, that the house of othman had a good and valid title to the rank they had assumed. their chief arguments were as follows. the house of othman, they asserted, ruled spiritually by-- . _the right of the sword_, that is to say, the _de facto_ possession of the sovereign title. it was argued that, the caliphate being a necessity (and this all orthodox mussulmans admit), it was also necessary that the _de facto_ holder of the title should be recognized as legally the caliph, _until a claimant with a better title should appear_. now the first qualification of a claimant was that he should claim, and the second that he should be supported by a party; and selim had both claimed the caliphate and supported his pretensions at the head of an army. he had challenged the world to produce a rival, and no rival had been found--none, at least, which the hanefite school acknowledged, for the sultan of morocco they had never accepted, and the last descendant of the abbasides had waived his rights. in support of the proposition that the sword could give a title they cited the examples of mawiyeh, who thus established his right against the family of ali, and of abu el abbas, who had thus established his against that of mawiyeh. . _election_, that is the sanction of a legal body of elders. it was argued that, as the ahl el agde had been removed from medina to damascus, and from damascus to bagdad, and from bagdad to cairo, so it had been once more legally removed from cairo to constantinople. selim had brought with him to st. sophia's some of the ulema of the azhar mosque in cairo, and these, in conjunction with the turkish ulema, had elected him or ratified his election. a form of election is to the present day observed at constantinople in token of this right; and each new sultan of the house of othman, as he succeeds to the temporal sovereignty of turkey, must wait before being recognized as caliph till he has received the sword of office at the hands of the ulema. this ceremony it is customary to perform in the mosque of ayub. . _nomination._ sultan selim, as has been already said, obtained from mutawakkel, a descendant of the abbasides and himself titularly caliph, a full cession of all the caliphal rights of that family. the fact, as far as it goes, is historical, and the only flaw in the argument would seem to be that mutawakkel had no right thus to dispose of a title to an alien, which was his own only in virtue of his birth. the case, indeed, was very much as though the emperor of germany, having possessed himself of london, should obtain from don carlos a cession of the throne of spain; or as though napoleon should have got such a cession of the papacy, in , from pius vii. still it is insisted upon strongly by the hanefite divines as giving a more permanent dynastic title than either of the previous pleas. as a precedent for nomination they cite the act of abu bekr, who on his death-bed recommended omar as his successor in the caliphate. . _the guardianship of the two shrines_, that is to say of mecca and jerusalem, but especially of mecca. it has been asserted by some of the ulema, and it is certainly a common opinion at the present day, that the sovereignty of hejaz is in itself sufficient title to the caliphate. it seems certainly to have been so considered in the first age of islam, and many a bloody war was then fought for the right of protecting the beyt allah; but the connection of hejaz with the empire of the caliphs has been too often broken to make this a very tenable argument. in the tenth century it was held by the karmathian heretics, in the thirteenth by the imams of sana, and for seven years in the present century by the wahhabis. still the _de facto_ sovereignty of the harameyn, or two shrines, was one of selim's pleas; and it is one which has reappeared in modern arguments respecting the caliphal rights of his descendants. . _possession of the amanat_ or sacred relics. this last was a plea addressed to the vulgar rather than to the learned; but it is one which cannot be passed by unnoticed here, for it exercises a powerful influence at the present day over the ignorant mass of mussulmans. it was asserted, and is still a pious belief, that from the sack of bagdad, in , certain relics of the prophet and his companions were saved and brought to cairo, and thence transferred by selim to constantinople. these were represented to constitute the imperial insignia of office, and their possession to give a title to the caliphal succession. they consisted of the cloak of the prophet borne by his soldiers as a standard, of some hairs from his beard, and of the sword of omar. the vulgar believe them to be still preserved in the mosque of ayub; and though the ulema no longer insist on their authenticity, they are often referred to as an additional test of the sultan's right. such, then, were the arguments of the hanefite school, who defended selim's claim, and such they are with regard to his successors of the house of othman. by the world at large they seem to have been pretty generally accepted, the more so as the turkish sultans, having only a political end in view, were satisfied with their formal recognition by their own subjects, and did not bring the question to an issue with their independent neighbours. neither the mogul emperors at delhi nor the sheriffs of morocco were called upon to acknowledge temporal or spiritual supremacy in the ottoman sultans, nor did these affect an every-day use of the ancient title they had assumed. in india the head of the house of othman was still known to moslems as padishah or sultan er roum, the roman emperor, the most powerful of mussulman princes, but not in any special manner the head of their religion, certainly not their sovereign. the ulema, indeed, such as were hanefites, admitted him to be legally khalifeh; but many of the shafite school denied this, pleading still that as an alien to the koreysh his claim was illegal, while to the ignorant mass of the people out of his dominions his spiritual title remained almost unknown. the sultans themselves were doubtless to blame for this, seeing that the spiritual functions of their new office were left almost entirely unperformed. for it cannot be too strongly insisted on that the assumption of the caliphate was to the house of othman only a means to an end, viz. the consolidation of its worldly power upon a recognized basis, and that, once that end obtained, the temporal dignity of sultan was all that they really considered. thus they never sought to exercise the right appertaining to the caliphal office of appointing naïbs, or deputy imams, in the lands outside their dominions, or to interfere with doctrinal matters at home, except where such might prejudice the interests of their rule. with regard to these, the theologians of constantinople, having satisfactorily settled the caliphal dispute, and pronounced the house of othman for ever heirs to the dignity they had assumed, were recommended by the head of the state to busy themselves no further with doctrinal matters, and to consider the _ijtahad_, or development of new dogma, altogether closed for the future in their schools. soliman the magnificent, selim's heir, especially insisted upon this. he had already promulgated a series of decrees affecting the civil administration of his empire, which he had declared to be immutable; and an immutability, too, in dogma he thought would still further secure the peace and stability of his rule. nor did he meet with aught but approval here from the hanefite divines. the turkish ulema, ever since their first appearance in the arabian schools in the eleventh century, finding themselves at a disadvantage through their ignorance of the sacred language, and being constitutionally adverse to intellectual effort, had maintained the proposition that mental repose was the true feature of orthodoxy, and in their _fetwas_ had consistently relied on authority and rejected original argument. they therefore readily seconded the sultan in his views. argument on first principles was formally forbidden in the schools; and for the interpretation of existing law two offices were invented--the one for dogmatic, the other for practical decisions, those of the sheykh el islam and the great mufti. this closing of doctrinal inquiry by the ottoman sultans, and the removal of the seat of supreme spiritual government from the arabian atmosphere of cairo to the tartar atmosphere of the bosphorus, was the direct and immediate cause of the religious stagnation which islam suffered from so conspicuously in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. we have now brought the history of the caliphate down to the period described in the last chapter as one of intellectual torpor for islam. it was a lethargy from which there seemed no awakening, and which to contemporaries, voltaire among the rest, seemed closely approximating to the death of unbelief. in spite of soliman's eternal arrangements, the temporal power of the house of othman was wofully diminished, and the spiritual prestige of the sultans was gone with mussulmans. by the middle of the last century the title of caliph, even in their own dominions, was all but forgotten, and the court of constantinople was become a byword for its vice and infidelity. it can therefore be well imagined that the awakening of religious feeling, which i also described as having been produced by the wahhabite movement, especially menaced the sultan in his caliphal pretensions. by the beginning of the present century the serious world of islam was already ripening for a change, and the title of the caliphate seemed open to whoever should re-invent and prove himself worthy to wear it. two men certainly then dreamed of its acquisition, both men of supreme genius, and holding the elements of success in their hands. nor can it be doubted that either of them would have achieved his ambition but for the appearance against them of a material power greater than their own, and which then, for the first time, began to make itself felt as paramount in asia. that power was england, and the ambitions she thwarted there were those of bonaparte and mehemet ali. it is not, i believe, sufficiently understood how vast a scheme was overthrown by the battle of the nile. napoleon's mind was formed for dominion in the east, and where he failed in europe he would have infallibly succeeded in asia. there little policies are useless, and great ones root themselves in a congenial soil; and he was possessed with an idea which must have flourished. his english opponents, judging him only by the scale of their own thoughts, credited him with the inferior design of invading india through persia, and called it a mad one; but india was, in fact, a small part only of his programme. when he publicly pronounced the kelemat at cairo, and professed the faith of islam, he intended to be its head, arguing rightly that what had been possible three hundred years before to selim was possible also then to him. nor would the mussulman world have been much more astonished in at being asked to accept a bonaparte for caliph, than it was in at being asked to accept an ottoman. with napoleon's genius for war, and but for the disastrous sea fight on the nile, all this might have been, and more; and it is conceivable that europe, taken in reverse by a great moslem multitude, might have suffered worse disasters than any the actual napoleonic wars procured her, while a more durable empire might have been founded on the nile or bosphorus than the bonapartes were able to establish on the seine. as it was, it was an episode and no more, useful only to the few who saw it near enough to admire and understand.[ ] among these who saw and understood was mehemet ali, the albanian adventurer, who undertook the government of egypt when england restored it to the porte. bonaparte from the first was his model, and he inherited from him this vision of a new caliphate, the greatest of the napoleonic ideas, and worked persistently to realize it. he was within an ace of succeeding. in mehemet ali had mecca, cairo, and jerusalem in his hands, and he had defeated the sultan at konia, and was advancing through asia minor on constantinople. there, without doubt, he would have proclaimed himself caliph, having all the essential elements of the sultan's admitted right on which to found a new claim. nor is it probable that he would have found much religious opposition to the realization of his scheme from the turkish ulema. these, already alarmed by sultan murad's administrative reforms, would hardly have espoused the sultan's defence with any vigour; and though mehemet ali himself was open to a charge of latitudinarianism, he had the one great claim upon orthodox islam of having delivered the holy cities of mecca and medina from the wahhabis. the house of othman, indeed, at this time had begun to stink--not only in the nostrils of the outside world, but in that of the hanefite school itself; and as these had formerly accepted selim, so they might very well, in , have accepted mehemet ali. but this attempt, too, was stopped by england in pursuance of a policy which it is difficult now not to regret. the too venturous arnaout was sent back to his vice-royalty in egypt, and the house of othman was entrusted with a new lease of spiritual sovereignty, if not yet of spiritual power. the reigns of abd el mejid and of abd el aziz are remarkable with mussulmans as having witnessed a complete dissociation of interests between the imperial government and the old hanefite school of ulema. i have no space here to discuss the nature of the reforms attempted and partly effected in the ottoman empire between the years and as a concession to the clamour of europe. they were instituted not by and through religion, as they should have been, but in defiance of it, and so failed to find acceptance anywhere with religious people. all changes so attempted must fail in islam because they have in them the inevitable vice of illegality, and i hope to have an opportunity of explaining later the manner in which alone a true reform can hope to find acceptance. for the present i only note the promulgation of the hatti humayoum and its kindred decrees as points in the history of the ottoman caliphate's decline, and as direct reasons for the reactionary change of front which we now witness in the policy of constantinople. abd el mejid for his ill-judged attempts gained with mussulmans the name of an unbeliever, and his son was deposed in the way we all know as a breaker of the religious law. for a moment, however, abd el aziz seems to have seen the true nature of his position and to have had some idea of the _rôle_ required of him, as the following incident will show. it marks at any rate the epoch pretty exactly when a revival of the sultan's spiritual pretensions, as a settled policy, was first resolved on in turkey. the circumstances have been narrated to me as follows:-- quite in the early days of abd el aziz's reign a certain statesman, a man of original genius and profoundly versed in the knowledge both of europe and of the east, and especially of the religious history of islam, came to constantinople. he was a friend of rushdi pasha, then the grand vizier, and of others of the party of young turkey, men who were seeking by every means, fair and foul, to reorganize and strengthen the central authority of the empire. to these, and subsequently, in an interview, to the sultan himself, he urged the advantage which might accrue to the ottoman government both as a means of controlling the provinces and as a weapon against european diplomacy if the spiritual authority of the sultan as caliph were put more prominently forward. he suggested especially to abd el aziz that his real strength lay in the reorganization not of his temporal but of his spiritual forces; and he expressed his wonder that so evident a source of strength had been so little drawn on. he pointed out the importance of the mussulman populations outside the empire to the sultan, and urged that these should be brought as much as possible within the sphere of constantinople influence. the barbary states, mussulman india, and central asia might thus become to all intents and purposes, save that of tribute, subjects of the porte. in early times it had been a duty of the caliphs to appoint in all the provinces of islam imams or deputies to represent their spiritual authority, and it was suggested that these should once more be appointed. an imam, or leader of their public prayer, is a necessity with orthodox mussulmans, and in default of legal appointment from the caliph, who is himself the supreme imam, the faithful had been constrained to apply either to the local governments for such appointment or to elect the functionary themselves. this they acknowledged to be illegal, and would willingly revert to the more legitimate system; while the re-establishment of such a hierarchy would bring an enormous accession of spiritual power to constantinople. it was also shown to abd el aziz how all-important arabia was to his position, and how greatly the means of influence there had been neglected. i am informed by one present at this interview that abd el aziz was not only delighted at the idea, but profoundly astonished. he seems to have had no notion previously either of the historical dignity of the spiritual office he held nor of its prerogatives, and for a while his thoughts were turned in the direction pointed out to him. he sent for the chief ulema and asked them if all he heard was true; and, when he found their ideas to be entirely in unison with the advice just given him, he commissioned the sheykh el islam to push forward the doctrine of his spiritual leadership by all the means in his power. missionaries were consequently despatched to every part of the mussulman world, and especially to india and the barbary states, to explain the hanefite dogma of the caliphate; and though at first these met with little success they eventually gained their object in those countries where believers were obliged to live under infidel rule, so much so that in a few years the ottoman caliphate became once more a recognized "question" in the schools. they were aided in this by a powerful instrument, then first employed in turkey, the press.[ ] a newspaper in arabic called the _jawaib_ was subsidized at constantinople under the direction of one achmet faris, a convert to islam and a man of great literary ability and knowledge of arabic, who already had views on the subject of the caliphate; and this organ henceforth consistently advocated the new policy of the ulema. the official clique in stamboul were, however, at that time still intent on other projects, and only half understood the part to be played by religion in their scheme of administrative reform for the empire. besides--and this was the chief hindrance to the ulema--abd el aziz was not a man capable of seriously carrying out a great political idea, being little else than a man of pleasure. he and his government consequently soon drifted back into the groove of his predecessors' material policy, which relied for its strength on the physical force of arms, foreign loans, and the intrigues of officials. the only practical action taken by ottoman ministers in the line indicated were the twin crusades proclaimed against the wahhabis of hasa and the heretical imams of sana. but the hanefite ulema were not thus to be satisfied. they had determined on carrying out the idea they had adopted, and on forcing the sultan to put himself openly at the head of a religious and reactionary movement; and when they found that abd el aziz could not be made to act consistently as caliph, they deposed him, and thus opened a way for the true hero of their idea, the present sultan, abd el hamid. the advent of this latest scion of the house of othman to the spiritual succession of the prophet, though a godsend in appearance to religious moslems, cannot but be regarded by all who wish islam well as a very great misfortune. it is almost certain that if abd el mejid and abd el aziz had been succeeded by another of those senseless monarchs who have so often filled the imperial throne, the ottoman caliphate would already have been a thing of the past, at least as regards the larger and more intelligent part of islam. in the collapse of its physical power in , the official camarilla of constantinople would have been unable to control the movement of revolt against the spiritual and temporal sovereignty of the sultan, and something would have taken its place offering a more possible foundation for true religious reform. arabia would in all probability have by this time asserted its independence, and under a new caliphate of the koreysh would have been attracting the sympathies and the adhesion of the eastern world. there might have been schisms and religious convulsions, but at least there would have been life; and what islam requires is to live. but unfortunately abd el hamid was neither a mere voluptuary nor an imbecile, and catching, by an instinct which one cannot but admire, the one rope of safety which remained for him and his house, he placed himself at the head of the extreme reactionary party of islam, and thus put back for a while the hour of fate. it is difficult to gain accurate information as to abd el hamid's character and religious opinions, but i believe it may be safely asserted that he represents in these latter the extremest hanefite views. in youth he was, for a prince, a serious man, showing a taste for learning, especially for geography and history; and though not an _alem_ he has some knowledge of his religion. it may therefore be taken for granted that he is sincere in his belief of his own spiritual position--it is easy to be sincere where one's interest lies in believing; and i have it from one who saw him at the time that on the day soon after his accession, when, according to the custom already mentioned, he received the sword at the mosque of ayub, he astonished his courtiers with the sudden change in his demeanour. all the afternoon of that day he talked to them of his spiritual rank in language which for centuries had not been heard in the precincts of the seraglio. it is certain, too, that his first act, when delivered from the pressure of the russian invasion, was to organize afresh the propagandism already begun, and to send out new missionaries to india and the barbary states to preach the doctrine of his own caliphal authority to the moslems _in partibus infidelium_. his language, too, to strangers from external islam was from the first that of a spiritual rather than a temporal prince, and with the european ambassadors he has used this position consistently and most effectually. it is no mean proof of abd el hamid's ability that he should have invented the mussulman _non possumus_ with which he has disconcerted our diplomacy. in private life he is said to be regular at his prayers, though it is also said that he conforms to the custom of turkish sultans in avoiding legal marriage. he is at the same time a liberal patron of dervishes, workers of miracles, and holy men. these he is at pains to seek out and receive honourably. in his administration he conforms, wherever he is himself the actor, strictly to the sheriat, and on doubtful points consults always the mufti or sheykh el islam. he has shown no inconsiderable firmness in resisting european demands when they contravened the canon law.[ ] for all these reasons it will be readily understood that abd el hamid has gained not only the support of his own turkish ulema, but the sympathy of a very considerable section of opinion outside his dominions. from a traitor to the cause of religion the ottoman sultan has come to be looked upon, east and west, as once more its champion; and with the old-fashioned reactionary school abd el hamid is fast growing into a hero. a year ago, when i was at jeddah, this was not yet the case, but it would seem to be so now. then even the people of his own party spoke of him doubtfully, and he certainly excited no enthusiasm among them. they did not understand him, and thought that he was playing a part. he was said to be of armenian parentage (on his mother's side) and his sincerity as a moslem was suspected. it seemed impossible one born in abd el mejid's seraglio should be a serious man. besides, he had not yet shown his strength, and to be strong is to be a hero everywhere. but within the last eight months, events have marched rapidly. abd el hamid has played his cards successfully in greece, in albania, and with the kurds. he has not been afraid of england and has shown a bold front against infidel reforms. he has had the courage under the eyes of europe to arrest their _protégé_, midhat, and to try him for murder. lastly, the french have played into his hands in tunis, and he has thus gained a footing of sympathy with the mussulmans of north africa, a population which has for centuries opposed his claims. twenty years ago it would have been absolutely impossible for an ottoman sultan to awaken any loyal feeling in any arab breast. tunis then specially boasted her independence of the porte, and all but the hanefite rulers of the sea-coast towns of africa would have scouted the idea of fighting for the turk. now the malekites themselves, the puritans of kerwan, are moving at abd el hamid's nod. he would seem, too, to be stirring with some success in egypt, and indian mussulmans are praying for him publicly in their mosques. everywhere the reactionary party is standing to its arms, and is beginning to recognize a leader in this supple armenian khalifeh, who is defying europe, and seems willing, if necessary, to lead them one day on a jehad. with all this, however, it must not be supposed that orthodox islam is by any means yet won back to constantinople. turkey, i have shown, and the hanefite school, are far from being the whole of the mohammedan world; and side by side with the fanatical obduracy of the ottoman state party and the still fiercer puritanism of the melkites there exists an intelligent and hopeful party favourable to religious reform. shafite egypt is its stronghold, but it is powerful too in arabia and further east. with it a first article of faith is that the house of othman has been and is the curse of islam, and that its end is at hand. in spite of abd el hamid's pious appeals to the sheriat they look upon him as one who troubleth islam. he is the representative of the party most bitterly opposed to all of good. they know that as long as there is an ottoman caliph, whether his name be abd el aziz or abd el hamid, moral progress is impossible, that the ijtahad cannot be re-opened, and that no such reformation of doctrine and practice can be attempted as would alone enable their faith to cope with modern infidelity. they see moreover that, notwithstanding his affected legality, abd el hamid's rule is neither juster nor more in accordance with the mussulman law than that of his predecessors. the same vices of administration are found in it, and the same recklessness for his mussulman subjects' welfare. of all the lands of islam his own are probably those where abd el hamid has now the most scanty following. constantinople is after all his weak point, for the young turkish school is far from dead, the vicissitudes of life and death follow each other closely on the bosphorus, and the liberal party can better afford than the reactionary to wait. the death or fall of abd el hamid, whenever it may happen, would immediately decide a movement counter to the ottoman caliphate. footnotes: [ ] i do not vouch for the entire accuracy of these dates. turkish historians place selim's death in a.h., which should correspond with our . it would seem doubtful too whether selim himself took any higher title with regard to the holy places than khadam el harameyn, servant of the two shrines, though his successors are certainly called hami. it was not till five years after selim's death that mecca acknowledged the ottoman caliphate. [ ] the original diary of lascaris, napoleon's agent with the arabs, has, i understand, within the last two years been discovered at aleppo and purchased by the french government. its publication, whenever that may be decided on, will, if i am not quite mistaken, throw new and important light on napoleon's egyptian career. [ ] the _jawaib_ was first started about the year . [ ] in the recent trial of the murderers of abd el aziz, abd el hamid has departed from his usual adherence to the sheriat. it is a lapsus which may one day be taken hold of against him, should the ulema need to depose him. he is said to have yielded to the advice of an european confidant who directs the details of his diplomacy with europe. chapter iii. the true metropolis--mecca. in the last chapter the position of the ottoman sultans towards the mass of orthodox islam was sketched, and the foundations were shown on which their tenure of the caliphal title rested. these i explained to be neither very ancient nor very securely laid in the faith and affections of the faithful; and, though at the present moment a certain reaction in favour of constantinople had set in, it was due to accidental circumstances, which are unlikely to become permanent, and was very far indeed from being universal. it may be as well to recapitulate the position. the sunite or orthodox mohammedan world holds it as a dogma of faith that there must be a khalifeh, the ex-officio head of their religious polity, and the successor of their prophet. in temporal matters, whoever holds this office is theoretically king of all islam; and in spiritual matters he is their supreme religious authority. but, practically, the caliph's temporal jurisdiction has for many centuries been limited to such lands as he could hold by arms; while in spiritual matters he has exercised no direct authority whatever. nevertheless, he represents to mussulmans something of which they are in need, and which they are bound to respect; and it cannot be doubted that in proper hands, and at the proper moment, the caliphate might once more become an instrument for good or evil of almost universal power in islam. even now, were there to be an apprehension of general and overwhelming danger for religion, it is to the caliph that the faithful would look to defend their interests; and, as we have seen, a moderate show of piety and respect for the sacred law has been sufficient, in spite of a violent political opposition, to secure for the actual holder of the title a degree of sympathy which no other mussulman prince could at any cost of good government have obtained. on the other hand, it has been shown that the loyalty, such as there is, which abd el hamid inspires is due to him solely as incumbent of the caliphal office, and not as the representative of any race or dynasty. the house of othman, as such, represents nothing sacred to mussulmans; and the turkish race is very far from being respected in islam. the present caliphal house is unconnected in blood with the old traditional line of "successors;" and even with the turks themselves inspires little modern reverence. moreover, the actual incumbent of the office is thought to be not even a true ottoman, being the offspring of the seraglio rather than of known parents; abd el hamid's sole title to spiritual consideration is his official name. this he has had the sense to set prominently forward. reduced to a syllogism, mussulman loyalty may be read thus: there must be a caliph, and the caliphate deserves respect; there is no other caliph but abd el hamid; ergo, abd el hamid deserves respect. it has been pointed out, however, that, if the sultan's recent revival of spiritual pretensions is his present strength, it may also in the immediate future become his weakness. the challenge which the constantinople school of hanefism threw down ten years ago to the world has been taken up; and all the learned world now knows the frailty of the house of othman's spiritual position. the true history of the caliphate has been published and set side by side with that turkish history which the ignorance of a previous generation had come to confound with it. at the present day nobody with any instruction doubts that abd el hamid and his house might be legally displaced by the first successful rival, and that the only right of constantinople to lead islam is the right of the sword. as long as the ottoman empire is maintained and no counter caliph appears, so long will the sultan be the acknowledged head of religion; but not a day longer. the caliphate, for one alien as abd el hamid is to the koreysh, must be constantly maintained in arms, and on the first substantial success of a new pretender his present following would fall off from him without compunction, transferring to this last their loyalty on precisely the same ground on which abd el hamid now receives it. abd el hamid would then be legitimately deposed and disappear, for it is unlikely that he would find any such protector in his adversity as the legitimate caliphs found in theirs six hundred years ago. so fully is this state of things recognized by the ulema, that i found the opinion last year to be nearly universal that abd el hamid was destined to be the last caliph of the house of othman. it becomes, therefore, a question of extreme interest to consider who among mussulman princes could, with any chance of being generally accepted by orthodox islam, put in a claim to replace the ottoman dynasty as caliph when the day of its doom shall have been reached. it is a question which ought certainly to interest englishmen, for on its solution the whole problem of mussulman loyalty or revolt in india most probably depends, and though it would certainly be unwise, at the present moment, for an english government to obtrude itself violently in a religious quarrel not yet ripe, much might be done in a perfectly legitimate way to influence the natural course of events and direct it to a channel favourable to british interests. is there then in islam, east, or west, or south, a man of sufficient eminence and courage to proclaim himself caliph, in the event of abd el hamid's political collapse or death? what would be his line of action to secure mahommedan acceptance? where should he fix his capital, and on what arms should he rely? whose flag should he display? above all--for this is the question that interests us most--could such a change of rulers affect favourably the future thought and life of islam, and lead to an honest moslem reformation? these questions, which are being cautiously asked of each other by thoughtful mussulmans in every corner of the east, i now propose to consider and, as far as it is in my power, to answer. i have said that islam is already well prepared for change. whatever europeans may think of a future for the ottoman empire, mussulmans are profoundly convinced that on its present basis it will not long survive. even in turkey, the thought of its political regeneration as an european empire has been at last abandoned, and no one now contemplates more than a few years further tenure of the bosphorus. twenty years ago it was not so, nor perhaps five, but to-day all are resigned to this. ancient prophecy and modern superstition alike point to a return of the crescent into asia as an event at hand, and to the doom of the turks as a race which has corrupted islam. a well-known prediction to this effect, which has for ages exercised its influence on the vulgar and even the learned mohammedan mind, gives the year of our era as the term within which these things are to be accomplished, and places the scene of the last struggle in northern syria, at homs, on the orontes. islam is then finally to retire from the north, and the turkish rule to cease. such prophecies often work their own fulfilment, and the feeling of a coming catastrophe is so deeply rooted and so universal that i question whether the proclamation of a jehad by the sultan would now induce a thousand moslems to fight voluntarily against the cross in europe. the sultan himself and the old turkish party which supports him, while clinging obstinately in appearance to all their ground, really have their eyes turned elsewhere than on adrianople and salonica and the city of the roman emperors. it is unlikely that a new advance of the christian powers from the balkan would meet again with more than formal opposition; and constantinople itself, unsupported by european aid, would be abandoned without a blow, or with only such show of resistance as the sheriat requires for a cession of territory.[ ] the sultan would, in such an event, pass into asia, and i have been credibly informed that his own plan is to make not broussa, but bagdad or damascus his capital. this he considers would be more in conformity with caliphal traditions, and the caliphate would gain strength by a return to its old centres. damascus is surnamed by theologians _bab el kaaba_, gate of the caaba; and there or at bagdad, the traditional city of the caliphs, he would build up once more a purely theocratic empire. such, they say, is his thought; and such doubtless would be the empire of the future that mussulmans would choose. only it is improbable that it would continue to be in any sense ottoman, or that abd el hamid would have the opportunity of himself establishing it. the loss of constantinople would be a blow to his prestige he could not well recover from, and no new empire ever yet was founded on defeat. what is far more likely to happen is that, in such an event, abd el hamid and his house would disappear, and an entirely new order of caliphal succession take their place. even without supposing any such convulsion to the empire as a loss of the bosphorus, his reign will hardly be a long one. the ulema of constantinople are by no means all on his side, and the party of "young turkey," cowed for the moment by the terrorism which there prevails, is his bitter enemy, and will not let him rest. it will infallibly on the next danger from europe, show its head again and take its revenge. it is said to be the programme of this party, when it next comes to power, to separate the spiritual functions of the caliphate from those of the head of the state, copying, in so far, the modern practice of europe towards the papacy. i suppose that it would be attempted to restore that state of things, which as we have already seen, existed at cairo in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; and it is just conceivable that, as far as turkey itself was concerned, such an arrangement might, for a time, succeed. there would then be two powers at constantinople, a maire du palais who would reign, and a caliph who would be head of religion;--a separation of offices which would certainly facilitate the sort of reform that midhat and his friends desire. but to the world at large the event would only signify that constantinople had formally abdicated her claim to leadership, and islam would never acknowledge as caliph the mere puppet of an irreligious clique of officials, because he happened to be a member of the beni othman. his political power is the only thing that reconciles islam with an ottoman caliph, and without sovereignty he would be discarded. in whatever way, therefore, that we look at it, there seems justification in probability for the conviction already cited that after abd el hamid a new order of caliphal succession will be seen. it seems to be an universal opinion at the present day among those who think at all upon the matter, that whatever change may be impending for islam, it will be in the direction of concentration rather than of extension. all parties see that the day of outside conquest is at an end, and that the utmost that islam can look forward to politically is the maintenance of its present positions, and as an extreme possibility the emancipation of its lost provinces in india and north africa from christian rule. there is, therefore, a conviction that the removal of the seat of supreme authority, when made, will be towards the centre, not to any new extremity of islam. constantinople, even if all islam were combined for its defence, is felt to be too near the infidel frontier to be safe, and cosmopolitan city as it has become, it is by many looked upon itself as infidel. a position further removed from danger and more purely mohammedan is the necessity of the day; and it can hardly be doubted that, when the time comes, the possession of some such vantage ground will be recognized as a first qualification with whoever shall assume the leadership of islam. we have seen that abd el hamid dreams of damascus or bagdad. but others dream of cairo as the new seat of the caliphate; and to the majority of far-sighted mussulmans it is rapidly becoming apparent that the retreat, once begun, must be conducted further still, and that the only true resting-place for theocracy is in arabia, its birthplace and the fountain head of its inspiration. there, alone in the world, all the conditions for the independent exercise of religious sovereignty are to be found. in arabia there are neither christians nor jews nor infidels of any sort for islam to count with, nor is it so rich a possession that it should ever excite the cupidity of the western powers. a caliph there need fear no admonition from frank ambassadors in virtue of any capitulations; he would be free to act as the successor of the apostle should, and would breathe the pure air of an unadulterated islam. a return, therefore, to medina or mecca is the probable future of the caliphate. the importance of arabia has of late years been fully recognized both at constantinople and elsewhere. it has been the sustained policy of abd el hamid at all cost and by whatsoever means to maintain his influence there; and he knows that without it his spiritual pretensions could have no secure foundations. arabia, he perceives, is the main point of the caliphal problem; and whether or not the future holder of the office reside in hejaz, it is certain that by its tenure alone the mohammedan world will judge of his right to be their leader. it will, therefore, before we go further, be interesting to examine the relations existing in the past and present between mecca and the caliphate, and to ascertain the position now held by abd el hamid in arabia. on this point i believe that i can offer information which will be both valuable and new. the political constitution of the moslem holy land is one of the most anomalous in the world. like every district of arabia proper, hejaz has a town and a nomad population, but almost no intermediate agricultural class. the townsmen i have already described--a multitude of mixed origin, descended from such pilgrims as from every quarter of the globe have visited the holy places, and have remained to marry and die in them. the nomads, on the contrary, are a pure race of a peculiarly noble type, and unchanged in any essential feature of their life from what they were in the days of mohammed. they are warlike, unquiet, bedouins, camel-riders (for they have no horses), and armed with matchlocks; and they are proud of their independence, and tenacious of their rights. no serious attempt has ever been made, except by mehemet ali, to subdue them, and none at all has succeeded. unlike the generality of peninsular bedouins, however, they are professed sunite mohammedans, if not of a very pious type; and they acknowledge as their chief the head of their most noble tribe, the grand sherif of the koreysh, who is also prince of mecca. the koreysh is still a distinct nomadic tribe, inhabiting the immediate neighbourhood of mecca; not numerous, but not in decay. they are divided into several sections, each governed by its sheykh, the chief of which, the abadleh, has for several centuries supplied the reigning family of hejaz. this last traces its descent from ali ibn abutaleb, the fourth caliph, through his son hassan, and through ali's wife, fatmeh, from mohammed himself. it is probably the oldest authentic male descent in the world, and certainly the most sacred. all the members of this abadleh family enjoy the title of sherif, the head of it only being distinguished as the sherif el kebir, the great or grand sherif. the rest of the koreysh, not being descended from fatmeh, do not receive the title. all alike wear the bedouin dress of abba and kefiyeh, even the prince himself, standing in this strikingly in contrast with the hejazi citizens, who affect the turban and gombaz. the district of medina is occupied by the harb bedouins, a larger and more powerful tribe than the koreysh, who also recognize the sherif, but their allegiance is precarious; while to the east and south of mecca the ateybeh and assir, more powerful still, are wholly independent. it has always been a difficult matter to keep these unruly elements at peace with each other and with the citizens, nor could the sherif hope to effect it were he not himself of bedouin and noble blood. the early history of the sherifate is exceedingly obscure. when the caliphs definitely abandoned medina as their capital in the fortieth year of islam (a.d. ), they for a time left deputies of the sherifal family behind them to govern in their name, and, as long as the ommiad and abbaside dynasties continued at damascus and bagdad, their sovereignty was acknowledged in hejaz. but on the destruction of the arabian caliphate in , the sherifal family seems to have set itself up independently, relying only on the casual help of the egyptian sultans and the imams of sana to protect them against the bedouins of nejd and assir, now hardly any longer, even in name, mohammedans. the egyptian sultan, however, was the titular protector of the holy places, and it was he who transmitted the surrah, or religious contributions made by the faithful, and provided escort for the yearly pilgrimage made to the shrines. thus we read of kaïd beg having rebuilt the mosque of medina in , and having sent a yearly subsidy of ardebs of corn for the townspeople. other princes, however, contributed their offerings too, and received titles of honour connected with the holy land, the shahs of persia, the moguls, and the ottomans. the first connection of the latter with mecca that i can find was in , when the padishah mohammed khan i., having sent a surrah, or bag of gold, to the sherif to be distributed in alms, received from him the title of khaddam el harameyn, servant of the two shrines; and the gift being continued annually by the ottoman padishahs may very likely have paved the way to their recognition later as caliphs. it would seem singular at first sight that the sherifs, being themselves of the sacred family whose special inheritance the caliphate was, should ever thus have recognized a stranger as its legal heir. but the political weakness of the meccan government in the sixteenth century must be taken into account as the all-sufficient reason. the grand sherif could hardly have stood alone as an independent sovereign, for he was continually menaced on the one side by the dissenting omani, and on the other by the unbelieving tribes of nejd, against whom his frontier was defenceless. he could not, with his own resources, protect the pilgrim routes from plunder--and on the pilgrimage all the prosperity of hejaz depended. it therefore was a necessity with the meccans to have a protector of some sort; and sultan kansaw having fallen, they accepted sultan selim. the ottoman sultans then became protectors of the holy places, and were acknowledged caliphs without any appeal to arms at mecca and medina. their weapons were, in fact, the gold and silver pieces with which they subsidized the sherifs. sultan selim at once, on being acknowledged, ordered an additional annuity of ardebs to be paid to mecca, and he and his immediate successors carried out at their own expense such public works as the shrines required in the way of repairs or improvements. subsequently the seaport of jeddah, formerly occupied by the egyptians, received a turkish contingent, but the interior of hejaz was never subjugated, nor was any tax at any time levied. only once a year an ottoman army appeared before the walls of medina, conducting the pilgrims from damascus and convoying the surrah. the state of things at mecca in the last century has been clearly sketched by niebuhr. the sherifs were in reality independent princes, but they "gratified the vanity of the grand signior" by calling him their suzerain, he on his side occasionally exercising the right of power by deposing the reigning sherif and appointing another of the same family. no kind of administration had then been attempted by the turks in hejaz. mehemet ali's occupation of hejaz in first brought foreign troops inland. he established himself at taïf, the summer residence of the meccans; deposed the grand sherif ghaleb, and appointed in his stead another member of the sherifal family; declaring the sultan sovereign of the country--acts which the meccans acquiesced in through dread of the wahhabis, from whom mehemet ali promised to deliver them. the egyptian and turkish governments have thus, during the present century, exercised some of the functions of sovereignty in hejaz. at the present moment sultan abd el hamid's position in the country is this. his troops occupy jeddah and yembo, the two seaports, and the towns of medina and taïf in the interior. he is acknowledged by the sherifs as sovereign, except in mecca; and he appoints to all the principal offices of state, including the supreme office of the grand sherifate itself. he is represented by a pasha who resides alternately at jeddah and taïf according to the season, but who has not the right of entering mecca without the grand sherif's leave, or of sending troops there. the total garrison of the turks in hejaz last winter was from to , men, of whom only were regulars (nizams), and efficient. while i was at jeddah, the medina garrison of regulars, having been long unpaid and unrationed, was said to be living on public charity. on the other hand the hejazi bedouins do not acknowledge any sovereignty but that of the sherif, nor could the sultan pretend to keep order outside the towns except through the sherif's interposition. the sultan levies no tax in the interior or impost of any kind, and the sole revenue he receives in hejaz comes from customs duties of jeddah and yembo, which may amount to £ , . in return for this he also is bound to transmit every year at the time of the pilgrimage sums of money collected by him from the revenues of the wakaf within his dominions, lands settled by pious persons on the sherifal family. these are said to amount to nearly half a million sterling, and are distributed amongst all the principal personages of hejaz. the transmission of the wakaf income, in which the sultan constitutes himself, so to say, the sherif's agent, is in fact the real bond which unites hejaz with the caliphate, and its distribution gives the sultan patronage, and with it power in the country. the bond, however, is one of interest only. the sherifs, proud of their sacred ancestry, look upon the turkish caliphs as barbarians and impostors, while the sultans find the hejaz a heavy charge upon their revenue. either hates and despises the other, the patron and the patronized; and, save that their union is a necessity, it would long ago have, by mutual consent, been dissolved. the sherif depends upon the sultan because he needs a protector, and needs his wakaf. the sultan depends upon the sherif, because recognition by hejaz as the protector is a chief title to his caliphate. mecca, in fact, is a necessity to islam even more than a caliph; and whoever is sovereign there is naturally sovereign of the mussulman world. outside hejaz the sultan holds what he holds of arabia merely by force. i have described already the growing power of ibn rashid, the prince of nejd; and since that time, two years ago, he has sensibly extended and confirmed his influence there. he has now brought into his alliance all the important tribes of northern arabia, including the powerful ateybeh, who, a few months ago, were threatening mecca; and in hejaz his name is already as potent as the sultan's. he offered, while i was at jeddah, to undertake the whole convoy of the damascus pilgrimage with his own troops, as already he convoys that from persia; while i have quite recent information of a campaign against his own rivals, the ibn saouds, which he has just brought to a successful conclusion. in yemen, the other neighbour of the meccans, , turkish troops are required to garrison the few towns the sultan calls his own, and were it not for the facility given him by the possession of the sea-coast, these could not long hope to hold their ground. every day i am expecting news from there of a revolt, and the first sign of weakness at constantinople will certainly precipitate a war of independence in that part of arabia. we may expect, therefore, in the event of such a break-up as i have suggested to be likely of the ottoman power--either through loss of territory or by the growing impoverishment of the empire, which needs must, in a few decades, end in atrophy--to see among mussulman princes a competition for the right of protecting the holy places, and with it of inheriting the caliphal title. the sultan reduced to asia minor, even if he retain armenia and kurdistan (which is extremely improbable), would be quite unable to afford himself the expensive luxury of holding his arabian conquests and buying the patronage of mecca. he would be unable any longer to overawe the red sea, or secure the pilgrim routes. the princes of nejd would certainly not tolerate the presence of turkish soldiers at medina, and the sherifs of mecca would have to make terms with them and with the restored imams of yemen till such time as they should find a new protector elsewhere. above all, the half million of wakaf income would no longer be forthcoming, and a turkish emir el haj arriving empty-handed at mecca would bring his master to a climax of derision. hejaz then would infallibly look out for a new potentate whom she could dignify with the title of hami el harameyn and emir el mumenin; and if there were none forthcoming would herself proclaim a caliphate. let us look, therefore, at the lands of islam to see in which of them a competent prince of the faithful is likely to appear. it is possible, though to european eyes it will seem far from probable, that out of the ferment which we are now witnessing in the barbary states, some leader of real power and religious distinction may arise who shall possess the talent of banding together into an instrument of power the immense but scattered forces of islam in northern africa, and after achieving some signal success against the new french policy, establish himself in tripoli or tunis in independent sovereignty. were such another man as abd el kader to arise, a saint, a preacher, and a soldier, indifferent to the petty aims of local power and gifted with military genius, true piety, and an eloquent tongue, i believe at the present day he might achieve at least a partial success. the french army is weak in discipline and confidence compared to what it was in abd el kader's day, and it has a far more difficult frontier to defend; while the government at home is but half resolute, and the arabs command much floating sympathy in europe and elsewhere. i do not say the thing is likely, but it is conceivable; and africa contains the elements of a possible new sovereignty for some mussulman prince which might eventually lead him on the road to mecca. it is undoubted that with the prestige of success against a christian power, and backed by the vast populations of soudan and the fierce military fervour of the malekite arabs, an abd el kader or an abd-el-wahhab would attract the sympathy of islam, and might aspire to its highest dignity. but enormous postulates must be granted before we can look on any one now known to fame in africa as a probable candidate for the future caliphate. the present leaders of the arabs are but local heroes, and as yet they have achieved nothing which can command respect. in tripoli there is indeed a saint of very high pretensions, one known as the sheykh es snusi, who has a large religious following, and who has promised to come forward shortly as the móhdy or guide expected by a large section of the sunite as well as the shiite mussulmans. next year he will attain the age of forty (the legal age of a prophet), and he may be expected to take a prominent part in any general movement that may then be on foot. but as yet we know nothing of him but his name and the fact of his sanctity, which is of wahhabite type. moreover, even supposing all that may be supposed of a possible success, there yet lies egypt and the suez canal between the barbary state and mecca, so that i think we may be justified in these days of steam fleets and electric cables and european concerts, if we treat north western africa as out of probable calculations in considering the future of the caliphate. it is remarkable that the sultan of morocco has taken as yet no apparent part in the religious movement of modern barbary. the mussulman princes of india hold a very similar position. opposed as they soon may be, indeed must be if the unintelligent english policy of the last twenty years be persevered in, to an european government in arms, they will have the chance of making themselves a leading position in the eyes of islam; and should a mohammedan empire arise once more at delhi or hyderabad, india would certainly become _par excellence_ the dar el islam. it would then be by far the richest and most populous of mohammedan states, and able to outbid any other with the surrah it could send to mecca. the wakaf property in india at the present day is supposed to be as valuable as that in the ottoman empire, and it would then become a source of patronage with the government, instead of being privately remitted as now. if money alone could buy the caliphate, a successful leader of revolt against the english in india might dictate his terms to islam. but again the insuperable obstacle intervenes of distance and the sea. mussulman india could never give that protection to mecca that islam needs, and could not assert its sovereignty anywhere but at home, in arms. even this is assuming, as in the case of barbary, an enormous postulate--success. neither india, then, nor western africa can reasonably be expected to supply that substitute for the house of othman which we need. a more apparent and in the opinion of some a likely candidate for the caliphate succession may be looked for in the viceregal family of egypt. mohammed towfik, if he were a man of genius like his grandfather, or if, honest man as he is, he plays his cards with success, might in a few years become an important rival at mecca to the sultan. to say nothing of its traditional connection with the caliphate, egypt has the more modern recollection of mehemet ali to urge upon the hejazi in its favour as the protecting state of islam. mehemet ali's name and that of his successor ibrahim pasha, if not precisely popular, are at least respected at mecca; and the latter possesses a great title to sunite gratitude in having destroyed the wahhabite empire in . i have mentioned mehemet ali's ambition; and a similar ambition would seem to have occurred to ismaïl, the late khedive. he, in the plenitude of his financial power, is stated to have expended large sums of money in subsidising the sherifs with a view to possible contingencies at constantinople. but unfortunately for him the opening of the suez canal, on which he had counted for securing him the support of europe, proved the precise instrument of ruin for his scheme. the porte in , scenting danger to its own caliphal pretensions from this quarter, occupied the red sea in force, reinforced its garrisons in jeddah and yembo, advanced to taïf, and threw a large army into yemen. this was alone made possible by the canal, and ismaïl to his chagrin found himself "hoist with his own petard." mohammed towfik, therefore, would have some excuse in family tradition if he indulged occasionally in dreams of a similar nature. his connection with mecca is at the present day second only to that of constantinople; the egyptian khedivieh line of steamers ply constantly between suez and jeddah; and the haj the khedive sends to mecca, including as it does most of the mogrebbin pilgrims, is more numerous than the sultan's. he maintains intimate relations with one at least of the great sherifal families, and sends a mahmal yearly with an important surrah to medina. mohammed towfik also has the deserved reputation of being a sincere mussulman and an honest man, and it is certain that a large section of true liberal opinion looks to him as the worthiest supporter of its views. with all this i doubt if he be big enough a man to aspire as yet with success to abd el hamid's succession. the present viceroy's financial position, though we may hope sounder in its base, is not so immediately powerful as his father's; and much ready money will be required by an aspirant to the caliphate. his fighting power, too, is small, and he would have to proclaim himself in arms. moreover--and this i fear will remain an insuperable difficulty--he is hampered with the control of europe. islam would hardly obey another caliph who was himself obedient to christendom; and the same causes which have ruined the house of othman, would also ruin him. a caliph, as things stand, cannot legally govern, except by the old canon law of the sheriat, and though a lapsus from strict observance may be tolerated in an ordinary prince, or even in a well established caliph, a new caliph putting forward a new claim would be more strictly bound. how could mohammed towfik's necessity to islam be reconciled to his necessity to europe? between the two stools he hardly could avert a fall.[ ] unless, then, some unexpected religious hero should appear in eastern asia, of which as yet there is no sign, we are driven to arabia for a solution of the difficulty where to establish a mussulman theocracy, and to the sherifal family of mecca itself for a new dynasty. the family of the sherifs has this vast advantage over any other possible competitor to the supreme title of islam, that it is of the acknowledged blood of that tribe of koreysh which mohammed himself designated as his heirs. amongst many other passages of authority which bear upon the rights of the koreysh the following seem to me the most explicit and the best worth quoting: "the prophet," says a tradition of omm hani, daughter of abutaleb, "exalted the koreysh by conferring on them seven prerogatives: the first, the _nebbuwat_ (the fact that they had given birth to a prophet); the second, the _khalafat_ (the succession); the third, the _hejabat_ (the guardianship of the kaaba); the fourth, the _sikayat_ (the right of supplying water to the haj); the fifth, the _refadat_ (the right of entertaining the haj); the sixth, the _nedwat_ (the right of counsel, government); and the seventh, the _lewa_ (possession of the banner, with the right of proclaiming war)." the prophet also, according to another tradition, said, "as long as there remains one man of the koreysh, so long shall that man be my successor;" and as to the arab race, "if the arab race falls islam shall fall." all the world knows these things, and to the popular mind, especially, the sherif is already far more truly the representative of spiritual rank than any sultan or caliph is. the vast populations of southern and eastern asia send out their pilgrims, not to constantinople but to mecca, and it is the sherif whom they find there supreme. the turkish government in hejaz holds a comparatively insignificant position, and the sultan's representative at jeddah is hardly more than servant to the prince of mecca. it is he who is the descendant of their prophet, not the other, and though the learned may make distinctions in favour of the caliph the haj only hears of the sherif. even at constantinople, by immemorial custom, the sultan rises to receive members of the sacred family; and at mecca it is commonly said that should a sultan make the haj in person he would be received by the grand sherif as an inferior. the sherifal family, then, is surrounded with a halo of religious prestige which would make their acquisition of the supreme temporal title appear natural to all but the races who have been in subjection to the ottomans; and were a man of real ability to appear amongst them he would, in the crisis we have foreseen, be sure to find an almost universal following. that the ottoman government is perfectly aware of this is certain. even in the days of its greatest power it always showed its jealousy and distrust of mecca, and was careful when any of the grand sherifs acquired what was considered dangerous influence, to supplant him by setting up a rival. its physical power enabled it to do this, and though it could not abolish the office of the grand sherifate, it could interfere in the order of succession. family feuds have, therefore, been at all times fostered by the turks in hejaz, and will be, as long as their presence there is tolerated. an excellent example of their system has recently been given in the episode of the late grand sherif's death, and the story of it will serve also to show the fear entertained by the present sultan of this his great spiritual rival. to tell it properly i must go back to the epoch of the wahhabite invasion of hejaz in . at that time, and for the latter half of the previous century, the supreme dignity of the sherifal house was held by a branch of it known as the dewy zeyd (the word _dewy_ is used in hejaz, as are elsewhere _beni_ or _ahl_, meaning _people_, _family_, _house_), which had replaced in the barakat branch, mentioned by niebuhr as in his day supreme. the actual holder of the title was ghaleb ibn mesaad, and he, finding himself unable to contend against the wahhabis, became himself a wahhabi. consequently, when mehemet ali appeared at mecca in , his first act was to depose this ghaleb, in spite of his protest that he had returned to orthodoxy, and to appoint another member of the sherifal house in his place. the sherif chosen was yahia ibn serur, of a rival branch, the dewy aoun, and a bitter animosity was, by this means, engendered between the two families of aoun and zeyd, which is continued to the present day. nor, as may be supposed, was this lessened by the subsequent changes rung by the turkish and egyptian governments in their appointments to the office, for, in , we find abd el mutalleb, the son of the deposed wahhabite ghaleb, reappointed, and in the following year again, mohammed, the son of yahia ibn aoun, an intrigue which brought on a civil war. then in a new intrigue reinstated abd el mutalleb and the zeyds; and then, in , these were again deposed for rebellion, and an aoun was placed in power. from till the aouns retained the grand sherifate and were supreme in hejaz. coming into power at a time when liberal ideas were in the ascendant they have consistently been liberal, and still represent the more humane and progressive party among the meccans. in the desert, where all are latitudinarian, they are the popular party; and, though themselves beyond a suspicion of unorthodoxy, they have always shown a tolerant spirit towards the shiahs and other heretics, with whom the sherifal authority necessarily comes in contact every year at the haj. they have even maintained friendly terms with the european element at jeddah, and as long as they remained in power the relations between india and mecca were of an amicable nature. abdallah ibn aoun, the son of mohammed, who succeeded his father in , and reigned for nineteen years, was a man of considerable ability, and he is credited with having had views of so advanced a nature as to include the opening of hejaz to european trade. nor was his brother, who in became grand sherif, of a less liberal mind. though of less ability than abdallah, he is described as eminently humane and virtuous, and it is certain that, with the exception of his hereditary enemies, the zeyds, he was universally beloved by the hejazi. so much was this the case that, in the year following the disastrous russian war, when constantinople seemed on the point of dissolution, the arabs began to talk openly of making el husseyn ibn aoun caliph in the sultan's place. i have not been able to ascertain that el husseyn himself indulged the ambitious project of his friends, for he was eminently a man of peace, and the caliphal title would hardly have given him a higher position than he held. but it is certain that his popularity gave umbrage at constantinople, the more so as abd el hamid could not and dared not depose him. el husseyn, too, became specially obnoxious to the reactionary party, when it resolved at last to quarrel with england, for he and his family persisted in remaining on friendly terms with the british government on all occasions when the interests of indian subjects of her majesty's came in question at the haj. for this reason, principally, it would seem his death was resolved on to make room for the agent of a new policy. on the th of march, , jeddah was the scene of a solemn pageant. the haj was just over, and the seaport of mecca crowded with pilgrims was waiting for the grand sherif, the descendant of the prophet and the representative of the sacred house of ali, to give the blessing of his presence to the last departing votaries. travelling by night from mecca, el husseyn and his retinue appeared at dawn outside the city walls, and when it was morning, mounted on a white mare from nejd, and preceded by his escort of koreysh arabs and the sultan's guard of honour, he rode into the town. the streets of jeddah are narrow and tortuous, and the way from the gate to the house of omar nassif, his agent, where he was accustomed to alight, was thronged with pious folk, who struggled for the privilege of kissing his feet and the hem of his arab cloak. he had nearly reached the place when an old beggar from the crowd pushed his way forward asking loudly for alms in the name of god. it was an appeal not to be denied, and as the sherif turned to those near him to order a contribution from the bag kept for such distributions, the old man rose upon him, and drawing a ragged knife (so it was described to me) struck him in the belly. at first, even those who saw the deed hardly knew what had happened, for el husseyn did not fall or dismount, and without speaking rode on to the house. there he was lifted from his mare and carried to an upper chamber, and in the course of some hours he expired. those nearest him, meanwhile, had seized and cudgelled the old man, and some of the escort had taken him to the guard-house. when it became known what had happened, a great cry arose in jeddah, and old and young, and women and children, and citizens and strangers wept together. i have heard the scene described as one beyond description moving, and the women shrieked and wailed the whole night long. el husseyn was beloved, and he was taken in the flower of his manhood. no satisfactory judicial investigation seems to have been made of the deed, though a formal mejlis was held at mecca whither the assassin was immediately transferred, and on the fourth day he was publicly executed. who and what he was it is difficult to determine. the turkish bulletin on the event described him as a persian fanatic, but no one confessed to having known him, and those who saw and spoke to him while in custody maintain that he was an afghan and a sunite. he seems to have given half-a-dozen contradictory accounts of himself; but the general impression remains that he came from turkey, and was by profession a dervish. he had not come with the haj, but had been first noticed as a beggar at mecca ten days before, when he had asked and received an alms of the sherif, and had since been several times found obtrusively in el husseyn's path. no one at jeddah holds the turkish governor to have been cognisant of the crime. he was personally on good terms with el husseyn, and has since been disgraced; but all point to the stamboul camarilla and even the sultan himself as its author. it is known that abd el hamid constantly employs dervishes as his spies and private agents, and some who pretend to know best affirm that the old man received his mission directly from the caliph. i do not affect to decide upon the point, but think the _onus probandi_ to lie with those who would deny it. assassination of a dangerous rival or of too powerful a chieftain has been the resource time out of mind of the ottoman sovereigns, and they can hardly claim indulgence now from public opinion. the sheykh of the dervishes is all powerful with his fanatical followers, and he is the sultan's servant; a word from him would doubtless have secured the services of twenty such devotees. one circumstance points decidedly to constantinople. it is known in jeddah that el husseyn's successor, who had long been resident at constantinople, sent orders to his agent at jeddah to prepare for his return as grand sherif two months before el husseyn, who was a young man, died; and that he had, moreover, dispatched most of his baggage in anticipation. the last words of the old assassin are curious. having done his deed he seemed quite happy, and neither ate nor drank, but prepared for the next world. a little while before he was executed he related a story. "there was once," he said, "an elephant, a great and noble beast, and to him god sent a gnat, the smallest thing which is. it stung him on the trunk and the elephant died. allah kerim: god is merciful." el husseyn's successor, the man for whom room was made, and who knew beforehand that it was to be made, was none other than the aged and twice deposed abd el mutalleb, the son of the wahhabite ghaleb, the fiercest fanatic of the dewy zeyd. i have not room here to describe in detail the effect of this coup de jarnac on the political aspect of hejaz. for the moment the reactionary party is in power at mecca, as it is at constantinople. abd el mutalleb is supported by turkish bayonets, and the aoun family and the liberals are suffering persecution at mecca, while the sherifal court, which had hitherto been most friendly to england, has become the focus of indian discontent. outside the town all is disorder. it is sufficient for the present if i have shown that there is in hejaz an element of spiritual power already existing side by side with the sultan, of which advantage may one day be taken to provide him with a natural successor. if no new figure should appear on the political horizon of islam when the ottoman empire dies, sufficiently commanding to attract the allegiance of the mussulman world (and of such there is as yet no sign), it is certainly to the sherifal family of mecca that the mass of mohammedans would look for a representative of their supreme headship, and of that caliphate of which they stand in need. the transfer of the seat of spiritual power from constantinople to mecca would be an easy and natural one, and would hardly disturb the existing ideas of the vulgar, while it would harmonize with all the traditions of the learned. mecca or medina would, on the extinction of constantinople, become almost of necessity the legal home of the ahl el agde, and might easily become the acknowledged centre of spiritual power. all whom i have spoken to on the subject agree that the solution would be an acceptable one to every school of ulema except the distinctly turkish schools. indeed "mecca, the seat of the caliphate" is, as far as i have had an opportunity of judging, the cry of the day with mussulmans; nor is it one likely to lose strength in the future. like the cry of "roma capitale," it seems to exercise a strong influence on the imagination of all to whom it is suggested, and when to that is added "a caliphate from the koreysh," the idea is to arabs at least irresistible. how indeed should it be otherwise when we look back on history? for my own part, though i do not pretend to determine the course events will take, i consider this notion of a return to mecca decidedly the most probable of all the contingencies we have reviewed, and the one which gives the best promise of renewed spiritual life for islam. politically the caliph at mecca would of course be less important than now on the bosphorus; but religiously he would have a far more assured footing. every year the pilgrimage from every part of the world would visit him, and instead of representing a mere provincial school of thought, he would then be a true metropolitan for all schools and all nations. the arabian element in islam would certainly support such a nomination, and it must be remembered that arabia extends from marocco to bushire; and so would the indian and the malay--indeed every element but the turkish, which is day by day becoming of less importance. i have even heard it affirmed that a caliphate of the koreysh at mecca would go far towards reconciling the schismatics, abadhites, and shiahs with orthodoxy; and i have reason to believe that it would so affect the liberal three-quarters of wahhabism. to the shiahs, especially, a descendant of ali could not but be acceptable; and to the arabs of oman and yemen a caliph of the koreysh would be at least less repugnant than a caliph of the beni othman. there certainly have of late years been symptoms of less bitterness between these schismatics and their old enemies, the sunites; and such a change in the conditions of the caliphate might conceivably bring about a full reconciliation of all parties. mussulmans can no longer afford to fight each other as of old; and i know that a reunion of the sects is already an idea with advanced thinkers. lastly, the caliphate would in arabia be freed from the incubus of turkish scholasticism and the stigma of turkish immorality, and would have freer scope for what islam most of all requires, a moral reformation. it is surely not beyond the flight of sane imagination to suppose, in the last overwhelming catastrophe of constantinople, a council of ulema assembling at mecca, and according to the legal precedent of ancient days electing a caliph. the assembly would, without doubt, witness intrigues of princes and quarrels among schoolmen and appeals to fanaticism and accusations of infidelity. money, too, would certainly play its part there as elsewhere, and perhaps blood might be shed. but any one who remembers the history of the christian church in the fifteenth century, and the synods which preceded the council of basle, must admit that such accompaniments of intrigue and corruption are no bar to a legal solution of religious difficulties. it was above all else the rivalries of popes and anti-popes that precipitated the catholic reformation. footnotes: [ ] according to canon law the caliph cannot cede any portion of the lands of islam except on physical compulsion. [ ] this too was written before the events of september, . these have immensely added to the chance of cairo's becoming once more the seat of the caliphate, though not perhaps of mohammed towfik's being the caliph elected. chapter iv. a mohammedan reformation. it is with considerable doubt of my ability to do justice to so very difficult a subject that i now approach the most important point of all in this inquiry, namely, the question on which in reality every other depends: "is there a possibility of anything like general reform for islam in her political and moral life?" it is obvious that, unless we can answer this in the affirmative, none of the changes i have been prefiguring will very much affect her ultimate fortunes--neither the solution of her legal deadlock with the ottoman caliphate, nor the transfer of her metropolis to a new centre, nor even the triumph of her arms, if such were possible, in africa or india. these by themselves could, at best, only delay her decline. they might even precipitate her ruin. islam, if she relies only on the sword, must in the end perish by it, for her forces, vast as they are, are without physical cohesion, being scattered widely over the surface of three continents and divided by insuperable accidents of seas and deserts; and the enemy she would have to face is intelligent as well as strong, and would not let her rest. already what is called the "progress of the world" envelopes her with its ships and its commerce, and, above all, with its printed thought, which she is beginning to read. nor is it likely in the future to affect her less. every year as it goes by carries her farther from the possibility of isolation, and forces on her new acquaintances, not only her old foes, the frank and muscovite, but the german, the chinaman, and the american, with all of whom she may have in turn to count. if she would not be strangled by these influences she must use other arms than those of the flesh, and meet the intellectual invasion of her frontiers with a corresponding intelligence. otherwise she has nothing to look forward to but a gradual decay, spiritual as well as political. her law must become little by little a dead letter, her caliphate an obsolete survival, and her creed a mere opinion. islam as a living and controlling moral force in the world would then gradually cease. in expressing my conviction that islam is not thus destined yet awhile to perish i believe that i am running counter to much high authority among my countrymen. i know that it is a received opinion with those best qualified to instruct the public that islam is in its constitution unamenable to change, and by consequence to progressive life, or even, in the face of hostile elements, to prolonged life at all. students of the sheriat have not inaptly compared the koranic law to a dead man's hand, rigid and cold, and only to be loosened when the hand itself shall have been cut away. it has been asserted that the first rule of mohammedan thought has been that change was inadmissible, and development of religious practice, either to right or left of the narrow path of mediæval scholasticism, absolutely precluded. i know this, and i know, too, that a vast array of learned mohammedan opinion can be cited to prove this to be the case, and that very few of the modern ulema of any school of divinity would venture openly to impugn its truth. nor have i forgotten the repeated failure of attempts made in turkey within the last fifty years to gain religious assent to the various legal innovations decreed by sultan after sultan in deference to the will of europe, nor the fate which has sometimes overtaken those who were the advocates of change. i know, according to all rule written and spoken by the orthodox, that islam cannot move, and yet in spite of it i answer with some confidence in the fashion of galileo, "e pur si muove." the fact is, islam does move. a vast change has come upon mohammedan thought since its last legal mujtahed wrote his last legal opinion; and what was true of orthodox islam fifty and even twenty years ago is no longer true now. when urquhart, the first exponent of mohammedanism to englishmen, began his writing, the hanefite teaching of constantinople had not begun to be questioned, and he was perfectly justified in citing it as the only rule recognized by the mass of the orthodox. no such thing as a liberal religious party then existed anywhere, and those who broke the law in the name of political reform were breakers of the law and nothing more. every good man was their enemy, and if any spoke of liberty he was understood as meaning licence. it was not even conceived then that the sheriat might be legally remodelled. now, however, and especially within the last ten years, a large section of godly and legal-minded men have ranged themselves on the side of liberal opinion, and serious attempts have been made to reconcile a desire of improvement with unabated loyalty to islam. a true liberal party has thus been formed, which includes in its ranks not merely political intriguers of the type familiar to europe in midhat pasha, but men of sincere piety, who would introduce moral as well as political reforms into the practice of mohammedans. these have it in their programme to make the practice of religion more austere while widening its basis, to free the intelligence of believers from scholastic trammels, and at the same time to enforce more strictly the higher moral law of the koran, which has been so long and so strangely violated. in this they stand in close resemblance to the "reformers" of christianity; and some of the circumstances which have given them birth are so analogous to those which europe encountered in the fifteenth century that it is impossible not to draw in one's own mind a parallel, leading to the conviction that islam, too, will work out for itself a reformation. the two chief agents of religious reform in europe were the misery of the poor and the general spread of knowledge. it is difficult at this distance of time to conceive how abject was the general state of the european peasantry in the days of louis xi. of france and frederick iii. of germany. the constant wars and almost as constant famines, the general insecurity of the conditions of life, the dependence of a vast majority of the poor on capricious patrons, the hideous growth of corruption and licentiousness in the ruling classes, and the impotence of the ruled to obtain justice, above all, the servile acquiescence of religion, which should have protected them, in the political illegalities daily witnessed--all these things, stirring the hearts of men, caused them to cry out against the existing order of church discipline, and inclined them to reform. on the other hand, as we all know, the invention of printing had caused men to read and the invention of the new world to travel. moreover, in the fifteenth century the ottoman turks, then an irresistible power, were invading europe, and a new element of contact with an outside world was created, and a new fear. christendom certainly at that time was in danger of political annihilation, or fancied itself to be so, and the apprehensions of devout persons in central europe were roused to a vivid consciousness of impending evil by the thought that this was perhaps another authorized scourge of god. i will not strain the parallel further than it will bear, but i would suggest that causes somewhat analogous to these are now at work among the mussulmans of the still independent states of islam, and that they are operating somewhat in the same direction. the mussulman peasantry, especially of the ottoman empire, are miserable, and they know that they are so, and they look in vain to their religion to protect them, as in former days, against their rulers. they find that all their world now is corrupt--that the law is broken daily by those who should enforce the law; that the illegalities of those who ruin them are constantly condoned by a conniving body of the ulema; that for all practical purposes of justice and mercy religion has abdicated its claim to direct and govern. they have learned, too, by their intercourse with strangers, and in the towns by the newspapers which they now eagerly read, that this has not been always so, and that servitude is not the natural state of man or acquiescence in evil the true position of religion, and they see in all they suffer an outrage inflicted on the better law of islam. i was much struck by hearing the egyptian peasantry last year attribute the lighter taxes they were then enjoying to the fact that their new ruler was "a man who feared god." at the same time the learned classes are shocked and alarmed at the political decline of islam and the still greater dangers which stare her in the face, and they attribute them to the unchecked wickedness and corruption with which the long rule of constantinople has pervaded every class of society, even beyond its own territorial borders. they complain now that they have been led astray, and believe that the vengeance of heaven will overtake them if they do not amend their ways. in all this, i say, there is something of the spirit which once goaded christians into an examination of the bases on which their belief rested, and of the true nature of the law which tolerated such great corruption. nor must we suppose that any part of this dissatisfaction is attributable as yet to a decay of faith, such as we now witness among ourselves. islam as yet shows hardly a taint of infidelity. the mussulman of the present day, whatever his rank in life, believes with as absolute a faith as did the christian of the period just referred to. with the exception of here and there a false convert or, as a very rare case, an europeanized infidel of the modern type, there is no such thing as a mohammedan sceptic, that is to say, a moslem who does not believe in the divine mission of mohammed. he may neglect every duty of his profession, be guilty of every crime, have broken every law--he may be the worst and the most depraved of men--or, on the other hand, he may have adopted the language and to a certain extent the tone of thought of europe, and, a thing far more rare, he may be even a scoffer and blasphemer;--still i do not imagine that in his heart he any the less firmly believes that the koran is the book of truth, or that at the day of judgment he shall be found with those who have escaped jehannem through their professed acknowledgment of god and of his apostle. i have heard strange stories in corroboration of this from persons whom i could not doubt, and about persons whom all the world knew. thus, one who was with fuad pasha, the most european of ottoman diplomatists, in his last days at nice, assures me that his whole time was spent in a recitation of the koran, learning it by heart. another, who was called the voltaire of islam, performed his prayers and prostrations with scrupulous regularity whenever he found himself in private; and a third, equally notorious as a sceptic, died of religious mania. all, too, who have mingled much with mussulmans, must have been struck with the profound resignation with which even thoughtless and irreligious men bear the ills of life, and the fortitude with which they usually meet their end--with the large proportion that they see of men who habitually pray and fast, and who on occasion, at great risk and sacrifice, make the pilgrimage, and with the general absence of profanity, and the fact that an avowal of religion is never proffered apologetically as with us, nor met in any society with derision. these things are, perhaps, not in themselves evidence of belief, for hypocrites have everywhere their reward, but the fact even of hypocrisy proves the general spirit to be one of avowed belief. the truly devout are doubtless rare, but where we find them it is evident that their belief pervades their lives in as strict a sense as it does devout persons among ourselves. it would probably be difficult to point out in europe men who in the world--i do not speak of ecclesiastics or persons in religious orders--lead more transparently religious lives than do the pious moslems of the better class whom one may find in almost any oriental town, or men who more closely follow the ideal which their creed sets before them. to doubt the sincerity and even, in a certain sense, the sanctity of such persons, would be to doubt all religion. in any case it is notorious that the faith of mecca is still the living belief of a vast number of the human race, the rule of their lives, and the explanation to them of their whole existence. there is no sign as yet that it has ceased to be a living faith. neither in considering its future is it easy for a candid english mind to escape the admission that, for all purposes of argument, the mohammedan creed must be treated as no vain superstition but a true religion, true inasmuch as it is a form of the worship of that one true god in whom europe, in spite of her modern reason, still believes. as such it is entitled to whatever credit we may give true religions of prolonged vitality; and while admitting the eternal truth of christianity for ourselves, we may be tempted to believe that in the arabian mind, if in no other, islam too will prove eternal. in its simplest form islam was but an emphatic renewal of the immemorial creed of the semites, and as long as a pure semitic race is left in the world, the revelation of mecca may be expected to remain a necessary link in their tradition. no modern arguments of science are ever likely to affect the belief of arabia that god has at sundry times and in sundry places spoken to man by the mouth of his prophets; and among these prophets mohammed will always be the most conspicuous because the most distinctly national. also the law of islam--i am not speaking merely of the sheriat as we now see it--will always remain their law because it is the codification of their custom, and its political organization their political organization because it is founded on a practice coeval with their history. lastly, semitic thought is a strong leaven which everywhere pervades the minds of nations, aliens though they be, who have once admitted it; and it will not easily be cast out. we have seen in europe, even in england, a land never brought physically into contact with arabia, how long arabian thought, filtered as it was through france and spain to our shores, has dominated our ideas. chivalry, a notion purely bedouin, is hardly yet extinct among us. romance, the offspring of pre-islamic arabia, is still a common motive of our action, and our poets express it still, to the neglect of classic models, in the rhymed verse of yemen. the mass of our people still pray to the god of abraham, and turn eastwards towards that land which is arabia's half-sister, the holy land of the jews. if then we, who are mere aliens, find it impossible to escape this subtle influence, what must it be for those races wholly or half arabian who have for centuries been impregnated with islam, the quintessence of arabian thought? who shall fix the term of its power, and say that it cannot renew itself and live? "send forth," says a famous english writer, who was also a famous english statesman, "a great thought, as you have done before, from mount sinai, from the villages of galilee, from the deserts of arabia, and you may again remodel all men's institutions, change their principles of action, and breathe a new spirit into the scope of their existence." but i must not lose myself in generalities or forget that it is for practical englishmen that i am writing. to be precise, i see two ways in which it is probable that islam will attempt to renew her spiritual life, and two distinct lines of thought which according to external circumstances she may be expected to follow--the first a violent and hardly a permanent one, the second the true solution of her destiny. among the popular beliefs of islam--and it is one common to every sect, shiite and abadite, as well as sunite--is this one, that in the latter days of the world, when the power of god's worshippers shall have grown weak and their faith corrupted, a leader shall arise who shall restore the fortunes of the true believers. he shall begin by purging the earth of injustice, fighting against oppressors wherever he shall find them, mohammedan as well as infidel, and he shall teach the people a perfect law which they shall have forgotten, and he shall reign over islam in place of their khalifeh, being called the móhdy, or guide. to this some add that he will arise of a sudden in some distant corner of the earth, and that he will march towards mecca, and that everywhere the blood of moslems shall be shed like water, and that he shall enter mecca when the streets shall run with blood. in support of this coming of the móhdy many traditions exist which are held to be authentic by the ulema. thus it is related on the authority of abdallah ibn messaoud that he heard the prophet say, "when there shall remain but one day of the days of the earth, god shall prolong that day, and shall send forth from my house a man bearing my name and the name of my father (mohammed ibn abdallah), and he shall purify the earth from injustice and fill it with that which is right." the same was heard also by ali ibn abu taleb, the prophet's son-in-law, and by hadhifat ibn el yaman, who relates that this prophecy was delivered by mohammed one friday at the khotbah, or sermon, in medina. salman el faris, another witness, declares that he afterwards approached the prophet and stood before him and asked him, "from which of thy descendants, o apostle of god, shall the móhdy be?" and the prophet answered, stretching his hand towards his grandson huseyn, "from this child shall he come." besides this general belief, which, though not a positive dogma of their faith, is common to all mussulmans, the shiites, always prone to exaggerate and embellish, maintain that the móhdy's duty is not limited to teaching, guiding, and purifying the law, but also that he shall revenge the blood unjustly shed of the imams; and they cite in support of this a tradition of ali ibn abu taleb, who thus addressed his son, huseyn, the same who was afterwards martyred at kerbela, "i swear to thee, o my son," he said, "i swear by my soul, and by my offspring, and by kerbela, and by its temple, that the day shall come in which our beards shall be dyed with blood. and i swear that afterwards god shall raise up a man, the móhdy, who shall stand in our place, the lord of mankind. he it is who shall avenge us, nay, he shall avenge thy blood also, o huseyn. therefore have patience. for the blood of one man he shall shed the blood of a thousand; and he will not spare them who have helped our enemies." the shiites say also that this móhdy will be no new personage, but that he lives already in the flesh, being no other than the twelfth and last of their recognized imams, who was born in the year of the hejira, and whose name was mohammed ibn el hassan, abul kassem, el móhdy, lord of the command and lord of time; and who, while yet a child, disappeared from the world, retaining nevertheless his authority. this móhdy they expect _when the turkish rule is in decay_. after accomplishing his vengeance and re-establishing justice he shall rule for an undetermined period, when jesus the son of mary also shall come, and the apostle mohammed, an apparition which will announce the end of the world.[ ] it would seem, therefore, exceedingly probable that out of the religious ferment which we now see agitating africa some enthusiast will arise who will announce himself as this móhdy, and head an active movement of reform. already, indeed, two such personages have made their appearance, one in tripoli, of whom i heard much talk a year ago, and who is now said to be marching to join the defenders of keruan; and a second quite recently in soudan. it is not difficult to imagine the kind of reformation such an inspired guide would preach. indeed his rôle is marked out for him in the prophecies just quoted. he would purge the earth of injustice with the sword, and, breaking with all authority but that of the koran he would seek to renew a kingdom of heaven on the model of islam militant. it would be a repetition, but on a grander scale, of the wahhabite movement of the eighteenth century, and, having a wider base of operations in the vast fanatical masses of north africa, might achieve far more important results. even without pretending to the rank of an inspired guide, it is certain that a man of zeal and character might in the present crisis easily persuade the malekite arabs to reform their moral practice, if necessary to asceticism, by proving to them that they would thus regain their ascendancy in arms. on this basis a reformation would be easy; but it would be analogous to that of the hussites and anabaptists in europe, rather than of the true church reformation which succeeded these, and would hardly be universal or permanent. i once heard a most distinguished alem describe the qualifications of one who should preach a reform of this kind:--"the man," said he, "who would persuade us to reform must come, in the first place, of a well-recognized family. he must be either a prince, or a sherif, or an hereditary saint. this would secure him from a first personal attack on the ground of seeming impiety. he must secondly be an arab, gifted with the pure language of the koran, for the arabian ulema would not listen to a barbarian; and he must possess commanding eloquence. a reformer must before all else be a preacher. thirdly, he must be profoundly learned, that is to say, versed in all the subtleties of the law and in all that has been written in commentary on the koran; and he must have a ready wit, so that in argument he may be able constantly to oppose authority with authority, quotation with quotation. granted these three qualifications and courage and god's blessing, he may lead us where he will." the chief obstacles, however, to a reformation of this sort would not be in the beginning, nor would they be wholly moral ones. the full programme of the móhdy needs that he should conquer mecca; and the land road thither of an african reformer lies blocked by egypt and the suez canal. so that, unless he should succeed in crossing the red sea through abyssinia (an invasion which, by the way, would fulfil another ancient prophecy, which states that the "companions of the elephant," the abyssinians, shall one day conquer hejaz), he could not carry out his mission. nor, except as an ally against the turk, would a fanatical reformer now find much sympathy in arabia proper. the peninsular arabs have had their puritan reformation already, and a strong reaction has set in amongst them in favour of liberal thought. they are in favour still of reform, but it is of another kind from that preached by abd el wahhab; and it is doubtful whether a new militant islam would find many adherents amongst them. the only strong advocate of such views at the present day among true arabs in arabia is the aged sherif, abd el mutalleb, the sultan's nominee, who indeed has spared no pains, since he was installed at mecca, to fan the zeal of the north africans. a wahhabi in his youth, he is still a fierce puritan; and it is possible that, should he live long enough (he is said to be ninety years old), he may be able to produce a corresponding zeal in arabia. but at present the mass of the arabs in hejaz, no less than in nejd and yemen, are occupied with more humane ideas. abd el mutalleb's chief supporters in mecca are not his own countrymen, but the indian colony, descendants many of them of the sepoy refugees who fled thither in , and who have the reputation of being the most fanatical of all its residents. the true arabs are in revolt against his authority. again, it is improbable that any enunciation of puritan reform would find support among the northern races of asia, which are uniformly sunk in gross sensuality and superstition; while constantinople may be trusted to oppose all reform whatever. wahhabism, when it overspread southern asia, never gained a foothold further north than syria, and broke itself to pieces at last against the corrupt orthodoxy of constantinople. and so too it would happen now. abd el hamid, in spite of his zeal for islam, would see in the preaching of a moral reform only a new heresy; and, as we have seen, the móhdy's mission is against all evil rule, the sultan's and caliph's not excepted. so that, unless abd el hamid places himself openly at the head of the warlike movement in africa and so forestalls a rival, he is not likely long to give it his loyal support. already there are symptoms of his regarding events in tunis with suspicion, and on the first announcement of an inspired reformer he would, i believe, not hesitate to pronounce against him. i understand the turkish military reinforcements at tripoli quite as much in the light of a precaution against arab reform as against infidel france. puritanism, then, on a militant basis, even if preached by the móhdy himself, could hardly be either general or lasting, and its best result would probably be, that after a transient burst of energy, which would rouse the thought of islam and renew her spiritual life, a humaner spirit, as in arabia would take its place, and lead to a more lasting, because a more rational, reform. but it was not to such a puritan reformation that i was pointing when i expressed my conviction that islam would in the end work out her salvation, nor do i hold it necessary that she should find any such _deus ex machinâ_ as an inspired guide to point her out her road. her reformation is indeed already begun, and may be gradually carried to its full results, by no violent means, and in a progressive, not a reactionary spirit. this only can be the true one, for it is a law of nations and of faiths, no less than of individuals, that they cannot really return upon their years, and that all beneficial changes for them must be to new conditions of life, not to old ones--to greater knowledge, not to less--to freedom of thought, not to its enslavement. nor is there anything in the true principles of islam to make such progress an unnatural solution of her destiny. mohammedanism in its institution, and for many centuries after its birth, was eminently a rationalistic creed; and it was through reason as well as faith that it first achieved its spiritual triumphs. if we examine its bases its early history, we must indeed admit this. the koran, which we are accustomed to speak of as the written code of mohammedan law, is in reality no legal text-book by which mussulmans live. at best it enunciates clearly certain religious truths, the unity of god, the doctrine of rewards and punishments in a future life, and the revelation of god's claims on man. psalms, many of them sublime, occupy the greater number of its chapters; promises of bliss to believers and destruction to unbelievers come next; then the traditional history of revelation as it was current among the semitic race; and only in the later chapters, and then obscurely, anything which can properly be classed as law. yet law is the essence of islam, and was so from its earliest foundation as a social and religious polity; and it is evident that to it, and not to the koran's dogmatic theology, islam owed its great and long career of triumph in the world. now this law was not, like the koran, brought down full-fledged from heaven. at first it was little more than a confirmation of the common custom of arabia, supplemented indeed and corrected by revelation, but based upon existing rules of right and wrong. when, however, islam emerged from arabia in the first decade of her existence, and embracing a foreign civilization found herself face to face with new conditions of life, mere custom ceased to be a sufficient guide; and, the voice of direct revelation having ceased, the faithful were thrown upon their reason to direct them how they were to act. revelation continued, nevertheless, to be the groundwork of their reasoning, and the teaching of their great leader the justification of each new development of law as the cases requiring it arose. the koran was cited wherever it was possible to find a citation, and where these failed tradition was called in. the companions of the prophet were in the first instance consulted, and their recollections of his sayings and doings quoted freely; while afterwards, when these too were gone, the companions of the companions took their place, and became in their turn cited. thus by a subtle process of comparison and reasoning, worked out through many generations, the mohammedan law as we see it was gradually built up, until in the third century of islam it was embodied by order of the caliph into a written code. the fakh ed din and the fakh esh sheriat of abu hanifeh, the doctor intrusted with this duty, was a first attempt to put into reasoned form the floating tradition of the faithful, and to make a digest of existing legal practice. he and his contemporaries examined into and put in order the accumulated wealth of authority on which the law rested, and, taking this and rejecting that saying of the fathers of islam, founded on them a school of teaching which has ever since been the basis of mohammedan jurisprudence. abu hanifeh's code, however, does not appear to have been intended, at the time it was drawn up, to be the absolute and final expression of all lawful practice for the faithful. it included a vast amount of tradition of which either no use was made by its compiler, or which stood in such contradiction with itself that a contrary interpretation of it to his could with equal logic be deduced. abu hanifeh quoted and argued rather than determined; and as long as the arabian mind continued to be supreme in islam the process of reasoning development continued. the hanefite code was supplemented by later doctors, malek, esh shafy, and ibn hanbal, and even by others whose teaching has been since repudiated, all in the avowed intention of suiting the law still further to the progressive needs of the faithful, and all following the received process of selecting and interpreting and reasoning from tradition. these codes were, for the then existing conditions of life, admirable; and even now, wherever those conditions have remained unaltered, are amply sufficient for the purposes of good government and the regulation of social conduct. they would, nevertheless, have been but halting places in the march of mohammedan legislation, had the destinies of islam remained permanently in the hands of its first founders. unfortunately, about the eleventh century of our era, a new and unfortunate influence began to make itself felt in the counsels of the arabian ulema, which little by little gaining ground, succeeded at last in stopping the flow of intellectual progress at the fountain head. the tartar, who then first makes his appearance in mohammedan politics, though strong in arms, was slow to understand. he had no habit of thought, and, having embraced islam, he saw no necessity for further argument concerning it. the language of the koran and the traditions was a science sealed to him; and the reasoning intelligence of the arab whose dominion he had invaded was a constant reproof to him. he dared not venture his barbarian dignity in the war of wit which occupied the schools; and so fortified his unintelligence behind a rampart of dogmatic faith. impotent to develop law himself, he clutched blindly at that which he found written to his hand. the code of abu hanifeh seemed to him a perfect thing, and he made it the resting place of his legal reason. then, as he gradually possessed himself of all authority, he declared further learning profane, and virtually closed the schools. his military triumphs in the sixteenth century sealed the intellectual fate of islam, and from that day to our own no light of discussion has illumined moslem thought, in any of the old centres of her intelligence. reason, the eye of her faith in early times, has been fast shut--by many, it has been argued, blind. it is only in the present generation, and in the face of those dangers and misfortunes to which islam finds herself exposed, that recourse has once more been had to intellectual methods; and it is precisely in those regions of islam where arab thought is strongest that we now find the surest symptoms of returning mental life. modern arabia, wherever she has come in contact with what we call the civilization of the world, has shown herself ready and able to look it in the face; and she is now setting herself seriously to solve the problem of her own position and that of her creed towards it. in north africa, indeed, civilization for the moment presents itself to her only as an enemy; but where her intelligence has remained unclouded by the sense of political wrong she has proved herself capable, not only of understanding the better thought of europe, but of sympathizing with it as akin to her own. thus at cairo, now that the influence of constantinople has been partially removed, we find the arabian ulema rapidly assimilating to their own the higher principles of our european thought, and engrafting on their lax moral practice some of the better features of our morality. it is at no sacrifice of imagined dignity, as with the turks, that egypt is seeking a legal means for universal religious toleration, or from any pressure but that of their own intelligence that her chief people are beginning to reform their domestic life, and even, in some instances, to adopt the practice of monogamy. the truth would seem to be that the same process is being effected to-day in their minds as was formerly the case with their ancestors. in the eighth century, the arabs, brought into contact with greek philosophy, assimilated it by a natural process of their reasoning into the body of their own beliefs; and now in the nineteenth they are assimilating a foreign morality into their own system of morals. not only in egypt,--in oman and peninsular arabia, generally there is a real feeling of cordiality between the mohammedan and his christian "guest." the abolition of slavery in zanzibar was a concession to european opinion at least as much as to european force; and a moral sympathy is acknowledged between a moslem and a christian state which has its base in a common sense of right and justice. i have good reason to believe that, were the people of yemen to effect their deliverance from constantinople, the same humane feeling would be found to exist among them; and i know that it exists in nejd; while even in hejaz, which is commonly looked upon as the hot-bed of religious intolerance, i found all that was truly arabian in the population as truly liberal. under the late grand sherif, abd el hamid's reputed victim, these ideas were rapidly gaining ground; and had it not been for his untimely end, i have high authority for stating that the mohammedan holy land would now be open to european intercourse, and slavery, or at least the slave trade, be there abolished. there is, therefore, some reason to hope that, were arabian thought once more supreme in islam, its tendency would be in the direction of a wider and more liberal reading of the law, and that in time a true reconciliation might be effected with christendom, perhaps with christianity. the great difficulty which, as things now stand, besets reform is this: the sheriat, or written code of law, still stands in orthodox islam as an _unimpeachable_ authority. the law in itself is an excellent law, and as such commends itself to the loyalty of honest and god-fearing men; but on certain points it is irreconcilable with the modern needs of islam, and it cannot legally be altered. when it was framed it was not suspected that mohammedans would ever be subjects of a christian power, or that the mohammedan state would ever need to accommodate itself to christian demands in its internal policy. it contemplated, too, mainly a state of war, and it accepted slavery and concubinage as war's natural concomitants. it did not understand that some day islam would have to live at peace with its neighbours, if it would live at all, or that the general moral sense of the world would be brought to bear upon it with such force that the higher instincts of moslems themselves should feel the necessity of restricting its old and rather barbarous licence as to marriage and divorce. yet these things have come to pass, or are rapidly coming; and the best thinkers in islam now admit that changes in the direction indicated must sooner or later be made. only they insist that these should be legally effected, not forced on them by an overriding of the law. what they want is _a legal authority to change_. now, no such authority exists, either in the ottoman sultan, or in the sherif, or in any sheykh el islam, mufti, or body of ulema in the world. none of these dare seriously meddle with the law. there is not even one universally recognized tribunal to which all moslems may refer their doubts about the law's proper reading, and have their disputes resolved. a fetwa, or opinion, is all that can be given, and it applies only to the land where it is issued. the fetwa of this great alem in one moslem state may be reversed by the fetwa of another in that. the sheykh el islam at constantinople may be appealed against to the mufti at mecca or cairo, or these again, it may be, to bokhara. none absolutely overrides the rest. thus while i was at jeddah there came a deputation of mussulmans from bengal, being on their way to mecca to ask a fetwa on the disputed point whether believers were permitted or not to use european dress. a previous fetwa had been asked at constantinople, but the deputation was dissatisfied, alleging that the sheykh el islam there could not be trusted and that they preferred the meccan mufti. thus legal-minded moslems who would see their way to improvement are constantly faced with a legal bar, the want of authority. _as things stand_ there is no remedy for this. an opinion, however, seems now to be gaining ground among the learned, that a legal issue may one day be found in the restoration to the caliphate of what is called by them the _saut el haï_, the living voice of islam, which in its first period, and indeed till the destruction of the abbaside dynasty by holagu, belonged to the successors of the prophet. it is certain that in the first four reigns of abu bekr, omar, othman, and ali, such a living power to legislate was accorded to the caliphs; and that on their own authority they modified at will the yet unwritten law. thus it is related of abu bekr that in one instance he set aside a law called the mota, though based directly on some sentences of the koran, declaring it not conformable to the better tradition; and that ali again reversed this ruling, which has, nevertheless, been adhered to by the sunites. later, too, the ommiad and abbaside caliphs exercised this right of legislation by deputy; it was in their names that the mujtaheddin, abu hanifeh and the rest, framed their first codes of law; and to the last the words of their mouth were listened to, as in some measure inspired utterances, by the faithful. it was only when the sacred office passed from the sacred and legitimate house that this feeling of reverence ceased, and the living voice of the caliph was disregarded in islam. the ottoman conqueror, when he took upon him the title of emir el mumenin, did not venture to claim for himself the power to teach, nor would moslems have listened to any such pretension. the house of othman was from the first sunk in degrading vices, and was too untaught to teach. the account given us by bertrandon de la brocquière in the fifteenth century of the court and habits of the "grand turk" is evidently no exaggeration; and it is easy to conceive by the light of it how impossible it must have been for the arabian ulema to connect the notion of inspiration in any way with such personages as the sultans then were. as a fact the saut el haï was not claimed by selim, nor has it ever been accorded to his descendants. the want of some voice of authority is, nevertheless, becoming daily more generally felt by orthodox mohammedans; and it seems to me certain that, in some shape or other, it will before long be restored to general recognition. abd el hamid, whose spiritual ambition i have described, has, quite recently, caused a legal statement of his caliphal rights to be formally drawn up, and it includes this right of the _saut el haï_;[ ] and, though it is improbable that the faithful will, at the eleventh hour of its rule, invest the house of othman with so sublime a prerogative, it is extremely likely that, when a more legitimate holder of the title shall have been found, he will be conceded all the rights of the sacred office. then the legal difficulty will at last be overcome. the dead hand of the law will be no longer dead, but will be inspired by a living voice and will. since we are imagining many things we may imagine this one too,--that our caliph of the koreysh, chosen by the faithful and installed at mecca, should invite the ulema of every land to a council at the time of the pilgrimage, and there, appointing a new mujtahed, should propound to them certain modifications of the sheriat, as things necessary to the welfare of islam, and deducible from tradition. no point of doctrine need in any way be touched, only the law. the fakh ed din would need hardly a modification. the fakh esh sheriat would, in certain chapters, have to be rewritten. who can doubt that an omar or an haroun, were they living at the present day, would authorize such changes, or that the faithful of their day would have accepted them as necessary and legitimate developments of koranic teaching? it would be an interesting study to pursue this inquiry further, and to see how it might be worked out in detail. the crying necessity of civilized islam is a legal _modus vivendi_ with europe, and such an adaptation of its law on points where europe insists as shall suffice to stave off conflict. it is evident that legal equality must now be accorded to christians living under mohammedan law, and that conformity, on the other hand, in certain points to foreign law must be allowed to moslems living under christian rule. again, slavery must, by some means, be made illegal; and a stricter interpretation of the koranic permission be put on marriage, concubinage, and divorce. that all these changes might be logically effected by a process of reasoning from the traditions, and expanding or minimising the interpretation of the koran, no one need doubt who remembers what fetwas have already been given on these very points by some of the azhar ulema. at present these decisions are unsatisfactory to the faithful at large, because those issuing them have no recognized authority to strain the law, but with authority the same decisions would meet with general approval. at least such is the impression of modern mohammedan opinion made on me by my conversation with mohammedans. it would be interesting to work out these points; and i hope some day to have an opportunity of doing so, but for the present i have neither the time nor the knowledge sufficient for the purpose. i must be content with having suggested the method; i cannot work out the details of a reformation. it may, however, give an idea of the kind of material in tradition which reformers are looking for, if i quote a document which was being circulated last spring among the ulema of the azhar. it purports to be the text of the prophet's first treaty with the christians of arabia, though i do not vouch for its authenticity, and runs as follows:-- "covenant of god's apostle, mohammed, with the christian people, their monks and their bishops."--(a.d. .) "mohammed, the apostle of god, sent with a message of peace to all mankind, dictateth the words of this covenant that the cause of god may be a written document between him and the people of christ. "he who keepeth this covenant, let him be called a true moslem worthy of the religion of god, and he who departeth from it let him be called an enemy, be he king or subject, great or small. "to this have i pledged myself: i will fence in their lands with my horsemen, and my footmen, and my allies, throughout the world; and i will care for their safety and the safety of their temples, their churches, their oratories, and their convents, and the places of their pilgrimage, wheresoever i shall find them, whether by the land or by the sea, in the east or in the west, on the mountain or in the plain, in the desert or in the city. there will i stand behind them that no harm shall reach them, and my followers shall keep them from evil. this is my covenant with them. i will exempt them in all matters wherein the moslems are exempt. i command also that no one of their bishops be expelled from his see, nor shall any christian be forced from his religion, nor shall a monk be forced from his convent, nor a hermit from his cell. it is my will that none of their holy buildings be destroyed or taken from them for mosques by my people or for their dwellings. whosoever despiseth this command is guilty before god and despiseth the pledge of his apostle. all monks and bishops, and the dependents of these, i declare exempt from tribute, except such as they shall of their free will bring. nor shall christian merchants, doing business by sea, or diving for pearls, or working in the mines for gold, or silver, or jewels, even the wealthy and the mighty, pay more than twelve drachmas of yearly tribute. this, for such christian merchants as shall live in arabia; but for travellers and strangers in the land, they are exempt. likewise such as have lands and gardens bearing fruit, and fields for corn, shall pay no more than it is in their power to bring. "and the people to whom i have pledged my word shall not be required to fight for themselves. but the moslems shall protect them, asking them neither for arms, nor rations, nor horses for the war, except such as each shall choose to bring. but if any shall bring money, or help the moslems in war, it must be acknowledged them with thanks. "and this is my command. no moslem shall molest a follower of christ; and if he dispute with him it shall be with good manners. and if a christian do any man wrong it shall be a duty with moslems to stay the avenger and make peace between them, paying the ransom if the wrong demand a ransom. and it is my wish that christians should not be disregarded by my followers, for i have pledged my word unto them before god that they shall be as moslems in my sight, sharing and partaking of all things with the rest. and in their marriages they shall not be troubled no moslem shall say to a christian, 'give me thy daughter,' nor take her unless he be willing. and if a christian woman become a slave to a moslem he shall be bound by this covenant to leave her her religion, nor shall he compel her to disobey her religious chiefs. this is the command of god, and whosoever shall deny it and disobey god shall hold him for a liar. "moreover it shall be a duty with my followers to repair the churches of the christians, rendering them the service not as a debt, but for god's sake and for the keeping of the covenant, made to them by the apostle of god. "no christian shall be compelled to go forth in time of war as an envoy or spy against his people. "these are the privileges which mohammed, the apostle of god, hath granted to the followers of christ. in return he requested them to deal with him and with the moslems as follows:-- " . none of them in time of war shall give assistance, either openly or in secret, to the enemies of islam. " . they shall not give asylum in their churches or in their houses to the enemies of islam. " . they shall not help them with arms, or rations, or horses, or men. " . they shall not keep counsel with the declared enemies of islam, nor receive them in their houses, nor deposit money with them. " . they shall grant to all moslems seeking their hospitality entertainment for at least three days. but no moslem shall require of them to make special cooking for him, and he shall eat of the common food with his host. " . if a moslem seek asylum with a christian, the christian shall not refuse to shelter him, and shall not deliver him to his enemies. "what christian soever shall refuse these my requests, he shall not partake of the privileges of this covenant which i have made with the bishops, monks, and the rest, the followers of christ. and i call god to witness with my followers and command them to keep faithful to this my precept, now and till the day of judgment. "the above was written in the presence of the under-signed persons, dictated by the apostle of god, and written down by mawiyeh ibn abu sofian, on monday, at the end of the fourth month, of the fourth year, of the hejira, in medina, peace be upon its lord. (signed) "abu bekr es sadik. "omar ibn el khottub. "othman ibn affan. "ali ibn abu taleb. and thirty-one other signatures. "god be witness of what hath been said in this treaty. praised be god the lord of the earth." in conclusion, i would urge that while it is to mohammedans themselves that we must look to work out their ultimate regeneration according to the rules of their own law and conscience, christendom can still do much to influence immediate results. the day of religious hatred between moslem and christian as such is, i hope, nearly at an end; and though political strife is unfortunately renewing the old quarrel in north africa, there is no danger now of its becoming on europe's part a crusade. christendom has pretty well abandoned her hopeless task of converting islam, as islam has abandoned hers of conquering europe; and it is surely time that moral sympathy should unite the two great bodies of men who believe in and worship the same god. england, at least, may afford now to acknowledge mohammedanism as something not to be merely combated and destroyed, but to be accepted by her and encouraged--accepted as a fact which for good or evil will exist in the world whether she will or no--encouraged because it has in it possibilities of good which she cannot replace by any creed or philosophy of her own. she can do much to help these possibilities, for they depend for the moment on her political action. there is a good cause and a bad in islam as elsewhere in the world, and though hitherto england's physical help has been given all to evil, it has been through ignorance of the issues at stake; and i am confident that as she learns these, she will acknowledge the wrong she has unconsciously been doing, and repair while there is yet time her error. in my next and concluding chapter i propose to sketch a policy towards islam worthy of england's high sense of duty, and conformable to her true interests. footnotes: [ ] a remarkable coincidence of prediction, christian and mohammedan, has been pointed out to me in rohrbacher's history of the church, published in , where by an elaborate calculation based on the old testament prophecies he arrives at the conclusion that the turkish empire will fall in , the date assigned it also by the mohammedan prediction quoted in my last chapter--that is to say a.h. . [ ] this claim has been endorsed by abd el mutalleb, who is issuing a _resalat rayiyeh_, or pastoral letter, this year to the pilgrims in support of abd el hamid's caliphate. chapter v. england's interest in islam. nothing now remains for me but to point the moral which these essays were designed to draw. it will have been observed that hitherto i have avoided as much as possible all allusion to the direct political action which christendom is exercising, and must ever more and more exercise, upon the fortunes of islam; and in this i have been guided by two motives. i have wished, first, to give prominence to the fact that in all great movements of the human intellect the force of progression or decay should be looked for mainly from within, not from without; and, secondly, to simplify my subject so as to render it more easily intelligible to the reading public. we have reached, however, the point now when it will be necessary to take different ground, and look at islam no longer as regards her internal economy, but as she is being affected by the world at large. we must inquire what influence the material pressure of europe is likely to have on her in the levant, and what in africa and central asia; and, above all, we must examine closely our own position towards her, and the course which duty and interest require us to pursue in regard to the vast mussulman population of our indian empire. i take it the sentiment generally of continental europe--i do not speak of england--towards mohammedanism is still much what it has always been, namely, one of social hostility and political aggression. in spite of all the changes which have affected religious thought in catholic europe, and of the modern doctrine of tolerance in matters of opinion, none of the nations by which islam is immediately confronted to the north and west have really changed anything of their policy towards her, since the days when they first resolved on the recovery of "christian lands lost to the infidel." it is true that most of them no longer put forward religious zeal as the motive of their action, or the possession of the holy sepulchre as its immediate object; but under the name of "civilization" their crusade is no less a continuous reality, and the direction of their efforts has not ceased to be the resumption by europe of political control in the whole of the provinces once forming the roman empire. the sentiment in its origin was a just one, and, though now become for the most part selfish with the various christian states, who see in the advantage to christendom only an advantage to themselves, it appeals to an ancient and respectable moral sanction which is in itself no inconsiderable power. it is certain that the national conscience neither of france, nor spain, nor italy, nor austria would repudiate an aggression, however unprovoked, upon any of the still independent mussulman states of the mediterranean, and that the only judgment passed on such an act by public opinion would be one dependent on its failure or success. thus in estimating the future of islam as a political body, and in view of the disparity proved to exist at all points between modern europe and its ancient rival in the matter of physical strength, we must be prepared to see the latter submit at no distant date to great territorial losses along the whole line of its european frontier. few, i think, to begin from the extreme west, will be inclined to doubt that, should the french succeed in thoroughly crushing the arab movement which they have provoked in tunis, and which will in all probability be extended next summer to morocco and tripoli, the beginning of the next century will see what is left of the barbary coast in their possession, or in that of spain or italy; and the greater part of the cultivable lands fronting the mediterranean occupied by their immigrants. what france has done or attempted to do in algiers her two neighbours may possibly achieve with even more success in morocco and western tripoli, for the spaniards and italians are both eminently colonizing races, and the hill country of barbary is little different in climate from their own. tripoli, on the break up of the ottoman empire, will certainly tempt italian statesmen, and spain has already a footing on the african coast in tetuan. it is therefore conceivable that the better lands on the seaboard will receive a flood of such agriculturists from either country as now seek their fortunes on the river plate and elsewhere. should such be the case, the mohammedan population may be ousted from their possession of the soil, and driven southwards, at least for a time, and a considerable decrease of the political strength of islam be witnessed in that quarter. i do not, however, conceive that europe will ever obtain a sure colonial footing south of the atlas, or that the mussulmans of the sahara will lose anything of their present religious character. at worst, southern morocco and fezzan will always remain independent mohammedan states, the nucleuses of religious life in barbary, and links between the mussulmans of northern and central africa, while further east the growing influence of egypt will make itself felt intellectually to the advantage of believers. it is, however, to central africa that islam must in the future look for a centre of religious gravity westwards. there, in the conversion of the negro race of the tropics, already so rapidly proceeding, she has good prospect of compensation for all losses on the mediterranean coast; and, screened by the sahara and by a climate unsuited to european life, she may retain for centuries her political as well as her religious independence. the negro races will not only be mohammedanised; they will also be arabised; and a community of language and of custom will thus preserve for soudan its connection with mecca, and so with the general life of islam. the losses, then, to islam in africa will be rather apparent than real, and may even in the end prove a source of new strength. nor must we lose sight of the possibility of a french defeat i believe that at no time during the past forty years has the military position of "our allies" been in a graver peril in their colony than now, or the resources of their antagonists greater. it is a weakness of the french system in africa that it has made no attempt to assimilate the native population; and it is the strength of that population, in as far as it is arab, that it does assimilate french thought to its own advantage. it is far from certain whether the conquest of algiers may not some day have for its effect the renewal of mohammedan political vitality in all the barbary coast. a more absolute and immediate loss must be anticipated in europe and western asia. there it is pretty certain that in a very few years ottoman rule will have ceased, and the turkish-speaking lands composing the empire been absorbed by one or other of the powerful neighbours who have so long coveted their possession. austria, in person or by deputy, may be expected by the end of the present century to have inherited the european, and russia the asiatic, provinces of turkey proper, while the fate of syria and egypt will only have been averted, if averted it be, by the intervention of england. that a dissolution of the empire may and will be easily accomplished i have myself little doubt. the military power of constantinople, though still considerable for the purposes of internal control, will hardly again venture to cope single-handed with any european state, nor is it in the least probable that the sultan will receive further christian support from without. the fall of kars has laid asia minor open to the russian arms, and the territorial cessions of san stefano and berlin have laid roumelia open to the austrian. on the first occasion of a quarrel with the porte a simultaneous advance from both quarters would preclude the chance of even a serious struggle, and the subjugation of the turkish-speaking races would be effected without more difficulty. the weakness of the empire from a military point of view is, that it is dependent wholly on its command of the sea, a position which enables it to mass what troops it has rapidly on the points required, but which even a second-rate mediterranean power could wrest from it. its communication cut by a naval blockade, the empire would almost without further action be dissolved. whatever loyalty the sultan may have lately achieved outside his dominions, there is not only no spirit of national resistance in asia minor itself, but the provinces, even the most mussulman, would hail an invading army as a welcome deliverer from him. left to themselves they would abandon without compunction the sultan's cause, and the next war of an european state with turkey will not only be her last, but it will in all likelihood hardly be fought out by her. nor do i conceive that the fall of the ottoman empire and the annexation of its turkish provinces would be a mere political loss of so much territory to islam. it would involve moral consequences far greater than this for the whole mussulman world of north-western asia. i have the authority of the most enlightened of modern asiatic statesmen in support of my opinion that it would be the certain deathblow of mohammedanism as a permanent religious faith in all the lands west of the caspian, and that even among the tartar races of the far east, the sunite mussulmans of siberia and the khanates, and as far as the great wall of china, it would be a shock from which sunism in its present shape would with difficulty recover. what has hitherto supported the religious constancy of orthodox believers in those lands, formerly ottoman, which have become subject to russia, has been throughout the consciousness that there was still upon the russian border a great militant body of men of their own faith, ruled by its acknowledged spiritual head. the centre of their religious pride has been constantinople, where the sultan and caliph has sat enthroned upon the bosphorus, commanding the two worlds of europe and asia, and securing to them communication with the holy places of their devotion and the living body of true believers. their self-respect has been maintained by this feeling, and with it fidelity to their traditions. moreover, the school of st. sophia has been a fountain-head of religious knowledge, the university at which the ulema of kazan and tiflis and astrachan have received their spiritual education; while at all times religious personages from constantinople have travelled among them, keeping alive the recollection of their lost allegiance. on this basis their faith has retained what it has of loyalty in spite of the political russianising they have undergone; but with their political centre destroyed, they would be as sheep without a shepherd, scattered in little groups here and there among a growing christian population, and shut out from the fold of their belief. constantinople is the assembling place of pilgrimage for all mohammedans west of the ural mountains, who reach it by the black sea, and could never be replaced to them by any new centre further south among the arab races, with whom they have little sympathy or direct religious connection. a caliph at mecca or in egypt could do little for them, and the turkish-speaking sunites would have no university open to them nearer than bokhara. in this respect they would find themselves in a far worse position than the moors, however universally these may become subject to europe, and their religious disintegration would be a mere question of time. i believe, therefore, that islam must be prepared for a loss, not only of political power in europe and in western asia, but also of the mohammedan population in the ottoman lands absorbed by russia. it will be a strange revenge of history if the ottoman turks, whom europe has for so many centuries held to be the symbolic figure of mohammedanism, shall one day cease to be mohammedan. yet it is a revenge our children or our grandchildren may well live to see. how far eastward the full results of this religious disintegration may extend, it is perhaps fanciful to speculate. the north-western provinces of persia, which are inhabited by mussulmans of mixed race speaking the turkish language and largely interfused with christian armenians, would, i am inclined to think, follow the destiny of the west, and ultimately accept christianity as a dominant religion. but, east of the caspian, sunite islam, though severely shaken, may yet hope to survive and hold its ground for centuries. the present policy of russia, whatever it may be in europe, is far from hostile to mohammedanism in central asia. as a religion it is even protected there, and it is encouraged by the government in its missionary labours among the idolatrous tribes of the steppes, and among the buddhists, who are largely accepting its doctrines in the extreme east. hitherto there has been no christian colonization in the direction of the khanates, nor is there any indigenous form of christianity. moreover, central asia, though connected by ties of sympathy with constantinople, has never been politically or even religiously dependent on it. it has a university of its own in bokhara, a seat of learning still renowned throughout asia, and it is thither and not to st. sophia that the sunite mussulmans east of the caspian proceed for their degrees. mohammedanism, therefore, in eastern asia is not exposed to such immediate danger as in the west. bokhara may lose its political independence, but there is no probability for many generations to come of its being christianized as constantinople certainly must be, and it may even on the fall of the latter become the chief centre of sunite orthodoxy of the existing hanefite type, remaining so perhaps long after the rest of islam shall have abandoned hanefism. it is obvious, however, that cut off geographically as the khanates are from the general life of islam, bokhara can but vaguely represent the present religious power of constantinople, and will be powerless to influence the general flow of mohammedan thought. its influence could be exerted only through india, and would be supported by no political prestige. so that it is far more likely in the future to follow than to lead opinion. otherwise isolation is its only fate. the future of shiite mohammedanism in persia proper is a still more doubtful problem. exposed like the rest of central asia to russian conquest, the persian monarchy cannot without a speedy and complete revolution of its internal condition fail to succumb politically. the true irâni, however, have an unique position in mohammedan asia which may save them from complete absorption. unlike any mohammedan race except the arabian, they are distinctly national. the turk, conqueror though he has always been, repudiates still the name of turk, calling himself simply a moslem, and so likewise do the less distinguished races he has subjected. but the persian does not do this. he is before all things irâni, and to the extent that he has made for himself a mohammedanism of his own. he boasts of a history and a literature older far than islam, and has not consented to forget it as a thing belonging only to "the age of ignorance." he runs, therefore, little risk of being either russianised or christianised by conquest; and being of an intellectual fibre superior to that of the russians, and, as far as the mass of the population is concerned, being physically as well gifted, it may be supposed that he will survive, if he cannot avert, his political subjugation. there is at the present moment, i am informed, a last desperate effort making at teheran for the re-organization of the empire on a liberal basis of government, and though it would be folly to count much on its success, it may conceivably succeed. mohammedanism would not there, as at constantinople, be found a barrier to reform, for persian shiism is an eminently elastic creed, and on the contrary may, it is thought, be made the instrument of a social reformation; only, as i have said it would be folly to count on its success; and there are certain moral defects in persian character which do not encourage lookers-on. shiite mohammedanism, however, whether persia be absorbed or not by russia, is of little importance in a general review of islam's future, and may safely be dismissed as not directly relevant to the main question before us. admitting, then, the probability, nay, the certainty, of considerable political and territorial losses northwards, caused by the violent pressure of a hostile europe, let us see what yet remains to islam as her certain heritage, and how the changes foreshadowed may affect her general life. i cannot myself find any cause of despair for mussulmans in the prospect of a curtailment of their religious area in the directions indicated, or any certain reason of exultation for their enemies in the thought that with the fall of constantinople islam, too, will have fallen. on the contrary, i see in the coming destruction of the ottoman supremacy, and in the exclusion of the northern races, even at the cost of their religious support, from the counsels of the faithful, an element of hope in the future far outweighing the immediate chagrin which may be caused by loss of sovereignty or loss of population. the mohammedan population which the fall of constantinople would conceivably cut off from the main body could not at most number more than some twenty millions, and when we remember that this is no more than a tithe of the whole mussulman census, and that the proportion is a constantly decreasing one, it will be evident that there is little ground for looking at the loss as one necessarily fatal to religion. the northern races still give to mohammedanism an appearance of physical strength; but it is an appearance only, and it is given at the cost of its intellectual vigour. the political success of the turks has for centuries thrown islam off its moral equilibrium, and their disappearance from its supreme counsels will give weight to races more worthy of representing religious interests. constantinople will be replaced by cairo or mecca, and the tartar by the arab--an exchange which, intellectually considered, no lover of islam need deplore. one great result the fall of constantinople certainly will have, which i believe will be a beneficial one. it will give to mohammedanism a more distinctly religious character than it has for many centuries possessed, and by forcing believers to depend upon spiritual instead of temporal arms will restore to them, more than any political victories could do, their lost moral life. even independently of considerations of race as between turk and arab, i believe that the fall of the mussulman empire, as a great temporal dominion, would relieve islam of a burden of sovereignty which she is no longer able in the face of the modern world to support. she would escape the stigma of political depravity now clinging to her, and her aims would be simplified and intensified. i have already stated my opinion that it is to arabia that mussulmans must in the future look for a centre of their religious system, and a return of their caliphate to mecca will signify more than a mere political change. it is obvious that empire will be there impossible in the sense given to it at constantinople, and that the display of armies and the mundane glory of vast palaces and crowds of slaves will be altogether out of place. the caliph of the future, in whatever city he may fix his abode, will be chiefly a spiritual and not a temporal king, and will be limited in the exercise of his authority by few conditions of the existing material kind. he will be spared the burden of despotic government, the odium of tax-gathering and conscription over unwilling populations, the constant struggle to maintain his authority in arms, and the as constant intrigue against rival mohammedan princes. it is probable that all these would readily acknowledge the nominal sovereignty of a caliph who could not pretend to coerce them physically, and that the spiritual allegiance of orthodox believers everywhere would accrue to him as other mohammedan sovereignty relaxed its hold. thus the dream of what is called pan-islamism may yet be fulfilled, though in another form from that in which it is now presented to the faithful by abd el hamid and the ulema of constantinople. that islam in this spiritual form may achieve more notable triumphs than by arms in eastern and southern asia we may well believe, and even that it may establish itself one day as the prevailing religion of the continent. its moral advance within recent times in the malay archipelago, in china, in tartary, and in india, encourages the supposition that under alien rule mohammedanism will be able to hold its own, and more than own, against all rivals, and that in the decay of buddhism it, and not christianity, will be the form under which god will eventually be worshipped in the tropics. its progress among the malays under dutch rule is certainly an astonishing phenomenon, and, taken in connection with a hardly less remarkable progress in equatorial africa, may well console those mussulmans who see in the loss of their temporal dominions northwards signs of the decay of islam. could such a reformation as was suggested in my last chapter be indeed effected, the vigour of conversion would doubtless be redoubled, independently of any condition of political prosperity in the ancient seats of mohammedan dominion. i do not, therefore, see in territorial losses a sign of islam's ruin as a moral and intellectual force in the world. it is time, however, to consider the special part destined to be played by england in the drama of the mussulman future. england, if i understand her history rightly, stands towards islam in a position quite apart from that of the rest of the european states. these i have described as continuing a tradition of aggression inherited from the crusades, and from the bitter wars waged by the latin and greek empires against the growing power of the ottoman turks. in the latter england took no part, her religious schism having already separated her from the general interests of catholic europe, while she had withdrawn from the former in the still honourable stage of the adventure, and consequently remained with no humiliating memories to avenge. she came, therefore, into her modern relations with mohammedans unprejudiced against them, and able to treat their religious and political opinions in a humane and liberal spirit, seeking of them practical advantages of trade rather than conquest. nor has the special nature of her position towards them been unappreciated by mohammedans. in spite of the deceptions on some points of late years, and recent vacillations of policy towards them, the still independent nations of islam see in england something different from the rest of christendom, something not in its nature hostile to them, or regardless of their rights and interests. they know at least that they have nothing to dread from englishmen on the score of religious intolerance, and there is even a tendency with some of them to exaggerate the sympathy displayed towards them by supposing a community of beliefs on certain points considered by them essential. thus the idea is common among the ignorant in many mussulman countries that the english are _muwahedden_, or unitarians, in contradistinction to the rest of christians, who are condemned as _musherrakin_, or polytheists; and the turkish alliance is explained by them on this supposition, supplemented in the case of the turks themselves with the idea that england is itself a part of islam, and so its natural ally.[ ] these are of course but ideas of the vulgar. yet they represent a fact which is not without importance, namely, that england's is accepted by mussulmans as a friendly not a hostile influence, and that her protection is sought without that suspicion which is attached to the friendly offices of other powers. even in india, where englishmen have supplanted the mussulmans as a ruling race, the sentiment towards british rule is not, as far as i can learn, and compared with that of other sections of the indian community, a hostile one. the mussulmans of delhi and the punjab would no doubt desire a resumption by themselves of practical authority in the country where they were till lately masters; but they are conscious that they are not strong enough now to effect this, and their feeling towards english rule is certainly less bitter than towards the hindoos, their former subjects, now their rivals. were they in any way specially protected in their religious interests by the indian government, they would, i am confident, make not only contented but actively loyal subjects. as things stand, therefore, it would seem natural that, in the general disruption which will follow the fall of constantinople, it is to england the various nations of islam should look mainly for direction in their political difficulties. the place of adviser and protector, indeed, seems pointed out for her. with the disappearance of the ottoman sultan there will be no longer any great mussulman sovereignty in the world, and the mohammedan population of india, already the wealthiest and most numerous, will then assume its full importance in the counsels of believers. it will also assuredly be expected of the english crown that it should then justify its assumption of the old mohammedan title of the moguls, by making itself in some sort the political head of islam. her majesty will be left its most powerful sovereign, and it will be open to her advisers, if they be so minded, to exercise paramount influence on all its affairs. i do not say that they will be so minded, but they will have the power and the opportunity to a degree never yet presented to any christian government of directing the tone of thought of mussulmans throughout the world, and of utilizing the greatest religious force in asia for the purposes of humanity and progress. i am myself profoundly convinced that on england's acceptance or refusal of this mission the future of her dominion in india will mainly depend, and with it the whole solution of the problem she has set to herself of civilizing southern asia. let us see what our actual relations with mohammedanism are, and what is the value of its goodwill to us in asia. and first as to india. i find in _hunter's gazetteer_, our latest authority, the following figures:-- mussulman census of india. bengal , , assam , , north-west provinces , , ajmere , oudh , , punjab , , central provinces , berar , mysore , coorg , british burmah , madras , , bombay , , ----------- total , , these are large figures taken merely as they stand, but in point of fact they represent far more than is apparent. to understand them at their full value it must be remembered--first, that the mussulman population is a largely increasing one, not only in actual numbers, but in its proportion to the other races and sects of the peninsula, a fact which i believe the census returns of , when published, will amply prove. secondly, that its geographical distribution coincides pretty closely with that of the political life and energy of the country. the punjab and the north-west provinces alone contain an aggregate of thirteen million mussulmans. thirdly, that it is homogeneous to a degree shown by no other indian community. though less numerous by two-thirds than the whole hindoo population, it is far more so than any coherent section of that population, and is thus the largest body of opinion in the empire. fourthly, it is also the most generally enlightened. it is the only section of the community which knows its own history and preserves the tradition of its lost political importance; and if it has held itself aloof hitherto from competition with other races for the public service, it has been through pride rather than inability. what mussulmans there are who have entered the service of government have been men of distinguished capacity. and lastly, it is no isolated body, but remains in close communication with the mass of its fellow-believers throughout the world. the mohammedan population of india is, therefore, an exceptional as well as a large one. our second interest in mohammedanism lies in egypt. here, standing at the threshold of our commerce with the east, we find another large community almost wholly mussulman, for whose well-being we are already to a certain extent pledged, and in whose political future we perceive our own to be involved. a hostile egypt we rightly hold to be an impossibility for our position; and religious antagonism at cairo, even if controlled by military occupation, would be to us a constant menace. nor must it be supposed that egypt, like the barbary coast, will, into whose hands soever it falls, change its religious aspect. the population of the delta is too industrious, too sober, and content with too little, to fear competition as agriculturists with either italians, greeks, or maltese; and the conditions of life under a torrid sun will always protect egypt from becoming an european colony. the towns may, indeed, be overrun by foreigners, but the heart of the country will remain unchanged, and, like india, will refuse to remodel itself on any foreign system of civilization. mohammedanism, therefore, will maintain itself in egypt intact, and its good-will will remain our necessity.[ ] a third interest lies in asiatic turkey. this we have guaranteed by treaty against foreign invasion; and though our pledge is nominally to the sultan, not to the people of the empire, and though that pledge is contingent upon an impossibility, administrative reform, and is therefore not strictly binding, it is impossible to escape the admission that we have a moral obligation towards the mussulmans of asia minor and syria. how far we may be disposed or able to fulfil it remains to be seen. i do not myself anticipate any further intervention on the part of england in defence of the turkish-speaking lands. these, from their geographical position, lie outside our effective military control, and, dishonourable as a retreat from our engagements will be to us, it may be a necessity. it is difficult to understand how an english army could effectively protect either asia minor or mesopotamia from russian invasion. the occupation of kars has given russia the command of the tigris and euphrates, and with them of armenia, kurdistan and irak, so that our protection could hardly be extended beyond the sea-coast of asia minor and the persian gulf. no such inability, however, applies to syria. there, if we _will_, we certainly _can_ carry out our engagements. a mere strip of seaboard, backed by the desert, and attackable only from the north on a narrow frontier of some hundred miles, syria is easily defensible by a nation holding the sea. it is probable that a railway run from the gulf of scanderun to the euphrates, and supported by a single important fortress, would be sufficient to effect its military security at least for many years; and syria might thus have given to it a chance of self-government, and some compensation for misfortunes in which we have had no inconsiderable share. but this is an interest of honour rather than of political necessity to england; and he must possess a sanguine mind who, in the present temper of englishmen, would count greatly on such motives as likely to determine the action of their government. if, however, it should be otherwise, it is evident that the success of such a protectorate would depend principally upon the mohammedan element in syria, which so greatly preponderates over any other. a fourth interest, also a moral one, but connected with an accepted fact of english policy, is the attempted abolition of the african slave trade. now, though it is unquestionable that mohammedanism permits, and has hitherto encouraged, slavery as a natural condition of human society, it is no less true that without the co-operation of the various mussulman princes of the african and arabian coasts its abolition cannot be effected. short of the occupation by european garrisons of all the villages of the red sea, and from gardafui southwards to mozambique, or, on the other hand, of the subjection of all independent moslem communities in arabia and elsewhere, a real end, or even a real check, cannot be put on the traffic except through the co-operation of mussulmans themselves. the necessity has, indeed, been completely recognized in the numerous treaties and arrangements made with the sultans of turkey, zanzibar, and oman, and with the viceroy of egypt; and, though i am far from stating that these arrangements are wholly voluntary on the part of any of the princes, yet their good-will alone can make the prevention efficient. an excellent proof of this is to be found in the case of the turkish government, which, since its quarrel with the english, has given full license to the traffic in the red sea, which no means at the disposal of the latter can in any measure check. at no modern period has a larger number of slaves been imported into hejaz and yemen than during the last eighteen months, and until friendly relations with the porte, or whatever mussulman authority succeeds the porte in those provinces, are restored, slave-trading will continue. i do not myself entirely sympathize with anti-slave-trade ideas as applied to mohammedan lands, knowing as i do how tolerable and even advantageous the social condition of the negroes is in them. but still i wish to see slavery discontinued, and i believe that a firm but friendly attitude towards mussulmans will have completely extinguished it in another two generations. a rupture with them can only prolong and aggravate its existence. lastly, we may perhaps find a prospective interest for england in the probability of a caffre conversion to mohammedanism at no very remote period, and the extension of islam to her borders in south africa. it is of course premature to be alarmed at this, as it is a contingency which can hardly happen in the lifetime of any now living; but mohammedanism is not a creed which a hundred or two hundred years will see extinguished in africa or asia, and already it has passed considerably south of the equator. cape colony at this day numbers some fifteen thousand mussulmans. it would seem, then, on all these grounds difficult for england to ally herself, in dealing with islam, with what may be called the crusading states of europe. her position is absolutely distinct from that of any of them, and her interests find no parallel among christian nations, except perhaps the dutch. for good as for evil, she has admitted a vast body of mohammedans into her social community, and contracted engagements from which she can hardly recede towards others among them, so that it is impossible she should really work in active antagonism to them. as christians, englishmen may regret this; but as practical men, they would surely be wise to recognize the fact, and to accept the duties it entails. nor can these be discharged by a mere policy of inaction. england should be prepared to do more than assert a general doctrine of tolerance and equality for all religions in respect of this one. mohammedanism is not merely an opinion; a certain political organization is a condition of its existence, and a certain geographical latitude; and, moreover, it is a force which cannot remain neutral--which will be either a friend or a foe. to do nothing for mussulmans in the next ten years will be to take cause against them. the circumstances of their case do not admit of indifference, and they are approaching a crisis in which they will, on two points at least, require vigorous political protection. their caliphate in some form of temporal sovereignty, though perhaps not of empire, will have to be maintained; and short of securing this to them, and their free access as pilgrims to mecca, it will be idle to pretend to mussulmans that we are protecting their interests, or doing any part of our sovereign duty towards them. it can hardly be argued that the indian doctrine of religious equality will suffer from doing political justice to mohammedans. on the downfall, therefore, of the ottoman empire, whenever that event shall occur, the _rôle_ of england in regard to islam seems plainly marked out. the caliphate--no longer an empire, but still an independent sovereignty--must be taken under british protection, and publicly guaranteed its political existence, undisturbed by further aggression from europe. on the bosphorus no such guarantee can now be reasonably given, because there it lies in a position militarily indefensible. england is a naval power, and the seat of the caliphate must be one secured from all attack by land. it will then be for mohammedans, and especially for the mohammedans of india, to decide upon the new metropolis of their faith, the conditions of their choice lying within the narrow limits of their still independent lands. if syria be still free, that metropolis may be damascus; if irak, bagdad; or it may be in egypt, or arabia, or central asia. it is manifest, however, that as far as british protection against europe is concerned, the further it is removed from christendom the better, and the more easily accessible by sea. i have already given it as my opinion that the move, when made will be one southwards, and ultimately to arabia. but it may well happen that its first stage will be no further than cairo. the caliphate reached constantinople through egypt, and may return by the same road, and there are certain quite recent symptoms which seem to point in the direction of such a course being the one taken. the events of the last year in egypt are significant. for the first time in its modern history a strong national party has arisen on the nile, and has found full support from the azhar ulema, who are now the most powerful body of religious opinion in islam. they are politically hostile to the sultan, and though they have no design as yet of repudiating his caliphal title, they are unlikely to be faithful to his broken fortunes, and on the downfall of constantinople will doubtless proclaim a caliph of their own. the family of mohammed ali, if popular, may then hope for their suffrages, or it may be some seyyid, or sherif, of the legitimate house of koreysh. in any case, a caliphate at cairo is a possibility which we must contemplate; and one which, under the political direction and sole guarantee of england, but enjoying full sovereignty there, might be a solution of the difficulty acceptable to mohammedans, and not unfavourable to english interests. it seems to me, however, that it would be but a make-shift arrangement, not a permanent settlement, and this from the complexity of foreign interests in egypt, which would keep the mohammedan pontiff there under restraints irksome to the religious sense of mussulmans. it would be in fact but the prelude to that final return to arabia which arabian thought, if no other, destines for the caliphate. the sherif of mecca would hardly tolerate any further subjection to an emir el mumenin shorn of his chief attributes of power, and unable, it might be, any longer to enforce his authority. sooner or later the caliphate, in some form or another, would return to its original seat, and find there its final resting-place. established at mecca, our duty of protecting the head of the mussulman religion would be comparatively a simple one. hejaz for all military purposes is inaccessible by land for europeans; and mecca, were it necessary at any time to give the caliph a garrison of mussulman troops, is within a night's march of the coast. in arabia no christian rights need vindication, nor could any european power put in a claim of interference. yemen, the only province capable of attracting european speculation, would, i know, gladly accept an english protectorate, such as has been already given with such good results to oman; and other points of the arabian shore might equally be declared inviolable. arabia, in fact, might be declared the natural appanage of the caliphate, the stati pontificali of the supreme head of the mussulman religion. in its internal organization we should have no cause to interfere; nor would its protection from without involve us in any outlay. it has already been shown how favourable an action an arabian caliphate may be expected to exercise on the progressive thought of islam. that it could not be a hostile power to england is equally certain. whether or not the caliph reside at mecca, the grand sherifate must always there exist and the pilgrimage be continued; and we may hope the latter may then be principally under english auspices. the regulation of the haj is, indeed, an immediate necessary part of our duty and condition of our influence in the mussulman world; and it is one we should be grossly in error to neglect. it will have been seen by the table given in the first chapter that nearly the whole pilgrimage to arabia is now made by sea, and that the largest number of pilgrims sent there by any nation comes from british territory. with the protectorate, therefore, in the future of egypt, and, let us hope, of syria, england would be in the position of exercising a paramount influence on the commercial fortune of the holy cities. the revenue of hejaz derived from the haj is computed at three millions sterling, a figure proved by the yearly excess of imports over exports in her seaports, for she produces nothing, and the patronage of half, or perhaps two-thirds, of this great revenue would make england's a position there quite unassailable. an interdiction of the haj, or the threat of such for a single year, would act upon every purse among the hejazi and neutralize the hostility of the most recalcitrant of resident caliphs or sherifs; while a systematic development of the pilgrimage as a government undertaking, with the construction of a railway from jeddah to mecca, and the establishment of thoroughly well-ordered lines of steamers from the principal mohammedan ports, all matters which would amply repay their cost, would every year add a new prestige to english influence. this might be still further enhanced by the very simple measure of collecting and transmitting officially the revenue of the wakaf property, entailed on the sherifs, in india. this is said to amount to half a million sterling, and might, as in turkey, take the form of a government subsidy. at present it is collected privately, and reaches the sherifs reduced, as i have been told, by two-thirds in the process of collection, so that the mere assumption of this perfectly legitimate duty by the indian authorities would put a large sum into the hands of those in office at mecca, and a proportionate degree of power into the hands of its collectors. this, indeed, would be no more than is being already done by our government for the shia shrines of kerbela and meshed ali, with results entirely beneficial to english popularity and influence. with regard to the pilgrimage, i will venture to quote the opinion of one of the most distinguished and loyal mohammedans in india, who has lately been advocating the claims of his co-religionists on the indian government for protection in this and other matters. speaking of sultan abd el hamid's pan-islamic schemes, which he asserts have not as yet found much favour in india, he continues, "i may, however, add that by far the most formidable means which can be adopted for propagating such ideas, or for rousing a desire for islamic union, would be the distribution of pamphlets to the pilgrims at mecca. the annual haj at mecca draws the more religious from all parts of india, and the hajjis on their return are treated with exceptional respect and visited by their friends and neighbours, who naturally inquire about the latest news and doctrines propounded in the holy cities; so that for the dissemination of their views the most effective way would be for the propagandists to bring the hajjis under their influence. i call it _effective_, because the influence of what the hajjis say goes to the remotest villages of the mofussil." he then advocates as a counter-acting influence the undertaking by government of the transport of the haj to jeddah, and the appointment of an agent, a native of india, to look after their interests while in the holy land. "by making," he concludes, "the arrangements i have suggested, the english government will gain, not only the good-will of the whole mohammedan population of india, but they will also inspire the hajjis with the wholesome feeling that they owe allegiance to, and can claim protection from, an empire other than that to which the people of arabia are subject (the turkish). "the proposed help would stand in very favourable contrast to the sufferings which the pilgrims undergo from maladministration at mecca and in their journey to medina. moreover, practically the assistance rendered by the government would be the most effective way of resisting such influences as the propagandists might bring to bear upon the hajjis with a view to animate them with hostility to the british supremacy in india.... i believe if the indian government only wished to make some such arrangement it would pay its own way. i am absolutely certain that it would have a disproportionately beneficial effect on the political feelings of the mohammedans towards british rule." such, or some such, is the line of action which england, looking merely to her own interests, may, it is hoped, pursue in the next century, and begin in this. her asiatic interests she must recognize to be peace and security in mussulman india, good-will in egypt, and the healthy growth of the humaner thought of islam everywhere; and these she can only secure by occupying the position marked out for her by providence of leading the mohammedan world in its advance towards better things. the mission is a high one, and well worthy of her acceptance, and the means at her disposal are fully sufficient for its discharge. nor will her refusal, if she refuse, be without grave and immediate danger. the mohammedan world is roused as it has never been in its history to a sense of its political and moral dangers, and is looking round on all sides for a leader of whatsoever name or nation to espouse its cause. we can hardly doubt that the position of directing so vast a force, if abandoned by england, will be claimed by some more resolute neighbour. the british empire in asia is cause of envy to the world at large, and its prosperity has many enemies, who will certainly make the distress of islam an engine in their hands against it. neglected by the power which they hold bound to protect their interest, the mussulmans of india will certainly become its bitterest enemies, and though they may not immediately be able to give effect to their hostility, the day of embarrassment for us can hardly fail to come, and with it their opportunity. at best the enmity of islam will make the dream of reconciling the indian populations to our rule for ever an impossibility. leaders they will look for elsewhere--in russia, maybe, in germany, or even france, jealous of our interests in egypt--not leaders such as we might have been for their good, but for our evil, and in pursuance of their own designs. the caliphate is a weapon forged for any hand--for russia's at bagdad, for france's at damascus, or for holland's (call it one day germany's) in our stead at mecca. protected by any of these nations the caliphate might make our position intolerable in india, filling up for us the measure of mussulman bitterness, of which we already are having a foretaste in the pan-islamic intrigues at constantinople. but enough of this line of reasoning, which after all is selfish and unworthy. the main point is, that england should fulfil the trust she has accepted of developing, not destroying, the existing elements of good in asia. she cannot destroy islam, nor dissolve her own connection with her. therefore, in god's name, let her take islam by the hand and encourage her boldly in the path of virtue. this is the only worthy course, and the only wise one, wiser and worthier, i venture to assert, than a whole century of crusade. in conclusion, i would say to mohammedans that if i have drawn a gloomy picture of their immediate political fortunes, it is not that i despair even of these. their day of empire in the world seems over, but their day of self-rule may well dawn again, though under changed conditions from any we now witness. i foresee for them the spiritual inheritance of africa and southern asia, and as the intelligence of the races they convert shall have risen to the level of their present rulers, and europe, weary of her work, shall have abandoned the task of asiatic and african government, the temporal inheritance too. how long this shall be delayed we know not. their prophet has foretold that islam shall not outlive two thousand years before the móhdy shall come, and the thirteen hundredth is just commencing; nor do i believe their deliverance will be so very long delayed. a "man of justice" may yet restore their fortunes; but it will hardly be by present violence or by wading to mecca through seas of blood; and when the end of their humiliation shall have come, it may be found that his true mission has commenced already, and that the battle he was to fight has been long waging in the hearts of those who have striven to reform their ways and purify their law, rather than lament their broken power and the corrupt vanities of their temporal empire. the end. footnotes: [ ] the arabs believe that the beni ghassan, the christian bedouin tribe which opposed the caliph omar, migrated to great britain on the mohammedan conquest of syria. [ ] since this was written astonishing evidence of political vitality has been given to europe by egypt, and there is now, i trust, little doubt that she will be left to work out her salvation in her own way. the phenomenon opens too large a vista to the imagination to be treated of in a note, but the author would invite attention to it as a fact worthy of more consideration than all his arguments. printed by william clowes and sons, limited, london and beccles. this ebook was produced by adam kane. man or matter introduction to a spiritual understanding of nature on the basis of goethe's method of training observation and thought by ernst lehrs ph. d. part i science at the threshold i. introductory the author's search for a way of extending the boundaries of scientific understanding. a meeting with rudolf steiner, and with the work arising from his teachings. ii. where do we stand to-day? the self-restriction of scientific inquiry to one-eyed colourblind observation. its effect: the lack of a true conception of 'force'. iii. the onlooker's philosophic malady thought - the sole reality and yet a pure non-entity for the modern spectator. descartes and hume. robert hooke's 'proof' of the non-reality of conceptual thinking. the modern principle of indeterminacy - a sign that science is still dominated by the humean way of thinking. iv. the country that is not ours electricity, man's competitor in modern civilization. the onlooker in search of the soul of nature. galvani and crookes. paradoxes in the discovery of electricity. 'something unknown is doing we don't know what.' part ii goetheanism - whence and whither v. the adventure of reason kant and goethe. goethe's study of the plant - a path toward seeing with the eye-of-the-spirit. nature a script that asks to be read. vi. except we become ... spiritual kinsmen of goethe in the british sphere of human culture. thomas reid's philosophic discovery, its significance for the overcoming of the onlooker-standpoint in science. the picture of man inherent in reid's philosophy. man's original gift of remembering his pre-earthly life. the disappearance of this memory in the past, and its re-appearance in modern times. pelagius versus augustine. wordsworth and traherne. traherne, a 'reidean before reid was born'. vii. 'always stand by form' ruskin and howard - two readers in the book of nature. goethe's meteorological ideas. his conception of the urphenomenon. goethe and howard. viii. dynamics versus kinetics the onlooker science - by necessity a 'pointer-reading' science. the onlooker's misjudgment of the cognitive value of the impressions conveyed by the senses. the parallelogram of forces - its fallacious kinematic and its true dynamic interpretation. the roots in man of his concepts 'mass' and 'force'. the formula f=ma. the origin of man's faculty of mathematical thinking. ix. pro levitate (a) alertness contra inertness limitations of the validity of the concept 'inertia'. restatement of newton's first law. introduction of the term 'magical' as opposed to mechanical. the phenomenon of the rising arm. introduction of the term 'alertness' as opposed to 'inertness' (inertia). van helmont's discovery of the gaseous state of matter. the four elements. the old concept of 'chaos'. young and old matter. the natural facts behind the ancient fire rites. the event on mount sinai. (b) levity contra gravity the contra levitatem maxim of the florentine academicians. ruskin's warning against science as an interpreter of its own observations. how man's inner nature and the outer universe interpret one another. the solfatara phenomenon. the super-physical character of levity. x. the fourth state of matter the need of raising scientific inquiry to nature's upper border. the laws of conservation, their origin and their validity. joule and mayer. extension of the field-concept from the central to the peripheral field-type. natural phenomena brought about by the suctional effect of the earth's levity-field. the different conditions of matter seen in the light of the levity-gravity polarity. heat, the fourth state of matter. procreation of physical substance - a natural fact. the case of tillandsia. the problem of the trace-elements. homeopathy, an example of the effect of dematerialized matter. the meteorological circuit of water. the nature of lightning. xi. matter as part of nature's alphabet the origin of the scientific conception of the chemical element. study of some prototypes of physical substances in the light of the levity-gravity polarity. the functional concept of matter. the complete order of polarities - cold-warm, dry-moist - in the doctrine of the four elements. the position of sulphur and phosphorus in this respect. vulcanism and snow-formation as manifestations of functional sulphur and phosphorus respectively. the process of crystallization. carbon as a mediator between sulphur and phosphorus. the alchemical triad. xii. space and counter-space geometrical considerations required by the recognition of levity. the value in this respect of projective geometrical thinking. geometrical polarities of the first and second order. xiii. 'radiant matter' electricity and magnetism as manifestations of interacting levity and gravity. electricity - a product of disintegrating matter. modern physics, no longer a 'natural' science. eddington's question,' manufacture or discovery?' man's enhanced responsibility in the age of physical science. xiv. colours as 'deeds and sufferings of light' goethe's farbenlehre - the foundation of an optical science based on the colour-seeing faculty of the eye. the modern physicist's view of the newtonian interpretation of the spectrum. a short history of goethe's search for a satisfactory conception of light and colour. his discovery of newton's cardinal error. first results of his own studies. the 'negative' spectrum. xv. seeing as 'deed' - i goethe's way of studying the totality of the act of seeing. the 'inner light'. xvi. seeing as 'deed' - ii extension of goethe's inquiry to a pursuit of the act of seeing beyond the boundaries of the body. xvii. optics of the doer purging optics from its onlooker-concepts. the role of foregone conclusions in the physical conception of light. the true aspect of the so-called velocity of light. xviii. the spectrum as a script of the spirit evaluation of the foregoing studies for a new understanding of the prismatic phenomenon. the secret of the rainbow. intimation of new possibilities of experimental research guided by the new conception of the spectrum. part iii towards a new cosmology xix. the country in which man is not a stranger (a) introductory note from goethe's seeing with the eye-of-the-spirit to spiritual imagination. levity (ether) as revealed to spiritual imagination. (b) - (e) warmth light sound life the four modifications of ether. their relation to the four elements. xx. pro anima (a) the well-springs of nature's deeds and sufferings the sentient (astral) forces of the cosmos as governors of the various interactions between levity and gravity. the astral aspect of the planetary system. its reflexion in earthly substances. beginnings of an astral conception of the human organism in modern physiology. (b) hearing as deed a goetheanistic study of acoustic phenomena and of the sense of hearing. from hearing with the ear-of-the-spirit to spiritual inspiration. (c) kepler and the 'music of the spheres' goethe's view of kepler. kepler's third law - a revelation of the musical order of the universe. xxi. know thyself index illustrations in colour a the relation of the electrical polarity to levity and gravity b the spectrum phenomenon as conceived by goethe c light under the action of a transverse field-gradient monochrome i. robert hooke's 'proof' of the non-reality of human concepts ii. leaf-metamorphosis iii. leaf-metamorphosis iv. goethe's sketch of a cloud-formation v. a snow-crystal vi. a cluster of calcite crystals vii. various species of bacteria viii. various species of fresh-water algae author's note the author makes grateful acknowledgment of the help he has gained from other works in the wide field opened up by rudolf steiner, and of his debt to the friends who in various ways assisted him in preparing his manuscript. quotations have been made from the following books by kind permission of their respective publishers: the life of sir william crookes by e. e. fournier d'albe (messrs. ernest benn ltd.); man the unknown by a. carrel (messrs. hamish hamilton ltd.); the philosophy of physical science and the nature of the physical worldly a.. eddington (university press, cambridge); science and the human temperament by e. schrödinger (messrs. george allen and unwin ltd.); centuries of meditations and poetical works by th. traherne (messrs. p. j. and a. e. dobell). preface in this book the reader will find expounded a method of investigating nature by means of which scientific understanding can be carried across the boundaries of the physical-material to the supersensible sources of all natural events, and thereby into the realm where is rooted the true being of man. the beginnings of this method were worked out by goethe more than years ago. the nineteenth century, however, failed to provide any fertile ground for the development of the seeds thus sown. it was left to rudolf steiner, shortly before the end of the century, to recognize the significance of 'goetheanism' for the future development not only of science but of human culture in general. it is to him, also, that we owe the possibility of carrying on goethe's efforts in the way required by the needs of our own time. the following pages contain results of the author's work along the path thus opened up by goethe and rudolf steiner - a work begun twenty-seven years ago, soon after he had made the acquaintance of rudolf steiner. with the publication of these results he addresses himself to everyone - with or without a specialized scientific training - who is concerned with the fate of man's powers of cognition in the present age. * the reader may welcome a remark as to the way in which this book needs to be read. it has not been the author's intention to provide an encyclopaedic collection of new conceptions in various fields of natural observation. rather did he wish, as the sub-title of the book indicates, to offer a new method of training both mind and eye (and other senses as well), by means of which our modern 'onlooking' consciousness can be transformed into a new kind of 'participating' consciousness. hence it would be of no avail to pick out one chapter or another for first reading, perhaps because of some special interest in its subject-matter. the chapters are stages on a road which has to be travelled, and each stage is necessary for reaching the next. it is only through thus accepting the method with which the book has been written that the reader will be able to form a competent judgment of its essential elements. e. l. hawkwood college easter part i science at the threshold chapter i introductory if i introduce this book by relating how i came to encounter rudolf steiner and his work, more than twenty-five years ago, and what decided me not only to make his way of knowledge my own, but also to enter professionally into an activity inspired by his teachings, it is because in this way i can most directly give the reader an impression of the kind of spirit out of which i have written. i am sure, too, that although what i have to say in this chapter is personal in content, it is characteristic of many in our time. when i first made acquaintance with rudolf steiner and his work, i was finishing my academic training as an electrical engineer. at the end of the - war my first thought had been to take up my studies from where i had let them drop, four years earlier. the war seemed to imply nothing more than a passing interruption of them. this, at any rate, was the opinion of my former teachers; the war had made no difference whatever to their ideas, whether on the subject-matter of their teaching or on its educational purpose. i myself, however, soon began to feel differently. it became obvious to me that my relationship to my subject, and therefore to those teaching it, had completely changed. what i had experienced through the war had awakened in me a question of which i had previously been unaware; now i felt obliged to put it to everything i came across. as a child of my age i had grown up in the conviction that it was within the scope of man to shape his life according to the laws of reason within him; his progress, in the sense in which i then understood it, seemed assured by his increasing ability to determine his own outer conditions with the help of science. indeed, it was the wish to take an active part in this progress that had led me to choose my profession. now, however, the war stood there as a gigantic social deed which i could in no way regard as reasonably justified. how, in an age when the logic of science was supreme, was it possible that a great part of mankind, including just those peoples to whom science had owed its origin and never-ceasing expansion, could act in so completely unscientific a way? where lay the causes of the contradiction thus revealed between human thinking and human doing? pursued by these questions, i decided after a while to give my studies a new turn. the kind of training then provided in germany at the so-called technische hochschulen was designed essentially to give students a close practical acquaintance with all sorts of technical appliances; it included only as much theory as was wanted for understanding the mathematical calculations arising in technical practice. it now seemed to me necessary to pay more attention to theoretical considerations, so as to gain a more exact knowledge of the sources from which science drew its conception of nature. accordingly i left the hochschule for a course in mathematics and physics at a university, though without abandoning my original idea of preparing for a career in the field of electrical engineering. it was with this in mind that i later chose for my ph.d. thesis a piece of experimental research on the uses of high-frequency electric currents. during my subsequent years of stuffy, however, i found myself no nearer an answer to the problem that haunted me. all that i experienced, in scientific work as in life generally, merely gave it an even sharper edge. everywhere i saw an abyss widening between human knowing and human action. how often was i not bitterly disillusioned by the behaviour of men for whose ability to think through the most complicated scientific questions i had the utmost admiration! on all sides i found this same bewildering gulf between scientific achievement and the way men conducted their own lives and influenced the lives of others. i was forced to the conclusion that human thinking, at any rate in its modern form, was either powerless to govern human actions, or at least unable to direct them towards right ends. in fact, where scientific thinking had done most to change the practical relations of human life, as in the mechanization of economic production, conditions had arisen which made it more difficult, not less, for men to live in a way worthy of man. at a time when humanity was equipped as never before to investigate the order of the universe, and had achieved triumphs of design in mechanical constructions, human life was falling into ever wilder chaos. why was this? the fact that most of my contemporaries were apparently quite unaware of the problem that stirred me so deeply could not weaken my sense of its reality. this slumber of so many souls in face of the vital questions of modern life seemed to me merely a further symptom of the sickness of our age. nor could i think much better of those who, more sensitive to the contradictions in and around them, sought refuge in art or religion. the catastrophe of the war had shown me that this departmentalizing of life, which at one time i had myself considered a sort of ideal, was quite inconsistent with the needs of to-day. to make use of art or religion as a refuge was a sign of their increasing separation from the rest of human culture. it implied a cleavage between the different spheres of society which ruled out any genuine solution of social problems. i knew from history that religion and art had once exercised a function which is to-day reserved for science, for they had given guidance in even the most practical activities of human society. and in so doing they had enhanced the quality of human living, whereas the influence of science has had just the opposite effect. this power of guidance, however, they had long since lost, and in view of this fact i came to the conclusion that salvation must be looked for in the first place from science. here, in the thinking and knowing of man, was the root of modern troubles; here must come a drastic revision, and here, if possible, a completely new direction must be found. such views certainly flew in the face of the universal modern conviction that the present mode of knowledge, with whose help so much insight into the natural world has been won, is the only one possible, given once for all to man in a form never to be changed. but is there any need, i asked myself, to cling to this purely static notion of man's capacity for gaining knowledge? among the greatest achievements of modern science, does not the conception of evolution take a foremost place? and does not this teach us that the condition of a living organism at any time is the result of the one preceding it, and that the transition implies a corresponding functional enhancement? but if we have once recognized this as an established truth, why should we apply it to organisms at every stage of development except the .highest, namely the human, where the organic form reveals and serves the self-conscious spirit? putting the question thus, i was led inevitably to a conclusion which science itself had failed to draw from its idea of evolution. whatever the driving factor in evolution may be, it is clear that in the kingdoms of nature leading up to man this factor has always worked on the evolving organisms from outside. the moment we come to man himself, however, and see how evolution has flowered in his power of conscious thought, we have to reckon with a fundamental change. once a being has recognized itself as a product of evolution, it immediately ceases to be that and nothing more. with its very first act of self-knowledge it transcends its previous limits, and must in future rely on its own conscious actions for the carrying on of its development. for me, accordingly, the concept of evolution, when thought through to the end, began to suggest the possibility of further growth in man's spiritual capacities. but i saw also that this growth could no longer be merely passive, and the question which now beset me was: by what action of his own can man break his way into this new phase of evolution? i saw that this action must not consist merely in giving outer effect to the natural powers of human thinking; that was happening everywhere in the disordered world around me. the necessary action must have inner effects; indeed, it had to be one whereby the will was turned upon the thinking-powers themselves, entirely transforming them, and so removing the discrepancy between the thinker and the doer in modern man. thus far i could go through my own observation and reflexion, but no further. to form a general idea of the deed on which everything else depended was one thing; it was quite another to know how to perform the deed, and above all where to make a start with it. anyone intending to make a machine must first learn something of mechanics; in the same way, anyone setting out to do something constructive in the sphere of human consciousness - and this, for me, was the essential point - must begin by learning something of the laws holding sway in that sphere. but who could give me this knowledge? physiology, psychology and philosophy in their ordinary forms were of no use to me, for they were themselves part and parcel of just that kind of knowing which had to be overcome. in their various accounts of man there was no vantage point from which the deed i had in mind could be accomplished, for none of them looked beyond the ordinary powers of knowledge. it was the same with the accepted theory of evolution; as a product of the current mode of thinking it could be applied to everything except the one essential - this very mode of thinking. obviously, the laws of the development of human consciousness cannot be discovered from a standpoint within the modern form of that consciousness. but how could one find a viewpoint outside, as it were, this consciousness, from which to discover its laws with the same scientific objectivity which it had itself applied to discovering the laws of physical nature? it was when this question stood before me in all clarity that destiny led me to rudolf steiner and his work. the occasion was a conference held in in stuttgart by the anthroposophical movement; it was one of several arranged during the years - especially for teachers and students at the hochschulen and universities. what chiefly moved me to attend this particular conference was the title of a lecture to be given by one of the pupils and co-workers of rudolf steiner - 'the overcoming of einstein's theory of relativity'. the reader will readily appreciate what this title meant for me. in the circles where my work lay, an intense controversy was just then raging round einstein's ideas. i usually took sides with the supporters of einstein, for it seemed to me that einstein had carried the existing mode of scientific thinking to its logical conclusions, whereas i missed this consistency among his opponents. at the same time i found that the effect of this theory, when its implications were fully developed, was to make everything seem so 'relative' that no reliable world-outlook was left. this was proof for me that our age was in need of an altogether different form of scientific thinking, equally consistent in itself, but more in tune with man's own being. what appealed to me in the lecture-title was simply this, that whereas everyone else sought to prove einstein right or wrong, here was someone who apparently intended, not merely to add another proof for or against his theory-there were plenty of those already - but to take some steps to overcome it. from the point of view of orthodox science, of course, it was absurd to speak of 'overcoming' a theory, as though it were an accomplished fact, but to me this title suggested exactly what i was looking for. although it was the title of this lecture that drew me to the stuttgart conference (circumstances prevented me from hearing just this lecture), it was the course given there by rudolf steiner himself which was to prove the decisive experience of my life. it comprised eight lectures, under the title: 'mathematics, scientific experiment and observation, and epistemological results from the standpoint of anthroposophy'; what they gave me answered my question beyond all expectation. in the course of a comprehensive historical survey the lecturer characterized, in a way i found utterly convincing, the present mathematical interpretation of nature as a transitional stage of human consciousness - a kind of knowing which is on the way from a past pre-mathematical to a future post-mathematical form of cognition. the importance of mathematics, whether as a discipline of the human spirit or as an instrument of natural science, was not for a moment undervalued. on the contrary, what rudolf steiner said about projective (synthetic) geometry, for instance, its future possibilities and its role as a means of understanding higher processes of nature than had hitherto been accessible to science, clearly explained the positive feelings i myself had experienced - without knowing why - when i had studied the subject. through his lectures and his part in the discussions - they were held daily by the various speakers and ranged over almost every field of modern knowledge - i gradually realized that rudolf steiner was in possession of unique powers. not only did he show himself fully at home in all these fields; he was able to connect them with each other, and with the nature and being of man, in such a way that an apparent chaos of unrelated details was wrought into a higher synthesis. moreover, it became clear to me that one who could speak as he did about the stages of human consciousness past, present and future, must have full access to all of them at will, and be able to make each of them an object of exact observation. i saw a thinker who was himself sufficient proof that man can find within the resources of his own spirit the vantage-ground for the deed which i had dimly surmised, and by which alone true civilization could be saved. through all these things i knew that i had found the teacher i had been seeking. thus i was fully confirmed in my hopes of the conference; but i was also often astonished at what i heard. not least among my surprises was rudolf steiner's presentation of goethe as the herald of the new form of scientific knowledge which he himself was expounding. i was here introduced to a side of goethe which was as completely unknown to me as to so many others among my contemporaries, who had not yet come into touch with anthroposophy. for me, as for them, goethe had always been the great thinker revealing his thoughts through poetry. indeed, only shortly before my meeting with rudolf steiner it was in his poetry that goethe had become newly alive to me as a helper in my search for a fuller human experience of nature and my fellow-men. but despite all my goethe studies i had been quite unaware that more than a century earlier he had achieved something in the field of science, organic and inorganic alike, which could help modern man towards the new kind of knowledge so badly needed to-day. this was inevitable for me, since i shared the modern conviction that art and science were fields of activity essentially strange to one another. and so it was again rudolf steiner who opened the way for me to goethe as botanist, physicist and the like. i must mention another aspect of the stuttgart conference which belongs to this picture of my first encounter with anthroposophy, and gave it special weight for anyone in my situation at that period. in stuttgart there were many different activities concerned with the practical application of rudolf steiner's teachings, and so one could become acquainted with teachings and applications at the same time. there was the waldorf school, founded little more than a year before, with several hundred pupils already. it was the first school to undertake the transformation of anthroposophical knowledge of man into educational practice; later it was followed by others, in germany and elsewhere. there was one of the clinics, where qualified doctors were applying the same knowledge to the study of illness and the action of medicaments. in various laboratories efforts were made to develop new methods of experimental research in physics, chemistry, biology and other branches of science. further, a large business concern had been founded in stuttgart in an attempt to embody some of rudolf steiner's ideas for the reform of social life. besides all this i could attend performances of the new art of movement, again the creation of rudolf steiner and called by him 'eurhythmy', in which the astounded eye could see how noble a speech can be uttered by the human body when its limbs are moved in accordance with its inherent spiritual laws. thus, in all the many things that were going on besides the lectures, one could find direct proof of the fruitfulness of what one heard in them. under the impression of this conference i soon began to study the writings of rudolf steiner. not quite two years later, i decided to join professionally with those who were putting anthroposophy into outer practice. because it appeared to me as the most urgent need of the time to prepare the new generation for the tasks awaiting it through an education shaped on the entire human being, i turned to rudolf steiner with the request to be taken into the stuttgart school as teacher of natural science. on this occasion i told him of my general scientific interests, and how i hoped to follow them up later on. i spoke of my intended educational activity as something which might help me at the same time to prepare myself for this other task. anyone who learns so to see nature that his ideas can be taken up and understood by the living, lively soul of the growing child will thereby be training himself, i thought, in just that kind of observation and thinking which the new science of nature demands. rudolf steiner agreed with this, and it was not long afterwards that i joined the school where i was to work for eleven years as a science master in the senior classes, which activity i have since continued outside germany in a more or less similar form. this conversation with rudolf steiner took place in a large hall where, while we were talking, over a thousand people were assembling to discuss matters of concern to the anthroposophical movement. this did not prevent him from asking me about the details of my examination work, in which i was still engaged at that time; he always gave himself fully to whatever claimed his attention at the moment. i told him of my experimental researches in electrical high-frequency phenomena, briefly introducing the particular problem with which i was occupied. i took it for granted that a question from such a specialized branch of physics would not be of much interest to him. judge of my astonishment when he at once took out of his pocket a note-book and a huge carpenter's pencil, made a sketch and proceeded to speak of the problem as one fully conversant with it, and in such a way that he gave me the starting point for an entirely new conception of electricity. it was instantly borne in on me that if electricity came to be understood in this sense, results would follow which in the end would lead to a quite new technique in the use of it. from that moment it became one of my life's aims to contribute whatever my circumstances and powers would allow to the development of an understanding of nature of this kind. the speaker was the late dr. elizabeth vreede, for some years leader of the mathematical-astronomical section at the goetheanum, dornach, switzerland. the activities mentioned above do not exhaust the practical possibilities of spiritual science. at that time ( ) rudolf steiner had not yet given his indications for the treatment of children needing special care of soul and body, or for the renewal of the art of acting, or for the conquest of materialistic methods in agricultural practice. nor did there yet exist the movement for religious renewal which dr. fr. rittelmeyer later founded, with the help and advice of rudolf steiner. chapter ii where do we stand to-day? in the year , when the world celebrated the hundredth anniversary of goethe's death, professor w. heisenberg, one of the foremost thinkers in the field of modern physics, delivered a speech before the saxon academy of science which may be regarded as symptomatic of the need in recent science to investigate critically the foundations of its own efforts to know nature. in this speech heisenberg draws a picture of the progress of science which differs significantly from the one generally known. instead of giving the usual description of this progress as 'a chain of brilliant and surprising discoveries', he shows it as resting on the fact that, with the aim of continually simplifying and unifying the scientific conception of the world, human thinking, in course of time, has narrowed more and more the scope of its inquiries into outer nature. 'almost every scientific advance is bought at the cost of renunciation, almost every gain in knowledge sacrifices important standpoints and established modes of thought. as facts and knowledge accumulate, the claim of the scientist to an understanding of the world in a certain sense diminishes.' our justifiable admiration for the success with which the unending multiplicity of natural occurrences on earth and in the stars has been reduced to so simple a scheme of laws - heisenberg implies - must therefore not make us forget that these attainments are bought at the price 'of renouncing the aim of bringing the phenomena of nature to our thinking in an immediate and living way'. in the course of his exposition, heisenberg also speaks of goethe, in whose scientific endeavours he perceives a noteworthy attempt to set scientific understanding upon a path other than that of progressive self-restriction. 'the renouncing of life and immediacy, which was the premise for the progress of natural science since newton, formed the real basis for the bitter struggle which goethe waged against the physical optics of newton. it would be superficial to dismiss this struggle as unimportant: there is much significance in one of the most outstanding men directing all his efforts to fighting against the development of newtonian optics.' there is only one thing for which heisenberg criticizes goethe: 'if one should wish to reproach goethe, it could only be for not going far enough - that is, for having attacked the views of newton instead of declaring that the whole of newtonian physics-optics, mechanics and the law of gravitation - were from the devil.' although the full significance of heisenberg's remarks on goethe will become apparent only at a later stage of our discussion, they have been quoted here because they form part of the symptom we wish to characterize. only this much may be pointed out immediately, that goethe - if not in the scientific then indeed in the poetical part of his writings - did fulfil what heisenberg rightly feels to have been his true task. we mentioned heisenberg's speech as a symptom of a certain tendency, characteristic of the latest phase in science, to survey critically its own epistemological foundations. a few years previous to heisenberg's speech, the need of such a survey found an eloquent advocate in the late professor a. n. whitehead, in his book science and the modern world, where, in view of the contradictory nature of modern physical theories, he insists that 'if science is not to degenerate into a medley of ad hoc hypotheses, it must become philosophical and enter upon a thorough criticism of its own foundations'. among the scientists who have felt this need, and who have taken pains to fulfil it, the late professor a. eddington obtains an eminent position. among his relevant utterances we will quote here the following, because it contains a concrete statement concerning the field of external observation which forms the basis for the modern scientific world-picture. in his philosophy of physical science we find him stating that 'ideally, all our knowledge of the universe could have been reached by visual sensation alone - in fact by the simplest form of visual sensation, colourless and non-stereoscopic'. in other words, in order to obtain scientific cognition of the physical world, man has felt constrained to surrender the use of all his senses except the sense of sight, and to limit even the act of seeing to the use of a single, colour-blind eye. let us listen to yet another voice from the ranks of present-day science, expressing a criticism which is symptomatic of our time. it comes from the late physiologist, professor a, carrel, who, concerning the effect which scientific research has had on man's life in general, says in his book, man the unknown: 'the sciences of inert matter have led us into a country that is not ours. ... man is a stranger in the world he has created.' of these utterances, eddington's is at the present point of our discussion of special interest for us; for he outlines in it the precise field of sense-perception into which science has withdrawn in the course of that general retreat towards an ever more restricted questioning of nature which was noted by heisenberg. the pertinence of eddington's statement is shown immediately one considers what a person would know of the world if his only source of experience were the sense of sight, still further limited in the way eddington describes. out of everything that the world brings to the totality of our senses, there remains nothing more than mere movements, with certain changes of rate, direction, and so on. the picture of the world received by such an observer is a purely kinematic one. and this is, indeed, the character of the world-picture of modern physical science. for in the scientific treatment of natural phenomena all the qualities brought to us by our other senses, such as colour, tone, warmth, density and even electricity and magnetism, are reduced to mere movement-changes. as a result, modern science is prevented from conceiving any valid idea of 'force'. in so far as the concept 'force' appears in scientific considerations, it plays the part of an 'auxiliary concept', and what man naively conceives as force has come to be defined as merely a 'descriptive law of behaviour'. we must leave it for later considerations to show how the scientific mind of man has created for itself the conviction that the part of science occupied with the actions of force in nature can properly be treated with purely kinematic concepts. it is the fact itself which concerns us here. in respect of it, note as a characteristic of modern text-books that they often simply use the term 'kinetics' (a shortening of kinematics) to designate the science of 'dynamics'. in the course of our investigations we shall discover the peculiarity in human nature which - during the first phase, now ended, of man's struggle towards scientific awareness - has caused this renunciation of all sense-experiences except those which come to man through the sight of a single colour-blind eye. it will then also become clear out of what historic necessity this self-restriction of scientific inquiry arose. the acknowledgment of this necessity, however, must not prevent us from recognizing the fact that, as a result of this restriction, modern scientific research, which has penetrated far into the dynamic substrata of nature, finds itself in the peculiar situation that it is not at all guided by its own concepts, but by the very forces it tries to detect. and in this fact lies the root of the danger which besets the present age. he who recognizes this, therefore, feels impelled to look for a way which leads beyond a one-eyed, colour-blind conception of the world. it is the aim of this book to show that such a way exists and how it can be followed. proof will thereby be given that along this way not only is a true understanding achieved of the forces already known to science (though not really understood by it), but also that other forces, just as active in nature as for example electricity and magnetism, come within reach of scientific observation and understanding. and it will be shown that these other forces are of a kind that requires to be known to-day if we are to restore the lost balance to human civilization. * there is a rule known to physicians that 'a true diagnosis of a case contains in itself the therapy'. no true diagnosis is possible, however, without investigation of the 'history' of the case. applied to our task, this means that we must try to find an aspect of human development, both individual and historical, which will enable us to recognize in man's own being the cause responsible for the peculiar narrowing of the scope of scientific inquiry, as described by the scientists cited above. a characteristic of scientific inquiry, distinguishing it from man's earlier ways of solving the riddles of the world, is that it admits as instruments of knowledge exclusively those activities of the human soul over which we have full control because they take place in the full light of consciousness. this also explains why there has been no science, in the true sense of the word, prior to the beginning of the era commonly called 'modern' - that is, before the fifteenth century. for the consciousness on which man's scientific striving is based is itself an outcome of human evolution. this evolution, therefore, needs to be considered in such a way that we understand the origin of modern man's state of mind, and in particular why this state of mind cannot of itself have any other relationship to the world than that of a spectator. for let us be clear that this peculiar relationship by no means belongs only to the scientifically engaged mind. every adult in our age is, by virtue of his psycho-physical structure, more or less a world-spectator. what distinguishes the state of man's mind when engaged in scientific observation is that it is restricted to a one-eyed colour-blind approach. * 'death is the price man has to pay for his brain and his personality' - this is how a modern physiologist (a. carrel in his aforementioned book, man the unknown) describes the connexion between man's bodily functions and his waking consciousness. it is characteristic of the outlook prevailing in the nineteenth century that thinking was regarded as the result of the life of the body; that is, of the body's matter-building processes. hence no attention was paid at that time to the lonely voice of the german philosopher, c. fortlage ( - ), who in his system of psychology as empirical science suggested that consciousness is really based on death processes in the body. from this fact he boldly drew the conclusion (known to us today to be true) that if 'partial death' gave rise to ordinary consciousness, then 'total death' must result in an extraordinary enhancement of consciousness. again, when in our century rudolf steiner drew attention to the same fact, which he had found along his own lines of investigation, showing thereby the true role of the nervous system in regard to the various activities of the soul, official science turned a deaf ear to his pronouncement. to-day the scientist regards it as forming part of 'unknown man' that life must recede - in other words, that the organ-building processes of the body must come to a standstill - if consciousness is to come into its own. with the recognition of a death process in the nervous system as the bodily foundation of consciousness, and particularly of man's conceptual activities, the question arises as to the nature of those activities which have their foundation in other systems, such as that of the muscles, where life, not death, prevails. here an answer must be given which will surprise the reader acquainted with modern theories of psycho-physical interaction; but if he meets it with an open mind he will not find it difficult to test. just as the conceptual activity has as its bodily foundation the brain, with the nervous appendages, so it is volitional activity which is based on processes taking place in the muscular region of the body and in those organs which provide the body's metabolism. a statement which says that man's will is as directly based on the metabolic processes of the body, both inside and outside the muscles, as is his perceiving and thought-forming mind on a process in the nerves, is bound to cause surprise. firstly, it seems to leave out the role commonly ascribed to the so-called motoric part of the nervous system in bringing about bodily action; and secondly, the acknowledgment of the dependence of consciousness on corporeal 'dying' implies that willing is an unconscious activity because of its being based on life processes of the body. the first of these two problems will find its answer at a later stage of our discussion when we shall see what entitles us to draw a direct connexion between volition and muscular action. to answer the second problem, simple self-observation is required. this tells us that, when we move a limb, all that we know of is the intention (in its conceptual form) which rouses the will and gives it its direction, and the fact of the completed deed. in between, we accompany the movement with a dim awareness of the momentary positions of the parts of the body involved, so that we know whether or not they are moving in the intended manner. this awareness is due to a particular sense, the 'sense of movement' or 'muscular sense' - one of those senses whose existence physiology has lately come to acknowledge. nothing, however, is known to us of all the complex changes which are set into play within the muscles themselves in order to carry out some intended movement. and it is these that are the direct outcome of the activity of our will. regarding man's psycho-physical organization thus, we come to see in it a kind of polarity - a death-pole, as it were, represented by the nerves including their extension into the senses, and a life-pole, represented by the metabolic and muscular systems; and connected with them a pole of consciousness and one of unconsciousness - or as we can also say, of waking and sleeping consciousness. for the degree of consciousness on the side of the life-pole is not different from the state in which the entire human being dwells during sleep. it is by thus recognizing the dependence of consciousness on processes of bodily disintegration that we first come to understand why consciousness, once it has reached a certain degree of brightness, is bound to suffer repeated interruptions. every night, when we sleep, our nervous system becomes alive (though with gradually decreasing intensity) in order that what has been destroyed during the day may be restored. while the system is kept in this condition, no consciousness can obtain in it. in between the two polarically opposite systems there is a third, again of clearly distinct character, which functions as a mediator between the two. here all processes are of a strictly rhythmic nature, as is shown by the process of breathing and the pulsation of the blood. this system, too, provides the foundation for a certain type of psychological process, namely feeling. that feeling is an activity of the soul distinct from both thinking and willing, and that it has its direct counterpart in the rhythmic processes of the body, can be most easily tested through observing oneself when listening to music. as one might expect from its median position, the feeling sphere of the soul is characterized by a degree of consciousness half-way between waking and sleeping. of our feelings we are not more conscious than of our dreams; we are as little detached from them as from our dream experiences while these last; what remains in our memory of past feelings is usually not more than what we remember of past dreams. this picture of the threefold psycho-physical structure of man will now enable us to understand the evolution of consciousness both in individual life and in the life of mankind. to furnish the foundation of waking consciousness, parts of the body must become divorced from life. this process, however, is one which, if we take the word in its widest sense, we may call, ageing. all organic bodies, and equally that of man, are originally traversed throughout by life. only gradually certain parts of such an organism become precipitated, as it were, from the general organic structure, and they do so increasingly towards the end of that organism's life-span. in the human body this separation sets in gently during the later stages of embryonic development and brings about the first degree of independence of bones and nerves from the rest of the organism. the retreat of life continues after birth, reaching a certain climax in the nervous system at about the twenty-first year. in the body of a small child there is still comparatively little contrast between living and non-living organs. there is equally little contrast between sleeping and waking condition in its soul. and the nature of the soul at this stage is volition throughout. never, in fact, does man's soul so intensively will as in the time when it is occupied in bringing the body into an upright position, and never again does it exert its strength with the same unconsciousness of the goal to which it strives. what, then, is the soul's characteristic relationship to the world around at this stage? the following observations will enable us to answer this question. it is well known that small children often angrily strike an object against which they have stumbled. this has been interpreted as 'animism', by which it is meant that the child, by analogy with his experience of himself as a soul-filled body, imagines the things in his surroundings to be similarly ensouled. anyone who really observes the child's mode of experience (of which we as adults, indeed, keep something in our will-life) is led to a quite different interpretation of such a phenomenon. for he realizes that the child neither experiences himself as soul-entity distinct from his body, nor faces the content of the world in so detached a manner as to be in need of using his imagination to read into it any soul-entities distinct from his own. in this early period of his life the human being still feels the world as part of himself, and himself as part of the world. consequently, his relation to the objects around him and to his own body is one and the same. to the example of the child beating the external object he has stumbled against, there belongs the complementary picture of the child who beats himself because he has done something which makes him angry with himself. in sharp contrast to this state of oneness of the child's soul, in regard both to its own body and to the surrounding world, there stands the separatedness of the adult's intellectual consciousness, severed from both body and world. what happens to this part of the soul during its transition from one condition to the other may be aptly described by using a comparison from another sphere of natural phenomena. (later descriptions in this book will show that a comparison such as the one used here is more than a mere external analogy.) let us think of water in which salt has been dissolved. in this state the salt is one with its solvent; there is no visible distinction between them. the situation changes when part of the salt crystallizes. by this process the part of the salt substance concerned loses its connexion with the liquid and contracts into individually outlined and spatially defined pieces of solid matter. it thereby becomes optically distinguishable from its environment. something similar happens to the soul within the region of the nervous system. what keeps the soul in a state of unconsciousness as long as the body, in childhood, is traversed by life throughout, and what continues to keep it in this condition in the parts which remain alive after the separation of the nerves, is the fact that in these parts - to maintain the analogy - the soul is dissolved in the body. with the growing independence of the nerves, the soul itself gains independence from the body. at the same time it undergoes a process similar to contraction whereby it becomes discernible to itself as an entity distinguished from the surrounding world. in this way the soul is enabled, eventually, to meet the world from outside as a self-conscious onlooker. * what we have here described as the emergence of an individual's intellectual consciousness from the original, purely volitional condition of the soul is nothing but a replica of a greater process through which mankind as a whole, or more exactly western mankind, has gone in the course of its historical development. man was not always the 'brain-thinker' he is to-day. directly the separation of the nerve system was completed, and thereby the full clarity of the brain-bound consciousness achieved, man began to concern himself with science in the modern sense. to understand why this science became restricted to one-eyed, colour-blind observation we need only apply to the human sense system, in particular, what we have learnt concerning man's threefold being. sharply distinguished by their respective modes of functioning though they are, the three bodily systems are each spread out through the whole body and are thus to be found everywhere adjacent to each other. hence, the corresponding three states of consciousness, the sleeping, dreaming and waking, are also everywhere adjacent and woven into one another. it is the predominance of one or other which imparts a particular quality of soul to one or other region of the body. this is clearly shown within the realm of sense activity, itself the most conscious part of the human being. it is sufficient to compare, say, the senses of sight and smell, and to notice in what different degree we are conscious of the impressions they convey, and how differently the corresponding elements of conception, feeling and willing are blended in each. we never turn away as instinctively from objectionable colour arrangement as from an unpleasant smell. how small a part, on the other hand, do the representations of odours play in our recollection of past experiences, compared with those of sight. the same is valid in descending measure for all other senses. of all senses, the sense of sight has in greatest measure the qualities of a 'conceptual sense'. the experiences which it brings, and these alone, were suitable as a basis for the new science, and even so a further limitation was necessary. for in spite of the special quality of the sense of sight, it is still not free from certain elements of feeling and will - that is, from elements with the character of dream or sleep. the first plays a part in our perception of colour; the second, in observing the forms and perspective ordering of objects we look at. here is repeated in a special way the threefold organization of man, for the seeing of colour depends on an organic process apart from the nerve processes and similar to that which takes place between heart and lungs, whilst the seeing of forms and spatial vision depend upon certain movements of the eyeball (quick traversing of the outline of the viewed object with the line of sight, alteration of the angle between the two axes of sight according to distance), in which the eye is active as a sort of outer limb of the body, an activity which enters our consciousness as little as does that of our limbs. it now becomes clear that no world-content obtained in such more or less unconscious ways could be made available for the building of a new scientific world-conception. only as much as man experiences through the sight of a single, colour-blind eye, could be used. * if we would understand the role of science in the present phase of human development, we must be ready to apply two entirely different and seemingly contradictory judgments to one and the same historical phenomenon. the fact that something has occurred out of historical necessity - that is, a necessity springing from the very laws of cosmic evolution - does not save it from having a character which, in view of its consequences, must needs be called tragic. in this era of advanced intellectualism, little understanding of the existence of true tragedy in human existence has survived. as a result, the word 'tragedy' itself has deteriorated in its meaning and is nowadays used mostly as a synonym for 'sad event', 'calamity' 'serious event', even 'crime' (oxford diet.). in its original meaning, however, springing from the dramatic poetry of ancient greece, the word combines the concept of calamity with that of inevitability; the author of the destructive action was not held to be personally responsible for it, since he was caught up in a nexus of circumstances which he could not change. this is not the place to discuss why tragedy in this sense forms part of man's existence. it suffices to acknowledge that it does and, where it occurs, to observe it with scientific objectivity. our considerations, starting from certain statements made by some leading scientific thinkers of our time, have helped us not only to confirm the truth inherent in these statements, but to recognize the facts stated by them as being the outcome of certain laws of evolution and thereby having an historic necessity. this, however, does not mean that man's scientific labours, carried out under the historically given restrictions, great and successful as these labours were and are, have not led to calamitous effects such as we found indicated by professor carrel. the sciences of matter have led man into a country that is not his, and the world which he has created by means of scientific research is not only one in which he is a stranger but one which threatens to-day to deprive him of his own existence. the reason is that this world is essentially a world of active forces, and the true nature of these is something which modern man, restricted to his onlooker-consciousness, is positively unable to conceive. we have taken a first step in diagnosing man's present spiritual condition. a few more steps are required to lead us to the point where we can conceive the therapy he needs. this address and another by the same author are published together under the common title, wandlungen in den grundlagen der naturwissenschaft ('changes in the foundations of natural science'). heisenberg's name has become known above all by his formulation of the so-called principle of indeterminacy. see, in this respect, faust's dispute with mephistopheles on the causes responsible for the geological changes of the earth. (faust ii, act ) see also eddington's more elaborate description of this fact in his new pathways in science. the above statement, like others of eddington's, has been contested from the side of professional philosophy as logically untenable. our own further discussion will show that it accords with the facts. both words, kinematics and kinetics, are derivatives of the greek word kinein, to move. the term 'kinematic' is used when motion is considered abstractly without reference to force or mass. kinetics is applied kinematics, or, as pointed out above, dynamics treated with kinematic concepts. these last statements will find further illustration in the next two chapters. first published in in his book von seelenrätseln. homer's men still think with the diaphragm (phrenes). similarly, the ancient practice of yoga, as a means of acquiring knowledge, shows that at the time when it flourished man's conceptual activity was felt to be seated elsewhere than in the head. this must not be confused with the fact that a smell may evoke other memories by way of association. for one who endeavours to observe historical facts in the manner here described, it is no mere play of chance that the father of scientific atomism, john dalton, was by nature colour blind. in fact, colour blindness was known, for a considerable time during the last century, as 'daltonism', since it was through the publication of dalton's self-observations that for the first time general attention was drawn to this phenomenon. chapter iii the onlooker's philosophic malady in his isolation as world spectator, the modern philosopher was bound to reach two completely opposite views regarding the objective value of human thought. one of these was given expression in descartes' famous words: cogito ergo sum ('i think, therefore i am'). descartes ( - ), rightly described as the inaugurator of modern philosophy, thus held the view that only in his own thought-activity does man find a guarantee of his own existence. in coming to this view, descartes took as his starting-point his experience that human consciousness contains only the thought pictures evoked by sense-perception, and yet knows nothing of the how and why of the things responsible for such impressions. he thus found himself compelled, in the first place, to doubt whether any of these things had any objective existence, at all. hence, there remained over for him only one indubitable item in the entire content of the universe - his own thinking; for were he to doubt even this, he could do so only by again making use of it. from the 'i doubt, therefore i am', he was led in this way to the 'i think, therefore i am'. the other conception of human thought reached by the onlooker-consciousness was diametrically opposed to that of descartes, and entirely cancelled its conceptual significance. it was put forward - not long afterwards - by robert hooke ( - ), the first scientist to make systematic use of the newly invented microscope by means of which he made the fundamental discovery of the cellular structure of plant tissues. it was, indeed, on the strength of his microscopic studies that he boldly undertook to determine the relationship of human thought to objective reality. he published his views in the introduction to his micrographia, the great work in which, with the lavish help of carefully executed copper engravings, he made his microscopic observations known to the world. hooke's line of thought is briefly as follows: in past ages men subscribed to the naive belief that what they have in their consciousness as thought pictures of the world, actually reproduces the real content of that world. the microscope now demonstrates, however, how much the familiar appearance of the world depends on the structure of our sense apparatus; for it reveals a realm just as real as that already known to us, but hitherto concealed from us because it is not accessible to the natural senses. accordingly, if the microscope can penetrate through the veil of illusion which normally hides a whole world of potentially visible phenomena, it may be that it can even teach us something about the ideas we have hitherto formed concerning the nature of things. perhaps it can bring us a step nearer the truth in the sphere of thought, as it so obviously has done in that of observation. of all the ideas that human reason can form, hooke considered the simplest and the most fundamental to be the geometrical concepts of point and straight line. undoubtedly we are able to think these, but the naïve consciousness takes for granted that it also perceives them as objective realities outside itself, so that thoughts and facts correspond to each other. we must now ask, however, if this belief is not due to an optical deception. let us turn to the microscope and see what point and line in the external world look like through it. for his investigation hooke chose the point of a needle and a knife-edge, as providing the best representatives among physical objects of point and straight line. in the sketches here reproduced we may see how hooke made clear to his readers how little these two things, when observed through the microscope, resemble what is seen by the unaided eye. this fact convinced hooke that the apparent agreement between the world of perception and the world of ideas rests on nothing more solid than an optical limitation (plate i). compared with the more refined methods of present-day thought, hooke's procedure may strike us as somewhat primitive. actually he did nothing more than has since been done times without number; for the scientist has become more and more willing to allow artificially evoked sense-perceptions to dictate the thoughts he uses in forming a scientific picture of the world. in the present context we are concerned with the historical import of hooke's procedure. this lies in the fact that, immediately after descartes had satisfied himself that in thinking man had the one sure guarantee of his own existence, hooke proved in a seemingly indubitable manner that thinking was entirely divorced from reality. it required only another century for philosophy to draw from this the unavoidable consequence. it appeared in the form of hume's philosophic system, the outcome of which was universal scepticism. as we shall see in due course, hume's mode of reasoning continues to rule scientific thought even to-day, quite irrespective of the fact that science itself claims to have its philosophical parent in kant, the very thinker who devoted his life's work to the refutation of hume. * on the basis of his investigations into human consciousness hume felt obliged to reason thus: my consciousness, as i know it, has no contact with the external world other than that of a mere outside onlooker. what it wins for its own content from the outer world is in the nature of single, mutually unrelated parts. whatever may unite these parts into an objective whole within the world itself can never enter my consciousness; and any such unifying factor entertained by my thought can be only a self-constructed, hypothetical picture. hume summed up his view in two axioms which he himself described as the alpha and omega of his whole philosophy. the first runs: 'all our distinct perceptions are distinct existences.' the other: 'the mind never perceives any real connexions between distinct existences.' (treatise of human nature.) if once we agree that we can know of nothing but unrelated thought pictures, because our consciousness is not in a position to relate these pictures to a unifying reality, then we have no right to ascribe, with descartes and his school, an objective reality to the self. even though the self may appear to us as the unifying agent among our thoughts, it must itself be a mental picture among mental pictures ; and man can have no knowledge of any permanent reality outside this fluctuating picture-realm. so, with hume, the onlooker-consciousness came to experience its own utter inability to achieve a knowledge of the objective existence either of a material world be - behind all external phenomena, or of a spiritual self behind all the details of its own internal content. accordingly, human consciousness found itself hurled into the abyss of universal scepticism. hume himself suffered unspeakably under the impact of what he considered inescapable ideas - rightly described from another side as the 'suicide of human intelligence' - and his philosophy often seemed to him like a malady, as he himself called it, against whose grip he could see no remedy. the only thing left to him, if he was to prevent philosophical suicide from ending in physical suicide, was to forget in daily life his own conclusions as far as possible. what hume experienced as his philosophical malady, however, was the result not of a mental abnormality peculiar to himself, but of that modern form of consciousness which still prevails in general today. this explains why, despite all attempts to disprove hume's philosophy, scientific thought has not broken away from its alpha and omega in the slightest degree. a proof of this is to be found, for example, in the principle of indeterminacy which has arisen in modern physics. * the conception of indeterminacy as an unavoidable consequence of the latest phase of physical research is due to professor w. heisenberg. originally this conception forced itself upon heisenberg as a result of experimental research. in the meantime the same idea has received its purely philosophical foundation. we shall here deal with both lines of approach. after the discovery by galileo of the parallelogram of forces, it became the object of classical physics - unexpressed, indeed, until newton wrote his principia - to bring the unchanging laws ruling nature into the light of human consciousness, and to give them conceptual expression in the language of mathematical formulae. since, however, science was obliged to restrict itself to what could be observed with a single, colour-blind eye, physics has taken as its main object of research the spatio-temporal relationships, and their changes, between discrete, ideally conceived, point-like particles. accordingly, the mathematically formulable laws holding sway in nature came to mean the laws according to which the smallest particles in the material foundation of the world change their position with regard to each other. a science of this kind could logically maintain that, if ever it succeeded in defining both the position and the state of motion, in one single moment, of the totality of particles composing the universe, it would have discovered the law on which universal existence depends. this necessarily rested on the presupposition that it really was the ultimate particles of the physical world which were under observation. in the search for these, guided chiefly by the study of electricity, the physicists tracked down ever smaller and smaller units; and along this path scientific research has arrived at the following peculiar situation. to observe any object in the sense world we need an appropriate medium of observation. for ordinary things, light provides this. in the sense in which light is understood to-day, this is possible because the spatial extension of the single light impulses, their so-called wavelength, is immeasurably smaller than the average magnitude of all microscopically visible objects. this ensures that they can be observed clearly by the human eye. much smaller objects, however, will require a correspondingly shorter wave-length in the medium of observation. now shorter wave-lengths than those of visible light have been found in ultra-violet light and in x-rays; and these, accordingly, are now often used for minute physical research. in this way, however, we are led by nature to a definite boundary; for we now find ourselves in a realm where the dimensions of the observation medium and the observed object are more or less the same. the result, unfortunately, is that when the 'light' meets the object, it changes the latter's condition of movement. on the other hand, if a 'light' is used whose wave-length is too big to have any influence on the object's condition of movement, it precludes any exact determination of the object's location. thus, having arrived at the very ground of the world - that is, where the cosmic laws might be expected to reveal themselves directly - the scientist finds himself in the remarkable situation of only being able to determine accurately either the position of an observed object and not its state of motion, or its state of motion and not its position. the law he seeks, however, requires that both should be known at the same time. nor is this situation due to the imperfection of the scientific apparatus employed, but to its very perfection, so that it appears to arise from the nature of the foundation of the world - in so far, at least, as modern science is bound to conceive it. if it is true that a valid scientific knowledge of nature is possible only in the sphere open to a single-eyed, colour-blind observation, and if it is true - as a science of this kind, at any rate, is obliged to believe - that all processes within the material foundation of the world depend on nothing but the movements of certain elementary particles of extremely small size, then the fact must be faced that the very nature of these processes rules out the discovery of any stable ordering of things in the sense of mathematically formulable laws. the discovery of such laws will then always be the last step but one in scientific investigation; the last will inevitably be the dissolution of such laws into chaos. for a consistent scientific thinking that goes this way, therefore, nothing is left but to recognize chaos as the only real basis of an apparently ordered world, a chaos on whose surface the laws that seem to hold sway are only the illusory picturings of the human mind. this, then, is the principle of indeterminacy as it has been encountered in the course of practical investigation into the electrical processes within physical matter. in the following way professor schrödinger, another leading thinker among modern theoretical physicists, explains the philosophical basis for the principle of indeterminacy, which scientists have established in the meantime: 'every quantitative observation, every observation making use of measurement, is by nature discontinuous. ... however far we go in the pursuit of accuracy we shall never get anything other than a finite series of discrete results. ... the raw material of our quantitative cognition of nature will always have this primitive and discontinuous character. ... it is possible that a physical system might be so simple that this meagre information would suffice to settle its fate; in that case nature would not be more complicated than a game of chess. to determine a position of a game of chess thirty-three facts suffice. ... if nature is more complicated than a game of chess, a belief to which one tends to incline, then a physical system cannot be determined by a finite number of observations. but in practice a finite number of observations is all that we could make.' classical physics, the author goes on to show, held that it was possible to gain a real insight into the laws of the universe, because in principle an infinite number of such discrete observations would enable us to fill in the gaps sufficiently to allow us to determine the system of the physical world. against this assumption modern physics must hold the view that an infinite number of observations cannot in any case be carried out in practice, and that nothing compels us to assume that even this would suffice to furnish us with the means for a complete determination, which alone would allow us to speak of 'law' in nature. 'this is the direction in which modern physics has led us without really intending it.' what we have previously said will make it clear enough that in these words of a modern physicist we meet once more the two fundamentals of hume's philosophy. it is just as obvious, however, that the very principle thus re-affirmed at the latest stage of modern physical science was already firmly established by hooke, when he sought to prove to his contemporaries the unreality of human ideas. let us recall hooke's motives and results. the human reason discovers that certain law-abiding forms of thought dwell within itself; these are the rules of mathematical thinking. the eye informs the reason that the same kind of law and order is present also in the outer world. the mind can think point and line; the eye reports that the same forms exist in nature outside. (hooke could just as well have taken as his examples the apex and edge of a crystal.) the reason mistrusts the eye, however, and with the help of the microscope 'improves' on it. what hitherto had been taken for a compact, regulated whole now collapses into a heap of unordered parts; behind the illusion of law a finer observation detects the reality of chaos! had science in its vehement career from discovery to discovery not forgotten its own beginnings so completely, it would not have needed its latest researches to bring out a principle which it had in fact been following from the outset - a principle which philosophy had already recognized, if not in quite the same formulation, in the eighteenth century. indeterminacy, as we have just seen it explained by schrödinger, is nothing but the exact continuation of humean scepticism. in his book, science and the human temperament (dublin, ). chapter iv the country that is not ours the last two chapters have served to show the impasse into which human perception and thinking have come - in so far as they have been used for scientific purposes - by virtue of the relationship to the world in which man's consciousness found itself when it awoke to itself at the beginning of modern times. now although the onlooker in man, especially in the earliest stage of our period, gave itself up to the conviction that a self-contained picture of the universe could be formed out of the kind of materials available to it, it nevertheless had a dim inkling that this picture, because it lacked all dynamic content, had no bearing on the real nature of the universe. unable to find this reality within himself, the world-onlooker set about searching in his own way for what was missing, and turned to the perceptible world outside man. here he came, all unexpectedly, upon ... electricity. scarcely was electricity discovered than it drew human scientific thinking irresistibly into its own realm. thereby man found himself, with a consciousness completely blind to dynamics, within a sphere of only too real dynamic forces. the following description will show what results this has had for man and his civilization. * first, let us recall how potent a role electricity has come to play in social life through the great discoveries which began at the end of the eighteenth century. to do this we need only compare the present relationship between production and consumption in the economic sphere with what it was before the power-machine, and especially the electrically driven machine, had been invented. consider some major public undertaking in former times - say the construction of a great mediaeval cathedral. almost all the work was done by human beings, with some help, of course, from domesticated animals. under these circumstances the entire source of productive power lay in the will-energies of living beings, whose bodies had to be supplied with food, clothing and housing; and to provide these, other productive powers of a similar kind were required near the same place. accordingly, since each of the power units employed in the work was simultaneously both producer and consumer, a certain natural limit was placed on the accumulation of productive forces in any one locality. this condition of natural balance between production and consumption was profoundly disturbed by the introduction of the steam engine; but even so there were still some limits, though of a quite different kind, to local concentrations of productive power. for steam engines require water and coal at the scene of action, and these take up space and need continual shifting and replenishing. owing to the very nature of physical matter, it cannot be heaped up where it is required in unlimited quantities. all this changed directly man succeeded in producing energy electro-magnetically by the mere rotation of material masses, and in using the water-power of the earth - itself ultimately derived from the cosmic energies of the sun - for driving his dynamos. not only is the source of energy thus tapped practically inexhaustible, but the machines produce it without consuming on their own account, apart from wear and tear, and so make possible the almost limitless accumulation of power in one place. for electricity is distinguished from all other power-supplying natural forces, living or otherwise, precisely in this, that it can be concentrated spatially with the aid of a physical carrier whose material bulk is insignificant compared with the energy supplied. through this property of electricity it has been possible for man to extend the range of his activity in all directions, far and near. so the balance between production and consumption, which in previous ages was more or less adequately maintained by natural conditions, has been entirely destroyed, and a major social-economic problem created. in yet another way, and through quite another of its properties, electricity plays an important part in modern life. not only does it compete with the human will; it also makes possible automatically intelligent operations quite beyond anything man can do on his own. there are innumerable examples of this in modern electrical technology; we need mention here only the photo-electric cell and the many devices into which it enters. to an ever-increasing, quite uncontrolled degree - for to the mind of present-day man it is only natural to translate every new discovery into practice as soon and as extensively as possible - electricity enters decisively into our modern existence. if we take all its activities into account, we see arising amongst humanity a vast realm of labour units, possessed in their own way not only of will but of the sharpest imaginable intelligence. although they are wholly remote from man's own nature, he more and more subdues his thoughts and actions to theirs, allowing them to take rank as guides and shapers of his civilization. turning to the sphere of scientific research, we find electricity playing a role in the development of modern thinking remarkably similar to its part as a labour-force in everyday life. we find it associated with phenomena which, in professor heisenberg's words, expose their mutual connexions to exact mathematical thinking more readily than do any other facts of nature; and yet the way in which these phenomena have become known has played fast and loose with mathematical thinking to an unparalleled degree. to recognize that in this sphere modern science owes its triumphs to a strange and often paradoxical mixture of outer accident and error in human thought, we need only review the history of the subject without prejudice. * the discovery of electricity has so far been accomplished in four clearly distinct stages. the first extends from the time when men first knew of electrical phenomena to the beginning of the natural scientific age; the second includes the seventeenth and the greater part of the eighteenth centuries; the third begins with galvani's discovery and closes with the first observations of radiant electricity; and the fourth brings us to our own day. we shall here concern ourselves with a few outstanding features of each phase, enough to characterize the strange path along which man has been led by the discovery of electricity. until the beginning of modern times, nothing more was known about electricity, or of its sister force, magnetism, than what we find in pliny's writings. there, without recognizing a qualitative distinction between them, he refers to the faculty of rubbed amber and of certain pieces of iron to attract other small pieces of matter. it required the awakening of that overruling interest in material nature, characteristic of our own age, for the essential difference between electric and magnetic attraction to be recognized. the first to give a proper description of this was queen elizabeth's doctor, gilbert. his discovery was soon followed by the construction of the first electrical machine by the german guericke (also known through his invention of the air pump) which opened the way for the discovery that electricity could be transmitted from one place to another. it was not, however, until the beginning of the eighteenth century that the crop of electrical discoveries began to increase considerably: among these was the recognition of the dual nature of electricity, by the frenchman, dufais, and the chance invention of the leyden jar (made simultaneously by the german, von kleist, and two dutchmen, musschenbroek and cunaeus). the leyden jar brought electrical effects of quite unexpected intensity within reach. stimulated by what could be done with electricity in this form, more and more people now busied themselves in experimenting with so fascinating a force of nature, until in the second third of the century a whole army of observers was at work, whether by way of profession or of hobby, finding out ever new manifestations of its powers. the mood that prevailed in those days among men engaged in electrical research is well reflected in a letter written by the englishman, walsh, after he had established the electric nature of the shocks given by certain fishes, to benjamin franklin, who shortly before had discovered the natural occurrence of electricity in the atmosphere: 'i rejoice in addressing these communications to you. he, who predicted and shewed that electricity wings the formidable bolt of the atmosphere, will hear with attention that in the deep it speeds a humbler bolt, silent and invisible; he, who analysed the electrical phial, will hear with pleasure that its laws prevail in animate phials; he, who by reason became an electrician, will hear with reverence of an instinctive electrician, gifted in his birth with a wonderful apparatus, and with the skill to use it.' (phil. trans. .) dare one believe that in electricity the soul of nature had been discovered? this was the question which at that time stirred the hearts of very many in europe. doctors had already sought to arouse new vitality in their patients by the use of strong electric shocks; attempts had even been made to bring the dead back to life by such means. . in a time like ours, when we are primarily concerned with the practical application of scientific discoveries, we are mostly accustomed to regard such flights of thought from a past age as nothing but the unessential accompaniment of youthful, immature science, and to smile at them accordingly as historical curiosities. this is a mistake, for we then overlook how within them was hidden an inkling of the truth, however wrongly conceived at the time, and we ignore the role which such apparently fantastic hopes have played in connexion with the entry of electricity into human civilization. (nor are such hopes confined to the eighteenth century; as we shall see, the same impulse urged crookes a hundred years later to that decisive discovery which was to usher in the latest phase in the history of science, a phase in which the investigating human spirit has been led to that boundary of the physical-material world where the transition takes place from inert matter into freely working energy.) if there was any doubt left as to whether in nature the same power was at work which, in animal and man, was hidden away within the soul, this doubt seemed finally to have been dispelled through galvani's discovery that animal limbs could be made to move electrically through being touched by two bits of different metals. no wonder that 'the storm which was loosed in the world of the physicists, the physiologists and the doctors through galvani's publication can only be compared with the one crossing the political horizon of europe at the same time. wherever there happened to be frogs and two pieces of different metals available, everyone sought proof with his own eyes that the severed limbs could be marvellously re-enlivened.' like many of his contemporaries, galvani was drawn by the fascinating behaviour of the new force of nature to carry on electrical experiments as a hobby alongside his professional work, anatomical research. for his experiments he used the room where his anatomical specimens were set out. so it happened that his electrical machine stood near some frogs' legs, prepared for dissection. by a further coincidence his assistant, while playing with the machine, released a few sparks just when some of the specimens were in such contact with the surface beneath them that they were bound to react to the sudden alteration of the electric field round the machine caused by its discharge. at each spark the frogs' legs twitched. what galvani saw with his own eyes seemed to be no less than the union of two phenomena, one observed by franklin in the heights of the atmosphere, the other by walsh in the depths of the sea. galvani, as he himself describes, proceeded with immense enthusiasm to investigate systematically what accident had thus put into his hands. he wanted first to see whether changes occurring naturally in the electrical condition of the atmosphere would call forth the same reaction in his specimens. for this purpose he fastened one end of an iron wire to a point high up outside his house; the lower end he connected with the nervous substance of a limb from one of his specimens, and to the foot of this he attached a second wire whose other end he submerged in a well. the specimen itself was either enclosed in a glass flask in order to insulate it, or simply left lying on a table near the well. and all this he did whenever a thunderstorm was threatening. as he himself reported: 'all took place as expected. whenever the lightning flashed, all the muscles simultaneously came into repeated and violent twitchings, so that the movements of the muscles, like the flash of the lightning, always preceded the thunder, and thus, as it were, heralded its coming.' we can have some idea of what went on in galvani's mind during these experiments if we picture vividly to ourselves the animal limbs twitching about every time the lightning flashed, as if a revitalizing force of will had suddenly taken possession of them. in the course of his investigations - he carried them on for a long time - galvani was astonished to observe that some of his specimens, which he had hung on to an iron railing by means of brass hooks, sometimes fell to twitching even when the sky was quite clear and there was no sign of thunder. his natural conclusion was that this must be due to hitherto unnoticed electrical changes in the atmosphere. observations maintained for hours every day, however, led to no conclusive result; when twitchings did occur it was only with some of the specimens, and even then there was no discoverable cause. then it happened one day that galvani, 'tired out with fruitless watching', took hold of one of the brass hooks by which the specimens were hung, and pressed it more strongly than usual against the iron railing. immediately a twitching took place. 'i was almost at the point of ascribing the occurrence to atmospheric electricity,' galvani tells us. all the same he took one of the specimens, a frog, into his laboratory and there subjected it to similar conditions by putting it on an iron plate, and pressing against this with the hook that was stuck through its spinal cord. immediately the twitching occurred again. he tried with other metals and, for checking purposes, with non-metals as well. with some ingenuity he fixed up an arrangement, rather like that of an electric bell, whereby the limbs in contracting broke contact and in relaxing restored it, and so he managed to keep the frog in continuous rhythmical movement. whereas galvani had been rightly convinced by his earlier observations that the movement in the specimens represented a reaction to an electric stimulus from outside, he now changed his mind. in the very moment of his really significant discovery he succumbed to the error that he had to do with an effect of animal electricity located somewhere in the dead creature itself, perhaps in the fashion of what had been observed in the electric fishes. he decided that the metal attachment served merely to set in motion the electricity within the animal. whilst galvani persisted in this mistake until his death, volta realized that the source of the electric force, as in the first of galvani's observations, must still be sought outside the specimens, and himself rightly attributed it to the contacting metals. guided by this hypothesis, volta started systematic research into the galvanic properties of metals, and presently succeeded in producing electricity once more from purely mineral substances, namely from two different metals in contact with a conductive liquid. this mode of producing electricity, however, differed from any previously known in allowing for the first time the production of continuous electrical effects. it is this quality of the cells and piles constructed by volta that laid open the road for electric force to assume that role in human civilization which we have already described. that volta himself was aware of this essentially new factor in the galvanic production of electricity is shown by his own report to the royal society: 'the chief of my results, and which comprehends nearly all the others, is the construction of an apparatus which resembles in its effects, viz. such as giving shocks to the arms, &c, the leyden phial, and still better electric batteries weakly charged; . . . but which infinitely surpasses the virtue and power of these same batteries; as it has no need, like them, of being charged beforehand, by means of a foreign electricity; and as it is capable of giving the usual commotion as often as ever it is properly touched.' whilst volta's success was based on avoiding galvani's error, his apparatus nevertheless turned out inadvertently to be a close counterpart of precisely that animal organ which galvani had in mind when misinterpreting his own discoveries! that volta himself realized this is clear from the concluding words in his letter: 'this apparatus, as it resembles more the natural organ of the torpedo, or of the electrical eel, than the leyden phial or the ordinary electric batteries, i may call an artificial electric organ.' this new method of producing continuous electrical effects had far-reaching results, one of which was the discovery of the magnetic properties of the electric current by the dane, oersted - once again a purely accidental discovery, moving directly counter to the assumptions of the discoverer himself. about to leave the lecture room where he had just been trying to prove the non-existence of such magnetic properties (an attempt seemingly crowned with success), oersted happened to glance once more at his demonstration bench. to his astonishment he noticed that one of his magnetic needles was out of alignment; evidently it was attracted by a magnetic field created by the current running through a wire he had just been using, which was still in circuit. thus what had escaped oersted throughout his planned researches - namely, that the magnetic force which accompanies an electric current must be sought in a direction at right angles to the current - a fortuitous event enabled him to detect. these repeated strokes of chance and frequently mistaken interpretations of the phenomenon thus detected show that men were exploring the electrical realm as it were in the dark; it was a realm foreign to their ordinary ideas and they had not developed the forms of thought necessary for understanding it. (and this, as our further survey will show, is still true, even to-day.) in our historical survey we come next to the researches of faraday and maxwell. faraday was convinced that if electrical processes are accompanied by magnetic forces, as oersted had shown, the reverse must also be true - magnetism must be accompanied by electricity. he was led to this correct conviction by his belief in the qualitative unity of all the forces of nature - a reflexion, as his biography shows, of his strongly monotheistic, old testament faith. precisely this view, however - which since faraday natural science has quite consciously adopted as a leading principle - will reveal itself to us as a fundamental error. it seems paradoxical to assert that the more consistently human thought has followed this error, the greater have been the results of the scientific investigation of electricity. precisely this paradox, however, is characteristic of the realm of nature to which electricity belongs; and anyone earnestly seeking to overcome the illusions of our age will have to face the fact that the immediate effectiveness of an idea in practice is no proof of its ultimate truth. another eloquent example of the strange destiny of human thought in connexion with electricity is to be found in the work of clark maxwell, who, starting from faraday's discoveries, gave the theory of electricity its mathematical basis. along his purely theoretical line of thought he was led to the recognition of the existence of a form of electrical activity hitherto undreamt of - electro-magnetic vibrations. stimulated by maxwell's mathematical conclusions, hertz and marconi were soon afterwards able to demonstrate those phenomena which have led on the one hand to the electro-magnetic theory of light, and on the other to the practical achievements of wireless communication. once again, there is the paradoxical fact that this outcome of maxwell's labours contradicts the very foundation on which he had built his theoretical edifice. for his starting-point had been to form a picture of the electro-magnetic field of force to which he could apply certain well-known formulae of mechanics. this he did by comparing the behaviour of the electrical force to the currents of an elastic fluid - that is, of a material substance. it is true that both he and his successors rightly emphasized that such a picture was not in any way meant as an explanation of electricity, but merely as an auxiliary concept in the form of a purely external analogy. nevertheless, it was in the guise of a material fluid that he thought of this force, and that he could submit it to mathematical calculation. yet the fact is that from this starting-point the strict logic of mathematics led him to the discovery that electricity is capable of behaviour which makes it appear qualitatively similar to ... light! whilst practical men were turning the work of faraday and maxwell to account by exploiting the mechanical working of electricity in power-production, and its similarity to light in the wireless communication of thought, a new field of research, with entirely new practical possibilities, was suddenly opened up in the last third of the nineteenth century through the discovery of how electricity behaves in rarefied air. this brings us to the discovery of cathode rays and the phenomena accompanying them, from which the latest stage in the history of electricity originated. and here once more, as in the history of galvani's discoveries, we encounter certain undercurrents of longing and expectation in the human soul which seemed to find an answer through this sudden, great advance in the knowledge of electricity - an advance which has again led to practical applications of the utmost significance for human society, though not at all in the way first hoped for. interest in the phenomena arising when electricity passes through gases with reduced pressure had simultaneously taken hold of several investigators in the seventies of the nineteenth century. but the decisive step in this sphere of research was taken by the english physicist, william crookes. he was led on by a line of thought which seems entirely irrelevant; yet it was this which first directed his interest to the peculiar phenomena accompanying cathode rays; and they proved to be the starting-point of the long train of inquiry which has now culminated in the release of atomic energy. in the midst of his many interests and activities, crookes was filled from his youth with a longing to find by empirical means the bridge leading from the world of physical effects to that of superphysical causes. he himself tells how this longing was awakened in him by the loss of a much-beloved brother. before the dead body he came to the question, which thereafter was never to leave him, whether there was a land where the human individuality continues after it has laid aside its bodily sheath, and how that land was to be found. seeing that scientific research was the instrument which modern man had forged to penetrate through the veil of external phenomena to the causes producing them, it was natural for crookes to turn to it in seeking the way from the one world into the other. it was after meeting with a man able to produce effects within the corporeal world by means of forces quite different from those familiar to science, that crookes decided to devote himself to this scientific quest. thus he first came into touch with that sphere of phenomena which is known as spiritualism, or perhaps more suitably, spiritism. crookes now found himself before a special order of happenings which seemed to testify to a world other than that open to our senses; physical matter here showed itself capable of movement in defiance of gravity, manifestations of light and sound appeared without a physical source to produce them. through becoming familiar with such things at seances arranged by his mediumistic acquaintance, he began to hope that he had found the way by which scientific research could overstep the limits of the physical world. accordingly, he threw himself eagerly into the systematic investigation of his new experiences, and so became the father of modern scientific spiritism. crookes had hoped that the scientists of his day would be positively interested in his researches. but his first paper in this field, 'on phenomena called spiritual', was at once and almost unanimously rejected by his colleagues, and as long as he concerned himself with such matters he suffered through their opposition. it passed his understanding as a scientist why anything should be regarded in advance as outside the scope of scientific research. after several years of fruitless struggle he broke off his investigations into spiritism, deeply disillusioned at his failure to interest official science in it. his own partiality for it continued, however (he served as president of the society for psychical research from - ), and he missed no opportunity of confessing himself a pioneer in the search for the boundary-land between the worlds of matter and spirit. through all his varied scientific work the longing persisted to know more of this land. just as crookes had once sought to investigate spiritism scientifically, so in his subsequent scientific inquiries he was always something of a spiritist. he admitted, indeed, that he felt specially attracted by the strange light effects arising when electricity passes through rarefied gases, because they reminded him of certain luminous phenomena he had observed during his spiritistic investigations. besides this, there was the fact that light here showed itself susceptible to the magnetic force in a way otherwise characteristic only of certain material substances. accordingly, everything combined to suggest to crookes that here, if anywhere, he was at the boundary between the physical and the superphysical worlds. no wonder that he threw himself into the study of these phenomena with enthusiasm. he soon succeeded in evoking striking effects - light and heat, and also mechanical - along the path of electricity passing invisibly through the tube later named after him. thus he proved for the first time visibly, so to say, the double nature - material and supermaterial - of electricity. what crookes himself thought about these discoveries in the realm of the cathode rays we may judge from the title, 'radiant matter', or 'the fourth state of matter', which he gave to his first publication about them. and so he was only being consistent when, in his lectures before the royal institution in london, and the british association in sheffield in , after showing to an amazed scientific audience the newly discovered properties of electricity, he came to the climax of his exposition by saying: 'we have seen that in some of its properties radiant matter is as material as this table, whilst in other properties it almost assumes the character of radiant energy. we have actually touched here the borderland where matter and force seem to merge into one another, the shadowy realm between known and unknown, which for me has always had peculiar temptations.' and in boldly prophetic words, which time has partly justified, he added, 'i venture to think that the greatest scientific problems of the future will find their solution in this borderland, and even beyond; here, it seems to me, lie ultimate realities, subtle, far-reaching, wonderful.' no one can read these words of crookes without hearing again, as an undertone, the question which had forced itself on him at the bedside of his dead brother, long before. all that is left of the human being whom death has taken is a heap of substances, deserted by the force which had used them as the instrument of its own activity. whither vanishes this force when it leaves the body, and is there any possibility of its revealing itself even without occupying such a body? stirred by this question, the young crookes set out to find a world of forces which differ from the usual mechanical ones exercised by matter on matter, in that they are autonomous, superior to matter in its inert conglomeration, yet capable of using matter, just as the soul makes use of the body so long as it dwells within it. his aim was to secure proof that such forces exist, or, at any rate, to penetrate into the realm where the transition from matter to pure, matter-free force takes place. and once again, as in galvani's day, electricity fascinated the eyes of a man who was seeking for the land of the soul. what spiritism denied, electricity seemed to grant. the aversion to spiritism which crookes met with in contemporary science was, from the standpoint of such a science, largely justified. science, in the form in which crookes himself conceived it, took for granted that the relationship of human consciousness to the world was that of external onlooking. accordingly, if the scientist remained within the limits thus prescribed for consciousness, it was only consistent to refuse to make anything beyond these limits an object of scientific research. on the other hand, it says much for the courage and open mindedness of crookes that he refused to be held back from what was for him the only possible way of extending the boundaries of science beyond the given physical world. moreover, it was only natural that in his search for a world of a higher order than the physical he should, as a man of his time, first turn his attention to spiritistic occurrences, for spiritism, as it had come over to europe from america in the middle of the nineteenth century, was nothing but an attempt by the onlooker-consciousness to learn something in its own way about the supersensible world. the spiritist expects the spirit to reveal itself in outwardly perceptible phenomena as if it were part of the physical world. towards the end of his life crookes confessed that if he were able to begin again he would prefer to study telepathic phenomena - the direct transference of thought from one person to another - rather than the purely mechanical, or so-called telekinetic, expressions of psychic forces. but although his interest was thus turning towards a more interior field of psychic investigation, he remained true to his times in still assuming that knowledge about the world, whatever it might be, could be won only by placing oneself as a mere onlooker outside the object of research. * the stream of new discoveries which followed crookes's work justified his conviction that in cathode ray phenomena we have to do with a frontier region of physical nature. still, the land that lies on the other side of this frontier is not the one crookes had been looking for throughout his life. for, instead of finding the way into the land whither man's soul disappears at death, crookes had inadvertently crossed the border into another land - a land which the twentieth-century scientist is impelled to call 'the country that is not ours'. the realm thrown open to science by crookes's observations, which human knowledge now entered as if taking it by storm, was that of the radioactive processes of the mineral stratum of the earth. many new and surprising properties of electricity were discovered there - yet the riddle of electricity itself, instead of coming nearer, withdrew into ever deeper obscurity. the very first step into this newly discovered territory made the riddle still more bewildering. as we have said, maxwell's use of a material analogy as a means of formulating mathematically the properties of electro-magnetic fields of force had led to results which brought electricity into close conjunction with light. in his own way crookes focused, to begin with, his attention entirely on the light-like character of electric effects in a vacuum. it was precisely these observations, however, as continued by lenard and others, which presently made it necessary to see in electricity nothing else than a special manifestation of inert mass. the developments leading up to this stage are recent and familiar enough to be briefly summarized. the first step was once more an accident, when röntgen (or rather one of his assistants) noticed that a bunch of keys, laid down by chance on top of an unopened box of photographic plates near a cathode tube, had produced an inexplicable shadow-image of itself on one of the plates. the cathode tube was apparently giving off some hitherto unknown type of radiation, capable of penetrating opaque substances. röntgen was an experimentalist, not a theorist; his pupils used to say privately that in publishing this discovery of x-rays he attempted a theoretical explanation for the first and only time in his life - and got it wrong! however, this accidental discovery had far-reaching consequences. it drew attention to the fluorescence of minerals placed in the cathode tube; this inspired becquerel to inquire whether naturally fluorescent substances gave off anything like x-rays, and eventually - yet again by accident - he came upon certain uranium compounds. these were found to give off a radiation similar to x-rays, and to give it off naturally and all the time. soon afterwards the curies succeeded in isolating the element, radium, an element which was found to be undergoing a continuous natural disintegration. the way was now clear for that long series of experiments on atomic disintegration which led finally to the splitting of the nucleus and the construction of the atomic bomb. * a typical modern paradox emerges from these results. by restricting his cognitive powers to a field of experience in which the concept of force as an objective reality was unthinkable, man has been led on a line of practical investigation the pursuit of which was bound to land him amongst the force-activities of the cosmos. for what distinguishes electric and sub-electric activities from all other forces of physical nature so far known to science, is that for their operation they have no need of the resistance offered by space-bound material bodies; they represent a world of pure dynamics into which spatial limitations do not enter. equally paradoxical is the situation of theoretical thinking in face of that realm of natural being which practical research has lately entered. we have seen that this thinking, by virtue of the consciousness on which it is founded, is impelled always to clothe its ideas in spatial form. wherever anything in the pure spatial adjacency of physical things remains inexplicable, resort is had to hypothetical pictures whose content consists once more of nothing but spatially extended and spatially adjacent items. in this way matter came to be seen as consisting of molecules, molecules of atoms, and atoms of electrons, protons, neutrons, and so forth. in so far as scientific thought has held to purely spatial conceptions, it has been obliged to concentrate on ever smaller and smaller spatial sizes, so that the spatially conceived atom-picture has finally to reckon with dimensions wherein the old concept of space loses validity. when once thinking had started in this direction, it was electricity which once more gave it the strongest impulse to go even further along the same lines. where we have arrived along this path is brought out in a passage in eddington's the nature of the physical world. there, after describing the modern picture of electrons dancing round the atomic nucleus, he says: 'this spectacle is so fascinating that we have perhaps forgotten that there was a time when we wanted to be told what an electron is. this question was never answered. no familiar conceptions can be woven round the electron; it belongs to the waiting list.' the only thing we can say about the electron, if we are not to deceive ourselves, eddington concludes, is: 'something unknown is doing we don't know what.' let us add a further detail from this picture of the atom, as given in eddington's philosophy of physical science. referring to the so-called positron, the positive particle regarded as the polar opposite of the negative electron, he remarks: 'a positron is a hole from which an electron has been removed; it is a bung-hole which would be evened up with its surroundings if an electron were inserted. ... you will see that the physicist allows himself even greater liberty than the sculptor. the sculptor removes material to obtain the form he desires. the physicist goes further and adds material if necessary - an operation which he describes as removing negative material. he fills up a bung-hole, saying he is removing a positron.' eddington thus shows to what paradoxical ideas the scientist is driven, when with his accustomed forms of thought he ventures into regions where the conditions necessary for such forms no longer exist; and he concludes his remarks with the following caution: 'once again i would remind you that objective truth is not the point at issue.' by this reminder eddington shows how far science has reconciled itself to the philosophic scepticism at which man's thinking had arrived in the days of hume. in so far as the above remark was intended to be a consolation for the bewildered student, it is poor comfort in the light of the actions which science has let loose with the help of those unknown entities. for it is just this resignation of human thought which renders it unable to cope with the flood of phenomena springing from the sub-material realm of nature, and has allowed scientific research to outrun scientific understanding. e. du bois-raymond: investigations into animal electricity ( ). galvani published his discovery when the french revolution had reached its zenith and napoleon was climbing to power. the above account follows a. j. von oettingen's edition of galvani's monograph, de viribus electricitatis in motu musculari. for what follows see the life of sir william crookes, by e. e. fournier d'albe (london, ). eddington's italics. see also, in this respect, professor white head's criticism of the hypothetical picture of the electron and its behaviour. part ii goetheanism - whence and whither? chapter v the adventure of reason in , a year before galvani's monograph, concerning the forces of electricity, appeared, goethe published his metamorphosis of plants, which represents the first step towards the practical overcoming of the limitations of the onlooker-consciousness in science. goethe's paper was not destined to raise such a storm as soon followed galvani's publication. and yet the fruit of goethe's endeavours is not less significant than galvani's discovery, for the progress of mankind. for in goethe's achievement lay the seed of that form of knowing which man requires, if in the age of the electrification of civilization he is to remain master of his existence. * among the essays in which goethe in later years gave out some of the results of his scientific observation in axiomatic form, is one called 'intuitive judgment' ('anschauende urteilskraft'), in which he maintains that he has achieved in practice what kant had declared to be for ever beyond the scope of the human mind. goethe refers to a passage in the critique of judgment, where kant defines the limits of human cognitional powers as he had observed them in his study of the peculiar nature of the human reason. we must first go briefly into kant's own exposition of the matter. kant distinguishes between two possible forms of reason, the intellectus archetypus and the intellectus ectypus. by the first he means a reason 'which being, not like ours, discursive, but intuitive, proceeds from the synthetic universal (the intuition of the whole as such) to the particular, that is, from the whole to the parts'. according to kant, such a reason lies outside human possibilities. in contrast to it, the intellectus ectypus peculiar to man is restricted to taking in through the senses the single details of the world as such; with these it can certainly construct pictures of their totalities, but these pictures never have more than a hypothetical character and can claim no reality for themselves. above all, it is not given to such a thinking to think 'wholes' in such a way that through an act of thought alone the single items contained in them can be conceived as parts springing from them by necessity. (to illustrate this, we may say that, according to kant, we can certainly comprehend the parts of an organism, say of a plant, and out of its components make a picture of the plant as a whole; but we are not in a position to think that 'whole' of the plant which conditions the existence of its organism and brings forth its parts by necessity.) kant expresses this in the following way: 'for external objects as phenomena an adequate ground related to purposes cannot be met with; this, although it lies in nature, must be sought only in the supersensible substrata of nature, from all possible insight into which we are cut off. our understanding has then this peculiarity as concerns the judgment, that in cognitive understanding the particular is not determined by the universal and cannot therefore be derived from it.' the attempt to prove whether or not another form of reason than this (the intellectus archetypus) is possible - even though declared to be beyond man - kant regarded as superfluous, because the fact was enough for him 'that we are led to the idea of it - which contains no contradiction - in contrast to our discursive understanding, which has need of images (intellectus ectypus), and to the contingency of its constitution'. kant here brings forward two reasons why it is permissible to conceive of the existence of an extra-human, archetypal reason. on the one hand he admits that the existence of our own reason in its present condition is of a contingent order, and thus does not exclude the possible existence of a reason differently constituted. on the other hand, he allows that we can think of a form of reason which in every respect is the opposite of our own, without meeting any logical inconsistency. from these definitions emerges a conception of the properties of man's cognitional powers which agrees exactly with those on which, as we have seen, hume built up his whole philosophy. both allow to the reason a knowledge-material consisting only of pictures - that is, of pictures evoked in consciousness through sense-perception, and received by it from the outer world in the form of disconnected units, whilst denying it all powers, as hume expressed it, ever 'to perceive any real connections between distinct existences'. this agreement between kant and hume must at first sight surprise us, when we recall that, as already mentioned, kant worked out his philosophy precisely to protect the cognizing being of man from the consequences of hume's thought. for, as he himself said, it was his becoming acquainted with hume's treatise that 'roused him out of his dogmatic slumber' and obliged him to reflect on the foundations of human knowing. we shall understand this apparent paradox, however, if we take it as a symptom of humanity's close imprisonment in recent centuries within the limits of its onlooker-consciousness. in his struggle against hume, kant was not concerned to challenge his opponent's definition of man's reasoning power. his sole object was to show that, if one accepted this definition, one must not go as far as hume in the application of this power. all that kant could aspire to do was to protect the ethical from attack by the intellectual part of man, and to do this by proving that the former belongs to a world into which the latter has no access. for with his will man belongs to a world of purposeful doing, whereas the reason, as our quotations have shown, is incapable even in observing external nature, of comprehending the wholes within nature which determine natural ends. still less can it do this in regard to man, a being who in his actions is integrated into higher purposes. kant's deed is significant in that it correctly drew attention to that polar division in human nature which, after all, was already established in kant's own time. kant demonstrated also that to win insight into the ethical nature of man with the aid of the isolated intellect alone implied a trespass beyond permissible limits. in order to give the doing part of the human being its necessary anchorage, however, kant assigned it to a moral world-order entirely external to man, to which it could be properly related only through obedient submission. in this way kant became the philosopher of that division between knowledge and faith which to this day is upheld in both the ecclesiastical and scientific spheres of our civilization. nevertheless, he did not succeed in safeguarding humanity from the consequences of hume's philosophy; for man cannot live indefinitely in the belief that with the two parts of his own being he is bound up with two mutually unrelated worlds. the time when this was feasible is already over, as may be seen from the fact that ever greater masses of men wish to determine their behaviour according to their own ideas, and as they see no alternative in the civilization around them but to form ideas by means of the discursive reason which inevitably leads to agnosticism, they determine their actions accordingly. meanwhile, the ethical life as viewed by kant accordingly shrinks ever further into a powerless, hole-and-corner existence. * it is goethe's merit to have first shown that there is a way out of this impasse. he had no need to argue theoretically with kant as to the justification of denying man any power of understanding apart from the discursive, and of leaving the faculty of intuitive knowledge to a divinity somewhere outside the world of man. for goethe was his own witness that kant was mistaken in regarding man's present condition as his lasting nature. let us hear how he expresses himself on this fact at the beginning of his essay written as an answer to kant's statement: 'it is true, the author here seems to be pointing to an intellect not human but divine. and yet, if in the moral sphere we are supposed to lift ourselves up to a higher region through faith in god, virtue and immortality, so drawing nearer to the primal being, why should it not be likewise in the intellectual? by contemplation (anschauen) of an ever-creative nature, may we not make ourselves worthy to be spiritual sharers in her productions? i at first, led by an inner urge that would not rest, had quite unconsciously been seeking for the realm of type and archetype, and my attempt had been rewarded: i had been able to build up a description, in conformity with nature herself. now therefore nothing more could hinder me from braving what the old man of the king's hill himself calls the adventure of reason.' goethe started from the conviction that our senses as well as our intellect are gifts of nature, and that, if at any given moment they prove incapable through their collaboration of solving a riddle of nature, we must ask her to help us to develop this collaboration adequately. thus there was no question for him of any restriction of sense-perception in order to bring the latter in line with the existing power of the intellect, but rather to learn to make an ever fuller use of the senses and to bring our intellect into line with what they tell. 'the senses do not deceive, but the judgment deceives', is one of his basic utterances concerning their respective roles in our quest for knowledge and understanding. as to the senses themselves, he was sure that 'the human being is adequately equipped for all true earthly requirements if he trusts his senses, and so develops them as to make them worthy of trust'. there is no contradiction in the statement that we have to trust our senses, and that we have to develop them to make them trustworthy. for, 'nature speaks upwards to the known senses of man, downwards to unknown senses of his'. goethe's path was aimed at wakening faculties, both perceptual and conceptual, which lay dormant in himself. his experience showed him that 'every process in nature, rightly observed, wakens in us a new organ of cognition'. right observation, in this respect, consisted in a form of contemplating nature which he called a 're-creating (creating in the wake) of an ever-creative nature' (nachschaffen einer immer schaffenden natur). * we should do goethe an injustice if we measured the value of his scientific work by the amount of factual knowledge he contributed to one or other sphere of research. although goethe did bring many new things to light, as has been duly recognized in the scientific fields concerned, it cannot be gainsaid that other scientists in his own day, working along the usual lines, far exceeded his total of discoveries. nor can it be denied that, as critics have pointed out, he occasionally went astray in reporting his observations. these things, however, do not determine the value or otherwise of his scientific labours. his work draws its significance not so much from the 'what', to use a goethean expression, as from the 'how' of his observations, that is, from his way of investigating nature. having once developed this method in the field of plant observation, goethe was able, with its aid, to establish a new view of animal nature, to lay the basis for a new meteorology, and, by creating his theory of light and colour, to provide a model for a research in the field of physics, free from onlooker-restrictions. in the scientific work of goethe his botanical studies have a special place. as a living organism, the plant is involved in an endless process of becoming. it shares this characteristic, of course, with the higher creatures of nature, and yet between it and them there is an essential difference. whereas in animal and man a considerable part of the life-processes conceal themselves within the organism, in order to provide a basis for inner soul processes, the plant brings its inner life into direct and total outer manifestation. hence the plant, better than anything, could become goethe's first teacher in his exercise of re-creating nature. it is for the same reason that we shall here use the plant for introducing goethe's method. the following exposition, however, does not aim at rendering in detail goethe's own botanical researches, expounded by him in two extensive essays, morphology and the metamorphosis of plants, as well as in a series of smaller writings. there are several excellent translations of the chief paper, the metamorphosis, from which the english-speaking reader can derive sufficient insight into goethe's way of expressing his ideas; a pleasure as well as a profit which he should not deny himself. our own way of procedure will have to be such that goethe's method, and its fruitfulness for the general advance of science, come as clearly as possible into view. botanical details will be referred to only as far as seems necessary for this purpose. the data for observation, from which in goethe's own fashion we shall start, have been selected as best for our purpose, quite independently of the data used by goethe himself. our choice was determined by the material available when these pages were being written. the reader is free to supplement our studies by his own observation of other plants. * plates ii and iii show two series of leaves which are so arranged as to represent definite stages in the growth-process of the plant concerned. in each sequence shown the leaves have been taken from a single plant, in which each leaf-form was repeated, perhaps several times, before it passed over into the next stage. the leaves on plate ii come from a sidalcea (of the mallow family), those on plate iii from a delphinium. we will describe the forms in sequence, so that we may grasp as clearly as possible the transition from one to another as presented to the eye. starting with the right-hand leaf at the bottom of plate ii, we let our eye and mind be impressed by its characteristic form, seeking to take hold of the pattern after which it is shaped. its edge bears numerous incisions of varying depths which, however, do not disturb the roundness of the leaf as a whole. if we re-create in our imagination the 'becoming' of such a leaf, that is, its gradual growth in all directions, we receive an impression of these incisions as 'negative' forms, because, at the points where they occur, the multiplication of the cells resulting from the general growth has been retarded. we observe that this holding back follows a certain order. we now proceed to the next leaf on the same plate and observe that, whilst the initial plan is faithfully maintained, the ratio between the positive and negative forms has changed. a number of incisions, hardly yet indicated in the first leaf, have become quite conspicuous. the leaf begins to look as if it were breaking up into a number of subdivisions. in the next leaf we find this process still further advanced. the large incisions have almost reached the centre, while a number of smaller ones at the periphery have also grown deeper into the leaf. the basic plan of the total leaf is still maintained, but the negative forms have so far got the upper hand that the original roundness is no longer obvious. the last leaf shows the process in its extreme degree. as we glance back and along the whole series of development, we recognize that the form of the last leaf is already indicated in that of the first. it appears as if the form has gradually come to the fore through certain forces which have increasingly prevented the leaf from filling in the whole of its ground-plan with matter. in the last leaf the common plan is still visible in the distribution of the veins, but the fleshy part of the leaf has become restricted to narrow strips along these veins. the metamorphosis of the delphinium leaf (plate iii) is of a different character. here the plant begins with a highly elaborate form of the leaf, while in the end nothing remains but the barest indication of it. the impression received from this series of leaves is that of a gradual withdrawal of the magnificent form, revealed in its fullness only in the first leaf. a more intense impression of what these metamorphoses actually mean is achieved by altering our mode of contemplation in the following way. after repeated and careful observation of the different forms on either of the plates, we build up inwardly, as a memory picture, the shape of the first leaf, and then transform this mental image successively into the images of the ensuing forms until we reach the final stage. the same process can also be tried retrogressively, and so repeated forward and backward. this is how goethe studied the doing of the plant, and it is by this method that he discovered the spiritual principle of all plant life, and succeeded also in throwing a first light on the inner life-principle of animals. * we chose the transformation of leaf forms into one another as the starting-point of our observations, because the principle of metamorphosis appears here in a most conspicuous manner. this principle, however, is not confined to this part of the plant's organism. in fact, all the different organs which the plant produces within its life cycle - foliage, calyx, corolla, organs of fertilization, fruit and seed - are metamorphoses of one and the same organ. man has long learnt to make use of this law of metamorphosis in the plant for what is called doubling the flower of a certain species. such a flower crowds many additional petals within its original circle, and these petals are nothing but metamorphosed stamens; this, for instance, is the difference between the wild and the cultivated rose. the multitude of petals in the latter is obtained by the transformation of a number of the former's innumerable stamens. (note the intermediate stages between the two, often found inside the flower of such plants.) this falling back from the stage of an organ of fertilization to that of a petal shows that the plant is capable of regressive metamorphosis, and we may conclude from this that in the normal sequence the different organs are transformed from one another by way of progressive metamorphosis. it is evident that the regressive type occurs only as an abnormality, or as a result of artificial cultivation. plants once brought into this condition frequently show a general state of unrest, so that other organs also are inclined to fall back to a lower level. thus we may come across a rose, an outer petal of which appears in the form of a leaf of the calyx (sepal), or one of the sepals is found to have grown into an ordinary rose leaf. we now extend our mental exercise to the plant's whole organism. by a similar mental effort as applied to the leaf-formations we strive to build up a complete plant. we start with the seed, from which we first imagine the cotyledons unfolding, letting this be followed by the gradual development of the entire green part of the plant, its stem and leaves, until the final leaves change into the sepals of the calyx. these again we turn into the petals of the flower, until via pistil and stamens the fruit and seed are formed. by pursuing in this way the living doing of the plant from stage to stage we become aware of a significant rhythm in its total life cycle. this, when first discovered by goethe, gave him the key to an understanding of nature's general procedure in building living organisms, and in maintaining life in them. the plant clearly divides into three major parts: firstly, the one that extends from the cotyledons to the calyx, the green part of the plant, that is, where the life principle is most active; secondly, the one comprising the flower itself with the organs of fertilization, where the vitality of the plant gives way to other principles; and lastly, the fruit and seed, which are destined to be discharged from the mother organism. each of these three contains two kinds of organs: first, organs with the tendency to grow into width-leaf, flower and fruit; second, organs which are outwardly smaller and simpler, but have the function of preparing the decisive leaps in the plant's development: these are the calyx, the stamens, etc., and the seed. in this succession, goethe recognized a certain rhythm of expansion and contraction, and he found that the plant passes through it three times during any one cycle of its life. in the foliage the plant expands, in the calyx it contracts; it expands again in the flower and contracts in the pistil and stamens; finally, it expands in the fruit and contracts in the seed. the deeper meaning of this threefold rhythm will become clear when we consider it against the background of what we observed in the metamorphosis of the leaf. take the mallow leaf; its metamorphosis shows a step-wise progression from coarser to finer forms, whereby the characteristic plan of the leaf comes more and more into view, so that in the topmost leaf it reaches a certain stage of perfection. now we observe that in the calyx this stage is not improved on, but that the plant recurs to a much simpler formation. whilst in the case of the mallow the withdrawal from the stage of the leaf into that of the calyx occurs with a sudden leap, we observe that the delphinium performs this process by degrees. whilst the mallow reaches the highly elaborate form of the leaf only in the final stage, the delphinium leaps forth at the outset, as it were, with the fully accomplished leaf, and then protracts its withdrawal into the calyx over a number of steps, so that this process can be watched with our very eyes. in this type of metamorphosis the last leaf beneath the calyx shows a form that differs little from that of a calyx itself, with its simple sepals. only in its general geometrical arrangement does it still remind us of the original pattern. in a case like this, the stem-leaves, to use goethe's expression, 'softly steal into the calyx stage'. in the topmost leaf the plant has already achieved something which, along the other line of metamorphosis, is tackled only after the leaf plan itself has been gradually executed. in this case the calyx stage, we may say, is attained at one leap. whatever type of metamorphosis is followed by a plant (and there are others as well, so that we may even speak of metamorphoses between different types of metamorphosis!) they all obey the same basic rule, namely, that before proceeding to the next higher stage of the cycle, the plant sacrifices something already achieved in a preceding one. behind the inconspicuous sheath of the calyx we see the plant preparing itself for a new creation of an entirely different order. as successor to the leaf, the flower appears to us time and again as a miracle. nothing in the lower realm of the plant predicts the form, colour, scent and all the other properties of the new organ produced at this stage. the completed leaf, preceding the plant's withdrawal into the calyx, represents a triumph of structure over matter. now, in the flower, matter is overcome to a still higher degree. it is as if the material substance here becomes transparent, so that what is immaterial in the plant may shine through its outer surface. * in this 'climbing up the spiritual ladder' goethe learned to recognize one of nature's basic principles. he termed it steigerung (heightening). thus he saw the plant develop through metamorphosis and heightening towards its consummation. implicit in the second of these two principles, however, there is yet another natural principle for which goethe did not coin a specific term, although he shows through other utterances that he was well aware of it, and of its universal significance for all life. we propose to call it here the principle of renunciation. in the life of the plant this principle shows itself most conspicuously where the green leaf is heightened into the flower. while progressing from leaf to flower the plant undergoes a decisive ebb in its vitality. compared with the leaf, the flower is a dying organ. this dying, however, is of a kind we may aptly call a 'dying into being'. life in its mere vegetative form is here seen withdrawing in order that a higher manifestation of the spirit may take place. the same principle can be seen at work in the insect kingdom, when the caterpillar's tremendous vitality passes over into the short-lived beauty of the butterfly. in the human being it is responsible for that metamorphosis of organic processes which occurs on the path from the metabolic to the nervous system, and which we came to recognize as the precondition for the appearance of consciousness within the organism. what powerful forces must be at work in the plant organism at this point of transition from its green to its coloured parts! they enforce a complete halt upon the juices that rise up right into the calyx, so that these bring nothing of their life-bearing activity into the formation of the flower, but undergo a complete transmutation, not gradually, but with a sudden leap. after achieving its masterpiece in the flower, the plant once more goes through a process of withdrawal, this time into the tiny organs of fertilization. (we shall return later to this essential stage in the life cycle of the plant, and shall then clear up the misinterpretation put upon it ever since scientific biology began.) after fertilization, the fruit begins to swell; once more the plant produces an organ with a more or less conspicuous spatial extension. this is followed by a final and extreme contraction in the forming of the seed inside the fruit. in the seed the plant gives up all outer appearance to such a degree that nothing seems to remain but a small, insignificant speck of organized matter. yet this tiny, inconspicuous thing bears in it the power of bringing forth a whole new plant. in these three successive rhythms of expansion and contraction the plant reveals to us the basic rule of its existence. during each expansion, the active principle of the plant presses forth into visible appearance; during each contraction it withdraws from outer embodiment into what we may describe as a more or less pure state of being. we thus find the spiritual principle of the plant engaged in a kind of breathing rhythm, now appearing, now disappearing, now assuming power over matter, now withdrawing from it again. in the fully developed plant this rhythm repeats itself three times in succession and at ever higher levels, so that the plant, in climbing from stage to stage, each time goes through a process of withdrawal before appearing at the next. the greater the creative power required at a certain stage, the more nearly complete must be the withdrawal from outer appearance. this is why the most extreme withdrawal of the plant into the state of being takes place in the seed, when the plant prepares itself for its transition from one generation to another. even earlier, the flower stands towards the leaves as something like a new generation springing from the small organ of the calyx, as does the fruit to the flower when it arises from the tiny organs of reproduction. in the end, however, nothing appears outwardly so unlike the actual plant as the little seed which, at the expense of all appearance, has the power to renew the whole cycle. through studying the plant in this way goethe grew aware also of the significance of the nodes and eyes which the plant develops as points where its vital energy is specially concentrated; not only the seed, but the eye also, is capable of producing a new, complete plant. in each of these eyes, formed in the axils of the leaves, the power of the plant is present in its entirety, very much as in each single seed. in other ways, too, the plant shows its capacity to act as a whole at various places of its organism. otherwise, no plant could be propagated by cuttings; in any little twig cut from a parent plant, all the manifold forces operative in the gathering, transmuting, forming of matter, that are necessary for the production of root, leaf, flower, fruit, etc., are potentially present, ready to leap into action provided we give it suitable outer conditions. other plants, such as gloxinia and begonia, are known to have the power of bringing forth a new, complete plant from each of their leaves. from a small cut applied to a vein in a leaf, which is then embedded in earth, a root will soon be seen springing downward, and a stalk with leaves rising upward. a particular observation made by goethe in this respect is of interest for methodological reasons. in the introduction to his treatise metamorphosis of plants, when referring to the regressive metamorphosis of stamens into petals as an example of an irregular metamorphosis, he remarks that 'experiences of this kind of metamorphosis will enable us to disclose what is hidden from us in the regular way of development, and to see clearly and visibly what we should otherwise only be able to infer'. in this remark goethe expresses a truth that is valid in many spheres of life, both human and natural. it is frequently a pathological aberration in an organic entity that allows us to see in physical appearance things that do not come outwardly to the fore in the more balanced condition of normal development, although they are equally part of the regular organic process. an enlightening experience of this kind came to goethe's aid when one day he happened to see a 'proliferated' rose (durchgewachsene rose), that is, a rose from whose centre a whole new plant had sprung. instead of the contracted seed-pod, with the attached, equally contracted, organs of fertilization, there appeared a continuation of the stalk, half red and half green, bearing in succession a number of small reddish petals with traces of anthers. thorns could be seen appearing further up, petals half-turned into leaves, and even a number of fresh nodes from which little imperfect flowers were budding. the whole phenomenon, in all its irregularity, was one more proof for goethe that the plant in its totality is potentially present at each point of its organism. * goethe's observation of the single plant in statu agendi had trained him to recognize things of quite different outer appearance as identical in their inner nature. leaf, sepal, petal, etc., much as they differ outwardly, yet showed themselves to him as manifestations of one and the same spiritual archetype. his idea of metamorphosis enabled him to reduce what in outer appearance seems incompatibly different to its common formative principle. his next step was to observe the different appearances of one and the same species in different regions of the earth, and thus to watch the capacity of the species to respond in a completely flexible way to the various climatic conditions, yet without concealing its inner identity in the varying outer forms. his travels in switzerland and italy gave him opportunity for such observations, and in the alpine regions especially he was delighted at the variations in the species which he already knew so well from his home in weimar. he saw their proportions, the distances between the single parts, the degree of lignification, the intensity of colour, etc., varying with the varied conditions, yet never concealing the identity of the species. having once advanced in his investigations from metamorphosis in the parts of the single plant to metamorphosis among different representatives of single plant species, goethe had to take only one further, entirely decisive, step in order to recognize how every member of the plant kingdom is the manifestation of a single formative principle common to them all. he was thus faced with the momentous task of preparing his spirit to think an idea from which the plant world in its entire variety could be derived. goethe did not take such a step easily, for it was one of his scientific principles never to think out an idea prematurely. he was well aware that he who aspires to recognize and to express in idea the spirit which reveals itself through the phenomena of the sense-world must develop the art of waiting - of waiting, however, in a way intensely active, whereby one looks again and yet again, until what one looks at begins to speak and the day at last dawns when, through tireless 're-creation of an ever-creating nature', one has grown ripe to express her secrets openly. goethe was a master in this art of active waiting. * it was in the very year that galvani, through his chance discovery, opened the way to the overwhelming invasion of mankind by the purely physical forces of nature, that goethe came clearly to see that he had achieved the goal of his labours. we can form some picture of the decisive act in the drama of his seeking and finding from letters written during the years - . in the spring of he writes to a friend in a way that shows him fully aware of his new method of studying nature, which he recognized was a reading of her phenomena: 'i can't tell you how the book of nature is becoming readable to me. my long practice in spelling has helped me; it now suddenly works, and my quiet joy is inexpressible.' again in the summer of the following year: 'it is a growing aware of the form with which again and again nature plays, and, in playing, brings forth manifold life.' then goethe went on his famous journey to italy which was to bear such significant fruit for his inner life, both in art and in science. at michaelmas, , he reports from his visit to the botanical garden in padua that 'the thought becomes more and more living that it may be possible out of one form to develop all plant forms'. at this moment goethe felt so near to the basic conception of the plant for which he was seeking, that he already christened it with a special name. the term he coined for it is urpflanze, literally rendered archetypal plant, or ur-plant, as we propose quite simply to call it. it was the rich tropical and sub-tropical vegetation in the botanical gardens in palermo that helped goethe to his decisive observations. the peculiar nature of the warmer regions of the earth enables the spirit to reveal itself more intensively than is possible in the temperate zone. thus in tropical vegetation many things come before the eye which otherwise remain undisclosed, and then can be detected only through an effort of active thought. from this point of view, tropical vegetation is 'abnormal' in the same sense as was the proliferated rose which confirmed for goethe's physical perception that inner law of plant-growth which had already become clear to his mind. during his sojourn in palermo in the spring of goethe writes in his notebook: 'there must be one (ur-plant): how otherwise could we recognize this or that formation to be a plant unless they were all formed after one pattern?' soon after this, he writes in a letter to the poet herder, one of his friends in weimar: 'further, i must confide to you that i am quite close to the secret of plant creation, and that it is the simplest thing imaginable. the ur-plant will be the strangest creature in the world, for which nature herself should envy me. with this model and the key to it one will be able to invent plants ad infinitum; they would be consistent; that is to say, though non-existing, they would be capable of existing, being no shades or semblances of the painter or poet, but possessing truth and necessity. the same law will be capable of extension to all living things.' * to become more familiar with the conception of the ur-plant, let us bring the life-cycle of the plant before our inner eye once again. there, all the different organs of the plant-leaf, blossom, fruit, etc. - appear as the metamorphic revelations of the one, identical active principle, a principle which gradually manifests itself to us by way of successive heightening from the cotyledons to the perfected glory of the flower. amongst all the forms which thus appear in turn, that of the leaf has a special place; for the leaf is that organ of the plant in which the ground-plan of all plant existence comes most immediately to expression. not only do all the different leaf forms arise, through endless changing, out of each other, but the leaf, in accordance with the same principle, also changes itself into all the other organs which the plant produces in the course of its growth. it is by precisely the same principle that the ur-plant reveals itself in the plant kingdom as a whole. just as in the single plant organism the different parts are a graduated revelation of the ur-plant, so are the single kinds and species within the total plant world. as we let our glance range over all its ranks and stages (from the single-celled, almost formless alga to the rose and beyond to the tree), we are following, step by step, the revelation of the ur-plant. barely hinting at itself in the lowest vegetable species, it comes in the next higher stages into ever clearer view, finally streaming forth in full glory in the magnificence of the manifold blossoming plants. then, as its highest creation, it brings forth the tree, which, itself a veritable miniature earth, becomes the basis for innumerable single plant growths. it has struck biologists of goethe's own and later times that contrary to their method he did not build up his study of the plant by starting with its lowest form, and so the reproach has been levelled against him of having unduly neglected the latter. because of this, the views he had come to were regarded as scientifically unfounded. goethe's note-books prove that there is no justification for such a reproach. he was in actual fact deeply interested in the lower plants, but he realized that they could not contribute anything fundamental to the spiritual image of the plant as such which he was seeking to attain. to understand the plant he found himself obliged to pay special attention to examples in which it came to its most perfect expression. for what was hidden in the alga was made manifest in the rose. to demand of goethe that in accordance with ordinary science he should have explained nature 'from below upwards' is to misunderstand the methodological basis of all his investigations. seen with goethe's eyes, the plant kingdom as a whole appears to be a single mighty plant. in it the ur-plant, while pressing into appearance, is seen to observe the very rule which we have found governing its action in the single plant - that of repeated expansion and contraction. taking the tree in the sense already indicated, as the state of highest expansion along the ur-plant's way of entering into spatial manifestation, we note that tree-formation occurs successively at four different levels - as fern-tree (also the extinct tree-form of the horsetail) among the cryptogams, as coniferous tree among the gymnosperms, as palm-tree among the monocotyledons, and lastly in the form of the manifold species of the leaf-trees at the highest level of the plant kingdom, the dicotyledons. all these levels have come successively into existence, as geological research has shown; the ur-plant achieved these various tree-formations successively, thus giving up again its state of expansion each time after having reached it at a particular level. from the concept of the ur-plant goethe soon learned to develop another concept which was to express the spiritual principle working in a particular plant species, just as the ur-plant was the spiritual principle covering the plant kingdom as a whole. he called it the type. in the manifold types which are thus seen active in the plant world we meet offsprings, as it were, of the mother, the 'ur-plant', which in them assumes differentiated modes of action. the present part of our discussion may be concluded by the introduction of a concept which goethe formed for the organ of cognition attained through contemplating nature in the state of becoming, as the plant had taught him to do. let us look back once again on the way in which we first tried to build up the picture of leaf metamorphosis. there we made use, first of all, of exact sense-perceptions to which we applied the power of memory in its function as their keeper. we then endeavoured to transform within our mind the single memory pictures (leaf forms) into one another. by doing so we applied to them the activity of mobile fantasy. in this way we actually endowed, on the one hand, objective memory, which by nature is static, with the dynamic properties of fantasy, and, on the other hand, mobile fantasy, which by nature is subjective, with the objective character of memory. now, for the new organ of cognition arising from the union of these two polar faculties of the soul, goethe coined the significant expression, exact sensorial fantasy. in terms of our knowledge of man's psycho-physical make-up, acquired earlier, we can say that, just as the nervous system forms the basis for memory, and the blood the basis for fantasy, so the 'exact sensorial fantasy' is based on a newly created collaboration of the two. * our observations have reached a point where we may consider that stage in the life cycle of the single plant where, by means of the process of pollination, the seed acquires the capacity to produce out of itself a new example of the species. our discussion of this will bring home the fundamental difference in idea that arises when, instead of judging a process from the standpoint of the mere onlooker, we try to comprehend it through re-creating it inwardly. biological science of our day takes it for granted that the process uniting pollen with seed in the plant is an act of fertilization analogous to that which occurs among the higher organisms of nature. now it is not to be gainsaid that to external observation this comparison seems obvious, and that it is therefore only natural to speak of the pollen as the male, and of the ovule as the female, element, and of their union as entirely parallel to that between the sexes in the higher kingdoms of nature. goethe confesses that at first he himself 'had credulously put up with the ruling dogma of sexuality'. he was first made aware of the invalidity of this analogy by professor schelver who, as superintendent of the jena botanical institute, was working under goethe's direction and had trained himself in goethe's method of observing plants. this man had come to see that if one held strictly to the goethean practice of using nothing for the explanation of the plant but what one could read from the plant itself, one must not ascribe to it any sexual process. he was convinced that for a goethean kind of biology it must be possible to find, even for the process of pollination, an idea derived from nothing but the two principles of plant life: growth and formation. goethe immediately recognized the tightness of this thought, and set about the task of relating the pollination process to the picture of the plant which his investigations had already yielded. his way of reporting the result shows how fully conscious he was of its revolutionary nature. nor was he in any doubt as to the kind of reception it would be given by official biology. in observing the growth of the plant, goethe had perceived that this proceeds simultaneously according to two different principles. on the one hand the plant grows in an axial direction and thereby produces its main and side stems. to this growth principle goethe gave the name 'vertical tendency'. were the plant to follow this principle only, its lateral shoots would all stand vertically one above the other. but observation shows that the different plant species obey very different laws in this respect, as may be seen if one links up all the leaf buds along any plant stem; they form a line which winds spiral fashion around it. each plant family is distinguishable by its own characteristic spiral, which can be represented either geometrically by a diagram, or arithmetically by a fraction. if, for example, the leaves are so arranged in a plant that every fifth leaf recurs on the same side of the stem, while the spiral connecting the five successive leaf-buds winds twice round the stem, this is expressed in botany by the fraction / . to distinguish this principle of plant growth from the vertical tendency, goethe used the term 'spiral tendency'. to help towards a clear understanding of both tendencies, goethe describes an exercise which is characteristic of his way of schooling himself in what he called exact sensorial fantasy. he first looks out for a phenomenon in which the 'secret' of the spiral tendency is made 'open'. this he finds in such a plant as the convolvulus; in this kind of plant the vertical tendency is lacking, and the spiral principle comes obviously into outer view. accordingly, the convolvulus requires an external support, around which it can wind itself. goethe now suggests that after looking at a convolvulus as it grows upwards around its support, one should first make this clearly present to one's inner eye, and then again picture the plant's growth without the vertical support, allowing instead the upward-growing plant inwardly to produce a vertical support for itself. by way of inward re-creation (which the reader should not fail to carry out himself) goethe attained a clear experience of how, in all those plants which in growing upwards produce their leaves spiral-wise around the stem, the vertical and spiral tendencies work together. in following the two growth-principles, goethe saw that the vertical comes to a halt in the blossom; the straight line here shrinks together, so to say, into a point, surviving only in the ovary and pistil as continuations of the plant's stalk. the spiral tendency, on the other hand, is to be found in the circle of the stamens arranged around these; the process which in the leaves strove outwards in spiral succession around a straight line is now telescoped on to a single plane. in other words, the vertical-spiral growth of the plant here separates into its two components. and when a pollen grain lands on a pistil and joins with the ovule prepared in the ovary, the two components are united again. out of the now complete seed a new and complete plant can arise. goethe understood that he would be taught a correct conception of this process only by the plant itself. accordingly, he asked himself where else in the growing plant something like separation and reunion could be seen. this he found in the branching and reuniting of the veins in the leaves, known as anastomosis. in the dividing of the two growth-principles in the plant through the formation of carpel and pistil, on the one hand, and the pollen-bearing stamens on the other, and in their reunion through the coming together of the pollen with the seed, goethe recognized a metamorphosis of the process of anastomosis at a higher level. his vision of it caused him to term it 'spiritual anastomosis'. goethe held a lofty and comprehensive view of the significance of the male and female principles as spiritual opposites in the cosmos. among the various manifestations of this polarity in earthly nature he found one, but one only, in the duality of the sexes as characteristic of man and animal. nothing compelled him, therefore, to ascribe it in the same form to the plant. this enabled him to discover how the plant bore the same polarity in plant fashion. in the neighbourhood of weimar, goethe often watched a vine slinging its foliaged stem about the trunk and branches of an elm tree. in this impressive sight nature offered him a picture of 'the female and male, the one that needs and the one that gives, side by side in the vertical and spiral directions'. thus his artist's eye clearly detected in the upward striving of the plant a decisively masculine principle, and in its spiral winding an equally definite feminine principle. since in the normal plant both principles are inwardly connected, 'we can represent vegetation as a whole as being in a secret androgynous union from the root up. from this union, through the changes of growth, both systems break away into open polarity and so stand in decisive opposition to each other, only to unite again in a higher sense.' thus goethe found himself led to ideas regarding the male and female principles in the plant, which were the exact opposite of those one obtains if, in trying to explain the process of pollination, one does not keep to the plant itself but imports an analogy from another kingdom of nature. for in continuance of the vertical principle of the plant, the pistil and carpel represent the male aspect in the process of spiritual anastomosis, and the mobile, wind- or insect-borne pollen, in continuing the spiral principle, represents the female part. if the process of pollination is what the plant tells us it is, then the question arises as to the reason for the occurrence of such a process in the life cycle of the fully developed plant. goethe himself has not expressed himself explicitly on this subject. but his term 'spiritual anastomosis' shows that he had some definite idea about it. let us picture in our mind what happens physically in the plant as a result of pollination and then try to read from this picture, as from a hieroglyph, what act of the spiritual principle in the plant comes to expression through it. without pollination there is no ripening of the seed. ripening means for the seed its acquisition of the power to bring forth a new and independent plant organism through which the species continues its existence within nature. in the life cycle of the plant this event takes place after the organism has reached its highest degree of physical perfection. when we now read these facts in the light of the knowledge that they are deeds of the activity of the type, we may describe them as follows: stage by stage the type expends itself in ever more elaborate forms of appearance, until in the blossom a triumph of form over matter is reached. a mere continuation of this path could lead to nothing but a loss of all connexion between the plant's superphysical and physical component parts. thus, to guarantee for the species its continuation in a new generation, the formative power of the type must find a way of linking itself anew to some part of the plant's materiality. this is achieved by the plant's abandoning the union between its two polar growth-principles and re-establishing it again, which in the majority of cases takes place even in such a way that the bearers of the two principles originate from two different organisms. by picturing the process in this way we are brought face to face with a rule of nature which, once we have recognized it, proves to hold sway at all levels of organic nature. in general terms it may be expressed as follows: in order that spiritual continuity may be maintained within the coming and going multitude of nature's creations, the physical stream must suffer discontinuity at certain intervals. in the case of the plant this discontinuity is achieved by the breaking asunder of the male and female growth-principles. when they have reunited, the type begins to abandon either the entire old plant or at least part of it, according to whether the species is an annual or a perennial one, in order to concentrate on the tiny seed, setting, as it were, its living seal on it. this is as far as we can go in describing this mysterious process, at least at the present stage of our considerations. * our pursuit of goethe's way of observing the life of the plant has brought us to a point where it becomes possible to rectify a widespread error concerning his position as an evolutionary theorist. goethe has been honourably mentioned as a predecessor of darwin. the truth is, that the idea of evolution emerging from goethe's mode of regarding nature is the exact opposite of the one held by darwin and - in whatever modified form - by his followers. a brief consideration of the darwinian concepts of inheritance and adaptation will show this. goethe's approach to his conception of the type is clear evidence that he did not undervalue the factor of adaptation as a formative element in nature; we have seen that he became acquainted with it in studying the same plant species under different climatic conditions. in his view, however, adaptation appears not as the passive effect of a blindly working, external cause, but as the response of the spiritual type to the conditions meeting it from outside. the same applies to the concept of inheritance. through inheritance goethe saw single, accessory characteristics of a species being carried over from one generation to the next; but never could the reappearance of the basic features of the species itself be explained in this way. he was sufficiently initiated into nature's methods to know that she was not in need of a continuity of the stream of physical substance, in the sense of the theory of inheritance, to guarantee a continuance of the features of the species through successive generations, but that it was her craft to achieve such continuance by means of physical discontinuity. * goethe was not temperamentally given to reflecting deliberately about his own cognitional processes. moreover, the excess of reflexion going on around him in the intellectual life of his younger days inclined him to guard himself with a certain anxiety against philosophical cogitations. his words to a friend - 'dear friend, i have done it well, and never reflected about thinking' - bring this home to us. if in his later years goethe could become to some degree epistemologically conscious of his spiritual achievements, as, for instance, his essay on intuitive judgment shows, he owed this to his friendship with schiller, who became for him a kind of soul mirror, in which he could see the reflexion of his own processes of consciousness. indeed, at their first personal encounter, significant as it was for their whole later relationship, schiller - though all unconsciously - performed a decisive service of this kind for him. goethe himself speaks of the occasion in his essay happy encounter (gliickliches ereignis), written twelve years after schiller's death. the occasion was, outwardly regarded, fortuitous: both men were leaving a lecture on natural science at the university of jena, schiller having been present as professor of history in the university, and goethe as its patron and as a weimar minister of state. they met at the door of the lecture hall and went out into the street together. schiller, who had been wanting to come into closer contact with goethe for a long time, used the opportunity to begin a conversation. he opened with a comment on the lecture they had just heard, saying that such a piecemeal way of handling nature could not bring the layman any real satisfaction. goethe, to whom this remark was heartily welcome, replied that such a style of scientific observation 'was uncanny even for the initiated, and that there must certainly be another way altogether, which did not treat of nature as divided and in pieces, but presented her as working and alive, striving out of the whole into the parts'. schiller's interest was at once aroused by this remark, although as a thorough kantian he could not conceal his doubts whether the kind of thing indicated by goethe was within human capacity. goethe began to explain himself further, and so the discussion proceeded, until the speakers arrived at schiller's house. quite absorbed in his description of plant metamorphosis, goethe went in with schiller and climbed the stairs to the latter's study. once there, he seized pen and paper from schiller's writing desk, and to bring his conception of the ur-plant vividly before his companion's eyes he made 'a symbolic plant appear with many a characteristic stroke of the pen'. although schiller had listened up to this point 'with great interest and definite understanding', he shook his head as goethe finished, and said - kantian that he was at that time: 'that is no experience, that is an idea.' these words were very disappointing to goethe. at once his old antipathy towards schiller rose up, an antipathy caused by much in schiller's public utterances which he had found distasteful. once again he felt that schiller and he were 'spiritual antipodes, removed from each other by more than an earth diameter'. however, goethe restrained his rising annoyance, and answered schiller in a tranquil but determined manner: 'i am glad to have ideas without knowing it, and to see them with my very eyes.' although at this meeting goethe and schiller came to no real agreement, the personal relationship formed through it did not break off; both had become aware of the value of each to the other. for goethe his first meeting with schiller had the significant result of showing him that 'thinking about thought' could be fruitful. for schiller this significance consisted in his having met in goethe a human intellect which, simply by its existing properties, invalidated kant's philosophy. for him goethe's mind became an object of empirical study on which he based the beginnings of a new philosophy free from onlooker-restrictions. an essay, written by goethe about the same time as the one just quoted, shows how he came to think at a later date about the raising of human perception into the realm of ideas. in this essay, entitled discovery of an excellent predecessor, goethe comments on certain views of the botanist, k. f. wolff, regarding the relationships between the different plant organs, which seemed to be similar to his own, and at which wolff had arrived in his own way. wolff had risen up as an opponent of the so-called preformation theory, still widespread at that time, according to which the entire plant with all its different parts is already present in embryonic physical form in the seed, and simply grows out into space through physical enlargement. such a mode of thought seemed inadmissible to wolff, for it made use of an hypothesis 'resting on an extra-sensible conception, which was held to be thinkable, although it could never be demonstrated from the sense world. wolff laid it down as a fundamental principle of all research that 'nothing may be assumed, admitted or asserted that has not been actually seen and cannot be made similarly visible to others'. thus in wolff we meet with a phenomenologist who in his way tried to oppose certain trends of contemporary biological thinking. as such, wolff had made certain observations which caused him to ascribe to the plant features quite similar to those which goethe had grasped under the conception of progressive and regressive metamorphosis. in this way wolff had grown convinced that all plant organs are transformed leaves. true to his own principle, he had then turned to the microscope for his eyes to confirm what his mind had already recognized. the microscope gave him the confirmation he expected by showing that all the different organs of the plant develop out of identical embryonic beginnings. in his absolute reliance on physical observation, however, he tried to go further than this and to detect in this way the reason why the plant does not always bring forth the same organ. he saw that the vegetative strength in the plant diminishes in proportion as its organism enters upon its later stages. he therefore attributed the differentiated evolution of plant organs from identical beginnings to an ever weaker process of development in them. despite his joy in wolff as someone who in his own fashion had arrived at certain truths which he himself had also discovered, and despite his agreement with wolff's phenomenalistic principle, goethe could in no way accept his explanation of why metamorphosis took place in plants. he said: 'in plant metamorphosis wolff saw how the same organ continuously draws together, makes itself smaller; he did not see that this contraction alternates with an expansion. he saw that the organ diminishes in volume, but not that at the same time it ennobles itself, and so, against reason, he attributed decline to the path towards perfection.' what was it, then, which had prevented wolff from seeing things aright? 'however admirable may be wolff's method, through which he has achieved so much, the excellent man never thought that there may be a difference between seeing and seeing, that the eyes of the spirit have to work in perpetual living connection with those of the body, for one otherwise risks seeing and yet seeing past a thing (zu sehen und doch vorbeizusehen).' wolff's case was to goethe a symptom of the danger which he saw arising for science from the rapidly increasing use of the microscope (and similarly the telescope), if thinking was not developed correspondingly but left at the mercy of these instruments. his concern over the state of affairs speaks from his utterance: 'microscopes and telescopes, in actual fact, confuse man's innate clarity of mind.' when we follow goethe in this way he comes before us in characteristic contrast to robert hooke. we remember hooke's microscopic 'proof of the unrelatedness of human thought to outer reality (chapter iii). there can be no doubt how goethe, if the occasion had arisen, would have commented on hooke's procedure. he would have pointed out that there would be no such thing as a knife with its line-like edge unless man were able to think the concept 'line', nor a needle with its point-like end unless he were able to think the concept 'point'. in fact, knife and needle are products of a human action which is guided by these two concepts respectively. as such they are embodiments, though more or less imperfect ones, of these concepts. here too, therefore, just as goethe had discovered it through his way of observing the plant, we see ideas with our very eyes. what distinguishes objects of this kind from organic entities, such as the plant, is the different relationship between object and idea. whereas in the case of an organism the idea actively indwells the object, its relationship to a man-made thing (and similarly to nature's mineral entities) is a purely external one. hooke, so goethe would have argued, allowed the microscope to confuse his common sense. he would have seen in him an example confirming his verdict that he who fails to let the eye of the spirit work in union with the eye of the body 'risks seeing yet seeing past the thing'. * 'thus not through an extraordinary spiritual gift, not through momentary inspiration, unexpected and unique, but through consistent work did i eventually achieve such satisfactory results.' these words of goethe - they occur in his essay, history of my botanical studies, which he wrote in later life as an account of his labours in this field of science - show how anxious he was that it should be rightly understood that the faculty of reading in the book of nature, as he knew it, was the result of a systematic training of his mind. it is important for our further studies to make clear to ourselves at this point the nature of the change which man must bring to pass within himself in order to brave kant's 'adventure of reason'. goethe's concept for the newly acquired faculty of cognition, exact sensorial fantasy, can give us the lead. we remember that, to form this faculty, two existing functions of the soul, as such polarically opposite, had to be welded together - memory based on exact sense-perception and the freely working fantasy; one connected with the nervous system of the body, the other with the blood. we also know from earlier considerations (chapter ii) that in the little child there is not yet any such polarization, in body or soul, as there is in man's later life. thus we see that training on goethe's lines aims at nothing less than restoring within oneself a condition which is natural in early childhood. in saying this we touch on the very foundations of the new pathway to science discovered by goethe. we shall hear more of it in the following chapter. critique of judgment, ii, , . goethe chose the title of his essay so as to refute kant by its very wording. kant, through his inquiry into man's urteilskraft, arrived at the conclusion that man is denied the power of anschauung (intuition). against this, goethe puts his anschauende urteilskraft. 'der alte vom königsberge' - a play upon words with the name of kant's native town, königsberg. it is naturally to be expected that new light will also be thrown on the various realms of knowledge as such dealt with in these pages. delphinium, in particular, has the peculiarity (which it shares with a number of other species) that its calyx appears in the guise of a flower, whilst the actual flower is quite inconspicuous. goethe also describes a proliferated pink. the terms 'primeval' or 'primordial' sometimes suggested for rendering the prefix 'ur' are unsuitable in a case like this. 'primeval plant', for instance, used by some translators of goethe, raises the misunderstanding - to which goethe's concept has anyhow been subject from the side of scientific botany - that by his ur-plant he had in mind some primitive, prehistoric plant, the hypothetical ancestor in the darwinian sense of the present-day plant kingdom. the following observation is not one made by goethe himself. it is presented here by the author as an example of the heuristic value of goethe's method of pictorial-dynamic contemplation of the sense-world. 'exakte sinnliche phantasie.' entdeckung eines trefflichen vorarbeiters. chapter vi except we become ... in this chapter we shall concern ourselves with a number of personalities from the more or less recent past of the cultural life of britain, each of whom was a spiritual kinsman of goethe, and so a living illustration of the fact that the true source of knowledge in man must be sought, and can be found, outside the limits of his modern adult consciousness. whilst none of them was a match for goethe as regards universality and scientific lucidity, they are all characteristic of an immediacy of approach to certain essential truths, which in the sense we mean is not found in goethe. it enabled them to express one or the other of these truths in a form that makes them suitable as sign-posts on our own path of exploration. we shall find repeated opportunity in the later pages of this book to remember just what these men saw and thought. * * * the first is thomas reid ( - ), the scottish philosopher and advocate of common sense as the root of philosophy. after having served for some years as a minister in the church of scotland, reid became professor of philosophy at the university of aberdeen, whence he was called to glasgow as the successor of adam smith. through his birth in strachan, kincardine, he belonged to the same part of scotland from which kant's ancestors had come. two brief remarks of goethe show that he knew of the scotsman's philosophy, and that he appreciated his influence on contemporary philosophers. reid, like his contemporary kant, felt his philosophical conscience stirred by hume's treatise of human nature, and, like kant, set himself the task of opposing it. unlike kant, however, whose philosophic system was designed to arrest man's reason before the abyss into which hume threatened to cast it, reid contrives to detect the bridge that leads safely across this abyss. even though it was not granted to him actually to set foot on this bridge (this, in his time, only goethe managed to do), he was able to describe it in a manner especially helpful for our own purpose. the first of the three books in which reid set out the results of his labours appeared in under the title, inquiry into the human mind on the principles of common sense. the other two, essays on the intellectual powers of man and essays on the active powers of man, appeared twenty years later. in these books reid had in view a more all-embracing purpose than in his first work. the achievement of this purpose, however, required a greater spiritual power than was granted to him. comparing his later with his earlier work, reid's biographer, a. campbell fraser, says: 'reid's essays form, as it were, the inner court of the temple of which the aberdonian inquiry is the vestibule. but the vestibule is a more finished work of constructive skill than the inner court, for the aged architect appears at last as if embarrassed by accumulated material. the essays, greater in bulk, perhaps less deserve a place among modern philosophical classics than the inquiry, notwithstanding its narrower scope, confined as it is to man's perception of the extended world, as an object lesson on the method of appeal to common sense.' whilst the ideas of kant, by which he tried in his way to oppose hume's philosophy, have become within a short space of time the common possession of men's minds, it was the fate of reid's ideas to find favour among only a restricted circle of friends. moreover, they suffered decisive misunderstanding and distortion through the efforts of well-meaning disciples. this was because kant's work was a late fruit of an epoch of human development which had lasted for centuries and in his time began to draw to its close, while reid's work represents a seed of a new epoch yet to come. here lies the reason also for his failure to develop his philosophy beyond the achievements contained in his first work. it is on the latter, therefore, that we shall chiefly draw for presenting reid's thoughts. * the convincing nature of hume's argumentation, together with the absurdity of the conclusions to which it led, aroused in reid a suspicion that the premises on which hume's thoughts were built, and which he, in company with all his predecessors, had assumed quite uncritically, contained some fundamental error. for both as a christian, a philosopher, and a man in possession of common sense, reid had no doubt as to the absurdity and destructiveness of the conclusions to which hume's reasoning had led him. 'for my own satisfaction, i entered into a serious examination of the principles upon which this sceptical system is built; and was not a little surprised to find that it leans with its whole weight upon a hypothesis, which is ancient indeed, and hath been very generally received by philosophers, but of which i could find no solid proof. the hypothesis i mean is, that nothing is perceived but what is in the mind which perceives it: that we do not really perceive the things that are external, but only certain images and pictures of them imprinted upon the mind, which are called impressions and ideas. 'if this be true, supposing certain impressions and ideas to exist presently in my mind, i cannot, from their existence, infer the existence of anything else; my impressions and ideas are the only existences of which i can have any knowledge or conception; and they are such fleeting and transitory beings, that they can have no existence at all, any longer than i am conscious of them. so that, upon this hypothesis, the whole universe about me, bodies and spirits, sun, moon, stars, and earth, friends and relations, all things without exception, which i imagined to have a permanent existence whether i thought of them or not vanish at once: 'and, like the baseless fabric of this vision ... leave not a rack behind. 'i thought it unreasonable, upon the authority of philosophers, to admit a hypothesis which, in my opinion, overturns all philosophy, all religion and virtue, and all common sense: and finding, that all the systems which i was acquainted with, were built upon this hypothesis, i resolved to enquire into this subject anew, without regard to any hypothesis.' the following passage from the first chapter of the inquiry reveals reid as a personality who was not dazzled to the same extent as were his contemporaries by the brilliance of the onlooker-consciousness: 'if it [the mind] is indeed what the treatise of human nature makes it, i find i have been only in an enchanted castle, imposed upon by spectres and apparitions. i blush inwardly to think how have been deluded; i am ashamed of my frame, and can hardly forbear expostulating with my destiny: is this thy pastime, o nature, to put such tricks upon a silly creature, and then to take off the mask, and show him how he hath been befooled? if this is the philosophy of human nature, my soul enter thou not into her secrets. it is surely the forbidden tree of knowledge; i no sooner taste it, than i perceive myself naked, and stript of all things - yea even of my very self. i see myself, and the whole frame of nature, shrink into fleeting ideas, which, like epicurus's atoms, dance about in emptiness. 'but what if these profound disquisitions into the first principles of human nature, do naturally and necessarily plunge a man into this abyss of scepticism? may we not reasonably judge from what hath happened? des cartes no sooner began to dig in this mine, than scepticism was ready to break in upon him. he did what he could to shut it out. malebranche and locke, who dug deeper, found the difficulty of keeping out this enemy still to increase; but they laboured honestly in the design. then berkeley, who carried on the work, despairing of securing all, bethought himself of an expedient: by giving up the material world, which he thought might be spared without loss, and even with advantage, he hoped by an impregnable partition to secure the world of spirits. but, alas! the treatise of human nature wantonly sapped the foundation of this partition and drowned all in one universal deluge.' (chapter i, sections vi-vii.) what reid so pertinently describes here as the 'enchanted castle' is nothing else than the human head, which knows of no occurrence beyond its boundaries, because it has forgotten that it is only the end-product of a living existence outside of, and beyond, itself. we see here that reid is gifted with the faculty of entering this castle without forfeiting his memory of the world outside; and so even from within its walls, he could recognize its true nature. to a high degree this helped him to keep free of those deceptions to which the majority of his contemporaries fell victim, and to which so many persons are still subject to-day. it is in this way that reid could make it one of the cardinal principles of his observations to test all that the head thinks by relating it to the rest of human nature and to allow nothing to stand, which does not survive this test. in this respect the argument he sets over against the cartesian, 'cogito ergo sum' is characteristic: ' "i am thinking," says he, "therefore i am": and is it not as good reasoning to say, i am sleeping, therefore i am? if a body moves, it must exist, no doubt; but if it is at rest, it must exist likewise.' the following summarizes the position to which reid is led when he includes the whole human being in his philosophical inquiries. reid admits that, when the consciousness that has become aware of itself surveys that which lies within its own horizon, it finds nothing else there but transient pictures. these pictures in themselves bring to the mind no experience of a lasting existence outside itself. there is no firm evidence of the existence of either an outer material world to which these pictures can be related, or of an inner spiritual entity which is responsible for them. to be able to speak of an existence in either realm is impossible for a philosophy which confines its attention solely to the mere picture-content of the waking consciousness. but man is not only a percipient being; he is also a being of will, and as such he comes into a relationship with the world which can be a source of rich experience. if one observes this relationship, one is bound to notice that it is based on the self-evident assumption that one possesses a lasting individuality, whose actions deal with a lasting material world. any other way of behaviour would contradict the common sense of man; where we meet with it we are faced with a lunatic. thus philosophy and common sense seem to stand in irreconcilable opposition to each other. but this opposition is only apparent. it exists so long as philosophy thinks it is able to come to valid conclusions without listening to the voice of common sense, believing itself to be too exalted to need to do so. philosophy, then, does not realize 'that it has no other root but the principles of common sense; it grows out of them, and draws its nourishment from them: severed from this root, its honours wither, its sap is dried up, it dies and rots.' (i, .) at the moment when the philosophical consciousness ceases to regard itself as the sole foundation of its existence and recognizes that it can say nothing about itself without considering the source from which it has evolved, it attains the possibility of seeing the content of its experience in a new light. for it is no longer satisfied with considering this content in the completed form in which it presents itself. rather does it feel impelled to investigate the process which gives rise to this content as an end-product (the 'impressions' and 'ideas' of hume and his predecessors). reid has faith in the fact - for his common sense assures him of it - that a lasting substantiality lies behind the world of the senses, even if for human consciousness it exists only so long as impressions of it are received via the bodily senses. similarly, he has faith in the fact that his consciousness, although existing but intermittently, has as its bearer a lasting self. instead of allowing this intuitively given knowledge to be shaken by a mere staring at fugitive pictures, behind which the real existence of self and world is hidden, he seeks instead in both directions for the origin of the pictures and will not rest until he has found the lasting causes of their transient appearances. in one direction reid finds himself led to the outer boundary of the body, where sense perception has its origin. this prompts him to investigate the perceptions of the five known senses: smelling, tasting, hearing, touching and seeing, which he discusses in this order. in the other direction he finds himself led - and here we meet with a special attribute of reid's whole philosophical outlook - to the realm of human speech. for speech depends upon an inner, intelligent human activity, which, once learnt, becomes a lasting part of man's being, quite outside the realm of his philosophizing consciousness, and yet forming an indispensable instrument for this consciousness. the simplest human reasoning, prompted only by common sense, and the subtlest philosophical thought, both need language for their expression. through his ability to speak, man lifts himself above an instinctive animal existence, and yet he develops this ability at an infantile stage, when, in so far as concerns the level of his consciousness and his relationship to the world, he hardly rises above the level of the animal. it requires a highly developed intelligence to probe the intricacies of language, yet complicated tongues were spoken in human history long before man awoke to his own individual intelligence. just as each man learns to think through speaking, so did humanity as a whole. thus speech can become a means for acquiring insight into the original form of human intelligence. for in speech the common sense of man, working unconsciously within him, meets the fully awakened philosophical consciousness. the way in which the two paths of observation have here been set out must not give rise to the expectation that they are discussed by reid in a similarly systematic form. for this, reid lacked the sufficient detachment from his own thoughts. as he presents his observations in the inquiry they seem to be nothing but a systematic description of the five senses, broken into continually by linguistic considerations of the kind indicated above. so, for example, many of his more important statements about language are found in his chapter on 'hearing'. our task will be to summarize reid's work, taking from his description, so often full of profound observations, only what is essential to illustrate his decisive discoveries. this requires that (keeping to mr. eraser's picture) we consider separately the two pillars supporting the roof of the temple's forecourt: speech and sense-impressions. we will start with speech. * reid notes as a fundamental characteristic of human language that it includes two distinct elements: first, the purely acoustic element, represented by the sheer succession of sounds, and secondly the variety of meanings represented by various groups of sounds, meanings which seem to have nothing to do with the sounds as such. this state of language, where the sound-value of the word and its value as a sign to denote a thing signified by it, have little or nothing to do with one another, is certainly not the primeval one. in the contemporary state of language, which reid calls artificial language, we must see a development from a former condition, which reid calls natural language. so long as this latter condition obtained, man expressed in the sound itself what he felt impelled to communicate to his fellows. in those days sound was not merely an abstract sign, but a gesture, which moreover was accompanied and supported by the gestures of the limbs. even to-day man, at the beginning of his life, still finds himself in that relationship to language which was natural to all men in former times. the little child acquires the ability to speak through the imitation of sounds, becoming aware of them long before it understands the meaning accorded to the various groups of sounds in the artificial state of contemporary adult speech. that the child's attention should be directed solely to the sound, and not to the abstract meaning of the individual words, is indeed the prerequisite of learning to speak. if, says reid, the child were to understand immediately the conceptual content of the words it hears, it would never learn to speak at all. when the adult of to-day uses language in its artificial state, words are only signs for things signified by them. as he speaks, his attention is directed exclusively towards this side of language; the pure sound of the words he uses remains outside the scope of his awareness. the little child, on the other hand, has no understanding of the meaning of words and therefore lives completely in the experience of pure sound. in the light of this, reid comes to the conclusion, so important for what follows, that with the emergence of a certain form of consciousness, in this case that of the intellectual content of words, another form submerges, a form in which the experience of the pure sound of words prevails. the adult, while in one respect ahead of the child, yet in another is inferior, for the effect of this change is a definite impoverishment in soul-experience. reid puts this as follows: 'it is by natural signs chiefly that we give force and energy to language; and the less language has of them, it is the less expressive and persuasive. ... artificial signs signify, but they do not express; they speak to the understanding, as algebraic characters may do, but the passions and the affections and the will hear them not: these continue dormant and inactive, till we speak to them in the language of nature, to which they are all attention and obedience.' we have followed reid so far in his study of language, because it is along this way that he came to form the concepts that were to serve him as a key for his all-important findings in the realm of sense-experience. these are the concepts which bear on the connexion between the sign and the thing signified; the distinction between the artificial and the natural state of language; and the disappearance of certain primeval human capacities for experience, of which reid says that they are brought by the child into the world, but fade as his intellectual capacities develop. * as soon as one begins to study reid's observations in the realm of sense-experience, one meets with a certain difficulty, noticeable earlier but not so strikingly. the source of it is that reid was obliged to relate the results of his observations only to the five senses known in his day, whereas in fact his observations embrace a far greater field of human sense-perception. thus a certain disharmony creeps into his descriptions and makes his statements less convincing, especially for someone who does not penetrate to its real cause. however this may be, it need not concern us here; what matter to us are reid's actual observations. for these led him to the important distinction between two factors in our act of acquiring knowledge of the outer world, each of which holds an entirely different place in ordinary consciousness. reid distinguishes them as 'sensation' and 'perception'. it is through the latter that we become aware of the object as such. but we are mistaken if we regard the content of this perception as identical with the sum total of the sensations which are caused in our consciousness by the particular object. for these sensations are qualitatively something quite different, and, although without them no perception of the object is possible, they do not by themselves convey a knowledge of the thing perceived. only, because our attention is so predominantly engaged by the object under perception, we pay no heed to the content of our sensation. to take an example, the impressions of roundness, angularity, smoothness, roughness, colour, etc., of a table contain, all told, nothing that could assure us of the existence of the object 'table' as the real content of an external world. how, then, do we receive the conviction of the latter's existence? reid's answer is, by entering into an immediate intuitive relationship with it. it is true that to establish this relationship we need the stimuli coming from the impressions which our mind receives through the various senses. yet this must not induce us to confuse the two. when nature speaks to man through his senses, something occurs exactly analogous to the process when man communicates with man through the spoken word. in both cases the perception, that is, the result of the process of perception, is something quite other than the sum of sensations underlying it. per-ceiving by means of the senses is none other than a re-ceiving of nature's language; and this language, just like human language, bears two entirely different elements within it. according as one or the other element prevails in man's intercourse with nature, this intercourse will be either 'natural' or 'artificial' - to use the terms by which reid distinguished the two stages of human speech. just as every human being must once have listened only to the pure sound of the spoken word on a wholly sentient level in order to acquire the faculty of speaking, so also, in order to learn nature's language, the soul must once have been totally surrendered to the pure impressions of the senses. and just as with time the spoken word becomes a symbol for that which is signified by it, the consciousness turning to the latter and neglecting the actual sound-content of the word, so also in its intercourse with nature the soul, with its growing interest in the thing signified, turns its attention more and more away from the actual experiences of the senses. from this it follows that a philosophy which seeks to do justice to man's whole being must not be satisfied with examining the given content of human consciousness, but must strive to observe the actual process to which this content owes its emergence. in practice this means that a philosopher who understands his task aright must strive to reawaken in himself a mode of experience which is naturally given to man in his early childhood. reid expresses this in the inquiry in the following way: 'when one is learning a language, he attends to the sounds, but when he is master of it, he attends only to the sense of what he would express. if this is the case, we must become as little children again, if we will be philosophers: we must overcome habits which have been gathering strength ever since we began to think; habits, the usefulness of which atones for the difficulty it creates for the philosopher in discovering the first principles of the human mind.' 'we must become as little children again, if we will be philosophers!' the phrase appears here almost in passing, and reid never came back to it again. and yet in it is contained the open sesame which gives access to the hidden spirit-treasures of the world. in this unawareness of reid's of the importance of what he thus had found we must see the reason for his incapacity to develop his philosophy beyond its first beginnings. this handicap arose from the fact that in all his thinking he was guided by a picture of the being of man which - as a child of his time, dominated by the contemporary religious outlook - he could never realize distinctly. yet without a clear conception of this picture no justice can be done to reid's concept of common sense. our next task, therefore, must be to evoke this picture as clearly as we can * * * the following passage in reid's inquiry provides a key for the understanding of his difficulty in conceiving an adequate picture of man's being. in this passage reid maintains that all art is based on man's experience of the natural language of things, and that in every human being there lives an inborn artist who is more or less crippled by man's growing accustomed to the state of artificial language in his intercourse with the world. in continuation of the passage quoted on page reid says: 'it were easy to show, that the fine arts of the musician, the painter, the actor, and the orator, so far as they are expressive; although the knowledge of them requires in us a delicate taste, a nice judgment, and much study and practice; yet they are nothing else but the language of nature, which we brought into the world with us, but have unlearned by disuse and so find the greatest difficulty in recovering it. 'abolish the use of articulate sounds and writing among mankind for a century, and every man would be a painter, an actor, and an orator. we mean not to affirm that such an expedient is practicable; or if it were, that the advantage would counterbalance the loss; but that, as men are led by nature and necessity to converse together they will use every means in their power to make themselves understood; and where they cannot do this by artificial signs, they will do it as far as possible by natural ones: and he that understands perfectly the use of natural signs, must be the best judge in all expressive arts.' when reid says that there are certain characteristics - and these just of the kind whose development truly ennobles human life - which the soul brings with it into the world, a picture of man is evoked in us in which the supersensible part of his being appears as an entity whose existence reaches further back than the moment of birth and even the first beginnings of the body. now such a conception of man is in no way foreign to humanity, in more ancient times it was universally prevalent, and it still lives on to-day, if merely traditionally, in the eastern part of the world. it is only in the west that from a certain period it ceased to be held. this was the result of a change which entered into human memory in historical times, just as the re-dawning of the old knowledge of man's pre-existence, of which reid is a symptom, is a result of another corresponding alteration in the memory-powers of man in modern times. for men of old it was characteristic that alongside the impressions they received in earthly life through the senses (which in any case were far less intense than they are to-day), they remembered experiences of a purely supersensible kind, which gave them assurance that before the soul was knit together with a physical body it had existed in a cosmic state purely spiritual in nature. the moment in history when this kind of memory disappeared is that of the transition from the philosophy of plato to that of aristotle. whereas plato was convinced by clear knowledge that the soul possesses characteristics implanted in it before conception, aristotle recognized a bodiless state of the soul only in the life after death. for him the beginning of the soul's existence was identical with that of the body. the picture of man, taught for the first time by aristotle, still required about twice four hundred years - from the fourth pre-christian to the fourth post-christian century - before it became so far the common possession of men that the church father augustine ( - ) could base his teaching on it - a teaching which moulded man's outlook on himself for the coming centuries right up to our own time. the following passage from augustine's confessions shows clearly how he was compelled to think about the nature of the little child: 'this age, whereof i have no remembrance, which i take on others' words, and guess from other infants that i have passed, true though the guess be, i am yet loath to count in this life of mine which i live in this world. for no less than that which i lived in my mother's womb, is it hid from me in the shadows of forgetfulness. but if i was shapen in iniquity and in sin my mother did conceive me, where, i beseech thee, o my god, where, lord, or when, was i thy servant guiltless? but lo! that period i pass by; and what have i to do with that of which i can recall no vestige?' on the grounds of such experience, augustine was unable to picture man's being in any other way than by seeing him, from the first moment of his life, as subject to the condition of the human race which resulted from the fall. thus he exclaims in his confessions: 'before thee, o god, no-one is free from sin, not even the child which has lived but a single day on the earth.' in so far as there was any question of the soul's arising from this fallen state, it was deemed unable to attain this by any effort of its own, but to depend on the gifts of grace which the church was able to dispense through the sacraments. compare with this the present-day scientific conception of human nature, as it dominates the thought of specialist and layman alike. here man appears, both in body and soul, as a sum of inherited characteristics, of characteristics, that is to say, which have been passed on by way of sexual propagation and gradually emerge into full manifestation as the individual grows up. apart from this inherited predestination the soul is held to present itself, in locke's classical phrase, as a tabula rasa upon which are stamped all manner of external impressions. the similarity between this modern picture of man and the earlier theological one is striking. in both cases the central assumption is that human development from child to man consists in the unfolding of certain inherited characteristics which are capable of further specific modification under influences proceeding from outside. the only difference between the two pictures is that in the modern one the concepts of heredity and adaptation have been formed without special application to the ethical characteristics of the soul. it is clear that from both augustine's and the modern scientific viewpoint there is no sense in requiring - as reid did - those who seek the truth about themselves and the world to recover a condition which had been theirs as children. nor from this point of view is there any justification to call on a common sense, innate in man, to sit in judgment on the philosophical efforts of the adult reason. * that even in the days of augustine the original conception of human nature had not disappeared entirely, is shown by the appearance of augustine's opponent pelagius, called the 'arch-heretic'. to consider him at this point in our discussion will prove helpful for our understanding of reid's historic position in the modern age. what interests us here in pelagius's doctrine (leaving aside all questions concerning the meaning of the sacraments, etc.), is the picture of man which must have lived in him for him to teach as he did. leaving his irish-scottish homeland and arriving about the year in rome, where on account of the unusual purity of his being he soon came to be held in the highest esteem, pelagius found himself obliged to come out publicly against augustine, for he felt that augustine's teachings denied all free will to man. in the purely passive surrender of man to the will of god, as augustine taught it, he could not but see danger for the future development of christian humanity. how radically he diverged from augustine in his view of man we may see from such of his leading thoughts as follow: 'each man begins his life in the same condition as adam.' 'all good or evil for which in life we are deserving of praise or blame is done by ourselves and is not born with us.' 'before the personal will of man comes into action there is nothing in him but what god has placed there.' 'it is therefore left to the free will of man whether he falls into sin, as also whether through following christ he raises himself out of it again.' pelagius could think in this way because he came from a part of europe where the older form of human memory, already at that time almost extinct in the south, was in some degree still active. for him it was therefore a matter of direct experience that the development of man from childhood onwards was connected with a diminution of certain original capacities of the soul. yet he was so far a child of his age as to be no longer capable of seeing whence these capacities originated. to provide the necessary corrective to augustine's doctrine of inheritance, pelagius would have had to be able to see in the first years of life both a beginning of the earthly and a termination of the pre-earthly existence of the soul. the imperfections of his picture of man, however, led him to underestimate, even to deny, the significance of heredity and so of original sin in human life. for an age which no longer had any direct experience of the soul's pre-natal life, the doctrines of augustine were undoubtedly more appropriate than those of pelagius; augustine was in fact the more modern of the two. and now, if we move forward a dozen centuries and compare thomas reid and immanuel kant from this same point of view, we find the same conception of man again triumphant. but there is an essential difference: kant carried all before him because he based himself on an age-old view of human nature, whereas reid, uncomprehended up to our own day, pointed to a picture of man only just then dawning on the horizon of the future. just as through pelagius there sounded something like a last call to european humanity not to forget the cosmic nature of the soul, so through reid the memory of this nature announced its first faint renewal. it is common to both that their voices lacked the clarity to make themselves heard among the other voices of their times; and with both the reason was the same: neither could perceive in fullness - the one no longer, the other not yet - the picture of man which ensouled their ideas. the certainty of reid's philosophical instinct, if such an expression be allowed, and at the same time his tragic limitations, due to an inability fully to understand the origin of this instinct, come out clearly in the battle he waged against the 'idea' as his immediate predecessors understood it. we know that plato introduced this word into the philosophical language of mankind. in greek ιδέα (from ιδεá¿�ν, to see) means something of which one knows that it exists, because one sees it. it was therefore possible to use the word 'to see' as plato did, because in his day it covered both sensible and supersensible perception. for plato, knowing consisted in the soul's raising itself to perceiving the objective, world-forming ideas, and this action comprised at the same time a recollection of what the soul had seen while it lived, as an idea among ideas, before its appearance on earth. as long as plato's philosophy continued to shape their thought, men went on speaking more or less traditionally of ideas as real supersensible beings. when, however, the aristotelian mode of thinking superseded the platonic, the term 'idea' ceased to be used in its original sense; so much so that, when locke and other modern philosophers resorted to it in order to describe the content of the mind, they did so in complete obliviousness of its first significance. it is thus that in modern philosophy, and finally in ordinary modern usage, 'idea' came to be a word with many meanings. sometimes it signifies a sense-impression, sometimes a mental representation, sometimes the thought, concept or essential nature of a thing. the only thing common to these various meanings is an underlying implication that an idea is a purely subjective item in human consciousness, without any assured correspondence to anything outside. it was against this view of the idea that reid took the field, going so far as to label the philosophy holding it the 'ideal system'. he failed to see, however, that in attacking the abstract use of the term he was actually in a position to restore to it its original, genuine meaning. if, instead of simply throwing the word overboard, he had been able to make use of it in its real meaning, he would have expressed himself with far greater exactitude and consistency. he was prevented from doing this by his apparent ignorance of the earlier greek philosophers, plato included. all he seems to have known of their teachings came from inferior, second-hand reports of a later and already decadent period. * * * there are two historic personalities, both in england, who witness to the fact that the emergence of reid's philosophy on the stage of history was by no means an accidental event but that it represents a symptom of a general reappearance of the long-forgotten picture of man, in which birth no more than death sets up an absolute limit to human existence. they are thomas traherne ( - ) and william wordsworth ( - ). wordsworth's work and character are so well known that there is no need to speak of them here in detail. for our purpose we shall pay special attention only to his ode on intimations of immortality from recollections of early childhood, where he shows himself in possession of a memory (at any rate at the time when he wrote the poem) of the pre-natal origin of the soul, and of a capacity for experiencing, at certain moments, the frontier which the soul crosses at birth. if, despite the widespread familiarity of the ode, we here quote certain passages from it, we do so because, like many similar things, it has fallen a victim to the intellectualism of our time in being regarded merely as a piece of poetic fantasy. we shall take the poet's words as literally as he himself uttered them. we read: 'our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: the soul that rises with us, our life's star, hath had elsewhere its setting, and cometh from afar: not in entire forgetfulness, and not in utter nakedness, but trailing clouds of glory do we come from god who is our home: heaven lies about us in our infancy! shades of the prison house begin to close upon the growing boy. but he beholds the light, and whence it flows, he sees it in his joy; the youth, who daily farther from the east must travel, still is nature's priest, and by the vision splendid is on his way attended." and later: 'hence in a season of calm weather though inland far we be, our souls have sight of that immortal sea which brought us hither, can in a moment travel thither, and see the children sport upon the shore, and hear the mighty waters rolling evermore.'' the fact that wordsworth in his later years gave no further indication of such experiences need not prevent us from taking quite literally what he says here. the truth is that an original faculty faded away with increasing age, somewhat as happened with reid when he could no longer continue his philosophical work along its original lines. wordsworth's ode is the testament of the childhood forces still persisting but already declining within him; it is significant that he set it down in about the same year of life (his thirty-sixth) as that in which traherne died and in which goethe, seeking renewal of his being, took flight to italy. * of traherne, too, we shall say here only as much as our present consideration and the further aims of this book require. we cannot concern ourselves with the remarkable events which led, half a century ago, to the discovery and identification of his long-lost writings by bertram dobell. nor can we deal with the details of the eventful life and remarkable spiritual development of this contemporary of the civil war. these matters are dealt with in dobell's introduction to his edition of traherne's poems, as also by gladys i. wade in her work, thomas traherne. our gratitude for the labours of these two writers by which they have provided mankind with the knowledge of the character and the work of this unique personality cannot hinder us, however, from stating that both were prevented by the premises of their own view of the world from rightly estimating that side of traherne which is important for us in this book, and with which we shall specially concern ourselves in the following pages. later in this chapter we shall discuss dobell's philosophical misinterpretation of traherne, to which he fell victim because he maintained his accustomed spectator standpoint in regard to his object of study. miss wade has, indeed, been able to pay the right tribute to traherne, the mystic, whose inner (and also outer) biography she was able to detect by taking seriously traherne's indications concerning his mystical development. her mind, however, was too rigidly focused on this side of traherne's life - his self-training by an iron inner discipline and his toilsome ascent from the experience of nothingness to a state of beatific vision. this fact, combined with her disinclination to overcome the augustinian picture of man in herself, prevented her from taking traherne equally seriously where he speaks as one who is endowed with a never interrupted memory of his primeval cosmic consciousness - notwithstanding the fact that traherne himself has pointed to this side of his nature as the most significant for his fellow-men. of the two works of traherne which dobell rescued from oblivion, on both of which we shall draw for our exposition, one contains his poems, the other his prose writings. the title of the latter is centuries of meditations. the title page of one of the two manuscripts containing the collection of the poetical writings introduces these as poems of felicity, containing divine reflections on the native objects of an infant-eye. as regards the title 'centuries of meditations' we are ignorant of the meaning traherne may have attached to it, and what he meant by calling the four parts of the book, 'first', 'second', etc., century. the book itself represents a manual of devotion for meditative study by the reader. let our first quotation be one from the opening paragraph of the third 'century' in which traherne introduces himself as the bearer of certain uncommon powers of memory and, arising from these powers, a particular mission as a teacher: 'those pure and virgin apprehensions i had from the womb, and that divine light wherewith i was born are the best unto this day, wherein i can see the universe. by the gift of god they attended me into the world, and by his special favour i remember them till now. verily they seem the greatest gifts his wisdom could bestow, for without them all other gifts had been dead and vain. they are unattainable by books, and therefore i will teach them by experience.' (ill, .) the picture thus remaining with him of his nature of soul in his earliest years on earth he describes as follows: 'certainly adam in paradise had not more sweet and curious apprehensions of the world, than i when i was a child. all appeared new, and strange at first, inexpressibly rare and delightful and beautiful. i was a little stranger, which at my entrance into the world was saluted and surrounded with innumerable joys. my knowledge was divine. i knew by intuition those things which since my apostacy, i collected again by the highest reason. i was entertained like an angel with the works of god in their splendour and glory, i saw all in the peace of eden; heaven and earth did sing my creator's praises, and could not make more melody to adam, than to me. all time was eternity, and a perpetual sabbath. is it not strange, that an infant should be the heir of the whole world, and see those mysteries which the books of the learned never unfold?' (ill, , .) in a different form the same experience comes to expression in the opening lines of traherne's poem, wonder: 'how like an angel came i down! how bright are all things here i when first among his works i did appear o how their glory did me crown! the world resembled his eternitie, in which my soul did walk; and evry thing that i did see did with me talk.' the picture of man thus sketched by traherne is as close to reid's as it is remote from augustine's. this remoteness comes plainly to expression in the way traherne and augustine regard the summons of christ to his disciples to become as little children, a summons to which reid was led, as we have seen, on purely philosophical grounds. let us first of all recall the words of christ as recorded by matthew in his th and th chapters: 'and jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said: verily i say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.' (xviii, - .) 'suffer the little children and forbid them not to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.' (xix, .) augustine refers to these words when he concludes that examination of his childhood memories which he undertook in order to prove the depravity of the soul from its first day on earth. he says: 'in the littleness of children didst thou, our king, give us a symbol of humility when thou didst say: of such is the kingdom of heaven.' if we glance back from what augustine says here to the original passages in the gospel just quoted, we see what a remarkable alteration he makes. of the first passage only the last sentence is taken, and this in augustine's mind is fused into one with the second passage. thereby the admonition of christ through one's own effort to become as one once was as a child disappears completely. the whole passage thus takes on a meaning corresponding to that passive attitude to the divine will inculcated by augustine and opposed by pelagius, and it is in this sense that the words of christ have sunk into the consciousness of western christianity and are usually taken to-day. we may see how differently this injunction of christ lived in traherne's consciousness from the following passage out of his centuries: 'our saviour's meaning, when he said, ye must be born again and become a little child that will enter into the kingdom of heaven, is deeper far than is generally believed. it is not only in a careless reliance upon divine providence, that we are to become little children, or in the feebleness and shortness of our anger and simplicity of our passions, but in the peace and purity of all our soul. which purity also is a deeper thing than is commonly apprehended.' (ill, .) with traherne also the passage in question has been fused together with another utterance of christ, from john's account of christ's conversation with nicodemus: 'verily, verily i say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god.' (john iii, .) what conception of the infant condition of man must have existed in a soul for it to unite these two passages from the gospels in this way? whereas for augustine it is because of its small stature and helplessness that the child becomes a symbol for the spiritual smallness and helplessness of man as such, compared with the overwhelming power of the divine king, for traherne it is the child's nearness to god which is most present to him, and which must be regained by the man who strives for inner perfection. traherne could bear in himself such a picture of man's infancy because, as he himself emphasizes, he was in possession of an unbroken memory of the experiences which the soul enjoys before it awakens to earthly sense-perception. the following passage from the poem, my spirit, gives a detailed picture of the early state in which the soul has experiences and perceptions quite different from those of its later life. (we may recall reid's indication of how the child receives the natural language of things.) 'an object, if it were before mine ey, was by dame nature's law within my soul: her store was all at once within me; all her treasures were my immediat and internal pleasures; substantial joys, which did inform my mind. '... i could not tell whether the things did there themselvs appear, which in my spirit truly seem'd to dwell: or whether my conforming mind were not ev'n all that therein shin'd.' further detail is added to this picture by the description, given in the poem the praeparative, of the soul's non-experience of the body at that early stage. the description is unmistakably one of an experience during the time between conception and birth. 'my body being dead, my limbs unknown; before i skill'd to prize those living stars, mine eys; before or tongue or cheeks i call'd mine own, before i knew these hands were mine, or that my sinews did my members join; when neither nostril, foot, nor ear, as yet could be discerned or did appear; i was within a house i knew not; newly cloath'd with skin. then was my soul my only all to me, a living endless ey, scarce bounded with the sky, whose power, and act, and essence was to see; i was an inward sphere of light, or an interminable orb of sight, exceeding that which makes the days, a vital sun that shed abroad its rays: all life, all sense, a naked, simple, pure intelligence.'' in the stanza following upon this, traherne makes a statement which is of particular importance in the context of our present discussion. after some additional description of the absence of all bodily needs he says: 'without disturbance then i did receiv the tru ideas of all things' the manuscript of this poem shows a small alteration in traherne's hand in the second of these two lines. where we now read 'true ideas', there originally stood 'fair ideas'. 'fair' described traherne's experience as he immediately remembered it; the later alteration to 'true' shows how well aware he was that his contemporaries might miss what he meant by 'idea', through taking it in the sense that had already become customary in his time, namely, as a mere product of man's own mental activity. this precaution, however, has not saved traherne from being misinterpreted in our own day in precisely the way he feared - indeed, by no less a person than his own discoverer, dobell. it is the symptomatic character of this misinterpretation which prompts us to deal with it here. * in his attempt to classify the philosophical mode of thought behind traherne's writings, dobell, to his own amazement, comes to the conclusion that traherne had anticipated bishop berkeley ( - ). they seemed to him so alike that he does not hesitate to call traherne a 'berkeleyan before berkeley was born'. in proof of this he refers to the poems, the praeparative and my spirit, citing from the latter the passage given above (page ), and drawing special attention to its two concluding lines. regarding this he says: 'i am much mistaken if the theory of non-existence of independent matter, which is the essence of berkeley's system, is not to be found in this poem. the thought that the whole exterior universe is not really a thing apart from and independent of man's consciousness of it, but something which exists only as it is perceived, is undeniably found in my spirit: the reader who has followed our exposition in the earlier parts of this chapter can be in no doubt that, to find a philosophy similar to traherne's, he must look for it in reid and not in berkeley. reid himself rightly placed berkeley amongst the representatives of the 'ideal system' of thought. for berkeley's philosophy represents an effort of the onlooker-consciousness, unable as it was to arrive at certainty regarding the objective existence of a material world outside itself, to secure recognition for an objective self behind the flux of mental phenomena. berkeley hoped to do this by supposing that the world, including god, consists of nothing but 'idea'-creating minds, operating like the human mind as man himself perceives it. his world picture, based (as is well known) entirely on optical experiences, is the perfect example of a philosophy contrived by the one-eyed, colourblind world-spectator. we shall understand what in traherne's descriptions reminded dobell of berkeley, if we take into account the connexion of the soul with the body at the time when, according to traherne, it still enjoys the untroubled perception of the true, the light-filled, ideas of things. in this condition the soul has only a dim and undifferentiated awareness of its connexion with a spatially limited body ('i was within a house i knew not, newly clothed with skin') and it certainly knows nothing at all of the body as an instrument, through which the will can be exercised in an earthly-spatial way ('my body being dead, my limbs unknown'). instead of this, the soul experiences itself simply as a supersensible sense-organ and as such united with the far spaces of the universe ('before i skilled to prize those living stars, mine eyes. ... then was my soul my only all to me, a living endless eye, scarce bounded with the sky'). at the time when the soul has experiences of the kind described by traherne, it is in a condition in which, as yet, no active contact has been established between itself and the physical matter of the body and thereby with gravity. hence there is truth in the picture which traherne thus sketches from actual memory. the same cannot be said of berkeley's world-picture. the fact that both resemble each other in certain features need not surprise us, seeing that berkeley's picture is, in its own way, a pure 'eye-picture' of the world. as such, however, it is an illusion - for it is intended for a state of man for which it is not suited, namely for adult man going upright on the earth, directing his deeds within its material realm, and in this way fashioning his own destiny. indeed, compared with berkeley's eye-picture of the world, that of reid is in every respect a 'limb-picture'. for where he seeks for the origin of our naïve assurance that a real material world exists, there he reverts - guided by his common sense - to the experiences available to the soul through the fact that the limbs of the body meet with the resistant matter of the world. and whenever he turns to the various senses in his search, it is always the will-activity of the soul within the sense he is investigating - and so the limb-nature within it - to which he first turns his attention. because, unlike berkeley, he takes into account the experiences undergone by the soul when it leaves behind its primal condition, reid does not fall into illusion, but discovers a fundamental truth concerning the nature of the world-picture experienced by man in his adult age. this, in turn, enables him to discover the nature of man's world picture in early childhood and to recognize the importance of recovering it in later life as a foundation for a true philosophy. assuredly, the philosopher who discovered that we must become as little children again if we would be philosophers, is the one to whom we may relate traherne, but not berkeley. and if we wish to speak of traherne, as dobell tried to do, we speak correctly only if we call him a 'reidean before reid was born'. * * * a little more than a hundred years after thomas traherne taught his fellow-men 'from experience' that there is an original condition of man's soul, before it is yet able to prize 'those living stars, mine eyes', in which it is endowed with the faculty to see 'the true (fair) ideas of all things', goethe was led to the realization that he had achieved the possibility of 'seeing ideas with the very eyes'. although he was himself not aware of it, the conception of the idea was at this moment restored through him to its true and original platonic significance. the present chapter has shown us how this conception of the idea is bound up with the view that is held of the relationship between human nature in early childhood and human nature in later life. we have seen that, when plato introduced the term idea as an expression for spiritual entities having a real and independent existence, men were still in possession of some recollection of their own pre-earthly existence. we then found traherne saying from his recollections that in the original form of man's consciousness his soul is endowed with the faculty of seeing 'true' ideas, and we found reid on similar grounds fighting the significance which the term 'idea' had assumed under his predecessors. by their side we see goethe as one in whom the faculty of seeing ideas appears for the first time in adult man as a result of a systematic training of observation and thought. if our view of the interdependence of the platonic conception of the idea with the picture man has of himself is seen rightly, then goethe must have been the bearer of such a picture. our expectation is shown to be right by the following two passages from goethe's autobiography, truth and fiction. in that part of his life story where goethe concludes the report of the first period of his childhood (book ii), he writes: 'who is able to speak worthily of the fullness of childhood? we cannot behold the little creatures which flit about before us otherwise than with delight, nay, with admiration; for they generally promise more than they perform and it seems that nature, among the other roguish tricks that she plays us, here also especially designs to make sport of us. the first organs she bestows upon children coming into the world, are adapted to the nearest immediate condition of the creature, which, unassuming and artless, makes use of them in the readiest way for its present purposes. the child, considered in and for itself, with its equals, and in relations suited to its powers, seems so intelligent and rational, and at the same time so easy, cheerful and clever, that one can hardly wish it further cultivation. if children grew up according to early indications, we should have nothing but geniuses.' we find further evidence in goethe's account of an event in his seventh year, which shows how deeply his soul was filled at that time with the knowledge of its kinship with the realm from which nature herself receives its existence. this knowledge led him to approach the 'great god of nature' through an act of ritual conceived by himself. the boy took a four-sectioned music stand and arranged on it all kinds of natural specimens, minerals and the like, until the whole formed a kind of pyramidal altar. on the top of this pyramid he placed some fumigating candles, the burning of which was to represent the 'upward yearning of the soul for its god'. in order to give nature herself an active part in the ritual, he contrived to kindle the candles by focusing upon them through a magnifying-glass the light of the rising sun. before this symbol of the unity of the soul with the divine in nature the boy then paid his devotions. 'unity of the soul with the divine in nature' - this was what lived vividly as a conviction in the seven-year-old boy, impelling him to act as 'nature's priest' (wordsworth). the same impulse, in a metamorphosed form, impelled the adult to go out in quest of an understanding of nature which, as traherne put it, was to bring back through highest reason what once had been his by way of primeval intuition. the present writer's interest in reid was first aroused by a remark of rudolf steiner, in his book a theory of 'knowledge according to goethe's world conception. in a comment on a letter carlyle had written to him, and in a note dealing with the contemporary philosophy in germany. this observation of reid's shows that the origin of language is very different from what the evolutionists since darwin have imagined it to be. confessions, book i, chapter . as we have seen, the word had better luck with goethe. wordsworth, with all his limitations, had a real affinity with goethe in his view of nature. mr. norman lacey gives some indication of this in his recent book, wordsworth's view of nature. this same period of life played a decisive part in the spiritual evolution of rudolf steiner, as may be seen in his autobiography, the story of my life. the difference in spelling between the prose and poetry excerpts arises from the fact that whereas we can draw on miss wade's new edition of the poems for traherne's original spelling, we have as yet only dobell's edition of the centuries, in which the spelling is modernized. oxenford's translation. chapter vii 'always stand by form' immediacy of approach to certain essentials of nature as a result of their religious or artistic experience of the sense-world, is the characteristic of two more representatives of british cultural life. they are luke howard ( - ) and john ruskin ( - ), both true readers in the book of nature. like those discussed in the previous chapter they can be of especial help to us in our attempt to establish an up-to-date method of apprehending nature's phenomena through reading them. at the same time we shall find ourselves led into another sphere of goethe's scientific work. for we cannot properly discuss howard without recognizing the importance of his findings for goethe's meteorological studies or without referring to the personal connexion between the two men arising out of their common interest and similar approach to nature. we shall thus come as a matter of course to speak of goethe's thoughts about meteorology, and this again will give opportunity to introduce a leading concept of goethean science in addition to those brought forward already. of ruskin only so much will appear in the present chapter as is necessary to show him as an exemplary reader in the book of nature. he will then be a more or less permanent companion in our investigations. the following words of ruskin from the queen of the air reveal him at once as a true reader in the book of nature: 'over the entire surface of the earth and its waters, as influenced by the power of the air under solar light, there is developed a series of changing forms, in clouds, plants and animals, all of which have reference in their action, or nature, to the human intelligence that perceives them.' (ii, .) here ruskin in an entirely goethean way points to form in nature as the element in her that speaks to human intelligence - meaning by form, as other utterances of his show, all those qualities through which the natural object under observation reveals itself to our senses as a whole. by virtue of his pictorial-dynamic way of regarding nature, ruskin was quite clear that the scientists' one-sided seeking after external forces and the mathematically calculable interplay between them can never lead to a comprehension of life in nature. for in such a search man loses sight of the real signature of life: form as a dynamic element. accordingly, in his ethics of the dust, ruskin does not answer the question: 'what is life?' with a scientific explanation, but with the laconic injunction: 'always stand by form against force.' this he later enlarges pictorially in the words: 'discern the moulding hand of the potter commanding the clay from the merely beating foot as it turns the wheel.' (lect. x.) in thus opposing form and force to each other, ruskin is actually referring to two kinds of forces. there exist those forces which resemble the potter's foot in producing mere numerically regulated movements (so that this part of the potter's activity can be replaced by a power-machine), and others, which like the potter's hand, strive for a certain end and so in the process create definite forms. ruskin goes a step further still in the queen of the air, where he speaks of selective order as a mark of the spirit: 'it does not merely crystallize indefinite masses, but it gives to limited portions of matter the power of gathering, selectively, other elements proper to them, and binding these elements into their own peculiar and adopted form. ... 'for the mere force of junction is not spirit, but the power that catches out of chaos, charcoal, water, lime and what not, and fastens them into given form, is properly called "spirit"; and we shall not diminish, but strengthen our cognition of this creative energy by recognizing its presence in lower states of matter than our own.' (ii, .) when ruskin wrote this passage, he could count on a certain measure of agreement from his contemporaries that the essence of man himself is spirit, though certainly without any very exact notion being implied. this persuaded him to fight on behalf of the spirit, lest its activity on the lower levels of nature should not be duly acknowledged. to-day, when the purely physical conception of nature has laid hold of the entire man, ruskin might have given his thought the following turn: '... and we shall certainly attain to no real insight into this creative force (of the spirit) at the level of man, unless we win the capacity to recognize its activity in lower states of matter.' what ruskin is really pointing towards is the very thing for which goethe formed the concept 'type'. and just as ruskin, like goethe, recognized the signature of the spirit in the material processes which work towards a goal, so he counted as another such signature what goethe called steigerung, though certainly without forming such a universally valid idea of it: 'the spirit in the plant - that is to say, its power of gathering dead matter out of the wreck round it, and shaping it into its own chosen shape - is of course strongest in the moment of flowering, for it then not only gathers, but forms, with the greatest energy.' it is characteristic of ruskin's conception of the relationship between man's mind and nature that he added: 'and where this life is in it at full power, its form becomes invested with aspects that are chiefly delightful to our own senses.' (ii, .) obviously, a mind capable of looking at nature in this way could not accept such a picture of evolution as was put forward by ruskin's contemporary, darwin. so we find ruskin, in the queen of the air, opposing the darwinistic conception of the preservation of the species as the driving factor in the life of nature: 'with respect to plants as animals, we are wrong in speaking as if the object of life were only the bequeathing of itself. the flower is the end and proper object of the seeds, not the seed of the flower. the reason for the seed is that flowers may be, not the reason of flowers that seeds may be. the flower itself is the creature which the spirit makes; only, in connection with its perfectedness, is placed the giving birth to its successor.' (ii, .) for ruskin the true meaning of life in all its stages lay not in the maintenance of physical continuity from generation to generation, but in the ever-renewed, ever more enhanced revelation of the spirit. he was never for a moment in doubt regarding the inevitable effect of such an evolutionary theory as darwin's on the general social attitude of humanity. men would be led, he realized, to see themselves as the accidental products of an animal nature based on the struggle for existence and the preservation of the species. enough has been said to stamp ruskin as a reader in the book of nature, capable of deciphering the signature of the spirit in the phenomena of the sense-world. * outwardly different from ruskin's and yet spiritually comparable, is the contribution made by his older contemporary, luke howard, to the foundation of a science of nature based on intuition. whereas ruskin throws out a multitude of aphoristic utterances about many different aspects of nature, which will provide us with further starting-points for our own observation and thought, howard is concerned with a single sphere of phenomena, that of cloud formation. on the other hand, his contribution consists of a definite discovery which he himself methodically and consciously achieved, and it is the content of this discovery, together with the method of research leading to it, which will supply us ever and again with a model for our own procedure. at the same time, as we have indicated, he will help us to become familiar with another side of goethe, and to widen our knowledge of the basic scientific concepts formed by him. anyone interested to-day in weather phenomena is acquainted with the terms used in cloud classification - cirrus, cumulus, stratus, and nimbus. these have come so far into general use that it is not easy to realize that, until howard's paper, on the modification of clouds, appeared in , no names for classifying clouds were available. superficially, it may seem that howard had done nothing more than science has so often done in grouping and classifying and naming the contents of nature. in fact, however, he did something essentially different. in the introduction to his essay, howard describes the motives which led him to devote himself to a study of meteorological phenomena: 'it is the frequent observation of the countenance of the sky, and of its connexion with the present and ensuing phenomena, that constitutes the ancient and popular meteorology. the want of this branch of knowledge renders the prediction of the philosopher (who in attending his instruments may be said to examine the pulse of the atmosphere), less generally successful than those of the weather-wise mariners and husbandmen.' when he thus speaks of studying 'the countenance of the sky', howard is not using a mere form of speech; he is exactly describing his own procedure, as he shows when he proceeds to justify it as a means to scientific knowledge. the clouds with their ever-moving, ever-changing forms are not, he says, to be regarded as the mere 'sport of the winds', nor is their existence 'the mere result of the condensation of vapour in the masses of the atmosphere which they occupy'. what comes to view in them is identical, in its own realm, with what the changing expression of the human face reveals of 'a person's state of mind or body'. it would hardly be possible to represent oneself more clearly as a genuine reader in the book of nature than by such words. what is it but ruskin's 'stand by form against force' that howard is here saying in his own way? * before entering into a further description of howard's system, we must make clear why we disregard the fact that modern meteorology has developed the scale of cloud-formation far beyond howard, and why we shall keep to his own fourfold scale. it is characteristic of goethe that, on becoming acquainted with howard's work, he at once gave a warning against subdividing his scale without limit. goethe foresaw that the attempt to insert too many transitory forms between howard's chief types would result only in obscuring that view of the essentials which howard's original classification had opened up. obviously, for a science based on mere onlooking there is no objection to breaking up an established system into ever more subdivisions in order to keep it in line with an increasingly detailed outer observation. this, indeed, modern meteorology has done with howard's system, with the result that, to-day, the total scale is made up of ten different stages of cloud-formation. valuable as this tenfold scale may be for certain practical purposes, it must be ignored by one who realizes that through howard's fourfold scale nature herself speaks to man's intuitive judgment. let us, therefore, turn to howard's discovery, undisturbed by the extension to which modern meteorology has subjected it. luke howard, a chemist by profession, knew well how to value the results of scientific knowledge above traditional folk-knowledge. he saw the superiority of scientifically acquired knowledge in the fact that it was universally communicable, whereas folk-wisdom is bound up with the personality of its bearer, his individual observations and his memory of them. nevertheless, the increasing mathematizing of science, including his own branch of it, gave him great concern, for he could not regard it as helpful in the true progress of man's understanding of nature. accordingly, he sought for a method of observation in which the practice of 'the weatherwise mariner and husbandman' could be raised to the level of scientific procedure. to this end he studied the changing phenomena of the sky for many years, until he was able so to read its play of features that it disclosed to him the archetypal forms of cloud-formation underlying all change. to these he gave the now well-known names (in latin, so that they might be internationally comprehensible): cirrus: parallel, flexuous or divergent fibres extensible in any and all directions. cumulus: convex or conical heaps, increasing upwards from a horizontal base. stratus: a widely extended, continuous, horizontal sheet, increasing from below. nimbus: the rain cloud. let us, on the background of howard's brief definitions, try to form a more exact picture of the atmospheric dynamics at work in each of the stages he describes. among the three formations of cirrus, cumulus and stratus, the cumulus has a special place as representing in the most actual sense what is meant by the term 'cloud'. the reason is that both cirrus and stratus have characteristics which in one or the other direction tend away from the pure realm of atmospheric cloud-formation. in the stratus, the atmospheric vapour is gathered into a horizontal, relatively arched layer around the earth, and so anticipates the actual water covering below which extends spherically around the earth's centre. thus the stratus arranges itself in a direction which is already conditioned by the earth's field of gravity. in the language of physics, the stratus forms an equipotential surface in the gravitational field permeating the earth's atmosphere. as the exact opposite of this we have the cirrus. if in the stratus the form ceases to consist of distinct particulars, because the entire cloud-mass runs together into a single layer, in the cirrus the form begins to vanish before our eyes, because it dissolves into the surrounding atmospheric space. in the cirrus there is present a tendency to expand; in the stratus to contract. between the two, the cumulus, even viewed simply as a form-type, represents an exact mean. in how densely mounded a shape does the majestically towering cumulus appear before us, and yet how buoyantly it hovers aloft in the heights! if one ever comes into the midst of a cumulus cloud in the mountains, one sees how its myriads of single particles are in ceaseless movement. and yet the whole remains stationary, on windless days preserving its form unchanged for hours. more recent meteorological research has established that in many cumulus forms the entire mass is in constant rotation, although seen from outside, it appears as a stable, unvarying shape. nowhere in nature may the supremacy of form over matter be so vividly observed as in the cumulus cloud. and the forms of the cumuli themselves tell us in manifold metamorphoses of a state of equilibrium between expansive and contractive tendencies within the atmosphere. our description of the three cloud-types of cirrus, cumulus and stratus, makes it clear that we have to do with a self-contained symmetrical system of forms, within which the two outer, dynamically regarded, represent the extreme tendencies of expansion and contraction, whilst in the middle forms these are held more or less in balance. by adding howard's nimbus formation to this system, we destroy its symmetry. actually, in the nimbus we have cloud in such a condition that it ceases to be an atmospheric phenomenon in any real sense of the word; for it now breaks up into single drops of water, each of which, under the pull of gravity, makes its own independent way to the earth. (the symmetry is restored as soon as we realize that the nimbus, as a frontier stage below the stratus, has a counterpart in a corresponding frontier stage above the cirrus. to provide insight into this upper frontier stage, of which neither howard nor goethe was at that time in a position to develop a clear enough conception to deal with it scientifically, is one of the aims of this book.) * in order to understand what prompted goethe to accept, as he did, howard's classification and terminology at first glance, and what persuaded him to make himself its eloquent herald, we must note from what point goethe's labours for a natural understanding of nature had originated. in his history of my botanical studies goethe mentions, besides shakespeare and spinoza, linnaeus as one who had most influenced his own development. concerning linnaeus, however, this is to be understood in a negative sense. for when goethe, himself searching for a way of bringing the confusing multiplicity of plant phenomena into a comprehensive system, met with the linnaean system, he was, despite his admiration for the thoroughness and ingenuity of linnaeus's work, repelled by his method. thus by way of reaction, his thought was brought into its own creative movement: 'as i sought to take in his acute, ingenious analysis, his apt, appropriate, though often arbitrary laws, a cleft was set up in my inner nature: what he sought to hold forcibly apart could not but strive for union according to the inmost need of my own being.' linnaeus's system agonized goethe because it demanded from him 'to memorize a ready-made terminology, to hold in readiness a certain number of nouns and adjectives, so as to be able, whenever any form was in question, to employ them in apt and skilful selection, and so to give it its characteristic designation and appropriate position.' such a procedure appeared to goethe as a kind of mosaic, in which one ready-made piece is set next to another in order to produce out of a thousand details the semblance of a picture; and this was 'in a certain way repugnant' to him. what goethe awoke to when he met linnaeus's attempt at systematizing the plant kingdom was the old problem of whether the study of nature should proceed from the parts to the whole or from the whole to the parts. seeing, therefore, how it became a question for goethe, at the very beginning of his scientific studies, whether a natural classification of nature's phenomena could be achieved, we can understand why he was so overjoyed when, towards the end of his life, in a field of observation which had meanwhile caught much of his interest, he met with a classification which showed, down to the single names employed, that it had been read off from reality. * the following is a comprehensive description of goethe's meteorological views, which he gave a few years before his death in one of his conversations with his secretary, eckermann: 'i compare the earth and her hygrosphere to a great living being perpetually inhaling and exhaling. if she inhales, she draws the hygrosphere to her, so that, coming near her surface, it is condensed to clouds and rain. this state i call water-affirmative (wasserbejahung). should it continue for an indefinite period, the earth would be drowned. this the earth does not allow, but exhales again, and sends the watery vapours upwards, when they are dissipated through the whole space of the higher atmosphere. these become so rarefied that not only does the sun penetrate them with its brilliancy, but the eternal darkness of infinite space is seen through them as a fresh blue. this state of the atmosphere i call water-negative (wasserverneinung). for just as, under the contrary influence, not only does water come profusely from above, but also the moisture of the earth cannot be dried and dissipated - so, on the contrary, in this state not only does no moisture come from above, but the damp of the earth itself flies upwards; so that, if this should continue for an indefinite period, the earth, even if the sun did not shine, would be in danger of drying up.' (llth april .) goethe's notes of the results of his meteorological observations show how in them, too, he followed his principle of keeping strictly to the phenomenon. his first concern is to bring the recorded measurements of weather phenomena into their proper order of significance. to this end he compares measurements of atmospheric temperature and local density with barometric measurements. he finds that the first two, being of a more local and accidental nature, have the value of 'derived' phenomena, whereas the variations in the atmosphere revealed by the barometer are the same over wide areas and therefore point to fundamental changes in the general conditions of the earth. measurements made regularly over long periods of time finally lead him to recognize in the barometric variations of atmospheric pressure the basic meteorological phenomenon. in all this we find goethe carefully guarding himself against 'explaining' these atmospheric changes by assuming some kind of purely mechanical cause, such as the accumulation of air-masses over a certain area or the like. just as little would he permit himself lightly to assume influences of an extra-terrestrial nature, such as those of the moon. not that he would have had anything against such things, if they had rested on genuine observation. but his own observations, as far as he was able to carry them, told him simply that the atmosphere presses with greater or lesser intensity on the earth in more or less regular rhythms. he was not abandoning the phenomenal sphere, however, when he said that these changes are results of the activity of earthly gravity, or when he concluded from this that barometric variations were caused by variations in the intensity of the field of terrestrial gravity, whereby the earth sometimes drew the atmosphere to it with a stronger, and sometimes with a weaker, pull. he was again not departing from the realm of the phenomenal when he looked round for other indications in nature of such an alternation of drawing in and letting forth of air, and found them in the respiratory processes of animated beings. (to regard the earth as a merely physical structure was impossible for goethe, for he could have done this only by leaving out of account the life visibly bound up with it.) accordingly, barometric measurements became for him the sign of a breathing process carried out by the earth. alongside the alternating phases of contraction and expansion within the atmosphere, goethe placed the fact that atmospheric density decreases with height. observation of differences in cloud formation at different levels, of the boundary of snow formation, etc., led him to speak of different 'atmospheres', or of atmospheric circles or spheres, which when undisturbed are arranged concentrically round the earth. here also he saw, in space, phases of contraction alternating with phases of expansion. * at this point in our discussion it is necessary to introduce another leading concept of goethean nature-observation, which was for him - as it will be for us - of particular significance for carrying over the goethean method of research from the organic into the inorganic realm of nature. this is the concept of the ur-phenomenon (urphänomen). in this latter realm, nature no longer brings forth related phenomena in the ordering proper to them; hence we are obliged to acquire the capacity of penetrating to this ordering by means of our own realistically trained observation and thought. from among the various utterances of goethe regarding his general conception of the ur-phenomenon, we here select a passage from that part of the historical section of his theory of colour where he discusses the method of investigation introduced into science by bacon. he says: 'in the range of phenomena all had equal value in bacon's eyes. for although he himself always points out that one should collect the particulars only to select from them and to arrange them, in order finally to attain to universals, yet too much privilege is granted to the single facts; and before it becomes possible to attain to simplification and conclusion by means of induction (the very way he recommends), life vanishes and forces get exhausted. he who cannot realize that one instance is often worth a thousand, bearing all within itself; he who proves unable to comprehend and esteem what we called ur-phenomena, will never be in a position to advance anything, either to his own or to others' joy and profit.' what goethe says here calls for the following comparison. we can say that nature seen through bacon's eyes appears as if painted on a two-dimensional surface, so that all its facts are seen alongside each other at exactly the same distance from the observer. goethe, on the other hand, ascribed to the human spirit the power of seeing the phenomenal world in all its three-dimensional multiplicity; that is, of seeing it in perspective and distinguishing between foreground and background. things in the foreground he called ur-phenomena. here the idea creatively determining the relevant field of facts comes to its purest expression. the sole task of the investigator of nature, he considered, was to seek for the ur-phenomena and to bring all other phenomena into relation with them; and in the fulfilment of this task he saw the means of fully satisfying the human mind's need to theorize. he expressed this in the words, 'every fact is itself already theory'. in goethe's meteorological studies we have a lucid example of how he sought and found the relevant ur-phenomenon. it is the breathing-process of the earth as shown by the variations of barometric pressure. * once again we find thomas reid, along his line of intuitively guided observation, coming quite close to goethe where he deals with the question of the apprehension of natural law by the human mind. he, too, was an opponent of the method of 'explaining' phenomena by means of abstract theories spun out of sheer thinking, and more than once in his writings he inveighs against it in his downright, humorous way. his conviction that human thinking ought to remain within the realm of directly experienced observation is shown in the following words: 'in the solution of natural phenomena, all the length that the human faculties can carry us is only this, that from particular phenomena, we may, by induction, trace out general phenomena, of which all the particular ones are necessary consequences.' as an example of this he takes gravity, leading the reader from one phenomenon to the next without ever abandoning them, and concluding the journey by saying: 'the most general phenomena we can reach are what we call laws of nature. so that the laws of nature are nothing else but the most general facts relating to the operations of nature, which include a great many particular facts under them.' * it was while on his way with the grand duke of weimar to visit a newly erected meteorological observatory that goethe, in the course of informing his companion of his own meteorological ideas, first heard of howard's writings about the formation of clouds. the duke had read a report of them in a german scientific periodical, and it seemed to him that howard's cloud system corresponded with what he now heard of goethe's thoughts about the force relationships working in the different atmospheric levels. he had made no mistake. goethe, who immediately obtained howard's essay, recognized at first glance in howard's cloud scale the law of atmospheric changes which he himself had discovered. he found here, what he had always missed in the customary practice of merely tabulating the results of scientific measurements. and so he took hold of the howard system with delight, for it 'provided him with a thread which had hitherto been lacking'. moreover, in the names which howard had chosen for designating the basic cloud forms, goethe saw the dynamic element in each of them coming to immediate expression in human speech. he therefore always spoke of howard's system as a 'welcome terminology'. all this inspired goethe to celebrate howard's personality and his work in a number of verses in which he gave a description of these dynamic elements and a paraphrase of the names, moulding them together into an artistic unity. in a few accompanying verses he honoured howard as the first to 'distinguish and suitably name' the clouds. the reason why goethe laid so much stress on howard's terminology was because he was very much aware of the power of names to help or hinder men in their quest for knowledge. he himself usually waited a long time before deciding on a name for a natural phenomenon or a connexion between phenomena which he had discovered. the idea which his spiritual eye had observed had first to appear so clearly before him that he could clothe it in a thought-form proper to it. seeing in the act of name - giving an essential function of man (we are reminded of what in this respect the biblical story of creation says of adam), goethe called man 'the first conversation which nature conducts with god'. it is characteristic of goethe that he did not content himself with knowing the truth which someone had brought forward in a field of knowledge in which he himself was interested, but that he felt his acquaintance with this truth to be complete only when he also knew something about the personality of the man himself. so he introduces his account of his endeavours to know more about howard, the man, with the following words: 'increasingly convinced that everything occurring through man should be regarded in an ethical sense, and that moral value is to be estimated only from a man's way of life, i asked a friend in london to find out if possible something about howard's life, if only the simplest facts.' goethe was uncertain whether the englishman was still alive, so his delight and surprise were considerable when from howard himself he received an answer in the form of a short autobiographical sketch, which fully confirmed his expectations regarding howard's ethical personality. howard's account of himself is known to us, as goethe included a translation of it in the collection of his own meteorological studies. howard in a modest yet dignified way describes his christian faith, his guide through all his relationships, whether to other men or to nature. a man comes before us who, untroubled by the prevailing philosophy of his day, was able to advance to the knowledge of an objective truth in nature, because he had the ability to carry religious experience even into his observation of the sense-world. * in view of all this, it is perhaps not too much to say that in the meeting between howard and goethe by way of the spiritual bridge of the clouds, something happened that was more than a mere event in the personal history of these two men. these words should be weighed with the fact in mind that they were written at the time when crookes was intent on finding the unknown land of the spirit by means of just such 'a mere force of junction'. see also goethe's sketch of the basic cloud forms on plate iv. goethe's dunstkreis - meaning the humidity contained in the air and, as such, spherically surrounding the earth. i had to make up the word 'hygrosphere' (after hygrometer, etc.) to keep clear the distinction from both atmosphere and hydrosphere. except for this term in the first two sentences, the above follows oxenford's translation (who, following the dictionaries, has rendered goethe's term inadequately by 'atmosphere'). we may here recall eddington's statement concerning the restriction of scientific observation to 'non-stereoscopic vision'. an example of this is reid's commentary on existing theories about sight as a mere activity of the optic nerve. (inq., vi, .) see inq., vi, . this is precisely what kant had declared to be outside human possibility. stratus means layer, cumulus - heap, cirrus - curl. there exists no adequate translation of these verses. genesis ii, , . a fact which howard did not mention, and which presumably remained unknown to goethe, was the work he had done as chairman of a relief committee for the parts of germany devastated by the napoleonic wars. for this work howard received a series of public honours. chapter viii dynamics versus kinetics at the present time the human mind is in danger of confusing the realm of dynamic events, into which modern atomic research has penetrated, with the world of the spirit; that is, the world whence nature is endowed with intelligent design, and of which human thinking is an expression in terms of consciousness. if a view of nature as a manifestation of spirit, such as goethe and kindred minds conceived it, is to be of any significance in our time, it must include a conception of matter which shows as one of its attributes its capacity to serve form (in the sense in which ruskin spoke of it in opposition to mere force) as a means of manifestation. the present part of this book, comprising chapters viii-xi, will be devoted to working out such a conception of matter. an example will thereby be given of how goethe's method of acquiring understanding of natural phenomena through reading the phenomena themselves may be carried beyond his own field of observation. there are, however, certain theoretical obstacles, erected by the onlooker-consciousness, which require to be removed before we can actually set foot on the new path. the present chapter will in particular serve this purpose. * science, since galileo, has been rooted in the conviction that the logic of mathematics is a means of expressing the behaviour of natural events. the material for the mathematical treatment of sense data is obtained through measurement. the actual thing, therefore, in which the scientific observer is interested in each case, is the position of some kind of pointer. in fact, physical science is essentially, as professor eddington put it, a 'pointer-reading science'. looking at this fact in our way we can say that all pointer instruments which man has constructed ever since the beginning of science, have as their model man himself, restricted to colourless, non-stereoscopic observation. for all that is left to him in this condition is to focus points in space and register changes of their positions. indeed, the perfect scientific observer is himself the arch-pointer-instrument. the birth of the method of pointer-reading is marked by galileo's construction of the first thermometer (actually, a thermoscope). the conviction of the applicability of mathematical concepts to the description of natural events is grounded in his discovery of the so-called parallelogram of forces. it is with these two innovations that we shall concern ourselves in this chapter. let it be said at once that our investigations will lead to the unveiling of certain illusions which the spectator-consciousness has woven round these two gifts of galileo. this does not mean that their significance as fundamentals of science will be questioned. nor will the practical uses to which they have been put with so much success be criticized in any way. but there are certain deceptive ideas which became connected with them, and the result is that to-day, when man is in need of finding new epistemological ground under his feet, he is entangled in a network of conceptual illusions which prevent him from using his reason with the required freedom. a special word is necessary at this point regarding the term illusion, as it is used here and elsewhere. in respect of this, it will be well to remember what was pointed out earlier in connexion with the term 'tragedy' (chapter ii). in speaking of 'illusion', we neither intend to cast any blame on some person or another who took part in weaving the illusion, nor to suggest that the emergence of it should be thought of as an avoidable calamity. rather should illusion be thought of as something which man has been allowed to weave because only by his own active overcoming of it can he fulfil his destiny as the bearer of truth in freedom. illusion, in the sense used here, belongs to those things in man's existence which are truly to be called tragic. it loses this quality, and assumes a quite different one, only when man, once the time has come for overcoming an illusion, insists on clinging to it. as our further studies will show, the criticism to be applied here does not only leave the validity of measurement and the mathematical treatment of the data thus obtained fully intact, but by giving them their appropriate place in a wider conception of nature it opens the way to an ever more firmly grounded and, at the same time, enhanced application of both. * our primary knowledge of the existence of something we call 'warmth' or 'heat' is due to a particular sense of warmth which modern research has recognized as a clearly definable sense. naturally, seen from the spectator-standpoint, the experiences of this sense appear to be of purely subjective value and therefore useless for obtaining an objective insight into the nature of warmth and its effects in the physical world. in order to learn about these, resort is had to certain instruments which, through the change of the spatial position of a point, allow the onlooker-observer to register changes in the thermal condition of a physical object. an instrument of this kind is the thermometer. in the following way an indubitable proof seems to be given of the correctness of the view concerning the subjectivity of the impressions obtained through the sense of warmth, and of the objectivity of thermometrical measurement. a description of it is frequently given in physical textbooks as an introduction to the chapter on heat. to begin with, the well-known fact is cited that if one plunges one's hands first into two different bowls, one filled with hot water and the other with cold, and then plunges them together into a bowl of tepid water, this will feel cold to the hand coming from the hot water and warm to the hand coming from the cold. next, it is pointed out that two thermometers which are put through the same procedure will register an equal degree of temperature for the tepid water. in this way the student is given a lasting impression of the superiority of the 'objective' recording of the instrument over the 'subjective' character of the experiences mediated by his sense of warmth. let us now test this procedure by carrying out the same experiment with the help of thermometrical instruments in their original form, that is, the form in which galileo first applied them. by doing so we proceed in a truly goethean manner, because we divest the experiment of all accessories which prevent the phenomenon from appearing in its primary form. to turn a modern thermometer into a thermoscope we need only remove the figures from its scale. if we make the experiment with two such thermoscopes we at once become aware of something which usually escapes us, our attention being fixed on the figures recorded by the two instruments. for we now notice that the two instruments, when transferred from the hot and cold water into the tepid water, behave quite differently. in one the column will fall, in the other it will rise. it is important to note that by this treatment of the two instruments we have not changed the way in which they usually indicate temperature. for thermometrical measurement is in actual fact never anything else than a recording of the movement of the indicator from one level to another. we choose merely to take a certain temperature level - that of melting ice or something else - as a fixed point of reference and mark it once for all on the instrument. because we find this mark clearly distinguished on our thermometers, and the scales numbered accordingly, we fail to notice what lies ideally behind this use of the same zero for every new operation we undertake. what the zero signifies becomes clear directly we start to work with thermometers not marked with scales. for in order to be used in this form as real thermometers, they must be exposed on each occasion first of all to some zero level of temperature, say, that of melting ice. if we then take them into the region of temperature we want to measure, we shall discern the difference of levels through the corresponding movement of the column. the final position of the column tells us nothing in itself. it is always the change from one level to another that the thermometer registers - precisely as does the sense of warmth in our hands in the experiment just described. hence we see that in the ordinary operation with the thermometers, and when we use our hands in the prescribed manner, we are dealing with the zero level in two quite different ways. while in the/two instruments the zero level is the same, in accordance with the whole idea of thermometric measurement, we make a special arrangement so as to expose our hands to two different levels. so we need not be surprised if these two ways yield different results. if, after placing two thermometers without scales in hot and cold water, we were to assign to each its own zero in accordance with the respective height of its column, and then graduate them from this reference point, they would necessarily record different levels when exposed to the tepid water, in just the same way as the hands do. our two hands, moreover, will receive the same sense-impression from the tepid water, if we keep them in it long enough. seen in this light, the original experiment, designed to show the subjective character of the impressions gained through the sense of warmth, reveals itself as a piece of self-deception by the onlooker-consciousness. the truth of the matter is that, in so far as there is any subjective element in the experience and measurement of heat, it does not lie on the side of our sense of warmth, but in our judgment of the significance of thermometrical readings. in fact, our test of the alleged proof of the absolute superiority of pointer-readings over the impressions gained by our senses gives us proof of the correctness of goethe's statement, quoted earlier, that the senses do not deceive, but the judgment deceives. let it be repeated here that what we have found in this way does not lead to any depreciation of the method of pointer-reading. for the direct findings of the senses cannot be compared quantitatively. the point is that the idea of the absolute superiority of physical measurement as a means of scientific knowledge, in all circumstances, must be abandoned as false. * we now turn to galileo's discovery known as the theorem of the parallelogram of forces. the illusion which has been woven round this theorem expresses itself in the way it is described as being connected ideally with another theorem, outwardly similar in character, known as the theorem of the parallelogram of movements (or velocities), by stating that the former follows logically from the latter. this statement is to be found in every textbook on physics at the outset of the chapter on dynamics (kinetics), where it serves to establish the right to treat the dynamic occurrences in nature in a purely kinematic fashion, true to the requirements of the onlooker-consciousness. the following description will show that, directly we free ourselves from the onlooker-limitations of our consciousness in the way shown by goethe - and, in respect of the present problem, in particular also by reid - the ideal relationship between the two theorems is seen to be precisely the opposite to the one expressed in the above statement. the reason why we take pains to show this at the present point of our discussion is that only through replacing the fallacious conception by the correct one, do we open the way for forming a concrete concept of force and thereby for establishing a truly dynamic conception of nature. * let us begin by describing briefly the content of the two theorems in question. in fig. , a diagrammatical representation is given of the parallelogram of movements. it sets out to show that when a point moves with a certain velocity in the direction indicated by the arrow a, so that in a certain time it passes from p to a, and when it simultaneously moves with a second velocity in the direction indicated by b, through which alone it would pass to b in the same time, its actual movement is indicated by c, the diagonal in the parallelogram formed by a and b. an example of the way in which this theorem is practically applied is the well-known case of a rower who sets out from p in order to cross at right angles a river indicated by the parallel lines. he has to overcome the velocity a of the water of the river flowing to the right by steering obliquely left towards b in order to arrive finally at c. it is essential to observe that the content of this theorem does not need the confirmation of any outer experience for its discovery, or to establish its truth. even though the recognition of the fact which it expresses may have first come to men through practical observation, yet the content of this theorem can be discovered and proved by purely logical means. in this respect it resembles any purely geometrical statement such as, that the sum of the angles of a triangle is two right angles ( °). even though this too may have first been learnt through outer observation, yet it remains true that for the discovery of the fact expressed by it - valid for all plane triangles - no outer experience is needed. in both cases we find ourselves in the domain of pure geometric conceptions (length and direction of straight lines, movement of a point along these), whose reciprocal relationships are ordered by the laws of pure geometric logic. so in the theorem of the parallelogram of velocities we have a strictly geometrical theorem, whose content is in the narrowest sense kinematic. in fact, it is the basic theorem of kinematics. we now turn to the second theorem which speaks of an outwardly similar relationship between forces. as is well nown, this states that two forces of different magnitude and direction, when they apply at the same point, act together in the manner of a single force whose magnitude and direction may be represented by the diagonal of a parallelogram whose sides express in extent and direction the first two forces. thus in fig. , r exercises upon p the same effect as f and f together. expressed in another way, a force of this magnitude working in the reverse direction (r') will establish an equilibrium with the other two forces. in technical practice, as is well known, this theorem is used for countless calculations, in both statics and dynamics, and indeed more frequently not in the form given here but in the converse manner, when a single known force is resolved into two component forces. (distribution of a pressure along frameworks, of air pressure along moving surfaces, etc.) it will now be our task to examine the logical link which is believed to connect one theorem with the other. this link is found in the well-known definition of physical force as a product of 'mass' and 'acceleration' - in algebraic symbols f=ma. we will discuss the implications of this definition in more detail later on. let us first see how it is used as a foundation for the above assertion. the conception of 'force' as the product of 'mass' and 'acceleration' is based on the fact - easily experienced by anyone who cycles along a level road - that it is not velocity itself which requires the exertion of force, but the change of velocity - that is, acceleration or retardation ('negative acceleration' in the sense of mathematical physics); also that in the case of equal accelerations, the force depends upon the mass of the accelerated object. the more massive the object, the greater will be the force necessary for accelerating it. this mass, in turn, reveals itself in the resistance a particular object offers to any change of its state of motion. where different accelerations and the same mass are considered, the factor m in the above formula remains constant, and force and acceleration are directly proportional to each other. thus in the acceleration is discovered a measure for the magnitude of the force which thereby acts. now it is logically evident that the theorem of the parallelogram of velocities is equally valid for movements with constant or variable velocities. even though it is somewhat more difficult to perceive mentally the movement of a point in two different directions with two differently accelerated motions, and to form an inner conception of the resulting movement, we are nevertheless still within a domain which may be fully embraced by thought. thus accelerated movements and movements under constant velocity can be resolved and combined according to the law of the parallelogram of movements, a law which is fully attainable by means of logical thought. with the help of the definition of force as the product of mass and acceleration it seems possible, indeed, to derive the parallelogram of forces from that of accelerations in a purely logical manner. for it is necessary only to extend all sides of an a parallelogram by means of the same factor m in order to turn it into an f parallelogram. a single geometrical figure on paper can represent both cases, since only the scale needs to be altered in order that the same geometrical length should represent at one time the magnitude a and on another occasion ma. it is in this way that present-day scientific thought keeps itself convinced that the parallelogram of forces follows with logical evidence from the parallelogram of accelerations, and that the discovery of the former is therefore due to a purely mental process. since the parallelogram of forces is the prototype of each further mathematical representation of physical force-relationships in nature, the conceptual link thus forged between it and the basic theorem of kinematics has led to the conviction that the fact that natural events can be expressed in terms of mathematics could be, and actually has been, discovered through pure logical reasoning, and thus by the brain-bound, day-waking consciousness 'of the world-spectator. justification thereby seemed to be given for the building of a valid scientific world-picture, purely kinematic in character. * the line of consideration we shall now have to enter upon for carrying out our own examination of what is believed to be the link between the two theorems may seem to the scientifically trained reader to be of an all too elementary kind compared with the complexities of thought in which he is used to engage in order to settle a scientific problem. it is therefore necessary to state here that anyone who wishes to help to overcome the tangle of modern theoretical science must not be shy in applying thoughts and observations of seemingly so simple a nature as those used both here and on other occasions. some readiness, in fact, is required to play where necessary the part of the child in hans andersen's fairy-story of the emperor's new clothes, where all the people are loud in praise of the magnificent robes of the emperor, who is actually passing through the streets with no clothes on at all, and a single child's voice exclaims the truth that 'the emperor has nothing on'. there will repeatedly be occasion to adopt the role of this child in the course of our own studies. * in the scientific definition of force given above force appears as the result of a multiplication of two other magnitudes. now as is well known, it is essential for the operation of multiplication that of the two factors forming the product at least one should exhibit the properties of a pure number. for two pure numbers may be multiplied together - e.g. and - and a number of concrete things can be multiplied by a pure number - e. g. apples and the number - but no sense can be attached to the multiplication of apples by apples, let alone by pears! the result of multiplication is therefore always either itself a pure number, when both factors have this property; or when one of the two factors is of the nature of a concrete object, the result is of the same quality as the latter. an apple will always remain an apple after multiplication, and what distinguishes the final product (apples) from the original factor (apples) is only a pure number. if we take seriously what this simple consideration tells us of the nature of multiplication, and if we do not allow ourselves to deviate from it for whatever purpose we make use of this algebraic operation, then the various concepts we connect with the basic measurements in physics undergo a considerable change of meaning. let us test, in this respect, the well-known formula which, in the conceptual language of physics, connects 'distance' (s), 'time' (t), and 'velocity' (c). it is written c = s / t, or s = ct. in this formula, s has most definitely the meaning of a 'thing', for it represents measured spatial distance. of the two factors on the other side of the second equation, one must needs have the same quality as s: this is c. thus for the other factor, t, there remains the property of a pure number. we are, therefore, under an illusion if we assume the factor c to represent anything of what velocity implies in outer cosmic reality. the truth is that c represents a spatial distance just as s does, with the difference only that it is a certain unit-distance. just as little does real time enter into this formula - nor does it into any other formula of mathematical physics. 'time', in physics, is always a pure number without any cosmic quality. indeed, how could it be otherwise for a purely kinematic world-observation? we now submit the formula f=ma to the same scrutiny. if we attach to the factor a on the right side of the equation a definite quality, namely an observable acceleration, the other factor in the product is permitted to have only the properties of a pure number; f, therefore, can be only of the same nature as a and must itself be an acceleration. were it otherwise, then the equation f=ma could certainly not serve as a logical link between the velocity and force parallelograms. our present investigation has done no more than grant us an insight into the process of thought whereby the consciousness limited to a purely kinematic experience has deprived the concept of force of any real content. let us look at the equation f=ma as a means of splitting of the magnitude f into two components m and a. the equation then tells us that f is reduced to the nature of pure acceleration, for that which resides in the force as a factor not observable by kinematic vision has been split away from it as the factor m. for this factor, however, as we have seen, nothing remains over but the property of a pure number. let us note here that the first thinker to concern himself with a comprehensive world-picture in which the non-existence of a real concept of force is taken in earnest-namely, albert einstein - was also the first to consider mass as a form of energy and even to predict correctly, as was proved later, the amount of energy represented by the unit of mass, thereby encouraging decisively the new branch of experimental research which has led to the freeing of the so-called atomic energy. is it then possible that pure numbers can effect what took place above and within nagasaki, hiroshima, etc.? here we are standing once again before one of the paradoxes of modern science which we have found to play so considerable a part in its development. to find an interpretation of the formula f=ma, which is free from illusion, we must turn our attention first of all to the concepts 'force' and 'mass' themselves. the fact that men have these two words in their languages shows that the concepts expressed by them must be based on some experience that has been man's long before he was capable of any scientific reflexion. let us ask what kind of experience this is and by what part of his being he gathers it. the answer is, as simple self-observation will show, that we know of the existence of force through the fact that we ourselves must exert it in order to move our own body. thus it is the resistance of our body against any alteration of its state of motion, as a result of its being composed of inert matter, which gives us the experience of force both as a possession of our own and as a property of the outer world. all other references to force, in places where it cannot be immediately experienced, arise by way of analogy based on the similarity of the content of our observation to that which springs from the exertion of force in our own bodies. as we see, in this experience of force that of mass is at once implied. still, we can strengthen the latter by experimenting with some outer physical object. take a fairly heavy object in your hand, stretch out your arm lightly and move it slowly up and down, watching intently the sensation this operation rouses in you. evidently the experience of mass outside ourselves, as with that of our own body, comes to us through the experience of the force which we ourselves must exert in order to overcome some resisting force occasioned by the mass. already this simple observation - as such made by means of the sense of movement and therefore outside the frontiers of the onlooker-consciousness - tells us that mass is nothing but a particular manifestation of force. seen in the light of this experience, the equation f=ma requires to be interpreted in a manner quite different from that to which scientific logic has submitted it. for if we have to ascribe to f and m the same quality, then the rule of multiplication allows us to ascribe to a nothing but the character of a pure number. this implies that there is no such thing as acceleration as a self-contained entity, merely attached to mass in an external way. what we designate as acceleration, and measure as such, is nothing else than a numerical factor comparing two different conditions of force within the physical-material world. only when we give the three factors in our equation this meaning, does it express some concrete outer reality. at the same time it forbids the use of this equation for a logical derivation of the parallelogram of forces from that of pure velocities. * the same method which has enabled us to restore its true meaning to the formula connecting mass and force will serve to find the true source of man's knowledge of the parallelogram of forces. accordingly, our procedure will be as follows. we shall engage two other persons, together with whom we shall try to discover by means of our respective experiences of force the law under which three forces applying at a common point may hold themselves in equilibrium. our first step will consist in grasping each other by the hand and in applying various efforts of our wills to draw one another in different directions, seeing to it that we do this in such a way that the three joined hands remain undisturbed at the same place. by this means we can get as far as to establish that, when two persons maintain a steady direction and strength of pull, the third must alter his applied force with every change in his own direction in order to hold the two others in equilibrium. he will find that in some instances he must increase his pull and in other instances decrease it. this, however, is all that can be learnt in this way. no possibility arises at this stage of our investigation of establishing any exact quantitative comparison. for the forces which we have brought forth (and this is valid for forces in general, no matter of what kind they are) represent pure intensities, outwardly neither visible nor directly measurable. we can certainly tell whether we are intensifying or diminishing the application of our will, but a numerical comparison between different exertions of will is not possible. in order to make such a comparison, a further step is necessary. we must convey our effort to some pointer-instrument - for instance, a spiral spring which will respond to an exerted pressure or pull by a change in its spatial extension. (principle of the spring balance.) in this way, by making use of a certain property of matter - elasticity - the purely intensive magnitudes of the forces which we exert become extensively visible and can be presented geometrically. we shall therefore continue our investigation with the aid of three spring balances, which we hook together at one end while exposing them to the three pulls at the other. to mark the results of our repeated pulls of varying intensities and directions, we draw on the floor on which we stand three chalk lines outward from the point underneath the common point of the three instruments, each in the direction taken up by one of the three persons. along these lines we mark the extensions corresponding to those of the springs of the instruments. by way of this procedure we shall arrive at a sequence of figures such as is shown in fig. . this is all we can discover empirically regarding the mutual relationships of three forces engaging at a point. let us now heed the fact that nothing in this group of figures reveals that in each one of these trios of lines there resides a definite and identical geometrical order; nor do they convey anything that would turn our thoughts to the parallelogram of velocities with the effect of leading us to expect, by way of analogy, a similar order in these figures. and this result, we note, is quite independent of our particular way of procedure, whether we use, right from the start, a measuring instrument, or whether we proceed as described above. * having in this way removed the fallacious idea that the parallelogram of forces can, and therefore ever has been, conceived by way of logical derivation from the parallelogram of velocities, we must then ask ourselves what it was, if not any act of logical reason, that led galileo to discover it. history relates that on making the discovery he exclaimed: 'la natura è scritta in lingua matematica!' ('nature is recorded in the language of mathematics.') these words reveal his surprise when he realized the implication of his discovery. still, intuitively he must have known that using geometrical lengths to symbolize the measured magnitudes of forces would yield some valid result. whence came this intuition, as well as the other which led him to recognize from the figures thus obtained that in a parallelogram made up of any two of the three lines, the remaining line came in as its diagonal? and, quite apart from the particular event of the discovery, how can we account for the very fact that nature - at least on a certain level of her existence - exhibits rules of action expressible in terms of logical principles immanent in the human mind? * to find the answer to these questions we must revert to certain facts connected with man's psycho-physical make-up of which the considerations of chapter ii have already made us aware. let us, therefore, transpose ourselves once more into the condition of the child who is still entirely volition, and thus experiences himself as one with the world. let us consider, from the point of view of this condition, the process of lifting the body into the vertical position and the acquisition of the faculty of maintaining it in this position; and let us ask what the soul, though with no consciousness of itself, experiences in all this. it is the child's will which wrestles in this act with the dynamic structure of external space, and what his will experiences is accompanied by corresponding perceptions through the sense of movement and other related bodily senses. in this way the parallelogram of forces becomes an inner experience of our organism at the beginning of our earthly life. what we thus carry in the body's will-region in the form of experienced geometry - this, together with the freeing and crystallizing of part of our will-substance into our conceptual capacity, is transformed into our faculty of forming geometrical concepts, and among them the concept of the parallelogram of movements. looked at in this way, the true relationship between the two parallelogram-theorems is seen to be the very opposite of the one held with conviction by scientific thinking up to now. instead of the parallelogram of forces following from the parallelogram of movements, and the entire science of dynamics from that of kinematics, our very faculty of thinking in kinematic concepts is the evolutionary product of our previously acquired intuitive experience of the dynamic order of the world. if this is the truth concerning the origin of our knowledge of force and its behaviour on the one hand, and our capacity to conceive mathematical concepts in a purely ideal way on the other, what is it then that causes man to dwell in such illusion as regards the relationship between the two? from our account it follows that no illusion of this kind could arise if we were able to remember throughout life our experiences in early childhood. now we know from our considerations in chapter vi that in former times man had such a memory. in those times, therefore, he was under no illusion as to the reality of force in the world. in the working of outer forces he saw a manifestation of spiritual beings, just as in himself he experienced force as a manifestation of his own spiritual being. we have seen also that this form of memory had to fade away to enable man to find himself as a self-conscious personality between birth and death. as such a personality, galileo was able to think the parallelogram of forces, but he was unable to comprehend the origin of his faculty of mathematical thinking, or of his intuitive knowledge of the mathematical behaviour of nature in that realm of hers where she sets physical forces into action. deep below in galileo's soul there lived, as it does in every human being, the intuitive knowledge, acquired in early childhood, that part of nature's order is recordable in the conceptual language of mathematics. in order that this intuition should rise sufficiently far into his conscious mind to guide him, as it did, in his observations, the veil of oblivion which otherwise separates our waking consciousness from the experiences of earliest childhood must have been momentarily lightened. unaware of all this, galileo was duly surprised when in the onlooker-part of his being the truth of his intuition was confirmed in a way accessible to it, namely through outer experiment. yet with the veil immediately darkening again the onlooker soon became subject to the illusion that for his recognition of mathematics as a means of describing nature he was in need of nothing but what was accessible to him on the near side of the veil. thus it became man's fate in the first phase of science, which fills the period from galileo and his contemporaries up to the present time, that the very faculty which man needed for creating this science prevented him from recognizing its true foundations. restricted as he was to the building of a purely kinematic world-picture, he had to persuade himself that the order of interdependence of the two parallelogram-theorems was the opposite of the one which it really is. * the result of the considerations of this chapter is of twofold significance for our further studies. on the one hand, we have seen that there is a way out of the impasse into which modern scientific theory has got itself as a result of the lack of a justifiable concept of force, and that this way is the one shown by reid and travelled by goethe. 'we must become as little children again, if we will be philosophers', is as true for science as it is for philosophy. on the other hand, our investigation of the event which led galileo to the discovery that nature is recorded in the language of mathematics, has shown us that this discovery would not have been possible unless galileo had in a sense become, albeit unconsciously, a little child again. thus the event that gave science its first foundations is an occurrence in man himself of precisely the same character as the one which we have learnt to regard as necessary for building science's new foundations. the only difference is that we are trying to turn into a deliberate and consciously handled method something which once in the past happened to a man without his noticing it. need we wonder that we are challenged to do so in our day, when mankind is several centuries older than it was in the time of galileo? as to the terms 'kinetic' and 'kinematic', see chapter ii, page , footnote. for the sake of our later studies it is essential that the reader does not content himself with merely following the above description mentally, but that he carries out the experiment himself. chapter ix pro levitate (a) alertness contra inertness in the preceding chapter we gained a new insight into the relationship between mass and force. we have come to see that our concept of force is grounded on empirical observation in no less a degree than is usually assumed for our concept of number, or size, or position, provided we do not confine ourselves to non-stereoscopic, colourless vision for the forming of our scientific world-picture, but allow other senses to contribute to it. as to the concept mass, our discussion of the formula f=ma showed that force and mass, as they occur in it, are of identical nature, both having the quality of force. the factors f and m signify force in a different relationship to space (represented by the factor a). this latter fact now requires some further elucidation. in a science based on the goethean method of contemplating the world of the senses, concepts such as 'mass in rest' and 'mass in motion' lack any scientific meaning (though for another reason than in the theory of relativity). for in a science of this kind the universe - in the sense propounded lately by professor whitehead and others - appears as one integrated whole, whose parts must never be considered as independent entities unrelated to the whole. seen thus, there is no mass in the universe of which one could say with truth that it is ever in a state of rest. nor is there any condition of movement which could be rightly characterized by the attributes 'uniform' and 'straight line' in the sense of newton's first law. this does not mean that such conditions never occur in our field of observation. but as such they have significance only in relation to our immediate surroundings as a system of reference. even within such limits these conditions are not of a kind that would allow us to consider them as the basis of a scientific world-picture. for as such they occur naturally only as ultimate, never as primeval conditions. all masses are originally in a state of curvilinear movement whose rates change continuously. to picture a mass as being in a state of rest, or of uniform motion in a straight line, as the result of no force acting on it, and to picture it undergoing a change in the rate and direction of its motion as the result of some outer force working on it, is a sheer abstraction. in so far as mass appears in our field of observation as being in relative rest or motion of the kind described, this is always the effect of some secondary dynamic cause. if we wish to think with the course of the universe and not against it, we must not start our considerations with the state of (relative) rest or uniform motion in a straight line and derive our definition of force from the assumption that there is a primary 'force-free' state which is altered under the action of some force, but we must arrange our definitions in such a way that they end up with this state. thus newton's first law, for instance, would have to be restated somewhat as follows: no physical body is ever in a state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless its natural condition is interfered with by the particular action of some force. seen dynamically, and from the aspect of the universe as an interrelated whole, all aggregations of mass are the manifestation of certain dynamic conditions within the universe, and what appears to us as a change of the state of motion of such a mass is nothing but a change in the dynamic relationship between this particular aggregation and the rest of the world. let us now see what causes of such a change occur within the field of our observation. * in modern textbooks the nature of the cause of physical movement is usually defined as follows: 'any change in the state of movement of a portion of matter is the result of the action on it of another portion of matter.' this represents a truth if it is taken to describe a certain kind of causation. in the axiomatic form in which it is given it is a fallacy. the kind of causation it describes is, indeed, the only one which has been taken into consideration by the scientific mind of man. we are wont to call it 'mechanical' causation. obviously, man's onlooker-consciousness is unable to conceive of any other kind of causation. for this consciousness is by its very nature confined to the contemplation of spatially apparent entities which for this reason can be considered only as existing spatially side by side. for the one-eyed, colour-blind spectator, therefore, any change in the state of movement of a spatially confined entity could be attributed only to the action of another such entity outside itself. such a world-outlook was bound to be a mechanistic one. we cannot rest content with this state of affairs if we are sincerely searching for an understanding of how spirit moves, forms, and transforms matter. we must learn to admit non-mechanical causes of physical effects, where such causes actually present themselves to our observation. in this respect our own body is again a particularly instructive object of study. for here mechanical and non-mechanical causation can be seen working side by side in closest conjunction. let us therefore ask what happens when we move, say, one of our limbs or a part of it. the movement of any part of our body is always effected in some way by the movement of the corresponding part of the skeleton. this in turn is set in motion by certain lengthenings and contractions of the appropriate part of the muscular system. now the way in which the muscles cause the bones to move falls clearly under the category of mechanical causation. certain portions of matter are caused to move by the movement of adjacent portions of matter. the picture changes when we look for the cause to which the muscles owe their movements. for the motion of the muscles is not the effect of any cause external to them, but is effected by the purely spiritual energy of our volition working directly into the physical substance of the muscles. what scientific measuring instruments have been able to register in the form of physical, chemical, electrical, etc., changes of the muscular substance is itself an effect of this interaction. to mark the fact that this type of causation is clearly distinguished from the type called mechanical, it will be well to give it a name of its own. if we look for a suitable term, the word 'magical' suggests itself. the fact that this word has gathered all sorts of doubtful associations must not hinder us from adopting it into the terminology of a science which aspires to understand the working of the supersensible in the world of the senses. the falling into disrepute of this word is characteristic of the onlooker-age. the way in which we suggest it should be used is in accord with its true and original meaning, the syllable 'mag' signifying power or might (sanskrit maha, greek megas, latin magnus, english might, much, also master). henceforth we shall distinguish between 'mechanical' and 'magical' causation, the latter being a characteristic of the majority of happenings in the human, animal and plant organisms. * our next step in building up a truly dynamic picture of matter must be to try to obtain a direct experience of the condition of matter when it is under the sway of magical causation. let us first remember what is the outstanding attribute with which matter responds to mechanical causation. this is known to be inertia. by this term we designate the tendency of physical matter to resist any outwardly impressed change of its existing state of movement. this property is closely linked up with another one, weight. the coincidence of the two has of late become a puzzle to science, and it was albert einstein who tried to solve it by establishing his general theory of relativity. the need to seek such solutions falls away in a science which extends scientific understanding to conditions of matter in which weight and inertia are no longer dominant characteristics. what becomes of inertia when matter is subject to magical causation can be brought to our immediate experience in the following way. (the reader, even if he is already familiar with this experiment, is again asked to carry it out for himself.) take a position close to a smooth wall, so that one arm and hand, which are left hanging down alongside the body, are pressed over their entire length between body and wall. try now to move the arm upward, pressing it against the wall as if you wanted to shift the latter. apply all possible effort to this attempt, and maintain the effort for about one minute. then step away quickly from the wall by more than the length of the arm, while keeping the arm hanging down by the side of the body in a state of complete relaxation. provided all conditions are properly fulfilled, the arm will be found rising by itself in accordance with the aim of the earlier effort, until it reaches the horizontal. if the arm is then lowered again and left to itself, it will at once rise again, though not quite so high as before. this can be repeated several times until the last vestige of the automatic movement has faded away. having thus ascertained by direct experience that there is a state of matter in which inertia is, to say the least, greatly diminished, we find ourselves in need of giving this state (which is present throughout nature wherever material changes are brought into existence magically) a name of its own, as we did with the two types of causation. a word suggests itself which, apart from expressing adequately the peculiar self-mobility which we have just brought to our experience, goes well alongside the word 'inert' by forming a kind of rhyme with it. this is the term 'alert'. with its help we shall henceforth distinguish between matter in the inert and alert conditions. we shall call the latter state 'alertness', and in order to have on the other side a word as similar as possible in outer form to alertness, we suggest replacing the usual term inertia by 'inertness'. thus we shall speak of matter as showing the attribute of 'inertness', when it is subject to mechanical causation, of 'alertness', when it is subject to magical causation. anyone who watches attentively the sensation produced by the rising arm in the above experiment will be duly impressed by the experience of the alertness prevailing in the arm as a result of the will's magical intervention. * in our endeavour to find a modern way of overcoming the conception of matter developed and held by science in the age of the onlooker-consciousness, we shall be helped by noticing how this conception first arose historically. of momentous significance in this respect is the discovery of the gaseous state of matter by the flemish physician and experimenter, joh. baptist van helmont ( - ). the fact that the existence of this state of ponderable matter was quite unknown up to such a relatively recent date has been completely forgotten to-day. moreover, it is so remote from current notions that anyone who now calls attention to van helmont's discovery is quite likely to be met with incredulity. as a result, there is no account of the event that puts it in its true setting. in what follows pains are taken to present the facts in the form in which one comes to know them through van helmont's own account, given in his ortus medicinae. for reasons which need not be described here, van helmont studied with particular interest the various modifications in which carbon is capable of occurring in nature - among them carbon's combustion product, carbon dioxide. it was his observations of carbon dioxide which made him aware of a condition of matter whose properties caused him the greatest surprise. for he found it to be, at the same time, 'much finer than vapour and much denser than air'. it appeared to him as a complete 'paradox', because it seemed to unite in itself two contradictory qualities, one appertaining to the realm of 'uncreated things', the other to the realm of 'created things'. unable to rank it with either 'vapour' or 'air' (we shall see presently what these terms meant in van helmont's terminology), he found himself in need of a special word to distinguish this new state from the other known states, both below and above it. since he could not expect any existing language to possess a suitable word, he felt he must create one. he therefore took, and changed slightly, a word signifying a particular cosmic condition which seemed to be imaged in the new condition he had just discovered. the word was chaos. by shortening it a little, he derived from it the new word gas. his own words explaining his choice are: 'halitum ilium gas vocavi non longe a chaos veterum secretum.' ('i have called this mist gas, owing to its resemblance to the chaos of the ancients.') van helmont's account brings us face to face with a number of riddles. certainly, there is nothing strange to us in his describing carbon dioxide gas as being 'finer than vapour and denser than air'; but why did he call this a 'paradox'? what prevented him from ranking it side by side with air? as to air itself, why should he describe it as belonging to the realm of the 'uncreated things'? what reason was there for giving 'vapour' the rank of a particular condition of matter? and last but not least, what was the ancient conception of chaos which led van helmont to choose this name as an archetype for the new word he needed? to appreciate van helmont's astonishment and his further procedure, we must first call to mind the meaning which, in accordance with the prevailing tradition, he attached to the term air. for van helmont, air was one of the four 'elements', earth, water, air, and fire. of these, the first two were held to constitute the realm of the 'created things', the other two that of the 'uncreated things'. a brief study of the old doctrine of the four elements is necessary at this point in order to understand the meaning of these concepts. * the first systematic teaching about the four elementary constituents of nature, as they were experienced by man of old, was given by empedocles in the fifth century b.c. it was elaborated by aristotle. in this form it was handed down and served to guide natural observation through more than a thousand years up to the time of van helmont. from our earlier descriptions of the changes in man's consciousness it is clear that the four terms, 'earth', 'water', 'air', 'fire', must have meant something different in former times. so 'water' did not signify merely the physical substance which modern chemistry defines by the formula h o; nor was 'air' the mixture of gases characteristic of the earth's atmosphere. man in those days, on account of his particular relationship with nature, was impressed in the first place by the various dynamic conditions, four in number, which he found prevailing both in his natural surroundings and in his own organism. with his elementary concepts he tried to express, therefore, the four basic conditions which he thus experienced. he saw physical substances as being carried up and down between these conditions. at first sight some relationship seems to exist between the concept 'element' in this older sense and the modern view of the different states of material aggregation, solid, liquid, aeriform. there is, however, nothing in this modern view that would correspond to the element fire. for heat in the sense of physical science is an immaterial energy which creates certain conditions in the three material states, but from these three to heat there is no transition corresponding to the transitions between themselves. heat, therefore, does not rank as a fourth condition by the side of the solid, liquid and aeriform states, in the way that fire ranks in the older conception by the side of earth, water and air. if we were to use the old terms for designating the three states of aggregation plus heat, as we know them to-day, we should say that there is a border-line dividing fire from the three lower elements. such a border-line existed in the older conception of the elements as well. only its position was seen to be elsewhere - between earth and water on the one hand, air and fire on the other. this was expressed by saying that the elements below this line constituted the realm of the 'created things', those above it that of the 'uncreated things'. another way of expressing this was by characterizing earth and water with the quality cold; air and fire with the quality warm. the two pairs of elements were thus seen as polar opposites of one another. the terms 'cold' and 'warm' must also be understood to have expressed certain qualitative experiences in which there was no distinction as yet between what is purely physical and what is purely spiritual. expressions such as 'a cold heart', 'a warm heart', to 'show someone the cold shoulder', etc., still witness to this way of experiencing the two polar qualities, cold and warm. quite generally we can say that, wherever man experienced some process of contraction, whether physical or non-physical, he designated it by the term 'cold', and where he experienced expansion, he called it 'warm'. in this sense he felt contractedness to be the predominant characteristic of earth and water, expansiveness that of air and fire. with the help of these qualitative concepts we are now in a position to determine more clearly still the difference between the older and the modern conceptions: in particular the difference between the aeriform condition of matter, as we conceive of it to-day, and the element air. contractedness manifests as material density, or the specific weight of a particular substance. we know that this characteristic of matter diminishes gradually with its transition from the solid to the liquid and aeriform states. we know also that this last state is characterized by a high degree of expansiveness, which is also the outstanding property of heat. thus there is reason to describe also from the modern point of view the solid and liquid states as essentially 'cold', and the aeriform state as 'warm'. but aeriform matter still has density and weight, and this means that matter in this state combines the two opposing qualities. contrary to this, air, as the second highest element in the old sense, is characterized by the pure quality, warm. thus, when man of old spoke of 'air', he had in mind something entirely free from material density and weight. by comparing in this way the older and newer conceptions of 'air', we come to realize that ancient man must have had a conception of gravity essentially different from ours. if we take gravity in the modern scientist's sense, as a 'descriptive law of behaviour', then this behaviour is designated in the older doctrine by the quality 'cold'. if, however, we look within the system of modern science for a law of behaviour that would correspond to the quality 'warm', we do so in vain. polarity concepts are certainly not foreign to the scientific mind, as the physics of electricity and magnetism show. yet there is no opposite pole to gravity, as there is negative opposite to positive electricity, etc. in the older conception, however, the gravitational behaviour 'cold' was seen to be counteracted by an autonomous anti-gravitational behaviour 'warm'. experience still supported the conviction that as a polar opposite to the world subject to gravity, there was another world subject to levity. we refrain at this point from discussing how far a science which aspires to a spiritual understanding of nature, including material processes, needs a revival - in modern form - of the old conception of levity. in our present context it suffices to realize that we understand man's earlier view of nature, and with it the one still held by van helmont, only by admitting levity equally with gravity into his world-picture. for the four elements, in particular, this meant that the two upper ones were regarded as representing levity, the two lower ones gravity. in close connexion with this polar conception of the two pairs of elements, there stands their differentiation into one realm of created, another of uncreated, things. to understand what these terms imply, we must turn to the ancient concept, chaos, borrowed by van helmont. to-day we take the word chaos to mean a condition of mere absence of order, mostly resulting from a destruction of existing forms, whether by nature or by the action of man. in its original sense the word meant the exact opposite. when in ancient times people spoke of chaos, they meant the womb of all being, the exalted realm of uncreated things, where indeed forms such as are evident to the eye in the created world are not to be found, but in place of them are the archetypes of all visible forms, as though nurtured in a spiritual seed-condition. it is the state which in the biblical narration of the creation of the world is described as 'without form and void'. from this chaos all the four elements are born, one by one, with the two upper ones retaining chaos's essential characteristic in that they are 'without form' and tend to be omnipresent, whilst the two lower ones constitute a realm in which things appear in more or less clearly outlined space-bound forms. this is what the terms 'uncreated' and 'created' imply. how strictly these two realms were distinguished can be seen by the occurrence of the concept 'vapour'. when with the increasing interest in the realm of created things - characteristic of the spectator-consciousness which, in view of our earlier description of it, we recognize as being itself a 'created thing' - the need arose for progressive differentiation within this realm, the simple division of it into 'earth' and 'water' was no longer felt to be satisfactory. after all, above the liquid state of matter there was another state, less dense than water and yet presenting itself through more or less clearly distinguishable space-bound objects, such as the mists arising from and spreading over ponds and meadows, and the clouds hovering in the sky. for this state of matter the term 'vapour' had become customary, and it was used by van helmont in this sense. by its very properties, vapour belonged to the realm of the created things, whereas air did not. it was the intermediary position of the newly discovered state of matter between vapour and air, that is, between the created and the uncreated world, which caused van helmont to call it a paradox; and it was its strange resemblance, despite its ponderable nature, to chaos, which prompted him to name it - gas. * since it could not have been the gaseous state of matter in the form discovered by van helmont, what particular condition of nature was it to which the ancients pointed when using the term air? let us see how the scriptures of past human cultures speak of air. in all older languages, the words used to designate the element bound up with breathing, or the act of breathing, served at the same time to express the relationship of man to the divine, or even the divine itself. one need think only of the words brahma and atma of the ancient indians, the pneuma of the greeks, the spiritus of the romans. the hebrews expressed the same idea when they said that jehovah had breathed the breath of life into man and that man in this way became a living soul. what lies behind all these words is the feeling familiar to man in those times, that breathing was not only a means of keeping the body alive, but that a spiritual essence streamed in with the breath. so long as this condition prevailed, people could expect that by changing their manner of breathing they had a means of bringing the soul into stronger relationship with spiritual powers, as is attempted in eastern yoga. remembering the picture of man's spiritual-physical evolution which we have gained from earlier chapters, we are not astonished to find how different this early experience of the breathing process was from our own. yet, together with the recognition of this difference there arises another question. even if we admit that man of old was so organized that the experience of his own breathing process was an overwhelmingly spiritual one, it was, after all, the gaseous substance of the earth's atmosphere which he inhaled, and exhaled again in a transformed condition. what then was it that prevented men - apparently right up to the time of van helmont - from gaining the slightest inkling of the materiality of this substance? to find an answer to this question, let us resort once more to our method of observing things genetically, combined with the principle of not considering parts without considering the whole to which they organically belong. in modern science the earth is regarded as a mineral body whereon the manifold forms of nature appear as mere additions, arising more or less by chance; one can very well imagine them absent without this having any essential influence on the earth's status in the universe. the truth is quite different. for the earth, with everything that exists on it, forms a single whole, just as each separate organism is in its own way a whole. this shows that we have no right to imagine the earth without men, and to suppose that its cosmic conditions of being would then remain unaltered - any more than we can imagine a human being deprived of some essential-organ and remaining human. mankind, and all the other kingdoms of nature, are bound up organically with the earth from the start of its existence. moreover, just as the highest plants, seen with goethe's eyes, are the spiritual originators of the whole realm of plants - the creative idea determining their evolution - so we see man, the highest product of earth evolution, standing behind this evolution as its idea from the first, and determining its course. the evolutionary changes which we observe in the earth and in man are in fact a single process, working through a variety of manifested forms. from this conception of the parallel evolution of earth and man light falls also on the historic event represented by van helmont's discovery. besides being a symptom of a revolution in man's way of experiencing the atmosphere, it speaks to us of some corresponding change in the spiritual-physical condition of the atmosphere itself. it was then that men not only came to think differently about air, but inhaled and exhaled an air that actually was different. to find out what kind of change this was, let us turn once more to man's own organism and see what it has to say concerning the condition under which matter is capable of being influenced by mechanical and magical causation respectively, in the sense already described. what is it in the nature of the bones that makes them accessible to mechanical causation only, and what is it in the muscles that allows our will to rouse them magically? bones and muscles stand in a definite genetic relationship to each other, the bones being, in relation to the muscles, a late product of organic development. this holds good equally for everything which in the body of living nature takes the form of mineralized deposits or coverings. every kind of organism consists in its early stages entirely of living substance; in the course of time a part of the organism separates off" and passes over into a more or less mineralized condition. seen in this light, the distinction between bones and muscles is that the bones have evolved out of a condition in which the muscles persist, though to a gradually waning degree, throughout the life-time of the body. the substance of the muscles, remaining more or less 'young', stands at the opposite pole from the 'aged' substance of the bones. hence it depends on the 'age' of a piece of matter whether it responds to magical or mechanical causation. let us state here at once, that this temporal distinction has an essential bearing on our understanding of evolutionary processes in general. for if mineral matter is a late product of evolution - and nothing in nature indicates the contrary - then to explain the origins of the world (as scientific theories have always done) with the aid of events similar in character to those which now occur in the mineral realm, means explaining them against nature's own evidence. to find pictures of past conditions of the earth in present-day nature, we must look in the regions where matter, because it is still 'youthful', is played through by the magical working of purposefully active spiritual forces. thus, instead of seeing in them the chance results of blind volcanic and similar forces, we must recognize in the formation and layout of land and sea an outcome of events more closely resembling those which occur during the embryonic development of a living organism. what, then, does van helmont's discovery of the gaseous state of matter tell us, if we regard it in the light of our newly acquired insight into the trend of evolution both within and without man? when, in the course of its growing older, mankind had reached the stage which is expressed by the emergence of the spectator-consciousness-consciousness, that is, based on a nervous system which has grown more or less independent of the life forces of the organism - the outer elements had, in their way, arrived at such a state that man began to inhale an air whose spiritual-physical constitution corresponded exactly to that of his nervous system: on either side, spirit and matter, in accordance with the necessities of cosmic evolution had lost their primeval union. * our extension of the concept of evolution to the very elements of nature, whether these are of material or non-material kind, and our recognition of this evolution as leading in general from a more alert to a more inert condition, at once open the possibility of including in our scientific world-picture certain facts which have hitherto resisted any inclusion. we mean those manifold events of 'miraculous' nature, of which the scriptures and the oral traditions of old are full. what is modern man to make of them? the doubts which have arisen concerning events of this kind have their roots on the one hand in the apparent absence of such occurrences in our day, on the other in the fact that the laws of nature derived by science from the present condition of the world seem to rule them out. in the light of the concept of the world's 'ageing' which we have tried to develop here, not only do the relevant reports become plausible, but it also becomes understandable why, if such events have taken place in the past, they fail to do so in our own time. to illustrate this, let us take a few instances which are symptomatic of the higher degree of youthfulness which was characteristic in former times in particular of the element of fire. the role which fire was capable of playing in man's life at a time when even this element, in itself the most youthful of all, was more susceptible to magic interference than of late, is shown by the manifold fire-rites of old. in those days, when no easy means of fire-lighting were available, it was usual for the needs of daily life to keen a fire burning all the time and to kindle other fires from it. only in cases of necessity was a new fire lit, and then the only way was by the tedious rubbing together of two pieces of dry wood. then both the maintenance of fires, and the deliberate kindling of a new fire, played quite a special role in the ceremonial ordering of human society. historically, much the best known is the roman usage in the temple of vesta. on the one hand, the unintentional extinction of the fire was regarded as a national calamity and as the gravest possible transgression on the part of the consecrated priestess charged with maintaining the fire. on the other hand, it was thought essential for this 'everlasting' fire to be newly kindled once a year. this took place with a special ritual at the beginning of the roman year ( st march). the conception behind such a ritual of fire-kindling will become clear if we compare with it certain other fire-rites which were practised in the northern parts of europe, especially in the british isles, until far on in the christian era. for example, if sickness broke out among the cattle, a widespread practice was to extinguish all the hearth-fires in the district and then to kindle with certain rites a new fire, from which all the local people lit their own fires once more. heavy penalties were prescribed for anyone who failed to extinguish his own fire - a failure usually indicated by the non-manifestation of the expected healing influence. in anglo-saxon speaking countries, fires of this kind were known as 'needfires'. the spiritual significance of these fires cannot be expressed better than by the meaning of the very term 'needfire'. this word does not derive, as was formerly believed, from the word 'need', meaning a 'fire kindled in a state of need', but, as recent etymological research has shown, from a root which appears in the german word nieten - to clinch or rivet. 'needfire' therefore means nothing less than a fire which was kindled for 'clinching' anew the bond between earthly life and the primal spiritual order at times when for one reason or another there was a call for this. this explanation of the 'needfire' throws light also on the roman custom of re-kindling annually the sacred fire in the temple of vesta. for the romans this was a means of reaffirming year by year the connexion of the nation with its spiritual leadership; accordingly, they chose the time when the sun in its yearly course restores - 're-clinches' - the union of the world-spirit with earthly nature, for the rebirth of the fire which throughout the rest of the year was carefully guarded against extinction. just as men saw in this fire-kindling a way of bringing humanity into active relation with spiritual powers, so on the other hand were these powers held to use the fire element in outer nature for the purpose of making themselves actively known to mankind. hence we find in the records of all ancient peoples a unanimous recognition of lightning and thunder on the one hand, and volcanic phenomena on the other, as means to which the deity resorts for intervening in human destiny. a well-known example is the account in the bible of the meeting of moses with god on mount sinai. as occurrence in the early history of the hebrews it gives evidence that even in historical times the fire element of the earth was sufficiently 'young' to serve the higher spiritual powers as an instrument for the direct expression of their will. * * * (b) levity contra gravity we said earlier in this chapter that a science which aspires to a spiritual understanding of the physical happenings in nature must give up the idea that inertness and weight are absolute properties of matter. we were able at once to tackle the question of inertness by bringing to our immediate observation matter in the state of diminished inertness, or, as we proposed to say, of alertness. we are now in a position to go into the other question, that of weight or gravity. just as we found inertness to have its counterpart in alertness, both being existing conditions of matter, so we shall now find in addition to the force of gravity another force which is the exact opposite of it, and to which therefore we can give no better name than 'levity'. * already, indeed, the picture of nature which we gained from following goethe's studies both of the plant and of meteorological happenings has brought us face to face with certain aspects of levity. for when goethe speaks of systole and diastole, as the plant first taught him to see them and as later he found them forming the basic factors of weather-formation, he is really speaking of the ancient concepts, 'cold' and 'warm'. goethe's way of observing nature is, in fact, a first step beyond the limits of a science which kept itself ignorant of levity as a cosmic counterpart to terrestrial gravity. to recognize the historical significance of this step, let us turn our glance to the moment when the human mind became aware that to lay a proper foundation for the science it was about to build, it had to exclude any idea of levity as something with a real existence. many a conception which is taken for granted by modern man, and is therefore assumed to have been always obvious, was in fact established quite deliberately at a definite historical moment. we have seen how this applies to our knowledge of the gaseous state of matter; it applies also to the idea of the uniqueness of gravity. about half a century after van helmont's discovery a treatise called contra levitatem was published in florence by the accademia del cimento. it declares that a science firmly based on observation has no right to speak of levity as something claiming equal rank with, and opposite to, gravity. this attitude was in accord with the state into which human consciousness had entered at that time. for a consciousness which is itself of the quality 'cold', because it is based on the contracting forces of the body, is naturally not in a position to take into consideration its very opposite. therefore, to speak of a force of levity as one felt able to speak of gravity was indeed without meaning. just as there was historical necessity in this banishing of levity from science at the beginning of the age of the spectator-consciousness, so was there historical necessity in a renewed awareness of it arising when the time came for man to overcome the limitations of his spectator - relationship to the world. we find this in goethe's impulse to search for the action of polarities in nature. as we shall see later, it comes to its clearest expression in goethe's optical conceptions. another witness to this fact is ruskin, through a remark which bears in more than one sense on our present subject. it occurs in his essay, the storm-cloud of the ninteenth century. in its context it is meant to warn the reader against treating science, which ruskin praises as a fact-finding instrument, as an interpreter of natural facts. ruskin takes newton's conception of gravity as the all-moving cause of the universe, and turns against it in the following words: 'take the very top and centre of scientific interpretation by the greatest of its masters: newton explained to you - or at least was once supposed to explain, why an apple fell; but he never thought of explaining the exact correlative but infinitely more difficult question, how the apple got up there.' this remark shows ruskin once again as a true reader in nature's book. looking with childlike openness and intensity of participation into the world of the senses, he allows nature's phenomena to impress themselves upon his mind without giving any preconceived preference to one kind or another. this enables him not to be led by the phenomenon of falling bodies to overlook the polarically opposite phenomenon of the upward movement of physical matter in the living plant. ruskin's remark points directly to the new world-conception which must be striven for to-day - the conception in which death is recognized as a secondary form of existence preceded by life; in which levity is given its rightful place as a force polar to gravity; and in which, because life is bound up with levity as death is with gravity, levity is recognized as being of more ancient rank than gravity. * in proceeding now to a study of levity we shall not start, as might be expected, with plants or other living forms. we are not yet equipped to understand the part played by levity in bringing about the processes of life; we shall come to this later. for our present purpose we shall look at certain macrotelluric events - events in which large areas of the earth are engaged - taking our examples from meteorology on the one hand and from seismic (volcanic) processes on the other. in pursuing this course we follow a method which belongs to the fundamentals of a goetheanistic science. a few words about this method may not be out of place. when we strive to read the book of nature as a script of the spirit we find ourselves drawn repeatedly towards two realms of natural phenomena. they are widely different in character, but studied together they render legible much that refuses to be deciphered in either realm alone. these realms are, on the one hand, the inner being of man, and, on the other, the phenomena of macrotelluric and cosmic character. the fruitfulness of linking together these two will become clear if we reflect on the following. the field of the inner life of man allows us, as nothing else does, to penetrate it with our own intuitive experience. for we ourselves are always in some sense the cause of the events that take place there. in order to make observations in this region, however, we need to bring about a certain awakening in a part of our being which - so long as we rely on the purely natural forces of our body - remains sunk in more or less profound unconsciousness. if this realm of events is more intimately related than any other to our intuitive experience, it has also the characteristic of remaining closed to any research by external means. much of what lies beyond the scope of external observation, however, reveals itself all the more clearly in the realms where nature is active on the widest scale. certainly, we must school ourselves to read aright the phenomena which come to light in those realms. and once more we must look to the way of introspection, previously mentioned, for aid in investing our gaze with the necessary intuitive force. if we succeed in this, then the heavens will become for us a text wherein secrets of human nature, hidden from mere introspection, can be read; while at the same time the introspective way enables us to experience things which we cannot uncover simply by observing the outer universe. apart from these methodological considerations, there is a further reason for our choice. among the instances mentioned earlier in this chapter as symptoms of a greater 'youthfulness' prevailing in nature, and particularly in the element fire, at a comparatively recent date, were the manifestations of the divine-spiritual world to man reported in the bible as the event on mount sinai. there, thunder and lightning from above and volcanic action from below form the setting for the intercourse of jehovah with moses. to-day the function of these types of phenomena, though metamorphosed by the altered conditions of the earth, is not essentially different. here, more than in any other sphere of her activities, nature manifests that side of her which we are seeking to penetrate with understanding. * let us start with an observation known to the present writer from a visit to the solfatara, a volcanic region near naples. the solfatara itself is a trough surrounded by hilly mounds; its smooth, saucepan-like bottom, covered with whitish pumice-sand, is pitted with craters containing violently boiling and fuming mud - the so-called fango, famous for its healing properties. all around sulphurous fumes issue from crevices in the rocks, and in one special place the solfatara reveals its subterranean activity by the emergence of fine, many-coloured sand, which oozes up like boiling liquid from the depths below. the whole region gives the impression of being in a state of labile balance. how true this is becomes apparent if one drops pieces of burning paper here and there on the ground: immediately a cloud of smoke and steam rises. the effect is even more intense if a burning torch is moved about over one of the boiling fango holes. then the deep answers instantly with an extraordinary intensification of the boiling process. the hot mud seems to be thrown into violent turmoil, emitting thick clouds of steam, which soon entirely envelop the spectator near the edge. the scientific mind is at first inclined to see in this phenomenon the mechanical effect of reduced air-pressure, due to the higher temperatures above the surface of the boiling mud, though doubts are raised by the unusual intensity of the reaction. the feeling that the physical explanation is inadequate is strengthened when the vapours have thinned out and one is surprised to see that every crack and cranny in the solfatara, right up to the top of the trough, shows signs of increased activity. certainly, this cannot be accounted for by a cause-and-effect nexus of the kind found in the realm of mechanical causation, where an effect is propagated from point to point and the total effect is the sum of a number of partial effects. it looks rather as if the impulse applied in one spot had called for a major impulse which was now acting on the solfatara as a whole. as observers who are trying to understand natural phenomena by recognizing their significance as letters in nature's script, we must look now for other phenomena which can be joined with this one to form the relevant 'word' we have set out to decipher. all scientific theories concerning the causes of seismic occurrences, both volcanic and tectonic, have been conceived as if the spatial motion of mineral matter were the only happening that had to be accounted for. no wonder that none of these theories has proved really satisfactory even to mechanistically orientated thinking. actually there are phenomena of a quite different kind connected with the earth's seismic activities, and these need to be taken into equal account. there is, for instance, the fact that animals often show a premonition of volcanic or tectonic disturbances. they become restive and hide, or, if domestic, seek the protection of man. apparently, they react in this way to changes in nature which precede the mechanical events by which man registers the seismic occurrence. another such phenomenon is the so-called earthquake-sky, which the present writer has had several occasions to witness. it consists of a peculiar, almost terrifying, intense discoloration of the sky, and, to those acquainted with it, is a sure sign of an imminent or actual earthquake somewhere in the corresponding region of the earth. this phenomenon teaches us that the change in the earth's condition which results in a violent movement of her crust, involves a region of her organism far greater than the subterranean layers where the cause of the purely mechanical events is usually believed to reside. that man himself is not excluded from experiencing directly the super-spatial nature of seismic disturbances is shown by an event in goethe's life, reported by his secretary eckermann, who himself learnt the story from an old man who had been goethe's valet at the time. this is what the old man, whom eckermann met by accident one day near weimar, told him: 'once goethe rang in the middle of the night and when i entered his room i found he had rolled his iron bed to the window and was lying there, gazing at the heavens. "have you seen nothing in the sky?" asked he, and when i answered "no", he begged me to run across to the sentry and inquire of the man on duty if he had seen nothing. he had not noticed anything and when i returned i found the master still in the same position, gazing at the sky. "listen," he said, "this is an important moment; there is now an earthquake or one is just going to take place." then he made me sit down on the bed and showed me by what signs he knew this.' when asked about the weather conditions, the old man said: 'it was very cloudy, very still and sultry.' to believe implicitly in goethe was for him a matter of course, 'for things always happened as he said they would'. when next day goethe related his observations at court, the women tittered: 'goethe dreams' ('goethe schwärmt'), but the duke and the other men present believed him. a few weeks later the news reached weimar that on that night ( th april, ) part of messina had been destroyed by an earthquake. there is no record by goethe himself of the nature of the phenomenon perceived by him during that night, except for a brief remark in a letter to mme de stein, written the following day, in which he claims to have seen a 'northern light in the south-east' the extraordinary character of which made him fear that an earthquake had taken place somewhere. the valet's report makes us inclined to think that there had been no outwardly perceptible phenomenon at all, but that what goethe believed he was seeing with his bodily eyes was the projection of a purely supersensible, but not for that reason any less objective, experience. in a picture of the seismic activities of the earth which is to comprise phenomena of this kind, the volcanic or tectonic effects cannot be attributed to purely local causes. for why, then, should the whole meteorological sphere be involved, and why should living beings react in the way described? clearly, we must look for the origin of the total disturbance not in the interior of the earth but in the expanse of surrounding space. indeed, the very phenomenon of the solfatara, if seen in this light, can reveal to us that at least the volcanic movements of the earth's crust are not caused by pressure from within, but by suction from without - that is, by an exceptional action of levity. we recall the fact that the whole solfatara phenomenon had its origin in a flame being swayed over one of the fango holes. although it remains true that the suction arising from the diminished air pressure over the hole cannot account for the intense increase of ebullition in the hole itself, not to speak of the participation of the entire region in this increase, there is the fact that the whole event starts with a suctional effect. as we shall see in the next chapter, any local production of heat interferes with the gravity conditions at that spot by shifting the balance to the side of levity. that the response in a place like the solfatara is what we have seen it to be, is the result of an extraordinary lability of the equilibrium between gravity and levity, a characteristic appertaining to the earth's volcanism in general. for the people living near the solfatara it is indeed common knowledge that there are times when this lability is so great that the slightest local disturbance of the kind we have described can provoke destructive eruptions of great masses of subterranean mud. (at such times access to the solfatara is prohibited.) we shall understand such an eruption rightly if we picture it as the counter-pole of an avalanche. the latter may be brought about by a fragment of matter on a snow-covered mountain, perhaps a little stone, breaking loose and in its descent bringing ever-accumulating masses of snow down with it. the levity-process polar to this demonstration of gravity is the production of a mightily growing 'negative avalanche' by comparatively weak local suction, caused by a small flame. * earlier in this chapter (page ) we said that if we want to understand how spirit moves, forms and transforms matter, we must recognize the existence of non-mechanical (magical) causes of physical effects. we have now found that the appearance of such effects in nature is due to the operations of a particular force, levity, polar to gravity. observation of a number of natural happenings has helped us to become familiar in a preliminary way with the character of this force. although these happenings were all physical in appearance, they showed certain definitely non-physical features, particularly through their peculiar relationship to three-dimensional space. more characteristics of this kind will appear in the following pages. in this way it will become increasingly clear that in levity we have to do with something which, despite its manifesting characteristics of a 'force' not unlike gravity and thereby resembling the latter, differs essentially from anything purely physical. it is only by its interactions with gravity that levity brings about events in the physical world-events, however, which are themselves partly of a physical, partly of a superphysical kind. seeing things in this aspect, we are naturally prompted to ask what causes there are in the world which make gravity and levity interact at all. this question will find its answer in due course. first, we must make ourselves more fully acquainted with the various appearances of the gravity-levity interplay in nature. in this sense ruskin's description of the working of the spirit in the plant as one that 'catches from chaos water, etc., etc., and fastens them into a given form' points to magical action. for van helmont, owing to the flemish pronunciation of the letter g, the two words sounded more alike than their spelling suggests. in a later chapter we shall have opportunity to determine what distinguishes air from fire, on the one hand, and water from earth on the other. it is this apparent uni-polarity of gravity which has given professor einstein so much trouble in his endeavour to create a purely gravitational world-picture with bipolar electricity and magnetism fitting into it mathematically. see the 'bishop barnes' controversy of recent date. to the same category belong the mighty thunderstorms which in some parts of the world are known to occur in conjunction with earthquakes. see goethe's conversations with eckermann (translated by j. oxenford), th november, . chapter x the fourth state of matter when william crookes chose as one of the titles of his paper on the newly discovered properties of electricity, 'the fourth state of matter', it was to express his belief that he had found a state of matter, additional to the three known ones, which represented 'the borderland where matter and force seem to merge into one another, the shadowy realm between known and unknown' for which his soul had been longing ever since the death of his beloved brother. all that has followed from his discovery, down to the transformation of matter itself into freely working energy, shows that he was right in thinking he had reached some borderland of nature. but the character of the forces which are thus liberated makes it equally clear that this is not the borderland he was looking for. nature - by which we mean physical nature - has in fact two borders, one touching the realm of the intramaterial energies which are liberated by disrupting the structure of atomic nuclei, the other leading over into creative chaos, the fountain-head of all that appears in nature as intelligent design. it was crookes's fate to open the road which has brought man to nature's lower border and even across it, although he himself was in search of her upper border. what he was denied, we are in a position to achieve to-day, provided we do not expect to succeed by methods similar to those of atomic physics, and do not look for similar results. to show that there is a fourth state of matter, rightly so called, which represents in actual fact the upper border of nature, and to point the way that leads to it and across it, is the purpose of this chapter. * from our previous comparison of the older conception of the four elementary conditions of nature with that now held of the three states of ponderable matter, we may expect that the fourth state will have something in common with heat. heat is indeed the energy which transforms matter by carrying it from the solid to the liquid and gaseous states. not so obvious is the fact that heat, apart from being an agent working at matter in this way, is the very essence underlying all material existence, out of which matter in its three ponderable states comes into being and into which it is capable of returning again. such a conception of matter was naturally absent from the age of the contra-levitatem orientation of the human mind. to create this conception, a new pro-levitate orientation is required. apart from producing liquefaction and vaporization, heat has also the property of acting on physical matter so that its volume increases. both facts are linked together by science through the thermodynamic conception of heat. as this conception firmly blocks the road to the recognition of the role of heat as the fourth state of matter, our first task will be to determine our own standpoint with regard to it. further obstacles on our way are the so-called laws of conservation, which state that no matter and no energy - which for present-day science have become one and the same thing - can ever disappear into 'nothing' or come into being out of 'nothing'. this idea, also, will therefore require our early attention. * in the light of our previous studies we shall not find it difficult to test the reality-value of the thermodynamic conception of heat. as we know of mass through a definite sense-perception, so we know of heat. in the latter case we rely on the sense of warmth. in chapter viii we took the opportunity to test the objectivity of the information received through this sense. still, one-eyed, colour-blind observation is naturally unable to take account of these sense-messages. to this kind of observation nothing is accessible, we know, except spatial displacements of single point-like entities. hence we find bacon and hooke already attributing the sensation of warmth to minute fast-moving particles of matter impinging on the skin. some time later we find locke taking up the same picture. we see from this how little the mechanical theory of heat owes to empirical facts. for even in locke's time the connexion between heat and mechanical action, as recognized to-day, was completely unknown. with this idea firmly rooted in his mind, modern man had no difficulty in using it to explain both thermal expansion and the effect of heat on the different states of matter, and so, finally, these states themselves. thermal expansion was thus attributed to an increase in the average distance between the assumed minute particles, caused by an increase in their rate of movement; the liquid state was held to differ from the solid, and similarly the gaseous from the liquid, by the interspaces between the particles becoming relatively so great that the gravitational pull between them became too weak to hold them together. tested from a view-point outside the onlooker-consciousness, this whole picture of the interaction between matter and heat appears to run counter to the cosmic order of things in a way typical of other spectator-theories. ancient man, if confronted with this picture, would have said that it means explaining the element fire by the quality cold. for each of those minute particles, in its solidity and state of spatial separation from the others, represents an effigy of the earth and thereby the element earth itself. he would be unable to understand why phenomena of the 'warm' element fire should be explained by its very opposite. moreover, fire forms part of the ever 'youthful' realm of the world, whereas anything which exists as a spatially discernible entity, capable of being moved about mechanically, must have grown cosmically 'old'. that ruskin was as much on the alert in regard to this theory as he was in regard to newton's theory of gravitation, is shown by the following utterance from his the queen of the air. obviously stirred by tyndall's newly published treatise, heat as a mode of motion, ruskin felt the need to criticize the endeavour of contemporary science 'to simplify the various forms of energy more and more into modes of one force, or finally into mere motion, communicable in various states, but not destructible', by declaring that he would himself 'like better in order of thought to consider motion as a mode of heat than heat as a mode of motion'. these words of ruskin touch also on the law of conservation of energy, of which we said that it also called for a preliminary examination. what we now have to find out is the factual basis on which this law rests. * the conception of the law of conservation of energy arose from the discovery of the constant numerical relation between heat and mechanical work, known as the mechanical equivalent of heat. this discovery was made at about the same time by joule in england and j. r. mayer in germany, although by entirely different routes. joule, a brewer, was a man of practical bent. trained by dalton, the founder of the atomic theory, in experimental research, he continued rumford's and davy's researches which they had undertaken to prove that heat is not, as it was for a time believed to be, a ponderable substance, but an imponderable agent. as a starting-point he took the heating effect of electric currents. the fact that these could be generated by turning a machine, that is, by the expenditure of mechanical energy, gave him the idea of determining the amount of work done by the machine and then comparing this with the amount of heat generated by the current. a number of ingenious experiments enabled him to determine with increasing exactitude the numerical relation between work and heat, as well as to establish the absolute constancy of the relation. this he regarded as proof of the mechanical theory of heat, which he had taken from rumford and davy. what simpler explanation could there be for the constant numerical relation between work and heat than the conception that transformation of one form of energy into another was simply a transmission of motion from one object to another? from the quantitative equality of expended and generated energy was it not natural to argue the qualitative similarity of the two forms of energy, which only externally seemed different? it was by quite a different path that the heilbronn doctor, mayer, arrived at his results. to escape from the narrowness of his south german home town, he went, while still a youth, as doctor to a dutch ship sailing to java. when in the tropics he treated a number of sailors by blood-letting, he observed that the venous blood was much nearer in colour to the paler arterial blood than was usual at home. this change in the colour he attributed to the diminished intensity of bodily combustion, due, he believed, to the higher temperature of the tropics. scarcely had this thought passed through his mind than it induced another - that of a universal interrelationship between all possible forms of energy. this last idea so took possession of him that during the return voyage, as he himself related, he could scarcely think of anything but how to prove the correctness of his idea and what the consequences would be for the general view of nature. from the moment of his return he devoted his life to practical research into the connexion between the various manifestations of energy. it was in this way that he was led to the determination of the so-called mechanical equivalent of heat, shortly before the same discovery was made in a quite different manner by joule. if one considers how slender a connexion there was between mayer's observation on the sailors in java and the idea of the quantitative equilibrium of all physical nature-forces, and if one contrasts this with the fanaticism he showed during the rest of his life in proving against all obstacles the correctness of his idea, one must feel that the origin of the thought in mayer's mind lay elsewhere than in mere physical observations and logical deductions. confirmation of this may be found in what mayer himself declared to be his view concerning the actual grounds for the existence of a constant numerical association between the various manifestations of natural energy. so far as science allowed mayer any credit for his work, this was based on the opinion that through his discovery he had provided the final vindication of the mechanical theory of heat. this judgment, however, was only piling one wrong upon another. mayer's destiny was truly tragic. when he began to publicize his conviction of the numerical equilibrium between spent and created energy, he met with so much scepticism, even derision, that from sheer despair his mind at times became clouded. when at last toward the end of his life he received the recognition his discovery deserved (not before being dragged through a painful priority dispute which joule forced upon him and lost), the scientists had begun to use his idea for bolstering up a hypothesis directly counter to the idea which had led him to his discovery, and for the sake of which he had accepted so much suffering. mayer's spiritual kin are not to be found among the heat-theorists of his time, such as helmholtz and others, but among thinkers of the stamp of goethe, howard and ruskin. his basic idea of the inner connexion between all forms of energy in nature corresponds entirely with goethe's idea of metamorphosis. just as goethe saw in the ur-plant the idea common to all plant-forms or, in the various plant-organs, the metamorphosis of one and the same ur-organ, so was mayer convinced of the existence of an ur-force which expressed itself in varying guises in the separate energy-forms of nature. in the picture of the physical universe which hovered before him, the transformation of one form of energy into another - such as mechanical energy into electrical, this into chemical and so on - was somewhat similar to goethe's picture of the organic life of the earth, in which the metamorphosis of one living form into another constantly occurred. 'there is in nature', said mayer, 'a specific dimension of immaterial constitution which preserves its value in all changes taking place among the objects observed, whereas its form of appearance alters in the most manifold ways.' for the physicist, accustomed to a purely quantitative observation of nature, it is difficult to comprehend that mayer could have arrived at the thought of a constant quantitative relation between the various manifestations of natural energy, without deriving from it the conviction of their qualitative indentity - i.e., without concluding from the existence of the mechanical heat - equivalent that heat is itself nothing else than a certain form of spatial movement. mayer actually had a picture directly contrary to the mechanistic conception. for him, the arising of heat represented a disappearance of mechanical energy. if this, then, was mayer's belief, what was it that convinced him of the existence of a numerical balance between appearing and vanishing energy, even before he had any experimental proof? later in this book there will be occasion to introduce a concept of number in tune with our qualitative world-outlook. what led mayer to look upon number as an expression of existing spiritual associations in nature will then become clear. let this much be said here, that number in the universe has quite different functions from that of serving merely as an expression for a total of calculable items, or as a means of comparing spatial distances. it is in the nature of the onlooker-consciousness that it is unable to interpret numerical equality between natural phenomena save as indicating the presence of an equal number of calculable objects or of spatial movements of equal magnitude. it was therefore consistent for such a consciousness to regard the discovery by mayer of the mechanical heat-equivalent as a confirmation of the existing mechanical conception of heat. for mayer such an interpretation was not necessary. his conviction of the existence of an ur-force, manifesting through metamorphosis in all natural forces, led him to expect a constant numerical relation amongst these, without requiring him to deny the objective existence of qualitative differences, as these displayed themselves in the field of phenomena. he was spiritually akin to goethe, also, in that he guarded himself strictly against substituting for the contents of our perception conveyed by nature purely hypothetical entities which, while fashioned after the world of the senses, are, in principle, imperceptible. mayer sought after a truly empirically founded concept of force, and his method was that of reading from all the various manifestations of force which were open to sense observation. one such manifestation, capable of empirical determination, was the balance between appearing and disappearing energy. science treated mayer in the same way as it treated howard. it took from him what it wanted for its purpose without concerning itself with the epistemological principle which had led him to his discovery. thus it was that mayer's discovery led to most important consequences for the development of modern technical devices, whereas it was the fate of his guiding idea to be first derided, then misunderstood and finally forgotten. the consequence was that the knowledge of the numerical equilibrium between created and expended energy in the economy of nature has widened more and more the abyss separating spirit and matter in human life, instead of leading, as indeed it might have done, to a bridging of the abyss. the thought, therefore, regarding the appearing and disappearing of measurable cosmic substance, to which we are led when following goethe's method of observing nature, stands in no sort of contradiction to what mayer himself conceived as the relation of the various forms of energy to one another, and the maintenance of the numerical balance between them. * having thus determined our standpoint with regard to the thermodynamic theory of heat and the law of conservation, we may proceed to the study, first of the phenomenon of thermal expansion, and then of the effect of heat on the various states of physical matter, by applying to them, unimpeded by any preconceived mechanistic idea, what we have learnt through our previous studies. we must start by developing a proper picture of the dynamic condition of matter in the solid state. in a solid body the material substance is centred on an inner point, the so-called centre of gravity - a characteristic which such a body shares with the earth as a whole. likewise, two such bodies exert on one another the same influence that the earth exerts on each of them: they try to assume the shortest possible distance from each other. since the days of faraday science has been accustomed to ascribe these phenomena to the existence of certain fields of force, connected with each body and working on one another through the intermediary space. it is to this concept of the field of force that we must now give special attention. for the field-concept, in the form introduced by faraday into scientific thinking, is one of the few scientific concepts which have been obtained by being 'read' from the corresponding phenomena themselves, and which therefore retain their validity in a science which is based on the method of reading. according to the field-concept, terrestrial manifestations of gravity are due to the earth's being the bearer of a gravitational field centred within the globe, and extending thence in all directions through space, across and beyond the earth's body. every point in space, both inside and outside the earth, is characterized by a definite intensity of this field, the so-called gravitational potential. this is subject to variations due to the presence of other physical masses, which carry their own fields of gravity. what happens between such masses and that of the earth, as well as mutually between such masses themselves, is brought about by the particular conditions in space resulting from the interpenetration of the various fields. it is essential to realize that all fields dealt with by physical science, the gravitational, electric, magnetic - however much they differ otherwise - have this one characteristic in common, that they have a centre where the field is at its highest intensity, diminishing as the distance from the centre increases. motion in such a field naturally takes place from regions of lower to those of higher intensity - in other words, it follows the rising potential of the field. this accounts for the tendency of physical masses to arrive at the shortest possible distance between them. it was natural for the modern mind to picture a dynamic condition of the kind just described, that is, one in which the centre and source, as it were, is a point round which the dynamic condition spreads with steadily diminishing strength as the distance from the point grows. for such is the condition of man's head-bound consciousness. the locus from which modern man watches the world is a point within the field of this consciousness, and the intensity with which the world acts on it diminishes with increasing spatial distance from this point. this is the reason why levity was banished from scientific inquiry, and why, when the field-concept was created by the genius of faraday, it did not occur to anyone that with it the way was opened to comprehend field-types other than the centric one characteristic of gravity and kindred forces. to make use of the field-concept in this other way is one of the tasks we have to undertake if we are to overcome the impasse in which present-day scientific cognition finds itself. to develop a picture of the type of field represented by levity, let us recall certain results from the observations of the last chapter. there the volcanic phenomenon, when taken in its wider implications, made us realize that the upward movement of physical masses, in itself part of the total phenomenon, is due to a dynamic cause which we had to describe, in contrast to centripetally working pressure, as peripherally working suction. of this concept of suction we must now observe that we may apply it with justification only if we realize that suction can be caused in two different ways. in the sense in which we are wont to use the term, suction is the result of a difference of pressure in adjacent parts of space, the action taking place in the direction of the minor pressure. apart from this, however, suction can occur also as a result of the outward-bound increase of the strength of a levity-field. it is in this sense that we may speak of the seismic movements of the earth as being caused by suction acting from without. in the same sense we may say that the upward movement of the saps in the plant (to which ruskin pointed as being responsible for the apple appearing at the top of the tree) and with it the entire growth-phenomenon in the plant world, is due to peripheral suction. considerations of this kind lead one to a picture in which the earth is seen to be surrounded and penetrated by a field of force which is in every respect the polar opposite of the earth's gravitational field. as the latter has its greatest intensity at its centre, which is identical with the centre of the earth's globe, so has the levitational field its greatest intensity at its circumference which is somewhere in the width of the universe. (later considerations will enable us to locate its position more precisely.) as the gravity-field decreases in strength with increasing distance from the centre of the field, that is, in the outward direction, so does the levity-field decrease in strength with increasing distance from its periphery, or in the inward direction. in both fields the direction of movement is from regions of lower to those of higher intensity. this is why things 'fall' under the influence of gravity and 'rise' under the influence of levity. * how does thermal expansion read as a letter in nature's script when seen in the light of the two contrasting field-concepts? let us, for simplicity's sake, imagine a spherically shaped metallic body, say, a ball of copper, which we expose to the influence of heat. as we have seen, it is the centrically orientated gravity-field which gives the ball its permanency of shape. consequently, the dynamic orientation of the material constituting its body is directed towards the interior of the body itself. now, the moment we bring heat to bear on the body we find its surface moving in the outward direction. the whole mass is clearly under the influence of some suction which is directed on to the body from outside. just as the plants grow in the anti-gravitational direction as a result of the suctional effect of levity (other factors which account for its growing into a particular shape, etc., being left out of consideration), so our copper ball grows in volume by being sucked away from its centre of gravity. it is the action of heat which has changed the ratio between gravity and levity at this spot in such a way as to allow levity to produce this effect. what we have thus found to be the true nature of the event perceived as a body's growth in volume under the influence of heat has a definite effect on our conception of spatially extended matter as such. for a physical body is always in some thermal state which may be regarded as higher than another, and it may therefore be regarded as being at all times thermally expanded to some extent. hence, it is all the time under the sway of both gravitational pressure and anti-gravitational suction. in fact, we may say ideally that, if there were no field working inwards from the cosmic periphery, the entire material content of the earthly realm would be reduced by gravitation to a spaceless point; just as under the sole influence of the peripheral field of levity it would dissipate into the universe. to ordinary scientific thinking this may sound paradoxical, but in reality it is not. observation of the nature of solid matter has led atomistic thought to regard a physical body as a heap of molecules so far apart that by far the greater part of the volume occupied by the body is just 'empty' space. in the scientific picture of molecules constituting a physical body, of atoms constituting the molecules, of electrons, protons, etc., constituting the atoms, all separated by spaces far exceeding the size of the elementary particles themselves, we find reflected, in a form comprehensible to the onlooker-consciousness, the fact that matter, even in the solid state, is kept in spatial extension by a field of force relating it to the cosmic periphery. * with this picture of solid matter as being held in spatial extension by its subjection to gravity and levity alike, we proceed to a study of the liquid and gaseous states of matter, while taking into account the role of heat in bringing these states about. following out our method of seeking to gain knowledge of a phenomenon by regarding it as part of a greater whole, let us ask what sort of change a portion of physical substance undergoes in its relation to the earth as a whole when, for instance, through the influence of heat, it passes from a solid to a liquid state. here we must keep in mind that it is part of the nature of a liquid to have no form of its own. the only natural boundary of a liquid substance is its upper surface. since this surface always lies parallel with the surface of the earth it forms part of a sphere, the centre point of which is identical with that of the gravitational centre of the earth. the passage of a portion of matter from solid to liquid thus signifies that it ceases to possess a centre of gravity of its own and is now merely obedient to the general gravity-field of the earth. we can thus speak of a transition of matter from the individual to the planetary condition. this is what heat brings about when a solid body melts. a large part of the heat used in melting is known to be absorbed by the substance during the process of melting. this is indicated by the thermometer remaining at the temperature of the melting-point once this has been reached, until the whole of the melting substance has liquefied. physics here speaks of 'free' heat becoming 'latent'. from the goethean point of view we see heat passing through a metamorphosis. whereas, previously, heat was perceptible to our sense of warmth, it now manifests as a gravity-denying property of matter. in order to obtain an idea of the liquid state of matter corresponding to reality, we must take into account yet another of its characteristics. when the heat becomes latent, it goes even further in contradicting gravity than by robbing matter of its own point of gravity and relating it to the earth's centre of gravity. this effect is shown in the well-known urge of all liquids to evaporate. hence we must say that even where matter in a liquid state preserves its own surface, this does not by any means represent an absolute boundary. above the surface there proceeds a continuous transition of substance into the next higher condition through evaporation. we see here the activity of heat going beyond the mere denial of gravity to a positive affirmation of levity. with the help of this conception of the integration of the liquid state within the polarity of gravity and levity, we are now able to draw a picture of the earth which, once obtained, answers many a question left unanswered by current scientific notions, among them the question why the earth's volcanic activity is confined to maritime regions. regarding the distribution of land and water on the earth's surface, we may say that to an observer in cosmic space the earth would not look at all like a solid body. rather would it appear as a gigantic 'drop' of water, its surface interspersed with solid formations, the continents and other land masses. moreover, the evidence assembled ever since professor a. wegener's first researches suggests that the continents are clod-like formations which 'float' on an underlying viscous substance and are able to move (very slowly) in both the vertical and horizontal directions. the oceanic waters are in fact separated from the viscous substratum by no more than a thin layer of solid earth, a mere skin in comparison with the size of the planet. further, this 'drop' of liquid which represents the earth is in constant communication with its environment through the perpetual evaporation from the ocean, as well as from every other body of water. this picture of the earth shows it lying under the twofold influence of the compressive force of gravity and the sucking force of levity. wherever land meets sea, there levity tends to prevail over gravity. it is in maritime regions, accordingly, that the inner strata of the earth succumb most readily to those sudden changes in the gravity-levity tension wherein we have recognized the origin of seismic occurrences. * turning to the gaseous condition, we realize that although even here matter retains traces of a connexion with terrestrial gravity, levity is now the dominant factor. there are three characteristics of the gaseous condition which bring this out. one is the extreme readiness of gases to expand when heated; we see here how much easier than with solid substances it is for heat to overcome the influence of gravity. the second characteristic is the property of gases, peculiar to them, of expanding spontaneously, even when not heated. here we find gaseous matter displaying a dynamic behaviour which at lower stages occurs only under the stimulus of heat. the third characteristic is shown by the fact that all gases, unlike solids or liquids, respond with the same increase of volume to a given rise of temperature, however diverse their other qualities may be. once gases are mixed, therefore, they cannot be separated merely by raising or lowering the temperature. here we find the unifying effect of the cosmic periphery prevailing over the differentiating effect of terrestrial gravity. at this point we may recall goethe's reply to the botanist, wolff, who had ascribed the metamorphosis of plant-organs from root to blossom to a gradual stunting or atrophy of their vegetative force, whereas it was clear to goethe that simultaneously with a physical retrogression, there is a spiritual progress in the development of the plant. the fact that all wolff's efforts to see clearly did not save him from 'seeing past the thing' seemed to goethe an inevitable result of wolff's failure to associate with the eyes of the body those of the spirit. exactly the same thing holds good for the sequence of physical states of matter which we are considering here. observation of this sequence with the bodily eyes alone will show nothing but a reduction of the specific gravity of the material concerned. he who is at pains to observe also with the eye of the spirit, however, is aware of a positive increase of lightness going hand in hand with a decrease of heaviness. regarded thus, the three ponderable conditions form what goethe would have called a 'spiritual ladder'. as 'rungs' of such a ladder they clearly point to a fourth rung - that is, a fourth state in which levity so far prevails over gravity that the substance no longer has any weight at all. this picture of the fourfold transformation of matter calls for an inquiry into the transition between the third and fourth states, corresponding to the well-known transitions between the three ponderable states. * our observations have led us to a concept of heat essentially different from that held by modern science. science looks on heat simply as a condition of ponderable matter. we, on the contrary, are led to recognize in heat a fourth condition into which matter may pass on leaving the three ponderable conditions, and out of which it may emerge on the way to ponderability. before showing that such transitions are actually known in nature, it may be well to discuss here an objection which the customary way of thinking might plausibly advance against our whole method. it could be said that to assume a continuation of the sequence of the three ponderable conditions in the manner suggested is justified only if, as solids can be turned into liquids and these into gases, so gases could be transformed into a fourth condition and, conversely, be produced from the latter. in reply it can be said that the fact of our not being able at present to change gases artificially into pure heat does not justify the conclusion that this is in principle impossible. we know from previous considerations that the earth has reached an evolutionary stage at which all elements, including fire, have in certain degree grown 'old'. this applies in quite a special degree to the manipulations to which man, led by his death-bound consciousness, has learnt to submit matter in his laboratories. to decide what is possible or not possible in nature, therefore, can by no means be left to the judgment of laboratory research. as is shown by the following instance, taken from the realm of vegetable life, a case of the creation of matter 'out of nothing' is already known to biology - though biology, bound in its concepts to the law of conservation, shows some natural reluctance to recognize the true significance of the phenomenon. the plant which performs this strange feat is the tillandsia usneoides, indigenous to tropical america, and generally known as 'spanish moss'. its peculiarity is that it grows and flourishes without taking from its support any material whatsoever for the building up of its substance. its natural habitat is the dry bark of virgin forest trees. since civilization invaded its home it has acquired the habit of growing even on telegraph wires, which has given it the popular name of 'telegraph tresses'. chemical analysis of this plant shows the presence of an average of per cent iron, per cent silicic acid and · per cent phosphoric acid. this applies to samples taken from districts where the rainwater - the only source from which the plant could extract these substances in physical form - contains at most · per cent iron, · per cent silicic acid and no phosphoric acid at all. the tillandsia phenomenon is to a certain extent reminiscent of another well-known plant activity. this is the process of assimilation of carbon from the carbon dioxide of the air. if we leave aside the change in the chemical combination which the carbon undergoes, there remains the picture of the plant drawing this matter to itself from its environment and at the same time subjecting it to a spatial condensation. a similar but even more far-reaching process is exhibited by the tillandsia as regards the three substances referred to above. from the conditions given, it follows that the plant cannot possibly get these substances elsewhere than out of the surrounding atmosphere, and that in drawing upon them it submits them to a high degree of condensation. a special role, however, is played by the phosphorus, which shows that the assimilative power of the plant is sufficient to transform phosphorus from a physically not traceable state into one of spatially bounded materiality. following goethe in his coining of the concept of 'spiritual anastomosis' for the pollinating process of plants, we can here speak of 'spiritual assimilation'. in this respect tillandsia provides an instance 'worth a thousand, bearing all within itself. for what nature here unmistakably demonstrates serves as an eye-opener to a universal fact of the plant kingdom and of nature in general. the problem of the so-called trace-elements may serve as an illustration of this. modern agricultural chemistry has found of a number of chemical elements that their presence in the soil in scarcely traceable amounts is necessary in order to enable the plant to unfold healthily its latent characteristics. all sorts of deficiencies in cultivated plants have led to a recognition that the soil is impoverished of certain elements by intensive modern cultivation, and that it is to the lack of these elements that the deficiencies are due. much work has meanwhile been done in classifying the various deficiencies and in devising ways of giving the soil chemical substitutes for what is lacking. a large part of the work here involved could be saved were it only to be acknowledged that the soil owes the natural occurrence of the proper elements to a process which the plants themselves bring about in the soil, if men refrain from hindering them by cleverly thought-out methods of cultivation which fail to reckon with the nature of a living organism. let us be clear what it is that occurs when a plant exhibits any of the observed abnormalities. expressed in a goethean manner, these are the consequence of an insufficient direction of the organic processes in the plant body by the spiritual plant-type underlying it. that which ruskin called the 'spirit' of the plant, and to which he drew attention in his aphorism 'stand by form against force' (by 'form' all the peculiar qualities of the plant are to be understood), is unable to express itself in full measure. now we know that, in order to unfold its activities on the physical plane, spirit requires 'young' matter - that is, matter which is either in, or has just emerged from, a purely dynamic state. normally a definite spiritual type co-ordinates the dynamic functions present in the superphysical sphere of nature in the manner required to give the plant-organism its appropriate form. as, through the action of the type, these functions are brought down from the sphere of levity into that of gravity, they condense to the corresponding material elements and thus reach the soil in material form via the physical organism of the plant. the pattern as usually seen is now reversed; the presence of the various elements in the soil no longer appears as the origin of one or another function in the building up of the plant-body, but quite the reverse. the functions appear now as the cause, and the soil-elements as the effect. we may thus recognize the value of the latter as symptoms from which we can read the existence of a healthy connexion between the plant and the corresponding form-creating functions working on it from its surroundings. with this reversal of the relationship between cause and effect it is not, however, intended to represent the commonly accepted order of things as entirely incorrect. in the realm of life, cause and effect are not so onesidedly fixed as in the realm of mechanical forces. we may therefore admit that a reverse effect of the soil-elements upon the plant does take place. this is plainly demonstrable in the case of phosphorus which, however, by reason of its appearance in the soil in proportions hardly to be called a mere 'trace', represents a borderline case. what may apply within limits to phosphorus is wholly valid for the trace-elements - namely, that they are playing their essential role while they are themselves about to assume ponderable form. it thus becomes clear how mistaken it is to attempt to cure deficiencies in plants by adding to the soil chemical substitutes for the trace-elements. in the condition in which this material is offered to the plant, it is truly 'old' material. in order to be able to use it functionally, the plant has first to convert it into the 'young' condition. this indeed happens whilst the material is rising in the plant combined with the juices drawn by the plant from the soil under the influence of levity-force. only when this has occurred are the chemical elements able to serve the plant functionally. thus, by trying to give help to the plant in this way, we injure it at the same time. for by forcing it to perform the operation described, its general life-forces are diminished. a seeming success brought about in this manner, therefore, will not last long. there is, nevertheless, a way of helping the plant by adding to the soil certain material substances, provided these are first brought into a purely dynamic condition. that this can be done is a fact long since known, even if not recognized in its true significance. so far then, as serves the purpose of this book, we shall deal with it here. * the method in question is associated with the school of medicine known as homoeopathy, founded by the german doctor, hahnemann. the word 'homoeopathy' means 'healing through like'; the basic principle is to treat disease symptoms with highly diluted substances which produce similar symptoms if ingested in normal quantity. experience has in fact shown that the physiological effect of a substance taken from external nature is reversed when the substance is highly diluted. the method of diluting, or 'potentizing', is as follows: a given volume of the material to be diluted is dissolved in nine times its volume of distilled water. the degree of dilution thus arrived at is : , usually symbolized as ix. a tenth part of this solution is again mixed with nine times its bulk of water. the degree of dilution is now : , or x. this process is continued as far as is found necessary for a given purpose. insoluble substances can be dealt with in the same manner by first grinding them together with corresponding quantities of a neutral powder, generally sugar of milk. after a certain number of stages the powder can be dissolved in water; the solution may then be diluted further in the manner described. here we have to do with transfer of the quality of a substance, itself insoluble, to the dissolving medium, and then with the further treatment of the latter as if it were the original bearer of the quality concerned. this fact alone shows that potentization leads into a realm of material effects at variance with the ordinary scientific conception of matter. moreover, we can carry the dilutions as far as we please without destroying the capacity of the substance to produce physiological reactions. on the contrary, as soon as its original capacity is reduced to a minimum by dilution, further dilution gives it the power to cause actually stronger reactions, of a different and usually opposite kind. this second capacity rises through stages to a variable maximum as dilution proceeds. a simple calculation shows - if we accept the ordinary scientific view as to the size of a molecule - that not a single molecule of the original substance will remain in the solution after a certain degree of dilution has been reached. yet the biological and other reactions continue long after this, and are even enhanced. what this potentizing process shows is that, by repeated expansions in space, a substance can be carried beyond the ponderable conditions of matter into the realm of pure functional effect. the potentizing of physical substances thus gains a significance far wider than that of its medical use. there opens up, for example, the possibility of stimulating deficient functions in the plant by giving it the corresponding elements in homoeopathic doses. by this means the plant is brought into direct connexion with the relevant spiritual energy, and then left to carry out for itself the necessary process of materialization, instead of being forced by mere chemical additions to the soil first to potentize the substance itself. the same principle holds good for man and beast. they also need 'young material' for their nourishment, so that the type active in them - which in animals is the group-soul of the species and in man is the single individual - can express its true form and character. (we saw earlier that the will requires 'young' material in order to penetrate into the material layers of the muscles, as happens when the limbs are set in motion). in this respect, the difference between ensouled creatures and plants is that, what is harmful to plants is natural for men and animals: when taking nourishment the latter are able to bring about quickly and purposefully a transformation of matter into the purely dynamic state. their metabolic system is designed to enable them to take alien material from outer nature and to transform it through the forces of the various digestive enzymes; in the course of this process the material passes through a condition of complete 'chaos'. * having in this way established the existence of certain processes of materialization and dematerialization in single organisms within the earth's vegetable and other kingdoms, we shall now turn to the earth as a whole to find out where - organic being that she herself is - she manipulates corresponding processes on a macrotelluric scale. in an age following van helmont's discovery of the gaseous state of matter and the statement of the contra levitatem maxim, men were bound to think that the circulation of atmospheric moisture was limited to the three stages of liquid, vaporous (peculiar to the clouds, etc.) and the invisible aeriform condition. yet the role played by clouds in the myths of early peoples shows that they were once given a quite different status, between the 'created' and 'uncreated' worlds. our observations lead to a corresponding conception, but along the path of knowledge, guided by sense-perception, as befits our own age. in discussing howard's discovery of the stages of cloud-formation we found something lacking, for it was clear that the three stages of cloud proper - stratus, cumulus and cirrus - have a symmetry which is disturbed by the addition of a fourth stage, represented by the nimbus. this showed that there was need for a fifth stage, at the top of the series, to establish a balanced polarity. we can now clear up this question of a fifth stage, as follows. in the three actual cloud-forms, gravity and levity are more or less in equilibrium, but in the nimbus gravity predominates, and the atmospheric vapour condenses accordingly into separate liquid bodies, the drops of rain. the polar opposite of this process must therefore be one in which cloud-vapour, under the dominating influence of levity, passes up through a transitional condition into a state of pure heat. such a conception by no means contradicts the findings of external research. for meteorology has come to know of a heat-mantle surrounding the earth's atmosphere for which various hypothetical explanations have been advanced. naturally, none of them envisages the possibility of atmospheric substance changing into the heat-condition and back again. but if we learn to look on the chain of cloud-forms as a 'spiritual ladder', then we must expect the chain to conclude with a stage of pure heat, lying above the cirrus-sphere. the line of consideration pursued in the last part of this chapter has led us from certain observations in the plant kingdom, concerning the coming into being of ponderable matter from 'nothing', to a corresponding picture of the earth's meteorological sphere. when discussing the plant in this respect we found as an instance 'worth a thousand, bearing all within itself the case of tillandsia and more particularly the surprising appearance of phosphorus in it. now, in the meteorological realm it is once more phosphorus which gives us an instance of this kind. for there is the well-known fact of the presence of phosphorus in conspicuous quantities in snow without a source being traceable in the atmosphere whence this substance can have originated in ponderable condition. the phosphorus appearing in snow, therefore, brings before our very eyes the fact that the heights of the atmosphere are a realm of procreation of matter. (in our next chapter we shall learn what it is in phosphorus that makes it play this particular role in both fields of nature. what interests us in the present context is the fact itself.) * the knowledge we have now gained concerning the disappearance and appearance of physical water in the heights of the atmosphere will enable us to shake off one of the most characteristic errors to which the onlooker-consciousness has succumbed in its estimation of nature. this is the interpretation of thunderstorms, and particularly of lightning, which has held sway since the days of benjamin franklin. before developing our own picture of a thunderstorm let us recognize that science has found it necessary to reverse the explanation so long in vogue. whereas it was formerly taken for granted - and the assumption was supposed to rest upon experimental proof - that the condensing of atmospheric vapour which accompanied lightning was the consequence of a release of electrical tension by the lightning, the view now held is that the electrical tension responsible for the occurrence of lightning is itself the effect of a sudden condensing process of atmospheric moisture. the reason for this uncertainty is that the physical conditions in the sphere where lightning occurs, according to other experiences of electric phenomena, actually exclude the formation of such high tensions as are necessary for the occurrence of discharges on the scale of lightning. if we look at this fact without scientific bias we are once again reminded of the hans andersen child. we cannot help wondering how this child would behave in a physics class if the teacher, after vainly trying to produce a lightning-flash in miniature with the help of an electrical machine, explained that the moisture prevalent in the air was responsible for the failure of the experiment, and that he would have to postpone it to a day when the air was drier. it would scarcely escape the hans andersen child that the conditions announced by the teacher as unfavourable to the production of an electric spark by the machine, prevail in a much higher degree exactly where lightning, as a supposed electric spark, actually does occur. to conclude from the presence of electric tensions in the earth's atmosphere as an accompaniment of lightning, in the way first observed by franklin, that lightning itself is an electrical process, is to be under the same kind of illusion that led men to attribute electrical characteristics to the human soul because its activity in the body was found to be accompanied by electrical processes in the latter. the identification of lightning with the electric spark is a case of a confusion between the upper and lower boundaries of nature, characteristic of the onlooker-consciousness. as such, it has stood in the way of a real understanding both of non-electrical natural phenomena and of electricity itself. what we observe in lightning is really an instantaneous execution of a process which runs its course continually in the atmosphere, quietly and unnoticed. it is the process by which water reverts from the imponderable to the ponderable condition, after having been converted to the former through levity set in action by the sun (as usually happens in a high degree just before a thunderstorm). we form a true picture of the course of a storm if we say that nature enables us to witness a sublime display of the sudden bringing to birth of matter in earthbound form. what falls to the ground as rain (or hail) is substantially identical with what was perceptible to the eye, a moment before, as a majestic light-phenomenon. the accompanying electrical occurrence is the appropriate counter-event at nature's lower boundary. since the two form part of a larger whole they necessarily occur together; but the electrical occurrence must not be identified with the event in the heavens. the reason for their conjunction will become clear later, when we shall show how electrical polarity arises from the polarity between gravity and levity. if one learns to view a thunderstorm in this way, its spiritual connexion with the earth's volcanic processes becomes manifest; there is in fact a polar relationship between them. for just as in volcanic activity heavy matter is suddenly and swiftly driven heavenwards under the influence of levity, so in a storm does light matter stream earthwards under the influence of gravity. it is this combination of kinship and polar opposition which led people of old to regard both lightning in the heights and seismic disturbances in the depths as signs of direct intervention by higher powers in the affairs of men. a trace of this old feeling lingers in the greek word θειον (theion), divine, which was used to denote both lightning and sulphur. influenced by the same conception, the romans regarded as holy a spot where lightning had struck the earth; they even fenced it off to protect it from human contact. note in this respect also the biblical report of the event on mount sinai, mentioned before, telling of an interplay of volcanic and meteorological phenomena as a sign of the direct intervention of the godhead. see chapter iv. the other title of the paper, 'radiant matter', will gain significance for us in a later context. since the above was written, certain conclusions drawn from modern subatomic research have led some astro-physicists to the idea that hydrogen is continuously created in the cosmos 'out of nothing'. this does not affect the considerations of the present chapter. note the expression! for a vivid description of the interplay of both types of force in nature, see e. carpenter's account of his experience of a tree in his pagan and christian creeds. note how this picture of thermal expansion fits in with the one obtained for the solfatara phenomenon when we took into account all that is implicit in the latter, this throws light also on the problem of the use of chemicals as artificial fertilizers. see l. kolisko: wirksamkeit kleinster entitäten ('effects of smallest entities'), stuttgart, , an account of a series of experiments undertaken by the author at the biological institute of the goetheanum following suggestions by rudolf steiner. her aim was to examine the behaviour of matter on the way to and beyond the boundary of its ponderable existence. instead of using the trace-elements in mineral form, it is still better to use parts of certain plants with a strong 'functional tendency', specially prepared. this is done in the so-called bio-dynamic method of farming and gardening, according to rudolf steiner's indications. note, in this respect, the close of goethe's poem dedicated to the cirrus-formation and the poem inspired by his sight of a waterfall in the bernese alps as indications of the fact that he was himself aware of the water-rejuvenating process in the higher reaches of the atmosphere. chapter xi matter as part of nature's alphabet in the preceding chapter we drew attention to the fact that any spatially extended mass is under the sway of both gravity and levity. we then saw that with the transition of matter from the solid via the liquid to the gaseous state, not only does the specific gravity of the substance decrease, but at the same time an increase takes place of what we might call 'specific levity'. in the gaseous state, therefore, we find gravity-bound matter becoming so far levity-bound that it assumes the property of actively expanding in space. having once adopted the goethean way of thinking-in-polarities, we may feel sure that there is somewhere in nature a phenomenon which represents the polar opposite of the levity-gravity relationship peculiar to the gaseous state. in this latter state we find ponderable matter so far brought under the sway of levity that its behaviour is of a kind which van helmont, when he first observed it, could not help describing as 'paradoxical'. where, we must now ask, do we find imponderable essence so much under the sway of gravity that it shows the correspondingly paradoxical features? in other words, where does nature show levity concentrated in a limited part of space - that is, in a condition characteristic of ponderable matter? such concentrations of levity do indeed exist in varied forms. one is the 'warmth-body' represented by the blood-heat of the higher animals and man. there is, however, an occurrence of this kind also on the purely mineral level of nature, and it is this which has particular significance for our present study of matter. we meet it in all physical substances which have the peculiarity of being combustible. our next task is to study certain fundamentals in regard to the different ways in which levity and gravity are found to be intertwined in combustible substances, manifesting through the difference of their relation to the process of combustion - that is, the process by which levity is restored to its original condition. it is the aim of the present chapter to show that by doing justice to the imponderable aspect of combustion, the way is opened to a view of the 'elements', as scientific chemistry understands them, which will be in line with our dynamic conception of matter. there is nothing surprising in the fact that a new conception of the chemical element can arise from a re-study of the process of combustion, if we remember that it was the picture of combustion, characteristic of the spectator-consciousness, which determined the conception of the chemical element as it prevails in modern science. let us see how this conception came to pass historically in order to find where we stand to-day. * with the establishment of the knowledge of a state of physical matter which, as the definition ran, 'neither results from a combination of other physical substances nor is resolvable into such', the conviction arose that man's searching mind had reached 'rock-bottom'. this conviction, however, was shaken when, with the discovery of radium, an element became known whose property it is to disintegrate into two other elements, helium and lead. although this did not force science to abandon the element-concept altogether, it became necessary to find a new definition for it. this definition was established by professor w. ostwald at the beginning of the present century, when he stated that the chemical element represents a condition of physical matter in which 'any chemical change results in an increase of weight'. in this way, the chemical concept of the element achieved a meaning which had actually been implicit in it from its first conception. for its very formation had been the outcome of the contra-levitatem maxim. the following glance over the history of chemistry will show this. the birth of chemistry as a science, in the modern sense, is closely connected with a revolutionary change in the conception of what can be called the chemical arch-process-combustion, or, to use a more scientific term, oxidation. this change arose out of the contra-levitatem maxim and the new conception of heat which this maxim required. in the old doctrine of the four elements, heat had been conceived as a manifestation of the element of fire, and so, together with air, as belonging to the realm of the 'uncreated things'. hence the release of heat from created substance was always felt to be a sacred act, as is shown by the fire rites of old. modern man's conception of the same process is revealed in the answer one invariably receives from both layman and scientist when they are asked what they understand by combustion. it is described as a process through which oxygen combines with the combustible substance. and yet this side of combustion, first observed by j. priestley ( ), is neither the one for the sake of which man produces combustion in the service of his everyday life, nor is it at all observed by ordinary sense-perception. nevertheless, to describe the obvious fact, that combustion is liberation of heat from the combustible substance, will hardly occur to anyone to-day. this shows to what extent even the scientifically untrained consciousness in our time turns instinctively to the tangible or weighable side of nature, so that some effort is required to confess simply to what the eye and the other senses perceive. during the first hundred years after the establishment of the contra-levitatem maxim, man's situation was in a certain sense the opposite of this. then, people were struggling hard to get away from the old concept which saw in combustion nothing but the liberation of a super-terrestrial element from earthly fetters. this struggle found expression in a theory of heat which at that time greatly occupied scientific thinking. it is the so-called phlogiston-theory first proposed by the chemist stahl ( - ). this theory reveals the great uncertainty into which man's thinking about the world of the senses had arrived at that time. clinging to ideas inherited from antiquity, man's consciousness was already so far restricted to the forming of pure matter-bound concepts that he was tempted to conceive heat as a material element. to this heat-substance the name 'phlogiston' was given. at the same time, under the contra-levitatem maxim, it was impossible to conceive of substance except as ponderable substance. this led to the conviction that whenever heat appears as a result of some treatment of matter (combustion or friction), the material substance subject to this treatment must lose weight. the experiments of lavoisier ( - ), which he undertook following priestley's discovery of the role of oxygen in combustion, put an end to this theory. these experiments are rightly regarded as the actual beginning of modern chemistry. in lavoisier we find an observer of nature who was predominantly interested in what the scales could tell about changes in substances. it was from this aspect that he investigated the process of oxidation. what had already been observed by a few others, though without being taken seriously by them, he found confirmed - that, contrary to the phlogiston - theory, matter does not lose weight through oxidation but gains weight. further experiments proved beyond doubt that in all chemical reactions the total weight of the components remained constant. however much the substance resulting from the chemical reaction of others might differ from these, its weight always proved to be the same as their total weight. what else could be concluded from the apparent unchangeability of weight throughout all the chemical happenings in nature than that the ponderable world-content was of eternal duration? we see here how much modern chemistry and its concept of the chemical element has been ruled right from the start by the one-sided gravity concept of the onlooker-consciousness. together with the overcoming of the fallacy that heat is a ponderable substance (full certainty was indeed established only some time later through the investigations of davy and rumford into heat generated by friction) - human thinking was led into a one-sided conception of combustion which was merely the opposite of the one held earlier. whereas formerly man's mind was pre-eminently occupied by the liberation of the imponderable element through combustion, it now turned entirely to what goes on in the ponderable realm. as we have seen, one outcome of this one-sided view of combustion was the modern concept of the chemical element. to-day our task is to overcome this concept by taking a step corresponding to the one that led to it, that is, by a study of combustibility which does justice to both sides of the process involved. * as objects of our observation we choose three chemical elements all of which have the property of combustibility: sulphur, phosphorus, and carbon. as will become clear, our choice of these three is determined by the fact that together they represent an instance 'worth a thousand, bearing all within itself. we begin by comparing sulphur and phosphorus. in their elementary state they have in common the fact that any chemical change is bound up with an increase in their weight. in this state both are combustible. apart from this similarity, there is a great difference between them, as the way of storing them illustrates. for while elementary sulphur needs only an ordinary container, phosphorus has to be kept under cover of water in order to prevent the atmospheric oxygen from touching it. the reason is that the combustible state is natural for sulphur, but not for phosphorus, the latter's natural state being the oxidized one. this different relationship of sulphur and phosphorus to the oxidizable (reduced) and the oxidized state manifests itself in all their chemical reactions. to object here that the different reactions of the two substances are due only to the difference of their respective temperatures of ignition, and that above these temperatures the difference will more or less disappear (all combustible substances at a sufficiently high temperature becoming more or less similar to phosphorus), would not meet the argument. for what matters here is just how the particular substance behaves at that level of temperature on which the earth unfolds her normal planetary activity. to ignore this would be to violate one of the principles we have adopted from goethe, which is never to derive fundamental concepts of nature from observations obtained under artificial conditions. sulphur and phosphorus are thus seen to represent two polarically opposite tendencies with regard to the levity-gravity coherence which breaks up when combustion occurs. in the case of sulphur, the ponderable and imponderable entities appear to cling together; in the case of phosphorus, they seem to be anxious to part. these two different tendencies - which are characteristic of many other substances and represent a basic factor in the chemical happenings of the earth - are in their own way a pair of opposites. since each of them represents in itself a relationship between two poles of a polarity-gravity and levity - so in their mutual relationship they represent a 'polarity of polarities'. in fig. an attempt has been made to represent this fact by a symbolic diagram. in this figure the shaded part represents the imponderable, the black part the ponderable entity. in the left-hand symbol both are shown in a relationship corresponding to the one characteristic of sulphur; in the right-hand figure the relationship is characteristic of phosphorus. here we have an instance of a kind of polarity which belongs to the fundamentals of nature as much as does the levity-gravity polarity itself. wherever two poles of a polarity meet, they have the possibility of being connected in two ways which in themselves are again polarically opposite. our further studies will bring up various other instances of this kind, and will show us that part of the epistemological trouble in which science finds itself to-day results from the fact that the scientific mind has been unable to distinguish between the two kinds of polarity - that is, as we shall say henceforth, between polarities of the first order (primary polarities) and polarities of the second order (secondary polarities). in actual fact, the distinction between the two orders of polarity has been implicit in the descriptions given in this book right from the start. remember, in this respect, how the picture of the threefold psycho-physical structure of man, which has proved a master-key for unlocking the most varied scientific problems, was first built up. there, 'body' and 'soul' represented a polarity which is obviously one of the first order. by our observation of the human organism, in relation both to the different functions of the soul and to the different main organic systems, we further recognized the fact that the ways in which body and soul are interrelated are polarically opposite in the region of the brain and nerves and in the region of the metabolic processes, which again results in two polarically opposite activities of the soul, mental on the one hand, and volitional on the other. in what we called the pole-of-consciousness and the pole-of-life we therefore have a clear polarity of the second order, and so in everything that is connected with these two, as our further discussions will show. remembering that our first occasion to concern ourselves overtly with the concept of polarity was in connexion with the four elements, we may now ask whether the old doctrine did not embrace some conception of secondary polarity as well as of primary polarity, and if so, whether this might not prove as helpful in clarifying our own conceptions as was the primary polarity, cold-warm. that this is indeed so, the following description will show. beside the two qualities cold and warm the doctrine of the four elements pointed to two further qualities forming in themselves a pair of opposites, namely, dry and moist. just as the four elements were seen as grouping themselves in two pairs, fire-air on the one hand, water-earth on the other, the first being characterized by the quality warm, the second by cold, so were they seen to form two opposing groups, fire-earth and air-water, of which one was characterized by the quality dry, the other by the quality moist. fig. shows how the four elements in their totality were seen to arise out of the various combinations of the four qualities. in this diagram the element earth appears as a combination of the qualities dry and cold; water of cold and moist; air of moist and warm; fire of warm and dry. as a result, earth and fire, besides representing opposite poles, are also neighbours in the diagram. here we encounter a picture characteristic of all earlier ways of looking at the world: the members of a system of phenomena, when ranked in due order of succession, were seen to turn back on themselves circle-wise - or, more precisely, spiral-wise. in what way do the qualities dry and moist form a polarity of the second order, and how do they represent the chemical polarity characteristic of sulphur and phosphorus as well as all the other secondary polarities dealt with in this book? to understand this we must submit the couple dry-moist to the same scrutiny as we applied to cold and warm in our earlier discussion of the four elements. it lies in the nature of things that we instinctively associate these qualities with the solid and liquid states of matter respectively. this certainly agrees with the diagram given above, where the elements earth and water are distinguished precisely by their connexion with these two characteristics. yet, in addition to this, the qualities dry and moist are found to be characteristic also of fire and air respectively, though with the difference that they are linked not with the quality cold, as in the case of the lower elements, but with the quality warm. so we see that the concepts dry and moist, as they lived in the old picturing of them, mean a good deal more than we understand by them to-day. that these two respective attributes do not belong exclusively to the solid and the liquid states of matter can be seen at once by observing the different reactions of certain liquids to a solid surface which they touch. one need only recall the difference between water and quicksilver. if water runs over a surface it leaves a trail; quicksilver does not. water clings to the side of a vessel; again, quicksilver does not. a well-known consequence of this difference is that in a narrow tube the surface of the liquid - the so-called meniscus - stands higher at the circumference than at the centre in the case of water; with quicksilver it is just the reverse. in the sense of the two qualities, dry and moist, water is a 'moist' liquid; quicksilver a 'dry' one. on the other hand, the quality of moistness in a solid substance appears in the adhesive power of glue. let us now see how, in accordance with the scheme given in fig. , the four qualities in their respective combinations constitute the four elements. from the description we shall give here it will be realized how little such ancient schemes were based on abstract thoughts, and how much they were read from the facts of the world. moreover, a comparison with our description of the four stages of matter, given in the previous chapter, would show how far the conceptual content of the old doctrine covers the corresponding facts when they are read by the eye of the modern reader in nature, notwithstanding the changes nature has undergone in the meantime. the element fire reveals its attributes of warm and dry in a behaviour which combines a tendency to dynamic expansion with a disinclination to enter into lasting combination with the other elements. correspondingly, the behaviour of the element earth unites a tendency to contraction with an inclination to fall out of conjunction with the other elements. thus the attribute, dry, belongs equally to pure flame and sheer dust, though for opposite reasons. distinct from both these elements are the middle elements water and air; with them the attribute, moist, comes to expression in their tendency both to interpenetrate mutually and to absorb their neighbours - the liquid element absorbing solid matter and the aeriform element taking up heat. what distinguishes them is that water has a 'cold' nature, from which it gains its density; while air has a 'warm' nature, to which it owes its tendency to expand. in the most general sense, the quality 'moist' applies wherever two different entities are drawn into some kind of intimate relationship with one another; 'dry' applies where no such relationship prevails. seen thus, they reveal themselves as a true polarity of the second order, for they describe the relationship between two entities which already exists, and, in the case of the four elements, are themselves a polarity. as such, they characterize precisely those polar relationships of the second order on which the threefold structure of man, we found, is based. for from the physical, as much as from the superphysical aspect the nerve-system represents the 'dry' part, and the metabolic system the 'moist' part of man's being. the same is true of the relationship between the soul and the surrounding world at both poles. here we have the antithesis between the 'dry' onlooker-relationship of the intellect to the world, conceived as a mere picture whose essence remains outside the boundaries of the soul, and the 'moist' intermingling of the will-force with the actual forces of the world. * it needs no further explanation to realize that sulphur and phosphorus, by the way in which levity and gravity are interlinked in each of them, are representatives of these very qualities 'moist' and 'dry'. as such they are universally active bearers of these qualities in every realm of nature's varied activities, as their physical presence in such cases confirms. consequently, sulphur is found in the protein-substances of the human body wherever they are bearers of metabolic processes, while the presence of phosphorus is characteristic of the nerves and bones. (although its full significance will become clear to us only later, the fact may here be mentioned that the composition of the bone-material in the different parts of man's skeleton, as scientific analysis has shown, is such that the content of phosphate of calcium in proportion to carbonate of calcium is higher in all those parts which are spherically shaped, such as the upper parts of the skull and the upper ends of the limb-bones.) in particular the plant reveals clearly the functional significance of phosphorus as the bearer of the quality 'dry'. for its healthy growth the plant needs the quality 'dry' in two places: at the root, where it unites with the element earth, and in the flower, where it opens itself to the fire element. root and flower as distinct from the middle parts of the plant are both 'dry' formations. in a still higher degree this applies to the seed, which must separate itself from the mother plant to produce a separate new organism. all these are functions in the plant which, as was mentioned in the last chapter, require phosphorus for their healthy performance. our examination of phosphorus and sulphur from the functional point of view throws light also on their effect on the alternating conditions of waking and sleeping, necessary for the life of the higher organisms. this rhythmic change, which affects especially the nervous system, is an alternation between the qualities dry and moist. disturbance of this alternation in one direction or the other makes it difficult for the organism to react in full wakefulness or normal sleep. it follows that treatment with phosphorus or sulphur in suitable preparations, according to the nature of the disturbance, can be beneficial. if we study the functional properties of such substances we see that they can teach us a rational understanding of therapeutic practices, which otherwise must remain mere results of trial and error. the same applies to phosphorus and sulphur treatment in cases where in the functionally 'dry' bone system or in the functionally 'moist' metabolic system of the organism the wrong quality predominates. if the bones remain too 'moist' there is a tendency to rickets; against this, certain fish-oils are a well-known remedy on account of their highly phosphoric nature. conversely, the application of sulphur can help where weakness of the metabolic forces produces rheumatic or gouty sediments in parts of the body whose function is to serve by their mobility the activities of the will. in this case the abnormal predominance of the quality 'dry' can be counteracted by the medical application of sulphur. * having observed the action of sulphur and phosphorus in the laboratory and in living organisms, we will now turn to phenomena of a macrotelluric nature which reveal the participation of sulphur and phosphorus. there, sulphur points unmistakably to the earth's volcanism. it is a fact that, wherever mineral sulphur occurs in the earth, there we find a spot of former or present volcanic activity. similarly, there is no such spot on the earth without sulphur being present in one form or another. hence the name solfatara for the fumarole described in chapter ix. once again it is the solfatara which offers us a phenomenon, this time in connexion with the special role sulphur plays in its activities, which, regarded with the eye of the spirit, assumes the significance of an instance 'worth a thousand'. in spite of the very high temperature of the sulphurous fumes emitted from various crevices on the edge of the solfatara, it is possible, thanks to the complete dryness of the fumes, to crawl a little way into the interior of these crevices. not far away from the opening of the crevice, where the hot fumes touch the cooler rock surface, one is met by a very beautiful spectacle - namely, the continual forming, out of nothing as it seems, of glittering yellow sulphur crystals, suspended in delicate chains from the ceiling. in this transformation of sulphurous substance from a higher material state, nearer to levity, to that of the solid crystal, we may behold an image of the generation of matter. for every physical substance and, therefore, every chemical element, exists originally as a pure function in the dynamic processes of the universe. wherever, as a result of the action of gravity, such a function congeals materially, there we meet it in the form of a physical-material substance. in the same sense, sulphur and phosphorus, in their real being, are pure functions, and where they occur as physical substances, there we meet these functions in their congealed state. one of the characteristics of the volcanic regions of the earth is the healing effect of substances found there. fango-mud, for instance, which was mentioned in the last chapter, is a much-used remedy against rheumatism. this is typical of functional sulphur. we may truly characterize the earth's volcanism as being qualitatively sulphurous. it is the sulphur-function coming to expression through a higher degree of 'moistness' in the relationship between gravity and levity which distinguishes volcanic regions from the rest of the otherwise 'dry' earth's crust. * to develop a corresponding picture of the function of phosphorus, we must try to find the macrotelluric sphere where this function operates similarly to that of sulphur in volcanism. from what has been said in the last chapter it will be evident that we must look to the atmosphere, as the site of snow-formation. it is this process which we must now examine more closely. in the atmosphere, to begin with, we find water in a state of vapour, in which the influence of the terrestrial gravity-field is comparatively weak. floating in this state, the vapour condenses and crystallization proceeds. obeying the pull of gravity, more and more crystals unite in their descent and gradually form flakes of varying sizes. the nearer they come to earth, the closer they fall, until at last on the ground they form an unbroken, more or less spherical, cover. imagine a snow-covered field glistening in the sun on a clear, quiet winter's day. as far as we can see, there is no sign of life, no movement. here water, which is normally fluid and, in its liquid state, serves the ever-changing life-processes, covers the earth in the form of millions of separate crystals shaped with mathematical exactitude, each of which breaks and reflects in a million rays the light from the sun (plate v). a contrast, indeed, between this quiet emergence of forms from levity into gravity, and the form-denying volcanism surging up out of gravity into levity, as shown by the ever-restless activity of the solfatara. as we found volcanism to be a macrotelluric manifestation of functional sulphur, we find in the process of snow-formation a corresponding manifestation of functional phosphorus. in the formation of snow, nature shows us in statu agendi a process which we otherwise meet in the earth only in its finished results, crystallization. we may, therefore, rightly look upon snow-formation as an ur-phenomenon in this sphere of nature's activities. as such it allows us to learn something concerning the origin in general of the crystalline realm of the earth; and, vice versa, our insight into the 'becoming' of this realm will enable us to see more clearly the universal function of which phosphorus is the main representative among the physical substances of the earth. it has puzzled many an observer that crystals occur in the earth with directions of their main axes entirely independent of the direction of the earthly pull of gravity. plate vi shows the photograph of a cluster of calcite crystals as an example of this phenomenon. it tells us that gravity can have no effect on the formation of the crystal itself. this riddle is solved by the phenomenon of snow-formation provided we allow it to speak to us as an ur-phenomenon. for it then tells us that matter must be in a state of transition from lightness into heaviness if it is to appear in crystalline form. the crystals in the earth, therefore, must have originated at a time when the relation between levity and gravity on the earth was different from what it is, in this sphere, to-day. the same language is spoken by the property of transparency which is so predominant among crystals. one of the fundamental characteristics of heavy solid matter is to resist light - in other words, to be opaque. exposed to heat, however, physical substance loses this feature to the extent that at the border of its ponderability all matter becomes pervious to light. now, in the transparent crystal matter retains this kinship to light even in its solid state. a similar message comes from the, often so mysterious, colouring of the crystals. here again nature offers us an instance which, 'worth a thousand', reveals a secret that would otherwise remain veiled. we refer to the pink crystals of tourmaline, whose colour comes from a small admixture of lithium. this element, which belongs to the group of the alkaline metals, does not form coloured salts (a property only shown by the heavier metals). if exposed to a flame, however, it endows it with a definite colour which is the same as that of the lithium-coloured tourmaline. read as a letter in nature's script, this fact tells us that precious stones with their flame-like colours are characterized by having kept something of the nature that was theirs before they coalesced into ponderable existence. in fact, they are 'frozen flames'. it is this fact, known from ancient intuitive experience, which prompted man of old to attribute particular spiritual significance to the various precious stones of the earth and to use them correspondingly in his rituals. crystallization, seen thus in its cosmic aspect, shows a dynamic orientation which is polarically opposite to that of the earth's seismic activities. just as in the latter we observe levity taking hold of ponderable matter and moving it in a direction opposite to the pull of gravity, so in crystallization we see imponderable matter passing over from levity into gravity. and just as we found in volcanism and related processes a field of activity of 'functional sulphur', so we found in snow-formation and related processes a field of activity of 'functional phosphorus'. both fields are characterized by an interaction between gravity and levity, this interaction being of opposite nature in each of them. here, again, sulphur and phosphorus appear as bearers of a polarity of the second order which springs from the two polarically opposite ways of interaction between the poles of the polarity of the first order: levity-gravity. * as in man there is a third system, mediating between the two polar systems of his organism, so between sulphur and phosphorus there is a third element which in all its characteristics holds a middle place between them and is the bearer of a corresponding function. this element is carbon. to see this we need only take into consideration carbon's relationship to oxidation and reduction respectively. as it is natural for sulphur to be in the reduced state, and for phosphorus to be in the oxidized state, so it is in the nature of carbon to be related to both states and therefore to oscillate between them. by its readiness to change over from the oxidized to the reduced state, it can serve the plant in the assimilation of light, while by its readiness to make the reverse change it serves man and animal in the breathing process. we breathe in oxygen from the air; the oxygen circulates through the blood-stream and passes out again in conjunction with carbon, as carbon dioxide, when we exhale. in the process whereby the plants reduce the carbon dioxide exhaled by man and animal, while the latter again absorb with their food the carbon produced in the form of organic matter by the plant, we see carbon moving to and fro between the oxidized and the reduced conditions. within the plant itself, too, carbon acts as functionary of the alternation between oxidation and reduction. during the first half of the year, when vegetation is unfolding, there is a great reduction process of oxidized carbon, while in the second half of the year, when the withering process prevails, a great deal of the previously reduced carbon passes into the oxidized condition. as this is connected with exhaling and inhaling of oxygen through carbon, carbon can be regarded as having the function of the lung-organ of the earth. logically enough, we find carbon playing the same role in the middle part of the threefold human organism. another indication of the midway position of carbon is its ability to combine as readily with hydrogen as with oxygen, and, in these polar combinations, even to combine with itself. in this latter form it provides the basis of the innumerable organic substances in nature, and serves as the 'building stones' of the body-substances of living organisms. among these, the carbohydrates produced by the plants show clearly the double function of carbon in the way it alternates between the states of starch and sugar. when the plant absorbs through its leaves carbonic acid from the air and condenses it into the multiple grains of starch with their peculiar structure characteristic for each plant species, we have a biological event which corresponds to the formation of snow in the meteorological realm. here we see carbon at work in a manner functionally akin to that of phosphorus. sugar, on the other hand, has its place in the saps of the plants which rise through the stems and carry up with them the mineral substances of the earth. here we find carbon acting in a way akin to the function of sulphur. this twofold nature of carbon makes itself noticeable down to the very mineral sphere of the earth. there we find it in the fact that carbon occurs both in the form of the diamond, the hardest of all mineral substances, and also in the form of the softest, graphite. here also, in the diamond's brilliant transparency, and in the dense blackness of graphite, carbon reveals its twofold relation to light. in fig. an attempt has been made to represent diagrammatically the function of carbon in a way corresponding to the previous representation of the functions of sulphur and phosphorus. * by adding carbon to our observations on the polarity of sulphur and phosphorus we have been led to a triad of functions each of which expresses a specific interplay of levity and gravity. that we encounter three such functions is not accidental or arbitrary. rather is it based on the fact that the interaction of forces emanating from a polarity of the first order, produces a polarity of the second order, whose poles establish between them a sphere of balance. through our study of levity and gravity in the matter-processes of the earth, a perspective thus opens up into a structural principle of nature which is actually not new to us. we encountered it at the very beginning of this book when we discussed the threefold psycho-physical order of man's being. in the days of an older intuitive nature-wisdom man knew of a basic triad of functions as well as he knew of the four elementary qualities. we hear a last echo of this in the middle ages, when people striving for a deeper understanding of nature spoke of the trinity of salt, mercury and sulphur. what the true alchemists, as these seekers of knowledge called themselves, meant by this was precisely the same as the conception we have here reached through our own way of studying matter ('salt' standing for 'functional phosphorus', 'mercury' for 'functional carbon'). only the alchemist's way was a different one. this is not the place to enter into a full examination of the meaning and value of alchemy in its original legitimate sense (which must not be confused with activities that later on paraded under the same name). only this we will say - that genuine alchemy owes its origin to an impulse which, at a time when the onlooker-consciousness first arose, led to the foundation of a school for the development of an intuitive relationship of the soul with the world of the senses. this was to enable man to resist the effects of the division which evolution was about to set up in his soul-life - the division which was to give him, on the one hand, an abstract experience of his own self, divorced from the outer world, and on the other a mere onlooker's experience of that outer world. as a result of these endeavours, concepts were formed which in their literal meaning seemed to apply merely to outwardly perceptible substances, while in truth they stood for the spiritual functions represented by those substances, both within and outside the human organism. thus the alchemist who used these concepts thought of them first as referring to his own soul, and to the inner organic processes corresponding to the various activities of his soul. when speaking of salt he meant the regulated formative activity of his thinking, based on the salt-forming process in his nervous system. when he spoke of mercury he meant the quickly changing emotional life of the soul and the corresponding activities of the rhythmic processes of the body. lastly, sulphur meant the will activities of his soul and the corresponding metabolic processes of the body. only through studying these functions within himself, and through re-establishing the harmony between them which had been theirs in the beginning, and from which, he felt, man had deviated in the course of time, did the alchemist hope to come to an understanding of their counterparts in the external cosmos. older alchemical writings, therefore, can be understood only if prescriptions which seem to signify certain chemical manipulations are read as instructions for certain exercises of the soul, or as advices for the redirection of corresponding processes in the body. for instance, if an alchemist gave directions for a certain treatment of sulphur, mercury and salt, with the assertion that by carrying out these directions properly, one would obtain aurum (gold), he really spoke of a method to direct the thinking, feeling and willing activities of the soul in such a way as to gain true wisdom. * as in the case of the concepts constituting the doctrine of the four elements, we have represented here the basic alchemical concepts not only because of their historical significance, but because, as ingredients of a still functional conception of nature, they assume new significance in a science which seeks to develop, though from different starting-points, a similar conception. as will be seen in our further studies, these concepts prove a welcome enrichment of the language in which we must try to express our readings in nature. roger bacon in the thirteenth, and berthold schwartz in the fourteenth century, are reputed to have carried out experiments by mixing physical salt (in the form of the chemically labile saltpetre) with physical sulphur and - after some initial attempts with various metals - with charcoal, and then exposing the mixture to the heat of physical fire. the outcome of this purely materialistic interpretation of the three alchemical concepts was not the acquisition of wisdom, or, as schwartz certainly had hoped, of gold, but of ... gunpowder! chapter xii space and counter-space with the introduction, in chapter x, of the peripheral type of force-field which appertains to levity as the usual central one does to gravity, we are compelled to revise our conception of space. for in a space of a kind we are accustomed to conceive, that is, the three-dimensional, euclidean space, the existence of such a field with its characteristic of increasing in strength in the outward direction is a paradox, contrary to mathematical logic. this task, which in view of our further observations of the actions of the levity-gravity polarity in nature we must now tackle, is, however, by no means insoluble. for in modern mathematics thought-forms are already present which make it possible to develop a space-concept adequate to levity. as referred to in chapter i, it was rudolf steiner who first pointed to the significance in this respect of the branch of modern mathematics known as projective geometry. he showed that projective geometry, if rightly used, carries over the mind from the customary abstract to a new concrete treatment of mathematical concepts. the following example will serve to explain, to start with, what we mean by saying that mathematics has hitherto been used abstractly. one of the reasons why the world-picture developed by einstein in his theory of relativity deserves to be acknowledged as a step forward in comparison with the picture drawn by classical physics, lies in the fact that the old conception of three-dimensional space as a kind of 'cosmic container', extending in all directions into infinity and filled, as it were, with the content of the physical universe, is replaced by a conception in which the structure of space results from the laws interrelating this content. our further discussion will show that this indeed is the way along which, to-day, mathematical thought must move in order to cope with universal reality. however, for reasons discussed earlier, einstein was forced to conceive all events in the universe after the model of gravity as observable on the earth. in this way he arrived at a space-structure which possesses neither the three-dimensionality nor the rectilinear character of so-called euclidean space - a space-picture which, though mathematically consistent, is incomprehensible by the human mind. for nothing exists in our mind that could enable us to experience as a reality a space-time continuum of three dimensions which is curved within a further dimension. this outcome of einstein's endeavours results from the fact that he tried by means of gravity-bound thought to comprehend universal happenings of which the true causes are non-gravitational. a thinking that has learnt to acknowledge the existence of levity must indeed pursue precisely the opposite direction. instead of freezing time down into spatial dimension, in order to make it fit into a world ruled by nothing but gravity, we must develop a conception of space sufficiently fluid to let true time have its place therein. we shall see how such a procedure will lead us to a space-concept thoroughly conceivable by human common sense, provided we are prepared to overcome the onlooker-standpoint in mathematics also. einstein owed the possibility of establishing his space-picture to a certain achievement of mathematical thinking in modern times. as we have seen, one of the peculiarities of the onlooker-consciousness consists in its being devoid of all connexion with reality. the process of thinking thereby gained a degree of freedom which did not exist in former ages. in consequence, mathematicians were enabled in the course of the nineteenth century to conceive the most varied space-systems which were all mathematically consistent and yet lacked all relation to external existence. a considerable number of space-systems have thus become established among which there is the system that served einstein to derive his space-time concept. some of them have been more or less fully worked out, while in certain instances all that has been done is to show that they are mathematically conceivable. among these there is one which in all its characteristics is polarically opposite to the euclidean system, and which is destined for this reason to become the space-system of levity. it is symptomatic of the remoteness from reality of mathematical thinking in the onlooker-age that precisely this system has so far received no special attention. for the purpose of this book it is not necessary to expound in detail why modern mathematical thinking has been led to look for thought-forms other than those of classical geometry. it is enough to remark that for quite a long time there had been an awareness of the fact that the consistency of euclid's definitions and proofs fails as soon as one has no longer to do with finite geometrical entities, but with figures which extend into infinity, as for instance when the properties of parallel straight lines come into question. for the concept of infinity was foreign to classical geometrical thinking. problems of the kind which had defeated euclidean thinking became soluble directly human thinking was able to handle the concept of infinity. we shall now indicate some of the lines of geometrical thought which follow from this. * let us consider a straight line extending without limits in either direction. projective geometry is able to state that a point moving along this line in one direction will eventually return from the other. to see this, we imagine two straight lines a and b intersecting at p. one of these lines is fixed (a); the other (b) rotates uniformly about c. fig. indicates the rotation of b by showing it in a number of positions with the respective positions of its point of intersection with a (p , p . . .). we observe this point moving along a, as a result of the rotation of b, until, when both lines are parallel, it reaches infinity. as a result of the continued rotation of b, however, p does not remain in infinity, but returns along a from the other side. we find here two forms of movement linked together - the rotational movement of a line (b) on a point (c), and the progressive movement of a point (p) along a line (a). the first movement is continuous, and observable throughout within finite space. therefore the second movement must be continuous as well, even though it partly escapes our observation. hence, when p disappears into infinity on one side of our own point of observation, it is at the same time in infinity on the other side. in order words, an unlimited straight line has only one point at infinity. it is clear that, in order to become familiar with this aspect of geometry, one must grow together in inward activity with the happening which is contained in the above description. what we therefore intend by giving such a description is to provide an opportunity for a particular mental exercise, just as when we introduced goethe's botany by describing a number of successive leaf-formations. here, as much as there, it is the act of 're-creating' that matters. the following exercise will help us towards further clarity concerning the nature of geometrical infinity. we imagine ourselves in the centre of a sphere which we allow to expand uniformly on all sides. whilst the inner wall of this sphere withdraws from us into ever greater distances, it grows flatter and flatter until, on reaching infinite distance, it turns into a plane. we thus find ourselves surrounded everywhere by a surface which, in the strict mathematical sense, is a plane, and is yet one and the same surface on all sides. this leads us to the conception of the plane at infinity as a self-contained entity although it expands infinitely in all directions. this property of a plane at infinity, however, is really a property of any plane. to realize this, we must widen our conception of infinity by freeing it from a certain one-sidedness still connected with it. this we do by transferring ourselves into the infinite plane and envisaging, not the plane from the point, but the point from the plane. this operation, however, implies something which is not obvious to a mind accustomed to the ordinary ways of mathematical reasoning. it therefore requires special explanation. in the sense of euclidean geometry, a plane is the sum-total of innumerable single points. to take up a position in a plane, therefore, means to imagine oneself at one point of the plane, with the latter extending around in all directions to infinity. hence the journey from any point in space to a plane is along a straight line from one point to another. in the case of the plane being at infinity, it would be a journey along a radius of the infinitely large sphere from its centre to a point at its circumference. in projective geometry the operation is of a different character. just as we arrived at the infinitely large sphere by letting a finite sphere grow, so must we consider any finite sphere as having grown from a sphere with infinitely small extension; that is, from a point. to travel from the point to the infinitely distant plane in the sense of projective geometry, therefore, means that we have first to identify ourselves with the point and 'become' the plane by a process of uniform expansion in all directions. as a result of this we do not arrive at one point in the plane, with the latter extending round us on all sides, but we are present in the plane as a whole everywhere. no point in it can be characterized as having any distance, whether finite or infinite, from us. nor is there any sense in speaking of the plane itself as being at infinity. for any plane will allow us to identify ourselves with it in this way. and any such plane can be given the character of a plane at infinity by relating it to a point infinitely far away from it (i.e. from us). having thus dropped the one-sided conception of infinity, we must look for another characterization of the relationship between a point and a plane which are infinitely distant from one another. this requires, first of all, a proper characterization of point and plane in themselves. conceived dynamically, as projective geometry requires, point and plane represent a pair of opposites, the point standing for utmost contraction, the plane for utmost expansion. as such, they form a polarity of the first order. both together constitute space. which sort of space this is, depends on the relationship in which they are envisaged. by positing the point as the unit from which to start, and deriving our conception of the plane from the point, we constitute euclidean space. by starting in the manner described above, with the plane as the unit, and conceiving the point from it, we constitute polar-euclidean space. the realization of the reversibility of the relationship between point and plane leads to a conception of space still free from any specific character. by g. adams this space has been appositely called archetypal space, or ur-space. both euclidean and polar-euclidean space are particular manifestations of it, their mutual relationship being one of metamorphosis in the goethean sense. through conceiving euclidean and polar-euclidean space in this manner it becomes clear that they are nothing else than the geometrical expression of the relationship between gravity and levity. for gravity, through its field spreading outward from an inner centre, establishes a point-to-point relation between all things under its sway; whereas levity draws all things within its domain into common plane-relations by establishing field-conditions wherein action takes place from the periphery towards the centre. what distinguishes in both cases the plane at infinity from all other planes may be best described by calling it the all-embracing plane; correspondingly the point at infinity may be best described as the all-relating point. in outer nature the all-embracing plane is as much the 'centre' of the earth's field of levity as the all-relating point is the centre of her field of gravity. all actions of dynamic entities, such as that of the ur-plant and its subordinate types, start from this plane. seeds, eye-formations, etc., are nothing but individual all-relating points in respect of this plane. all that springs from such points does so because of the point's relation to the all-embracing plane. this may suffice to show how realistic are the mathematical concepts which we have here tried to build up. * when we set out earlier in this book (chapter viii) to discover the source of galileo's intuition, by which he had been enabled to find the theorem of the parallelogram of forces, we were led to certain experiences through which all men go in early childhood by erecting their body and learning to walk. we were thereby led to realize that man's general capacity for thinking mathematically is the outcome of early experiences of this kind. it is evident that geometrical concepts arising in man's mind in this way must be those of euclidean geometry. for they are acquired by the will's struggle with gravity. the dynamic law discovered in this way by galileo was therefore bound to apply to the behaviour of mechanical forces - that is, of forces acting from points outward. in a similar way we can now seek to find the source of our capacity to form polar-euclidean concepts. as we were formerly led to experiences of man's early life on earth, so we are now led to his embryonic and even pre-embryonic existence. before man's supersensible part enters into a physical body there is no means of conveying to it experiences other than those of levity, and this condition prevails right through embryonic development. for while the body floats in the mother's foetal fluid it is virtually exempt from the influence of the earth's field of gravity. history has given us a source of information from these early periods of man's existence in traherne's recollections of the time when his soul was still in the state of cosmic consciousness. among his descriptions we may therefore expect to find a picture of levity-space which will confirm through immediate experience what we have arrived at along the lines of realistic mathematical reasoning. among poems quoted earlier, his the praeparative and my spirit do indeed convey this picture in the clearest possible way. the following are relevant passages from these two poems. in the first we read: 'then was my soul my only all to me, a living endless ey, scarce bounded with the sky whose power, and act, and essence was to see: i was an inward sphere of light, or an interminable orb of sight, exceeding that which makes the days . . .' in the second poem the same experience is expressed in richer detail. there he says of his own soul that it - ... being simple, like the deity, in its own centre is a sphere, not limited but everywhere. it acts not from a centre to its object, as remote; but present is, where it doth go to view the being it doth note ... a strange extended orb of joy proceeding from within, which did on ev'ry side display its force; and being nigh of kin to god, did ev'ry way dilate its self ev'n instantaneously, yet an indivisible centre stay, in it surrounding all eternity. 'twas not a sphere; yet did appear one infinite: 'twas somewhat everywhere.' observe the distinct description of how the relation between circumference and centre is inverted by the former becoming itself an 'indivisible centre'. in a space of this kind there is no here and there, as in euclidean space, for the consciousness is always and immediately at one with the whole space. motion is thus quite different from what it is in euclidean space. traherne himself italicized the word 'instantaneous', so important did he find this fact. (the quality of instantaneousness - equal from the physical point of view to a velocity of the value â�� - will occupy us more closely as a characteristic of the realm of levity when we come to discuss the apparent velocity of light in connexion with our optical studies.) by thus realizing the source in man of the polar-euclidean thought-forms, we see the discovery of projective geometry in a new light. for it now assumes the significance of yet another historical symptom of the modern re-awakening of man's capacity to remember his prenatal existence. * we know from our previous studies that the concept of polarity is not exhausted by conceiving the world as being constituted by polarities of one order only. besides primary polarities, there are secondary ones, the outcome of interaction between the primary poles. having conceived of point and plane as a geometrical polarity of the first order, we have therefore to ask what formative elements there are in geometry which represent the corresponding polarity of the second order. the following considerations will show that these are the radius, which arises from the point becoming related to the plane, and the spherically bent surface (for which we have no other name than that again of the sphere), arising from the plane becoming related to the point. in euclidean geometry the sphere is defined as 'the locus of all points which are equidistant from a given point'. to define the sphere in this way is in accord with our post-natal, gravity-bound consciousness. for in this state our mind can do no more than envisage the surface of the sphere point by point from its centre and recognize the equal distance of all these points from the centre. seen thus, the sphere arises as the sum-total of the end-points of all the straight lines of equal length which emerge from the centre-point in all directions. fig. indicates this schematically. here the radius, a straight line, is clearly the determining factor. we now move to the other pole of the primary polarity, that is to the plane, and let the sphere arise by imagining the plane approaching an infinitely distant point evenly from all sides. we view the process realistically only by imagining ourselves in the plane, so that we surround the point from all sides, with the distance between us and the point diminishing gradually. since we remain all the time on the surface, we have no reason to conceive any change in its original position; that is, we continue to think of it as an all-embracing plane with regard to the chosen point. the only way of representing the sphere diagrammatically, as a unit bearing in itself the character of the plane whence it sprang, is as shown in fig. , where a number of planes, functioning as tangential planes, are so related that together they form a surface which possesses everywhere the same distance from the all-relating point. since point and plane represent in the realm of geometrical concepts what in outer nature we find in the form of the gravity-levity polarity, we may expect to meet radius and sphere as actual formative elements in nature, wherever gravity and levity interact in one way or another. a few observations may suffice to give the necessary evidence. further confirmation will be furnished by the ensuing chapters. the radius-sphere antithesis appears most obviously in the human body, the radial element being represented by the limbs, the spherical by the skull. the limbs thus become the hieroglyph of a dynamic directed from the point to the plane, and the skull of the opposite. this indeed is in accord with the distribution in the organism of the sulphur-salt polarity, as we learnt from our physiological and psychological studies. inner processes and outer form thus reveal the same distribution of poles. in the plant the same polarity appears in stalk and leaf. obviously the stalk represents the radial pole. the connexion between leaf and sphere is not so clear: in order to recognize it we must appreciate that the single plant is not a self-contained entity to the same degree as is the human being. the equivalent of the single man is the entire vegetable covering of the earth. in man there is an individual centre round which the bones of his skull are curved; in the plant world the equivalent is the centre of the earth. it is in relation to this that we must conceive of the single leaves as parts of a greater sphere. in the plant, just as in man, the morphological polarity coincides with the biological. there is, on the one hand, the process of assimilation (photosynthesis), so characteristic of the leaf. through this process matter passes over from the aeriform condition into that of numerous separate, characteristically structured solid bodies - the starch grains. besides this kind of assimilation we have learnt to recognize a higher form which we called 'spiritual assimilation'. here, a transition of substance from the domain of levity to that of gravity takes place even more strikingly than in ordinary (physical) assimilation (chapter x). the corresponding process in the linear stalk is one which we may call 'sublimation' - again with its extension into 'spiritual sublimation'. through this process matter is carried in the upward direction towards ever less ponderable conditions, and finally into the formless state of pure 'chaos'. by this means the seed is prepared (as we have seen) with the help of the fire-bearing pollen, so that after it has fallen to the ground, it may serve as an all-relating point to which the plant's type can direct its activity from the universal circumference. in order to find the corresponding morphological polarity in the animal kingdom, we must realize that the animal, by having the main axis of its body in the horizontal direction, has a relationship to the gravity-levity fields of the earth different from those of both man and plant. as a result, the single animal body shows the sphere-radius polarity much less sharply. if we compare the different groups of the animal kingdom, however, we find that the animals, too, bear this polarity as a formative element. the birds represent the spherical (dry, saline) pole; the ruminants the linear (moist, sulphurous) pole. the carnivorous quadrupeds form the intermediary (mercurial) group. as ur-phenomenal types we may name among the birds the eagle, clothed in its dry, silicic plumage, hovering with far-spread wings in the heights of the atmosphere, united with the expanses of space through its far-reaching sight; among the ruminants, the cow, lying heavily on the ground of the earth, given over entirely to the immensely elaborated sulphurous process of its own digestion. between them comes the lion - the most characteristic animal for the preponderance of heart-and-lung activities in the body, with all the attributes resulting from that. within the scope of this book it can only be intimated briefly, but should not be left unmentioned for the sake of those interested in a further pursuit of these lines of thought, that the morphological mean between radius and sphere (corresponding to mercurius in the alchemical triad) is represented by a geometrical figure known as the 'lemniscate', a particular modification of the so-called cassinian curves. for further details, see the writings of g. adams and l. locher-ernst who, each in his own way, have made a beginning with applying projective geometry on the lines indicated by rudolf steiner. professor locher-ernst was the first to apply the term 'polar-euclidean' to the space-system corresponding to levity. for particulars of the lemniscate as the building plan of the middle part of man's skeleton, see k. könig, m.d.: beitrage zu einer reinen anatomic des menschlichen knochenskeletts in the periodical natura (dornach, - ). some projective-geometrical considerations concerning the lemniscate are to be found in the previously mentioned writings of g. adams and l. locher-ernst. chapter xiii 'radiant matter' when man in the state of world-onlooker undertook to form a dynamic picture of the nature of matter, it was inevitable that of all the qualities which belong to its existence he should be able to envisage only those pertaining to gravity and electricity. because his consciousness, at this stage of its evolution, was closely bound up with the force of gravity inherent in the human body, he was unable to form any conception of levity as a force opposite to gravity. yet, nature is built bipolarically, and polarity-concepts are therefore indispensable for developing a true understanding of her actions. this accounts for the fact that the unipolar concept of gravity had eventually to be supplemented by some kind of bipolar concept. now, the only sphere of nature-phenomena with a bipolar character accessible to the onlooker-consciousness 'was that of electricity. it was thus that man in this state of consciousness was compelled to picture the foundation of the physical universe as being made up of gravity and electricity, as we meet them in the modern picture of the atom, with its heavy electro-positive nucleus and the virtually weightless electro-negative electrons moving round it. once scientific observation and thought are freed from the limitations of the onlooker-consciousness, both gravity and electricity appear in a new perspective, though the change is different for each of them. gravity, while it becomes one pole of a polarity, with levity as the opposite pole, still retains its character as a fundamental force of the physical universe, the gravity-levity polarity being one of the first order. not so electricity. for, as the following discussion will show, the electrical polarity is one of the second order; moreover, instead of constituting matter as is usually believed, electricity turns out to be in reality a product of matter. * we follow goethe's line when, in order to answer the question, 'what is electricity?' we first ask, 'how does electricity arise?' instead of starting with phenomena produced by electricity when it is already in action, and deriving from them a hypothetical picture, we begin by observing the processes to which electricity owes its appearance. since there is significance in the historical order in which facts of nature have come to man's knowledge in the past, we choose as our starting-point, among the various modes of generating electricity, the one through which the existence of an electric force first became known. this is the rousing of the electric state in a body by rubbing it with another body of different material composition. originally, amber was rubbed with wool or fur. by picturing this process in our mind we become aware of a certain kinship of electricity with fire, since for ages the only known way of kindling fire was through friction. we notice that in both cases man had to resort to the will-power invested in his limbs for setting in motion two pieces of matter, so that, by overcoming their resistance to this motion, he released from them a certain force which he could utilize as a supplement to his own will. the similarity of the two processes may be taken as a sign that heat and electricity are related to each other in a certain way, the one being in some sense a metamorphosis of the other. our first task, therefore, will be to try to understand how it is that friction causes heat to appear in manifest form. there is no friction unless the surfaces of the rubbed bodies have a structure that is in some way interfered with by the rubbing, while at the same time they offer a certain resistance to the disturbance. this resistance is due to a characteristic of matter, commonly called cohesion. now we know that the inner coherence of a physical body is due to its point-relationship, that is to the gravitational force bound up with it. indeed, cohesion increases as we pass from the gaseous, through the liquid, to the solid state of matter. whilst a body's cohesion is due to gravity, its spatial extendedness is, as we have seen, due to levity. if we reduce the volume of a piece of physical matter by means of pressure, we therefore release levity-forces previously bound up in it, and these, as always happens in such cases, appear in the form of free heat. figuratively speaking, we may say that by applying pressure to matter, latent levity is pressed out of it, somewhat like water out of a wet sponge. the generation of free heat by friction rests on quite similar grounds. obviously, friction always requires a certain pressure. this alone, however, would not account for the amount of heat easily produced by friction. to the pressure there is in this case added a certain measure of encroachment upon the unity of the material substance. in the case of friction between two solid bodies, this may go so far that particles of matter are completely detached from the cohesive whole. the result is an increase in the number of single mass-centres on the earth, as against the all-embracing cosmic periphery. this diminishes the hold of levity on the total amount of physical matter present on the earth. again, the levity thus becoming free appears as external heat. (in the reverse case when, for instance through melting, a number of single physical bodies become one, free heat becomes latent.) both the diminishing of spatial extension and the breaking up of a whole into parts entail an increase in the quality 'dry'. this applies not only in the sense that the parts which have become independent units are 'dry' in relation to each other - formerly coherent matter being turned into dust - but also in the other sense, and one valid in both cases, that levity and gravity are losing part of their previous inter-connexion. if this twofold process of 'becoming dry' reaches a certain intensity, the substances concerned, provided they are inflammable, begin to burn, with the result that dry heat escapes and dry ash is formed. we note that in each case we are dealing with a change in the relationship between the poles of a polarity of the first order. we will now apply this picture of the process of friction to the instance when, as a result of this action, electricity appears. originally the evoking of the electric condition was ascribed solely to the nature of amber, the only substance known to possess this property. to-day we know that not the amber alone, but its coming together with another substance of different nature, in this instance an animal substance of the nature of hair or silk, is required. whatever substances we use for friction, they must always be different in nature, so as to allow both kinds of electricity to appear at once. which of the two kinds imposes its presence the more strongly upon the observer depends on purely extraneous conditions which have nothing to do with the process itself. obviously, if we wish to understand the qualitative difference between the two kinds of electricity, we must investigate the qualitative difference in the material substances, which give rise to electricity when they are rubbed together. we shall again follow the historical line by examining the two substances which first taught man the polar nature of electricity. they are glass and resin, after which, as we mentioned, the two electricities were even named in the beginning. our functional conception of matter, developed earlier (chapter xi), allows us to recognize in these two substances representatives of the salt-sulphur polarity. indeed, glass as a mineral substance, which actually owes its specific character to the presence of silicon in it, clearly stands on the phosphoric-crystalline side, while resin, being itself a sort of 'gum', on the sulphurous-volcanic side. in fact, sulphur itself was soon found to be a particularly suitable substance for producing 'resin'-electricity. now the usual way of producing one kind of electricity is by rubbing resin (or sulphur, or ebonite) with wool or fur, and the other by rubbing glass with leather. at first sight, it does not seem as if the two counter-substances represent the required alchemic counter-poles to resin and glass. for both hair and leather are animal products and therefore seem to be of like nature. closer inspection, however, shows that they do obey the rule. for hair, like all horny substances, is a dead product of external secretion by the animal organism. an ur-phenomenal example of it, showing its kinship to glass-like substances, is the transparent cornea of the eye, close to the crystal-lens. leather, on the other hand, is a product of the hypodermic part of the body and, as such, belongs to those parts of the organism which are filled with blood, and, therefore, permeated with life. (note as a characteristic of leather that it requires a special treatment, tanning, to make it as immune from decay as hair is by nature.) hair and leather, therefore, represent in themselves a salt-sulphur polarity, and thus fulfil the corresponding function when brought together with resin or glass respectively. what is true for the particular substances which originally led man to discover the dual nature of electricity, holds good equally for any pair of substances capable of assuming the electric state when rubbed against each other. if we examine from this point of view the series of such substances, as usually given in the textbooks on electricity, we shall always find a substance of extreme salt-character at the one end, and one of extreme sulphur-character at the other, the substances as a whole forming a gradual transition from one extreme to the other. which kind of electricity appears on each, when submitted to friction, depends on whether the counter-substance stands on its right or left, in the series. it is the particular relation between the two which makes them behave in one way or the other. there are cases which seem to elude this law, and investigation has shown that other characteristics of the rubbed bodies, such as surface quality, can have a modifying influence. for lack of a guiding idea they are treated in the textbooks as 'irregularities'. observation led by a true polarity concept shows that in these cases also the rule is not violated. in this respect, interesting information can be gained from the observations of j. w. ritter ( - ), an ingenious naturphilosoph from the circle round goethe, but to whom, also, physical science is indebted for his discovery of the ultra-violet part of the spectrum and of galvanic polarization. among his writings there is a treatise on electricity, giving many generally unknown instances of frictional electricity which are in good accord with our picture and well worth investigating. according to ritter, even two crystalline substances of different hardness, such as calcite and quartz, become electric when rubbed together, the softer playing the part of 'resin' and the harder that of 'glass'. these few facts connected with the generation of frictional electricity are enough to allow us to form a picture of the nature of the polarity represented by the two kinds of electricity. we remember that in the case of the generation of heat through friction, as a result of an encroachment upon the cohesion of the material body involved, the relationship between levity and gravity in it changes from 'moist' to 'dry' and that the effect of this is the appearance of 'fire' and 'dust' as poles of a primary polarity. this process, however, is altered when the bodies subjected to friction are opposed to each other in the sense of a salt-sulphur polarity. the effect then is that the liberated levity, under the influence of the peculiar tension between the two bodies, remains bound in the realm of substance and becomes itself split up polarically. clearly, then, in the case of electrical polarity we encounter a certain form of gravity-bound levity, and this in a twofold way. owing to the contrasting nature of the two bodies involved in the process, the coupling of gravity and levity is a polar one on both sides. the electrical polarity thus turns out to be itself of the nature of a secondary polarity. two more recently discovered means of evoking the electric condition in a piece of matter confirm this picture. they are the so-called piezo-electricity and pyro-electricity. both signify the occurrence of the electrical polarity at the two ends of an asymmetrically built (hemimorphous) crystal, as the result of changing the crystal's spatial condition. in piezo-electricity the change consists in a diminution of the crystal's volume through pressure; in pyro-electricity, in an increase of the crystal volume by raising its temperature. the asymmetry of the crystal, due to a one-sided working of the forces of crystallization, plays the same role here as does the alchemic opposition between the two bodies used for the production of frictional electricity. * it is typical of the scientist of the past that he was dependent on phenomena brought about by a highly developed experimental technique for becoming aware of certain properties of the electrical force, whereas for the realistic observer these properties are revealed at once by the most primitive electric phenomena. we remember eddington's description of the positron as 'negative material', and his subsequent remarks, which show the paradoxical nature of this concept if applied to the hypothetical interior of the atom (chapter iv). the quite primitive phenomenon of electrical repulsion and attraction shows us the same thing in a manner of which it is not difficult to form a conception. modern physics itself, with the help of faraday's field-concept, describes these phenomena as caused by pressure - resulting from the meeting in space of two similar electrical fields - and suction - resulting from the meeting of two dissimilar fields. in the first case the space between the two electrically charged bodies assumes a degree of density, as if it were filled with some elastic material. in the second instance the density of the space where the two fields intermingle is lower than that of its surroundings. here, clearly, we have a state of negative density which acts on the electrically charged bodies just as a lowering of pressure acts on a gas: in both cases movement occurs in the direction leading from the higher to the lower density. electricity thus shows itself capable of producing both gravity and levity effects, thereby once more confirming our picture of it. * our next task will be to examine the galvanic form of generating electricity, in order to gain further light on our picture of the electrical polarity. galvanism, as it became established through volta's work, rests on certain properties of the metallic substances of the earth. compared with the substances which may be used for producing electricity through friction, the metals hold a mid-position. they are all essentially mercurial substances. (in quicksilver, which for this reason was given the name 'mercury' by the alchemists, this fact comes to an ur-phenomenal appearance.) among the many facts proving the mercurial nature of the metals, there is one of particular interest to us. this is their peculiar relationship to the processes of oxidation and reduction. metals, in their metallic state, are bearers of latent levity, which can be set free either through combustion or through corrosion. they differ from one another by their relative degree of eagerness to enter into and remain in the metallic, that is, the reduced state, or to assume and keep the state of the oxide (in which form they are found in the various metallic oxides and salts). there are metals such as gold, silver, etc., for which the reduced state is more or less natural; others, such as potassium, sodium, etc., find the oxidized state natural and can be brought into and kept in the reduced state only by artificial means. between these extremes there are all possible degrees of transition, some metals more nearly resembling the 'noble', others more nearly the 'corrosive', metals. we remember that it was the different relationship of sulphur and phosphorus to reduction and oxidation which led us to envisage them as ur-phenomenal representatives of the alchemic polarity. we may therefore say that there are metals which from the alchemic point of view more nearly resemble sulphur, others more nearly phosphorus, whilst others again hold an intermediary position between the extremes. it is on these differences among the various metals that their galvanic properties are based. let us from this point of view contemplate the following series of chemical elements, which is a representation of the so-called voltaic series: graphite, platinum, gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, lead, zinc, aluminium, magnesium, sodium, potassium. any two of these metals constitute a voltaic cell. its electromotive force is determined by the distance in the series between the metals used. just as in the case of frictional electricity, the kind of electricity which is supplied by a certain metal depends on whether the other metal with which it is coupled stands to the right or to the left of it in the series. let us now see what happens in a galvanic cell when the two different metals are simultaneously exposed to the chemical action of the connecting fluid. each metal by itself would undergo oxidation with greater or less intensity, and the calorific energy hidden in it would become free in the form of heat. this process suffers a certain alteration through the presence of the second metal, which sets up an alchemic tension between the two. instead of a proper segregation of the primary polarity, heat-dust (in this case, heat-oxide), the heat remains matter-bound and appears on the surface of the two metals in a secondarily split form as positive and negative electricity. the similarity between this process and the frictional generation of electricity is evident. * our observations have shown that the emergence of the electric state, whether it be caused by friction or galvanically, depends on matter entering into a condition in which its cohesion is loosened - or, as we also put it, on its being turned into 'dust' - and this in such a way that the escaping levity remains dust-bound. this picture of electricity now enables us to give a realistic interpretation of certain phenomena which, in the interpretation which the physicist of the past was bound to give them, have contributed much to the tightening of the net of scientific illusion. some sixty years after dalton had established, purely hypothetically, the theory of the atomistic structure of matter, scientific research was led to the observation of actual atomistic phenomena. crookes found electricity appearing in his tubes in the form of discrete particles, with properties hitherto known only as appertaining to mass. what could be more natural than to take this as evidence that the method of thought developed during the past era of science was on the right course? the same phenomena appear in quite a different light when we view them against the background of the picture of electricity to which our observations have led. knowing that the appearance of electricity depends on a process of atomization of some sort, we shall expect that where electricity becomes freely observable, it will yield phenomena of an atomistic kind. the observations of electricity in a vacuum, therefore, yield no confirmation whatsoever of the atomistic view of matter. the same is true of the phenomena bound up with radioactivity, which were discovered in direct consequence of crookes's work. we know that the naturally radioactive elements are all in the group of those with the highest atomic weight. this fact, seen together with the characteristics of radioactivity, tells us that in such elements gravity has so far got the upper hand of levity that the physical substance is unable to persist as a spatially extended, coherent unit. it therefore falls asunder, with the liberated levity drawn into the process of dispersion. seen thus, radioactivity becomes a symptom of the earth's old age. * before entering into a discussion of the question, which naturally arises at this point, as to how levity and gravity by their two possible ways of interaction - 'sulphurous' or 'saline' - determine the properties of so-called positive and negative electricity, we shall first study the third mode of generating electricity, namely, by electromagnetic induction. along this way we shall arrive at a picture of the magnetic force which corresponds to the one already obtained of electricity. this will then lead us to a joint study of the nature of electric polarity and magnetic polarity. the discovery of the phenomena we call electromagnetic depended on the possibility of producing continuous electrical processes. this arose with volta's invention. when it became necessary to find a concept for the process which takes place in an electric conductor between the poles of a galvanic cell, the concept of the 'current', borrowed from hydrodynamics, suggested itself. ever since then it has been the rule to speak of the existence of a current within an electric circuit; its strength or intensity is measured in terms of a unit named in honour of ampere. this concept of the current has had a fate typical of the whole relation of human thought to the facts connected with electricity. long after it had been coined to cover phenomena which in themselves betray no movement of any kind between the electrical poles, other phenomena which do in fact show such movements became known through crookes's observations. just as in the case of atomism, they seemed to prove the validity of the preconceived idea of the current. soon, however, radiant electricity showed properties which contradicted the picture of something flowing from one pole to the other. the cathode rays, for instance, were found to shoot forth into space perpendicularly from the surface of the cathode, without regard to the position of the anode. at the same time maxwell's hydrodynamic analogy (as our historical survey has shown) led to a view of the nature of electricity by which this very analogy was put out of court. by predicting certain properties of electricity which come to the fore when its poles alternate rapidly, he seemed to bring electricity into close kinship with light. mathematical treatment then made it necessary to regard the essential energy process as occurring, not from one pole to the other, but at right angles to a line joining the poles (poynting's vector). this picture, however, satisfactory though it was in the realm of high frequency, failed as a means of describing so-called direct-current processes. as a result of all this the theory of electricity has fallen apart into several conceptual realms lying, as it were, alongside one another, each consistent in itself but lacking any logical connexion with the others. although the old concept of the electric current has long lost its validity, scientific thought (not to speak of the layman's) has not managed to discard it. to do this must therefore be our first task, if we want to attain to a realistic picture of electromagnetism. * while keeping strictly to the historical order of things, we shall try first to form a picture of what happens when we connect two electrically charged bodies by a conductor. we know that we rightly describe the change of the dynamic properties of the part of space, in which the two bodies are present, by saying that a certain electric field prevails in it. this field possesses different 'potentials' at its various points and so there exists a certain potential difference between the two electric charges. what then happens when a so-called 'conductor' is brought into such a field? from the point of view of the field-concept, conductivity consists in the property of a body not to allow any change of potential along its surface. such a surface, therefore, is always an equipotential. in the language of alchemy, conductivity is a mercurial property. in the presence of such a body, therefore, no salt-sulphur contrasts can obtain. in view of what we found above as the mean position of the metals in the alchemic triad, it is significant that they, precisely, should play so outstanding a role as electrical conductors. if we keep to pure observation, the only statement we can make concerning the effect produced by the introduction of such a body into the electric field is that this field suddenly disappears. we shall see later in which direction this vanishing occurs. for the present it is sufficient to have formed the picture of the disappearance of the electrical condition of space as a result of the presence of a body with certain mercurial properties. nothing else, indeed, happens when we make the process continuous by using a galvanic source of electricity. all that distinguishes a galvanic cell from the sources of electricity used before the time of volta is its faculty of immediately re-establishing the field which prevails between its poles, whenever this field becomes extinguished by the presence of a conductor. volta himself saw this quite correctly. in his first account of the new apparatus he describes it as 'leyden jars with a continuously re-established charge'. every enduring electrical process, indeed, consists in nothing but a vanishing and re-establishment of the electrical field with such rapidity that the whole process appears continuous. here, also, pure observation of the effect of a conductor in an electric field tells us that its action consists in the annihilation of the field. there is no phenomenon which allows us to state that this process takes place along the axis of the conductor. if we wish to obtain a picture of the true direction, we must consider the condition of space which arises in place of the electric condition that has disappeared. with the possibility of turning the cancellation of the electrical condition of space into a continuous process, it became possible to observe that the neutralization of electric charges entails the appearance of heat and magnetism. we must now ask which are the qualities of electricity on the one hand, and of heat and magnetism on the other, which account for the fact that where electricity disappears, the two latter forces are bound to appear. since magnetism is the still unknown entity among the three, we must now deal with it. * unlike electricity, magnetism was first known in the form of its natural occurrence, namely as a property of certain minerals. if we follow the same course which led us to start our study of electricity with the primitive process of generating it, we shall turn now to the basic phenomenon produced by a magnetic field already in existence. (only when we have learnt all we can from this, shall we proceed to ask how magnetism comes into being.) obviously, we shall find this basic phenomenon in the effect of a magnet on a heap of iron filings. let us, to begin with, compare a mass of solid iron with the same quantity of it in powdered form. the difference is that the powder lacks the binding force which holds the solid piece together. now lei us expose the powdered iron to the influence of a magnet. at once a certain ordering principle takes hold of the single particles. they no longer lie at random and unrelated, apart from the inconspicuous gravitational effect they exert on one another, but are drawn into a coherent whole, thus acquiring properties resembling those of an ordinary piece of solid matter. read thus, the phenomenon tells us that a part of space occupied by a magnetic field has qualities which are otherwise found only where a coherent solid mass is present. a magnetic piece of solid iron, therefore, differs from a non-magnetic piece by giving rise in its surroundings to dynamic conditions which would otherwise exist only in its interior. this picture of the relatedness of magnetism to solidity is confirmed by the fact that both are cancelled by heat, and increased by cold. by its magnetic properties iron thus reveals itself as a substance capable of assuming the condition of solid matter to a degree surpassing ordinary solidity. as an exceptional kind of metal it forms the counter-pole to mercury, in which the solid-fluid condition characteristic of all metallic matter is as much shifted towards the fluid as in iron it is to the solid. (note in this respect the peculiar resistance of iron to the liquefying effect which mercury has on the other metals.) this picture of magnetism enables us to understand at once why it must occur together with heat at the place where an electric polarity has been cancelled by the presence of a conductor. we have seen that electricity is levity coupled in a peculiar way with gravity; it is polarized levity (accompanied by a corresponding polarization of gravity). an electric field, therefore, always has both qualities, those of levity and of gravity. we saw a symptom of this in electrical attraction and repulsion, so called; the attraction, we found, was due to negative density, the repulsion to positive density, imparted to space by the electrical fields present there. now we see that when, through the presence of a conductor, the electrical field round the two opposing poles vanishes, in its place two other fields, a thermal and a magnetic, appear. clearly, one of them represents the levity-part, the other the gravity-part, of the vanished electric field. the whole process reminds one of combustion through which the ponderable and imponderable parts, combined in the combustible substance, fall apart and appear on the one hand as heat, and on the other as oxidized substance ('ash'). yet, between these two manifestations of heat there is an essential qualitative difference. although, from our view-point, magnetism represents only one 'half of a phenomenon, the other half of which is heat, we must not forget that it is itself a bipolar force. thus, despite its apparent relation to gravity it does not represent, as gravity does, one pole of a primary polarity, with heat as the other pole. rather must it carry certain qualities of levity which, together with those of gravity, appear in a polarically opposite manner at its two poles. (details of this will be shown later when we come to investigate the individual qualities of the two poles of magnetism and electricity.) hence the heat that forms the counterpart to magnetism cannot be pure levity either. as the result of a certain coupling with gravity, it too has somehow remained polarically split. this can easily be seen by considering the following. unlike the levity-gravity polarity, in which one pole is peripheral and the other point-centred, both doles of the electrical polarity are point-centred; both are located in physical space, and thereby determine a definite direction within this space. it is this direction which remains a characteristic of both the magnetic and the thermal fields. the direction of the thermal field as much as that of the magnetic is determined by its having as its axis the conductor joining the poles of the antecedent electrical field. both fields supplement each other in that the thermal radiation forms the radii which belong to the circular magnetic lines-of-force surrounding the conductor. our picture of the process which is commonly called an electric current is now sufficiently complete to allow us to make a positive statement concerning the direction in which it takes place. let us once more sum up: in order that this process may occur, there must be present in an electrically excited part of space a body which does not suffer the particular polarization of space bound up with such a field. as a result, the electrical field disappears, and in place of it appear a thermal field and a magnetic field, both having as their axis the line connecting the two poles. each of them spreads out in a direction at right angles to this fine. obviously, therefore, it is in this radial direction that the transformation of the electrical into the thermo-magnetic condition of space must take place. this picture of the electro-thermo-magnetic happening, as regards its direction, is in complete accord with the result obtained (as indicated earlier) by the mathematical treatment of high-frequency phenomena. once more we see that quite primitive observations, when properly read, lead to findings for which scientific thought had to wait until they were forced on it by the progress of experimental technique - as even then science was left without a uniformly valid picture of the dynamic behaviour of electricity. further, we can now see that when we apply electricity to practical purposes, we are in fact seldom using electricity itself, but other forces (that is, other combinations of gravity and levity) which we make effective by making electricity disappear. the same is true of most of the methods of measuring electricity. as a rule, the force which sets the instrument in motion is not electricity but another force (magnetism, heat, etc.) which appears in the place of the vanishing electricity. thus the so-called intensity of an electric current is actually the intensity with which the electricity in question disappears! electricity serves us in our machines in the same way that food serves a living organism: it gets itself digested, and what matters is the resulting secondary product. just as alterations in the electrical condition of space give rise to the appearance of a magnetic field, any alteration of the magnetic state of space gives rise to the appearance of an electrical field. this process is called electromagnetic induction. with its discovery, the generation of electricity through friction and in the galvanic way was supplemented by a third way. by this means the practical use of electricity on a large scale became possible for the first time. if our picture of the two earlier processes of generating electricity is correct, then this third way must also fit into the picture, although in this case we have no longer to do with any direct atomization of physical matter. our picture of magnetism will indeed enable us to recognize in electromagnetic induction the same principle on which we found the two other processes to rest. magnetism is polarized gravity. hence it has the same characteristic of tending always to maintain an existent condition. in bodies subject to gravity, this tendency reveals itself as their inertia. it is the inertia inherent in magnetism which we employ when using it to generate electricity. the simplest example is when, by interrupting a 'primary current', we induce a 'secondary current' in a neighbouring circuit. by the sudden alteration of the electric condition on the primary side, the magnetic condition of the surrounding space is exposed to a sudden corresponding change. against this the magnetic field 'puts up' a resistance by calling forth, on the secondary side, an electrical process of such direction and strength that the entire magnetic condition remains first unaltered and then, instead of changing suddenly, undergoes a gradual transformation which ideally needs an infinite time for its accomplishment (asymptotic course of the exponential curve). this principle rules every process of electromagnetic induction, whatever the cause and direction of the change of the magnetic field. we know that electromagnetic induction takes place also when a conductor is moved across a magnetic field in such a way that, as the technical term goes, it 'cuts' the field's lines of force. whereas the process discussed above is employed in the transformer, this latter process is used in generation of electricity by dynamo. we have seen that a magnetic field imparts to the relevant part of space qualities of density which otherwise prevail only in the interior of solid masses. we remember further that the appearance of electricity, in the two other modes of generating it, is caused by the loosening of the coherence of the material substance. a similar loosening of the coherence of the magnetic field takes place when its field-lines are cut by the movement of the conductor across it. just as heat occurs when we move a solid object through a liquid, electricity occurs when we move a conductor across a magnetic field. in each case we interfere with an existing levity-gravity relationship. * having established thus far the picture of both electricity and magnetism which shows each as an outcome of certain levity-gravity interactions, we now ask how, in particular, negative and positive electricity on the one hand and north and south magnetism on the other are determined by these interactions. let us again begin with electricity. we remember that galvani was led to his observations by the results of walsh's study of the electric fishes. while galvani clung to the view that in his own experiments the source of the electrical force lay within the animal bodies, volta saw the fallacy of that. he then conceived the idea of imitating with purely inorganic substances the set-up which galvani had come upon by accident. the paradoxical result - as he himself noticed with surprise - was that his apparatus turned out to be a close replica of the peculiar organ with which the electric fishes are endowed by nature. we must now take a closer view of this organ. the electric organ of such a fish consists of many thousands of little piles, each made up of a very great number of plates of two different kinds, arranged in alternating layers. the two kinds differ in substance: in one case the plate is made from a material similar to that present in the nervous system of animals; in the other the resemblance is to a substance present in the muscular system, though only when the muscles are in a state of decay. in this way the two opposing systems of the animal body' seem to be brought here into direct contact, repeated many thousands of times. in the electric fishes, accordingly, sensation and will are brought into a peculiar interrelation. for the will-pole is related to its bodily foundation in a manner which otherwise obtains only between the nervous system and the psychological processes co-ordinated with it. these fishes then have the capacity to send out force-currents which produce in other animals and in man 'concussion of the limbs', or in extreme cases paralysis and even death. through describing the process in this way we realize that electricity appears here as metamorphosed animal will, which takes this peculiar form because part of the animal's volitional system is assimilated to its sensory system in an exceptional manner. it is known to-day that what nature reveals so strikingly in the case of the electric fish, is nothing but the manifestation of a principle at work in the bodies of all beings endowed with sensation and volition - in corporeal terms, with the duality of a nervous and a muscular system - and therefore at work also in the human body. observation has shown that the activities of these two systems in man and animal are accompanied by the occurrence of different electric potentials in different parts of the body. plate a, fig. iii, shows the distribution of the two polar electric forces in the human body. the bent lines in the diagram stand for curves of equal electric potential. the straight line between them is the neutral zone. as might be expected, this line runs through the heart. what seems less obvious is its slanting position. here the asymmetry, characteristic of the human body, comes to expression. if we remember that the nervous system represents the salt-pole, and the metabolic system the sulphur-pole, of the human organism, and if we take into account the relationship between levity and gravity at the two poles, we can see from the distribution of the two electricities that the coupling of levity and gravity at the negative pole of the electrical polarity is such that levity descends into gravity, while at the positive pole gravity rises into levity. negative electricity therefore must have somehow a 'spherical' character, and positive electricity a 'radial'. this finding is fully confirmed by electrical phenomena in the realm of nature most remote from man (though it was an effort to solve the enigma of man which led to the discovery of this realm). since crookes's observations of the behaviour of electricity in a vacuum it is common knowledge that only the negative kind of electricity occurs as a freely radiating force (though it retains some properties of inertia), whereas positive electricity seems to be much more closely bound to minute particles of ponderable matter. here again we find gravity-laden levity on the negative side, levity-raised gravity on the positive. the same language is spoken by the forms in which the luminous phenomena appear at the two poles of a crookes tube. fig. i on plate a represents the whole phenomenon as far as such a diagram allows. here we see on the positive side radial forms appear, on the negative side planar-spherical forms. as symbols of nature's script, these forms tell us that cosmic periphery and earthly centre stand in a polar relation to each other at the two ends of the tube. (our optical studies will later show that the colours which appear at the anode and cathode are also in complete accord with this.) at this point in our discussion it is possible to raise, without risk of confusing the issue, the question of the distribution of the two electric forces over the pairs of substances concerned in the generation of electricity both by friction and in the galvanic way. this distribution seems to contradict the picture to which the foregoing observations have led us, for in both instances the 'sulphurous' substances (resin in one, the nobler metals in the other) become bearers of negative electricity; while the 'saline' substances (glass and the corrosive metals) carry positive electricity. such a criss-crossing of the poles-surprising as it seems at first sight - is not new to us. we have met it in the distribution of function of the plant's organs of propagation, and we shall meet a further instance of it when studying the function of the human eye. future investigation will have to find the principle common to all instances in nature where such an interchange of the poles prevails. while the electric field arising round an electrified piece of matter does not allow any recognition of the absolute characteristics of the two opposing electrical forces, we do find them revealed by the distribution of electricity in the human body. something similar holds good for magnetism. only, to find the phenomena from which to read the absolute characteristics of the two sides of the magnetic polarity, we must not turn to the body of man but to that of the earth, one of whose characteristics it is to be as much the bearer of a magnetic field as of gravitational and levitational fields. there is significance in the fact that even to-day, when the tendency prevails to look for causes of natural phenomena not in the macrocosmic expanse, but in the microscopic confines of space, the two poles of magnetism are named after the magnetic poles of the earth. it indicates the degree to which man's feeling instinctively relates magnetism to the earth as a whole. in our newly developed terminology we may say that magnetism, as a polarity of the second order, represents a field of force both of whose poles are situated within finite space, and that in the macro-telluric mother-field this situation is such that the axis of this field coincides more or less with the axis of the earth's physical body. thus the magnetic polarization of the earth as a letter in nature's script bids us rank it alongside other phenomena which in their way are an expression of the earth's being polarized in the north-south direction. the austrian geographer, e. suess, in his great work the countenance of the earth, first drew attention to the fact that an observer approaching the earth from outer space would be struck by the onesided distribution and formation of the earth's continents. he would notice that most of the dry land is in the northern hemisphere, leaving the southern hemisphere covered mainly with water. in terms of the basic elementary qualities, this means that the earth is predominantly 'dry' in its northern half, and 'moist' in its southern. in this fact we have a symbol which tells us that the earth represents a polarity of the second order, with its 'salt'-pole in the north and its 'sulphur'-pole in the south. hence the magnetism called 'north' must be of saline and therefore spherical nature, corresponding to the negative pole in the realm of electricity, while 'south' magnetism must be of sulphurous - i.e. radial-nature, corresponding to positive electricity. moreover, this must hold good equally for the fields of magnetic force generated by naturally magnetic or artificially magnetized pieces of iron. for the circumstance that makes a piece of matter into a magnet is simply that part of the general magnetic field of the earth has been drawn into it. of especial interest in this respect is the well-known dependence of the direction of an electrically produced magnetic field on the position of the poles of the electric field. * the insight we have now gained into the nature of electricity has led us to the realization that with every act of setting electromagnetic energies in motion we interfere with the entire levity-gravity balance of our planet by turning part of the earth's coherent substance into cosmic 'dust'. remembering our picture of radioactivity, in which we recognized a sign of the earth's old age, we may say that whenever we generate electricity we speed up the earth's process of cosmic ageing. obviously this is tremendously enhanced by the creation of artificial radioactivity along the lines recently discovered, whereby it has now become possible to transmute chemical elements into one another, or even to cancel altogether their gravity-bound existence. to see things in this light is to realize that with our having become able to rouse electricity and magnetism from their dormant state and make them work for us, a gigantic responsibility has devolved upon mankind. it was man's fate to remain unaware of this fact during the first phase of the electrification of his civilization; to continue now in this state of unawareness would spell peril to the human race. the fact that modern science has long ceased to be a 'natural' science is something which has begun to dawn upon the modern scientific researcher himself. what has thus come to him as a question finds a definite answer in the picture of electricity we have been able to develop. it is again eddington who has drawn attention particularly to this question: see the chapter, 'discovery or manufacture?' in his philosophy of physical science. it will be appropriate at this point to recall his remarks, for they bear not only on the outcome of our own present discussion, but also, as the next chapter will show, on the further course of our studies. eddington starts by asking: 'when lord rutherford showed us the atomic nucleus, did he find it or did he make it?' whichever answer we give, eddington goes on to say, makes no difference to our admiration for rutherford himself. but it makes all the difference to our ideas on the structure of the physical universe. to make clear where the modern physicist stands in this respect, eddington uses a striking comparison. if a sculptor were to point in our presence to a raw block of marble saying that the form of a human head was lying hidden in the block, 'all our rational instinct would be roused against such an anthropomorphic speculation'. for it is inconceivable to us that nature should have placed such a form inside the block. roused by our objection, the artist proceeds to verify his theory experimentally - 'with quite rudimentary apparatus, too: merely using a chisel to separate the form for our inspection, he triumphantly proves his theory.' 'was it in this way', eddington asks, 'that rutherford rendered concrete the nucleus which his scientific imagination had created?' one thing is certain: 'in every physical laboratory we see ingeniously devised tools for executing the work of sculpture, according to the designs of the theoretical physicist. sometimes the tool slips and carves off an odd-shaped form which he had not expected. then we have a new experimental discovery,' to this analogy eddington adds the following even more drastic one: 'procrustes, you will remember,' he says, 'stretched or chopped down his guests to fit the bed he constructed. but perhaps you have not heard the rest of the story. he measured them up before they left the next morning, and wrote a learned paper on the uniformity of stature of travellers for the anthropological society of attica.' * besides yielding a definite answer to the question of how far the seemingly discovered facts of science are manufactured facts, our newly won insight into the nature of the electric and magnetic polarties throws light also on the possibility of so handling both that their application will lead no longer to a cancellation, but to a true continuation, of nature's own creative deeds. an example of this will appear in the next part of our studies, devoted to observations in the field of optics. note that the series starts on the left with graphite, i.e. with carbon. this substance appears here as a metal among metals, and indeed as the most 'noble' of all. electricity in this way reveals a secret of carbon well known to the mediaeval alchemist and still known in our day to people in the orient. there is even a gas which assumes magnetic properties when exposed to extreme cold-oxygen in the solid state. by watering plants with water that had been exposed to heat from different sources, e. pfeiffer has shown in the chemical laboratory of the goetheanum that heat engendered by means of electricity is 'dead' heat. it follows that it is not the same for human health whether the heat used for cooking or heating purposes is obtained by burning wood or coal, or by means of electricity. chapter xiv colours as 'deeds and sufferings of light' 'as for what i have done as a poet, i take no pride in it whatever. excellent poets have lived at the same time as myself; poets more excellent have lived before me, and others will come after me. but that in my century i am the only person who knows the truth in the difficult science of colours - of that, i say, i am not a little proud, and here i have a consciousness of a superiority to many.' in these words spoken to his secretary, eckermann, in , a few years before his death, goethe gave his opinion on the significance of his scientific researches in the field of optical phenomena. he knew that the path he had opened up had led him to truths which belong to the original truths of mankind. he expressed this by remarking that his theory of colour was 'as old as the world'. if in this book we come somewhat late to a discussion of goethe's colour-theory, in spite of the part it played in his own scientific work, and in spite of its significance for the founding of a physics based on his method, the reasons are these. when goethe undertook his studies in this field he had not to reckon with the forms of thought which have become customary since the development of mechanistic and above all - to put it concisely - of 'electricalistic' thinking. before a hearing can be gained in our age for a physics of light and colour as conceived by goethe, certain hindrances must first be cleared away. so a picture on the one hand of matter, and on the other of electricity, such as is given when they are studied by goethean methods, had first to be built up; only then is the ground provided for an unprejudiced judgment of goethe's observations and the deductions that can be made from them to-day. as professor heisenberg, in his lecture quoted earlier (chapter ii), rightly remarks, goethe strove directly with newton only in the realms of colour-theory and optics. nevertheless his campaign was not merely against newton's opinions in this field. he was guided throughout by the conviction that the fundamental principles of the whole newtonian outlook were at stake. it was for this reason that his polemics against newton were so strongly expressed, although he had no fondness for such controversies. in looking back on that part of the farbenlehre which he had himself called 'polemical' in the title, he said to eckermann: 'i by no means disavow my severe dissections of the newtonian statements; it was necessary at the time and will also have its value hereafter; but at bottom all polemical action is repugnant to my nature, and i can take but little pleasure in it.' the reason why goethe chose optics as the field of conflict, and devoted to it more than twenty years of research and reflexion, amidst all the other labours of his rich life, lay certainly in his individual temperament - 'zum sehen geboren, zum schauen bestellt'. at the same time one must see here a definite guidance of humanity. since the hour had struck for mankind to take the first step towards overcoming the world-conception of the one-eyed, colour-blind onlooker, what step could have been more appropriate than this of goethe's, when he raised the eye's capacity for seeing colours to the rank of an instrument of scientific cognition? in point of fact, the essential difference between goethe's theory of colour and the theory which has prevailed in science (despite all modifications) since newton's day, lies in this: while the theory of newton and his successors was based on excluding the colour-seeing faculty of the eye, goethe founded his theory on the eye's experience of colour. * in view of the present scientific conception of the effect which a prismatic piece of a transparent medium has on light passing through it, goethe's objection to newton's interpretation and the conclusions drawn from it seems by no means as heretical as it did in goethe's own time and for a hundred years afterwards. for, as lord rayleigh and others have shown, the facts responsible for the coming into being of the spectral colours, when these are produced by a diffraction grating, invalidate newton's idea that the optical apparatus serves to reveal colours which are inherent in the original light. today it is known that these colours are an outcome of the interference of the apparatus (whether prism or grating) with the light. thus we find professor r. w. wood, in the opening chapter of his physical optics, after having described the historical significance of newton's conception of the relation between light and colour, saying: 'curiously enough, this discovery, which we are taking as marking the beginning of a definite knowledge about light, is one which we shall demolish in the last chapter of this book, for our present ideas regarding the action of the prism more nearly resemble the idea held previous to newton's classical experiments. we now believe that the prism actually manufactures the coloured light.' we find ourselves faced here with an instance of the problem, 'discovery or manufacture?' dealt with by eddington in the manner described in our previous chapter. this very instance is indeed used by eddington himself as a case in which the answer is definitely in favour of 'manufacture'. nevertheless, eddington complains, experts, in spite of knowing better, keep to the traditional way of speaking about the spectral colours as being originally contained in the light. 'such is the glamour of a historical experiment.' it is for the same reason that goethe's discovery continues to be unrecognized by the majority of scientists, who prefer, instead of examining the question for themselves, to join in the traditional assertion that 'goethe never understood newton'. * as goethe relates at the conclusion of the 'historical' part of his farbenlehre, he was drawn to study colour by his wish to gain some knowledge of the objective laws of aesthetics. he felt too close to poetry to be able to study it with sufficient detachment, so he turned to painting - an art with which he felt sufficiently familiar without being connected with it creatively - hoping that if he could discover the laws of one art they would prove applicable to others. his visit to italy, a land rich both in natural colour and in works of art, gave him a welcome opportunity to pursue this inquiry, but for a long time he made no headway. the paintings he saw suggested no inherent law in their arrangement of colours, nor could the painters he questioned tell him of one. the only qualitative distinction they seemed to recognize was between 'cold' and 'warm' colours. his own observations led him to a definite experience of the quality of the colour blue, for which he coined the phrase 'feebleness of blue' ('ohnmacht des blau'). in some way this colour seemed to him to be related to black. in order to rouse his artist friends and to stimulate their reflexions, he liked to indulge in paradoxes, as when he asserted that blue was not a colour at all. he found, however, as time went on, that in this way he came no nearer his goal. although the splendour of colour in the italian sky and the italian landscape made a powerful impression on goethe, he found not enough opportunity for systematic study to allow him to arrive at more than a dim surmise of some law underlying the occurrence of colour in nature. still, there was one thing he took home with him as a result of his labours. he had grown convinced that 'the first approach to colours as physical phenomena had to be sought from the side of their occurrence in nature, if one would gain an understanding of them in relation to art'. back at home, he strove to recollect the theory of newton as it was being taught in schools and universities - namely, that 'colours in their totality are contained in light'. hitherto he had had no occasion to doubt the correctness of this theory. like everyone else, he had heard it expounded in lectures as an incontestable result of empirical observation, though without this ever having been shown to him by way of experiment. he convinced himself by consulting a manual that his recollection was correct, but at the same time he found that the theory there set forth gave no help in answering his questions. so he decided to examine the phenomena for himself. for this purpose he borrowed a set of prisms from a friend living in near-by jena, the physicist, büttner. since, however, he had at that time no opportunity of arranging a dark chamber on newton's lines, where the necessary ray of light from a tiny hole in the window-covering was sent through a prism, he postponed the whole thing, until in the midst of all his many other interests and duties it was forgotten. in vain büttner pressed many times for the return of the prisms; at last he sent a mutual acquaintance with the injunction not to return without them. goethe then searched for the long-neglected apparatus and determined to take a rapid glance through one of the prisms before he gave them back. he recalled dimly his pleasure as a boy at the vision of the world given him through a bit of similarly shaped glass. 'i well remember that everything looked coloured, but in what manner i could no longer recollect. i was just then in a room completely white; remembering the newtonian theory, i expected, as i put the prism to my eye, to find the whole white wall coloured in different hues and to see the light reflected thence into the eye, split into as many coloured lights. 'but how astonished was i when the white wall seen through the prism remained white after as before. only where something dark came against it a more or less decided colour was shown, and at last the window-bars appeared most vividly coloured, while on the light-grey sky outside no trace of colouring was to be seen. it did not need any long consideration for me to recognize that a boundary or edge is necessary to call forth the colours, and i immediately said aloud, as though by instinct, that the newtonian doctrine is false.' for goethe, there could be no more thought of sending back the prisms, and he persuaded büttner to leave them with him for some time longer. goethe adds a short account of the progress of the experiments he now undertook as well as of his efforts to interest others in his discovery. he makes grateful reference to those who had brought him understanding, and who had been helpful to him through the exchange of thoughts. among these, apart from schiller, whom goethe especially mentions, we find a number of leading anatomists, chemists, writers and philosophers of his time, but not a single one of the physicists then active in teaching or research. the 'guild' took up an attitude of complete disapproval or indifference, and so have things remained till a hundred years after his death, as goethe himself prophesied. one of the first systematic pieces of work which goethe undertook in order to trace the cause of the newtonian error was to go through book i of newton's optics, sentence by sentence, recapitulate newton's experiments and rearrange them in the order which seemed to him essential. in so doing he gained an insight which was fundamental for all future work, and often proved very beneficial in the perfecting of his own methods. his examination of the newtonian procedure showed him that the whole mistake rested on the fact that 'a complicated phenomenon should have been taken as a basis, and the simpler explained from the complex'. nevertheless, it still needed 'much time and application in order to wander through all the labyrinths with which newton had been pleased to confuse his successors'. * it seems a small thing, and yet it is a great one, which goethe, as the above description shows, discovered almost by chance. this is shown by the conclusions to which he was led in the systematic prosecutions of his discovery. an account of them is given in his beiträge zur optik, published in , the year in which galvani came before the public with his observations in the sphere of electricity. goethe describes in this book the basic phenomena of the creation of the prismatic colours, with particulars of a number of experiments so arranged that the truth he had discovered, contrary to newton's view, comes to light through the very phenomena themselves. only much later, in the year , and after he had brought to a certain conclusion four years previously the researches which he had pursued most carefully the whole time, did he make public the actual masterpiece, entwurf einer farbenlehre. (an english translation of the didactic part appeared about ten years after goethe's death.) while leaving a more detailed description of the composition of goethe's entwurf for our next chapter, we shall here deal at once with some of the essential conclusions to which the reader is led in this book. as already mentioned, goethe's first inspection of the colour-phenomenon produced by the prism had shown him that the phenomenon depended on the presence of a boundary between light and darkness. newton's attempt to explain the spectrum out of light alone appeared to him, therefore, as an inadmissible setting aside of one of the two necessary conditions. colours, so goethe gleaned directly from the prismatic phenomenon, are caused by both light and its counterpart, darkness. hence, to arrive at an idea of the nature of colour, which was in accord with its actual appearance, he saw himself committed to an investigation of the extent to which the qualitative differences in our experience of colours rests upon their differing proportions of light and darkness. it is characteristic of goethe's whole mode of procedure that he at once changed the question, 'what is colour?' into the question, 'how does colour arise?' it was equally characteristic that he did not, as newton did, shut himself into a darkened room, so as to get hold of the colour-phenomenon by means of an artificially set-up apparatus. instead, he turned first of all to nature, to let her give him the answer to the questions she had raised. it was clear to goethe that to trace the law of the genesis of colour in nature by reading her phenomena, he must keep a look-out for occurrences of colours which satisfied the conditions of the ur-phänomen, as he had learned to know it. this meant that he must ask of nature where she let colours arise out of light and darkness in such a way that no other conditions contributed to the effect. he saw that such an effect was presented to his eye when he turned his gaze on the one hand to the blue sky, and on the other to the yellowish luminous sun. where we see the blue of the heavens, there, spread out before our eyes, is universal space, which as such is dark. why it does not appear dark by day as well as by night is because we see it through the sun-illumined atmosphere. the opposite role is played by the atmosphere when we look through it to the sun. in the first instance it acts as a lightening, in the second as a darkening, medium. accordingly, when the optical density of the air changes as a result of its varying content of moisture, the colour-phenomenon undergoes an opposite change in each of the two cases. whilst with increasing density of the air the blue of the sky brightens up and gradually passes over into white, the yellow of the sun gradually darkens and finally gives way to complete absence of light. the ur-phenomenon having once been discovered in the heavens, could then easily be found elsewhere in nature on a large or small scale-as, for instance, in the blue of distant hills when the air is sufficiently opaque, or in the colour of the colourless, slightly milky opal which looks a deep blue when one sees it against a dark background, and a reddish yellow when one holds it against the light. the same phenomenon may be produced artificially through the clouding of glass with suitable substances, as one finds in various glass handicraft objects. the aesthetic effect is due to the treated glass being so fashioned as to present continually changing angles to the light, when both colour-poles and all the intermediate phases appear simultaneously. it is also possible to produce the ur-phenomenon experimentally by placing a glass jug filled with water before a black background, illuminating the jug from the side, and gradually clouding the water by the admixture of suitable substances. whilst the brightness appearing in the direction of the light goes over from yellow and orange to an increasingly red shade, the darkness of the black background brightens to blue, which increases and passes over to a milky white. it had already become clear to goethe in italy that all colour-experience is based on a polarity, which he found expressed by painters as the contrast between 'cold' and 'warm' colours. now that the coming-into-being of the blue of the sky and of the yellow of the sun had shown themselves to him as two processes of opposite character, he recognized in them the objective reason why both colours are subjectively experienced by us as opposites. 'blue is illumined darkness - yellow is darkened light' - thus could he assert the urphenomenon, while he expressed the relation to light of colours in their totality by saying: 'colours are deeds and sufferings of light.' with this, goethe had taken the first decisive step towards his goal - the tracing of man's aesthetic experience to objective facts of nature. if we use the expressions of preceding chapters, we can say that goethe, in observing the coloured ur-phenomenon, had succeeded in finding how from the primary polarity, light-dark, the opposition of the yellow and blue colours arises as a secondary polarity. for such an interplay of light and darkness, the existence of the air was seen to be a necessary condition, representing in the one case a lightening, in the other, a darkening element. that it was able to play this double role arose from its being on the one hand pervious to light, while yet possessing a certain substantial density. for a medium of such a nature goethe coined the expression trübes medium. there seems to be no suitable word in english for rendering the term trübe in the sense in which goethe used it to denote the optical resistance of a more or less transparent medium. the following remarks of goethe's, reported by his secretary riemer, will give the reader a picture of what goethe meant by this term, clear enough to allow us to use the german word. goethe's explanation certainly shows how inadequate it is to translate trübe by 'cloudy' or 'semi-opaque' as commentators have done. 'light and dark have a common field, a space, a vacuum in which they are seen to appear. this space is the realm of the transparent. just as the different colours are related to light and dark as their creative causes, so is their corporeal part, their medium, trübe, related to the transparent. the first diminution of the transparent, i.e. the first slightest filling of space, the first disposition, as it were, to the corporeal, i.e. the non-transparent - this is trübe.' after goethe had once determined from the macrotelluric phenomenon that an interplay of light and darkness within trübe was necessary for the appearance of colour in space, he had no doubt that the prismatic colours, too, could be understood only through the coming together of all these three elements. it was now his task to examine in what way the prism, by its being trübe, brings light and darkness, or, as he also expressed it, light and shadow, into interplay, when they meet at a boundary. we must remember that on first looking through the prism goethe had immediately recognized that the appearance of colour is always dependent on the existence of a boundary between light and darkness - in other words, that it is a border phenomenon. what colours appear on such a border depends on the position of light and darkness in relation to the base of the prism. if the lighter part is nearer to the base, then blue and violet tints are seen at the border, and with the reverse position tints of yellow and red (plate b, fig. i). along this path of study goethe found no reason for regarding the spectrum-phenomenon as complete only when both kinds of border-phenomena appear simultaneously (let alone when - as a result of the smallness of the aperture through which the light meets the prism - the two edges lie so close that a continuous band of colour arises). hence we find goethe - unlike newton - treating the two ends of the spectrum as two separate phenomena. in this way, the spectrum phenomenon gave goethe confirmation that he had succeeded in expressing in a generally valid form the law of the origin of the blue and the yellow colours, as he had read it from the heavens. for in the spectrum, too, where the colour blue appears, there he saw darkness being lightened by a shifting of the image of the border between light and dark in the direction of darkness; where yellow appears, he saw light being darkened by a shifting of the image in the direction of light. (see the arrow in fig. i.) in the colours adjoining these - indigo and violet on the blue side, orange and red on the yellow side - goethe recognized 'heightened' modifications of blue and yellow. thus he had learnt from the macro-telluric realm that with decreasing density of the corporeal medium, the blue sky takes on ever deeper tones, while with increasing density of the medium, the yellow of the sunlight passes over into orange and finally red. prismatic phenomenon and macrotelluric phenomenon were seen to correspond in this direction, too. faithful to his question, 'how does colour arise?' goethe now proceeded to investigate under what conditions two borders, when placed opposite each other, provide a continuous band of colour - that is, a colour-band where, in place of the region of uncoloured light, green appears. this, he observed, came about if one brought one's eye, or the screen intercepting the light, to that distance from the prism where the steadily widening yellow-red and the blue-violet colour-cones merge (fig. ii). obviously, this distance can be altered by altering the distance between the two borders. in the case of an extremely narrow light-space, the blue and yellow edges will immediately overlap. yet the emergence of the green colour will always be due to a union of the blue and yellow colours which spread from the two edges. this convinced goethe that it is inadmissible to place the green in the spectrum in line with the other colours, as is customary in the explanation of the spectrum since newton's time. this insight into the relation of the central colour of the continuous spectrum to its other colours still further strengthened goethe's conviction that in the way man experiences nature in his soul, objective laws of nature come to expression. for just as we experience the colours on the blue side of the spectrum as cold colours, and those on the yellow side as warm colours, so does green give man the impression of a neutral colour, influencing us in neither direction. and just as the experience of the two polar colour-ranges is an expression of the objective natural law behind them, so too is the experience of green, the objective conditions of whose origin give it a neutral position between the two. with this it also became clear why the vegetative part of the plant organism, the region of leaf and stem formation, where the light of the sun enters into a living union with the density of earthly substance, must appear in a garment of green. * having in this way found the clue to the true genesis of the spectrum, goethe could not fail to notice that it called for another - a 'negative' spectrum, its polar opposite - to make the half into a whole. for he who has once learnt that light and darkness are two equally essential factors in the birth of colour, and that the opposing of two borders of darkness so as to enclose a light is a 'derived' (abgeleitet) experimental arrangement, is naturally free to alter the arrangement and to supplement it by reversing the order of the two borders, thus letting two lights enclose a darkness between them. if one exposes an arrangement like this to the action of the prism, whose position has remained unchanged, colours appear on each of the two edges, as before, but in reverse order (fig. iii). the spectral phenomenon now begins at one side with light blue and passes into indigo and violet, with uncoloured darkness in the centre. from this darkness it emerges through red and passes through orange to yellow at the other end. again, where the two interior colour-cones merge, there an additional colour appears. like green, it is of a neutral character, but at the same time its quality is opposite to that of green. in newtonian optics, which assumes colour to be derived from light only, this colour has naturally no existence. yet in an optics which has learnt to reckon with both darkness and light as generators of colour, the complete spectrum phenomenon includes this colour equally with green. for lack of an existing proper name for it, goethe termed it 'pure red' (since it was free from both the blue tinge of the mauve, and the yellow tinge of the red end of the ordinary spectrum), or 'peach-blossom' (pfirsichblüt), or 'purple' (as being nearest to the dye-stuff so called by the ancients after the mollusc from which it was obtained). it needs only a glance through the prism into the sunlit world to make one convinced of the natural appearing of this delicate and at the same time powerfully luminous colour. for a narrow dark object on a light field is a much commoner occurrence in nature than the enclosing by two broad objects of a narrow space of light, the condition necessary for the emergence of a continuous colour-band with green in the middle. in fact, the spectrum which science since the time of newton regards as the only one, appears much more rarely among natural conditions than does goethe's counter-spectrum. with the peach-blossom a fresh proof is supplied that what man experiences in his soul is in harmony with the objective facts of nature. as with green, we experience peach-blossom as a colour that leaves us in equilibrium. with peach-blossom, however, the equilibrium is of a different kind, owing to the fact that it arises from the union of the colour-poles, not at their original stage but in their 'heightened' form. and so green, the colour of the plant-world harmony given by nature, stands over against 'purple', the colour of the human being striving towards harmony. by virtue of this quality, purple served from antiquity for the vesture of those who have reached the highest stage of human development for their time. this characteristic of the middle colours of the two spectra was expressed by goethe when he called green 'real totality', and peach-blossom 'ideal totality'. from this standpoint goethe was able to smile at the newtonians. he could say that if they persisted in asserting that the colourless, so-called 'white' light is composed of the seven colours of the ordinary spectrum - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet - then they were in duty bound to maintain also that the colourless, 'black' darkness is composed of the seven colours of the inverted spectrum - yellow, orange, red, purple, violet, indigo, blue. despite the convincing force of this argument, the voice of the hans andersen child speaking through goethe failed to gain a hearing among the crowd of newtonian faithful. so has it been up to the present day - regardless of the fact that, as we have shown, modern physics has reached results which make a contradiction of the newtonian concept of the mutual relation of light and colour no longer appear so heretical as it was in goethe's time. * when we compare the way in which goethe, on the one hand, and the physical scientist, on the other, have arrived at the truth that what newton held to be 'discovery' was in actual fact 'manufacture', we find ourselves faced with another instance of a fact which we have encountered before in our study of electricity. it is the fact that a truth, which reveals itself to the spectator-scientist only as the result of a highly advanced experimental research, can be recognized through quite simple observation when this observation is carried out with the intention of letting the phenomena themselves speak for their 'theory'. furthermore, there is a corresponding difference in the effect the knowledge of such truth has on the human mind. in the field of electricity we saw that together with the scientist's recognition of the absolute qualities of the two polar forms of electricity a false semblance of reality was lent to the hypothesis of the atomic structure of matter. something similar has occurred in the field of optics. here, after having been forced to recognize the fallacy of newton's theory, the spectator's mind has been driven to form a concept of the nature of light which is further than ever from the truth. for what then remains of light is - in eddington's words - a 'quite irregular disturbance, with no tendency to periodicity', which means that to light is assigned the quality of an undefined chaos (in the negative sense of this word) sprung from pure chance. moreover, as eddington shows, the question whether the optical contrivance 'sorts out' from the chaotic light a particular periodicity, or whether it 'impresses' this on the light, becomes just 'a matter of expression'. so here, too, the modern investigator is driven to a resigned acknowledgment of the principle of indeterminacy. no such conclusions are forced upon the one who studies the spectrum phenomenon with the eyes of goethe. like the modern experimenter, he, too, is faced with the question 'discovery or manufacture?' and he, too, finds the answer to be 'manufacture'. but to him nature can disclose herself as the real manufacturer, showing him how she goes to work in bringing about the colours, because in following goethe he is careful to arrange his observations in such a way that they do not veil nature's deeds. 'to see is my dower, to look my employ.' words of the tower-watcher in faust, ii, , through which goethe echoes his own relation to the world. the last chapter but two in the edition of . for the drastic and as such very enlightening way in which eddington presents the problem, the reader is referred to eddington's own description. konfession des verfassers. colour as quality being no essential factor in the scientific explanation of the spectrum. contributions to optics. outline of a theory of colour. see rudolf steiner's edition of goethe's farbenlehre under paralipomena zur chromatik, no. . goethe's own representation of the phenomenon. (the diagram is simplified by omitting one colour on each side.) this is not to be confused with the meaning of 'purple' in modern english usage. this follows from the application of fourier's theorem, according to which every vibration of any kind is divisible into a sum of periodic partial vibrations, and therefore is regarded as compounded of these. chapter xv seeing as 'deed' - i having made ourselves so far acquainted with the fundamentals of goethe's approach to the outer phenomena of colour involved in the spectrum, we will leave this for a while to follow goethe along another no less essential line of inquiry. it leads us to the study of our own process of sight, by means of which we grow aware of the optical facts in outer space. * the importance which goethe himself saw in this aspect of the optical problem is shown by the place he gave it in the didactic part of his farbenlehre. the first three chapters, after the introduction, are called 'physiological colours', 'physical colours', and 'chemical colours'. in the first chapter, goethe summarizes a group of phenomena which science calls 'subjective' colours, since their origin is traced to events within the organ of sight. the next chapter deals with an actual physics of colour - that is, with the appearance of colours in external space as a result of the refraction, diffraction and polarization of light. the third chapter treats of material colours in relation to chemical and other influences. after two chapters which need not concern us here comes the sixth and last chapter, entitled 'physical-moral effect of colour' ('sinnlich-sittliche wirkung der farben'), which crowns the whole. there, for the first time in the history of modern science, a bridge is built between physics, aesthetics and ethics. we remember it was with this aim in view that goethe had embarked upon his search for the solution of the problem of colour. in this chapter the experiencing of the various colours and their interplay through the human soul is treated in many aspects, and goethe is able to show that what arises in man's consciousness as qualitative colour-experience is nothing but a direct 'becoming-inward' of what is manifested to the 'reader's' eye and mind as the objective nature of colours. so, in one realm of the sense-world, goethe succeeded in closing the abyss which divides existence and consciousness, so long as the latter is restricted to a mere onlooker-relationship towards the sense-world. if we ask what induced goethe to treat the physiological colours before the physical colours, thus deviating so radically from the order customary in science, we shall find the answer in a passage from the introduction to his entwurf. goethe, in giving his views on the connexion between light and the eye, says: 'the eye owes its existence to light. out of indifferent auxiliary animal organs the light calls forth an organ for itself, similar to its own nature; thus the eye is formed by the light, for the light, so that the inner light can meet the outer.' in a verse, which reproduces in poetic form a thought originally expressed by plotinus, goethe sums up his idea of the creative connexion between eye and light as follows: ' unless our eyes had something of the sun, how could we ever look upon the light? unless there lived within us god's own might, how could the godlike give us ecstasy? (trans. stawell-dickinson) by expressing himself in this way in the introduction to his farbenlehre, goethe makes it clear from the outset that when he speaks of 'light' as the source of colour-phenomena, he has in mind an idea of light very different from that held by modern physics. for in dealing with optics, physical science turns at once to phenomena of light found outside man - in fact to phenomena in that physical realm from which, as the lowest of the kingdoms of nature, the observations of natural science are bound to start. along this path one is driven, as we have seen, to conceive of light as a mere 'disturbance' in the universe, a kind of irregular chaos. in contrast to this, goethe sees that to gain an explanation of natural physical phenomena which will be in accord with nature, we must approach them on the path by which nature brings them into being. in the field of light this path is one which leads from light as creative agent to light as mere phenomenon. the highest form of manifestation of creative light most directly resembling its idea is within man. it is there that light creates for itself the organ through which, as manifest light, it eventually enters into human consciousness. to goethe it was therefore clear that a theory of light, which is to proceed in accord with nature, should begin with a study of the eye: its properties, its ways of acting when it brings us information of its deeds and sufferings in external nature. the eye with its affinity to light comes into being in the apparently dark space of the mother's womb. this points to the possession by the human organism of an 'inner' light which first forms the eye from within, in order that it may afterwards meet the light outside. it is this inner light that goethe makes the starting-point of his investigations, and it is for this reason that he treats physiological colours before physical colours. * of fundamental significance as regards method is the way in which goethe goes on from the passage quoted above to speak of the activity of the inner light: 'this immediate affinity between light and the eye will be denied by none; to consider them identical in substance is less easy to comprehend. it will be more intelligible to assert that a dormant light resides in the eye, and that this light can be excited by the slightest cause from within or from without. in darkness we can, by an effort of imagination, call up the brightest images; in dreams, objects appear to us as in broad daylight; if we are awake, the slightest external action of light is perceptible, and if the organ suffers a mechanical impact light and colours spring forth.' what goethe does here is nothing less than to follow the development of sight to where it has its true origin. let us remember that a general source of illusion in the modern scientific picture of the world lies in the fact that the onlooker-consciousness accepts itself as a self-contained ready-made entity, instead of tracing itself genetically to the states of consciousness from which it has developed in the course of evolution. in reality, the consciousness kindled by outer sense-perception was preceded by a dreaming consciousness, and this by a sleeping consciousness, both for the individual and for humanity as a whole. so, too, outer vision by means of the physical apparatus of the eye was preceded by an inner vision. in dreams we still experience this inner vision; we use it in the activity of our picture-forming imagination; and it plays continuously upon the process of external sight. why we fail to notice this when using our eye in the ordinary way, is because of that dazzling process mentioned earlier in this book. goethe's constant endeavour was not to become the victim of this blindness - that is, not to be led by day-time experience to forget the night-side of human life. the passage quoted from the introduction to his farbenlehre shows how, in all that he strove for, he kept this goal in view. how inevitably a way of thinking that seeks an intuitive understanding of nature is led to views like those of goethe is shown by the following quotations from reid and ruskin, expressing their view of the relationship between the eye, or the act of seeing, and external optical phenomena. in his inquiry, at the beginning of his review of visual perceptions, reid says: 'the structure of the eye, and of all its appurtenances, the admirable contrivances of nature for performing all its various external and internal motions and the variety in the eyes of different animals, suited to their several natures and ways of life, clearly demonstrate this organ to be a masterpiece of nature's work. and he must be very ignorant of what hath been discovered about it, or have a very strange cast of understanding, who can seriously doubt, whether or not the rays of light and the eye were made for one another with consummate wisdom, and perfect skill in optics.'' the following passage from ruskin's ethics of the dust (lecture x) brings out his criticism of the scientific way of treating of optical phenomena: 'with regard to the most interesting of all their [the philosophers'] modes of force-light; they never consider how far the existence of it depends on the putting of certain vitreous and nervous substances into the formal arrangement which we call an eye. the german philosophers began the attack, long ago, on the other side, by telling us there was no such thing as light at all, unless we choose to see it. now, german and english, both, have reversed their engines, and insist that light would be exactly the same light that it is, though nobody could ever see it. the fact being that the force must be there, and the eye there, and 'light' means the effect of the one on the other - and perhaps, also - (plato saw farther into that mystery than anyone has since, that i know of) - on something a little way within the eyes.' remarks like these, and the further quotation given below, make it seem particularly tragic that ruskin apparently had no knowledge of goethe's farbenlehre. this is the more remarkable in view of the significance which turner, with whom ruskin stood in such close connexion, ascribed to it from the standpoint of the artist. for the way in which ruskin in his modern painters speaks of the effect of the modern scientific concept of colours upon the ethical-religious feeling of man, shows that he deplores the lack of just what goethe had long since achieved in his farbenlehre where, starting with purely physical observations, he had been able to develop from them a 'physical-moral' theory of colour. ruskin's alertness to the effect on ethical life of a scientific world-picture empty of all qualitative values led him to write: 'it is in raising us from the first state of inactive reverie to the second of useful thought, that scientific pursuits are to be chiefly praised. but in restraining us at this second stage, and checking the impulses towards higher contemplation, they are to be feared or blamed. they may in certain minds be consistent with such contemplation, but only by an effort; in their nature they are always adverse to it, having a tendency to chill and subdue the feelings, and to resolve all things into atoms and numbers. for most men, an ignorant enjoyment is better than an informed one, it is better to conceive the sky as a blue dome than a dark cavity, and the cloud as a golden throne than a sleety mist. i much question whether anyone who knows optics, however religious he may be, can feel in equal degree the pleasure and reverence an unlettered peasant may feel at the sight of a rainbow.' what ruskin did not guess was that the rudiments of the 'moral theory of light' for which he craved, as this passage indicates, had been established by goethe long before. * in the section of his farbenlehre dealing with 'physiological colours', goethe devotes by far the most space to the so-called 'afterimages' which appear in the eye as the result of stimulation by external light, and persist for some little time. to create such an afterimage in a simple way, one need only gaze at a brightly lit window and then at a faintly lit wall of the room. the picture of the window appears there, but with the light-values reversed: the dark cross-bar appears as light, and the bright panes as dark. in describing this phenomenon goethe first gives the usual explanation, that the part of the retina which was exposed to the light from the window-panes gets tired, and is therefore blunted for further impressions, whereas the part on which the image of the dark frame fell is rested, and so is more sensitive to the uniform impression of the wall. goethe, however, at once adds that although this explanation may seem adequate for this special instance, there are other phenomena which can be accounted for only if they are held to derive from a 'higher source'. goethe means experiences with coloured after-images. this will be confirmed by our own discussion of the subject. what we first need, however, is a closer insight into the physiological process in the eye which causes the after-images as such. wherever goethe speaks of a simple activity of the retina, we are in fact concerned with a co-operation of the retina with other parts of our organ of sight. in order to make this clear, let us consider how the eye adapts itself to varying conditions of light and darkness. it is well known that if the eye has become adjusted to darkness it is dazzled if suddenly exposed to light, even though the light be of no more than quite ordinary brightness. here we enter a border region where the seeing process begins to pass over into a pathological condition. a 'secret' of the effect of light on the eye is here revealed which remains hidden in ordinary vision, for normally the different forces working together in the eye hold each other in balance, so that none is able to manifest separately. this equilibrium is disturbed, however, when we suddenly expose the eye to light while it is adapted to darkness. the light then acts on the eye in its usual way, but without the immediate counter-action which normally restores the balance. under these conditions we notice that the sudden dazzling has a painful influence on the eye - that is, an influence in some way destructive. this will not seem surprising if we remember that when light strikes on the background of the eye, consciousness is quickened, and this, as we know, presupposes a breaking down of substance in some part of the nervous system. such a process does in fact occur in the retina, the nerve-part of the eye, when external light falls upon it. if the eye were solely a structure of nerves, it would be so far destroyed by the impact of light that it could not be restored even by sleep, as are the more inward parts of the nervous system. but the eye receives also a flow of blood, and we know that throughout the threefold human organism the blood supplies the nervous system with building-up forces, polarically opposite to the destructive ones. in sleep, as we have already seen, the interruption of consciousness allows the blood to inundate the nervous system, as it were, with its healing, building-up activity. it is not necessary, however, for the whole of the body to pass into a condition of sleep before this activity can occur. it functions to some extent also in the waking state, especially in those parts of the organism which, like the eye, serve in the highest degree the unfolding of consciousness. having established this, we have a basis for an understanding of the complete process of vision. we see that it is by no means solely the nerve part of the eye which is responsible for vision, as the spectator-physiology was bound to imagine. the very fact that the place where the optic nerve enters the eye is blind indicates that the function of mediating sight cannot be ascribed to the nerve alone. what we call 'seeing' is far more the result of an interplay between the retina carrying the nerves, and the choroid carrying the blood-vessels. in this interplay the nerves are the passive, receptive organ for the inworking of external light, while the blood-activity comes to meet the nerve-process with a precisely correlated action. in this action we find what goethe called the 'inner light'. the process involved in adaptation now becomes comprehensible. the cause of the dazzling effect of light of normal intensity on an eye adapted to the dark, is that in such an eye the blood is in a state of rest, and this prevents it from exercising quickly enough the necessary counter-action to the influence of the light. a corresponding effect occurs when one suddenly exposes to darkness the eye adapted to light. one can easily observe what goes on then, if, after looking for a time at an undifferentiated light surface such as the evenly luminous sky, one covers the opened eyes with the hollowed hands. it will then be found that the space before the eyes is filled by a sort of white light, and by paying close attention one recognizes that it streams from the eyes out into the hollowed space. it may even be several minutes before the field of vision really appears black, that is, before the activity of the inner light in the choroid has so far died away that equilibrium prevails between the non-stimulated nerves and the non-stimulated blood. with this insight into the twofold nature of the process of vision we are now able to describe more fully the negative after-image. although in this case, as goethe himself remarked, the ordinary explanation seems to suffice, yet in view of our later studies it may be well to bring forward here this wider conception. on the basis of our present findings it is no longer enough to trace the appearing of the after-image solely to a differential fatigue in the retina. the fact is that as long as the eye is turned to the bright window-pane a more intensive blood-activity occurs in the portions of the eye's background met by the light than in those where the dark window-bar throws its shadow on the retina. if the eye so influenced is then directed to the faintly illumined wall of the room, the difference in the activity of the blood persists for some time. hence in the parts of the eye adapted to darkness we experience the faint brightness as strongly luminous, even dazzling, whereas in the parts more adapted to light we feel the same degree of brightness to be dark. that the action of the inner light is responsible for the differences becomes clear if, while the negative after-image is still visible, we darken the eye with the hollowed hands. then at once in the dark field of vision the positive facsimile of the window appears, woven by the activity of the blood which reproduces the outer reality. having traced the colourless after-image to 'higher sources' - that is, to the action of the blood - let us now examine coloured afterimages. we need first to become conscious of the colour-creating light-activity which resides in the blood. for this purpose we expose the eyes for a moment to an intense light, and then darken them for a sufficient time. nothing in external nature resembles in beauty and radiance the play of colour which then arises, unless it be the colour phenomenon of the rainbow under exceptionally favourable circumstances. the physiological process which comes to consciousness in this way as an experience of vision is exactly the same as the process which gives us experiences of vision in dreams. there is indeed evidence that when one awakens in a brightly lit room out of vivid dreaming, one feels less dazzled than on waking from dreamless sleep. this indicates that in dream vision the blood in the eye is active, just as it is in waking vision. the only difference is that in waking consciousness the stimulus reaches the blood from outside, through the eye, whereas in dreams it comes from causes within the organism. the nature of these causes does not concern us here; it will be dealt with later. for the moment it suffices to establish the fact that our organism is supplied with a definite activity of forces which we experience as the appearance of certain images of vision, no matter from which side the stimulus comes. all vision, physiologically considered, is of the nature of dream vision; that is to say, we owe our day-waking sight to the fact that we are able to encounter the pictures of the outer world, brought to us by the light, with a dreaming of the corresponding after-images. just as the simple light-dark after-image shows a reversal of light-values in relation to the external picture, so in the coloured afterimages there is a quite definite and opposite relationship of their colours to those of the original picture. thus, if the eyes are exposed for some time to an impression of the colour red, and then directed to a neutral surface, not too brightly illuminated, one sees it covered with a glimmering green. in this way there is a reciprocal correspondence between the colour-pairs red-green, yellow-violet, blue-orange. to whichever of these six colours one exposes the eye, an after-image always appears of its contrast colour, forming with it a pair of opposites. we must here briefly recall how this phenomenon is generally explained on newtonian lines. the starting-point is the assumption that the eye becomes fatigued by gazing at the colour and gradually becomes insensitive to it. according to newton's theory, if an eye thus affected looks at a white surface, the sum of all the colours comes from there to meet it, while the eye has a reduced sensitivity to the particular colour it has been gazing at. and so among the totality of colours constituting the 'white' light, this one is more or less non-existent for the eye. the remaining colours are then believed to cause the contrasting colour-impression. if we apply the common sense of the hans andersen child to this, we see where it actually leads. for it says no less than this: as long as the eye is in a normal condition, it tells us a lie about the world, for it makes white light seem something that in reality it is not. for the truth to become apparent, the natural function of the eye must be reduced by fatigue. to believe that a body, functioning in this way, is the creation of god, and at the same time to look on this god as a being of absolute moral perfection, would seem a complete contradiction to the hans andersen child. in this contradiction and others of the same kind to which nowadays every child is exposed repeatedly and willy-nilly in school lessons and so on - we must seek the true cause of the moral uncertainty so characteristic of young people today. it was because ruskin felt this that he called for a 'moral' theory of light. since goethe did not judge man from artificially devised experiments, but the latter from man, quite simple reflexions led him to the following view of the presence of the contrasting colour in the coloured after-images. nature outside man had taught him that life on all levels takes it course in a perpetual interplay of opposites, manifested externally in an interplay of diastole and systole comparable to the process of breathing. he, therefore, traced the interchange of light-values in colourless after-images to a 'silent resistance which every vital principle is forced to exhibit when some definite condition is presented to it. thus, inhalation presupposes exhalation; thus every systole, its diastole. when darkness is presented to the eye, the eye demands brightness, and vice versa: it reveals its vital energy, its fitness to grasp the object, precisely by bringing forth out of itself something contrary to the object.' consequently he summarizes his reflexions on coloured afterimages and their reversals of colour in these words: 'the eye demands actual completeness and closes the colour-circle in itself.' how true this is, the law connecting the corresponding colours shows, as may be seen in the following diagram. here, red, yellow and blue as three primary colours confront the three remaining colours, green, violet and orange in such a way that each of the latter represents a mixture of the two other primary colours. (fig. .) colour and contrast-colour are actually so related that to whatever colour the eye is exposed it produces a counter-colour so as to have the sum-total of all the three primary colours in itself. and so, in consequence of the interplay of outer and inner light in the eye, there is always present in it the totality of all the colours. it follows that the appearance of the contrast-colour in the field of vision is not, as the newtonian theory asserts, the result of fatigue, but of an intensified activity of the eye, which continues even after the colour impression which gave rise to it has ceased. what is seen on the neutral surface (it will be shown later why we studiously avoid speaking of 'white light') is no outwardly existing colour at all. it is the activity of the eye itself, working in a dreamlike way from its blood-vessel system, and coming to our consciousness by this means. here again, just as in the simple opposition of light and dark, the perception of coloured after-images is connected with a breaking-down process in the nerve region of the eye, and a corresponding building-up activity coming from the blood. only in this case the eye is not affected by simple light, but by light of a definite colouring. the specific destructive process caused by this light is answered with a specific building-up process by the blood. under certain conditions we can become dreamily aware of this process which normally does not enter our consciousness. in such a case we see the contrasting colour as coloured after-image. only by representing the process in this way do we do justice to a fact which completely eludes the onlooker-consciousness - namely, that the eye produces the contrasting colour even while it is still exposed to the influence of the outer colour. since this is so, all colours appearing to us in ordinary vision are already tinged by the subdued light of the opposite colour, produced by the eye itself. one can easily convince oneself of this through the following experiment. instead of directing the eye, after it has been exposed to a certain colour, to a neutral surface, as previously, gaze at the appropriate contrasting colour. (the first and second coloured surfaces should be so arranged that the former is considerably smaller than the latter.) then, in the middle of the second surface (and in a field about the size of the first), its own colour appears, with a strikingly heightened intensity. here we find the eye producing, as usual, a contrast-colour from out of itself, as an after-image, even while its gaze is fixed on the same colour in the outer world. the heightened brilliance within the given field is due to the addition of the after-image colour to the external colour. the reader may wonder why this phenomenon is not immediately adduced as a decisive proof of the fallacy of the whole newtonian theory of the relation of 'white' light to the various colours. although it does in fact offer such a proof, we have good reason for not making this use of it here. throughout this book it is never our intention to enter into a contest of explanations, or to defeat one explanation by another. how little this would help will be obvious if we realize that research was certainly not ignorant of the fact that the opposite colour arises even when the eye is not turned to a white surface. in spite of this, science did not feel its concept of white light as the sum of all the colours to be an error, since it has succeeded in 'explaining' this phenomenon too, and fitting it into the prevailing theory. to do so is in thorough accord with spectator-thinking. our own concern, however, as in all earlier cases, is to replace this thinking with all its 'proofs' and 'explanations' by learning to read in the phenomena themselves. for no other purpose than this the following facts also are now brought forward. * besides rudolf steiner's fundamental insight into the spiritual-physical nature of the growing human being, through which he laid the basis of a true art of education, he gave advice on many practical points. for example, he indicated how by the choice of a suitable colour environment one can bring a harmonizing influence to bear on extremes of temperament in little children. to-day it is a matter of practical experience that excitable children are quietened if they are surrounded with red or red-yellow colours, or wear clothes of these colours, whereas inactive, lethargic children are roused to inner movement if they are exposed to the influence of blue or blue-green colours. this psychological reaction of children to colour is not surprising if one knows the role played by the blood in the process of seeing, and how differently the soul-life of man is connected with the blood-nerve polarity of his organism in childhood and in later life. what we have described as the polar interplay of blood and nerve in the act of sight is not confined to the narrow field of the eye. just as the nerve processes arising in the retina are continued to the optic centre in the cerebrum, so must we look for the origin of the corresponding blood process not in the choroid itself, but in the lower regions of the organism. wherever, therefore, the colour red influences the whole nerve system, the blood system as a whole answers with an activity of the metabolism corresponding to the contrasting colour, green. similarly it reacts as a whole to a blue-violet affecting the nerve system, this time with a production corresponding to yellow-orange. the reason why in later years we notice this so little lies in a fact we have repeatedly encountered. the consciousness of the grown man to-day, through its one-sided attachment to the death-processes in the nerve region, pays no attention to its connexion with the life-processes centred in the blood system. in this respect the condition of the little child is quite different. just as the child is more asleep in its nerve system than the grown-up person, it is more awake in its blood system. hence in all sense-perceptions a child is not so much aware of how the world works on its nerve system as how its blood system responds. and so a child in a red environment feels quietened because it experiences, though dimly, how its whole blood system is stimulated to the green production; bluish colours enliven it because it feels its blood answer with a production of light yellowish tones. from the latter phenomena we see once more the significance of goethe's arrangement of his farbenlehre. for we are now able to realize that to turn one's attention to the deeds and sufferings of the inner light means nothing less than to bring to consciousness the processes of vision which in childhood, though in a dreamlike way, determine the soul's experience of seeing. through placing his examination of the physiological colours at the beginning of his farbenlehre, goethe actually took the path in scientific research to which thomas reid pointed in philosophy. by adapting reid's words we can say that goethe, in his farbenlehre, proclaims as a basic principle of a true optics: that we must become again as little children if we would reach a philosophy of light and colours. wär' nicht das auge sonnenhaft, wie könnten wir das licht erblicken? lebt' nicht in uns des gottes eigne kraft, wie könnt' uns göttliches entzucken! inquiry, vi, . the italics are reid's. presumably kant and his school. schopenhauer was definitely of this opinion. as regards the principle underlying the line of consideration followed here, see the remark made in chapter v in connexion with goethe's study of the 'proliferated rose' (p. f.). chapter xvi seeing as 'deed' - ii the observation of our own visual process, which we began in the last chapter, will serve now to free us from a series of illusory concepts which have been connected by the onlooker-consciousness with the phenomena brought about by light. there is first the general assumption that light as such is visible. in order to realize that light is itself an invisible agent, we need only consider a few self-evident facts - for instance, that for visibility to arise light must always encounter some material resistance in space. this is, in fact, an encounter between light, typifying levity, and the density of the material world, typifying gravity. accordingly, wherever visible colours appear we have always to do with light meeting its opposite. optics, therefore, as a science of the physically perceptible is never concerned with light alone, but always with light and its opposite together. this is actually referred to in ruskin's statement, quoted in the last chapter, where he speaks of the need of the 'force' and of the intercepting bodily organ before a science of optics can come into existence. ruskin's 'light', however, is what we have learnt with goethe to call 'colour', whereas that for which we reserve the term 'light' is called by him simply 'force'. all this shows how illusory it is to speak of 'white' light as synonymous with simple light, in distinction to 'coloured' light. and yet this has been customary with scientists from the time of newton until today, not excluding newton's critic, eddington. in fact, white exists visibly for the eye as part of the manifested world, and is therefore properly characterized as a colour. this is, therefore, how goethe spoke of it. we shall see presently the special position of white (and likewise of black), as a colour among colours. what matters first of all is to realize that white must be strictly differentiated from light as such, for the function of light is to make visible the material world without itself being visible. to say that light is invisible, however, does not mean that it is wholly imperceptible. it is difficult to bring the perception of light into consciousness, for naturally our attention, when we look out into light-filled space, is claimed by the objects of the illuminated world, in all their manifold colours and forms. nevertheless the effect of pure light on our consciousness can be observed during a railway journey, for instance, when we leave a tunnel that has been long enough to bring about a complete adaptation of the eyes to the prevailing darkness. then, in the first moments of the lightening of the field of vision, and before any separate objects catch the attention, we can notice how the light itself exercises a distinctly expanding influence on our consciousness. we feel how the light calls on the consciousness to participate, as it were, in the world outside the body. it is possible also to perceive directly the opposite of light. this is easier than the direct perception of light, for in the dark one is not distracted by the sight of surrounding objects. one need only pay attention to the fact that, after a complete adapting of the eyes to the dark, one still retains a distinct experience of the extension of the field of vision of both eyes. we find here, just as in the case of light, that our will is engaged within the eye in a definite way; a systolic effect proceeds from dark, a diastolic effect from light. we have a distinct perception of both, but not of anything 'visible' in the ordinary sense. with regard to our visual experience of white and black, it is quite different. we are concerned here with definite conditions of corporeal surfaces, just as with other colours, although the conditions conveying the impressions of white or black are of a special character. a closer inspection of these conditions reveals a property of our act of seeing which has completely escaped scientific observation, but which is of fundamental importance for the understanding of optical phenomena dynamically. it is well known that a corporeal surface, which we experience as white, has the characteristic of throwing back almost all the light that strikes it, whereas light is more or less completely absorbed by a surface which we experience as black. such extreme forms of interplay between light and a corporeal surface, however, do not only occur when the light has no particular colour, but also when a coloured surface is struck by light of the same or opposite colour. in the first instance complete reflexion takes place; in the second, complete absorption. and both these effects are registered by the eye in precisely the same manner as those mentioned before. for example, a red surface in red light looks simply white; a green surface in red light looks black. the usual interpretation of this phenomenon, namely, that it consists in a subjective 'contrast' impression of the eye - a red surface in red light looking brighter, a green surface darker, than its surroundings, and thereby causing the illusion of white or black - is a typical onlooker-interpretation against which there stands the evidence of unprejudiced observation. the reality of the 'white' and the 'black' seen in such cases is so striking that a person who has not seen the colours of the objects in ordinary light can hardly be persuaded to believe that they are not 'really' white or black. the fact is that the white and the black that are seen under these conditions are just as real as 'ordinary' white and black. when in either instance the eye registers 'white' it registers exactly the same event, namely, the total reflexion of the light by the surface struck by it. again, when the eye registers 'black' in both cases it registers an identical process, namely, total absorption of the light. seen thus, the phenomenon informs us of the significant fact that our eye is not at all concerned with the colour of the light that enters its own cavity, but rather with what happens between the light and the surface on which the light falls. in other words, the phenomenon shows that our process of seeing is not confined to the bodily organ of the eye, but extends into outer space to the point where we experience the visible object to be. this picture of the visual process, to which we have been led here by simple optical observation, was reached by thomas reid through his own experience of how, in the act of perceiving the world, man is linked intuitively with it. we remember that he intended in his philosophy to carry ad absurdum the hypothesis that 'the images of the external objects are conveyed by the organs of sense to the brain and are there perceived by the mind'. common sense makes reid speak as follows: 'if any man will shew how the mind may perceive images of the brain, i will undertake to shew how it may perceive the most distant objects; for if we give eyes to the mind, to perceive what is transacted at home in its dark chamber, why may we not make the eyes a little longer-sighted? and then we shall have no occasion for that unphilosophical fiction of images in the brain.' (inq., vi, .) reid proceeds to show this by pointing out, first, that we must only use the idea of 'image' for truly visual perceptions; secondly, that the sole place of this image is the background of the eye, and not any part of the nervous system lying beyond; thirdly, that even this retina-image, as such, does not come to our consciousness, but serves only to direct the consciousness to the cause of the image, namely, the external object itself. in what follows we shall deal with an observation which will show how right reid was in this respect. those familiar with this observation (well known indeed to those living in the hilly and mountainous districts both here and on the continent) know that when distant features of the landscape, in an otherwise clear and sunlit atmosphere, suddenly seem almost near enough to touch, rainy weather is approaching. likewise a conspicuous increase in distance, while the sky is still overcast, foreshadows fine weather. this effect (the customary 'explanation' of which is, as usual, of no avail to us and so need not concern us here) ranks with phenomena described in optics under the name of 'apparent optical depth', a subject we shall discuss more fully in the next chapter. it suffices here to state that it is the higher degree of humidity which, by lending the atmosphere greater optical density (without changing its clarity), makes distant objects seem to be closer to the eye, and vice versa. (if we could substitute for the air a much lighter gas - say, hydrogen - then the things we see through it would look farther off than they ever do in our atmosphere.) observations such as these show us that (a) when external light strikes the retina of our eye, our inner light is stimulated to move out of the eye towards it; (b) in pressing outward, this inner light meets with a certain resistance, and the extent of this determines at what distance from the eye our visual ray comes to rest as the result of a kind of exhaustion. just as the outer light reaches an inner boundary at our retina, so does the inner light meet with an outer boundary, set by the optical density of the medium spread out before the eye, outer and inner light interpenetrate each other along the whole tract between these two boundaries, but normally we are not conscious of this process. we first become conscious of it where our active gaze - that is, the inner light sent forth through the eye - reaches the limit of its activity. at that point we become aware of the object of our gaze. so here we find confirmed a fact noted earlier, that consciousness - at least at its present state of evolution - arises where for some reason or other our volition conies to rest. * the foregoing observations have served to awaken us in a preliminary way to the fact that an essential part of our act of seeing takes place outside our bodily organ of vision and that our visual experience is determined by what happens out there between our gaze and the medium it has to penetrate. our next task will be to find out how this part of our visual activity is affected by the properties of the different colours. we shall thereby gain a further insight into the nature of the polarity underlying all colour-phenomena, and this again will enable us to move a step further towards becoming conscious of what happens in our act of seeing. we shall start by observing what happens to the two sides of the colour-scale when the optical medium assumes various degrees of density. for the sky to appear blue by day a certain purity of the atmosphere is needed. the more veiled the atmosphere becomes the more the blue of the sky turns towards white; the purer and rarer the atmosphere, the deeper the blue, gradually approaching to black. to mountain climbers and those who fly at great heights it is a familiar experience to see the sky assume a deep indigo hue. there can be no doubt that at still higher altitudes the colour of the sky passes over into violet and ultimately into pure black. thus in the case of blue the field of vision owes its darkening to a decrease in the resistance by which our visual ray is met in the optical medium. it is precisely the opposite with yellow. for here, as the density of the medium increases, the colour-effect grows darker by yellow darkening first to orange and then to red, until finally it passes over into complete darkness. this shows that our visual ray is subject to entirely different dynamic effects at the two poles of the colour-scale. at the blue pole, the lightness-effect springs from the resistant medium through which we gaze, a medium under the influence of gravity, while the darkness is provided by the anti-gravity quality of cosmic space, which as a 'negative' resistance exercises a suction on the eye's inner light. at the yellow pole it is just the reverse. here, the resistant medium brings about a darkening of our field of vision, while the lightness-effect springs from a direct meeting of the eye with light, and so with the suctional effect of negative density. our pursuit of the dynamic causes underlying our apperception of the two poles of the colour-scale has led us to a point where it becomes necessary to introduce certain new terms to enable us to go beyond goethe's general distinction between finsternis (darkness) and licht (light). following goethe, we have so far used these two terms for what appears both in blue and yellow as the respective light and dark ingredients. this distinction cannot satisfy us any more. for through our last observations it has become clear that the finsternis in blue and the licht in yellow are opposites only in appearance, because they are both caused by levity, and similarly that the lightening effect in blue and the darkening effect in yellow are both effected by gravity. therefore, to distinguish between what appertains to the primary polarity, levity-gravity, on the one hand, and their visible effects in the secondary polarity of the colours, on the other, we shall henceforth reserve the term darkness and, with it, lightness for instances where the perceptible components of the respective colours are concerned, while speaking of dark and light where reference is made to the generating primary polarity. * if we are justified in thus tracing the colour-polarity to a polarically ordered interplay between levity and gravity, we may then pursue the following line of thought. we know from earlier considerations that wherever such an interplay between the poles of the primary polarity takes place, we have to do, in geometric terms, with the polarity of sphere and radius. we may therefore conclude that the same characteristics will apply to the way in which the blue of the sky and the yellow of the sunlight are encountered spatially. now we need only observe how the blue heavens arch over us spherically, on the one hand, and how the yellow brightness of the sun penetrates the air ray-wise, on the other, in order to realize that this really is so. having thus established the connexion of the two poles of the colour-scale with the spherical and radial structure of space, we are now able to express the goethean ur-phenomenon in a more dynamic way as follows: on the one hand, we see the blue of the heavens emerging when levity is drawn down by gravity from its primal invisibility into visible, spherical manifestation. in the yellow of the sunlight, on the other hand, we see gravity, under the influence of the sun's levity, gleaming up radially into visibility. the aspect of the two colour-poles which thus arises before us prompts us to replace goethe's 'lightened dark' by earthward-dawning-levity, and his 'darkened light' by heavenward-raying-gravity. we have now to show that this picture of the dynamic relationship which underlies the appearance of the colour-polarity in the sky is valid also for other cases which are instances of the ur-phenomenon of the generation of colour in goethe's sense, but seem not to lend themselves to the same cosmic interpretation. such a case is the appearance of yellow and blue when we look through a clouded transparent medium towards a source of light or to a black background. there is no special difficulty here in bringing the appearance of yellow into line with its macrotelluric counterpart, but the appearance of blue requires some consideration. we have seen that a corporeal surface appears as black if light striking it is totally absorbed by it. thus, wherever our eye is met by the colour black, our visual ray is engaged in a process whereby light disappears from physical space. now we need only bring this process into consciousness - as we have tried to do before in similar instances - to realize that what happens here to the visual ray is something similar to what it undergoes when it is directed from the earth into cosmic space. note, in this respect, the principle of the mirror as another instance of the fact that the interplay between light and an illumined surface can have on the visual ray an effect similar to that of external space. for the optical processes which occur on the surface of a mirror are such that, whilst taking place on a two-dimensional plane, they evoke in our consciousness pictures of exactly the same nature as if we were looking through the mirror into the space behind it. * the value of our picture of the colour-polarity is shown further if we observe how natural phenomena based on the same kind of polarity in other realms of nature fit in with it. we remember that one of goethe's starting-points in his investigation of the riddle of colour was the observation that of the totality of colours one part is experienced as 'warm' and the other as 'cold'. now we can go further and say that the colours of the spherical pole are experienced as cold, those of the radial pole as warm. this corresponds precisely to the polarity of snow-formation and volcanic activity. the former, being the spherically directed process, requires physically low temperatures; the latter, being the radially directed process, requires high temperatures. here, once more, we see with what objectivity the human senses register the facts of the outer world. another realm of phenomena based on a similar polar order is that of electricity. when we studied the negative and positive poles of the vacuum tube, with regard to the polar distribution of radius and sphere, our attention was drawn to the colours appearing on the two electrodes - red at the (positive) anode, blue at the (negative) cathode. again we find a coincidence with the natural order of the colours. note how the qualitative dynamic method employed here brings into direct view the relationship between light and electricity, while it precludes the mistake of tracing light processes to those of electricity, as modern science does. nor are electric processes 'explained' from this point of view merely as variations of light processes. rather is the relation between light and electricity seen to be based on the fact that all polarities arising perceptibly in nature are creations of the same primeval polarity, that of levity and gravity. the interplay of levity and gravity can take on many different forms which are distinguished essentially by differences in cosmic age. thus the colour-polarity in its primal form, made manifest by the heavens, differs as much from the corresponding polarity shown by the vacuum tube, as does the lightning in the heights from the electric spark. * with the aid of what we have learnt here concerning outer light-processes we shall turn once more to the activity of our own inner light. we may expect by now that our eye is fitted with two modes of seeing activity, polar to each other, and that the way in which they come into operation depends on whether the interplay of positive and negative density outside the eye leads to the appearance of the blue-violet or of the yellow-red side of the colour-scale. such a polarity in the activity of the eye can indeed be established. along with it goes a significant functional difference between the two eyes (not unlike that shown of the two hands). to observe this we need simply to compare the two eyes of a person in a photograph by covering alternately the right and the left half of the face. nearly always it will be found that the right eye looks out clearly into the world with an active expression, and the left eye with a much gentler one, almost held back. artists are well aware of this asymmetry, as of others in the human countenance, and are careful to depict it. an outstanding example is raphael's sistine madonna, where in the eyes and whole countenance both of mother and child this asymmetry can be studied in a specially impressive way. inner observation leads to a corresponding experience. a convenient method is to exercise the two eyes in complete darkness, in the following way. one eye is made to look actively into the space in front of it, as if it would pierce the darkness with its visual ray, while the activity of the other eye is held back, so that its gaze rests only superficially, as it were, on the darkness in front of it. experience shows that most people find it natural to give the active note to the right eye, and the passive note to the left. once one has grown conscious of this natural difference between the two eyes, it is quite easily detected while one is looking normally into the light-filled environment. we thereby realize that for the two eyes to act differently in this way is the usual thing. as an instance where this fact is well observed and effectively made use of, that of shooting may be mentioned here, especially shooting at flying game. those who train in this sport learn to make a completely different use of the two eyes in sighting the target. the naturally more active eye - only once in about fifty cases is it the left - is called by them the 'master-eye'. whilst the less actively gazing eye is usually employed for surveying the field as a whole into which the target is expected to enter, the master-eye is used for making active contact with the target itself ('throwing' oneself on the target 'through' the eye). one further observation may be added. if one looks with rested eyes and in very faint daylight (perhaps in the early morning on awakening) at a white surface, while opening and closing the eyes alternately, then the white surface looks faintly reddish to the 'master-eye', and faintly bluish to the other. * following the lines of our treatment of after-images in the last chapter, we will next inquire into the anatomical and physiological basis of the two opposite sight-activities. in the previous instance we found this in the polarity of nerve and blood. this time we must look for it in a certain twofold structure of the eye itself. we shall best perceive this by watching the 'becoming' of the eye, thus again following a method first shown by goethe. fig. shows the human eye in different stages of its embryonic formation. the eye is clearly seen to consist of two parts essentially different in origin. growing out from the interior of the embryonic organism is a structure that is gradually pushed in, and in its further development becomes the entire posterior part of the eye, destined to carry its life-imbued functions. a second independent part grows towards this from outside; this is at first a mere thickening of the embryonic skin formation, but later it loosens itself and presses forward into the interior of the cup-shaped structure. it is gradually enclosed by this, and evolves finally into that part of the finished eye which embodies the optical apparatus functioning according to purely physical laws. this series of forms shows that in the embryonic formation of the eye we are confronted with two processes, one of spherical, and the other of radial orientation. consequently the two parts of the eye are differentiated in such a way that the posterior part, which has grown forth radially from the embryonic organism, as the life-filled element represents the sulphur-pole of the total eye, while the anterior part, with its much more crystalline nature, having grown spherically towards the organism, represents the eye's salt-pole. closer inspection into the connexion of the two visual activities of the eye with its basic corporeal parts reveals that here, at the outermost boundary of the human organism, we encounter once more that peculiar reversal of functions which we have already several times met in various realms of nature. for the anterior part of the eye - its salt-pole - which has come into being through a spherically directed formative process, seems to be the one through which we exercise the perceptive activity streaming out radially from the eye, whilst the posterior part - the eye's sulphur-pole - which has come into being through radially directed formative action, serves that form of seeing which is more receptive and is carried out in a plane-wise manner. considerations of this kind, and they alone, enable us also to draw true comparisons between the different sense-organs. take the organ of hearing. usually the ear is assumed to fill the same role in the field of hearing as does the eye in the field of seeing. in fact the ear corresponds to only one half of the eye; the other half must be looked for in the larynx. in other words, the two parts of the eye are represented in the realm of hearing by two separate organs, ear and larynx. speaking from the aspect of metamorphosis, the vital part of our eye may be regarded as our 'light-ear'; the crystalline part, as our 'light-larynx'. in order to come consciously to a perception of sight we must 'listen' to the 'deeds and sufferings' of light, while at the same time we meet them with the help of the 'speaking' of our inner light. something similar holds good for hearing. in fact, observation reveals that we take in no impression of hearing unless we accompany it with an activity of our larynx, even though a silent one. the significance of this fact for the total function of hearing will occupy us more fully later. * our insight into the polar nature of visual activity will enable us now to link the external interplay of light and dark - to which the physical colours owe their existence - to that play of forces which we ourselves set in motion when our eye meets the world of colours in their polar differentiation. we established earlier that in the cold colours the role of darkness belongs to the pole of levity or negative density, and the role of lightness to the pole of gravity or positive density, whereas in the case of the warm colours the roles are reversed. let us now unite with this the insight we have meanwhile gained into the two kinds of activity in seeing - the receptive, 'left-eyed' and the radiating, 'right-eyed' - which mediate to us the experience of the positive or negative density of space spread out before our eyes. taking together the results of outer and inner observation, we can express the polarity ruling in the realm of colour as follows. if lightness and darkness as elements of colour, meet us in such a way that lightness, by reason of its positive density, calls forth 'left-eyed' activity, and darkness, by reason of its negative density, 'right-eyed' activity, then our soul receives the impression of the colour blue and colours related to blue. if lightness and darkness meet us so that we see the former in a 'right-eyed', and the latter in a 'left-eyed' way, then we experience this as the presence of yellow and the colours related to it. the reason why we usually fail to observe the different kinds of interplay of the two modes of seeing, when we perceive one or other of the two categories of colour, is because in ordinary sight both eyes exercise each of the two activities without our becoming aware which is the leading one in a particular eye. if, however, one has come to a real experience of the inner polarity of the visual act, one needs only a little practice to realize the distinction. for example, if one looks at the blue sky, notably at noon-time, on the side away from the sun, or at the morning or evening sky, shining yellow and red, one quickly becomes conscious of how our eyes take hold of the particular contribution which light and dark make to one or other of the two colour appearances. * in the natural course of our argument we had to keep at first to the appearance of colours as they come freely before us in space. the results we have obtained, however, hold good equally well for the permanent tints of material objects, as the following example will show. a fact known to science is that red and blue surface colours, when illumined by light of steadily diminishing intensity, are seen to reverse their normal ratio of brightness. this phenomenon can be seen in nature, if, for instance, one observes a bed of blue and red flowers in the fading evening light and compares the impression with that which the same flowers make in bright daylight. if the phenomenon is reproduced artificially, the actual transition from one state to the other can be clearly observed. the easiest way is to place a red and a blue surface side by side under an electric light whose intensity can be gradually lessened by means of a sliding resistance. here, as much as in the natural phenomenon, our reason finds it difficult to acknowledge that the surface gleaming in a whitish sheen should be the one which ordinarily appears as darkling blue, and that the one disappearing into darkness should be the surface which normally presents itself as radiant red. this riddle is readily solved if we apply what we have learnt about the particular shares of lightness and darkness in these two colours, and if we link this up with the respective forms of seeing exercised by our two eyes. to the dim light, clearly, our eyes will respond more with the 'left-eyed' than with the 'right-eyed' form of vision. now we know that it is 'left-eyed' vision which is roused by the lightness-component in blue and the darkness-component in red. it is only to be expected, therefore, that these elements should become conspicuous when in the dim light our seeing is mainly 'left-eyed'. this solution of the problem makes us realize further, that the laws which goethe first found for the coming into appearance of colours freely hovering in space are indeed applicable to the fixed material colours as well. it will be well to remember here the discussion of our experience of temperature through the sense of warmth in chapter viii (p. f.). along these lines the true solution of the problem of the so-called coloured shadows will be found, goethe studied this without finding, however, a satisfactory answer. chapter xvii optics of the doer three basic concepts form the foundation for the present-day scientific description of a vast field of optical phenomena, among them the occurrence of the spectral colours as a result of light passing through a transparent medium of prismatic shape. they are: 'optical refraction', 'light-ray', and 'light-velocity' - the latter two serving to explain the first. in a science of optics which seeks its foundation in the intercourse between man's own visual activity and the doings and sufferings of light, these three concepts must needs undergo a decisive change, both in their meaning and in their value for the description of the relevant optical phenomena. for they are all purely kinematic concepts typical of the onlooker-way of conceiving things - concepts, that is, to which nothing corresponds in the realm of the actual phenomena. our next task, therefore, will be, where possible, to fill these concepts with new meaning, or else to replace them by other concepts read from the actual phenomena. once this is done the way will be free for the development of the picture of the spectrum phenomenon which is in true accord with the goethean conception of light and colour. * the first to be brought in this sense under our examination is the concept of the 'light-ray'. in present-day optics this concept signifies a geometrical line of infinitely small width drawn, as it were, by the light in space, while the cone or cylinder of light actually filling the space is described as being composed of innumerable such rays. in the same way the object producing or reflecting light is thought of as composed of innumerable single points from which the light-rays emerge. all descriptions of optical processes are based upon this conception. obviously, we cannot be satisfied with such a reduction of wholes into single geometrically describable parts, followed by a reassembling of these parts into a whole. for in reality we have to do with realms of space uniformly filled with light, whether conical or cylindrical in form, which arise through certain boundaries being set to the light. in optical research we have therefore always to do with pictures, spatially bounded. thus what comes before our consciousness is determined equally by the light calling forth the picture, and by the unlit space bordering it. remembering the results of our earlier study, we must say further of such a light-filled realm that it lacks the quality of visibility and therefore has no colour, not even white. goethe and other 'readers', such as reid and ruskin, tried continually to visualize what such a light-filled space represents in reality. hence they directed their attention first to those spheres where light manifests its form-creative activity, as in the moulding of the organ of sight in animal or man, or in the creation of the many forms of the plant kingdom - and only then gave their mind to the purely physical light-phenomena. let us use the same method to form a picture of a light-filled space, and to connect this with the ideas we have previously gained on the co-operation in space of levity and gravity. suppose we have two similar plant-seeds in germ; and let one lie in a space filled with light, the other in an unlit space. from the different behaviour of the two seeds we can observe certain differences between the two regions of space. we note that within the light-filled region the spiritual archetype of the plant belonging to the seed is helped to manifest itself physically in space, whereas in the dark region it receives no such aid. for in the latter the physical plant, even if it grows, does not develop its proper forms. this tells us, in accordance with what we have learnt earlier, that in the two cases there is a different relation of space to the cosmically distant, all-embracing plane. thus inside and outside the light-region there exists a quite different relation of levity and gravity - and this relation changes abruptly at the boundaries of the region. (this fact will be of especial importance for us when we come to examine the arising of colours at the boundary of light and dark, when light passes through a prism.) * after having replaced the customary concept of the light-bundle composed of single rays by the conception of two dynamically polar realms of space bordering each other, we turn to the examination of what is going on dynamically inside these realms. this will help us to gain a proper concept of the propagation of light through space. in an age when the existence of a measurable light-velocity seems to belong to the realm of facts long since experimentally proved; when science has begun to measure the universe, using the magnitude of this velocity as a constant, valid for the whole cosmos; and when entire branches of science have been founded on results thus gained, it is not easy, and yet it cannot be avoided, to proclaim that neither has an actual velocity of light ever been measured, nor can light as such ever be made subject to such measurement by optical means - and that, moreover, light, by its very nature, forbids us to conceive of it as possessing any finite velocity. with the last assertion we do not mean to say that there is nothing going on in connexion with the appearance of optical phenomena to which the concept of a finite velocity is applicable. only, what is propagated in this way is not the entity we comprise under the concept of 'light'. our next task, therefore, will be to create a proper distinction between what moves and what does not move spatially when light is active in the physical world. once more an historical retrospect will help us to establish our own standpoint with regard to the existing theories. the first to think of light as possessing a finite velocity was galileo, who also made the first, though unsuccessful, attempt to measure it. equally unsuccessful were attempts of a similar nature made soon afterwards by members of the accademia del cimento. in both cases the obvious procedure was to produce regular flashes of light and to try to measure the time which elapsed between their production and their observation by some more or less distant observer. still, the conviction of the existence of such a velocity was so deeply ingrained in the minds of men that, when later observations succeeded in establishing a finite magnitude for what seemed to be the rate of the light's movement through space, these observations were hailed much more as the quantitative value of this movement than as proof of its existence, which was already taken for granted. a clear indication of man's state of mind in regard to this question is given in the following passage from huygens's famous traité de la lumière, by which the world was first made acquainted with the concept of light as a sort of undulatory movement. 'one cannot doubt that light consists in the movement of a certain substance. for if one considers its production one finds that here on the earth it is chiefly produced by fire and flame, which without doubt contain bodies in rapid motion, for they dissolve and melt numberless other bodies. or, if one considers its effects, one sees that light collected, for instance, by a concave mirror has the power to heat like fire, i.e. to separate the parts of the bodies; this assuredly points to movement, at least in true philosophy in which one traces all natural activity to mechanical causes. in my opinion one must do this, or quite give up all hope of ever grasping anything in physics.' in these words of huygens it must strike us how he first provides an explanation for a series of phenomena as if this explanation were induced from the phenomena themselves. after he has drawn quite definite conclusions from it, he then derives its necessity from quite other principles - namely, from a certain method of thinking, accepting this as it is, unquestioned and unalterably established. we are here confronted with an 'unlogic' characteristic of human thinking during its state of isolation from the dynamic substratum of the world of the senses, an unlogic which one encounters repeatedly in scientific argumentation once one has grown aware of it. in circles of modern thinkers where such awareness prevails (and they are growing rapidly to-day) the term 'proof of a foregone conclusion' has been coined to describe this fact. 'proof of a foregone conclusion' is indeed the verdict at which one arrives in respect of all the observations concerned with the velocity of light - whether of existing phenomena detectable in the sky or of terrestrial phenomena produced artificially - if one studies them with the attitude of mind represented by the child in hans andersen's story. in view of the seriousness of the matter it will not be out of place if we discuss them here as briefly as possible, one by one. the relevant observations fall into two categories: observations of certain astronomical facts from which the existence of a finite velocity of light and its magnitude as an absolute property of it has been inferred; and terrestrial experiments which permitted direct observation of a process of propagation connected with the establishment of light in space resulting in the measurement of its speed. to the latter category belong the experiments of fizeau ( ) and foucault ( ) as well as the michelson-morley experiment with its implications for einstein's theory of relativity. the former category is represented by roemer's observations of certain apparent irregularities in the times of revolution of one of jupiter's moons ( ), and by bradley's investigation into the reason for the apparent rhythmic changes of the positions of the fixed stars ( ). we shall start with the terrestrial observations, because in their case alone is the entire path of the light surveyable, and what is measured therefore is something appertaining with certainty to every point of the space which spreads between the source of the light and the observer. for this reason textbooks quite rightly say that only the results drawn from these terrestrial observations have the value of empirically observed facts. (the interpretation given to these facts is another question.) now, it is a common feature of all these experiments that by necessity they are based on an arrangement whereby a light-beam can be made to appear and disappear alternately. in this respect there is no difference between the first primitive attempts made by galileo and the academicians, and the ingeniously devised experiments of the later observers, whether they operate with a toothed wheel or a rotating mirror. it is always a flash of light - and how could it be otherwise? - which is produced at certain regular intervals and used for determining the speed of propagation. evidently what in all these cases is measured is the speed with which a beam of light establishes itself in space. of what happens within the beam, once it is established, these observations tell nothing at all. the proof they are held to give of the existence of a finite speed of light, as such, is a 'proof of a foregone conclusion'. all they tell us is that the beam's front, at the moment when this beam is first established, travels through space with a finite velocity and that the rate of this movement is such and such. and they tell us nothing at all about other regions of the cosmos. that we have to do in these observations with the speed of the light-front only, and not of the light itself, is a fact fully acknowledged by modern physical optics. since lord rayleigh first discussed this matter in the eighties of the last century, physicists have learnt to distinguish between the 'wave-velocity' of the light itself and the velocity of an 'impressed peculiarity', the so-called 'group-velocity', and it has been acknowledged that only the latter has been, and can be, directly measured. there is no possibility of inferring from it the value of the 'wave-velocity' unless one has a complete knowledge of the properties of the medium through which the 'groups' travel. nevertheless, the modern mind allows itself to be convinced that light possesses a finite velocity and that this has been established by actual measurement. we feel reminded here of eddington's comment on newton's famous observations: 'such is the glamour of a historical experiment.' (chapter xiv.) let us now turn to roemer and bradley. in a certain sense roemer's observations and even those of bradley rank together with the terrestrial measurements. for roemer used as optical signals the appearance and disappearance of one of jupiter's moons in the course of its revolution round the planet; thus he worked with light-flashes, as the experimental investigations do. hence, also, his measurements were concerned - as optical science acknowledges - with group-velocity only. in fact, even bradley's observations, although he was the only one who operated with continuous light-phenomena, are exposed to the charge that they give information of the group-velocity of light, and not of its wave-velocity. however, we shall ignore these limitations in both cases, because there are quite other factors which invalidate the proofs they are held to give, and to gain a clear insight into these factors is of special importance for us. roemer observed a difference in the length of time during which a certain moon of jupiter was occulted by the planet's body, and found that this difference underwent regular changes coincident with the changes in the earth's position in relation to jupiter and the sun. seen from the sun, the earth is once a year in conjunction with jupiter, once in opposition to it. it seemed obvious to explain the time-lag in the moon's reappearance, when the earth was on the far side of the sun, by the time the light from the moon needed to cover the distance marked by the two extreme positions of the earth - that is, a distance equal to the diameter of the earth's orbit. on dividing the observed interval of time by the accepted value of this distance, roemer obtained for the velocity of light a figure not far from the one found later by terrestrial measurements. we can here leave out of account the fact that roemer's reasoning is based on the assumption that the copernican conception of the relative movements of the members of our solar system is the valid conception, an assumption which, as later considerations will show, cannot be upheld in a science which strives for a truly dynamic understanding of the world. for the change of aspect which becomes necessary in this way does not invalidate roemer's observation as such; it rules out only the customary interpretation of it. freed from all hypothetical by-thought, roemer's observation tells us, first, that the time taken by a flash of light travelling from a cosmic light-source to reach the earth varies to a measurable extent, and, secondly, that this difference is bound up with the yearly changes of the earth's position in relation to the sun and the relevant planetary body. we leave equally out of account the fact that our considerations of the nature of space in chapter xii render it impermissible to conceive of cosmic space as something 'across' which light (or any other entity) can be regarded as travelling this or that distance in this or that time. what matters to us here is the validity of the conclusions drawn from roemer's discovery within the framework of thought in which they were made. boiled down to its purely empirical content, roemer's observation tells us solely and simply that within the earth's cosmic orbit light-flashes travel with a certain measurable speed. to regard this information as automatically valid, firstly for light which is continuously present, and secondly for everywhere in the universe, rests again on nothing but a foregone conclusion. precisely the same criticism applies to bradley's observation, and to an even higher degree. what bradley discovered is the fact that the apparent direction in which we see a fixed star is dependent on the direction in which the earth moves relatively to the star, a phenomenon known under the name of 'aberration of light'. this phenomenon is frequently brought to students' understanding by means of the following or some similar analogy. imagine that a machine-gun in a fixed position has sent its projectile right across a railway-carriage so that both the latter's walls are pierced. if the train is at rest, the position of the gun could be determined by sighting through the shot-holes made by the entrance and exit of the bullet. if, however, the train is moving at high speed, it will have advanced a certain distance during the time taken by the projectile to cross the carriage, and the point of exit will be nearer the rear of the carriage than in the previous case. let us now think of an observer in the train who, while ignorant of the train's movement, undertook to determine the gun's position by considering the direction of the line connecting the two holes. he would necessarily locate the gun in a position which, compared with its true position, would seem to have shifted by some distance in the direction of the train's motion. on the other hand, given the speed of the train, the angle which the line connecting the two holes forms with the true direction of the course of the projectile - the so-called angle of aberration - provides a measure of the speed of the projectile. under the foregone conclusion that light itself has a definite velocity, and that this velocity is the same throughout the universe, bradley's observation of the aberration of the stars seemed indeed to make it possible to calculate this velocity from the knowledge of the earth's own speed and the angle of aberration. this angle could be established by comparing the different directions into which a telescope has to be turned at different times of the year in order to focus a particular star. but what does bradley's observation tell us, once we exclude all foregone conclusions? as the above analogy helps towards an understanding of the concept of aberration, it will be helpful also to determine the limits up to which we are allowed to draw valid conclusions from the supposed occurrence itself. a mind which is free from all preconceived ideas will not ignore the fact that the projectile, by being forced to pierce the wall of the carriage, suffers a considerable diminution of its speed. the projectile, therefore, passes through the carriage with a speed different from its speed outside. since, however, it is the speed from hole to hole which determines the angle of aberration, no conclusion can be drawn from the latter as to the original velocity of the projectile. let us assume the imaginary case that the projectile was shot forth from the gun with infinite velocity, and that the slowing-down effect of the wall was great enough to produce a finite speed of the usual magnitude, then the effect on the position of the exit hole would be precisely the same as if the projectile had moved all the time ' with this speed and not been slowed down at all. seeing things in this light, the scientific andersen child in us is roused to exclaim: 'but all that bradley's observation informs us of , with certainty is a finite velocity of the optical process going on inside the telescope!' indeed, if someone should claim with good reason (as we shall do later on) that light's own velocity is infinite, and (as we shall not do) that the dynamic situation set up in the telescope had the effect of slowing down the light to the measured velocity - there is nothing in bradley's observation which could disprove these assertions. * having thus disposed of the false conclusions drawn by a kinematically orientated thinking from the various observations and measurements of the velocity which appears in connexion with light, we can carry on our own studies undisturbed. two observations stand before us representing empirically established facts: one, that in so far as a finite velocity has been measured or calculated from other observations, nothing is known about the existence or magnitude of such a velocity except within the boundaries of the dynamic realm constituted by the earth's presence in the universe; the other, that this velocity is a 'group'-velocity, that is, the velocity of the front of a light-beam in process of establishment. let us see what these two facts have to tell us when we regard them as letters of the 'word' which light inscribes into the phenomenal world as an indication of its own nature. taking the last-named fact first, we shall make use of the following comparison to help us realize how little we are justified in drawing from observations of the front speed of a light-beam any conclusions concerning the kinematic conditions prevailing in the interior of the beam itself. imagine the process of constructing a tunnel, with all the efforts and time needed for cutting its passage through the resisting rock. when the tunnel is finished the activities necessary to its production are at an end. whereas these continue for a limited time only, they leave behind them permanent traces in the existence of the tunnel, which one can describe dynamically as a definite alteration in the local conditions of the earth's gravity. now, it would occur to no one to ascribe to the tunnel itself, as a lasting quality, the speed with which it had been constructed. yet something similar happens when, after observing the velocity required by light to lay hold on space, this velocity is then attributed to the light as a quality of its own. it was reserved for a mode of thought that could form no concept of the real dynamic of light and dark, to draw conclusions as to the qualities of light from experiences obtained through observing its original spreading out into space. to speak of an independently existing space within which light could move forward like a physical body, is, after what we have learnt about space, altogether forbidden. for space in its relevant structure is itself but a result of a particular co-ordination of levity and gravity or, in other words, of light and dark. what we found earlier about the qualities of the two polar spaces now leads us to conceive of them as representative of two limiting conditions of velocity: absolute contraction representing zero velocity; absolute expansion, infinite velocity (each in its own way a state of 'rest'). thus any motion with finite velocity is a mean between these two extremes, and as such the result of a particular co-ordination of levity and gravity. this makes it evident that to speak of a velocity taking its course in space, whether with reference to light or to a physical body in motion, is something entirely unreal. let us now see what we are really told by the number , miles a second, as the measure of the speed with which a light-impulse establishes itself spatially. in the preceding chapter we learnt that the earth's field of gravity offers a definite resistance to our visual ray. what is true for the inner light holds good equally for the outer light. using an image from another dynamic stratum of nature we can say that light, while appearing within the field of gravity, 'rubs' itself on this. on the magnitude of this friction depends the velocity with which a light-impulse establishes itself in the medium of the resisting gravity. whereas light itself as a manifestation of levity possesses infinite velocity, this is forced down to the known finite measure by the resistance of the earth's field of gravity. thus the speed of light which has been measured by observers such as fizeau and foucault reveals itself as a function of the gravitational constant of the earth, and hence has validity for this sphere only. the same is true for roemer's and bradley's observations, none of which, after what we have stated earlier, contradicts this result. on the contrary, seen from this viewpoint, roemer's discovery of the light's travelling with finite speed within the cosmic realm marked by the earth's orbit provides an important insight into the dynamic conditions of this realm. * among the experiments undertaken with the aim of establishing the properties of the propagation of light by direct measurements, quoted earlier, we mentioned the michelson-morley experiment as having a special bearing on einstein's conceptual edifice. it is the one which has formed the foundation of that (earlier) part of einstein's theory which he himself called the special theory of relativity. let us see what becomes of this foundation - and with it the conceptual edifice erected upon it - when we examine it against the background of what we have found to be the true nature of the so-called velocity of light. it is generally known that modern ideas of light seemed to call for something (huygens's 'certain substance') to act as bearer of the movement attributed to light. this led to the conception of an imponderable agency capable of certain movements, and to denote this agency the greek word ether was borrowed. (how this word can be used again to-day in conformity with its actual significance will be shown in the further course of our discussions.) nevertheless, all endeavours to find in the existence of such an ether a means of explaining wide fields of natural phenomena were disappointed. for the more exact concepts one tried to form of the characteristics of this ether, the greater the contradictions became. one such decisive contradiction arose when optical means were used to discover whether the ether was something absolutely at rest in space, through which physical bodies moved freely, or whether it shared in their movement. experiments made by fizeau with running water seemed to prove the one view, those of michelson and morley, involving the movement of the earth, the other view. in the celebrated michelson-morley experiment the velocity of light was shown to be the same, in whatever direction, relative to the earth's own motion, it was measured. this apparent proof of the absolute constancy of light-velocity - which seemed, however, to contradict other observations - induced einstein to do away with the whole assumption of a bearer of the movement underlying light, whether the bearer were supposed to be at rest or itself in motion. instead, he divested the concepts of space and time, from which that of velocity is usually derived, of the absoluteness hitherto attributed to them, with the result that in his theory time has come to be conceived as part of a four-dimensional 'space-time continuum'. in reality the michelson-morley experiment presents no problem requiring such labours as those of einstein for its solution. for by this experiment nothing is proved beyond what can in any event be known - namely, that the velocity of the propagation of a light-impulse is constant in all directions, so long as the measuring is confined to regions where the density of terrestrial space is more or less the same. with the realization of this truth, however, einstein's special theory loses its entire foundation. all that remains to be said about it is that it was a splendid endeavour to solve a problem which, rightly considered, does not exist. * now that we have realized that it is inadmissible to speak of light as consisting of single rays, or to ascribe to it a finite velocity, the concept of the refraction of light, as understood by optics to-day and employed for the explanation of the spectrum, also becomes untenable. let us find out what we must put in its place. the phenomenon which led the onlooker-consciousness to form the idea of optical refraction has been known since early times. it consists in the fact, surprising at first sight, that an object, such as a coin, which lies at the bottom of a vessel hidden from an observer by the rim, becomes visible when the vessel is filled with water. modern optics has explained this by assuming that from the separate points of the floor of the vessel light-rays go out to all sides, one ray falling in the direction of the eye of the observer. hence, because of the positions of eye and intercepting rim there are a number of points from which no rays can reach the eye. one such point is represented by the coin (p in fig. a). now if the vessel is filled with water, light-rays emerging from it are held to be refracted, so that rays from the points hitherto invisible also meet the eye, which is still in its original position. the eye itself is not conscious of this 'break' in the light-rays, because it is accustomed to 'project' all light impressions rectilinearly out into space (fig. b.). hence, it sees p in the position of p'. this is thought to be the origin of the impression that the whole bottom of the vessel is raised. this kind of explanation is quite in line with the peculiarity of the onlooker-consciousness, noted earlier, to attribute an optical illusion to the eye's way of working, while charging the mind with the task of clearing up the illusion. in reality it is just the reverse. since the intellect can form no other idea of the act of seeing than that this is a passive process taking place solely within the eye, it falls, itself, into illusion. how great is this illusion we see from the fact that the intellect is finally obliged to make the eye somehow or other 'project' into space the impressions it receives - a process lacking any concrete dynamic content. once more, it is not our task to replace this way of 'explaining' the phenomenon by any other, but rather to combine the phenomenon given here with others of kindred nature so that the theory contained in them can be read from them direct. one other such phenomenon is that of so-called apparent optical depth, which an observer encounters when looking through transparent media of varying optical density. what connects the two is the fact that the rate of the alteration of depth, and the rate of change of the direction of light, are the same for the same media. in present-day optics this phenomenon is explained with reference to the former. in proceeding like this, optical science makes the very mistake which goethe condemned in newton, saying that a complicated phenomenon was made the basis, and the simpler derived from the complex. for of these two phenomena, the simpler, since it is independent of any secondary condition, is the one showing that our experience of depth is dependent on the density of the optical medium. the latter phenomenon we met once before, though without reference to its quantitative side, when in looking at a landscape we found how our experiences of depth change in conformity with alterations in atmospheric conditions. this, then, served to make us aware that the way we apprehend things optically is the result of an interplay between our visual ray and the medium outside us which it meets. it is exactly the same when we look through a vessel filled with water and see the bottom of it as if raised in level. this is in no sense an optical illusion; it is the result of what takes place objectively and dynamically within the medium, when our eye-ray passes through it. only our intellect is under an illusion when, in the case of the coin becoming visible at the bottom of the vessel, it deals with the coin as if it were a point from which an individual ray of light went out.. .. etc., instead of conceiving the phenomenon of the raising of the vessel's bottom as one indivisible whole, wherein the coin serves only to link our attention to it. * having thus cleared away the kinematic interpretation of the coin-in-the-bowl phenomenon, we may pass on to discuss the optical effect through which the so-called law of refraction was first established in science. instead of picturing to ourselves, as is usually done, light-rays which are shifted away from or towards the perpendicular at the border-plane between two media of different optical properties, we shall rather build up the picture as light itself designs it into space. we have seen that our inner light, as well as the outer light, suffers a certain hindrance in passing through a physical medium - even such as the earth's gravity-field. whilst we may not describe this retardation, as is usually done, in terms of a smaller velocity of light itself within the denser medium, we may rightly say that density has the effect of lessening the intensity of the light. (it is the time required for the initial establishment of a light-filled realm which is greater within such a medium than outside it.) now by its very nature the intensity of light cannot be measured in spatial terms. yet there is a phenomenon by which the decrease of the inner intensity of the light becomes spatially apparent and thus spatially measurable. it consists in the alteration undergone by the aperture of a cone of light when passing from one optical medium to another. if one sets in the path of a luminous cone a glass-walled trough filled with water, then, if both water and surrounding air are slightly clouded, the cone is seen to make a more acute angle within the water than outside it (fig. ). here in an external phenomenon we meet the same weakening in the light's tendency to expand that we recognized in the shortening of our experience of depth on looking through a dense medium. obviously, we expect the externally observable narrowing of the light-cone and the subjectively experienced change of optical depth to show the same ratio. in order to compare the rate of expansion of a luminous cone inside and outside water, we must measure by how much less the width of the cone increases within the water than it does outside. (to be comparable, the measurements must be based upon the same distances on the edge of the cone, because this is the length of the way the light actually travels.) in fig. this is shown by the two distances, a-b and a'-b'. their ratio is the same as that by which the bottom of a vessel appears to be raised when the vessel is filled with water ( : ). thus by means of pure observation we have arrived at nothing less than what is known to physical optics as snell's law of refraction. this law was itself the result of pure observation, but was clothed in a conceptual form devoid of reality. in this form it states that a ray of light in transition between two media of different densities is refracted at their boundary surface so that the ratio of the angle which is formed by the ray in either medium with a line at right angles to the boundary surface is such that the quotient of the sines of both angles is for these media a constant factor. in symbols sin α / sin β = c. it will be clear to the reader familiar with trigonometry that this ratio of the two sines is nothing else but the ratio of the two distances which served us as a measure for the respective apertures of the cone. but whereas the measurement of these two distances is concerned with something quite real (since they express an actual dynamic alteration of the light), the measuring of the angle between the ray of light and the perpendicular is founded on nothing real. it is now clear that the concept of the ray, as it figures in the usual picture of refraction, is in reality the boundary between the luminous space and its surroundings. evidently the concept of the perpendicular on the boundary between the two media is in itself a complete abstraction, since nothing happens dynamically in its direction. to a normal human understanding it is incomprehensible why a ray of light should be related to an external geometrical line, as stated by the law of refraction in its usual form. physical optics, in order to explain refraction, had therefore to resort to light-bundles spatially diffused, and by use of sundry purely kinematic concepts, to read into these light-bundles certain processes of motion, which are not in the least shown by the phenomenon itself. in contrast to this, the idea that the boundary of a luminous cone is spatially displaced when its expansion is hindered by an optical medium of some density, and that the measure of this displacement is equal to the shortening of depth which we experience in looking through this medium, is directly evident, since all its elements are taken from observation. * from what we have here found we may expect that in order to explain the numerical relationships between natural phenomena (with which science in the past has been solely concerned), we by no means require the artificial theories to which the onlooker in man, confined as he is to abstract thinking, has been unavoidably driven. indeed, to an observer who trains himself on the lines indicated in this book, even the quantitative secrets of nature will become objects of intuitive judgment, just as goethe, by developing this organ of understanding, first found access to nature's qualitative secrets. (the change in our conception of number which this entails will be shown at a later stage of our discussions.) compare with this our account in chapter x of the rise of the atomistic-kinematic interpretation of heat. the following critical study leaves, of course, completely untouched our recognition of the devotion which guided the respective observers in their work, and of the ingenuity with which some of their observations were devised and carried out. the assumption is that the wave-velocity differs from the group-velocity, if at all, by a negligible amount. once this is realized there can be no doubt that with the aid of an adequate mathematical calculus (which would have to be established on a realistic understanding of the respective properties of the fields of force coming into play) it will become possible to derive by calculation the speed of the establishment of light within physical space from the gravitational constant of the earth. the grounds of einstein's general theory were dealt with in our earlier discussions. chapter xviii the spectrum as a script of the spirit the realization that newton's explanation of the spectrum fails to meet the facts prompted goethe to engage in all those studies which made him the founder of a modern optics based on intuitive participation in the phenomena. in spite of all that he achieved, however, he never reached a real solution of the riddle of the colour-phenomenon produced when light passes through a transparent body of prismatic shape. for his assumption of certain 'double images', which are supposed to appear as a result of the optical displacement of the boundaries between the light-filled and the dark-filled parts of space and the mutual superposition of which he believed to be responsible for the appearance of the respective colours, does not solve the problem. what hindered goethe in this field was his limited insight into the nature of the two distinct kinds of forces which, as we have noted in the course of our own inquiries, correspond to his concepts of licht and finsternis. with the aid of this distinction - which we have indeed established through a consistent application of goethe's method - we shall now be able to develop precisely that insight into the coming-into-being of the spectral colours which goethe sought. * dynamically, the process of the formation of the spectrum by light that passes through a prism divides into two clearly distinguishable parts. the first consists in the influence which the light undergoes inside the prism as a result of the latter's special shape, the other, in what happens outside the prism at the boundary between the light-space - influenced by the shape of the prism - and the surrounding dark-space. accordingly, we shall study these two parts of the process separately. as an aid to distinguishing clearly one process from the other, we shall suppose the prism experiment to be so arranged that the light area is larger than the width of the prism, which will then lie completely within it. we shall further suppose the dimensions of the whole to be such that the part observable on the screen represents only a portion of the total light-realm situated between the boundaries of the prism. the result is that the screen depicts a light-phenomenon in which there is no trace of colour. for normal eyesight, the phenomenon on the screen differs in no way from what it would be if no prism intervened in the path of the light. these two seemingly identical light-phenomena reveal at once their inner dynamic difference if we narrow the field of light from either side by introducing into it an object capable of casting shadow. if there is no prism we see simply a black shadow move into the illumined area on the screen, no matter from which side the narrowing comes. if, however, the light has come through a prism (arranged as described above) certain colours appear on the boundary between the regions of light and shadow, and these differ according to the side from which the darkening is effected. the same part of the light area may thus be made to display either the colours of the blue pole of the colour-scale, or those of the yellow pole. this shows that the inner dynamic condition of the light-realm is altered in some way by being exposed to an optically resistant medium of prismatic shape. if we are to find the cause and nature of this alteration we must revert to the prism itself, and inquire what effect it has on light in the part of space occupied by it. by proceeding in this way we follow goethe's model: first, to keep the two border-phenomena separate, and, secondly, not to ascribe to the light itself what is in fact due to certain boundary conditions. in order to realize what happens to the light in passing through the prism, let us remember that it is a characteristic of an ordinary light-beam to direct itself through space in a straight line if not interfered with, and to illuminate equally any cross-section of the area it fills. both these features are altered when the light is exposed to a transparent medium of prismatic shape - that is, to an optically resistant medium so shaped that the length of the light's passage through it changes from one side of the beam to the other, being least at the so-called refracting edge of the prism, greatest at the base opposite to that. the dimming effect of the medium, therefore, has a different magnitude at each point of the width of the beam. obviously, the ratio between levity and gravity inside such a light-realm, instead of being constant, varies from one side to the other. the result is a transverse dynamic impulse which acts from that part of the light-realm where the weakening influence of the prism is least towards the part where it is strongest (see long arrow in plate c, fig. i). this impulse manifests in the deflection of the light from its original course. apart from this, nothing is noticeable in the light itself when caught by an observation screen, the reason being that the transverse impulse now immanent in the light-realm has no effect on the reflecting surface. the situation changes when the light-realm is narrowed down from one side or the other - in other words, when an abrupt change of the field-conditions, that is, a sudden leap from light to dark or from dark to light, is introduced within this realm. in this case, clearly, the effect of the transverse field-gradient on such a leap will be different, depending on the relation between the directions of the two (see small arrows in fig. i). our eyes witness to this difference by seeing the colours of the blue pole of the colour-scale appear when the field-gradient is directed towards the leap (a), and the colours of the yellow pole when the gradient is directed away from it (b). for our further investigation it is very important to observe how the colours spread when they emerge at the edge of the shadow-casting object thus introduced into the light-realm from the one side or the other. figs, ii and iii on plate c show, closely enough for our purpose, the position of the colour-bearing areas in each case, with the dotted line indicating the direction which the light would have at the place of origin of the colours if there were no object interfering with its free expansion. we observe a distinct difference in the widening out of the two colour-areas on both sides of the original direction of the light: in each case the angle which the boundary of the colour-area forms with this direction is smaller on the side of the colours nearest the light-realm (blue and yellow respectively) than on the opposite side (violet and red). remembering what we have learnt about the dynamic characteristics of the two colour-poles, we are now in a position to state the following. when a light-area subject to a lateral gradient is narrowed down, so that the gradient is directed towards the narrowing object, colours arise in which the interaction between the two polarically opposite forms of density is such that positive density makes for lightness, and negative density for darkness. whereas, when the border is so situated that the gradient is directed away from it, the interaction is such that positive density makes for darkness, and negative density for lightness. further, the fact that on both occasions the darkness element in the colour-band increases in the outward direction tells us that in this direction there is on the blue-violet side a gradual decrease in positive, and increase in negative, density, while on the opposite side we find just the reverse. we note again that both processes occupy a considerable part of the space originally outside the boundaries of the light-area - that is, at the violet end the part towards which the light-beam is deflected, and at the red end the part from which it turns away. the visual ray, when penetrating actively into the two colour-phenomena thus described, receives evidence of a dynamic happening which may be expressed as follows. where the transverse impulse, which is due to the varying degree of trübung in the light-realm, is directed towards the latter's edge, the intermingling of the dark-ingredient and the light-ingredient, contained in that realm, is such that dark follows light along its already existing gradient, thereby diminishing steadily. hence our visual ray, meeting conditions quite similar to those occurring when we look across the light-filled atmosphere into universal space, notifies us of the presence of the blue-violet colour-pole. if, on the other hand, the edge is in the wake of the transverse impulse, then a kind of dynamic vacuum arises in that part of space from which the beam is deflected, with the effect that the dark-ingredient, imprinted on the light within the prism, is drawn into this vacuum by following a kind of suctional influence. consequently dark and light here come to oppose one another, and the former, on its way out of the light-area, gains in relative strength. on this side our visual ray meets conditions resembling those which occur when we look across the darkening atmosphere into the sun. accordingly our optical experience tells us of the presence of the yellow-red colour-pole. from our description of the two kinds of dynamic co-ordination of positive and negative density at the two ends of the spectrum it follows that the spatial conditions prevailing at one end must be quite different from those at the other. to see this by way of actual perception is indeed not difficult. in fact, if we believe that we see both ends of the spectrum lying, as it were, flatly on the surface of the observation screen, this is merely an illusion due to our superficial way of using our eyes. if we gaze with our visual ray (activated in the manner previously described) into the two sides of the spectrum, while turning our eyes alternately in one or other direction, we soon notice that the colours of the yellow-red rise towards the eye so as to give the impression of protruding almost corporeally from the surface of the screen. we feel: density obtains here in a state of fiery radiation. when turning to the other side we feel our visual ray, instead of being as before caught up in the colours, passing freely across the colours as if carried by them into the infinite. on the blue-violet side, space itself seems to fluoresce mysteriously . following goethe's conception of the physical-moral effect of colours, we may describe the experience received thus from the two poles of the spectrum by saying that an 'other-worldly' character belongs to the colours of the blue-violet pole; an 'earthly' character to those of the yellow-red; while that of green, which appears when both sides are made to overlap, witnesses to its mediating nature between the two. * in our endeavour to view the fundamental experiment of newtonian optics with the eyes of goethe we have been led from the wide expanse of the earth's sunlit periphery into the confines of the darkened experimental chamber. with the aid of the results gained from studying the artificially produced spectrum phenomenon, we shall now return to our original field of observation in order to study the same phenomenon in nature. there it meets us in the form of the rainbow, which we shall now be able to read as a chapter in the great book of nature. from what we have learnt already we can say at once that the rainbow must represent some sort of border-phenomenon, thus pointing to the existence of a boundary between two space-regions of differing illumination. our question therefore must be: what is the light-image whose boundary comes to coloured manifestation in the phenomenon of the rainbow? there can be no doubt that the image is that of the sun-disk, shining in the sky. when we see a rainbow, what we are really looking at is the edge of an image of the sun-disk, caught and reflected, owing to favourable conditions, in the atmosphere. (observe in this respect that the whole area inside the rainbow is always considerably brighter than the space outside.) once we realize this to be the true nature of the rainbow, the peculiar order of its colours begins to speak a significant language. the essential point to observe is that the blue-violet part of the spectrum lies on the inner side of the rainbow-arch - the side immediately adjoining the outer rim of the sun-image - while the yellow-red part lies on the outer side of the arch - the side turned away from the sun-image. what can we learn from this about the distribution of positive and negative density inside and outside the realm occupied by the sun-disk itself in the cosmos? we remember that along the gradient from blue to violet, negative density (light) increases and positive density (dark) decreases, while from yellow to red it is just the reverse-positive density increases and negative density decreases. the rainbow therefore indicates a steady increase of dark towards the outer rim, and of light towards the inner. evidently, what the optical image of the sun in the atmosphere thus reveals concerning the gradation of the ratio between light and dark in the radial direction, is an attribute of the entire light-realm which stretches from the sun to that image. and again, the attribute of this realm is but an effect of the dynamic relation between the sun itself and the surrounding cosmic space. the rainbow thus becomes a script to us in which we read the remarkable fact that the region occupied by the sun in the cosmos is a region of negative density, in relation to which the region surrounding the sun is one of positive density. far from being an accumulation of ponderable matter in a state of extremely high temperature, as science supposes, the sun represents the very opposite of ponderability. (it would be beyond the scope of this book to show how in the light of this fact one learns to re-read the various solar phenomena known to science.) once we realize this, our judgment of all that our terrestrially devised optical instruments, such as the telescope and spectroscope, tell us about the nature of the sun and its surroundings, will change accordingly. for it becomes clear that for the interpretation of solar phenomena shown by these instruments we cannot properly use concepts derived from observations within the earth's realm of positive density. to compare adequately solar and terrestrial phenomena, we must keep in mind that they are in every respect polar opposites. for instance, the fact that the spectroscope reveals phenomena in the sun's light which are strikingly similar to others occurring when earthly matter is first caused to emit light - that is, brought near the upper border of its ponderable existence - and then studied spectroscopically, should not impose on us the illusion that the sun consists of matter in this same condition. on the contrary, the similarity should tell us that imponderable substance, while on its way between sun and earth to ponderable existence, assumes, at the point of transition, aspects exactly like those revealed by ponderable substance at the corresponding point in its upward transformation. what we observe, when we study the sun through a spectroscope, is not the sun itself, but the conditions obtaining in this border-region, where imponderable substance enters the earth-realm. the rainbow, directly we learn to see it as the border-phenomenon that it is, tells us something of itself which revives in modern form a conception held generally in former ages, when it was seen as a mediator between the cosmic-divine and the earthly-human worlds. thus the bible speaks of it as a symbol of god's reconciliation with the human race after the great flood. thus the greeks beheld it when they saw it as the bridge of iris, messenger of the gods; and similarly the germanic mythology speaks of it as the pathway along which the souls of the fallen warriors draw near to valhalla. by recovering this old conception in a new and scientifically grounded form we are enabled also to rectify the misunderstanding from which the ancient bridge-conception of the rainbow has suffered in later days, when tradition had begun to replace direct insight into the truth. when with the rise of man's onlooker-relation to the world of the senses, the rainbow could appear to him only as a form flattened against the sky, people began to think that the ancient picture of it as a bridge had been derived from its likeness to the latter's arched form. representations of the rainbow from these times indeed show supersensible beings, such as the souls of the dead, moving upwards and downwards along the two halves of the arch. it is not in this abstract way that ancient man formed his cosmic imagery. what was seen going on between the upper and nether worlds when a rainbow appeared in the heights of the atmosphere was no traffic over the arch, but an interplay across the rainbow between the realm of levity, glimmering down in the rainbow's violet border, and the realm of gravity glowing up from the red. and this is how we have now learnt to see it again. * at one point in our optical studies (page ) we referred to some words of ruskin in which he deplored the influence exerted on the soul-life of modern man by the world-conception of science. he illustrated this by showing how much less inspiration a man trained in the science of optics receives from the sight of a rainbow than does a 'simple peasant'. one lesson of our studies is that training in optics, if it proceeds on goethean lines, has no such detrimental effect. there is, however, a further problem, outside ruskin's scope, which we are now able to approach in the same healthy way. ruskin distinguishes between three possible stages in man's relation to the world of the senses. the first stage he calls that of 'inactive reverie'; the second - in a certain respect more advanced - that of 'useful thought', the stage of scientifically awakened man to whom all things disintegrate into countable and nothing but countable parts. beyond this, ruskin conceives of a third, still higher stage, in which man becomes capable of raising himself through 'higher contemplation' into an artistic-ethical relation to the content of the sense-world. now, in the way ruskin represents the second and third stages they seem to be exclusive of one another. that was as far as he could go, in his own day. natural observation along goethean lines leads to a form of higher contemplation which unites the second and third stages by nourishing man's ethical being and at the same time furnishing him with useful knowledge-knowledge, that is, which enables him to improve the conditions of the human race on the earth. the following is an example of the practical possibilities that open up in the field we are discussing if we apply the knowledge gained through our new approach to the forces working in nature. we shall speak here of a task of experimental research which was mentioned by rudolf steiner in connexion with the renewal of natural science. rudolf steiner felt the need for pioneers who, by advancing along the paths opened up by goethe, would press forward into the realm of undiscovered phenomena on the upper border of nature, and this prompted him to give to those who were ready to listen various pointers towards new ways of experimental research. in so far as practical results have already been reached along these lines, they lie in the fields of biology and physiology (and of chemistry, in a certain respect) rather than in that of physics. now, among the indications given in this latter field, and not yet worked out, there is one which deals with a way, unknown to-day, of influencing the spectrum by the magnet. the possibility of a magnetic influence on the spectrum is, in itself, not unknown to modern physics. it was the dutchman, zeeman, who first observed a change in the appearance of certain spectral lines as a result of light passing through a magnetic field. this discovery, however, is in two respects typical of modern science. the zeeman effect consists in the splitting up of certain spectral lines into other lines - hence, of a breaking up of a whole into parts. and by seemingly providing a decisive confirmation of contemporary views concerning the electromagnetic nature of light, zeeman's discovery has formed one of the milestones in the progress of modern physical thought - with the usual result that an enlargement of man's knowledge of the behaviour of natural forces has served to entangle his conception of nature still more deeply in illusion. apart from the fact that our own way of combining observation and thought guards us against drawing theoretical conclusions from zeeman's discovery, rudolf steiner's indication opens up the prospect of achieving quite practical results, opposite in character to those of the zeeman effect. for in contradistinction to the use of a magnetic field for splitting the spectrum, rudolf steiner has made us aware of the possibility of uniting into a higher synthesis parts of the spectrum which normally appear in separated form. his indication points to nothing less than a leading over of the optically produced spectrum from its usual linear form, with two boundaries on either side, into a closed circular form, and of doing this by an adequate application - as yet undiscovered - of magnetic force. further, according to his statement, the point where the two ends of the spectrum meet will prove to be a fountain-head of certain higher natural forces which otherwise are not directly accessible. in order to understand how this is possible, we must remember that in two respects the spectrum is not a complete phenomenon. there is, to begin with, the fact that the colour-band visible on the observation screen is only apparently confined to the surface of the screen. for, as we have seen, because of the differing co-ordination of levity and gravity at the two ends of the spectrum, the conditions of space prevailing at each are polarically opposite. negative space opens up spherically behind the blue-violet colours on one side, while positive space, filled by the radially shining yellow-red colours, arises on the other. so we see that what we found earlier for the two poles of magnetism and electricity holds good also for the spectrum. that is, the two processes bringing about the relevant phenomena are not confined to the part of space which these phenomena seem to occupy; for the whole positive and negative realms of the universe share in them. hence the spectrum, though apparently bounded at its two ends, proves by its very nature to be part of a greater whole. once before we were led to recognize - though from a different aspect - that the spectrum is a phenomenon which, when rightly viewed, calls for a certain completion. in following goethe's initial observations we realized that the known spectrum, extending from red via green to violet, has a counterpart extending from violet via peach-blossom to red. the reader may have wondered why we never returned to this other spectrum, in spite of the role it played in making goethe aware of newton's error. the reason was that in order to gain the understanding we needed of the spectrum, we had to observe the two border-phenomena independently - that is, without regard to their relative positions. moreover, with ordinary optical means it is possible to produce only one type of spectrum at a time, so that each is left in need of being complemented by the other. in order to have both together in finite space, as part of one and the same phenomenon, space itself must be dynamically transformed in such a way that the continuation of the finite spectral band running through infinity enters into the finite as well. our understanding of magnetism as a specific representation of the polarity of the second order enables us to comprehend, at least in principle, how magnetism might influence - not light itself, as present-day physics erroneously believes - but the secondary polarity of the spectral colours formed out of the primary polarity light and dark. to see this in all necessary detail is a task of the future, beyond the scope of this book. we have here to continue our account of rudolf steiner's statement by communicating what he indicated concerning the particular nature of the new source of force which would appear in the normally infinite part of the spectrum, if this were brought into the region of the finite. in order to understand the significance of this indication we must turn our attention to parts of the ordinary spectrum, well known in themselves, which we have purposely left out of our study so far. these are the regions of the ultra-violet and the infra-red, invisible in themselves, but forming part of the spectrum as a whole. the ultraviolet manifests through chemical effects, the infra-red through thermal effects. we have left them out of our considerations because these regions of the spectrum differ from the visible part not only quantitatively, as present-day science believes, but qualitatively also, and in a fundamental way. we must regard them as dynamic realms of particularly extreme spherical and radial activities. as such they represent metamorphoses, in the goethean sense, of the levity-gravity interaction represented by the optically visible part of the spectrum. in this way the spectrum discloses a threefold differentiation of that region of force, which up to now we have called simply levity, into activities producing chemical, optical and thermal effects. so far physical investigation is able to lead us, but no further. if, however, we let nature herself speak to us, while holding this differentiated concept of levity in mind, she tells us that beyond the three metamorphoses envisaged so far, there must be a fourth. let us remember that it was certain phenomena of life which first made us aware of the existence of a realm of forces with the attributes of anti-gravity, and that these forces revealed themselves first as creators of form. now it is obvious that warmth, light and chemical energy, though they all play an essential part in living organisms, could never by themselves bring about that 'catching from chaos, carbon, water, lime and what not and fastening them into a given form' which ruskin describes as the activity of the spirit in the plant. in order to be in this sense an instrument of the spirit active in nature, levity must be capable of yet another metamorphosis into an activity which controls the other three, so that through their action, definitely shaped organic structures may come into being. the reason why this fourth and highest metamorphosis of light does not appear in the ordinary spectrum is because it is of too spiritual a quality to be caught by the optical apparatus. in nature herself a creative life-process requires always the presence of a germ already imbued with life. and so, in order to call this fourth metamorphosis of light into the spectrum, stronger means are needed than the mere optical transformation of light-filled spaces. this stronger agent, according to rudolf steiner, is magnetism. with the aid of this it will be possible to organize together round a common spatial centre that part of the activity of levity which escapes the optical instrument and thus remains cosmic, and that part which appears by itself in terrestrial space. once this is practically carried out, we may expect a complete colour-circle to appear as already divined by goethe. the full circle consists of twelve discernible colours, with the goethean peach-blossom diametrically opposite the green. it is in this region of the peach-blossom that - again according to rudolf steiner - we shall find a source of actively working life-forces, springing from the fourth metamorphosis of levity. such is the prospect for research work guided on the new lines. postscript the fact of our having disclosed here one of rudolf steiner's indications concerning as yet undetected possibilities of scientific research, makes it necessary to deal with an objection which may be raised, particularly by some readers who already know this indication through their own relation to rudolf steiner's work. they may object to a discussion of the subject in a publication such as this, feeling it dangerous to hand over to the world information which in the economic battles of to-day might be used in a sense contrary to the social-moral aims to which the work of rudolf steiner was dedicated. in reply it may be said that all we have gone through in this book has shown that concrete knowledge of the world cannot be gained without a certain ethical effort by the seeker. therefore, anyone who receives such knowledge with a passive attitude of soul will find it meaningless, and will be quite unable to turn it to practical account. we may therefore rest assured that the solution of the problem related here, as of any other experimental task set by rudolf steiner, will contain in itself a guarantee that no use will be made of it detrimental to the true progress of mankind. on the other hand, the present world-situation, which to so high a degree is determined by the vast liberation of the sub-physical forces of the earth, makes one feel it is essential not to close the considerations of the fields of knowledge dealt with in these chapters, without a hint at the practical possibilities which arise from a continuation of goethe's strivings in this field. see, in rudolf steiner's edition of goethe's scientific writings, his footnote to goethe's criticism of nuguet's theory of the spectrum in the historical part of the farbenlehre (vol. iv, p. , in kürschner's edition). it is obvious that the reader who wishes to appreciate fully the significance of the observations described in the following paragraphs, must, as in previous cases, carry out these observations himself. in this and the two following diagrams the light-realm has been represented as being less wide than the space obtained by the prism. to avoid unnecessary complexity the colours which, in such a case, actually appear at the border of the light-realm where it emerges from the prism are not shown in any of the diagrams. this direction can be established with sufficient exactitude by holding a very thin object right in front of the prism and marking with a stretched thread the direction which leads from the object to its shadow on the screen. the colour-producing edge must then be introduced from either side so that it just touches the thread. the difference in character of the various parts of the spectrum, as described above, comes out particularly impressively if for capturing the colour-phenomenon one uses instead of a flat white surface, a clear crystal of not too small size, or else a cluster of crystals - moving it slowly along the coloured band from one end to the other. (i am indebted to fr. julius, teacher of natural science at the free school in the hague, for this suggestion.) part iii towards a new cosmosophy chapter xix the country in which man is not a stranger i question not my corporeal or vegetative eye any more than i question a window concerning sight. i look through it and not with it. william blake. (a) introductory note a fundamental achievement along our path of study was the recognition that a force of levity exists, polar to that of gravity, and that these two together represent a primary polarity in nature which in turn is the source of nature's manifold secondary polarities. in the last part of these studies a vista opened up of an inner differentiation of levity itself into warmth, light, chemical action and the formative activity of life. our next task will be to develop a clearer conception of these four modes of action of levity. in undertaking this task, however, we shall have to extend our observations of nature beyond the frontier that can be reached by using only what we can learn from goethe. it is here that rudolf steiner comes to our aid by what he was able to impart through his researches in the realm of the supersensible itself. this turning to information given by another mind, whose sources of knowledge are beyond our own immediate reach, seems at first sight to be incompatible with the principles guiding all our studies hitherto; for in gaining insight into the how and whence of a phenomenon of the sense-world we have up to now admitted only what is yielded by an observation of the phenomenon per se (though with the aid of the 'eye of the spirit') and of other phenomena related to it. this is what we have called 'reading in the book of nature', and we have found it to be the method on which a science aspiring to overcome the onlooker-picture of the universe must be based. so we must first make sure that the step we now propose to take does not violate this principle. * the assurance we want will be found in two characteristics of the communications made by rudolf steiner from his researches. the content of these communications was acquired by way of a 'reading' which is nothing but a higher metamorphosis of the reading first employed by goethe; and the acceptance of this content by another mind is itself nothing but another act of reading, save that the direction of the reading gaze differs from the usual one. in order to understand this we must go back to what we learnt in the course of our optical studies as to the two forms of vision arising from the activity of the eye's inner light - the dream-vision and the seeing of after-images. of these two, seeing in dream is in a certain sense the purer form of inner seeing in that it arises without any outer stimulus exercised upon the physical organ of sight. on the other hand, it lacks that objective conformity to law characteristic of the after-images which mirror the order of the external world. there is an arbitrary, enigmatic element in dream-pictures, and their logic often seems to run counter to that of waking consciousness. a further characteristic of dream-perception is that we are tied to the level of consciousness prevailing in the dream. while we are dreaming we cannot awaken to the extent of being able to make the pictures the object of conscious observation. with the after-images it is different. although to begin with they are present in our consciousness with a clarity no greater than that of the dream-pictures, nevertheless we are able so to enhance our consciousness of them as to bring them under observation like any external phenomenon. as previously shown, it is possible, even while the eye is riveted on an impression from outside, to develop such awareness in the activity of the inner light called forth by this impression, that together with the results of the deeds and sufferings of the light we can perceive something of these deeds and sufferings themselves. perception of the after-images thus turns into what we may call perception of simultaneous images. (this activity of the eye corresponds with what goethe, in a different connexion, called an 'alliance of the eyes of spirit with the eyes of the body'.) these two forms of visual perception - which we may briefly call: ( ) perception of post-images, and ( ) perception of co-images - represent successive rungs on a 'spiritual ladder' pointing beyond themselves to a further rung. by the logic of succession this may be expected to consist in some sort of seeing of pre-images, with the characteristic of being a still less physical mode of seeing than the two others. this seeing must be based on an activity of the inner light which will be similar to that in dream by its arising without any stimulus from external light-impressions, yet at the same time there must be no arbitrariness in the contents of this perception. further, our consciousness in this perceptive activity must be such as to allow us to be in full control of it, as we are of ordinary day-waking seeing. this kind of pure sense-free perception does indeed exist, and it can be aroused by means of a well-ordered training from the dormant state in which it is present in every human being. anyone who learns to see in this way gains perception of the activity of cosmic light, contacting it directly with his own inner light - that is to say, without mediation of his corporeal eye which is subject to gravity. so this eye-of-the-spirit becomes capable of perceiving the levity-woven archetypes (ur-images), which underlie all that the physical eye discerns in the world of ordinary space. in respect of the intrinsic character of the world-content thus perceived, rudolf steiner called this mode of perception, imaginative perception, or, simply, imagination. by so doing he invested this word with its due and rightful meaning. from what we found in our optical studies concerning the nature of after-images (chapter xv), it is clear that the acquisition of imaginative perception rests on a re-awakening in the eye (and thus in the total organism behind the eye) of certain 'infant' forces which have grown dormant in the course of the growing up of the human being. it thus represents a fulfilment of thomas reid's philosophic demand. consequently we find among the descriptions which traherne gives of the mode of perception peculiar to man when the inner light, brought into this world at birth, is not yet absorbed by the physical eye, many helpful characterizations of the nature of imaginative perception, some of which may be quoted here. consider, in this respect, the following passage from traherne's poem the praeparative, quoted earlier. in describing the state of soul at a time when the physical senses are not yet in operation, traherne says: 'then was my soul my only all to me, a living, endless ey, whose power, and act, and essence was to see: i was an inward sphere of light or an interminable orb of sight, exceeding that which makes the days, a vital sun that shed abroad its rays: all life, all sense, a naked, simple, pure intelligence.'' this is the condition of soul of which traherne says in the same poem that through it a man is still a recipient of the 'true ideas of all things'. in this condition the object of sight is not the corporeal world which reflects the light, but light itself, engaged in the weaving of the archetypal images. in a later passage of the same poem traherne expresses this by saying: 'tis not the object, but the light that maketh hev'n. ...' and more clearly still in the following part of his poem an infant eye: 'a simple light from all contagion free, a beam that's purely spiritual, an ey that's altogether virgin, things doth see ev'n like unto the deity; that is, it shineth in an hevenly sense, and round about (unmov'd) its light dispense. 'the visiv rays are beams of light indeed, refined, subtil, piercing, quick and pure; and as they do the sprightly winds exceed, are worthy longer to endure; they far out-shoot the reach of grosser air, with which such excellence may not compare. but being once debas'd, they soon becom less activ than they were before.' how at this stage the soul experiences the act of perception in itself is shown in the following passage from the poem wonder: 'a nativ health and innocence within my bones did grow and while my god did all his glories show i felt a vigour in my sense that was all spirit: i within did flow with seas of life like wine.' utterances of this kind illustrate the fact that perception of the ur-images of the world consists in a reading with the eye-of-the-spirit, which has been rendered so strong that for its action no support from the physical eye is any longer required. this faculty of spiritual imagination (which rudolf steiner was able to exercise in advance of other human beings) is acquired on a path of training which is the direct continuation of the goethean path. it remains to show that acceptance of information obtained through spiritual imagination, without ourselves being as yet in actual command of it, is not in contradiction with the principles of 'reading'. let us, to this end, think of reading in the ordinary sense of this word, calling to mind that for the acquisition of this faculty we depend on someone who can teach it because he already has it. exactly the same holds good for the reading with which we are here concerned. here, too, a teacher already possessing this faculty is required. thus goethe became for us a teacher of reading, and it would be a mistake to imagine that he, for his part, needed no teacher. in his case this function was fulfilled partly by what he learned through his studies of the earlier fruits of man's spiritual activity, that is, from an epoch when vestiges at least of the original, instinctive faculty of spiritual imagination were still extant. a similar function on our own path of study was performed by our occupation with the old doctrine of the four elements and the basic concepts of alchemy. indispensable as is such a training in reading by turning to past conceptions of man, it does not suffice to meet the present-day demands of a scientific understanding of the universe. for this, we need a 'technique' of reading that cannot be attained along these lines alone. awareness of this fact led rudolf steiner to pursue his spiritual-scientific investigations and to communicate the results in such a way that they can be a 'school of reading' for those who study them. in point of fact we have already made use in this sense of one of the results of rudolf steiner's researches, for at the very beginning of this book his picture of the threefold psycho-physical organism of man was taken as the basis of our own investigations. the reason why the present remarks were not then included is that the relevant results of higher research were in that case of such a nature that, once known, they could be confirmed by the simplest kind of self-observation. the fact, however, remains that from the very beginning we have called upon one fully trained in reading, to help in deciphering certain facts of nature - in this case of human nature. a similar need, though now in an amplified form, arises at the present stage of our studies. and here, out of the wealth of knowledge conveyed by rudolf steiner from the realm of supersensible imagination, it is his characterization of the four modifications of levity which will now give the guidance necessary for our own observation. adopting the terminology chosen by him for the description of this sphere, we shall in future speak of it as of the 'ether' pervading the universe (thus using this word also in its true and original meaning). accordingly, we shall refer to its fourfold differentiation as to the four kinds of ether: warmth-ether, light-ether, chemical ether and life-ether. * * * (b) warmth we begin with the warmth-ether as the only modification of ether which combines certain etheric with certain physical properties. constituting as it does a border-condition between the two worlds, the warmth-ether has, on the one hand, the function of receiving the picture-weaving transmitted to it by the higher ethers, and, on the other, of bringing physical matter into the state where it becomes receptive to the working of the etheric forces. the warmth-ether achieves this by freeing matter from being controlled one-sidedly by the centre-bound forces of the earth. it thus calls forth, when acting physically, the processes of melting of solids and of evaporation of liquids: phenomena which yielded the initial observations for our introduction of the concept of levity. in processes of this kind we now recognize the physical manifestation of a universal function of the warmth-ether, namely, to divest matter of all form and to lead it over from the realm dominated by gravity into that of levity. provided we attach the right meaning to the word, we may say that the function of the warmth-ether is to bring about chaos at the upper border of physical nature. it is thus that we have already found it working in the plant, when through the union of the pollen with the seed a state of chaos is produced within the seed, which enables the type to impress anew its form-principle into it. another instance of the warmth-ether's anti-gravitational effect, also discussed earlier, is the earth's seismic activity. true, it appears at first sight as if little were gained by speaking of warmth-ether, instead, as we did previously, of levity in general. but it must not be forgotten that in the ether-realm as a whole, warmth - that is, the overcoming of earthly gravity - is only one of the four modes of etheric action, albeit the one which enables the other three to work into the physical world. we shall see, later on, that only by taking into account the action of the higher modifications of the ether is it possible to gain insight into the true causes of the apparently so arbitrary occurrences of volcanic and kindred phenomena. here, too, it is the function of the warmth-ether to produce in the physical sphere the chaos which is necessary to make the physical sphere receptive to the activities going on in higher spheres. in view of this universal function of the warmth-ether, which distinguishes it from the other modifications of ether, we may give it as a second name that of 'chaoticizing ether'. * * * (c) light the function of the light-ether, the second of the four modes of ether, can best be envisaged by thinking of the difference between a plant growing in darkness (perhaps a potato sprouting in a cellar) and another of the same species exposed to the influence of the light. on plates vii and viii two kinds of unicellular organisms are shown, of one which - the green algae - is accustomed to live in light, the other - the bacilli - in darkness. these things are, of course, well-known facts. our purpose here, however, is not merely to record them as 'fact', but, by re-creating them within ourselves, to use them to gain an experience of the function of the light-ether. the following passages from goethe's metamorphosis of plants are a classical example of observation of the activity of the light-ether in the plant. they are taken from the second part of the essay, where goethe is describing leaf-development: 'while the leaves owe their first nourishment principally to the more or less modified watery parts, which they draw from the stem, they are indebted for their increased perfection and refinement to the light and air. the cotyledons which are formed beneath the closed seed-sheath are charged, so to speak, with only a crude sap; they are scarcely and but rudely organized and quite undeveloped. in the same way the leaves are more rudely organized in plants which grow under water than in others which are exposed to the open air. indeed, even the same species of plant develops smoother and less intricately formed leaves when growing in low damp places, whereas, if transplanted to a higher region, it will produce leaves which are rough, hairy and more delicately finished.' 'so it is also with the anastomosis of the vessels which spring forth from the larger veins, seeking each other with their ends and coalescing, and thus providing the necessary basis for the leaf-skin or cuticle. all this, if not entirely caused by subtle forms of air, is at least very much furthered by them. if the leaves of many water-plants are thread-like or assume the form of antlers, we are inclined to attribute it to lack of complete anastomosis. the growth of the water buttercup, ranunculus aquatilis, shows this quite obviously, with its aquatic leaves consisting of mere thread-like veins, while in the leaves developed above water the anastomosis is complete and a connected plane is formed. occasionally, indeed, in this plant, the transition may be still more definitely observed, in leaves which are half anastomosed and half thread-like.' the second of these paragraphs describes the phenomenon of vascular anastomosis which, having already been more than once an object of our study, here reveals a new meaning. if, following goethe's method, we re-create in our mind the repeated separations and reunions of the sap-vessels, while keeping in view the fact that the leaf's outer form is the result of a purposive, many times repeated anastomosis, then the picture of the activity of weaving arises before our mind's eye. (hence the word 'tissue' for the flesh of a living being.) in truth all nature's forms are woven of light, including the crystals. how clear a picture goethe had of the conformity of man's act of thinking with nature's way of producing her forms - both being an act of supersensible weaving - is shown by the following two verses. that on the left is a passage from faust, from the scene in which mephisto (disguised as faust) instructs the young scholar. the other is an altered version of it, written by goethe at a later time to conclude an essay (bedenken und ergebung) in which he deals with the problem of the relation between experience and idea: truly, when men their thoughts conceive 'tis as if some masterpiece they weave. one thread, and a thousand strands take flight, swift to and fro the shuttles going, all unseen the threads a-flowing, one stroke, and a thousand close unite. so with a modest eye perceive her masterpiece dame nature weave. one thread, and a thousand strands take flight, swift to and fro the shuttles going, each to the other the threads a-flowing, one stroke, and a thousand close unite. - what goethe wants to show here by applying to the activity of nature the same image which he used originally to depict the act of thinking, we can express to-day by saying that it is the identity of the activity of the light-ether in human thinking and in external nature which is responsible for the fact that the objective ideas operating in nature can become the content of man's consciousness in the form of thoughts. following our previous procedure when we gave the warmth-ether a second name by calling it chaoticizing ether, we can denote the light-ether also as 'weaving ether'. * if at this point in our discussion we revert once more to the realm of physical manifestations of light, dealt with in the preceding chapters, we do so because by studying them in the present context we shall gain further insight into the fact that one plane of nature provides illustrations of processes which on another plane remain more or less veiled. at the same time this will help us to learn more about the properties of levity-space. the optical phenomenon which we shall discuss in this sense is that of the so-called pin-hole camera. (the pin-hole camera effect is easily produced by a keyhole in a closed door which on one side faces a window and on the other leads to a comparatively dark room.) the usual explanation of the appearance of the optical image on the back inside wall of such a camera is that light-rays, emanating from every point outside, cross each other in the aperture of the camera and so - again point by point - create the inverted image. no such explanation, clearly, is open to us. for the world of external objects is a whole, and so is its image appearing in the camera. equally, the light entering the camera is not a sum of single rays. pure observation leads to the following description of the optical process. by surveying the path which the light takes from the illuminated surface of the outer objects via the pin-hole to the optical image inside the camera, we realize that the light-realm engaged in this process has the shape of a double cone, with its apex in the opening of the camera. within this cone the light carries the image across the space stretching in front of the light-reflecting objects up to the point where the image becomes visible by being caught on the back wall of the camera. thus in every section of the cone the image is present in its totality - even in the very apex of the cone. there, too, the image in all its details is present as a whole, though without (ideally) any spatial extension. seen thus, on this level of its action the light-ether reveals as one of its characteristics the faculty of making present in a spaceless point an image originally expanded in space, and of letting it emerge from this point in spatial expansion. further, there is the fact that, wherever we set up a pin-hole camera, the aperture in its front will cause the formation of an optical image inside it. this shows that each point in space filled with light is the bearer of an optical image, contracted to a point, of the entire world of light-reflecting objects surrounding it. all we do with such a camera is to select a particular image and bring it to separate visibility. through these observations we grow aware of light's faculty of communicating simultaneously to space as a whole, and to each point in it, a potential image of the light-reflecting object. what we observe here in the sphere of physical light-activity is exactly what the light-ether performs on a higher level of nature when with its help the spiritual archetype of a plant takes on spatial appearance. for to this end the archetype, itself without spatial limitations, imprints its image into the tiny seed, whence the growing plant organism carries it again into space. and there is in principle no limitation to the number of such seeds, each of which will bear the complete image of the archetype. * * * (d) sound the characteristics of the third modification of ether are such that they prompted rudolf steiner to give it as a second name, besides chemical ether, that of sound-ether. in view of the fact, stressed at the beginning of this chapter, that perception of the ether is achieved by a heightening of the power of the spirit-eye, it must cause surprise to learn that a certain mode of activity of the ether has a quality which makes appeal to aural experiences. the full answer to this riddle must await the discussion that follows this chapter. two points, however, may be brought forward at once. firstly, where gravity, with its tendency to individualize, is absent, no such sharp distinctions exist between one form of perception and another as are found in the sphere of the physical senses. secondly, even in ordinary sense-perception a certain overlapping of visual and aural experiences is known to us. we need only think how common it is to give musical attributes, such as 'consonant' and 'dissonant' to colours, and to describe tones as 'light' and 'dark'. the reason is that subconsciously we accompany visual experiences with tone-sensations, and vice versa. cases are even known of human beings in whom the secondary sensation occurs with such intensity as to equal the primary one. such people say that they 'see' sounds and 'hear' colours. * everything that is true of the supersensible sphere we may expect to come to expression in some form in the world of sense-perception. the sphere of the ether is the sphere of the creative archetypes of the world, and when we learn that to one part of this world the character of sound is attributed, we must search for a phenomenon, perceptible to our senses, which reveals to us the secret of the sound's form-creating power. this we have in the so-called sound-figures, discovered by the german physicist chladni ( - ) and called after him 'chladni's sound-figures'. a short description of how they are produced will not be out of place. a round or square plate of glass or brass, fixed at its centre so that it can vibrate freely at its edges, is required. it is evenly and not too thickly covered with fine sand or lycopodium powder and then caused to vibrate acoustically by the repeated drawing of a violin-bow with some pressure across the edge of the plate until a steady note becomes audible. through the vibrations thus caused within the plate, the particles of sand or powder are set in movement and caused to collect in certain stationary parts of the plate, thereby creating figures of very regular and often surprising form. by stroking the plate at different points on the edge, and at the same time damping the vibrations by touching the edge at other points with the finger, notes of different pitch can be produced, and for each of these notes a characteristic figure will appear (fig. ). the significance for us of chladni's experiment will emerge still more clearly if we modify it in the following way. instead of directly setting the plate with the powder into vibration by stroking it with the bow, we produce a corresponding movement on a second plate and let it be transmitted to the other by resonance. for this purpose the two plates must be acoustically tuned to each other and placed not too far apart. let us imagine, further, that the whole experiment was arranged - as it well might be - in such a way that the second plate was hidden from a spectator, who also lacked the faculty of hearing. this gives us a picture of the situation in which we find ourselves whenever the higher kinds of ether by way of a tone-activity inaudible to our physical ear, cause shapeless matter to assume regularly ordered form. * this comparison of the activity of the sound-ether, as the form-creating element in nature, with chladni's phenomenon is drawn correctly only if we recognize that the conception of form, as an expression of that which is called forth through the etheric forces in nature, comprises more than the external spatially bounded shape of an organic or inorganic entity. apart from the fact already indicated, that for the formation of such entities the co-operation also of life-ether is necessary, we can judge the activity of sound-ether correctly only if we conceive it as a much more inward activity, compared with the formation in external space of chladni's figures. in the latter case, the reason why the influence of sound causes nothing beyond the ordering of form in outer space is because on this plane of nature the only changes that can occur are changes in the positions of separate physical bodies. where the forces of sound in ether-form are able to take hold of matter from within, they can produce changes of form of a quite different kind. this effect of the activity of sound-ether has given it its other name: chemical ether. we have mentioned once before that our conception of 'form' in organically active nature must not be limited merely to that of a body's spatial outline. this was in connexion with ruskin's definition of the spiritual principle active in plant-formation as 'the power that catches out of chaos charcoal, water, lime and what not, and fastens them down into a given form'. besides the external order of matter revealed in space-form, there exists also an inner qualitative order expressed in a body's chemical composition. upon this inner chemical order is based all that we encounter as colour, smell, taste, etc., of a substance, as well as its nourishing, healing or harmful properties. accordingly, all these parts of an organism, both in the plant-kingdom and within the higher organisms, have a certain inner material order, apart from their characteristic space-structure. the one is never present without the other, and in some way they are causally connected. in this inner order of substance we must see in the very first place the work of the sound or chemical ether. and we should be aware that by the word 'chemistry' in this connexion we mean something much more far-reaching than those chemical reactions which we can bring about by the reciprocal affinity of physical substances, however complicated these reactions may be. a few examples will illustrate the difference between chemical processes caused by direct influence of the chemical ether, and others in which only the physical consequences of the ether are effective. in his book, man the unknown, professor carrel shows very impressively, by an example from the human organism, the difference of quantitative ratio in externally similar processes, one of which occurs within the domain of life, the other, outside it. he compares the quantity of liquid necessary to keep artificially alive a piece of living tissue which has been reduced to pulp, with the quantity of blood doing the same within the living organism. if all the tissues of a human body were treated in this way, it would take , gallons of circulating fluid to keep them from being poisoned in a few days by their own waste products. within the living organism the blood achieves the same task with j gallons. very many chemical changes within living organisms are effected by the two polar processes of oxidation and reduction. we have discussed them repeatedly as hieroglyphs of much that occurs in nature by way of polarity. in accordance with the principle ruling the physical plane of nature, that differences of level tend to disappear, oxidation can occur by itself, whereas reduction requires the expenditure of energy. let us from this point of view compare the transformation of oxidized into reduced iron, as it takes place inside and outside the realm of life. an example of this process in its purely physical form is the reduction of iron-ore to metallic iron in blast-furnaces, where, with the help of high temperature and high pressure, carbon is made to combine with the oxygen ingredient of the ore and to impart to it its own imponderable energy. precisely the same process is going on continuously and unobtrusively within the human body under normal bodily conditions of temperature and pressure, when the oxy-haemoglobin of the arterial blood changes over into the haemoglobin of the venous blood. a macrotelluric counterpart of this is the transformation of the red river-mud into the blue-black continental mud at the bottom of the sea, around the continental shores. here, again, reduction takes place without those preliminaries that are necessary for carrying through the process by technical means. through examples of this kind we gain insight into the nature of the chemical ether as a 'magic' force (in the sense in which we have introduced this term at the beginning of the book). what the chemical ether is capable of effecting in a gentle manner, so to speak, in cooperation with the inertness-overcoming power of the warmth-ether, can be imitated physically only by an extraordinary concentration of external energy and the use of masses of material substance. at the same time the imitation is never complete. for to all that happens through the action of the chemical ether there belongs the quality of cosmic youth, while everything brought about in a purely physical manner is of necessity cosmically old. of all the provinces of nature towards which man's exploring eye has turned since the dawn of the onlooker-consciousness, none has furthered his purely quantitative thinking more than chemistry, ever since the discovery that the chemical reactions of the various substances are conditioned by a quite definite and constant numerical relationship. it was these relationships which impelled the rise of the atomic conception of matter and all its consequences. for since the onlooker-consciousness is quite unable to conceive the existence of numerical relationships in the physical world except as sums of computable units in space, it was natural for this type of consciousness to reduce all empirically established numerical relationships to correspending relationships among quantities of the smallest possible material or matter-like units. scientific thinking, if guided by knowledge of the existence of etheric forces and their action, has no need of such an interpretation of the numerical relationships revealed in the physical world; for it knows them to be nothing but the last expression of the action of the chemical ether (hence occasionally also called 'number-ether' by rudolf steiner). to do justice to the appearance of measurable numerical relationships in nature, in whatever sphere, it is necessary to free ourselves from the abstract conception of number which governs modern scientific thought and to replace it by a more concrete one. we shall rind that for the existence of a certain number there may be two quite different reasons, although the method of establishing the number itself is the same in each case. a simple example will illustrate this. let us look at a number of similar objects, say a group of five apples. we observe that the relation of the number five to the group of objects in front of us is purely external and accidental. in applying to it the conception 'five' we combine the single objects into a group and give it a name, or numerical label, which has nothing to do with the nature of the items making up the group. this way of thinking, we may observe, is of exactly the kind which the nominalists of the middle ages attributed to every conception formed by the human mind. in fact, the process of counting is a process of pure abstraction. the more differentiated are the things which we want to combine into a group through the process of counting, the further this abstraction has to go. we can count apples and pears together under the collective conception of 'fruit'; if turnips are added, we must help ourselves out with the conception 'vegetable products'; until finally we deal only with 'things', without considering any qualitative differentiation. thus the conception of number is created solely within the human mind, which applies it to things from outside. from the moment when human consciousness was unable to attribute to itself any other than a purely nominalistic mode of comprehension it was inevitable that all explanations of natural phenomena would have two results: ( ) the exclusion from observation of everything that could not be conceived in terms of numbers, and ( ) an endeavour to find for every numerical relationship capable of empirical proof an explanation which could be interpreted as the result of taking qualitatively identical units and counting them. for this method of forming conceptions is the only one which nominalism can accept with a good conscience. the fact that in so doing it is led ad absurdum has only quite lately occurred to it. for if by the logical following of this path - as in modern theoretical physics - the whole universe is dissolved into units which can no longer be distinguished from each other, then it will become impossible to count these parts, for it cannot be established whether any given one of these hypothetical elemental particles has been counted or not. none the less, eddington claimed to have found the exact number of particles composing the universe - a number with figures - by using a special calculus, but this number is valid only on the supposition that the particles cannot be counted because they are indistinguishable! however correct the nominalistic conception of number may be in such a case as that of numbering the five apples, it is wholly incorrect to restrict the concept of number itself to one valid for this kind of occurrence. we shall see this immediately if we take one of the apples and cut it across. there we find the number five confronting us in the well-known star-like figure, represented by the fivefold pericarp in the centre of the apple. what man, restricted as he was to the mode of understanding, has completely overlooked is this: although the act of counting, by which we establish the number five, is the same in both cases, the quality of the number five is totally different. for in the case of the five pericarps this number is a quality immanent in the apple, which it shares with the whole species of rosaceae. the apple itself is just as much 'five' as it is 'round', 'sweet', etc. in the supersensible type which creates in the plant its own organ of manifestation, the creation of a number - in the apple the number five - is part of the form-creating activities characteristic of the type. the numerical relationships which appear between natural phenomena depend upon the way in which the chemical ether participates. this is true equally of those discovered by chemistry in the sphere of inorganic matter and used to-day with such great success. let us be quite clear that the relationship of unity to plurality in the case of the five apples is totally different from what it is in the fivefold pericarp. in the first case unity is the smallest quantity represented by each of the five apples. there, the step from one to two is made by joining together two units from outside. the path from one to many is by way of continuous addition. in the second case the unity is represented by the pericarp - i.e. by the one comprising the many, the latter appearing as parts of the whole. in such a case two is part of one and so are three, four, five, etc. plurality arises from a continuous process of division of unity. the ancient world knew the idea of number only in the last-mentioned form. there unity appeared as an all-embracing magnitude, revealed through the universe. the world's manifoldness was felt to be not a juxtaposition of single things, externally connected, but the content of this unity, and therefore derived from it. this was expressed by the pre-socratic greek philosophers in the formula έν και Ï�αν (the one and the all). with the appearance of the arabs on the scene of history, human thought turned to the additive concept of number, and the original distributive concept receded gradually into oblivion. the acceptance of the new concept made it possible for the first time to conceive the zero. it is clear that by a continuous division of unity one is carried to a constantly growing number of constantly diminishing parts, but without ever reaching the nothing represented by the number zero. to-day we should say that in this way we can reach zero only by an infinite series of steps. yet the idea of the infinite did not exist in this form for ancient man. on the other hand, in the arabic conception of number the steps necessary to reach zero are finite. for just as by the external addition of unities we can step forward from one number to the next, so we can also step back on the same path by repeated subtractions of unities. having thus reached one, nothing can stop us from going beyond it by one more such step. the arabic numeral system, therefore, is the only one to possess its own symbol for zero. it has been correctly noted that the penetration into european thought of this additive concept of number was responsible for developing the idea of the machine; for it accustomed human beings to think calmly of zero as a quantity existing side by side with the others. in ancient man the idea of nothingness, the absolute void, created fear; he judged nature's relation to the void accordingly, as the phrase 'natura abhorret vacuum' indicates. his capacity to think fearlessly of this vacuum and to handle it thus had to be developed in order to bring about the machine age, and particularly the development of efficient steam engines. consider also the decisive part played by the vacuum in crookes's researches, through which the path to the sub-physical realm of nature was laid open. yet nature makes use of number as a regulating factor in quite a different way from its appearance in the purely electrical and gravitational connexions of inorganic matter, namely where sound-ether from the upper boundary of nature so regulates nature's dynamic that the manifold sense-qualities appear in their time-and-space order. when we interpret the arrangement of numbers found there on a nominalistic basis, as is done when the axis- and angle-relationships of crystals are reduced to a mere propinquity of the atoms distributed like a grid in space, or when the difference in angle of the position of the various colours in the spectrum is reduced to mere differences in frequency of the electromagnetic oscillations in a hypothetical ether - then we bar the way to the comprehension not only of number itself, as a quality among qualities, but also of all other qualities in nature. * (e) life as already mentioned, the three kinds of ether, warmth, light and sound, are not sufficient in themselves to bring into existence what in its proper sense we call 'life' in nature, i.e. the formation of single living organisms. this requires the action of a fourth kind of ether, the life-ether, ranged above the other three. we can best comprehend the life-ether's contribution to the total activity of the ether in nature by considering the interaction of the four kinds of ether with the four physical elements. we have seen that the warmth-ether has the double function of being at once the lowest ether and the highest physical element, thus acting as a sphere of reflexion for the other kinds of ether and the elements respectively. each stage in the etheric has its reflexion in the physical, as the above table shows. thus to the physical air the etheric light is related. (the affinity of light and air is best seen in the plant and its leaf-formation.) to bring about real changes in the material composition of the physical world requires the stronger powers of the chemical ether. therefore it is also the first ether of which we had to speak as 'magical' ether. its effects reach into the watery element which is already bound up with gravity, but by its own strength it cannot penetrate beyond that. the causation of material changes in the liquid sphere would in fact be all that these three kinds of ether could achieve together. only when the power of the life-ether is added to the three others can etheric action reach as far as the sphere of solid matter. thus the life-ether is responsible for all solid formation in nature, both in her organic and inorganic fields (the latter-crystal-formation-being the effect of external ether-action). it is to the action of the life-ether that nature owes the existence in her different realms of multitudes of separate solid forms. to mention an instance from our previous studies: in the same way as volcanic phenomena manifest the warmth-ether's gravity-overcoming power on a macrotelluric scale, so snow-formation illustrates the life-ether's matter-shaping might. through its power to bind flowing action into solid form, the life-ether is related to the sound-ether in the same way as the articulated word formed by human speaking is related to the mere musical tone. the latter by itself is as it were fluid. in human speech this fluidity is represented by the vowels. with a language consisting only of vowels man would be able to express feelings, but not thoughts. to let the word as carrier of thought arise out of sound, human speech possesses the consonants, which represent the solid element in it. the emergence of the sense-bearing word from the merely ringing sound is an exact counterpart to what takes place in nature when the play of organic liquids, regulated by the chemical ether, is caused by the life-ether to solidify into outwardly perceptible form. by reading in this way the special function of the life-ether among the other three, we are led to the term ' word-ether' as an appropriate second name for it, corresponding to the term sound-ether for the chemical ether. * thus levity presents itself to us as being engaged in the fourfold activity of chaoticizing, weaving, sounding and, lastly, speaking the form-creative cosmic word into the realm of gravity. to avoid misunderstandings, it should be emphasized that spiritual imagination is not attained by any exercise involving directly the sense of sight and its organ, the eye, but by purely mental exercises designed to increase the 'seeing' faculty of the mind. indeed, it is a misunderstanding of the whole meaning of anthroposophy when its contents are quoted - as they sometimes are even by adherents - in such a way as to suggest that by their help a better 'explanation' may be gained of matters for which there is otherwise no, or at least no satisfactory, explanation. the question: 'how does anthroposophy explain this or that?' is quite wrongly put. we ought rather to ask: 'how does anthroposophy help us to read more clearly this or that otherwise enigmatical chapter of the script of existence?' see space and the light of creation, by g. adams, where this 'weaving' is shown with the help of projective geometry. translation by j. darrell. we may recall here also the passage from ruskin's the queen of the air, quoted earlier, p. ). that the ether, apart from being supersensibly seen, is also heard, was empirically known to goethe. see the opening words of the 'prologue in heaven" (faust, i) and the call of the spirit of the elements in the first scene of the second part of the drama, which follow upon the stage direction: 'the sun announces his approach with overwhelming noise.' by attending chladni's lectures on his discovery in paris the french physicist savart became acquainted with this phenomenon and devoted himself to its study. chladni and savart together published a great number of these figures. understanding the attributes of the chemical ether enables us to see in their right perspective rudolf steiner's suggestions to farmers for the preparation of the soil and for keeping healthy the crops growing on it. attempts have been made to dismiss these suggestions by calling them 'mysticism' and 'mediaeval magic'. both terms are titles of honour if we understand by the one the form of insight into the supersensible realm of nature acquired by the higher mode of reading, and by the other a faculty of nature herself, whose magic wand is the chemical or sound-ether. see eddington's humorous and at the same time serious treatment of this problem in his philosophy of physical science. of the difference between external and internal ether-action more will be said in the concluding chapter. chapter xx pro anima thy functions are ethereal, as if within thee dwelt a glancing mind, organ of vision! and a spirit aëreal informs the cell of hearing, dark and blind. w. wordsworth (a) the well-springs of nature's deeds and sufferings as our observations have shown, gravity and levity not only exist side by side as a primary polarity; the manifold interaction of their fields gives rise to all sorts of secondary polarities. obviously, this interaction must be brought about by a further kind of force to which gravity and levity are subordinate. in what follows we shall try, so far as is possible within the scope of this book, to throw light on the nature of this force. since the direct experience of the dynamic realm constituted by it is based on faculties of the mind other than those needed for the imaginative perception of the etheric realm, we shall have to examine also the nature and origin of these faculties. this will lead us again to the study of one of man's higher senses, this time his sense of hearing, with the aim of finding the spiritual function that is hidden in it. but our order of procedure will have to differ from the one followed in the last chapter, because it will be necessary first to make ourselves acquainted with the nature of the new force and then to turn to an examination of the sense-activity concerned. * let our first object of observation be man himself in so far as he illustrates a polarity of the second order. when studying man's nature with the idea of understanding the genesis of his onlooker-consciousness, it will be remembered, we had to examine the ordering of his consciousness into waking, dreaming and sleeping in the different members of his organism. we recognized three different organic systems, the sensory-nerve system, the rhythmic system and the metabolic-limb system, as the bodily foundation of three different soul activities. these are the thought-forming activity which belongs to waking consciousness; the feeling activity which belongs to dream consciousness; and the willing activity which belongs to sleep consciousness. we then saw in these three systems representatives of the three alchemical functions - 'sulphurous' in the metabolic, 'saline' in the nervous, 'mercurial' in the mediating rhythmic system. regarded thus, man's nature reveals itself as being endowed with a physical organization, and an etheric organization, which are brought into different relationships by being acted upon by a third organization consisting of forces of the kind here to be studied. at his lower pole these forces co-ordinate the ether and physical organizations in a manner corresponding to the function of the 'sulphur'-pole of the alchemical triad. here, therefore, the warmth-ether takes the lead and acts in such a way that the higher kinds of ether are able to come to expression in material processes of the body. at the upper pole corresponding forces co-ordinate the physical and ether organizations in a way characteristic of the 'salt'-pole. this gives the lead to the life-ether, so that the physical organism provides the foundation for the activity of the ether-forces without, however, being actually penetrated by them (at least after completion of the embryonic and first post-embryonic development). as a result, consciousness lights up in this part of the body. the rhythmic sphere, being the 'mercurial' middle, is distinguished by an alternation of the two conditions described. with each diastole it becomes more akin to the pole below, and with each systole more akin to the pole above. here, therefore, the lighting up of consciousness is only partial. by means of these observations we realize that the third type of force, in so far as it is active in man, has the capacity, by co-ordinating the physical and etheric parts of the organism in one way or another, to promote happenings either of a more corporeal or a more psychical nature - namely, motion at one pole, sensation at the other, and feeling in the middle between them. remembering goethe's formula, 'colours are deeds and sufferings of light', we realize how deeply true the concepts were to which he was led by his way of developing observation and thought. what we have now brought to our awareness by studying man, holds good in some sense also for the animal. the animal, too, is polarized into motion and sensation. (what makes the animal differ from man need not concern us here, for it belongs to a dynamic realm other than the one we are now studying. this other realm will come under consideration in the next chapter.) quite a different picture arises when we turn to the plant. the plant, too, is characterized by a threefold structure, root, stem with leaves, and florescence, which in their way represent the three alchemical functions. consequently, there is also motion in the plant, although this is confined to internal movements leading to growth and formation. and at the opposite pole there is sensation, though again very different from the sensation experienced by higher living beings. what we mean here by 'sensation' can be best expressed by quoting the following passage from ruskin's the queen of the air, in which the dual activity of the dynamic which we seek to understand is brought out particularly clearly. in describing the forming of blossom in the plant as the climax of the 'spirit' active in it, ruskin says: 'its (the plant's) form becomes invested with aspects that are chiefly delightful to our own human passions; namely, first, with the loveliest outlines of shape and, secondly, with the most brilliant phases of the primary colours, blue, yellow, red or white, the unison of all; and to make it more strange, this time of peculiar and perfect glory is associated with relations of the plants or blossoms to each other, correspondent to the joy of love in human creatures and having the same object in the continuance of the race.' if we wish to understand why the same dynamic action working on the physical and etheric organisms of the plant, on the one hand, and of man and the animal, on the other, brings about effects so different, we must turn to the realm whence this action originates in both cases. for the animal and for man this realm is situated within their organisms because in addition to their individual physical and etheric organizations they are endowed also with an individual organization of the higher kind. not so with the plant. for the rhythms of its growth, the successive formation of its various organs, the production of its colours, etc., the plant depends on outer conditions. what strikes us first in this respect is the plant's dependence on the succession of the seasons. these in turn are an outcome of the changing mutual positions of earth and sun. that which forms part of the individual organism in higher living beings is located in the cosmic surroundings of the plant. in fact, it is our planetary system which provides the forces that stir the etheric and physical forces of the earth to their various interactions, thus bringing about all the manifold secondary polarities. * before we embark on a description of further phenomena which testify to the cosmic nature of the forces with which we are here concerned, it will be well (following a principle applied before) to establish the historical antecedents of the conception of the universe we are about to develop. we realize that the type of force with which we are here seeking to become familiar is the one responsible for the existence of what we commonly call 'soul'. the creation of a body-bound soul, however, is only one particular form of the activity of these forces. another is the one which we have just seen manifest in the plant. in yet another way the same forces function as movers and stirrers of the macro-telluric processes of the earth, and beyond this of the happenings in the body of our planetary system, including the movements of the various planets. this is an aspect which was by no means unfamiliar to ancient man. it was naturally lost when the onlooker-consciousness awoke. in this respect it is of historical significance that the same man, g. a. borelli ( - ), a member of the florentine academy, who was the first to inquire into the movements of the animal and human body from a purely mechanical point of view, made the first attempt to deduce the planetary movements from a purely physical cause. through this fact an impulse comes to expression which we may term contra animam, and against which we have to put our pro anima, in much the same way that we put our pro levitate against the contra levitatem call of the florentine academicians. * it will help our further descriptions if we introduce at this point the name which rudolf steiner adopted for the type of forces we are concerned with here. in view of the fact that their origin lies in the extra-terrestrial realm of the universe, he called them 'astral' forces, thereby giving back to this term, also, its true and original meaning. it is under this name that we shall speak of them henceforth. to make ourselves more familiar with the character of the astral forces, it will be well to observe them first of all in their macrotelluric form of activity. there is, as already mentioned, the rhythmic occurrence of the seasons in connexion with the varying relative positions of earth and sun. alongside this we may put the rhythm of the tides, coincident with the phases of the moon. just as the solar rhythm manifests in an alternating rise and fall of the saps in the plants, so also does the lunar rhythm. (note how this fact actually vitiates the usual explanation that the tidal rhythm of the sea is caused by a gravitational pull exerted by the moon's body on the oceanic water.) in neither instance is the change of position of the relevant cosmic body - in our examples that of the sun or moon in relation to the earth - the 'cause' of the corresponding rhythmic events on the earth. together with all other rhythmic events of equal periodicity, it is itself the effect of the activity of a force-sphere constituting the cosmic realm to which the relevant planetary body belongs. from this statement three major questions arise, which need to be answered before we can carry on our description of the astral forces themselves: firstly, by the way we have spoken of the varying relations of the sun and moon to the earth, seeing in them the effects of certain astral activities, we have treated them as if they were of like nature, namely, resulting from a movement of the relevant heavenly body round the earth. according to the copernican conception, however, only the moon rotates round the earth, whereas the apparent yearly progression of the sun is actually caused by the earth's motion round the sun. this raises the question of how far the copernican, heliocentric aspect is valid in a science which strives to embrace the astral realm of the universe in its inquiries. secondly, what roles do the other members of our planetary system play as compared with those of the sun and the moon? thirdly, if it is true that the essential solar and lunar effects - and presumably the effects of the other planets - on the earth do not spring from physical influence exerted by the visible bodies of the planets concerned, but from certain astral force-fields of which these bodies themselves form part, what is the significance of such a body within the planet's dynamic whole? starting with the answer to the first question, we shall quote the following passage from a lecture on theoretical physics given by professor planck in at the columbia university, new york: 'only the hypothesis of the general value of the principle of relativity in mechanics could admit the copernican system into physics, since this principle guarantees the independence of all processes on the earth from the progressive motion of the earth. for, if we had to make allowance for this motion, then i should, for instance, have to reckon with the fact that the piece of chalk in my hand possesses the enormous kinetic energy corresponding to a velocity of about km/sec.' the implications for us of these remarks by an eminent physicist can be expressed as follows: in a science which knows how to deal with movement as an event of absolute dynamic reality, the copernican aspect loses its significance as the only valid aspect of our cosmic system. for its application as a means of describing the dynamic happenings within this system presupposes the acceptance of einstein's relativistic conception of motion. indeed, for the building up of a picture of the dynamic structure of our system, the copernican view-point is inadequate. this statement must not be taken to deny all justification to the heliocentric view-point. there is, after all, the fact that the orbits which the heavenly bodies appear to follow when viewed in this way, assume a particular geometrical character which cannot be accidental. and more than that, when the heliocentric aspect is seen in its true setting, it forms (as will be shown later) an extremely revealing part of the script which tells us of the nature of the astral forces. all that is required is that the heliocentric picture be taken for what it is, namely, a purely kinematic aspect of the true dynamic ordering of our cosmic system, which in itself calls for quite other means of conceptual representation. from the point of view of the astral order of the universe, the earth appears in the centre of a number of force-fields which penetrate each other and in their peripheral region extend beyond one another in accordance with the respective orbits of the various planetary bodies. how many force-fields there are, and what is the respective character of each, will become clear from the following consideration, which will also provide the answer to the second of our three questions. as the originator of the secondary polarities in earthly nature the astral realm must undoubtedly itself be structured polarically, one part of it forming the cause of all the happenings by which levity is brought into interaction with gravity, the other of all the happenings by which gravity is brought into interaction with levity. there must be a further part which is responsible for the establishment of the 'mercurial' mean between the two poles of the secondary polarity. this leads us to a threefold aspect of the astral realm. closer inspection reveals a repetition of this threefold order within each of the two polar regions. in chapter xii we learnt to distinguish the material happenings at the two poles of the secondary polarity by observing their appearance in the plant as 'sublimation', on the one hand, and 'assimilation' on the other. of the former process, by which matter is carried from its gravity-bound to its gravity-free condition, we know that it takes place in three stages, of which the first implies the lifting of matter from the solid to the liquid condition, the second from the liquid to the aeriform condition, and the third to the condition of pure heat. there are three corresponding stages by which ether becomes susceptible to gravity. it is in their nature that they are not in the same degree manifest as are their polar opposites. still, properly guided observation is able to detect them and enables us to describe them as follows. at the first stage, ether, which in itself has a purely peripheral orientation, becomes linked to some all-relating point; at the second stage, the various ether-activities, already point-related, are brought into some characteristic interrelationship so as to become the cause of a particular formative action in the material realm; at the third stage, the etheric aggregate thus organized receives the impulse to link itself with some particular portion of ponderable matter. in these six forms of astral activity, observation, if guided by modern spiritual science, recognizes the characteristics of the six planetary spheres, known as 'moon', 'mercury', 'venus', on the one hand, 'saturn', 'jupiter', 'mars', on the other. in the same way the dynamic sphere of the 'sun' is found to provide the astral activity which mediates between the two groups of planetary spheres. the following observations may help us to become familiar with the different modes of activity of the force-spheres. let us start with the astral forces corresponding to the three cosmic bodies nearest to the earth - moon, mercury, venus. their activity can be discerned, for example, by watching the successive stages of plant development - the formation of the sap-bearing parts; the flower-substance already partly transformed into aeriform condition; finally the propagating processes which belong essentially to the sphere of activity of the warmth-ether. in the human organism we find the same sequence in the step-by-step transformation of nutriment right up to the moment when earthly form passes into chaos, as we learnt previously. the so-called enzyme action, ascribed by physiology to the various digestive juices, is in reality the product of an activity of the lower part of man's astral organization, for which the relevant juices exercise the function of physical 'carriers'. in the field of macrotelluric phenomena, the metamorphosis of the atmospheric moisture extending beyond the different cloud-stages up to the stage of pure warmth is an example of the activity of the same forces. within all three-stage transitions of this kind, the astral forces connected with the moon preponderate during the first stage, those connected with mercury during the second, those connected with venus during the third. we have already come across some examples of the outstanding share taken by the moon in the events of the earth's watery sphere. to these phenomena, which show by their rhythm their connexion with the moon, we may add the fertility rhythm in the female human organism which coincides, not in phase but in duration, with the rhythm set by the moon's course in the heavens. if we consider that the formation of a new human body in the womb needs the play of formative forces from out of the whole world environment, and that for this purpose matter must be brought into a receptive condition for these forces, then we can better understand the preparatory part played by the moon-forces. in order, however, that the substance of the female germ should reach that condition of chaos suitable for embryonic development, there is still necessary the influence of the supra-lunar astral forces. entry for these is provided by the union of the germ-cell with the male sperm-cell. as the three sub-solar planetary spheres are responsible for events of a 'sulphurous' (radial) character, so are the three supra-solar spheres responsible for those of a 'saline' (spherical) character. for example, we meet with saturn-activity in everything which radiates from the human head and brings about the hardening both of the head itself and of the entire skeleton. observation has shown that, even if the human being, as usually happens, stops growing in the early twenties, so that the skeleton undergoes no further lengthening, it nevertheless reaches its final shape and its final hardening only between the twenty-eighth and thirtieth years. this is the time in man's life when saturn returns for the first time to the position in which it stood relatively to the earth at his birth, or, more correctly, at his conception. if the activity of the saturn-force is most clearly manifest in the formation of the hard skull, that of jupiter, the planet of 'wisdom', is shown in the formation of the complicated structure of the brain, which enables it to co-ordinate the bodily and psychic functions of the entire man. in the realm of physical nature, man's brain is indeed the most perfect example of cosmic intelligence at work in a manner resembling that activity of human intelligence which one usually understands by 'organizing'. in order that form should come about, the forces of saturn are required; for the formative process to take place in wisdom-filled order, jupiter's forces are necessary. if form and order are to become manifest in the realm of earthly substance, both require the assistance of mars. we can best form an idea of the part which mars contributes to the coming into being of the world of form in nature if we observe what takes place when we make use of speech as a medium for expressing our thoughts. in order to be able to shape a thought we have to participate in the formative force of saturn. we depend upon jupiter to bring about logical connexion between the single thoughts. to announce them to the world, we need the motive force of mars, which enables us so to set external matter in motion that it becomes a carrier and relayer of our thoughts. (we here touch upon the field of the acoustic movements of the air which will occupy us more closely later on.) many examples of the activity of the force-spheres represented by the three exterior planets are to be found also in nature external to man. from the realm of plant life we may take the woody and bark-like formation of the trees as representing the operation of saturn-forces. similarly, all that goes on in the organizing of the single leaf, and particularly in the organization of the countless separate leaves which make up the foliage of a tree into a unified whole, the characteristic crown of a tree, is an example of the work of jupiter. both activities are assisted by the force of mars, which directs them from the cosmic periphery toward the single physical object. between the two groups of astral force operating in this manner, the sun acts as a mediating element through its double function of supporting the activity of the three lower planets by means of its heat and of conveying to the earth, through its light, the forces of the three higher planets. in the human microcosm the sun-forces accomplish a corresponding task by means of the influences which radiate from the heart through the body along the paths taken by the blood. * in what follows we shall point to a group of phenomena which show the astral interconnexion between earth and universe; we owe our knowledge of them to rudolf steiner. it is due to him, also, that experimental research into the relevant facts became possible. they concern the reflexion of the various planetary movements, observable in the sky, in the behaviour of certain mineral substances of the earth. in connexion with our discussion of electricity (chapter xiii) we spoke of the special function of the metals as bearers of the 'mercurial' quality (in the alchemical sense of the term). as one of the characteristics which reveal this function we mentioned the peculiar capacity of metals to behave as 'solid fluids'. this exceptional place among the mineral substances of the earth, the metals owe to their close association with the extra-terrestrial astral forces of the world. in this field, too, modern spiritual investigation has recovered something which was known to people of old - that among the metals there are seven which have a distinctive character, for each stands in a special relation to one of the seven planets (that is, the planetary force-spheres) of our cosmic system. this is shown in the following table: saturn	lead jupiter	tin mars	iron sun	gold venus	copper mercury	quicksilver moon	silver as compared with these seven, the other metals are products of combinations of various planetary forces. a comparison of the role of saturn as the outermost planet of our cosmic system with the role played by its metal, lead, as a final product of radioactive disintegration, leads one to conceive of the radioactive sphere of the earth as being related especially to the planets outside the orbit of saturn, namely, uranus, neptune, pluto. thanks to the work of l. kolisko who, in following rudolf steiner's indications, observed for many years the behaviour of the seven metals singly and in combination by submitting their salts to certain capillary effects, we know to-day that the" earth bears in her womb substances whose dynamic condition follows exactly the events in the planetary realm of the universe. * the picture of the universe which has thus arisen before our mind's eye is a startling one only so long as we keep comparing it with its heliocentric predecessor. how wrong it would be to regard it as something inconceivable for the modern mind, is shown by the fact that the modern physiologist has already been driven to form quite a similar picture of the human organism, as far as it concerns glandular action in this organism. his observations have taught him to distinguish between the gland as a spatially limited physical organ and the gland as a functional sphere, and to conceive of the latter as the essential gland. seen thus, 'the spatial and temporal dimensions of each gland are equal to those of the entire organism' (a. carrel). in this way we come to see the human organism as a realm of interpenetrating spheres of distinctive physiological activities. each of these activities is anchored somewhere in the physical body by the anatomically discernible gland-body, and the latter's relationship to the functional sphere is such that a gland's 'physiological individuality is far more comprehensive than its anatomical individuality'. we need only translate this statement into its macrocosmic counterpart to obtain another statement which expresses fittingly the relationship of the visible body of a planet to the functional (astral) sphere indicated by its orbit. then we shall say that 'a planet's astral individuality is far more comprehensive than its astronomical individuality'. it should be observed that the step we have here taken, by using a conception obtained through microcosmic observation to help us to find the answer to a question put to us by the macrocosm, complies with one of the fundamentals of our method of research, namely, to allow 'the heavens to explain the earth, and the earth the heavens' (r. st.). * * * (b) hearing as deed in the introductory part of the last chapter we said that we have the right to employ results of investigation carried out by higher faculties of spiritual perception without contradicting our principle of seeking to understand the phenomenal world by reading it, provided our doing so helps to enhance our own reading activity, and provided it can be shown that the acquisition of the higher faculties of perception is a direct continuation of the training we have to apply to our mind and senses to make them capable of such reading. as regards the forces of astral character, the first of these two conditions has been fulfilled by the observations we have already worked through in this chapter. we have still to show that the second condition is equally fulfilled. the faculty of the mind which permits direct investigation of the astral realm was called (spiritual) inspiration by rudolf steiner, who thereby restored to this term, also, its proper meaning. we have already indicated that this faculty resides in the sense of hearing in the same way that the faculty of imagination - as we have found - resides in the sense of seeing. in order to understand why it is this particular sense which comes into consideration here, we have to consider that the phenomena through which the astral world manifests most directly are all of a rhythmic nature. now, the sense through which our soul penetrates with direct experience into some outer rhythmic activity is the sense of hearing, our aural perceptions being conveyed by certain rhythmic movements of the air. in what follows we shall see how the study of both the outer acoustic phenomena and our own psycho-physical make-up in the region of the acoustic sense, leads to an understanding of the nature of inspiration and of how it can be trained. * among all our sense-perceptions, sound is unique in making itself perceptible in two quite different ways - via the ear as a direct sense experience and via the eye (potentially also via the senses of touch and movement) in the form of certain mechanical movements, such as those of a string or a tuning fork. hence the world-spectator, as soon as he began to investigate acoustic phenomena scientifically, found himself in a unique position. in all other fields of perception, with the exception of the purely mechanical processes, the transition to non-stereoscopic colourless observation had the effect that the world-content of the naive consciousness simply ceased to exist, leaving the ensuing hiatus to be filled in by a pattern of imagined kinematic happenings - for example, colour by 'ether'-vibrations, heat by molecular movements. not so in the sphere of acoustics. for here a part of the entire event, on account of its genuine kinetic character, remains a content of actual observation. in consequence, the science of acoustics became for the scientific mind of man a model of the required division between the 'subjective' (that is, for scientific considerations non-existent) and the 'objective' (that is, the purely kinematic) part of observation. the field of aural perception seemed to justify the procedure of collecting a mass of phenomena, stripped of all that is experienced by man's soul in meeting them, and of assembling them under a purely abstract concept, 'sound'. professor heisenberg, in his lecture (quoted at the beginning of chapter ii) on the way in which the scientific interrogation of nature has deliberately limited itself, draws attention to the fact that a full knowledge of the science of optics in its present form might be acquired merely through theoretical study by one born blind, yet without his ever getting to know what light is. heisenberg could, of course, have said the same of the science of acoustics in regard to one born deaf. but we can go a step further by asking how far a deaf and a blind person could get towards establishing the respective science. the answer must be that, whereas the person lacking sight would not of himself be in a position to establish a science of optics, it would be well within the scope of the deaf man to establish a science of acoustics. for all the processes essential to a physical acoustics are accessible to the eye and other senses. in order to make our experience of hearing a finger-post pointing the way to an understanding of the faculty of inspiration innate in man, we must first of all seek to transform acoustics from a 'deaf into a 'hearing' science, just as goethe turned the theory of colour from a colour-blind into a colour-seeing science. * following our procedure in the case of optics, we select from the total field of acoustic phenomena a defined realm specially suited to our purpose. as it was then the spectrum, so it will be now the so-called quality of sound, or tone-colour. by this term in acoustics is understood a property possessed by sound apart from pitch and volume, and dependent on the nature of the source from which a tone is derived. it is the tone-colour by which the tone of a violin, for instance, is distinguished from a tone of equal intensity and pitch produced by a flute. similarly, two musical instruments of the same kind are distinguished from each other by tone-colour. tone-colour plays a specially significant part in human and animal voices. not only has each individual voice its unique colour, but the colour varies in one and the same person or animal, according to the prevailing mood. moreover, by uttering the various vowels of his language, man is able to impart varying colour to the sounds of his speech. for the difference we experience when a tone is sung on the vowel 'a' or the vowel 'e', etc., derives from the particular colour given by the vowel to that tone. among the discoveries of the last century in the realm of acoustics, there is one which especially helped to establish a purely kinematic conception of sound. helmholtz showed that tones which to our ears seem to have a clear and definite pitch may be split up by a series of resonators into a number of different tones, each of them sounding at a different pitch. the lowest of these has the pitch which our ears attach to the entire tone. thus in any ordinary tone there may be distinguished a 'fundamental' tone and a series of 'overtones'. helmholtz further showed that the particular series of overtones into which a tone can be resolved is responsible for the colour of that tone as a whole. naturally, this meant for the prevailing mode of thinking that the experience of the colour of a tone had to be interpreted as the effect of a kind of acoustical adding together of a number of single tone perceptions (very much as newton had interpreted 'white' light as the outcome of an optical adding together of a certain number of single colour perceptions). the picture becomes different if we apply to the aural experience goethe's theorem that, in so far as we are deluded, it is not by our senses but by our own reasoning. for we then realize that sounds never occur of themselves without some tone-colour, whilst physically 'pure' tones - those that represent simple harmonic motions - exist only as an artificial laboratory product. the colour of a tone, therefore, is an integral part of it, and must not be conceived of as an additional attribute resulting from a summing up of a number of colourless tone experiences. further, if we compare our experiences of the two kinds of tone, they tell us that through the quality or colour of the natural tone something of a soul-nature, pleasant or unpleasant, speaks to us, whereas 'pure' tones have a soulless character. resolving normal tones by helmholtz's method (useful as it is for certain purposes) amounts to something like dissecting a living, ensouled organism into its members; only the parts of the corpse remain in our hands. * having thus established that the psychic content of aural experience forms an integral part of the tone-phenomenon as such, we must seek to understand how the kinetic process which is indispensable for its appearance comes to be the vehicle for the manifestation of 'soul' in the manner described. to this end we must first of all heed the fact that the movement which mediates aural sensation is one of alternating expansion and contraction. expressed in the language of the four elements, this means that the air thus set in vibration approaches alternately the condition of the watery element beneath it and of the element of fire (heat) above it. thus, in a regular rhythm, the air comes near the border of its ponderable existence. purely physical considerations make us realize that this entails another rhythmic occurrence in the realm of heat. for with each expansion of the air heat is absorbed by it and thereby rendered space-bound, while with every contraction of the air heat is set free and returns to its indigenous condition - that is, it becomes free from spatial limitations. this picture of the complete happenings during an acoustic event enables us to understand how such a process can be the vehicle for conveying certain astral impulses in such a way that, when met by them, we grow aware of them in the form of a direct sensation. taking as a model the expression 'transparent' for the perviousness of a substance to light, we may say that the air, when in a state of acoustic vibration, becomes 'trans-audient' for astral impulses, and that the nature of these vibrations determines which particular impulses are let through. what we have here found to be the true role of the kinetic part of the acoustic process applies equally to sounds which are emitted by living beings, and to those that arise when lifeless material is set mechanically in motion, as in the case of ordinary noises or the musical production of tone. there is only this difference: in the first instance the vibrations of the sound-producing organs have their origin in the activity of the astral part of the living being, and it is this activity which comes to the recipient's direct experience in the form of aural impressions; in the second instance the air, by being brought externally into a state of vibration, exerts a kind of suction on the astral realm which pervades the air, with the result that parts of this realm become physically audible. for we are constantly surrounded by supersensible sounds, and the state of motion of the air determines which of them become perceptible to us in our present state of consciousness. at this point our mind turns to a happening in the macrotelluric sphere of the earth, already considered in another connexion, which now assumes the significance of an ur-phenomenon revealing the astral generation of sound. this is the thunder-storm, constituted for our external perception by the two events: lightning and thunder. remembering what we have found earlier (chapter x) to be the nature of lightning, we are now in a position to say: a supraterrestrial astral impulse obtains control of the earth's etheric and physical spheres of force in such a way that etheric substance is thrown into the condition of space-bound physical matter. this substance is converted by stages from the state of light and heat via that of air into the liquid and, in certain cases, into the solid state (hail). to this we now add that, while in lightning the first effect of the etheric-physical interference of the astral impulse appears before our eyes, our ears give us direct awareness of this impulse in the form of thunder. it is this fact which accounts for the awe-inspiring character of thunderstorms. * the picture we have thus received of the outer part of the acoustic process has a counterpart in the processes inside the organ of hearing. hearing, like seeing, depends upon the co-operation of both poles of the human organism-nerve and blood. in the case of hearing, however, they play a reversed role. in the eye, the primary effect of light-impressions is on the nervous part; a secondary response to them comes from the blood organization. in the ear, the receptive organ for the astral impulses pressing in upon it is a part which belongs to the body's limb system, while it is the nervous organization which functions as the organ of response. for in the ear the sound-waves are first of all taken over by the so-called ossicles, three small bones in the middle ear which, when examined with the goethean eye, appear to be a complete metamorphosis of ah arm or a leg. they are instrumental in transferring the outer acoustic movements to the fluid contained in the inner ear, whence these are communicated to the entire fluid system of the body and lastly to the muscular system. we shall speak of this in detail later on. let it be stated here that the peculiar role played by the larynx in hearing, already referred to by us in chapter xvi, is one of the symptoms which tells of the participation of the muscular system in the internal acoustic process. psychologically, the difference between ear and eye is that aural perceptions work much more directly on the human will - that is, on the part of our astral organization connected with the limb system. whereas eye-impressions stimulate us in the first place to think, ear-impressions stimulate us to ... dance. the whole art of dancing, from its original sacred character up to its degenerate modern forms, is based upon the limb system being the recipient of acoustic impressions. in order to understand how the muscles respond to the outer astral impulses which reach us through our ear, we must first understand what happens in the muscles when our will makes use of them for bodily motion. in this case, too, the muscular system is the organ through which certain astral impulses, this time arising out of the body's own astral member, come to expression. moreover, the movement of the muscles, though not outwardly perceptible, is quite similar to acoustic movements outside the body. for whenever a muscle is caused to alter its length, it will perform some kind of vibration - a vibration characterized even by a definite pitch, which differs in different people. since throughout life our body is never entirely without movement, we are thus in a constant state of inward sounding. the muscular system is capable of this vibration because during the body's initial period of growth the bones increase in length to a much greater extent than do the sinews and muscles. hence the latter arrive at a condition of elastic tension not unlike that of the strings of a musical instrument. in the case of bodily movement, therefore, the muscles are tone-producers, whereas in acoustic perceptions they are tone-receivers. what, then, is it that prevents an acoustic perception from actually setting the limbs in motion, and, instead, enables our sentient being to take hold of the astral impulse invading our muscles? this impediment comes from the contribution made by the nervous system to the auditory process. in order to understand the nature of this contribution we must remember the role played by the blood in seeing. it was found by us to consist in the bringing about of that state of equilibrium without which we should experience light merely as a pain-producing agent. similarly, the perception of sound requires the presence of a certain state of equilibrium between the nerve-system and the limb-system. in this case, however, a lack of equilibrium would result not in pain, but in ecstasy. for if acoustic impressions played directly into our limb-system, with nothing to hold them in check, every tone we encounter would compel us to an outward manifestation of astral activity. we should become part of the tone-process itself, forced to transform it by the volitional part of our astral organization into spatial movement. that this does not happen is because the participation of the nervous system serves to damp down the potential ecstasy. hence it is more or less left to the sentient part of the astral organization - that is, the part free from the physical body - to partake in the astral processes underlying the tone occurrences. * our discussion has reached a point where we are able to answer a question which first arose in the course of our study of the four ethers, and which arises here anew. in studying the chemical or sound ether we were faced with the fact that part of the etheric realm, although in itself accessible to the spiritual part of the sense of sight, offers supersensible experience comparable to the perception of sound. conversely, we are now met by the fact that it is spiritual hearing which gives access to the immediate perception of a realm of forces which is not only the source of acoustic phenomena, but the origin of all that manifests in nature in the form of sulphurous, saline and mercurial events, such as the world of colours, electricity, magnetism, the manifold rhythmic occurrences on the earth (both taken as a whole .and in single organisms), etc. - all of which are taken hold of by quite other senses than that of hearing. at our first encounter with this problem we remarked that in the supersensible no such sharp distinctions exist between different sense-spheres as are found in body-bound sense-perception. at the same time we remembered that even in physical perception we are inclined to attach acoustic attributes to colours and optical attributes to tones. in fact, it was precisely an instance of this kind of experience, namely, our conception of tone-colour, which gave us our lead in discussing the acoustic sphere in general. our picture of the particular interaction of the two polar bodily systems in the acts of seeing and hearing now enables us to understand more clearly how these two spheres of perception overlap in man. for we have seen how the system which in seeing is the receiving organ, works in hearing as the responding one, and vice versa. as a result, optical impressions are accompanied by dim sensations of sound, and aural impressions by dim sensations of colour. what we are thus dimly aware of in physical sense activity, becomes definite experience when the supersensible part of the senses concerned can work unfettered by the bodily organ. clear testimony of this is again given to us by traherne in a poem entitled dumnesse. this poem contains an account of traherne's recollection of the significant fact that the transition from the cosmic to the earthly condition of his consciousness was caused by his learning to speak. the following is a passage from the description of the impressions which were his before his soul was overcome by this change: 'then did i dwell within a world of light distinct and seperat from all mens sight, where i did feel strange thoughts, and such things see that were, or seemd, only reveald to me ... '... a pulpit in my mind a temple, and a teacher i did find, with a large text to comment on. no ear, but eys them selvs were all the hearers there. and evry stone, and evry star a tongue, and evry gale of wind a curious song.' * we have obtained a sufficiently clear picture of the organization of our sense of hearing to see where the way lies that leads from hearing with the ears of the body to hearing with the ears of the spirit, that is, to the inspirative perception of the astral world. in the psycho-physical condition which is characteristic of our present day-consciousness, the participation of our astral organization in any happenings of the outer astral world depends on our corporeal motor system being stimulated by the acoustic motions of the air, or of some other suitable medium contacting our body. for it is only in this way that our astral organization is brought into the sympathetic vibrations necessary for perceiving outer astral happenings. in order that astral events other than those manifesting acoustically may become accessible to our consciousness, our own astral being must become capable of vibrating in tune with them, just as if we were hearing them - that is, we must be able to rouse our astral forces to an activity similar to that of hearing, yet without any physical stimulus. the way to this consists in training ourselves to experience the deeds and sufferings of nature as if they were the deeds and sufferings of a beloved friend. it is thus that we shall learn to hear the soul of the universe directly speaking to us, as lorenzo divined it, when his love for jessica made him feel in love with all the world, and he exclaimed: 'there's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st but in his motion like an angel sings, still quiring to the young-eyed cherubim, - such harmony is in immortal souls. but whilst this muddy vesture of decay doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it.' * * * (c) kepler and the 'music of the spheres' 'one must choose one's saints .. . and so i have chosen mine, and before all others, kepler. in my ante-room he has ever a niche of his own, with his bust in it.' this opinion of goethe's must surprise us in view of the fact that kepler was the discoverer of the three laws called after him, one of which is supposed to have laid the foundation for newton's mechanical conception of the universe. in what follows it will be shown how wrong it is to see in kepler a forerunner of the mechanistic conception of the world; how near, in reality, his world-picture is to the one to which we are led by working along goetheanistic lines; and how right therefore goethe was in his judgment on kepler. goethe possessed a sensitive organ for the historical appropriateness of human ideas. as an illustration of this it may be mentioned how he reacted when someone suggested to him that joachim jungius - an outstanding german thinker, contemporary of bacon, van helmont, etc. - had anticipated his idea of the metamorphosis of the plant. this remark worried goethe, not because he could not endure the thought of being anticipated (see his treatment of k. f. wolff), but because this would have run counter to the meaning of man's historical development as he saw it. 'why do i regard as essential the question whether jungius conceived the idea of metamorphosis as we know it? my answer is, that it is most significant in the history of the sciences, when a penetrating and vitalizing maxim comes to be uttered. therefore it is not only of importance that jungius has not expressed this maxim; but it is of highest significance that he was positively unable to express it - as we boldly assert.' for the same reason goethe knew it would be historically unjustified to expect that kepler could have conceived an aspect of the universe implicit in his own conception of nature. hence it did not disturb him in his admiration for kepler, that through him the copernican aspect of the universe had become finally established in the modern mind - that is, an aspect which, as we have seen, is invalid as a means of forming a truly dynamic conception of the world. in forming his picture of the universe, it is true, copernicus was concerned with nothing but the spatial movements of the luminous entities discernible in the sky, without any regard to their actual nature and dynamic interrelationships. hence his world-picture - as befits the spectator-form of human consciousness which was coming to birth in his own time - is a purely kinematic one. as such it has validity for a certain sphere of human observation. when kepler, against the hopes of his forerunner and friend, tycho brahe, accepted the heliocentric standpoint and made it the basis of his observations, he did so out of his understanding of what was the truth for his own time. kepler's ideal was to seek after knowledge through pure observation. in this respect goethe took him as his model. kepler's discoveries were a proof that man's searching mind is given insight into great truths at any stage of its development, provided it keeps to the virtue of practising pure observation. it has been the error of newton and his successors up to our own day, to try to conceive the world dynamically within the limits of their spectator-consciousness and thus to form a dynamic interpretation of the universe based on its heliocentric aspect. this was just as repellent to goethe as kepler's attitude was attractive. but by so sharply distinguishing between newton and kepler, do we not do injustice to the fact that, as the world believes, kepler's third law is the parent of newton's law of gravitation? the following will show that this belief is founded on an illusory conception of the kind we met before. as we shall see, kepler's discovery, when treated in a keplerian way, instead of leading to newton, is found to be in full agreement with the very world-picture to which our own observations have led us. * it is an established conviction of the mathematical scientist that, once an observed regularity in nature has been expressed as a mathematical equation, this equation may be transformed in any mathematically valid way, and the resulting formula will still apply to some existing fact in the world. on innumerable occasions this principle has been used in the expectation of providing further insight into the secrets of nature. we came across a typical instance of this in discussing the basic theorem of kinematics and dynamics (chapter viii). another example is newton's treatment of kepler's third law, or - more precisely - the way in which newton's law of gravitation has been held to confirm kepler's observations, and vice versa, it will be our task to analyse the kepler-newton case on the very lines of our treatment of the two parallelogram theorems. this analysis will give us insight into a truth which we have to regard as one of the basic maxims of the new science. it says that whether a given formula, derived mathematically from one that was first read from nature, still expresses some fact of nature, cannot be decided by pure mathematical logic, but only by testing it against truly observable phenomena. through kepler's third law a certain relation is expressed between the spatial dimensions of the different planetary spheres and the time needed by the relevant planet to circle once round the circumference of its own sphere. it says: 'the squares of the periodic times of the planets are always in the same proportion as the cubes of their mean distances from the sun.' in mathematical symbols this reads: t / t = r / r we shall see later how kepler arrived at this law. the point is that there is nothing in it which is not accessible to pure observation. spatial distances and lengths of time are measured and the results compared. nothing, for instance, is said about the dynamic cause of the movements. the assertion is restricted - and this is true also of the first and second law - to a purely kinematic content, and so precisely to what the earthly onlooker can apprehend. now it is said that kepler's third law is a necessary consequence of newton's law of gravitation, and that - since it is based on pure observation - it therefore establishes the truth of newton's conception. in this assertion we encounter a misconception exactly like the one in the statement that the theorem of the parallelogram of forces follows by logical necessity from the theorem of the parallelogram of velocities. for: (a) the law of gravitation itself derives from newton's formula for the centripetal force acting at a point which moves along a circle, this formula being itself the result of an amplification of the formula for centripetal acceleration by the factor 'mass' (as if the latter were a pure number): centripetal acceleration: a = (Ï�^ )r / t centripetal force: p = am = (Ï�^ )mr / t (b) the formula for centripetal acceleration - and the concept of such acceleration itself - is the result of splitting circular movement into two rectilinear movements, one in the direction of the tangent, the other in the direction of the radius, and of regarding it - by a mode of reasoning typical of spectator-thinking - as composed of the two. this procedure, however, useful as it may be for the purpose of calculation, is contrary to observation. for, as we have pointed out earlier, observation tells us that all original movement - and what can be more original than the movements of the planetary bodies - is curvilinear. no insight into the dynamic reality of cosmic movement, therefore, can ever be gained by handling it mathematically in this way. (c) the transformation of kepler's formula which is necessary in order to give it a form representing the nucleus of newton's formula, is one which, though mathematically justified, deprives kepler's formula of any significance as expression of an observed fact. the following analysis will show this. kepler's formula- r ^ / r ^ = t ^ / t ^ may be written also r ^ / t ^ = r ^ / t ^ and this again in the generalized form: r / t = c. obviously, by each of these steps we diminish the reality-value of the formula. in its original form, we find spatial extension compared with spatial extension, and temporal extension with temporal extension. each of the two comparisons is a fully concrete one, because we compare entities of like nature, and only then test the ratios of the two - that is, two pure numbers against each other - to find that they are identical. to compare a spatial and a temporal magnitude, as is done by the formula in its second form, requires already a certain degree of abstraction. still, it is all spectator's work, and for the spectator time is conceivable and measurable only as a rate of spatial displacement. hence the constant number c, by representing the ratio between the spatial extension of the realm inside a planet's orbit and the time needed by it to perform one round on this orbit - a ratio which is the same for all planets - represents a definite structural element of our cosmic system. by this last operation our equation has now achieved a form which requires only one more transformation to bring it into line with newton's formula. instead of writing: r / t = c we write: r / t = c ( / r ) all that now remains to be done amounts to an amplification of this equation by the factor (Ï�^ )m, and a gathering of the constant product (Ï�^ )c under a new symbol, for which we choose the letter f. in this way we arrive at: (Ï�^ )mr / t = (Ï�^ )cm / r and finally: p = ... = fm / r which is the expression of the gravitational pull believed to be exerted by the sun on the various planetary bodies. nothing can be said against this procedure from the point of view of mathematical logic. for the latter the equation r / t = c ( / r ) is still an expression of kepler's observation. not so for a logic which tries to keep in touch with concrete reality. for what meaning, relevant to the phenomenal universe as it manifests in space and time to physical perception, is there in stating - as the equation in this form does - that: the ratio between a planet's distance from the sun and the square of its period is always proportional to the reciprocal value of the area lying inside its orbit? * once we have rid ourselves of the false conception that kepler's law implies newton's interpretation of the physical universe as a dynamic entity ruled by gravity, and gravity alone, we are free to ask what this law can tell us about the nature of the universe if in examining it we try to remain true to kepler's own approach. to behave in a keplerian (and thus in a goethean) fashion regarding a mathematical formula which expresses an observed fact of nature, does not mean that to submit such a formula to algebraic transformation is altogether impermissible. all we have to make sure of is that the transformation is required by the observed facts themselves: for instance, by the need for an even clearer manifestation of their ideal content. such is indeed the case with the equation which embodies kepler's third law. we said that in its original form this equation contains a concrete statement because it expresses comparisons between spatial extensions, on the one hand, and between temporal extensions, on the other. now, in the form in which the spatial magnitudes occur, they express something which is directly conceivable. the third power of a spatial distance (r^ ) represents the measure of a volume in three-dimensional space. the same cannot be said of the temporal magnitudes on the other side of the equation (t^ ). for our conception of time forbids us to connect any concrete idea with 'squared time'. we are therefore called upon to find out what form we can give this side of the equation so as to express the time-factor in a manner which is in accord with our conception of time, that is, in linear form. this form readily suggests itself if we consider that we have here to do with a ratio of squares. for such a ratio may be resolved into a ratio of two simple ratios. in this way the equation - r ^ / r ^ = t ^ / t ^ assumes the form- r ^ / r ^ = (t / t ) / (t / t ) the right-hand side of the equation is now constituted by the double ratio of the linear values of the periods of two planets, and this is something with which we can connect a quite concrete idea. to see this, let us choose the periods of two definite planets - say, earth and jupiter. for these the equation assumes the following form ('j' and 'e' indicating 'jupiter' and 'earth' respectively): rj^ / re^ = (tj / te) / (te / tj) let us now see what meaning we can attach to the two expressions tj / te and te / tj. during one rotation of jupiter round the sun the earth circles times round it. this we are wont to express by saying that jupiter needs earth-years for one rotation; in symbols: tj / te = / to find the analogous expression for the reciprocal ratio: te / tj = / we must obviously form the concept 'jupiter-year', which covers one rotation of jupiter, just as the concept 'earth-year' covers one rotation of the earth (always round the sun). measured in this time-scale, the earth needs for one of her rotations / of a jupiter-year. with the help of these concepts we are now able to express the double ratio of the planetary periods in the following simplified way. if we suppose the measuring of the two planetary periods to be carried out not by the same time-scale, but each by the time-scale of the other, the formula becomes: rj / re = (tj / te) / (te / tj) = period of jupiter measured in earth-years / period of earth measured in jupiter-years. interpreted in this manner, kepler's third law discloses an intimate interrelatedness of each planet to all the others as co-members of the same cosmic whole. for the equation now tells us that the solar times of the various planets are regulated in such a way that for any two of them the ratio of these times, measured in their mutual time-units, is the same as the ratio of the spaces swept out by their (solar) orbits. further, by having the various times of its members thus tuned to one another, our cosmic system shows itself to be ordered on a principle which is essentially musical. to see this, we need only recall that the musical value of a given tone is determined by its relation to other tones, whether they sound together in a chord, or in succession as melody. a 'c' alone is musically undefined. it receives its character from its interval-relation to some other tone, say, 'g', together with which it forms a fifth. as the lower tone of this interval, 'c' bears a definite character; and so does 'g' as the upper tone. now we know that each interval represents a definite ratio between the periodicities of its two tones. in the case of the fifth the ratio is : (in the natural scale). this means that the lower tone receives its character from being related to the upper tone by the ratio : . similarly, the upper tone receives its character from the ratio : . the specific character of an interval arising out of the merging of its two tones, therefore, is determined by the ratio of their ratios. in the case of the fifth this is : . it is this ratio, therefore, which underlies our experience of a fifth. the cosmic factor corresponding to the periodicity of the single tone in music is the orbital period of the single planet. to the musical interval formed by two tones corresponds the double ratio of the periods of any two planets. regarded thus, kepler's law can be expressed as follows: the spatial ordering of our planetary system is determined by the interval-relation in which the different planets stand to each other. by thus unlocking the ideal content hidden in kepler's third law, we are at the same time enabled to do justice to the way in which he himself announced his discovery. in textbooks and encyclopaedias it is usually said that the discovery of the third law was the surprising result of kepler's fantastic attempt to prove by external observation what was once taught in the school of pythagoras, namely, that (in wordsworth's language): 'by one pervading spirit of tones and numbers all things are controlled.' actually, kepler's great work, harmonices mundi, in the last part of which he announces his third law, is entirely devoted to proving the truth of the pythagorean doctrine that the universe is ordered according to the laws of music. this doctrine sprang from the gift of spiritual hearing still possessed by pythagoras, by which he could perceive the harmonies of the spheres. it was the aim of his school to keep this faculty alive as long as possible, and with its aid to establish a communicable world-conception. the pythagorean teaching became the foundation of all later cosmological thinking, right up to the age which was destined to bring to birth the spectator-relationship of man's consciousness with the world. thus it was left to copernicus to give mankind the first truly non-pythagorean picture of the universe. when kepler declared himself in favour of the heliocentric aspect, as indicated by copernicus, he acknowledged that the universe had grown dumb for man's inner ear. yet, besides his strong impulse to meet the true needs of his time, there were inner voices telling him of secrets that were hidden behind the veil woven by man's physical perceptions. one of these secrets was the musical order of the world. such knowledge, however, could not induce him to turn to older world-conceptions in his search for truth. he had no need of them, because there was yet another voice in him which told him that the spiritual order of the world must somehow manifest itself in the body of the world as it lay open to physical perception. just as a musical instrument, if it is to be a perfect means of bringing forth music, must bear in its build the very laws of music, so must the body of the universe, as the instrument on which the harmonies of the spheres play their spiritual music, bear in its proportions a reflexion of these harmonies. kepler was sure that investigation of the world's body, provided it was carried out by means of pure observation, must needs lead to a re-establishment of the ancient truth in a form appropriate to the modern mind. thus kepler, guided by an ancient spiritual conception of the world, could devote himself to confirming its truth by the most up-to-date methods of research. that his search was not in vain, our examination of the third law has shown. one thing, however, remains surprising - that kepler announced his discovery in the form in which it has henceforth engraved itself in the modern mind, while refraining from that analysis of it which we have applied to it here. yet, in this respect also kepler proves to have remained true to himself. there is, on the one hand, the form in which kepler pronounced his discovery; there is, on the other, the context in which he made this pronouncement. we have already pointed out that the third law forms part of kepler's comprehensive work, harmonices mundi. to the modern critic's understanding it appears there like an erratic block. for kepler this was different. while publishing his discovery in precisely the form in which it is conceived by a mind bent on pure observation, he gave it a setting by which he left no doubt as to his own conception of its ideal content. and as a warning to the future reader not to overlook the message conveyed by this arrangement, he introduced the section of his book which contains the announcement of the law, with the mysterious words about himself: 'i have stolen the golden vessels of the egyptians from which to furnish for my god a holy shrine far from egypt's confines.' we must here distinguish sensation from feeling proper, in which sensation and motion merge in mercurial balance. note how for ruskin the gulf which for the onlooker-consciousness lies between subject and object is bridged here - as it was for goethe in his representation of the physico-moral effect of colour. de motu animalium and theoria mediceorum planetarum ex causis physicis deducta. knowledge of this biological rhythm is still preserved among native peoples to-day and leads them to take account of the phases of the moon in their treatment of plants. a cosmic nature-wisdom of this kind has been reopened for us in modern form by rudolf steiner, and has since found widespread practical application in agriculture. see l. kolisko, the moon and plant growth. in the order of names given above we follow the ancient usage for the two planets nearest to the sun, not the reversed order in which they are used to-day. this is necessary in a cosmology which aspires at a qualitative understanding of the universe, in view of the qualities represented by these names. note also the absence of the three most distant planets, uranus, neptune and pluto. they are not to be considered as parts of the indigenous astral structure of our cosmic system - any more than radioactivity is an original feature of the earth. note the 'venus' character of ruskin's description of the plant's state of florescence quoted above (p. ). as to the time-scale of the processes brought about by mercury and venus respectively, experience shows that they reveal the cosmic rhythms less clearly than those for which the moon-activity is responsible. the same is found at the opposite pole. there it is the saturn - generated processes which show the cosmic rhythm more conspicuously than those engendered by jupiter and mars. to learn to recognize rhythmic events in nature and man as reflexions of corresponding planetary rhythms is one of the tasks which future scientific research has to tackle. a practical example of this kind will appear in the further course of this chapter. see l. kolisko: working of the stars in earthly substances, and other publications by the same author. the close connexion between the ear and the motor system of the body is shown in another way by the fact that part of the ear serves as an organ for the sense of balance. the muscle-tone can be made audible by the following means. in a room guarded against noise, press the thumbs lightly upon the ears and tense the muscles of the hands and arms - say by pressure of the fingers against the palms or by contracting the muscle of the upper arms. if this is done repeatedly, the muscle-tone will be heard after some practice with increasing distinctness. it is easily distinguished from the sound of the circulating blood as it is much higher. (as an example: the author's muscular pitch, not a particularly high one, has a frequency of approx. per sec., which puts it between treble d sharp and e.) compare also the beginning of traherne's poem wonder, quoted in chapter vi (p. ), where he says that everything he saw 'did with me talk'. for the particular reasons by which goethe justifies his assertion, see his essay leben und verdienste des doktor joachim jungius. the natural question why kepler himself did not take this step, will be answered later on. chapter xxi know thyself our inquiries have led us to a picture of man as a sensible-supersensible organism composed of three dynamic aggregates - physical, etheric, astral. as three rungs of a spiritual ladder they point to a fourth, which represents that particular power in man by which he distinguishes himself from all other beings in nature. for what makes man differ from all these is that he is not only fitted, as they are, with a once-for-all given mode of spiritual-physical existence peculiar to himself, but that he is endowed with the possibility of transforming his existence by dint of his free will - that indeed his manhood is based on this capacity for self-willed becoming. to this fourth principle in man we can give no better name than that which every human being can apply to himself alone and to no other, and which no other can apply to him. this is the name, i. in truth, we describe man in his entirety only if we ascribe to him, in addition to a physical, etheric and astral body, the possession of an i (ego). naturally, our previous studies have afforded many opportunities for observing the nature and mode of activity of the i. still, at the conclusion of these studies it is not redundant to form a concise picture of this part of man's being, with particular regard to how it works within the three other principles as its sheaths. for in modern psychology, not excluding the branch of it where efforts are made to penetrate into deeper regions of man's being, nothing is less well understood than the true nature of man's egoity. * in order to recognize the peculiar function of the i in man, we must first be clear as to how he differs from the other kingdoms of nature, and how they differ from one another with respect to the mode of action of the physical, etheric and astral forces. the beings of all the kingdoms of nature are endowed with an aggregate of physical forces in the form of a material body subject to gravity. the same cannot be said of the etheric forces. only where life is present as an inherent principle - that is, in plant, animal and man - is ether at work in the form of an individual etheric organization, while the mineral is formed by the universal ether from outside. where life prevails, we are met by the phenomena of birth and death. when a living organism comes to birth, an individual ether-body is formed out of the general etheric substance of the universe. the death of such an organism consists in the separation of the etheric from the physical body and the dissolution of both in their respective mother-realms. so long as an organism is alive, its form is maintained by the ether-body present in it. our studies have shown that the plant is not devoid of the operation of astral forces. in the plant's life-cycle this comes to clearest expression in its florescence. but it is a working of the astral forces from outside, very much as the ether works on the mineral. as a symptom of this fact we may recall the dependence of the plant on the various outer astronomical rhythms. it is only in animal and man that we find the astral forces working in the form of separate astral bodies. this accounts for their capacity for sensation and volition. besides the alternation of birth and death, they experience the rhythm of sleeping and waking. sleep occurs when the astral body leaves the physical and etheric bodies in order to expand into its planetary mother-sphere, whence it gathers new energy. during this time its action on the physical-etheric aggregate remaining upon earth is similar to that of the astral cosmos upon the plant. again, in the animal kingdom the ego-principle works as an external force in the form of various group-soul activities which control and regulate the life of the different animal species. it is in the group-ego of the species that we have to look for the source of the wisdom-filled instincts which we meet in the single animals. only in man does the ego-principle enter as an individual entity into the single physico-etheric-astral organism. here, however, the succession of stages we have outlined comes to a conclusion. for with the appearance of the i as an individual principle, the preceding evolutionary process - or, more correctly, the involutionary process - begins to be reversed. in moving up from one kingdom to the next, we find always one more dynamic principle appearing in a state of separation from its mother-sphere; this continues to the point where the i, through uniting itself with a thus emancipated physico-etheric-astral organism, arrives at the stage of self-consciousness. once this stage has been reached, however, it falls to the i to reverse the process of isolation, temporarily sanctioned by the cosmos for the sake of man. that it is not in the nature of the i to leave its sheaths in the condition in which it finds them when entering them at the beginning of life, can be seen from the activities it performs in them during the first period after birth. indeed, in man's early childhood we meet a number of events in which we can perceive something like ur-deeds of the i. they are the acquisition of the faculties of walking, speaking and thinking. what we shall here say about them has, in essentials, already been touched upon in earlier pages. here, however, we are putting it forward in a new light. once again we find our attention directed to the threefold structure of man's physical organism. for the faculty of upright walking is a result of the i's activity in the limb-system of the body; the acquisition of speech takes place in the rhythmic system; and thinking is a faculty based on the nerve-system. consequently, each of the three achievements comes to pass at a different level of consciousness-sleeping, dreaming, waking. all through the struggle of erecting the body against the pull of gravity, the child is entirely unaware of the activities of his own i. in the course of acquiring speech he gains a dim awareness, as though in dream, of his efforts. some capacity of thinking has to unfold before the first glimmer of true self-consciousness is kindled. (note that the word 'i' is the only one that is not added to the child's vocabulary by way of imitation. otherwise he would, as some mentally inhibited children do, call all other people 'i' and himself 'you'.) this picture of the three ur-deeds of the i can now be amplified in the following way. we know that the region of the bodily limbs is that in which physical, etheric and astral forces interpenetrate most deeply. consequently, the i can here press forward most powerfully into the physical body and on into the dynamic sphere to which the body is subject. here the i is active in a way that is 'magic' in the highest degree. moreover, there is no other action for which the i receives so little stimulus from outside. for, in comparison, the activity that leads to the acquisition of speech is much more of the nature of a reaction to stimuli coming from outside - the sounds reaching the child from his environment. and it is also with the first words of the language that the first thoughts enter the child's mind. nothing of the kind happens at the first stage. on the contrary: everything that confronts the i here is of the nature of an obstacle that is to be overcome. there is no learning to speak without the hearing of uttered sounds. as these sounds approach the human being they set the astral body in movement, as we have seen. the movements of the astral body flow towards the larynx, where they are seized by the i; through their help the i imbues the larynx with the faculty of producing these sounds itself. here, therefore, the i is active essentially within the astral body which has received its stimulus from outside. in order to understand what impels the i to such action, we must remember the role played by speech in human life: without speech there would be no community among human individuals on earth. an illustration of what the i accomplishes as it enters upon the third stage is provided by the following episode, actually observed. whilst all the members of a family were sitting at table taking their soup, the youngest member suddenly cried out: 'daddy spoon ... mummy spoon. ... ' (everyone in turn spoon) ' ... all spoon!' at this moment, from merely designating single objects by names learnt through imitation, the child's consciousness had awakened to connective thinking. that this achievement was a cause of inner satisfaction could be heard in the joyful crescendo with which these ejaculations were made. we know that the presence of waking consciousness within the nerves-and-senses organism rests upon the fact that the connexion between physical body and etheric body is there the most external of all. but precisely because this is so, the etheric body is dominated very strongly by the forces to which the physical head owes its formation. this, too, is not fundamentally new to us. what can now be added is that, in consequence, the physical brain and the part of the etheric body belonging to it - the etheric brain - assume a function comparable with that of a mirror, the physical organ representing the reflecting mass and the etheric organ its metallic gloss. when, within the head, the etheric body reflects back the impressions received from the astral body, the i becomes aware of them in the form of mental images (the 'ideas' of the onlooker-philosopher). it is also by way of such reflexion that the i first grows aware of itself - but as nothing more than an image among images. here, therefore, it is itself least active. if, once again, we compare the three happenings of learning to walk, to speak and to think, we find ourselves faced with the remarkable fact that the progressive lighting up of consciousness from one stage to the next, goes hand in hand with a retrogression in the activity of the i itself. at the first stage, where the i knows least of itself, it is alive in the most direct sense out of its own being; at the second stage, where it is in the dreaming state, it receives the impetus of action through the astral body; at the third stage, where the i wakens to clear self-consciousness, it assumes merely the role of onlooker at the pictures moving within the etheric body. compare with this the paths to higher faculties of knowledge, imagination and inspiration, as we learnt to know them in our previous studies. the comparison shows that exactly the same forces come into play at the beginning of life, when the i endeavours to descend from its pre-earthly, cosmic environment to its earthly existence, as have to be made use of for the ascending of the i from earthly to cosmic consciousness. only, as is natural, the sequence of steps is reversed. for on the upward way the first deed of the i is that which leads to a wakening in the etheric world: it is a learning to set in motion the etheric forces in the region of the head in such a way that the usual isolation of this part of the etheric body is overcome. regarded thus, the activity of the i at this stage reveals a striking similarity to the activity applied in the earliest period of childhood at the opposite pole of the organism. to be capable of imaginative sight actually means to be able to move about in etheric space by means of the etheric limbs of the eyes just as one moves about in physical space by means of the physical limbs. similarly, the acquisition of inspiration is a resuming on a higher level of the activity exercised by the i with the help of the astral body when learning to speak. and here, too, the functions are reversed. for while the child is stimulated by the spoken sounds he hears to bring his own organ of speech into corresponding movements, and so gradually learns to produce speech, the acquisition of inspiration, as we have seen, depends on learning to bring the supersensible forces of the speech-organ into movement in such a way that these forces become the organ for hearing the supersensible language of the universe. our knowledge of the threefold structure of man's organism leads us to seek, besides the stages of imagination and inspiration, a third stage which is as much germinally present in the body's region of movement, as the two others are in the regions of thought and speech. after what we have learnt in regard to these three, we may assume that the path leading to this third stage consists in producing a condition of wide-awake, tranquil contemplation in the very region where the i is wont to unfold its highest degree of initiative on the lowest level of consciousness. in an elementary manner this attitude of soul was practised by us when, in our earlier studies, we endeavoured to become inner observers of the activity of our own limbs, with the aim of discovering the origin of our concept of mass. it was in this way that a line of observation opened up to us which led to the recognition of the physical substances of the earth as congealed spiritual functions or, we may say, congealed utterances of cosmic will. cosmic will, however, does not work into our existence only in such a way that, in the form of old and therefore rigid will, it puts up resistance against the young will-power of the i, so that in overcoming this resistance the i may waken to self-activity. cosmic will is also present in us in an active form. we point here to the penetration by the higher powers of the universe into the forming of the destiny of humanity and of individual man. and here rudolf steiner has shown that to a man who succeeds in becoming a completely objective observer of his own existence while actively functioning within it (as in an elementary way we endeavoured to become observers of our limb actions while engaged in performing them) the world begins to reveal itself as an arena of the activities of divine-spiritual beings, whose reality and acts he is now able to apprehend through inner awareness. herewith a third stage of man's faculty of cognition is added to the stages of imagination and inspiration. when rudolf steiner chose for it the word intuition he applied this word, also, in its truest meaning. * while through imagination man comes to know of his ether-body as part of his make-up, and correspondingly through inspiration of his astral body, and thereby recognizes himself as participant in the supersensible forces of the universe, it is through intuition that he grows into full awareness of his i as a spirit-being among spirit-beings - god-begotten, god-companioned, for ever god-ward striving. the word 'body' is here used in a sense no different from our earlier use of it, when in connexion with our study of combustion (chapter xi) we referred to the 'warmth-body' as a characteristic of the higher animals and man. such a warmth-body is nothing else but the warmth-ether part of an ether-body. to use the word body for aggregations of etheric or astral forces is legitimate if one considers the fact that the physical body also is really a purely dynamic entity, that is, a certain aggregate of forces more or less self-contained. proofreaders _american lectures on the history of religions_ series of - mohammedanism lectures on its origin, its religious and political growth, and its present state by c. snouck hurgronje professor of the arabic language in the university of leiden, holland announcement. the american lectures on the history of religions are delivered under the auspices of the american committee for lectures on the history of religions. this committee was organized in , for the purpose of instituting "popular courses in the history of religions, somewhat after the style of the hibbert lectures in england, to be delivered by the best scholars of europe and this country, in various cities, such as baltimore, boston, brooklyn, chicago, new york, philadelphia." the terms of association under which the committee exists are as follows: .--the object of this committee shall be to provide courses of lectures on the history of religions, to be delivered in various cities. .--the committee shall be composed of delegates from the institutions agreeing to co-operate, with such additional members as may be chosen by these delegates. .--these delegates--one from each institution, with the additional members selected--shall constitute themselves a council under the name of the "american committee for lectures on the history of religions." .--the committee shall elect out of its number a chairman, a secretary, and a treasurer. .--all matters of local detail shall be left to the co-operating institutions under whose auspices the lectures are to be delivered. .--a course of lectures on some religion, or phase of religion, from an historical point of view, or on a subject germane to the study of religions, shall be delivered annually, or at such intervals as may be found practicable, in the different cities represented by this committee. .--the committee (a) shall be charged with the selection of the lectures, (b) shall have charge of the funds, (c) shall assign the time for the lectures in each city, and perform such other functions as may be necessary. .--polemical subjects, as well as polemics in the treatment of subjects, shall be positively excluded. .--the lectures shall be delivered in the various cities between the months of september and june. .--the copyright of the lectures shall be the property of the committee. .--the compensation of the lecturer shall be fixed in each case by the committee. .--the lecturer shall be paid in installments after each course, until he shall have received half of the entire compensation. of the remaining half, one half shall be paid to him upon delivery of the manuscript, properly prepared for the press, and the second half on the publication of the volume, less a deduction for corrections made by the author in the proofs. the committee as now constituted is as follows: prof. crawford h. toy, chairman, lowell st., cambridge, mass.; rev. dr. john p. peters, treasurer, w. th st., new york city; prof. morris jastrow, jr., secretary, so. d st., philadelphia, pa.; president francis brown, union theological seminary, new york city; prof. richard gottheil, columbia university, new york city; prof. harry pratt judson, university of chicago, chicago, ill.; prof. paul haupt, johns hopkins university, baltimore, md.; mr. charles d. atkins, director, brooklyn institute of arts and sciences; prof. e.w. hopkins, yale university, new haven, conn.; prof. edward knox mitchell, hartford theological seminary, hartford, conn.; president f.k. sanders, washburn college, topeka, kan.; prof. h.p. smith, meadville theological seminary, meadville, pa.; prof. w.j. hinke, auburn theological seminary, auburn, n.y.; prof. kemper fullerton, oberlin theological seminary, oberlin, n.y. the lecturers in the course of american lectures on the history of religions and the titles of their volumes are as follows: - --prof. t.w. rhys-davids, ph.d.,--_buddhism_. - --prof. daniel g. brinton, m.d., ll.d.--_religions of primitive peoples_. - --rev. prof. t.k. cheyne, d.d.--_jewish religious life after the exile_. - --prof. karl budde, d.d.--_religion of israel to the exile_. - --prof. george steindorff, ph.d.--_the religion of the ancient egyptians_. - --prof. george w. knox, d.d., ll.d.--_the development of religion in japan_. - --prof. maurice bloomfield, ph.d., ll.d.--_the religion of the veda_. - --prof. a.v.w. jackson, ph.d., ll.d.--_the religion of persia_.[ ] - --prof. morris jastrow, jr., ph.d.--_aspects of religious belief and practice in babylonia and assyria_. - --prof. j.j.m. degroot--_the development of religion in china_. - --prof. franz cumont.[ ]--_astrology and religion among the greeks and romans_. [footnote : this course was not published by the committee, but will form part of prof. jackson's volume on the religion of persia in the series of _handbooks on the history of religions_, edited by prof. morris jastrow, jr., and published by messrs. ginn & company of boston. prof. jastrow's volume is, therefore, the eighth in the series.] [footnote : owing to special circumstances, prof. cumont's volume was published before that of prof. degroot. it is, therefore, the ninth in the series and that of prof. degroot the tenth.] the lecturer for was professor c. snouck hurgronje. born in oosterhout, holland, in , he studied theology and oriental languages at the university of leiden and continued his studies at the university of strassburg. in he published his first important work _het mekkaansch feest_, having resolved to devote himself entirely to the study of mohammedanism in its widest aspects. after a few years' activity as lecturer on mohammedan law at the seminary for netherlands-india in leiden, he spent eight months ( - ) in mecca and jidda. in , he became lecturer at the university of leiden and in the same year was sent out as professor to batavia in netherlands-india, where he spent the years - . upon his return he was appointed professor of arabic at the university of leiden. among his principal published works may be mentioned: _mekka_, the hague, - ; _de beteekenis van den islam voor zijne belijders in oost indïe_, leiden, ; _mekkanische sprichwörter_, the hague, ; _de atjehers_, leiden, - , england tr. london, ; _het gajôland en zijne bezvoners_, batavia, , and _nederland en de islâm_, leiden, . the lectures to be found in the present volume were delivered before the following institutions: columbia university, yale university, the university of pennsylvania, meadville theological seminary, the university of chicago, the lowell institute, and the johns hopkins university. the committee owes a debt of deep gratitude to mr. charles r. crane for having made possible the course of lectures for the year . richard gottheil crawford h. toy _committee on publication_. april, . * * * * * contents some points concerning the origin of islÂm. the religious development of islÂm. the political development of islÂm. islÂm and modern thought. index. mohammedanism i some points concerning the origin of islÂm there are more than two hundred million people who call themselves after the name of mohammed, would not relinquish that name at any price, and cannot imagine a greater blessing for the remainder of humanity than to be incorporated into their communion. their ideal is no less than that the whole earth should join in the faith that there is no god but allah and that mohammed is allah's last and most perfect messenger, who brought the latest and final revelation of allah to humanity in allah's own words. this alone is enough to claim our special interest for the prophet, who in the seventh century stirred all arabia into agitation and whose followers soon after his death founded an empire extending from morocco to china. even those who--to my mind, not without gross exaggeration--would seek the explanation of the mighty stream of humanity poured out by the arabian peninsula since over western and middle asia, northern africa, and southern europe principally in geographic and economic causes, do not ignore the fact that it was mohammed who opened the sluice gates. it would indeed be difficult to maintain that without his preaching the arabs of the seventh century would have been induced by circumstances to swallow up the empire of the sasanids and to rob the byzantine empire of some of its richest provinces. however great a weight one may give to political and economic factors, it was religion, islâm, which in a certain sense united the hitherto hopelessly divided arabs, islâm which enabled them to found an enormous international community; it was islâm which bound the speedily converted nations together even after the shattering of its political power, and which still binds them today when only a miserable remnant of that power remains. the aggressive manner in which young islâm immediately put itself in opposition to the rest of the world had the natural consequence of awakening an interest which was far from being of a friendly nature. moreover men were still very far from such a striving towards universal peace as would have induced a patient study of the means of bringing the different peoples into close spiritual relationship, and therefore from an endeavour to understand the spiritual life of races different to their own. the christianity of that time was itself by no means averse to the forcible extension of its faith, and in the community of mohammedans which systematically attempted to reduce the world to its authority by force of arms, it saw only an enemy whose annihilation was, to its regret, beyond its power. such an enemy it could no more observe impartially than one modern nation can another upon which it considers it necessary to make war. everything maintained or invented to the disadvantage of islâm was greedily absorbed by europe; the picture which our forefathers in the middle ages formed of mohammed's religion appears to us a malignant caricature. the rare theologians[ ] who, before attacking the false faith, tried to form a clear notion of it, were not listened to, and their merits have only become appreciated in our own time. a vigorous combating of the prevalent fictions concerning islâm would have exposed a scholar to a similar treatment to that which, fifteen years ago, fell to the lot of any englishman who maintained the cause of the boers; he would have been as much of an outcast as a modern inhabitant of mecca who tried to convince his compatriots of the virtues of european policy and social order. [footnote : see for instance the reference to the exposition of the paderborn bishop olivers ( ) in the paderborn review _theologie und glaube_, jahrg. iv., p. , etc. (_islâm_, iv., p. ); also some of the accounts mentioned in güterbock, _der islâm im lichte der byzantinischen polemik_, etc.] two and a half centuries ago, a prominent orientalist,[ ] who wrote an exposition of mohammed's teaching, felt himself obliged to give an elaborate justification of his undertaking in his "dedicatio." he appeals to one or two celebrated predecessors and to learned colleagues, who have expressly instigated him to this work. amongst other things he quotes a letter from the leiden professor, l'empereur, in which he conjures breitinger by the bowels of jesus christ ("per viscera jesu christi") to give the young man every opportunity to complete his study of the religion of mohammed, "which so far has only been treated in a senseless way." as a fruit of this study l'empereur thinks it necessary to mention in the first place the better understanding of the (christian) holy scriptures by the extension of our knowledge of oriental manners and customs. besides such promotion of christian exegesis and apologetics and the improvement of the works on general history, hottinger himself contemplated a double purpose in his _historia orientalis_. the roman catholics often vilified protestantism by comparing the reformed doctrine to that of mohammedanism; this reproach of crypto-mohammedanism hottinger wished "talionis lege" to fling back at the catholics; and he devotes a whole chapter (cap. ) of his book to the demonstration that bellarminius' proofs of the truth of the church doctrine might have been copied from the moslim dogma. in the second place, conforming to the spirit of the times, he wished, just as bibliander had done in his refutation of the qorân, to combine the combat against mohammedan unbelief with that against the turkish empire ("in oppugnationem mahometanae perfidiae et turcici regni"). [footnote : j.h. hottinger, _historia orientalis_, zürich, ( d. edition ).] the turks were feared by the europe of that time, and the significance of their religion for their worldly power was well known; thus the political side of the question gave hottinger's work a special claim to consideration. yet, in spite of all this, hottinger feared that his labour would be regarded as useless, or even wicked. especially when he is obliged to say anything favourable of mohammed and his followers, he thinks it necessary to protect himself against misconstruction by the addition of some selected terms of abuse. when mentioning mohammed's name, he says: "at the mention of whom the mind shudders" ("ad cujus profecto mentionem inhorrescere nobis debet animus"). the learned abbé maracci, who in produced a latin translation of the qorân accompanied by an elaborate refutation, was no less than hottinger imbued with the necessity of shuddering at every mention of the "false" prophet, and dr. prideaux, whose _vie de mahomet_ appeared in the same year in amsterdam, abused and shuddered with them, and held up his biography of mohammed as a mirror to "unbelievers, atheists, deists, and libertines." it was a dutch scholar, h. reland, the utrecht professor of theology, who in the beginning of the eighteenth century frankly and warmly recommended the application of historical justice even towards the mohammedan religion; in his short latin sketch of islâm[ ] he allowed the mohammedan authorities to speak for themselves. in his "dedicatio" to his brother and in his extensive preface he explains his then new method. is it to be supposed, he asks, that a religion as ridiculous as the islâm described by christian authors should have found millions of devotees? let the moslims themselves describe their own religion for us; just as the jewish and christian religions are falsely represented by the heathen and protestantism by catholics, so every religion is misrepresented by its antagonists. "we are mortals, subject to error; especially where religious matters are concerned, we often allow ourselves to be grossly misled by passion." although it may cause evil-minded readers to doubt the writer's orthodoxy he continues to maintain that truth can only be served by combating her opponents in an honourable way. [footnote : _h. relandi de religione mohammedica libri duo_, utrecht, ( d ed. ).] "no religion," says reland, "has been more calumniated than islâm," although the abbé maracci himself could give no better explanation of the turning of many jews and christians to this religion than the fact that it contains many elements of natural truth, evidently borrowed from the christian religion, "which seem to be in accordance with the law and the light of nature" ("quae naturae legi ac lumini consentanea videntur"). "more will be gained for christianity by friendly intercourse with mohammedans than by slander; above all christians who live in the east must not, as is too often the case, give cause to one turk to say to another who suspects him of lying or deceit: 'do you take me for a christian?' ("putasne me christianum esse"). in truth, the mohammedans often put us to shame by their virtues; and a better knowledge of islâm can only help to make our irrational pride give place to gratitude to god for the undeserved mercy which he bestowed upon us in christianity." reland has no illusions that his scientific justice will find acceptance in a wide circle "as he becomes daily more and more convinced that the world wishes to be deceived and is governed by prejudice" ("qui quotidie magis magisque experior mundum decipi velle et praeconceptis opinionibus regi"). it was not long before the scale was turned in the opposite direction, and islâm was made by some people the object of panegyrics as devoid of scientific foundation as the former calumnies. in appeared in london the incomplete posthumous work of count de boulainvilliers, _vie de mahomet,_ in which, amongst other things, he says of the arabian prophet that "all that he has said concerning the essential religious dogmas is true, but he has not said all that is true, and it is only therein that his religion differs from ours." de boulainvilliers tells us with particular satisfaction that mohammed, who respected the devotion of hermits and monks, proceeded with the utmost severity against the official clergy, condemning its members either to death or to the abjuration of their faith. this _vie de mahomet_ was as a matter of fact an anti-clerical romance, the material of which was supplied by a superficial knowledge of islâm drawn from secondary sources. that a work with such a tendency was sure to arouse interest at that time, is shown by a letter from the publisher, coderc, to professor gagnier at oxford, in which he writes: "he [de boulainvilliers] mixes up his history with many political reflections, which by their newness and boldness are sure to be well received" ("il mêle son histoire de plusieurs réflexions politiques, et qui par leur hardiesse ne manqueront pas d'être très bien reçues"). jean gagnier however considered these bold novelties very dangerous and endeavoured to combat them in another _vie de mahomet_, which appeared from his hand in at amsterdam. he strives after a "juste milieu" between the too violent partisanship of maracci and prideaux and the ridiculous acclamations of de boulainvilliers. yet this does not prevent him in his preface from calling mohammed the greatest villain of mankind and the most mortal enemy of god ("le plus scélérat de tous les hommes et le plus mortel ennemi de dieu"). his desire to make his contemporaries proof against the poison of de boulainvilliers' dangerous book gains the mastery over the pure love of truth for which reland had so bravely striven. although sale in his "preliminary discourse" to his translation of the qorân endeavours to contribute to a fair estimation of mohammed and his work, of which his motto borrowed from augustine, "there is no false doctrine that does not contain some truth" ("nulla falsa doctrina est quae non aliquid veri permisceat"), is proof, still the prejudicial view remained for a considerable time the prevalent one. mohammed was branded as _imposteur_ even in circles where christian fanaticism was out of the question. voltaire did not write his tragedy _mahomet ou le fanatisme_ as a historical study; he was aware that his fiction was in many respects at variance with history. in writing his work he was, as he himself expresses it, inspired by "l'amour du genre humain et l'horreur du fanatisme." he wanted to put before the public an armed tartufe and thought he might lay the part upon mohammed, for, says he, "is not the man, who makes war against his own country and dares to do it in the name of god, capable of any ill?" the dislike that voltaire had conceived for the qorân from a superficial acquaintance with it, "ce livre inintelligible qui fait frémir le sens commun à chaque page," probably increased his unfavourable opinion, but the principal motive of his choice of a representative must have been that the general public still regarded mohammed as the incarnation of fanaticism and priestcraft. almost a century lies between gagnier's biography of mohammed and that of the heidelberg professor weil (_mohammed der prophet, sein leben and seine lehre_, stuttgart, ); and yet weil did well to call gagnier his last independent predecessor. weil's great merit is, that he is the first in his field who instituted an extensive historico-critical investigation without any preconceived opinion. his final opinion of mohammed is, with the necessary reservations: "in so far as he brought the most beautiful teachings of the old and the new testament to a people which was not illuminated by one ray of faith, he may be regarded, even by those who are not mohammedans, as a messenger of god." four years later caussin de perceval in his _essai sur l'histoire des arabes_, written quite independently of weil, expresses the same idea in these words: "it would be an injustice to mohammed to consider him as no more than a clever impostor, an ambitious man of genius; he was in the first place a man convinced of his vocation to deliver his nation from error and to regenerate it." about twenty years later the biography of mohammed made an enormous advance through the works of muir, sprenger, and nôldeke. on the ground of much wider and at the same time deeper study of the sources than had been possible for weil and caussin de perceval, each of these three scholars gave in his own way an account of the origin of islâm. nôldeke was much sharper and more cautious in his historical criticism than muir or sprenger. while the biographies written by these two men have now only historical value, nôldeke's _history of the qorân_ is still an indispensable instrument of study more than half a century after its first appearance. numbers of more or less successful efforts to make mohammed's life understood by the nineteenth century intellect have followed these without much permanent gain. mohammed, who was represented to the public in turn as deceiver, as a genius mislead by the devil, as epileptic, as hysteric, and as prophet, was obliged later on even to submit to playing on the one hand the part of socialist and, on the other hand, that of a defender of capitalism. these points of view were principally characteristic of the temperament of the scholars who held them; they did not really advance our understanding of the events that took place at mecca and medina between and a.d., that prologue to a perplexing historical drama. the principal source from which all biographers started and to which they always returned, was the qorân, the collection of words of allah spoken by mohammed in those twenty-two years. hardly anyone, amongst the "faithful" and the "unfaithful," doubts the generally authentic character of its contents except the parisian professor casanova.[ ] he tried to prove a little while ago that mohammed's revelations originally contained the announcement that the hour, the final catastrophe, the last judgment would come during his life. when his death had therefore falsified this prophecy, according to casanova, the leaders of the young community found themselves obliged to submit the revelations preserved in writing or memory to a thorough revision, to add some which announced the mortality even of the last prophet, and, finally to console the disappointed faithful with the hope of mohammed's return before the end of the world. this doctrine of the return, mentioned neither in the qorân nor in the eschatological tradition of later times, according to casanova was afterwards changed again into the expectation of the mahdî, the last of mohammed's deputies, "a guided of god," who shall be descended from mohammed, bear his name, resemble him in appearance, and who shall fill the world once more before its end with justice, as it is now filled with injustice and tyranny. [footnote : paul casanova, _mohammed et la fin du monde,_ paris, . his hypotheses are founded upon weil's doubts of the authenticity of a few verses of the _qorân_ (iii., ; xxxix., , etc.), which doubts were sufficiently refuted half a century ago by nôldeke in his _geschichte des qorâns_, st edition, p. , etc.] in our sceptical times there is very little that is above criticism, and one day or other we may expect to hear that mohammed never existed. the arguments for this can hardly be weaker than those of casanova against the authenticity of the qorân. here we may acknowledge the great power of what has been believed in all times, in all places, by all the members of the community ("quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab omnibus creditum est"). for, after the death of mohammed there immediately arose a division which none of the leading personalities were able to escape, and the opponents spared each other no possible kind of insult, scorn, or calumny. the enemies of the first leaders of the community could have wished for no more powerful weapon for their attack than a well-founded accusation of falsifying the word of god. yet this accusation was never brought against the first collectors of the scattered revelations; the only reproach that was made against them in connexion with this labour being that verses in which the holy family (ali and fatimah) were mentioned with honour, and which, therefore, would have served to support the claims of the alids to the succession of mohammed, were suppressed by them. this was maintained by the shi'ites, who are unsurpassed in islâm as falsifiers of history; and the passages which, according to them, are omitted from the official qorân would involve precisely on account of their reference to the succession, the mortality of mohammed. all sects and parties have the same text of the qorân. this may have its errors and defects, but intentional alterations or mutilations of real importance are not to blame for this. now this rich authentic source--this collection of wild, poetic representations of the day of judgment; of striving against idolatry; of stories from sacred history; of exhortation to the practice of the cardinal virtues of the old and new testament; of precepts to reform the individual, domestic, and tribal life in the spirit of these virtues; of incantations and forms of prayer and a hundred things besides--is not always comprehensible to us. even for the parts which we do understand, we are not able to make out the chronological arrangement which is necessary to gain an insight into mohammed's personality and work. this is not only due to the form of the oracles, which purposely differs from the usual tone of mortals by its unctuousness and rhymed prose, but even more to the circumstance that all that the hearers could know, is assumed to be known. so the qorân is full of references that are enigmatical to us. we therefore need additional explanation, and this can only be derived from tradition concerning the circumstances under which each revelation was delivered. and, truly, the sacred tradition of islâm is not deficient in data of this sort. in the canonical and half-canonical collections of tradition concerning what the prophet has said, done, and omitted to do, in biographical works, an answer is given to every question which may arise in the mind of the reader of the qorân; and there are many qorân-commentaries, in which these answers are appended to the verses which they are supposed to elucidate. sometimes the explanations appear to us, even at first sight, improbable and unacceptable; sometimes they contradict each other; a good many seem quite reasonable. the critical biographers of mohammed have therefore begun their work of sifting by eliminating the improbable and by choosing between contradictory data by means of critical comparison. here the gradually increasing knowledge of the spirit of the different parties in islâm was an important aid, as of course each group represented the facts in the way which best served their own purposes. however cautiously and acutely weil and his successors have proceeded, the continual progress of the analysis of the legislative as well as of the historical tradition of islam since has necessitated a renewed investigation. in the first place it has become ever more evident that the thousands of traditions about mohammed, which, together with the qorân, form the foundation upon which the doctrine and life of the community are based, are for the most part the conventional expression of all the opinions which prevailed amongst his followers during the first three centuries after the hijrah. the fiction originated a long time after mohammed's death; during the turbulent period of the great conquests there was no leisure for such work. our own conventional insincerities differ so much--externally at least--from those of that date, that it is difficult for us to realize a spiritual atmosphere where "pious fraud" was practised on such a scale. yet this is literally true: in the first centuries of islâm no one could have dreamt of any other way of gaining acceptance for a doctrine or a precept than by circulating a tradition, according to which mohammed had preached the doctrine or dictated it or had lived according to the precept. the whole individual, domestic, social, and political life as it developed in the three centuries during which the simple arabian religion was adjusted to the complicated civilization of the great nations of that time, that all life was theoretically justified by representing it as the application of minute laws supposed to have been elaborated by mohammed by precept and example. thus tradition gives invaluable material for the knowledge of the conflict of opinions in the first centuries, a strife the sharpness of which has been blunted in later times by a most resourceful harmonistic method. but, it is vain to endeavour to construct the life and teaching of mohammed from such spurious accounts; they cannot even afford us a reliable illustration of his life in the form of "table talk," as an english scholar rather naïvely tried to derive from them. in a collection of this sort, supported by good external evidence, there would be attributed to the prophet of mecca sayings from the old and new testament, wise saws from classical and arabian antiquity, prescriptions of roman law and many other things, each text of which was as authentic as its fellows. anyone who, warned by goldziher and others, has realized how matters stand in this respect, will be careful not to take the legislative tradition as a direct instrument for the explanation of the qorân. when, after a most careful investigation of thousands of traditions which all appear equally old, we have selected the oldest, then we shall see that we have before us only witnesses of the first century of the hijrah. the connecting threads with the time of mohammed must be supplied for a great part by imagination. the historical or biographical tradition in the proper sense of the word has only lately been submitted to a keener examination. it was known for a long time that here too, besides theological and legendary elements, there were traditions originating from party motive, intended to give an appearance of historical foundation to the particular interests of certain persons or families; but it was thought that after some sifting there yet remained enough to enable us to form a much clearer sketch of mohammed's life than that of any other of the founders of a universal religion. it is especially prince caetani and father lammens who have disturbed this illusion. according to them, even the data which had been pretty generally regarded as objective, rest chiefly upon tendentious fiction. the generations that worked at the biography of the prophet were too far removed from his time to have true data or notions; and, moreover, it was not their aim to know the past as it was, but to construct a picture of it as it ought to have been according to their opinion. upon the bare canvass of verses of the qorân that need explanation, the traditionists have embroidered with great boldness scenes suitable to the desires or ideals of their particular group; or, to use a favourite metaphor of lammens, they fill the empty spaces by a process of stereotyping which permits the critical observer to recognize the origin of each picture. in the sîrah (biography), the distance of the first describers from their object is the same as in the hadîth (legislative tradition); in both we get images of very distant things, perceived by means of fancy rather than by sight and taking different shapes according to the inclinations of each circle of describers. now, it may be true that the latest judges have here and there examined the mohammedan traditions too sceptically and too suspiciously; nevertheless, it remains certain that in the light of their research, the method of examination cannot remain unchanged. we must endeavour to make our explanations of the qorân independent of tradition, and in respect to portions where this is impossible, we must be suspicious of explanations, however apparently plausible. during the last few years the accessible sources of information have considerably increased, the study of them has become much deeper and more methodical, and the result is that we can tell much less about the teaching and the life of mohammed than could our predecessors half a century ago. this apparent loss is of course in reality nothing but gain. those who do not take part in new discoveries, nevertheless, wish to know now and then the results of the observations made with constantly improved instruments. let me endeavour, very briefly, to satisfy this curiosity. that the report of the bookkeeping might make a somewhat different impression if another accountant had examined it, goes without saying, and sometimes i shall draw particular attention to my personal responsibility in this respect. of mohammed's life before his appearance as the messenger of god, we know extremely little; compared to the legendary biography as treasured by the faithful, practically nothing. not to mention his pre-existence as a light, which was with god, and for the sake of which god created the world, the light, which as the principle of revelation, lived in all prophets from adam onwards, and the final revelation of which in mohammed was prophesied in the scriptures of the jews and the christians; not to mention the wonderful and mysterious signs which announced the birth of the seal of the prophets, and many other features which the later sîrahs (biographies) and maulids (pious histories of his birth, most in rhymed prose or in poetic metre) produce in imitation of the gospels; even the elaborate discourses of the older biographies on occurrences, which in themselves might quite well come within the limits of sub-lunary possibility, do not belong to history. fiction plays such a great part in these stories, that we are never sure of being on historical ground unless the qorân gives us a firm footing. the question, whether the family to which mohammed belonged, was regarded as noble amongst the qoraishites, the ruling tribe in mecca, is answered in the affirmative by many; but by others this answer is questioned not without good grounds. the matter is not of prime importance, as there is no doubt that mohammed grew up as a poor orphan and belonged to the needy and the neglected. even a long time after his first appearance the unbelievers reproached him, according to the qorân, with his insignificant worldly position, which fitted ill with a heavenly message; the same scornful reproach according to the qorân was hurled at mohammed's predecessors by sceptics of earlier generations; and it is well known that the stories of older times in the qorân are principally reflections of what mohammed himself experienced. the legends of mohammed's relations to various members of his family are too closely connected with the pretensions of their descendants to have any value for biographic purposes. he married late an elderly woman, who, it is said, was able to lighten his material cares; she gave him the only daughter by whom he had descendants; descendants, who, from the arabian point of view, do not count as such, as according to their genealogical theories the line of descent cannot pass through a woman. they have made an exception for the prophet, as male offspring, the only blessing of marriage appreciated by arabs, was withheld from him. in the materialistic commercial town of mecca, where lust of gain and usury reigned supreme, where women, wine, and gambling filled up the leisure time, where might was right, and widows, orphans, and the feeble were treated as superfluous ballast, an unfortunate being like mohammed, if his constitution were sensitive, must have experienced most painful emotions. in the intellectual advantages that the place offered he could find no solace; the highly developed arabian art of words, poetry with its fictitious amourettes, its polished descriptions of portions of arabian nature, its venal vain praise and satire, might serve as dessert to a well-filled dish; they were unable to compensate for the lack of material prosperity. mohammed felt his misery as a pain too great to be endured; in some way or other he must be delivered from it. he desired to be more than the greatest in his surroundings, and he knew that in that which they counted for happiness he could never even equal them. rather than envy them regretfully, he preferred to despise their values of life, but on that very account he had to oppose these values with better ones. it was not unknown in mecca that elsewhere communities existed acquainted with such high ideals of life, spiritual goods accessible to the poor, even to them in particular. apart from commerce, which brought the inhabitants of mecca into contact with abyssinians, syrians, and others, there were far to the south and less far to the north and north-east of mecca, arabian tribes who had embraced the jewish or the christian religion. perhaps this circumstance had helped to make the inhabitants of mecca familiar with the idea of a creator, allah, but this had little significance in their lives, as in the maker of the universe they did not see their lawgiver and judge, but held themselves dependent for their good and evil fortune upon all manner of beings, which they rendered favourable or harmless by animistic practices. thoroughly conservative, they did not take great interest in the conceptions of the "people of the scripture," as they called the jews, christians, and perhaps some other sects arisen from these communities. but mohammed's deeply felt misery awakened his interest in them. whether this had been the case with a few others before him in the milieu of mecca, we need not consider, as it does not help to explain his actions. if wide circles had been anxious to know more about the contents of the "scripture" mohammed would not have felt in the dark in the way that he did. we shall probably never know, by intercourse with whom it really was that mohammed at last gained some knowledge of the contents of the sacred books of judaism and christianity; probably through various people, and over a considerable length of time. it was not lettered men who satisfied his awakened curiosity; otherwise the quite confused ideas, especially in the beginning of the revelation, concerning the mutual relations between jews and christians could not be explained. confusions between miryam, the sister of moses, and mary, the mother of jesus, between saul and gideon, mistakes about the relationship of abraham to isaac, ishmael, and jacob, might be put down to misconceptions of mohammed himself, who could not all at once master the strange material. but his representation of judaism and christianity and a number of other forms of revelation, as almost identical in their contents, differing only in the place where, the time wherein, and the messenger of god by whom they came to man; this idea, which runs like a crimson thread through all the revelations of the first twelve years of mohammed's prophecy, could not have existed if he had had an intimate acquaintance with jewish or christian men of letters. moreover, the many post-biblical features and stories which the qorân contains concerning the past of mankind, indicate a vulgar origin, and especially as regards the christian legends, communications from people who lived outside the communion of the great christian churches; this is sufficiently proved by the docetical representation of the death of jesus and the many stories about his life, taken from apocryphal sources or from popular oral legends. mohammed's unlearned imagination worked all such material together into a religious history of mankind, in which adam's descendants had become divided into innumerable groups of peoples differing in speech and place of abode, whose aim in life at one period or another came to resemble wonderfully that of the inhabitants of west- and central-arabia in the seventh century a.d. hereby they strayed from the true path, in strife with the commands given by allah. the whole of history, therefore, was for him a long series of repetitions of the antithesis between the foolishness of men, as this was now embodied in the social state of mecca, and the wisdom of god, as known to the "people of the scripture." to bring the erring ones back to the true path, it was allah's plan to send them messengers from out of their midst, who delivered his ritual and his moral directions to them in his own words, who demanded the acknowledgment of allah's omnipotence, and if they refused to follow the true guidance, threatened them with allah's temporary or, even more, with his eternal punishment. the antithesis is always the same, from adam to jesus, and the enumeration of the scenes is therefore rather monotonous; the only variety is in the detail, borrowed from biblical and apocryphal legends. in all the thousands of years the messengers of allah play the same part as mohammed finally saw himself called upon to play towards his people. mohammed's account of the past contains more elements of jewish than of christian origin, and he ignores the principal dogmas of the christian church. in spite of his supernatural birth, jesus is only a prophet like moses and others; and although his miracles surpass those of other messengers, mohammed at a later period of his life is inclined to place abraham above jesus in certain respects. yet the influence of christianity upon mohammed's vocation was very great; without the christian idea of the final scene of human history, of the resurrection of the dead and the last judgment, mohammed's mission would have no meaning. it is true, monotheism, in the jewish sense, and after the contrast had become clear to mohammed, accompanied by an express rejection of the son of god and of the trinity, has become one of the principal dogmas of islâm. but in mohammed's first preaching, the announcement of the day of judgment is much more prominent than the unity of god; and it was against his revelations concerning doomsday that his opponents directed their satire during the first twelve years. it was not love of their half-dead gods but anger at the wretch who was never tired of telling them, in the name of allah, that all their life was idle and despicable, that in the other world they would be the outcasts, which opened the floodgates of irony and scorn against mohammed. and it was mohammed's anxiety for his own lot and that of those who were dear to him in that future life, that forced him to seek a solution of the question: who shall bring my people out of the darkness of antithesis into the light of obedience to allah? we should, _a posteriori_, be inclined to imagine a simpler answer to the question than that which mohammed found; he might have become a missionary of judaism or of christianity to the meccans. however natural such a conclusion may appear to us, from the premises with which we are acquainted, it did not occur to mohammed. he began--the qorân tells us expressly--by regarding the arabs, or at all events _his_ arabs, as heretofore destitute of divine message[ ]: "to whom we have sent no warner before you." moses and jesus--not to mention any others--had not been sent for the arabs; and as allah would not leave any section of mankind without a revelation, their prophet must still be to come. apparently mohammed regarded the jewish and christian tribes in arabia as exceptions to the rule that an ethnical group (_ummah_) was at the same time a religious unity. he did not imagine that it could be in allah's plan that the arabs were to conform to a revelation given in a foreign language. no; god must speak to them in arabic.[ ] through whose mouth? [footnote : _qorân_, xxxii., ; xxxiv., ; xxxvi., , etc.] [footnote : _ibid_., xii., ; xiii., ; xx., ; xxvi., ; xli., , etc.] a long and severe crisis preceded mohammed's call. he was convinced that, if he were the man, mighty signs from heaven must be revealed to him, for his conception of revelation was mechanical; allah himself, or at least angels, must speak to him. the time of waiting, the process of objectifying the subjective, lived through by the help of an overstrained imagination, all this laid great demands upon the psychical and physical constitution of mohammed. at length he saw and heard that which he thought he ought to hear and see. in feverish dreams he found the form for the revelation, and he did not in the least realize that the contents of his inspiration from heaven were nothing but the result of what he had himself absorbed. he realized it so little, that the identity of what was revealed to him with what he held to be the contents of the scriptures of jews and christians was a miracle to him, the only miracle upon which he relied for the support of his mission. in the course of the twenty-three years of mohammed's work as god's messenger, the over-excited state, or inspiration, or whatever we may call the peculiar spiritual condition in which his revelation was born, gradually gave place to quiet reflection. especially after the hijrah, when the prophet had to provide the state established by him at medina with inspired regulations, the words of god became in almost every respect different from what they had been at first. only the form was retained. in connection with this evolution, some of our biographers of mohammed, even where they do not deny the obvious honesty of his first visions, represent him in the second half of his work, as a sort of actor, who played with that which had been most sacred to him. this accusation is, in my opinion, unjust. mohammed, who twelve years long, in spite of derision and contempt, continued to inveigh in the name of allah against the frivolous conservatism of the heathens in mecca, to preach allah's omnipotence to them, to hold up to them allah's commands and his promises and threats regarding the future life, "without asking any reward" for such exhausting work, is really not another man than the acknowledged "messenger of allah" in medina, who saw his power gradually increase, who was taught by experience the value and the use of the material means of extending it, and who finally, by the force of arms compelled all arabs to "obedience to allah and his messenger." in our own society, real enthusiasm in the propagation of an idea generally considered as absurd, if crowned by success may, in the course of time, end in cold, prosaic calculation without a trace of hypocrisy. nowhere in the life of mohammed can a point of turning be shown; there is a gradual changing of aims and a readjustment of the means of attaining them. from the first the outcast felt himself superior to the well-to-do people who looked down upon him; and with all his power he sought for a position from which he could force them to acknowledge his superiority. this he found in the next and better world, of which the jews and christians knew. after a crisis, which some consider as psychopathologic, he knew himself to be sent by allah to call the materialistic community, which he hated and despised, to the alternative, either in following him to find eternal blessedness, or in denying him to be doomed to eternal fire. powerless against the scepticism of his hearers, after twelve years of preaching followed only by a few dozen, most of them outcasts like himself, he hoped now and then that allah would strike the recalcitrant multitude with an earthly doom, as he knew from revelations had happened before. this hope was also unfulfilled. as other messengers of god had done in similar circumstances, he sought for a more fruitful field than that of his birthplace; he set out on the hijrah, _i.e._, emigration to medina. here circumstances were more favourable to him: in a short time he became the head of a considerable community. allah, who had given him power, soon allowed him to use it for the protection of the interests of the faithful against the unbelievers. once become militant, mohammed turned from the purely defensive to the aggressive attitude, with such success that a great part of the arab tribes were compelled to accept islâm, "obedience to allah and his messenger." the rule formerly insisted upon: "no compulsion in religion," was sacrificed, since experience taught him, that the truth was more easily forced upon men by violence than by threats which would be fulfilled only after the resurrection. naturally, the religious value of the conversions sank in proportion as their number increased. the prophet of world renouncement in mecca wished to win souls for his faith; the prophet-prince in medina needed subjects and fighters for his army. yet he was still the same mohammed. parallel with his altered position towards the heathen arabs went a readjustment of his point of view towards the followers of scripture. mohammed never pretended to preach a new religion; he demanded in the name of allah the same islâm (submission) that moses, jesus, and former prophets had demanded of their nations. in his earlier revelations he always points out the identity of his "qorâns" with the contents of the sacred books of jews and christians, in the sure conviction that these will confirm his assertion if asked. in medina he was disillusioned by finding neither jews nor christians prepared to acknowledge an arabian prophet, not even for the arabs only; so he was led to distinguish between the _true_ contents of the bible and that which had been made of it by the falsification of later jews and christians. he preferred now to connect his own revelations more immediately with those of abraham, no books of whom could be cited against him, and who was acknowledged by jews and christians without being himself either a jew or a christian. this turn, this particular connection of islâm with abraham, made it possible for him, by means of an adaptation of the biblical legends concerning abraham, hagar, and ishmael, to include in his religion a set of religious customs of the meccans, especially the hajj.[ ] thus islâm became more arabian, and at the same time more independent of the other revealed religions, whose degeneracy was demonstrated by their refusal to acknowledge mohammed. [footnote : a complete explanation of the gradual development of the abraham legend in the qorân can be found in my book _het mekkaansche feest_ (the feast of mecca), leiden, .] all this is to be explained without the supposition of conscious trickery or dishonesty on the part of mohammed. there was no other way for the unlettered prophet, whose belief in his mission was unshaken, to overcome the difficulties entailed by his closer acquaintance with the tenets of other religions. how, then, are we to explain the starting-point of it all--mohammed's sense of vocation? was it a disease of the spirit, a kind of madness? at all events, the data are insufficient upon which to form a serious diagnosis. some have called it epilepsy. sprenger, with an exaggerated display of certainty based upon his former medical studies, gave mohammed's disorder the name of hysteria. others try to find a connection between mohammed's extraordinary interest in the fair sex and his prophetic consciousness. but, after all, is it explaining the spiritual life of a man, who was certainly unique, if we put a label upon him, and thus class him with others, who at the most shared with him certain abnormalities? a normal man mohammed certainly was not. but as soon as we try to give a positive name to this negative quality, then we do the same as the heathens of mecca, who were violently awakened by his thundering prophecies: "he is nothing but one possessed, a poet, a soothsayer, a sorcerer," they said. whether we say with the old european biographers "impostor," or with the modern ones put "epileptic," or "hysteric" in its place, makes little difference. the meccans ended by submitting to him, and conquering a world under the banner of his faith. we, with the diffidence which true science implies, feel obliged merely to call him mohammed, and to seek in the qorân, and with great cautiousness in the tradition, a few principal points of his life and work, in order to see how in his mind the intense feeling of discontent during the misery of his youth, together with a great self-reliance, a feeling of spiritual superiority to his surroundings, developed into a call, the form of which was largely decided by jewish and christian influence. while being struck by various weaknesses which disfigured this great personality and which he himself freely confessed, we must admire the perseverance with which he retained his faith in his divine mission, not discouraged by twelve years of humiliation, nor by the repudiation of the "people of scripture," upon whom he had relied as his principal witnesses, nor yet by numbers of temporary rebuffs during his struggle for the dominion of allah and his messenger, which he carried on through the whole of arabia. was mohammed conscious of the universality of his mission? in the beginning he certainly conceived his work as merely the arabian part of a universal task, which, for other parts of the world, was laid upon other messengers. in the medina period he ever more decidedly chose the direction of "forcing to comply." he was content only when the heathens perceived that further resistance to allah's hosts was useless; their understanding of his "clear arabic qorân" was no longer the principal object of his striving. _such_ an islâm could equally well be forced upon _non-arabian_ heathens. and, as regards the "people of scripture," since mohammed's endeavour to be recognized by them had failed, he had taken up his position opposed to them, even above them. with the rise of his power he became hard and cruel to the jews in north-arabia, and from jews and christians alike in arabia he demanded submission to his authority, since it had proved impossible to make them recognize his divine mission. this demand could quite logically be extended to all christians; in the first place to those of the byzantine empire. but did mohammed himself come to these conclusions in the last part of his life? are the words in which allah spoke to him: "we have sent thee to men in general,"[ ] and a few expressions of the same sort, to be taken in that sense, or does "humanity" here, as in many other places in the qorân, mean those with whom mohammed had especially to do? nôldeke is strongly of opinion that the principal lines of the program of conquest carried out after mohammed's death, had been drawn by the prophet himself. lammens and others deny with equal vigour, that mohammed ever looked upon the whole world as the field of his mission. this shows that the solution is not evident.[ ] [footnote : _qorân_, xxxiv., . the translation of this verse has always been a subject of great difference of opinion. at the time of its revelation--as fixed by mohammedan as well as by western authorities--the universal conception of mohammed's mission was quite out of question.] [footnote : professor t.w. arnold in the d edition (london, ) of his valuable work _the preaching of islâm_ (especially pp. - ), warmly endeavours to prove that mohammed from the beginning considered his mission as universal. he weakens his argument more than is necessary by placing the tradition upon an almost equal footing with the qorân as a source, and by ignoring the historical development which is obvious in the qorân itself. in this way he does not perceive the great importance of the history of the abraham legend in mohammed's conception. moreover, the translation of the verses of the qorân on p. sometimes says more than the original. _lil-nâs_ is not "_to mankind_" but "_to men_," in the sense of "_to everybody_." _qorân_, xvi., , does not say: "one day we will raise up a witness out of every nation," but: "on the day (_i.e._, the day of resurrection) when we will raise up, etc.," which would seem to refer to the theme so constantly repeated in the qorân, that each nation will be confronted on the day of judgment with the prophet sent to it. when the qorân is called an "admonition to the world (_'âlamîn_)" and mohammed's mission a "mercy to the world (_'âlamîn_)," then we must remember that 'âlamîn is one of the most misused rhymewords in the qorân (e.g., _qorân_, xv., ); and we should not therefore translate it emphatically as "all created beings," unless the universality of mohammed's mission is firmly established by other proofs. and this is far from being the case.] in our valuation of mohammed's sayings we cannot lay too much stress upon his incapability of looking far ahead. the final aims which mohammed set himself were considered by sane persons as unattainable. his firm belief in the realization of the vague picture of the future which he had conceived, nay, which allah held before him, drove him to the uttermost exertion of his mental power in order to surmount the innumerable unexpected obstacles which he encountered. hence the variability of the practical directions contained in the qorân; they are constantly altered according to circumstances. allah's words during the last part of mohammed's life: "this day have i perfected your religion for you, and have i filled up the measure of my favours towards you, and chosen islâm for you as your religion," have in no way the meaning of the exclamation: "it is finished," of the dying christ. they are only a cry of jubilation over the degradation of the heathen arabs by the triumph of allah's weapons. at mohammed's death everything was still unstable; and the vital questions for islâm were subjects of contention between the leaders even before the prophet had been buried. the expedient of new revelations completing, altering, or abrogating former ones had played an important part in the legislative work of mohammed. now, he had never considered that by his death the spring would be stopped, although completion was wanted in every respect. for, without doubt, mohammed felt his weakness in systematizing and his absence of clearness of vision into the future, and therefore he postponed the promulgation of divine decrees as long as possible, and he solved only such questions of law as frequently recurred, when further hesitation would have been dangerous to his authority and to the peace of the community. at mohammed's death, all arabs were not yet subdued to his authority. the expeditions which he had undertaken or arranged beyond the northern boundaries of arabia, were directed against arabs, although they were likely to rouse conflict with the byzantine and persian empires. it would have been contrary to mohammed's usual methods if this had led him to form a general definition of his attitude towards the world outside arabia. as little as mohammed, when he invoked the meccans in wild poetic inspirations to array themselves behind him to seek the blessedness of future life, had dreamt of the possibility that twenty years later the whole of arabia would acknowledge his authority in this world, as little, nay, much less, could he at the close of his life have had the faintest premonition of the fabulous development which his state would reach half a century later. the subjugation of the mighty persia and of some of the richest provinces of the byzantine empire, only to mention these, was never a part of his program, although legend has it that he sent out written challenges to the six princes of the world best known to him. yet we may say that mohammed's successors in the guidance of his community, by continuing their expansion towards the north, after the suppression of the apostasy that followed his death, remained in mohammed's line of action. there is even more evident continuity in the development of the empire of the omayyads out of the state of mohammed, than in the series of events by which we see the dreaded prince-prophet of medina grew out of the "possessed one" of mecca. but if mohammed had been able to foresee how the unity of arabia, which he nearly accomplished, was to bring into being a formidable international empire, we should expect some indubitable traces of this in the qorân; not a few verses of dubious interpretation, but some certain sign that the revelation, which had repeatedly, and with the greatest emphasis, called itself a "plain arabic qorân" intended for those "to whom no warner had yet been sent," should in future be valid for the 'ajam, the barbarians, as well as for the arabs. even if we ascribe to mohammed something of the universal program, which the later tradition makes him to have drawn up, he certainly could not foresee the success of it. for this, in the first place, the economic and political factors to which some scholars of our day would attribute the entire explanation of the islâm movement, must be taken into consideration. mohammed did to some extent prepare the universality of his religion and make it possible. but that islâm, which came into the world as the arabian form of the one, true religion, has actually become a universal religion, is due to circumstances which had little to do with its origin.[ ] this extension of the domain to be subdued to its spiritual rule entailed upon islâm about three centuries of development and accommodation, of a different sort, to be sure, but not less drastic in character than that of the christian church. [footnote : sir william muir was not wrong when he said: "from first to last the summons was to arabs and to none other... the seed of a universal creed had indeed been sown; but that it ever germinated was due to circumstances rather than design."] ii the religious development of islÂm we can hardly imagine a poorer, more miserable population than that of the south-arabian country hadramaut. all moral and social progress is there impeded by the continuance of the worst elements of jâhiliyyah (arabian paganism), side by side with those of islâm. a secular nobility is formed by groups of people, who grudge each other their very lives and fight each other according to the rules of retaliation unmitigated by any more humane feelings. the religious nobility is represented by descendants of the prophet, arduous patrons of a most narrow-minded orthodoxy and of most bigoted fanaticism. in a well-ordered society, making the most of all the means offered by modern technical science, the dry barren soil might be made to yield sufficient harvests to satisfy the wants of its members; but among these inhabitants, paralysed by anarchy, chronic famine prevails. foreigners wisely avoid this miserable country, and if they did visit it, would not be hospitably received. hunger forces many hadramites to emigrate; throughout the centuries we find them in all the countries of islâm, in the sacred cities of western-arabia, in syria, egypt, india, indonesia, where they often occupy important positions. in the dutch indies, for instance, they live in the most important commercial towns, and though the government has never favoured them, and though they have had to compete with chinese and with europeans, they have succeeded in making their position sufficiently strong. before european influence prevailed, they even founded states in some of the larger islands or they obtained political influence in existing native states. under a strong european government they are among the quietest, most industrious subjects, all earning their own living and saving something for their poor relations at home. they come penniless, and without any of that theoretical knowledge or practical skill which we are apt to consider as indispensable for a man who wishes to try his fortune in a complicated modern colonial world. yet i have known some who in twenty years' time have become commercial potentates, and even millionaires. the strange spectacle of these latent talents and of the suppressed energy of the people of hadramaut that seem to be waiting only for transplantation into a more favourable soil to develop with amazing rapidity, helps us to understand the enormous consequences of the arabian migration in the seventh century. the spiritual goods, with which islâm set out into the world, were far from imposing. it preached a most simple monotheism: allah, the almighty creator and ruler of heaven and earth, entirely self-sufficient, so that it were ridiculous to suppose him to have partners or sons and daughters to support him; who has created the angels that they might form his retinue, and men and genii (jinn) that they might obediently serve him; who decides everything according to his incalculable will and is responsible to nobody, as the universe is his; of whom his creatures, if their minds be not led astray, must therefore stand in respectful fear and awe. he has made his will known to mankind, beginning at adam, but the spreading of mankind over the surface of the earth, its seduction by satan and his emissaries have caused most nations to become totally estranged from him and his service. now and then, when he considered that the time was come, he caused a prophet to arise from among a nation to be his messenger to summon people to conversion, and to tell them what blessedness awaited them as a reward of obedience, what punishments would be inflicted if they did not believe his message. sometimes the disobedient had been struck by earthly judgment (the flood, the drowning of the egyptians, etc.), and the faithful had been rescued in a miraculous way and led to victory; but such things merely served as indications of allah's greatness. one day the whole world will be overthrown and destroyed. then the dead will be awakened and led before allah's tribunal. the faithful will have abodes appointed them in well-watered, shady gardens, with fruit-trees richly laden, with luxurious couches upon which they may lie and enjoy the delicious food, served by the ministrants of paradise. they may also freely indulge in sparkling wine that does not intoxicate, and in intercourse with women, whose youth and virginity do not fade. the unbelievers end their lives in hell-fire; or, rather, there is no end, for the punishment as well as the reward are everlasting. allah gives to each one his due. the actions of his creatures are all accurately written down, and when judgment comes, the book is opened; moreover, every creature carries the list of his own deeds and misdeeds; the debit and credit sides are carefully weighed against each other in the divine scales, and many witnesses are heard before judgment is pronounced. allah, however, is clement and merciful; he gladly forgives those sinners who have believed in him, who have sincerely accepted islâm, that is to say: who have acknowledged his absolute authority and have believed the message of the prophet sent to them. these prophets have the privilege of acting as mediators on behalf of their followers, not in the sense of redeemers, but as advocates who receive gracious hearing. naturally, islâm, submission to the lord of the universe, ought to express itself in deeds. allah desires the homage of formal worship, which must be performed several times a day by every individual, and on special occasions by the assembled faithful, led by one of them. this. service, [s.]alât, acquired its strictly binding rules only after mohammed's time, but already in his lifetime it consisted chiefly of the same elements as now: the recital of sacred texts, especially taken from the revelation, certain postures of the body (standing, inclination, kneeling, prostration) with the face towards mecca. this last particular and the language of the revelation are the arabian elements of the service, which is for the rest an imitation of jewish and christian rituals, so far as mohammed knew them. there was no sacrament, consequently no priest to administer it; islâm has always been the lay religion _par excellence_. teaching and exhortation are the only spiritual help that the pious mohammedan wants, and this simple care of souls is exercised without any ordination or consecration. fasting, for a month if possible, and longer if desired, was also an integral part of religious life and, by showing disregard of earthly joys, a proof of faith in allah's promises for the world to come. almsgiving, recommended above all other virtues, was not only to be practised in obedience to allah's law and in faith in retribution, but it was to testify contempt of all earthly possessions which might impede the striving after eternal happiness. later, mohammed was compelled, by the need of a public fund and the waning zeal of the faithful as their numbers increased, to regulate the practice of this virtue and to exact certain minima as taxes (_zakât_). when mohammed, taking his stand as opposed to judaism and christianity, had accentuated the arabian character of his religion, the meccan rites of pagan origin were incorporated into islâm; but only after the purification required by monotheism. from that time forward the yearly celebration of the hajj was among the ritual duties of the moslim community. in the first years of the strife yet another duty was most emphatically impressed on the faithful; _jihâd, i.e._, readiness to sacrifice life and possessions for the defence of islâm, understood, since the conquest of mecca in , as the extension by force of arms of the authority of the moslim state, first over the whole of arabia, and soon after mohammed's death over the whole world, so far as allah granted his hosts the victory. for the rest, the legislative revelations regulated only such points as had become subjects of argument or contest in mohammed's lifetime, or such as were particularly suggested by that antithesis of paganism and revelation, which had determined mohammed's prophetical career. gambling and wine were forbidden, the latter after some hesitation between the inculcation of temperance and that of abstinence. usury, taken in the sense of requiring any interest at all upon loans, was also forbidden. all tribal feuds with their consequences had henceforward to be considered as non-existent, and retaliation, provided that the offended party would not agree to accept compensation, was put under the control of the head of the community. polygamy and intercourse of master and female slave were restricted; the obligations arising from blood-relationship or ownership were regulated. these points suffice to remind us of the nature of the qorânic regulations. reference to certain subjects in this revealed law while others were ignored, did not depend on their respective importance to the life of the community, but rather on what happened to have been suggested by the events in mohammed's lifetime. for mohammed knew too well how little qualified he was for legislative work to undertake it unless absolutely necessary. this rough sketch of what islâm meant when it set out to conquer the world, is not very likely to create the impression that its incredibly rapid extension was due to its superiority over the forms of civilization which it supplanted. lammens's assertion, that islâm was the jewish religion simplified according to arabic wants and amplified by some christian and arabic traditions, contains a great deal of truth, if only we recognize the central importance for mohammed's vocation and preaching of the christian doctrine of resurrection and judgment. this explains the large number of weak points that the book of mohammed's revelations, written down by his first followers, offered to jewish and christian polemics. it was easy for the theologians of those religions to point out numberless mistakes in the work of the illiterate arabian prophet, especially where he maintained that he was repeating and confirming the contents of their bible. the qorânic revelations about allah's intercourse with men, taken from apocryphal sources, from profane legends like that of alexander the great, sometimes even created by mohammed's own fancy--such as the story of the prophet sâlih, said to have lived in the north of arabia, and that of the prophet hûd, supposed to have lived in the south; all this could not but give them the impression of a clumsy caricature of true tradition. the principal doctrines of synagogue and church had apparently been misunderstood, or they were simply denied as corruptions. the conversion to islâm, within a hundred years, of such nations as the egyptian, the syrian, and the persian, can hardly be attributed to anything but the latent talents, the formerly suppressed energy of the arabian race having found a favourable soil for its development; talents and energy, however, not of a missionary kind. if islâm is said to have been from its beginning down to the present day, a missionary religion,[ ] then "mission" is to be taken here in a quite peculiar sense, and special attention must be given to the preparation of the missionary field by the moslim armies, related by history and considered as most important by the mohammedans themselves. [footnote : with extraordinary talent this thesis has been defended by professor t.w. arnold in the above quoted work, _the preaching of islam_, which fully deserves the attention also of those who do not agree with the writer's argument. among the many objections that may be raised against prof. arnold's conclusion, we point to the undeniable fact, that the moslim scholars of all ages hardly speak of "mission" at all, and always treat the extension of the true faith by holy war as one of the principal duties of the moslim community.] certainly, the nations conquered by the arabs under the first khalîfs were not obliged to choose between living as moslims or dying as unbelievers. the conquerors treated them as mohammed had treated jews and christians in arabia towards the end of his life, and only exacted from them submission to moslim authority. they were allowed to adhere to their religion, provided they helped with their taxes to fill the moslim exchequer. this rule was even extended to such religions as that of the parsîs, although they could not be considered as belonging to the "people of scripture" expressly recognized in the qorân. but the social condition of these subjects was gradually made so oppressive by the mohammedan masters, that rapid conversions in masses were a natural consequence; the more natural because among the conquered nations intellectual culture was restricted to a small circle, so that after the conquest their spiritual leaders lacked freedom of movement. besides, practically very little was required from the new converts, so that it was very tempting to take the step that led to full citizenship. no, those who in a short time subjected millions of non-arabs to the state founded by mohammed, and thus prepared their conversion, were no apostles. they were generals whose strategic talents would have remained hidden but for mohammed, political geniuses, especially from mecca and taif, who, before islâm, would have excelled only in the organization of commercial operations or in establishing harmony between hostile families. now they proved capable of uniting the arabs commanded by allah, a unity still many a time endangered during the first century by the old party spirit; and of devising a division of labour between the rulers and the conquered which made it possible for them to control the function of complicated machines of state without any technical knowledge. moreover, several circumstances favoured their work; both the large realms which extended north of arabia, were in a state of political decline; the christians inhabiting the provinces that were to be conquered first, belonged, for the larger part, to heretical sects and were treated by the orthodox byzantines in such a way that other masters, if tolerant, might be welcome. the arabian armies consisted of hardened bedouins with few wants, whose longing for the treasures of the civilized world made them more ready to endure the pressure of a discipline hitherto unknown to them. the use that the leaders made of the occasion commands our admiration; although their plan was formed in the course and under the influence of generally unforeseen events. circumstances had changed mohammed the prophet into mohammed the conqueror; and the leaders, who continued the conqueror's work, though not driven by fanaticism or religious zeal, still prepared the conversion of millions of men to islâm. it was only natural that the new masters adopted, with certain modifications, the administrative and fiscal systems of the conquered countries. for similar reasons islâm had to complete its spiritual store from the well-ordered wealth of that of its new adherents. recent research shows most clearly, that islâm, in after times so sharply opposed to other religions and so strongly armed against foreign influence, in the first century borrowed freely and simply from the "people of scripture" whatever was not evidently in contradiction to the qorân. this was to be expected; had not mohammed from the very beginning referred to the "people of the book" as "those who know"? when painful experience induced him afterwards to accuse them of corruption of their scriptures, this attitude necessitated a certain criticism but not rejection of their tradition. the ritual, only provisionally regulated and continually liable to change according to prophetic inspiration in mohammed's lifetime, required unalterable rules after his death. recent studies[ ] have shown in an astounding way, that the jewish ritual, together with the religious rites of the christians, strongly influenced the definite shape given to that of islâm, while indirect influence of the parsî religion is at least probable. [footnote : the studies of professors c.h. becker, e. mittwoch, and a.j. wensinck, especially taken in connection with older ones of ignaz goldziher, have thrown much light upon this subject.] so much for the rites of public worship and the ritual purity they require. the method of fasting seems to follow the jewish model, whereas the period of obligatory fasting depends on the christian usage. mohammed's fragmentary and unsystematic accounts of sacred history were freely drawn from jewish and christian sources and covered the whole period from the creation of the world until the first centuries of the christian era. of course, features shocking to the moslim mind were dropped and the whole adapted to the monotonous conception of the qorân. with ever greater boldness the story of mohammed's own life was exalted to the sphere of the supernatural; here the gospel served as example. though mohammed had repeatedly declared himself to be an ordinary man chosen by allah as the organ of his revelation, and whose only miracle was the qorân, posterity ascribed to him a whole series of wonders, evidently invented in emulation of the wonders of christ. the reason for this seems to have been the idea that none of the older prophets, not even jesus, of whom the qorân tells the greatest wonders, could have worked a miracle without mohammed, the seal of the prophets, having rivalled or surpassed him in this respect. only jesus was the messiah; but this title did not exceed in value different titles of other prophets, and mohammed's special epithets were of a higher order. a relative sinlessness mohammed shared with jesus; the acceptance of this doctrine, contradictory to the original spirit of the qorân, had moreover a dogmatic motive: it was considered indispensable to raise the text of the qorân above all suspicion of corruption, which suspicion would not be excluded if the organ of the revelation were fallible. this period of naively adopting institutions, doctrines, and traditions was soon followed by an awakening to the consciousness that islâm could not well absorb any more of such foreign elements without endangering its independent character. then a sorting began; and the assimilation of the vast amount of borrowed matter, that had already become an integral part of islâm, was completed by submitting the whole to a peculiar treatment. it was carefully divested of all marks of origin and labelled _hadîth_,[ ] so that henceforth it was regarded as emanations from the wisdom of the arabian prophet, for which his followers owed no thanks to foreigners. [footnote : _hadîth_, the arabic word for record, story, has assumed the technical meaning of "tradition" concerning the words and deeds of mohammed. it is used as well in the sense of a single record of this sort as in that of the whole body of sacred traditions.] at first, it was only at medina that some pious people occupied themselves with registering, putting in order, and systematizing the spiritual property of islâm; afterwards similar circles were formed in other centres, such as mecca, kufa, basra, misr (cairo), and elsewhere. at the outset the collection of divine sayings, the qorân, was the only guide, the only source of decisive decrees, the only touchstone of what was true or false, allowed or forbidden. reluctantly, but decidedly at last, it was conceded that the foundations laid by mohammed for the life of his community were by no means all to be found in the holy book; rather, that mohammed's revelations without his explanation and practice would have remained an enigma. it was understood now that the rules and laws of islâm were founded on god's word and on the sunnah, _i.e._, the "way" pointed out by the prophet's word and example. thus it had been from the moment that allah had caused his light to shine over arabia, and thus it must remain, if human error was not to corrupt islâm. at the moment when this conservative instinct began to assert itself among the spiritual leaders, so much foreign matter had already been incorporated into islâm, that the theory of the sufficiency of qorân and sunnah could not have been maintained without the labelling operation which we have alluded to. so it was assumed that as surely as mohammed must have surpassed his predecessors in perfection and in wonders, so surely must all the principles and precepts necessary for his community have been formulated by him. thus, by a gigantic web of fiction, he became after his death the organ of opinions, ideas, and interests, whose lawfulness was recognized by every influential section of the faithful. all that could not be identified as part of the prophet's sunnah, received no recognition; on the other hand, all that was accepted had, somehow, to be incorporated into the sunnah. it became a fundamental dogma of islâm, that the sunnah was the indispensable completion of the qorân, and that both together formed the source of mohammedan law and doctrine; so much so that every party assumed the name of "people of the sunnah" to express its pretension to orthodoxy. the _contents_ of the sunnah, however, was the subject of a great deal of controversy; so that it came to be considered necessary to make the prophet pronounce his authoritative judgment on this difference of opinion. he was said to have called it a proof of god's special mercy, that within reasonable limits difference of opinion was allowed in his community. of that privilege mohammedans have always amply availed themselves. when the difference touched on political questions, especially on the succession of the prophet in the government of the community, schism was the inevitable consequence. thus arose the party strifes of the first century, which led to the establishment of the sects of the shî'ites and the khârijites, separate communities, severed from the great whole, that led their own lives, and therefore followed paths different from those of the majority in matters of doctrine and law as well as in politics. the sharpness of the political antithesis served to accentuate the importance of the other differences in such cases and to debar their acceptance as the legal consequence of the difference of opinion that god's mercy allowed. that the political factor was indeed the great motive of separation, is clearly shown in our own day, now that one mohammedan state after the other sees its political independence disappearing and efforts are being made from all sides to re-establish the unity of the mohammedan world by stimulating the feeling of religious brotherhood. among the most cultivated moslims of different countries an earnest endeavour is gaining ground to admit shî'ites, khârijites, and others, formerly abused as heretics, into the great community, now threatened by common foes, and to regard their special tenets in the same way as the differences existing between the four law schools: hanafites, mâlikites, shâfi'ites and hanbalites, which for centuries have been considered equally orthodox. although the differences that divide these schools at first caused great excitement and gave rise to violent discussions, the strong catholic instinct of islâm always knew how to prevent schism. each new generation either found the golden mean between the extremes which had divided the preceding one, or it recognized the right of both opinions. though the dogmatic differences were not necessarily so dangerous to unity as were political ones, yet they were more apt to cause schism than discussions about the law. it was essential to put an end to dissension concerning the theological roots of the whole system of islâm. mohammed had never expressed any truth in dogmatic form; all systematic thinking was foreign to his nature. it was again the non-arabic moslims, especially those of christian origin, who suggested such doctrinal questions. at first they met with a vehement opposition that condemned all dogmatic discussion as a novelty of the devil. in the long run, however, the contest of the conservatives against specially objectionable features of the dogmatists' discussions forced them to borrow arms from the dogmatic arsenal. hence a method with a peculiar terminology came in vogue, to which even the boldest imagination could not ascribe any connection with the sunnah of mohammed. yet some traditions ventured to put prophetic warnings on mohammed's lips against dogmatic innovations that were sure to arise, and to make him pronounce the names of a couple of future sects. but no one dared to make the prophet preach an orthodox system of dogmatics resulting from the controversies of several centuries, all the terms of which were foreign to the arabic speech of mohammed's time. indeed, all the subjects which had given rise to dogmatic controversy in the christian church, except some too specifically christian, were discussed by the _mutakallims_, the dogmatists of islâm. free will or predestination; god omnipotent, or first of all just and holy; god's word created by him, or sharing his eternity; god one in this sense, that his being admitted of no plurality of qualities, or possessed of qualities, which in all eternity are inherent in his being; in the world to come only bliss and doom, or also an intermediate state for the neutral. we might continue the enumeration and always show to the christian church-historian or theologian old acquaintances in moslim garb. that is why maracci and reland could understand jews and christians yielding to the temptation of joining islâm, and that also explains why catholic and protestant dogmatists could accuse each other of crypto-mohammedanism. not until the beginning of the tenth century a.d. did the orthodox mohammedan dogma begin to emerge from the clash of opinions into its definite shape. the mu'tazilites had advocated man's free will; had given prominence to justice and holiness in their conception of god, had denied distinct qualities in god and the eternity of god's word; had accepted a place for the neutral between paradise and hell; and for some time the favour of the powers in authority seemed to assure the victory of their system. al-ash'arî contradicted all these points, and his system has in the end been adopted by the great majority. the mu'tazilite doctrines for a long time still enthralled many minds, but they ended by taking refuge in the political heresy of shî'itism. in the most conservative circles, opponents to all speculation were never wanting; but they were obliged unconsciously to make large concessions to systematic thought; for in the moslim world as elsewhere religious belief without dogma had become as impossible as breathing is without air. thus, in islâm, a whole system, which could not even pretend to draw its authority from the sunnah, had come to be accepted. it was not difficult to justify this deviation from the orthodox abhorrence against novelties. islâm has always looked at the world in a pessimistic way, a view expressed in numberless prophetic sayings. the world is bad and will become worse and worse. religion and morality will have to wage an ever more hopeless war against unbelief, against heresy and ungodly ways of living. while this is surely no reason for entering into any compromise with doctrines which depart but a hair's breadth from qorân and sunnah, it necessitates methods of defence against heresy as unknown in mohammed's time as heresy itself. "necessity knows no law" is a principle fully accepted in islam; and heresy is an enemy of the faith that can only be defeated with dialectic weapons. so the religious truths preached by mohammed have not been altered in any way; but under the stress of necessity they have been clad in modern armour, which has somewhat changed their aspect. moreover, islâm has a theory, which alone is sufficient to justify the whole later development of doctrine as well as of law. this theory, whose importance for the system can hardly be overestimated, and which, nevertheless, has until very recent times constantly been overlooked by western students of islâm, finds its classical expression in the following words, put into the mouth of mohammed: "my community will never agree in an error." in terms more familiar to us, this means that the mohammedan church taken as a whole is infallible; that all the decisions on matters practical or theoretical, on which it is agreed, are binding upon its members. nowhere else is the catholic instinct of islâm more clearly expressed. a faithful mohammedan student, after having struggled through a handbook of law, may be vexed by a doubt as to whether these endless casuistic precepts have been rightly deduced from the qorân and the sacred tradition. his doubt, however, will at once be silenced, if he bears in mind that allah speaks more plainly to him by this infallible agreement (_ijmâ'_) of the community than through qorân and tradition; nay, that the contents of both those sacred sources, without this perfect intermediary, would be to a great extent unintelligible to him. even the differences between the schools of law may be based on this theory of the ijmâ'; for, does not the infallible agreement of the community teach us that a certain diversity of opinion is a merciful gift of god? it was through the agreement that dogmatic speculations as well as minute discussions about points of law became legitimate. the stamp of ijmâ' was essential to every rule of faith and life, to all manners and customs. all sorts of religious ideas and practices, which could not possibly be deduced from mohammed's message, entered the moslim world by the permission of ijmâ'. here we need think only of mysticism and of the cult of saints. some passages of the qorân may perhaps be interpreted in such a way that we hear the subtler strings of religious emotion vibrating in them. the chief impression that mohammed's allah makes before the hijrah is that of awful majesty, at which men tremble from afar; they fear his punishment, dare hardly be sure of his reward, and hope much from his mercy. this impression is a lasting one; but, after the hijrah, allah is also heard quietly reasoning with his obedient servants, giving them advice and commands, which they have to follow in order to frustrate all resistance to his authority and to deserve his satisfaction. he is always the lord, the king of the world, who speaks to his humble servants. but the lamp which allah had caused mohammed to hold up to guide mankind with its light, was raised higher and higher after the prophet's death, in order to shed its light over an ever increasing part of humanity. this was not possible, however, without its reservoir being replenished with all the different kinds of oil that had from time immemorial given light to those different nations. the oil of mysticism came from christian circles, and its neo-platonic origin was quite unmistakable; persia and india also contributed to it. there were those who, by asceticism, by different methods of mortifying the flesh, liberated the spirit that it might rise and become united with the origin of all being; to such an extent, that with some the profession of faith was reduced to the blasphemous exclamation: "i am allah." others tried to become free from the sphere of the material and the temporal by certain methods of thought, combined or not combined with asceticism. here the necessity of guidance was felt, and congregations came into existence, whose purpose it was to permit large groups of people under the leadership of their sheikhs, to participate simultaneously in the mystic union. the influence which spread most widely was that of leaders like ghazâlî, the father of the later mohammedan church, who recommended moral purification of the soul as the only way by which men should come nearer to god. his mysticism wished to avoid the danger of pantheism, to which so many others were led by their contemplations, and which so often engendered disregard of the revealed law, or even of morality. some wanted to pass over the gap between the creator and the created along a bridge of contemplation; and so, driven by the fire of sublime passion, precipitate themselves towards the object of their love, in a kind of rapture, which poets compare with intoxication. the evil world said that the impossibility to accomplish this heavenly union often induced those people to imitate it for the time being with the earthly means of wine and the indulgence in sensual love. characteristic of all these sorts of mysticism is their esoteric pride. all those emotions are meant only for a small number of chosen ones. even ghazâlî's ethical mysticism is not for the multitude. the development of islâm as a whole, from the hijrah on, has always been greater in breadth than in depth; and, consequently, its pedagogics have remained defective. even some of the noblest minds in islâm restrict true religious life to an aristocracy, and accept the ignorance of the multitude as an irremediable evil. throughout the centuries pantheistic and animistic forms of mysticism have found many adherents among the mohammedans; but the infallible agreement has persisted in calling that heresy. ethical mysticism, since ghazâlî, has been fully recognized; and, with law and dogma, it forms the sacred trio of sciences of islâm, to the study of which the arabic humanistic arts serve as preparatory instruments. all other sciences, however useful and necessary, are of this world and have no value for the world to come. the unfaithful appreciate and study them as well as do the mohammedans; but, on mohammedan soil they must be coloured with a mohammedan hue, and their results may never clash with the three religious sciences. physics, astronomy, and philosophy have often found it difficult to observe this restriction, and therefore they used to be at least slightly suspected in pious circles. mysticism did not only owe to ijmâ' its place in the sacred trio, but it succeeded, better than dogmatics, in confirming its right with words of allah and his prophet. in islâm mysticism and allegory are allied in the usual way; for the _illuminati_ the words had quite a different meaning than for common, every-day people. so the qorân was made to speak the language of mysticism; and mystic commentaries of the holy book exist, which, with total disregard for philological and historical objections, explain the verses of the revelation as expressions of the profoundest soul experiences. clear utterances in this spirit were put into the prophet's mouth; and, like the canonists, the leaders on the mystic way to god boasted of a spiritual genealogy which went back to mohammed. thus the prophet is said to have declared void all knowledge and fulfillment of the law which lacks mystic experience. of course only "true" mysticism is justified by ijmâ' and confirmed by the evidence of qorân and sunnah; but, about the bounds between "true" and "false" or heretical mysticism, there exists in a large measure the well-known diversity of opinion allowed by god's grace. the ethical mysticism of al-ghazâlî is generally recognized as orthodox; and the possibility of attaining to a higher spiritual sphere by means of methodic asceticism and contemplation is doubted by few. the following opinion has come to prevail in wide circles: the law offers the bread of life to all the faithful, the dogmatics are the arsenal from which the weapons must be taken to defend the treasures of religion against unbelief and heresy, but mysticism shows the earthly pilgrim the way to heaven. it was a much lower need that assured the cult of saints a place in the doctrine and practice of islâm. as strange as is mohammed's transformation from an ordinary son of man, which he wanted to be, into the incarnation of divine light, as the later biographers represent him, it is still more astounding that the intercession of saints should have become indispensable to the community of mohammed, who, according to tradition, cursed the jews and christians because they worshipped the shrines of their prophets. almost every moslim village has its patron saint; every country has its national saints; every province of human life has its own human rulers, who are intermediate between the creator and common mortals. in no other particular has islâm more fully accommodated itself to the religions it supplanted. the popular practice, which is in many cases hardly to be distinguished from polytheism, was, to a great extent, favoured by the theory of the intercession of the pious dead, of whose friendly assistance people might assure themselves by doing good deeds in their names and to their eternal advantage. the ordinary moslim visitor of the graves of saints does not trouble himself with this ingenious compromise between the severe monotheism of his prophet and the polytheism of his ancestors. he is firmly convinced, that the best way to obtain the satisfaction of his desire after earthly or heavenly goods is to give the saint whose special care these are what he likes best; and he confidently leaves it to the venerated one to settle the matter with allah, who is far too high above the ordinary mortal to allow of direct contact. in support even of this startling deviation from the original, traditions have been devised. moreover, the veneration of human beings was favoured by some forms of mysticism; for, like many saints, many mystics had their eccentricities, and it was much to the advantage of mystic theologians if the vulgar could be persuaded to accept their aberrations from normal rules of life as peculiarities of holy men. but ijmâ' did more even than tradition and mysticism to make the veneration of legions of saints possible in the temples of the very men who were obliged by their ritual law to say to allah several time daily: "thee only do we worship and to thee alone do we cry for help." in the tenth century of our era islâm's process of accommodation was finished in all its essentials. from this time forward, if circumstances were favourable, it could continue the execution of its world conquering plans without being compelled to assimilate any more foreign elements. against each spiritual asset that another universal religion could boast, it could now put forward something of a similar nature, but which still showed characteristics of its own, and the superiority of which it could sustain by arguments perfectly satisfactory to its followers. from that time on, islâm strove to distinguish itself ever more sharply from its most important rivals. there was no absolute stagnation, the evolution was not entirely stopped; but it moved at a much quieter pace, and its direction was governed by internal motives, not by influences from outside. moslim catholicism had attained its full growth. we cannot within the small compass of these lectures consider the excrescences of the normal islâm, the shî'itic ultras, who venerated certain descendants of mohammed as infallible rulers of the world, ishma'ilites, qarmatians, assassins; nor the modern bastards of islâm, such as the sheikhites, the bâbî's, the behâ'îs--who have found some adherents in america--and other sects, which indeed sprang up on moslim soil, but deliberately turned to non-mohammedan sources for their inspirations. we must draw attention, however, to protests raised by certain minorities against some of the ideas and practices which had been definitely adopted by the majority. in the midst of mohammedan catholicism there always lived and moved more or less freely "protestant" elements. the comparison may even be continued, with certain qualifications, and we may speak also of a conservative and of a liberal protestantism in islâm. the conservative protestantism is represented by the hanbalitic school and kindred spirits, who most emphatically preached that the agreement (ijmâ') of every period should be based on that of the "pious ancestors." they therefore tested every dogma and practice by the words and deeds of the prophet, his contemporaries, and the leaders of the community in the first decades after mohammed's death. in their eyes the church of later days had degenerated; and they declined to consider the agreement of its doctors as justifying the penetration into islâm of ideas and usages of foreign origin. the cult of saints was rejected by them as altogether contradictory to the qorân and the genuine tradition. these protestants of islâm may be compared to those of christianity also in this respect, that they accepted the results of the evolution and assimilation of the first three centuries of islâm, but rejected later additions as abuse and corruption. when on the verge of our nineteenth century, they tried, as true moslims, to force by material means their religious conceptions on others, they were combated as heretics by the authorities of catholic islâm. central and western arabia formed the battlefield on which these zealots, called wahhâbites after their leader, were defeated by mohammed ali, the first khedive, and his egyptian army. since they have given up their efforts at violent reconstitution of what they consider to be the original islâm, they are left alone, and their ideas have found adherents far outside arabia, _e.g._, in british india and in northern and central africa. in still quite another way many moslims who found their freedom of thought or action impeded by the prevailing law and doctrine, have returned to the origin of their religion. too much attached to the traditions of their faith, deliberately to disregard these impediments, they tried to find in the qorân and tradition arguments in favour of what was dictated to them by reason; and they found those arguments as easily as former generations had found the bases on which to erect their casuistry, their dogma, and their mysticism. this implied an interpretation of the oldest sources independent from the catholic development of islâm, and in contradiction with the general opinion of the canonists, according to whom, since the fourth or fifth century of the hijrah, no one is qualified for such free research. a certain degree of independence of mind, together with a strong attachment to their spiritual past, has given rise in the moslim world to this sort of liberal protestantism, which in our age has many adherents among the mohammedans who have come in contact with modern civilization. that the partisans of all these different conceptions could remain together as the children of one spiritual family, is largely owing to the elastic character of ijmâ', the importance of which is to some extent acknowledged by catholics and protestants, by moderns and conservatives. it has never been contested that the community, whose agreement was the test of truth, should not consist of the faithful masses, but of the expert elect. in a christian church we should have spoken of the clergy, with a further definition of the organs through which it was to express itself synod, council, or pope. islâm has no clergy, as we have seen; the qualification of a man to have his own opinion depends entirely upon the scope of his knowledge or rather of his erudition. there is no lack of standards, fixed by mohammedan authorities, in which the requirements for a scholar to qualify him for ijmâ' are detailed. the principal criterion is the knowledge of the canon law; quite what we should expect from the history of the evolution of islâm. but, of course, dogmatists and mystics had also their own "agreements" on the questions concerning them, and through the compromise between law, dogma, and mysticism, there could not fail to come into existence a kind of mixed ijmâ'. moreover, the standards and definitions could have only a certain theoretical value, as there never has existed a body that could speak in the name of all. the decisions of ijmâ' were therefore to be ascertained only in a vague and general way. the speakers were individuals whose own authority depended on ijmâ', whereas ijmâ' should have been their collective decision. thus it was possible for innumerable shades of catholicism and protestantism to live under one roof; with a good deal of friction, it is true, but without definite breach or schism, no one sect being able to eject another from the community. moslim political authorities are bound not only to extend the domain of islâm, but also to keep the community in the right path in its life and doctrine. this task they have always conceived in accordance with their political interests; islâm has had its religious persecutions but tolerance was very usual, and even official favouring of heresy not quite exceptional with moslim rulers. regular maintenance of religious discipline existed nowhere. thus in the bond of political obedience elements which might otherwise have been scattered were held together. the political decay of islâm in our a day has done away with what had been left of official power to settle religious differences and any organization of spiritual authority never existed. hence it is only natural that the diversity of opinion allowed by the grace of allah now shows itself on a greater scale than ever before. iii the political development of islÂm in the first period of islâm, the functions of what we call church and what we call state were exercised by the same authority. its political development is therefore of great importance for the understanding of its religious growth. the prophet, when he spoke in the name of god, was the lawgiver of his community, and it was rightly understood by the later faithful that his indispensable explanations of god's word had also legislative power. from the time of the hijrah the nature of the case made him the ruler, the judge, and the military commander of his theocratic state. moreover, allah expressly demanded of the moslims that they should obey "the messenger of god, and those amongst them who have authority."[ ] we see by this expression that mohammed shared his temporal authority with others. his co-rulers were not appointed, their number was nowhere defined, they were not a closed circle; they were the notables of the tribes or other groups who had arrayed themselves under mohammed's authority, and a few who had gained influence by their personality. in their councils mohammed's word had no decisive power, except when he spoke in the name of allah; and we know how careful he was to give oracles only in cases of extreme need. [footnote : qorân, iv., .] in the last years of mohammed's life his authority became extended over a large part of arabia; but he did very little in the way of centralization of government. he sent _'âmils, i.e._, agents, to the conquered tribes or villages, who had to see that, in the first place, the most important regulations of the qorân were followed, and, secondly, that the tax into which the duty of almsgiving had been converted was promptly paid, and that the portion of it intended for the central fund at medina was duly delivered. after the great conquests, the governors of provinces of the moslim empire, who often exercised a despotic power, were called by the same title of _'âmils_. the agents of mohammed, however, did not possess such unlimited authority. it was only gradually that the arabs learned the value of good discipline and submission to a strong guidance, and adopted the forms of orderly government as they found them in the conquered lands. through the death of mohammed everything became uncertain. the combination under one leadership of such a heterogeneous mass as that of his arabs would have been unthinkable a few years before. it became quite natural, though, as soon as the prophet's mouth was recognized as the organ of allah's voice. must this monarchy be continued after allah's mouthpiece had ceased to exist? it was not at all certain. the force of circumstances and the energy of some of mohammed's counsellors soon led to the necessary decisions. a number of the notables of the community succeeded in forcing upon the hesitating or unwilling members the acceptance of the monarchy as a permanent institution. there must be a khalîf, a deputy of the prophet in all his functions (except that of messenger of god), who would be ruler and judge and leader of public worship, but above all _amîr al-mu'minîn_, "commander of the faithful," in the struggle both against the apostate arabs and against the hostile tribes on the northern border. but for the military success of the first khalifs islâm would never have become a universal religion. every exertion was made to keep the troops of the faithful complete. the leaders followed only mohammed's example when they represented fighting for allah's cause as the most enviable occupation. the duty of military service was constantly impressed upon the moslims; the lust of booty and the desire for martyrdom, to which the qorân assigned the highest reward, were excited to the utmost. at a later period, it became necessary in the interests of order to temper the result of this excitement by traditions in which those of the faithful who died in the exercise of a peaceful, honest profession were declared to be witnesses to the faith as well as those who were slain in battle against the enemies of god,--traditions in which the real and greater holy war was described as the struggle against evil passions. the necessity of such a mitigating reaction, the spirit in which the chapters on holy war of mohammedan lawbooks are conceived, and the galvanizing power which down to our own day is contained in a call to arms in the name of allah, all this shows that in the beginning of islâm the love of battle had been instigated at the expense of everything else. the institution of the khalifate had hardly been agreed upon when the question of who should occupy it became the subject of violent dissension. the first four khalîfs, whose reigns occupied the first thirty years after mohammed's death, were qoraishites, tribesmen of the prophet, and moreover men who had been his intimate friends. the sacred tradition relates a saying of mohammed: "the _imâms_ are from qoraish," intended to confine the khalifate to men from that tribe. history, however, shows that this edict was forged to give the stamp of legality to the results of a long political struggle. for at mohammed's death the medinese began fiercely contesting the claims of the qoraishites; and during the reign of alî, the fourth khalîf, the khârijites rebelled, demanding, as democratic rigorists, the free election of khalîfs without restriction to the tribe of qoraish or to any other descent. their standard of requirements contained only religious and moral qualities; and they claimed for the community the continual control of the chosen leader's behaviour and the right of deposing him as soon as they found him failing in the fulfilment of his duties. their anarchistic revolutions, which during more than a century occasionally gave much trouble to the khalifate, caused islâm to accentuate the aristocratic character of its monarchy. they were overcome and reduced to a sect, the survivors of which still exist in south-eastern arabia, in zanzibar, and in northern africa; however, the actual life of these communities resembles that of their spiritual forefathers to a very remote degree. another democratic doctrine, still more radical than that of the khârijites, makes even non-arabs eligible for the khalifate. it must have had a considerable number of adherents, for the tradition which makes the prophet responsible for it is to be found in the canonic collections. later generations, however, rendered it harmless by exegesis; they maintained that in this text "commander" meant only subordinate chiefs, and not "the commander of the faithful." it became a dogma in the orthodox mohammedan world, respected up to the sixteenth century, that only members of the tribe of qoraish could take the place of the messenger of god. the chance of success was greater for the legitimists than for the democratic party. the former wished to make the khalifate the privilege of alî, the cousin and son-in-law of the prophet, and his descendants. at first the community did not take much notice of that "house of mohammed"; and it did not occur to any one to give them a special part in the direction of affairs. alî and fâtima themselves asked to be placed in possession only of certain goods which had belonged to mohammed, but which the first khalîfs would not allow to be regarded as his personal property; they maintained that the prophet had had the disposal of them not as owner, but as head of the state. this narrow greed and absence of political insight seemed to be hereditary in the descendants of ali and fâtima; for there was no lack of superstitious reverence for them in later times, and if one of them had possessed something of the political talent of the best omayyads and abbasids he would certainly have been able to supplant them. after the third khalîf, othmân, had been murdered by his political opponents, ali became his successor; but he was more remote than any of his predecessors from enjoying general sympathy. at that time the shî'ah, the "party" of the house of the prophet, gradually arose, which maintained that ali should have been the first khalîf, and that his descendants should succeed him. the veneration felt for those descendants increased in the same proportion as that for the prophet himself; and moreover, there were at all times malcontents, whose advantage would be in joining any revolution against the existing government. yet the alids never succeeded in accomplishing anything against the dynasties of the omayyads, the abbasids, and the ottomans, except in a few cases of transitory importance only. the fatimite dynasty, of rather doubtful descent, which ruled a part of northern africa and egypt in the tenth century a.d., was completely suppressed after some two and a half centuries. the sherîfs who have ruled morocco for more than years were not chiefs of a party that considered the legality of their leadership a dogma; they owe their local khalifate far more to the out-of-the-way position of their country which prevented abbasids and turks from meddling with their affairs. otherwise, they would have been obliged at any rate to acknowledge the sovereignty of the great lord of constantinople. this was the case with the sherîfs of mecca, who ever since the twelfth century have regarded the sacred territory as their domain. their principality arose out of the general political disturbance and the division of the mohammedan empire into a number of kingdoms, whose mutual strife prevented them from undertaking military operations in the desert. these sherîfs raised no claim to the khalifate; and the shî'itic tendencies they displayed in the middle ages had no political significance, although they had intimate relations with the zaidites of southern arabia. as first egypt and afterwards turkey made their protectorate over the holy cities more effective, the princes of mecca became orthodox. the zaidites, who settled in yemen from the ninth century on, are really shî'ites, although of the most moderate kind. without striving after expansion outside arabia, they firmly refuse to give up their own khalifate and to acknowledge the sovereignty of any non-alid ruler; the efforts of the turks to subdue them or to make a compromise with them have had no lasting results. this is the principal obstacle against their being included in the orthodox community, although their admission is defended, even under present circumstances, by many non-political moslim scholars. the zaidites are the remnant of the original arabian shî'ah, which for centuries has counted adherents in all parts of the moslim world, and some of whose tenets have penetrated mohammedan orthodoxy. the almost general veneration of the sayyids and sherîfs, as the descendants of mohammed are entitled, is due to this influence. the shî'ah outside arabia, whose adherents used to be persecuted by the official authorities, not without good cause, became the receptacle of all the revolutionary and heterodox ideas maintained by the converted peoples. alongside of the _visible_ political history of islâm of the first centuries, these circles built up their evolution of the _unseen_ community, the only true one, guided by the holy family, and the reality was to them a continuous denial of the postulates of religion. their first _imâm_ or successor of the prophet was alî, whose divine right had been unjustly denied by the three usurpers, abu bakr, omar, and othmân, and who had exercised actual authority for a few years in constant strife with khârijites and omayyads. the efforts of his legitimate successors to assert their authority were constantly drowned in blood; until, at last, there were no more candidates for the dangerous office. this prosaic fact was converted by the adherents of the house of mohammed into the romance, that the last _imâm_ of a line of _seven_ according to some, and _twelve_ according to others, had disappeared in a mysterious way, to return at the end of days as mahdî, the guided one, who should restore the political order which had been disturbed ever since mohammed's death. until his reappearance there is nothing left for the community to do but to await his advent, under the guidance of their secular rulers (e.g., the shâhs of persia) and enlightened by their authoritative scholars (_mujtahids_), who explain faith and law to them from the tradition of the sacred family. the great majority of mohammedans, as they do not accept this legitimist theory, are counted by the shî'ah outside arabia as unclean heretics, if not as unbelievers. at the beginning of the fifteenth century this shî'ah found its political centre in persia, and opposed itself fanatically to the sultan of turkey, who at about the same time came to stand at the head of orthodox islâm. all differences of doctrine were now sharpened and embittered by political passion, and the efforts of single enlightened princes or scholars to induce the various peoples to extend to each other, across the political barriers, the hand of brotherhood in the principles of faith, all failed. it is only in the last few years that the general political distress of islâm has inclined the estranged relatives towards reconciliation. besides the veneration of the alids, orthodox islâm has adopted another shîitic element, the expectation of the mahdî, which we have just mentioned. most sunnites expect that at the end of the world there will come from the house of mohammed a successor to him, guided by allah, who will maintain the revealed law as faithfully as the first four khalîfs did according to the idealized history, and who will succeed with god's help in making islâm victorious over the whole world. that the chiliastic kingdom of the mahdî must in the end be destroyed by anti-christ, in order that jesus may be able once more to re-establish the holy order before the resurrection, was a necessary consequence of the amalgamation of the political expectations formed under shî'itic influence, with eschatological conceptions formerly borrowed by islâm from christianity. the orthodox mahdî differs from that of the shî'ah in many ways. he is not an _imâm_ returning after centuries of disappearance, but a descendant of mohammed, coming into the world in the ordinary way to fulfill the ideal of the khalifate. he does not re-establish the legitimate line of successors of the prophet; but he renews the glorious tradition of the khalifate, which after the first thirty years was dragged into the general deterioration, common to all human things. the prophecies concerning his appearance are sometimes of an equally supernatural kind as those of the shîites, so that the period of his coming has passed more and more from the political sphere to which it originally belonged, into that of eschatology. yet, naturally, it is easier for a popular leader to make himself regarded as the orthodox mahdî than to play the part of the returned _imâm_. mohammedan rulers have had more trouble than they cared for with candidates for the dignity of the mahdî; and it is not surprising that in official turkish circles there is a tendency to simplify the messianic expectation by giving the fullest weight to this traditional saying of mohammed "there is no mahdî but jesus," seeing that jesus must come from the clouds, whereas other mahdîs may arise from human society. in the orthodox expectation of the mahdi the moslim theory has most sharply expressed its condemnation of the later political history of islâm. in the course of the first century after the hijrah the qorân scholars (_gârîs_) arose; and these in turn were succeeded by the men of tradition (_ahl al-hadîth_) and by the canonists (_faqîhs_) of later times. these learned men (_ulamâ'_) would not endure any interference with their right to state with authority what islâm demanded of its leaders. they laid claim to an interpretative authority concerning the divine law, which bordered upon supreme legislative power; their agreement (ijmâ') was that of the infallible community. but just as beside this legislative agreement, a dogmatic and a mystic agreement grew up, in the same way there was a separate ijmâ' regarding the political government, upon which the canonists could exercise only an indirect influence. in other words since the accession of the omayyad khalîfs, the actual authority rested in the hands of dynasties, and under the abbasids government assumed even a despotic character. this relation between the governors and governed, originally alien to islâm, was not changed by the transference of the actual power into the hands of _wezîrs_ and officers of the bodyguard; nor yet by the disintegration of the empire into a number of small despotisms, the investiture of which by the khalîf became a mere formality. dynastic and political questions were settled in a comparatively small circle, by court intrigue, stratagems, and force; and the canonists, like the people, were bound to accept the results. politically inclined interpreters of the law might try to justify their compulsory assent to the facts by theories about the ijmâ' of the notables residing in the capital, who took the urgent decisions about the succession, which decisions were subsequently confirmed by general homage to the new prince; but they had no illusions about the real influence of the community upon the choice of its leader. the most independent scholars made no attempt to disguise the fact that the course which political affairs had taken was the clearest proof of the moral degeneration which had set in, and they pronounced an equally bold and merciless criticism upon the government in all its departments. it became a matter of course that a pious scholar must keep himself free from all intercourse with state officials, on pain of losing his reputation. the bridge across the gulf that separated the spiritual from the temporal authorities was formed by those state officials who, for the practice of their office, needed a knowledge of the divine law, especially the _qâdhîs_. it was originally the duty of these judges to decide all legal differences between mohammedans, or men of other creeds under mohammedan protection, who called for their decision. the actual division between the rulers and the interpreters of the law caused an ever-increasing limitation of the authority of the _qâdhîs_. the laws of marriage, family, and inheritance remained, however, their inalienable territory; and a number of other matters, in which too great a religious interest was involved to leave them to the caprice of the governors or to the customary law outside islâm, were usually included. but as the _qâdhîs_ were appointed by the governors, they were obliged in the exercise of their office to give due consideration to the wishes of their constituents; and moreover they were often tainted by what was regarded in mohammedan countries as inseparable from government employment: bribery. on this account, the canonists, although it was from their ranks that the officials of the _qâdhî_ court were to be drawn, considered no words too strong to express their contempt for the office of _qâdhî_. in handbooks of the law of all times, the _qâdhîs "of our time"_ are represented as unscrupulous beings, whose unreliable judgments were chiefly dictated by their greed. such an opinion would not have acquired full force, if it had not been ascribed to mohammed; in fact, the prophet, according to a tradition, had said that out of three _qâdhîs_ two are destined to hell. anecdotes of famous scholars who could not be prevailed upon by imprisonment or castigation to accept the office of _qâdhîs_ are innumerable. those who succumbed to the temptation forfeited the respect of the circle to which they had belonged. i once witnessed a case of this kind, and the former friends of the _qâdhî_ did not spare him their bitter reproaches. he remarked that the judge, whose duty it was to maintain the divine law, verily held a noble office. they refuted this by saying that this defence was admissible only for earlier and better times, but not for "the _qâdhîs_ of our time." to which he cuttingly replied "and ye, are ye canonists of the better, the ancient time?" in truth, the students of sacred science are just as much "of our time" as the _qâdhîs_. even in the eleventh century the great theologian ghazâlî counted them all equal.[ ] not a few of them give their authoritative advice according to the wishes of the highest bidder or of him who has the greatest influence, hustle for income from pious institutions, and vie with each other in a revel of casuistic subtleties. but among those scholars there are and always have been some who, in poverty and simplicity, devote their life to the study of allah's law with the sole object of pleasing him; among the _qâdhîs_ such are not easily to be found. amongst the other state officials the title of _qâdhî_ may count as a spiritual one, and the public may to a certain extent share this reverence; but in the eyes of the pious and of the canonists such glory is only reflected from the clerical robe, in which the worldling disguises himself. [footnote : ghazâlî, _ihya_, book i., ch. , quotes the words of a pious scholar of the olden time: "the 'ulamâ' will (on the day of judgment) be gathered amongst the prophets, but the _qâdhîs_ amongst the temporal rulers." ghazâli adds "alike with these _qâdhîs_ are all those canonists who make use of their learning for worldly purposes."] to the _muftî_ criticism is somewhat more favourable than to the _qâdhî_. a muftî is not necessarily an official; every canonist who, at the request of a layman, expounds to him the meaning of the law on any particular point and gives a _fatwa_, acts as a _muftî_. be the question in reference to the behaviour of the individual towards god or towards man, with regard to his position in a matter of litigation, in criticism of a state regulation or of a sentence of a judge, or out of pure love of knowledge, the scholar is morally obliged to the best of his knowledge to enlighten the enquirer. he ought to do this for the love of god; but he must live, and the enquirer is expected to give him a suitable present for his trouble. this again gives rise to the danger that he who offers most is attended to first; and that for the liberal rich man a dish is prepared from the casuistic store, as far as possible according to his taste. the temptation is by no means so great as that to which the _qâdhî_ is exposed; especially since the office of judge has become an article of commerce, so that the very first step towards the possession of it is in the direction of hell. moreover in "these degenerate times"--which have existed for about ten centuries--the acceptance of an appointment to the function of _qâdhî_ is not regarded as a duty, while a competent scholar may only refuse to give a _fatwa_ under exceptional circumstances. still, an unusually strong character is needed by the _muftî_, if he is not to fall into the snares of the world. besides _qâdhîs_ who settle legal disputes of a certain kind according to the revealed law, the state requires its own advisers who can explain that law, i.e., official _muftîs_. firstly, the government itself may be involved in a litigation; moreover in some government regulations it may be necessary to avoid giving offence to canonists and their strict disciples. in such cases it is better to be armed beforehand with an expert opinion than to be exposed to dangerous criticism which might find an echo in a wide circle. the official _muftî_ must therefore be somewhat pliable, to say the least. moreover, any private person has the right to put questions to the state _muftî_; and the _qâdhî_ court is bound to take his answers into account in its decisions. in this way the _muftîs_ have absorbed a part of the duties of the _qâdhîs_, and so their office is dragged along in the degradation that the unofficial canonists denounce unweariedly in their writings and in their teaching. the way in which the most important _muftî_ places are filled and above all the position which the head-_muftî_ of the turkish empire, the sheikh-ul-islâm, holds at any particular period, may well serve as a touchstone of the influence of the canonists on public life. if this is great, then even the most powerful sultan has only the possibility of choice between a few great scholars, put forward or at all events not disapproved of by their own guild, strengthened by public opinion. if, on the other hand, there is no keen interest felt in the sharî'ah (divine law), then the temporal rulers can do pretty much what they like with these representatives of the canon law. under the tyrannical sway of sultan abd-ul-hamid, the sheikh-ul-islâm was little more than a tool for him and his palace clique, and for their own reasons, the members of the committee of union and progress, who rule at constantinople since , made no change in this: each new ministry had its own sheikh-ul-islâm, who had to be, above everything, a faithful upholder of the constitutional theory held by the committee. the time is past when the sultan and the porte, in framing even the most pressing reform, must first anxiously assure themselves of the position that the _hojas, tolbas, softas_, the theologians in a word, would take towards it, and of the influence that the sheikh-ul-islâm could use in opposition to their plans. the political authority makes its deference to the canonists dependent upon their strict obedience. this important change is a natural consequence of the modernization of mohammedan political life, a movement through which the expounders of a law which has endeavoured to remain stationary since the year must necessarily get into straits. this explains also why the religious life of mohammedans is in some respects freer in countries under non-mohammedan authority, than under a mohammedan government. under english, dutch, or french rule the 'ulamâs are less interfered with in their teaching, the _muftîs_ in their recommendations, and the _qâdhîs_ in their judgments of questions of marriage and inheritance than in turkey, where the life of islâm, as state religion, lies under official control. in indirectly governed "native states" the relation of mohammedan "church and state" may much more resemble that in turkey, and this is sometimes to the advantage of the sovereign ruler. under the direct government of a modern state, the mohammedan group is treated as a religious community, whose particular life has just the same claim to independence as that of other denominations. the only justifiable limitation is that the program of the forcible reduction of the world to mohammedan authority be kept within the scholastic walls as a point of eschatology, and not considered as a body of prescriptions, the execution of which must be prepared. the extensive political program of islâm, developed during the first centuries of astounding expansion, has yet not prevented millions of mohammedans from resigning themselves to reversed conditions in which at the present time many more mohammedans live under foreign authority than under their own. the acceptance of this change was facilitated by the historical pessimism of islâm, which makes the mind prepared for every sort of decay, and by the true moslim habit of resignation to painful experiences, not through fatalism, but through reverence for allah's inscrutable will. at the same time, it would be a gross mistake to imagine that the idea of universal conquest may be considered as obliterated. this is the case with the intellectuals and with many practical commercial or industrial men; but the canonists and the vulgar still live in the illusion of the days of islâm's greatness. the legists continue to ground their appreciation of every actual political condition on the law of the holy war, which war ought never to be allowed to cease entirely until all mankind is reduced to the authority of islâm--the heathen by conversion, the adherents of acknowledged scripture by submission. even if they admit the improbability of this at present, they are comforted and encouraged by the recollection of the lengthy period of humiliation that the prophet himself had to suffer before allah bestowed victory upon his arms; and they fervently join with the friday preacher, when he pronounces the prayer, taken from the qorân: "and lay not on us, o our lord, that for which we have not strength, but blot out our sins and forgive us and have pity upon us. thou art our master; grant us then to conquer the unbelievers!" and the common people are willingly taught by the canonists and feed their hope of better days upon the innumerable legends of the olden time and the equally innumerable apocalyptic prophecies about the future. the political blows that fall upon islâm make less impression upon their simple minds than the senseless stories about the power of the sultan of stambul, that would instantly be revealed if he were not surrounded by treacherous servants, and the fantastic tidings of the miracles that allah works in the holy cities of arabia which are inaccessible to the unfaithful. the conception of the khalifate still exercises a fascinating influence, regarded in the light of a central point of union against the unfaithful. apart from the _'âmils_, mohammed's agents amongst the arabian tribes, the khalifate was the only political institution which arose out of the necessity of the moslim community, without foreign influence. it rescued islâm from threatening destruction, and it led the faithful to conquest. no wonder that in historic legend the first four occupiers of that leadership, who, from medina, accomplished such great things, have been glorified into saints, and are held up to all the following generations as examples to put them to shame. in the omayyads the ancient aristocracy of mecca came to the helm, and under them, the mohammedan state was above all, as wellhausen styled it, "the arabian empire." the best khalîfs of this house had the political wisdom to give the governors of the provinces sufficient independence to prevent schism, and to secure to themselves the authority in important matters. the reaction of the non-arabian converts against the suppression of their own culture by the arabian conquerors found support in the opposition parties, above all with the shî'ah. the abbasids, cleverer politicians than the notoriously unskillful alids, made use of the alid propaganda to secure the booty to themselves at the right moment. the means which served the alids for the establishment only of an invisible dynasty of princes who died as martyrs, enabled the descendants of mohammed's uncle abbas to overthrow the omayyads, and to found their own khalifate at bagdad, shining with the brilliance of an eastern despotism. when it is said that the abbasid khalifate maintained itself from till the mongol storm in the middle of the thirteenth century, that only refers to external appearance. after a brief success, the actual power of these khalîfs was transferred to the hands, first, of the captains of their bodyguard, then of sultan-dynasties, whose forcibly acquired powers, were legalized by a formal investiture. in the same way the large provinces developed into independent kingdoms, whose rulers considered the nomination-diplomas from bagdad in the light of mere ornaments. compared to this irreparable disintegration of the empire, temporary schisms such as the omayyad khalifate in spain, the fatimid khalifate in egypt, and here and there an independent organization of the khârijites were of little significance. it seems strange that the moslim peoples, although the theory of islâm never attributed an hereditary character to the khalifate, attached so high a value to the abbasid name, that they continued unanimously to acknowledge the khalifate of bagdad for centuries during which it possessed no influence. but the idea of hereditary rulers was deeply rooted in most of the peoples converted to islâm, and the glorious period of the first abbasids so strongly impressed itself on the mind of the vulgar, that the _appearance_ of continuation was easily taken for _reality_. its voidness would sooner have been realized, if lack of energy had not prevented the later abbasids from trying to recover the lost power by the sword, or if amongst their rivals who could also boast of a popular tradition--e.g., the omayyads, or still more the alids--a political genius had succeeded in forming a powerful opposition. but the sultans who ruled the various states did not want to place all that they possessed in the balance on the chance of gaining the title of khalîf. the moslim world became accustomed to the idea that the honoured house of the prophet's uncle abbas existed for the purpose of lending an additional glory to mohammedan princes by a diploma. even after the destruction of bagdad by the mongols in , from which only a few abbasids escaped alive, indian princes continued to value visits or deeds of appointment granted them by some begging descendant of the "glorious house." the sultans of egypt secured this luxury permanently for themselves by taking a branch of the family under their protection, who gave the glamour of their approval to every new result of the never-ending quarrels of succession, until in the beginning of the sixteenth century egypt, together with so many other lands, was swallowed up by the turkish conqueror. these new rulers, who added the byzantine empire to islâm, who with egypt brought southern and western arabia with the holy cities also under their authority, and caused all the neighbouring princes, moslim and christian alike, to tremble on their thrones, thought it was time to abolish the senseless survival of the abbasid glory. the prestige of the ottomans was as great as that of the khalifate in its most palmy days had been; and they would not be withheld from the assumption of the title. there is a doubtful tale of the abdication of the abbasids in their favour, but the question is of no importance. the ottomans owed their khalifate to their sword; and this was the only argument used by such canonists as thought it worth their while to bring such an incontestable fact into reconciliation with the law. this was not strictly necessary, as they had been accustomed for eight centuries to acquiesce in all sorts of unlawful acts which history demonstrated to be the will of allah. the sense of the tradition that established descent from the tribe of qoraish as necessary for the highest dignity in the community was capable of being weakened by explanation; and, even without that, the leadership of the irresistible ottomans was of more value to islâm than the chimerical authority of a powerless qoraishite. in our own time, you can hear qoraishites, and even alids, warmly defend the claims of the turkish sultans to the khalifate, as they regard these as the only moslim princes capable of championing the threatened rights of islâm. even the sultans of stambul could not think of restoring the authority of the khalîf over the whole mohammedan world. this was prevented not only by the schismatic kingdoms, khalifates, or imâmates like shî'itic persia, which was consolidated just in the sixteenth century, by the unceasing opposition of the imâms of yemen, and khârijite principalities at the extremities of the mohammedan world. besides these, there were numerous princes in central asia, in india, and in central africa, whom either the khalifate had always been obliged to leave to themselves, or who had become so estranged from it that, unless they felt the power of the turkish arms, they preferred to remain as they were. moreover, islâm had extended itself not only by political means, but also by trade and colonization into countries even the existence of which was hardly known in the political centres of islâm, e.g., into central africa or the far east of asia. without thinking of rivalling the abbasids or their successors, some of the princes of such remote kingdoms, e.g., the sherîfs of morocco, assumed the title of commander of the faithful, bestowed upon them by their flatterers. today, there are petty princes in east india under dutch sovereignty who decorate themselves with the title of khalîf, without suspecting that they are thereby guilty of a sort of arrogant blasphemy. such exaggeration is not supported by the canonists; but these have devised a theory, which gives a foundation to the authority of mohammedan princes, who never had a real or fictitious connection with a real or fictitious khalifate. authority there must be, everywhere and under all circumstances; far from the centre this should be exercised, according to them, by the one who has been able to gain it and who knows how to hold it; and all the duties are laid upon him, which, in a normal condition, would be discharged by the khalîf or his representative. for this kind of authority the legists have even invented a special name: "_shaukah,_" which means actual influence, the authority which has spontaneously arisen in default of a chief who in one form or another can be considered as a mandatary of the khalifate. now, it is significant that many of those mohammedan governors, who owe their existence to wild growth in this way, seek, especially in our day, for connection with the khalifate, or, at least, wish to be regarded as naturally connected with the centre. the same is true of such whose former independence or adhesion to the turkish empire has been replaced by the sovereignty of a western state. even amongst the moslim peoples placed under the direct government of european states a tendency prevails to be considered in some way or another subjects of the sultan-khalîf. some scholars explain this phenomenon by the spiritual character which the dignity of khalîf is supposed to have acquired under the later abbasids, and retained since that time, until the ottoman princes combined it again with the temporal dignity of sultan. according to this view the later abbasids were a sort of popes of islâm; while the temporal authority, in the central districts as well as in the subordinate kingdoms, was in the hands of various sultans. the sultans of constantinople govern, then, under this name, as much territory as the political vicissitudes allow them to govern--_i.e._, the turkish empire; as khalîfs, they are the spiritual heads of the whole of sunnite islâm. though this view, through the ignorance of european statesmen and diplomatists, may have found acceptance even by some of the great powers, it is nevertheless entirely untrue; unless by "spiritual authority" we are to understand the empty appearance of worldly authority. this appearance was all that the later abbasids retained after the loss of their temporal power; spiritual authority of any kind they never possessed. the spiritual authority in catholic islâm reposes in the legists, who in this respect are called in a tradition the _"heirs of the prophets."_ since they could no longer regard the khalîfs as their leaders, because they walked in worldly ways, they have constituted themselves independently beside and even above them; and the rulers have been obliged to conclude a silent contract with them, each party binding itself to remain within its own limits.[ ] if this contract be observed, the legists not only are ready to acknowledge the bad rulers of the world, but even to preach loyalty towards them to the laity. the most supremely popular part of the ideal of islâm, the reduction of the whole world to moslim authority, can only be attempted by a political power. notwithstanding the destructive criticism of all moslim princes and state officials by the canonists, it was only from them that they could expect measures to uphold and extend the power of islâm; and on this account they continually cherished the ideal of the khalifate. [footnote : that the khalifate is in no way to be compared with the papacy, that islâm has never regarded the khalif as its spiritual head, i have repeatedly explained since (in "nieuwe bijdragen tot de kennis van den islam," in _bijdr. tot de taal, landen volkenkunde van nederl. indië_, volgr. , deel vi, in an article, "de islam," in _de gids_, may, , in _questions diplomatiques et coloniales_, me année, no. , etc.). i am pleased to find the same views expressed by prof. m. hartmann in _die welt des islams_, bd. i., pp. - .] in the first centuries it was the duty of mohammedans who had become isolated, and who had for instance been conquered by "unbelievers," to do _"hijrah," i.e._, emigration for allah's sake, as the converted arabs had done in mohammed's time by emigrating to medina to strengthen the ranks of the faithful. this soon became impracticable, so that the legists relaxed the prescription by concessions to "the force of necessity." resignation was thus permitted, even recommended; but the submission to non-musulmans was always to be regarded as temporary and abnormal. although the _partes infidelium_ have grown larger and larger, the eye must be kept fixed upon the centre, the khalifate, where every movement towards improvement must begin. a western state that admits any authority of a khalîf over its mohammedan subjects, thus acknowledges, _not_ the authority of a pope of the moslim church, but in simple ignorance is feeding political programs, which, however vain, always have the power of stirring mohammedan masses to confusion and excitement. of late years mohammedan statesmen in their intercourse with their western colleagues are glad to take the latter's point of view; and, in discussion, accept the comparison of the khalifate with the papacy, because they are aware that only in this form the khalifate can be made acceptable to powers who have mohammedan subjects. but for these subjects the khalif is then their true prince, who is temporarily hindered in the exercise of his government, but whose right is acknowledged even by their unbelieving masters. in yet another respect the canonists need the aid of the temporal rulers. an alert police is counted by them amongst the indispensable means of securing purity of doctrine and life. they count it to the credit of princes and governors that they enforced by violent measures seclusion and veiling of the women, abstinence from drinking, and that they punished by flogging the negligent with regard to fasting or attending public worship. the political decay of islâm, the increasing number of mohammedans under foreign rule, appears to them, therefore, doubly dangerous, as they have little faith in the proof of islam's spiritual goods against life in a freedom which to them means license. they find that every political change, in these terrible times, is to the prejudice of islâm, one moslim people after another losing its independent existence; and they regard it as equally dangerous that moslim princes are induced to accommodate their policy and government to new international ideas of individual freedom, which threaten the very life of islâm. they see the antagonism to all foreign ideas, formerly considered as a virtue by every true moslim, daily losing ground, and they are filled with consternation by observing in their own ranks the contamination of modernist ideas. the brilliant development of the system of islâm followed the establishment of its material power; so the rapid decline of that political power which we are witnessing makes the question urgent, whether islâm has a spiritual essence able to survive the fall of such a material support. it is certainly not the canonists who will detect the kernel; "verily we are god's and verily to him do we return," they cry in helpless amazement, and their consolation is in the old prayer: "and lay not on us, o our lord, that for which we have no strength, but blot out our sins and forgive us and have mercy upon us. thou art our master; grant us then to conquer the unbelievers!" iv islÂm and modern thought one of the most powerful factors of religious life in its higher forms is the need of man to find in this world of changing things an imperishable essence, to separate the eternal from the temporal and then to attach himself to the former. where the possibility of this operation is despaired of, there may arise a pessimism, which finds no path of liberation from the painful vicissitudes of life other than the annihilation of individuality. a firm belief in a sphere of life freed from the category of time, together with the conviction that the poetic images of that superior world current among mankind are images and nothing else, is likely to give rise to definitions of the absolute by purely negative attributes and to mental efforts having for their object the absorption of individual existence in the indescribable infinite. generally speaking, a high development of intellectual life, especially an intimate acquaintance with different religious systems, is not favourable to the continuance of elaborate conceptions of things eternal; it will rather increase the tendency to deprive the idea of the transcendent of all colour and definiteness. the naïve ideas concerning the other world in the clear-cut form outlined for them by previous generations are most likely to remain unchanged in a religious community where intellectual intercourse is chiefly limited to that between members of the community. there the belief is fostered that things most appreciated and cherished in this fading world by mankind will have an enduring existence in a world to come, and that the best of the changing phenomena of life are eternal and will continue free from that change, which is the principal cause of human misery. material death will be followed by awakening to a purer life, the idealized continuation of life on earth, and for this reason already during this life the faithful will find their delight in those things which they know to be everlasting. the less faith is submitted to the control of intellect, the more numerous the objects will be to which durable value is attributed. this is true for different individuals as well as for one religious community as compared to another. there are christians attached only to the spirit of the gospel, mohammedans attached only to the spirit of the qorân. others give a place in their world of imperishable things to a particular translation of the bible in its old-fashioned orthography or to a written qorân in preference to a printed one. orthodox judaism and orthodox islâm have marked with the stamp of eternity codes of law, whose influence has worked as an impediment to the life of the adherents of those religions and to the free intercourse of other people with them as well. so the roman catholic and many protestant churches have in their organizations and in their dogmatic systems eternalized institutions and ideas whose unchangeableness has come to retard spiritual progress. among all conservative factors of human life religion must necessarily be the most conservative, were it only because its aim is precisely to store up and keep under its guardianship the treasures destined for eternity to which we have alluded. now, every new period in the history of civilization obliges a religious community to undertake a general revision of the contents of its treasury. it is unavoidable that the guardians on such occasions should be in a certain measure disappointed, for they find that some of, the goods under their care have given way to the wasting influence of time, whilst others are in a state which gives rise to serious doubt as to their right of being classified with lasting treasures. in reality the loss is only an apparent one; far from impoverishing the community, it enhances the solidity of its possessions. what remains after the sifting process may be less imposing to the inexperienced mind; gradually the consideration gains ground that what has been rejected was nothing but useless rubbish which had been wrongly valued. sometimes it may happen that the general movement of spiritual progress goes almost too fast, so that one revision of the stores of religion is immediately followed by another. then dissension is likely to arise among the adherents of a religion; some of them come to the conclusion that there must be an end of sifting and think it better to lock up the treasuries once for all and to stop the dangerous enquiries; whereas others begin to entertain doubt concerning the value even of such goods as do not yet show any trace of decay. the treasuries of islâm are excessively full of rubbish that has become entirely useless; and for nine or ten centuries they have not been submitted to a revision deserving that name. if we wish to understand the whole or any important part of the system of islâm, we must always begin by transporting ourselves into the third or fourth century of the hijrah, and we must constantly bear in mind that from the medina period downwards islâm has always been considered by its adherents as bound to regulate all the details of their life by means of prescriptions emanating directly or indirectly from god, and therefore incapable of being reformed. at the time when these prescriptions acquired their definite form, islâm ruled an important portion of the world; it considered the conquest of the rest as being only a question of time; and, therefore, felt itself quite independent in the development of its law. there was little reason indeed for the moslim canonists to take into serious account the interests of men not subject to mohammedan authority or to care for the opinion of devotees of other religions. islâm might act, and did almost act, as if it were the only power in the world; it did so in the way of a grand seigneur, showing a great amount of generosity towards its subjugated enemies. the adherents of other religions were or would become subjects of the commander of the faithful; those subjects were given a full claim on mohammedan protection and justice; while the independent unbelievers were in general to be treated as enemies until in submission. their spiritual life deserved not even so much attention as that of islâm received from abbé maracci or doctor prideaux. the false doctrines of other peoples were of no interest whatever in themselves; and, since there was no fear of mohammedans being tainted by them, polemics against the abrogated religions were more of a pastime than an indispensable part of theology. the mohammedan community being in a sense allah's army, with the conquest of the world as its object, apostasy deserved the punishment of death in no lesser degree than desertion in the holy war, nay more so; for the latter might be the effect of cowardice, whereas the former was an act of inexcusable treachery. in the attitude of islâm towards other religions there is hardly one feature that has not its counterpart in the practice of christian states during the middle ages. the great difference is that the mohammedan community erected this medieval custom into a system unalterable like all prescriptions based on its infallible "agreement" (ijmâ'). here lay the great difficulty when the nineteenth and twentieth centuries placed the moslim world face to face with a civilization that had sprung up outside its borders and without its collaboration, that was from a spiritual point of view by far its superior and at the same time possessed of sufficient material power to thrust the mohammedans aside wherever they seemed to be an impediment in its way. a long series of the most painful experiences, meaning as many encroachments upon the political independence of mohammedan territories, ended by teaching islâm that it had definitely to change its lines of conduct. the times were gone when relations with the non-musulman world quite different from those foreseen by the mediaeval theory might be considered as exceptions to the rule, as temporary concessions to transitory necessities. in ever wider circles a thorough revision of the system came to be considered as a requirement of the time. the fact that the number of mohammedans subject to foreign rule increased enormously, and by far surpassed those of the citizens of independent mohammedan states, made the problem almost as interesting to western nations as to the mohammedans themselves. both parties are almost equally concerned in the question, whether a way will be found to associate the moslim world to modern civilization, without obliging it to empty its spiritual treasury altogether. nobody can in earnest advocate the idea of leaving the solution of the problem to rude force. the moslim of yore, going through the world with the qorân in one hand, the sword in the other, giving unbelievers the choice between conversion or death, is a creation of legendary fancy. we can but hope that modern civilization will not be so fanatical against moslims, as the latter were unjustly said to have been during the period of their power. if the modern world were only to offer the mohammedans the choice between giving up at once the traditions of their ancestors or being treated as barbarians, there would be sure to ensue a struggle as bloody as has ever been witnessed in the world. it is worth while indeed to examine the system of islâm from this special point of view, and to try to find the terms on which a durable _modus vivendi_ might be established between islâm and modern thought. the purely dogmatic part is not of great importance. some of us may admire the tenets of the mohammedan doctrine, others may as heartily despise them; to the participation of mohammedans in the civilized life of our days they are as innoxious as any other mediaeval dogmatic system that counts its millions of adherents among ourselves. the details of mohammedan dogmatics have long ceased to interest other circles than those of professional theologians; the chief points arouse no discussion and the deviations in popular superstition as well as in philosophical thought which in practice meet with toleration are almost unlimited. the mohammedan hell claims the souls of all heterodox people, it is true; but this does not prevent benevolent intercourse in this world, and more enlightened moslims are inclined to enlarge their definition of the word "faithful" so as to include their non-mohammedan friends. the faith in a mahdî, who will come to regenerate the world, is apt to give rise to revolutionary movements led by skilful demagogues pretending to act as the "guided one," or, at least, to prepare the way for his coming. most of the european powers having mohammedan subjects have had their disagreeable experiences in this respect. but moslim chiefs of states have their obvious good reasons for not liking such movements either; and even the majority of ordinary moslims look upon candidates for mahdi-ship with suspicion. a contented prosperous population offers such candidates little chance of success. the ritual laws of islâm are a heavy burden to those who strictly observe them; a man who has to perform worship five times a day in a state of ritual purity and during a whole month in a year has to abstain from food and drink and other enjoyments from daybreak until sunset, is at a disadvantage when he has to enter into competition with non-musulmans for getting work of any kind. but since most of the moslims have become subjects of foreign powers and religious police has been practically abolished in mohammedan states, there is no external compulsion. the ever smaller minority of strict practisers make use of a right which nobody can contest. drinking wine or other intoxicating drinks, taking interest on money, gambling--including even insurance contracts according to the stricter interpretation--are things which a moslim may abstain from without hindering non-mohammedans; or which in our days he may do, notwithstanding the prohibition of divine law, even without losing his good name. those who want to accentuate the antithesis between islâm and modern civilization point rightly to the personal law; here is indeed a great stumbling-block. the allowance of polygamy up to a maximum of four wives is represented by mohammedan authors as a progress if compared with the irregularity of pagan arabia and even with the acknowledgment of unlimited polygamy during certain periods of biblical history. the following subtle argument is to be found in some schoolbooks on mohammedan law: the law of moses was exceedingly benevolent to males by permitting them to have an unlimited number of wives; then came the law of jesus, extreme on the other side by prescribing monogamy; at last mohammed restored the equilibrium by conceding one wife to each of the four humours which make up the male's constitution. this theory, which leaves the question what the woman is to do with three of her four humours undecided, will hardly find fervent advocates among the present canonists. at the same time, very few of them would venture to pronounce their preference for monogamy in a general way, polygamy forming a part of the law that is to prevail, according to the infallible agreement of the community, until the day of resurrection. on the other side polygamy, although _allowed_, is far from being _recommended_ by the majority of theologians. many of them even dissuade men capable of mastering their passion from marriage in general, and censure a man who takes two wives if he can live honestly with one. in some mohammedan countries social circumstances enforce practical monogamy. the whole question lies in the education of women; when this has been raised to a higher level, polygamy will necessarily come to an end. it is therefore most satisfactory that among male mohammedans the persuasion of the necessity of a solid education for girls is daily gaining ground. this year ( ), a young egyptian took his doctor's degree at the paris university by sustaining a dissertation on the position of women in the moslim world, in which he told his co-religionists the full truth concerning this rather delicate subject[ ]. if social evolution takes the right course, the practice of polygamy will be abolished; and the maintenance of its lawfulness in canonical works will mainly be a survival of a bygone phase of development. [footnote : mansour fahmy, _la condition de la femme dans la tradition et l'évolution de l'islamisme_, paris, félix alcan, . the sometimes imprudent form in which the young reformer enounced his ideas caused him to be very badly treated by his compatriots at his return from europe.] the facility with which a man can divorce his wife at his pleasure, contrasted with her rights against him, is a still more serious impediment to the development of family life than the institution of polygamy; more serious, also, than veiling and seclusion of women. where the general opinion is favourable to the improvement of the position of women in society, there is always found a way to secure it to them without conflicting with the divine law; but a radical reform will remain most difficult so long as that law which allows the man to repudiate his wife without any reason, whereas it delivers the woman almost unarmed into the power of her husband, is considered to be one of the permanent treasures of islâm. it is a pity indeed that thus far women vigorously striving for liberation from those mediaeval institutions are rare exceptions in mohammedan countries. were mohammedan women capable of the violent tactics of suffragettes, they would rather try to blow up the houses of feminists than those of the patrons of the old régime. the ordinary mohammedan woman looks upon the endeavour of her husband to induce her to partake freely in public life as a want of consideration; it makes on her about the same impression as that which a respectable woman in our society would receive from her husband encouraging her to visit places generally frequented by people of bad reputation. it is the girls' school that will awaken those sleeping ones and so, slowly and gradually, prepare a better future, when the moslim woman will be the worthy companion of her husband and the intelligent educator of her children. this will be due, then, neither to the prophet's sunnah nor to the infallible agreement of the community of the first centuries of islâm, but to the irresistible power of the evolution of human society, which is merciless to laws even of divine origin and transfers them, when their time is come, from the treasury of everlasting goods to a museum of antiquities. slavery, and in its consequence free intercourse of a man with his own female slaves without any limitation as to their number, has also been incorporated into the sacred law, and therefore has been placed on the wrong side of the border that is to divide eternal things from temporal ones. this should not be called a mediaeval institution; the most civilized nations not having given it up before the middle of the nineteenth century. the law of islâm regulated the position of slaves with much equity, and there is a great body of testimony from people who have spent a part of their lives among mohammedan nations which does justice to the benevolent treatment which bondmen generally receive from their masters there. besides that, we are bound to state that in many western countries or countries under western domination whole groups of the population live under circumstances with which those of mohammedan slavery may be compared to advantage. the only legal cause of slavery in islâm is prisonership of war or birth from slave parents. the captivity of enemies of islâm has not at all necessarily the effect of enslaving them; for the competent authorities may dispose of them in any other way, also in the way prescribed by modern international law or custom. in proportion to the realization of the political ideal of islâm the number of its enemies must diminish and the possibilities of enslaving men must consequently decrease. setting slaves free is one of the most meritorious pious works, and, at the same time, the regular atonement for certain transgressions of the sacred law. so, according to mohammedan principles, slavery is an institution destined to disappear. when, in the last century, mohammedan princes signed international treaties for the suppression of slavery, from their point of view this was a premature anticipation of a future political and social development--a step which they felt obliged to take out of consideration for the great powers. in arabia, every effort of the turkish government to put such international agreements into execution has thus far given rise to popular sedition against the ottoman authority. therefore, the promulgation of decrees of abolition was stopped; and slavery continued to exist. the import of slaves from africa has, in fact, considerably diminished; but i am not quite sure of the proportional increase of the liberty which the natives of that continent enjoy at home. slavery as well as polygamy is in a certain sense to mohammedans a sacred institution, being incorporated in their holy law; but the practice of neither of the two institutions is indispensable to the integrity of islâm. all those antiquated institutions, if considered from the point of view of modern international intercourse, are only a trifle in comparison with the legal prescriptions of islâm concerning the attitude of the mohammedan community against the parts of the world not yet subject to its authority, "the abode of war" as they are technically called. it is a principal duty of the khalif, or of the chiefs considered as his substitutes in different countries, to avail themselves of every opportunity to extend by force the dominion of allah and his messenger. with unsubdued unbelievers _peace_ is not _allowed_; a _truce_ for a period not exceeding ten years may be concluded if the interest of islâm requires it. the chapters of the mohammedan law on holy war and on the conditions on which the submission of the adherents of tolerated religions is to be accepted seem to be a foolish pretension if we consider them by the light of the actual division of political power in the world. but here, too, to understand is better than to ridicule. in the centuries in which the system of islâm acquired its maturity, such an aspiration after universal dominion was not at all ridiculous; and many christian states of the time were far from reaching the mohammedan standard of tolerance against heterodox creeds. the delicate point is this, that the petrification or at least the process of stiffening that has attacked the whole spiritual life of islâm since about a.d. makes its accommodation to the requirements of modern intercourse a most difficult problem. but it is not only the mohammedan community that needed misfortune and humiliation before it was able to appreciate liberty of conscience; or that took a long time to digest those painful lessons of history. there are still christian churches which accept religious liberty only in circumstances that make supreme authority unattainable to them; and which, elsewhere, would not disdain the use of material means to subdue spirits to what they consider the absolute truth. to judge such things with equity, we must remember that every man possessed of a firm conviction of any kind is more or less a missionary; and the belief in the possibility of winning souls by violence has many adherents everywhere. one of my friends among the young-turkish state officials, who wished to persuade me of the perfect religious tolerance of turkey of today, concluded his argument by the following reflection: "formerly men used to behead each other for difference of opinion about the hereafter. nowadays, praise be to allah, we are permitted to believe what we like; but people continue to kill each other for political or social dissension. that is most pitiful indeed; for the weapons in use being more terrible and more costly than before, mankind lacks the peace necessary to enjoy the liberty of conscience it has acquired." the truthful irony of these words need not prevent us from considering the independence of spiritual life and the liberation of its development from material compulsion as one of the greatest blessings of our civilization. we feel urged by missionary zeal of the better kind to make the mohammedan world partake in its enjoyment. in the turkish empire, in egypt, in many mohammedan countries under western control, the progressive elements of moslim society spontaneously meet us half-way. but behind them are the millions who firmly adhere to the old superstition and are supported by the canonists, those faithful guardians of what the infallible community declared almost one thousand years ago to be the doctrine and rule of life for all centuries to come. will it ever prove possible to move in one direction a body composed of such different elements, or will this body be torn in pieces when the movement has become irresistible? we have more than once pointed to the catholic character of orthodox islâm. in fact, the diversity of spiritual tendencies is not less in the moslim world than within the sphere of christian influence; but in islâm, apart from the political schisms of the first centuries, that diversity has not given rise to anything like the division of christianity into sects. there is a prophetic saying, related by tradition, which later generations have generally misunderstood to mean that the mohammedan community would be split into seventy-three different sects. moslim heresiologists have been induced by this prediction to fill up their lists of seventy-three numbers with all sorts of names, many of which represent nothing but individual opinions of more or less famous scholars on subordinate points of doctrine or law. almost ninety-five per cent. of all mohammedans are indeed bound together by a spiritual unity that may be compared with that of the roman catholic church, within whose walls there is also room for religious and intellectual life of very different origin and tendency. in the sense of broadness, islâm has this advantage, that there is no generally recognized palpable authority able to stop now and then the progress of modernism or similar deviations from the trodden path with an imperative "halt!" there is no lack indeed of mutual accusation of heresy; but this remains without serious consequences because of the absence of a high ecclesiastical council competent to decide once for all. the political authorities, who might be induced by fanatical theologians to settle disputes by violent inquisitorial means, have been prevented for a long time from such interference by more pressing affairs. a knowledge alone of the orthodox system of islâm, however complete, would give us an even more inadequate idea of the actual world of catholic islâm than the notion we should acquire of the spiritual currents moving the roman catholic world by merely studying the dogma and the canonical law of the church of rome. nevertheless, the unity of islamic thought is by no means a word void of sense. the ideas of mohammedan philosophers, borrowed for a great part from neoplatonism, the pantheism and the emanation theory of mohammedan mystics are certainly still further distant from the simplicity of qorânic religion than the orthodox dogmatics; but all those conceptions alike show indubitable marks of having grown up on mohammedan soil. in the works even of those mystics who efface the limits between things human and divine, who put judaism, christianity, and paganism on the same line with the revelation of mohammed, and who are therefore duly anathematized by the whole orthodox world, almost every page testifies to the relation of the ideas enounced with mohammedan civilization. most of the treatises on science, arts, or law written by egyptian students for their doctor's degree at european universities make no exception to this rule; the manner in which these authors conceive the problems and strive for their solution is, in a certain sense, in the broadest sense of course, mohammedan. thus, if we speak of mohammedan thought, civilization, spirit, we have to bear in mind the great importance of the system which, almost unchanged, has been delivered for about one thousand years by one generation of doctors of islâm to the other, although it has become ever more unfit to meet the needs of the community, on whose infallible agreement it rests. but, at the same time, we ought to consider that beside the agreement of canonists, of dogmatists, and of mystics, there are a dozen more agreements, social, political, popular, philosophical, and so on, and that however great may be the influence of the doctors, who pretend to monopolize infallibility for the opinions on which they agree, the real agreement of islâm is the least common measure of all the agreements of the groups which make up the community. it would require a large volume to review the principal currents of thought pervading the moslim world in our day; but a general notion may be acquired by a rapid glance at two centres, geographically not far distant from each other, but situated at the opposite poles of spiritual life: mecca and cairo. in mecca yearly two or three hundred thousand moslims from all parts of the world come together to celebrate the hajj, that curious set of ceremonies of pagan arabian origin which mohammed has incorporated into his religion, a durable survival that in islâm makes an impression as singular as that of jumping processions in christianity. mohammed never could have foreseen that the consequence of his concession to deeply rooted arabic custom would be that in future centuries chinese, malays, indians, tatars, turks, egyptians, berbers, and negroes would meet on this barren desert soil and carry home profound impressions of the international significance of islâm. still more important is the fact that from all those countries young people settle here for years to devote themselves to the study of the sacred science. from the second to the tenth month of the mohammedan lunar year, the haram, _i.e._, the mosque, which is an open place with the ka'bah in its midst and surrounded by large roofed galleries, has free room enough between the hours of public service to allow of a dozen or more circles of students sitting down around their professors to listen to as many lectures on different subjects, generally delivered in a very loud voice. arabic grammar and style, prosody, logic, and other preparatory branches, the sacred trivium; canonic law, dogmatics, and mysticism, and, for the more advanced, exegesis of qorân and tradition and some other branches of supererogation, are taught here in the mediaeval way from mediaeval text-books or from more modern compilations reproducing their contents and completing them more or less by treating modern questions according to the same methods. it is now almost thirty years since i lived the life of a meccan student during one university year, after having become familiar with the matter taught by the professors of the temple of mecca, the haram, by privately studying it, so that i could freely use all my time in observing the mentality of people learning those things not for curiosity, but in order to acquire the only true direction for their life in this world and the salvation of their souls in the world to come. for a modern man there could hardly be a better opportunity imagined for getting a true vision of the middle ages than is offered to the orientalist by a few months' stay in the holy city of islâm. in countries like china, tibet, or india there are spheres of spiritual life which present to us still more interesting material for comparative study of religions than that of mecca, because they are so much more distant from our own; but, just on that account, the western student would not be able to adapt his mind to their mental atmospheres as he may do in mecca. no one would think for one moment of considering confucianism, hinduism, or buddhism as specially akin to christianity, whereas islâm has been treated by some historians of the christian church as belonging to the heretical offspring of the christian religion. in fact, if we are able to abstract ourselves for a moment from all dogmatic prejudice and to become a meccan with the meccans, one of the "neighbours of allah," as they call themselves, we feel in their temple, the haram, as if we were conversing with our ancestors of five or six centuries ago. here scholasticism with a rabbinical tint forms the great attraction to the minds of thousands of intellectually highly gifted men of all ages. the most important lectures are delivered during the forenoon and in the evening. a walk, at one of those hours, through the square and under the colonnades of the mosque, with ears opened to all sides, will enable you to get a general idea of the objects of mental exercise of this international assembly. here you may find a sheikh of pure arab descent explaining to his audience, composed of white syrians or circassians, of brown and yellow abyssinians and egyptians, of negroes, chinese, and malays, the probable and improbable legal consequences of marriage contracts, not excepting those between men and genii; there a negro scholar is explaining the ontological evidence of the existence of a creator and the logical necessity of his having twenty qualities, inseparable from, but not identical with, his essence; in the midst of another circle a learned _muftî_ of indeterminably mixed extraction demonstrates to his pupils from the standard work of al-ghazâlí the absolute vanity of law and doctrine to those whose hearts are not purified from every attachment to the world. most of the branches of mohammedan learning are represented within the walls of this temple by more or less famous scholars; and still there are a great number of private lectures delivered at home by professors who do not like to be disturbed by the unavoidable noise in the mosque, which during the whole day serves as a meeting place for friends or business men, as an exercise hall for qorân reciters, and even as a passage for people going from one part of the town to the other. in order to complete your mediaeval dream with a scene from daily life, you have only to leave the mosque by the bâb dereybah, one of its twenty-two gates, where you may see human merchandise exhibited for sale by the slave-brokers, and then to have a glance, outside the wall, at a camel caravan, bringing firewood and vegetables into the town, led by beduins whose outward appearance has as little changed as their minds since the day when mohammed began here to preach the word of allah. to the greater part of the world represented by this international exhibition of islâm, as a modern musulman writer calls it, our modern world, with all its problems, its emotions, its learning and science, hardly exists. on the other hand, the average modern man does not understand much more of the mental life of the two hundred millions to whom the barren mecca has become the great centre. in former days, other centres were much more important, although mecca has always been the goal of pilgrimage and the cherished abode of many learned men. many capitals of islâm offered the students an easier life and better accommodations for their studies; while in mecca four months of the year are devoted to the foreign guests of allah, by attending to whose various needs all meccans gain their livelihood. for centuries cairo has stood unrivalled as a seat of mohammedan learning of every kind; and even now the uaram of mecca is not to be compared to the azhar-mosque as regards the number and the fame of its professors and the variety of branches cultivated. in the last half-century, however, the ancient repute of the egyptian metropolis has suffered a good deal from the enormous increase of european influence in the land of the pharaohs; the effects of which have made themselves felt even in the azhar. modern programs and methods of instruction have been adopted; and, what is still worse, modernism itself, favoured by the late muftî muhammed abduh, has made its entrance into the sacred lecture-halls, which until a few years ago seemed inaccessible to the slightest deviation from the decrees of the infallible agreement of the community. strenuous efforts have been made by eminent scholars to liberate islâm from the chains of the authority of the past ages on the basis of independent interpretation of the qorân; not in the way of the wahhâbî reformers, who tried a century before to restore the institutions of mohammed's time in their original purity, but on the contrary with the object of adapting islâm by all means in their power to the requirements of modern life. official protection of the bold innovators prevented their conservative opponents from casting them out of the azhar, but the assent to their doctrines was more enthusiastic outside its walls than inside. the ever more numerous adherents of modern thought in egypt do not generally proceed from the ranks of the azhar students, nor do they generally care very much in their later life for reforming the methods prevailing there, although they may be inclined to applaud the efforts of the modernists. to the intellectuals of the higher classes the azhar has ceased to offer great attraction; if it were not for the important funds (_wagf_) for the benefit of professors and students, the numbers of both classes would have diminished much more than is already the case, and the faithful cultivators of mediaeval mohammedan science would prefer to live in mecca, free from western influence and control. even as it is, the predilection of foreign students of law and theology is turning more and more towards mecca. as one of the numerous interesting specimens of the mental development effected in egypt in the last years, i may mention a book that appeared in cairo two years ago[ ], containing a description of the present khedive's pilgrimage to mecca and medina, performed two years before. the author evidently possesses a good deal of the scholastic learning to be gathered in the azhar and no european erudition in the stricter sense of the word. in an introductory chapter he gives a summary of the geography and history of the arabian peninsula, describes the hijâz in a more detailed manner, and in his very elaborate account of the journey, on which he accompanied his princely master, the topography of the holy cities, the peculiarities of their inhabitants and of the foreign visitors, the political institutions, and the social conditions are treated almost as fully and accurately as we could desire from the hand of the most accomplished european scholar. the work is illustrated by good maps and plans and by a great number of excellent photographs expressly taken for this purpose by the khedive's order. the author intersperses his account with many witty remarks as well as serious reflections on religious and political topics, thus making it very readable to those of us who are familiar with the arabic language. he adorns his description of the holy places and of the pilgrimage-rites with the unctuous phrases used in handbooks for the hajji, and he does not disturb the mind of the pious reader by any historical criticism of the traditions connected with the house of allah, the black stone, and the other sanctuaries, but he loses no opportunity to show his dislike of all superstition; sometimes, as if to prevent western readers from indulging in mockery, he compares meccan rites or customs with superstitious practices current amongst jews or christians of today. [footnote : _ar-rihlah al-hijaziyyah_, by muhammed labib al-batanunf, d edition, cairo, hijrah.] this book, at whose contents many a meccan scholar of the old style will shake his head and exclaim: "we seek refuge near allah from satan, the cursed!" has been adopted by the egyptian department of public instruction as a reading-book for the schools. what surprised me more than anything else was the author's quoting as his predecessors in the description of mecca and medina, burckhardt, burton, and myself, and his sending me, although personally unacquainted with him, a presentation copy with a flattering dedication. this author and his book would have been impossible in the moslim world not more than thirty years ago. in egypt such a man is nowadays already considered as one of those more conservative moderns, who prefer the rationalistic explanation of the azhar lore to putting it aside altogether. within the azhar, his book is sure to meet with hearty approval from the followers of muhammed abduh, but not less hearty disapproval from the opponents of modernism who make up the majority of the professors as well as of the students. in these very last years a new progress of modern thought has manifested itself in cairo in the foundation, under the auspices of fu'âd pasha, an uncle of the present khedive, of the egyptian university. cairo has had for a long time its schools of medicine and law, which could be turned easily into university faculties; therefore, the founders of the university thought it urgent to establish a faculty of arts, and, if this proved a success, to add a faculty of science. in the meantime, gifted young men were granted subsidies to learn at european universities what they needed to know to be the professors of a coming generation, and, for the present, christian as well as mohammedan natives of egypt and european scholars living in the country were appointed as lecturers; professors being borrowed from the universities of europe to deliver lectures in arabic on different subjects chosen more or less at random before an audience little prepared to digest the lessons offered to them. the rather hasty start and the lack of a well-defined scheme have made the egyptian university a subject of severe criticism. nevertheless, its foundation is an unmistakable expression of the desire of intellectual egypt to translate modern thought into its own language, to adapt modern higher instruction to its own needs. this same aim is pursued in a perhaps more efficacious manner by the hundreds of egyptian students of law, science, and medicine at french, english, and some other european universities. the turks could not freely follow such examples before the revolution of ; but they have shown since that time that their abstention was not voluntary. england, france, holland, and other countries governing mohammedan populations are all endeavouring to find the right way to incorporate their mohammedan subjects into their own civilization. fully recognizing that it was the material covetousness of past generations that submitted those nations to their rule, the so-called colonial powers consider it their duty now to secure for them in international intercourse the place which their natural talent enables them to occupy. the question whether it is better simply to leave the moslims to islâm as it was for centuries is no longer an object of serious discussion, the reforming process being at work everywhere--in some parts with surprising rapidity. we can only try to prognosticate the solution which the near future reserves for the problem, how the moslim world is to be associated with modern thought. in this problem the whole civilized world and the whole world of islâm are concerned. the ethnic difference between indians, north-africans, malays, etc., may necessitate a difference of method in detail; the islâm problem lies at the basis of the question for all of them. on the other hand, the future development of islâm does not only interest countries with mohammedan dominions, it claims as well the attention of all the nations partaking in the international exchange of material and spiritual goods. this would be more generally recognized if some knowledge of islâm were more widely spread amongst ourselves; if it were better realized that islâm is next akin to christianity. it is the christian mission that shows the deepest consciousness of this state of things, and the greatest activity in promoting an association of mohammedan thought with that of western nations. the solid mass of experience due to the efforts of numerous missionaries is not of an encouraging nature. there is no reasonable hope of the conversion of important numbers of mohammedans to any christian denomination. broad-minded missionary societies have therefore given up the old fruitless proselytizing methods and have turned to social improvement in the way of education, medical treatment, and the like. it cannot be denied, that what they want above all to bring to mohammedans is just what these most energetically decline to accept. on the other hand the advocates of a purely civilizing mission are bound to acknowledge that, but for rare exceptions, the desire of incorporating mohammedan nations into our world of thought does not rouse the devoted, self-denying enthusiasm inspired by the vocation of propagating a religious belief. the ardour displayed by some missionaries in establishing in the dâr al-islâm christian centres from which they distribute to the mohammedans those elements of our civilization which are acceptable to them deserves cordial praise; the more so because they themselves entertain but little hope of attaining their ultimate aim of conversion. mohammedans who take any interest in christianity are taught by their own teachers that the revelation of jesus, after having suffered serious corruption by the christians themselves, has been purified and restored to its original simplicity by mohammed, and are therefore inaccessible to missionary arguments; nay, amongst uncivilized pagans the lay mission of islâm is the most formidable competitor of clerical propagation of the christian faith. people who take no active part in missionary work are not competent to dissuade christian missionaries from continuing their seemingly hopeless labour among mohammedans, nor to prescribe to them the methods they are to adopt; their full autonomy is to be respected. but all agree that mohammedans, disinclined as they are to reject their own traditions of thirteen centuries and to adopt a new religious faith, become ever better disposed to associate their intellectual, social, and political life with that of the modern world. here lies the starting point for two divisions of mankind which for centuries have lived their own lives separately in mutual misunderstanding, from which to pursue their way arm in arm to the greater advantage of both. we must leave it to the mohammedans themselves to reconcile the new ideas which they want with the old ones with which they cannot dispense; but we can help them in adapting their educational system to modern requirements and give them a good example by rejecting the detestable identification of power and right in politics which lies at the basis of their own canonical law on holy war as well as at the basis of the political practice of modern western states. this is a work in which we all may collaborate, whatever our own religious conviction may be. the principal condition for a fruitful friendly intercourse of this kind is that we make the moslim world an object of continual serious investigation in our intellectual centres. having spent a good deal of my life in seeking for the right method of associating with modern thought the thirty-five millions of mohammedans whom history has placed under the guardianship of my own country, i could not help drawing some practical conclusions from the lessons of history which i have tried to reduce to their most abridged form. there is no lack of pessimists, whose wisdom has found its poetic form in the words of kipling: east is east and west is west, and never the twain shall meet. to me, with regard to the moslim world, these words seem almost a blasphemy. the experience acquired by adapting myself to the peculiarities of mohammedans, and by daily conversation with them for about twenty years, has impressed me with the firm conviction that between islâm and the modern world an understanding _is_ to be attained, and that no period has offered a better chance of furthering it than the time in which we are living. to kipling's poetical despair i think we have a right to prefer the words of a broad-minded modern hindu writer: "the pity is that men, led astray by adventitious differences, miss the essential resemblances[ ]." [footnote : s.m. mitra, _anglo-indian studies_, london, longmans, green & co., , p. .] it would be a great satisfaction to me if my lectures might cause some of my hearers to consider the problem of islâm as one of the most important of our time, and its solution worthy of their interest and of a claim on their exertion. index a abbas (mohammed's uncle) abbasids government khalifate abd-ul-hamid, sultan abduh, muftî muhammed abraham abu bakr abyssinians africa africans agreement of the community, _see_ 'ijmâ' ahl al-hadîth (men of tradition) 'ajam al-ash'arî alexander the great alî, the fourth khalîf ali, mohammed, the first khedive alids 'âmils (agents) anti-christ arabia arabian, view in regard to the line of descent through a woman tribes prophet heathens migration race armies shi'ah conquerors origin of hajj peninsula arabic, traditions speech arts custom grammar language arabs the nations conquered by the of christian origin arnold, professor t.w. asia assassins augustin azhar-mosque b bâb dereybah bâbîs bagdad barbarians basra beduins behâ'îs bellarminius berber bible _see_ scriptures bibliander black stone boulainvilliers, count de breitinger buddhism burckhardt burton byzantine empire byzantines c caetani, prince cairo casanova, professor of paris caussin de perceval china chinese christian religion influence rituals traditions model of obligatory fasting princes states natives of egypt missions demonstrations centres in dar al-islam faith and missionaries christian church roman catholic protestant christianity christians religious rites of circassians coderc commander of the faithful committee of union and progress confucianism constantinople crypto-mohammedanism d dar al-islâm day of judgment doomsday dutch, indies e egypt egyptian, nation students department of public instruction university egyptians england english university f faqihs (canonists) faithful fâtima fâtimite, dynasty khalifate fatwa french university fu'âd pasha g ghazalí gideon goldziher gospels _see_ scriptures h hadith (legislative tradition) hadramaut hadramites hagar hajj (pilgrimage) hanafites hanbalites haram (mosque) hell hijâz hijrah, hinduism holy cities _see_ mecca and medina holy family (ali and fatimah) hottinger hûd, the prophet i 'ijmâ' (agreement of the community) imâms of yemen india indians, indonesia isaac ishmael ishma'ilites islâm j jacob jâhiliyyah (arabian paganism) jesus christ as mehdi jewish, religion influence rituals model of fasting jews jihâd judaism k ka'bah khalîf, the first khalifate khalîfs, the first four khârijites, khedive kipling kufa l lammens, father m mahdî malays mâlikites maracci, abbé mary (mother of jesus) maulid mecca meccans medina medinese messiah middle ages misr, _see_ cairo mohammedan, religion masters state orthodox dogma authorities law books countries political life church princes world governors subjects masses statesmen protection community territories dogmatics hell authors law women nations slavery principles standard of tolerance philosophers mystics thought lunar year learning science populations dominions mohammedans natives of egypt mongols morocco moses moslim princes people authority church canonists world chiefs of states woman society heresiologists muftî muir mujtahids mutakallim mu'tazilites n neo-platonic origin of mysticism neo-platonism nöldeke non-alids non-arabian converts non-arabic moslims o omar omayyads othmân authority ottoman princes ottomans p paganism papacy paradise parsîs persia persian empire porte, the prideaux, dr. protestantism q qâdhîs qârîs (qoran scholars) qarmatians qoraish qorân scolars reciters qorânic, revelations religion r reland, h. resurrection roman catholics s salât sale sâlih, the prophet sasanids saul sayyids scriptures people of the shâfi'ites shâhs of persia sharî'ah (divine law) shaukah (actual influence) sheikhites sheikh-ul-islâm sherîfs sherîfs of mecca sherîfs, rulers of morocco shî'ah (the party of the house) shî'ites sîrah (biography) spain sprenger stambul sultan sunnah sunnites syria syrians t taif tatars testament, _see_ scriptures tibet tradition, _see_ hadith trinity turkey sultan of turkish, empire circles conqueror sultan arms government state officials turks u 'ulamâ' (learned men) v voltaire w wahhâbî reformers weil wellhausen wezîrs y yemen imâms of z zaidites zakât (taxes) zanzibar none mohammed a popular essay on the life of the prophet of islam by h. e. e. hayes there is no god but god, and mohammed is the apostle of god. (_moslem creed._) price d. post free, from "hythe house" greenhithe, kent. +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | if you are interested in missionary work in moslem lands, | | read the | | | | "moslem world," | | | | a quarterly review of current events, literature, and | | thought among mohammedans; and the progress of christian | | missions in moslem lands. | | | | edited by | | | | samuel m. zwemer, d.d. | | | | published by the christian literature society for india | | john street, bedford row, london, w.c. | | | | sent post free s. per copy or s. per annum. | | | | send your subscription now. | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | read also the | | | | egypt general mission news | | | | published bi-monthly by the egypt general mission, | | drayton park, highbury, london, n. | | s. per annum post free. | | | | this magazine gives a current account of mission work | | amongst the moslems of egyptian villages. | | | | pray for all christian work amongst moslems | | | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ preface. so-called moslem missionaries are spreading through the press such idealistic and false views of the religion and character of mohammed, that we need to be on our guard against them. unbiased historians have stated that there is much that is deplorable in the life of the prophet of islam. and it is certain that his teaching has increased the degradation of the nations that have come under its influence. much of the literature that is being circulated in england by the "moslem missionaries," claims that moslem women are better off, so far as property rights go, than their christian sisters. however true this may be, it does not lift them out of the degradation of polygamy and concubinage, with a capricious system of divorce, which makes them the victims of the selfish baseness of their husbands and masters, which mohammed himself sanctioned. the following essay, it is hoped, will help to counteract the false ideas that are being scattered abroad, and lead those who read to study more deeply the problems and sorrows of millions of the moslem subjects of our gracious king. the prayers of all christians are asked on behalf of these millions, and for those who labour to preach the "unsearchable riches of christ" amongst them. h.e.e. hayes. greenhithe: july, . mohammed the prophet of islam. by h.e.e. hayes. introduction. just as the character of jesus is stamped upon the religion which originated in his person, so is the character of mohammed impressed upon the system which he, with marvellous ingenuity, founded. the practical influence of islam upon individual lives produces results that reflect unmistakably the character of its founder, and a careful study of the tenets of the system in relation to its history enable the student to estimate the real worth of the man. as the apostle of god, mohammed is the ideal of every true moslem. his life is the standard by which the lives of his followers are tested, although he himself confesses that his life was not holy. in the koran, and the earlier traditions, he is pictured as being in no way better than his fellows, and as weak and liable to error as the poorest of his contemporaries. yet later tradition minimises his faults and weakness, and surrounds his person with a halo of glory that makes him appear sinless and almost divine. all the doubtful incidents of his life are either eliminated and ignored, or assiduously supported and defended by his pious, misguided followers. it is a point in his favour that he never claimed infallibility for his actions or opinions; and his habit of attempting to cover or justify his glaring faults by suitable revelations, although indefensibly immoral, reveals the fact that he was conscious of his own shortcomings. when he was at the zenith of his power, "revelation" became merely an instrument of self glorification, licensing him in every whim and fancy, because it gave him, as the prophet of god, exemption from all law and order. his scheme was characteristically ingenious and immoral. had he known of the divine effulgence with which he was afterwards encircled by his fanatical followers, he would, in all probability, have strongly discountenanced it. the incongruous sanctity with which his commonplace utterances and petty actions were invested would have caused fear lest it became derogatory to his creed of divine unity. tradition. as a source of information, the traditions are obviously unreliable, for they are coloured by the excessive zeal and irrational bias of men whose judgment was warped by irrepressible fanaticism. they attributed to their hero elements that are grotesquely impossible. his advent was in their estimation, so portentous that it was celebrated by events which, for the time, upset all natural law. and his whole life has been linked with miraculous happenings of a most ludicrous type. more reasonable men have exalted the prophet because they have convinced themselves that he was what he ought to have been. this may account for the pious confidence of some of the more intelligent, who, accepting tradition as historical, have exalted their hero to the ideal, and have received the imagined glory as real. this tendency to exalt their master is well illustrated by the maxim of shafy--"in the exaltation of mohammed it is lawful to exaggerate"--a maxim invaluable to men who were seeking to glorify the prophet, and the usefulness of which was fully appreciated by the legislators and doctors when they were called upon to cope with the new relations and exigencies that came into being after his death. the conquests and progress of islam necessitated almost daily the framing of new rules, while in the application of the old, constant modification and adaptation were required. to meet these needs, actual or supposed sayings and actions of the prophet were eagerly sought after, and, in time, with the growth of a professional body of traditionalists, all legitimate sources being exhausted, that which was doubtful, and even disputed, was accepted as authentic and reliable. imagination augmented the legitimate springs of information, and the result was an exhaustive accumulation of precedents for every possible circumstance. sprenger, in his essay on "tradition," regarding the value and nature of the material needed for compiling a life of mohammed, says: "during the stir and activity of the first sixty years, thousands and thousands occupied themselves with handing down traditions. in every mosque they committed them to memory, and rehearsed them in every social gathering. all such knowledge was the common property of the nation; it was learned by heart and transmitted orally. it possessed, therefore, in the highest possible degree, the elements of life and plasticity. bunson has discovered the divinity of the bible in its always having been the people's book. if this criterion be decisive, then no religion has better claim to be called the 'vox dei,' because none is in so full a sense the 'vox populi.' the creations of the period we have been considering possess this character for hundreds of millions of our fellow men; for modern islamism is as far removed from the spirit in which the coran was composed, as catholicism is from the spirit of the gospel; and modern islamism is grounded upon tradition. but in tradition we find nothing but the ideal, invention, fancy, historical facts, however they may have been floating among the people in the days if ibn 'abbas, and the other founders of genealogy, were trodden under feet, because men wished to remove every barrier which stood in the way of self-glorification. and of the thousand inventions which every day gave birth to, only those were recognised as true which most flattered the religious and national pride ..." he also goes on to say: "the time of creative activity, the gestation era of moslem knowledge, passed away. hajjaj choked the young life in its own blood, and the abbaside dynasty, with kingly patriotism, sold the dearly-bought conquests of the nation, first to the persians, and then to turkish slaves, with the view of procuring an imaginary security for their throne. and thus there arose for the spiritual life also a new period. already wackidi had begun to work up into shape the mass of his traditionary stores, and busy himself in the department of scholastic industry. in the schools one could as little affect now the material tradition, or alter its nature, as attempt to change the organism of the new-born child. however arbitrary might be the invention of the 'miraj' (mahomed's heavenly journey), and other fabrications of the first century, they still formed in this way the positive element and soul of religious, political and social life. the schools, as always, confined their exertions to collecting, comparing, abbreviating, systematising, and commenting. the material was altogether divine; and any unprejudiced historical inquiry, any simple and natural interpretation of the coran, any free judgment on tradition or its origin, was condemned as apostasy. the only task that remained was to work up, in scholastic form, the existing material; and in this way was developed a literature of boundless dimensions, which yet at bottom possessed nothing real. the whole spiritual activity of the mohamedans, from the time of the prophet to the present day, is a dream; but it is a dream in which a large portion of the human race have lived; and it has all the interest which things relating to mankind always possess for man." sir william muir agrees with these views, subject to two considerations. he says:-- "the tendency to glorify mohammed and the reciters of the traditions was considerably modified by the mortal strife which characterised the factions that opposed one another at the period, where, in attempting to depreciate one another, they would not be averse to perpetuating traditions in support of their contentions; such partisanship secured no insignificant body of historical fact, which otherwise would have been lost." he also points out that in a state of society circumscribed and dwarfed by the powerful islamic system, which proscribed the free exercise of thought and discussion, tradition can scarcely be said to be the "vox populi." the growth and development of tradition, the flagrant distortion of historical fact, the ethical code of islam, may well give rise to a questioning of the validity of the prophet's arrogant claims, and by their very methods of defence the apologists of islam exhibit its weakness and inadequacy to meet the religious needs of man. the natural bias of mohammed is evident throughout the coran. his conceptions of god, of the future life, and of the duty of man, are all influenced by his consuming master passion. in all his writings there are lacking those characteristics which distinguish the true prophet--the messenger of god--from those to whom he is sent. this will be apparent by contrasting his views with those of any of the old testament prophets. they were eminently men prepared for their high calling by lofty yet practical communion with god--men whose message was inspired by a vision of divine majesty, and an impressive conception of the justice and awful purity of jehovah. men who called the nation to righteousness of life by a stirring appeal to conscience, and an unfaltering denunciation of the evils of the time. their spiritual aspirations, therefore, by far surpass the loftiest ideals of the prophet of islam, while their ethical conceptions infinitely transcend all that mohammed dreamed of. the voice of the eternal is clearly heard in the earnest utterances that fell from their lips, and through all their prophecies the willingness of divine mercy to reason with men in spite of their erring ways, is apparent. three characteristic elements are perceived in their preaching--a very keen and practical conscience of sin; an overpowering vision of god; and a very sharp perception of the politics of their day. of these elements, mohammed's teaching possesses only the last. mohammed's conception of god his conception of god is essentially deistical. the intimate personal communion, so characteristic of the old testament, is unknown and unrealised: hence there is little, if anything, in his system that tends to draw men nigh to god. attempts to remedy this characteristic defect have been vainly made by the dervish orders, which, while acknowledging the claims of mohammed and his book, have introduced methods not sanctioned by the system, by which they attempt to find the communion with the unseen, for which their souls crave. these methods are very much akin to the efforts of the devotees of hinduism. there is, therefore, lacking amongst moslems that need which grows out of personal relationship with the divine--that need which leads to moral transformation and spiritual intensity on the part of those who enjoy such fellowship. the creator exists apart from his handiwork. he has predetermined the actions of men. they are destined to eternal bliss or destruction by an inflexible will, so that there is no need for divine interference in their affairs. "god is in his heaven, and the world is working out its end according to his unalterable decree." because of this gross conception, palgrave has designated the system "the pantheism of force," and says: "immeasurably and eternally exalted above, and dissimilar from all creatures, which he levelled before him on one common plane of instrumentality and inertness, god is one in the totality of omnipotent and omnipresent action, which acknowledges no rule, standard or limit, save his own sole and absolute will. he communicates nothing to his creatures, for their seeming power and act ever remain his alone, and in return he receives nothing from them; for whatever they may be, that they are in him, by him, and from him only. and, secondly, no superiority, no distinction, no pre-eminence, can be lawfully claimed by one creature ever its fellow, in the utter equalisation of their unexceptional servitude and abasement; all are alike tools of the one solitary force which employs them to crush or to benefit, to truth or to error, to honour or shame, to happiness or misery, quite independently of their individual fitness, deserts, or advantages, and simply because 'he wills it,' and 'as he wills it ...' "one might at first sight think that this tremendous autocrat, this uncontrolled and unsympathising power, would be far above anything like passions, desires, or inclinations. yet such is not the case, for he has, with respect to his creatures, one main feeling and source of action, namely, jealousy of them, lest they should perchance attribute to themselves something of what is his alone, and thus encroach on his all engrossing kingdom. hence he is ever more prone to punish than to reward; to inflict pain than to bestow pleasure; to ruin than to build. it is his singular satisfaction to let created beings continually feel that they are nothing else than his slaves, his tools, and contemptible tools also; that thus they may the better acknowledge his superiority, and know his power to be above their power, his cunning above their cunning, his will above their will, his pride above their pride--or, rather, that there is no power, cunning, will, or pride save his own. "but he himself, sterile in his inaccessible height, neither loving nor enjoying aught save his own and self-measured decree, without son, companion, or counsellor, is no less barren of himself than for his creatures, and his own barrenness and lone egoism in himself is the cause and rule of his indifferent and unregarding despotism around. the first note is the key of the whole tune, and the primal idea of god runs through and modifies the whole system and creed that centres in him." contrast this summary with the teaching of the old testament prophets, the following quotations of which are but a small sample:-- "come, now, and let us reason together, saith the lord. though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." "comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your god. speak ye comfortably to jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned." "the spirit of the lord god is upon me: because the lord has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, etc." "as one whom his mother comforteth, so will i comfort you, saith the lord." "who is a god like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. he will turn again; he will have compassion upon us. he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all our sins into the depths of the sea." "he hath showed thee, o man, what is good; and what doth the lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy god." "the lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him." in the light of such lofty teaching, the conceptions of mohammed appear gross and degraded. his asceticism and contemplation never brought him a vision of god that overwhelmed him and purified as by fire. he knew the creator only from what he heard from the lips of sinful, ignorant men, whose ideas of deity were base and ignoble. these ideas, and the passions that made up such a large portion of his life, obscured his vision, warped his judgment, and led him to postulate a god that inhabited not a holy spiritual realm, but a grossly carnal and sensuous paradise. millions have been brought beneath his sway because his system panders to the natural inclinations of man. spiritual insight is blinded by carnal desire; conduct is influenced by unbridled license; bigotry and hatred are fostered by his policy of intoleration; and his followers are enslaved by a tyranny that blights the reason, because it discountenances inquiry, and places an insurmountable barrier in the way of all human progress. in studying the life of mohammed, the cause of his failure to uplift humanity will be clearly seen. his early sincerity, if sincerity it can be named, was absorbed by his consuming ambition. had it been otherwise he might have had his name inscribed with the honourable ones of the earth--those men whose claims are ratified by their happy effects. as it is, his name is linked with those whose deeds cause a shudder of horror and repulsion to all who love honesty, purity, and truth. i.--early life. mohammed was born in mecca, a town in arabia, about seventy miles inland from the red sea. his father, who died a.d., a few months before the child was born, was a member of the banu hashim clan. his family, although well connected, was a humble one, possessing but little wealth. on the death of his mother some six years later, the child was taken by his grandfather, 'abd-el-muttalib, who took care of him for two years. then he was adopted by his uncle, abu talib, who employed him to look after his flocks and herds. from his earliest years, mohammed must have been brought into contact with the religious life of mecca, for his grandfather was custodian of the kaaba, or temple, and would frequently take the boy with him on his official visits to the place. the numerous images of the gods set up in the temple would be familiar objects to the future prophet, whose iconoclastic zeal was eventually to bring about their destruction. his lonely shepherd life favoured the cultivation of the contemplative habits of his manhood, and played no unimportant part in the development of those characteristics which eminently fitted him for the life he was to lead. nature had endowed him with the essential abilities of a commander of men, and his early environment provided a training that enabled him to exercise those gifts most advantageously. the population of arabia at this time consisted of numerous independent nomadic tribes, who were often at enmity one with another. political unity there was none, while each tribe had its own patron, or god, which was considered to be responsible for everything concerning the tribe's welfare. where tribes were united, or at peace, there the individual gods were supposed to be friendly. even in mecca, which for many years had been occupied by a settled community, there was no political or judicial organisation. the existing order was maintained by a form of patriarchal government, under which system it was possible for the head of a tribe or clan, to protect the life of any individual he chose to befriend. the religious beliefs and customs were evidently gross materialistic corruptions of what had once been a purely spiritual worship. mohammed had been preceded by men who had from time to time, in spite of the moral and intellectual darkness, been so endowed with spiritual perception as to recognise and bewail the hollowness and degradation of the pagan system. some, indeed, had been conscientious enough to utter words of condemnation; others had gone so far as to despise and ridicule its claims. so that when mohammed was born the people were in a condition of religious uncertainty. many elements contributed to this unrest. travellers learned that the more prosperous nations had rejected the age long sanctions of paganism; earnest, thoughtful men could not but recognise its inadequacy to satisfy the religious aspirations of their fellows; jews and christians, who had settled in the country, had introduced views that appealed to those who were dissatisfied with the old methods of thought; while the need for social and political unity called for a force that would unite the scattered tribes in the pursuit of common ideals. thus was the land prepared for the mighty revolution that was to come--a revolution that made one great nation of the various tribes, and turned their warlike instincts and characteristic fanaticism, which before had been dissipated by wasteful internecine strife, into one definite channel, until it became a menace to the whole world. a change so potent, that, in the lifetime of one man, it was able to obliterate partly by absorption, and chiefly by annihilation, the sanctions and beliefs of centuries, and which fostered a hatred so bitter, and a brotherhood so strong, between man and man, that by its sanction the dearest, tenderest, and strongest ties of humanity have been broken, while those who for years had lived in enmity were united in bonds stronger than death. under its malevolent influence, children have ruthlessly slain their parents, believing that thus would they merit heaven. and men of different race have fought side by side under one banner, hurling themselves with fanatical heroism upon their enemies, believing that to die in such a way meant the winning of an immortal crown. during his boyhood, mohammed had plenty of opportunities for observing the condition of affairs, and, thanks to his privilege of travelling with the caravans, was even able to notice the contrast between the conditions of his own people and those of the more peaceable, prosperous nations. he frequently attended upon his uncle in the fighting that often occurred between the tribes, and so gained the knowledge of military strategy which proved to be so useful at a later time. margoliouth suggests that the two most important lessons the "prophet" learned at this time were the necessity of settling affairs of blood by some expedient less wasteful, and more satisfactory than that which was illustrated by the war of fizar, and that war should be regarded not as a game, but as a mode of obtaining decisive results. the varied experiences he passed through on his caravan journeys did much to influence his future policy; indeed, it appears that all influences brought to bear upon his early life were forces that moulded and equipped him for the office he was to fill. he was keenly observant, and wonderfully accurate in his inferences, especially in his estimate of the characters of men with whom he had to deal. he seemed to lack initiative, for he was always reluctant to take action in any important undertaking; but once the initial step was taken, he pressed forward with indomitable courage. in his business transactions he proved himself to be shrewd and tactful, and by his fidelity, patience, and self-confidence, gained the respect and esteem of his immediate fellows. khadijah, a rich widow, having entrusted mohammed with the control of an important caravan, and finding how admirably he had performed his part, wisely concluded that her interests would be furthered if he had a share in them. hence their marriage, which happy arrangement proved to be mutually blessed and successful. it vastly improved mohammed's social standing, raising him to a position of equality with the leading men of the city. for many years he was content to live quietly as an ordinary citizen, engrossed in the accumulation of wealth by legitimate trading. ii.--the "call" to the prophetic office. it has not been recorded how first he began to yield to the impulses that eventually led him to assume the role of reformer, but it is certain that at the age of forty he was the leader of a secret society, which had for its object the political and religious unity of the arab people. he knew that far-reaching changes were necessary in every department of national policy before his ideal could be realised. unity was the secret of power and prosperity. this he had learned through contact with other nations. his dealing with jews and christians had given rise to a deep appreciation of the value of a monotheistic faith in the consolidation of a people, and he was convinced that political unity would be achieved only where there was religious unity. with masterly insight he laid his plans accordingly, and because of the extreme conservatism was obliged to formulate them in strict secrecy. unfortunately, owing to his untrustworthy sources of information, his policy was founded upon false bases. his distorted conception of truth led him to establish a system of false philosophy and theology so framed as to allow of no alteration or adaptation. in his elaboration of the system, he depended much upon his own meditative habits, and no doubt thought it all out in the loneliness of the mountains, to which he frequently retired for the observance of certain ascetic customs of the pagans. thus his scheme of reform crystallised into definite shape, and his call to the prophetic office became a fixed idea. he felt certain that success lay in the determined proclamation of one god as opposed to the many of the arab pantheon, and the more he pondered over this being, of whom he had heard from the jews and christians, the greater became his certainty. god was supreme and omnipotent; of that there could be no doubt. but how to convince the people was a difficulty that needed much careful thought and cautious propagation. jews and christians could boast of prophets--of men inspired to speak with the voice of god--but the arabs had had no one who had spoken with such authority. why had they been so neglected? surely they needed to hear the divine voice, and that need was never greater than now, when all was unrest and dissention. where was the man who would fill the office? who would be willing to face the odds, and declare against evil by proclaiming the good and the true? such must have been the questions that exercised mohammed's mind. then came the thought--"why should not i be the messenger?" and this so grew upon him that he was convinced of his "call." the possession of this idea made him sincere in his purpose at first, but after the tide had turned in his favour, that sincerity was marred--nay, eclipsed--by an inflated notion of self-importance, and a consuming ambition to which every virtue and good feeling was subordinated, until at last he was able, with superb arrogance, to bracket his name with deity, making the confession of his claim as important as the confession of the unity of god. wherein his inconsistency and falsity is chiefly apparent, for confession of unity is insufficient without recognition of mohammed's apostleship! ascetic practices tend to lead to physical disorders, which generally upset the mind and lead to mental and moral distemper. judgment is warped because the functions of the mind are thrown out of gear. the varied departments of consciousness act with ungoverned caprice, with the result that fantastical fancies and visions are interpreted to be realties, which become misleading and deceptive. thus may be explained the visit of the archangel gabriel to mohammed, but it can hardly be conceived that it will account for the ingenious method of revelation which he received. some people believe it to have been inspired by satan; it must ever remain a matter of speculation. the necessity of a _piecemeal_ revelation could not at this time have been apparent to the prophet. but we may give him the credit of the policy of abrogation which he afterwards adopted, for such a policy was necessary to enable him to cover or justify his actions which, like those of even the best of men, were marked by inconsistency. iii.--birth of the islamic society. being firmly convinced of his call, mohammed, with characteristic caution, began to propagate his principles, for years being content to deal secretly with individuals, beginning with those of his own household. his wife acknowledged and encouraged his claim, and gradually he gathered around him an increasing circle of devoted followers, some of whom had more confidence in him and his pretensions than he had himself. this was particularly true of abu bakr, a rich and popular merchant of mecca, who, having acknowledged the claims of the prophet, followed him with implicit obedience and unwavering devotion. he threw himself whole-heartedly into the work of proselytising, and the progress of early days, although slow, was largely due to his indefatigable energy. as the membership of the new society increased, rules were framed, based upon the "revelations" which mohammed now periodically received, and each member was compelled to subscribe to the most stringent regulations. idolatry was strongly condemned and the unity of god emphatically asserted. certain jewish and christian religious ordinances were imposed as a condition of membership, while unswerving loyalty to the prophet was demanded. license was given to the members to practice outwardly the old rites and ceremonies of paganism, in order to arouse no suspicion, but the existence of such a society, in spite of all precautions, could not long remain unnoticed, and the time came when the prophet and his followers were compelled to make public confession of their faith. persecution followed, in which the poorer members suffered more than their richer brethren. mohammed himself received the protection of the head of his clan, and for eight or ten years carried on a campaign of words. margoliouth, in his life of mohammed, likens the prophet to a player in a game of cards, who, having received a good hand, plays his cards with consummate skill. he took advantage of every opportunity in strengthening his position, and having a clear-cut policy before him, subordinated everything to its furtherance. he was a powerful preacher, but owing to his ungovernable temper, was not so successful in debate; hence he produced a "revelation" forbidding him to engage in public controversy! he showed great diligence in seeking information that enabled him to produce his revelations in a style consistent with his claims. being entirely dependent on hearsay, he obtained but a sadly distorted account of truth. the koran is full of glaring errors, which, for centuries, have baffled the ingenuity of the moslem doctors. yet the prophet presumptuously claimed that his, being the last "revelation," was the most important, and more reliable, and the differences that were apparent were due to the corruption in time of the text of the former "revelations"--_i.e._, the hebrew and christian scriptures! he was evidently much perplexed by the divisions and controversies that existed within the christian church, and considered that the images and pictures then in use were little better than the idols of his own people. with no means of testing and verifying his knowledge, he accepted all that tended to enhance his own position, and his chief regret seems to have been his inability, in reply to the taunts of his enemies, to point to any element of the miraculous in his career. in the revelations, he frequently expressed views and opinions which flatly contradicted what he had formerly stated, and when challenged as to his inconsistency, defended it by claiming that it was not he who had changed his mind, but god, whose ways no man could question or understand! in time, the position of the new sect became so intolerable that many were compelled to flee, and numbers went into abyssinia, where they were well received. mohammed himself, thanks to his relatives' protection, could still afford to remain in mecca. in spite of the opposition, his influence gradually increased, and was considerably strengthened by the conversion of omar, a citizen famed for his skill in military strategy and courage. not long afterwards, khadijah, the prophet's wife died. she had wielded a strong, healthy influence over her husband, and had cheered him on in times of discouragement and failure. islam owes not a little to her life and influence, and were it more widely recognised, might possibly lead to an improvement of the position of the poor unfortunate daughters of the system, who are enslaved and degraded to a saddening degree. after khadijah's death, mohammed took full advantage of the polygamous sanctions of paganism, and even abused the privilege when it conflicted with his own inclinations. margoliouth attempts to defend the many marriages on the ground of political expediency, which may be conceded in only a few cases. in most instances they were due to selfish desire and inordinate affection. particularly is this true in the case of the prophet's marriage with his adopted son's wife, which was a gross violation of arab law. on the death of his protector, mohammed was compelled to seek refuge elsewhere, but not before he had made inconsistent concessions to the pagan leaders. in these concessions he retreated entirely from the strong iconoclastic attitude he had hitherto adopted, going so far as to produce a revelation that claimed to reconcile the one true god to the gods of the pagan pantheon. this compromise, no matter how wise and statesmanlike it may appear to be, clearly indicates the falsity of mohammed's claim, and enables us to estimate the value of his pretensions. his action was strongly condemned by many of his followers, and probably under the influence of their opinion, he produced an apologetic revelation abrogating the concession, and admitting it to have been a mistake! he endeavoured to escape the persecution in mecca by taking refuge in taif, but was so badly treated there when his views became known, that he was glad to return, and upon promising to confine his proselytising efforts to strangers, was allowed to stay under the protection of one of the leading citizens. he carried on his work among strangers with such success, that before long a strong community had grown up in the town of medinah. the rapid increase of this section of his disciples may be accounted for by the very unsettled condition of the place. civil and religious strife had been for a long time aggravated by the aggressive attitude of a large section of jews, so that circumstances were more favourable to the reception and growth of islam than in mecca, where there was more peaceful organisation, and where the existence of the ancient kaaba, or dwelling place of the gods, made men more jealous of their old religion. in the appointment of a man to lead the new community, mohammed exhibited his characteristic insight into the abilities of men. he selected a follower thoroughly convinced of his master's claims, whose zeal in the earlier days had led him to forsake friends and family by flight into abyssinia--a man full of enthusiasm and energy. in a comparatively short time the new religion became quite popular, and idolatry was despised. an incident indicative of the progress is seen in the visit of seventy of the medinah disciples to mohammed in mecca. they met him secretly in the mountains, by night, and made solemn, binding vows of allegiance, in which they promised "to fight men of all colour in order to defend the faith." it is highly probable that at this meeting the prophet was invited to join them in medinah, but for the present he preferred his native town. somehow the story of the night meeting leaked out, with the result that persecution was redoubled, and many of the less wealthy followers were forced to flee to medinah. they were there well received and cared for, and were afterwards honoured by being designated the "refugees," while those who received them were similarly honoured in being named the "helpers." thus the brotherhood of believers insisted on by mohammed began to assume practical form, and men of different tribes were united in one common bond--a brotherhood so powerful that its enemies in mecca were filled with alarm. they had no longer to deal with a man whose views could be despised. they were menaced by a growing force that threatened to overwhelm them. steps were taken to overthrow the danger, and elaborate arrangements were made for the assassination of the prophet. he somehow obtained news of the plot, and escaped the would-be murderers, who came while he was supposed to be in bed, by climbing through a window. accompanied by the faithful abu bakr and a few of his more intimate followers, he made his way to one of the mountain caves, where he stayed until the immediate danger had passed. then the little company commenced the journey to medinah, a task so fraught with danger and hardship that mohammed shrank from it, in spite of the meccan evil, and was compelled to attempt it only by the pressure of his friends. the facts concerning his entry into medinah are obscure and uncertain, but there is no doubt that his advent was hailed with delight by the "helpers" and "refugees." hospitality was freely offered, and, owing to the prophet's independent spirit, reluctantly accepted. one of his earliest actions after arrival was to consolidate his forces by strengthening the brotherhood, making the obligations of his followers to one another, and himself, more binding than the ties of blood. iv.--growth and progress. he now found himself the acknowledged head of a large growing community, which looked to him for guidance in all its affairs--religious, social, and political. proudly, and with true eastern despotism, he took upon himself the dignities of prophet, priest, and king. he needed no one with whom to share these functions. his was the sole right--his alone. his ambitions were being realised. the striving of years, the disappointment, doubts, and fears that had so tormented him were well repaid, and could be forgotten in the glamour that now surrounded him. enthusiastic and fanatical votaries crowded around him with loyal acclamation. pampered and petted with excessive adulation, can it be wondered that he had visions of power hitherto undreamed of? his scheme of national reform paled into insignificance in the light of possibility. he saw himself the leader of a world-wide conquest--the promoter of a prodigious scheme of universal reform. he was not merely the messenger of the arab people, but the mouthpiece of god to the whole wide world. and by the divine power that possessed him would receive the humble homage of proud and mighty nations, whose haughty monarchs would bow in lowly submission to his imperious will! prophetic insight, regal authority, judicial administration were his by divine right, to be enforced, if needs be, at the point of the islamic sword. as his position improved, so his ideals deteriorated. his early piety was modified by the lust of worldly power. in place of patient pacific methods of propagation, he adopted a cruel, ruthless, warlike policy, and it was not long--perhaps owing to the extreme poverty which afflicted the new community--before the would-be prophet became the leader of a robber host. yet even in spite of the glamour that surrounded him, and the questionable behaviour that characterised this period of his life, we catch occasional glimpses of that which reveals the working of nobler instincts in his mind. had his environment been other than it was, mohammed had been indeed a hero in the world's history. ignorance of truth led him to place himself under the mysterious power of hallucination. the lonely brooding of the cave had produced that which had urged him into a position of bondage. he was the slave of a false idea, which so possessed him that he pressed onward, in spite of all that stood in his way, whether it was good or bad. it exerted an irresistible influence over all his impulses, leading him into actions in every way indefensible. when fair means failed, he adopted foul, and so succeeded beyond his highest dreams. the first mosque, or meeting place, was built very soon after his arrival in medinah, and he entered upon his priestly functions. as a matter of policy, he adopted many of the jewish rites. these, however, he soon changed, for as the number of his followers increased, and he grew more and more independent of jewish aid, he made every effort to show his natural aversion to the ancient people, who scorned his prophetic pretensions. in place of praying towards jerusalem, his followers were commanded to turn their faces towards mecca. the fast of atonement was abolished in favour of the month of ramadan, while in substitution for the jewish rite of sacrifice, the pagan slaying of victims was observed. a considerable difference is to be noticed between the "revelations" of this period and those of mecca. the latter were concerned with denunciations of idolatry; proofs of the divine unity and attributes; legendary stories, and occasional lurid pictures of heaven and hell. the former are generally of a legislative character, mingled with the domestic affairs of the prophet, and guidance as to his military policy. the method of recording them, too, seems to have been systematised, for it is certain that a body of professional scribes were engaged in this work, and evidence is not wanting to show that these scribes were allowed to express the revelations in their own particular style. discrepancies and inconsistencies abounded, but mohammed seems to have allowed that he was not responsible, and to have stated that god had a perfect right to alter as he pleased, and even to apologise for errors! the policy of abrogation has its sanction in the text, "whatever verses we cancel or cause thee to forget, we give thee better in their stead, or the like thereof." in his warlike policy, the prophet's strategy reflects most discreditably upon his character, everything that was honourable and virtuous being sacrificed to the passion for conquest. when he needed help, he pretended friendship to those he hated; and then, becoming strong enough to be independent, did not hesitate, upon the slightest provocation or pretext, to turn his sword against them. this is particularly true of his treatment of the jews, whom he at first befriended, but afterwards treated with barbarous injustice. within a very few months of their arrival in medinah, the need of some method of support, other than the charity of the helpers, presented itself. the number of refugees was still increasing, and the demand for the ordinary necessities of life exceeded the supply. mohammed, to his credit, shared the misery of his followers, and proved himself to be generous even when in want. in order to meet the need, the policy of despoiling the wealthy meccan caravans was conceived, and carried out with some degree of success. the prophet at first exhibited a feeling of repugnance against such warfare, especially when the ancient pacific regulations of certain sacred months were violated. but the benefits of the revenue accruing led him, some time afterwards, to produce revelations sanctioning hostilities even in the sacred months. the early successes provided the community with more wealth than was needed, and, arousing the avarice of many of those who were opposed to the prophet, led them to throw in their lot with him. having seared his conscience by acknowledging the righteousness of the robber policy, it was easy for him to persuade himself that it was all part of the purpose of god to prosper his claims. all who would not acknowledge him were the enemies of god, and had no rights to property or to life. he began to preach the holiness of war against all unbelievers. he fanned the avaricious fanaticism of his followers into a flame of religious enthusiasm, and they became soldier priests, whose deaths on the battlefield were glorious martyrdoms, which gave them immediate entrance into a paradise where all their inclinations could be indulged to an unlimited degree. it is not to be wondered that an army of such men could put three times their number of meccans not so inspired to flight. this is what actually happened in the battle of badr. mohammed had received news of the possibility of capturing a particularly rich meccan caravan, and decided to make the attempt. news of his plans reached the meccans, who determined to frustrate, if possible, the designs of their enemy. a thousand men were rapidly organised into a defensive and punitive force, and sent out to overwhelm the three hundred moslems. they were by no means skilled in military strategy, little better than a disorderly horde; whereas the moslems, under the masterly guidance of mohammed, seem to have exhibited clever organisation. it has been said that the rigid prayer ritual enforced by mohammed, at the risk of divine punishment, had a disciplinary effect, and produced results very similar to those obtained by military drill. the meccan host was put to flight, discipline, and steadfastness of purpose determined the victory. the moslems returned to medinah, carrying in triumph many prisoners, and considerable booty. the revelation produced after this, speaks of it as the "day of deliverance," and mohammed rejoices because the stigma of powerlessness to show evidence of miracle in his life, is removed, for he accounts for the victory by direct intervention of god in his favour. the effect of the victory on the surrounding tribes was highly favourable to the prophet. many of the chiefs sought to ally themselves to him, but he received their offers solely on condition that they would embrace islam. few accepted, and those who did not before long regretted it. for about a year after his success, his power and influence increased, until the whole of the tribes between mecca and medinah had been won over. then came a defeat. the meccans had been nursing their bitterness, and at last, just over two years after the victory of badr, it found its outlet in an expedition again mohammed. the moslem forces were rallied, and under the prophet's leadership sallied forth to meet the meccans. a fierce battle ensued, in which at first the moslems had the advantage, and the meccans were forced to fly. but they had learned many lessons in the fight at badr, and had posted some of their cavalry in such a position that, when the moslem order was disturbed in their pursuit of the enemy, they made a charge upon their rear. the fleeing meccans turned, and the moslems found themselves between two attacks. then came the cry that mohammed was killed! instead of increasing the moslem disorder by discouragement, it made them fight more doggedly, for the majority were so committed to islam that they cared not for life if their prophet was dead. this prevented what must otherwise have meant absolute victory on the part of the meccans, and a number of them, with mohammed, who was only wounded, were able to retire to medinah. the meccans were quite satisfied with the result, considering that the stigma of their defeat at badr had been wiped out. later on, when mohammed had sufficiently recovered of his wounds, he made a public appearance in the mosque, where he was able to persuade his followers that their apparent defeat was really a victory! the general who is able to persuade his forces that there is victory, even where there seems to be defeat, is one who will inspire them to fight against apparently impossible odds. they will, indeed, never suffer defeat, but will fight on until annihilated by capture or death. the secret of success even in the more pacific engagements of life lies in this principle--to be undaunted in ardour, in spite of failure; to recognise in failure a step towards ultimate success. let a man be possessed with these, and victory is within his grasp, whether he recognises it or not. after this, mohammed did not scruple to employ the system of warfare by assassination, if warfare it can be called. some tribes, emboldened by the report of the meccan success, began to treat moslem emissaries with scant courtesy, and went so far as to murder some. mohammed retaliated by sending men to balance the scales in the same criminal way, particularly in treating with the jews. an idea had grown up in his mind that these people had determined to murder him. this, with matters of minor importance, already referred to, at last led to an organised attempt to subjugate them. a large, influential tribe was besieged; their date trees, lands, and property wantonly destroyed. eventually the whole tribe surrendered, and were glad to march away with what possessions their camels could carry. this led to a combination of other jewish tribes, which laid siege to medinah. the siege was not successful, and barbarous treatment was meted out to the besiegers. after much skirmishing and general fighting, a number of the jews who had been captured were decapitated, while their women and children were enslaved. those who were unwilling to embrace islam, were compelled to pay tribute. so the prosperity and success of islam was assured. the jews were no longer bold enough to cause the prophet any anxiety as to the validity of his prophetic claims, nor were they of a mind that would arouse fear as to their fighting abilities. they were true descendants of isaac and jacob, who were both men of peace, and were not qualified for success in war against the posterity of the active warlike ishmael and esau. freed from all anxiety in this direction, the prophet, realising that the security of medinah could never be assured while the meccans were opposed to him, began to formulate plans for the conquest of their city. his first step was to try and conciliate them, with a view to sending a pilgrim band into the city, but the citizens were far too cautious and suspicious to allow that. at last, however, they were prevailed upon to receive his son-in-law, omar, who succeeded in persuading a section of the meccans of the injustice of barring the holy temple to those who, although their enemies, were, after all, their kinsmen. this led to a treaty, in which mohammed brought shame upon his followers because of his concessions. the arrangements were that for ten years, peace between the prophet and the meccans should be maintained, and that within a year a party of the moslems were to be allowed to make a pilgrimage to the kaaba. the humiliation to which the prophet compelled his followers to submit gave rise to considerable indignation, which was allayed only when he himself submitted to the shaving of his head and the offering of sacrifice. he knew that the humiliation was worthy of the advantage gained--indeed, it was but the furtherance of his policy, in which no action that was expedient could possibly be disgraceful. to him such a treaty involved no sacred obligation to his enemies. he was god's prophet, and as such was free of all obligation to those who did not follow him, a principle deeply rooted in islam, which makes the violation of all virtuous relations with unbelievers highly meritorious. v.--world conquest. not long after the treaty with the meccans, mohammed revealed the fact that he had elaborated a scheme of world conquest, by sending representatives to earthly monarchs of whom he had heard. his messengers carried letters bearing the seal, "mohammed, prophet of god," and urging the addressees to acknowledge his claims by embracing islam. these overtures were in some cases favourably received; in others with contempt; but, of course, did not lead to compliance with the demands, except, perhaps, on the part of a few of the rulers of some arabic tribes. the eighth year of the flight is famous in the history of the prophet's life, because his followers, for the first time, came into conflict with the forces of the christian empire. the battle of mutah resulted in defeat of the moslems, and, consequently, details have been suppressed. it was part of mohammed's policy to counteract the demoralising influence of defeat by immediately attempting a fight in which victory was assured. this, to my mind, justified war on any pretext or grievance. in this case he conceived the idea of invading mecca, and, although minor incidents justify his decision to a slight degree, his breach of the treaty adds to the evidence that is derogatory to his character. the pilgrimage of the year before had been organised by him with the view of impressing the meccans of his power, and was decidedly successful. when he with his ten thousand troops approached the city, fear caused submission on the part of the leader of the city forces, and after some slight skirmishing with a section of the community, which preferred to show active disapproval of the ignominious surrender, the city was won. every idolatrous element of the kaaba worship was swept away, and, although its pagan associations were negatived, it was sanctified to the service of islam, and is still its only altar. the city was invested with a more sacred significance than it had ever occupied under the pagan system. it was never again to be defiled by the spilling of human blood, the prophet insisting upon this with admirable inconsistency! he showed his gratification in many acts of statesmanlike condescension, and seems at this time to have considered himself to be the ruler of all arabs. although it is improbable that mohammed was aware of it, the significance he attached to the holy city, by teaching that the caaba was a heavenly built edifice, was to become the means of consolidating his system, in spite of national and racial distinctions. in its precincts, pilgrims from india, persia, china, russia, turkey, and other lands where islam has its devotees, mingle with the wild bedouin of the desert in one common brotherhood, and worship, in unity of faith and form, allah, the great and merciful. after its capture, the fierce warlike bedouin nomadic tribes made strenuous and courageous attempts to win back the city, but the moslem forces were invariably successful, and, in time, mohammed returned to medinah more triumphant than ever. eventually taif, which had successfully resisted a siege, submitted peacefully to the prophet's claims, and the subjugation of the whole of arabia followed. an ingenious system of taxation was imposed upon all tribes submitting to mohammed. the natural prejudice that universally exists against taxation (!) was overcome, because it was instituted as a religious rather than a statutory obligation. thus the regular payments of alms became one of the five acts of faith imposed upon all believers. the other acts are: confession of creed, prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage. vi.--mohammed and women. the prophet's domestic life exerted considerable influence upon his religion; effects of which are to be seen in the mohammedan home of to-day. his numerous marriages afforded experience which led to the framing of many "divine" laws referring to women. as has already been hinted, kadijah, his first wife, exercised considerable influence over his prophetic career. she evidently had a strong affection for him, which feeling was heartily reciprocated. she had a personality strong enough to curb his natural passion, and to preserve her place in spite of it in his regard. her encouragement and support when success and failure were trembling in the balance, urged him to persist in the development of his ideas. he was faithful to her during their married life, and to her memory afterwards, and promised her, upon her deathbed, that she should share his heavenly chamber after his death, with the mother of jesus and the sister of moses. within a month of her death he was betrothed to ayesha, a child of seven. he did not actually marry her until she was nine years of age, and during the interval consoled himself by wedding a widow who had acted as nurse to one of his daughters. this marriage seems to have been more a matter of convenience than of affection on his part, and in later days she was able to keep her position as his wife only by the yielding of certain of her privileges to other members of the harem. seven months after his arrival in medinah, during the time of poverty, the marriage with ayesha was celebrated, the child of nine being united to the man of fifty-three! a marriage defended on the ground of political expediency, whereby the devotion of abu bakr, the child's father was strengthened. she seems to have been second only to khadijah in the prophet's affections, and exercised a petty tyranny over him, which was submitted to even when it affected his revelations. she excited the envy of the other wives because of her privileges, and in spite of intrigue, was able to hold her own. she was extremely sarcastic in regard to some of the revelations, and even went so far on one occasion as to jeer the prophet on his faithfulness in recording them. this sarcasm was prompted by jealousy, because of mohammed's marriage with zainab, which was so illegal as to cause him to throw the responsibility on god. zainab was the wife of the prophet's adopted son zaid, who, having discovered his foster-father's love, thought it wise to divorce her in his favour. the revelation mohammed produced seems to have been held over until his critics had been mollified by some victory--hence the sarcasm! during the raiding of the jews, mohammed was considerably disturbed by the desire of the wives to accompany him on the expeditions. he eased the difficulty by arranging that one only should go with him on each expedition, and should obtain the favour by lot. ayesha got into difficulty on one of these expeditions. she dropped a necklace and remained behind the returning party in order to seek for it. a youth who, too, had loitered behind, found it, and accompanied her back to the camp. her enemies were not slow to take advantage of this incident to prejudice her before the prophet. he was deeply hurt, and in face of the surge of public opinion, sent her back to her parents. the complications arising out of the divorce would probably have alienated the sympathies of abu bakr, her father, so with his usual diplomacy, mohammed produced a revelation, in which god declared ayesha innocent of any cause for divorce! it was through ayesha, too, that the prophet conceived the idea of praying for deliverance from the torment of the grave, for she casually remarked one day that she had heard a jewish woman speaking about torment after death. through all her life with the prophet she proved herself to be strong in character, and a fitting mate for a man of mohammed's type. other wives did not play such an important part in the prophet's life work. he seems to have exhibited his taste for beauty in all his selections. keud was the daughter of a man of considerable wealth and influence, and, like zainab, was one of the abyssinian refugees. in the expedition against khaibah, mohammed's greed was excited by the sight of some valuable ornaments belonging to one of his vanquished enemies. he sought to gain possession of them by marrying the daughter of the owner, safiyyah, whose husband and brother had both been killed in the battle that had been fought. she accepted the prophet's offer, and contented herself for her losses in the squabbles of his harem. his other wives were juwairijah, hafsah, um salmah, um kabibah, another of the abyssinian refugees, and zainab, widow of his cousin. the last wife was maimunah, who is said to have offered herself to him when he was considering the invasion of mecca. a coptic (christian) slave girl, mary, and rihanah, a jewess, were added to the harem, but went through no form of marriage with him. mary was sent as a present from one of the coptic rulers in answer to the prophet's letter, urging the claims of islam; while rihanah, whose husband was one of the many who were cruelly slaughtered by decapitation after a victory over the jews, was at nightfall, almost immediately after the massacre, taken to the prophet's tent. it is evident that the prophet had many opportunities of still further increasing his harem, for many women offered themselves; while the relatives of handsome widows would make no arrangements for the re-marriage of the bereaved ones until they had been offered to the prophet and refused. it cannot be expected that things could always run smoothly with so many women possessing rights to his attention, and there is much evidence to show that mohammed was often disturbed by the difficulty of pleasing all. his relations to the feminine sex, as may be expected, led to a very low estimate of the position of women. hence the utter degradation to which they are subjected in islam. although he did not practice it, he sanctioned wife beating. divorce was made easy for the men, who could cast off their wives any time they so desired. thus it is quite common to-day for women to steal from their husbands in order to provide for themselves in case of divorce. the evil of such a system is apparent. it makes the women mere slaves at the mercy of the caprice of their husbands. the polygamy and concubinage which is sanctioned in the koran, has degraded the women to a degree that may be imagined, and certainly has not, as some authorities contend, abolished other evils. it is true that he improved slightly the condition of women in his day, giving them privileges they had not up to that time enjoyed, and by those who endeavour to picture him as a hero, his failure to arrive at a true estimate of the position of women is covered by the statement that it was impossible for him to grapple with a hopeless problem. it is encouraging to know that, with the growing influence of western christian civilisation, the condition of women in moslem lands is gradually improving, although the village folk still consider us to be weak in character because we are courteous in our behaviour to them. in egypt, government schools for girls are being organised, and throughout the whole moslem world education is spreading. the religion of mohammed is so clearly defined that it can never be reformed. the only hope for the nations that are under its sway is that with the advance of western civilisation there may be a yielding to the influence of christianity. it cannot be possible to enjoy the blessings of the west while men are tyrannised by a non-progressive religion of the east. just before he died mohammed organised an expedition against the romans, and this in spite of sickness unto death. he had made his last pilgrimage to mecca, and had delivered what may be termed his final charge to his followers. the whole tone of his address seems to have been influenced by the thought of the proximity of death. he emphasised the doctrines he had inculcated, showing that the islamic brotherhood removed all that tended to social inequality. the rich man was no better than the poor; the aristocrat who boasted of his ancestry, no more important in the sight of god than the lowliest beggar. the only difference that could exist between man and man was a difference in degree of piety. property rights he recognised as regarding believers, and evidently implied that unbelievers possessed no such rights. he asked respect and humane treatment for women, and undoubtedly manifested a desire for a better condition of affairs than he in his lifetime had been able to establish. the subsequent illness was probably due to the strain and anxiety of this pilgrimage. ayesha, the girl wife, tended him. the many stories that have been told of these last days are not at all reliable, but it is certain that for five days he was quite helpless and delirious. on the th of june, a.d., ten years after the flight from mecca, he died in the arms of ayesha, leaving a work that wrought havoc in the christian church for centuries, and which, inspired by his immortal spirit, still exists in unyielding enmity against the faith of the meek and lowly nazarene, whose native soil, in the providence of god, is owned by islam's son. never again will be heard the clash of steel on steel as christian tries to vanquish moslem. those days are happily past and gone. carnal weapons cannot avail against spiritual forces. the eternal, peaceable spirit of jesus is slowly but surely permeating the gloom of islam. we see the resultant disintegration, and hope for that great day when, led by the broken and contrite spirit of their leader, the hosts of islam shall bow before the king of kings, recognising what, in time, they were impelled to deny--unity in trinity, the at present unrevealed mystery of deity. britain, the greatest moslem power of the world, needs to change her policy in regard to christian missionary work amongst moslems, if she is desirous of promoting the welfare of those benighted people. she must give freedom to the heralds of the cross who labour in the lands of the crescent. and the prayers of her people must ascend on behalf of the sons and daughters of islam who sit in darkness and the shadow of death. transcription by m.r.j. ae in the irish theosophist --by "ae" (george william russell) contents: --a word upon the objects of the theosophical society --the twilight hour --the mask of apollo --the secret of power --the priestess of the woods --a tragedy in the temple --jagrata, svapna and sushupti --concentration --verse by ae in "the irish theosophist" ( verses) --the element language --at the dawn of the kali yuga --the meditation of parvati --a talk by the euphrates --the cave of lilith --a strange awakening --the midnight blossom --the story of a star --how theosophy affects one's view of life --comfort --the ascending cycle --the mystic night's entertainment --on the spur of the moment --the legends of ancient eire --review: lyrics of fitzpatrick --"yes, and hope" --content --the enchantment of cuchullain --shadow and substance --on the passing of w.q. judge --self-reliance --the mountains --works and days --the childhood of apollo --the awakening of the fires --our secret ties --priest or hero? --the age of the spirit --a thought along the road --the fountains of youth a word upon the objects of the theosophical society st:--to form the nucleus of a universal brotherhood of humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or color. nd:---to promote the study of aryan and other eastern literatures, religions, philosophies and sciences, and demonstrate the importance of that study. rd:---to investigate unexplained laws of nature and the psychic powers latent in man. started a little under a quarter of a century ago, in an age grown cold with unbelief and deadened by inexplicable dogmas, the theosophical society has found adherents numerous enough to make it widely known, and enthusiastic enough to give it momentum and make it a living force. the proclamation of its triple objects-- brotherhood, wisdom and power, acted like a trumpet call, and many came forth to join it, emerging from other conflicts; and out of silence and retirement came many who had grown hopeless but who had still the old feeling at heart. for the first object no explanation is necessary; but a word or two of comment upon the second and third may help to show how they do not weaken, by turning into other channels, the intellectual energies and will, which might serve to carry out the first. in these old philosophies of the east we find the stimulus to brotherly action which might not be needed in an ideal state, but which is a help to the many, who, born into the world with a coldness of heart as their heritage, still wish to do their duty. now out duty alters according to our conception of nature, and in the east there has been put forward, by men whom we believe to be the wise and great of the earth, a noble philosophy, a science of life itself, and this, not as a hypothesis, but as truth which is certain, truth which has been verified by eyes which see deeper than ours, and proclaimed by the voices of those who have become the truth they speak of; for as krishna teaches arjuna in the dayanishvari: "on this path to whatever place one would go that place one's self becomes!" the last word of this wisdom is unity. underneath all phenomena and surviving all changes, a great principle endures for ever. at the great white dawn of existence, from this principle stream spirit and primordial matter; as they flow away further from their divine source, they become broken up, the one life into countless lives, matter into countless forms, which enshrine these lives; spirit involves itself into matter and matter evolves, acted upon by this informing fire. these lives wander on through many a cycle's ebb and flow, in separation and sorrow, with sometimes the joy of a momentary meeting. only by the recognition of that unity, which spiritually is theirs, can they obtain freedom. it is true in the experience of the race that devotion of any life to universal ends brings to that life a strange subtle richness and strength; by our mood we fasten ourselves into the eternal; hence these historic utterances, declarations of permanence and a spiritual state of consciousness, which have been the foundation of all great religious movements. christ says, "i and my father are one." "before abraham was i am." paul says, "in him we live and move and have our being." in the sacred books of india it is the claim of many sages that they have recognised "the ancient constant and eternal which perishes not through the body be slain," and there are not wanting to-day men who speak of a similar expansion of their consciousness, out of the gross and material, into more tender, wise and beautiful states of thought and being. tennyson, in a famous letter published some time ago, mentioned that he had at different times experienced such a mood; the idea of death was laughable; it was not thought, but a state; "the clearest of the clearest, the surest of the surest." it would be easy to do on multiplying instances. now in a nature where unity underlies all differences, where soul is bound to soul more than star to star; where if one falters or fails the order of all the rest is changed; the duty of any man who perceives this unity is clear, the call for brotherly action is imperative, selfishness cannot any longer wear the mask of wisdom, for isolation is folly and shuts us out from the eternal verities. the third object of the society defined as "the study of the psychic powers latent in man" is pursued only by a portion of the members; those who wish to understand more clearly the working of certain laws of nature and who wish to give themselves up more completely to that life in which they live and move and have their being; and the outward expression of the occult life is also brotherhood. --nov. , the hour of twilight for the future we intend that at this hour the mystic shall be at home, less metaphysical and scientific than is his wont, but more really himself. it is customary at this hour, before the lamps are brought in, to give way a little and dream, letting all the tender fancies day suppresses rise up in out minds. wherever it is spent, whether in the dusky room or walking home through the blue evening, all things grow strangely softened and united; the magic of the old world reappears. the commonplace streets take on something of the grandeur and solemnity of starlit avenues of egyptian temples the public squares in the mingled glow and gloom grow beautiful as the indian grove where sakuntala wandered with her maidens; the children chase each other through the dusky shrubberies, as they flee past they look at us with long remembered glances: lulled by the silence, we forget a little while the hard edges of the material and remember that we are spirits. now is the hour for memory, the time to call in and make more securely our own all stray and beautiful ideas that visited us during the day, and which might otherwise be forgotten. we should draw them in from the region of things felt to the region of things understood; in a focus burning with beauty and pure with truth we should bind them, for from the thoughts thus gathered in something accrues to the consciousness; on the morrow a change impalpable but real has taken place in our being, we see beauty and truth through everything. it is in like manner in devachan, between the darkness of earth and the light of spiritual self-consciousness, that the master in each of us draws in and absorbs the rarest and best of experiences, love, self-forgetfulness, aspiration, and out of these distils the subtle essence of wisdom, so that he who struggles in pain for his fellows, when he wakens again on earth is endowed with the tradition of that which we call self-sacrifice, but which is in reality the proclamation of our own universal nature. there are yet vaster correspondences, for so also we are told, when the seven worlds are withdrawn, the great calm shepherd of the ages draws his misty hordes together in the glimmering twilights of eternity, and as they are penned within the awful fold, the rays long separate are bound into one, and life, and joy, and beauty disappear, to emerge again after rest unspeakable on the morning of a new day. now if the aim of the mystic be to fuse into one all moods made separate by time, would not the daily harvesting of wisdom render unnecessary the long devachanic years? no second harvest could be reaped from fields where the sheaves are already garnered. thus disregarding the fruits of action, we could work like those who have made the great sacrifice, for whom even nirvana is no resting place. worlds may awaken in nebulous glory, pass through their phases of self-conscious existence and sink again to sleep, but these tireless workers continue their age-long task of help. their motive we do not know, but in some secret depth of our being we feel that there could be nothing nobler, and thinking this we have devoted the twilight hour to the understanding of their nature. --february , there are dreams which may be history or may be allegory. there is in them nothing grotesque, nothing which could mar the feeling of authenticity, the sense of the actual occurence of the dream incident. the faces and figures perceived have the light shade and expression which seems quite proper to the wonderworld in which the eye of the inner man has vision; and yet the story may be read as a parable of spiritual truth like some myth of ancient scripture. long ago i had may such dreams, and having lately become a student of such things, i have felt an interest in recalling the more curious and memorable of these early vision. the nebulous mid-region between waking and unconsciousness was the haunt of many strange figures, reflections perhaps from that true life led during sleep by the immortal man. among these figures two awoke the strangest feelings of interest. one was an old man with long grey hair and beard, whose grey-blue eyes had an expression of secret and inscrutable wisdom; i felt an instinctive reverence for this figure, so expressive of spiritual nobility, and it became associated in my mind with all aspiration and mystical thought. the other figure was that of a young girl. these two appeared again and again in my visions; the old man always as instructor, the girl always as companion. i have here written down one of these adventures, leaving it to the reader to judge whether it is purely symbolical, or whether the incidents related actually took place, and were out-realized from latency by the power of the master within. with the girl as my companion i left an inland valley and walked towards the sea. it was evening when we reached it and the tide was far out. the sands glimmered away for miles on each side of us; we walked outwards through the dim coloured twilight, i was silent; a strange ecstacy slowly took possession of me, as if drop by drop an unutterable life was falling within; the fever grew intense, then unbearable as it communicated itself to the body; with a wild cry i began to spin about, whirling round and round in ever increasing delirium; some secretness was in the air; i was called forth by the powers of invisible nature and in a swoon i fell. i rose again with sudden memory, but my body was lying upon the sands; with a curious indifference i saw that the tide was on the turn and the child was unable to remove the insensible form beyond its reach; i saw her sit down beside it and place the head upon her lap; she sat there quietly waiting, while all about her little by little the wave of the indian sea began to ripple inwards, and overhead the early stars began softly to glow. after this i forgot completely the child and the peril of the waters, i began to be conscious of the presence of a new world. all around me currents were flowing, in whose waves dance innumerable lives; diaphanous forms glided about, a nebulous sparkle was everywhere apparent; faces as of men in dreams glimmered on me, or unconsciously their forms drifted past, and now and then a face looked sternly upon me with a questioning glance. i was not to remain long in this misty region, again i felt the internal impulse and internally i was translated into a sphere of more pervading beauty and light; and here with more majesty and clearness than i had observed before was the old man of my dreams. i had though of him as old but there was an indescribable youth pervading the face with its ancient beauty, and then i knew it was neither age nor youth, it was eternalness. the calm light of thought played over features clear cut as a statue's, and an inner luminousness shone through the rose of his face and his silver hair. there were others about but of them i had no distinct vision. he said, "you who have lived and wandered through our own peculiar valleys look backwards now and learn the alchemy of thought." he touched me with his hand and i became aware of the power of these strange beings. i felt how they had waited in patience, how they had worked and willed in silence; from them as from a fountain went forth peace; to them as to the stars rose up unconsciously the aspirations of men, the dumb animal cravings, the tendrils of the flowers. i saw how in the valley where i lived, where naught had hindered, their presence had drawn forth in luxuriance all dim and hidden beauty, a rarer and pure atmosphere recalled the radiant life of men in the golden dawn of the earth. with wider vision i saw how far withdrawn from strife they had stilled the tumults of nations; i saw how hearing far within the voices, spiritual, remote, which called, the mighty princes of the earth descended from their thrones becoming greater than princes; under this silent influence the terrible chieftains flung open the doors of their dungeons that they themselves might become free, and all these joined in that hymn which the quietude of earth makes to sound in the ears of the gods.--overpowered i turned round, the eyes of light were fixed upon me. "do you now understand?" "i do not understand," i replied. i see that the light and the beauty and the power that enters the darkness of the world comes from these high regions; but i do not know how the light enters, no how beauty is born, i do not know the secret of power." "you must become as one of us," he answered. i bowed my head until it touched his breast; i felt my life was being drawn from me, but before consciousness utterly departed and was swallowed up in that larger life, i learned something of the secret of their being; i lived within the minds of men, but their thoughts were not my thoughts; i hung like a crown over everything, yet age was no nearer than childhood to the grasp of my sceptre and sorrow was far away when it wept for my going, and very far was joy when it woke at my light; yet i was the lure that led them on; i was at the end of all ways, and i was also in the sweet voice that cried "return;" and i had learned how spiritual life is one in all things, when infinite vistas and greater depths received me, and i went into that darkness out of which no memory can ever return. --march , the mask of apollo a tradition rises up within me of quiet, unrumoured years, ages before the demigods and heroes toiled at the making of greece, long ages before the building of the temples and sparkling palaces of her day of glory. the land was pastoral, all over its woods hung a stillness as of dawn and of unawakened beauty deep-breathing in rest. here and there little villages sent up their smoke and a dreamy people moved about; they grew up, toiled a little at their fields, followed their sheep and goats, they wedded and grey age overtook them, but they never ceased to be children. they worshiped the gods with ancient rites in little wooden temples and knew many things which were forgotten in later years. near one of these shrines lived a priest, an old man whose simple and reverend nature made him loved by all around. to him, sitting one summer evening before his hut, came a stranger whom he invited to share his meal. the stranger sat down and began to tell him many wonderful things, stories of the magic of the sun and of the bright beings who moved at the gates of the day. the old priest grew drowsy in the warm sunlight and fell asleep. then the stranger who was apollo arose and in the guise of the old priest entered the little temple, and the people came in unto him one after the other. agathon, the husbandman. "father, as i bend over the fields or fasten up the vines, i sometimes remember how you said that the gods can be worshiped by doing these things as by sacrifice. how is it, father, that the pouring of cool water over roots, or training up the branches can nourish zeus? how can the sacrifice appear before his throne when it is not carried up in the fire and vapour." apollo. "agathon, the father omnipotent does not live only in the aether. he runs invisibly within the sun and stars, and as they whirl round and round, they break out into woods and flowers and streams, and the winds are shaken away from them like leaves from off the roses. great, strange and bright, he busies himself within, and at the end of time his light shall shine through and men shall see it, moving in a world of flame. think then, as you bend over your fields, of what you nourish and what rises up within them. know that every flower as it droops in the quiet of the woodland feels within and far away the approach of an unutterable life and is glad, they reflect that life even as the little pools take up the light of the stars. agathon, agathon, zeus is no greater in the aether than he is in the leaf of grass, and the hymns of men are no sweeter to him than a little water poured over one of his flowers." agathon the husbandman went away and bent tenderly over his fruits and vines, and he loved each one of them more than before, and he grew wise in many things as he watched them and he was happy working for the gods. then spake damon the shepherd, "father, while the flocks are browsing dreams rise up within me; they make the heart sick with longing; the forests vanish, i hear no more the lamb's bleat or the rustling of the fleeces; voices from a thousand depths call me, they whisper, they beseech me, shadows lovelier than earth's children utter music, not for me though i faint while i listen. father, why do i hear the things others hear not, voices calling to unknown hunters of wide fields, or to herdsmen, shepherds of the starry flocks"? apollo answered, "damon, a song stole from the silence while the gods were not yet, and a thousand ages passed ere they came, called forth by the music, and a thousand ages they listened then joined in the song; then began the worlds to glimmer shadowy about them and bright beings to bow before them. these, their children, began in their turn to sing the song that calls forth and awakens life. he is master of all things who has learned their music. damon, heed not the shadows, but the voices, the voices have a message to thee from beyond the gods. learn their song and sing it over again to the people until their hearts too are sick with longing and they can hear the song within themselves. oh, my son, i see far off how the nations shall join in it as in a chorus, and hearing it the rushing planets shall cease from their speed and be steadfast; men shall hold starry sway." the face of the god shone through the face of the old man, and filled with awe, it was so full of secretness. damon the herdsman passed from his presence and a strange fire was kindled in his heart. then the two lovers, dion and neaera, came in and stood before apollo. dion spake, "father, you who are so wise can tell us what love is, so that we shall never miss it. old tithonius nods his grey head at us as we pass; he says, 'only with the changeless gods has love endurance, for men the loving time is short and its sweetness is soon over.'" neaera added. "but it is not true, father, for his drowsy eyes light when he remembers the old days, when he was happy and proud in love as we are." apollo. "my children, i will tell you the legend how love came into the world and how it may endure. it was on high olympus the gods held council at the making of man; each had brought a gift, they gave to man something of their own nature. aphrodite, the loveliest and sweetest, paused and was about to add a new grace to his person, but eros cried, "let them not be so lovely without, let them be lovelier within. put you own soul in, o mother." the mighty mother smiled, and so it was; and now whenever love is like hers, which asks not return but shines on all because it must, within that love aphrodite dwells and it becomes immortal by her presence." then dion and neaera went out, and as they walked homewards through the forest, purple and vaporous in the evening light, they drew closer together; and dion looking into her eyes saw there a new gleam, violet, magical, shining, there was the presence of aphrodite, there was her shrine. then came in unto apollo the two grandchildren of old thithonius and they cried, "see the flowers we have brought you, we gathered them for you down in the valley where they grow best." then apollo said, "what wisdom shall we give to children that they may remember? our most beautiful for them!" as he stood and looked at them the mask of age and secretness vanished, he stood before them radiant in light; they laughed in joy at his beauty; he bent down and kissed them each upon the forehead then faded away into the light which was his home. as the sun sank down amid the blue hills the old priest awoke with a sigh and cried out, "oh that we could talk wisely as we do in our dreams." --april , the secret of power it is not merely because it is extraordinary that i wish to tell you this story. i think mere weirdness, grotesque or unusual character, are not sufficient reasons for making public incidents in which there is an element of the superhuman. the world, in spite of its desire to understand the nature of the occult is sick of and refuses to listen to stories of apparitions which betray no spiritual character or reveal no spiritual law. the incident here related is burned into my mind and life, not because of its dramatic intensity or personal character, but because it was a revelation of the secret of power, a secret which the wise in good and the wise in evil alike have knowledge of. my friend felix was strangely disturbed; not only were his material affairs unsettled, but he was also passing through a crisis in his spiritual life. two paths were open before him; on one side lay the dazzling mystery of passion; on the other "the small old path" held out its secret and spiritual allurements. i had hope that he would choose the latter, and as i was keenly interested in his decision. i invested the struggle going on in his mind with something of universal significance, seeing in it a symbol of the strife between "light and darkness which are the world's eternal ways." he came in late one evening. i saw at once by the dim light that there was something strange in his manner. i spoke to him in enquiry; he answered me in a harsh dry voice quite foreign to his usual manner. "oh, i am not going to trouble myself any more, i will let things take their course." this seemed the one idea in his mind, the one thing he understood clearly was that things were to take their own course; he failed to grasp the significance of any other idea or its relative importance. he answered "aye, indeed," with every appearance of interest and eagerness to some trivial remark about the weather, and was quite unconcerned about another and most important matter which should have interested him deeply. i soon saw what had happened; his mind, in which forces so evenly balanced had fought so strenuously, had become utterly wearied out and could work no longer. a flash of old intuition illumined it at last,-- it was not wise to strive with such bitterness over life,--therefore he said to me in memory of this intuition, "i am going to let things take their course." a larger tribunal would decide; he had appealed unto caesar. i sent him up to his room and tried to quiet his fever by magnetization with some success. he fell asleep, and as i was rather weary myself i retired soon after. this was the vision of the night. it was surely in the room i was lying and on my bed, and yet space opened on every side with pale, clear light. a slight wavering figure caught my eye, a figure that swayed to and fro; i was struck with its utter feebleness, yet i understood it was its own will or some quality of its nature which determined that palpitating movement towards the poles between which it swung. what were they? i became silent as night and thought no more. two figures awful in their power opposed each other; the frail being wavering between them could by putting out its arms have touched them both. it alone wavered, for they were silent, resolute and knit in the conflict of will; they stirred not a hand nor a foot; there was only a still quivering now and then as of intense effort, but they made no other movement. their heads were bent forward slightly, their arms folded, their bodies straight, rigid, and inclined slightly backwards from each other like two spokes of a gigantic wheel. what were they, these figures? i knew not, and yet gazing upon them, thought which took no words to clothe itself mutely read their meaning. here were the culminations of the human, towering images of the good and evil man may aspire to. i looked at the face of the evil adept. his bright red-brown eyes burned with a strange radiance of power; i felt an answering emotion of pride, of personal intoxication, of psychic richness rise up within me gazing upon him. his face was archetypal; the abstract passion which eluded me in the features of many people i knew, was here declared, exultant, defiant, giantesque; it seem to leap like fire, to be free. in this face i was close to the legendary past, to the hopeless worlds where men were martyred by stony kings, where prayer was hopeless, where pity was none. i traced a resemblance to many of the great destroyers in history whose features have been preserved, napoleon, ramses and a hundred others, named and nameless, the long line of those who were crowned and sceptered in cruelty. his strength was in human weakness, i saw this, for space and the hearts of men were bare before me. out of space there flowed to him a stream half invisible of red; it nourished that rich radiant energy of passion; it flowed from men as they walked and brooded in loneliness, or as they tossed in sleep. i withdrew my gaze from this face which awoke in me a lurid sense accompaniment, and turned it on the other. an aura of pale soft blue was around this figure through which gleamed an underlight as of universal gold. the vision was already dim and departing, but i caught a glimpse of a face godlike in its calm, terrible in the beauty of a life we know only in dreams, with strength which is the end of the hero's toil, which belongs to the many times martyred soul; yet not far away not in the past was its power, it was the might of life which exists eternally. i understood how easy it would have been for this one to have ended the conflict, to have gained a material victory by its power, but this would not have touched on or furthered its spiritual ends. only its real being had force to attract that real being which was shrouded in the wavering figure. this truth the adept of darkness knew also and therefore he intensified within the sense of pride and passionate personality. therefore they stirred not a hand nor a foot while under the stimulus of their presence culminated the good and evil in the life which had appealed to a higher tribunal to decide. then this figure wavering between the two moved forward and touched with its hand the son of light. all at once the scene and actors vanished, and the eye that saw them was closed, i was alone with darkness and a hurricane of thoughts. strange and powerful figures! i knew your secret of strength, it is only to be, nature quickened by your presence leaps up in response. i knew no less the freedom of that human soul, for your power only revealed its unmanifest nature, it but precipitated experience. i knew that although the gods and cosmic powers may war over us for ever, it is we alone declare them victors or vanquished. for the rest the vision of that night was prophetic, and the feet of my friend are now set on that way which was the innermost impulse of his soul. --may , the priestess of the woods here is a legend whispered to me, the land or time i cannot tell, it may have been in the old atlantean days. there were vast woods and a young priestess ruled them; she presided at the festivals and sacrificed at the altar for the people, interceding with the spirits of fire, water air and earth, that the harvest might not be burned up, nor drenched with the floods, nor town by storms and that the blight might not fall upon it, which things the elemental spirits sometimes brought about. this woodland sovereignty was her heritage from her father who was a mighty magician before her. around her young days floated the faery presences; she knew them as other children know the flowers having neither fear nor wonder for them. she saw deeper things also; as a little child, wrapped up in her bearskin, she watched with awe her father engaged in mystic rites; when around him the airy legions gathered from the populous elements, the spirits he ruled and the spirits he bowed down before: fleeting nebulous things white as foam coming forth from the great deep who fled away at the waving of his hand; and rarer the great sons of fire, bright and transparent as glass, who though near seemed yet far away and were still and swift as the figures that glance in a crystal. so the child grew up full of mystery; her thoughts were not the thoughts of the people about her, nor their affections her affections. it seemed as if the elf-things or beings carved by the thought of the magician, pushed aside by his strong will and falling away from him, entering into the child became part of her, linking her to the elemental beings who live in the star-soul that glows within the earth. her father told her such things as she asked, but he died while she was yet young and she knew not his aim, what man is, or what is his destiny; but she knew the ways of every order of spirit that goes about clad in a form, how some were to be dreaded and some to be loved; by reason of this knowledge she succeeded as priestess to the shrine, and held the sway of beauty and youth, of wisdom and mystery over the people dwelling in the woods. it was the evening of the autumn festival, the open grassy space before the altar was crowded with figures, hunters with their feathered heads; shepherds, those who toil in the fields, the old and hoary were gathered around. the young priestess stood up before them; she was pale from vigil, and the sunlight coming through the misty evening air fell upon her swaying arms and her dress with its curious embroidery of peacock's feathers; the dark hollows of her eyes were alight and as she spoke inspiration came to her; her voice rose and fell, commanding, warning, whispering, beseeching; its strange rich music flooded the woods and pierced through and through with awe the hearts of those who listened. she spoke of the mysteries of that unseen nature; how man is watched and ringed round with hosts who war upon him, who wither up his joys by their breath; she spoke of the gnomes who rise up in the woodland paths with damp arms grasping from their earthy bed. "dreadful" she said "are the elementals who live in the hidden waters: they rule the dreaming heart: their curse is forgetfulness; they lull man to fatal rest, with drowsy fingers feeling to put out his fire of life. but the most of all, dread the powers that move in air; their nature is desire unquenchable; their destiny is--never to be fulfilled--never to be at peace: they roam hither and thither like the winds they guide; they usurp dominion over the passionate and tender soul, but they love not in our way; where they dwell the heart is a madness and the feet are filled with a hurrying fever, and night has no sleep and day holds no joy in its sunlit cup. listen not to their whisper; they wither and burn up the body with their fire; the beauty they offer is smitten through and through with unappeasable anguish." she paused for a moment; here terrible breath had hardly ceased to thrill them, when another voice was heard singing; its note was gay and triumphant, it broke the spell of fear upon the people, "i never heed by waste or wood the cry of fay or faery thing who tell of their own solitude; above them all my soul is king. the royal robe as king i wear trails all along the fields of light; its silent blue and silver bear for gems the starry dust of night. the breath of joy unceasingly waves to and fro its fold star-lit, and far beyond earth's misery i live and breathe the joy of it." the priestess advanced from the altar, her eyes sought for the singer; when she came to the centre of the opening she paused and waited silently. almost immediately a young man carrying a small lyre stepped out of the crowd and stood before her; he did not seem older than the priestess; he stood unconcerned though her dark eyes blazed at the intrusion; he met her gaze fearlessly; his eyes looked into hers--in this way all proud spirits do battle. her eyes were black with almost a purple tinge, eyes that had looked into the dark ways of nature; his were bronze, and a golden tinge, a mystic opulence of vitality seemed to dance in their depths; they dazzled the young priestess with the secrecy of joy; her eyes fell for a moment. he turned round and cried out, "your priestess speaks but half truths, her eyes have seen but her heart does not know. life is not terrible but is full of joy. listen to me. i passed by while she spake, and i saw that a fear lay upon every man, and you shivered thinking of your homeward path, fearful as rabbits of the unseen things, and forgetful how you have laughed at death facing the monsters who crush down the forests. do you not know that you are greater than all these spirits before who you bow in dread; your life springs from a deeper source. answer me, priestess, where go the fire-spirits when winter seizes the world?" "into the fire-king they go, they dream in his heart." she half chanted, the passion of her speech not yet fallen away from her. "and where go the fires of men when they despair"? she was silent; then he continued half in scorn, "your priestess is the priestess of ghouls and fays rather than a priestess of men; her wisdom is not for you; the spirits that haunt the elements are hostile because they see you full of fear; do not dread them and their hatred will vanish. the great heart of the earth is full of laughter; do not put yourselves apart from its joy, for its soul is your soul and its joy is your true being." he turned and passed through the crowd; the priestess made a motion as if she would have stayed him, then she drew herself up proudly and refrained. they heard his voice again singing as he passed into the darkening woods, "the spirits to the fire-king throng each in the winter of his day: and all who listen to their song follow them after in that way. they seek the heart-hold of the king, they build within his halls of fire, their dreams flash like the peacock's wing, they glow with sun-hues of desire. i follow in no faery ways; i heed no voice of fay or elf; i in the winter of my days rest in the high ancestral self." the rites interrupted by the stranger did not continue much longer; the priestess concluded her words of warning; she did not try to remove the impression created by the poet's song, she only said, "his wisdom may be truer. it is more beautiful than the knowledge we inherit." the days passed on; autumn died into winter, spring came again and summer, and the seasons which brought change to the earth brought change to the young priestess. she sought no longer to hold sway over the elemental tribes, and her empire over them departed: the song of the poet rang for ever in her ears; its proud assertion of kingship and joy in the radiance of a deeper life haunted her like truth; but such a life seemed unattainable by her and a deep sadness rested in her heart. the wood-people often saw her sitting in the evening where the sunlight fell along the pool, waving slowly its azure and amethyst, sparkling and flashing in crystal and gold, melting as if a phantom bird of paradise were fading away; her dark head was bowed in melancholy and all the great beauty flamed and died away unheeded. after a time she rose up and moved about, she spoke more frequently to the people who had not dared to question her, she grew into a more human softness, they feared her less and loved her more; but she ceased not from her passionate vigils and her step faltered and her cheek paled, and her eager spirit took flight when the diamond glow of winter broke out over the world. the poet came again in the summer; they told him of the change they could not understand, but he fathomed the depths of this wild nature, and half in gladness, half in sorrow, he carved an epitaph over her tomb near the altar, where is the priestess of this shrine, and by what place does she adore? the woodland haunt below the pine now hears her whisper nevermore. ah, wrapped in her own beauty now she dreams a dream that shall not cease; priestess, to her own soul to bow is hers in everlasting peace. --july , a tragedy in the temple i have often thought with sadness over the fate of that comrade. that so ardent and heroic a spirit, so much chivalry and generosity should meet such a horrible fate, has often made me wonder if there is any purpose in this tangled being of ours; i have hated life and the gods as i thought of it. what brought him out of those great deserts where his youth was spent, where his soul grew vast knowing only of two changes, the blaze of day and night the purifier, blue, mysterious, ecstatic with starry being? were not these enough for him? could the fire of the altar inspire more? could he be initiated deeper in the chambers of the temple than in those great and lonely places where god and man are alone together? this was my doing; resting in his tent when i crossed the desert, i had spoken to him of that old wisdom which the priests of the inner temple keep and hand down from one to the other; i blew to flame the mystic fire which already smouldered within him, and filled with the vast ambition of god, he left his tribe and entered the priesthood as neophyte in the temple of isthar, below ninevah. i had sometimes to journey thither bearing messages from our high priest, and so as time passed my friendship with asur grew deep. that last evening when i sat with him on the terrace that roofed the temple, he was more silent than i had known him before to be; we had generally so many things to speak of; for he told me all his dreams, such vague titanic impulses as the soul has in the fresh first years of its awakening, when no experience hinders with memory its flights of aspiration, and no anguish has made it wise. but that evening there was, i thought, something missing; a curious feverishness seemed to have replaced the cool and hardy purity of manner which was natural to him; his eyes had a strange glow, fitful and eager; i saw by the starlight how restless his fingers were, they intertwined, twisted, and writhed in and out. we sat long in the rich night together; then he drew nearer to me and leaned his head near my shoulder; he began to whisper incoherently a wild and passionate tale; the man's soul was being tempted. "brother" he said, "i am haunted by a vision, by a child of the stars as lovely as isthar's self; she visits my dreaming hours, she dazzles me with strange graces, she bewilders with unspeakable longing. sometime, i know, i must go to her, though i perish. when i see her i forget all else and i have will to resist no longer. the vast and lonely inspiration of the desert departs from my thought, she and the jewel-light she lives in blot it out. the thought of her thrills me like fire. brother give me help, ere i go mad or die; she draws me away from earth and i shall end my days amid strange things, a starry destiny amid starry races." i was not then wise in these things, i did not know the terrible dangers that lurk in the hidden ways in which the soul travels. "this" i said " is some delusion. you have brooded over a fancy until it has become living; you have filled your creation with your own passion and it lingers and tempts you; even if it were real, it is folly to think of it, we must close our hearts to passion if we would attain the power and wisdom of gods." he shook his head, i could not realize or understand him. perhaps if i had known all and could have warned him, it would have been in vain; perhaps the soul must work out its own purification in experience and learn truth and wisdom through being. once more he became silent and restless. i had to bid him farewell as i was to depart on the morrow, but he was present in my thoughts and i could not sleep because of him; i felt oppressed with the weight of some doom about to fall. to escape from this feeling i rose in adoration to hea; i tried to enter into the light of that wisdom; a sudden heart-throb of warning drew me back; i thought of asur instinctively, and thinking of him his image flashed on me. he moved as if in trance through the glassy waves of those cosmic waters which everywhere lave and permeate the worlds, and in which our earth is but a subaqueous mound. his head was bowed, his form dilated to heroic stature, as if he conceived of himself as some great thing or as moving to some high destiny; and this shadow which was the house of his dreaming soul grew brilliant with the passionate hues of his thought; some power beyond him drew him forth. i felt the fever and heat of this inner sphere like a delirious breath blow fiercely about me; there was a phosphorescence of hot and lurid colours. the form of asur moved towards a light streaming from a grotto, i could see within it burning gigantic flowers. on one, as on a throne, a figure of weird and wonderful beauty was seated. i was thrilled with a dreadful horror, i thought of the race of liliths, and some long forgotten and tragic legends rose up in my memory of these beings whose soul is but a single and terrible passion; whose love too fierce for feebler lives to endure, brings death or madness to men. i tried to warn, to awaken him from the spell; my will-call aroused him; he turned, recognized me and hesitated; then this figure that lured him rose to her full height; i saw her in all her plume of a peacock, it was spotted with gold and green and citron dyes, she raised her arms upwards, her robe, semi-transparent, purple and starred over with a jewel lustre, fell in vaporous folds to her feet like the drift over a waterfall. she turned her head with a sudden bird-like movement, her strange eyes looked into mine with a prolonged and snaky glance; i saw her move her arms hither and thither, and the waves of this inner ocean began to darken and gather about me, to ripple through me with feverish motion. i fell into a swoon and remembered nothing more. i was awakened before dawn, those with whom i was to cross the desert were about to start and i could remain no longer. i wrote hurriedly to asur a message full of warning and entreaty and set out on my return journey full of evil forebodings. some months after i had again to visit the temple; it was evening when i arrived; after i had delivered the message with which i was charged, i asked for asur. the priest to whom i spoke did not answer me. he led me in silence up to the terrace that overlooked the desolate eastern desert. the moon was looming white upon the verge, the world was trembling with heat, the winged bulls along the walls shone with a dull glow through the sultry air. the priest pointed to the far end of the terrace. a figure was seated looking out over the desert, his robes were motionless as if their wrinkles were carved of stone, his hands lay on his knees, i walked up to him; i called his name; he did not stir. i came nearer and put my face close to his, it was as white as the moon, his eyes only reflected the light. i turned away from him sick to the very heart. --september , jagrata, svapna and sushupti while the philosophical concepts of ancient india, concerning religion and cosmogony, are to some extent familiar and appreciated in these countries, its psychology, intimately related with its religion and metaphysics, is comparatively unknown. in europe the greatest intellects have been occupied by speculations upon the laws and aspects of physical nature, while the more spiritual hindus were absorbed in investigations as to the nature of life itself; by continual aspiration, devotion, introspection and self-analysis, they had acquired vast knowledge of the states of consciousness possible for man to enter upon; they had laid bare the anatomy of the mind, and described the many states that lay between the normal waking condition of man, and the final state of spiritual freedom and unity with brahma, which it was the aim alike of religion and science to bring about. most interesting among their ideas, was their analysis of the states of consciousness upon which we enter during sleep. roughly speaking, they may be divided into two, which together with the waking state, make a trinity of states through which every person passes, whether he be aware of it or not. these states are known as:---jagrata, waking; svapna, dreaming; and sushupti, deep sleep. the english equivalents of these words give no idea of the states. passing our of jagrata, the indians held that, beyond the chaotic borderland, we entered, in svapna and sushupti, upon real states of being. sushupti, the highest, was accounted a spiritual state; here the soul touches vaster centres in the great life and has communion with celestial intelligences. the unification of these states into one is one of the results of raj-yoga; in this state the chela keeps memory of what occurred while his consciousness was in the planes of svapna and sushupti. entrance upon these states should not i think be understood as meaning that the mind has deserted its fleshly tabernacle in search of such experience. departure from the physical form is no more necessary for this than for clairvoyence, but a transfer of the consciousness in us from one plane to another is necessary. now as we generate karma in the dreaming and deep sleep states which may either help or hinder the soul in its evolution, it is a matter of importance that we should take steps to promote the unification of these states, so that the knowledge and wisdom of any one state may be used to perfect the others. our thoughts and actions in the waking state react upon the dreaming and deep sleep, and our experiences in the latter influence us in the waking state by suggestion and other means. the reason we do not remember what occurs in svapna and sushupti is because the astral matter which normally surrounds the thinking principle is not subtle enough to register in its fullness the experience of any one upon the more spiritual planes of consciousness. to increase the responsiveness upon the more spiritual planes of consciousness. to increase the responsiveness of this subtle matter we have to practise concentration, and so heighten the vibrations, or in other words to evolve or perfect the astral principle. modern science is rapidly coming to the conclusion that the differences perceived in objects around us, are not differences in substance, but differences of vibration in one substance. take a copper wire; pass electrical currents through it, gradually increasing their intensity, and phenomena of sound, heat and light will be manifest, the prismatic colours appearing one after the other. similarly by an increased intensity in the performance of every action, the consciousness is gradually transferred from the lower to the higher planes. in order to give a point, or to direct the evolving faculties into their proper channel, continual aspiration is necessary. take some idea--the spiritual unity of all things, for example--something which can only be realized by our complete absorption in spiritual nature; let every action be performed in the light of this idea, let it be the subject of reverent thought. if this is persisted in, we will gradually begin to become conscious upon the higher planes, the force of concentration carrying the mind beyond the waking into svapna and sushupti. the period between retiring to rest and awakening, formerly a blank, will begin to be spotted with bright lights of consciousness, or, as we walk about during the day such knowledge will visit us. "he who is perfected in devotion findeth spiritual knowledge springing up spontaneously in himself" say krishna. patanjali recommends dwelling on the knowledge that presents itself in dreams; if we think over any such experience, many things connected with it will be revealed, and so gradually the whole shadowy region will become familiar and attractive, and we will gain a knowledge of our own nature which will be invaluable and which cannot otherwise be acquired. --january , concentration beyond waking, dreaming and deep sleep is turya. here there is a complete change of condition; the knowledge formerly sought in the external world is now present within the consciousness; the ideations of universal mind are manifest in spiritual intuitions. the entrance to this state is through jagrata, svapna, and sushupti, and here that spiritual unity is realized, the longing for which draws the soul upwards through the shadowy worlds of dreaming and deep sleep. i have thought it necessary to supplement the brief statement made in the previous number by some further remarks upon concentration, for the term applied without reference to the turya state is liable to be misunderstood and a false impression might arise that the spiritual is something to be sought for outside ourselves. the waking, dreaming and deep sleep states correspond to objective worlds, while turya is subjective, including in itself all ideals. if this is so, we can never seek for the true beyond ourselves; the things we suppose we shall come sometime realize in spiritual consciousness must be present in it now, for to spirit all things are eternally present. advance to this state is measured by the realization of moods: we are on the path when there surges up in the innermost recesses of our being the cry of the long imprisoned souls of men; we are then on our way to unity. the bhagavad-gita which is a treatise on raj yoga, gives prominence to three aspects of concentration. liberation is attained by means of action, by devotion, by spiritual discernment; these aspects correspond respectively to three qualities in man and nature, known as tamas, rajas and satva. the tamas is the gross, material or dark quality; rajas is active and passional; the attributes of satva are light, peace, happiness, wisdom. no one while in the body can escape from the action of the three qualities, for they are brought about by nature which is compounded of them. we have to recognize this, and to continue action, aspiration and thought, impersonally or with some universal motive, in the manner nature accomplishes these things. not one of these methods can be laid aside or ignored, for the spirit moveth within all, these are its works, and we have to learn to identify ourselves with the moving forces of nature. having always this idea of brotherhood or unity in mind, by action-- which we may interpret as service in some humanitarian movement-- we purify the tamas. by a pure motive, which is the philosopher's stone, a potent force in the alchemy of nature, we change the gross into the subtle, we initiate that evolution which shall finally make the vesture of the soul of the rare, long-sought-for, primordial substance. devotion is the highest possibility for the rajas; that quality which is ever attracted and seduced by the beautiful mayas of fame, wealth and power, should be directed to that which it really seeks for, the eternal universal life; the channels through which it must flow outwards are the souls of other men, it reaches the one life through the many. spiritual discernment should be the aim of the satva, "there is not anything, whether animate or inanimate which is without me," says krishna, and we should seek for the traces of that in all things, looking upon it as the cause of the alchemical changes in the tamas, as that which widens the outflowing love of the rajas. by a continued persistence of this subtle analytic faculty, we begin gradually to perceive that those things which we formerly thought were causes, are in reality not causes at all; that there is but one cause for everything, "the atma by which this universe is pervaded. by reason of its proximity alone the body, the organs, manas and buddhi apply themselves to their proper objects as if applied (by some one else)." (the crest jewel of wisdom). by uniting these three moods, action, devotion and spiritual discernment, into one mood, and keeping it continuously alight, we are accompanying the movements of spirit to some extent. this harmonious action of all the qualities of our nature, for universal purposes without personal motive, is in synchronous vibration with that higher state spoken of at the beginning of the paper; therefore we are at one with it. "when the wise man perceiveth that the only agents of action are these qualities, and comprehends that which is superior to the qualities of goodness, action and indifference--which are co-existent with the body, it is released from rebirth and death, old age and pain, and drinketh of the water of immortality." --february , verse by ae in the "irish theosophist" contents: --"while the yellow constellations...." (untitled) --om --krishna --pain --three councelors --dusk --dawn --desire --deep sleep --day --to a poet --the place of rest --comfort --h.p.b. (in memoriam.) --by the margin of the great deep --the secret --dust --magic --immortality --the man to the angel --the robing of the king --brotherhood --in the womb --in the garden of god --the breath of light --the free --the magi --w.q.j. (?) --from the book of the eagle --the protest of love --the king initiate --the dream of the children --the chiefs of the air --the palaces of the sidhe --the voice of the wise --a dawn song --the fountain of shadowy beauty --a new earth --duality while the yellow constellations shine with pale and tender glory, in the lilac-scented stillness, let us listen to earth's story. all the flow'rs like moths a-flutter glimmer rich with dusky hues, everywhere around us seem to fall from nowhere the sweet dews. through the drowsy lull, the murmur, stir of leaf and sleep hum we can feel a gay heart beating, hear a magic singing come. ah, i think that as we linger lighting at earth's olden fire fitful gleams in clay that perish, little sparks that soon expire, so the mother brims her gladness from a life beyond her own, from whose darkness as a fountain up the fiery days are thrown starry worlds which wheel in splendour, sunny systems, histories, vast and nebulous traditions told in the eternities: and our list'ning mother whispers through her children all the story: come, the yellow constellations shine with pale and tender glory! --october , om faint grew the yellow buds of light far flickering beyond the snows, as leaning o'er the shadowy white morn glimmered like a pale primrose. within an indian vale below a child said "om" with tender heart, watching with loving eyes the glow in dayshine fade and night depart. the word which brahma at his dawn outbreathes and endeth at his night; whose tide of sound so rolling on gives birth to orbs of golden light; and beauty, wisdom, love, and youth, by its enchantment, gathered grow in age-long wandering to the truth, through many a cycle's ebb and flow. and here all lower life was stilled, the child was lifted to the wise: a strange delight his spirit filled, and brahm looked from his shining eyes. --december , krishna the east was crowned with snow-cold bloom and hung with veils of pearly fleece; they died away into the gloom, vistas of peace, and deeper peace. and earth and air and wave and fire in awe and breathless silence stood, for one who passed into their choir linked them in mystic brotherhood. twilight of amethyst, amid the few strange stars that lit the heights, where was the secret spirit hid, where was thy place, o light of lights? the flame of beauty far in space-- when rose the fire, in thee? in me? which bowed the elemental race to adoration silently. --february , pain men have made them gods of love, sun gods, givers of the rain, deities of hill and grove, i have made a god of pain. of my god i know this much, and in singing i repeat, though there's anguish in his touch yet his soul within is sweet. --march , three counselors it was the fairy of the place moving within a little light, who touched with dim and shadowy grace the conflict at its fever height. it seemed to whisper "quietness," then quietly itself was gone; yet echoes of its mute caress still rippled as the years flowed on. it was the warrior within who called "awake! prepare for fight, "yet lose not memory in the din; "make of thy gentleness thy might. "make of thy silence words to shake "the long-enthroned kings of earth; "make of thy will the force to break "their towers of wantonness and mirth." it was the wise all-seeing soul who counseled neither war nor peace "only be thou thyself that goal "in which the wars of time shall cease." --april , dusk dusk wraps the village in its dim caress; each chimney's vapour, like a thin grey rod, mounting aloft through miles of quietness, pillars the skies of god. far up they break or seem to break their line, mingling their nebulous crests that bow and nod under the light of those fierce stars that shine out of the house of god. only in clouds and dreams i felt those souls in the abyss, each fire hid in its clod, from which in clouds and dreams the spirit rolls into the vast of god. --may , dawn still as the holy of holies breathes the vast, within its crystal depths the stars grow dim, fire on the altar of the hills at last burns on the shadowy rim. moment that holds all moments, white upon the verge it trembles; then like mists of flowers break from the fairy fountain of the dawn the hues of many hours. thrown downward from that high companionship of dreaming inmost heart with inmost heart, into the common daily ways i slip my fire from theirs apart. --june , desire with thee a moment! then what dreams have play! traditions of eternal toil arise, search for the high, austere and lonely way, where brahma treads through the eternities. ah, in the soul what memories arise! and with what yearning inexpressible, rising from long forgetfulness i turn to thee, invisible, unrumoured, still: white for thy whiteness all desires burn! ah, with what longing once again i turn! --august , deep sleep heart-hidden from the outer things i rose, the spirit woke anew in nightly birth into the vastness where forever glows the star-soul of the earth. there all alone in primal ecstasy, within her depths where revels never tire, the olden beauty shines; each thought of me is veined through with its fire. and all my thoughts are throngs of living souls; they breath in me, heart unto heart allied with joy undimmed, though when the morning tolls the planets may divide. --september , day in day from some titanic past it seems as if a thread divine of memory runs; born ere the mighty one began his dreams, or yet were stars and suns. but here an iron will has fixed the bars; forgetfulness falls on earth's myriad races, no image of the proud and morning stars looks at us from their faces. yet yearning still to reach to those dim heights, each dream remembered is a burning-glass, where through to darkness from the light of lights its rays in splendour pass. --september , to a poet oh, be not led away. lured by the colour of the sun-rich day. the gay romances of song unto the spirit-life doth not belong. though far-between the hours in which the master of angelic powers lightens the dusk within the holy of holies; be it thine to win rare vistas of white light, half-parted lips, through which the infinite murmurs her ancient story; hearkening to whom the wandering planets hoary waken primeval fires, with deeper rapture in celestial choirs breathe, and with fleeter motion wheel in their orbits through the surgeless ocean. so, hearken thou like these, intent on her, mounting by slow degrees, until thy song's elation echoes her multitudinous meditation. --november , the place of rest --the soul is its own witness and its own refuge. unto the deep the deep heart goes. it lays its sadness nigh the breast: only the mighty mother knows the wounds that quiver unconfessed. it seeks a deeper silence still; it folds itself around with peace, where thoughts alike of good or ill in quietness unfostered, cease. it feels in the unwounding vast for comfort for its hopes and fears: the mighty mother bows at last; she listens to her children's tears. where the last anguish deepens--there-- the fire of beauty smites through pain, a glory moves amid despair, the mother takes her child again. --december , comfort dark head by the fireside brooding, sad upon your ears whirlwinds of the earth intruding sound in wrath and tears: tender-hearted, in your lonely sorrow i would fain comfort you, and say that only gods could feel such pain. only spirits know such longing for the far away; and the fiery fancies thronging rise not out of clay. keep the secret sense celestial of the starry birth; though about you call the bestial voices of the earth. if a thousand ages since hurled us from the throne: then a thousand ages wins back again our own. sad one, dry away your tears: sceptred you shall rise, equal mid the crystal spheres with seraphs kingly wise. --february, h. p. b. (in memoriam.) though swift the days flow from her day, no one has left her day unnamed: we know what light broke from her ray on us, who in the truth proclaimed grew brother with the stars and powers that stretch away--away to light, and fade within the primal hours, and in the wondrous first unite. we lose with her the right to scorn the voices scornful of her truth: with her a deeper love was born for those who filled her days with ruth. to her they were not sordid things: in them sometimes--her wisdom said-- the bird of paradise had wings; it only dreams, it is not dead. we cannot for forgetfulness forego the reverence due to them, who wear at times they do not guess the sceptre and the diadem. with wisdom of the olden time she made the hearts of dust to flame; and fired us with the hope sublime our ancient heritage to claim; that turning from the visible, by vastness unappalled nor stayed, our wills might rule beside that will by which the tribal stars are swayed; and entering the heroic strife, tread in the way their feet have trod who move within a vaster life, sparks in the fire--gods amid god. --august , by the margin of the great deep when the breath of twilight blows to flame the misty skies, all its vapourous sapphire, violet glow and silver gleam with their magic flood me through the gateway of the eyes; i am one with the twilight's dream. when the trees and skies and fields are one in dusky mood, every heart of man is rapt within the mother's breast: full of peace and sleep and dreams in the vasty quietude, i am one with their hearts at rest. from our immemorial joys of hearth and home and love, strayed away along the margin of the unknown tide, all its reach of soundless calm can thrill me far above word or touch from the lips beside. aye, and deep, and deep, and deeper let me drink and draw from the olden fountain more than light or peace or dream, such primeval being as o'erfills the heart with awe, growing one with its silent stream. --march , the secret one thing in all things have i seen: one thought has haunted earth and air; clangour and silence both have been its palace chambers. everywhere i saw the mystic vision flow, and live in men, and woods, and streams, until i could no longer know the dream of life from my own dreams. sometimes it rose like fire in me, within the depths of my own mind, and spreading to infinity, it took the voices of the wind. it scrawled the human mystery, dim heraldry--on light and air; wavering along the starry sea, i saw the flying vision there. each fire that in god's temple lit burns fierce before the inner shrine, dimmed as my fire grew near to it, and darkened at the light of mine. at last, at last, the meaning caught: when spirit wears its diadem, it shakes its wondrous plumes of thought, and trails the stars along with them. --april , dust i heard them in their sadness say, "the earth rebukes the thought of god: we are but embers wrapt in clay a little nobler than the sod." but i have touched the lips of clay-- mother, thy rudest sod to me is thrilled with fire of hidden day, and haunted by all mystery. --may , magic --after reading the upanishads out of the dusky chamber of the brain flows the imperial will through dream on dream; the fires of life around it tempt and gleam; the lights of earth behind it fade and wane. passed beyond beauty tempting dream on dream, the pure will seeks the hearthold of the light; sounds the deep "om," the mystic word of might; forth from the hearthold breaks the living stream. passed out beyond the deep heart music-filled, the kingly will sits on the ancient throne, wielding the sceptre, fearless, free, alone, knowing in brahma all it dared and willed. --june , immortality we must pass like smoke, or live within the spirits' fire; for we can no more than smoke unto the flame return. if our thought has changed to dream, or will into desire, as smoke we vanish o'er the fires that burn. lights of infinite pity star the grey dusk of our days; surely here is soul; with it we have eternal breath; in the fire of love we live or pass by many ways, by unnumbered ways of dream to death. --july , the man to the angel i have wept a million tears; pure and proud one, where are thine? what the gain of all your years that undimmed in beauty shine? all your beauty cannot win truth we learn in pain and sighs; you can never enter in to the circle of the wise. they are but the slaves of light who have never known the gloom, and between the dark and bright willed in freedom their own doom. think not in your pureness there that our pain but follows sin; there are fires for those who dare seek the throne of might to win. pure one, from your pride refrain; dark and lost amid the strife, i am myriad years of pain nearer to the fount of life. when defiance fierce is thrown at the god to whom you bow, rest the lips of the unknown tenderest upon the brow. --september , songs of olden magic--ii. the robing of the king --"his candle shined upon my head, and by his light i walked through darkness."--job, xxix. on the bird of air blue-breasted glint the rays of gold, and a shadowy fleece above us waves the forest old, far through rumorous leagues of midnight stirred by breezes warm. see the old ascetic yonder, ah, poor withered form! where he crouches wrinkled over by unnumbered years through the leaves the flakes of moonfire fall like phantom tears. at the dawn a kingly hunter passed proud disdain, like a rainbow-torrent scattered flashed his royal train. now the lonely one unheeded seeks earth's caverns dim, never king or princes will robe them radiantly as him. mid the deep enfolding darkness, follow him, oh seer, while the arrow will is piercing fiery sphere on sphere. through the blackness leaps and sparkles gold and amethyst, curling, jetting and dissolving in a rainbow mist. in the jewel glow and lunar radiance rise there one, a morning star in beauty, young, immortal, fair. sealed in heavy sleep, the spirit leaves its faded dress, unto fiery youth returning out of weariness. music as for one departing, joy as for a king, sound and swell, and hark! above him cymbals triumphing. fire an aureole encircling suns his brow with gold like to one who hails the morning on the mountains old. open mightier vistas changing human loves to scorns, and the spears of glory pierce him like a crown of thorns. as the sparry rays dilating o'er his forehead climb once again he knows the dragon wisdom of the prime. high and yet more high to freedom as a bird he springs, and the aureole outbreathing, gold and silver wings plume the brow and crown the seraph. soon his journey done he will pass our eyes that follow, sped beyond the sun. none may know the darker radiance, king, will there be thine. rapt above the light and hidden in the dark divine. --september , brotherhood twilight a blossom grey in shadowy valleys dwells: under the radiant dark the deep blue-tinted bells in quietness reimage heaven within their blooms, sapphire and gold and mystery. what strange perfumes, out of what deeps arising, all the flower-bells fling, unknowing the enchanted odorous song they sing! oh, never was an eve so living yet: the wood stirs not but breathes enraptured quietude. here in these shades the ancient knows itself, the soul, and out of slumber waking starts unto the goal. what bright companions nod and go along with it! out of the teeming dark what dusky creatures flit, that through the long leagues of the island night above come wandering by me, whispering and beseeching love,-- as in the twilight children gather close and press nigh and more nigh with shadowy tenderness, feeling they know not what, with noiseless footsteps glide seeking familiar lips or hearts to dream beside. oh, voices, i would go with you, with you, away, facing once more the radiant gateways of the day; with you, with you, what memories arise, and nigh trampling the crowded figures of the dawn go by; dread deities, the giant powers that warred on men grow tender brothers and gay children once again; fades every hate away before the mother's breast where all the exiles of the heart return to rest. --july , in the womb still rests the heavy share on the dark soil: upon the dull black mould the dew-damp lies: the horse waits patient: from his lonely toil the ploughboy to the morning lifts his eyes. the unbudding hedgerows, dark against day's fires, glitter with gold-lit crystals: on the rim over the unregarding city's spires the lonely beauty shines alone for him. and day by day the dawn or dark enfolds, and feeds with beauty eyes that cannot see how in her womb the mighty mother moulds the infant spirit for eternity. --january , in the garden of god within the iron cities one walked unknown for years, in his heart the pity of pities that grew for human tears when love and grief were ended the flower of pity grew; by unseen hands 'twas tended and fed with holy dew. though in his heart were barred in the blooms of beauty blown; yet he who grew the garden could call no flower his own. for by the hands that watered, the blooms that opened fair through frost and pain were scattered to sweeten the dull air. --february , the breath of light from the cool and dark-lipped furrows breathes a dim delight aureoles of joy encircle every blade of grass where the dew-fed creatures silent and enraptured pass: and the restless ploughman pauses, turns, and wondering deep beneath his rustic habit finds himself a king; for a fiery moment looking with the eyes of god over fields a slave at morning bowed him to the sod. blind and dense with revelation every moment flies, and unto the mighty mother gay, eternal, rise all the hopes we hold, the gladness, dreams of things to be. one of all they generations, mother, hails to thee! hail! and hail! and hail for ever: though i turn again for they joy unto the human vestures of pain. i, thy child, who went forth radiant in the golden prime find thee still the mother-hearted through my night in time; find in thee the old enchantment, there behind the veil where the gods my brothers linger, hail! for ever, hail! --may , the free they bathed in the fire-flooded fountains; life girdled them round and about; they slept in the clefts of the mountains: the stars called them forth with a shout. they prayed, but their worship was only the wonder at nights and at days, as still as the lips of the lonely though burning with dumbness of praise. no sadness of earth ever captured their spirits who bowed at the shrine; they fled to the lonely enraptured and hid in the darkness divine. at twilight as children may gather they met at the doorway of death, the smile of the dark hidden father the mother with magical breath. untold of in song or in story, in days long forgotten of men, their eyes were yet blind with a glory time will not remember again. --november , songs of olden magic--iv the magi "the mountain was filled with the hosts of the tuatha de dannan." --old celtic poem see where the auras from the olden fountain starward aspire; the sacred sign upon the holy mountain shines in white fire: waving and flaming yonder o'er the snows the diamond light melts into silver or to sapphire glows night beyond night; and from the heaven of heavens descends on earth a dew divine. come, let us mingle in the starry mirth around the shrine! enchantress, mighty mother, to our home in thee we press, thrilled by the fiery breath and wrapt in some vast tenderness the homeward birds uncertain o'er their nest wheel in the dome, fraught with dim dreams of more enraptured rest, wheel in the dome, but gather ye to whose undarkened eyes the night is day: leap forth, immortals, birds of paradise, in bright array robed like the shining tresses of the sun; and by his name call from his haunt divine the ancient one our father flame. aye, from the wonder-light that wraps the star, come now, come now; sun-breathing dragon, ray thy lights afar, thy children bow; hush with more awe the breath; the bright-browed races are nothing worth by those dread gods from out whose awful faces the earth looks forth infinite pity, set in calm; their vision cast adown the years beholds how beauty burns away at last their children's tears. now while our hearts the ancient quietness floods with its tide, the things of air and fire and height no less in it abide; and from their wanderings over sea and shore they rise as one unto the vastness and with us adore the midnight sun; and enter the innumerable all, and shine like gold, and starlike gleam in the immortals' hall, the heavenly fold, and drink the sun-breaths from the mother's lips awhile--and then fail from the light and drop in dark eclipse to earth again, roaming along by heaven-hid promontory and valley dim. weaving a phantom image of the glory they knew in him. out of the fulness flow the winds, their son is heard no more, or hardly breathes a mystic sound along the dreamy shore: blindly they move unknowing as in trance, their wandering is half with us, and half an inner dance led by the king. --january , w. q. j. * o hero of the iron age, upon thy grave we will not weep, nor yet consume away in rage for thee and thy untimely sleep. our hearts a burning silence keep. o martyr, in these iron days one fate was sure for soul like thine: well you foreknew but went your ways. the crucifixion is the sign, the meed of all the kingly line. we may not mourn--though such a night has fallen on our earthly spheres bereft of love and truth and light as never since the dawn of years;-- for tears give birth alone to tears. one wreath upon they grave we lay (the silence of our bitter thought, words that would scorch their hearts of clay), and turn to learn what thou has taught, to shape our lives as thine was wrought. --april , [* this is unsigned but is very possibly g.w. russell's. it was a memoriam to william quan judge (w.q.j), the leader of the american and european theosophical societies at the time, one of the original founders of the theosophical society, and close co-worker with h.p. blavatsky.] fron the book of the eagle --[st. john, i. - ] in the mighty mother's bosom was the wise with the mystic father in aeonian night; aye, for ever one with them though it arise going forth to sound its hymn of light. at its incantation rose the starry fane; at its magic thronged the myriad race of men; life awoke that in the womb so long had lain to its cyclic labours once again. 'tis the soul of fire within the heart of life; from its fiery fountain spring the will and thought; all the strength of man for deeds of love or strife, though the darkness comprehend it not. in the mystery written here john is but the life, the seer; outcast from the life of light, inly with reverted sight still he scans with eager eyes the celestial mysteries. poet of all far-seen things at his word the soul has wings, revelations, symbols, dreams of the inmost light which gleams. the winds, the stars, and the skies though wrought by the one fire-self still know it not; and man who moves in the twilight dim feels not the love that encircles him, though in heart, on bosom, and eyelids press lips of an infinite tenderness, he turns away through the dark to roam nor heeds the fire in his hearth and home. they whose wisdom everywhere sees as through a crystal air the lamp by which the world is lit, and themselves as one with it; in whom the eye of vision swells, who have in entranced hours caught the word whose might compels all the elemental powers; they arise as gods from men like the morning stars again. they who seek the place of rest quench the blood-heat of the breast, grow ascetic, inward turning trample down the lust from burning, silence in the self the will for a power diviner still; to the fire-born self alone the ancestral spheres are known. unto the poor dead shadows came wisdom mantled about with flame; we had eyes that could see the light born of the mystic father's might. glory radiant with powers untold and the breath of god around it rolled. life that moved in the deeps below felt the fire in its bosom glow; life awoke with the light allied, grew divinely stirred, and cried: "this is the ancient of days within, light that is ere our days begin. "every power in the spirit's ken springs anew in our lives again. we had but dreams of the heart's desire beauty thrilled with the mystic fire. the white-fire breath whence springs the power flows alone in the spirit's hour." man arose the earth he trod, grew divine as he gazed on god: light in a fiery whirlwind broke out of the dark divine and spoke: man went forth through the vast to tread by the spirit of wisdom charioted. there came the learned of the schools who measure heavenly things by rules, the sceptic, doubter, the logician, who in all sacred things precision, would mark the limit, fix the scope, "art thou the christ for whom we hope? art thou a magian, or in thee has the divine eye power to see?" he answered low to those who came, "not this, nor this, nor this i claim. more than the yearning of the heart i have no wisdom to impart. i am the voice that cries in him whose heart is dead, whose eyes are dim, 'make pure the paths where through may run the light-streams from that golden one, the self who lives within the sun.' as spake the seer of ancient days." the voices from the earthly ways questioned him still: "what dost thou here, if neither prophet, king nor seer? what power is kindled by they might?" "i flow before the feet of light: i am the purifying stream. but one of whom ye have no dream, whose footsteps move among you still, though dark, divine, invisible. impelled by him, before his ways i journey, though i dare not raise even from the ground these eyes so dim or look upon the feet of him." when the dead or dreamy hours like a mantle fall away, wakes the eye of gnostic powers to the light of hidden day, and the yearning heart within seeks the true, the only friend, he who burdened with our sin loves and loves unto the end. ah, the martyr of the world, with a face of steadfast peace round whose brow the light is curled: 'tis the lamb with golden fleece. so they called of old the shining, such a face the sons of men see, and all its life divining wake primeval fires again. such a face and such a glory passed before the eyes of john, with a breath of olden story blown from ages long agone who would know the god in man. deeper still must be his glance. veil on veil his eye must scan for the mystic signs which tell if the fire electric fell on the seer in his trance: as his way he upward wings from all time-encircled things, flames the glory round his head like a bird with wings outspread. gold and silver plumes at rest: such a shadowy shining crest round the hero's head reveals him to the soul that would adore, as the master-power that heals him and the fount of secret lore. nature such a diadem places on her royal line, every eye that looks on them knows the sons of the divine. --april , the protest of love "those who there take refuge nevermore return."--bhagavad gita ere i lose myself in the vastness and drowse myself with the peace, while i gaze on the light and beauty afar from the dim homes of men, may i still feel the heart-pang and pity, love-ties that i would not release, may the voices of sorrow appealing call me back to their succour again. ere i storm with the tempest of power the thrones and dominions of old, ere the ancient enchantment allures me to roam through the star- misty skies, i would go forth as one who has reaped well what harvest the earth may unfold: may my heart be o'erbrimmed with compassion, on my brow be the crown of the wise. i would go as the dove from the ark sent forth with wishes and prayers to return with the paradise-blossoms that bloom in the eden of light: when the deep star-chant of the seraphs i hear in the mystical airs may i capture one tone of their joy for the sad ones discrowned in the night. not alone, not alone would i go to my rest in the heart of the love: were i tranced in the innermost beauty, the flame of its tenderest breath, i would still hear the plaint of the fallen recalling me back from above to go down to the side of the mourners who weep in the shadow of death. --may , the king initiate "they took iesous and scourged him."--st. john age after age the world has wept a joy supreme--i saw the hands whose fiery radiations swept and burned away his earthly bands: and where they smote the living dyes flashed like the plumes of paradise. their joys the heavy nations hush-- a form of purple glory rose crowned with such rays of light as flush the white peaks on their towering snows: it held the magic wand that gave rule over earth, air, fire and wave. what sorrow makes the white cheeks wet: the mystic cross looms shadowy dim-- there where the fourfold powers have met and poured their living tides through him, the son who hides his radiant crest to the dark father's bosom pressed. --june , the dream of the children the children awoke in their dreaming while earth lay dewy and still: they followed the rill in its gleaming to the heart-light of the hill. its sounds and sights were forsaking the world as they faded in sleep, when they heard a music breaking out from the heart-light deep. it ran where the rill in its flowing under the star-light gay with wonderful colour was glowing like the bubbles they blew in their play. from the misty mountain under shot gleams of an opal star: its pathways of rainbow wonder rayed to their feet from afar. from their feet as they strayed in the meadow it led through caverned aisles, filled with purple and green light and shadow for mystic miles on miles. the children were glad; it was lonely to play on the hill-side by day. "but now," they said, "we have only to go where the good people stray." for all the hill-side was haunted by the faery folk come again; and down in the heart-light enchanted were opal-coloured men. they moved like kings unattended without a squire or dame, but they wore tiaras splendid with feathers of starlight flame. they laughed at the children over and called them into the heart: "come down here, each sleepless rover: we will show you some of our art." and down through the cool of the mountain the children sank at the call, and stood in a blazing fountain and never a mountain at all. the lights were coming and going in many a shining strand, for the opal fire-kings were blowing the darkness out of the land. this golden breath was a madness to set a poet on fire, and this was a cure for sadness, and that the ease of desire. and all night long over eri they fought with the wand of light and love that never grew weary the evil things of night. they said, as dawn glimmered hoary, "we will show yourselves for an hour;" and the children were changed to a glory by the beautiful magic of power. the fire-kings smiled on their faces and called them by olden names, till they towered like the starry races all plumed with the twilight flames. they talked for a while together, how the toil of ages oppressed; and of how they best could weather the ship of the world to its rest. the dawn in the room was straying: the children began to blink, when they heard a far voice saying, "you can grow like that if you think!" the sun came in yellow and gay light: they tumbled out of the cot, and half of the dream went with daylight and half was never forgot. --july , the chiefs of the air their wise little heads with scorning they laid the covers between: "do they think we stay here till morning?" said rory and aileen. when out their bright eyes came peeping the room was no longer there, and they fled from the dark world creeping up a twilight cave of air. they wore each one a gay dress, in sleep, if you understand, when earth puts off its grey dress to robe it in faeryland. then loud o'erhead was a humming as clear as the wood wind rings; and here were the air-boats coming and here the airy kings. the magic barks were gleaming and swift as the feathered throng: with wonder-lights out-streaming they blew themselves along. and up on the night-wind swimming, with pose and dart and rise, away went the air fleet skimming through a haze of jewel skies. one boat above them drifted apart from the flying bands, and an air-chief bent and lifted the children with mighty hands. the children wondered greatly, three air-chiefs met them there, they were tall and grave and stately with bodies of purple air. a pearl light with misty shimmer went dancing about them all, as the dyes of the moonbow glimmer on a trembling waterfall. the trail of the fleet to the far lands was wavy along the night, and on through the sapphire starlands they followed the wake of light. "look down, aileen," said rory, "the earth's as thin as a dream." it was lit by a sun-fire glory outraying gleam on gleam. they saw through the dream-world under its heart of rainbow flame where the starry people wander; like gods they went and came. the children looked without talking till roray spoke again, "are those our folk who are walking like little shadow men? "they don't see what is about them, they look like pigmies small, the world would be full without them and they think themselves so tall!" the magic bark went fleeting like an eagle on and on; till over its prow came beating the foam-light of the dawn. the children's dream grew fainter, three air-chiefs still were there, but the sun the shadow painter drew five on the misty air. the dream-light whirled bewild'ring, an air-chief said, "you know. you are living now, my children, ten thousand years ago." they looked at themselves in the old light, and mourned the days of the new where naught is but darkness or cold light, till a bell came striking through. "we must go," said the wise young sages: it was five at dawn by the chimes, and they ran through a thousand ages from the old de danaan times. --august , the palaces of the sidhe two small sweet lives together from dawn till the dew falls down, they danced over rock and heather away from the dusty town. dark eyes like stars set in pansies, blue eyes like a hero's bold-- their thoughts were all pearl-light fancies, their hearts in the age of gold. they crooned o'er many a fable and longed for the bright-capped elves, the faery folk who are able to make us faery ourselves. a hush on the children stealing they stood there hand in hand, for the elfin chimes were pealing aloud in the underland. and over the grey rock sliding, a fiery colour ran, and out of its thickness gliding the twinkling mist of a man-- to-day for the children had fled to an ancient yesterday, and the rill from its tunnelled bed too had turned another way. then down through an open hollow the old man led with a smile: "come, star-hearts, my children, follow to the elfin land awhile." the bells above them were hanging, whenever the earth-breath blew it made them go clanging, clanging, the vasty mountain through. but louder yet than the ringing came the chant of the elfin choir, till the mountain was mad with singing and dense with the forms of fire. the kings of the faery races sat high on the thrones of might, and infinite years from their faces looked out through eyes of light. and one in a diamond splendour shone brightest of all that hour, more lofty and pure and tender, they called him the flower of power. the palace walls were glowing like stars together drawn, and a fountain of air was flowing the primrose colour of dawn. "ah, see!" said aileen sighing, with a bend of her saddened head where a mighty hero was lying, he looked like one who was dead. "he will wake," said their guide, "'tis but seeming, and, oh, what his eyes shall see i will know of only in dreaming till i lie there still as he." they chanted the song of waking, they breathed on him with fire, till the hero-spirit outbreaking, shot radiant above the choir. like a pillar of opal glory lit through with many a gem-- "why, look at him now," said rory, "he has turned to a faery like them!" the elfin kings ascending leaped up from the thrones of might, and one with another blending they vanished in air and light. the rill to its bed came splashing with rocks on the top of that: the children awoke with a flashing of wonder, "what were we at?" they groped through the reeds and clover-- "what funny old markings: look here, they have scrawled the rocks all over: it's just where the door was: how queer!" --september , the voice of the wise they sat with hearts untroubled, the clear sky sparkled above, and an ancient wisdom bubbled from the lips of a youthful love. they read in a coloured history of egypt and of the nile, and half it seemed a mystery, familiar, half, the while. till living out of the story grew old egyptian men, and a shadow looked forth rory and said, "we meet again!" and over aileen a maiden looked back through the ages dim: she laughed, and her eyes were laden with an old-time love for him. in a mist came temples thronging with sphinxes seen in a row, and the rest of the day was a longing for their homes of long ago. "we'd go there if they'd let us," they said with wounded pride: "they never think when they pet us we are old like that inside." there was some one round them straying the whole of the long day through, who seemed to say, "i am playing at hide-and-seek with you." and one thing after another was whispered out of the air, how god was a big kind brother whose home was in everywhere. his light like a smile come glancing from the cool, cool winds as they pass; from the flowers in heaven dancing and the stars that shine in the grass, and the clouds in deep blue wreathing, and most from the mountains tall, but god like a wind goes breathing a heart-light of gold in all. it grows like a tree and pushes its way through the inner gloom, and flowers in quick little rushes of love to a magic bloom. and no one need sigh now or sorrow whenever the heart-light flies, for it comes again on some morrow and nobody ever dies. the heart of the wise was beating in the children's heart that day, and many a thought came fleeting, and fancies solemn and gay. they were grave in a way divining how childhood was taking wings, and the wonder world was shining with vast eternal things. the solemn twilight fluttered like the plumes of seraphim, and they felt what things were uttered in the sunset voice of him. they lingered long, for dearer than home were the mountain places where god from the stars dropt nearer their pale, dreamy faces. their very hearts from beating they stilled in awed delight. for spirit and children were meeting in the purple, ample night. dusk its ash-grey blossoms sheds on violet skies over twilight mountains where the heart-songs rise, rise and fall and fade again from earth to air: earth renews the music sweeter. oh, come there. come, ma cushla, come, as in ancient times rings aloud and the underland with faery chimes. down the unseen ways as strays each tinkling fleece winding ever onward to a fold of peace, so my dreams go straying in a land more fair; half i tread the dew-wet grasses, half wander there. fade your glimmering eyes in a world grown cold: come, ma cushla, with me to the mountain's fold, where the bright ones call us waving to and fro: come, my children, with me to the ancient go. --october , a dawn song while the earth is dark and grey how i laugh within: i know in my breast what ardours gay from the morning overflow. though the cheek be white and wet in my heart no fear may fall: there my chieftain leads, and yet ancient battle-trumpets call. bend on me no hasty frown if my spirit slight your cares: sunlike still my joy looks down changing tears to beamy airs. think me not of fickle heart if with joy my bosom swells though your ways from mine depart: in the true are no farewells. what i love in you i find everywhere. a friend i greet in each flower and tree and wind-- oh, but life is sweet, is sweet. what to you are bolts and bars are to me the hands that guide to the freedom of the stars where my golden kinsmen bide. from my mountain top i view: twilight's purple flower is gone, and i send my song to you on the level light of dawn. --november , --an ancient eden our legends tell of aery fountains upspringing in eri, and how the people of long ago saw them not but only the tuatha de danaan. some deem it was the natural outflow of water at these places which was held to be sacred; but above fountain, rill and river rose up the enchanted froth and foam of invisible rills and rivers breaking forth from tir-na-noge, the soul of the island, and glittering in the sunlight of its mystic day. what we see here is imaged forth from that invisible soul and is a path thereto. in the heroic epic of cuculain standish o'grady writes of such a fountain, and prefixes his chapter with the verse from genesis, "and four rivers went forth from eden to water the garden," and what follows in reference thereto. the fountain of shadowy beauty --a dream i would i could weave in the colour, the wonder, the song i conceive in my heart while i ponder, and show how it came like the magi of old whose chant was a flame like the dawn's voice of gold; who dreams followed near them a murmur of birds, and ear still could hear them unchanted in words. in words i can only reveal thee my heart, oh, light of the lonely, the shining impart. between the twilight and the dark the lights danced up before my eyes: i found no sleep or peace or rest, but dreams of stars and burning skies. i knew the faces of the day-- dream faces, pale, with cloudy hair, i know you not nor yet your home, the fount of shadowy beauty, where? i passed a dream of gloomy ways where ne'er did human feet intrude: it was the border of a wood, a dreadful forest solitude. with wondrous red and fairy gold the clouds were woven o'er the ocean; the stars in fiery aether swung and danced with gay and glittering motion. a fire leaped up within my heart when first i saw the old sea shine; as if a god were there revealed i bowed my head in awe divine; and long beside the dim sea marge i mused until the gathering haze veiled from me where the silver tide ran in its thousand shadowy ways. the black night dropped upon the sea: the silent awe came down with it: i saw fantastic vapours flit as o'er the darkness of the pit. when, lo! from out the furthest night a speck of rose and silver light above a boat shaped wondrously came floating swiftly o'er the sea. it was no human will that bore the boat so fleetly to the shore without a sail spread or an oar. the pilot stood erect thereon and lifted up his ancient face, (ancient with glad eternal youth like one who was of starry race.) his face was rich with dusky bloom; his eyes a bronze and golden fire; his hair in streams of silver light hung flamelike on his strange attire which starred with many a mystic sign, fell as o'er sunlit ruby glowing: his light flew o'er the waves afar in ruddy ripples on each bar along the spiral pathways flowing. it was a crystal boat that chased the light along the watery waste, till caught amid the surges hoary the pilot stayed its jewelled glory. oh, never such a glory was: the pale moon shot it through and through with light of lilac, white and blue: and there mid many a fairy hue of pearl and pink and amethyst, like lightning ran the rainbow gleams and wove around a wonder-mist. the pilot lifted beckoning hands; silent i went with deep amaze to know why came this beam of light so far along the ocean ways out of the vast and shadowy night. "make haste, make haste!" he cried. "away! a thousand ages now are gone. yet thou and i ere night be sped will reck no more of eve or dawn." swift as the swallow to its nest i leaped: my body dropt right down: a silver star i rose and flew. a flame burned golden at his breast: i entered at the heart and knew my brother-self who roams the deep, bird of the wonder-world of sleep. the ruby body wrapped us round as twain in one: we left behind the league-long murmur of the shore and fleeted swifter than the wind. the distance rushed upon the bark: we neared unto the mystic isles: the heavenly city we could mark, its mountain light, its jewel dark, its pinnacles and starry piles. the glory brightened: "do not fear; for we are real, though what seems so proudly built above the waves is but one mighty spirit's dreams. "our father's house hath many fanes; yet enter not and worship not, for thought but follows after thought till last consuming self it wanes. "the fount of shadowy beauty flings its glamour o'er the light of day: a music in the sunlight sings to call the dreamy hearts away their mighty hopes to ease awhile: we will not go the way of them: the chant makes drowsy those who seek the sceptre and the diadem. "the fount of shadowy beauty throws its magic round us all the night; what things the heart would be, it sees and chases them in endless flight. or coiled in phantom visions there it builds within the halls of fire; its dreams flash like the peacock's wing and glow with sun-hues of desire. we will not follow in their ways nor heed the lure of fay or elf, but in the ending of our days rest in the high ancestral self." the boat of crystal touched the shore, then melted flamelike from our eyes, as in the twilight drops the sun withdrawing rays of paradise. we hurried under arched aisles that far above in heaven withdrawn with cloudy pillars stormed the night, rich as the opal shafts of dawn. i would have lingered then--but he-- "oh, let us haste: the dream grows dim, another night, another day, a thousand years will part from him "who is that ancient one divine from whom our phantom being born rolled with the wonder-light around had started in the fairy morn. "a thousand of our years to him are but the night, are but the day, wherein he rests from cyclic toil or chants the song of starry sway. "he falls asleep: the shadowy fount fills all our heart with dreams of light: he wakes to ancient spheres, and we through iron ages mourn the night. we will not wander in the night but in a darkness more divine shall join the father light of lights and rule the long-descended line." even then a vasty twilight fell: wavered in air the shadowy towers: the city like a gleaming shell, its azures, opals, silvers, blues, were melting in more dreamy hues. we feared the falling of the night and hurried more our headlong flight. in one long line the towers went by; the trembling radiance dropt behind, as when some swift and radiant one flits by and flings upon the wind the rainbow tresses of the sun. and then they vanished from our gaze faded the magic lights, and all into a starry radiance fell as waters in their fountain fall. we knew our time-long journey o'er and knew the end of all desire, and saw within the emerald glow our father like the white sun-fire. we could not say if age or youth were on his face: we only burned to pass the gateways of the day, the exiles to the heart returned. he rose to greet us and his breath, the tempest music of the spheres, dissolved the memory of earth, the cyclic labour and our tears. in him our dream of sorrow passed, the spirit once again was free and heard the song the morning-stars chant in eternal revelry. this was the close of human story; we saw the deep unmeasured shine, and sank within the mystic glory they called of old the dark divine. well it is gone now, the dream that i chanted: on this side the dawn now i sit fate-implanted. but though of my dreaming the dawn has bereft me, it all was not seeming for something has left me. i fell in some other world far from this cold light the dream bird, my brother, is rayed with the gold light. i too in the father would hide me, and so, bright bird, to foregather with thee now i go. --december , a new earth "then felt i like some watcher of the skies when a new planet swims within his ken." i who had sought afar from earth the faery land to greet, now find content within its girth, and wonder nigh my feet. to-day a nearer love i choose and seek no distant sphere, for aureoled by faery dews the dear brown breasts appear. with rainbow radiance come and go the airy breaths of day, and eve is all a pearly glow with moonlit winds a-play. the lips of twilight burn my brow, the arms of night caress: glimmer her white eyes drooping now with grave old tenderness. i close mine eyes from dream to be the diamond-rayed again, as in the ancient hours ere we forgot ourselves to men. and all i thought of heaven before i find in earth below, a sunlight in the hidden core to dim the noon-day glow. and with the earth my heart is glad, i move as one of old, with mists of silver i am clad and bright with burning gold. --february duality "from me spring good and evil." who gave thee such a ruby flaming heart, and such a pure cold spirit? side by side i know these must eternally abide in intimate war, and each to each impart life from their pain, with every joy a dart to wound with grief or death the self-allied. red life within the spirit crucified, the eyes eternal pity thee, thou art fated with deathless powers at war to be, not less the martyr of the world than he whose thorn-crowned brow usurps the due of tears we would pay to thee, ever ruddy life, whose passionate peace is still to be at strife, o'erthrown but in the unconflicting spheres. --march , (this is unsigned, but in ae's "collected poems") the element language in a chapter in the secret doctrine dealing with the origin of language, h.p. blavatsky makes some statements which are quoted here and which should be borne well in mind in considering what follows. "the second race had a 'sound language,' to wit, chant-like sounds composed of vowels alone." from this developed "monosyllabic speech which was the vowel parent, so to speak, of the monosyllabic languages mixed with hard consonants still in use among the yellow races which are known to the anthropologist. the linguistic characteristics developed into the agglutinative languages.... the inflectional speech, the root of the sanskrit, was the first language (now the mystery tongue of the initiates) of the fifth race." the nature of that language has not been disclosed along with other teaching concerning the evolution of the race, but like many other secrets the details of which are still preserved by the initiates, it is implied in what has already been revealed. the application to speech of the abstract formula of evolution which they have put forward should result in its discovery, for the clue lies in correspondences; know the nature of any one thing perfectly, learn its genesis, development and consummation, and you have the key to all the mysteries of nature. the microcosm mirrors the macrocosm. but, before applying this key, it is well to glean whatever hints have been given, so that there may be less chance of going astray in our application. first, we gather from the secret doctrine that the sounds of the human voice are correlated with the forces, colours, numbers and forms. "every letter has its occult meaning, the vowels especially contain the most occult and formidable potencies." (s.d., i, ) and again it is said "the magic of the ancient priests consisted in those days in addressing their gods in their own language. the speech of the men of earth cannot reach the lords, each must be addressed in the language of his respective element"---is a sentence which will be shown pregnant with meaning. "the book of rules" cited adds as an explanation of the nature of that element- language: "it is composed of sounds, not words; of sounds, numbers and figures. he who knows how to blend the three, will call forth the response of the superintending power" (the regent-god of the specific element needed). thus this "language is that of incantations or of mantras, as they are called in india, sound being the most potent and effectual magic agent, and the first of the keys which opens the door of communication between mortals and immortals." (s.d. i, ) from these quotations it will be seen that the occult teachings as to speech are directly at variance with the theories of many philologists and evolutionists. a first speech which was like song-- another and more developed speech which is held sacred--an esoteric side to speech in which the elements of our conventional languages (i.e. the letters) are so arranged that speech becomes potent enough to guide the elements, and human speech becomes the speech of the gods--there is no kinship between this ideal language and the ejaculations and mimicry which so many hold to be the root and beginning of it. yet those who wish to defend their right to hold the occult teaching have little to fear from the champions of these theories; they need not at all possess any deep scholarship or linguistic attainment; the most cursory view of the roots of primitive speech, so far as they have been collected, will show that they contain few or no sounds of a character which would bear out either the onomatopoetic or interjectional theories. the vast majority of the roots of the aryan language express abstract ideas, they rarely indicate the particular actions which would be capable of being suggested by any mimicry possible to the human voice. i have selected at random from a list of roots their english equivalents, in order to show the character of the roots and to make clearer the difficulty of holding such views. the abstract nature of the ideas, relating to actions and things which often have no attendant sound in nature, will indicate what i mean. what possible sounds could mimic the sense of "to move, to shine, to gain, to flow, to burn, to blow, to live, to possess, to cover, to fall, to praise, to think"? in fact the most abstract of all seem the most primitive for we find them most fruitful in combination to for other words. i hope to show this clearly later on. it is unnecessary to discuss the claims of the interjectional theory, as it is only a theory, and there are few roots for which we could infer even a remote origin of this nature. the great objection to the theory that speech was originally a matter of convention and mutual agreement, is the scarcity of words among the roots which express the wants of primitive man. as it is, a wisdom within or beyond the aryan led him to construct in these roots with their abstract significance an ideal foundation from which a great language could be developed. however as the exponents of rival theories have demolished each other's arguments, without anyone having established a clear case for himself, it is not necessary here to do more than indicate these theories and how they may be met. in putting forward a hypothesis more in accord with the doctrine of the spiritual origin of man, and in harmony with those occult ideas concerning speech already quoted, i stand in a rather unusual position, as i have to confess my ignorance of any of these primitive languages. i am rather inclined however, to regard this on the whole as an advantage for the following reasons. i think primitive man (the early aryan) chose his words by a certain intuition which recognised an innate correspondence between the thought and the symbol. para passu with the growing complexity of civilization language lost it spiritual character, "it fell into matter," to use h.p. blavatsky's expression; as the conventional words necessary to define artificial products grew in number, in the memory of these words the spontaneity of speech was lost, and that faculty became atrophied which enable man to arrange with psychic rapidity ever new combinations of sounds to express emotion and thought. believing then that speech was originally intuitive, and that it only need introspection and a careful analysis of the sounds of the human voice, to recover the faculty and correspondences between these sounds and forces, colours, forms, etc., it will be seen why i do not regard my ignorance of these languages as altogether a drawback. the correspondences necessarily had to be evolved out of my inner consciousness, and in doing this no aid could be derived from the aryan roots as they now stand. in the meaning attached to each letter is to be found the key to the meaning and origin of roots; but the value of each sound separately could never be discovered by an examination of them in their combinations, though their value and purpose in combination to form words might be evident enough once the significance of the letters is shewn. any lack of knowledge then is only a disadvantage in this, that it limits the area from which to choose illustrations. i have felt it necessary to preface what i have to say with this confession, to show exactly the position in which i stand. the correspondences between sounds and forces were first evolved, and an examination of the aryan roots proved the key capable of application. -------- note:--in an article which appeared in the theosophist, dec. , i had attempted, with the assistance of my friend mr. chas. johnston, to put forward some of the ideas which form the subject matter of this paper. owing to the numerous misprints which rendered it unintelligible i have felt it necessary to altogether re-write it. ---g.w.r. -------- it is advisable at this point to consider how correspondences arose between things seeming so diverse as sounds, forms, colors and forces. it is evident that they could only come about through the existence of a common and primal cause reflecting itself everywhere in different elements and various forms of life. this primal unity lies at the root of all occult philosophy and science; the one becomes many; the ideas latent in universal mind are thrown outwards into manifestation. in the bhagavad-gita (chap. iv) krishna declares: "even though myself unborn, of changeless essence, and the lord of all existence, yet in presiding over nature--which is mine--i am born but through my own maya, the mystic power of self-ideation, the eternal thought in the eternal mind." "i establish the universe with a single portion of myself and remain separate;" he says later on, and in so presiding he becomes the cause of the appearance of the different qualities. "i am in the taste in water, the light in the sun and moon, the mystic syllable om in all the vedas, sound in space, the masculine essence in men, the sweet smell in the earth, the brightness in the fire" etc. pouring forth then from one fountain we should expect to find correspondences running everywhere throughout nature; we should expect to find all these things capable of correlation. coexistent with manifestation arise the ideas of time and space, and these qualities, attributes or forces, which are latent and unified in the germinal thought, undergo a dual transformation; they appear successively in time, and what we call evolution progresses through kalpa after kalpa and manvantara after manvantara: the moods which dominate these periods incarnate in matter, which undergoes endless transformations and takes upon itself all forms in embodying these sates of consciousness. the order in which these powers manifest is declared in the puranas, upanishads and tantric works. it is that abstract formula of evolution which we can apply alike to the great and little things in nature. this may be stated in many ways, but to put it briefly, there is at first one divine substance-principle, flame, motion or the great breath; from this emanate the elements akasa, ether, fire, air, water and earth; the spiritual quality becoming gradually lessened in these as they are further removed from their divine source; this is the descent into matter, the lowest rung of manifestation. "having consolidated itself in its last principle as gross matter, it revolves around itself and informs with the seventh emanation of the last, the first and lowest element." (s.d. i, p. ) this involution of the higher into the lower urges life upwards through the mineral, vegetable, animal and human kingdoms, until it culminates in spiritually and self consciousness. it is not necessary here to go more into detail, it is enough to say that the elements in nature begin as passive qualities, their ethereal nature becomes gross, then positive and finally spiritual, and this abstract formula holds good for everything in nature. these changes which take place in the universe are repeated in man its microcosm, the cosmic force which acts upon matter and builds up systems of suns and planets, working in him repeats itself and builds up a complex organism which corresponds and is correlated with its cosmic counterpart. the individual spirit purusha dwells in the heart of every creature, its powers ray forth everywhere; they pervade the different principles or vehicles; they act through the organs of sense; they play upon the different plexuses; every principle and organ being specialised as the vehicle for a particular force or state of consciousness. all the sounds we can utter have their significance; they express moods; they create forms; they arouse to active life within ourselves spiritual and psychic forces which are centered in various parts of the body. hence the whole organism of man is woven through and through with such correspondences; our thoughts, emotions, sensations, the forces we use, colours and sounds acting on different planes are all correlated among themselves, and are also connected with the forces evolving present about us, in which we live and move. we find such correspondences form the subject matter of many upanishads and other occult treatises; for example in yajnavalkyasamhita, a treatise on yoga philosophy, we find the sound "ra" associated with the element of fire, tejas tatwa, with the god rudra, with a centre in the body just below the heart. other books add, as correspondences of tejas tatwa, that its colour is red, its taste is hot, its form is a triangle and its force is expansion. the correspondences given in different treatises often vary; but what we can gather with certainty is that there must have existed a complete science of the subject; the correlation of sound with such things, once understood, is the key which explains, not only the magic potency of sound, but also the constuction of those roots which remain as relics of the primitive aryan speech. the thinking principle in man, having experiences of nature through its vehicles, the subtle, astral and gross physical bodies, translates these sensations into its own set of correspondences: this principle in man, called the manas, is associated with the element of akasa, whose property is sound; the manas moves about in akasa, and so all ideas which enter into the mind awaken their correspondences and are immediately mirrored in sound. let us take as an instance the perception of the colour red; this communicated to the mind would set up a vibration, causing a sound to be thrown outwards in mental manifestation, and in this way the impulse would arise to utter the letter r, the correspondence of this colour. this manasic principle in man, the real ego, is eternal in its nature; it exists before and after the body, something accruing to it from each incarnation; and so, because there is present in the body of man this long-traveled soul, bearing with it traces of its eternal past, these letters which are the elements of its speech have impressed on them a correspondence, not only with the forces natural to its transitory surroundings, but also with that vaster evolution of nature in which it has taken part. these correspondences next claim our attention. the correspondences here suggested do not i think at all exhaust the possible significance of any of the letters. every sound ought to have a septenary relation to the planes of consciousness, and the differentiations of life, force and matter on each. complete mastery of these would enable the knower to guide the various currents of force, and to control the elemental knower to guide the various currents of force, and to control the elemental beings who live on the astral planes, for these respond, we are told, "when the exact scale of being to which they belong is vibrated, whether it be that of colour, form, sound or whatever else," (path, may, ) these higher interpretations i am unable to give; it requires the deeper being to know the deeper meaning. those here appended may prove suggestive; i do not claim any finality or authority for them, but they may be interesting to students of the occult upanishads where the mystic power of sound is continually dwelt upon. the best method of arranging the letters is to begin with a and conclude with m or oo: between these lie all the other letters, and their successive order is determined by their spiritual or material quality. following a we get letters with an ethereal or liquid sound, such as r, h, l or y; they become gradually harsher as they pass from the a, following the order of nature in this. half way we get letters like k, j, tchay, s, or ish; then they become softer, and the labials, like f, b and m, have something of the musical quality of the earlier sounds. if we arrange them in this manner, it will be found to approximate very closely to the actual order in which the sounds arise in the process of formation. we begin then with a--this represents god, creative force, the self, the i, the beginning or first cause. "among letters i am the vowel a," says krishna in the bagavad. it is without colour, number or form. r--this is motion, air, breath or spirit; it is also abstract desire, and here we find the teaching of the rig-veda in harmony. "desire first arose in it which was the primal germ of mind, and which sages, searching with their intellect, have discovered in their hearts to be the bond which connects entity with non-entity." the corresponding colour of this letter is red. h (hay) and l--motion awakens heat and light which correspond respectively to h and l. that primordial ocean of being, says the book of dzyan, was "fire and heat and motion:" which are explained as the noumenal essences of these material manifestations. the colour of h is orange, of l yellow. l also conveys the sense of radiation. y (yea)--this letter signifies condensation, drawing together, the force of attraction, affinity. matter at the stage of evolution to which this refers is gaseous, nebulous, or ethereal: the fire- mists in space gather together to become worlds. the colour y is green. w (way)--water is the next element in manifestation: in cosmic evolution it is spoken of as chaos, the great deep; its colour, i think, is indigo. after this stage the elements no longer manifest singly, but in pairs, or with a dual aspect. g (gay) and k--reflection and hardness; matter becomes crystalline or metalic: the corresponding colour is blue. s and z--a further differentiation; matter is atomic: the abstract significance of number or seed is attached to these letters: their colour is violet. j and tchay--earth and gross substance: this is the lowest point in evolution; the worlds have now condensed into solid matter. the colour of these letters is orange. n and ng--some new forces begin to work here; the corresponding sounds have, i think, the meaning of continuation and transformation or change: these new forces propel evolution in the upward or ascending arc: their colour is yellow. d and t--the colour of these letters is red. the involution of the higher forces into the lower forms alluded to before now begins. d represents this infusion of life into matter; it is descent and involution, death or forgetfulness, perhaps, for a time to the incarnating power. t is evolution, the upward movement generating life; the imprisoned energies surge outwards and vegetation begins. ith and ish--these correspond respectively to growth or expansion and vegetation; the earth, as genesis puts it, "puts forth grass and herbs and trees yielding fruit." the colour of these letters is green. b and p--after the flora the fauna. b is life or being, animal and human. humanity appears; b is masculine, p feminine. p has also a meaning of division, differentiation or production, which may refer to maternity. the colour here is blue. f and v--the colour is violet. evolution moves still upwards, entering the ethereal planes once more. lightness and vastness are the characteristics of this stage: we begin to permeate with part of our nature the higher spheres of being and reach the consummation in the last stage, represented by m--which has many meanings; it is thought, it is the end or death to the personality, it is the receiver into which all flows, it is also the symbol of maternity in a universal sense, it has this meaning when the life impulse (which is always represented by a vowel) follows it, as in "ma." it is the pralaya of the worlds; the lips close as it is uttered. its colour is indigo. o--the last vowel sound symbolizes abstract space, the spirit assumes once more the garment of primordial matter; it is the nirvana of eastern philosophy. i will now try to show how the abstract significance of these sound reveals a deeper meaning in the roots of aryan language than philologists generally allow. prof. max muller says in the introduction to biographies of words. "of ultimates in the sense of primary elements of language, we can never hope to know anything," and he also asserts that the roots are incapable of further analysis. i will endeavour now to show that this further analysis can be made. i should not be understood to say that all the so-called roots can be made to yield a secret meaning when analysed. philologists are not all agreed as to what constitutes a root, or what words are roots, and in this general uncertainty it should not be expected that these correspondences, which as i have said are not complete, will apply in every instance. there are many other things which add to the difficulty; a root is often found to have very many different meanings; some of these may have arisen in the manner i suggest, and many more are derived from the primary meanings and are therefore not intuitive at all. the intuition will have to be exercised to discover what sensations would likely be awakened by the perception of an action or object; or if the root has an abstract significance, the thought must be analysed in order to discover its essential elements. i described previously the manner in which i thought a single sensation, the perception of the colour red, would suggest its correspondence in sound, the letter r. where the idea is more complex, a combination of two, tree or four sounds are necessary to express it, but they all originate in the same way. the reader who desires to prove the truth of the theory here put forward can adopt either of two methods; he can apply the correspondences to the roots, or he may try for himself to create words expressing simple, elemental ideas by combining the necessary letters; and then, if he turns to the roots, he will probably find that many of the words he has created in this way were actually used long ago, and this pratice will enable him more easily to understand in what sense, or on what plane, any particular letter should be taken. i think it probably that in the sacred language before mentioned, this could at once have been recognized by a difference in the intonation of the voice. this may have been a survival to some extent of the chanting which was the distinguishing characteristic of the speech of the second race. (secret doctrine, vol. ii, p. ) in the written language it is not easily possible to discover this without much thought, unless endeavour has previously been made to re-awaken the faculty of intuitive speech, which we formerly possessed and which became atrophied. it is not possible here to go into the analysis of the roots at much length: i can only illustrate the method which will be found to apply more surely where the roots express most elemental conceptions. let us take as example the root, wal, to boil. boiling is brought about by the action of fire upon water, and here we find the letters w, water, and l, light or fire, united. in war, to well up as a spring, the sounds for water and motion are combined. a similar idea is expressed in wat, to well out; the abstract significance of t, which is to evolve, come forth or appear, being here applied to a special action. a good method to follow in order to understand how the pure abstract meaning of a letter may be applied in many different ways, is to take some of the roots in which any one letter is prominent and then compare them. let us take d. it has an abstract relation to involution or infusion; it may be view in two ways, either as positive or negative; as the exertion of force or the reception of force. now i think if we compare the following roots a similarity of action will be found to underlie them all. id, to swell; ad, to eat; dhu, to put; da, to bind; ad, to smell; du, to enter; da, to suck. i am not here going exhaustively to analyse the roots, as this is not an essay upon philology, but an attempt to make clear some of the mysteries of sound; those who wish to study this side of the subject more fully can study with this light the primitive languages. a few more examples must suffice. the root, mar, to die, may be variously interpreted as the end of motion, the cessation of breath, or the withdrawal of spirit, r being expressive of what on various planes is motion, spirit, air and breath. in bur, to be active, life and movement are combined,: in gla, to glow, reflection and light; the same idea is in gol, a lake. we find combined in kar, to grind, hardness and motion: in thah, to generate, expansion and heat; in pak, to comb, division and hardness, the suggestion being division with some hard object; the same idea is in pik, to cut. in pis, to pound, the letters for division and matter in its molecular state are combined: in fath, to fly, lightness and expansion: in yas, to gird, drawing together and number; in rab, to be vehement, energy and life; in rip, to break, energy and division. in yudh, to fight, the meaning suggested may be, coming together to destroy. without further analysis the reader will be able to detect the relation which the abstractions corresponding to each letter bear to the defined application in the following words. ak, to be sharp; ank, to bend; idh, to kindle; ar, to move; al, to burn; ka, to sharpen; har, to burn; ku, to hew; sa, to produce; gal, to be yellow or green; ghar, to be yellow or green; thak, to thaw; tar, to go through; thu, to swell; dak, to bite; nak, to perish; pa, to nourish, to feed; par, to spare; pi, to swell, to be fat; pu, to purify; pu, to beget; pau, little; put, to swell out; flu, to fly, to float; bar, to carry; bhu, to be, to become; bla, to blow as a flower; ma, to think; mak, to pound; mi, to diminish; mu, to shut up, to enclose; yas, to seethe, to ferment; ys, to bind together, to mix; yuk, to yoke, to join; ra, to love; rik, to furrow; luh, to shine; rud, to redden, to be red; lub, to lust [?]; lu, to cast off from; wag, to be moist; wam, to spit out; so, to sow, to scatter; sak, to cut, to cleave; su, to generate; swa, to toss; swal, to boil up; ska, to cut; skap, to hew; sniw, to snow; spew, to spit out; swid, to sweat; etc. an analysis of some sacred words and the names of deities may now prove interesting. it has been said that before we can properly understand the character of any deity we would have to know the meaning and the numbers attached to each letter in the name, for in this way the powers and functons of the various gods were indicated. if we take as examples names familiar to everyone, brahma, vishnu, and rudra, the three aspects of parabrahm in manifestation, and analyse them in the same way as the roots, they will be found to yield up their essential meaning. form the union of b, life, r, breath, and ma, the producer, i would translate brahma as "the creative breath of life." vishnu similarly analysed is the power that "pervades, expands, and preserves;" i infer this from the union of v, whose force is pervasion, sh, expansion, and n, continuation. rudra is "the breath that absorbs the breath." aum is the most sacred name of all names; it is held to symbolize the action of the great breath from its dawn to its close: it is the beginning, a, the middle, u, and the close m. it is also an affirmation of the relation of our spiritual nature to the universal deity whose aspects are brahma, vishnu, and rudra. i shall have more to say of the occult power of this word later on. taken in conjunction with two other words, it is "the threefold designation of the supreme being." om tat sat has a significance referable to a still higher aspect of deity than that other trinity; the om here signifies that it is the all; tat that it is self-existent or self-evolved; i think the repetition of the t in tat gives it this meaning: sat would signify that in it are contained the seeds of all manifestation. h.p. blavatsky translates this word as be-ness, which seems to be another way of expressing the same idea. the mystic incantation familiar to all students of the upanishads, om, bhur, om, bhwar, om, svar," is an assertion of the existence of the divine self in all the three worlds or lokas. loka is generally translated as a place; the letters suggest to me that a place or world is only a hardening or crystalization of fire or light. in bhur loka the crystalization of the primordial element of fire leaves only one principle active, the life principle generally called prana. bhur loka then is the place where life is active; we have b, life, and r, movement, to suggest this. in the word bhuvar a new letter, v, is inserted: this letter, as i have said, corresponds to the astral world, so the bhuvar loka is the place where both the astral and life principles are active. it is more difficult to translate svar loka: there is some significance attached here to the letter s, which i cannot grasp. it might mean that this world contains the germs of astral life; but this does not appear sufficiently distinctive, svar loka is generally known as devachan, and the whole incantation would mean that the deity is present throughout the pranic, astral and devachanic worlds. it is interesting to note what is said in the glossary by h.p.b., about these three words (p. ): they are said to be "lit by and born of fire," and to possess creative powers. the repetition of them with the proper accent should awaken in the occultist the powers which correspond to the three worlds. i think by these examples that the student will be able to get closer to the true significance of incantation; those who understand the occult meaning of the colours attached to the letters will be able to penetrate deeper than others into these mysteries. i may here say something about the general philosophy of incantation. there is said to be in nature a homogenous sound or tone which everywhere stirs up the molecules into activity. this is the "word" which st. john says was in the beginning (the plane of causation); in another sense it is the akasa of occult science, the element of sound, it is the pythagorean "music of the spheres." the universe is built up, moulded and sustained by this element which is everywhere present, though inaudible by most men at this stage of evolution. it is not sound by the physical ears, but deep in the heart sometimes may be heard "the mystic sounds of the akasic heights." the word aum represents this homogeneous sound, it stirs up a power which is latent in it called the yajna. the glossary says that this "is one of the forms of akasa within which the mystic word calls it into existence:" it is a bridge by means of which the soul can cross over to the world of the immortals. it is this which is alluded to in the nada-bindu upanishad. "the mind becoming insensible to the external impressions, becomes one with the sound, as milk with water, and then becomes rapidly absorbed in chidakas (the akasa where consciousness pervades). the sound..... serves the purpose of a lure to the ocean waves of chitta (mind), ...the serpent chitta through listening to the nada is entirely absorbed in it, and becoming unconscious of everything concentrates itself on the sound." we may quote further from another upanishad. "having left behind the body, the organs and objects of sense, and having seized the bow whose stick is fortitude and whose string is asceticism, and having killed with the arrow of freedom from egoism the first guardian, ....he crosses by means of the boat om to the other side of the ether within the heart, and when the ether is revealed he enters slowly, as a miner seeking minerals enters a mine, into the hall of brahman. ...thenceforth, pure, clean, tranquil, breathless, endless, imperishable, firm, unborn, and independent, he stands in his own greatness, and having seen the self standing in his own greatness, he looks at the wheel of the world." let no one think that this is all, and that the mere repetition of words will do anything except injure those who attempt the use of these methods without further knowledge. it has been said (path, april, ) that charity, devotion, and the like virtues are structural necessities in the nature of the man who would make this attempt. we cannot, unless the whole nature has been purified by long services and sacrifice, and elevated into mood at once full of reverence and intense will, become sensitive to the subtle powers possessed by the spiritual soul. what is here said about the aum which is the name of our own god, and the way in which it draws forth the hidden power will serve to illustrate the method in using other words. the thara-sara upanishad of sukla-yajur veda says "through om is brahm produced: through na is vishnu produced; through ma is rudra produced, etc." all these are names of gods; they correspond to forces in man and nature, in their use the two are united, and the man mounts upwards to the immortals. i have been forced to compress what i had to say in these articles, i have only been able to suggest rather than put forward ideas, for my own knowledge of these correspondences is very incomplete. as far as i know the subject has been untouched hitherto, and this must be my excuse for the meagre nature of the information given. i hope later on to treat of the relation of sound and colour to form and to show how these correspondences will enable us to understand the language which the gods speak to us through flowers, trees, and natural forms. i hope also to be able to show that it was a knowledge of the relation of sound to form which dictated the form of the letters in many primaeval alphabets. -- / , / , / , / , / , at the dawn of the kaliyuga * where we sat on the hillside together that evening the winds were low and the air was misty with light. the huge sunbrowned slope on which we were sitting was sprinkled over with rare spokes of grass; it ran down into the vagueness underneath where dimly the village could be seen veiled by its tresses of lazy smoke. beyond was a bluer shade and a deeper depth, out of which, mountain beyond mountain, the sacred heights of himalay rose up through star-sprinkled zones of silver and sapphire air. how gay were our hearts! the silent joy of the earth quickened their beating. what fairy fancies alternating with the sweetest laughter came from childish lips! in us the golden age whispered her last, and departed. up came the white moon, her rays of dusty pearl slanting across the darkness from the old mountain to our feet. "a bridge!" we cried, "primaveeta, who long to be a sky-walker, here is a bridge for you!" primaveeta only smiled; he was always silent; he looked along the gay leagues of pulsating light that lead out to the radiant mystery. we went on laughing and talking; then primaveeta broke his silence. "vyassa," he said, "i went out in thought, i went into the light, but it was not that light. i felt like a fay; i sparkled with azure and lilac; i went on, and my heart beat with longing for i knew not what, and out and outward i sped till desire stayed and i paused, and the light looked into me full of meaning. i felt like a spark, and the dancing of the sea of joy bore me up, up, up!" "primaveeta, who can understand you?" said his little sister vina, "you always talk of the things no one can see; vyassa, sing for us." "yes! yes! let vyassa sing!" they all cried; and they shouted and shouted until i began:-- "shadowy petalled, like the lotus, loom the mountains with their snows: through the sapphire soma rising, such a flood of glory throws as when the first in yellow splendour brahma from the lotus rose. "high above the darkening mounds where fade the fairy lights of day, all the tiny planet folk are waving us from far away; thrilled by brahma's breath they sparkle with the magic of the gay. "brahma, all alone in gladness, dreams the joys that throng in space, shepherds all the whirling splendours onward to their resting place, where at last in wondrous silence fade in one the starry race." "vyassa is just like primaveeta, he is full of dreams to-night," said vina. and indeed i was full of dreams; my laughter had all died away; a vague and indescribable unrest came over me; the universal air around seemed thrilled by the stirring of unknown powers. we sat silent awhile; then primaveeta cried out: "oh, look, look, look, the devas! the bright persons! they fill the air with their shining." we saw them pass by and we were saddened, for they were full of solemn majesty; overhead a chant came from celestial singers full of the agony of farewell and departure, and we knew from their song that the gods were about to leave the earth which would nevermore or for ages witness their coming. the earth and the air around it seemed to tingle with anguish. shuddering we drew closer together on the hillside while the brightness of the devas passed onward and away; and clear cold and bright as ever, the eternal constellations, which change or weep not, shone out, and we were alone with our sorrow. to awed we were to speak, but we clung closer together and felt a comfort in each other; and so, crouched in silence; within me i heard as from far away a note of deeper anguish, like a horn blown out of the heart of the ancient mother over a perished hero: in a dread moment i saw the death and the torment; he was her soul-point, the light she wished to shine among men. what would follow in the dark ages to come, rose up before me in shadowy, over-crowding pictures; like the surf of a giant ocean they fluctuated against the heavens, crested with dim, giantesque and warring figures. i saw stony warriors rushing on to battle; i heard their fierce hard laughter as they rode over the trampled foe; i saw smoke arise from a horrible burning, and thicker and blacker grew the vistas, with here and there a glow from some hero-heart that kept the true light shining within. i turned to primaveeta who was crouched beside me: he saw with me vision for vision, but, beyond the thick black ages that shut me out from hope, he saw the resurrection of the true, and the homecoming of the gods. all this he told me later, but now our tears were shed together. then primaveeta rose up and said, "vyasa, where the lights were shining, where they fought for the true, there you and i must fight; for, from them spreads out the light of a new day that shall dawn behind the darkness." i saw that he was no longer a dreamer; his face was firm with a great resolve. i could not understand him, but i determined to follow him, to fight for the things he fought for, to work with him, to live with him, to die with him; and so, thinking and trying to understand, my thought drifted back to that sadness of the mother which i had first felt. i saw how we share joy or grief with her, and, seized with the inspiration of her sorrow, i sang about her loved one:-- "does the earth grow grey with grief for her hero darling fled? though her vales let fall no leaf, in our hearts her tears are shed. "still the stars laugh on above, not to them her grief is said; mourning for her hero love in our hearts her tears are shed. "we her children mourn for him, mourn the elder hero dead; in the twilight grey and dim in our hearts the tears are shed." "vyassa," they said, "you will break our hearts." and we sat in silence and sorrow more complete till we heard weary voices calling up to us from the darkness below: "primaveeta! vyassa! chandra! parvati! vina! vasudeva!" calling all our names. we went down to our homes in the valley; the breadth of glory had passed away from the world, and our hearts were full of the big grief that children hold. --october , -------------- * note--kaliyuga. the fourth, the black or iron age, our present period, the duration of which is , years. it began , years b.c. at the moment of krishna's death, and the first cycle of , years will end between the years and . -------------- the meditation of parvati parvata rose up from his seat under the banyan tree. he passed his hand unsteadily over his brow. throughout the day the young ascetic had been plunged in profound meditation, and now, returning from heaven to earth, he was dazed like one who awakens in darkness and knows not where he is. all day long before his inner eye burned the light of the lokas, until he was wearied and exhausted with their splendours; space glowed like a diamond with intolerable lustre, and there was no end to the dazzling processions of figures. he had seen the fiery dreams of the dead in swargam. he had been tormented by the sweet singing of the gandharvas, whose choral song reflected in its ripples the rhythmic pulse of being. he saw how the orbs, which held them, were set within luminous orbs still of wider circuit, and vaster and vaster grew the vistas, and smaller seemed the soul at gaze, until at last, a mere speck of life, he bore the burden of innumerable worlds. seeking for brahma, he found only the great illusion as infinite as brahma's being. if these things were shadows, the earth and the forests he returned to, viewed at evening, seemed still more unreal, the mere dusky flutter of a moth's wings in space. filmy and evanescent, if he had sunk down as through a transparency into the void, it would not have been wonderful. parvati turned homeward, still half in trance: as he threaded the dim alleys he noticed not the flaming eyes that regarded him from the gloom; the serpents rustling amid the undergrowths; the lizards, fire-flies, insects, the innumerable lives of which the indian forest was rumourous; they also were but shadows. he paused half unconsciously at the village, hearing the sound of human voices, of children at play. he felt a throb of pity for these tiny being who struggled and shouted, rolling over each other in ecstasies of joy; the great illusion had indeed devoured them before whom the devas once were worshipers. then close beside him he heard a voice; its low tones, its reverence soothed him: there was something akin to his own nature in it; it awakened him fully. a little crowd of five or six people were listening silently to an old man who read from a palm-leaf manuscript. parvati knew his order by the orange-coloured robes he wore; a bhikshu of the new faith. what was his delusion? the old man lifted his head for a moment as the ascetic came closer, and then he continued as before. he was reading the "legend of the great king of glory." parvati listened to it, comprehending with the swift intuition and subtlety of a mystic the inner meaning of the wonderful wheel, the elephant treasure, the lake and palace of righteousness. he followed the speaker, understanding all until he came to the meditation of the king: then he heard with vibrating heart, how "the great king of glory entered the golden chamber, and set himself down on the silver couch. and he let his mind pervade one quarter of the world with thoughts of love: and so the second quarter, and so the third, and so the fourth. and thus the whole wide world, above below, around and everywhere, did he continue to pervade with heart of love, far-reaching, grown great, and beyond measure." when the old bhikshu had ended, parvati rose up, and went back again into the forest. he had found the secret of the true--to leave behind the vistas, and enter into the being. another legend rose up in his mind, a fairy legend of righteousness, expanding and filling the universe, a vision beautiful and full of old enchantment; his heart sang within him. he seated himself again under the banyan tree; he rose up in soul; he saw before him images, long-forgotten, of those who suffer in the sorrowful old earth; he saw the desolation and loneliness of old age, the insults to the captive, the misery of the leper and outcast, the chill horror and darkness of life in a dungeon. he drank in all their sorrow. for his heart he went out to them. love, a fierce and tender flame arose; pity, a breath from the vast; sympathy, born of unity. this triple fire sent forth its rays; they surrounded those dark souls; they pervaded them; they beat down oppression. while parvati, with spiritual magic, sent forth the healing powers, far away at that moment, in his hall, a king sat enthroned. a captive was bound before him; bound, but proud, defiant, unconquerable of soul. there was silence in the hall until the king spake the doom, the torture, for this ancient enemy. the king spake: "i had thought to do some fierce thing to thee, and so end thy days, my enemy. but, i remember with sorrow, the great wrongs we have done to each other, and the hearts made sore by our hatred. i shall do no more wrong to thee. thou art free to depart. do what thou wilt. i will make restitution to thee as far as may be for thy ruined state." then the soul no might could conquer was conquered, and the knees were bowed; his pride was overcome. "my brother!" he said, and could say no more. to watch for years a little narrow slit high up in the dark cell, so high that he could not reach up and look out; and there to see daily a little change from blue to dark in the sky had withered that prisoner's soul. the bitter tears came no more; hardly even sorrow; only a dull, dead feeling. but that day a great groan burst from him: he heard outside the laugh of a child who was playing and gathering flowers under the high, grey walls: then it all came over him, the divine things missed, the light, the glory, and the beauty that the earth puts forth for her children. the narrow slit was darkened: half of a little bronze face appeared. "who are you down there in the darkness who sigh so? are you all alone there? for so many years! ah, poor man! i would come down to you if i could, but i will sit here and talk to you for a while. here are flowers for you," and a little arm showered them in handfuls; the room was full of the intoxicating fragrance of summer. day after day the child came, and the dull heart entered into human love once more. at twilight, by a deep and wide river, sat an old woman alone, dreamy, and full of memories. the lights of the swift passing boats, and the lights of the stars, were just as in childhood and the old love-time. old, feeble, it was time for her to hurry away from the place which changed not with her sorrow. "do you see our old neighbour there?" said ayesha to her lover. "they say she once was as beautiful as you would make me think i am now. how lonely she must be! let us come near and speak to her"; and the lover went gladly. though they spoke to each other rather than to her, yet something of the past--which never dies when love, the immortal, has pervaded it--rose up again as she heard their voices. she smiled, thinking of years of burning beauty. a teacher, accompanied by his chelas, was passing by the wayside where a leper was sitting. the teacher said, "here is our brother whom we may not touch. but he need not be shut out from truth. we may sit down where he can listen." he sat down on the wayside beside the leper, and his chelas stood around him. he spoke words full of love, kindliness, and pity, the eternal truths which make the soul grow full of sweetness and youth. a small old spot began to glow in the heart of the leper, and the tears ran down his withered cheeks. all these were the deeds of parvati, the ascetic; and the watcher who was over him from all eternity made a great stride towards that soul. --november , a talk by the euphrates priest merodach walked with me at evening along the banks of the great river. "you feel despondent now," he said, "but this was inevitable. you looked for a result equal to your inspiration. you must learn to be content with that alone. finally an inspiration will come for every moment, and in every action a divine fire reveal itself." "i feel hopeless now. why is this? wish and will are not less strong than before." "because you looked for a result beyond yourself, and, attached to external things, your mind drew to itself subtle essences of earth which clouded it. but there is more in it than that. nature has a rhythm, and that part of us which is compounded of her elements shares in it. you were taught that nature is for ever becoming: the first emanation in the great deep is wisdom: wisdom changes into desire, and an unutterable yearning to go outward darkens the primeval beauty. lastly, the elements arise, blind, dark, troubled. nature in them imagines herself into forgetfulness. this rhythm repeats itself in man: a moment of inspiration--wise and clear, we determine; then we are seized with a great desire which impels us to action; the hero, the poet, the lover, all alike listen to the music of life, and then endeavour to express its meaning in word or deed; coming in contact with nature, its lethal influence drowses them; so baffled and forgetful, they wonder where the god is. to these in some moment the old inspiration returns, the universe is as magical and sweet as ever, a new impulse is given, and so they revolve, perverting and using, each one in his own way, the cosmic rhythm." "merodach, what you say seems truth, and leaving aside the cosmic rhythm, which i do not comprehend, define again for me the three states." "you cannot really understand the little apart from the great; but, applying this to your own case, you remember you had a strange experience, a god seemed to awaken within you. this passed away; you halted a little while, full of strange longing, eager for the great; yet you looked without on the hither side of that first moment, and in this second period, which is interchange and transition, your longing drew to you those subtle material essences i spoke of, which, like vapour surround, dull and bewilder the mind with strange phantasies of form and sensation. every time we think with longing of any object, these essences flow to us out of the invisible spheres and steep us with the dew of matter: then we forget the great, we sleep, we are dead or despondent as you are despondent." i sighed as i listened. a watchfulness over momentary desires was the first step; i had thought of the tasks of the hero as leading upwards to the gods, but this sleepless intensity of will working within itself demanded a still greater endurance. i neared my destination; i paused and looked round; a sudden temptation assailed me; the world was fair enough to live in. why should i toil after the far-off glory? babylon seemed full of mystery, its temples and palaces steeped in the jewel glow and gloom of evening. in far-up heights of misty magnificence the plates of gold on the temples rayed back the dying light: in the deepening vault a starry sparkle began: an immense hum arose from leagues of populous streets: the scents of many gardens by the river came over me: i was lulled by the splash of fountains. closer i heard voices and a voice i loved: i listened as a song came "tell me, youthful lover, whether love is joy or woe? are they gay or sad together on that way who go?" a voice answered back "radiant as a sunlit feather, pure and proud they go; with the lion look together glad their faces show." my sadness departed; i would be among them shortly, and would walk and whisper amid those rich gardens where beautiful idleness was always dreaming. merodach looked at me. "you will find these thoughts will hinder you much," he said. "you mean--" i hesitated, half-bewildered, half-amazed. "i say that a thought such as that which flamed about you just now, driving your sadness away, will recur again when next you are despondent, and so you will accustom yourself to find relief on the great quest by returning to an old habit of the heart, renewing what should be laid aside. this desire of men and women for each other is the strongest tie among the many which bind us: it is the most difficult of all to overcome. the great ones of the earth have passed that way themselves with tears." "but surely, merodach, you cannot condemn what i may say is so much a part of our nature--of all nature." "i did not condemn it, when i said it is the strongest tie that binds us here: it is sin only for those who seek for freedom." "merodach, must we then give up love?" "there are two kinds of love men know of. there is one which begins with a sudden sharp delight--it dies away into infinite tones of sorrow. there is a love which wakes up amid dead things: it is a chill at first, but it takes root, it warms, it expands, it lays hold of universal joys. so the man loves: so the god loves. those who know this divine love are wise indeed. they love not one or another: they are love itself. think well over this: power alone is not the attribute of the gods; there are no such fearful spectres in that great companionship. and now, farewell, we shall meet again." i watched his departing figure, and then i went on my own way. i longed for that wisdom, which they only acquire who toil, and strive, and suffer; but i was full of a rich life which longed for excitement and fulfilment, and in that great babylon sin did not declare itself in its true nature, but was still clouded over by the mantle of primeval beauty. --december , the cave of lilith out of her cave came the ancient lilith; lilith the wise; lilith the enchantress. there ran a little path outside her dwelling; it wound away among the mountains and glittering peaks, and before the door, one of the wise ones walked to and fro. out of her cave came lilith, scornful of his solitude, exultant in her wisdom, flaunting her shining and magical beauty. "still alone, star gazer! is thy wisdom of no avail? thou hast yet to learn that i am more powerful knowing the ways of error than you who know the ways of truth." the wise one heeded her not, but walked to and fro. his eyes were turned to the distant peaks, the abode of his brothers. the starlight fell about him; a sweet air came down the mountain path, fluttering his white robe; he did not cease from his steady musing. like a mist rising between rocks wavered lilith in her cave. violet, with silvery gleams her raiment; her face was dim; over her head rayed a shadowy diadem, the something a man imagines over the head of his beloved---looking closer at her face he would have seen that this was the crown he reached out to, that the eyes burnt with his own longing, that the lips were parted to yield to the secret wishes of his heart. "tell me, for i would know, why do you wait so long? i, here in my cave between the valley and the height blind the eyes of all who would pass. those who by chance go forth to you come back to me again, and but one in ten thousand passes on. my delusions are sweeter to them than truth. i offer every soul its own shadow; i pay them their own price. i have grown rich, though the simple shepards of old gave me birth. men have made me; the mortals have made me immortal. i rose up like a vapour from their first dreams, and every sigh since then and every laugh remains with me. i am made up of hopes and fears. the subtle princes lay out their plans of conquest in my cave, and there the hero dreams, and there the lovers of all time write in flame their history. i am wise, holding all experience, to tempt, to blind, to terrify. none shall pass by. why, therefore, dost thou wait?" the wise one looked at her and she shrank back a little, and a little her silver and violet faded, but out of her cave her voice still sounded: "the stars and the starry crown are not yours alone to offer, and every promise you make, i make also. i offer the good and the bad indifferently. the lover, the poet, the mystic, and all who would drink of the first fountain, i delude with my mirage. i was the beatrice who led dante upward: the gloom was in me, and the glory was mine also, and he went not out of my cave. the stars and the shining of heaven were delusions of the infinite i wove about him. i captured his soul with the shadow of space; a nutshell would have contained the film. i smote on the dim heart-chords the manifold music of being. god is sweeter in the human than the human in god: therefore he rested in me." she paused a little, and then went on. "there is that fantastic fellow who slipped by me--could your wisdom not keep him? he returned to me full of anguish, and i wound my arms round him like a fair melancholy, and now his sadness is as sweet to him as hope was before his fall. listen to his song." she paused again. a voice came up from the depths chanting a sad knowledge-- "what of all the will to do? it has vanished long ago, for a dream shaft pierced it through from the unknown archer's bow. what of all the soul to think? some one offered it a cup filled with a diviner drink, and the flame has burned it up. what of all the hope to climb? only in the self we grope to the misty end of time; truth has put an end to hope. what of all the heart to love? sadder than for will or soul, no light lured it on above; love has found itself the whole." "is it not pitiful? i pity only those who pity themselves. yet he is mine more surely than ever. this is the end of human wisdom. how shall he now escape? what shall draw him up?" "his will shall awaken," said the wise one. "i do not sorrow over him, for long is the darkness before the spirit is born. he learns in your caves not to see, not to hear, not to think, for very anguish flying your delusions." "sorrow is a great bond," lilith said. "it is a bond to the object of sorrow. he weeps what thou can never give him, a life never breathed in thee. he shall come forth, and thou shalt not see him at the time of passing. when desire dies, will awakens, the swift, the invisible. he shall go forth, and one by one the dwellers in your caves will awaken and pass onwards; this small old path will be trodden by generation after generation. you, too, oh, shining lilith, will follow, not as mistress, but as hand-maiden." "i shall weave spells," lilith cried. "they shall never pass me. with the sweetest poison i will drug them. they will rest drowsily and content as of old. were they not giants long ago, mighty men and heroes? i overcame them with young enchantment. will they pass by feeble and longing for bygone joys, for the sins of their proud exultant youth, while i have grown into a myriad wisdom?" the wise one walked to and fro as before, and there was silence, and i thought i saw that with steady will he pierced the tumultuous gloom of the cave, and a heart was touched here and there in its blindness. and i thought i saw that sad singer become filled with a new longing to be, and that the delusions of good and evil fell from him, and that he came at last to the knees of the wise one to learn the supreme truth. in the misty midnight i hear these three voices, the sad singer, the enchantress lilith, and the wise one. from the sad singer i learned that thought of itself leads nowhere, but blows the perfume from every flower, and cuts the flower from every tree, and hews down every tree from the valley, and in the end goes to and fro in waste places gnawing itself in a last hunger. i learned from lilith that we weave our own enchantment, and bind ourselves with out own imagination; to think of the true as beyond us, or to love the symbol of being, is to darken the path to wisdom, and to debar us from eternal beauty. from the wise one i learned that the truest wisdom is to wait, to work, and to will in secret; those who are voiceless today, tomorrow shall be eloquent, and the earth shall hear them, and her children salute them. of these three truths the hardest to learn is the silent will. let us seek for the highest truth. --february , a strange awakening chapter i. that we are living in the dark age we all know, yet we do not realise half its darkness. we endure physical and moral suffering; but, fortunately or unfortunately, we are oblivious of the sorrow of all sorrows--the spiritual tragedy. such a rust has come over the pure and ancient spirit of life, that the sceptre and the diadem and the starry sway we held are unremembered; and if anyone speaks of these things he is looked at strangely with blank eyes, or with eyes that suspect madness. i do not know whether to call him great, or pity him, who feels such anguish; for although it is the true agony of the crucifixion, it is only gods who are so martyred. with these rare souls memory is not born: life flows on, and they with it go on in dreams: they are lulled by lights, flowers, stars, colours, and sweet odours, and are sheltered awhile from heaven and hell; then in some moment the bubble bursts, and the god awakens and knows himself, and he rises again with giant strength to conquer; or else he succumbs, and the waves of lethe, perhaps in mercy, blot out his brief knowledge. i knew such an one many years ago, and i tell of him because i know of no deeper proof of the existence of a diviner nature than that man's story. arthur harvey, as i have heard people describe him, in his early years was gentle, shy, and given to much dreaming. he was taken from school early, came up from the country to the city, and was put to business. he possessed the apathy and unresisting nature characteristic of so many spiritual people, and which is found notably among the natives of india; so he took his daily confinement at first as a matter of course, though glad enough when it was over, and the keen sweet air blew about him in spring or summer evenings, and the earth looked visionary, steeped in dew and lovely colour, and his soul grew rich with strange memories and psychic sensations. and so day-by-day he might have gone on with the alternation of work and dream, and the soul in its imaginings might never have known of the labours of the mind, each working by habit in its accustomed hour, but for an incident which took place about two years after his going to business. one morning his manager said: "harvey, take this letter; deliver it, and wait for an answer." he started up eagerly, glad for the unwonted freedom from his desk. at the door, as he went out, the whole blinding glory of the sunlight was dashed on him. he looked up. ah! what spaces illimitable of lustrous blue. how far off! how mighty! he felt suddenly faint, small, mean, and feeble. his limbs trembled under him: he shrank from the notice of men as he went on his way. vastness, such as this, breaking in upon the eye that had followed the point of the pen, unnerved him: he felt a bitter self-contempt. what place had he amid these huge energies? the city deafened him as with one shout: the tread of the multitude; the mob of vehicles; glitter and shadow; rattle, roar, and dust; the black smoke curled in the air; higher up the snowy and brilliant clouds, which the tall winds bore along; all were but the intricate and wondrous workings of a single monstrous personality; a rival in the universe who had absorbed and wrested from him his own divine dower. out of him; out of him, the power-- the free, the fearless--whirled in play, and drove the suns and stars in their orbits, and sped the earth through light and shadow. out of him; out of him; never to be reconquered; never to be regained. the exultant laugh of the day; the flame of summer; the gigantic winds careering over the city; the far-off divine things filled him with unutterable despair. what was he amid it all? a spark decaying in its socket; a little hot dust clinging together. he found himself in a small square; he sat down on a bench; his brain burning, his eyes unseeing. "oh! my, what's he piping over?" jeered a grotesque voice, and a small figure disappeared, turning somersaults among the bushes. "poor young man! perhaps he is ill. are you not well, sir?" asked a sympathetic nurse. he started up, brought to himself, and muttering something unintelligible, continued his journey through the city. the terrible influence departed, and a new change came over him. the laugh of the urchin rankled in his mind: he hated notice: there must be something absurd or out of the common in his appearance to invoke it. he knew suddenly that there was a gulf between him and the people he lived among. they were vivid, actual, suited to their places. how he envied them! then the whole superficies of his mind became filled with a desire to conceal this difference. he recalled the various characteristics of those who worked along with him. one knew all topical songs, slang and phrases; another affected a smartness in dress; a third discussed theatres with semi-professional knowledge. harvey, however, could never have entered the world, or lived in it, if he had first to pass through the portals of such ideas! he delivered his letter; he was wearied out, and as he returned he noticed neither sky nor sunlight, and the hurrying multitudes were indifferent and without character. he passed through them; his mind dull like theirs; a mere machine to guide rapid footsteps. that evening, a clerk named whittaker, a little his senior in the office, was struck by harvey's curious and delicate face. "i say, harvey," he said, "how do you spend your evenings?" harvey flushed a little at the unwonted interest. "i take long walks," he said. "do you read much?" "a little." "do you go to the theatre?" "no." "never?" "never." "whew! what a queer fellow! no clubs, classes, music-halls-- anything of the sort, eh?" "no," said harvey, a little bitterly, "i know nothing, nobody; i am always alone." "what an extraordinary life! why, you are out of the universe completely. i say," he added, "come along with me this evening. i will initiate you a little. you know you must learn your profession as a human being." his manner was very kindly; still harvey was so shy that he would have found some excuse, but for that chance expression, "out of the universe." was not this apartness the very thing he had just been bitterly feeling? while he hesitated and stammered in his awkwardness, the other said: "there, no excuses! you need not go to your lodgings for tea. come along with me." they went off together through the darkening streets. one cheerful and irreverent, brimful of remark or criticism; the other silent, his usual dreaminess was modified, but had not departed, and once, gazing up through the clear, dark blue, where the stars were shining, he had a momentary sense as if he were suspended from them by a fine invisible thread, as a spider hung from her roof; suspended from on high, where the pure and ancient aether flamed around the habituations of eternity; and below and about him, the thoughts of demons, the smoke, darkness, horror and anguish of the pit. chapter ii. i cannot tell all the steps by which the young soul came forth from its clouds and dreams, but must hurry over the years. this single incident of his boyhood i have told to mark the character and tendency of his development; spirituality made self-conscious only in departing; life, a falling from ideals which grew greater, more beautiful and luminous as the possibility of realizing them died away. but this ebbtide of inner life was not regular and incessant, but rather after the fashion of waves which retreat surely indeed, but returning again and again, seem for moments to regain almost more than their past altitude. his life was a series of such falls and such awakenings. every new experience which drew his soul from its quietude brought with it a revelation of a spiritual past, in which, as it now seemed, he had been living unconsciously. every new experience which enriched his mind seemed to leave his soul more barren. the pathetic anguish of these moments had little of the moral element, which was dormant and uncultivated rather than perverted. he did not ponder over their moral aspect, for he shared the superficial dislike to the ethical, which we often see in purely artistic natures, who cannot endure the entrance of restraint or pain upon their beauty. his greatest lack was the companionship of fine men or noble women. he had shot up far beyond the reach of those whom he knew, and wanting this companionship he grew into a cynical or sensuous way of regarding them. he began to write: he had acquired the faculty of vigourous expression by means of such emotions as were tinged with a mystical voluptuousness which was the other pole to his inner, secret and spiritual being. the double strain upon his energies, which daily work and nightly study with mental productiveness involved, acted injuriously upon his health, and after a year he became so delicate that he could carry on neither one nor other of his avocations without an interval of complete rest. obtaining leave from his employers, he went back for a period of six weeks to the village where he had been born. here in the early summer and sunshine his health rapidly improved; his mind even more than his body drank deep draughts of life; and here, more than at any period in his life, did his imagination begin to deal with mighty things, and probe into the secret mysteries of life, and here passed into the long descended line by which the human spirit passed from empire; he began to comprehend dimly by what decadence from starry state the soul of man is ushered into the great visible life. these things came to him not clearly as ideas, but rather as shadowy and shining vision thrown across the air of dawn of twilight as he moved about. not alone did this opulence of spiritual life make him happy, another cause conspired with it to this end. he had met a nature somewhat akin to his own: olive rayne, the woman of his life. as the days passed over he grew eager not to lose any chance of speech with her, and but two days before his departure he walked to the village hoping to see her. down the quiet english lane in the evening he passed with the rapid feet that bear onward unquiet or feverish thought. the clear fresh air communicated delight to him; the fields grown dim, the voice of the cuckoo, the moon like a yellow globe cut in the blue, the cattle like great red shadows driven homeward with much unnecessary clamour by the children; all these flashed in upon him and became part of him: ready made accessories and backgrounds to his dreams, their quietness stilled and soothed the troubled beauty of passion. his pace lessened as he came near the village, half wondering what would serve as excuse for visits following one so soon upon the other. chance served as excuse. he saw her grey dress, her firm upright figure coming out from among the lilac brushes at the gate of her father's house. she saw harvey coming towards her and waited for him with a pleasant smile. harvey, accustomed to introspect and ideal imaginings, here encountered no shock gazing upon the external. some last light of day reflected upward from the white gate-post, irradiated her face, and touched with gold the delicate brown hair, the nosrtils, lips, chin, and the lilac of her throat. her features were clear-cut, flawless; the expression exquisitely grave and pure; the large grey eyes had that steady glow which shows a firm and undisturbed will. in some undefinable way he found himself thinking of the vague objects of his dreams, delicate and subtle things, dew, starlight, and transparencies rose up by some affinity. he rejected them--not those--then a strong warrior with a look of pity on his face appeared and disappeared: all this quick as a flash before she spoke. "i am going doctoring," she said. "old nurse winder is ill, and my father will not be back until late." mr. rayne was the country doctor. "may i go with you?" he asked. "oh, yes, why not? but i have first to call at two or three places on the way." he went with her. he was full of wonder at her. how could she come out of her own world of aspiration and mystic religion and show such perfect familiarity, ease and interest in dealing with these sordid village complaints, moral and physical? harvey was a man who disliked things like these which did not touch his sense of beauty. he could not speak to these people as she did: he could not sympathize with them. the pain of the old woman made him shrink into himself almost with more disgust than pity. while olive was bending over her tenderly and compassionately, he tried to imagine what it was inspired such actions and such self-forgetfulness. almost it seemed for a moment to him as if some hidden will in the universe would not let beauty rest in its own sphere, but bowed it down among sorrows continually. he felt a feeling of relief as they came out agin into the night. it was a night of miracle and wonder. withdrawn far aloft into fairy altitudes, the stars danced with a gaiety which was more tremendous and solemn than any repose. the night was wrought out of a profusion of delicate fires. the grass, trees, and fields glowed with the dusky colours of rich pottery. everywhere silence; everywhere the exultant breathing of life, subtle, universal, penetrating. into the charmed heart fell the enchantment we call ancient, though the days have no fellows, nor will ever have any. harvey, filled up with this wonder, turned to his companion. "see how the magician of the beautiful blows with his mystic breath upon the world! how tremulous the lights are; what still ness! how it banishes the memory of pain!" "can you forget pain so easily? i hardly noticed the night--it is wonderful indeed. but the anguish it covers and enfolds everywhere i cannot forget." "i could not bear to think of pain at any time, still less while these miracles are over and around us. you seem to me almost to seek pain like a lover. i cannot understand you. how can you bear the ugly, the mean, the sordid--the anguish which you meet. you-- so beautiful?" "can you not understand?" she said, almost impetuously. "have you never felt pity as universal as the light that floods the world? to me a pity seems to come dropping, dropping, dropping from that old sky, upon the earth and its anguish. god is not indifferent. love eternal encircles us. its wishes are for our redemption. its movements are like the ripples starting from the rim of a pond that overcome the outgoing ripples and restore all to peace. "but what is pain if there is this love?" asked harvey. "ah, how can i answer you? yet i think it is the triumph of love pushing back sin and rebellion. the cry of this old nature being overcome is pain. and this is universal, and goes on everywhere, through we cannot comprehend it; and so, when we yield to this divine love, and accept the change, we find in pain a secret sweetness. it is the first thrill that heralds an immense dawn." "but why do you say it is universal? is not that a frightful thought?" "if god is the same yesterday, to-day, and to-morrow, then the life of christ on earth was a symbol--must be a symbol--of what endures for ever: the light and darkness for ever in conflict: a crucifixion in eternity." this belief, so terrible, so pathetic, so strange, coming from this young girl affected harvey profoundly. he did not reject it. the firmness and surety of her utterance, the moral purity of her character, appealed to him who felt his own lack of clear belief and heroic purpose. like all spiritual people, he assimilated easily the spiritual moods of those whom he came into contact with. coming from her, the moral, pathetic, and christian doctrine had that element of beauty which made it blend with his ideal paganism. as he went homewards he pondered over her words, her life, her thoughts. he began to find an inexpressible beauty in her pity, as a feeling welling up from unknown depths, out of the ancient heart of things. filled with this pity he could overcome his dislike of pain and go forth as the strong warrior of his momentary vision. he found himself repeating again and again her words: "we find in pain a secret sweetness--a secret sweetness--a secret sweetness." if he could only find it, what might he not dare, to what might he not attain? and revolving all these things upon his restless pillow, there came over him one of those mystic moods i have spoken of: wandering among dim originals, half in dream and half in trance, there was unfolded within him this ancient legend of the soul:-- there was a great gloom and a great glory in nature, and the legions of darkness and the glorious hosts were at war perpetually with one another. then the ancient of days, who holds all this within himself, moved the gloom and the glory together: the sons of the bright fire he sent into the darkness, and the children of darkness he brought unto the gates of the day. and in the new life formed out of the union of these two, pain, self-conscious, became touched with a spiritual beauty, and those who were of the hosts of beauty wore each one a crown of thorns upon the brow. chapter iii. harvey rose up early; as he walked to and fro in the white dawn, he found the answers to every question in his mind: they rose up with a sweet and joyful spontaneity. life became filled with happiest meaning: a light from behind the veil fell upon the things he had before disliked, and in this new light, pain, sorrow, and the old moralities were invested with a significance undreamt of before. in admitting into his own mind olive rayne's ideas, he removed something of their austerity: what he himself rejected, seen in her, added another and peculiar interest to the saintly ideal of her which he had formed. she had once said, peace and rest were inconceivable while there existed strife and suffering in nature. nowhere could there be found refuge; drawing near unto the divine, this pain only became wider, more intense, almost insufferable, feeling and assimilating the vastness of divine sorrow brooding over the unreclaimed deep. this pity, this consciousness of pain, not her own, filling her own, filling her life, marked her out from everyone he knew. she seemed to him as one consecrated. then this lover in his mystic passion passed in the contemplation of his well-beloved from the earthly to the invisible soul. he saw behind and around her a form unseen by others; a form, spiritual, pathetic, of unimaginable beauty, on which the eternal powers kept watch, which they nourished with their own life, and on which they inflicted their own pain. this form was crowned, but with a keen- pointed radiance from which there fell a shadowy dropping. as he walked to and fro in the white dawn he made for her a song, and inscribed it. to one consecrated your paths were all unknown to us: we were so far away from you, we mixed in thought your spirit thus-- with whiteness, stars of gold, and dew. the mighty mother nourished you: her breath blew from her mystic bowers: their elfin glimmer floated through the pureness of your shadowy hours. the mighty mother made you wise; gave love that clears the hidden ways: her glooms were glory to your eyes; her darkness but the fount of days. she made all gentleness in you, and beauty radiant as the morn's: she made our joy in yours, then threw upon your head a crown of thorns. your eyes are filled with tender light, for those whose eyes are dim with tears; they see your brow is crowned and bright, but not its ring of wounding spears. we can imagine no discomfiture while the heavenly light shines through us. harvey, though he thought with humility of his past as impotent and ignoble in respect of action, felt with his rich vivid consciousness that he was capable of entering into her subtlest emotions. he could not think of the future without her; he could not give up the hope of drawing nigh with her to those mysteries of life which haunted them both. his thought, companioned by her, went ranging down many a mystic year. he began to see strange possibilities, flashes as of old power, divine magic to which all the world responded, and so on till the thought trembled in vistas ending in a haze of flame. meanwhile, around him was summer: gladness and youth were in his heart, and so he went on dreaming-- forecasting for the earth and its people a future which belongs only to the spiritual soul--dreaming of happy years even as a child dreams. later on that evening, while olive was sitting in her garden, dr. rayne came out and handed her a bundle of magazines. "there are some things in these which may interest you, olive," he said: "young harvey writes for them, i understand. i looked over one or two. they are too mystical for me. you will hardly find them mystical enough." she took the papers from him without much interest, and laid them beside her on the seat. after a time she took them up. as she read her brows began to knit, and her face grew cold. these verses were full of that mystical voluptuousness which i said characterised harvey's earlier productions; all his rich imagination was employed to centre interest upon moments of half-sensual sensations; the imagery was used in such a way that nature seemed to aid and abet the emotion; out of the heart of things, out of wild enchantment and eternal revelry shot forth into the lives of men the fires of passion. nothing could be more unlike the christ-soul which she worshiped as underlying the universe and on which she had reliance. "he does not feel pity; he does not understand love," she murmured. she felt a cold anger arise; she who had pity for most things felt that a lie had been uttered defiling the most sacred things in the holy of holies, the things upon which her life depended. she could never understand harvey, although he had been included in the general kindliness with which she treated all who came near her; but here he seemed revealed, almost vaunting an inspiration from the passionate powers who carry on their ancient war against the most high. the lights were now beginning to fade about her in the quiet garden when the gate opened, and someone came down the path. it was harvey. in the gloom he did not notice that her usual smile was lacking, and besides he was too rapt in his own purpose. he hesitated for a moment, then spoke. "olive," he said tremulously, "as i came down the lanes to say good-bye to you my heart rebelled. i could not bear the thought: olive, i have learned so many things from you; your words have meant so much to me that i have taken them as the words of god. before i knew you i shrank from pain; i wandered in search of a false beauty. i see now the purpose of life--to carry on the old heroic battle for the true; to give the consolation of beauty to suffering; to become so pure that through us may pass that divine pity which i never knew until you spoke, and i then saw it was the root of all life, and there was nothing behind it--such magic your words have. my heart was glad this morning for you at this truth, and i saw in it the power which would transfigure the earth. yet all this hope has come to me through you; i half hold it still through you. to part from you now--it seems to me would be like turning away from the guardian of the heavenly gateway. i know i have but little to bring you. i must make all my plea how much you are to me when i ask can you love me." she had hardly heard a word of all he said. she was only conscious that he was speaking of love. what love? had he not written of it? it would have emptied heaven into the pit. she turned and faced him, speaking coldly and deliberately: "you could speak of love to me, and write and think of it like this!" she placed her hand on the unfortunate magazines. harvey followed the movement of her arm. he took the papers up, then suddenly saw all as she turned and walked away,--what the passion of these poems must have seemed to her. what had he been in her presence that could teach her otherwise? only a doubter and questioner. in a dreadful moment his past rose up before him, dreamy, weak, sensual. his conscience smote him through and through. he could find no word to say. self-condemned, he moved blindly to the gate and went out. he hardly knew what he was doing. before him the pale dry road wound its way into the twilight amid the hedges and cottages. phantasmal children came and went. there seemed some madness in all they were doing. why did he not hear their voices? they ran round and round; there should have been cries or laughter or some such thing. then suddenly something seemed to push him forward, and he went on blankly and walked down the lane. in that tragic moment his soul seemed to have deserted him, leaving only a half- animal consciousness. with dull attention he wondered at the muffled sound of his feet upon the dusty road, and the little puffs of smoke that shot out before them. every now and then something would throb fiercely for an instant and be subdued. he went on and on. his path lay across some fields. he stopped by force of habit and turned aside from the road. again the same fierce throb. in a wild instant he struggled for recollection and self-mastery, and then the smothered soul rushed out of the clouds that oppressed it. memories of hope and shame: the morning gladness of his heart: the brilliant and spiritual imaginations that inspired him: their sudden ending: the degradation and drudgery of the life he was to return to on the morrow: all rose up in tumultuous conflict. a feeling of anguish that was elemental and not of the moment filled him. drifting and vacillating nature--he saw himself as in a boat borne along by currents that carried him, now near isles of beauty, and then whirled him away from their vanishing glory into gloomy gulfs and cataracts that went down into blackness. he was master neither of joy nor sorrow. without will: unpractical; with sensitiveness which made joy a delirium and gloom a very hell; the days he went forward to stretched out iron hands to bind him to the deadly dull and commonplace. these vistas, intolerable and hopeless, overcame him. he threw himself down in his despair. around his head pressed the cool grasses wet with dew. strange and narrow, the boundary between heaven and hell! all around him primeval life innocent and unconscious was at play. all around him, stricken with the fever of life, that power which made both light and darkness, inscrutable in its workings, was singing silently the lovely carol of the flowers. chapter iv. little heaps of paper activities piled themselves up, were added to, diminished, and added to again, all the day long before harvey at his desk. he had returned to his work: there was an unusual press of business, and night after night he was detained long beyond the usual hours. the iron hand which he had foreseen was laid upon him: it robbed him even of his right to sorrow, the time to grieve. but within him at moments stirred memories of the past, poignant anguish and fierce rebellion. with him everything transformed itself finally into ideal images and aspects, and it was not so much the memory of an incident which stung him as the elemental sense of pain in life itself. he felt that he was debarred from a heritage of spiritual life which he could not define even to himself. the rare rays of light that slanted through the dusty air of the office, mystic gold fallen through inconceivable distances from the pure primeval places, wakened in him an unutterable longing: he felt a choking in his throat as he looked. often, at night, too, lifting his tired eyes from the pages flaring beneath the bright gas jet, he could see the blueness deepen rich with its ancient clouds of starry dust. what pain it was to him, immemorial quiet, passivity and peace, though over it a million tremors fled and chased each other throughout the shadowy night! what pain it was to let the eyes fall low and see about him the pale and feverish faces looking ghostly through the hot, fetid, animal, and flickering air! his work over, out into the night he would drag himself wearily-- out into the night anywhere; but there no more than within could he escape from that power which haunted him with mighty memories, the scourge which the infinite wields. nature has no refuge for those in whom the fire of spirit has been kindled: earth has no glory for which it does not know a greater glory. as harvey passed down the long streets, twinkling with their myriad lights fading into blue and misty distances, there rose up before him in the visionary air solemn rows of sphinxes in serried array, and starlit pyramids and temples--greatness long dead, a dream that mocked the lives around him, hoarding the sad small generations of humanity dwindling away from beauty. gone was the pure and pale splendour of the primeval skies and the lustre of the first-born of stars. but even this memory, which linked him in imagination to the ideal past, was not always his: he was weighted, like all his race, with an animal consciousness which cried out fiercely for its proper life, which thirsted for sensation, and was full of lust and anger. the darkness was not only about him, but in him, and struggled there for mastery. it threw up forms of meanness and horrible temptations which clouded over his soul; their promise was forgetfulness; they seemed to say: "satisfy us, and your infinite longing shall die away: to be of clay is very dull and comfortable; it is the common lot." one night, filled with this intolerable pain, as he passed through the streets he yielded to the temptation to kill out this torturing consciousness: he accosted one of the women of the streets and walked away with her. she was full of light prattle, and chattered on and on. harvey answered her not a word; he was set on his stony purpose. child of the stars! what had he to do with these things? he sought only his soul's annihilation. something in this terrible silence communicated itself to his companion. she looked at his face in the light of a lamp; it was white, locked, and rigid. child of the stars, no less, though long forgetful, she shuddered at this association. she recoiled from him crying out "you brute--you brute!" and then fled away. the unhappy man turned homeward and sat in his lonely room with stupid, staring eyes, fixed on darkness and vacancy until the pale green light of dawn began to creep in upon him. into this fevered and anguished existence no light had yet come. drunken with wretchedness, harvey could not or would not think; and the implacable spirit which followed him deepened and quickened still more the current of his being, and the gloom and the glory of his dream moved still nearer to each other. mighty and mysterious spirit, thou who crownest pain with beauty, and by whom the mighty are bowed down from their seats, under they guidance, for such a crowning and for such agony, were coiled together the living streams of evil and good, so that at last the man might know himself--the soul--not as other than thee! the ways by which he was brought to that moment were unremembered; the sensations and thoughts and moods which culminated in the fire of self-consciousness could be retraced but vaguely. he had gone out of the city one sunday, and lying down in the fields under the trees, for a time he grew forgetful of misery. he went once more into the world of dreams. he, or the creature of his imagination, some shadow of himself, lived in and roamed through antique forests where the wonderful days were unbroken by sense of sorrow. childhood shared in an all-pervading exultation; through the pulses of youth ran the fiery energy that quickened the world; and this shadow of the dreamer dwelling amid the forests grew gradually into a consciousness of a fiery life upon which the surface forms were but films: he entered this kingdom of fire; its life became his life; he knew the secret ways to the sun, and the sunny secrets living in the golden world. "it was i, myself," rushed into harvey's mind: "it was i. ah, how long ago!" then for the first time, his visions, dreams and imaginations became real to him, as memories of a spirit traveling through time and space. looking backwards, he could nowhere find in the small and commonplace surroundings of his life anything which could have suggested or given birth to these vivid pictures and ideas. they began to move about swiftly in his mind and arrange themselves in order. he seemed to himself to have fallen downwards through a long series of lines of ever- lessening beauty--fallen downwards from the mansions of eternity into this truckling and hideous life. as harvey walked homewards through the streets, some power must have guided his steps, for he saw or knew nothing of what was about him. with the sense of the reality of his imaginations came an energy he had never before felt: his soul took complete possession of him: he knew, though degraded, that he was a spirit. then, in that supreme moment, gathered about him the memories of light and darkness, and they became the lips through which eternal powers spake to him in a tongue unlike the speech of men. the spirit of light was behind the visions of mystical beauty: the spirit of darkness arrayed itself in the desires of clay. these powers began to war within him: he heard voices as of titans talking. the spirit of light spake within him and said--"arouse now, and be thou my voice in this dead land. there are many things to be spoken and sung--of dead language the music and significance, old world philosophies; you will be the singer of the sweetest songs; stories wilder and stranger than any yet will i tell you--deeds forgotten of the vaporous and dreamy prime. the voice came yet again closer, full of sweet promise, with magical utterance floating around him. he became old--inconceivably old and young together. he was astonished in the wonders of the primal world. chaos with tremendous agencies, serpentine powers, strange men-beasts and men-birds, the crude first thought of awakening nature was before him; from inconceivable heights of starlike purity he surveyed it; he went forth from glory; he descended and did battle; he warred with behemeths, with the flying serpents and the monstrous creeping things. with the lords of air he descended and conquered; he dwelt in a new land, a world of light, where all things were of light, where the trees put forth leaves of living green, where the rose would blossom into a rose of light and lily into a white radiance, and over the vast of gleaming plains and through the depths of luminous forests, the dreaming rivers would roll in liquid and silver flame. often he joined in the mad dance upon the highlands, whirling round and round until the dark grass awoke fiery with rings of green under the feet. and so, on and on through endless transformations he passed, and he saw how the first world of dark elements crept in upon the world of beauty, clothing it around with grossness and veiling its fires; and the dark spirits entered by subtle ways into the spheres of the spirits of light, and became as a mist over memory and a chain upon speed; the earth groaned with the anguish. then this voice cried within him--"come forth; come out of it; come out, oh king, to the ancestral spheres, to the untroubled spiritual life. out of the furnace, for it leaves you dust. come away, oh king, to old dominion and celestial sway; come out to the antique glory!" then another voice from below laughed at the madness. full of scorn it spake, "you, born of clay, a ruler of stars? pitiful toiler with the pen, feeble and weary body, what shall make of you a spirit?" harvey thrust away this hateful voice. from his soul came the impulse to go to other lands, to wander for ever and ever under the star-rich skies, to be a watcher of the dawn and eve, to live in forest places or on sun-nurtured plains, to merge himself once more in the fiery soul hidden within. but the mocking voice would not be stifled, showing him how absurd and ridiculous it was "to become a vagabond," so the voice said, and finally to die in the workhouse. so the eternal spirit in him, god's essence, conscious of its past brotherhood, with the morning stars, the white aeons, in its prisonhouse writhed with the meanness, till at last he cried, "i will struggle no longer; it is only agony of spirit to aspire here at all; i will sit and wait till the deep darkness has vanished." but the instruction was not yet complete; he had learned the primal place of spirit; he had yet to learn its nature. he began to think with strange sadness over the hopes of the world, the young children. he saw them in his vision grow up, bear the burden in silence or ignorance; he saw how they joined in dragging onward that huge sphinx which men call civilization; there was no time for loitering amid the beautiful, for if one paused it was but to be trampled by the feet of the many who could not stay or rest, and the wheels of the image ground that soul into nothingness. he felt every pain almost in an anguish of sympathy. helpless to aid, to his lips came the cry to another which immemorial usage has made intuitive in men. but it is high and calm above all appeal; to it the cries from all the sorrowing stars sound but as one great music; lying in the infinite fields of heaven, from the united feelings of many universes it draws only a vast and passionless knowledge, without distinction of pleasure or pain. from the universal which moves not and aids not, harvey in his agony turned away. he himself could fly from the struggle; thinking of what far place or state to find peace, he found it true in his own being that nowhere could the soul find rest while there was still pain or misery in the world. he could imagine no place or state where these cries of pain would not reach him: he could imagine no heaven where the sad memory would not haunt him and burn him. he knew then that the nature of the soul was love eternal; he knew that if he fled away a divine compassion would compel him to renew his brotherhood with the stricken and suffering; and what was best forever to do was to fight out the fight in the darkness. there was a long silence in harvey's soul; then with almost a solemn joy he grew to realize at last the truth of he himself--the soul. the fight was over; the gloom and the glory were linked together, and one inseparably. harvey was full of a sense of quietness, as if a dew fell from unseen places on him with soothing and healing power. he looked around. he was at the door of his lodgings. the tall narrow houses with their dull red hues rose up about him; from their chimneys went up still higher the dark smoke; but behind its nebulous wavering the stars were yet; they broke through the smoke with white lustre. harvey looked at them for a moment, and went in strangely comforted. the end --march -june , the midnight blossom --"arhans are born at midnight hour..... together with the holy flower that opes and blooms in darkness."--the voice of the silence we stood together at the door of our hut: we could see through the gathering gloom where our sheep and goats were cropping the sweet grass on the side of the hill: we were full of drowsy content as they were. we had naught to mar our own happiness--neither memory nor unrest for the future. we lingered on while the vast twilight encircled us; we were one with its dewy stillness. the lustre of the early stars first broke in upon our dreaming: we looked up and around: the yellow constellations began to sing their choral hymn together. as the night deepened they came out swiftly from their hiding places in depths of still and unfathomable blue; they hung in burning clusters; they advanced in multitudes that dazzled: the shadowy shining of night was strewn all over with nebulous dust of silver, with long mists of gold with jewels of glittering green. we felt how fit a place the earth was to live on, with these nightly glories over us, with silence and coolness upon its lawns and lakes after the consuming day. valmika, kedar, i and ananda watched together; through the rich gloom we could see far distant forests and lights--the lights of village and city in king suddhodana's realm. "brothers," said valmika, "how good it is to be here, and not yonder in the city where they know not peace, even in sleep." "yonder and yonder," said kedar, "i saw the inner air full of a red glow where they were busy in toiling and strife. it seemed to reach up to me; i could not breathe. i climbed the hills at dawn to laugh where the snows were, and the sun is as white as they are white." "but, brothers, if we went down among them and told them how happy we were, and how the flowers grow on the hillside, and all about the flocks, they would surely come up and leave all sorrow. they cannot know or they would come." ananda was a mere child though so tall for his years. "they would not come," said kedar. "all their joy is to haggle and hoard. when siva blows upon them with his angry breath they will lament, or when the prets in fierce hunger devour them." "it is good to be here," repeated valmika drowsily, "to mind the flocks and be at rest, and to hear the wise varunna speak when he comes among us." i was silent. i knew better than they that busy city which glowed beyond the dark forests. i had lived there until, grown sick and weary, i had gone back to my brothers on the hillside. i wondered would life, indeed, go on ceaselessly until it ended in the pain of the world. i said within myself--oh, mighty brahma, on the outermost verges of they dream are our lives; thou old invisible, how faintly through our hearts comes the sound of thy song, the light of thy glory! full of yearning to rise and return, i strove to hear in the heart the music anahata had spoken of in our sacred scrolls. there was silence, and then i thought i heard sounds, not glad, a myriad murmur. as i listen it deepened, it grew into passionate prayer and appeal and tears, as if the cry of the long- forgotten souls of men went echoing through empty chambers. my eyes filled with tears, for it seemed world-wide, and to sigh from out many ages, long agone, to be and yet to be. "ananda! ananda! where is the boy running to?" cried valmika. ananda had vanished into the gloom. we heard his glad laugh below and then another voice speaking. presently up loomed the tall figure of varunna. ananda held his hand and danced beside him. we could see by the starlight his simple robe of white. i could trace clearly every feature of the grave and beautiful face, the radiant eyes; not by the starlight i saw, but because a silvery shining rayed a little way into the blackness around the dark hair and face. valmika, as elder, first spake. "holy sir, be welcome. will you come in and rest?" "i cannot stay now. i must pass over the mountain ere dawn; but you may come a little way with me--such of you as will." we assented gladly--kedar and i; valmika remained. then ananda prayed to go. we bade him stay, fearing for him the labour of climbing and the chill of the snows, but varunna said: "let the child come; he is hardy; he will not tire if he holds my hands." so we set out together and faced the highlands that rose and rose above us; we knew well the way even at night. we waited in silence for varunna to speak, but for nigh two hours we mounted without words, save for ananda's shouts of delight and wonder at the heavens spread above us. but i was hungry for an answer to my thoughts, so i spake. "master, valmika was saying, ere you came, how good it was to be here rather than in the city where they are full of strife, and kedar thought their lives would flow on into fiery pain and no speech would avail. ananda, speaking as a child indeed, said if one went down among them they would listen to his story of the happy life. but, master, do not many speak and interpret the sacred writings, and how few they are who lay to heart the words of the gods! they seem, indeed, to go on through desire into pain, and even here upon our hills we are not free, for kedar felt the hot glow of their passion and i heard in my heart their sobs of despair. master, it was terrible, for they seemed to come from the wide earth over, and out of ages far away." "there is more of the true in the child's hope than in your despair, for it is of much avail to speak though but a few listen. better is the life which aids, though in sorrow, than the life which withdraws from pain unto solitude. yet it is not well to speak without power, for only the knower of brahma can interpret the sacred writings truly. it is well to be free ere we speak of freedom; then we have power and many hearken." "but who would leave joy for sorrow, and who being one with brahma may return to give council?" "brother," said varunna, "here is the hope of the world. though many seek only for the eternal joy, yet the cry you heard has been heard by great ones who have turned backwards, called by these beseeching voices. the small old path stretching far away leads through many wonderful beings to the place of brahma; there is the first fountain, the world of beautiful silence, the light that has been undimmed since the beginning of time--the joy where life fades into being; but turning backwards, the small old path winds away into the world of men, it enters every sorrowful heart, and the way of him who would tread therethro' is stayed by its pain and barred by its delusion. this is the way the great ones go; they turn with the path from the door of brahma the warriors and the strong ones: they move along its myriad ways; they overcome darkness with wisdom and pain with compassion. after many conquered worlds, after many races of men, purified and uplifted they go to greater than brahma. in these, though few, is the hope of the world; these are the heroes for whom, returning, the earth puts forth her signal fires, and the devas sing their hymns of welcome." we paused where the plateau widened out; there was scarce a ripple in the chill air; in quietness the snows glistened, a light reflected from the crores of stars that swung with gay and glittering motion above us. we could hear the immense heart-beat of the world in the stillness; we had thoughts that went ranging through the heavens, not sad, but full of solemn hope. "brothers! master! look, the wonderful thing! and another, and yet another!" we heard ananda calling; we looked and saw the holy blossom--the midnight flower--oh, may the earth again put forth such beauty--it grew up from the snows with leaves of delicate crystal, a nimbus encircled each radiant bloom, a halo pale yet lustrous. i bowed down before it lost in awe. i heard varunna say:--"the earth, indeed puts forth her signal fires, and the devas sing their hymn; listen!" we heard a music as of beautiful thought moving along the high places of the earth, full of infinite love and hope and yearning. "brothers, be glad, for one is born who has chosen the greater way. now i must pass onwards. kedar, narayan, ananda, farewell! nay, no further; it is long way to return, and the child will tire." he went on and passed from our sight. but we did not return; we remained long, long in silence, looking at the sacred flower. vow, taken long ago, be strong in our hearts to-day. here where the pain is fiercer, to rest is more sweet. here where beauty dies away, it is more joy to be lulled in dreams. here the good, the true, our hope, seem but a madness born of ancient pain. out of rest, dream, or despair, let us arise. let us go the way the great ones go. --july, the story of a star the emotion that haunted me in that little cathedral town would be most difficult to describe. after the hurry, rattle, and fever of the city, the rare weeks spent here were infinitely peaceful. they were full of a quaint sense of childhood, with sometimes a deeper chord touched--the giant and spiritual things childhood has dreams of. the little room i slept in had opposite its window the great grey cathedral wall; it was only in the evening that the sunlight crept round it and appeared in the room strained through the faded green blind. it must have been this silvery quietness of colour which in some subtle way affected me with the feeling of a continual sabbath; and this was strengthened by the bells chiming hour after hour: the pathos, penitence, and hope expressed by the flying notes coloured the intervals with faint and delicate memories. they haunted my dreams, and i heard with unutterable longing the astral chimes pealing from some dim and vast cathedral of the cosmic memory, until the peace they tolled became almost a nightmare, and i longed for utter oblivion or forgetfulness of their reverberations. more remarkable were the strange lapses into other worlds and times. almost as frequent as the changing of the bells were the changes from state to state. i realised what is meant by the indian philosophy of maya. truly my days were full of mayas, and my work-a-day city life was no more real to me than one of those bright, brief glimpses of things long past. i talk of the past, and yet these moments taught me how false our ideas of time are. in the ever-living yesterday, to-day, and to-morrow are words of no meaning. i know i fell into what we call the past and the things i counted as dead for ever were the things i had yet to endure. out of the old age of earth i stepped into its childhood, and received once more the primal blessing of youth, ecstasy, and beauty. but these things are too vast and vague to speak of; the words we use to-day cannot tell their story. nearer to our time is the legend that follows. i was, i thought, one of the magi of old persia, inheritor of its unforgotten lore, and using some of its powers. i tried to pierce through the great veil of nature, and feel the life that quickened it within. i tried to comprehend the birth and growth of planets, and to do this i rose spiritually and passed beyond earth's confines into that seeming void which is the matrix where they germinate. on one of these journeys i was struck by the phantasm, so it seemed, of a planet i had not observed before. i could not then observe closer, and coming again on another occasion it had disappeared. after the lapse of many months i saw it once more, brilliant with fiery beauty--its motion was slow, rotating around some invisible centre. i pondered over it, and seemed to know that the invisible centre was its primordial spiritual state, from which it emerged a little while and into which it then withdrew. short was its day; its shining faded into a glimmer, and then into darkness in a few months. i learned its time and cycles; i made preparations and determined to await its coming. the birth of a planet at first silence and then an inner music, and then the sounds of song throughout the vastness of its orbit grew as many in number as there were stars at gaze. avenues and vistas of sound! they reeled to and fro. they poured from a universal stillness quick with unheard things. they rushed forth and broke into a myriad voices gay with childhood. from age and the eternal they rushed forth into youth. they filled the void with reveling and exultation. in rebellion they then returned and entered the dreadful fountain. again they came forth, and the sounds faded into whispers; they rejoiced once again, and again died into silence. and now all around glowed a vast twilight; it filled the cradle of the planet with colourless fire. i felt a rippling motion which impelled me away from the centre to the circumference. at that centre a still flame began to lighten; a new change took place, and space began to curdle, a milky and nebulous substance rocked to and fro. at every motion the pulsation of its rhythm carried it farther and farther away from the centre, it grew darker, and a great purple shadow covered it so that i could see it no longer. i was now on the outer verge, where the twilight still continued to encircle the planet with zones of clear transparent light. as night after night i rose up to visit it they grew many-coloured and brighter. i saw the imagination of nature visibly at work. i wandered through shadowy immaterial forests, a titanic vegetation built up of light and colour; i saw it growing denser, hung with festoons and trailers of fire, and spotted with the light of myriad flowers such as earth never knew. coincident with the appearance of these things i felt within myself, as if in harmonious movement, a sense of joyousness, an increase of self-consciousness; i felt full of gladness, youth, and the mystery of the new. i felt that greater powers were about to appear, those who had thrown outwards this world and erected it as a place in space. i could not tell half the wonder of this strange race. i could not myself comprehend more than a little of the mystery of their being. they recognised my presence there, and communicated with me in such a way that i can only describe it by saying that they seemed to enter into my soul breathing a fiery life; yet i knew that the highest i could reach to was but the outer verge of their spiritual nature, and to tell you but a little i have many times to translate it, for in the first unity with their thought i touched on an almost universal sphere of life, i peered into the ancient heart that beats throughout time; and this knowledge became change in me, first, into a vast and nebulous symbology, and so down through many degrees of human thought into words which hold not at all the pristine and magical beauty. i stood before one of this race, and i thought, "what is the meaning and end of life here?" within me i felt the answering ecstasy that illuminated with vistas of dawn and rest, it seemed to say: "our spring and our summer are unfolding into light and form, and our autumn and winter are a fading into the infinite soul." i thought, "to what end is this life poured forth and withdrawn?" he came nearer and touched me; once more i felt the thrill of being that changed itself into vision. "the end is creation, and creation is joy: the one awakens out of quiescence as we come forth, and knows itself in us; as we return we enter it in gladness, knowing ourselves. after long cycles the world you live in will become like ours; it will be poured forth and withdrawn; a mystic breath, a mirror to glass your being." he disappeared while i wondered what cyclic changes would transmute our ball of mud into the subtle substance of thought. in that world i dared not stay during its period of withdrawal; having entered a little into its life, i became subject to its laws: the power on its return would have dissolved my being utterly. i felt with a wild terror its clutch upon me, and i withdrew from the departing glory, from the greatness that was my destiny--but not yet. from such dreams i would be aroused, perhaps by a gentle knock at my door, and my little cousin margaret's quaint face would peep in with a "cousin robert, are you not coming down to supper?" of these visions in the light of after thought i would speak a little. all this was but symbol, requiring to be thrice sublimed in interpretation ere its true meaning can be grasped. i do not know whether worlds are heralded by such glad songs, or whether any have such a fleeting existence, for the mind that reflects truth is deluded with strange phantasies of time and place in which seconds are rolled out into centuries and long cycles are reflected in an instant of time. there is within us a little space through which all the threads of the universe are drawn; and, surrounding that incomprehensible centre the mind of man sometimes catches glimpses of things which are true only in those glimpses; when we record them the true has vanished, and a shadowy story-- such as this--alone remains. yet, perhaps, the time is not altogether wasted in considering legends like these, for they reveal, though but in phantasy and symbol, a greatness we are heirs to, a destiny which is ours, though it be yet far away. --august , how theosophy affects one's view of life --a paper read before the dublin lodge. in asking you to consider with me the influence of the system of thought called theosophy upon one's view of all the things which are included in the term life, i have to preface my remarks by the confession that i have not extracted my ideas from portly volumes, or indeed, engaged in any great research; and i have further to ask you to believe that what you will hear is the most unbiased statement, as far as possible, on the subjects which will necessarily come under notice. the outlook of any individual mind is not a constant quantity; it is to some extent determined by education, environment, and the innate tendencies; but it is always subject to alteration; it is constantly feeling the influence of subtle forces and circumstances, and it changes with every fresh experience and every new sensation. still these influences seldom evince their presence by a great reversal of the mental attitude, and we are best able to sense them by seeing how the actions of the individual, which are very largely the voluntary or involuntary expression of his standpoint, represent at different times changes in that standpoint. indeed, one's own experience will supply plenty of material to work upon; for, i daresay no one will insist that his present attitude towards the rest of the universe is identical with that of ten or five years ago, or even one year. a little examination will show that the mental processes which precede some definite action are altered in some important manner from those of . the question which is of importance is to find out how the change has come about, and whether one is to allow extraneous events to mast his mental conclusions, or one is to become, through wisdom acquired by effort, the conscious master of his destiny. theosophy has for its leading tenet the absolute unity in essence and correlation of all life, whether visible, invisible, material, intellectual, spiritual, and this affords at once a clue to the consideration of the present subject; for, according to the view which the individual thinker takes of the powers and relations of the mind itself will be his view of the duties and responsibilities which these powers and relations involve; in other words, ethics or moral philosophy must be based upon metaphysics. now, i wish to be as brief as possible in pointing out the theosophic view of the mind, and soul, and their powers and relations; and were it not that it is necessary for the unity of my remarks, i would take refuge in referring to the numerous able, intellectual, and forcible expositions of this matter which you have heard in this room. theosophy, to put it as concisely as possible, accepts the universe as "the unfolding of a divine life, functioning in every form of living and nonliving thing." man is viewed as a compound being, a spark of this divine universal spirit being clothed with the body. the immortal indestructible part of man consists of this spark of universal spirit, its vehicle the human spirit, and the mind or intellectual faculties. it uses as a dwelling the body, with its animal life, its passions and appetites, to which mankind is so prone to attach tremendous importance. the connecting link is the mind, which, being full of agitation, strong, and obstinate, senses all the material existence, is moved by the hopes and fears, and the storm of existence. the lesson, ever insisted on as having to be learnt, is that the lower part of man, the body, and its attachments, have to be conquered and purified; and the only way to teach it its true functions is by suffering; and when this is done, we shall have got somewhere nearer the goal, when we shall identify our consciousness with our true self, not with the illusion. the powers of the mind to sense all existence, and its relations towards the rest of our being as the connecting link, bearing the contact with external things towards the soul, and at times being the vehicle of the wisdom which is one of the attributes of that which has no attribute: i say, then, these powers and relations of the mind, which one finds everywhere treated of in theosophical literature, are the determining factors in the formation of our ethics. and since, from socrates down, we are taught that self-knowledge is necessary for guidance of one's conduct, the knowledge of the mind and its capacities is at once shadowed forth as of immense value. it has at least three elementary powers--viz., the power of knowing, the power of feeling, and the power of acting. these powers, though distinguishable, are not separable; but rather when we distinguish knowledge, feeling, and action, what we call by these names will be found, when accurately examined, to be combinations of the three elements, differing only in respect to the element which preponderates. locke would have us suppose that when i say "i know," it means that an object is inserted into my consciousness as into a bag. but no bag could produce the phenomenon of knowledge. to produce it requires the putting forth of an active power, which we call intelligence. the knowledge of an object always produces in the mind some emotion with regard to it: this emotion is normally pleasure. sometimes the difficulties which beset the acquisition of knowledge are so great and cause such dissatisfaction and pain that the mind is tempted to banish them, together with the object which excites them, from its consciousness. knowledge and the emotions to which it gives rise induce those actions which are the result of the inherent activity of the mind stimulated by them. thus we see that the antecedents of all action include intelligence as an active power: and ethics, more particularly theosophical ethics, are seen to have practical value, and not merely a speculative interest. having digressed thus far from my subject, the point to which i proceed to address myself is, the working out on the individual of the system of which i have tried to shadow forth the greater truths. the first class i will deal with are the indifferent. to them, theosophy presents the widest possible field of, and reasons for, activity that can be desired. it shows that no action is without its direct permanent result, and that consequently the position of the indifferent is absolutely untenable. no one who has studied theosophical literature can ever find there a justification for mere laissez-faire. it points out the enormous value of what we call trifles, and the comparatively trifling value of what the indifferent would take most note. theosophy always insists on action in some direction, preferably conscious, well-directed action, with pure motive. the agnostic is, as it were, theosophy's special care--it shows him at once the directions in which further, fuller, and greater knowledge of every branch of science or philosophy can be gained. it says to him "pursue your previous method of inquiry, and remember, taking nothing for granted, do not accept other's authority. seek for knowledge: we can only point the way we have ourselves gone. investigate every nook and corner of your mind, and learn how to control it and your sense perceptions. then you will no longer mistrust your results as possibly imperfect, but you will have attained to some closer contact with truth." to both the agnostic and the indifferent, the study of theosophy will bring a consciousness of the responsibility towards others, which is the basis of our universal brotherhood. it will tend to remove the personal element which has hitherto done so much to cloud and obscure one's investigations; and it will gradually lead to the elimination of the anxiety as to results, which will bring us (by the removal of remorse or approval) to calmness of mind, in which condition great work can be achieved. the appeal of theosophy to the scientific investigator is practically identical with the last. it will show him what so many of his confreres are more or less tacitly recognizing, that the hopeless and soul-deadening belief of the materialist (that all the growth of the race, the struggling towards a higher life, the aspirations towards virtue shall absolutely vanish, and leave no trace), is a crushing mental burden which leads to absolute negation; it will show the spiritual nature of man in perfect consistence with the true theories, and as dependent on fundamental laws and causes. coming from the region of unbelief to belief, to use these words in their narrowest sense, let us consider what way theosophy will affect a believer in doctrines of some system of religious thought. to take the ordinary protestant first; theosophy is apparently likely to fail on account of its taking away the personality of the deity, and the habit of prayer: for to both of these doctrines the earnest churchman is attached. but if it does do so, what does it substitute? it puts forward an atonement, not an atonement of , years ago, but a daily atonement to be carried out in each one's life, and having as great an influence on one's fellows; it suggests the possibilities are within each one of us, if we but seek the true path. also, and this is a small point, it removes the horrible canker of church government, which ministers so powerfully to the idea of separateness and personality: and lastly, it offers, in place of mouthing prayers to a god whom one is taught to fear ten times to the once that love is insisted on, a union with that higher self which, if pursued, brings peace, wisdom, an infinite compassion, and an infinite love. what has theosophy to offer to the roman catholic? all that it offers to the protestant; with this addition, that not merely one woman is exalted, but all womankind as being of the same essence and spirit of all nature. it shows that there is no superiority, but that by effort, by training, by aspiration, everyone, both man and woman, shall be found worthy of being taken into heaven, and joined again to the one source of life and being. it shows the whole doctrine of saintliness and blessedness to have a source in truth, though overlaid and altered. and what of the other sheep? what of that soul which, feeling compelled by its intuitions to recognise the essential divinity of man, yet find no expression in the churches which will fit into its emotional nature? what of him whom, for want of a better word, i shall call a symbolist, who is always striving to express in some form of art or thought, that divine energy which is wisdom, consciousness, and energy all in one? does not theosoophy afford the very best outlet for his soul force? are not its ideas on a level with, if not higher than, what his most sublime moments of feeling can bring before him? surely if anyone can find peace in its bosom, the symbolist, ever struggling to express his sense of the true, the beautiful, which are, after all, but a second reflection of the higher mind, with its knowledge of the essence of all life, can therein do his noblest work for humanity in company with those who, having previously done all they could for the race through a sense of duty arising from intuitions they declined to recognise, have found in the doctrines of theosophy the broadest possible field for such work, and the purest motive. and now, changing from particular types, how do we look upon theosophy as a power in ethics? we find the elimination of the selfish instinct insisted upon as necessary for the progress of the ego through its material envelope to a full and complete knowledge of its higher self; we find the doctrine of brotherhood put forward in its noblest aspects; we find as a necessary corollary that responsibility is increased and widened with an accompanying sense of power to accept and carry on that responsibility; with the growth of higher feeling within us comes a sense of added strength; we learn gradually to work without consideration or anxiety for results; we grow more tolerant of our neighbor's shortcomings, and less so of our own; we find that by disengaging ourselves from the objects of the senses, we become indifferent to small troubles, and more free to assist our neighbor when they press on him; with the knowledge of the causes of present conditions lying in past action, and our present actions going to be the causes of future conditions, we place ourselves in a position to work to the full extent of our powers to set in motion such causes as will bring about the happiest results for humanity as a whole; we learn to look upon death, not as the opening of the spiritual life, but as a release from a weight which keeps under the spiritual life, which is always with us, now as well as before birth and after death; we learn to sense the methods by which the universe works out its destiny; we find every day growing stronger that sense of immortality, of absolute union with the universal soul, which at first merely manifested itself in strange feelings and emotions; we find the clues to the control of our physical and mental faculties, and are not surprised to discover the ten-thousand- fold increase in value these faculties then bear; we put ourselves more and more in harmony with what we feel to be the source of all truth; we find ourselves gradually able to give expression to those dumb feelings which we could not find words for, of its grandeur and greatness; until finally we come, after many incarnations, after suffering, after despair sometimes, to a knowledge which transcends all human knowledge, to a bliss which is above our present ideas, to a peace which the world cannot give, which surpasseth all understanding, and are then ready to give up that bliss and peace, and to use that knowledge for the divine compassion towards our fellows who are following. but how are we to hope for this progress? what are we to do to realize these ideas? is it by wishing for it that this state will come about? is there no everyday way of getting forward? these are some of the questions which will rise naturally to the lips of any here who are not thoroughly acquainted with theosophical ideas: and what have we to say in reply? are we to confess theosophy is a doctrine only for the learned, the cultured, the wealthy? are we to acknowledge that christianity or agnosticism is more practical, easier for the men in the street to grasp? are we to say that theosophy is not a gospel for to-day? no: a thousand times no! if there is one result of a study of theosophy, it is the gaining of hope, a sure and certain hope, which soon becomes trust, and later, knowledge. i affirm most strongly that there is no one to whom theosophy in some of its myriad aspects does not appeal, and appeal strongly enough to cause it to be the ruling passion of his existence; but i do also affirm as strongly, that in theosophy, as in all other things, what are necessary are, pure motive and perseverance. it costs no one anything to spend an hour a day in meditation on some aspect of life; in thinking of our eternal nature and striving to place ourselves en rapport with our highest ideals of purity, nobility, truth. then cannot we get the idea of universal brotherhood firmly fixed in our consciousness as an actual reality to be attained, and always act upon that basis. to me, the thought of the absolute unity of all life, affords as high an ideal for putting into practical shape as my deficient development allows me. cannot we get this ideal or some other ideal so essential a part of our thought that it colours all our feelings, emotions and actions? we will then be doing our part in the struggle. we will not be of the laodiceans, who were neither hot nor cold. let us try this: let us see whether it will have such an effect, and if we, by our personal experience, have convinced ourselves of the reality of this, let us progress further, and by further trial find out the greater truths beyond. reincarnation and karma are essentially doctrines for the poor and needy; mental and physical. intellectual subtleties are not needed in theosophy: it is spiritual perception, and who will dare say to the poor that they have less of this than their fellows? the only region where the "exclusiveness" argument can have even a momentary hold is with regard to occultism. there is in most people's mind a distrust of anything secret. but remember, believe only in what your own test has shown you to be true: and learn not to condemn those who have found some irresistible impulse urging them forward to seek further. besides, anyone who is not clear in his motive in studying occultism had better pause before he pledges himself to anything, or undertakes that the result of which he does not know even dimly. and before passing from this digression, let me insist strongly once again on the fact that true progress will come only to those who seek to attain it. they who would be something more than those who feast and laugh and die, will hear the voice of duty, as the note of war, nerving their spirit to great enterprise, and knitting every sinew for the charge. again, get rid of indolence, or its synonym, indifference. the real hereditary sin of human nature is indolence. conquer that, and you will conquer the rest. we cannot afford to rest with what we have done; we must keep moving on. in this, indeed, to stand still is to go back--worse still, to keep others back. in conclusion i may, perhaps, be permitted to give you a few remarks as to the influence theosophy has had upon myself. it has furnished me with satisfactory reasons for living and working; it has infused an earnestness in that work which i prize as one of the valuable things of my life's experience. it has ministered to that inmost sense of worship and aspiration which all of us possess; it has shown me that by expanding one's consciousness in that of the universe, one gains more knowledge and opportunity for helping on humanity; and it has pointed out where the materials for a scientific basis of ethics can be found, and also what will be the outlines of the future building; and finally it has shown that if the objects of our desires be changed, and many things we held dear are no longer prized, it is owning simply to the acquirement of larger and fuller interests. --september , comfort we are continually called upon to give comfort, and it is a problem to many what to say. for there are people who can see no outlet from their pain other than this, that they shall obtain that which they desire. the lover longs for the one who is absent or cold; the poor demand wealth; the tortured cry out for relief from suffering; and so on through all phases of human life we continually meet such people. we, perhaps free from such afflictions, have schooled ourselves into a heroic mood. these are not things to sorrow over, we think; therefore, we are in a dilemma. we cannot aid them, for their ideals often seem ignoble to us--their wish accomplished would only bring on the renewal of old pain, and bind them closer to the weary wheel. yet we cannot be cold, we who would identify ourselves with all life, for the soul must "lend its ear to every cry of pain, like as the lotus bares its heart to drink the morning sun." in the many cases where the suffering is unavoidable, and cannot be otherwise received, what are we to do? some, a little above the ignoble view that the only relief is in the satisfaction of desire, say reverently to those in pain: "it is god's will," and some accept it as such with dull resignation. but with some the iron has entered the soul--the words are empty. "what have i to do with god, or he with me?" they demand in their hearts. they join in the immemorial appeal and fierce revolt which at all times the soul of man makes against any external restraint. we who are disciples of old wisdom may touch some chord in them which may awaken eternal endurance. it is not, we say, a pain imposed upon us by any eternal power; but the path we tread is one which we ourselves very long ago determined. to the question, "what have we to do with god?" we make answer that we are the children of deity--bright sparks born in the divine flame, the spirit in its primal ecstacy reflected in itself the multitudinous powers that throng in space. it was nourished by divine love, and all that great beauty thrilled through it and quickened it. but from this vision which the spirit had, it passed to climb to still greater heights--it was spiritual, it might attain divinity. the change from the original transcendental state of vision to that other state of being, of all-pervading consciousness, could only be accomplished by what is known as the descent into matter where spirit identifies itself with every form of life, and assimilates their essences. this cyclic pilgrimage it undertook, foreseeing pain, but "preferring free will to passive slavery, intellectual, self- conscious pain, and even torture, 'while myriad time shall flow,' to inane, imbecile, instinctual beatitude," foreseeing pain, but knowing that out of it all would come a nobler state of life, a divinity capable of rule, a power to assist in the general evolution of nature. it is true in the experience of many that going deep within themselves, an elemental consciousness whispers comfort; it says all will be well with us; it is our primal will which so orders. and so we justify the pain and hearts that break; and that old appeal and fierce revolt we make dies out in the inner light which shines from "the goal, the comforter, the lord, the witness, the resting-place, the asylum, the friend." we can then once more go forth with the old, heroic, titan will for mastery, seeking not to escape, but rather to meet, endure, and assimilate sorrow and joy alike; for so we can permeate all life--life which is in its essence one. this is the true centre on which all endurance must rest; this is the comfort the soul may take to itself; and beyond and after this we may say we struggle in a chaos indeed, but in a chaos whose very disorder is the result of law. that law is justice that cannot err. out of confidence in this justice may spring up immortal hopes; our motives, our faith shall save us. we may dare more, give ourselves away more completely, for is not the root of this law declared to be beauty, harmony, compassion. we may trust that our acts shall have full fruition, and remain careless of the manner, nor seek for such results. we may look upon it if we will as the sweetest of the sweetest, the tenderest of the tenderest; and this is true, though still it is master of the fiery pain. above all it is the law of our own being; it is at one with our ancestral self. in all this lies, i think, such consolation as we may take and offer for pain. those who comprehend, in their resignation, shall become one with themselves; and out of this resignation shall arise will to go forth and fulfil our lofty destiny. --may , the ascending cycle the teaching of the secret doctrine divides the period during which human evolution proceeds upon this globe into seven periods. during the first three-and-a-half of these, the ethereal humanity who appeared in the first race gradually become material in form, and the psychic spirituality of the inner man is transformed into intellectuality. during the remaining three-and-a-half periods, there is a gradual dematerialization of form; the inner man by slow degrees rises from mere brain intellection to a more perfected spiritual consciousness. we are told that there are correspondences between the early and later periods of evolution; the old conditions are repeated, but upon higher planes; we re-achieve the old spirituality with added wisdom and intellectual power. looked at in this way we shall find that the seventh race corresponds to the first; the sixth to the second; and the fifth race (which is ours) corresponds with the third. "we are now approaching a time," says the secret doctrine, "when the pendulum of evolution will direct its swing decidedly upward, bringing humanity back on a parallel line with the primitive third root race in spirituality." that is, there will be existing on the earth, about the close of fifth race, conditions in some way corresponding with those prevailing when the third race men began their evolution. through this period may be yet distant hundreds of thousands of years, still it is of interest to forecast that future as far as may be, for the future is concealed in the present, and is the outcome of forces working to-day. we may find out from this enquiry the true nature of movements like the theosophical society. one of the most interesting passages in the secret doctrine is that which describes the early third race. "it was not a race, this progeny. it was at first a wondrous being, called the 'initiator," and after him a group of semi-divine and semi-human beings." without at all attempting to explain the real nature of this mysterious being or race, we may assume that one of the things hinted at is the consciousness of united being possessed by these ancient adepts. walking abroad over the earth as instructors of a less progressed humanity, their wisdom and power had a common root. they taught truth from a heart-perception of life, ever fresh and eternal, everywhere pervading nature and welling up in themselves. this heart-perception is the consciousness of unity of inner being. the pendulum of evolution which in its upward swing will bring humanity backwards on a parallel line with the primitive third root race, should bring back something corresponding to this primeval hierarchy of divine sages. we should see at the end of the kaliyuga a new brotherhood formed from those who have risen out of material life and aims, who have conquered self, who have been purified by suffering, who have acquired strength and wisdom, and who have wakened up to the old magical perception of their unity in true being. "at the end of the kali, our present age, vishnu, or the "everlasting king,' will appear as kalki, and establish righteousness upon earth. the minds of those who live at that time shall be awakened and become pellucid as crystal." --(secret doctrine, ii, ) passing beyond the turning point of evolution, where the delusion of separateness is complete, and moving on the that future awaiting us in infinite distances, when the great breath shall cease its outward motion and we shall merge into the one--on this uphill journey in groups and clusters men will first draw closer together, entering in spirit their own parent rays before being united in the source of all light and life. such a brotherhood of men and women we may expect will arise, conscious in unity, thinking from one mind and acting from one soul. all such great achievements of the race are heralded long before by signs which those who study the lives of men may know. there is a gestation in the darkness of the womb before the living being appears. ideals first exist in thought, and from thought they are outrealized into objective existence. the theosophical society was started to form the nucleus of a universal brotherhood of humanity, and its trend is towards this ideal. may we not justifiably suppose that we are witnessing to-day in this movement the birth of a new race corresponding to the divine initiators of the third; a race which shall in its inner life be truly a "wondrous being." i think we will perform our truest service to the society by regarding it in this way as an actual entity whose baby years and mystical childhood we should foster. there are many people who know that it is possible by certain methods to participate in the soul-life of a co-worker, and if it is possible to do this even momentarily with one comrade, it is possible so to participate in the vaster life of great movements. there will come a time to all who have devoted themselves to this idea, as h.p. blavatsky and some others have done, when they will enter into the inner life of this great being, and share the hopes, the aspirations, the heroism, and the failures which must be brought about when so many men and women are working together. to achieve this we should continually keep in mind this sense of unity; striving also to rise in meditation until we sense in the vastness the beating of these innumerable hearts glowing with heroic purpose: we should try to humanize our mysticism; "we can only reach the universal mind through the minds of humanity," and we can penetrate into their minds by continual concentration, endeavouring to realise their thoughts and feelings, until we carry always about with us in imagination, as [wrote] walt whitman, "those delicious burdens, men and women." --november , the mystic nights' entertainment we went forth gay in the twilight's cover; the dragon day with his ruddy crest blazed on the shadowy hills hung over the still grey fields in their dewy rest. we went forth gay, for all ancient stories were told again in our hearts as we trod; above were the mountain's dawn-white glories; we climbed to it as the throne of god. we pitched our tents in a sheltered nook on the mountain side. we were great with glee during the day, forecasting happy holidays remote from the crowded city. but now as we sat round the camp fire at dusk silence fell upon us. what were we to do in the long evenings? i could see willie's jolly face on the other side of the fire trying to smother a yawn as he refilled his pipe. bryan was watching the stars dropping into their places one by one. i turned to robert and directed the general attention to him as a proper object for scorn. he had drawn a pamphlet on some scientific subject from his breast-pocket and was trying to read it by the flickering light. "did you come up to the mountains for this," i asked, "to increase your knowledge of the eocene age? put it by, or--we will send it up as a burnt offering to the stars." "well," he said, looking rather ashamed, "one must do something, you know. willie has his pipe, bryan is holding some mysterious intercourse with the planets, and you have the fire to take care of. what is one to do?" this went to the root of the matter. i pondered over it awhile, until an idea struck me. "there is bryan. let him tell us a story. he was flung into life with a bundle of old legends. he knows all mystery and enchantment since the days of the rishees, and has imagined more behind them. he has tales of a thousand incarnations hidden away in secretness. he believes that everything that happened lives still in the memory of nature, and that he can call up out of the cycles of the past heroic figures and forgotten history, simply by his will, as a magician draws the elemental hordes together." "have a dragon and a princess in it," said willie, settling himself into an attitude of listening. "or authentic information about eocene man," suggested robert. "i could not tell a story that way," said bryan simply. "i could never invent a story, though all the characters, heroes and princess, were to come and sit beside me so that i could describe them as they really were. my stories come like living creatures into my mind; and i can only tell them as they tell themselves to me. today, as i lay in the sunlight with closed eyes, i saw a haze of golden light, then twilight trees appeared and moving figures and voices speaking; it shaped itself into what is hardly a story, but only an evening in some legendary existence." we waited while bryan tried to recall his misty figures. we were already in sympathy with his phantasmal world, for the valleys below us were dim-coloured and quiet, and we heard but rarely and far away the noises of the village; the creatures of the mountain moved about in secretness, seeking their own peculiar joys in stillness amid dews and darkness. after a little bryan began. the gardens of twilight i saw in my vision one of the heroes of the antique world. he rode for many, many days, yet saw no kindly human face. after long wanderings and toils he came to the gardens of twilight, the rich and rare gardens of the primeval world, known by rumour to the ancient greeks as the hesperides. he looked around with wonder; the place was all a misty dazzle with light, a level light as of evening that flowed everywhere about; the air was rich with the scent of many blossoms; from each flower rose an odour that hovered about it as a delicate vapour. while he gazed, one of the spirits of the garden came nigh him in the guise of a beautiful human child. "how came you here?" "i wandered for many years," he said, "i fought with the dragons that lie coiled in citron scales on the highways; i warred against oppression; i made justice to prevail, and now that peace is on the land i might have rested with peace in mine own heart, but i could not yet. so i left behind the happy hearths and homes of men and rode onward, a secret fire burning ceaselessly within me; i know not in what strange home it will be still. but what gardens are these?" "they are the gardens of twilight," answered the child. "how beautiful then must be the gardens of day! how like a faint fine dust of amethyst and gold the mist arises from the enchanted odorous flowers! surely some spirit things must dwell within the air that breaks so perpetually into hues of pearl and shell!" "they are the servants of zeus," the child said. "they live within these wandering airs; they go forth into the world and make mystery in the hearts of men." "was it one such guided me thither?" "i do not know; but this i know, whether led by the wandering spirits or guided by their own hearts, none can remain here safely and look upon the flowers save those who understand their mystery or those who can create an equal beauty. for all others deadly is the scent of the blossoms; stricken with madness, they are whirled away into the outer world in fever, passion and unending hunger and torment." "i do not care if i pass from them," said the wanderer. "it is not here my heart could be still and its desire cease, but in the first fount." they passed on and went deeper into the gardens of twilight, which were ever-changing, opalescent, ever-blushing with new and momentary beauty, ever-vanishing before the steady gaze to reveal beneath more silent worlds of mystic being. like vapour, now gorgeous and now delicate, they wavered, or as the giant weeds are shadowing around the diver in the indian wave sun-drenched through all its deeps of green. sometimes a path would unfold, with a million shining flowers of blue, twinkling like stars in the wilky way, beneath their feet, and would wind away delicately into the faery distances. "let us rest," said the child, leaning against a tree. she began swaying a hand to and fro among the flowers; as her fingers touched the bell-like blooms of burning amethyst they became stained with the rich colour; she seemed to lose herself in dreams as one who toils not for delight, living ever amid rich joys. he wondered if she was as unreal as the gardens, and remembering her words, they seemed familiar as if they were but echoes of the unuttered thoughts that welled up as he moved about. while he watched the flitting phantasmagoria with a sense expectant of music which never came, phantasmagoria with a sense expectant of music which never came, there arose before him images of peace, vanishing faster than passion, and forms of steadfast purity came nigh, attired, priestess-like, in white and gold; they laid their heads against his breast; as he looked down, their eyes, eager and flamelike, grew passionate and full of desire. he stretched out his hand to pluck blossoms and twine wreaths for their beautiful heads. "do not! do not!" cried the child. "see how every blossom has its guardian!" there were serpents coiling about the roots of every flower, or amid the leaves, waiting with undulating head and forked tongue to strike the uncautious hand. he shook off the drowsy influence of the scents and o'er-burdened air; the forms vanished. he remembered the child's words: "none can remain in safety an equal beauty." he began to ponder over the meaning of the gardens. "while we sit here, late lingerers in the glory of twilight, i will tell you a story which my fancy brings me," he said. "i thought one came here long ago and built himself a mighty world in a dream of many hundred years." "he had lived with kings and counselors; he had wrought in magical arts, and the great and wise of the earth were his fellows. when a time came for him to depart he turned away sadly from the towers of men. he passed, without knowing it, through the strange defiles which lead to these gardens; but the light did not break upon him in iridescent waves foamy with flowers and sparkling with vanishing forms; the light was hidden in the bosom of the twilight; it was all-pervading but invisible; the essence of the light bathed his soul; the light was living; the light was exhaustless; by it everything was born; touched by it everything went forth in ecstasy, blind, seeking for realization. "the magician brought with him the seeds of human desire and wisdom and aspiration. the light broke into his moody forgetfulness and kindled long-forgotten fires. he awoke from his darkness and saw before him in happiest vistas the island city of his lounging. around him were the men and women he knew; acting on his secret wishes the multitudes hailed him as king, they bowed before him as wise, they worshiped him as all-powerful.. it was not strange to him, and rapt in royal imaginations for countless years he held sway over the island city. he dreamed of it as a poet, and there was no more beautiful city than this city of his dream. there were places that shot up, pinnacle upon pinnacle, amid the jewel- light of the stars; there were courts and porticoes full of mysterious glory and gloom, magnificence and darkness; there were fountains that jetted their pearly mists into the light; around them with summer in their hearts lay the island inhabitants, each one an angel for beauty. as the dream of the magician deepened in rapture, the city wavered and changed more continually; its towers pierced more daringly into the way of the stars; for the darkness below he summoned birds of fire from the aerial deeps; they circled the palaces with flaming wings; they stained the air with richest dyes and rained forth emerald and blue and gold on the streets and sculptured walls and the inhabitants in their strange joys. "his dream changed; he went forth no more but shut himself up in his palace with his wisest princes, and as he took counsel with them, the phantasmal and brilliant towers without faded and fell away as a butterfly droops its wings. for countless years he lived in the intoxication of thought; around him were sages who propounded wisest laws, and poets who sang of love, humanity and destiny. as his dream deepened still more in its rapture, they sang of mightier themes; there was continual music and light; there was no limit of glory or dominion which the human soul might not aspire to; his warriors stepped from star to star in dreams of conquest, and would have stayed the seraph princess of the wind and wave and fire, to make more radiant the retinue of this magician of the beautiful. "again his desire changed. he sought to hold no further sway over these wide realms beyond him; he shut himself up in an inner chamber in lonely meditation, and as he entered into a deeper being the sages and poets, who were with him at his royal feasts, vanished and were no more. he, the wise mind, pondered within himself, finding joy in the continual inward birth of thought following thought, as in lonely seas wave rolls upon wave. from all things he had known or experienced he drew forth their essence and hidden meaning, and he found that he had been no less a king in his old unconsciousness than he now was, and that at all times nature had been obeisant and whatever had happened had still been by his own will. through the light, thin fretted by the fire of his aspirations, he sometimes seemed to see the shining law in all things and the movement through the thought-swept fields of heaven of the universal imagination. he saw that this, too, had been a minister to him. he drew nigh to himself--divinity. the last rapture of his soul was his radiant self-conception. save for this vesture the light of illusion fell from him. he was now in a circle of whitest fire, that girdled and looked in upon the movements of worlds within its breast. he tried to expand and enter this flaming circle; myriads of beings on its verges watched him with pity; i felt their thought thrilling within me. "he will never attain it!" "ah, the beautiful bird, his plumage is stained!" "his glory will drag him down!" "only in invisible whiteness can he pass!" "how he floats upwards, the beautiful bird!" "these voices of universal compassion did not reach him, rapt in aspiration and imperious will. for an instant--an eternity--the infinitudes thrilled him, those infinitudes which in that instant he knew he could never enter but as one with all on the days of the great return. all that longed, all that aspired and dared, all but the immortal were in that movement destroyed, and hurled downwards from the highest heaven of life, the pilgrim spark began once more as a child to live over again the round of human days." "the spirit of the place o'ermastered you," said the child. "here may come and dream; and their dream of joy ended, out of each dreaming sphere comes forth again in pain the infant spirit of man." "but beyond this illusive light and these ever-changing vistas-- what lies? i am weary of their vanishing glories. i would not wish to mount up through dreams to behold the true and fall away powerlessly, but would rather return to earth, though in pain, still eager to take up and renew the cyclic labours." "i belong to the gardens," said the child; "i do not know what lies beyond. but there are many paths leading far away." before them where they stood branched out paths of rich flowers. here a region of pinks lured on to vistas of delicate glory; there ideal violet hues led to a more solemn beauty; here the eyes were dazzled by avenues of rich, radiant, and sunny green; another in beautiful golden colours seemed to invite to the land of the sun, and yet another winded away through soft and shadowy blues to remote spiritual distances. there was one, a path of white flowers ending in light no eye could pierce. "i will choose this--the path of white flower," he said, waving farewell to the child. i watched the antique hero in my vision as he passed into the light; he seemed to shine, to grow larger; as he vanished from my eyes he was transfigured, entering as a god the region of gods." "did you really dream all that?" said willie. "how jolly it must be! it is like stepping from sphere to sphere. before the night of one day you are in the morning of another. i suppose you have some theory about it all--as wonderful as your gardens?" "yes!" said our sceptic, "i had an uneasy consciousness it was not all pure story. i felt an allegory hiding its leanness somewhere beneath the glow and colour." "what i want to know is how these things enter the imagination at all!" "with what a dreadfully scientific spirit you dissect a fantasy! perhaps you might understand if you recall what sometimes happens before sleep. at first you see pictures of things, landscapes, people you know; after a time people and places unknown before begin to mingle with them in an ever-widening circle of visions; the light on which these things are pictured is universal, though everyone has around himself his own special sphere of light; this is the mirror of himself--his memory; but as we go deeper into ourselves in introspection we see beyond our special sphere into the great of universal light, the memorial tablet of nature; there lie hidden the secrets of the past; and so, as felix said a little while ago, we can call up and renew the life of legend and tradition. this is the astral light of the mystics. its deeper and more living aspect seems to inflame the principle of desire in us. all the sweet, seductive, bewitching temptations of sense are inspired by it. after death the soul passing into this living light goes on thinking, thinking, goes on aspiring, aspiring, creating unconsciously around itself its own circumstance in which all sweetest desires are self-fulfilled. when this dream- power is exhausted the soul returns again to earth. with some this return is due to the thirst for existence; with some to a perception of the real needs of soul." "do you really believe all that?" "oh, yes! but that is only a general statement." "i wonder at your capacity for believing in these invisible spheres. as for me i cannot go beyond the world i live in. when i think of these things some dreadful necessity seems heaped upon me to continue here--or, as you might put it, an angel with a flaming sword keeps everywhere the avenues to the tree of life." "oh!" said willie, "it seems to me a most reasonable theory. after all, what else could the soul do after death but think itself out? it has no body to move about in. i am going to dream over it now. good-night!" he turned into the tent and robert followed him. "well, i cannot rest yet," said bryan, "i am going up for a little to the top of the hill. come, felix, these drowsy fellows are going to hide themselves from the face of night." we went up, and leaning on a boulder of rock looked out together. away upon the dream-built margin of space a thousand tremors fled and chased each other all along the shadowy night. the human traditions, memories of pain, struggle, hope and desire floated away and melted in the quietude until at last only the elemental consciousness remained at gaze. i felt chilled by the vacancies. i wondered what this void was to bryan. i wished to see with his eyes. his arm was around my shoulder. how i loved him--my nearest--my brother! the fierce and tender flame, comrade to his spirit, glowed in my heart. i felt a commingling of nature, something moved before my eyes. "look, bryan!" i whispered, "this is faery!" a slight upright figure, a child, stood a little apart shedding a delicate radiance upon the dusky air. curiously innocent, primeval, she moved, withdrawn in a world only half-perceived of gorgeous blossoms and mystic shadows. through her hair of feathery brown drifting about her the gleam of dust of gold and of rich colour seemed to come from her dress. she raised her finger-tips from the flowers and dashed the bright dew aside. i felt something vaguely familiar about the gesture. then bryan said, "it is one of the children of twilight." it was a revelation of his mind. i had entered into the forms of his imagination. "this is wonderful bryan! if i can thus share in the thought of one, there can be no limit to the extension of this faculty. it seems at the moment as if i could hope to finally enter the mind of humanity and gaze upon soul, not substance." "it would be a great but terrible power. as often as not we imagine ourselves into demons. space is thronged with these dragon-like forms, chimaeras of the fearful mind. every thought is an entity. some time or other i think we will have to slay this brood we have brought forth." but as we turned backwards i had no dread or thought of this future contest. i felt only gay hopes, saw only ever-widening vistas. the dreams of the golden age, of far-off happy times grew full of meaning. i people all the future with their splendour. the air was thronged with bright supernatural beings, they moved in air, in light; and they and we and all together were sustained and thrilled by the breath of the unknown god. as we drew nigh to the tent, the light of the fire still flickering revealed robert's face within. he was sleeping. the warmth of the sun had not yet charmed away the signs of study and anxious thought. "do you know the old tradition that in the deepest sleep of the body the soul goes into itself. i believe he now knows the truth he feared to face. a little while ago he was here; he was in doubt; now he is gone unto all ancient things. he was in prison; now the bird of paradise has wings. we cannot call him by any name, for we do not know what he is. we might indeed cry aloud to his glory, as of old the indian sage cried to a sleeper, 'thou great one, clad in raiment; soma: king!" but who thinking what he is would call back the titan to this strange and pitiful dream of life? let us breath softly to do him reverence. it is now the hour of the king, "who would think this quite breather from the world had taken flight? yet within the form we see there wakes the golden king to-night. "out upon the face of faces he looked forth before his sleep; now he knows the starry races haunters of the ancient deep; "on the bird of diamond glory floats in mystic floods of song; as he lists, time's triple story seems but as a day is long. "when he wakes--the dreamy-hearted-- he will know not whence he came, and the light from which he parted be the seraph's sword of flame; "and behind its host supernal guarding the lost paradise, and the tree of life eternal from the weeping human eyes." "you are an enchanter, bryan. as you speak i half imagine the darkness sparkles with images, with heroes and ancient kings who pass, and jeweled seraphs who move in flame. i feel mad. the distance rushes at me. the night and stars are living, and--speak unknown things! you have made me so restless i will never sleep." i lay down. the burden of the wonder and mystery of existence was upon me. through the opening of the tent the warm night air flowed in; the stars seemed to come near--nearer--full of kindly intent--with familiar whispering; until at last i sank back into the great deep of sleep with a mysterious radiance of dream showering all about me. night the second the skies were dim and vast and deep above the vales of rest; they seemed to rock the stars asleep beyond the mountain's crest. oh, vale and stars and rocks and trees, he gives to you his rest, but holds afar from you the peace whose home is in his breast! the massy night, brilliant with golden lights enfolded us. all things were at rest. after a long day's ramble among the hills, we sat down again before our fire. i felt, perhaps we all felt, a mystic unquiet rebelling against the slumbrous mood of nature rolled round her hills and valleys. "you must explain to us, bryan, why it is we can never attain a real quiet, even here where all things seem at peace." "we are aliens here, and do not know ourselves. we are always dreaming of some other life. these dreams, if we could only rightly interpret them, would be the doors through which we might pass into a real knowledge of ourselves." "i don't think i would get much wisdom out of my dreams," said willie. "i had a dream last night; a lot of little goblin fellows dancing a jig on the plains of twilight. perhaps you could tell us a real dream?" "i remember one dream of a kind i mean, which i will tell you. it left a deep impression upon me. i will call it a dream of the northern lights i awoke from sleep with a cry. i was hurled up from the great deep and rejected of the darkness. but out of the clouds and dreams i built up a symbol of the going forth of the spirit--a symbol, not a memory--for if i could remember, i could return again at will and be free of the unknown land. but in slumber i was free. i sped forth like an arrow. i followed a secret hope, breasting the currents of life flowing all about me. i tracked these streams winding in secretness far away. i said, "i am going to myself. i will bathe in the fountain of life;" and so on and on i sped northwards, with dark waters flowing beneath me and stars companioning my flight. then a radiance illumined the heavens, the icy peaks and caves, and i saw the northern lights. out of the diamond breast of the air i looked forth. below the dim world shone all with pale and wintry green; the icy crests flickered with a light reflect from the shadowy auras streaming over the horizon. then these auras broke out in fire, and the plains of ice were illumined. the light flashed through the goblin caves, and lit up their frosty hearts and the fantastic minarets drooping above them. light above in solemn array went forth and conquered the night. light below with a myriad flashing spears pursued the gloom. its dazzling lances shivered in the heart of the ice: they sped along the ghostly hollows; the hues of the orient seemed to laugh through winter; the peaks blossomed with starry and crystalline flowers, lilac and white and blue; they faded away, pearl, opal and pink in shimmering evanescence; then gleams of rose and amethyst traveled slowly from spar to spar, lightened and departed; there was silence before my eyes; the world once more was all a pale and wintry green. i thought of them no more, but of the mighty and unseen tides going by me with billowy motion. "oh, fountain i seek, thy waters are all about me, but where shall i find a path to thee?" something answered my cry, "look in thy heart!" and, obeying the voice, the seer in me looked forth no more through the eyes of the shadowy form, but sank deep within itself. i knew then the nature of these mystic streams; they were life, joy, love, ardour, light. from these came the breath of life which the heart drew in with every beat, and from thence it was flashed up in illumination through the cloudy hollows of the brain. they poured forth unceasingly; they were life in everyone; they were joy in everyone; they stirred an incommunicable love which was fulfilled only in yielding to and adoration of the vast. but the fountain i could not draw nigh unto; i was borne backwards from its unimaginable centre, then an arm seized me, and i was stayed. i could see no one, but i grew quiet, full of deep quiet, out of which memory breathes only shadowiest symbols, images of power and holy sages, their grand faces turned to the world, as if in the benediction of universal love, pity, sympathy, and peace, ordained by buddha; the faces of the fathers, ancient with eternal youth, looking forth as in the imagination of the mystic blake, the morning stars looked forth and sang together. a sound as of an "om" unceasing welled up and made an auriole of peace around them. i would have joined in the song, but could not attain to them. i knew if i had a deeper love i could have entered with them into unending labours amid peace; but i could only stand and gaze; in my heart a longing that was worship, in my thought a wonder that was praise. "who are these?" i murmured? the voice answered, "they are the servants of the nameless one. they do his bidding among men. they awaken the old heroic fire of sacrifice in forgetful hearts." then the forms of elder life appeared in my vision. i saw the old earth, a fairy shadow ere it yet had hardened, peopled with ethereal races unknowing of themselves or their destinies and lulled with inward dreams; above and far away i saw how many glittering hosts, their struggle ended, moved onward to the sabbath of eternity. out of these hosts, one dropped as a star from their heart, and overshadowed the olden earth with its love. where ever it rested i saw each man awakening from his dreams turned away with the thought of sacrifice in his heart, a fire that might be forgotten, but could never die. this was the continual secret whisper of the fathers in the inmost being of humanity. "why do they not listen?" i marveled. then i heard another cry from the lower pole, the pit; a voice of old despair and protest, the appeal of passion seeking its own fulfilment. alternate with the dawn of light was the breath of the expanding dark where powers of evil were gathered together. "it is the strife between light and darkness which are the world's eternal ways," said the voice, "but the light shall overcome and the fire in the heart be rekindled; men shall regain their old angelic being, and though the dark powers may war upon them, the angels with their love shall slay them. be thou ready for the battle, and see thou use only love in the fight. then i was hurried backward with swift speed, and awoke. all i knew was but a symbol, but i had the peace of the mystic fathers in my heart, and the jeweled glory of the northern lights all dazzling about my eyes. "well, after a dream like that," said willie, "the only thing one can do is to try and dream another like it." --oct. , -jan. , on the spur of the moment i am minded to put down some intuitions about brotherhood and trust in persons. a witty friend writes, "now that i have made up my mind, i intend looking at the evidence." a position like that is not so absurd as at first it seems. it is folly only to those who regard reason alone and deny the value of a deep-seated intuition. the intuitive trust which so many members of the t.s. have in william q. judge, to my mind shows that he is a real teacher. in their deepest being they know him as such, and what is knowledge there becomes the intuition of waking hours. when a clamour of many voices arises making accusations, pointing to time, place and circumstance; to things which we cannot personally investigate, it is only the spirit within us can speak and decide. others with more knowledge may give answering circumstances of time, place and act; but, with or without these, i back up my intuition with the reason--where the light breaks through, there the soul is pure. says a brother truly: "the list of his works is endless, monumental; it shows us an untiring soul, an immense and indomitable will, a total ignoring of himself for the benefit of his fellow-members. this is not the conduct of the charlatan, not of the self-seeker. it is that of one of those brave and long-tried souls who have fought their way down through the vistas of time so that they might have strength to battle now for those who may be weaker." others may have been more eloquent and learned, but who has been so wise? others may have written more beautifully, but who with such intimations of the secret spirit breathing within? others have explained intellectually tattvas, principles and what not, but who like him has touched the heart of a hidden nobility? has he not done it over and over again, as here? "do what you find to do. desire ardently to do it, and even when you shall not have succeeded in carrying out anything but some small duties, some words of warning, your strong desire will strike like vulcan upon some other hearts in the world, and suddenly you will find that done which you had longed to be the doer of. then rejoice that another has been so fortunate as to make such a meritorious karma." or he speaks as a hero: "to fail would be nothing, but to stop working for humanity and brotherhood would be awful." or as one who loves and justifies it to the end: "we are not karma, we are not the law, and it is a species of that hypocrisy so deeply condemned by it for us to condemn any man. that the law lets a man live is proof that he is not yet judged by that higher power." to know of these laws is to be them to some extent. "what a man thinks, that he is, that is the old secret." the temple of spirit is inviolate. it is not grasped by speech or by action. "whom the spirit chooses, by him it is gained. the self chooses his body as its own." when the personal tumult is silence, then arises the meditation of the wise within. whoever speaks out of that life has earned the right to be there. no cunning can stimulate its accents. no hypocrisy can voice its wisdom. whose mind gives out light--it is the haunt of the gods. does this seem to slight a guarantee for sincerity, for trust reposed? i know of none weightier. look back in memory; of the martyrdom of opposing passions, out of the last anguish came forth the light. it was no cheap accomplishment. if some one meets us and speaks knowing of that law, we say inwardly, "i know you have suffered, brother!" but here is one with a larger wisdom than ours. here is one whose words today have the same clear ring. "the world knows him not." his own disciples hardly know him: he has fallen like lucifer. but i would take such teaching as he gives from lucifer himself, and say, "his old divinity remains with him still." "after all you may be mistaken," someone says. "the feet of no one are set infallibly on the path." it may be so. let us take that alternative. can we reject him or any other as comrades while they offer? never. were we not taught to show to those on whom came the reaction from fierce effort, not cold faces, but the face of friendship, waiting for the wave of sure return? if this was a right attitude for us in our lesser groups, it is then right for the whole body to adopt. the theosophical society as a whole should not have less than the generous spirit of its units. it must exercise the same brotherly spirit alike to those of good or evil fame. alike on the just and the unjust shines the light of it, the father-spirit. deep down in our hearts have we not all longed, longed, for that divine love which rejects none? you who think he has erred, it is yours to give it now. there is an occult law that all things return to their source, their cycles accomplished. the forces we expend in love and anger come back again to us thrilled with the thought which accepted or rejected them. i tell you, if worse things were true of him than what are said, if we did our duty simply, giving back in gratitude and fearlessness the help we had received from him, his own past would overcome the darkness of the moment, would strengthen and bear him on to the light. "but," some push it further; "it is not of ourselves, but of this society and its good name, we think. how can it accomplish its high mission in the world if we seem to ignore in our ranks the presence of the insincere person or fraud?" i wish, my brothers, we could get rid of these old fears. show, form, appearance and seeming, what force have they? a faulty face matters nothing. the deep inner attitude alone has power. the world's opinion implicates none of us with the law. our action many precipitate karma, may inconvenience us for an hour; but the end of life is not comfort but celestial being; it is not in the good voice of the world today we can have any hope: its evil voice may seem to break us for a little; but love, faith and gratitude shall write our history in flame on the shadowy aura of the world, and the watchers shall record it. we can lose nothing; the society can lose nothing. our only right is in the action, and half the sweetness of life consists in loving much. while i wrote, i thought i felt for a moment the true spirit of this pioneer body we belong to. like a diver too long under seas, emerging i inhaled the purer air and saw the yellow sunlight. to think of it! what freedom! what freshness! to sail away from old report and fear and custom, the daring of the adventurer in our hearts, having a reliance only upon the laws of life to justify and sustain us. --february the legends of ancient eire a reverend and learned professor in trinity college, dublin, a cynic and a humorist, is reported once to have wondered "why the old irish, having a good religion of their own, did not stick to it?" living in the "celtic twilight," and striving to pierce backward into the dawn, reading romance, tradition and history, i have endeavoured to solve something of the mystery of the vast "celtic phantasmagoria," i can but echoe the professor. in these legends, prodical of enchantment, where gods, heroes and bright supernatural beings mingle, are at league or war together, i have found not misty but clear traces of that old wisdom-religion once universal. there are indeed no ancient irish scriptures i am aware of, but they were not needed. to those who read in the book of life, philosophy and scripture are but as blinds over the spiritual vision. but we today-- lost children of the stars--but painfully and indirectly catch glimpses of the bright spheres once our habitations, where we freely came and went. so i will try to tell over again some of these old stories in the light of philosophy spoken later. what was this old wisdom-religion? it was the belief that life is one; that nature is not dead but living; the surface but a veil tremulous with light--lifting that veil hero and sage of old time went outwards into the vast and looked on the original. all that they beheld they once were, and it was again their heritage, for in essence they were one with it--children of deity. the one gave birth to the many, imagining within itself the heaven of heavens, and the heavens, and spheres more shadowy and dim, growing distant from the light. through these the rays ran outward, falling down through many a starry dynasty to dwell in clay. yet--once god or angel-- that past remains, and the ray, returning on itself, may reassume its old vesture, remains, entering as a god into the ancestral self. every real scripture and every ancient myth, to be understood truly, must be understood in this light. god, the angelic hierarchies, the powers divine and infernal, are but names for the mightier adam in whose image man was made and who is the forgotten self in humanity. mystic symbolism is the same the world over, and applying it to the old celtic romances, phantasy and faeryland are transformed into history and we are reading about the ancient irish adepts. ireland was known long ago as the sacred island. the gods lived there: for the tuatha de dannans who settled in eire after conquering the gigantic races of firbolgs and fomorians (atlanteans) were called gods, differing in this respect from the gods of ancient greece and india, that they were men who had made themselves gods by magical or druidical power. they were preeminently magi become immortal by strength of will and knowledge. superhuman in power and beauty, they raised themselves above nature; they played with the elements; they moved with ease in the air. we read of one angus oge, the master magician of all, sailing invisibly "on the wings of the cool east wind"; the palace of that angus remains to this day at new grange, wrought over with symbols of the astral fire and the great serpentine power. the de dannans lived in the heart of mountains (crypts for initiation), and today the peasant sometimes sees the enchanted glow from the green hills he believes they still inhabit. perhaps he believes not foolishly, for, once truly occult, a place is preserved from pollution until the cycle returns, bringing back with it the ancient gods again. the cycles of the gods is followed in irish tradition by the cycle of the heroes. the gods still mingled with them and presumably taught them, for many of these heroes are druids. fin, the hero of a hundred legends, cuchullin, dairmud, oisin and others are wielders of magical powers. one of the most beautiful of these stories tells of oisin in tir-na-noge. oisin with his companions journeys along by the water's edge. he is singled out by niam, daughter of mannanan, king of tir-na-noge, the land of the gods. she comes on a white horse across the seas, and mounting with her oisin travels across the ocean; after warring with a giant fomor he passes into tir-na-noge, where for a hundred years he lives with niam and has all that heart could wish for. but desire for eire arises within him and returning, he falls off the magic steed, and becomes an old man weary with years. it is purely occult. oisin, niam, her white steed, tir-na-noge, the waters they pass over, are but names which define a little our forgotten being. within oisin, the magician, kindles the ray, the hidden beauty. let us call it by what name we will, so that we spare the terms of academic mysticism or psychology. it is the golden bird of the upanishads; the light that lighteth every man; it is that which the old hermetists knew as the fair or the beautiful--for niam means beauty; it is the presence, and when it is upon a man every other tie breaks; he goes alone with it, he is a dying regret, an ever-increasing joy. and so with oisin, whose weeping companions behold him no more. he mounts the white horse with niam. it is the same as the white horse of the apocalypse, whereon one sits called faithful and true. it is the power on which the spirit rides. who is there, thinking, has felt freed for a moment from his prison-house, and looking forth has been blinded by the foam of great seas, or has felt his imagination grow kingly in contemplation--he has known its impelling power; the white horse is impatient of restraint. as they pass over the waters "they saw many wonderful things on their journey--islands and cities, lime-white mansions, bright greenans and lofty palaces." it is the mirror of heaven and earth, the astral light, in whose glass a myriad illusions arise and fleet before the mystic adventures. haunt of a false beauty--or rather a veil hung dazzling before the true beauty, only the odour or incense of her breath is blown through these alluring forms. the transition from this to a subtler sphere is indicated. a hornless deer, chased by a white hound with red ears, and a maiden tossing a golden lure, vanishes for ever before a phantom lover. the poet whose imagination has renewed for us the legend has caught the true significance of these hurrying forms: "the immortal desire of immortals we saw in their eyes and sighed." "do not heed these forms!" cried niam. compare with this from another source: "flee from the hall of learning, it is dangerous in its perfidious beauty. .... beware, lest dazzled by illusive radiance thy soul should linger and be caught in its deceptive light. .... it shines from the jewel of the great ensnarer." there are centres in man corresponding to these appearances. they give vision and entrance into a red and dreadful world, where unappeasable desire smites the soul--a dangerous clairvoyence. but in the sphere beyond their power has to be conquered, and here oisin wars with the giant fomor. de dannan and romorian passed from eire wrestle still in the invisible world, say the legends. we, too-- would-be mystics--are met on the threshold of diviner spheres by terrible forms embodying the sins of a living past when we misused our spiritual powers in old atlantean days. these forms must be conquered and so oisin battles with fomor and releases the power-- a princess in the story. this fight with the demon must be fought by everyone who would enter the land of the gods, whether in conscious occult adventure or half-consciously after death, when the strange alchemist nature separates the subtile from the gross in the soul in this region which oisin passes through. tir-na-noge, the land of niam, is that region the soul lives in when its grosser energies and desires have been subdued, dominated and brought under the control of light; where the ray of beauty kindles and illuminates every form which the imagination conceives, and where every form tends to its archetype. it is a real region which has been approached and described by the poets and sages who, at all times, have endeavoured to express something of the higher realities. it is not distant, but exists in earth as the soul within the body, and may be perceived through and along with the surface forms. in a sense it corresponds with the tibetan devachan, and in this region oisin lives for a hundred years, until desire to see eire once more arises and he parts from niam. nor the details of his return, the drowsy land in which he slumbers; how he fell off the white horse and became an old man with the weariness of his hundreds of years upon him--i must refer the reader to the legends. he will read not alone of oisin, but of many an old hero, who, hailed by the faery (divine) voice, went away to live in the heart of green hills (to be initiated) or to these strange worlds. dear children of eire, not alone to the past but to today belong such destinies. for if we will we can enter the enchanted land. the golden age is all about us, and heroic forms and imperishable love. in that mystic light rolled round our hills and valleys hang deed and memories which yet live and inspire. the gods have not deserted us. hearing our call they will return. a new cycle is dawning and the sweetness of the morning twilight is in the air. we can breathe it if we will but awaken from our slumber. ii. in the recently published story of early gaelic literature, attention is directed to the curious eastern and pantheistic character of some archaic verse. critics are for ever trying to show how some one particular antique race was the first begetter of religion and mystic symbolism. perplexed by the identity between the myths and traditions of different countries, they look now here, now there, for the original. but it was not in any land but out of the christ-soul of the universe that true wisdom at all times was begotten. some ignorant peasant, some jacob boehme, is pure and aspires, and lo! the god stirs within him and he knows the things that were taught in elder days and by unknown people. our own land, long ago, had its initiates in whom the eye of the seer was open. this eye, concealed in the hollow of the brain, is the straight gate and the narrow way through which alone the mortal may pass and behold the immortal. it is now closed in most men. materialism, sensuality and dogmatic belief have so taken the crown and sceptre from their souls that they enter the golden world no more knowingly--they are outcast of eden. but the tuatha de dannans were more than seers or visionaries. they were magicians--god and man in one. not alone their thought went out into the vast, but the power went along with it. this mystic power is called the serpentine fire. it is spiritual, electric, creative. it develops spirally in the ascetic, mounting from centre to centre, from the navel to the heart;* [* "he that believeth on me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters. this spake he of the spirit."--john, vii, ] from thence it rises to the head. he is then no more a man but a god; his vision embraces infinitude. the action of this power was symbolized in many ways, notably by the passage of the sun through the zodiacal signs * (centres in the psychic body) [* "the twelve signs of the zodiac are hidden in his body."---secret doctrine, ii, ] a stone serpent was found a little while ago in ireland marked with twelve divisions. the archaic verses alluded to have the same meaning: "i am the point of the lance of battle. [the spinal cord, the sushumna nadi of indian psychology.] i am the god who creates in the head of man the fire of the thought. who is it throws light into the meeting on the mountain? [the meeting of the mortal and the immortal on mount meru, the pineal gland.] who announces the ages of the moon? [the activity of the inner astral man.] who teaches the place where courses the sun?" [spirit.] the serpentine power is the couch of the sun, the casket of spirit. hence the druids or magi who had mastered this power were called serpents. though st. patrick is said to have driven the serpents out of ireland, traces still remain of the serpent wisdom. lest the interpretation given should seem arbitrary i will trace further explicit references to the third eye. diarmuid, the hero and darling of so many story-tellers, whose flight with grania forms one of the most mystic episodes in celtic romance, is described as having a spot in the centre of his forehead which fascinated whoever gazed. he is called the "son of the monarch of light." he is the initiate, the twice-born. this divine parentage has the sense in which the words were spoken. "marvel not that i said unto thee, ye must be born again." in the same sense a druid is described as "full of his god." from the mystic father descends the ray, the child of light. it is born in man as mind, not reasoning: earthly not sensual, but as the heaven-aspiring, thinking mind. in itself it is of the nature of fire. the man who knows it becomes filled with light, aye, he moves about in light within himself. the following description of a giant, taken from the story of diarmuid, refers to still another aspect of our occult nature. "he has, but one eye only in the fair middle of his black forehead. .... he is, moreover, so skilled in magic that fire could not burn him, water could not drown him, and weapons would not wound him. ...... he is fated not to die until there be struck upon him three blows of the iron club he has. he sleeps in the top of that quicken tree by night, and he remains at its foot by day to watch it. .... the berries of the tree have the virtues of the trees of faeryland." the quicken tree is the network of nerves in the magnetic astral body. readers of the upanishads will remember the description of the arteries, thin as a hair split a thousand times, which proceed from the heart, and in which the ego rests during deep sleep. it has just the same significance in the legend. the meaning will be still better understood by a comparison of the youthful finn in his encounter with a similar one-eye titan. there is a most interesting version of this in curtin's irish myths and folk-tales. too long to quote in its entirety, the story runs as follows. finn meets a giant who carries a salmon in his hand. this titan has "but one eye as large as the sun in the heavens." he gives the fish to finn to cook. the moment the giant closed his eye he began to breathe heavily. "every time he drew breath he dragged finn, the spit, the salmon, and all the goats to his mouth, and every time drove a breath out of himself he threw them back to the places they were in before." while finn is cooking the salmon he burns it, and in trying to hide the blister he burns his thumb. to ease the pain he put his thumb between his teeth, and chewed it through to the bone and marrow. he then received the knowledge of all things. he was drawn up the next minute to the giant's eye, and plunged the hot spit (a bar of red-hot iron, says another account) into the eye of the giant. he passes the infuriate giant at the door of the cave something after the fashion of ulysses, by bringing the flocks out and himself escaping under the fleece of the largest goat or ram. the meaning of this story, with all its quaint imagery, is not difficult. it is an allegory describing the loss of the third eye. the cave is the body. the fish is a phallic symbol, and the cooking of it refers to the fall of the early ethereal races into generation and eventually into gross sensuality. the synthetic action of the highest spiritual faculty, in which all the powers of man are present, is shown by the manner in which everything in the cave is dragged up to the giant's head. when finn destroys the eye by plunging into it a bar of red-hot iron, it simply means that the currents started in the generative organs rose up through the spinal cord to the brain, and, acting upon the pineal gland, atrophied or petrified it. the principle of desire is literally the spirit of the metal iron, and a clairvoyent could see these red fires mounting up by the way of the spinal canal to the brain and there smothering any higher feelings. the escape of finn under the fleece of the ram means that, having destroyed the spiritual eye, he could only use the organ of psychic clairvoyance, which is symbolized here, as in the mysticism of other countries, by the ram. this symbolism, so grotesque and unmeaning today, was once perfectly lucid and was justified in its application. a clairvoyant could see in the aura of man around every centre the glow, colour and form which gave rise to the antique symbol. one of the gods is described as "surrounded by a rainbow and fiery dews." cuchullin, whose hair, dark (blue?) close to the skin, red beyond, and ending in brilliant gold, makes professor rhys elaborate him into a solar myth, is an adept who has assimilated the substance of the three worlds, the physical, the psychic and the heavenworld; therefore his hair (aura) shows the three colours. he has the sevenfold vision also, indicated by the seven pupils in his eyes. volumes of unutterably dreary research, full of a false learning, have been written about these legends. some try to show that much of the imagery arose from observation of the heavenly bodies and the procession of the seasons. but who of the old bards would have described nature other than as she is? the morning notes of celtic song breathe the freshness of spring and are full of joy in nature. they could communicate this much better than most of their critics could do. it is only the world within which could not be rendered otherwise than by myth and symbol. we do not need scholarship so much as a little imagination to interpret them. we shall understand the divine initiators of our race by believing in our own divinity. as we nourish the mystic fire, we shall find many things of the early world, which now seem grotesque and unlovely to our eyes, growing full of shadowy and magnificent suggestion. things that were distant and strange, things abhorrent, the blazing dragons, winged serpents and oceans of fire which affrighted us, are seen as the portals through which the imagination enters a more beautiful, radiant world. the powers we dared not raise our eyes to--heroes, dread deities and awful kings--grow as brothers and gay children around the spirit in its resurrection and ascension. for there is no pathway in the universe which does not pass through man, and no life which is not brother to our life. --march-april, review: "lyrics" by r.h. fitzpatrick [london: w. stewart and co.] while one race sinks into night another renews its dawn. the celtic twilight is the morning-time and the singing of birds is prophetic of the new day. we have had to welcome of late years one sweet singer after another, and now comes a volume of lyrics which has that transcendental note which is peculiar to our younger writers. it is full of the mystery and commingling of the human and the divine soul: "hail, thou living spirit! whose deep organ blown by lips that more inherit than all music known; art is but the echo of thy mysterious tone." these lyrics, i imagine, have been wrought in solitary wanderings, in which the forms and shows of things and human hopes and fears have been brooded upon until the intensity of contemplation has allied them with that soul of nature in which the poet finds the fulfilment of all dreams and ideals. and in this refining back to an over-soul there is no suggestion of the student of academic philosophy, no over-wrought intellectualism. such references arise naturally out of his thought and illuminate it. one can imagine how such lyrics were engendered: "i stood and twirled a feathered stalk, or drank the clover's honey sap, happiest without talk. "the summer tidal waves of night slowly in silence rippled in: they steeped the feet of blazing light, and hushed day's harsher din." this aloofness from conflict, it if has hindered him from fully accepting and justifying life, the highest wisdom of the poet, has still its compensations. he has felt the manifold meaning of the voices through whose unconsciousness nature speaks, the songs of birds, the aerial romance and intermingling of light and shadow, and has vision of the true proportion of things in that conflict he has turned his back on: "all things sip, and sip at life; but time for ever drains the ever-filing cup in rivalship, and wipes the generations from his lip, while art looks down from his serene domains." --june , --"yes, and hope." they bring none to his or to her terminus or to be content and full, whom they take they take into space to behold the birth of stars, to learn one of the meanings. to launch off with absolute faith, to sweep through the ceaseless rings and never be quiet again. --whitman here is inspiration--the voice of the soul. and we, who professed to bring such wisdom, what have we to say? have we uttered with equal confidence such hopes, or with such daring and amplitude of illustration? let us confess we have not. there are one or two exceptions which will occur to everyone. now, as we adventure afresh, let us see what it is has brought despondency and failure in our work upon us in the past. i think it is because we have been saying things we have never realized; we have been repeating without imagination the words of those few leaders. we have lowered their heroic tone because we thought we were speaking to a fallen people who could not respond to our highest. but it was not the way, it was not the way. it is not with the dust we have brotherhood, but with the ancient spirit it clouds over. to this spirit we must speak heart to heart as we know how. i would not willingly recognize aught in anyone but the divine. often indeed the form or surface far removed from beauty makes us falter, and we speak to that form and so the soul is not stirred; it will not respond. but an equal temper arouses it. to whoever hails in it the lover, the hero, the magician, it will answer, but not to him who accosts it as mr. so-and-so. every word which really inspires is spoken as if the golden age had never passed. the great teachers ignore the personal identity and speak to the eternal pilgrim. do we not treasure most their words which remind us of our divine origin? so we must in our turn speak. how often do we not long to break through the veils which divide us from some one, but custom, convention, or a fear of being misunderstood prevent us, and so the moment departs whose heat might have burned through every barrier. out with it-- out with it, the hidden heart, the love that is voiceless, the secret tender germ of an infinite forgiveness. that speaks to the heart. that pierces through many a vesture of the soul. our companion struggles in some labyrinth of passion. we help him, we think with ethics, with the moralities. ah, very well they are; well to know and to keep, but wherefore? for their own sake? no, but that the king may arise in his beauty. we write that in letters, in books, but to the face of the fallen who brings back remembrance? who calls him by his secret name? let a man but feel for that is his battle, for that his cyclic labor, and a warrior who is invincible fights for him and he draws upon divine powers. let us but get that way of looking at things which we call imaginative, and how everything alters. for our attitude to man and to nature, expressed or not, has something of the effect of ritual, of evocation. as our aspiration so is our inspiration. we believe in life universal, in a brotherhood which links the elements to man, and makes the glow-worm feel far off something of the rapture of the seraph hosts. then we go out into the living world, and what influences pour through us! we are "at league with the stones of the field." the winds of the world blow radiantly upon us as in the early time. we feel wrapt about with love, with an infinite tenderness that caresses us. alone in our rooms as we ponder, what sudden abysses of light open within us! the gods are so much nearer than we dreamed. we rise up intoxicated with the thought, and reel out seeking an equal companionship under the great night and the stars. let us get near to realities. we read too much. we think of that which is "the goal, the comforter, the lord, the witness, the resting- place, the asylum and the friend." is it by any of these dear and familiar names? alas, our souls are becoming mere bundles of theories. we follow the trail of the monad, but often it is only in the pages of the secret doctrine. and we talk much of atma, buddhi, and manas. could we not speak of them in our own tongue and the language of today will be as sacred as any of the past. no wonder that the manasa do not incarnate. we cannot say we do pay reverence to these awful powers. we repulse the living truth by our doubts and reasonings. we would compel the gods to fall in with our philosophy rather than trust in the heavenly guidance. we make diagrams of them. ah, to think of it, those dread deities, the divine fires, to be so enslaved! we have not comprehended the meaning of the voice which cried, "prepare ye the way of the lord," or this, "lift up your heads o y gates. be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the king of glory shall come in." nothing that we read is useful unless it calls up living things in the soul. to read a mystic book truly is to invoke the powers. if they do not rise up plumed and radiant, the apparitions of spiritual things, then is our labor barren. we only encumber the mind with useless symbols. they knew better ways long ago. "master of the green-waving planisphere, ..... lord of the azure expanse, .... it is thus we invoke," cried the magicians of old. and us, let us invoke them with joy, let us call upon them with love, the light we hail, or the divine darkness we worship with silent breath, hymning it in our hearts with quietude and more enraptured awe. that silence cries aloud to the gods. then they will approach us. then we may learn that speech of many colors, for they will not speak in our mortal tongue; they will not answer to the names of men. their names are rainbow glories. yet these are mysteries and they cannot be reasoned out or argued over. we cannot speak truly of them from report, or description, or from what another has written. a relation to the thing in itself alone is our warrant, and this means we must set aside our intellectual self-sufficiency and await guidance. it will surely come to those who wait in trust, a glow, a heat in the heart announcing the awakening of the fire. and, as it blows with its mystic breath into the brain, there is a hurtling of visions, a brilliance of lights, a sound as of great waters vibrant and musical in their flowing, and murmurs from a single yet multitudinous being. in such a mood, when the far becomes near, the strange familiar, and the infinite possible, he wrote from whose words we get the inspiration: "to launch off with absolute faith, to sweep through the ceaseless rings and never be quiet again." such a faith and such an unrest be ours: faith which is mistrust of the visible; unrest which is full of a hidden surety and radiance. we, when we fall into pleasant places, rest and dream our strength away. before every enterprise and adventure of the soul we calculate in fear our power to do. but remember, "oh, disciple, in thy work for thy brother thou has many allies; in the winds, in the air, in all the voices of the silent shore." these are the far-wandered powers of our own nature and they turn again home at our need. we came out of the great mother-life for the purposes of soul. are her darlings forgotten where they darkly wander and strive? never. are not the lives of all her heroes proof? though they seem to stand alone the eternal mother keeps watch on them, and voices far away and unknown to them before arise in passionate defence, and hearts beat warm to help them. aye, if we could look within we would see vast nature stirred on their behalf, and institutions shaken, until the truth they fight for triumphs, and they pass, and a wake of glory ever widening behind them trails down the ocean of the years. thus the warrior within us works, or, if we choose to phrase it so, it is the action of the spiritual will. shall we not, then, trust in it and face the unknown defiant and fearless of its dangers. though we seem to go alone to the high, the lonely, the pure, we need not despair. let no one bring to this task the mood of the martyr or of one who thinks he sacrifices something. yet let all who will come. let them enter the path, "yes, and hope," facing all things in life and death with a mood at once gay and reverent, as beseems those who are immortal--who are children today, but whose hands tomorrow may grasp the sceptre, sitting down with the gods as equal and companions. --august content who are exiles? as for me where beneath the diamond dome lies the light on hill or tree there my palace is and home. we are outcasts from deity; therefore we defame the place of our exile. but who is there may set apart his destiny from the earth which bore him? i am one of those who would bring back the old reverence for the mother, the magic, the love. i think, metaphysician, you have gone astray. you would seek within yourself for the fountain of life. yes, there is the true, the only light. but do not dream it will lead you further away from the earth, but rather deeper into its heart. by it you are nourished with those living waters you would drink. you are yet in the womb and unborn, and the mother breathes for thee the diviner airs. dart out thy furthest ray of thought to the original, and yet thou has not found a new path of thine own. thy ray is still enclosed in the parent ray, and only on the sidereal streams are you borne to the freedom of the deep, to the sacred stars whose distance maddens, and to the lonely light of lights. let us, therefore, accept the conditions and address ourselves with wonder, with awe, with love, as we well may, to that being in whom we move. i abate no jot of those vaster hopes, yet i would pursue that ardent aspiration, content as to here and today. i do not believe in a nature red with tooth and claw. if indeed she appears so terrible to any it is because they themselves have armed her. again, behind the anger of the gods there is a love. are the rocks barren? lay thy brow against them and learn what memories they keep. is the brown earth unbeautiful? yet lie on the breast of the mother and thou shalt be aureoled with the dews of faery. the earth is the entrance to the halls of twilight. what emanations are those that make radiant the dark woods of pine! round every leaf and tree and over all the mountains wave the fiery tresses of that hidden sun which is the soul of the earth and parent of they soul. but we think of these things no longer. like the prodigal we have wandered far from our home, but no more return. we idly pass or wait as strangers in the halls our spirit built. sad or fain no more to live? i have pressed the lips of pain: with the kisses lovers give ransomed ancient powers again. i would raise this shrinking soul to a more universal acceptance. what! does it aspire to the all, and yet deny by its revolt and inner protest the justice of law. from sorrow we shall take no less and no more than from our joys. for if the one reveals to the soul the mode by which the power overflows and fills it here, the other indicates to it the unalterable will which checks excess and leads it on to true proportion and its own ancestral ideal. yet men seem for ever to fly from their destiny of inevitable beauty; because of delay the power invites and lures no longer but goes out into the highways with a hand of iron. we look back cheerfully enough upon those old trials out of which we have passed; but we have gleaned only an aftermath of wisdom and missed the full harvest if the will has not risen royally at the moment in unison with the will of the immortal, even though it comes rolled round with terror and suffering and strikes at the heart of clay. through all these things, in doubt, despair, poverty, sick feeble or baffled, we have yet to learn reliance. "i will not leave thee or forsake thee," are the words of the most ancient spirit to the spark wandering in the immensity of its own being. this high courage brings with it a vision. it sees the true intent in all circumstance out of which its own emerges to meet it. before it the blackness melts into forms of beauty, and back of all illusions is seen the old enchanter tenderly smiling, the dark, hidden father enveloping his children. all things have their compensations. for what is absent here there is always, if we seek, a nobler presence about us. captive, see what stars give light in the hidden heart of clay: at their radiance dark and bright fades the dreamy king of day. we complain of conditions, but this very imperfection it is which urges us to arise and seek for the isles of the immortals. what we lack recalls the fulness. the soul has seen a brighter day than this and a sun which never sets. hence the retrospect: "thou has been in eden the garden of god; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, the jasper, the sapphire, emerald .... thou was upon the holy mountain of god; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire." we would point out these radiant avenues of return; but sometimes we feel in our hearts that we sound but cockney choices, as guides amid the ancient temples, the cyclopean crypts sanctified by the mysteries. to be intelligible we replace the opalescent shining by the terms of the anatomist, and we speak of the pineal gland and the pituitary body in the same breath with the most high. yet when the soul has the vision divine it knows not it has a body. let it remember, and the breath of glory kindles it no more; it is once again a captive. after all, it does not make the mysteries clearer to speak in physical terms and do violence to our intuitions. if we ever use these centres, as fires we shall see them, or they shall well up within us as fountains of potent sound. we may satisfy people's minds with a sense correspondence, and their souls may yet hold aloof. we shall only inspire by the magic of a superior beauty. yet this too has its dangers. "thou has corrupted thy wisdom by reason of they brightness," continues the seer. if we follow too much the elusive beauty of form we will miss the spirit. the last secrets are for those who translate vision into being. does the glory fade away before thee? say truly in they heart, "i care not. i will wear the robes i am endowed with today." thou are already become beautiful, being beyond desire and free. night and day no more eclipse friendly eyes that on us shine, speech from old familiar lips, playmates of a youth divine. to childhood once again. we must regain the lost state. but it is to the giant and spiritual childhood of the young immortals we must return, when into their clear and translucent souls first fell the rays of the father-beings. the men of old were intimates of wind and wave and playmates of many a brightness long since forgotten. the rapture of the fire was their rest; their outgoing was still consciously through universal being. by darkened images we may figure something vaguely akin, as when in rare moments under the stars the big dreamy heart of childhood is pervaded with quiet and brimmed full with love. dear children of the world so tired today-- so weary seeking after the light. would you recover strength and immortal vigor? not one star alone, your star, shall shed its happy light upon you, but the all you must adore. something intimate, secret, unspeakable, akin to thee will emerge silently, insensibly, and ally itself with thee as thou gatherest thyself from the four quarters of the earth. we shall go back to the world of the dawn, but to a brighter light than that which opened up this wondrous story of the cycles. the forms of elder years will reappear in our vision, the father-beings once again. so we shall grow at home amid these grandeurs, and with that all-presence about us may cry in our hearts, "at last is our meeting, immortal. oh, starry one, now is our rest!" brothers weary, come away; we will quench the heart's desire past the gateways of the day in the rapture of the fire. --october , the enchantment of cuchullain --by ae and aretas (g.w. russell and james m. pryse) while our vision, backward cast, ranged the everliving past, through a haze of misty things-- luminous with quiverings musical as starry chimes-- rose a hero of old times, in whose breast the magic powers slumbering from primeval hours, woke at the enchantment wild of aed abrait's lovely child; still for all her druid learning with the wild-bird heart, whose yearning blinded at his strength and beauty, clung to love and laughed at duty. warrior chief, and mystic maid, through your stumbling footsteps strayed, this at least in part atones-- jewels were your stumbling-stones! i. the birds of angus the birds were a winging rapture in the twilight. white wings, grey wings, brown wings, fluttered around and over the pine trees that crowned the grassy dun. the highest wings flashed with a golden light. at the sound of voices they vanished. "how then shall we go to the plains of murthemney? we ought not to be known. shall we go invisibly, or in other forms? we must also fly as swiftly as the birds go." "fly! yes, yes, we shall--fly as the birds. but we shall choose fairer forms than these. i know where the birds of angus flock. come, liban, come!" the crypt beneath the dun was flooded with light, silvery and golden, a light which came not from the sun nor from the moon; a light not born from any parent luminary, and which knew nothing opaque. more free than the birds of the air were the shadowy forms of the two daughters of aed abrait, as they gazed out from that rock-built dun upon a place their mortal feet had never trod. yet timidly liban looked at her more adventurous sister. fand floated to the centre of the cavern, erect and radiant. her eyes followed the wavy tremulous motion of the light as it rolled by. they seemed to pierce through earth and rock, and search out the secret hollows of the star, to know the vastness, and to dominate and compel the motion of the light. her sister watched her half curiously and half in admiration and wonder. as the floating form grew more intense the arms swayed about and the lips murmured. a sheen as of many jewels played beneath the pearly mist which enrobed her; over her head rose the crest of the dragon; she seemed to become one with the shining, to draw it backwards into herself. then from far away came a wondrous melody, a sound as of the ancient chiming of the stars. the sidereal rivers flowed by with more dazzling light, and the birds of angus were about them. "look, liban, look!" cried the enchantress. "these of old were the chariots of the children of men. on these the baby offspring of the gods raced through the nights of diamond and sapphire. we are not less than they though a hundred ages set us apart. we will go forth royally as they did. let us choose forms from among these. if the hound should see us he will know we have power." with arms around each other they watched the starry flocks hurtling about them. the birds wheeled around, fled away, and again returned. there were winged serpents; might which would put to flight the degenerate eagle; plumage before which the birds of paradise would show dull as clay. these wings dipt in the dawn flashed ceaselessly. ah, what plumage of white fire rayed out with pinions of opalescent glory! what feathered sprays of burning amethyst! what crests of scarlet and gold, of citron and wavy green! they floated by in countless multitudes; they swayed in starry clusters dripping with light, singing a melody caught from the spheres of the gods, the song which of old called forth the earth from its slumber. the sound was entrancing. oh, fiery birds who float in the purple rivers of the twilight, ye who rest in the great caverns of the world, whoever listens to your song shall grow faint with longing, for he shall hear the great, deep call in his heart and his spirit shall yearn to go afar; whatever eyes see you shall grow suddenly blinded with tears for a glory that has passed away from the world, for an empire we no longer range. "they bring back the air of the ancient days. ah! now i have the heart of the child once again. time has not known me. let us away with them. we will sweep over eri and lead the starry flocks as the queen birds." "if we only dared. but think, fand, we shall have every wizard eye spying upon us, and every body who can use his freedom will follow and thwart us. not these forms, but others let us take. ah, look at those who come in grey and white and brown! send home the radiant ones. we will adventure with these." "be it so. back to your fountains, o purple rivers! king-bird, queen-bird, to your home in the hollows lead your flock!" so she spoke, but her words were shining and her waving arms compelled the feathered monarchs with radiations of outstretched flame. to the others: "rest here awhile, sweet singers. we shall not detain you captive for long." so she spoke, but her hands that caressed laid to sleep the restless pulsations of the wings and lulled the ecstatic song. night, which to the eye of the magian shows more clearly all that the bright day conceals, overspread with a wizard twilight the vast hollow of the heavens. numberless airy rivulets, each with its own peculiar shining, ran hither and thither like the iridescent currents streaming over a bubble. out of still duskier, more darkly glowing and phantasmal depths stared the great eyes of space, rimmed about with rainbow-dyes. as night moved on to dawn two birds shot forth from the dun, linked together by a cord of golden fire. they fled southwards and eastwards. as they went they sang a song which tingled the pulses of the air. in the dark fields the aureoles around the flowers grew momentarily brighter. over the mountain homes of the tuatha de danaans rose up shadowy forms who watched, listened, and pondered awhile. the strayed wanderers amid the woods heard the enraptured notes and forgot their sorrows and life itself in a hurricane of divine remembrance. where the late feast was breaking up the melody suddenly floated in and enwreathed the pillared halls, and revellers became silent where they stood, the mighty warriors in their hands bowed low their faces. still on and on swept the strange birds flying southwards and eastwards. still in many a peasant cot lives the story unforgot, while the faded parchments old still their rhyming tale unfold. there is yet another book where thine eager eyes may look. there within its shining pages lives the long romance of ages, liban, fand, their glowing dreams, angus's birds, the magic streams flooding all the twilight crypt, runes and spells in starry script; secrets never whispered here in the light are chanted clear. read in the tales of eri if the written word be weary. never is there day so gleaming but the dusk o'ertakes it; never night so dark and dreaming but the dawn awakes it: and the soul has nights and days in its own eternal ways. ii. cuchullain's dream the air was cool with the coming of winter; but with the outer cold came the inner warmth of the sun, full of subtile vitality and strength. and the ultonians had assembled to light the yearly fire in honor of the sun-god, at the seven-days' feast of samhain. there the warriors of ulster rested by the sacred fire, gazing with closed eyes upon the changing colors of the sun-breath, catching glimpses of visions, or anon performing feats of magic when they felt the power stirring within their breasts. they sang the songs of old times, of the lands of the west, where their forefathers live ere the earth-fires slew those lands, and the sea-waves buried them, leaving only the eri, the isle where dwelt men so holy that the earth-fires dared not to assail it, and the ocean stood at bay. lightly the warriors juggled with their great weapons of glittering bronze; and each told of his deeds in battle and in the chase; but woe to him who boasted or spoke falsely, magnifying his prowess, for then would his sword angrily turn of itself in its scabbard, convicting him of untruth. cuchullain, youngest but mightiest of all the warriors, sat moodily apart, his beardless chin resting in the palms of his hands, his eyes staring fixedly at the mirror-like surface of the lake upon whose sloping bank he rested. laeg, his charioteer, lying at full length upon the greensward near by, watched him intently, a gloomy shadow darkening his unusually cheerful face. "it's a woman's trick, that," he muttered to himself, "staring into the water when trying to see the country of the sidhe, and unworthy of a warrior. and to think of him doing it, who used to have the clearest sight, and had more power for wonder-working than anyone else in the lands of the west! besides, he isn't seeing anything now, for all the help of the water. when last i went to the dun some women of the sidhe told me they had looked up cuchullain and found he was getting too dim-eyed to see anything clearly now, even in his sleep. its true enough, but to hear it said even by women!" and the discontented charioteer glanced back contemptuously at a group of women a short distance away, who were following with their eyes a flock of wild birds circling over the plain. "i suppose they want those birds," he continued, conversing familiarly with himself. "its the way of women to want everything they see, especially if its something hard to catch, like those wild birds." but laeg's cynicism was not so deep as to keep his glance from lingering upon the bevy of graceful maidens and stately matrons. their soft laughter reached his ear through the still evening air; and watching their animated gestures he idly speculated upon the plane he felt sure they were arranging. "yes; they want the birds. they wish to fasten the wings to their shoulders, to make themselves look like the women of the sidhe. they know cuchullain is the only man who can get the birds for them, but even emer, his wife, is afraid to ask him. of course they will coax that patient ethne to do it. if she succeeds, she'll get no thanks; and if she fails, she'll have all the blame, and go off by herself to cry over the harsh words spoken by cuchullain in his bad temper. that's the way of ethne, poor girl." he was right in his conjecture, for presently ethne left the group and hesitatingly approached the giant warrior, who was still gazing vacantly at the glassy surface of the water. she touched him timidly on the shoulder. slowly he raised his head, and still half dazed by his long staring, listened while she made her request. he rose to his feet sleepily, throwing out his brawny arms and expanding his chest as he cast a keen glance at the birds slowly circling near the ground. "those birds are not fit to eat," he said, turning to her with a good-natured smile. "but we want the wings to put on our shoulders. it would be so good of you to get them for us," said ethne in persuasive tones. "if it's flying you wish to try," he said, with a laugh, "you'll need better wings than those. however, you shall have them if i can get within throwing distance of them." he glanced around for laeg. that far-seeing individual was already yoking the horses to the chariot. a moment later, cuchullain and the charioteer were dashing across the plain behind the galloping steeds. as they neared the birds, cuchullain sent missiles at them from his sling with such incredible rapidity and certainty of aim that not one of the flock escaped. each of the women was given two of the birds; but when ethne, who had modestly held back when the others hurried forward to meet the returning chariot, came to receive her share, not one remained. "as usual," said laeg stolidly, "if anyone fails to get her portion of anything, its sure to be ethne." "too sure," said cuchullain, a look of compassion softening his stern features. he strode over to ethne, and placing his hand gently on her head said: "don't take your disappointment to heart, little woman; when any more birds come to the plains of murthemney, i promise to get for you the most beautiful of them all." "there's a fine brace of them now, flying towards us," exclaimed laeg, pointing across the lake. "and i think i hear them singing. queer birds, those; for i see a cord as of red gold between them." nearer and nearer swept the strange beings of the air, and as their weird melody reached the many ultonians at the samhain fire, the stalwart warriors, slender maidens, the youthful and the time-worn, all felt the spell and became as statues, silent, motionless, entranced. alone the three at the chariot felt not the binding influences of the spell. cuchullain quietly fitted a smooth pebble into his sling. ethne looked appealingly at laeg, in whose sagacity she greatly trusted. a faint twinkle of the eye was the only sign that betrayed the thought of the charioteer as he tried to return her glance with a look of quiet unconcern. she hastened after cuchullain, who had taken his stand behind a great rock on the lake shore which concealed him from the approaching birds. "do not try to take them," she entreated; "there is some strange power about them which your eyes do not see; i feel it, and my heart is filled with dread." the young warrior made no reply, but whirling his sling above his head sent the missile with terrific force at the two swan-like voyagers of the air. it went far astray, and splashed harmlessly into the lake, throwing up a fountain of spray. cuchullain's face grew dark. never before in war or the chase had he missed so easy a mark. angrily he caught a javelin from his belt and hurled it at the birds, which had swerved from their course and were now flying swiftly away. it was a mighty cast, even for the strong arm of the mightiest warrior of eri; and the javelin, glittering in the sun, was well on the downward curve of its long flight, its force spent, when its point touched the wing of the nearest bird. a sphere of golden flame seemed to glitter about them as they turned downward and disappeared beneath the deep waters of the lake. cuchullain threw himself upon the ground, leaning his broad shoulders against the rock. "leave me," he said in sullen tones to ethne; "my senses are dull with sleep from long watching at the samhain fire. for the first time since i slew the hound of culain my right arm has failed me. my eyes are clouded, and strange music murmurs in my heart." his eyes closed, his heavy breathing was broken by sighs, and anguish distorted his features. ethne watched him awhile, and then stole quietly back to where the warriors were and said to them: "cuchullain lies slumbering by yonder rock, and he moans in his sleep as if the people of the sidhe were reproaching his soul for some misdeed. i fear those birds that had the power behind them. should we not waken him?" but while they held council, and some were about to go and awaken him. fergus mac roy, foster-father of cuchullain, arose, and all drew back in awe, for they saw the light of the sun-god shining from his eyes, and his voice had the druid ring as he said in stern tones of command: "touch him not, for he sees a vision; the people of the sidhe are with him; and from the far distant past, even from the days of the sunken lands of the west, i see the hand of fate reach out and grasp the warrior of eri, to place him on a throne where he shall rule the souls of men." to cuchullain it did not seem that he slept; for though his eyelids fell, his sight still rested on the calm surface of the lake, the shining sand on the shore, and the great brown rock against which he reclined. but whence came the two maidens who were walking toward him along the glistening sand? he gazed at them in speechless wonder; surely only in dreamland could so fair a vision be seen. in dreamland, yes; for a dim memory awoke in his breast that he had seen them before in the world of slumber. one wore a mantle of soft green, and her flaxen hair, strangely white but with a glint of gold, fell about her shoulders so thickly it seemed like a silken hood out of which looked a white face with gleaming violet eyes. the other maiden had dark brown eyes, very large, very luminous; her cheeks were rosy, with just a hint of bronzing by the sunshine, a dimple in her chin added to the effect of her pouting red lips; her dark brown hair was unbound and falling loosely over her deep crimson mantle, which reached from her waist in five heavy folds. the recumbent warrior felt a weird spell upon him. powerless to move or speak, he saw the two maidens advance and stand beside him, the sunlight gleaming upon their bare arms and bosoms. they smiled upon him and uplifted their arms, and then from their fingers there rained down upon him blinding lightnings, filaments of flame that stung like whipcords, a hail of rainbow sparks that benumbed him, darting flames that pierced him like javelins; and as he gazed upward through that storm of fire, writhing in his agony, he saw still their white arms waving to and from, weaving a network of lightnings about him, their faces smiling upon him, serene and kindly; and in the eyes of her with the crimson mantle he read a tenderness all too human. eyes that shone with tenderness; white arms that wove a rainbow-mesh of torturing fires about him; his anguish ever increasing, until he saw the arms stop waving, held for an instant aloft, and then swept downward with a torrent of flame and a mighty crash of sound like the spears of ten thousand warriors meeting in battle, and then--he was alone, staring with wide-open eyes at the blue, cloud-mirroring surface of the lakes and the white sand gleaming on the shore. "trouble me not with questions," said cuchullain to the warriors gathered about him. "my limbs are benumbed and refuse to obey me. bear me to my sick-bed at tete brece." "shall we not take you to dun imrish, or to dun delca, where you may be with emer?" said they. "no," he replied, a shudder convulsing his strong frame; "bear me to tete brece. and when they had done so, he dwelt there for a year, and on his face was always the look of a slumberer who is dreaming; not once did he smile, nor did he speak one word during that year. when the soul has many lives fettered by forgetfulness, hands that burst its long-worn gyves cruel seem and pitiless. yet they come all tenderly, loved companions of the past; and the sword that sets us free turns our pain to peace at last. iii. what shadows turn his eyes away who fain would scale the heavenly heights; there shines the beauty of a day, and there the ancient light of lights. and while he broods on visions dim and grows forgetful of his fate, the chariot of the sun for him and all the tribal stars await. the slumber of cuchullain, and the message of angus within the door at tete brece, under the shadow of the thatch, the couch of cuchullain was placed, so that if he willed he could gaze over the rich green fields to the distant rim of blue hills. yet rarely opened he his eyes or gazed with outward understanding during that weary year. often the watchers round his bed, looking on the white rigid face, wondered if he were indeed living. but they dared not awaken him, for the seers had found that his slumber was filled with mystic life, and that it was not lawful to call him forth. was the gloom of the great warrior because he was but the shadow of his former self, or was that pale form indeed empty? so pondered fergus, conail, lugard and ethne, faithful companions. but he in himself was wrapped in a mist of visions appearing fast and vanishing faster. the fiery hands that smote him had done their work well, and his darkness had become bright with remembrance. the majesty of elder years swept by him with reproachful glance, and the hero cowered before the greatness of his own past. born out of the womb of the earth long ago in the fulness of power--what shadow had dimmed his beauty? he tracked and retraced countless steps. once more he held sceptred sway over races long since in oblivion. he passed beyond the common way until the powers of the vast knew and obeyed him. as he looked back there was one always with him. lu, the sun-god, who in the bright days of childhood had appeared to him as his little feet ran from home in search for adventures. remote and dim, nigh and radiant, he was always there. in solemn initiations in crypts beneath the giant hills he rose up, gemmed and starred with living fires, and grew one with the god, and away, away with him he passed into the lands of the immortals, or waged wars more than human, when from the buried lands of the past first came the heroes eastward to eri and found the terrible fomorian enchanters dwelling in the sacred isle. in dream cuchullain saw the earth- scorning warriors rise up and wage their battle in the bright aether, and the great sun-chieftain, shining like gold, lead his glittering hosts. in mountainous multitudes the giantesque phantoms reeled to and from, their mighty forms wreathed in streams of flame, while the stars paled and shuddered as they fought. there was yet another face, another form, often beside him; whispering, luring, calling him away to he knew not what wild freedom. it was the phantom form of the child of aed abrait, with dark flowing tresses, mystic eyes, her face breathing the sweetness of the sun, with all the old nobility of earth, but elate and apart, as one who had been in the crystal spheres of the unseen and bathed in its immortalizing rivers and drunk the starry dews. come, cu. come, o hero," she whispered. "there are fiery fountains of life which will renew thee. we will go where the sidhe dwell, where the golden life-breath flows up from the mountains in a dazzling radiance to the ever-shining regions of azure and pearl under the stars. glad is everything that lives in that place. come, cu, come away." and she passed from beside him with face half turned, calling, beckoning, till in his madness he forgot the bright sun-god and the warriors of eri awaiting his guidance. it was again the feast of samhain. about twilight in the evening a shadow darkened the door. a man in blue mantle stood outside; he did not enter but looked around him a little while and then sat down, laughing softly to himself. fergus, conail and lugard rose simultaneously, glad of the pretence of warning off the intruder as a relief from their monotonous watch. "do you not know," said conail sternly, "that one lies ill here who must not be disturbed?" the stranger arose. "i will tell you a tale," he said. "as i was strolling through the trees i saw a radiance shining around the dun, and i saw one floating in that light like a mighty pillar of fire, or bronze ruddy and golden: a child of the sun he seemed; the living fires curled about him and rayed from his head. he looked to the north and to the west, to the south and to the east, and over all eri he shot his fiery breaths rainbow-colored, and the dark grew light before him where he gazed. indeed if he who lies here were well he would be mightiest among your warriors. but i think that now he clasps hands with the heroes of the sidhe as well, and with druid power protects the ultonians. i feel happy to be beside him." "it is lu lamfada guarding the hero. now his destiny will draw nigh to him again," thought cu's companions, and they welcomed the stranger. "i see why he lies here so still," he continued, his voice strange like one who is inspired while he speaks. "the sidhe looked out from their mountains. they saw a hero asleep. they saw a god forgetful. they stirred him to shame by the hands of women. they showed him the past. they said to fand and libau, 'awake him. bring him to us. let him come on the night of samhain.' they showed the chosen one from afar, in a vision while hid in their mountains. the tuatha de danaans, the immortals, wish for cuchullain to aid them. the daughters of aed abrait are their messengers. if fand and liban were here they would restore the hero." "who are you?" asked laeg, who had joined them. "i am angus, son of aed abrait." while he spoke his form quivered like a smoke, twinkling in misty indistinctness in the blue twilight, and then vanished before their eyes. "i wonder now," muttered laeg to himself, "if he was sent by the sidhe, or by liban and fand only. when one has to deal with women everything is uncertain. fand trusts more in her beauty to arouse him than in her message. i have seen her shadow twenty times cooing about him. it is all an excuse for love-making with her. it is just like a woman. anything, however, would be better for him than to lie in bed." he went off to join the others. cuchullain was sitting up and was telling the story of what happened last samhain. "what should i do?" he asked. "go to the wise king," said laeg, and so they all advised, for ever since the day when he was crowned, and the druids had touched him with fire, a light of wisdom shone about concobar the king. "i think you should go to the rock where the women of the sidhe appeared to you," said concobar when appealed to. so laeg made ready the chariot and drove to the tarn. night came ere they reached it, but the moon showed full and brilliant. laeg waited a little way apart, while cuchullain sat himself in the black shadow of the rock. as the warrior gazed into the dark, star-speckled surface of the waters, a brightness and a mist gathered over them, and there, standing with her robe of green down--dropping to her feet and trailing on the wave, her pale flaxen hair blown around her head, was liban. she smiled strangely as before, looking through him with her subtle eyes. "i am one of the sidhe," she said, and her voice sounded like a murmur of the water. "you also, o warrior, though forgetful, are one of us. we did not indeed come to injure you, but to awaken remembrance. for now the wild clouds of demons gathered from the neighboring isles and we wish your aid. your strength will come back to you exultant as of old. come with me, warrior. you will have great companions. labraid, who wields the rapid fires as you the sword, and fand, who has laid aside her druid wisdom longing for you." "whither must i go with you, strange woman?" asked cuchullain. "to mag-mell." "i will send laeg with you," said cuchullain. i do not care to go to an unknown place while i have my duties here." he then went to laeg, asking him to go with liban. "he is longing to go," thought laeg, "but he mistrusts his power to get away. he has forgotten all he knew and did not wish to appear nothing before a woman. however, it can do no harm if i go and see what they do." oh, marvel not if in our tale the gleaming figures come and go, more mystic splendors shine and pale than in an age outworn we know. their ignorance to us were wise: their sins our virtue would outshine: a glory passed before their eyes: we hardly dream of the divine. in world may come romance, with all the lures of love and glamour; and woesome tragedy will chance to him whom fairy forms enamour. there slain illusions live anew to stay the soul with coy caresses; but he who only loves the true slays them again, and onward presses. for golden chains are yet but chains, enchanted dreams are yet but dreaming; and ere the soul its freedom gains it bursts all bonds, destroys all seeming. iv. the maidens of the sidhe "yes, i'll go with the maid in the green mantle," muttered laeg to himself; "but i'll don the crimson mantle of five folds which it is my right to wear in the land of the sidhe, even though my earthly occupation is only the driving of a war-chariot." he began chanting softly; a golden gleam as of sunshine swept circling about him; then as the chant ceased a look of wild exultation came to his face, and he threw up his arms, so that for an instant he had the aspect he wore when guiding the great war-chariot of cuchullain into the thick of battle. his swaying form fell softly upon the greensward, and above it floated a luminous figure clad in a crimson mantle, but whose face and bare arms were of the color of burnished bronze. so impassive and commanding was his face that even liban faltered a little as she stole to his side. cuchullain watched the two figures as they floated slowly over the dark expanse of the lake, till they suddenly disappeared, seemingly into its quiet surface. then with his face buried in his hands he sat motionless, absorbed in deep thought, while he waited until the return of laeg. the recumbent form of liban rose from the crouch where it had lain entranced. before her stood the phantom figure of laeg. all in the house save herself were asleep, but with the conscious sleep of the sidhe, and their shades spoke welcome to laeg, each saying to him in liquid tones such as come never from lips of clay: "welcome to you, laeg; welcome because of her who brings you, of him who sent you, and of yourself." he saw about him only women of the sidhe, and knew that he was in one of the schools established by the wise men of eri for maidens who would devote their lives to holiness and druid learning; maidens who should know no earthly love but fix their eyes ever on the light of the sun-god. but not seeing fand among them, he turned with an impatient gesture to liban. she read his gesture aright, and said: "my sister dwells apart; she has more knowledge, and presides over all of us." leaving the room, she walked down a corridor, noiselessly save for the rustle of her long robe of green, which she drew closely about her, for the night was chill. an unaccustomed awe rested upon her, and to laeg she whispered: "the evil enchanters have power tonight, so that your life would be in danger if you had not the protection of a maiden of the sun." but a smile wreathed for an instant the bronze-hue face of the shadowy charioteer, as he murmured in tones of kindness near to pity, softening his rude words: "till now nor cuchullain nor i have ever felt the need of a woman's protection, and i would much rather he were here now than i." drawing aside a heavy curtain, liban entered her sister's room. they saw fand seated at a little table. a scroll lay on it open before her, but her eyes were not fixed on it. with hands clasped under her chin she gazed into the vacancies with eyes of far-away reflection and longing. there was something pathetic in the intensity and wistfulness of the lonely figures. she turned and rose to meet them, a smile of rare tenderness lighting up her face as she saw liban. the dim glow of a single lamp but half revealed the youthful figure, the pale, beautiful face, out of which the sun-colours had faded. her hair of raven hue was gathered in massy coils over her head and fastened there by a spiral torque of gleaming gold. her mantle, entirely black, which fell to her feet, made her features seem more strangely young, more startlingly in contrast with the monastic severity of the room. it was draped round with some dark unfigured hangings. a couch with a coverlet of furs, single chair of carved oak, the little table, and a bronze censer from which a faint aromatic odor escaping filled the air and stole on the sense, completed the furniture of the room, which might rather have been the cell of some aged druid than the chamber of one of the young maidens of eri, who were not overgiven to ascetic habits. she welcomed laeg with the same terms of triple welcome as did the mystic children of the sun who had first gathered round him. her brilliant eyes seemed to read deep the soul of the charioteer. then liban came softly up to her, saying: "oh, fand, my soul is sad this night. the dark powers are gathering their strength to assail us, and we shall need to be pure and strong. yet you have said that you feel no longer the presence with you; that mannanan, the self of the sun, shines not in your heart!" fan placed her hand upon her sister's flaxen head, saying with a voice mingled joy and pathos: "peace, child; you, of us all, have least to fear, for though i, alas! am forsaken, yet he who is your father and yourself is even now here with you." liban fell on her knees, with her hands clasped and her eyes uplifted in a rapture of adoration, for above her floated one whom she well knew. yet unheeding her and stern of glance, with his right arm outstretched, from which leaped long tongues of flame, swordlike, into space, labraid towered above gazing upon foes unseen by them. slowly the arm fell and the stern look departed from the face. ancient with the youth of the gods, it was such a face and form the toilers in the shadowy world, mindful of their starry dynasties, sought to carve in images of upright and immovable calm amid the sphinxes of the nile or the sculptured gods of chaldaea. so upright and immovable in such sculptured repose appeared labraid, his body like a bright ruby flame, sunlit from its golden heart. beneath his brows his eyes looked full of secrecy. the air pulsing and heaving about him drove laeg backward from the centre of the room. he appeared but a child before this potent spirit. liban broke out into a wild chant of welcome: "oh see now how burning, how radiant in might, from battle returning the dragon of light! where wert thou, unsleeping exile from the throne, in watch o'er the weeping, the sad and the lone. the sun-fires of eri burned low on the steep; the watchers were weary or sunken in sleep; and dread were the legions of demons who rose from the uttermost regions of ice and of snows; and on the red wind borne, unspeakable things from wizard's dark mind borne on shadowy wings. the darkness was lighted with whirlwinds of flame; the demons affrighted fled back whence they came. for thou wert unto them the vision that slays: thy fires quivered through them in arrowy rays. oh, light amethystine, thy shadow inspire, and fill with the pristine vigor of fire. though thought like a fountain pours dream upon dream, unscaled is the mountain where thou still dost gleam, and shinest afar like the dawning of day, immortal and starlike in rainbow array." but he, the shining one, answered, and his voice had that melody which only those know whom the sun-breath has wafted into worlds divine: "vaunt not, poor mortal one, nor claim knowledge when the gods know not. he who is greatest among all the sons of evil now waits for the hour to strike when he may assail us and have with him all the hosts of the foes of light. what may be the issue of the combat cannot be foreseen by us. yet mortals, unwise, ever claim to know when even the gods confess ignorance; for pride blinds all mortals, and arrogance is born of their feebleness." unabashed she cried out: "then rejoice, for we have awakened cu, the warrior-magician of old times, and his messenger is her." then he answered gently, pityingly: "we need the help of each strong soul, and you have done well to arouse that slumbering giant. if through his added strength we conquer, then will he be the saviour of eri; beloved by the gods, he will cease to be a wild warrior on earth, and become a leader of mortals, aiding them on the way to the immortals. wisely have you awakened him, and yet--" he smiled, and such was the pity in his smiling glance that liban bowed her head in humiliation. when she raised it he was gone, and laeg also had vanished. she arose, and with a half-sob threw herself into the arms of her sister. so they stood, silent, with tearless eyes; for they were too divine for tears, although, alas! too human. slowly the chariot rolled on its homeward way, for laeg, seeing the weakness and weariness of cuchullain, held the great steeds in check; their arched necks and snorting breath resenting the restraint, while the impatient stamping of their hoofs struck fire from the pebbly road. "well," said cuchullain moodily, "tell me what happened after you went away with that woman of the sidhe." briefly and without comment of his own laeg stated what he had seen. then long cuchullain pondered; neither spoke, and the silence was broken only by the stamping of the steeds and the rumble of the chariot wheels. dark clouds drifted athwart the moon, and the darkness gave more freedom of speech, for cuchullain said in measured, expressionless tones: "and what do you think of all this?" "what do i think?" burst forth laeg with sudden fire; "i think you had better be leaving those women of the sidhe alone, and they you. that fand would lose her soul for love, and the spell they've cast over you is evil, or it wouldn't make a warrior like you as helpless as a toddling babe." in letting loose his pent-up wrath laeg had unconsciously loosened as well the reined-in steeds, who sprang forward impetuously, and the jolting of the car was all that cuchullain could bear in his enfeebled state. recovering himself, the charioteer drew them in check again, inwardly upbraiding himself for carelessness. sorrowful and broken was the voice of the warrior as he said: "on the morrow, laeg, you shall bear a message to emer. tell her the sidhe have thrown a spell of helplessness upon me while deceiving me with false visions of my aiding them in their war with the evil enchanters. ask emer to come to me, for her presence may help to rouse me from this spell that benumbs my body and clouds my mind." then laeg sought to console him, saying: "no, no; the sidhe wrong no one. their message to you was true; but their messengers were women, and you were a warrior. that is why the mischance came, for it is ever the way with a woman to become foolish over a warrior, and then there is always a muddle. and when emer comes--," he checked his indiscreet utterance by pretending to have a difficulty in restraining the horses, and then added confusedly: "besides, i'd rather be in your plight than in fand's." "has emer come?" asked cuchullain, drawing himself up on his couch and resting on his elbow. "yes," said laeg dejectedly; "i have brought her. she has been talking to me most of the journey. now she'll be after talking to you, but you needn't mind; it isn't her ususal way, and she isn't as unreasonable as might be expected. she puts most of the blame of your illness on me, though perhaps that is because it was me she was talking to. insists that as i can go to the plain of fire where the sidhe live i ought to be able to find a way of curing you. she has expressed that idea to me many times, with a fluency and wealth of illustration that would make a bard envious. here she comes now. i'll just slip out and see if the horses are being properly cared for." he had not overstated the case, for the sweet face of emer was clouded with wrath as she approached the sick-bed of her husband. bitterly she reproached him for what she claimed was only a feigned illness, and expressed her conviction that no theory would account for his conduct save that, faithless to her his wife, he had fallen in love. but cuchullain made no answer, for not only was he invincible in battle, but also wise in the matter of holding his tongue when a woman warred against him with words. "you are looking stronger," said laeg, when next he saw him alone. "yes," he returned, "the speech of emer has roused me a little from my torpor. i have been thinking that possibly we were wrong in disregarding the message brought by the women of the sidhe. they surely have power to break this spell, and doubtless would have done so had you not fled from them so inconsiderately." "i was thinking the same when emer was coming here with me," observed laeg. "her speech roused me a little too." cuchullain was silent awhile and then said reflectively: "do you think we could find liban again?" "there would be no difficulty about that," laeg replied drily. "then," said cuchullain with sudden energy, "let us go once more to the rock of the visions." our souls give battle when the host of lurid lives that lurk in air, and ocean's regions nethermost, come forth from every loathsome lair: for then are cloudland battles fought with spears of lightning, swords of flame, no quarter given, none besought, till to the darkness whence they came the sons of night are hurled again. yet while the reddened skies resound the wizard souls of evil men within the demon ranks are found, while pure and strong the heroes go to join the strife, and reck no odds, for they who face the wizard foe clasp hands heroic with the gods. what is the love of shadowy lips that know not what they seek or press, from whom the lure for ever slips and fails their phantom tenderness? the mystery and light of eyes that near to mine grow dim and cold; they move afar in ancient skies mid flame and mystic darkness rolled. oh, hero, as thy heart o'erflows in tender yielding unto me, a vast desire awakes and grows unto forgetfulness of thee. v. the mantle of mannanan again liban stood before them, and her eyes were full of reproach. "you doubt the truth of my message," she said. "come, then, to the plain of fire, and you shall see the one who sent me." "i doubt you not," said cuchullain quietly; "but it is not fitting that i should go when the message is brought by a woman, for such is the warning i have had in vision from lu lamfada. laeg shall go with you, and if he brings back the same message, then i shall do the bidding of the sidhe, and wage war against the evil enchanters, even as when a lad i vanquished the brook of wizards at dun-mic-nectan." "where did liban take you this time, laeg? have you brought back a message from the sidhe?" "i have seen the chief," said laeg, whose doubts had vanished and whose whole manner had changed. "cuchullain, you must go. you remember how we went together to brusna by the boyne, and what wonders they showed us in the sacred crypt. yet this is a place more marvelous--thrice. well indeed did liban call it the plain of fire, for a breath of fire is in the air for leagues and leagues around. on the lake where the sidhe dwell the fishers row by and see nothing, or, mayhap, a flicker of phantasmal trees around the dun. these trees are rooted in a buried star beneath the earth; when its heart pulsates they shine like gold, aye, and are fruited with ruby lights. indeed this labraid is one of the gods. i saw him come through the flaming rivers of the underworld. he was filled with the radiance. i am not given to dread the sidhe, but there was that in him which compelled awe: for oh, he came from the homes that were anciently ours--ours who are fallen, and whose garments once bright are stained by the lees of time. he greeted me kindly. he knew me by my crimson mantle with five folds. he asked for you; indeed they all wish to have you there." "did he say aught further?" "no, he spoke but little; but as i returned by mag luada i had a vision. i saw you standing under the sacred tree of victory. there were two mighty ones, one on each side of you, but they seemed no greater than you." "was fand there?" asked cuchullain. "yes," said laeg reluctantly; "i saw her and spoke to her, although i did not wish to. i feared for myself. ethne and emer are beautiful women, but this woman is not like them. she is half divine. the holiest druids might lose his reason over her." "let us go thither," said cuchullain. the night was clear, breathless, pure as diamond. the giant lights far above floated quietly in the streams of space. below slept the lake mirroring the shadowy blue of the mountains. the great mounds, the homes of the sidhe, were empty; but over them floated a watchful company, grave, majestic, silent, waiting. in stately procession their rich, gleaming figures moved to and fro in groups of twos and threes, emblazoning the dusky air with warm colors. a little apart, beyond the headland at the island's edge, two more commanding than the rest communed together. the wavering water reflected head-long their shining figures in its dark depths; above them the ancient blue of the night rose as a crown. these two were labraid and the warrior of murthemney restored to all his druid power. terrible indeed in its beauty, its power, its calm, was this fiery phantasmal form beside the king of the sidhe. "we came to eri many, many ages ago," said labraid; "from a land the people of today hold no memory of. mighty for good and for evil were the dwellers in that land, but its hour struck and the waters of the ocean entomb it. in this island, which the mighty gods of fire kept apart and sacred, we made our home. but after long years a day came when the wise ones must needs depart from this also. they went eastward. a few only remained to keep alive the tradition of what was, the hope of what will be again. for in this island, it is foretold, in future ages will arise a light which will renew the children of time. but now the world's great darkness has come. see what exhalations arise! what demons would make eri their home!" away at the eastern verge a thick darkness was gathering; a pitchy blackness out of which a blood--red aerial river rolled and shot its tides through the arteries of the night. it came nigher. it was dense with living creatures, larvae, horrible shapes with waving tendrils, white withered things restless and famished, hoglike faces, monstrosities. as it rolled along there was a shadowy dropping over hamlet and village and field. "can they not be stayed? can they not be stayed?" rang the cry of fand. the stern look on cuchullain's face deepened. "is it these pitiful spectres we must wage war against? labraid, it is enough. i will go--alone. nay, my brother, one is enough for victory." already he was oblivious of the sidhe, the voices of fand and laeg calling him. a light like a wonder-mist broke dazzling about him. through a mist of fire, an excess of light, they saw a transcendent form of intensest gold treading the air. over the head of the god a lightning thread like a serpent undulated and darted. it shed a thousand dazzling rays; it chanted in a myriad tones as it went forward. wider grew the radiant sphere and more triumphant the chant as he sped onward and encountered the overflow of hell. afar off the watchers saw and heard the tumult, cries of a horrible conflict, agonies of writhing and burning demons scorched and annihilated, reeling away before the onset of light. on and still on he sped, now darkened and again blazing like the sun. "look! look!" cried laeg, breathless with exultation as the dazzling phantom towered and waved its arms on the horizon. "they lied who said he was powerless," said fand, no less exultant. "cu, my darling," murmured the charioteer; "i know now why i loved you, what burned within you." "shall we not go and welcome him when he returns?" said liban. "i should not advise it," laeg answered. "is it to meet that fury of fire when he sinks back blind and oblivious? he would slay his dearest friend. i am going away from here as fast as i can." through the dark forests at dawn the smoke began to curl up from dun and hamlet, and, all unconscious of the war waged over their destinies, children awoke to laugh and men and women went forth to breathe the sweet air of morning. cuchullain started from a dream of more ancient battles, of wars in heaven. through the darkness of the room he saw the shadowy forms of the two daughters of aed abrait; not as before, the mystic maidens armed with druid power, but women, melting, tender, caressing. violet eyes shining with gratitude; darker eyes burning with love, looked into his. misty tresses fell over him. "i know not how the battle went," he sighed. "i remember the fire awoke. .... lu was with me. .... i fell back in a blinding mist of flame and forgot everything." "doubt it not. victory went with thee, warrior," said liban. "we saw thee: it was wonderful. how the seven splendors flashed and the fiery stars roved around you and scattered the demons!" "oh, do not let your powers sink in sleep again," broke forth fand. "what are the triumphs of earthly battles to victories like these? what is rule over a thousand warriors to kingship over the skyey hosts? of what power are spear and arrow beside the radiant sling of lu? do the war-songs of the ultonians inspire thee ever like the terrible chant of fire? after freedom can you dwell in these gloomy duns? what are the princeliest of them beside the fiery halls of tir-na-noge and the flame-built cities of the gods? as for me, i would dwell where the great ones of ancient days have gone, and worship at the shrine of the silent and unutterable awe." "i would go indeed," said cuchullain; "but still--but still--: it is hard to leave the green plains of murthemney, and the ultonians who have fought by my side, and laeg, and--" "laeg can come with us. nor need conchobar, or fergus or conail be forgotten. far better can you aid them with druid power than with the right arm a blow may make powerless in battle. go with laeg to iban-cind-trachta. beside the yew-tree there is a dun. there you can live hidden from all. it is a place kept sacred by the might of the sidhe. i will join you there." a month passed. in a chamber of the dun the yew-tree, fand, cuchullain and laeg were at night. the two latter sat by an oaken table and tried by divination to peer into the future. fand, withdrawn in the dark shadow of a recess, lay on a couch and looked on. many thoughts went passing through her mind. now the old passion of love would rise in her heart to be quenched by a weary feeling of futility, and then a half-contempt would curl her lips as she saw the eagerness of her associates. other memories surged up. "oh, mannanan, father-self, if thou hadst not left me and my heart had not turned away! it was not a dream when i met thee and we entered the ocean of fire together. our beauty encompassed the world. radiant as lu thy brother of the sun we were. far away as the dawn seems the time. how beautiful, too, was that other whose image in the hero enslaves my heart. oh, that he would but know himself, and learn that on this path the greatest is the only risk worth taking! and now he holds back the charioteer also and does him wrong." just then something caused her to look up. she cried out, "laeg, laeg, do you see anything?" "what is it?" said laeg. then he also looked and started. "gods!" he murmured. "emer! i would rather face a tempest of formorian enchanters." "do you not see?" repeated fand scornfully. "it is emer the daughter of forgall. has she also become one of the sidhe that she journeys thus?" "she comes in dream," said laeg. "why do you intrude upon our seclusion here? you know my anger is no slight thing," broke out cuchullain, in ready wrath hiding his confusion. the shadow of emer turned, throwing back the long, fair hair from her face the better to see him. there was no dread on it, but only outraged womanly dignity. she spake and her voice seemed to flow from a passionate heart far away brooding in sorrowful loneliness. "why do i come? has thou not degraded me before all the maidens of eri by forsaking me for a woman of the sidhe without a cause? you ask why i come when every one of the ultonians looks at me in questioning doubt and wonder! but i see you have found a more beautiful partner." "we came hither, laeg and i, to learn the lore of the sidhe. why should you not leave me here for a time, emer? this maiden is of wondrous magical power: she is a princess in her own land, and is as pure and chaste to this hour as you." "i see indeed she is more beautiful than i am. that is why you are drawn away. her face has not grown familiar. everything that is new or strange you follow. the passing cheeks are ruddier than the pale face which has shared your troubles. what you know is weariness, and you leave it to learn what you do not know. the ultonians falter while you are absent from duty in battle and council, and i, whom you brought with sweet words when half a child from my home, am left alone. oh, cuchullain, beloved, i was once dear to thee, and if today or tomorrow were our first meeting i should be so again." a torrent of self-reproach and returning love overwhelmed him. "i swear to you," he said brokenly, through fast-flowing tears, "you are immortally dear to me, emer." "then you leave me," burst forth fand, rising to her full height, her dark, bright eyes filled with a sudden fire, an image of mystic indignation and shame. "if indeed," said emer softly, "joy and love and beauty are more among the sidhe than where we dwell in eri, then it were better for thee to remain." "no, he shall not now," said fand passionately. "it is i whom he shall leave. i long foresaw this moment, but ran against fate like a child. go, warrior, cu; tear this love out of thy heart as i out of mine. go, laeg, i will not forget thee. thou alone hast thought about these things truly. but now--i cannot speak." she flung herself upon the couch in the dark shadow and hid her face away from them. the pale phantom wavered and faded away, going to one who awoke from sleep with a happiness she could not understand. cuchullain and laeg passed out silently into the night. at the door of the dun a voice they knew not spake: "so, warrior, you return. it is well. not yet for thee is the brotherhood of the sidhe, and thy destiny and fand's lie far apart. thine is not so great but it will be greater, in ages yet to come, in other lands, among other peoples, when the battle fury in thee shall have turned to wisdom and anger to compassion. nations that lie hidden in the womb of time shall hail thee as friend, deliverer and saviour. go and forget what has passed. this also thou shalt forget. it will not linger in thy mind; but in thy heart shall remain the memory and it will urge thee to nobler deeds. farewell, warrior, saviour that is to be!" as the two went along the moon lit shore mighty forms followed, and there was a waving of awful hands over them to blot out memory. in the room where fand lay with mad beating heart tearing itself in remorse, there was one watching with divine pity. mannanan, the golden glory, the self of the sun. "weep not, o shadow; thy days of passion and pain are over." breathed the pity in her breast. "rise up, o ray, from thy sepulchre of forgetfulness. spirit come forth to they ancient and immemorial home." she rose up and stood erect. as the mantle of mannanan enfolded her, no human words could tell the love, the exultation, the pathos, the wild passion of surrender, the music of divine and human life interblending. faintly we echo--like this spake the shadow and like this the glory. the shadow who art thou, o glory, in flame from the deep, where stars chant their story, why trouble my sleep? i hardly had rested, my dreams wither now: why comest thou crested and gemmed on they brow? the glory up, shadow, and follow the way i will show; the blue gleaming hollow to-night we will know, and rise mid the vast to the fountain of days; from whence we had pass to the parting of ways. the shadow i know thee, o glory: thine eyes and thy brow with white fire all hoary come back to me now. together we wandered in ages agone; our thoughts as we pondered were stars at the dawn. the glory has dwindled, my azure and gold: yet you keep enkindled the sun-fire of old. my footsteps are tied to the heath and the stone; my thoughts earth-allied-to-- ah! leave me alone. go back, thou of gladness, nor wound me with pain, nor spite me with madness, nor come nigh again. the glory why tremble and weep now, whom stars once obeyed? come forth to the deep now and be not afraid. the dark one is calling, i know, for his dreams around me are falling in musical streams. a diamond is burning in depths of the lone thy spirit returning may claim for its throne. in flame-fringed islands its sorrows shall cease, absorbed in the silence and quenched in the peace. come lay thy poor head on my breast where it glows with love ruby-red on thy heart for its woes. my power i surrender: to thee it is due: come forth, for the splendor is waiting for you. --the end --november , -march , shadow and substance many are the voices that entreat and warn those who would live the life of the magi. it is well they should speak. they are voices of the wise. but after having listened and pondered, oh, that someone would arise and shout into our souls how much more fatal it is to refrain. for we miss to hear the fairy tale of time, the aeonian chant radiant with light and color which the spirit prolongs. the warnings are not for those who stay at home, but for those who adventure abroad. they constitute an invitation to enter the mysteries. we study and think these things were well in the happy prime and will be again the years to come. but not yesterday only or tomorrow--today, today burns in the heart the fire which made mighty the heroes of old. and in what future will be born the powers which are not quick in the present? it will never be a matter of greater ease to enter the path, though we may well have the stimulus of greater despair. for this and that there are times and seasons, but for the highest it is always the hour. the eternal beauty does not pale because its shadow trails over slime and corruption. it is always present beneath the faded mould whereon our lives are spent. still the old mysterious glimmer from mountain and cave allures, and the golden gleams divide and descend on us from the haunts of the gods. the dark age is our darkness and not the darkness of life. it is not well for us who in the beginning came forth with the wonder-light about us, that it should have turned in us to darkness, the song of life be dumb. we close our eyes from the many-coloured mirage of day, and are alone soundless and sightless in the unillumined cell of the brain. but there are thoughts that shine, impulses born of fire. still there are moments when the prison world reels away a distant shadow, and the inner chamber of clay fills full with fiery visions. we choose from the traditions of the past some symbol of our greatness, and seem again the titans or morning stars of the prime. in this self-conception lies the secret of life, the way of escape and return. we have imagined ourselves into forgetfulness, into darkness, into feebleness. from this strange and pitiful dream of life, oh, that we may awaken and know ourselves once again. but the student too often turns to books, to the words sent back to him, forgetful that the best of scriptures do no more than stand as symbols. we hear too much of study, as if the wisdom of life and ethics could be learned like ritual, and of their application to this and that ephemeral pursuit. but from the golden one, the child of the divine, comes a voice to its shadow. it is stranger to our world, aloof from our ambitions, with a destiny not here to be fulfilled. it says: "you are of dust while i am robed in opalescent airs. you dwell in houses of clay, i in a temple not made by hands. i will not go with thee, but thou must come with me." and not alone is the form of the divine aloof but the spirit behind the form. it is called the goal truly, but it has no ending. it is the comforter, but it waves away our joys and hopes like the angel with the flaming sword. though it is the resting-place, it stirs to all heroic strife, to outgoing, to conquest. it is the friend indeed, but it will not yield to our desires. is it this strange, unfathomable self we think to know, and awaken to, by what is written, or by study of it as so many planes of consciousness. but in vain we store the upper chambers of the mind with such quaint furniture of thought. no archangel makes his abode therein. they abide only in the shining. how different from academic psychology of the past, with its dry enumeration of faculties, reason, cognition and so forth, is the burning thing we know. we revolted from that, but we must take care lest we teach in another way a catalogue of things equally unliving to us. the plain truth is, that after having learned what is taught about the hierarchies and various spheres, many of us are still in this world exactly where we were before. if we speak our laboriously-acquired information we are listened to in amazement. it sounds so learned, so intellectual, there must need be applause. but by-and-by someone comes with quiet voice, who without pretence speaks of the "soul" and uses familiar words, and the listeners drink deep, and pay the applause of silence and long remembrance and sustained after-endeavor. our failure lies in this, we would use the powers of soul and we have not yet become the soul. none but the wise one himself could bend the bow of ulysses. we cannot communicate more of the true than we ourselves know. it is better to have a little knowledge and know that little than to have only hearsay of myriads of gods. so i say, lay down your books for a while and try the magic of thought. "what a man thinks, that he is; that is the old secret." i utter, i know, but a partial voice of the soul with many needs. but i say, forget for a while that you are student, forget your name and time. think of yourself within as the titan, the demi-god, the flaming hero with the form of beauty, the heart of love. and of those divine spheres forget the nomenclature; think rather of them as the places of a great childhood you now return to, these homes no longer ours. in some moment of more complete imagination the thought-born may go forth and look on the olden beauty. so it was in the mysteries long ago and may well be today. the poor dead shadow was laid to sleep in forgotten darkness, as the fiery power, mounting from heart to head, went forth in radiance. not then did it rest, nor ought we. the dim worlds dropped behind it, the lights of earth disappeared as it neared the heights of the immortals. there was one seated on a throne, one dark and bright with ethereal glory. i arose in greeting. the radiant figure laid its head against the breast which grew suddenly golden, and father and son vanished in that which has no place nor name. --january , on w. q. judge's passing it is with no feeling of sadness that i think of this withdrawal. he would not have wished for that. but with a faltering hand i try to express one of many incommunicable thoughts about the hero who has departed. long before i met him, before even written words of his had been read, his name like an incantation stirred and summoned forth some secret spiritual impulse in my heart. it was no surface tie which bound us to him. no one ever tried less than he to gain from men that adherence which comes from impressive manner. i hardly thought what he was while he spoke; but on departing i found my heart, wiser than my brain, had given itself away to him; an inner exaltation lasting for months witnessed his power. it was in that memorable convention in london two years ago that i first glimpsed his real greatness. as he sat there quietly, one among many, not speaking a word, i was overcome by a sense of spiritual dilation, of unconquerable will about him, and that one figure with the grey head became all the room to me. shall i not say the truth i think? here was a hero out of the remote, antique, giant ages come among us, wearing but on the surface the vesture of our little day. we, too, came out of that past, but in forgetfulness; he with memory and power soon regained. to him and to one other we owe an unspeakable gratitude for faith and hope and knowledge born again. we may say now, using words of his early years: "even in hell i lift up my eyes to those who are beyond me and do not deny them." ah, hero, we know you would have stayed with us if it were possible; but fires have been kindled that shall not soon fade, fires that shall be bright when you again return. i feel no sadness, knowing there are no farewells in the true: to whosoever has touched on that real being there is comradeship with all the great and wise of time. that he will again return we need not doubt. his ideals were those which are attained only by the saviours and deliverers of nations. when or where he may appear i know not, but i foresee the coming when our need invokes him. light of the future aeons, i hail, i hail to thee! --april , self-reliance perhaps it is now while we are in a state of transition, when old leaders have gone out of sight and the new ones have not yet taken their place in the van, that we ought to consider what we are in ourselves. some questions we ought to ask ourselves about this movement: where its foundations were laid? what the links are? where is the fountain of force? what are the doors? you answer the first and you say "america," or you say "india." but if that old doctrine of emanations be true it was not on earth but in the heavenworld where our minds immortal are linked together. there it was born and well born, and grew downwards into earth, and all our hopes and efforts and achievements here but vaguely reflect what was true and perfect in intent above, a compact of many hearts to save the generations wandering to their doom. wiser, stronger, mightier than we were those who shielded us in the first years; who went about among us renewing memory, whispering in our hearts the message of the meaning of life, recalling the immemorial endeavor of the spirit for freedom, knowledge, mastery. but it is our movement and not the movement of the masters only. it is our own work we are carrying on; our own primal will we are trying to give effect to. well may the kingly sages depart from bodies which were torment and pain to them. they took them on for our sakes, and we may wave them a grateful farewell below and think of the spheres invisible as so much richer by their presence, more to be longed for, more to be attained. i think indeed they are nearer heart and mind there than here. what is real in us can lose no brotherhood with such as they through death. still flash the lights from soul to soul in ceaseless radiance, in endless begetting of energy, thought and will, in endless return of joy and love and hope. i would rather hear one word of theirs in my heart than a thousand in my ears. i would rather think of my guide and captain as embodied in the flame than in the clay. although we may gaze on the grave, kindly face living no more, there can be no cessation of the magic influence, the breath of fire, which flowed aforetime from the soul to us. we feel in our profoundest hearts that he whom they call dead is living, is alive for evermore. he has earned his rest, a deep rest, if indeed such as he cease from labor. as for us, we may go our ways assured that the links are unbroken. what did you think the links were? that you knew some one who knew the masters? such a presence and such a companion would indeed be an aid, a link. but i think where ever there is belief in our transcendent being, in justice, our spiritual unity and destiny, wherever there is brotherhood, there are unseen ties, links, shining cords, influx from and unbroken communication with the divine. so much we have in our own natures, not enough to perfect us in the mysteries, but always enough to light our path, to show us our next step, to give us strength for duty. we should not always look outside for aid, remembering that some time we must be able to stand alone. let us not deny our own deeper being, our obscured glory. that we accepted these truths, even as intuitions which we were unable intellectually to justify, is proof that there is that within us which has been initiate in the past, which lives in and knows well what in the shadowy world is but a hope. there is part of ourselves whose progress we do not comprehend. there are deeds done in unremembered dream, and a deeper meditation in the further unrecorded silences of slumber. downward from sphere to sphere the immortal works its way into the flesh, and the soul has adventures in dream whose resultant wisdom is not lost because memory is lacking here. yet enough has been said to give us the hint, the clue to trace backwards the streams of force to their fount. we wake in some dawn and there is morning also in our hearts, a love, a fiery vigor, a magnetic sweetness in the blood. could we track to its source this invigorating power, we might perhaps find that as we fell asleep some olden memory had awakened in the soul, or the master had called it forth, or it was transformed by the wizard power of self and went forth to seek the holy place. whether we have here a guide, or whether we have not, one thing is certain, that behind and within the "father worketh hitherto." a warrior fights for us. our thoughts tip the arrows of his quiver. he wings them with flame and impels them with the holy breath. they will not fail if we think clear. what matters it if in the mist we do not see where they strike. still they are of avail. after a time the mists will arise and show a clear field; the shining powers will salute us as victors. i have no doubt about our future; no doubt but that we will have a guide and an unbroken succession of guides. but i think their task would be easier, our way be less clouded with dejection and doubt, if we placed our trust in no hierarchy of beings, however august, but in the law of which they are ministers. their power, though mighty, ebbs and flows with contracting and expanding nature. they, like us, are but children in the dense infinitudes. something like this, i think, the wise ones would wish each one of us to speak: "o brotherhood of light, though i long to be with you, though it sustains me to think you are behind me, though your aid made sure my path, still, if the law does not permit you to act for me today, i trust in the one whose love a fiery breath never ceases; i fall back on it with exultation: i rely upon it joyfully." was it not to point to that greater life that the elder brothers sent forth their messengers, to tell us that it is on this we ought to rely, to point us to grander thrones than they are seated on? it is well to be prepared to face any chance with equal mind; to meet the darkness with gay and defiant thought as to salute the light with reverence and love and joy. but i have it in my heart that we are not deserted. as the cycles went their upward way the heroic figures of the dawn reappear. some have passed before us; others in the same spirit and power will follow: for the new day a rearisen sun and morning stars to herald it. when it comes let it find us, not drowsy after our night in time, but awake, prepared and ready to go forth from the house of sleep, to stretch hands to the light, to live and labor in joy, having the gods for our guides and friends. --may , the mountains while we live within four walls we half insensibly lose something of our naturalness and comport ourselves as creatures of the civilization we belong to. but we never really feel at home there, though childhood may have wreathed round with tender memories old rooms and the quaint garden-places of happy unthinking hours. there is a house, a temple not built with hands; perhaps we thought it a mere cabin when we first formed it, and laid aside humbly many of our royal possessions as we entered, for the heavens and the heaven of heavens could not contain all of our glory. but now it seems vast enough, and we feel more at home there, and we find places which seem nearer of access to our first life. such are the mountains. as i lie here on the monstrous mould of the hillside covered with such delicate fringes of tiny green leaves, i understand something of his longing who said: "i lift up mine eyes to the hills, from whence cometh my aid." oh, but the air is sweet, is sweet. earth-breath, what is it you whisper? as i listen, listen, i know it is no whisper but a chant from profoundest deeps, a voice hailing its great companions in the aether spaces, but whose innumerable tones in their infinite modulations speak clear to us also in our littleness. our lips are stilled with awe; we dare not repeat what here we think. these mountains are sacred in our celtic traditions. haunt of the mysteries, here the tuatha de danaans once had their home. we sigh, thinking of the vanished glory, but look with hope for the fulfilment of the prophecy which the seer of another line left on record, that once more the druid fires should blaze on these mountains. as the purple amplitude of night enfold them, already the dark mounds seem to throw up their sheeny illuminations; great shadowy forms, the shepherds of our race, to throng and gather; the many-coloured winds to roll their aerial tides hither and thither. eri, hearth and home of so many mystic races, isle of destiny, there shall yet return to thee the spiritual magic that thrilled thee long ago. as we descend and go back to a life, not the life we would will, not the life we will have, we think with sorrow of the pain, the passion, the partings, through which our race will once more return to nature, spirit and freedom. we turned back mad from the mystic mountains all foamed with red and with faery gold; up from the heart of the twilight's fountains the fires enchanted were starward rolled. we turned back mad--we thought of the morrow, the iron clang of the far-away town: we could not weep in our bitter sorrow but joy as an arctic sun went down. --may , works and days when we were boys with what anxiety we watched for the rare smile on the master's face ere we preferred a request for some favor, a holiday or early release. there was wisdom in that. as we grow up we act more or less consciously upon intuitions as to time and place. my companion, i shall not invite you to a merrymaking when a bitter moment befalls you and the flame of life sinks into ashes in your heart; nor yet, however true and trusted, will i confide to you what inward revelations of the mysteries i may have while i sense in you a momentary outwardness. the gifts of the heart are too sacred to be laid before a closed door. your mood, i know, will pass, and tomorrow we shall have this bond between us. i wait, for it can be said but once: i cannot commune magically twice on the same theme with you. i do not propose we should be opportunists, nor lay down a formula; but to be skillful in action we must work with and comprehend the ebb and flow of power. mystery and gloom, dark blue and starshine, doubt and feebleness alternate with the clear and shining, opal skies and sunglow, heroic ardor and the exultation of power. ever varying, prismatic and fleeting, the days go by and the secret of change eludes us here. i bend the bow of thought at a mark and it is already gone. i lay the shaft aside and while unprepared the quarry again fleets by. we have to seek elsewhere for the source of that power which momentarily overflows into our world and transforms it with its enchantment. on the motions of an inner sphere, we are told, all things here depend; on spheres of the less evanescent which, in their turn, are enclosed in spheres of the real, whose solemn chariot movements again are guided by the inflexible will of fire. in all of these we have part. this dim consciousness which burns in my brain is not all of myself. behind me it widens out and upward into god. i feel in some other world it shines with purer light: in some sphere more divine than this it has a larger day and a deeper rest. that day of the inner self illuminates many of our mortal days; its night leaves many of them dark. and so the one ray expanding lives in many vestures. it is last of all the king-self who wakes at the dawn of ages, whose day is the day of brahma, whose rest is his rest. here is the clue to cyclic change, to the individual feebleness and power, the gloom of one epoch and the glory of another. the bright fortnight, the northern sun, light and flame name the days of other spheres, and wandering on from day to day man may at last reach the end of his journey. you would pass from rapidly revolving day and night to where the mystical sunlight streams. the way lies through yourself and the portals open as the inner day expands. who is there who has not felt in some way or other the rhythmic recurrence of light within? we were weary of life, baffled, ready to forswear endeavor, when half insensibly a change comes over us; we doubt no more but do joyfully our work; we renew the sweet magical affinities with nature: out of a heart more laden with love we think and act; our meditations prolong themselves into the shining wonderful life of soul; we tremble on the verge of the vast halls of the gods where their mighty speech may be heard, their message of radiant will be seen. they speak a universal language not for themselves only but for all. what is poetry but a mingling of some tone of theirs with the sounds that below we utter? what is love but a breath of their very being? their every mood has colors beyond the rainbow; every thought rings in far-heard melody. so the gods speak to each other across the expanses of ethereal light, breaking the divine silences with words which are deeds. so, too, they speak to the soul. mystics of all time have tried to express it, likening it to peals of faery bells, the singing of enchanted birds, the clanging of silver cymbals, the organ voices of wind and water bent together--but in vain, in vain. perhaps in this there is a danger, for the true is realized in being and not in perception. the gods are ourselves beyond the changes of time which harass and vex us here. they do not demand adoration but an equal will to bind us consciously in unity with themselves. the heresy of separateness cuts us asunder in these enraptured moments; but when thrilled by the deepest breath, when the silent, unseen, uncomprehended takes possession of thee, think "thou art that," and something of thee will abide for ever in it. all thought not based on this is a weaving of new bonds, of illusions more difficult to break; it begets only more passionate longing and pain. still we must learn to know the hidden ways, to use the luminous rivers for the commerce of thought. our druid forefathers began their magical operations on the sixth day of the new moon, taking the bright fortnight at its flood-time. in these hours of expansion what we think has more force, more freedom, more electric and penetrating power. we find too, if we have co-workers, that we draw from a common fountain, the same impulse visits us and them. what one possess all become possessed of; and something of the same unity and harmony arises between us here as exists for all time between us in the worlds above. while the currents circulate we are to see to it that they part from us no less pure than they came. to this dawn of an inner day may in some measure be traced the sudden inspirations of movements, such as we lately feel, not all due to the abrupt descent into our midst of a new messenger, for the elder brothers work with law and foresee when nature, time, and the awakening souls of men will aid them. much may now be done. on whosoever accepts, acknowledges and does the will of the light in these awakenings the die and image of divinity is more firmly set, his thought grows more consciously into the being of the presiding god. yet not while seeking for ourselves can we lay hold of final truths, for then what we perceive we retain but in thought and memory. the highest is a motion, a breath. we become it only in the imparting. it is in all, for all and goes out to all. it will not be restrained in a narrow basin, but through the free-giver it freely flows. there are throngs innumerable who await this gift. can we let this most ancient light which again returns to us be felt by them only as a vague emotion, a little peace of uncertain duration, a passing sweetness of the heart? can we not do something to allay the sorrow of the world? my brothers, the time of opportunity has come. one day in the long-marshaled line of endless days has dawned for our race, and the buried treasure-houses in the bosom of the deep have been opened to endow it with more light, to fill it with more power. the divine ascetics stand with torches lit before the temple of wisdom. those who are nigh them have caught the fire and offer to us in turn to light the torch, the blazing torch of soul. let us accept the gift and pass it on, pointing out the prime givers. we shall see in time the eager races of men starting on their pilgrimage of return and facing the light. so in the mystical past the call of light was seen on the sacred hills; the rays were spread and gathered; and returning with them the initiate-children were buried in the father-flame. --june , the childhood of apollo it was long ago, so long that only the spirit of earth remembers truly. the old shepherd tithonius sat before the door of his hut waiting for his grandson to return. he watched with drowsy eyes the eve gather, and the woods and mountains grow dark over the isles-- the isles of ancient greece. it was greece before its day of beauty, and day was never lovelier. the cloudy blossoms of smoke curling upward from the valley sparkled a while high up in the sunlit air, a vague memorial of the world of men below. from that too the colour vanished, and those other lights began to shine which to some are the only lights of day. the skies dropped close upon the mountains and the silver seas, like a vast face brooding with intentness; there was enchantment, mystery, and a living motion in its depths, the presence of all-pervading zeus enfolding his starry children with the dark radiance of aether. "ah!" murmured the old man, looking upward, "once it was living; once it spoke to me. it speaks not now, but it speaks to others i know--to the child who looks and longs and trembles in the dewy night. why does he linger now? he is beyond his hour. ah, there now are his footsteps!" a boy came up the valley driving the grey flocks which tumbled before him in the darkness. he lifted his young face for the shepherd to kiss. it was alight with ecstasy. tithonius looked at him with wonder. a light golden and silvery rayed all about the him so that his delicate ethereal beauty seemed set in a star which followed his dancing footsteps. "how bright your eyes!" the old man said, faltering with sudden awe. "why do your white limbs shine with moonfire light?" "oh, father," said the boy apollo, "i am glad, for everything is living tonight. the evening is all a voice and many voices. while the flocks were browsing night gathered about me: i saw within it and it was living everywhere; and all together, the wind with dim- blown tresses, odour, incense and secret-falling dew, mingled in one warm breath. they whispered to me and called me 'child of the stars,' 'dew heart,' and 'soul of fire.' oh, father, as i came up the valley the voices followed me with song; everything murmured love; even the daffodils, nodding in the olive gloom, grew golden at my feet, and a flower within my heart knew of the still sweet secret of the flowers. listen, listen!" there were voices in the night, voices as of star-rays descending. "now the roof-tree of the midnight spreading buds in citron, green, and blue: from afar its mystic odors shedding, child, on you." then other sweet speakers from beneath the earth, and from the distant waters and air followed in benediction, and a last voice like a murmur from universal nature: "now the buried stars beneath the mountains and the vales their life renew, jetting rainbow blooms from tiny fountains, child, for you. "as within our quiet waters passing sun and moon and stars we view, so the loveliness of life is glassing, child, in you. "in the diamond air the sun-star glowing up its feathered radiance threw; all the jewel glory there was flowing, child, for you. "and the fire divine in all things burning yearns for home and rest anew, from its wanderings far again returning, child, to you." "oh, voices, voices," cried the child, "what you say i know not, but i ray back love for love. father, what is it they tell me? they embosom me in light and i am far away even though i hold your hand." "the gods are about us. heaven mingles with the earth," said tithonius trembling. "let us go to diotima. she has grown wise brooding for many a year where the great caves lead to the underworld. she sees the bright ones as they pass by where she sits with shut eyes, her drowsy lips murmuring as nature's self." that night the island seemed no more earth set in sea, but a music encircled by the silence. the trees long rooted in antique slumber were throbbing with rich life; through glimmering bark and drooping leaf a light fell on the old man and boy as they passed, and vague figures nodded at them. these were the hamadryad souls of the wood. they were bathed in tender colours and shimmering lights draping them from root to leaf. a murmur came from the heart of every one, a low enchantment breathing joy and peace. it grew and swelled until at last it seemed as if through a myriad pipes that pan the earth spirit was fluting his magical creative song. they found the cave of diotima covered by vines and tangled strailers at the end of the island where the dark-green woodland rose up from the waters. tithonius paused, for he dreaded this mystic prophetess; but a voice from within called them: "come in, child of light; come in, old shepherd, i know why you seek me!" they entered, tithonius trembling with more fear than before. a fire was blazing in a recess of the cavern and by it sat a majestic figure robed in purple. she was bent forward, her hand supporting her face, her burning eyes turned on the intruders. "come hither, child," she said, taking the boy by the hands and gazing into his face. "so this frail form is to be the home of the god. the gods choose wisely. they take no warrior wild, no mighty hero to be their messenger to men, but crown this gentle head. tell me--you dream--have you ever seen a light from the sun falling upon you in your slumber? no, but look now; look upward." as she spoke she waved her hands over him, and the cavern with its dusky roof seemed to melt away, and beyond the heavens the heaven of heavens lay dark in pure tranquillity, a quiet which was the very hush of being. in an instant it vanished and over the zenith broke a wonderful light. "see now," cried diotima, "the ancient beauty! look how its petals expand and what comes forth from its heart!" a vast and glowing breath, mutable and opalescent, spread itself between heaven and earth, and out of it slowly descended a radiant form like a god's. it drew nigh radiating lights, pure, beautiful, and starlike. it stood for a moment by the child and placed its hand on his head, and then it was gone. the old shepherd fell upon his face in awe, while the boy stood breathless and entranced. "go now," said the sybil, "i can teach thee naught. nature herself will adore you and sing through you her loveliest song. but, ah, the light you hail in joy you shall impart in tears. so from age to age the eternal beauty bows itself down amid sorrows that the children of men may not forget it, that their anguish may be transformed smitten through by its fire." --november , the awakening of the fires when twilight flutters the mountains over the faery lights from the earth unfold, and over the hills enchanted hover the giant heroes and gods of old: the bird of aether its flaming pinions waves over earth the whole night long: the stars drop down in their blue dominions to hymn together their choral song: the child of earth in his heart grows burning mad for the night and the deep unknown; his alien flame in a dream returning seats itself on the ancient throne. when twilight over the mountains fluttered and night with its starry millions came, i too had dreams; the thoughts i have uttered. come from my heart that was touched by the flame i thought over the attempts made time after time to gain our freedom; how failure had followed failure until at last it seemed that we must write over hero and chieftain of our cause the memorial spoken of the warriors of old, "they went forth to the battle but they always fell;" and it seemed to me that these efforts resulted in failure because the ideals put forward were not in the plan of nature for us; that it was not in our destiny that we should attempt a civilization like that of other lands. though the cry of nationality rings for ever in our ears, the word here has embodied to most no other hope than this, that we should when free be able to enter with more energy upon pursuits already adopted by the people of other countries. our leaders have erected no nobler standard than theirs, and we who, as a race, are the forlorn hope of idealism in europe, sink day by day into apathy and forget what a past was ours and what a destiny awaits us if we will but rise responsive to it. though so old in tradition this ireland of today is a child among the nations of the world; and what a child, and with what a strain of genius in it! there is all the superstition, the timidity and lack of judgment, the unthought recklessness of childhood, but combined with what generosity and devotion, and what an unfathomable love for its heroes. who can forget that memorable day when its last great chief was laid to rest? he was not the prophet of our spiritual future; he was not the hero of our highest ideals; but he was the only hero we knew. the very air was penetrated with the sobbing and passion of unutterable regret. ah, eri, in other lands there is strength and mind and the massive culmination of ordered power, but in thee alone is there such love as the big heart of childhood can feel. it is this which maketh all thy exiles turn with longing thoughts to thee. before trying her to indicate a direction for the future, guessed from brooding on the far past and by touching on the secret springs in the heart of the present, it may make that future seem easier of access if i point out what we have escaped and also show that we have already a freedom which, though but half recognized, is yet our most precious heritage. we are not yet involved in a social knot which only red revolution can sever: our humanity, the ancient gift of nature to us, is still fresh in our veins: our force is not merely the reverberation of a past, an inevitable momentum started in the long ago, but is free for newer life to do what we will with in the coming time. i know there are some who regret this, who associate national greatness with the whirr and buzz of many wheels, the smoke of factories and with large dividends; and others, again, who wish that our simple minds were illuminated by the culture and wisdom of our neighbours. but i raise the standard of idealism, to try everything by it, every custom, every thought before we make it our own, and every sentiment before it finds a place in our hearts. are these conditions, social and mental, which some would have us strive for really so admirable as we are assured they are? are they worth having at all? what of the heroic best of man; how does that show? his spirituality, beauty and tenderness, are these fostered in the civilizations of today? i say if questions like these bearing upon that inner life wherein is the real greatness of nations cannot be answered satisfactorily, that it is our duty to maintain our struggle, to remain aloof, lest by accepting a delusive prosperity we shut ourselves from our primitive sources of power. for this spirit of the modern, with which we are so little in touch, is one which tends to lead man further and further from nature. she is no more to him the great mother so reverently named long ago, but merely an adjunct to his life, the distant supplier of his needs. what to the average dweller in cities are stars and skies and mountains? they pay no dividends to him, no wages. why should he care about them indeed. and no longer concerning himself about nature what wonder is it that nature ebbs out of him. she has her revenge, for from whatever standpoint of idealism considered the average man shows but of pigmy stature. for him there is no before or after. in his material life he has forgotten or never heard of the heroic traditions of his race, their aspirations to godlike state. one wonders what will happen to him when death ushers him out from the great visible life to the loneliness amid the stars. to what hearth or home shall he flee who never raised the veil of nature while living, nor saw it waver tremulous with the hidden glory before his eyes? the holy breath from the past communes no more with him, and if he is oblivious of these things, though a thousand workman call him master, within he is bankrupt, his effects sequestered, a poor shadow, an outcast from the kingdom of light. we see too, that as age after age passes and teems only with the commonplace, that those who are the poets and teachers falter and lose faith: they utter no more of man the divine things the poets said of old. perhaps the sheer respectability of the people they address deters them from making statements which in some respects might be considered libelous. but from whatever cause, from lack of heart or lack of faith, they have no real inspiration. the literature of europe has had but little influence on the celt in this isle. its philosophies and revolutionary ideas have stayed their waves at his coast: they had no message of interpretation for him, no potent electric thought to light up the mystery of his nature. for the mystery of the celt is the mystery of amergin the druid. all nature speaks through him. he is her darling, the confidant of her secrets. her mountains have been more to him than a feeling. she has revealed them to him as the home of her brighter children, her heroes become immortal. for him her streams ripple with magical life and the light of day was once filled with more aerial rainbow wonder. though thousands of years have passed since this mysterious druid land was at its noonday, and long centuries have rolled by since the weeping seers saw the lights vanish from mountain and valley, still this alliance of the soul of man and the soul of nature more or less manifestly characterizes the people of this isle. the thought produced in and for complex civilizations is not pregnant enough with the vast for them, is not enough thrilled through by that impalpable breathing from another nature. we have had but little native literature here worth the name until of late years, and that not yet popularized, but during all these centuries the celt has kept in his heart some affinity with the mighty beings ruling in the unseen, once so evident to the heroic races who preceded him. his legends and faery tales have connected his soul with the inner lives of air and water and earth, and they in turn have kept his heart sweet with hidden influence. it would make one feel sad to think that all that beautiful folklore is fading slowly from the memory that held it so long, were it not for the belief that the watchful powers who fostered its continuance relax their care because the night with beautiful dreams and deeds done only in fancy is passing: the day is coming with the beautiful real, with heroes and heroic deeds. it may not be well to prophecy, but it is always permissible to speak of our hopes. if day but copies day may we not hope for ireland, after its long cycle of night, such another glory as lightened it of old, which tradition paints in such mystic colours? what was the mysterious glamour of the druid age? what meant the fires on the mountains, the rainbow glow of air, the magic life in water and earth, but that the radiance of deity was shining through our shadowy world, that it mingled with and was perceived along with the forms we know. there it threw up its fountains of life- giving fire, the faery fountains of story, and the children of earth breathing that rich life felt the flush of an immortal vigour within them; and so nourished sprang into being the danaan races, men who made themselves gods by will and that magical breath. rulers of earth and air and fire, their memory looms titanic in the cloud stories of our dawn, and as we think of that splendid strength of the past something leaps up in the heart to confirm it true for all the wonder of it. this idea of man's expansion into divinity, which is in the highest teaching of every race, is one which shone like a star at the dawn of our celtic history also. hero after hero is called away by a voice ringing out of the land of eternal youth, which is but a name for the soul of earth, the enchantress and mother of all. there as guardians of the race they shed their influence on the isle; from them sprang all that was best and noblest in our past, and let no one think but that it was noble. leaving aside that mystic sense of union with another world and looking only at the tales of battle, when we read of heroes whose knightly vows forbade the use of stratagem in war, and all but the equal strife with equals in opportunity; when we hear of the reverence for truth among the fianna, "we the fianna of erin never lied, falsehood was never attributed to us"--a reverence for truth carried so far that they could not believe their foemen even could speak falsely--i say that in these days when our public life is filled with slander and unworthy imputation, we might do worse than turn back to that ideal paganism of the past, and learn some lessons of noble trust, and this truth that greatness of soul alone insures final victory to us who live and move and have our being in the life of god. in hoping for such another day i do not of course mean the renewal of the ancient order, but rather look for the return of the same light which was manifest in the past. for so the eternal beauty brings itself to the memory of man from time to time brooding over nations, as in the early aryan heart, suffusing life and thought with the sun-sense of pervading deity, or as in greece where its myriad rays, each an intuition of loveliness, descended and dwelt not only in poet, sage and sculptor, but in the general being of the people. what has been called the celtic renaissance in literature is one of the least of the signs. of far more significance is the number of strange, dreamy children one meets, whose hearts are in the elsewhere, and young people who love to brood on the past, i speak of which is all the world to them. the present has no voice to interpret their dreams and visions, the enraptured solitude by mountain or shore, or what they feel when they lie close pressed to the bosom of the earth, mad with the longing for old joys, the fiery communion of spirit with spirit, which was once the privilege of man. these some voice, not proclaiming an arid political propaganda, may recall into the actual: some ideal of heroic life may bring them to the service of their kind, and none can serve the world better than those who from mighty dreams turn exultant to their realisation: who bring to labour the love, the courage, the unfailing hope, which they only possess who have gone into the hidden nature and found it sweet at heart. so this isle, once called the sacred isle and also the isle of destiny, may find a destiny worthy of fulfilment: not to be a petty peasant republic, nor a miniature duplicate in life and aims of great material empires, but that its children out of their faith, which has never failed may realise this imemorial truth of man's inmost divinity, and in expressing it may ray the light over every land. now, although a great literature and great thought may be part of our future, it ought not to be the essential part of our ideal. as in our past the bards gave way before the heroes, so in any national ideal worthy the name, all must give way in its hopes, wealth, literature, art, everything before manhood itself. if our humanity fails us or become degraded, of what value are the rest? what use would it be to you or to me if our ships sailed on every sea and our wealth rivaled the antique ind, if we ourselves were unchanged, had no more kingly consciousness of life, nor that overtopping grandeur of soul indifferent whether it dwells in a palace or a cottage? if this be not clear to the intuition, there is the experience of the world and the example of many nations. let us take the highest, and consider what have a thousand years of empire brought to england. wealth without parallel, but at what expense! the lover of his kind must feel as if a knife were entering his heart when he looks at those black centres of boasted prosperity, at factory, smoke and mine, the arid life and spiritual death. do you call those miserable myriads a humanity? we look at those people in despair and pity. where is the ancient image of divinity in man's face: where in man's heart the prompting of the divine? there is nothing but a ceaseless energy without; a night terrible as hell within. is this the only way for us as a people? is nature to be lost; beauty to be swallowed up? the crown and sceptre were taken from us in the past, our path has been strewn with sorrows, but the spirit shall not be taken until it becomes as clay, and man forgets that he was born in the divine, and hears no more the call of the great deep in his heart as he bows himself to the dust in his bitter labours. it maddens to think it should be for ever thus, with us and with them, and that man the immortal, man the divine, should sink deeper and deeper into night and ignorance, and know no more of himself than glimmers upon him in the wearied intervals of long routine. here we have this hope that nature appeals with her old glamour to many, and there is still the ancient love for the hero. in a land where so many well nigh hopeless causes have found faithful adherents, where there has been so much devotion and sacrifice, where poverty has made itself poorer still for the sake of leader and cause, may we not hope that when an appeal is made to the people to follow still higher ideals, that they will set aside the lower for the higher, that they will not relegate idealism to the poets only, but that it will dwell in the public as the private heart and make impossible any nations' undertaking inconsistent with the dignity and beauty of life? to me it seems that here the task of teacher and writer is above all to present images and ideals of divine manhood to the people whose real gods have always been their heroes. these titan figures, cuculain, finn, oscar, oisin, caolte, all a mixed gentleness and fire, have commanded for generations that spontaneous love which is the only true worship paid by men. it is because of this profound and long- enduring love for the heroes, which must be considered as forecasting the future, that i declare the true ideal and destiny of the celt in this island to be the begetting of humanity whose desires and visions shall rise above earth illimitable into godlike nature, who shall renew for the world the hope, the beauty, the magic, the wonder which will draw the buried stars which are the souls of men to their native firmament of spiritual light and elemental power. for the hero with us there is ample scope and need. there are the spectres of ignoble hopes, the lethal influences of a huge material civilisation wafted to us from over seas, which must be laid. oh, that a protest might be made ere it becomes more difficult, ere this wild, beautiful land of ours be viewed only as a lure to draw money from the cockney tourist, and the immemorial traditions around our sacred hills be of value only to advertise the last hotel. yet to avert the perils arising from external causes is but a slight task compared with the overcoming of obstacles already existent within. there is one which must be removed at whatever cost, though the hero may well become the martyr in the attempt. it is a difficulty which has its strength from one of the very virtues of the people, their reverence for religion. this in itself is altogether well. but it is not well when the nature of that religion enables its priests to sway men from their natural choice of hero and cause by the threat of spiritual terrors. i say that where this takes place to any great extent, as it has with us, it is not a land a freeman can think of with pride. it is not a place where the lover of freedom can rest, but he must spend sleepless nights, must brood, must scheme, must wait to strike a blow. to the thought of freedom it must be said to our shame none of the nobler meaning attaches here. freedom to speak what hopes and ideals we may have; to act openly for what cause we will; to allow that freedom to others--that liberty is denied. there are but too many places where to differ openly from the priest in politics is to provoke a brawl, where to speak as here with the fearlessness of print would be to endanger life. with what scorn one hears the aspiration from public freedom from lips that are closed with the dread by their own hearthside! let freedom arise where first it is possible in the hearts of men, in their thoughts, in speech between one and another, and then the gods may not deem us unworthy of the further sway of our national life. i would that some of the defiant spirit of the old warrior brood were here, not indeed to provoke strife between man and man, or race and race, but rather that we might be fearless in the spirit of one who said "i do not war against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers"--and against influences which fetter progress, against an iron materialism where the beauty of life perishes, let us revolt, let us war for ever. but with all this i, like others who have narrowly watched the signs of awakening life, do not doubt but that these things will pass as greater potencies throng in and impel to action. already the rush of the earth-breath begins to fill with elation our island race and uplift them with the sense of power; and through the power sometimes flashes the glory, the spiritual radiance which will be ours hereafter, if old prophecy can be trusted and our hearts prompt us true. here and there some rapt dreamer more inward than the rest sees that tir-na-noge was no fable, but is still around him with all its mystic beauty for ever. the green hills grow alive with the star-children fleeting, flashing on their twilight errands from gods to men. when the heart opens to receive them and the ties which bind us to unseen nature are felt our day will begin and the fires awaken, our isle will be the sacred island once again and our great ones the light-givers to humanity, not voicing new things, but only of the old, old truths one more affirmation; for what is all wisdom, wherever uttered, whether in time past or today, but the one life, the one breath, chanting its innumerable tones of thought and joy and love in the heart of man, one voice throughout myriad years whose message eterne is this--you are by your nature immortal, and you may be, if you will it, divine. --jan. , feb. , our secret ties our deepest life is when we are alone. we think most truly, love best, when isolated from the outer world in that mystic abyss we call soul. nothing external can equal the fulness of these moments. we may sit in the blue twilight with a friend, or bend together by the hearth, half whispering, or in a silence populous with loving thoughts mutually understood; then we may feel happy and at peace, but it is only because we are lulled by a semblance to deeper intimacies. when we think of a friend, and the loved one draws nigh, we sometimes feel half-pained, for we touched something in our solitude which the living presence shut out; we seem more apart, and would fain cry out--"only in my deep heart i love you, sweetest heart; call me not forth from this; i am no more a spirit if i leave my throne." but these moods, though lit up by intuitions of the true, are too partial, they belong too much to the twilight of the heart, they have too dreamy a temper to serve us well in life. we should wish rather for our thoughts a directness such as belongs to the messengers of the gods, swift, beautiful, flashing presences bent on purposes well understood. what we need is that this interior tenderness shall be elevated into seership, that what in most is only yearning or blind love shall see clearly its way and hope and aim. to this end we have to observe more intently the nature of the interior life. we find, indeed, that it is not a solitude at all, but dense with multitudinous being: instead of being alone we are in the thronged highways of existence. for our guidance when entering here many words of warning have been uttered, laws have been outlined, and beings full of wonder, terror, and beauty described. yet there is a spirit in us deeper than our intellectual being which i think of as the hero in man, who feels the nobility of its place in the midst of all this, and who would fain equal the greatness of perception with deeds as great. the weariness and sense of futility which often falls upon the mystic after much thought is due, i think, to this, that here he has duties demanding a more sustained endurance just as the inner life is so much vaster and more intense than the life he has left behind. now, the duties which can be taken up by the soul are exactly those which it feels most inadequate to perform when acting as an embodied being. what shall be done to quiet the heart-cry of the world: how answer the dumb appeal for help we so often divine below eyes that laugh? it is sadder than sorrow to think that pity with no hands to heal, that love without a voice to speak, should helplessly heap their pain upon pain while earth shall endure. but there is a truth about sorrow which i think may make it seem not so hopeless. there are fewer barriers than we think: there is, in fact, an inner alliance between the soul who would fain give and the soul who is in need. nature has well provided that not one golden ray of all our thoughts is sped ineffective through the dark; not one drop of the magical elixirs love distills is wasted. let us consider how this may be. there is a habit we nearly all have indulged in: we often weave little stories in our minds expending love and pity upon the imaginary beings we have created. but i have been led to think that many of these are not imaginary, that somewhere in the world beings are thinking, loving, suffering just in that way, and we merely reform and live over again in our life the story of another life. sometimes these faraway intimates assume so vivid a shape, they come so near with their appeal for sympathy that the pictures are unforgettable, and the more i ponder over them the more it seems to me that they often convey the actual need of some soul whose cry for comfort has gone out into the vast, perhaps to meet with an answer, perhaps to hear only silence. i will supply an instance. i see a child, a curious, delicate little thing, seated on the doorstep of a house. it is an alley in some great city; there is a gloom of evening and vapour over the sky; i see the child is bending over the path; he is picking cinders and arranging them, and, growing closer, as i ponder, i become aware that he is laying down in gritty lines the walls of a house, the mansion of his dream. here spread along the pavement are large rooms, these for his friends, and a tiny room in the centre, that is his own. so his thought plays. just then i catch a glimpse of the corduroy trousers of a passing workman, and a heavy boot crushes through the cinders. i feel the pain in the child's heart as he shrinks back, his little love-lit house of dreams all rudely shattered. ah, poor child, building the city beautiful out of a few cinders, yet nigher, truer in intent than many a stately, gold- rich palace reared by princes, thou wert not forgotten by that mighty spirit who lives through the falling of empires, whose home has been in many a ruined heart. surely it was to bring comfort to hearts like thine that that most noble of all meditations was ordained by the buddha. "he lets his mind pervade one quarter of the world with thoughts of love, and so the second, and so the third, and so the fourth. and thus the whole wide world, above, below, around, and everywhere, does he continue to pervade with heart of love far-reaching, grown great, and beyond measure." the love, though the very fairy breath of life, should by itself and so imparted have a sustaining power some may question, not those who have felt the sunlight fall from distant fiends who think of them; but, to make clearer how it seems to me to act, i say that love, eros, is a being. it is more than a power of the soul, though it is that also; it has a universal life of its own, and just as the dark heaving waters do not know what jewel lights they reflect with blinding radiance, so the soul, partially absorbing and feeling the ray of eros within it, does not know that often a part of its nature nearer to the sun of love shines with a brilliant light to other eyes than its own. many people move unconscious of their won charm, unknowing of the beauty and power they seem to others to impart. it is some past attainment of the soul, a jewel won in some old battle which it may have forgotten, but none the less this gleams on its tiara and the star-flame inspires others to hope and victory. if is true here than many exert a spiritual influence they are unconscious of, it is still truer of the spheres within. once the soul has attained to any possession like love, or persistent will, or faith, or a power of thought, it comes into psychic contact with others who are struggling for these very powers. the attainment of any of these means that the soul is able to absorb and radiate some of the diviner elements of being. the soul may or may not be aware of the position it is placed in and its new duties, but yet that living light, having found a way into the being of any one person, does not rest there, but sends its rays and extends its influence on and on to illumine the darkness of another nature. so it comes that there are ties which bind us to people other than those whom we meet in our everyday life. i think they are more real ties, more important to understand, for if we let our lamp go out some far away who had reached out in the dark and felt a steady will, a persistent hope, a compassionate love, may reach out once again in an hour of need, and finding no support may give way and fold the hands in despair. often indeed we allow gloom to overcome us and so hinder the bright rays in their passage; but would we do it so often if we thought that perhaps a sadness which besets us, we do not know why, was caused by some heart drawing nigh to ours for comfort, that our lethargy might make it feel still more its helplessness, while our courage, our faith, might cause "our light to shine in some other heart which as yet has no light of its own." --march , priest or hero? "i think i could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contained i stand and look at them long and long. they do not sweat and whine about their condition, they do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, no one kneels to another, nor to one of his kind that lived thousands of years ago." ---walt whitman i have prefixed some ideas about spiritual freedom addressed to the people of ireland with these lines from the poet of another land, because national sentiment seems out of date here, the old heroism slumbers, alien thought and an exotic religion have supplanted our true ideals and our natural spirituality. i hope that the scornful words of one who breathed a freer air might sting to shame those who have not lost altogether the sentiment of human dignity, who have still some intuitions as to how far and how wisely a man may abase himself before another, whether that other claim divine authority or not. for this is the true problem which confronts us as a nation, and all else is insignificant beside. we have found out who are the real rulers here, who dictate politics and public action with no less authority than they speak upon religion and morals, it was only the other day that a priest, one of our rulers, declared that he would not permit a political meeting to be held in his diocese and this fiat was received with a submission which showed how accurately the politician gauged the strength opposed to him. and this has not been the only occasion when this power has been exerted: we all know how many national movements have been interfered with or thwarted; we know the shameful revelations connected with the elections a few years back; we know how a great leader fell; and those who are idealists, god's warriors battling for freedom of thought, whose hope for the world is that the intuitions of the true and good divinely implanted in each man's breast shall supersede tradition and old authority, cannot but feel that their opinions, so much more dangerous to that authority than any political ideal, must, if advocated, bring them at last to clash with the priestly power. it is not a war with religion we would fain enter upon; but when those who claim that heaven and hell shut and open at their bidding for the spirit of man, use the influence which belief in that claim confers, as it has been here, to fetter free-will in action, it is time that the manhood of the nation awoke to sternly question that authority, to assert its immemorial right to freedom. there live of old in eri a heroic race whom the bards sang as fearless. there was then no craven dread of the hereafter, for the land of the immortals glimmered about them in dream and vision, and already before the decaying of the form the spirit of the hero had crossed the threshold and clasped hands with the gods. no demon nature affrighted them: from them wielding the flaming sword of will the demons fled away as before cuculain vanished in terror shadowy embattled hosts. what, i wonder, would these antique heroes say coming back to a land which preserves indeed their memory but emulates their spirit no more? we know what the bards thought when heroic ireland became only a tradition; when to darkened eyes the elf-lights ceased to gleam, luring no more to the rich radiant world within, the druidic mysteries, and the secret of the ages. in the bardic tales their comrade ossian voices to patrick their scorn of the new. ah, from the light and joy of the faery region, from that great companionship with a race half divine, come back to find that but one divine man had walked the earth, and as for the rest it was at prayer and fasting they ought to be! and why? because, as patrick explained to ossian, if they did not they would go to hell. and this is the very thing the patricks ever since have been persuading the irish people to believe, adding an alien grief unto their many sorrows, foisting upon them a vulgar interpretation of the noble idea of divine justice to cow them to submission with the threat of flame. ossian, chafing and fuming under the priestly restriction, declared his preference for hell with the finians to paradise with patrick. his simple heroic mind found it impossible to believe that the pure, gentle but indomitable spirits of his comrades could be anywhere quenched or quelled, but they must at last arise exultant even from torment. when ossian rejects the bribe of paradise to share the darker world and the fate of his companions, there spake the true spirit of man; spark of illimitable deity; shrouded in form, yet radiating ceaselessly heroic thoughts, aspirations, deathless love; not to be daunted, rising again and again from sorrow with indestructible hope; emerging ever from defeat, its glooms smitten through and through with the light of visions vast and splendid as the heavens. old bard, old bard, from tir-na-noge where thou, perchance wrapt by that beauty which called thee from earth, singest immortal songs, would that one lightning of they spirit could pierce the hearts now thronged with dread, might issue from lips which dare not speak. i do not question but that the heroic age had its imperfections, or that it was not well that its too warlike ardour was tempered by the beautiful, pathetic and ennobling teaching of christ. the seed of new doctrines bore indeed many lovely but exotic blossoms in the saintly times, and also many a noxious weed. for religion must always be an exotic which makes a far-off land sacred rather than the earth underfoot: where the great spirit whose home is the vast seems no more a moving glamour in the heavens, a dropping tenderness at twilight, a visionary light on the hills, a voice in man's heart; when the way of life is sought in scrolls or is heard from another's lips. the noxious weed, the unendurable bitter which mingled with the sweet and true in this exotic religion was the terrible power it put into the hands of men somewhat more learned in their ignorance of god than those whom they taught: the power to inflict a deadly wrong upon the soul, to coerce the will by terror from the course conscience had marked out as true and good. that power has been used unsparingly and at times with unspeakable cruelty whenever those who had it thought their influence was being assailed, for power is sweet and its use is not lightly laid aside. as we read our island history there seems a ruddy emblazonry on every page, a hue shed from behind the visible, the soul dropping its red tears of fire over hopes for ever dissolving, noble ambitions for ever foiled. always on the eve of success starts up some fatal figure weaponed with the keys of the hereafter, brandishing more especially the key of the place of torment, warning most particularly those who regard that that key shall not get rusty from want of turning if they disobey. it has been so from the beginning, from the time of the cursing of tara, where the growing unity of the nations was split into fractions, down to the present time. i often doubt if the barbarities in eastern lands which we shudder at are in reality half so cruel, if they mean so much anguish as this threat of after-torture does to those who believe in the power of another to inflict it. it wounds the spirit to the heart: its consciousness of its own immortality becomes entwined with the terror of as long enduring pain. it is a lie which the all- compassionate father-spirit never breathed into the ears of his children, a lie which has been told here century after century with such insistence that half the nation has the manhood cowed out of it. the offence of the dead chief whose followers were recently assailed weighed light as a feather in the balance when compared with the sin of these men and their shameful misuse of religious authority in meath a little while ago. the scenes which took place there, testified and sworn to by witness in the after trials, were only a copy of what generally took place. they will take place again if the necessity arises. that is a bitter fact. a dim consciousness that their servitude is not to god's law but to man's ambition is creeping over the people here. that is a very hopeful sign. when a man first feels he is a slave he begins to grow grey inside, to get moody and irritable. the sore spot becomes more sensitive the more he broods. at last to touch it becomes dangerous. for, from such pent-up musing and wrath have sprung rebellions, revolutions, the overthrow of dynasties and the fall of religions, aye, thrice as mighty as this. that thought of freedom lets loose the flood-gates of an illimitable fire into the soul; it emerges from its narrow prison-cell of thought and fear as the sky-reaching genie from the little copper vessel in the tale of arabian enchantment; it lays hand on the powers of storm and commotion like a god. it would be politic not to press the despotism more; but it would be a pity perhaps if some further act did not take place, just to see a nation flinging aside the shackles of superstition; disdainful of threats, determined to seek its own good, resolutely to put aside all external tradition and rule; adhering to its own judgment, though priests falsely say the hosts of the everlasting are arrayed in battle against it, though they threaten the spirit with obscure torment for ever and ever: still to persist, still to defy, still to obey the orders of another captain, that unknown deity within whose trumpet-call sounds louder than all the cries of men. there is great comfort, my fellows, in flinging fear aside; an exultation and delight spring up welling from inexhaustible deeps, and a tranquil sweetness also ensues which shows that the powers ever watchful of human progress approve and applaud the act. in all this i do not aim at individuals. it is not with them i would war but with tyranny. they who enslave are as much or more to be pitied than those whom they enslave. they too are wronged by being placed and accepted in a position of false authority. they too enshrine a ray of the divine spirit, which to liberate and express is the purpose of life. whatever movement ignores the needs of a single unity, or breeds hate against it rather than compassion, is so far imperfect. but if we give these men, as we must, the credit of sincerity, still opposition is none the less a duty. the spirit of man must work out its own destiny, learning truth out of error and pain. it cannot be moral by proxy. a virtuous course into which it is whipt by fear will avail it nothing, and in that dread hour when it comes before the mighty who sent it forth, neither will the plea avail it that its conscience was in another's keeping. the choice here lies between priest and hero as ideal, and i say that whatever is not heroic is not irish, has not been nourished at the true fountain wherefrom our race and isle derive their mystic fame. there is a life behind the veil, another eri which the bards knew, singing it as the land of immortal youth. it is not hidden from us, though we have hidden ourselves from it, so that it has become only a fading memory in our hearts and a faery fable upon our lips. yet there are still places in this isle, remote from the crowded cities where men and women eat and drink and wear out their lives and are lost in the lust for gold, where the shy peasant sees the enchanted lights in mountain and woody dell, and hears the faery bells pealing away, away, into that wondrous underland whither, as legends relate, the danann gods withdrew. these things are not to be heard for the asking; but some, more reverent than the rest, more intuitive, who understand that the pure eyes of a peasant may see the things kings and princes, aye, and priests, have desired to see and have not seen; that for him may have been somewhat lifted the veil which hides from men the starry spheres where the eternal beauty abides in the shining--these have heard and have been filled with the hope that, if ever the mystic truths of life could be spoken here, there would be enough of the old celtic fire remaining to bring back the magic into the isle. that direct relation, that vision, comes fully with spiritual freedom, when men no longer peer through another's eyes into the mysteries, when they will not endure that the light shall be darkened by transmission, but spirit speaks with spirit, drawing light from the boundless light alone. leaving aside the question of interference with national movements, another charge, one of the weightiest which can be brought against the priestly influence in this island, is that it has hampered the expression of native genius in literature and thought. now the country is alive with genius, flashing out everywhere, in the conversation even of the lowest; but we cannot point to imaginative work of any importance produced in ireland which has owed its inspiration to the priestly teaching. the genius of the gael could not find itself in their doctrines; though above all things mystical it could not pierce its way into the departments of super-nature where their theology pigeon-holes the souls of the damned and the blessed. it knew of the eri behind the veil which i spoke of, the tir-na-noge which as a lamp lights up our grassy plains, our haunted hills and valleys. the faery tales have ever lain nearer to the hearts of the people, and whatever there is of worth in song or story has woven into it the imagery handed down from the dim druidic ages. this is more especially true today, when our literature is beginning to manifest preeminent qualities of imagination, not the grey pieties of the cloister, but natural magic, beauty, and heroism. our poets sing ossian wandering the land of the immortals; or we read in vivid romance of the giant chivalry of the ultonians, their untamable manhood, the exploits of cuculain and the children of rury, more admirable as types, more noble and inspiring than the hierarchy of little saints who came later on and cursed their memories. the genius of the gael is awakening after a night of troubled dreams. i returns instinctively to the beliefs of its former day and finds again the old inspiration. it seeks the gods on the mountains, still enfolded by their mantle of multitudinous traditions, or sees them flash by in the sunlit diamond airs. how strange, but how natural is all this! it seems as if ossian's was a premature return. today he might find comrades come back from tir-na-noge for the uplifting of their race. perhaps to many a young spirit starting up among us caolte might speak as to mongan, saying: "i was with thee, with finn." hence, it may be, the delight with which we hear standish o'grady declaring that the bardic divinities will remain: "nor, after centuries of obscuration, is their power to quicken, purify, and exalt, yet dead. still they live and reign, and shall reign." after long centuries--the voice of a spirit ever youthful, yet older than all the gods, who with its breath of sunrise- coloured flame jewels with richest lights the visions of earth's dreamy-hearted children. once more out of the heart of the mystery is heard the call of "come away," and after that no other voice has power to lure: there remain only the long heroic labours which end in companionship with the gods. these voices do not stand for themselves alone. they are heralds before a host. no man has ever spoken with potent utterance who did not feel the secret urging of dumb, longing multitudes, whose aspirations and wishes converge on and pour themselves into fearless heart. the thunder of the waves is deeper because the tide is rising. those who are behind do not come only with song and tale, but with stern hearts bent on great issues, among which, not least, is the intellectual liberation of ireland. that is an aim at which some of our rulers may well grow uneasy. soon shall young men, fiery- hearted, children of eri, a new race, roll our their thoughts on the hillsides, before your very doors, o priests, calling your flocks from your dark chapels and twilight sanctuaries to a temple not built with hands, sunlit, starlit, sweet with the odour and incense of earth, from your altars call them to the altars of the hills, soon to be lit up as of old, soon to be the blazing torches of god over the land. these heroes i see emerging. have they not come forth in every land and race when there was need? here, too, they will arise. ah, may darlings, you will have to fight and suffer: you must endure loneliness, the coldness of friends, the alienation of love; warmed only by the bright interior hope of a future you must toil for but may never see, letting the deed be its own reward; laying in dark places the foundations of that high and holy eri of prophecy, the isle of enchantment, burning with druidic splendours, bright with immortal presences, with the face of the everlasting beauty looking in upon all its ways, divine with terrestrial mingling till god and the world are one. there waits brooding in this isle a great destiny, and to accomplish it we must have freedom of thought. that is the greatest of our needs, for thought is the lightning-conductor between the heaven- world and earth. we want fearless advocates who will not be turned aside from their course by laughter or by threats. why is it that the spirit of daring, imaginative enquiry is so dead here? an incubus of spiritual fear seems to beset men women so that they think, if they turn from the beaten track seeking the true, they shall meet, not the divine with outstretched hands, but a demon; that the reward for their search will not be joy or power but enduring pain. how the old bard swept away such fears! "if thy god were good," said ossian, "he would call finn into his dun." yes, the heroic heart is dear to the heroic heart. i would back the intuition of an honest soul for truth against piled-up centuries of theology. but this high spirit is stifled everywhere by a dull infallibility which is yet unsuccessful, on its own part, in awakening inspiration; and, in the absence of original though, we pick over the bones of dead movements, we discuss the personalities of the past, but no one asks the secrets of life or of death. there are despotic hands in politics, in religion, in education, strangling any attempt at freedom. of the one institution which might naturally be supposed to be the home of great ideas we can only say, reversing the famous eulogy on oxford, it has never given itself to any national hero or cause, but always to the philistine. with the young men who throng the literary societies the intellectual future of ireland rests. in them are our future leaders. out of these as from a fountain will spring--what? will we have another generation of irishmen at the same level as today, with everything in a state of childhood, boyish patriotism, boyish ideals, boyish humour? or will they assimilate the aged thought of the world and apply it to the needs of their own land? i remember reading somewhere a description by turgenieff of his contemporaries as a young man; how they sat in garrets, drinking execrably bad coffee or tea. but what thoughts! they talked of god, of humanity, of holy russia; and out of such groups of young men, out of their discussions, emanated that vast unrest which has troubled europe and will trouble it still more. here no questions are asked and no answers are received. there is a pitiful, blind struggle for a nationality whose ideas are not definitely conceived. what is the ideal of ireland as a nation? it drifts from mind to mind, a phantom thought lacking a spirit, but a spirit which will surely incarnate. perhaps some of our old heroes may return. already it seems as if one had been here; a sombre titan earlier awakened than the rest who passed before us, and sounded the rallying note of our race before he staggered to his tragic close. others of brighter thought will follow to awaken the fires which brigid in her vision saw gleaming beyond dark centuries of night, and confessed between hope and tears to patrick. meanwhile we must fight for intellectual freedom; we must strive to formulate to ourselves what it is we really wish for here, until at last the ideal becomes no more phantasmal but living; until our voices in aspiration are heard in every land, and the nations become aware of a new presence amid their councils, a last and most beautiful figure, as one after the cross of pain, after the shadowy terrors, with thorn-marks on the brow from a crown flung aside, but now radiant, ennobled after suffering, eri, the love of so many dreamers, priestess of the mysteries, with the chant of beauty on her lips and the heart of nature beating in her heart. --april -may , the age of the spirit i am a part of all that i have met: yet all experience is an arch wherethro' gleams that untraveled world ..... ....... come, my friends, 'tis not too late to seek a newer world. --ulysses we are no longer children as we were in the beginning. the spirit which, prompted by some divine intent, flung itself long ago into a vague, nebulous, drifting nature, though it has endured through many periods of youth, maturity, and age, has yet had its own transformations. its gay, wonderful childhood gave way, as cycle after cycle coiled itself into slumber, to more definite purposes, and now it is old and burdened with experiences. it is not an age that quenches its fire, but it will not renew again the activities which gave it wisdom. and so it comes that men pause with a feeling which they translate into weariness of life before the accustomed joys and purposes of their race. they wonder at the spell which induced their fathers to plot and execute deeds which seem to them to have no more meaning than a whirl of dust. but their fathers had this weariness also and concealed it from each other in fear, for it meant the laying aside of the sceptre, the toppling over empires, the chilling of the household warmth, and all for a voice whose inner significance revealed itself but to one or two among myriads. the spirit has hardly emerged from the childhood with which nature clothes it afresh at every new birth, when the disparity between the garment and the wearer becomes manifest: the little tissue of joys and dreams woven about it found inadequate for shelter: it trembles exposed to the winds blowing out of the unknown. we linger at twilight with some companion, still glad, contented, and in tune with the nature which fills the orchards with blossom and sprays the hedges with dewy blooms. the laughing lips give utterance to wishes--ours until that moment. then the spirit, without warning, suddenly falls into immeasurable age: a sphynx-like regard is upon us: our lips answer, but far from the region of elemental being we inhabit, they syllable in shadowy sound, out of old usage, the response, speaking of a love and a hope which we know have vanished from us for evermore. so hour by hour the scourge of the infinite drives us out of every nook and corner of life we find pleasant. and this always takes place when all is fashioned to our liking: then into our dream strides the wielder of the lightning: we get glimpse of the great beyond thronged with mighty, exultant, radiant beings: our own deeds become infinitesimal to us: the colours of our imagination, once so shining, grow pale as the living lights of god glow upon them. we find a little honey in the heart which we make sweeter for some one, and then another lover, whose forms are legion, sighs to us out of its multitudinous being: we know that the old love is gone. there is a sweetness in song or in the cunning reimaging of the beauty we see; but the magician of the beautiful whispers to us of his art, how we were with him when he laid the foundations of the world, and the song is unfinished, the fingers grow listless. as we receive these intimations of age our very sins become negative: we are still pleased if a voice praises us, but we grow lethargic in enterprises where the spur to activity is fame or the acclamation of men. at some point in the past we struggled mightily for the sweet incense which men offer to a towering personality: but the infinite is for ever within man: we sighed for other worlds and found that to be saluted as victor by men did not mean acceptance by the gods. but the placing of an invisible finger upon our lips when we would speak, the heart-throb of warning where we would love, that we grow contemptuous of the prizes of life, does not mean that the spirit has ceased from its labours, that the high-built beauty of the spheres is to topple mistily into chaos, as a mighty temple in the desert sinks into the sand, watched only by a few barbarians too feeble to renew its ancient pomp and the ritual of its once shining congregations. before we, who were the bright children of the dawn, may return as the twilight race into the silence, our purpose must be achieved, we have to assume mastery over that nature which now overwhelms us, driving into the fire-fold the flocks of stars and wandering fires. does it seem very vast and far away? do you sigh at the long, long time? or does it appear hopeless to you who perhaps return with trembling feet evening after evening from a little labour? but it is back of all these things that the renewal takes place, when love and grief are dead; when they loosen their hold on the spirit and its sinks back into itself, looking out on the pitiful plight of those who, like it, are the weary inheritors of so great destinies: then a tenderness which is the most profound quality of its being springs up like the outraying of the dawn, and if in that mood it would plan or execute it knows no weariness, for it is nourished from the first fountain. as for these feeble children of the once glorious spirits of the dawn, only a vast hope can arouse them from so vast a despair, for the fire will not invigorate them for the repetition of petty deeds but only for the eternal enterprise, the purpose of the immemorial battle waged through all the ages, the wars in heaven, the conflict between titan and divinity, which were part of the never-ending struggle of the human spirit to assert its supremacy over nature. brotherhood, the declaration of ideals and philosophies, are but calls to the hosts, who lie crushed by this mountain nature piled above them, to arise again, to unite, to storm the heavens and sit on the seats of the mighty. as the titan in man ponders on this old, old purpose wherefor all its experience was garnered, the lightnings will once more begin to play through him and animate his will. so like the archangel ruined let us arise from despair and weariness with inflexible resolution, pealing once more the old heroic shout to our fallen comrades, until those great powers who enfold us feel the stirring and the renewal, and the murmur runs along the spheres, "the buried titan moves once again to tear the throne from him." --june a thought along the road they torture me also.--krishna the night was wet: and, as i was moving down the streets, my mind was also journeying on a way of its own, and the things which were bodily present before me were no less with me in my unseen traveling. every now and then a transfer would take place, and some of the moving shadows in the street would begin walking about in the clear interior light. the children of the city, crouched in the doorways, or racing through the hurrying multitude and flashing lights, began their elfin play again in my heart; and that was because i had heard these tiny outcasts shouting with glee. i wondered if the glitter and shadow of such sordid things were thronged with magnificence and mystery for those who were unaware of a greater light and deeper shade which made up the romance and fascination of my own life. in imagination i narrowed myself to their ignorance, littleness, and youth, and seemed for a moment to flit amid great uncomprehended beings and a dim wonderful city of palaces. then another transfer took place and i was pondering anew, for a face i had seen flickering through the warm wet mist haunted me; it entered into the realm of the interpreter, and i was made aware by the pale cheeks, and by the close-shut lips of pain, and by some inward knowledge, that there the tree of life was beginning to grow, and i wondered why it is that it always springs up through a heart in ashes: i wondered also if that which springs up, which in itself is an immortal joy, has knowledge that its shoots are piercing through such anguish; or again, if it was the piercing of the shoots which caused the pain, and if every throb of the beautiful flame darting upward to blossom meant the perishing of some more earthly growth which had kept the heart in shadow. seeing to how so many thoughts spring up from such a simple thing, i questioned whether that which started the impulse had any share in the outcome, and if these musing of mine in any way affected their subject. i then began thinking about those secret ties on which i have speculated before, and in the darkness my heart grew suddenly warm and glowing, for i had chanced upon one of those shining imaginations which are the wealth of those who travel upon the hidden ways. in describing that which comes to us all at once, there is a difficulty in choosing between what is first and what is last to say: but, interpreting as best i can, i seemed to behold the onward movement of a light, one among many lights, all living, throbbing, now dim with perturbations, and now again clear, and all subtly woven together, outwardly in some more shadowy shining, and inwardly in a greater fire, which, though it was invisible, i knew to be the lamp of the world. this light which i beheld i felt to be a human soul, and these perturbations which dimmed it were its struggles and passionate longings for something, and that was for a more brilliant shining of the light within itself: it was in love with its own beauty, enraptured by its own lucidity; and i saw that as these things were more beloved they grew paler, for this light is the love which the mighty mother has in her heart for her children, and she means that it shall go through each one unto all, and whoever restrains it in himself is himself shut out; not that the great heart has ceased in its love for that soul, but that the soul has shut itself off from influx, for ever imagination of man is the opening or the closing of a door to the divine world: now he is solitary, cut off, and, seemingly to himself, on the desert and distant verge of things: and then his thought throws open the swift portals; he hears the chant of the seraphs in his heart, and he is made luminous by the lighting of a sudden aureole. this soul which i watched seemed to have learned at last the secret love: for, in the anguish begotten by its loss, it followed the departing glory in penitence to the inmost shrine where it ceased altogether; and because it seemed utterly lost and hopeless of attainment and capriciously denied to the seeker, a profound pit arose in the soul for those who, like it were seeking, but still in hope, for they had not come to the vain end of their endeavors. i understood that such pity is the last of the precious essences which make up the elixir of immortality, and when it is poured into the cup it is ready for drinking. and so it was with this soul which drew brilliant with the passage of eternal light through its new purity of self-oblivion, and joyful in the comprehension of the mystery of the secret love, which, though it has been declared many times by the greatest of teachers among men, is yet never known truly unless the mighty mother has herself breathed it in the heart. and now that the soul had divined this secret, the shadowy shining which was woven in bonds of union between it and its fellow-lights grew clearer; and a multitude of these strands were, so it seemed, strengthened and placed in its keeping: along these it was to send the message of the wisdom and the love which were the secret sweetness of its own being. then a spiritual tragedy began, infinitely more pathetic than the old desolation, because it was brought about by the very nobility of the spirit. this soul, shedding its love like rays of glory, seemed itself the centre of a ring of wounding spears: it sent forth love and the arrowy response came hate-impelled: it whispered peace and was answered by the clash of rebellion: and to all this for defence it could only bare more openly its heart that a profounder love from the mother nature might pass through upon the rest. i knew this was what a teacher, who wrote long ago, meant when he said: "put on the whole armour of god," which is love and endurance, for the truly divine children of the flame are not armed otherwise: and of those protests, sent up in ignorance or rebellion against the whisper of the wisdom, i saw that some melted in the fierce and tender heat of the heart, and there came in their stead a golden response which made closer the ties, and drew these souls upward to an understanding and to share in the overshadowing nature: and this is part of the plan of the great alchemist, whereby the red ruby of the heart is transmuted into the tenderer light of the opal; for the beholding of love made bare acts like the flame of the furnace, and the dissolving passions, through an anguish of remorse, the lightnings of pain, and through an adoring pity, are changed into the image they contemplate and melt in the ecstasy of self-forgetful love, the spirit which lit the thorn-crowned brows, which perceived only in its last agony the retribution due to its tormentors, and cried out, "father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." now although the love of the few may alleviate the hurt due to the ignorance of the mass, it is not in the power of anyone to withstand for ever this warfare; for by the perpetual wounding of the inner nature it is so wearied that the spirit must withdraw from a tabernacle grown too frail to support the increase of light within and the jarring of the demoniac nature without: and at length comes the call which means, for a while, release, and a deep rest in regions beyond the paradise of lesser souls. so, withdrawn into the divine darkness, vanished the light of my dream. and now it seemed as if this wonderful weft of souls intertwining as one being must come to naught; and all those who through the gloom had nourished a longing for the light would stretch out hands in vain for guidance: but that i did not understand the love of the mother, and that although few, there is no decaying of her heroic brood; for, as the seer of old caught at the mantle of him who went up in the fiery chariot, so another took up the burden and gathered the shining strands together: and to this sequence of spiritual guides there is no ending. here i may say that the love of the mother, which, acting through the burnished will of the hero, is wrought to highest uses, is in reality everywhere, and pervades with profoundest tenderness the homeliest circumstance of daily life; and there is not lacking, even among the humblest, an understanding of the spiritual tragedy which follows upon every effort of the divine nature bowing itself down in pity to our shadowy sphere; an understanding in which the nature of the love is gauged through the extent of the sacrifice and pain which is overcome. i recall the instance of an old irish peasant, who, as he lay in hospital wakeful from a grinding pain in his leg, forgot himself in making drawings, rude yet reverently done, of incidents in the life of the galilean teacher. one of these which he showed me was a crucifixion, where, amidst much grotesque symbolism, were some tracings which indicated a purely beautiful intuition; the heart of this crucified figure, no less than the brow, was wreathed about with thorns and radiant with light: "for that," said he, was where he really suffered." when i think of this old man, bringing forgetfulness of his own bodily pain through contemplation of the spiritual suffering of his own, nobly undergone, had given him understanding, and he had laid his heart in love against the heart of many sorrows, seeing it wounded by unnumbered spears yet burning with undying love. though much may be learned by observance of the superficial life and actions of a spiritual teacher, it is only in the deeper life of meditation and imagination that it can be truly realized; for the soul is a midnight blossom which opens its leaves in dream, and its perfect bloom is unfolded only where another sun shines in another heaven: there it feels what celestial dews descend on it, and what influences draw it up to its divine archetype: here in the shadow of earth root intercoils with root and the finer distinctions of the blossom are not perceived. if we knew also who they really are, who sometimes in silence, and sometimes with the eyes of the world at gaze, take upon them the mantle of teacher, an unutterable awe would prevail; for underneath a bodily presence not in any sense beautiful may burn the glory of some ancient divinity, some hero who laid aside his sceptre in the enchanted land to rescue old-time comrades fallen into oblivion: or again, if we had the insight of the simple old peasant into the nature of this enduring love, out of the exquisite and poignant emotions kindled would arise the flame of a passionate love which would endure long aeons of anguish that it might shield, though but for a little, the kingly hearts who may not shield themselves. but i too, who write, have launched the rebellious spear, or in lethargy have ofttimes gone down the great drift numbering myself among those who not being with must needs be against: therefor i make no appeal; they only may call who stand upon the lofty mountains; but i reveal the thought which arose like a star in my soul with such bright and pathetic meaning, leaving it to you who read to approve and apply it. --july , the fountains of youth i heard that a strange woman, dwelling on the western coast, who had the repute of healing by faery power, said a little before she died, "there's a cure for all things in the well at ballykeele": and i know not why at first, but her words lingered with me and repeated themselves again and again, and by degrees to keep fellowship with the thought they enshrined came more antique memories, all i had heard or dreamed of the fountains of youth; for i could not doubt, having heard these fountains spoken of by people like herself, that her idea had a druid ancestry. perhaps she had bent over the pool until its darkness grew wan and bright and troubled with the movements of a world within and the agitations of a tempestuous joy; or she had heard, as many still hear, the wild call to "come away," from entreating lips and flame- encircled faces, or was touched by the star-tipped fingers, and her heart from the faery world came never back again to dwell as before at ease in this isle of grey mists and misty sunlight. these things are not fable only, for ireland is still a land of the gods, and in out of the way places we often happen on wonderlands of romance and mystic beauty. i have spoken to people who have half parted from their love for the world in a longing for the pagan paradise of tir-na-nog, and many who are outwardly obeisant to another religion are altogether pagan in their hearts, and meave the queen of the western host is more to them than mary queen of heaven. i was told of this meave that lately she was seen in vision by a peasant, who made a poem on her, calling her "the beauty of all beauty": and the man who told me this of his friend had himself seen the jetted fountains of fire-mist winding up in spiral whirls to the sky, and he too had heard of the fountains of youth. the natural longing in every heart that its youth shall not perish makes one ponder and sigh over this magical past when youth, ecstasy, and beauty welled from a bountiful nature at the sung appeal of her druid children holding hand in hand around the sacred cairn. our hearts remember: a wind blows by us fleeting along the reedy strand: and sudden our hearts are beating again in the druid-land. all silver-pale, enchanted, the air-world lies on the hills, and the fields of light are planted with the dawn-frail daffodils. the yellow leaves are blowing the hour when the wind-god weaves, and hides the stars and their glowing in a mist of daffodil leaves. we stand in glimmering whiteness, each face like the day-star fair, and rayed about in its brightness with a dawn of daffodil air. and through each white robe gleaming, and under each snow-white breast, is a golden dream-light streaming like eve through an opal west. one hand to the heart, another we raise to the dawn on high; for the sun in the heart is brother to the sun-heart of the sky. a light comes rising and falling, as ringed in the druid choir we sing to the sun-god, calling by his name of yellow fire. the touch of the dew-wet grasses, the breath of the dawn-cool wind, with the dawn of the god-light passes and the world is left behind. we drink of a fountain giving the joy of the gods, and then-- the land of the ever-living has passed from us again. passed far beyond all saying, for memory only weaves on a silver dawn outraying a cloud of daffodil leaves. and not indirectly through remembrance only, but when touched from within by the living beauty, the soul, the ancient druid in man, renews its league with the elements; and sometimes as the twilight vanishes and night lays on the earth her tender brow, the woods, the mountains, the clouds that tinted like seraphim float in the vast, and the murmur of water, wind and trees, melt from the gaze and depart from the outward ear and become internal reveries and contemplations of the spirit, and are no more separate but are part of us. yet these vanishings from us and movements in worlds not realized, leave us only more thirsty to drink of a deeper nature where all things are dissolved in ecstasy, and heaven and earth are lost in god. so we turn seeking for the traces of that earlier wisdom which guided man into the land of immortal youth, and assuaged his thirst at a more brimming flood of the feast of age, the banquet which manannan the danann king instituted in the haunt of the fire-god, and whoever partook knew thereafter neither weariness, decay, not death. these mysteries, all that they led to, all that they promised for the spirit of man, are opening today for us in clear light, their fabulous distance lessens, and we hail these kingly ideals with as intense a trust and with more joy, perhaps, than they did who were born in those purple hours, because we are emerging from centuries indescribably meagre and squalid in their thought, and every new revelation has for us the sweetness of sunlight to one after the tears and sorrow of a prison-house. the well at ballykeele is, perhaps, a humble starting-point for the contemplation of such mighty mysteries; but here where the enchanted world lies so close it is never safe to say what narrow path may not lead through a visionary door into moy argatnel, the silver cloudland of manannan, where "feet of white bronze glitter through beautiful ages." the danann king with a quaint particularity tells bran in the poem from which these lines are quoted, that "there is a wood of beautiful fruit under the prow of thy little skiff." what to bran was a space of pale light was to the eye of the god a land of pure glory, ildathach the many-coloured land, rolling with rivers of golden light and dropping with dews of silver flame. in another poem the brugh by the boyne, outwardly a little hillock, is thus described: "look, and you will see it is the palace of a god." perhaps the mystic warriors of the red branch saw supernatural pillars blazoned like the sunset, and entered through great doors and walked in lofty halls with sunset-tinted beings speaking a more beautiful wisdom than earth's. and they there may have seen those famous gods who had withdrawn generations before from visible eire: manannan the dark blue king, lu lamfada with the sunrise on his brow and his sling, a wreath of rainbow flame, coiled around him, the goddess dana in ruby brilliance, nuada silver-handed, the dagda with floating locks of light shaking from him radiance and song, angus oge, around whose head the ever-winging birds made music, and others in whose company these antique heroes must have felt the deep joy of old companionship renewed, for were not the danann hosts men of more primeval cycles become divine and movers in a divine world. in the brugh too was a fountain, to what uses applied the mystical imagination working on other legends may make clearer. the well of connla, the parent fountain of many streams visible and invisible, was the most sacred well known in ancient ireland. it lay itself below deep waters at the source of the shannon, and these waters which hid it were also mystical, for they lay between earth and the land of the gods. here, when stricken suddenly by an internal fire, the sacred hazels of wisdom and inspiration unfolded at once their leaves and blossoms and their scarlet fruit, which falling upon the waters dyed them of a royal purple; the nuts were then devoured by fintann the salmon of knowledge, and the wisest of the druids partook also. this was perhaps the greatest of the mysteries known to the ancient gael, and in the bright phantasmagoria conjured up there is a wild beauty which belongs to all their tales. the suddenly arising dreams of a remote divinity, the scarlet nuts tossing on the purple flood, the bright immortals glancing hither and thither, are pictures left of some mystery we may not now uncover, thought tomorrow may reveal it, for the dawn- lights are glittering everywhere in ireland. perhaps the strange woman who spoke of the well at ballykeele, and the others like her, may know more about these fountains than the legend-seekers who so learnedly annoted their tales. they may have drunken in dreams of the waters at connla's well, for many go to the tir-na-nog in sleep, and some are said to have remained there, and only a vacant form is left behind without the light in the eyes which marks the presence of a soul. i make no pretence of knowledge concerning the things which underlie their simple speech, but to me there seems to be for ever escaping from legend and folk-tale, from word and custom, some breath of a world of beauty i sigh for but am not nigh to as these are. i think if that strange woman could have found a voice for what was in her heart she would have completed her vague oracle somewhat as i have done: there's a cure for all things in the well at ballykeele, where the scarlet cressets o'erhang from the rowan trees; there's a joy-breath blowing from the land of youth i feel, and earth with its heart at ease. many and many a sun-bright maiden saw the enchanted land with star-faces glimmer up from the druid wave: many and many a pain of love was soothed by a faery hand or lost in the love it gave. when the quiet with a ring of pearl shall wed the earth and the scarlet berries burn dark by the stars in the pool, oh, its lost and deep i'll be in the joy-breath and the mirth, my heart in the star-heart cool. --september , mahomet founder of islam by g. m. draycott contents introduction i. mahomet's birthplace ii. childhood iii. strife and meditation iv. adventure and security v. inspiration vi. severance vii. the chosen city viii. the flight to medina ix. the consolidation of power x. the secession of the jews xi. the battle of bedr xii. the jews at medina xiii. the battle of ohod xiv. the tyranny of war xv. the war of the ditch xvi. the pilgrimage to hodeibia xvii. the fulfilled pilgrimage xviii. the triumphal entry xix. mahomet, victor xx. iconoclasm xxi. last rites xxii. the genesis of islam index "il estimait sincèrement la force.... jetée dans le monde, son âme se trouva à la mesure du monde et l'embrassa tout.... c'est l'état prodigieux des hommes d'action. ils sont tout entiers dans la moment qu'ils vivent et leur génie se ramasse sur un point." anatole france mahomet introduction the impetus that gave victory to islam is spent. since its material prosperity overwhelmed its spiritual ascendancy in the first years of triumph its vitality has waned under the stress of riches, then beneath lassitude and the slow decrease of power. the prophet mahomet is at once the glory and bane of his people, the source of their strength and the mainspring of their weakness. he represents more effectively than any other religious teacher the sum of his followers' spiritual and worldly ideas. his position in religion and philosophy is substantially the position of all his followers; none have progressed beyond the primary thesis he gave to the arabian world at the close of his career. he closes a long line of semi-divine teachers and monitors. after him the curtains of heaven close, and its glory is veiled from men's eyes. he is the last great man who imposed enthusiasm for an idea upon countless numbers of his fellow-creatures, so that whole tribes fought and died at his bidding, and at the command of god through him. now that the vital history of islam has been written, some decision as to the position and achievements of its founder may be formulated. mahomet conceived the office of prophet to be the result of an irresistible divine call. verily the angel gabriel appeared to him, commanding him to "arise and warn." he was the vehicle through whom the will of allah was revealed. the inspired character of his rule was the prime factor in its prevailing; by virtue of his heavenly authority he exercised his sway over the religious actions of his followers, their aspirations and their beliefs. in order to promulgate the divine ordinances the kuran was sent down, inspired directly by the angel gabriel at the bidding of the lord. upon all matters of belief and upon all other matters dealt with, however cursorily, in the kuran mahomet spoke with the power of god himself; upon matters not within the scope of religion or of the sacred book he was only a human and fallible counsellor. "i am no more than man; when i order you anything with respect to religion, receive it, and when i order you about the affairs of the world, then am i nothing more than man." there is no question of his equality with the godhead, or even of his sharing any part of the divine nature. he is simply the instrument, endowed with a power and authority outside himself, a man who possesses one cardinal thesis which all those within his faith must accept. the idea which represents at once the scope of his teaching and the source of his triumphs is the unity and indivisibility of the godhead. this is the sole contribution he has made to the progressive thought of the world. though he came later in time than the culture of greece and rome, he never knew their philosophies or the sum of their knowledge. his religion could never he built upon such basic strength as christianity. it sprang too rapidly into prominence, and had no foundation of slowly developed ideas upon which to rest both its enthusiasm and its earthly endeavour. mahomet bears closer resemblance to the ancient hebrew prophets than to any christian leader or saint. his mind was akin to theirs in its denunciatory fury, its prostration before the might and majesty of a single god. the evolution of the tribal deity from the local wonderworker, whose shrine enclosed his image, to the impersonal and distant but awful power who held the earth beneath his sway, was mahomet's contribution to the mental development of his country, and the achievement within those confines was wonderful. but to the sum of the world's thought he gave little. his central tenet had already gained its votaries in other lands, and, moreover, their form of belief in one god was such that further development of thought was still possible to them. the philosophy of islam blocks the way of evolution for itself, because its system leaves no room for such pregnant ideas as divine incarnation, divine immanence, the fatherhood of god. it has been content to formulate one article of faith: "there is no god but god," the corollary as to mahomet's divine appointment to the office of prophet being merely an affirmation of loyalty to the particular mode of faith he imposed. therefore the part taken by islam in the reading of the world's mystery ceased with the acceptance of that previously conceived central tenet. in the sphere of ideas, indeed, mahomet gave his people nothing original, for his power did not lie in intellect, but in action. his mind had not passed the stage that has just exchanged many fetishes for one spiritual god, still to be propitiated, not alone by sacrifices, but by prayers, ceremonies, and praise. in the world of action lay the strength of islam and the genius of its founder; it is therefore in the impress it made upon events and not in its theology and philosophy that its secret is to be found. but besides the acceptance of one god as lord, islam forced upon its devotees a still more potent idea, whose influence is felt both in the spheres of thought and action. as an outcome of its political and military needs mahomet created and established its unassailable belief in fatality--not the fatalism of cause and effect, bearing within itself the essence of a reason too vast for humanity to comprehend, but the fatalism of an omnipotent and capricious power inherent in the mahomedan conception of god. with this mighty and irresponsible being nothing can prevail. before every event the result of it is irrevocably decreed. mankind can alter no tiniest detail of his destined lot. the idea corresponds with mahomet's vision of god--an awful, incomprehensible deity, who dwells perpetually in the terrors of earth, not in its gentleness and compassion. the doctrine of fatalism proved islam's greatest asset during its first hard years of struggle, for it gave to its battlefields the glory of god's surveillance: "death is a favour to a muslim." but with prosperity and conquest came inaction; then fatalism, out of the weakening of endurance, created the pessimism of islam's later years. being philosophically uncreative, it descended into the sloth of those who believe, without exercise of reason or will, in the uselessness of effort. before islam decayed into inertia it had experienced a fierce and flaming life. the impulse bestowed upon it by its founder operated chiefly in the religious world, and indirectly in the realm of political and military power. how far the religion of islam is indebted to mahomet's knowledge of the jewish and christian systems becomes clear upon a study of the kuran and the muslim institutions. that mahomet was familiar with jewish scriptures and tradition is beyond doubt. the middle portion of the kuran is filled to the point of weariness with reiterations of jewish legend and hero-myths. it is evident that mahomet took the god of the jews to be his own deity, combining in his conception also the traditional connection of jehovah and his chosen people with the ancient faith and ceremonies of mecca, purged of their idolatries. from the jews he took his belief in the might and terror of the lord and the admonitory character of his mission. from them also he took the separatist nature of his creed. the jewish teachers postulated a religion distinct from every other belief, self-sufficient, owning no interpreter save the law and the scriptures. mahomet conceived himself also as the sole vehicle during his lifetime and after his death for the commands of the most high. he aimed at the superseding of rabbinical power, and hoped to win the jews into recognition of himself as successor to their own teachers and prophets. but his claims were met by an unyielding reliance upon the completed law. if the jewish religion had rejected a redeemer from among its own people, it was impossible that it should accept a leader from an alien and despised race. mahomet, finding coalition impossible, gave free play to his separatist instinct, so that in this respect, and also in its fundamental conception of the deity, as well as in its reliance upon inspired scriptures and oral traditions, mahomedanism approximates to the jewish system. it misses the influence of an immemorial history, and receives no help in its campaign of warfare from the traditional glories of long lines of warrior kings. chief of all, it lacks the inspiration of the matchless jewish scriptures and sacred books, depending for instruction upon a document confined to the revelation of one man's personality and view of life. still the narrowness of the mahomedan system provoked its power; its rapid rush to the heights of dominion was born of the straitening of its impulse into the channel of conquest and the forcible imposition of its faith. of christianity mahomet knew far less than of judaism. he went to the christian doctrines as they were known in heterodox syria, far off from the main stream of christian life and teaching. he went to them with a prejudiced mind, full of anger against their exponents for declaring the messiah to be the son of god. the whole idea of the incarnation and the dogma of the trinity were thoroughly abhorrent to him, and the only conception he entertains as to the personality of jesus is that of a prophet even as he is himself, the receiver of divine inspiration, but having no connection in essence with god, whom he conceived pre-eminently as the one supreme being, indivisible in nature. certainly he knew far less of the christian than of the jewish scriptures, and necessarily less of the inner meaning of the christian faith, still in fluid state, unconsidered of its profoundest future exponents. his mind was assuredly not attuned to the reception of its more revolutionary ideas. very little compassion and no tenderness breathe from the pages of the kuran, and from a religion whose founder had laboured to bring just those two elements into the thorny ways of the world, mahomet could only turn away baffled and uncomprehending. the doctrine of the non-resistance to evil, and indeed all the wisdom of the sermon on the mount, he passed by unseeing. it is useless and indeed unfair to attempt the comparison of mahomedanism with christianity, seeing that without the preliminary culture of greece and rome modern christian doctrines would not exist in their present form, and of the former mahomet had no cognisance. he stands altogether apart from the christian system, finding no affinity in its doctrines or practices, scorning its monasticism no less than its conception of the trinity. his position in history lies between the warriors and the saints, at the head of the prophets, who went, flail in hand, to summon to repentance, but unlike the generality, bearing also the sword and sceptre of a kingdom. no other religious leader has ever bound his creed so closely to definite political conceptions, mahomet was not only the instrument of divine revelation, but he was also at the end of his life the head of a temporal state with minutest laws and regulations--chaotic it may be, but still binding so that islamic influence extended over the whole of the lives of its adherents. this constitutes its strength. its leader swayed not only the convictions but the activities of his subjects. his position with regard to the political institution of other countries is unique. his temporal power grew almost in spite of himself, and he unconsciously adopted ideas in connection with it which arose out of the circumstances involved. any form of government except despotism was impossible among so heterogeneous and unruly a people; despotism also bore out his own idea as to the nature of god's governance. political ideas were largely built upon religious conceptions, sometimes outstripping, sometimes lagging behind them, but always with some irrefragable connection. despotism, therefore, was the form best suited to islam, and becomes its chief legacy to posterity, since without the religious sanction islam politically could not exist. together with despotism and inextricably mingled with it is the second great islamic enthusiasm--the belief in the supremacy of force. with violence the muslim kingdom was to be attained. mahomet gave to the battle lust of arabia the approval of his puissant deity, bidding his followers put their supreme faith in the arbitrament of the sword. he knew, too, the value of diplomacy and the use of well-calculated treachery, but chief of all he bade his followers arm themselves to seize by force what they could not obtain by cunning. in the insistence upon these two factors, complete obedience to his will as the revelation of allah's decrees and the justification of violence to proclaim the merits of his faith, we gain the nearest approach to his character and beliefs; for these, together with his conception of fate, are perhaps the most personal of all his institutions. mahomet has suffered not a little at the hands of his immediate successors. they have sought to record the full sum of his personality, and finding the subject elude them, as the translation of actions into words must ever fall short of finality, they have overloaded their narrative with minutest and almost always apocryphal details which leave the main outlines blurred. only two biographies can be said to be in the nature of sources, that of muhammad ibn hischam, written on the model of an earlier biography, undertaken about for the abbasside caliph mansur, and of wakidi, written about , which is important as containing the text of many treaties made by mahomet with various tribes. al-tabari, too, included the life of mahomet in his extensive history of arabia, but his work serves only as a check, consisting, as it does, mainly of extracts from wakidi. by far the more valuable is the kuran and the sunna of tradition. but even these are fragmentary and confused, bearing upon them the ineradicable stamp of alien writers and much second-hand thought. in the dim, pregnant dawn of religions, by the transfusing power of a great idea, seized upon and made living by a single personality, the world of imagination mingles with the world of fact as we perceive it. the real is felt to be merely the frail shell of forces more powerful and permanent. legend and myth crowd in upon actual life as imperfect vehicles for the compelling demand made by that new idea for expression. moreover, personality, that subtle essence, exercises a kind of centripetal force, attracting not only the devotion but the imaginations of those who come within its influence. mahomet, together with all the men of action in history, possessed an energy of will so vast as to bring forth the creative faculties of his adherents, and the legends that cluster round him have a special significance as the measure of his personality and influence. the story, for instance, of his midnight journey into the seven heavens is the symbol of an intense spiritual experience that, following the mental temper of the age in which he lived, had to be translated into the concrete. all the affirmations as to his intercourse with djinn, his inspiration by the angel gabriel, are inherent factors in the manifestation of his ceaseless mental activity. his marvellous birth and the myths of his childhood are the sum of his followers' devotion, and reveal their reverence translated into terms of the imagination. character was the mysterious force that his co-religionists tried unconsciously to portray in all those legends relative to his life at medina, his ruthlessness and cruelty finding a place no less than his humility, and steadfastness under discouragement. but beneath the weight of the marvellous the real man is almost buried. he has stood for so long with the mists of obscure imaginings about him that his true lineaments are almost impossible to reproduce. the western world has alternated between the conception of him as a devil, almost antichrist himself, and a negligible impostor whose power is transient. it has seldom troubled to look for the human energy that wrought out his successes, the faith that upheld them, and the enthusiasm that burned in the prophet himself with a sombre flame, lighting his followers to prayer and conquest. and indeed it is difficult, if not impossible, to re-create effectively the world in which he lived. it is so remote from the seas of the world's progression, an eddy in the tide of belief which loses itself in the larger surging, that it makes no appeal of familiarity. but that a study of the period and mahomet's own personality operating no less through his deeds, faith, and institutions than in the one doubtfully reliable record of his teachings, will result in the perception of the prophet of islam as a man among men, has been the central belief during the writing of this biography. mahomet's personality is revealed in his dealing with his fellows, in the belief and ritual that he imposed upon arabia, in the mighty achievement of a political unity and military discipline, and therein he shows himself inexorable, cruel, passionate, treacherous, bad, subject to depression and overwhelming doubt, but never weak or purposeless, continually the master of his circumstances, whom no emergency found unprepared, whose confidence in himself nothing could shake, and who by virtue of enthusiasm and resistless activity wrested his triumphs from the hands of his enemies, and bequeathed to his followers his own unconquerable faith and the means wherewith they might attain wealth and sovereignty. chapter i mahomet's birthplace "and how many cities were mightier in strength than thy city that hath cast thee forth?"--_the kuran_. in arabia nature cannot be ignored. pastures and cornland, mountain slopes and quiet rivers may be admired, even reverenced; but they are things external to the gaze, and make no insistent demand upon the spirit for penetration of their mystery. arabia, and mecca as typical of arabia, is a country governed by earth's primal forces. it has not yet emerged from the shadow of that early world, bare and chaotic, where a blinding sun pours down upon dusty mountain ridges, and nothing is temperate or subdued. it fosters a race of men, whose gods are relentless and inscrutable, revealing themselves seldom, and dwelling in a fierce splendour beyond earthly knowledge. to the spirit of a seeker for truth with senses alert to the outer world, this country speaks of boundless force, and impels into activity under the spur of conviction; by its very desolation it sets its ineradicable mark upon the creed built up within it. mahomet spent forty years in the city of mecca, watching its temple services with his grandfather, taking part in its mercantile life, learning something of christian and jewish doctrine through the varied multitudes that thronged its public places. in the desert beyond the city boundaries he wandered, searching for inspiration, waiting dumbly in the darkness until the angel gabriel descended with rush of wings through the brightness of heaven, commanding: "cry aloud, in the name of the lord who created thee. o, thou enwrapped in thy mantle, arise and warn!" mecca lies in a stony valley midway between yemen, "the blessed," and syria, in the midst of the western coast-chain of arabia, which slopes gradually towards the red sea. the height of abu kobeis overlooks the eastern quarter of the town, whence hills of granite stretch to the holy places, mina and arafat, enclosed by the ramparts of the jebel kora range. beyond these mountains to the south lies taif, with its glory of gardens and fruit-trees. but the luxuriance of taif finds no counterpart on the western side. mecca is barren and treeless; its sandy stretches only broken here and there by low hills of quartz or gneiss, scrub-covered and dusty. the sun beats upon the shelterless town until it becomes a great cauldron within its amphitheatre of hills. during the greater pilgrimage the cauldron seethes with heat and humanity, and surges over into mina and arafat. in the daytime mecca is limitless heat and noise, but under the stars it has all the magic of a dream-city in a country of wide horizons. the shadow of its ancient prosperity, when it was the centre of the caravan trade from yemen to syria, still hung about it in the years immediately before the birth of mahomet, and the legends concerning the founding of the city lingered in the native mind. hagar, in her terrible journey through the desert, reached mecca and laid her son in the midst of the valley to go on the hopeless quest for water. the child kicked the ground in torment, and god was merciful, so that from his heel marks arose a spring of clear water--the well zemzem, hallowed ever after by meccans. in this desolate place part of the amalekites and tribes from yemen settled; the child ishmael grew up amongst them and founded his race by marrying a daughter of the chief. abraham visited him, and under his guidance the native temple of the kaaba was built and dedicated to the true god, but afterwards desecrated by the worship of idols within it. such are the legends surrounding the foundation of mecca and of the kaaba, of which, as of the legends concerning the early days of rome, it may be said that they are chiefly interesting as throwing light upon the character of the race which produced them. in the case of mecca they were mainly the result of an unconscious desire to associate the city as far as possible with the most renowned heroes of old time, and also to conciliate the jewish element within arabia, now firmly planted at medina, kheibar, and some of the adjoining territory, by insisting on a jewish origin for their holy of holies, and as soon as abraham and ishmael were established as fathers of the race, legends concerning them were in perpetual creation. the kaaba thus reputed to be the work of abraham bears evidence of an antiquity so remote that its beginnings will be forever lost to us. from very early times it was a goal of pilgrimage for all arabia, because of the position of mecca upon the chief trade route, and united in its ceremonies the native worship of the sun and stars, idols and misshapen stones. the black stone, the kissing of which formed the chief ceremonial, is a relic of the rites practised by the stone-worshippers of old; while the seven circuits of the kaaba, obligatory on all pilgrims, are probably a symbol of the courses of the planets. arab divinities, such as alilat and uzza, were associated with the kaaba before any records are available, and at the time of mahomet, idolatry mingled with various rites still held sway among the meccans, though the leaven of jewish tradition was of great help to him in the establishment of the monotheistic idea. at mahomet's birth the kaaba consisted of a small roofless house, with the black stone imbedded in its wall. near it lay the well zemzem, and the reputed grave of ishmael. the holy place of arabia held thus within itself traces of a purer faith, that were to be discovered and filled in by mahomet, until the kaaba became the goal of thousands, the recipient of the devotion and longings of that mighty host of muslim who went forth to subdue the world. mahomet's ancestors had for some time held a high position in the city. he came of the race of hashim, whose privilege it was to give service to the pilgrims coming to worship at the kaaba. the hashim were renowned for generosity, and mahomet's grandfather, abd al muttalib, was revered by the kureisch, inhabitants of mecca, as a just and honourable man, who had greatly increased their prosperity by his rediscovery of the holy well. its healing waters had been choked by the accumulations of years, so that even the knowledge of its site was lost, when an angel appeared to abd al muttalib, as he slept at the gate of the temple, saying: "dig up that which is pure!" three times the command fell on uncomprehending ears, until the angel revealed to the sleeper where the precious water might be found. and as he dug, the well burst forth once more, and behold within its deeps lay two golden gazelles, with weapons, the treasure of former kings. and there was strife among the kureisch for the possession of these riches, until they were forced to draw lots. so the treasure fell to abd al muttalib, who melted the weapons to make a door for the kaaba, and set up the golden gazelles within it. abd al muttalib figures very prominently in the early legends concerning mahomet, because he was sole guardian of the prophet during very early childhood. these legends are mainly later accretions, but the kernel of truth within them is not difficult to discover. like all forerunners of the great teachers, he stands in communion with heavenly messengers, the symbol of his purity of heart. he is humble, compassionate, and devout, living continually in the presence of his god--a fitting guardian for the renewer of the faith of his nation. most significant of the legends is the story of his vow to sacrifice a son if ten were born to him, and of the choice of abdullah, mahomet's father, and the repeated staying of the father's hand, so that the sacrifice could not be accomplished until is son's life was bought with the blood of a hundred camels. this and all allied legends are fruit of a desire to magnify the divine authority of mahomet's mission by dwelling on the intervention of a higher power in the disposal of his fate. of abd al muttalib's ten sons, abdallah was the most handsome in form and stature, so that the fame of his beauty spread into the harems of the city, and many women coveted him in their hearts. but he, after his father had sacrificed the camels in his stead, went straightway to the house of amina, a maiden well-born and lovely, and remained there to complete his nuptials with her. then, after some weeks, he departed to gaza for the exchange of merchandise, but, returning, was overtaken by sickness and died at medina. amina, left thus desolate, sought the house of abd al muttalib, where she stayed until her child was born. visions of his future greatness were vouchsafed to her before his birth by an angel, who told her the name he was to bear, and his destiny as prophet of his people. long before the child's eyes opened to the light, a brightness surrounded his mother, so that by it might be seen the far-off towers of the castles in syrian bostra. a tenderness hangs over the story of mahomet's birth, akin to that immortal beauty surrounding the coming of christ. we have faint glimpses of amina, in the dignity of her sorrow, waiting for the birth of her son, and in the house of mecca's leading citizen, hearing around her not alone the celestial voices of her spirit-comforters, but also rumours of earthly strife and the threatenings of strange armies from the south. at sana, capital of yemen, ruled abraha, king of the southern province. he built a vast temple within its walls, and purposed to make sana the pilgrim-city for all arabia. but the old custom still clove to mecca, and finding he could in nowise coerce the people into forsaking the kaaba, he determined to invade mecca itself and to destroy the rival place of worship. so he gathered together a great army, which numbered amongst it an elephant, a fearful sight to the meccans, who had never seen so great an animal. with this force he marched upon mecca, and was about to enter the city after fruitless attempts by abd al muttalib to obtain quarter, when god sent down a scourge of sickness upon his army and he was forced to retreat, returning miserably to sana with a remnant of his men. but so much had the presence of the elephant alarmed the meccans that the year (a.d. ) was called ever after "the year of the elephant," and in august thereof mahomet was born. then amina sent for abd al muttalib and told him the marvels she had seen and heard, and his grandfather took the child and presented him in the kaaba, after the manner of the jews, and gave him the name mahomet (the praised one), according as the angel had commanded amina. the countless legends surrounding mahomet's birth, even to the physical marvel that accompanied it, cannot be set aside as utterly worthless. they serve to show the temper of the nation producing them, deeply imaginative and incoherently poetical, and they indicate the weight of the personality to which they cling. all the devotion of the east informs them; but since the spirit that caused them to be is in its essence one of relentless activity, neither contemplative nor mystic, they lack that subtle sweetness that belongs to the buddhist and christian histories, and dwell rather within the region of the marvellous than of the spiritually symbolic. neither mahomet's father nor mother are known to us in any detail; they are merely the passive instruments of mahomet's prophetic mission. his real parents are his grandfather and his uncle abu talib; but more than these, the desert that nurtured him, physically and mentally, that bounded his horizon throughout his life and impressed its mighty mysteries upon his unconscious childhood and his eager, imaginative youth. chapter ii childhood "paradise lies at the feet of mothers."--mahomet. no more beautiful and tender legends cluster round mahomet than those which grace his life in the desert under the loving care of his foster-mother hailima. she was a woman of the tribe of beni sa'ad, who for generations had roamed the desert, tent-dwellers, who visited cities but rarely, and kept about them the remoteness and freedom of their adventurous life beneath the sun and stars. about the time of mahomet's birth a famine fell upon the beni sa'ad, which left nothing of all their stores, and the women of the tribe journeyed,[ ] weary and stricken with hunger, into the city of mecca that they might obtain foster-children whose parents would give them money and blessings if they could but get their little ones taken away from that unhealthy place. among these was hailima, who, according to tradition, has left behind her the narrative of that dreadful journey across the desert with her husband and her child, and with only an ass and a she-camel for transport. famine oppressed them sorely, together with the heat of desert suns, until there was no sustenance for any living creature; then, faint and travel-weary, they reached the city and began their quest. mahomet was offered to every woman of the tribe, but they rejected him as he had no father, and there was little hope of much payment from the mothers of these children. those of rich parents were eagerly spoken for, but no one would care for the little fatherless child. and it happened that hailima also was unsuccessful in her search, and was like to have returned to her people disconsolate, but when she saw mahomet she bethought herself and said to her husband: "by the god of my fathers, i will not go back to my companions without foster-child. i will take this orphan." and her husband replied: "it cannot harm thee to do this, and if thou takest him it may be that through him god will bless us." so hailima took him, and she relates how good fortune attended her from that day. her camels gave abundant milk during the homeward journey, and in the unfruitful land of the beni sa'ad her cattle were always fattest and yielded most milk, until her neighbours besought her to allow them to pasture their cattle with hers. but, adds the chronicler naively, in spite of this their cattle returned to them thin and yielding little, while hailima's waxed fat and fruitful. these legends are the translation into poetic fact of the peace and love surrounding mahomet during the five years he spent with hailima; for in all primitive communities every experience must pass through transmutation into the definite and tangible and be given a local habitation and a name. when mahomet was two years old and the time had come to restore him to his mother, hailima took him back to mecca; but his mother gave him to her again because he had thriven so well under desert skies, and she feared the stifling air of mecca for her only son. so hailima returned with him and brought him up as one of her children until he was five, when the first signs of his nervous, highly-strung nature showed themselves in a kind of epileptic fit. the arabians, unskilled as they were in any medical science, attributed manifestations of this kind to evil spirits, and it is not surprising that we find hailima bringing him back to his grandfather in great alarm. so ended his fostering by the desert and by hailima. of these five years spent among the beni sa'ad chroniclers have spoken in much detail, but their confused accounts are so interwoven with legend that it is impossible to re-create events, and we can only obtain a general idea of his life as a tiny child among the children of the tribe, sharing their fortunes, playing and quarrelling with them, and at moments, when the spirit seemed to advance beyond its dwelling-place, gazing wide-eyed upon the limitless desert under the blaze of sun or below the velvet dark, with swift, half-conscious questionings uttering the universal why and how [ ] of childhood. legend regards even this early time as one of preparation for his mission, and there are stories of the coming of two men clothed in white and shining garments, who ripped open his body, took out his heart, and having purged it of all unrighteousness, returned it, symbolically cleansing him of sin that he might forward the work of god. it was an imaginative rightness that decreed that mahomet's most impressionable years should be spent in the great desert, whose twin influences of fierceness and fatalism he felt throughout his life, and which finally became the key-notes of his worship of allah. hailima, convinced that her foster-son was possessed by evil spirits, resolved to return him to abd al muttalib, but as she journeyed through upper mecca, the child wandered away and was lost for a time. hailima hurried, much agitated, to his grandfather, who immediately sent his sons to search, and after a short time they returned with the boy, unharmed and unfrightened by his adventure. the legend--it is quite a late accretion--is interesting, as showing an acquaintance with, and a parallelism to, the story of the losing of jesus among the passover crowds, and the search for him by his kindred. mahomet was at last lodged with his mother, who indignantly explained to hailima the real meaning of his malady, and spoke of his future glory as manifested to her by the light that enfolded her before his birth. not long after, amina decided to visit her [ ] husband's tomb at medina, and thither mahomet accompanied her, travelling through the rocky, desolate valleys and hills that separate the two, with just his mother and a slave girl. mahomet was too young to remember much about the journey to medina, except that it was hot and that he was often tired, and since his father was but a name to him, the visit to his tomb faded altogether from his mind. but on the homeward journey a calamity overtook him which he remembered all his life. amina, weakened by journeying and much sorrow, and perhaps feeling her desire for life forsake her after the fulfillment of her pilgrimage, sickened and died at abwa, and mahomet and the slave girl continued their mournful way alone. amina is drawn by tradition in very vague outline, and mahomet's memory of her as given in the kuran does not throw so much light upon the woman herself as upon her child's devotion and affectionate memory of the mother he lost almost before he knew her. his grief for her was very real; she remained continually in his thoughts, and in after years he paid tribute at her tomb to her tenderness and love for him. "this is the grave of my mother ... the lord hath permitted me to visit it.... i called my mother to remembrance, and the tender memory of her overcame me and i wept." the sensitive, over-nervous child, left thus solitary, away from all his kindred, must have brought back with him to mecca confused but vivid impressions of the long journey and of the catastrophe which lay at the end of it. the uncertainty of his future, and the joys of gaining at last a foster-father in abd al muttalib, finds reflection in the kuran in one little burst of praise to god: "did he not find thee an orphan, and furnish thee with a refuge?" life for two years as the foster-child of abd al muttalib, the venerable, much honoured chief of the house of hashim, passed very pleasantly for mahomet. he was the darling of his grandfather's last years of life; for, perhaps having pity on his defencelessness, perhaps divining with that prescience which often marks old age, something of the revelation this child was to be to his countrymen, he protected him from the harshness of his uncles. a rug used to be placed in the shadow of the kaaba, and there the aged ruler rested during the heat of the day, and his sons sat around him at respectful distance, listening to his words. but the child mahomet, who loved his grandfather, ran fearlessly up, and would have seated himself by abd al muttalib's side. then the sons sought to punish him for his lack of reverence, but their father prevented them: "leave the child in peace. by the god of my fathers, i swear he will one day be a mighty prophet." so mahomet remained in close attendance upon the old man, until he died in the eighth year after the year of the elephant, and there was mourning for him in the houses of his sons. when abd al muttalib knew his end was near he sent for his daughters, and bade them make lamentation over him. we possess traditional accounts of these funeral songs; they are representative of the wild rhetorical eloquence of the poetry of the day. they lose immensely in translation, and even in reading with the eye instead of hearing, for they were never meant to find immortality in the written words, but in the speech of men. "when in the night season a voice of loud lament proclaimed the sorrowful tidings i wept, so that the tears ran down my face like pearls. i wept for a noble man, greater than all others, for sheibar, the generous, endowed with virtues; for my beloved father, the inheritor of all good things, for the man faithful in his own house, who never shrank from combat, who stood fast and needed not a prop, mighty, well-favoured, rich in gifts. if a man could live for ever by reason of his noble nature--but to none is this lot vouchsafed--he would remain untouched of death because of his fair fame and his good deeds." the songs furnish ample evidence as to the high position which abd al muttalib held among the kureisch. his death was a great loss to his nation, but it was a greater calamity to his little foster-child, for it brought him from ease and riches to comparative poverty and obscurity with his uncle, abu talib. none of abd al muttalib's sons inherited the nature of their father, and with his death the greatness of the house of hashim diminished, until it gave place to the omeyya branch, with harb at its head. the offices at mecca were seized by the omeyya, and to the descendants of abd al muttalib there remained but the privilege of caring for the well zemzem, and of giving its water for the refreshment of pilgrims. only two of his sons, except abu talib, who earns renown chiefly as the guardian of mahomet, attain anything like prominence. hamza was converted at the beginning of mahomet's mission, and continued his helper and warrior until he died in battle for islam; abu lahab (the flame) opposed mahomet's teaching with a vehemence that earned him one of the fiercest denunciations in the early, passionate suras of the kuran: "blasted be the hands of abu lahab; let himself perish; his wealth and his gains shall avail him not; burned shall he be with the fiery flame, his wife shall be laden with firewood-- on her neck a rope of palm fibre." mahomet, bereft a second time of one he loved and on whom he depended, passed into the care of his uncle, abu talib. this was a man of no great force of character, well-disposed and kindly, but of straitened means, and lacking in the qualities that secure success. later, he seems to have attained a more important position, mainly, one would imagine, through the lion courage and unfaltering faith in the prophet of his son, the mighty warrior ali, of whom it is written, "mahomet is the city of knowledge, and ali is the gate thereof." but although abu talib was sufficiently strong to withstand the popular fury of the kureisch against mahomet, and to protect him for a time on the grounds of kinship, he never finally decided upon which side he would take his stand. had he been a far-seeing, imaginative man, able to calculate even a little the force that had entered into arabian polity, the history of the foundation of islam would have been continued, with mecca as its base, and have probably resolved itself into the war of two factions within the city, wherein the new faith, being bound to the more powerful political party, would have had a speedier conquest. with abu talib mahomet spent the rest of his childhood and youth--quiet years, except for a journey to syria, and his insignificant part in the war against the hawazin, a desert tribe that engaged the kureisch for some time. in abu talib's house there was none of the ease that had surrounded him with abd al muttalib. but mahomet was naturally an affectionate child, and was equally attached to his uncle as he had been to his grandfather. two years later abu talib set out on a mercantile journey, and was minded to leave his small foster-child behind him, but mahomet came to him as he sat on his camel equipped for his journey, and clinging to him passionately implored his uncle not to go without him. abu talib could not resist his pleading, and so mahomet accompanied him on that magical journey through the desert, so glorious yet awesome to an imaginative child, bostra was the principal city of exchange for merchandise circulating between yemen, northern arabia, and the cities of upper palestine, and mahomet must thus have travelled on the caravan route through the heart of syria, past jerash, ammon, and the site of the fated cities of the plain. in syria, too, he first encountered the christian faith, and planted those remembrances that were to be revived and strengthened upon his second journey through that wonderful land--in religion, and in a lesser degree in polity, a law unto itself, forging out its own history apart from the main stream of christian life and thought. legends concerning this journey are rife, and all emphasise the influence christianity had upon his mind, and also the ready recognition of his coming greatness by all those christians who saw him. on the homeward journey the monk bahirah is fabled to have met the party and to have bidden them to a feast. when he saw the child was not among them he was wroth, and commanded his guests to bring "every man of the company." he interrogated mahomet and abu talib concerning the parentage of the boy, and we have here the first traditional record of mahomet's speech. "ask what thou wilt," he said to bahirah, "and i will make answer." so bahirah questioned him as to the signs that had been vouchsafed him, and looking between his shoulders found the seal of the prophetic office, a mole covered with hair. then bahirah knew this was he who was foretold, and counselled abu talib to take him to his native land, and to beware [ ] of the jews, for he would one day attain high honour. at this time mahomet was little more than a child, but although few thoughts of god or of human destiny can have crossed his mind, he retained a vivid impression of the storied places through which he passed--jerash, ammon, the valley of hejr, and saw in imagination the mighty stream of the tigris, the ruinous cities, and palmyra with its golden pillars fronting the sun. the tribes which the caravan encountered were rich in legend and myth, and their influence, together with the more subtle spell of the desert vastness, wrought in him that fervour of spirit, a leaping, troubled flame, which found mortal expression in the poetry of the early part of the kuran, where the vision of god's majesty compels the gazer into speech that sweeps from his mind in a stream of fire: "by the sun and his noonday brightness, by the moon when she followeth him, by day when it revealeth his glory, by the night when it enshroudeth him, by the heaven and him who built it, by the earth and him who spread it forth, by the soul and him who balanced it, breathed into its good, yea, and its evil-- verily man's lot is cast amid destruction save those who believe and deal justly, and enjoin upon each other steadfastness and truth." chapter iii strife and meditation "god hath treasuries beneath the throne, the keys whereof are the tongues of poets."--mahomet. the arabian calendar has always been in a distinctive manner subject to the religion of the people. before mahomet imposed his faith upon mecca, there were four sacred months following each other, in which no war might be waged. for four months, therefore, the tumultuous arab spirit was restrained from that most precious to it; pilgrimages to holy places were undertaken, and there was a little leisure for the cultivation of art and learning. the greater pilgrimage to mecca, comprising the sevenfold circuit of the kaaba and the kissing of the sacred black stone, and culminating in a procession to the holy places of mina and arafat, could only be undertaken in dzul-higg, corresponding in the time of mahomet to our march. the month preceding, dzul-cada, was occupied in a kind of preparation and rejoicing, which took the form of a fair at ocatz, three days' journey east of mecca, when representatives of all the surrounding nations used to assemble to exchange merchandise, to take part in the games, to listen to the contests in poetry and rhetoric, and sometimes to be roused into sinister excitement at the proximity of so many tribes differing from them in nationality, and often in their religion and moral code. into this vast concourse came mahomet, a lad of fifteen, eager to see, hear, and know. he was present at the poetic contests, and caught from the protagonists a reflection of their vivid, fitful eloquence, with its ceaseless undercurrent of monotony. romance, in so far as it represents the love of the strange, is a product of the west. there is a rigidity in the eastern mind that does not allow of much change or seeking after new things. wild and beautiful as this poetry of arabia is, its themes and their manner of treatment seldom vary; as the desert is changeless in contour, filled with a brilliant sameness, whirling at times into sombre fury and as suddenly subsiding, so is the literature which it fostered. the monotony is expressed in a reiteration of subject, barbarous to the intellect of the west; endurance is born of that monotony, and strength, and the acquiescence in things as they are, but not the discovery and development of ideas. arabia does not flash forth a new presentment of beauty, following the vivid apprehension of some lovely form, but broods over it in a kind of slumbering enthusiasm that mounts at last into a glory of metaphor, drowning the subject in intensest light. the rival poets assembled to discover who could turn the deftest phrases in satire of the opposing tribe, or extol most eloquently the bravery and skill of his own people, the beauty and modesty of their women, and from these wild outpourings mahomet learnt to clothe his thoughts in that splendid garment whose jewels illumine the earlier part of the kuran. perhaps more important than the poetical contests was the religious aspect of the fair at ocatz. here were gathered jew, christian, and arabian worshipper of many gods, in a vast hostile confusion. mahomet was familiar with jewish cosmogony from his knowledge of their faith within his own land, and he had heard dimly of the christian principles during his syrian journey. but here, though both jews and christians claimed to be worshippers of a single god, and although the jews took for their protector abraham, the mighty founder of mahomet's own city, yet there was nothing between all the sects but fruitless strife. he saw the jews looking disdainfully upon the christian dogs, and the christians firmly convinced that an irrevocable doom would shortly descend upon every jew. both united in condemning to eternal wrath the idol-worshippers of the kaaba. it was a fiercely outspoken, remorseless enmity that he saw around him, and the impotence born of distrust he saw also. it is not possible that any hint of his future mission enlightened him as to the part he was to play in eliminating this conflict, but may it not be that there was sown in his mind a seed of thought concerning the uselessness of all this strife of religions, and the limitless power that might accrue to his nation if it could but be persuaded to become united in allegiance to the one true god? for even at that early stage mahomet, with the examples of judaism and christianity before him, must have rejected, even if unthinkingly, the polytheistic idea. the poetic and warlike contests partook of the fiery earnestness characteristic of the combatants, and it was seldom that the fair at ocatz passed by without some hostile demonstration. the greatest rivals were the kureisch and the hawazin, a tribe dwelling between mecca and taif. the hawazin were tumultuous and unruly, and the kureisch ever ready to rouse their hostility by numerous small slights and taunts. we read traditionally of an insult by some kureisch youths towards a girl of the hawazin; this incident was closed peaceably, but some years later the kureisch (always the aggressive party because of their stronghold in mecca) committed an outrage that could not be passed over. as the fair progressed, news came of the murder of a hawazin, chief of a caravan, and the seizure of his treasure by an ally of the kureisch. that tribe, knowing themselves at a disadvantage and fearing vengeance, fled back to mecca. the hawazin pursued them remorselessly to the borders of the sacred precincts, beyond which it was sacrilegious to wage war. some traditions say they followed their foe undaunted by fear of divine wrath, and thus incurred a double disgrace of having fought in the sacred month and within the sacred territory. but their pursuit cannot have lasted long, because we find them challenging the kureisch to battle at the same time the next year. all mahomet's uncles took part in the sacrilegious war that followed, and stirring times continued for mahomet until a truce was made after four years. he attended his uncles in warfare, and we hear of his collecting the enemy's arrows that fell harmlessly into their lines, in order to reinforce the kureisch ammunition. a vivid picture by the hand of tradition is this period in mahomet's life, for he was between eighteen and nineteen, just at the age when fighting would appeal to his wild, yet determined nature. he must have learned resource and some of the stratagem of war from this attendance upon warriors, if he did not become filled with much physical daring, never one of his characteristics, nor, indeed, of any man of his nervous temperament, and his imagination was certainly kindled by the spectacle of the horrors and triumphs of strife. several battles were fought with varying success, until at the end of about five years' fighting both sides were weary and a truce was called. it was found that twenty more hawazin had been killed than kureisch, and according to the simple yet equitable custom of the time, a like number of hostages was given to the hawazin that there might not be blood feud between them. the kureisch passed as suddenly into peace as they had plunged into strife. after the sacrilegious war, a period of prosperity began for the city of mecca. it was wealthy enough to support its population, and trade flourished with the marts of bostra, damascus, and northern syria. its political condition had never been very stable, and it seems to have preserved during the omeyyad ascendancy the same loose but roughly effective organisation that it possessed under the hashim branch. the intellect that could see the potentialities of such a polity, once it could be knit together by some common bond, had not arisen; but the scene was prepared for his coming, and we have to think of the mecca of that time as offering untold suggestions for its religious, and later for its political, salvation to a mind anxious to produce, but uncertain as yet of its medium. mahomet returned with abu talib, and passed with him into obscurity of a poverty not too burdensome, and to a quiet, somewhat reflective household. he lived under the spell of that tranquillity until he was twenty-five, and of this time there is not much notice in the traditions, but its contemplation is revealed to us in the earlier chapters of the kuran. at one time mahomet acted as shepherd upon the meccan hills--low, rocky ranges covered with a dull scrub, and open to the limitless vaults of sky. here, whether under sun or stars, he learned that love and awe of nature that throbs through the early chapters of the kuran like a deep organ note of praise, dominated almost always with fear. "consider the heaven--with his hand has he built it up, and given it its vastness--and the earth has he stretched out like a carpet, smoothly has he spread it forth! verily, god is the sole sustainer, possessed of might, the unshaken! fly then to god." indeed, a haunting terror broods over all those souls who know the desert, and this fear translated into action becomes fierce and terrible deeds, and into the world of the spirit, angry dogmatic commands. it is the result of the knowledge that to those who stray from the well-known desert track comes death; equally certain is the destruction of the soul for those who transgress against the law of the ruler of the earth. the god of the early kuran is the spiritual representative of the forces surrounding mahomet, whether of nature or government. the country around mecca conveys one central thought to one who meditates--the sense of power, not the might of one kindly and familiar, but the unapproachable sovereignty of one alien and remote, a dweller in far-off places, who nevertheless fills the earth with his dominion. mahomet passing by, as he did, the gaieties and temptations of youth, had his mind alert for the influences of this nature, full of awful power, and for the contemplation of life and the universe around him. in common with many enthusiasts and men of action, certain sides of his nature, especially the sexual and the practical, awoke late, and were preceded by a reflective period wherein the poet held full sway. he never desired the companionship of those of his own age and their rather debased pleasures. there are legends of his being miraculously preserved from the corruption of the youthful vices of mecca, but the more probable reason for his shunning them is that they made no appeal to his desires. some minds and tastes unfold by imperceptible degrees--flowers that attain fruition by the shedding of their earlier petals. mahomet was of this nature. at this time the poet was paramount in his mental activities he loved silence and solitude, so that he might use those imaginative and contemplative gifts of which he felt himself to possess so large a share. it is not possible at this distance of time to attempt to estimate the importance of this period in mahomet's mental development. there are not sufficient data to enable history to fill in any detailed sketch, but the outlines may be safely indicated by the help of his later life and the testimony of that commentary upon his feelings and actions, the kuran. his nature now seems to be in a pause of expectation, whose vain urgency lasted until he became convinced of his prophetic mission. he must have been at this time the seeker, whose youth, if not his very eagerness, prevented his attaining what he sought. he was earnest and sincere, grave beyond his years, and so gained from his fellows the respect always meted out, in an essentially religion-loving community, to any who give promise of future "inspiration," before its actuality has rendered him too uncomfortable a citizen. he received from his comrades the title of al-amin (the faithful), and continued his life apart from his kind, performing his duties well, but still remaining aloof from others as one not of their world. from his sojourn in the mountains came the inspiration that created the poetry of the kuran and the reflective interest in what he knew of his world and its religion; both embryos, but especially the latter, germinated in his mind until they emerged into full consciousness and became his fire of religious conviction, and his zeal for the foundation and glory of islam. chapter iv adventure and security "women are the twin-halves of men."--mahomet. abu talib's straitened circumstances never prevented him from treating his foster-child with all the affection of which his kindly but somewhat weak character was capable. but the cares of a growing family soon became too much for his means, and when mahomet was about twenty-five his uncle suggested that he should embark upon a mercantile journey for some rich trader in mecca. we can imagine mahomet, immersed in his solitudes, responding reluctantly to a call that could not be evaded. he was not by nature a trader, and the proposal was repugnant to him, except for his desire to help his uncle, and more than this, his curiosity to revisit at a more assimilative age the lands that he remembered dimly from childhood. khadijah, a beautiful widow, daughter of an honoured house and the cousin of mahomet, rich and much sought after by the kureisch, desired someone to accompany her trading venture to bostra, and hearing of the wisdom and faithfulness of mahomet, sent for him, asking if he would travel for her into syria and pursue her bargains in that northern city. she was willing to reward him far more generously than most merchants. mahomet, anxious to requite his uncle in some way, and with his young imagination kindled at the prospect of new scenes and ideas, prepared eagerly for the journey. with one other man-servant, meisara, he set out with the merchandise to bostra, traversing as a young man the same desert path he had journeyed along in boyhood. he was of an age to appreciate all that this experience could teach, in the regions both of nature and religion. the lonely desert only increased his pervading sense of the mystery lying beyond his immediate knowledge, and its vastness confirmed his vague belief in some kind of a power who alone controlled so mighty a creation as the abounding spaces around him, and the "star-bespangled" heaven above. on this journey, too, he first saw with conscious eyes the desert storms in all the splendour and terror of their fury, and caught the significance of those sudden squalls that urge the waters of the upper syrian lakes into a tumult of destruction. frequent allusions to sea and lake storms are to be found in the earlier part of the kuran: "when the seas shall be commingled, when the seas shall boil, then shall man tremble before his creator." "by the swollen sea, verily a chastisement from thy lord is imminent." in every natural manifestation that struck mahomet's imagination in these early days, god appeared to him as the sovereign of power, as terrible and as remote as he was in the lightnings on sinai. what wonder, then, that when the call came to him to take up his mission it became a command to "arise and warn"? the chroniclers would have us believe that his contact with christianity was more important than his communion with nature. most of the legends surrounding his relations with christian syria may be safely accepted as later additions, but it is certain that he paid some attention to the religion of those people through whose country he passed. a syrian monk is said to have seen mahomet sitting beneath a tree, and to have hailed him as a prophet; there is even a traditional account of an interview with nestorius, but this must be set aside at once as pure fiction. the kernel of these legends seems to be the desire to show that mahomet had studied christianity, and was not imposing a new religion without having considered the potentialities of those already existing. however that may be, christianity certainly interested mahomet, and must have influenced him towards the monotheistic idea. the arabians themselves were not entirely ignorant of it; they witnessed the worship of one god by the jews and christians on the borders of their territory, and although it is a very debatable point how far the idea of one god had progressed in arabia when mahomet began his mission, it may fairly be accepted that dissatisfaction with the old tribal gods was not wanting. mahomet saw the countries through which he passed in a state of religious flux, and heard around him diverse creeds, detecting doubtless an undercurrent of unrest and a desire for some religion of more compelling power. with the single slave he reached bostra in safety with the merchandise, and having concluded his barter very successfully, and retaining in his mind many impressions of that crowded city, returned to mecca by the same desert route. meisara, the slave, relates (in what is doubtless a later addition) of the fierce noonday heat that beset the travellers, and how, when mahomet was almost exhausted, two angels sat on his camel and protected him with their wings. when they reached mecca, khadijah sold the merchandise and found her wealth doubled, so careful had mahomet been to ensure the prosperity of his client, and before long love grew up in her heart for this tall, grave youth, who was faithful in small things as well as in great. khadijah had been much sought after by the men of mecca, both for her riches and for her beauty, but she had preferred to remain independent, and continued her orderly life among her maidens, attending to her household, and finding enough occupation in the supervision of her many mercantile ventures. she was about forty, fair of countenance, and gifted with a rich nature, whose leading qualities were affection and sympathy. she seems to have been pre-eminently one of those receptive women who are good to consult for the clarification of ideas. her intelligence was quick to grasp another's thought, if she did not originate thought within herself. she was a woman fitted to be the helper and guide of such a man as mahomet, eager, impulsive, prone to swiftly alternating extremes of depression and elation. a subtle mental attraction drew them together, and khadijah divined intuitively the power lying within the mind of this youth and also his need of her, both mentally and materially, to enable him to realise his whole self. therefore as she was the first to awaken to her desire for him, the first advances come from her. she sent her sister to mahomet to induce him to change his mind upon the subject of marriage, and when he found that the rich and gracious khadijah offered him her hand, he could not believe his good fortune, and assured the sister that he was eager to make her his wife. the alliance, in spite of its personal suitability, was far from being advantageous to khadijah from a worldly point of view, and the traditions of how her father's consent was obtained have all the savour of contemporary evidence. the father was bidden to a feast, and there plied right royally with wine. when his reason returned he asked the meaning of the great spread of viands, the canopy, and the chapleted heads of the guests. thereupon he was told it was the marriage-feast of mahomet and khadijah, and his wrath and amazement were great, for had he not by his presence given sanction to the nuptials? the incident throws some light upon the marriage laws current at the time. khadijah, though forty and a widow, was still under the guardianship of her father, having passed to him after the death of her husband, and his consent was needed before she married again. the marriage contracted by mutual desire was followed by a time of leisure and happiness, which mahomet remembered all his life. never did any man feel his marriage gift (in mahomet's case twenty young camels) more fitly given than the youth whom khudijah rescued from poverty, and to whom she gave the boon of her companionship and counsel. the marriage was fruitful; two sons were born, the eldest kasim, wherefore mahomet received the title of abu-el-kasim, the father of kasim, but both these died in infancy. there were also four daughters born to mahomet--zeineb, rockeya, umm kolthum, and fatima. these were important later on for the marriages they contracted with mahomet's supporters, and indeed his whole position was considerably solidified by the alliances between his daughters and his chief adherents. ten years passed thus in prosperity and study. mahomet was no longer obscure but the chief of a wealthy house, revered for his piety, and looked upon already as one of those "to whom god whispers in the ear." his character now exhibited more than ever the marks of the poet and seer; the time was at hand when all the subdued enthusiasm of his mind was to break forth in the opening suras of the kuran. the inspiration had not yet descended upon him, but it was imminent, and the shadow of its stern requirements was about him as he attended to his work of supervising khadijah's wealth or took part in the religious life of mecca. in a.d. , when mahomet was thirty-five years old, the chief men of mecca decided to rebuild the kaaba. the story of its rebuilding is perhaps the most interesting of the many strange, naive tales of this adventurous city. valley floods had shattered the house of the gods. it was roofless, and so insecure that its treasury had already been rifled by blasphemous men. it stood only as high as the stature of a man, and was made simply of stones laid one above the other. rebuilding was absolutely necessary, but materials were needed before the work could begin, and this delayed the kureisch until chance provided them with means of accomplishing their design. a grecian ship had been driven in a red sea storm upon the coast near mecca and was rapidly being broken up. when the kureisch heard of it, they set out in a body to the seashore and took away the wood of the ship to build a roof for the kaaba. it is a significant fact that tradition puts a greek carpenter in mecca who was able to advise them as to the construction. the meccans themselves were not sufficiently skilled in the art of building. but now a great difficulty awaited them. who was to undertake the responsibility of demolishing so holy a place, even if it were only that it might be rebuilt more fittingly? many legends cluster round the demolition. it would seem that the gods only understood gradually that a complete destruction of the kaaba was not intended. their opposition was at first implacable. the loosened stones flew back into their places, and finally none could be induced to make the attempt to pull down the kaaba. there was a pause in the work, during which no one dared venture near the temple, then al-welid, being a bold and god-fearing spirit, took an axe, and crying: "i will make a beginning, let no evil ensue, o lord!" he began to dislodge the stones. then the rest of the kureisch rather cravenly waited until the next day, but seeing that no calamity had befallen al-welid, they were ready to continue the work. the rebuilding prospered until they came to a point where the black stone must be embedded in the eastern wall. at this juncture a vehement dispute arose among the kureisch as to who was to have the honour of depositing the black stone in its place. they wrangled for days, and finally decided to appeal to mahomet, who had a reputation for wisdom and resource. mahomet, after carefully considering the question, ordered a large cloth to be brought, and commanded the representatives of the four chief meccan houses to hold each a corner. then he deposited the black stone in the centre of it, and in this manner, with the help of every party in the quarrel, the sacred object was raised to the proper height. when this was done mahomet conducted the black stone to its niche in the wall with his own hand. the building of the kaaba was ultimately completed, and a great festival was held in honour. many hymns of praise were sung at the accomplishment of so difficult and important a work. the kaaba has remained substantially the same as it was when it was first rebuilt. it is a small place of no architectural pretensions, merely a square with no windows, and a tiny door raised from the ground, by which the faithful, duly prepared, are allowed to enter upon rare occasions. the sacred black stone lies embedded about three feet from the ground in the eastern wall, at first a dark greenish stone of volcanic or aerolitic origin, now worn black and polished by thousands of kisses. there is little in the kaaba to account for the reverence bestowed upon it, and its insignificance bears witness to the eastern capacity for worshipping the idea for which its symbols stand. this was the sacred temple of abraham and ishmael, therefore its exterior mattered little. mahomet's share in the construction of the kaaba brought him further honour among the kureisch. from this time until the beginning of his mission he lived a quiet, easeful domestic life, interrupted only by mental storms and depressions. he found leisure to meditate and observe, and of this necessarily uneventful time there is little or no mention in the histories. he certainly gained an opportunity of examining somewhat closely the tenets of christianity by the entrance into his household of zeid, a christian slave, cultured and well-informed as to the doctrines of his religion, and his presence doubtless influenced mahomet in the spiritual battles he encountered at a time when as yet he was certain neither of god nor himself. besides zeid another important personage entered mahomet's household, ali, son of abu talib, and future convert and pride of islam, "the lion of the faith." the adoption of ali was mahomet's small recompense to abu talib for his care of him, and the advantages there from to islam were inestimable. ali was no statesman, but he was an indomitable fighter, with whose aid mahomet founded his religion of the sword. in such quiet manner mahomet passed the years immediately preceding the discovery of his mission, and as religious doubts and fears alternated in him with fervour and hopefulness, so signs were not wanting of a spirit of inquiry found abroad in arabia, discontented with the old religions, seeking for a clearer enthusiasm and withheld from its goal. legends gather round the figures of four inquirers who are reputed to have come to mahomet for enlightenment, and the story is but the primitive device of rendering concrete and material all those vague stirrings of the communal spirit towards a more convincing conception of the world-- legends that embody ideas in personalities, mainly because their language has no words for the expression of the abstract, and also that, clothed in living garments, they may capture the hearts of men. the time for the coming of a prophet and a teacher could not be long delayed, and a foreboding of his imperious destiny, dark with war and aflame with god's judgment, had already begun to steal across mahomet's hesitant soul. chapter v inspiration "recite thou in the name of thy lord who created, yan, who hath made man from clots of blood, recite thou, for thy lord, he is most bounteous." _the kuran_. the mental growth by which mahomet attained the capacity of prophet and ruler will always have spread about it a misty veil, wherein strange shapes and awful visions are dimly discerned. did his soul face the blankness that baffles and entices the human spirit with any convictions, the gradual products of thought and experience, or was it with an unmeaning chaos within him that he stumbled into faith and evolved his own creed? his knowledge of christianity and judaism undoubtedly helped to foster in him his central idea of the indivisibility of god. but how was this faith wrought out into his conception of himself as the prophet of his people? it is impossible for any decision to be made as to the mainspring of his beliefs, except in the light of his character and development of mind. he was passionate and yet practical, holding within himself the elements of seer and statesman, prophet and law-giver, as yet doubtful of the voice which inspired him, but spurred on in his quest for the truth by an intensity of spirit that carried him forward resistlessly as soon as conviction came to him. the man who imposed his dauntless determination upon a whole people, who founded a system of religious and social laws, who moved armies to fight primarily for an idea, could not lightly gain is right to exhort and control. his nature is almost cataclysmic, and once filled with the fire of the lord, he bursts forth among his fellow-men "with the right hand striking," to use his own vivid metaphor, but before this evidence of power has come an agonising period of doubt. traces of his mental turmoil are seen abundantly in his physical nature. we read of his exhaustion after the inspiration comes, and of "the terrific suras" that took their toll of his vitality afterwards. the mission imposed upon him was no light burden, and demanded of him strength both of body and mind. the successive stages by which he became convinced of his divine call are only detailed in the histories with the concurrence of the supernatural; he sees material visions and dreams fervent dreams. with the ecstacy of heaven about him, according to legend, he holds converse with the angel gabriel, arch-messenger of god, and the divine injunctions must be translated into mental enthusiasms before the true evolution of mahomet's mind can be dimly conceived. when he was forty he sought solitude more constantly than formerly. there were deeps in his own nature of which he was only now becoming aware. a restlessness of mind beset him, and continually he retired to a cave at the base of mount hira, where he could meditate undisturbed. this mountain, hallowed for ever by the followers of islam, is now called somewhat ironically, considering its natural barrenness, jebel nur, the mountain of light. mahomet was of a nervous temperament, the nature that suffers more intensely through its imaginative foresight than in actual experience. he was of those who see keenly and feel towards their beliefs. his faith in god produced none of that self-abnegating rapture to be found in the devotions of many early christians; it was a personal passion, sweeping up his whole nature within its folds, and rousing the enfolded not to meditation but to instant action. through all the legendary accounts there beats that excitement that tells of a mind wrought to the highest pitch, afire with visions, alive with desire. then, when his fervour attained its zenith, gabriel came to him in sleep with a silken cloth in his hand covered with writing and said to mahomet: "read!" "i cannot read." then the angel wrapped the cloth about him and once more commanded, "read!" again came the answer, "i cannot read," and again the angel covered him, still repeating, "read!" then his mouth was opened and he read the first sura of the kuran: "recite thou in the name of thy lord who created thee," and when he awoke it seemed to him that these words were graven upon his heart. mahomet went immediately up into the mountain, and there gabriel appeared to him waking and said: "thou art god's prophet, and i am gabriel." the archangel vanished, but mahomet remained rooted to the spot, until khadijah's messengers found him and brought him to her. the simple story of mahomet's call to the prophetic office from the lips of the old chroniclers is peculiarly fragrant, but it leaves us in considerable doubt as to the real means by which he attained his faith and was emboldened to preach to his people. it is certain that he had no idea at the time when he received his inspiration, of the ultimate political role in store for him. he was now simply the man who warned the people of their sins, and who insisted upon the sovereignty of one god. very little argument is ever used by mahomet to spread his faith. he spoke a plain message, and those who disregarded it were infallibly doomed. he saw himself in the forefront as the man who knew god, and strove to win his countrymen to right ways of life; he did not see himself at the head of earthly armies, controlling the nucleus of a mighty and united arabia, and until his flight from mecca to medina he regarded himself merely as a religious teacher, the political side of his mission growing out of the exigencies of circumstance, almost without his own volition. his exaltation upon the mountain of light soon faded into uncertainty and fearfulness before the influence of the world's harsh wisdom. mahomet entered upon a period of hesitation and dreariness, doubtful of himself, of his vision, and of the divine favour. his soul voyaged on dark and troubled seas and gazed into abysmal spaces. at one time he would receive the light of the seven heavens within his mind, and feel upon him the fervour of the hebrew prophets of old, and again he would call in vain upon god, and, and seeking, would be flung back upon a darkness of doubt more terrible than the lightnings of divine wrath. in all those exaltations and glooms khadijah had part; she comforted his distress and shared his elation until the sorrowful period of the fattrah, the pause in the revelation, was past. the period is variously estimated by the chroniclers, and there are many nebulous and spurious legends attaching to it, but whatever its length it seems certain that mahomet gained within it a fuller knowledge of jewish and christian tenets, probably through zeid, the christian slave in his household, and most accounts agree that the fattrah was ended by the revelation of the sura entitled "the enwrapped," the mandate of the angel gabriel: "o thou enwrapped in thy mantle, arise and warn!" the explanation of the term "enwrapped in thy mantle" shows the prevailing belief in good and evil spirits characteristic of mahomet's time. wandering on the mountain, he saw in a vision the angel gabriel seated on a throne between heaven and earth, and afraid before so much glory, ran to khadijah, beseeching her to cover him with his mantle that the evil spirits whom he felt so near him might be avoided. thereupon gabriel came down to earth and revealed the sura of admonition. this supernatural command would appear to be the translation into the imaginative world of the peace of mind that descended upon mahomet, and the conviction as to the reality of his inspiration following on a time of despair. the command fell to one who was peculiarly fitted by nature and circumstance to obey it effectively. to mahomet, who knew somewhat the chaos of religions around him--pagan, jewish, and christian struggling together in unholy strife--the conception of god's unity, once it attained the strength of a conviction, necessarily resolved itself into an admonitory mission. "there is no god but god," therefore all who believe otherwise have incurred his wrath; hasten then to warn men of their sins. so his conviction passed out of the region of thought into action and received upon it the stamp of time and place, becoming thereby inevitably more circumscribed and intense. from now onwards the course of mahomet's life is rendered indisputably plainer by our possession of that famous and much-maligned document, the kuran, virtually a record of his inspired sayings as remembered and written down by his immediate successors. apart from its intrinsic value as the universally recognised vehicle of the islamic creed, it is of immense importance as a commentary upon mahomet's career. when allowance has been made for its numberless contradictions and repetitions, it still remains the best means of tracing mahomet's mental development, as well as the course of his religious and political dominance. although the original document was compiled regardless of chronology, expert scholarship has succeeded in determining the order of most of it contents, and if we cannot say the precise sequence of every sura, at least we can classify each as belonging to one of the two great periods, the meccan and medinan, and may even distinguish with comparative accuracy three divisions within the former. after mahomet's mandate to preach and warn his fellow-men of their peril, the suras continue intermittently throughout his life. those of the first period, when his mission was hardly accepted outside his family, bear upon them the stamp of a fiery nature, obsessed with its one idea; but behind the wild words lies a store of energy as yet undiscovered, which will find no fulfilment but in action. that zeal for an idea which caused the kuran to be, expressed itself at first in words alone, but later was translated into political action, and it is the emptying of this vitality from his words into his works that is responsible for the contrasting prose of the later suras. but no lack of poetic fire is discernible in the suras immediately following his call to the prophetic office, and from them much may be gathered as to the depth and intensity of his faith. they are almost strident with feeling; his sentences fall like blows upon an anvil, crude in their emphasis, and so swiftly uttered forth from the flame of his zeal, that they glow with reflected glory: "say, he is god alone, god the eternal, he begetteth not and is not begotten, there is none like to him." "verily, we have caused it (the kuran) to descend on the night of power, and who shall teach thee what the night of power is? the night of power excelleth a thousand months, therein descend the angels and the spirit by permission of the lord." "by the snorting chargers, by those that breathe forth sparks of fire and those that rush to the attack at morn! and stir therein the dust aloft, cleaving their midmost passage through a host! truly man is to his lord ungrateful, and of this is himself a witness; and truly he is covetous in love of this world's good. ah, knoweth he not, that when what lies in the grave shall be bared and that brought forth that is in men's breasts, verily in that day shall the lord be made wise concerning them?" after the first fire of prophetic zeal had illuminated him, mahomet devoted himself to the conversion of his own household and family. khadijah was the first convert, as might have been expected from the close interdependence of their minds. she had become initiated into his prophetship almost equally with her husband, and it was her courage and firm trust in his inspiration that had sustained him during the terrible period of negation. zeid, the christian slave who had helped to mould mahomet's thought by his knowledge of christian doctrine, was his next convert, but both of these were eclipsed by the devotion to mahomet's gospel of ali, the future warrior, son of abu talib, and one destined to play a foremost part in the foundation of islam. mahomet's gospel then penetrated beyond the confines of his household with the conversion of his friend abu bekr, a successful merchant living in the same quarter of the town as the prophet. abu bekr, whose honesty gained him the title of al-siddick (the true), and ali were by far the most important of mahomet's "companions." they helped to rule islam during mahomet's lifetime, and after his death took successive charge of its fortunes. ali was too young at this time to manifest his qualities as warrior and ruler, but abu bekr was of middle age, and his nature remained substantially the same as at the inception of islam. he was of short stature, with deep-seated eyes and a thoughtful, somewhat undecided mouth, by nature he was shrewd and intelligent, but possessed little of that original genius necessary to statesmanship in troublous times. his mild, sympathetic character endured him to his fellow-men, and his calm reasonableness earned the gratitude of all who confided in him. he was never ruled by impulse, and of the fire burning almost indestructibly within mahomet he knew nothing. it is strange to consider what agency brought these two dissimilar souls into such close relationship. for the rest of his life mahomet found a never-failing friend in abu bekr, and the attachment between the two, apart from their common fount of zeal for islam, must have been such as is inspired by those of contrasting nature for each other. mahomet saw a kindly, almost commonplace man, in whose sweet sanity his troubled soul could find a little peace. he was burdened at times with over-resolve that ate into his mind like acid. in abu bekr he could find the soothing influence he so often needed, and after the death of khadijah this friend might be said in a measure to take her place. abu bekr, on the other hand, revered his leader as a man of finer, subtler stuff than himself, more alive to the virtue of speed, filled with a greater daring and a profounder impulse than he was. mahomet, in common with most men meriting the title of great, had a capacity for lifelong friendships as well as the power of inspiring belief and devotion in others. through abu bekr five converts were gained for the new religion, of whom othman is the most important. his part in the establishment of the islamic dominion was no slight one, but at the present he remains simply one of the early enthusiastic converts to mahomet's evangel, while he enwound himself into the fortunes of his teacher by marrying rockeya, one of mahomet's daughters. the conversion to islam proceeded slowly but surely among the kureisch; several slaves were won over, but at the end of four years only forty converts had been made, among whom, however, was bilal, a slave, who later became the first muaddzin, or summoner to prayer. during these four years the suras of the first meccan period were revealed, and enough may be gathered from them to judge both the limits of mahomet's preaching and the attitude towards it on the part of the kureisch. mahomet was content at this time to emphasise in eloquent, almost incoherent words his central theme--the unity of god. he calls upon the people to believe, and warns them of their fate if they refuse. the suras indicate the attitude of indifference borne by the kureisch towards mahomet's mission at its inception. wherever there are denunciatory suras, they are either for the chastisement of unbelievers or, as in sura cxi, in revenge for the refusal of his relations to believe in his inspiration. prophecies of bliss in store for the faithful are frequent, and of the corresponding woe for unbelievers. the whole is permeated with the spirit of the poet and visionary, a poetry tumultuous but strong, a vision lurid but inspiring. the little band of converts under guidance of this fierce rhetoric became united and strengthened in its faith, prepared to defend it, and to spread it as far as possible throughout their kindred. about three years after mahomet's receipt of his mission, in a.d. , an important change came over the attitude of the kureisch towards islam. hitherto they had jeered or remained indifferent. mahomet's uncles, abu talib and abu lahab, represented the two poles of kureischite feeling. abu talib remained untouched by the new faith, but his kindly nature did not allow him to adopt any severe measures for its repression, and, moreover, mahomet was of his kindred, and he was willing to afford him protection in case of need. abu lahab jeered openly, and manifested his scorn by definite speeches. but as the bands of converts grew, the kureisch found it undesirable to maintain their indifferent attitude. they began to persecute, first refusing to allow the believers to meet, and then seeking them out individually to endeavour to torture them into recanting. from this time dates the creation of one of the foremost principles in the creed of the prophet. if a believer is in danger of torture, he may dissemble his faith to save himself from infamy and death. though in striking contrast to the christian tenets, this exhortation was neither cowardly nor imprudent. in his eyes reckless courting of death would not avail the propagation of islam, and though a man might die to some good service on the battlefield, smiting his enemies, no wise end could be served when his death would merely gratify the lust of his murderers. the persecution continued in spite of mahomet's attempts to withstand it, until he was forced to go to abu talib for protection. this was accorded willingly, on account of kindred ties, but there can have been little cordiality between uncle and nephew on the subject, for mahomet was more than ever determined upon the maintenance and growth of his principles. still the conversions to islam continued, and the persecution of its adherents, until there came to the kureisch a sharp intimation that this new sect arisen in their midst was not an ephemeral affair of a few weeks, but a prolonged endeavour to pursue the ideal of a single god. in the first company of muslim converts broke from the confined religious area of mecca and journeyed into abyssinia, where they could practice their faith in peace. this move convinced the kureisch of the sincerity of their opponents, for they were almost strong enough to merit the name, and compelled them to believe a little in the force lying behind this strange manifestation of religious zeal in their midst. mahomet does not at this time seem to have been definitely ranged against the kureisch. he was still on negotiable terms with them, and they were a little distrustful of his capacity and ignorant of his power. the stages by which he developed from a discredited citizen, obsessed by one idea, into a political opponent worthy of their best steel and bravest men was necessarily gradual, and indeed the prophet himself had no knowledge of the role marked out for him by his own personality and the destinies of arabia. the cause of islam stood as yet in parlous condition, half-formulated, unwieldy, awaiting the moulding hand of persecution to develop it into a political and social system. chapter vi severance "do you see al-lat and al-ozza and manat the third idol beside? these are the exalted females, and truly their intercession is to be expected."--_the kuran_ (last two lines excised later by mahomet). the little band of converts, driven by the kureisch to seek peace and freedom in abyssinia, remained for two years in their country of refuge, but in returned to mecca for reasons which have never been fully explained, though it is easy, in the light of future events, to discover the motive behind such a move. mahomet was not yet convinced of the impossibility of compromise, neither was the powerful party among the kureisch utterly indifferent to mahomet's ancestry as a member of the house of hashim, and his position as the husband of khadijah. he had been respected among men for his uprightness before he affronted their prejudices by scorning their gods. his power was daily becoming a source of strife and faction within the city, and the kureisch were not averse from attempting to come to terms. mahomet for his part, as far as the scanty evidence of history unfolds his state of mind, seems to have been almost desperately anxious to effect an understanding with the kureisch. his cause still journeyed by perilous ways, and at the time hopes of his future achievement were apparently dependent upon the goodwill of the dominant meccan party. the story runs that the chief men of mecca were discussing within the kaaba the affairs of the city. mahomet came to them and recited sura liii--the star--a fulgent psalm in praise of god and heavenly joys. when he came to the verses: "do you see al-lat and al-ozza and manat the third beside," he inserted: "verily these are the exalted females, and truly their intercession may be expected." they kureisch were rejoiced at this homage to their deities, and speedily welcomed mahomet's change of front; but he, disquieted, returned moodily to his house, where gabriel appeared to him in stern rebuke: "thou hast repeated before the people words i never gave to thee." and mahomet, whether conscience-stricken by his lapse from the muslim faith, or convinced that compromise with the kureisch was impossible and also undesirable in face of his growing power, quickly repudiated the whole affair, which had been unquestionably born of impulse, or possibly an adventurous mood that prompted him "to see what would happen" if he ministered to the prejudices of the kureisch. it must be acknowledged, however, that repentance for his homage to heathen idols was the mainspring of his recantation, for the period immediately following was one of hardship and persecution for him, and his transitory lapse injured his cause appreciably with the brethren of his faith. the attempt was honourably made, and only failed by mahomet's swift realisation that his acknowledgment of lat and ozza as spirits sanctioned the worship of their images by his fellow-citizens, and this his stern monotheism could not for a moment entertain. the muslim, with numbers that increased very slowly, were harried afresh by the kureisch as soon as mahomet had withdrawn his concessions, and most of them were forced at length to return to abyssinia. his pathetic little band, wandering from city to city, doubtful of ever attaining security and uncertain of its ultimate destiny, was the prototype in its vagrancy of that larger and confident band which cast aside its traditions and the city of its birth, headed by a spirit heroic in disaster and supreme in faith, to find its goal in the foundation of a new order for arabia. chief among them were othman and rockeya, and these were the only ones who returned to mecca, for the rest remained in abyssinia until after the migration to medina, in fact until after mahomet had carried out the expedition to kheibar. left without any supporters within the city, mahomet was exposed to all the vituperations and insults which his recent refusal of compromise had brought him. the kureisch now directed all their energies towards persuading abu talib to repudiate his nephew. if once this could be effected, the kureisch would have a free hand to pursue their desire to exterminate the muslim and to overthrow the prophet's power. he was immune from bodily attack, chiefly because of abu talib's position in the city as nominal head of the house of hashim. no kureisch could run the risk of alienating so great a number of fellow-citizens, and a personal attack upon abu talib's nephew could but have that result. dark and stormy as the muslim destiny appeared during this period of transition from religious to political conceptions, nevertheless it was now enriched by the conversion of two of the most influential characters upon its later fortunes--hamza and omar. many stories have been woven round their discovery of the truth of islam, and by reading between the lines later commentators may discover the forces at work to induce them to take this dubious step. it is beyond question that mahomet's personality was the moving factor in the conversion of each, for each relates an incident which serves peculiarly to illustrate the prophet's magnetism. hamza, "the lion of god," and a son of abd-al-muttalib in his old age, was accosted by a slave girl as he passed on his way through the city she told him breathlessly that she had seen "the lord mahomet" insulted and reviled by abu jahl, and being unprotected and alone, he could only suffer in silence. hamza listened to her story with indignation, and determined to revenge the insult to his uncle and foster-brother, for by the ties of kinship they were one. in the kaaba he publicly declared his allegiance to islam, and revenged upon abu jahl the injuries he had inflicted upon his kinsman. hamza never repented of his championship of mahomet. the adventurous fortunes of islam satisfied his warrior-spirit, and under mahomet's guidance he helped to control and direct its military zeal, until it had perforce established its religion through the sword. mahomet's personal magnetism had drawn him irresistibly to the religion he upheld so steadfastly, and in the face of revilement and danger. omar was mahomet's bitterest enemy, and had proved his ability by his persistent opposition to islam. he was feared by all the company of religionists that had taken up their precarious quarters near mahomet. he was visiting the house of his sister fatima when he heard murmurs of someone reciting. he inquired what it was, and learned with anger that it was the sacred book of the abhorred muslim sect. his sister and zeid, her husband, tremblingly confessed their adherence to islam, and awaited in terror the probable result. omar was about to fall upon zeid, but his wife interposed and received the blow herself. at the sight of his sister's blood omar paused and then asked for the volume, so that he might judge the message for himself, for he was a writer of no mean standing. fatima insisted that he should first perform ablutions, so that his touch might not defile the sacred book. then omar took it and read it, and the strength and beauty of it smote him. he felt upon him the insistence of a divine command, and straightway asked to be led before mahomet that he might unburden his conviction to him. he girt on his sword and came to the prophet's house. as he rapped upon the door a companion of mahomet's looked through the lattice, and at the sight of omar with buckled sword fled in despair to his master. but mahomet replied: "let him enter; if he bring good tidings we will reward him; if he bring bad news, we will smite him, yea, with his own sword." so the door was opened and mahomet advanced, asking what was his mission. omar answered: "o prophet of god, i am come to confess that i believe in allah and in his prophet." "allah akbar!" (god is great) replied mahomet gravely, and all the household knew that omar had become one of themselves. the conversion of omar was infinitely important to islam, and the adherence of this impetuous and dauntless mind was directly due to the strength and steadfastness of mahomet's faith in himself and his message. omar was an influential personage among the kureisch, quick-tempered, but keen as steel, and rejoicing in strife; he stands out among the many warrior-souls to whom islam gave the opportunity of tasting in its fullness "the splendour of spears." mahomet had indeed gathered around him a group of men who were remarkable for their character and influence upon islam. ali, the warrior par excellence, abu bekr, statesman and counsellor, othman the soldier, hamza and omar, are not merely blind followers, but forceful personalities, contributing each in his own manner towards those assets of endurance, leadership, and unshaken faith which ensured the continuance of the medinan colony and its ultimate victory over the kureisch. omar's conversion did not have the effect of softening the kureischite fury. on the contrary, the event seems to have stimulated them to further persecution, as if they had some foreshadowings of their waning power, and had determined with a desperate energy to quell for ever, if it might be, this discord in their midst. their next step was to try an introduce the political element into this conflict of faiths by putting a ban upon the house of hashim and confining it to abu talib's quarter of sheb. this act, instigated mainly by abu jahl, who now becomes prominent as the most terrible of mahomet's persecutors, had a very notable effect upon his position as well as upon the qualities of the cause for which his party was contending. for the first time the political aspect of islam obtrudes itself. mahomet's followers are now not only the opponents of the kureischite faith and the enemies of their idols, but they are also their political foes, and have drawn the whole house of hashim into faction against the ruling power--the omeyyad house. moreover, mahomet and his companions, now shut up and almost besieged within a definite quarter of the city, were precluded from all attempts to spread their faith. mahomet had secured his little company of followers, but cut off from the rest of the city his cause remained stationary, neither gaining nor losing adherents, during the years - . the suras of this period show some of the discouragement he felt at the time, but through them all beats a note of endurance and confidence: god is continually behind his cause, therefore that cause will prevail against all obstacles. mahomet has become more familiar with the jewish scriptures, and many of the suras are recapitulations of the lives of jewish heroes, especial preference being given to abraham as mythical founder of his race, and to lot as the typical example of one righteous man sent to warn the iniquitous. the style has certainly matured, and in so doing has lost much of its primal fire. it is still stirring and vibrant, but passages of almost bald narrative are interposed, shadows upon the shining floor of his original zeal. he has become increasingly reiterative, too,--a quality easily attained by those who have but one message, in this case a message of warning and exhortation, and are feverishly anxious to brand its urgency upon the hearts of their fellow-men. confined within so limited an area, his energy recoiled upon itself, and the despondency that so easily besets men of action when that necessity is denied them, overcame his mind. only at the yearly pilgrimage was he able to gain a hearing from his meccan brethren, and then, says the chronicler bitterly, "none would believe." the hashim could not trade or intermarry with any outside their clan, and there seemed no chance of circumstances removing their disabilities. mahomet's hopes of embracing all mecca in his faith wavered and fled, until it seemed as if allah no longer protected his chosen. but after two years of negation and impotence, an end to the persecution of the muslim was in sight, and in the ban was removed. legend has it that when the chiefs of the kaaba went to look upon the document they found it devoured by ants, and took this as a sign of the displeasure of their gods. the ban was thus removed by supernatural agency when its prolongation would have meant final disaster for mahomet. in the light of later knowledge it is evident that the removal of the ban was the result of the exertions of abu talib, and it was owing to his high reputation among the kureisch that they pardoned his turbulent and blasphemous nephew. at the end of two years also, the muslim were considerably weakened, both in staying powers and reputation. they were now allowed to go freely in the city, and the immediate prospect seemed certainly brighter for mahomet when there fell the greatest blow that could have afflicted his sensitive spirit. khadijah, his companion and sustainer through so many troublous years, died in , having borne with him all his revilings and discouragements, his source of strength even when there appeared no prospect of the abatement of his hardships, much less for the success of his cause. mahomet's grief was too profound for the passing shadow of it even to darken the pages of the kuran. he paid her the compliment of silence; but her memory was continually with him, even when he had taken many fairer women to wife. ayesha, in all the insolence of beauty, scoffed at khadijah's age and lack of comeliness: "am i not dearer to thee than she was?" "no, by allah!" cried mahomet; "for she believed when no one else believed." it was her strength of character and sweetness of mind that impelled him to utter the amazing words--amazing for his time and environment, seventh-century arabia--"women are the twin-halves of men." but fortune or allah had not finished the "strong affliction" whereby mahomet was forced to cast off from his moorings and venture into strange and perilous seas. five weeks after the death of his wife came the death of his uncle, abu talib. if the first had been a catastrophe affecting his courage and quietude of mind, this was calculated to crush both himself and his companions. abu talib was well loved by mahomet, who manifested throughout his life the strongest capacity for friendship. but more important than the personal grief was the loss of the one man whose efforts bridged over the widening gulf between himself and the kureisch. as such, his death was irreparable damage to mahomet's safety from their hostilities. abu lahab, it is true, touched a little by the sorrows crowding so thickly upon his nephew, protected him for a time, but very soon withdrew his support and joined the opposition. ranged against abu lahab and abu jahl, with their influential following, and lacking the support hitherto provided by abu talib, mahomet perceived that a crisis was fast approaching. his band was too numerous to be ignored or even tolerated by the kureisch, but against such odds as mecca's most powerful citizens, mahomet was too wise to attempt to resist. there seemed no other way but the withdrawal of his little concourse to such place of safety as would enable them to strengthen themselves and prepare for the inevitable struggle for supremacy. no more conversions of importance had taken place since omar's and hamza's allegiance to islam, and now three years had passed. mahomet felt increasingly the need for their exodus from the city of his birth. it is not evident from the chroniclers that he had any definite political aims whatever when he first considered the plan of evacuation. his motive was simply to obtain peace in which he might worship in his own fashion, and win others to worship with him. with this idea in mind he cast about for a suitable resting-place for his small flock, and discovered what he imagined his goal in taif, a village south-east of mecca, upon the eastern slopes of jhebel kora. taif is situated on the fertile side of this mountain range, the side remote from the sea. it stands amid a wealth of gardens, and is renowned for its fruits and flowers. thither in mahomet set out, filled with the knowledge of his invincible mission, strong in his power to conquer and persuade. zeid, his slave and foster-child, was his only companion, and together they had resolved to convert taif to the one true religion. but their adventure was doomed to failure, and though we have necessarily brief descriptions of it, all mahomet's biographers naturally passing quickly over so painful a scene, there is sufficient evidence to show how really disastrous their venture proved. the chief men of the city remained unconvinced, and at last the populace, in one of those blind furies that attack crowds at the sight of impotence, egged on the rabble to stone them. chased from the city, sore, bleeding and despairing, mahomet found shelter in one of the hill gardens of the locality. there he was solaced with fruit by some kindly owners of the place, and there he remained, meditating in profound dejection at his failure, but still with supreme trust in the support of his god. "o lord, i seek refuge in the light of thy countenance; it is thine to cleanse away the darkness, and to give peace both for this world and the next." in this valley of nakhla, too, so runs the tale, he was consoled by genii, who refreshed him, after the fashion of angels upholding the weary prophets in the wilderness. mahomet was now in dire straits; he could not return to mecca at once, because the object of his taif journey was known; as taif had spurned him, so he was forced to halt in hira until he obtained the protection of mutaim, an influential man in mecca, and after some difficulty made his way back to the city, discredited and solitary, except for his former followers. for some months he rested in obscurity and contempt at mecca, gaining none to his cause, but still filled with the fervent conviction of his future triumph, which neither wavered nor faltered. the divine fire which upheld him during the period of his violent persecution burned within his soul, and never was his steadfastness of character and faith in himself and his mission more fully manifested than during these despondent months. he now began to seek in greater measure the society of women, although the consuming sexual life of his later years had hardly awakened. while khadijah was with him he remained faithful to her, but her bright presence once withdrawn, he was impelled by a kind of impassioned seeking to the quest for her substitute, and not finding it in one woman, to continue his search among others. he now married sawda, a nonentity with a certain physical charm but no personality, and sued for the hand of ayesha, the small daughter of abu bekr. mahomet at this time was not blessed with many riches. his frugal, anxious life led him to perform many small duties of his household for himself. his food was coarse and often scanty, and he lived among his followers as one of themselves. it is no small tribute to his singleness of mind and lofty character that in the "dreary intercourse of daily life," lived in that primitive, communal fashion, which admits of no illusions and scarcely any secrets, he retained by the force of personality the reverence of the faithful, and ever in this hour of defeat and negation remained their leader and lord--the symbol, in fact, of their loyalty to allah, and their supreme belief in his guidance and care. chapter vii the chosen city medina, city of exile and despairing beginnings, destined to achieve glory by difficult ways, only to be eclipsed finally by its mightier neighbour and mistress, became, rather by chance than by design, the scene of mahomet's struggles for temporal power and his ruthless wielding of the sword for god and islam. the city lies north-east of mecca, on the opposite side of the mountain spur that skirts the eastern boundary. always weakly peopled, it remained from immemorial time an arena of strife, for it was on the borderland, the boundary of several tribes, and was far enough north for the outer waves of syrian disturbances to fling their varying tides upon its shores--a meagre city, always fiercely at civil warfare, impotent, unfertile. in the dark days of judaea's humiliation at the hands of titus, two jewish tribes, the kainukua and the koreitza, outcast and desolate, even as they had been warned in their time of dominion, lighted upon medina in desperate search for a dwelling-place and a respite from persecution, and forthwith took possession of the little hill-girt town. they settled there, driving out or conciliating the former inhabitants, until in the fourth century their tenuous prosperity was disturbed by the inroads of two bedouin tribes, the beni aus and the beni khazraj. the desert was wide, and these tribes were familiar with its manifold opportunities and devious ways. against such a foe, who swooped down suddenly upon the city, plundered and then escaped into the limitless unknown, the jews had no chance of reprisal. before long the beni aus and khazraj had subjugated the jewish communities, and their dominion in medina was only weakened by their devastating quarrels among themselves. the city therefore offered a peculiar opening for the teaching of islam within it. its religious life indeed was varied and chaotic. jews, arabian idolaters, immigrants from christian syria, torn by schisms, thronged its public places, and this confusion of faiths sharpened the religious and debating instincts of its people. the ground was thus broken up for the reception of the new creed of one god and of his messenger, who had already divided mecca into believers and heretics, and who was spoken of in the city with that awe that attaches itself to distant marvels. intercourse with mecca was chiefly carried on at the time of the yearly pilgrimage; the greater pilgrimage, only undertaken during dzul hijj, corresponding then to our march, and in dzul hijj, , came a band of strangers over the hills, along the toilsome caravan route to the kaaba, the goal of their intentions, the shrine of all their prayers. they performed all the necessary ceremonies at mecca, and were proceeding to mina, a small valley just east of mecca, for the completion of their sacred duties, when they were accosted by mahomet. the prophet was despondent and sceptical of his power to persuade, though his belief in allah's might never wavered. he had failed so far to produce any decisive impression upon the meccan people, but might there not be another town in arabia which would receive his message? the little band of pilgrims seemed to him sent in answer to his self-distrust, and his failure at taif as eclipsed by this sudden success. the caravan returned to its native city, and there remained little for mahomet to do except to wait for the arrival of next year's pilgrims, and to keep shining and ambient the flame of his religious fervour. he remained in mecca virtually on sufferance, and rapidly recognised the uselessness of attempting any further conversions. his hopes were now definitely set on medina, and to this end he seems to devoted himself more than ever to the perusal and interpretation of the jewish scriptures. the portion of the kuran written at this time contains little else than bible stories told and retold to the point of weariness. lot, of course, is the characteristic figure; but we also have the life stories of abraham, moses, jonah, joseph, and many others. the style has suffered a marked diminution in poetic qualities. it has become reiterative and even laboured. he continues his practice of alluding to current events, which at medina he was to pursue to the extent of making the kuran a kind of spasmodic history of his time, as well as an elementary text-book of law and morality. in one of the suras--"the cow"--mahomet makes first mention of that comfortable doctrine of "cancelling," by which later verses of the kuran cancel all previous revelations dealing with the same subject if these prove contradictory: "whatever verses we cancel or cause thee to forget, we bring a better or its like; knowest thou not that god hath power over all things?" there is not much record in the kuran of the influence of christian thought upon islam. we have a few stories of elizabeth and mary, and scattered allusions to the despised "prophet of the jews." but the great body of christian thought, its central dogmas of incarnation and redemption, passed mahomet entirely by, for his mind was practical and not speculative, and indeed to himself no less than to his followers the fundamentals of christianity were of necessity too philosophic to be realised with any intensity of belief. the christian virtues of meekness and resignation, too, might be respected in the abstract--passages in the kuran and tradition assure us they were--but they were so utterly antagonistic to the fierce, free nature of the arab that they never entered into his religious life. mahomet revered the founder of christianity, and placed him with john in the second heaven of his immortals, but though he is secure among the teachers of the world, he can never compete with the omnipotence and glory of the prophet. during the period of mahomet's life immediately preceding his departure to medina, we have his personal appearance described in detail by ali. he is a man of medium stature, with a magnificent head and a thick, flowing beard. his eyes were black and ardent, his jaw firm but not prominent. he looked an upstanding man of open countenance, benignant and powerful, bearing between his shoulders the sign of his divine mission. he had great patience, says ali, and "in nowise despised the poor for their poverty, nor honoured the rich for their possessions. nor if any took him by the hand to salute him was he the first to relinquish his grasp." he lived openly among his disciples, holding frequent converse with them, mending his own clothes and even shoes, a frugal liver and a fervent preacher of the flaming faith within him. he became at this time betrothed to ayesha, the splendid woman, now just a merry child, who was to keep her reigning place in his affections until the end of his life. daughter of abu bekr, she united in herself for mahomet both policy and attractiveness, for by this betrothal he became of blood-kin with abu bekr, and thereby strengthened his friend's allegiance. the union marks the inauguration of his policy of marriage alliances by which he bound the supporters of his faith more closely to him, either through his own marriage with their daughters, or the bestowal of his offspring upon them. ayesha was lovely and imperious, with a luxurious but shrewd nature, and her counsel was always sought by mahomet. other women appeared frequently like comets in his sky, flamed for a little into brightness and disappeared into conjugal obscurity, but ayesha's star remained fixed, even if it was transitorily eclipsed by the brilliance of a new-comer. sexual relations held for mahomet towards the end of his life a peculiar potency, born of his intense energetic nature. he sought the society of woman because of the mental clarity that for him followed any expression of emotion. he was one of those men who must express--the artist, in fact; but an artist who used the medium of action, not that of literature, painting, or music. "poète, il ne connut que la poésie d'action," and like napoleon, his introspection was completely overshadowed by his consuming energy. therefore emotion was to him unconsciously the means by which this immortal energy of mind could be conserved, and he used it unsparingly. ayesha has revealed for us the most intimate details of mahomet's life, and it is due to her that later traditions are enabled to represent him as a man among men. he appears to us fierce and subtle, by turns impetuous and calculating, a man who never missed an opportunity, and gauged exactly the efforts needed to compass any intention. to him "every fortress had its key, and every man his price." he was as keen a politician us he was a religious reformer, but before all he paid homage to the sword, prime artificer in his career of conquest. but in those confidently intimate traditions handed down to us from his immediate entourage, and especially from ayesha, we find him alternately passionate and gentle, wearing his power with conscious authority, mild in his treatment of the poor, terrible to his enemies, autocratic, intolerant, with a strange magnetism that bound men to him. the mystery enveloping great men even in their lifetime, among primitive races, creeps down in these documents to hide much of his personality from us, but his works proclaim his energy and tireless organising powers, even if the mythical, allegoric element predominates in the earlier traditions. the man who undertook and achieved the gigantic task of organising a new social and political as well as religious order may be justly credited with calling forth and centering in himself the vivid imaginations of that most credulous age. the year - passed chiefly in expectation of the greater pilgrimage, when the disciples from medina were to come to report progress and to confirm their faith. the momentous time arrived, and mahomet went almost fearfully to meet the nucleus of his future kingdom in acaba, a valley near mina. but his fears were groundless, for the little party had been faithful to their leader, and had also increased their numbers. they met in secret, and we may picture them a little diffident in so strange a place, ever expectant of the swift descent of the kureisch and their own annihilation. withal they were enthusiastic and confident of their leader. one is irresistibly reminded, in reading of this meeting, of that little outcast band from judea which ultimately prevailed over cæsar imperator through its mighty quality of faith. the accredited words of the first pledge given at acaba are traditionally extant; they combine curiously religious, moral, and social covenants, and assert even at that early stage the headship of the prophet over his servants: "we will not worship any but god; we will not steal, neither will we commit adultery nor kill our children; we will not slander in any wise, nor will we disobey the prophet in anything that is right." the converts then departed to their native city, for mahomet did not deem the time yet ripe enough for migration thither. he possessed the difficult art of waiting until the effectual time should arrive, and there is no doubt that by now he had formed definite plans to set up his rule in medina when there should be sufficient supporters there to guarantee his success. musab, a meccan convert of some learning, was deputed to accompany the medinan citizens to their city and give instruction therein to all who were willing to study the muslim creed. for yet another year mahomet was to possess his soul in patience, but it was with feelings of far greater confidence that he awaited the passing of time. more than ever he became sure of the guiding hand of allah, that pointed indisputably to the stranger city as the goal of his strivings. this city held a goodly proportion of jews, therefore the connection between his faith and that of judaism must be continually emphasised. we have seen how large a space jewish legend and history fill in the contemporary suras of the kuran, and mahomet's friendship with israel increased noticeably during his last two years at mecca. he paid them the honour of taking jerusalem as his kibla, or holy place, to which all believers turn in prayer, and the starting-place for his immortal midnight journey was the sacred city encompassing the temple of the lord. no account of this journey appears except in the traditions crystallized by al bokharil, but there is one short mention of it in the kuran, sura xviii. "glory be to him who carried his servant by night from the sacred temple of mecca to the temple that is more remote, i.e. jerusalem." the vision, however, looms so large in his followers' minds, and exercised so profound an influence over their regard for mahomet, that it throws some light, upon the measure of his ascendancy during his last years at mecca, and establishes beyond dispute the inspired character of his prophetship in the imaginations of the few believers. there have been solemn and wordy disputes by theologians as to whether he made the journey in the flesh, or whether his spirit alone crossed the dread portals dividing our night from the celestial day. he was lying in the kaaba, so runs the legend, when the angel of the lord appeared to him, and after having purged his heart of all sin, carried him to the temple at jerusalem. he penetrated its sacred enclosure and saw the beast borak, "greater than ass, smaller than mule," and was told to mount. the faithful still show the spot at jerusalem where his steed's hoof marked the ground as he spurned it with flying feet. with gabriel by his side, mounted on a beast mighty in strength, mahomet scaled the appalling spaces and came at last to the outer heaven, before the gate that guards the celestial realms. the angel knocked upon the brazen doors and a voice within cried: "who art thou, and who is with thee?" "i am gabriel," came the answer, "and this is mahomet." and behold, the brazen gates that may not be unclosed for mortal man were flung wide, and mahomet entered alone with the angel. he penetrated to the first heaven and saw adam, who interrogated him in the same words, and received the same reply. and all the heavenly hierarchies, even unto the seventh heaven, john and jesus, joseph, enoch, aaron, moses, abraham, acknowledged mahomet in the same words, until the two came to "the tree called sedrat," beyond which no man may pass and live, whose fruits are shining serpents, and whose leaves are great beasts, round which flow four rivers, the nile and the euphrates guarding it without, and within these the celestial streams that water paradise, too wondrous for a name. awed but undaunted, mahomet passed alone beyond the sacred tree, for even the angel could not bear any longer so fierce a glory, and came to al-m'amur, even the hall of heavenly audience, where are seventy thousand angels. he mounted the steps of the throne between their serried ranks, until at the touch of allah's awful hand he stopped and felt its icy coldness penetrate to his heart. he was given milk, wine, or honey to drink, and he chose milk. "hadst thou chosen honey, o mahomet," said allah, "all thy people would be saved, now only a part shall find perfection." and mahomet was troubled. "bid my people pray to me fifty times a day." at the resistless mandate mahomet turned and retraced his steps to the seventh heaven, where dwelt abraham. "the people of the earth will be in nowise constrained to pray fifty times a day. return thou and beg that the number be lessened." so mahomet returned again and again at abraham's command, until he had reduced the number to five, which the father of his people considered was sufficient burden for his feeble subjects to bear. wherefore the five periods set apart for prayer in the muslim faith are proportionately sacred, and with this divine mandate the vision ceased. with his hopes now set on founding an earthly dominion with the help of allah, he had perforce to consider the political situation, and to mature his policy for dealing with it as soon as events proved favourable. the achievements of the persians on the greek frontier had already attracted his attention in ; there is an allusion to the battle and the greek defeat in the kuran, and a vague prophecy of their ultimate success, for mahomet was in sympathy with the greek empire, seeing that, from the point of view of arabia, it was the less formidable enemy. but really the events of such outlying territories only troubled him in regard to medina, for his whole thoughts were centred now upon the chosen city of his dreams. his followers became less aggressive in mecca when they knew that the prophet had the nucleus of a new colony in another city. persecution within mecca therefore died down considerably, and the period is one of pause upon either side, the kureisch watching to see what the next move was to be, mahomet carefully and secretly maturing his plans. during this year there fell a drought upon mecca, followed by a famine, which the devout attributed directly to divine anger at the rejection of the prophet's heavenly message, and which mahomet interpreted as the punishment of god, and this doubtless added to the sum of reasons which impelled him to relinquish his native town. from this time until the hegira, or flight from the city, events in the world of action move but slowly for mahomet. he was careful not to excite undue suspicion among the kureisch, and we can imagine him silent and preoccupied, fulfilling his duties among them, visiting the kaaba, and mingling somewhat coldly with their daily life. still keeping his purpose immutable, he sought to strengthen the faith of his followers for the trials he knew must come. the kuran thus became more important as the mouthpiece of his exhortations. the suras of this time resound with words of encouragement and confidence. he is about to become the leader of a perilous venture in honour of god. the reflex of the expectancy in the hearts of the muslim may be traced in his messages to them. their whole world, as it were, waited breathless, quiet, and tense for the record of the year's achievements in medina, and for the time appointed by god. but how far their leader's actions were the result of painstaking calculations, an insight into the qualities and energies of men, a prevision startling in its range and accuracy, they never suspected; but, serene in their confidence, they held their magnificent faith in the divine guidance and in the inspiration of their prophet. chapter viii the flight to medina "knowest thou not that the dominion of the heavens and of the earth is god's? and that ye have neither patron nor helper save god?"--_the kuran_. the expectancy which burned like revivifying fire in the hearts of the meccan muslim, kindled and nourished by their leader himself, was to culminate at the time of the yearly pilgrimage in . in that month came the great concourse of pilgrims from yathreb to mecca, among them seventy of the "faithful" who had received the faith at medina, headed by their teacher musab and strengthened by the knowledge that they were before long to stand face to face with their prophet. musab had reported to mahomet the success of his mission in the city, and had prepared him for the advent of the little band of followers secured for islam. secrecy was essential, for the muslim from medina were in heart strangers among their own people, in such a precarious situation that any treachery would have meant their utter annihilation, if not at the hands of their countrymen, who would doubtless throw in their lot with the stronger, certainly at the hands of the kureisch, the implacable foes of islam, in whose territory they fearfully were. the rites of pilgrimage were accordingly performed faithfully, though many breathed more freely as they departed for the last ceremony at mina. all was now completed, and the medinan party prepared to return, when mahomet summoned the faithful by night to the old meeting-place in the gloomy valley of akaba. about seventy men and two women of both medinan tribes, the beni khazraj and the beni aus, assembled thus in that barren place, under the brilliant night skies of arabia, to pledge themselves anew to an unseen, untried god and to the service of his prophet, who as yet counted but few among his followers, and whose word carried no weight with the great ones of their world. to this meeting mahomet brought abbas, his uncle, younger son of abd-al-muttalib, a weak and insignificant character, who had endeared himself to mahomet chiefly because of his doglike devotion. he was not a convert, but he revered his energetic nephew too highly and was also too greatly in awe of him to imagine such a thing as treachery. he was in part a guarantee to the khazraj of mahomet's good faith, in part an asset for him against the kureisch, for his family were still influential in mecca. the two made their way from the city unaccompanied, by steep and stony ways, until they came to akaba, and mahomet saw awaiting him that concourse summoned by his persistence and tireless faith--a concourse part of himself, almost his own child, upon which all his hopes were now set. coming thus into that circle of faces, illumined dimly by the torches, which prudence even now urged them to extinguish, he could not but feel some foreshadowing of the mighty future that awaited this little gathering, as yet impotent and tremulous, but bearing within itself the seeds of that loyalty and courage that were to spread "the faith" over half the world. when the greetings were over, abbas stepped forward and spoke, while the lines of dark faces closed around him in earnest scrutiny. "ye men of the beni khazraj, this my kinsmen dwelleth amongst us in honour and safety; his clan will defend him, but he preferreth to seek protection from you. wherefore, ye khazraj, consider the matter well and count the cost." then answered bara, who stood for them in position of chief: "we have listened to your words. our resolution is unshaken. our lives are at the prophet's service. it is now for him to speak." mahomet stepped forward into the circle of their glances, and with the solemnity of the occasion urgent within him recited to them verses of the kuran, whose fire and eloquence kindled those passionate souls into an enthusiasm glowing with a sombre resolve, and prompted them to stake all upon their enterprise. at the end of those tumultuous words he assured them that he would be content if they would pledge themselves to defend him. "and if we die in thy defence, what reward have we?" "paradise!" replied mahomet, exalted, raising his hand in token of his belief in allah and the certitude of his cause. then arose a murmur deep and long, the protestation of loyalty that threatened to rise into triumphant acclamation, but abbas, the fearful of the party, stayed them in dread of spies. so the tumult died down, and bara, taking upon himself the authority of his fellows, stretched forth his hand to mahomet, and with their clasping the second pledge of the akaba was sealed. they broke up swiftly, dreading to prolong their meeting, for danger was all around them and the air heavy with suspected treacheries. and their apprehension was not groundless, for the kureisch had heard of their assembly through some secret messenger, though not until the medinan caravan with its concourse of the faithful and the unbelievers was well on its homeward way across the dreary desert paths which lead to mecca from medina. their wrath was intense, and in fury they pursued it; but either they were ignorant as to which road the party had taken, or the medinans eluded them by greater speed, for they returned disconsolate from the pursuit, having only succeeded in finding two luckless men, one of whom escaped, but the other, sa'd ibn obada, was dragged back to mecca and subjected to much brutality before he ultimately made his escape to his native city. the kureisch were not content with attempting reprisals against medina, or possibly they were enraged because they had effected so little, for they recommenced the persecution of islam at mecca with much violence. from march until april they harassed the believers in their city, imposing restrictions upon them, and in many cases inflicting bodily harm upon mahomet's unfortunate and now defenceless followers. the renewed persecution doubtless gave an added impetus to the prophet's resolve to quit mecca. indeed, the time was fully ripe, and with the prescience that continually characterised him in his role of leader of a religious state, he felt that now the ground was prepared at medina, emigration of the muslim from mecca could not fail to be advantageous to him. the command was given in april , and found immediate popularity, except with a few malcontents who had large interests in their native city. then began the slow removal of a whole colony. the families of abu talib's quarter of mecca tranquilly forsook their birthplace in orderly groups, taking with them their household treasures, until the neighbourhood showed tenantless houses falling into the swift decay accompanying neglect in such a climate, barricaded doors and gaping windows, filled only with an immense feeling of desolation and the blankness which overtakes a city when its humanity has deputed to another abiding place. weeds grew in the deserted streets, and over all lay a fine film of dust, the almost impalpable effort of the desert to merge once more into itself the territory wrung from it by human will. the effect of this emigration upon the kureisch can hardly be estimated. they were amazed and helpless before it; for with their wrath hot against mahomet, it was as if their antagonist had melted into insubstantial vapours to leave them enraged and breathless, pursuing a phantom continually elusive. so silent was the emigration that they were only made aware of it when the quarter was almost deserted. scattered groups of travellers journeying along the desert tracks had evoked no hostilities, and no treachery broke the loyalty to islam at mecca. the kureisch were indeed outwitted, and only became conscious of the subtleties of their antagonist when his plan was accomplished. but in spite of the seemingly favourable situation, the leader tarried because "the lord had not as yet given him command to emigrate." the very natural hesitation of mahomet is only characteristic of him. he knew very well what issues were at stake, and was not anxious to burn his boats rashly; indeed, he bore upon his shoulders at this time all the responsibility of the future of his little flock, who so confidently resigned their fortunes into his hands. if his scheme at medina should fail, he knew that nothing would save him from kureischite fury, and he also felt great reluctance in leaving mecca himself, for at that time it could not but mean the knell of his hopes of gaining his native city to his creed. he must have foreseen his establishment of power in medina, and possibly he had visions of its extension to neighbouring tribes, but he could not have foreseen the humiliation of his native city at his feet, glad at last to receive the faith of one whom she now regarded as the sovereign potentate of arabian territory. and with their friend and guide remained abu bekr and ali--abu bekr because he would not leave his companion in prayer and persecution, and ali because his valour and enthusiasm made him a protector against possible attacks. here was the opportunity for the kureisch. they knew the extent of the emigration, and that abu bekr and ali were the only muslim of importance left except the prophet. they determined to make one last attempt to coerce into submission this fantastic but resolute leader, who possessed in supreme measure the power of winning the faith and devotion of men. tradition has it that mahomet's assassination was definitely planned, and mahomet assuredly thought so too, when he discovered that a man from each tribe had been chosen to visit his home at night. the motive can hardly have been assassination, but doubtless the chiefs were prepared to take rather strong measures to restrain mahomet, and this action finally decided the prophet that delay was dangerous. at this crisis in his fortunes he had two staunch helpers, who did not hesitate to risk their lives in his service, and with them he anticipated his foes. ali was chosen to represent his beloved master before the menaces of the kureisch. mahomet put him into his own bed and arrayed him in his sacred green mantle; then, as legend has it, taking a handful of dust, he recited the sura "ya sin," which he himself reverenced as "the heart of the kuran," and scattering the dust abroad, he called down confusion upon the heads of the unbelievers. with abu bekr he then fled swiftly and silently from the city and made his way unseen to the cave of thaur, a few miles outside its boundaries. around the cave of thaur cluster as many and as beautiful legends as surround the stable at bethlehem. the wild pigeons flew out and in unharmed, screening the prophet by their untroubled presence from the searchings of the kureisch, and a thorn tree spread her branches across the mouth of the cave supporting a spider's frail and glistening web, which was renewed whenever a friend visited the two prisoners to bring food and tidings. here mahomet and abu bekr, henceforward known as the "second of two," remained until the fierceness of the pursuit slackened. asma, abu bekr's daughter, brought them food at sundown, and what news she could glean from the rumours that were abroad, and from the lips of ali. there was very real danger of their surprise and capture, but once more mahomet's magnificent faith in god and his cause never wavered. abu bekr was afraid for his master: "we are but two, and if the kureisch find us unarmed, what chance have we?" "we are but two," replied mahomet, "but god is in the midst a third." he looked unflinchingly to allah for succour and protection, and his faith was justified. his thanksgiving is contained in the kuran: "god assisted your prophet formerly, when the unbelievers drove him forth in company with a second only; when they two were in the cave; when the prophet said to his companion, 'be not distressed; verily god is with us.' and god sent down his tranquillity upon him and strengthened him with hosts ye saw not, and made the word of those who believed not the abased, and the word of god was the exalted." at the end of three days the kureischite search abated, and that night mahomet and abu bekr decided to leave the cave. two camels were brought, and food loaded upon them by asma and her servants. the fastenings were not long enough to tie on the food wallet; wherefore asma tore her girdle in two and bound them round it, so that she is known to this day among the faithful as "she of two shreds." after a prayer to allah in thanks for their safety, mahomet and abu bekr mounted the camels and sallied forth to meet what unknown destiny should await them on the road to medina. they rapidly gained the sea-coast near asfan in comparative safety, secure from the attacks of the kureisch, who would not pursue their quarry so far into a strange country. the kureisch had indeed considerably abated their anger against mahomet. he was now safely out of their midst, and possibly they thought themselves well rid of a man whose only object, from their point of view, was to stir up strife, and they felt that any resentment against either himself or his kin would be unnecessary and not worth their pains. with remarkable tolerance for so revengeful an age, they left the families of mahomet and abu bekr quite free from molestation, nor did they offer any opposition to ali when they found he had successfully foiled them, and he made his way out of the city three days after his leader had quitted it. mahomet and abu bekr journeyed on, two pilgrims making their way, solitary but unappalled, to a strange city, whose temper and disposition they but faintly understood. but evidences as to its friendliness were not wanting, and these were renewed when abu bekr's cousin, a previous emigrant to medina, met them half-way and declared that the city waited in joy and expectation for the coming of its prophet. after some days they crossed the valley of akik in extreme heat, and came at last to coba, an outlying suburb at medina, where, weary and apprehensive, mahomet rested for a while, prudently desiring that his welcome at medina might be assured before he ventured into its confines. his entry into coba savoured of a triumphal procession; the people thronged around his camel shouting, "the prophet; he is come!" mingling their cries with homage and wondering awe, that the divine servant of whom they had heard so much should appear to them in so human a guise, a man among them, verily one of themselves. mahomet's camel stopped at the house of omm kolthum, and there he elected to abide during his stay in coba, for he possessed throughout his life a reverence for the instinct in animals that characterises the eastern races of all time. there, dismounting, he addressed the people, bidding them be of good cheer, and giving them thanks for their joyous welcome: "ye people, show your joy by giving your neighbours the salvation of peace; send portions to the poor; bind close the ties of kinship, and offer up your prayers whilst others sleep. thus shall ye enter paradise in peace." for four days mahomet dwelt in coba, where he had encountered unfailing support and friendship, and there was joined by ali. his memories of coba were always grateful, for at the outset of his doubtful and even dangerous enterprise he had received a good augury. before he set out to medina he laid the foundations of the mosque at coba, where the faithful would be enabled to pray according to their fashion, undisturbed and beneath the favour of allah, and decreed that friday was to be set apart as a special day of prayer, when addresses were to be given at the mosque and the doctrines of islam expounded. even as early as this mahomet felt the mantle of sovereignty descending upon him, for we hear now of the first of those ordinances or decrees by which in later times he rules the lives and actions of his subjects to the last detail. clearly he perceived himself a leader among men, who had it within his power to build up a community following his own dictates, which might by consolidation even rival those already existent in arabia. he was taking command of a weak and factious city, and he realised that in his hands lay its prosperity or downfall; he was, in fact, the arbiter of its fate and of the fate of his colleagues who had dared all with him. but he could not stay long in coba, while the final assay upon the medinans remained to be undertaken, and so we find him on the fourth day of his sojourn making preparations for the entry into the city. it was undertaken with some confidence of success from the messages already sent to coba, and proved as triumphal an entry as his former one. the populace awaited him in expectation and reverence, and hailed him as their prophet, the mighty leader who had come to their deliverance. they surrounded his camel al-caswa, and the camels of his followers, and when al-caswa stopped outside the house of abu ayub, mahomet once more received the beast's augury and sojourned there until the building of the mosque. as al-caswa entered the paved courtyard, mahomet dismounted to receive the allegiance of abu ayub and his household; then, turning to the people, he greeted them with words of good cheer and encouragement, and they responded with acclamations. for seven months the prophet lodged in the house of abu ayub, and he bought the yard where al-caswa halted as a token of his first entry into medina, and a remembrance in later years of his abiding place during the difficult time of his inception. the decisive step had been taken. the die was now cast. it was as if the little fleet of human souls had finally cast its moorings and ventured into the unpathed waters of temporal dominion under the command of one whose skill in pilotage was as yet unknown. many changes became necessary in the conduct of the enterprise, of which not the least was the change of attitude between the leader and his followers. mahomet, heretofore religious visionary and teacher, became the temporal head of a community, and in time the leader of a political state. the changed aspect of his mission can never be over-emphasised, for it altered the tenor of his thoughts and the progress of his words. all the poetry and fire informing the early pages of the kuran departs with his reception at medina, except for occasional flashes that illumine the chronicle of detailed ordinances that the book has now become. this apparent death of poetic energy had crept gradually over the kuran, helped on by the controversial character of the last two meccan periods, when he attempted the conciliation of the jewish element within arabia with that long-sightedness which already discerned medina as his possible refuge. in reality the whole energy of his nature was transmuted from his words to his actions and therein he found his fitting sphere, for he was essentially the doer, one whose works are the expression of his secret, whose personality, in fact, is only gauged by his deeds. as a result of his political leadership, the despotism of his nature, inherent in his conception of god, inevitably revealed itself; he had postulated a being who held mankind in the hollow of his hand, whose decrees were absolute among his subjects; now that he was to found an earthly kingdom under the guidance of allah, the majesty of divine despotism overshadowed its prophet, and enabled him to impose upon a willing people the same obedience to authority which fostered the military idea. we must perforce believe in mahomet's good faith. there is a tendency in modern times to think of him as a man who knowingly played upon the credulity of his followers to establish a sovereignty whereof he should be head. but no student of psychology can support this conception of the prophet of islam. there is a subtle _rapprochement_ between leader and people in all great movements that divines instinctively any imposture. mahomet used and moulded men by reason of his faith in his own creed. the establishment of the worship of allah brought in its train the aggrandisement of his prophet, but it was not achieved by profanation of the source whence his greatness came. mahomet is the last of those leaders who win both the religious devotion and the political trust of his followers. he wrought out his sovereignty perforce and created his own _milieu_; but more than all, he diffused around him the tradition of loyalty to one god and one state with sword for artificer, which outlived its creator through centuries of arabian prosperity. stone by slow stone his empire was built up, an edifice owing its contour to his complete grasp of detail and his dauntless energy. the last days at mecca had shown him a careful schemer, the early days at medina proved his capacity as leader and his skill in organisation and government. chapter ix the consolidation of power "the infidels, moreover, will say: thou art not sent of god. say: god is witness enough betwixt me and you, and whoever hath knowledge of the book."--_the kuran_. mahomet, now established at medina, at once began that careful planning of the lives of his followers and the ceaseless fostering of his own ideas within them that endeared him to the believers as leader and lord, and enabled him in time to prosecute his designs against his opponents with a confidence in their faith and loyalty. his grasp of detail was wonderful; without haste and without coercion he subdued the turbulent factions within medina, and his own perfervid followers to discipline as despotic as it was salutary; mahomet became what circumstances made him; by reason of his mighty gift of moulding those men and forces that came his way, he impressed his personality upon his age; but the material fashioning of his energy, the flower of his creative art, drew its formative sustenance from the soil of his surroundings. the time for admonition, with the voice of one crying in the wilderness, the time for praise and poesy, for the expression of that rapt immortal passion filling his mind as he contemplated god, all these were past, and had become but a lingering brightness upon the stormy urgency of his later life. now his flock demanded from him organisation, leadership, political and social prevision. therefore the full force of his nature is revealed to us not so much as heretofore in the kuran, but rather in his institutions and ordinances, his enmities and conciliations. he has become not only the prophet, but the lawgiver, the statesman, almost the king. his first act, after his establishment in the house of abu ayub, was the joining together in brotherhood of the muhajerim and ansar. these were two distinct entities within medina; the muhajerim (refugees) had either accompanied their master from mecca or had emigrated previously; the ansar (helpers) comprised all the converts to islam within the city itself. these parties were now joined in a close bond, each individual taking another of the opposite party into brotherhood with himself, to be accorded the rights and privileges of kinship. mahomet took as his brother ali, who became indeed not only his kinsman, but his military commander and chief of staff. the wisdom of this arrangement, which lasted about a year and a half--until, in fact, its usefulness was outworn by the union of both the medinan tribes under his leadership --was immediate and far-reaching. it enabled mahomet to keep a close surveillance over the medinan converts, who might possibly recant when they became aware of the hazards involved in partnership with the muslim. it also gave a coherence to the two parties and allowed the muhajerim some foothold in an alien city, not as yet unanimously friendly. and the muhajerim had need of all the kindliness and help they could obtain, for the first six months in medina were trying both to their health and endurance, so that many repented their venture and would have returned if the ansar had not come forward with ministrations and gifts, and also if their chances of reaching mecca alive had not been so precarious. the climate at medina is damp and variable. hot days alternate with cold nights, and in winter there is almost continuous rain. the meccans, used to the dry, hot days and nights of their native city, where but little rain fell, and even that became absorbed immediately in the parched ground, endured much discomfort, even pain, before becoming acclimatised. fever broke out amongst them, and it was some months before the epidemic was stayed with the primitive medical skill at their command. nevertheless, in spite of their weakness and the difficulties of their position, in these first seven months the mosque of mahomet was built legend says that the prophet himself took a share in the work, carrying stones and tools with the humblest of his followers, and we can well believe that he did not look on at the labour of his fellow-believers, and that his consuming zeal prompted him to forward, in whatever way was necessary, the work lying to his hand. the medinan mosque, built with fervent hearts and anxious prayers by the muslim and their leader, contains the embryo of all the later masterpieces of arabian architecture--that art unique and splendid, which developed with the islamic spirit until it culminated in the glorious temple at delhi, whose exponents have given to the world the palaces of southern spain, the mysterious, remote beauty of ancient granada. in its embryo minarets and domes, its slender arches and delicate traceries, it expressed the latent poetry in the heart of islam which the claims of allah and the fiercely jealous worship of him had hitherto obscured; for like jahweh of old, allah was an exacting spirit, who suffered no emotion but worship to be lord of his people's hearts. the mosque was square in design, made of stone and brick, and wrought with the best skill of which they were capable. the kibla, or direction of prayer, was towards jerusalem, symbolic of mahomet's desire to propitiate the jews, and finally to unite them with his own people in a community with himself as temporal head. opposite this was the bab rahmah, the gate of mercy, and general entrance to the holy place. ranged round the outer wall of the mosque were houses for the prophet's wives and daughters, little stone buildings, of two or three rooms, almost huts, where mahomet's household had its home--rockeya, his daughter, and othman, her husband; fatima and ali, sawda and ayesha, soon to be his girl-bride, and who even now showed exceeding loveliness and force of character. mahomet himself had no separate house, but dwelt with each of his wives in turn, favouring ayesha most, and as his harem increased a house was added for each wife, so that his entourage was continually near him and under his surveillance. on the north side the ground was open, and there the poorer followers of mahomet gathered, living upon the never-failing hospitality of the east and its ready generosity in the necessities of life. as soon as the mosque was built, organised religious life at medina came into being. a daily service was instituted in the mosque itself, and the heaven-sent command to prayer five times a day for every muslim was enforced. five times in every turn of the world allah receives his supplicatory incense; at dawn, at noon, in the afternoon, at sunset, and at night the muslim renders his due reverence and praise to the lord of his welfare, thanking allah, his supreme guide and votary, for the gift of the prophet, guide and protector of the faithful. lustration before prayer was instituted as symbolic of the believers' purification of heart before entering the presence of god, and provision for the ceremony made inside the mosque. the public service on friday, instituted at coba, was continued at medina, and consisted chiefly of a sermon given by mahomet from a pulpit, erected inside the mosque, whose sanctity was proverbial and unassailed. thus the seed was sown of a corporate religious life, the embryo from which the arabian military organisation, its polity, even its social system, were to spring. in spite of the increasing numbers of the ansar, there still remained a party in medina, "the disaffected," who had not as yet accepted the prophet or his creed. over these mahomet exercised a strict surveillance, in accordance with his conviction that a successful ruler leaves nothing to providence that he can discover and regulate for himself. "trust in god, but tie your camel." by this means, as well as by personal influence and exhortation, "disaffected" were controlled and ultimately converted into good muslim; for the more cautious of them--those who waited to see how events would shape--soon assured themselves of mahomet's capacity, and the weakly passive were caught in the swirl of enthusiasm surrounding the prophet that continually drew unto itself all conditions of men within its ever-widening circle. having organised his own followers, and secured their immunity from internal strife, mahomet was forced to turn his attention to the jewish element within his adopted city, and to decide swiftly his policy towards the three israelite tribes who comprised the wealthier and trading population of medina. from the first, mahomet's desires were in the direction of a federal union, wherein each party would follow his own faith and have control of his own tribal affairs and finances, save when the necessity of mutual protection against enemies called for a union of forces. again mahomet framed his policy upon the doctrine of opportunism. his ultimate aim was beyond doubt to unite both jews and medinans under his rule in a common religious and political bond, but he recognised the present impossibility of such action in view of the jews' greater stability and the weakness of his party within the city. his negotiations and conciliations with the jews offer one of the many examples of his supreme skill as a statesman. the jews themselves, taken almost unawares by the suddenness of mahomet's entry into their civic life, agreed to the treaty he proposed, and acquiesced unconsciously in his subtle attempts to merge the two faiths into a whole wherein islam would be the dominant factor. when mahomet made jerusalem his kibla, or direction of prayer, and emphasised the connection between jewish and arabian history, they suffered these advances, and agreed to a treaty which would have formed the foundations of a political and social convergence and ultimate absorption of their own nation. mahomet knew that federalism with the jews was a necessary step to his desired end, and therefore he drew up a treaty wherein mutual protection against outward enemies, as well as against internal sedition, was assured. hospitality was to be freely rendered and demanded, and neither party was to support an infidel against a believer. guarantees for mutual security were exchanged, and it was agreed that each should be free to worship in his own fashion. the treaty throws light upon the clan-system still obtaining in seventh-century arabia. the jews were their own masters in the ordering of their lives, as were the medinan tribes, even after many years of neighbourhood and frequent interchange of commerce and mutual assurances. the most significant political work achieved by mahomet, the planting of the federal, and later, the national idea in arabia in place of the tribal one, was thus inaugurated, and throughout the development of his political power it will be seen that the struggles between himself and the surrounding peoples virtually hinged upon the acceptance or rejection of it. the jews, with their narrow conception of the political unit, could acquiesce neither in federalism nor in union, and as soon as mahomet perceived their incapacity he became implacable, and either drove them forth or compelled their submission by terror and slaughter. but for the present his policy and prudence dictated compromise, and he was strong enough to achieve his will. the political and social problems of his embryo state had found temporary solution, and mahomet was free to turn his attention to external foes. in his attitude towards those who had persecuted him he evinced more than ever his determination to build up not only a religious society, but a powerful temporal state. the meccans would have been content to leave matters as they stood, and were quite prepared to let mahomet establish his power at medina unmolested, provided they were given like immunity from attacks. but from the beginning other plans filled the prophet's thoughts, and though revenge for his privations was declared to be the instigator of his attacks on the kureisch trade, the determining motive must be looked for much more deeply. the great project of the harassment and final overthrow of the kureisch was dimly foreshadowed in mahomet's mind, and he became ever more deeply aware of the part that must be played therein by the sword. as yet he hesitated to acclaim war as the supreme arbiter in his own and his followers' destinies, for the valour of his levies and the skill of his leaders was unproved. the forays undertaken before the battle of bedr are really nothing more than essays by the muslim in the game of war, and it was not until proof of their power against the kureisch had been given that mahomet gave up his future policy into the keeping of that bright disastrous deity that lures all sons of men. in a measure it was true that the clash between mahomet and the kureisch was unavoidable, but that it loomed so large upon the horizon of medina's policy is due to the prophet's determination to strike immediately at the wealth and security of his rival. lust for plunder, too, added its weight to mahomet's reprisals against mecca; even if that city was content to leave him in peace, still the kureischite caravans to bostra and syria, passing so near to medina, were too tempting to be ignored. along these age-old routes meccan merchandise still travelled its devious way, at the mercy of sun and desert storms and the unheeding fierceness of that cataclysmic country, a prey to any marauding tribes, and dependent for its existence upon the strength of its escort. and since plunder is sweeter than labour, every chief with swift riders and good spearmen hoped to gain his riches at meccan expense. but their attempts were for the most part abortive, chiefly because of the lack of cohesion and generalship; until mahomet none really constituted a serious menace to the kureischite wealth. in muharram (april) the hegira took place, and six months sufficed mahomet to establish his power securely enough to be able to send out his first expedition against the kureisch in ramadan (december) of the same year. the party was led by hamza, whose soldier qualities were only at the beginning of their development, and probably consisted of a few muslim horsemen on their beautiful swift mounts and one or two spearmen, and possibly several warriors skilled in the use of arrows. they sallied forth from medina and went to meet the caravan as it prepared to pass by their town. the kureisch had placed abu jahl in command--a man whose invincible hatred for islam and the prophet had manifested itself in the persecution at mecca, and whose hostility increased as the muslim power advanced. the caravan was guarded, but none too strongly, and hamza's troop pursued and had almost attacked it when a bedouin chief of the desert more powerful than either party interposed and compelled the muslim to withdraw, while he forbade abu jahl to pursue them or attempt revenge. so the caravan continued its way unmolested into syria and there exchanged its gums, leather, and frankincense for the silks and precious metals, the fine stuffs and luxurious draperies which made the syrian markets a vivid medley of sheen and gloss, stored with bright colours and burnished surfaces shimmering in the hot radiance of the east. in jan. the caravan set out homeward "on its lone journey o'er the desert," and again the muslim sent out an attacking party in the hope of securing this larger prize. but the kureisch were wise and had provided themselves with a stronger escort before which the muslim could do nothing but retreat--not, however, before they had sent a few tentative arrows at the cavalcade. obeida, their leader and a cousin of mahomet, gave the command to shoot, and is renowned henceforth as "he who shot the first arrow for islam." after a month another essay was made upon a northward-bound caravan by sa'd, again without success, for he had miscalculated dates and missed his quarry by some days. each leader on his return to medina was received with honour by mahomet as one who had shown his prowess in the cause of isalm and presented with a white banner. so far the prophet himself had not taken the field; now, however, in the summer and autumn of , in spite of signs that all was not well with the jewish alliance at home, mahomet took the field in person and conducted three larger but still unsuccessful expeditions; the last attacking levy of october consisted of men, but even then mahomet was able to effect nothing against the kureischite escort. the attempted raid had nevertheless an important outcome, for by this exhibition of strength mahomet succeeded in convincing a neighboring desert tribe, hitherto friendly to mecca, of the advisability of seeking alliance with the muslim. the treaty between mahomet and the bedouin tribe marks the beginning of a significant development in his foreign polity. like the romans, and all military nations, he knew the worth of making advantageous alliances, while he was clear-sighted enough to realise that the struggle with mecca was inevitable. during the months preceding the battle of bedr he concluded several treaties with desert tribes, and it is to this policy he owes in part his power to maintain his aggressive attitude towards the kureisch, for with the alliance of the tribes around the caravan routes mahomet could be sure of hampering the meccan trade. while the prophet was in the field he left representatives to care for the affairs of his city. these representatives were designated by him, and were always members of his personal following. ali and abu bekr were most often chosen until all proved his worth as a warrior, and so usually accompanied or commanded the expeditionary force. the representatives held their authority direct from mahomet, and had in all matters the identical power of the prophet during his absence. it speaks well for the loyalty and acumen of these ministers that mahomet was enabled to leave the city so often and so confidently, and that the government continued as if under his personal supervision. whether the jews were overbold because of mahomet's frequent absences, or whether they now became conscious of the trend of mahomet's policy towards the absorption of the jewish element within the city into islam, will never be made clear, beyond the fact that the jewish tribes were not enthusiastic in their union with the muslim, and that their national character precluded them from accepting an alliance that threatened the autonomy of their religion. it is, however, certain that the discontent of the jews voiced itself more and more loudly as the year advanced. the suras of the period are full of revilings and threats against them, and form a greater contrast coming after the later meccan suras wherein israel was honoured and its heroes held up as examples. a few jews had been won over to his cause, but the mass showed themselves either hostile or indifferent to the federal idea. as yet no definite sundering of relationships had occurred, but everything pointed to a speedy dissolution of the treaty unless one side or the other moderated its views. the autumn of saw mahomet fully established in medina. he had made his worth known by his energy and organising power, by his devotion to allah and his zeal for the faith he had founded. the medinans regarded him already as their natural leader, and he had definitely adopted their city as his headquarters. through his skill as a statesman and his loyalty to an idea he wrought out, the foundations of his future state, and if the latter months of saw him not yet strong enough to overcome the meccans, at least he was so firmly established that he could afford to dispense with any overtures to the increasingly hostile jews, and he had gained sufficient adherents to allow him to contemplate with equanimity the prospect of a sharp and prolonged struggle with the kureisch. chapter x the secession of the jews _"even though thou shouldst bring every kind of sign to those who have received the scriptures, yet thy kibla they will not adopt; nor shalt thou adopt their kibla; nor will one part of them adopt the kibla of the other."--the kuran_. mahomet realised the position of affairs at medina too acutely to allow of his undertaking in person any predatory expeditions against the kureisch during the autumn and winter of . the jews were chafing under his tacit assumption of state control, and although their murmurings had not reached the recklessness of strife, still both their leaders and the muslim perceived that their disaffection was inevitable. insecurity at home, however, did not prevent him from sending out an expedition in rajab (october) of that year under abdallah. rajab is a sacred month in the mohamedan calendar, one in which war is forbidden. strictly, therefore, in sending out an expedition at all just then mahomet was transgressing against the laws of that religion which, purged of its idolatries, he claimed as his own. but it was a favourable opportunity to attack the kureischite caravan on its way to taif, and therefore mahomet recked nothing of the prohibition. taif was a very distant objective for an expeditionary band from medina, and that mahomet contemplated attack upon his enemy by a company so far removed from its base is convincing proof, should any be needed, of his confidence in his followers' prowess and his conciliation of the tribes lying between the two hostile cities. sealed orders were given to abdallah, with instructions not to open the parchment until he was two days south of medina. at sunset on the second day he came with his eight followers to a well in the midst of the desert. there under the few date palms, which gave them rough shelter, he broke the seal and read: "when thou readest this writing depart unto nakhla, between taif and mecca; there lie in wait for the kureisch, and bring thy comrades news concerning them." as abdallah read his mind alternated between apprehension and daring, and turning to his companions he took counsel of them. "mahomet has commanded me to go to nakhla and there await the kureisch; also he has commanded me to say unto you whoever desireth martyrdom for islam let him follow me, and whoever will not suffer it, let him turn back. as for me, i am resolved to carry out the commands of god's prophet" then one and all the eight companions assured him they would not forsake him until the quest was achieved. at dawn they resumed their march and arrived at length at nakhla, where they encountered the kureisch caravan laden with spice and leather. now, it was the last day of the month of rajab, wherein it was unlawful to fight, wherefore the muslim took counsel, saying: "if we fight not this day, they will elude us and escape." but the prophet's implied command was strong enough to induce initiative and hardihood in the small attacking party. they bore down upon the kureisch, showering arrows in their path, so that one man was killed and several wounded. the rest forsook their merchandise and fled, leaving behind them two prisoners, whose retreat had been cut off. abdallah was left in possession of the field, and joyfully he returned to medina, bearing with him the first plunder captured by the muslim. but his return led mahomet into a quandary from which there seemed no escape. politically, he was bound to approve abdallah's deed; religiously, he could neither laud it nor share the fruits of it. for days the spoils remained undivided, but abdallah was not punished or even reprimanded. meanwhile, the jews and the kureisch vied with one another in execrating mahomet, and even his own people murmured against him. it was clearly time that an authoritative sanction should be given to the deed, and accordingly in the sura, "the cow," we have the revelation from allah proclaiming the greater culpability of the infidels and of those who would stir up civil strife: "they will ask thee concerning war in the sacred month. say: to war therein is bad, but to turn aside from the cause of god, and to have no faith in him, and in the sacred temple, and to drive out its people, is worse in the sight of god; civil strife is worse than bloodshed." no possible doubt must be cast in this and similar cases upon mahomet's sincerity. the kuran was the vehicle of the lord; he had used it to proclaim his unity and power and his warnings to the unrighteous. now that islam had recognised his august and indissoluble majesty, and had accorded the throne of heaven and the governance of earth to him indivisibly, the world was split up into believers and unbelievers. the kuran, therefore, must of necessity cease to be merely the proclamation of divine unity that it had been and become the vehicle for definite orders and regulations, the outcome of those theocratic ideas upon which mahomet's creed was founded. the justification would not appeal to the people unless allah's sanction supported it, and mahomet realised with all his ardour of faith that the transgression was slight compared with the result achieved towards the progress of islam. the prophet therefore received, with allah's approval, a fifth of the spoil, but the captives he released after receiving ransom. "this," says the historian, "was the first booty that mahomet obtained, the first captives they seized, and the first life they took." the significance of the event was vividly felt throughout islam, and abdallah, its hero, received at mahomet's hands the title of "amir-al- momirim," commander of the faithful--a title which recalls inseparably the cruelty and magnificence, the glamour and rapacity, of arabian bagdad under haroun-al-raschid. the valorous enterprise had now been achieved, the kureisch caravan was despoiled, and the kureisch themselves wrought into fury against the prophet's insolence; but more than all, the channel of mahomet's policy of warfare became thereby so deeply carved that he could not have effaced it had he desired. henceforth his creative genius limited itself to the deepening of its course and the direction of its outlet. the jews had not rested content with murmuring against mahomet's rule, they sought to embarrass him by active sedition. one of their first attempts against mahomet's regime was to stir up strife between the refugees and helpers. in this they would have been successful but for mahomet's efficient system of espionage, a method upon which he relied throughout his life. failing to foment a rebellion in secret they proceeded to open hostilities, and the muslim, jealous for their faith, retaliated by contempt and estrangement. during the winter of personal attack was made by the mob upon mahomet. the people were hounded on by their leaders to stone the prophet, but he was warned in time and escaped their assaults. the popular fury was merely the reflex of a fundamental division of thought between the opposing parties. the jewish and muslim systems could never coalesce, for each claimed the dominance and ignored all compromise. the age-long, hallowed traditions of the jews which supported a theocracy as unyielding as any conception of divine sovereignty preached by mahomet, found themselves faced with a new creative force rapidly evolving its own legends, and strong enough in its enthusiasm to overwhelm their own. the rabbis felt that mahomet and his warrior heroes--ali, omar, othman, and the rest--would in time dislodge from their high places their own peculiar saints, just as they saw mahomet with abu bekr and his personnel of administrators and informers already overriding their own councillors in the civil and military departments of their state. the old regime could not amalgamate with the new, for that would mean absorption by its more vigorous neighbour, and the jewish spirit is exclusive in essence and separatist perforce. mahomet took no pains to conciliate his allies; they had made a treaty with him in the days of his insecurity and he was grateful, but now his position in medina was beyond assailment, and he was indifferent to their goodwill. as their aggression increased he deliberately withdrew his participation in their religious life, and severed his connection with their rites and ordinances. the kibla of the muslim, whither at every prayer they turned their faces, and which he had declared to be the temple at jerusalem, scene of his embarkation upon the wondrous "midnight journey," was now changed to the kaaba at mecca. what prevision or prophetic inspiration prompted mahomet to turn his followers' eyes away from the north and fix them upon their former home with its fierce and ruthless heat, the materialisation, it seemed, of his own inexorable and passionate aims? henceforth mecca became unconsciously the goal of every muslim, the desired city, to be fought for and died for, the dwelling-place of their prophet, the crown of their faith. the jewish fast of atonement, which plays so important a part in semite faith and doctrine, had been made part of the muslim ritual in , while a federal union still seemed possible, but the next year such an amalgamation could not take place. in ramadan (dec. to january), therefore, mahomet instituted a separate fast for the faithful. it was to extend throughout the sacred month in which the kuran had first been sent down to men. its sanctity became henceforth a potent reminder for the muslim of his special duties towards allah, of the reverence meet to be accorded to the divine upholder of islam. during all the days of ramadan, no food or drink might pass a muslim lip, nor might he touch a woman, but the moment the sun's rim dipped below the horizon he was absolved from the fast until dawn. no institution in islam is so peculiarly sacred as ramadan, and none so scrupulously observed, even when, by the revolution of the lunar year, the fast falls during the bitter heat of summer. it is a characteristic ordinance, and one which emphasises the vivid muslim apprehension of the part played by abstention in their religious code. at the end of the fast--that is, upon the sight of the next new moon--mahomet proclaimed a festival, eed-al-fitr, which was to take the place of the great jewish ceremony of rejoicing. at this time, too, mahomet, evidently bent on consolidating his religious observances and regulating their conduct, decreed a fresh institution, with parallels in no religion--the adzan, or call to prayer. mahomet wished to summon the believers to the mosque, and there was no way except to ring a bell such as the christians use, which rite was displeasing to the faithful. indeed, mahomet is reported later to have said, "the bell is the devil's musical instrument." but abdallah, a man of profound faith and love for islam, received thereafter a vision wherein a "spirit, in the guise of man, clad in green garments," appeared to him and summoned him to call the believers to prayer from the mosque at every time set apart for devotion. "call ye four times 'god is great,' and then, 'i bear witness that there is no god but god, and mahomet is his prophet. come unto prayer, come unto salvation. god is great; there is no god but him.'" "a true vision," declared mahomet. "go and teach it to bilal, that he may call to prayer, for he has a better voice than thou." when bilal, a slave, received the command, he went up to the mosque, and climbing its highest minaret, he cried aloud his summons, adding at each dawn: "prayer is better than sleep, prayer is better than sleep." and when omar heard the call, he went to mahomet and declared that he had the previous night received the same vision. and mahomet answered him, "praise be to allah!" therewith was inaugurated the most characteristic observance in islam, the one which impresses itself very strongly upon the western traveller as he hears in the dimness of every dawning, before the sun's edge is seen in the east, the voices of the muezzin from each mosque in the city proclaiming their changeless message, their insistent command to prayer and praise. he sees the city leap into magical life, the dark figures of the muslim hurrying to the holy place that lies shimmering in the golden light of early day, and knows that, behind this outward manifestation, lies a faith, at root incomprehensible by reason of its aloofness from the advancing streams of modern thought, a faith spiritually impotent, since it flees from mysticism, generating an energy which has expended its vital force in conquest, only to find itself too intellectually backward and physically sluggish to gather in prosperity the fruits of its attainments. its lack of imagination, its utter ignorance of the lure of what is strange, have been responsible for its achievement of stupendous tasks, for the driving energy behind was never appalled by anticipation, nor checked by any realisation of coming stress and terror. and the same qualities that led the muslim to world-conquest thereafter caused their downfall, for their minds could not visualise that world of imagination necessary for any creative science, while they were not attuned in intellect for the reception of such generative ideas as have contributed to the philosophic and speculative development of the western world. all the characteristics which distinguish islam to the making and the blasting of its fortunes may be found in embryo in the small medinan community; for their leader, by his own creative ardour, imposed upon his flock every idea which shaped the form and content of its future career from its rising even to its zenith and decline. chapter xi the battle of bedr _"they plotted, but god plotted, and of plotters is god the best."--the koran_. mahomet's star, now continually upon the ascendant, flamed into sudden glory in ramadan of the second year of the hegira. its brilliance and the bewilderment caused by its triumphant continuance is reflected in all the chronicles and legends clustered around that period. if nakhlu had been an achievement worthy of god's emissary, the victory which followed it was an irrefutable argument in favour of mahomet's divinely ordained rulership of the arabian peoples. it appeared to the muslim, and even to contemporary hostile tribes, nothing less than a stupendous proof of their championship by god. muslim poets and historians are never weary of expatiating upon the glories achieved by their tiny community with little but abiding zeal and supreme faith with which to confound their foes. no military event in the life of the prophet called forth such rejoicings from his own lips as the triumph at bedr: "o ye meccans, if ye desired a decision, now hath the decision come to you. it will be better for you if ye give over the struggle. if ye return to it, we will return, and your forces, though they be many, shall never avail you aught, for god is with the faithful." through the whole of sura viii the strain of exultation runs, the presentment in dull words of fierce and splendid courage wrought out into victory in the midst of the storms and lightnings of heaven. such an earth-shaking event, the effects of which reached far beyond its immediate environment, received fitting treatment at the hands of all arabian chronicles, so that we are enabled to reconstruct the events preceding the battle itself, its action and result, with a vivid completeness that is often denied us in the lesser events. the caravan under abu sofian, about thirty or forty strong, which had eluded mahomet and reached syria, was now due to return to mecca with its bartered merchandise. mahomet was determined that this time it should not escape, and that he would exact from it full penalty of the vengeance he owed the meccans for his insults and final expulsion from their city. as soon as the time for its approach drew nigh, mahomet sent two scouts to hama, north of medina, who were to bring tidings to him the moment they caught sight of its advancing dust. but abu sofian had been warned of mahomet's activity and turned off swiftly to the coast, keeping the seaward route, while he sent a messenger to mecca with the news that an attack by the muslim was meditated. dhamdham, sent by his anxious leader, arrived in the city after three days' journey in desperate haste across the desert, and flung himself from his camel before the kaaba. there he beat the camel to its knees, cut off its ears and nose, and put the saddle hind foremost. then, rending his garments, he cried with a loud voice: "help, o kureisch, your caravan is pursued by mahomet!" with one accord the meccan warriors, angered by the news that spread wildly among the populace, assembled before their holy place and swore a great oath that they would uphold their dignity and avenge their loss upon the upstart followers of a demented leader. every man who could bear arms prepared in haste for the expedition, and those who could not fight found young men as their representatives. in the midst of all the tumult and eager resolutions to exterminate the muslim, so runs the tale, there were few who would listen to atikah, the daughter of abd-al-muttalib. "i have dreamed three nights ago, that the kureisch will be called to arms in three days and will perish. behold the fulfilment of my dream! woe to the kureisch, for their slaughter is foretold!" but she was treated as of no account, a woman and frail, and the army set out upon its expedition in all the bravery of that pomp-loving nation. with abu jahl at its head, and accompanied by slave girls with lutes and tabrets, who were to gladden the eyes and minister to the pleasure of its warriors, the kureisch army moved on through the desert towards its destined goal; but we are told by a recorder, "dreams of disaster accompanied it, nor was its sleep tranquil for the evil portents that appeared therein." thus, apprehensive but dauntless, the meccan army advanced to safra, one day's march from bedr, where it encountered messengers from abu sofian, who announced that the caravan had eluded the muslim and was safe. then arose a debate among the kureisch as to their next course. many desired to return to mecca, deeming their purpose accomplished now that the caravan was secure from attack, but the bolder amongst them were anxious to advance, and the more deliberative favoured this also, because by so doing they might hope to overawe mahomet into quietude. but before all there was the safety of their homes to consider, and they were fearful lest an attack by a hostile tribe, the beni bekr, might be made upon mecca in the absence of its fighting men. upon receiving assurances of good faith from a tribe friendly to both, they dismissed that fear and resolved to advance, so that they might compel mahomet to abandon his attacks upon their merchandise. this proceeding seemed a reasonable and politic measure, until it was viewed in the light of its consequences, and indeed, judging from ordinary calculation, such a host could have no other effect than a complete rout upon such a small and inefficient band as mahomet's followers. therefore, in estimating, if they did at all carefully, the forces matched against them, the kureisch found themselves materially invincible, though they had not reckoned the spiritual factor of enthusiasm which transcended their own physical superiority. these events had taken over nine days, and meanwhile mahomet had not been idle. his two spies had brought news of the approach of the caravan, but beyond that meagre information he knew nothing. the kureischite activity thereafter was swallowed up in the vastnesses of the desert, which drew a curtain as effective as death around the opposing armies. but news of the caravan's advance was sufficient for the prophet. with the greatest possible speed he collected his army--not, we are told, without some opposition from the fearful among the medinan population, who were anxious to avoid any act which might bring down upon them the ruthless meccan hosts. legend has counted as her own this gathering together of the muslim before bedr, and translating the engendered enthusiasm into imaginative fact, has woven a pattern of barbaric colours, wherein deeds are transformed by the spirit which prompts them. the heroes panted for martyrdom, and each craved to be among the first to pour forth his blood in the sacred cause. they crowded to battle on camels and on foot. abu bekr in his zeal walked every step of the way, which he regarded as the road to supreme benediction. mahomet himself led his valorous band, mounted on a camel with ali by his side, having before him two black flags borne by standard-bearers whose strength and bravery were the envy of the rest. he possessed only seventy camels and two horses, and the riders were chosen by lot. behind marched or rode the flower of islam's warriors and statesmen--abu bekr, omar, hamza, and zeid, whose names already resounded through islam for valiant deeds; abdallah, with mahomet's chosen leaders of expeditions; the rank and file, three hundred strong, regardless of what perils might overtake them, intent on plunder and the upholding of their vigorous faith, sallied forth from medina as soon as they could be equipped, and took the direct road to mecca. on reaching safra, for reasons we are not told, they turned west to bedr, a halting-place on the syrian road, possibly hoping to catch the caravan on its journey westwards towards the sea. but abu sofian was too quick for them. mahomet's scouts had only reached bedr, reconnoitered and retired, when abu sofian approached the well within its precincts and demanded of a man belonging to a neighbouring tribe if there were strangers in the vicinity. "i have seen none but two men, o chief," he replied; "they came to the well to water their camels." but he had been bribed by mahomet, and knew well they were muslim. abu sofian was silent, and looked around him carefully. suddenly he started up as he caught sight of their camels' litter, wherein were visible the small date stones peculiar to medinan palms. "camels from yathreb!" he cried quickly; "these be the scouts of mahomet." then he gathered his company together and departed hastily towards the sea. he despatched a messenger to mecca to tell of the caravan's safety, and a little later heard with joy of his countrymen's progress to oppose mahomet. "doth mahomet indeed imagine that it will be this time as in the affair of the hadramate (slain at nakhla)? never! he shall know that it is otherwise!" but the army that caused such joy to abu sofian created nothing but apprehension in mahomet's camp. he knew the caravan had eluded him, and now there was a greater force more than three times his own advancing on him. hurriedly he convened a council of war, whereat his whole following urged an immediate advance. the excitement had now fully captured their tumultuous souls, and there was more danger for mahomet in a retreat than in an attack. an immediate advance was therefore decided upon, and mahomet sent ali, on the day before the battle, to reconnoitre, as they were nearing bedr. the same journey which told abu sofian of the presence of the muslim also resulted for them in the capture of three water-carriers by ali, who dragged them before mahomet, where they were compelled to give the information he wanted, and from them he learned the disposition and strength of the enemy. the valley of bedr is a plain, with hills flanking it to the north and east. on the west are small sandy hillocks which render progress difficult, especially if the ground is at all damp from recent rains. through this shallow valley runs the little stream, having at its south-western extremity the springs and wells which give the place its importance as a halting stage. command of the wells was of the highest importance, but as yet neither army had obtained it, for the muslim had not taken up their final position, and the kureisch were hemmed in by the sandy ground in front of them. the wretched water-carriers being brought before mahomet at first declared they knew nothing, but after some time confessed they were abu jahl's servants. "and where is the abiding place of abu jahl?" "beyond the sand-hills to the east." "and how many of his countrymen abide with him?" "they are numerous; i cannot tell; they are as numerous as leaves." "on one day nine, the next ten." "then they number men," exclaimed the prophet to ali; "take the men away." mahomet now called a council of generals, and it was decided to advance up the valley to the farther side of the wells, so as to secure the water-supply, and destroy all except the one they themselves needed. this manoeuvre was carried out successfully, and the muslim army encamped opposite the kureisch, at the foot of the western hills and separated from their adversaries by the low sandy hillocks in front of them. a rough hut of palm branches was built for mahomet whence he could direct the battle, and where he could retire for counsel with abu bekr, and for prayer. both sides had now made their dispositions, and there remained nothing but to wait till daybreak. that night the rain descended upon the doomed kureisch like the spears of the lord, whelming their sandy soil and churning up the rising ground in front of the troops into a quagmire of bottomless mud. the clouds were tempered towards the higher muslim position, and the water drained off the hilly land. "see, the lord is with us; he has sent his heavy rain upon our enemies," declared mahomet, looking from his hut in the early dawn, weary with anxiety for the issue of this fateful hour, but strong in faith and confident in the favour of allah. then he retired to the hut for prayer and contemplation. "o allah, forget not thy promise! o lord, if this little band be vanquished idolatry will prevail and thy pure worship cease from off the earth." he set himself to the encouragement and instruction of his troops. he had no cavalry with which to cover an advance, and he therefore ordered his troops to remain firm and await the oncoming rush until the word to charge was given. but on no account were they to lose command of the wells. drawn up in several lines, their champions in front and mahomet with abu bekr to direct them from the rear, the little troop of muslim awaited the onslaught of their greater foes. but dissent had broken out among the kureisch generals. obi, one of their best warriors, perhaps feeling the confident carelessness of the kureisch was misplaced, wanted to go back without attacking. he was overruled after much discussion and some bad feeling by abu jahl, who declared that if they refrained from attack now all the land would ring with their cowardice. so a general advance was ordered, and the kureisch champions led the way. the battle began, as most battles of primitive times, by a series of single combats, one champion challenging another to fight. the glory of being the first muslim to kill a meccan in this encounter fell to hamza. aswad of the kureisch swore to drink of the water of those wells guarded by the muslim. hamza opposed, and his first sword stroke severed the leg of aswad; but he, undaunted, crawled on until at the fountain he was slain by hamza before its waters passed his lips. now three champions of the kureisch came forward to challenge three muslim of equal birth. hamza, ali, and obeida answered the charge, and in front of the opposing ranks three homeric conflicts raged. hamza, the lion of god, and ali, the sword of the faith, quickly overcame their opponents, but obeida was wounded before he could spear his man. the sight gave courage to the kureisch, and now the main body of them pressed on, seeking to overwhelm the muslim by sheer weight. the heavy ground impeded their movements, and they came on slowly with what anxious expectation on the part of mahomet's soldiers, whom their prophet had commanded to await his signal. when the kureisch were near enough mahomet lifted his hand: "ya mansur amit!" (ye conquerors, strike!) he cried, pointing with outstretched finger at the close ranks bearing down upon them; "paradise awaits him who lays down his life for islam." the muslim with a wild cry dashed forward against their foe. but the kureisch were brave and they were numerous, and the muslim were few and almost untutored. the battle raged, surging like foam within the narrow valley; its waves now roaring almost up to the prophet's vantage ground, now retreating in eddies towards the rear of the kureisch, under a lowering sky, whose wind-swept clouds seemed to reflect the strife in the heavens. "behold gabriel with a thousand angels charging down upon the infidels!" cried mahomet, as a blast of wind tore shrieking down the valley. "see muhail and seraphil with their troops rush to the help of god's chosen." then as the muslim seemed to waver, pressed back by the mass of their enemies, he appeared in their midst, and, taking a handful of dust, cast it in the face of the foe: "let their faces be confounded!" the muslim, caught by the magnetism of mahomet's presence, seized by the immortal energy which radiated from him, rallied their strength. with a shout they bore down upon the kureisch, who wavered and broke beneath this inspired onrush, within whose vigour dwelt all mahomet's surcharged ambition and indomitable aims. he commanded the attack to be followed up at once, and the kureisch, hampered in their retreat by the marshy ground, fell in confusion, their ranks shattered, their champions crushed in the welter of spears and horsemen, swords, armour, sand, blood, and the bodies of men. the order went forth from mahomet to spare as much as possible his own house of hashim, but otherwise the slaughter was as remorseless as the temper of the muslim ensured. of the prophet's army, so tell the chronicles, only fourteen were killed, but of the kureisch the dead numbered forty-nine, with a like haul of prisoners. abu jahl was among those sorely wounded; but when abdallah saw him lying helpless, he recognised him, and slew him without a word. then having cut off his head, he brought the prize to mahomet. "it is the head of god's enemy," cried the prophet as he gazed on it in exaltation; "it is more acceptable to me than the choicest camel in all arabia." the broken remnants of the kureisch army journeyed slowly back to mecca through the same desert that had seen all the bravery and splendour of their advance, and the news of their terrible fate preceded them. all the city was draped in cloths of mourning, for there was no distinguished house that did not bewail its dead. one alone did not weep--hind, wife of abu sofian, went forth to meet her husband. "what doest thou with unrent garments? knowest thou not the affliction that hath fallen on this thy city?" "i will not weep," replied hind, "until this wrong has been avenged. when thou hast gone forth, hast conquered this accursed, then will i mourn for those who are slain this day. nay, my lord, i will not deck myself, nor perfume my hair, nor come near thy couch until i see the avenging of this humiliation." then abu sofian swore a great oath that he would immediately collect men and take the field once more against islam. there remained now for the victors but the distribution of the spoil and the decision of the fate of the prisoners. the less valuable of these were put to death, their bodies cast into a pit, but the muslim took the rest with them, hoping for ransom. the spoil was taken up in haste, and the prophet repaired joyfully to safra, where he proposed to divide it. but there contention arose, as was almost inevitable, over the distribution of the wealth, and so acute did the disaffection become that mahomet revealed the will of allah concerning it: "and know ye, when ye have taken any booty, a fifth part belongeth to god and to the apostle, and to the near of kin and to orphans and to the poor, and to the wayfarer, if ye believe in god, and in that which we have sent down to our servant on the day of the victory, the day of the meeting of the hosts." as part of his due, mahomet took the famous sword dhul ficar, which has gathered around it as many legends as the weapons of classical heroes, and which hereafter never left him whenever he took command of his followers in battle. so the muslim, flushed with victory, laden with spoil, returned to medina, whose entire population assembled to accord them triumphal entry. "abu jahl, the sinner, is slain," cried the little children, catching the phrase from their parents' lips. "abu jahl, the sinner, is slain, and the foes of islam laid low!" was cried from the mosque and market-place, from minaret and house-top. "allah akbar islam!" the great testing day had come and was past. in open fight, before a host of their foes, the muslim with smaller numbers had prevailed. the effect upon medina and upon mahomet's later career cannot be overestimated. it was indeed a turning point, whence mahomet proceeded irrevocably upon the road to success and fame. reverses hereafter he certainly had, and at times the outlook was almost insuperably dark, but no misfortune or gloom could dull the splendour of that day at bedr, when besides his own slender following, the hosts of the lord, whose turbans glowed like crowns, led by gabriel in golden armour, had fought for him and vanquished his foes. the glory of this battle was the lamp by which he planned his future wins. at medina the disaffected were triumphantly gathered beneath his banner; his position became, for the time at least, established. no longer did he need to conciliate, flatter, spy upon the various factions within his walls. his prisoners were kindly treated, and some converted by these means to the faith he had vainly sought to impose upon them. affairs within the city were organised and consolidated. registers were prepared, the famous "registers of omar," which were to contain the names of all those who had given distinguished service to the cause of allah, and to confer upon them exalted rank. the three hundred names inscribed therein were the embryo of a muslim aristocracy, constituting, in fact, a peerage of islam. mahomet's religious ordinances were strengthened and confirmed, while his faith received that homage paid to success which had raised its founder from the commander of a small hand of religionists to the chief of a prosperous city, the leader of an efficient army, the head of a community which held within itself the future dominion of arabia, of western asia, southern europe, in fact, the greater part of the middle world. more than ever mahomet perceived that his success lay in the sword. bedr set the seal upon his acceptance of warfare as a means of propaganda. henceforth the sword becomes to him the bright but awful instrument through which the will of allah is achieved. in the measure that he trusted its power and confided to it his own destiny and that of his followers, so did war exact of him its ceaseless penalty, urging him on continually, through motives of policy and self-defence, until he became its slave, compelled to continue along the path appointed him, or perish by that very instrument by which his power had been wrought. henceforward his activities consist chiefly of wars aggressive and defensive, while the religion actuating them receives slighter notice, because the main thesis has been established in his own state and requires the force of arms to obtain its supremacy over alien races. after bedr, the poet and prophet becomes the administrator and prophet. the quietude and meditation of the meccan hill-slopes are exchanged for the council-chamber and the battlefield, and appear upon the background of his anxious life with the glamour and aloofness of a dream-country; the inevitable turmoil and preoccupation which accompanies the direction of affairs took hold upon his life. the fervour of his nature, its remorseless activity, compelled him to legislate for his followers with that minute attention to detail almost inconceivable to the modern mind with its conceptions of the various "departments" of state. we see him mainly through tradition, but also to a great extent in the kuran directing the humblest details in the lives of the muslim, organising their ritual, regulating their commerce, their usury laws, their personal cleanliness, their dietary, their social and moral relations. regarding the multifarious duties and cares of his growing state, its almost complete helplessness in its hands, for he alone was its guiding force, it is the clearest testimony to his vital energy, his strength and sanity of brain, that he was not overwhelmed by them, and that the creative side of his nature was not crushed beyond recovery; although confronted by the clamorous demands of government and warfare, these could not touch his spiritual enthusiasm nor his glowing and changeless devotion to allah and his cause. at the end of his long years of rule he could still say with perfect truth, "my chief delight is in prayer." chapter xii the jews at medina "and if the people of the book had believed, it had surely been better for them: believers there are among them, but most of them are perverse." --_the kuran_. the songs of triumph over bedr had scarcely left the lips of muslim poets when the voice of faction was heard again in medina. the jews, that "stiff-necked nation," unimpressed by mahomet's triumph, careful only of its probable effect on their own position, which effect they could not but regard as disastrous, seeing that it augured their own submission to a superior power, murmured against his success, and tried their utmost to sow dissension by the publication of contemptuous songs through the mouths of their poets and prophetesses. not only did the jews murmur in secret against him, but they tried hard to induce members of the original medinan tribes to join with them in a desperate effort to throw off the muslim yoke. chief among these defamers of mahomet's prestige was asma, a prophetess of the tribe of beni aus. she published abroad several libellous songs upon mahomet, but was quickly silenced by omeir, a blind man devoted to his leader, who felt his way to her dwelling-place at dead of night, and, creeping past her servant, slew her in the midst of her children. news of the outrage was brought to mahomet; it was expected he would punish omeir, but: "thou shalt not call him blind, but the seeing," replied the prophet; "for indeed he hath done me great service." the result of this ruthlessness was the official conversion of the tribe, for resistance was useless, and they had not, like the jews, the flame of faith to keep their resistance alive. "the only alternative to a hopeless blood feud was the adoption of islam." but the jews, with stubborn consciousness of their own essential autonomy, preferred the more terrible alternative, and so the defamatory songs continued. when it is remembered that these compositions took the place of newspapers, were as universal and wielded as such influence, it is not to be expected that mahomet could ignore the campaign against him. abu afak, a belated representative of the prophetic spirits of old, fired by the ancient glory of israel and its present threatened degradation at the hands of this upstart, continued, in spite of all warnings, to publish abroad his contempt and hatred for the prophet. it was no time for half-measures. with such a ferment as this universal abuse was creating, the whole of his hard-won power might crumble. victor though he was, it wanted only the torch of some malcontents to set alight the flame of rebellion. therefore mahomet, with his inexorable determination and force of will, took the only course possible in such a time. the singer was slain by his express command. "who will rid me of this pestilence?" he cried, and like all strong natures he had not long to wait before his will became the inspired act of another. so fear entered into the souls of the people at medina, and for a time there were no more disloyal songs, nor did the populace dare to oppose one who had given so efficient proof of his power. but it was not enough for mahomet to have silenced disaffection. he aimed at nothing less than the complete union of all medina under his leadership and in one religious belief. to this end he went in shawwal of the second year of the hegira (jan. ) unto the jewish tribe, the beni kainukaa, goldsmiths of medina, whose works lay outside the city's confines. there he summoned their chief men in the bazaar, and exhorted them fervently to become converted to islam. but the kainukaa were firm in their faith and refused him with contemptuous coldness. "o mahomet, thou thinkest we are men akin to thine own race! hitherto thou hast met only men unskilled in battle, and therefore couldst thou slay them. but when thou meetest us, by the god of israel, thou shalt know we are men!" therewith mahomet was forced to acknowledge defeat, and he journeyed back to the city, vowing that if allah were pleased to give him opportunity he would avenge this slight upon islam and his own divinely appointed mission. friction between him and the kainukaa naturally increased, and it was therefore not long before a pretext arose. the story of a jew's insult to a muslim girl and its avenging by one of her co-religionists is probably only a fiction to explain mahomet's aggression against this tribe. it is uncertain how the first definite breach arose, but it is easy to see that whatever the actual _casus belli,_ such a development was inevitable. the anger of the prophet was aroused, for were they not presuming to oppose his will and that of allah, whose instrument he was? he marshalled his army and put a great white banner at their head, gave the leadership to hamza, and so marched forth to attack the rebellious kainukaa. for fifteen days the tribe was besieged in its strongholds, until at last, beaten and discouraged, faced by scarcity of supplies, and the certainty of disease, it surrendered at discretion. then was shown in all its fullness the implacable despotism conceived by mahomet as the only possible method of government, which indeed for those times and with that nation it certainly was. the order went forth for the slaying and despoiling of the kainukaa, and the grim work began by the seizure of their armour, precious stones, gold, and goldsmith's tools. but abdallah, chief of the khazraj, and formerly leader of the disaffected, became suppliant for their release. he sought audience of mahomet, and there petitioned with many tears for the lives of his friends and kinsmen. but mahomet turned his back upon him. abdallah, in an ecstacy of importunity, grasped the skirt of mahomet's garment. "loose thou thy hand!" cried mahomet, while his face grew dark with anger. but abdallah in the boldness of desperation replied, "i will not let thee go until thou hast shown favour to my kinsmen." then said mahomet, "as thou wilt not be silent, i give thee the lives of those i have taken prisoner." nevertheless, the exile of the tribe was enforced, and mahomet compelled their immediate removal from the outskirts of medina. the prophet's later policy towards the jews was hereby inaugurated. he set himself deliberately to break up their strongholds one by one, and did not swerve from his purpose until the whole of the hated race had been removed either by slaughter or by enforced exile from the precincts of his adopted city. he would suffer no one but himself to govern, and uprooted, with his unwavering purpose, all who refused to accept him as lord. for about a month affairs took their normal and uninterrupted course in medina, but in the following month, dzul higg (march), the last of that eventful second year, a slight disturbance of his steady work of government threatened his followers. abu sofian's vow pressed sorely upon his conscience until, unable to endure inaction further, he gathered together horsemen and took the highway towards medina. he travelled by the inland road, and arrived at length at the settlements of the beni nadhir, one of the jewish tribes in the vicinity of medina. he harried their palm-gardens, burnt their cornfields, and killed two of their men. mahomet had plundered the meccan wealth, his allies should in turn be harassed by his victims. it was purely a private enterprise undertaken out of bravado and in fulfilment of a vow. as soon as the predatory attack had been made, abu sofian deemed himself absolved and prepared to return. but mahomet was on his traces. for five days he pursued the flying kureisch, whose retreat turned into such a headlong rout that they threw away their sacks of meal so as to travel more lightly. therefore the incident has been known ever since, according to the vivid arab method of description, as the battle of the meal-bags. but the foe was not worthy of his pursuit, and mahomet made no further attempt to come up with abu sofian, but returned at once to medina. the attack had ended more or less in fiasco, and as a trial of strength upon either side it was negligible. the sacred month, dzul higg, and the only one in which it was lawful to make the greater pilgrimage in far-off mecca, was now fully upon him, and mahomet felt drawn irresistibly to the ceremonies surrounding the ancient and now to him distorted faith. he felt compelled to acknowledge his kinship with the ancient ritual of arabia, and to this end appointed a festival, eed-al-zoha, to be celebrated in this month, which was not only to take the place of the jewish sacrificial ceremony, but to strengthen his connection with the rites still performed at mecca, of which the kaaba and the black stone formed the emblem and the goal. in commemoration of the ceremonial slaying of victims in the vale of mina at the end of the greater pilgrimage, mahomet ordered two kids to be sacrificed at every festival, so that his people were continually reminded that at mecca, beneath the infidel yoke, the sacred ritual, so peculiarly their own by virtue of the abrahamic descent and their inexorable monotheism, was being unworthily performed. the institution is important, as indicating the development of mahomet's religious and ritualistic conceptions. in the first days of his enthusiasm he was content to enjoin worship of one god by prayer and praise, taking secondary account of forms and ceremonies. then came the uprooting of his outward religious life and the demands of his embryo state for the manifestations essential to a communistic faith. he found israelite beliefs uncontaminated by the worship of many gods, and turned to their ritual in the hope of establishing with their aid a ceremonial which should incorporate their system with his own fervent faith. now, finding no middle road between separatism and absorption possible with such a people as the jews, and unconsciously divining that in no great length of time islam would be sufficient unto itself, he turned again to the practices of his native religion and ancestral ceremonies. henceforth he puts forward definitely his conception of islam as a purified and divinely regulated form of the worship followed by his arabian forbears, purged of its idol-worship and freed from numerous age-long corruptions. not only in ritual did his mind turn towards mecca. it looms before his eyes still as the chosen city, the city of his dreams, whose conquest and rendering back purified to the guidance of allah he sets before his mind as the ultimate, dim-descried goal of all his intermediary wars. the kibla had long since been changed to mecca; thither at prayer every muslim turned his face and directed his thoughts, and now every possible detail of ancient meccan ritual was performed in scrupulous deference to the one god, so that when the time came and in fulfilment of his desires he set foot on its soil, no part of the ceremonies, with the lingering enthusiasm of his youth still sweet upon them, might be omitted or be allowed to lose its savour through disuse. the third year of the hegira began favourably for mahomet. during the first month, muharram, there were three small expeditions against unruly desert tribes. the beni ghatafan on the eastern babylonian route were friendly to the kureisch. this was undesirable, because they might allow the meccan caravan to pass through in safety, and the prophet had resolved that it should be despoiled by whichever route it journeyed, coast road or arid tableland. when therefore he received news that they were assembling in force at carcarat-al-kadr, a desert oasis on the confines of their territory, he marched thither in haste, hoping to catch and overcome them before they dispersed. but the beni ghatafan were too wise to suffer this, and when mahomet came to the place he found it deserted, save for some camels, left behind in the flight, which he captured and brought to medina, deeming it useless to attempt the pursuit of his quarry through the trackless desert. the raid in jumad ii (september) by zeid was far more successful. since the victory at bedr the coast route had been entirely barred for the kureischite caravans, and they were forced to try the central desert, which road lay through the middle tableland leading on to babylonia and the syrian wastes. the meccan caravan had only reached carada when it was met by a muslim force under zeid, sent by the prescience and predatory instincts of mahomet. the guard was not strong, possibly because the meccans thought there was little fear of attack by this route, and so zeid was easily able to overcome his foe and secure the spoil, which amounted to many bales of goods, camels, trappings, and armour. the conquerer returned elated to medina, where he cast the spoil at the feet of the prophet. the usual division was made, and the whole city rejoiced over the wealth it had secured and the increasing discomfiture of its enemies. meanwhile matters were becoming urgent between the muslim and the jews. neither the murder of their singers, nor the expulsion of the kainukaa could silence the voice of jewish discontent, which found its most effective mouthpiece in the poet ka'b al' ashraf, son of a jewess of the tribe of the beni nadhir. this man had been righteously indignant at the slaughter of the kureischite champions at bedr. the story seemed to him so monstrous that he could not believe it. "is this true?" he asked the messenger; "has mahomet verily slain these men? by the lord, if he has done this, then is the innermost part of the earth better than the surface thereof!" he journeyed in haste to mecca, and when he heard the dreadful news confirmed he did his utmost to stir up the kureisch against the murderer. as soon as he returned he published verses lamenting the disgraceful victory purchased at such a price; moreover, he also addressed insulting love poems to the muslim women, always with the intent of causing as much disaffection as possible. at last mahomet waxed impatient and cried: "who will give me peace from this ka'b al' ashraf?" mahomet mosleima replied, "i, even i will slay him." the method of his accomplishment of this deed is instructive of the estimation in which individual life was then held. mosleima secured the assistance of ka'b's treacherous brother--how, we are not told, but most probably by bribes. together the two went to the poet's house by moonlight, and begged his company on a discussion of much importance. his young wife would have prevented ka'b, sensing treachery from the manner and time of the request, but he disregarded her prayers. in the gleam of moonbeams the three walked past the outskirts of the city in deepest converse, the subject of which was rebellion against the prophet. they came at length to the ravine adjuz, a lonely place overhung with ghastly silence and pallid under the white light. here they stopped, and soon his brother began to stroke the hair of ka'b until he had lulled him into drowsiness. then suddenly seizing the forelock he shouted: "let the enemy of god perish!" ka'b was pinioned, while four men of the beni aus slashed at him with their swords. but he was a brave man and strong, determined to sell his life dearly. the struggle became furious. "when i saw that," relates mosleima through the mouth of tradition, "i remembered my dagger, and thrust it into his body with such violence that it penetrated the entire bulk. the enemy of god gave one cry and fell to the ground." then they left him, and hastened to tell their master of the good news. mahomet rejoiced, and was at no pains to conceal his satisfaction. ka'b had made himself objectionable to the prophet and dangerous to islam; ka'b was removed; it was well; allah akbar islam. eastern nations have never been so careful of human life as western, and especially as the anglo-saxon peoples. to mahomet the security of his state came before all, and if a hundred poets had threatened to undermine his authority, he would have had them all slain with equal steadfastness. men were bound to die, and those who disturbed the progress of affairs merely suffered more swiftly the universal lot. it is obvious that no modern western standard can be set up for mahomet; the deed must be interpreted by that inflexible will and determination to achieve his aims, which lies at the root of all his crimes of state. but the unfortunate jews went in fear and trembling, and their panic was increased when mahomet issued an order to his followers with permission to kill them wherever they might be found. he very soon, however, allowed so drastic a command to lapse, but not before some had taken advantage of his savage policy, and after a time he made a new treaty with the jews, not at all on the old federal lines, but guaranteeing them some sort of security, provided they showed proper submission to his superior power. this treaty smoothed over matters somewhat, but nevertheless the jews were now thoroughly intimidated, and those who were left lived a restricted life, wherein fear played the greater part. but for the time being mahomet was satisfied, and no further punitive acts were attempted; not many months later he was faced with a far greater danger, the appearance in force of his old enemy the kureisch, burning for vengeance, fierce in their hatred of such a despoiler, and before them mahomet in the new-found arrogance of his dominion was forced to pause. chapter xiii the battle of ohod "if a wound hath befallen you, a wound like it hath already befallen others; we alternate these days (of good and evil fortune) among men, that god may know those who have believed and that he may take martyrs from among you."--_the kuran_. the jews had been alternately forced and cajoled into submission, the disaffected had been swept into temporary loyalty after the triumph at bedr, his own followers were magnificently proud of his dominance, the kureisch had made as yet no serious endeavours to avenge their humiliation at bedr; moreover, the religious and political affairs of the city had been regulated so that it was possible to carry on the usual business of life in security--a security which certainly possessed no guaranteed permanence, and which might at any moment crack beneath the feet of those who walked thereon and plunge them back into an anarchy of warring creeds and chiefs--still a security such as medina had seldom known, built up by the one strong personality within its walls. for a few months mahomet could live in peace among his followers, and the interest shifts not to his religious ordinances and work of government--these had been successfully started, and were now continuing almost automatically--but to his domestic life and his relations with his intimate circle of friends. as his years increased he felt the continual need of companionship and consolation, and while he sought for advice in government and counsel in war from such men as abu bekr, ali, and othman, he found solace and refreshment in the ministering hands of women. sawda he already possessed, and her slow softness and unimaginative mind had already begun to pall; ayesha, with her beauty and shrewdness, her jewel-like nature, bright and almost as hard, could lessen the continual strain of his life, and induce by a kind of reflex action that tireless energy of mind find body which was the secret of his power. but these were not enough, and now he sought fresh pleasure in haphsa, and in other and lesser women, though he never cast away his earlier loves, still with the same unformulated desire, to obtain some respite from the cares which beset him, some renewal of his vivid nature, burning with self-destroying fire. the emotional stimulus, whose agents women were, became for him as necessary as prayer, and we see him in later life adding experience after experience in his search for solace, nevertheless cleaving most to ayesha, whose vitality fulfilled his intensest need. secondary to the necessity of refreshment came the not inconsiderable duty of securing the permanence of his power by the foundation of a line of male successors. his earlier marriages had been productive only of daughters, while his later unions, and also his most recent with haphsa, had been unfruitful. but though so far no direct male issue had been vouchsafed him, he was careful to unite with himself the most important men in his state by marriage with his children, binding them thereby with the closest blood ties. rockeya, now dead, had married the warrior othman, and fatima, the prophet's youngest daughter, was bestowed upon the bright and impetuous ali, whose exploits in warfare had filled the muslim with pride and a wondering fear. of this marriage were born the famous hassan and hosein, names written indelibly upon the muslim roll of fame. as each inmate became added to his household, rough houses, almost huts, were built for their reception, but the prophet himself had no abiding place, only a council-chamber, where he conducted public business, and dwelt by turn in the houses of his wives, but delighted most to visit ayesha, who occupied the foremost position by virtue of her beauty and personality. mahomet's household grew up gradually near the mosque in this manner; together with the houses of his sons-in-law, not far away, and the sacred place itself, it constituted the centre of activity for the muslim world, witnessing the arrival and despatch of embassies, the administration of justice and public business, the performance of the muslim religious ceremonial, the kuranic revelations of allah's will. it radiated mahomet's personality, and concentrated for his followers all the enthusiasm and persistence that had gone to its creation, as well as the endurance and foresight ensuring its continuance. but such security was not permanently possible for mahomet; his spirit was doomed to perpetual sojourn amid tumult and effort. it was almost twelve months since the victory of bedr. the broken kureisch had had time to recover themselves, and they were now prepared for revenge. the wealth of abu sofian's caravan, so dearly acquired, had not been distributed after bedr. it remained inviolate at mecca, a weapon wherefrom was to be wrought their bitter vengeance. all their fighting men were massed into a great host. horses and armour, weapons and trappings were bought with their hoarded wealth, and at length, strong, including mailed warriors and well-mounted cavalry, they prepared to set forth upon their work of punishment. not only were their own citizens pressed into the service, but the fighting men from allied neighbouring tribes, who were very ready to take part in an expedition that promised excitement and bloodshed, with the hope of plunder. the wives of their chief men implored permission to go with the army, pointing out their usefulness and their great eagerness to share the coming triumph. but many warriors murmured against this, for the undertaking was a difficult one, and they knew the discomforts of a long march. at length fifteen specially privileged women were allowed to travel with the host, among them hind, the fierce wife of abu sofian, who brought in her train an immense negro, specially reserved for her crowning act of vengeance, the murder of hamza, in revenge for the slaying of her father. the army took the easier seaward route, travelling as before in all the pomp and gorgeousness of eastern warfare, and finally reached the valley of akik, five miles west of medina. thence they turned to the left, so as to command a more vulnerable place in the city's defences, and finally encamped at ohod at the base of the hill on a fertile plain, separated from the city to the north by several rocky ridges, impassable for such an army. mahomet's first news of the premeditated attack reached him through his uncle abbas, that weak doubter, who never could make up his mind to become either the friend or the foe of islam. he sent a messenger to coba to say that the kureiseh were advancing in force. mahomet was inevitably the leader of the city in spite of the bad feeling between himself and certain sections within it. jews and disaffected alike looked to him for leadership in such a crisis; by virtue of his former prowess his counsels were sought. mahomet knew perfectly well that this attacking force was unlike the last, which had been gathered together hurriedly and had underestimated its opposition. he knew that besides a better equipment they possessed the strongest incentive to daring and determination, the desire to avenge some wrong. it was with no false estimate of their foe that he counselled his followers to remain in their city and allow the enemy to waste his strength on their defences. abdallah agreed with the prophet's decision, but the younger section, and especially those who had not fought at bedr, were clamorously dissentient. they pointed out that if mahomet did not go forth to meet the kureisch he would lay himself open to the charge of cowardice, and they openly declared that their loyalty to the prophet would not endure this outrage, but would turn to contempt. against his will mahomet was forced into action. he might succeed in defeating his foe, and at all events his position would not endure the disloyalty and disaffection that his refusal would entail. after friday's service he retired to his chamber, and appeared before the people in armour. he called for three lances and fixed his banners to them, designing one for the leaders of the refugees, and the other two for the tribes of the beni aus and khazraj. he could muster in this year an army of men, but he had no cavalry, and fewer mailed warriors than the kureisch. abdallah tried his best to dissuade mahomet, but the prophet was firm. "it does not become me to lay aside my armour when once i have put it on, without meeting my foe in battle." at dawn the army moved to ohod, and he drew up his line of battle at the base of the hill directly facing the kureisch. but before he could take up his final position, abdallah with three hundred men turned their backs upon him and hastened again to medina, declaring that the enterprise was too perilous, and that it had been undertaken against their judgment. mahomet let them go with the same proud sufficiency that he had showed before the advancing host at bedr. "we do not need them, the lord is on our side." then he directed his attention to the disposition of his forces. he stationed fifty archers under a captain on the left of his line, with strict orders that they were to hold their ground whatever chance befell, so as to guard his rear and foil a kureischite flank movement. then, having provided for the enemy's probable tactics, he drew out his main line facing medina in rather shallow formation. the attack began as usual, by single combats, in which none of the champions seem to have taken part, and soon mahomet's whole line was engaged in a ruthless onward sweep, before which the kureisch wavered. but the muslim pressed too hotly, and unable to retain their ground at all points, were driven back here and there. again their long line recovered and pursued its foes, only to lose its coherence and discipline; for a section of them, counting the day already won, began plundering the kureisch camp. this was too much for the archers on the left. forgetting everything in one wild desire to share the enemy's wealth, they left their post and charged down into the struggling central mass. here was khalid's chance. the chief warrior and counsellor of the kureisch gathered his men together hastily, and circling round the now oblivious muslim, drove his force against their rear, which broke up and fled. mahomet instantly saw the fatal mistake, and commanded the archers across the sea of men and weapons to remember their orders and stand firm. but it was too late, and all he could do was to attempt to stay the muslim flight. "i am the apostle of god, return!" he called across the tumult. but even his magnetism failed to rally the stricken muslim, and they rushed in headlong flight towards the slopes of ohod. in the chaos that followed, hind saw her enemy standing against the press of his fellow-citizens, striving to encourage them, while with his sword he cut at the pursuing kureisch. she sent her giant negro, wahschi, to cleave his way to the abhorred one through the struggling men, and he crashed them asunder with spear uplifted to strike. hamza was felled to the ground, and with one despairing upward thrust, easily parried by his huge assailant, he succumbed to wahschi's spear and lay lifeless, the first martyr in the cause of islam, which still remembers with pride his glorious end. seven refugees and citizens gathered round their leader to defend him, but the battle raged in his vicinity, and his friends could not keep off the blows of his enemies. he was wounded, and some of his teeth were knocked out. then the cry arose that he was slain, and the evil tidings heightened the muslim disaster. a wretched remnant managed to gain the security of the hill slopes, and not the good news of mahomet's escape when they saw him amongst them could make of them aught but a vanquished and ignominious band. they lay hidden among the hills, while the kureisch worked their triumphant vengeance upon the corpses of their victims, which they mutilated before burying, after the barbarous fashion of the time, and the savage wrath of hind found appeasement in her destruction of hamza's body. at length the kureisch prepared to depart, and their spokesman, going to the base of the fatal hill, demanded the prophet's agreement to a fresh encounter in the following year. omar consented on behalf of the prophet and his followers, and mahomet remained silent, wishing to confirm the impression that he was dead. why the kureisch did not follow up their victory and attempt a raid upon medina, it is difficult to imagine. possibly they were apprehensive that mahomet might have fresh reserves and strong defences within the city; but more probably they felt they had accomplished their purpose and the muslim would now be cured of seeking to plunder their caravans. so they retreated again towards mecca, and the forlorn muslim crept silently from their hiding-places to discover the extent of their defeat. they found seventy-four bodies of their own following and twenty of the enemy. their ignominy was complete, and to the bitterness of their reverse was added the terrible fear that the kureisch would proceed further and attack their defenceless city. they returned to medina at sunset, a mournful and piteous band, bearing with them their leader, whose wounds had been hastily dressed on the field. mahomet was indeed in sore straits; himself maimed, the bulk of his army scattered, his foes victorious and his headquarters full of seething discontent, brought to the surface by his defeat, he felt himself in peril even at medina, and passed the night fearfully awaiting what events might bring fresh disaster. but his determination and foresight did not desert him, and once the tormenting night was passed he recovered his old resourcefulness and his wonderful energy. he commanded bilal to announce that he would pursue the kureisch, and put himself, stricken and suffering, at the head of the expedition. they reached safra, and remained there three days, returning then to medina with the announcement that the kureisch had eluded them. this sortie was nothing more than a manifestation of courage, and by it mahomet hoped to restore in a measure his shaken confidence in the city, and also to apprise the kureisch that he was not utterly crushed. but his defeat had damaged his prestige far more than a mere expedition could remedy, and his followers were aghast at his humiliation. their world was upturned. it was as if the lord himself, for whom they had suffered so much, had suddenly demonstrated his frailty and human weakness. and the malcontents in medina triumphed, especially the jews, who saw with joy some measure of the prophet's brutality towards them being meted to him in turn. the situation was grave, and mahomet's reputation must be at all costs re-established. he retired for some time to his own quarters, and received the revelation of part of sura iii, wherein he explains the whole matter, urging first that allah was pleased to make a selection between the brave and the cowardly, the weak and the steadfast, and then that the defeat was the punishment for disobeying his divine commands. the passage is written in mahomet's most forcible style, and stands out clearly as a reliable account, for neither the defeat of the muslim, nor their own culpability, are minimised. the martyrs at ohod receive at his hands their crown of praise. "and repute not those slain on god's path to be dead. nay, alive with their lord are they, and richly sustained. rejoicing in what god of his bounty hath vouchsafed, filled with joy at the favours of god, and at his mercy; and that god suffereth not the reward of the faithful to perish." he spends most time, however, in speaking for the encouragement of his sorely tried flock, and for the confusion of those who doubt him. the revelation came in answer to a direct need, and is inseparable from the events which called it forth. as far as was possible it achieved its purpose, for the faithful received it with humility, but it could not fully restore the shaken confidence in the prophet. the immediate result of the battle of ohod was to render mahomet free from any more threatenings from the kureisch, who had fulfilled the task of overawing him into quietude towards them, but its ultimate results were far-reaching and endured for many years; in fact, it was by reason of the reverse at ohod that the next period of his life is crowded with defensive and punitive expeditions, and attacks upon his followers by desert tribes. his position at medina had been rendered thoroughly insecure, and every tribe deemed it possible to accomplish some kind of demonstration against him. jew and arabian both pitted themselves against the embryo state, and the powerful desert allies of the kureisch constituted a perpetual menace to his own stronghold. it was only when he had murdered or exiled every jew, and carried out repeated campaigns against the tribes of the interior, that his position in medina was removed beyond possibility of assailment. ruthlessness and trust in the sword were his only chances of success. if he relaxed his vigilance or allowed any humane feelings to prevent the execution of severe measures upon any of his enemies, his very existence would be menaced. from now he may be said to pass under the tyranny of war, and its remorseless urging was never slackened until he had his own native city within his power. the god of battles exacted his pitiless toll from his devotee, compelling him to work out his destiny by the sword's rough means. the thinker has become irrevocably the man of action; prayer has been supplemented by the command, "fight, and yet again fight, that god may conquer and retain." reverses show the temper of heroes, and mahomet is never more fully revealed than in the first gloomy days after ohod, when he steadfastly set himself to retrieve what was lost, refusing to acknowledge that his position was impaired, impervious to the whispers that spoke of failure, supreme in his mighty asset of an impregnable faith. chapter xiv the tyranny of war "and we have sent down iron. dire evil resideth in it, as well as advantage to mankind."--_the kuran._ after the battle of ohod, two months passed quietly for mahomet. he was unable to undertake any aggressive expeditions, and both the jews at medina and the exterior desert tribes were lulled into tranquillity by the knowledge that his power was for the time considerably weakened. but the prophet knew that this security could not continue for long, and for the character of his future wars he was fully prepared--sufficient proof, if one were still necessary, of his skill as soldier and leader. he knew the kureisch had instituted a policy of alliance with the surrounding tribes, and that now their plan would be to crush him by a ceaseless pressure from the east, united to the inevitable disaffection within the city as its inhabitants witnessed the decline of their leader's power. watchfulness and severity were the only means of holding his position, and these two qualities he used with a tenacity which alone secured his ultimate success. the first threatenings came from the beni asad, a powerful tribe inhabiting the country directly east of medina. under their chief tuleiha, they planned a raid against mahomet. but his excellent system of espionage stood him, now as always, in good stead, so that he heard of their scheme before it was ripe, and despatched men to frustrate it. the beni asad were wise enough to give up the attempt after mahomet's men had found and plundered their camp. they dispersed for the time being, and the danger of an attack was averted. but scarcely had the expedition returned when news came of another gathering at orna, between mecca and taif. again mahomet lost no time, but sent a force large enough to disperse them in a skirmish, in which the chief of the lahyan tribe was killed. in the next month mahomet sent six of his followers to mecca, probably as spies, but they were not allowed to reach their goal in safety. at raja they fell in with a party of the beni lahyan proceeding the same way. the men were armed, and mahomet's followers were glad to accompany them, because of the additional security. at the oasis the party encamped for the night, and the muslim prepared unsuspectingly for sleep. at dead of night they were surrounded by their professed friends, who were resolved on revenge for the murder of their chief. four were killed, and two, zeid and khubeib, taken bound to mecca, whose citizens gloated over their prey. legends in plenty group themselves around these two figures--the first real martyrs for islam, and one of the most profound testimonies to the love which mahomet inspired in his followers is given traditionally in a few significant sentences dealing with the episode. the prisoners were kept a month before being led to the inevitable torture. abu sofian, the scoffer, came to zeid as he was preparing to face his death. "wouldst thou not, o zeid," he asked, "that thou wert once more with thy family, and that mahomet suffered in thy place?" "by allah! i would not that mahomet should suffer the smallest prick from a thorn; no, not even if by that means i could be safe once more among my kindred." then the enemy of islam marvelled at his words and said: "never have i seen among men such love as mahomet's followers bear towards him." and after that zeid was put to death. mahomet was powerless to retaliate, and was obliged to suffer from afar the murder of his fellow-believers. the fate of these six muslim gave courage to mahomet's enemies everywhere, and prompted even his friends to treachery. the beni aamir, a branch of the great hawazin tribe dwelling between the beni asad and the beni lahyan, were friendly towards medina, and sent mahomet gifts as a guarantee. these mahomet refused to receive unless the tribe became converts to islam. he knew the danger of compromise--his meccan experiences had not faded from his mind; moreover, he recognised that in his present weakened position firmness was essential. he could not open the gates of his fortress even a chink without letting in a flood before which it must topple into ruin. but their chief would not be so coerced, neither would he give up his ancestral faith without due examination of that offered in its stead. he demanded that a party of muslim should accompany him back to his own people and strive by reasoning and eloquence to convert them to islam. after much deliberation, for he was chary of sending any of his chosen to what would be swift death in the event of treachery, mahomet consented, and gave orders for a party of men skilled in their faith to accompany abu bera back to his people. the men were received in all honour, and were escorted as befitted their position as far as bir mauna, where they halted, and a muslim messenger was sent with a letter to the chief of another branch of the same tribe. this leader, aamir ibn sofail, immediately put the messenger to death, and called upon his allies to exterminate the followers of the blasphemous prophet. but the tribe refused to break abu bera's pledge, so aamir, determined to root them out, appealed to the beni suleim, mahomet's avowed enemies, and with their aid proceeded to bir mauna. there they fell upon the band of muslim and slaughtered them to a man, then returned to their desert fastnesses, proudly confident in their ability to elude pursuit. the news was carried to mahomet, and at first he was convinced that abu bera had betrayed him. his followers, who had brought the news, had fallen upon and killed some luckless members of the beni aamir in reprisal, and mahomet acclaimed their action. when, however, he heard from abu bera that he and his tribe had been faithful to their pledge, he paid blood money for the murdered men; then calling his people together he solemnly cursed each tribe by name who had dared to attack the faithful by treachery. but the incident did not end here. mahomet could not compass the destruction of the beni aamir; they were too powerful and dwelt too far off for his vengeance to assail them, but the beni nadhir, the second jewish tribe within the prophet's territory, were near, and they were confederate with the treacherous people. mahomet's action was swift and effective. force was his only temporal weapon; compulsion his only policy. the command went forth through the lips of mosleima: "thus saith the prophet of the lord: ye shall go forth out of my land within a space of ten days; whosoever that remaineth behind shall be put to death." the beni nadhir were aghast and trembling. they urged their former treaties with mahomet, and the antiquity of their settlements. it was impossible that they should break up their homesteads thus suddenly and depart forlorn into an unknown land. but mahomet was obdurate, with that same fixity of purpose which was everywhere the keynote of his dominance. "hearts are changed now," was the only reply to their prayers, their entreaties, and their throats. abdallah, leader of the beni aus and khazraj, sought desperately for a reconciliation, but to no purpose; the die was cast. then the jews, brought to bay and careless with the despair of impotence, refused to obey the command, and prepared to encounter the wrath of allah and the vengeance of his emissary. "behold the jews prepare to fight: great is the lord!" the prophet declared when the news was brought to him. he was sure of his victim, and ruthless in destruction. all things were made ready for the undertaking. the army was assembled and the march begun. ali carried the great green banner of the prophet towards the stronghold of his enemies. the beni nadhir were invested in their own quarters, the date trees lying outside their fort were burned, their fields were laid waste. for three weeks the siege endured, each day bringing the miserable garrison nearer to the inevitable privations and final surrender. at last the jews recognised the hopelessness of their lot and came to reluctant terms, submitting to exile and agreeing to depart immediately. then followed the terrible breaking up of homes, and the wandering forth of a whole tribe, as of old, to seek other dwelling-places. some went to kheibar, where they were to suffer later on still more severely at mahomet's hands; some went to jericho and the highlands south of syria, but all vanished from their ancient abiding places as suddenly as if a plague had reduced their land to silence. it was an important conquest for mahomet, and has found fitting notice in the kuran. the number of his enemies within the city was considerably reduced. he was gradually proving his power by breaking up the jewish federations, and thereby advancing far towards his goal, his unassailable, almost royal dominance of medina. moreover, he bound the refugees closer to him by dividing the despoiled country amongst them. it was an event worthy of incorporation into the record of divine favours, for by it the sacred cause of islam had been rendered more triumphant. "god is the mighty, the wise! he it is who caused the unbelievers among the people of the book to quit their homes. and were it not that god had decreed their exile, surely in this world would he have chastised them: but in the world to come the chastisement of the fire awaiteth them. this because they set them against god and his apostle, and whoso setteth him against god--! god truly is vehement in punishing." the sura ends in a mood of fierce exultation unrivalled by any ecstatic utterances of his early visions. it is the measure of his relief at his first great success since the humiliation of ohod. his fervour beats through it like the clamour of waters, in whose triumphant gladness no pauses are heard. "he is god, beside whom there is no god: he is the king, the holy, the peaceful, the faithful, the guardian, the mighty, the strong, the most high! far be the glory of god from that which they unite with him! he is god, the producer, the maker, the fashioner! to him are ascribed excellent titles. what ever is in the heavens and in the earth praiseth him. he is the mighty, the wise!" the expulsion of the beni nadhir was a brutal, but necessary act. the choice lay between their security and his future dominion, and he uprooted their dwellings as ruthlessly as any conqueror sets aside the obstacles in his path. half measures were impossible, even dangerous, and mahomet was not afraid to use terrible means to achieve his all-absorbing end. he had avowedly accepted the behests of the sword, and did not repudiate his master. the hated jews were enemies of his god, whose vicegerent he now ranked himself; their ruin was in the divinely appointed order of the world. the time was soon at hand when, by arrangement, the medinan army was to repair to bedr to meet the kureisch. the meccans sent a messenger in schaban (nov. ) to mahomet, saying that they were prepared to advance against him with foot and horse. this large army did in reality set out, but was soon forced to return, owing to lack of supplies and scarcity of food. the message was sent mainly in the hope of intimidating the muslim, but mahomet was probably as well informed of the kureisch movements as they were themselves, and knew that no real attack was possible. he therefore determined to show both friends and enemies that he was ready to meet his foes. the muslim were not very agreeable, knowing what fate had decreed at their last encounter with the meccans, but mahomet's stern determination prevailed. he declared that he would go to bedr even if he went alone, and so collected by sheer force of will men. he marched to bedr, held camp there for eight days, during which, of course, no demonstration was made, and the whole expedition was turned into a peaceable mercantile undertaking. when all their goods had been profitably sold or exchanged, mahomet broke up the camp and returned in triumph to medina. his prestige had certainly been much increased by this unmolested sortie. it was therefore in a glad and confident mood that he returned to his native city and prepared to enjoy his success. he took thereupon two wives, zeinab and omm salma, of whom very little is known, except that zeinab was the widow of mahomet's cousin killed at bedr. the incident of his marriage with zeinab finds allusion in the kuran in the briefest of passages. she was probably taken as much out of a desire to protect as a desire to possess, and she quickly became one of the many with whom mahomet was content to pass a few days and nights. there are also signs in the kuran at this time of disagreements between the different members of his household, and of their extravagant demands upon mahomet. it was evidently not so easy to rule his wives as to acquire them. moreover, he was beginning to feel the sting of jealousy towards every other man of the muslim. here really begins the insistence upon restrictive regulations for women which has been ever since the bane of islam. mahomet could not allow his wives to go abroad freely, decked in the ornaments he himself had bestowed, to become a mark for every envious gazer. they were not as other women, and his imperious nature regarded them as peculiarly inviolate, so that he fenced in their actions and secluded their lives. as early as his marriage with zeinab he imposed restrictions upon women's dress abroad. they are not to traverse the streets in jewels or beautiful robes, but are to cover themselves closely with a long sober garment. whereas his former sura regarding women had been confined to codifying and rendering fairer divorce and property laws, now the personal note sounds strongly, and continues throughout the whole of his later pronouncements, regarding muslim women. the next few months were to see dangers and disturbances in his domestic life which were to fix the position of women in islam throughout the coming centuries, but before he had long completed his latest marriage he was called away upon another necessary expedition. thus casually, almost from purely personal considerations, was the law regarding the status of women established in islam. his ordinances have the savour of their impetuous creator, who found in the subject sex no opposition against the writing down, in their most sacred book, of those decrees which rendered their inferior position permanent and authorised. it was allah speaking through the lips of his prophet, and they submitted with willing hearts with no shadow of the knowledge of all it was to mean to their descendants darkening their minds. in muharram of the beni ghatafan, always formidable on account of their size and their desert hinterland, assembled in force at dzat-al-rica. mahomet determinedly marched against them, and once more at the news of his approach their courage failed them, and they fled to the mountains. mahomet came unexpectedly upon their habitations, carried off some of their women as slaves, and returned to medina after fifteen days, having effectively crushed the incipient rising against him. the event is chiefly important as being the occasion which led mahomet to institute the service of danger described in the kuran, whereby half the army prayed or slept while the other watched. a body of men was therefore kept constantly under arms while the army was in the field, and public prayers were repeated twice. "and when ye go forth to war in the land, it shall be no crime in you to cut short your prayers.... and when thou, o apostle, shalt be among them and shalt pray with them, then let a party of them rise up with thee, but let them take their arms; and when they shall have made their prostrations, let them retire to your rear: then let another party that hath not prayed come forward, and let them pray with you; but let them take their precautions and their arms." the military organisation is being gradually perfected, so that the mahometan sword may finally be in the perpetual ascendant. this was the chief significance of a campaign which at best was only an interlude in the daily life of prayer, civil and domestic cares and regulations which took up mahomet's life in the breathing space before the great meccan attack. mahomet was absent from medina but fifteen days, and he returned home resolved to take advantage of the respite from war. not long after his return he happened to visit the house of zeid, his adopted son, and chanced not on zeid, but on his wife at her tiring. mahomet was filled with her beauty, for her loveliness was past praise, and he coveted her. zeinab herself was proud of the honour vouchsafed her, and was willing, indeed anxious, to become divorced for so mighty a ruler. zeid, her husband, with that measureless devotion which the prophet inspired in his followers, offered to divorce her for him. mahomet at first refused, declaring it was not meet that such a thing should be, but after a time his desire proved too strong for him, and he consented. so zeinab was divorced, and passed into the harem of the prophet. and he justified the proceedings in sura : "and when zeid had settled concerning her to divorce her, we married her to thee, that it might not be a crime in the faithful to marry the wives of their adopted sons, when they have settled the affair concerning them.... no blame attacheth to the prophet when god hath given him a permission." there follows the sum of mahomet's restrictions upon the dress and demeanour of women. they are to veil their faces when abroad, and suffer no man but their intimate kinsmen to look upon them. the faithful are forbidden to go near the dwelling-places of the prophet's wives without his permission, nor are they even to desire to marry them after the prophet is dead. by such casual means, by decrees born out of the circumstances of his age and personal temperament, did mahomet institute the customs which are more vital to the position and fate of muslim women than all his utterances as to their just treatment and his injunctions against their oppression. power was already taking its insidious hold upon him, and his feet were set upon the path that led to the despotism of the chalifate and the horrors of muslim conquests. allah is still omnipotent, but he is making continual and indispensable use of temporal means to achieve his ends, and his servant does likewise. after the interlude of peace, mahomet was called upon in july, , to undertake a punitive expedition to jumat-al-gandal, an oasis midway between the red sea and the gulf of persia. the expedition was successful, and the marauders dispersed. he had now reached the confines of syria, and, with the extension of his expeditionary activities, his political horizon widened. he began to conceive himself as the predatory chief of arabia, one who was regarded with awe and fear by the surrounding tribes, with the one exception of the stiff-necked city, mecca, whose inhabitants he longed in vain to subdue. the success fostered his love of plunder, and inclined him more than ever to hold out this reward of valour to his followers. his stern and wary policy was justified by its success, for by it he had recovered from the severe blow at ohod, but it threatened to become his master and set its perpetual seal upon his life. in december, , he heard of the defection of the beni mustalik, a branch of the khozaa tribe. they joined the kureisch for mixed motives, chiefly political, for they hoped to make themselves and their religion secure by alliance with mahomet's enemies. mahomet learnt of their desertion through his efficient spies, and determined to anticipate any disturbance. with ayesha and omm salma to accompany him, and an adequate army to support him, he set out for the quarters of the beni mustalik, and before long reached moraisi, where he encamped. the beni mustalik were deserted by their allies, and in the skirmish that followed mahomet was easily successful. their camp was plundered, their women and some of their men taken prisoner. the expedition was, however, provocative of two consequences which take up considerable attention in contemporary records, the quarrel between the citizens and the refugees, and the scandal regarding ayesha. the punishment of the beni mustalik had been effected, and nought remained but the division of the spoil. the captives had mostly been ransomed, but one, a girl, juweira, remained sorrowfully with the muslim, for her ransom was fixed so high that payment was impossible. mahomet listened to her tale, and the loveliness of her face and figure did not escape him. "wilt thou hearken to what may be better?" he asked her, "even that i should pay thy ransom and take thee myself?" juweira was thankful for her safety, and rejoiced at her good fortune. mahomet married her straightway, and for her bridal gift gave her the lives of her fellow tribesmen. "wherefore," says ayesha, "juweira was the best benefactress to her people in that she restored the captives to their kinsfolk." but the citizens and refugees were by no means so contented. their quarrel arose nominally out of the distribution of spoil, but really it was a long smouldering discontent that finally burst into flame. mahomet was faced with what threatened to be a serious revolt, and only his orders for an immediate march prevented the outbreak of desperate passions--greed and envy. abdallah, their ubiquitous leader, is chidden in the kuran, where the whole affair brings down the strength of mahomet's scorn upon his offending people. the camp broke up immediately, and through its hasty departure ayesha was faced with what might have been the tragedy of her life. her litter was carried away without her by an oversight on the part of the bearers, and she was left alone in the desert's velvet dusk with no alternative but to await its return. the dark deepened, adding its mysterious vastness and silence to trouble her already tremulous mind. in the first hours of the night safwan, one of mahomet's rear, came towards her as she sat forlorn, and was amazed to find the prophet's wife in such a position. he brought his mule near her, then turned his face away as she mounted, so as to keep her inviolate from his gaze. closely veiled, and trembling as to her meeting with mahomet, ayesha rode with safwan at her bridle until the next day they came up with the main column. now murmurs against her broke out on all sides. mahomet refused to believe her story, and remained estranged from her until she asked permission to return to her father as her word was thus doubted. ali was consulted by the prophet, and he, with that antagonism towards ayesha which germinated later into open hatred, was inclined to believe her defamers. at last the outcry became so great that mahomet called upon allah. entering his chamber in medina, he received the signs of divine inspiration. when the trance was over, he declared that ayesha was innocent, and revealed the passage dealing with divorce in sura : "they who defame virtuous women and bring not four witnesses, scourge them with fourscore stripes, and receive ye not their testimony forever, for these are perverse persons.... and they who shall accuse their wives, and have no witnesses but themselves, the testimony of each of them shall be a testimony by god four times repeated, that he is indeed of them that speak the truth." the revelation ends with a repetition of the restrictions imposed upon women and an injunction to the muslim not to enter each other's houses until they have asked leave. this was a necessary ordinance in that primitive community, where bolts were little used and there was virtually no privacy, and was designed, in common with most of his present utterances, to encourage the leading of decent, well-regulated lives by the followers of so magnificent a faith. ayesha's defamers were publicly scourged, and the matter dismissed from the muslim mind, save that regulations had once more been framed upon personal feelings and specific events, and were to constitute the whole future law regarding an important and difficult question. mahomet was justly content with the position of affairs after the dispersion of the beni mustalik. he had shown his strength to the surrounding desert tribes; by systematically crushing each rebellion as it arose, he had demonstrated to them the impossibility of alliance against him. he knew they were each prone to self-seeking and distrustful of each other, and he played unhesitatingly upon their jealousies and passions. thus he kept them disunited and fearful, afraid even to ally with his powerful enemy the kureisch. for after all, the meccans were his chief obstacle; their opposition was spirited and urged on by the memory of past humiliations and triumphs. they alone were really worthy of his steel, and he knew that, as far as the intermediary wars were concerned, they were but the prelude to another encounter in the year-long warfare with his native city. the drama closes in now upon the protagonists; save for the expulsion of the last jewish tribe in the neighbourhood of medina, there is little to compare with that central causal hatred. the final hour was not yet, but the struggle grew in intensity with the passage of time--the struggle wherein one fought for revenge and future freedom from molestation, but the other for the establishment of a faith in its rightful environment, the manifestation before men of that faith's determined achievement, the symbol of its destined conquests and divinely appointed power. chapter xv the war of the ditch "and god drove back the infidels in their wrath; they won no advantage; god sufficed the faithful in the fight, for god is strong, mighty."--_the kuran._ the kureischite plans for the annihilation of mahomet were now complete. they had achieved an alliance against him not only among the bedouin tribes of the interior, but also among the exiled and bitterly vengeful medinan jews. now in schawwal, , mahomet's unresting foes summoned all their confederates to warfare "against this man." the allied tribes, chief among whom were the beni suleim and ghatafan, always at feud with mahomet, hastened to mass themselves at mecca, where they were welcomed confidently by the kureiseh. the host was organised in three separate camps, and abu sofian was placed at the head of the entire army. each leader, however, was to have alternating command of the campaign; and this primitive arrangement--the only one, it seems, by which early nations, lacking an indisputable leader, can surmount the jealousy and self-will displayed by every petty chief--is responsible in great measure for their ultimate failure. in such fashion, still with the bravery and splendour of eastern warfare wrapped about them, an army of men, with horses, camels, countless stores, spears, arrows, armour and accoutrements, moved forward upon the small and factious city of the prophet, whose fighting strength was hampered by the exhaustion of many campaigns and the disloyalty of those within his very walls. the prophet was outwardly undismayed; whatever fears preyed upon his inner mind, they were dominated by his unshakable belief in the protection and favour of allah. he did not allow the days of respite to pass him idly by. as soon as he received the news of this fateful expedition, he called together a meeting of his wisest and bravest, and explained to them the position. he told them of the hordes massed against them, and dwelt upon the impossibility of opposing them in the open field and the necessity of guarding their own city. this time there were no dissentient voices; both the disaffected and the muslim had had a lesson at ohod that was not lightly forgotten. then salman, a persian, and one skilled in war, suggested that their stronghold should be further defended by a trench dug at the most vulnerable parts of the city's outposts. medina is built upon "an outcropping mass of rock" which renders attack impossible upon the north-west side. detached from it, and leaving a considerable vacant space between, a row of compactly built houses stood, making a very passable stone wall defence for that portion of the city. the trench was dug in that level ground between the rocks and the houses, and continued also upon the unsheltered south and east sides. there are many legends of the digging of the trench and the desperate haste with which it was accomplished. mahomet himself is said to have helped in the work, and it is almost certain that here tradition has not erred. the deed coincides so well with his eager and resolute nature, that never neglected any means, however humble, that would achieve his purpose. the faithful worked determinedly, devoting their whole days to the task, and never resting from their labours until the whole trench was dug. the hard ground was softened by water, and legendary accounts of mahomet's powers in pulverising the rocks are numerous. the great work was completed in six days, and on the evening of its achievement the muslim army encamped between the trench and the city in the open space thus formed. a tent of red leather was set up for mahomet, where zeinab and omm salma, as well as his favourite and companion, ayesha, visited him in turn. around him rested his chief warriors, ali, othman, zeid, omar, with his counseller abu bekr and his numerous entourage of heroes and enthusiasts. they were infused with the same exalted resolve as their leader, and waited undismayed for the infidel attack. but with the rest of the citizens, and especially with the disaffected, it was otherwise. ever since the rumour of the onrush of their foe reached medina, they had murmured openly against their leader's rule. they had refused to help in the digging of the ditch, and now waited in ill-concealed discontent mingled with a base panic fear for their own safety. the meccan host advanced as before by way of ohod, and pursued their way to the city rejoicing in the freedom from attack, and convinced thereby that their conquest of medina would be rapid and complete. they penetrated to the rampart wall of houses and marched past them to the level ground, intending to rush the city and pen the muslim army within its narrow streets, there to be crushed at will by the sheer mass of its foes. then as the whole army in battle array moved forward, strong in its might of numbers, the advance was checked and thrown into confusion by the opposing trench. abu sofian, hurrying up, learnt with anger of this unexpected barrier. finding he could not cross it, he waxed indignant, and declared the device was cowardly and "unlike an arab." the traditionalist, as usual, was disconcerted by the resourceful man of action, and the muslim obstinately remained behind their defence. the kureisch discharged a shower of arrows over the ditch among the entrenched muslim and then retired a little from their first position, so as to encamp not far from the city and try to starve it into surrender. mahomet was content that he had staved off immediate attack, and set to work to complete his defences and strengthen his fighting force, when grave news reached him from the immediate environs of the city. successful as he had been in extirpating two of the hated jewish tribes, mahomet was nevertheless forced to submit to the presence of the beni koreitza, whose fortresses were situated near the city on its undefended side. it is uncertain whether there was ever a treaty between this tribe and the prophet, or what its provisions were supposing such a document to have existed, but it is evident that there must have been some peaceable relations between the muslim and the koreitza, and that the latter were of some account politically. now, the jewish tribe, resentful at the treatment of their fellow-believers, and seeing the t me ripe for secession to the probable winning side, cast away even their nominal allegiance to mahomet and openly joined his enemies. a muslim spy was sent to their territory to discover their true feeling, and his report was so disquieting that the prophet immediately set a guard over his tent, fearing assassination, and ordered patrols to keep the medinan streets free from any attempts to disturb the peace and threaten his army from within the city's confines. the muslim were now in parlous state. the trench might avail to stop the enemy for a time, but an opportunity was sure to occur when they would attempt a crossing, and once within the city mahomet knew they would carry destruction before them, and irretrievable ruin to his cause. his jewish enemies made common enmity against him with the kureisch, and the disaffected declared their intention of joining the rest of his foes. but he would not yield, and continued unabashed to defend the trench and city with all the skill and energy he could command from his harassed followers. the kureisch remained several days inactive, but at last abu jahl discovered a weak spot in his enemies' line where the trench was narrow and undefended. he determined on immediate attack, and sent a troop of horsemen to clear the ditch and give battle on the opposite side. the move was noticed from within the defence. ali and a body of picked men were sent to frustrate it. ali reached the ground just as the foremost of the kureisch cleared the ditch and prepared to advance upon the city. swiftly he leapt from his horse, and challenged an aged chief of the kureisch to single combat. the gage was accepted, but the chieftain could stand up to ali no better than a reed stands upright before the wind that shakes it. the chief was slain before the eyes of his friend, and thereupon the general onslaught began. the muslim fought like those possessed, until in a little space there remained not one of the defiant party that had recently crossed the gulf between the armies. but the kureisch were undaunted; the order for a general attack upon the trench was now ordered. the assault began in the early morning and continued throughout the day. for long weary hours, without respite and with very little sustenance the muslin army kept the kureisch host at bay. the encounters were sharp and prolonged, and none of the men could be spared from the strife to make their daily devotions to allah. "they have kept us from our prayers," declared mahomet in wrath, as he watched the unresting attack, "god fill their bellies and their graves with fire!" he cursed the infidel dogs, while exhorting his men to stand firm, and before all things keep their lines unbroken. the attack was repulsed, but not without great loss and misery upon mahomet's side. his prestige was now entirely lost among the citizens, only the faithful still rallied round him out of their invincible trust in his personality. the disaffected began to foment agitation within the narrow streets, the bazaars and public places. there was great distress among the people of medina; scarcity of food mingled with their fears for the future to create an insecurity wherein crime finds its dwelling-place and brutality its fostering soil. "then were the faithful tried, and with strong quaking did they quake." nevertheless, they stood firm, and took no part in the murmuring of the disaffected, and presently allah sent them down succour for their steadfastness and high courage. mahomet, failing in direct warfare to drive back his enemies, resorted to strategy. he planned to send a secret embassy to buy off the beni ghatafan, and so strive to break up the kureisch alliance. but the rest of the city were unwilling to adopt this measure, preferring to trust more firmly in the strength of their defences. finally, mahomet determined to essay upon his own initiative some means of subtlety whereby he might force back this encompassing foe that hourly threatened his whole dominion. he sent an embassy to the jews outside the city with intent to sow dissension between them and the kureisch. "see now," he commanded his envoy, "whether thou canst not break up this confederacy, for war, after all, is but a game of deception." the muslim pursued his way unchecked to the camp of the koreitza, just outside the city, where he whispered his insidious messages into the ears of the chief, saying the kureisch were already weary of fighting and were even now planning a retreat, and would forsake their allies as soon as was expedient, leaving them to the mercy of a muslim revenge. he promised bribes of money, slave girls, and land from the prophet if they would betray their new-found allies. self-interest prevailed; at last the plan was agreed upon, and the messenger returned to mahomet with the good news of the breaking-up of the confederacy. the treachery of the koreitza spread discouragement among the arab chiefs. moreover, their supplies were already running short. they ceased to press the siege so severely; the attacks became weaker, and mahomet was easily able to prevent any further incursions beyond the trench. and now the weather broke up. the sunny country was transformed suddenly into a dreary, storm-swept wilderness. blasts of wind came skurrying down upon the kureisch camp, driving rain and sleet before them. to mahomet it was the wrath of the lord made manifest upon the presumptuous meccans. their camp-fires were blown out, their tents damp and draggled, their men dispirited, their forage scarce. suddenly abu sofian, weary of inaction, thoroughly disheartened by the hardships of his position, broke up the camp and ordered a retreat. the vast army faded away as magically as it had come. the morning after their departure the muslim awoke to see only a few scattered tents and the disorderly remains of human occupation as evidences of the presence of a foe that had accounted itself invincible. the meccans evidently accepted defeat, for they returned speedily to their own country, realising bitterly the impossibility of keeping together so heterogeneous an army in the face of a prolonged check. medina was free of its immediate menace, and great was the rejoicing when the camp was abandoned and islam returned in security to its sanctuary within the city. mahomet repaired immediately to ayesha's house, and was cleansing the stains of conflict from his body when the mandate came from heaven through the lips of gabriel: "hast thou laid aside thine arms? lo, the angels have not yet put down their weapons, and i am come to bid thee go against the beni koreitza to destroy their citadel." mahomet's swift nature, alive to the value of speed, had realised in a flash that now was the time to strike at the koreitza, the treacherous hebrew dogs, before they could grow strong and gather together any allies to help them ward off their certain chastisement. the enterprise was proclaimed at once to the weary muslim, and the great banner, still unfurled, placed in the hands of ali. the faithful were eager for rest, but at the command of their leader they forgot their exhaustion and rallied round him again with the same loving and invincible devotion that had sustained them during the terrible days of siege. the expedition marched to the koreitza fortress, and laid siege to it in march, . for twenty-five days it was besieged by islam, says the chronicler, until god put terror into the hearts of the jews, and they were reduced to sore straits. then they offered to depart as the kainukaa had departed, empty-handed, with neither gold nor cattle, into a strange land. but mahomet had not forgotten their treachery to him under the suasion of the kureisch, and he determined on sterner measures. the jews were now thoroughly terrified, and sent in haste to crave permission for a visit from abu lubaba, an ally of the beni aus, their former confederates. mahomet consented, as one who grants the trivial wish of a doomed man. in sorrow abu lubaba went into the camp of the koreitza, and when they questioned him he told them openly that they must abandon hope. their doom was decreed by the prophet, sanctioned by allah; it was irrevocable. when the koreitza heard the sentence they bowed their heads, some in wrath, some in despair, and charged abu lubaba with supplications for mahomet's clemency. the messenger returned and told the prophet what he had disclosed to the jews concerning their impending fate. "thou hast done ill," declared mahomet, "for i would not that mine enemies know their doom before it is accomplished." thereupon, says tradition, abu lubaba was filled with remorse at having displeased his master, and entering the mosque bound himself to one of its pillars, whence it is called the pillar of repentance to this day. at last the jews, worn out with the siege, without resources, allies, or any hope of relief, surrendered at discretion to the beni aus. immediately their citadel was seized and plundered, while their men were handcuffed and kept apart, their women and children given into the keeping of a renegade jew. their cattle were driven into medina before their eyes, and soon the whole tribe was withdrawn from its ancestral habitation, awaiting what might come from the hand of their terrible foe. then mahomet pronounced judgment. he sent for sa'ad ibn muadh, the chief of the beni aus, and into his hands he gave the fate of all those souls who belonged to the tribe of koreitza. sa'ad was elderly, fat, irritable, and vindictive. he had a long-standing grudge against this people, and knew nothing of the mercy which greater men bestow upon the fallen. "my judgment is that the men shall be put to death, the women and children sold into slavery, and the spoil divided among the army." mahomet was exultant at the sentence. "truly the judgment of sa'ad is the judgment of god pronounced on high from beyond the seventh heaven." it accorded with his mood of angry resentment against the earlier treachery of the koreitza, but why he deputed its pronouncement to sa'ad instead of taking it upon himself is not easy to discover. possibly he may have dreaded to acquire such a reputation for cruelty as this would bestow upon him, possibly he wished to make clear to the world that the jews had been doomed to death by a member of their allied tribe. certainly he welcomed the terrible sentence, and ensured its accomplishment. the koreitza were dragged pitilessly to medina, the men kept together under strict guard, the women and children made ready to be sold at the marts within the city. that night the outskirts of medina became the scene of grim activity. in the soft darkness of the arabian night mahomet's followers laboured with dreadful haste at the digging of many trenches. the day dawned upon their uncompleted work, and not until the sun was high did they return to the heart of the city. then the men of the koreitza were divided into companies and led out in turn to the trenches. the slaughter began. as they filed to the edge of the pits they were struck down by the waiting muslim, so that their bodies fell into the common grave, mingled with the blood and quivering flesh of those who followed. as one company after another marched out and did not return, their chief man asked the muslim soldier concerning his countrymen's fate: "seest thou not that each company departs and is seen no more? will ye never understand?" the doom of the koreitza was wrought out to its terrible end, which was not until set of sun. the number of butchered men is variously estimated, but it cannot have been less than between and . so the koreitza perished, each moving forward to meet the irremediable without fear, without supplication, and when the carnage was over, mahomet turned to the distribution of the spoil. his eyes lighted upon rihana, a beautiful jewess, and he desired her as solace after this ruthless but necessary punishment. he offered her marriage; she refused, and became of necessity and forthwith his concubine. then he took the possessions, slaves, and cattle of the vanquished tribe and divided them among the faithful, keeping a fifth part himself, and the land he partitioned also. a few women who had found favour in the eyes of muslim were retained, the rest were sent to be sold as slaves among the bedouin tribes of nejd. the koreitza no longer existed; their treachery had been visited again upon themselves. the massacre of the koreitza and the war of the ditch cannot be viewed apart. the ruthlessness of the former is the outcome of the success which made it possible. mahomet had defeated a most formidable attempt to overthrow him, an attempt which would have lost much of its potency if the koreitza had remained either friendly or neutral, and in the triumph which followed he sought to make such treachery henceforth impossible. he never lost an opportunity; he saw that the koreitza must be dealt with instantly after the failure of the meccan attack, and unhesitatingly he accomplished his work. his act is a plain proof of his increasing confidence in his mission and in himself as ruler and emissary from on high. it speaks not only of his barbarity and courage in the use of it when occasion arose, but also of his tireless energy and swift perception of the right moment to strike. his lack of compunction over the cruelty bears upon it the stamp of his age and environment. the koreitza were the enemies of allah and his prophet; they had dared to betray him. their doom was just. the result of the failure of the meccan attack was to restore in great measure mahomet's reputation, so that he had less trouble hereafter with the disaffected within medina and with the maraudings of desert tribes. for the moment his position within the city was comparatively secure; moreover, in exterminating the koreitza he had removed the last of the hated hebrew race from the precincts of his adopted city, and could regard himself as master of all its neighbouring territory. the disaffected, it is true, remained sufficiently at variance with him to resent, though impotently, his severity towards the koreitza, and to declare that sa'ad ibn muadh's death, which occurred soon after, was the direct result of his bloody judgment. but their resentment was confined to speech. the meccans had retired discredited, and were unlikely to attack again for some time at least. for a little space mahomet seemed secure in his city, whence active opposition had been driven out. the period after the war of the ditch shows him definitely the ruler of a rival city to mecca. the kureisch have made their last concerted attack and are now forced to recognise him as a permanent factor in their political world, though they would not name him equal until he had made further displays of strength. he takes his place now among the city chieftains of western arabia, and has next to reckon with the nomad bedouin tribes of the interior, in which position he is akin to the ruler of mecca himself. he is still never at rest from warfare. one expedition succeeds another, until there is some chance of the realisation of his dream, whose splendour even now beats with insistence upon his spirit, the establishment of his mighty faith within the mother-city which gave it birth, whence, purged of its idolatries and aflame with devotion, it shall make of that city the goal of its followers' prayers, the crown of its earthly sovereignty. chapter xvi the pilgrimage to hodeibia "and he it was who held their hands from you and your hands from them in the valley of mecca, after that he had given you the victory over them; for god saw what ye did."--_the kuran._ mahomet, now secure from immediate attack, counted himself permanently rid of the meccan menace and devoted his care to the strengthening of his position among the surrounding desert tribes. the year - is filled with minor expeditions to chastise or conquer his numerous enemies in the interior. his ceaseless vigilance, made effectual through his elaborate spy system, enabled him to keep the bedouin hordes in check, though he was by no means uniformly successful in his attacks upon them. the period is characterised by the absence of pitched battles, and by the employment of very small raiding parties, who go out simply to plunder and to disperse the hostile forces. his first expedition after the koreitza massacre in june was directed against the beni lahyan, in revenge for their slaughter of the faithful at radji. he took the north-west road to syria as a feint, then swiftly turning, marched along the sea-shore route to mecca, and the beni lahyan fled before him. mahomet was anxious to give battle, but as he found his foe was moving hastily towards the hostile city with intent to draw him on to his doom, he gave up the chase and contented himself with breaking up their encampments, plundering their wealth and women, and so returned to medina. he had been there only a few nights when he learnt that oyeina, chief of the fazara tribe, in concert with the beni ghatafan, had made a raid upon his milch camels at ghaba, killing their keeper and torturing his wife. mahomet pursued, but the raiders were too quick for him and got away with the spoil. mahomet did not follow them up, as nothing was to be gained from such a fruitless quest. in august of the same year another raid on his camels was attempted by the famished tribes of nejd, and mahomet sent an expedition under maslama to chastise them, but the muslim were overpowered by a superior force and most of their company slain. the prophet vowed vengeance upon the perpetrators of this defeat when he should have the power to carry it out. and now the meccan caravan, venturing once more to take the seaward road, so long barred to them, was plundered by zeid at al is, thereby confirming mahomet's hostile intentions towards the kureisch, and ensuring their continued enmity. but reprisals on their part were impossible after the failure before medina, and they suffered the outrage in silence. mahomet was not content to rest upon his newly won security, but now determined to send out messengers and embassies to the rulers of surrounding lands, exhorting them to embrace islam. this policy was to develop later into a regular system, but for the moment only one envoy was sent upon a hazardous mission to the roman emperor, whose recent conquests in persia had made him famous among the arabs. the envoy was not permitted a quiet journey. at wadi-al-cora he was seized and plundered by the beni judzam, but his property afterwards restored by the influence of a neighbouring tribe allied to mahomet, who knew something of the revenge meted out by the prophet. as it was, as soon as he heard of it he despatched zeid with men, who fell upon the beni judzam and slaughtered many. when the expedition returned to medina with the news, they found that the tribe in question had sent in its submission before the slaying of its members. the judzam envoys demanded compensation. "what can be done?" replied mahomet. "i cannot restore dead men to life, but the booty that has been taken i will return and give you safe escort hence." mahomet's next enterprise was to send one of his chief warriors and wise men to dumah to try and convert the tribe. they listened to his words and promises, and after a time, judging it was not alone to their spiritual, but also to their political welfare to follow this powerful leader, they embraced islam, and received the protectorship of the prophet. zeid returned from the plunder of the kureisch caravan and straightway set out upon several mercantile journeys, upon one of which he was set upon and plundered by the beni fazara, near wadi-al-cora. swift retribution followed at the hands of mahomet, who was not minded to see the expeditions that were securing the wealth of his land the prey of marauding tribes. many barbarities were practised at the overthrow of the beni fazara, possibly as a salutary lesson to neighbouring tribes, lest they should presume to attempt like attacks. but now a further menace threatened mahomet from the persecuted but still actively hostile jews at kheibar. they were suspected of stirring up revolt, and so the prophet, knowing the activity centred in their leader, slew him by treachery. still, his successor continued his father's work, only in the fullness of time to be removed from the prophet's path by the same effectual but illicit means. dark and tortuous indeed were some of the ways by which mahomet held his power. his cruelty and treachery were in a measure demanded of him as a necessity for his continued office. they were the price he paid for earthly dominion, and together with the avowed help of the sword they were the stern and pitiless means that secured the triumph of islam. as time went on the scope of his state-craft widened; its exigencies became more varied, and exacted new and often barbarous deeds, that the position won with years of thought and energy might be maintained. mahomet has now paid complete homage to the fickle goddesses force and craft. the sacred month dzul-cada of came round, bringing with it disturbing dreams and yearnings for mahomet. for long past, indeed ever since he had found himself the leader of a religious organisation and had taken the broad traditions of meccan ceremony half unconsciously to himself as the basis of his faith, he had longed to perform the pilgrimage to the holy city. he had upheld mecca before the eyes of his followers as the crown and cradle of their faith. he had preached of pilgrimage thereto as a sacred duty, the inalienable right of every muslim. six years had elapsed since he had himself performed the sacred rites; it is no wonder, therefore, that his whole being was seized with the fervent dream of accomplishing once more the ceremonies inseparable from his faith. political considerations also swayed his decision. if he were allowed to come peaceably to mecca and perform the pilgrimage, it was conceivable that a permanent truce might be agreed upon by the kureisch, and the deed itself could not but enhance his prestige among the bedouins. he was strong enough to resist the meccans in case of an attack, and if such a thing should occur the blame would attach to the kureisch as violators of the sacred month. with his thoughts attuned thus, it is not surprising that in dzul-cada a vision was vouchsafed him, wherein he saw himself within the sacred precincts, performing the rites of pilgrimage. the dream was communicated to the faithful, and instant preparations made for the expedition, mahomet called upon the surrounding tribes to join in his march to mecca, but they, fearing the kureisch hosts, for the most part declined, and earned thereby mahomet's fierce anger in the pages of the kuran. at length the cavalcade was ready; men in the garments of pilgrims, but with swords and armour accompanying them in the rear, journeyed over the desert track that had seen the migration to medina of a small hunted band six short years previously. with them were seventy camels devoted to sacrifice. the pilgrims marched as far as osfan, when a messenger came to them saying that the kureisch were opposing their advance. "they have withdrawn their milch camels from the outskirts, and now lie encamped, having girded themselves with leopard skins, a signal that they will fight like wild beasts. even now khalid with their cavalry has advanced to oppose thee." "curses upon the kureisch!" replied mahomet. "who will show me a way where they will not meet us?" a guide was quickly found, and mahomet turned his company aside, journeying by devious routes until he came to the place of hodeibia, a plain upon the verge of the sacred territory. here al-cawsa, mahomet's prized camel, halted, and would in nowise be urged farther. "she is weary," clamoured the populace, but mahomet knew otherwise. "al-caswa is not weary," he replied, "but that which restrained the armies in the year of the elephant now restraineth her." and he would go no farther into the sacred territory, fearing the doom that had afflicted abraha in that fateful year. so his pilgrim host encamped at hodeibia, and mahomet sent men to clear the wells of sand and dust, so that there might be ample supply of water. thereupon negotiations began between the prophet and mecca. the kureisch sent an ambassador to learn the reason of the appearance of mahomet. when the peaceable intent of the army had been explained to him he remained in earnest converse with the prophet, until at last he moved to catch at the sacred beard after the manner of his race when speaking. instantly one of mahomet's companions seized his hand: "come not near the sacred countenance of god's prophet." the enemy was amazed, and returning told the citizens that he had seen many kings in his lifetime but never a man so devotedly loved as mahomet. the negotiations, however, proceeded very tardily, and at last mahomet sent othman, his famous warrior and companion, to mecca to conduct the final overtures. he had been chosen because of his kinship with the most powerful men of mecca. he was invited to perform the sacred ceremony of encircling the kaaba, but this he refused to do until the prophet should accompany him. the kureisch then detained him at mecca to complete, if it might be, the negotiations. while othman tarried, the report spread among the muslim that he was treacherously slain. mahomet felt that a blow had been struck at his very heart. instantly he summoned the faithful to him beneath a tall tree upon that undulating plain of hodeibia, and enjoined upon them an oath that they would not forsake him but would stand by him till death. the muslim with one accord gave their solemn word in gladness and devotion, and the pledge of the tree was brought into being. mahomet felt the significance of their loyalty very deeply. it was the first oath he had enjoined upon the believers since the days of the pledge of acaba long ago when he was but a persecuted zealot fleeing before the menace of his foes. he was glad because of this proof of loyalty, and his joy finds expression in the muslim book of books: "well pleased hath god been now with the believers when they plighted fealty to thee under the tree; and he knew what was in their hearts; therefore did he send down upon them a spirit of secure repose, and rewarded them with a speedy victory." but rumour, as ever, proved untrustworthy, and before long othman returned with the news that the kureisch were undisposed to battle, and later they sent suheil of their own clan to make terms with mahomet, namely, that he was to return to medina that year, but that the next year he might come again as a pilgrim during the sacred month, and having entered mecca perform the pilgrimage. ali was commanded to write down the conditions of the treaty, and he began with the formula: "in the name of god, the compassionate, the merciful." suheil protested, "i know not that title, write, 'in thy name, o god.'" mahomet acquiesced, and ali continued, "the treaty of mahomet, prophet of god, with suheil ibn amr," but suheil interrupted again: "if i acknowledged thee as prophet of god i should not have made war on thee; write simply thy name and the name of thy father." and so the treaty was drawn up. the traditional text of it is simple and clear, and the only point requiring comment is the clause providing for the treatment of those who go over to islam and those of the believers who rejoin the kureisch. mahomet was sure enough of himself and his magnetism to allow the clause to stand, which allowed any backslider full permission to return to mecca. he knew there would not be many, who having come under the spell of islam would return again to idolatry. the text of the treaty stood substantially in these terms: "in thy name, o god! these are the conditions of peace between mahomet, son of abdallah and suheil, son of amr. war shall be suspended for ten years. whosoever wisheth to join mahomet or enter into treaty with him shall have liberty to do so; and likewise whoever wisheth to join the kureisch or enter into treaty with them. if one goeth over to mahomet without permission of his guardian he shall be sent back to his guardian; but should any of the followers of mahomet return to the kureisch they shall not be sent back. mahomet shall retire this year without entering the city. in the coming year mahomet may visit mecca, he and his followers, for three days, during which the kureisch shall retire and leave the city to them. but they may not enter it with any weapons save those of the traveller, namely, to each a sheathed sword." after the solemn pledging of the treaty mahomet sacrificed his victims, shaved his head and changed his raiment, as a symbol of the completed ceremonial in spirit, if not in fact, and ordered the immediate withdrawal to medina. his followers were crestfallen, for they had been led to expect his speedy entry into mecca, and they were disappointed too because their warlike desires had been curbed to stifling point. but the prophet was firm, and promised them fighting in plenty as soon as they should have reached medina again. so the host moved back to its city of origin, fortified by the treaty with its hitherto implacable foes, and exulting in the promise that next year the sacred ceremonies would be accomplished by all true believers. the depression that at first seized his followers at the conclusion of their enterprise found no reflex in the mind of mahomet. he was well aware of the significance of the transaction. in the kuran the episode has a sura inspired directly by it and entitled "victory," the burden of which is the goodness of god upon the occasion of the prophet's pilgrimage to hodeibia. "in truth they who plighted fealty to thee really plighted fealty to god; the hand of god was over their hands! whoever, therefore, shall break his oath shall only break it to his own hurt; but whoever shall be true to his engagements with god, he will give him a great reward." it was, in fact, a great step forward towards his ultimate goal. it involved his recognition by the kureisch as a power of equal importance with themselves. no longer was he the outcast fanatic for whose overthrow the kureisch army was not required to put forth its full strength. no longer even was he a rebel leader who had succeeded in establishing his precarious power by the sword alone. the treaty of hodeibia recognises him as sovereign of medina, and formally concedes to him by implication his temporal governance. it is not to be wondered at, therefore, that his mood on returning to the city was one of rejoicing and praise to allah who had made such a victory possible. henceforward the dream of universal sovereignty took ever more distinctive lineaments in his mind. he pictured first a great and united arabia, mighty because of its homage to the true god, and supreme because of its birthing of the world-subduing faith. to say that these thoughts had been with him since his first hazardous entry into medina is to grant him a long-sightedness which his opportunist rule does not warrant. the creator of them was his boundless energy, his force of personality, which kept steadily before him his unquenchable faith and led him from strength to strength. by diplomacy and the sword he had carved out his kingdom, and now he purposed to extend it by suasion and cunning, which nevertheless was to be supported by his soldier's skill and courage. the next phase in his career is one in which reliance is placed as much upon statecraft as warfare, in which he tries with varying success to array his state and his religion along with the great empires and principalities of his eastern world. chapter xvii the fulfilled pilgrimage "o ye to whom the scriptures have been given! believe in what we have sent down confirmatory of the scriptures which is in your hands, ere we efface your features and twist your head round backward, or curse you as we cursed the sabbath-breakers: and the command of god was carried into effect." the end of dzul-cada saw mahomet safe in his own city, but with his promises of booty and warfare for his followers unfulfilled. he remained a month at medina, and then sought means to carry out his pact. he had now determined upon a pure war of aggression, and for this the outcast jews of kheibar offered themselves as an acceptable sacrifice in his eyes. in muharram he prepared an expedition against them, important as being the first of any size that he had undertaken from the offensive. it is a greater proof of his renewed security and rapidly growing power than all the eulogies of his followers and the curses of his enemies. the white standard was placed in the hands of ali, and the whole host of strong went up against the fortresses of kheibar. the jews were taken completely off their guard. without allies and with no stores of food and ammunition they could make no prolonged resistance. one by one their forts fell before the muslim raiders until only the stronghold of kamuss remained. mahomet was exultant. "allah akbar! truly when i light upon the coasts of any people, woe unto them in that day." then he assembled all his men and put the sacred eagle standard at their head, the white standard with the black eagle embossed, wrought out of the cloak of his wife, ayesha. he bade them lead the assault upon kamuss and spare nothing until it should fall to them. in the carnage that followed marhab, chief of kheibar, was slain, and at length the jews were beaten back with terrible loss. there was now no hope left: the fortress kamuss must fall, and with it the last resistance of the jews. their houses, goods, and women were seized, their lands confiscated. kinana, the chief who had dared to try and originate a coalition previously against mahomet, was tortured by the burning brand and put to death, while safia, his seventeen year old bride, passed tranquilly into the hands of the conqueror. mahomet married her and she was content, indeed rejoiced at this sudden change; for, according to legend, she had dreamed that such honour should befall her. but all the women of the jews were not so complacent, and in zeinab, sister of marhab, burned all the fierceness and lust for revenge of which the proud hebrew spirit is capable. she would smite this plunderer of her nation, though it might be by treacherous means. had he not betrayed her kindred far more terribly upon the bloody slaughter ground of the koreitza? she prepared for his pleasure a young kid, dressed it with care, and placed it before him. in the shoulder she put the most effective poison she knew, and the rest of the meat she polluted also. when mahomet came to the partaking he took his favourite morsel, the shoulder, and set it to his lips. instantly he realised the tainted flavour. he cried to his companions: "this meat telleth me it is poisoned; eat ye not of it." but it was too late to save two of the faithful, who had swallowed mouthfuls of it. they died in tortures a few hours afterwards. mahomet himself was not immune from its poison. he had himself bled at once, and immediate evil was averted. but he felt the effects of it ever after, and attributed not a little of his later exhaustion to the poisoned meats he had eaten in kheibar. the woman was put to death horribly, and the muslim army hastened to depart from the ill-omened place. they returned to medina after several months absence, and there the spoil was divided. the land as usual was given out to muslim followers, or the jews were allowed to keep their holdings, provided they paid half the produce as tribute to mahomet. half the conquered territory, however, was reserved exclusively for the prophet, constituting a sort of crown domain, whence he drew revenues and profit. thus was temporal wealth continually employed to strengthen his spiritual kingdom and put his faith upon an unassailable foundation. the expedition to kheibar saw the promulgation of several ordinances dealing with the personal and social life of his followers. the dietary laws were put into stricter practice; the flesh of carnivorous animals was forbidden, and a severer embargo was laid upon the drinking of wine--the result of mahomet's knowledge of the havoc it made among men in that fierce country and among those wild and passionate souls. henceforward also the most careful count was kept of all the booty taken in warfare, and those who were discovered in the possession of spoil fraudulently obtained were subject to extreme penalties. all spoil was inviolate until the formal division of it, which usually took place upon the battlefield itself or less frequently within medina. the prophet's share was one-fifth, and the rest was distributed equally among the warriors and companions. since islam derived its temporal wealth chiefly by spoliation, the destiny of its plunder was an important question and gave rise to frequent disputes between the disaffected and the believers which are mentioned in the kuran. by now, however, the malcontents were for the most part silenced, and we hear little disputation after this as to the apportionment of wealth. with the return to medina came the inaugury of mahomet's extension of diplomacy--the dream which had filled his mind since the tide of his fortunes had turned with the kureisch failure to capture his city. the year , the first year of embassies, saw his couriers journeying to the princes and emperors of his immediate world to demand or cajole acknowledgment of his mission. a great seal was engraved, having for its sign "mahomet, the prophet of god," and this was appended to the strange and incoherent documents which spread abroad his creed and pretensions. the first embassy to heraclius was sent in this year summoning him to follow the religion of god's prophet and to acknowledge his supremacy. at the same time the prophet sent a like missive to the ghassanide prince harith, ally of heraclius and a great soldier. the envoys were treated with the contempt inevitable before so strange a request from an unknown fanatic, and heraclius dismissed the whole matter as the idle word of a barbarian dreamer. but harith, with the quick resentment harboured by smaller men, asked permission of the emperor to chastise the impostor. heraclius refused; the embassy was not worthy of his notice, and he was certainly determined not to lose good fighting men in a useless journey through the desert. so mahomet received no message in return from the emperor, but the omission made no difference to his determination to proceed upon his course of diplomacy. he then sent to siroes of persia a similar letter, but here he was treated more rudely. the envoy was received in audience by the king, who read the extraordinary letter and in a flash of anger tore it up. he did not ill-treat the messenger, however, and suffered him to return to his own land. "even so, o lord, rend thou his kingdom from him!" cried mahomet as he heard the story of his flouting. his next enterprise was more successful. the governor of yemen, badzan, nominally under the sway of persia, had separated himself almost entirely from his overlord during the unstable rule of siroes, son of the warrior chosroes. now badzan embraced islam, and with his conversion the yemen population became officially followers of the prophet. encouraged by the success, mahomet sent a despatch to egypt, where he was courteously received and given two slave girls, mary and shirin, as presents. mary he kept for himself because of her exceeding beauty, but shirin was bestowed upon one of the companions. although the egyptian king did not embrace islam, he was kindly disposed towards its prophet. the next despatch, to abyssinia, is distinguished by the importance of its indirect results. ever since the small body of islamic converts had fled thither for refuge before the persecutions of the kureisch, mahomet had desired to convert abyssinia to his creed. now he sent an envoy to its king enjoining him to embrace islam, and asking for the hand of omm haliba in marriage, daughter of abu sofian and widow of obeidallah, one of the "four inquirers" of an earlier and almost forgotten time. the despatch was well received by the governor, who allowed omm haliba and all who wished of the original immigrants to return to their native country. jafar, mahomet's cousin, exiled to abyssinia in the old troublous times, was the most famous of these disciples. he was a great warrior, and found his glory fighting at the head of the armies of the prophet at muta, where he was slain, and entered forthwith upon the paradise of joy which awaits the martyrs for islam. not long after his return from kheibar the refugees arrived, and mahomet took omm haliba to wife. during the remainder of the prophet held his state in medina, only sending out some of his lesser leaders at intervals upon small defensive expeditions. his position was now secure, but only just as long as his right arm never wavered and his hands never rested from slaughter. by the edge of the sword his conquests had been made, by the edge of the sword alone they would be kept. but it was now necessary only for him to show his power. the frightened arab tribes crept away, cowed before his vigilance, but if the whip were once put out of sight they would spring again to the attack. he now receives the title of prince of hadaz, how and by whom bestowed upon him we have no record. most probably he wrested it himself by force from the tribes inhabiting that country, and compelled them to acknowledge him by that sign of overlordship. the year before the stipulated time for mahomet to repair once more to mecca was spent in consolidating his position by every means in his power. he was resolved that no weakness on his part should give the kureisch the chance to refuse him again the entry into their city. his position was to be such that any question of ignoring the treaty would be made impossible, and by the time of dzul cada, , he had carried out his designs with that thoroughness of which only he in all arabia seemed at that period capable. two thousand men gathered round him to participate in the important ceremony which was for them the visible sign of their kinship with the sacred city, and its ultimate religious absorption in their own all-conquering creed. they were clad in the dress of pilgrims, and carried with them only the sheathed sword of their compact for defence. but a body of men brought up the rear, themselves in armour, driving before them pack-camels, whereon rested arms and munitions of all kinds. sixty camels were taken for sacrifice, and mahomet, son of maslama, with one hundred horse formed the vanguard, so as to prove a defence should the passions of the kureisch overcome their discretion and nullify their plighted words. abdallah, the impetuous, would fain have shouted some defiant words as the cavalcade neared the portals of the city, but omar restrained him and mahomet gave the command. "speak ye only these words, 'there is no god but god; it is he that hath upholden his servant. alone hath he put to flight the hosts of the confederates.'" so any tumult was prevented and the truce carried out. then began one of the most wonderful episodes ever written upon the pages of history--nothing less than the peaceable emigration for three days of a whole city before the hosts of one who but a little time since had fled thence from the persecution of his fellows. all the meccan armed population retired to the hills and left their city free for the completion of mahomet's religious rites. with the sublimest faith in his integrity they left their city defenceless at his feet. truly the prophet's magnetism had won him many an adherent and secured him great triumphs in warfare, but never had his power shone with such lustre as at the time of his fulfilled pilgrimage. the city was left weaponless before his soldiery, and the dwellers within its walls were content to trust to the power of a written agreement, which in the hands of an unscrupulous man would be as effective as a reed against a whirlwind. mahomet entered the city, and for three days pitched his tent of leather beneath the shadow of the kaaba. he made the sevenfold circuit thereof and kissed the black stone. thence he journeyed with all his followers to safa and marwa, where he performed the necessary rites, and at which latter place he sacrificed his victims, drawing them up in line between himself and the city. then returning there he asked for and obtained the hand of meimuna, sister-in-law of his uncle abbas, a bold and characteristic stroke which did much to pave the way for the later conversion of his uncle and the final enrolment of the chief men of mecca upon his side. this was the last marriage he contracted, and it shows, as so many other alliances, his keen political foresight and the exercise of his favourite method of attempting to win over hostile states. he was still the political leader and schemer, though the ecstasy of religion, symbolised for him just now in the rites of the lesser pilgrimage, had caught him for the moment in its sweep. public prayer was offered upon the third day from the kaaba itself, and with that the pilgrimage came to an end. mahomet tried earnestly to win over and conciliate the meccans during this meagre three days' sojourn, but his task was beyond the power even of his magnificent energy. at the end of the third day the meccans returned. "thy time is outrun: depart thou out of our city." mahomet answered: "what can it matter if ye allow me to celebrate my marriage here and make a feast as is the custom?" but they replied with anger, "we need not thy feasts; depart thou hence." and mahomet was reluctantly forced to comply. he had been not without hope that the kureisch would be won over to his cause in such great numbers that he might be suffered to remain as head of a converted mecca, and he was loth to see such an unrivalled opportunity slip by without trying his utmost to gain some kind of permanent foothold in the city of his desires. but his faith weighed not so well with the kureisch, and, having within himself the strength which knows when to desist from importunity, he quitted the city and retired to sarif, eight miles away, where he rested together with his host of believers, now content and reverent towards the master who had made their dreams incarnate, their ideals tangible. at sarif mahomet received what was perhaps the best fortune that had come to him outside his own powerful volition. khalid, the skilful leader at ohod and the greatest warrior the kureisch possessed, together with amru, poet and scholar as well as future warrior and conqueror of egypt, were won over to the faith they had so obstinately opposed. they joined mahomet at sarif, and were forthwith appointed among the companions, the equals of ali, othman and omar. following their adherence to the winning cause came the allegiance to mahomet of othman ibn talha, custodian of the kaaba. with these men of weight and influence ranged upon his side, the chief in war, the supreme in song, and the representative of meccan ritualistic life, mahomet had indeed justification for rejoicing. they were the first of the famous men and rulers in mecca to range themselves with him, and they marked the turn of the tide, which came to its full flowing with the occupation of the sacred city and the conversion of abu sofian and abbas. slowly, with pain and striving, mahomet was overcoming the measureless opposition to things new. six years of ceaseless effort, warfare and exhortation, compulsion and rewards were needed to secure for him the undisputed exercise of his religion in the place that was its sanctuary. faith, backed by the strength and wealth of his armies, now gathered in the choicest of his opponents. the time was come when he was beginning to taste the wine of success. he had scarcely penetrated the borderland of that delectable garden, but the first meagre fruit thereof was sweet. it spurred him on to the perpetual renewal of alertness that he might keep what he had won and pursue his way to the innermost far-off enclosure, around the portal of which was written, as a mandate for all the world: "bear witness, there is no god but god, and mahomet is his prophet." the fulfilled pilgrimage, however, was but the preliminary to his master-stroke of policy strengthened by force of arms: months of hard fighting and diplomacy were needed before he could direct the blow that made his triumph possible. for the time he had simply made clear to arabia that mecca was his holy city, the queen of his would-be dominion, and by scrupulous performance of the old religious rites he had identified islam both to his followers and to the meccans themselves with the ancient fadeless traditions of their earlier faith, purified and made permanent by their homage to one god, "the compassionate, the merciful, the mighty, the wise." chapter xviii the triumphal entry "when the help of god and the victory arrive, and thou seest men entering the religion of god by troops, then utter the praise of thy lord, implore his pardon, for he loveth to turn in mercy."--_the kuran._ after the swordless triumph of dzul cada, , mahomet rested in medina for about nine months, while he sent out his leaders of expeditions into all parts of the peninsula wherever a rising was threatened, or where he saw the prospect of a conversion by force of arms. the beni suleim, whose more powerful allies, the ghatafan, had given mahomet much trouble in the past, were still recusant. mahomet sent an expedition to essay their conversion early in the year, but the suleim persisted in their enmity and received the muslim envoys with a shower of arrows. they retired hastily, being insufficiently equipped to risk an attack, and came back to medina. the prophet, unabashed, now sent a detachment against the beni leith. the encampment was surprised, their camels plundered, their chattels seized, while they themselves were forced to flee in haste to the fastnesses of the desert. the beni murra, conquerors of mahomet's expeditionary force at fadak, received now at his hands their delayed but inevitable punishment. the prophet found himself strong enough, and without any compunction he inflicted the severest chastisement upon them, more especially as an example to the neighbouring tribes of the retribution in store for all who dared to revolt against his newly-won but still precarious power. soon after an expedition of fifteen men was sent to dzat allah upon the borders of syria. the men journeyed confidently to their far-off goal, but instead of finding, as they expected, a few chiefs at the head of ill-organised armies, they found arrayed against them an overwhelming force, well led and disciplined. they called upon them to embrace islam with the fine courage of certain failure. the bedouin hordes scoffed at the exhortation, and forthwith slew the whole company except one, who managed to escape to medina with the tale. the catastrophe was a signal for a massed attack upon mahomet's power from the whole of the border district, led by the feudatories of heraclius, who were bent upon exterminating the upstart. hastily the muslim army was mobilised, given into the leadership of zeid, who with jafar and abdallah was commissioned to resist the infidels to the last and to continue their attack upon the foe until they were either slain or victorious. the army marched to muta in september, , and while on the way heard with alarm of the massing of the foe, whose numbers daunted even their savage bravery. at muta a council of war was called at which zeid and abdallah were the principal speakers. after the peril of their position had been discussed and the reasons for retreat given, abdallah rose from among his fellows, determined to rally their spirits. he pressed for an immediate advance, urging the invincibility of allah, the power of their prophet, and the glory of their cause. it was impossible for those warrior spirits not to respond to his enthusiasm, and the order was given. the muslim marched to beleea by the dead sea, but finding themselves in no good strategic position and hearing still further news as to the immensity of their opposition, they retired to muta, where at the head of a narrow ravine they offered battle to the roman auxiliaries, who far outweighed them in numbers and efficiency. the roman phalanx bore down upon them, and zeid at the head of his troops urged them to resist with all their strength. he was cut down in the van as he led the opposing rush, and instantly jafar, leaping from his horse, maimed it, as a symbol that he would fight to the death, and rushed forward on foot. the fight grew furious, and as the muslim army saw itself slowly pressed back by the enemy its leader fell, covered with wounds. abdallah seized the standard and tried to rally the faithful, whose slow retreat was now breaking into a headlong flight. at his cry there was a brief rally, until in his turn he was cut down by the advancing foe. a citizen sprang to the standard and kept it aloft while he strove to stem the tide, but in vain. the muslim ranks were broken and dispirited. they fell back quickly, and only the military genius of khalid, in command of the rear, was able to save them from annihilation. he succeeded in covering their retreat by his swift and skilful moving, and enabled the remnant to return to medina in safety. mahomet's grief at the loss of jafar and zeid was great. jafar had only lately returned from abyssinia, and was just at the beginning of his military career. he was the brother of ali, and the martial spirit that had raised that warrior to eminence was only just now given opportunity to manifest itself. his loss was rightly felt by mahomet to be a blow to the military as well as the intellectual prowess of islam. the syrian feudatories, however, were not permitted to enjoy their triumph in peace. in october, , amru, mahomet's recent convert, was sent to chastise the offenders and exact tribute from them. he found the task was greater than he had imagined, and sent hurriedly to medina for reinforcements. abu obeida was in command of the new army, and when he came up with amru there was an angry discussion as to who should be leader. abu obeida had the precedent of experience and the asset of having been longer in mahomet's service than amru, but he was a mild man, fearful, and a laggard in dispute. amru's impetuous determination overruled him, and he yielded to the compulsion of his more energetic rival, fearing to provoke disaster by prolonging the quarrel. the hostile syrian tribes were rapidly dispersed with the increased forces at amru's command, and he returned triumphant to medina. as a recompense for his yielding of the leadership to amru, abu obeida was entrusted by mahomet with the task of reducing the tribe of joheina to submission. the expedition was wholly successful; the joheina accepted the prophet's yoke without opposition, and their lead was followed later in the year by the beni abs murra and the beni dzobian, and finally the beni suleim, whose enmity in conjunction with the beni ghatafan had done much to prolong the siege of medina. the prophet was exultant. the year's successes had surpassed his expectations, and the maturing of his deep-laid plans for the reduction of mecca by pressure without bloodshed satisfied his ambitious and dominating soul. he was now master of hedaz, overlord of yemen and the bedouin tribes of the interior as far as the dim syrian border. but with all his newly-found sovereignty there was one stronghold which he could neither conquer nor even impress. on the crowning achievement of subduing mecca all his hopes were set, and there were no means that he did not employ to increase his power so that its continued resistance might ultimately become impossible. he strengthened his hold over the rest of arabia; he won from mecca as many allies as he could; he continually impressed upon both his followers and the surrounding tribes that the city was his natural home, the true abiding-place of his faith. now, having prepared the way, he ventured to ensure the safety thereof by diplomacy and a skilful use of the demonstration of force. he was strong enough to compel an encounter with the kureisch which should prove decisive. in the attack upon the khozaa, allies of the prophet, the beni bekr, who gave their allegiance to the kureisch, supplied mahomet with the necessary _casus belli_. he declared upon the evidence of his friends that the kureisch had helped the beni bekr in disguise and announced the swift enforcement of his vengeance. in alarm the kureisch sent abu sofian to medina to make their depositions as to the rights of the case and to beg for clemency. but their emissary met with no success. mahomet felt himself powerful enough to flout him, and accordingly abu sofian was sent back to his native city discomfited. there follows a tradition which has become obscured with the passing of time, and whose import we can only dimly investigate. abu sofian was returning somewhat uneasily to mecca when he encountered the chief of the khozaa, the outraged tribe. an interview of some length is reported, and it is supposed that the chief represented to the meccan citizen the hopelessness of his resistance and the advantages in belonging to the party that was rapidly bringing all arabia under its sway. abu sofian listened, and it may be that the chief's words induced him to consider seriously the possibility of ranging himself beneath the banner of the prophet. meanwhile mahomet had summoned all the matchless energy of which he was capable, and set on foot preparations for the overwhelming of mecca. every believer was called to arms; equipment, horses, camels, stores were gathered in vast concourse upon the outskirts of medina, awaiting only the command of the prophet to go up against the scornful city whose humiliation was at hand. the order to march was given on january , , and soon the whole army was bearing down upon mecca with that rapidity which continually characterised the prophet's actions, and which was more than ever necessary now in face of the difficult task to be performed. in a week the prophet, with zeinab and dram salma as his companions, at the head of , men, the largest army ever seen in medina, arrived within a stage of his goal. he encamped at mar azzahran and there rested his army from the long desert march, the toilsome and difficult route connecting the two long-sundered cities that had given feature to the origin and growth of islam. while he was there he received what was perhaps the most important asset since the conversion of khalid. abbas, his uncle, still timorous and vacillating, but now impelled into a firmer courage by the powerful agency of mahomet's recent triumphs, quitted mecca with his following and joined his nephew, professing the creed of islam, and enjoining it also upon those who accompanied him. the conversion did not come as a surprise to mahomet. he had been watching carefully by means of his spies the trend of events in mecca, and he knew that the allegiance of abbas was his whenever he should collect sufficient force to demonstrate his superiority. abbas loved the winning cause. when mahomet was obscure and persecuted he had befriended him as far as personal protection, but his was not the nature to venture upon a hazardous enterprise such as the prophet's attempt to found a new religious community in another city. now, however, that the undertaking had proved so completely victorious that it threatened to make of mecca the weaker side, abbas, with the solemnity which falls upon such people when self-interest points the same way as previous inclination, threw in his lot with islam. the muslim rested that night at mar azzahran, kindling their camp-fires upon the crest of a hill whose summit could be seen from the holy city. the glare flamed red against the purple night sky, and by its ominous glow abu sofian ventured beyond the city's boundaries to reconnoitre. before he could penetrate as far as the muslim encampment he was met by abbas, who took him straightway to mahomet. when the morning came the prophet sent for his rival and greeted him with contempt: "woe unto thee, abu sofian; seest thou not that there are no gods but god?" but he answered with professions of his regard for mahomet. "woe unto thee, abu sofian; believest thou not that i am the prophet of god?" "thou art well appraised by us, and i see thy great goodness among the companions. as for what thou hast said i know not the wherefore of it." then abbas, standing by mahomet, besought him: "woe unto thee, abu sofian; become one of the faithful and believe there is no god but god and that mahomet is his prophet before we sever thy head from the body!" under such strong compulsion, says tradition, abu sofian was converted and sent back to mecca with promises of clemency. it is almost impossible not to believe that collusion between abbas and abu sofian existed before this interview. abbas had given the lead, for his prescience had divined the uselessness of resistance, and he foresaw greater glory as the upholder of islam, the triumphing cause, than as the vain opposer of what he firmly believed to be an all-conquering power. abu sofian took somewhat longer to convince, and never really gave up his dream of resistance until he met abbas on the fateful night and was shown the vastness of the medinan army, their good organisation and their boundless enthusiasm. thereat his hopes of victory became dust, and he bowed to the inevitable in the same manner as abbas had done before him, though from different motives, one being actuated by the desire for favour and fame, the other only anxious to save his city from the horrors of a prolonged and ultimately unsuccessful siege. thereafter the army marched upon mecca, and mahomet completed his plans for a peaceful entry. zobeir, one of his most trusted commanders, was to enter from the north, khalid and the bedouins from the southern or lower suburb, where possible resistance might be met, as it was the most populous and turbulent quarter. abu obeida, followed by mahomet, took the nearest road, skirting jebel hind. it was an anxious time as the force divided and made its appointed way so as to come upon the city from three sides. mahomet watched his armies from the rear in a kind of paralysis of thought, which overtakes men of action who have provided for every contingency and now can do nothing but wait. khalid alone encountered opposition, but his skill and the force behind him soon drove the meccans back within their narrow streets, and there separated them into small companies, robbing them of all concerted action, and rendering them an easy prey to his oncoming soldiery. mahomet drew breath once more, and seeing all was well and that the other entries had been peacefully effected, directed his tent to be pitched to the north of the city. it was, in fact, a bloodless revolution. mahomet, the outcast, the despised, was now lord of the whole splendid city that stretched before his eyes. he had seen what few men are vouchsafed, the material fulfilment of his year-long dreams, and knew it was by his own tireless energy and overmastering faith that they had been wrought upon the soil of his native land. his first act was to worship at the kaaba, but before completing the whole ancestral rites he destroyed the idols that polluted the sanctuary. then he commanded bilal to summon the faithful to prayer from the summit of the kaaba, and when the concourse of believers crowded to the precincts of that sacred place he knew that this occupation of mecca would be written among the triumphant deeds of the world. his victory was not stained by any relentless vengeance. strength is always the harbinger of mercy. only four people were put to death, according to tradition, two women-singers who had continued their insulting poems even after his occupation of the city, and two renegades from islam. about ten or twelve were proscribed, but of these several were afterwards pardoned. even hind, the savage slayer of hamza, submitted, and received her pardon at mahomet's hands. an order was promulgated forbidding bloodshed, and the orderly settlement of believers among the meccan population embarked upon. only one commander violated the peace. khalid, sent to convert the jadzima just outside the city, found them recalcitrant and took ruthless vengeance. he slew them most barbarously, and returned to mecca expecting rewards. but mahomet knew well the value of mercy, and he was not by nature vindictive towards the weak and inoffensive. he could punish without remorse those who opposed him and were his equals in strength, but towards inferior tribes he had the compassion of the strong. he could not censure khalid as he was too valuable a general, but he was really grieved at the barbarity practised against the jadzima. he effectually prevented any further cruelties, and on that very account rendered his authority secure and his rulership free from attempts to throw off its yoke within the vicinity of his newly-won power. the populace was far too weak to resist the muslim incursion. its leaders, abu sofian and abbas with their followings, had surrendered to the hostile faith; for the inhabitants there was nothing now between submission and death. the believers were merciful, and they had nought to fear from their violence. they embraced the new faith in self-defence, and received the rulership of the prophet very much as they had received the government of all the other chieftains before him. one command, however, was to be rigidly obeyed, the command inseparable from the dominion of islam. idolatry was to be exterminated, the accursed idols torn down and annihilated. parties of muslim were sent out to the neighbouring districts to break these desecrators of islam. the famous al-ozza and manat, whose power mahomet for a brief space had formerly acknowledged, were swept into forgetfulness at nakhla, every image was destroyed that pictured the abominations, and the temples were cleansed of pollution. out of his spirit-fervour mahomet's triumph had been achieved. in the dim beginnings of his faith, when nothing but its conception of the indivisible godhead had been accomplished, he had brought to its altars only the quenchless fire of his inspiration. he had not dreamed at first of political supremacy, only the rapture of belief and the imperious desire to convert had made his foundation of a city and then an overlordship inevitable. but circumstances having forced a temporal dominance upon him, he became concerned for the ultimate triumph of his earthly power. thereupon his dreams took upon themselves the colouring of external ambitions. conversion might only be achieved by conquest, therefore his first thoughts turned to its attainment. and as soon as he looked upon arabia with the eyes of a potential despot he saw mecca the centre of his ceremonial, his parent city, hostile and unsubdued. certainly from the time of the kureisch failure to capture medina he had set his deliberate aims towards its humiliation. with diplomacy, with caution, by cruelty, cajolements, threatenings, and slaughter he had made his position sufficiently stable to attack her. now she lay at his feet, acknowledging him her master--mecca, the headstone of arabia, the inviolate city whose traditions spoke of her kinship with the heroes and prophets of an earlier world. henceforward the command of arabia was but a question of time. with mecca subdued his anxiety for the fate of his creed was at an end. as far as the mastery of the surrounding country was concerned, all that was needed was vigilance and promptitude. these two qualities he possessed in fullest measure, and he had efficient soldiery, informed with a devoted enthusiasm, to supplement his diplomacy. he was still to encounter resistance, even defeat, but none that could endanger the final success of his cause within arabia. full of exaltation he settled the affairs of his now subject city, altered its usages to conform to his own, and conciliated its members by clemency and goodwill. the conquest of mecca marks a new period in the history of islam, a period which places it perpetually among the ruling factors of the east, and removes it for ever from the condition of a diffident minor state struggling with equally powerful neighbours. islam is now the master power in arabia, mightier than the kureisch, than the bedouin tribes or any idolaters, soon to fare beyond the confines of its peninsula to impose its rigid code and resistless enthusiasm upon the peoples dwelling both to the east and west of its narrow cradle. chapter xix mahomet, victor "now hath god helped you in many battlefields and on the day of honein, when ye prided yourselves on your numbers but it availed you nothing ... then ye turned your backs in flight. then did god lend down his spirit of repose upon his apostle and upon the faithful, and he sent down the hosts which ye saw not and punished the infidels."--_the kuran._ mahomet's triumph at mecca was not left long undisturbed. if the kureisch had yielded in the face of his superior armies, the great tribe of the hawazin were by no means minded to suffer his lordship, indeed they determined forthwith vigorously to oppose it. they were devoted to idol-worship, and leaven of mahomet's teaching had not effected even remotely their age-long faith. they now saw themselves face to face not only with a religious revolution, but also with political absorption in the victorious sect if they did not make good their opposition to this overwhelming enemy in their midst. they assembled at autas, in the range of mountains north-east of taif, and threatened to raid the sacred city itself. mahomet was obliged to leave mecca hurriedly after having only occupied the city for about three weeks. he left muadh ibn jabal to instruct the meccans and secure their allegiance, and called off the whole of his army, together with of the more warlike spirits of his newly conquered territory. the force drew near the valley of honein, where mahomet fell in with the vanguard of the hawazin. there the two armies, the rebels under malik, the muslim under the combined leadership of khalid and mahomet, joined battle. khalid led the van and charged up the steep and narrow valley, hoping to overwhelm the hawazin by his speed, but the enemy fell upon them from an ambuscade at the top of the hill and swept unexpectedly into the narrow, choked path. the muslim, unprepared for the sudden onslaught, turned abruptly and made for flight. instantly above the tumult rose the voice of their leader: "whither go ye? the prophet of the lord is here, return!" abbas lent his encouragement to the wavering files: "citizens of medina! ye men of the pledge of the tree of fealty, return to your posts!" in the narrow defile the battle surged in confluent waves, until mahomet, seizing the moment when a little advantage was in his favour, pressed home the attack and, casting dust in the face of the enemy, cried: "ruin seize them! by the lord of the kaaba they yield! god hath cast fear into their hearts!" the inspired words of their leader, whose vehement power all knew and reverenced, turned the day for the muslim hosts. they charged up the valley and overwhelmed the troops at the rear of the hawazin. the enemy's rout was complete. their camp and families fell into the hands of the conqueror. six thousand prisoners were removed to jeirana, and the fugitive army pursued to nakhla. mahomet's losses were more severe than any which he had encountered for some time, but, undeterred and exultant, he marched to taif, whose idolatrous citadel had become a refuge for the flying auxiliaries of the hawazin. taif remained hostile and idolatrous. ever since it had rejected his message with contumely, in the days when he was but a religious visionary inspired by a dream, it had refused negotiations and even recognition to the blasphemous prophet. now mahomet conceived that his day of vengeance had come. he invested the city, bringing his army close up to its walls, and hoping to reduce it speedily. but the walls of taif were strong, its citadels like towers, its garrison well provisioned, its inmates determined to resist to the end. a shower of arrows from the walls wrought such destruction among his muslim force that mahomet was forced to withdraw out of range where the camp was pitched, two tents of red leather being erected for his favourite wives, omm salma and zeineb. from the camp frequent assaults were made upon the town, which were carried out with the help of testudos, catapults, and the primitive besieging engines of the time. but taif remained inviolate, and each attack upon her walls made with massed troops in the hope of scaling her fortresses was received by heated balls flung from the battlements which set the scaling ladders on fire and brought destruction upon the helpless bodies of mahomet's soldiery. but if he could not impress the city mahomet wreaked his full vengeance upon its neighbourhood. the vineyards were cut down pitilessly, and the whole land of taif laid desolate. liberty was even offered to the slaves of the city who would desert to the invader. nothing ruthless or guileful was spared by the prophet to gain his ends, but with no avail. taif held out until mahomet grew weary, and finally raised the siege, which had considerably lessened in political importance, owing to the overtures of the hawazin, who now wished to be reconciled with mahomet, having perceived that their wisdom lay in peace with so powerful an adversary. they promised alliance with him and their prisoners were restored, but the booty taken from them was retained, after the old imperious custom, which demanded wealth from the conquered. mahomet forthwith distributed largesse among the lesser arabs of the neighbourhood, an act of policy which called down the resentment of his adherents and caused the details of the law of almsgiving to be promulgated in the kuran. the muslim point of view was that having fought for the spoil they were entitled to receive a share of it, but their leader held that it must first be distributed in part to those needy bedouin tribes who had flocked to his banner. the bounty had its desired effect. malik, the hawazin chieftain, moved either by his love of spoil or genuinely convinced of the truth of islam, possibly by the influence of both these considerations, tendered his submission to mahomet and became converted. february and march, , were occupied in distributing equitably the wealth that had fallen into his hands. it was now the time of the lesser pilgrimage, and mahomet returned to mecca to perform it. then, having fulfilled every ceremony and surrounded by his followers, he returned to medina, still the capital of his formless principality and the keystone of his power. thereafter mahomet rested in his own city, where he lived in potential kingship, receiving and sending out embassies, administering justice, instructing his adherents, but still keeping his army alert, his leaders well trained to quell the least disturbance or threatenings of revolt. the conquest of mecca and the victory of honein had rendered him secure from all except those abortive attacks that were instantly crushed by the marching of the force that was to subdue them. the year - was spent in the receiving and sending out of embassies, alternating with the organising of small expeditions to chastise recusants, but to mahomet himself there came besides the flower of an idyll, the frost of a grief. mary, the coptic maid, young, lovely, and forlorn, the helpless barter of an egyptian king, reached medina in the first year of embassies and was reserved for the prophet because of her beauty and her innocence. she had become long since a humble inmate of his harem, and would have ended her days in the same obscurity if potential motherhood had not come to her as an honour and a crowning. when mahomet perceived that she was with child he had her removed from the company of his other wives, and built for her a "garden-house" in upper medina, where she lived until her child was born. mahomet, returning from his campaigns, sought her in her retreat and gave her his companionship and his prayers. in april of she bore a son to her master, who could hardly believe that such a gift had been granted him. never before had his arms held a man-child of his own begetting, and the honours lavished upon the slave-mother showed his boundless gratitude to allah. a son meant much to him, for by that was ensured his hope for a continuance of power when his earthly sojourn was over. the child was named ibrahim, and all the lawful ceremonies were scrupulously observed by his father. he sacrificed a kid upon the seventh day, and sought for the best and most fitting nurses for his new-born son. mary received in full measure the smiles and favour of her master, and the prophet's wives became jealous to fury, so that their former anger was revived--the anger that also had its roots in jealousy when mahomet had first looked upon mary with desiring eyes. then they had gained their lord's displeasure as far as to cause a rebuke against them to be inscribed in the kuran, but now their rage, though still smouldering, was useless against the triumph of that long-looked-for birth. but mahomet's joy was short-lived. scarcely had three months passed when ibrahim sickened even beneath the most devoted care. his father was inconsolable, and the little garden-house that had been the scene of so much rejoicing was now filled with sorrow. ibrahim grew rapidly worse, until mahomet perceived that there was no more hope. then he became resigned, and having closed the child's eyes gave directions for its burial with all fitting ceremonial. thereafter he knew that allah had not ordained him an heir, and became reconciled to the vast decrees of fate. mary, instrument of his hopes and despairs, passed into the oblivion of the despised and now useless slave. we never hear any more of her beyond that the prophet treated her kindly and would not suffer her to be ill-used. she was the mere necessary means of the fulfilment of his intent. having failed in her task she was no longer important, no longer even desired. meanwhile the tasks of administration had been increasing steadily. mahomet was now strong enough to insist that none but believers were to be admitted to the kaaba and its ceremonies, and although all the idolatrous practices in mecca were not removed until after abu bekr's pilgrimage, yet the power of polytheism was completely subdued, and before long was to be extirpated from the holy places. the next matter to be taken in hand owes its origin to the extent of mahomet's domains in the year . it was imperative that some sort of financial system should be adopted, so that the prophet and the believers might possess adequate means for keeping up the efficiency of the army, giving presents to embassies from foreign lands, rewarding worthy subjects, and all the numerous demands upon a chieftain's wealth. deputies were therefore sent out to the various tribes now under his sway to gather from every subject tribe the price of their protection and championship by mahomet. in most cases the tax-gatherers were received as the inevitable result of submission, but there were occasional resistances organised by the bolder tribes, chief of whom was the temim, who drove out mahomet's envoy with contempt and ill-usage. reprisals were immediately set on foot, the tribe was attacked and routed, many of its members being taken prisoner. these were subsequently liberated upon the tribe's guarantee of good faith. the beni mustalik also drove out the tax-gatherer, but afterwards repented and sent a deputation to mahomet to explain the circumstance. they were pardoned and gave guarantees that they would dwell henceforth at peace with the prophet. the summer saw a few minor expeditions to chastise resisters, chief of which was all's campaign against the beni tay. he was wholly successful, and brought back to medina prisoners and booty. the "second year of embassies" proved more gratifying than the first. mahomet's power had increased sufficiently to awe the tribes of the interior into submission and to gain at least a hearing from lands beyond his immediate vicinity. slowly and surely he was building up the fabric of his dominion. with a watchfulness and sense of organisation irresistible in its efficiency he made his presence known. the sword had gained him his dominion, the sword should preserve it with the help of his unfailing vigilance and diplomatic skill. as his power progressed it drew to itself not only the fighting material but the dreams and poetic aspirations of the wild, untutored races who found themselves beneath his yoke. islam was before all an ideal, a real and material tradition, giving scope to the manifold qualities of courage, devotion, aspiration, and endeavour. every tribe coming fully within its magnetism felt it to be the sum of his life, a religion which had not only an indivisible mighty god at its head, but a strong and resolute prophet as its earthly leader. around the central figure each saw the majesty of the lord and also the headship of armies, the crown of power, and the sovereignty of wealth. they invested mahomet with the royalty of romance, and the potency of his magnetism is realised in the story of the conversion of ka'b the poet. he had for years voiced the feelings of contempt and anger against the prophet, and had been the chief vehicle for the launching of defamatory songs. his conversion to the cause of islam is momentous, because it deprived the idolaters of their chief means of vituperation and ensured the gradual dying down of the fire of abuse. mahomet received ka'b with the utmost honour, and threw over him his own mantle as a sign of his rejoicing at the acquisition of so potent a man. ka'b thereupon composed the "poem of the mantle" in praise of his leader and lord, a poem which has rendered him famous and well-beloved throughout the whole muslim world. now embassies came to mahomet from all parts of arabia. instead of being the suppliant he became the dictator, for whose favour princes sued. hadramaut and yemen sent tokens of alliance and promises of conversion, even the far-off tribes upon the borders of syria were not all equally hostile and were content to send deputations. nevertheless, it was from the north that his power was threatened. secure as was his control over central and southern arabia, the northern feudatories backed by heraclius were still obdurate and even openly hostile. they were the one hope that arabia possessed of throwing off the prophet's yoke, which even now was threatening to press hardly upon their unrestrained natures. all the malcontents looked towards the north for deliverance, and made haste to rally, if possible, to the side of the syrian border states. towards the end of the year signs were not wanting of a concerted effort to overthrow his power on the part of all the northern tribes, who had as their ally a powerful emperor, and therefore might with reason expect to triumph over a usurper who had put his yoke upon their brethren of the southern interior, and was only deterred from attempting their complete reduction to the status of tributary states by the distance between his capital and themselves, added to the menace of the imperial legions. chapter xx iconoclasm "oh prophet, contend against the infidels and the hypocrites, and be rigorous with them. hell shall be their dwelling-place! wretched the journey thither."--_the kuran._ the clouds upon the syrian border gathered so rapidly that they threatened any moment to burst during the autumn of . when mahomet heard that the feudatories were massed under the bidding of heraclius at hims, he realised there was no time to be lost. eagerly he summoned his army, and expected from it the same enthusiasm for the campaign as he himself displayed. but there was no generous response to his call. syria was far away, the believers could not be convinced of the importance of the attack. they were weary of the incessant warfare and it was, moreover, the season of the heats, when no man willingly embarked upon arduous tasks. the companions rallied at once to the side of their leader, and many true believers also supported their lord, but the citizens and the bedouins murmured against his exactions, and for the most part refused to accompany him. only mahomet's indefatigable energy summoned together a sufficient army. but the believers were generous, and gave not only themselves but their gold, and after some delay the expedition was organised. mahomet himself led the troop, leaving abu bekr in medina to conduct the daily prayer and have charge of the religious life of the city, while to molleima were given the administrative duties. the expedition reached the valley of heja, where mahomet called a halt, and there, about half-way from his goal, rested the greater part of two days. the next days saw him continually advancing over the scanty desert ways, urging on his soldiers with prayers and exhortations, so that they might not grow weary with the long heat and the silence. finally he sighted tebuk, where the rebel army was reported to be. but by this time the border tribes had dispersed, frightened into inactivity by the strength of mahomet's army, and incapacitated further by lack of definite leadership. there seemed no fighting to be done, but mahomet was determined to make sure of his peaceful triumph. the main force stayed at tebuk, while khalid was despatched to dumah, there to intimidate both jews and bedouins by the size of his force and their fighting prowess. the manoeuvre was entirely successful, and before long mahomet had received the submission of the tribes dwelling along the shores of the elanitic gulf. meanwhile, he had recourse to diplomacy as well as the sword. he sent a letter to john, christian prince of eyla, and received from him a most favourable hearing. john accompanied the messenger back to the prophet, where he accorded him meet reverence and regard as the leader of a mighty faith. between the two princes a treaty was drawn up, the text of which is extant, and very probably authentic. it is characteristic of the whole series of treaties entered into at this time by mahomet with the desert tribes, and as such is interesting enough to reproduce. these treaties are given at full length in wakidi; they differ from each other by only small details, and that drawn up for john of eyla may be taken as fairly representative. it is little more than a guarantee of safe conduct upon either side, and is noticeably free from any religious requirements or commissions: "in the name of god, the gracious, the merciful. a compact of peace from god and from mahomet, the prophet and apostle of god, granted unto yuhanna, son of rubah, and unto the people of eyla. for them who remain at home and for those that travel by sea or by land, there is the guarantee of god and of mahomet, the apostle of god, and for all that are with them, whether of syria or of yeman, or of the sea coast. whoso contraveneth this treaty, his wealth shall not save him--it shall be the fair prize of him that taketh it. now it shall not be lawful to hinder the men of eyla from any springs which they have been in the habit of frequenting, nor from any journey they desire to make, whether by sea or by land. the writing of juheim and sharrabil, by command of the apostle of god." when this scanty document had been completed john of eyla betook himself again to his own country, leaving mahomet free to enter into further compacts with the jews of mauna, adzuh, and jaaba. when these had been ratified and mahomet had received tribute from the surrounding people, he set out again for medina, having first made sure of khalid's success in dumah, and receiving the conversion of the chief of that tribe with much gladness. now, departing to medina confident in his success, it was with no good will that he entered its walls. many of his erstwhile followers, especially the tribes of bedouins, had refused him their help upon this adventure, and, immediate danger being past, he returned to rend them in the fury of his eloquence. his success had given him the right to chastise; even the ansar were not exempt from his wrath. three who remained behind were proscribed, and compelled to fulfil fifty days of penance. "had there been a near advantage and a short journey, they would certainly have followed thee; but the way seemed long to them. yet they will swear by god, 'had we been able we had surely gone forth with you; they are self-destroyers! and god knoweth that they are surely liars!'" before he had entered the city his anger was further provoked by the beni ganim, who had erected a mosque, ostensibly out of piety, really to spite the beni amru ibn auf and to make them jealous for their own mosque at kuba, whose stones he had laid with his own hands. he fell upon the ganim, "some who have built a mosque for mischief," and demolished the building. then he drew attention to their perfidy in the kuran, and took care that there should be no more mosques built in the spirit of rivalry and envy. very little time after his return to medina, abdallah, leader of the disaffected, his opponent and critic for so many years, died suddenly. his death meant a great change in the position of his party. there was no strong man to succeed abdallah, and they found themselves without leader or policy. they had for long been nominally allies of mahomet, but had not scrupled under abdallah's leadership to question his authority by opposition and sometimes in open acts of war. abdallah's death crushed for ever any attempts at revolt in medina, and fused the disaffected into the common stock of believers. abdallah occupies rather a peculiar position in mahomet's entourage; he was often the prophet's opponent, sometimes his open defier, and yet mahomet's dealings with him were uniformly gentle and forbearing. he may have had some personal regard for him. abdallah was a stern and upright man, whose uncompromising nature would speedily win mahomet's respect. possibly the prophet felt he might be too powerful an enemy, and determined to ignore his insurrections. he paid him that respect which his generosity of mind allowed him to offer towards any he knew and liked. the mahomet whose ruthlessness towards his opponents fell like an awe upon all arabia, could know and do homage to an enemy who had shown himself worthy of his steel. all things seemed to be working towards mahomet's final prevailing. now at last after many years the city of medina was unfeignedly his, the jews were extirpated, the disaffected united under his banner. meanwhile, the city of taif still held out in spite of malik's incessant warfare against it. but its defences were steadily growing weaker, and at last the inhabitants knew they could no longer continue the hopeless struggle. the chief citizens sent an embassy to mahomet, promising to destroy their idol within three years if the prophet would release them from their harassment. but mahomet refused unconditionally. the uprooting of idolatry was ever the price of his mercy. the message was sent back that instant demolition of the accursed thing must be made or the siege would continue. then the people of taif, hoping once more for clemency, asked to be released from the obligation of daily prayer. this request mahomet also refused, but in deference to their ancestral worship, and no doubt in some pity for their plight, he allowed their idol to be destroyed by other hands than their own. abu sofian and molleima were despatched with a covering force to destroy the great image lat, which had stood for time immemorial in the centre of taif and was the shrine for all the prayers and devotions of that fair and ancient city. taif was the last stronghold of the idolaters. when that had fallen beneath the sway of the prophet and his remote, austerely majestic god-head, indivisible and personless, the doom of the old gods was at hand. they were dethroned from their high places at the bidding of a man; but they had not bowed their heads before his proclaimed message, but before the strength of his armies, the onward sweep of his ceaseless and victorious warfare. to mahomet, indeed, allah had never shown himself more gracious than at the fall of idolatrous taif. he resolved thereupon that the crowning act of homage should be fulfilled. he would make a solemn journey to the holy city, and accomplish the greater pilgrimage with purified rites freed from the curse of the worship of many gods. but when he came to the setting forth, and the sacred month of dzul higg was upon him, he found that many idolatrous practices still remained as part of the great ceremonial. he could not contaminate himself by undertaking the pilgrimage while these remained, but he could send abu bekr to ensure that none should remain after this year's cleansing. he was now strong enough to insist that the rooting out of idolatry was his chief policy, and to make the breaking up of the ancestral gods incumbent upon the whole country. abu bekr was commissioned to set forth upon his task with men, and to spare neither himself nor them until the mission was accomplished and every idolatrous practice blotted out. and now follows one of the most characteristic acts mahomet ever performed, wherein obligation is made to bow to expediency and the bonds of treaties snap and break before the wind of the prophet's will. abu bekr had started but one day's journey upon the meccan road when ali was sent after him with a document bearing the prophet's seal. this he was to read to the faithful, and receive their pledge that they would act upon its contents. mahomet also published abroad a like proclamation in the city itself. the document drawn up and despatched with such haste was nothing less than a release for the prophet and his followers from all obligations to the infidels after a term of four months. "a release by god and the apostle in respect of the heathen with whom ye have entered into treaty. go to and fro in the earth securely in the four months to come. and know ye cannot hinder god, and that verily god will bring disgrace upon the unbelievers. and an announcement from god and his apostle unto the people on the day of pilgrimage that god is discharged from (liability to) the heathen and his prophet likewise.... fulfil unto these their engagements until the expiration of their terms; for god loveth the pious. and when the forbidden months are over then fight gainst the heathen, wheresoever ye find them, ... but if they repent and establish prayer and give the tithes, leave them in peace.... o ye that believe, verily the unbelievers are unclean. wherefore let them not approach the holy temple after this year." no one reading this writing, which bears upon it all the stamps of authenticity, can fail to see the motive behind its words. its unscrupulousness has received in all good faith the sanction of the most high. mahomet knew that the time was ripe for an uncompromising insistence upon the acceptance of his faith. he was strong enough to compel. it was allah who had strengthened his armies and given him dominion, therefore in allah's name he repudiated his agreements with heathen peoples, and by virtue of his power he purposed to bestow upon his lord a greater glory. an act wrought in such defiance of honour at the inspiration of god savours unquestionably of hypocrisy, but none who estimates aright the age and environment in which mahomet dwelt can accuse him of anything more than a keenness of political cunning which led him to value accurately his own power and the waning reputation of idolatry. the evil example he had set in this first release extended with his conquests until it was accounted of universal application, and no muslim considered himself dishonoured if he broke his pledge with any unbeliever. from this time a more dogmatic and terrible note enters into his message. he openly asserts that idolatry is to be extirpated from arabia by the sword, and that judaism and christianity are to be reduced to subordinate positions. judaism he had never forgiven for its rejection of him as prophet and head of a federal state; christianity he hated and despised, because to him in these later years monotheism had become a fanatic belief, and the whole conception of christ's divinity was abhorrent to his worship of allah. he was not strong enough to proclaim a destructive war against either faith, but he allowed them to exist in his dominions upon a precarious footing, always liable to abuse, attack, and profanation. from the spring of until the end of his life, mahomet's campaigns consist in defensive and punitive expeditions. the realm of arabia was virtually his, and the constant succession of embassies promising obedience and expressing homage continued until the end. but he was not allowed to enjoy his power in peace. the continuous series of small insurrections, speedily suppressed, which had accompanied his rise to power in later years, was by no means ended with his comparative security. but they never grew sufficiently in volume to threaten his dominion; they were wiped out at once by the alertness and political genius of his rule, until his death gave all the smaller chieftains fresh hope and became the signal for a desperate and almost successful attempt to throw off the shackles. the first important conversion after his return from taif was that of jeyfar, king of oman, followed closely by the districts of mahra and yemen, which localities had been hovering for some time between islam and idolatry. the tribes of najran were inclined to christianity, and mahomet was now anxious to gain them over to himself. the severity he had practised against a certain christian church of hanifa, however, weighed with them against any allegiance until he promised that theirs should be more favourably treated. a treaty was then made with these tribes by which each was to respect the religion of the other. mahomet remained in medina throughout the year and the beginning of , keeping his state like unto that of a king, surrounded by his companions and believers, receiving and sending forth embassies, receiving also tribute from those lands he had conquered, the beginning of that wealth which was to create the magnificence of bagdad, the treasures of cordova. the tribes of the beni asad, the beni kunda, and many from the territory of hadramaut made their submission; tax-gatherers were also sent out to all the tributary peoples, and returned in safety with their toll. almost it seemed as if peace had settled for good upon the land. the only threatenings came from the beni harith of the country bordering najran, and the beni nakhla, with a few minor tribes near yemen. khalid was sent to call the beni harith to conversion at the point of the sword, and ali subdued without effort the enfeebled resistance of the beni nakhla. continual embassies poured into medina. the country was quiet at last. after years of tumult arabia had settled for the moment peaceably under the yoke of a religious enthusiast, who nevertheless possessed sufficient political and military genius to found his kingdom well and strongly. mahomet had attained his aims, and whether he could keep what he had now rested with himself alone. after this period of calm there is a diminution in his energy and fiery zeal. the effort of that continual warfare had kept him in perpetual fever of action; when its strain was removed he felt the weight of his kingdom and the religion he had so fearlessly reared. until the end of his life he kept his hold upon his subjects, and every branch of justice, law, administration, and military policy felt his detailed guiding, but with the attainment of peace for arabia under his sway, his aggressive strivings vanished. virtually he had accomplished his destiny, and with the keen prescience of those who have lived and worked for one object, he knew that the outermost stronghold of those which islam was destined to subdue had yielded to his passionate insistence. his successors would carry his work to higher attainments, but his personal part was done, and it was with a sense of finality that almost brought peace to his perpetually striving nature that he prepared for his last witness to the glory and unity of allah, the performance of the greater and farewell pilgrimage. chapter xxi last rites "this day have i perfected your religion for you, and have filled up the measure of my favours upon you; and it is my pleasure that islam be your religion."--_the kuran_. a year had passed since abu bekr's purgatory pilgrimage, and now the sacred month drew near once more and found mahomet secure in his adopted city, the acknowledged spiritual and political leader among the arabian tribes. not since his exile had the prophet performed in their entirety the rites of the greater pilgrimage. now he felt that his achievements would receive upon them the seal of allah and become attested in the eyes of the world if he should undertake a complete and purified pilgrimage in company with the host of his followers. the pilgrimage was proclaimed abroad in islam, and every believer who could by any means accomplish it assumed the pilgrim's garb, until the army of the devout numbered about , men. all the prophet's wives accompanied him, and every believer of any standing in the newly formed state was his close attendant. it was felt, indeed, that this was to be the pilgrimage that was to ordain and sanction the rite for all time. in the deepest spirit of religion and devotion it was undertaken and completed. islam was now to show to the world the measure of its strength, and to succeeding generations the sum of its being and the insistence of its call. with the host travelled also a hundred camels, destined as a sacrifice upon the triumphant day when the ceremonies should be accomplished. by easy stages the pilgrims journeyed through the desert. there was no hurry, for there was no fear of attack. the whole company was unarmed, save for the defensive sword allowed to each man. over the desert they moved like locusts, overwhelming the country, and the tune of their march spread far around. in ten days the pilgrim army, in the gladness of self-confidence and power, arrived at sarif, a short day's march from their goal. there mahomet rested before he embarked upon the final journey. mecca lay before him, awaiting his coming, her animosities silenced, her populace acquiescent, her temples freed from the curse of idolatry. his mind was uplifted into a fervour of praise. he seemed in truth about to enter upon his triumph, to celebrate in very flesh the ceremonies he had reverenced, to celebrate them in his own peculiar manner, freed of what was to him their bane and degradation. something of the foreknowledge of the approaching cessation of activity flashed across him as he mounted al-caswa and prepared to make the entry of the city. he came upon the upper suburbs by the same route as he had entered mecca two years before, and proceeded to the kaaba. there he performed the circuits of the sacred place and the preliminary rites of the greater pilgrimage. then he returned to the valley outside the city where his tent was pitched, and tarried there the night. and now ali, the mighty in arms, reached the city from an admonitory expedition and demanded the privilege of performing the pilgrimage. mahomet replied that like most other believers he might perform the rites of the lesser pilgrimage, but that the greater was barred to him because he had no victims. but ali refused to forego his privilege, and at last mahomet, urged by his love for him and his fear of creating any disturbance at such a time, felt it wiser to yield. he gave ali the half of his own victims, and their friendship and ali's devotion to his master were idealised and made sweeter for the gift. now the rites of the greater pilgrimage properly began. mahomet preached to the people from the kaaba on the morning of the next day, and when his words had roused the intense religious spirit of those listening masses he set out for mina, accompanied by bilal, followed by every believer, and prepared to spend the night in the sacred valley. when morning dawned he made his way to arafat, where he climbed the hill in the midst of the low-lying desolate ground. standing at the summit of the hill, surrounded by the hosts of his followers, revealed to their eyes in all the splendour and dignity of his familiarity and personally wrested authority, he recited some of the verses of the kuran dealing with the fit and proper celebration of the pilgrimage. he expounded then the manner in which that rite was to be performed for all time. so long as there remains one muslim upon earth his pilgrimage will be carried out along the traditions laid down for him at this beneficent moment. now, having ordered all matters, mahomet raised his hands to heaven and called allah to witness that he had completed his task: "this day have i perfected your religion for you." the supreme moment came and fled, and the prophet descended once more into the plain and journeyed again to the valley of mecca, where, according to immemorial tradition, he cast stones, or rather small pebbles, at the rock of the devil's corner, symbolic of the defeat of the powers of darkness by puny and assailed mankind. thereafter he slew his victims in thankful and devout spirit, and the greater pilgrimage was completed. in token he shaved his head, pared his nails, and removed the pilgrim's robe; then, coming before the people, he exhorted them further, enjoining upon them the strict observance of daily prayers, the fast of ramadan, the rites of pilgrimage, and all the essential ceremonial of the muslim faith. he abolished also with one short verse of the kuran the intercalary year, which had been in use among the faithful during the whole of his medinan rule. the believers were now subject to the fluctuation of their months, so that their years follow a perpetually changing cycle, bearing no relation to the solar seasons. when the exhortation was ended mahomet departed to mecca, and there he encircled the kaaba and entered its portals for prayer. but of this last act he repented later, inasmuch as it would not be possible hereafter for every muslim to do so, and he had desired to perform in all particulars the exact ceremonies incumbent upon the faithful for all the future years. he now made an ending of all his observances, and with every rite fulfilled, at the head of his vast concourse, summoned by his tireless will and held together by his overmastering zeal, the prophet returned to his governmental city, ready to take up anew the reins of his temporal ruling, with the sense of fine things fittingly achieved, a great purpose accomplished, which rendered him as much at peace as his fiery temperament and the flame of his activity could compass. fulfilment had come with the performance of the greater pilgrimage, but still his state demanded his personal government. death alone could still his ardent pulses and bring about his relinquishment of command over the kingdom that was his--death that was even now winging his silent way nearer, and whose shadow had almost touched the fount of the prophet's earthly life. in such manner the greater pilgrimage was fulfilled, and the burden of its accomplishing is the muslim reverence for ceremony. the ritual in all its forgotten superstition and immemorial tradition appealed most potently to the emotions of every believer, all the more so because it had not been imposed upon him as a new and untried ceremony by a religious reformer, but came to him with all its hallowed sanctity fresh upon it, to be bound up inseparably with his religious life by its purification under the prophet's guidance. its use by the founder of islam bears witness at once to his knowledge of the earlier faith and traditions and his reverence for them, as well as his keen insight, which placed the rite of pilgrimage in the forefront of his religious system. he knew the value of ritual and the force of age-long association. the farewell pilgrimage is the last great public act he performed. he felt that it strengthened islam's connection with the beliefs and ceremonies of his ancestors, legendarily free from idolatry under the governance of abraham and ishmael. he realised, too, that it rounded off the ceremonial side of his faith, giving his followers an example and a material union with himself and his god. it was the knowledge that this union would always be a living fact to his descendants, so long as the sacred ceremony was performed, that caused him to assert its necessity and to place it among the few unalterable injunctions to all the faithful. meanwhile a phenomenon had arisen inseparable from the activities of great men. wherever there are strong souls, from whose spirit flows any inspiring energy, there will always be found their imitators, when the battle has been won. whether hypocrites, or genuinely led by a sheep-like instinct into the same path as their models, they follow the steps of their forerunners, and usually achieve some slight fame before the dark closes around them. early in the year badzan, governor of marab, nazran, and hamadan, died. his territory was seized by mahomet, in defiance of the claims of his son shehr, and divided among different governors. his success in the temporal world, and especially this peaceful annexation of land, wrought so vividly upon the imaginations of his countrymen that three false prophets arose and three separate bands of devoted fanatics appeared to uphold them. of these three men the most effective was tuleiha of the beri asad, who gathered together an army and was only repelled and crushed by khalid himself. but tuleiha still persisted in spite of defeat, and was content to bide his time until, under abu bekr, his faction rose again to importance and constituted a serious disturbance to the rule of the first caliph. moseilama, of whom not so much is known, also attempted to usurp the prophet's power at the close of his life. mahomet demanded his submission; moseilama refused, but before adequate punishment could be meted out the prophet was stricken down with illness, so that the task of chastisement devolved upon abu bekr. aswad, "the veiled prophet of yemen," might have proved the most formidable of the three, had not rashness of conduct and lack of governance caused his undoing. he cast off the muslim yoke while the prophet was still alive, and proclaimed himself the magician prince who would liberate his followers from the tyrant's yoke. najran rose in his favour, and he marched confidently upon sana, the great capital city of yemen, slew the puppet king shehr and took command of the surrounding country. mahomet purposed to send a force against him, but even while his army was massing for the march he heard that the veiled prophet was assassinated. the sudden success had proved his ruin. aswad only needed the touch of power to call out his latent tyranny, cruelty, and stupidity. he treated the people harshly, and they could not retaliate effectually; but he forgot, being of unreflecting mould, the imperative necessity of conciliating the chiefs of his armed forces. he offended his leaders of armies, and the end came swiftly. the leaders deserted to mahomet, and treacherously murdered him when he had counted their submission was beyond question. the three impostors were not powerful enough to disturb seriously the steady flow of mahomet's organising and administrative activities, but they are indicative of the thin crust that divided his rule from anarchy, a crust even now cracking under the weight of the burdens imposed upon it, needing the constant cement of armed expeditions to keep it from crumbling beyond mahomet's own remedying. april passed quietly enough at medina, but with may came the news of fresh disturbances upon the syrian border. they were not serious, but the pretext was sufficient. muta was as yet unavenged, and mahomet was glad to be able to send a force again to the troublesome frontier. osama, son of zeid, slain in that disastrous battle, was chosen for leader of this expedition in spite of his youth, which aroused the quick anger of some of the muslim warriors. but mahomet maintained his choice. he was given the battle banner by the prophet himself, and the expedition sallied forth to jorf, where it was delayed and finally hastily recalled by news of a grave and most disturbing nature. even as he blessed the syrian expedition and sent it on its road, mahomet was in no fit state of health for public duties. after a little while, however, his will triumphed over his flesh, and he thrust back the weakness. but his physical nature had already been strained to breaking point under the stress of his life. he had perforce to bow to the dictates of his body. he gave up attempting to throw off the fever, and retired to ayesha's house, attributing the seizure to the effects of the poison at kheibar, and convinced that his end was at hand. in the house of his favourite wife he remained during the few remaining days of his life. he lingered for about a week before his indomitable soul gave way before the assaults of death, and all the time he continued to attend to public affairs and to take his accustomed part in them as long as possible. about the third day of his illness he heard the people still murmuring over the appointment of osama upon the syrian expedition. rising from his couch he went out to speak to them, and commanded them to cease from such empty discontent, reminding them that he was their prophet and master, and that they might safely rely upon him. the exertion of moving proved too much for his strength. he was now indeed a broken man, and this activity was but the last conquest of mind over his ever-growing weakness of body. he returned exhausted to ayesha's room, and, knowing that his mission was over, commanded abu bekr to lead the public prayers. by this act he virtually nominated abu bekr his successor; for the privilege of leading the prayers belonged exclusively to himself, and his designation of the office was as plain a proof as there could be that he considered the mantle of authority to have descended upon his friend and counsellor, who had been to him so unfailing a resource in defeat and triumph through all the tumultuous years. from this time the prophet grew steadily worse. his physical break-up was complete. he had used every particle of his enormous energy in the fulfilment of his work; now that activity had ceased there were no reserves left. he became delirious, and finally weak to the point of utter exhaustion. many are the traditions concerning his dying words, chiefly exhortations for the preservation of the faith he had so laboriously brought to life. he is said to have cursed both jews and christians in his paroxysms of fever, but in his lucid moments he seems to have been filled with love for his disciples, and fears for the future of his religion and temporal state. he lingered thus for two more days--days which gathered round him the deep spiritual fervour, the human love and affection of every believer, so that the records are interpenetrated with the grief and tenderness of a people's sorrow. on the third day he rallied sufficiently to come to morning prayer, where he took a seat by abu bekr in token of his dedication of the headship of islam to him alone. the believers' joy at the sight of their prophet showed itself in their thronging thanksgivings and in their escort of their chief back to his place of rest. it seemed that his illness was but slight, and that before long he would appear among them once more in all the fullness of his strength. but the exertion sapped his little remaining vitality, and he could scarcely reach ayesha's room again. there a few hours afterwards, after a period of semi-consciousness, he died in her arms while it was yet only a little after mid-day. the forlorn ayesha was almost too terrified to impart the dreadful news. abu bekr was summoned instantly, and came with awe and horror into the mosque. omar, mahomet's beloved warrior-friend, refused to believe that his leader was really dead, and even rushed to announce his belief to the people. but abu bekr visited the place of death and assured himself by the still cold form of the prophet that he was indeed dead. he went out with despair in his countenance, and convinced the faithful that the soul of their leader had passed. there fell upon islam the hush of an intolerable knowledge, and in the first blankness of realisation they were dumb and passive. when the army at jorf was apprised of the news, it broke up at once and returned to medina. with the withdrawal of the guiding hand their battle enthusiasm became as nought, and they could only join the waiting ranks of the citizens--a crowd that would now be driven whither its masters saw fit. the faithful assembled round the mosque to question the future of themselves and their rulers. abu bekr addressed them at once, and it was soon evident that he had them well in hand. he was supported by omar and the chief leaders, except ali, who maintained a jealous attitude, chiefly due to the feelings of envy aroused in the mind of fatima, his wife, at the sight of ayesha's privileges. at last, when abu bekr had told the circumstances of the prophet's death, tenderly and with that loving reverence which characterised him, the faithful were attuned to the acceptance of this man as their prophet's successor. the chief men, followed by the rank and file, swore fealty to him, and covenanted to maintain intact and precious the faith bequeathed them by their leader, who had been also their guide and fellow-worshipper of allah. there remained only the last dignity of burial. the prophet's body was washed and prepared for the grave. around it was wrapped white linen and an outer covering of striped yemen stuff. abu bekr and omar performed these simple services for their prophet, and then a grave was dug for him in ayesha's house, and a partition made between the grave and the antechamber. it was dug vaulted fashion, and the body deposited there upon the evening of the day of death. the people were permitted to visit it, and after the long procession had looked their last upon their prophet, abu bekr and omar delivered speeches to the assembled multitude, urging them to remain faithful to their religion, and to hold before them continually the example of the prophet, who even now was received into the paradise he had described so ardently and loved with such enshrining desire. thus the prophet of islam, religious and political leader, director of armies, lover of women, austere, devout, passionate, cunning, lay as he would have wished in the simplicity of that communal life, in the midst of his followers, near the sacred temple of his own devising. he had lived close to his disciples, had appeared to them a man among men, indued only with the divine authority of his religious enthusiasm; now he rested among them as one of themselves, and none but felt the inspiration of his energy inform their activities after him, though the manifestation thereof confined itself to the violence necessary to maintain the prophet's domain secure from its earthly enemies. mahomet, indeed, in his mortal likeness rested in the quiet of ayesha's chamber, but his spirit still led his followers to prayer and conquest, still stood at the head of his armies, urging to victory and plunder, so that they might find in the flaunting banners of islam the fulfilment of their lusts and aspirations, their worldly triumphs and the glories of their heavenly vision. chapter xxii the genesis of islam "the jews say, 'ezra is a son of god,' and the christians say, 'the messiah is a son of god' ... they resemble the saying of the infidels of old.... they take their teachers and their monks and the messiah, son of mary, for lords beside god, though bidden to worship one god only. there is no god but he! far what from his glory be what they associate with him."--_the kuran_. the prophet of arabia had scarcely been committed to the keeping of earth, when on all sides rebellion against his rule arose. the unity that he had laboured so long to create was still in embryo, but the seed of it was living, and developed rapidly to its full fruition. in the political sphere his achievement is not limited to the immediate security of his dominion. he had inculcated, mainly by the forcible logic of the sword, the idea of union and discipline, and had restored in mightier degree the fallen greatness of his land. traditions of arabian prosperity during the time when it was the trade route from persia and the east to petraea, palestine, and even asia minor lingered in the native mind. the caravan routes from southern arabia, famous in biblical story, had made the importance of such cities as mecca and sana, but with the maritime enterprise of rome their well-being declined, and the consequent distress in yemen induced its tribes to emigrate northwards to mecca, to syria, and the central desert. southern arabia never recovered from the blow to its trade, and in the sixth century yemen became merely a dependency of persia. central arabia was an unknown country, inhabited by marauding tribes in a constant state of political flux; while hira, the kingdom to the east of the desert on the banks of the euphrates, had become a satrapy of persia early in the century in which mahomet lived, and heraclius by frequent inroads had reduced the kingdom of palmyra to impotence. arabia was ripe for the rise of a strong political leader; for it was flanked by no powerful kingdom, and within itself there was no organisation and no reliable political influence. the material was there, but it needed the shaping of a master-hand at the instigation of unflagging zeal if it was to be wrought into order and strength. tireless energy and unceasing belief in his own power could alone accomplish the task, and these mahomet possessed in abundance. before his death he had secured the subjection of yemen and hadramaut, had penetrated far into the syrian borderland, and had made his rule felt among the nomad tribes of the interior as far as the confines of persia. with his rise to power the national feeling of arabia was born, and under his successors developed by the enticements of plunder and glory until it soared beyond mere nationality and dreamt of world-conquest, by which presumption its ruin was wrought. mahomet was the instigator of all this absorbing activity, although he never calculated the extent of his political impulse. in superseding the already effete tribal ideals he was to himself only spreading the faith of his inspiration. all governmental conceptions die slowly, and the tribal life of arabia was far from extinguished at the end of his mission. but its vitality was gone, and the focus of arabia's obedience had shifted from the clan to the prophet as military overlord. it is pre-eminently in the domain of political actions that mahomet's personality is revealed. the living fibres of his unique character pulse through all his dealings with his fellow-leaders and opponents. before all things he possessed the capacity of inspiring both love and fear. ali, abu bekr, hamza, omar, zeid, every one of his followers, felt the force of his affection continually upon them, and were bound to him by ties that neither misfortune nor any unworthy act of his could break. and their devotion was called upon to suffer many tests. mahomet was self-willed and ruthless, subordinating the means to the end without any misgivings. in his remorseless dealings with the jews, in his calm repudiation of obligations with the heathen as soon as he felt himself strong enough, he shows affinities to the most conscienceless statesman that ever graced european diplomacy. his method of conquest and government combines watchfulness and strength. no help was scorned by this builder of power. what he could not achieve by force he attempted to gain by cunning. he had a large faith in the power of argument backed by force, and his winning over of abbas and abu sofian chiefly by the aid of these two factors, combined with their personal ambition, is only the supreme instance of his master-strokes of policy. he knew how to play upon the baser passions of men, and especially was he mindful of the lure of gold. his first forays against the kureisch were set before the eyes of his disciples as much in the light of plundering expeditions as religious wars against an infidel and oppressive nation. he is at once the outcome of circumstances, and independent of them. he gave coherence to all the unformulated desires for a fuller scope of military and mercantile power stirring at the fount of arabia's life, and at the same time he founded his dominion in a unique and absolutely personal manner. within his sphere of governance his will was supreme and unassailable. if these mutable tribal entities were to be united at all, despotism was the only possible form of command. as his polity demanded authority vested in one person only, so his conception of god is that of an absolute monarch, resistance to whom is annihilation. out of this idea the doctrine of fatalism was evolved. it was necessary during the first terrible years of uncertainty in islam, in order to produce among mahomet's followers a recklessness in battle, and in the varying fortunes of their life at medina, born of the knowledge that their fate was irrevocably decided. they fought for the true god against the idolaters; this true god held their destinies in his hand; nothing could be altered. the result was that the muslim fought with superhuman daring, and faced overwhelming forces undaunted. but the time came when islam had no longer any need to fight, and the doctrine of fatalism still lived. it sank into mental and physical inactivity, and of that inactivity, induced by the knowledge that their energies were unavailing, pessimism was bred. despotism and fatality are perhaps the purely personal ideas that mahomet gave to his political state, the latter encroaching, however, as most of his secular principles, upon the realm of philosophy. indeed, his political rule is inseparable from his religion, and as a religious leader he is more justly appraised. in the sphere of religion the raw material was to his hand. at the inception of his mission mecca and central arabia, though confirmed in idolatry, still mingled with their rites some distorted jewish traditions and ceremonies, while yemen had embraced the christian faith for a short time as a dependency of abyssinia, but had relapsed into idolatry with the interference of persia. both the border kingdoms to the north, palmyra and hira, were christian, and in the time of their prosperity had influenced arabia in the direction of christianity. the christian scriptures were known and respected, but these impulses were feeble and spasmodic, so that the bulk of arabia remained fixed in its ancient idolatry. by far the more enduring influence was that of judaism. many jewish tribes were settled in arabia, and the ancient traditions of the jewish race, the great figures of abraham, lot, and noah were set vividly before the eyes of the arabs. there was every indication that a religious teacher might use the existing elements of judaism and christianity to produce a monotheistic faith, partaking of their nature, and for a time mahomet endeavoured to bring both forms within the scope of his mission. but compromise, whether with idolaters or jews, was found to be impossible, and here religious and political ideals are inextricably blended. if mahomet had acquiesced in the jewish religion, had submitted to the sovereignty of jerusalem as the holy place, he would have found it impossible to have established his supremacy in medina, and the religion of islam as he conceived it would have been overriden by the older and more hallowed faith of the jews. he saw the danger, and his dominant spirit could not allow the existence of an equal or superior power to his own. with that fiery daring and supreme belief in his destiny which characterised him in later life, he cast away all pretensions to friendliness either with the jews or the christians, and steered his followers triumphantly through the perils that beset every adherent to an idea. but in compelling acceptance of his central thesis of the unity of the godhead, he showed signal wisdom and knowledge of men. he was himself by no means impervious to the value of tradition, and never conceived his faith as having no historical basis in the religious legends of his birthplace. that the muslim belief possesses institutions such as the reverence for the kaaba, the rite of pilgrimage, the acceptance of mecca as its sacred city, is due to its founder's love of his native place, and the ceremonial of which his own creed was really the inseparable outcome. besides his recognition of the need of ritual, he was fully aware of the repugnance of most men to the wholly new. whenever possible he emphasized his connection with the ancient ceremonies of mecca in their purer form, and as soon as his power was sufficient, he enforced the recognition of his claims upon the city itself. his achievement as religious reformer rests largely upon the state of preparation in which he found his medium, but it owes its efficiency to one force alone. mahomet was possessed of one central idea, the indivisibility of god, and it was sufficient to uphold him against all calamities. the kuran sounds the note of insistence which rings the clarion call of his message. with eloquence of mind and soul, with a repetition that is wearisome to the outsider, he forces that dominant truth into the hearts of his hearers. it cannot escape them, for he will not cease to remind them of their doom if they do not obey. what he set out to do for the religious life of arabia he accomplished, chiefly because he concentrated the whole of his demands into one formula, "there is no god but god"; then when success had shown him the measure of his ascendancy, "there is no god but god, and mahomet is his prophet." at the end of his life idolatry was uprooted from his native country. the tribes might rebel against the heaviness of his political yoke, and were often held to him by the slenderest of diplomatic threads, but their monotheistic beliefs remained intact once islam had gained the ascendancy over them. at the end of the farewell pilgrimage, he realised with one grand uplifting of his soul in thanksgiving that he had indeed caught up the errant attempts of arabia to remodel its unsatisfying faith, and had made of them a triumphant reality, in which the conception of allah's unity was the essential belief. besides his religious and political attainments, he gave to arabia as a whole its first written social and moral code. here the estimate of his accomplishment is difficult to render, bemuse comparison with the existing state is almost impossible. extensively in the kuran, but to a greater degree in the mass of his traditional sayings, crystallised into a standard edition by al-bokhari, when due allowance has been made for the additions and exaggerations of his followers, the chief characteristic is the casual nature of his laws. all his dictates as to the control of marriage, the sale and tenure of land, commerce, plunder, as well as health and dietary are the result of definite cases coming within his adjudication. such an idea as the deliberate compilation of a code never occurred to him, and there is no evidence that he ever referred to his former decisions in similar cases, so that possibilities of contradiction and evasion are limitless. out of this jumble of inconsistencies muslim law and practice has grown. he was enabled to impose his commands upon the conquered peoples by means of his military organisation, so that it was not long before arabia was ruled in rough fashion by his social and moral precepts enforced by the sword. his wives offend him, and he forthwith sets down the duties and position of women in his temporal state. he desires the wife of his friend, and the result is a kuranic decree sanctioning the taking of a woman under those conditions. he is jealous of his younger and more comely associates, and thereupon ordains the perpetual seclusion of women. he is annoyed at the untimely visits to his house of assembly, and so he commands that no believer shall enter another's apartment uninvited. it is inconvenient to relinquish the watch night or day during the period of siege in medina, therefore he institutes a system whereby half the army is to pray while the other half remains at its post. instances may be multiplied without ceasing of this building up of a whole social code upon the most casual foundations. but unheeding as was its genesis, it was in the main effective for those times, and in any case it substituted definite laws for the measureless wastes of tradition and custom. it is probable that mahomet relied a great deal upon existing usages. he was too wise to disturb them unnecessarily. his was a nature of extremes combined with a wisdom that came as a revelation to his followers. where he hates it is with a hurricane of wrath and destruction, where he loves it is with the same impetuous tenacity. his denunciations of the infidels, of his enemies among the kureisch, of the laggards within his own city, of the defamers of holy things, of drunkards, of the unclean, of those who even copy the features of their kindred or picture their idea of god, are written in the most violent words, whose fury seems to smite upon the ear with the rushing of flame. and so the prevailing stamp upon muslim institutions is fanaticism and intolerance. as the prophet drew up hard-and-fast rules, so his followers insisted upon their remorseless continuance. mahomet found himself compelled to issue ordinances, often hurried and unreflecting, to meet immediate needs, to settle disputes whose prolongation would have meant his ruin. he possessed the qualities of poet, seer, and religious mystic, but these in his later life were overshadowed by the characteristics of lawgiver, soldier, and statesman demanded by his position as head of a body of men. but neither his mysticism nor his poetic feeling entirely desert him. they flash out at rare moments in the later suras of the kuran, and are apparent in his actions and the traditional accounts of his sayings, while his creed remained steadfast and unassailable with a strength that neither defeat nor disaffection could shake. with all the incompleteness and often contradiction of his administration, he nevertheless was able to satisfy his followers as to its efficacy mainly by his exhaustless belief in himself and his work. in military development his contribution was unique. he gathered together all the war-loving propensities of the faithful, and wove them into a solidarity of aim. his personal courage was not great, but his strategy and above all his invincible confidence, which refused to admit defeat, were beyond question. every leader he sent upon plundering or admonitory expeditions bore witness to his efficiency and his zeal. he subjected the muslim to a discipline that brought out their best qualities of tenacity and daring. he would not allow his soldiery to become individual plunderers, but insisted that the booty should be equally divided. in the beginning he possessed few horsemen, but he rapidly produced a squadron of cavalry as soon as he became convinced of their usefulness. his readiness to accept advice as to the defence of medina proved the salvation of the city. under him the military prowess of islam had ample scope, for he gave his leaders complete freedom of action; the result was visible in the supreme fighting quality of ali, omar, and hamza, while the chances of achieving glory under his banner were the moving motives of the conversion of khalid and abbas. he subdued internecine warfare, and by a bold stroke united the warrior instincts of arabia against external foes, laying upon them the sanction of religion and the promise of eternal happiness. though unskilled in the mechanism of knowledge--he could neither read nor write--he has left his mark upon the literature of his age and the years succeeding him. the kuran was the sum of his inspiration, the expression in poetic and visionary language of his beliefs and ideals. he found the medium prepared. the arabs had long previously evolved a poetry of their own which lived not in written words, but in their traditional songs. mahomet's first flush of inspiration, which waned before the heaviness of his later tasks, is the cumulation of that wild and fervid art with the breath of the desert urgent within it. the kuran was never written down during his lifetime, but was collected into a jumble of fragments, "gathered together from date-leaves and tablets of white stone, and from the breasts of men," by zeid in the first troublous years of the caliphate. we have inevitably lost much of its original fire, and its effect is weakened by any translation into the unsuitable medium of modern speech. but that it is a valuable contribution to the literature of its country cannot be doubted, especially in the earlier portions, before mahomet's love of harangue and the necessity of some vehicle by which to make his political dictates known had transformed its style into the bald reiterative medley of its later pages. through it all runs the fire of his genius; in the later suras it is the reflection of his energy that looks out from the pages; the flame itself has now lighted his actions and inspired his dreams of conquest. the kuran is the best revelation of mahomet himself that posterity possesses, imperfect as was the manner of its handing down to the modern world. it shows us both the beauty and strength of his personality and his cruelty, evasions, magnanimities, and lusts. more than all, the passionate zeal beating through it makes clear the secret of his sustained endeavours through discouragement and defeat until his triumph dawned. to those outside the sphere of his magnetism, mahomet seems urged on by a power beyond himself and scarcely within his control. his gifts bear intimate relation to the particular phase in the task of creating a religion and a political entity that was uppermost at the moment. in mecca he is poet and visionary, the man who speaks with angels and has seen gabriel and israfil, "whose heart-strings are a lute, and who has the sweetest voice of all god's creatures." he penetrates in fancy to the innermost holy place and beholds the god of battles, even feels his touch, icy-cold upon his shoulder, and returns with the glow of that immortal intercourse upon him. it sustains him in defeat and danger, and by the power of it he converts a few in medina and flees thither to complete his task. in medina he becomes a watchful leader, and still inspired by heavenly visitants, he produces order out of chaos and guards his power from numberless assaults. in attempting to explain his achievements, when allowance is made for all those factors which gave him help, we are compelled to do homage to the strength of his personality. neither in his revelations through the kuran nor in the traditions of him is his secret to be found. he lived outside himself, and his actions are the standard of his accomplishments. he found arabia the prey of warring tribes, without leader, without laws, without religion, save an idolatry obstinate but creatively dead, and he took the existing elements, wrought into them his own convictions, quickened them with the fire of his zeal, and created an embryo with effective laws, fitting social and religious institutions, but greater than all these, with the enthusiasm for an idea that led his followers to prayer and conquest. the kuran, tradition, the later histories, all minister to that personality which informed the muslim, so that they swept through the land like flame, impelled not only by religious zeal, but also by the memory of their leader's struggles and victories, and of his journey before them on the perilous path of warfare to the paradise promised to the faithful. none none note: this ebook still needs better formatting, especially for extensive footnotes, so is posted as version rathern than . see project gutenberg's ebooks # and for other translations of the koran. thanks to brett zamir for work on this ebook. the koran: commonly called the alkoran of mohammed. translated into english from the original arabic, with explanatory notes taken from the most approved commentators. to which is prefixed a preliminary discourse, by george sale. to the right hon. john lord carteret. one of the lords of his majesty's most honourable privy council. ____________ 	my lord, notwithstanding the great honour and respect generally and deservedly paid to the memories of those who have founded states, or obliged a people by the institution of laws which have made them prosperous and considerable in the world, yet the legislator of the arabs has been treated in so very different a manner by all who acknowledge not his claim to a divine mission, and by christians especially, that were not your lordship's just discernment sufficiently known, i should think myself under a necessity of making an apology for presenting the following translation. the remembrance of the calamities brought on so many nations by the conquests of the arabians may possibly raise some indignation against him who formed them to empire; but this being equally applicable to all conquerors, could not, of itself, occasion all the detestation with which the name of mohammed is loaded. he has given a new system of religion, which has had still greater success than the arms of his followers, and to establish this religion made use of an imposture; and on this account it is supposed that he must of necessity have been a most abandoned villain, and his memory is become infamous. but as mohammed gave his arabs the best religion he could, as well as the best laws, preferable. at least, to those of the ancient pagan lawgivers, i confess i cannot see why he deserves not equal respect-though not with moses or jesus christ, whose laws came really from heaven, yet, with minos or numa, notwithstanding the distinction of a learned writer, who seems to think it a greater crime to make use of an imposture to set up a new religion, founded on the acknowledgment of one true god, and to destroy idolatry, than to use the same means to gain reception to rules and regulations for the more orderly practice of heathenism already established. to be acquainted with the various laws and constitutions of civilized nations, especially of those who flourish in our own time, is, perhaps, the most useful part of knowledge: wherein though your lordship, who shines with so much distinction in the noblest assembly in the world, peculiarly excels; yet as the law of mohammed, by reason of the odium it lies under, and the strangeness of the language in which it is written, has been so much neglected. i flatter myself some things in the following sheets may be new even to a person of your lordship's extensive learning; and if what i have written may be any way entertaining or acceptable to your lordship, i shall not regret the pains it has cost me. i join with the general voice in wishing your lordship all the honour and happiness your known virtues and merit deserve, and am with perfect respect, 					my lord, 				your lordship's most humble 						and most obedient servant, 								george sale. a sketch of the life of george sale. _________ of the life of george sale, a man of extensive learning, and considerable literary talent, very few particulars have been transmitted to us by his contemporaries. he is said to have been born in the county of kent, and the time of his birth must have been not long previous to the close of the seventeenth century. his education he received at the king's school, canterbury. voltaire, who bestows high praise on the version of the korân, asserts him to have spent five-and-twenty years in arabia, and to have acquired in that country his profound knowledge of the arabic language and customs. on what authority this is asserted it would now be fruitless to endeavour to ascertain. but that the assertion is an erroneous one, there can be no reason to doubt; it being opposed by the stubborn evidence of dates and facts. it is almost certain that sale was brought up to the law, and that he practised it for many years, if not till the end of his career. he is said, by a co-existing writer, to have quitted his legal pursuits, for the purpose of applying himself to the study of the eastern and other languages, both ancient and modern. his guide through the labyrinth of the oriental dialects was mr. dadichi, the king's interpreter. if it be true that he ever relinquished the practice of the law, it would appear that he must have resumed it before his decease; for, in his address to the reader, prefixed to the korân, he pleads, as an apology for the delay which had occurred in publishing the volume, that the work "was carried on at leisure times only, and amidst the necessary avocations of a troublesome profession." this alone would suffice to show that voltaire was in error. but to this must be added, that the existence of sale was terminated at an early period, and that, in at least his latter years, he was engaged in literary labours of no trifling magnitude. the story of his having, during a quarter of a century, resided in arabia, becomes, therefore, an obvious impossibility, and must be dismissed to take its place among those fictions by which biography has often been encumbered and disgraced. among the few productions of which sale is known to be the author is a part of "the general dictionary," in ten volumes, folio. to the translation of bayle, which is incorporated with this voluminous work, he is stated to have been a large contributor. when the plan of the universal history was arranged, sale was one of those who were selected to carry it into execution. his coadjutors were swinton, eminent as an antiquary, and remarkable for absence of mind; shelvocke, originally a naval officer; the well informed, intelligent, and laborious campbell; that singular character, george psalmanazar; and archibald bower, who afterwards became an object of unenviable notoriety. the portion of the history which was supplied by sale comprises "the introduction, containing the cosmogony, or creation of the world;" and the whole, or nearly the whole, of the succeeding chapter, which traces the narrative of events from the creation to the flood. in the performance of his task, he displays a thorough acquaintance with his subject; and his style, though not polished into elegance, is neat and perspicuous. in a french biographical dictionary, of anti-liberal principles, a writer accuses him of having adopted a system hostile to tradition and the scriptures, and composed his account of the cosmogony with the view of giving currency to his heretical opinions. either the accuser never read the article which he censures, or he has wilfully misrepresented it; for it affords the fullest contradiction to the charge, as does also the sequent chapter; and he must, therefore, be contented to choose between the demerit of being a slanderer through blundering and reckless ignorance, or through sheer malignity of heart. though his share in these publications affords proof of the erudition and ability of sale, it probably would not alone have been sufficient to preserve his name from oblivion. his claim to be remembered rests principally on his version of the korân, which appeared in november, , in a quarto volume, and was inscribed to lord carteret. the dedicator does not disgrace himself by descending to that fulsome adulatory style which was then too frequently employed in addressing the great. as a translator, he had the field almost entirely to himself; there being at that time no english translation of the mohammedan civil and spiritual code, except a bad copy of the despicable one by du ryer. his performance was universally and justly approved of, still still remains in repute, and is not likely to be superseded by any other of the kind. it may, perhaps, be regretted, that he did not preserve the division into verses, as savary has since done, instead of connecting them into a continuous narrative. some of the poetical spirit is unavoidably lost by the change. but this is all that can be objected to him. it is, i believe, admitted, that he is in no common degree faithful to his original; and his numerous notes, and preliminary discourse, manifest such a perfect knowledge of eastern habits, manners, traditions, and laws, as could have been acquired only by an acute mind, capable of submitting to years of patient toil. but, though his work passed safely through the ordeal of criticism, it has been made the pretext for a calumny against him. it has been declared, that he puts the christian religion on the same footing with the muhammedan; and some charitable persons have even supposed him to have been a disguised professor of the latter. the origin of this slander we may trace back to the strange obliquity of principles, and the blind merciless rage which are characteristic of bigotry. sale was not one of those who imagine that the end sanctifies the means, and that the best interests of mankind can be advanced by violence, by railing, or by deviating form the laws of truth, in order to blacken an adversary. he enters into the consideration of the character of mohammed with a calm philosophic spirit; repeatedly censuring his imposture, touching upon his subterfuges and inventions, but doing justice to him on those points on which the pretended prophet is really worthy of praise. the rules which, in his address to the reader, he lays down for the conversion of mohammedans, are dictated by sound sense and amiable feelings. they are, however, not calculated to satisfy those who think the sword and the fagot to be the only proper instruments for the extirpation of heresy. that he places islamism on an equality with christianity is a gross falsehood. "as mohammed," says he, "gave his arabs the best religion he could, preferable, at least, to those of the ancient pagan lawgivers, i confess i cannot see why he deserves not equal respect, though not with moses or jesus christ, whose laws came really from heaven, yet with minos or numa, notwithstanding the distinction of a learned writer, who seems to think it a greater crime to make use of an imposture to set up a new religion, founded on the acknowledgment of one true god, and to destroy idolatry, than to use the same means to gain reception to rules and regulations for the more orderly practice of heathenism already established." this, and no more, is "the very head and front of his offending;" and from this it would, i think, be difficult to extract any proof of his belief in the divine mission of mohammed. if the charge brought against him be not groundless, he must have added to his other sins that of being a consummate hypocrite, and that, too, without any obvious necessity; he having been, till the period of his decease, a member of the society for the promoting of christian knowledge. in a society was established for the encouragement of learning. it comprehended many noblemen, and some of the most eminent literary men of that day. sale was one of the founders of it, and was appointed on the first committee. the meetings were held weekly, and the committee decided upon what works should be printed at the expense of the society, or with its assistance, and what should be the price of them. when the cost of printing was repaid, the property of the work reverted to the author. this establishment did not, i imagine, exist for any length of time. the attention of the public has been recently called to a plan of a similar kind. sale did not long survive the carrying of this scheme into effect. he died of a fever, on the th of november, , at his house in surrey-street, strand, after an illness of only eight days, and was buried at st. clement danes. he was under the age of forty when he was thus suddenly snatched from his family, which consisted of a wife and five children. of his sons, one was educated at new college, oxford, of which he became fellow, and he was subsequently elected to a fellow-ship in winchester college. sale is described as having had "a healthy constitution, and a communicative mind in a comely person." his library was valuable, and contained many rare and beautiful manuscripts in the persian, turkish, arabic, and other languages; a circumstance which seems to show that poverty, so often the lot of men whose lives are devoted to literary pursuits, was not one of the evils with which he was compelled to encounter. 							r. a. davenport. [from version] introduction there is surely no need to-day to insist on the importance of a close study of the korân for all who would comprehend the many vital problems connected with the islamic world; and yet few of us, i imagine, among the many who possess translations of this book have been at pains to read it through. it must, however, be borne in mind that the korân plays a far greater rôle among the muhammadans than does the bible in christianity in that it provides not only the canon of their faith, but also the text-book of their ritual and the principles of their civil law. 	it was the great crusades that first brought the west into close touch with islam, but between the years and we only hear of one attempt to make known to europe the sacred book of the moslems, namely, the latin version made in , by robert of retina (who, sale tells us, was an englishman), and hermann of dalmatia, on the initiative of petrus venerabilis, the abbot of clugny, which version was ultimately printed by t. bibliander in basel in , nearly a hundred years after the fall of constantinople. 	during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, several translations appeared both in latin and in french, and one of the latter, by andré du ryer, was translated into english by alexander ross in . but by far the most important work on the korân was that of luigi marracci which was published in padua in . 	george sale's translation first appeared in november, , in a quarto volume; in it was first printed in medium octavo, and the reprint of contained the sketch of sale's life by richard alfred davenant which has been utilized in the article on sale in the dictionary of national bibliography. the chandos classics edition in crown octavo was first issued in . 	soon after the death of the prophet, early muhammadan theologians began to discuss, not only the correct reading of the text itself, but also to work out on the basis of first-hand reports the story connected with the revelation of each chapter. as the book at present stands in its original form the chapters are arranged more or less according to their respective length, beginning with the longest; except in the case of the opening chapter, which holds a place by itself, not only in the sacred book of islam, corresponding as it does in a manner to our pater noster, but also in its important ceremonial usages. the presumed order in which the various chapters were revealed is given in the tabular list of contents, but it may be mentioned that neither muhammadan theologians, nor, in more recent times, european scholars, are in entire agreement upon the exact chronological position of all the chapters. 	it is well for all who study the korân to realize that the actual text is never the composition of the prophet, but is the word of god addressed to the prophet; and that in quoting the korân the formula is "he (may he be exalted) said" or some such phrase. the prophet himself is of course quoted by muhammadan theologians, but such quotations refer to his traditional sayings known as "hadîs," which have been handed down from mouth to mouth with the strictest regard to genealogical continuity. 	it would probably be impossible for any arabic scholar to produce a translation of the korân which would defy criticism, but this much may be said of sale's version: just as, when it first appeared, it had no rival in the field, it may be fairly claimed to-day that it has been superseded by no subsequent translations. equally remarkable with his translation is the famous preliminary discourse which constitutes a tour de force when we consider how little critical work had been done in his day in the field of islamic research. practically the only works of first-class importance were dr. pocock's specimen historio arabum, to which, in his original address to the reader, sale acknowledges his great indebtedness, and maracci's korân. 	in spite of the vast number of eminent scholars who have worked in the same field since the days of george sale, his preliminary discourse still remains the best introduction in any european language to the study of the religion promulgated by the prophet of arabia; but as wherry says: "whilst reading the preliminary discourse as a most masterly, and on the whole reliable, presentation of the peculiar doctrines, rites, ceremonies, customs, and institutions of islam, we recognize the fact that modern research has brought to light many things concerning the history of the ancient arabs which greatly modify the statements made in the early paragraphs." 	for many centuries the acquaintance which the majority of europeans possessed of muhammadanism was based almost entirely on distorted reports of fanatical christians which led to the dissemination of a multitude of gross calumnies. what was good in muhammadanism was entirely ignored, and what was not good, in the eyes of europe, was exaggerated or misinterpreted. 	it must not, however, be forgotten that the central doctrine preached by muhammad to his contemporaries in arabia, who worshipped the stars; to the persians, who acknowledged ormuz and ahriman; the indians, who worshipped idols; and the turks, who had no particular worship, was the unity of god, and that the simplicity of his creed was probably a more potent factor in the spread of islam than the sword of the ghazis. 	islam, although seriously affecting the christian world, brought a spiritual religion to one half of asia, and it is an amazing circumstance that the turks, who on several occasions let loose their central asian hordes over india, and the middle east, though irresistible in the onslaught of their arms, were all conquered in their turn by the faith of islam, and founded muhammadan dynasties. 	the mongols of the thirteenth century did their best to wipe out all traces of islam when they sacked baghdad, but though the caliphate was relegated to obscurity in egypt the newly founded empires quickly became muhammadan states, until finally it was a turk who took the title of caliph which has been held by the house of othman ever since. 	thus through all the vicissitudes of thirteen hundred years the korân has remained the sacred book of all the turks and persians and of nearly a quarter of the population of india. surely such a book as this deserves to be widely read in the west, more especially in these days when space and time have been almost annihilated by modern invention, and when public interest embraces the whole world. 	it is difficult to decide to what extent sale's citations in the notes represent first-hand use of the arabic commentators, but i fear that the result of a close inquiry only points to very little original research on his part. he says himself in his address to the reader: "as i have no opportunity of consulting public libraries, the manuscripts of which i have made use throughout the whole work have been such as i had in my own study, except only the commentary of al baidhâwi" . . . which "belongs to the library of the dutch church in austin friars." 	now with regard to these manuscripts which sale had in his "own study" we happen to possess first-hand information, for a list of them was printed by the executor of his will under the following title: "a choice collection of most curious and inestimable manuscripts in the turkish, arabic and persian languages from the library of the late learned and ingenious mr. george sale. which books are now in the possession of mr. william hammerton merchant in lothbury where they may be seen on wednesdays and fridays till either they are sold or sent abroad. n.b. these mss. are to be sold together and not separately." they were purchased in the first instance by the rev. thomas hunt of oxford for the radcliffe library, and they are now permanently housed in the bodleian library. 	the british museum possesses a copy of this list which is drawn up in english and french on opposite pages and comprises eighty-six works in all. the list contains very few arabic works of first-rate importance, but is rich in turkish and persian histories. what is most significant, however, is the fact that it contains hardly any of the arabic works and none of the commentaries which are referred to on every page of sale's translation of the korân. 	i have therefore been forced to the conclusion that with the exception of al-baidhâwi, sale's sources were all consulted at second hand; and an examination of marracci's great work makes the whole matter perfectly clear. sale says of marracci's translation that it is "generally speaking very exact; but adheres to the arabic idiom too literally to be easily understood . . . by those who are not versed in the muhammadan learning. the notes he has added are indeed of great use; but his refutations, which swell the work to a large volume, are of little or none at all, being often unsatisfactory, and sometimes impertinent. the work, however, with all its faults is very valuable, and i should be guilty of ingratitude, did i not acknowledge myself much obliged thereto; but still being in latin it can be of no use to those who understand not that tongue." 	such is sale's own confession of his obligation to marracci-but it does not go nearly far enough. a comparison of the two versions shows that so much had been achieved by marracci that sale's work might almost have been performed with a knowledge of latin alone, as far as regards the quotations from arabic authors. i do not wish to imply that sale did not know arabic, but i do maintain that his work as it stands gives a misleading estimate of his original researches, and that his tribute to marracci falls far short of his actual indebtedness. 	it must be mentioned that marracci not only reproduced the whole of the arabic text of the korân but furthermore gives the original text and the translation of all his quotations from arabic writers. it is indeed a profoundly learned work and has never received the recognition it deserves. marracci had at his disposal rich collections of mss. belonging to the libraries of italy. how he learnt his arabic we do not know. voltaire says he was never in the east. he was confessor to pope innocent xi, and his work which appeared in padua in is dedicated to the holy roman emperor leopold i. by way of introduction to his korân marracci published a companion folio volume called prodromus which contains practically all that was known in his day regarding muhammad and the religion of islam. 	it may in any case be claimed that the present work presents to the western student all the essentials of a preliminary study of islam: for sale's translation and footnotes will give him as clear an idea as can be obtained, without laborious years of study in arabic, of what is regarded by so many millions of men from fez to the far east as the revealed word of god and the unshakable basis of their faith. 	george sale was born about and died in . every biography calls attention to the statement made by voltaire in his dictionnaire philosophique to the effect that sale spent over twenty years among the arabs. i think this must have been a lapsus calami on voltaire's part, because it is unlikely that he would have invented such a story. sale must also have been well versed in hebrew, both biblical and post-biblical, as his numerous allusions to rabbinical writings testify. 	two years after the publication of his great work sale died in surrey street, strand, his age being then under forty. in he had been admitted a student of the inner temple-son of samuel sale, citizen and merchant of london-and the same year the patriarch of antioch had sent solomon negri (suleiman alsadi) to london from damascus to urge the society for promoting christian knowledge, then established in the middle temple, to issue an arabic new testament for the syrian christians. it is surmised that negri was sale's first instructor in arabic, though dadichi, the king's interpreter, a learned greek of aleppo, guided him, we are told, "through the labyrinth of oriental dialects." 	whatever sale may have known before-and he certainly had the gift of languages-it is on the society's records that on august , , he offered his services as one of the correctors of the arabic new testament and soon became the chief worker on it, besides being the society's solicitor and holding other honorary offices. that translation of the new testament into arabic was followed by the translation of the korân into english. 	in this edition the proper names have been left for the most part as in the original, but the reader must understand that in sale's day there was a freedom in regard to oriental orthography that allowed of many variations. in spite, however, of the want of a scientific system, sale's transcription is on the whole clear, and far less confusing than those adopted by contemporary anglo-indian scholars, who utterly distorted muhammadan names-including place names in india-by rendering the short a by u and so forth. as a few examples of names spelled in more than one way, the correct modern way being given first, we have al-qor'án, coran, korân, etc.; muhammad, mohammed, mahomet, etc.; al-baidhâwi, al-beidâwi; muttalib, motalleb, motaleb, etc.; jalâl ud- dîn, jallâlo'ddîn; anas, ans; khalîfa, caliph, khalif, etc. 	it is only within quite recent times that scholars have troubled to render each letter of the arabic alphabet by an equivalent and distinct letter of the roman alphabet-and although no particular system has been universally adopted by european orientalists, every writer has some system by which any reader with a knowledge of arabic is able to turn back every name into the original script. the chief advantage of any such system is that a distinction is made between the two varieties of s, k, and t, and the presence of the illusive arabic letter 'ayn is always indicated. 					e. denison ross. sir edward denison ross c.i.e., ph.d., etc. [written apparently sometime after ] to the reader. _______ i imagine it almost needless either to make an apology for publishing the following translation, or to go about to prove it a work of use as well as curiosity. they must have a mean opinion of the christian religion, or be but ill grounded therein, who can apprehend any danger from so manifest a forgery: and if the religious and civil institutions of foreign nations are worth our knowledge, those of mohammed, the lawgiver of the arabians, and founder of an empire which in less than a century spread itself over a greater part of the world than the romans were ever masters of, must needs be so; whether we consider their extensive obtaining, or our frequent intercourse with those who are governed thereby. i shall not here inquire into the reasons why the law of mohammed has met with so unexampled a reception in the world (for they are greatly deceived who imagine it to have been propagated by the sword alone), or by what means it came to be embraced by nations which never felt the force of the mohammedan arms, and even by those which stripped the arabians of their conquests, and put an end to the sovereignty and very being of their khalîfs: yet it seems as if there was something more than what is vulgarly imagined in a religion which has made so surprising a progress. but whatever use an impartial version of the korân may be of in other respects, it is absolutely necessary to undeceive those who, from the ignorant or unfair translations which have appeared, have entertained too favourable an opinion of the original, and also to enable us effectually to expose the imposture; none of those who have hitherto undertaken that province, not excepting dr. prideaux himself, having succeeded to the satisfaction of the judicious, for want of being complete masters of the controversy. the writers of the romish communion, in particular, are so far from having done any service in their refutations of mohammedism, that by endeavouring to defend their idolatry and other superstitions, they have rather contributed to the increase of that aversion which the mohammedans in general have to the christian religion, and given them great advantages in the dispute. the protestants alone are able to attack the korân with success; and for them, i trust, providence has reserved the glory of its overthrow. in the meantime, if i might presume to lay down rules to be observed by those who attempt the conversion of the mohammedans, they should be the same which the learned and worthy bishop kidder* has prescribed for the conversion of the jews, and which may, mutatis mutandis, be equally applied to the former, notwithstanding the despicable opinion that writer, for want of being better acquainted with them, entertained of those people, judging them scarce fit to be argued with. the first of these rules is, to avoid compulsion; which, though it be not in our power to employ at present, i hope will not be made use of when it is. the second is, to avoid teaching doctrines against common sense; the mohammedans not being such fools (whatever we may think of them) as to be gained over in this case. the worshipping of images and the doctrine of transubstantiation are great stumbling-blocks to the mohammedans, and the church which teacheth them is very unfit to bring those people over. the third is, to avoid weak arguments: for the mohammedans are not to be converted with these, or hard words. we must use them with humanity, and dispute against them with arguments that are proper and cogent. it is certain that many christians, who have written against them, have been very defective this way: many have used arguments that have no force, and advanced propositions that are void of truth. this method is so far from convincing, that it rather serves to harden them. the mohammedans will be apt to conclude we have little to say, when we urge them with arguments that are trifling or untrue. we do but lose ground when we do this; and instead of gaining them, we expose ourselves and our cause also. we must not give them ill words neither; but must avoid all reproachful language, all that is sarcastical and biting: this never did good from pulpit or press. the softest words will make the deepest impression; and if we think it a fault in them to give ill language, we cannot be excused when we imitate them. the fourth rule is, not to quit any article of the christian faith to gain the mohammedans. it is a fond conceit of the socinians, that we shall upon their principles be most like to prevail upon the mohammedans: it is not true in matter of fact. we must not give up any article to gain them: but then the church of rome ought to part with many practices and some doctrines. we are not to design to gain the mohammedans over to a system of dogma, but to the ancient and primitive faith. i believe nobody will deny but that the rules here laid down are just: the latter part of the third, which alone my design has given me occasion to practise, i think so reasonable, that i have not, in speaking of mohammed or his korân, allowed myself to use those opprobrious appellations, and unmannerly expressions, which seem to be the strongest arguments of several who have written against them. on the contrary, i have thought myself to treat both with common decency, and even to approve such 				* in his demonstr. of the messias, part iii. chap. . particulars as seemed to me to deserve approbation: for how criminal soever mohammed may have been in imposing a false religion on mankind, the praises due to his real virtues ought not to be denied him; nor can i do otherwise than applaud the candour of the pious and learned spanhemius, who, though he owned him to have been a wicked impostor, yet acknowledged him to have been richly furnished with natural endowments, beautiful in his person, of a subtle wit, agreeable behaviour, showing liberality to the poor, courtesy to every one, fortitude against his enemies, and above all a high reverence for the name of god; severe against the perjured, adulterers, murderers, slanderers, prodigals, covetous, false witnesses, &c., a great preacher of patience, charity, mercy, beneficence, gratitude, honouring of parents and superiors, and a frequent celebrator of the divine praises.* 	of the several translations of the korân now extant, there is but one which tolerably represents the sense of the original; and that being in latin, a new version became necessary, at least to an english reader. what bibliander published for a latin translation of that book deserves not the name of a translation; the unaccountable liberties therein taken and the numberless faults, both of omission and commission, leaving scarce any resemblance of the original. it was made near six hundred years ago, being finished in , by robertus retenensis, an english-man, with the assistance of hermannus dalmata, at the request of peter, abbot of clugny, who paid them well for their pains. 	from this latin version was taken the italian of andrea arrivabene, notwithstanding the pretences in his dedication of its being done immediately from the arabic;? wherefore it is no wonder if the transcript be yet more faulty and absurd than the copy.? 	about the end of the fifteenth century, johannes andreas, a native of xativa in the kingdom of valencia, who from a mohammedan doctor became a christian priest, translated not only the korân, but also its glosses, and the seven books of the sonna, out of arabic into the arragonian tongue, at the command of martin garcia,§ bishop of barcelona and inquisitor of arragon. whether this translation were ever published or not i am wholly ignorant: but it may be presumed to have been the better done for being the work of one bred up in the 	* id certum, naturalibus egregiè dotibus instructum muhammedera, forma præstanti, ingenio calido, moribus facetis, ac præ se ferentem liberalitatem in egenos. comitatem in singulos, fortitudinem in hostes, ac præ cæteris reverentiam divini nominis.-severus fuit in perjuros, adulteros, homicidas, obtrectatores, prodigos, avaros, falsos testes, &c. magnus idem patientiæ, charitatis, misericordiæ, beneficentiæ, gratitudinis, honoris in parentes ac superiores præco, ut et divinarum laudum. hist. eccles. sec. vii. c. , lem. and . 	? his words are: questo libro, che già havevo à commune utilità di molti fatto dal proprio testo arabo tradurre nella nostra volgar lingua italiana, &c. and afterwards; questo è l'alcorano di macometto, il quale, come ho gia detto, ho fatto dal suo idioma tradurre, &c. 	? vide jos. scalig. epist. et ; et selden. de success. ad leges ebræor. p. . 	§ j. andreas, in præf. ad tractat. suum de confusione sectæ mahometanæ. mohammedan religion and learning; though his refutation of that religion, which has had several editions, gives no great idea of his abilities. 	some years within the last century, andrew du ryer, who had been consul of the french nation in egypt, and was tolerably skilled in the turkish and arabic languages, took the pains to translate the korân into his own tongue: but his performance, though it be beyond comparison preferable to that of retenensis, is far from being a just translation; there being mistakes in every page, besides frequent transpositions, omissions, and additions,* faults unpardonable in a work of this nature. and what renders it still more incomplete is, the want of notes to explain a vast number of passages, some of which are difficult, and others impossible to be understood, without proper explications, were they translated ever so exactly; which the author is so sensible of that he often refers his reader to the arabic commentators. 	the english version is no other than a translation of du ryer's, and that a very bad one; for alexander ross, who did it, being utterly unacquainted with the arabic, and no great master of the french, has added a number of fresh mistakes of his own to those of du ryer; not to mention the meanness of his language, which would make a better book ridiculous. 	in , a latin translation of the korân, made by father lewis marracci, who had been confessor to pope innocent xi., was published at padua, together with the original text, accompanied by explanatory notes and a refutation. this translation of marracci's, generally speaking, is very exact; but adheres to the arabic idiom too literally to be easily understood, unless i am much deceived, by those who are not versed in the mohammedan learning. the notes he has added are indeed of great use; but his refutations, which swell the work to a large volume, are of little or none at all, being often unsatisfactory, and sometimes impertinent. the work, however, with all its faults, is very valuable, and i should be guilty of ingratitude, did i not acknowledge myself much obliged thereto; but still, being in latin, it can be of no use to those who understand not that tongue. 	having therefore undertaken a new translation, i have endeavoured to do the original impartial justice; not having, to the best of my knowledge, represented it, in any one instance, either better or worse than it really is. i have thought myself obliged, indeed, in a piece which pretends to be the word of god, to keep somewhat scrupulously close to the text; by which means the language may, in some places, seem to express the arabic a little too literally to be elegant english: but this, i hope, has not happened often; and i flatter myself that the * vide windet. de vitâ functorum statu, sect. ix. style i have made use of will not only give a more genuine idea of the original than if i had taken more liberty (which would have been much more for my ease), but will soon become familiar: for we must not expect to read a version of so extraordinary a book with the same ease and pleasure as a modern composition. 	in the notes my view has been briefly to explain the text, and especially the difficult and obscure passages, from the most approved commentators, and that generally in their own words, for whose opinions or expressions, where liable to censure, i am not answerable; my province being only fairly to represent their expositions, and the little i have added of my own, or from european writers, being easily discernible. where i met with any circumstance which i imagined might be curious or entertaining, i have not failed to produce it. 	the preliminary discourse will acquaint the reader with the most material particulars proper to be known previously to the entering on the korân itself, and which could not so conveniently have been thrown into the notes. and i have taken care, both in the preliminary discourse and the notes, constantly to quote my authorities and the writers to whom i have been beholden; but to none have i been more so than to the learned dr. pocock, whose specimen historiæ arabum is the most useful and accurate work that has been hitherto published concerning the antiquities of that nation, and ought to be read by every curious inquirer into them. 	as i have had no opportunity of consulting public libraries, the manuscripts of which i have made use throughout the whole work have been such as i had in my own study, except only the commentary of al beidâwi and the gospel of st. barnabas. the first belongs to the library of the dutch church in austin friars, and for the use of it i have been chiefly indebted to the reverend dr. bolten, one of the ministers of that church: the other was very obligingly lent me by the reverend dr. holme, rector of hedley in hampshire; and i take this opportunity of returning both those gentlemen my thanks for their favours. the merit of al beidâwi's commentary will appear from the frequent quotations i have made thence; but of the gospel of st. barnabas (which i had not seen when the little i have said of it in the preliminary discourse,* and the extract i had borrowed from m. de la monnoye and m. toland,? were printed off), i must beg leave to give some further account. 	the book is a moderate quarto, in spanish, written in a very legible hand, but a little damaged towards the latter end. it contains two hundred and twenty-two chapters of unequal length, and four hundred 			* sect. iv. p. .		? in not. ad cap. , p. and twenty pages; and is said, in the front, to be translated from the italian, by an arragonian moslem, named mostafa de aranda. there is a preface prefixed to it, wherein the discoverer of the original ms., who was a christian monk, called fra marino, tells us that having accidentally met with a writing of irenæus (among others), wherein he speaks against st. paul, alleging, for his authority, the gospel of st. barnabas, he became exceeding desirous to find this gospel; and that god, of his mercy, having made him very intimate with pope sixtus v., one day, as they were together in that pope's library, his holiness fell asleep, and he, to employ himself, reaching down a book to read, the first he laid his hand on proved to be the very gospel he wanted: overjoyed at the discovery, he scrupled not to hide his prize in his sleeve, and on the pope's awaking, took leave of him, carrying with him that celestial treasure, by reading of which he became a convert to mohammedism. 	this gospel of barnabas contains a complete history of jesus christ from his birth to his ascension; and most of the circumstances in the four real gospels are to be found therein, but many of them turned, and some artfully enough, to favour the mohammedan system. from the design of the whole, and the frequent interpolations of stories and passages wherein mohammed is spoken of and foretold by name, as the messenger of god, and the great prophet who was to perfect the dispensation of jesus, it appears to be a most barefaced forgery. one particular i observe therein induces me to believe it to have been dressed up by a renegade christian, slightly instructed in his new religion, and not educated a mohammedan (unless the fault be imputed to the spanish, or perhaps the italian translator, and not to the original compiler); i mean the giving to mohammed the title of messiah, and that not once or twice only, but in several places; whereas the title of the messiah, or, as the arabs write it, al masîh, i.e., christ, is appropriated to jesus in the korân, and is constantly applied by the mohammedans to him, and never to their own prophet. the passages produced from the italian ms. by m. de la monnoye are to be seen in this spanish version almost word for word. 	but to return to the following work. though i have freely censured the former translations of the korân, i would not therefore be suspected of a design to make my own pass as free from faults: i am very sensible it is not; and i make no doubt that the few who are able to discern them, and know the difficulty of the undertaking, will give me fair quarter. i likewise flatter myself that they, and all considerate persons, will excuse the delay which has happened in the publication of this work, when they are informed that it was carried on at leisure times only, and amidst the necessary avocations of a troublesome profession. contents. _________ a table of the sections of the preliminary discourse _________ section	page i.-of the arabs before mohammed; or, as they express it, in the time of 	ignorance; their history, religion, learning, and customs	 ii.-of the state of christianity, particularly of the eastern churches, and of 	judaism, at time of mohammed's appearance; and of the methods taken 	by him for the establishing his religion, and the circumstances which 	concurred thereto	 iii.-of the korân itself, the peculiarities of that book; the manner of its being 	written and published, and the general design of it	 iv.-of the doctrines and positive precepts of the korân which relate to faith and 	religious duties	 v.-of certain negative precepts in the korân	 vi.-of the institutions of the korân in civil affairs	 vii.-of the months commanded by the korân to be kept sacred; and of the setting 	apart of friday for the especial service of god	 viii.-of the principal sects among the mohammedans; and of those who have pre- 	tended to prophecy among the arabs, in or since the time of mohammed 	 a table of the chapters of the koran. ______________ chapter		page . entitled, the preface, or introduction; containing verses	 . entitled, the cow; containing verses	 . entitled, the family of imrân; containing verses	 . entitled, women; containing verses	 . entitled, the table; containing verses	 . entitled, cattle; containing verses	 . entitled, al araf; containing verses	 . entitled, the spoils; containing verses	 . entitled, the declaration of immunity; containing verses	 . entitled, jonas; containing verses	 . entitled, hud; containing verses	 . entitled, joseph; containing verses	 . entitled, thunder; containing verses	 . entitled, abraham; containing verses	 . entitled, al hejr; containing verses	 . entitled, the bee; containing verses	 . entitled, the night journey; contianing verses	 . entitled, the cave; containing verses	 . entitled, mary; containing verses	 . entitled, t. h.; containing verses	 . entitled, the prophets; containing verses	 . entitled, the pilgrimage; containing verses	 . entitled, the true believers; containing verses	 . entitled, light; containing verses	 . entitled, al forkan; containing verses	 . entitled, the poets; containing verses	 . entitled, the ant; containing verses	 . entitled, the story; containing verses	 . entitled, the spider; containing verses	 . entitled, the greeks; containing verses	 . entitled, lokmân; containing verses	 . entitled, adoration; containing verses	 . entitled, the confederates; containing verses	 . entitled, saba; containing verses	 . entitled, the creator; containing verses	 . entitled, y. s; containing verses	 chapter		page . entitled, those who rank themselves in order; containing verses	 . entitled, s.; containing verses	 . entitled, the troops; containing verses	 . entitled, the true believer; containing verses	 . entitled, are distinctly explained; containing verses	 . entitled, consultation; containing verses	 . entitled, the ornaments of gold; containing verses	 . entitled, smoke; containing verses	 . entitled, the kneeling; containing verses	 . entitled, al ahkaf; containing verses	 . entitled, mohammed; containing verses	 . entitled, the victory; containing verses	 . entitled, the inner apartments; containing verse	 . entitled, k.; containing verses	 . entitled, the dispersing; containing verses	 . entitled, the mountain; containing verses	 . entitled, the star; containing verses	 . entitled, the moon; containing verses	 . entitled, the merciful; containing verses	 . entitled, the inevitable; containing verses	 . entitled, iron; containing verses	 . entitled, she who disputed; containing verses	 . entitled, the emigration; containing verses	 . entitled, she who is tried; containing verses	 . entitled, battle array; containing verses	 . entitled, the assembly; containing verses	 . entitled, the hypocrites; containing verses	 . entitled, mutual deceit; contianing verses	 . entitled, divorce; containing verses	 . entitled, prohibition; containing verses	 . entitled, the kingdom; containing verses	 . entitled, the pen; containing verses	 . entitled, the infallible; containing verses	 . entitled, the steps; containing verses	 . entitled, noah; containing verses	 . entitled, the genii; containing verses	 . entitled, the wrapped up; containing verses	 . entitled, the covered; containing verses	 . entitled, the resurrection; containing verses	 . entitled, man; containing verses	 . entitled, those which are sent; containing verses	 . entitled, the news; containing verses	 . entitled, those who tear forth; containing verses	 . entitled, he frowned; containing verses	 . entitled, the folding up; containing verses	 . entitled, the cleaving in sunder; containing verses	 . entitled, those who give short measure or weight; containing verses 	 . entitled, the rending in sunder; containing verses	 . entitled, the celestial signs; containing verses	 . entitled, the star which appeareth by night; containing verses	 . entitled, the most high; containing verses	 . entitled, the overwhelming; containing verses	 chapter		page . entitled, the daybreak; containing verses	 . entitled, the territory; containing verses	 . entitled, the sun; containing verses	 . entitled, the night; containing verses	 . entitled, the brightness; containing verses	 . entitled, have we not opened; containing verses	 . entitled, the fig; containing verses	 . entitled, congealed blood; containing verses	 . entitled, al kadr; containing verses	 . entitled, the evidence; containing verses	 . entitled, the earthquake, containing verses	 . entitled, the war horses which run swiftly; containing verses	 . entitled, the striking; containing verses	 . entitled, the emulous desire of multiplying; containing verses	 . entitled, the afternoon; containing verses	 . entitled, the slanderer; containing verses	 . entitled, the elephant; containing verses	 . entitled, koreish; containing verses	 . entitled, necessaries; containing verses	 . entitled, al cawthar; containing verses	 . entitled, the unbelievers; containing verses	 . entitled, assistance; containing verses	 . entitled, abu laheb; containing verses	 . entitled, the declaration of god's unity; containing verses	 . entitled, the daybreak; containing verses	 . entitled, men; containing verses	 the preliminary discourse section i. of the arabs before mohammed; or, as they express it, in the time of ignorance; their history, religion, learning, and customs the arabs, and the country they inhabit, which themselves call jezîrat al arab, or the peninsula of the arabians, but we arabia, were so named from araba, a small territory in the province of tehâma; to which yarab the son of kahtân, the father of the ancient arabs, gave his name, and where, some ages after, dwelt ismael the son of abraham by hagar. the christian writers for several centuries speak of them under the appellation of saracens; the most certain derivation of which word is from shark, the east, where the descendants of joctan, the kahtân of the arabs, are placed by moses, and in which quarter they dwelt in respect to the jews. the name of arabia (used in a more extensive sense) sometimes comprehends all that large tract of land bounded by the river euphrates, the persian gulf, the sindian, indian, and red seas, and part of the mediterranean: above two- thirds of which country, that is, arabia properly so called, the arabs have possessed almost from the flood; and have made themselves masters of the rest, either by settlements or continual incursions; for which reason the turks and persians at this day call the whole arabistân, or the country of the arabs. but the limits of arabia, in its more usual and proper sense, are much narrower, as reaching no farther northward than the isthmus, which runs from aila to the head of the persian gulf, and the borders of the territory of cûfa; which tract of land the greeks nearly comprehended under the name of arabia the happy. the eastern geographers make arabia petræa to belong partly to egypt, and partly to shâm or syria, and the desert arabia they call the deserts of syria. proper arabia is by the oriental writers generally divided into five provinces, viz., yaman, hejâz, tehâma, najd, and yamâma; to which pocock, specim. hist. arab. . 	 gen. x. .	 see pocock, specim. , .		 golius ad alfragan. , . strabo says arabia felix was in his time divided into five kingdoms, l. , p. . some add bahrein, as a sixth, but this province the more exact make part of irák; others reduce them all to two, yaman and hejâz, the last including the three other provinces of tehâma, najd, and yamâma. the province of yaman, so called either from its situation to the right hand, or south of the temple of mecca, or else from the happiness and verdure of its soil, extends itself along the indian ocean from aden to cape rasalgat; part of the red sea bounds it on the west and south sides, and the province of hejâz on the north. it is subdivided into several lesser provinces, as hadramaut, shihr, omân, najrân, &c., of which shihr alone produces the frankincense. the metropolis of yaman is sanaa, a very ancient city, in former times called ozal, and much celebrated for its delightful situation; but the prince at present resides about five leagues northward from thence, at a place no less pleasant, called hisn almawâheb, or the castle of delights. this country has been famous from all antiquity for the happiness of its climate, its fertility and riches, which induced alexander the great, after his return from his indian expedition, to form a design of conquering it, and fixing there his royal seat; but his death, which happened soon after, prevented the execution of this project. yet, in reality, great part of the riches which the ancients imagined were the produce of arabia, came really from the indies and the coasts of africa; for the egyptians, who had engrossed that trade, which was then carried on by way of the red sea, to themselves, industriously concealed the truth of the matter, and kept their ports shut to prevent foreigners penetrating into those countries, or receiving any information thence; and this precaution of theirs on the one side, and the deserts, unpassable to strangers, on the other, were the reason why arabia was so little known to the greeks and romans. the delightfulness and plenty of yaman are owing to its mountains; for all that part which lies along the red sea is a dry, barren desert, in some places ten or twelve leagues over, but in return bounded by those mountains, which being well watered, enjoy an almost continual spring, and, besides coffee, the peculiar produce of this country, yield great plenty and variety of fruits, and in particular excellent corn, grapes, and spices. there are no rivers of note in this country, for the streams which at certain times of the year descend from the mountains, seldom reach the sea, being for the most part drunk up and lost in the burning sands of that coast. the soil of the other provinces is much more barren than that of yaman; the greater part of their territories being covered with dry sands, or rising into rocks, interspersed here and there with some fruitful spots, which receive their greatest advantages from their water and palm trees. the province of hejâz, so named because it divides najd from tehâma, is bounded on the south by yaman and tehâma, on the west by the red sea, on the north by the deserts of syria, and on the east by the province of najd. this province is famous for its two chief cities, mecca and medina, one of which is celebrated for its temple, and having given birth to mohammed; and the other for being the gol. ad alfragan. .	 la roque, voyage de l'arab, heur. .	 gol. ad alfragan. , .		 voyage de l'arab, heur. .	 vide dionys. perieges. v. , &c.	 strabo, l. , p. . arrian, . 	 voy. de l'arab. heur. , , .	 vide gol. ad alfrag. . abulfeda descr. arab. p. . place of his residence for the last ten years of his life, and of his interment. mecca, sometimes also called becca, which words are synonymous, and signify a place of great concourse, is certainly one of the most ancient cities of the world: it is by some thought to be the mesa of the scripture, a name not unknown to the arabians, and supposed to be taken form one of ismael's sons. it is seated in a stony and barren valley, surrounded on all sides with mountains. the length of mecca from south to north is about two miles, and its breadth from the foot of the mountain ajyad, to the top of another called koaikaân, about a mile. in the midst of this space stands the city, built of stone cut from the neighbouring mountains. there being no springs at mecca, at least none but what are bitter and unfit to drink, except only the well zemzem, the water of which, though far the best, yet cannot be drank of any continuance, being brackish, and causing eruptions in those who drink plentifully of it, the inhabitants are obliged to use rain-water which they catch in cisterns. but this not being sufficient, several attempts were made to bring water thither from other places by aqueducts; and particularly about mohammed's time, zobair, one of the principal men of the tribe of koreish, endeavoured at a great expense to supply the city with water from mount arafat, but without success; yet this was effected not many years ago, being begun at the charge of a wife of solimân the turkish emperor. but long before this, another aqueduct had been made from a spring at a considerable distance, which was, after several years' labour, finished by the khalîf al moktader. the soil about mecca is so very barren as to produce no fruits but what are common in the deserts, though the prince or sharîf has a garden well planted at his castle of marbaa, about three miles westward from the city, where he usually resides. having therefore no corn or grain of their own growth, they are obliged to fetch it from other places; and hashem, mohammed's great- grandfather, then prince of his tribe, the more effectually to supply them with provisions, appointed two caravans to set out yearly for that purpose, the one in summer, and the other in winter: these caravans of purveyors are mentioned in the korân. the provisions brought by them were distributed also twice a year, viz., in the month of rajeb, and at the arrival of the pilgrims. they are supplied with dates in great plenty from the adjacent country, and with grapes from tayef, about sixty miles distant, very few growing at mecca. the inhabitants of this city are generally very rich, being considerable gainers by the prodigious concourse of people of almost all nations at the yearly pilgrimage, at which time there is a great fair or mart for all kinds of merchandise. they have also great numbers of cattle, and particularly of camels: however, the poorer sort cannot but live very indifferently in a place where almost every necessary of life must be purchased with money. notwithstanding this great sterility r. saadias in version. arab. pentat. sefer juchasin. . b.	 gen. x. .	 gol. ad alfrag. see gen. xxv. . gol. ib. . see pitts' account of the religion and manners of the mohammedans, p. .		 sharif al edrisi apud poc. specim. . 	 ibid.		 gol. ad alfragan. .	 sharif al edrisi ubi supra, .	 ibid. and pitts ubi supra, p. .		 gol. ad alfrag. .	 ibid.		 sharif al edrisi ubi supra.		 idem ib. poc. spec. near mecca, yet you are no sooner out of its territory than you meet on all sides with plenty of good springs and streams of running water, with a great many gardens and cultivated lands. the temple of mecca, and the reputed holiness of this territory, will be treated of in a more proper place. medina, which till mohammed's retreat thither was called yathreb, is a walled city about half as big as mecca, built in a plain, salt in many places, yet tolerably fruitful, particularly in dates, but more especially near the mountains, two of which, ohod on the north, and air on the south, are about two leagues distant. here lies mohammed interred in a magnificent building, covered with a cupola, and adjoining to the east side of the great temple, which is built in the midst of the city. the province of tehâma was so named from the vehement heat of its sandy soil, and is also called gaur from its low situation; it is bounded on the west by the red sea, and on the other sides by hejâz and yaman, extending almost from mecca to aden. the province of najd, which word signifies a rising country, lies between those of yamâma, yaman, and hejâz, and is bounded on the east by irak. the province of yamâma, also called arûd from its oblique situation, in respect of yaman, is surrounded by the provinces of najd, tehâma, bahrein, omân, shihr, hadramaut, and saba. the chief city is yamâma, which gives name to the province: it was anciently called jaw, and is particularly famous for being the residence of mohammed's competitor, the false prophet moseilama. the arabians, the inhabitants of this spacious country, which they have possessed from the most remote antiquity, are distinguished by their own writers into two classes, viz., the old lost arabians, and the present. the former were very numerous, and divided into several tribes, which are now all destroyed, or else lost and swallowed up among the other tribes, nor are any certain memoirs or records extant concerning them; though the memory of some very remarkable events and the catastrophe of some tribes have been preserved by tradition, and since confirmed by the authority of the korân. the most famous tribes amongst these ancient arabians were ad, thamûd, tasm, jadîs, the former jorham, and amalek. sharif al edrisi ubi supra, .	 id. vulgò geogr. nubiensis, . though the notion of mohammed's being buried at mecca has been so long exploded, yet several modern writers, whether through ignorance or negligence i will not determine, have fallen into it. it shall here take notice only of two; one is dr. smith, who having lived some time in turkey, seems to be inexcusable: that gentleman in his epistles de moribus ac institutis turcarum, no less than thrice mentions the mohammedans visiting the tomb of their prophet at mecca, and once his being born at medina-the reverse of which is true (see ep. i, p. , ep. , p. and ). the other is the publisher of the last edition of sir j. mandevile's travels, who on his author's saying very truly (p. ) that the said tomb was at methone, i.e., medina, undertakes to correct the name of the town, which is something corrupted, by putting at the bottom of the page, mecca. the abbot de vertot, in his history of the order of malta (vol. i. p. , ed. vo.), seems also to have confounded these two cities together, though he had before mentioned mohammed's sepulchre at medina. however, he is certainly mistaken, when he says that one point of the religion, both of the christians and mohammedans, was to visit, at least once in their lives, the tomb of the author of their respective faith. whatever may be the opinion of some christians, i am well assured the mohammedans think themselves under no manner of obligation in that respect. gol. ad alfragan. , abulfeda descr. arab. p. .	 gol. ubi sup. . 	 ibid. .	 ibid. . abulfarag, p. . the tribe of ad were descended from ad, the son of aws, the son of aram, the son of sem, the son of noah, who, after the confusion of tongues, settled in al ahkâf, or the winding sands in the province of hadramaut, where his posterity greatly multiplied. their first king was shedâd the son of ad, of whom the eastern writers deliver many fabulous things, particularly that he finished the magnificent city his father had begun, wherein he built a fine palace, adorned with delicious gardens, to embellish which he spared neither cost nor labour, proposing thereby to create in his subjects a superstitious veneration of himself as a god. this garden or paradise was called the garden of irem, and is mentioned in the korân, and often alluded to by the oriental writers. the city, they tell us, is still standing in the deserts of aden, being preserved by providence as a monument of divine justice, though it be invisible, unless very rarely, when god permits it to be seen, a favour one colabah pretended to have received in the reign of the khalîf moâwiyah, who sending for him to know the truth of the matter, colabah related his whole adventure; that as he was seeking a camel he had lost, he found himself on a sudden at the gates of this city, and entering it saw not one inhabitant, at which, being terrified, he stayed no longer than to take with him some fine stones which he showed the khalîf. the descendants of ad in process of time falling from the worship of the true god into idolatry, god sent the prophet hûd (who is generally agreed to be heber ) to preach to and reclaim them. but they refusing to acknowledge his mission, or to obey him, god sent a hot and suffocating wind, which blew seven nights and eight days together, and entering at their nostrils passed through their bodies. and destroyed them all, a very few only excepted, who had believed in hûd and retired with him to another place. that prophet afterwards returned into hadramaut, and was buried near hasec, where there is a small town now standing called kabr hûd, or the sepulchre of hûd. before the adites were thus severely punished, god, to humble them, and incline them to hearken to the preaching of his prophet, afflicted them with a drought for four years, so that all their cattle perished, and themselves were very near it; upon which they sent lokmân (different from one of the same name who lived in david's time) with sixty others to mecca to beg rain, which they not obtaining, lokmân with some of his company stayed at mecca, and thereby escaped destruction, giving rise to a tribe called the latter ad, who were afterward changed into monkeys. some commentators on the korân tell us these old adites were of prodigious stature, the largest being cubits high, and the least ; which extraordinary size they pretend to prove by the testimony of the korân. the tribe of thamûd were the posterity of thamûd the son of gather the son of aram, who falling into idolatry, the prophet sâleh was sent to bring them back to the worship of the true god. this prophet lived between the time of hûd and of abraham, and therefore cannot be the or uz. gen. x. , .		 vide kor. c. . some make ad the son of amalek, the son of ham; but the other is the received opinion. see d'herbel. .	 vide eund. .		 cap. .	 d'herbel. . 	 the jews acknowledge heber to have been a great prophet. seder olam. p. .		 al beidâwi.	 poc. spec. , &c.	 ibid, . 	 jallâlo'ddin et zamakhshari.	 kor. c. .	 or gether, vide gen. x. . same with the patriarch sâleh, as mr. d'herbelot imagines. the learned bochart with more probability takes him to be phaleg. a small number of the people of thamûd hearkened to the remonstrances of sâleh, but the rest requiring, as a proof of his mission, that he should cause a she-camel big with young to come out of a rock in their presence, he accordingly obtained it of god, and the camel was immediately delivered of a young one ready weaned; but they, instead of believing, cut the hamstrings of the camel and killed her; at which act of impiety god, being highly displeased, three days after struck them dead in their houses by an earthquake and a terrible noise from heaven, which, some say, was the voice of gabriel the archangel crying aloud, "die, all of you." sâleh, with those who were reformed by him, were saved from this destruction; the prophet going into palestine, and from thence to mecca, where he ended his days. this tribe first dwelt in yaman, but being expelled thence by hamyar the son of sâba, they settled in the territory of hejr in the province of hejâz, where their habitations cut out of the rocks, mentioned in the korân, are still to be seen, and also the crack of the rock whence the camel issued, which, as an eye-witness hath declared, is cubits wide. these houses of the thamûdites being of the ordinary proportion, are used as an argument to convince those of a mistake who who this people to have been of a gigantic stature. the tragical destructions of these two potent tribes are often insisted on in the korân, as instances of god's judgment on obstinate unbelievers. the tribe of tasm were the posterity of lûd the son of sem, and jadîs of the descendants of jether. these two tribes dwelt promiscuously together under the government of tasm, till a certain tyrant made a law that no maid of the tribe of jadîs should marry unless first defloured by him; which the jadisians not enduring, formed a conspiracy, and inviting the king and chiefs of tasm to an entertainment, privately hid their swords in the sand, and in the midst of their mirth fell on them and slew them all, and extirpated the greatest part of that tribe; however, the few who escaped obtaining aid of the king of yaman, then (as is said) dhu habshân ebn akrân, assaulted the jadîs and utterly destroyed them, there being scarce any mention made from that time of either of these tribes. the former tribe of jorham (whose ancestor some pretend was one of the eighty persons saved in the ark of noah, according to a mohammedan tradition ) was contemporary with ad, and utterly perished. the tribe of amalek were descended from amalek the son of eliphaz the son of esau , though some of the oriental authors say amalek was the son of ham the son of noah, and others the son of azd the son of sem. the posterity of this person rendered themselves very powerful, and before the time of joseph conquered the lower egypt under d'herbel. bibl. orient. .	 bochart geogr. sac.	 see d'herbel. .	 ebn shohnah poc. spec. .		 kor. c. .	 abu musa al ashari.	 . vide poc. spec. .	 abulfeda. a like custom is said to have been i n some manors in england, and also in scotland, where it was called "culliage," having been established by k. ewen, and abolished by malcolm iii. see bayle's dict. art. sixte iv., rem. h. 	 poc. spec. .	 ibid. , &c.	 ibid. p. .	 ebn shohnah. 	 gen. xxxvi. .		 vide d'herbelot, p. . ebn shohnah		 vide numb. xxiv. . their king walîd, the first who took the name of pharaoh, as the eastern writers tell us; seeming by these amalekites to mean the same people which the egyptian histories call phoenician shepherds. but after they had possessed the throne of egypt for some descents, they were expelled by the natives, and at length totally destroyed by the israelites. the present arabians, according to their own historians, are sprung from two stocks, kahtân, the same with joctan the son of eber, and adnân descended in a direct line from ismael the son of abraham and hagar; the posterity of the former they call al arab al ariba, i.e., the genuine or pure arabs, and those of the latter al arab al mostáreba, i.e., naturalized or institious arabs, though some reckon the ancient lost tribes to have been the only pure arabians, and therefore call the posterity of kahtân also mótareba, which word likewise signifies insititious arabs, though in a nearer degree than mostáreba; the descendants of ismael being the more distant graff. the posterity of ismael have no claim to be admitted as pure arabs, their ancestor being by origin and language an hebrew; but having made an alliance with the jorhamites, by marrying a daughter of modad, and accustomed himself to their manner of living and language, his descendants became blended with them into one nation. the uncertainty of the descents between ismael and adnân is the reason why they seldom trace their genealogies higher than the latter, whom they acknowledge as father of their tribes, the descents from him downwards being pretty certain and uncontroverted. the genealogy of these tribes being of great use to illustrate the arabian history, i have taken the pains to form a genealogical table from their most approved authors, to which i refer the curious. besides these tribes of arabs mentioned by their own authors, who were all descended from the race of sem, others of them were the posterity of ham by his son cush, which name is in scripture constantly given to the arabs and their country, though our version renders it ethiopia; but strictly speaking, the cushites did not inhabit arabia properly so called, but the banks of the euphrates and the persian gulf, whither they came form chuzestân or susiana, the original settlement of their father. they might probably mix themselves in process of time with the arabs of the other race, but the eastern writers take little or no notice of them. the arabians were for some centuries under the government of the descendants of kâhtan; yárab, one of his sons, founding the kingdom of yaman, and jorham, another of them, that of hejâz. the province of yaman, or the better part of it, particularly the provinces of saba and hadramaut, was governed by princes of the tribe of hamyar, though at length the kingdom was translated to the descendants of cahlân, his brother, who yet retained the title of king of hamyar, and had all of them the general title of tobba, which signifies successor, and was affected to this race of princes, as that of mirât caïnât.		 vide joseph. cont. apion. l. i.	 vide exod. xvii. , &c.; i sam. xv. , &c.; ibid. xxvii. , ; i chron. iv. . 	 r. saad. in vers. arab. pentat. gen. x. . some writers make kahtân a descendant of ismael, but against the current of oriental historians. see poc. spec. .		 an expression something like that of st. paul, who calls himself "an hebrew of the hebrews," philip. iii. . 	 poc. spec. p. .	 vide hyde hist. rel. veter. persar. p. , &c. cæsar was to the roman emperors, and khalîf to the successors of mohammed. there were several lesser princes who reigned in other parts of yaman, and were mostly, if not altogether, subject to the king of hamyar, whom they called the great king, but of these history has recorded nothing remarkable or that may be depended upon. the first great calamity that befell the tribes settled in yaman was the inundation of aram, which happened soon after the time of alexander the great, and is famous in the arabian history. no less than eight tribes were forced to abandon their dwellings upon this occasion, some of which gave rise to the two kingdoms of ghassân and hira. and this was probably the time of the migration of those tribes or colonies which were led into mesopotamia by three chiefs,becr, modar, and rabîa, from whom the three provinces of that country are still named diyar becr, diyar modar, and diyar rabîa. abdshems, surnamed saba, having built the city from him called saba, and afterwards mareb, made a vast mound, or dam, to serve as a basin or reservoir to receive the water which came down from the mountains, not only for the use of the inhabitants, and watering their lands, but also to keep the country they had subjected in greater awe by being masters of the water. this building stood like a mountain above their city, and was by them esteemed so strong that they were in no apprehension of its ever failing. the water rose to the height of almost twenty fathoms, and was kept in on every side by a work so solid, that many of the inhabitants had their houses built upon it. every family had a certain portion of this water, distributed by aqueducts. but at length, god, being highly displeased at their great pride and insolence, and resolving to humble and disperse them, sent a mighty flood, which broke down the mound by night while the inhabitants were asleep, and carried away the whole city, with the neighbouring towns and people. the tribes which remained in yaman after this terrible devastation still continued under the obedience of the former princes, till about seventy years before mohammed, when the king of ethiopia sent over forces to assist the christians of yaman against the cruel persecution of their king, dhu nowâs, a bigoted jew, whom they drove to that extremity that he forced his horse into the sea, and so lost his life and crown, after which the country was governed by four ethiopian princes successively, till selif, the son of dhu yazan, of the tribe of hamyar, obtaining succours from khosrû anushirwân, king of persia, which had been denied him by the emperor heraclius, recovered the throne and drove out the ethiopians, but was himself slain by some of them who were left behind. the persians appointed the succeeding princes till yaman fell into the hands of mohammed, to whom bazan, or rather badhân, the last of them, submitted, and embraced this new religion. this kingdom of the hammyarites is said to have lasted , years, or as others say above , ; the length of the reign of each prince being very uncertain. it has been already observed that two kingdoms were founded by those who left their country on occasion of the inundation of aram: poc. spec. p. , .		 vide gol. ad alfrag. p. .	 poc. spec. p. .	 geogr. nubiens. p. . see prideaux's life of mahomet, p. .	 poc. spec. p. , .	 abulfeda.	 al jannâbi and ahmed ebn yusef. they were both out of the proper limits of arabia. one of them was the kingdom of ghassân. the founders of this kingdom were of the tribe of azd, who, settling in syria damascena near a water called ghassân, thence took their name, and drove out (the dajaamian arabs of the tribe of salîh, who before possessed the country; where they maintained their kingdom years, as others say , or as abulfeda more exactly computes, . five of these princes were named hâreth, which the greeks write aretas: and one of them it was whose governor ordered the gates of damascus to be watched to take st. paul. this tribe were christians, their last king being jabalah the son of al ayham, who on the arabs' successes in syria professed mohammedism under the khalîf omar; but receiving a disgust from him, returned to his former faith, and retired to constantinople. the other kingdom was that of hira, which was founded by malec, of the descendants of cahlân in chaldea or irâk; but after three descents the throne came by marriage to the lakhmians, called also the mondars (the general name of those princes), who preserved their dominion, notwithstanding some small interruption by the persians, till the khalîfat of abubecr, when al mondar al maghrûr, the last of them, lost his life and crown by the arms of khaled ebn al walîd. this kingdom lasted years eight months. its princes were under the protection of the kings of persia, whose lieutenants they were over the arabs of irâk, as the kings of ghassân were for the roman emperors over those of syria. jorham the son of kahtân reigned in hejâz, where his posterity kept the throne till the time of ismael; but on his marrying the daughter of modad, by whom he had twelve sons, kidar, one of them, had the crown resigned to him by his uncles the jorhamites, though others say the descendants of ismael expelled that tribe, who retiring to johainah, were, after various fortune, at last all destroyed by an inundation. of the kings of hamyar, hira, ghassân, and jorham, dr. pocock has given us catalogues tolerably exact, to which i refer the curious. after the expulsion of the jorhamites, the government of hejâz seems not to have continued for many centuries in the hands of one prince, but to have been divided among the heads of tribes, almost in the same manner as the arabs of the desert are governed at this day. at mecca an aristocracy prevailed, where the chief management of affairs till the time of mohammed was in the tribe of koreish, especially after they had gotten the custody of the caaba from the tribe of khozâah. besides the kingdoms which have been taken notice of, there were some other tribes which in latter times had princes of their own, and formed states of lesser note, particularly the tribe of kenda: but as i am not writing a just history of the arabs, and an account of them would be of no great use ot my present purpose, i shall waive any further mention of them. after the time of mohammed, arabia was for about three centuries under the khalîfs his successors. but in the year of the hejra, poc. spec. p. .	 cor. xi. ; acts ix. .	 vide ockley's history of the saracens, vol. i. p. .	 poc. spec. p. . ibid. p. .	 ibid. and procop. in pers. apud photium. p. , &c. 	 poc. spec. p. .	 ibid. p. . ibid. p. , seq.	 vide ibid. p. , and prideaux's life of mahomet, p. .		 vide poc. spec. p. , &c. great part of that country was in the hands of the karmatians, a new sect who had committed great outrages and disorders even in mecca, and to whom the khalîfs were obliged to pay tribute, that the pilgrimage thither might be performed: of this sect i may have occasion to speak in another place. afterwards yaman was governed by the house of thabateba, descended from ali the son-in-law of mohammed, whose sovereignty in arabia some place so high as the time of charlemagne. however, it was the posterity of ali, or pretenders to be such, who reigned in yaman and egypt so early as the tenth century. the present reigning family in yaman is probably that of ayub, a branch of which reigned there in the thirteenth century, and took the title of khalîf and imâm, which they still retain. they are not possessed of the whole province of yaman, there being several other independent kingdoms there, particularly that of fartach. the crown of yaman descends not regularly from father to son, but the prince of the blood royal who is most in favour with the great ones, or has the strongest interest, generally succeeds. the governors of mecca and medina, who have always been of the race of mohammed, also threw off their subjection to the khalîfs, since which time four principal families, all descended from hassan the son of ali, have reigned there under the title of sharîf, which signifies noble, as they reckon themselves to be on account of their descent. these are banu kâder, banu mûsa thani, banu hashem, and banu kitâda; which last family now is, or lately was, in the throne of mecca, where they have reigned above years. the reigning family at medina are the banu hashem, who also reigned at mecca before those of kitâda. the kings of yaman, as well as the princes of mecca and medina, are alsolutely independent and not at all subject to the turk, as some late authors have imagined. these princes often making cruel wars among themselves, gave an opportunity to selim i. and his son solimân, to make themselves masters of the coasts of arabia on the red sea, and of part of yaman, by means of a fleet built at sues: but their successors have not been able to maintain their conquests; for, except the port of jodda, where they have a basha whose authority is very small, they possess nothing considerable in arabia. thus have the arabs preserved their liberty, of which few nations can produce so ancient monuments, with very little interruption, from the very deluge; for though very great armies have been sent against them, all attempts to subdue them were unsuccessful. the assyrian or median empires never got footing among them. the persian monarchs, though they were their friends, and so far respected by them as to have an annual present of frankincense, yet could never make them tributary; and were so far from being their masters, that cambyses, on his expedition against egypt, was obliged to ask their leave to pass through their territories; and when alexander had subdued that mighty empire, yet the arabians had so little apprehension of him, that they alone, of vide elmacin. in vita al râdi.	 voyage de l-arab. heur. p. . 	 ibid. , .		 ibid. .	 ibid. .	 ibid. .	 ibid. , .		 vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. .	 voy. de l'arab. heur. p. .		 diodor. sic. . , p. . 	 herodot. , c. .		 idem ib. c. . diodor. ubi sup. 		 herodot. . , c. and . all the neighbouring nations, sent no ambassadors to him, either first or last; which, with a desire of possessing so rich a country, made him form a design against it, and had he not died before he could put it in execution, this people might possibly have convinced him that he was not invincible: and i do not find that any of his successors, either in asia or egypt, ever made any attempt against them. the romans never conquered any part of arabia properly so called; the most they did was to make some tribes in syria tributary to them, as pompey did one commanded by sampsiceramus or shams'alkerâm, who reigned at hems or emesa; but none of the romans, or any other nations that we know of, ever penetrated so far into arabia as Ælius gallus under augustus cæsar; yet he was so far from subduing it, as some authors pretend, that he was soon obliged to return without effecting anything considerable, having lost the best part of his army by sickness and other accidents. this ill success probably discouraged the romans from attacking them any more; for trajan, notwithstanding the flatteries of the historians and orators of his time, and the medals struck by him, did not subdue the arabs; the province of arabia, which it is said he added to the roman empire, scarce reaching farther than arabia petræa, or the very skirts of the country. and we are told by one author, that this prince, marching against the agarens who had revolted, met with such a reception that he was obliged to return without doing anything. the religion of the arabs before mohammed, which they call the state of ignorance, in opposition to the knowledge of god's true worship revealed to them by their prophet, was chiefly gross idolatry; the sabian religion having almost overrun the whole nation, though there were also great numbers of christians, jews, and magians among them. i shall not here transcribe what dr. prideaux has written of the original of the sabian religion; but instead thereof insert a brief account of the tenets and worship of that sect. they do not only believe one god, but produce many strong arguments for his unity, though they also pay an adoration to the stars, or the angels and intelligences which they suppose reside in them, and govern the world under the supreme deity. they endeavour to perfect themselves in the four intellectual virtues, and believe the souls of the wicked men will be punished for nine thousand ages, but will afterwards be received to mercy. they are obliged to pray three times a day; the first, half an hour or less before sunrise, ordering it so that they may, just as the sun rises, finish eight adorations, each containing three prostrations; the second prayer they end at noon, when the sun begins to decline, in saying which they perform five such adorations as the former: and in the same they do the third time, ending just as the sun sets. they fast three times a year, the first time thirty days, the next nine days, and the last seven. they offer many sacrifices, but eat no part of them, burning them all. they abstain from beans, garlic, and some other pulse and vegetables. as strabo, l. , p. , .		 vide diodor. sic. ubi supra.	 strabo, l. , p. .		 dion cassius, l. , p. m. 		 huet, hist. du commerce et de la navigation des anciens, c. . 		 see the whole expedition described at large by strabo, l. , p. , &c.		 xiphilin. epit.		 connect. of the hist. of the old and new test. p. , bk. .		 some say seven. see d'herbelot, p. , and hyde de rel. vet. pers. p. others say they use no incurvations or prostrations at all; vide hyde ibid. 		 abulfarag, hist. dynast. p. , &c. to the sabian kebla, or part to which they turn their faces in praying, authors greatly differ; one will have it to be the north, another the south, a third mecca, and a fourth the star to which they pay their devotions: and perhaps there may be some variety in their practice in this respect. they go on pilgrimage to a place near the city of harran in mesopotamia, where great numbers of them dwell, and they have also a great respect for the temple of mecca, and the pyramids of egypt; fancying these last to be the sepulchres of seth, and of enoch and sabi his two sons, whom they look on as the first propagators of their religion; at these structures they sacrifice a cock and a black calf, and offer up incense. besides the book of psalms, the only true scripture they read, they have other books which they esteem equally sacred, particularly one in the chaldee tongue which they call the book of seth, and is full of moral discourses. this sect say they took the name of sabians from the above-mentioned sabi, though it seems rather to be derived from saba, or the host of heaven, which they worship. travellers commonly call them christians of st. john the baptist, whose disciples also they pretend to be, using a kind of baptism, which is the greatest mark they bear of christianity. this is one of the religions, the practice of which mohammed tolerated (on paying tribute), and the professors of it are often included in that expression of the korân, "those to whom the scriptures have been given," or literally, the people of the book. the idolatry of the arabs then, as sabians, chiefly consisted in worshipping the fixed stars and planets, and the angels and their images, which they honoured as inferior deities, and whose intercession they begged, as their mediators with god. for the arabs acknowledged one supreme god, the creator and lord of the universe, whom they called allah taâla, the most high god; and their other deities, who were subordinate to him, they called simply al ilahât, i.e., the goddesses; which words the grecians not understanding, and it being their constant custom to resolve the religion of every other nation into their own, and find out gods of their to match the others', they pretend that the arabs worshipped only two deities, orotalt and alilat, as those names are corruptly written, whom they will have to be the same with bacchus and urania; pitching on the former as one of the greatest of their own gods, and educated in arabia, and on the other, because of the veneration shown by the arabs to the stars. that they acknowledged one supreme god, appears, to omit other proof, from their usual form of addressing themselves to him, which was this, "i dedicate myself to thy service, o god! thou hast no companion, except thy companion of whom thou art absolute master, and of whatever is his." so that they supposed the idols not to be sui juris, though they offered sacrifices and other offerings to them, as well as to god, who was also often put off with the least portion, as mohammed upbraids them. thus when they planted fruit trees, or sowed a field, they divided it by a line into two parts, setting one apart idem ibid.		 hyde ubi supr. p. , &c.		 d'herbel. ubi supr.	 see greaves' pyramidogr. p. , .		 vide poc. spec. p. .		 thabet ebn korrah, a famous astronomer, and himself a sabian, wrote a treatise in syriac concerning the doctrines, rites, and ceremonies of this sect; from which, if it could be recovered, we might expect much better information than any taken from the arabian writers; vide abulfarag, ubi sup. 	 vide herodot. . , c. ; arrian, p. , , and strab. l. . 	 al shahrestani. for their idols, and the other for god; if any of the fruits happened to fall from the idol's part into god's, they made restitution; but if from god's part into the idol's, they made no restitution. so when they watered the idol's grounds, if the water broke over the channels made for that purpose, and ran on god's part, they damned it up again; but if the contrary, they let it run on, saying, they wanted what was god's, but he wanted nothing. in the same manner, if the offering designed for god happened to be better than that designed for the idol, they made an exchange, but not otherwise. it was from this gross idolatry, or the worship of inferior deities, or companions of god, as the arabs continue to call them, that mohammed reclaimed his countrymen, establishing the sole worship of the true god among them; so that how much soever the mohammedans are to blame in other points, they are far from being idolaters, as some ignorant writers have pretended. the worship of the stars the arabs might easily be led into, from their observing the changes of weather to happen at the rising and setting of certain of them, which after a long course of experience induced them to ascribe a divine power to those stars, and to think themselves indebted to them for their rains, a very great benefit and refreshment to their parched country: this superstition the korân particularly takes notice of. the ancient arabians and indians, between which two nations was a great conformity of religions, had seven celebrated temples, dedicated to the seven planets; one of which in particular, called beit ghomdân, was built in sanaa, the metropolis of yaman, by dahac, to the honour of al zoharah or the planet venus, and was demolished by the khalîf othman; by whose murder was fulfilled the prophetical inscription set, as is reported, over this temple, viz., "ghomdân, he who destroyeth thee shall be slain. the temple of mecca is also said to have been consecrated to zohal, or saturn. though these deities were generally reverenced by the whole nation, yet each tribe chose some one as the more peculiar object of their worship. thus as to the stars and planets, the tribe of hamyar chiefly worshipped the sun; misam, al debarân, or the bull's-eye; lakhm and jodâm, al moshtari, or jupiter; tay, sohail, or canopus; kais, sirius, or the dog-star; and asad, otâred, or mercury. among the worshippers of sirius, one abu cabsha was very famous; some will have him to be the same with waheb, mohammed's grandfather by the mother, but others say he was of the tribe of khozâah. this man used his utmost endeavours to persuade the koreish to leave their images and worship this star; for which reason mohammed, who endeavoured also to make them leave their images, was by them nicknamed the son of abu cabsha. the worship of this star is particularly hinted at in the korân. of the angels or intelligences which they worshipped, the korân, makes mention only of three, which were worshipped under female names; allat, al uzza, and manah. these were by them called nodhm al dorr.		 al beidâwi.		 vide post.	 vide poc. spec. p. .		 shahrestani.		 al jannâbi. 	 shahrestani.	 this name seems to be corrupted, there being no such among the arab tribes. poc. spec. p. .		 abulfarag, p. . 	 poc. spec. p. .	 cap. . ibid.		 ibid. goddesses, and the daughters of god; an appellation they gave not only to the angels, but also to their images, which they either believed to be inspired with life by god, or else to become the tabernacles of the angels, and to be animated by them; and they gave them divine worship, because they imagined they interceded for them with god. allât was the idol of the tribe of thakîf who dwelt at tayef, and had a temple consecrated to her in a place called nakhlah. this idol al mogheirah destroyed by mohammed's order, who sent him and abu sofiân on that commission in the ninth year of the hejra. the inhabitants of tayef, especially the women, bitterly lamented the loss of this their deity, which they were so fond of, that they begged of mohammed as a condition of peace, that it might not be destroyed for three years, and not obtaining that, asked only a month's respite; but he absolutely denied it. there are several derivations of this word which the curious may learn from dr. pocock: it seems most probably to be derived from the same root with allah, to which it may be a feminine, and will then signify the goddess. al uzza, as some affirm, was the idol of the tribes of koreish and kenânah, and part of the tribe of salim: others tell us it was a tree called the egyptian thorn, or acacia, worshipped by the tribe of ghatfân, first consecrated by one dhâlem, who built a chapel over it, called boss, so contrived as to give a sound when any person entered. khâled ebn walîd being sent by mohammed in the eighth year of the hejra to destroy this idol, demolished the chapel, and cutting down this tree or image, burnt it: he also slew the priestess, who ran out with her hair dishevelled, and her hands on her head as a suppliant. yet the author who relates this, in another place says, the chapel was pulled down, and dhâlem himself killed by one zohair, because he consecrated this chapel with design to draw the pilgrims thither from mecca, and lessen the reputation of the caaba. the name of this deity is derived from the root azza, and signifies the most mighty. manah was the object of worship of the tribes of hodhail and khazâah, who dwelt between mecca and medina, and, as some say, of the tribes of aws, khazraj, and thakîf also. this idol was a large stone, demolished by one saad, in the eighth year of the hejra, a year so fatal to the idols of arabia. the name seems derived from mana, to flow, from the flowing of the blood of the victims sacrificed to the deity; whence the valley of mina, near mecca, had also its name, where the pilgrims at this day slay their sacrifices. before we proceed to the other idols, let us take notice of five more, which with the former three are all the korân mentions by name, and they are wadd, sawâ, yaghûth, yäûk, and nasr. these are said to have been antediluvian idols, which noah preached against, and were afterwards taken by the arabs for gods, having been men of great merit and piety in their time, whose statues they reverenced at first with a dr. prideaux mentions this expedition, but names only abu sofiân, and mistaking the name of the idol for an appellative, supposes he went only to disarm the tayefians of their weapons and instruments of war. see his life of mahomet, p. . abulfeda, vit moham. p. 		 spec. p. 		 al jauhari, apud eund. p. .		 al shahrestani, ibid.	 al firauzabâdi, ibid.		 al jauhari.	 al shahrestani, abulfeda, &c.	 al beidâwi, al zamakhshari.	 poc. spec. , &c.	 ibid. civil honour only, which in process of time became heightened to a divine worship. wadd was supposed to be the heaven, and was worshipped under the form of a man by the tribe of calb in daumat al jandal. sawâ was adored under the shape of a woman by the tribe of hamadan, or, as others write, of hodhail in rohat. this idol lying under water for some time after the deluge, was at length, it is said, discovered by the devil, and was worshipped by those of hodhail, who instituted pilgrimages to it. yaghûth was an idol in the shape of a lion, and was the deity of the tribe of madhaj and others who dwelt in yaman. its name seems to be derived from ghatha, which signifies to help. yäûk was worshipped by the tribe of morâd, or, according to others, by that of hamadan, under the figure of a horse. it is said he was a man of great piety, and his death much regretted; whereupon the devil appeared to his friends in a human form, and undertaking to represent him to the life, persuaded them, by way of comfort, to place his effigies in their temples, that they might have it in view when at their devotions. this was done, and seven others of extraordinary merit had the same honours shown them, till at length their posterity made idols of them in earnest. the name yäûk probably comes from the verb âka, to prevent or avert. nasr was a deity adored by the tribe of hamyar, or at dhû'l khalaah in their territories, under the image of an eagle, which the name signifies. there are, or were, two statues at bamiyân, a city of cabul in the indies, cubits high, which some writers suppose to be the same with yaghûth and yäûk, or else with manah and allât; and they also speak of a third standing near the others, but something less, in the shape of an old woman, called nesrem or nesr. these statues were hollow within, for the secret giving of oracles; but they seem to have been different from the arabian idols. there was also an idol at sûmenat in the indies, called lât or al lât, whose statue was fathoms high, of a single stone, and placed in the midst of a temple supported by pillars of massy gold: this idol mahmûd ebn sebecteghin, who conquered that part of india, broke to pieces with his own hands. besides the idols we have mentioned, the arabs also worshipped great numbers of others, which would take up too much time to have distinct accounts given of them; and not being named in the korân, are not so much to our present purpose: for besides that every housekeeper had his household god or gods, which he last took leave of and first saluted at his going abroad and returning home, there were no less than idols, equalling in number the days of their year, in and about the caaba of mecca; the chief of whom was hobal, brought from belka in syria into arabia by amru ebn lohai, pretending it would procure them rain when they wanted it. it was the statue of a man, made of agate, which having by some accident lost a hand, the kor. c. . comment. persic. vide hyde de rel. vet. pers. p. . 	 al jauhari, al sharestani.		 idem, al firauzabâdi, and safio'ddin.		 al firauzab.		 shahrestani.		 al jauhari. al firauzab.		 poc. spec. .		 see hyde de rel. vet. pers. p. .		 d'herbelot, bibl. orient. p. .		 al mostatraf.		 al jannâb.		 abulfed, shahrest. &c. poc. spec. . koreish repaired it with one of gold: he held in his hand seven arrows without heads or feathers, such as the arabs used in divination. this idol is supposed to have been the same with the image of abraham, found and destroyed by mohammed in the caaba, on his entering it, in the eighth year of the hejra, when he took mecca, and surrounded with a great number of angels and prophets, as inferior deities; among whom, as some say, was ismael, with divining arrows in his hand also. asâf and nayelah, the former the image of a man, the latter of a woman, were also two idols brought with hobal from syria, and placed the one on mount safâ, and the other on mount merwa. they tell us asâf was the son of amru, and nayelah the daughter of sahâl, both of the tribe of jorham, who committing whoredom together in the caaba, were by god converted into stone, and afterwards worshipped by the koreish, and so much reverenced by them, that though this superstition was condemned by mohammed, yet he was forced to allow them to visit those mountains as monuments of divine justice. i shall mention but one idol more of this nation, and that was a lump of dough worshipped by the tribe of hanîfa, who used it with more respect than the papists do theirs, presuming not to eat it till they were compelled to it by famine. several of their idols, as manah in particular, were no more than large rude stones, the worship of which the posterity of ismael first introduced; for as they multiplied, and the territory of mecca grew too strait for them, great numbers were obliged to seek new abodes; and on such migrations it was usual for them to take with them some of the stones of that reputed holy land, and set them up in the places where they fixed; and these stones they at first only compassed out of devotion, as they had accustomed to do the caaba. but this at last ended in rank idolatry, the ismaelites forgetting the religion left them by their father so far as to pay divine worship to any fine stone they met with. some of the pagan arabs believed neither a creation past, nor a resurrection to come, attributing the origin of things to nature, and their dissolution to age. others believed both, among whom were those who, when they died, had their camel tied by their sepulchre, and so left, without meat or drink, to perish, and accompany them to the other world, lest they should be obliged, at the resurrection, to go on foot, which was reckoned very scandalous. some believed a metem-psychosis, and that of the blood near the dead person's brain was formed a bird named hâmah, which once in a hundred years visited the sepulchre; though others say this bird is animated by the soul of him that is unjustly slain, and continually cries, oscûni, oscûni, i.e., "give me to drink"-meaning of the murderer's blood-till his death be revenged, and then it flies away. this was forbidden by the korân to be believed. i might here mention several superstitious rites and customs of the ancient arabs, some of which were abolished and others retained by mohammed; but i apprehend it will be more convenient to take notice safio'ddin.		 poc. spec. .		 abulfeda.		 ebn al athir. al jannab. &c. poc. spec. .		 kor. c. .		 al mostatraf, al jauhari.		 al mostatraf, al jannâbi. abulfarag, p. .	 vide poc. spec. p. . of them, hereafter occasionally, as the negative or positive precepts of the korân, forbidding or allowing such practices, shall be considered. let us now turn our view from the idolatrous arabs, to those among them who had embraced more rational religions. the persians had, by their vicinity and frequent intercourse with the arabians, introduced the magian religion among some of their tribes, particularly that of tamim, a long time before mohammed, who was so far from being unacquainted with that religion, that he borrowed many of his own institutions from it, as will be observed in the progress of this work. i refer those who are desirous to have some notion of magism, to dr. hyde's curious account of it, a succinct abridgment of which may be read with much pleasure in another learned performance. the jews, who fled in great numbers into arabia from the fearful destruction of their country by the romans, made proselytes of several tribes, those of kenânah, al hareth ebn caaba, and kendah in particular, and in time became very powerful, and possessed of several towns and fortresses there. but the jewish religion was not unknown to the arabs, at least above a century before; abu carb asad, taken notice of in the korân, who was king of yaman, about years before mohammed, is said to have introduced judaism among the idolatrous hamyarites. some of his successors also embraced the same religion, one of whom, yusef, surnamed dhu nowâs, was remarkable for his zeal and terrible persecution of all who would not turn jews, putting them to death by various tortures, the most common of which was throwing them into a glowing pit of fire, whence he had the opprobrious appellation of the lord of the pit. this persecution is also mentioned in the korân. christianity had likewise made a very great progress among this nation before mohammed. whether st. paul preached in any part of arabia, properly so called, is uncertain; but the persecutions and disorders which happened in the eastern church soon after the beginning of the third century, obliged great numbers of christians to seek for shelter in that country of liberty, who, being for the most part of the jacobite communion, that sect generally prevailed among the arabs. the principal tribes that embraced christianity were hamyar, ghassân, rabiâ, taghlab, bahrâ, tonûch, part of the tribes of tay and kodâa, the inhabitants of najrân, and the arabs of hira. as to the two last, it may be observed that those of najrân became christians in the time of dhu nowâs, and very probably, if the story be true, were some of those who were converted on the following occasion, which happened about that time, or not long before. the jews of hamyar challenged some neighbouring christians to a public disputation, which was held sub dio for three days before the king and his nobility and all the people, the disputants being gregentius, bishop of tephra (which i take to be dhafâr) for the christians, and herbanus for the jews. on the third day, herbanus, to end the dispute, de- al mostatraf.		 in his hist. relig. vet. persar.		 dr. prideaux's connect. of the hist. of the old and new test. part i. book . 	 al mostatraf.		 chap. .		 see before, p. , and baronii annal. ad sec. vi.		 chap. .		 see galat. i. .		 abulfarag, p. .	 al mostatraf.		 vide poc. spec. p. .		 al jannab, apud poc. spec. p. . manded that jesus of nazareth, if he were really living and in heaven, and could hear the prayers of his worshippers, should appear from heaven in their sight, and they would then believe in him; the jews crying out with one voice, "show us your christ, alas! and we will become christians." whereupon, after a terrible storm of thunder and lightning, jesus christ appeared in the air, surrounded with rays of glory, walking on a purple cloud, having a sword in his hand, and an inestimable diadem on his head, and spake these words over the heads of the assembly: "behold i appear to you in your sight, i, who was crucified by your fathers." after which the cloud received him from their sight. the christians cried out, "kyrie eleeson," i.e., "lord, have mercy upon us;" but the jews were stricken blind, and recovered not till they were all baptized. the christians at hira received a great accession by several tribes, who fled thither for refuge from the persecution of dhu nowâs. al nooman, surnamed abu kabûs, king of hira, who was slain a few months before mohammed's birth, professed himself a christian on the following occasion. this prince, in a drunken fit, ordered two of his intimate companions, who overcame with liquor had fallen asleep, to be buried alive. when he came to himself, he was extremely concerned at what he had done, and to expiate his crime, not only raised a monument to the memory of his friends, but set apart two days, one of which he called the unfortunate, and the other the fortunate day; making it a perpetual rule to himself, that whoever met him on the former day should be slain, and his blood sprinkled on the monument, but he that met him on the other day should be dismissed in safety, with magnificent gifts. on one of those unfortunate days there came before him accidentally an arab, of the tribe of tay, who had once entertained this king, when fatigued with hunting, and separated from his attendants. the king, who could neither discharge him, contrary to the order of the day, nor put him to death, against the laws of hospitality, which the arabians religiously observe, proposed, as an expedient, to give the unhappy man a year's respite, and to send him home with rich gifts for the support of his family, on condition that he found a surety for his returning at the year's end to suffer death. one of the prince's court, out of compassion, offered himself as his surety, and the arab was discharged. when the last day of the term came, and no news of the arab, the king, not at all displeased to save his host's life, ordered the surety to prepare himself to die. those who were by represented to the king that the day was not yet expired, and therefore he ought to have patience till the evening: but in the middle of their discourse the arab appeared. the king, admiring the man's generosity, in offering himself to certain death, which he might have avoided by letting his surety suffer, asked him what was his motive for his so doing? to which he answered, that he had been taught to act in that manner by the religion he professed; and al nooman demanding what religion that was, he replied, the christian. whereupon the king desiring to have the doctrines of christianity explained to him, was baptized, he and his subjects; and not only pardoned the man and his surety, but vide gregentii disput. cum herbano judæo. abolished his barbarous custom. this prince, however, was not the first king of hira who embraced christianity; al mondar, his grandfather, having also professed the same faith, and built large churches in his capital. since christianity had made so great a progress in arabia, we may consequently suppose they had bishops in several parts, for the more orderly governing of the churches. a bishop of dhafâr has been already named, and we are told that najrân was also a bishop's see. the jacobites (of which sect we have observed the arabs generally were) had two bishops of the arabs subject to their mafriân, or metropolitan of the east; one was called the bishop of the arabs absolutely, whose seat was for the most part at akula, which some others make the same with cûfa, others a different town near baghdâd. the other had the title of bishop of the scenite arabs, of the tribe of thaalab in hira, or hirta, as the syrians call it, whose seat was in that city. the nestorians ahd but one bishop, who presided over both these dioceses of hira and akula, and was immediately subject to their patriarch. these were the principal religions which obtained among the ancient arabs; but as freedom of thought was the natural consequence of their political liberty and independence, some of them fell into other different opinions. the koreish, in particular, were infected with zendicism, an error supposed to have very near affinity with that of the sadducees among the jews, and, perhaps, not greatly different from deism; for there were several of that tribe, even before the time of mohammed, who worshipped one god, and were free from idolatry, and yet embraced none of the other religions of the country. the arabians before mohammed were, as they yet are, divided into two sorts, those who dwell in cities and towns, and those who dwell in tents. the former lived by tillage, the cultivation of palm trees, breeding and feeding of cattle, and the exercise of all sorts of trades, particularly merchandising, wherein they were very eminent, even in the time of jacob. the tribe of koreish were much addicted to commerce, and mohammed, in his younger years, was brought up to the same business; it being customary for the arabians to exercise the same trade that their parents did. the arabs who dwelt in tents, employed themselves in pasturage, and sometimes in pillaging of passengers; they lived chiefly on the milk and flesh of camels; they often changed their habitations, as the convenience of water and of pasture for their cattle invited them, staying in a place no longer than that lasted, and then removing in search of other. they generally wintered in irâk and the confines of syria. this way of life is what the greater part of ismael's posterity have used, as more agreeable to the temper and way of life of their father; and is so well described by a late author, that i cannot do better than refer the reader to his account of them. al meidani and ahmed ebn yusef, apud poc. spec. p. .		 abulfeda ap. eund. p. .		 safio'ddin apud poc. spec. p. . 	 abulfarag in chron. syriac, ms.		 abulfeda in descr. iracæ. 	 vide assemani bibl. orient. t. . in dissert. de monophysitis, and p. .		 al mostatraf, apud poc. spec. p. . vide reland. de relig. moham. p. , and millium de mohammedismo ante moham. p. .		 these seem to be the same whom m. la roque calls moors. voy. dans la palestine, p .		 see prideaux's life of mahomet, p. .		 strabo, l. , p. .		 idem ibid. p. .		 la roque, voy. dans la palestine, p. , &c. the arabic language is undoubtedly one of the most ancient in the world, and arose soon after, if not at, the confusion of babel. there were several dialects of it, very different from each other: the most remarkable were that spoken by the tribes of hammyar and the other genuine arabs, and that of the koreish. the hamyaritic seems to have approached nearer ot the purity of the syriac, than the dialect of any other tribe; for the arabs acknowledge their father yarab to have been the first whose tongue deviated from the syriac (which was his mother tongue, and is almost generally acknowledged by the asiatics to be the most ancient) to the arabic. the dialect of the koreish is usually termed the pure arabic, or, as the korân, which is written in this dialect, calls it, the perspicuous and clear arabic; perhaps, says dr. pocock, because ismael, their father, brought the arabic he had learned of the jorhamites nearer to the original hebrew. but the politeness and elegance of the dialect of the koreish, is rather to be attributed to their having the custody of the caaba, and dwelling in mecca, the centre of arabia, as well more remote from intercourse with foreigners, who might corrupt their language, as frequented by the arabs from the country all around, not only on a religious account, but also for the composing of their differences, from whose discourse and verses they took whatever words or phrases they judged more pure and elegant; by which means the beauties of the whole tongue became transfused into this dialect. the arabians are full of the commendations of their language, and not altogether without reason; for it claims the preference of most others in many respects, as being very harmonious and expressive, and withal so copious, that they say no man without inspiration can be a perfect master of it in its utmost extent; and yet they tell us, at the same time, that the greatest part of it has been lost; which will not be thought strange, if we consider how late the art of writing was practised among them. for though it was known to job, their countryman, and also the hamyarites (who used a perplexed character called al mosnad, wherein the letters were not distinctly separate, and which was neither publicly taught, nor suffered to be used without permission first obtained) many centuries before mohammed, as appears from some ancient monuments, said to be remaining in their character; yet the other arabs, and those of mecca in particular, were, for many ages, perfectly ignorant of it, unless such of them as were jews or christians: morâmer ebn morra of anbar, a city of irâk, who lived not many years before mohammed, was the inventor of the arabic character, which bashar the kendian is said to have learned from those of anbar, and to have introduced at mecca but a little while before the institution of mohammedism. these letters of marâmer were different from the hamyaritic; and though they were very rude, being either the same with, or very much like the cufic, which character is still found in inscriptions and some ancient books, yet they were those which the arabs used for many years, the korân itself being at first written therein; for the beautiful character they now use was first formed from the cufic by ebn moklah, wazir (or visir) to the khalîfs al moktader, al kâher, and al râdi, who lived job xix. , .		 see prideaux's life of mahomet, p. , . 	 a specimen of the cufic character may be seen in sir j. chardin's travels, vol. iii, p. . about three hundred years after mohammed, and was brought to great perfection by ali ebn bowâb, who flourished in the following century, and whose name is yet famous among them on that account; yet, it is said, the person who completed it, and reduced it to its present form, was yakût al mostásemi, secretary to al mostásem, the last of the khalîfs of the family of abbâs, for which reason he was surnamed al khattât, or the scribe. the accomplishments the arabs valued themselves chiefly on, were, . eloquence, and a perfect skill in their own tongue; . expertness in the use of arms, and horsemanship; and . hospitality. the first they exercised themselves in, by composing of orations and poems. their orations were of two sorts, metrical, or prosaic, the one being compared to pearls strung, and the other to loose ones. they endeavoured to excel in both, and whoever was able, in an assembly, to persuade the people to a great enterprise, or dissuade them from a dangerous one, or gave them other wholesome advice, was honoured with the title of khâteb, or orator, which is now given to the mohammedan preachers. they pursued a method very different from that of the greek and roman orators; their sentences being like loose gems, without connection, so that this sort of composition struck the audience chiefly by the fulness of the periods, the elegance of the expression, and the acuteness of the proverbial sayings; and so persuaded were they of their excelling in this way, that they would not allow any nation to understand the art of speaking in public, except themselves and the persians; which last were reckoned much inferior in that respect to the arabians. poetry was in so great esteem among them, that it was a great accomplishment, and a proof of ingenuous extraction, to be able to express one's self in verse with ease and elegance, on any extraordinary occurrence; and even in their common discourse they made frequent applications to celebrated passages of their famous poets. in their poems were preserved the distinction of descents, the rights of tribes, the memory of great actions, and the propriety of their language; for which reasons an excellent poet reflected an honour on his tribe, so that as soon as any one began to be admired for his performances of this kind in a tribe, the other tribes sent publicly to congratulate them on the occasion, and themselves made entertainments, at which the women assisted, dressed in their nuptial ornaments, singing to the sound of timbrels the happiness of their tribe, who had now one to protect their honour, to preserve their genealogies and the purity of their language, and to transmit their actions to posterity; for this was all performed by their poems, to which they were solely obliged for their knowledge and instructions, moral and economical, and to which they had recourse, as to an oracle, in all doubts and differences. no wonder, then, that a public congratulation was made on this account, which honour they yet were so far from making cheap, that they never did it but on one of these three occasions, which were reckoned great points of felicity, viz., on the birth of a boy, the rise of a poet, and the ebn khalicân. yet others attribute the honour of the invention of this character to ebn moklah's brother, abdallah al hasan; and the perfecting of it to ebn amîd al kâteb, after it had been reduced to near the present form by abd'alhamîd. vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. , , and .		 poc. orat. ante carmen tograi, p. .		 poc. spec. . 	 ebn rashik, apud poc. spec. .	 poc. orat. præfix. carm. tograi, ubi supra. fall of a foal of generous breed. to keep up an emulation among their poets, the tribes had, once a year, a general assembly at ocadh, a place famous on this account, and where they kept a weekly mart or fair, which was held on our sunday. this annual meeting lasted a whole month, during which time they employed themselves, not only in trading, but in repeating their poetical compositions, contending an vieing with each other for the prize; whence the place, it is said, took its name. the poems that were judged to excel, were laid up in their kings' treasuries, as were the seven celebrated poems, thence called al moallakât, rather than from their being hung upon the caaba, which honour they also had by public order, being written on egyptian silk, and inn letters of gold; for which reason they had also the name of al modhahabât, or the golden verses. the fair and assembly at ocadh were suppressed by mohammed, in whose time, and for some years after, poetry seems to have been in some degree neglected by the arabs, who were then employed in their conquests; which being completed, and themselves at peace, not only this study was revived, but almost all sorts of learning were encouraged and greatly improved by them. this interruption, however, occasioned the loss of most of their ancient pieces of poetry, which were then chiefly preserved in memory; the use of writing being rare among them, in their time of ignorance. though the arabs were so early acquainted with poetry, they did not at first use to write poems of a just length, but only expressed themselves in verse occasionally; nor was their prosody digested into rules, till some time after mohammed; for this was done, as it is said, by al khalîl ahmed al farâhîdi, who lived in the reign of the khalîf harûn al rashîd. the exercise of arms and horsemanship they were in a manner obliged to practise and encourage, by reason of the independence of their tribes, whose frequent jarrings made wars almost continual; and they chiefly ended their disputes in field battles, it being a usual saying among them that god had bestowed four peculiar things on the arabs-that their turbans should be to them instead of diadems, their tents instead of walls and houses, their swords instead of entrenchments, and their poems instead of written laws. hospitality was so habitual to them, and so much esteemed, that the examples of this kind among them exceed whatever can be produced from other nations. hatem, of the tribe of tay, and hasn, of that of fezârah, were particularly famous on this account; and the contrary vice was so much in contempt, that a certain poet upbraids the inhabitants of waset, as with the greatest reproach, that none of their men ad the heart to give, nor their women to deny. idem, spec. p. .		 geogr. nub. p. .		 poc. spec. .		 ibid, and p. . et in calce notar. in carmen tograi, p. .		 jallalo'ddin al soyûti, apud poc. spec. p. , &c. 	 ibid. . ibid. . al safadi confirms this by a story of a grammarian named abu jaafar, who sitting by the mikyas or nilometer in egypt, in a year when the nile did not rise to its usual height, so that a famine was apprehended, and dividing a piece of poetry into its parts or feet, to examine them by the rules of art, some who passed by not understanding him, imagined he was uttering a charm to hinder the rise of the river, and pushed him into the water, where he lost his life.		 vide clericum de prosod. arab. p. . pocock, in calce notar. ad carmen tograi.		 vide. gentii notas in gulistan sheikh sadi, p. , &c.	 poc. spec. p. .	 ebn al hobeirah, apud poc. in not. ad carmen tograi, p. . nor were the arabs less propense to liberality after the coming of mohammed than their ancestors had been. i could produce many remarkable instances of this commendable quality among them, but shall content myself with the following. three men were disputing in the court of the caaba, which was the most liberal person among the arabs. one gave the preference to abdallah, the son of jaafar, the uncle of mohammed; another to kais ebn saad ebn obâdah; and the third gave it to arâbah, of the tribe of aws. after much debate, one that was present, to end the dispute, proposed that each of them should go to his friend and ask his assistance, that they might see what every one gave, and form a judgment accordingly. this was agreed to; and abdallah's friend, going to him, found him with his foot in the stirrup, just mounting his camel for a journey, and thus accosted him: "son of the uncle of the apostle of god, i am travelling and in necessity." upon which abdallah alighted, and bid him take the camel with all that was upon her, but desired him not to part with a sword which happened to be fixed to the saddle, because it had belonged to ali, the son of abutâleb. so he took the camel, and found on her some vests of silk and , pieces of gold; but the thing of greatest value was the sword. the second went to kais ebn saad, whose servant told him that his master was asleep, and desired to know his business. the friend answered that he came to ask kais's assistance, being in want on the road. whereupon the servant said that he had rather supply his necessity than wake his master, and gave him a purse of , pieces of gold, assuring him that it was all the money then in the house. he also directed him to go to those who had the charge of the camels, with a certain token, and take a camel and a slave, and return home with them. when kais awoke, and his servant informed him of what he had done, he gave him his freedom, and asked him why he did not call him, "for," says he, "i would have given him more." the third man went to arâbah, and met him coming out of his house in order to go to prayers, and leaning on two slaves, because his eyesight failed him. the friend no sooner made known his case, but arâbah let go the slaves, and clapping his hands together, loudly lamented his misfortune in having no money, but desired him to take the two slaves, which the man refused to do, till arâbah protested that if he would not accept of them he gave them their liberty, and leaving the slaves, groped his way along by the wall. on the return of the adventurers, judgment was unanimously, and with great justice, given by all who were present, that arâbah was the most generous of the three. nor were these the only good qualities of the arabs; they are commended by the ancients for being most exact to their words, and respectful to their kindred. and they have always been celebrated for their quickness of apprehension and penetration, and the vivacity of their wit, especially those of the desert. as the arabs have their excellencies, so have they, like other nations, their defects and vices. their own writers acknowledge that they have several may be found in d'herbelot's bibl. orient., particularly in the articles of hasan the son of ali, maan, fadhel, and ebn yahya.		 herodot. l. , c. .		 strabo, l. , p. .		 vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. . a natural disposition to war, bloodshed, cruelty, and rapine, being so much addicted to bear malice that they scarce ever forget an old grudge; which vindictive temper some physicians say is occasioned by their frequent feeding on camel's flesh (the ordinary diet of the arabs of the desert, who are therefore observed to be most inclined to these vices), that creature being most malicious and tenacious of anger, which account suggests a good reason for a distinction of meats. the frequent robberies committed by these people on merchants and travellers have rendered the name of an arab almost infamous in europe; this they are sensible of, and endeavour to excuse themselves by alleging the hard usage of their father ismael, who, being turned out of doors by abraham, had the open plains and deserts given him by god for his patrimony, with permission to take whatever he could find there; and on this account they think they may, with a safe conscience, indemnify themselves as well as they can, not only on the posterity of isaac, but also on everybody else, always supposing a sort of kindred between themselves and those they plunder. and in relating their adventures of this kind, they think it sufficient to change the expression, and instead of "i robbed a man of such or such a thing," to say, "i gained it." we must not, however, imagine that they are the less honest for this among themselves, or towards those whom they receive as friends; on the contrary, the strictest probity is observed in their camp, where everything is open and nothing ever known to be stolen. the sciences the arabians chiefly cultivated before mohammedism, were three; that of their genealogies and history, such a knowledge of the stars as to foretell the changes of weather, and the interpretation of dreams. they used to value themselves excessively on account of the nobility of their families, and so many disputes happened on that occasion, that it is no wonder if they took great pains in settling their descents. what knowledge they had of the stars was gathered from long experience, and not from any regular study, or astronomical rules. the arabians, as the indians also did, chiefly applied themselves to observe the fixed stars, contrary to other nations, whose observations were almost confined to the planets, and they foretold their effects from their influences, not their nature; and hence, as has been said, arose the difference of the idolatry of the greeks and chaldeans, who chiefly worshipped the planets, and that of the indians, who worshipped the fixed star. the stars or asterisms they most usually foretold the weather by, were those they called anwâ, or the houses of the moon. these are in number, and divide the zodiac into as many parts, through one of which the moon passes every night; as some of them set in the morning, others rise opposite to them, which happens every thirteenth night; and from their rising and setting, the arabs, by long experience, observed what changes happened in the air, and at length, as has been said, came to ascribe divine power to them; saying, that their rain was from such or such a star: which expression mohammed condemned, and absolutely forbade them to use it in the old sense; vide poc. spec. p. , bochart, hierozoic. l. , c. i.		 voyage dans la palest. p. , &c.		 ibid. p. , &c.		 al shahrestani, apud pocock orat. ubi sup. p. , and spec. .		 abulfarag, p. . vide hyde, in not. ad tabulas stellar. fixar. ulugh beigh, p. . unless they meant no more by it, than that god had so ordered the seasons, that when the moon was in such or such a mansion or house, or at the rising or setting of such and such a star, it should rain or be windy, hot or cold. the old arabians therefore seem to have made no further progress in astronomy, which science they afterwards cultivated with so much success and applause, than to observe the influence of the stars on the weather, and to give them names; and this it was obvious for them to do, by reason of their pastoral way of life, lying night and day in the open plains. the names they imposed on the stars generally alluded to cattle and flocks, and they were so nice in distinguishing them, that no language has so many names of stars and asterisms as the arabic; for though they have since borrowed the names of several constellations from the greeks, yet the far greater part are of their own growth, and much more ancient, particularly those of the more conspicuous stars, dispersed in several constellations, and those of the lesser constellations which are contained within the greater, and were not observed or named by the greeks. thus have i given the most succinct account i have been able, of the state of the ancient arabians before mohammed, or, to use their expression, in the time of ignorance. i shall now proceed briefly to consider the state of religion in the east, and of the two great empires which divided that part of the world between them, at the time of mohammed's setting up for a prophet, and what were the conducive circumstances and accidents that favoured his success. _______ section ii. of the state of christianity, particularly of the eastern 	churches, and of judaism, at the time of mohammed's 	appearance; and of the methods taken by him for the 	establishing of his religion, and the circumstances which 	concurred thereto. if we look into the ecclesiastical historians even from the third century, we shall find the christian world to have then had a very different aspect from what some authors have represented; and so far from being endued with active graces, zeal, and devotion, and established within itself with purity of doctrine, union, and firm profession of the faith, that on the contrary, what by the ambition of the clergy, and what by drawing the abstrusest niceties into controversy, and dividing and subdividing about them into endless schisms and contentions, they had so destroyed that peace, love, and charity from among vide poc. spec. p. , &c.		 vide hyde ubi sup. p. . 	 ricaut's state of the ottoman empire, p. . them, which the gospel was given to promote; and instead thereof continually provoked each other to that malice, rancour, and every evil work; that they had lost the whole substance of their religion, while they thus eagerly contended for their own imaginations concerning it; and in a manner quite drove christianity out of the world by those very controversies in which they disputed with each other about it. in these dark ages it was that most of those superstitions and corruptions we now justly abhor in the church of rome were not only broached, but established; which gave great advantages to the propagation of mohammedism. the worship of saints and images, in particular, was then arrived at such a scandalous pitch that it even surpassed whatever is now practised among the romanists. after the nicene council, the eastern church was engaged in perpetual controversies, and torn to pieces by the disputes of the arians, sabellians, nestorians, and eutychians: the heresies of the two last of which have been shown to have consisted more in the words and form of expression than in the doctrines themselves; and were rather the pretences than real motives of those frequent councils to and from which the contentious prelates were continually riding post, that they might bring everything to their own will and pleasure. and to support themselves by dependants and bribery, the clergy in any credit at court undertook the protection of some officer in the army, under the colour of which justice was publicly sold, and all corruption encouraged. in the western church damasus and ursicinus carried their contests at rome for the episcopal seat so high, that they came to open violence and murder, which viventius the governor not being able to suppress, he retired into the country, and left them to themselves, till damasus prevailed. it is said that on this occasion, in the church of sicininus, there were no less than found killed in one day. and no wonder they were so fond of these seats, when they became by that means enriched by the presents of matrons, and went abroad in their chariots and sedans in great state, feasting sumptuously even beyond the luxury of princes, quite contrary to the way of living of the country prelates, who alone seemed to have some temperance and modesty left. these dissensions were greatly owing to the emperors, and particularly to constantius, who, confounding the pure and simple christian religion with anile superstitions, and perplexing it with intricate questions, instead of reconciling different opinions, excited many disputes, which he fomented as they proceeded with infinite altercations. this grew worse in the time of justinian, who, not to be behind the bishops to the fifth and sixth centuries in zeal, thought it no crime to condemn to death a man of a different persuasion from his own. this corruption of doctrine and morals in the princes and clergy, was necessarily followed by a general depravity of the people; those of all conditions making it their sole business to get money by any means, prideaux's preface to his life of mahomet.		 vide la vie de mahommed, par boulainvilliers, p. , &c. vide simon, hist. crit. de la créance, &c. des nations du levant. 	 ammian. marcellin. l. i. vide etiam euseb. hist. eccles. l. , c. i. sozom. l. i, c. , &c. hilar. and sulpic. sever. in hist. sacr. p. , &c.		 ammian. marcellin. lib. . idem, l. i.		 procop. in anecd. p. .		 see an instance of the wickedness of the christian army, even when they were under the terror of the saracens, in ockley's hist. of the sarac., vol. i. p. . and then to squander it away when they had got it in luxury and debauchery. but, to be more particular as to the nation we are now writing of, arabia was of old famous for heresies; which might be in some measure attributed to the liberty and independency of the tribes. some of the christians of that nation believed the soul died with the body, and was to be raised again with it at the last day: these origen is said to have convinced. among the arabs it was that the heresies of ebion, beryllus, and the nazaræns, and also that of the collyridians, were broached, or at least propagated; the latter introduced the virgin mary for god, or worshipped her as such, offering her a sort of twisted cake called collyris, whence the sect had its name. this notion of the divinity of the virgin mary was also believed by some at the council of nice, who said there were two gods besides the father, viz., christ and the virgin mary, and were thence named mariamites. others imagined her to be exempt from humanity, and deified; which goes but little beyond the popish superstition in calling her the complement of the trinity, as if it were imperfect without her. this foolish imagination is justly condemned in the korân as idolatrous, and gave a handle to mohammed to attack the trinity itself. other sects there were of many denominations within the borders of arabia, which took refuge there from the proscriptions of the imperial edicts; several of whose notions mohammed incorporated with his religion, as may be observed hereafter. though the jews were an inconsiderable and despised people in other parts of the world, yet in arabia, whither many of them fled from the destruction of jerusalem, they grew very powerful, several tribes and princes embracing their religion; which made mohammed at first show great regard to them, adopting many of their opinions, doctrines, and customs; thereby to draw them, if possible, into his interest. but that people, agreeably to their wonted obstinacy, were so far from being his proselytes, that they were some of the bitterest enemies he had, waging continual war with him, so that their reduction cost him infinite trouble and danger, and at last his life. this aversion of theirs created at length as great a one in him to them, so that he used them, for the latter part of his life, much worse than he did the christians, and frequently exclaims against them in his korân; his followers to this day observe the same difference between them and the christians, treating the former as the most abject and contemptible people on earth. it has been observed by a great politician, that it is impossible a person should make himself a prince and found a state without opportunities. if the distracted state of religion favoured the designs of mohammed on that side, the weakness of the roman and persian monarchies might flatter him with no less hopes in any attempt on those once formidable empires, either of which, had they been in their full vigour, must have crushed mohammedism in its birth; whereas nothing nourished it more than the success the arabians met with in vide boulainvill. vie de mahom. ubi sup.		 vide sozomen. hist. eccles. l. r, c. , . sulpic. sever. ubi supra. euseb. hist. eccles. l. , c. .			 idem ibid. c. . 	 epiphan. de hæresi. l, i; hær. . idem ibid. l. ; hæres. , .			 elmacin. eutych. 	 cap. . machiavelli, princ. c. , p. . their enterprises against those powers, which success they failed not to attribute to their new religion and the divine assistance thereof. the roman empire declined apace after constantine, whose successors were for the generality remarkable for their ill qualities, especially cowardice and cruelty. by mohammed's time, the western half of the empire was overrun by the goths; and the eastern so reduced by the huns on the one side, and the persians on the other, that it was not in a capacity of stemming the violence of a powerful invasion. the emperor maurice paid tribute to the khagân or king of the huns; and after phocas had murdered his master, such lamentable havoc there was among the soldiers, that when heraclius came, not above seven years after, to muster the army, there were only two soldiers left alive, of all those who had borne arms when phocas first usurped the empire. and though heraclius was a prince of admirable courage and conduct, and had done what possibly could be done to restore the discipline of the army, and had had great success against the persians, so as to drive them not only out of his own dominions, but even out of part of their own; yet still the very vitals of the empire seemed to be mortally wounded; that there could no time have happened more fatal to the empire or more favourable to the enterprises of the arabs, who seem to have been raised up on purpose by god, to be a scourge to the christian church, for not living answerably to that most holy religion which they had received. the general luxury and degeneracy of manners into which the grecians were sunk, also contributed not a little to the enervating their forces, which were still further drained by those two great destroyers, monachism and persecution. the persians had also been in a declining condition for some time before mohammed, occasioned chiefly by their intestine broils and dissensions; great part of which arose from the devilish doctrines of manes and mazdak. the opinions of the former are tolerably well known: the latter lived in the reign of khosru kobâd, and pretended himself a prophet sent from god to preach a community of women and possessions, since all men were brothers and descended from the same common parents. this he imagined would put an end to all feuds and quarrels among men, which generally arose on account of one of the two. kobâd himself embraced the opinions of this impostor, to whom he gave leave, according to his new doctrine, to lie with the queen his wife; which permission anushirwân, his son, with much difficulty prevailed on mazdak not to make use of. these sects had certainly been the immediate ruin of the persian empire, had not anushirwân, as soon as he succeeded his father, put mazdek to death with all his followers, and the manicheans also, restoring the ancient magian religion. in the reign of this prince, deservedly surnamed the just, mohammed was born. he was the last king of persia who deserved the throne, which after him was almost perpetually contended for, till subverted by the arabs. his son hormûz lost the love of his subjects by his excessive cruelty; having had his eyes put out by his wife's brothers, he was 	 ockley's hist. of the saracens, vol. i. p. , &c.	 vide poc. spec. p. . obliged to resign the crown to his son khosrû parvîz, who at the instigation of bahrâm chubîn had rebelled against him, and was afterwards strangled. parvîz was soon obliged to quit the throne to bahrâm; but obtaining succours of the greek emperor maurice, he recovered the crown: yet towards the latter end of a long reign he grew so tyrannical and hateful to his subjects, that they held private correspondence with the arabs; and he was at length deposed, imprisoned, and slain by his son shirûyeh. after parvîz no less than six princes possessed the throne in less than six years. these domestic broils effectually brought ruin upon the persians; for though they did rather by the weakness of the greeks, than their own force, ravage syria, and sack jerusalem and damascus under khosrû parvîz; and, while the arabs were divided and independent, had some power in the province of yaman, where they set up the four last kings before mohammed; yet when attacked by the greeks under heraclius, they not only lost their new conquests, but part of their own dominions; and no sooner were the arabs united by mohammedism, than they beat them in every battle, and in a few years totally subdued them. as these empires were weak and declining, so arabia, at mohammed's setting up, was strong and flourishing; having been peopled at the expense of the grecian empire, whence the violent proceedings of the domineering sects forced many to seek refuge in a free country, as arabia then was, where they who could not enjoy tranquility and their conscience at home, found a secure retreat. the arabians were not only a populous nation, but unacquainted with the luxury and delicacies of the greeks and persians, and inured to hardships of all sorts; living in a most parsimonious manner, seldom eating any flesh, drinking no wine, and sitting on the ground. their political government was also such as favoured the designs of mohammed; for the division and independency of their tribes were so necessary to the first propagation of his religion, and the foundation of his power, that it would have been scarce possible for him to have effected either, had the arabs been united in one society. but when they had embraced his religion, the consequent union of their tribes was no less necessary and conducive to their future conquests and grandeur. this posture of public affairs in the eastern world, both as to its religious and political state, it is more than probably mohammed was well acquainted with; he having had sufficient opportunities of informing himself in those particulars, in his travels as a merchant in his younger years: and though it is not to be supposed his views at first were so extensive as afterwards, when they were enlarged by his good fortune, yet he might reasonably promise himself success in his first attempts from thence. as he was a man of extraordinary parts and address, he knew how to make the best of every incident, and turn what might seem dangerous to another, to his own advantage. mohammed came into the world under some disadvantages, which he soon surmounted. his father abd'allah was a younger son of abd'almotalleb, and dying very young and in his father's lifetime, left vide teixeira, relaciones de los reyes de persia, p. , &c. 	 he was not his eldest son, as dr. prideaux tells us, whose reflections built on that foundation must necessarily fail (see his life of mahomet, p. ); nor yet his youngest son, as m. de boulainvilliers (vie de mahommed, p. , &c) supposes; for hamza and al abbâs were both younger than abd'allah. his widow and infant son in very mean circumstances, his whole substance consisting but of five camels and one ethiopian she-slave. abd'almotalleb was therefore obliged to take care of his grandchild mohammed, which he not only did during his life, but at his death enjoined his eldest son abu tâleb, who was brother to abd'allah by the same mother, to provide for him for the future; which he very affectionately did, and instructed him in the business of a merchant, which he followed; and to that end he took him with him into syria when he was but thirteen, and afterward recommended him to khadîjah, a noble and rich widow, for her factor, in whose service he behaved himself so well, that by making him her husband she soon raised him to an equality with the richest in mecca. after he began by this advantageous match to live at his ease, it was that he formed the scheme of establishing a new religion, or, as he expressed it, of replanting the only true and ancient one, professed by adam, noah, abraham, moses, jesus, and all the prophets, by destroying the gross idolatry into which the generality of his countrymen had fallen, and weeding out the corruptions and superstitions which the latter jews and christians had, as he thought, introduced into their religion, and reducing it to its original purity, which consisted chiefly in the worship of the one only god. whether this was the effect of enthusiasm, or only a design to raise himself to the supreme government of his country, i will not pretend to determine. the latter is the general opinion of the christian writers, who agree that ambition, and the desire of satisfying his sensuality, were the motives of his undertaking. it may be so; yet his first views, perhaps, were not so interested. his original design of bringing the pagan arabs to the knowledge of the true god, was certainly noble, and highly to be commended; for i cannot possibly subscribe to the assertion of a late learned writer, that he made the nation exchange their idolatry for another religion altogether as bad. mohammed was no doubt fully satisfied in his conscience of the truth of his grand point, the unity of god, which was what he chiefly attended to; all his other doctrines and institutions being rather accidental and unavoidable, than premeditated and designed. since then mohammed was certainly himself persuaded of his grand article of faith, which, in his opinion, was violated by all the rest of the world; not only by the idolaters, but by the christians, as well those who rightly worshipped jesus as god, as those who superstitiously adored the virgin mary, saints, and images; and also by the jews, who are accused in the korân of taking ezra for the son of god; it is easy to conceive that he might think it a meritorious work to rescue the world from such ignorance and superstition; and by degrees, with the help of a warm imagination, which an arab seldom wants, to suppose himself destined by providence for the effecting that great reformation. and this fancy of his might take still deeper root in his mind, during the solitude he thereupon affected, usually retiring for a month in the year to a cave in mount hara, near mecca. one thing which may be probably urged against the enthusiasm of this prophet of abulfeda, vit. moham. p. .		 see kor. c. .		 prideaux's life of mahomet, p. .		 kor. c. .		 see casaub. of enthusiasm, p. . the arabs, is the wise conduct and great prudence he all along showed in pursuing his design, which seem inconsistent with the wild notions of a hot- brained religionist. but though all enthusiasts or madmen do not behave with the same gravity and circumspection that he did, yet he will not be the first instance, by several, of a person who has been out of the way only quoad hoc, and in all other respects acted with the greatest decency and precaution. the terrible destruction of the eastern churches, once so glorious and flourishing, by the sudden spreading of mohammedism, and the great successes of its professors against the christians, necessarily inspire a horror of that religion in those to whom it has been so fatal; and no wonder if they endeavour to set the character of its founder, and its doctrines, in the most infamous light. but the damage done by mohammed to christianity seems to have been rather owing to his ignorance than malice; for his great misfortune was, his not having a competent knowledge of the real and pure doctrines of the christian religion, which was in his time so abominably corrupted, that it is not surprising if he went too far, and resolved to abolish what he might think incapable of reformation. it is scarce to be doubted but that mohammed had a violent desire of being reckoned an extraordinary person, which he could attain to by no means more effectually, than by pretending to be a messenger sent from god, to inform mankind of his will. this might be at first his utmost ambition; and had his fellow-citizens treated him less injuriously, and not obliged him by their persecutions to seek refuge elsewhere, and to take up arms against them in his own defence, he had perhaps continued a private person, and contented himself with the veneration and respect due to his prophetical office; but being once got at the head of a little army, and encouraged by success, it is no wonder if he raised his thoughts to attempt what had never before entered his imagination. that mohammed was, as the arabs are by complexion, a great lover of women, we are assured by his own confession; and he is constantly upbraided with it by the controversial writers, who fail not to urge the number of women with whom he had to do, as a demonstrative argument of his sensuality, which they think sufficiently proves him to have been a wicked man, and consequently an impostor. but it must be considered that polygamy, though it be forbidden by the christian religion, was in mohammed's time frequently practised in arabia and other parts of the east, and was not counted an immorality, nor was a man worse esteemed on that account; for which reason mohammed permitted the plurality of wives, with certain limitations, among his own followers, who argue for the lawfulness of it from several reasons, and particularly from the examples of persons allowed on all hands to have been good men; some of whom have been honoured with the divine correspondence. the several laws relating to marriages and divorces, and the peculiar privileges granted to mohammed in his korân, were almost all taken by him from the jewish decisions, as will appear hereafter; and therefore he might think those ammian. marcell. l. , c. . institutions the more just and reasonable, as he found them practised or approved by the professors of a religion which was confessedly of divine original. but whatever were his motives, mohammed had certainly the personal qualifications which were necessary to accomplish his undertaking. the mohammedan authors are excessive in their commendations of him, and speak much of his religious and moral virtues; as his piety, veracity, justice, liberality, clemency, humility, and abstinence. his charity, in particular, they say, was so conspicuous, that he had seldom any money in his house, keeping no more for his own use than was just sufficient to maintain his family; and he frequently spared even some part of his own provisions to supply the necessities of the poor; so that before the year's end he had generally little or nothing left: "god," says al bokhâri, "offered him the keys of the treasures of the earth, but he would not accept them." though the eulogies of these writers are justly to be suspected of partiality, yet thus much, i think, may be inferred from thence, that for an arab who had been educated in paganism, and had but a very imperfect knowledge of his duty, he was a man of at least tolerable morals, and not such a monster of wickedness as he is usually represented. and indeed it is scarce possible to conceive, that a wretch of so profligate a character should ever have succeeded in an enterprise of this nature; a little hypocrisy and saving of appearances, at least, must have been absolutely necessary; and the sincerity of his intentions is what i pretend not to inquire into. he had indisputably a very piercing and sagacious wit, and was thoroughly versed in all the arts of insinuation. the eastern historians describe him to have been a man of an excellent judgment, and a happy memory; and these natural parts were improved by a great experience and knowledge of men, and the observations he had made in his travels. they say he was a person of few words, of an equal cheerful temper, pleasant and familiar in conversation, of inoffensive behaviour towards his friends, and of great condescension towards his inferiors. to all which were joined a comely agreeable person, and a polite address; accomplishments of no small service in preventing those in his favour whom he attempted to persuade. as to acquired learning, it is confessed he had none at all; having had no other education than what was customary in his tribe, who neglected, and perhaps despised, what we call literature; esteeming no language in comparison with their own, their skill in which they gained by use and not by books, and contenting themselves with improving their private experience by committing to memory such passages of their poets as they judged might be of use to them in life. this defect was so far from being prejudicial or putting a stop to his design, that he made the greatest use of it; insisting that the writings which he produced as revelations from god, could not possibly be a forgery of his own; because it was not conceivable that a person who could neither write nor read should be able to compose a book of such excellent doctrine, and in so elegant a style; and thereby obviating vide abulfeda vit. moham. p. , &c.		 vide prid. life of mahomet, p. .			 vide abulfed. ubi sup. an objection that might have carried a great deal of weight. and for this reason his followers, instead of being ashamed of their master's ignorance, glory in it, as an evident proof of his divine mission, and scruple not to call him (as he is indeed called in the korân itself ) the "illiterate prophet." the scheme of religion which mohammed framed, and the design and artful contrivance of those written revelations (as he pretended them to be) which compose his korân, shall be the subject of the following sections: i shall therefore in the remainder of this relate, as briefly as possible, the steps he took towards the effecting of his enterprise, and the accidents which concurred to his success therein. before he made any attempt abroad, he rightly judged that it was necessary for him to begin by the conversion of his own household. having therefore retired with his family, as he had done several times before, to the above- mentioned cave in mount hara, he there opened the secret of his mission to his wife khadîjah; and acquainted her that the angel gabriel had just before appeared to him, and told him that he was appointed the apostle of god: he also repeated to her a passage which he pretended had been revealed to him by the ministry of the angel, with those other circumstances of his first appearance, which are related by the mohammedan writers. khadîjah received the news with great joy, swearing by him in whose hands her soul was, that she trusted he would be the prophet of his nation, and immediately communicated what she had heard to her cousin, warakah ebn nawfal, who, being a christian, could write in the hebrew character, and was tolerably well versed in the scriptures; and he as readily came into her opinion, assuring her that the same angel who had formerly appeared unto moses was now sent to mohammed. this first overture the prophet made in the month of ramadân, in the fortieth year of his age, which is therefore usually called the year of his mission. encouraged by so good a beginning, he resolved to proceed, and try for some time what he could do by private persuasion, not daring to hazard the whole affair by exposing it too suddenly to the public. he soon made proselytes of those under his own roof, viz., his wife khadîjah, his servant zeid ebn hâretha (to whom he gave his freedom on that occasion, which afterwards became a rule to his followers), and his cousin and pupil ali, the son of abu tâleb, though then very young: but this last, making no account of the other two, used to style himself the "first of believers." the next person mohammed applied to was abdallah ebn abi kohâfa, surnamed abu becr, a man of great authority among the koreish, and one whose interest he well knew would be of great service to him, as it soon appeared, for abu becr being gained over, prevailed also on othmân ebn affân, abd'alrahmân ebn awf, saad ebn abi wakkâs, al zobeir ebn al awâm, and telha ebn obeid'allah, all principal men in mecca, to follow his example. see kor. c. . prid. life of mahomet, p. , &c.		 chap. . 	 this passage is generally agreed to be the first five verses of the th chapter.			 i do not remember to have read in any eastern author, that khadîjah ever rejected her husband's pretences as delusions, or suspected him of any imposture. yet see prideaux's life of mahomet, p. , &c.		 vide poc. spec. p. .			 vide abulfed. vit. moham. p. , where the learned translator has mistaken the meaning of this passage.		 for he was his purchased slave, as abulfeda expressly tells us, and not his cousin-german, as m. de boulainvill. asserts (vie de mah. p. ). these men were the six chief companions, who, with a few more, were converted in the space of three years, at the end of which, mohammed having, as he hoped, a sufficient interest to support him, made his mission no longer a secret, but gave out that god had commanded him to admonish his near relations; and in order to do it with more convenience and prospect of success, he directed ali to prepare an entertainment, and invite the sons and descendants of abd'almotalleb, intending then to open his mind to them; this was done, and about forty of them came; but abu laheb, one of his uncles, making the company break up before mohammed had an opportunity of speaking, obliged him to give them a second invitation the next day; and when they were come, he made them the following speech: "i know no man in all arabia who can offer his kindred a more excellent thing than i now do you. i offer you happiness, both in this life and in that which is to come. god almighty hath commanded me to call you unto him; who therefore among you will be assisting to me herein, and become my brother and my vicegerent?" all of them hesitating, and declining the matter, ali at length rose up and declared that he would be his assistant, and vehemently threatened those who should oppose him. mohammed upon this embraced ali with great demonstrations of affection, and desired all who were present to hearken to and obey him as his deputy, at which the company broke out into great laughter, telling abu tâleb that he must now pay obedience to his son. this repulse however was so far from discouraging mohammed, that he began to preach in public to the people, who heard him with some patience, till he came to upbraid them with the idolatry, obstinacy, and perverseness of themselves and their fathers, which so highly provoked them that they declared themselves his enemies, and would soon have procured his ruin had he not been protected by abu tâleb. the chief of the koreish warmly solicited this person to desert his nephew, making frequent remonstrances against the innovations he was attempting, which proving ineffectual, they at length threatened him with an open rupture if he did not prevail on mohammed to desist. at this, abu tâleb was so far moved that he earnestly dissuaded his nephew from pursuing the affair any farther, representing the great danger he and his friends must otherwise run. but mohammed was not to be intimidated, telling his uncle plainly "that if they set the sun against him on his right hand, and the moon on his left, he would not leave his enterprise;" and abu tâleb, seeing him so firmly resolved to proceed, used no further arguments, but promised to stand by him against all his enemies. the koreish, finding they could prevail neither by fair words nor menaces, tried what they could do by force and ill-treatment, using mohammed's followers so very injuriously that it was not safe for them to continue at mecca any longer: whereupon mohammed gave leave to such of them as had not friends to protect them, to seek for refuge elsewhere. and accordingly, in the fifth year of the prophet's mission, sixteen of them, four of whom were women, fled into ethiopia; and among them othmân ebn affân and his wife rakîah, mohammed's 		 kor. c. . see the notes thereon.		 abulfeda ubi supra. daughter. this was the first flight; but afterwards several others followed them, retiring one after another, to the number of eighty-three men and eighteen women, besides children. these refugees were kindly received by the najâshi, or king of ethiopia, who refused to deliver them up to those whom the koreish sent to demand them, and, as the arab writers unanimously attest, even professed the mohammedan religion. in the sixth year of his mission mohammed had the pleasure of seeing his party strengthened by the conversion of his uncle hamza, a man of great valour and merit, and of omar ebn al khattâb, a person highly esteemed, and once a violent opposer of the prophet. as persecution generally advances rather than obstructs the spreading of a religion, islamism made so great a progress among the arab tribes, that the koreish, to suppress it effectually, if possible, in the seventh year of mohammed's mission, made a solemn league or covenant against the hashemites and the family of al motalleb, engaging themselves to contract no marriages with any of them, and to have no communication with them; and to give it the greater sanction, reduced it into writing, and laid it up in the caaba. upon this the tribe became divided into two factions; and the family of hashem all repaired to abu tâleb, as their head; except only abd'al uzza, surnamed abu laheb, who, out of his inveterate hatred to his nephew and his doctrine, went over to the opposite party, whose chief was abu sofiân ebn harb, of the family of ommeya. the families continued thus at variance for three years; but in the tenth year of his mission, mohammed told his uncle abu tâleb that god had manifestly showed his disapprobation of the league which the koreish had made against them, by sending a worm to eat out every word of the instrument except the name of god. of this accident mohammed had probably some private notice; for abu tâleb went immediately to the koreish and acquainted them with it; offering, if it proved false, to deliver his nephew up to them; but in case it were true, he insisted that they ought to lay aside their animosity, and annul the league they had made against the hashemites. to this they acquiesced, and going to inspect the writing, to their great astonishment found it to be as abu tâleb had said; and the league was thereupon declared void. in the same year abu tâleb died, at the age of above fourscore; and it is the general opinion that he died an infidel, though others say that when he was at the point of death he embraced mohammedism, and produce some passages out of his poetical compositions to confirm their assertion. about a month, or as some write, three days after the death of this great benefactor and patron, mohammed had the additional mortification to lose his wife khadîjah, who had so generously made his fortune. for which reason this year is called the year of mourning. on the death of these two persons the koreish began to be more troublesome than ever to their prophet, and especially some who had formerly been his intimate friends; insomuch that he found himself idem, ebn shohnah.		 dr. prideaux seems to take this word for a proper name, but it is only the title the arabs give to every king of this country. see his life of mahomet, p. 		 ebn shohnah 	 al jannâbi. abulfed. p. . ebn shohnah. obliged to seek for shelter elsewhere, and first pitched upon tâyet, about sixty miles east from mecca, for the place of his retreat. thither therefore he went, accompanied by his servant zeid, and applied himself to two of the chief of the tribe of thakîf, who were the inhabitants of that place; but they received him very coldly. however, he stayed there a month; and some of the more considerate and better sort of men treated him with a little respect: but the slaves and inferior people at length rose against him, and bringing him to the wall of the city, obliged him to depart and return to mecca, where he put himself under the protection of al motáam ebn adi. this repulse greatly discouraged his followers: however, mohammed was not wanting to himself, but boldly continued to preach to the public assemblies at the pilgrimage, and gained several proselytes, and among them six of the inhabitants of yathreb of the jewish tribe of khazraj, who on their return home failed not to speak much in commendation of their new religion, and exhorted their fellow-citizens to embrace the same. in the twelfth year of his mission it was that mohammed gave out that he he had made his night journey from mecca to jerusalem and thence to heaven, so much spoken of by all that write of him. dr. prideaux thinks he invented it either to answer the expectations of those who demanded some miracle as a proof of his mission, or else, by pretending to have conversed with god, to establish the authority of whatever he should think fit to leave behind by way of oral tradition, and make his sayings to serve the same purpose as the oral law of the jews. but i do not find that mohammed himself ever expected so great a regard should be paid to his sayings, as his followers have since done; and seeing he all along disclaimed any power of performing miracles, it seems rather to have been a fetch of policy to raise his reputation, by pretending to have actually conversing with god in heaven, as moses had heretofore done in the mount, and to have received several institutions immediately from him, whereas before he contented himself with persuading them that he had all by the ministry of gabriel. however, this story seemed so absurd and incredible, that several of his followers left him upon it, and it had probably ruined the whole design, had not abu becr vouched for his veracity, and declared that if mohammed affirmed it to be true, he verily believed the whole. which happy incident not only retrieved the prophet's credit, but increased it to such a degree, that he was secure of being able to make his disciples swallow whatever he pleased to impose on them for the future. and i am apt to think this fiction, notwithstanding its extravagance, was one of the most artful contrivances mohammed ever put in practice, and what chiefly contributed to the raising of his reputation to that great height to which it afterwards arrived. in this year, called by the mohammedans the accepted year, twelve men of yathreb or medina, of whom ten were of the tribe of khazraj, and the other two of that of aws, came to mecca, and took an oath of fidelity to mohammed at al akaba, a hill on the north of that city. this oath was called the women's oath, not that any women were pre- ebn shohnah.		 see the notes on the th chapter of the korân.		 life o mahomet, p. , , &c. sent at this time, but because a man was not thereby obliged to take up arms in defence of mohammed or his religion; it being the same oath that was afterwards exacted of the women, the form of which we have in the korân, and is to this effect, viz.: "that they should renounce all idolatry; that they should not steal, nor commit fornication, nor kill their children (as the pagan arabs used to do when they apprehended they should not be able to maintain them ), nor forge calumnies; and that they should obey the prophet in all things that were reasonable." when they had solemnly engaged to do all this, mohammed sent one of his disciples, named masáb ebn omair, home with them, to instruct them more fully in the grounds and ceremonies of his new religion. masáb, being arrived at medina, by the assistance of those who had been formerly converted, gained several proselytes, particularly osaid ebn hodeira, a chief man of the city, and saad ebn moâdh, prince of the tribe of aws; mohammedism spreading so fast, that there was scarce a house wherein there were not some who had embraced it. the next year, being the thirteenth of mohammed's mission, masáh returned to mecca, accompanied by seventy-three men and two women of medina, who had professed islamism, besides some others who were as yet unbelievers. on their arrival, they immediately sent to mohammed, and offered him their assistance, of which he was now in great need, for his adversaries were by this time grown so powerful in mecca, that he could not stay there much longer without imminent danger. wherefore he accepted their proposal, and met them one night, by appointment, at al akaba above mentioned, attended by his uncle al abbas, who, though he was not then a believer, wished his nephew well, and made a speech to those of medina, wherein he told them, that as mohammed was obliged to quit his native city, and seek an asylum elsewhere, and they had offered him their protection, they would do well not to deceive him; and that if they were not firmly resolved to defend and not betray him, they had better declare their minds, and let him provide for his safety in some other manner. upon their protesting their sincerity, mohammed swore to be faithful to them, on condition that they should protect him against all insults, as heartily as they would their own wives and families. they then asked him what recompense they were to expect if they should happen to be killed in his quarrel; he answered, paradise. whereupon they pledged their faith to him, and so returned home; after mohammed had chosen twelve out of their number, who were to have the same authority among them as the twelve apostles of christ had among his disciples. hitherto mohammed had propagated his religion by fair means, so that the whole success of his enterprise, before his flight to medina, must be attributed to persuasion only, and not to compulsion. for before this second oath of fealty or inauguration at al akaba, he had no permission to use any force at all; and in several places of the korân, which he pretended were revealed during his stay at mecca, cap. .		 vide kor. c. .		 abulfeda. vit. moham. p. , &c.		 ebn ishâk. he declares his business was only to preach and admonish; that he had no authority to compel any person to embrace his religion; and that whether people believed, or not, was none of his concern, but belonged solely unto god. and he was so far from allowing his followers to use force, that he exhorted them to bear patiently those injuries which were offered them on account of their faith; and when persecuted himself, chose rather to quit the place of his birth and retire to medina, than to make any resistance. but this great passiveness and moderation seems entirely owing to his want of power, and the great superiority of his opposers for the first twelve years of his mission; for no sooner was he enabled, by the assistance of those of medina, to make head against his enemies, than he gave out, that god had allowed him and his followers to defend themselves against the infidels; and at length as his forces increased, he pretended to have the divine leave even to attack them, and to destroy idolatry, and set up the true faith by the sword; finding by experience that his designs would otherwise proceed very slowly, if they were not utterly overthrown, and knowing on the other hand that innovators, when they depend solely on their own strength, and can compel, seldom run any risk; from whence, the politician observes, it follows, that all the armed prophets have succeeded, and the unarmed ones have failed. moses, cyrus, theseus, and romulus would not have been able to establish the observance of their institutions for any length of time had they not been armed. the first passage of the korân which gave mohammed the permission of defending himself by arms, is said to have been that in the twenty-second chapter; after which a great number to the same purpose were revealed. that mohammed had a right to take up arms for his own defence against his unjust persecutors, may perhaps be allowed; but whether he ought afterwards to have made use of that means for the establishing of his religion is a question i will not here determine. how far the secular power may or ought to interpose in affairs of this nature, mankind are not agreed. the method of converting by the sword, gives no very favourable idea of the faith which is so propagated, and is disallowed by everybody in those of another religion, though the same persons are willing to admit of it for the advancement of their own; supposing that though a false religion ought not to be established by authority, yet a true one may; and accordingly force is almost as constantly employed in these cases by those who have the power in their hands, as it is constantly complained of by those who suffer the violence. it is certainly one of the most convincing proofs that mohammedism was no other than human invention, that it owed its progress and establishment almost entirely to the sword; and it is one of the strongest demonstrations of the divine original of christianity, that it prevailed against all the forces and powers of the world by the mere dint of its own truth, after having stood the assaults of all manner of persecutions, as well as other oppositions, for years together and at length made the roman emperors themselves submit thereto; after which time, indeed, this proof seems to fail, christianity being 	 machiavelli, princ. c. .			 see prideaux's letter to the deists, p. , &c. then established and paganism abolished by public authority, which has had great influence in the propagation of the one and destruction of the other ever since. but to return. mohammed having provided for the security of his companions as well as his own, by the league offensive and defensive which he had now concluded with those of medina, directed them to repair thither, which they accordingly did; but himself with abu becr and ali stayed behind, having not yet received the divine permission, as he pretended, to leave mecca. the koreish, fearing the consequence of this new alliance, began to think it absolutely necessary to prevent mohammed's escape to medina, and having held a council thereon, after several milder expedients had been rejected, they came to a resolution that he should be killed; and agreed that a man should be chosen out of every tribe for the execution of this design, and that each man should have a blow at him with his sword, that the guilt of his blood might fall equally on all the tribes, to whose united power the hashemites were much inferior, and therefore durst not attempt to revenge their kinsman's death. this conspiracy was scarce formed when by some means or other it came to mohammed knowledge, and he gave out that it was revealed to him the angel gabriel, who had now ordered him to retire to medina. whereupon, to amuse his enemies, he directed ali to lie down in his place and wrap himself up in his green cloak, which he did, and mohammed escape miraculously, as they pretend, to abu becr's house, unperceived by the conspirators, who had already assembled at the prophet's door. they in the meantime, looking through the crevice and seeing ali, whom they took to be mohammed himself, asleep, continued watching there till morning, when ali arose, and they found themselves deceived. from abu becr's house mohammed and he went to a cave in mount thur, to the south-east of mecca, accompanied only by amer ebn foheirah, abu becr's servant, and abd'allah ebn oreikat, an idolater, whom they had hired for a guide. in this cave they lay hid three days to avoid the search of their enemies, which they very narrowly escaped, and not without the assistance of more miracles than one; for some say that the koreish were struck with blindness, so that they could not find the cave; others, that after mohammed and his companions were got in, two pigeons laid their eggs at the entrance, and a spider covered the mouth of the cave with her web, which made them look no farther. abu becr, seeing the prophet in such imminent danger, became very sorrowful, whereupon mohammed comforted him with these words, recorded in the korân: "be not grieved, for god is with us." their enemies being retired, they left the cave and set out for medina, by a by-road, and having fortunately, or as the mohammedans tell us, miraculously, escaped some who were sent to pursue them, see bayle's dict. hist. art. mahomet, rem. o.		 see the notes to chap. and .			 it is observable that the jews have a like tradition concerning david, when he fled from saul into the cave; and the targum paraphrases these words of the second verse of psalm lvii., which was composed on occasion of that deliverance: "i will pray before the most high god that performeth all things for me, in this manner; i will pray before the most high god, who called a spider to weave a web for my sake in the mouth of the cave."			 al beidâwi in kor. c. . vide d'herbel. bibl. orient p. .		 cap. . arrived safely at that city; whither ali followed them in three days, after he had settled some affairs at mecca. the first thing mohammed did after his arrival at medina, was to build a temple for his religious worship, and a house for himself, which he did on a parcel of ground which had before served to put camels in, or as others tell us, for a burying-ground, and belonged to sahal and soheil the sons of amru, who were orphans. this action dr. prideaux exclaims against, representing it as a flagrant instance of injustice, for that, says he, he violently dispossessed these poor orphans, the sons of an inferior artificer (whom the author he quotes calls a carpenter) of this ground, and so founded the first fabric of his worship with the like wickedness as he did his religion. but to say nothing of the improbability that mohammed should act in so impolitic a manner at his first coming, the mohammedan writers set this affair ina quite different light; one tells us that he treated with the lads about the price of the ground, but they desired he would accept it asa present; however, as historians of good credit assure us, he actually bought it, and the money was paid by abu becr. besides, had mohammed accepted it as a present, the orphans were in circumstances sufficient to have afforded it; for they were of a very good family, of the tribe of najjâr, one of the most illustrious among the arabs, and not the sons of a carpenter, as dr. prideaux's author writes, who took the word najjâr, which signifies a carpenter, for an appellative, whereas it is a proper name. mohammed being securely settled at medina, and able not only to defend himself against the insults of his enemies, but to attack them, began to send out small parties to make reprisals on the koreish; the first party consisting of no more than nine men, who intercepted and plundered a caravan belonging to that tribe, and in the action took two prisoners. but what established his affairs very much, and was the foundation on which he built all his succeeding greatness, was the gaining of the battle of bedr, which was fought in the second year of the hejra, and is so famous in the mohammedan history. as my design is not to write the life of mohammed, but only to describe the manner in which he carried on his enterprise, i shall not enter into any detail of his subsequent battles and expeditions, which amounted to a considerable number. some reckon no less than twenty-seven expeditions wherein mohammed was personally present, in nine of which he gave battle, besides several other expeditions in which he was not present: some of them, however, will be necessarily taken notice of in explaining several passages of the korân. his forces he maintained partly by the contributions of his followers for this purpose, which he called by the name of zacât or alms, and the paying of which he very artfully made one main article of his religion; and partly by ordering a fifth part of the plunder to be brought into the public treasury for that purpose, in which manner he likewise pretended to act by the divine direction. abulfeda. vit. moh. p. , &c. ebn shohnah.		 abulfeda, ib. p. , .		 disputatio christiani contra saracen. c. . 	 prideaux's life of mahomet, p. .			 al bokhâri in sonna. al jannâbi		 ahmed ebn yusef.		 vide gagnier, not. in abulfed. de vit. moh. p. , . see the notes on the korân, chap. .			 vide abulfed. vit. moh. p. . in a few years by the success of his arms (notwithstanding he sometimes came off by the worst) he considerably raised his credit and power. in the sixth year of the hejra he set out with , men to visit the temple of mecca, not with any intent of committing hostilities, but in a peaceable manner. however, when he came to al hodeibiya, which is situate partly within and partly without the sacred territory, the koreish sent to let him know that they would not permit him to enter mecca, unless he forced his way; whereupon he called his troops about him, and they all took a solemn oath of fealty or homage to him, and he resolved to attack the city; but those of mecca sending araw ebn masúd, prince of the tribe of thakîf, as their ambassador to desire peace, a truce was concluded between them for ten years, by which any person was allowed to enter into league either with mohammed or with the koreish as he thought fit. it may not be improper, to show the inconceivable veneration and respect the mohammedans by this time had for their prophet, to mention the account which the above-mentioned ambassador gave the koreish, at his return, of their behaviour. he said he had been at the courts both of the roman emperor and of the king of persia, and never saw any prince so highly respected by his subjects as mohammed was by his companions; for whenever he made the ablution, in order to say his prayers, they ran and catched the water that he had used; and whenever he spit, they immediately licked it up, and gathered up every hair that fell from him with great superstition. in the seventh year of the hejra, mohammed began to think of propagating his religion beyond the bounds of arabia, and sent messengers to the neighbouring princes with letters to invite them to mohammedism. nor was this project without some success. khosrû parvîz, then king of persia, received his letter with great disdain, and tore it in a passion, sending away the messenger very abruptly; which when mohammed heard, he said, "god shall tear his kingdom." and soon after a messenger came to mohammed from badhân, king of yaman, who was a dependant on the persians, to acquaint him that he had received orders to send him to khosrû. mohammed put off his answer till the next morning, and then told the messenger it had been revealed to him that night that khosrû was slain by his son shirûyeh; adding that he was well assured his new religion and empire should rise to as great a height as that of khosrû; and therefore bid him advise his master to embrace mohammedism. the messenger being returned, badhân in a few days received a letter from shirûyeh informing him of his father's death, and ordering him to give the prophet no further disturbance. whereupon badhân and the persians with him turned mohammedans. the emperor heraclius, as the arabian historians assure us, received mohammed's letter with great respect, laying it on his pillow, and dismissed the bearer honourably. and some pretend that he would have professed this new faith, had he not been afraid of losing his crown. mohammed wrote to the same effect to the king of ethiopia, though he had been converted before, according to the arab writers; and to abulfeda vit. moh. p. .		 see before, p. .		 abulfeda, vit. moh. p. , &c.	 al jannâbi. mokawkas, governor of egypt, who gave the messenger a very favourable reception, and sent several valuable presents to mohammed, and among the rest two girls, one of which, named mary, became a great favourite with him. he also sent letters of the like purport to several arab princes, particularly one to al hareth ebn abi shamer, king of ghassân, who, returning for answer that he would go to mohammed himself, the prophet said, "may his kingdom perish;" another to hawdha ebn ali, king of yamâma, who was a christian, and having some time before professed islamism, had lately returned to his former faith; this prince sent back a very rough answer, upon which mohammed cursing him, he died soon after; and a third to al mondar ebn sâwa, king of bahrein, who embraced mohammedism, and all the arabs of that country followed his example. the eighth year of the hejra was a very fortunate year to mohammed. in the beginning of it khâled ebn al walîd and amru ebn al as, both excellent soldiers, the first of whom afterwards conquered syria and other countries, and the latter egypt, became proselytes of mohammedism. and soon after the prophet sent , men against the grecian forces, to revenge the death of one of his ambassadors, who being sent to the governor of bosra on the same errand as those who went to the above-mentioned princes, was slain by an arab of the tribe of ghassân at mûta, a town in the territory of balkâ in syria, about three days' journey eastward from jerusalem, near which town they encountered. the grecians being vastly superior in number (for, including the auxiliary arabs, they had an army of , men), the mohammedans were repulsed in the first attack, and lost successively three of their general, viz., zeid ebn hâretha, mohammed's freedman, jaafar, the son of abu tâleb, and abdâllah ebn rawâha; but khâled ebn al walîd, succeeding to the command, overthrew the greeks with a great slaughter, and brought away abundance of rich spoil; on occasion of which action mohammed gave him the honourable title of seif min soyûf allah, one of the swords of god. in this year also mohammed took the city of mecca, the inhabitants whereof had broken the truce concluded on two years before. for the tribe of becr, who were confederates of the koreish, attacking those of khozâah, who were allies of mohammed, killed several of them, being supported in the action by a party of the koreish themselves. the consequence of this violation was soon apprehended, and abu sofiân himself made a journey to medina on purpose to heal the breach and renew the truce, but in vain, for mohammed, glad of this opportunity, refused to see him; whereupon he applied to abu becr and ali, but they giving him no answer, he was obliged to return to mecca as he came. mohammed immediately gave orders for preparations to be made, that he might surprise the meccans while they were unprovided to receive him; in a little time he began his march thither, and by the it is, however, a different name from that of the virgin mary, which the orientals always write maryam, or miriam-whereas this is written mâriya. 	 this prince is omitted in dr. pocock's list of the kings of ghassân, spec. p. . abulfeda, bui sup. p. , &c.		 idem ib. p. , , &c. 	 al bokhâri in sonna. this circumstance is a plain proof that the koreish had actually broken the truce, and that it was not a mere pretence of mohammed's as dr. prideaux insinuates. life of mahomet, p. . time he came near the city his forces were increased to , men. those of mecca being not in a condition to defend themselves against so formidable an army, surrendered at discretion, and abu sofiân saved his life by turning mohammedan. about twenty-eight of the idolaters were killed by a party under the command of khâled; but this happened contrary to mohammed's orders, who, when he entered the town, pardoned all the koreish on their submission, except only six men and four women, who were more obnoxious than ordinary (some of them having apostatized), and were solemnly proscribed by the prophet himself; but of these no more than three men and one woman were put to death, the rest obtaining pardon on their embracing mohammedism, and one of the women making her escape. the remainder of this year mohammed employed in destroying the idols in and round about mecca, sending several of his generals on expeditions for that purpose, and to invite the arabs to islamism: wherein it is no wonder if they now met with success. the next year, being the ninth of the hejra, the mohammedans call "the year of embassies," for the arabs had been hitherto expecting the issue of the war between mohammed and the koreish; but so soon as that tribe-the principal of the whole nation, and the genuine descendants of ismael, whose prerogatives none offered to dispute-had submitted, they were satisfied that it was not in their power to oppose mohammed, and therefore began to come in to him in great numbers, and to send embassies to make their submissions to him, both to mecca, while he stayed there, and also to medina, whither he returned this year. among the rest, five kings of the tribe of hamyar professed mohammedism, and sent ambassadors to notify the same. in the tenth year ali was sent into yaman to propagate the mohammedan faith there, and as it is said, converted the whole tribe of hamdân in one day. their example was quickly followed by all the inhabitants of that province, except only those of najrân, who, being christians, chose rather to pay tribute. thus was mohammedism established and idolatry rooted out, even in mohammed's lifetime (for he died the next year), throughout all arabia, except only yamâma, where moseilama, who set up also for a prophet as mohammed's competitor, had a great party, and was not reduced till the khalîfat of abu becr. and the arabs being then united in one faith and under one prince, found themselves in a condition of making those conquests which extended the mohammedan faith over so great a part of the world. ______ vide abulfed. ubi sup. c. , .				 vide gagnier, not. ad abulfed. p. . abulfed. ubi sup. p. .				 ibid. p. . section iii of the koran itself, the peculiarities of that book; the manner of its being written and published, and the general design of it. the word korân, derived from the verb karaa, to read, signifies properly in arabic, "the reading," or rather, "that which ought to be read;" by which name mohammedans denote not only the entire book or volume of the korân, but also any particular chapter or section of it: just as the jews call either the whole scripture or any part of it by the name of karâh, or mikra, words of the same origin and import; which observation seems to overthrow the opinion of some learned arabians, who would have the korân so named because it is a collection of the loose chapters or sheets which compose it-the verb karaa signifying also to gather or collect: and may also, by the way, serve as an answer to those who object that the korân must be a book forged at once, and could not possibly be revealed by parcels at different times during the course of several years, as the mohammedans affirm, because the korân is often mentioned and called by that name in the very book itself. it may not be amiss to observe, that the syllable al in the word alkoran is only the arabic article, signifying the, and therefore ought to be omitted when the english article is prefixed. beside this peculiar name, the korân is also honoured with several appellations, common to other books of scripture: as, al forkân, from the verb faraka, to divide or distinguish; not, as the mohammedan doctor say, because those books are divided into chapters or sections, or distinguish between good and evil; but in the same notion that the jews use the word perek, or pirka, from the same root, to denote a section or portion of scripture. it is also called al moshaf, the volume, and al kitab, the book, by way of eminence, which answers to the biblia of the greeks; and al dhikr, the admonition, which name is also given to the pentateuch and gospel. the korân is divided into larger portions of very unequal length, which we call chapters, but the arabians sowar, in the singular sûra, a word rarely used on any other occasion, and properly signifying a row, order, or regular series; as a course of bricks in building, or a rank of soldiers in an army; and is the same in use and import with the sûra, or tora, of the jews, who also call the fifty-three sections of the pentateuch sedârim, a word of the same signification. these chapters are not in the manuscript copies distinguished by their numerical order, though for the reader's ease they are numbered this name was at first given to the pentateuch only, nehem. viii. vide simon. hist. crit. du vieux test. l. r, c. .	 vide erpen. not. ad hist. joseph. p. .		 marracc. de alcor. p. .		 vide gol. in append. ad gram. arab. erpen. . a chapter or subdivision of the massictoth of the mishna is also called perek. maimon. præf. in seder zeraim, p. . vide gol. ubi sup. . each of the six grand divisions of the mishna is also called seder. maimon. ubi sup. p. . in this edition, but by particular titles, which (except that of the first, which is the initial chapter, or introduction to the rest, and by the one latin translator not numbered among the chapters) are taken sometimes from a particular matter of, or person mentioned therein; but usually from the first word of note, exactly in the same manner as the jews have named their sedârim: though the words from which some chapters are denominated be very far distant, towards the middle, or perhaps the end of the chapter; which seems ridiculous. but the occasion of this seems to have been, that the verse or passage wherein such word occurs, was, in point of time, revealed and committed to writing before the other verses of the same chapter which precede it in order: and the title being given to the chapter before it was completed, or the passages reduced to their present order, the verse from whence such title was taken did not always happen to begin the chapter. some chapters have two or more titles, occasioned by the difference of the copies. some of the chapters having been revealed at mecca, and others at medina, the noting this difference makes a part of the title; but the reader will observe that several of the chapters are said to have been revealed partly at mecca, and partly at medina; and as to others, it is yet a dispute among the commentators to which place of the two they belong. every chapter is subdivided into smaller portions, of very unequal length also, which we customarily call verses; but the arabic word is ayât, the same with the hebrew ototh, and signifies signs, or wonders; such as are the secrets of god, his attributes, works, judgments, and ordinances, delivered in those verses; many of which have their particular titles also, imposed in the same manner as those of the chapters. notwithstanding this subdivision is common and well known, yet i have never yet seen any manuscript wherein the verses in each chapter is set down after the title, which we have therefore added in the table of the chapters. and the mohammedans seem to have some scruple in making an actual distinction in their copies, because the chief disagreement between their several editions of the korân, consists in the division and number of the verses: and for this reason i have not taken upon me to make any such division. having mentioned the different editions of the korân, it may not be amiss here to acquaint the reader, that there are seven principal editions, if i may so call them, or ancient copies of that book; two of which were published and used at medina, a third at mecca, a fourth at cufa, a fifth at basra, a sixth in syria, and a seventh called the common or vulgar edition. of these editions, the first of medina makes the whole number of the verses , ; the second and fifth, , ; the third, , ; the fourth, , ; the sixth, , ; and the last, , . but they are all said to contain the same number of words, namely, , ; and the same number of letters, viz., , : for the mohammedans have in this also imitated the jews, that they have superstitiously numbered the very words and letters of their law; nay, they have or as others reckon them, , . reland. de rel. moh. p. . 	 or according to another computation, , . ibid. vide gol. ubi sup. p. . d'herbelot, bibl. orient. p. . taken the pains to compute (how exactly i know not) the number of times each particular letter of the alphabet is contained in the korân. besides these unequal divisions of chapter and verse, the mohammedans have also divided their korân into sixty equal portions, which they call ahzâb, in the singular hizb, each subdivided into four equal parts; which is also an imitation of the jews, who have an ancient division of their mishna into sixty portions, called massictoth: but the korân is more usually divided into thirty sections only, named ajzâ, from the singular joz, each of twice the length of the former, and in the like manner subdivided into four parts. these divisions are for the use of the readers of the korân in the royal temples, or in the adjoining chapels where the emperors and great men are interred. there are thirty of these readers belonging to every chapel, and each reads his section every day, so that the whole korân is read over once a day. i have seen several copies divided in this manner, and bound up in as many volumes; and have thought it proper to mark these divisions in the margin of this translation by numeral letters. next after the title, at the head of every chapter, except only the ninth, is prefixed the following solemn form, by the mohammedans called the bismillah, "in the name of the most merciful god;" which form they constantly place at the beginning of all their books and writings in general, as a peculiar mark or distinguishing characteristic of their religion, it being counted a sort of impiety to omit it. the jews for the same purpose make use of the form, "in the name of the lord," or, "in the name of the great god:" and the eastern christians, that of "in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost." but i am apt to believe mohammed really took this form, as he did many other things, from the persian magi, who used to begin their books in these words, benâm yezdân bakhshaïshgher dâdâr; that is, "in the name of the most merciful, just god." this auspicatory form, and also the titles of the chapters, are by the generality of the doctors and commentators believed to be of divine original, no less than the text itself; but the more moderate are of opinion they are only human additions, and not the very word of god. there are twenty-nine chapters of the korân, which have this peculiarity, that they begin with certain letters of the alphabet, some with a single one, others with more. these letters the mohammedans believe to be the peculiar marks of the korân, and to conceal several profound mysteries, the certain understanding of which, the more intelligent confess, has not been communicated to any mortal, their prophet only excepted. notwithstanding which, some will take the liberty of guessing at their meaning by that species of cabbala called by the jews, notarikon, and suppose the letters to stand for as many words expressing the names and attributes of god, his works, ordinances, and decrees; and therefore these mysterious letters, as well as the verses themselves, seem in the korân to be called signs. others explain the intent of these letters from their nature or organ, or else from their value in numbers, according to another species of the jewish cabbala vide reland. de relig. oh. p. .			 vide gol. ubi sup. p. . maimon. præf. in seder zeraim, p. . vide smith, de moribus et instit. turcar. p. .		 hyde, his. rel. vet. pers. p. .		 vide buxtorf. lexicon rabbin. called gematria; the uncertainty of which conjectures sufficiently appears from their disagreement. thus, for example, five chapters, one of which is the second, begin with these letters, a.l.m., which some imagine to stand for allah latîf magîd; "god is gracious and to be glorified;" or, ana li minni, "to me and from me," viz., belongs all perfection, and proceeds all good; or else for ana allah âlam, "i am the most wise god," taking the first letter to mark the beginning of the first word, the second the middle of the second word, and the third the last of the third word: or for "allah, gabriel, mohammed," the author, revealer, and preacher of the korân. others say that as the letter a belongs to the lower part of the throat, the first of the organs of speech; l to the palate, the middle organ; and m to the lips, which are the last organs; so these letters signify that god is the beginning, middle, and end, or ought to be praised in the beginning, middle, and end of all our words and actions: or, as the total value of those three letters in numbers is seventy-one, they signify that in the space of so many years, the religion preached in the korân should be fully established. the conjecture of a learned christian is, at least, as certain as any of the former, who supposes those letters were set there by the amanuensis, for amar li mohammed, i.e., "at the command of mohammed," as the five letters prefixed to the nineteenth chapter seem to be there written by a jewish scribe, for cob yaas, i.e., "thus he commanded." the korân is universally allowed to be written with the utmost elegance and purity of language, in the dialect of the tribe of koreish, the most noble and polite of all the arabians, but with some mixture, though very rarely, or other dialects. it is confessedly the standard of the arabic tongue, and as the more orthodox believe, and are taught by the book itself, inimitable by any human pen (though some sectaries have been of another opinion), and therefore insisted on as a permanent miracle, greater than that of raising the dead, and alone sufficient to convince the world of its divine original. and to this miracle did mohammed himself chiefly appeal for the confirmation of his mission, publicly challenging the most eloquent men in arabia, which was at that time stocked with thousands whose sole study and ambition it was to excel in elegance of style and composition, to produce even a single chapter that might be compared with it. i will mention but one instance out of several, to show that this book was really admired for the beauty of its composure by those who must be allowed to have been competent judges. a poem of labîd ebn rabîa, one of the greatest wits in arabia in mohammed's time, being fixed up on the gate of the temple of mecca, an honour allowed to none but the most esteemed performances, none of the other poets durst offer anything of their own in competition with it. but the second chapter of the korân being fixed up by it soon after, labîd vide ibid. see also schickardi bechinat happerushim, p. , &c. 	 golius in append. ad gram. erp. p. . see after.		 ahmed abd'alhalim, apud marracc. de alc. p. . 		 a noble writer therefore mistakes the question when he says these eastern religionists leave their sacred writ the sole standard of literate performance by extinguishing all true learning. for though they were destitute of what we call learning, yet they were far from being ignorant, or unable to compose elegantly in their own tongue. see l. shaftesbury's characteristics, vol. iii. p. .		 al ghazâli, apud poc. spec. . see kor. c. , and also c. , p. , and c. ii, &c. himself (then an idolater) on reading the first verses only, was struck with admiration, and immediately professed the religion taught thereby, declaring that such words could proceed from an inspired person only. this labîd was afterwards of great service to mohammed, in writing answers to the satires and invectives that were made on him and his religion by the infidels, and particularly by amri al kais, prince of the tribe of asad, and author of one of those seven famous poems called al moallakât. the style of the korân is generally beautiful and fluent, especially where it imitates the prophetic manner and scripture phrases. it is concise and often obscure, adorned with bold figures after the eastern taste, enlivened with florid and sententious expressions, and in many places, especially where the majesty and attributes of god are described, sublime and magnificent; of which the reader cannot but observe several instances, though he must not imagine the translation comes up to the original, notwithstanding my endeavours to do it justice. though it be written in prose, yet the sentences generally conclude in a long continued rhyme, for the sake of which the sense is often interrupted, and unnecessary repetitions too frequently made, which appear still more ridiculous in a translation, where the ornament, such as it is, for whose sake they were made, cannot be perceived. however, the arabians are so mightily delighted with this jingling, that they employ it in their most elaborate compositions, which they also embellish with frequent passages of, and allusions to, the korân, so that it is next to impossible to understand them without being well versed in this book. it is probable the harmony of expression which the arabians find in the korân might contribute not a little to make them relish the doctrine therein taught, and give an efficacy to arguments which, had they been nakedly proposed without this rhetorical dress, might not have so easily prevailed. very extraordinary effects are related of the power of words well chosen and artfully placed, which are no less powerful either to ravish or amaze than music itself; wherefore as much has been ascribed by the best orators to this part of rhetoric as to any other. he must have a very bad ear who is not uncommonly moved with the very cadence of a well-turned sentence; and mohammed seems not to have been ignorant of the enthusiastic operation of rhetoric on the minds of men; for which reason he has not only employed his utmost skill in these his pretended revelations, to preserve the dignity and sublimity of style, which might seem not unworthy of the majesty of that being, whom he gave out to be the author of them; and to imitate the prophetic manner of the old testament; but he has not neglected even the other arts of oratory; wherein he succeeded so well, and so strangely captivated the minds of his audience, that several of his opponents thought it the effect of witchcraft and enchantment, as he sometimes complains. "the general design of the korân" (to use the words of a very learned person) "seems to be this. to unite the professors of the d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. , &c.		 poc. spec. p. . 	 see before, p. .		 see casaubon, of enthusiasm, c. . 	 kor. c. , , &c. three different religions then followed in the populous country of arabia, who for the most part lived promiscuously, and wandered without guides, the far greater number being idolaters, and the rest jews and christians, mostly of erroneous and heterodox belief, in the knowledge and worship of one eternal, invisible god, by whose power all things were made, and those which are not, may be, the supreme governor, judge, and absolute lord of the creation; established under the sanction of certain laws, and the outward signs of certain ceremonies, partly of ancient and partly of novel institution, and enforced by setting before them rewards and punishments, both temporal and eternal; and to bring them all to the obedience of mohammed, as the prophet and ambassador of god, who after the repeated admonitions, promises, and threats of former ages, was at last to establish and propagate god's religion on earth by force of arms, and to be acknowledged chief pontiff in spiritual matters, as well as supreme prince in temporal." the great doctrine then of the korân is the unity of god; to restore which point mohammed pretended was the chief end of his mission; it being laid down by him as a fundamental truth, that there never was nor ever can be more than one true orthodox religion. for though the particular laws or ceremonies are only temporary, and subject to alteration according to the divine direction, yet the substance of it being eternal truth, is not liable to change, but continues immutably the same. and he taught that whenever this religion became neglected, or corrupted in essentials, god had the goodness to re- inform and re-admonish mankind thereof, by several prophets, of whom moses and jesus were the most distinguished, till the appearance of mohammed, who is their seal, no other being to be expected after him. and the more effectually to engage people hearken to him, great part of the korân is employed in relating examples of dreadful punishments formerly inflicted by god on those who rejected and abused his messengers; several of which stories of some circumstances of them are taken from the old and new testament, but many more from the apocryphal books and traditions of the jews and christians of those ages, set up in the korân as truths in opposition to the scriptures, which the jews and christians are charged with having altered; and i am apt to believe that few or none of the relations or circumstances in the korân were invented by mohammed, as is generally supposed, it being easy to trace the greater part of them much higher, as the rest might be, were more of the books extant, and it was worth while to make the inquiry. the other part of the korân is taken up in giving necessary laws and directions, in frequent admonitions to moral and divine virtues, and above all to the worshipping and reverencing of the only true god, and resignation to his will; among which are many excellent things intermixed not unworthy even a christian's perusal. but besides these, there are a great number of passages which are occasional, and relate to particular emergencies. for whenever anything happened which perplexed and gravelled mohammed, and golius. in appen. ad gram. erp. p. . which he could not otherwise get over, he had constant recourse to a new revelation, as an infallible expedient in all nice cases; and he found the success of this method answer his expectation. it was certainly an admirable and politic contrivance of his to bring down the whole korân at once to the lowest heaven only, and not to the earth, as a bungling prophet would probably have done; for if the whole had been published at once, innumerable objections might have been made, which it would have been very hard, if not impossible, for him to solve: but as he pretended to have received it by parcels, as god saw proper that they should be published for the conversion and instruction of the people, he had a sure way to answer all emergencies, and to extricate himself with honour from any difficulty which might occur. if any objection be hence made to that eternity of the korân, which the mohammedans are taught to believe, they easily answer it by their doctrine of absolute predestination; according to which all the accidents for the sake of which these occasional passages were revealed, were predetermined by god from all eternity. that mohammed was really the author and chief contriver of the korân is beyond dispute; though it be highly probably that he had no small assistance in his design from others, as his countrymen failed not to object to him; however, they differed so much in their conjectures as to the particular persons who gave him such assistance, that they were not able, it seems, to prove the charge; mohammed, it is to be presumed, having taken his measures too well to be discovered. dr. prideaux has given the most probably account of this matter, though chiefly from christian writers, who generally mix such ridiculous fables with what they deliver, that they deserve not much credit. however, it be, the mohammedans absolutely deny the korân was composed by their prophet himself, or any other for him; it being their general and orthodox belief that it is of divine original, any, that it is eternal and uncreated, remaining, as some express it, in the very essence of god; that the first transcript has been from everlasting by god's throne, written on a tablet of vast bigness, called the preserved table, in which are also recorded the divine decrees past and future: that a copy from this table, in one volume on paper, was by the ministry of the angel gabriel sent down to the lowest heaven, in the month of ramadân, on the night of power; from whence gabriel revealed it to mohammed by parcels, some at mecca, and some at medina, at different times, during the space of twenty-three years, as the exigency of affairs required; giving him, however, the consolation to show him the whole (which they tell us was bound in silk, and adorned with gold and precious stones of paradise) once a year; but in the last year of his life he had the favour to see it twice. they say that few chapters were delivered entire, the most part being revealed piecemeal, and written down form time to time by the prophet's amanuenses in such or such a part of such or such a chapter till they were completed, according to the directions of the angel. the first parcel that was vide kor. c. , and c. .		 see the notes on those passages. 	 life of mahomet, p. , &c. vide kor. c. , and note ibid.		 therefore it is a mistake of dr. prideaux to say it was brought him chapter by chapter. life of mahomet, p. . the jews also say the law was given to moses by parcels. vide millium, de mohammedismo ante moham. p. . revealed, is generally agreed to have ben the first five verses of the ninety- sixth chapter. after the new revealed passages had been from the prophet's mouth taken down in writing by his scribe, they were published to his followers, several of whom took copies for their private use, but the far greater number got them by heart. the originals when returned were put promiscuously into a chest, observing no order of time, for which reason it is uncertain when many passages were revealed. when mohammed died, he left his revelations in the same disorder i have mentioned, and not digest into the method, such as it is, which we now find them in. this was the work of his successor, abu becr, who considering that a great number of passages were committed to the memory of mohammed's followers, many of whom were slain in their wars, ordered the whole to be collected, not only from the palm-leaves and skins on which they had been written, and which were kept between two boards or covers, but also from the mouths of such as had gotten them by heart. and this transcript when completed he committed to the custody of hafsa the daughter of omar, one of the prophet's widows. from this relation it is generally imagined that abu becr was really the compiler of the korân; though for aught appears to the contrary, mohammed left the chapters complete as we now have them, excepting such passages as his successor might add or correct from those who had gotten them by heart; what abu becr did else being perhaps no more than to range the chapters in their present order, which he seems to have done without any regard to time, having generally placed the longest first. however, in the thirtieth year of the hejra, othmân being then khalîf, and observing the great disagreement in the copies of the korân in the several provinces of the empire-those of irak, for example, following the reading of abu musa al ashari, and the syrians that of macdâd ebn aswad-he, by advice of the companions, ordered a great number of copies to be transcribed from that of abu becr, in hafsa's care, under the inspection of zeid ebn thabet, abd'allah ebn zobair, saïd ebn al as, and abd'alrahmân ebn al hâreth, the makhzumite; whom he directed that wherever they disagreed about any word, they should write it in the dialect of the koreish, in which it was first delivered. these copies when made were dispersed in the several provinces of the empire, and the old ones burnt and suppressed. though many things in hafsa's copy were corrected by the above-mentioned supervisors, yet some various readings still occur; the most material of which will be taken notice of in their proper places. the want of vowels in the arabic character made mokrîs, or readers whose peculiar study and profession it was to read the korân with its proper vowels, absolutely necessary. but these differing in their not the whole chapter, as golius says. append. ad gr. erp. p. . 	 elmacin. in vita abu becr. abulfeda. abulfeda, in vitis abubecr and othmân.		 the characters or marks of the arabic vowels were not used till several years after mohammed. some ascribe the invention of them to yahya ebn yâmer, some to nasr ebn asam, surnamed al leithi, and others to abu'laswad al dîli-all three of whom were doctors of basra, and immediately succeeded the companions. see d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. . manner of reading, occasioned still further variations in the copies of the korân, as they are now written with the vowels; and herein consist much the greater part of the various readings throughout the book. the readers whose authority the commentators chiefly allege, in admitting these various readings, are seven in number. there being some passages in the korân which are contradictory, the mohammedan doctors obviate any objection from thence by the doctrine of abrogation; for they say, that god in the korân commanded several things which were for good reasons afterwards revoked and abrogated. passages abrogated are distinguished into three kinds: the first where the letter and the sense are both abrogated; the second, where the letter only is abrogated, but the sense remains; and the third, where the sense is abrogated, though the letter remains. of the first kind were several verses, which, by the tradition of malec ebn ans, were in the prophet's lifetime read in the chapter of repentance, but are not now extant, one of which, being all he remembered of them, was the following: "if a son of adam had two rivers of gold, he would covet yet a third; and if he had three, he would covet yet a fourth (to be added) unto them; neither shall the belly of a son of adam be filled, but with dust. god will turn unto him who shall repent." another instance of this kind we have from the tradition of abd'allah ebn masûd, who reported that the prophet gave him a verse to read which he wrote down; but the next morning looking in his book, he found it was vanished, and the leaf blank: this he acquainted mohammed with, who assured him the verse was revoked the same night. of the second kind is a verse called the verse of stoning, which, according to the tradition of omar, afterwards khalîf, was extant while mohammed was living, though it be not now to be found. the words are these: "abhor not your parents, for this would be ingratitude in you. if a man and woman of reputation commit adultery, ye shall stone them both; it is a punishment ordained by god; for god is mighty and wise." of the last kind are observed several verses in sixty-three different chapters, to the number of . such as the precepts of turning in prayer to jerusalem; fasting after the old custom; forbearance towards idolaters; avoiding the ignorant, and the like. the passages of this sort have been carefully collected by several writers, and are most of them remarked in their proper places. though it is the belief of the sonnites or orthodox that the korân is uncreated and eternal, subsisting in the very essence of god, and mohammed himself is said to have pronounced him an infidel who asserted the contrary, yet several have been of a different opinion; particularly the sect of the mótazalites, and the followers of isa ebn sobeih abu musa, surnamed al mozdâr, who struck not to accuse those who held the korân to be uncreated of infidelity, as asserters of two eternal beings. this point was controverted with so much heat that it occasioned abu hashem hebatallah, apud marracc. de alc. p. .		 apud poc. spec. .		 see after, in sect. viii.		 vide poc. spec. p. , &c. many calamities under some of the khalîfs of the family of abbâs, al mamûn making a public edict declaring the korân to be created, which was confirmed by his successors al mótasem and al wâthek, who whipped, imprisoned, and put to death those of the contrary opinion. but at length al motawakkel, who succeeded al wâthek, put an end to these persecutions, by revoking the former edicts, releasing those that were imprisoned on that account, and leaving every man at liberty as to his belief in this point. al ghazâli seems to have tolerably reconciled both opinions, saying, that the korân is read and pronounced with the tongue, written in books, and kept in memory; and is yet eternal, subsisting in god's essence, and not possible to be separated thence by any transmission into men's memories or the leaves of books; by which he seems to mean no more than that the original idea of the korân only is really in god, and consequently co-essential and co-eternal with him, but that the copies are created and the work of man. the opinion of al jahedh, chief of a sect bearing his name, touching the korân, is too remarkable to be omitted: he used to say it was a body, which might sometimes be turned into a man, and sometimes into a beast; which seems to agree with the notion of those who assert the korân to have two faces, one of a man, the other of a beast; thereby, as i conceive, intimating the double interpretation it will admit of, according to the letter or the spirit. as some have held the korân to be created, so there have not been wanting those who have asserted that there is nothing miraculous in that book in respect to style or composition, excepting only the prophetical relations of things past, and predictions of things to come; and that had god left men to their natural liberty, and not restrained them in that particular, the arabians could have composed something not only equal, but superior to the korân in eloquence, method, and purity of language. this was another opinion of the mótazalites, and in particular of al mozdâr, above mentioned, and al nodhâm. the korân being the mohammedans' rule of faith and practice, it is no wonder its expositors and commentators are so very numerous. and it may not be amiss to take notice of the rules they observe in expounding it. one of the most learned commentators distinguishes the contents of the korân into allegorical and literal. the former comprehends the more obscure, parabolical, and enigmatical passages, and such as anno hej. . abulfarag, p. , v. etiam elmacin. in vita al mamûn. 	 in the time of al mótasem, a doctor named abu harûn ebn al baca found out a distinction to screen himself, by affirming that the korân was ordained, because it is said in that book, "and i have ordained thee the korân." he went still farther to allow that what was ordained was created, and yet he denied it thence followed that the korân was created. abulfarag, p. . 	 ibid. p. .		 anno hej. .		 abulfarag, p. . 	 al ghazâli, in prof. fid.		 the khalîf al walîd ebn yazîd, who was the eleventh of the race of emmeya, and is looked on by the mohammedans as a reprobate, and one of no religion, seems to have treated this book as a rational creature; for, dipping into it one day, the first words he met with were these: "every rebellious perverse person shall not prosper." whereupon he stuck it on a lance, and shot it to pieces with arrows, repeating these verses: "dost thou rebuke every rebellious perverse person? behold, i am that rebellious, perverse person. when thou appearest before thy lord on the day of resurrection, say, o lord, al walîd has torn me thus." ebn shohnah. v. poc. spec. p. . poc. spec. p. .		 herbelot, p. .		 abulfeda, shahrestani, &c. apud poc. spec. p. , et marracc. de kor. p. . 	 al kamakhshari. vide kor. c. . are repealed or abrogated; the latter those which are plain, perspicuous, liable to no doubt, and in full force. to explain these severally in a right manner, it is necessary from tradition and study to know the time when each passage was revealed, its circumstances, state, and history, and the reasons or particular emergencies for the sake of which it was revealed. or, more explicitly, whether the passage was revealed at mecca, or at medina; whether it be abrogated, or does itself abrogate any other passage; whether it be anticipated in order of time, or postponed; whether it be distinct from the context, or depends thereon; whether it be particular or general; and, lastly, whether it be implicit by intention, or explicit in words. by what has been said the reader may easily believe this book is in the greatest reverence and esteem among the mohammedans. they dare not so much as touch it without being first washed or legally purified; which, lest they should do by inadvertence, they write these words on the cover or label, "let none touch it but they who are clean." they read it with great care and respect, never holding it below their girdles. they swear by it, consult it in their weighty occasions, carry it with them to war, write sentences of it on their banners, adorn it with gold and precious stones, and knowingly suffer it not to be in the possession of any of a different persuasion. the mohammedans, far from thinking the korân to be profaned by a translation, as some authors have written, have taken care to have their scriptures translated not only into the persian tongue, but into several others, particularly the javan and malayan, though out of respect to the original arabic, these versions are generally (if not always) intermediary. ______ section iv. of the doctrines and positive precepts of the koran, which 	 	 relate to faith and religious duties. it has been already observed more than once, that the fundamental position on which mohammed erected the superstructure of his religion was, that from the beginning to the end of the world there has been, and for ever will be, but one true orthodox belief; consisting, as to matter of faith, in the acknowledging of the only true god, and the believing in and obeying such messengers or prophets as he should from time to time send, with proper credential, to reveal his will to ahmed ebn moh. al thalebi, in princip. expos. alc.		 yahya ebn al salâm al basri, in princep. expos. alc. the jews have the same veneration for their law; not daring to touch it with unwashed hands, nor then neither without a cover. vide millium, de mohammedismo ante moh. p. .		 this they do by dipping into it, and taking an omen from the words which they first light on: which practise they also learned of the jews, who do the same with the scriptures. vide millium, ubi sup. sionita, de urb. orient. p. , et marracc. de alc. p. .		 reland. de rel. moh. p. . mankind; and as to matter of practice, in the observance of the immutable and eternal laws of right and wrong, together with such other precepts and ceremonies as god should think fit to order for the time being, according to the different dispensations in different ages of the world: for these last he allowed were things indifferent in their own nature, and became obligatory by god's positive precept only; and were therefore temporary, and subject to alteration according to his will and pleasure. and to this religion he gives the name of islâm, which word signifies resignation, or submission to the service and commands of god; and is used as the proper name of the mohammedan religion, which they will also have to be the same at bottom with that of all the prophets from adam. under pretext that this eternal religion was in his time corrupted, and professed in its purity by no one sect of men, mohammed pretended to be a prophet sent by god to reform those abuses which had crept into it, and to reduce it to its primitive simplicity; with the addition, however, of peculiar laws and ceremonies, some of which had been used in former times, and others were now first instituted. and he comprehended the whole substance of his doctrine under these two propositions, or articles of faith; viz., that there is but one god, and that himself was the apostle of god; in consequence of which latter article, all such ordinances and institutions as he thought fit to establish must be received as obligatory and of divine authority. the mohammedans divide their religion, which, as i just now said, they call islâm, into two distinct parts: imân, i.e., faith, or theory, and dîn, i.e., religion, or practice; and teach that it is built on five fundamental points, one belonging to faith, and the other four to practice. the first is that confession of faith which i have already mentioned; that "there is no god but the true god; and that mohammed is his apostle." under which they comprehend six distinct branches; viz., . belief in god; . in his angels; . in his scriptures; . in his prophets; . in the resurrection and day of judgment; and, . in god's absolute decree and predetermination both of good and evil. the four points relating to practice are: . prayer, under which are comprehended those washings or purifications which are necessary preparations required before prayer; . alms; . fasting; and, . the pilgrimage to mecca. of each of these i shall speak in their order. that both mohammed and those among his followers who are reckoned orthodox, had and continue to have just and true notions of god and his attributes (always excepting their obstinate and impious rejecting of the trinity), appears so plain from the korân itself and all the mohammedan divines, that it would be loss of time to refute those who suppose the god of mohammed to be different from the true god, and only a fictitious deity or idol of his own creation. nor shall i enter into any of the mohammedan controversies concerning the divine nature and attributes, because i shall have a more proper opportunity of doing it elsewhere. the root salama, from whence islâm is formed, in the first and fourth conjugations, signifies also to be saved, or to enter into a state of salvation; according to which, islâm may be translated the religion or state of salvation: but the other sense is more approved by the mohammedans, and alluded to in the korân itself. see c. and c. . marracc. in alc. p. .		 sect viii. the existence of angels and their purity are absolutely required to be believed in the korân; and he is reckoned an infidel who denies there are such beings, or hates any of them, or asserts any distinction of sexes among them. they believe them to have pure and subtle bodies, created of fire; that they neither eat nor drink, nor propagate their species; that they have various forms and offices; some adoring god in different postures, others singing praises to him, or interceding for mankind. they hold that some of them are employed in writing down the actions of men; others in carrying the throne of god and other services. the four angels whom they look on as more eminently in god's favour, and often mention on account of the offices assigned them, are gabriel, to whom they give several titles, particularly those of the holy spirit, and the angel of revelations, supposing him to be honoured by god with a greater confidence than any other, and to be employed in writing down the divine decrees; michael, the friend and protector of the jews; azraël, the angel of death, who separates men's souls from their bodies; and israfîl, whose office it will be to sound the trumpet at the resurrection. the mohammedans also believe that two guardian angels attend on every man, to observe and write down his actions, being changed every day, and therefore called al moakkibât, or the angels who continually succeed one another. this whole doctrine concerning angels mohammed and his disciples have borrowed from the jews, who learned the names and offices of those beings from the persians, as themselves confess. the ancient persians firmly believed the ministry of angels, and their superintendence over the affairs of this world (as the magians still do), and therefore assigned them distinct charges and provinces, giving their names to their months and the days of their months. gabriel they called sorûsh and revân bakhsh, or the giver of souls, in opposition to the contrary office of the angel of death, to whom among other names they gave that of mordâd, or the giver of death; michael they called beshter, who according to them provides sustenance for mankind. the jews teach that the angels were created of fire; that they have several offices; that they intercede for men, and attend them. the angel of death they name dûma, and say he calls dying persons by their respective names at their last hour. the devil, whom mohammed names eblîs from his despair, was once one of those angels who are nearest to god's presence, called azazîl, and fell, according to the doctrine of the korân, for refusing to pay homage to adam at the command of god. besides angels and devils, the mohammedans are taught by the kor. c. , p. .		 ibid. c. and .		 ibid. c. , p. .		 see the notes, ibid, p. . vide hyde, hist. rel. vet. pers. p. .		 vide ibid. p. , and not. in kor. p. .		 vide not. ibid. p. .		 kor. c. , , and . the offices of these four angels are described almost in the same manner in the apocryphal gospel of barnabas, where it is said that gabriel reveals the secrets of god, michael combats against his enemies, raphael receives the souls of those who die, and uriel is to call every one to judgment on the last day. see the menagiana, tom. iv. p. . kor. c. .		 talmud hieros. in rosh hashan.			 vide hyde, ubi sup. c. and . gemar. in hagig. and bereshit rabbah, &c. vide psalm civ. .		 yalkut hadash.		 gemar. in shebet, and bava bathra, &c. 	 midrash, yalkut shemûni.		 gemar. berachoth.		 vide reland. de rel. moh. p. , &c.		 kor. c. . see also c. , , &c. korân to believe an intermediate order of creatures, which they call jin or genii, created also of fire, but of a grosser fabric than angels; since they eat and drink, and propagate their species, and are subject to death. some of these are supposed to be good, and others bad, and capable of future salvation or damnation, as men are; whence mohammed pretended to be sent for the conversion of genii as well as men. the orientals pretend that these genii inhabited the world for many ages before adam was created, under the government of several successive princes, who all bore the common name of solomon; but falling at length into an almost general corruption, eblîs was sent to drive them into a remote part of the earth, there to be confined: that some of that generation still remaining, were by tahmûrath, one of the ancient kings of persia, who waged war against them, forced to retreat into the famous mountains of kâf. of which successions and wars they have many fabulous and romantic stories. they also make different ranks and degrees among these beings (if they be not rather supposed to be of a different species), some being called absolutely jin, some peri or fairies, some div or giants, others tacwîns or fates. the mohammedan notions concerning these genii agree almost exactly with what the jews write of a sort of demons, called shedîm, whom some fancy to have been begotten by two angels named aza and azaël, on naamah the daughter of lamech, before the flood. however, the shedîm, they tell us, agree in three things with the ministering angels; for that, like them, they have wings, and fly from one end of the world to the other, and have some knowledge of futurity; and in three things they agree with men, like whom they eat and drink, are propagated, and die. they also say that some of them believe in the law of moses, and are consequently good, and that others of them are infidels and reprobates. as to the scriptures, the mohammedans are taught by the korân that god, in divers ages of the world, gave revelations of his will in writing to several prophets, the whole and every word of which it is absolutely necessary for a good moslem to believe. the number of these sacred books were, according to them, . of which ten were given to adam, fifty to seth, thirty to edrîs or enoch, ten to abraham; and the other four, being the pentateuch, the psalms, the gospel, and the korân, were successively delivered to moses, david, jesus, and mohammed; which last being the seal of the prophets, those revelations are now closed, and no more are to be expected. all these divine books, except the four last, they agree to be now entirely lost, and their contents unknown; though the sabians have several books which they attribute to some of the antediluvian prophets. and of those four the pentateuch, psalms, and gospel, they say, have undergone so many alterations and corruptions, that though there may possibly be some part of the true word of god therein, yet no credit is to be given to the present copies in the hands of the jews and christians. the jews in particular are frequently reflected on in the korân for falsifying and corrupting their copies of their law; and some instances of such pre- kor. c. . see the notes there.		 jallalo'ddin, in kor. c. and .		 vide kor. c. , , and . see d'herbelot, bibl. orient. p. , , &c.		 in libro zohar. 		 gemara, in hagiga. igrat baale hayyim. c. . tended corruptions, both in that book and the two others, are produced by mohammedan writers, wherein they merely follow their own prejudices, and the fabulous accounts of spurious legends. whether they have any copy of the pentateuch among them different from that of the jews or not, i am not entirely satisfied, since a person who travelled into the east was told that they had the books of moses, though very much corrupted; but i know nobody that has ever seen them. however, they certainly have and privately read a book which they call the psalms of david, in arabic and persian, to which are added some prayers of moses, jonas, and others. this mr. reland supposes to be a translation from our copies (though no doubt falsified in more places than one); but m. d'herbelot says it contains not the same psalms which are in our psalter, being no more than an extract from thence mixed with other very different pieces. the easiest way to reconcile these two learned gentlemen, is to presume that they speak of different copies. the mohammedans have also a gospel in arabic, attributed to st. barnabas, wherein the history of jesus christ is related in a manner very different from what we find in the true gospels, and correspondent to those traditions which mohammed has followed in his korân. of this gospel the moriscoes in africa have a translation in spanish; and there is in the library of prince eugene of savoy, a manuscript of some antiquity, containing an italian translation of the same gospel, made, it is to be supposed, for the use of renegades. this book appears to be no original forgery of the mohammedans, though they have no doubt interpolated and altered it since, the better to serve their purpose; and in particular, instead of the paraclete or comforter, they have in this apocryphal gospel inserted the word periclyte, that is, the famous or illustrious, by which they pretend their prophet was foretold by name, that being the signification of mohammed in arabic: and this they say to justify that passage of the korân, where jesus christ is formally asserted to have foretold his coming, under his other name of ahmed; which is derived from the same root as mohammed, and of the same import. from these or some other forgeries of the same stamp it is that the mohammedans quote several passages, of which there are not the least footsteps in the new testament. but after all we must not hence infer that the mohammedans, much less all of them, hold these copies of theirs to be the ancient and genuine scriptures themselves. if any argue, from the corruption which they insist has happened to the pentateuch and gospel, that the korân may possibly be corrupted also; they answer, that god has promised that he will take care of the latter, and preserve it from any addition or diminution; but that he left the two other to the care of men. however, they confess there are some various readings in the korân, as has been observed. besides the books above mentioned, the mohammedans also take notice of the writings of daniel and several other prophets, and even terry's voyage to the east indies, p. .		 de rel. moham. p. .		 a copy of this kind, he tells us, is in the library of the duke of tuscany, bibl. orient. p. .		 reland, ubi sup. 	 menagian, tom. iv. p. , &c.		 john xiv. , , xv. , and xvi.		 , compared with luke xxiv. .		 see toland's nazarenus, the first eight chapters.			 cap. .		 kor. c. . reland, ubi sup. p. , . make quotations thence; but these they do not believe to be divine scripture, or of any authority in matters of religion. the number of the prophets, which have been from time to time sent by god into the world, amounts to no less than , , according to one mohammedan tradition, or to , , according to another; among whom were apostles, sent with special commissions to reclaim mankind from infidelity and superstition; and six of them brought new laws or dispensations, which successively abrogated the preceding: these were adam, noah, abraham, moses, jesus, and mohammed. all the prophets in general the mohammedans believe to have been free from great sins and errors of consequence, and professors of one and the same religion, that is islâm, notwithstanding the different laws and institutions which they observed. they allow of degrees among them, and hold some of them to be more excellent and honourable than others. the first place they give to the revealers and establishers of new dispensations, and the next to the apostles. in this great number of prophets, they not only reckon divers patriarchs and persons named in scripture, but not recorded to have been prophets (wherein the jewish and christian writers have sometimes led the way ), as adam, seth, lot, ismael, nun, joshua, &c., and introduce some of them under different names, as enoch, heber, and jethro, who are called in the korân, edrîs, hûd, and shoaib; but several others whose very names do not appear in scripture (though they endeavour to find some persons there to fix them on), as saleh, khedr, dhu'lkefl, &c. several of their fabulous traditions concerning these prophets we shall occasionally mention in the notes on the korân. as mohammed acknowledged the divine authority of the pentateuch, psalms, and gospel, he often appeals to the consonancy of the korân with those writings, and to the prophecies which he pretended were therein concerning himself, as proofs of his mission; and he frequently charges the jews and christians with stifling the passages which bear witness to him. his followers also fail not to produce several texts even from our present copies of the old and new testament, to support their master's cause. the next article of faith required by the korân is the belief of a general resurrection and a future judgment. but before we consider the mohammedan tenets in those points, it will be proper to mention what they are taught to believe concerning the intermediate state, both of the body and of the soul, after death. when a corpse is laid in the grave, they say he is received by an angel, who gives him notice of the coming of the two examiners; who are two black livid angels, of a terrible appearance, named monker and nakîr. these order the dead person to sit upright, and examine him concerning his faith, as to the unity of god, and the mission of mohammed: if he answer rightly, they suffer the body to rest in peace, and it is refreshed by the air of paradise; but if not, they beat him on the temples with iron maces, till he roars out for anguish so loud, that idem, ibid. p. .		 kor. c , p. , &c.		 thus heber is said to have been a prophet by the jews (seder olam. p. ), and adam by epiphanius (adv. hæres. p. ). see also joseph. ant. l. i, c. . 	 kor. c. , p. , , ; c. , &c.		 some of these texts are produced by dr. prideaux at the end of his life of mahomet, and more by marracci in alcor. p. , &c. he is heard by all from east to west, except men and genii. then they press the earth on the corpse, which is gnawed and stung till the resurrection by ninety-nine dragons, with seven heads each; or as others say, their sins will become venomous beasts, the grievous ones stinging like dragons, the smaller like scorpions, and the others like serpents: circumstances which some understand in a figurative sense. the examination of the sepulchre is not only founded on an express tradition of mohammed, but is also plainly hinted at, though not directly taught, in the korân, as the commentators agree. it is therefore believed by the orthodox mohammedans in general, who take care to have their graves made hollow, that they may sit up with more ease while they are examined by the angels; but is utterly rejected by the sect of the mótazalites, and perhaps by some others. these notions mohammed certainly borrowed from the jews, among whom they were very anciently received. they say that the angel of death coming and sitting on the grave, the soul immediately enters the body and raises it on its feet; that he then examines the departed person, and strikes him with a chain half of iron and half of fire; at the first blow all his limbs are loosened, at the second his bones are scattered, which are gathered together again by the angels, and the third stroke reduces the body to dust and ashes, and it returns into the grave. this rack or torture they call hibbût hakkeber, or the beating of the sepulchre, and pretend that all men in general must undergo it, except only those who die on the evening of the sabbath, or have dwelt in the land of israel. it it be objected to the mohammedans that the cry of the persons under such examination has been never heard; or if they be asked how those can undergo it whose bodies are burnt or devoured by beasts or birds, or otherwise consumed without burial; they answer, that it is very possible notwithstanding, since men are not able to perceive what is transacted on the other side the grave; and that it is sufficient to restore to life any part of the body which is capable of understanding the questions put by the angels. as to the soul, they hold that when it is separated from the body by the angel of death, who performs his office with ease and gentleness towards the good, and with violence towards the wicked, it enters into that state which they call al berzakh, or the interval between death and the resurrection. if the departed person was a believer, they say two angels meet it, who convey it to heaven, that its place there may be assigned, according to its merit and degree. for they distinguish the souls of the faithful into three classes: the first of prophets, whose souls are admitted into paradise immediately; the second of martyrs; whose spirits, according to a tradition of mohammed, rest in the crops of green birds which eat of the fruits and drink of the rivers of paradise; and the third of other believers, concerning the state of whose souls before the resurrection there are various opinions. for, i. some say they stay near the sepulchres, with liberty, however, of going wherever they please; which they confirm with mohammed's manner of saluting al ghazâli. vide poc. not. in port. mosis, p. , &c.		 cap. and , &c.		 smith, de morib. et instit. turcar. ep. , p. .		 vide hyde, in notisad bobov. de visit. Ægrot. p. . 	 r. elias, in tishbi. see also buxtorf. synag. judaic. and lexic. talmud.		 vide poc. ubi sup.		 kor. c. . the jews say the same, in nishmat bayim. f. .		 vide kor. c. , and not. ib. them at their graves, and his affirming that the dead heard those salutations as well as the living, though they could not answer. whence perhaps proceeded the custom of visiting the tombs of relations, so common among the mohammedans. . others imagine they are with adam, in the lowest heaven; and also support their opinion by the authority of their prophet, who gave out that in his return from the upper heavens in his pretended night journey, he saw there the souls of those who were destined to paradise on the right hand of adam, and of those who were condemned to hell on his left. . others fancy the souls of believers remain in the well zemzem, and those of infidels in a certain well in the province of hadramaut, called borhût; but this opinion is branded as heretical. . others say they stay near the graves for seven days; but that whither they go afterwards is uncertain. . others that they are all in the trumpet whose sound is to raise the dead. and, . others that the souls of the good dwell in the forms of white birds, under the throne of god. as to the condition of the souls of the wicked, besides the opinions that have been already mentioned, the more orthodox hold that they are offered by the angels to heaven, from whence being repulsed as stinking and filthy, they are offered to the earth, and being also refused a place there, are carried down to the seventh earth, and being also refused a place there, are carried down to the seventh earth, and thrown into a dungeon, which they call sajîn, under a green rock, or according to a tradition of mohammed, under the devil's jaw, to be there tormented, till they are called up to be joined again to their bodies. though some among the mohammedans have thought that the resurrection will be merely spiritual, and no more than the returning of the soul to the place whence it first came (an opinion defended by ebn sina, and called by some the opinion of the philosophers ); and others, who allow man to consist of body only, that it will be merely corporeal; the received opinion is, that both body and soul will be raised, and their doctors argue strenuously for the possibility of the resurrection of the body, and dispute with great subtlety concerning the manner of it. but mohammed has taken care to preserve one part of the body, whatever becomes of the rest, to serve for a basis of the future edifice, or rather a leaven for the mass which is to be joined to it. for he taught that a man's body was entirely consumed by the earth, except only the bone called al ajb, which we name the os coccygis, or rump-bone; and that as it was the first formed in the human body, it will also remain uncorrupted till the last day, as a seed from whence the whole is to be renewed: and this he said would be effected by a forty days' rain which god should send, and which would cover the earth to the height of twelve cubits, and cause the bodies to sprout forth like plants. herein also is mohammed also beholden to the jews, who say the same things of the bone luz, excepting that what he attributes to a great rain, will be effected according to them by a dew, impregnating the dust of the earth. the time of the resurrection the mohammedans allow to be a perfect poc. ubi sup. p. .		 ibid. p. . consonant hereto are the jewish notions of the souls of the just being on high, under the throne of glory. vide ibid. p. .		 ibid. p. .		 al beidâwi. vide poc. ubi sup. p. . or, as we corruptly name him, avicenna.		 kenz al afrâr. 	 vide poc. ubi sup. p. . idem, ibid. p. , &c.		 bereshit. rabbah, &c. vide poc. ubi sup. p. , &c. secret to all but god alone: the angel gabriel himself acknowledging his ignorance on this point when mohammed asked him about it. however, they say the approach of that day may be known from certain signs which are to precede it. these signs they distinguish into two sorts-the lesser and the greater- which i shall briefly enumerate after dr. pocock. the lesser signs are: i. they decay of faith among men. . the advancing of the meanest persons to eminent dignity. . that a maid-servant shall become the mother of her mistress (or master); by which is meant either that towards the end of the world men shall be much given to sensuality, or that the mohammedans shall then take many captives. . tumults and seditions. . a war with the turks. . great distress in the world, so that a man when he passes by another's grave shall say "would to god i were in his place." . that the provinces of irâk and syria shall refuse to pay their tribute. and, . that the buildings of medina shall reach to ahâb, or yahâb. the greater signs are: . the sun's rising in the west: which some have imagined it originally did. . the appearance of the beast, which shall rise out of the earth, in the temple of mecca, or on mount safâ, or in the territory of tâyef, or some other place. this beast they say is to be sixty cubits high: though others, not satisfied with so small a size, will have her reach to the clouds and to heaven when her head only is out; and that she will appear for three days, but show only a third part of her body. they describe this monster, as to her form, to be a compound of various species, having the head of a bull, the eyes of a hog, the ears of an elephant, the horns of a stag, the neck of an ostrich, the breast of a lion, the colour of a tiger, the back of a cat, the tail of a ram, the legs of a camel, and the voice of an ass. some say this beast is to appear three times in several places, and that she will bring with her the rod of moses and the seal of solomon; and being so swift that none can overtake or escape her, will with the first strike all the believers on the face and mark them with the word mûmen, i.e., believer; and with the latter will mark the unbelievers, on the face likewise, with the word câfer, i.e., infidel, that every person may be known for what he really is. they add that the same beast is to demonstrate the vanity of all religions except islâm, and to speak arabic. all this stuff seems to be the result of a confused idea of the beast in the revelations. . war with the greeks, and the taking of constantinople by , of the posterity of isaac, who shall not win that city by force of arms, but the walls shall fall down while they cry out, "there is no god but god: god is most great!" as they are dividing the spoil, news will come to them of the appearance of the antichrist, whereupon they shall leave all, and return back. . the coming of antichrist, whom the mohammedans call al masîh al dajjâl, i.e., the false or lying christ, and simply al dajjâl. he is to be one-eyed, and marked on the forehead with the letters c.f.r., signifying câfer, or infidel. they say that the jews give him the name of messiah ibid. p. , &c.		 see luke xviii. .		 see whiston's theory of the earth, bk. ii. p. , &c. chap. xiii. ben david, and pretend he is to come in the last days and to be lord both of land and sea, and that he will restore the kingdom to them. according to the traditions of mohammed, he is to appear first between irâk and syria, or according to others, in the province of khorasân; they add that he is to ride on an ass, that he will be followed by , jews of ispahân, and continue on earth forty days, of which one will be equal in length to a year, another to a month, another to a week, and the rest will be common days; that he is to lay waste all places, but will not enter mecca or medina, which are to be guarded by angels; and that at length he will be slain by jesus, who is to encounter him at the gate of lud. it is said that mohammed foretold several anti- christs, to the number of about thirty, but one of greater note than the rest. . the descent of jesus on earth. they pretend that he is to descend near the white tower to the east of damascus, when the people are returned from the taking of constantinople; that he is to embrace the mohammedan religion, marry a wife, get children, kill antichrist, and at length die after forty years', or, according to others, twenty-four years', continuance on earth. under him they say there will be great security and plenty in the world, all hatred and malice being laid aside; when lions and camels, bears and sheep, shall live in peace, and a child shall play with serpents unhurt. . war with the jews; of whom the mohammedans are to make a religious slaughter, the very trees and stones discovering such of them as hide themselves, except only the tree called gharkad, which is the tree of the jews. . the eruption of gog and magog, or, as they are called in the east, yâjûj and mâjûj; of whom many things are related in the korân, and the traditions of mohammed. these barbarians, they tell us, having passed the lake of tiberias, which the vanguard of their vast army will drink dry, will come to jerusalem, and there greatly distress jesus and his companions; till at his request god will destroy them, and fill the earth with their carcasses, which after some time god will send birds to carry away, at the prayers of jesus and his followers. their bows, arrows, and quivers the moslems will burn for seven years together; and at last god will send a rain to cleanse the earth, and to make it fertile. . a smoke, which shall fill the whole earth. . an eclipse of the moon. mohammed is reported to have said that there would be three eclipses before the last hour; one to be seen in the east, another in the west, and the third in arabia. . the returning of the arabs to the worship of allât and al uzza, and the rest of their ancient idols; after the decrease of every one in whose heart there was faith equal to the grain of mustard-seed, none but the very worst of men being left alive. for god, they say, will send a cold odoriferous wind, blowing from syria damascena, which shall sweep away the souls of all the faithful, and the korân itself, so that men will remain in the grossest ignorance for a hundred years. al thalabi, in kor. c. . 		 see isaiah xi. , &c. 	 cap. and .	 see ezek. xxxix. ; rev. xx. .		 see kor. c. , and the notes thereon. compare also joel ii. , and rev. ix. . . the discovery of a vast heap of gold and silver by the retreating of the euphrates, which will be the destruction of many. . the demolition of the caaba, or temple of mecca, by the ethiopians. . the speaking of beasts and inanimate things. . the breaking out of fire in the province of hejâz; or, according to others, in yaman. . the appearance of a man of the descendants of kahtân, who shall drive men before him with his staff. . the coming of the mohdi, or director; concerning whom mohammed prophesied that the world should not have an end till one of his own family should govern the arabians, whose name should be the same with his own name, and whose father's name should also be the same with his father's name; and who should fill the earth with righteousness. this person the shiites believe to be now alive, and concealed in some secret place, till the time of his manifestation; for they suppose him to be no other than the last of the twelve imâms, named mohammed abu'lkasem, as their prophet was, and the son of hassan al askeri, the eleventh of that succession. he was born at sermanrai in the th year of the hejra. from this tradition, it is to be presumed, an opinion pretty current among the christians took its rise, that the mohammedans are in expectation of their prophet's return. . a wind which shall sweep away the souls of all who have but a grain of faith in their hearts, as has been mentioned under the tenth sign. these are the greater signs, which, according to their doctrine, are to precede the resurrection, but still leave the hour of it uncertain: for the immediate sign of its being come will be the first blast of the trumpet; which they believe will be sounded three times. the first they call the blast of consternation; at the hearing of which all creatures in heaven and earth shall be struck with terror, except those whom god shall please to exempt from it. the effects attributed to this first sound of the trumpet are very wonderful: for they say the earth will be shaken, and not only all buildings, but the very mountains levelled; that the heavens shall melt, the sun be darkened, the stars fall, on the death of the angels, who, as some imagine, hold them suspended between heaven and earth, and the sea shall be troubled and dried up, or, according ot others, turned into flames, the sun, moon, and stars being thrown into it: the korân, to express the greatness of the terror of that day, adds that women who give suck shall abandon the care of their infants, and even the she-camels which have gone ten months with young (a most valuable part of the substance of that nation) shall be utterly neglected. a farther effect of this blast will be that concourse of beasts mentioned in the korân, though some doubt whether it be to precede the resurrection or not. they who suppose it will precede, think that ll kinds of animals, forgetting their respective natural fierceness and timidity, will run together into one place, being terrified by the sound of the trumpet and the sudden shock of nature. the mohammedans believe that this first blast will be followed by a second, which they call the blast of examination, when all creatures, both in heaven and earth, shall die or be annihilated, except those which god shall please to exempt from the common fate; and this, they say, shall happen in the twinkling of an eye, nay, in an instant; nothing surviving except god alone, with paradise and hell, and the inhabitants of those two places, and throne of glory. the last who shall die will be the angel of death. forty years after this will be heard the blast of resurrection, when the trumpet shall be sounded the third time by israfîl, who, together with gabriel and michael, will be previously restored to life, and standing on the rock of the temple of jerusalem, shall, at god's command, call together all the dry and rotten bones, and other dispersed parts of the bodies, and the very hairs, to judgment. this angel having, by the divine order, set the trumpet to his mouth, and called together all the souls from all parts, will throw them into his trumpet, from whence, on his giving the last sound, at the command of god, they will fly forth like bees, and fill the whole space between heaven and earth, and then repair to their respective bodies, which the opening earth will suffer to arise; and the first who shall so arise, according to a tradition of mohammed, will be himself. for this birth the earth will be prepared by the rain above mentioned, which is to fall continually for forty years, and will resemble the seed of a man, and be supplied from the water under the throne of god, which is called living water; by the efficacy and virtue of which the dead bodies shall spring forth from their graves, as they did in their mother's womb, or as corn sprouts forth by common rain, till they become perfect; after which breath will be breathed into them, and they will sleep in their sepulchres till they are raised to life at the last trump. as to the length of the last day of judgment the korân in one place tells us that it will last , years, and in another , . to reconcile this apparent contradiction, the commentators use several shifts: some saying they know not what measure of time god intends in those passages; others, that these forms of speaking are figurative and not to be strictly taken, and were designed only to express the terribleness of that day, it being usual for the arabs to describe what they dislike as of long continuance, and what they like, as the contrary; and others suppose them spoken only in reference to the difficulty of the business of the day, which, if god should commit to any of his creatures, they would not be able to go through it in so many thousand years; to omit some other opinions which we may take notice of elsewhere. having said so much in relation to the time of the resurrection, let us now see who are to be raised from the dead, in what manner and several writers, however, make no distinction between this blast and the first, supposing the trumpet will sound but twice. see the notes to kor. c. .		 kor. c .		 to these some add the spirit who bears the waters on which the throne is placed, the preserved table, wherein the decrees of god are registered, and the pen wherewith they are written; all which things the mohammedans imagine were created before the world. 	 in this circum-cumstance the mohammedans follow the jews, who also agree that the trumpet will sound more than once. vide r. bechai in biur hattorah, and otioth shel r. akiba.		 elsewhere (see before p. ) this rain is said to continue only forty days; but it rather seems that it is to fall during the whole interval between the second and third blasts. 	 kor. c. .		 ibid. c. . form they shall be raised, in what place they shall be assembled, and to what end, according to the doctrine of the mohammedans. that the resurrection will be general, and extend to all creatures both angels, genii, men, and animals, is the received opinion, which they support by the authority of the korân, though that passage which is produced to prove the resurrection of brutes be otherwise interpreted by some. the manner of their resurrection will be very different. those who are destined to be partakers of eternal happiness will arise in honour and security; and those who are doomed to misery, in disgrace and under dismal apprehensions. as to mankind, they say that they will be raised perfect in all their parts and members, and in the same state as they came out of their mother's wombs, that is, barefooted, naked, and uncircumcised; which circumstances when mohammed was telling his wife ayesha, she, fearing the rules of modesty might be thereby violated, objected that it would be very indecent for men and women to look upon one another in that condition; but he answered her, that the business of the day would be too weighty and serious to allow them the making use of that liberty. others, however, allege the authority of their prophet for a contrary opinion as to their nakedness, and pretend he asserted that the dead should arise dressed in the same clothes in which they died; unless we interpret these words, as some do, not so much of the outward dress of the body, as the inward clothing of the mind; and understand thereby that every person will rise again in the same state as to his faith or infidelity, his knowledge or ignorance, his good or bad works. mohammed is also said to have farther taught, by another tradition, that mankind shall be assembled at the last day, distinguished into three classes. the first, of those who go on foot; the second, of those who ride; and the third, of those who creep groveling with their faces on the ground. the first class is to consist of those believers whose good works have been few; the second of those who are in greater honour with god, and more acceptable to him; whence ali affirmed that the pious when they come forth from their sepulchres, shall find ready prepared for them white-winged camels, with saddles of gold; wherein are to be observed some footsteps of the doctrine of the ancient arabians; and the third class, they say, will be composed of the infidels, whom god shall cause to make their appearance with their faces on the earth, blind, dumb, and deaf. but the ungodly will not be thus only distinguished; for, according to a tradition of the prophet, there will be ten sorts of wicked men on whom god shall on that day fix certain discretory marks. the first will appear in the form of apes; these are the professors of zendicism: the second in that of swine; these are they who have been greedy of filthy lucre, and enriched themselves by public oppression: the third will be brought with their heads reversed and their feet distorted; these are the usurers: the fourth will wander about blind; these are unjust judges: the fifth will be deaf, dumb, and blind, understanding nothing; these are they see the notes to kor. c. , and the preceding page.		 in this also they follow their old guides, the jews, who say that if the wheat which is sown naked rise clothed, it is no wonder the pious who are buried in their clothes should rise with them. gemar. sanhedr. fol. .		 see before, sect. i. p. . who glory in their own works: the sixth will gnaw their tongues, which will hang down upon their breasts, corrupted blood flowing from their mouths like spittle, so that everybody shall detest them; these are the learned men and doctors, whose actions contradict their sayings: the seventh will have their hands and feet cut off; these are they who have injured their neighbours: the eighth will be fixed to the trunks of palm trees or stakes of wood; these are the false accusers and informers: the ninth will stink worse than a corrupted corpse; these are they who have indulged their passions and voluptuous appetites, but refused god such part of their wealth as was due to him: the tenth will be clothed with garments daubed with pitch; and these are the proud, the vainglorious, and the arrogant. as to the place where they are to be assembled to judgment, the korân and the traditions of mohammed agree that it will be on the earth, but in what part of the earth it is not agreed. some say their prophet mentioned syria for the place; others, a white and even tract of land, without inhabitants or any signs of buildings. al ghazâli imagines it will be a second earth, which he supposes to be of silver; and others, an earth which has nothing in common with ours but the name; having, it is possible, heard something of the new heavens and new earth mentioned in scripture: whence the korân has this expression, "on the day wherein the earth shall be changed into another earth." the end of the resurrection the mohammedans declare to be, that they who are so raised may give an account of their actions, and receive the reward thereof. and they believe that not only mankind, but the genii and irrational animals also, shall be judged on this great day; when the unarmed cattle shall take vengeance on the horned, till entire satisfaction shall be given to the injured. as to mankind, they hold that when they are all assembled together, they will not be immediately brought to judgment, but the angels will keep them in their ranks and order while they attend for that purpose; and this attendance some say is to last forty years, others seventy, others , nay, some say no less than , years, each of them vouching their prophet's authority. during this space they will stand looking up to heaven, but without receiving any information or orders thence, and are to suffer grievous torments, both the just and the unjust, though with manifest difference. for the limbs of the former, particularly those parts which they used to wash in making the ceremonial ablution before prayer, shall shine gloriously, and their sufferings shall be light in comparison, and shall last no longer than the time necessary to say the appointed prayers; but the latter will have their faces obscured with blackness, and disfigured with all the marks of sorrow and deformity. what will then occasion not the least of their cap. .		 kor. c. . vide maimonid. more nev. part iii. c. .		 this opinion the learned greaves supposed to have taken its rise from the following words of ezekiel, wrongly understood: "and as for ye, o my flock thus saith the lord god, behold i, even i, will judge between the fat cattle, and between the lean cattle; because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; therefore will i save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey, and i will judge between cattle and cattle," &c. ezek. xxxiv. , , , . much might be said concerning brutes deserving future reward and punishment. see bayle, dict. hist. art. rorarius, rem. d. &c. pain, is a wonderful and incredible sweat, which will even stop their mouths, and in which they will be immersed in various degrees according to their demerits, some to the ankles only, some to the knees, some to the middle, some so high as their mouth, and others as their ears. and this sweat, they say, will be provoked not only by that vast concourse of all sorts of creatures mutually pressing and treading on one another's feet, but by the near and unusual approach of the sun, which will be then no farther from them than the distance of a mile, or, as some translate the word, the signification of which is ambiguous, than the length of a bodkin. so that their skulls will boil like a pot, and they will be all bathed in sweat. from this inconvenience, however, the good will be protected by the shade of god's throne; but the wicked will be so miserably tormented with it, and also with hunger, and thirst, and a stifling air, that they will cry out, "lord, deliver us from this anguish, though thou send us into hell fire." what they fable of the extraordinary heat of the sun on this occasion, the mohammedans certainly borrowed from the jews, who say, that for the punishment of the wicked on the last day, that planet shall be drawn from its sheath, in which it is now put up, lest it should destroy all things by its excessive heat. when those who have risen shall have waited the limited time, the mohammedans believe god will at length appear to judge them; mohammed undertaking the office of intercessor, after it shall have been declined by adam, noah, abraham, and jesus, who shall beg deliverance only for their own souls. they say that on this solemn occasion god will come in the clouds, surrounded by angels, and will produce the books wherein the actions of every person are recorded by their guardian angels, and will command the prophets to bear witness against those to whom they have been respectively sent. then every one will be examined concerning all his words and actions, uttered and done by him in this life; not as if god needed any information in those respects, but to oblige the person to make public confession and acknowledgment of god's justice. the particulars of which they shall give an account, as mohammed himself enumerated them, are-of their time, how they spent it; of their wealth, by what means they acquired it, and how they employed it; of their bodies, wherein they exercised them; of their knowledge and learning, what use they made of them. it is said, however, that mohammed has affirmed that no less than , of his followers should be permitted to enter paradise without any previous examination, which seems to be contradictory to what is said above. to the questions we have mentioned each person shall answer, and make his defence in the best manner he can, endeavouring to excuse himself by casting the blame of his evil deeds on others, so that a dispute shall arise even between the soul and the body, to which of them their guilt ought to be imputed, the soul saying, "o lord, my body i received from thee; for thou createdst me without a hand to lay hold with, a foot to walk with, an eye to see with, or an understanding to apprehend with, till i came and entered into this body; therefore, punish it eternally, but deliver me." the body , on the other al ghazâli.		 idem.		 vide pocock, not. in port. mosis, p. .		 see before, p. . side, will make this apology:-"o lord, thou createdst me like a stock of wood, having neither hand that i could lay hold with, nor foot that i could walk with, till this soul, like a ray of light, entered into me, and my tongue began to speak, my eye to see, and my foot to walk; therefore, punish it eternally, but deliver me." but god will propound to them the following parable of the blind man and the lame man, which, as well as the preceding dispute, was borrowed by the mohammedans from the jews: a certain king, having a pleasant garden, in which were ripe fruits, set two persons to keep it, one of whom was blind and the other lame, the former not being able to see the fruit nor the latter to gather it; the lame man, however, seeing the fruit, persuaded the blind man to take him upon his shoulders; and by that means he easily gathered the fruit, which they divided between them. the lord of the garden, coming some time after, and inquiring after his fruit, each began to excuse himself; the blind man said he had no eyes to see with, and the lame man that he had no feet to approach the trees. but the king, ordering the lame man to be set on the blind, passed sentence on and punished them both. and in the same manner will god deal with the body and the soul. as these apologies will not avail on that day, so will it also be in vain for any one to deny his evil actions, since men and angels and his own members, nay, the very earth itself, will be ready to bear witness against him. though the mohammedans assign so long a space for the attendance of the resuscitated before their trial, yet they tell us the trial itself will be over in much less time, and, according to an expression of mohammed, familiar enough to the arabs, will last no longer than while one may milk an ewe, or than the space between the two milkings of a she-camel. some, explaining those words so frequently used in the korân, "god will be swift in taking an account," say that he will judge all creatures in the space of half a day, and others that it will be done in less time than the twinkling of an eye. at this examination they also believe that each person will have the book, wherein all the actions of his life are written, delivered to him; which books the righteous will receive in their right hand, and read with great pleasure and satisfaction; but the ungodly will be obliged to take them against their wills in their left, which will be bound behind their backs, their right hand being tied up to their necks. to show the exact justice which will be observed on this great day of trial, the next thing they describe is the balance, wherein all things shall be weighted. they say it will be held by gabriel, and that it is of so vast a size, that its two scales, one of which hangs over paradise, and the other over hell, are capacious enough to contain both heaven and earth. though some are willing to understand what is said in the korân concerning this balance, allegorically, and only as a figurative representation of god's equity, yet the more ancient and orthodox opinion is that it is to be taken literally; and since words and actions, being mere accidents, are not capable of being themselves gemara, sanhed. c. ii. r. jos. albo, serm. iv. c. . see also epiphan. in ancorat. sect. .		 the arabs use, after they have drawn some milk from the camel, to wait a while and let her young one suck a little, that she may give down her milk more plentifully at the second milking.		 pocock, not. in port. mosis, p. - . see also kor. c. , p. . kor. c. , , , and .		 jallalo'ddin. weighed, they say that the books wherein they are written will be thrown into the scales, and according as those wherein the good or the evil actions are recorded shall preponderate, sentence will be given; those whose balance laden with their good works shall be heavy, will be saved, but those whose balances are light will be condemned. nor will any one have cause to complain that god suffers any good action to pass unrewarded, because the wicked for the good they do have their reward in this life, and therefore can expect no favour in the next. the old jewish writers make mention as well of the books to be produced at the last day, wherein men's actions are registered, as of the balance wherein they shall be weighed; and the scripture itself seems to have given the first notion of both. but what the persian magi believe of the balance comes nearest to the mohammedan opinion. they hold that on the day of judgment two angels, named mihr and sorûsh, will stand on the bridge we shall describe by- and-bye, to examine every person as he passes; that the former, who represents the divine mercy, will hold a balance in his hand, to weigh the actions of men; that according to the report he shall make thereof to god, sentence will be pronounced, and those whose good works are found more ponderous, if they turn the scale but by the weight of a hair, will be permitted to pass forward to paradise; but those whose good works shall be found light, will be by the other angel, who represents god's justice, precipitated from the bridge into hell. this examination being passed, and every one's works weighed in a just balance, that mutual retaliation will follow, according to which every creature will take vengeance one of another, or have satisfaction made them for the injuries which they have suffered. and since there will then be no other way of returning like for like, the manner of giving this satisfaction will be by taking away a proportionable part of the good works of him who offered the injury, and adding it to those of him who suffered it. which being done, if the angels (by whose ministry this is to be performed) say, "lord, we have given to every one his due; and there remaineth of this person's good works so much as equalleth the weight of an ant," god will of his mercy cause it to be doubled unto him, that he may be admitted into paradise; but if, on the contrary, his good works be exhausted, and there remain evil works only, and there be any who have not yet received satisfaction from him, god will order that an equal weight of their sins be added unto his, that he may be punished for them in their stead, and he will be sent to hell laden with both. this will be the method of god's dealing with mankind. as to brutes, after they shall have likewise taken vengeance of one another, as we have mentioned above, he will command them to be changed into dust; wicked men being reserved to more grievous punishment: so that they shall cry out, on hearing this sentence passed on the brutes, "would to god that we were dust also." as to the genii, many mohammedans are of opinion that such of them as are true believers will undergo the same fate as the irrational animals, and kor. c. , , &c.		 midrash, yalkut shemuni, f. , c. . 	 gemar. sanhedr. f. , &c. exod. xxxii. , , dan. vii. , revel. xx. , &c., and dan. v. . 	 hyde, de rel. vet. pers. p. , , &c. yet they say the dog of the seven sleepers, and ezra's ass, which was raised to life, will, by peculiar favour, be admitted into paradise. see kor. c. , and c. . have no other reward than the favour of being converted into dust; and for this they quote the authority of their prophet. but this, however, is judged not so very reasonable, since the genii, being capable of putting themselves in the state of believers as well as men, must consequently deserve, as it seems, to be rewarded for their faith, as well as to be punished for infidelity. wherefore some entertain a more favourable opinion, and assign the believing genii a place near the confines of paradise, where they will enjoy sufficient felicity, though they be not admitted into that delightful mansion. but the unbelieving genii, it is universally agreed, will be punished eternally, and be thrown into hell with the infidels of mortal race. it may not be improper to observe, that under the denomination of unbelieving genii, the mohammedans comprehend also the devil and his companions. the trials being over and the assembly dissolved, the mohammedans hold that those who are to be admitted into paradise will take the right-hand way, and those who are destined to hell fire will take the left; but both of them must first pass the bridge, called in arabic al sirât, which they say is laid over the midst of hell, and described to be finer than a hair, and sharper than the edge of a sword: so that it seems very difficult to conceive how any one shall be able to stand upon it: for which reason most of the sect of the mótazalites reject it as a fable, though the orthodox think it a sufficient proof of the truth of this article, that it was seriously affirmed by him who never asserted a falsehood, meaning their prophet; who to add to the difficulty of the passage, has likewise declared that this bridge is beset on each side with briars and hooked thorns; which will, however, be no impediment to the good, for they shall pass with wonderful ease and swiftness, like lightning or the wind, mohammed and his moslems leading the way; whereas the wicked, what with the slipperiness and extreme narrowness of the path, the entangling of the thorns, and the extinction of the light, which directed the former to paradise, will soon miss their footing, and fall down headlong into hell, which is gaping beneath them. this circumstance mohammed seems also to have borrowed from the magians, who teach that on the last day all mankind will be obliged to pass a bridge which they call pûl chînavad, or chînavar, that is, the straight bridge, leading directly into the other world; on the midst of which they suppose the angels, appointed by god to perform that office, will stand, who will require of every one a strict account of his actions, and weigh them in the manner we have already mentioned. it is true the jews speak likewise of the bridge of hell, which they say is no broader than a thread; but then they do not tell us that any shall be obliged to pass it, except the idolaters, who will fall thence into perdition. as to the punishment of the wicked, the mohammedans are taught that hell is divided into seven stories, or apartments, one below another, designed for the reception of as many distinct classes of the damned. the first which they call jehennam, they say, will be the receptacle of those who acknowledged one god, that is, the wicked mohammedans, vide kor. c. .		 pocock. ubi sup. p. - .		 hyde, de rel. vet. pers. p. , , &c. midrash, yalkut reubeni. § gehinnom.		 kor. c. . who after having there been punished according to their demerits, will at length be released. the second, uamed ladhâ, they assign to the jews; the third, named al hotama, to the christians; the fourth named al säir, to the sabians; the fifth, named sakar, to the magians; the sixth, named al jahîm, to the idolaters; and the seventh, which is the lowest and worst of all, and is called al hâwiyat, to the hypocrites, or those who outwardly professed some religion, but in their hearts were of none. over each of these apartments they believe there will be set a guard of angels, nineteen in number; to whom the damned will confess the just judgment of god, and beg them to intercede with him for some alleviation of their pain, or that they may be delivered by being annihilated. mohammed has, in his korân and traditions, been very exact in describing the various torments of hell, which, according to him, the wicked will suffer both from intense heat and excessive cold. we shall, however, enter into no detail of them here, but only observe that the degrees of these pains will also vary, in proportion to the crimes of the sufferer, and the apartment he is condemned to; and that he who is punished the most lightly of all will be shod with shoes of fire, the fervour of which will cause his skull to boil like a cauldron. the condition of these unhappy wretches, as the same prophet teaches, cannot be properly called either life or death; and their misery will be greatly increased by their despair of being ever delivered from that place, since, according to that frequent expression in the korân, "they must remain therein for ever." it must be remarked, however, that the infidels alone will be liable to eternity of damnation, for the moslems, or those who have embraced the true religion, and have been guilty of heinous sins, will be delivered thence after they shall have expiated their crimes by their sufferings. the contrary of either of these opinions is reckoned heretical; for it is the constant orthodox doctrine of the mohammedans that no unbeliever or idolater will ever be released, nor any person who in his lifetime professed an believed the unity of god be condemned to eternal punishment. as to the time and manner of the deliverance of those believers whose evil actions shall outweigh their good, there is a tradition of mohammed that they shall be released after they shall have been scorched and their skins burnt black, and shall afterwards be admitted into paradise; and when the inhabitants of that place shall, in contempt, call them infernals, god will, on their prayers, take from them that opprobrious appellation. others say he taught that while they continue in hell they shall be deprived of life, or (as his words are otherwise interpreted) be cast into a most profound sleep, that they may be the less sensible of their torments; and that they shall afterwards be received into paradise, and there revive on their being washed with the water of life; though some suppose they will others fill these apartments with different company. some place in the second, the idolaters; in the third, gog and magog, &c.; in the fourth, the devils; in the fifth, those who neglect alms and prayers; and crowd the jews, christians, and magians together in the sixth. some, again, will have the first to be prepared for the dahrians, or those who deny the creation, and believe the eternity of the world; the second, for the dualists, or manichees, and the idolatrous arabs; the third, for the bramins of the indies; the fourth, for the jews; the fifth, for the christians; and the sixth, for the magians. but all agree in assigning the seventh to the hypocrites. vide millium, de mohammedismo ante moham. p. ; d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. , &c.		 kor. c. , , , &c. ibid. c. .		 ibid. c. , . be restored to life before they come forth from their place of punishment, that at their bidding farewell to their pains, they may have some little taste of them. the time which these believers shall be detained there, according to a tradition handed down from their prophet, will not be less than years, nor more than , . and as to the manner of their delivery, they say that they shall be distinguished by the marks of prostration on those parts of their bodies with which they used to touch the ground in prayer, and over which the fire will, therefore, have no power; and that being known by this characteristic, they will be relieved by the mercy of god, at the intercession of mohammed and the blessed; whereupon those who shall have been dead will be restored to life, as has been said; and those whose bodies shall have contracted any sootiness or filth from the flames and smoke of hell, will be immersed in one of the rivers of paradise, called the river of life, which will wash them whiter than pearls. for most of these circumstances relating to hell and the state of the damned, mohammed was likewise, in all probability, indebted to the jews, and in part to the magians; both of whom agree in making seven distinct apartments in hell, though they vary in other particulars. the former place an angel as a guard over each of these infernal apartments, and suppose he will intercede for the miserable wretches there imprisoned, who will openly acknowledge the justice of god in their condemnation. they also teach that the wicked will suffer a diversity of punishments, and that by intolerable cold as well as heat, and that their faces shall become black; and believe those of their own religion shall also be punished in hell hereafter, according to their crimes (for they hold that few or none will be found so exactly righteous as to deserve no punishment at all), but will soon be delivered thence, when they shall be sufficiently purged from their sins, by their father abraham, or at the intercession of him or some other of the prophets. the magians allow but one angel to preside over all the seven hells, who is named by them vanánd yezád, and, as they teach, assigns punishments proportionate to each person's crimes, restraining also the tyranny and excessive cruelty of the devil, who would, if left to himself, torment the damned beyond their sentence. those of this religion do also mention and describe various kinds of torments, wherewith the wicked will be punished in the next life; among which though they reckon extreme cold to be one, yet they do not admit fire, out of respect, as it seems, to that element, which they take to be the representation of the divine nature; and, therefore, they rather choose to describe the damned souls as suffering by other kinds of punishments: such as an intolerable stink, the stinging and biting of serpents and wild beasts, the cutting and tearing of the flesh by the devils, excessive hunger and thirst, and the like. before we proceed to a description of the mohammedan paradise, we must not forget to say something of the wall or partition which they imagine to be between that place and hell, and seems to be copied poc. not. in port. mosis, p. - .		 nishmat hayim, f. ; gemar. in arubin, f. ; zohar. ad exod. xxvi. , &c.; and hyde, de rel. vet. pers. p. .		 midrash, yalkut shemuni, part ii, f. .	 zohar. ad exod. xix. yalkut shemuni, ubi sup. f. .		 nishmat hayim, f. ; gemar. arubin, f. . vide kor. c. , p. , and , p. , and notes there. 	 hyde, de rel. vet. pers. p. .	 vide eundem, ibid. p. from the great gulf of separation mentioned in scripture. they call it al orf, and more frequently in the plural, al arâf, a word derived from the verb arafa, which signifies to distinguish between things, or to part them; though some commentators give another reason for the imposition of this name, because, they say, those who stand on this partition will know and distinguish the blessed from the damned, by their respective marks or characteristics: and others say the word properly intends anything that is high raised or elevated, as such a wall of separation must be supposed to be. the mohammedan writers greatly differ as to the persons who are to be found on al arâf. some imagine it to be a sort of limbo for the patriarchs and prophets, or for the martyrs and those who have been most eminent for sanctity, among whom, they say, there will be also angels in the form of men. others place here such whose good and evil works are so equal that they exactly counterpoise each other, and, therefore, deserve neither reward nor punishment; and these, they say, will, on the last day, be admitted into paradise, after they shall have performed an act of adoration, which will be imputed to them as a merit, and will make the scale of their good works to overbalance. others suppose this intermediate space will be a receptacle for those who have gone to war without their parents' leave, and therein suffered martyrdom; being excluded paradise for their disobedience, and escaping hell because they are martyrs. the breadth of this partition wall cannot be supposed to be exceeding great, since not only those who shall stand thereon will hold conference with the inhabitants both of paradise and of hell, but the blessed and the damned themselves will also be able to talk to one another. if mohammed did not take his notions of the partition we have been describing from scripture, he must at least have borrowed it at second-hand from the jews, who mention a thin wall dividing paradise form hell. the righteous, as the mohammedans are taught to believe, having surmounted the difficulties, and passed the sharp bridge above mentioned, before they enter paradise will be refreshed by drinking at the pond of their prophet, who describes it to be an exact square, of a month's journey in compass: its water, which is supplied by two pipes from al cawthar, one of the rivers of paradise, being whiter than milk or silver and more odoriferous than musk, with as many cups set around it as there are stars in the firmament, of which water, whoever drinks will thirst no more for ever. this is the first taste which the blessed will have of their future and now near-approaching felicity. though paradise be so very frequently mentioned in the korân, yet it is a dispute among mohammedans whether it be already created, or be to be created hereafter: the mótazalites and some other sectaries asserting that there is not at present any such place in nature, and that the paradise which the righteous will inhabit in the next life, will be different form that form which adam was expelled. however, the orthodox profess the contrary, maintaining that it was created even luke xvi. .		 jallalo'ddin. vide kor. c. .		 al beidâwi.		 kor. ubi sup vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. , &c. 	 midrash. yalkut sioni. f. ii.		 al ghazâli. before the world, and describe it, from their prophet's traditions, in the following manner. they say it is situate above the seven heavens (or in the seventh heaven) and next under the throne of god: and to express the amenity of the place, tell us that the earth of it is of the finest wheat flour, or of the purest musk, or, as others will have it, of saffron; that its stones are pearls and jacinths, the walls of its buildings enriched with gold and silver, and that the trunks of all its trees are of gold, among which the most remarkable is the tree called tûba, or the tree of happiness. concerning this tree they fable that it stands in the palace of mohammed, though a breach of it will reach to the house of every true believer; that it will be laden with pomegranates, grapes, dates, and other fruits of surprising bigness, and of tastes unknown to mortals. so that if a man desire to eat of any particular kind of fruit, it will immediately be presented him, or if he choose flesh, birds ready dressed will be set before him according to his wish. they add that the boughs of this tree will spontaneously bend down to the hand of the person who would gather of its fruits, and that it will supply the blessed not only with food, but also with silken garments, and beasts to ride on ready saddled and bridled, and adorned with rich trappings, which will burst forth from its fruits; and that this tree is so large, that a person mounted on the fleetest horse would not be able to gallop from one end of its shade to the other in a hundred years. as plenty of water is one of the greatest additions to the pleasantness of any place, the korân often speaks of the rivers of paradise as a principal ornament thereof; some of these rivers, they say, flow with water, some with milk, some with wine, and others with honey, all taking their rise from the roof of the tree tûba: two of which rivers, named al cawthar and the river of life, we have already mentioned. and lest these should not be sufficient, we are told this garden is also watered by a great number of lesser springs and fountains, whose pebbles are rubies and emeralds, their earth of camphire, their beds of musk, and their sides of saffron, the most remarkable among them being salsabîl and tasnîm. but all these glories will be eclipsed by the resplendent and ravishing girls of paradise, called, from their large black eyes, hûr al oyûn, the enjoyment of whose company will be a principal felicity of the faithful. these, they say, are created not of clay, as mortal women are, but of pure musk: being, as their prophet often affirms in his korân, free from all natural impurities, defects, and inconveniences incident to the sex, of the strictest modesty, and secluded from public view in pavilions of hollow pearls, so large, that, as some traditions have it, one of them will be no less than four parasangs (or, as others say, sixty miles) long, and as many broad. the name which the mohammedans usually give to this happy mansion, is al jannat, or the garden; and sometimes they call it, with an addition, jannat al ferdaws, the garden of paradise, jannet aden, the garden of eden (though they generally interpret the word eden, not according to its acceptation in hebrew, but according to its meaning in their 		 yahya, in kor.c. .				 jallal'oddin, ibid. own tongue, wherein it signifies a settled or perpetual habitation), jannat al máwa, the garden of abode, jannat al naïm, the garden of pleasure, and the like; by which several appellations some understand so many different gardens, or at least places of different degrees of felicity (for they reckon no less than a hundred such in all), the very meanest whereof will afford its inhabitants so many pleasures and delights, that one would conclude they must even sink under them, had not mohammed declared, that in order to qualify the blessed for a full enjoyment of them, god will give to every one the abilities of a hundred men. we have already described mohammed's pond, whereof the righteous are to drink before their admission into this delicious seat; besides which some authors mention two fountains, springing from under a certain tree near the gate of paradise, and say, that the blessed will also drink of one of them, to purge their bodies and carry off all excrementitious dregs, and will wash themselves in the other. when they are arrived at the gate itself, each person will there be met and saluted by the beautiful youths appointed to serve and wait upon him, one of them running before, to carry the news of his arrival to the wives destined for him; and also by two angels, bearing the presents sent him by god, one of whom will invest him with a garment of paradise, and the other will put a ring on each of his fingers, with inscriptions on them alluding to the happiness of his condition. by which of the eight gates (for so many they suppose paradise to have) they are respectively to enter, is not worth inquiry; but it must be observed that mohammed has declared that no person's good works will gain him admittance, and that even himself shall be saved, not by his merits, but merely by the mercy of god. it is, however, the constant doctrine of the korân, that the felicity of each person will be proportioned to this deserts, and that there will be abodes of different degrees of happiness; the most eminent degree being reserved for the prophets, the second for the doctors and teachers of god's worship, the next for the martyrs, and the lower for the rest of the righteous, according to their several merits. there will also some distinction be made in respect to the time of their admission; mohammed (to whom, if you will believe him, the gates will first be opened) having affirmed, that the poor will enter paradise five hundred years before the rich: nor is this the only privilege which they will enjoy in the next life; since the same prophet has also declared, that when he took a view of paradise, he saw the majority of its inhabitants to be the poor, and when he looked down into hell, he saw the greater part of the wretches confined there to be women. for the first entertainment of the blessed on their admission, they fable that the whole earth will then be as one loaf of bread, which god will reach to them with his hand, holding it like a cake; and that for meat they will have the ox balâm, and the fish nûn, the lobs of whose livers will suffice , men, being, as some imagine to be set before the principal guests, viz., those who, to that number, will be admitted into paradise without examination; though others suppose that a definite number is here put for an indefinite, and that 		 al ghazâli, kenz al afrâr				 see before, p. . nothing more is meant thereby, than to express a great multitude of people. from this feast every one will be dismissed to the mansion designed for him, where (as has been said) he will enjoy such a share of felicity as will be proportioned to his merits, but vastly exceed comprehension or expectation; since the very meanest in paradise (as he who, it is pretended, must know best, has declared) will have eighty thousand servants, seventy-two wives of the girls of paradise, besides the wives he had in this world, and a tent erected for him of pearls, jacinths, and emeralds, of a very large extent; and, according to another tradition, will be waited on by three hundred attendants while he eats, will be served in dishes of gold, whereof three hundred shall be set before him at once, containing each a different kind of food, the last morsel of which will be as grateful as the first; and will also be supplied with as many sorts of liquors in vessels of the same metal: and, to complete the entertainment, there will be no want of wine, which, though forbidden in this life, will yet be freely allowed to be drunk in the next, and without danger, since the wine of paradise will not inebriate, as that we drink here. the flavour of this wine we may conceive to be delicious without a description, since the water of tasnîm and the other fountains which will be used to dilute it, is said to be wonderfully sweet and fragrant. if any object to these pleasures, as an impudent jew did to mohammed, that so much eating and drinking must necessarily require proper evacuations, we answer, as the prophets did, that the inhabitants of paradise will not need to ease themselves, nor even to blow their nose, for that all superfluities will be discharged and carried off by perspiration, or a sweat as odoriferous as musk, after which their appetite shall return afresh. the magnificence of the garments and furniture promised by the korân to the godly in the next life, is answerable to the delicacy of their diet. for they are to be clothed in the richest of silks and brocades, chiefly of green, which will burst forth from the fruits of paradise, and will be also supplied by the leaves of the tree tûba; they will be adorned with bracelets of gold and silver, and crowns set with pearls of incomparable lustre; and will make use of silken carpets, litters of a prodigious size, couches, pillows, and other rich furniture embroidered with gold and precious stones. that we may the more readily believe what has been mentioned of the extraordinary abilities of the inhabitants of paradise to taste these pleasures in their height, it is said they will enjoy a perpetual youth; that in whatever age they happen to die, they will be raised in their prime and vigour, that is, of about thirty years of age, which age they will never exceed (and the same they say of the damned); and that when they enter paradise they will be of the same stature with adam, who, as they fable, was no less than sixty cubits high. and to this age and stature their children, if they shall desire any (for otherwise their wives will not conceive), shall immediately attain; according to that saying of their prophet, "if any of the faithful in paradise be desirous of issue, it shall be conceived, born, and grown up within the space of an hour." and in the same manner, if any one shall have a fancy to employ himself in agriculture (which rustic pleasure may suit the wanton fancy of some), what he shall sow will spring up and come to maturity in a moment. lest any of the senses should want their proper delight, we are told the ear will there be entertained, not only with the ravishing songs of the angel israfîl, who has the most melodious voice of all god's creatures, and of the daughters of paradise; but even the trees themselves will celebrate the divine praises with a harmony exceeding whatever mortals have heard; to which will be joined the sound of the bells hanging on the trees, which will be put in motion by the wind proceeding from the throne of god, so often as the blessed wish for music: nay, the very clashing of the golden-bodied trees, whose fruits are pearls and emeralds, will surpass human imagination; so that the pleasures of this sense will not be the least of the enjoyments of paradise. the delights we have hitherto taken a view of, it is said, will be common to all the inhabitants of paradise, even those of the lowest order. what then, think we, must they enjoy who shall obtain a superior degree of honour and felicity? to these, they say, there are prepared, besides all this, "such things as eye hath not seen, nor hath ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive;" an expression most certainly borrowed from scripture. that we may know wherein the felicity of those who shall attain the highest degree will consist, mohammed is reported to have said, that the meanest of the inhabitants of paradise will see his gardens, wives, servants, furniture, and other possessions take up the space of a thousand years' journey (for so far and farther will the blessed see in the next life); but that he will be in the highest honour with god, who shall behold his face morning and evening: and this favour al ghazâli supposes to be that additional or superabundant recompense, promised in the korân, which will give such exquisite delight, that in respect thereof all the other pleasures of paradise will be forgotten and lightly esteemed; and not without reason, since, as the same author says, every other enjoyment is equally tasted by the very brute beast who is turned loose into luxuriant pasture. the reader will observe, by the way, that this is a full confutation of those who pretend that the mohammedans admit of no spiritual pleasure in the next life, but make the happiness of the blessed to consist wholly in corporeal enjoyments. whence mohammed took the greatest part of his paradise it is easy to show. the jews constantly describe the future mansion of the just as a delicious garden, and make it also reach to the seventh heaven. they also say it has three gates, or, as others will have it, two, and four rivers (which last circumstance they copied, to be sure, from those of the garden of eden ), flowing with milk, wine, balsam, and honey. their behemoth and leviathan, which they pretend will be slain for the entertainment of the blessed, are so apparently the balâm and nûn of mohammed, that his followers themselves confess he is obliged to them for both. the rabbins likewise mention seven different isaiah lxiv. ; i cor. ii. .		 cap. , &c.		 vide poc. in not. ad port. mosis, p. . vide reland, de rel. moh. l. , § .		 vide gemar. tânith, f. , beracoth, f. , and midrash sabboth, f. . megillah, amkoth, p. .			 midrash, yalkut shemuni. 	 gen. ii. , &c. midrash, yalk. shem.		 gemar. bava bathra. f. ; rashi, in job i. 	 vide poc. not. in port. mosis, p. . degrees of felicity, and say that the highest will be of those who perpetually contemplate the face of god. the persian magi had also an idea of the future happy estate of the good, very little different from that of mohammed. paradise they called behisht, and mînu, which signifies crystal, where they believe the righteous shall enjoy all manner of delights, and particularly the company of the hurâni behisht, or black-eyed nymphs of paradise, the care of whom, they say, committed to the angel zamiyâd; and hence mohammed seems to have taken the first hint of his paradisiacal ladies. it is not improbable, however, but that he might have been obliged, in some respect, to the christian accounts of the felicity of the good in the next life. as it is scarce possible to convey, especially to the apprehensions of the generality of mankind, an idea of spiritual pleasures without introducing sensible objects, the scriptures have been obliged to represent the celestial enjoyments by corporeal images; and to describe the mansion of the blessed as a glorious and magnificent city, built of gold and precious stones, with twelve gates; through the streets of which there runs a river of water of life, and having on either side the tree of life, which bears twelve sorts of fruits, and leaves of a healing virtue. our saviour likewise speaks of the future state of the blessed as of a kingdom where they shall eat and drink at his table. but then these descriptions have none of those puerile imaginations which reign throughout that of mohammed, much less any the most distant intimation of sensual delights, which he was so fond of; on the contrary, we are expressly assured, that "in the resurrection they will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but will be as the angels of god in heaven." mohammed, however, to enhance the value of paradise with his arabians, chose rather to imitate the indecency of the magians than the modesty of the christians in this particular, and lest his beatified moslems should complain that anything was wanting, bestows on them wives, as well as the other comforts of life; judging, it is to be presumed, from his own inclinations, that like panurgus's ass, they would think all the other enjoyments not worth their acceptance if they were to be debarred from this. had mohammed, after all, intimated to his followers, that what he had told them of paradise was to be taken, not literally, but in a metaphorical sense (as it is said the magians do the description of zoroaster's ), this might, perhaps make some atonement; but the contrary is so evident from the whole tenour of the korân, that although some nishmat hayim, f. .		 midrash, tehillim, fl. ii.		 sadder, porta .		 hyde, de rel. vet. pers. p. .		 rev. xxi. , &c., and xxii. i, .		 luke xxii. , , &c. i would not, however, undertake to defend all the christian writers in this particular; witness that one passage of irenæus, wherein he introduces a tradition of st. john that our lord should say, "the days shall come, in which there shall be vines, which shall have each ten thousand branches, and every of those branches shall have ten thousand lesser branches, and every of these branches shall have ten thousand twigs, and every one of these twigs shall have ten thousand clusters of grapes, and in every one of these clusters there shall be ten thousand grapes, and every one of these grapes being pressed shall yield two hundred and seventy-five gallons of wine; and when a man shall take hold of one of these sacred bunches, another bunch shall cry out, i am a better bunch: take me, and bless the lord by me," &c. iren. l. , c. . 	 matth. xxii. .		 vide rabelais, pantagr. l. , c. . a better authority than this might, however, be alleged in favour of mohammed's judgment in this respect; i mean that of plato, who is said to have proposed, in his ideal commonwealth, as the reward of valiant men and consummate soldiers, the kisses of boys and beauteous damsels. vide gell. noct. att. l. , c. .		 vide hyde. de rel. vet. pers. p. . mohammedans, whose understandings are too refined to admit such gross conceptions, look on their prophet's descriptions as parabolical, and are willing to receive them in an allegorical or spiritual acceptation, yet the general and orthodox doctrine is, that the whole is to be strictly believed in the obvious and literal acceptation; to prove which i need only urge the oath they exact from christians (who they know abhor such fancies) when they would bind them in the most strong and sacred manner; for in such a case they make them swear that if they falsify their engagement, they will affirm that there will be black-eyed girls in the next world, and corporeal pleasures. before we quite this subject it may not be improper to observe the falsehood of a vulgar imputation on the mohammedans, who are by several writers reported to hold that women have no souls, or, if they have, that they will perish, like those of brute beasts, and will not be rewarded in the next life. but whatever may be the opinion of some ignorant people among them, it is certain that mohammed had too great a respect for the fair sex to teach such a doctrine; and there are several passages in the korân which affirm that women, in the next life, will not only be punished for their evil actions, but will also receive the rewards of their good deeds, as well as the men, and that in this case god will make no distinction of sexes. it is true, the general notion is, that they will not be admitted into the same abode as the men are, because their places will be supplied by the paradisiacal females (though some allow that a man will there also have the company of those who were his wives in this world, or at least such of them as he shall desire ); but that good women will go into a separate place of happiness, where they will enjoy all sorts of delights; but whether one of those delights will be the enjoyment of agreeable paramours created for them, to complete the economy of the mohammedan system, is what i have nowhere found decided. one circumstance relating to these beatified females, conformable to what he had asserted of the men, he acquainted his followers with in the answer he returned to an old woman, who, desiring him to intercede with god that she might be admitted into paradise, he told her that no old woman would enter that place; which setting the poor woman a-crying, he explained himself by saying that god would then make her young again. the sixth great point of faith, which the mohammedans are taught by the korân to believe, is god's absolute decree, and predestination both of good and evil. for the orthodox doctrine is, that whether it be bad, proceedeth entirely from the divine will, and is irrevocably fixed and recorded from all eternity in the preserved table; god having secretly predetermined not only the adverse and prosperous fortune of every person in this world, in the most minute particulars, but also his faith or infidelity, his obedience or disobedience, and con vide eund. in not. ad bobov. lit. turcar. p. .		 poc. ad port. mos. p. .			 hornbek, sum. contr. p. . grelot, voyage de constant. p. . ricaut's present state of the ottoman empire, l. , c. . see kor. c. , p. , c. , p. ; and also c. , , , , , &c. vide etiam reland. de rel. moh. l. , § ; and hyde, in not. ad bobov. de visit. ægr. p. .		 see before, p. .		 vide chardin, voy. tom. ii. p. , and bayle, dict. hist. art. mahomet, rem. q. 	 see kor. c. , and the notes there; and gagnier. not. in abulfeda vit. moh p. . see before, p. . sequently his everlasting happiness or misery after death; which fate or predestination it is not possible, by any foresight or wisdom, to avoid. of this doctrine mohammed makes great use in his korân for the advancement of his designs; encouraging his followers to fight without fear, and even desperately, for the propagation of their faith, by representing to them that all their caution could not avert their inevitable destiny, or prolong their lives for a moment; and deterring them from disobeying or rejecting him as an impostor, by setting before them the danger they might thereby incur of being, by the just judgment of god, abandoned to seduction, hardness of heart, and a reprobate mind, as a punishment for their obstinacy. as this doctrine of absolute election and reprobation has been thought by many of the mohammedan divines to be derogatory to the goodness and justice of god, and to make god the author of evil, several subtle distinctions have been invented, and disputes raised, to explicate or soften it; and different sects have been formed, according to their several opinions or methods of explaining this point: some of them going so far as even to hold the direct contrary position of absolute free will in man, as we shall see hereafter. of the four fundamental points of religious practice required by the korân, the first is prayer, under which, as has been said, are also comprehended those legal washings or purifications which are necessary preparations thereto. of these purifications there are two degrees, one called ghosl, being a total immersion or bathing of the body in water; and the other called wodû (by the persians, abdest), which is the washing of their faces, hands, and feet, after a certain manner. the first is required in some extraordinary cases only, as after having lain with a woman, or been polluted by emission of seed, or by approaching a dead body; women also being obliged to it after their courses or childbirth. the latter is the ordinary ablution in common cases and before prayer, and must necessarily be used by every person before he can enter upon that duty. it is performed with certain formal ceremonies, which have been described by some writers, but are much easier apprehended by seeing them done than by the best description. these purifications were perhaps borrowed by mohammed of the jews; at least they agree in a great measure with those used by that nation, who in process of time burdened the precepts of moses in this point, with so many traditionary ceremonies, that whole books have been written about them, and who were so exact and superstitious therein, even in our saviour's time, that they are often reproved by him for it. but as it is certain that the pagan arabs used lustrations of this kind long before the time of mohammed, as most nations did, and still do in the east, where the warmth of the climate requires a greater nicety and degree of cleanliness than these colder parts; perhaps mohammed only recalled his countrymen to a more strict observance of those purifying rites, which had been probably neglected by them, or at least performed in a careless and perfunctory manner. kor. c. , c. , &c.		 ibid. c. , c. , &c. passim. 	 sect. viii.		 kor. c. , and c. vide reland. de rel. moh. l. i., c. .		 poc. not in port. mosis, p. , &c.		 mark vii. , &c. vide herodot. l. , c. . the mohammedans, however, will have it that they are as ancient as abraham, who, they say, was enjoined by god to observe them, and was shown the manner of making the ablution by the angel gabriel, in the form of a beautiful youth. nay, some deduce the matter higher, and imagine that these ceremonies were taught our first parents by the angels. that his followers might be the more punctual in this duty, mohammed is said to have declared, that "the practice of religion is founded on cleanliness," which is the one-half of the faith, and the key of prayer, without which it will not be heard by god. that these expressions may be the better understood, al ghazâli reckons four degrees of purification; of which the first is, the cleansing of the body from all pollution, filth, and excrements; the second, the cleansing of the members of the body from all wickedness and unjust actions; the third, the cleansing of the heart from all blamable inclinations and odious vices; and the fourth, the purging a man's secret thoughts from all affections which may divert their attendance on god: adding, that the body is but as the outward shell in respect to the heart, which is as the kernel. and for this reason he highly complains of those who are superstitiously solicitous in exterior purifications, avoiding those persons as unclean who are not so scrupulously nice as themselves, and at the same time have their minds lying waste, and overrun with pride, ignorance, and hypocrisy. whence it plainly appears with how little foundation the mohammedans have been charged, by some writers, with teaching or imagining that these formal washings alone cleanse them for their sins. lest so necessary a preparation to their devotions should be omitted, either where water cannot be had, or when it may be of prejudice to a person's health, they are allowed in such cases to make use of fine sand or dust in lieu of it; and then they perform this duty by clapping their open hands on the sand, and passing them over the parts, in the same manner as if they were dipped in water. but for this expedient mohammed was not so much indebted to his own cunning, as to the example of the jews, or perhaps that of the persian magi, almost as scrupulous as the jews themselves in their lustrations, who both of them prescribe the same method in cases of necessity; and there is a famous instance, in ecclesiastical history, of sand being used, for the same reason, instead of water, in the administration of the christian sacrament of baptism, many years before mohammed's time. neither are the mohammedans contented with bare washing, but al jannâbi in vita abrah. vide poc. spec. p. . herewith agrees the spurious gospel of st. barnabas, the spanish translation of which (cap. ) has these words: dixo abraham, que harè yo para servir al dios de los sanctos y prophetas? respondiò el angel, ve e aquella fuente y lavate, porque dios quiere hablar contigo. dixo abraham, come tengo de lavarme? luego el angel se le appareciò como uno bello mancebo, y se lavò en la fuente, y le dixo, abraham, haz como yo. y abraham se lavò, &c. al kessâï. vide reland. de rel. mohamm. p. .		 al ghazâli, ebn al athîr.		 vide poc. spec. p. , &c. barthol. edessen, confut. hagaren. p. . g. sionita and j. hesronita, in tract. de urb. and morib. orient. ad calcem geogr. nubiens. c. . du ryer, dans le sommaire de la rel. des turcs, mis à la tête de sa version de l'alcor. st. olon, descr. du royaume de maroc, c. . hyde, in not. ad bobov. de prec. moh. p. i; smith, de morib. et instit. turcar. ep. i, p. .		 vide reland. de rel. moh. l. , c. ii.		 kor. c. , p. and , p. .		 vide smith, ubi sup.		 gemar. berachoth. c . vide poc. not. ad port mosis, p. . sadder, porta .		 cedren. p. . think themselves obliged to several other necessary points of cleanliness, which they make also parts of this duty; such as combing the hair, cutting the beard, paring the nails, pulling out the hairs of their armpits, shaving their private parts, and circumcision; of which last i will add a word or two, lest i should not find a more proper place. circumcision, though it be not so much as once mentioned in the korân, is yet held by the mohammedans to be an ancient divine institution, confirmed by the religion of islâm, and though not so absolutely necessary but that it may be dispensed with in some cases, yet highly proper and expedient. the arabs used this rite for many ages before mohammed, having probably learned it from ismael, though not only his descendants, but the hamyarites, and other tribes, practised the same. the ismaelites, we are told, used to circumcise their children, not on the eighth day, as is the custom of the jews, but when about twelve or thirteen years old, at which age their father underwent that operation: and the mohammedans imitate them so far as not to circumcise children before they be able, at least, distinctly to pronounce that profession of their faith, "there is no god but god, mohammed is the apostle of god;" but pitch on what age they please for the purpose, between six and sixteen or thereabouts. though the moslem doctors are generally of opinion, conformably to the scripture, that this precept was originally given to abraham, yet some have imagined that adam was taught it by the angel gabriel, to satisfy an oath he had made to cut off that flesh which, after his fall, had rebelled against his spirit; whence an odd argument has been drawn for the universal obligation of circumcision. though i cannot say the jews led the mohammedans the way here, yet they seem so unwilling to believe any of the principal patriarchs or prophets before abraham were really uncircumcised, that they pretend several of them, as well as some holy men who lived after his time, were born ready circumcised, or without a foreskin, and that adam, in particular, was so created; whence the mohammedans affirm the same thing of their prophet. prayer was by mohammed thought so necessary a duty, that he used to call it the pillar of religion and the key of paradise; and when the thakifites, who dwelt at tâyef, sending in the ninth year of the hejra to make their submission to that prophet, after the keeping of their favourite idol had been denied them, begged, at least, that they might be dispensed with as to their saying of the appointed prayers, he answered, "that there could be no good in that religion wherein was no prayer." vide poc. spec. p. .		 vide bobov. de circumcis. p. . 	 philostorg. hist. eccl. l. . joseph. ant. l. i, c. .		 gen. xvii. .		 vide bobov. ubi sup. and poc. spec. p. . vide reland. de rel. moh. l. i, p. . this is the substance of the following passage of the gospel of barnabas (cap. ), viz.,entonces dixo jesus; adam el primer hombre aviendo comido por eñgano del demonio la comida prohibida por dios en el parayso, se le rebelò su carne à su espiritu; por lo qual jurò diziendo, por dios que yo te quiero cortar; y rompiendo una piedra tomò su carne para cortarla con el corte de la piedra. por loqual fue reprehendido del angel gabriel, y el le dixo; yo he jurado por dios que lo he de cortar, y mentiroso no lo serè jamas. ala hora el angel le enseño la superfluidad de su earne, y a quella cortò. de manera que ansi como todo hombre toma carne de adam, ansi esta obligado a complir aquello que adam con juramento prometiò. 		 shalshel. hakkabala. vide poc. spec. p. ; gagnier not. in abulfed. vit. moh. p. .		 vide poc. spec. p. .		 see before, p. .		 abulfed. vit. moh. p. that so important a duty, therefore, might not be neglected, mohammed obliged his followers to pray five times every twenty-four hours, at certain state times; viz., i. in the morning, before sunrise; . when noon is past, and the sun begins to decline form the meridian; . in the afternoon, before sunset; . in the evening, after sunset, and before day be shut in; and . after the day is shut in, and before the first watch of the night. for this institution he pretended to have received the divine command from the throne of god himself, when he took his night journey to heaven; and the observing of the stated times of prayer is frequently insisted on in the korân, though they be not particularly prescribed therein. accordingly, at the aforesaid times, of which public notice is given by the muedhdhins, or criers, from the steeples of their mosques (for they use no bell), every conscientious moslem prepares himself for prayer, which he performs either in the mosque or any other place, provided it be clean, after a prescribed form, and with a certain number of phrases or ejaculations (which the more scrupulous count by a string of beads) and using certain postures of worship; all which have been particularly set down and described, though with some few mistakes, by other writers, and ought not to be abridged, unless in some special cases; as on a journey, on preparing for battle, &c. for the regular performance of the duty of prayer among the mohammedans, besides the particulars above mentioned, it is also requisite that they turn their faces, while they pray, towards the temple of mecca; the quarter where the same is situate being, for that reason, pointed out within their mosques by a niche, which they call al mehrâb, and without, by the situation of the doors opening into the galleries of the steeples: there are also tables calculated for the ready finding out their kebla, or part towards which they ought to pray, in places where they have no other direction. but what is principally to be regarded in the discharge of this duty, say the moslem doctors, is the inward disposition of the heart, which is the life and spirit of prayer; the most punctual observance of the external rites and ceremonies before mentioned being of little or no avail, if performed without due attention, reverence, devotion, and hope: so that we must not think the mohammedans, or the considerate part of them at least, content themselves with the mere opu. operatum, or imagine their whole religion to be placed therein. i had like to have omitted two things which in my mind deserve mention on this head, and may, perhaps, be better defended than our contrary practice. one is, that the mohammedans never address themselves to god in sumptuous apparel, though they are obliged to be decently clothed; but lay aside their costly habits and pompous ornaments, if they wear any, when they approach the divine presence, lest they should seem proud and arrogant. the other is, that they admit not their women to pray with them in public; that sex being vide ibid. p. , .		 vide hotting. hist. eccles. tom. viii. p. - ; bobov. in liturg. turcic p. i, &c.; grelot, voyage de constant. p. - ; chardin, voy. de perse, tom. ii. p. , &c.; and smith, de moribus ac instit. turcar. ep. i, p. , &c. kor. c. , p. . see the notes there.		 vide hyde, de rel. vet. pers. p. , , and .		 al ghazâli. vide poc. spec. p. .		 vide smith, ubi sup. p. . 	 reland. de rel. moh. p. . see kor. c. . p. . obliged to perform their devotions at home, or if they visit the mosques, it must be at a time when the men are not there: for the moslems are of opinion that their presence inspires a different kind of devotion from that which is requisite in a place dedicated to the worship of god. the greater part of the particulars comprised in the mohammedan institution of prayer, their prophet seems to have copied from others, and especially the jews; exceeding their institutions only in the number of daily prayer. the jews are directed to pray three times a day, in the morning, in the evening, and within night; in imitation of abraham, isaac, and jacob; and the practice was as early, at least, as the time of daniel. the several postures used by the mohammedans in their prayers are also the same with those prescribed by the jewish rabbins, and particularly the most solemn act of adoration, by prostrating themselves so as to touch the ground with their forehead; notwithstanding, the latter pretend the practice of the former, in this respect, to be a relic of their ancient manner of paying their devotions to baal-peor. the jews likewise constantly pray with their faces turned towards the temple of jerusalem, which has been their kebla from the time it was first dedicated by solomon; for which reason daniel, praying in chaldea, had the windows of his chamber open towards that city: and the same was the kebla of mohammed and his followers for six or seven months, and till he found himself obliged to change it for the caaba. the jews, moreover, are obliged by the precepts of their religion to be careful that the place they pray in, and the garments they have on when they perform their duty, be clean: the men and women also among them pray apart (in which particular they were imitated by the eastern christians); and several other conformities might be remarked between the jewish public worship and that of the mohammedans. the next point of the mohammedan religion is the giving of alms, which are of two sorts, legal and voluntary. the legal alms are of indispensable obligation, being commanded by the law, which directs and determines both the portion which is to be given, and of what things it ought to be given; but the voluntary alms are left to every one's liberty, to give more or less, as he shall see fit. the former kind of alms some think to be properly called zacât, and the latter sadakat; a moor, named ahmed ebn abdalla, in a latin epistle by him, written to maurice, prince of orange, and emanuel, prince of portugal, containing a censure of the christian religion (a copy of which, once belonging to mr. selden, who has thence transcribed a considerable passage in his treatise de synedriis vett. ebræor. l. i, c. , is now in the bodleian library), finds great fault with the unedifying manner in which mass is said among the roman catholics, for this very reason, among others. his words are: ubicunque congregantur simul viri et fomino, ibi mens non est intenta et devota: nam inter celebrandum missam et sacrificia, fomino et viri mutuis aspectibus, signis, ac nutibus accendunt pravorum appetitum, et desideriorum suorum ignes: et quando hoc non fieret, saltem humana fragilitas delectatur mutuo et reciproco aspectu; et ita non potest esse mens quieta, attenta, et devota. the sabians, according to some, exceed the mohammedans in this point, praying seven times a day. see before, p. . gemar. berachoth.		 gen. xix. .		 gen. xxiv. . 	 gen. xxviii. ii, &c. dan. vi. .		 vide millium, de mohammedismo ante moham. p. , &c., and hyde, de rel. vet. pers. p. , &c. maimonid. in epist. ad proselyt. relig. vide poc. spec. p. . 	 gemar. bava bathra, and berachoth. i kings viii. , &c.		 dan. vi. .		 some say eighteen months. vide abulfed. vit. moh. p. . maimon. in halachoth tephilla, c. , § , . menura hammeor, fol. , . 	 vide millium, ubi supra, p. , et seq. though this name be also frequently given to the legal alms. they are called zacât, either because they increase a man's store, by drawing down a blessing thereon, and produce in his soul the virtue of liberality, or because they purify the remaining part of one's substance from pollution, and the soul from the filth of avarice; and sadakat, because they are a proof of a man's sincerity in the worship of god. some writers have called the legal alms tithes, but improperly, since in some cases they fall short, and in others exceed that proportion. the giving of alms is frequently commanded in the korân, and often recommended therein jointly with prayer; the former being held of great efficacy in causing the latter to be heard of god: for which reason the khalîf omar ebn abd'alaziz used to say, "that prayer and alms carries us half-way to god, fasting brings us to the door of his palace, and alms procures us admission." the mohammedans, therefore, esteem almsdeeds to be highly meritorious, and many of them have been illustrious for the exercise thereof. hasan, the son of ali, and grandson of mohammed, in particular is related to have thrice in his life divided his substance equally between himself and the poor, and twice to have given away all he had: and the generality are so addicted to the doing of good, that they extend their charity even to brutes. alms, according to the prescriptions of the mohammedan law, are to be given of five things-i. of cattle, that is to say, of camels, kine, and sheep. . of money. . of corn. . of fruits, viz., dates and raisins. and . of wares sold. of each of these a certain portion is to be given in alms, usually one part in forty, or two and a half per cent of the value. but no alms are due for them, unless they amount to a certain quantity or number; nor until a man has been in possession of them eleven months, he not being obliged to give alms thereout before the twelfth month is begun: nor are alms due for cattle employed in tilling the ground, or in carrying of burdens. in some cases a much larger portion than the before-mentioned is reckoned due for alms: thus of what is gotten out of mines, or the sea, or by any art or profession over and above what is sufficient for the reasonable support of a man's family, and especially where there is a mixture or suspicion of unjust gain, a fifth part ought to be given in alms. moreover, at the end of the fast of ramadân, every moslem is obliged to give in alms for himself and for every one of his family, if he has any, a measure of wheat, barley, dates, raisins, rice, or other provisions commonly eaten. the legal alms were at first collected by mohammed himself, who employed them as he thought fit, in the relief of his poor relations and followers, but chiefly applied them to the maintenance of those who served in his wars, and fought, as he termed it, in the way of god. his successors continued to do the same, till, in the process of time, other taxes and tributes being imposed for the support of the government, al beidâwi. see kor. c. , p. .		 idem. compare this with what our saviour says (luke xi. ), "give alms of such things as ye have; and behold, all things are clean unto you."			 d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. .		 ibid. p. .		 vide busbeq. epist. , p. . smith, de morib. turc. ep. i, p. , &c. compare eccles. xi. i. and prov. xii. . this measure is a saá, and contains about six or seven pounds weight. 	 vide reland. de rel. mahommed. lib. i., p. , &c. chardin, voy. de perse. tom. , p. , &c. they seem to have been weary of acting as almoners to their subjects, and to have left the paying them to their consciences. in the foregoing rules concerning alms, we may observe also footsteps of what the jews taught and practised in respect thereto. alms, which they also call sedaka, i.e., justice, or righteousness, are greatly recommended by their rabbins, and preferred even to sacrifices; as a duty, the frequent exercise whereof will effectually free a man from hell fire, and merit everlasting life: wherefore, besides the corners of the field, and the gleanings of their harvest and vineyard, commanded to be left for the poor and the stranger by the law of moses, a certain portion of their corn and fruits is directed to be set apart for their relief, which portion is called the tithes of the poor. the jews likewise were formerly very conspicuous for their charity. zaccheus gave the half of his goods to the poor; and we are told that some gave their whole substance: so that their doctors, at length, decreed that no man should give above a fifth part of his goods in alms. there were also persons publicly appointed in every synagogue to collect and distribute the people's contributions. the third point of religious practice is fasting; a duty of so great moment, that mohammed used to say it was "the gate of religion," and that "the odour of the mouth of him who fasteth is more grateful to god than that of musk;" and al ghazâli reckons fasting one-fourth part of the faith. according to the mohammedan divines, there are three degrees of fasting: i. the restraining the belly and other parts of the body from satisfying their lusts; . the restraining the ears, eyes, tongue, hands, feet, and other members from sin; and . the fasting of the heart from worldly cares, and refraining the thoughts from everything besides god. the mohammedans are obliged, by the express command of the korân, to fast the whole month of ramadân, from the time the new moon first appears, till the appearance of the next new moon; during which time they must abstain from eating, drinking, and women, from daybreak till night, or sunset. and this injunction they observe so strictly, that while they fast they suffer nothing to enter their mouths, or other parts of their body, esteeming the fast broken and null if they smell perfumes, take a clyster or injection, bathe, or even purposely swallow their spittle; some being so cautious that they will not open their mouths to speak, lest they should breathe the air too freely: the fast is also deemed void if a man kiss or touch a woman, or if he vomit designedly. but after sunset they are allowed to refresh themselves, and to eat and drink, and enjoy the company of their wives till daybreak; hence alms are in the new testament termed [greek text]. matth. vi. i (ed. steph.), and cor. ix. .		 gemar. in bava bathra. 	 ibid. in gittin.		 ibid. in rosh hashana.		 levit. xix. , ; deut. xxiv. , &c.		 vide gemar. hierosol. in peah, and maimon. in halachoth matanoth aniyyim. c. . confer pirke avoth, v. . luke xix. .		 vide reland. ant. sacr. vet. hebr. p. . 	 vide ibid. p. . al ghazâli, al mostatraf.		 kor. c. , p. , .	 hence we read that the virgin mary, to avoid answering the reflections cast on her for bringing home a child, was advised by the angel gabriel to feign she had vowed a fast, and therefore she ought not to speak. see kor. c. . the words of the korân (cap. , p. ) are: "until ye can distinguish a white thread from a black thread by the daybreak"-a form of speaking borrowed by mohammed from the jews, who determine the time when they are to begin their morning lesson, to be so soon as a man can discern blue form white, i.e., the blue threads from the white threads in the fringes of their garments. but this explication the commentators do not approve, pretending that by the white though the more rigid begin the fast again at midnight. this fast is extremely rigorous and mortifying when the month of ramadân happens to fall in summer, for the arabian year being lunar, each month runs through all the different seasons in the course of thirty-three years, the length and heat of the days making the observance of it much more difficult and uneasy then than in winter. the reason given why the month of ramadân was pitched on for this purpose is, that on the month the korân was sent down from heaven. some pretend that abraham, moses, and jesus received their respective revelations in the same month. from the fast of ramadân none are excused, except only travellers and sick persons (under which last denomination the doctors comprehend all whose health would manifestly be injured by their keeping the fast; as women with child and giving suck, ancient people, and young children); but then they are obliged, as soon as the impediment is removed, to fast an equal number of other days: and the breaking the fast is ordered to be expiated by giving alms to the poor. mohammed seems to have followed the guidance of the jews in his ordinances concerning fasting, no less than in the former particulars. that nation, when they fast, abstain not only from eating and drinking, but from women, and from anointing themselves, from daybreak until sunset, and the stars begin to appear; spending the night in taking what refreshments they please. and they allow women with child and giving suck, old persons, and young children to be exempted from keeping most of the public fasts. though my design here be briefly to treat of those points only which are of indispensable obligation on a moslem, and expressly required by the korân, without entering into their practice as to voluntary and supererogatory works; yet to show how closely mohammed's institutions follow the jewish, i shall add a word or two of the voluntary fasts of the mohammedans. these are such as have been recommended either by the example or approbation of their prophet; and especially certain days of those months which they esteem sacred: there being a tradition that he used to say, that a fast of one day in a sacred month was better than a fast of thirty days in another month; and that the fast of one day in ramadân was more meritorious than a fast of thirty days in a sacred month. among the more commendable days is that of ashûra, the tenth of moharram; which, though some writers tell us it was observed by the arabs, and particularly the tribe of koreish, before mohammed's time, yet, as others assure us, that prophet borrowed both the name and the fast from the jews; it being with them the tenth of thread and the black thread are to be understood the light and dark streaks of the daybreak; and they say the passage was at first revealed without the words "of the daybreak;" but mohammed's followers, taking the expression in the first sense, regulated their practice accordingly, and continued eating and drinking till they could distinguish a white thread from a black thread, as they lay before them-to prevent which for the future, the words "of the daybreak" were added as explanatory of the former. al beidâwi. vide pocock. not. in carmen tograi, p. , &c. chardin, voy. de perse, tom. , p. . vide chardin, ib. p. , &c. reland. de relig. moh. p. , &c. 	 see hereafter, sect. vi.		 kor. c. , p. . see also c. .		 al beidâwi, ex trad. mohammedis.		 see kor. c. , p. . siphra, f. , .		 tosephoth ad gemar. yoma, f. .		 vide gemar. yoma, f. , and maimon. in halachoth tánioth, c. , § . 	 vide gemar. tánith, f. , and yoma, f. , and es hayim, tánith, c. i.		 al ghazâli.		 al bârezi in comment. ad orat. ebn nobâtæ. the seventh month, or tisri, and the great day of expiation commanded to be kept by the law of moses. al kazwîni relates that when mohammed came to medina, and found the jews there fasted on the day of ashûra, he asked them the reason of it; and they told him it was because on that day pharaoh and his people were drowned, moses and those who were with him escaping: whereupon he said that he bore a nearer relation to moses than they, and ordered his followers to fast on that day. however, it seems afterwards he was not so well pleased in having imitated the jews herein; and therefore declared that, if he lived another year, he would alter the day, and fast on the ninth, abhorring so near an agreement with them. the pilgrimage to mecca is so necessary a point of practice that, according to a tradition of mohammed, he who dies without performing it, may as well die a jew or a christian; and the same is expressly commanded in the korân. before i speak of the time and manner of performing this pilgrimage, it may be proper to give a short account of the temple of mecca, the chief scene of the mohammedan worship; in doing which i need be the less prolix, because that edifice has been already described by several writers, though they, following different relations, have been led into some mistakes, and agree not with one another in several particulars: nor, indeed, do the arab authors agree in all things, one great reason whereof is their speaking of different times. the temple of mecca stands in the midst of the city, and is honoured with the title of masjad al alharâm, i.e., the sacred or inviolable temple. what is principally reverenced in this place, and gives sanctity to the whole, is a square stone building, called the caaba, as some fancy, from its height, which surpasses that of the other buildings in mecca, but more probably from its quadrangular form, and beit allah, i.e., the house of god, being peculiarly hallowed and set apart for his worship. the length of this edifice, from north to south, is twenty-four cubits, its breadth from east to west twenty- three cubits, and its height twenty-seven cubits: the door, which is on the east side, stands about four cubits from the ground; the floor being level with the bottom of the door. in the corner next this door is the black stone, of which i shall take notice by-and-bye. on the north side of the caaba, within a semicircular enclosure fifty cubits long, lies the white stone, said to be the sepulchre of ismael, which receives the rain-water that falls off the caaba by a spout, formerly of wood, but now of gold. the caaba has a double roof, supported within by three octangular pillars of aloes wood; between which, on a bar of iron, hang some silver lamps. the outside is covered with rich black damask, adorned with an embroidered band of gold, which is changed every year, and was formerly sent by the khalîfs, afterwards by the soltâns of egypt, and is now provided by the turkish emperors. at a small distance from the caaba, on the east side, is the station or place of abraham, where is another stone levit. xvi. , and xxiii. .		 ebn al athîr. vide poc. spec. p. .		 al ghazâli. cap. , p. . see also c. , p. and c. , p. , &c.		 chardin, voy. de perse, t. , p. , &c.; bremond, descrittioni dell' eitto, &c., l. r, c. ; pitts' account of the rel. &c. of the mohammedans, p. , &c.;and boulainvilliers, vie de mahomed, p. , &c., which last author is the most particular.		 ahmed ebn yusef.		 sharif al edrisi, and kitab masalec, apud poc. spec. p. , &c.		 sharif al edrisi, ibid. much respected by the mohammedans, of which something will be said hereafter. the caaba, at some distance, is surrounded but not entirely, by a circular enclosure of pillars, joined towards the bottom by a low balustrade, and towards the top by bars of silver. just without this inner enclosure, on the south, north, and west sides of the caaba, are three buildings, which are the oratories, or places where three of the orthodox sects assemble to perform their devotions (the fourth sect, viz., that of al shâfeï, making use of the station of abraham for that purpose), and towards the south-east stands the edifice which covers the well zemzem, the treasury, and cupola of al abbas. all these buildings are enclosed, a considerable distance, by a magnificent piazza, or square colonnade, like that of the royal exchange in london, but much larger, covered with small domes or cupolas, from the four corners whereof rise as many minârets or steeples, with double galleries, and adorned with gilded spires and crescents, as are the cupolas which cover the piazza and the other buildings. between the pillars of both enclosures hang a great number of lamps, which are constantly lighted at night. the first foundations of this outward enclosure were laid by omar, the second khalîf, who built no more than a low wall to prevent the court of the caaba, which before lay open, from being encroached on by private buildings; but the structure has been since raised, by the liberality of many succeeding princes and great men, to its present lustre. this is properly all that is called the temple, but the whole territory of mecca being also harâm, or sacred, there is a third enclosure, distinguished at certain distances by small turrets, some five, some seven, and others ten miles distant from the city. within this compass of ground it is not lawful to attack an enemy, or even to hunt or fowl, or cut a branch from a tree: which is the true reason why the pigeons at mecca are reckoned sacred, and not that they are supposed to be of the race of that imaginary pigeon which some authors, who should have known better, would persuade us mohammed made pass for the holy ghost. the temple of mecca was a place of worship, and in singular veneration with the arabs from great antiquity, and many centuries before mohammed. though it was most probably dedicated at first to an idolatrous use, yet the mohammedans are generally persuaded that the caaba is almost coeval with the world: for they say that adam, after his expulsion from paradise, begged of god that he might erect a building like that he had seen there, called beit al mámûr, or the frequented house, and al dorâh, towards which he might direct his prayers, and which he might compass, as the angels do the celestial one. whereupon god let down a representation of that house in curtains of light, and set it in mecca, perpendicularly under its original, order- idem, ibid		 poc. spec. p. .		 gol. not. in alfrag. p. .		 gab. sionita, et joh. hesronita, de nonnullis orient. urbib. ad calc. geogr. nub. p. . al mogholtaï, in his life of mohammed, says the pigeons of the temple of mecca are of the breed of those which laid their eggs at the mouth of the cave where the prophet and abu becr hid themselves, when they fled from that city. see before, p. .		 see before, p. .		 some say that the beit al mámûr itself was the caaba of adam, which, having been let down to him from heaven, was, at the flood, taken up again into heaven, and is there kept. al zamakh. in kor. c. .		 al ing the patriarch to turn towards it when he prayed, and to compass it by way of devotion. after adam's death, his son seth built a house in the same form of stones and clay, which being destroyed by the deluge, was rebuilt by abraham and ismael, at god's command, in the place where the former had stood, and after the same model, they being directed therein by revelation. after this edifice had undergone several reparations, it was, a few years after the birth of mohammed, rebuilt by the koreish on the old foundation, and afterwards repaired by abd'allah ebn zobeir, the khalîf of mecca, and at length again rebuilt by al hejâj ebn yûsof, in the seventy-fourth year of the hejra, with some alterations, in the form wherein it now remains. some years after, however, the khalîf harûn al rashîd (or, as others write, his father al mohdi, or his grandfather al mansûr) intended again to change what had been altered by al hejâj, and to reduce the caaba to the old form in which it was left by abd'allah, but was dissuaded from meddling with it, lest so holy a place should become the sport of princes, and being new modelled after every one's fancy, should lose that reverence which was justly paid it. but notwithstanding the antiquity and holiness of this building, they have a prophecy, by tradition from mohammed, that in the last times the ethiopians shall come and utterly demolish it, after which it will not be rebuilt again for ever. before we leave the temple of mecca, two or three particulars deserve further notice. one is the celebrated black stone, which is set in silver, and fixed in the south-east corner of the caaba, being that which looks towards basra, about two cubits and one-third, or, which is the same thing, seven spans from the ground. this stone is exceedingly respected by the mohammedans, and is kissed by the pilgrims with great devotion, being called by some the right hand of god on earth. they fable that it is one of the precious stones of paradise, and fell down to the earth with adam, and being taken up again, or otherwise preserved at the deluge, the angel gabriel afterwards brought it back to abraham when he was building the caaba. it was at first whiter than milk, but grew black long since by the touch of a menstruous woman, or, as others tell us, by the sins of mankind, or rather by the touches and kisses of so many people, the superficies only being black, and the inside still remaining white. when the karmatians, among other profanations by them offered to the temple of mecca, took away this stone, they could not be prevailed on, for love or money, to restore it, though those of mecca offered no less than five thousand pieces of gold for it. how- jûzi, ex. trad. ebn abbas. it has been observed that the primitive christian church held a parallel opinion as to the situation of the celestial jerusalem with respect to the terrestrial: for in the apocryphal book of the revelations of st. peter (cap. ), after jesus has mentioned unto peter the creation of the seven heavens-whence, by the way, it appears that this number of heavens was not devised by mohammed-and of the angels, begins the description of the heavenly jerusalem in these words: "we have created the upper jerusalem above the waters, which are above the third heaven, hanging directly over the lower jerusalem," &c. vide gagnier, not. ad abulfed. vit. moh. p. . al shahrestani.		 vide kor. c. , p. .		 al jannâbi, in vita abraham.		 vide abulfed. vit. moh. p. . 	 idem, in hist. gen. al jannâbi, &c.		 al jannâbi.	 idem, ahmed ebn yusef. vide poc. spec. p. , &c.		 al zamakh. &c. in kor. ahmed ebn yusef.		 poc. spec. p. , &c.		 these carmatians were a sect which arose in the year of the hejra , and whose opinions overturned the fundamental points of mohammedism. see d'herbel. bibl. orient art. carmath. and hereafter § viii.		 d'herbel. p. . ever, after they had kept it twenty-two years, seeing they could not thereby draw the pilgrims from mecca, they sent it back of their own accord; at the same time bantering its devotees by telling them it was not the true stone: but, as it is said, it was proved to be no counterfeit by its peculiar quality of swimming on water. another thing observable in this temple is the stone in abraham's place, wherein they pretend to show his footsteps, telling us he stood on it when he built the caaba, and that it served him for a scaffold, rising and falling of itself as he had occasion, though another tradition says he stood upon it while the wife of his son ismael, whom he paid a visit to, washed his head. it is now enclosed in an iron chest, out of which the pilgrims drink the water of zemzem, and are ordered to pray at it by the korân. the officers of the temple took care to hide this stone when the karmatians took the other. the last thing i shall take notice of in the temple is the well zemzem, on the east side of the caaba, and which is covered with a small building and cupola. the mohammedans are persuaded it is the very spring which gushed out for the relief of ismael, when hagar his mother wandered with him in the desert; and some pretend it was so named from her calling to him, when she spied it, in the egyptian tongue, zem, zem, that is, "stay, stay," though it seems rather to have had the name from the murmuring of its waters. the water of this will is reckoned holy, and is highly reverenced, being not only drunk with particular devotion by the pilgrims, but also sent in bottles, as a great rarity, to most parts of the mohammedan dominions. abd'allah, surnamed al hâfedh, from his great memory, particularly as to the traditions of mohammed, gave out that he acquired that faculty by drinking large draughts of zemzem water, to which i really believe it as efficacious as that of helicon to the inspiring of a poet. to this temple every mohammedan, who has health and means sufficient ought once, at least, in his life to go on pilgrimage; nor are women excused from the performance of this duty. the pilgrims meet at different places near mecca, according to the different parts from whence they come, during the months of shawâl and dhu'lkaada, being obliged to be there by the beginning of dhu'lhajja, which month, as its name imports, is peculiarly set apart for the celebration of this solemnity. at the places above mentioned the pilgrims properly commence such; when the men put on the ihrâm, or sacred habit, which consists only of two woolen wrappers, one wrapped about the middle to cover their privities, and the other thrown over their shoulders, having their heads bare, and a kind of slippers which cover neither the heel nor the instep, and so enter the sacred territory in their way to mecca. while they have this habit on they must neither hunt nor fowl (though they are allowed to fish ), which precept is so punctually observed, that they will not kill even a louse or a flea, if they find them on their bodies: there are some noxious animals, however, which they have permission to kill during the pilgrimage, as kites, ravens, scorpions, mice, and dogs ahmed ebn yusef, abulfeda. vide poc. spec. p. .		 abulfed. 	 vide hyde, de rel. vet. pers. p. .		 ahmed ebn yusef, safio'ddin.		 ahmed ebn yusef.		 cap. , p. . vide poc. spec. p. , &c.		 gen. xxi. .		 g. sionit. et j. hesr. de nonnull. urb. orient. p. . d'herbel. p. .		 see kor. c. , p. , and the notes thereon. 		 vide bobov. de peregr. mecc. p. , &c.		 kor. c. , p. .		 ibid. given to bite. during the pilgrimage it behoves a man to have a constant guard over his words and actions, and to avoid all quarrelling or ill language, and all converse with women and obscene discourse, and to apply his whole intention to the good work he is engaged in. the pilgrims, being arrived at mecca, immediately visit the temple, and then enter on the performance of the prescribed ceremonies, which consist chiefly in going in procession round the caaba, in running between the mounts safâ and merwâ, in making the station on mount arafat, and slaying the victims, and shaving their heads in the valley of mina. these ceremonies have been so particularly described by others, that i may be excused if i but just mention the most material circumstances thereof. in compassing the caaba, which they do seven times, beginning at the corner where the black stone is fixed, they use a short, quick pace the three first times they go round it, and a grave, ordinary pace, the four last; which, it is said, was ordered by mohammed, that his followers might show themselves strong and active, to cut off the hopes of the infidels, who gave out that the immoderate heats of medina had rendered them weak. but the aforesaid quick pace they are not obliged to use every time they perform this piece of devotion, but only at some particular times. so often as they pass by the black stone, they either kiss it, or touch it with their hand, and kiss that. the running between safâ and merwâ is also performed seven times, partly with a slow pace, and partly running: for they walk gravely till they come to a place between two pillars; and there they run, and afterwards walk again; sometimes looking back, and sometimes stopping, like one who has lost something, to represent hagar seeking water for her son: for the ceremony is said to be as ancient as her time. on the ninth of dhu'lhajja, after morning prayer, the pilgrims leave the valley of mina, whither they come the day before, and proceed in a tumultuous and rushing manner to mount arafat, where they stay to perform their devotions till sunset: then they go to mozdalifa, an oratory between arafat and mina, and there spend the night in prayer and reading the korân. the next morning, by daybreak, they visit al mashér al harâm, or the sacred monument, and departing thence before sunrise, haste by batn mohasser to the valley of mina, where they throw seven stones at three marks, or pillars, in imitation of abraham, who, meeting the devil in that place, and being by him disturbed in his devotions, or tempted to disobedience, when he was going to sacrifice his son, was commanded by god to drive him away by throwing stones at him; though others pretend this rite to be as old as adam, who also put the devil to flight in the same place and by the same means. al beid.		 bobov. de peregr. mecc. p. ii, &c. chardin, voy. de perse, t. , p. , &c. see also pitts' account of the rel. &c. of the mohammedans, p. , &c.; gagnier, vie de moh. t. , p. , &c.; abulfed. vit. moh. p. , &c.; and reland. de rel. moh. p. , &c.		 ebn al athîr.		 vide poc. spec. p. .		 see before, p. . al ghazâli.		 reland. de rel. moh. p. .		 ebn al athîr.		 see kor. c. , p. . see ibid. m. gagnier has been twice guilty of a mistake in confounding this monument with the sacred enclosure of the caaba. vide gagn. not. ad abulfed. vit. moh. p. , and vie de moh. tom. , p. .		 dr. pocock, from al ghazâli, says seventy, at different times and places. spec. p. .			 al ghazâli, ahmed ebn yusef.		 ebn al athîr. this ceremony being over, on the same day, the tenth of dhu'lhajja, the pilgrims slay their victims in the said valley of mina; of which they and their friends eat part, and the rest is given to the poor. these victims must be either sheep, goats, kine, or camels; males, if of either of the two former kinds, and females if of either of the latter, and of a fit age. the sacrifices being over, they shave their heads and cut their nails, burying them in the same place; after which the pilgrimage is looked on as completed: though they again visit the caaba, to take their leave of that sacred building. the above-mentioned ceremonies, by the confession of the mohammedans themselves, were almost all of them observed by the pagan arabs many ages before their prophet's appearance; and particularly the compassing of the caaba, the running between safâ and merwâ, and the throwing of the stones in mina; and were confirmed by mohammed, with some alterations in such points as seemed most exceptionable: thus, for example, he ordered that when they compassed the caaba they should be clothed; whereas, before his time, they performed that piece of devotion naked, throwing off their clothes as a mark that they had cast off their sins, or as signs of their disobedience towards god. it is also acknowledged that the greater part of these rites are of no intrinsic worth, neither affecting the soul, nor agreeing with natural reason, but altogether arbitrary, and commanded merely to try the obedience of mankind, without any further view; and are therefore to be complied with; not that they are good in themselves, but because god has so appointed. some, however, have endeavoured to find out some reason for the arbitrary injunctions of this kind; and one writer, supposing men ought to imitate the heavenly bodies, not only in their purity, but in their circular motion, seems to argue the procession round the caaba to be therefore a rational practice. reland has observed that the romans had something like this in their worship, being ordered by numa to use a circular motion in the adoration of the gods, either to represent the orbicular motion of the world, or the perfecting the whole office of prayer to that god who is maker of the universe, or else in allusion to the egyptian wheels, which were hieroglyphics of the instability of human fortune. the pilgrimage to mecca, and the ceremonies prescribed to those who perform it, are, perhaps, liable to greater exception than other of mohammed's institutions; not only as silly and ridiculous in themselves, but as relics of idolatrous superstition. yet whoever seriously considers how difficult it is to make people submit to the abolishing of ancient customs, how unreasonable soever, which they are fond of, especially where the interest of a considerable party is also concerned, vide reland. ubi sup. p. .		 see kor. c. , p. 	 kor. c. , p. , . al faïk, de tempore ignor. arabum, apud millium de mohammedismo ante moh. p. . compare isa. lxiv. .	 jallal. al beid. this notion comes very near, if it be not the same with that of the adamites.		 al ghazâli. vide abulfar. hist. dyn p. .		 abu jáafar ebn tafail, in vita hai ebn yokdhân, p. . see mr. ockley's english translation thereof, p. . de rel. mah. p. .		 plutarch. in numa. 		 maimonides (in epist. ad prosel. rel.) pretends that the worship of mercury was performed by throwing of stones, and that of chemosh by making bare the head, and putting on unsewn garments. and that a man may with less danger change many things than one great one, must excuse mohammed's yielding some points of less moment, to gain the principal. the temple of mecca was held in excessive veneration by all the arabs in general (if we except only the tribes of tay, and khatháam, and some of the posterity of al hareth ebn caab, who used not to go in pilgrimage thereto), and especially by those of mecca, who had a particular interest to support that veneration; and as the most silly and insignificant things are generally the objects of the greatest superstition, mohammed found it much easier to abolish idolatry itself, than to eradicate, the superstitious bigotry with which they were addicted to that temple, and the rites performed there; wherefore, after several fruitless trials to wean them therefrom, he thought it best to compromise the matter, and rather than to frustrate his whole design, to allow them to go on pilgrimage thither, and to direct their prayers thereto; contenting himself with transferring the devotions there paid from their idols to the true god, and changing such circumstances therein as he judged might give scandal. and herein he followed the example of the most famous legislators, who instituted not such laws as were absolutely the best in themselves, but the best their people were capable of receiving: and we find god himself had the same condescendence for the jews, whose hardness of heart he humoured in many things, giving them therefore statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live. _______ section v. of certain negative precepts in the korÂn. having in the preceeding section spoken of the fundamental points of the mohammedan religion, relating both to faith and to practice, i shall in this and the two following discourses, speak in the same brief method of some other precepts and institutions of the korân which deserve peculiar notice, and first of certain things which are thereby prohibited. the drinking of wine, under which name all sorts of strong and inebriating liquors are comprehended, is forbidden in the korân in more places than one. some, indeed, have imagined that excess therein is only forbidden, and that the moderate use of wine is allowed by two passages in the same book: but the more received opinion is, that to drink any strong liquors, either in a lesser quantity, or in a greater, is absolutely unlawful; and though libertines indulge them- according to the maxim, tutius est multa mutare quàm unum magnum. 	 al shahrestani.		 see kor. c. , p. .		 ezek. xx. . vide spencer de urim et l'hummim, c. § .		 see c. , p. , and c. , p. .		 cap. , p. , and c. , p. . vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. .		 vide smith, de morib. et instit. turcar ep. , p. , &c. selves in a contrary practice, yet the more conscientious are so strict, especially if they have performed the pilgrimage to mecca, that they hold it unlawful not only to taste wine, but to press grapes for the making of it, to buy or to sell it, or even to maintain themselves with the money arising by the sale of that liquor. the persians, however, as well as the turks, are very fond of wine; and if one asks them how it comes to pass that they venture to drink it, when it is so directly forbidden by their religion, they answer, that it is with them as with the christians, whose religion prohibits drunkenness and whoredom as great sins, and who glory, notwithstanding, some in debauching girls and married women, and others in drinking to excess. it has been a question whether coffee comes not under the above-mentioned prohibition, because the fumes of it have some effect on the imagination. this drink, which was first publicly used at aden in arabia felix, about the middle of the ninth century of the hejra, and thence gradually introduced into mecca, medina, egypt, syria, and other parts of the levant, has been the occasion of great disputes and disorders, having been sometimes publicly condemned and forbidden, and again declared lawful and allowed. at present the use of coffee is generally tolerated, if not granted, as is that of tobacco, though the more religious make a scruple of taking the latter, not only because it inebriates, but also out of respect to a traditional saying of their prophet (which, if it could be made out to be his, would prove him a prophet indeed), "that in the latter days there should be men who should bear the name of moslems, but should not be really such; and that they should smoke a certain weed, which should be called tobacco." however, the eastern nations are generally so addicted to both, that they say, "a dish of coffee and a pipe of tobacco are a complete entertainment;" and the persians have a proverb that coffee without tobacco is meat without salt. opium and beng (which latter is the leaves of hemp in pills or conserve) are also by the rigid mohammedans esteemed unlawful, though not mentioned in the korân, because they intoxicate and disturb the understanding as wine does, and in a more extraordinary manner: yet these drugs are now commonly taken in the east; but they who are addicted to them are generally looked upon as debauchees. several stories have been told as the occasion of mohammed's prohibiting the drinking of wine: but the true reasons are given in the korân, viz., because the ill qualities of that liquor surpass its good ones, the common effects thereof being quarrels and disturbances in company, and neglect, or at least indecencies, in the performance of religious duties. for these reasons it was that the priests were, by the levitical law, forbidden to drink wine or strong drink when they entered the tabernacle, and that the nazarites and rechabites, and vide chardin, ubi supra, p. .		 chardin, ubi sup. p. . 		 abd'alkâder mohammed al ansâri has written a treatise concerning coffee, wherein he argues for its lawfulness. vide d'herbel. art. cahvah. vide le traité historique de l'origine et du progrès du café, à la fin du voy. de l'arabie heur. de la roque.		 reland. dissert. miscell. t. , p. . vide chardin, voy. de perse, t. , p. and .		 vide chardin, ibid. p. , &c., and d'herbel. p. .		 vide prid. life of mah. p. , &c.; busbeq. epist. , p. ; and maundeville's travels, p. i, c. kor. c. , p. , c. , p. , and c. , p. . see prov. xxiii , &c. 	 levit. x. .			 numb. vi. .		 jerem. xxxv. &c. many pious persons among the jews and primitive christians, wholly abstained therefrom; nay, some of the latter went so far as to condemn the use of wine as sinful. but mohammed is said to have had a nearer example than any of these, in the more devout persons of his own tribe. gaming is prohibited by the korân in the same passages, and for the same reasons, as wine. the word al meisar, which is there used, signifies a particular manner of casting lots by arrows, much practised by the pagan arabs, and performed in the following manner. a young camel being bought and killed, and divided into ten or twenty-eight parts, the persons who cast lots for them, to the number of seven, met for that purpose; and eleven arrows were provided, without heads or feathers, seven of which were marked, the first with one notch, the second with two, and so on, and the other four had no mark at all. these arrows were put promiscuously into a bag, and then drawn by an indifferent person, who had another near him to receive them, and to see he acted fairly; those to whom the marked arrows fell won shares in proportion to their lot, and those to whom the blanks fell were entitled to no part of the camel at all, but were obliged to pay the full price of it. the winners, however, tasted not of the flesh, any more than the losers, but the whole was distributed among the poor; and this they did out of pride and ostentation, it being reckoned a shame for a man to stand out, and not venture his money on such an occasion. this custom, therefore, though it was of some use to the poor and diversion to the rich, was forbidden by mohammed as the source of great inconveniences, by occasioning quarrels and heart-burnings, which arose from the winners insulting of those who lost. under the name of lots the commentators agree that all other games whatsoever, which are subject to hazard or chance, are comprehended and forbidden, as dice, cards, tables, &c. and they are reckoned so ill in themselves, that the testimony of him who plays at them, is by the more rigid judged to be of no validity in a court of justice. chess is almost the only game which the mohammedan doctors allow to be lawful (though it has been a doubt with some), because it depends wholly on skill and management, and not at all on chance: but then it is allowed under certain restrictions, viz., that it be no hindrance to the regular performance of their devotions, and that no money or other thing be played for or betted; which last the turks and sonnites religiously observe, but the persians and mogols do not. but what mohammed is supposed chiefly to have dislike in the game of chess, was the carved pieces, or men, with which the pagan arabs played, being little figures of men, elephants, horses, and dromedaries; and these are thought, by some commentators, to be truly meant by the images prohibited in one of the passages of the korân quoted above. this was the heresy of those called encratitæ, and aquarij. khwâf, a magian heretic, also declared wine unlawful; but this was after mohammed's time. hyde, de rel. vet. pers. p. .		 vide reland. de rel. moh. p. .	 cap. , p. , c. , p. .		 some writers, as al zamakh. and al shirâzi, mention but three blank arrows.			 auctores nodhm al dorr, et nothr al dorr, al zamakh. al firauzabâdi, al shirâzi in orat. al hariri, al beidâwi, &c. vide poc. spec. p. , &c. 	 kor. c. , p. .			 vide hyde, de luchs oriental. in prolog. ad shahiludium. vide eund. ibid.			 vide eundem, ibid. and in hist. shahiludij, p. ,		 cap. , p. . that the arabs in mohammed's time actually used such images for chess-men appears from what is related, in the sonna, of ali, who passing accidentally by some who were playing at chess, asked, "what images they were which they were so intent upon?" for they were perfectly new to him, that game having been but very lately introduced into arabia, and not long before into persia, whither it was first brought from india in the reign of khosrû nûshirwân. hence the mohammedan doctors infer that the game was disapproved only for the sake of the images: wherefore the sonnites always play with plain pieces of wood or ivory; but the persians and indians, who are not so scrupulous, continue to make use of the carved ones. the mohammedans comply with the prohibition of gaming much better than they do with that of win; for though the common people among the turks more frequently, and the persians more rarely, are addicted to play, yet the better sort are seldom guilty of it. gaming, at least to excess, has been forbidden in all well-ordered states. gaming-houses were reckoned scandalous places among the greeks, and a gamester is declared by aristotle to be no better than a thief: the roman senate made very severe laws against playing at games of hazard, except only during the saturnalia; though the people played often at other times, notwithstanding the prohibition: the civil law forbad all pernicious games; and though the laity were, in some cases, permitted to play for money, provided they kept within reasonable bounds, yet the clergy were forbidden to play at tables (which is a game of hazard), or even to look on while others played. accursius, indeed, is of opinion they may play at chess, notwithstanding that law, because it is a game not subject to chance, and being but newly invented in the time of justinian, was not then known in the western parts. however, the monks for some time were not allowed even chess. as to the jews, mohammed's chief guides, they also highly disapprove gaming: gamesters being severely censured in the talmud, and their testimony declared invalid. another practice of the idolatrous arabs forbidden also in one of the above-mentioned passages, was that of divining by arrows. the arrows used by them for this purpose were like those with which they cast lots, being without heads or feathers, and were kept in the temple of some idol, in whose presence they were consulted. seven such arrows were kept at the temple of mecca; but generally in divination they made use of three only, on one of which was written, "my lord hath commanded me," on another, "my lord hath forbidden me," and the third was blank. if the first was drawn, they looked on it as an approbation of the enterprise in question; if the second, they made a contrary conclusion; but if the sokeiker al dimishki, and auctor libri al mostatraf, apud hyde, ubi sup. p. .		 khondemir. apud eund. ibid. p. . vide hyde, ubi sup. p. .		 vide eundem, in proleg. and chardin, voy. de perse, t. , p. .		 lib. iv. ad nicom.		 vide horat. l. . carm. od. .		 ff. de aleatoribus. novell. just. , &c. vide hyde, ubi sup. in hist. aleæ, p. .		 authent. interdicimus, c. de episcopis.		 in com. ad legem præd. du fresne, in gloss.		 bava mesia, , i; rosh hashana and sanhedr. , . vide etiam maimon. in tract. gezila. among the modern civilians, mascardus thought common gamesters were not to be admitted as witnesses, being infamous persons. vide hyde, ubi sup. in proleg. et in hist. aleæ, § . 	 kor. c. .		 see before, p. . third happened to be drawn, they mixed them and drew over again, till a decisive answer was given by one of the others. these divining arrows were generally consulted before anything of moment was undertaken; as when a man was about to marry, or about to go a journey, or the like. this superstitious practice of divining by arrows was used by the ancient greeks, and other nations; and is particularly mentioned in scripture, where it is said, that "the king of babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination; he made his arrows bright" (or, according to the version of the vulgate, which seems preferable in this place, "he mixed together, or shook the arrows"), "he consulted with images," &c.; the commentary of st. jerome on which passage wonderfully agrees with what we are told of the aforesaid custom of the old arabs: "he shall stand," says he, "in the highway, and consult the oracle after the manner of his nation, that he may cast arrows into a quiver, and mix them together, being written upon or marked with the names of each people, that he may see whose arrow will come forth, and which city he ought first to attack." a distinction of meats was so generally used by the eastern nations, that it is no wonder that mohammed made some regulations in that matter. the korân, therefore, prohibits the eating of blood, and swine's flesh, and whatever dies of itself, or is slain in the name or in honour of any idol, or is strangled, or killed by a blow, or a fall, or by any other beast. in which particulars mohammed seems chiefly to have imitated the jews, by whose law, as is well known, all those things are forbidden; but he allowed some things to be eaten which moses did not, as camels' flesh in particular. in cases of necessity, however, where a man may be in danger of starving, he is allowed by the mohammedan law to eat any of the said prohibited kinds of food; and the jewish doctors grant the same liberty in the same case. though the aversion to blood and what dies of itself may seem natural, yet some of the pagan arabs used to eat both: of their eating of the latter some instances will be given hereafter; and as to the former, it is said they used to pour blood, which they sometimes drew from a live camel, into a gut, and then broiled it in the fire, or boiled it, and ate it: this food they called moswadd, from aswad which signifies black; the same nearly resembling our black puddings in name as well as composition. the eating of meat offered to idols i take to be commonly practised by all idolaters, being looked on as a sort of communion in their worship, and for that reason esteemed by christians, if not absolutely unlawful, yet as what may be the occasion of great scandal: but the arabs were particularly superstitious in this matter, killing what they ate on stones erected on purpose around the caaba, or near their own houses, and calling, at the same time, on the name of some idol. swine's flesh, indeed, the old arabs seem not to have eaten; and their prophet, in ebn al athîr, al zamakh. and al beid. in kor. c. . al mostatraf, &c. vide poc. spec. p. , &c., and d'herbel. bibl. orient. art acdâh. 	 vide potter, antiq. of greece, vol. i. p. .		 ezek. xxi. .		 vide poc. spec. p. , &c.		 cap. , p. ; c. , p. ; c. ; and c. .		 lev. xi. .		 see kor. c. , p. and , and c. .		 kor. c. , p. , and in the other passages last quoted.		 vide maimon. in halachoth melachim. c. , § i., &c. 		 nothr al dorr, al firauz., al zamakh., and al beid. 	 poc. spec. p. . compare acts xv. with i cor. viii. , &c.		 see the fifth chapter of the kor. p. , and the notes there. prohibiting the same, appears to have only confirmed the common aversion of the nation. foreign writers tell us that the arabs wholly abstained from swine's flesh, thinking it unlawful to feed thereon, and that very few, if any, of those animals are found in their country, because it produces not proper food for them; which has made one writer imagine that if a hog were carried thither, it would immediately die. in the prohibition of usury i presume mohammed also followed the jews, who are strictly forbidden by their law to exercise it among one another, though they are so infamously guilty of it in their dealing with those of a different religion: but i do not find the prophet of the arabs has made any distinction in this matter. several superstitious customs relating to cattle, which seem to have been peculiar to the pagan arabs, were also abolished by mohammed. the korân mentions four names by them given to certain camels or sheep, which for some particular reasons were left at free liberty, and were not made use of as other cattle of the same kind. these names are bahîra, sâïba, wasîla, and hâmi: of each whereof in their order. as to the first, it is said that when a she-camel, or a sheep, had borne young ten times, they used to slit her ear, and turn her loose to feed at full liberty; and when she died, her flesh was eaten by the men only, the women being forbidden to eat thereof: and such a camel or sheep, from the slitting of her ear, they called bahîra. or the bahîra was a she-camel, which was turned loose to feed, and whose fifth young one, if it proved a male, was killed and eaten by men and women promiscuously; but if it proved a female, had its ear slit, and was dismissed to free pasture, none being permitted to make use of its flesh or milk, or to ride on it; though the women were allowed to eat the flesh of it when it died: or it was the female young of the sâïba, which was used in the same manner as its dam; or else an ewe, which had yeaned five times. these, however, are not all the opinions concerning the bahîra: for some suppose that name was given to a she-camel, which, after having brought forth young five times, if the last was a male, had her ear slit, as a mark thereof, and was let go loose to feed, none driving her from pasture or water, nor using her for carriage; and others tell us, that when a camel had newly brought forth, they used to slit the ear of her young one, saying, "o god, if it live, it shall be for our use, but if it die, it shall be deemed rightly slain;" and when it died, they ate it. sâïba signifies a she-camel turned loose to go where she will. and this was done on various accounts: as when she had brought forth females ten times together; or in satisfaction of a vow; or when a man had recovered from sickness, or returned safe from a journey, or his camel had escaped some signal danger either in battle or otherwise. a camel so turned loose was declared to be sâïba, and, as a mark of it, one of the vertebræ or bones was taken out of her back, after which none might drive her from pasture or water, or ride on her. some say that the sâïba, when she had ten times together brought forth females, was suffered to go at liberty, none being allowed to ride on her, and solin. de arab. c. .		 hieronym. in jovin. l. , c. . 	 idem, ibid. solinus, ubi supra.		 kor. c. , p. , .		 cap. , p. .		 al zamakh., al beidâwi, al mostatraf.		 ebn al athîr.		 al firauzab., al zamakh. that her milk was not to be drank by any but her young one, or a guest, till she died; and then her flesh was eaten by men as well as women, and her last female young one had her ear slit, and was called bahîra, and turned loose as her dam had been. this appellation, however, was not so strictly proper to female camels, but that it was given to the male when his young one had begotten another young one: nay, a servant set at liberty and dismissed by his master, was also called sâïba; and some are of opinion that the word denotes an animal which the arabs used to turn loose in honour of their idols, allowing none to make uses of them, thereafter, except women only. wasîla is, by one author, explained to signify a she-camel which had brought forth ten times, or an ewe which had yeaned seven times, and every time twin; and if the seventh time she brought forth a male and a female, they said, "wosilat akhâha," i.e., "she is joined," or, "was brought forth with her brother," after which none might drink the dam's milk, except men only; and she was used as the sâïba. or wasîla was particularly meant of sheep; as when an ewe brought forth a female, they took it to themselves, but when she brought forth a male, they consecrated it to their gods, but if both a male and a female, they said, "she is joined to her brother," and did not sacrifice that male to their gods: or wasîla was an ewe which brought forth first a male, and then a female, on which account, or because she followed her brother, the male was not killed; but if she brought forth a male only, they said, "let this be an offering to our gods." another writes, that if an ewe brought forth twins seven times together, and the eighth time a male, they sacrificed that male to their gods; but if the eighth time she brought both a male and a female, they used to say, "she is joined to her brother," and for the female's sake they spared the male, and permitted not the dam's milk to be drunk by women. a third writer tell us, that wasîla was an ewe, which having yeaned seven times, if that which she brought forth the seventh time was a male, they sacrificed it, but if a female, it was suffered to go loose, and was made use of by women only; and if the seventh time she brought forth both a male and a female, they held them both to be sacred, so that men only were allowed to make any use of them, or to drink the milk of the female: and a fourth describes it to be an ewe which brought forth ten females at five births one after another, i.e., every time twins, and whatever she brought forth afterwards was allowed to men, and not to women, &c. hâmi was a male camel used for a stallion, which, if the females had conceived ten times by him, was afterwards freed from labour, and let go loose, none driving him from pasture or from water; nor was any allowed to receive the least benefit from him, not even to shear his hair. these things were observed by the old arabs in honour of their false gods, and as part of the worship which they paid them, and were ascribed to the divine institution; but are all condemned in the korân, and declared to be impious superstitions. al jawhari, ebn al athîr.		 al firauz.		 idem, al jawhari, &c.		 nothr al dorr and nodhm al dorr.		 al firauz.		 idem, al zamakh.		 al jawhari.	 al motarrezi. al firauz., al jawhari.		 jallal. in kor.		 kor. c. , p. , and c. . vide poc. spec. p. - . the law of mohammed also put a stop to the inhuman custom which had been long practised by the pagan arabs, of burying their daughters alive, lest they should be reduced to poverty by providing for them, or else to avoid the displeasure and the disgrace which would follow, if they should happen to be made captives, or to become scandalous by their behaviour; the birth of a daughter being, for these reasons, reckoned a great misfortune, and the death of one as a great happiness. the manner of their doing this is differently related: some say that when an arab had a daughter born, if he intended to bring her up, he sent her, clothed in a garment of wool or hair, to keep camels or sheep in the desert; but if he designed to put her to death, he let her live till she became six years old, and then said to her mother, "perfume her, and adorn her, that i may carry her to her mothers;" which being done, the father led her to a well or pit dug for that purpose, and having bid her to look down into it, pushed her in headlong, as he stood behind her, and then filling up the pit, levelled it with the rest of the ground; but others say, that when a woman was ready to fall in labour, they dug a pit, on the brink whereof she was to be delivered, and if the child happened to be a daughter, they threw it into the pit, but if a son, they saved it alive. this custom, though not observed by all the arabs in general, was yet very common among several of their tribes, and particularly those of koreish and kendah; the former using to bury their daughters alive in mount abu dalâma, near mecca. in the time of ignorance, while they used this method to get rid of their daughters, sásaá, grandfather to the celebrated poet al farazdak, frequently redeemed female children from death, giving for every one two she-camels big with young, and a he-camel; and hereto al farazdak alluded when, vaunting himself before one of the khalîfs of the family of omeyya, he said, "i am the son of the giver of life to the dead;" for which expression being censured, he excused himself by alleging the following words of the korân, "he who saveth a soul alive, shall be as if he had saved the lives of all mankind." the arabs, in thus murdering of their children, were far from being singular; the practice of exposing infants and putting them to death being so common among the ancients, that it is remarked as a thing very extraordinary in the egyptians, that they brought up all their children; and by the laws of lycurgus no child was allowed to be brought up without the approbation of public officers. at this day, it is said, in china, the poorer sort of people frequently put their children, the females especially, to death with impunity. this wicked practice is condemned by the korân in several passages; one of which, as some commentators judge, may also condemn al beidâwi, al zamakh., al mostatraf.		 see kor. c. . 	 al meidâni.		 al zamakh. al mostatraf.		 cap. , p. .		 al mostatraf. vide ebn khalekân, in vita al farazdak, and poc spec. p. .		 strabo, l. . vide diodor. sic. l. i, c. .		 vide plutarch, in lycurgo. 	 vide pufendorf, de jure nat. et gent. l. , c. , § . the grecians also treated daughters especially in this manner-whence that saying of posidippus: 	[greek text],-i.e., 	"a man, tho' poor, will not expose his son; 	but if he's rich, will scarce preserve his daughter."- see potter's antiq. of greece, vol. ii. p. .		 cap. , p. , ; c. ; and c. . see also chap. . al zamakh., al beid. another custom of the arabians, altogether as wicked, and as common among other nations of old, viz., the sacrificing of their children to their idols; as was frequently done, in particular, in satisfaction of a vow they used to make, that if they had a certain number of sons born, they would offer one of them in sacrifice. several other superstitious customs were likewise abrogated by mohammed, but the same being of less moment, and not particularly mentioned in the korân, or having been occasionally taken notice of elsewhere, i shall say nothing of them in this place. ______ section vi. of the institutions of the koran in civil affairs. the mohammedan civil law is founded on the precepts and determinations of the korân, as the civil laws of the jews were on those of the pentateuch; yet being variously interpreted, according to the different decisions of their civilians, and especially of their four great doctors, abu hanîfa, malec, al shâfeï, and ebn hanbal, to treat thereof fully and distinctly in the manner the curiosity and usefulness of the subject deserves, would require a large volume; wherefore the most that can be expected here, is a summary view of the principal institutions, without minutely entering into a detail of particulars. we shall begin with those relating to marriage and divorce. that polygamy, for the moral lawfulness of which the mohammedan doctors advance several arguments, is allowed by the korân, every one knows, though few are acquainted with the limitations with which it is allowed. several learned men have fallen into the vulgar mistake that mahommed granted to his followers an unbounded plurality; some pretending that a man may have as many wives, and others as many concubines, as he can maintain: whereas, according to the express words of the korân, no man can have more than four, whether wives or concubines; and if a man apprehend any inconvenience from even that number of ingenuous wives, it is added, as an advice (which is generally followed by the middling and inferior people), that he marry one only, or, if he cannot be contented with one, that he take up with his she-slaves, not exceeding, however, the limited number; and this see sect. viii.		 see before, sect. ii., p. .		 nic.cusanus, in cribrat. alcor. l. , c. . olearius, in itinerar. p. greg. thoslosanus, in synt. juris, l. , c. , § . septemcastrensis (de morib. turc. p. ) says the mohammedans may have twelve lawful wives, and no more. ricaut falsely asserts the restraint of the number of their wives to be no precept of their religion, but a rule superinduced on a politic consideration. pres. state of the ottoman empire, bk. iii, c. . marracc. in prodr. ad refut. alcor. part iv. p. and . prideaux, life of mah. p. . chardin, voy. de perse, t. i. p. . du ryer, sommaire de la rel. des turcs, mis à la tête de sa version de l'alcor. ricaut, ubi supra. pufendorf, de jure nat. et gent. l. , c. i, § .		 cap. , p. . 	 vide gagnier, in notis and abulfedæ vit. moh. p. reland. de rel. moh. p. , &c., and selden, ux. hebr. l. r, c. .		 vide reland ubi sup. p. .		 kor. c. , p. . is certainly the utmost mohammed allowed his followers: nor can we urge as an argument against so plain a precept, the corrupt manners of his followers, many of whom, especially men of quality and fortune, indulge themselves in criminal excesses; nor yet the example of the prophet himself, who had peculiar privileges in this and other points, as will be observed hereafter. in making the above-mentioned limitation, mohammed was directed by the decision of the jewish doctors, who, by way of counsel, limit the number of wives to four, though their law confines them not to any certain number. divorce is also well known to be allowed by the mohammedan law, as it was by the mosaic, with this difference only, that, according to the latter, a man could not take again a woman whom he had divorced, and who had been married or betrothed to another; whereas mohammed, to prevent his followers from divorcing their wives on every light occasion, or out of an inconstant humour, ordained that, if a man divorced his wife the third time (for he might divorce her twice without being obliged to part with her, if he repented of what he had done), it should not be lawful for him to take her again until she had been first married and bedded by another, and divorced by such second husband. and this precaution has had so good an effect that the mohammedans are seldom known to proceed to the extremity of divorce, notwithstanding the liberty given them, it being reckoned a great disgrace so to do; and there are but few, besides those who have little or no sense of honour, that will take a wife again on the condition enjoined. it must be observed that, though a man is allowed by the mohammedan, as by the jewish law, to repudiate his wife even on the slightest disgust, yet the women are not allowed to separate themselves from their husbands, unless it be for ill-usage, want of proper maintenance, neglect of conjugal duty, impotency, or some cause of equal import; but then she generally loses her dowry, which she does not if divorced by her husband, unless she has been guilty of impudicity or notorious disobedience. when a woman is divorced she is obliged, by the direction of the korân, to wait till she hath had her courses thrice, or, if there be a doubt whether she be subject to them or not, by reason of her age, three months, before she marry another; after which time expired, in case she be found not with child, she is at full liberty to dispose of herself as she pleases; but if she prove with child, she must wait till she be delivered; and during her whole term of waiting she may continue in the husband's house, and is to be maintained at his expense, it being forbidden to turn the woman out before the expiration of the term, unless she be guilty of dishonesty. where a man divorces a woman sir j. maundeville (who, excepting a few silly stories he tells from hearsay, deserves more credit than some travellers of better reputation), speaking of the alcoran, observes, among several other truths, that mahomet therein commanded a man should have two wives, or three, or four; though the mahometans then took nine wives, and lemans as many as they might sustain. maundev. travels, p. .		 maimon. in halachoth ishoth. c. . 	 idem, ibid. vide selden, uxor. hebr. l. r, c. . deut. xxiv. - . jerem. iii. i. vide selden, ubi sup. l. r. c. ii. 	 kor. c. , p. .		 vide selden, ubi sup. l. , c. , and ricaut's state of the ottom. empire, bk. ii. c. .		 deut. xxiv i. leo modena, hist. de gli riti hebr. part i. c. . vide selden, ubi sup. 	 vide busbeq. ep. , p. ; smith, de morib. ac instit. turcar. ep. , p. ; and chardin, voy. de perse, t. i, p. .		 kor. c. , p. .	 kor. c. , p. , and c. . before consummation, she is not obliged to wait any particular time, nor is he obliged to give her more than one-half of her dower. if the divorced woman have a young child, she is to suckle it till it be two years old; the father, in the meantime, maintaining her in all respects: a widow is also obliged to do the same, and to wait four months and ten days before she marry again. these rules ar also copied form those of the jews, according to whom a divorced woman, or a widow, cannot marry another man, till ninety days be past, after the divorce or death of the husband: and she who gives suck is to be maintained for two years, to be computed from the birth of the child; within which time she must not marry, unless the child die, or her milk be dried up. whoredom, in single women as well as married, was, in the beginning mohammedism, very severely punished; such being ordered to be shut up in prison till they died: but afterwards it was ordained by the sonna, that an adulteress should be stoned, and an unmarried woman guilty of fornication scourged with a hundred stripes, and banished for a year. a she-slave, if convicted of adultery, is to suffer but half the punishment of a free woman, viz., fifty stripes, and banishment for six months; but is not to be put to death. to convict a woman of adultery, so as to make it capital, four witnesses are expressly required, and those, as the commentators say, ought to be men: and if a man falsely accuse a woman of reputation of whoredom of any kind, and is not able to support the charge by that number of witnesses, he is to receive fourscore stripes, and his testimony is to be held invalid for the future. fornication, in either sex, is by the sentence of the korân to be punished with a hundred stripes. if a man accuse his wife of infidelity, and is not able to prove it by sufficient evidence, and will swear four times that it is true, and the fifth time imprecate god's vengeance on him if it be false, she is to be looked on as convicted, unless she will take the like oaths, and make the like imprecation, in testimony of her innocency; which is she do, she is free from punishment, though the marriage ought to be dissolved. in most of the last-mentioned particulars the decisions of the korân also agree with those of the jews. by the law of moses, adultery, whether in a married women or a virgin betrothed, was punished with death; and the man who debauched them was to suffer the same punishment. the penalty of simple fornication was scourging, the ibid. c. .		 ibid. c. , p. .		 ibid. c. , p. , and c. .		 mishna, tit. yabimoth, c. . gemar. babyl. ad eund. tit. maimon. in halach. girushin, shylhan aruch, part iii.	 mishna, and gemara, and maimon. ubi supra. gem. babyl. ad tit. cetuboth, c. , and jos. karo, in shylhân aruch, c. , § . vide selden, ux. hebr. l. , c. ii, and l. , c. , in fin. and the adulterer also, according to a passage once extant in the korân, and still in force, as some suppose. see the notes to kor. c. , p. , and the prel. disc. p. .		 kor. c. , p. . see the notes there. 	 ibid. p. . ibid. p. .		 ibid. c. .		 ibid. this law relates not to married people, as selden supposes; ux. heb. l. , c. .		 ibid. p. . see the notes there. levit. xx. ; deut. xxii. . the kind of death to be inflicted on adulterers, in common cases being not expressed, the talmudists generally suppose it to be strangling, which they think is designed wherever the phrase "shall be put to death," or "shall die the death," is used, as they imagine stoning is by the expression, "his blood shall be upon him;" and hence it has been concluded by some that the woman taken in adultery mentioned in the gospel (john viii.) was a betrothed maiden, because such a one and her accomplice were plainly ordered to be stoned (deut. xxii. , ). but the ancients seem to have been of a different opinion, general punishment in cases where none is particularly appointed: and a betrothed bondmaid, if convicted of adultery, underwent the same punishment, being exempted from death, because she was not free. by the same law no person was to be put to death on the oath of one witness: and a man who slandered his wife was also to be chastised, that is scourged, and fined one hundred shekels of silver. the method of trying a woman suspected of adultery where evidence was wanting, by forcing her to drink the bitter water of jealousy, though disused by the jews long before the time of mohammed, yet, by reason of the oath of cursing with which the woman was charged, and to which she was obliged to say "amen," bears great resemblance to the expedient devised by that prophet on the like occasion. the institutions of mohammed relating to the pollution of women during their courses, the taking of slaves to wife, and the prohibiting of marriage within certain degrees, have likewise no small affinity with the institutions of moses; and the parallel might be carried farther in several other particulars. as to the prohibited degrees, it may be observed, that the pagan arabs abstained from marrying their mothers, daughters, and aunts both on the father's side and on the mother's, and held it a most scandalous thing to marry two sister, or for a man to take his father's wife; which last was, notwithstanding, too frequently practised, and is expressly forbidden in the korân. before i leave the subject of marriages, it may be proper to take notice of some peculiar privileges in relation thereto, which were granted by god to mohammed, as he gave out, exclusive of all other moslems. one of them was, that he might lawfully marry as many wives and have as many concubines as he pleased, without being confined to any particular number; and this he pretended to have been the privilege of the prophets before him. another was, that he might alter the turns of his wives, and take such of them to his bed as he thought fit, without being tied to that order and equality which others are obliged to observe. a third privilege was, that no man might marry any of his wives, either such as he should divorce during his lifetime, or such as he should leave widows at his death: which last particular exactly agrees with what the jewish doctors have determined concerning the wives of their princes; it being judged by them to be a thing very indecent, and for that reason unlawful, for another to marry either the divorced wife or the widow of a king; and mohammed, it seems, thought an equal respect, at least, due to the prophetic as to the regal dignity, and therefore ordered that his relicts should pass the remainder of their lives in perpetual widowhood. and to have understood stoning to be the punishment of adulterers in general. vide selden, ux. hebr. l. , c. and . levit. xix. .		 deut. xix. , xvii. , and numb. xxxv. . 	 deut. xxii. - .		 numb. v. , &c.		 vide selden, ubi sup. l. , c. , and leon. modena, de' riti hebraici, parte iv. c. .		 kor. c. , p. .		 ibid. c. , p. and , &c. 	 ibid. p. 		 see levit. xv. , xviii. , and xx. ; exod. xxi. - ; deut. xxi. - ; levit. xviii. and xx.			 abulfed. hist. gen. al shahrestani, apud poc. spec. p. and . 	 vide poc. ibid. p. , &c.	 cap. , p. .		 kor. c. . see also c. , and the notes there.		 kor. c. . see the notes there.		 ibid.		 mishna, tit. sanhedr. c. , and gemar, in eund. tit. maimon. halachoth melachim, c. . vide selden, ux. hebr. l. i, c. . prid. life of mah. p. . the laws of the korân concerning inheritances are also in several respects conformable to those of the jews, though principally designed to abolish certain practices of the pagan arabs, who used to treat widows and orphan children with great injustice, frequently denying them any share in the inheritance of their fathers or their husbands, on pretence that the same ought to be distributed among those only who were able to bear arms, and disposing of the widows, even against their consent, as part of their husbands' possessions. to prevent such injuries for the future, mohammed ordered that women should be respected, and orphans have no wrong done them; and in particular that women should not be taken against their wills, as by right of inheritance, but should themselves be entitled to a distributive part of what their parents, husbands, and near relations should leave behind them, in a certain proportion. the general rule to be observed in the distribution of the deceased's estate is, that a male shall have twice as much as a female: but to this rule there are some few exceptions; a man's parents, for example, and also his brothers and sisters, where they are entitled not to the whole, but a small part of the inheritance, being to have equal shares with one another in the distribution thereof, without making any difference on account of sex. the particular proportions, in several cases, distinctly and sufficiently declare the intention of mohammed; whose decisions expressed in the korân seem to be pretty equitable, preferring a man's children first, and then his nearest relations. if a man dispose of any part of his estate by will, two witnesses, at the least, are required to render the same valid; and such witnesses ought to be of his own tribe, and of the mohammedan religion, if such can be had. though there be no express law to the contrary, yet the mohammedan doctors reckon it very wrong for a man to give away any part of his substance from his family, unless it be in legacies for pious uses; and even in that case a man ought not to give all he has in charity, but only a reasonable part in proportion to his substance. on the other hand, though a man make no will, and bequeath nothing for charitable uses, yet the heirs are directed, on the distribution of the estate, if the value will permit, to bestow something on the poor, especially such as are of kin to the deceased, and to the orphans. the first law, however, laid down by mohammed touching inheritances, was not very equitable; for he declared that those who had fled with him from mecca, and those who had received and assisted him at medina, should be deemed the nearest of kin, and consequently heirs to one another, preferably to and in exclusion of their relations by blood; nay, though a man were a true believer, yet if he had not fled his country for the sake of religion and joined the prophet, he was to be looked on as a stranger: but this law continued not long in force, being quickly abrogated. it must be observed that among the mohammedans the children of their concubines or slaves are esteemed as equally legitimate with those see c. , p. , , and , and the notes there. vide etiam poc. spec. p. .		 kor. c. , ubi supra. ibid. p. and . vide chardin, voy. de perse, t. , p. . 	 kor. ibid. p. .	 ibid. and p. . kor. c. , p. .		 kor. c. , p. .			 cap. . 	 ibid. and c. of their legal and ingenuous wives; none being accounted bastards, except such only as are born of common women, and whose fathers are unknown. as to private contracts between man and man, the conscientious performance of them is frequently recommended in the korân. for the preventing of disputes, all contracts are directed to be made before witnesses, and in case such contracts are not immediately executed, the same ought to be reduced into writing in the presence of two witnesses at least, who ought to be moslems and of the male sex; but if two men cannot be conveniently had, then one man and two women may suffice. the same method is also directed to be taken for the security of debts to be paid at a future day; and where a writer is not to be found, pledges are to be taken. hence, if people trust one another without writing, witnesses, or pledge, the party on whom the demand is made is always acquitted if he denies the charge on oath, and swears that he owes the plaintiff nothing, unless the contrary be proved by very convincing circumstances. wilful murder, though forbidden by the korân under the severest penalties to be inflicted in the next life, is yet, by the same book, allowed to be compounded for, on payment of a fine to the family of the deceased, and freeing a moslem from captivity; but it is in the election of the next of kin, or the revenger of blood, as he is called in the pentateuch, either to accept of such satisfaction, or to refuse it; for he may, if he pleases, insist on having the murderer delivered into his hands, to be put to death in such manner as he shall think fit. in this particular mohammed has gone against the express letter of the mosaic law, which declare that no satisfaction shall be taken for the life of a murderer; and he seems, in so doing, to have had respect to the customs of the arabs in his time, who, being of a vindictive temper, used to revenge murder in too unmerciful a manner, whole tribes frequently engaging in bloody wars on such occasions, the natural consequence of their independency, and having no common judge of superior. if the mohammedan laws seem light in case of murder, they may perhaps be deemed too rigorous in case of manslaughter, or the killing of a man undesignedly, which must be redeemed by fine (unless the next of kin shall think fit to remit it out of charity), and the freeing of a captive: but if a man be not able to do this, he is to fast two months together, by way of penance. the fine for a man's blood is set in the sonna at a hundred camels, and is to be distributed among the relations of the deceased, according to the laws of inheritances; but it must be observed that, though the person slain be a moslem, yet if he be of a nation or party at enmity, or not in confederacy with those to whom the slayer belongs, he is not then bound to pay any fine at all, the redeeming a captive being, in such case, declared a sufficient penalty. i cap. , p. ; c. ; c. , p. , &c.		 cap. , p. . 	 the same seems to have been required by the jewish law, even in cases where life was not concerned. see deut. xix. , matth. xviii. , john viii. , cor. xiii. i. kor. c. , p. , . 		 vide chardin, voy. de perse, t. , p. , &c., and the notes to kor. c. , p. . kor. c. , p. .		 cap. , p. , ; c. . vide chardin, ubi sup. p. , &c.		 numb. xxxv. . this is particularly forbidden in the korân, c. .		 kor. c. , p. .		 see the notes to c. kor. c. , p. . imagine that mohammed, by these regulations, laid so heavy a punishment on involuntary manslaughter, not only to make people beware incurring the same, but also to humour, in some degree, the revengeful temper of his countrymen, which might be with difficulty, if at all, prevailed on to accept a lighter satisfaction. among the jews, who seem to have been no less addicted to revenge than their neighbours, the manslayer who had escaped to a city of refuge was obliged to keep himself within that city, and to abide there till the death of the person who was high priest at the time the fact was committed, that his absence and time might cool the passion and mitigate the resentment of the friends of the deceased; but if he quitted his asylum before that time, the revenger of blood, if he found him, might kill him without guilt; nor could any satisfaction be made for the slayer to return home before the prescribed time. theft is ordered to be punished by cutting off the offending part, the hand, which, at first sight, seems just enough; but the law of justinian, forbidding a thief to be maimed, is more reasonable; because, stealing being generally the effect of indigence, to cut off that limb would be to deprive him of the means of getting his livelihood in an honest manner. the sonna forbids the inflicting of this punishment, unless the thing stolen be of a certain value. i have mentioned in another place the further penalties which those incur who continue to steal, and of those who rob or assault people on the road. as to injuries done to men in their persons, the law of retaliation, which was ordained by the law of moses, is also approved by the korân: but this law, which seems to have been allowed by mohammed to his arabians for the same reasons as it was to the jews, viz., to prevent particular revenges, to which both nations were extremely addicted, being neither strictly just nor practicable in many cases, is seldom put in execution, the punishment being generally turned into a mulct or fine, which is paid to the party injured. or rather mohammed designed the words of the korân relating thereto should be understood in the same manner as those of the pentateuch most probably ought to be; that is, not of an actual retaliation, according to the strict literal meaning, but of a retribution proportionable to the injury: for a criminal had not his eyes put out, nor was a man mutilated, according to the law of moses, which, besides, condemned those who had wounded any person, where death did not ensue, to pay a fine only, the expression "eye for eye and tooth for tooth" being only a proverbial manner of speaking, the sense whereof amounts to this, that every one shall be punished by the judges according to the heinousness of the fact. in injuries and crimes of an inferior nature, where no particular punishment is provided by the korân, and where a pecuniary compensation will not do, the mohammedans, according to the practice of the see numb. xxxv. , , .		 ibid. v. .		 kor. c. , p. . 	 novell. , c. . vide pufendorf, de jure nat. et gent. l. , c. , § .		 see the notes to c. , p. .		 exod. xxi. , &c., levit. xxiv. , deut. xix. .		 cap. , p. .		 vide grotium , de jure belli et pacis, l. i, c. , § . vide chardin, t. , p. . the talio, likewise established among the old romans by the laws of the twelve tables, was not to be inflicted, unless the delinquent could not agree with the person injured. vide a. gell. noct. attic. l. , c. i, and festum, in voce talio. see exod. xxi. , , and .		 barbeyrac, in grot. ubi supra. vide cleric. in exod. xxi. , and deut. xix. . jews in the like case, have recourse to stripes or drubbing, the most common chastisement used in the east at this day, as well as formerly; the cudgel, which for its virtue and efficacy in keeping their people in good order, and within the bounds of duty, they say came down from heaven, being the instrument wherewith the judge's sentence is generally executed. notwithstanding the korân is by the mohammedans in general regarded as the fundamental apart of their civil law, and the decisions of the sonna among the turks, and of the imâms among those of the persian sect, with the explications of their several doctors, are usually followed in judicial determinations, yet the secular tribunals do not think themselves bound to observe the same in all cases, but frequently give judgment against those decisions, which are not always consonant to equity and reason; and therefore distinction is to be made between the written civil law, as administered in the ecclesiastical courts, and the law of nature or common law (if i may so call it) which takes place in the secular courts, and has the executive power on its side. under the head of civil laws may be comprehended the injunction of warring against infidels, which is repeated in several passages of the korân, and declared to be of high merit in the sight of god, those who are slain fighting in defence of the faith being reckoned martyrs, and promised immediate admission into paradise. hence this duty is greatly magnified by the mohammedan divines, who call the sword the key of heaven and hell, and persuade their people that the least drop of blood spilt in the way of god, as it is called, is most acceptable unto him, and that the defending the territories of the moslems for one night is more meritorious than a fast of two months: on the other hand, desertion, or refusing to serve in these holy wars, or to contribute towards the carrying them on, if a man has ability, is accounted a most heinous crime, being frequently declaimed against in the korân. such a doctrine, which mohammed ventured not to teach till his circumstances enabled him to put it in practice, it must be allowed, was well calculated for his purpose, and stood him and his successors in great stead: for what dangers and difficulties may not be despised and overcome by the courage and constancy which these sentiments necessarily inspire? nor have the jews and christians, how much soever they detest such principles in others, been ignorant of the force of enthusiastic heroism, or omitted to spirit up their respective partisans by the like arguments and promises. "let him who has listed himself in defence of the law," says maimonides, "rely on him who is the hope of israel, and the saviour thereof in the time of trouble; and let him know that he fights for the profession of the divine unity: wherefore let him put his life in his hand, and think neither of wife nor children, but banish the memory of them from his heart, having his mind wholly fixed on the war. for if he should begin to waver in his thoughts, he would not only confound himself, but sin against the law; see deut. xxv. , .		 vide grelot, voy. de constant. p. , and chardin, ubi supra, p. .		 vide chardin, ubi supra, p. , &c.		 cap. ; c. , p. ; c . , p. , &c.; c. ; c. ; c. and c. , &c.		 cap. , p. ; c. , p. ; c. ; c. .		 reland. de jure milit. moham. p. , &c.	 vide c. ; c. , p. , &c. 	 see before, p. .		 halach. melachim, c. .		 jerem. xiv. .		 job xiii. . nay, the blood of the whole people hangeth on his neck; for if they are discomfited, and he has not fought stoutly with all his might, it is equally the same as if he had shed the blood of them all; according to that saying, let him return, lest his brethren's heart fail as his own." to the same purpose doth the kabala accommodate that other passage, "cursed be he who doth the work of the lord negligently, and cursed be he who keepeth back his sword from blood. on the contrary, he who behaveth bravely in battle, to the utmost of his endeavour, without trembling, with intent to glorify god's name, he ought to expect the victory with confidence, and to apprehend no danger or misfortune, but may be assured that he will have a house built him in israel, appropriated to him and his children for ever; as it is said, god shall certainly make my lord a sure house, because he hath fought the battles of the lord, and his life shall be bound up in the bundle of life with the lord his god." more passages of this kind might be produced from the jewish writers; and the christians come not far behind them. "we are desirous of knowing," says one writing to the franks engaged in the holy war, "the charity of you all; for that every one (which we speak not because we wish it) who shall faithfully lose his life in this warfare, shall be by no means denied the kingdom of heaven." and another gives the following exhortation: "laying aside all fear and dread, endeavour to act effectually against the enemies of the holy faith, and the adversaries of all religions: for the almighty knoweth, if any of you die, that he dieth for the truth of the faith, and the salvation of his country, and the defence of christians; and therefore he shall obtain of him a celestial reward." the jews, indeed, had a divine commission, extensive and explicit enough, to attack, subdue, and destroy the enemies of their religion; and mohammed pretended to have received one in favour of himself and his moslems, in terms equally plain and full; and therefore it is no wonder that they should act consistently with their avowed principles: but that christians should teach and practise a doctrine so opposite to the temper and whole tenour of the gospel, seems very strange; and yet the latter have carried matters farther, and shown a more violent spirit of intolerance than either of the former. the laws of war, according to the mohammedans, have been already so exactly set down by the learned reland, that i need say very little of them. i shall, therefore, only observe some conformity between their military laws and those of the jews. while mohammedism was in its infancy, the opposers thereof taken in battle were doomed to death, without mercy; but this was judged too severe to be put in practice when that religion came to be sufficiently established, and past the danger of being subverted by its enemies. the same sentence was pronounced not only against the seven canaanitish nations, whose possessions were given to the israelites, and without whose destruction, in a manner, they could not have settled themselves in the country designed them, but against the deut. xx. .		 jerem. xlviii. .		 i sam. xxv. , .		 nicolaus, in jure canon. c. omnium, , quæst. . 		 leo iv. ibid. quæst. .		 in his treatise de jure militari mohammedanor. in the third vol. of his dissertationes miscellanæe. 	 see kor. c. . and the notes there; and c. , p. ; c. , p. . deut. xx. - . amalekites and midianites, who had done their utmost to cut them off in their passage thither. when the mohammedans declare war against people of a different faith, they give them their choice of three offers, viz., either to embrace mohammedism, in which case they become not only secure in their persons, families, and fortunes, but entitled to all the privileges of other moslems; or to submit and pay tribute, by doing which they are allowed to profess their own religion, provided it be not gross idolatry or against the moral law; or else to decide the quarrel by the sword, in which last case, if the moslems prevail, the women and children which are made captives become absolute slaves, and the men taken in the battle may either be slain, unless they turn mohammedans, or otherwise disposed of at the pleasure of the prince. herewith agree the laws of war given to the jews, which relate to the nations not devoted to destruction; and joshua is said to have sent even to the inhabitants of canaan, before he entered the land, three schedules, in one of which was written, "let him fly, who will;" in the second, "let him who surrender, who will;" and in the third, "let him fight, who will;" though none of those nations made peace with the israelites (except only the gibeonites, who obtained terms of security by stratagem, after they had refused those offered by joshua), "it being of the lord to harden their hearts, that he might destroy them utterly." on the first considerable success of mohammed in war, the dispute which happened among his followers in relation to the dividing of the spoil, rendered it necessary for him to make some regulation therein; he therefore pretended to have received the divine commission to distribute the spoil among his soldiers at his own discretion, reserving thereout, in the first place, one-fifth part for the uses after mentioned; and, in consequence hereof, he took himself to be authorized on extraordinary occasions, to distribute it as he thought fit, without observing an equality. thus he did, for example, with the spoil of the tribe of hawâzen taken at the battle of honein, which he bestowed by way of presents on the meccans only, passing by those of medina, and highly distinguishing the principal korashites, that he might ingratiate himself with them, after he had become master of their city. he was also allowed in the expedition against those of al nadîr to take the whole booty to himself, and to dispose thereof as he pleased, because no horses or camels were made use of in that expedition, but the whole army went on foot; and this became thenceforward a law: the reason of which seems to be, that the spoil taken by a party consisting of infantry ibid. c. xxv. - .		 numb. xxxi. .		 see c. , and the notes there.		 see the notes to c. .		 deut. xx. - .		 talmud hierosol. apud maimonid. halach. melachim, c. , § . r. bechai, ex. lib. siphre. vide selden, de jure nat. et gent. sec. hebr. l. , c. and ; and schickardi jus regium hebr. c. , theor. . josh. xi. . the jews, however, say that the girgashites, believing they could not escape the destruction with which they were threatened by god, if they persisted to defend themselves, fled into africa in great numbers. (vide talm. hieros. ubi sup.) and this is assigned as the reason why the girgashites are not mentioned among the other canaanitish nations who assembled to fight against joshua (josh. ix. i , and who were doomed to utter extirpation (deut. xx. ). but it is observable, that the girgashites are not omitted by the septuagint in either of those texts, and that their name appears in the latter of them in the samaritan pentateuch: they are also joined with the other canaanites as having fought against israel, in josh. xxiv. ii.		 kor. c. . ibid.		 abulfed. in vit. moh. p. , &c. vide kor. c. . and the notes there.		 kor. c. , see the notes there.		 vide abulfed. ubi sup. p. . only, should be considered as the more immediate gift of god, and therefore properly left to the disposition of his apostle. according to the jews, the spoil ought to be divided into two equal parts, one to be shared among the captors, and the other to be taken by the prince, and by him employed for his own support and the use of the public. moses, it is true, divided one-half of the plunder of the midianites among those who went to battle, and the other half among all congregation: but this, they say, being a peculiar case, and done by the express order of god himself, must not be looked on as a precedent. it should seem, however, from the words of joshua to the two tribes and a half, when he sent them home into gilead after the conquest and division of the land of canaan , that they were to divide the spoil of their enemies with their brethren, after their return: and the half which was in succeeding times taken by the king, was in all probability taken by him as head of the community, and representing the whole body. it is remarkable that the dispute among mohammed's men about sharing the booty at bedr, arose on the same occasion as did that among david's soldiers in relation to the spoils recovered from the amalekites; those who had been in the action insisting that they who tarried by the stuff should have no part of the spoil; and that the same decision was given in both cases, which became a law for the future, to wit, that they should part alike. the fifth part directed by the korân to be taken out of the spoil before it be divided among the captors, is declared to belong to god, and to the apostle and his kindred, and the orphans, and the poor, and the traveller: which words are variously understood. al shâfeï was of opinion that the whole ought to be divided into five parts; the first, which he called god's part, to go to the treasury, and be employed in building and repairing fortresses, bridges, and other public works, and in paying salaries to magistrates, civil officers, professors of learning, ministers of public worship, &c.: the second part to be distributed among the kindred of mohammed, that is, the descendants of his grandfather hâshem, and of his great-uncle al motalleb, as well the rich as the poor, the children as the adult, the women as the men; observing only to give a female but half the share of a male: the third part to go to the orphans: the fourth part to the poor, who have not wherewithal to maintain themselves the year round, and are not able to get their livelihood: and the fifth part to travellers, who are in want on the road, notwithstanding they may be rich men in their own country. according to malec ebn ans the whole is at the disposition of the imâm or prince, who may distribute the same at his own discretion, where he sees most need. abu'l aliya wen according to the letter of the korân, and declared his opinion to be that the whole should be divided into six parts, and that god's part should be applied to the service of the caaba: while others supposed god's part and the apostle's to be one and the same. abu hanîfa thought that the share of mohammed and his kindred sank at that prophet's death, since which the whole vide kor. c. , ubi supra.		 gemar. babyl. ad tit. sanhedr. c. . vide selden, de jure nat. et gent. sec. hebr. lib. , c. .		 numb. xxxi. .		 vide maim. halach, melach. c. .	 josh. xxii. . see kor. c. ., and the notes there.		 i sam. xxx. - .	 kor. c. .		 note, al shâfeï himself was descended from this latter. 	 al beid. vide reland. de jure milit. moham. p. , &c. idem.		 idem. ought to be divided among the orphans, the poor, and the traveller. some insist that the kindred of mohammed entitled to a shire of the spoils are the posterity of hâshem only; but those who think the descendants of his brother al motalleb have also a right to a distributive part, allege a tradition in their favour purporting that mohammed himself divided the share belonging to his relations among both families, and when othmân ebn assân and jobeir ebn matám (who were descended from abdshams and nawfal the other brothers of hâshem) told him, that though they disputed not the preference of the hâshemites, they could not help taking it ill to see such difference made between the family of al motalleb and themselves, who were related to him in an equal degree, and yet had no part in the distribution, the prophet replied that the descendants of al motalleb had forsaken him neither in the time of ignorance, nor since the revelation of islâm; and joined his fingers together in token of the strict union between them and the hâshemites. some exclude none of the tribe of koreish from receiving a part in the division of the spoil, and make no distinction between the poor and the rich; though, according to the more reasonable opinion, such of them as are poor only are intended by the text of the korân, as is agreed in the case of the stranger: and others go so far as to assert that the whole fifth commanded to be reserved belongs to them only, and that the orphans, and the poor, and the traveller, are to be understood of such as are of that tribe. it must be observed that immovable possessions, as lands, &c., taken in war, are subject to the same laws as the movable; excepting only that the fifth part of the former is not actually divided, but the income and profits thereof, or of the price thereof, if sold, are applied to public and pious uses, and distributed once a year, and that the prince may either take the fifth part of the land itself, or the fifth part of the income and produce of the whole, as he shall make his election. _______ section vii. of the months commanded by the koran to be kept sacred; and 	of the setting apart of friday for the especial service of 	god. it was a custom among the ancient arabs to observe four months in the year as sacred, during which they held it unlawful to wage war, and took off the heads from their spears, ceasing from incursions and other hostilities. during those months whoever was in fear of his enemy lived in full security; so that if a man met the murderer of his 				 idem.		 idem.		 idem. father or his brother, he durst not offer him any violence: a great argument," says a learned writer, "of a humane disposition in that nation; who being by reason of the independent governments of their several tribes, and for the preservation of their just rights, exposed to frequent quarrels with one another, had yet learned to cool their inflamed breasts with moderation, and restrain the rage of war by stated times of truce." this institution obtained among all the arabian tribes, except only those of tay and khatháam, and some of the descendants of al hareth ebn caab (who distinguished no time or place as sacred), and was so religiously observed, that there are but few instances in history (four, say some, six, say others), of its having been transgressed; the wars which were carried on without regard thereto being therefore termed impious. one of those instances was in the war between the tribes of koreish and kais ailân, wherein mohammed himself served under his uncles, being then fourteen, or, as others say, twenty years old. the months which the arabs held sacred were al moharram, rajeb. dhu'lkaada, and dhu'lhajja; the first, the seventh, the eleventh, and the twelfth in the year. dhu'lhajja being the month wherein they performed the pilgrimage to mecca, not only that month, but also the preceding and the following, were for that reason kept inviolable, that every one might safely and without interruption pass and repass to and from the festival. rajeb is said to have been more strictly observed than any of the other three, probably because in that month the pagan arabs used to fast; ramadân, which was afterwards set apart by mohammed for that purpose, being in the time of ignorance dedicated to drinking in excess. by reason of the profound peace and security enjoyed in this month, one part of the provisions brought by the caravans of purveyors annually set out by the koreish for the supply of mecca, was distributed among the people; the other part being, for the like reason, distributed at the pilgrimage. the observance of the aforesaid months seemed so reasonable to mohammed, that it met with his approbation; and the same is accordingly confirmed and enforced by several passages of the korân, which forbid war to be waged during those months against such as acknowledge them to be sacred, but grant, at the same time, full permission to attack those who make no such distinction, in the sacred months as well as in the profane. one practice, however, of the pagan arabs, in relation to these sacred al kazwîni, apud golium in notis ad alfrag. p. , &c. al shahrestani, apud poc. spec. p. . al jawhari, al firauzab. golius, ubi supra, p. .		 al shahrestani, ubi supra. see before, p. .		 al mogholtaï. abulfeda, vit. moh. p. ii.		 al kodâï, al firauz. apud poc. spec. p. . al mogholtaï mentions both opinions. mr. bayle (dict. hist. et crit. art. la mecque, rem. f.) accuses dr. prideaux of an inconsistency for saying in one place (life of mahomet, p. ) that these sacred months were the first, the seventh, the eleventh, and the twelfth, and intimating in another place (ibid. p. ) that three of them were contiguous. but this must be mere absence of mind in mr bayle; for are not the eleventh, the twelfth, and the first months contiguous? the two learned professors, golius and reland, have also made a small slip in speaking of these sacred months, which, they tell us, are the two first and the two last in the year. vide golii lex. arab. col. , and reland. de jure milit. mohammed anor. p. .		 vide gol. in alfrag. p. .		 vide ibid. p. .	 al makrîzi, apud poc ubi supra.		 idem, and auctor neshk al azhâr, ibid.		 see kor. c. . a. edrîsi apud poc. specim. p. .		 cap. ; c. , p. ; c. , p. ; c. , p. , &c.		 cap. ; c. , p. . months, mohammed thought proper to reform: for some of them, weary of sitting quiet for three months together, and eager to make their accustomed incursions for plunder, used, by way of expedient, whenever it suited their inclinations or conveniency, to put off the observing of al moharram to the following month safar, thereby avoiding to keep the former, which they supposed it lawful for them to profane, provided they sanctified another month in lieu of it, and gave public notice thereof at the preceding pilgrimage. this transferring the observation of a sacred month to a profane month, is what is truly meant by the arabic word al nasî, and is absolutely condemned, and declared to be an impious innovation, in a passage of the korân which dr. prideaux, misled by golius, imagines to relate to the prolonging of the year, by adding an intercalary month thereto. it is true, the arabs, who imitated the jews in their manner of computing by lunar years, had also learned their method of reducing them to solar years, by intercalating a month sometimes in the third, and sometimes in the second year; by which means they fixed the pilgrimage of mecca (contrary to the original institution) to a certain season of the year, viz., to autumn, as most convenient for the pilgrims, by reason of the temperateness of the weather, and the plenty of provisions; and it is also true that mohammed forbade such intercalation by a passage in the same chapter of the korân; but then it is not the passage above mentioned, which prohibits a different thing, but one a little before it, wherein the number of months in the year, according to the ordinance of god, is declared to be twelve; whereas, if the intercalation of a month were allowed, every third or second year would consist of thirteen, contrary to god's appointment. the setting apart of one day in the week for the more peculiar attendance on god's worship, so strictly required by the jewish and christian religions, appeared to mohammed to be so proper an institution, that he could not but imitate the professors thereof in that particular; though, for the sake of distinction, he might think himself obliged to order his followers to observe a different day form either. several reasons are given why the sixth day of the week was pitched on for this purpose; but mohammed seems to have preferred that day chiefly because it was the day on which the people used to be assembled long before his time, though such assemblies were had, perhaps, rather on a civil than a religious account. however it be, the mohammedan writers bestow very extraordinary encomiums on this day, calling it the prince of day, and the most excellent day on which the sun rises; pretending also that it will be the day whereon the last judgment will be solemnized; and they esteem it a peculiar honour to islâm, that god has been pleased to appoint this day to be the feast-day of the moslems, and granted them the advantage of having first observed it. though the mohammedans do not think themselves bound to keep their day of public worship so holy as the jews and christians are cer- see the notes to c. , ubi sup.		 cap. , ibid.		 life of mah. p. . in alfrag. p. .		 see prid. preface to the first vol. of his connect. p. vi., &c.		 vide gol. ubi supra. kor. c. . see also c. , . .		 see c. , and the notes there. 	 al beidâwi. ebn al athîr et al ghazâli, apud poc. spec. p. .			 vide ibid.	 al ghazâli, ibid. tainly obliged to keep theirs, there being a permission, as is generally supposed, in the korân, allowing them to return to their employments or diversion after divine service is over; yet the more devout disapprove the applying of any part of that day to worldly affairs, and require it to be wholly dedicated to the business of the life to come. since i have mentioned the mohammedan weekly feast, i beg leave just to take notice of their two beirâms, or principal annual feasts. the first of them is called, in arabic, id al fetr, i.e., the feast of breaking the fast, and begins the first of shawâl, immediately succeeding the fast of ramadân; and the other is called id al korbân, or id al adhâ, i.e., the feast of the sacrifice, and begins on the tenth of dhu'lhajja, when the victims are slain at the pilgrimage of mecca. the former of these feasts is properly the lesser beirâm, and the latter, the greater beirâm: but the vulgar, and most authors who have written of the mohammedan affairs, exchange the epithets, and call that which follows ramadân the greater beirâm, because it is observed in an extraordinary manner, and kept for three days together at constantinople and in other parts of turkey, and in persia for five or six days, by the common people, at least, with great demonstrations of public joy, to make themselves amends, as it were, for the mortification of the preceding month; whereas, the feast of sacrifices, though it be also kept for three days, and the first of them be the most solemn day of the pilgrimage, the principal act of devotion among the mohammedans is taken much less notice of by the generality of people, who are not struck therewith, because the ceremonies with which the same is observed are performed at mecca, the only scene of that solemnity. _______ section viii. of the principal sects among the mohammedans; and of those 	who have pretended to prophecy among the arabs, in or 	since the time of mohammed. before we take a view of the sects of the mohammedans, it will be necessary to say something of the two sciences by which all disputed questions among them are determined, viz., their scholastic and practical divinity. their scholastic divinity is a mongrel science, consisting of logical, metaphysical, theological, and philosophical disquisitions, and built on cap. , ubi supra.		 al ghazâli, ubi sup. p. . 	 the word beirâm is turkish, and properly signifies a feast-day or holiday.		 see c. , and before, sect. iv. p. .		 vide reland. de relig. moh. p. , and d'herbel. bibl. orient. art. beirâm. 	 hyde, in notis ad bobov. p. ; chardin, voy. de perse, tom. ii. p. ; ricaut's state of the ottoman empire, l. . c. , &c.		 vide chardin and ricaut, ubi supra. principles and methods of reasoning very different from what are used by those who pass among the mohammedans themselves for the sounder divines or more able philosophers, and, therefore, in the partition of the sciences this is generally left out, as unworthy a place among them. the learned maimonides has laboured to expose the principles and systems of the scholastic divines, as frequently repugnant to the nature of the world and the order of the creation, and intolerably absurd. this art of handling religious disputes was not known in the infancy of mohammedism, but was brought in when sects sprang up, and articles of religion began to be called in question, and was at first made use of to defend the truth o those articles against innovators; and while it keeps within those bounds is allowed to be a commendable study, being necessary for the defence of the faith: but when it proceeds farther, out of an itch of disputation, it is judged worthy of censure. this is the opinion of al ghazâli, who observes a medium between those who have too high a value for this science, and those who absolutely reject it. among the latter was al shâfeï, who declared that, in his judgment, if any man employed his time that way, he deserved to be fixed to a stake, and carried about through all the arab tribes, with the following proclamation to be made before him: 'this is the reward of him who, leaving the korân and the sonna, applied himself to the study of scholastic divinity." al ghazâli, on the other hand, thinks that as it was introduced by the invasion of heresies, it is necessary to be retained in order to quell them: but then in the person who studies this science he requires three things, diligence, acuteness of judgment, and probity of manners; and is by no means for suffering the same to be publicly explained. this science, therefore, among the mohammedans, is the art of controversy, by which they discuss points of faith concerning the essence and attributes of god, and the conditions of all possible things, either in respect to their creation, or final restoration, according to the rules of the religion of islâm. the other science is practical divinity or jurisprudence, and is the knowledge of the decisions of the law which regard practice, gathered from distinct proofs. al ghazâli declares that he had much the same opinion of this science as of the former, its original being owing to the corruption of religion and morality; and therefore judged both sciences to be necessary, not in themselves, but by accident only, to curb the irregular imaginations and passions of mankind (as guards become necessary in the highways by reason of robbers), the end of the first being the suppressing of heresies, and of the other the decision of legal controversies, for the quiet and peaceable living of mankind in this world, and for the preserving the rule by which the magistrate may prevent one man from injuring another, by declaring what is lawful and what is unlawful, by determining the satisfaction to be given, or punishment to be poc. spec. p. .		 apud ebn sina, in libello de divisione scientiar, et nasiro'ddin al tûsi, in præfat. ad ethic. more nevoch. l. i, c. and .		 al ghazâli, apud poc. ubi supra. 	 ibid. vide poc. ibid. p. .			 al ghazâli, ibid.		 ebn al kossá apud eund. ibid. p. . inflicted, and by regulating other outward actions; and not only so, but to decide of religion itself, and its conditions, so far as relates to the profession made by the mouth, it not being the business of the civilian to inquire into the heart: the depravity of men's manners, however, has made this knowledge of the laws so very requisite, that it is usually called the science, by way of excellence, nor is any man reckoned learned who has not applied himself thereto. the points of faith, subject to the examination and discussion of the scholastic divines, are reduced to four general heads, which they call the four bases, or great fundamental articles. the first basis relates to the attributes of god, and his unity consistent therewith. under this head are comprehended the questions concerning the eternal attributes, which are asserted by some, and denied by others; and also the explication of the essential attributes, and attributes of action; what is proper for god to do, and what may be affirmed of him, and what it is impossible for him to do. these things are controverted between the ashárians, the kerâmians, the mojassemians or corporalists, and the mótazalites. the second basis regards predestination, and the justice thereof: which comprises the questions concerning god's purpose and decree, man's compulsion or necessity to act, and his co-operation in producing actions, by which he may gain to himself good or evil; and also those which concern god's willing good and evil, and what things are subject to his power, and what to his knowledge; some maintaining the affirmative, and others the negative. these points are disputed among the kadarians, the najarians, the jabarians, the ashárians, and the kerâmians. the third basis concerns the promises and threats, the precise acceptation of names used in divinity, and the divine decisions; and comprehends questions relating to faith, repentance, promises, threats, forbearance, infidelity, and error. the controversies under this head are on foot between the morgians, the waïdians, the mótazalites, the ashárians, and the kerâmians. the fourth basis regards history and reason, that is, the just weight they ought to have in matters belonging to faith and religion; and also the mission of prophets, and the office of imâm, or chief pontiff. under this head are comprised all casuistical questions relating to the moral beauty or turpitude of actions; inquiring whether things are allowed or forbidden by reason of their own nature, or by the positive law; and also questions concerning the preference of actions, the favour or grace of god, the innocence which ought to attend the prophetical office, and the conditions requisite in the office of imâm; some asserting it depends on right of succession, others on the consent of the faithful; and also the method of transferring it with the former, and of confirming it with the latter. these matters are the subjects of dispute between the shiites, the mótazalites, the kerâmians, and the ashárians. the different sects of mohammedans may be distinguished into two al ghazâli. vide ibid. p. - .		 vide ibid. p. . 	 vide abulfarag, hist. dynast. p. . al shahrestani, apud poc. ubi. sup. p. , &c.		 idem, ibid. p. .		 idem, ibid. p. . idem, ibid. sorts; those generally esteemed orthodox, and those which are esteemed heretical. the former, by a general name, are called sonnites or traditionists; because they acknowledge the authority of the sonna, or collection of moral traditions of the sayings and actions of their prophet, which is a sort of supplement to the korân, directing the observance of several things omitted in that book, and in name, as well as design, answering to the mishna of the jews. the sonnites are subdivided into four chief sects, which, notwithstanding some differences as to legal conclusions in their interpretation of the korân, and matters of practice, are generally acknowledge to be orthodox in radicals, or matters of faith, and capable of salvation, and have each of them their several stations or oratories in the temple of mecca. the founders of these sects are looked upon as the great masters of jurisprudence, and are said to have been men of great devotion and self-denial, well versed in the knowledge of those things which belong to the next life and to man's right conduct here, and directing all their knowledge to the glory of god. this is al ghazâli's encomium of them, who thinks it derogatory to their honour that their names should be used by those who, neglecting to imitate the other virtues which make up their character, apply themselves only to attain their skill, and follow their opinions in matters of legal practice. the first of the four orthodox sects is that of the hanefites, so named from their founder, abu hanîfa al nómân ebn thâbet, who was born at cufa, in the th year of the hejra, and died in the th, according to the more preferable opinion as to the time. he ended his life in prison at baghdâd, where he had been confined because he refused to be made kâdi or judge; on which account he was very hardly dealt with by his superiors, yet could not be prevailed on, either by threats or ill-treatment, to undertake the charge, "choosing rather to be punished by them than by god," says al ghazâli; who adds, that when he excused himself from accepting the office by alleging that he was unfit for it, being asked the reason, he replied, "if i speak the truth, i am unfit; but if i tell a lie, a liar is not fit to be a judge." it is said that he read the korân in the prison where he died, no less than , times. the hanefites are called by an arabian writer the followers of reason, and those of the three other sects, followers of tradition; the former being principally guided by their own judgment in their decisions, and the latter adhering more tenaciously to the traditions of mohammed. the sect of abu hanîfa heretofore obtained chiefly in irâk, but now generally prevails among the turks and tartars: his doctrine was brought into great credit by abu yûsof, chief justice under the khalîfs al hâdi and harûn al rashîd. vide poc. spec. p. . prid. life of mahomet, p. , &c. reland. de rel. moh. p. , &c. millium, de mohammedismo ante moh. p. , . 	 see before, p. .		 vide poc. spec. p. .		 ebn khalecân. this was the true cause of his imprisonment and death, and not his refusing to subscribe to the opinion of absolute predestination, as d'herbelot writes (bibl. orient. p. ), misled by the dubious acceptation of the word "kadâ," which signifies not only god's decree in particular, but also the giving sentence as a judge in general; nor could abu hanîfa have been reckoned orthodox had he denied one of the principal articles of faith.		 poc. spec. p. , .		 al shahrestani, ibid. idem.		 vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. and . the second orthodox sect is that of mâlec ebn ans, who was born at medina, in the year of the hejra , , , or , and died there in , , or (for so much do authors differ). this doctor is said to have paid great regard to the traditions of mohammed. in his last illness, a friend going to visit him found him in tears, and asking him the reason of it, he answered, "how should i not weep? and who has more reason to weep than i? would to god that for every question decided by me according to my own opinion, i had received so many stripes! then would my accounts be easier. would to god i had never given any decision of my own!" al ghazâli thinks it a sufficient proof of malec's directing his knowledge to the glory of god, that being once asked his opinion as to forty-eight questions, his answer to thirty-two of them was, that he did not know; it being no easy matter for one who has any other view than god's glory to make so frank a confession of his ignorance. the doctrine of malec is chiefly followed in barbary and other parts of africa. the author of the third orthodox sect was mohammed ebn edrîs al shâfeï, born either at gaza or ascalon, in palestine, in the year of the hejra , the same day (as some will have it) that abu hanîfa died, and was carried to mecca at two years of age, and there educated. he died in , in egypt, whither he went about five years before. this doctor is celebrated for his excellency in all parts of learning, and was much esteemed by ebn hanbal his contemporary, who used to say that "he was as the sun to the world, and as health to the body." ebn hanbal, however, had so ill an opinion of al shâfeï at first, that he forbad his scholars to go near him; but some time after one of them, meeting his master trudging on foot after al shâfeï, who rode on a mule, asked him how it came about that he forbad them to follow him, and did it himself? to which ebn hanbal replied, "hold thy peace; if thou but attend his mule thou wilt profit thereby." al shâfeï is said to have been the first who discoursed of jurisprudence, and reduced that science into a method; one wittily saying, that the relators of the traditions of mohammed were asleep till al shâfeï came and waked them. he was a great enemy to the scholastic divines, as has been already observed. al ghazâli tells us that al shâfeï used to divide the night into three parts, one for study, another for prayer, and the third for sleep. it is also related of him that he never so much as once swore by god, either to confirm a truth, or to affirm a falsehood; and that being once asked his opinion, he remained silent for some time, and when the reason of his silence was demanded, he answered, "i am considering first whether it be better to speak or to hold my tongue." the following saying is also recorded of him, viz., "whoever pretends to love the world and its creator at the same time, is a liar." the followers of this doctor are from him called shâfeïtes, and were formerly spread into mâwara'lnahr and other parts eastward, but are now chiefly of arabia and persia. abulfeda.		 ebn khalecân.		 idem.		 abulfeda.		 elmacinus, p. .		 ebn khalec. vide poc. spec. p. .		 idem, apud eund. ibid.	 al ghazâli, ibid. ebn khalecân.			 yet abulfeda says he lived fifty-eight years. 		 ebn khalecân. idem.		 idem.		 al záfarâni, apud poc. spec. p. . 	 see before, p. . vide poc. spec. - . ahmed ebn hanbal, the founder of the fourth sect, was born in the year of the hejra ; but as to the place of his birth there are two traditions: some say he was born at merû in khorasân, of which city his parents were, and that his mother brought him from thence to baghdâd at her breast; while others assure us that she was with child of him when she came to baghdâd, and that he was born there. ebn hanbal in process of time attained a great reputation on account of his virtue and knowledge; being so well versed in the traditions of mohammed, in particular, that it is said he could repeat no less than a million of them. he was very intimate with al shâfeï, from whom he received most of his traditionary knowledge, being his constant attendant till his departure for egypt. refusing to acknowledge the korân to be created, he was, by order of the khalîf al mótasem, severely scourged and imprisoned. ebn hanbal died at baghdâd, in the year , and was followed to his grave by eight hundred thousand men, and sixty thousand women. it is relate, as something very extraordinary, if not miraculous, that on the day of his death no less than twenty thousand christians, jews, and magians, embraced the mohammedan faith. this sect increased so fast, and became so powerful and bold, that in the year , in the khalîfat of al râdi, they raised a great commotion in baghdâd, entering people's houses, and spilling their wine, if they found any, and beating the singing-women they met with, and breaking their instruments; and a severe edict was published against them, before they could be reduced to their duty: but the hanbalites at present are not very numerous, few of them being to be met with out of the limits of arabia. the heretical sects among the mohammedans are those which hold heterodox opinions in fundamental, or matters of faith. the first controversies relating to fundamentals began when most of the companions of mohammed were dead: for in their days was no dispute, unless about things of small moment, if we except only the dissensions concerning the imâms, or rightful successors of their prophet, which were stirred up and fomented by interest and ambition; the arabs' continual employment in the wars, during that time, allowing them little or no leisure to enter into nice inquiries and subtle distinctions: but no sooner was the ardour of conquest a little abated than they began to examine the korân more nearly; whereupon differences in opinion became unavoidable, and at length so greatly multiplied, that the number of their sects, according to the common opinion, are seventy-three. for the mohammedans seem ambitious that their religion should exceed others even in this respect; saying, that the magians are divided into seventy sects, the jews into seventy-one, the christians into seventy-two, and the moslems into seventy-three, as mohammed had foretold; of which sects they reckon one to be always orthodox, and entitled to salvation. the first heresy was that of the khârejites, who revolted from ali in the thirty-seventh year of the hejra; and not long after, mábad a. ebn khalecân.		 idem.			 idem. 	 see before, sect. iii. p. , &c. ebn khalecân, abulfarag, hist. dyn. p. , &c.		 ebn khalecân. 		 abulfar. ubi sup. p. , &c. al shahrestani, apud poc. spec. p. . auctor sharh al mawâkef, apud eund. p. .		 vide poc. ibid. al shahrestani, apud eund. p. . johni, ghailân of damascus, and jonas al aswâri broached heterodox opinions concerning predestination, and the ascribing of good and evil unto god; whose opinions were followed by wâsel ebn atâ. this latter was the scholar of hasan of basra, in whose school a question being proposed, whether he who had committed a grievous sin was to be deemed an infidel or not, the khârejites (who used to come and dispute there) maintaining the affirmative, and the orthodox the negative, wâsel, without waiting his master's decision, withdrew abruptly, and began to publish among his fellow-scholars a new opinion of his own, to wit, that such a sinner was in a middle state; and he was thereupon expelled the school; he and his followers being thenceforth called mótazalites, or separatists. the several sects which have arisen since this time are variously compounded and decompounded of the opinions of four chief sects, the mótazalites, the sefâtians, the khârejites, and the shiites. i. the mótazalites were the followers of the before-mentioned wâsel ebn atâ. as to their chief and general tenets, i. they entirely rejected all eternal attributes of god, to avoid the distinction of persons made by the christians; saying that eternity is the proper or formal attribute of his essence; that god knows by his essence, and not by his knowledge; and the same they affirmed of his other attributes (though all the mótazalites do not understand these words in one sense); and hence this sect were also named moattatlites, from their divesting god of his attributes: and they went so far as to say, that to affirm these attributes is the same thing as to make more eternals than one, and that the unity of god is inconsistent with such an opinion; and this was the true doctrine of wâsel their master, who declared that whoever asserted an eternal attribute, asserted there were two gods. this point of speculation concerning the divine attributes was not ripe at first, but was at length brought to maturity by wâsel's followers, after they had read the books of the philosophers. . they believed the word of god to have been created in subjecto (as the schoolmen term it), and to consist of letters and sound; copies thereof being written in books to express or imitate the original. they also went farther, and affirmed that whatever is created in subjecto is also an accident, and liable to perish. . they denied absolute predestination, holding that god was not the author of evil, but of good only; and that man was a free agent: which being properly the opinion of the kadarians, we defer what may be farther said thereof till we come to speak of that sect. on account of this tenet and the first, the móta- idem, and auctor sharh al mawâkef, ubi sup.		 idem, ibid. p. , , and ebu khalecân, in vita waseli. al shahrestani, who also reduces them to four chief sects, puts the kadarians in the place of the mótazalites. abulfaragius (hist. dyn. p. ) reckons six principal sects, adding the jabarians and the morgians; and the author of sharh al mawâkef eight, viz., the mótazalites, the shiites, the khârejites, the morgians, the najarians, the jabarians, the moshabbehites, and the sect which he calls al nâjia, because that alone will be saved, being according to him the sect of the asharians. vide poc. spec. p. . maimonides teaches the same, not as the doctrine of the mótazalites, but his own. vide more nev. l. i, c. .		 al shahrestani, apud poc. spec. p. . abulfarag, p. .		 vide poc. spec. .		 sharh al mawâkef, and al shahrest. apud poc. p. . maimonides (in proleg ad pirke aboth. § ) asserts the same thing.		 vide poc. ibid. al shahrest. ibid. p. .		 abulfarag, and al shahrest. ubi sup. p. . see before, sect. iii, p. vide poc. spec. p. . zalites look on themselves as the defenders of the unity and justice of god. . they held that if a professor of the true religion be guilty of a grievous sin, and die without repentance, he will be eternally damned, though his punishment will be lighter than that of the infidels. . they denied all vision of god in paradise by the corporeal eye, and rejected all comparisons or similitudes applied to god. this sect are said to have been the first inventors of scholastic divinity, and are subdivided into several inferior sects, amounting, as some reckon, to twenty, which mutually brand one another with infidelity: the most remarkable of them are:- i. the hodeilians, or followers of hamdân abu hodeil, a mótazalite doctor, who differed something from the common form of expression used by this sect, saying that god knew by his knowledge, but that his knowledge was his essence; and so of the other attributes: which opinion he took from the philosophers, who affirm the essence of god to be simple and without multiplicity, and that his attributes are not posterior or accessory to his essence, or subsisting therein, but are his essence itself: and this the more orthodox take to be next kin to making distinctions in the deity, which is the thing they so much abhor in the christians. as to the korân's being created, he made some distinction; holding the word of god to be partly not in subjecto (and therefore uncreated), as when he spake the word kûn, i.e., fiat, at the creation, and partly in subjecto, as the precepts, prohibitions, &c. marracci mentions an opinion of abu hodeil's concerning predestination, from an arab writer, which being by him expressed in a manner not very intelligible, i choose to omit. . the jobbâïans, or followers of abu ali mohammed ebn abd al wahhâb, surnamed al jobbâï, whose meaning when he made use of the common expression of the mótazalites, that "god knows by his essence," &c., was, that god's being knowing is not an attribute, the same with knowledge, nor such a state as rendered his being knowing necessary. he held god's word to be created in subjecto, as in the preserved table, for example, the memory of gabriel, mohammed, &c. this sect, if marracci has given the true sense of his author, denied that god could be seen in paradise without the assistance of corporeal eyes; and held that man produced his acts by a power superadded to health of body and soundness of limbs; that he who was guilty of a mortal sin was neither a believer nor an infidel, but a transgressor (which was the original opinion of wâsel), and if he died in his sins, would be doomed to hell for eternity; and that god conceals nothing of whatever he knows from his servants. . the hashemians, who were so named from their master abu hâshem abd al salâm, the son of abu ali al jabbâï, and whose tenets nearly agreed with those of the preceding sect. abu hâshem took the mótazalite form of expression, that "god knows by his essence," in a different sense from others, supposing it to mean that god hath or al shahrest. and sharh al mawâkef. apud poc, ubi sup. p. . 	 marracc. prodr. ad ref. alcor. part iii. p. . idem, ibid.		 vide poc. spec. p. , and d'herbel. art. motazelah.		 auctor al mawâkef, apud poc. ibid.		 al shahrestani, apud poc. p. , , .		 idem, apud eund. p. , &c. in prodr. part iii. p. .		 al shahrest. 		 idem, apud poc. spec. p. .		 idem, and auctor al mawâkef, ibid. p. . 	 marracci, ubi sup. p. , ex al shahrest.		 vide eund. ibid. is endued with a disposition, which is a known property, or quality, posterior or accessory to his existence. his followers were so much afraid of making god the author of evil that they would not allow him to be said to create an infidel; because, according to their way of arguing, an infidel is a compound of infidelity and man, and god is not the creator of infidelity. abu hâshem, and his father abu ali al jobbâï, were both celebrated for their skill in scholastic divinity. . the nodhâmians, or followers of ibrahim al nodhâm, who having read books of philosophy, set up a new sect, and imagining he could not sufficiently remove god from being the author of evil, without divesting him of his power in respect thereto, taught that no power ought to be ascribed to god concerning evil and rebellious actions: but this he affirmed against the opinion of his own disciples, who allowed that god could do evil, but did not, because of its turpitude. of his opinion as to the korân's being created we have spoken elsewhere. . the hâyetians, so named from ahmed ebn hâyet, who had been of the sect of the nodhâmians, but broached some new notions on reading the philosophers. his peculiar opinions were-i. that christ was the eternal word incarnate, and took a true and real body, and will judge all creatures in the life to come: he also farther asserted that there are two gods or creators-the one eternal, viz., the most high god, and the other not eternal, viz., christ -which opinion, though dr. pocock urges the same as an argument that he did not rightly understand the christian mysteries is not much different from that of the arians and socinians. . that there is successive transmigration of the soul from one body into another; and that the last body will enjoy the reward or suffer the punishment due to each soul: and, . that god will be seen at the resurrection, not with the bodily eyes, but those of the understanding. . the jâhedhians, or followers of amru ebn bahr, surnamed al jâhedh, a great doctor of the mótazalites, and very much admired for the elegance of his composures; who differed from his brethren in that he imagined the damned would not be eternally tormented in hell, but would be changed into the nature of fire, and that the fire would of itself attract them, without any necessity of their going into it. he also taught that if a man believed god to be his lord, and mohammed the apostle of god, he became one of the faithful, and was obliged to nothing farther. his peculiar opinion as to the korân has been taken notice of before. . the mozdârians, who embraced the opinions of isa ebn sobeih al mozdâr, and those very absurd ones: for, besides his notions relating to the korân, he went so directly counter to the opinion of those who abridged god of the power to do evil, that he affirmed it possible for god to be a liar and unjust. he also pronounced him to al shahrest. apud poc. p. .			 idem, ibid. p. . 	 ebn khalecân, in vitis eorum. al shahrest. ubi sup. p. , . vide marracc. prod. part iii. p. . 	 see before, sect. iii. p. . al shahrest. ubi sup. p. . abulfarag, p. .		 al shahrest. al mawâkef, et ebn kossá, apud poc. ubi sub. p. . vide poc. ibid		 marracc. et al shahrest. ubi sup.		 marracc. ibid. p. . vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. art. giahedh.		 al shahrest. ubi sup. p. .			 marracc. ubi sup. sect. iii. p. .		 vide ibid. and p. .		 al shahrest. apud poc. p. . be an infidel who thrust himself into the supreme government: nay, he went so far as to assert men to be infidels while they said "there is no god but god," and even condemned all the rest of mankind as guilty of infidelity; upon which ibrahim ebn al sendi asked him whether paradise, whose breadth equals that of heaven and earth, was created only for him and two or three more who thought as he did? to which it is said he could return no answer. . the basharians, who maintained the tenets of bashar ebn mótamer, the master of al mozdâr, and a principal man among the mótazalites. he differed in some things from the general opinion of that sect, carrying man's free agency to a great excess, making it even independent: and yet he thought god might doom an infant to eternal punishment, but granted he would be unjust in so doing. he taught that god is not always obliged to do that which is best, for, if he pleased, he could make all men true believers. these sectaries also held that if a man repent of a mortal sin, and afterwards return to it, he will be liable to suffer the punishment due to the former transgression. . the thamamians, who follow thamâma ebn bashar, a chief mótazalite. their peculiar opinions were-i. that sinners should remain in hell for ever. . that free actions have no producing author. . that at the resurrection all infidels, idolaters, atheists, jews, christians, magians, and heretics shall be reduced to dust. . the kadarians, which is really a more ancient name than that of mótazalites, mábad al johni and his adherents being so called, who disputed the doctrine of predestination before wâsel quitted his master: for which reason some use the denomination of kadarians as more extensive than the other, and comprehend all the mótazalites under it. this sect deny absolute predestination, saying that evil and injustice ought not to be attributed to god, but to man, who is a free agent, and may therefore be rewarded or punished for his actions, which god has granted him power either to do or to be let alone. and hence it is said they are called kadarians, because they deny al kadr, or god's absolute decree; though others, thinking it not so proper to come from kadr, or kodrat, i.e., power, because they assert man's power to act freely. those, however, who give the name of kadarians to the mótazalites are their enemies, for they disclaim it, and give it to their antagonists the jabarians, who likewise refuse it as an infamous appellation, because mohammed is said to have declared the kadarians to be the magians of his followers. but what the opinion of these kadarians in mohammed's time was, is very uncertain: the mótazalites say the name belongs to those who assert predestination, and make god the author of good and evil, viz., the jabarians; but all the other mohammedan sects agree to fix it on the mótazalites, who, they say, are like the magians in establishing two principles, light, or god, the author of good; and darkness, or the devil, the author of evil: but this cannot absolutely be said of the mótazalites, marracc. ubi sup. p. .		 al shahrest. ubi sup. p. . 	 poc. spec. p. 	 marracc. ubi sup. idem, ibid.		 al shahrest.		 al firauzab. vide poc. spec. p. , , and . al shahrest. vide poc. spec. p. and , &c.		 vide poc. ibid. p. .		 al motarrezi, al shahrest. vide ibid. p. . 	 idem, &c. ibid.		 idem, ibid. for they (at least the generality of them) ascribe men's good deeds to god, but their evil deeds to themselves; meaning thereby that man has a free liberty and power to do either good or evil, and is master of his actions; and for this reason it is that the other mohammedans call them magians, because they assert another author of actions besides god. and, indeed, it is a difficult matter to say what mohammed's own opinion was in this matter; for on the one side the korân itself is pretty plain for absolute predestination, and many sayings of mohammed are recorded to that purpose, and one in particular, wherein he introduces adam and moses disputing before god in this manner: "thou," says moses, "art adam; whom god created, and animated with the breath of life, and caused to be worshipped by the angels, and placed in paradise, from whence mankind have been expelled for thy fault:" whereto adam answered, "thou art moses; whom god chose for his apostle, and entrusted with his word, by giving thee the tables of the law, and whom he vouchsafed to admit to discourse with himself: how many years dost thou find the law was written before i was created?" says moses, "forty." "and dost thou not find," replied adam, "these words therein: 'and adam rebelled against his lord and transgressed'?" which moses confessing, "dost thou therefore blame me," continued he, "for doing that which god wrote of me that i should do forty years before i was created? nay, for what was decreed concerning me fifty thousand years before the creation of heaven and earth?" in the conclusion of which dispute mohammed declared that adam had the better of moses. on the other side, it is urged in the behalf of the mótazalites, that mohammed declaring that the kadarians and morgians had been cursed by the tongues of seventy prophets, and being asked who the kadarians were, answered, "those who assert that god predestinated them to be guilty of rebellion, and yet punishes them for it:" al hasan is also said to have declared, that god sent mohammed to the arabs while they were kadarians, or jabarians, and laid their sins upon god: and to confirm the matter, this sentence of the korân is quoted: "when they commit a filthy action, they say, we found our fathers practising the same, and god hath commanded us so to do: say, verily god commandeth not filthy actions." . the sefâtians held the opposite opinion to the mótazalites in respect to the eternal attributes of god, which they affirmed; making no distinction between the essential attributes and those of operation: and hence they were named sefâtians, or attributists. their doctrine was that of the first mohammedans, who were not yet acquainted with these nice distinctions: but this sect afterwards introduced another species of declarative attributes, or such as were necessarily used in historical narration, as hands, face, eyes, &c., which they did not offer to explain, but contented themselves with saying they were in the law, and that they called them declarative attributes. however, at length, by giving various explications and interpretations of these attributes they divided into many different opinions: some, by taking the words vide poc. ibid. p. , &c.		 vide ibid. p. .		 ebn al athîr, al bokhari, apud poc. p. . cap. , p. .		 al motarrezi, apud eund. p. , . 	 al shahrest. apud poc. spec. p. . in the literal sense, fell into the notion of a likeness or similitude between god and created beings; to which it is said the karaïtes among the jews, who are for the literal interpretation of moses's law, had shown them the way: others explained them in another manner, saying that no creature was like god, but that they neither understood nor thought i necessary to explain the precise signification of the words which seem to affirm the same of both; it being sufficient to believe that god hath no companion or similitude. of this opinion was malec ebn ans, who declared as to the expression of god's sitting on his throne, in particular, that though the meaning is known, yet the manner is unknown; and that it is necessary to believe it, but heresy to make any questions about it. the sects of the sefâtians are: i. the ashárians, the followers of abu'l hasan al ashári, who was first a mótazalite, and the scholar of abu ali al jobbâï, but disagreeing from his master in opinion as to god's being bound (as the mótazalites assert) to do always that which is best or most expedient, left him, and set up a new sect of himself. the occasion of this difference was the putting a case concerning three brothers, the first of whom lived in obedience to god, the second in rebellion against him, and the third died an infant. al jobbâi being asked what he thought would become of them, answered, that the first would be rewarded in paradise, the second punished in hell, and the third neither rewarded nor punished: "but what," objected al ashári, "if the third say, o lord, if thou hadst given me longer life, that i might have entered paradise with my believing brother, it would have been better for me?" to which al jobbâï replied, "that god would answer, i knew that if thou hadst lived longer, thou wouldst have been a wicked person, and therefore cast into hell." "then," retorted al ashári, "the second will say, o lord, why didst thou not take me away while i was an infant, as thou didst my brother, that i might not have deserved to be punished for my sins, nor to be cast into hell?" to which al jobbâï could return no other answer than that god prolonged his life to give him an opportunity of obtaining the highest degree of perfection, which was best for him: but al ashári demanding farther, why he did not for the same reason grant the other a longer life, to whom it would have been equally advantageous, al jobbâï was so put to it, that he asked whether the devil possessed him? "no," says al ashári, "but the master's ass will not pass the bridge;" i.e., he is posed. the opinions of the ashárians were-i. that they allowed the attributes of god to be distinct from his essence, yet so as to forbid any comparison to be made between god and his creatures. this was also the opinion of ahmed ebn hanbal, and david al ispahâni, and others, who herein followed malec ebn ans, and were so cautious of any assimilation of god to created beings, that they declared whoever moved his hand while he read these words, "i have created with my hand," or "stretched forth his finger," in repeating this saying of mohammed, "the heart of the believer is between two fingers of the vide poc. ibid. p. .		 vide eund. ibid.		 auctor al mawâkef, et al safadi, apud poc. ubi sup. p. , &c. ebn khalec. in vita al jabbâï.		 al shahrest. apud poc. spec. p. . merciful," ought to have his hand and finger cut off; and the reasons they gave for not explaining any such words were, that it is forbidden in the korân, and that such explications were necessarily founded on conjecture and opinion, from which no man ought to speak of the attributes of god, because the words of the korân might by that means come to be understood differently form the author's meaning: nay, some have been so superstitiously scrupulous in this matter as not to allow the words hand, face, and the like, when they occur in the korân, to be rendered into persian or any other language, but require them to be read in the very original words, and this they call the safe way. . as to predestination, they held that god hath one eternal will which is applied to whatsoever he willeth, both of his own actions and, those of men, so far as they are created by him, but not as they are acquired or gained by them; that he willeth both their good and their evil, their profit and their hurt, and as he willeth and knoweth, he willeth concerning men that which he knoweth, and hath commanded the pen to write the same in the preserved table: and this is his decree, and eternal immutable counsel and purpose. they also went so far as to say, that it may be agreeable to the way of god that man should be commanded what he is not able to perform. but while they allow man some power, they seem to restrain it to such a power as cannot produce anything new; only god, say they, so orders his providence that he creates, after, or under, and together with every created or new power, an action which is ready whenever a man will sit, and sets about it: and this action is called casb, i.e., acquisition, being in respect to its creation, from god, but in respect to its being produced, employed, and acquired, from man. and this being generally esteemed the orthodox opinion, it may not be improper farther to explain the same in the words of some other writers. the elective actions of men, says one, fall under the power of god alone; nor is their own power effectual thereto; but god causeth to exist in man power and choice; and if there be no impediment, he causeth his action to exist also, subject to his power, and joined with that and his choice; which action, as created, is to be ascribed to god, but as produced, employed, or acquired, to man. so that by the acquisition of an action is properly meant a man's joining or connecting the same with his power and will, yet allowing herein no impression or influence on the existence thereof, save only that it is subject to his power. others, however, who are also on the side of al ashári, and reputed orthodox, explain the matter in a different manner, and grant the impression or influence of the created power of man on his action, and that this power is what is called acquisition. but the point will be still clearer if we hear a third author, who rehearses the various opinions, or explications of the opinion of this sect, in the following words, viz.: abu'l hasan al ashári asserts all the actions of men to be subject to the power of god, being created by him, and that the power of man hath no influence at all on that which he is empowered to do; but that both the power, and what is subject thereto, fall under the power of god: idem, apud eund. p. , &c.		 vide poc. ibid. 	 al shahrest. apud eund. p. , &c. idem, ibid. p. .		 al shahrest. apud poc. p. , &c. 	 auctor sharh al mawâkef, apud eund. p. . al shahrest. ibid. p. . al kâdi abu becr says that the essence or substance of the action is the effect of the power of god, but its being either an action of obedience, as prayer, or an action of disobedience, as fornication, are qualities of the action, which proceed from the power of man: abd'almalec, known by the title of imâm al haramein, abu'l hosein of basra, and other learned men, held that the actions of men are effected by the power which god hath created in man, and that god causeth to exist in man both power and will, and that this power and will do necessarily produce that which man is empowered to do: and abu ishâk al isfarâyeni taught that that which maketh impression, or hath influence on an action, is a compound of the power of god and the power of man. the same author observes that their ancestors, perceiving a manifest difference between those things which are the effects of the election of man and those things which are the necessary effects of inanimate agents, destitute both of knowledge and choice, and being at the same time pressed by the arguments which prove that god is the creator of all things, and consequently of those things which are done by men, to conciliate the matter, chose the middle way, asserting actions to proceed from the power of god, and the acquisition of man; god's way of dealing with his servants being, that when man intendeth obedience, god createth in him an action of obedience, and when he intendeth disobedience, he createth in him an action of disobedience; so that man seemeth to be the effective producer of his action, though he really be not. but this, proceeds the same writer, is again pressed with its difficulties, because the very intention of the mind is the work of god, so that no oman hath any share in the production of his own actions; for which reason the ancients disapproved of too nice an inquiry into this point, the end of the dispute concerning the same being, for the most part, either the taking away of all precepts positive as well as negative, or else the associating of a companion with god, by introducing some other independent agent besides him. those, therefore, who would speak more accurately, use this form: there is neither compulsion nor free liberty, but the way lies between the two; the power and will in man being both created by god, though the merit or guilt be imputed unto man. yet, after all, it is judged the safest way to follow the steps of the primitive moslems, and, avoiding subtle disputations and too curious inquiries, to leave the knowledge of this matter wholly unto god. . as to mortal sin, the ashárians auctor sharh al tawâlea, apud eund. ibid. p. , &c.		 idem, ibid. p. , . idem, ibid. p. , . i trust the reader will not be offended if, as a farther illustration of what has been said on this subject (in producing of which i have purposely kept to the original mohammedan expressions) i transcribe a passage or two from a postscript subjoined to the epistle i have quoted above (§ , p. ), in which the point of free will is treated ex professo. therein the moorish author, having mentioned the two opposite opinions of the kadarians, who allow free will, and the jabarians, who make man a necessary agent (the former of which opinions, he says, seems to approach nearest to that of the greater part of christians and of the jews), declares the true opinion to be that of the sonnites, who assert that man hath power and will to choose good and evil, and can moreover know he shall be rewarded if he do well, and shall be punished if he do ill; but that he depends, notwithstanding, on god's power, and shall be punished if he do ill; but that he depends, notwithstanding, on god's power, and willeth, if god willeth, but not otherwise. then he proceeds briefly to refute the two extreme opinions, and first to prove that of the kadarians, though it be agreeable to god's justice, inconsistent with his attributes of wisdom and power: "sapientia enim dei," says he, "comprehendit quicquid fuit et futurum est ab æternitate in finem usque mundi et postea. et ita novit ab æterno omnia opera creaturarum, sive bona, sive mala, quæ fuerint creata cum potentia dei, et ejus libera et determinate voluntate, sicut ipsi visum fuit. denique novit eum qui futurus taught, that if a believer guilty of such sin die without repentance, his sentence is to be left with god, whether he pardon him out of mercy, or whether the prophet intercede for him (according to that saying recorded of him, "my intercession shall be employed for those among my people who shall have been guilty of grievous crimes"), or whether he punish him in proportion to his demerit, and afterwards, through his mercy, admit him into paradise: but that it is not to be supposed he will remain for ever in hell with the infidels, seeing it is declared that whoever shall have faith in his heart but of the weight of an ant, shall be delivered from hell fire. and this is generally received for the orthodox doctrine in this point, and is diametrically opposite to that of the mótazalites. these were the more rational sefâtians, but the ignorant part of them, not knowing how otherwise to explain the expressions of the korân relating to the declarative attributes, fell into most gross and erat malus, et tamen creavit: neque negari potest quin, si ipsi libuisset, potuisset omnes creare bonos: placuit tamen deo creare bonos et malos, cùm deo soli sit absoluta et libera voluntas, et perfecta electio, et non homini. ita enim salomon in suis proverbiis dixit. vitam et mortem, bonum et malum, divitias et paupertatem, esse et venire à deo. christiani etiam dicunt s. paulum dixisse in suis epistolis; dicet etiam lutum figulo, quare facis unum vas ad honorem, et aliud vas ad contumeliam? cum igitur miser homo fuerit creatus à voluntate dei et potentia, nihil aliud potest tribui ipsi quàm ipse sensus cognoscendi et sentiendi an bene vel male faciat. quæ unica causa (id est, sensus cognoscendi) erit ejus gloriæ vel ponæ causa: per talem enim sensum novit quid boni vel mali adversus dei præcepta fecerit." the opinion of the jabarians, on the other hand, he rejects as contrary to man's consciousness of his own power and choice, and inconsistent with god's justice, and his having given mankind laws, to the observing or transgressing of which he was annexed rewards and punishments. after this he proceeds to explain the third opinion in the following words: "tertia opinio zunis (i.e., sonnitarum) quæ vera est, affirmat homini potesttatem esse, sed limitatem à sua causa, id est, dependentem à dei potentia et voluntate, et proper illam cognitionem qua deliberat benè vel malè facere, esse dignum pona vel præmio. manifestum est in æternitate non fuisse aliam potentiam præter dei nostri omnipotentis, e cujus potentia pendebant omnia possibilia, id est, quæ poterant esse, cum ab ipso fuerint creata. sapientia verò dei novit etiam quæ non sunt futura; et potentia ejus, etsi non creaverit ea, potuit tamen, si ita deo placuisset. ita novit sapientia dei quæ erant impossibilia, id est, quæ non poterant esse; quæ tamen nullo pacto pendent ab ejus potentia: ab ejus enim potentia mulla pendent nisi possibilia.-dicimus enim à dei potentia non pendere creare deum alium ipsi similem, nec creare aliquid quod moveatur et quiescat simul eodem tempore, cùm hæc sint ex impossibilibus: comprehendit tamen suâ sapientiâ tale aliquid non pendere ab ejus potentiâ.-a potentiâ igitur dei pendet solùm quod potest esse, et possibile est esse; quæ semper parata est dare esse possibilibus. et si hoc penitus cognoscamus,cognoscemus pariter omne quod est, seu futurum est, sive sint opera nostra, sive quidvis aliud, pendere à sola potentia dei. et hoc non privatim intelligitur, sed in genere de omni eo quod est et movetur, sive in colis sive in terrâ; et nec aliquâ potentiâ potest impediri dei potentia, cùm nulla alia potentia absoluta sit, præter dei; potentia verò nostra non est à se, nisi à dei potentia: et cum potentia nostra dicitur esse a causa sua, ideo dicimus potentiam nostram esse straminis comparatam cum potentia dei: eo enim modo quo stramen movetur à motu maris, ita nostra potentia et voluntas à dei potentia. itaque dei potentia semper est parata etiam ad occidendum aliquem; ut si quis hominem occidat, non dicimus potentiâ hominis id factum, sed æterna potentia dei: error enim est id tribuere potentiæ hominis. potentia enim dei, cùm semper sit parata, et ante ipsum hominem, ad occidendum; si solâ hominis potentiâ id factum esse diceremus, et moreretur, potentia sanè dei (quæ antè erat) jam ibi esset frustra: quia post mortem non potest potentia dei eum iterum occidere; ex quo sequeretur potentiam dei impediri à potentia hominis, et potentiam hominis anteire et antecellere potentiam dei; quod est absurdum et impossibile. igitur deus est qui operatur æternâ suâ potentiâ: si verò homini injiciatur culpa, sive in tali homicidio, sive in aliis, hoc est quantùm ad præcepta et legem. homini tribuitur solùm opus externè, et ejus electio, quæ est a voluntate ejus et potentia; non verò internè.-hoc est punctum illud indivisibile et secretum, quod à paucissimis capitur, ut sapientissimus sidi abo hamet elgaceli (i.e., dominus abu hâmed al ghazâli) affirmat (cujus spiritui deus concedat gloriam, amen!) sequentibus verbis: ita abditum et profundum et abstrusum est intelligere punctum illud liberi arbitrii, ut neque characteres ad scribendum, neque ullæ rationes ad exprimendum sufficiant, et omnes, quotquot de hac re locuti sunt, hæserunt confusi in ripa tanti et tam spaciosi maris." al shahrest. apud poc. spec. p. . absurd opinions, making god corporeal, and like created beings. such were- . the moshabbehites, or assimilators; who allowed a resemblance between god and his creatures, supposing him to be a figure composed of members or parts, either spiritual or corporeal, and capable of local motion, of ascent and descent, &c. some of this sect inclined to the opinion of the holûlians, who believed that the divine nature might be united with the human in the same person; for they granted it possible that god might appear in a human form, as gabriel did: and to confirm their opinion they allege mohammed's words, that he saw his lord in a most beautiful form, and moses talking with god face to face. and . the kerâmians, or followers of mohammed ebn kerâm, called also mojassemians, or corporalists; who not only admitted a resemblance between god and created beings, but declared god to be corporeal. the more sober among them, indeed, when they applied the word body to god, would be understood to mean, that he is a self-subsisting being, which with them is the definition of body: but yet some of them affirmed him to be finite, and circumscribed, either on all sides, or on some only (as beneath, for example), according to different opinions; and others allowed that he might be felt by the hand, and seen by the eye. nay, one david al jawâri went so far as to say, that his deity was body composed of flesh and blood, and that he had members, as hands, feet, a head, a tongue, eyes, and ears; but that he was a body, however, not like other bodies, neither was he like to any created being: he is also said farther to have affirmed that from the crown of the head to the breast he was hollow, and from the breast downward solid, and that he had black curled hair. these most blasphemous and monstrous notions were the consequence of the literal acceptation of those passages in the korân which figuratively attribute corporeal actions to god, and of the words of mohammed, when he said, that god created man in his own image, and that himself had felt the fingers of god, which he laid on his back, to be cold: besides which, this sect are charged with fathering on their prophet a great number of spurious and forged traditions to support their opinion, the greater part whereof they borrowed from the jews, who are accused as naturally prone to assimilate god to men, so that they describe him as weeping for noah's flood till his eyes were sore. and, indeed, though we grant the jews may have imposed on mohammed and his followers in many instances, and told them as solemn truths things which themselves believed not or had invented, yet many expressions of this kind are to be found in their writings; as when they introduce god roaring like a lion at every watch of the night, and crying, "alas! that i have laid waste my house, and suffered my temple to be burnt, and sent my children into banishment among the heathen," &c. . the jabarians-who are the direct opponents of the kadarians-denying free agency in man, and ascribing his actions wholly unto vide poc. ibid. p. , &c. abulfar. p. , &c.		 al mawâkef, apud poc. ibid.		 al shahrest. apud eund. ibid. p. . 	 vide marracc. prodr. part iii. p. .		 al shahrest. ubi sup. 		 idem, ibid. p. . idem, ibid. p. , .		 idem, ibid. p. , .	 talm. berachoth, c. i. vide poc. ubi supra, p . god. they take their denomination from al jabr, which signifies necessity, or compulsion; because they hold man to be necessarily and inevitably constrained to act as he does, by force of god's eternal and immutable decree. this sect is distinguished into several species; some being more rigid and extreme in their opinion, who are thence called pure jabarians, and others more moderate, who are therefore called middle jabarians. the former will not allow men to be said either to act, or to have any power at all, either operative or acquiring; asserting that man can do nothing, but produces all his actions by necessity, having neither power, nor will, nor choice, any more than an inanimate agent: they also declare that rewarding and punishing are also the effects of necessity; and the same they say of the imposing of commands. this was the doctrine of the jahmians, the followers of jahm ebn safwân, who likewise held that paradise and hell will vanish, or be annihilated, after those who are destined thereto respectively shall have entered them, so that at last there will remain no existing being besides god; supposing those words of the korân which declare that the inhabitants of paradise and of hell shall remain therein for ever, to be hyperbolical only, and intended for corroboration, and not to denote an eternal duration in reality. the moderate jabarians are those who ascribe some power to man, but such a power as hath no influence on the action: for as to those who grant the power of man to have a certain influence on the action, which influence is called acquisition, some will not admit them to be called jabarians; though others reckon those also to be called middle jabarians, and to contend for the middle opinion between absolute necessity and absolute liberty, who attribute to man acquisition, or concurrence in producing the action, whereby he gaineth commendation or blame (yet without admitting it to have any influence on the action), and, therefore, make the ashárians a branch of this sect. having again mentioned the term acquisition, we may, perhaps, have a clearer idea of what the mohammedans mean thereby, when told, that it is defined to be an action directed to the obtaining of profit, or the removing of hurt, and for that reason never applied to any action of god, who acquireth to himself neither profit nor hurt. of the middle or moderate jabarians were the najârians and the derârians. the najârians were the adherents of al hasan ebn mohammed al najâr, who taught that god was he who created the actions of men, both good and bad, and that man acquired them, and also that man's power had an influence on the action, or a certain co-operation, which he called acquisition; and herein he agreed with al ashári. the derârians were the disciples of derâr ebn amru, who held also that men's actions are really created by god, and that man really acquired them. the jabarians also say, that god is absolute lord of his creatures, and may deal with them according to his own pleasure, without rendering account to any, and that if he should admit all men, without distinction, into paradise, it would be no impartiality, or if he should cast them all into hell it would vide abulfarag, p. .		 al shahrest. al mawâkef, et ebn al kossá, apud poc. ibid. p. , &c.		 al shahrest. al motarezzi, et ebn al kossá, apud eund. p. , , &c.		 idem, ibid. p. .	 al shahrest. ebn al kossá, et al mawâkef.		 ebn al kossá apud poc. ubi sup. p. .	 al shahrest. apud eund. p. . idem, ibid. be no injustice. and in this particular, likewise, they agree with the ashárians, who assert the same, and say that reward is a favour from god, and punishment a piece of justice; obedience being by them considered as a sign only of future reward, and transgression as a sign of future punishment. . the morgians; who are said to be derived from the jabarians. these teach that the judgment of every true believer, who hath been guilty of a grievous sin, will be deferred till the resurrection; for which reason they pass no sentence on him in this world, either of absolution or condemnation. they also hold that disobedience with faith hurteth not; and that, on the other hand, obedience with infidelity profiteth not. as to the reason of their name the learned differ, because of the different significations of its root, each of which they accommodate to some opinion of the sect. some think them so called because they postpone works to intention, that is, esteem works to be inferior in degree to intention and profession of the faith; others, because they allow hope, by asserting that disobedience with faith hurteth not, &c.; others take the reason of the name to be, their deferring the sentence of the heinous sinner till the resurrection; and others, their degrading of ali, or removing him from the first degree to the fourth: for the morgians, in some points relating to the office of imâm, agree with the khârejites, the kadarians, or the jabarians, are distinguished as morgians of those sects, and the fourth is that of the pure morgians; which last species is again subdivided into five others. the opinions of mokâtel and bashar, both of a sect of the morgians called thaubanians, should not be omitted. the former asserted that disobedience hurts not him who professes the unity of god, and is endued with faith; and that no true believer shall be cast into hell: he also taught that god will surely forgive all crimes besides infidelity; and that a disobedient believer will be punished, at the day of resurrection, on the bridge laid over the midst of hell, where the flames of hell fire shall catch hold on him, and torment him in proportion to his disobedience, and that he shall then be admitted into paradise. the latter held that if god do cast the believers guilty of grievous sins into hell, yet they will be delivered thence after they shall have been sufficiently punished; but that it is neither possible nor consistent with justice that abulfarag, p. , &c.		 al shahrestani, ubi sup. p. , &c. sharh al tawâlea, ibid. to the same effect writes the moorish author quotes above, from whom i will venture to transcribe the following passage, with which he concludes his discourse on freewill. "intellectus ferè lumine naturali novit deum esse rectum judicem et justum, qui non aliter afficit creaturam quàm juste: etiam deum esse absolutum dominum, et hanc orbis machinam esse ejus, et ab eo creatam; deum mullis debere rationem reddere, cùm quicquid agat, agat jure proprio sibi: et ita absolute poterit afficere præmio vel pona quem vult, cùm omnis creatura sit ejus, nec facit cuiquam injuriam, etsi eam tormentis et ponis æternis afficiat: plus enim boni et commodi accepit creatura quando accepit esse a suo creatore, quàm incommodi et damni quando ab eo damnata est et affecta tormentis et ponis. hoc autem intelligitur si deus absolute id faceret. quando enim deus, pietate et misericordia motus, eligit aliquos ut ipsi serviant, dominus deus gratiâ suâ id facit ex infinitâ bonitate; et quando aliquos derelingquit, et ponis et tormentis afficit, ex justitia et rectitudine. et tandem dicimù omnes ponas esse justas quæ a deo veniunt, et nostrâ tantùm culpâ, et omnia bona esse à pietate et misericordia ejus infinita."		 al shahrest. ubi sup. p. .		 abulfar. p. . al firauz.		 ebn al athîr, al motarrezi.		 al shahrest. ubi sup. p. , &c.		 idem, ibid.		 see before, sect. iv. p. .		 al shahrest. ubi sup. p. . they should remain therein for ever; which, as has been observed, was the opinion of al ashári. iii. the khârejites are they who depart or revolt from the lawful prince established by public consent; and thence comes their name, which signifies revolters or rebels. the first who were so called were twelve thousand men who revolted from ali, after they had fought under him at the battle of seffein, taking offence at his submitting the decision of his right to the khalîfat, which moâwiyah disputed with him, to arbitration, though they themselves had first obliged him to it. these were also called mohakkemites, or judiciarians; because the reason which they gave for their revolt was, that ali had referred a matter concerning the religion of god to the judgment of men, whereas the judgment, in such case, belonged only unto god. the heresy of the khârejites consisted chiefly in two things. i. in that they affirmed a man might be promoted to the dignity of the imâm, or prince, though he was not of the tribe of koreish, nor even a freeman, provided he was a just and pious person, and endued with the other requisite qualifications; and also held that if the imâm turned aside from the truth, he might be put to death or deposed; and that there was no absolute necessity for any imâm at all in the world. . in that they charged ali with sin, for having left an affair to the judgment of men, which ought to have been determined by god alone; and went so far as to declare him guilty of infidelity, and to curse him on that account. in the th year of the hejra, which was the year following the revolt, all these khârejites who persisted in their rebellion, to the number of four thousand, were cut to pieces by ali, and, as several historians write, even to a man: but others say nine of them escaped, and that two fled into omân, two into kermân, two into sejestân, two into mesopotamia, and one to tel mawrûn; and that these propagated their heresy in those places, the same remaining there to this day. the principal sects of the khârejites, besides the mohakkemites above mentioned, are six; which, though they greatly differ among themselves in other matters, yet agree in these, viz., that they absolutely reject othmân and ali, preferring the doing of this to the greatest obedience, and allowing marriages to be contracted on no other terms; that they account those who are guilty of grievous sins to be infidels; and that they hold it necessary to resist the imâm when he transgresses the law. one sect of them deserves more particular notice, viz.- the waïdians, so called from al waïd, which signifies the threats denounced by god against the wicked. these are the antagonists of the morgians, and assert that he who is guilty of a grievous sin ought to be declared an infidel or apostate, and will be eternally punished in hell, though he were a true believer: which opinion of theirs, as has been observed, occasioned the first rise of the mótazalites. one jaafar ebn mobashshar, of the sect of the nodhâmians, was yet more severe than the waïdians, pronouncing him to be a reprobate and an apostate who steals but a grain of corn. idem, ibid. p. .		 see ockley's hist. of the sarac. vol. i. p. , &c.		 al shahrest. ubi sup. p. . idem, ibid.		 abulfeda, al jannâbi, elmacinus, p. . 	 al shahrestani. see ockley's hist. of the saracens, ubi sup. p. . 	 abulfar. p. . al shahrest. apud poc. spec. p. .		 vide poc. ibid. p. iv. the shiites are the opponents of the khârejites: their name properly signifies sectaries or adherents in general, but is peculiarly used to denote those of ali ebn tâleb; who maintain him to be lawful khalîf and imâm, and that the supreme authority, both in spirituals and temporals, of right belongs to his descendants, notwithstanding they may be deprived of it by the injustice of others, or their own fear. they also teach that the office of imâm is not a common thing, depending on the will of the vulgar, so that they may set up whom they please; but a fundamental affair of religion, and an article which the prophet could not have neglected, or left to the fancy of the common people: nay, some, thence called imâmians, go so far as to assert, that religion consists solely in the knowledge of the true imâm. the principal sects of the shiites are five, which are subdivided into an almost innumerable number; so that some understand mohammed's prophecy of the seventy odd sects, of the shiites only. their general opinions are-i. that the peculiar designation of the imâm, and the testimonies of the korân and mohammed concerning him, are necessary points. . that the imâms ought necessarily to keep themselves free from light sins as well as more grievous. . that every one ought publicly to declare who it is that he adheres to, and from whom he separates himself, by word, deed, and engagement; and that herein there should be no dissimulation. but in this last point some of the zeidians, a sect so named from zeid, the son of ali surnamed zein al âbedîn, and great-grandson of ali, dissented from the rest of the shiites. as to other articles, wherein they agreed not, some of them came pretty near to the notions of the mótazalites, others to those of the moshabbehites, and others to those of the sonnites. among the latter of these mohammed al bâker, another son of zein al âbedîn's, seems to claim a place: for his opinion as to the will of god was, that god willeth something in us, and something from us, and that what he willeth from us he hath revealed to us; for which reason he thought it preposterous that we should employ our thoughts about those things which god willeth in us, and neglect those which he willeth from us: and as to god's decree, he held that the way lay in the middle, and that there was neither compulsion nor free liberty. a tenet of the khattâbians, or disciples of one abu'l khattab, is too peculiar to be omitted. these maintained paradise to be no other than the pleasures of this world, and hell fire to be the pains thereof, and that the world will never decay: which proposition being first laid down, it is no wonder they went farther, and declared it lawful to indulge themselves in drinking wine and whoring, and to do other things forbidden by the law, and also to omit doing the things commanded by the law. many of the shiites carried their veneration for ali and his descendants so far, that they transgressed all bounds of reason and decency; though some of them were less extravagant than others. the gholâïtes, who had their name from their excessive zeal for their imâms, were so highly transported therewith, that they raised them above the degree of created beings, and attributed divine properties to them; trans- al shahrest. ibid. p. . abulfar. p. .		 al shahrest. ibid. p. .		 idem, ibid. vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. art. schiah.		 vide poc. ibid.			 al shahrest. ibid. p. .		 idem. et ebn al kossá, ibid. p. , &c. gressing on either hand, by deifying of mortal men, and by making god corporeal: for one while they liken one of their imâms to god, and another while they liken god to a creature. the sects of these are various, and have various appellations in different countries. abd'allah ebn saba (who had been a jew, and had asserted the same thing of joshua the son of nun) was the ringleader of one of them. this man gave the following salutation to ali, viz., "thou art thou," i.e., thou art god: and hereupon the gholâïtes became divided into several species; some maintaining the same thing, or something like it, of ali, and others of some of one of his descendants; affirming that he was not dead, but would return again in the clouds, and fill the earth with justice. but howmuchsoever they disagreed in other things, they unanimously held a metempsychosis, and what they call al holûl, or the descent of god on his creatures; meaning thereby that god is present in every place, and speaks with every tongue, and appears in some individual person: and hence some of them asserted their imâms to be prophets, and at length gods. the nosairians and the ishâkians taught that spiritual substances appear in grosser bodies; and that the angels and the devil have appeared in this manner. they also assert that god hath appeared in this manner. they also assert that god hath appeared in the form of certain men; and since, after mohammed, there hath been no man more excellent than ali, and, after him, his sons have excelled all other men, that god hath appeared in their form, spoken with their tongue, and made use of their hands; for which reason, say they, we attribute divinity to them. and to support these blasphemies, they tell several miraculous things of ali, as his moving the gates of khaibar, which they urge as a plain proof that he was endued with a particle of divinity and with sovereign power, and that he was the person in whose form god appeared, with whose hands he created all things, and with whose tongue he published his commands; and therefore they say he was in being before the creation of heaven and earth. in so impious a manner do they seem to wrest those things which are said in scripture of christ by applying them to ali. these extravagant fancies of the shiites, however, in making their imâms in laying claim thereto, are so far from being peculiar to this sect, that most of the other mohammedan sects are tainted with the same madness; there being many found among them, and among the sûfis especially, who pretend to be nearly related to heaven, and who boast of strange revelations before the credulous people. it may not be amiss to hear what al ghazâli has written on this occasion. "matters are come to that pass," says he, "that some boast of an union with god, and of discoursing familiarly with him, without the interposition of a veil, saying, 'it hath been thus said to us,' and 'we have thus spoken;' affecting to imitate hosein al hallâj, who was put to death for some words of this kind uttered by him, he having said (as was proved by credible witnesses), 'i am the truth,' or abu yazîd al bastâmi, of whom it is related that he often used the expression, idem, ibid.		 idem, ibid. p. . vide marracc. prodr. part iii. p. , &c.		 idem, ibid. p. . vide d'herbel. bibl. or. art. hakem beamrillah.		 idem, ibid. abulfar. p. .	 see prid. life of mah. p. . al shah. ubi sup. p. .			 poc. spec. p. .	 vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. art. hallage. 'sobhâni,' i.e., 'praise be unto me!' but this way of talking is the cause of great mischief among the common people; insomuch that husbandmen, neglecting the tillage of their land, have pretended to the like privileges; nature being tickled with discourses of this kind, which furnish men with an excuse for leaving their occupations, under pretence of purifying their souls, and attaining i know not what degrees and conditions. nor is there anything to hinder the most stupid fellows from forming the like pretensions and catching at such vain expressions: for whenever what they say is denied to be true, they fail not to reply that our unbelief proceeds from learning and logic; affirming learning to be a veil, and logic the work of the mind; wherein what they tell us appears only within, being discovered by the light of truth. but this is that truth the sparks whereof have flown into several countries and occasioned great mischiefs; so that it is more for the advantage of god's true religion to put to death one of those who utter such things than to bestow life on ten others." thus far have we treated of the chief sects among the mohammedans of the first ages, omitting to say anything of the more modern sects, because the same are taken little or no notice of by their own writers, and would be of no use to our present design. it may be proper, however, to mention a word or two of the great schism at this day subsisting between the sonnites and the shiites, or partisans of ali, and maintained on either side with implacable hatred and furious zeal. though the difference arose at first on a political occasion, it has, notwithstanding, been so well improved by additional circumstances and the spirit of contradiction, that each party detest and anathematize the other as abominable heretics, and farther from the truth than either the christians or the jews. the chief points wherein they differ are- i. that the shiites reject abu becr, omar, and othmân, the three first khalîfs, as usurpers and intruders; whereas the sonnites acknowledge and respect them as rightful imâms. . the shiites prefer ali to mohammed, or, at least, esteem them both equal; but the sonnites admit neither ali nor any of the prophets to be equal to mohammed. . the sonnites charge the shiites with corrupting the korân and neglecting its precepts, and the shiites retort the same charge on the sonnites. . the sonnites receive the sonna, or book of traditions of their prophet, as of canonical authority; whereas the shiites reject it as apocryphal and unworthy of credit. and to these disputes, and some others of less moment, is principally owing to the antipathy which has long reigned between the turks, who are sunnites, and the persians, who are of the sect of ali. it seems strange that spinosa, had he known of no other schism among the mohammedans, should yet never have heard of one so publicly notorious as this between the turks and persians; but it is plain he did not, or he would never have assigned it as the reason of his preferring the order of the mohammedan church to that of the roman, that there have arisen no schisms in the former since its birth. vide ibid. art. bastham.		 al ghazâli, apud poc. ubi sup. 	 the reader may meet with some account of them in ricaut's state of the ottom. empire, l. , c. .		 vide ibid. c. , and chardin, voy. de perse, t. ii. p. , , &c. the words of the spinosa are: "ordinem romanæ ecclesiæ-politicum et plurimis lucrosum esse fateor; nec ad decipiendam plebem, et hominum animos coercendrum commo- as success in any project seldom fails to draw in imitators, mohammed's having raised himself to such a degree of power and reputation by acting the prophet, induced others to imagine they might arrive at the same height by the same means. his most considerable competitors in the prophetic office were moseilama and al aswad, whom the mohammedans usually call the two liars. the former was of the tribe of honeifa, who inhabited the province of yamâma, and a principal man among them. he headed an embassy sent by his tribe to mohammed in the ninth year of the hejra, and professed himself a moslem: but on his return home, considering that he might possibly share with mohammed in his power, the next year he set up for a prophet also, pretending to be joined with him the commission to recall mankind from idolatry to the worship of the true god; and he published written revelations, in imitation of the korân, of which abulfargius has preserved the following passage, viz.: "now hath god been gracious unto her that was with child, and hath brought forth from her the soul, which runneth between the peritonæum and the bowels." moseilama, having formed a considerable party among those of honeifa, began to think himself upon equal terms with mohammed, and sent him a letter, offering to go halves with him, in these words: "from moseilama the apostle of god, to mohammed the apostle of god. now let the earth be half mine, and half thine." but mohammed, thinking himself too well established to need a partner, wrote him this answer: "from mohammed the apostle of god, to moseilama the liar. the earth is god's: he giveth the same for inheritance unto such of his servants as he pleaseth; and the happy issue shall attend those who fear him." during the few months which mohammed lived after this revolt, moseilama rather gained than lost ground, and grew very formidable; but abu becr, his successor, in the eleventh year of the hejra, sent a great army against him, under the command of that consummate general, khâled ebn al walîd, who engaged moseilama in a bloody battle, wherein the false prophet, happening to be slain by wahsha, the negro slave who had killed hamza at ohod, and by the same lance, the moslems gained an entire victory, ten thousand of the apostates being left dead on the spot, and the rest returning to mohammedism. al aswad, whose name was aihala, was of the tribe of ans, and governed that and the other tribes of arabs descended from madhhaj. this man was likewise an apostate from mohammedism, and set up for himself the very year that mohammed died. he was surnamed dhu'lhemâr, or the master of the ass, because he used frequently to say, "the master of the ass is coming unto me;" and pretended to receive his revelations from two angels, named sohaik and shoraik. having a good hand at legerdemain, and a smooth tongue, he gained mightily on the multitude by the strange feats which he showed them, diorem isto crederem, ni ordo mahumedanæ ecclesiæ esset, qui longè eundem antecellit. nam à quo tempore hæc superstitio incepit, nulla in eorum ecclesia schismata orta sunt." opera posth. p. .		 abulfed. p. .		 idem, elmac. p. . hist. dynast. p. .		 abulfed. ubi sup.		 al beidâwi, in kor. c. .		 abulfed. ubi sup. idem, ibid. abulfarag, p. . elmac. p. , &c. see ockley's hist. of the saracens, vol. i. p. , &c.		 al soheili, apud gagnier. in not. ad abulf. vit. moh. p. .		 elmac. p. .		 abulfed ubi sup.		 al soheili, ubi sup. and the eloquence of his discourse: by these means he greatly increased his power, and having made himself master of najrân, and the territory of al tâyef, on the death of badhân, the governor of yaman for mohammed, he seized that province also, killing shahr, the son of badhân, and taking to wife his widow, whose father, the uncle of firûz the deilamite, he had also slain. these news being brought to mohammed, he sent to his friends, and to those of hamdân, a party of whom, conspiring with kais ebn abd'al yaghûth, who bore al aswad a grudge, and with firûz, and al aswad's wife, broke by night into his house, where firûz surprised him and cut off his head. while he was dispatching he roared like a bull; at which his guards came to the chamber door, but were sent away by his wife, who told them the prophet was only agitated by the divine inspiration. this was done the very night before mohammed died. the next morning the conspirators caused the following proclamation to be made, viz.: "i bear witness that mohammed is the apostle of god, and that aihala is a liar;" and letters were immediately sent away to mohammed, with an account of what had been done: but a messenger from heaven outstripped them, and acquainted the prophet with the news, which he imparted to his companions but a little before his death; the letters themselves not arriving till abu becr was chosen khalîf. it is said that mohammed, on this occasion, told those who attended him that before the day of judgment thirty more impostors, besides moseilama and al aswad, should appear, and every one of them set up for a prophet. the whole time, from the beginning of al aswad's rebellion to his death, was about four months. in the same eleventh year of the hejra, but after the death of mohammed, as seems most probable, toleiha ebn khowailed set up for a prophet, and sejâj bint al mondar for a prophetess. toleiha was of the tribe of asad, which adhered to him, together with great numbers of the tribes of ghatfân and tay. against them likewise was khâled sent, who engaged and put them to flight, obliging toleiha, with his shattered troops, to retire into syria, where he stayed till the death of abu becr: then he went to omar and embraced mohammedism in his presence, and, having taken the oath of fidelity to him, returned to his own country and people. sejâj, surnamed omm sâder, was of the tribe of tamîm, and the wife of abu cahdala, a soothsayer of yamâma. she was followed not only by those of her own tribe, but by several others. thinking a prophet the most proper husband for her, she went to moseilama, and married him; but after she had stayed with him three days, she left him and returned home. what became of her afterwards i do not find. ebn shohnah has given us part of the conversation which passed at the interview between those two pretenders to inspiration; but the same is a little too immodest to be translated. in succeeding ages several impostors from time to time started up most of whom quickly came to nothing: but some made a considerable figure, and propagated sects which continued long after their decease. abulfed. ubi sup.			 idem, et elmac. ubi sup.		 idem, al jannâbi, ubi sup.		 idem, ibid.		 ebn shohnah and elmacinus call her the daughter of al hareth.		 elmac, p. , al beidâwi, in kor. c. .		 ebn shohnah. vide elmac. p. . i shall give a brief account of the most remarkable of them, in order of time. in the reign of al mohdi, the third khalîf of the race of al abbâs, one hakem ebn hâshem , originally of merû, in khorasân, who had been an under- secretary to abu moslem, the governor of that province, and afterwards turned soldier, passed thence into mawarâlnahr, where he gave himself out for a prophet. he is generally named by the arab writers al mokanna, and sometimes al borkaí, that is, "the veiled," because he used to cover his face with a veil, or a gilded mask, to conceal his deformity, having lost an eye in the ward, and being otherwise of a despicable appearance; though his followers pretended he did it for the same reasons as moses did, viz., lest the splendour of his countenance should dazzle the eyes of the beholders. he made a great many proselytes at nakhshab and kash, deluding the people with several juggling performances, which they swallowed for miracles, and particularly by causing the appearance of a moon to rise out of a well, for many nights together; whence he was also called, in the persian tongue, sâzendeh mah, or the moonmaker. this impious impostor, not content with being reputed a prophet, arrogated divine honours to himself, pretending that the deity resided in his person: and the doctrine whereon he built this was the same with that of the gholâïtes above mentioned, who affirmed a transmigration or successive manifestation of the divinity through and in certain prophets and holy men, from adam to these latter days (of which opinion was also abu moslem himself); but the particular doctrine of al mokanna was, that the person in whom the deity had last resided was the aforesaid abu moslem, and that the same had, since his death, passed into himself. the faction of al mokanna, who had made himself master of several fortified places in the neighbourhood of the cities above mentioned, growing daily more and more powerful, the khalîf was at length obliged to send an army to reduce him; at the approach whereof al mokanna retired into one of his strongest fortresses, which he had well provided for a siege, and sent his emissaries abroad to pursuade people that he raised the dead to life, and knew future events. but, being straitly besieged by the khalîf's forces, when he found there was no possibility for him to escape, he gave poison, in wine, to his whole family, and all that were with him in the castle; and when they were dead he burnt their bodies, together with their clothes, and all the provisions and cattle; and then, to prevent his own body's being found, he threw himself into the flames, or, as others say, into a tub of aqua fortis, or some other preparation, which consumed every part of him, except only his hair: so that when the besiegers entered the place, they found no creature in it, save one of al mokanna's concubines, who, suspecting his design, had hid herself, and discovered the whole matter. this contrivance, however, failed not to produce the effect which the impostor designed among the remaining part of his followers; for he had promised them that his soul should transmigrate into the form of a grey- headed man riding on a greyish beast, and that after so many years he would return or ebn atâ, according to ebn shohnan.		 this explain a doubt of mr. bayle concerning a passage of elmacinus, as translated by erpenius, and corrected by bespier. vide bayle, dic. hist. art. abumuslimus, vers la fin, et rem. b. to them, and give them the earth for their possession: the expectation of which promise kept the sect in being for several ages after under the name of mobeyyidites, or, as the persians call them, sefid jâmehghiân, i.e., the clothed in white, because they wore their garments of that colour, in opposition, as is supposed, to the khalîfs of the family of abbâs, whose banners and habits were black. the historians place the death of al mokanna in the nd or rd year of the hejra. in the year of the hejra , bâbec, surnamed al khorremi, and khorremdîn, either because he was of a certain district near ardebîl in adherbijân, called khorrem, or because he instituted a merry religion, which is the signification of the word in persian, began to take on him the title of a prophet. i do not find what doctrine he taught; but it is said he professed none of the religions then known in asia. he gained a great number of devotees in adherbijân and the persian irâk, and grew powerful enough to wage war with the khalîf al mámún, whose troops he often beat, killing several of his generals, and one of them with his own hand; and by these victories he became so formidable that al mótasem, the successor of al mámûn, was obliged to employ the forces of the whole empire against him. the general sent to reduce bâbec was afshîd, who having overthrown him in battle, took his castles one after another with invincible patience, notwithstanding the rebels gave him great annoyance, and at last shut up the impostor in his principal fortress; which being taken, bâbec found means to escape thence in disguise, with some of his family and principal followers; but taking refuge in the territories of the greeks, was betrayed in the following manner. sahel, an armenian officer, happening to know bâbec, enticed him, by offers of service and respect, into his power, and treated him as a mighty prince, till, when he sat down to eat, sahel clapped himself down by him; at which bâbec being surprised, asked him how he dared to take that liberty unasked? "it is true, great king," replied sahel, "i have committed a fault; for who am i, that i should sit at your majesty's table?" and immediately sending for a smith, he made use of this bitter sarcasm, "stretch forth your legs, great king, that this man may put fetters on them." after this sahel sent him to afshîd, though he had offered a large sum for his liberty, having first served him in his own kind, by causing his mother, sister, and wife to be ravished before his face; for so bâbec used to treat his prisoners. afshîd, having the arch-rebel in his power, conducted him to al mótasem, by whose order he was put to an ignominious and cruel death. this man had maintained his ground against the power of the khalîfs for twenty years, and had cruelly put to death above two hundred and fifty thousand people; it being his custom never to spare man, woman, or child, either of the mohammedans or their allies. the sectaries of bâbec which remained after his death seem to have been entirely dispersed, there being little or no mention made of them by historians. they were a sect in the days of abulfaragius, who lived about five hundred years after this extraordinary event; and may, for aught i know, be so still.		 ex abulfarag, hist. dyn. p. . lobb al tawârikh, ebn shohnah, al tabari, and khondamir. vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. art. hakem ben haschem.			 ex abulfarag, p. , &c. elmacin. p. , &c., and khondamir. vide d'herbel. art bâbec. about the year , one mahmûd ebn faraj pretended to be moses resuscitated, and played his part so well that several people believed on him, and attended him when he was brought before the khalîf al motawakkel. that prince, having been an ear-witness of his extravagant discourses, condemned him to receive ten buffets from every one of his followers, and then to be drubbed to death; which was accordingly executed; and his disciples were imprisoned till they came to their right minds. the karmatians, a sect which bore an inveterate malice against the mohammedans, began first to raise disturbances in the year of the hejra , and the latter end of the reign of al mótamed. their origin is not well known; but the common tradition is, that poor fellow, whom some call karmata, came from khûzistân to the villages near cûfa, and there feigned great sanctity and strictness of life, and that god had enjoined him to pray fifty times a day, pretending also to invite people to the obedience of a certain imâm of the family of mohammed: and this way of life he continued till he had made a very great party, out of whom he chose twelve, as his apostles, to govern the rest, and to propagate his doctrines. but the governor of the province, finding men neglected their work, and their husbandry in particular, to say those fifty prayers a day, seized the fellow, and having put him into prison, swore that he should die; which being overheard by a girl belonging to the governor, she, pitying the man, at night took the key of the dungeon from under her master's head as he slept, and having let the prisoner out, returned the key to the place whence she had it. the next morning the governor found the bird flown; and the accident being publicly known, raised great admiration, his adherents giving it out that god had taken him into heaven. afterwards he appeared in another province, and declared to a great number of people he had got about him that it was not in the power of any to do him hurt; notwithstanding which, his courage failing him, he retired into syria, and was not heard of any more. his sect, however, continued and increased, pretending that their master had manifested himself to be a true prophet, and had left them a new law, wherein he had change the ceremonies and form of prayer used by the moslems, and introduced a new kind of fast; and that he had also allowed them to drink wine, and dispensed with several things commanded in the korân. they also turned the precepts of that book into allegory; teaching that prayer was the symbol of obedience to their imâm, and fasting that of silence, or concealing their dogmas from strangers: they also believed fornication to be the sin of infidelity; and the guilt thereof to be incurred by those who revealed the mysteries of their religion, or paid not a blind obedience to their chief. they are said to have produced a book, wherein was written (among other things), "in the name of the most merciful god. al faraj ebn othmân of the town of nasrâna, saith that christ appeared unto him in a human form, and said, 'thou art the invitation: thou art the demonstration: thou art the camel: thou art the beast: thou art john the son of zacharias: thou art the holy ghost.'" from the year above mentioned the 		 ebn shohnah. vide d'herbel. p. .		 apud abulfar. p. . karmatians, under several leaders, gave almost continual disturbance to the khalîfs and their mohammedan subjects for several years; committing great disorders and outrages in chaldea, arabia, syria, and mesopotamia, and at length establishing a considerable principality, the power whereof was in its meridian in the reign of abu dhâher, famous for his taking of mecca, and the indignities by him offered to the temple there, but which declined soon after his time and came to nothing. to the karmatians the ismaelians of asia were very near of kin, if they were not a branch of them. for these, who were also called al molâhedah, or the impious, and by the writers of the history of the holy wars, assassins, agreed with the former in many respects; such as their inveterate malice against those of other religions, and especially the mohammedan, their unlimited obedience to their prince, at whose command they were ready for assassinations, or any other bloody and dangerous enterprise, their pretended attachment to a certain imâm of the house of ali, &c. these ismaelians in the year possessed themselves of al jebâl, in the persian irâk, under the conduct of hasan sabah; and that prince and his descendants enjoyed the same for a hundred and seventy-one years, till the whole race of them was destroyed by holagu the tartar. the bâtenites, which name is also given to the ismaelians by some authors, and likewise to the karmatians, were a sect which professed the same abominable principles, and were dispersed over several parts of the east. the word signifies esoterics, or people of inward or hidden light or knowledge. abu'l teyyeb ahmed, surnamed al motanabbi, of the tribe of jófa, is too famous on another account not to claim a place here. he was one of the most excellent poets among the arabians, there being none besides abu temâm who can dispute the prize with him. his poetical inspiration was so warm and exalted that he either mistook it or thought he could persuade others to believe it to be prophetical, and therefore gave himself out to be a prophet indeed; and thence acquired his surname, by which he is generally known. his accomplishments were too great not to have some success; for several tribes of the arabs of the deserts, particularly that of kelâb, acknowledged him to be what he pretended. but lûlû, governor in those parts for akhshîd king of egypt and syria, soon put a stop to the further progress of this new sect by imprisoning their prophet and obliging him to renounce his chimerical dignity; which having done, he regained his liberty, and applied himself solely to his poetry, by means whereof he got very considerable riches, being in high esteem at the courts of several princes. al motanabbi lost his life, together with his son, on the bank of the tigris, in defending the money which had been given him by adado'ddawla, soltân of persia, against some arabian robbers who demanded it of him, with which money he was returning to cûfa, his native city. this accident happened in the year . ex abulfar. ibid. elmacino, p. , &c. ebn shohnah, khondamir. vide d'herbel. art. carmath.		 vide abulfar. p. , &c. d'herbel. p. , , , , and .		 vide elmacin. p. and . d'herb. p. . vide abulfar. p. , , , .		 præf. in opera motannabbis ms. vide d'herbel. p. , &c. the last pretender to prophecy i shall now take notice of is one who appeared in the city of amasia, in natolia, in the year , and by his wonderful feats seduced a great multitude of people there. he was by nation a turkmân, and called himself bâba, and had a disciple named isaac, whom he sent about to invite those of his own nation to join him. isaac accordingly, coming to the territory of someisat, published his commission, and prevailed on many to embrace his master's sect, especially among the turkmâns; so that at last he had six thousand horse at his heels, besides foot. with these baba and his disciple made open war on all who would not cry out with them, "there is no god but god; bâba is the apostle of god:" and they put great numbers of mohammedans, as well as christians, to the sword in those parts; till at length both mohammedans and christians, joining together, gave them battle, and having entirely routed them, put them all to the sword, except their two chiefs, who being taken alive, had their heads struck off by the executioner. i could mention several other impostors of the same kind, which have arisen among the mohammedans since their prophet's time, and very near enough to complete the number foretold by him: but i apprehend the reader is by this time tired as well as myself, and shall therefore here conclude this discourse, which may be thought already too long for an introduction. 	 abulfar. p. . ebn shohnah, d'herb. art. bâba al koran. ________ chapter i. entitled, the preface, or introduction;a revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god praise be to god, the lord of all creatures;b the most merciful, the king of the day of judgment. thee do we worship, and of thee do we beg assistance. direct us in the right way, in the way of those to whom thou hast been gracious; not of those against whom thou art incensed, nor of those who go astray.c 	a in arabic al fâtihat. this chapter is a prayer, and held in great veneration by the mohammedans, who give it several other honourable titles; as the chapter of prayer, of praise, of thanksgiving, of treasure, &c. they esteem it as the quintessence of the whole korân, and often repeat it in their devotions both public and private, as the christians do the lord's prayer. 	b the original words are, rabbi 'lâlamîna, which literally signify lord of the worlds; but âlamîna in this and other places of the korân properly mean the three species of rational creatures, men, genii, and angels. father marracci has endeavoured to prove from this passage that mohammed believed a plurality of worlds, which he calls the error of the manichees, &c.: but this imputation the learned reland has shown to be entirely groundless. 	c this last sentence contains a petition, that god would lead the supplicants into the true religion, by which is meant the mohammedan, in the korân often called the right way; in this place more particularly defined to be, the way of those to whom god hath been gracious, that is, of the prophets and faithful who preceded mohammed; under which appellations are also comprehended the jews and christians, such as they were in the times of their primitive purity, before they had deviated from their respective institutions; not the way of the modern jews, whose signal calamities are marks of the just anger of god against them for their obstinacy and disobedience: nor of the christians of this age, who have departed from the true doctrine of jesus, and are bewildered in a labyrinth of error. 	this is the common exposition of the passage; though al zamakhshari, and some others, by a different application of the negatives, refer the whole to the true believers; and then the sense will run thus: the way of those to whom thou hast been gracious, against whom thou art not incensed, and who have not erred. which translation the original will very well bear. 	 vide bobovium de precib. mohammed. p. , et seq.		 in prodromo ad refut. alcorani part iv. p. , et in notis ad alc. c. i. de religion. mohammed. p. 		 jallalo'ddin. al beidawi, &c. chapter ii. entitled, the cow;d revealed partly at mecca, and partly at medina. in the name of the most merciful god. a. l. m.e there is no doubt in this book; it is a direction to the pious, who believe in the mysteriesf of faith, who observe the appointed times of prayer, and distribute alms out of what we have bestowed on them, and who believe in that revelation, which hath been sent down unto thee and that which hath been sent down unto the prophets before thee,g and have firm assurance of the life to come:h these are directed by their lord, and they shall prosper. as for the unbelievers, it will be equal to them whether thou admonish them, or do not admonish them; they will not believe. god hath sealed up their hearts and their hearing; a dimness covereth their sight, and they shall suffer a grievous punishment. there are some who say, we believe in god, and the last day; but are not really believers: they seek to deceive god, and those who do believe, but they deceive themselves only, and are not sensible thereof. there is an infirmity in their hearts, and god hath increased that infirmity;i and they shall suffer a most painful punishment, because they have disbelieved. 	when one saith unto them, act not corruptlyk in the earth; they reply, verily we are men of integrity.l are not they themselves corrupt doers? but they are not sensible thereof. and when one saith unto them, believe ye as othersm believe; they answer, shall we believe as fools believe? are not they themselves fools? but they know it not. when they meet those who believe, they say, we do believe: but when they retire privately to their devils,n they say, we really hold with you, and only mock at those people: 	d this title was occasioned by the story of the red heifer, mentioned p. . 	e as to the meaning of these letters, see the preliminary discourse, sect. iii. 	f the arabic word is gheib, which properly signifies a thing that is absent, at a great distance, or invisible, such as the resurrection, paradise, and hell. and this is agreeable to the language of scripture, which defines faith to be the evidence of things not seen. 	g the mohammedans believe that god gave written revelations not only to moses, jesus, and mohammed, but to several other prophets; though they acknowledge none of those which preceded the korân to be now extant, except the pentateuch of moses, the psalms of david, and the gospel of jesus; which yet they say were even before mohammed's time altered and corrupted by the jews and christians; and therefore will not allow our present copies to be genuine. 	h the original word al-âkherhat properly signifies the latter part of anything, and by way of excellence the next life, the latter or future state after death; and is opposed to al-donya, this world; and al-oula, the former or present life. the hebrew word ahharith, from the same root, is used by moses in this sense, and is translated latter end. 	i mohammed here, and elsewhere frequently, imitates the truly inspired writers, in making god by operation on the minds of reprobates to prevent their conversion. this fatality or predestination, as believed by the mohammedans, hath been sufficiently treated of in the preliminary discourse. 	k literally corrupt not in the earth, by which some expositors understand the sowing of false doctrine, and corrupting people's principles. 	l according to the explication in the preceding note, this word must be translated reformers, who promote true piety by their doctrine and example. 	m the first companions and followers of mohammed. 	n the prophet, making use of the liberty zealots of all religions have, by prescription, of giving ill language, bestows this name on the jewish rabbins and christian priests; though he seems chiefly to mean the former, against whom he had by much the greater spleen. 	 heb. xi. i. see also rom. xxiv. ; cor. iv. and v. . 	 vide reland. de relig. moham. p. and dissert. de samaritanis, p. , &c.		 numb. xxiv. ; deut. viii. .		 jallalo'ddin. god shall mock at them, and continue them in their impiety; they shall wander in confusion. there are the the men who have purchased error at the price of true direction: but their traffic hath not been gainful, neither have they been rightly directed. they are like unto one who kindleth a fire,o and when it hath enlightened all around him,p god taketh away their lightq and leaveth them in darkness, they shall not see; they are deaf, dumb, and blind, therefore will they not repent. or like a stormy cloud from heaven, fraught with darkness, thunder, and lightning,r they put their fingers in their ears because of the noise of the thunder, for fear of death; god encompasseth the infidels: the lightning wanteth but little of taking away their sight; so often as it enlighteneth them, they walk therein, but when darkness cometh on them, they stand still; and if god so pleased, he would certainly deprive them of their hearing and their sight, for god is almighty. o men of mecca, serve your lord who hath created you, and those who have been before you: peradventure ye will fear him; 	who hath spread the earth as a bed for you, and the heaven as a covering, and hath caused water to descend from heaven, and thereby produced fruits for your sustenance. set not up therefore any equals unto god, against your own knowledge. if ye be in doubt concerning that revelation which we have sent down unto our servant, produce a chapter like unto it, and call upon your witnesses besides god,s if ye say truth. but if ye do it not, nor shall ever be able to do it; justly fear the fire whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the unbelievers. but bear good tidings unto those who believe, and do good works, that they shall have gardens watered by rivers; so often as they eat of the fruit thereof for sustenance, they shall say, this is what we have formerly eaten of; and they shall be supplied with several sorts of fruit having a mutual resemblance to one another.t there shall they enjoy wives subject to no impurity, and there shall they continue forever. 	o in this passage, mohammed compares those who believed not on him, to a man who wants to kindle a fire, but as soon as it burns up, and the flames give a light, shuts his eyes, lest he should see. as if he had said, you, o arabians, have long desired a prophet of your own nation, and now i am sent unto you, and have plainly proved my mission by the excellence of my doctrine and revelation, you resist conviction, and refuse to believe in me; therefore shall god leave you in your ignorance. 	p the sense seems to be here imperfect, and may be completed by adding the words, he turns from it, shuts his eyes, or the like. 	q that is of the unbelievers, to whom the word their being in the plural, seems to refer; though it is not unusual for mohammed, in affectation of the prophetic style, suddenly to change the number against all rules of grammar. 	r here he compares the unbelieving arabs to people caught in a violent storm. to perceive the beauty of this comparison, it must be observed, that the mohammedan doctors say, this tempest is a type or image of the korân itself: the thunder signifying the threats therein contained; the lightning, the promises; and the darkness, the mysteries. the terror of the threats makes them stop their ears, unwilling to hear truths so disagreeable; when the promises are read to them, they attend with pleasure; but when anything mysterious or difficult of belief occurs, they stand stock still, and will not submit to be directed. 	s i.e., your false gods and idols. 	t some commentators approve of this sense, supposing the fruits of paradise, though of various tastes, are alike in colour and outward appearance: but others think the meaning to be, that the inhabitants of that place will find there fruits of the same or the like kinds as they used to eat while on earth. 			 jallalo'ddin.		 al zamakhshari. moreover, god will not be ashamed to propound in a parable a gnat, or even a more despicable thing:u for they who believe will know it to be the truth from their lord; but the unbelievers will say, what meaneth god by this parable? he will thereby mislead many, and will direct many thereby: but he will not mislead any thereby, except the transgressors, who make void the covenant of god after the establishing thereof, and cut in sunder that which god hath commanded to be joined, and act corruptly in the earth; they shall perish. how is it that ye believe not in god? since ye were dead, and he gave you life;x he will hereafter cause you to die, and will again restore you to life; then shall ye return unto him. it is he who hath created for you whatsoever is on earth, and then set his mind to the creation of heaven, and formed it into seven heavens; he knoweth all things. when thy lord said unto the angels, i am going to place a substitute on earth;y they said, wilt thou place there one who will do evil therein, and shed blood? but we celebrate thy praise, and sanctify thee. god answered, verily i know that which ye know not; and he taught adam the names of all things, and then proposed them to the angels, and said, declare unto me the names of these things if ye say truth. 	they answered, praise be unto thee; we have no knowledge but what thou teachest us, for thou art knowing and wise. god said, o adam, tell them their names. and when he had told them their names, god said, did i not tell you that i know the secrets of heaven and earth, and know that which ye discover, and that which ye conceal?z and when we said unto the angels, worshipa adam, they all worshipped him, except eblis, who refused, and was puffed up with pride, and became of the number of unbelievers.b 	u this was revealed to take off an objection made to the korân by the infidels, for condescending to speak of such insignificant insects as the spider, the pismire, the bee, &c. 	x i.e., ye were dead while in the loins of your fathers, and he gave you life in your mothers wombs; and after death ye shall be again raised at the resurrection. 	y concerning the creation of adam, here intimated, the mohammedans have several peculiar traditions. they say the angels, gabriel, michael, and israfil, were sent by god, one after another, to fetch for that purpose seven handfuls of earth from different depths, and of different colours (whence some account for the various complexion of mankind ); but the earth being apprehensive of the consequence, and desiring them to represent her fear to god that the creature he designed to form would rebel against him, and draw down his curse upon her, they returned without performing god's command; whereupon he sent azraïl on the same errand, who executed his commission without remorse, for which reason god appointed that angel to separate the souls from the bodies, being therefore called the angel of death. the earth he had taken was carried into arabia, to a place between mecca and tayef, where, being first kneaded by the angels, it was afterwards fashioned by god himself into a human form, and left to dry for the space of forty days, or, as others say, as many years, the angels in the meantime often visiting it, and eblis (then one of the angels who are nearest to god's presence, afterwards the devil) among the rest; but he, not contented with looking on it, kicked it with his foot till it rung and knowing god designed that creature to be his superior, took a secret resolution never to acknowledge him as such. after this, god animated the figure of clay and endued it with an intelligent soul, and when he had placed him in paradise, formed eve out of his left side. 	z this story mohammed borrowed from the jewish traditions, which say that the angels having spoken of man with some contempt when god consulted them about his creation, god made answer that the man was wiser than they; and to convince them of it, he brought all kinds of animals to them, and asked them their names; which they not being able to tell, he put the same question to the man, who named them one after another; and being asked his own name and god's name, he answered very justly, and gave god the name of jehovah . the angels' adoring of adam is also mentioned in the talmud. 	a the original word signifies properly to prostrate one's self till the forehead touches the ground, which is the humblest posture of adoration, and strictly due to god only; but it is sometimes, as in this place, used to express that civil worship or homage, which may be paid to creatures. 	b this occasion of the devil's fall has some affinity with an opinion which has been pretty much entertained among christians, viz., that the angels being informed of god's intention to create man after his own image, and to dignify human nature by christ's assuming it, some of them, thinking their glory to be eclipsed thereby, envied man's happiness, and so revolted. 	 yahya.		 jallalo'ddin.		 al termedi, from a tradition of abu musa al ashari		 kor. c. .		 khondamir. jallalo'ddin. comment. in korân, &c. vide d'herbelot, biblioth. orient. p. .		 vide rivin. serpent. seduct. p. .		 r. moses haddarshan, in bereshit rabbah.		 jallalo'ddin.		 irenæus, lact. greg. nyssen. &c. and we said, o adam, dwell thou and thy wife in the garden,c and eat of the fruit thereof plentifully wherever ye will; but approach not this tree,d lest ye become of the number of the transgressors. but satan caused them to forfeit paradise,e and turned them out of the state of happiness wherein they had been; whereupon we said, get ye down,f the one of you an enemy unto the other; and there shall be a dwelling-place for you on earth, and a provision for a season. and adam learned words of prayer from his lord, and god turned unto him, for he is easy to be reconciled and merciful. we said, get ye all down from hence; hereafter shall there come unto you a direction from me,g and whoever shall follow my direction, on them shall no fear come, neither shall they be grieved; but they who shall be unbelievers, and accuse our signsh of falsehood, they shall be the companions of hell fire, therein shall they remain forever. o children of israeli, remember my favor wherewith i have favored you; and perform your covenant with me, and i will perform my covenant with you; and revere me: and believe in the revelation which i have sent down, confirming that which is with you, and be not the first who believe not therein, neither exchange my signs for a small price; and fear me. 	c mohammed, as appears by what presently follows, does not place this garden or paradise on earth, but in the seventh heaven. 	d concerning this tree or the forbidden fruit, the mohammedans, as well as the christians, have various opinions. some say it was an ear of wheat; some will have it to have been a fig-tree, and others a vine. the story of the fall is told, with some further circumstances, in the beginning of the seventh chapter. 	e they have a tradition that the devil offering to get into paradise to tempt adam, was not admitted by the guard; whereupon he begged of the animals, one after another, to carry him in, that he might speak to adam and his wife; but they all refused him except the serpent, who took him between two of his teeth, and so introduced him. they add that the serpent was then of a beautiful form, and not in the shape he now bears. 	f the mohammedans say that when they were cast down from paradise, adam fell on the isle of ceylon or serendib, and eve near joddah (the port of mecca) in arabia; and that after a separation of years, adam was, on his repentance, conducted by the angel gabriel to a mountain near mecca, where he found and knew his wife, the mountain being thence named arafat; and that he afterwards retired with her to ceylon, where they continued to propagate their species. 	it may not be improper here to mention another tradition concerning the gigantic stature of our first parents. their prophet, they say, affirmed adam to have been as tall as a high palm-tree; but this would be too much in proportion, if that were really the print of his foot, which is pretended to be such, on the top of a mountain in the isle of ceylon, thence named pico de adam, and by the arab writers rahûn, being somewhat above two spans long (though others say it is cubits long, and that when adam set one foot here, he had the other in the sea) ; and too little, if eve were of so enormous a size, as is said, when her head lay on one hill near mecca, her knees rested on two others in the plain, about two musket-shots asunder. 	g god here promises adam that his will should be revealed to him and his posterity; which promise the mohammedans believe was fulfilled at several times by the ministry of several prophets, from adam himself, who was the first, to mohammed, who was the last. the number of books revealed unto adam they say was ten. 	h this word has various significations in the korân; sometimes, as in this passage, it signifies divine revelation, or scripture in general; sometimes the verses of the korân in particular, and at other times visible miracles. but the sense is easily distinguished by the context. 	i the jews are here called upon to receive the korân, as verifying and confirming the pentateuch, particularly with respect to the unity of god and the mission of mohammed. and they are exhorted not to conceal the passages of their law which bear witness to those truths, nor to corrupt them by publishing false copies of the pentateuch, for which the writers were but poorly paid. 	 vide marracc. in alc. p. .		 vide ibid. p. . 	 vide ibid.		 d'herbelot, bib. orient. p. . yahya.		 moncony's voyage, part i. p. , &c. see knox's account of ceylon.		 anciennes relations des indes, &c. p. . moncony's, ubi sup.		 vide hottinger hist. orient. p. . reland. de relig. mohammed, p. .		 yahya. jallalo'ddin. clothe not the truth with vanity, neither conceal the truth against your own knowledge; 	observe the stated times of prayer, and pay your legal alms, and bow down yourselves with those who bow down. will ye command men to do justice, and forget your own souls? yet ye read the book of the law: do ye not therefore understand? ask help with perseverance and prayer; this indeed is grievous unless to the humble, who seriously think they shall meet their lord and that to him they shall return. o children of israel, remember my favor wherewith i have favored you, and that i have preferred you above all nations; dread the day wherein one soul shall not make satisfaction for another soul, neither shall any intercession be accepted from them, nor shall any compensation be received, neither shall they be helped. remember when we delivered you from the people of pharaoh, who grievously oppressed you, they slew your male children, and let your females live: therein was a great trial from your lord. and when we divided the sea for you and delivered you, and drowned pharaoh's people while ye looked on.k and when we treated with moses forty nights; then ye took the calfl for your god, and did evil; yet afterwards we forgave you, that peradventure ye might give thanks. 	and when we gave moses the book of the law, and the distinction between good and evil, that peradventure ye might be directed. and when moses said unto his people, o my people, verily ye have injured your own souls, by your taking the calf for your god; therefore be turned unto your creator, and slay those among you who have been guilty of that crime;m this will be better for you in the sight of your creator: and thereupon he turned unto you, for he is easy to be reconciled, and merciful. and when ye said, o moses, we will not believe thee, until we see god manifestly; therefore a punishment came upon you, while ye looked on; then we raised you to life after ye had been dead, that peradventure ye might give thanks.n 	k see the story of moses and pharaoh more particularly related, chapter vii. and xx. &c. 	l the person who cast this calf, the mohammedans say, was (not aaron but) al sâmeri, one of the principal men among the children of israel, some of whose descendants it is pretended still inhabit an island of that name in the arabian gulf. it was made of the rings and bracelets of gold, silver, and other materials, which the israelites had borrowed of the egyptians; for aaron, who commanded in his brother's absence, having ordered al sâmeri to collect those ornaments from the people, who carried on a wicked commerce with them, and to keep them together till the return of moses; al sâmeri, understanding the founder's art, put them altogether into a furnace to melt them down into one mass, which came out in the form of a calf. the israelites, accustomed to the egyptian idolatry, paying a religious worship to this image, al sâmeri went farther, and took some dust from the footsteps of the horse of the angel gabriel, who marched at the head of the people, and threw it into the mouth of the calf, which immediately began to low, and became animated; for such was the virtue of that dust. one writer says that all the israelites adored this calf, except only , . 	m in this particular, the narration agrees with that of moses, who ordered the levites to slay every man his brother: but the scripture says, there fell of the people that day about , (the vulgate says , ) men; whereas the commentators of the korân make the number of the slain to amount to , ; and add, that god sent a dark cloud which hindered them from seeing one another, lest the sight should move those who executed the sentence to compassion. 	n the persons here meant are said to have been seventy men, who were made choice of by moses and heard the voice of god talking with him. but not being satisfied with that, they demanded to see god; whereupon they were all struck dead by lightning, and on moses's intercession restored to life. 	 geogr. nubiens. p. .			 kor. c. .		 see exod. xxxii. .		 kor. c. . jallalo'ddin. vide d'herbelot, bibl. orient. p. .		 abulfeda. 		 exod. xxxii. , .		 ibid. . jallalo'ddin, &c.		 ismael ebn ali. and we caused clouds to overshadow you, and manna and quailso to descend upon you, saying, eat of the good things which we have given you for food: and they injured not us, but injured their own souls. and when we said, enter into this city,p and eat of the provisions thereof plentifully as ye will; and enter the gate worshipping, and say, forgiveness!q we will pardon you your sins, and give increase unto the well- doers. but the ungodly changed the expression into another,r different from what had been spoken unto them; and we sent down upon the ungodly indignation from heaven,s because they had transgressed. and when moses asked drink for his people, we said, strike the rockt with thy rod; and there gushed thereout twelve fountainsu according to the number of the tribes, and all men knew their respective drinking-place. eat and drink of the bounty of god, and commit not evil on the earth, acting unjustly. and when ye said, o moses, we will by no means be satisfied with one kind of food; pray unto thy lord therefore for us, that he would produce for us of that which the earth bringeth forth, herbs and cucumbers, and garlic, and lentils, and onions;x moses answered, will ye exchange that which is better, for that which is worse? get ye down into egypt, for there shall ye find what ye desire: and they were smitten with vileness and misery, and drew on themselves indignation from god. this they suffered, because they believed not in the signs of god, and killed the prophets unjustly; this, because they rebelled and transgressed. 	o the eastern writers say these quails were of a peculiar kind, to be found nowhere but in yaman, from whence they were brought by a south wind in great numbers to the israelites' camp in the desert. the arabs call these birds salwâ, which is plainly the same with the hebrew salwim, and say they have no bones, but are eaten whole. 	p some commentators suppose it to be jericho, others jerusalem. 	q the arabic word is hittaton, which some take to signify that profession of the unity of god so frequently used by the mohammedans, la ilâha illa 'llaho, there is no god but god. 	r according to jallalo'ddin, instead of hittaton, they cried habbat fi shaïrat-i.e., a grain in an ear of barley; and in ridicule of the divine command to enter the city in an humble posture, they indecently crept in upon their breech. 	s a pestilence which carried off near , of them. 	t the commentators say this was a stone which moses brought from mount sinai, and the same that fled away with his garments which he laid upon it one day while he washed; they add that moses ran after the stone naked, till he found himself, ere he was aware, in the midst of the people, who, on this accident, were convinced of the falsehood of a report which had been raised of their prophet, that he was bursten, or, as others write, an hermaphrodite. 	they describe it to be a square piece of white marble, shaped like a man's head; wherein they differ not much from the accounts of european travellers, who say this rock stands among several lesser ones, about paces from mount horeb, and appears to have been loosened from the neighbouring mountains, having no coherence with the others; that it is a huge mass of red granite, almost round on one side, and flat on the other, twelve feet high, and as many thick, but broader than it is high, and about fifty feet in circumference. 	u marracci thinks this circumstance looks like a rabbinical fiction, or else that mohammed confounds the water of the rock at horeb with the twelve wells at elim; for he says several who have been on the spot affirm there are but three orifices whence the water issued. but it is to be presumed that mohammed had better means of information in this respect than to fall into such a mistake; for the rock stands within the borders of arabia, and some of his countrymen must needs have seen it, if he himself did not, as it is most probable he did. and in effect he seems to be in the right. for one who went into those parts in the end of the fifteenth century tells us expressly that the water issued from twelve places of the rock, according to the number of the tribes of israel; egressæ sunt aquæ largissimæ in duodecim locis petræ, juxta numerum duodecim tribuum israel. a late curious traveller observes that there are twenty-four holes in the stone, which may be easily counted- that is to say, twelve on the flat side, and as many on the opposite round side, every one being a foot deep, and an inch wide; and he adds, that the holes on one side do not communicate with those on the other, which a less accurate spectator not perceiving (for they are placed horizontally, within two feet of the top of the rock), might conclude they pierced quite through the stone, and so reckon them to be but twelve. 	x see numb. xi. , &c. 	 see psalm lxxviii. .		 vide d'herbelot, bibl. orient. p. .		 jallalo'ddin. jallalo'ddin, yahya.		 breydenbach, itinerar. chartâ m. p. . sicard, dans les mémoires des missions, vol. vii. p. .		 exod. xv. ; numb. xxxiii. .		 marracc. prodr. part iv. p. .		 breydenbach, ubi sup.		 sicard, ubi sup. surely those who believe, and those who judaize, and christians, and sabians,y whoever believeth in god, and the last day, and doth that which is right, they shall have their reward with their lord; there shall come no fear on them, neither shall they be grieved. 	call to mind also when we accepted your covenant, and lifted up the mountain of sinai over you,z saying, receive the law which we have given you, with a resolution to keep it, and remember that which is contained therein, that ye may beware. after this ye again turned back, so that if it had not been for god's indulgence and mercy towards you, ye had certainly been destroyed. moreover ye know what befell those of your nation who transgressed on the sabbath day;a we said unto them, be ye changed into apes, driven away from the society of men. and we made them an example unto those who were contemporary with them, and unto those who came after them, and a warning to the pious. 	y from these words, which are repeated in the fifth chapter, several writers have wrongly concluded that the mohammedans hold it to be the doctrine of their prophet that every man may be saved in his own religion, provided he be sincere and lead a good life. it is true, some of their doctors do agree this to be the purport of the words; but then they say the latitude hereby granted was soon revoked, for that this passage is abrogated by several others in the korân, which expressly declare that none can be saved who is not of the mohammedan faith, and particularly by those words of the third chapter, whoever followeth any other religion than islâm (i.e., the mohammedan) it shall not be accepted of him, and at the last day he shall be of those who perish. however, others are of opinion that this passage is not abrogated, but interpret it differently, taking the meaning of it to be that no man, whether he be a jew, a christian, or a sabian, shall be excluded from salvation, provided he quit his erroneous religion and become a moslem, which they say is intended by the following words, whoever believeth in god and the last day, and doth that which is right. and this interpretation is approved by mr. reland, who thinks the words here import no more than those of the apostle, in every nation he that feareth god, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him; from which it must not be inferred that the religion of nature, or any other, is sufficient to save, without faith in christ. 	z the mohammedan tradition is, that the israelites refusing to receive the law of moses, god tore up the mountain by the roots, and shook it over their heads, to terrify them into a compliance. 	a the story to which this passage refers, is as follows: in the days of david some israelites dwelt at ailah, or elath, on the red sea, where on the night of the sabbath the fish used to come in great numbers to the shore, and stay there all the sabbath, to tempt them; but the night following they returned into the sea again. at length some of the inhabitants, neglecting god's command, catched fish on the sabbath, and dressed and ate them; and afterward cut canals from the sea, for the fish to enter, with sluices, which they shut on the sabbath, to prevent their return to the sea. the other part of the inhabitants, who strictly observed the sabbath, used both persuasion and force to stop this impiety, but to no purpose, the offenders growing only more and more obstinate; whereupon david cursed the sabbath-breakers, and god transformed them into apes. it is said that one going to see a friend of his that was among them, found him in the shape of an ape, moving his eyes about wildly; and asking him whether he was not such a one, the ape made a sign with his head that it was he; whereupon the friend said to him, did not i advise you to desist? at which the ape wept. they add that these unhappy people remained three days in this condition, and were afterwards destroyed by a wind which swept them all into the sea. 	 selden, de jure nat. et gent. sec. hebr. l. , c. . angel, a st. joseph. gazophylac. persic. p. . nic. cusanus in cribratione alcorani, l. , c. , &c.		 see chardin's voyages, vol. ii. p. , . 	 abu'lkasem hebatallah de abrogante et abrogato.		 acts x. .		 vide reland. de rel. moham. p. , &c.		 jallalo'ddin.		 abulfeda. and when moses said unto his people, verily god commandeth you to sacrifice a cow;b they answered, dost thou make a jest of us! moses said, god forbid that i should be one of the foolish. they said, pray for us unto thy lord, that he would show us what cow it is. moses answered, he saith, she is neither an old cow, nor a young heifer, but of a middle age between both: do ye therefore that which ye are commanded. they said, pray for us unto thy lord, that he would show us what colour she is of. moses answered, he saith, she is a red cow,c intensely red, her colour rejoiceth the beholders. they said, pray for us unto thy lord, that he would further show us what cow it is, for several cows with us are like one another, and we, if god please, will be directed. moses answered, he saith, she is a cow not broken to plough the earth, or water the field, a sound one, there is no blemish in her. they said, now hast thou brought the truth. then they sacrificed her; yet they wanted but little of leaving it undone.d and when ye slew a man, and contended among yourselves concerning him, god brought forth to light that which ye concealed. for we said, strike the dead body with part of the sacrificed cow:e so god raiseth the dead to life, and showeth you his signs, that peradventure ye may understand. then were your hearts hardened after this, even as stones, or exceeding them in hardness: for from some stones have rivers bursted forth, others have been rent in sunder, and water hath issued from them, and others have fallen down for fear of god. but god is not regardless of that which ye do. 	do ye therefore desire that the jews should believe you? yet a part of them heard the word of god, and then perverted it, after they had understood it, against their own conscience. and when they meet the true believers, they say, we believe: but when they are privately assembled together, they say, will ye acquaint them with what god hath revealed unto you, that they may dispute with you concerning it in the presence of your lord? do ye not therefore understand? do not they know that god knoweth that which they conceal as well as that which they publish? 	b the occasion of this sacrifice is thus related. a certain man at his death left his son, then a child, a cow-calf, which wandered in the desert till he came to age; at which time his mother told him the heifer was his, and bid him fetch her, and sell her for three pieces of gold. when the young man came to the market with his heifer, an angel in the shape of a man accosted him, and bid him six pieces of gold for her; but he would not take the money till he had asked his mother's consent; which when he had obtained, he returned to the market-place, and met the angel, who now offered him twice as much for the heifer, provided he would say nothing of it to his mother; but the young man refusing, went and acquainted her with the additional offer. the woman perceiving it was an angel, bid her son go back and ask him what must be done with the heifer; whereupon the angel told the young man that in a little time the children of israel would buy that heifer of him at any price. and soon after it happened that an israelite, named hammiel, was killed by a relation of his, who, to prevent discovery, conveyed the body to a place considerably distant from that where the fact was committed. the friends of the slain man accused some other persons of the murder before moses; but they denying the fact, and there being no evidence to convict them, god commanded a cow, of such and such particular marks, to be killed; but there being no other which answered the description except the orphan's heifer, they were obliged to buy her for as much gold as her hide would hold; according to some, for her full weight in gold, and as others say, for ten times as much. this heifer they sacrificed, and the dead body being, by divine direction, struck with a part of it, revived, and standing up, named the person who had killed him; after which it immediately fell down dead again. the whole story seems to be borrowed from the red heifer, which was ordered by the jewish law to be burnt, and the ashes kept for purifying those who happened to touch a dead corpse; and from the heifer directed to be slain for the expiation of an uncertain murder. see deut. xxi. - . 	c the epithet in the original is yellow; but this word we do not use in speaking of the colour or cattle. 	d because of the exorbitant price which they were obliged to pay for the heifer. 	e i.e., her tongue, or the end of her tail. 			 abulfeda.		 numb. xix.		 jallalo'ddin. but there are illiterate men among them, who know not the book of the law, but only lying stories, although they think otherwise. and woe unto them, who transcribe corruptly the book of the lawf with their hands, and then say, this is from god: that they may sell it for a small price. therefore woe unto them because of that which their hands have written; and woe unto them for that which they have gained. they say, the fire of hell shall not touch us but for a certain number of days.g answer, have ye received any promise from god to that purpose? for god will not act contrary to his promise: or do ye speak concerning god that which ye know not? verily whoso doth evil,h and is encompassed by his iniquity, they shall be the companions of hell fire, they shall remain therein forever: but they who believe and do good works, they shall be the companions of paradise, they shall continue therein forever. remember also, when we accepted the covenant of the children of israel, saying, ye shall not worship any other except god, and ye shall show kindness to your parents and kindred, and to orphans, and to the poor, and speak that which is good unto men, and be constant at prayer, and give alms. afterwards ye turned back, except a few of you, and retired afar off. and when we accepted your covenant, saying, ye shall not shed your brother's blood nor dispossess one another of your habitations; then ye confirmed it, and were witnesses thereto. afterwards ye were they who slew one another,i and turned several of your brethren out of their houses, mutually assisting each other against them with injustice and enmity; but if they come captives unto you, ye redeem them: yet it is equally unlawful for you to dispossess them. do ye therefore believe in part of the book of the law, and reject other part thereof? but whoso among you doth this, shall have no other reward than shame in this life, and on the day of resurrection they shall be sent to a most grievous punishment; for god is not regardless of that which ye do. 	these are they who have purchased this present life, at the price of that which is to come; wherefore their punishment shall not be mitigated, neither shall they be helped. we formerly delivered the book of the law unto moses, and caused apostles to succeed him, and gave evident miracles to jesus the son of mary, and strengthened him with the holy spirit.k do ye therefore, whenever an apostle cometh unto you with that which your souls desire not, proudly reject him, and accuse some of imposture, and slay others? 	f mohammed again accuses the jews of corrupting their scripture. 	g that is, says jallalo'ddin, forty; being the number of days that their forefathers worshipped the golden calf; after which they gave out that their punishment should cease. it is a received opinion among the jews at present, that no person, be he ever so wicked, or of whatever sect, shall remain in hell above eleven months, or at most a year; except dathan and abiram, and atheists, who will be tormented there to all eternity. 	h by evil in this place the commentators generally understand polytheism or idolatry; which sin the mohammedans believe, unless repented of in this life, is unpardonable and will be punished by eternal damnation; but all other sins they hold will at length be forgiven. this therefore is that irremissible impiety, in their opinion, which in the new testament is called the sin against the holy ghost. 	i this passage was revealed on occasion of some quarrels which arose between the jews of the tribes of koreidha, and those of al aws, al nadhîr, and al khazraj, and came to that height that they took arms and destroyed one another's habitations, and turned one another out of their houses; but when any were taken captive, they redeemed them. when they were asked the reason of their acting in this manner, they answered, that they were commanded by their law to redeem the captives, but that they fought out of shame, lest their chiefs should be despised. 	k we must not imagine mohammed here means the holy ghost in the christian acceptation. the commentators says this spirit was the angel gabriel, who sanctified jesus and constantly attended on him. 	 vide bartoloccii biblioth. rabbinic. tom. ii. p. , et tom. iii. p. .		 jallalo'ddin.		 jallalo'ddin. the jews say, our hearts are uncircumcised: but god hath cursed them with their infidelity; therefore few shall believe. and when a book came unto them from god, confirming the scriptures which were with them, although they had before prayed for assistance against those who believed not,l yet when that came unto them which they knew to be from god, they would not believe therein: therefore the curse of god shall be on the infidels. for a vile price have they sold their souls, that they should not believe in that which god hath sent down;m out of envy, because god sendeth down his favors to such of his servants as he pleaseth: therefore they brought on themselves indignation on indignation; and the unbelievers shall suffer an ignominious punishment. when one saith unto them, believe in that which god hath sent down; they answer, we believe in that which hath been sent down unto us:n and they reject what hath been revealed since, although it be the truth, confirming that which is with them. say, why therefore have ye slain the prophets of god in times past, if ye be true believers? moses formerly came unto you with evident signs, but ye afterwards took the calf for your god and did wickedly. and when we accepted your covenant, and lifted the mountain of sinai over you,o saying receive the law which we have given you, with a resolution to perform it, and hear; they said, we have heard, and have rebelled: and they were made to drink down the calf into their heartsp for their unbelief. say, a grievous thing hath your faith commanded you, if ye be true believers?q say, if the future mansion with god be prepared peculariarly for you, exclusive of the rest of mankind, wish for death, if ye say truth; but they will never wish for it, because of that which their hands have sent before them;r god knoweth the wicked-doers; 	and thou shalt surely find them of all men the most covetous of life, even more than the idolaters: one of them would desire his life to be prolonged a thousand years, but none shall reprieve himself from punishment, that his life may be prolonged: god seeth that which they do. say, whoever is an enemy to gabriels (for he hath caused the koran to descend on thy heart, by the permission of god, confirming that which was before revealed, a direction, and good tidings to the faithful); 	l the jews in expectation of the coming of mohammed (according to the tradition of his followers) used this prayer, o god, help us against the unbelievers by the prophet who is to be sent in the last times. 	m the korân. 	n the pentateuch. 	o see before p. . 	p moses took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water (of the brook that descended from the mount), and made the children of israel drink of it. 	q mohammed here infers from their forefathers' disobedience in worshipping the calf, at the same time that they pretended to believe in the law of moses, that the faith of the jews in his time was as vain and hypocritical, since they rejected him, who was foretold therein, as an impostor. 	r that is, by reason of the wicked forgeries which they have been guilty of in respect to the scriptures. an expression much like that of st. paul, where he says, that some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment. 	s the commentators say that the jews asked what angel it was that brought the divine revelations to mohammed; and being told that it was gabriel, they replied that he was their enemy, and the messenger of wrath and punishment; but if it had been michael, they would 	 idem.		 exod. xxxii. ; deut. ix. .		 jallalo'ddin, yahya, al beidâwi.		 tim. v. . whosoever is an enemy to god, or his angels, or his apostles, or to gabriel, or michael, verily god is an enemy to the unbelievers. and now we have sent down unto thee evident signs,t and none will disbelieve them but the evil-doers. whenever they make a covenant, will some of them reject it? yea, the greater part of them do not believe. and when there came unto them an apostle from god, confirming that scripture which was with them, some of those to whom the scriptures were given cast the book of god behind their backs, as if they knew it not: and they followed the device which the devils devised against the kingdom of solomon;u and solomon was not an unbeliever; but the devils believed not, they taught men sorcery, and that which was sent down to the two angels at babel, harût and marût:v yet those two taught no man until they had said, verily we are a temptation, therefore be not an unbeliever. so men learned from those two a charm by which they might cause division between a man and his wife; but they hurt none thereby, unless by god's permission, and they learned that which would hurt them, and not profit them; and yet they knew that he who bought that art should have no part in the life to come, and woful is the price for which they have sold their souls, if they knew it. but if they had believed, and feared god, verily the reward they would have had from god would have been better, if they had known it. have believed on him, because that angel was their friend, and the messenger of peace and plenty. and on this occasion, they say, this passage was revealed. 	that michael was really the protector or guardian angel of the jews, we know from scripture; and it seems that gabriel was, as the persians call him, the angel of revelations, being frequently sent on messages of that kind; for which reason it is probable mohammed pretended he was the angel from whom he received the korân. 	t i.e., the revelations of this book. 	u the devils having, by god's permission, tempted solomon without success, they made use of a trick to blast his character. for they wrote several books of magic, and hid them under that prince's throne, and after his death, told the chief men that if they wanted to know by what means solomon had obtained his absolute power over men, genii, and the winds, they should dig under his throne; which having done, they found the aforesaid books, which contained impious superstitions. the better sort refused to learn the evil arts therein delivered, but the common people did; and the priests published this scandalous story of solomon, which obtained credit among the jews, till god, say the mohammedans, cleared that king by the mouth of their prophet, declaring that solomon was no idolater. 	v some say only that these were two magicians, or angels sent by god to teach men magic, and to tempt them. but others tell a longer fable; that the angels expressing their surprise at the wickedness of the sons of adam, after prophets had been sent to them with divine commissions, god bid them choose two out of their own number to be sent down to be judges on earth. whereupon they pitched upon harût and marût, who executed their office with integrity for some time, till zohara, or the planet venus, descended and appeared before them in the shape of a beautiful woman, bringing a complaint against her husband (though others say she was a real woman). as soon as they saw her, they fell in love with her, and endeavoured to prevail on her to satisfy their desires; but she flew up again to heaven, whither the two angels also returned, but were not admitted. however, on the intercession of a certain pious man, they were allowed to choose whether they would be punished in this life, or in the other; whereupon they chose the former, and now suffer punishment accordingly in babel, where they are to remain till the day of judgment. they add that if a man has a fancy to learn magic, he may go to them, and hear their voice, but cannot see them. 	this story mohammed took directly from the persian magi, who mention two rebellious angels of the same names, now hung up by the feet, with their heads downwards, in the territory of babel. and the jews have something like this, of the angel shamhozai, who, having debauched himself with women, repented, and by way of penance hung himself up between heaven and earth. 	 jallalo'ddin; al zamakh. yahya.		 dan. xii. i.		 ibid.. c. viii. , and ix. ; luke i. , . see hyde de rel. vet. persar. p. .		 yahya, jallalo'ddin.		 jallalo'ddin.		 yahya, &c.		 vide hyde, ubi sup. c. . o true believers, say not to our apostle, raïna; but say ondhorna;x and hearken: the infidels shall suffer a grievous punishment. it is not the desire of the unbelievers, either among those unto whom the scriptures have been given, or among the idolaters, that any good should be sent down unto you from your lord: but god will appropriate his mercy unto whom he pleaseth; for god is exceeding beneficent. 	whatever verse we shall abrogate, or cause thee to forget, we will bring a better than it, or one like unto it. dost thou not know that god is almighty? dost thou not know that unto god belongeth the kingdom of heaven and earth? neither have ye any protector or helper except god. will ye require of your apostle according to that which was formerly required of moses?y but he that hath exchanged faith for infidelity, hath already erred from the straight way. many of those unto whom the scriptures have been given, desire to render you again unbelievers, after ye have believed; out of envy from their souls, even after the truth is become manifest unto them; but forgive them, and avoid them, till god shall send his command; for god is omnipotent. be constant in prayer, and give alms; and what good ye have sent before for your souls, ye shall find it with god; surely god seeth that which ye do. they say, verily none shall enter paradise, except they who are jews or christians:z this is their wish. say, produce your proof of this, if ye speak truth. nay, but he who resigneth himselfa to god, and doth that which is right,b he shall have his reward with his lord: there shall come no fear on them, neither shall they be grieved. the jews say, the christians are grounded on nothing;c and the christians say, the jews are grounded on nothing; and the christians say, the jews are grounded on nothing; yet they both read the scriptures. so likewise say they who know not the scripture, according to their saying. but god shall judge between them on the day of the resurrection, concerning that about which they now disagree. who is more unjust than he who prohibiteth the temples of god,d that his name should be remembered therein, and who hasteth to destroy them? those men cannot enter therein, but with fear: they shall have shame in this world, and in the next a grievous punishment. to god belongeth the east and the west; therefore whithersoever ye turn yourselves to pray, there is the face of god; for god is omnipresent and omniscient. 	x those two arabic words have both the same signification, viz., look on us; and are a kind of salutation. mohammed had a great aversion to the first, because the jews frequently used it in derision, it being a word of reproach in their tongue. they alluded, it seems, to the hebrew verb [hebrew text] ruá, which signifies to be bad or mischievous. 	y namely, to see god manifestly. 	z this passage was revealed on occasion of a dispute which mohammed had with the jews of medina, and the christians of najrân, each of them asserting that those of their religion only should be saved. 	a literally, resigneth his face, &c. 	b that is, asserteth the unity of god. 	c the jews and christians are here accused of denying the truth of each other's religion, notwithstanding they read the scriptures. whereas the pentateuch bears testimony to jesus, and the gospel bears testimony to moses. 	d or hindereth men from paying their adorations to god in those sacred places. this passage, says jallalo'ddin, was revealed on news being brought that the romans had spoiled the temple of jerusalem; or else when the idolatrous arabs obstructed mohammed's visiting the temple of mecca, in the expedition of al hodeibiya, which happened in the sixth year of the hejra. 	 bereshit rabbah, in gen. vi. .		 jallalo'ddin.		 see before, p. .		 jallalo'ddin. idem.		 idem.		 vide abulfeda. vit. moham. p. , &c. 	they say, god hath begotten children:e god forbid! to him belongeth whatever is in heaven, and on earth; all is possessed by him, the creator of heaven and earth; and when he decreeth a thing, he only saith unto it, be, and it is. and they who know not the scriptures say, unless god speak unto us, or thou show us a sign, we will not believe. so said those before them, according to their saying: their hearts resemble each other. we have already shown manifest signs unto people who firmly believe; we have sent thee in truth, a bearer of good tidings and a preacher; and thou shalt not be questioned concerning the companions of hell. but the jews will not be pleased with thee, neither the christians, until thou follow their religion; say, the direction of god is the true direction. and verily if thou follow their desires, after the knowledge which hath been given thee, thou shalt find no patron or protector against god. they to whom we have given the book of the koran, and who read it with its true reading, they believe therein; and whoever believeth not therein, they shall perish. o children of israel, remember my favor wherewith i have favored you, and that i have preferred you before all nations; and dread the day wherein one soul shall not make satisfaction for another soul, neither shall any compensation be accepted from them, nor shall any intercession avail, neither shall they be helped. remember when the lord tried abraham by certain words,f which he fulfilled: god said, verily i will constitute thee a model of religiong unto mankind; he answered, and also of my posterity; god said, my covenant doth not comprehend the ungodly. and when we appointed the holy househ of mecca to be a place of resort for mankind, and a place of security; and said, take the station of abrahami for a place of prayer; and we covenanted with abraham for a place of prayer; and we covenanted with abraham and ismael, that they should cleanse my house for those who should compass it, and those who should be devoutly assiduous there, and those who should bow down and worship. 	and when abraham said, lord make this a territory of security, and bounteously bestow fruits on its inhabitants, such of them as believe in god and the last day; god answered, and whoever believeth not, i will bestow on him little; after wards i will drive him to the punishment of hell fire; an ill journey shall it be! and when abraham and ismael raised the foundations of the house, saying, lord, accept it from us, for thou art he who heareth and knoweth: lord, make us also resignedk unto thee, and of our posterity a people resigned unto thee, and show us our holy ceremonies, and be turned unto us, for thou art easy to be reconciled, and merciful: 	e this is spoken not only of the christians and of the jews (for they are accused of holding ozair, or ezra, to be the son of god), but also the pagan arabs, who imagined the angels to be the daughters of god. 	f god tried abraham chiefly by commanding him to leave his native country, and to offer his son. but the commentators suppose the trial here meant related only to some particular ceremonies, such as circumcision, pilgrimage to the caaba, several rites of purification, and the like. 	g i have rather expressed the meaning, than truly translated the arabic word imâm, which answers to the latin antistes. this title the mohammedans give to their priests, who begin the prayers in their mosques, and whom all the congregation follow. 	h that is, the caaba, which is usually called, by way of eminence, the house. of the sanctity of this building, and other particulars relating to it, see the preliminary discourse, sect. iv. 	i a place so called within the inner enclosure of the caaba, where they pretend to show the print of his foot in a stone. 	k the arabic word is moslemûna, in the singular moslem, which the mohammedans take as a title peculiar to themselves. the europeans generally write and pronounce it musulman. 			 jallalo'ddin.			 see the prelim. disc., sect. iv. lord, send them likewise an apostle from among them, who may declare thy signs unto them, and teach them the book of the koran and wisdom, and may purify them; for thou art mighty and wise. who will be averse to the religion of abraham, but he whose mind is infatuated? surely we have chosen him in this world, and in that which is to come he shall be one of the righteous. when his lord said unto him, resign thyself unto me; he answered, i have resigned myself unto the lord of all creatures. and abraham bequeathed this religion to his children, and jacob did the same, saying, my children, verily god hath chosen this religion for you, therefore die not, unless ye also be resigned. were ye present when jacob was at the point of death? when he said to his sons, whom will ye worship after me? they answered, we will worship thy god, and the god of thy fathers abraham, and ismael, and isaac, one god, and to him will we be resigned. that people are now passed away, they have what they have gained,l and ye shall have what ye gain; and ye shall not be questioned concerning that which they have done. they say, become jews or christians that ye may be directed. say, nay we follow the religion of abraham the orthodox, who was no idolater. 	say, we believe in god, and that which hath been sent down unto us, and that which hath been sent down unto abraham, and ismael, and isaac, and jacob, and the tribes, and that which was delivered unto moses, and jesus, and that which was delivered unto the prophets from their lord: we make no distinction between any of them, and to god are we resigned. now if they believe according to what ye believe, they are surely directed, but if they turn back, they are in schism. god shall support thee against them, for he is in the hearer, the wise. the baptism of godm have we received, and who is better than god to baptize? him do we worship. say, will ye dispute with us concerning god,n who is our lord, and your lord? we have our works, and ye have your works, and unto him are we sincerely devoted. will ye say, truly abraham, and ismael, and isaac, and jacob, and the tribes were jews or christians? say, are ye wiser, or god? and who is more unjust than he who hideth the testimony which he hath received from god?o but god is not regardless of that which ye do. that people are passed away, they have what they have gained, and ye shall have what ye gain, nor shall ye be questioned concerning that which they have done. 	l or deserved. the mohammedan notion, as to the imputation of moral actions to man, which they call gain, or acquisition, is sufficiently explained in the preliminary discourse. 	m by baptism is to be understood the religion which god instituted in the beginning; because the signs of it appear in the person who professes it, as the signs of water appear in the clothes of him that is baptized. 	n these words were revealed because the jews insisted that they first received the scriptures, that their keblah was more ancient, and that no prophets could arise among the arabs; and therefore if mohammed was a prophet, he must have been of their nation. 	o the jews are again accused of corrupting and suppressing the prophecies in the pentateuch relating to mohammed. 				 jallalo'ddin.			 idem. the foolish men will say, what hath turned them from their keblah, towards which they formerly prayed?p say unto god belongeth the east and the west: he directeth whom he pleaseth into the right way. thus have we placed you, o arabians, an intermediate nation,q that ye may be witness against the rest of mankind, and that the apostle may be a witness against you. we appointed the keblah, towards which thou didst formerly pray, only that we might know him who followeth the apostle, from him who turneth back on the heels;r though this change seem a great matter, unless unto those whom god hath directed. but god will not render your faith of none effect;s for god is gracious and merciful unto man. we have seen thee turn about thy face towards heaven with uncertainty, but we will cause thee to turn thyself towards a keblah that will please thee. turn, therefore, thy face towards the holy temple of mecca; and wherever ye be, turn your faces towards that place. they to whom the scripture hath been given, know this to be truth from their lord. god is not regardless of that which ye do. 	verily although thou shouldest show unto those to whom the scripture hath been given all kinds of signs, yet they will not follow thy keblah, neither shalt thou follow their keblah; nor will one part of them follow the keblah of the other. and if thou follow their desires, after the knowledge which hath been given thee, verily thou wilt become one of the ungodly. they to whom we have given the scripture know our apostle, even as they know their own children, but some of them hide the truth, against their own knowledge. truth is from thy lord, therefore thou shalt not doubt. every sect hath a certain tract of heaven to which they turn themselves in prayer; but do ye strive to run after good things; wherever ye be, god will bring you all back at the resurrection, for god is almighty. and from what place soever thou comest forth, turn thy face towards the holy temple, for this is truth from thy lord; neither is god regardless of that which ye do. from what place soever thou comest forth, turn thy face towards the holy temple; and wherever ye be, thitherward turn your faces, lest men have matter of dispute against you; but as for those among them who are unjust doers, fear them not, but fear me, that i may accomplish my grace upon you, and that ye may be directed. as we have sent unto you an apostle from among you,t to rehearse our signs unto you, and to purify you, and to teach you the book of the koran and wisdom, and to teach you that which ye knew not: therefore remember me, and i will remember you, and give thanks unto me, and be not unbelievers. o true believers, beg assistance with patience and prayer, for god is with the patient. 	p at first, mohammed and his followers observed no particular rite in turning their faces towards any certain place, or quarter of the world, when they prayed; it being declared to be perfectly indifferent. afterwards, when the prophet fled to medina, he directed them to turn towards the temple of jerusalem (probably to ingratiate himself with the jews), which continued to be their keblah for six or seven months; but either finding the jews too intractable, or despairing otherwise to gain the pagan arabs, who could not forget their respect to the temple of mecca, he ordered that prayers for the future should be towards the last. this change was made in the second year of the hejra, and occasioned many to fall from him, taking offence at his inconstancy. 	q this seems to be the sense of the words; though the commentators will have the meaning to be that the arabians are here declared to be a most just and good nation. 	r i.e., returneth to judaism. 	s or will not suffer it to go without its reward, while ye prayed towards jerusalem. 	t that is, of your own nation. 	 see before, p. .		 vide abulfeda, vit. moham. p. . 	 jallalo'ddin.		 idem. yahya, &c. and say not of those who are slain in fight for the religion of god,u that they are dead; yea, they are living:x but ye do not understand. 	we will surely prove you by afflicting you in some measure with fear, and hunger, and decrease of wealth, and loss of lives, and scarcity of fruits: but bear good tidings unto the patient, who, when a misfortune befalleth them, say, we are god's and unto him shall we surely return.y upon them shall be blessings from their lord and mercy, and they are the rightly directed. moreover safa and merwah are two of the monuments of god: whoever therefore goeth on pilgrimage to the temple of mecca or visiteth it, it shall be no crime in him, if he compass them both.z and as for him who voluntarily performeth a good work; verily god is grateful and knowing. they who conceal any of the evident signs, or the direction which we have sent down, after what we have manifested unto men in the scripture, god shall curse them; and they who curse shall curse them.a but as for those who repent and amend, and make known what they concealed, i will be turned unto them, for i am easy to be reconciled and merciful. surely they who believe not, and die in their unbelief, upon them shall be the curse of god, and of the angels, and of all men; they shall remain under it forever, their punishment shall not be alleviated, neither shall they be regarded.b your god is one god; there is no god but he, the most merciful. now in the creation of heaven and earth, and the vicissitude of night and day, and in the ship which saileth in the sea, loaden with what is profitable for mankind, and in the rain water which god sendeth from heaven, quickening thereby the dead earth, and replenishing the same with all sorts of cattle, and in the change of winds, and the clouds that are compelled to do servicec between heaven and earth, are signs to people of understanding: 	u the original words are literally, who are slain in the way of god; by which expression, frequently occurring in the korân, is always meant war undertaken against unbelievers for the propagation of the mohammedan faith. 	x the souls of martyrs (for such they esteem those who die in battle against infidels), says jallalo'ddin, are in the crops of green birds, which have liberty to fly wherever they please in paradise, and feed on the fruits thereof. 	y an expression frequently in the mouths of the mohammedans, when under any great affliction, or in any imminent danger. 	z safâ and merwâ are two mountains near mecca, whereon were anciently two idols, to which the pagan arabs used to pay a superstitious veneration. jallalo'ddin says this passage was revealed because the followers of mohammed made a scruple of going round these mountains, as the idolaters did. but the true reason of his allowing this relic of ancient superstition seems to be the difficulty he found in preventing it. abul kâsem hebato'llah thinks these last words are abrogated by those other, who will reject the religion of abraham, except he who hath infatuated his souls? so that he will have the meaning to be quite contrary to the letter, as if it had been, it shall be no crime in him if he do not compass them. however, the expositors are all against him , and the ceremony of running between these two hills is still observed at the pilgrimage. 	a that is, the angels, the believers, and all things in general. but yahya interprets it of the curses which will be given to the wicked, when they cry out because of the punishment of the sepulchre, by all who hear them, that is, by all creatures except men and genii. 	b or, as jallalo'ddin expounds it, god will not wait for their repentance. 	c the original word signifies properly that are pressed or compelled to do personal service without hire; which kind of service is often exacted by the eastern princes of their subjects, and is called by the greek and latin writers, angaria. the scripture often mentions this sort of compulsion by force. 	 see the prelim. disc. sect. i.		 see before, p. . 	 vide marracci in alc. p. , &c		 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv.		 jallalo'ddin.		 see prelim. disc. sect. iv		 matth. v. ; xxvii. , &c. 	yet some men take idols beside god, and love them as with the love due to god; but the true believers are more fervent in love towards god. oh that they who act unjustly did perceive,d when they behold their punishment, that all power belongeth unto god, and that he is severe in punishing! when those who have been followed shall separate themselves from their followers,e and shall see the punishment, and the cords of relation between them shall be cut in sunder; the followers shall say, if we could return to life, we would separate ourselves from them, as they have now separated themselves from us. so god will show them their works; they shall sigh grievously, and shall not come forth from the fire of hell. o men, eat of that which is lawful and good on the earth; and tread not in the steps of the devil, for he is your open enemy. verily he commandeth you evil and wickedness, and that ye should say that of god which ye know not. and when it is said unto them who believe not, follow that which god hath sent down; they answer, nay, but we will follow that which we found our fathers practise. what? though their fathers knew nothing, and were not rightly directed? the unbelievers are like unto one who crieth aloud to that which heareth not so much as his calling, or the sound of his voice. they are deaf, dumb, and blind, therefore do they not understand. o true believers, eat of the good things which we have bestowed on you for food, and return thanks unto god, if ye serve him. verily he hath forbidden you to eat that which dieth of itself, and blood and swine's flesh, and that on which any other name but god's hath been invocated.f but he who is forced by necessity, not lusting, nor returning to transgress, it shall be no crime in him if he eat of those things, for god is gracious and merciful. moreover they who conceal any part of the scripture which god hath sent down unto them, and sell it for a small price, they shall swallow into their bellies nothing but fire; god shall not speak unto them on the day of resurrection, neither shall he purify them, and they shall suffer a grievous punishment. 	these are they who have sold direction for error, and pardon for punishment: but how great will their suffering be in the fire! this they shall endure, because god sent down the book of the koran with truth, and they who disagree concerning that book are certainly in a wide mistake. it is not righteousness that ye turn your faces in prayer towards the east and the west, but righteousness is of him who believeth in god and the last day, and the angels, and the scriptures, and the prophets; who giveth money for god's sake unto his kindred, and unto orphans, and the needy, and the stranger, and those who ask, and for redemption of captives; who is constant at prayer, and giveth alms; and of those who perform their covenant, when they have covenanted, and who behave themselves patiently in adversity, and hardships, and in time of violence; these are they who are true, and these are they who fear god. 	d or it may be translated, although the ungodly will perceive, &c. but some copies instead of yara, in the third person, read tara, in the second; and then it must be rendered, oh if thou didst see when the ungodly behold their punishment, &c. 	e that is, when the broachers or heads of new sects shall at the last day forsake or wash their hands of their disciples, as if they were not accomplices in their superstitions. 	f for this reason, whenever the mohammedans kill any animal for food, they always say, bismi llah, or in the name of god; which, if it be neglected, they think it not lawful to eat of it. o true believers, the law of retaliation is ordained you for the slain: the free shall die for the free, and the servant for the servant, and a woman for a woman:g but he whom his brother shall forgive may be prosecuted, and obliged to make satisfaction according to what is just, and a fine shall be set on himh with humanity. this is indulgence from your lord, and mercy. and he who shall transgress after this, by killing the murderer, shall suffer a grievous punishment. and in this law or retaliation ye have life, o ye of understanding, that peradventure ye may fear. it is ordained you, when any of you is at the point of death, if he leave any goods, that he bequeath a legacy to his parents, and kindred, according to what shall be reasonable.i this is a duty incumbent on those who fear god. but he who shall change the legacy, after he hath heard it bequeathed by the dying person, surely the sin thereof shall be on those who change it, for god is he who heareth and knoweth. howbeit he who apprehendeth from the testator any mistake or injustice, and shall compose the matter between them, that shall be no crime in him, for god is gracious and merciful. o true believers, a fast is ordained you, as it was ordained unto those before you, that ye may fear god. a certain number of days shall ye fast: but he among you who shall be sick, or on a journey, shall fast an equal number of other days. and those who cank keep it, and do not, must redeem their neglect by maintaining of a poor man.l and he who voluntarily dealeth better with the poor man than he is obliged, this shall be better for him. but if ye fast, it will be better for you, if ye knew it. 	the month of ramadan shall ye fast, in which the koran was sent down from heaven,n a direction unto men, and declarations of direction, and the distinction between good and evil. therefore, let him among you who shall be present in this month, fast the same month; but he who shall be sick, or on a journey, shall fast the like number of other days. god would make this an ease unto you, and would not make it a difficulty unto you; that ye may fulfil the number of days, and glorify god, for that he hath directed you, and that ye may give thanks. 	g this is not to be strictly taken; for according to the sonna, a man also is to be put to death for the murder of a woman. regard is also to be had to difference in religion, so that a mohammedan, though a slave, is not to be put to death for an infidel, though a freeman. but the civil magistrates do not think themselves always obliged to conform to this last determination of the sonna. 	h this is the common practice in mohammedan countries, particularly in persia, where the relations of the deceased may take their choice, either to have the murderer put into their hands to be put to death, or else to accept of a pecuniary satisfaction. 	i that is, the legacy was not to exceed a third part of the testator's substance, nor to be given where there was no necessity. but this injunction is abrogated by the law concerning inheritances. 	k the expositors differ much about the meaning of this passage, thinking it very improbable that people should be left entirely at liberty either to fast or not, on compounding for it in this manner. jallalo'ddin, therefore, supposes the negative particle not to be understood, and that this is allowed only to those who are not able to fast, by reason of age or dangerous sickness; whether they would fast or maintain a poor man, which liberty was soon after taken away, and this passage abrogated by the following, therefore let him who shall be present in this month, fast the same month. yet this abrogation, he says, does not extend to women with child or that give suck, lest the infant suffer. 	al zamakhshari, having first given an explanation of ebn abbâs, who, by a different interpretation of the arabic word yotikûnaho, which signifies can or are able to fast, renders it, those who find great difficulty therein, &c., adds an exposition of his own, by supposing something to be understood, according to which the sense will be, those who can fast and yet have a legal excuse to break it, must redeem it, &c. 	l according to the usual quantity which a man eats in a day and the custom of the country. 	m see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. 	n i.e., at home, and not in a strange country, where the fact cannot be performed, or on a journey. 	 jallalo'ddin.		 vide chardin voyage de perse, t. ii. p. , &c.		 jallalo'ddin. when my servants ask thee concerning me, verily i am near; i will hear the prayer of him that prayeth, when he prayeth unto me: but let them hearken unto me, and believe in me, that they may be rightly directed. it is lawful for you, on the night of the fast, to go in unto your wives;o they are a garmentp unto you, and ye are a garment unto them. god knoweth that ye defraud yourselves therein, wherefore he turneth unto you, and forgiveth you. now, therefore, go in unto them; and earnestly desire that which god ordaineth you, and eat and drink, until ye can plainly distinguish a white thread from a black thread by the daybreak: then keep the fast until night, and go not in unto them, but be constantly present in the places of worship. these are the prescribed bounds of god, therefore draw not near them to transgress them. thus god declareth his signs unto men, that ye may fear him. consume not your wealth among yourselves in vain; nor present it unto judges, that ye may devour part of men's substance unjustly, against your own consciences. they will ask thee concerning the phases of the moon: answer, they are times appointed unto men, and to show the season of the pilgrimage to mecca. it is not righteousness that ye enter your houses by the back parts thereof,q but righteousness is of him who feareth god. therefore enter your houses by their doors; and fear god, that ye may be happy. and fight for the religion of god against those who fight against you; but transgress not by attacking them first, for god loveth not the transgressors. and kill them wherever ye find them, and turn them out of that whereof they have dispossessed you; for temptation to idolatry is more grievous than slaughter; yet fight not against them in the holy temple, until they attack you therein; but if they attack you, slay them there. this shall be the reward of infidels. but if they desist, god is gracious and merciful. fight therefore against them, until there be no temptation to idolatry, and the religion be god's; but if they desist, then let there be no hostility, except against the ungodly. a sacred month for a sacred month,r and the holy limits of mecca, if they attack you therein, do ye also attack them therein in retaliation; and whoever transgresseth against you by so doing, do ye transgress against him in like manner as he hath transgressed against you, and fear god, and know that god is with those who fear him. 	contribute out of your substance toward the defence of the religion of god, and throw not yourselves with your own hands into perdition;s and do good, for god loveth those who do good. 	o in the beginning of mohammedism, during the fast, they neither lay with their wives, nor ate nor drank after supper. but both are permitted by this passage. 	p a metaphorical expression, to signify the mutual comfort a man and his wife find in each other. 	q some of the arabs had a superstitious custom after they had been at mecca (in pilgrimage, as it seems), on their return home, not to enter their house by the old door, but to make a hole through the back part for a passage, which practice is here reprehended. 	r as to these sacred months, wherein it was unlawful for the ancient arabs to attack one another, see the prelim. disc. sect. vii. 	s i.e., be not accessory to your own destruction, by neglecting your contributions towards the wars against infidels, and thereby suffering them to gather strength. 					 jallalo'ddin. perform the pilgrimage of mecca, and the visitation of god; and, if ye be besieged, send that offering which shall be the easiest; and shave not your heads,t until your offering reacheth the place of sacrifice. but, whoever among you is sick, or is troubled with any distemper of the head, must redeem the shaving his head, by fasting, or alms, or some offering.u when ye are secure from enemies, he who tarrieth in the visitation of the temple of meccax until the pilgrimage, shall bring that offering which shall be the easiest. but he who findeth not anything to offer, shall fast three days in the pilgrimage, and seven when ye are returned: they shall be ten days complete. this is incumbent on him whose family shall not be present at the holy temple. and fear god, and know that god is severe in punishing. the pilgrimage must be performed in the known months:y whosoever therefore purposeth to go on pilgrimage therein, let him not know a woman, nor transgress, nor quarrel in the pilgrimage. the good which ye do, god knoweth it. make provision for your journey; but the best provision is piety and fear me, o ye of understanding. it shall be no crime in you, if ye seek an increase from your lord, by trading during the pilgrimage. and when ye go in processionz from arafat,a remember god near the holy monument;b and remember him for that he hath directed you, although ye were before this of the number of those who go astray. therefore go in procession from whence the people go in procession, and ask pardon of god, for god is gracious and merciful. and when ye have finished your holy ceremonies, remember god, according as ye remember your fathers, or with a more reverent commemoration. there are some men who say, o lord, give us our portion in this world; but such shall have no portion in the next life: and there are others who say, o lord, give us good in this world and also good in the next world, and deliver us from the torment of hell fire. they shall have a portion of that which they have gained: god is swift in taking an account.c remember god the appointed number of days:d but if any haste to depart from the valley of mina in two days, it shall be no crime in him. and if any tarry longer, it shall be no crime in him, in him who feareth god. therefore fear god, and know that unto him ye shall be gathered. 	t for this was a sign they had completed their vow, and performed all the ceremonies of the pilgrimage. 	u that is, either by fasting three days, or feeding six poor people, or sacrificing a sheep. 	x this passage is somewhat obscure. yahya interprets it of him who marries a wife during the visitation, and performs the pilgrimage the year following. but jallalo'ddin expounds it of him who stays within the sacred enclosures, in order to complete the ceremonies which (as it should seem) he had not been able to do within the prescribed time. 	y i.e., shawâl, dhu'lkaada, and dhu'lhajja. see the preliminary discourse, sect. iv. 	z the original word signifies to rush forward impetuously; as the pilgrims do when they proceed from arafat to mozdalifa. 	a a mountain near mecca, so called because adam there met and knew his wife, after a long separation. yet others say that gabriel, after he had instructed abraham in all the sacred ceremonies, coming to arafat, there asked him if he knew the ceremonies which had been shown him; to which abraham answering in the affirmative, the mountain had thence its name. 	b in arabic, al masher al harâm. it is a mountain in the farther part of mozdalifa, where it is said mohammed stood praying and praising god, till his face became extremely shining. bobovious calls it farkh , but the true name seems to be kazah; the variation being occasioned only by the different pointing of the arabic letters. 	c for he will judge all creatures, says jallalo'ddin, in the space of half a day. 	d i.e., three days after slaying the sacrifices. 	 jallalo'ddin.		 see before, p. , note f.		 al hasan. 		 jallalo'ddin. bobov. de peregr. meccana, p. . there is a man who causeth thee to marvele by his speech concerning this present life, and calleth god to witness that which is in his heart, yet he is most intent in opposing thee; 	and when he turneth away from thee, he hasteth to act corruptly in the earth, and to destroy that which is sown, and springeth up:f but god loveth not corrupt doing. and if one say unto him, fear god; pride seizeth him, together with wickedness; but hell shall be his reward, and an unhappy couch shall it be. there is also a man who selleth his soul for the sake of those things which are pleasing unto god;g and god is gracious unto his servants. o true believers, enter into the true religion wholly, and follow not the steps of satan, for he is your open enemy. if ye have slipped after the declarations of our will have come unto you, know that god is mighty and wise. do the infidels expect less than that god should come down to them overshadowed with clouds, and the angels also? but the thing is decreed, and to god shall all things return. ask the children of israel how many evident signs we have showed them; and whoever shall change the grace of god after it shall have come unto him, verily god will be severe in punishing him. the present life was ordained for those who believe not, and they laugh the faithful to scorn; but they who fear god shall be above them, on the day of the resurrection: for god is bountiful unto whom he pleaseth without measure. mankind was of one faith, and god sent prophets bearing good tidings, and denouncing threats and sent down with them the scripture in truth, that it might judge between men of that concerning which they disagreed: and none disagreed concerning it, except those to whom the same scriptures were delivered, after the declarations of god's will had come unto them, out of envy among themselves. and god directed those who believed, to that truth concerning which they disagreed, by his will: for god directeth whom he pleaseth into the right way. did ye think ye should enter paradise, when as yet no such thing had happened unto you, as hath happened unto those who have been before you? they suffered calamity, and tribulation, and were afflicted; so that the apostle, and they who believed with him, said: when will the help of god come? is not the help of god nigh? 	they will ask thee what they shall bestow in alms: answer, the good which ye bestow, let it be given to parents, and kindred, and orphans, and the poor and the stranger. whatsoever good ye do, god knoweth it. war is enjoined you against the infidels; but this is hateful unto you: yet perchance ye hate a thing which is better for you, and perchance ye love a thing which is worse for you: but god knoweth and ye know not. 	e this person was al akhnas ebn shoraik, a fair-spoken dissembler, who swore that he believed in mohammed, and pretended to be one of his friends, and to contemn this world. but god here reveals to the prophet his hypocrisy and wickedness. 	f setting fire to his neighbour's corn, and killing his asses by night. 	g the person here meant was one soheib, who being persecuted by the idolaters of mecca, forsook all he had, and fled to medina. 			 jallalo'ddin.		 idem.		 idem. they will ask thee concerning the sacred month, whether they may war therein: answer, to war therein is grievous; but to obstruct the way of god, and infidelity towards him, and to keep men from the holy temple, and to drive out his people from thence, is more grievous in the sight of god, and the temptation to idolatry is more grievous than to kill in the sacred months. they will not cease to war against you, until they turn you from your religion, if they be able: but whoever among you shall turn back from his religion, and die an infidel, their works shall be vain in this world, and the next; they shall be the companions of hell fire, they shall remain therein forever. but they who believe, and who fly for the sake of religion, and fight in god's cause, they shall hope for the mercy of god; for god is gracious and merciful. they will ask thee concerning wineh and lots:i answer, in both there is great sin, and also some things of use unto men;k but their sinfulness is greater than their use. they will ask thee also what they shall bestow in alms: answer, what ye have to spare. thus god showeth his signs unto you, that peradventure ye might seriously think of this present world, and of the next. they will also ask thee concerning orphans: answer, to deal righteously with them is best; and if ye intermeddle with the management of what belongs to them, do them no wrong; they are your brethren: god knoweth the corrupt dealer from the righteous; and if god please, he will surely distress you,l for god is mighty and wise. marry not women who are idolaters, until they believe: verily a maid- servant who believeth, is better than an idolatress, although she please you more. and give not women who believe in marriage to the idolaters, until they believe: for verily a servant who is a true believer, is better than an idolater, though he please you more. 	they invite unto hell fire, but god inviteth unto paradise and pardon through his will, and declareth his signs unto men, that they may remember. they will ask thee also concerning the courses of women: answer, they are a pollution: therefore separate yourselves from women in their courses, and go not near them, until they be cleansed. but when they are cleansed, go in unto them as god hath commanded you,m for god loveth those who repent, and loveth those who are clean. your wives are your tillage, go in therefore unto your tillage in what manner soever ye will:n and do first some act that may be profitable unto your souls;o and fear god, and know that ye must meet him; and bear good tidings unto the faithful. 	h under the name of wine all sorts of strong and inebriating liquors are comprehended. 	i the original word, al meiser, properly signifies a particular game performed with arrows, and much in use with the pagan arabs. but by lots we are here to understand all games whatsoever, which are subject to chance or hazard, as dice, cards, &c. 	k from these words some suppose that only drinking to excess and too frequent gaming are prohibited. and the moderate use of wine they also think is allowed by these words of the th chapter, and of the fruits of palm-trees and grapes ye obtain inebriating drink, and also good nourishment. but the more received opinion is, that both drinking wine or other strong liquors in any quantity, and playing at any game of chance, are absolutely forbidden. 	l viz., by his curse, which shall certainly bring to nothing what ye shall wrong the orphans of. 	m but not while they have their courses, nor by using preposterous venery. 	n it has been imagined that these words allow that preposterous lust, which the commentators say is forbidden by the preceding; but i question whether this can be proved. 	o i.e., perform some act of devotion or charity. 	 see the prelim. disc. sect. v.		 see ibid.		 vide jallalo'ddin et al zamakhshari.		 see the prelim. disc. ubi sup.		 ebn abbas, jallalo'ddin.		 jallalo'ddin, yahya, al zamakhshari vide lucret. de rer. nat. l. , v. , &c. make not god the object of your oaths,p that ye will deal justly, and be devout, and make peace among men;q for god is he who heareth and knoweth. god will not punish you for an inconsiderate wordr in your oaths; but he will punish you for that which your hearts have assented unto: god is merciful and gracious. they who vow to abstain from their wives, are allowed to wait four months:s but if they go back from their vow, verily god is gracious and merciful;t and if they resolve on a divorce, god is he who heareth and knoweth. the women who are divorced shall wait concerning themselves until they have their courses thrice,u and it shall not be lawful for them to conceal that which god hath created in their wombs,x if they believe in god and the last day; and their husbands will act more justly to bring them back at this time, if they desire a reconciliation. the women ought also to behave towards their husbands in like manner as their husbands should behave towards them, according to what is just: but the men ought to have a superiority over them. god is mighty and wise. ye may divorce your wives twice; and then either retain them with humanity, or dismiss them with kindness. but it is not lawful for you to take away anything of what ye have given them, unless both fear that they cannot observe the ordinances of god.y and if ye fear that they cannot observe the ordinance of god, it shall be no crime in either of them on account of that for which the wife shall redeem herself.z these are the ordinances of god; therefore transgress them not; for whoever transgresseth the ordinances of god, they are unjust doers. but if the husband divorce her a third time, she shall not be lawful for him again, until she marry another husband. but if he also divorce her, it shall be no crime in them if they return to each other, if they think they can observe the ordinances of god, and these are the ordinances of god, he declareth them to people of understanding. 	p so as to swear frequently by him. the word translated object, properly signifies a butt to shoot at with arrows. 	q some commentators expound this negatively, that ye will not deal justly, nor be devout, &c. for such wicked oaths, they say, were customary among the idolatrous inhabitants of mecca; which gave occasion to the following saying of mohammed: when your swear to do a thing, and afterwards find it better to do otherwise, do that which is better, and make void your oath. 	r when a man swears inadvertently, and without design. 	s that is, they may take so much time to consider; and shall not, by a rash oath, be obliged actually to divorce them. 	t i.e., if they be reconciled to their wives within four months, or after, they may retain them, and god will dispense with their oath. 	u this is to be understood of those only with whom the marriage has been consummated; for as to the others there is no time limited. those who are not quite past childbearing (which a woman is reckoned to be after her courses cease, and she is fifty-five lunar years, or about fifty-three solar years old), and those who are too young to have children, are allowed three months only; but they who are with child must wait till they be delivered. 	x that is, they shall tell the real truth, whether they have their courses, or be with child, or not; and shall not, by deceiving their husband, obtain a separation from him before the term be accomplished: lest the first husband's child should, by that means, go to the second; or the wife, in case of the first husband's death, should set up her child as his heir, or demand her maintenance during the time she went with such child, and the expenses of her lying-in, under pretence that she waited not her full prescribed time. 	y for if there be a settled aversion on either side, their continuing together may have very ill, and perhaps fatal consequences. 	z i.e., if she prevail on her husband to dismiss her, by releasing part of her dowry. 	 jallalo'ddin.		 idem. yahya.		 jallalo'ddin. 	 yahya. 	but when ye divorce women, and they have fulfilled their pre-scribed time, either retain them with humanity, or dismiss them with kindness; and retain them not by violence, so that ye transgress;a for he who doth this surely injureth his own soul. and make not the signs of god a jest: but remember god's favor towards you, and that he hath sent down unto you the book of the koran, and wisdom admonishing you thereby; and fear god, and know that god is omniscient. but when ye have divorced your wives, and they have fulfilled their prescribed time, hinder them not from marrying their husbands, when they have agreed among themselves according to what is honourable. this is given in admonition unto him among you who believeth in god, and the last day. this is most righteous for you, and most pure. god knoweth, but ye know not. mothers after they are divorced shall give suck unto their children two full years, to him who desireth the time of giving suck to be completed; and the father shall be obliged to maintain them and clothe them in the mean time, according to that which shall be reasonable. no person shall be obliged beyond his ability. a mother shall not be compelled to what is unreasonable on account of her child nor a father on account of his child. and the heir of the father shall be obliged to do in like manner. but if they choose to wean the child before the end of two years, by common consent, and on mutual consideration, it shall be no crime in them. and if ye have a mind to provide a nurse for your children, it shall be no crime in you, in case ye fully pay what ye offer her, according to that which is just. and fear god, and know that god seeth whatsoever ye do. such of you as die, and leave wives, their wives must wait concerning themselves four months and ten days,b and when they shall have fulfilled their term, it shall be no crime in you, for that which they shall do with themselves,c according to what is reasonable. god well knoweth that which ye do. and it shall be no crime in you, whether ye make public overtures of marriage unto such women, within the said four months and ten days, or whether ye conceal such your designs in your minds: god knoweth that ye will remember them. but make no promises unto them privately, unless ye speak honourable words; and resolve not on the knot of marriage until the prescribed time be accomplished; and know that god knoweth that which is in your minds, therefore beware of him and know that god is gracious and merciful. it shall be no crime in you, if ye divorce your wives, so long as ye have not touched them, nor settled any dowry on them. and provide for them (he who is at his ease must provide according to his circumstances) necessaries, according to what shall be reasonable. this is a duty incumbent on the righteous. but if ye divorce them before ye have touched them, and have already settled a dowry on them, ye shall give them half of what ye have settled, unless they release any part, or he release part in whose hand the knot of marriage is;d and if ye release the whole, it will approach nearer unto piety. and not forget liberality among you, for god seeth that which ye do. 	a viz., by obliging them to purchase their liberty with part of their dowry. 	b that is to say, before they marry again; and this, not only for decency sake, but that it may be known whether they be with child by the deceased or not. 	c that is, if they leave off their mourning weeds, and look out for new husbands. 	d i.e., unless the wife agree to take less than half her dowry, or unless the husband be so generous as to give her more than half, or the whole, which is here approved of as most commendable. carefully observe the appointed prayers, and the middle prayer,e and be assiduous therein, with devotion towards god. but if ye fear any danger, pray on foot or on horseback; and when ye are safe remember god, how he hath taught you what as yet ye knew not. 	and such of you as shall die and leave wives ought to bequeath their wives a year's maintenance, without putting them out of their houses: but if they go out voluntarily, it shall be no crime in you, for that which they shall do with themselves, according to what shall be reasonable; god is mighty and wise. and unto those who are divorced, a reasonable provision is also due; this is a duty incumbent on those who fear god. thus god declareth his signs unto you, that ye may understand. hast thou not considered those, who left their habitations, (and they were thousands,) for fear of death?f and god said unto them, die; then he restored them to life, for god is gracious towards mankind; but the greater part of men do not give thanks. fight for the religion of god, and know that god is he who heareth and knoweth. who is he that will lend unto god on good usury?g verily he will double it unto him manifold; for god contracteth and extendeth his hand as he pleaseth, and to him shall ye return. hast thou not considered the assembly of the children of israel, after the time of moses; when they said unto their prophet samuel, set a king over us, that we may fight for the religion of god. the prophet answered, if ye are enjoined to go to war, will ye be near refusing to fight? they answered, and what should ail us that we should not fight for the religion of god, seeing we are dispossessed of our habitations, and deprived of our children? but when they were enjoined to go to war, they turned back, except a few of them: and god knew the ungodly. and their prophet said unto them, verily god hath set talût,h king over you: they answered, how shall he reign over us, seeing we are more worthy of the kingdom than he, neither is he possessed of great riches? samuel said, verily god hath chosen him before you, and hath caused him to increase in knowledge and stature, for god giveth his kingdom unto whom he pleaseth; god is bounteous and wise. 	e yahya interprets this from a tradition of mohammed, who, being asked which was the middle prayer, answered, the evening prayer, which was instituted by the prophet solomon. but jallalo'ddin allows a greater lattitude, and supposes it may be the afternoon prayer, the morning prayer, the noon prayer, or any other. 	f these were some of the children of israel, who abandoned their dwellings because of a pestilence, or, as others say, to avoid serving in a religious war; but, as they fled, god struck them all dead in a certain valley. about eight days or more after, when their bodies were corrupted, the prophet ezekiel, the son of buzi, happening to pass that way, at the sight of their bones wept; whereupon god said to him, call to them, o ezekiel, and i will restore them to life. and accordingly on the prophet's call they all arose, and lived several years after; but they retained the colour and stench of dead corpses as long as they lived, and the clothes they wore changed as black as pitch, which qualities they transmitted to their posterity. as to the number of these israelites the commentators are not agreed; they who reckon least say they were , , and they who reckon most, , . this story seems to have been taken from ezekiel's vision of the resurrection of dry bones. 	some of the mohammedan writers will have ezekiel to have been one of the judges of israel, and to have succeeded othoniel the son of caleb. they also call this prophet ebn al ajûz, or the son of the old woman; because they say his mother obtained him by her prayers in her old age. 	g viz., by contributing towards the establishment of his true religion. 	h so the mohammedans name saul. 	 jallalo'ddin, yahya, abulfeda, &c.		 ezek. xxxvii. - . 	 al thalabi, abu ishak, &c. and their prophet said unto them, verily the sign of his kingdom shall be, that the ark shall come unto you:i therein shall be tranquility from your lord,k and the relicsl which have been left by the family of moses and the family of aaron; the angels shall bring it. verily this shall be a sign unto you, if ye believe. and when talut departed with his soldiers he said, verily god will prove you by the river: for he who drinketh thereof, shall not be on my side (but he who shall not taste thereof he shall be on my side), except he who drinketh a draught out of his hand. and they drank thereof, except a few of them.m and when they had passed the river, he and those who believed with him, they said, we have no strength to-day, against jalutn and his forces. but they who considered that they should meet god at the resurrection, said, how often hath a small army discomfited a great one, by the will of god! and god is with those who patiently persevere. 	and when they went forth to battle against jalut and his forces, they said, o lord, pour on us patience, and confirm our feet, and help us against the unbelieving people. therefore they discomfited them, by the will of god, and david slew jalut. and god gave him the kingdom and wisdom, and taught him his will;o and if god had not prevented men, the one by the other, verily the earth had been corrupted: but god is beneficent towards his creatures. these are the signs of god: we rehearse them unto thee with truth, and thou art surely one of those who have been sent by god. these are the apostles; we have preferred some of them before others; some of them hath god spoken unto, and hath exalted the degree of others of them. and we gave unto jesus the son of mary manifest signs, and strengthened him with the holy spirit.p and if god had pleased, they who came after those apostles would not have contended among themselves, after manifest signs had been shown unto them. but they fell to variance; therefore some of them believed, and some of them believed not; and if god had so pleased, they would not have contended among themselves; but god doth what he will. 	i this ark, says jallalo'ddin, contained the images of the prophets, and was sent down from heaven to adam, and at length came to the israelites, who put great confidence therein, and continually carried it in the front of their army, till it was taken by the amalekites. but on this occasion the angels brought it back, in the sight of all the people, and placed it at the feet of talût; who was thereupon unanimously acknowledged for their king. 	this relation seems to have arisen from some imperfect tradition of the taking and sending back the ark by the philistines. 	k that is, because of the great confidence the israelites placed in it, having won several battles by its miraculous assistance. i imagine, however, that the arabic word sakînat, which signifies tranquillity or security of mind, and is so understood by the commentators, may not improbably mean the divine presence or glory, which used to appear on the ark, and which the jews express by the same word shechinah. 	l these were the shoes and rod of moses, the mitre of aaron, a pot of manna, and the broken pieces of the two tables of the law. 	m the number of those who drank out of their hands was about . it seems that mohammed has here confounded saul with gideon, who by the divine direction took with him against the midianites such of his army only as lapped water out of their hands, which were men. 	n or goliath. 	o or what he pleased to teach him. yahya most rationally understands hereby the divine revelations which david received from god; but jallalo'ddin the art of making coats of mail (which the mohammedans believe was that prophet's peculiar trade), and the knowledge of the language of birds. 	p see before p. , note k. 	 i sam. iv. v. and vi.		 jallalo'ddin.		 idem, yahya.		 judges vii. o true believers, give alms of that which we have bestowed unto you, before the day cometh wherein there shall be no merchandizing, nor friendship, nor intercession. the infidels are unjust doers. god! there is no god but he;q the living, the self-subsisting: neither slumber nor sleep seizeth him; to him belongeth whatsoever is in heaven, and on earth. who is he than can intercede with him, but through his good pleasure? he knoweth that which is past, and that which is to come unto them, and they shall not comprehend anything of his knowledge, but so far as he pleaseth. his throne is extended over heaven and earth,r and the preservation of both is no burden unto him. he is the high, the mighty. let there be no violence in religion.s now is right direction manifestly distinguished from deceit: whoever therefore shall deny tagut,t and believe in god, he shall surely take hold on a strong handle, which shall not be broken; god is he who heareth and seeth. god is the patron of those who believe; he shall lead them out of darkness into light: but as to those who believe not, their patrons are tagut; they shall lead them from the light into darkness; they shall be the companions of hell fire, they shall remain therein forever. hast thou not considered him who disputed with abraham concerning his lord,u because god had given him the kingdom? when abraham said, my lord is he who giveth life, and killeth: he answered, i give life, and i kill. abraham said, verily god bringeth the sun from the east, now do thou bring it from the west. whereupon the infidel was confounded; for god directeth not the ungodly people. 	or hast thou not considered how he behaved who passed by a city which had been destroyed, even to her foundations?x he said, how shall god quicken this city, after she hath been dead? and god caused him to die for an hundred years, and afterwards raised him to life. and god said, how long hast thou tarried here? he answered, a day, or part of a day. god said, nay, thou hast tarried here a hundred years. now look on thy food and thy drink, they are not yet corrupted; and look on thine ass: and this have we done that we might make thee a sign unto men. and look on the bones of thine ass, how we raise them, and afterwards clothe them with flesh. and when this was shown unto him, he said, i know that god is able to do all things. 	q the following seven lines contain a magnificent description of the divine majesty and providence; but it must not be supposed the translation comes up to the dignity of the original. this passage is justly admired by the mohammedans, who recite it in their prayers; and some of them wear it about them, engraved on an agate or other precious stone. 	r this throne, in arabic called corsi, is by the mohammedans supposed to be god's tribunal, or seat of justice; being placed under that other called al arsh, which they say is his imperial throne. the corsi allegorically signifies the divine providence, which sustains and governs the heaven and the earth, and is infinitely above human comprehension. 	s this passage was particularly directed to some of mohammed's first proselytes, who, having sons that had been brought up in idolatry or judaism, would oblige them to embrace mohammedism by force. 	t this word properly signifies an idol, or whatever is worshipped besides god-particularly the two idols of the meccans, allât and al uzza; and also the devil, or any seducer. 	u this was nimrod, who, as the commentators say, to prove his power of life and death by ocular demonstration, caused two men to be brought before him at the same time, one of whom he slew, and saved the other alive. as to this tyrant's persecution of abraham, see chapter , and the notes thereon. 	x the person here meant was ozair or ezra, who riding on an ass by the ruins of jerusalem, after it had been destroyed by the chaldeans, doubted in his mind by what means god could raise the city and its inhabitants again; whereupon god caused him to die, and he remained in that condition years; at the end of which god restored him to life, and he found a basket of figs and a cruse of wine he had with him not in the least spoiled or corrupted; but his ass was dead, the bones only remaining, and these, while the prophet looked on, were raised and clothed with flesh, becoming an ass again, which being inspired with life, began immediately to bray. 	this apocryphal story may perhaps have taken its rise from nehemiah's viewing of the ruins of jerusalem. 	 vide bobov. de prec. moham. p. , et reland. dissert. de gemmis arab p. , .		 vide d'herbelot, bibl. orient. art. corsi. jallalo'ddin.		 jallalo'ddin, yahya, &c see d'herbel. bibl. orient. art. ozair.		 nehem. ii. , &c. and when abraham said, o lord, show me how thou wilt raise the dead;y god said, dost thou not yet believe? he answered, yea, but i ask this that my heart may rest at ease. god said, take therefore four birds, and divide them;z then lay a part of them on every mountain; then call them, and they shall come swiftly unto thee: and know that god is mighty and wise. the similitude of those who lay out their substance, for advancing the religion of god, is as a grain of corn which produceth seven ears, and in every ear an hundred grains; for god giveth twofold unto whom he pleaseth: god is bounteous and wise. they who lay out their substance for the religion of god, and afterwards follow not what they have so laid out by reproaches or mischief,a they shall have their reward with their lord; upon them shall no fear come, neither shall they be grieved. a fair speech and to forgive, is better than alms followed by mischief. god is rich and merciful. o true believers, make not your alms of none effect by reproaching, or mischief, as he who layeth out what he hath to appear unto men to give alms, and believeth not in god and the last day. the likeness of such a one is as a flint covered with earth, on which a violent rain falleth, and leaveth it hard. they cannot prosper in anything which they have gained, for god directeth not the unbelieving people. and the likeness of those who lay out their substance from a desire to please god, and for an establishment for their souls, is as a garden on a hill, on which a violent rain falleth, and it bringeth forth its fruits twofold; and if a violent rain falleth not on it, yet the dew falleth thereon: and god seeth that which ye do. doth any of you desire to have a garden of palm-trees and vines,b through which rivers flow, wherein ye may have all kinds of fruits, and that he may attain to old age, and have a weak offspring? then a violent fiery wind shall strike it, so that it shall be burned. thus god declareth his signs unto you, that ye may consider. o true believers, bestow alms of the good things which ye have gained, and of that which we have produced for you out of the earth, and choose not the bad thereof, to give it in alms, 	y the occasion of this request of abraham is said to have been on a doubt proposed to him by the devil, in human form, how it was possible for the several parts of the corpse of a man which lay on the sea-shore, and had been partly devoured by the wild beasts, the birds, and the fish, to be brought together at the resurrection. 	z these birds, according to the commentators, were an eagle (a dove, say others), a peacock, a raven and a cock, which abraham cut to pieces, and mingled their flesh and feathers together, or, as some tell us, pounded all in a mortar, and dividing the mass into four parts, laid them on so many mountains, but kept the heads, which he had preserved whole, in his hand. then he called them each by their name, and immediately one part flew to the other, till they all recovered their first shape, and then came to be joined to their respective heads. 	this seems to be taken from abraham's sacrifice of birds mentioned by moses, with some additional circumstances. 	a i.e., either by reproaching the person whom they have relieved with what they have done for him, or by exposing his poverty to his prejudice. 	b this garden is an emblem of alms given out of hypocrisy, or attended with reproaches, which perish, and will be of no service hereafter to the giver. 	 see d'herbelot, p. .		 jallalo'ddin. see d'herbelot, ubi supra.		 gen. xv		 jallalo'ddin. idem. such as ye would not accept yourselves, otherwise than by connivance:c and know that god is rich and worthy to be praised. 	the devil threateneth you with poverty, and commandeth you filthy covetousness; but god promiseth you pardon from himself and abundance: god is bounteous and wise. he giveth wisdom unto whom he pleaseth; and he unto whom wisdom is given hath received much good: but none will consider, except the wise of heart. and whatever alms ye shall give, or whatever vow ye shall vow, verily god knoweth it; but the ungodly shall have none to help them. if ye make your alms to appear, it is well; but if ye conceal them, and give them unto the poor, this will be better for you, and will atone for your sins; and god is well informed of that which ye do. the direction of them belongeth not unto thee; but god directeth whom he pleaseth. the good that ye shall give in alms shall redound unto yourselves; and ye shall not give unless out of desire of seeing the face of god.d and what good thing ye shall give in alms, it shall be repaid you, and ye shall not be treated unjustly; unto the poor who are wholly employed in fighting for the religion of god, and cannot go to and fro on the earth; whom the ignorant man thinketh rich, because of their modesty: thou shalt know them by this mark, they ask not men with importunity; and what good ye shall give in alms, verily god knoweth it. they who distribute alms of their substance night and day, in private and in public, shall have their reward with the lord; on them shall no fear come, neither shall they be grieved. they who devour usury shall not arise from the dead, but as he ariseth whom satan hath infected by a touch:e this shall happen to them because they say, truly selling is but as usury: and yet god hath permitted selling and forbidden usury. he therefore who when there cometh unto him an admonition from his lord abstaineth from usury for the future, shall have what is past forgiven him, and his affair belongeth unto god. but whoever returneth to usury, they shall be the companions of hell fire, they shall continue therein forever. god shall take his blessing from usury, and shall increase alms: for god loveth no infidel, or ungodly person. but they who believe and do that which is right, and observe the stated times of prayer, and pay their legal alms, they shall have their reward with their lord: there shall come no fear on them, neither shall they be grieved. o true believers, fear god, and remit that which remaineth of usury,f if ye really believe; but if ye do it not, hearken unto war, which is declared against you from god and his apostle: yet if ye repent, ye shall have the capital of your money. deal not unjustly with others, and ye shall not be dealt with unjustly. 	c that is, on having some amends made by the seller of such goods, either by abatement of the price, or giving something else to the buyer to make up the value. 	d i.e., for the sake of a reward hereafter, and not for any worldly consideration. 	e viz., like demoniacs or possessed persons, that is, in great horror and distraction of mind and convulsive agitation of body. 	f or the interest due before usury was prohibited. for this some of mohammed's followers exacted of their debtors, supposing they lawfully might. 				 jallalo'ddin.		 idem. if there be any debtor under a difficulty of paying his debt, let his creditor wait till it be easy for him to do it; but if ye remit it as alms, it will be better for you, if ye knew it. 	and fear the day wherein ye shall return unto god; then shall every soul be paid what it hath gained, and they shall not be treated unjustly. o true believers, when ye bind yourselves one to the other in a debt for a certain time, write it down; and let a writer write between you according to justice, and let not the writer refuse writing according to what god hath taught him; but let him write, and let him who oweth the debt dictate, and let him fear god his lord, and not diminish aught thereof. but if he who oweth the debt be foolish, or weak, or be not able to dictate himself, let his agentg dictate according to equity; and call to witness two witnesses of your neighboring men; but if there be not two men, let there be a man and two women of those whom ye shall choose for witnesses: if one of those women should mistake, the other of them will cause her to recollect. and the witnesses shall not refuse, whensoever they shall be called. and disdain not to write it down, be it a large debt, or be it a small one, until its time of payment: this will be more just in the sight of god, and more right for bearing witness, and more easy, that ye may not doubt. but if it be a present bargain which ye transact between yourselves, it shall be no crime in you, if ye write it not down. and take witnesses when ye sell one to the other, and let no harm be done to the writer, nor to the witness; which if ye do, it will surely be injustice in you: and fear god, and god will instruct you, for god knoweth all things. and if ye be on a journey, and find no writer, let pledges be taken: but if one of you trust the other, let him who is trusted return what he is trusted with, and fear god his lord. and conceal not the testimony, for he who concealeth it hath surely a wicked heart: god knoweth that which ye do. whatever is in heaven and on earth is god's: and whether ye manifest that which is in your minds, or conceal it, god will call you to account for it, and will forgive whom he pleaseth, and will punish whom he pleaseth, for god is almighty. the apostle believeth in that which hath been sent down unto him from his lord, and the faithful also. every one of them believeth in god, and his angels, and his scriptures, and his apostles: we make no distinction at all between his apostles.h and they say, we have heard, and do obey: we implore thy mercy, o lord, for unto thee must we return. god will not force any one beyond its capacity: it shall have the good which it gaineth, and it shall suffer the evil which it gaineth. o lord, punish us not, if we forget, or act sinfully: o lord, lay not on us a burden like that which thou hast laid on those who have been before us;i neither make us, o lord, to bear what we have not strength to bear, but be favorable unto us, and spare us, and be merciful unto us. thou art our patron, help us therefore against the unbelieving nations. 	g whoever manages his affairs, whether his father, heir, guardian, or interpreter. 	h but this, say the mohammedans, the jews do, who receive moses but reject jesus; and the christians, who receive both those prophets, but reject mohammed. 	i that is, on the jews, who, as the commentators tell us, were ordered to kill a man by way of atonement, to give one-fourth of their substance in alms, and to cut off an unclean ulcerous part, and were forbidden to eat fat, or animals that divided the hoof, and were obliged to observe the sabbath, and other particulars wherein the mohammedans are at liberty. 		 jallalo'ddin.		 idem.		 idem.		 yahya. chapter iii. entitled, the family of imran;k revealed at medina in the name of the most merciful god. al. m.l there is no god but god, the living, the self-subsisting: he hath sent down unto thee the book of the koran with truth, confirming that which was revealed before it; for he had formerly sent down the law, and the gospel a direction unto men; and he had also sent down the distinction between good and evil. verily those who believe not the signs of god shall suffer a grievous punishment; for god is mighty, able to revenge. surely nothing is hidden from god, of that which is on earth, or in heaven: it is he who formeth you in the wombs, as he pleaseth; there is no god but he, the mighty, the wise. it is he who hath sent down unto thee the book, wherein are some verses clear to be understood, they are the foundation of the book; and others are parabolical.m but they whose hearts are perverse will follow that which is parabolical therein, out of love of schism, and a desire of the interpretation thereof; yet none knoweth the interpretation thereof, except god. but they who are well grounded in the knowledge say, we believe therein, the whole is from our lord; and none will consider except the prudent. o lord, cause not our hearts to swerve from truth, after thou hast directed us: and give us from thee mercy, for thou art he who giveth. o lord, thou shalt surely gather mankind together, unto a day of resurrection: there is no doubt of it, for god will not be contrary to the promise. as for the infidels, their wealth shall not profit them anything, nor their children, against god: they shall be the fuel of hell fire. according to the wont of the people of pharaoh, and of those who went before them, they charged our signs with a lie; but god caught them in their wickedness, and god is severe in punishing. 	say unto those who believe not, ye shall be overcome, and thrown together into hell; and an unhappy couch shall it be. ye have already had a miracle shown you in two armies, which attacked each other:n one army fought for god's true religion, but the other were infidels; they saw the faithful twice as many as themselves in their eyesight; for god strengthened with his help whom he pleaseth. surely herein was an example unto men of understanding. 	k this name is given in the korân to the father of the virgin mary. see below, p. . 	l for the meaning of these letters the reader is referred to the preliminary discourse, sect. iii. 	m this passage is translated according to the exposition of al zamakhshari and al beidâwi, which seems to be the truest. 	the contents of the korân are here distinguished into such passages as are to be taken in the literal sense, and such as require a figurative acceptation. the former being plain and obvious to be understood, compose the fundamental part, or, as the original expresses it, the mother of the book, and contain the principal doctrines and precepts; agreeably to and consistently with which, those passages which are wrapt up in metaphors, and delivered in an enigmatical, allegorical style, are always to be interpreted. 	n the sign or miracle here meant, was the victory gained by mohammed in the second year of the hejra, over the idolatrous meccans, headed by abu sofiân, in the valley of bedr, which is situate near the sea, between mecca and medina. mohammed's forces consisted of no more than three hundred and nineteen men, but the enemy's army of near a thousand, notwithstanding which odds he put them to flight, having killed seventy of the principal koreish, and taken as many prisoners, with the loss of only fourteen of his own men. this was the first victory obtained by the prophet, and though it may seem no very considerable action, yet it 	 see the prelim. disc. sect. iii.		 elmacin. p. . hottinger. hist. orient. l. , c. . abulfed. vit. moham. p. , &c. prideaux's life of mahom. p. , &c. the love and eager desire of wives, and children, and sums heaped up of gold and silver, and excellent horses, and cattle, and land, is prepared for men: this is the provision of the present life; but unto god shall be the most excellent return. say, shall i declare unto you better things than this? for those who are devout are prepared with their lord gardens through which rivers flow; therein shall they continue forever: and they shall enjoy wives free from impurity, and the favor of god; for god regardeth his servants who say, o lord, we do sincerely believe; forgive us therefore our sins, and deliver us from the pain of hell fire: the patient, and the lovers of truth, and the devout, and the almsgivers, and those who ask pardon early in the morning. god hath borne witness that there is no god but he; and the angels, and those who are endowed with wisdom, profess the same; who executeth righteousness; there is no god but he; the mighty, the wise. verily the true religion in the sight of god is islâm;o and they who had received the scriptures dissented not therefrom, until after the knowledge of god's unity had come unto them, out of envy among themselves; but whosoever believeth not in the signs of god, verily god will be swift in bringing him to account. if they dispute with thee, say, i have resigned myself unto god, and he who followeth me doth the same; and say unto them who have received the scriptures, and to the ignorant,p do ye profess the religion of islam? now if they embrace islam, they are surely directed; but if they turn their backs, verily unto thee belongeth preaching only; for god regardeth his servants. 	and unto those who believe not in the signs of god, and slay the prophets without a cause, and put those men to death who teach justice; denounce unto them a painful punishment. these are they whose works perish in this world, and in that which is to come; and they shall have none to help them. was of great advantage to him, and the foundation of all his future power and success. for which reason it is famous in the arabian history, and more than once vaunted in the korân, as an effect of the divine assistance. the miracle, it is said, consisted in three things: . mohammed, by the direction of the angel gabriel, took a handful of gravel and threw it toward the enemy in the attack, saying, may their faces be confounded; whereupon they immediately turned their backs and fled. but though the prophet seemingly threw the gravel himself, yet it is told in the korân, that it was not he, but god, who threw it, that is to say, by the ministry of his angel. . the mohammedan troops seemed to the infidels to be twice as many in number as themselves, which greatly discouraged them. and . god sent down to their assistance first a thousand and afterwards three thousand angels, led by gabriel, mounted on his horse haizûm; and, according to the korân, these celestial auxiliaries really did all the execution, though mohammed's men imagined themselves did it, and fought stoutly at the same time. 	o the proper name of the mohammedan religion, which signifies the resigning or devoting one's self entirely to god and his service. this they say is the religion which all the prophets were sent to teach, being founded on the unity of god. 	p i.e., the pagan arabs, who had no knowledge of the scriptures. 	 see this chapter below, and c. and .		 cap. , not far from the beginning.		 ibid. jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi.		 idem. hast thou not observed those unto whom part of the scripture was given?q they were called unto the book of god, that it might judge between them;r then some of them turned their backs, and retired afar off. this they did because they said, the fire of hell shall by no means touch us, but for a certain number of days;s and that which they had falsely devised hath deceived them in their religion. how then will it be with them, when we shall gather them together at the day of judgment,t of which there is no doubt; and every soul shall be paid that which it hath gained, neither shall they be treated unjustly? say, o god, who possessest the kingdom; thou givest the kingdom unto whom thou wilt, and thou takest away the kingdom from whom thou wilt: thou exaltest whom thou wilt, and thou humblest whom thou wilt: in thy hand is good, for thou art almighty. thou makest the night to succeed the day: thou bringest forth the living out of the dead, and thou bringest forth the dead out of the living;u and providest food for whom thou wilt without measure. let not the faithful take the infidels for their protectors, rather than the faithful: he who doth this shall not be protected of god at all; unless ye fear any danger from them: but god warneth you to beware of himself; for unto god must ye return. say, whether ye conceal that which is in your breasts, or whether ye declare it, god knoweth it; for he knoweth whatever is in heaven, and whatever is on earth: god is almighty. on the last day every soul shall find the good which it hath wrought, present; and the evil which it hath wrought, it shall wish that between itself and that were a wide distance: but god warneth you to beware of himself; for god is gracious unto his servants. say, if ye love god, follow me: then god shall love you, and forgive you your sins; for god is gracious and merciful. say, obey god, and his apostle; but if ye go back, verily god loveth not the unbelievers. 	q that is, the jews. 	r this passage was revealed on occasion of a dispute mohammed had with some jews, which is differently related by the commentators. 	al beidâwi says that mohammed going one day into a jewish synagogue, naïm ebn amru and al hareth ebn zeid asked him what religion he was of? to which he answering, "of the religion of abraham;" they replied, "abraham was a jew." but on mohammed's proposing that the pentateuch might decide the question, they would by no means agree to it. 	but jallalo'ddin tells us that two persons of the jewish religion having committed adultery, their punishment was referred to mohammed, who gave sentence that they should be stoned, according to the law of moses. this the jews refused to submit to, alleging there was no such command in the pentateuch; but on mohammed's appealing to the book, the said law was found therein. whereupon the criminals were stoned, to the great mortification of the jews. 	it is very remarkable that this law of moses concerning the stoning of adulterers is mentioned in the new testament (though i know some dispute the authenticity of that whole passage), but is not now to be found, either in the hebrew or samaritan pentateuch, or in the septuagint; it being only said that such shall be put to death. this omission is insisted on by the mohammedans as one instance of the corruption of the law of moses by the jews. 	it is also observable that there was a verse once extant in the korân, commanding adulterers to be stoned; and the commentators say the words only are abrogated, the sense or law still remaining in force. 	s i.e., forty; the time their forefathers worshipped the calf. al beidâwi adds, that some of them pretended their punishment was to last but seven days, that is, a day for every thousand years which they supposed the world was to endure; and that they imagined they were to be so mildly dealt with, either by reason of the intercession of their fathers the prophets, or because god had promised jacob that his offspring should be punished but slightly. 	t the mohammedans have a tradition that the first banner of the infidels that shall be set up, on the day of judgment, will be that of the jews; and that god will first reproach them with their wickedness, over the heads of those who are present, and then order them to hell. 	u as a man from seed, and a bird from an egg; and vice versâ. 	 john viii. .		 levit. xx. . see whiston's essay towards restoring the true text of the old test. p. , . see the prelim. disc. sect. iii.		 see before, p. , note g. 	 al beidåwi.		 jallalo'ddin 	god hath surely chosen adam, and noah, and the family of abraham, and the family of imrânx above the rest of the world; a race descending the one from the other: god is he who heareth and knoweth. remember when the wife of imrâny said, lord, verily i have vowed unto thee that which is in my womb, to be dedicated to thy service;z accept it therefore of me; for thou art he who heareth and knoweth. and when she was delivered of it, she said, lord, verily i have brought forth a female (and god well knew what she had brought forth), and a male is not as a female.a i have called her mary; and i commend her to thy protection, and also her issue, against satan driven away with stones.b 	x or amrân, is the name of two several persons, according to the mohammedan tradition. one was the father of moses and aaron; and the other was the father of moses and aaron; and the other was the father of the virgin mary; but he is called by some christian writers joachim. the commentators suppose the first, or rather both of them, to be meant in this place; however, the person intended in the next passage, it is agreed, was the latter; who besides mary the mother of jesus, had also a son named aaron, and another sister, named ishá (or elizabeth), who married zacharias, and was the mother of john the baptist; whence that prophet and jesus are usually called by the mohammedans, the two sons of the aunt, or the cousins german. 	from the identity of names it has been generally imagined by christian writers that the korân here confounds mary the mother of jesus, with mary or miriam the sister of moses and aaron; which intolerable anachronism, if it were certain, is sufficient of itself to destroy the pretended authority of this book. but though mohammed may be supposed to have been ignorant enough in ancient history and chronology to have committed so gross a blunder, yet i do not see how it can be made out from the words of the korân. for it does not follow, because two persons have the same name, and have each a father and brother who bear the same names, that they must therefore necessarily be the same person: besides, such a mistake is inconsistent with a number of other places in the korân, whereby it manifestly appears that mohammed well knew and asserted that moses preceded jesus several ages. and the commentators accordingly fail not to tell us that there had passed about one thousand eight hundred years between amrân the father of moses, and amrân the father of the virgin mary: they also make them the sons of different persons; the first, they say, was the son of yeshar, or izhar (though he was really his brother), the son of kâhath, the son of levi; and the other was the son of mathân, whose genealogy they trace, but in a very corrupt and imperfect manner, up to david, and thence to adam. 	it must be observed that though the virgin mary is called in the korân the sister of aaron, yet she is nowhere called the sister of moses; however, some mohammedan writers have imagined that the same individual mary, the sister of moses, was miraculously preserved alive from his time till that of jesus christ, purposely to become the mother of the latter. 	y the imrân here mentioned was the father of the virgin mary, and his wife's name was hannah, or ann, the daughter of fakudh. this woman, say the commentators, being aged and barren, on seeing a bird feed her young ones, became very desirous of issue, and begged a child of god, promising to consecrate it to his service in the temple; whereupon she had a child, but it proved a daughter. 	z the arabic word is free, but here signifies particularly one that is free or detached from all worldly desires and occupations, and wholly devoted to god's service. 	a because a female could not minister in the temple as a male could. 	b this expression alludes to a tradition, that abraham, when the devil tempted him to disobey god in not sacrificing his son, drove the fiend away by throwing stones at him; in memory of which, the mohammedans, at the pilgrimage of mecca, throw a certain number of stones at the devil, with certain ceremonies, in the valley of mina. 	it is not improbable that the pretended immaculate conception of the virgin mary is intimated in this passage; for according to a tradition of mohammed, every person that comes into the world is touched at his birth by the devil, and therefore cries out: mary and her son only excepted, between whom and the evil spirit god placed a veil, so that his touch did not reach them. and for this reason, they say, neither of them were guilty of any sin, like the rest of the children of adam: which peculiar grace they obtained by virtue of this recommendation of them by hannah to god's protection. 	 al zamakhshari, al beidâwi.		 kor. c. .		 vide reland. de rel. moh. p. marracc. in alc. p. , &c. prideaux, letter to the deists, p. .		 exod. vi. .		 al zamakh. al beidâwi.		 vide reland. ubi sup. d'herbelot, bibl. orient. p. . cap. .		 vide guadagnol. apolog. pro rel. christ. contra ahmed ebn zein al abedin. p. . al beidâwi, al thalabi.		 jallalo'ddin, al zamakhshari. 	 jallalo'ddin.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi.		 kitada. therefore the lord accepted her with a gracious acceptance,c and caused her to bear an excellent offspring. and zacharias took care of the child; whenever zacharias went into the chamber to her, he found provisions with her:d and he said, o mary, whence hadst thou this? she answered, this is from god, for god provideth for whom he pleaseth without measure.e there zacharias called on his lord, and said, lord, give me from thee a good offspring, for thou art the hearer of prayer. and the angelsf called to him, while he stood praying in the chamber, saying, verily god promiseth thee a son named john, who shall bear witness to the wordg which cometh from god; and honourable person, chaste,h and one of the righteous prophets. he answered, lord, how shall i have a son, when old age hath overtaken me,i and my wife is barren? the angel said, so god doth that which he pleaseth. zacharias answered, lord, give me a sign. the angel said, thy sign shall be, that thou shalt speak unto no mank for three days, otherwise than by gesture: remember thy lord often, and praise him evening and morning. and when the angels said, o mary, verily god hath chosen thee, and hath purified thee and hath chosen thee above all the women of the world: o mary, be devout towards thy lord, and worship, and bow down with those who bow down. this is a secret history: we reveal it unto thee, although thou wast not present with them when they threw in their rods to cast lots which of them should have the education of mary;l neither wast thou with them, when they strove among themselves. 	when the angels said; o mary, verily god sendeth thee good tidings, that thou shalt bear the word proceeding from himself; his name shall be christ jesus the son of mary, honourable in this world and in the world to come, and one of those who approach near to the presence of god; 	c though the child happened not to be a male, yet her mother presented her to the priests who had the care of the temple, as one dedicated to god; and they having received her, she was committed to the care of zacharias, as will be observed by-and-bye, and he built her an apartment in the temple, and supplied her with necessaries. 	d the commentators say that none went into mary's apartment but zacharias himself, and that he locked seven doors upon her, yet he found she had always winter fruits in summer, and summer fruits in winter. 	e there is a story of fâtema, mohammed's daughter, that she once brought two loaves and a piece of flesh to her father, who returned them to her, and having called for her again, when she uncovered the dish, it was full of bread and meat; and on mohammed's asking her whence she had it, she answered in the words of this passage: this is from god; for god provideth for whom he pleaseth without measure. whereupon he blessed god, who thus favoured her, as he had the most excellent of the daughters of israel. 	f though the word be in the plural, yet the commentators say it was the angel gabriel only. the same is to be understood where it occurs in the following passages. 	g that is, jesus, who, al beidâwi says, is so called because he was conceived by the word or command of god without a father. 	h the original word signifies one who refrains not only from women, but from all other worldly delights and desires. al beidâwi mentions a tradition, that during his childhood some boys invited him to play, but he refused, saying that he was not created to play. 	i zacharias was then ninety-nine years old, and his wife eighty-nine. 	k though he could not speak to anybody else, yet his tongue was at liberty to praise god as he is directed to do by the following words. 	l when mary was first brought to the temple, the priests, because she was the daughter of one of their chiefs, disputed among themselves who should have the education of her. zacharias insisted that he ought to be preferred, because he had married her aunt; but the others not consenting that it should be so, they agreed to decide the matter by casting of lots; whereupon twenty- seven of them went to the river jordan and threw in their rods (or arrows without heads or feathers, such as the arabs used for the same purpose), on which they had written some passages of the law; but they all sank except that of zacharias, which floated on the water; and he had thereupon the care of the child committed to him. 	 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi. vide lud. de dieu, in not. ad hist. christi xaverii, p. .			 al beidâwi. vide de dieu, ubi sup. p. .		 al beidâwi		 idem.		 idem. jallalo'ddin, &c. and he shall speak unto men in the cradle,m and when he is grown up;n and he shall be one of the righteous: she answered, lord, how shall i have a son, since a man hath not touched me? the angel said, so god createth that which he pleaseth: when he decreeth a thing, he only saith unto it, be, and it is: god shall teach him the scripture, and wisdom, and the law, and the gospel; and shall appoint him his apostle to the children of israel; and he shall say, verily i come unto you with a sign from your lord; for i will make before you, of clay, as it were the figure of a bird;o then i will breathe thereon, and it shall become a bird, by the permission of god;p and i will heal him that hath been blind from his birth; and the leper: and i will raise the deadq by the permission of god: and i will prophesy unto you what ye eat, and what ye lay up for store in your houses. verily herein will be a sign unto you, if ye believe. and i come to confirm the law which was revealed before me and to allow unto you as lawful part of that which hath been forbidden you:r and i come unto you with a sign from your lord; therefore fear god, and obey me. verily god is my lord, and your lord; therefore serve him. this is the right way. 	m besides an instance of this given in the korân itself, which i shall not here anticipate, a mohammedan writer, (of no very great credit, indeed) tells two stories, one of jesus's speaking while in his mother's womb, to reprove her cousin joseph for his unjust suspicions of her; and another of his giving an answer to the same person soon after he was born. for joseph being sent by zacharias to seek mary (who had gone out of the city by night to conceal her delivery) and having found her began to expostulate with her, but she made no reply; whereupon the child spoke these words: rejoice, o joseph, and be of good cheer; for god hath brought me forth from the darkness of the womb, to the light of the world; and i shall go to the children of israel, and invite them to the obedience of god. 	these seem all to have been taken from some fabulous traditions of the eastern christians, one of which is preserved to us in the spurious gospel of the infancy of christ; where we read that jesus spoke while yet in the cradle, and said to his mother, verily i am jesus the son of god, the word which thou hast brought forth, as the angel gabriel did declare unto thee; and my father hath sent me to save the world. 	n the arabic word properly signifies a man in full age, that is, between thirty or thirty-four, and fifty-one; and the passage may relate to christ's preaching here on earth. but as he had scarce attained this age when he was taken up into heaven, the commentators choose to understand it of his second coming. 	o some say it was a bat, though others suppose jesus made several birds of different sorts. 	this circumstance is also taken from the following fabulous tradition, which may be found in the spurious gospel above mentioned. jesus being seven years old, and at play with several children of his age, they made several figures of birds and beasts, for their diversion, of clay; and each preferring his own workmanship, jesus told them, that he would make his walk and leap; which accordingly, at his command, they did. he made also several figures of sparrows and other birds, which flew about or stood on his hands as he ordered them, and also ate and drank when he offered them meat and drink. the children telling this to their parents, were forbidden to play any more with jesus, whom they held to be a sorcerer. 	p the commentators observe that these words are added here, and in the next sentence, lest it should be thought jesus did these miracles by his own power, or was god. 	q jallalo'ddin mentions three persons whom christ restored to life, and who lived several years after, and had children, viz., lazarus, the widow's son, and the publican's (i suppose he means the ruler of the synagogue's) daughter. he adds that he also raised shem the son of noah, who, as another writes thinking he had been called to judgment, came out of his grave with his head half grey, whereas men did not grow grey in his days; after which he immediately died again. 	r such as the eating of fish that have neither fins nor scales, the caul and fat of animals, and camel's flesh, and to work on the sabbath. these things, say the commentators, being arbitrary institutions in the law of moses, were abrogated by jesus; as several of the same kind, instituted by the latter, have been since abrogated by mohammed. 	 cap. .		 vide sikii notas in evang. infant. p. . 	 al kessai, apud eundem		 evang. infant. p. .		 jallalo'ddin. al beidâwi.		 jallalo'ddin.		 al thalabi 	 evang. infant. p. , &c		 al beidâwi, &c.		 al thalabi.		 al beidâwi. jallalo'ddin. but when jesus perceived their unbelief, he said, who will be my helpers towards god? the apostles answered,s we will be the helpers of god; we believe in god, and do thou bear witness that we are true believers. o lord, we believe in that which thou hast sent down, and we have followed thy apostle; write us down therefore with those who bear witness of him. and the jews devised a stratagem against him;t but god devised a stratagem against them;u and god is the best deviser of stratagems. 	s in arabic, al hawâriyûn; which word they derive from hâra, to be white, and suppose the apostles were so called either from the candour and sincerity of their minds, or because they were princes and wore white garments, or else because they were by trade fullers. according to which last opinion, their vocation is thus related; that as jesus passed by the seaside, he saw some fullers at work, and accosting them, said, ye cleanse these clothes, but cleanse not your hearts; upon which they believed on him. but the true etymology seems to be from the ethiopic verb hawyra, to go; whence hawârya signifies one that is sent, a messenger or apostle. 	t i.e., they laid a design to take away his life. 	u this stratagem of god's was the taking of jesus up into heaven, and stamping his likeness on another person, who was apprehended and crucified in his stead. for it is the constant doctrine of the mohammedans that it was not jesus himself who underwent that ignominious death, but somebody else in his shape and resemblance. the person crucified some will have to be a spy that was sent to entrap him; others, that it was one titian, who by the direction of judas entered in at a window of the house where jesus was, to kill him; and others that it was judas himself, who agreed with the rulers of the jews to betray him for thirty pieces of silver, and led those who were sent to take him. 	they add, that jesus after his crucifixion in effigy, was sent down again to the earth, to comfort his mother and disciples and acquaint them how the jews were deceived; and was then taken up a second time into heaven. 	it is supposed by several that this story was an original invention of mohammed's; but they are certainly mistaken; for several sectaries held the same opinion, long before his time. the basilidians, in the very beginning of christianity, denied that christ himself suffered, but that simon the cyrenean was crucified in his place. the cerinthians before them, and the carpocratians next (to name no more of those who affirmed jesus to have been a mere man), did believe the same thing; that it was not himself, but one of his followers very like him that was crucified. photius tells us, that he read a book entitled, "the journeys of the apostles," relating the acts of peter, john, andrew, thomas and paul; and among other things contained therein, this was one, that christ, was not crucified, but another in his stead, and that therefore he laughed at his crucifiers, or those who thought they had crucified him. 	i have in another place mentioned an apocryphal gospel of barnabas, a forgery originally of some nominal christians, but interpolated since by mohammedans; which gives this part of the history of jesus with circumstances too curious to be omitted. it is therein related, that the moment the jews were going to apprehend jesus in the garden, he was snatched up into the third heaven by the ministry of four angels, gabriel, michael, raphael and uriel; that he will not die till the end of the world, and that it was judas who was crucified in his stead; god having permitted that traitor to appear so like his master, in the eyes of the jews, that they took and delivered him to pilate. that this resemblance was so great, that it deceived the virgin mary and the apostles themselves; but that jesus christ afterward obtained leave of god to go and comfort them. that barnabas having then asked him, why the divine goodness had suffered the mother and disciples of so holy a prophet to believe even for one moment that he had died in so ignominious a manner? jesus returned the following answer. "o barnabas, believe me that every sin, how small soever, is punished by god with great torment, because god is offended with sin. my mother therefore and faithful disciples, having loved me with a mixture of earthly love, the just god has been pleased to punish this love with their present grief, that they might not be punished for it hereafter in the flames of hell. and as for me, though i have myself been blameless in the world, yet other men having called me god and the son of god; therefore god, that i might not be mocked by the devils at the day of judgment, has been pleased that in this world i should be mocked by men with the death of judas, making everybody believe that i died upon the cross. and hence it is that this mocking is still to continue till the coming of mohammed, the messenger of god; who, coming into the world, will undeceive every one who shall believe in the law of god from this mistake. 	 idem.		 vide ludolfi lexic. Æthiop. col. , et golii notas ad cap. korâni, p. .		 see kor. c. . vide marracc. in alc. p. , &c., et in prodr. part iii. p. , &c. 	 irenæus, l. i, c. , &c. epiphan. hæres. , num. iii. photius, bibl. cod. , col. .		 toland's nararenus, p , &c.		 prelim. disc. sect. iv.		 see the menagiana. tom. iv. p. , &c. when god said, o jesus, verily i will cause thee to die,x and i will take thee up unto me,y and i will deliver thee from the unbelievers; and i will place those who follow thee above the unbelievers, until the day of resurrection:z then unto me shall ye return, and i will judge between you of that concerning which ye disagree. moreover, as for the infidels, i will punish them with a grievous punishment in this world, and in that which is to come; and there shall be none to help them. 	but they who believe, and do that which is right, he shall give them their reward: for god loveth not the wicked doers. these signs and this prudent admonition do we rehearse unto thee. verily the likeness of jesus in the sight of god is as the likeness of adam; he created him out of the dust, and then said unto him, be; and he was.a this is the truth from thy lord; be not therefore one of those who doubt; and whoever shall dispute with thee, concerning him,b after the knowledge which hath been given thee, say unto them, come, let us call together our sons and your sons, and our wives and your wives, and ourselves and yourselves; then let us make imprecations, and lay the curse of god on those who lie.c verily this is a true history: and there is no god, but god; and god is most mighty and wise. if they turn back, god well knoweth the evil doers. say, o ye who have received the scripture, come to a just determination between us and you;d that we worship not any except god, and associate no creature with him; and that the one of us take not the other for lords,e beside god. but if they turn back, say, bear witness that we are true believers. 	x it is the opinion of a great many mohammedans that jesus was taken up into heaven without dying; which opinion is consonant to what is delivered in the spurious gospel above mentioned. wherefore several of the commentators say that there is a hysteron proteron in these words, i will cause thee to die, and i will take thee up unto me; and that the copulative does not import order, or that he died before his assumption; the meaning being this, viz., that god would first take jesus up to heaven, and deliver him from the infidels, and afterwards cause him to die; which they suppose is to happen when he shall return into the world again, before the last day. some, thinking the order of the words is not to be changed, interpret them figuratively, and suppose their signification to be that jesus was lifted up while he was asleep, or that god caused him to die a spiritual death to all worldly desires. but others acknowledge that he actually died a natural death, and continued in that state three hours, or, according to another tradition, seven hours; after which he was restored to life, and then taken up to heaven. 	y some mohammedans say this was done by the ministry of gabriel; but others that a strong whirlwind took him up from mount olivet. 	z that is, they who believe in jesus (among whom the mohammedans reckon themselves) shall be for ever superior to the jews, both in arguments and in arms. and accordingly, says al beidâwi, to this very day the jews have never prevailed either against the christians or moslems, nor have they any kingdom or established government of their own. 	a he was like to adam in respect of his miraculous production by the immediate power of god. 	b namely, jesus. 	c to explain this passage their commentators tell the following story. that some christians, with their bishop named abu hareth, coming to mohammed as ambassadors from the inhabitants of najrân, and entering into some disputes with him touching religion and the history of jesus christ, they agreed the next morning to abide the trial here mentioned, as a quick way of deciding which of them were in the wrong. mohammed met them accordingly, accompanied by his daughter fâtema, his son-in-law ali, and his two grandsons, hasan and hosein, and desired them to wait till he had said his prayers. but when they saw him kneel down, their resolution failed them, and they durst not venture to curse him, but submitted to pay him tribute. 	d that is, to such terms of agreement as are indisputably consonant to the doctrine of all the prophets and scriptures, and therefore cannot be reasonably rejected. 	e besides other charges of idolatry on the jews and christians, mohammed accused them of paying too implicit an obedience to their priests and monks, who took upon them to pronounce what things were lawful, and what unlawful, and to dispense with the laws of god. 	 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv.		 al beidâwi.		 al thalabi. see kings ii. i, ii jallalo'ddin, &c		 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi.		 idem. 	 idem. o ye to whom the scriptures have been given, why do ye dispute concerning abraham,f since the law and the gospel were not sent down until after him? do ye not therefore understand? behold ye are they who dispute concerning that which ye have some knowledge in; why therefore do you dispute concerning that which ye have no knowledge of?g god knoweth, but ye know not. 	abraham was neither a jew nor a christian; but he was of the true religion, one resigned unto god, and was not of the number of the idolaters. verily the men who are the nearest of kin unto abraham are they who follow him; and this prophet, and they who believed on him: god is the patron of the faithful. some of those who have received the scriptures desire to seduce you;h but they seduce themselves only, and they perceive it not. o ye who have received the scriptures, why do ye not believe in the signs of god, since ye are witnesses of them? o ye who have received the scriptures, why do you clothe truth with vanity, and knowingly hide the truth?i and some of those to whom the scriptures were given say, believe in that which hath been sent down unto those who believe, in the beginning of the day, and deny it in the end thereof; that they may go back from their faith;k and believe him only who followeth your religion. say, verily the true direction is the direction of god, that there may be given unto some other a revelation like unto what hath been given unto you. will they dispute with you before your lord? say, surely excellence is in the hand of god, he giveth it unto whom he pleaseth; god is bounteous and wise: he will confer peculiar mercy on whom he pleaseth; for god is endued with great beneficence. 	f viz., by pretending him to have been of your religion. 	g i.e., ye perversely dispute even concerning those things which ye find in the law and the gospel, whereby it appears they were both sent down long after abraham's time; why then will ye offer to dispute concerning such points of abraham's religion, of which your scriptures say nothing, and of which ye consequently can have no knowledge? 	h this passage was revealed when the jews endeavoured to pervert hodheifa, ammâr, and moâdh to their religion. 	i the jews and christians are again accused of corrupting the scriptures and stifling the prophecies concerning mohammed. 	k the commentators, to explain this passage, say that caab ebn al ashraf and malec ebn al seif (two jews of medina) advised their companions, when the keblah was changed, to make as if they believed it was done by the divine direction, and to pray towards the caaba in the morning, but that in the evening they should pray, as formerly, towards the temple of jerusalem; that mohammed's followers, imagining the jews were better judges of this matter than themselves, might imitate their example. but others say these were certain jewish priests of khaibar, who directed some of their people to pretend in the morning that they had embraced mohammedism, but in the close of the day to say that they had looked into their books of scripture, and consulted their rabbins, and could not find that mohammed was the person described and intended in the law, by which trick they hoped to raise doubts in the minds of the mohammedans. 	al beidâwi.		 idem.		 see before, c. , p. . 	 al beidâwi there is of those who have received the scriptures, unto whom if thou trust a talent he will restore it unto thee;l and there is also of them, unto whom if thou trust a dinâr, he will not restore it unto thee, unless thou stand over him continually with great urgency.m this they do because they say, we are not obliged to observe justice with the heathen: but they utter a lie against god, knowingly. 	yea, whoso keepeth his covenant, and feareth god, god surely loveth those who fear him. but they who make merchandise of god's covenant, and of their oaths, for a small price, shall have no portion in the next life, neither shall god speak to them or regard them on the day of resurrection, nor shall he cleanse them; but they shall suffer a grievous punishment. and there are certainly some of them who read the scriptures perversely, that ye may think what they read to be really in the scriptures, yet it is not in the scripture; and they say, this is from god; but it is not from god: and they speak that which is false concerning god, against their own knowledge. it is not fit for a man, that god should give him a book of revelations, and wisdom, and prophecy; and then he should say unto men, be ye worshippers of me, besides god; but he ought to say, be ye perfect in knowledge and in works, since ye know the scriptures, and exercise yourselves therein.n god hath not commanded you to take the angels and the prophets for your lords: will he command you to become infidels, after ye have been true believers? and remember when god accepted the covenant of the prophets,o saying, this verily is the scripture and the wisdom which i have given you: hereafter shall an apostle come unto you, confirming the truth of that scripture which is with you; ye shall surely believe in him, and ye shall assist him. god said, are ye firmly resolved, and do ye accept my covenant on this condition? they answered, we are firmly resolved: god said, be ye therefore witnesses; and i also bear witness with you: and whosoever turneth back after this, they are surely the transgressors. do they therefore seek any other religion but god's? since to him is resigned whosoever is in heaven or on earth, voluntarily or of force: and to him shall they return. 	l as an instance of this, the commentators bring abd'allah ebn salâm, a jew, very intimate with mohammed, to whom one of the koreish lent , ounces of gold, which he very punctually repaid at the time appointed. 	m al beidâwi produces an example of such a piece of injustice in one phineas ebn azûra, a jew, who borrowed a dinâr, which is a gold coin worth about ten shillings, of a koreishite, and afterwards had the conscience to deny it. 	but the person more directly struck at in this passage was the above- mentioned caab ebn al ashraf, a most inveterate enemy of mohammed and his religion, of whom jallalo'ddin relates the same story as al beidâwi does of phineas. this caab, after the battle of bedr, went to mecca, and there, to excite the koreish to revenge themselves, made and recited verses lamenting the death of those who were slain in that battle, and reflecting very severely on mohammed; and he afterwards returned to medina, and had the boldness to repeat them publicly there also, at which mohammed was so exceedingly provoked that he proscribed him, and sent a party of men to kill him, and he was circumvented and slain by mohammed ebn moslema, in the third year of the hejra. dr. prideaux has confounded the caab we are now speaking of with another very different person of the same name, and a famous poet, but who was the son of zohair, and no jew, as a learned gentleman has already observed. in consequence of which mistake, the doctor attributes what the arabian historians write of the latter to the former, and wrongly affirms that he was not put to death by mohammed. 	some of the commentators, however, suppose that in the former part of this passage the christians are intended, who, they say, are generally people of some honour and justice; and in the latter part the jews, who, they think, are more given to cheating and dishonesty. 	n this passage was revealed, say the commentators, in answer to the christians, who insisted that jesus had commanded them to worship him as god. al beidâwi adds that two christians, named abu râfé al koradhi and al seyid al najrâni, offered to acknowledge mohammed for their lord, and to worship him; to which he answered, god forbid that we should worship any besides god. 	o some commentators interpret this of the children of israel themselves, of whose race the prophets were. but others say the souls of all the prophets, even of those who were not then born, were present on mount sinai when god gave the law to moses, and that they entered into the covenant here mentioned with him. a story borrowed by mohammed from the talmudists, and therefore most probably his true meaning in this place. 	 see prideaux's life of mahom. p. .		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin.		 al jannâbi, elmacin. life of mahom. p. , &c.		 vide gagnier, in not. ad abulfed. vit. moh. p. and .		 al beidâwi. say, we believe in god, and that which hath been sent down unto us, and that which was sent down unto abraham, and ismael, and isaac, and jacob, and the tribes, and that which was delivered to moses, and jesus, and the prophets from their lord; we make no distinction between any of them; and to him are we resigned. whoever followeth any other religion than islam, it shall not be accepted of him: and in the next life he shall be of those who perish.p 	how shall god direct men who have become infidels after they had believed, and borne witness that the apostle was true, and manifest declarations of the divine will had come unto them? for god directeth not the ungodly people. their reward shall be, that on them shall fall the curse of god and of angels, and of all mankind: they shall remain under the same forever; their torment shall not be mitigated, neither shall they be regarded; except those who repent after this, and amend; for god is gracious and merciful. moreover they who become infidels after they have believed, and yet increase in infidelity, their repentance shall in no wise be accepted, and they are those who go astray. verily they who believe not, and die in their unbelief, the world full of gold shall in nowise be accepted from any of them, even though he should give it for his ransom; they shall suffer a grievous punishment, and they shall have none to help them. ye will never attain unto righteousness until ye give in alms of that which ye love: and whatever ye give, god knoweth it. all food was permitted unto the children of israel, except what israel forbade unto himself,q before the pentateuch was sent down.r say unto the jews, bring hither the pentateuch and read it, if ye speak truth. whoever therefore contriveth a lie against god after this, they will be evil doers. say, god is true: follow ye therefore the religion of abraham the orthodox; for he was no idolater. 	verily the first house appointed unto men to worship in was that which was in becca;s blessed, and a direction to all creatures.t 	p see before, chapter , p. , note y. 	q this passage was revealed on the jews reproaching mohammed and his followers with their eating of the flesh and milk of camels, which they said was forbidden abraham, whose religion mohammed pretended to follow. in answer to which he tells them that god ordained no distinction of meats before he gave the law to moses, though jacob voluntarily abstained from the flesh and milk of camels; which some commentators say was the consequence of a vow made by that patriarch, when afflicted with the sciatica, that if he were cured he would eat no more of that meat which he liked best; and that was camel's flesh: but others suppose he abstained from it by the advice of physicians only. 	this exposition seems to be taken from the children of israel's not eating of the sinew on the hollow of the thigh, because the angel, with whom jacob wrestled at peniel, touched the hollow of his thigh in the sinew that shrank. 	r wherein the israelites, because of their wickedness and perverseness, were forbidden to eat certain animals which had been allowed their predecessors. 	s mohammed received this passage when the jews said that their keblah, or the temple of jerusalem, was more ancient than that of the mohammedans, or the caaba. becca is another name of mecca. al beidâwi observes that the arabs used the "m" and "b" promiscuously in several words. 	t i.e., the keblah, towards which they are to turn their faces in prayer. 	 see levit. xi. ; deut. xiv. .		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin. 	 gen. xxxii. .		 kor. c. . see the notes there. 	 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin.		 see the prelim. disc sect. i. p. . therein are manifest signs:u the place where abraham stood; and whoever entereth therein, shall be safe. and it is a duty towards god, incumbent on those who are able to go thither,x to visit this house; but whosoever disbelieveth, verily god needeth not the service of any creature. say, o ye who have received the scriptures, why do ye not believe in the signs of god? say, o ye who have received the scriptures, why do ye keep back from the way of god, him who believeth? ye seek to make it crooked, and yet are witnesses that it is the right: but god will not be unmindful of what ye do. o true believers, if ye obey some of those who have received the scripture, they will render you infidels, after ye have believed:y and how can ye be infidels, when the signs of god are read unto you, and his apostle is among you? but he who cleaveth firmly unto god, is already directed in the right way. o believers, fear god with his true fear, and die not unless ye also be true believers. and cleave all of you unto the covenantz of god, and depart not from it, and remember the favor of god towards you: since ye were enemies, and he reconciled your hearts, and ye became companions and brethren by his favor: and ye were on the brink of a pit of fire, and he delivered you thence. thus god declareth unto you his signs, that ye may be directed. 	let there be people among you who invite to the best religion; and command that which is just, and forbid that which is evil; and they shall be happy. and be not as they who are divided, and disagree in matters of religion,a after manifest proofs have been brought unto them: they shall suffer a great torment. on the day of resurrection some faces shall become white, and other faces shall become black.b and unto them whose faces shall become black, god will say, have ye returned unto your unbelief, after ye had believed? therefore taste the punishment, for that ye have been unbelievers: but they whose faces shall become white shall be in the mercy of god, therein shall they remain for ever. 	u such is the stone wherein they show the print of abraham's feet, and the inviolable security of the place immediately mentioned; that the birds light not on the roof of the caaba, and wild beasts put off their fierceness there; that none who came against it in a hostile manner ever prospered, as appeared particularly in the unfortunate expedition of abraha al ashram; and other fables of the same stamp which the mohammedans are taught to believe. 	x according to an exposition of this passage attributed to mohammed, he is supposed to be able to perform the pilgrimage, who can supply himself with provisions for the journey, and a beast to ride upon. al shâfeï has decided that those who have money enough, if they cannot go themselves, must hire some other to go in their room. malec ebn ans thinks he is to be reckoned able who is strong and healthy, and can bear the fatigue of the journey on foot, if he has no beast to ride, and can also earn his living by the way. but abu hanîfa is of opinion that both money sufficient and health of body are requisite to make the pilgrimage a duty. 	y this passage was revealed on occasion of a quarrel excited between the tribes of al aws and al khazraj, by one shâs ebn kais, a jew; who, passing by some of both tribes as they were sitting and discoursing familiarly together, and being inwardly vexed at the friendship and harmony which reigned among them on their embracing mohammedism, whereas they had been, for years before, most inveterate and mortal enemies, though descendants of two brothers; in order to set them at variance, sent a young man to sit down by them, directing him to relate the story of the battle of boâth (a place near medina), wherein, after a bloody fight, al aws had the better of al khazraj, and to repeat some verses on that subject. the young man executed his orders; whereupon those of each tribe began to magnify themselves, and to reflect on and irritate the other, till at length they called to arms, and great numbers getting together on each side, a dangerous battle had ensued, if mohammed had not stepped in and reconciled them; by representing to them how much they would be to blame if they returned to paganism, and revived those animosities which islâm had composed; and telling them that what had happened was a trick of the devil to disturb their present tranquility. 	z literally, hold fast by the cord of god. that is, secure yourselves by adhering to islâm, which is here metaphorically expressed by a cord, because it is as sure a means of saving those who profess it from perishing hereafter, as holding by a rope is to prevent one's falling into a well, or other like place. it is said that mohammed used for the same reason to call the korân, habl allah al matîn, i.e., the sure cord of god. 	a i.e., as the jews and christians, who dispute concerning the unity of god, the future state, &c. 	b see the preliminary discourse, sect. iv. 	 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi.		 see kor. c. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem. idem.		 idem these are the signs of god: we recite them unto thee with truth. god will not deal unjustly with his creatures. and to god belongeth whatever is in heaven and on earth; and to god shall all things return. ye are the best nation that hath been raised up unto mankind: ye command that which is just, and ye forbid that which is unjust, and ye believe in god. and if they who have received the scriptures had believed, it had surely been the better for them: there are believers among them,c but the greater part of them are transgressors. they shall not hurt you, unless with a slight hurt; and if they fight against you, they shall turn their backs to you; and they shall not be helped.d they are smitten with vileness wheresoever they are found; unless they obtain security by entering into a treaty with god, and a treaty with men:f and they draw on themselves indignation from god, and they are afflicted with poverty. this they suffer, because they disbelieved the signs of god,g and slew the prophets unjustly; this, because they were rebellious, and transgressed. yet they are not all alike: there are of those who have received the scriptures, upright people; they meditate on the signs of god in the night season, and worship; 	they believe in god, and the last day; and command that which is just, and forbid that which is unjust, and zealously strive to excel in good works; these are of the righteous. and ye shall not be denied the reward of the good which ye do;h for god knoweth the pious. as for the unbelievers, their wealth shall not profit them at all, neither their children, against god: they shall be the companions of hell fire; they shall continue therein forever. the likeness of that which they lay out in this present life, is as a wind wherein there is a scorching cold: it falleth on the standing corn of those men who have injured their own souls, and destroyeth it. and god dealeth not unjustly with them; but they injure their own souls. o true believers, contract not an intimate friendship with any besides yourselves;i they will not fail to corrupt you. they wish for that which may cause you to perish: their hatred hath already appeared from out of their mouths; but what their breasts conceal is yet more inveterate. we have already shown you signs of their ill will towards you, if ye understand. behold, ye love them, and they do not love you: ye believe in all the scriptures, and when they meet you, they say, we believe; but when they assemble privately together, they bite their fingers' ends out of wrath against you. say unto them, die in your wrath: verily god knoweth the innermost part of your breasts. if good happen unto you, it grieveth them; and if evil befall you, they rejoice at it. but if ye be patient, and fear god, their subtlety shall not hurt you at all; for god comprehendeth whatever they do. 	c as abd'allah ebn salâm and his companions, and those of the tribes of al aws and al khazraj who had embraced mohammedism. 	d this verse, al beidâwi says, is one of those whose meaning is mysterious, and relates to something future: intimating the low condition to which the jewish tribes of koreidha, nadîr, banu kainokâ, and those who dwelt at khaibar, were afterwards reduced by mohammed. 	e i.e., unless they either profess the mohammedan religion, or submit to pay tribute. 	f those namely who have embraced islâm. 	g that is, the korân. 	h some copies have a different reading in this passage, which they express in the third person: they shall not be denied, &c. 	i i.e., of a different religion. 						 al beidâwi. call to mind when thou wentest forth early from thy family, that thou mightest prepare the faithful a camp for war;k and god hear and knew it; when two companies of you were anxiously thoughtful, so that ye became faint-hearted;l but god was the supporter of them both; and in god let the faithful trust. and god had already given you the victory at bedr,m when ye were inferior in number; therefore fear god, that ye may be thankful. 	when thou saidst unto the faithful, is it not enough for you, that your lord should assist you with three thousand angels sent down from heaven? verily if ye persevere, and fear god, and your enemies come upon you suddenly, your lord will assist you with five thousand angels, distinguished by their horses and attire.n and this god designed only as good tidings for youo that your hearts might rest secure; for victory is from god alone, the mighty, the wise. that he should cut off the uttermost part of the unbelievers, or cast them down, or that they should be overthrown and unsuccessful is nothing to thee. it is no business of thine; whether god be turned unto them, or whether he punish them; they are surely unjust doers.p to god belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and on earth: he spareth whom he pleaseth, and he punisheth whom he pleaseth; for god is merciful. o true believers, devour nor usury, doubling it twofold; but fear god, that ye may prosper: and fear the fire which is prepared for the unbelievers; and obey god, and his apostle that ye may obtain mercy. and run with emulation to obtain remission from your lord, and paradise, whose breath equalleth the heavens and the earth, which is prepared for the godly; 	k this was at the battle of ohod, a mountain about four miles to the north of medina. the koreish, to revenge their loss at bedr, the next year being the third of the hejra, got together an army of , men, among whom there were horse, and armed with coats of mail. these forces marched under the conduct of abu sofiân and sat down at dhu'lholeifa, a village about six miles from medina. mohammed, being much inferior to his enemies in numbers, at first determined to keep himself within the town, and receive them there; but afterwards, the advice of some of his companions prevailing, he marched out against them at the head of , men (some say he had , men, others but ), of whom were armed with coats of mail, but he had no more than one horse, besides his own, in his whole army. with these forces he formed a camp in a village near ohod, which mountain he contrived to have on his back; and the better to secure his men from being surrounded, he placed fifty archers in the rear, with strict orders not to quit their post. when they came to engage, mohammed had the better at first, but afterwards by the fault of his archers, who left their ranks for the sake of the plunder, and suffered the enemies' horse to encompass the mohammedans and attack them in the rear, he lost the day, and was very near losing his life, being struck down by a shower of stones, and wounded in the face with two arrows, on pulling out of which his two foreteeth dropped out. of the moslems seventy men were slain, and among them hamza the uncle of mohammed, and of the infidels twenty-two. to excuse the ill success of this battle, and to raise the drooping courage of his followers, is mohammed's drift in the remaining part of this chapter. 	l these were some of the families of banu salma of the tribe of al khazraj, and banu'l hareth of the tribe of al aws, who composed the two wings of mohammed's army. some ill impression had been made on them by abda'llah ebn obba solûl, then an infidel, who having drawn off men, told them that they were going to certain death, and advised them to return back with him; but he could prevail on but a few, the others being kept firm by the divine influence, as the following words intimate. 	m see before, p. . 	n the angels who assisted the mohammedans at bedr, rode, say the commentators, on black and white horses, and had on their heads white and yellow sashes, the ends of which hung down between their shoulders. 	o i.e., as an earnest of future success. 	p this passage was revealed when mohammed received the wounds above mentioned at the battle of ohod, and cried out, how shall that people prosper who have stained their prophet's face with blood, while he called them to their lord? the person who wounded him was otha the son of abu wakkas. 	 see before, p. .		 abulfeda, in vita moham. p. , &c. el macin. l. x. prideaux's life of mahomet, p. . al beidâwi. who give alms in prosperity and adversity; who bridle their anger, and forgive men; for god loveth the beneficent.q and who, after they have committed a crime, or dealt unjustly with their own souls, remember god, and ask pardon for their sins, (for who forgiveth sins except god?) and persevere not in what they have done knowingly; 	their reward shall be pardon from their lord, and gardens wherein rivers flow, they shall remain therein forever: and how excellent is the reward of those who labor! there have already been before you examples of punishment of infidels, therefore go through the earth, and behold what hath been the end of those who accuse god's apostles of imposture. this book is a declaration unto men, and a direction and an admonition to the pious. and be not dismayed, neither be ye grieved; for ye shall be superior to the unbelievers if ye believe. if a wound hath happened unto you in war,r a like wound hath already happened unto the unbelieving people:s and we cause these days of different success interchangeably to succeed each other among men; that god may know those who believe, and may have martyrs from among you: (god loveth not the workers of iniquity;) and that god might prove those who believe, and destroy the infidels. did ye imagine that ye should enter paradise, when as yet god knew not those among you who fought strenuously in his cause; nor knew those who persevered with patience? moreover ye did sometimes wish for death before that ye met it;t but ye have now seen it, and ye looked on, but retreated from it. mohammed is no more than an apostle; the other apostles have already deceased before him: if he die, therefore, or be slain, will ye turn back on your heels?u but he who turneth back on his heels will not hurt god at all; and god will surely reward the thankful. 	q it is related of hasan the son of ali, that a slave having once thrown a dish on him boiling hot, as he sat at table, and fearing his master's resentment, fell immediately on his knees, and repeated these words, paradise is for those who bridle their anger: hasan answered, i am not angry. the slave proceeded, and for those who forgive men. i forgive you, said hasan. the slave, however, finished the verse, adding, for god loveth the beneficent. since it is so replied hasan, i give you your liberty, and four hundred pieces of silver. a noble instance of moderation and generosity. 	r that is, by your being worsted at ohod. 	s when they were defeated at bedr. it is observable that the number of mohammedans slain at ohod, was equal to that of the idolaters slain at bedr; which was so ordered by god for a reason to be given elsewhere. 	t several of mohammed's followers who were not present at bedr, wished for an opportunity of obtaining, in another action, the like honour as those had gained who fell martyrs in that battle; yet were discouraged on seeing the superior numbers of the idolaters in the expedition of ohod. on which occasion this passage was revealed. 	u these words were revealed when it was reported in the battle of ohod that mohammed was slain; whereupon the idolaters cried out to his followers, since your prophet is slain, return to your ancient religion, and to your friends; if mohammed had been a prophet he had not been slain. it is related that a moslem named ans ebn al nadar, uncle to malec ebn ans, hearing these words, said aloud to his companions, my friends, though mohammed be slain, certainly mohammed's lord liveth and dieth not; therefore value not your lives since the prophet is dead, but fight for the cause for which he fought: then he cried out, o god, i am excused before thee, and acquitted in thy sight of what they say; and drawing his sword, fought valiantly till he was killed. 	 idem. abulfeda, ubi supra.		 vide d'herbelot, bibl. orient. art. hassan.		 in not. ad cap. . al beidâwi		 idem. no soul can die unless by the permission of god, according to what is written in the book containing the determination of things.x and whoso chooseth the reward of this world, we will give him thereof: but whoso chooseth the reward of the world to come, we will give him thereof: and we will surely reward the thankful. 	how many prophets have encountered those who had many myriads of troops: and yet they desponded not in their mind for what had befallen them in fighting for the religion of god; and were not weakened, neither behaved themselves in an abject manner? god loveth those who persevere patiently. and their speech was no other than what they said, our lord forgive us our offences, and our transgressions in our business; and confirm our feet, and help us against the unbelieving people. and god gave them the reward of this world, and a glorious reward in the life to come; for god loveth the well-doers. o ye who believe, if you obey the infidels, they will cause you to turn back on your heels, and ye will be turned back and perish:y but god is your lord; and he is the best helper. we will surely cast a dread into the hearts of the unbelievers,z because they have associated with god that concerning which he sent them down no power: their dwelling shall be the fire of hell; and the receptacle of the wicked shall be miserable. god had already made good unto you his promise, when ye destroyed them by his permission,a until ye became faint-hearted, and disputed concerning the command of the apostle, and were rebellious;b after god had shown you what ye desired. some of you chose this present world, and others of you chose the world to come.c then he turned you to flight from before them, that he might make trial of you: (but he hath now pardoned you: for god is endued with beneficence towards the faithful;) when ye went up as ye fled, and looked not back on any: while the apostle called you, in the uttermost part of you.d therefore god rewarded you with affliction on affliction, that ye be not grieved hereafter for the spoils which ye fail of, nor for that which befalleth you,e for god is well acquainted with whatever ye do. 	x mohammed, the more effectually to still the murmurs of his party on their defeat, represents to them that the time of every man's death is decreed and predetermined by god, and that those who fell in the battle could not have avoided their fate had they stayed at home; whereas they had now obtained the glorious advantage of dying martyrs for the faith. of the mohammedan doctrine of absolute predestination i have spoken in another place. 	y this passage was also occasioned by the endeavours of the koreish to seduce the mohammedans to their old idolatry, as they fled in the battle of ohod. 	z to this mohammed attributed the sudden retreat of abu sofiân and his troops, without making any farther advantage of their success; only giving mohammed a challenge to meet them next year at bedr, which he accepted. others say that as they were on their march home, they repented they had not utterly extirpated the mohammedans, and began to think of going back to medina for that purpose, but were prevented by a sudden consternation or panic fear, which fell on them from god. 	a i.e., in the beginning of the battle, when the moslems had the advantage, putting the idolaters to flight, and killing several of them. 	b that is, till the bowmen, who were placed behind to prevent their being surrounded, seeing the enemy fly, quitted their post, contrary to mohammed's express orders, and dispersed themselves to seize the plunder; whereupon khâled ebn al walîd perceiving their disorder, fell on their rear with the horse which he commanded, and turned the fortune of the day. it is related that though abda'llah ebn johair, their captain, did all he could to make them keep their ranks, he had not ten that stayed with him out of the whole fifty. 	c the former were they who, tempted by the spoil, quitted their post; and the latter they who stood firm by their leader. 	d crying aloud, come hither to me, o servants of god! i am the apostle of god; he who returneth back, shall enter paradise. but notwithstanding all his endeavours to rally his men, he could not get above thirty of them about him. 	e i.e., god punished your avarice and disobedience by suffering you to be beaten by your enemies, and to be discouraged by the report of your prophet's death; that ye might be inured to patience under adverse fortune, and not repine at any loss or disappointment for the future 	 prelim. disc. sect iv.		 al beidâwi.		 idem. vide abulfeda, vit. moh. p. , , and note, ibid. then he sent down upon you after affliction security; a soft sleep which fell on some part of you; but other part were troubled by their own souls;f falsely thinking of god, a foolish imagination saying, will anything of the matter happen unto us?g say, verily, the matter belongeth wholly unto god. they concealed in their minds what they declared not unto thee; saying,h if anything of the matter had happened unto us,i we had not been slain here. answer, if ye had been in your houses, verily they would have gone forth to fight, whose slaughter was decreed, to the places where they died, and this came to pass that god might try what was in your breasts, and might discern what was in your hearts; for god knoweth the innermost parts of the breasts of men. verily they among you who turned their backs on the day whereon the two armies met each other at ohod, satan caused them to slip for some crime which they had committed:k but now hath god forgiven them; for god is gracious and merciful. 	o true believers, be not as they who believed not, and said of their brethren when they had journeyed in the land or had been at war, if they had been with us, those had not died, nor had these been slain: whereas what befell them was so ordained that god might take it matter of sighing in their hearts. god giveth life, and causeth to die: and god seeth that which ye do. moreover if ye be slain, or die in defence of the religion of god, verily pardon from god, and mercy, is better than what they heap together of worldly riches. and if ye die, or be slain, verily unto god shall ye be gathered. and as to the mercy granted unto the disobedient from god, thou o mohammed, hast been mild towards them; but if thou hadst been severe, and hard-hearted, they had surely separated themselves from about thee. therefore forgive them, and ask pardon for them: and consult them in the affair of war; and after thou hast deliberated, trust in god; for god loveth those who trust in him. if god help you, none shall conquer you; but if he desert you, who is it that will help you after him? therefore in god let the faithful trust. it is not the part of a prophet to defraud,l for he who defraudeth shall bring with him what he hath defrauded any one of, on the day of the resurrection.m then shall every soul be paid what he hath gained; and they shall not be treated unjustly. 	f after the action, those who had stood firm in the battle were refreshed as they lay in the field by falling into an agreeable sleep, so that the swords fell out of their hands; but those who had behaved themselves ill were troubled in their minds, imagining they were now given over to destruction. 	g that is, is there any appearance of success, or of the divine favour and assistance which we have been promised? 	h i.e., to themselves, or to one another in private. 	i if god had assisted us according to his promise; or, as others interpret the words, if we had taken the advice of abda'llah ebn obba solûl, and had kept within the town of medina, our companions had not lost their lives. 	k viz., for their covetousness in quitting their post to seize the plunder. 	l this passage was revealed, as some say, on the division of the spoil at bedr; when some of the soldiers suspected mohammed of having privately taken a scarlet carpet made all of silk and very rich, which was missing. others suppose the archers, who occasioned the loss of the battle of ohod, left their station because they imagined mohammed would not give them their share of the plunder; because, as it is related, he once sent out a party as an advanced guard, and in the meantime attacking the enemy, took some spoils which he divided among those who were with him in the action, and gave nothing to the party that was absent on duty. 	m according to a tradition of mohammed, whoever cheateth another will on the day of judgment carry his fraudulent purchase publicly on his neck. 	 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin.		 idem.		 idem. 	 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin. al beidâwi. shall he therefore who followeth that which is well-pleasing unto god be as he who bringeth on himself wrath from god, and whose receptacle is hell? an evil journey shall it be thither. there shall be degrees of rewards and punishments with god, for god seeth what they do. now hath god been gracious unto the believers when he raised up among them an apostle of their own nation,n who should recite his signs unto them, and purify them, and teach them the book of the koran and wisdom:o whereas they were before in manifest error. after a misfortune had befallen you at ohod, (ye had already obtained two equal advantages)p do ye say, whence cometh this? answer, this is from yourselves:q for god is almighty. 	and what happened unto you, on the day whereon the two armies met, was certainly by the permission of god; and that he might know the ungodly. it was said unto them, come, fight for the religion of god, or drive back the enemy: they answered, if we had known ye went out to fight, we had certainly followed you.r they were on that day nearer unto unbelief, than they were to faith; they spake with their mouths, what was not in their hearts: but god perfectly knew what they concealed; who said of their brethren, while themselves stayed at home, if they had obeyed us, they had not been slain. say, then keep back death from yourselves, if ye say truth. thou shalt in nowise reckon those who have been slain at ohod, in the cause of god, dead; nay, they are sustained alive with their lord,s rejoicing for what god of his favor hath granted them; and being glad for those who, coming after them, have not as yet overtaken them;t because there shall no fear come on them, neither shall they be grieved. they are filled with joy for the favor which they have received from god and his bounty; and for that god suffereth not the reward of the faithful to perish. they who hearkened unto god and his apostle, after a wound had befallen them at ohod,u such of them as do good works, and fear god, shall have a great reward; 	n some copies, instead of min anfosihim, i.e., of themselves, read min anfasihim, i.e., of the noblest among them; for such was the tribe of koreish, of which mohammed was descended. 	o i.e., the sonna. 	p viz., in the battle of bedr, where ye slew seventy of the enemy, equalling the number of those who lost their lives at ohod, and also took as many prisoners. 	q it was the consequence of your disobeying the orders of the prophet, and abandoning your post for the sake of plunder. 	r that is, if we had conceived the least hope of success when ye marched out of medina to encounter the infidels, and had not known that ye went rather to certain destruction than to battle, we had gone with you. but this mohammed here tells them was only a feigned excuse; the true reason of their staying behind being their want of faith and firmness in their religion. 	s see before, p. . 	t i.e., rejoicing also for their sakes, who are destined to suffer martyrdom, but have not as yet attained it. 	u the commentators differ a little as to the occassion of this passage. when news was brought to mohammed, after the battle of ohod, that the enemy, repenting of their retreat, were returning towards medina, he called about him those who had stood by him in the battle, and marched out to meet the enemy as far as homarâ al asad, about eight miles from that town, notwithstanding several of his men were so ill of their wounds that they were forced to be carried; but a panic fear having seized the army of the koreish, they changed their resolution and continued their march home; of which mohammed having received intelligence, he also went back to medina: and, according to some commentators, the korân here approves the faith and courage of those who attended the prophet on this occasion. others say the persons intended in this passage were those who went with mohammed the next year, to meet abu sofiân and the koreish, according to their challenge, at bedr, where they waited some time for the enemy, and then returned home; for the koreish, though they set out from mecca, yet never came so far as the place of appointment, their hearts failing them on their march; which mohammed attributed to their being struck with a terror from god. this expedition the arabian histories call the second, or lesser expedition of bedr. 	 idem.		 idem.		 see before, p. .		 al beidâwi.		 vide rev. vi. ii. see before, p. , note .		 al beidâwi. unto whom certain men said, verily the men of mecca have already gathered forces against you, be ye therefore afraid of them:x but this increased their faith, and they said, god is our support, and the most excellent patron. wherefore they returned with favor from god, and advantage:y no evil befell them: and they followed what was well pleasing unto god: for god is endowed with great liberality. verily that devilz would cause you to fear his friends: but be ye not afraid of them: but fear me, if ye be true believers. 	they shall not grieve thee, who emulously hasten unto infidelity; for they shall never hurt god at all. god will not give them a part in the next life, and they shall suffer a great punishment. surely those who purchase infidelity with faith shall by no means hurt god at all, but they shall suffer a grievous punishment. and let not the unbelievers think, because we grant them lives long and prosperous, that it is better for their souls: we grant them long and prosperous lives only that their iniquity may be increased; and they shall suffer an ignominious punishment. god is not disposed to leave the faithful in the condition which ye are now in,a until he sever the wicked from the good; nor is god disposed to make you acquainted with what is a hidden secret, but god chooseth such of his apostles as he pleaseth, to reveal his mind unto:b believe therefore in god, and his apostles; and if ye believe, and fear god, ye shall receive a great reward. and let not those who are covetous of what god of his bounty hath granted them imagine that their avarice is better for them: nay, rather it is worse for them. that which they have covetously reserved shall be bound as a collar about their neck,c on the day of the resurrection: unto god belongeth the inheritance of heaven and earth; and god is well acquainted with what ye do. 	x the persons who thus endeavoured to discourage the mohammedans were, according to one tradition, some of the tribe of abd kais, who, going to medina, were bribed by abu sofiân with a camel's load of dried raisins; and, according to another tradition, it was noaim ebn masúd al ashjaï who was also bribed with a she-camel ten months gone with young (a valuable present in arabia). this noaim, they say, finding mohammed and his men preparing for the expedition, told them that abu sofiân, to spare them the pains of coming so far as bedr, would seek them in their own houses, and that none of them could possibly escape otherwise than by timely flight. upon which mohammed, seeing his followers a little dispirited, swore that he would go himself though not one of them went with him. and accordingly he set out with seventy horsemen, every one of them crying out, hashna allah, i.e., god is our support. 	y while they stayed at bedr expecting the enemy, they opened a kind of fair there, and traded to very considerable profit. 	z meaning either noaim, or abu sofiân himself. 	a that is, he will not suffer the good and sincere among you to continue indiscriminately mixed with the wicked and hypocritical. 	b this passage was revealed on the rebellious and disobedient mohammedans telling mohammed that if he was a true prophet he could easily distinguish those who sincerely believed from the dissemblers. 	c mohammed is said to have declared, that whoever pays not his legal contribution of alms duly shall have a serpent twisted about his neck at the resurrection. 	 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 al beidâwi.		 idem. 	 idem, jallalo'ddin. god hath already heard the saying of those who said, verily god is poor, and we are rich:d we will surely write down what they have said, and the slaughter which they have made of the prophets without a cause; and we will say unto them, taste ye the pain of burning. this shall they suffer for the evil which their hands have sent before them, and because god is not unjust towards mankind; who also say, surely god hath commanded us, that we should not give credit to any apostle, until one should come unto us with a sacrifice, which should be consumed by fire.e 	say, apostles have already come unto you before me,f with plain proofs, and with the miracle which ye mention: why therefore have ye slain them, if ye speak truth? if they accuse thee of imposture, the apostles before thee have also been accounted impostors, who brought evident demonstrations, and the scriptures, and the book which enlighteneth the understanding. every soul shall taste of death, and ye shall have your reward on the day of resurrection; and he who shall be far removed from hell fire, and shall be admitted into paradise, shall be happy: but the present life is only a deceitful provision. ye shall surely be proved in your possessions, and in your persons; and ye shall bear from those unto whom the scripture was delivered before you, and from the idolaters, much hurt: but if ye be patient and fear god, this is a matter that is absolutely determined. and when god accepted the covenant of those to whom the book of the law was given, saying, ye shall surely publish it unto mankind, ye shall not hide it: yet they threw it behind their backs, and sold it for a small price: but woful is the price for which they have sold it.g think not that they who rejoice at what they have done, and expect to be praised for what they have not done;h think not, o prophet, that they shall escape from punishment, for they shall suffer a painful punishment; 	d it is related that mohammed, writing to the jews of the tribe of kainokâ to invite them to islâm, and exhorting them, among other things, in the words of the korân, to lend unto god on good usury, phineas ebn azûra, on hearing that expression, said, surely god is poor, since they ask to borrow for him. whereupon abu becr, who was the bearer of that letter, struck him on the face, and told him that if it had not been for the truce between them, he would have struck off his head; and on phineas's complaining to mohammed of abu becr's ill usage, this passage was revealed. 	e the jews, say the commentators, insisted that it was a peculiar proof of the mission of all the prophets sent to them, that they could, by their prayers, bring down fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice, and therefore they expected mohammed should do the like. and some mohammedan doctors agree that god appointed this miracle as the test of all their prophets, except only jesus and mohammed; though others say any other miracle was a proof full as sufficient as the bringing down fire from heaven. 	the arabian jews seem to have drawn a general consequence from some particular instances of this miracle in the old testament. and the jews at this day say, that first the fire which fell from heaven on the altar of the tabernacle, after the consecration of aaron and his sons, and afterwards that which descended on the altar of solomon's temple, at the dedication of that structure, was fed and constantly maintained there by the priests, both day and night, without being suffered once to go out, till it was extinguished, as some think, in the reign of manasses, but, according to the more received opinion, when the temple was destroyed by the chaldeans. several christians have given credit to this assertion of the jews, with what reason i shall not here inquire; and the jews, in consequence of this notion, might probably expect that a prophet who came to restore god's true religion, should rekindle for them this heavenly fire, which they have not been favoured with since the babylonish captivity. 	f among these the commentators reckon zacharias and john the baptist. 	g i.e., dearly shall they pay hereafter for taking bribes to stifle the truth. whoever concealeth the knowledge which god has given him, says mohammed, god shall put on him a bridle of fire on the day of resurrection. 	h i.e., who think they have done a commendable deed in concealing and dissembling the testimonies in the pentateuch concerning mohammed, and in disobeying god's commands to the contrary. it is said that, mohammed once asking some jews concerning a passage in their law, they gave him an answer very different from the truth, and were mightily pleased that they had, as they thought, deceived him. others, however, think this passage relates to some pretended mohammedans who rejoiced in their hypocrisy, and expected to be commended for their wickedness. 	 cap. , p. .		 al beidâwi.		 jallalo'ddin. 	 al beidâwi. levit. ix. ; i chron. xxi. ; chron. vii. i; kings xviii. . 	 levit. ix. .		 chron. vii. x. talmud, zebachim, c. .		 see prideaux's connect part i. bk. iii. p. .		 al beidâwi. and unto god belongeth the kingdom of heaven and earth: god is almighty. now in the creation of heaven and earth, and the vicissitude of night and day, are signs unto those who are endued with understanding; who remember god standing, and sitting, and lying on their sides;i and meditate on the creation of heaven and earth, saying, o lord, thou hast not created this in vain; far be it from thee: therefore deliver us from the torment of hell fire: o lord, surely whom thou shalt throw into the fire, thou wilt also cover with shame: nor shall the ungodly have any to help them. 	o lord, we have heard a preacherk inviting us to the faith and saying, believe in your lord: and we believed. o lord, forgive us therefore our sins, and expiate our evil deeds from us, and make us to die with the righteous. o lord, give us also the reward which thou hast promised by thy apostles; and cover us not with shame on the day of resurrection; for thou art not contrary to the promise. their lord therefore answered them, saying, i will not suffer the work of him among you who worketh to be lost, whether he be male, or female:l the one of you is from the other. they therefore who have left their country, and have been turned out of their houses, and have suffered for my sake, and have been slain in battle; verily i will expiate their evil deeds from them, and i will surely bring them into gardens watered by rivers; a reward from god; and with god is the most excellent reward. let not the prosperous dealing of the unbelievers in the land deceive thee;m it is but a slender provision;n and then their receptacle shall be hell; an unhappy couch shall it be. but they who fear the lord shall have gardens through which rivers flow, they shall continue therein forever: this is the gift of god for what is with god shall be better for the righteous than short-lived worldly prosperity. there are some of those who have received the scriptures, who believe in god, and that which hath been sent down unto you, and that which hath been sent down to them, submitting themselves unto god;o they tell not the signs of god for a small price: 	i viz., at all times and in all postures. al beidâwi mentions a saying of mohammed to one imrân ebn hosein, to this purpose: pray standing, if thou art able; if not, sitting; and if thou canst not sit up, then as thou liest along. al shâfeï directs that he sick should pray lying on their right side. 	k namely, mohammed, with the korân. 	l these words were added, as some relate, on omm salma, one of the prophet's wives, telling him that she had observed god often made mention of the men who fled their country for the sake of their faith, but took no notice of the women. 	m the original word properly signifies success in the affairs of life, and particularly in trade. it is said that some of mohammed's followers observing the prosperity the idolaters enjoyed, expressed their regret that those enemies of god should live in such ease and plenty, while themselves were perishing for hunger and fatigue; whereupon this passage was revealed. 	n because of its short continuance. 	o the persons here meant, some will have to be abda'llah ebn salâm and his companions; others suppose they were forty arabs of najrân, or thirty-two ethiopians, or else eight greeks, who were converted from christianity to mohammedism; and others say this passage was revealed in the ninth year of the hejra, when mohammed, on gabriel's bringing him the news of the death of ashama king of ethiopia, who had embraced the mohammedan religion some years before, prayed for the soul of the departed; at which some of his hypocritical followers were displeased, and wondered that he should pray for a christian proselyte whom he had never seen. 	 idem.		 idem.		 see before, p. .		 see the prelim. discourse, sect. ii.		 al beidâwi. these shall have their reward with their lord; for god is swift in taking an account.p 	o true believers, be patient and strive to excel in patience, and be constant-minded, and fear god, that ye may be happy. ______________ chapter iv. entitled, women;q revealed at medina. in the name of the most merciful god o men, fear your lord, who hath created you out of one man, and out of him created his wife, and from them two hath multiplied many men, and women: and fear god by whom ye beseech one another;r and respect womens who have borne you, for god is watching over you. and give the orphans when they come to age their substance; and render them not in exchange bad for good:t and devour not their substance, by adding it to your own substance; for this is a great sin. and if ye fear that ye shall not act with equity towards orphans of the female sex, take in marriage of such other women as please you, two, or three, or four, and not more.u but if ye fear that ye cannot act equitably towards so many, marry one only, or the slaves which ye shall have acquired.x this will be easier, that ye swerve not from righteousness. and give women their dowry freely; but if they voluntarily remit unto you any part of it, enjoy it with satisfaction and advantage. and give not unto those who are weak of understanding the substance which god hath appointed you to preserve for them; but maintain them thereout, and clothe them, and speak kindly unto them. 	p see before, p. , and the preliminary discourse, sect. iv. 	q this title was given to this chapter, because it chiefly treats of matters relating to women; as, marriages, divorces, dower, prohibited degrees, &c. 	r saying, i beseech thee for god's sake. 	s literally, the wombs. 	t that is, take not what ye find of value among their effects to your own use, and give them worse in its stead. 	u the commentators understand this passage differently. the true meaning seems to be as it is here translated; mohammed advising his followers that if they found they should wrong the female orphans under their care, either by marrying them against their inclinations, ought, by reason of their having already several wives, they should rather choose to marry other women, to avoid all occasion of sin. others say that when this passage was revealed, many of the arabians, fearing trouble and temptation, refused to take upon them the charge of orphans, and yet multiplied wives to a great excess, and used them ill; or, as others write, gave themselves up to fornication; which occasioned this passage. and according to these, its meaning must be either that if they feared they could not act justly towards orphans, they had as great reason to apprehend they could not deal equitably with so many wives, and therefore are commanded to marry but a certain number; or else, that since fornication was a crime as well as wronging of orphans, they ought to avoid that also, by marrying according to their abilities. 	x for slaves requiring not so large a dower, nor so good and plentiful a maintenance as free women, a man might keep several of the former, as easily as one of the latter. 		 idem.		 idem		 idem, jallalo'ddin. and examine the orphansy until they attain the age of marriage:z but if ye perceive they are able to manage their affairs well, deliver their substance unto them; and waste it not extravagantly, or hastily, because they grow up.a let him who is rich abstain entirely from the orphans' estates; and let him who is poor take thereof according to what shall be reasonable.b and when ye deliver their substance unto them, call witnesses thereof in their presence: god taketh sufficient account of your actions. men ought to have a part of what their parents and kindred leavec behind them when they die: and women also ought to have a part of what their parents and kindred leave, whether it be little, or whether it be much; a determinate part is due to them. and when they who are of kin are present at the dividing of what is left, and also the orphans, and the poor; distribute unto them some part thereof; and if the estate be too small, at least speak comfortably unto them. 	and let those fear to abuse orphans, who if they leave behind them a weak offspring, are solicitous for them; let them therefore fear god, and speak that which is convenient.d surely they who devour the possessions of orphans unjustly shall swallow down nothing but fire into their bellies, and shall broil in raging flames. god hath thus commanded you concerning your children. a male shall have as much as the share of two females:e but if they be females only, and above two in number, they shall have two third parts of what the deceased shall leave;f and if there be but one, she shall have the half.g and the parents of the deceased shall have each of them a sixth part of what he shall leave, if he have a child; but if he have no child, and his parents be his heirs, then his mother shall have the third part.h and if he have brethren, his mother shall have a sixth part, after the legaciesi which he shall bequeath, and his debts be paid. ye know not whether your parents or your children be of greater use unto you. this is an ordinance from god, and god is knowing and wise. 	y i.e., try whether they be well grounded in the principles of religion, and have sufficient prudence for the management of their affairs. under this expression is also comprehended the duty of a curator's instructing his pupils in those respects. 	z or age of maturity, which is generally reckoned to be fifteen; a decision supported by a tradition of their prophet, though abu hanîfah thinks eighteen the proper age. 	a i.e., because they will shortly be of age to receive what belongs to them. 	b that is, no more than what shall make sufficient recompense for the trouble of their education. 	c this law was given to abolish a custom of the pagan arabs, who suffered not women or children to have any part of their husband's or father's inheritance, on pretence that they only should inherit who were able to go to war. 	d viz., either to comfort the children, or to assure the dying father they shall be justly dealt by. 	e this is the general rule to be followed in the distribution of the estate of the deceased, as may be observed in the following cases. 	f or if there be two and no more, they will have the same share. 	g and the remaining third part, or the remaining moiety of the estate, which is not here expressly disposed of, if the deceased leaves behind him no son, nor a father, goes to the public treasury. it must be observed that mr. selden is certainly mistaken when, in explaining this passage of the korân, he says, that where there is a son and an only daughter, each of them will have a moiety: for the daughter can have a moiety but in one case only, that is, where there is no son; for if there be a son, she can have but a third, according to the above-mentioned rule. 	h and his father consequently the other two-thirds. 	i by legacies, in this and the following passages, are chiefly meant those bequeathed to pious uses; for the mohammedans approve not of a person's giving away his substance from his family and near relations on any other account. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem.		 vide prelim. disc. sect. vi.		 selden, de success. ad leges ebræor. l. i, c. i.		 al beidâwi. moreover ye may claim half of what your wives shall leave, if they have no issue; but if they have issue, then ye shall have the fourth part of what they shall leave, after the legacies which they shall bequeath, and the debts be paid. they also shall have the fourth part of what ye shall leave, in case ye have no issue; but if ye have issue, then they shall have the eighth part of what ye shall leave, after the legacies which ye shall bequeath, and your debts be paid. and if a man or woman's substance be inherited by a distant relation,k and he or she have a brother or sister; each of them two shall have a sixth part of the estate.l but if there be more than this number, they shall be equal sharers in a third part, after payment of the legacies which shall be bequeathed, and the debts, without prejudice to the heirs. this is an ordinance from god: and god is knowing and gracious. these are the statutes of god. and whoso obeyeth god and his apostle, god shall lead him into gardens wherein rivers flow, they shall continue therein forever; and this shall be great happiness. but whoso disobeyeth god, and his apostle, and transgresseth his statutes, god shall cast him into hell fire; he shall remain therein forever, and he shall suffer a shameful punishment. if any of your women be guilty of whoredom,m produce four witnesses from among you against them, and if they bear witness against them, imprison them in separate apartments until death release them, or god affordeth them a way to escape.n 	and if two of you commit the like wickedness,o punish them both:p but if they repent and amend, let them both alone; for god is easy to be reconciled and merciful. verily repentance will be accepted with god, from those who do evil ignorantly, and then repent speedily; unto them will god be turned: for god is knowing and wise. but no repentance shall be accepted from those who do evil until the time when death presenteth itself unto one of them, and he saith, verily i repent now; nor unto those who die unbelievers; for them have we prepared a grievous punishment. 	k for this may happen by contract, or on some other special occasion. 	l here, and in the next case, the brother and sister are made equal sharers, which is an exception to the general rule, of giving a male twice as much as a female; and the reason is said to be because of the smallness of the portions, which deserve not such exactness of distribution; for in other cases the rule holds between brother and sister, as well as other relations. 	m either adultery or fornication. 	n their punishment, in the beginning of mohammedism, was to be immured till they died, but afterwards this cruel doom was mitigated, and they might avoid it by undergoing the punishment ordained in its stead by the sonna, according to which the maidens are to be scourged with a hundred stripes, and to be banished for a full year; and the married women to be stoned. 	o the commentators are not agreed whether the text speaks of fornication or sodomy. al zamakhshari, and from him, al beidâwi, supposes the former is here meant: but jallalo'ddin is of opinion that the crime intended in this passage must be committed between two men, and not between a man and a woman; not only because the pronouns are in the masculine gender, but because both are ordered to suffer the same slight punishment, and are both allowed the same repentance and indulgence; and especially for that a different and much severer punishment is appointed for the women in the preceding words. abu'l kâsem hebatallah takes simple fornication to be the crime intended, and that this passage is abrogated by that of the th chapter, where the man and the woman who shall be guilty of fornication are ordered to be scourged with a hundred stripes each. 	p the original is, do them some hurt or damage: by which some understand that they are only to reproach them in public, or strike them on the head with their slippers (a great indignity in the east), though some imagine they may be scourged. 	 see this chapter, near the end.		 jallalo'ddin.		 jallalo'ddin, yahya, abul kâsem habatallah, al beidâwi. jallalo'ddin al beidâwi.		 al beidâwi. o true believers, it is not lawful for you to be heirs of women against their will,q nor to hinder them from marrying others,r that ye may take away part of what ye have given them in dowry; unless they have been guilty of a manifest crime:s but converse kindly with them. and if ye hate them, it may happen that ye may hate a thing wherein god hath placed much good. if ye be desirous to exchange a wife for another wife,t and ye have already given one of them a talent,u take not away anything therefrom:x will ye take it by slandering her, and doing her manifest injustice? and how can ye take it, since the one of you hath gone in unto the other, and they have received from you a firm covenant? marry not women whom your fathers have had to wife; (except what is already past:) for this is uncleanness, and an abomination, and an evil way. ye are forbidden to marry your mothers, and your daughters, and your sisters, and your aunts both on the father's and on the mother's side, and your brothers' daughters, and your sisters' daughters, and your mothers who have given you suck, and your foster-sisters, and your wives' mothers, and your daughters-in-law which are under your tuition, born of your wives unto whom ye have gone in, (but if ye have not gone in unto them, it shall be no sin in you to marry them, ) and the wives of your sons who proceed out of your loins; and ye are also forbidden to take to wife two sisters,y except what is already past: for god is gracious and merciful. ye are also forbidden to take to wife free women who are married, except those women whom your right hands shall possess as slaves.z this is ordained you from god. whatever is beside this is allowed you; that ye may with your substance provide wives for yourselves, acting that which is right, and avoiding whoredom. and for the advantage which ye receive from them, give them their reward,a according to what is ordained: but it shall be no crime in you to make any other agreement among yourselves,b after the ordinance shall be complied with; for god is knowing and wise. 	q it was customary among the pagan arabs, when a man died, for one of his relations to claim a right to his widow, which he asserted by throwing his garment over her; and then he either married her himself, if he thought fit, on assigning her the same dower that her former husband had done, or kept her dower and married her to another, or else refused to let her marry unless she redeemed herself by quitting what she might claim of her husband's goods. this unjust custom is abolished by this passage. 	r some say these words are directed to husbands who used to imprison their wives without any just cause, and out of covetousness, merely to make them relinquish their dower or their inheritance. 	s such as disobedience, ill behaviour, immodesty, and the like. 	t that is, by divorcing one, and marrying another. 	u i.e., ever so large a dower. 	x see chapter , p. . 	y the same was also prohibited by the levitical law. 	z according to this passage it is not lawful to marry a free woman that is already married, be she a mohammedan or not, unless she be legally parted from her husband by divorce; but it is lawful to marry those who are slaves, or taken in war, after they shall have gone through the proper purifications, though their husbands be living. yet, according to the decision of abu hanîfah, it is not lawful to marry such whose husbands shall be taken, or in actual slavery with them. 	a that is, assign them their dower. 	b that is, either to increase the dower, or to abate some part or even the whole of it. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem.		 levit. xviii. .		 al beidâwi. whoso among you hath not means sufficient that he may marry free women, who are believers, let him marry with such of your maid-servants whom your right hands possess, as are true believers; for god well knoweth your faith. ye are the one from the other:c therefore marry them with the consent of their masters; and give them their dower according to justice; such as are modest, not guilty of whoredom, nor entertaining lovers. 	and when they are married, if they be guilty of adultery, they shall suffer half the punishment which is appointed for the free women.d this is allowed unto him among you, who feareth to sin by marrying free women; but if ye abstain from marrying slaves, it will be better for you; god is gracious and merciful. god is willing to declare these things unto you, and to direct you according to the ordinances of those who have gone before you,e and to be merciful unto you. god is knowing and wise. god desireth to be gracious unto you; but they who follow their lusts,f desire that ye should turn aside from the truth with great deviation. god is minded to make his religion light unto you: for man was created weak.g o true believers, consume not your wealth among yourselves in vanity;h unless there be merchandising among you by mutual consent: neither slay yourselves;i for god is merciful towards you: and whoever doth this maliciouslyk and wickedly, he will surely cast him to be broiled in hell fire; and this is easy with god. if ye turn aside from the grievous sins,l of those which ye are forbidden to commit, we will cleanse you from your smaller faults; and will introduce you into paradise with an honourable entry. covet not that which god hath bestowed on some of you preferably to others.m unto the men shall be given a portion of what they shall have gained, and unto the women shall be given a portion of what they shall have gained:n therefore ask god of his bounty; for god is omniscient. 	c being alike descended from adam, and of the same faith. 	d the reason of this is because they are not presumed to have had so good education. a slave, therefore, in such a case, is to have fifty stripes, and to be banished for half a year; but she shall not be stoned, because it is a punishment which cannot be inflicted by halves. 	e viz., of the prophets, and other holy and prudent men of former ages. 	f some commentators suppose that these words have a particular regard to the magians, who formerly were frequently guilty of incestuous marriages, their prophet zerdusht having allowed them to take their mothers and sisters to wife; and also to the jews, who likewise might marry within some of the degrees here prohibited. 	g being unable to refrain from women, and too subject to be led away by carnal appetites. 	h that is, employ it not in things prohibited by god; such as usury, extortion, rapine, gaming, and the like. 	i literally, slay not your souls; i.e., says jallalo'ddin, by committing mortal sins, or such crimes as will destroy them. others, however, are of opinion that self-murder, which the gentile indians did, and still do, often practise in honour of their idols, or else the taking away the life of any true believer, is hereby forbidden. 	k see wisdom xvi. , in the vulgate. 	l these sins al beidâwi, from a tradition of mohammed, reckons to be seven (equaling in number the sins called deadly by christians), that is to say, idolatry, murder, falsely accusing modest women of adultery, wasting the substance of orphans, taking of usury, desertion in a religious expedition, and disobedience to parents. but ebn abbâs says they amount to near seven hundred; and others suppose that idolatry only, of different kinds, in worshipping idols or any creature, either in opposition to or jointly with the true god, is here intended; that sin being generally esteemed by mohammedans, and in a few lines after declared by the korân itself, to be the only one which god will not pardon. 	m such as honour, power, riches, and other worldly advantages. some, however, understand this of the distribution of inheritances according to the preceding determinations, whereby some have a larger share than others. 	n that is, they shall be blessed according to their deserts; and ought, therefore, instead of displeasing god by envying of others, to endeavor to merit his favour by good works and to apply to him by prayer. 	 idem.		 idem.		 jallalo'ddin. al beidâwi. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 idem. 	 idem.		 idem. see before, c. , p. .		 idem, jallalo'ddin. we have appointed unto every one kindred, to inherit part of what their parents and relations shall leave at their deaths. and unto those with whom your right hands have made an alliance, give their part of the inheritance;o for god is witness of all things. men shall have the preëminence above women, because of those advantages wherein god hath caused the one of them to excel the other,p and for that which they expend of their substance in maintaining their wives. the honest women are obedient. careful in the absence of their husbands,q for that god preserveth them, by committing them to the care and protection of the men. but those, whose perverseness ye shall be apprehensive of, rebuke; and remove them into separate apartments,r and chastise them.s but if they shall be obedient unto you, seek not an occasion of quarrel against them: for god is high and great. and if ye fear a breach between the husband and wife, send a judget out of his family, and a judge out of her family: if they shall desire a reconciliation, god will cause them to agree; for god is knowing and wise. 	serve god, and associate no creature with him; and show kindness unto parents, and relations, and orphans, and the poor, and your neighbor who is of kin to you,u and also your neighbor who is a stranger, and to your familiar companion, and the traveller, and the captives whom your right hands shall possess; for god loveth not the proud or vain-glorious, who are covetous, and recommend covetousness unto men, and conceal that which god of his bounty hath given themx (we have prepared a shameful punishment for the unbelievers;) and who bestow their wealth in charity to be observed of men, and believe not in god, nor in the last day; and whoever hath satan for a companion, an evil companion hath he! and what harm would befall them if they should believe in god, and the last day, and give alms out of that which god hath bestowed on them? since god knoweth them who do this. verily god will not wrong any one even the weight of an ant:y and if it be a good action, he will double it, and will recompense it in his sight with a great reward. 	o a precept conformable to an old custom of the arabs, that where persons mutually entered into a strict friendship or confederacy, the surviving friend should have a sixth part of the deceased's estate. but this was afterwards abrogated, according to jallalo'ddin and al zamakhshari, at least as to infidels. the passage may likewise be understood of a private contract, whereby the survivor is to inherit a certain part of the substance of him that dies first. 	p such as superior understanding and strength, and the other privileges of the male sex, which enjoys the dignities in church and state, goes to war in defence of god's true religion, and claims a double share of their deceased ancestors' estates. 	q both to preserve their husband's substance from loss or waste, and themselves from all degrees of immodesty. 	r that is, banish them from your bed. 	s by this passage the mohammedans are in plain terms allowed to beat their wives, in case of stubborn disobedience; but not in a violent or dangerous manner. 	t i.e., let the magistrate first send two arbitrators or mediators, one on each side, to compose the difference, and prevent, if possible, the ill consequences of an open rupture. 	u either of your own nation or religion. 	x whether it be wealth, knowledge, or any other talent whereby they may help their neighbour. 	y either by diminishing the recompense due to his good actions, or too severely punishing his sins. on the contrary, he will reward the former in the next life far above their deserts. the arabic word dharra, which is translated an ant, signifies a very small sort of that insect, and is used to denote a thing that is exceeding small, as a mite. 	 vide al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem, jallalo'ddin. 	 idem. how will it be with the unbelievers when we shall bring a witness out of each nation against itself,z and shall bring thee, o mohammed, a witness against these people?a in that day they who have not believed, and have rebelled against the apostle of god, shall wish the earth was levelled with them; and they shall not be able to hide any matter from god. o true believers, come not to prayers when ye are drunk,b until ye understand what ye say; nor when ye are polluted by emission of seed, unless ye be travelling on the road, until ye wash yourselves. but if ye be sick or on a journey, or any of you come from easing nature, or have touched women, and find no water; take fine clean sand and rub your faces and your hands therewith;c for god is merciful and inclined to forgive. hast thou not observed those unto whom part of the scriptured was delivered? they sell error, and desire that ye may wander from the right way; but god well knoweth your enemies. god is a sufficient patron; and god is a sufficient helper. of the jews there are some who pervert words from their places;e and say, we have heard, and have disobeyed; and do thou hear without understanding our meaning,f and look upon us:g perplexing with their tongues, and reviling the true religion. but if they had said, we have heard, and do obey; and do thou hear, and regard us:h certainly it were better for them, and more right. but god hath cursed them by reason of their infidelity; therefore a few of them only shall believe. 	o ye to whom the scriptures have been given, believe in the revelation which we have sent down, confirming that which is with you; before we deface your countenances, and render them as the back parts thereof;i or curse them, as we cursed those who transgressed on the sabbath day;k and the command of god was fulfilled. surely god will not pardon the giving him an equal;l but will pardon any other sin except that, to whom he pleasethm and whoso giveth a companion unto god, hath devised a great wickedness. 	z when the prophet who was sent to each nation in particular, shall on the last day be produced to give evidence against such of them as refused to believe on him, or observed not the laws which he brought. 	a that is, the arabians, to whom mohammed was, as he pretended, more peculiarly sent. 	b it is related, that before the prohibition of wine, abd'alrahmân ebn awf made an entertainment, to which he invited several of the apostle's companions; and after they had ate and drunk plentifully, the hour of evening prayer being come, one of the company rose up to pray, but being overcome with liquor, made a shameful blunder in reciting a passage of the korân; whereupon to prevent the danger of any such indecency for the future, this passage was revealed. 	c see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. 	d meaning the jews, and particularly their rabbins. 	e that is (according to the commentators), who change the true sense of the pentateuch by dislocating passages, or by wresting the words according to their own fancies and lusts. but mohammed seems chiefly to intend here the jews bantering of him in their addresses, by making use of equivocal words, seeming to bear a good sense in arabic, but spoken by them in derision according to their acceptation in hebrew; an instance of which he gives in the following words. 	f literally, without being made to hear or apprehend what we say. 	g the original word is raïna, which being a term of reproach in hebrew, mohammed forbade their using to him. 	h in arabic, ondhorna; which having no ill equivocal meaning, the prophet ordered them to use instead of the former. 	i that is, perfectly plain, without eyes, nose, or mouth. the original, however, may also be translated, and turn them behind, by wringing their necks backward. 	k and were therefore changed into apes. 	l that is, idolatry of all kinds. 	m viz., to those who repent. 	 see before, c. , p. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 see before, c. , p. . see before, c. , p. .		 al beidâwi. hast thou not observed those who justify themselves?n but god justifieth whomsoever he pleaseth, nor shall they be wronged a hair.o behold, how they imagine a lie against god; and therein is iniquity sufficiently manifest. hast thou not considered those to whom part of the scripture hath been given? they believe in false gods and idols,p and say of those who believe not, these are more rightly directed in the way of truth, than they who believe on mohammed. those are the men whom god hath cursed and unto him whom god shall curse, thou shalt surely find no helper. shall they have a part of the kingdom,q since even then they would not bestow the smallest matterr on men? do they envy other men that which god of his bounty hath given them?s we formerly gave unto the family of abraham a book of revelations and wisdom; and we gave them a great kingdom.t there is of them who believeth on him;u and there is of them who turneth aside from him: but the raging fire of hell is a sufficient punishment. verily those who disbelieve our signs, we will surely cast to be broiled in hell fire; so often as their skins shall be well burned, we will give them other skins in exchange, that they may taste the sharper torment; for god is mighty and wise. 	but those who believe and do that which is right, we will bring into gardens watered by rivers, therein shall they remain forever, and there shall they enjoy wives free from all impurity; and we will lead them into perpetual shades. moreover god commandeth you to restore what ye are trusted with, to the owners;x and when ye judge between men, that ye judge according to equity: and surely an excellent virtue it is to which god exhorteth you; for god both heareth and seeth. 	n i.e., the christians and jews, who called themselves the children of god, and his beloved people. 	o the original word signifies a little skin in the cleft of a date- stone, and is used to express a thing of no value. 	p the arabic is, in jibt and taghût. the former is supposed to have been the proper name of some idol; but it seems rather to signify any false deity in general. the latter we have explained already. 	it is said that this passage was revealed on the following occasion. hoyai ebn akhtab and caab ebn al ashraf, two chief men among the jews, with several others of that religion, went to mecca, and offered to enter into a confederacy with the koreish, and to join their forces against mohammed. but the koreish, entertaining some jealousy of them, told them, that the jews pretended to have a written revelation from heaven, as well as mohammed, and their doctrines and worship approached much nearer to what he taught, than the religion of their tribe; wherefore, said they, if you would satisfy us that you are sincere in the matter, do as we do, and worship our gods. which proposal, if the story be true, these jews complied with, out of their inveterate hatred to mohammed. 	q for the jews gave out that they should be restored to their ancient power and grandeur; depending, it is to be presumed, on the victorious messiah whom they expected. 	r the original word properly signifies a small dent on the back of a date-stone, and is commonly used to express a thing of little or no value. 	s viz., the spiritual gifts of prophecy, and divine revelations; and the temporal blessings of victory and success, bestowed on mohammed and his followers. 	t wherefore god will doubtless show equal favour to this prophet (a descendant also of abraham), and those who believe on him. 	u namely, on mohammed. 	x this passage, it is said, was revealed on the day of the taking of mecca, the primary design of it being to direct mohammed to return the keys of the caaba to othmân ebn telha ebn abdaldâr, who had then the honour to be keeper of that holy place, and not to deliver them to his uncle al abbâs, who having already the custody of the well zemzem, would fain have had also that of the caaba. the prophet obeying the divine order, othmân was so affected with the justice of the action, notwithstanding he had at first refused him entrance, that he immediately embraced mohammedism; whereupon the guardianship of the caaba was confirmed to this othmân and his heirs for ever. 	 idem, jallalo'ddin. see c. , not far from the beginning. 	 see p. , note t.		 see before, p. , note m. al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem.		 see prideaux's life of mahomet, p. . al beidâwi see d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. , . o true believers, obey god, and obey the apostle; and those who are in authority among you: and if ye differ, in anything, refer it unto gody and the apostle, if ye believe in god, and the last day: this is better, and a fairer method of determination. hast thou not observed those who pretend they believe in what hath been revealed unto thee, and what hath been revealed before thee? they desire to go to judgment before taghût,z although they have been commanded not to believe in him; and satan desireth to seduce them into a wide error. and when it is said unto them, come unto the book which god hath sent down, and to the apostle; thou seest the ungodly turn aside from thee, with great aversion. but how will they behave when a misfortune shall befall them, for that which their hands have sent before them? then will they come unto thee, and swear by god, saying, if we intended any other than to do good, and to reconcile the parties.a god knoweth what is in the hearts of these men; therefore let them alone, and admonish them, and speak unto them a word which may affect their souls. we have not sent any apostle, but that he might be obeyed by the permission of god: but if they, after they have injured their own souls,b come unto thee, and ask pardon of god, and the apostle ask pardon for them, they shall surely find god easy to be reconciled and merciful. and by thy lord they will not perfectly believe, until they make thee judge of their controversies; and shall not afterwards find in their own minds any hardship in what thou shalt determine, but shall acquiesce therein with entire submission. and if we had commanded them, saying, slay yourselves, or depart from your houses;c they would not have done it except a few of them. and if they had done what they were admonished, it would certainly have been better for them, and more efficacious for confirming their faith; 	and we should then have surely given them in our sight an exceeding great reward, and we should have directed them in the right way. whoever obeyeth god and the apostle, they shall be with those unto whom god hath been gracious, of the prophets, and the sincere, and the martyrs, and the righteous; and these are the most excellent company. 	y i.e., to the decision of the korân. 	z that is, before the tribunals of infidels. this passage was occasioned by the following remarkable accident. a certain jew having a dispute with a wicked mohammedan, the latter appealed to the judgment of caab ebn al ashraf, a principal jew, and the former to mohammed. but at length they agreed to refer the matter to the prophet singly, who, giving it in favor of the jew, the mohammedan refused to acquiesce in his sentence, but would needs have it re-heard by omar, afterwards khalif. when they came to him, the jew told him that mohammed had already decided the affair in his favour, but that the other would not submit to his determination; and the mohammedan confessing this to be true, omar bid them stay a little, and fetching his sword, struck off the obstinate moslem's head, saying aloud, this is the reward of him who refuseth to submit to the judgment of god and his apostle. and from this action omar had the surname of al farûk, which alludes both to his separating that knave's head from his body, and to his distinguishing between truth and falsehood. the name of taghût, therefore, in this place, seems to be given to caab ebn al ashraf. 	a for this was the excuse of the friends of the mohammedan whom omar slew, when they came to demand satisfaction for his blood. 	b viz., by acting wickedly, and appealing to the judgment of the infidels. 	c some understand these words of their venturing their lives in a religious expedition; and others, of their undergoing the same punishments which the israelites did for their idolatry in worshipping the golden calf. 	 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi. see d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. , and ockley's hist. of the sarac. v. i, p. .		 see before, p. . al beidâwi.		 idem, see before, p. this is bounty from god; and god is sufficiently knowing. o true believers, take your necessary precautiond against your enemies, and either go forth to war in separate parties, or go forth all together in a body. there is of you who tarrieth behind;e and if a misfortune befall you, he saith, verily god hath been gracious unto me, that i was not present with them: but if success attend you from god, he will say (as if there was no friendship between you and him),f would to god i had been with them, for i should have acquired great merit. let them therefore fight for the religion of god, who part with the present life in exchange for that which is to come;g for whosoever fighteth for the religion of god, whether he be slain, or be victorious,h we will surely give him a great reward. and what ails you, that ye fight not for god's true religion, and in defence of the weak among men, women, and children,i who say, o lord, bring us forth from this city, whose inhabitants are wicked; grant us from before thee a protector, and grant us from before thee a defender.k they who believe fight for the religion of god; but they who believe not fight for the religion of taghût.l fight therefore against the friends of satan, for the stratagem of satan is weak. hast thou not observed those unto whom it was said, withhold your hands from war, and be constant at prayers, and pay the legal alms?m but when war is commanded them, behold a part of them fear men as they should fear god, or with a great fear, and say, o lord, wherefore hast thou commanded us to go to war, and hast not suffered us to wait our approaching end?n say unto them, the provision of this life is but small; but the future shall be better for him who feareth god; and ye shall not be in the least injured at the day of judgment. 	wheresoever ye be, death will overtake you, although ye be in lofty towers. if good befall them, they say, this is from god; but if evil befall them, they say, this is from thee, o mohammed:o say, all is from god; and what aileth these people, that they are so far from understanding what is said unto them? 	d i.e., be vigilant, and provide yourselves with arms and necessaries. 	e mohammed here upbraids the hypocritical moslems, who, for want of faith and constancy in their religion, were backward in going to war for its defence. 	f i.e., as one who attendeth not to the public, but his own private interest. or else these may be the words of the hypocritical mohammedan himself, insinuating that he stayed not behind the rest of the army by his own fault, but was left by mohammed, who chose to let the others share in his good fortune, preferably to him. 	g by venturing their lives and fortunes in defence of the faith. 	h for no man ought to quit the field till he either fall a martyr or gain some advantage for the cause. 	i viz., those believers who stayed behind at mecca, being detained there either forcibly by the idolaters, or for want of means to fly for refuge to medina. al beidâwi observes that children are mentioned here to show the inhumanity of the koreish, who persecuted even that tender age. 	k this petition, the commentators say, was heard. for god afforded several of them an opportunity and means of escaping, and delivered the rest at the taking of mecca by mohammed, who left otâb ebn osaid governor of the city: and under his care and protection, those who had suffered for their religion became the most considerable men in the place. 	l see before, p. . 	m these were some of mohammed's followers, who readily performed the duties of their religion so long as they were commanded nothing that might endanger their lives. 	n that is, a natural death. 	o as the jews, in particular, who pretended that their land was grown barren, and provisions scarce, since mohammed came to medina. 			 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem. whatever good befalleth thee, o man, it is from god; and whatever evil befalleth thee, it is from thyself.p we have sent thee an apostle unto men, and god is a sufficient witness thereof. whoever obeyeth the apostle, obeyeth god; and whoever turneth back, we have not sent thee to be a keeper over them.q they say, obedience: yet when they go forth from thee, part of them meditate by night a matter different from what thou speakest; but god shall write down what they meditate by night: therefore let them alone, and trust in god, for god is a sufficient protector. do they not attentively consider the koran? if it had been from any besides god, they would certainly have found therein many contradictions. when any news cometh unto them, either of security or fear, they immediately divulge it; but if they told it to the apostle and to those who are in authority among them, such of them would understand the truth of the matter, as inform themselves thereof from the apostle and his chiefs. and if the favor of god and his mercy had not been upon you, ye had followed the devil, except a few of you.r fight therefore for the religion of god, and oblige not any to what is difficult,s except thyself; however excite the faithful to war, perhaps god will restrain the courage of the unbelievers; for god is stronger than they, and more able to punish. he who intercedeth between men with a good intercessiont shall have a portion thereof; and he who intercedeth with an evil intercession shall have a portion thereof; for god overlooketh all things. when ye are saluted with a salutation, salute the person with a better salutation,u or at least return the same; for god taketh an account of all things. god! there is no god but he; he will surely gather you together on the day of resurrection; there is no doubt of it: and who is more true than god in what he saith? 	why are ye divided concerning the ungodly into two parties;x since god hath overturned them for what they have committed? will ye direct him whom god hath led astray; since for him whom god shall lead astray, thou shalt find no true path? 	p these words are not to be understood as contradictory to the preceding, that all proceeds from god; since the evil which befalls mankind, though ordered by god, is yet the consequence of their own wicked actions. 	q or, to take an account of their actions, for this is god's part. 	r that is, if god had not sent his apostle with the korân to instruct you in your duty, ye had continued in idolatry and been doomed to destruction; except only those who, by god's favour and their superior understanding, should have true notions of the divinity; such, for example, as zeid ebn amru ebn nofail and waraka ebn nawfal, who left idols, and acknowledged but one god, before the mission of mohammed. 	s it is said this passage was revealed when the mohammedans refused to follow their prophet to the lesser expedition of bedr, so that he was obliged to set out with no more than seventy. some copies vary in this place, and instead of la tokallafo, in the second person singular, read la nokallafo, in the first person plural, we do not oblige, &c. the meaning being, that the prophet only was under an indispensable necessity of obeying god's commands, however difficult, but others might choose, though at their peril. 	t i.e., to maintain the right of a believer, or to prevent his being wronged. 	u by adding something farther. as when one salutes another by this form, peace be unto thee, he ought not only to return the salutation, but to add, and the mercy of god and his blessing. 	x this passage was revealed, according to some, when certain of mohammed's followers, pretending not to like medina, desired leave to go elsewhere, and, having obtained it, went farther and farther, till they joined the idolaters; or, as others say, on occasion of some deserters at the battle of ohod; concerning whom the moslems were divided in opinion whether they should be slain as infidels or not. 	 vide millium, de mohammedismo ante moh. p. .		 see the prelim. disc. sect. ii.		 al beidâwi. see before, c. , p. . they desire that ye should become infidels, as they are infidels, and that ye should be equally wicked with themselves. therefore take not friends from among them, until they fly their country for the religion of god; and if they turn back from the faith, take them, and kill them wherever ye find them; and take no friend from among them, nor any helper, except those who go unto a people who are in alliance with you,y or those who come unto you, their hearts forbidding them either to fight against you, or to fight against their own people.z and if god pleased he would have permitted them to have prevailed against you, and they would have fought against you. but if they depart from you, and fight not against you, and offer you peace, god doth not allow you to take or kill them. ye shall find others who are desirous to enter into confidence with you, and at the same time to preserve a confidence with their own people:a so often as they return to sedition, they shall be subverted therein; and if they depart not from you, and offer you peace, and restrain their hands from warring against you, take them and kill them wheresoever ye find them; over these have we granted you a manifest power. it is not lawful for a believer to kill a believer, unless it happen by mistake;b and whoso killeth a believer by mistake, the penalty shall be the freeing of a believer from slavery, and a fine to be paid to the family of the deceased,c unless they remit it as alms: and if the slain person be of a people at enmity with you, and be a true believer, the penalty shall be the freeing of a believer;d but if he be of a people in confederacy with you, a fine to be paid to his family, and the freeing of a believer. and he who findeth not wherewith to do this shall fast two months consecutively as a penance enjoined from god; and god is knowing and wise. but whoso killeth a believer designedly, his reward shall be hell; he shall remain therein for ever;e and god shall be angry with him, and shall curse him, and shall prepare for him a great punishment. o true believers, when ye are on a march in defence of the true religion, justly discern such as ye shall happen to meet, and say not unto him who saluteth you, thou art not a true believer;f seeking the accidental goods of the present life;g for with god is much spoil. such have ye formerly been; but god hath been gracious unto you;h therefore make a just discernment, for god is well acquainted with that which ye do. 	y the people here meant, say some, were the tribe of khozâah, or, according to others, the aslamians, whose chief, named helâl ebn owaimar, agreed with mohammed, when he set out against mecca, to stand neuter; or, as others rather think, banu becr ebn zeid. 	z these, it is said, were the tribe of modlaj, who came in to mohammed, but would not be obliged to assist him in war. 	a the person hinted at here were the tribes of asad and ghatfân, or, as some say, banu abdaldâr, who came to medina and pretended to embrace mohammedism, that they might be trusted by the moslems, but when they returned, fell back to their old idolatry. 	b that is, by accident and without design. this passage was revealed to decide the case of ayâsh ebn abi rabîa, the brother, by the mother's side, of abu jahl, who meeting hareth ebn zeid on the road, and not knowing that he had embraced mohammedism, slew him. 	c which fine is to be distributed according to the laws of inheritances given in the beginning of this chapter. 	d and no fine shall be paid, because in such case his relations, being infidels and at open war with the moslems, have no right to inherit what he leaves. 	e that is, unless he repent. others, however, understand not here an eternity of damnation (for it is the general doctrine of the mohammedans that none who profess that faith shall continue in hell for ever), but only a long space of time. 	f on pretence that he only feigns to be a moslem, that he might escape from you. the commentators mention more instances than one of persons slain and plundered by mohammed's men under this pretext, notwithstanding they declared themselves moslems by repeating the usual form of words, and saluting them; for which reason this passage was revealed, to prevent such rash judgments for the future. 	g that is, being willing to judge him an infidel, only that ye may kill and plunder him. 	h viz., at your first profession of islâmism, before ye had given any demonstrations of your sincerity and zeal therein. 	 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin.		 al beidâwi.		 idem. 	 idem.		 idem. idem. those believers who sit still at home, not having any hurt,i and those who employ their fortunes and their persons for the religion of god, shall not be held equal. god hath preferred those who employ their fortunes and their persons in that cause to a degree of honour above those who sit at home; god hath indeed promised every one paradise, but god hath preferred those who fight for the faith before those who sit still, by adding unto them a great reward, by degrees of honour conferred on them from him, and by granting them forgiveness and mercy; for god is indulgent and merciful. moreover unto those whom the angels put to death, having injured their own souls,k the angels said, of what religion were ye? they answered, we were weak in the earth.l the angels replied, was not god's earth wide enough, that ye might fly therein to a place of refuge?m therefore their habitation shall be hell; and an evil journey shall it be thither: 	except the weak among men, and women, and children, who were not able to find means, and were not directed in the way; these peradventure god will pardon, for god is ready to forgive, and gracious. whosoever flieth from his country for the sake of god's true religion, shall find in the earth many forced to do the same, and plenty of provisions. and whoever departeth from his house, and flieth unto god and his apostle, if death overtake him in the way,n god will be obliged to reward him, for god is gracious and merciful. when ye march to war in the earth, it shall be no crime in you if ye shorten your prayers, in case ye fear the infidels may attack you; for the infidels are your open enemy. 	i i.e., not being disabled from going to war by sickness, or other just impediment. it is said that when the passage was first revealed there was no such exception therein, which occasioned ebn omm mactûm, on his hearing it repeated, to object, and what though i be blind? whereupon mohammed, falling into a kind of trance, which was succeeded by strong agitations, pretended he had received the divine direction to add these words to the text. 	k these were certain inhabitants of mecca, who held with the hare and ran with the hounds, for though they embraced mohammedism, yet they would not leave that city to join the prophet, as the rest of the moslems did, but on the contrary went out with the idolaters, and were therefore slain with them at the battle of bedr. 	l being unable to fly, and compelled to follow the infidels to war. 	m as they did who fled to ethiopia and to medina. 	n this passage was revealed, says al beidâwi, on account of jondob ebn damra. this person being sick, was, in his flight, carried by his sons on a couch, and before he arrived at medina, perceiving his end approached, he clapped his right hand on his left, and solemnly plighting his faith to god and his apostle, died. 	o to defend those who are at prayers, and to face the enemy. 			 al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin but when thou, o prophet, shalt be among them, and shalt pray with them, let a party of them arise to prayer with thee, and let them take their arms; and when they shall have worshipped, let them stand behind you,o and let another party come that hath not prayed, and let them pray with thee, and let them be cautious and take their arms. the unbelievers would that ye should neglect your arms and your baggage while ye pray, that they might turn upon you at once. it shall be no crime in you, if ye be incommoded by rain, or be sick, that ye lay down your arms; but take your necessary precaution:p god hath prepared for the unbelievers an ignominious punishment. and when ye shall have ended your prayer, remember god, standing, and sitting, and lying on your sides.q but when ye are secure from danger, complete your prayers: for prayer is commanded the faithful, and appointed to be said at the stated times. be not negligent in seeking out the unbelieving people, though ye suffer some inconvenience; for they also shall suffer as ye suffer, and ye hope for a reward from god which they cannot hope for; and god is knowing and wise.r we have sent down unto thee the book of the koran with truth, that thou mayest judge between men through that wisdom which god showeth thee therein; and be not an advocate for the fraudulent;s but ask pardon of god for thy wrong intention, since god is indulgent and merciful. dispute not for those who deceive one another, for god loveth not him who is a deceiver or unjust.t such conceal themselves from men, but they conceal not themselves from god; for he is with them when they imagine by night a saying which pleaseth him not,u and god comprehendeth what they do. behold, ye are they who have disputed for them in this present life; but who shall dispute with god for them on the day of resurrection, or who will become their patron? 	yet he who doth evil, or injureth his own soul, and afterwards asketh pardon of god, shall find god gracious and merciful. whoso committeth wickedness, committeth it against his own soul: god is knowing and wise. and whoso committeth a sin or iniquity, and afterwards layeth it on the innocent, he shall surely bear the guilt of calumny and manifest injustice. if the indulgence and mercy of god had not been upon thee, surely a part of them had studied to seduce thee;x but they shall seduce themselves only, and shall not hurt thee at all. god hath sent down unto thee the book of the koran and wisdom, and hath taught thee that which thou knewest not;y for the favor of god hath been great towards thee. there is no good in the multitude of their private discourses, unless in the discourse of him who recommendeth alms, or that which is right, or agreement amongst men: whoever doth this out of a desire to please god, we will surely give him a great reward. 	p by keeping strict guard. 	q that is, in such posture as ye shall be able. 	r this verse was revealed on occasion of the unwillingness of mohammed's men to accompany him in the lesser expedition of bedr. 	s tima ebn obeirak, of the sons of dhafar, one of mohammed's companions, stole a coat of mail from his neighbour, kitâda ebn al nomân, in a bag of meal, and hid it at a jew's named zeid ebn al samîn; tima, being suspected, the coat of mail was demanded of him, but he denying he knew anything of it, they followed the track of the meal, which had run out through a hole in the bag, to the jew's house, and there seized it, accusing him of the theft; but he producing witnesses of his own religion that he had it of tima, the sons of dhafar came to mohammed and desired him to defend his companion's reputation, and condemn the jew; which he having some thoughts of doing, this passage was revealed, reprehending him for his rash intention, and commanding him to judge not according to his own prejudice and opinion, but according to the merit of the case. 	t al beidâwi, as an instance of the divine justice, adds, that tima, after the fact above mentioned, fled to mecca, and returned to idolatry; and there undermining the wall of a house, in order to commit a robbery, the wall fell in upon him and crushed him to death. 	u that is, when they secretly contrive means, by false evidence or otherwise, to lay their crimes on innocent persons. 	x meaning the sons of dhafar. 	y by instructing them in the knowledge of right and wrong, and the rules of justice. 	 see before, c. , p. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin, yahya. but whoso separateth himself from the apostle, after true direction hath been manifested unto him, and followeth any other way than than of the true believers, we will cause him to obtain that to which he is inclined,z and will cast him to be burned in hell; and an unhappy journey shall it be thither. verily god will not pardon the giving him a companion, but he will pardon any crime besides that, unto whom he pleaseth: and he who giveth a companion unto god is surely led aside into a wide mistake; the infidels invoke beside him only female deities;a and only invoke rebellious satan. god cursed him; and he said, verily i will take of thy servants a part cut off from the rest,b and i will seduce them, and will insinuate vain desires into them, and i will command them and they shall cut off the ears of cattle;c and i will command them and they shall change god's creature.d but whoever taketh satan for his patron, besides god,e shall surely perish with a manifest destruction. he maketh them promises, and insinuateth into them vain desires; yet satan maketh them only deceitful promises. 	the receptacle of these shall be hell, they shall find no refuge from it. but they who believe, and do good works, we will surely lead them into gardens, through which rivers flow, they shall continue therein forever, according to the true promise of god; and who is more true than god in what he saith? it shall not be according to your desires, nor according to the desires of those who have received the scriptures.f whoso doth evil shall be rewarded for it; and shall not find any patron or helper, beside god; but whoso doth good works, whether he be male or female, and is a true believer, they shall be admitted into paradise, and shall not in the least be unjustly dealt with. who is better in point of religion than he who resigneth himself unto god, and is a worker of righteousness, and followeth the law of abraham the orthodox? since god took abraham for his friend:g and to god belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and on earth; god comprehendeth all things. 	z viz., error, and false notions of religion. 	a namely, allât, al uzza, and menât, the idols of the meccans; or the angels, whom they called the daughters of god. 	b or, as the original may be translated, a part destined or predetermined to be seduced by me. 	c which was done out of superstition by the old pagan arabs. some more of this custom in the notes to the fifth chapter. 	d either by maiming it, or putting it to uses not designed by the creator. al beidâwi supposes the text to intend not only the superstitious amputations of the ears and other parts of cattle, but the castration of slaves, the marking their bodies with figures, by pricking and dyeing them with wood or indigo (as the arabs did and still do), the sharpening their teeth by filing; and also sodomy, and the unnatural amours between those of the female sex, the worship of the sun, moon, and other parts of nature, and the like. 	e i.e., by leaving the service of god, and doing the works of the devil. 	f that is, the promises of god are not to be gained by acting after your own fancies, nor yet after the fancies of the jews or christians, but by obeying the commands of god. this passage, they say, was revealed on a dispute which arose between those of the three religions, each preferring his own, and condemning the others. some, however, suppose the persons here spoken to in the second person were not the mohammedans, but the idolaters. 	g therefore the mohammedans usually call that patriarch, as the scripture also does, khalîl allah, the friend of god, and simply al khalîl; and they tell the following story: that abraham in a time of dearth sent to a friend of his in egypt for a supply of corn; but the friend denied him, saying in his excuse, that though there was a famine in their country also, yet had it been for abraham's own family, he would have sent what he desired, but he knew he wanted it only to entertain his guests and give away to the poor, according to his usual hospitality. the servants whom abraham had sent on this message, being ashamed to return empty, to conceal the matter from their neighbours, filled their sacks with fine white sand, which in the east pretty much resembles meal. abraham being informed by his servants, on their return of their ill success, the concern he was under threw him into a sleep; and in the meantime sarah, knowing nothing of what had happened, opening one of the sacks, found good flour in it, and immediately set out about making of bread. abraham awaking and smelling the new bread, asked her whence she had the flour? why, says she, from your friend in egypt. nay, replied the patriarch, it must have come from no other than my friend god almighty. 	 see the prelim. discourse, sect. i.		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin, yahya, they will consult thee concerning women;h answer, god instructeth you concerning them,i and that which is read unto you in the book of the koran concerning female orphans, to whom ye give not that which is ordained them, neither will ye marry them,k and concerning weak infants,l and that ye observe justice towards orphans: whatever good ye do, god knoweth it. if a woman fear ill usage, or aversion from her husband, it shall be no crime in them if they agree the matter amicably between themselves;m for a reconciliation is better than a separation. men's souls are naturally inclined to covetousness:n but if ye be kind towards women, and fear to wrong them, god is well acquainted with what ye do. ye can by no means carry yourselves equally between women in all respects, although ye study to do it; therefore turn not from a wife with all manner of aversion,o nor leave her like one in suspense:p if ye agree, and fear to abuse your wives, god is gracious and merciful; but if they separate, god will satisfy them both of his abundance;q for god is extensive and wise, 	and unto god belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and on earth. we have already commanded those unto whom the scriptures were given before you, and we command you also, saying, fear god; but if ye disbelieve, unto god belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and on earth; and god is self-sufficient,r and to be praised; for unto god belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and on earth, and god is a sufficient protector. if he pleaseth he will take you away, o men, and will produce others in your stead;s for god is able to do this. whoso desireth the reward of this world, verily with god is the reward of this world, and also of that which is to come; god both heareth and seeth. 	h i.e., as to the share they are to have in the distribution of the inheritances of their deceased relations; for it seems that the arabs were not satisfied with mohammed's decision on this point, against the old customs. 	i i.e., he hath already made his will known unto you, by revealing the passages concerning inheritances in the beginning of this chapter. 	k or the words may be rendered in the affirmative, and whom ye desire to marry. for the pagan arabs used to wrong their female orphans in both instances; obliging them to marry against their inclinations, if they were beautiful or rich; or else not suffering them to marry at all, that they might keep what belonged to them. 	l that is, male children of tender years, to whom the arabs, in the time of paganism, used to allow no share in the distribution of their parents' estate. 	m by the wife's remitting part of her dower or other dues. 	n so that the woman, on the one side, is unwilling to part with any of her right; and the husband, on the other, cares not to retain one he has no affection for; or, if he should retain her, she can scarce expect he will use her in all respects as he ought. 	o i.e., though you cannot use her equally well with a beloved wife, yet observe some measures of justice towards her; for if a man is not able perfectly to perform his duty, he ought not, for that reason, entirely to neglect it. 	p or like one that neither has a husband, nor is divorced, and at liberty to marry elsewhere. 	q that is, either will bless them with a better and more advantageous match, or with peace and tranquility of mind. 	r wanting the service of no creature. 	s i.e., either another race of men or a different species of creatures. 	 al beidâwi. see d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. , and morgan's mahometism explained, vol. i. p. .		 al beidâwi. see before, p. , note c.		 al beidâwi.		 idem. 	 idem. o true believers, observe justice when ye bear witness before god, although it be against yourselves, or your parents, or relations; whether the party be rich, or whether he be poor; for god is more worthy than them both: therefore follow not your own lust in bearing testimony so that ye swerve from justice. and whether ye wrest your evidence, or decline giving it, god is well acquainted with that which ye do. o true believers, believe in god and his apostle, and the book which he hath caused to descend unto his apostle, and the book which he hath formerly sent down.t and whosoever believeth not in god, and his angels, and his scriptures, and his apostles, and the last day, he surely erreth in a wide mistake. moreover they who believed, and afterwards became infidels, and then believed again, and after that disbelieved, and increased in infidelity,u god will by no means forgive them, nor direct them into the right way. declare unto the ungodlyx that they shall suffer a painful punishment. they who take the unbelievers for their protectors, besides the faithful, do they seek for power with them? since all power belongeth unto god. and he hath already revealed unto you, in the book of the korân,y the following passage-when ye shall hear the signs of god, they shall not be believed, but they shall be laughed to scorn. therefore sit not with them who believe not, until they engage in different discourse; for if ye do ye will certainly become like unto them. god will surely gather the ungodly and the unbelievers together in hell. 	they who wait to observe what befalleth you, if victory be granted you from god, say, were we not with you?z but if any advantage happen to the infidels, they say unto them, were we not superior to you,a and have we not defended you against the believers? god shall judge between you on the day of resurrection: and god will not grant the unbelievers means to prevail over the faithful. the hypocrites act deceitfully with god, but he will deceive them; and when they stand up to pray, they stand carelessly, affecting to be seen of men, and remember not god, unless a little,b wavering between faith and infidelity, and adhering neither unto these nor unto those:c and for him whom god shall lead astray thou shalt find no true path. o true believers, take not the unbelievers for your protectors besides the faithful. will ye furnish god with an evident argument of impiety against you? 	t it is said that abda'llah ebn salâm and his companions told mohammed that they believed in him, and his korân, and in moses, and the pentateuch, and in ezra, but no farther; whereupon this passage was revealed, declaring that a partial faith is little better than none at all, and that a true believer must believe in all god's prophets and revelations without exception. 	u these were the jews, who first believed in moses, and afterwards fell into idolatry by worshiping the golden calf; and though they repented of that, yet in after ages rejected the prophets who were sent to them, and particularly jesus, the son of mary, and now filled up the measure of their unbelief by rejecting of mohammed. 	x mohammed here means those who hypocritically pretended to believe in him but really did not, and by their treachery did great mischief to his party. 	y cap. . 	z i.e., did we not assist you? therefore give us part of the spoil. 	a would not our army have cut you off if it had not been for our faint assistance, or rather desertion, of the moslems, and our disheartening them? 	b that is, with the tongue, and not with the heart. 	c halting between two opinions, and being staunch friends neither to the moslems nor the infidels. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem.		 . idem. 	 idem. moreover the hypocrites shall be in the lowest bottom of hell fire,d and thou shalt not find any to help them thence. but they who repent and amend, and adhere firmly unto god, and approve the sincerity of their religion to god, they shall be numbered with the faithful; and god will surely give the faithful a great reward. and how should god go about to punish you, if ye be thankful and believe? for god is grateful and wise. god loveth not the speaking ill of any one in public, unless he who is injured call for assistance; and god heareth and knoweth: whether ye publish a good action, or conceal it, or forgive evil, verily god is gracious and powerful. they who believe not in god, and his apostles, and would make a distinction between god and his apostles,e and say, we believe in some of the prophets and reject others of them, and seek to take a middle way in this matter; 	these are really unbelievers: and we have prepared for the unbelievers an ignominious punishment. but they who believe in god and his apostles, and make no distinction between any of them, unto those will we surely give their reward; and god is gracious and merciful. they who have received the scripturesf will demand of thee, that thou cause a book to descend unto them from heaven: they formerly asked of moses a greater thing than this: for they said, show us god visibly.g wherefore a storm of fire from heaven destroyed them, because of their iniquity. then they took the calf for their god,h after that evident proofs of the divine unity had come unto them: but we forgave them that, and gave moses a manifest power to punish them.i and we lifted the mountain of sinai over them,k when we exacted from them their covenant; and said unto them, enter the gate of the city worshipping.l we also said unto them, transgress not on the sabbath-day. and we received from them a firm covenant, that they would observe these things. therefore for thatm they have made void their covenant, and have not believed in the signs of god, and have slain the prophets unjustly, and have said, our hearts are circumcised; (but god hath sealed them up, because of their unbelief; therefore they shall not believe, except a few of them:) and for that they have not believed in jesus, and have spoken against mary a grievous calumny;n 	d see the preliminary discourse, sect. iv. 	e see c. , p. , note h. 	f that is, the jews; who demanded of mohammed, as a proof of his mission, that they might see a book of revelations descend to him from heaven, or that he would produce one written in a celestial character, like the two tables of moses. 	g see chapter , p. . 	this story seems to be an addition to what moses says of the seventy elders, who went up to the mountain with him, and with aaron, nadab, and abihu, and saw the god of israel. 	h see chapter , p. . 	i see ibid. p. , note m. 	k see ibid. p. . 	l see ibid. p. . 	m there being nothing in the following words of this sentence, to answer to the causal for that, jallalo'ddin supposes something to be understood to complete the sense, as therefore we have cursed them, or the like. 	n by accusing her of fornication. 	 exod. xxiv. , , .		 see the kor. c. , and that virulent book entitled toldoth jesu. and have said, verily we have slain christ jesus the son of mary, the apostle of god; yet they slew him not, neither crucified him, but he was represented by one in his likeness;o and verily they who disagreed concerning himp were in a doubt as to this matter, and had no sure knowledge thereof, but followed only an uncertain opinion. they did not really kill him; but god took him up unto himself: and god is mighty and wise. and there shall not be one of those who have received the scriptures, who shall not believe in him, before his death;q and on the day of resurrection he shall be a witness against them.r because of the iniquity of those who judaize, we have forbidden them good things, which had been formerly allowed them;s and because they shut out many from the way of god, and have taken usury, which was forbidden them by the law, and devoured men's substance vainly: we have prepared for such of them as are unbelievers a painful punishment. 	but those among them who are well grounded in knowledge,t and the faithful, who believe in that which hath been sent down unto thee, and that which hath been sent down unto the prophets before thee, and who observe the stated times of prayer, and give alms, and believe in god and the last day unto these will we give a great reward. verily we have revealed our will unto thee, as we have revealed it unto noah and the prophets who succeeded him; and as we revealed it unto abraham, and ismael, and isaac, and jacob, and the tribes, and unto jesus, and job, and jonas, and aaron, and solomon; and we have given thee the koran, as we gave the psalms unto david: some apostles have we sent, whom we have formerly mentioned unto thee; and other apostles have we sent, whom we have not mentioned unto thee; and god spake unto moses, discoursing with him; apostles declaring good tidings, and denouncing threats, lest men should have an argument of excuse against god, after the apostles had been sent unto them; god is mighty and wise. god is witness of that revelation which he hath sent down unto thee; he sent it down with his special knowledge: the angels also are witnesses thereof; but god is a sufficient witness. they who believe not, and turn aside others from the way of god, have erred in a wide mistake. 	o see chapter , p. , and the notes there. 	p for some maintained that he was justly and really crucified; some insisted that it was not jesus who suffered, but another who resembled him in the face, pretending the other parts of his body, by their unlikeness, plainly discovered the imposition; some said he was taken up into heaven; and others, that his manhood only suffered, and that his godhead ascended into heaven. 	q this passage is expounded two ways. 	some, referring the relative his, to the first antecedent, take the meaning to be, that no jew or christian shall die before he believes in jesus: for they say, that when one of either of those religions is ready to breathe his last, and sees the angel of death before him, he shall then believe in that prophet as he ought, though his faith will not then be of any avail. according to a tradition of hejâj, when a jew is expiring, the angels will strike him on the back and face, and say to him, o thou enemy of god, jesus was sent as a prophet unto thee, and thou didst not believe on him; to which he will answer, i now believe him to be the servant of god; and to a dying christian they will say, jesus was sent as a prophet unto thee, and thou hast imagined him to be god, or the son of god; whereupon he will believe him to be the servant of god only, and his apostle. 	others, taking the above-mentioned relative to refer to jesus, suppose the intent of the passage to be, that all jews and christians in general shall have a right faith in that prophet before his death, that is, when he descends from heaven and returns into the world, where he is to kill antichrist, and to establish the mohammedan religion, and a most perfect tranquility and security on earth. 	r i.e., against the jews, for rejecting him; and against the christians, for calling him god, and the son of god. 	s see chapter , p. and , and the notes there. 	t as abda'llah ebn salâm, and his companions. 	 al beidâwi.		 jallalo'ddin, yahya, al zamakhshari, and al beidâwi. see the prelim. disc. sect. iv.		 al beidâwi.		 idem. verily those who believe not, and act unjustly, god will by no means forgive, neither will he direct them into any other way, than the way of hell; they shall remain therein forever: and this is easy with god. o men, now is the apostle come unto you, with truth from your lord; believe therefore, it will be better for you. but if ye disbelieve, verily unto god belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and on earth; and god is knowing and wise. o ye who have received the scriptures, exceed not the just bounds in your religion,u neither say of god any other than the truth. verily christ jesus the son of mary is the apostle of god, and his word, which he conveyed into mary, and a spirit proceeding from him. believe therefore in god, and his apostles, and say not, there are three gods;x forbear this; it will be better for you. god is but one god. far be it from him that he should have a son! unto him belongeth whatever is in heaven and on earth; and god is a sufficient protector. 	christ doth not proudly disdain to be a servant unto god; neither the angels who approach near to his presence: and whoso disdaineth his service, and is puffed up with pride, god will gather them all to himself, on the last day. unto those who believe, and do that which is right, he shall give their rewards, and shall superabundantly add unto them of his liberality: but those who are disdainful and proud, he will punish with a grievous punishment; and they shall not find any to protect or to help them, besides god. o men, now is an evident proof come unto you from your lord, and we have sent down unto you manifest light.y they who believe in god and firmly adhere to him, he will lead them into mercy from him, and abundance; and he will direct them in the right way to himself.z they will consult thee for thy decision in certain cases; say unto them, god giveth you these determinations, concerning the more remote degrees of kindred.a if a man die without issue, and have a sister, she shall have the half of what he shall leave:b and he shall be heir to her,c in case she have no issue. but if there be two sisters they shall have between them two third parts of what he shall leave; and if there be several, both brothers and sisters, a male shall have as much as the portion of two females. god declareth unto you these precepts, lest ye err: and god knoweth all things. 	u either by rejecting and contemning of jesus as the jews do; or raising him to an equality with god, as do the christians. 	x namely, god, jesus, and mary. for the eastern writers mention a sect of christians which held the trinity to be composed of those three; but it is allowed that this heresy has been long since extinct. the passage, however, is equally levelled against the holy trinity, according to the doctrine of the orthodox christians, who, as al beidâwi acknowledges, believe the divine nature to consist of three persons, the father, the son, and the holy ghost; by the father understanding god's essence; by the son his knowledge, and by the holy ghost his life. 	y that is, mohammed and his korân. 	z viz., into the religion of islâm, in this world, and the way to paradise in the next. 	a see the beginning of this chapter, p. . 	b and the other half will go to the public treasury. 	c that is, he shall inherit her whole substance. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin, yahya.		 elmacin. p. . eutych. p. . see the prelim. disc. sect. ii		 ahmed ebn abd'al halim.		 al beidâwi. chapter v. entitled, the table;d revealed at medina. in the name of the most merciful god. o true believers, perform your contracts. ye are allowed to eat the brute cattle,e other than what ye are commanded to abstain from; except the game which ye are allowed at other times, but not while ye are on pilgrimage to mecca; god ordaineth that which he pleaseth. o true believers, violate not the holy rites of god,f nor the sacred month,g nor the offering, nor the ornaments hung thereon,h nor those who are travelling to the holy house, seeking favor from their lord, and to please him. but when ye shall have finished your pilgrimage; then hunt. and let not the malice of some, in that they hindered you from entering the sacred temple,i provoke you to transgress, by taking revenge on them in the sacred months. assist one another according to justice and piety, but assist not one another in injustice and malice: therefore fear god; for god is severe in punishing. ye are forbidden to eat that which dieth of itself, and blood, and swine's flesh, and that on which the name of any besides god hath been invocated;k and that which hath been strangled, or killed by a blow, or by a fall, or by the horns of another beast, and that which hath been eaten by a wild beast,l except what ye shall kill yourselves;m and that which hath been sacrificed unto idols.n it is likewise unlawful for you to make division by casting lots with arrows.o this is an impiety. on this day,p woe be unto those who have apostatized from their religion; therefore fear not them, but fear me. this day have i perfected your religion for you,q and have completed my mercy upon you;r and i have chosen for you islam, to be your religion. but whosoever shall be driven by necessity through hunger, to eat of what we have forbidden, not designing to sin, surely god will be indulgent and merciful unto him. 	d the title is taken from the table, which, towards the end of the chapter, is fabled to have been let down from heaven to jesus. it is sometimes also called the chapter of contracts, which word occurs in the first verse. 	e as camels, oxen, and sheep; and also wild cows, antelopes, &c.; but not swine, nor what is taken in hunting during the pilgrimage. 	f i.e., the ceremonies used in the pilgrimage of mecca. 	g see the prelim. disc. sect. vii. 	h the offering here meant is the sheep led to mecca, to be there sacrificed, about the neck of which they used to hang garlands, green boughs, or some other ornament, that it may be distinguished as a thing sacred. 	i in the expedition of al hodeibiya. 	k for the idolatrous arabs used, in killing any animal for food, to consecrate it, as it were, to their idols, by saying, in the name of allât, or al uzza. 	l or by a creature trained up to hunting. 	m that is, unless ye come up time enough to find life in the animal, and to cut its throat. 	n the word also signifies certain stones, which the pagan arabs used to set up near their houses, and on which they superstitiously slew animals, in honour of their gods. 	o see prelim. disc. sect. v. 	p this passage, it is said, was revealed on friday evening, being the day of the pilgrims visiting mount arafat, the last time mohammed visited the temple of mecca, therefore called the pilgrimage of valediction. 	q and therefore the commentators say, that after this time, no positive or negative precept was given. 	r by having given you a true and perfect religion; or, by the taking of mecca, and the destruction of idolatry. 	 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. 	 see the prelim. disc. sect. ii. see c. , p. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem. see prid. life of mahom. p. . vide abulfed. vit. moh. p. . they will ask thee what is allowed them as lawful to eat? answer, such things as are goods are allowed you; and what ye shall teach animals of prey to catch,t training them up for hunting after the manner of dogs, and teaching them according to the skill which god hath taught you. eat therefore of that which they shall catch for you; and commemorate the name of god thereon;u and fear god, for god is swift in taking an account. this day are ye allowed to eat such things as are good, and the food of those to whom the scriptures were givenx is also allowed as lawful unto you; and your food is allowed as lawful unto them. and ye are also allowed to marry free women that are believers, and also free women of those who have received the scriptures before you, when ye shall have assigned them their dower; living chastely with them, neither committing fornication, nor taking them for concubines. whoever shall renounce the faith, his work shall be vain, and in the next life he shall be of those who perish. o true believers, when ye prepare yourselves to pray, wash your faces, and your hands unto the elbows; and rub your heads, and your feet unto the ankles; and if ye be polluted by having lain with a woman, wash yourselves all over. but if ye be sick, or on a journey, or any of you cometh from the privy, or if ye have touched women, and ye find no water, take fine clean sand, and rub your faces and your hands therewith; god would not put a difficulty upon you; but he desireth to purify you, and to complete his favor upon you, that ye may give thanks. 	remember the favor of god towards you, and his covenant which he hath made with you, when ye said, we have heard, and will obey.y therefore fear god, for god knoweth the innermost parts of the breasts of men. o true believers, observe justice when ye appear as witnesses before god, and let not hatred towards any induce you to do wrong: but act justly; this will approach nearer unto piety; and fear god, for god is fully acquainted with what ye do. god hath promised unto those who believe, and do that which is right, that they shall receive pardon and a great reward. but they who believe not, and accuse our signs of falsehood, they shall be the companions of hell. o true believers, remember god's favor towards you, when certain men designed to stretch forth their hands against you, but he restrained their hands from hurting you;z therefore fear god and in god let the faithful trust. 	s not such as are filthy, or unwholesome. 	t whether beasts or birds. 	u either when ye let go the hound, hawk, or other animal, after the game; or when ye kill it. 	x viz., slain or dressed by jews or christians. 	y these words are the form used at the inauguration of a prince; and mohammed here intends the oath of fidelity which his followers had taken to him at al akaba. 	z the commentators tell several stories as the occasion of this passage. one says, that mohammed and some of his followers being at osfân (a place not far from mecca, in the way to medina), and performing their noon devotions, a company of idolaters, who were in view, repented they had not taken that opportunity of attacking them, and therefore waited till the hour of evening prayer, intending to fall upon them then: but god defeated their design, by revealing the verse of fear. another relates, that the prophet going to the tribe of koreidha (who were jews) to levy a fine for the blood of two moslems, who had been killed by mistake, by amru ebn ommeya al dimri, they desired him to sit down and eat with them, and they would pay the fine; mohammed complying with their request, while he was sitting, they laid a design against his life, one amru ebn jahâsh undertaking to throw a millstone upon him; but god withheld his hand, and gabriel immediately descended to acquaint the prophet with their treachery, upon which he rose up and went his way. a third story is, that mohammed having hung up his arms on a tree, under which he was resting himself, and his companions being dispersed some distance from him, an arab of the desert came up to him and drew his sword, saying, who hindereth me from killing thee? to which mohammed answered, god; and gabriel beating the sword out of the arab's hand, mohammed took it up, and asked him the same question, who hinders me from killing thee? the arab replied, nobody, and immediately professed mohammedism. abûlfeda tells the same story, with some variation of circumstances. 	 vide abulfed. ibid. p. , and the prelim. disc. sect. ii. 	 al beidâwi.		 vit. moh. p. . god formerly accepted the covenant of the children of israel, and we appointed out of them twelve leaders: and god said, verily i am with you:a if ye observe prayer, and give alms, and believe in my apostles, and assist them, and lend unto god on good usury,b i will surely expiate your evil deeds from you, and i will lead you into gardens, wherein rivers flow: but he among you who disbelieveth after this, erreth from the straight path. wherefore because they have broken their covenant, we have cursed them, and hardened their hearts; they dislocate the words of the pentateuch from their places, and have forgotten part of what they were admonished; and thou wilt not cease to discover deceitful practices among them, except a few of them. but forgive them,c and pardon them, for god loveth the beneficent. and from those who say, we are christians, we have received their covenant; but they have forgotten part of what they were admonished; wherefore we have raised up enmity and hatred among them, till the day of resurrection; and god will then surely declare unto them what they have been doing. o ye who have received the scriptures, now is our apostle come unto you, to make manifest unto you many things which ye concealed in the scriptures;d and to pass overe many things. now is light and a perspicuous book of revelations come unto you from god. thereby will god direct him who shall follow his good pleasure, into the paths of peace; and shall lead them out of darkness into light, by his will, and shall direct them in the right way. they are infidels, who say, verily god is christ the son of mary. say unto them, and who could obtain anything from god to the contrary, if he pleased to destroy christ the son of mary, and his mother, and all those who are on the earth? 	for unto god belongeth the kingdom of heaven and earth, and whatsoever is contained between them; he createth what he pleaseth, and god is almighty. 	a after the israelites had escaped from pharaoh, god ordered them to go against jericho, which was then inhabited by giants, of the race of the canaanites, promising to give it into their hands; and moses, by the divine direction, appointed a prince or captain over each tribe, to lead them in that expedition, and when they came to the borders of the land of canaan, sent the captains as spies to get information of the state of the country, enjoining them secresy; but they being terrified at the prodigious size and strength of the inhabitants, disheartened the people by publicly telling them what they had seen, except only caleb the son of yufanna (jephunneh) and joshua the son of nun. 	b by contributing towards this holy war. 	c that is, if they repent and believe, or submit to pay tribute. some, however, think these words are abrogated by the verse of the sword. 	d such as the verse of stoning adulterers, the description of mohammed, and christ's prophecy of him by the name of ahmed. 	e i.e., those which it was not necessary to restore. 	 see numb. i. . .		 al beidâwi. numb. xiii. and xiv 	 al beidâwi.		 see c. , p. . al beidâwi. the jews and the christians say, we are the children of god and his beloved. answer, why therefore doth he punish you for your sins? nay, but ye are men, of those whom he hath created. he forgiveth whom he pleaseth, and punisheth whom he pleaseth; and unto god belongeth the kingdom of heaven and earth, and of what is contained between them both; and unto him shall all things return. o ye who have received the scriptures, now is our apostle come unto you, declaring unto you the true religion, during the cessation of apostles,f lest ye should say, there came unto us no bearer of good tidings, nor any warner: but now is a bearer of good tidings, and a warner come unto you; for god is almighty. call to mind when moses said unto his people, o my people, remember the favor of god towards you, since he hath appointed prophets among you, and constituted you kings,g and bestowed on you what he hath given to no other nation in the world.h o my people, enter the holy land, which god hath decreed you, and turn not your backs, lest ye be subverted and perish. they answered, o moses, verily there are a gigantic people in the land;i and we will by no means enter it, until they depart thence; but if they depart thence, then will we enter therein. and two menk of those who feared god, unto whom god had been gracious, said, enter ye upon them suddenly by the gate of the city; and when ye shall have entered the same, ye shall surely be victorious: therefore trust in god, if ye are true believers. they replied, o moses, we will never enter the land, while they remain therein: go therefore thou, and thy lord, and fight; for we will sit here. moses said, o lord, surely i am not master of any except myself, and my brother; therefore make a distinction between us and the ungodly people. god answered, verily the land shall be forbidden them forty years; during which time they shall wander like men astonished on the earth;l therefore be not thou solicitous for the ungodly people. 	f the arabic word al fatra signifies the intermediate space of time between two prophets, during which no new revelation or dispensation was given; as the interval between moses and jesus, and between jesus and mohammed, at the expiration of which last, mohammed pretended to be sent. 	g this was fulfilled either by god's giving them a kingdom, and a long series of princes; or by his having made them kings or masters of themselves, by delivering them from the egyptian bondage. 	h having divided the red sea for you, and guided you by a cloud, and fed you with quails and manna, &c. 	i the largest of these giants, the commentators say, was og, the son of anak; concerning whose enormous stature, his escaping the flood, and the manner of his being slain by moses, the mohammedans relate several absurd fables. 	k namely, caleb and joshua. 	l the commentators pretend that the israelites, while they thus wandered in the desert, were kept within the compass of about eighteen (or as some say twenty-seven) miles; and that though they travelled from morning to night, yet they constantly found themselves the next day at the place from whence they set out. 	 al beidâwi.		 vide marraacc. in alcor. p. , &c. d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. .		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin. 	relate unto them also the history of the two sons of adam,m with truth. when they offeredn their offering, and it was accepted from one of them,o and was not accepted from the other, cain said to his brother, i will certainly kill thee. abel answered, god only accepteth the offering of the pious; if thou stretchest forth thy hand against me, to slay me, i will not stretch forth my hand against thee, to slay thee; for i fear god, the lord of all creatures.p i choose that thou shouldest bear my iniquity and thine own iniquity; and that thou become a companion of hell fire; for that is the reward of the unjust.q but his soul suffered him to slay his brother, and he slew him;r wherefore he became of the number of those who perish. and god sent a raven, which scratched the earth, to show him how he should hide the shame of his brother,s and he said, woe is me! am i unable to be like this raven, that i may hide my brother's shame? and he became one of those who repent. wherefore we commanded the children of israel, that he who slayeth a soul, without having slain a soul, or committed wickedness in the earth,t shall be as if he had slain all mankind:u but he who saveth a soul alive, shall be as if he had saved the lives of all mankind. our apostles formerly came unto them, with evident miracles; then were many of them after this, transgressors on the earth. but the recompense of those who fight against god and his apostle, and study to act corruptly in the earth, shall be, that they shall be slain, or crucified, or have their hands and their feet cut off on the opposite sides, or be banished the land.x this shall be their disgrace in this world, and in the next world they shall suffer a grievous punishment; except those who shall repent, before ye prevail against them; for know that god is inclined to forgive, and merciful. 	m viz., cain and abel, whom the mohammedans call kâbil and hâbil. 	n the occasion of their making this offering is thus related, according to the common tradition in the east. each of them being born with a twin sister, when they were grown up, adam, by god's direction, ordered cain to marry abel's twin sister, and that abel should marry cain's (for it being the common opinion that marriages ought not to be had in the nearest degrees of consanguinity, since they must necessarily marry their sisters, it seemed reasonable to suppose they ought to take those of the remoter degree), but this cain refusing to agree to, because his own sister was the handsomest, adam ordered them to make their offerings to god, thereby referring the dispute to his determination. the commentators say cain's offering was a sheaf of the very worst of his corn, but abel's a fat lamb, of the best of his flock. 	o namely, from abel, whose sacrifice god declared his acceptance of in a visible manner, by causing fire to descend from heaven and consume it, without touching that of cain. 	p to enhance abel's patience, al beidâwi tells us, that he was the stronger of the two, and could easily have prevailed against his brother. 	q the conversation between the two brothers is related somewhat to the same purpose in the jerusalem targum and that of jonathan ben uzziel. 	r some say he knocked out his brains with a stone; and pretend that as cain was considering which way he should effect the murder, the devil appeared to him in a human shape, and showed him how to do it, by crushing the head of a bird between two stones. 	s i.e., his dead corpse. for cain, having committed this fratricide, became exceedingly troubled in his mind, and carried the dead body about on his shoulders for a considerable time, not knowing where to conceal it, till it stank horridly; and then god taught him to bury it by the example of a raven, who having killed another raven in his presence, dug a pit with his claws and beak, and buried him therein. for this circumstance of the raven mohammed was beholden to the jews, who tell the same story, except only that they make the raven to appear to adam, and that he thereupon buried his son. 	t such as idolatry, or robbing on the highway. 	u having broken the commandment which forbids the shedding of blood. 	x the lawyers are not agreed as to the applying of these punishments. but the commentators suppose that they who commit murder only are to be put to death in the ordinary way; those who murder and rob too, to be crucified; those who rob without committing murder, to have their right hand and their left foot cut off; and they who assault persons and put them in fear, to be banished. it is also a doubt whether they who are to be crucified shall be crucified alive, or be first put to death, or whether they shall hang on the cross till they die. 	 vide abulfarag, p. , ; eutych. annal. p. , ; and d'herbelot, bibl. orient. art. cabil.		 al beidâwi. idem, jallalo'ddin.		 vide eutych. ubi supra.		 vide d'herbelot, ubi sup.		 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi. vide r. eliezer, pirke, c. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 al beidâwi. o true believers, fear god, and earnestly desire a near conjunction with him, and fight for his religion, that ye may be happy. 	moreover they who believe not, although they had whatever is in the earth, and as much more withal, that they might therewith redeem themselves from punishment on the day of resurrection; it shall not be accepted from them, but they shall suffer a painful punishment. they shall desire to go forth from the fire, but they shall not go forth from it, and their punishment shall be permanent. if a man or a woman steal, cut off their hands,y in retribution for that which they have committed; this is an exemplary punishment appointed by god; and god is mighty and wise. but whoever shall repent after his iniquity, and amend, verily god will be turned unto him,z for god is inclined to forgive, and merciful. dost thou not know that the kingdom of heaven and earth is god's? he punisheth whom he pleaseth, and he pardoneth whom he pleaseth; for god is almighty. o apostle, let not them grieve thee, who hasten to infidelity,a either of those who say, we believe, with their mouths, but whose hearts believe not;b or of the jews, who hearken to a lie, and hearken to other people;c who come unto thee: they pervert the words of the law from their true places,d and say, if this be brought unto you, receive it; but if it be not brought unto you, beware of receiving aught else;e and in behalf of him whom god shall resolve to seduce, thou shalt not prevail with god at all. they whose hearts god shall not please to cleanse shall suffer shame in this world, and a grievous punishment in the next: who hearken to a lie, and eat that which is forbidden.f but if they come unto thee for judgment, either judge between them, or leave them;g and if thou leave them, they shall not hurt thee at all. but if thou undertake to judge, judge between them with equity; for god loveth those who observe justice. 	y but this punishment, according to the sonna, is not to be inflicted, unless the value of the thing stolen amount to four dinârs, or about forty shillings. for the first offence, the criminal is to lose his right hand, which is to be cut off at the wrist; for the second offence, his left foot, at the ankle; for the third, his left hand; for the fourth, his right foot; and if he continue to offend, he shall be scourged at the discretion of the judge. 	z that is, god will not punish him for it hereafter; but his repentance does not supersede the execution of the law here, nor excuse him from making restitution. yet, according to al shâfeï, he shall not be punished if the party wronged forgive him before he be carried before a magistrate. 	a i.e., who take the first opportunity to throw off the mask, and join the unbelievers. 	b viz., the hypocritical mohammedans. 	c these words are capable of two senses; and may either mean that they attended to the lies and forgeries of their rabbins, neglecting the remonstrances of mohammed; or else, that they came to hear mohammed as spies only, that they might report what he said to their companions, and represent him as a liar. 	d see chapter , p. , note e. 	e that is, if what mohammed tells you agrees with scripture, as corrupted and dislocated by us, then you may accept it as the word of god; but if not, reject it. these words, it is said, relate to the sentence pronounced by that prophet on an adulterer and an adulteress, both persons of some figure among the jews. for they, it seems, though they referred the matter to mohammed, yet directed the persons who carried the criminals before him, that if he ordered them to be scourged, and to have their faces blackened (by way of ignominy), they should acquiesce in his determination; but in case he condemned them to be stoned, they should not. and mohammed pronouncing the latter sentence against them, they refused to execute it, till ebn sûriya (a jew), who was called upon to decide the matter, acknowledged the law to be so- whereupon they were stoned at the door of the mosque. 	f some understand this of unlawful meats; but others of taking or devouring, as it is expressed, of usury and bribes. 	g i.e., take thy choice, whether thou wilt determine their differences or not. hence al shâfeï was of opinion that a judge was not obliged to decide causes between jews or christians; though if one or both of them be tributaries, or under the protection of the mohammedans, they are obliged: this verse not regarding them. abu hanîfa, however, thought that the magistrates were obliged to judge all cases which were submitted to them. 	 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi.		 idem.		 al beidâwi. 	 see c. , p. , note r al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem. and how will they submit to thy decision, since they have the law, containing the judgment of god?h then will they turn their backs, after this;i but those are not true believers.k we have surely sent down the law, containing direction, and light: thereby did the prophets, who professed the true religion, judge those who judaized; and the doctors and priests also judged by the book of god, which had been committed to their custody; and they were witnesses thereof.l therefore fear not men, but fear me; neither sell my signs for a small price. and whoso judgeth not according to what god hath revealed, they are infidels. we have therein commanded them, that they should give life for life,m and eye for eye, and nose for nose, and ear for ear, and tooth for tooth; and that wounds should also be punished by retaliation:n but whoever should remit it as alms, it should be accepted as an atonement for him. and whoso judgeth not according to what god hath revealed, they are unjust. 	we also caused jesus the son of mary to follow the footsteps of the prophets, confirming the law which was sent down before him; and we gave him the gospel, containing direction and light; confirming also the law which was given before it, and a direction and admonition unto those who fear god: that they who have received the gospel might judge according to what god hath revealed therein: and whoso judgeth not according to what god hath revealed, they are transgressors. we have also sent down unto thee the book of the koran with truth, confirming that scripture which was revealed before it; and preserving the same safe from corruption. judge therefore between them according to that which god hath revealed; and follow not their desires, by swerving from the truth which hath come unto thee. unto every of you have we given a law, and an open path; and if god had pleased, he had surely made you one people;o but he hath thought fit to give you different laws, that he might try you in that which he hath given you respectively. therefore strive to excel each other in good works: unto god shall ye all return, and then will he declare unto you that concerning which ye have disagreed. 	h in the following passage mohammed endeavours to answer the objections of the jews and christians, who insisted that they ought to be judged, the former by the law of moses, and the latter by the gospel. he allows that the law was the proper rule of judging till the coming revelation of the korân, which is so far from being contradictory to either of the former, that it is more full and explicit; declaring several points which had been stifled or corrupted therein, and requiring a rigorous execution of the precepts in both, which had been too remissly observed, or rather neglected, by the latter professors of those religions. 	i that is, notwithstanding their outward submission, they will not abide by thy sentence, though conformable to the law, if it contradict their own false and loose decisions. 	k as gainsaying the doctrine of the books which they acknowledge for scripture. 	l that is, vigilant, to prevent any corruptions therein. 	m the original word is soul. 	n see exod. xxi. , &c. 	o i.e., he had given you the same laws, which should have continued in force through all ages, without being abolished or changed by new dispensations; or he could have forced you all to embrace the mohammedan religion. 					 idem. wherefore do thou, o prophet, judge between them according to that which god hath revealed, and follow not their desires; but beware of them, lest they cause thee to errp from part of those precepts which god hath sent down unto thee; and if they turn back,q know that god is pleased to punish them for some of their crimes; for a great number of men are transgressors. do they therefore desire the judgment of the time of ignorance?r but who is better than god, to judge between people who reason aright? o true believers, take not the jews or christians for your friends; they are friends the one to the other; but whoso among you taketh them for his friends, he is surely one of them: verily god directeth not unjust people. thou shalt see those in whose hearts there is an infirmity, to hasten unto them, saying, we fear lest some adversity befall us;s but it is easy for god to give victory, or a command from him,t that they may repent of that which they concealed in their minds. and they who believe will say, are these the men who have sworn by god, with a most firm oath, that they surely held with you?u their works are become vain, and they are of those who perish. o true believers, whoever of you apostatizeth from his religion, god will certainly bring other people to supply his place,x whom he will love, and who will love him; who shall be humble towards the believers; but severe to the unbelievers: they shall fight for the religion of god, and shall not fear the obloquy of the detractor. this is the bounty of god, he bestoweth it on whom he pleaseth: god is extensive and wise. 	p it is related that certain of the jewish priests came to mohammed with a design to entrap him; and having first represented to him that if they acknowledged him for a prophet, the rest of the jews would certainly follow their example, made this proposal-that if he would give judgment for them in a controversy of moment which they pretended to have with their own people, and which was agreed to be referred to his decision, they would believe him; but this mohammed absolutely refused to comply with. 	q or refuse to be judged by the korân. 	r that is, to be judged according to the customs of paganism, which indulge the passions and vicious appetites of mankind: for this, it seems, was demanded by the jewish tribes of koreidha and al nadîr. 	s these were the words of ebn obba, who, when obâdah ebn al sâmat publicly renounced the friendship of the infidels, and professed that he took god and his apostle for his patrons, said that he was a man apprehensive of the fickleness of fortune, and therefore would not throw off his old friends, who might be of service to him hereafter. 	t to extirpate and banish the jews; or to detect and punish the hypocrites. 	u these words may be spoken by the mohammedans either to one another or to the jews, since these hypocrites had given their oaths to both. 	x this is one of those accidents which, it is pretended, were foretold by the korân long before they came to pass. for in the latter days of mohammed, and after his death, considerable numbers of the arabs quitted his religion, and returned to paganism, judaism, or christianity. al beidâwi reckons them up in the following order. . three companies of banu modlaj, seduced by dhu'lhamâr al aswad al ansi, who set up for a prophet in yaman, and grew very powerful there. . banu honeifa, who followed the famous false prophet moseilama. . banu asad, who acknowledged toleiha ebn khowailed, another banu asad, who acknowledged toleiha ebn khowailed, another pretender to divine revelation, for their prophet. all these fell off in mohammed's lifetime. the following, except only the last, apostatized in the reign of abu becr. . certain of the tribe of fezârah, headed by oyeyma ebn hosein. . some of the tribe of ghatfân, whose leader was korrah ebn salma. . banu soleim, who followed al fajâah ebn ad yalîl. . banu yarbu, whose captain was malec ebn noweirah ebn kais. . part of the tribe of tamîm, the proselytes of sajâj the daughter of al mondhar, who gave herself out for a prophetess. . the tribe of kendah, led by al asháth ebn kais. . banu becr ebn al wayel, in the province of bahrein, headed by al hotam ebn zeid. and, . some of the tribe of ghassân, who with their prince jabalah ebn al ayham, renounced mohammedism in the time of omar, and returned to their former profession of christianity. 	but as to the persons who fulfilled the other part of this prophecy, by supplying the loss of so many renegades, the commentators are not agreed. some will have them to be the inhabitants of yaman, and others the persians; the authority of mohammed himself being vouched for both opinions. others, however, suppose them to be , of the tribe of al nakhá (who dwelt in yaman), , of those of kendah and bajîlah, and , of unknown descent, who were present at the famous battle of kadesia, fought in the khalîfat of omar, and which put an end to the persian empire. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem.		 idem. 	 see the prelim. disc. sect. viii. see ibid.		 see ibid.		 see ibid.		 see ibid. sect i.		 vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. . al beidâwi. 	verily your protector is god, and his apostle, and those who believe, who observe the stated times of prayer, and give alms, and who bow down to worship. and whoso taketh god, and his apostle, and the believers for his friends, they are the party of god, and they shall be victorious. o true believers, take not such of those to whom the scriptures were delivered before you, or of the infidels, for your friends, who make a laughing-stock, and a jest of your religion;y but fear god, if ye be true believers; nor those who when ye call to prayer, make a laughing-stock and a jest of it;z this they do, because they are people who do not understand. say, o ye who have received the scriptures, do ye reject us for any other reason than because we believe in god, and that revelation which hath been sent down unto us, and that which was formerly sent down, and for that the greater part of you are transgressors? say, shall i denounce unto you a worse thing than this, as to the reward which ye are to expect with god? he whom god hath cursed, and with whom he hath been angry, having changed some of them into apes and swine,a and who worship taghût,b they are in the worse condition, and err more widely from the straightness of the path. when they came unto you, they said, we believe: yet they entered into your company with infidelity, and went forth from you with the same; but god well knew what they concealed. thou shalt see many of them hastening unto iniquity and malice, and to eat things forbidden;c and woe unto them for what they have done. unless their doctors and priests forbid them uttering wickedness, and eating things forbidden; woe unto them for what they shall have committed. the jews say, the hand of god is tied up.d their hands shall be tied up,e and they shall be cursed for that which they have said. nay his hands are both stretched forth; he bestoweth as he pleaseth: that which hath been sent down unto thee from thy lordf shall increase the transgression and infidelity of many of them; and we have put enmity and hatred between them, until the day of resurrection. so often as they shall kindle a fire for war god shall extinguish it;g and they shall set their minds to act corruptly in the earth, but god loveth not the corrupt doers. 	y this passage was primarily intended to forbid the moslems entering into a friendship with two hypocrites named refâa ebn zeid, and soweid ebn al hareth, who, though they had embraced mohammedism, yet ridiculed it on all occasions, and were notwithstanding greatly beloved among the prophet's followers. 	z these words were added on occasion of a certain christian, who hearing the muadhdhin, or crier, in calling to prayers, repeat this part of the usual form, i profess that mohammed is the apostle of god, said aloud, may god burn the liar: but a few nights after his own house was accidentally set on fire by a servant, and himself and his family perished in the flames. 	a the former were the jews of ailah, who broke the sabbath; and the latter those who believed not in the miracle of the table which was let down from heaven to jesus. some, however, imagine that the jews of ailah only are meant in this place, pretending that the young men among them were metamorphosed into apes, and the old men into swine. 	b see chap. , p. . 	c see before, p. . 	d that is, he is become niggardly and close-fisted. these were the words of phineas ebn azûra (another indecent expression of whom, almost to the same purpose, is mentioned elsewhere) when the jews were much impoverished by a dearth, which the commentators will have to be a judgment on them for their rejecting of mohammed; and the other jews who heard him, instead of reproving him, expressed their approbation of what he had said. 	e i.e., they shall be punished with want and avarice. the words may also allude to the manner wherein the reprobates shall appear at the last day, having their right hands tied up to their necks; which is the proper signification of the arabic word. 	f viz., the korân. 	g either by raising feuds and quarrels among themselves, or by granting the victory to the moslems. al beidâwi adds, that on the jews neglecting the true observance of their law, and corrupting their religion, god has successively delivered them into the hands, first of bakht nasr or nebuchadnezzar, then of titus the roman, and afterwards of the persians, and has now at last subjected them to the mohammedans. 	 idem.		 see c. , p. .		 see towards the end of this chapter		 al beidâwi. cap. , p. .		 al beidâwi.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. 	moreover if they who have received the scriptures believe, and fear god, we will surely expiate their sins from them, and we will lead them into gardens of pleasure; and if they observe the law, and the gospel, and the other scriptures which have been sent down unto them from their lord, they shall surely eat of good things both from above them, and from under their feet.h among them there are people who act uprightly; but how evil is that which many of them do work! o apostle, publish the whole of that which hath been sent down unto thee from thy lord: for if thou do not, thou dost not in effect publish any part thereof;i and god will defend thee against wicked men;k for god directeth not the unbelieving people. say, o ye who have received the scriptures, ye are not grounded on anything, until ye observe the law and the gospel and that which hath been sent down unto you from your lord. that which hath been sent down unto thee from thy lord will surely increase the transgression and infidelity of many of them: but be not thou solicitous for the unbelieving people. verily they who believe, and those who judaize, and the sabians, and the christians, whoever of them believeth in god and the last day, and doth that which is right, there shall come no fear on them, neither shall they be grieved.l we formerly accepted the covenant of the children of israel, and sent apostles unto them. so often as an apostle came unto them with that which their souls desired not, they accused some of them of imposture, and some of them they killed: and they imagined that there should be no punishment for those crimes, and they became blind, and deaf.m then was god turned unto them;n afterwards many of them again became blind and deaf; but god saw what they did. 	h that is, they shall enjoy the blessings both of heaven and earth. 	i that is, if thou do not complete the publication of all thy revelations without exception, thou dost not answer the end for which they were revealed; because the concealing of any part, renders the system of religion which god has thought fit to publish to mankind by thy ministry lame and imperfect. 	k until this verse was revealed, mohammed entertained a guard of armed men for his security, but on his receiving this assurance of god's protection, he immediately dismissed them. 	l see chap. , p. . 	m shutting their eyes and ears against conviction and the remonstrance of the law; as when they worshipped the calf. 	n i.e., upon their repentance. 			 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin.		 idem. they are surely infidels, who say, verily god is christ the son of mary; since christ said, o children of israel, serve god, my lord and your lord; whoever shall give a companion unto god, god shall exclude him from paradise, and his habitation shall be hell fire; and the ungodly shall have none to help them. they are certainly infidels, who say, god is the third of three:o for there is no god, besides one god; and if they refrain not from what they say, a painful torment shall surely be inflicted on such of them as are unbelievers. will they not therefore be turned unto god, and ask pardon of him? since god is gracious and merciful. christ the son of mary is no more than an apostle; other apostles have preceded him; and his mother was a woman of veracity:p they both ate food.q behold, how we declare unto them the signs of god's unity; and then behold how they turn aside from the truth. 	say unto them, will ye worship, besides god, that which can cause you neither harm nor profit? god is he who heareth and seeth. say, o ye who have received the scriptures, exceed not the just bounds in your religion,r by speaking beside the truth; neither follow the desires of people who have heretofore erred, and who have seduced many, and have gone astray from the straight path.s those among the children of israel who believe not were cursed by the tongue of david, and of jesus the son of mary.t this befell them because they were rebellious and transgressed: they forbade not one another the wickedness which they committed; and woe unto them for what they committed. thou shalt see many of them take for their friends those who believe not. woe unto them for what their souls have sent before them,u for that god is incensed against them, and they shall remain in torment forever. but, if they had believed in god, and the prophet, and that which hath been revealed unto him, they had not taken them for their friends; but many of them are evil-doers. thou shalt surely find the most violent of all men in enmity against the true believers to be the jews, and the idolaters: and thou shalt surely find those among them to be the most inclinable to entertain friendship for the true believers, who say, we are christians. this cometh to pass, because there are priests and monks among them; and because they are not elated with pride:x and when they hear that which hath been sent down to the apostle read unto them, thou shalt see their eyes overflow with tears, because of the truth which they perceive therein,y saying, o lord, we believe; write us down therefore with those who bear witness to the truth, 	o see chap. , p. . 	p never pretending to partake of the divine nature, or to be the mother of god. 	q being obliged to support their lives by the same means, and being subject to the same necessities and infirmities as the rest of mankind, and therefore no gods. 	r see chap. , p. . but here the words are principally directed to the christians. 	s that is, of their prelates and predecessors, who erred in ascribing divinity to christ, before the mission of mohammed. 	t see before, p. , note a. 	u see chap. , p. , note r. 	x having not that high conceit of themselves, as the jews have; but being humble and well disposed to receive the truth; qualities, says al beidâwi, which are to be commended even in infidels. 	y the persons directly intended in this passage were, either ashama, king of ethiopia, and several bishops and priests, who, being assembled for that purpose, heard jaafar ebn abi taleb, who fled to that country in the first flight, read the th and th, and afterwards the th and th chapters of the korân; on hearing of which the king and the rest of the company burst into tears, and confessed what was delivered therein to be conformable to truth; that prince himself, in particular, becoming a proselyte to mohammedism: or else, thirty, or as others say, seventy persons, sent ambassadors to mohammed by the same king of ethiopia, to whom the prophet himself read the th chapter, entitled y.s. whereupon they began to weep, saying, how like is this to that which was revealed unto jesus! and immediately professed themselves moslems. 	 jallalo'ddin.		 idem, al beidâwi.		 idem. 	 see the prelim. disc. sect. ii. al beidâwi, al thalabi. vide abulfed. vit. moham. p. , &c. marracc. prodr. ad refut. alcor. part i. p. .		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin. vide marracc. ubi sup. and what should hinder us from believing in god, and the truth which hath come unto us, and from earnestly desiring that our lord would introduce us into paradise with the righteous people? therefore hath god rewarded them, for what they have said, with gardens through which rivers flow; they shall continue therein forever; and this is the reward of the righteous. but they who believe not, and accuse our signs of falsehood, they shall be the companions of hell. o true believers, forbid not the good things which god hath allowed you;z but transgress not, for god loveth not the transgressors. 	and eat of what god hath given you for food that which is lawful and good: and fear god, in whom ye believe. god will not punish you for an inconsiderate word in your oaths;a but he will punish you for what ye solemnly swear with deliberation. and the expiation of such an oath shall be the feeding of ten poor men with such moderate food as ye feed your own families withal; or to clothe them;b or to free the neck of a true believer from captivity: but he who shall not find wherewith to perform one of these three things shall fast three days.c this is the expiation of your oaths, when ye swear inadvertently. therefore keep your oaths. thus god declareth unto you his signs, that ye may give thanks. o true believers, surely wine, and lots,d and images,e and divining arrows,f are an abomination of the work of satan; therefore avoid them that ye may prosper. satan seeketh to sow dissension and hatred among you, by means of wine and lots, and to divert you from remembering god, and from prayer: will ye not therefore abstain from them? obey god, and obey the apostle, and take heed to yourselves: but if ye turn back, know that the duty of our apostle is only to preach publicly.g in those who believe and do good works, it is no sin that they have tasted wine or gaming before they were forbidden; if they fear god, and believe, and do good works, and shall for the future fear god, and believe, and shall persevere to fear him, and to do good;h for god loveth those who do good. 	z these words were revealed when certain of mohammed's companions agreed to oblige themselves to continual fasting and watching, and to abstain from women, eating flesh, sleeping on beds, and other lawful enjoyments of life, in imitation of some self-denying christians; but this the prophet disapproved, declaring that he would have no monks in his religion. 	a see chap. , p. . 	b the commentators give us the different opinions of the doctors, as to the quantity of food and clothes to be given in this case; which i think scarce worth transcribing. 	c that is, three days together, says abu hanîfa. but this is not observed in practice, being neither explicitly commanded in the korân, nor ordered in the sonna. 	d that is, all inebriating liquors, and games of chance. see the prelim. disc. sect. v. and chap. , p. . 	e al beidâwi and some other commentators expound this of idols; but others, with more probability, of the carved pieces or men, with which the pagan arabs played at chess, being little figures of men, elephants, horses, and dromedaries; and this is supposed to be the only thing mohammed disliked in that game: for which reason the sonnites play with plain pieces of wood or ivory; but the persians and indians, who are not so scrupulous, still make use of the carved ones. 	f see the prelim. discourse, sect. v. 	g see ibid. sect. ii. 	h the commentators endeavour to excuse the tautology of this passage, by supposing the threefold repetition of fearing and believing refers either to the three parts of time, past, present, and future, or to the threefold duty of man, towards god, himself, and his neighbour, &c. 	 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi.		 al beidâwi.		 vide prelim disc. sect. v.		 al beidâwi. o true believers, god will surely prove you in offering you plenty of game, which ye may take with your hands or your lances,i that god may know who feareth him in secret; but whoever transgresseth after this shall suffer a grievous punishment. o true believers, kill no game while ye are on pilgrimage;k whosoever among you shall kill any designedly shall restore the like of what he shall have killed, in domestic animals,l according to the determination of two just persons among you, to be brought as an offering to the caaba; or in atonement thereof shall feed the poor; or instead thereof shall fast, that he may taste the heinousness of his deed. god hath forgiven what is past, but whoever returneth to transgress, god will take vengeance on him; for god is mighty and able to avenge. it is lawful for you to fish in the sea,m and to eat what ye shall catch, as a provision for you and for those who travel; but it is unlawful for you to hunt by land, while ye are performing the rights of pilgrimage;n therefore fear god, before whom ye shall be assembled at the last day. god hath appointed the caaba, the holy house, an establishment for mankind; and hath ordained the sacred month,q and the offering, and the ornaments hung thereon.q this hath he done that ye might know that god knoweth whatsoever is in heaven and on earth, and that god is omniscient. know that god is severe in punishing, and that god is also ready to forgive, and merciful. the duty of our apostle is to preach only;r and god knoweth that which ye discover, and that which ye conceal. 	say, evil and good shall not be equally esteemed of, though the abundance of evil pleaseth thee;s therefore fear god, o ye of understanding, that ye may be happy. 	i this temptation or trial was at al hodeibiya, where mohammed's men, who had attended him thither with an intent to perform a pilgrimage to the caaba, and had initiated themselves with the usual rites, were surrounded by so great a number of birds and beasts that they impeded their march; for which unusual accident, some of them concluded that god had allowed them to be taken; but this passage was to convince them of the contrary. 	k literally, while ye are mohrims, or have actually initiated yourselves as pilgrims, by putting on the garment worn at that solemnity. hunting and fowling are hereby absolutely forbidden to persons in this state, though they are allowed to kill certain kinds of noxious animals. 	l that is, he shall bring an offering to the temple of mecca, to be slain there and distributed among the poor, of some domestic or tame animal, equal in value to what he shall have killed; as a sheep, for example, in lieu of an antelope, a pigeon for a partridge, &c. and of this value two prudent persons were to be judges. if the offender was not able to do this, he was to give a certain quantity of food to one or more poor men; or, if he could not afford that, to fast a proportionable number of days. 	m this, says jallalo'ddin, is to be understood of fish that live altogether in the sea, and not of those that live in the sea and on land both, as crabs, &c. the turks, who are hanifites, never eat this sort of fish; but the sect of malec ebn ans, and perhaps some others, make no scruple of it. 	n see above, note k. 	o that is, the place where the practice of their religious ceremonies is chiefly established; where those who are under any apprehension of danger may find a sure asylum, and the merchant certain gain, &c. 	p al beidâwi understands this of the month of dhu'lhajja, wherein the ceremonies of the pilgrimage are performed; but jallalo'ddin supposes all the four sacred months are here intended. 	q see before, p. . 	r see the prelim. discourse, sect. ii. 	s for judgment is to be made of things not from their plenty or scarcity, but from their intrinsic good or bad qualities. 	 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. v. 	 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi		 idem. see the prelim disc. sect. vii		 al beidâwi. o true believers, inquire not concerning things, which, if they be declared unto you, may give you pain;t but if ye ask concerning them when the koran is sent down, they will be declared unto you: god pardoneth you as to these matters; for god is ready to forgive, and gracious. people who have been before you formerly inquired concerning them; and afterwards disbelieved therein. god hath not ordained anything concerning bahîra, nor sâïba, nor wasîla, nor hâmi,u but the unbelievers have invented a lie against god: and the greater part of them do not understand. and when it was said unto them, come unto that which god hath revealed, and to the apostle; they answered, that religion which we found our fathers to follow is sufficient for us. what, though their fathers knew nothing and were not rightly directed? o true believers, take care of your souls! he who erreth shall not hurt you, while ye are rightly directed:x unto god shall ye all return, and he will tell you that which ye have done. o true believers, let witnesses be taken between you, when death approaches any of you, at the time of making the testament; let there be two witnesses, just men, from among you;y or two others of a different tribe or faith from yourselves,z if ye be journeying in the earth, and the accident of death befall you. ye shall shut them both up, after the afternoon prayer,a and they shall swear by god, if ye doubt them, and they shall say, we will not sell our evidence for a bribe, although the person concerned be one who is related to us, neither will we conceal the testimony of god, for then should we certainly be of the number of the wicked. but if it appear that both have been guilty of iniquity, two others shall stand up in their place, of those who have convicted them of falsehood, the two nearest in blood, and they shall swear by god, saying, verily our testimony is more true than the testimony of these two, neither have we prevaricated; for then should we become of the number of the unjust. 	t the arabs continually teasing their prophet with questions, which probably he was not always prepared to answer, they are here ordered to wait, till god should think fit to declare his pleasure by some farther revelation; and, to abate their curiosity, they are told, at the same time, that very likely the answers would not be agreeable to their inclinations. al beidâwi says, that when the pilgrimage was first commanded, sorâka ebn malec asked mohammed whether they were obliged to perform it every year? to this question the prophet at first turned a deaf ear, but being asked it a second and a third time, he at last said, no; but if i had said yes it would have become a duty, and, if it were a duty, ye would not be able to perform it; therefore give me no trouble as to things wherein i give you none: whereupon this passage was revealed. 	u these were the names given by the pagan arabs to certain camels or sheep which were turned loose to feed, and exempted from common services, in some particular cases; having their ears slit, or some other mark, that they might be known; and this they did in honour of their gods. which superstitions are here declared to be no ordinances of god, but the inventions of foolish men. 	x this was revealed when the infidels reproached those who embraced mohammedism and renounced their old idolatry, that by so doing they arraigned the wisdom of their forefathers. 	y that is, of your kindred or religion. 	z they who interpret these words of persons of another religion, say they are abrogated, and that the testimony of such ought not to be received against a moslem. 	a in case there was any doubt, the witnesses were to be kept apart from company, lest they should be corrupted, till they gave their evidence, which they generally did when the afternoon prayer was over, because that was the time of people's assembling in public, or, say some, because the guardian angels then relieve each other, so that there would be four angels to witness against them if they gave false evidence. but others suppose they might be examined after the hour of any other prayer, when there was a sufficient assembly. 	 see the prelim. disc. sect. v		 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem. this will be easier, that men may give testimony according to the plain intention thereof, or fear lest a different oath be given, after their oath. therefore fear god, and hearken; for god directeth not the unjust people.b on a certain dayc shall god assemble the apostles, and shall say unto them, what answer was returned you, when ye preached unto the people to whom ye were sent? they shall answer, we have no knowledge, but thou art the knower of secrets.d when god shall say, o jesus son of mary, remember my favor towards thee, and towards thy mother; when i strengthened thee with the holy spirit,e that thou shouldest speak unto men in the cradle, and when thou wast grown up;f 	and when i taught thee the scripture, and wisdom and the law, and the gospel: and when thou didst create of clay as it were the figure of a bird, by my permission, and didst breathe thereon, and it became a bird, by my permission, and thou didst heal one blind from his birth, and the leper, by my permission;g and when thou didst bring forth the dead from their graves by my permission; and when i withheld the children of israel from killing thee,h when thou hadst come unto them with evident miracles, and such of them as believed not said, this is nothing but manifest sorcery. and when i commanded the apostles of jesus saying, believe in me, and in my messenger; they answered, we do believe; and do thou bear witness that we are resigned unto thee. remember when the apostles said, o jesus son of mary, is thy lord able to cause a table to descend unto us from heaven?i he answered, fear god, if ye be true believers. 	b the occasion of the preceding passage is said to have been this. tamîn al dâri and addi ebn yâzid, both christians, took a journey into syria to trade, in company with bodeil, the freed man of amru ebn al as, who was a moslem. when they came to damascus, bodeil fell sick, and died, having first wrote down a list of his effects on a piece of paper, which he hid in his baggage, without acquainting his companions with it, and desired them only to deliver what he had to his friends of the tribe of sahm. the survivors, however, searching among his goods, found a vessel of silver of considerable weight, and inlaid with gold, which they concealed, and on their return delivered the rest to the deceased's relations, who, finding the list of bodeil's writing, demanded the vessel of silver of them, but they denied it; and the affair being brought before mohammed, these words, viz., o true believers, take witnesses, &c., were revealed, and he ordered them to be sworn at the pulpit in the mosque, just as afternoon prayer was over, and on their making oath that they knew nothing of the plate demanded, dismissed them. but afterwards, the vessel being found in their hands, the sahmites, suspecting it was bodeil's, charged them with it, and they confessed it was his, but insisted that they had bought it of him, and that they had not produced it because they had no proof of the bargain. upon this they went again before mohammed, to whom these words, and if it appear, &c., were revealed; and thereupon amru ebn al as and al motalleb ebn abi refâa, both of the tribe of sahm, stood up, and were sworn against them; and judgment was given accordingly. 	c that is, on the day of judgment. 	d that is, we are ignorant whether our proselytes were sincere, or whether they apostatized after our deaths; but thou well knowest, not only what answer they gave us, but the secrets of their hearts, and whether they have since continued firm in their religion or not. 	e see chapter , p. . 	f see chapter , p. . 	g see ibid. 	h see ibid. p. . 					 al beidâwi. they said, we desire to eat thereof, and that our hearts may rest at ease, and that we may know that thou hast told us the truth, and that we may be witnesses thereof. jesus the son of mary said, o god our lord, cause a table to descend unto us from heaven, that the day of its descent may become a festival dayk unto us, unto the first of us, and unto the last of us, and a sign from thee; and do thou provide food for us, for thou art the best provider. god said, verily i will cause it to descend unto you; but whoever among you shall disbelieve hereafter, i will surely punish him with a punishment, wherewith i will not punish any other creature. and when god shall say unto jesus, at the last day, o jesus son of mary, hast thou said unto men, take me and my mother for two gods, beside god? he shall answer, praise be unto thee! it is not for me to say that which i ought not; if i had said so, thou wouldest surely have known it: thou knowest what is in me, but i know not what is in thee; for thou art the knower of secrets. i have not spoken to them any other than what thou didst command me; namely, worship god, my lord and your lord: and i was a witness of their actions while i staid among them; but since thou hast taken me to thyself,l thou hast been the watcher over them; for thou art witness of all things. if thou punish them, they are surely thy servants; and if thou forgive them, thou art mighty and wise. god will say, this day shall their veracity be of advantage unto those who speak truth; they shall have gardens wherein rivers flow, they shall remain therein forever: god hath been well pleased in them, and they have been well pleased in him. this shall be great felicity. 	unto god belongeth the kingdom of heaven and of earth, and of whatever therein is; and he is almighty. 	i this miracle is thus related by the commentators. jesus having, at the request of his followers, asked it of god, a red table immediately descended, in their sight, between two clouds, and was set before them; whereupon he rose up, and having made the ablution, prayed, and then took off the cloth which covered the table, saying, in the name of god, the best provider of food. what the provisions were with which this table was furnished is a matter wherein the expositors are not agreed. one will have them to be nine cakes of bread and nine fishes; another bread and flesh; another, all sorts of food, except flesh; another all sorts of food, except bread and flesh; another, all except bread and fish; another, one fish, which had the taste of all manner of food; and another, fruits of paradise; but the most received tradition is that when the table was uncovered, there appeared a fish ready dressed, without scales or prickly fins, dropping with fat, having salt placed at its head and vinegar at its tail, and round it all sorts of herbs, except leeks, and five loaves of bread, on one of which there were olives, on the second honey, on the third butter, on the fourth cheese, and on the fifth dried flesh. they add that jesus, at the request of the apostles, showed them another miracle, by restoring the fish to life, and causing its scales and fins to return to it, at which the standers-by being affrighted, he caused it to become as it was before; that , men and women, all afflicted with bodily infirmities or poverty, ate of these provisions, and were satisfied, the fish remaining whole as it was at first; that then the table flew up to heaven in the sight of all; and every one who had partaken of this food were delivered from their infirmities and misfortunes; and that it continued to descend for forty days together at dinner-time, and stood on the ground till the sun declined, and was then taken up into the clouds. some of the mohammedan writers are of opinion that this table did not really descend, but that it was only a parable; but most think the words of the korân are plain to the contrary. a further tradition is, that several men were changed into swine for disbelieving this miracle, and attributing it to magic art; or, as others pretend, for stealing some of the victuals from off it. several other fabulous circumstances are also told, which are scarce worth transcribing. 	k some say the table descended on a sunday, which was the reason of the christians observing that day as sacred. others pretend this day is still kept among them as a very great festival; and it seems as if the story had its rise from an imperfect notion of christ's last supper and the institution of the eucharist. 	i or, since thou hast caused me to die: but as it is a dispute among the mohammedans whether christ actually died or not, before his assumption, and the original may be translated either way, i have chosen the former expression, which leaves the matter undecided. 	idem, al thalabi.		 vide marracc. in alc. p. , &c. 	 see cap. , p. . chapter vi. entitled, cattle;m revealed at mecca.n in the name of the most merciful god. praise be unto god, who hath created the heavens and the earth, and hath ordained the darkness and the light; nevertheless they who believe not in the lord equalize other gods with him. it is he who hath created you of clay; and then decreed the term of your lives; and the prefixed term is with him:o yet do ye doubt thereof. he is god in heaven and in earth; he knoweth what ye keep secret, and what ye publish, and knoweth what ye deserve. there came not unto them any sign, of the signs of their lord, but they retired from the same; and they have gainsaid the truth, after that it hath come unto them: but a message shall come unto them, concerning that which they have mocked at.p do they not consider how many generations we have destroyed before them? we had established them in the earth in a manner wherein we have not established you;q we sent the heaven to rain abundantly upon them, and we gave them rivers which flowed under their feet: yet we destroyed them in their sins, and raised up other generations after them. although we had caused to descend unto thee a book written on paper, and they had handled it with their hands, the unbelievers had surely said, this is no other than manifest sorcery. they said, unless an angel be sent down unto him, we will not believe. but if we had sent down an angel, verily the matter had ben decreed,r and they should not have been borne with, by having time granted them to repent. and if we had appointed an angel for our messenger, we should have sent him in the form of a man,s and have clothed him before them, as they are clothed. 	other apostles have been laughed to scorn before thee, but the judgment which they made a jest of encompassed those who laughed them to scorn. say, go through the earth, and behold what hath been the end of those, who accused our prophets of imposture. say, unto whom belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and earth? say, unto god, he hath prescribed unto himself mercy. he will surely gather you together on the day of resurrection; there is no doubt of it. they who destroy their own souls are those who will not believe. 	m this chapter is so entitled, because some superstitious customs of the meccans, as to certain cattle, are therein incidentally mentioned. 	n except only six verses, or, say others, three verses, which are taken notice of in the notes. 	o by the last term some understand the time of the resurrection. others think that by the first term is intended the space between creation and death, and by the latter, that between death and the resurrection. 	p that is, they shall be convinced of the truth which they have made a jest of, when they see the punishment which they shall suffer for so doing, both in this world and the next; or when they shall see the glorious success of mohammedism. 	q i.e., we had blessed them with greater power and length of prosperity than we have granted you, o men of mecca. mohammed seems here to mean the ancient and potent tribes of ad and thamûd, &c. 	r that is to say, as they would not have believed, even if an angel had descended to them from heaven, god has shown his mercy in not complying with their demands; for if he had, they would have suffered immediate condemnation, and would have been allowed no time for repentance. 	s as gabriel generally appeared to mahommed; who, though a prophet, was not able to bear the sight of him when he appeared in his proper form, much less would others be able to support it. 		 al beidâwi.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. i. p. , &c. unto him is owing whatsoever happeneth by night or by day; it is he who heareth and knoweth. say, shall i take any other protector than god, the creator of heaven and earth, who feedeth all and is not fed by any? say, verily i am commanded to be the first who professeth islâm,t and it was said unto me, thou shalt by no means be one of the idolaters. say, verily i fear, if i should rebel against my lord, the punishment of the great day: from whomsoever it shall be averted on that day, god will have been merciful unto him; this will be manifest salvation. if god afflict thee with any hurt, there is none who can take it off from thee, except himself; but if he cause good to befall thee, he is almighty; he is the supreme lord over his servants, and he is wise and knowing. say, what thing is the strongest in bearing testimony?u say, god; he is witness between me and you. and this koran was revealed unto me, that i should admonish you thereby, and also those unto whom it shall reach. do ye really profess that there are other gods together with god? say, i do not profess this. say, verily he is one god; and i am guiltless of what ye associate with him. 	they unto whom we have given the scripture know our apostle, even as they know their own children;x but they who destroy their own souls will not believe. who is more unjust than he who inventeth a lie against god,y or chargeth his signs with imposture? surely, the unjust shall not prosper. and on the day of resurrection we will assemble them all; then will we say unto those who associated others with god, where are your companions,z whom ye imagined to be those of god? but they shall have no other excuse, than that they shall say, by god our lord, we have not been idolaters. behold, how they lie against themselves, and what they have blasphemously imagined to be the companion of god flieth from them.a there is of them who hearkeneth unto thee when thou readest the korân;b but we have cast veils over their hearts, that they should not understand it, and a deafness in their ears: and though they should see all kinds of signs, they will not believe therein; and their infidelity will arrive to that height that they will even come unto thee, to dispute with thee. the unbelievers will say, this is nothing but silly fables of ancient times. 	t that is, the first of my nation. 	u this passage was revealed when the koreish told mohammed that they had asked the jews and christians concerning him, who assured them they found no mention or description of him in their books of scripture, therefore, said they, who bears witness to thee, that thou art the apostle of god? 	x see chapter , p. . 	y saying the angels are the daughters of god, and intercessors for us with him, &c. 	z i.e., your idols and false gods. 	a that is, their imaginary deities prove to be nothing, and disappear like vain phantoms and chimeras. 	b the persons here meant were abu sofiân, al walîd, al nodar, otha, abu jahl, and their comrades, who went to hear mohammed repeat some of the korân; and nodar being asked what he said, answered, with an oath, that he knew not, only that he moved his tongue, and told a parcel of foolish stories, as he had done to them. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 al beidâwi. 	 idem. and they will forbid others from believing therein, and will retire afar off from it; but they will destroy their own souls only, and they are not sensible thereof. if thou didst see when they shall be set over the fire of hell! and they shall say, would to god we might be sent back into the world; we would not charge the signs of our lord with imposture, and we would become true believers: nay, but that is become manifest unto them, which they formerly concealed;c and though they should be sent back into the world, they would surely return to that which was forbidden them; and they are surely liars. and they said, there is no other life than our present life; neither shall we be raised again. 	but if thou couldest see, when they shall be set before their lord!d he shall say unto them, is not this in truth come to pass? they shall answer, yea, by our lord. god shall say, taste therefore the punishment due unto you, for that ye have disbelieved. they are lost who reject as a falsehood the meeting of god in the next life, until the houre cometh suddenly upon them. then will they say, alas! for that we have behaved ourselves negligently in our lifetime; and they shall carry their burdens on their backs;f will it not be evil which they shall be loaden with? this present life is no other than a play and a vain amusement; but surely the future mansion shall be better for those who fear god: will they not therefore understand? now we know that what they speak grieveth thee: yet they do not accuse thee of falsehood; but the ungodly contradict the signs of god.g and apostles before thee have been accounted liars: but they patiently bore their being accounted liars, and their being vexed, until our help came unto them; for there is none who can change the words of god: and thou hast received some information concerning those who have been formerly sent from him.h if their aversion to thy admonitions be grievous unto thee, if thou canst seek out a den whereby thou mayest venetrate into the inward parts of the earth, or a ladder by which thou mayest ascend into heaven, that thou mayest show them a sign, do so, but thy search will be fruitless; for if god pleased he would bring them all to the true direction: be not therefore one of the ignorant. 	c their hypocrisy and vile actions; nor does their promise proceed from any sincere intention of amendment, but from the anguish and misery of their condition. 	d viz., in order for judgment. 	e the last day is here called the hour, as it is in scripture; and the preceding expression of meeting god on that day is also agreeable to the same. 	f when an infidel comes forth from his grave, says jallalo'ddin, his works shall be represented to him under the ugliest form that ever he beheld, having a most deformed countenance, a filthy smell, and a disagreeable voice; so that he shall cry out, god defend me from thee, what art thou? i never saw anything more detestable! to which the figure will answer, why dost thou wonder at my ugliness? i am thy evil works; thou didst ride upon me while thou wast in the world; but now will i ride upon thee, and thou shalt carry me. and immediately it shall get upon him; and whatever he shall meet shall terrify him, and say, hail, thou enemy of god, thou art he who was meant by (these words of the korân), and they shall carry their burdens, &c. 	g that is, it is not thou but god whom they injure by their impious gainsaying of what has been revealed to thee. it is said that abu jahl once told mohammed that they did not accuse him of falsehood, because he was known to be a man of veracity, but only they did not believe the revelations which he brought them; which occasioned this passage. 	h i.e., thou has been acquainted with the stories of several of the preceding prophets; what persecutions they suffered from those to whom they were sent, and in what manner god supported them and punished their enemies, according to his unalterable promise. 	 idem.		 john v. , &c.		 thess. iv. . 	 see milton's paradise lost, bk. ii v. , &c. see also cap. , p. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem. he will give a favorable answer unto those only who shall hearken with attention: and god will raise the dead; then unto him shall they return. the infidels say, unless some sign be sent down unto him from his lord, we will not believe: answer, verily god is able to send down a sign: but the greater part of them know it not.k there is no kind of beast on earth, nor fowl which flieth with its wings, but the same is a people like unto you;l we have not omitted anything in the book of our decrees: then unto their lord shall they return.n they who accuse our signs of falsehood are deaf and dumb, walking in darkness: god will lead into error whom he pleaseth, and whom he pleaseth he will put in the right way. 	say, what think ye? if the punishment of god come upon you, or the hour of the resurrection come upon you, will ye call upon any other than god, if ye speak truth? yea, him shall ye call upon, and he shall free you from that which ye shall ask him to deliver you from, if he pleaseth; and ye shall forget that which ye associated with him.o we have already sent messengers unto sundry nations before thee, and we afflicted them with trouble and adversity that they might humble themselves: yet when the affliction which we sent came upon them, they did not humble themselves; but their hearts became hardened, and satan prepared for them that which they committed. and when they had forgotten that concerning which they had been admonished, we opened unto them the gates of all things;p until, while they were rejoicing for that which had been given them, we suddenly laid hold on them, and behold, they were seized with despair; and the utmost part of the people which had acted wickedly was cut off: praise be unto god, the lord of all creatures! say, what think ye? if god should take away your hearing and your sight, and should seal up your hearts; what god besides god will restore them unto you? see how variously we show forth the signs of god's unity;q yet do they turn aside from them. say unto them, what think ye? if the punishment of god come upon you suddenly, or in open view;r will any perish, except the ungodly people? we send not our messengers otherwise than bearing good tidings and denouncing threats. whoso therefore shall believe and amend, on them shall no fear come, neither shall they be grieved: 	i in this passage mohammed is reproved for his impatience in not bearing with the obstinacy of his countrymen, and for his indiscreet desire of effecting what god hath not decreed, namely, the conversion and salvation of all men. 	k being both ignorant of god's almighty power, and of the consequence of what they ask, which might prove their utter destruction. 	l being created and preserved by the same omnipotence and providence as ye are. 	m that is, in the preserved table, wherein god's decrees are written, and all things which come to pass in this world, as well the most minute as the more momentous, are exactly registered. 	n for, according to the mohammedan belief, the irrational animals will also be restored to life at the resurrection, that they may be brought to judgment, and have vengeance taken on them for the injuries they did one another while in this world. 	o that is, ye shall then forsake your false gods, when ye shall be effectually convinced that god alone is able to deliver you from eternal punishment. but others rather think that this forgetting will be the effect of the distress and terror which they will then be in. 	p that is, we gave them all manner of plenty; that since they took no warning by their afflictions, their prosperity might become a snare to them, and they might bring down upon themselves swifter destruction. 	q laying them before you in different views, and making use of arguments and motives drawn from various considerations. 	r that is, says al beidâwi, either without any previous notice, or after some warning given. 	 idem.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv.		 see ibid. p. .		 al beidâwi. but whoso shall accuse our signs of falsehood, a punishment shall fall on them, because they have done wickedly. 	say, i say not unto you, the treasures of god are in my power: neither do i say, i know the secrets of god: neither do i say unto you, verily i am an angel: i follow only that which is revealed unto me. say, shall the blind and the seeing be held equal? do ye not therefore consider? preach it unto those who fear that they shall be assembled before their lord: they shall have no patron nor intercessor, except him; that peradventure they may take heed to themselves. drive not away those who call upon their lord morning and evening, desiring to see his face;s it belongeth not unto thee to pass any judgment on them,t nor doth it belong unto them to pass any judgment on thee: therefore if thou drive them away, thou wilt become one of the unjust. thus have we proved some part of them by other part, that they may say, are these the people among us unto whom god hath been gracious?u doth not god most truly know those who are thankful? and when they who believe in our signs shall come unto thee, say, peace be upon you. your lord hath prescribed unto himself mercy; so whoever among you worketh evil through ignorance, and afterwards repenteth and amendeth; unto him will he surely be gracious and merciful. thus have we distinctly propounded our signs, that the path of the wicked might be made known. say, verily i am forbidden to worship the false deities which ye invoke, besides god. say, i will not follow your desires; for then should i err, neither should i be one of those who are rightly directed. say, i behave according to the plain declaration, which i have received from my lord; but ye have forged lies concerning him. that which ye desire should be hastened, is not in my power;x judgment belongeth only unto god; he will determine the truth; and he is the best discerner. say, if what ye desire should be hastened were in my power, the matter had been determined between me and you:y but god well knoweth the unjust. 	s these words were occasioned when the koreish desired mohammed not to admit the poor or more inferior people, such as ammâr, soheib, khobbâb, and salmân, into his company, pretending that then they would come and discourse with him; but he refusing to turn away any believers, they insisted at least that he should order them to rise up and withdraw when they came, which he agreed to do. others say that the chief men of mecca expelled all the poor out of their city, bidding them go to mohammed; which they did, and offered to embrace his religion; but he made some difficulty to receive them, suspecting their motive to be necessity, and not real conviction; whereupon this passage was revealed. 	t i.e., rashly to decide whether their intentions be sincere or not; since thou canst not know their heart, and their faith may possibly be more firm than that of those who would persuade thee to discard them. 	u that is to say, the noble by those of mean extraction, and the rich by the poor; in that god chose to call the latter to the faith before the former. 	x this passage is an answer to the audacious defiances of the infidels, who bad mohammed, if he were a true prophet, to call for a shower of stones from heaven, or some other sudden and miraculous punishment, to destroy them. 	y for i should ere now have destroyed you, out of zeal for god's honour, had it been in my power. 	 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 al beidâwi.		 idem. 	 idem. with him are the keys of the secret things; none knoweth them besides himself: he knoweth that which is on the dry land and in the sea; there falleth no leaf, but he knoweth it; neither is there a single grain in the dark parts of the earth, neither a green thing, nor a dry thing, but it is written in the perspicuous book.z 	it is he who causeth you to sleep by night, and knoweth what ye merit by day; he also awaketh you therein, that the prefixed term of your lives may be fulfilled; then unto him shall ye return, and he shall declare unto you that which ye have wrought. he is supreme over his servants, and sendeth the guardian angels to watch over you,a until, when death overtaketh one of you, our messengersb cause him to die: and they will not neglect our commands. afterwards shall they return unto god, their true lord: doth not judgment belong unto him? he is the most quick in taking an account.c say, who delivereth you from the darknessd of the land, and of the sea, when ye call upon him humbly and in private, saying, verily if thou deliver use from these dangers, we will surely be thankful? say, god delivereth you from them, and from every grief of mind; yet afterwards ye give him companions.f say, he is able to send on you a punishment from above you,g or from under your feet,h or to engage you in dissension, and to make some of you taste the violence of others. observe how variously we show forth our signs, that peradventure they may understand. this people hath accused the revelation which thou hast brought of falsehood, although it be the truth. say, i am not a guardian over you: every prophecy hath its fixed time of accomplishment; and he will hereafter know it. when thou seest those who are engaged in cavilling at, or ridiculing our signs, depart from them, until they be engaged in some other discourse: and if satan cause thee to forget this precept, do not sit with the ungodly people after recollection. they who fear god are not at all accountable for them, but their duty is to remember that they may take heed to themselves.i abandon those who make their religion a sport and a jest; and whom the present life hath deceived: and admonish them by the koran, that a soul becometh liable to destruction for that which it committeth: it shall have no patron nor intercessor besides god: and if it could pay the utmost price of redemption, it would not be accepted from it. they who are delivered over to perdition for that which they have committed shall have boiling water to drink, and shall suffer a grievous punishment, because they have disbelieved. 	z i.e., the preserved table, or register of god's decrees. 	a see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. 	b that is, the angel of death and his assistants. 	c see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. 	d that is, the dangers and distresses. 	e the cufic copies read it in the third person, if he deliver us, &c. 	f returning to your old idolatry. 	g that is, by storms from heaven, as he destroyed the unbelieving people of noah, and of lot, and the army of abraha, the lord of the elephant. 	h either by drowning you, as he did pharaoh and his host, or causing the earth to open and swallow you up, as happened to korah, or (as the mohammedans name him) karun. 	i and therefore need not be troubled at the indecent and impious talk of the infidels, provided they take care not to be infected by them. when the preceding passage was revealed, the moslems told their prophet that if they were obliged to rise up whenever the idolaters spoke irreverently of the korân, they could never sit quietly in the temple, nor perform their devotions there; whereupon these words were added. 	 see the prelim. disc. sec. iv.		 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem, jallalo'ddin. 	say, shall we call upon that, besides god, which can neither profit us, nor hurt us? and shall we turn back on our heels, after that god hath directed us; like him whom the devils have infatuated, wandering amazedly in the earth, and yet having companions who call him into the true direction, saying, come unto us? say, the direction of god is the true direction; we are commanded to resign ourselves unto the lord of all creatures; and it is also commanded us, saying, observe the stated times of prayer, and fear him; for it is he before whom ye shall be assembled. it is he who hath created the heavens and the earth in truth; and whenever he saith unto a thing, be, it is. his word is the truth; and his will be the kingdom on the day whereon the trumpet shall be sounded:k he knoweth whatever is secret, and whatever is public; he is the wise, the knowing. call to mind when abraham said unto his father azer,l dost thou take images for gods?m verily i perceive that thou and thy people are in a manifest error. and thus did we show unto abraham the kingdom of heaven and earth, that he might become one of those who firmly believe.n and when the night overshadowed him, he saw a star, and he said, this is my lord;o but when it set, he said, i like not gods which set. 	k see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. 	l this is the name which the mohammedans give to abraham's father, named in scripture terah. however, some of their writers pretend that azer was the son of terah, and d'herbelot says that the arabs always distinguish them in their genealogies as different persons; but that because abraham was the son of terah according to moses, it is therefore supposed (by european writers) that terah is the same with the azer of the arabs. how true this observation may be in relation to some authors, i cannot say, but i am sure it cannot be true of all; for several arab and turkish writers expressly make azer and terah the same person. azer, in ancient times, was the name of the planet mars, and the month of march was so called by the most ancient persians; for the word originally signifying fire (as it still does,) it was therefore given by them and the chaldeans to that planet, which partaking, as was supposed, of a fiery nature, was acknowledged by the chaldeans and assyrians as a god or planetary deity, whom in old times they worshipped under the form of a pillar: whence azer became a name among the nobility, who esteemed it honourable to be denominated from their gods, and is found in the composition of several babylonish names. for these reasons a learned author supposes azer to have been the heathen name of terah, and that the other was given him on his conversion. al beidâwi confirms this conjecture, saying that azer was the name of the idol which he worshipped. it may be observed that abraham's father is also called zarah in the talmud and athar by eusebius. 	m that azer, or terah, was an idolater is allowed on all hands; nor can it be denied, since he is expressly said in scripture to have served strange gods. the eastern authors unanimously agree that he was a statuary, or carver of idols; and he is represented as the first who made images of clay, pictures only having been in use before, and taught that they were to be adored as gods. however, we are told his employment was a very honourable one, and that he was a great lord, and in high favour with nimrod, whose son-in-law he was, because he made his idols for him, and was excellent in his art. some of the rabbins say terah was a priest, and chief of the order. 	n that is, we gave him a right apprehension of the government of the world and of the heavenly bodies, that he might know them all to be ruled by god, by putting him on making the following reflections. 	 tarîkh montakhab, apud d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. .		 d'herbel. ibid.		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin, yahya, ebn shohnah, mirat kainat, &c. vide etiam pharhang jehang-hiri, apud hyde de rel. vet. persar. p. .		 hyde, ibid. p. .		 idem, ibid. p. . 	 idem, ibid. p. .		 josh. xxiv. , .		 epiphan. adv. hær. l. r, p. , . suidas in lexico, voce ?epúx.		 vide hyde, ubi sup. p. . 	 d'herbel. ubi sup.		 shalshel. hakkab. p. . and when he saw the moon rising, he said, this is my lord; but when he saw it set, he said, verily if my lord direct me not, i shall become one of the people who go astray. and when he saw the sun rising, he said, this is my lord, this is the greatest; but when it set, he said, o my people, verily i am clear of that which ye associate with god: i direct my face unto him who hath created the heavens and the earth; i am orthodox, and am not one of the idolaters. 	and his people disputed with him: and he said, will ye dispute with me concerning god? since he hath now directed me, and i fear not that which ye associate with him, unless that my lord willeth a thing; for my lord comprehendeth all things by his knowledge:p will ye not therefore consider? and how should i fear that which ye associate with god, since ye fear not to have associated with god that concerning which he hath sent down unto you no authority? which therefore of the two parties is the more safe, if ye understand aright? they who believe, and clothe not their faith with injustice,q they shall enjoy security, and they are rightly directed. and this is our argument wherewith we furnished abraham that he might make use of it against his people: we exalt unto degrees of wisdom and knowledge whom we please; for thy lord is wise and knowing. and we gave unto them isaac and jacob; we directed them both: and noah had we before directed, and of his posterityr david and solomon; and job,s and joseph, and moses, and aaron: thus do we reward the righteous: and zacharias, and john, and jesus, and elias;t all of them were upright men: and ismael, and elisha,u and jonas,u and lot;y all these have we favored above the rest of the world; 	o since abraham's parents were idolaters, it seems to be a necessary consequence that himself was one also in his younger years; the scripture not obscurely intimates as much, and the jews themselves acknowledge it. at what age he came to the knowledge of the true god and left idolatry, opinions are various. some jewish writers tell us he was then but three years old, and the mohammedans likewise suppose him very young, and that he asked his father and mother several shrewd questions when a child. others, however, allow him to have been a middle-aged man at that time. maimonides, in particular, and r. abraham zacuth think him to have been forty years old, which age is also mentioned in the korân. but the general opinion of the mohammedans is that he was about fifteen or sixteen. as the religion wherein abraham was educated was the sabian, which consisted chiefly in the worship of the heavenly bodies, he is introduced examining their nature and properties, to see whether they had a right to the worship which was paid them or not; and the first which he observed was the planet venus, or, as others will have it, jupiter. this method of abraham's attaining to the knowledge of the supreme creator of all things, is conformable to what josephus writes, viz.: that he drew his notions from the changes which he had observed in the earth and the sea, and in the sun and the moon, and the rest of the celestial bodies; concluding that they were subject to the command of a superior power, to whom alone all honour and thanks are due. the story itself is certainly taken from the talmud. some of the commentators, however, suppose this reasoning of abraham with himself was not the first means of his conversion, but that he used it only by way of argument to convince the idolaters among whom he then lived. 	p that is, i am not afraid of your false gods, which cannot hurt me, except god permitteth it, or is pleased to afflict me himself. 	q by injustice, in this place, the commentators understand idolatry, or open rebellion against god. 	r some refer the relative his to abraham, the person chiefly spoken of in this passage; some to noah, the next antecedent, because jonas and lot were not (say they) of abraham's seed; and others suppose the persons named in this and the next verse are to be understood as the descendants of abraham, and those in the following verse as those of noah. 	s the mohammedans say he was of the race of esau. see chapters and . 	t see chapter . 	u this prophet was the successor of elias, and, as the commentators will have it, the son of okhtûb, though the scripture makes him the son of shaphat. 	x see chapters , , and . 	y see chapter , &c. 	 vide josh. xxiv. , , and hyde, ubi sup. p. .			 joseph. ant. l. i, c. . maimon. more nev. part iii. c. , et yad hazzak. de id. c. i, &c.		 tanchuma, talmud, nedarim, , i, et apud maimon. yad hazz. ubi sup.		 vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. art. abraham. 	 maimon. ubi sup. r. abr. zacuth in sefer juchasin, shalshel. hakkab, &c.		 vide hyde, ubi sup. p. , , et hotting. smegma orient. p. , &c. genebr. in chron.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. i. p. . 	 al beidâwi.		 joseph. ant. l. i, c. .		 r. bechai, in midrash. vide bartolocc. bibl. rabb. part i. p. .		 al beidâwi. and also divers of their fathers, and their issue, and their brethren; and we chose them, and directed them into the right way. this is the direction of god, he directeth thereby such of his servants as he pleaseth; but if they had been guilty of idolatry, that which they wrought would have become utterly fruitless unto them. those were the persons unto whom we gave the scripture, and wisdom, and prophecy; but if thesez believe not therein, we will commit the care of them to a people who shall not disbelieve the same. 	those were the persons whom god hath directed, therefore follow their direction. say unto the inhabitants of mecca, i ask of you no recompense for preaching the koran; it is no other than an admonition unto all creatures. they make not a due estimation of god,a when they say, god hath not sent down unto man anything at all:b say, who sent down the book which moses brought, a light and a direction unto men; which ye transcribe on papers, whereof ye publish some part, and great part whereof ye conceal? and ye have been taught by mohammed what ye knew not, neither your fathers. say, god sent it down: then leave them to amuse themselves with their vain discourse. this book which we have sent down is blessed; confirming that which was revealed before it; and is delivered unto thee that thou mayest preach it unto the metropolis of mecca and to those who are round about it. and they who believe in the next life will believe therein, and they will diligently observe their times of prayer. who is more wicked than he who forgeth a lie concerning god?c or saith this was revealed unto me; when nothing hath been revealed unto him?d and who saith, i will produce a revelation like unto that which god hath sent down?e if thou didst see when the ungodly are in the pangs of death, and the angelsf reach out their hands saying, cast forth your souls; this day shall ye receive an ignominious punishment for that which ye have falsely spoken concerning god; and because ye have proudly rejected his signs. 	z that is, the koreish. 	a that is, they know him not truly, nor have just notions of his goodness and mercy towards man. the persons here meant, according to some commentators, are the jews, and according to others, the idolaters. 	this verse and the two next, as jallalo'ddin thinks, were revealed at medina. 	b by these words the jews (if they were the persons meant) chiefly intended to deny the korân to be of divine revelation, though they might in strictness insist that god never revealed, or sent down, as the korân expresses it, any real composition or material writing from heaven in the manner that mohammed pretended his revelations were delivered, if we except only the decalogue, god having left to the inspired penmen not only the labour of writing, but the liberty, in a great measure at least, of putting the truths into their own words and manner of expression. 	c falsely pretending to have received revelations from him, as did moselama, al aswad al ansi, and others. 	d as did abda'llah ebn saad ebn abi sarah, who for some time was the prophet's amanuensis, and when these words were dictated to him as revealed, viz., we created man of a purer kind of clay, &c., cried out, by way of admiration, blessed be god the best creator! and being ordered by mohammed to write these words down also, as part of the inspired passage, began to think himself as great a prophet as his master. whereupon he took upon himself to corrupt and alter the korân according to his own fancy, and at length apostatizing, was one of the ten who were proscribed at the taking of mecca, and narrowly escaped with life on his recantation, by the interposition of othmân ebn affán, whose foster-brother he was. 	e for some arabs, it seems, had the vanity to imagine, and gave out, that, if they pleased, they could write a book nothing inferior to the korân. 	f see before, p. , note b. 	 idem.		 idem.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. , &c.		 kor. c. . al beidâwi.		 see the prelim. disc. p. .		 vide abulfeda, vit. moh. p. . 										 - and now are ye come unto us alone,g as we created you at first,h and ye have left that which we had bestowed on you, behind your backs; neither do we see with you your intercessors,i whom ye thought to have been partners with god among you: now is the relation between you cut off, and what ye imagined hath deceived you.k god causeth the grain and the date-stone to put forth: he bringeth forth the living from the dead, and he bringeth forth the dead from the living.l this is god. why therefore are ye turned away from him? he causeth the morning to appear; and hath ordained the night for rest, and the sun and the moon for the computing of time. this is the disposition of the mighty, the wise god. it is he who hath ordained the stars for you, that ye may be directed thereby in the darkness of the land and of the sea. we have clearly shown forth our signs, unto people who understand. it is he who hath produced you from one soul; and hath provided for you a sure receptacle and a repository.m we have clearly shown forth our signs, unto people who are wise. it is he who sendeth down water from heaven, and we have thereby produced the springing buds of all things, and have thereout produced the green thing, from which we produce the grain growing in rows, and palm-trees from whose branches proceed clusters of dates hanging close together; and gardens of grapes, and olives, and pomegranates, both like and unlike to one another. look on their fruits, when they bear fruit, and their growing to maturity. verily herein are signs, unto people who believe. 	yet they have set up the geniin as partners with god, although he created them: and they have falsely attributed unto him sons and daughters,o without knowledge. praise be unto him; and far be that from him which they attribute unto him! he is the maker of heaven and earth: how should he have issue since he hath no consort? he hath created all things, and he is omniscient. this is god your lord; there is no god but he, the creator of all things; therefore serve him: for he taketh care of all things. the sight comprehendeth him not, but he comprehendeth the sight; he is the gracious,p the wise. now have evident demonstrations come unto you from your lord; whoso seeth them, the advantage thereof will redound to his own soul: and whoso is wilfully blind, the consequence will be to himself. i am not a keeper over you. thus do we variously explain our signs; that they may say, thou hast studied diligently;q and that we may declare them unto people of understanding. follow that which hath been revealed unto thee from thy lord; there is no god but he: retire therefore from the idolaters. 	g that is, without your wealth, your children, or your friends, which ye so much depended on in your lifetime. 	h i.e., naked and helpless. 	 or false gods. 	k concerning the intercession of your idols, or the disbelief of future rewards and punishments. 	l see chapter , p. . 	m namely, in the loins of your fathers, and the wombs of your mothers. 	n this word signifies properly the genus of rational, invisible beings, whether angels, devils, or that intermediate species usually called genii. some of the commentators therefore, in this place, understand the angels, whom the pagan arabs worshipped; and others the devils, either because they became their servants by adoring idols at their instigation, or else because, according to the magian system, they looked on the devil as a sort of creator, making him the author and principle of all evil, and god the author of good only. 	o see the prelim. discourse, p. and . 	p or, as the word may be translated, the incomprehensible. 	q that is, thou hast been instructed by the jews and christians in these matters, and only retailest to us what thou hast learned of them. for this the infidels objected to mohammed, thinking it impossible for him to discourse on subjects of so high a nature, and in so clear and pertinent a manner, without being well versed in the doctrines and sacred writings of those people. 			 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem. if god had so pleased, they had not been guilty of idolatry. we have not appointed thee a keeper over them; neither art thou a guardian over them. revile not the idols which they invoke besides god, lest they maliciously revile god, without knowledge. thus have we prepared for every nation their works: hereafter unto god shall they return, and he shall declare unto them that which they have done. they have sworn by god, by the most solemn oath, that if a sign came unto them, they would certainly believe therein: say, verily signs are in the power of god alone; and he permitteth you not to understand, that when they come, they will not believe.r 	and we will turn aside their hearts and their sight from the truth, as they believed not thereins the first time; and we will leave them to wander in their error. and though we had sent down angels unto them, and the dead had spoken unto them, and we had gathered together before them all things in one view;t they would not have believed, unless god had so pleased: but the greater part of them know it not. thus have we appointed unto every prophet an enemy; the devils of men, and of genii: who privately suggest the one to the other specious discourses to deceive; but if thy lord pleased, they would not have done it. therefore leave them, and that which they have falsely imagined; and let the hearts of those be inclined thereto, who believe not in the life to come; and let them please themselves therein, and let them gain that which they are gaining. shall i seek after any other judge besides god to judge between us? it is he who hath sent down unto you the book of the koran distinguishing between good and evil; and they to whom we gave the scripture know that it is sent down from thy lord, with truth. be not therefore one of those who doubt thereof. the words of thy lord are perfect, in truth and justice; there is none who can change his words:u he both heareth and knoweth. but if thou obey the greater part of them who are in the earth, they will lead thee aside from the path of god: they follow an uncertain opinion only,x and speak nothing but lies; verily thy lord well knoweth those who go astray from his path, and well knoweth those who are rightly directed. eat of that whereon the name of god hath been commemorated,y if ye believe in his signs: and why do ye not eat of that whereon the name of god hath been commemorated? since he hath plainly declared unto you what he hath forbidden you; except that which ye be compelled to eat of by necessity; many lead others into error, because of their appetites, being void of knowledge; but thy lord well knoweth who are the transgressors. 	r in this passage mohammed endeavours to excuse his inability of working a miracle, as had been demanded of him; declaring that god did not think fit to comply with their desires; and that if he had so thought fit, yet it had been in vain, because if they were not convinced by the korân, they would not be convinced by the greatest miracle. 	s i.e., in the korân. 	t for the meccans required that mohammed should either show them an angel descending from heaven in their sight, or raise their dead fathers, that they might discourse with them, or prevail on god and his angels to appear to them in a body. 	u some interpret this of the immutability of god's decree, and the certainty of his threats and promises; others, of his particular promise to preserve the korân from any such alterations or corruptions as they imagine to have happened to the pentateuch and the gospel; and others, of the unalterable duration of the mohammedan law, which they hold is to last till the end of the world, there being no other prophet, law, or dispensation to be expected after it. 	x imagining that the true religion was that which their idolatrous ancestors professed. 	y see chap. , p. , and chap. , p. . 		 confer luke xvi. .		 see the prelim. disc. p. , and kor. c. . 	leave both the outside of iniquity and inside thereof:z for they who commit iniquity shall receive the reward of that which they shall have gained. eat not therefore of that whereon the name of god hath not been commemorated; for this is certainly wickedness: but the devils will suggest unto their friends, they they dispute with you concerning this precept; but if ye obey them, ye are surely idolaters. shall he who hath been dead, and whom we have restored unto life, and unto whom we have ordained a light, whereby he may walk among men, be as he whose similitude is in darkness, from whence he shall not come forth?a thus was that which the infidels are doing prepared for them. and thus have we placed in every city chief leaders of the wicked men thereof,b that they may act deceitfully therein; but they shall act deceitfully against their own souls only; and they know it not. and when a signc cometh unto them, they say, we will by no means believe until a revelation be brought unto us, like unto that which hath been delivered unto the messengers of god.d god best knoweth whom he will appoint for his messenger.e vileness in the sight of god shall fall upon those who deal wickedly, and a grievous punishment, for that they have dealt deceitfully. and whomsoever god shall please to direct, he will open his breast to receive the faith of islam: but whomsoever he shall please to lead into error, he will render his breast straight and narrow, as though he were climbing up to heaven.f thus doth god inflict a terrible punishment on those who believe not. this is the right way of thy lord. now have we plainly declared our signs unto those people who will consider. they shall have a dwelling of peace with their lord, and he shall be their patron, because of that which they have wrought. think on the day whereon god shall gather them all together, and shall say, o company of genii,g ye have been much concerned with mankind;h and their friends from among mankind shall say, o lord, the one of us hath received advantage from the other,i and we are arrived at our limited termk which thou hast appointed us. god will say, hell fire shall be your habitation, therein shall ye remain forever; unless as god shall please to mitigate your pains,l for thy lord is wise and knowing. 	z that is, both open and secret sins. 	a the persons primarily intended in this passage, were hamza, mohammed's uncle, and abu jahl; others, instead of hamza, name omar, or ammâr 	b in the same manner as we have done in mecca. 	c i.e., any verse or passage of the korân. 	d these were the words of the koreish, who thought that there were persons among themselves more worthy of the honour of being god's messenger than mohammed. 	e literally, where he will place his commission. god, says al beidâwi, bestows not the gift of prophecy on any one on account of his nobility or riches, but for their spiritual qualifications; making choice of such of his servants as he pleases, and who he knows will execute their commissions faithfully. 	f or had undertaken the most impossible thing in the world. in like manner shall the heart of such a man be incapable of receiving the truth. 	g that is, of devils. 	h in tempting and seducing them to sin. 	i the advantage which men received from the evil spirits, was their raising and satisfying their lusts and appetites; and that which the latter received in return, was the obedience paid them by the former, &c. 	k viz., the day of resurrection, which we believed not in the other world. 	l the commentators tell us that this alleviation of the pains of the damned will be when they shall be taken out of the fire to drink the boiling water, or to suffer the extreme cold, called al zamharîr, which is to be one part of their punishment; but others think the respite which god will grant to some before they are thrown into hell, is here intended. according to the exposition of ebn abbas, these words may be rendered, unless him whom god shall please to deliver thence. 		 al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 jallalo'ddin.		 al beidâwi. see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. , &c. thus do we set some of the unjust over others of them, because of that which they have deserved. 	o company of genii and men, did not messengers from among yourselves come unto you,m rehearsing my signs unto you, and forewarning you of the meeting of this your day? they shall answer, we bear witness against ourselves: the present life deceived them: and they shall bear witness against themselves that they were unbelievers. this hath been the method of god's dealing with his creatures, because thy lord would not destroy the cities in their iniquity, while their inhabitants were careless.n every one shall have degrees of recompense of that which they shall do; for thy lord is not regardless of that which they do, and thy lord is self-sufficient and endued with mercy. if he pleaseth he can destroy you, and cause such as he pleaseth to succeed you, in like manner as he produced you from the posterity of other people. verily that which is threatened you, shall surely come to pass; neither shall ye cause it to fail. say unto those of mecca, o my people, act according to your power; verily i will act according to my duty:o and hereafter shall ye know whose will be the reward of paradise. the ungodly shall not prosper. those of mecca set apart unto god a portion of that which he hath produced of the fruits of the earth, and of cattle; and say, this belongeth unto god (according to their imagination), and this unto our companions.p and that which is destined for their companions cometh not unto god; yet that which is set apart unto god cometh unto their companions.q how ill do they judge! in like manner have their companions induced many of the idolaters to slay their children,r that they might bring them to perdition, and that they might render their religion obscure and confused unto them.s but if god had pleased, they had not done this: therefore leave them and that which they falsely imagine. 	m it is the mohammedan belief that apostles were sent by god for the conversion both of genii and of men; being generally of humane race (as mohammed, in particular, who pretended to have a commission to preach to both kinds); according to this passage, it seems there must have been prophets of the race of genii also, though their mission be a secret to us. 	n or considered not their danger; but god first sent some prophet to them to warn them of it, and to invite them to repentance. 	o that is, ye may proceed in your rebellion against god and your malice towards me, and be confirmed in your infidelity; but i will persevere to bear your insults with patience, and to publish those revelations which god has commanded me. 	p i.e., our idols. in which sense this word is to be taken through the whole passage. 	q as to this custom of the pagan arabs, see the prelim. disc. sect. i. p. . to what is there said we may add, that the share set apart for god was employed chiefly in relieving the poor and strangers; and the share of the idols, for paying their priests, and providing sacrifices for them. 	r either by that inhuman custom, which prevailed among those of kendah and some other tribes, of burying their daughters alive, so soon as they were born, if they apprehended they could not maintain them; or else be offering them to their idols, at the instigation of those who had the custody of their temples. 	s by corrupting with horrid superstitions that religion which ismael had left to his posterity. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 see cap. . 	 al beidâwi. idem. they also say, these cattle and fruits of the earth are sacred; none shall eat thereof but who we pleaset (according to their imagination); and there are cattle whose backs are forbidden to be rode on, or laden with burdens;u and there are cattle on which they commemorate not the name of god when they slay them;x devising a lie against him; god shall reward them for that which they falsely devise. 	and they say, that which is in the bellies of these cattley is allowed to our males to eat, and is forbidden to our wives: but if it prove abortive, they they are both partakers thereof.z god shall give them the reward of their attributing these things to him: he is knowing and wise. they are utterly lost who have slain their children foolishly,a without knowledge;b and have forbidden that which god hath given them for food, devising a lie against god. they have erred, and were not rightly directed. he it is who produceth gardens of vines, both those which are supported on trails of wood, and those which are not supported,c and palm-trees, and the corn affording various food, and olives, and pomegranates, alike and unlike unto one another. eat of their fruit, when they bear fruit, and pay the due thereof on the day whereon ye shall gather it;d but be not profuse,e for god loveth not those who are too profuse. and god hath given you some cattle fit for bearing of burdens, and some fit for slaughter only. eat of what god hath given you for food; and follow not the steps of satan, for he is your declared enemy. four pairf of cattle hath god given you; of sheep one pair, and of goats one pair. say unto them, hath god forbidden the two males, of sheep and of goats, or the two females; or that which the wombs of the two females contain? tell me with certainty, if ye speak truth. and of camels hath god given you one pair, and of oxen one pair. say, hath he forbidden the two males of these, or the two females; or that which the wombs of the two females contain?g were ye present when god commanded you this? and who is more unjust than he who deviseth a lie against god,h that he may seduce men without understanding? verily god directed not unjust people. 	t that is, those who serve our idols, and are of the male sex; for the women were not allowed to eat of them. 	u which they superstitiously exempted from such services, in some particular cases, as they did the bahîra, the sâïba, and the hâmi. 	x see c. , p. . 	y that is, the foetus or embryos of the bahîra and the sâïba, which shall be brought forth alive. 	z for if those cattle cast their young, the women might eat thereof as well as the men. 	a see above, note r. 	b not having a due sense of god's providence. 	c or, as some choose to interpret the words, trees or plants which are planted by the labour of man, and those which grow naturally in the deserts and on mountains. 	d that is, give alms thereof to the poor. and these alms, as al beidâwi observes, were what they used to give before the zacât, or legal alms, was instituted, which was done after mohammed had retired from mecca, where this verse was revealed. yet some are of another opinion, and for this very reason will have the verse to have been revealed at medina. 	e i.e., give not so much thereof in alms as to leave your own families in want, for charity begins at home. 	f or, literally, eight males and females paired together; that is, four of each sex, and two of every distinct kind. 	g in this passage mohammed endeavours to convince the arabs of their superstitious folly in making it unlawful, one while, to eat the males of these four kinds of cattle; another while, the females; and at another time, their young. 	h the person particularly intended here, some say, was amru ebn lohai, king of hejâz, a great introducer of idolatry and superstition among the arabs. 	 idem.		 see cap. , p. , and prelim. disc. sect. v. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem. see prelim. disc. p. , and pocock spec. p. . say, i find not in that which hath been revealed unto me anything forbidden unto the eater, that he eat it not, except it be that which dieth of itself, or blood poured forth,i or swine's flesh: for this is an abomination: or that which is profane, having been slain in the name of some other than of god. but whoso shall be compelled by necessity to eat of these things, not lusting, nor wilfully transgressing, verily thy lord will be gracious unto him and merciful. unto the jews did we forbid every beast having an undivided hoof; and of bullocks and sheep, we forbade them the fat of both; except that which should be on their backs, or their inwards,k or which should be intermixed with the bone.l this have we rewarded them with, because of their iniquity; and we are surely speakers of truth. if they accuse thee of imposture, say, your lord is endued with extensive mercy; but his severity shall not be averted from wicked people. the idolaters will say, if god had pleased, we had not been guilty of idolatry, neither our fathers; and pretend that we have not forbidden them anything. thus did they who were before them accuse the prophets of imposture, until they tasted our severe punishment. say, is there with you any certain knowledge of what ye allege, that ye may produce it unto us? ye follow only a false imagination; and ye utter only lies. 	say, therefore, unto god belongeth the most evident demonstration; for if he had pleased, he had directed you all. say, produce your witnesses, who can bear testimony that god hath forbidden this. but if they bear testimony of this, do not thou bear testimony with them, nor do thou follow the desires of those who accuse our signs of falsehood, and who believe not in the life to come, and equalize idols with their lord. say, come;m i will rehearse that which your lord hath forbidden you; that is to say, that ye be not guilty of idolatry, and that ye show kindness to your parents, and that ye murder not your children for fear lest ye be reduced to poverty; we will provide for you and them; and draw not near unto heinous crimes,n neither openly nor in secret; and slay not the soul which god hath forbidden you to slay, unless for a just cause.o this hath he enjoined you that ye may understand. and meddle not with the substance of the orphan, otherwise than for the improving thereof, until he attain his age of strength: and use a full measure, and a just balance. we will not impose a task on any soul beyond its ability. and when ye pronounce judgment observe justice, although it be for or against one who is near of kin, and fulfil the covenant of god. this hath god commanded you, that ye may be admonished; 	i that is, fluid blood; in opposition to what the arabs suppose to be also blood, but not fluid, as the liver and the spleen. 	k see levit. vii. , and iii. . 	l viz., the fat of the rumps or tails of sheep, which are very large in the east, a small one weighing ten or twelve pounds, and some no less than threescore. 	m this and the two following verses jallalo'ddin supposes to have been revealed at medina. 	n the original word signifies peculiarly fornication and avarice. 	o as for murder, apostacy, or adultery. 			 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin.		 al beidâwi. and that ye may know that this is my right way: therefore follow it, and follow not the path of others, lest ye be scattered from the path of god. this hath he commanded you that ye may take heed. we gave also unto moses the book of the law; a perfect rule unto him who should do right, and a determination concerning all things needful, and a direction, and mercy; that the children of israel might believe the meeting of their lord. and this book which we have now sent down is blessed; therefore follow it, and fear god that ye may obtain mercy: lest ye should say, the scriptures were only sent down unto two peoplep before us; and we neglected to peruse them with attention:q or lest ye should say, if a book of divine revelations had been sent down unto us, we would surely have been better directed than they.r and now hath a manifest declaration come unto you from your lord, and a direction and mercy: and who is more unjust than he who deviseth lies against the signs of god, and turneth aside from them? we will reward those who turn aside from our signs with a grievous punishment, because they have turned aside. do they wait for any other than that the angels should come unto them, to part their souls from their bodies; or that thy lord should come to punish them; or that some of the signs of thy lord should come to pass, showing the day of judgment to be at hand?s on the day whereon some of thy lord's signs shall come to pass, its faith shall not profit a soul which believed not before, or wrought not good in its faith.t say, wait ye for this day; we surely do wait for it. 	they who make a division in their religion,u and become sectaries, have thou nothing to do with them; their affair belongeth only unto god. hereafter shall he declare unto them that which they have done. he who shall appear with good works, shall receive a tenfold recompense for the same; but he who shall appear with evil works, shall receive only an equal punishment for the same; and they shall not be treated unjustly. say, verily my lord hath directed me into a right way, a true religion, the sect of abraham the orthodox; and he was no idolater. say, verily my prayers, and my worship, and my life, and my death are dedicated unto god, the lord of all creatures: he hath no companion. this have i been commanded: i am the first moslem.x 	p that is, the jews and the christians. 	q either because we knew nothing of them, or did not understand the language wherein they were written. 	r because of the acuteness of our wit, the clearness of our understanding, and our facility of learning sciences-as appears from our excelling in history, poetry, and oratory, notwithstanding we are illiterate people. 	s al beidâwi, from a tradition of mohammed, says that ten signs will precede the last day, viz., the smoke, the beast of the earth, an eclipse in the east, another in the west, and a third in the peninsula of arabia, the appearance of anti-christ, the sun's rising in the west, the eruption of gog and magog, the descent of jesus on earth, and fire which shall break forth from aden. 	t for faith in the next life will be of no advantage to those who have not believed in this; nor yet faith in this life without good works. 	u that is, who believe in part of it, and disbelieve other parts of it, or who form schisms therein. mohammed is reported to have declared that the jews were divided into seventy-one sects, and the christians into seventy-two; and that his own followers would be split into seventy-three sects; and that all of them would be damned, except only one of each. 	x see before, p. . 	 idem.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. , &c. 	 al beidâwi. say, shall i desire any other lord besides god? since he is the lord of all things; and no soul shall acquire any merits or demerits but for itself; and no burdened soul shall bear the burden of another.y moreover unto your lord shall ye return; and he shall declare unto you that concerning which ye now dispute. it is he who hath appointed you to succeed your predecessors in the earth, and hath raised some of you above others by various degrees of worldly advantages, that he might prove you by that which he hath bestowed on you. thy lord is swift in punishing; and he is also gracious and merciful. _______ chapter vii entitled, al araf;z revealed at mecca.a in the name of the most merciful god. al. m. s.b a book hath been sent down unto thee: and therefore let there be no doubt in thy breast concerning it; that thou mayest preach the same, and that it may be an admonition unto the faithful. follow that which hath been sent down unto you from your lord; and follow no guides besides him: how little will ye be warned! how many cities have we destroyed; which our vengeance overtook by night,c or while they were reposing themselves at noon-day!d and their supplication, when our punishment came upon them, was no other than that they said, verily we have been unjust. we will surely call those to an account, unto whom a prophet hath been sent; and we will also call those to account who have been sent unto them. and we will declare their actions unto them with knowledge; for we are not absent from them. the weighing of men's actions on that day shall be just;e and they whose balances laden with their good works shall be heavy, are those who shall be happy; but they whose balances shall be light, are those who have lost their souls, because they injured our signs. and now have we placed you on the earth, and have provided you food therein: but how little are ye thankful! 	we created you, and afterwards formed you; and then said unto the angels, worship adam; and they all worshipped him, except eblis, who was not one of those who worshipped.f god said unto him, what hindered thee from worshipping adam, since i had commanded thee? he answered, i am more excellent than he: thou hast created me of fire, and hast created him of clay. 	y this was revealed in answer to the pressing instances of the idolaters, who offered to take the crime upon themselves, if mohammed would conform to their worship. 	z al arâf signifies the partition between paradise and hell, which is mentioned in this chapter. 	a some, however, except five or eight verses, begin at these words, and ask them concerning the city, &c. 	b the signification of those letters the more sober mohammedans confess god alone knows. some, however, imagine they stand for allah, gabriel, mohammed, on whom be peace. 	c as it did the inhabitants of sodom and gomorrah, to whom lot was sent. 	d as happened to the midianites, to whom shoaib preached. 	e see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . 	f see chapter , p. , &c. 		 idem.			 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . god said, get thee down therefore from paradise; for it is not fit that thou behave thyself proudly therein: get thee hence; thou shalt be one of the contemptible. he answered, give me respite until the day of resurrection. god said, verily thou shalt be one of those who are respited.g the devil said, because thou hast depraved me, i will lay wait for men in thy strait way; then will i come upon them from before, and from behind, and from their right hands, and from their left;h and thou shalt not find the greater part of them thankful. god said unto him, get thee hence, despised, and driven far away: verily whoever of them shall follow thee, i will surely fill hell with you all: but as for thee, o adam, dwell thou and thy wife in paradise; and eat of the fruit thereof wherever ye will; but approach not this tree, lest ye become of the number of the unjust. and satan suggested to them both, that he would discover unto them their nakedness, which was hidden from them; and he said, your lord hath not forbidden you this tree, for any other reason but lest ye should become angels, or lest ye become immortal. 	and he sware unto them, saying, verily i am one of those who counsel you aright. and he caused them to fall through deceit.i and when they had tasted of the tree, their nakedness appeared unto them;k and they began to join together the leaves of paradise,l to cover themselves. and their lord called to them, saying, did i not forbid you this tree: and did i not say unto you, verily satan is your declared enemy? they answered, o lord, we have dealt unjustly with our own souls; and if thou forgive us not, and be not merciful unto us, we shall surely be of those who perish. god said, get ye down, the one of you an enemy unto the other; and ye shall have a dwelling-place upon the earth, and a provision for a season. he said, therein shall ye live, and therein shall ye die, and from thence shall ye be taken forth at the resurrection. o children of adam, we have sent down unto you apparel,m to conceal your nakedness, and fair garments; but the clothing of piety is better. this is one of the signs of god; that peradventure ye may consider. 	g as the time till which the devil is reprieved is not particularly expressed, the commentators suppose his request was not wholly granted; but agree that he shall die, as well as other creatures, at the second sound of the trumpet. 	h i.e., i will attack them on every side that i shall be able. the other two ways, viz., from above and from under their feet, are omitted, say the commentators, to show that the devil's power is limited. 	i the mohammedan gospel of barnabas tells us that the sentence which god pronounced on the serpent for introducing the devil into paradise was, that he should not only be turned out of paradise, but that he should have his legs cut off by the angel michael, with the sword of god; and that the devil himself, since he had rendered our first parents unclean, was condemned to eat the excrements of them and all their posterity; which two last circumstances i do not remember to have read elsewhere. the words of the manuscript are these: y llamó [dios] a la serpiente, y a michael, aquel que tiene la espada de dios, y le dixo; aquesta sierpe es acelerada, echala la primera del parayso, y cortale las piernas, y si quisiere caminar, arrastrara la vida por tierra. y llamó à satanas, el qual vino riendo, y dixole; porque tu reprobo has engañado a aquestos, y los has hecho immundos? yo quiero que toda immundicia suya, y de todos sus hijos, en saliendo de sus cuerpos entre por tu boca, porque en verdad ellos haran penitencia, y tu quedaras harto de immundicia. 	k which they had not perceived before; being clothed, as some say, with light, or garments of paradise, which fell from them on their disobedience. yahya imagines their nakedness was hidden by their hair. 	l which it is said were fig-leaves. 	m not only proper materials, but also ingenuity of mind and dexterity of hand to make use of them. 	 al beidâwi. see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. , and d'herbelot, bibl. orient. art. eblis.		 al beidâwi. see the notes to cap. , p. .		 idem.		 idem. 	 idem. o children of adam, let not satan seduce you, as he expelled your parents out of paradise, by stripping them of their clothing, that he might show them their nakedness: verily he seeth you, both he and his companions, whereas ye see not them.n we have appointed the devils to be patrons of those who believe not: and when they commit a filthy action, they say, we found our fathers practising the same; and god hath commanded us to do it. say, verily god commandeth not filthy actions. do ye speak concerning god that which ye know not? say, my lord hath commanded me to observe justice; therefore set your faces to pray at every place of worship, and call upon him, approving unto him the sincerity of your religion. as he produced you at first, so unto him shall ye return. a part of mankind hath he directed; and a part hath been justly led into error, because they have taken the devils for their patrons besides god, and imagine they are rightly directed. o children of adam, take your decent apparel at every place of worship,o and eat and drink,p but be not guilty of excess; for he loveth not those who are guilty of excess. 	say, who hath forbidden the decent apparel of god, which he hath produced for his servants, and the good things which he hath provided for food? say, these things are for those who believe, in this present life, but peculiarly on the day of resurrection.q thus do we distinctly explain our signs unto people who understand. say, verily my lord hath forbidden filthy actions, both that which is discovered thereof, and that which is concealed, and also iniquity, and unjust violence; and hath forbidden you to associate with god that concerning which he hath sent you down no authority, or to speak of god that which ye know not. unto every nation there is a prefixed term; therefore when their term is expired, they shall not have respite for an hour, neither shall they be anticipated. o children of adam, verily apostles from among you shall come unto you, who shall expound my signs unto you: whosoever therefore shall fear god and amend, there shall come no fear on them, neither shall they be grieved. but they who shall accuse our signs of falsehood, and shall proudly reject them, they shall be the companions of hell fire; they shall remain therein forever. and who is more unjust than he who deviseth a lie concerning god, or accuseth his signs of imposture? unto these shall be given their portion of worldly happiness, according to what is written in the book of god's decrees, until our messengersr come unto them, and shall cause them to die; saying, where are the idols which ye called upon, besides god? they shall answer, they have disappeared from us. and they shall bear witness against themselves that they were unbelievers. 	n because of the subtlety of their bodies, and their being void of all colour. 	o this passage was revealed to reprove an immodest custom of the pagan arabs, who used to encompass the caaba naked, because clothes, they said, were the signs of their disobedience to god. the sonna orders that, when a man goes to prayers, he should put on his better apparel, out of respect to the divine majesty before whom he is to appear. but as the mohammedans think it indecent, on the one hand, to come into god's presence in a slovenly manner, so they imagine, on the other, that they ought not to appear before him in habits too rich or sumptuous, and particularly in clothes adorned with gold or silver, lest they should seem proud. 	p the sons of amer, it is said, when they performed the pilgrimage to mecca, used to eat no more than was absolutely necessary, and that not of the more delicious sort of food neither, which abstinence they looked upon as a piece of merit, but they are here told the contrary. 	q because then the wicked, who also partook of the blessings of this life, will have no share in the enjoyments of the next. 	r viz., the angel of death and his assistants. 		 jallalo'ddin.		 idem, al beidâwi.		 idem. god shall say unto them at the resurrection, enter ye with the nations which have preceded you, of genii and of men, into hell fire; so often as one nation shall enter, it shall curse its sister,s until they shall all have successively entered therein. the latter of them shall say of the former of them: o lord, these have seduced us; therefore inflict on them a double punishment of the fire of hell. god shall answer, it shall be doubled unto all:t but ye know it not: and the former of them shall say unto the latter of them, ye have not therefore any favor above us; taste the punishment for that which ye have gained. verily they who shall charge our signs with falsehood, and shall proudly reject them, the gates of heaven shall not be opened unto them,u neither shall they enter into paradise, until a camel pass through the eye of a needle,x and thus will we reward the wicked doers. their couch shall be in hell, and over them shall be coverings of fire; and thus will we reward the unjust. 	but they who believe, and do that which is right (we will not load any soul but according to its ability,) they shall be the companions of paradise; they shall remain therein forever. and we will remove all grudges from their minds;y rivers shall run at their feet, and they shall say, praised be god, who hath directed us unto this felicity, for we should not have been rightly directed, if god had not directed us; now are we convinced by demonstration that the apostles of our lord came unto us with truth. and it shall be proclaimed unto them, this is paradise, whereof ye are made heirs, as a reward for that which ye have wrought. and the inhabitantsz of paradise shall call out to the inhabitants of hell fire, saying, now have we found that which our lord promised us to be true: have ye also found that which your lord promised you to be true? they shall answer, yea. and a criera shall proclaim between them, the curse of god shall be on the wicked; who turn men aside from the way of god, and seek to render it crooked, and who deny the life to come. 	s that is, the nation whose example betrayed them into their idolatry and other wickedness. 	t unto those who set the example, because they not only transgressed themselves, but were also the occasion of the others' transgression; and unto those who followed them, because of their own infidelity and their imitating an ill example. 	u that is, when their souls shall, after death, ascend to heaven, they shall not be admitted, but shall be thrown down into the dungeon under the seventh earth. 	x this expression was probably taken from our saviour's words in the gospel, though it be proverbial in the east. 	y so that, whatever differences or animosities there had been between them in their lifetime, they shall now be forgotten, and give place to sincere love and amity. this ali is said to have hoped would prove true to himself and his inveterate enemies, othmân, telha, and al zobeir. 	z literally, the companions. 	a this crier, some say, will be the angel israfil. 	 idem.		 jallalo'ddin. see the prelim. disc. ubi sup. p. .		 matth. xix. 		 al beidâwi. and between the blessed and the damned there shall be a veil; and men shall stand on al arâfb who shall know every one of them by their marks;c and shall call unto the inhabitants of paradise, saying, peace be upon you: yet they shall not enter therein, although they earnestly desire it.d and when they shall turn their eyes towards the companions of hell fire, they say, o lord, place us not with the ungodly people! and those who stand on al arâf shall call unto certain men,e whom they shall know by their marks, and shall say, what hath your gathering of riches availed you, and that ye were puffed up with pride? are these the men on whom ye sware that god would not bestow mercy?f enter ye into paradise; there shall come no fear on you, neither shall ye be grieved.g and the inhabitants of hell fire shall call unto the inhabitants of paradise, saying, pour upon us some water, or of those refreshments which god hath bestowed on you.h they shall answer, verily god hath forbidden them unto the unbelievers; who made a laughing-stock and a sport of their religion, and whom the life of the world hath deceived: therefore this day will we forget them, as they did forget the meeting of this day, and for that they denied our signs to be from god. 	and now have we brought unto those of mecca a book of divine revelations: we have explained it with knowledge; a direction and mercy unto people who shall believe. do they wait for any other than the interpretation thereof?i on the day whereon the interpretation thereof shall come, they who had forgotten the same before shall say, now are we convinced by demonstration that the messengers of our lord came unto us with truth: shall we therefore have any intercessors, who will intercede for us? or shall we be sent back into the world, that we may do other works than what we did in our life-time? but now have they lost their souls; and that which they impiously imagined hath fled from them.k verily, your lord is god, who created the heavens and the earth in six days; and then ascended his throne: he causeth the night to cover the day; it succeedeth the same swiftly: he also created the sun and the moon, and the stars, which are absolutely subject unto his command. is not the whole creation, and the empire thereof, his? blessed be god, the lord of all creatures! 	b al arâf is the name of the wall or partition which, as mohammed taught, will separate paradise from hell. but as to the persons who are to be placed thereon the commentators differ, as has been elsewhere observed. 	c i.e., who shall distinguish the blessed from the damned by their proper characteristics; such as the whiteness and splendour of the faces of the former, and the blackness of those of the latter. 	d from this circumstance, it seems that their opinion is the most probable who make this intermediate partition a sort of purgatory for those who, though they deserve not to be sent to hell, yet have not merits sufficient to gain them immediate admittance into paradise, and will be tantalized here for a certain time with a bare view of the felicity of that place. 	e that is, the chiefs and ringleaders of the infidels. 	f these were the inferior and poorer among the believers, whom they despised in their lifetimes as unworthy of god's favour. 	g these words are directed, by an apostrophe, to the poor and despised believers above mentioned. some commentators, however, imagine these and the next preceding words are to be understood of those who will be confined in al arâf; and that the damned will, in return for their reproachful speech, swear that they shall never enter paradise themselves; whereupon god of his mercy shall order them to be admitted by these words. 	h i.e., of the other liquors or fruits of paradise. compare this passage with the parable of dives and lazarus. 	i that is, the event of the promises and menaces therein. 	k see chapter , p. , note a. 	 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. .		 see ibid. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem. idem call upon your lord humbly and in secret; for he loveth not those who transgress.l and act not corruptly in the earth, after its reformation;m and call upon him with fear and desire: for the mercy of god is near unto the righteous. it is he who sendeth the winds, spread abroadn before his mercy,o until they bring a cloud heavy with rain, which we drive into a dead country;p and we cause water to descend thereon, by which we cause all sorts of fruits to spring forth. thus will we bring forth the dead from their graves;q that peradventure ye may consider. from a good country shall its fruit spring forth abundantly, by the permission of its lord; but from the land which is bad, it shall not spring forth otherwise than scarcely. thus do we explain the signs of divine providence unto people who are thankful. we formerly sent noahr unto his people: and he said, o my people, worship god: ye have no other god than him.s verily i fear for you the punishment of the great day.t the chiefs of his people answered him, we surely perceive thee to be in a manifest error. he replied, o my people, there is no error in me; but i am a messenger from the lord of all creatures. 	i bring unto you the messages of my lord; and i counsel you aright: for i know from god, that which ye know not. do ye wonder that an admonition hath come unto you from your lord by a manu from among you, to warn you, that ye may take heed to yourselves, and that peradventure ye may obtain mercy? 	l behaving themselves arrogantly while they pray; or praying with an obstreperous voice, or a multitude of words and vain repetitions. 	m i.e., after that god hath sent his prophets, and revealed his laws, for the reformation and amendment of mankind. 	n or ranging over a large extent of land. some copies, instead of noshran, which is the reading i have here followed, have boshran, which signifies good tidings; the rising of the wind in such a manner being the forerunner of rain. 	o that is, rain. for the east wind, says al beidâwi, raises the clouds, the north wind drives them together, the south wind agitates them, so as to make the rain fall, and the west wind disperses them again. 	p or a dry and parched land. 	q see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. 	r noah the son of lamech, according to the mohammedan writers, was one of the six principal prophets, though he had no written revelations delivered to him, and the first who appeared after his great-grandfather edrîs or enoch. they also say he was by trade a carpenter, which they infer from his building the ark, and that the year of his mission was the fiftieth, or, as others say, the fortieth of his age. 	that noah was a preacher of righteousness unto the wicked antediluvians is testified by scripture. the eastern christians say that when god ordered noah to build the ark, he also directed him to make an instrument of wood, such as they make use of at this day in the east, instead of bells, to call the people to church, and named in arabic nâkûs, and in modern greek semandra; on which he was to strike three times every day, not only to call together the workmen that were building the ark, but to give him an opportunity of daily admonishing his people of the impending danger of the deluge, which would certainly destroy them if they did not repent. 	some mohammedan authors pretend noah was sent to convert zohâk, one of the persian kings of the first race, who refused to hearken to him; and that he afterwards preached god's unity publicly. 	s from these words, and other passages of the korân where noah's preaching is mentioned, it appears that, according to mohammed's opinion, a principal crime of the antediluvians was idolatry. 	t viz., either the day of resurrection, or that whereon the flood was to begin. 	u for, said they, if god had pleased, he would have sent an angel, and not a man; since we never heard of such an instance in the times of our fathers. 	 idem.		 idem.		 see the prelim. disc. p. . 	 vide reland. de relig. moh. p. . al zamakhshari.		 pet. ii. .		 eutych. annal. p. . 		 vide d'herbal. bibl. orient. p. . see c. , and the prelim. disc. sect. i. p. .		 al beidâwi. and they accused him of imposture: but we delivered him and those who were with him in the ark,x and we drowned those who charged our signs with falsehood; for they were a blind people. and unto the tribe of ad we sent their brother hûd.z he said, o my people, worship god: ye have no other god than him; will ye not fear him? the chiefs of those among his people who believed not,a answered, verily we perceive that thou art guided by folly; and we certainly esteem thee to be one of the liars. he replied, o my people, i am not guided by folly; but i am a messenger unto you from the lord of all creatures: i bring unto you the messages of my lord; and i am a faithful counsellor unto you. do ye wonder that an admonition hath come unto you from your lord, by a man from among you, that he may warn you? call to mind how he hath appointed you successors unto the people of noah,b and hath added unto you in stature largely.c remember the benefits of god, that ye may prosper. they said, art thou come unto us, that we should worship god alone, and leave the deities which our fathers worshipped? now bring down that judgment upon us, with which thou threatenest us, if thou speakest truth. hud answered, now shall there suddenly fall upon you from your lord vengeance and indignation. will ye dispute with me concerning the names which ye have named,d and your fathers; as to which god hath not revealed unto you any authority? do ye wait therefore, and i will be one of those who wait with you. 	x that is, those who believed on him, and entered into that vessel with him. though there be a tradition among the mohammedans, said to have been received from the prophet himself, and conformable to the scripture, that eight persons, and no more, were saved in the ark, yet some of them report the number variously. one says they were but six, another ten, another twelve, another seventy-eight, and another four-score, half men and half women, and that one of them was the elder jorham, the preserver, as some pretend, of the arabian language. 	y ad was an ancient and potent tribe of arabs, and zealous idolaters. they chiefly worshipped four deities, sâkia, hâfedha, râzeka and sâlema; the first, as they imagined, supplying them with rain, the second preserving them from all dangers abroad, the third providing food for their sustenance, and the fourth restoring them to health when afflicted with sickness, according to the signification of the several names. 	z generally supposed to be the same person with heber; but others say he was the son of abda'llah, the son of ribâh, the son of kholûd, the son of ad, the son of aws or uz, the son of aram, the son of sem. 	a these words were added because some of the principal men among them believed on hûd, one of whom was morthed ebn saad. 	b dwelling in the habitations of the antediluvians, who preceded them not many centuries, or having the chief sway in the earth after them. for the kingdom of shedâd, the son of ad, is said to have extended from the sands of alaj to the trees of omân. 	c see the prelim. disc. p. . 	d that is, concerning the idols and imaginary objects of your worship, to which ye wickedly gave the names, attributes, and honour due to the only true god. 	 al zamakhshari, jallalo'ddin, ebn shohnah.		 idem. see the prelim. disc. sect i. p. .		 vide pocock. orat. præfix. carm. tograi.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. i. p. .		 abulfeda. 		 vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. art. houd. see the prelim. disc. p. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem. 	 idem. 	and we delivered him, and them who believed with him by our mercy; and we cut off the uttermost part of those who charged our signs with falsehood, and were not believers.e and unto the tribe of thamûd we sentf their brother sâleh.g he said, o my people, worship god: ye have no god besides him. now hath a manifest proof come unto you from your lord. this she-camel of god is a sign unto you:h therefore dismiss her freely, that she may feed in god's earth; and do her no hurt, lest a painful punishment seize you. and call to mind how he hath appointed you successors unto the tribe of ad, and hath given you a habitation on earth; ye build yourselves castles on the plains thereof, and cut out the mountains into houses.i remember therefore the benefits of god, and commit not violence in the earth, acting corruptly. the chiefs among his people who were puffed up with pride, said unto those who were esteemed weak, namely unto those who believed among them, do ye know that sâleh hath been sent from his lord? they answered, we do surely believe in that wherewith he hath been sent. those who were elated with pride replied, verily we believe not in that wherein ye believe. 	e the dreadful destruction of the adites we have mentioned in another place, and shall only add here some further circumstances of that calamity, and which differ a little from what is there said; for the arab writers acknowledge many inconsistencies in the histories of these ancient tribes. 	the tribe of ad having been for their incredulity previously chastised with a three years' drought, sent kail ebn ithar and morthed ebn saad, with seventy other principal men, to the temple of mecca to obtain rain. mecca was then in the hands of the tribe of amalek whose prince was moâwiyah ebn becr; and he, being without the city when the ambassadors arrived, entertained them there for a month in so hospitable a manner that they had forgotten the business they came about had not the king reminded them of it, not as from himself, lest they should think he wanted to be rid of them, but by some verses which he put into the mouth of a singing woman. at which, being roused from their lethargy, morthed told them the only way they had to obtain what they wanted would be to repent and obey their prophet; but this displeasing the rest, they desired moâwiyah to imprison him, lest he should go with them; which being done, kail with the rest entering mecca, begged of god that he would send rain to the people of ad. whereupon three clouds appeared, a white one, a red one, and a black one; and a voice from heaven ordered kail to choose which he would. kail failed not to make choice of the last, thinking it to be laden with the most rain; but when this cloud came over them, it proved to be fraught with the divine vengeance, and a tempest broke forth from it which destroyed them all. 	f thamûd was another tribe of the ancient arabs who fell into idolatry. see the prelim. disc. sect. i. p. . 	g al beidâwi deduces his genealogy thus: sâleh, the son of obeid, the son of asaf, the son of masekh, the son of obeid, the son of hâdher, the son of thamûd. 	h the thamûdites, insisting on a miracle, proposed to sâleh that he should go with them to their festival, and that they should call on their gods, and he on his, promising to follow that deity which should answer. but after they had called on their idols a long time to no purpose, jonda ebn amru, their prince, pointed to a rock standing by itself, and bade sâleh cause a she-camel big with young to come forth from it, solemnly engaging that, if he did, he would believe, and his people promised the same. whereupon sâleh asked it of god, and presently the rock, after several throes as if in labour, was delivered of a she-camel answering the description of jonda, which immediately brought forth a young one, ready weaned, and, as some say, as big as herself. jonda, seeing this miracle, believed on the prophet, and some few with him; but the greater part of the thamûdites remained, notwithstanding, incredulous. of this camel the commentators tell several very absurd stories: as that, when she went to drink, she never raised her head from the well or river till she had drunk up all the water in it, and then she offered herself to be milked, the people drawing from her as much milk as they pleased; and some say that she went about the town crying aloud, if any wants milk let him come forth. 	i the tribe of thamûd dwelt first in the country of the adites, but their numbers increasing, they removed to the territory of hejr for the sake of the mountains, where they cut themselves habitations in the rocks, to be seen at this day. 	 prelim. disc. p. .		 al beidâwi. vide d'herbelot, bibl orient. art. houd.		 see the prelim. disc. p. . abulfeda, al zamakhshari. vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. art. sâleh. 	 see the prelim. disc. p. . and they cut off the feet of the camel,k and insolently transgressed the command of their lord,l and said, o sâleh, cause that to come upon us which thou hast threatened us, if thou art one of those who have been sent by god. whereupon a terrible noise from heavenm assailed them; and in the morning they were found in their dwellings prostrate on their breasts and dead.n and sâleh departed from them, and said,o o my people, now have i delivered unto you the message of my lord and i advised you well, but ye love not those who advise you well. and remember lot,p when he said unto his people, do ye commit a wickedness, wherein no creature hath set you an example? do ye approach lustfully unto men, leaving the women? certainly ye are people who transgress all modesty. 	but the answer of his people was no other than that they said the one to the other, expel themq your city; for they are men who preserve themselves pure from the crimes which ye commit. therefore we delivered him and his family, except his wife; she was one of those who stayed behind:r and we rained a shower of stones upon them.s behold therefore what was the end of the wicked. 	k this extraordinary camel frighting the other cattle from their pasture, a certain rich woman named oneiza omm ganem, having four daughters, dressed them out and offered one kedâr his choice of them if he would kill the camel. whereupon he chose one, and with the assistance of eight other men, hamstrung and killed the dam, and pursuing the young one, which fled to the mountain, killed that also and divided his flesh among them. others tell the story somewhat differently, adding sadaka bint al mokhtâr as a joint conspiratress with oneiza, and pretending that the young one was not killed; for they say that having fled to a certain mountain named kâra, he there cried three times, and sâleh bade them catch him if they could, for then there might be hopes of their avoiding the divine vengeance; but this they were not able to do, the rock opening after he had cried, and receiving him within it. 	l defying the vengeance with which they were threatened; because they trusted in their strong dwellings hewn in the rocks, saying that the tribe of ad perished only because their houses were not built with sufficient strength. 	m like violent and repeated claps of thunder, which some say was no other than the voice of the angel gabriel, and which rent their hearts. it is said that after they had killed the camel, sâleh told them that on the morrow their faces should become yellow, the next day red, and the third day black, and that on the fourth god's vengeance should light on them; and that the first three signs happening accordingly, they sought to put him to death, but god delivered him by sending him into palestine. 	n mohammed, in the expedition of tabûc, which he undertook against the greeks in the ninth year of the hejra, passing by hejr, where this ancient tribe had dwelt, forbade his army, though much distressed with heat and thirst, to draw any water there, but ordered them if they had drunk of that water to bring it up again, or if they had kneaded any meal with it, to give it to their camels; and wrapping up his face in his garment, he set spurs to his mule, crying out, enter not the houses of those wicked men, but rather weep, lest that happen unto you which befell them; and having so said, he continued galloping full speed with his face muffled up, till he had passed the valley. 	o whether this speech was made by sâleh to them at parting, as seems most probable, or after the judgment had fallen on them, the commentators are not agreed. 	p the commentators say, conformably to the scripture, that lot was the son of haran, the son of azer or terah, and consequently abraham's nephew, who brought him with him from chaldea into palestine, where they say he was sent by god to reclaim the inhabitants of sodom and the other neighbouring cities which were overthrown with it, from the unnatural vice to which they were addicted. and this mohammedan tradition seems to be countenanced by the words of the apostle, that this righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearinng vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds; whence it is probable that he omitted no opportunity of endeavouring their reformation. the story of lot is told with further circumstances in the eleventh chapter. 	q viz., lot, and those who believe on him. 	r see chap. ii. 	s see ibid. 	 abulfeda.		 al beidâwi. vide d'herbel. ubi supra. 	 al kessai.		 see the prelim. disc. p. .		 abulfeda, al beidâwi.		 al beidâwi.		 abulfed. vit. moh. p. .		 al bokhari.		 vide d'herbelot, bibl. orient. art. loth.		 pet. ii. .		 gen. xxv. . and unto madiant we sent their brother shoaib.u he said unto them, o my people, worship god; ye have no god besides him. now hath an evident demonstrationx come unto you from your lord. therefore give full measure and just weight, and diminish not unto men aught of their matters:y neither act corruptly in the earth, after its reformation.z this will be better for you, if ye believe. and beset not every way, threatening the passenger;a and turning aside from the path of god him who believeth in him, and seeking to make it crooked. and remember, when ye were few, and god multiplied you: and behold, what hath been the end of those who acted corruptly. and if part of you believe in that wherewith i am sent, and part believe not, wait patiently until god judge between us; for he is the best judge. the chiefs of his people, who were elated with pride, answered, we will surely cast thee, o shoaib, and those who believe with thee, out of our city: or else thou shalt certainly return unto our religion. he said, what, though we be averse thereto? we shall surely imagine a lie against god, if we return unto your religion, after that god hath delivered us from the same: and we have no reason to return unto it, unless god our lord shall please to abandon us. our lord comprehendeth every thing by his knowledge. in god do we put our trust. o lord do thou judge between us and our nation with truth; for thou art the best judge. and the chiefs of his people who believed not said, if ye follow shoaib, ye shall surely perish. therefore a storm from heavenb assailed them, and in the morning they were found in their dwellings dead and prostrate. 	they who accused shoaib of imposture became as though they had never dwelt therein; they who accused shoaib of imposture perished themselves. and he departed from them, and said, o my people, now have i performed unto you the messages of my lord; and i advised you aright: but why should i be grieved for an unbelieving people. we have never sent any prophet unto a city, but we afflicted the inhabitants thereof with calamity and adversity, that they might humble themselves. then we gave them in exchange good in lieu of evil, until they abounded, and said, adversity and prosperity formerly happened unto our fathers, as unto us. therefore we took vengeance on them suddenly, and they perceived it not beforehand. 	t or midian, was a city of hejâz, and the habitation of a tribe or the same name, the descendants of midian, the son of abraham by keturah, who afterwards coalesced with the ismaelites, as it seems; moses naming the same merchants who sold joseph to potiphar, in one place ismaelites, and in another midianites. 	this city was situated on the red sea, south-east of mount sinai, and is doubtless the same with the modiana of ptolemy; what was remaining of it in mohammed's time was soon after demolished in the succeeding wars, and it remains desolate to this day. the people of the country pretend to show the well whence moses watered jethro's flocks. 	u some mohammedan writers make him the son of mikaïl, the son of yashjar, the son of madian; and they generally suppose him to be the same person with the father-in-law of moses, who is named in scripture reuel or raguel, and jethro. but ahmed ebn abd'alhalim charges those who entertain this opinion with ignorance. al kessâi says that his father's name was sanûn, and that he was first called boyûn, and afterwards shoaib: and adds that he was a comely person, but spare and lean, very thoughtful and of few words. doctor prideaux writes this name, after the french translation, chaib. 	x this demonstration the commentators suppose to have been a power of working miracles, though the korân mentions none in particular. however, they say (after the jews) that he gave his son-in-law that wonder-working rod, with which he performed all those miracles in egypt and the desert, and also excellent advice and instructions, whence he had the surname of khatîb al anbiyâ, or the preacher to the prophets. 	y for one of the great crimes which the midianites were guilty of was the using of diverse measures and weights, a great and a small, buying by one and selling by another. 	z see before, p. , note m. 	a robbing on the highway, it seems, was another crying sin frequent among these people. but some of the commentators interpret this passage figuratively, of their besetting the way of truth, and threatening those who gave ear to the remonstrances of shoaib. 	b like that which destroyed the thamûdites. some suppose it to have been an earthquake, for the original word signifies either or both; and both these dreadful calamities may well be supposed to have jointly executed the divine vengeance. 	 gen. xxxix. i.		 gen. xxxvii. .		 vide golii not. in alfrag. p. .		 abulfed desc. arab. p. . geogr. nub. p. 		 al beidâwi, tarikh montakhab.		 exod. ii. ; iii. i. 		 life of mah. p. . al beidâwi. vide shalshel hakkab. p. .		 exod. xviii. , &c. 	 vide d'herbelot. bibl. orient. art. schoaib. vide ibid. al beidâwi. see deut. xxv. , .		 idem. but if the inhabitants of those cities had believed and feared god, we would surely have opened to them blessings both from heaven and earth. but they charged our apostles with falsehood, wherefore we took vengeance on them, for that which they had been guilty of. were the inhabitants therefore of those cities secure that our punishment should not fall on them by night, while they slept? or were the inhabitants of those cities secure that our punishment should not fall on them by day, while they sported? were they therefore secure from the stratagem of god?c but none will think himself secure from the stratagem of god, except the people who perish. and hath it not manifestly appeared unto those who have inherited the earth after the former inhabitants thereof, that if we please, we can afflict them for their sins? but we will seal up their hearts; and they shall not hearken. we will relate unto thee some stories of these cities. their apostles had come unto them with evident miracles, but they were not disposed to believe in that which they had before gainsaid. thus will god seal up the hearts of the unbelievers. 	and we found not in the greater part of them any observance of their covenant; but we found the greater part of them wicked doers. then we sent after the above named apostles, moses with our signs unto pharaohd and his princes; who treated them unjustly:e but behold what was the end of the corrupt doers. and moses said, o pharaoh, verily i am an apostle sent from the lord of all creatures. it is just that i should not speak of god other than the truth. now am i come unto you with an evident sign from your lord: send therefore the children of israel away with me. pharaoh answered, if thou comest with a sign, produce it, if thou speakest truth. wherefore he cast down his rod; and behold, it became a visible serpent.f 	c hereby is figuratively expressed the manner of god's dealing with proud and ungrateful men, by suffering them to fill up the measure of their iniquity, without vouchsafing to bring them to a sense of their condition by chastisements and afflictions till they find themselves utterly lost, when they least expect it. 	d this was the common title or name of the kings of egypt (signifying king in the coptic tongue), as ptolemy was in after times; and as cæsar was that of the roman emperors, and khosrû that of the kings of persia. but which of the kings of egypt this pharaoh of moses was, is uncertain. not to mention the opinions of the european writers, those of the east generally suppose him to have been al walîd, who, according to some, was an arab of the tribe of ad, or, according to others, the son of masáb, the son of riyân, the son of walîd, the amalekite. there are historians, however, who suppose kabûs, the brother and predecessor of al walîd, was the prince we are speaking of; and pretend he lived six hundred and twenty years, and reigned four hundred. which is more reasonable, at least, than the opinion of those who imagine it was his father masáb, or grand-father riyân. abulfeda says that masáb being one hundred and seventy years old, and having no child, while he kept the herds saw a cow calve, and heard her say, at the same time, o masáb, be not grieved, for thou shalt have a wicked son, who will be at length cast into hell. and he accordingly had this walîd, who afterwards coming to be king of egypt, proved an impious tyrant. 	e by not believing therein. 	f the arab writers tell enormous fables of this serpent or dragon. for they say that he was hairy, and of so prodigious a size, that when he opened his mouth, his jaws were fourscore cubits asunder, and when he laid his lower jaw on the ground, his upper reached to the top of the palace; that pharaoh seeing this monster make toward him, fled from it, and was so terribly frightened that he befouled himself; and that the whole assembly also betaking themselves to their heels, no less than twenty-five thousand of them lost their lives in the press. they add that pharaoh upon this adjured moses by god who had sent him, to take away the serpent, and promised he would believe on him, and let the israelites go; but when moses had done what he requested, he relapsed, and grew as hardened as before. 	 al beidâwi.		 see the prelim. disc. p. .		 abulfeda, &c.		 kitâb tafsir lebâb, and al keshâf. and he drew forth his hand out of his bosom; and behold, it appeared white unto the spectators.g the chiefs of the people of pharaoh said, this man is certainly an expert magician: he seeketh to dispossess you of your land; what therefore do ye direct? they answered, put off him and his brother by fair promises for some time, and in the mean while send unto the cities persons who may assemble and bring unto thee every expert magician. 	so the magiciansh came unto pharaoh; and they said, shall we surely receive a reward, if we do overcome? he answered, yea; and ye shall certainly be of those who approach near unto my throne. they said, o moses, either do thou cast down thy rod first, or we will cast down ours. moses answered, do ye cast down your rods first. and when they had cast them down, they enchanted the eyes of the men who were present, and terrified them: and they performed a great enchantment.i and we spake by revelation unto moses, saying, throw down thy rod. and behold, it swallowed up the rods which they had caused falsely to appear changed into serpents.k wherefore the truth was confirmed, and that which they had wrought vanished. and pharaoh and his magicians were overcome there, and were rendered contemptible. and the magicians prostrated themselves, worshipping; and they said, we believe in the lord of all creatures, the lord of moses and aaron.l 	g there is a tradition that moses was a very swarthy man; and that when he put his hand into his bosom, and drew it out again, it became extremely white and splendid, surpassing the brightness of the sun. marracci says we do not read in scripture that moses showed this sign before pharaoh. it is true, the scripture does not expressly say so, but it seems to be no more than a necessary inference from that passage where god tells moses that if they will not hearken to the first sign, they will believe the latter sign, and if they will not believe these two signs, then directs him to turn the water into blood. 	h the arabian writers name several of these magicians, besides their chief priest simeon, viz., sadûr and ghadûr, jaath and mosfa, warân and zamân, each of whom came attended with their disciples, amounting in all to several thousands. 	i they provided themselves with a great number of thick ropes and long pieces of wood, which they contrived, by some means, to move, and make them twist themselves one over the other, and so imposed on the beholders, who at a distance took them to be true serpents. 	k the expositors add, that when this serpent had swallowed up all the rods and cords, he made directly towards the assembly, and put them into so great a terror that they fled, and a considerable number were killed in the crowd; then moses took it up, and it became a rod in his hand as before. whereupon the magicians declared that it could be no enchantment, because in such case their rods and cords would not have disappeared. 	l it seems probable that all the magicians were not converted by this miracle, for some writers introduce sadûr and ghadûr only, acknowledging moses's miracle to be wrought by the power of god. these two, they say, were brothers, and the sons of a famous magician, then dead; but on their being sent for to court on this occasion, their mother persuaded them to go to their father's tomb to ask his advice. being come to the tomb, the father answered their call; and when they had acquainted him with the affair, he told them that they should inform themselves whether the rod of which they spoke became a serpent while its masters slept, or only when they were awake; for, said he, enchantments have no effect while the enchanter is asleep, and therefore if it be otherwise in this case, you may be assured that they act by a divine power. these two magicians then, arriving at the capital of egypt, on inquiry found, to their great astonishment, that when moses and aaron went to rest, their rod became a serpent, and guarded them while they slept. and this was the first step towards their conversion. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 in alc. p. . 	 exod. iv. , . vide d'herbelot, bibl. orient. art. mousa. p. , &c. al kessâi. 	 al beidâwi. vide d'herbelot, ubi sup. and kor. c. . al beidâwi.		 vide d'herbel. ubi. sup. 	pharaoh said, have ye believed on him, before i have given you permission? verily this is a plot which ye have contrived in the city, that ye might cast forth from thence the inhabitants thereof.m but ye shall surely know that i am your master; for i will cause your hands and your feet to be cut off on the opposite sides,n then will i cause you all to be crucified.o the magicians answered, we shall certainly return unto our lord, in the next life; for thou takest vengeance on us only because we have believed in the signs of our lord, when they have come unto us. o lord, pour on us patience; and cause us to die moslems.p and the chiefs of pharaoh's people said, wilt thou let moses and his people go, that they may act corruptly in the earth, and leave thee and thy gods?q pharaoh answered, we will cause their male children to be slain, and we will suffer their females to live;r and by that means we shall prevail over them. moses said unto his people, ask assistance of god, and suffer patiently: for the earth is god's, he giveth it for an inheritance unto such of his servants as he pleaseth; and the prosperous end shall be unto those who fear him. they answered, we have been afflicted by having our male children slain, before thou camest unto us, and also since thou hast come unto us. moses said, peradventure it may happen that our lord will destroy your enemy, and will cause you to succeed him in the earth, that he may see how ye will act therein. and we formerly punished the people of pharaoh with dearth and scarcity of fruits, that they might be warned. yet when good happened unto them, they said, this is owing unto us: but if evil befell them, they attributed the same to the ill luck of moses, and those who were with him.s was not their ill luck with god?t but most of them knew it not. and they said unto moses, whatever sign thou show unto us, to enchant us therewith, we will not believe on thee. 	wherefore we sent upon them a floodu and locusts, and lice,x and frogs, and blood; distinct miracles: but they behaved proudly, and became a wicked people. 	m i.e., this is a confederacy between you and moses, entered into before ye left the city to go to the place of appointment, to turn out the copts, or native egyptians, and establish the israelites in their stead. 	n that is, your right hands and your left feet. 	o some say pharaoh was the first inventor of this ignominious and painful punishment. 	p some think these converted magicians were executed accordingly; but others deny it, and say that the king was not able to put them to death, insisting on these words of the korân, you two, and they who follow you, shall overcome. 	q which were the stars, or other idols. but some of the commentators, from certain impious expressions of this prince, recorded in the korân, whereby he sets up himself as the only god of his subjects, suppose that he was the object of their worship, and therefore instead of alihataca, thy gods, read ilahataca, thy worship. 	r that is, we will continue to make use of the same cruel policy to keep the israelites in subjection, as we have hitherto done. the commentators say that pharaoh came to this resolution because he had either been admonished in a dream, or by the astrologers or diviners, that one of that nation should subvert his kingdom. 	s looking on him and his followers as the occasion of those calamities. the original word properly signifies to take an ominous and sinister presage of any future event, from the flight of birds, or the like. 	t by whose will and decree they were so afflicted, as a punishment for their wickedness. 	u this inundation, they say, was occasioned by unusual rains, which continued eight days together, and the overflowing of the nile; and not only covered their lands, but came into their houses, and rose as high as their backs and necks; but the children of israel had no rain in their quarters. as there is no mention of any such miraculous inundation in the mosaic writings, some have imagined this plague to have been either a pestilence, or the small-pox, or some other epidemical distemper. for the word tufân, which is used in this place, and is generally rendered a deluge, may also signify any other universal destruction or mortality. 	x some will have these insects to have been a larger sort of tick; others, the young locusts before they have wings. 	 al beidâwi.		 cap. .		 ibid. and c. , &c. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 idem, abulfed. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem. and when the plaguey fell on them, they said, o moses, entreat thy lord for us, according to that which he hath covenanted with thee; verily if thou take the plague from off us, we will surely believe thee, and we will let the children of israel go with thee. but when we had taken the plague from off them until the term which god had granted them was expired, behold they broke their promise. wherefore we took vengeance on them, and drowned them in the red sea;z because they charged our signs with falsehood, and neglected them. and we caused the people who had been rendered weak to inherit the eastern parts of the earth and the western parts thereof,a which we blessed with fertility; and the gracious word of thy lord was fulfilled on the children of israel, for that they had endured with patience: and we destroyed the structures which pharaoh and his people had made, and that which they had erected.b and we caused the children of israel to pass through the sea, and they came unto a people who gave themselves up to the worship of their idols,c and they said, o moses, make us a god, in like manner as these people have gods. moses answered, verily ye are an ignorant people: for the religion which these follow will be destroyed, and that which they do is vain. he said, shall i seek for you any other god than god; since he hath preferred you to the rest of the world? and remember when we delivered you from the people of pharaoh, who grievously oppressed you; they slew your male children, and let your females live: therein was a great trial from your lord. and we appointed unto moses a fast of thirty nights before we gave him the law,d and we completed them by adding of ten more; and the stated time of his lord was fulfilled in forty nights. and moses said unto his brother aaron, be thou my deputy among my people during my absence; and behave uprightly, and follow not the way of the corrupt doers. 	y viz., any of the calamities already mentioned, or the pestilence which god sent upon them afterwards. 	z see this wonderful event more particularly described in the tenth and twentieth chapters. 	a that is, the land of syria, of which the eastern geographers reckon palestine a part, and wherein the commentators say the children of israel succeeded the kings of egypt and the amalekites. 	b particularly the lofty tower which pharaoh caused to be built, that he might attack the god of moses. 	c these people some will have to be of the tribe of amalek, whom moses was commanded to destroy, and others of the tribe of lakhm. their idols, it is said, were images of oxen, which gave the first hint to the making of the golden calf. 	d the commentators say that god, having promised moses to give him the law, directed him to prepare himself for the high favour of speaking with god in person by a fast of thirty days; and that moses accordingly fasted the whole month of dhu'lkaada; but not liking the savour of his breath, he rubbed his teeth with a dentrifice, upon which the angels told him that his breath before had the odour of musk, but that his rubbing his teeth had taken it away. whereupon god ordered him to fast ten days more, which he did; and these were the first ten days of the succeeding month dhu'lhajja. others, however, suppose that moses was commanded to fast and pray thirty days only, and that during the other ten god discoursed with him. 	 idem.		 vide kor. c. and .		 al beidâwi. 	 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv al beidâwi. jallalo'ddin. and when moses came at our appointed time, and his lord spake unto him,e he said, o lord, show me thy glory, that i may behold thee. god answereth, thou shalt in no wise behold me; but look towards the mountain,f and if it stand firm in its place, then thou shalt see me. but when his lord appeared with glory in the mount,g he reduced it to dust. and moses fell down in a swoon. 	and when he came to himself, he said, praise be unto thee! i turn unto thee with repentence, and i am the first of true believers.h god said unto him, o moses, i have chosen thee above all men, by honouring thee with my commissions, and by my speaking unto thee: receive therefore that which i have brought thee, and be one of those who give thanks.i and we wrote for him on the tablesk an admonition concerning every matter, and a decision in every case,l and said, receive this with reverence; and command thy people that they live according to the most excellent precepts thereof. i will show you the dwelling of the wicked.m i will turn aside from my signs those who behave themselves proudly in the earth, without justice: and although they see every sign, yet they shall not believe therein; and although they see the way of righteousness, yet they shall not take that way; but if they see the way of error, they shall take that way. this shall come to pass because they accuse our signs of imposture, and neglect the same. but as for them who deny the truth of our signs and the meeting of the life to come, their works shall be vain: shall they be rewarded otherwise than according to what they shall have wrought? and the people of moses, after his departure, took a corporeal calf,n made of their ornaments,o which lowed.p did they not see that it spake not unto them, neither directed them in the way? yet they took it for their god, and acted wickedly. but when they repented with sorrow,q and saw that they had gone astray, they said, verily if our lord have not mercy upon us, and forgive us not, we shall certainly become of the number of those who perish. 	e without the mediation of any other, and face to face, as he speaks unto the angels. 	f this mountain the mohammedans name al zabir. 	g or, as it is literally, unto the mount. for some of the expositors pretend that god endued the mountain with life and the sense of seeing. 	h this is not to be taken strictly. see the like expression in chapter , p. . 	i the mohammedans have a tradition that moses asked to see god on the day of arafat, and that he received the law on the day they slay the victims at the pilgrimage of mecca, which days are the ninth and tenth of dhu'lhajja. 	k these tables, according to some, were seven in number, and according to others ten. nor are the commentators agreed whether they were cut out of a kind of lote-tree in paradise called al sedra, or whether they were chrysolites, emeralds, rubies or common stone. but they say that they were each ten or twelve cubits long; for they suppose that not only the ten commandments but the whole law was written thereon: and some add that the letters were cut quite through the tables, so that they might be read on both sides -which is a fable of the jews. 	l that is, a perfect law comprehending all necessary instructions, as well in regard to religious and moral duties, as the administration of justice. 	m viz., the desolate habitations of the egyptians, or those of the impious tribes of ad and thamûd, or perhaps hell, the dwelling of the ungodly in the other world. 	n that is, as some understand it, consisting of flesh and blood; or, as others, being a mere body or mass of metal, without a soul. 	o such as their rings and bracelets of gold and silver. 	p see chapter , and the notes to chapter , p. . 	q father marracci seems not to have understood the meaning of this phrase, having literally translated the arabic words, wa lamma sokita fi eidîhim, without any manner of sense, et cum cadere factus fuisset in manibus eorum. 	 al beidâwi. vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. .		 al beidâwi.		 vide d'herbel. ubi sup.		 al beidâwi. see cap. , and the notes to cap. , p. .		 vide ibid. and when moses returned unto his people, full of wrath and indignation, he said, an evil thing is it that ye have committed after my departure; have ye hastened the command of your lord?r and he threw down the tables,s and took his brother by the hair of the head, and dragged him unto him. and aaron said unto him, son of my mother, verily the people prevailed against me,t and it wanted little but they had slain me: make not my enemies therefore to rejoice over me, neither place me with the wicked people. 	moses said, o lord, forgive me and my brother, and receive us into thy mercy; for thou art the most merciful of those who exercise mercy. verily as for them who took the calf for their god, indignation shall overtake them from their lord,u and ignominy in this life: thus will we reward those who imagine falsehood. but unto them who do evil, and afterwards repent, and believe in god, verily thy lord will thereafter be clement and merciful. and when the anger of moses was appeased, he took the tables;x and in what was written thereon was a direction and mercy, unto those who feared their lord. and moses chose out of his people seventy men, to go up with him to the mountain at the time appointed by us: and when a storm of thunder and lightning had taken them away,y he said, o lord, if thou hadst pleased, thou hadst destroyed them before, and me also; wilt thou destroy us for that which the foolish men among us have committed? this is only thy trial; thou wilt thereby lead into error whom thou pleasest, and thou wilt direct whom thou pleasest. thou art our protector, therefore forgive us, and be merciful unto us; for thou art the best of those who forgive. and write down for us good in this world, and in the life to come; for unto thee are we directed. god answered, i will inflict my punishment on whom i please; and my mercy extendeth over all things; and i will write down good unto those who shall fear me, and give alms, and who shall believe in our signs; who shall follow the apostle, the illiterate prophet,z whom they shall find written downa with them in the law and the gospel: he will command them that which is just, and will forbid them that which is evil; and will allow them as lawful the good things which were before forbidden,b and will prohibit those which are bad;c and he will ease them of their heavy burden, and of the yokes which were upon them.d and those who believe in him, and honour him, and assist him, and follow the light, which hath been sent down with him, shall be happy. say, o men, verily i am the messenger of god unto you all:e unto him belongeth the kingdom of heaven and earth; there is no god but he: he giveth life, and he causeth to die. believe therefore in god and his apostle, the illiterate prophet, who believeth in god and his word; and follow him, that ye may be rightly directed. 	r by neglecting his precepts, and bringing down his swift vengeance on you. 	s which were all broken and taken up to heaven, except one only; and this, they say, contained the threats and judicial ordinances, and was afterwards put into the ark. 	t literally, rendered me weak. 	u see chapter , p. . 	x or the fragments of that which was left. 	y see chapter , p. , and chapter , p. . 	z that is, mohammed. see the prelim. disc. sect. ii. 	a i.e., both foretold by name and certain description. 	b see chapter , p. . 	c as the eating of blood and swine's flesh, and the taking of usury, &c. 	d see chapter , p. . 	e that is, to all mankind in general, and not to one particular nation, as the former prophets were sent. 			 al beidâwi. vide d'herbel. ubi sup. p. . of the people of moses there is a partyf who direct others with truth, and act justly according to the same. 	and we divided them into twelve tribes, as into so many nations. and we spake by revelation unto moses, when his people asked drink of him, and we said, strike the rock with thy rod; and there gushed thereout twelve fountains,g and men knew their respective drinking-place. and we caused clouds to overshadow them, and manna and quailsh to descend upon them, saying, eat of the good things which we have given you for food: and they injured not us, but they injured their own souls. and call to mind when it was said unto them, dwell in this city,i and eat of the provisions thereof wherever ye will, and say, forgiveness; and enter the gate worshipping: we will pardon you your sins, and will give increase unto the well-doers. but they who were ungodly among them changed the expression into another,k which had not been spoken unto them. wherefore we went down upon them indignation from heaven, because they transgressed. and ask them concerning the city,l which was situate on the sea, when they transgressed on the sabbath-day: when their fish came unto them on their sabbath-day, appearing openly on the water: but on the day whereon they celebrated no sabbath, they came not unto them. thus did we prove them, because they were wicked-doers. and when a party of themm said unto the others, why do ye warn a people whom god will destroy, or will punish with a grievous punishment? they answered, this is an excuse for us unto your lord,n and peradventure they will beware. but when they had forgotten the admonitions which had been given them, we delivered those who forbade them to do evil; and we inflicted on those who had transgressed a severe punishment, because they had acted wickedly. 	f viz., those jews who seemed better disposed than the rest of their brethren to receive mohammed's law; or perhaps such of them as had actually received it. some imagine they were a jewish nation dwelling somewhere beyond china, which mohammed saw the night he made his journey to heaven, and who believed on him. 	g see chapter , p. . 	to what is said in the notes there, we may add that, according to a certain tradition, the stone on which this miracle was wrought was thrown down from paradise by adam, and came into the possession of shoaib, who gave it with the rod to moses; and that, according to another, the water issued thence by three orifices on each of the four sides of the stone, making twelve in all, and that it ran in so many rivulets to the quarter of each tribe in the camp. 	h see chapter , p. . 	i see this passage explained, ibid. 	k professor sike says, that being prone to leave spiritual for worldly matters, instead of hittaton they said hintaton, which signifies wheat, and comes much nearer the true word than the expression i have in the last place quoted, set down from jallalo'ddin. whether he took this from the same commentator or not does not certainly appear, though he mentions him just before; but if he did, his copy must differ from that which i have followed. 	l this city was ailah or elath, on the red sea; though some pretend it was midian, and others tiberias. the whole story is already given in the notes to chapter , p. . some suppose the following five or eight verses to have been revealed at medina. 	m viz., the religious persons among them, who strictly observed the sabbath, and endeavoured to reclaim the others, till they despaired of success. but some think these words were spoken by the offenders, in answer to the admonitions of the others. 	n that we have done our duty in dissuading them from their wickedness. 		 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 sike, in not. ad evang. infant. p. . and when they proudly refused to desist from what had been forbidden them, we said unto them, be ye transformed into apes, driven away from the society of men. and remember when thy lord declared that he would surely send against the jews until the day of resurrection, some nation who should afflict them with a grievous oppression:o for thy lord is swift in punishing, and he is also ready to forgive, and merciful: and we dispersed them among the nations in the earth. some of them are upright persons, and some of them are otherwise. and we proved them with prosperity and with adversity, that they might return from their disobedience; and a succession of their posterity hath succeeded after them, who have inherited the book of the law, who receive the temporal goods of this world,p and say, it will surely be forgiven us: and if a temporal advantage like the former be offered them, they accept it also. is it not the covenant of the book of the law established with them, that they should not speak of god aught but the truth?q yet they diligently read that which is therein. but the enjoyment of the next life will be better for those who fear god than the wicked gains of these people: (do ye not therefore understand?) and for those who hold fast the book of the law, and are constant at prayer: for we will by no means suffer the reward of the righteous to perish. 	and when we shook the mountain of sinai over them,r as though it had been a covering, and they imagined, that it was falling upon them; and we said, receive the law which we have brought you with reverence; and remember that which is contained therein, that ye may take heed. and when thy lord drew forth their posterity from the loins of the sons of adam,s and took them to witness against themselves, saying, am not i your lord? they answered, yea: we do bear witness. this was done lest ye should say, at the day of resurrection, verily we were negligent as to this matter, because we were not apprised thereof: or lest ye should say, verily our fathers were formerly guilty of idolatry, and we are their posterity who have succeeded them; wilt thou therefore destroy us for that which vain men have committed? thus do we explain our signs, that they may return from their vanities. and relate unto the jews the history of him unto whom we brought our signs,t and the departed from them; wherefore satan followed him, and he became one of those who were seduced. 	o see chapter , p. , note g. 	p by accepting of bribes for wresting judgment, and for corrupting the copies of the pentateuch, and by extorting of usury, &c. 	q particularly by giving out that god will forgive their corruption without sincere repentance and amendment. 	r see chapter , p. , note z. 	s this was done in the plain of dahia in india, or as others imagine, in a valley near mecca. the commentators tell us that god stroked adam's back, and extracted from his loins his whole posterity, which should come into the world until the resurrection, one generation after another; that these men were actually assembled all together in the shape of small ants, which were endued with understanding; and that after they had, in the presence of angels, confessed their dependence on god, they were again caused to return into the loins of their great ancestor. from this fiction it appears that the doctrine of pre-existence is not unknown to the mohammedans; there is some little conformity between it and the modern theory of generation ex animalculis in semine marium. 	t some suppose the person here intended to be a jewish rabbi, or one ommeya ebn abi'lsalt, who read the scriptures, and found thereby that god would send a prophet about that time, and was in hopes that he might be the man; but when mohammed declared his mission, believed not on him through envy. but according to the more general opinion, it was balaam, the son of beor, of the canaanitish race, well acquainted with part at least of the scripture, having even been favoured with some revelations from god; who being requested by his nation to curse moses and the children of israel, refused it at first, saying, how can i curse those who are protected by the angels? but afterwards he was prevailed on by gifts; and he had no sooner done it, than he began to put out his tongue like a dog, and it hung down upon his breast. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin. yahya. vide d'herbelot, bibl. orient. p. .		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin, al zamakhshari. vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. art. balaam. and if we had pleased, we had surely raised him thereby unto wisdom; but he inclined unto the earth, and followed his own desire.u wherefore his likeness as the likeness of a dog, which, if thou drive him away, putteth forth his tongue, or, if thou let him alone, putteth forth his tongue also. this is the likeness of the people, who accuse our signs of falsehood. rehearse therefore this history unto them, that they may consider. evil is the similitude of those people who accuse our signs of falsehood, and injure their own souls. whomsoever god shall direct, he will be rightly directed; and whomsoever he shall lead astray, they shall perish. moreover we have created for hell many of the genii and of men; they have hearts by which they understand not, and they have eyes by which they see not: and they have ears by which they hear not. these are like the brute beasts; yea they go more astray: these are the negligent. god hath most excellent names;x therefore call on him by the same; and withdraw from those who use his name perversely:y they shall be rewarded for that which they shall have wrought. 	and of those whom we have created there are a people who direct others with truth, and act justly according thereto.z but those who devise lies against our signs, we will suffer them to fall gradually into ruin, by a method which they knew not:a and i will grant them to enjoy a long and prosperous life; for my stratagem is effectual. do they not consider that there is no devil in their companion?b he is no other than a public preacher. or do they not contemplate the kingdom of heaven and earth, and the things which god hath created; and consider that peradventure it may be that their end draweth nigh? and in what new declaration will they believe, after this?c he whom god shall cause to err, shall have no director; and he shall leave them in their impiety, wandering in confusion. they will ask thee concerning the last hour; at what time its coming is fixed? answer, verily the knowledge thereof is with my lord; none shall declare the fixed time thereof, except he. the expectation thereof is grievous in heaven and on earth:d it shall come upon you no otherwise than suddenly. they will ask thee, as though thou wast well acquainted therewith. answer, verily the knowledge thereof is with god alone: but the greater part of men know it not. 	u loving the wages of unrighteousness, and running greedily after error for reward. 	x expressing his glorious attributes. of these the mohammedan arabs have no less than ninety-nine, which are reckoned up by marracci. 	y as did walid ebn al mogheira, who hearing mohammed give god the title of al rahmân, or the merciful, laughed aloud, saying he knew none of that name, except a certain man who dwelt in yamama; or as the idolatrous meccans did, who deduced the names of their idols from those of the true god; deriving, for example, allât from allah, al uzza from al azîz, the mighty, and manât from al mannân, the bountiful. 	z as it is said a little above that god hath created many to eternal misery, so here he is said to have created others to eternal happiness. 	a by flattering them with prosperity in this life, and permitting them to sin in an uninterrupted security, till they find themselves unexpectedly ruined. 	b viz., in mohammed, whom they gave out to be possessed when he went up to mount safâ, and from thence called to the several families of each respective tribe in order, to warn them of god's vengeance if they continued in their idolatry. 	c i.e., after they have rejected the korân. for what more evident revelation can they hereafter expect? 	d not only to men and genii, but to the angels also. 	 peter ii. v.; jude ii.		 in alc. p. .		 marrac. vit. moh. p. .		 al beidâwi. jallalo'ddin. see the prelim. disc. p. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem.		 idem. say, i am able neither to procure advantage unto myself, nor to avert mischief from me, but as god pleaseth. if i knew the secrets of god, i should surely enjoy abundance of good, neither should evil befall me. verily i am no other than a denouncer of threats, and a messenger of good tidings unto people who believe. it is he who hath created you from one person, and out of him produced his wife, that he might dwell with her: and when he had known her, she carried a light burden for a time, wherefore she walked easily therewith. but when it became more heavy,e she called upon god their lord, saying, if thou give us a child rightly shaped, we will surely be thankful. 	yet when he had given them a child rightly shaped, they attributed companions unto him, for that which he had given them.f but far be that from god, which they associated with him! will they associate with him false gods which create nothing but are themselves created: and can neither give them assistance, nor help themselves? and if ye invite them to the true direction, they will not follow you: it will be equal unto you, whether ye invite them, or whether ye hold your peace. verily the false deities whom ye invoke besides god are servants like unto you.g call therefore upon them, and let them give you an answer, if ye speak truth. have they feet, to walk with? or have they hands, to lay hold with? or have they eyes, to see with? or have they ears, to hear with? say, call upon your companions, and then lay a snare for me, and defer it not; for god is my protector, who sent down the book of the koran; and he protecteth the righteous. but they whom ye invoke besides him cannot assist you, neither do they help themselves; and if ye call on them to direct you, they will not hear. thou seest them look towards thee, but they see not. use indulgence,h and command that which is just, and withdraw far from the ignorant. 	e that is, when the child grew bigger in her womb. 	f for the explaining of this whole passage, the commentators tell the following story:- 	they say, that when eve was big with her first child, the devil came to her and asked her whether she knew what she carried within her, and which way she should be delivered of it, suggesting that possibly it might be a beast. she, being unable to give an answer to this question, went in a fright to adam, and acquainted him with the matter, who, not knowing what to think of it, grew sad and pensive. whereupon the devil appeared to her again (or, as others say, to adam), and pretended that he by his prayers would obtain of god that she might be safely delivered of a son in adam's likeness, provided they would promise to name him abda'lhareth, or the servant of al hareth (which was the devil's name among the angels), instead of abd'allah, or the servant of god, as adam had designed. this proposal was agreed to, and accordingly, when the child was born, they gave it that name, upon which it immediately died. and with this adam and eve are here taxed, as an act of idolatry. the story looks like a rabbinical fiction, and seems to have no other foundation than cain's being called by moses obed adâmah, that is, a tiller of the ground, which might be translated into arabic by abd'alhareth. 	but al beidâwi, thinking it unlikely that a prophet (as adam is, by the mohammedans, supposed to have been) should be guilty of such an action, imagines the korân in this place means kosai, one of mohammed's ancestors, and his wife, who begged issue of god, and having four sons granted them, called their names abd menâf, abd shams, abd'al uzza, and abd'al dâr, after the names of the four principal idols of the koreish. and the following words also he supposes to relate to their idolatrous posterity. 	g being subject to the absolute command of god. for the chief idols of the arabs were the sun, moon, and stars. 	h or, as the words may also be translated, take the superabundant overplus-meaning that mohammed should accept such voluntary alms from the people as they could spare. but the passage, if taken in this sense, was abrogated by the precept of legal alms, which was given at medina. 	 idem, yahya. vide d'herbelot, bibl. orient. p. , et selden. de jure nat. sec. hebr. l. , c. .		 see the prelim. disc. p. , &c. and if an evil suggestion from satan be suggested unto thee, to divert thee from thy duty, have recourse unto god: for he heareth and knoweth. 	verily they who fear god, when a temptation from satan assaileth them, remember the divine commands, and behold, they clearly see the danger of sin and the wiles of the devil. but as for the brethren of the devils, they shall continue them in error; and afterwards they shall not preserve themselves therefrom. and when thou bringest not a verse of the koran unto them, they say, hast thou not put it together?i answer, i follow that only which is revealed unto me from my lord. this book containeth evident proofs from your lord, and is a direction and mercy unto people who believe. and when the koran is read, attend thereto, and keep silence; that ye may obtain mercy. and meditate on thy lord in thine own mind, with humility and fear, and without loud speaking, evening and morning; and be not one of the negligent. moreover the angels who are with my lord do not proudly disdain his service, but they celebrate his praise and worship him. _______ chapter viii. entitled, the spoils;k revealed at medina. in the name of the most merciful god. they will ask thee concerning the spoils: answer, the division of the spoils belongeth unto god and the apostle.m therefore fear god, and compose the matter amicably among you: and obey god and his apostle, if ye are true believers. verily the true believers are those whose hearts fear when god is mentioned, and whose faith increaseth when his signs are rehearsed unto them, and who trust in their lord; 	i i.e., hast thou not yet contrived what to say; or canst thou obtain no revelation from god 	k this chapter was occasioned by the high disputes which happened about the division of the spoils taken at the battle of bedr, between the young men who had fought, and the old men who had stayed under the ensigns; the former insisting they ought to have the whole, and the latter that they deserved a share. to end the contention, mohammed pretended to have received orders from heaven to divide the booty among them equally, having first taken thereout a fifth part for the purposes which will be mentioned hereafter. 	l except seven verses, beginning at these words, and call to mind when the unbelievers plotted against thee, &c. which some think were revealed at mecca. 	m it is related that saad ebn abi wakkâs, one of the companions, whose brother omair was slain in this battle, having killed saîd ebn al as, took his sword, and carrying it to mohammed, desired that he might be permitted to keep it; but the prophet told him that it was not his to give away, and ordered him to lay it with the other spoils. at this repulse, and the loss of his brother, saad was greatly disturbed; but in a very little while this chapter was revealed, and thereupon mohammed gave him the sword, saying, you asked this sword of me when i had no power to dispose of it, but now i have received authority from god to distribute the spoils, you may take it. 	 see cap. , p. .		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin.		 al beidâwi. who observe the stated times of prayer, and give alms out of that which we have bestowed on them. these are really believers: they shall have superior degrees of felicity with their lord, and forgiveness, and an honourable provision. as thy lord brought thee forth from thy house,n with truth; and part of the believers were averse to thy directions:o they disputed with thee concerning the truth, after it had been made known unto them;p no otherwise than as if they had been led forth to death, and had seen it with their eyes.q and call to mind when god promised you one of the two parties, that it should be delivered unto you,r and ye desired that the party which was not furnished with armss should be delivered unto you: but god purposed to make known the truth in his words, and to cut off the uttermost part of the unbelievers;t that he might verify the truth, and destroy falsehood, although the wicked were averse thereto. 	n i.e., from medina. the particle as having nothing in the following words to answer it, al beidâwi supposes the connection to be that the division of the spoils belonged to the prophet, notwithstanding his followers were averse to it, as they had been averse to the expedition itself. 	o for the better understanding of this passage, it will be necessary to mention some further particulars relating to the expedition of bedr. 	mohammed having received private information (for which he pretended he was obliged to the angel gabriel) of the approach of a caravan belonging to the koreish, which was on its return from syria with a large quantity of valuable merchandise, and was guarded by no more than thirty, or, as others say, forty men, set out with a party to intercept it. abu sofiân, who commanded the little convoy, having notice of mohammed's motions, sent to mecca for succours; upon which abu jahl, and all the principal men of the city, except only abu laheb, marched to his assistance, with a body of nine hundred and fifty men. mohammed had no sooner received advice of this, than gabriel descended with a promise that he should either take the caravan or beat the succours; whereupon he consulted with his companions which of the two he should attack. some of them were for setting upon the caravan, saying that they were not prepared to fight such a body of troops as were coming with abu jahl: but this proposal mohammed rejected, telling them that the caravan was at a considerable distance by the seaside, whereas abu jahl was just upon them. the others, however, insisted so obstinately on pursuing the first design of falling on the caravan, that the prophet grew angry, but by the interposition of abu becr, omar, saad ebn obadah, and mokdâd ebn amru, they at length acquiesced in his opinion. mokdâd in particular assured him they were all ready to obey his orders, and would not say to him, as the children of israel did to moses, go thou and thy lord to fight, for we will sit here; but, go thou and thy lord to fight, and we will fight with you. at this mohammed smiled, and again sat down to consult with them, applying himself chiefly to the ansârs or helpers, because they were the greater part of his forces, and he had some apprehension lest they should not think themselves obliged by the oath they had taken to him at al akaba, to assist him against any other than such as should attack him in medina. but saad ebn moâdh, in the name of the rest, told him that they had received him as the apostle of god, and had promised him obedience, and were therefore all to a man ready to follow him where he pleased, though it were into the sea. upon which the prophet ordered them in god's name to attack the succours, assuring them of the victory. 	p that is, concerning their success against abu jahl and the koreish; notwithstanding they had god's promise to encourage them. 	q the reason of this great backwardness was the smallness of their number, in comparison of the enemy, and their being unprepared; for they were all foot, having but two horses among them, whereas the koreish had no less than a hundred horse. 	r that is, either the caravan or the succours from mecca. father marracci mistaking al îr and al nafîr, which are appellatives and signify the caravan and the troop or body of succours, for proper names, has thence coined two families of the koreish never heard of before, which he calls airenses and naphirenses. 	s viz., the caravan, which was guarded by no more than forty horse; whereas the other party was strong and well appointed. 	t as if he had said, your view was only to gain the spoils of the caravan, and to avoid danger; but god designed to exalt his true religion by extirpating its adversaries. 	 kor. c. , p. .		 see the prelim. disc. p. . 	 al beidâwi.		 idem. vide abulfed, vit. moh. p. . 	 marracc. in alc. p. .		 al beidâwi. when ye asked assistance of your lord,u and he answered you, verily i will assist you with a thousandx angels, following one another in order. 	and this god designed only as good tidingsy for you, and that your hearts might thereby rest secure: for victory is from god alone; and god is mighty and wise. when a sleep fell on you as a security from him, and he sent down upon you water from heaven, that he might thereby purify you, and take from you the abomination of satan,z and that he might confirm your hearts, and establish your feet thereby. also when thy lord spake unto the angels, saying, verily i am with you; wherefore confirm those who believe. i will cast a dread into the hearts of the unbelievers. therefore strike off their heads, and strike off all the ends of their fingers.a this shall they suffer, because they have resisted god and his apostle: and whosoever shall oppose god and his apostle, verily god will be severe in punishing him. this shall be your punishment; taste it therefore: and the infidels shall also suffer the torment of hell fire. o true believers, when ye meet the unbelievers marching in great numbers against you, turn not your backs unto them: for whoso shall turn his back unto them in that day, unless he turneth aside to fight, or retreateth to another party of the faithful,b shall draw on himself the indignation of god, and his abode shall be in hell; an ill journey shall it be thither! and ye slew not those who were slain at bedr yourselves, but god slew them.c neither didst thou, o mohammed cast the gravel into their eyes, when thou didst seem to cast it; but god cast it,d that he might prove the true believers by a gracious trial from himself, for god heareth and knoweth. this was done that god might also weaken the crafty devices of the unbelievers. if ye desire a decision of the matter between us, now hath a decision come unto you:e and if ye desist from opposing the apostle, it will be better for you. but if ye return to attack him, we will also return to his assistance; and your forces shall not be of advantage unto you at all, although they be numerous; for god is with the faithful. 	u when mohammed's men saw they could not avoid fighting, they recommended themselves to god's protection; and their prophet prayed with great earnestness, crying out, o god, fulfil that which thou hast promised me: o god, if this party be cut off, thou wilt no more be worshipped on earth. and he continued to repeat these words till his cloak fell from off his back. 	x which were afterwards reinforced with three thousand more. wherefore some copies instead of a thousand, read thousands in the plural. 	y see chap. , p. . 	z it is related, that the spot where mohammed's little army lay was a dry and deep sand, into which their feet sank as they walked, the enemy having the command of the water; and that having fallen asleep, the greater part of them were disturbed with dreams, wherein the devil suggested to them that they could never expect god's assistance in the battle, since they were cut off from the water, and besides suffering the inconvenience of thirst, must be obliged to pray without washing, though they imagined themselves to be the favourites of god, and that they had his apostle among them. but in the night rain fell so plentifully that it formed a little brook, and not only supplied them with water for all their uses, but made the sand between them and the infidel army firm enough to bear them; whereupon the diabolical suggestions ceased. 	a this is the punishment expressly assigned the enemies of the mohammedan religion; though the moslems did not inflict it on the prisoners they took at bedr, for which they are reprehended in this chapter. 	b that is, if it be not downright running away, but done either with design to rally and attack the enemy again, or by way of feint or stratagem, or to succour a party which is hard pressed, &c. 	c see c. , p. , note n. 	d see ibid. 	e these words are directed to the people of mecca, whom mohammed derides, because the koreish, when they were ready to set out from mecca, took hold of the curtains of the caaba, saying o god, grant the victory to the superior army, the party that is most rightly directed, and the most honourable. 	 idem. vide abulfed. vit. moh. p. .		 see cap. , p. and .		 al beidâwi. idem. 	o true believers, obey god and his apostle, and turn not back from him, since ye hear the admonitions of the korân. and be not as those who say, we hear, when they do not hear. verily the worst sort of beasts in the sight of god are the deaf and the dumb, who understand not. if god had known any good in them, he would certainly have caused them to hear:f and if he had caused them to hear, they would surely have turned back, and have retired afar off. o true believers, answer god and his apostle, when he inviteth you unto that which giveth you life; and know that god goeth between a man and his heart,g and that before him ye shall be assembled. beware of sedition;h it will not affect those who are ungodly among you particularly, but all of you in general; and know that god is severe in punishing. and remember when ye were few, and reputed weak in the land;i ye feared lest men should snatch you away: but god provided you a place of refuge, and he strengthened you with his assistance, and bestowed on you good things, that ye might give thanks. o true believers, deceive not god and his apostle;k neither violate your faith against your own knowledge. and know that your wealth and your children are a temptation unto you;l and that with god is a great reward. o true believers, if ye fear god, he will grant you a distinction,m and will expiate your sins from you, and will forgive you; for god is endued with great liberality. 	f that is, to hearken to the remonstrances of the korân. some say that the infidels demanded of mohammed that he should raise kosai, one of his ancestors, to life, to bear witness to the truth of his mission, saying he was a man of honour and veracity, and they would believe his testimony: but they are here told that it would have been in vain. 	g not only knowing the innermost secrets of his heart, but overruling a man's designs, and disposing him either to belief or infidelity. 	h the original word signifies any epidemical crime, which involves a number of people in its guilt; and the commentators are divided as to its particular meaning in this place. 	i viz., at mecca. the persons here spoken to are the mohâjerîn, or refugees who fled from thence to medina. 	k al beidâwi mentions an instance of such treacherous dealing in abu lobâba, who was sent by mohammed to the tribe of koreidha, then besieged by that prophet for having broken their league with him and perfidiously gone over to the enemies at the war of the ditch, to persuade them to surrender at the discretion of saad ebn moadh, prince of the tribe of aws, their confederates, which proposal they had refused. but abu lobâba's family and effects being in the hands of those of koreidha, he acted directly contrary to his commission, and instead of persuading them to accept saad as their judge, when they asked his advice about it, drew his hand across his throat, signifying that he would put them all to death. however, he had no sooner done this than he was sensible of his crime, and going into a mosque, tied himself to a pillar, and remained there seven days without meat or drink, till mohammed forgave him. 	l as they were to abu lobâba. 	m i.e., a direction that you may distinguish between truth and falsehood; or success in battle to distinguish the believers from the infidels; or the like. 	 idem.		 idem. see c. , p. .		 see prid. life of mah. p. . abulf. vit. moh. p. , and the notes to c. . 	and call to mind when the unbelievers plotted against thee, that they might either detain thee in bonds, or put to death, or expel thee the city;n and they plotted against thee: but god laid a plot against them;o and god is the best layer of plots. and when our signs are repeated unto them, they say, we have heard; if we pleased we would certainly pronounce a composition like unto this: this is nothing but fables of the ancients.p and when they said, o god, if this be the truth from thee, rain down stones upon us from heaven, or inflict on us some other grievous punishment.r but god was not disposed to punish them, while thou wast with them: nor was god disposed to punish them when they asked pardon.s but they have nothing to offer in excuse why god should not punish them, since they hindered the believers from visiting the holy temple,t although they are not the guardians thereof.u the guardians thereof are those only who fear god; but the greater part of them know it not. and their prayer at the house of god is no other than whistling and clapping of the hands.x taste therefore the punishment, for that ye have been unbelievers. they who believe not expend their wealth to obstruct the way of god:y they shall expend it, but afterwards it shall become matter of sighing and regret unto them, and at length they shall be overcome; and the unbelievers shall be gathered together into hell; that god may distinguish the wicked from the good, and may throw the wicked one upon the other, and may gather them all in a heap, and cast them into hell. these are they who shall perish. say unto the unbelievers, that if they desist from opposing thee, what is already past shall be forgiven them; but if they return to attack thee, the exemplary punishment of the former opposers of the prophets is already past, and the like shall be inflicted on them. 	therefore fight against them until there be no opposition in favor of idolatry, and the religion be wholly god's. if they desist, verily god seeth that which they do: 	n when the meccans heard of the league entered into by mohammed with those of medina, being apprehensive of the consequence, they held a council, whereat they say the devil assisted in the likeness of an old man of najd. the point under consideration being what they should do with mohammed, abu'lbakhtari was of opinion that he should be imprisoned, and the room walled up, except a little hole, through which he should have necessaries given him, till he died. this the devil opposed, saying that he might probably be released by some of his own party. heshâm ebn amru was for banishing him, but his advice also the devil rejected, insisting that mohammed might engage some other tribes in his interest, and make war on them. at length abu jahl gave his opinion for putting him to death, and proposed the manner, which was unanimously approved. 	o revealing their conspiracy to mohammed, and miraculously assisting him to deceive them and make his escape; and afterwards drawing them to the battle of bedr. 	p see chapter , p. . 	r this was the speech of al nodar ebn al hareth. 	s saying, god forgive us! some of the commentators, however, suppose the persons who asked pardon were certain believers who stayed among the infidels; and others think the meaning to be, that god would not punish them, provided they asked pardon. 	t obliging them to fly from mecca, and not permitting them so much as to approach the temple, in the expedition of al hodeibiya. 	u because of their idolatry and indecent deportment there. for otherwise the koreish had a right to the guardianship of the caaba, and it was continued in their tribe and in the same family even after the taking of mecca. 	x it is said that they used to go round the caaba naked, both men and women, whistling at the same time through their fingers, and clapping their hands. or, as others say, they made this noise on purpose to disturb mohammed when at his prayers, pretending to be at prayers also themselves. 	y the persons particularly meant in this passage were twelve of the koreish, who gave each of them ten camels every day to be killed for provisions for their army in the expedition of bedr; or, according to others, the owners of the effects brought by the caravan, who gave great part of them to the support of the succours from mecca. it is also said that abu sofiân, in the expedition of ohod, hired two thousand arabs, who cost him a considerable sum, besides the auxiliaries which he had obtained gratis. 	 al beidâwi. see the prelim. disc. p. .		 see ibid. 	 al beidâwi.		 see the prelim. disc. p. .		 see c. , p. , note x.		 see c. , p. .		 al beidâwi. 	 idem. but if they turn back, know that god is your patron; he is the best patron, and the best helper. and know that whenever ye gain any spoils, a fifth part thereof belongeth unto god, and to the apostle, and his kindred, and the orphans, and the poor, and the traveller;z if ye believe in god, and that which we have sent down unto our servant on the day of distinction,a on the day whereon the two armies met: and god is almighty. when ye were encamped on the hithermost side of the valley,b and they were encamped on the farther side, and the caravan was below you;c and if ye had mutually appointed to come to a battle ye would certainly have declined the appointment;d but ye were brought to an engagement without any previous appointment, that god might accomplish the thing which was decreed to be done;e that he who perisheth hereafter may perish after demonstrative evidence, and that he who liveth may live by the same evidence; god both heareth and knoweth. when thy lord caused the enemy to appear unto thee in thy sleep few in number;f and if he had caused them to appear numerous unto thee, ye would have been disheartened, and would have disputed concerning the matter:g but god preserved you from this; for he knoweth the innermost parts of the breasts of men. and when he caused them to appear unto you when ye met, to be few in your eyes;h and diminished your numbers in their eyes;i that god might accomplish the thing which was decreed to be done; and unto god shall all things return. o true believers, when ye meet a party of the infidels, stand firm, and remember god frequently, that ye may prosper: and obey god and his apostle, and be not refractory, lest ye be discouraged, and your success depart from you; but persevere with patience, for god is with those who persevere. 	z according to this law, a fifth part of the spoils is appropriated to the particular uses here mentioned, and the other four-fifths are to be equally divided among those who were present at the action: but in what manner or to whom the first fifth is to be distributed, the mohammedan doctors differ, as we have elsewhere observed. though it be the general opinion that this verse was revealed at bedr, yet there are some who suppose it was revealed in the expedition against the jewish tribe of kainokâ, which happened a little above a month after. 	a i.e., of the battle of bedr; which is so called because it distinguished the true believers from the infidels. 	b which was much more inconvenient than the other, because of the deep sand and want of water. 	c by the seaside, making the best of their way to mecca. 	d because of the great superiority of the enemy, and the disadvantages ye lay under. 	e by granting a miraculous victory to the faithful, and overthrowing their enemies; for the conviction of the latter, and the confirmation of the former. 	f with which vision mohammed acquainted his companions for their encouragement. 	g whether ye should attack the enemy or fly. 	h it is said that ebn masúd asked the man who was next him whether he did not see them to be about seventy, to which he replied that he took them to be a hundred. 	i this seeming contradictory to a passage in the third chapter, where it is said that the moslems appeared to the infidels to be twice their own number, the commentators reconcile the matter by telling us that, just before the battle began, the prophet's party seemed fewer than they really were, to draw the enemy to an engagement; but that so soon as the armies were fully engaged, they appeared superior, to terrify and dismay their adversaries. it is related that abu jahl at first thought them so inconsiderable a handful, that he said one camel would be as much as they could all eat. 	 see the prelim. disc. sect. vi.		 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem.		 page al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin, yahya. and be not as those who went out of their houses in an insolent manner, and to appear with ostentation unto men,k and turned aside from the way of god; for god comprehendeth that which they do. 	and remember when satan prepared their works for them,l and said, no man shall prevail against you to-day; and i will surely be near to assist you. but when the two armies appeared in sight of each other, he turned back on his heels, and said, verily i am clear of you: i certainly see that which ye see not; i fear god, for god is severe in punishing.m when the hypocrites, and those in whose hearts there was an infirmity, said, their religion hath deceived these men:n but whosoever confideth in god cannot be deceived; for god is mighty and wise. and if thou didst behold when the angels caused the unbelievers to die: they strike their faces and their backs,o and say unto them, taste ye the pain of burning: this shall ye suffer for that which your hands have sent before you;p and because god is not unjust towards his servants. these have acted according to the wont of the people of pharaoh, and of those before them, who disbelieved in the signs of god: therefore god took them away in their iniquity; for god is mighty and severe in punishing. this hath come to pass because god changeth not his grace, wherewith he hath favored any people, until they change that which is in their souls; and for that god both heareth and seeth. according to the wont of the people of pharaoh, and of those before them, who charged the signs of their lord with imposture, have they acted: wherefore we destroyed them in their sins, and we drowned the people of pharaoh; for they were all unjust persons. verily the worst cattle in the sight of god are those who are obstinate infidels, and will not believe. 	k these were the meccans, who, marching to the assistance of the caravan, and being come as far as johfa, were there met by a messenger from abu sofiân, to acquaint them that he thought himself out of danger, and therefore they might return home; upon which, abu jahl, to give the greater opinion of the courage of himself and his comrades, and of their readiness to assist their friends, swore that they would not return till they had been at bedr, and had there drunk wine and entertained those who should be present, and diverted themselves with singing women. the event of which bravado was very fatal, several of the principal koreish, and abu jahl in particular, losing their lives in the expedition. 	l by inciting them to oppose the prophet. 	m some understand this passage figuratively, of the private instigation of the devil, and of the defeating of his designs and the hopes with which he had inspired the idolaters. but others take the whole literally, and tell us that when the koreish, on their march, bethought themselves of the enmity between them and the tribe of kenâna, who were masters of the country about bedr, that consideration would have prevailed on them to return, had not the devil appeared in the likeness of sorâka ebn malec, a principal person of that tribe, and promised them that they should not be molested, and that himself would go with them. but when they came to join battle, and the devil saw the angels descending to the assistance of the moslems, he retired; and al hareth ebn heshâm, who had him then by the hand, asking him whither he was going, and if he intended to betray them at such a juncture, he answered, in the words of this passage: i am clear of you, for i see that which ye see not; meaning the celestial succours. they say further, that when the koreish, on their return, laid the blame of their overthrow on sorâka, he swore that he did not so much as know of their march till he heard they were routed: and afterwards, when they embraced mohammedism, they were satisfied it was the devil. 	n in tempting them to so great a piece of folly, as to attack so large a body of men with such a handful. 	o this passage is generally understood of the angels who slew the infidels at bedr, and who fought (as the commentators pretend) with iron maces, which shot forth flames of fire at every stroke. some, however, imagine that the words hint, at least, at the examination of the sepulchre, which the mohammedans believe every man must undergo after death, and will be very terrible to the unbelievers. 	p see chapter , p. , note r. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 idem. 	 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. , &c. as to those who enter into a league with thee, and afterwards violate their league at every convenient opportunity,q and fear not god; if thou take them in war, disperse, by making them an example, those who shall come after them, that they may be warned; 	or if thou apprehend treachery from any people, throw back their league unto them with like treatment; for god loveth not the treacherous. and think notr that the unbelievers have escaped god's vengeance,s for they shall not weaken the power of god. therefore prepare against them what force ye are able, and troops of horse, whereby ye may strike a terror into the enemy of god, and your enemy, and into other infidels besides them, whom ye know not, but god knoweth them. and whatsoever ye shall expend in the defence of the religion of god, it shall be repaid unto you, and ye shall not be treated unjustly. and if they incline unto peace, do thou also incline thereto; and put thy confidence in god, for it is he who heareth and knoweth. but if they seek to deceive thee, verily god will be thy support. it is he who hath strengthened thee with his help, and with that of the faithful; and hath united their hearts. if thou hadst expended whatever riches are in the earth, thou couldst not have united their hearts,t but god united them; for he is mighty and wise. o prophet, god is thy support, and such of the true believers who followeth thee.u o prophet stir up the faithful to war: if twenty of you persevere with constancy, they shall overcome two hundred, and if there be one hundred of you, they shall overcome a thousand of those who believe not; because they are a people which do not understand. now hath god eased you, for he knew that ye were weak. if there be an hundred of you who persevere with constancy, they shall overcome two hundred; and if there be a thousand of you, they shall overcome two thousand,x by the permission of god; for god is with those who persevere. it hath not been granted unto any prophet, that he should possess captives, until he hath made a great slaughter of the infidels in the earth.y ye seek the accidental goods of this world, but god regardeth the life to come; and god is mighty and wise. 	q as did the tribe of koreidha. 	r some copies read it in the third person, let not the unbelievers think, &c. 	s viz., those who made their escape from bedr. 	t because of the inveterate enmity which reigned among many of the arab tribes; and therefore this reconciliation is reckoned by the commentators as no inconsiderable miracle, and a strong proof of their prophet's mission. 	u this passage, as some say, was revealed in a plain called al beidâ, between mecca and medina, during the expedition of bedr; and, as others, in the sixth year of the prophet's mission, on the occasion of omar's embracing mohammedism. 	x see levit. xxvi. ; josh xxiii. . 	y because severity ought to be used where circumstances require it, though clemency be more preferable where it may be exercised with safety. while the mohammedans, therefore, were weak, and their religion in its infancy, god's pleasure was that the opposers of it should be cut off, as is particularly directed in this chapter. for which reason, they are here upbraided with their preferring the lucre of the ransom to their duty 				 see before, p. , and c. . unless a revelation had been previously delivered from god, verily a severe punishment had been inflicted on you, for the ransom which ye took from the captives at bedr.z 	eat therefore of what ye have acquired,a that which is lawful and good; for god is gracious and merciful. o prophet, say unto the captives who are in your hands. if god shall know any good to be in your hearts, he will give you better than what hath been taken from you;b and he will forgive you, for god is gracious and merciful. but if they seek to deceive thee,c verily they have deceived god; wherefore he hath given thee power over them: and god is knowing and wise. moreover, they who have believed, and have fled their country, and employed their substance and their persons in fighting for the religion of god, and they who have given the prophet a refuge among them, and have assisted him, these shall be deemed the one nearest of kin to the other.d but they who have believed, but have not fled their country, shall have no right of kindred at all with you, until they also fly. yet if they ask assistance of you on account of religion, it belongeth unto you to give them assistance; except against a people between whom and yourselves there shall be a league subsisting: and god seeth that which ye do. and as to the infidels let them be deemed of kin the one to the other. unless ye do this, there will be a sedition in the earth, and grievous corruption. but as for them who have believed, and left their country, and have fought for god's true religion, and who have allowed the prophet a retreat among them, and have assisted him, these are really believers; they shall receive mercy, and an honourable provision. 	z that is, had not the ransom been, in strictness, lawful for you to accept, by god's having in general terms allowed you the spoil and the captives, ye had been severely punished. 	among the seventy prisoners which the moslems took in this battle were al abbâs, one of mohammed's uncles, and okail, the son of abu tâleb and brother of ali. when they were brought before mohammed, he asking the advice of his companions what should be done with them, abu becr was for releasing them on their paying ransom, saying, that they were near relations to the prophet, and god might possibly forgive them on their repentance; but omar was for striking off their heads, as professed patrons of infidelity. mohammed did not approve of the latter advice, but observed that abu becr resembled abraham, who interceded for offenders, and that omar was like noah, who prayed for the utter extirpation of the wicked antediluvians; and thereupon it was agreed to accept a ransom from them and their fellow-captives. soon after which, omar, going into the prophet's tent, found him and abu becr weeping, and, asking them the reason of their tears, mohammed acquainted him that this verse had been revealed, condemning their ill-timed lenity towards their prisoners, and that they had narrowly escaped the divine vengeance for it, adding that, if god had not passed the matter over, they had certainly been destroyed to a man, excepting only omar and saad ebn moadh, a person of as great severity, and who was also for putting the prisoners to death. yet did not this crime go absolutely unpunished neither: for in the battle of ohod the moslems lost seventy men, equal to the number of prisoners taken at bedr, which was so ordered by god, as a retaliation or atonement for the same. 	a i.e., of the ransom which ye have received of your prisoners. for it seems, on this rebuke, they had some scruple of conscience whether they might convert it to their own use or not. 	b that is, if ye repent and believe, god will make you abundant retribution for the ransom ye have now paid. it is said that this passage was revealed on the particular account of al abbâs, who, being obliged by mohammed, though his uncle, to ransom both himself and his two nephews, okail and nawfal ebn al hareth, complained that he should be reduced to beg alms of the koreish as long as he lived. whereupon mohammed asked him what was become of the gold which he delivered to omm al fadl when he left mecca, telling her that he knew not what might befall him in the expedition, and therefore, if he lost his life, she might keep it herself for the use of her and her children? al abbâs demanded who told him this, to which mohammed replied that god had revealed it to him. and upon this al abbâs immediately professed islâmism, declaring that none could know of that affair except god, because he gave her the money at midnight. some years after, al abbâs reflecting on this passage, confessed it to be fulfilled; for he was then not only possessed of a large substance, but had the custody of the well zemzem, which, he said, he preferred to all the riches of mecca. 	c by not paying the ransom agreed on. 	d and shall consequently inherit one another's substance, preferably to their relations by blood. and this, they say, was practised for some time, the mohâjerin and ansârs being judged heirs to one another, exclusive of the deceased's other kindred, till this passage was abrogated by the following: those who are related by blood shall be deemed the nearest of kin to each other. 	 idem.		 see c. , p. .		 al beidâwi. 	 idem. vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. art. abbâs. and they who have believe since, and have fled their country, and have fought with you, these also are of you. and those who are related by consanguinity shall be deemed the nearest of kin to each other preferably to strangers according to the book of god; god knoweth all things. ________ chapter ix. entitled, the declaration of immunity;e revealed at medina. a declaration of immunity from god and his apostle, unto the idolaters, with whom ye have entered into league.f go to and fro in the earth securely four months;g and know that ye shall not weaken god, and that god will disgrace the unbelievers. and a declaration from god and his apostle unto the people, on the day of the greater pilgrimage,h that god is clear of the idolaters, and his apostle also. wherefore if ye repent, this will be better for you; but if ye turn back, know that ye shall not weaken god: and denounce unto those who believe not, a painful punishment. 	e the reason why the chapter had this title appears from the first verse. some, however, give it other titles, and particularly that of repentance, which is mentioned immediately after. 	it is observable that this chapter alone has not the auspicatory form, in the name of the most merciful god, prefixed to it; the reason of which omission, as some think, was, because these words imply a concession of security, which is utterly taken away by this chapter, after a fixed time; wherefore some have called it the chapter of punishment; others say that mohammed (who died soon after he had received this chapter), having given no direction where it should be placed, nor for the prefixing the bismillah to it, as had been done to the other chapters; and the argument of this chapter bearing a near resemblance to that of the preceding, his companions differed about it, some saying that both chapters were but one, and together made the seventh of the seven long ones, and others that they were two distinct chapters; whereupon, to accommodate the dispute, they left a space between them, but did not interpose the distinction of the bismillah. 	it is agreed that this chapter was the last which was revealed; and the only one, as mohammed declared, which was revealed entire and at once, except the hundred and tenth. 	some will have the two last verses to have been revealed at mecca. 	f some understand this sentence of the immunity or security therein granted to the infidels for the space of four months; but others think that the words properly signify that mohammed for the space of four months; but others think that the words properly signify that mohammed is here declared by god to be absolutely free and discharged from all truce or league with them, after the expiration of that time; and this last seems to be the truest interpretation. 	mohammed's thus renouncing all league with those who would not receive him as the apostle of god, or submit to become tributary, was the consequence of the great power to which he was now arrived. but the pretext he made use of was the treachery he had met with among the jewish, and idolatrous arabs- scarce any keeping faith with him, except banu damra, banu kenâna, and a few others. 	g these months were shawâl, dhu'lkaada, dhu'lhajja, and moharram; the chapter being revealed in shawâl. yet others compute them from the tenth of dhu'lhajja, when the chapter was published at mecca, and consequently make them expire on the tenth of the former rabî. 	h viz., the tenth of dhu'lhajja, when they slay the victims at mina; which day is their great feast, and completes the ceremonies of the pilgrimage. some suppose the adjective greater is added here to distinguish the pilgrimage made at the appointed time from lesser pilgrimages, as they may be called, or visitations of the caaba, which may be performed at any time of the year; or else because the concourse at the pilgrimage this year was greater than ordinary, both moslems and idolaters being present at it. 	the promulgation of this chapter was committed by mohammed to ali, who rode for that purpose on the prophet's slit-eared camel from medina to mecca; and on the day above mentioned, standing up before the whole assembly at al akaba, told them that he was the messenger of the apostle of god unto them. whereupon they asking him what was his errand, he read twenty or thirty verses of the chapter to them, and then said, i am commanded to acquaint you with four things: i. that no idolater is to come near the temple of mecca after this year; . that no man presume to compass the caaba naked for the future; . that none but true believers shall enter paradise; and . that public faith is to be kept. 	 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin, yahya, &c.		 idem.		 idem.		 idem, al zamaksh., jallalo'ddin. see before, cap. , p. .		 al beidâwi. vide abulfed. vit. moh. p. , &c. except such of the idolaters with whom ye shall have entered into a league, and who afterwards shall not fail you in any instance, nor assist any other against you.i wherefore perform the covenant which ye shall have made with them, until their time shall be elapsed; for god loveth those who fear him. and when the months wherein ye are not allowed to attack them shall be past, kill the idolaters wheresoever ye shall find them,k and take them prisoners, and besiege them, and lay wait for them in every convenient place. but if they shall repent, and observe the appointed times of prayer, and pay the legal alms, dismiss them freely: for god is gracious and merciful. and if any of the idolaters shall demand protection of thee, grant him protection, that he may hear the word of god: and afterwards let him reach the place of his security.l this shalt thou do, because they are people which know not the excellency of the religion thou preachest. how shall the idolaters be admitted into a league with god and with his apostle; except those with whom ye entered into a league at the holy temple?m so long as they behave with fidelity towards you, do ye also behave with fidelity towards them; for god loveth those who fear him. how can they be admitted into a league with you, since, if they prevail against you, they will not regard in you either consanguinity or faith? they will please you with their mouths, but their hearts will be averse from you; for the greater part of them are wicked doers. they sell the signs of god for a small price, and obstruct his way; it is certainly evil which they do. 	they regard not in a believer either consanguinity or faith; and these are the transgressors. yet if they repent, and observe the appointed times of prayer, and give alms, they shall be deemed your brethren in religion. we distinctly propound our signs unto people who understand. but if they violate their oaths, after their league, and revile your religion, oppose the leaders of infidelity (for there is no trust in them), that they may desist from their treachery. will ye not fight against people who have violated their oaths, and conspired to expel the apostle of god; and who of their own accord assaulted you the first time?n will ye fear them? but it is more just that ye should fear god, if ye are true believers. 	i so that notwithstanding mohammed renounces all league with those who had deceived him, he declares himself ready to perform his engagements to such as had been true to him. 	k either within or without the sacred territory. 	l that is, you shall give him a safe-conduct, that he may return home again securely, in case he shall not think fit to embrace mohammedism. 	m these are the persons before excepted. 	n as did the koreish in assisting the tribe of becr against those of khozâah, and laying a design to ruin mohammed, without any just provocation; and as several of the jewish tribes did, by aiding the enemy, and endeavouring to oblige the prophet to leave medina, as he had been obliged to leave mecca. 		 see the prelim. disc. p. .		 al beidâwi. attack them therefore; god shall punish them by your hands, and will cover them with shame, and will give you the victory over them; and he will heal the breasts of the people who believe,o and will take away the indignation of their hearts: for god will be turned unto whom he pleaseth; and god is knowing and wise. did ye imagine that ye should be abandoned, whereas god did not yet know those among you who fought for his religion, and took not any besides god, and his apostle, and the faithful for their friends? god is well acquainted with that which ye do. it is not fitting that the idolaters should visit the temples of god, being witnesses against their own souls of their infidelity. the works of these men are vain: and they shall remain in hell fire forever. but he only shall visit the temples of god, who believeth in god and the last day, and is constant at prayer, and payeth the legal alms, and feareth god alone. these perhaps may become of the number of those who are rightly directed.p do ye reckon the giving drink to the pilgrims, and the visiting of the holy temple, to be actions as meritorious as those performed by him who believeth in god and the last day, and fighteth for the religion of god?q they shall not be held equal with god: for god directeth not the unrighteous people. 	they who have believed, and fled their country and employed their substance and their persons in the defence of god's true religion, shall be in the highest degree of honour with god; and these are they who shall be happy. their lord sendeth them good tidings of mercy from him, and good will, and of gardens wherein they shall enjoy lasting pleasure: they shall continue therein forever; for with god is a great reward. o true believers, take not your fathers or your brethren for friends, if they love infidelity above faith; and whosoever among you shall take them for his friends, they will be unjust doers. say, if your fathers, and your sons, and your brethren, and your wives, and your relations, and your substance which ye have acquired, and your merchandise which ye apprehend may not be sold off, and your dwellings wherein ye delight, be more dear unto you than god, and his apostle, and the advancement of his religion; wait until god shall send his command:r for god directeth not the ungodly people. now hath god assisted you in many engagements, and particularly at the battle of honein,s when ye pleased yourselves in your multitude, but it was no manner of advantage unto you, and the earth became too strait for you,t notwithstanding it was spacious; then did ye retreat, and turn your backs. 	o viz., those of khozâah; or, as others say, certain families of yaman and saba, who went to mecca, and there professed mohammedism, but were very injuriously treated by the inhabitants; whereupon they complained to mohammed, who bade them take comfort, for that joy was approaching. 	p these words are to warn the believers from having too great a confidence in their own merits, and likewise to deter the unbelievers; for if the faithful will but perhaps be saved, what can the others hope for? 	q this passage was revealed on occasion of some words of al abbâs, mohammed's uncle, who, when he was taken prisoner, being bitterly reproached by the moslems, and particularly by his nephew ali, answered: you rip up our ill actions, but take no notice of our good ones; we visit the temple of mecca, and adorn the caaba with hangings, and give drink to the pilgrims (of zemzem water, i suppose) and free captives. 	r or shall punish you. some suppose the taking of mecca to be here intended. 	s this battle was fought in the eighth year of the hejra, in the valley of honein, which lies about three miles from mecca towards tâyef, between mohammed, who had an army of twelve thousand men, and the tribes of hawâzen and thakîf, whose forces did not exceed four thousand. the mohammedans, seeing themselves so greatly superior to their enemies, made sure of the victory; a certain person, whom some suppose to have been the prophet himself, crying out, these can never be overcome by so few. but god was so highly displeased with this confidence, that in the first encounter the moslems were put to flight, some of them running away quite to mecca, so that none stood their ground except mohammed himself, and some few of his family; and they say the prophet's courage was so great, that his uncle al abbâs, and his cousin abu sofiân ebn al hareth, had much ado to prevent his spurring his mule into the midst of the enemy, by laying hold of the bridle and stirrup. then he ordered al abbâs, who had the voice of a stentor, to recall his flying troops; upon which they rallied, and the prophet throwing a handful of dust against the enemy, they attacked them a second time, and by the divine assistance gained the victory. 	t for the valley being very deep, and encompassed by craggy mountains, the enemy placed themselves in ambush on every side, attacking them in the straits and narrow passages, and from behind the rocks, with great advantage. 		 idem.		 idem.		 idem.		 idem 		 see prid. life of mahomet, p. , &c. hotting. hist. orient. p. , &c. d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. .		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin, abulfeda, vit. moh. p. , &c. ebn ishak. afterwards god sent down his securityu upon his apostle and upon the faithful, and sent down troops of angels,x which ye saw not; and he punished those who disbelieved; and this was the reward of the unbelievers. nevertheless god will hereafter be turned unto whom he pleaseth;y for god is gracious and merciful. o true believers, verily the idolaters are unclean; let them not therefore come near unto the holy temple after this year.z and if ye fear want, by the cutting off trade and communication with them, god will enrich you of his abundance,a if he pleaseth; for god is knowing and wise. fight against them who believe not in god, nor the last day,b and forbid not that which god and his apostle have forbidden, and profess not the true religion, of those unto whom the scriptures have been delivered, until they pay tribute by right of subjection,c and they be reduced low. 	u the original word is sakînat, which the commentators interpret in this sense; but it seems rather to signify the divine presence, or shechinah, appearing to aid the moslems. 	x as to the number of these celestial auxiliaries, the commentators differ; some say they were five thousand, some eight thousand, and others sixteen thousand. 	y besides a great number of proselytes who were gained by this battle, mohammed, on their request, was so generous as to restore the captives (which were no less than six thousand) to their friends, and offered to make amends himself to any of his men who should not be willing to part with his prisoners; but they all consented to it. 	z which was the ninth year of the hejra. in consequence of this prohibition, neither jews nor christians, nor those of any other religion, are suffered to come near mecca to this day. 	a this promise, says al beidâwi, was fulfilled by god's sending plenty of rain, and disposing the inhabitants of tebâla and jorash, two towns in yaman, to embrace islâm, who thereupon brought sufficient provisions to mohammed's men; and also by the subsequent coming in of the arabs from all quarters to him. 	b that is, who have not a just and true faith in these matters; but either believe a plurality of gods, or deny the eternity of hell torments, or the delights of paradise as described in the korân. for as it appears by the following words, the jews and christians are the persons here chiefly meant. 	c this i think the true meaning of the words an yadin, which literally signify by or out of hand, and are variously interpreted: some supposing they mean that the tribute is to be paid readily, or by their own hands and not by another; or that tribute is to be exacted of the rich only, or those who are able to pay it, and not of the poor; or else that it is to be taken as a favour that the mohammedans are satisfied with so small an imposition, &c. 	that the jews and christians are, according to this law, to be admitted to protection on payment of tribute, there is no doubt: though the mohammedan doctors differ as to those of other religions. it is said that omar at first refused to accept tribute from a magian, till abd'alrahmân ebn awf assured him that mohammed himself had granted protection to a magian, and ordered that the professors of that religion should be included among the people of the book, or those who found their religion on some book which they suppose to be of divine original. and it is the more received opinion that these three religions only ought to be tolerated on the condition of paying tribute: others, however, admit the sabians also. abu hanîfa supposed people of any religion might be suffered, except the idolatrous arabs; and malec excepted only apostates from mohammedism. 	the least tribute that can be taken from every such person, is generally agreed to be a dinâr or about ten shillings, a year; nor can he be obliged to pay more unless he consent to it; and this, they say, ought to be laid as well on the poor as on the rich. but abu hanîfa decided that the rich should pay forty-eight dirhems (twenty, and sometimes twenty-five, of which made a dinâr) a year; one in middling circumstances half that sum; and a poor man, who was able to get his living, a quarter of it: but that he who was not able to support himself should pay nothing. 	 see cap. , p. , note k.		 al beidâwi.		 idem. 	 see cap. , p. , and cap. , p. .		 vide al beidâwi. 	the jews say, ezra is the son of god:d and the christians say, christ is the son of god. this is their saying in their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who were unbelievers in former times. may god resist them. how are they infatuated! they take their priests and their monks for their lords, besides god,e and christ the son of mary; although they are commanded to worship one god only: there is no god but he; far be that from him which they associate with him! they seek to extinguish the light of god with their mouths; but god willeth no other than to perfect his light, although the infidels be averse thereto. it is he who hath sent his apostle with the direction, and true religion: that he may cause it to appear superior to every other religion; although the idolaters be averse thereto. o true believers, verily many of the priests and monks devour the substance of men in vanity,f and obstruct the way of god. but unto those who treasure up gold and silver, and employ it not for the advancement of god's true religion, denounce a grievous punishment. on the day of judgment their treasures shall be intensely heated in the fire of hell, and their foreheads, and their sides, and their backs shall be stigmatized therewith; and their tormentors shall say, this is what ye have treasured up for your souls; taste therefore that which ye have treasured up. 	d this grievous charge against the jews the commentators endeavour to support by telling us that it is meant of some ancient heterodox jews, or else of some jews of medina; who said so for no other reason than for that the law being utterly lost and forgotten during the babylonish captivity, ezra, having been raised to life after he had been dead one hundred years, dictated the whole anew to the scribes, out of his own memory; at which they greatly marvelled, and declared that he could not have done it unless he were the son of god. al beidâwi, adds that the imputation must be true, because this verse was read to the jews, and they did not contradict it; which they were ready enough to do in other instances. 	that ezra did thus restore not only the pentateuch, but also the other books of the old testament, by divine revelation, was the opinion of several of the christian fathers, who are quoted by dr. prideaux, and of some other writers; which they seem to have first borrowed from a passage in that very ancient apocryphal book, called (in our english bible) the second book of esdras. dr. prideaux tells us that herein the fathers attributed more to ezra than the jews themselves, who suppose that he only collected and set forth a correct edition of the scriptures, which he laboured much in, and went a great way in the perfecting of it. it is not improbable, however, that the fiction came originally from the jews, though they be now of another opinion, and i cannot fix it upon them by any direct proof. for, not to insist on the testimony of the mohammedans (which yet i cannot but think of some little weight in a point of this nature), it is allowed by the most sagacious critics that the second book of ezra was written by a christian indeed, but yet one who had been bred a jew, and was intimately acquainted with the fables of the rabbins; and the story itself is perfectly in the taste and way of thinking of those men. 	e see the chap. , p. , note e. 	f by taking of bribes, says al beidâwi; meaning, probably, the money they took for dispensing with the commands of god, and by way of commutation. 	 vide reland. de jure militari mohammedanor. p. and . 	 al beidâwi.		 see cap. , p. . al beidâwi, al zamakhshari, &c.		 connect. part i. l. , p. . 	 athanasius junior, in synopsi s. script. tom. ii. p. . leontius byzantin. de sectis, p. .		 cap. xiv. , &c.		 loco citat.		 see esdras ii. - ; and vii. , &c.		 vide dodwelli dissert. cyprian. dissert. , § . whiston's essay on the apostolical constit. p. , , and , &c.; et fabricii codic. apocryph. novi test. part ii. p. , &c. moreover, the complete number of months with god, is twelve months,g which were ordained in the book of god,h on the day whereon he created the heavens and the earth: of these, four are sacred.i this is the right religion: therefore deal not unjustly with yourselves therein. but attack the idolaters in all the months, as they attack you in all;k and know that god is with those who fear him. verily the transferring of a sacred month to another month, is an additional infidelity.l the unbelievers are led into an error thereby: they allow a month to be violated one year, and declare it sacred another year,m that they may agree in the number of months which god hath commanded to be kept sacred; and they allow that which god hath forbidden. the evil of their actions hath been prepared for them: for god directeth not the unbelieving people. o true believers, what ailed you, that when it was said unto you, go forth to fight for the religion of god, ye inclined heavily towards the earth?n do ye prefer the present life to that which is to come? but the provision of this life, in respect of that which is to come, is but slender. unless ye go forth when ye are summoned to war, god will punish you with a grievous punishment; and he will place another people in your stead,o and ye shall not hurt him at all; for god is almighty. 	if ye assist not the prophet, verily god will assist him, as he assisted him formerly, when the unbelievers drove him out of mecca, the second of two:p when they were both in the cave: when he said unto his companion, be not grieved, for god is with us.q and god sent down his securityr upon him, and strengthened him with armies of angels, whom ye saw not.s and he made the word of those who believed not to be abased, and the word of god was exalted: for god is mighty and wise. 	g according to this passage, the intercalation of a month every third or second year, which the arabs had learned of the jews, in order to reduce their lunar years to solar years, is absolutely unlawful. for by this means they fixed the time of the pilgrimage and of the fast of ramadân to certain seasons of the year which ought to be ambulatory. 	h viz., the preserved table. 	i see the prelim. discourse, sect. vii. 	k for it is not reasonable that you should observe the sacred months with regard to those who do not acknowledge them to be sacred, but make war against you therein. 	l this was an invention or innovation of the idolatrous arabs, whereby they avoided keeping a sacred month, when it suited not their conveniency, by keeping a profane month in its stead; transferring, for example, the observance of moharram to the succeeding month safar. the first man who put this in practice, they say, was jonâda ebn awf, of the tribe of kenâna. 	these ordinances relating to the months were promulgated by mohammed himself at the pilgrimage of valediction. 	m as did jonâda, who made public proclamation at the assembly of pilgrims, that their gods had allowed moharram to be profane, whereupon they observed it not; but the next year he told them that the gods had ordered it to be kept sacred. 	n viz., in the expedition of tabûc, a town situate about half-way between medina and damascus, which mohammed undertook against the greeks, with an army of thirty thousand men, in the ninth year of the hejra. on this expedition the moslems set out with great unwillingness, because it was undertaken in the midst of the summer heats, and at a time of great drought and scarcity; whereby the soldiers suffered so much, that this army was called the distressed army: besides, their fruits were just ripe, and they had much rather have stayed to have gathered them. 	o see chap. , p. . 	p that is, having only abu becr with him. 	q see the prelim. disc. sect. ii. p. . 	r see before, p. , note u. 	s who, as some imagine, guarded him in the cave. or the words may relate to the succours from heaven which mohammed pretended to have received in several encounters; as at bedr, the war of the ditch, and the battle of honein. 	 see prid. life of mahomet, p. , &c., and the prelim. disc. sect. iv. and vii.		 see cap. , p. .		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin. vide poc. spec. p. , and the prelim. disc. sect. vii. 	 abulfeda, vit. moh. p. .		 al beidâwi. idem, jallalo'ddin. vide abulfeda, vit. moh. p. . go forth to battle, both light and heavy,t and employ your substance and your persons for the advancement of god's religion. this will be better for you, if ye know it. if it had been a near advantage, and a moderate journey, they had surely followed thee;u but the way seemed tedious unto them: and yet they will swear by god, saying, if we had been able, we had surely gone forth with you. they destroy their own souls; for god knoweth that they are liars. god forgive thee! why didst thou give them leave to stay at home,x until they who speak the truth, when they excuse themselves, had become manifested unto thee, and thou hadst known the liars. they who believe in god and the last day, will not ask leave of thee to be excused from employing their substance and their persons for the advancement of god's true religion; and god knoweth those who fear him. verily they only will ask leave of thee to stay behind, who believe not in god and the last day, and whose hearts doubt concerning the faith: wherefore they are tossed to and fro in their doubting. if they had been willing to go forth with thee, they had certainly prepared for that purpose a provision of arms and necessaries: but god was averse to their going forth; wherefore he rendered them slothful, and it was said unto them, sit ye still with those who sit still.y if they had gone forth with you, they had only been a burden unto you, and had run to and fro between you, stirring you up to sedition; and there would have been some among you, who would have given ear unto them: and god knoweth the wicked. they formerly sought to raise a sedition,z and they disturbed thy affairs, until the truth came, and the decree of god was made manifest; although they were adverse thereto. there is of them who saith unto thee, give me leave to stay behind, and expose me not to temptation.a have they not fallen into temptation at home?b but hell will surely encompass the unbelievers. 	if good happen unto thee, it grieveth them: but if a misfortune befall thee, they say, we ordered our business before;c and they turn their backs, and rejoice at thy mishap. say, nothing shall befall us, but what god hath decreed for us; he is our patron; and on god let the faithful trust. 	t i.e., whether the expedition be agreeable or not; or whether ye have sufficient arms and provisions or not; or whether ye be on horseback or on foot, &c. 	u that is, had there been no difficulties to surmount in the expedition of tabûc, and the march thither had been short and easy, so that the plunder might have cost them little or no trouble, they would not have been so backward. 	x for mohammed excused several of his men, on their request, from going on this expedition; as abda'llah ebn obba and his hypocritical adherents, and also three of the ansârs, for which he is here reprehended. 	y i.e., with the women and children, and other impotent people. 	z as they did at the battle of ohod. 	a by obliging me to go, against my will, on an expedition, the hardships of which may tempt me to rebel or to desert. it is related that one jadd ebn kais said that the ansârs well knew he was much given to women, and he dared not trust himself with the greek girls; wherefore he desired he might be left behind, and he would assist them with his purse. 	b discovering their hypocrisy by their backwardness to go to war for the promotion of the true religion. 	c that is, we took care to keep out of harm's way by staying at home. 			 see cap. , p. , &c.		 al beidâwi. say, do ye expect any other should befall us, than one of the two most excellent things; either victory or martyrdom? but we expect concerning you, that god inflict a punishment on you, either from himself, or by our hands.d wait, therefore, to see what will be the end of both; for we will wait for you. say, expend your money in pious uses, either voluntarily, or by constraint, it shall not be accepted of you; because ye are wicked people. and nothing hindereth their contributions from being accepted of them, but that they believe not in god and his apostle, and perform not the duty of prayer, otherwise than sluggishly; and expend not their money for god's service, otherwise than unwillingly. let not therefore their riches, or their children cause thee to marvel. verily god intendeth only to punish them by these things in this world; and that their souls may depart while they are unbelievers. they swear by god that they are of you;e yet they are not of you, but are people who stand in fear.f if they find a place of refuge, or caves, or a retreating hole, they surely turn towards the same, and in a headstrong manner, haste thereto. there is of them also who spreadeth ill reports of thee, in relation to thy distribution of the alms: yet if they receive part thereof, they are well pleased; but if they receive not a part thereof, behold, they are angry.g but if they had been pleased with that which god and his apostle had given them, and had said, god is our support; god will give unto us of his abundance, and his prophet also; verily unto god do we make our supplications: it would have been more decent. 	alms are to be distributedh only unto the poor, and the needy,i and those who are employed in collecting and distributing the same, and unto those whose hearts are reconciled,k and for the redemption of captives, and unto those who are in debt and insolvent, and for the advancement of god's religion, and unto the traveller. this is an ordinance from god: and god is knowing and wise. there are some of them who injure the prophet, and say, he is an ear.l answer, he is an ear of good unto you:m he believeth in god, and giveth credit to the faithful, and is a mercy unto such of you who believe. 	d i.e., either by some signal judgment from heaven, or by remitting their punishment to the true believers. 	e viz., staunch moslems. 	f hypocritically concealing their infidelity, lest ye should chastise them, as ye have done the professed infidels and apostates; and yet ready to avow their infidelity, when they think they may do it with safety. 	g this person was abu'l jowâdh the hypocrite, who said mohammed gave them away among the keepers of sheep only; or, as others suppose, ebn dhi'lkhowaisara, who found fault with the prophet's distribution of the spoils taken at honein, because he gave them all among the meccans, to reconcile and gain them over to his religion and interest. 	h see what is said as to this point in the prelim. disc. sect. iv. 	i the commentators make a distinction between these two words in the original, fakîr and meskîn; one, they say, signifies him who is utterly destitute both of money and means of livelihood; the other, one who is in want indeed, but is able to get something towards his own support. but to which of the two words either of these different significations properly belongs, the critics differ. 	k that is, who were lately enemies to the faithful, but have now embraced mohammedism, and entered into amity with them. for mohammed, to gain their hearts and confirm them in his religion, made large presents to the chief of the koreish out of the spoils at honein, as has been just now mentioned. but this law they say became of no obligation when the mohammedan faith was established, and stood not in need of such methods for its support. 	l i.e., he hears everything that we say; and gives credit to all the stories that are carried to him. 	m giving credit to nothing that may do you hurt. 		 idem. vide abulfeda. vit. moh. p. , .		 abulfeda, ibid. but they who injure the apostle of god, shall suffer a painful punishment. they swear unto you by god, that they may please you; but it is more just that they should please god and his apostle, if they are true believers. do they not know that he who opposeth god and his apostle, shall without doubt be punished with the fire of hell; and shall remain therein forever? this will be great ignominy. the hypocrites are apprehensive lest a suran should be revealed concerning them, to declare unto them that which is in their hearts. say unto them, scoff ye; but god will surely bring to light that which ye fear should be discovered. and if thou ask them the reason of this scoffing, they say, verily we were only engaged in discourse; and jesting among ourselves.o say, do ye scoff at god and his signs, and at his apostle? offer not an excuse: now are ye become infidels, after your faith. if we forgive a part of you, we will punish a part, for that they have been wicked doers. hypocritical men and women are the one of them of the other: they command that which is evil, and forbid that which is just, and shut their hands from giving alms. they have forgotten god; wherefore he hath forgotten them: verily the hypocrites are those who act wickedly. god denounceth unto the hypocrites, both men and women, and to the unbelievers, the fire of hell; they shall remain therein forever: this will be their sufficient reward; god hath cursed them, and they shall endure a lasting torment. 	as they who have been before you, so are ye. they were superior to you in strength, and had more abundance of wealth and of children; and they enjoyed their portion in this world; and ye also enjoy your portion here, as they who have preceded you enjoyed their portion. and ye engage yourselves in vain discourses, like unto those wherein they engaged themselves. the works of these are vain both in this world and in that which is to come; and these are they who perish. have they not been acquainted with the history of those who have been before them? of the people of noah, and of ad, and of thamud, and of the people of abraham, and of the inhabitants of madian, and of the cities which were overthrown?p their apostles came unto them with evident demonstrations: and god was not disposed to treat them unjustly; but they dealt unjustly with their own souls. and the faithful men, and the faithful women, are friends one to another: they command that which is just, and they forbid that which is evil; and they are constant at prayer, and pay their appointed alms; and they obey god and his apostle: unto these will god be merciful; for he is mighty and wise. 	n so the mohammedans call a chapter of the korân. 	o it is related that in the expedition of tabûc, a company of hypocrites passing near mohammed, said to one another, behold that man! he would take the strongholds of syria. away! away!-which being told the prophet, he called them to him, and asked them why they had said so? whereto they replied with an oath that they were not talking of what related to him or his companions, but were only diverting themselves with indifferent discourse to beguile the tediousness of the way. 	p namely, sodom and gomorrah, and the other cities which shared their fate, and are thence called al motakifât, or the subverted. 	 see the prelim. disc. sect. iii.		 al beidâwi.		 see cap. ii. god promiseth unto the true believers, both men and women, gardens through which rivers flow, wherein they shall remain forever; and delicious dwellings in gardens of perpetual abode:q but good-will from god shall be their most excellent reward. this will be great felicity. o prophet, wage war against the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and be severe unto them: for their dwelling shall be hell; an unhappy journey shall it be thither! they swear by god that they said not what they are charged with: yet they spake the word of infidelity, and became unbelievers after they had embraced islâm.r and they designed that which they could not effect;s and they did not disapprove the design for any other reason than because god and his apostle had enriched them of his bounty.t if they repent, it will be better for them; but if they relapse, god will punish them with a grievous torment, in this world and in the next; and they shall have no portion on earth, nor any protector. there are some of them who made a covenant with god, saying, verily if he give us of his abundance, we will give alms, and become righteous people.u yet when they had given unto him of his abundance, they became covetous thereof, and turned back, and retired afar off. wherefore he hath caused hypocrisy to succeed in their hearts, until the day whereon they shall meet him; for that they failed to perform unto god that which they had promised him, and for that they prevaricated. do they not know that god knoweth whatever they conceal, and their private discourses; and that god is the knower of secrets? 	q literally, gardens of eden; but the commentators do not take the word eden in the sense which it bears in hebrew, as has been elsewhere observed. 	r it is related that al jallâs ebn soweid hearing some passages of this chapter, which sharply reprehend those who refused to go on the above- mentioned expedition of tabûc, declared that if what mohammed said of his brethren was true, they were worse than asses; which coming to the prophet's ear, he sent for him; and he denied the words upon oath. but on the immediate revelation of this passage, he confessed his fault, and his repentance was accepted. 	s the commentators tell us that fifteen men conspired to kill mohammed in his return from tabûc by pushing him from his camel into a precipice, as he rode by night over the highest part of al akaba. but when they were going to execute their design, hodheifa, who followed and drove the prophet's camel, which was led by ammâr ebn yâser, hearing the tread of camels and the clashing of arms, gave the alarm, upon which they fled. some, however, suppose the design here meant was a plot to expel mohammed from medina. 	t for mohammed's residing at medina was of great advantage to the place, the inhabitants being generally poor, and in want of most conveniences of life; but on the prophet's coming among them, they became possessed of large herds of cattle and money also. al beidâwi says that the above-named al jallâs in particular, having a servant killed, received by mohammed's order no less than ten thousand dirhems, or about three hundred pounds, as a fine for the redemption of his blood. 	u an instance of this is given in thalaba ebn hateb, who came to mohammed and desired him to beg of god that he would bestow riches on him. the prophet at first advised him rather to be thankful for the little he had than to covet more, which might become a temptation to him; but on thalaba's repeated request and solemn promise that he would make a good use of his riches, he was at length prevailed on, and preferred the petition to god. thalaba in a short time grew vastly rich, which, mohammed being acquainted with, sent two collectors to gather the alms. other people readily paid them; but, when they came to thalaba, and read the injunction to him out of the korân, he told them that it was not alms, but tribute, or next kin to tribute, and bid them go back till he had better considered of it. upon which this passage was revealed; and when thalaba came afterwards and brought his alms, mohammed told him that god had commanded him not to accept it, and threw dust upon his head, saying, this is what thou hast deserved. he then offered his alms to abu becr, who refused to accept them, as did omar some years after, when he was khalîf. 	 see the prelim. disc. p. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem. 	they who traduce such of the believers as are liberal in giving alms beyond what they are obliged, and those who find nothing to give, but what they gain by their industry;x and therefore scoff at them: god shall scoff at them, and they shall suffer a grievous punishment. ask forgiveness for them, or do not ask forgiveness for them; it will be equal. if thou ask forgiveness for them seventy times, god will by no means forgive them.y this is the divine pleasure, for that they believe not in god, and his apostle; and god directeth not the ungodly people. they who were left at home in the expedition of tabûc, were glad of their staying behind the apostle of god, and were unwilling to employ their substance and their persons for the advancement of god's true religion; and they said, go not forth in the heat.z say, the fire of hell will be hotter; if they understood this. wherefore let them laugh little, and weep much, as a reward for that which they have done. if god bring thee back unto some of them,a and they ask thee leave to go forth to war with thee, say, ye shall not go forth with me for the future, neither shall ye fight an enemy with me; ye were pleased with sitting at home the first time; sit ye at home therefore with those who stay behind. neither do thou ever pray over any of them who shall die,b neither stand at his gravec for that they believed not in god and his apostle, and die in their wickedness. let not their riches or their children cause thee to marvel: for god intendeth only to punish them therewith in this world, and that their souls may depart, while they are infidels. when a surad is sent down, wherein it is said, believe in god, and go forth to war with his apostle; those who are in plentiful circumstances among them ask leave of thee to stay behind, and say, suffer us to be of the number of those who sit at home. they are well pleased to be with those who stay behind, and their hearts are sealed up; wherefore they do not understand. 	x al beidâwi relates that mohammed, exhorting his followers to voluntary alms, among others, abda'lrahmân ebn awf gave four thousand dirhems, which was one-half of what he had; asem ebn adda gave a hundred beasts' loads of dates; and abu okail a saá, which is no more than a sixtieth part of a load, of the same fruit, but was the half of what he had earned by a night's hard work. this mohammed accepted: whereupon the hypocrites said that abda'lrahmân and asem gave what they did out of ostentation, and that god and his apostle might well have excused abu okail's mite; which occasioned this passage. 	i suppose this collection was made to defray the charge of the expedition of tabûc, towards which, as another writer tells us, abu becr contributed all that he had, and othmân very largely, viz., as it is said, three hundred camels for slaughter, and a thousand dinârs of gold. 	y in the last sickness of abda'llah ebn obba, the hypocrite (who died in the ninth year of the hejra), his son, named also abda'llah, came and asked mohammed to beg pardon of god for him, which he did, and thereupon the former part of this verse was revealed. but the prophet, not taking that for a repulse, said he would pray seventy times for him; upon which the latter part of the verse was revealed, declaring it would be absolutely in vain. it may be observed that the numbers seven, and seventy, and seven hundred, are frequently used by the eastern writers, to signify not so many precisely, but only an indefinite number, either greater or lesser, several examples of which are to be met with in the scripture. 	z this they spoke in a scoffing manner to one another, because, as has been observed, the expedition of tabûc was undertaken in a very hot and dry season. 	a that is, if thou return in safety to medina to the hypocrites, who are here called some of them who stayed behind, because they were not all hypocrites. the whole number is said to have been twelve. 	b this passage was also revealed on account of abda'llah ebn obba. in his last illness he desired to see mohammed, and, when he was come, asked him to beg forgiveness of god for him, and requested that his corpse might be wrapped up in the garment that was next his body (which might have the same efficacy with the habit of a franciscan), and that he would pray over him when dead. accordingly, when he was dead, the prophet sent his shirt, or inner vestment, to shroud the corpse, and was going to pray over it, but was forbidden by these words. some say they were not revealed till he had actually prayed for him. 	c either by assisting at his funeral, or visiting his sepulchre. 	d see before, p. , note n. 	 abulfed. vit. moh. p. .		 al beidâwi.		 matth. xviii. .		 al beidâwi. idem. but the apostle, and those who have believed with him, expose their fortunes and their lives for god's service; they shall enjoy the good things of either life, and they shall be happy. 	god hath prepared for them gardens through which rivers flow; they shall remain therein forever. this will be great felicity. and certain arabs of the desert came to excuse themselves,e praying that they might be permitted to stay behind; and they sat at home who had renounced god and his apostle. but a painful punishment shall be inflicted on such of them as believe not. in those who are weak, or are afflicted with sickness, or in those who find not wherewith to contribute to the war,f it shall be no crime if they stay at home; provided they behave themselves faithfully towards god and his apostle. there is no room to lay blame on the righteous; for god is gracious and merciful: nor on those, unto whom, when they came unto thee, requesting that thou wouldest supply them with necessaries for travelling, thou didst answer, i find not wherewith to supply you, returned, their eyes shedding tears for grief, that they found not wherewith to contribute to the expedition.g but there is reason to blame those who ask leave of thee to sit at home, when they are rich. they are pleased to be with those who stay behind, and god hath sealed up their hearts; wherefore they do not understand. they will excuse themselves unto you, when ye are returned unto them. say, excuse not yourselves; we will by no means believe you: god hath acquainted us with your behavior; and god will observe his actions, and his apostle also: and hereafter shall ye be brought before him who knoweth that which is hidden, and that which is manifest; and he will declare unto you that which ye have done. they will swear unto you by god, which ye have done. they will swear unto you by god, when ye are returned unto them, that ye may let them alone.h let them alone, therefore, for they are an abomination, and their dwelling shall be hell, a reward for that which they have deserved. they will swear unto you, that ye may be well pleased with them; but if ye be well pleased with them, verily god will not be well pleased with people who prevaricate. the arabs of the desert are more obstinate in their unbelief and hypocrisy; and it is easier for them to be ignorant of the ordinances of that which god hath sent down unto his apostle;i and god is knowing and wise. of the arabs of the desert there is who reckoneth that which he expendeth for the service of god, to be as tribute,k and waiteth that some change of fortunel may befall you. a change for evil shall happen unto them; for god both heareth and knoweth. 	e these were the tribes of asad and ghatfân, who excused themselves on account of the necessities of their families, which their industry only maintained. but some write they were the family of amer ebn al tofail, who said that if they went with the army, the tribe of tay would take advantage of their absence, and fall upon their wives and children, and their cattle. 	f by reason of their extreme poverty; as those of joheina, mozeina, and banu odhra. 	g the persons here intended were seven men of the ansârs, who came to mohammed and begged he would give them some patched boots and soled shoes, it being impossible for them to march so far barefoot in such a season; but he told them he could not supply them; whereupon they went away weeping. some, however, say these were the banu mokren; and others, abu musa and his companions. 	h and not chastise them. 	i because of their wild way of life, the hardness of their hearts, their not frequenting people of knowledge, and the few opportunities they have of being instructed. 	k or a contribution exacted by force, the payment of which he can in no wise avoid. 	l hoping that some reverse may afford a convenient opportunity of throwing off the burden 	 idem.		 idem.		 idem.		 idem. see the prelim. disc. p. and . 	and of the arabs of the desert there is who believeth in god, and in the last day; and esteemeth that which he layeth out for the service of god to be the means of bringing him near unto god, and the prayers of the apostle. is it not unto them the means of a near approach? god shall lead them into his mercy; for god is gracious and merciful.m as for the leaders and the first of the mohâjerîn, and the ansârs,n and those who have followed them in well doing; god is well pleased with them, and they are well pleased in him: and he hath prepared for them gardens watered by rivers; they shall remain therein forever. this shall be great felicity. and of the arabs of the desert who dwell round about you, there are hypocritical persons:o and of the inhabitants of medina there are some who are obstinate in hypocrisy. thou knowest them not, o prophet, but we know them: we will surely punish them twice:p afterwards shall they be sent to a grievous torment. and others have acknowledged their crimes.q they have mixed a good action with another which is bad:r peradventure god will be turned unto them; for god is gracious and merciful. take alms of their substance, that thou mayest cleanse them, and purify them thereby;s and pray for them: for thy prayers shall be a security of mind unto them; and god both heareth and knoweth. do they not know that god accepteth repentance from his servants, and accepteth alms; and that god is easy to be reconciled, and merciful? say unto them, work as ye will; but god will behold your work, and his apostle also, and the true believers: and ye shall be brought before him who knoweth that which is kept secret, and that which is made public: and he will declare unto you whatever ye have done. 	m the arabs meant in the former of these two passages, are said to have been the tribes of asad, ghatfân, and banu tamim; and those intended in the latter, abdallah, surnamed dhû'lbajâdîn, and his people. 	n the mohâjerîn, or refugees, were those of mecca, who fled thence on account of their religion; and the ansârs, or helpers, were those of medina, who received mohammed and his followers into their protection, and assisted them against their enemies. by the leaders of the mohâjerîn are meant those who believed on mohammed before the hejra, or early enough to pray towards jerusalem, from which the kebla was changed to the temple of mecca in the second year of the hejra, or else such of them as were present at the battle of bedr. the leaders of the ansârs were those who took the oath of fidelity to him at al akaba, either the first or the second time. 	o i.e., in the neighbourhood of medina. these were the tribes of joheina, mozeina, aslam, ashjá, and ghifâr. 	p either by exposing them to public shame, and putting them to death; or by either of those punishments, and the torment of the sepulchre: or else by exacting alms of them by way of fine, and giving them corporal punishment. 	q making no hypocritical excuses for them. these were certain men, who, having stayed at home instead of accompanying mohammed to tabûc, as soon as they heard the severe reprehensions and threats of this chapter against those who had stayed behind, bound themselves to the pillars of the mosque, and swore that they would not loose themselves till they were loosed by the prophet. but when he entered the mosque to pray, and was informed of the matter, he also swore that he would not loose them without a particular command from god; whereupon this passage was revealed, and they were accordingly dismissed. 	r though they were backward in going to war, and held with the hypocrites, yet they confessed their crime and repented. 	s when these persons were loosed, they prayed mohammed to take their substance, for the sake of which they had stayed at home, as alms, to cleanse them from their transgression; but he told them he had no orders to accept anything from them: upon which this verse was sent down, allowing him to take their alms. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem.		 idem. 	 idem.		 idem. and there are others who wait with suspense the decree of god: whether he will punish them, or whether he will be turned unto them:t but god is knowing and wise, there are some who have built a temple to hurt the faithful, and to propagate infidelity, and to foment division among the true believers,u and for a lurking place for him who hath fought against god and his apostle in time past;x and they swear, saying, verily we intended no other than to do for the best: but god is witness that they do certainly lie. stand not up to pray therein forever. there is a temple founded on piety,y from the first day of its building. it is more just that thou stand up to pray therein: therein are men who love to be purified;z for god loveth the clean. 	whether therefore is he better, who hath founded his building on the fear of god and his good will; or he who hath founded his building on the brink of a bank of earth which is washed away by waters, so that it falleth with him into the fire of hell? god directeth not the ungodly people. their building which they have built will not cease to be an occasion of doubting in their hearts, until their hearts be cut in pieces;a and god is knowing and wise. verily god hath purchased of the true believers their souls, and their substance, promising them the enjoyment of paradise; on condition that they fight for the cause of god: whether they slay or be slain, the promise for the same is assuredly due by the law, and the gospel, and the koran. and who performeth his contract more faithfully than god? rejoice therefore in the contract which ye have made. this shall be great happiness. 	t the persons here intended were the three ansârs whose pardon is granted a little below. 	u when banu amru ebn awf had built the temple or mosque of kobâ, which will be mentioned by-and-bye, they asked mohammed to come and pray in it, and he complied with their request. this exciting the envy of their brethren, banu ganem ebn awf, they also built a mosque, intending that the imâm or priest who should officiate there should be abu amer, a christian monk; but he dying in syria, they came to mohammed and desired he would consecrate, as it were, their mosque by praying in it. the prophet accordingly prepared himself to go with them, but was forbidden by the immediate revelation of this passage, discovering their hypocrisy and ill design; whereupon he sent malec ebn al dokhshom, maan ebn addi, amer ebn al sacan, and al wahsha, the ethiopian, to demolish and burn it, which they performed, and made it a dunghill. according to another account, this mosque was built a little before the expedition of tabûc, with a design to hinder mohammed's men from engaging therein; and when he was asked to pray there, he answered that he was just setting out on a journey, but that when he came back, with god's leave, he would do what they desired; but when they applied to him again, on his return, this passage was revealed. 	x that is, abu amer, the monk, who was a declared enemy to mohammed, having threatened him at ohod, that no party should appear in the field against him, but he would make one of them; and, to be as good as his word, he continued to oppose him till the battle of honein, at which he was present, and being put to flight with those of hawâzen, he retreated into syria, designing to obtain a supply of troops from the grecian emperor to renew the war, but he died at kinnisrîn. others say that this monk was a confederate at the war of the ditch, and that he fled thence into syria. 	y viz., that of kobâ, a place about two miles from medina, where mohammed rested four days before he entered that city, in his flight from mecca, and where he laid the foundation of a mosque, which was afterwards built by banu amru ebn awf. but according to a different tradition, the mosque here meant was that which mohammed built at medina. 	z al beidâwi says, that mohammed walking once with the mohâjerîn to kobâ, found the ansârs sitting at the mosque door, and asked them whether they were believers; and, on their being silent, repeated the question: whereupon omar answered, that they were believers; and mohammed demanding whether they acquiesced in the judgment omar had made of them, they said yes. he then asked them whether they would be patient in adversity and thankful in prosperity; to which they answering in the affirmative, he swore by the lord of the caaba that they were true believers. afterwards he examined them as to their manner of performing the legal washings, and, particularly, what they did after easing themselves; they told him that in such a case they used three stones, and after that washed with water: upon which he repeated these words of the korân to them. 	a some interpret these words of their being deprived of their judgment and understanding; and others of the punishment they are to expect, either of death in this world, or of the rack of the sepulchre, or the pains of hell. 	 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 idem.		 idem, ebn shohnah. vide abulfed. vit. moh. p. . where the translator, taking this passage of the korân, which is there cited, for the words of his author, has missed the true sense. the penitent, and those who serve god, and praise him, and who fast, and bow down, and worship; and who command that which is just, and forbid that which is evil, and keep the ordinances of god, shall likewise be rewarded with paradise: wherefore bear good tidings unto the faithful. it is not allowed unto the prophet, nor those who are true believers, that they pray for idolaters,b although they be of kin, after it is become known unto them, that they are inhabitants of hell.c neither did abraham ask forgiveness for his father, otherwise than in pursuance of a promise which he had promised unto him:d but when it became known unto him, that he was an enemy unto god, he declared himself clear of him.e verily abraham was pitiful and compassionate. nor is god disposed to lead people into error,f after that he hath directed them, until that which they ought to avoid is become known unto them; for god knoweth all things. verily unto god belongeth the kingdom of heaven and of earth; he giveth life, and he causeth to die; and ye have no patron or helper besides god. god is reconciled unto the prophet, and unto the mohâjerîn and the ansârs,g who followed him in the hour of distress,h after that it had wanted little but that the hearts of a part of them had swerved from their duty: afterwards was he turned unto them: for he was compassionate and merciful towards them. and he is also reconciled unto the three who were left behind,i so that the earth became too straight for them, notwithstanding its spaciousness, and their souls became straightened within them, and they considered that there was no refuge from god, otherwise than by having recourse unto him. then was he turned unto them, that they might repent; for god is easy to be reconciled and merciful. 	b this passage was revealed, as some think, on account of abu taleb, mohammed's uncle and great benefactor; who, on his death-bed, being pressed by his nephew to speak a word which might enable him to plead his cause before god, that is, to profess islâm, absolutely refused. mohammed, however, told him that he would not cease to pray for him, till he should be forbidden by god; which he was by these words. others suppose the occasion to have been mohammed's visiting his mother amena's sepulchre at al abwâ, soon after the taking of mecca; for they say that while he stood at the tomb he burst into tears, and said, i asked leave of god to visit my mother's tomb, and he granted it me; but when i asked leave to pray for her, it was denied me. 	c by their dying infidels. for otherwise it is not only lawful, but commendable, to pray for unbelievers, while there are hopes of their conversion. 	d viz., to pray that god would dispose his heart to repentance. some suppose this was a promise made to abraham by his father, that he would believe in god. for the words may be taken either way. 	e desisting to pray for him, when he was assured by inspiration that he was not to be converted; or after he actually died an infidel. see c. , p. . 	f i.e., to consider or punish them as transgressors. this passage was revealed to excuse those who had prayed for such of their friends as had died idolaters, before it was forbidden; or else to excuse certain people who had ignorantly prayed towards the first kebla, and drank wine, &c. 	g having forgiven the crime they committed, in giving the hypocrites leave to be absent from the expedition to tabûc; or for the other sins which they might, through inadvertence, have been guilty of. for the best men have need of repentance. 	h viz., in the expedition of tabûc; wherein mohammed's men were driven to such extremities that (besides what they endured by reason of the excessive heat) ten men were obliged to ride by turns on one camel, and provisions and water were so scarce that two men divided a date between them, and they were obliged to drink the water out of the camels' stomachs. 	i or, as it may be translated, who were left in suspense, whether they should be pardoned or not. these were three ansârs, named caab ebn malec, helâl ebn omeyya, and merâra ebn rabî, who went not with mohammed to tabûc, and were therefore, on his return, secluded from the fellowship of the other moslems; the prophet forbidding any to salute them, or to hold discourse with them. under which interdiction they continued fifty days, till, on their sincere repentance, they were at length discharged from it, by the revelation of this passage. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 al beidâwi.		 see before, p. , note t. al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin abulf. vit. moh. p. , . 	o true believers, fear god and be with the sincere. there was no reason why the inhabitants of medina, and the arabs of the desert who dwell around them, should stay behind the apostle of god, or should prefer themselves before him.k this is unreasonable: because they are not distressed either by thirst, or labor, or hunger, for the defence of god's true religion; neither do they stir a step, which may irritate the unbelievers; neither do they receive from the enemy any damage, but a good work is written down unto them for the same; for god suffereth not the reward of the righteous to perish. and they contribute not any sum either small or great, nor do they pass a valley; but it is written down unto them that god may reward them with a recompense exceeding that which they have wrought. the believers are not obliged to go forth to war altogether: if a part of every band of them go not forth, it is that they may diligently instruct themselves in their religion;l and may admonish their people, when they return unto them, that they may take heed to themselves. o true believers, wage war against such of the infidels as are near you;m and let them find severityn in you: and know that god is with those who fear him. whenever a sura is sent down, there are some of them who say, which of you hath this caused to increase in faith? it will increase the faith of those who believe, and they shall rejoice: but unto those in whose hearts there is an infirmity, it will add further doubt unto their present doubt; and they shall die in their infidelity. do they not see that they are tried every year once or twice?o yet they repent not, neither are they warned. and whenever a sura is sent down, they look at one another, saying, doth any one see you?p then do they turn aside. god shall turn aside their hearts from the truth; because they are a people who do not understand. 	k by not caring to share with him the dangers and fatigues of war. al beidâwi tells us, that after mohammed had set out for tabûc, one abu khaithama, sitting in his garden, where his wife, a very beautiful woman, had spread a mat for him in the shade, and had set new dates and fresh water before him, after a little reflection, cried out: this is not well that i should thus take my ease and pleasure, while the apostle of god is exposed to the scorching of the sunbeams and the inclemencies of the war; and immediately mounting his camel, took his sword and lance, and went to join the army. 	l that is, if some of every tribe of town be left behind, the end of their being so left is that they may apply themselves to study, and attain a more exact knowledge of the several points of their religion, so as to be able to instruct such as, by reason of their continual employment in the wars, have no other means of information. they say, that after the preceding passages were revealed, reprehending those who had stayed at home during the expedition of tabûc, every man went to war, so that the study of religion, which is rather more necessary for the defence and propagation of the faith than even arms themselves, became wholly laid aside and neglected; to prevent which, for the future, a convenient number are hereby directed to be left behind, that they may have leisure to prosecute their studies. 	m either of your kindred or neighbours; for these claim your pity and care in the first place, and their conversion ought first to be endeavoured. the persons particularly meant in this passage are supposed to have been the jews of the tribes of koreidha and nadhîr, and those of khaibar; or else the greeks of syria. 	n or fierceness in war. 	o i.e., by various kinds of trials, or by being called forth to war, and by being made witnesses of god's miraculous protection of the faithful. 	p they wink at one another to rise and leave the prophet's presence, if they think they can do it without being observed, to avoid hearing the severe and deserving reproofs which they apprehended in every new revelation. the persons intended are the hypocritical moslems. 					 al beidâwi. now hath an apostle come unto you of our own nation,q an excellent person: it is grievous unto him that ye commit wickedness; he is careful over you, and compassionate and merciful towards the believers. 	if they turn back, say, god is my support: there is no god but he. on him do i trust; and he is the lord of the magnificent throne. ________ chapter x. entitled, jonas;r revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. al. r.s these are the signs of the wise book. is it a strange thing unto the men of mecca, that we have revealed our will unto a man from among them,t saying, denounce threats unto men if they believe not; and bear good tidings unto those who believe, that on the merit of their sincerity they have an interest with their lord? the unbelievers say, this is manifest sorcery.u verily your lord is god, who hath created the heavens and the earth in six days; and then ascended his throne, to take on himself the government of all things. there is no intercessor, but by his permission.x this is god, your lord; therefore serve him. will ye not consider? unto him shall ye all return according to the certain promise of god; for he produceth a creature, and then causeth it to return again; that he may reward those who believe and do that which is right, with equity. but as for the unbelievers, they shall drink boiling water, and they shall suffer a grievous punishment, for that they have disbelieved. it is he who hath ordained the sun to shine by day, and the moon for a light by night; and had appointed her stations, that ye might know the number of years, and the computation of time. god hath not created this, but with truth. he explaineth his signs unto people who understand. moreover in the vicissitudes of night and day, and whatever god hath created in heaven and earth, are surely signs unto men who fear him. 	q see chapter , p. , note n 	r this prophet is mentioned towards the end of the chapter. 	s see the prelim. disc. sec. iii. p. , . 	t and not one of the most powerful among them neither; so that the koreish said it was a wonder god could find out no other messenger than the orphan pupil of abu taleb. 	u meaning the korân. according to the reading of some copies, the words may be rendered, this man (i.e., mohammed) is no other than a manifest sorcerer. 	x these words were revealed to refute the foolish opinion of the idolatrous meccans, who imagined their idols were intercessors with god for them. 					 idem. verily they who hope not to meet us at the last day, and delight in this present life, and rest securely in the same, and who are negligent of our signs; their dwelling shall be hell fire, for that which they have deserved. but as to those who believe, and work righteousness, their lord will direct them because of their faith; they shall have rivers flowing through gardens of pleasure. 	their prayer therein shall be praise be unto thee o god! and their salutationy therein shall be peace! and the end of their prayer shall be, praise be unto god, the lord of all creatures! if god should cause evil to hasten unto men, according to their desire of hastening good, verily their end had been decreed. wherefore we suffer those who hope not to meet us at the resurrection, to wander amazedly in their error. when evil befalleth a man, he prayeth unto us lying on his side, or sitting, or standing:z but when we deliver him from his affliction, he continueth his former course of life, as though he had not called upon us to defend him against the evil which had befallen him. thus was that which the transgressors committed prepared for them. we have formerly destroyed the generations who were before you, o men of mecca, when they had acted unjustly, and our apostles had come unto them with evident miracles and they would not believe. thus do we reward the wicked people. afterwards did we cause you to succeed them in the earth; that we might see how ye would act. when our evident signs are recited unto them, they who hope not to meet us at the resurrection, say, bring a different koran from this; or make some change therein. answer, it is not fit for me, that i should change it at my pleasure: i follow that only which is revealed unto me. verily i fear if i should be disobedient unto my lord, the punishment of the great day. say, if god had so pleased, i had not read it unto you, neither had i taught you the same. i have already dwelt among you to the age of forty years,a before i received it. do ye not therefore understand? and who is more unjust than he who deviseth a lie against god, or accuseth his signs of falsehood? surely the wicked shall not prosper. they worship besides god, that which can neither hurt them or profit them, and they say, these are our intercessors with god.b answer, will ye tell god that which he knoweth not, neither in heaven nor in earth?c praise be unto him! and far be that from him, which they associate with him! 	men were professors of one religion only,d but they dissented therefrom; and if a decree had not previously issued from thy lord, deferring their punishment, verily the matter had been decided between them, concerning which they disagreed. 	y either the mutual salutation of the blessed to one another, or that of the angels to the blessed. 	z i.e., in all postures, and at all times. 	a for so old was mohammed before he took upon him to be a prophet; during which time his fellow-citizens well knew that he had not applied himself to learning of any sort, nor frequented learned men, nor had ever exercised himself in composing verses or orations whereby he might acquire the art of rhetoric, or elegance of speech. a flagrant proof, says al beidâwi, that this book could be taught him by none but god. 	b see the prelim. disc. sect. i. p. , &c. 	c viz., that he hath equals or companions either in heaven or on earth; since he acknowledgeth none. 	d that is to say, the true religion, or islâm, which was generally professed, as some say, till abel was murdered, or, as others, till the days of noah. some suppose the first ages after the flood are here intended: others, the state of religion in arabia, from the time of abraham to that of amru ebn lohai, the great introducer of idolatry into that country. see the prelim. disc. p. . abulfeda, vit. moh. c. .		 see the prelim. disc. p. , &c. they say, unless a sign be sent down unto him from his lord, we will not believe. answer, verily that which is hidden is known only unto god: wait, therefore, the pleasure of god; and i also will wait with you. and when we caused the men of mecca to taste mercy, after an affliction which had befallen them, behold, they devised a stratagem against our signs.e say unto them, god is more swift in executing a stratagem, than ye. verily our messengersf write down that which ye deceitfully devise. it is he who hath given you conveniences for travelling by land and by sea; so that ye be in ships, which sail with them, with a favorable wind, and they rejoice therein. and when a tempestuous wind overtaketh them, and waves come upon them from every side, and they think themselves encompassed with inevitable dangers; they call upon god, exhibiting the pure religion unto him,g and saying, verily if thou deliver us from this peril, we will be of those who give thanks. but when he hath delivered them, behold, they behave themselves insolently in the earth, without justice. o men, verily the violence which ye commit against your own souls, is for the enjoyment of this present life only; afterwards unto us shall ye return, and we will declare unto you that which ye have done. verily the likeness of this present life is no other than as water, which we send down from heaven, and wherewith the productions of the earth are mixed, of which men eat, and cattle also, until the earth receive its vesture, and be adorned with various plants: the inhabitants thereof imagine that they have power over the same; but our command cometh unto it by night, or by day, and we render it as though it had been mowen, as though it had not yesterday abounded with fruits. thus do we explain our signs unto people who consider. god inviteth unto the dwelling of peace,h and directeth whom he pleaseth into the right way. they who do right shall receive a most excellent reward, and a superabundant addition;i neither blacknessk nor shame shall cover their faces. these shall be the inhabitants of paradise; they shall continue therein forever. but they who commit evil shall receive the reward of evil, equal thereunto,l and they shall be covered with shame, (for they shall have no protector against god); as though their faces were covered with the profound darkness of the night. these shall be the inhabitants of hell fire: they shall remain therein forever. 	e for it is said that they were afflicted with a dearth for seven years, so that they were very near perishing; but no sooner relieved by god's sending them plenty, than they began again to charge mohammed with imposture, and to ridicule his revelations. 	f i.e., the guardian angels. 	g that is, applying themselves to god only, and neglecting their idols; their fears directing them in such an extremity to ask help of him only who could give it. 	h viz., paradise. 	i for their reward will vastly exceed the merit of their good works. al ghazâli supposes this additional recompense will be the beatific vision. 	k see the prelim. disc. p. , &c. 	l i.e., though the blessed will be rewarded beyond their deserts, yet god will not punish any beyond their demerits, but treat them with the exactest justice. 		 al beidâwi.		 see the prelim. disc. p. . on the day of the resurrection we will gather them altogether; then will we say unto the idolaters, get ye to your place, ye and your companions:m and we will separate them from one another; and their companions will say unto them, ye do not worship us;n 	and god is a sufficient witness between us and you; neither did we mind your worshipping of us. there shall every soul experienceo that which it shall have sent before it;p and they shall be brought before god their true lord; and the false deities which they vainly imagined, shall disappear from before them. say, who provideth you food from heaven and earth? or who hath the absolute power over the hearing and the sight? and who bringeth forth the living from the dead, and bringeth forth the dead from the living? and who governeth all things? they will surely answer, god. say, will ye not therefore fear him? this is therefore god your true lord: and what remaineth there after truth, except error? how therefore are ye turned aside from the truth? thus is the word of thy lord verified upon them who do wickedly; that they believe not. say, is there any of your companions who produceth a creature, and then causeth it to return unto himself? say, god produceth a creature, and then causeth it to return unto himself. how therefore are ye turned aside from his worship? say, is there any of your companions who directeth unto the truth. say, god directeth unto the truth. whether is he, therefore, who directeth unto the truth, more worthy to be followed; or he who directeth not, unless he be directed? what aileth you therefore, that ye judge as ye do? and the greater part of them follow an uncertain opinion only; but a mere opinion attaineth not unto any truth. verily god knoweth that which they do. this koran could not have been composed by any except god; but it is a confirmation of that which was revealed before it, and an explanation of the scripture; there is no doubt thereof; sent down from the lord of all creatures. will they say, mohammed hath forged it? answer, bring therefore a chapter like unto it; and call whom you may to your assistance, besides god, if ye speak truth. 	but they have charged that with falsehood, the knowledge whereof they do not comprehend, neither hath the interpretation thereof come unto them. in the same manner did those who were before them accuse their prophets of imposture; but behold, what was the end of the unjust! there are some of them who believe therein; and there are some of them who believe not therein:q and thy lord well knoweth the corrupt doers. if they accuse thee of imposture, say, i have my work, and ye have your work; ye shall be clear of that which i do, and i will be clear of that which ye do. there are some of them who hearken unto thee; but wilt thou make the deaf to hear, although they do not understand? 	m that is, your idols, or the companions which ye attributed unto god. 	n but ye really worshipped your own lusts, and were seduced to idolatry, not by us, but by your own superstitious fancies. it is pretended that god will, at the last day, enable the idols to speak, and that they will thus reproach their worshippers, instead of interceding for them, as they hoped. some suppose the angels, who were also objects of the worship of the pagan arabs, are particularly intended in this place. 	o some copies instead of tablu, read tatiu , i.e., shall follow, or meditate upon. 	p see chapter , p. , note r. 	q i.e., there are some of them who are inwardly well satisfied of the truth of thy doctrine, though they are so wicked as to oppose it; and there are others of them who believe it not, through prejudice and want of consideration. or the passage may be understood in the future tense, of some who should afterwards believe, and repent, and of others who should die infidels. 					 al beidâwi. and there are some of them who look at thee; but wilt thou direct the blind, although they see not?r verily god will not deal unjustly with men in any respect: but men deal unjustly with their own souls.s on a certain day he will gather them together, as though they had not tarriedt above an hour of a day: they shall know one another.u then shall they perish who have denied the meeting of god; and were not rightly directed. whether we cause thee to see a part of the punishment wherewith we have threatened them, or whether we cause thee to die before thou see it; unto us shall they return: then shall god be witness of that which they do. unto every nation hath an apostle been sent; and when their apostle came, the matter was decided between them with equity;x and they were not treated unjustly. the unbelievers say, when will this threatening be made good, if ye speak truth? 	answer, i am able neither to procure advantage unto myself, nor to avert mischief from me, but as god pleaseth. unto every nation is a fixed term decreed; when their term therefore is expired, they shall not have respite for an hour, neither shall their punishment be anticipated. say, tell me, if the punishment of god overtake you by night, or by day, what part thereof will the ungodly wish to be hastened? when it falleth on you, do ye then believe it? now do ye believe, and wish it far from you, when as ye formerly desired it should be hastened? then shall it be said unto the wicked, taste the punishment of eternity; would ye receive other than the reward of that which ye have wrought? they will desire to know of thee, whether this be true. answer, yea, by my lord, it is certainly true; neither shall ye weaken god's power so as to escape it. verily, if every soul which hath acted wickedly had whatever is on the earth, it would willingly redeem itself therewith at the last day. yet they will conceal their repentance,y after they shall have seen the punishment; and the matter shall be decided between them with equity, and they shall not be unjustly treated. doth not whatsoever is in heaven and on earth belong unto god? is not the promise of god true? but the greater part of them know it not. he giveth life, and he causeth to die: and unto him shall ye all return. o men, now hath an admonition come unto you from your lord, and a remedy for the doubts which are in your breasts; and a direction, and mercy unto the true believers. say, through the grace of god, and his mercy; therein therefore let them rejoice; this will be better than what they heap together of worldly riches. 	r these words were revealed on account of certain meccans, who seemed to attend while mohammed read the korân to them, or instructed them in any point of religion, but yet were as far from being convinced or edified, as if they had not heard him at all. 	s for god deprives them not of their senses or understanding; but they corrupt and make an ill use of them. 	t either in the world or in the grave. 	u as if it were but a little while since they parted. but this will happen during the first moments only of the resurrection; for afterwards the terror of the day will disturb and take from them all knowledge of one another. 	x by delivering the prophet and those who believed on him, and destroying the obstinate infidels. 	y to hide their shame and regret; or because their surprise and astonishment will deprive them of the use of speech. some, however, understand the verb which is here rendered will conceal, in the contrary signification, which it sometimes bears; and then it must be translated-they will openly declare their repentance, &c. 	 idem. see cap. , p. .		 idem.		 jallalo'ddin. 	 al beidâwi. 	say, tell me; of that which god hath sent down unto you for food, have ye declared part to be lawful,z and other part to be unlawful? say, hath god permitted you to make this distinction? or do ye devise a lie concerning god? but what will be the opinion of those who devise a lie concerning god, on the day of the resurrection? verily god is endued with beneficence towards mankind; but the greater part of them do not give thanks. thou shalt be engaged in no business, neither shalt thou be employed in meditating on any passage of the koran; nor shall ye do any action, but we will be witnesses over you, when ye are employed therein. nor is so much as the weight of an anta hidden from thy lord, in earth or in heaven: neither is there anything lesser than that, or greater, but it is written in the perspicuous book.b are not the friends of god the persons on whom no fear shall come, and who shall not be grieved? they who believe and fear god shall receive good tidings in this life, and in that which is to come. there is no change in the words of god. this shall be great felicity. let not their discoursec grieve thee; for all might belongeth unto god: he both heareth and knoweth. is not whoever dwelleth in heaven and on earth subject unto god? what therefore do they follow, who invoke idols, besides god? they follow nothing but a vain opinion; and they only utter lies. it is he who hath ordained the night for you, that ye may take your rest therein, and the clear day for labor: verily herein are signs unto people who hearken. they say, god hath begotten children; god forbid! he is self-sufficient. unto him belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and on earth: ye have no demonstrative proof of this. do ye speak of god that which ye know not? 	say, verily they who imagine a lie concerning god shall not prosper. they may enjoy a provision in this world; but afterwards unto us shall they return, and we will then cause them to taste a grievous punishment, for that they were unbelievers. rehearse unto them the history of noah:d when he said unto his people, o my people, if my standing forth among you, and my warning you of the signs of god, be grievous unto you; in god do i put my trust. therefore lay your design against me, and assemble your false gods; but let not your design be carried on by you in the dark: then come forth against me, and delay not. and if ye turn aside from my admonitions, i ask not any reward of you for the same;e i expect my reward from god alone, and i am commanded to be one of those who are resigned unto him. but they accused him of imposture, wherefore we delivered him, and those who were with him in the ark, and we caused them to survive the flood, but we drowned those who charged our signs with falsehood. behold therefore, what was the end of those who were warned by noah. then did we send, after him, apostles unto their respective people,f and they came unto them with evident demonstrations: yet they were not disposed to believe in that which they had before rejected as false. thus do we seal up the hearts of the transgressors. 	z see chapter , p. , &c. 	a see chapter , p. , note y. 	b the preserved table, wherein god's decrees are recorded. 	c the impious and rebellious talk of the infidels. 	d see chapter , p. , &c. 	e therefore ye cannot excuse yourselves by saying that i am burdensome to you. 	f as hûd, sâleh, abraham, lot, and shoaib, to those of ad, thamûd, babel, sodom, and midian. then did we send, after them, moses and aaron unto pharaoh and his princes with our signs:g but they behaved proudly, and were a wicked people. and when the truth from us had come unto them, they said, verily this is manifest sorcery. moses said unto them, do ye speak this of the truth, after it hath come unto you? is this sorcery? but sorcerers shall not prosper. they said, art thou come unto us to turn us aside from that religion, which we found our fathers practise; and that ye two may have the command in the land? but we do not believe you. 	and pharaoh said, bring unto me every expert magician. and when the magicians were come, moses said unto them, cast down that which ye are about to cast down. and when they had cast down their rods and cords, moses said unto them, the enchantment which ye have performed shall god surely render vain; for god prospereth not the work of the wicked doers, and god will verify the truth of his words, although the wicked be adverse thereto. and there believed not any on moses, except a generation of his people,h for fear of pharaoh and of his princes, lest he should afflict them. and pharaoh was lifted up with pride in the earth, and was surely one of the transgressors. and moses said, o my people, if ye believe in god, put your trust in him, if ye be resigned to his will. they answered, we put our trust in god: o lord, suffer us not to be afflicted by unjust people; but deliver us, through thy mercy, from the unbelieving people. and we spake by inspiration unto moses and his brother, saying, provide habitations for your people in egypt, and make your houses a place of worship,i and be constant at prayer: and bear good news unto the true believers. and moses said, o lord, verily thou hast given unto pharaoh and his people pompous ornaments,k and riches in this present life, o lord, that they may be seduced from thy way: o lord, bring their riches to nought, and harden their hearts; that they may not believe, until they see their grievous punishment. god said, your petition is hear;l be ye upright therefore,m and follow not the way of those who are ignorant. 	g see chapter , p. , &c. 	h for when he first began to preach, a few of the younger israelites only believed on him; the others not giving ear to him, for fear of the king. but some suppose the pronoun his refers to pharaoh, and that these were certain egyptians, who, together with his wife asia, believed on moses. 	i so jallalo'ddin expounds the original word kebla, which properly signifies that place or quarter toward which one prays. wherefore al zamakhshari supposes that the israelites are here ordered to dispose their oratories in such a manner that, when they prayed, their faces might be turned towards mecca; which he imagines was the kebla of moses, as it is that of the mohammedans. the former commentator adds that pharaoh had forbidden the israelites to pray to god; for which reason they were obliged to perform that duty privately in their houses. 	k as magnificent apparel, chariots, and the like. 	l the pronoun is in the dual number; the antecedent being moses and aaron. the commentators say that, in consequence of this prayer, all the treasures of egypt were turned into stones. 	m or, as al beidâwi interprets it, be ye constant and steady in preaching to the people. the mohammedans pretend that moses continued in egypt no less than forty years after he had first published his mission: which cannot be reconciled to scripture. 				 al beidâwi.		 jallalo'ddin. 	and we caused the children of israel to pass through the sea; and pharaoh and his army followed them in a violent and hostile manner; until, when he was drowning, he said, i believe that there is no god but he, on whom the children of israel believe; and i am one of the resigned.n now dost thou believe; when thou hast been hitherto rebellious, and one of the wicked doers? this day will we raise thy bodyo from the bottom of the sea, that thou mayest be a sign unto those who shall be after thee; and verily a great number of men are negligent of our signs. and we prepared for the children of israel an established dwelling in the land of canaan, and we provided good things for their sustenance; and they differed not in point of religion, until knowledge had come unto them;p verily thy lord will judge between them on the day of resurrection, concerning that wherein they disagreed. if thou art in a doubt concerning any part of that which we have sent down unto thee,q ask them who have read the book of the law before thee. now hath the truth come unto thee from thy lord; be not therefore one of those who doubt; neither be thou one of those who charge the signs of god with falsehood, lest thou become one of those who perish. verily those against whom the word of thy lord is decreed, shall not believe, although there come unto them every kind of miracle, until they see the grievous punishment prepared for them. and if it were not so, some city, among the many which have been destroyed, would have believed; and the faith of its inhabitants would have been of advantage unto them; but none of them believed, before the execution of their sentence, except the people of jonas.r when they believed, we delivered them from the punishment of shame in this world, and suffered them to enjoy their lives and possessions for a time.s but if thy lord had pleased, verily all who are in the earth would have believed in general. wilt thou therefore forcibly compel men to be true believers? 	no soul can believe, but by the permission of god: and he shall pour out his indignation on those who will not understand. say, consider whatever is in heaven and on earth: but signs are of no avail, neither preachers, unto people who will not believe. 	n these words, it is said, pharaoh repeated often in his extremity, that he might be heard. but his repentance came too late; for gabriel soon stopped his mouth with mud, lest he should obtain mercy; reproaching him at the same time in the words which follow. 	o some of the children of israel doubting whether pharaoh was really drowned. gabriel, by god's command, caused his naked corpse to swim to shore, that they might see it. the word here translated body, signifying also a coat of mail, some imagine the meaning to be, that his corpse floated armed with his coat of mail, which they tell us was of gold, by which they knew that it was he. 	p i.e., after the law had been revealed, and published by moses. 	q that is, concerning the truth of the histories which are here related. the commentators doubt whether the person here spoken to be mohammed himself or his auditor. 	r viz., the inhabitants of ninive, which stood on or near the place where al mawsel now stands. this people having corrupted themselves with idolatry, jonas the son of mattai (or amittai, which the mohammedans suppose to be the name of his mother), an israelite of the tribe of benjamin, was sent by god to preach to and reclaim them. when he first began to exhort them to repentance, instead of hearkening to him, they used him very ill, so that he was obliged to leave the city; threatening them, at his departure, that they should be destroyed within three days, or, as others say, within forty. but when the time drew near, and they saw the heavens overcast with a black cloud, which shot forth fire, and filled the air with smoke, and hung directly over their city, they were in a terrible consternation, and getting into the fields with their families and cattle, they put on sackcloth, and humbled themselves before god, calling aloud for pardon, and sincerely repenting of their past wickedness. whereupon god was pleased to forgive them, and the storm blew over. 	s i.e., until they died according to the ordinary course of nature. 	 see exod. xiv. .		 see jonah iii. .		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin, abulfeda. see cap. and . do they therefore expect any other than some terrible judgment, like unto the judgments which have fallen on those who have gone before them? say, wait ye the issue; and i also will wait with you; then will we deliver our apostles and those who believe. thus is it a justice due from us, that we should deliver the true believers. say, o men of mecca, if ye be in doubt concerning my religion, verily i worship not the idols which ye worship, besides god; but i worship god, who will cause you to die: and i am commanded to be one of the true believers. and it was said unto me, set thy face towards the true religion, and be orthodox; and by no means be one of those who attribute companions unto god; neither invoke, besides god, that which can neither profit thee nor hurt thee: for if thou do, thou wilt then certainly become one of the unjust. if god afflict thee with hurt, there is none who can relieve thee from it, except he; and if he willeth thee any good, there is none who can keep back his bounty: he will confer it on such of his servants as he pleaseth; and he is gracious and merciful. say, o men, now hath the truth come unto you from your lord. he therefore who shall be directed, will be directed to the advantage of his own soul: but he who shall err, will err only against the same. i am no guardian over you. do thou, o prophet, follow that which is revealed unto thee: and persevere with patience, until god shall judge; for he is the best judge. ________ chapter xi. entitled, hud;t revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. al. r.u this book, the verses whereof are guarded against corruption, and are also distinctly explained,y is a revelation from the wise, the knowing god: that ye serve not any other god: (verily i am a denouncer of threats, and a bearer of good tidings unto you from him;) 	t the story of which prophet is repeated in this chapter. 	u see the prelim. disc. p. , &c. 	x according to the various senses which the verb ohkimat, in the original, may bear, the commentators suggest as many different interpretations. some suppose the meaning to be, according to our version, that the korân is not liable to be corrupted, as the law and the gospel have been, in the opinion of the mohammedans; others, that every verse in this particular chapter is in full force, and not one of them abrogated; others, that the verses of the korân are disposed in a clear and perspicuous method, or contain evident and demonstrative arguments; and others, that they comprise judicial declarations, to regulate both faith and practice. 	y the signification of the verb fossilat, which is here used, being also ambiguous, the meaning of this passage is supposed to be, either that the verses are distinctly proposed or expressed in a clear manner; or that the subject matter of the whole may be distinguished or divided into laws, monitions, and examples; or else that the verses were revealed by parcels. 		 see the prelim. disc. p. .		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin, al zamakhshari, &c. and that ye ask pardon of your lord, and then be turned unto him. he will cause you to enjoy a plentiful provision, until a prefixed time: and unto every one that hath merit by good works will he give his abundant reward. but if ye turn back, verily i fear for you the punishment of the great day: unto god shall ye return; and he is almighty. do they not double the folds of their breasts,z that they may conceal their designs from him? when they cover themselves with their garments, doth not he know that which they conceal, and that which they discover? for he knoweth the innermost parts of the breasts of men.a there is no creature which creepeth on the earth, but god provideth its food; and he knoweth the place of its retreat, and where it is laid up.b the whole is written in the perspicuous book of his decrees. it is he who hath created the heavens and the earth in six days, (but his throne was above the waters before the creation thereof),c that he might prove you, and see which of you would excel in works. 	if thou say, ye shall surely be raised again, after death; the unbelievers will say, this is nothing but manifest sorcery. and verily if we defer their punishment unto a determined season, they will say, what hindereth it from falling on us? will it not come upon them on a day, wherein there shall be none to avert it from them; and that which they scoffed at shall encompass them? verily, if we cause man to taste mercy from us, and afterwards take it away from him; he will surely become desperate,d and ungrateful. and if we cause him to taste favor, after an affliction hath befallen him, he will surely say, the evils which i suffered are passed from me, and he will become joyful and insolent: except those who persevere with patience, and do that which is right; they shall receive pardon, and a great reward. peradventure thou wilt omit to publish part of that which hath been revealed unto thee, and thy breast will become straitened, lest they say, unless a treasure be sent down unto him, or an angel come with him, to bear witness unto him, we will not believe. verily thou art a preacher only; and god is the governor of all things. will they say, he hath forged the koran? answer, bring therefore ten chapterse like unto it, forged by yourselves: and call on whomsoever ye may to assist you, except god, if ye speak truth. 	z or, as it may be translated, do they not turn away their breasts, &c. 	a this passage was occasioned by the words of certain of the idolaters, who said to one another, when we let down our curtains (such as the women use in the east to screen themselves from the sight of the men when they happen to be in the room), and wrap ourselves up in our garments, and fold up our breasts, to conceal our malice against mohammed, how should he come to the knowledge of it? some suppose the passage relates to certain hypocritical moslems; but this opinion is generally rejected, because the verse was revealed at mecca, and the birth of hypocrisy among the mohammedans happened not till after the hejra. 	b i.e., both during its life and after its death; or the repository of every animal, before its birth, in the loins and wombs of the parents. 	c for the mohammedans suppose this throne, and the waters whereon it stands, which waters they imagine are supported by a spirit or wind, were, with some other things, created before the heavens and earth. this fancy they borrowed from the jews, who also say that the throne of glory then stood in the air, and was borne on the face of the waters, by the breath of god's mouth. 	d casting aside all hopes of the divine favour, for want of patience and trust in god. 	e this was the number which he first challenged them to compose; but they not being able to do it, he made the matter still easier, challenging them to produce a single chapter only, comparable to the korân in doctrine and eloquence. 	 rashi, ad gen. i. . vide reland. de relig. moh. p. , &c. 	 see c. , p. ; c. , p. , &c. but if they whom ye call to your assistance hear you not; know that this book hath been revealed by the knowledge of god only,f and that there is no god but he. will ye therefore become moslems? whoso chooseth the present life, and the pomp thereof, unto them will we give the recompense of their works therein, and the same shall not be diminished unto them. these are they for whom no other reward is prepared in the next life, except the fire of hell: that which they have done in this life shall perish; and that which they have wrought shall be vain. 	shall he therefore be compared with them, who followeth the evident declaration of his lord, and whom a witness from himg attendeth, preceded by the book of moses,h which was revealed for a guide, and out of mercy to mankind? these believe in the koran: but whosoever of the confederate infidels believeth not therein, is threatened the fire of hell, which threat shall certainly be executed: be not therefore in a doubt concerning it; for it is the truth from thy lord: but the greater part of men will not believe. who is more unjust than he who imagineth a lie concerning god? they shall be set before the lord, at the day of judgment, and the witnessesi shall say, these are they who devised lies against their lord. shall not the curse of god fall on the unjust; who turn men aside from the way of god, and seek to render it crooked, and who believe not in the life to come? these were not able to prevail against god on earth, so as to escape punishment; neither had they any protectors besides god: their punishment shall be doubled unto them.k they could not hear, neither did they see these are they who have lost their souls; and the idols which they falsely imagined have abandoned them. there is no doubt but they shall be most miserable in the world to come. but as for those who believe and do good works, and humble themselves before their lord, they shall be the inhabitants of paradise; they shall remain therein forever. the similitude of the two partiesl is as the blind and the deaf, and as he who seeth and heareth: shall they be compared as equal? will ye not therefore consider? we formerly sent noahm unto his people; and he said, verily i am a public preacher unto you; that ye worship god alone; verily i fear for you the punishment of the terrible day. but the chiefs of the people, who believed not, answered, we see thee to be no other than a man, like unto us; and we do not see that any follow thee, except those who are the most abject among us, who have believed on thee by a rash judgment;n neither do we perceive any excellence in you above us: but we esteem you to be liars. 	noah said, o my people, tell me; if i have received an evident declaration from my lord, and he hath bestowed on me mercy from himself, which is hidden from you, do we compel you to receive the same, in case ye be averse thereto? 	f or containing several passages wrapped up in dark and mysterious expressions, which can proceed from and are perfectly comprehended by none but god. 	g the korân; or, as others suppose, the angel gabriel. 	h which bears testimony thereto. 	i that is, the angels, and prophets, and their own members. 	k for they shall be punished both in this life and in the next. 	l i.e., the believers and the infidels. 	m see chapter , p. , &c. 	n for want of mature consideration, and moved by the first impulse of their fancy. 					 see c. , p. . o my people, i ask not of you riches, for my preaching unto you: my reward is with god alone. i will not drive away those who have believed:o verily they shall meet their lord, at the resurrection; but i perceive that ye are ignorant men. o my people, who shall assist me against god, if i drive them away? will ye not therefore consider? i say not unto you, the treasures of god are in my power; neither do i say, i know the secrets of god: neither do i say, verily i am an angel;p neither do i say of those whom your eyes do contemn, god will by no means bestow good on them: (god best knoweth that which is in their souls;) for then should i certainly be one of the unjust. they answered, o noah, thou hast already disputed with us, and hast multiplied disputes with us; now therefore do thou bring that punishment upon us wherewith thou hast threatened us, if thou speakest truth. noah said, verily god alone shall bring it upon you, if he pleaseth; and ye shall not prevail against him, so as to escape the same. neither shall my counsel profit you, although i endeavor to counsel you aright, if god shall please to lead you into error. he is your lord, and unto him shall ye return. will the meccans say, mohammed hath forged the koran? answer, if i have forged it, on me be my guilt: and let me be clear of that which ye are guilty of. and it was revealed unto noah, saying, verily none of thy people shall believe, except he who hath already believed: be not therefore grieved, for that which they are doing. but make an ark in our presence, according to the form and dimensions which we have revealed unto thee: and speak not unto me in behalf of those who have acted unjustly; for they are doomed to be drowned. 	and he built the ark; and so often as a company of his people passed by him, they derided him:q but he said, though ye scoff at us now, we will scoff at you hereafter, as ye scoff at us; and ye shall surely know on whom a punishment shall be inflicted, which shall cover him with shame, and on whom a lasting punishment shall fall. 	o for this they asked him to do, because they were poor mean people. the same thing the koreish demanded of mohammed, but he was forbidden to comply with their request. 	p see chapter , p. . 	q for building a vessel in an inland country, and so far from the sea; and for that he was turned carpenter after he had set up for a prophet. 	 see cap. , p. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem. 	 jallalo'ddin, &c.		 vide d'herbelot, bibl. orient. art. noah.		 vide hyde, de rel. vet. persar, and lord's account of the relig. of the persees, p. . thus were they employed until our sentence was put in execution, and the oven poured forth water.r and we said unto noah, carry into the ark of every species of animals one pair;s and thy family,t (except him on whom a previous sentence of destruction hath passed),u and those who believe.x but there believed not with him except a few.y and noah said, embark thereon, in the name of god; while it moveth forward, and while it standeth still;z for my lord is gracious and merciful. and the ark swam with them between waves like mountains:a and noah called unto his son,b who was separated from him, saying, embark with us, my son, and stay not with the unbelievers. he answered, i will get on a mountain, which will secure me from the water. noah replied, there is no security this day from the decree of god, except for him on whom he shall have mercy. and a wave passed between them, and he became one of those who were drowned. 	r or, as the original literally signifies, boiled over; which is consonant to what the rabbins say, that the waters of the deluge were boiling hot. 	this oven was, as some say, at cûfa, in a spot whereon a mosque now stands; or, as others rather think, in a certain place in india, or else at ain warda in mesopotamia; and its exundation was the sign by which noah knew the flood was coming. some pretend that it was the same oven which eve made use of to bake her bread in, being of a form different from those we use, having the mouth in the upper part, and that it descended from patriarch to patriarch, till it came to noah. it is remarkable that mohammed, in all probability, borrowed this circumstance from the persian magi, who also fancied that the first waters of the deluge gushed out of the oven of a certain old woman named zala cûfa. 	but the word tannûr, which is here translated oven, also signifying the superficies of the earth, or a place whence waters spring forth, or where they are collected, some suppose it means no more in this passage than the spot or fissure whence the first eruption of waters brake forth. 	s or, as the words may also be rendered, and some commentators think they ought, two pair, that is, two males and two females of each species; wherein they partly agree with divers jewish and christian writers, who from the hebrew expression, seven and seven and two and two, the male and his female, suppose there went into the ark fourteen pair of every clean, and two pair of every unclean species. there is a tradition that god gathered together unto noah all sorts of beasts, birds, and other animals (it being indeed difficult to conceive how he should come by them all without some supernatural assistance), and that as he laid hold on them, his right hand constantly fell on the male, and his left on the female. 	t namely, thy wife, and thy sons and their wives. 	u this was an unbelieving son of noah, named canaan, or yam; though others say he was not the son of noah, but his grandson by his son ham, or his wife's son by another husband; nay, some pretend he was related to him no farther than by having been educated and brought up in his house. the best commentators add, that noah's wife, named wâïla, who was n infidel, was also comprehended in this exception, and perished with her son. 	x noah's family being mentioned before, it is supposed that by these words are intended the other believers, who were his proselytes, but not of his family: whence the common opinion among the mohammedans, of a greater number than eight being saved in the ark, seems to have taken its rise. 	y viz., his other wife, who was a true believer, his three sons, shem, ham, and japhet, and their wives, and seventy-two persons more. 	z that is, omit no opportunity of getting on board. according to a different reading, the latter words may be rendered, who shall cause it to move forward, and to stop, as there shall be occasion. the commentators tell us that the ark moved forwards, or stood still, as noah would have it, on his pronouncing only the words, in the name of god. 	it is to be observed that the more judicious commentators make the dimensions of the ark to be the same with those assigned by moses: notwithstanding, others have enlarged them most extravagantly, as some christian writers have also done. they likewise tell us that noah was two years in building the ark, which was framed of indian plane-tree, that it was divided into three stories, of which the lower was designed for the beasts, the middle one for the men and women, and the upper for the birds; and that the men were separated from the women by the body of adam, which noah had taken into the ark. this last is a tradition of the eastern christians, some of whom pretend that the matrimonial duty was superseded and suspended during the time noah and his family were in the ark; though ham has been accused of not observing continency on that occasion, his wife, it seems, bringing forth caanan in the very ark. 	a the waters prevailing fifteen cubits above the mountains. 	b see above, note u. 	 aben ezra, justin martyr, origen, &c.		 gen. vii. . 	 jallalo'ddin.		 al beidâwi.		 yahya.		 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi.		 ebn shohnah.		 al zamakhshari. vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. .		 jallalo'ddin, al zamakhshari, al beidâwi.		 see c. , p. .		 see ibid. note x.		 al beidâwi, &c.			 idem, &c. 	 yahya. vide marracc. in alcor. p. . origen. contr. cels. l. . vide kircher. de arca noe, c. .		 al beidâwi. vide d'herbel. p. , and eutych. p. . al beidâwi. vide eutych. annal. p. .		 yahya.		 jacob, edessenus, apud barcepham de parad. part i. c. . eutych. ubi sup. vide etiam eliezer. pirke c. .		 ambros. de noa et arca, c. . 	 vide heidegger. hist. patriarchar. vol. i. p. . al beidâwi. and it was said, o earth, swallow up thy waters, and thou, o heaven, withhold thy rain. and immediately the water abated, and the decree was fulfilled, and the ark rested on the mountain al judi;c and it was said, away with the ungodly people! and noah called upon his lord, and said, o lord, verily my son is of my family, and thy promise is true;d for thou art the most just of those who exercise judgment. god answered, o noah, verily he is not of thy family;e this intercession of thine for him is not a righteous work.f ask not of me therefore that wherein thou hast no knowledge: i admonish thee that thou become not one of the ignorant. noah said, o lord, i have recourse unto thee for the assistance of thy grace, that i ask not of thee that wherein i have no knowledge; and unless thou forgive me, and be merciful unto me, i shall be one of those who perish. 	it was said unto him, o noah, come down from the ark,g with peace from us, and blessings upon thee, and upon part of those who are with thee:h but as for a part of them,i we will suffer them to enjoy the provision of this world; and afterwards shall a grievous punishment from us be inflicted on them, in the life to come. this is a secret history, which we reveal unto thee: thou didst not know it, neither did thy people, before this. wherefore persevere with patience: for the prosperous issue shall attend the pious. and unto the tribe of ad we sent their brother hud.k he said, o my people, worship god; ye have no god besides him: ye only imagine falsehood, in setting up idols and intercessors of your own making. 	c this mountain is one of those which divide armenia, on the south, from mesopotamia, and that part of assyria which is inhabited by the curds, from whom the mountains took the name of cardu, or gardu, by the greeks turned into gordyæi, and other names. mount al jûdi (which name seems to be a corruption, though it be constantly so written by the arabs, for jordi, or giordi) is also called thamanin, probably from a town at the foot of it, so named from the number of persons saved in the ark, the word thamanin signifying eighty, and overlooks the country of diyâr rabîah, near the cities of mawsel, forda, and jazîrat ebn omar, which last place one affirms to be but four miles from the place of the ark, and says that a mohammedan temple was built there with the remains of that vessel, by the khalif omar ebn abd'alaziz, whom he by mistake calls omar ebn al khattâb. 	the tradition which affirms the ark to have rested on these mountains, must have been very ancient, since it is the tradition of the chaldeans themselves: the chaldee paraphrasts consent to their opinion, which obtained very much formerly, especially among the eastern christians. to confirm it, we are told that the remainders of the ark were to be seen on the gordyæan mountains: berosus and abydenus both declare there was such a report in their time; the first observing that several of the inhabitants thereabouts scraped the pitch off the planks as a rarity, and carried it about them for an amulet: and the latter saying that they used the wood of the vessel against many diseases with wonderful success. the relics of the ark were also to be seen here in the time of epiphanius, if we may believe him; and we are told the emperor heraclius went from the town of thamanin up to the mountain al jûdi, and saw the place of the ark. there was also formerly a famous monastery, called the monastery of the ark, upon some of these mountains, where the nestorians used to celebrate a feast day on the spot where they supposed the ark rested; but in the year of christ , that monastery was destroyed by lightning, with the church, and a numerous congregation in it. since which time it seems the credit of this tradition hath declined, and given place to another, which obtains at present, and according to which the ark rested on mount masis, in armenia, called by the turks aghir dagh, or the heavy or great mountain, and situate about twelve leagues south-east of erivan. 	d noah here challenges god's promise that he would save his family. 	e being cut off from it on account of his infidelity. 	f according to a different reading, this passage may be rendered, for he hath acted unrighteously. 	g the mohammedans say that noah went into the ark on the tenth of rajeb, and came out of it the tenth of al moharram, which therefore became a fast. so that the whole time of noah's being in the ark, according to them, was six months. 	h viz., such of them as continued in their belief. 	i that is, such of his posterity as should depart from the true faith, and fall into idolatry. 	k see chapter , p. . 	 see bochart. phaleg. l. i, c. .		 geogr. nub. p. . 	 vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. and , and agathiam, l. , p. .		 benjamin. itiner. p. .		 berosus, apud joseph. antiq. l. i, c. .		 onkelos et jonathan, in gen. viii. . 	 vide eutych. annal. p. .		 berosus, apud joseph. ubi sup. abydenus, apud euseb. præp. ev. l. , c. .		 epiph. hæres. . 	 elmacin. l. i, c. i.		 vide chronic. dionysii patriarch. jacobitar. apud asseman. bibl. orient. t. , p. .		 al beidâwi. 	 idem. see d'herbel. ubi sup. o my people, i ask not of you for this my preaching, any recompense: my recompense do i expect from him only who hath created me. will ye not therefore understand? o my people, ask pardon of your lord; and be turned unto him: he will send the heaven to pour forth rain plentifully upon you,l and he will increase your strength by giving unto you farther strength:m therefore turn not aside, to commit evil. they answered, o hud, thou hast brought us no proof of what thou sayest; therefore we will not leave our gods for thy saying, neither do we believe thee we say no other than that some of our gods have afflicted thee with evil.n he replied, verily i call god to witness, and do ye also bear witness that i am clear of that which ye associate with god, besides him. do ye all therefore join to devise a plot against me, and tarry not; for i put my confidence in god, my lord and your lord. there is no beast, but he holdeth it by its forelock:o verily my lord proceedeth in the right way. 	but if ye turn back, i have already declared unto you that with which i was sent unto you: and my lord shall substitute another nation in your stead; and ye shall not hurt him at all: for my lord is guardian over all things. and when our sentence came to be put in execution, we delivered hud, and those who had believed with him,p through our mercy; and we delivered them from a grievous punishment. and this tribe of ad wittingly rejected the signs of their lord, and were disobedient unto his messengers, and they followed the command of every rebellious perverse person. wherefore they were followed in this world by a curse, and they shall be followed by the same on the day of resurrection. did not ad disbelieve in their lord? was it not said, away with ad, the people of hud? and unto the tribe of thamud we sent their brother saleh.q he said unto them, o my people, worship god; ye have no god besides him. it is he who hath produced you out of the earth, and hath given you an habitation therein. ask pardon of him therefore, and be turned unto him; for my lord is near, and ready to answer. they answered, o saleh, thou wast a person on whom we placed our hopes before this.r dost thou forbid us to worship that which our fathers worshipped? but we are certainly in doubt concerning the religion to which thou dost invite us, as justly to be suspected. saleh said, o my people, tell me; if i have received an evident declaration from my lord, and he hath bestowed on me mercy from himself; who will protect me from the vengeance of god, if i be disobedient unto him? for ye shall not add unto me, other than loss. and he said, o my people, this she-camel of god is a sign unto you; therefore dismiss her freely, that she may feed in god's earth, and do her no harm, lest a swift punishment seize you. 	l for the adites were grievously distressed by a drought for three years. 	m by giving you children; the wombs of their wives being also rendered barren during the time of the drought, as well as their lands. 	n or madness; having deprived thee of thy reason for the indignities thou hast offered them. 	o that is, he exerciseth an absolute power over it. a creature held in this manner being supposed to be reduced to the lowest subjection. 	p who were in number four thousand. 	q see chapter , p. . 	r designing to have made thee our prince, because of the singular prudence and other good qualities which we observed in thee; but thy dissenting from us in point of religious worship has frustrated those hopes. 	 see the notes to cap. , p. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem. yet they killed her; and saleh said, enjoy yourselves in your dwellings for three days:s after which ye shall be destroyed. this is an infallible prediction. and when our decree came to be executed, we delivered saleh and those who believed with him, through our mercy, from the disgrace of that day; for thy lord is the strong, the mighty god. 	but a terrible noise from heaven assailed those who had acted unjustly; and in the morning they were found in their houses, lying dead and prostrate: as though they had never dwelt therein. did not thamud disbelieve in their lord? was not thamud cast far away? our messengerst also came formerly unto abraham, with good tidings: they said, peace be upon thee. and he answered, and on you be peace! and he tarried not, but brought a roasted calf. and when he saw that their hands did not touch the meat, he misliked them, and entertained a fear of them.u but they said, fear not: for we are sent unto the people of lot.x and his wife sarah was standing by,y and she laughed;z and we promised her isaac, and after isaac, jacob. she said, alas! shall i bear a son, who am old; this my husband also being advanced in years?a verily this would be a wonderful thing. the angels answered, dost thou wonder at the effect of the command of god? the mercy of god and his blessings be upon you, the family of the house:b for he is praiseworthy, and to be glorified. and when his apprehension had departed from abraham, and the good tidings of isaac's birth had come unto him, he disputed with us concerning the people of lot;c for abraham was a pitiful, compassionate, and devout person. the angels said unto him, o abraham, abstain from this; for now is the command of thy lord come, to put their sentence in execution, and an inevitable punishment is ready to fall upon them. 	s viz., wednesday, thursday, and friday. see chapter , p. , note m. 	t these were the angels who were sent to acquaint abraham with the promise of isaac, and to destroy sodom and gomorrah. some of the commentators pretend they were twelve, or nine, or ten in number; but others, agreeably to scripture, say they were but three, viz., gabriel, michael and israfîl. 	u apprehending they had some ill design against him, because they would not eat with him. 	x being angels, whose nature needs not the support of food. 	y either behind the curtain, or door of the tent; or else waiting upon them. 	z the commentators are so little acquainted with scripture, that, not knowing the true occasion of sarah's laughter, they strain their invention to give some reason for it. one says that she laughed at the angels discovering themselves, and ridding abraham and herself of their apprehensions; and another, that it was at the approaching destruction of the sodomites (a very probable motive in one of her sex). some, however, interpret the original word differently, and will have it that she did not laugh, but that her courses, which had stopped for several years, came upon her at this time, as a previous sign of her future conception. 	a al beidâwi writes that sarah was then ninety or ninety-nine years old, and abraham a hundred and twenty. 	b or the stock whence all the prophets were to proceed for the future. or the expression may perhaps refer to abraham and ismael's building the caaba, which is often called, by way of excellence, the house. 	c that is, he interceded with us for them. jallalo'ddin, instead of the numbers mentioned by moses, says that abraham first asked whether god would destroy those cities if three hundred righteous persons were found therein, and so fell successively to two hundred, forty, fourteen, and at last came to one: but there was not one righteous person to be found among them, except only lot and his family. 	 idem.		 idem, jallalo'ddin. see gen. xviii.		 idem.		 idem, jallalo'ddin, al zamakhshari. vide gen. xviii. , &c. and when our messengers came unto lot, he was troubled for them,d and his arm was straightened concerning them;e and he said, this is a grievous day. 	and his people came unto him, rushing upon him, and they had formerly been guilty of wickedness. lot said unto them, o my people, these my daughters are more lawful for you: therefore fear god, and put me not to shame by wronging my guests. is there not a man of prudence among you? they answered, thou knowest that we have no need of thy daughters; and thou well knowest what we would have. he said, if i had strength sufficient to oppose you, or i could have recourse unto a powerful support, i would certainly do it. the angels said, o lot, verily we are the messengers of thy lord; they shall by no means come in unto thee.f go forth, therefore, with thy family, in some part of the night, and let not any of you turn back: but as for thy wife,g that shall happen unto her, which shall happen unto them. verily the prediction of their punishment shall be fulfilled in the morning: is not the morning near? and when our command came, we turned those cities upside down,h and we rained upon them stones of baked clay,i one following another, and being markedk from thy lord; and they are not far distant from those who act unjustly.l and unto madian we sent their brother shoaib:m he said, o people, worship god: ye have no god but him: and diminish not measure and weight. verily i see you to be in a happy condition:n but i fear for you the punishment of the day which will encompass the ungodly. o my people, give full measure and just weight; and diminish not unto men aught of their matters; neither commit injustice in the earth, acting corruptly. the residue which shall remain unto you as the gift of god, after ye shall have done justice to others, will be better for you, than wealth gotten by fraud, if ye be true believers. i am no guardian over you. 	d because they appeared in the shape of beautiful young men, which must needs tempt those of sodom to abuse them. 	e i.e., he knew himself unable to protect them against the insults of his townsmen. 	f al beidâwi says that lot shut his door, and argued the matter with the riotous assembly from behind it; but at length they endeavoured to get over the wall: whereupon gabriel, seeing his distress, struck them on the face with one of his wings, and blinded them; so that they moved off, crying out for help, and saying that lot had magicians in his house. 	g this seems to be the true sense of the passage; but according to a different reading of the vowel, some interpret it, except thy wife; the meaning being that lot is here commanded to take his family with him except his wife. wherefore the commentators cannot agree whether lot's wife went forth with him or not; some denying it, and pretending that she was left behind and perished in the common destruction; and others affirming it, and saying that when she heard the noise of the storm and overthrow of the cities, she turned back lamenting their fate, and was immediately struck down and killed by one of the stones mentioned a little lower. a punishment she justly merited for her infidelity and disobedience to her husband. 	h for they tell us that gabriel thrust his wing under them, and lifted them up so high, that the inhabitants of the lower heaven heard the barking of the dogs and the crowing of the cocks; and then, inverting them, threw them down to the earth. 	i the kiln wherein they were burned some imagine to have been hell. 	k that is, as some suppose, streaked with white and red, or having some other peculiar mark to distinguish them from ordinary stones. but the common opinion is that each stone had the name of the person who was to be killed by it written thereon. the army of abraha al ashram was also destroyed by the same kind of stones. 	l this is a kind of threat to other wicked persons, and particularly to the infidels of mecca, who deserved and might justly apprehend the same punishment. 	m see chap. , p. , &c. 	n that is, enjoying plenty of all things; and therefore having the less occasion to defraud one another, and being the more strongly bound to be thankful and obedient unto god. 	 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi. vide joseph. ant. l. i, c. ii. 	 idem interpretes.		 see cap. . jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi.		 idem. they answered, o shoaib, do thy prayers enjoin thee, that we should leave the gods which our fathers worshipped; or that we should not do what we please with our substance?o thou only, it seems, art the wise person, and fit to direct. 	he said, o my people, tell me: if i have received an evident declaration from my lord, and he hath bestowed on me an excellent provision, and i will not consent unto you in that which i forbid you; do i seek any other than your reformation, to the utmost of my power? my support is from god alone: on him do i trust, and unto him do i turn me. o my people, let not your opposing of me draw on you a vengeance like unto that which fell on the people of noah, or the people of hud, or the people of saleh: neither was the people of lot far distant from you.p ask pardon, therefore, of your lord; and be turned unto him: for my lord is merciful and loving. they answered, o shoaib, we understand not much of what thou sayest; and we see thee to be a man of no powerq among us: if it had not been for the sake of thy family,r we had surely stoned thee, neither couldst thou have prevailed against us. shoaib said, o my people, is my family more worthy in your opinion than god? and do ye cast him behind you with neglect? verily my lord comprehendeth that which ye do. o my people, do ye work according to your condition; i will surely work according to my duty.s and ye shall certainly know on whom will be inflicted a punishment which shall cover him with shame, and who is a liar. wait, therefore, the event; for i also will wait it with you. wherefore, when our decree came to be executed, we delivered shoaib and those who believed with him, through our mercy: and a terrible noise from heaven assailed those who had acted unjustly; and in the morning they were found in their houses lying dead and prostrate, as though they had never dwelt therein. was not madian removed from off the earth, as thamud had been removed? and we formerly sent moses with our signs, and manifest power unto pharaoh and his princes;t but they followed the command of pharaoh; although the command of pharaoh did not direct them aright. 	pharaoh shall precede his on the day of resurrection, and he shall lead them into hell fire; an unhappy way shall it be which they shall be led. they were followed in this life by a curse, and on the day of resurrection miserable shall be the gift which shall be given them. this is a part of the histories of the cities, which we rehearse unto thee. of them there are some standing; and others which are utterly demolished.u 	o for this liberty they imagined was taken from them, by his prohibition of false weights and measures, or to diminish or adulterate their coin. 	p for sodom and gomorrah were situate not a great way from you, and their destruction happened not many ages ago; neither did they deserve it, on account of their obstinacy and wickedness, much more than yourselves. 	q the arabic word daîf, weak, signifying also, in the hamyaritic dialect, blind, some suppose that shoaib was so, and that the midianites objected that to him as a defect which disqualified him for the prophetic office. 	r i.e., for the respect we bear to thy family and relations, whom we honour as being of our religion, and not for any apprehension we have of their power to assist you against us. the original word, here translated family, signifies any number from three to seven or ten, but not more. 	s see chapter , p. , note o. 	t see chapter , p. , &c. 	u literally, mown down; the sentence presenting the different images of corn standing, and cut down, which is also often used by the sacred writers. 				 al beidâwi.		 idem. and we treated them not unjustly, but they dealt unjustly with their own souls: and their gods which they invoked, besides god, were of no advantage unto them at all, when the decree of thy lord came to be executed on them, neither were they any other than a detriment unto them. and thus was the punishment of thy lord inflicted, when he punished the cities which were unjust; for his punishment is grievous and severe. verily herein is a sign unto him who feareth the punishment of the last day: that shall be a day, whereon all men shall be assembled, and that shall be a day whereon witness shall be borne; we defer it not, but to a determined time. when that day shall come, no soul shall speak to excuse itself, or to intercede for another, but by the permission of god. of them, one shall be miserable, and another shall be happy. and they who shall be miserable, shall be thrown into hell fire; there shall they wail and bemoan themselves:x they shall remain therein so long as the heavens and the earth shall endure;y except what thy lord shall please to remit of their sentence;z for thy lord effecteth that which he pleaseth. 	but they who shall be happy, shall be admitted into paradise; they shall remain therein so long as the heavens and the earth endure: besides what thy lord shall please to add unto their bliss; a bounty which shall not be interrupted. be not therefore in doubt concerning that which these men worship: they worship no other than what their fathers worshipped before them; and we will surely give them their full portion, not in the least diminished. we formerly gave unto moses the book of the law; and disputes arose among his people concerning it: and unless a previous decree had proceeded from thy lord, to bear with them during this life, the matter had been surely decided between them. and thy people are also jealous and in doubt concerning the koran. but unto every one of them will thy lord render the reward of their works; for he well knoweth that which they do. be thou steadfast, therefore, as thou hast been commanded; and let him also be steadfast who shall be converted with thee; and transgress not; for he seeth that which ye do. and incline not unto those who act unjustly, lest the fire of hell touch you: for ye have no protectors, except god; neither shall ye be assisted against him. pray regularly morning and evening;a and in the former part of the night,b for good works drive away evils. this is an admonition unto those who consider: wherefore persevere with patience; for god suffereth not the reward of the righteous to perish. 	x the two words in the original signify properly the vehement drawing in and expiration of one's breath, which is usual to persons in great pain and anguish; and particularly the reciprocation of the voice of an ass when he brays. 	y this is not to be strictly understood as if either the punishment of the damned should have an end, or the heavens and the earth should endure for ever; the expression being only used by way of image or comparison, which need not agree in every point with the thing signified. some, however, think the future heavens and earth, into which the present shall be changed, are here meant. 	z see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. , . 	a literally, in the two extremities of the day. 	b that is, after sunset and before supper, when the mohammedans say their fourth prayer, called by them salât al moghreb, or the evening prayer. 				 al beidâwi.		 idem. were such of the generations before you, endued with understanding and virtue, who forbade the acting corruptly in the earth, any more than a few only of those whom we delivered; but they who were unjust followed the delights which they enjoyed in this world,c and were wicked doers:d and thy lord was not of such a disposition as to destroy the cities unjustly,e while their inhabitants behaved themselves uprightly. 	and if thy lord pleased, he would have made all men of one religion: but they shall not cease to differ among themselves, unless those on whom thy lord shall have mercy: and unto this hath he created them; for the word of thy lord shall be fulfilled, when he said, verily i will fill hell altogether with genii and men. the whole which we have related of the histories of our apostles do we relate unto thee, that we may confirm thy heart thereby; and herein is the truth come unto thee, and an admonition, and a warning unto the true believers. say unto those who believe not, act ye according to your condition; we surely will act according to our duty:f and wait the issue; for we certainly wait it also. unto god is known that which is secret in heaven and earth; and unto him shall the whole matter be referred. therefore worship him, and put thy trust in him; for thy lord is not regardless of that which ye do. ______ chapter xii. entitled, joseph;g revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. al. r.h these are the signs of the perspicuous book; which we have sent down in the arabic tongue, that, peradventure, ye might understand. we relate unto thee a most excellent history, by revealing unto thee this korân,i whereas thou wast before one of thek negligent. 	c making it their sole business to please their luxurious desires and appetites, and placing their whole felicity therein. 	d al beidâwi says that this passage gives the reason why the nations were destroyed of old; viz., for their violence and injustice, their following their own lusts, and for their idolatry and unbelief. 	e or, as the commentator just named explains it, for their idolatry only, when they observed justice in other respects. 	f see chapter , p. , note o. 	g the koreish, thinking to puzzle mohammed, at the instigation and by the direction of certain jewish rabbins, demanded of him how jacob's family happened to go down into egypt, and that he would relate to them the history of joseph, with all its circumstances: whereupon he pretended to have received this chapter from heaven, containing the story of that patriarch. it is said, however, to have been rejected by two mohammedan sects, branches of the khârejites, called the ajâredites and the maimûnians, as apocryphal and spurious. 	h see the prelim. disc. p. , &c. 	i or this particular chapter. for the word korân, as has been elsewhere observed, properly signifying no more than a reading or lecture, is often used to denote, not only the whole volume, but any distinct chapter or section of it. 	k i.e., so far from being acquainted with the story, that it never so much as entered into thy thoughts; a certain argument, says al beidâwi, that it must have been revealed to him from heaven. 			 al beidâwi.		 prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. . when joseph said unto his father,l o my father, verily i saw in my dream eleven stars,m and the sun and the moon; i saw them make obeisance unto me: jacob said, o my child, tell not thy vision to thy brethren, lest they devise some plot against thee;n for the devil is a professed enemy unto man; and thus, according to thy dream, shall thy lord choose thee, and teach thee the interpretation of dark sayings,o and he shall accomplish his favor upon thee and upon the family of jacob, as he hath formerly accomplished it upon thy fathers abraham and isaac; for thy lord is knowing and wise. surely in the history of joseph and his brethren there are signs of god's providence to the inquisitive; when they said to one another, joseph and his brotherp are dearer to our father than we, who are the greater number: our father certainly maketh a wrong judgment. wherefore slay joseph, or drive him into some distant or desert part of the earth, and the face of your father shall be cleared towards you;q and ye shall afterwards be people of integrity. 	one of themr spoke and said; slay not joseph, but throw him to the bottom of the well; and some travellers will take him up, if ye do this. they said unto jacob, o father, why dost thou not intrust joseph with us, since we are sincere well-wishers unto him? send him with us to-morrow, into the field, that he may divert himself, and sport,s and we will be his guardians. jacob answered, it grieveth me that ye take him away; and i fear lest the wolf devour him,t while ye are negligent of him. they said, surely if the wolf devour him, when there are so many of us, we shall be weak indeed.u 	l who was jacob, the son of isaac, the son of abraham. 	m the commentators give us the names of these stars (which i think it needless to trouble the reader with), as mohammed repeated them, at the request of a jew, who thought to entrap him by the question. 	n for they say, jacob, judging that joseph's dream portended his advancement above the rest of the family, justly apprehended his brethren's envy might tempt them to do him some mischief. 	o that is, of dreams; or, as others suppose, of the profound passages of scripture, and all difficulties respecting either religion or justice. 	p viz., benjamin, his brother by the same mother. 	q or, he will settle his love wholly upon you, and ye will have no rival in his favour. 	r this person, as some say, was judah, the most prudent and noble- minded of them all; or, according to others, reuben, whom the mohammedan writers call rubîl. and both these opinions are supported by the account of moses, who tells us that reuben advised them not to kill joseph, but to throw him into a pit privately, intending to release him; and that afterwards judah, in reuben's absence, persuaded them not to let him die in the pit, but to sell him to the ishmaelites. 	s some copies read, in the first person plural, that we may divert ourselves, &c. 	t the reason why jacob feared this beast in particular, as the commentators say, was, either because the land was full of wolves, or else because jacob had dreamed he saw joseph devoured by one of those creatures. 	u i.e., it will be an instance of extreme weakness and folly in us, and we shall be justly blamed for his loss. 	 al beidâwi, &c.		 idem, al zamakhshari.		 idem.		 gen. xxxvii. , .		 ibid. v. , .		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin, al zamakhshari. and when they had carried him with them, and agreed to set him at the bottom of the well,x they executed their design: and we sent a revelation unto him,y saying, thou shalt hereafter declare this their action unto them; and they shall not perceive thee to be joseph. and they came to their father at even, weeping, and said, father, we went and ran races with one another,z and we left joseph with our baggage, and the wolf hath devoured him; but thou wilt not believe us, although we speak the truth. and they produced his inner garment stained with false blood. jacob answered, nay, but ye yourselves have contrived the thing for your own sakes:a however patience is most becoming, and god's assistance is to be implored to enable me to support the misfortune which ye relate. and certain travellersb came, and sent onec to draw water for them; and he let down his bucket,d and said, good news!e this is a youth. and they concealed him,f that they might sell him as a piece of merchandise: but god knew that which they did. 	and they sold him for a mean price, for a few pence,g and valued him lightly. and the egyptian who bought himh said to his wife,i use him honourably; peradventure he may be serviceable to us, or we may adopt him for our son.k thus did we prepare an establishment for joseph in the earth, and we taught him the interpretation of dark sayings: for god is well able to effect his purpose; but the greater part of men do not understand. 	x this well, say some, was a certain well near jerusalem, or not far from the river jordan; but others call it the well of egypt or midian. the commentators tell us that, when the sons of jacob had gotten joseph with them in the field, they began to abuse and to beat him so unmercifully, that they had killed him, had not judah, on his crying out for help, insisted on the promise they had made not to kill him, but to cast him into the well. whereupon they let him down a little way; but, as he held by the sides of the well, they bound him, and took off his inner garment, designing to stain it with blood, to deceive their father. joseph begged hard to have his garment returned him, but to no purpose, his brothers telling him, with a sneer, that the eleven stars and the sun and the moon might clothe him and keep him company. when they had let him down half-way, they let him fall thence to the bottom, and, there being water in the well (though the scripture says the contrary), he was obliged to get upon a stone, on which, as he stood weeping, the angel gabriel came to him with the revelation mentioned immediately. 	y joseph being then but seventeen years old, al beidâwi observes that herein he resembled john the baptist and jesus, who were also favoured with the divine communication very early. the commentators pretend that gabriel also clothed him in the well with a garment of silk of paradise. for they say that when abraham was thrown into the fire by nimrod, he was stripped; and that gabriel brought this garment and put it on him; and that from abraham it descended to jacob, who folded it up and put it into an amulet, which he hung about joseph's neck, whence gabriel drew it out. 	z these races they used by way of exercise; and the commentators generally understand here that kind of race wherein they also showed their dexterity in throwing darts, which is still used in the east. 	a this jacob had reason to suspect, because, when the garment was brought to him, he observed that, though it was bloody, yet it was not torn. 	b viz., a caravan or company travelling from midian to egypt, who rested near the well three days after joseph had been thrown into it. 	c the commentators are so exact as to give us the name of this man, who, as they pretend, was malec ebn dhór, of the tribe of khozâah. 	d and joseph, making use of the opportunity, took hold of the cord, and was drawn up by the man. 	e the original words are ya boshra: the latter of which some take for the proper name of the water-drawer's companion, whom he called to his assistance; and then they must be translated, o boshra. 	f the expositors are not agreed whether the pronoun they relates to malec and his companions or to joseph's brethren. they who espouse the former opinion say that those who came to draw water concealed the manner of their coming by him from the rest of the caravan, that they might keep him to themselves, pretending that some people of the place had given him to them to sell for them in egypt. and they who prefer the latter opinion tell us that judah carried victuals to joseph every day while he was in the well, but not finding him there on the fourth day, he acquainted his brothers with it; whereupon they all went to the caravan and claimed joseph as their slave, he not daring to discover that he was their brother, lest something worse should befall him; and at length they agreed to sell him to them. 	g namely, twenty or twenty-two dirhems, and those not of full weight neither; for having weighed one ounce of silver only, the remainder was paid by tale, which is the most unfair way of payment. 	h his name was kitfîr, or itfîr (a corruption of potiphar); and he was a man of great consideration, being superintendent of the royal treasury. 	the commentators say that joseph came into his service at seventeen, and lived with him thirteen years; and that he was made prime minister in the thirty-third year of his age, and died at a hundred and twenty. 	they who suppose joseph was twice sold differ as to the price the egyptian paid for him; some saying it was twenty dinârs of gold, a pair of shoes, and two white garments; and others, that it was a large quantity of silver or of gold. 	i some call her raïl; but the name she is best known by is that of zoleikha. 	k kitfîr having no children. it is said that joseph gained his master's good opinion so suddenly by his countenance, which kitfîr, who, they pretend, had great skill in physiognomy, judged to indicate his prudence and other good qualities. 	 idem.		 see cap. .		 al beidâwi, al zamakhshari. 		 al beidâwi. idem.		 idem.		 al beidâwi.		 idem. and when he had attained his age of strength, we bestowed on him wisdom, and knowledge; for thus do we recompense the righteous. and she, in whose house he was, desired him to lie with her; and she shut the doors and said, come hither. he answered, god forbid! verily my lordl hath made my dwelling with him easy; and the ungrateful shall not prosper. but she resolved within herself to enjoy him, and he would have resolved to enjoy her, had he not seen the evident demonstration of his lord.m so we turned away evil and filthiness from him, because he was one of our sincere servants. and they ran to get one before the other to the door;n and she rent his inner garment behind. and they met her lord at the door. she said, what shall be the reward of him who seeketh to commit evil in thy family, but imprisonment, and a painful punishment? and joseph said, she asked me to lie with her. and a witness of her familyo bore witness, saying, if his garment be rent before, she speaketh truth, and he is a liar: but if his garment be rent behind, she lieth, and he is a speaker of truth. and when her husband saw that his garment was torn behind, he said, this is a cunning contrivance of your sex; for surely your cunning is great. o joseph, take no farther notice of this affair: and thou, o woman, ask pardon for thy crime; for thou art a guilty person. 	and certain women said publiclyp in the city, the nobleman's wife asked her servant to lie with her; he hath inflamed her breast with his love; and we perceive her to be in manifest error. 	l viz., kitfîr. but others understand it to be spoken of god. 	m that is, had he not seriously considered the filthiness of whoredom, and the great guilt thereof. some, however, suppose that the words mean some miraculous voice or apparition, sent by god to divert joseph from executing the criminal thoughts which began to possess him. for they say that he was so far tempted with his mistress's beauty and enticing behaviour that he sat in her lap, and even began to undress himself, when a voice called to him, and bade him beware of her; but he taking no notice of this admonition, though it was repeated three times, at length the angel gabriel, or, as others will have it, the figure of his master, appeared to him: but the more general opinion is that it was the apparition of his father jacob, who bit his fingers' ends, or, as some write, struck him on the breast, whereupon his lubricity passed out at the ends of his fingers. 	for this fable, so injurious to the character of joseph, the mohammedans are obliged to their old friends the jews, who imagine that he had a design to lie with his mistress, from these words of moses, and it came to pass-that joseph went into the house to do his business, &c. 	n he flying from her, and she running after to detain him. 	o viz., a cousin of hers, who was then a child in the cradle. 	p these women, whose tongues were so free with zoleikha's character on this occasion, were five in number, and the wives of so many of the king's chief officers-viz., his chamberlain, his butler, his baker, his jailer, and his herdsman. 	 idem, al zamakhshari, jallalo'ddin, yahya.		 talm. babyl. sed. nashim, p. . vide bartolocc. bibl. rabb. part iii. p. . gen. xxxix. ii.		 supra citati interpretes		 al beidâwi. and when she heard of their subtle behaviour, she sent unto them,q and prepared a banquet for them, and she gave to each of them a knife; and she said unto joseph, come forth unto them. and when they saw him, they praised him greatly;r and they cut their own hands,s and said, o god! this is not a mortal; he is no other than an angel, deserving the highest respect. and his mistress said, this is he, for whose sake ye blamed me: i asked him to lie with me, but he constantly refused. but if he do not perform that which i command him, he shall surely be cast into prison, and he shall be made one of the contemptible. joseph said, o lord, a prison is more eligible unto me than the crime to which they invite me; but unless thou turn aside their snares from me, i shall youthfully incline unto them, and i shall become one of the foolish. wherefore his lord heard him, and turned aside their snare from him; for he both heareth and knoweth. and it seemed good unto themt even after they had seen the signs of innocency, to imprison him for a time. and there entered into the prison with him two of the king's servants.u one of themx said, it seemed to me in my dream that i pressed wine out of grapes. and the other said, it seemed unto me in my dream that i carried bread on my head, whereof the birds did eat. declare unto us the interpretation of our dreams, for we perceive that thou art a beneficent person. joseph answered, no food, wherewith ye may be nourished, shall come unto you, but i will declare unto you the interpretation thereof, before it come unto you.y this knowledge is a part of that which my lord hath taught me: for i have left the religion of people who believe not in god, and who deny the life to come; and i follow the religion of my fathers, abraham, and isaac, and jacob. it is not lawful for us to associate anything with god. this knowledge of the divine unity hath been given us of the bounty of god towards us, and towards mankind; but the greater part of men are not thankful. o my fellow-prisoners, are sundry lords better, or the only true and mighty god? 	ye worship not, besides him other than the names which ye have named,z ye and your fathers, concerning which god hath sent down no authoritative proof: yet judgment belongeth unto god alone; who hath commanded that ye worship none besides him. this is the right religion; but the greater part of men know it not. 	q the number of all the women invited was forty, and among them were the five ladies above mentioned. 	r the old latin translators have strangely mistaken the sense of the original word acbarnaho, which they render menstruatoe sunt; and then rebuke mohammed for the indecency, crying out demurely in the margin, o fodum et obsconum prophetam! erpenius thinks that there is not the least trace of such a meaning in the word; but he is mistaken: for the verb cabara in the fourth conjugation, which is here used, has that import, though the subjoining of the pronoun to it here (which possibly the latin translators did not observe) absolutely overthrows that interpretation. 	s through extreme surprise at the wonderful beauty of joseph; which surprise zoleikha foreseeing, put knives into their hands, on purpose that this accident might happen. some writers have observed, on occasion of this passage, that it is customary in the east for lovers to testify the violence of their passion by cutting themselves, as a sign that they would spend their blood in the service of the person beloved; which is true enough, but i do not find that any of the commentators suppose these egyptian ladies had any such design. 	t that is, to kitfîr and his friends. the occasion of joseph's imprisonment is said to be, either that they suspected him to be guilty, notwithstanding the proofs which had been given of his innocence, or else that zoleikha desired it, feigning, to deceive her husband, that she wanted to have joseph removed from her sight, till she could conquer her passion by time; though her real design was to force him to compliance. 	u viz., his chief butler and baker, who were accused of a design to poison him. 	x namely, the butler. 	y the meaning of this passage seems to be, either that joseph, to show he used no arts of divination or astrology, promises to interpret their dreams to them immediately, even before they should eat a single meal; or else, he here offers to prophesy to them beforehand, the quantity and quality of the victuals which should be brought them, as a taste of his skill. 	z see c. , p. , note d. 				 idem.		 in not. ad hist. josephi. o my fellow-prisoners, verily the one of you shall serve wine unto his lord, as formerly; but the other shall be crucified, and the birds shall eat from off his head. the matter is decreed, concerning which ye seek to be informed. and joseph said unto him whom he judged to be the person who should escape of the two, remember me in the presence of thy lord. but the devil caused him to forget to make mention of joseph unto his lord;a wherefore he remained in the prison some years.b and the king of egyptc said, verily, i saw in my dream seven fat kine, which seven lean kine devoured, and seven green ears of corn, and other seven withered ears. o nobles, expound my vision unto me, if ye be able to interpret a vision. they answered, they are confused dreams, neither are we skilled in the interpretation of such kind of dreams. and joseph's fellow-prisoner who had been delivered, said, (for he remembered joseph after a certain space of time,) i will declare unto you the interpretation thereof; wherefore let me go unto the person who will interpret it unto me. and he went to the prison, and said, o joseph, thou man of veracity, teach us the interpretation of seven fat kine, which seven lean kine devoured; and of seven green ears of corn, and other seven withered ears, which the king saw in his dream; that i may return unto the men who have sent me, that peradventure they may understand the same. joseph answered, ye shall sow seven years as usual: and the corn which ye shall reap, do ye leave in its ear,d except a little whereof ye may eat. then shall there come, after this, seven grievous years of famine, which shall consume what ye shall have laid up as a provision for the same, except a little which ye shall have kept. then shall there come, after this, a year wherein men shall have plenty of rain,e and wherein they shall press wine and oil. 	a according to the explication of some, who take the pronoun him to relate to joseph, this passage may be rendered, but the devil caused him (i.e., joseph) to forget to make his application unto his lord; and to beg the good offices of his fellow-prisoner for his deliverance, instead of relying on god alone, as it became a prophet, especially, to have done. 	b the original word signifying any number from three to nine or ten, the common opinion is that joseph remained in prison seven years, though some say he was confined no less than twelve years. 	c this prince, as the oriental writers generally agree, was riyân, the son of al walîd, the amalekite, who was converted by joseph to the worship of the true god, and died in the lifetime of that prophet. but some pretend that the pharaoh of joseph and of moses were one and the same person, and that he lived (or rather reigned) four hundred years. 	d to preserve it from the weevil. 	e notwithstanding what some ancient authors write to the contrary, it often rains in winter in the lower egypt, and even snow has been observed to fall at alexandria, contrary to the express assertion of seneca. in the upper egypt, indeed, towards the cataracts of nile, it rains very seldom. some, however, suppose that the rains here mentioned are intended of those which should fall in ethiopia, and occasion the swelling of the nile, the great cause of the fertility of egypt; or else of those which should fall in the neighbouring countries, which were also afflicted with famine during the same time. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 see the prelim. disc. p. .		 al beidâwi. see c. , p. , note d.		 idem. 	 plato, in timæo. pomp. mela.		 nat. quæst. l. . see greaves's descr. of the pyramids, p. , &c. ray's collection of travels, tom. ii. p. . 	and when the chief butler had reported this, the king said, bring him unto me. and when the messenger came unto joseph, he said, return unto thy lord, and ask of him, what was the intent of the women who cut their hands;f for my lord well knoweth the snare which they laid for me.g and when the women were assembled before the king, he said unto them, what was your design, when ye solicited joseph to unlawful love? they answered, god be praised! we know not any ill of him. the nobleman's wife said, now is the truth become manifest: i solicited him to lie with me; and he is one of those who speak truth. and when joseph was acquainted therewith, he said, this discovery hath been made, that my lord might know that i was not unfaithful unto him in his absence, and that god directeth not the plot of the deceivers. neither do i absolutely justify myself:h since every soul is prone unto evil, except those on whom my lord shall show mercy; for my lord is gracious and merciful. and the king said, bring him unto me: i will take him into my own peculiar service. and when joseph was brought unto the king, and he had discoursed with him, he said, thou art this day firmly established with us, and shalt be intrusted with our affairs.i joseph answered, set me over the storehouses of the land; for i will be a skilful keeper thereof. thus did we establish joseph in the land, that he might provide himself a dwelling therein, where he pleased. we bestow our mercy on whom we please, and we suffer not the reward of the righteous to perish: and certainly the reward of the next life is better, for those who believe, and fear god. 	f joseph, it seems, cared not to get out of prison till his innocence was publicly known and declared. it is observed by the commentators that joseph does not bid the messenger move the king to inform himself of the truth of the affair, but bids him directly to ask the king, to incite him to make the proper inquiry with the greater earnestness. they also observe that joseph takes care not to mention his mistress, out of respect and gratitude for the favours he had received while in her house. 	g endeavouring both by threats and persuasion to entice me to commit folly with my mistress. 	h according to a tradition of ebn abbâs, joseph had no sooner spoken the foregoing words, asserting his innocency, than gabriel said to him, what, not when thou wast deliberating to lie with her? upon which joseph confessed his frailty. 	i the commentators say that joseph being taken out of prison, after he had washed and changed his clothes, was introduced to the king, whom he saluted in the hebrew tongue, and on the king's asking what language that was, he answered that it was the language of his fathers. this prince, they say, understood no less than seventy languages, in every one of which he discoursed with joseph, who answered him in the same; at which the king greatly marvelling, desired him to relate his dream, which he did, describing the most minute circumstances: whereupon the king placed joseph by him on his throne, and made him his wazîr, or chief minister. some say that his master kitfîr dying about this time, he not only succeeded him in his place, but, by the king's command, married the widow, his late mistress, whom he found to be a virgin, and who bare him ephraim and manasses. so that according to this tradition, she was the same woman who is called asenath by moses. this supposed marriage, which authorized their amours, probably encouraged the mohammedan divines to make use of the loves of joseph and zoleikha, as an allegorical emblem of the spiritual love between the creator and the creature, god and the soul; just as the christians apply the song of solomon to the same mystical purpose. 	 al beidâwi, &c.		 idem, &c.		 idem, kitab tafasir, &c.		 vide d'herbelot. bibl. orient. art. jousouf. moreover, joseph's brethren came,k and went in unto him; and he knew them, but they knew not him. and when he had furnished them with their provisions, he said, bring unto me your brother, the son of your father; do ye not see that i give full measure, and that i am the most hospitable receiver of guests? 	but if ye bring him not unto me, there shall be no corn measured unto you from me, neither shall ye approach my presence. they answered, we will endeavor to obtain him of his father, and we will certainly perform what thou requirest. and joseph said to his servants, put their money,l which they have paid for their corn; into their sacks, that they may perceive it, when they shall be returned to their family: peradventure they will come back unto us. and when they were returned unto their father, they said, o father, it is forbidden to measure out corn unto us any more, unless we carry our brother benjamin with us: wherefore send our brother with us, and we shall have corn measured unto us; and we will certainly guard him from any mischance. jacob answered, shall i trust him with you with any better success than i trusted your brother joseph with you heretofore? but god is the best guardian; and he is the most merciful of those that show mercy. and when they opened their provision, they found their money had been returned unto them; and they said, o father, what do we desire farther? this our money hath been returned unto us; we will therefore return, and provide corn for our family: we will take care of our brother; and we shall receive a camel's burden more than we did the last time. this is a small quantity.m jacob said, i will by no means send him with you, until ye give me a solemn promise, and swear by god that ye will certainly bring him back unto me, unless ye be encompassed by some inevitable impediment. and when they had given him their solemn promise, he said, god is witness of what we say. and he said, my sons, enter not into the city by one and the same gate; but enter by different gates. but this precaution will be of no advantage unto you against the decree of god; for judgment belongeth unto god alone: in him do i put my trust, and in him let those confide who seek in whom to put their trust. 	k joseph, being made wazîr, governed with great wisdom; for he not only caused justice to be impartially administered, and encouraged the people to industry and the improvement of agriculture during the seven years of plenty, but began and perfected several works of great benefit; the natives at this day ascribing to the patriarch joseph almost all the ancient works of public utility throughout the kingdom; as particularly the rendering the province of al feyyûm, from a standing pool or marsh, the most fertile and best cultivated land in all egypt. when the years of famine came, the effects of which were felt not only in egypt, but in syria and the neighbouring countries, the inhabitants were obliged to apply to joseph for corn, which he sold to them, first for their money, jewels, and ornaments, then for their cattle and lands, and at length for their persons; so that all the egyptians in general became slaves to the king, though joseph, by his consent, soon released them, and returned them their substance. the dearth being felt in the land of canaan, jacob sent all his sons, except only benjamin, into egypt for corn. on their arrival, joseph (who well knew them) asked them who they were, saying he suspected them to be spies; but they told him they came only to buy provisions, and that they were all the sons of an ancient man, named jacob, who was also a prophet. joseph then asked how many brothers there were of them; they answered, twelve; but that one of them had been lost in a desert. upon which he inquired for the eleventh brother, there being no more than ten of them present. they said he was a lad, and with their father, whose fondness for him would not suffer him to accompany them in their journey. at length joseph asked them who they had to vouch for their veracity; but they told him they knew no man who could vouch for them in egypt. then, replied he, one of you shall stay behind with me as a pledge, and the others may return home with their provisions; and when ye come again, ye shall bring your younger brother with you, that i may know ye have told me the truth. whereupon, it being in vain to dispute the matter, they cast lots who should stay behind, and the lot fell upon simeon. when they departed, joseph gave each of them a camel, and another for their brother. 	l the original word signifying not only money, but also goods bartered or given in exchange for other merchandise, some commentators tell us, that they paid for their corn, not in money, but in shoes and dressed skins, 	m the meaning may be, either that the corn they now brought was not sufficient for the support of their families, so that it was necessary for them to take another journey, or else, that a camel's load, more or less, was but a trifle to the king of egypt. some suppose these to be the words of jacob, declaring it was too mean a consideration to induce him to part with his son. 	 vide golii not. in alfragan. p. , &c. kircher. oedip. Ægypt vol. i. p. . lucas, voy. tom. ii. p. , and tom. iii. p. . al beidâwi.		 idem. and when they entered the city, as their father had commanded them, it was of no advantage unto them against the decree of god; and the same served only to satisfy the desire of jacob's soul, which he had charged them to perform: for he was endued with knowledge of that which we had taught him; but the greater part of men do not understand. and when they entered into the presence of joseph, he received his brother benjamin as his guest, and said, verily i am thy brother,n be not therefore afflicted for that which they have committed against us. 	and when he had furnished them with their provisions, he put his cupo in his brother benjamin's sack. then a crier cried after them, saying, o company of travellers, ye are surely thieves. they said, (and turned back unto them,) what is it that ye miss? they answered, we miss the prince's cup: and unto him who shall produce it, shall be given a camel's load of corn, and i will be surety for the same. joseph's brethren replied, by god, ye do well know, that we come not to act corruptly in the land,p neither are we thieves. the egyptians said, what shall be the reward of him, who shall appear to have stolen the cup, if ye be found liars? joseph's brethren answered, as to the reward of him, in whose sack it shall be found, let him become a bondman in satisfaction of the same: thus do we reward the unjust, who are guilty of theft.q then he began by their sacks, before he searched the sack of his brother;r and he drew out the cup from his brother's sack. thus did we furnish joseph with a stratagem. it was not lawful for him to take his brother for a bondman, by the law of the king of egypt,s had not god pleased to allow it, according to the offer of his brethren. we exalt to degrees of knowledge and honour whom we please: and there is one who is knowing above all those who are endued with knowledge. his brethren said, if benjamin be guilty of theft, his brother joseph hath been also guilty of theft heretofore.t but joseph concealed these things in his mind, and did not discover them unto them: and he said within himself, ye are in a worse condition than us two; and god best knoweth what ye discourse about. 	n it is related that joseph, having invited his brethren to an entertainment, ordered them to be placed two and two together, by which means benjamin, the eleventh, was obliged to sit alone, and bursting into tears, said, if my brother joseph were alive, he would have sat with me. whereupon joseph ordered him to be seated at the same table with himself, and when the entertainment was over, dismissed the rest, ordering that they should be lodged two and two in a house, but kept benjamin in his own apartment, where he passed the night. the next day joseph asked him whether he would accept of himself for his brother, in the room of him whom he had lost, to which benjamin replied, who can find a brother comparable unto thee? yet thou art not the son of jacob and rachel. and upon this joseph discovered himself to him. 	o some imagine this to be a measure holding a saá (or about a gallon), wherein they used to measure corn or give water to the beasts. but others take it to be a drinking-cup of silver or gold. 	p both by our behaviour among you, and our bringing again our money, which was returned to us without our knowledge. 	q this was the method of punishing theft used by jacob and his family; for among the egyptians it was punished in another manner. 	r some suppose this search was made by the person whom joseph sent after them; others by joseph himself, when they were brought back to the city. 	s for there the thief was not reduced to servitude, but was scourged, and obliged to restore the double of what he had stolen. 	t the occasion of this suspicion, it is said, was, that joseph having been brought up by his father's sister, she became so fond of him that, when he grew up, and jacob designed to take him from her, she contrived the following stratagem to keep him: -having a girdle which had once belonged to abraham, she girt it about the child, and then, pretending she had lost it, caused strict search to be made for it; and it being at length found on joseph, he was adjudged, according to the above-mentioned law of the family, to be delivered to her as her property. some, however, say that joseph actually stole an idol of gold, which belonged to his mother's father, and destroyed it; a story probably taken from rachel's stealing the images of laban: and others tell us that he once stole a goat, or a hen, to give to a poor man. 			 al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin. they said unto joseph, noble lord, verily this lad hath an aged father; wherefore take one of us in his stead; for we perceive that thou art a beneficent person. joseph answered, god forbid that we should take any other than him with whom we found our goods; for then should we certainly be unjust. 	and when they despaired of obtaining benjamin, they retired to confer privately together. and the elder of themu said, do ye not know that your father hath received a solemn promise from you, in the name of god, and how perfidiously ye behaved heretofore towards joseph? wherefore i will by no means depart the land of egypt, until my father give me leave to return unto him, or god maketh known his will to me; for he is the best judge. return ye to your father, and say, o father, verily thy son hath committed theft; we bear witness of no more than what we know, and we could not guard against what we did not foresee: and do thou inquire in the city, where we have been, and of the company of merchants, with whom we are arrived, and thou wilt find that we speak the truth. and when they were returned, and had spoken thus to their father, he said, nay, but rather ye yourselves have contrived the thing for your own sakes, but patience is most proper for me; peradventure god will restore them allx unto me; for he is knowing and wise. and he turned from them and said, oh how i am grieved for joseph! and his eyes became white with mourning,y he being oppressed with deep sorrow. his sons said, by god, thou wilt not cease to remember joseph until thou be brought to death's door, or thou be actually destroyed by excessive affliction. he answered, i only represent my grief, which i am not able to contain, and my sorrow unto god, but i know by revelation from god that which ye know not.z o my sons, go and make inquiry after joseph and his brother; and despair not of the mercy of god; for none despaireth of god's mercy, except the unbelieving people. wherefore joseph's brethren returned into egypt: and when they came into his presence, they said, noble lord, the famine is felt by us and our family, and we are come with a small sum of money:a yet give unto us full measure, and bestow corn upon us as alms; for god rewardeth the almsgivers. 	u viz., reuben. but some think simeon or judah to be here meant; and instead of the elder, interpret it the most prudent of them. 	x i.e., joseph, benjamin, and simeon. 	y that is, the pupils lost their deep blackness and became of a pearl colour (as happens in suffusions), by his continual weeping: which very much weakened his sight, or, as some pretend, made him quite blind. 	z viz., that joseph is yet alive, of which some tell us he was assured by the angel of death in a dream; though others suppose he depended on the completion of joseph's dream, which must have been frustrated had he died before his brethren had bowed down before him. 	a their money being clipped and adulterated. some, however, imagine they did not bring money, but goods to barter, such as wool and butter, or other commodities of small value. 		 jallalo'ddin.		 al beidâwi.		 idem. 	 idem. joseph said unto them, do ye know what ye did unto joseph and his brother, when ye were ignorant of the consequences thereof?b 	they answered, art thou really joseph?c he replied, i am joseph; and this is my brother. now hath god been gracious unto us. for whoso feareth god, and persevereth with patience, shall at length find relief; since god will not suffer the reward of the righteous to perish. they said, by god, now hath god chosen thee above us; and we have surely been sinners. joseph answered, let there be no reproach cast on you this day. god forgiveth you; for he is the most merciful of those who show mercy. depart ye with this my inner garment,d and throw it on my father's face; and he shall recover his sight: and then come unto me with all your family. and when the company of travellers was departed from egypt on their journey towards canaan, their father said, unto those who were about him, verily i perceive the smell of joseph;e although ye think that i dote. they answered, by god, thou art in thy old mistake.f but when the messenger of good tidingsg was come with joseph's inner garment, he threw it over his face; and he recovered his eyesight. and jacob said, did i not tell you that i knew from god, that which ye knew not? they answered, o father, ask pardon of our sins for us, for we have surely been sinners. he replied, i will surely ask pardon for you of my lord;h for he is gracious and merciful. 	and when jacob and his family arrived in egypt, and were introduced unto joseph, he received his parents unto him,i and said, enter ye into egypt, by god's favor, in full security. 	b the injury they did benjamin was the separating him from his brother; after which they kept him in so great subjection, that he durst not speak to them but with the utmost submission. some say that these words were occasioned by a letter which joseph's brethren delivered to him from their father, requesting the releasement of benjamin, and by their representing his extreme affliction at the loss of him and his brother. the commentators observe that joseph, to excuse his brethren's behaviour towards him, attributes it to their ignorance, and the heat of youth. 	c they say this question was not the effect of a bare suspicion that he was joseph, but that they actually knew him, either by his face and behaviour, or by his foreteeth, which he showed in smiling, or else by putting off his tiara, and discovering a whitish mole on his forehead. 	d which the commentators generally suppose to be the same garment with which gabriel invested him in the well; which having originally come from paradise, had preserved the odour of that place, and was of so great virtue as to cure any distemper in the person who was touched with it. 	e this was the odour of the garment above mentioned, brought by the wind to jacob, who smelt it, as is pretended, at the distance of eighty parasangs; or, as others will have, three, or eight days' journey off. 	f being led into this imagination by the excessive love of joseph. 	g viz., judah, who, as he had formerly grieved his father by bringing him joseph's coat stained with blood, now rejoiced him as much by being the bearer of this vest, and the news of joseph's prosperity. 	h deferring it, as some fancy, till he should see joseph, and have his consent. 	i viz., his father and leah, his mother's sister, whom he looked on as his mother after rachel's death. 	al beidâwi tells us that joseph sent carriages and provisions for his father and his family; and that he and the king of egypt went forth to meet them. he adds that the number of the children of israel who entered egypt with him was seventy-two; and that when they were led out thence by moses, they were increased to six hundred thousand five hundred and seventy men and upwards, besides the old people and children. 	 idem.		 idem.		 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 idem.		 jallalo'ddin. al beidâwi.		 idem. see gen. xxxvii. . and he raised his parents to the seat of state, and they, together with his brethren, fell down and did obeisance unto him.k and he said, o my father, this is the interpretation of my vision, which i saw heretofore: now hath my lord rendered it true. and he hath surely been gracious unto me, since he took me forth from the prison, and hath brought you hither from the desert; after that the devil had sown discord between me any my brethren: for my lord is gracious unto whom he pleaseth; and he is the knowing, the wise god. o lord, thou hast given me a part of the kingdom, and hast taught me the interpretation of dark sayings. the creator of heaven and earth! thou art my protector in this world, and in that which is to come: make me to die a moslem, and join me with the righteous.l this is a secret history which we reveal unto thee, o mohammed, although thou wast not present with the brethren of joseph, when they concerted their design, and contrived a plot against him. but the greater part of men, although they earnestly desire it, will not believe. thou shalt not demand of them any reward for thy publishing the koran; it is no other than an admonition unto all creatures. and how many signs soever there be of the being, unity, and providence of god, in the heavens and the earth; they will pass by them, and will retire afar off from them. and the greater part of them believe not in god, without being also guilty of idolatry.m do they not believe that some overwhelming affliction shall fall on them, as a punishment from god; or that the hour of judgment shall overtake them suddenly, when they consider not its approach? say unto those of mecca, this is my way: i invite you unto god, by an evident demonstration; both i and he who followeth me; and, praise be unto god! i am not an idolater. we sent not any apostles before thee, except men, unto whom we revealed our will, and whom we chose out of those who dwelt in cities.n will they not go through the earth, and see what hath been the end of those who have preceded them? but the dwelling of the next life shall surely be better for those who fear god. will they not therefore understand? 	their predecessors were borne with for a time, until, when our apostles despaired of their conversion, and they thought that they were liars, our help came unto them, and we delivered whom we pleased; but our vengeance was not turned away from the wicked people. verily in the histories of the prophets and their people, there is an instructive example unto those who are endued with understanding. the koran is not a new invented fiction: but a confirmation of those scriptures which have been revealed before it, and a distinct explication of everything necessary in respect either to faith or practice, and a direction and mercy unto people who believe. 	k a transposition is supposed to be in these words, and that he seated his father and mother after they had bowed down to him, and not before. 	l the mohammedan authors write that jacob dwelt in egypt twenty-four years, and at his death ordered his body to be buried in palestine by his father, which joseph took care to perform; and then returning into egypt, died twenty-three years after. they add that such high disputes arose among the egyptians concerning his burial, that they had like to have come to blows; but at length they agreed to put his body into a marble coffin, and to sink it in the nile-out of a superstitious imagination, that it might help the regular increase of the river, and deliver them from famine for the future; but when moses led the israelites out of egypt, he took up the coffin, and carried joseph's bones with him into canaan, where he buried them by his ancestors. 	m for this crime mohammed charges not only on the idolatrous meccans, but also on the jews and christians, as has been already observed more than once. 	n and not of the inhabitants of the deserts; because the former are more knowing and compassionate, and the latter more ignorant and hard- hearted. 	 idem.		 idem.		 idem. see the prelim. disc. sect. i. p. . chapter xiii. entitled, thunder;o revealed at mecca.p in the name of the most merciful god. al. m. r.q these are the signs of the book of the koran: and that which hath been sent down unto thee from thy lord is the truth; but the greater part of men will not believe. it is god who hath raised the heavens without visible pillars; and then ascended his throne, and compelled the sun and the moon to perform their services; every of the heavenly bodies runneth an appointed course. he ordereth all things. he showeth his signs distinctly, that ye may be assured ye must meet your lord at the last day. it is he who hath stretched forth the earth, and placed therein steadfast mountains, and rivers; and hath ordained therein of every fruit two different kinds.r he causeth the night to cover the day. herein are certain signs unto people who consider. and in the earth are tracts of land of different natures,s though bordering on each other; and also vineyards, and seeds, and palm-trees springing several from the same root, and singly from distinct roots. they are watered with the same water, yet we render some of them more excellent than others to eat. herein are surely signs unto people who understand. if thou dost wonder at the infidels denying the resurrection, surely wonderful is their saying, after we shall have been reduced to dust, shall we be restored in a new creature? these are they who believe not in their lord: these shall have collars on their necks,t and these shall be the inhabitants of hell fire: therein shall they abide for ever. 	o this word occurs in the next page. 	p or, according to some copies, at medina. 	q the meaning of these letters is unknown. of several conjectural explications which are given of them, the following is one: i am the most wise and knowing god. 	r as sweet and sour, black and white, small and large, &c. 	s some tracts being fruitful and others barren, some plain and others mountainous, some proper for corn and others for trees, &c. 	t the collar here mentioned is an engine something like a pillory, but light enough for the criminal to walk about with. besides the hole to fix it on the neck, there is another for one of the hands, which is thereby fastened to the neck. and in this manner the mohammedans suppose the reprobates will appear at the day of judgment. some understand this passage figuratively, of the infidels being bound in the chains of error and obstinacy. 	 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 idem.		 vide chardin, voy. de perse, tom. ii. p. .		 see cap. , p. . al beidâwi. they will ask of thee to hasten evil rather than good:u although there have already been examples of the divine vengeance before them. thy lord is surely endued with indulgence towards men, notwithstanding their iniquity; but thy lord is also severe in punishing. the infidels say, unless a sign be sent down unto him from his lord, we will not believe. thou art commissioned to be a preacher only, and not a worker of miracles: and unto every people hath a director been appointed. god knoweth what every female beareth in her womb; and what the wombs want or exceed of their due time, or number of young. with him is everything regulated according to a determined measure. 	he knoweth that which is hidden, and that which is revealed. he is the great, the most high. he among you who concealeth his words, and he who proclaimeth them in public; he also who seeketh to hide himself in the night, and he who goeth forth openly in the day, is equal in respect to the knowledge of god. each of them hath angels mutually succeeding each other, before him, and behind him; they watch him by the command of god.x verily god will not change his grace which is in men, until they change the disposition in their souls by sin. when god willeth evil on a people there shall be none to avert it; neither shall they have any protector beside him. it is he who causeth the lightning to appear unto you, to strike fear, and to raise hope,y and who formeth the pregnant clouds. the thunder celebrateth his praise,z and the angels also, for fear of him. he sendeth his thunderbolts, and striketh therewith whom he pleaseth, while they dispute concerning god;a for he is mighty in power. it is he who ought of right to be invoked; and the idols, which they invoke besides him, shall not hear them at all; otherwise than as he is heard, who stretcheth forth his hands to the water that it may ascend to his mouth, when it cannot ascend thither: the supplication of the unbelievers is utterly erroneous. whatsoever is in heaven and on earth worshippeth god, voluntarily or of force;b and their shadows also, morning and evening.c say, who is the lord of heaven and earth? answer, god. say, have ye, therefore, taken unto yourselves protectors beside him, who are unable either to help, or to defend themselves from hurt? say, shall the blind and the seeing be esteemed equal? or shall darkness and light be accounted the same? or have they attributed companions unto god who have created as he hath created, so that their creation bear any resemblance unto his? say, god is the creator of all things; he is the one, the victorious god. 	u provoking and daring thee to call down the divine vengeance on them for their impenitency. 	x see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . 	y thunder and lightning being the sign of approaching rain; a great blessing, in the eastern countries more especially. 	z or causeth those who hear it to praise him. some commentators tell us that by the word thunder, in this place, is meant the angel who presides over the clouds, and drives them forwards with twisted sheets of fire. 	a this passage was revealed on the following occasion: amer ebn al tofail and arbad ebn rabîah, the brother of labîd, went to mohammed with an intent to kill him; and amer began to dispute with him concerning the chief points of his doctrine, while arbad, taking a compass, went behind him to dispatch him with his sword; but the prophet, perceiving his design, implored god's protection; whereupon arbad was immediately struck dead by thunder, and amer was struck with a pestilential boil, of which he died in a short time, in a miserable condition. 	jallalo'ddin, however, tells another story saying that mohammed, having sent one to invite a certain man to embrace his religion, the person put this question to the missionary, who is this apostle, and what is god? is he of gold, or of silver, or of brass? upon which a thunderbolt struck off his skull, and killed him. 	b the infidels and devils themselves being constrained to humble themselves before him, though against their will, when they are delivered up to punishment. 	c this is an allusion to the increasing and diminishing of the shadows, according to the height of the sun; so that, when they are the longest, which is in the morning and the evening, they appear prostrate on the ground, in the posture of adoration. 	 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 al beidâwi. vide golii. not. in adagia arab. adject. ad gram erpenii, p. . he causeth water to descend from heaven, and the brooks flow according to their respective measure, and the floods bear the floating froth: and from the metals which they melt in the fire, seeking to cast ornaments or vessels for use, there ariseth a scum like unto it. thus god setteth forth truth and vanity. but the scum is thrown off, and that which is useful to mankind remaineth on the earth. thus doth god put forth parables. unto those who obey their lord shall be given the most excellent reward: but those who obey him not, although they were possessed of whatever is in the whole earth and as much more, they would give it all for their ransom. these will be brought to a terrible account: their abode shall be hell; an unhappy couch shall it be! shall he, therefore, who knoweth that what hath been sent down unto thee from thy lord, is truth, be rewarded as he who is blind? the prudent only will consider; 	who fulfil the covenant of god, and break not their contract; and who join that which god hath commanded to be joined,d and who fear their lord, and dread an ill account; and who persevere out of a sincere desire to please their lord, and observe the stated times of prayer, and give alms out of what we have bestowed on them, in secret and openly, and who turn away evil with good: the reward of these shall be paradise, gardens of eternal abode,e which they shall enter, and also whoever shall have acted uprightly, of their fathers, and their wives, and their posterity: and the angels shall go in unto them by every gate, saying, peace be upon you, because ye have endured with patience; how excellent a reward is paradise! but as for those who violate the covenant of god, after the establishment thereof, and who cut in sunder that which god hath commanded to be joined, and act corruptly in the earth, on them shall a curse fall, and they shall have a miserable dwelling in hell. god giveth provision in abundance unto whom he pleaseth, and is sparing unto whom he pleaseth. those of mecca rejoice in the present life; although the present life, in respect of the future, is but a precarious provision. the infidels say, unless a sign be sent down unto him from his lord, we will not believe. answer, verily, god will lead into error whom he pleaseth, and will direct unto himself him who repenteth, and those who believe, and whose hearts rest securely in the meditation of god; shall not men's hearts rest securely in the meditation of god? they who believe and do that which is right shall enjoy blessedness, and partake of a happy resurrection. 	d by believing in all the prophets, without exception, and joining thereto the continual practice of their duty, both towards god and man. 	e literally, gardens of eden. see chapter , p. . 				 idem, jallalo'ddin, yahya. thus have we sent thee to a nation which other nations have preceded unto whom prophets have likewise been sent, that thou mayest rehearse unto them that which we have revealed unto thee, even while they believe not in the merciful god. say unto them, he is my lord; there is no god but he: in him do i trust, and unto him must i return. 	though a koran were revealed by which mountains should be removed, or the earth cleaved in sunder, or the dead be caused to speak,f it would be in vain. but the matter belongeth wholly unto god. do not, therefore, the believers know, that if god pleased, he would certainly direct all men? adversity shall not cease to afflict the unbelievers for that which they have committed, or to sit down near their habitations,g until god's promise come;h for god is not contrary to the promise. apostles before thee have been laughed to scorn; and i permitted the infidels to enjoy a long and happy life: but afterwards i punished them; and how severe was the punishment which i inflicted on them! who is it, therefore, that standeth over every soul, to observe that which it committeth? they attribute companions unto god. say, name them: will ye declare unto him that which he knoweth not in the earth? or will ye name them in outward speech only?i but the deceitful procedure of the infidels was prepared for them; and they are turned aside from the right path: for he whom god shall cause to err, shall have no director. they shall suffer a punishment in this life; but the punishment of the next shall be more grievous: and there shall be none to protect them against god. this is the description of paradise, which is promised to the pious. it is watered by rivers; its food is perpetual, and its shade also: this shall be the reward of those who fear god. but the reward of the infidels shall be hell fire. those to whom we have given the scriptures, rejoice at what hath been revealed unto thee.k yet there are some of the confederates who deny part thereof.l say unto them, verily i am commanded to worship god alone; and to give him no companion: upon him do i call, and unto him shall i return. 	f these are miracles which the koreish required of mohammed; demanding that he would, by the power of his korân, either remove the mountains from about mecca, that they might have delicious gardens in their room, or that he would oblige the wind to transport them, with their merchandise, to syria (according to which tradition, the words here translated, or the earth cleaved in sunder, should be rendered, or the earth be travelled over in an instant); or else raise to life kosai ebn kelâb, and others of their ancestors, to bear witness to him; whereupon this passage was revealed. 	g it is supposed by some that these words are spoken to mohammed, and then they must be translated in the second person, nor shall thou cease to sit down, &c. for they say this verse relates to the idolaters of mecca, who were afflicted with a series of misfortunes for their ill-usage of their prophet, and were also continually annoyed and harassed by his parties, which frequently plundered their caravans and drove off their cattle, himself sitting down with his whole army near the city in the expedition of al hodeibîya. 	h i.e., till death and the day of judgment overtake them; or, according to the exposition in the preceding note, until the taking of mecca. 	i that is, calling them the companion of god, without being able to assign any reason, or give any proof why they deserve to be sharers in the honour and worship due from mankind to him. 	k viz., the first proselytes to mohammedism from judaism and christianity; or the jews and christians in general, who were pleased to find the korân so consonant to their own scriptures. 	l that is, such of them as had entered into a confederacy to oppose mohammed; as did caab ebn al ashraf, and the jews who followed him, and al seyid al najrâni, al akib, and several other christians; who denied such parts of the korân as contradicted their corrupt doctrines and traditions. 	 see cap. , p. , note f.		 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem.		 see cap. , p. .		 idem. to this purpose have we sent down the koran a rule of judgment, in the arabic language. and verily, if thou follow their desires, after the knowledge which hath been given thee, there shall be none to defend or protect thee against god. we have formerly sent apostles before thee, and bestowed on them wives and children;m and no apostle had the power to come with a sign, unless by the permission of god. every age hath its book of revelation: god shall abolish and shall confirm what he pleaseth. with him is the original of the book.n 	moreover, whether we cause thee to see any part of that punishment wherewith we have threatened them, or whether we cause thee to die before it be inflicted on them, verily unto thee belongeth preaching only, but unto us inquisition. do they not see that we come into their land, and straighten the borders thereof, by the conquests of the true believers? when god judgeth, there is none to reverse his judgment: and he will be swift in taking an account. their predecessors formerly devised subtle plots against their prophets; but god is master of every subtle device. he knoweth that which every soul deserveth: and the infidels shall surely know, whose will be the reward of paradise. the unbelieverso will say, thou art not sent of god. answer, god is a sufficient witness between me and you, and he who understandeth the scriptures. 	m as we have on thee. this passage was revealed in answer to the reproaches which were cast on mohammed, on account of the great number of his wives. for the jews said that if he was a true prophet, his care and attention would be employed about something else than women and the getting of children. it may be observed that it is a maxim of the jews that nothing is more repugnant to prophecy than carnality. 	n literally, the mother of the book; by which is meant the preserved table, from which all the written revelations which have been from time to time published to mankind, according to the several dispensations, are transcripts. 	o the persons intended in this passage, it is said, were the jewish doctors. 	 jallalo'ddin, yahya.		 vide maimon. more nev. part ii. c. , &c.		 al beidâwi. chapter xiv. entitled, abraham;a revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. al. r.b this book have we sent down unto thee, that thou mayest lead men forth from darkness into light, by the permission of their lord, into the glorious and laudable way. god is he unto whom belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and on earth: and woe be to the infidels, because a grievous punishment waiteth them; who love the present life above that which is to come, and turn men aside from the way of god, and seek to render it crooked: these are in an error far distant from the truth. we have sent no apostle but with the language of his people, that he might declare their duty plainly unto them;c for god causeth to err whom he pleaseth, and directeth whom he pleaseth; and he is the mighty, the wise. we formerly sent moses with our signs, and commanded him saying, lead forth thy people from darkness into light, and remind them of the favors of god:d verily therein are signs unto every patient and grateful person. and call to mind when moses said unto his people, remember the favor of god towards you, when he delivered you from the people of pharaoh: they grievously oppressed you; and they slew your male children, but let your females live:e therein was a great trial from your lord. and when your lord declared by the mouth of moses, saying, if ye be thankful, i will surely increase my favors towards you; but if ye be ungrateful, verily my punishment shall be severe. and moses said, if ye be ungrateful, and all who are in the earth likewise; verily god needeth not your thanks, though he deserveth the highest praise. hath not the history of the nations your predecessors reached you; namely, of the people of noah, and of ad, and of thamud,f 	and of those who succeeded them; whose number none knoweth except god? their apostles came unto them with evident miracles; but they clapped their hands to their mouths out of indignation, and said, we do not believe the message with which ye pretend to be sent; and we are in a doubt concerning the religion to which ye invite us, as justly to be suspected. 	a mention is made of this patriarch towards the end of the chapter. 	b see the prelim. disc. sect. iii p. , &c. 	c that so they might not only perfectly and readily understand those revelations themselves, but might also be able to translate and interpret them unto others. 	d literally, the days of god; which may also be translated, the battles of god (the arabs using the word day to signify a remarkable engagement, as the italians do giornata, and the french, journée), or his wonderful acts manifested in the various success of former nations in their wars. 	e see chapter , p. , &c. 	f see ibid. p. , &c. 				 idem.			 idem. their apostles answered, is there any doubt concerning god, the creator of heaven and earth? he inviteth you to the true faith that he may forgive you part of your sins,g and may respite your punishment, by granting you space to repent, until an appointed time. they answered, ye are but men, like unto us: ye seek to turn us aside from the gods which our fathers worshipped: wherefore bring us an evident demonstration by some miracle, that ye speak truth. their apostles replied unto them, we are no other than men like unto you; but god is bountiful unto such of his servants as he pleaseth: and it is not in our power to give you a miraculous demonstration of our mission, unless by the permission of god; in god therefore let the faithful trust. and what excuse have we to allege, that we should not put our trust in god; since he hath directed us our paths? wherefore we will certainly suffer with patience the persecution wherewith ye shall afflict us: in god therefore let those put their confidence who seek in whom to put their trust. and those who believed not said unto their apostles, we will surely expel you out of our land; or ye shall return unto our religion. and their lord spake unto them by revelation, saying, we will surely destroy the wicked doers; and we will cause you to dwell in the earth, after them. this shall be granted unto him who shall dread the appearance at my tribunal, and shall fear my threatening. and they asked assistance of god,h and every rebellious perverse person failed of success. hell lieth unseen before him, and he shall have filthy wateri given him to drink: 	he shall sup it up by little and little, and he shall not easily let it pass his throat because of its nauseousness; death also shall come upon him from every quarter, yet he shall not die; and before him shall there stand prepared a grievous torment. this is the likeness of those who believe not in their lord. their works are as ashes, which the wind violently scattereth in a stormy day: they shall not be able to obtain any solid advantage from that which they have wrought. this is an error most distant from truth. dost thou not see that god hath created the heavens and the earth in wisdom? if he please, he can destroy you, and produce a new creature in your stead: neither will this be difficult with god. and they shall all come forth into the presence of god at the last day: and the weak among them shall say unto those who behaved themselves arrogantly,j verily we were your followers on earth; will ye not therefore avert from us some part of the divine vengeance? they shall answer, if god had directed us aright, we had certainly directed you.k it is equal unto us whether we bear our torments impatiently, or whether we endure them with patience: for we have no way to escape. 	g that is, such of them as were committed directly against god, which are immediately cancelled by faith, or embracing islâm; but not the crimes of injustice, and oppression, which were committed against man: for to obtain remission of these last, besides faith, repentance and restitution, according to a man's ability, are also necessary. 	h the commentators are uncertain whether these were the prophets, who begged assistance against their enemies; or the infidels, who called for god's decision between themselves and them; or both. and some suppose this verse has no connection with the preceding, but is spoken of the people of mecca, who begged rain in a great drought with which they were afflicted at the prayer of their prophet, but could not obtain it. 	i which will issue from the bodies of the damned, mixed with purulent matter and blood. 	j i.e., the more simple and inferior people shall say to their teachers and princes who seduced them to idolatry, and confirmed them in their obstinate infidelity. 	k that is, we made the same choice for you, as we did for ourselves: and had not god permitted us to fall into error, we had not seduced you. 				 al beidâwi.		 idem. and satan shall say, after judgment shall have been given, verily god promised you a promise of truth: and i also made you a promise; but i deceived you. yet i had not any power over you to compel you; but i called you only, and ye answered me: wherefore accuse not me, but accuse yourselves.l i cannot assist you; neither can ye assist me. verily i do now renounce your having associated me with god heretofore.m a grievous punishment is prepared for the unjust. but they who shall have believed and wrought righteousness shall be introduced into gardens, wherein rivers flow, they shall remain therein forever, by the permission of their lord; and their salutation therein shall be, peace!n dost thou not see how god putteth forth a parable; representing a good word, as a good tree, whose root is firmly fixed in the earth, and whose branches reach unto heaven; 	which bringeth forth its fruit in all seasons, by the will of its lord? god propoundeth parables unto men, that they may be instructed. and the likeness of an evil word is as an evil tree; which is torn up from the face of the earth, and hath no stability.o god shall confirm them who believe, by the steadfast word of faith, both in this life and in that which is to come:p but god shall lead the wicked into error; for god doth that which he pleaseth. hast thou not considered those who have changed the grace of god to infidelity,q and cause their people to descend into the house of perdition, namely, into hell? they shall be thrown to burn therein; and an unhappy dwelling shall it be. they also set up idols as co-partners with god, that they might cause men to stray from his path. say, unto them, enjoy the pleasures of this life for a time; but your departure hence shall be into hell fire. speak unto my servants who have believed, that they be assiduous at prayer, and give alms out of that which we have bestowed on them, both privately and in public; before the day cometh, wherein there shall be no buying nor selling, neither any friendship. 	l lay not the blame on my temptations, but blame your own folly in obeying and trusting in me, who had openly professed myself your irreconcilable enemy. 	m or i do now declare myself clear of your having obeyed me, preferably to god, and worshipped idols at my instigation. or the words may be translated, i believed not heretofore in that being with whom ye did associate me; intimating his first disobedience in refusing to worship adam at god's command. 	n see chapter , p. . 	o what is particularly intended in this passage by the good word, and the evil word, the expositors differ. but the first seems to mean the profession of god's unity; the inviting others to the true religion, or the korân itself; and the latter, the acknowledging a plurality of gods, the seducing of others to idolatry, or the obstinate opposition of god's prophets. 	p jallalo'ddin supposes the sepulchre to be here understood; in which place when the true believers come to be examined by the two angels concerning their faith, they will answer properly and without hesitation; which the infidels will not be able to do. 	q that is, who requite his favours with disobedience and incredulity. or, whose ingratitude obliged god to deprive them of the blessings he had bestowed on them; as he did the meccans, who though god had placed them in the sacred territory, and given them the custody of the caaba, and abundant provision of all necessaries and conveniences of life, and had also honoured them by the mission of mohammed, yet in return for all this became obstinate unbelievers, and persecuted his apostle; for which they were not only punished by a famine of seven years, but also by the loss and disgrace they sustained at bedr; so that they who had before been celebrated for their prosperity, were not stripped of that, and become conspicuous only for their infidelity. if this be the drift of the passage, it could not have been revealed at mecca, as the rest of the chapter is agreed to be; wherefore some suppose this verse and the next to have been revealed at medina. 	 idem.		 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. .		 al beidâwi. it is god who hath created the heavens and the earth; and causeth water to descend from heaven, and by means thereof produceth fruits for your sustenance: and by his command he obligethr the ships to sail in the sea for your service; and he also forceth the rivers to supply your uses: he likewise compelleth the sun and the moon, which diligently perform their courses, to serve you; and hath subjected the day and the night to your service. he giveth you of everything which ye ask him; and if ye attempt to reckon up the favors of god, ye shall not be able to compute the same. surely man is unjust and ungrateful. remember when abraham said, o lord, make this lands a place of security; and grant that i and my childrent may avoid the worship of idols; for they, o lord, have seduced a great number of men. whoever therefore shall follow me, he shall be of me; and whosoever shall disobey me, verily thou wilt be gracious and merciful.u 	o lord, i have caused some of my offspringx to settle in an unfruitful valley, near the holy house, o lord, that they may be constant at prayer. grant, therefore, that the hearts of some meny may be affected with kindness toward them; and do thou bestow on them all sorts of fruits,z that they may give thanks. o lord, thou knowest whatsoever we conceal, and whatsoever we publish; for nothing is hidden from god, either on earth or in heaven. praise be unto god, who hath given me, in my old age, israel and isaac: for my lord is the hearer of supplication. o lord, grant that i may be an observer of prayer, and a part of my posterity also,a o lord, and receive my supplication. o lord, forgive me, and my parents,b and the faithful, on the day whereon an account shall be taken. think not, o prophet, that god is regardless of what the ungodly do. he only deferreth their punishment unto the day whereon men's eyes shall be fixed: 	r the word used here, and in the following sentences, is sakhkhara, which signifies forcibly to press into any service. 	s viz., the territory of mecca. see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. 	t this prayer, it seems, was not heard as to all his posterity, particularly as to the descendants of ismael; though some pretend that these latter did not worship images, but only paid a superstitious veneration to certain stones, which they set up and compassed, as representations of the caaba. 	u that is, by disposing him to repentance. but jallalo'ddin supposes these words were spoken by abraham before he knew that god would not pardon idolatry. 	x i.e., ismael and his posterity. the mohammedans say, that hagar, his mother, belonged to sarah, who gave her to abraham; and that, on her bearing him this son, sarah became so jealous of her, that she prevailed on her husband to turn them both out of doors; whereupon he sent them to the territory of mecca, where god caused the fountain of zemzem to spring forth for their relief, in consideration of which the jorhamites, who were the masters of the country, permitted them to settle among them. 	y had he said the hearts of men, absolutely, the persians and the romans would also have treated them as friends; and both the jews and christians would have made their pilgrimages to mecca. 	z this part of the prayer was granted; mecca being so plentifully supplied, that the fruits of spring, summer, and autumn, are to be found there at one and the same time. 	a for he knew by revelation that somme of them would be infidels. 	b abraham put up this petition to god before he knew that his parents were the enemies of god. some suppose his mother was a true believer, and therefore read it in the singular, and my father. others fancy that by his parents the patriarch here means adam and eve. 	 see chapter , p. , note c.		 al beidâwi. see the prelim. disc. sect. i. p. - .		 idem. idem, jallalo'ddin.		 idem.		 see chapter , p. . 		 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi. they shall hasten forward, at the voice of the angel calling to judgment, and shall lift up their heads; they shall not be able to turn their sight from the object whereon it shall be fixed, and their hearts shall be void of sense, through excessive terror. wherefore do thou threaten men with the day, whereon their punishment shall be inflicted on them, and whereon those who have acted unjustly shall say, o lord, give us respite unto a term near at hand; and we will obey thy call, and we will follow thy apostles. but it shall be answered unto them, did ye not swear heretofore, that no reverse should befall you?c yet ye dwelt in the dwellings of those who had treated their own souls unjustly;d and it appeared plainly unto you how we had dwelt with them;e and we propounded their destruction as examples unto you. they employ their utmost subtlety to oppose the truth; but their subtlety is apparent unto god, who is able to frustrate their designs; although their subtlety were so great, that the mountains might be moved thereby. think not, therefore, o prophet, that god will be contrary to his promise of assistance, made unto his apostles; for god is mighty, able to avenge. the day will come, when the earth shall be changed into another earth, and the heavens into other heavens;f and men shall come forth from their graves to appear before the only, the mighty god. 	and thou shalt see the wicked on that day bound together in fetters: their inner garments shall be of pitch, and fire shall cover their faces; that god may reward every soul according to what it shall have deserved; for god is swift in taking an account. this is a sufficient admonition unto men, that they may be warned thereby, and that they may know that there is but one god; and that those who are endued with understanding may consider. 	c that is, that ye should not taste of death, but continue in this world for ever; or that ye should not after death be raised to judgment. 	d viz., of the adites and thamûdites. 	e not only by the histories of those people revealed in the korân, but also by the monuments remaining of them (as the houses of the thamûdites, and the traditions preserved among you of the terrible judgments which befell them. 	f this the mohammedans suppose will come to pass at the last day; the earth becoming white and even, or, as some will have it, of silver; and the heavens of gold. 	 iidem, al zamakhshari, yahya.		 iidem. vide prelim. disc. sect. iv, p. . chapter xv. entitled, al hejr;g revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. a. l. r.h these are the signs of the book, and of the perspicuous koran. the time may come when the unbelievers shall wish that they had been moslems.i suffer them to eat, and to enjoy themselves in this world; and let hope entertain them, but they shall hereafter know their folly. we have not destroyed any city, but a fixed term of repentance was appointed them. no nation shall be punished before their time shall be come; neither shall they be respited after. the meccans say, o thou to whom the admonitionj hath been sent down, thou art certainly possessed with a devil: wouldest thou not have come unto us with an attendance of angels, if thou hadst spoken truth? answer, we send not down the angels, unless on a just occasion;k nor should they be then respited any longer. we have surely sent down the koran; and we will certainly preserve the same from corruption.l 	we have heretofore sent apostles before thee among the ancient sects: and there came no apostle unto them, but they laughed him to scorn. in the same manner will we put it into the hearts of the wicked meccans to scoff at their prophet: they shall not believe on him; and the sentence of the nations of old hath been executed heretofore. if we should open a gate in the heaven above them, and they should ascend theretom all the day long, they should rather say, our eyes are only dazzled; or rather we are a people deluded by enchantments. we have placed the twelve signs in the heaven, and have set them out in various figures, for the observation of spectators: and we guard them from every deviln driven away with stones;o 	g al hejr is a territory in the province of hejaz, between medina and syria, where the tribe of thamûd dwelt; and is mentioned towards the end of the chapter. 	h see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. , &c. 	i viz., when they shall see the success and prosperity of the true believers; or when they shall come to die; or at the resurrection. 	j i.e., the revelations which compose the korân. 	k when the divine wisdom shall judge it proper to use their ministry, as in bearing his revelations to the prophets, and the executing his sentence on wicked people; but not to humour you with their appearance in visible shapes, which, should your demand be complied with, would only increase your confusion, and bring god's vengeance on you the sooner. 	l see the prelim. disc. iv. p. . 	m i.e., the incredulous meccans themselves; or, as others rather think, the angels in visible forms. 	n for the mohammedans imagine that the devils endeavour to ascend to the constellations, to pry into the actions and overhear the discourse of the inhabitants of heaven, and to tempt them. they also pretend that these evil spirits had the liberty of entering any of the heavens till the birth of jesus, when they were excluded three of them; but that on the birth of mohammed they were forbidden the other four. 	o see chapter , p. , note b. 		 see the prelim. disc. p. .		 al beidâwi. except him who listeneth by stealth, at whom a visible flame is darted.p we have also spread forth the earth, and thrown thereon stable mountains, and we have caused every kind of vegetable to spring forth in the same, according to a determinate weight: 	and we have provided therein necessaries of life for you, and for him whom ye do not sustain.q there is no one thing but the storehouses thereof are in our hands; and we distribute not the same otherwise than in a determinate measure. we also send the winds driving the pregnant clouds, and we send down from heaven water, whereof we give you to drink, and which ye keep not in store. verily we give life, and we put to death: and we are the heirs of all things.r we know those among you who go before; and we know those who stay behind.s and thy lord shall gather them together at the last day: for he is knowing and wise. we created man of dried clay, of black mud, formed into shape:t and we had before created the devil of subtle fire. and remember when thy lord said unto the angels, verily i am about to create man of dried clay, of black mud, wrought into shape; when, therefore, i shall have completely formed him, and shall have breathed of my spirit into him; do ye fall down and worship him. 	and all the angels worshipped adam together, except eblis, who refused to be with those who worshipped him. and god said unto him, o eblis, what hindered thee from being with those who worshipped adam? he answered, it is not fit that i should worship man, whom thou hast created of dried clay, of black mud, wrought into shape. god said, get thee therefore hence: for thou shalt be driven away with stones: and a curse shall be on thee, until the day of judgment. the devil said, o lord, give me respite until the day of resurrection. god answered, verily thou shalt be one of those who are respited until the day of the appointed time.u the devil replied, o lord, because thou hast seduced me, i will surely tempt them to disobedience in the earth; 	and i will seduce such of them as shall be thy chosen servants. god said, this is the right way with me.x verily as to my servants, thou shalt have no power over them; but over those only who shall be seduced, and who shall follow thee. and hell is surely denounced unto them all: 	p for when a star seems to fall or shoot, the mohammedans suppose the angels, who keep guard in the constellations, dart them at the devils who approach too near. 	q viz., your family, servants, and slaves, whom ye wrongly imagine that ye feed yourselves; though it is god who provides for them as well as you: or, as some rather think, the animals, of whom men take no care. 	r i.e., alone surviving, when all creatures shall be dead and annihilated. 	s what these words particularly drive at is uncertain. some think them spoken of the different times of men's several entrance into this world, and their departure out of it; others of the respective forwardness and backwardness of mohammed's men in battle; and a third says, the passage was occasioned by the different behaviour of mohammed's followers, on seeing a very beautiful woman at prayers behind the prophet; some of them going out of the mosque before her, to avoid looking on her more nearly, and others staying behind, on purpose to view her. 	t see chapter , p. , &c. 	u see ibid. and chapter , p. . 	x viz., the saving of the elect, and the utter reprobation of the wicked, according to my eternal decree. 			 idem.		 jallalo'ddin.		 al beidâwi. it hath seven gates; unto every gate a distinct company of them shall be assigned.y but those who fear god shall dwell in gardens, amidst fountains. the angels shall say unto them, enter ye therein in peace and security, and we will remove all grudges from their breasts;z they shall be as brethren, sitting over against one anothera on couches; weariness shall not affect them therein, neither shall they be cast out thence forever. declare unto my servants that i am the gracious, the merciful god; 	and that my punishment is a grievous punishment. and relate unto them the history of abraham's guests.b when they went in unto him, and said, peace be unto thee, he answered, verily we are afraid of you:c and they replied, fear not; we bring thee the promise of a wise son. he said, do ye bring me the promise of a son now old age hath overtaken me? what is it therefore that ye tell me? they said, we have told thee the truth; be not therefore one of those who despair. he answered, and who despaireth of the mercy of god, except those who err? and he said, what is your errand, therefore, o messengers of god? they answered, verily we are sent to destroy a wicked people; 	but as for the family of lot, we will save them all, except his wife; we have decreed that she shall be one of those who remain behind to be destroyed with the infidels. and when the messengers came to the family of lot, he said unto them, verily ye are a people who are unknown to me. they answered, but we are come unto thee to execute that sentence, concerning which your fellow-citizens doubted: we tell thee a certain truth; and we are messengers of veracity. therefore lead forth thy family, in some time of the night; and do thou follow behind them, and let none of you turn back; but go whither ye are commanded.d and we gave him this command; because the utmost remnant of those people was to be cut off in the morning. and the inhabitants of the city came unto lot, rejoicing at the news of the arrival of some strangers. and he said unto them, verily these are my guests: wherefore do not disgrace me by abusing them; 	but fear god, and put me not to shame. they answered, have we not forbidden thee from entertaining or protecting any man? lot replied, these are my daughters: therefore rather make use of them, if ye be resolved to do what ye purpose. as thou livest they wander in their folly.e wherefore a terrible storm from heaven assailed them at sunrise, and we turned the city upside down: and we rained on them stones of baked clay. verily herein are signs unto men of sagacity: and those cities were punished, to point out a right way for men to walk in. verily herein is a sign unto the true believers. 	y see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. 	z that is, all hatred and ill-will which they bore each other in their lifetime; or, as some choose to expound it, all envy or heart-burning on account of the different degrees of honour and happiness to which the blessed will be promoted according to their respective merits. 	a never turning their backs to one another; which might be construed a sign of contempt. 	b see chapter , p. , &c. 	c what occasioned abraham's apprehension was, either their sudden entering without leave or their coming at an unseasonable time; or else their not eating with him. 	d which was into syria; or into egypt. 	e some will have these words spoken by the angels to lot; others, by god to mohammed. 	 see chapter , p. , note, .		 jallalo'ddin.		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin. the inhabitants of the wood near midianf were also ungodly. 	wherefore we took vengeance on them.g and both of them were destroyed, to serve as a manifest rule for men to direct their actions by. and the inhabitants of al hejrh likewise heretofore accused the messengers of god of imposture: and we produced our signs unto them, but they retired afar off from the same. and they hewed houses out of the mountains, to secure themselves. but a terrible noise from heaven assailed them in the morning; neither was what they had wrought of any advantage unto them. we have not created the heavens and the earth, and whatever is contained between them, otherwise than in justice: and the hour of judgment shall surely come. wherefore o mohammed, forgive thy people with a gracious forgiveness.i verily thy lord is the creator of thee and of them, and knoweth what is most expedient. we have already brought unto thee seven verses which are frequently to be repeated,j and the glorious koran. cast not thine eyes on the good things which we have bestowed on several of the unbelievers, so as to covet the same:k neither be thou grieved on their account. behave thyself with meekness towards the true believers; 	and say, i am a public preacher. if they believe not, we will inflict a like punishment on them, as we have inflicted on the dividers,l who distinguished the koran into different parts, for by thy lord, we will demand an account from them all of that which they have wrought. wherefore publish that which thou hast been commanded, and withdraw from the idolaters. 	f to whom shoaib was also sent, as well as to the inhabitants of midian. abulfeda says these people dwelt near tabûc, and that they were not of the same tribe with shoaib. see also geog. nub. . 	g destroying them, for their incredulity and disobedience, by a hot suffocating wind. 	h who were the tribe of thamûd. 	i this verse, it is said, was abrogated by that of the sword. 	j that is, the first chapter of the korân, which consists of so many verses: though some suppose the seven long chapters are here intended. 	k that is, do not envy or covet their worldly prosperity, since thou hast received, in the korân, a blessing, in comparison whereof all that we have bestowed on them ought to be contemned as of no value. al beidâwi mentions a tradition, that mohammed meeting at adhriât (a town of syria) seven caravans, very richly laden, belonging to some jews of the tribes of koreidha and al nadîr, his men had a great mind to plunder them, saying, that those riches would be of great service for the propagation of god's true religion. but the prophet represented to them, by this passage, that they had no reason to repine, god having given them the seven verses, which were infinitely more valuable than those seven caravans. 	l some interpret the original word, the obstructers, who hindered men from entering mecca, to visit the temple, lest they should be persuaded to embrace islâm: and this, it is said, was done by ten men, who were all slain at bedr. others translate the word, who bound themselves by oath; and suppose certain thamûdites, who swore to kill saleh by night, are here meant. but the sentence more probably relates to the jews and christians, who (say the mohammedans) receive some part of the scriptures, and reject others; and also approved of some passages of the korân, and disapproved of others, according to their prejudices; or else to the unbelieving meccans, some of whom called the korân a piece of witchcraft; others, flights of divination; others, old stories; and others, a poetical composition. 	 iidem.		 see chapter , p. , &c., and prel. disc. p. . 	 see chapter , p. , note e. al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin. we will surely take thy part against the scoffers,m who associate with god another god; they shall surely know their folly. and now we well know that thou art deeply concerned on account of that which they say; but do thou celebrate the praise of thy lord; and be one of those who worship; and serve thy lord until deathn shall overtake thee. _______ chapter xvi. entitled, the bee;o revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. the sentence of god will surely come to be executed; wherefore do not hasten it. praise be unto him! and far be that from him which they associate with him! he shall cause the angels to descend with a revelation by his command, unto such of his servants as he pleaseth, saying, preach that there is no god, except myself; therefore fear me. he hath created the heavens and the earth, to manifest his justice; far be that from him which they associate with him! he hath created man of seed; and yet behold he is a professed disputer against the resurrection.q he hath likewise created the cattle for you; from them ye have wherewith to keep yourselves warm,r and other advantages; and of them do ye also eat. and they are likewise a credit unto you,s when ye drive them home in the evening, and when ye lead them forth to feed in the morning: and they carry your burdens to a distant country, at which ye could not otherwise arrive, unless with great difficulty to yourselves; for your lord is compassionate and merciful. and he hath also created horses, and mules, and asses, that ye may ride thereon, and for an ornament unto you; and he likewise created other things which ye know not. it appertaineth unto god to instruct men in the right way; and there is who turneth aside from the same: but if he had pleased, he would certainly have directed you all. 	it is he who sendeth down from heaven rain water, whereof ye have to drink, and from which plants, whereon ye feed your cattle, receive their nourishment. 	m this passage, it is said, was revealed on account of five noble koreish, whose names were al walîd ebn al mogheira, al as ebn wayel, oda ebn kais, al aswad ebn abd yaghûth, and al aswad ebn al motalleb. these were inveterate enemies of mohammed, continually persecuting him, and turning him into ridicule; wherefore at length gabriel came and told him that he was commanded to take his part against them; and on the angel's making a sign towards them one after another, al walîd passing by some arrows, one of them hitched in his garment, and he, out of pride, not stooping to take it off, but walking forward, the head of it cut a vein in his heel, and he bled to death; al as was killed with a thorn, which stuck into the sole of his foot, and caused his leg to swell to a monstrous size; oda died with violent and perpetual sneezing; al aswad ebn abd yaghûth ran his head against a thorny tree and killed himself; and al aswad ebn al motalleb was struck blind. 	n literally, that which is certain. 	o this insect is mentioned about the middle of the chapter. 	p except the three last verses. 	q the person particularly intended in this place was obba ebn khalf, who came to mohammed with a rotten bone, and asked him whether it was possible for god to restore it to life. 	r viz., their skins, wool, and hair, which serve you for clothing. 	s being a grace to your court-yards, and a credit to you in the eyes of your neighbours. 			 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem. and by means thereof he causeth corn, and olives, and palm-trees, and grapes, and all kinds of fruits, to spring forth for you. surely herein is a sign of the divine power and wisdom unto people who consider. and he hath subjected the night and the day to your service; and the sun, and the moon, and the stars, which are compelled to serve by his command. verily herein are signs unto people of understanding. and he hath also given you dominion over whatever he hath created for you in the earth, distinguished by its different colour.t surely herein is a sign unto people who reflect. it is he who hath subjected the sea unto you, that ye might eat fishu thereout, and take from thence ornamentsx for you to wear; and thou seest the ships ploughing the waves thereof, that ye may seek to enrich yourselves of his abundance, by commerce; and that ye might give thanks. and he hath thrown upon the earth mountains firmly rooted, lest it should move with you,y and also rivers, and paths, that ye might be directed: and he hath likewise ordained marks whereby men may know their way; and they are directed by the stars.z shall god therefore, who createth, be as he who createth not? do ye not therefore consider? if ye attempt to reckon up the favors of god, ye shall not be able to compute their number; god is surely gracious and merciful; and god knoweth that which ye conceal, and that which ye publish. 	but the idols which ye invoke, besides god, create nothing, but are themselves created. they are dead, and not living; neither do they understand when they shall be raised.a your god is one god. as to those who believe not in the life to come, their hearts deny the plainest evidence, and they proudly reject the truth. there is no doubt but god knoweth that which they conceal and that which they discover. verily he loveth not the proud. and when it is said unto them, what hath your lord sent down unto mohammed? they answer, fables of ancient times. thus are they given up to error, that they may bear their own burdens without diminution on the day of resurrection, and also a part of the burdens of those whom they caused to err, without knowledge. will it not be an evil burden which they shall bear? their predecessors devised plots heretofore: but god came into their building, to overthrow it from the foundations; and the roof fell on them from above, and a punishment came upon them, from whence they did not expect.b 	t that is, of every kind; the various colour of things being one of their chief distinctions. 	u literally, fresh flesh; by which fish is meant, as being naturally more fresh, and sooner liable to corruption, than the flesh of birds and beasts. the expression is thought to have been made use of here the rather, because the production of such fresh food from salt water is an instance of god's power. 	x as pearls and coral. 	y the mohammedans suppose that the earth, when first created, was smooth and equal, and thereby liable to a circular motion as well as the celestial orbs; and that the angels asking, who could be able to stand on so tottering a frame, god fixed it the next morning by throwing the mountains on it. 	z which are their guides, not only at sea, but also on land, when they travel by night through the deserts. the stars which they observe for this purpose, are either the pleiades, or some of those near the pole. 	a i.e., at what time they or their worshippers shall be raised to receive judgment. 	b some understand this passage figuratively, of god's disappointing their wicked designs; but others suppose the words literally relate to the tower which nimrod (whom the mohammedans will have to be the son of caanan, the son of ham, and so the nephew of cush, and not his son) built in babel, and carried to an immense height (five thousand cubits, say some), foolishly purposing thereby to ascend to heaven and wage war with the inhabitants of that place; but god frustrated his attempt, utterly overthrowing the tower by a violent wind and earthquake. 				 idem.			 idem. also on the day of resurrection he will cover them with shame; and will say, where are my companions, concerning whom ye disputed? those unto whom knowledge shall have been given,c shall answer, this day shall shame and misery fall upon the unbelievers. 	they whom the angels shall cause to die, having dealt unjustly with their own souls, shall offer to make their peaced in the article of death, saying, we have done no evil. but the angels shall reply. yea; verily god well knoweth that which ye have wrought: wherefore enter the gates of hell, therein to remain forever; and miserable shall be the abode of the proud. and it shall be said unto those who shall fear god, what hath your lord sent down? they shall answer, good; unto those who do right shall be given an excellent reward in this world; but the dwelling of the next life shall be better; and happy shall be the dwelling of the pious! namely gardens of eternal abode,e into which they shall enter; rivers shall flow beneath the same; therein shall they enjoy whatever they wish. thus will god recompense the pious. unto the righteous, whom the angels shall cause to die, they shall say, peace be upon you; enter ye into paradise, as a reward for that which ye have wrought. do the unbelievers expect any other than that the angels come unto them, to part their souls from their bodies; or that the sentence of thy lord come to be executed on them? so did they act who were before them; and god was not unjust towards them in that he destroyed them; but they dealt unjustly with their own souls: the evils of that which they committed reached them; and the divine judgment which they scoffed at fell upon them. the idolaters say, if god had pleased, we had not worshipped anything besides him, neither had our fathers: neither had we forbidden anything, without him.f so did they who were before them. but is the duty of the apostles any other than public preaching? we have heretofore raised up in every nation an apostle to admonish them, saying, worship god, and avoid taghut.g and of them there were some whom god directed, and there were others of them who were decreed to go astray. wherefore go through the earth, o tribe of koreish, and see what hath been the end of those who accused their apostles of imposture. if thou, o prophet, dost earnestly wish for their direction; verily god will not direct him whom he hath resolved to lead into error; neither shall they have any helpers. 	and they swear most solemnly by god, saying, god will not raise the dead. yea; the promise thereof is true: but the greater part of men know it not. 	c viz., the prophets, and the teachers and professors of god's unity; or, the angels. 	d making their submission, and humbly excusing their evil actions, as proceeding from ignorance, and not from obstinacy or malice. 	e literally, gardens of eden. see chapter , p. . 	f this they spoke of in a scoffing manner, justifying their idolatry and superstitious abstaining from certain cattle, by pretending, that had these things been disagreeable to god, he would not have suffered them to be practised. 	g see chapter , p. . 	 idem, jallalo'ddin. vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. art. nimrod 	 iidem interp		 see chapter , p. , &c. he will raise them that he may clearly show them the truth concerning which they now disagree, and that the unbelievers may know that they are liars. verily our speech unto anything, when we will the same, is, that we only say unto it, be; and it is. as for those who have fled their country for the sake of god, after they had been unjustly persecuted;h we will surely provide them an excellent habitation in this world, but the reward of the next life shall be greater; if they knew it.i they who persevere patiently, and put their trust in their lord, shall not fail of happiness in this life and in that which is to come. we have not sent any before thee, as our apostles, other than men,j unto whom we spake by revelation. inquire therefore of those who have the custody of the scriptures, if ye know not this to be truth. we sent them with evident miracles, and written revelations; and we have sent down unto thee this korân,k that thou mayest declare unto mankind that which hath been sent down unto them, and that they may consider. are they who have plotted evil against their prophet secure that god will not cause the earth to cleave under them, or that a punishment will not come upon them, from whence they do not expect; or that he will not chastise them while they are busied in travelling from one place to another, and in traffic? (for they shall not be able to elude the power of god,) or that he will not chastise them by a gradual destruction? but your lord is truly gracious and merciful in granting you respite. 	do they not consider the things which god hath created; whose shadows are cast on the right hand and on the left, worshipping god,l and become contracted? whatever moveth both in heaven and on earth worshippeth god, and the angels also; and they are not elated with pride, so as to disdain his service: they fear their lord, who is exalted above them, and perform that which they are commanded. god said, take not unto yourselves two gods; for there is but one god: and revere me. unto him belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and on earth; and unto him is obedience eternally due. will ye therefore fear any besides god? whatever favors ye have received are certainly from god; and when evil afflicteth you, unto him do ye make your supplication; yet when he taketh the evil from off you, behold, a part of you give a companion unto their lord, to show their ingratitude for the favors we have bestowed on them. delight yourselves in the enjoyments of this life: but hereafter shall ye know that ye cannot escape the divine vengeance. and they set apart unto idols which have no knowledge,m a part of the food which we have provided for them. by god, ye shall surely be called to account for that which ye have falsely devised. 	h some suppose the prophet and the companions of his flight in general, are here intended: others suppose that those are particularly meant in this place, who, after mohammed's departure, were imprisoned at mecca on account of their having embraced his religion, and suffered great persecution from the koreish; as, belâl, soheib, khabbab, ammâr, abes, abu'l jandal, and sohail. 	i it is uncertain whether the pronoun they relates to the infidels, or to the true believers. if to the former, the consequence would be, that they they would be desirous of attaining to the happiness of the mohajerîn, by professing the same faith; if to the latter, the knowledge of this is urged as a motive to patience and perseverance. 	j see chapter , p. , note r; chapter , p. , &c. 	k literally, this admonition. 	l see chapter , p. , note c. 	m or, which they know not; foolishly imagining that they have power to help them, or interest with god to intercede for them. 	as to the ancient arabs setting apart a certain portion of the produce of their lands for their idols, and their superstitions abstaining from the use of certain cattle, in honour to the same, see chapter , p. , and chapter , p. , and the notes there. 		 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. . they attribute daughters unto godn (far be it from him!) but unto themselves children of the sex which they desire.o 	and when any of them is told the news of the birth of a female, his face becometh black,p and he is deeply afflicted: he hideth himself from the people, because of the ill tidings which have been told him; considering within himself whether he shall keep it with disgrace, or whether he shall bury it in the dust. do they not make an ill judgment? unto those who believe not in the next life, the similitude of evil ought to be applied, and unto god the most sublime similitude:q for he is mighty and wise. if god should punish men for their iniquity, he would not leave on the earth any moving thing: but he giveth them respite unto an appointed time; and when their time shall come, they shall not be respited an hour, neither shall their punishment be anticipated. they attribute unto god that which they dislike themselves,r and their tongues utter a lie; namely, that the reward of paradise is for them. there is no doubt but that the fire of hell is prepared for them, and that they shall be sent thither before the rest of the wicked. by god, we have heretofore sent messengers unto the nations before thee: but satan prepared their works for them; he was their patron in this world,s and in that which is to come they shall suffer a grievous torment. we have not sent down the book of the koran unto thee, for any other purpose, than that thou shouldest declare unto them that truth concerning which they disagree; and for a direction and mercy unto people who believe. god sendeth down water from heaven, and causeth the earth to revive after it hath been dead. verily herein is a sign of the resurrection unto people who hearken. ye have also in cattle an example of instruction: we give you to drink of that which is in their bellies; a liquor between digested dregs, and blood;t namely, pure milk,u which is swallowed with pleasure by those who drink it. 	n see the prelim. disc. p. . al beidâwi says, that the tribes of khozâah and kenâna, in particular, used to call the angels the daughters of god. 	o viz., sons: for the birth of a daughter was looked on as a kind of misfortune among the arabs; and they often used to put them to death by burying them alive. 	p i.e., clouded with confusion and sorrow. 	q this passage condemns the meccans' injudicious and blasphemous application of such circumstances to god as were unworthy of him, and not only derogatory to the perfections of the deity, but even disgraceful to man; while they arrogantly applied the more honourable circumstances to themselves. 	r by giving him daughters, and associates in power and honour; by disregarding his messengers; and by setting apart the better share of the presents and offerings for their idols, and the worse for him. 	s or, he is the patron of them (viz. the koreish) this day, &c. 	t the milk consisting of certain particles of the blood, supplied from the finer parts of the ailment. ebn abbas says, that the grosser parts of the food subside into excrement, and that the finer parts are converted into milk, and the finest of all into blood. 	u having neither the colour of the blood, nor the smell of the excrements. 		 see chapter .		 al beidâwi and of the fruits of palm-trees, and of grapes, ye obtain an inebriating liquor, and also good nourishment.x verily herein is a sign unto people who understand. 	thy lord spake by inspiration unto the bee, saying, provide thee housesy in the mountains, and in the trees, and of those materials wherewith men build hives for thee: then eat of every kind of fruit, and walk in the beaten paths of thy lord.z there proceedeth from their bellies a liquor of various colours,a wherein is a medicine for men.b verily herein is a sign unto people who consider. god hath created you, and he will hereafter cause you to die: and some of you shall have his life prolonged to a decrepit age, so that he shall forget whatever he knew; for god is wise and powerful. god causeth some of you to excel others in worldly possessions: yet they who are caused to excel do not give their wealth unto the slaves whom their right hands possess, that they may become equal sharers therein.c do they therefore deny the beneficence of god? god hath ordained you wives from among yourselves,d and of your wives hath granted you children and grand-children; and hath bestowed on you good things for food. will they therefore believe in that which is vain, and ungratefully deny the goodness of god? they worship, besides god, idols which possess nothing wherewith to sustain them, either in heaven, or on earth; and have no power. wherefore liken not anything unto god:e for god knoweth, but ye know not. god propoundeth as a parable a possessed slave, who hath power over nothing, and him on whom we have bestowed a good provision from us, and who giveth alms thereout both secretly and openly:f shall these two be esteemed equal? god forbid! but the greater part of men know it not. 	x not only wine, which is forbidden, but also lawful food, as dates, raisins, a kind of honey flowing from the dates, and vinegar. 	some have supposed that these words allow the moderate use of wine; but the contrary is the received opinion. 	y so the apartments which the bee builds are here called, because of their beautiful workmanship, and admirable contrivance, which no geometrician can excel. 	z i.e., the ways through which, by god's power, the bitter flowers passing the bee's stomach become money; or, the methods of making honey, which he has taught her by instinct; or else the ready way home from the distant places to which that insect flies. 	a viz., honey; the colour of which is very different, occasioned by the different plants on which the bees feed; some being white, some yellow, some red, and some black. 	b the same being not only good food, but a useful remedy in several distempers, particularly those occasioned by phlegm. there is a story, that a man came once to mohammed, and told him that his brother was afflicted with a violent pain in his belly: upon which the prophet bade him give him some honey. the fellow took his advice; but soon after coming again, told him that the medicine had done his brother no manner of service: mohammed answered, go and give him more honey, for god speaks truth, and thy brother's belly lies. and the dose being repeated, the man, by god's mercy, was immediately cured. 	c these words reprove the idolatrous meccans, who could admit created beings to a share of the divine honour, though they suffered not their slaves to share with themselves to what god had bestowed on them. 	d that is, of your own nations and tribes. some think the formation of eve from adam is here intended. 	e or propound no similitudes or comparisons between him and his creatures. one argument the meccans employed in defence of their idolatry, it seems, was, that the worship of inferior deities did honour to god; in the same manner as the respect showed to the servants of a prince does honour to the prince himself. 	f the idols are here likened to a slave, who is so far from having anything of his own, that he is himself in the possession of another; whereas god is as a rich free man, who provideth for his family abundantly, and also assisteth others who have need, both in public, and in private. 	 see chapter , p. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem. 	 idem.		 idem. idem.		 idem.		 idem, jallalo'ddin. god also propoundeth as a parable two men; one of them born dumb, who is unable to do or understand anything, but is a burden unto his master; whithersoever he shall send him, he shall not return with any good success: shall this man, and he who hath his speech and understanding, and who commandeth that which is just, and followeth the right way, be esteemed equal?g unto god alone is the secret of heaven and earth known. and the business of the last hourh shall be only as the twinkling of an eye, or even more quick: for god is almighty. 	god hath brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers; ye knew nothing, and he gave you the senses of hearing and seeing, and understandings, that ye might give thanks. do they not behold the fowls which are enabled to fly in the open firmament of heaven? none supporteth them except god. verily herein are signs unto people who believe. god hath also provided you houses for habitations for you; and hath also provided you tents of the skins of cattle, which ye find light to be removed on the day of your departure to new quarters, and easy to be pitched on the day of your sitting down therein: and of their wool, and their fur, and their hair, hath he supplied you with furniture and household-stuff for a season. and god hath provided for you, of that which he hath created, conveniences to shade you from the sun,i and he hath also provided you places of retreat in the mountains,j and he hath given you garments to defend you from the heat,k and coats of mail to defend you in your wars. thus doth he accomplish his favor towards you, that ye may resign yourselves unto him. but if they turn back, verily thy duty is public preaching only. they acknowledge the goodness of god, and afterwards they deny the same;l but the greater part of them are unbelievers.m on a certain day we will raise a witness out of every nation:n then they who shall have been unbelievers shall not be suffered to excuse themselves, neither shall they be received into favor. and when they who shall have acted unjustly shall see the torment prepared for them; (it shall not be mitigated unto them, neither shall they be respited): and when those who shall have been guilty of idolatry shall see their false gods,o they shall say, o lord, these are our idols which we invoked, besides thee. but they shall return an answer unto them, saying, verily ye are liars.p and on that day shall the wicked offer submission unto god; and the false deities which they imagined shall abandon them. 	g the idol is here again represented under the image of one who, by a defect in his senses, is a useless burthen to the man who maintains him; and god, under that of a person completely qualified either to direct or to execute any useful undertaking. some suppose the comparison is intended of a true believer and an infidel. 	h that is, the resurrection of the dead. 	i as trees, houses, tents, mountains, &c. 	j viz., caves and grottos, both natural and artificial. 	k al beidâwi says, that one extreme, and that the most insupportable in arabia, is here put for both; but jallalo'ddin supposes that by heat we are in this place to understand cold. 	l confessing god to be the author of all the blessings they enjoy; and yet directing their worship and thanks to their idols, by whose intercession they imagine blessings are obtained. 	m absolutely denying god's providence, either through ignorance or perverseness. 	n see chapter , p. , note z. 	o literally, their companions. 	p for that we are not the companions of god, as ye imagined; neither did ye really serve us, but your own corrupt affections and lusts; nor yet were ye led into idolatry by us, but ye fell into it of your own accord. 					 al beidâwi. 	as for those who shall have been infidels, and shall have turned aside others from the way of god, we will add unto them punishment upon punishment because they have corrupted others. on a certain day we will raise up in every nation a witness against them, from among themselves; and we will bring thee, o mohammed, as a witness against these arabians. we have sent down unto thee the book of the koran, for an explication of everything necessary both as to faith and practice, and a direction, and mercy, and good tidings unto the moslems. verily god commandeth justice, and the doing of good, and the giving unto kindred what shall be necessary; and he forbiddeth wickedness, and iniquity, and oppression: he admonisheth you that ye may remember.q perform your covenant with god,r when ye enter into covenant with him; and violate not your oaths, after the ratification thereof; since ye have made god a witness over you. verily god knoweth that which ye do. and be not like unto her who undoeth that which she hath spun, untwisting it after she hath twisted it strongly;s taking your oaths between you deceitfully, because one party is more numerous than another party.t verily god only tempteth you therein; and he will make that manifest unto you, on the day of resurrection, concerning which ye now disagree. if god had pleased, he would surely have made you one people:u but he will lead into error whom he pleaseth, and he will direct whom he pleaseth; and ye shall surely give an account of that which ye have done. therefore take not your oaths between you deceitfully lest your foot slip, after it hath been steadfastly fixed, and ye taste evil in this life, for that ye have turned aside from the way of god; and ye suffer a grievous punishment in the life to come. and sell not the covenant of god for a small price;x for with god is a better recompense prepared for you, if ye be men of understanding. that which is with you will fail; but that which is with god is permanent: and we will surely reward those who shall persevere, according to the utmost merit of their actions. 	q this verse, which was the occasion of the conversion of othmân ebn matûn, the commentators say, containeth the whole which it is a man's duty either to perform or to avoid; and is alone a sufficient demonstration of what is said in the foregoing verse. under the three things here commanded, they understand the belief of god's unity, without inclining to atheism, on the one hand, or polytheism, on the other; obedience to the commands of god; and charity towards those in distress. and under the three things forbidden, they comprehend all corrupt and carnal affections; all false doctrines and heretical opinions; and all injustice towards man. 	r by persevering in his true religion. some think that the oath of fidelity taken to mohammed by his followers is chiefly intended here. 	s some suppose that a particular woman is meant in this passage, who used (like penelope) to undo at night the work that she had done in the day. her name, they say, was reita bint saad ebn teym, of the tribe of koreish. 	t of this insincerity in their alliances the koreish are accused; it being usual with them, when they saw the enemies of their confederates to be superior in force, to renounce their league with their old friends, and strike up one with the others. 	u or, of one religion. 	x that is, be not prevailed on to renounce your religion, or your engagements with your prophet, by any promises or gifts of the infidels. for, it seems, the koreish, to tempt the poorer moslems to apostatize, made them offers, not very considerable indeed, but such as they imagined might be worth their acceptance. 	 idem.		 idem.		 idem.		 idem. whoso worketh righteousness, whether he be male or female, and is a true believer, we will surely raise him to a happy life; and we will give them their reward, according to the utmost merit of their actions. 	when thou readest the koran, have recourse unto god, that he may preserve thee from satan driven away with stones;y he hath no power over those who believe, and who put confidence in their lord; but his power is over those only who take him for their patron, and who give companions unto god. when we substitute in the koran an abrogating verse in lieu of a verse abrogated (and god best knoweth the fitness of that which he revealeth), the infidels say, thou art only a forger of these verses: but the greater part of them know not truth from falsehood. say, the holy spiritz hath brought the same down from thy lord with truth; that he may confirm those who believe, and for a direction and good tidings unto the moslems. we also know that they say, verily, a certain man teacheth him to compose the koran. the tongue of the person unto whom they incline is a foreign tongue; but this, wherein the koran is written, is the perspicuous arabic tongue.a 	y mohammed one day reading in the korân, uttered a horrid blasphemy, to the great scandal of those who were present, as will be observed in another place; to excuse which he assured them that those words were put into his mouth by the devil; and to prevent any such accident for the future, he is here taught to beg god's protection before he entered on that duty. hence the mohammedans, before they begin to read any part of this book, repeat these words, i have recourse unto god for assistance against satan driven away with stones. 	z viz., gabriel. see chapter , p. . 	a this was a great objection made by the meccans to the authority of the korân; for when mohammed insisted, as a proof of its divine original, that it was impossible a man so utterly unacquainted with learning as himself could compose such a book, they replied, that he had one or more assistants in the forgery; but as to the particular person or persons suspected of this confederacy, the traditions differ. one says it was jabar, a greek, servant to amer ebn al hadrami, who could read and write well; another, that they were jabar and yesâr, two slaves who followed the trade of sword-cutlers at mecca, and used to read the pentateuch and gospel, and had often mohammed for their auditor, when he passed that way. another tells us, it was one aïsh, or yâïsh, a domestic of al haweiteb ebn abd al uzza, who was a man of some learning, and had embraced mohammedism. another supposes it was one kais, a christian, whose house mohammed frequented; another, that it was addâs, a servant of otba ebn rabîa; and another, that it was salmân the persian. 	according to some christian writers, abdallah ebn salâm, the jew who was so intimate with mohammed (named by one, according to the hebrew dialect, abdias ben salon and by another, abdala celen), was assisting to him in the compiling his pretended revelations. this jew dr. prideaux confounds with salmân the persian, who was a very different man, as a late author has observed before me; wherefore, and for that we may have occasion to speak of salmân hereafter, it may be proper to add a brief extract of his story as told by himself. he was of a good family of ispahan, and, in his younger years, left the religion of his country to embrace christianity; and travelling into syria, was advised by a certain monk of amuria to go into arabia, where a prophet was expected to arise about that time, who should establish the religion of abraham; and whom he should know, among other things, by the seal of prophecy between his shoulders. salmân performed the journey, and meeting with mohammed at koba, where he rested in his flight to medina, soon found him to be the person he sought, and professed islâm. 	the general opinion of the christians, however is, that the chief help mohammed had in the contriving his korân, was from a nestorian monk named sergius, supposed to be the same person with the monk boheira, with whom mohammed in his younger years had some conference, at bosra, a city of syria damascena, where that monk resided. to confirm 	 in not. ad cap. .		 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi, yahya, &c. 		 al zamakhshari, al beidâwi, yahya. al zamakh., al beidâwi. see prid. life of mah. p. .		 iidem. 	 jallalo'ddin.		 al zamakh., yahya. al zamakh., al beidâwi.		 ricardi confut. legis saracenicæ, c. . joh. andreas, de confus. sectæ mahometanæ, c. see prid. life of mah. pp. , .		 gagnier not. in abulf. vit. moh. p. .		 ex ebn ishak. vide gagnier, ibid		 see prid. ubi sup. p. , &c. gagnier, ubi sup. pp. , . marrac. de alcor. p. . moreover as for those who believe not the signs of god, god will not direct them, and they shall suffer a painful torment: verily they imagine a falsehood who believe not in the signs of god, and they are really the liars. whoever denieth god, after he hath believed, except him who shall be compelled against his will, and whose heart continueth steadfast in the faith, shall be severely chastised:b but whoever shall voluntarily profess infidelity, on those shall the indignation of god fall, and they shall suffer a grievous punishment. this shall be their sentence, because they have loved the present life above that which is to come, and for that god directeth not the unbelieving people. 	these are they whose hearts, and hearing, and sight, god hath sealed up; and these are the negligent: there is no doubt but that in the next life they shall perish. which supposition, a passage has been produced from an arab writer, who says that boheira's name in the books of the christians, is sergius; but this is only a conjecture; and another tells us, his true name was saïd, or felix, and his surname boheira. but be that as it will, if boheira and sergius were the same man, i find not the least intimation in the mohammedan writers that he ever quitted his monastery to go into arabia (as is supposed by the christians); and his acquaintance with mohammed at bosra was too early to favour the surmise of his assisting him in the korân, which was composed long after; though mohammed might, from his discourse, gain some knowledge of christianity and of the scriptures, which might be of use to him therein. 	from the answer given in this passage of the korân to the objection of the infidels, viz., that the person suspected by them to have a hand in the korân spoke a foreign language, and therefore could not, with any face of probability, be supposed to assist in a composition written in the arabic tongue, and with so great elegance, it is plain this person was no arabian. the word ajami, which is here used, signifies any foreign or barbarous language in general; but the arabs applying it more particularly to the persian, it has been thence concluded by some that salmân was the person; however, if it be true that he came not to mohammed till after the hejra, either he could not be the man here intended, or else this verse must have been revealed at medina, contrary to the common opinion. 	b these words were added for the sake of ammâr ebn yaser, and some others, who being taken and tortured by the koreish, renounced their faith out of fear, though their hearts agreed not with their mouths. it seems ammâr wanted the constancy of his father and mother, yâser, and sommeya, who underwent the like trial at the same time with their son, and resolutely refusing to recant, were both put to death, the infidels tying sommeya between two camels, and striking a lance through her privy parts. when news was brought to mohammed, that ammâr had denied the faith, he said, it could not be, for that ammâr was full of faith from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, faith being mixed and incorporated with his very flesh and blood; and when ammâr himself came weeping to the prophet, he wiped his eyes, saying, what fault was it of thine, if they forced thee? 	but though it be here said, that those who apostatize in appearance only, to avoid death or torments, may hope for pardon from god, yet it is unanimously agreed by the mohammedan doctors, to be much more meritorious and pleasing in the sight of god, courageously and nobly to persist in the true faith, and rather to suffer death itself than renounce it, even in words. nor did the mohammedan religion want its martyrs, in the strict sense of the word; of which i will here give two instances, besides the above-mentioned. one is that of khobaib ebn ada, who being perfidiously sold to the koreish, was by them put to death in a cruel manner, by mutilation, and cutting off his flesh piecemeal; and being asked, in the midst of his tortures, whether he did not wish mohammed was in his place, answered i would not wish to be with my family, my substance, and my children, on condition that mohammed was only to be pricked with a thorn. the other is that of a man who was put to death by moseilama, on the following occasion. that false prophet having taken two of mohammed's followers, asked one of them, what he said of mohammed? the man answered, that he was the apostle of god: and what sayest thou of me? added moseilama; to which he replied, thou also art the apostle of god; whereupon he was immediately dismissed in safety. but the other, having returned the same answer to the former question, refused to give any to the last, though required to do it three several times, but pretended to be deaf, and was therefore slain. it is related that mohammed, when the story of these two men was told him, said, the first of them threw himself on god's mercy; but the latter professed the truth; and he shall find his account in it. 	 al masudi.		 abu'l hasan al becri in korân.		 al beidâwi, al zamakh., yahya. al beidâwi		 ebn shohnah.		 al beidâwi. moreover thy lord will be favorable unto those who have fled their country, after having suffered persecution,c and had been compelled to deny the faith by violence, and who have since fought in defence of the true religion, and have persevered with patience; verily unto these will thy lord be gracious and merciful, after they shall have shown their sincerity. on a certain day shall every soul come to plead itself,d and every soul shall be repaid that which it shall have wrought; and they shall not be treated unjustly. god propoundeth as a parable a citye which was secure and quiet, unto which her provisions came in abundance from every side; but she ungratefully denied the favor of god: wherefore god caused her to taste the extreme famine, and fear, because of that which they had done. and now is an apostle come unto the inhabitants of mecca from among themselves; and they accuse him of imposture: wherefore a punishment shall be inflicted on them, while they are acting unjustly. eat of what god hath given you for food, that which is lawful and good; and be thankful for the favors of god, if ye serve him. he hath only forbidden you that which dieth of itself, and blood, and swine's flesh, and that which hath been slain in the name of any, besides god.f but unto him who shall be compelled by necessity to eat of these things, not lusting nor wilfully transgressing, god will surely be gracious and merciful. and say not that wherein your tongues utter a lie; this is lawful, and this is unlawful;g that ye may devise a lie concerning god: for they who devise concerning god shall not prosper. they shall have small enjoyment in this world, and in that which is to come they shall suffer a grievous torment. unto the jews did we forbid that which we have told thee formally:h and we did them no injury in that respect; but they injured their own souls.i 	moreover thy lord will be favorable unto those who do evil through ignorance, and afterwards repent and amend: verily unto these will thy lord be gracious and merciful, after their repentance. abraham was a model of true religion, obedient unto god, orthodox, and was not an idolater:j he was also grateful for his benefits: wherefore god chose him, and directed him into the right way. and we bestowed on him good in this world; and in the next he shall surely be one of the righteous. we have also spoken unto thee, o mohammed, by revelation, saying, follow the religion of abraham, who was orthodox, and was no idolater. 	c as did ammâr, who made one in both the flights. some, reading the verb with different vowels, render the last words, after having persecuted the true believers; and instance in al hadrami, who obliged a servant of his to renounce mohammedism, by force, but afterwards, together with that servant professed the same faith, and fled for it. 	d that is, every person shall be solicitous for his own salvation, not concerning himself with the condition of another, but crying out, my own soul, my own soul! 	e this example is applied to every city which having received great blessings from god, becometh insolent and unthankful, and is therefore chastised by some signal judgment; or rather to mecca in particular, on which the calamities threatened in this passage, viz. both famine and sword, were inflicted. 	f see chapter , p. . 	g allowing what god hath forbidden, and superstitiously abstaining from what he hath allowed. see chapter , p. , &c. 	h viz., in the th chapter, p. . 	i i.e., they were forbidden things which were in themselves indifferent, as a punishment for their wickedness and rebellion. 	j this was to reprehend the idolatrous koreish, who pretended that they professed the religion of abraham. 			 idem.		 idem.		 idem. the sabbath was only appointed unto those who differed with their prophet concerning it;k and thy lord will surely judge between them, on the day of resurrection, as to that concerning which they differed. invite men unto the way of thy lord, by wisdom, and mild exhortation; and dispute with them in the most condescending manner: for thy lord well knoweth him who strayeth from his path, and he well knoweth those who are rightly directed. if ye take vengeance on any, take a vengeance proportionable to the wrong which hath been done you;l but if ye suffer wrong patiently, verily this will be better for the patient.m wherefore, do thou bear opposition with patience; but thy patience shall not be practicable, unless with god's assistance. and be thou not grieved on account of the unbelievers; neither be thou troubled for that which they subtilely devise; for god is with those who fear him, and are upright. _______ chapter xvii. entitled, the night journey;n revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. praise be unto him who transported his servant by night, from the sacred temple of mecca to the farther temple of jerusalem,p the circuit of which we have blessed, that we might show some of our signs; for god is he who heareth, and seeth. 	k these were the jews; who being ordered by moses to set apart friday (the day now observed by the mohammedans) for the exercise of divine worship, refused it, and chose the sabbath-day, because on that day god rested from his works of creation: for which reason they were commanded to keep the day they had chosen in the strictest manner. 	l this passage is supposed to have been revealed at medina, on occasion of hamza, mohammed's uncle, being slain at the battle of ohod. for the infidels having abused his dead body, by taking out his bowels, and cutting off his ears and his nose, when mohammed saw it, he swore that if god granted him success, he would retaliate those cruelties on seventy of the koreish; but he was by these words forbidden to execute what he had sworn, and he accordingly made void his oath. abu'lfeda makes the number on which mohammed swore to reek his vengeance to be but thirty: but it may be observed, by the way, that the translator renders the passage in that author, god hath revealed unto me that i shall retaliate, &c., instead of, if god grant me victory over the koreish, i will retaliate, &c., reading laïn adhharni, for adhfarni; god, far from putting this design into the prophet's head by a revelation, expressly forbidding him to put it in execution. 	m here, says al beidâwi, the korân principally points at mohammed, who was of all men the most conspicuous for meekness and clemency. 	n the reason of this inscription appears in the first words. some entitle the chapter, the children of israel. 	o some except eight verses, beginning at these words, it wanted little but that the infidels had seduced thee, &c. 	p from whence he was carried through the seven heavens to the presence of god, and brought back again to mecca the same night. 	this journey of mohammed to heaven is so well known that i may be pardoned if i omit the description of it. the english reader may find it in dr. prideaux's life of mahomet, and the learned in abu'lfeda, whose annotator has corrected several mistakes in the relation of dr. prideaux, and in other writers. 	it is a dispute among the mohammedan divines, whether their prophet's night-journey was really performed by him corporally, or whether it was only a dream or vision. some think the whole was no more than a vision; and allege and express tradition of moâwiyoh, one of mohammed's successors, to that purpose. others suppose he was carried bodily to jerusalem, but no farther; and that he ascended thence to heaven in spirit only. but the received opinion is, that it was no vision, but that he was actually transported in the body to his journey's end; and if any impossibility be objected, they think it a sufficient answer to say, that it might easily be effected by an omnipotent agent. 	 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 iidem.		 abu'lf. vit. moh. n. .		 page , &c. see also morgan's mahometism explained, vol. 	 vit. moham. cap. .		 vide ibid, c. .		 al beidâwi. and we gave unto moses the book of the law, and appointed the same to be a direction unto the children of israel, commanding them, saying, beware that ye take not any other patron besides me. o posterity of those whom we carried in the ark with noah:q verily he was a grateful servant. and we expressly declared unto the children of israel in the book of the law, saying, ye will surely commit evil in the earth twice,r and ye will be elated with great insolence. and when the punishment threatened for the first of those transgressions came to be executed, we sent against you our servants,s endued with exceeding strength in war, and they searched the inner apartments of your houses; and the prediction became accomplished. afterwards we gave you the victory over them,t in your turn, and we granted you increase of wealth and children, and we made you a more numerous people, saying, if ye do well, ye will do well to your own souls; and if ye do evil, ye will do it unto the same. and when the punishment threatened for your latter transgression came to be executed, we sent enemies against you to afflict you,u and to enter the temple, as they entered it the first time, and utterly to destroy that which they had conquered. 	q the commentators are put to it to find out the connection of these words with the foregoing. some think the accusative case is here put for the vocative, as i have translated it: and others interpret the words thus, take not for your patrons besides me, the posterity of those, &c., meaning, mortal men. 	r their first transgression was their rejecting the decisions of the law, their putting isaiah to death, and their imprisoning of jeremiah: and the second, was their slaying of zachariah and john the baptist, and their imagining the death of jesus. 	s these were jalût, or goliah, and his forces; or sennacherib the assyrian; or else nebuchadnezzar, whom the eastern writers called bakhtnasr (which was however only his surname, his true name being gudarz, or raham), the governor of babylon under lohorasp, king of persia, who took jerusalem, and destroyed the temple. 	t by permitting david to kill goliah; or by the miraculous defeat of sennacherib's army; or for that god put it into the heart of bahman the son of isfandiyar, when he succeeded his grandfather lohorasp, to order kiresh, or cyrus, then governor of babylon, to send home the jews from their captivity, under the conduct of daniel; which he accordingly did, and they prevailed against those whom bakhtnasr had left in the land. 	u some imagine the army meant in this place was that of bakhtnasr; but others say the persians conquered the jews this second time, by the arms of gudarz (by whom they seem to intend antiochus epiphanes), one of the successors of alexander at babylon. it is related that the general in this expedition, entering the temple, saw blood bubbling up on the great altar, and asking the reason of it, the jews told him it was the blood of a sacrifice which had not been accepted of god; to which he replied, that they had not told him the truth, and ordered a thousand of them to be slain on the altar; but the blood not ceasing, he told them that if they would not confess the truth, he would not spare one of them; whereupon they acknowledged it was the blood of john: and the general said, thus hath your lord taken vengeance on you; and then cried out, o john, my lord and thy lord knoweth what hath befallen thy people for thy sake; wherefore let thy blood stop, by god's permission, lest i leave not one of them alive; upon which the blood immediately stopped. 	these are the explications of the commentators, wherein their ignorance in ancient history is sufficiently manifest; though perhaps mohammed himself, in this latter passage, intended the destruction of jerusalem by the romans. 	 id. m.		 jallalo'ddin.		 iidem.		 jallalo'ddin, yahya.		 al zamakhshari, al beidâwi.		 iidem.		 yahya, jallalo'ddin		 al beidâwi. peradventure your lord will have mercy on you hereafter: but if ye return to transgress a third time, we also will return to chastise you;x and we have appointed hell to be the prison of the unbelievers. verily this koran directeth unto the way which is most right, and declareth unto the faithful, 	who do good works, that they shall receive a great reward; and that for those who believe not in the life to come, we have prepared a grievous punishment. man prayeth for evil, as he prayeth for good;y for man is hasty.z we have ordained the night and the day for two signs of our power: afterwards we blot out the sign of the night, and we cause the sign of the day to shine forth, that ye may endeavor to obtain plenty from your lord by doing your business therein, and that ye may know the number of years, and the computation of time; and everything necessary have we explained by a perspicuous explication. the fatea of every man have we bound about his neck;b and we will produce unto him, on the day of resurrection, a book wherein his actions shall be recorded: it shall be offered him open, and the angels shall say unto him, read thy book; thine own soul will be a sufficient accountant against thee, this day.c he who shall be rightly directed, shall be directed to the advantage only of his own soul; and he who shall err shall err only against the same: neither shall any laden soul be charged with the burden of another. we did not punish any people, until we had first sent an apostle to warn them. and when we resolved to destroy a city, we commanded the inhabitants thereof, who lived in affluence, to obey our apostle; but they acted corruptly therein: wherefore the sentence was justly pronounced against that city; and we destroyed it with an utter destruction. and how many generations have we consumed since noah? for thy lord sufficiently knoweth and seeth the sins of his servants. whosoever chooseth this transitory life, we will bestow on him therein beforehand that which we please; on him, namely, whom we please: afterwards will we appoint him hell for his abode; he shall be thrown into the same to be scorched, covered with ignominy, and utterly rejected from mercy. 	x and this came accordingly to pass; for the jews being again so wicked as to reject mohammed, and conspire against his life, god delivered them into his hands; and he exterminated the tribe of koreidha, and slew the chiefs of al nadîr, and obliged the rest of the jewish tribes to pay tribute. 	y out of ignorance, mistaking evil for good; or making wicked imprecations on himself and others, out of passion and impatience. 	z or inconsiderate, not weighing the consequence of what he asks. 	it is said that the person here meant is adam, who, when the breath of life was breathed into his nostrils, and had reached so far as his navel, though the lower part of his body was, as yet, but a piece of clay, must needs try to rise up, and got an ugly fall by the bargain. but others pretend the passage was revealed on the following occasion. mohammed committed a certain captive to the charge of his wife, sawda bint zamáa, who, moved with compassion at the man's groans, unbound him, and let him escape: upon which the prophet, in the first motions of his anger, wished her hand might fall off; but immediately composing himself, said aloud, o god, i am but a man: therefore turn my curse into a blessing. 	a literally, the bird, which is here used to signify a man's fortune or success; the arabs, as well as the greeks and romans, taking omens from the flight of birds, which they supposed to portend good luck, if they flew from the left to the right, but if from the right to the left, the contrary; the like judgment they also made when certain beasts passed before them. 	b like a collar, which he cannot by any means get off. see the prelim. disc. sect. iv p. . 	c see ibid. p. . 				 idem.		 jallalo'ddin 	but whosoever chooseth the life to come, and directeth his endeavor towards the same, being also a true believer; the endeavor of these shall be acceptable unto god. on all will we bestow the blessings of this life, both on these and on those, of the gift of thy lord; for the gift of thy lord shall not be denied unto any. behold, how we have caused some of them to surpass others in wealth and dignity: but the next life shall be more considerable in degrees of honour, and greater in excellence. set not up another god with the true god, lest thou sit down in disgrace, and destitute. thy lord hath commanded that ye worship none besides him; and that ye show kindness unto your parents, whether the one of them, or both of them attain to old age with thee.d wherefore, say not unto them, fie on you!e neither reproach them, but speak respectfully unto them and submit to behave humblye towards them, out of tender affection and say, o lord, have mercy on them both, as they nursed me when i was little. your lord well knoweth that which is in your souls; whether ye be men of integrity: and he will be gracious unto those who sincerely return unto him. and give unto him who is of kin to you his due,f and also unto the poor, and the traveller. and waste not thy substance profusely: for the profuse are brethren of the devils:g and the devil was ungrateful unto his lord. 	but if thou turn from them, in expectation of the mercy which thou hopest from thy lord;h at least, speak kindly unto them. and let not thy hand be tied up to thy neck; neither open it with an unbounded expansion,i lest thou become worthy of reprehension, and be reduced to poverty. verily thy lord will enlarge the store of whom he pleaseth, and will be sparing unto whom he pleaseth; for he knoweth and regardeth his servants. kill not your children for fear of being brought to want; we will provide for them and for you; verily the killing them is a great sin. draw not near unto fornication; for it is wickedness, and an evil way. neither slay the soul which god hath forbidden you to slay, unless for a just cause;k and whosoever shall be slain unjustly, we have given his heir power to demand satisfaction;l but let him not exceed the bounds of moderation in putting to death the murderer in too cruel a manner, or by revenging his friend's blood on any other than the person who killed him; since he is assisted by this law.m 	d that is, receiving their support and maintenance from thee. 	e literally, lower the wing of humility, &c. 	f that is, friendship and affection, and assistance in time of need. 	g prodigality, and squandering away one's substance in folly or luxury, being a very great sin. the arabs were particularly guilty of extravagance in killing camels, and distributing them by lot, merely out of vanity and ostentation; which they are forbidden by this passage, and commanded to bestow what they could spare on their poor relations, and other indigent people. 	h that is, if thy present circumstances will not permit thee to assist others, defer thy charity till god shall grant thee better ability. 	i i.e., be neither niggardly nor profuse, but observe the mean between the two extremes, wherein consists true liberality. 	j see chapter , p. and , and chapter . 	k the crimes for which a man may justly be put to death are these: apostasy, adultery and murder. 	l it being at the election of the heir, or next of kin, either to take the life of the murderer or to accept of a fine in lieu of it. 	m some refer the pronoun he to the person slain, for the avenging whose death this law was made; some to the heir, who has a right granted him to demand satisfaction for his friend's blood; and others to him who shall be slain by the heir, if he carry his vengeance too far. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem.		 see chapter , p. .		 yahya. vide al beidâwi. and meddle not with the substance of the orphan, unless it be to improve it, until he attain his age of strength:n and perform your covenant; for the performance of your covenant shall be inquired into hereafter. and give full measure, when you measure aught; and weigh with a just balance. this will be better, and more easy for determining every man's due.o and follow not that whereof thou hast no knowledge;p for the hearing, and the sight, and the heart, every of these shall be examined at the last day. walk not proudly in the land, for thou canst not cleave the earth, neither shalt thou equal the mountains in stature. 	all this is evil, and abominable in the sight of thy lord. these precepts are a part of the wisdom which they lord hath revealed unto thee. set not up any other god as equal unto god, lest thou be cast into hell, reproved and rejected. hath your lord preferably granted unto you sons, and taken for himself daughters from among the angels?q verily in asserting this ye utter a grievous saying. and now have we used various arguments and repetitions in this koran, that they may be warned: yet it only rendereth them more disposed to fly from the truth. say unto the idolaters, if there were other gods with him, as ye say, they would surely seek an occasion of making some attempt against the possessor of the throne:r god forbid! and far, very far, be that from him which they utter! the seven heavens praise him, and the earth, and all who are therein: neither is there anything which doth not celebrate his praise; but ye understand not their celebration thereof: he is gracious and merciful. when thou readest the koran, we place between thee and those who believe not in the life to come a dark veil; and we put coverings over their hearts, lest they should understand it, and in their ears thickness of hearing. and when thou makest mention, in repeating the koran, of thy lord only,s they turn their backs, flying the doctrine of his unity. 	we well know with what design they hearken, when they hearken unto thee, and when they privately discourse together: when the ungodly say, ye follow no other than a madman. behold! what epithets they bestow on thee. but they are deceived; neither can they find any just occasion to reproach thee. they also say, after we shall have become bones and dust, shall we surely be raised a new creature? 	n see chapter , p. , . 	o or, more advantageous in the end. 	p i.e., vain and uncertain opinions, which thou hast not good reason to believe true, or at least probable. some interpret the words, accuse not another of a crime whereof thou hast no knowledge; supposing they forbid the bearing false witness, or the spreading or giving credit to idle reports of others. 	q see chapter , p. . 	r i.e., they would in all probability contend with god for superiority, and endeavour to dethrone him, in the same manner as princes act with one another on earth. 	s not allowing their gods to be his associates, nor praying their intercession with him. 	 idem. al zamakh.		 iidem. answer, be ye stones, or iron, or some creature more improbable in your opinions to be raised to life. but they will say, who shall restore us to life? answer, he who created you the first time: and they will wag their heads at thee, saying, when shall this be? answer, peradventure it is nigh. on that day shall god call you forth from your sepulchres, and ye shall obey, with celebration of his praise;t and ye shall think that ye tarriedu but a little while. speak unto my servants, that they speak mildly unto the unbelievers, lest ye exasperate them; for satan soweth discord among them, and satan is a declared enemy unto man. your lord well knoweth you; if he pleaseth, he will have mercy on you, or, if he pleaseth, he will punish you:x and we have not sent thee to be a steward over them. thy lord well knoweth all persons in heaven and on earth.y we have bestowed peculiar favors on some of the prophets, preferably to others; and we gave unto david the psalms.z say, call upon those whom ye imagine to be gods besides him; yet they will not be able to free you from harm, or to turn it on others. those whom ye invoke,a do themselves desire to be admitted to a near conjunction with their lord; striving which of them shall approach nearest unto him: they also hope for his mercy, and dread his punishment; for the punishment of thy lord is terrible. 	there is no city but we will destroy the same before the day of resurrection, or we will punish it with a grievous punishment. this is written in the book of our eternal decrees. nothing hindered us from sending thee with miracles, except that the former nations have charged them with imposture. we gave unto the tribe of thamud, at their demand, the she-camel visible to their sight: yet they dealt unjustly with her:b and we send not a prophet with miracles, but to strike terror. remember when we said unto thee, verily thy lord encompasseth men by his knowledge and power. we have appointed the vision which we showed thee,c and also the treed cursed in the koran, only for an occasion of dispute unto men, and to strike them with terror; but it shall cause them to transgress only the more enormously. 	t the dead, says al beidâwi, at his call shall immediately rise, and shaking the dust off their heads, shall say, praise be unto thee, o god. 	u viz., in your graves; or in the world. 	x these words are designed as a pattern for the moslems to follow, in discoursing with the idolaters; by which they are taught to use soft and dubious expressions, and not to tell them directly that they are doomed to hell fire; which, besides the presumption in offering to determine the sentence of others, would only make them more irreconcilable enemies. 	y and may choose whom he pleases for his ambassador. this is an answer to the objections of the koreish, that mohammed was the orphan pupil of abu taleb, and followed by a parcel of naked and hungry fellows. 	z which were a greater honour to him than his kingdom; and wherein mohammed and his people are foretold by these words, among others: the righteous shall inherit the earth. 	a viz., the angels and prophets, who are the servants of god as well as yourselves. 	b see chapter , p. . 	c mohammed's journey to heaven is generally agreed to be intended in this place; which occasioned great heats and debates among his followers, till they were quieted by abu becr's bearing testimony to the truth of it. the word vision, here used, is urged by those who take this journey to have been no more than a dream, as a plain confirmation of their opinion. some, however, suppose the vision meant in this passage was not the night-journey, but the dream mohammed saw at al hodeibiya, wherein he seemed to make his entrance into mecca; or that at bedr; or else a vision he had relating to the family of ommeya, whom he saw mount his pulpit, and jump about in it like monkeys; upon which he said, this is their portion in this world, which they have gained by their profession of islâm. but if any of these latter expositions be true, the verse must have been revealed at medina. 	d called al zakkûm, which springs from the bottom of hell. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 vide marracc. in alc. p. , &c. prid. life of mah. p. .		 psal. xxxvii. . al beid. 	 vide abulf. vit. moh. p. , and not. ibid prideaux, life of mah. p. , and prelim. disc. sect. ii, p. . see kor. chapter .		 see chapter , p. .		 al beidâwi.		 see chapter . and remember when we said unto the angels, worship adam; and they all worshipped him except eblis, who said, shall i worship him whom thou hast created of clay? and he said, what thinkest thou, as to this man whom thou hast honoured above me? verily, if thou grant me respite until the day of resurrection, i will extirpate his offspring, except a few. god answered, begone, i grant thee respite: but whosoever of them shall follow thee, hell shall surely be your reward; an ample reward for your demerits!e and entice to vanity such of them as thou canst, by thy voice; and assault them on all sides with thy horsemen and thy footmen;f and partake with them in their riches, and their children;g and make them promises; (but the devil shall make them no other than deceitful promises:) as to my servants, thou shalt have no power over them; for thy lord is a sufficient protector of those who trust in him. it is your lord who driveth forward the ships for you in the sea, that ye may seek to enrich yourselves of his abundance by commerce; for he is merciful towards you. when a misfortune befalleth you at sea, the false deities whom ye invoke are forgotten by you, except him alone: yet when he bringeth you safe to dry land, ye retire afar off from him, and return to your idols; for man is ungrateful.h 	are ye therefore secure that he will not cause the dry land to swallow you up, or that he will not send against you a whirlwind driving the sands to overwhelm you? then shall ye find none to protect you. or are ye secure that he will not cause you again to commit yourselves to the sea another time, and send against you a tempestuous wind, and drown you; for that ye have been ungrateful? then shall ye find none to defend you against us, in that distress. and now have we honoured the children of adam by sundry peculiar privileges and endowments; and we have given them conveniences of carriage by land and by sea, and have provided food for them of good things; and we have preferred them before many of our creatures which we have created, by granting them great prerogatives. on a certain day we will call all men to judgment with their respective leader:i and whosoever shall have his book given him into his right hand, they shall read their book with joy and satisfaction;j and they shall not be wronged a hair.k 	e see chapter , p. , and chapter , p. , &c. 	f i.e., with all thy forces. 	g instigating them to get wealth by unlawful means, and to spend it in supporting vice and superstition; and tempting them to incestuous mixtures, and to give their children names in honour of their idols, as abd yaghuth, abd' al uzza, &c. 	h see chapter , p. . 	i some interpret this of the prophet sent to every people; others, of the heads of sects; others, of the various religions professed in the world; others, of the books which shall be given to every man at the resurrection, containing a register of their good and bad actions. 	j see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . 	k see chapter , p. , note o. 						 al beidâwi. and whoever hath been blind in this life shall be also blind in the next, and shall wander more widely from the path of salvation. it wanted little but the unbelievers had tempted thee to swerve from the instructions which we had revealed unto thee, that thou shouldest devise concerning us a different thing;l and then would they have taken thee for their friend: and unless we had confirmed thee, thou hadst certainly been very near inclining unto them a little. then would we surely have caused thee to taste the punishment of life, and the punishment of death;m and thou shouldest not have found any to protect thee against us. the unbelievers had likewise almost caused thee to depart the land, that they might have expelled thee thence:n but then should they not have tarried therein after thee, except a little while.o this is the method of dealing which we have prescribed ourselves in respect to our apostles, whom we have already sent before thee: and thou shalt not find any change in our prescribed method. 	regularly perform thy prayer at the declension of the sun, at the first darkness of the night,q and the prayer of daybreak;r for the prayer of daybreak is borne witness unto by the angels.s 	l these are generally supposed to have been the tribe of thakîf, the inhabitants of al tâyef, who insisted on mohammed's granting them several very extraordinary privileges, as the terms of their submission to him; for they demanded that they might be free from the legal contribution of alms, and from observing the appointed times of prayer; that they might be allowed to keep their idol allât for a certain time, and that their territory might be declared a place of security and not be violated, like that of mecca, &c. and they added, that if the other arabs asked him the reason of these concessions, he should say, that god had commanded him so to do. according to which explication it is plain this verse must have been revealed long after the hejra. 	some, however, will have the passage to have been revealed at mecca, on occasion of the koreish; who told mohammed they would not suffer him to kiss the black stone in the wall of caaba, unless he also visited their idols, and touched them with his hand, to show his respect. 	m i.e., both of this life and the next. some interpret the first of the punishment in the next world, and the latter of the torture of the sepulchre. 	n the commentators differ as to the place where this passage was delivered, and the occasion of it. some think it was revealed at mecca, and that it refers to the violent enmity which the koreish bore mohammed, and their restless endeavours to make him leave mecca; as he was at length obliged to do. but as the persons here spoken of seem not to have prevailed in their project, others suppose that the verse was revealed at medina, on the following occasion. the jews, envious of mohammed's good reception and stay there, told him, by way of counsel, that syria was the land of the prophets, and that if he was really a prophet he ought to go thither. mohammed seriously reflecting on what they had said, began to think they had advised him well; and actually set out, and proceeded a day's journey in his way to syria: whereupon god acquainted him with their design by the revelation of this verse; and he returned to medina. 	o this was fulfilled, according to the former of the above-mentioned explications, by the loss of the koreish at bedr; and according to the latter, by the great slaughter of the jews of koreidha and al nadîr. 	p i.e., at the time of noon prayer, when the sun declines from the meridian; or, as some choose to translate the words, at the setting of the sun, which is the time of the first evening prayer. 	q the time of the last evening prayer. 	r literally, the reading of the daybreak; whence some suppose the reading of the korân at that time is here meant. 	s viz., the guardian angels, who, according to some, are relieved at that time; or else the angels appointed to make the change of night into day, &c. 	 see the prelim. disc. p. .		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin. vide abulf. vit. moham. p. , &c.		 al beidâwi. idem.		 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 iidem.		 al beidâwi. and watch some part of the night in the same exercise, as a work of supererogation for thee: peradventure thy lord will raise thee to an honourable station.t and say, o lord, cause me to enter with a favorable entry, and cause me to come forthu with a favorable coming forth; and grant me from thee an assisting power. and say, truth is come, and falsehood is vanished: for falsehood is of short continuance.x we send down of the koran that which is a medicine and mercy unto the true believers; but it shall only increase the perdition of the unjust. when we bestow favors on man, he retireth and withdraweth himself ungratefully from us: but when evil toucheth him, he despaireth of our mercy. say, every one acteth after his own manner:y but your lord best knoweth who is most truly directed in his way. they will ask thee concerning the spirit:z answer, the spirit was created at the command of my lord:a but ye have no knowledge given unto you, except a little.b if we pleased, we should certainly take away that which we have revealed unto thee;c in such case thou couldst not find any to assist thee therein against us, unless through mercy from thy lord; for his favor towards thee hath been great. 	say, verily if men and genii were purposely assembled, that they might produce a book like this koran, they could not produce one like unto it, although the one of them assisted the other. and we have variously propounded unto men in this koran every kind of figurative argument; but the greater part of men refuse to receive it, merely out of infidelity. 	t according to a tradition of abu horeira, the honourable station here intended is that of intercessor for others. 	u that is, grant that i may enter my grave with peace, and come forth from it, at the resurrection, with honour and satisfaction. in which sense this petition is the same with that of balaam, let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his. 	but as the person here spoken to is generally supposed to be mohammed, the commentators say he was commanded to pray in these words for a safe departure from mecca, and a good reception at medina; or for a sure refuge in the cave, where he hid himself when he fled from mecca; or (which is the more common opinion) for a victorious entrance into mecca, and a safe return thence. 	x these words mohammed repeated, when he entered the temple of mecca, after the taking of that city, and cleansed it of the idols; a great number of which are said to have fallen down on his touching them with the end of the stick he held in his hand. 	y i.e., according to his judgment or opinion, be it true or false; or according to the bent of his mind, and the natural constitution of his body. 	z or the soul of man. some interpret it of the angel gabriel, or of the divine revelation. 	a viz., by the word kun, i.e., be; consisting of an immaterial substance, and not generated, like the body. but, according to a different opinion, this passage should be translated, the spirit is of those things, the knowledge of which thy lord hath reserved to himself. for it is said that the jews bid the koreish ask mohammed to relate the history of those who slept in the cave, and of dhu'lkarnein, and to give them an account of the soul of man; adding, that if he pretended to answer all the three questions, or could answer none of them, they might be sure he was no prophet; but if he gave an answer to one or two of the questions and was silent as to the other, he was really a prophet. accordingly, when they propounded the questions to him, he told them the two histories, but acknowledged his ignorance as to the origin of the human soul. 	b all your knowledge being acquired from the information of your senses, which must necessarily fail you in spiritual speculations, without the assistance of divine revelation. 	c viz., the korân; by razing it both from the written copies, and the memories of men. 	 idem.		 numb. xxiii. .		 see the prelim. disc. sect. ii. p. .			 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin.		 iidem. vide gagnier, vie de mahomet, tom. , p. .		 al beidâwi. 	 idem. see the next chapter.		 see ib.			 al beidâwi. 	 idem. and they say, we will by no means believe on thee, until thou cause a spring of water to gush forth for us out of the earth;d or thou have a garden of palm-trees and vines, and thou cause rivers to spring forth from the midst thereof in abundance; or thou cause the heaven to fall down upon us, as thou hast given out, in pieces; or thou bring down god and the angels to vouch for thee; or thou have a house of gold; or thou ascend by a ladder to heaven: neither will we believe thy ascending thither alone,e until thou cause a book to descend unto us, bearing witness of thee, which we may read. answer my lord be praised! am i other than a man, sent as an apostle? and nothing hindereth men from believing, when a direction is come unto them, except that they say, hath god sent a man for his apostle? answer, if the angels had walked on earth as familiar inhabitants thereof, we had surely sent down unto them from heaven an angel for our apostle. say, god is a sufficient witness between me and you: for he knoweth and regardeth his servants. whom god shall direct, he shall be the rightly directed; and whom he shall cause to err, thou shalt find none to assist, besides him. and we will gather them together on the day of resurrection, creeping on their faces, blind, and dumb, and deaf:f their abode shall be hell; so often as the fire thereof shall be extinguished, we will rekindle a burning flame to torment them.g 	this shall be their reward, because they disbelieve in our signs, and say, when we shall have been reduced to bones and dust, shall we surely be raised new creatures? do they not perceive that god, who created the heavens and the earth, is able to create other bodies, like their present? and he hath appointed them a limited term;h there is no doubt thereof: but the ungodly reject the truth, merely out of unbelief. say, if ye possessed the treasures of the mercy of my lord, ye would surely refrain from using them, for fear of spending them;i for man is covetous. we heretofore gave unto moses the power of working nine evident signs.j and do thou ask the children of israel, as to the story of moses;k when he came unto them, and pharaoh said unto him, verily i esteemed thee, o moses, to be deluded by sorcery. 	d this and the following miracles were demanded of mohammed by the koreish, as proofs of his mission. 	e as thou pretendest to have done in thy night-journey; but of which no man was witness. 	f see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . 	g i.e., when the fire shall go out or abate for want of fuel, after the consumption of the skins and flesh of the damned, we will add fresh vigour to the flames by giving them new bodies. 	h or life, or resurrection. 	i that is, lest they should be exhausted. 	j these were, the changing his rod into a serpent, the making his hand white and shining, the producing locusts, lice, frogs, and blood, the dividing of the red sea, the bringing water out of the rock, and the shaking of mount sinai over the children of israel. in lieu of the three last some reckon the inundation of the nile, the blasting of the corn, and scarcity of the fruits of the earth. these words, however, are interpreted by others, not of nine miracles, but of nine commandments, which moses gave his people, and were thus numbered up by mohammed himself to a jew, who asked him the question, viz., that they should not be guilty of idolatry, nor steal, nor commit adultery or murder, nor practise sorcery or usury, nor accuse an innocent man to take away his life, or a modest woman of whoredom, nor desert the army; to which he added the observing of the sabbath, as a tenth commandment, but which peculiarly regarded the jews: upon which answer, it is said, the jew kissed the prophet's hands and feet. 	k some think these words are directed to moses, who is hereby commanded to demand the children of israel of pharaoh, that he might let them go with him. 	 al beidâwi. see chapter , p. .		 idem, jallalo'ddin. 	 al beidâwi. moses answered, thou well knowest that none hath sent down these evident signs except the lord of heaven and earth; and i surely esteem thee, o pharaoh, a lost man. wherefore pharaoh sought to drive them out of the land; but we drowned him and all those who were with him. and we said unto the children of israel, after his destruction, dwell ye in the land: and when the promise of the next life shall come to be fulfilled, we will bring you both promiscuously to judgment. we have sent down the koran with truth, and it hath descended with truth: and we have not sent thee otherwise than to be a bearer of good tidings, and a denouncer of threats. and we have divided the koran, revealing it by parcels, that thou mightest read it unto men with deliberation: and we have sent it down, causing it to descend as occasion required.l say, whether ye believe therein, or do not believe, verily those who have been favored with the knowledge of the scriptures which were revealed before it, when the same is rehearsed unto them, fall down on their faces,m worshipping, and say, our lord be praised, for that the promise of our lord is surely fulfilled! and they fall down on their faces, weeping; and the hearing thereof increaseth their humility. 	say, call upon god, or call on the merciful: by whichsoever of the two names ye invoke him, it is equal; for he hath most excellent names.n pronounce not thy prayer aloud, neither pronounce it with too low a voice,o but follow a middle way between these: and say, praise be unto god, who hath not begotten any child; who hath no partner in the kingdom, nor hath any to protect him from contempt: and magnify him by proclaiming his greatness. ________ chapter xviii. entitled, the cave;p revealed at mecca.q in the name of the most merciful god. praise be unto god, who hath sent down unto his servant the book of the korân, and hath not inserted therein any crookedness, but hath made it a straight rule: that he should threaten a grievous punishment unto the unbelievers, from his presence; and should bear good tidings unto the faithful, who work righteousness, that they should receive an excellent reward, namely, paradise, wherein they shall remain forever: 	l see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. . 	m literally, on their chins. 	n the infidels hearing mohammed say, o god, and o merciful, imagined the merciful was the name of a deity different from god, and that he preached the worship of two; which occasioned this passage. see chapter , p. . 	o neither so loud, that the infidels may overhear thee, and thence take occasion to blaspheme and scoff; nor so softly as not to be heard by the assistants. some suppose that by the word prayer, in this place, is meant the reading of the korân. 	p the chapter is thus inscribed because it makes mention of the cave wherein the seven sleepers concealed themselves. 	q some except one verse, which begins thus, behave thyself with constancy, &c. and that he should warn those who say, god hath begotten issue; of which matter they have no knowledge, neither had their fathers. a grievous saying it is, which proceedeth from their mouths: they speak no other than a lie. peradventure thou wilt kill thyself with grief after them, out of thy earnest zeal for their conversion, if they believe not in this new revelation of the koran. verily we have ordained whatsoever is on the earth for the ornament thereof, that we might make trial of men, and see which of them excelleth in works: and we will surely reduce whatever is thereon to dry dust. dost thou consider that the companions of the cave,r and al rakim,s were one of our signs, and a great miracle? when the young men took refuge in the cave, they said, o lord, grant us mercy from before thee, and dispose our business for us to a right issue. 	wherefore we struck their ears with deafness, so that they slept without disturbance in the cave for a great number of years: then we awaked them, that we might know which of the two partiest was more exact in computing the space which they had remained there. we will relate unto thee their history with truth. verily they were young men who had believed in their lord: and we had abundantly directed them: and we fortified their hearts with constancy when they stood before the tyrant; and they said, our lord is the lord of heaven and earth: we will by no means call on any god besides him; for then should we surely utter an extravagance. these our fellow people have taken other gods, besides him; although they bring no demonstrative argument for them: and who is more unjust than he who deviseth a lie concerning god? and they said the one to the other, when ye shall separate yourselves from them, and from the deities which they worship, except god,u fly into the cave: your lord will pour his mercy on you abundantly, and will dispose your business for you to advantage. 	r these were certain christian youths, of a good family in ephesus, who, to avoid the persecution of the emperor decius, by the arab writers called decianus, hid themselves in a cave, where they slept for a great number of years. 	this apocryphal story (for baronius treats it as no better, and father marracci acknowledges it to be partly false, or at least doubtful, though he calls hottinger a monster of impiety, and the off-scum of heretics, for terming it a fable ), was borrowed by mohammed from the christian traditions, but has been embellished by him and his followers with several additional circumstances. 	s what is meant by this word the commentators cannot agree. some will have it to be the name of the mountain, or the valley, wherein the cave was; some say it was the name of their dog; and others (who seem to come nearest the true signification) that it was a brass plate, or stone table, placed near the mouth of the cave, on which the names of the young men were written. 	there are some, however, who take the companions of al rakîm to be different from the seven sleepers; for they say the former were three men who were driven by ill weather into a cave for shelter, and were shut in there by the falling down of a vast stone, which stopped the cave's mouth; but on their begging god's mercy, and their relating each of them a meritorious action which they hoped might entitle them to it, were miraculously delivered by the rock's rending in sunder to give them passage. 	t viz., of the sleepers themselves, or others, who were divided in opinion as to the length of their stay in the cave. 	u for they, like other idolaters, worshipped the true god and idols also. 	 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin, &c.		 in martyrol. ad julii. 	 in alcor. p. . et in prodr. part. , p. . hotting. hist. orient. p. .		 vide greg. turon. et simeon. metaphrast.		 vide d'herbelot, bibl. orient. p. . al beidâwi, ex trad noomân ebn bashir.		 idem. and thou mightest have seen the sun, when it had risen, to decline from their cave towards the right hand, and when it went down, to leave them on the left hand:x and they were in the spacious part of the cave.y this was one of the signs of god. whomsoever god shall direct, he shall be rightly directed: and whomsoever he shall cause to err, thou shalt not find any to defend, or to direct. and thou wouldest have judged them to have been awake,z while they were sleeping; and we caused them to turn themselves to the right hand, and to the left.a and their dogb stretched forth his forelegs in the mouth of the cave: if thou hadst come suddenly upon them, verily thou wouldest have turned thy back and fled from them, and thou wouldest have been filled with fear at the sight of them.c and so we awaked them from their sleep, that they might ask questions of one another. one of them spake and said, how long have ye tarried here? they answered, we have tarried a day, or part of a day. the others said, your lord best knoweth the time ye have tarried:d and now send one of you with this your money into the city;e and let him see which of its inhabitants hath the best and cheapest food, and let him bring you provision from him; and let him behave circumspectly, and not discover you to any one. verily if they come up against you, they will stone you, or force you to return to their religion; and then shall ye not prosper forever. 	x lest it should be offensive to them, the cave opening towards the south. 	y i.e., in the midst of it, where they were incommoded neither by the heat of the sun nor the closeness of the cave. 	z because of their having their eyes open, or their frequent turning themselves from one side to the other. 	a lest their lying so long on the ground should consume their flesh. 	b this dog had followed them as they passed by him when they fled to the cave, and they drove him away; whereupon god caused him to speak, and he said, i love those who are dear unto god; go to sleep therefore, and i will guard you. but some say, it was a dog belonging to a shepherd who followed them, and that the dog followed the shepherd; which opinion is supported by reading, as some do, câlebohom, their dog's master instead of calbohom, their dog. jallalo'ddin adds, that the dog behaved as his masters did, in turning himself, in sleeping, and in waking. 	the mohammedans have a great respect for this dog, and allow him a place in paradise with some other favourite brutes; and they have a sort of proverb which they use in speaking of a covetous person, that he would not throw a bone to the dog of the seven sleepers; nay, it is said that they have the superstition to write his name, which they suppose to be katmîr (though some, as is observed above, think he was called al rakîm), on their letters which go far, or which pass the sea, as a protection, or kind of talisman, to preserve them from miscarriage. 	c for that god had given them terrible countenances; or else because of the largeness of their bodies, or the horror of the place. 	it is related that the khalif moâwiyah, in an expedition he made against natolia, passed by the cave of the seven sleepers, and would needs send somebody into it, notwithstanding ebn abbâs remonstrated to him the danger of it, saying, that a better man than him (meaning the prophet) had been forbidden to enter it, and repeated this verse; but the men the khaliff sent in had no sooner entered the cave, than they were struck dead by a burning wind. 	d as they entered the cave in the morning, and waked about noon, they at first imagined they had slept half a day, or a day and a half at most; but when they found their nails and hair grown very long, they used these words. 	e which some commentators suppose was tarsus. 	 idem.		 idem.		 idem.		 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 idem.		 la roque, voy. de l'arabie heur. p. . vide d'herbel. ubi sup.		 al beidâwi.		 idem. 	and so we made their people acquainted with what had happened to them; that they might know that the promise of god is true, and that there is no doubt of the last hour;f when they disputed among themselves concerning their matter.g and they said, erect a building over them: their lord best knoweth their condition. those who prevailed in their affair answered, we will surely build a chapel over them.h some say, the sleepers were three; and their dog was the fourth;i and others say, they were five; and their dog was the sixth;j guessing at a secret matter: and others say, they were seven; and their dog was the eighth.k say, my lord best knoweth their number: none shall know them, except a few. wherefore dispute not concerning them, except with a clear disputation, according to what hath been revealed unto thee: and ask not any of the christians concerning them. say not of any matter, i will surely do this to-morrow; unless thou add, if god please.l and remember thy lord, when thou forgettest,m and say, my lord is able to direct me with ease, that i may draw near unto the truth of this matter rightly. and they remained in their cave three hundred years, and nine years over.n say, god best knoweth how long they continued there: unto him are the secrets of heaven and earth known; do thou make him to see and to hear.o the inhabitants thereof have no protector besides him; neither doth he suffer any one to have a share in the establishment or knowledge of his decree. 	f the long sleep of these young men, and their waking after so many years, being a representation of the state of those who die, and are afterwards raised to life. 	g i.e., concerning the resurrection; some saying that the souls only should be raised, others, that they should be raised with the body; or, concerning the sleepers, after they were really dead; one saying, that they were dead, and another, they were only asleep: or else concerning the erecting a building over them, as it follows in the next words; some advising a dwelling-house to be built there, and others a temple. 	h when the young man who was sent into the city, went to pay for the provision he had bought, his money was so old, being the coin of decianus, that they imagined he had found a treasure, and carried him before the prince, who was a christian, and having heard his story, sent some with him to the cave, who saw and spoke to the others: after which they fell asleep again and died; and the prince ordered them to be buried in the same place, and built a chapel over them. 	i this was the opinion of al seyid, a jacobite christian of najrân. 	j which was the opinion of certain christians, and particularly of a nestorian prelate. 	k and this is the true opinion. 	l it is said, that when the koreish, by the direction of the jews, put the three questions above mentioned to mohammed, he bid them come to him the next day, and he would give them an answer, but added not, if it please god; for which reason he had the mortification to wait above ten days before any revelation was vouchsafed him concerning those matters, so that the koreish triumphed, and bitterly reproached him as a liar: but at length gabriel brought him directions what he should say; with this admonition, however, that he should not be so confident for the future. 	m i.e., give the glory to him, and ask pardon for thy omission, in case thou forget to say, if it please god. 	n jallalo'ddin supposes the whole space was three hundred solar years, and that the odd nine are added to reduce them to lunar years. 	some think these words are introduced as spoken by the christians, who differed among themselves about the time; one saying it was three hundred years, and another, three hundred and nine years. the interval between the reign of decius, and that of theodosius the younger, in whose time the sleepers are said to have awaked, will not allow them to have slept quite two hundred years; though mohammed is somewhat excusable, since the number assigned by simeon metaphrastes is three hundred and seventy-two years. 	o this is an ironical expression, intimating the folly and madness of man's presuming to instruct god. 	 idem.		 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 al beidâwi. 	 idem.		 ubi sup. al beidâwi. jallalo'ddin read that which hath been revealed unto thee, of the book of thy lord, without presuming to make any change therein:p there is none who hath power to change his words; and thou shalt not find any to fly to, besides him, if thou attempt it. behave thyself with constancy towards those who call upon their lord morning and evening, and who seek his favor; and let not thine eyes be turned away from them, seeking the pomp of this life;q neither obey him whose heart we have caused to neglect the remembrance of us,r and who followeth his lusts, and leaveth the truth behind him. and say, the truth is from your lord; wherefore let him who will, believe, and let him who will, be incredulous. we have surely prepared for the unjust hell fire, the flame and smoke whereof shall surround him like a pavilion: and if they beg relief, they shall be relieved with water like molten brass, which shall scald their faces: o how miserable a potion, and how unhappy a couch! as to those who believe, and do good works, we will not suffer the reward of him who shall work righteousness to perish; 	for them are prepared gardens of eternal abode,s which shall be watered by rivers; they shall be adorned therein with bracelets of gold, and they shall be clothed in green garments of fine silk and brocades, reposing themselves therein on thrones. o how happy a reward, and how easy a couch! and propound unto them as a parable two men:t on the one of whom we had bestowed two vineyards, and had surrounded them with palm-trees, and had caused corn to grow between them. each of the gardens brought forth its fruit every season, and failed not at all; and we caused a river to flow in the midst thereof: and he had great abundance. and he said unto his companion by way of debate, i am superior to thee in wealth, and have a more powerful family. and he went into his garden,u being guilty of injustice against his own soul, and said, i do not think that this garden will decay forever; neither do i think that the last hour will come: and although i should return unto my lord, verily i shall find a better garden than this in exchange.u and his companion said unto him, by way of debate, dost thou not believe in him who created thee of the dust, and afterwards of seed; and then fashioned thee into a perfect man? but as for me, god is my lord; and i will not associate any other deity with my lord. 	p as the unbelievers would persuade thee to do. 	q that is, despise not the poor believers because of their meanness, nor honour the rich because of their wealth and grandeur. 	r the person more particularly intended here, it is said, was ommeya ebn khalf, who desired mohammed to discard his indigent companions, out of respect to the koreish. see chapter p. . 	s literally of eden. see chapter , p. , . 	t though these seem to be general characters only, designed to represent the different end of the wicked, and of the good; yet it is supposed, by some, that two particular persons are here meant. one says they were two israelites and brothers, who had a considerable sum left them by their father, which they divided between them; and that one of them, being an unbeliever, bought large fields and possessions with his portion, while the other, who was a true believer, disposed of his to pious uses; but that in the end, the former was ruined, and the latter prospered. another thinks they were two men of the tribe of makhzûm: the one named al aswad ebn abd'al ashadd, an infidel; and the other abu salma ebn abd'allah, the husband of omm salma (whom the prophet married after his death), and a true believer. 	u carrying his companion with him, out of ostentation, and to mortify him with the view of his large possessions. 	x vainly imagining that his prosperity was not so much the free gift of god, as due to his merit. 		 iidem.		 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem and when thou enterest thy garden, wilt thou not say, what god pleaseth shall come to pass; there is no power but in god alone? although thou seest me to be inferior to thee in wealth and number of children, my lord is well able to bestow on me a better gift than thy garden, and to shoot his arrows against the same from heaven, so that it shall become barren dust; or its water may sink deep into the earth, that thou canst not draw thereof. 	and his possessions were encompassed with destruction, as his companion had forewarned him; wherefore he began to turn down the palms of his hands out of sorrow and regret for that which he had expended thereon; for the vines thereof were fallen down on their trails: and he said, would to god that i had not associated any other deity with my lord! and he had no party to assist him besides god, neither was he able to defend himself against his vengeance. in such case protection belongeth of right unto god alone; he is the best rewarder, and the best giver of success. and propound to them a similitude of the present life. it is like water which we send down from heaven; and the herb of the earth is mixed therewith, and after it hath been green and flourishing, in the morning it becometh dry stubble, which the winds scatter abroad: and god is able to do all things. wealth and children are the ornament of this present life: but good works, which are permanent, are better in the sight of thy lord, with respect to the reward, and better with respect to hope. 	on a certain day we will cause the mountains to pass away,y and thou shalt see the earth appearing plain and even; and we will gather mankind together, and we will not leave any one of them behind. and they shall be set before thy lord in distinct order, and he shall say unto them, now are ye come unto us naked, as we created you the first time: but ye thought that we should not perform our promise unto you. and the book wherein every one's actions are recorded shall be put into his hand; and thou shalt see the wicked in great terror, because of that which is written therein, and they shall say, alas for us! what meaneth this book? it omitteth neither a small action nor a great one, but it compriseth the same; and they shall find that which they have wrought, present before their eyes: and thy lord will not deal unjustly with any one. remember when we said unto the angels, worship ye adam: and they all worshipped him, except eblis,z who was one of the genii,a and departed from the command of his lord. will ye therefore take him and his offspring for your patrons besides me, notwithstanding they are your enemies? miserable shall such a change be to the ungodly! i called not them to be present at the creation of the heavens and of the earth, nor at the creation of themselves, neither did i take those seducers for my assistants. 	y for being torn up by the roots, they shall fly in the air, and be reduced to atoms. 	z see chapter , p. , and chapter , p. , &c. 	a hence some imagine the genii are a species of angels: others suppose the devil to have been originally a genius, which was the occasion of his rebellion, and call him the father of the genii, whom he begat after his fall; it being a constant opinion among the mohammedans, that the angels are impeccable, and do not propagate their species. 	 idem. see prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. .		 jallalo'ddin, &c.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. , &c. on a certain day, god shall say unto the idolaters, call those whom ye imagined to be my companions, to protect you: and they shall call them, but they shall not answer them; and we will place a valley of destruction between them:b and the wicked shall see hell fire: and they shall know that they shall be thrown into the same, and they shall find no way to avoid it. and now have we variously propounded unto men, in this koran, a parable of every kind; but man cavilleth at most things therein. yet nothing hindereth men from believing, now a direction is come unto them, and from asking pardon of their lord, excepting that they wait until the punishment of their predecessors come to be inflicted on them, or that the chastisement of the next life come upon them publicly. we send not our messengers, but to bear good tidings, and to denounce threats. those who believe not dispute with vain arguments, that they may thereby render the truth of no effect; and they hold my signs, and the admonitions which have been made them, in derision. and who is more unjust than he who hath been acquainted with the signs of his lord, and retireth afar off from the same, and forgetteth that which his hands have formerly committed? verily we have cast veils over their hearts, lest they should understand the koran, and into their ears thickness of hearing: if thou invite them to the true direction, yet will they not therefore be directed forever. thy lord is gracious, endued with mercy; if he would have punished them for that which they have committed, he would doubtless have hastened their punishment: but a threat hath been denounced against them,c and they shall find no refuge, besides him. and those former citiesd did we destroy, when they acted unjustly; and we gave them previous warning of their destruction. and remember when moses said unto his servant joshua the son of nun, i will not cease to go forward, until i come to the place where the two seas meet; or i will travel for a long space of time.e 	but when they were arrived at the meeting of the two seas,f they forgot their fish, which they had taken with them;g and the fish took its way freely in the sea.h 	b i.e., between the idolaters and their false gods. some suppose the meaning is no more than that god will set them at variance and division. 	c viz., of their calamity at bedr (for the koreish are the infidels here intended), or their punishment at the resurrection. 	d that is, the towns of the adites, thamûdites, sodomites, &c. 	e the original word properly signifies the space of eighty years and upwards. to explain this long passage the commentators tell the following story: they say that moses once preaching to the people, they admired his knowledge and eloquence so much, that they asked him whether he knew any man in the world who was wiser than himself; to which he answered in the negative: whereupon god, in a revelation, having reprehended him for his vanity (though some pretend that moses asked god the question of his own accord), acquainted him that his servant al khedr was more knowing than he; and, at moses' request told him he might find that person at a certain rock, where the two seas met; directing him to take a fish with him in a basket, and that where he missed the fish, that was the place. accordingly moses set out, with his servant joshua, in search of al khedr; which expedition is here described. 	f viz., those of persia and greece. some fancy that the meeting of moses and al khedr is here intended, as of the two seas of knowledge. 	g moses forgot to inquire concerning it, and joshua forgot to tell him when he missed it. it is said that when they came to the rock, moses falling asleep, the fish, which was roasted, leaped out of the basket into the sea; some add, that joshua making the ablution at the fountain of life (of which immediately), some of the water happened to be sprinkled on the fish, which immediately restored it to life. 	h the word here translated freely, signifying also a pipe or arched canal for conveyance of water, some have imagined that the water of the sea was miraculously kept from touching the body of the fish, which passed through it as under an arch. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem, al zamakhshari, al bokhari, in sonna, &c.		 idem.		 idem. idem. and when they had passed beyond that place, moses said unto his servant, bring us our dinner; for now are we fatigued with this our journey. his servant answered, dost thou know what has befallen me? when we took up our lodging at the rock, verily i forgot the fish: and none made me to forget it, except satan, that i should not remind thee of it. and the fish took its way into the sea, in a wonderful manner. moses said, this is what we sought after. and they both went back, returning by the way they came. and coming to the rock they found one of our servants,i unto whom we had granted mercy from us, and whom we had taught wisdom from before us. and moses said unto him, shall i follow thee, that thou mayest teach me part of that which thou hast been taught, for a direction unto me? he answered, verily thou canst not bear with me: for how canst thou patiently suffer those things, the knowledge whereof thou dost not comprehend? moses replied, thou shalt find me patient, if god please; neither will i be disobedient unto thee in anything. he said, if thou follow me, therefore, ask me not concerning anything, until i shall declare the meaning thereof unto thee. 	so they both went on by the sea-shore, until they went up into a ship; and he made a hole therein.j and moses said unto him, hast thou made a hole therein, that thou mightest drown those who are on board? now hast thou done a strange thing. he answered, did i not tell thee that thou couldst not bear with me? moses said, rebuke me not, because i did forget; and impose not on me a difficulty in what i am commanded. wherefore they left the ship and proceeded, until they met with a youth; and he slew him.k moses said, hast thou slain an innocent person, without his having killed another? now hast thou committed an unjust action. he answered, did i not tell thee that thou couldest not bear with me? moses said, if i ask thee concerning anything hereafter, suffer me not to accompany thee: now hast thou received an excuse from me. 	i this person, according to the general opinion, was the prophet al khedr; whom the mohammedans usually confound with phineas, elias, and st. george, saying that his soul passed by a metempsychosis successively through all three. some, however, say his true name was balya ebn malcân, and that he lived in the time of afridûn, one of the ancient kings of persia, and that he preceded dhu'lkarnein, and lived to the time of moses. they suppose al khedr, having found out the fountain of life and drunk thereof, became immortal; and that he had therefore this name from his flourishing and continual youth. 	part of these fictions they took from the jews, some of whom also fancy phineas was elias. 	j for al khedr took an axe, and knocked out two of her planks. 	k by twisting his neck round, or dashing his head against a wall, or else by throwing him down and cutting his throat. 	 idem. vide d'herbelot, bibl. orient. art. khedher, septemcastrens. de turcar. moribus. busbeq. epist. i, p. , &c. hotting. hist. orient. p. , &c., , &c., , &c.		 r. levi ben gerson in append. l. i, reg. i, .		 al beidâwi.		 idem they went forwards, therefore, until they came to the inhabitants of a certain city:l and they asked food of the inhabitants thereof; but they refused to receive them. and they found therein a wall, which was ready to fall down; and he set it upright.m whereupon moses said unto him, if thou wouldest thou mightest doubtless have received a reward for it. he answered, this shall be a separation between me and thee; but i will first declare unto thee the signification of that which thou couldest not bear with patience. the vessel belonged to certain poor men,n who did their business in the sea: and i was minded to render it unserviceable, because there was a kingo behind them, who took every sound ship by force. as to the youth, his parents were true believers; and we feared, lest he, being an unbeliever, should oblige them to suffer his perverseness and ingratitude: 	wherefore we desired that their lord might give them a more righteous child in exchange for him, and one more affectionate towards them.p and the wall belonged to two orphan youthsq in the city, and under it was a treasure hidden which belonged to them; and their father was a righteous man: and thy lord was pleased that they should attain their full age, and take forth their treasure, through the mercy of thy lord, and i did not what thou hast seen of mine own will, but by god's direction. this is the interpretation of that which thou couldest not bear with patience. the jews will ask thee concerning dhu'lkarnein.r answer i will rehearse unto you an account of him. we made him powerful in the earth, and we gave him means to accomplish everything he pleased. and he followed his way, 	l this city was antioch; or, as some rather think, obollah, near basra, or else bâjirwân in armenia. 	m by only stroking it with his hand; though others say he threw it down and rebuilt it. 	n they were ten brothers, five of whom were past their labour by reason of their age. 	o named jaland ebn karkar, or minwâr ebn jaland al azdi. 	p it is said that they had afterwards a daughter, who was the wife and the mother of a prophet; and that her son converted a whole nation. 	q their names were asram and sarim. 	r or, the two-horned. the generality of the commentators suppose the person here meant to be alexander the great, or, as they call him, iscander al rûmi, king of persia and greece; but there are very different opinions as to the reason of this surname. some think it was given him because he was king of the east and of the west, or because he had made expeditions to both those extreme parts of the earth; or else because he had two horns on his diadem, or two curls of hair, like horns, on his forehead; or, which is most probable, by reason of his great valour. several modern writers rather suppose the surname was occasioned by his being represented in his coins and statues with horns, as the son of jupiter ammon; or else by his being compared by the prophet daniel to a he-goat; though he is there represented with but one horn. 	there are some good writers, however, who believe the prince intended in this passage of the korân was not alexander the grecian, but another great conqueror, who bore the same name and surname, and was much more ancient than he, being contemporary with abraham, and one of the kings of persia of the first race; or, as others suppose, a king of yaman, named asaab ebn al râyesh. 	they all agree he was a true believer, but whether he was a prophet or no, is a disputed point. 	 idem.		 idem.		 idem.		 idem. 	 idem.		 idem. idem, al zamakhshari, jallalo'ddin, yahya.		 scaliger, de emend. temp. l'empereur, not. in jachiad. dan. viii. . gol. in alfrag. p. , &c. schickard. tarikh reg. pers. p. .		 see dan. viii. 	 abulfeda, khondemir, tarikh montakhab, &c. vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. art. escander.		 ex trad. ebn abbas. vide poc. spec. p. . until he came to the place where the sun setteth; and he found it to set in a spring of black mud;s and he found near the same a certain people.t and we said, o dhu'lkarnein, either punish this people, or use gentleness towards them.u he answered, whosoever of them shall commit injustice, we will surely punish him in this world; afterwards shall he return unto his lord, and he shall punish him with a severe punishment. but whosoever believeth, and doth that which is right, shall receive the most excellent reward, and we will give him in command that which is easy. then he continued his way, until he came to the place where the sun riseth;x and he found it to rise on certain people, unto whom we had not given anything wherewith to shelter themselves therefrom.y 	thus it was; and we comprehended with our knowledge the forces which were with him. and he prosecuted his journey from south to north, until he came between the two mountains;z beneath which he found certain people, who could scarce understand what was said.a and they said, o dhu'lkarnein, verily, gog and magog waste the land;b shall we therefore pay thee tribute, on condition that thou build a rampart between us and them? he answered, the power wherewith my lord has strengthened me is better than your tribute: but assist me strenuously, and i will set a strong wall between you and them. bring me iron in large pieces, until it fill up the space between the two sides of these mountains. and he said to the workmen, blow with your bellows, until it make the iron red hot as fire. and he said further, bring me molten brass, that i may pour upon it. 	s that is, it seemed so to him, when he came to the ocean, and saw nothing but water. 	t an unbelieving nation, who were clothed in the skins of wild beasts, and lived upon what the sea cast on shore. 	u for god gave dhu'lkarnein his choice, either to destroy them for their infidelity, or to instruct them in the true faith; or, according to others, either to put them to the sword, or to take them captives: but the words which follow confirm the former interpretation, by which it appears he chose to invite them to the true religion, and to punish only the disobedient and incredulous. 	x i.e., that part of the habitable world on which the sun first rises. 	y who had neither clothes nor houses, their country not bearing any buildings, but dwelt in holes underground, into which they retreated from the heat of the sun. jallalo'ddin says they were the zenj, a black nation lying south-west of ethiopia. they seem to be the troglodytes of the ancients. 	z between which dhu'lkarnein built the famous rampart, mentioned immediately, against the irruptions of gog and magog. these mountains are situate in armenia and adherbijân, or, according to others, much more northwards, on the confines of turkestan. the relation of a journey taken to this rampart, by one who was sent on purpose to view it by the khalîf al wathec, may be seen in d'herbelot. 	a by reason of the strangeness of their speech and their slowness of apprehension; wherefore they were obliged to make use of an interpreter. 	b the arabs call them yajûi and majûj, and say they are two nations or tribes descended from japhet the son of noah, or, as others write, gog are a tribe of the turks, and magog of those of gilân, the geli and gelæ of ptolemy and strabo. 	it is said these barbarous people made their irruptions into the neighbouring countries in the spring, and destroyed and carried off all the fruits of the earth; and some pretend they were man-eaters. 	 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin.		 iidem.		 iidem. 	 al beidâwi. bibl. orient. art. jagiouge.		 al beidâwi.		 idem. vide d'herbel. ubi supra.		 v. gol. in alfrag. p. .		 al beidâwi. wherefore, when this wall was finished, gog and magog could not scale it, neither could they dig through it.c and dhu'lkarnein said, this is a mercy from my lord: but when the prediction of my lord shall come to be fulfilled,d he shall reduce the wall to dust; and the prediction of my lord is true. on that day we will suffer some of them to press tumultuously like waves on others:e and the trumpet shall be sounded, and we will gather them in a body together. 	and we will set hell on that day before the unbelievers; whose eyes have been veiled from my remembrance, and who could not hear my words. do the unbelievers think that i will not punish them, for that they take my servants for their protectors besides me? verily we have prepared hell for the abode of the infidels. say, shall we declare unto you those whose works are vain, whose endeavor in the present life hath been wrongly directed, and who think they do the work which is right? these are they who believe not in the signs of their lord, or that they shall be assembled before him; wherefore their works are vain, and we will not allow them any weight on the day of resurrection. this shall be their reward, namely, hell; for that they have disbelieved, and have held my signs and apostles in derision. but as for those who believe and do good works, they shall have the gardens of paradise for their abode: they shall remain therein forever; they shall wish for no change therein. say, if the sea were ink to write the words of my lord, verily the sea would fail, before the words of my lord would fail; although we added another sea like unto it as a further supply. 	say, verily i am only a man as ye are. it is revealed unto me that your god is one only god: let him therefore who hopeth to meet his lord work a righteous work; and let him not make any other to partake in the worship of his lord. 	c the commentators say the wall was built in this manner. they dug till they found water, and having laid the foundation of stone and melted brass, they built the super-structure of large pieces of iron, between which they laid wood and coals, till they equalled the height of the mountains; and then setting fire to the combustibles, by the help of large bellows, they made the iron red hot, and over it poured melted brass, which filling up the vacancies between the pieces of iron, rendered the whole work as firm as a rock. some tell us that the whole was built of stones joined by cramps of iron, on which they poured melted brass to fasten them. 	d that is, when the time shall come for gog and magog to break forth from their confinement; which shall happen sometime before the resurrection. 	e these words represent either the violent irruption of gog and magog, or the tumultuous assembly of all creatures, men, genii, and brutes, at the resurrection. 	 idem, &c.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . 	 see ib. p. . chapter xix. entitled, mary;g revealed at mecca.g in the name of the most merciful god. c. h. y. a. s.h a commemoration of the mercy of thy lord towards his servant zacharias.i when he called upon his lord, invoking him in secret, and said, o lord, verily my bones are weakened, and my head is become white with hoariness, and i have never been unsuccessful in my prayers to thee, o lord. but now i fear my nephews, who are to succeed after me, for my wife is barren: wherefore, give me a successor of my own body from before thee; who may be my heir, and may be an heir of the family of jacob;k and grant, o lord, that he may be acceptable unto thee. and the angel answered him, o zacharias, verily we bring thee tidings of a son, whose name shall be john; we have not caused any to bear the same name before him.l zacharias said, lord, how shall i have a son, seeing my wife is barren, and i am now arrived at a great age,m and am decrepit? 	the angel said, so shall it be: thy lord saith, this is easy with me; since i created thee heretofore, when thou wast nothing. zacharias answered, o lord, give me a sign. the angel replied, thy sign shall be that thou shalt not speak to men for three nights, although thou be in perfect health. and he went forth unto his people, from the chamber, and he made signs unto them,n as if he should say, praise ye god in the morning and in the evening. and we said unto his son, o john, receive the book of the law, with a resolution to study and observe it. and we bestowed on him wisdom, when he was yet a child, 	f several circumstances relating to the virgin mary being mentioned in this chapter, her name was pitched upon for the title. 	g except the verse of adoration. 	h see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. , . 	i see chapter . p. , &c. 	j these were his brother's sons, who were very wicked men, and zacharias was apprehensive lest, after his death, instead of confirming the people in the true religion, they should seduce them to idolatry. and some commentators imagine that he made this prayer in private, lest his nephews should overhear him. 	k viz., in holiness and knowledge; or in the government and superintendence of the israelites. there are some who suppose it is not the patriarch who is here meant, but another jacob, the brother of zacharias, or of imrân ebn mâthân, of the race of solomon. 	l for he was the first who bore the name of john, or yahya (as the arabs pronounce it); which fancy seems to be occasioned by the words of st. luke misunderstood, that none of zacharias's kindred was called by that name: for otherwise john, or, as it is written in hebrew, johanan, was a common name among the jews. 	some expositors avoid this objection, by observing that the original word samiyyan signifies, not only one who is actually called by the same name, but also one who by reason of his possessing the like qualities and privileges, deserves, or may pretend to the same name. 	m the mohammedan traditions greatly differ as to the age of zacharias at this time; we have mentioned one already: jallalo'ddin says, he was an hundred and twenty, and his wife ninety-eight; and the sonna takes notice of several other opinions. 	n some say he wrote the following words on the ground. 	 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin.		 iidem.		 luke i. . and mercy from us, and purity of life;o and he was a devout person, and dutiful towards his parents, and was not proud or rebellious. peace be on him the day whereon he was born, and the day whereon he shall die, and the day whereon he shall be raised to life. and remember in the book of the koran the story of mary; when she retired from her family to a place towards the east,p and took a veil to conceal herself from them; and we sent our spirit gabriel unto her, and he appeared unto her in the shape of a perfect man.q 	she said, i fly for refuge unto the merciful god, that he may defend me from thee: if thou fearest him, thou wilt not approach me. he answered, verily i am the messenger of thy lord, and am sent to give thee a holy son. she said, how shall i have a son, seeing a man hath not touched me, and i am no harlot? gabriel replied, so shall it be: thy lord saith, this is easy with me; and we will perform it, that we may ordain him for a sign unto men, and a mercy from us: for it is a thing which is decreed. wherefore she conceived him;r and she retired aside with him in her womb to a distant place;s and the pains of child-birth came upon her near the trunk of a palm- tree.t she said, would to god i had died before this, and had become a thing forgotten, and lost in oblivion. and he who was beneath her called to her,u saying, be not grieved; now hath god provided a rivulet under thee; 	o or, as the word also signifies, the love of alms-deeds. 	p viz., to the eastern part of the temple; or to a private chamber in the house, which opened to the east: whence, says al beidâwi, the christians pray towards that quarter. 	there is a tradition, that when the virgin was grown to years of puberty, she used to leave her apartment in the temple, and retire to zacharias's house to her aunt, when her courses came upon her; and so soon as she was clean, she returned again to the temple: and that at the time of the angel's visiting her, she was at her aunt's on the like occasion, and was sitting to wash herself, in an open place, behind a veil to prevent her being seen. but others more prudently suppose the design of her retirement was to pray. 	q like a full-grown but beardless youth. al beidâwi, not contented with having given one good reason why he appeared in that form, viz., to moderate her surprise, that she might hear his message with less shyness, adds, that perhaps it might be to raise an emotion in her, and assist her conception. 	r for gabriel blew into the bosom of her shift, which he opened with his fingers, and his breath reaching her womb, caused the conception. the age of the virgin mary at the time of her conception was thirteen, or, as others say, ten; and she went six, seven, eight, or nine months with him, according to different traditions; though some say the child was conceived at its full growth of nine months, and that she was delivered of him within an hour after. 	s to conceal her delivery, she went out of the city by night, to a certain mountain. 	t the palm to which she fled, that she might lean on it in her travail, was a withered trunk, without any head or verdure, and this happened in the winter season; notwithstanding which it miraculously supplied her with fruits for her refreshment; as is mentioned immediately. 	it has been observed, that the mohammedan account of the delivery of the virgin mary very much resembles that of latona, as described by the poets, not only in this circumstance of their laying hold on a palm-tree (though some say latona embraced an olive-tree, or an olive and a palm, or else two laurels), but also in that of their infants speaking; which apollo is fabled to have done in the womb. 	u this some imagine to have been the child himself; but others suppose it was gabriel who stood somewhat lower than she did. according to a different reading this passage may be rendered, and he called to her from beneath her, &c. and some refer the pronoun, translated her, to the palm- tree; and then it should be beneath it, &c. 	 yahya, al beidâwi.		 al zamakh.		 yahya. 	 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi. al beidâwi, yahya.		 iidem, al zamakh.		 vide sikii not. in evang. infant. p. , , &c.		 homer. hymn. in apoll. callimach. hymn. in delum.		 callimach. ibid. see kor. chapter , p. .		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin. and do thou shake the body of the palm-tree, and it shall let fall ripe dates upon thee ready gathered.x and eat, and drink, and calm thy mind.y moreover, if thou see any man, and he question thee, say, verily i have vowed a fast unto the merciful: wherefore i will by no means speak to a man this day.z so she brought the child to her people, carrying him in her arms. and they said unto her, o mary, now hast thou done a strange thing: o sister of aaron,a thy father was not a bad man, neither was thy mother a harlot. 	but she made signs unto the child to answer them; and they said, how shall we speak to him, who is an infant in the cradle? whereupon the child said, verily i am the servant of god;b he hath given me the book of the gospel, and hath appointed me a prophet. and he hath made me blessed, wheresoever i shall be; and hath commanded me to observe prayer, and to give alms, so long as i shall live; and he hath made me dutiful towards my mother, and hath not made me proud or unhappy. and peace be on me the day whereon i was born, and the day whereon i shall die, and the day whereon i shall be raised to life. this was jesus, the son of mary; the word of truth,c concerning whom they doubt. it is not meet for god, that he should have any son; god forbid! when he decreeth a thing, he only saith unto it, be; and it is. and verily god is my lord and your lord; wherefore, serve him: this is the right way. yet the sectaries differ among themselves concerning jesus; but woe be unto those who are unbelievers, because of their appearance at the great day. do thou cause them to hear, and do thou cause them to see,d on the day whereon they shall come unto us to be judged: but the ungodly are this day in a manifest error. 	and do thou forewarn them of the day of sighing, when the matter shall be determined, while they are now sunk in negligence, and do not believe. verily we will inherit the earth, and whatever creatures are therein;e and unto us shall they all return. 	x and accordingly she had no sooner spoken it than the dry trunk revived, and shot forth green leaves, and a head loaded with ripe fruit. 	y literally, thine eye. 	z during which she was not to speak to anybody, unless to acquaint them with the reason of her silence: and some suppose she did that by signs. 	a several christian writers think the korân stands convicted of a manifest falsehood in this particular, but i am afraid the mohammedans may avoid the charge; as they do by several answers. some say the virgin mary had really a brother named aaron, who had the same father, but a different mother; others suppose aaron the brother of moses is here meant, but say mary is called his sister, either because she was of the levitical race (as by her being related to elizabeth, it should seem she was), or by way of comparison; others say that it was a different person of that name who was contemporary with her, and conspicuous for his good or bad qualities, and that they likened her to him either by way of commendation of of reproach, &c. 	b these were the first words which were put into the mouth of jesus, to obviate the imagination of his partaking of the divine nature, or having a right to the worship of mankind, on account of his miraculous speaking so soon after his birth. 	c this expression may either be referred to jesus, as the word of god; or to the account just given of him. 	d these words are variously expounded; some taking them to express admiration at the quickness of those senses in the wicked, at the day of judgment, when they shall plainly perceive the torments prepared for them, though they have been deaf and blind in this life; and others supposing the words contain a threat to the unbelievers, of what they shall then hear and see; or else a command to mohammed to lay before them the terrors of that day. 	e i.e., alone surviving, when all creatures shall be dead and annihilated. see chapter , p. . 	 see chapter , p. , .		 al zamakh., al beidâwi. jallalo'ddin, yahya, &c.		 al beidâwi, &c. see chapter , p. .		 al beidâwi. and remember abraham in the book of the koran; for he was one of great veracity, and a prophet. when he said unto his father, o my father,f why dost thou worship that which heareth not, neither seeth, nor profiteth thee at all? o my father, verily a degree of knowledge hath been bestowed on me, which hath not been bestowed on thee: wherefore follow me; i will lead thee into an even way. o my father, serve not satan; for satan was rebellious unto the merciful. o my father, verily i fear lest a punishment be inflicted on thee from the merciful, and thou become a companion of satan. his father answered, dost thou reject my gods, o abraham? if thou forbear not, i will surely stone thee: wherefore leave me for a long time. abraham replied, peace be on thee: i will ask pardon for thee of my lord; for he is gracious unto me. and i will separate myself from you, and from the idols which ye invoke besides god; and i will call upon my lord; it may be that i shall not be unsuccessful in calling on my lord, as ye are in calling upon them. 	and when he had separated himself from them, and from the idols which they worshipped besides god,g we gave him isaac and jacob; and we made each of them a prophet, and we bestowed on them, through our mercy, the gift of prophecy, and children and wealth; and we caused them to deserve the highest commendations.h and remember moses in the book of the koran: for he was sincerely upright, and was an apostle and a prophet. and we called unto him from the right side of mount sinai, and caused him to draw near, and to discourse privately with us.i and we gave him, through our mercy, his brother aaron a prophet, for his assistant. remember also ismael in the same book; for he was true to his promise,j and was an apostle, and a prophet. and he commanded his family to observe prayer, and to give alms; and he was acceptable unto his lord. and remember edrisk in the same book; for he was a just person, and a prophet: and we exalted him to a high place.l these are they unto whom god hath been bounteous, of the prophets of the posterity of adam, and of those whom we carried in the ark with noah; and of the posterity of abraham, and of israel, and of those whom we have directed and chosen. when the signs of the merciful were read unto them, they fell down, worshipping, and wept: 	f see chapter , p. , &c. 	g by flying to harrân, and thence to palestine. 	h literally, we granted them a lofty tongue of truth. 	i or, as some expound it, and we raise him on high; for, say they, he was raised to so great an elevation, that he heard the creaking of the pen writing on the table of god's decrees. 	j being celebrated on that account; and particularly for his behaving with that resignation and constancy which he had promised his father, on his receiving god's command to sacrifice him; for the mohammedans say it was ismael, and not isaac, whom he was commanded to offer. 	k or enoch, the great-grandfather of noah, who had that surname from his great knowledge; for he was favoured with no less than thirty books of divine revelations, and was the first who wrote with a pen, and studied the sciences of astronomy and arithmetic, &c. 	the learned bartolocci endeavours to show, from the testimonies of the ancient jews, that enoch, surnamed edris, was a very different person from the enoch of moses, and many ages younger. 	l some understand by this the honour of the prophetic office, and his familiarity with god; but others suppose his translation is here meant: for they say that he was taken up by god into heaven at the age of three hundred and fifty, having first suffered death, and been restored to life; and that he is now alive in one of the seven heavens, or in paradise. 	 idem.		 idem.		 idem, jallalo'ddin, &c. 	 bartol. bibl. rabb. part , p. .		 iidem, abulfeda. 	but a succeeding generation have come after them, who neglect prayer, and follow their lusts; and they shall surely fall into evil: except him who repenteth, and believeth, and doth that which is right; these shall enter paradise, and they shall not in the least be wronged: gardens of perpetual abode shall be their reward, which the merciful hath promised unto his servants, as an object of faith; for his promise will surely come to be fulfilled. therein shall they hear no vain discourse, but peace;m and their provision shall be prepared for them therein morning and evening. this is paradise, which we will give for an inheritance unto such of our servants as shall be pious. we descend not from heaven, unless by the command of thy lord: unto him belongeth whatsoever is before us, and whatsoever is behind us, and whatsoever is in the intermediate space; neither is thy lord forgetful of thee.n he is the lord of heaven and earth, and of whatsoever is between them: wherefore worship him, and be constant in his worship. dost thou know any named like him?o man saith,p after i shall have been dead, shall i really be brought forth alive from the grave? doth not man remember that we created him heretofore, when he was nothing? but by thy lord we will surely assemble them and the devils to judgment;q then will we set them round about hell on their knees: 	afterwards we will draw forth from every sect such of them as shall have been a more obstinate rebel against the merciful;r and we best know which of them are more worthy to be burned therein.s there shall be none of you but shall approach near the same:t this is an established decree with thy lord. afterwards we will deliver those who shall have been pious, but we will leave the ungodly therein on their knees. 	m i.e., words of peace and comfort; or the salutations of the angels, &c. 	n these are generally supposed to have been the words of the angel gabriel, in answer to mohammed's complaint for his long delay of fifteen, or, according to another tradition, of forty days, before he brought him instructions what solution he should give to the questions which had been asked him concerning the sleepers, dhu'lkarnein, and the spirit. 	others, however, are of opinion that they are the words which the godly will use at their entrance into paradise; and that their meaning is, we take up our abode here at the command and through the mercy of god alone, who ruleth all things, past, future, and present; and who is not forgetful of the works of his servants. 	o that is, deserving, or having a right to the name and attributes of god. 	p some suppose a particular person is here meant, namely, obba ebn khalf. 	q it is said that every infidel will appear, at the day judgment, chained to the devil who seduced him. 	r hence, says al beidâwi, it appears that god will pardon some of the rebellious people. but perhaps the distinguishing the unbelievers into different classes, in order to consign them to different places and degrees of torment, is here meant. 	s viz., the more obstinate and perverse, and especially the heads of sects, who will suffer double punishment for their own errors and their seducing of others. 	t for the true believers must also pass by or through hell, but the fire will be damped and the flames abated, so as not to hurt them, though it will lay hold on the others. some, however, suppose that the words intend no more than the passage over the narrow bridge, which is laid over hell. 	 see chapter , p. .		 see before, p. , . 	 al beidâwi.		 see chapter , p. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem. see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . when our manifest signs are read unto them, the infidels say unto the true believers, which of the two parties is in the more eligible condition, and formeth the more excellent assembly?u but how many generations have we destroyed before them, which excelled them in wealth, and in outward appearance? say, whosoever is in error, the merciful will grant him a long and prosperous life, until they see that with which they are threatened, whether it be the punishment of this life, or that of the last hour; and hereafter they shall know who is in the worse condition, and the weaker in forces. god shall more fully direct those who receive direction; and the good works which remain forever are better in the sight of thy lord than worldly possessions, in respect to the reward, and more eligible in respect to the future recompense. 	hast thou seen him who believeth not in our signs, and saith, i shall surely have riches and children bestowed on me?x is he acquainted with the secrets of futurity; or hath he received a covenant from the merciful that it shall be so? by no means. we will surely write down that which he saith; and increasing we will increase his punishment; and we will be his heir as to that which he speaketh of,y and on the last day he shall appear before us alone and naked. they have taken other gods, besides god, that they may be a glory unto them. by no means. hereafter shall they deny their worship;z and they shall become adversariesa unto them. dost thou not see that we send the devils against the infidels, to incite them to sin by their instigations? wherefore be not in haste to call down destruction upon them; for we number unto them a determined number of days of respite. on a certain day we will assemble the pious before the merciful in an honourable manner, as ambassadors come into the presence of a prince: but we will drive the wicked into hell, as cattle are driven to water: 	they shall obtain no intercession, except he only who hath received a covenant from the merciful.b they say, the merciful hath begotten issue. now have ye uttered an impious thing: it wanteth little but that on occasion thereof the heavens be rent, and the earth cleave in sunder, and the mountains be overthrown and fall, for that they attribute children unto the merciful; whereas it becometh not god to beget children. 	u viz., of us, or of you. when the koreish were unable to produce a composition to equal the korân, they began to glory in their wealth and nobility, valuing themselves highly on that account, and despising the followers of mohammed. 	x this passage was revealed on account of al as ebn wayel, who being indebted to khabbâb, when he demanded the money, refused to pay it, unless he would deny mohammed; to which proposal khabbâb answered, that he would never deny that prophet, neither alive, nor dead, nor when he should be raised to life at the last day; therefore replied al as, when thou art raised again, come to me, for i shall then have abundance of riches, and children, and i will pay you. 	y i.e., he shall be obliged to leave all his wealth and his children behind him at his death. 	z viz., at the resurrection; when the idolaters shall disclaim their idols, and the idols their worshippers, and shall mutually accuse one another. 	a or, the contrary; that is to say, a disgrace instead of an honour. 	b that is, except he who shall be a subject properly disposed to receive that favour, by having possessed islâm. or, the words may also be translated, according to another exposition, they shall not obtain the intercession of any, except the intercession of him, &c. or else, none shall be able to make intercession for others, except he who shall have received a covenant (or permission) from god; i.e., who shall be qualified for that office by faith, and good works, according to god's promise, or shall have special leave given him by god for that purpose. 	 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 see chapter , p. ; chapter , p. , , &c.		 al beidâwi. see chapter , p. , &c. verily there is none in heaven or on earth but shall approach the merciful as his servant. he encompasseth them by his knowledge and power, and numbereth them with an exact computation: and they shall all come unto him on the day of resurrection, destitute both of helpers and followers. but as for those who believe and do good works, the merciful will bestow on them love.c verily we have rendered the koran easy for thy tongue, that thou mayest thereby declare our promises unto the pious, and mayest thereby denounce threats unto contentious people. and how many generations have we destroyed before them? dost thou find one of them remaining? or dost thou hear so much as a whisper concerning them? ________ chapter xx. entitled, t. h.;d revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. t. h. we have not sent down the koran unto thee, that thou shouldest be unhappy;e but for an admonition unto him who feareth god: being sent down from him who created the earth, and the lofty heavens. the merciful sitteth on his throne: unto him belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and on earth, and whatsoever is between them, and whatsoever is under the earth. if thou pronounce thy prayers with a loud voice, know that it is not necessary in respect to god; for he knoweth that which is secret, and what is yet more hidden. god! there is no god but he, he hath most excellent names.f hast thou been informed of the history of moses?g 	c viz., the love of god and all the inhabitants of heaven. some suppose this verse was revealed to comfort the moslems who were hated and despised at mecca, on account of their faith, by the promise of their gaining the love and esteem of mankind in a short time. 	d the signification of these letters, which being prefixed to the chapter are therefore taken for the title, is uncertain. some, however, imagine they stand for ya rajol, i.e. o man! which interpretation, seeming not easily to be accounted for from the arabic, is by a certain tradition deduced from the ethiopic: or for ta, i.e. tread; telling us that mohammed, being employed in watching and prayer the night this passage was revealed, stood on one foot only, but was hereby commanded to ease himself by setting both feet to the ground. others fancy the first letter stands for tûba, beatitude; and the latter for hawiyat, the name of the lower apartment of hell. tah is also an interjection commanding silence, and may properly enough be used in this place. 	e either by reason of thy zealous solicitude for the conversion of the infidels, or thy fatiguing thyself by watching and other religious exercises; for, it seems, the koreish urged the extraordinary fatigues he underwent in those respects, as the consequence of his having left their religion. 	f see chapter , p. , and chapter , p. . 	g the relation of the story of moses, which takes up the greatest part of this chapter, was designed to encourage mohammed, by his example, to discharge the prophetic office with firmness of mind, as being assured of receiving the like assistance from god: for it is said this chapter was one of the first that were revealed. 	 see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. , &c.		 moham. ebn abd al baki, ex trad. acremæ ebn abi sofian.		 al beidâwi.		 idem. when he saw fire, and said unto his family, tarry ye here; for i perceive fire: 	peradventure i may bring you a brand thereout, or may find a direction in our way by the fire.h and when he was come near unto it, a voice called unto him, saying, o moses, verily i am thy lord: wherefore put off thy shoes;i for thou art in the sacred valley towa. and i have chosen thee; therefore hearken with attention unto that which is revealed unto thee. verily i am god; there is no god besides me; wherefore worship me, and perform thy prayer in remembrance of me. verily the hour cometh: i will surely manifest the same, that every soul may receive its reward for that which it hath deliberately done. let not him who believeth not therein, and who followeth his lust, prevent thee from believing in the same, lest thou perish. now what is that in thy right hand, o moses? he answered, it is my rod whereon i lean, and with which i beat down leaves for my flock; and i have other uses for it.j 	god said unto him, cast it down, o moses. and he cast it down, and behold, it became a serpent,k which ran about. god said, take hold on it, and fear not:l we will reduce it to its former condition. and put thy right hand under thy left arm: it shall come forth white,m without any hurt. this shall be another sign: that we may show thee some of our greatest signs. go unto pharaoh: for he is exceedingly impious. moses answered, lord, enlarge my breast, and make what thou hast commanded me easy unto me: and loose the knot of my tongue, that they may understand my speech.n 	and give me a counselloro of my family, namely, aaron my brother. gird up my loins by him, and make him my colleague in the business: that we may praise thee greatly, and may remember thee often; for thou regardest us. god replied, now hast thou obtained thy request, o moses: and we have heretofore been gracious unto thee, another time; 	h the commentators say, that moses having obtained leave of shoaib, or jethro, his father-in-law, to visit his mother, departed with his family from midian towards egypt; but coming to the valley of towa, wherein mount sinai stands, his wife fell in labour, and was delivered of a son, in a very dark and snowy night; he had also lost his way, and his cattle were scattered from him; when on a sudden he saw a fire by the side of a mountain, which on his nearer approaching he found burning in a green bush. 	i this was a mark of humility and respect: though some fancy there was some uncleanness in the shoes themselves, because they were made of the skin of an ass not dressed. 	j as to drive away wild beasts from my flock, to carry my bottle of water on, to stick up and hang my upper garment on to shade me from the sun; and several other uses enumerated by the commentators. 	k which was at first no bigger than the rod, but afterwards swelled to a prodigious size. 	l when moses saw the serpent move about with great nimbleness, and swallow stones and trees, he was greatly terrified, and fled from it; but recovering his courage at these words of god, he had the boldness to take the serpent by the jaws. 	m see chapter , p. . 	n for moses had an impediment in his speech, which was occasioned by the following accident. pharaoh one day carrying him in his arms, when a child, he suddenly laid hold of his bear, and plucked it in a very rough manner, which put pharaoh into such a passion, that he ordered him to be put to death: but asia, his wife, representing to him that he was but a child, who could not distinguish between a burning coal and a ruby, he ordered the experiment to be made; and a live coal and a ruby being set before moses, he took the coal and put it into his mouth, and burnt his tongue; and thereupon he was pardoned. this is a jewish story a little altered. 	o the arabic word is wazîr, which signifies one who has the chief administration of affairs under a prince. 	 idem.		 idem.		 idem.		 idem. 	 vide shalsh. hakkab, p. . when we revealed unto thy mother that which was revealed unto her,p saying, put him into the ark, and cast him into the river and the river shall throw him on the shore; and my enemy and his enemy shall take him and bring him up;q and i bestowed on thee love from me,r 	that thou mightest be bred up under my eye. when thy sister went and said, shall i bring you unto one who will nurse the child?s so we returned thee unto thy mother, that her mind might be set at ease, and that she might not be afflicted. and thou slewest a soul, and we delivered thee from trouble;t and we proved thee by several trials:u and afterwards thou didst dwell some yearsx among the inhabitants of madian. then thou camest hither according to our decree, o moses; and i have chosen thee for myself; wherefore go thou and thy brothery with my signs; and be not negligent in remembering me. go ye unto pharaoh, for he is excessively impious: and speak mildly unto him; peradventure he will consider, or will fear our threats. they answered, o lord, verily we fear lest he be precipitately violent against us, or lest he transgress more exorbitantly. god replied, fear not; for i am with you: i will hear and will see. go ye therefore unto him, and say, verily we are the messengers of thy lord: wherefore send the children of israel with us, and do not afflict them. now are we come unto thee with a sign from thy lord: and peace be upon him who shall follow the true direction. 	verily it hath been revealed unto us, that a punishment shall be inflicted on him who shall charge us with imposture, and shall turn back. and when they had delivered their message, pharaoh said, who is your lord, o moses? he answered, our lord is he who giveth all things: he hath created them, and directeth them by his providence. 	p the commentators are not agreed by what means this revelation was made; whether by private inspiration, by a dream, by a prophet, or by an angel. 	q the commentators say, that his mother accordingly made an ark of the papyrus, and pitched it, and put in some cotton; and having laid the child therein, committed it to the river, a branch of which went into pharaoh's garden: that the stream carried the ark thither into a fishpond, at the head of which pharaoh was then sitting, with his wife asia, the daughter of mozahem; and that the king, having commanded it to be taken up and opened, and finding in it a beautiful child, took a fancy to it, and ordered it to be brought up. 	some writers mention a miraculous preservation of moses before he was put into the ark; and tell us, that his mother having hid him from pharaoh's officers in an oven, his sister, in her mother's absence, kindled a large fire in the oven to heat it, not knowing the child was there, but that he was afterwards taken out unhurt. 	r that is, i inspired the love of thee into the hearts of those who saw thee, and particularly into the heart of pharaoh. 	s the mohammedans pretend that several nurses were brought, but the child refused to take the breast of any, till his sister miriam, who went to learn news of him, told them she would find a nurse, and brought his mother. 	t moses killed an egyptian, in defence of an israelite, and escaped the danger of being punished for it, by flying to midian, which was eight days' journey distant from mesr. 	the jews pretend he was actually imprisoned for the fact, and condemned to be beheaded, but that, when he should have suffered, his neck became as hard as ivory, and the sword rebounded on the executioner. 	u for he was obliged to abandon his country and his friends, and to travel several days, in great terror and want of necessary provisions, to seek a refuge among strangers; and was afterwards forced to serve for hire, to gain a livelihood. 	x i.e., ten. 	y aaron being by this time come out to meet his brother, either by divine inspiration, or having notice of his design to return to egypt. 	 al beidâwi.		 abulfeda, &c.		 al beidâwi. 	 idem. shalsh hakkab. p. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem. pharaoh said, what therefore is the condition of the former generations?z moses answered, the knowledge thereof is with my lord, in the book of his decrees: my lord erreth not, neither doth he forget. it is he who hath spread the earth as a bed for you, and hath made you paths therein; and who sendeth down rain from heaven, whereby we cause various kinds of vegetables to spring forth: saying, eat of part, and feed your cattle with other part thereof. verily herein are signs unto those who are endued with understanding. out of the ground have we created you; and to the same will we cause you to return, and we will bring you forth from thence another time. and we showed pharaoh all our signs which we had empowered moses to perform: but he accused him of imposture, and refused to believe; and he said, art thou come unto us that thou mayest dispossess us of our land by the enchantments, o moses? 	verily we will meet thee with the like enchantments; wherefore fix an appointment between us and thee; we will not fail it, neither shalt thou, in an equal place. moses answered, let your appointment be on the day of your solemn feast;a and let the people be assembled in open day. and pharaoh turned away from moses, and gathered together the most expert magicians to execute his stratagem; and then came to the appointment. moses said unto them, woe be unto you! do not devise a lie against god,b lest he utterly destroy you by some judgment: for he shall not prosper who deviseth lies. and the magicians disputed concerning their affair among themselves, and discoursed in private: and they said, these two are certainly magicians: they seek to dispossess you of your land by their sorcery; and to lead away with them your chiefest and most considerable men. wherefore collect all your cunning, and then come in order: for he shall prosper this day, who shall be superior. they said, o moses, whether wilt thou cast down thy rod first, or shall we be the first who cast down our rods? he answered, do ye cast down your rods first. and behold, their cords and their rods appeared unto him, by their enchantment, to run about like serpents;c 	wherefore moses conceived fear in his heart. but we said unto him, fear not; for thou shalt be superior: therefore cast down the rod which is in thy right hand; and it shall swallow up the seeming serpents which they have made: for what they have made is only the deceit of an enchanter; and an enchanter shall not prosper, withersoever he cometh. and the magicians, when they saw the miracle which moses performed, fell down and worshipped, saying, we believe in the lord of aaron and of moses. pharaoh said unto them, do ye believe in him before i give you permission? verily this is your master, who hath taught you magic. but i will surely cut off your hands and your feet on the opposite sides; and i will crucify you on trunks of palm-trees:d and ye shall know which of us is more severe in punishing, and can longer protract your pains. 	z viz., as to happiness or misery after death. 	a which was probably the first day of their new year. 	b by saying the miracles performed in his name are the effects of magic. 	c they rubbed them over with quicksilver, which being wrought upon by the heat of the sun, caused them to move. see chapter , p. . 	d see ibid. 						 idem. they answered, we will by no means have greater regard unto thee than unto those evident miracles which have been shown us, or than unto him who hath created us. pronounce therefore that sentence against us which thou art about to pronounce: for thou canst only give sentence as to this present life. verily we believe in our lord, that he may forgive us our sins, and the sorcery which thou hast forced us to exercise: for god is better to reward, and more able to prolong punishment than thou. verily whosoever shall appear before his lord on the day of judgment, polluted with crimes, shall have hell for his reward; he shall not die therein, neither shall he live. but whoever shall appear before him, having been a true believer, and shall have worked righteousness, for these are prepared the highest degrees of happiness; namely, gardens of perpetual abode,e which shall be watered by rivers; they shall remain therein forever: and this shall be the reward of him who shall be pure. and we spake by revelation unto moses, saying, go forth with my servants out of egypt by night; and smite the waters with thy rod, and make them a dry path through the sea:f 	be not apprehensive of pharaoh's overtaking thee; neither be thou afraid. and when moses had done so, pharaoh followed them with his forces; and the waters of the sea overwhelmed them. and pharaoh caused his people to err, neither did he direct them aright. thus, o children of israel, we delivered you from your enemy; and we appointed you the right side of mount sinai to discourse with moses and to give him the law; and we caused manna and quails to descend upon you,g saying, eat of the good things which we have given you for food; and transgress not therein,h lest my indignation fall on you; and on whomsoever my indignation shall fall, he shall go down headlong into perdition. but i will be gracious unto him who shall repent and believe, and shall do that which is right; and who shall be rightly directed. what hath caused thee to hasten from thy people, o moses, to receive the law?i he answered, these follow close on my footsteps; but i have hastened unto thee, o lord, that thou mightest be well pleased with me. god said, we have already made a trial of thy people, since thy departure;j and al sâmerik hath seduced them to idolatry. 	e literally, gardens of eden; see chapter , p. , . 	f the expositors add, that the sea was divided into twelve separate paths, one for each tribe: a fable borrowed from the jews. 	g see chapter , p. . 	h by ingratitude, excess, or insolent behaviour. 	i for moses, it seems, outwent the seventy elders, who had been chosen, in obedience to the divine command, to accompany him to the mount, and appeared before god while they were at some, though no great, distance behind him. 	j they continued in the worship of the true god for the first twenty days of moses's absence, which, by taking the nights also into their reckoning, they computed to be forty, and at their expiration concluded they had stayed the full time which moses had commanded them, and so fell into the worship of the golden calf. 	k this was not his proper name, but he had this appellation because he was of a certain tribe among the jews called samaritans (wherein the mohammedans strangely betray their ignorance in history); though some say he was a proselyte, but a hypocritical one, and originally of kirmân, or some other country. his true name was moses, or mûsa, ebn dhafar. 	selden is of opinion that this person was no other than aaron himself, (who was really the maker of the calf), and that he is here called al sâmeri, from the hebrew verb shamar, to keep; because he was the keeper or guardian of the children of israel during his brother's absence in the mount; which is a very ingenious conjecture, not absolutely inconsistent with the text of the korân (though mohammed seems to have mistaken al sâmeri for the name of a different person), and offers a much more probable origin of that appellation, than to derive it, as the mohammedans do, from the samaritans, who were not formed into a people, nor bore that name till many ages after. 	 idem, abulfed. in hist.		 vide r. eliezer, pirke, chapter .		 see chapter , p. , ; chapter , p. , &c. al beidâwi.		 idem. wherefore moses returned unto his peoplel in great wrath, and exceedingly afflicted. and he said, o my people, had not your lord promised you a most excellent promise?m did the time of my absence seem long unto you? or did ye desire that indignation from your lord should fall on you, and therefore failed to keep the promise which ye made me? 	they answered, we have not failed in what we promised thee of our own authority; but we were made to carry in several loads of gold and silver, of the ornaments of the people,n and we cast them into the fire; and in like manner al sâmeri also cast in what he had collected, and he produced unto them a corporeal calf,o which lowed. and al sâmeri and his companions said, this is your god, and the god of moses; but he hath forgotten him, and is gone to seek some other. did they not therefore see that their idol returned them no answer, and was not able to cause them either hurt or profit? and aaron had said unto them before, o my people, verily ye are only proved by this calf; for your lord is the merciful: wherefore, follow me, and obey my command. they answered, we will by no means cease to be devoted to its worship, until moses return unto us. and when moses was returned, he said, o aaron, what hindered thee, when thou sawest that they went astray, that thou didst not follow me?p hast thou, therefore, been disobedient to my command? aaron answered, o son of my mother, drag me not by the beard, nor by the hair of my head. verily i feared lest thou shouldest say, thou hast made a division among the children of israel, and thou hast not observed my saying.q moses said unto al sâmeri, what was thy design, o sâmeri? he answered, i saw that which they saw not;r wherefore i took a handful of dust from the footsteps of the messenger of god, and i cast it into the molten calf;s for so did my mind direct me. 	l viz., after he had completed his forty days' stay in the mount, and had received the law. 	m i.e., the law, containing a light and certain direction to guide you in the right way. 	n these ornaments were rings, bracelets, and the like, which the israelities had borrowed of the egyptians, under pretence of decking themselves out for some feast, and had not returned to them; or, as some think, what they had stripped from the dead bodies of the egyptians, cast on shore by the sea: and al sameri, conceiving them unlawful to be kept, and the occasion of much wickedness, persuaded aaron to let him collect them from the people; which being done, he threw them all into the fire, to melt them down into one mass. 	it is observable, that the mohammedans generally suppose the cast metal's coming forth in the shape of a calf, was beside the expectation of al sameri, who had not made a mould of that figure: and that when aaron excuses himself to his brother, in the pentateuch, he seems as if he would persuade him it was an accident. 	o see chapter , p. , note n. 	p by these words moses reprehends aaron for not seconding his zeal in taking arms against the idolaters; or for not coming after him to the mountain, to acquaint him with their rebellion. 	q i.e., lest if i had taken arms against the worshippers of the calf, thou shouldest say that i had raised a sedition; or if i had gone after thee, thou shouldest blame me for abandoning my charge, and not waiting thy return to rectify what was amiss. 	r or, i knew that which they knew not; viz., that the messenger sent to thee from god was a pure spirit, and that his footsteps gave life to whatever they touched; being no other than the angel gabriel, mounted on the horse of life: and therefore i made use of the dust of his feet to animate the molten calf. it is said al sâmeri knew the angel, because he had saved and taken care of him when a child and exposed by his mother for fear of pharaoh. 	s see chapter , p. . 	 selden, de diis syris, synt. i, chapter .		 al beidâwi. 	 idem. vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. , and kor. chapter , p. , &c.		 see exod. xxxii. .		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin. moses said, get thee gone; for thy punishment in this life shall be, that thou shalt say unto those who shall meet thee, touch me not;t and a threat is denounced against thee of more terrible pains, in the life to come, which thou shalt by no means escape. and behold now thy god, to whose worship thou hast continued assiduously devoted; verily we will burn it;u and we will reduce it to powder, and scatter it in the sea. your god is the true god, besides whom there is no other god: he comprehendeth all things by his knowledge. 	thus do we recite unto thee, o mohammed, relations of what hath passed heretofore; and we have given thee an admonition from us. he who shall turn aside from it shall surely carry a load of guilt on the day of resurrection: they shall continue thereunder forever; and a grievous burden shall it be unto them on the day of resurrection;x on that day the trumpet shall be sounded; and we will gather the wicked together on that day, having grey eyes.y they shall speak with a low voice to one another, saying, ye have not tarriedz above ten days. we well know what they will say; when the most conspicuous among them for behavior shall say, ye have not tarried above one day. they will ask thee concerning the mountains: answer, my lord will reduce them to dust, and scatter them abroad;a and he will leave them a plain equally extended: thou shalt see no part of them higher or lower than another. on that day mankind shall follow the angel who will call them to judgment,b none shall have power to turn aside from him; and their voices shall be low before the merciful, neither shalt thou hear any more than the hollow sound of their feet. 	t lest they infect thee with a burning fever: for that was the consequence of any man's touching him, and the same happened to the persons he touched; for which reason he was obliged to avoid all communication with others, and was also shunned by them, wandering in the desert like a wild beast. 	hence, it is concluded that a tribe of samaritan jews, said to inhabit a certain isle in the red sea, are the descendants of our al sâmeri; because it is their peculiar mark of distinction, at this day, to use the same words, viz., la mesâs, i.e., touch me not, to those they meet. it is not improbable that this story may owe its rise to the known hatred borne by the samaritans to the jews, and their superstitiously avoiding to have any commerce with them, or any other strangers. 	u or, as the word may also be translated, we will file it down; but the other is the more received interpretation. 	x see chapter , p. . 	y for this, with the arabs, is one mark of an enemy, or a person they abominate; to say a man has a black liver (though i think we express our aversion by the term white-livered), reddish whiskers and grey eyes, being a periphrasis for a foe, and particularly a greek, which nation were the most inveterate enemies of the arabs, and have usually hair and eyes of those colours. the original word, however, signifies also those who are squint- eyed, or even blind of a suffusion. 	z viz., in the world; or, in the grave. 	a see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . 	b see ibid. p. . 	 iidem.		 vide geogr. nub. p. .		 vide selden, ubi sup.		 al beidâwi, jawhari, in lex. 										 on that day, the intercession of none shall be of advantage unto another, except the intercession of him to whom the merciful shall grant permission,c and who shall be acceptable unto him in what he saith. 	god knoweth that which is before them, and that which is behind them; but they comprehend not the same by their knowledge: and their faces shall be humbledd before the living, the self-subsisting god; and he shall be wretched who shall bear his iniquity. but whosoever shall do good works, being a true believer, shall not fear any injustice, or any diminution of his reward from god. and thus have we sent down this book, being a koran in the arabic tongue; and we have inserted various threats and promises therein, that men may fear god, or that it may awaken some consideration in them: wherefore, let god be highly exalted, the king, the truth! be not over- hasty in receiving or repeating the koran before the revelation thereof be completed unto thee;e and say, lord, increase my knowledge. we heretofore gave a command unto adam; but he forgot the same,f and ate of the forbidden fruit; and we found not in him a firm resolution. and remember when we said unto the angels, worship ye adam; and they worshipped him: but eblis refused.g and we said, o adam, verily this is an enemy unto thee, and thy wife: wherefore, beware lest he turn you out of paradise; for then shalt thou be miserable. verily we have made a provision for thee, that thou shalt not hunger therein, neither shalt thou be naked: and there is also a provision made for thee, that thou shalt not thirst therein, neither shalt thou be incommoded by heat. but satan whispered evil suggestions unto him, saying, o adam, shall i guide thee to the tree of eternity, and a kingdom which faileth not? and they both ate thereof: and their nakedness appeared unto them; and they began to sew together the leaves of paradise, to cover themselves.h and thus adam became disobedient unto his lord, and was seduced. 	afterwards his lord accepted him, on his repentance, and was turned unto him, and directed him. and god said, get ye down hence, all of you: the one of you shall be an enemy unto the other. but hereafter shall a direction come unto you from me:i and whosoever shall follow my direction shall not err, neither shall he be unhappy; but whosoever shall turn aside from my admonition, verily he shall lead a miserable life, and we will cause him to appear before us on the day of resurrection, blind.j and he shall say, o lord, why hast thou brought me before thee blind, whereas before i saw clearly? 	c or, except unto him, &c. see chapter , p. . 	d the original word properly expresses the humility and dejected looks of captives in the presence of their conqueror. 	e mohammed is here commanded not to be impatient at any delay in gabriel's bringing the divine revelations, or not to repeat it too fast after the angel, so as to overtake him before he had finished the passage. but some suppose the prohibition relates to the publishing any verse before the same was perfectly explained to him. 	f adam's so soon forgetting the divine command, has occasioned some arab etymologists to derive the word insân, i.e., man, from nasiya, to forget; and has also given rise to the following proverbial saying, awwalo nâsin awwalo 'nnâsi, that is, the first forgetful person was the first of men; alluding to the like sound of the words 	g see chapter , p. , &c.; chapter , p. , &c. 	h see chapter , p. . 	i see chapter , p. . 	j see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . 					 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin god shall answer, thus have we done, because our signs came unto thee, and thou didst forget them; and in the same manner shalt thou be forgotten this day. and thus will we reward him who shall be negligent, and shall not believe in the signs of his lord: and the punishment of the life to come shall be more severe, and more lasting, than the punishment of this life. are not the meccans, therefore, acquainted how many generations we have destroyed before them; in whose dwellings they walk?k verily herein are signs unto those who are endued with understanding. and unless a decree had previously gone forth from thy lord for their respite, verily their destruction had necessarily followed: but there is a certain time determined by god for their punishment. 	wherefore, do thou, o mohammed, patiently bear that which they say; and celebrate the praise of thy lord before the rising of the sun, and before the setting thereof, and praise him in the hours of the night, and in the extremities of the day,l that thou mayest be well-pleased with the prospect of receiving favor from god. and cast not thine eyes on that which we have granted divers of the unbelievers to enjoy, namely, the splendor of this present life,m that we may prove them thereby; for the provision of thy lordn is better, and more permanent. command thy family to observe prayer; and do thou persevere therein. we require not of thee that thou labor to gain necessary provisions for thyself and family; we will provide for thee; for the prosperous issue shall attend on piety.o the unbelievers say, unless he come unto us with a sign from his lord, we will not believe on him. hath not a plain declaration come unto them, of that which is contained in the former volumes of scripture, by the revelation of the koran? if we had destroyed them by a judgment before the same had been revealed, they would have said, at the resurrection, o lord, how could we believe since thou didst not send unto us an apostle, that we might follow thy signs, before we were humbled and covered with shame? say, each of us wait the issue: wait, therefore; for ye shall surely know hereafter who have been the followers of the even way, and who hath been rightly directed. 	k seeing the footsteps of their destruction; as of the tribes of al, and thamûd. 	l i.e., evening and morning; which times are repeated as the principal hours of prayer. but some suppose these words intend the prayer of noon; the first half of the day ending, and the second half beginning at that time. 	m that is, do not envy or covet their pomp and prosperity in this world. 	n viz., the reward laid up for thee in the next life: or the gift of prophecy, and the revelations with which god had favoured thee. 	o it is said that when mahommed's family were in any strait or affliction, he used to order them to go to prayers, and to repeat this verse. 		 iidem.		 see chapter , p. .		 al beidâwi. chapter xxi. entitled, the prophets;p revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. the time of giving up their account draweth nigh unto the people of mecca; while they are sunk in negligence, turning aside from the consideration thereof. no admonition cometh unto them from their lord, being lately revealed in the koran, but when they hear it, they turn it to sport: their hearts are taken up with delights. and they who act unjustly discourse privately together, saying, is this mohammed any more than a man like yourselves? will ye therefore come to hear a piece of sorcery, when ye plainly perceive it to be so? say, my lord knoweth whatever is spoken in heaven and on earth: it is he who heareth and knoweth. but they say, the koran is a confused heap of dreams: nay, he hath forged it; nay, he is a poet: let him come unto us therefore with some miracle, in like manner as the former prophets were sent. none of the cities which we have destroyed believed the miracles which they saw performed before them: will these therefore believe, if they see a miracle? we sent none as our apostles before them, other than men, unto whom we revealed our will. ask those who are acquainted with the scripture, if ye know not this. we gave them not a body which could be supported without their eating food; neither were they immortal. but we made good our promise unto them: wherefore we delivered them, and those whom we pleased; but we destroyed the exorbitant transgressors. 	now have we sent down unto you, o koreish, the book of the koran; wherein there is honourable mention of you: will ye not therefore understand? and how many cities have we overthrown, which were ungodly; and caused other nations to rise up after them? and when they felt our severe vengeance, behold, they fled swiftly from those cities. and the angels said scoffingly unto them, do not fly; but return to that wherein ye delighted, and to your habitations; peradventure ye will be asked.q they answered, alas for us! verily we have been unjust.r and this their lamentation ceased not, until we had rendered them like corn which is mown down and utterly extinct. 	p the chapter bears this title, because some particular relating to several of the ancient prophets are here recited. 	q i.e., concerning the present posture of affairs, by way of consultation: or, that ye may be examined as to your deeds, that ye may receive the reward thereof. 	r it is related that a prophet was sent to the inhabitants of certain towns in yaman, but instead of hearkening to his remonstrances, they killed him: upon which god delivered them into the hands of nebuchadnezzar, who put them to the sword: a voice at the same time crying from heaven, vengeance for the blood of the prophets! upon which they repented, and used the words of this passage. 				 idem, jallalo'ddin, al zamakh. we created not the heavens and the earth, and that which is between them, by way of sport.s if we had pleased to take diversion, verily we had taken it with that which beseemeth us;t if we had resolved to have done this. but we will oppose truth to vanity, and it shall confound the same; and behold, it shall vanish away. woe be unto you, for that which ye impiously utter concerning god! since whoever is in heaven and on earth is subject unto him; and the angels who are in his presence do not insolently disdain his service, neither are they tired therewith. 	they praise him night and day; they faint not. have they taken gods from the earth? shall they raise the dead to life? if there were either in heaven or on earth gods besides god, verily both would be corrupted.u but far be that which they utter from god, the lord of the throne! no account shall be demanded of him for what he shall do; but an account shall be demanded of them. have they taken other gods besides him! say, produce your proof thereof. this is the admonition of those who are contemporary with me, and the admonition of those who have been before me:x but the greater part of them know not the truth, and turn aside from the same. we have sent no apostle before thee, but we revealed unto him that there is no god beside myself, wherefore serve me. they say, the merciful hath begotten issue; and the angels are his daughters.y god forbid! they are his honoured servants, they prevent him not in anything which they say;z and they execute his command. he knoweth that which is before them, and that which is behind them; they shall not intercede for any, except for whom it shall please him; and they tremble for fear of him. 	whoever of them shall say, i am a god besides him; that angel will we reward with hell: for so will we reward the unjust. do not the unbelievers therefore know, that the heavens and the earth were solid, and we clave the same in sunder;a and made every living thing of water? will they not therefore believe? and we placed stable mountains on the earth, lest it should move with them;b and we made broad passages between them for paths, that they might be directed in their journeys: 	s but for the manifestation of our power and wisdom to people of understanding, that they may seriously consider the wonders of the creation, and direct their actions to the attainment of future happiness, neglecting the vain pomp and fleeting pleasures of this world. 	t viz., we had sought our pleasure in our own perfections; or, in the spiritual beings which are in our immediate presence; and not in raising of material buildings, with painted roofs, and fine floors, which is the diversion of man. 	some think the original word, translated diversion, signifies in this place a wife, or a child; and that the passage is particularly levelled against the christians. 	u that is, the whole creation would necessarily fall into confusion and be overturned, by the competition of such mighty antagonists. 	x i.e., this is the constant doctrine of all the sacred books; not only of the korân, but of those which were revealed in former ages; all of them bearing witness to the great and fundamental truth of the unity of god. 	y this passage was revealed on account of the khozâites, who held the angels to be the daughters of god. 	z i.e., they presume not to say anything, until he hath spoken it; behaving as servants who know their duty. 	a that is, they were one continued mass of matter, till we separated them, and divided the heaven into seven heavens, and the earth into as many stories; and distinguished the various orbs of the one, and the different climates of the other, &c. or, as some choose to translate the words, the heavens and the earth were shut up, and we opened the same; their meaning being, that the heavens did not rain, nor the earth produce vegetables, till god interposed his power. 	b see chapter , p. . 				 iidem.		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin. and we made the heaven a roof well supported. yet they turn aside from the signs thereof, not considering that they are the workmanship of god. it is he who hath created the night, and the day, and the sun, and the moon; all the celestial bodies move swiftly, each in its respective orb. we have not granted unto any man before thee eternal permanency in this world; if thou die, therefore, will they be immortal?c every soul shall taste of death: and we will prove you with evil, and with good, for a trial of you; and unto us shall ye return. when the unbelievers see thee, they receive thee only with scoffing, saying, is this he who mentioneth your gods with contempt? yet themselves believe not what is mentioned to them of the merciful.d man is created of precipitation.e hereafter will i show you my signs, so that ye shall not wish them to be hastened. they say, when will this threat be accomplished, if ye speak truth? 	if they who believe not knew that the time will surely come, when they shall not be able to drive back the fire of hell from their faces, nor from their backs, neither shall they be helped, they would not hasten it. but the day of vengeance shall come upon them suddenly, and shall strike them with astonishment: they shall not be able to avert it, neither shall they be respited. other apostles have been mocked before thee; but the punishment which they scoffed at fell upon such of them as mocked. say unto the scoffers, who shall save you by night and by day from the merciful? yet they utterly neglect the remembrance of their lord. have they gods who will defend them, besides us? they are not able to help themselves; neither shall they be assisted against us by their companions, but we have permitted these men and their fathers to enjoy worldly prosperity, so long as life was continued unto them. do they not perceive that we come unto the land of the unbelievers, and straiten the borders thereof? shall they therefore be the conquerors? say, i only preach unto you the revelation of god: but the deaf will not hear thy call, whenever they are preached unto. yet if the least breath of the punishment of thy lord touch them, they will surely say, alas for us! verily we have been unjust. we will appoint just balances for the day of resurrection; neither shall any soul be injured at all: although the merit or guilt of an action be of the weight of a grain of mustard-seed only, we will produce it publicly; and there will be sufficient accountants with us. we formerly gave unto moses and aaron the law, being a distinctionf between good and evil, and a light and admonition unto the pious; 	who fear their lord in secret, and who dread the hour of judgment. and this book also is a blessed admonition, which we have sent down from heaven: will ye therefore deny it? 	c this passage was revealed when the infidels said, we expect to see mohammed die, like the rest of mankind. 	d denying his unity; or rejecting his apostles and the scriptures which were given for their instruction, and particularly the korân. 	e being hasty and inconsiderate. it is said this passage was revealed on account of al nodar ebn al hareth, when he desired mohammed to hasten the divine vengeance with which he threatened the unbelievers. 	f arab. 'al forkân. see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. . 			 see chapter , p. , &c.		 al beidâwi. and we gave unto abraham his directiong heretofore, and we knew him to be worthy of the revelations wherewith he was favored. remember when he said unto his father, and his people, what are these images, to which ye are so entirely devoted?h they answered, we found our fathers worshipping them. he said, verily both ye and your fathers have been in a manifest error. they said, dost thou seriously tell us the truth, or art thou one who jestest with us? he replied, verily your lord is the lord of the heavens and the earth; it is he who hath created them: and i am one of those who bear witness thereof. by god, i will surely devise a plot against your idols, after ye shall have retired from them, and shall have turned your backs. and in the people's absence he went into the temple where the idols stood, and he brake them all in pieces, except the biggest of them; that they might lay the blame upon that.i and when they were returned, and saw the havoc which had been made, 	they said, who hath done this to our gods? he is certainly an impious person. and certain of them answered, we heard a young man speak reproachfully of them: he is named abraham. they said, bring him therefore before the people, that they may bear witness against him. and when he was brought before the assembly, they said unto him, hast thou done this unto our gods, o abraham? he answered, nay, that biggest of them hath done it: but ask them, if they can speak. and they returned unto themselves,j and said the one to the other, verily ye are the impious persons. afterwards they relapsed into their former obstinacy,k and said, verily thou knowest that these speak not. abraham answered, do ye therefore worship, besides god, that which cannot profit you at all, neither can it hurt you? fie on you: and upon that which ye worship besides god! do ye not understand? they said, burn him, and avenge your gods: if ye do this it will be well.l 	g viz., the ten books of divine revelations which were given him. 	h see chapter , p. , &c., chapter , p. , and chapter , p. . 	i abraham took his opportunity to do this while the chaldeans were abroad in the fields, celebrating a great festival; and some say he hid himself in the temple: and when he had accomplished his design, that he might the more evidently convince them of their folly in worshipping them, he hung the axe, with which he had hewn and broken down the images, on the neck of the chief idol, named by some writers, baal; as if he had been the author of all the mischief. for this story, which, though it be false, is not ill invented, mohammed stands indebted to the jews; who tell it with a little variation: for they say abraham performed this exploit in his father's shop, during his absence; that terah, on his return, demanding the occasion of the disorder, his son told him that the idols had quarrelled and fallen together by the ears about an offering of fine flour, which had been brought them by an old woman; and that the father, finding he could not insist on the impossibility of what abraham pretended, without confessing the impotence of his gods, fell into a violent passion and carried him to nimrod that he might be exemplarily punished for his insolence. 	j that is, they became sensible of their folly. 	k literally, they were turned down upon their heads. 	l perceiving they could not prevail against abraham by dint of argument, says al beidâwi, they had recourse to persecution and torments. the same commentator tells us the person who gave this counsel was a persian curd, named heyyûn, and that the earth opened and swallowed him up alive: some, however, say it was andeshân, a magian priest; and others, that it was nimrod himself. 	 see the prel. disc. sect. iv. p. .		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin, &c. vide hyde, de rel. vet. pers. c. .		 r. gedal. in shalshel. hakkab. p. vide maimon. yad hazzaka, c. i, de idol. 	 vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. art. dhokak. et schultens, indic. geogr. in vit. saladini, voce curdi.		 vide d'herbel. p. . and when abraham was cast into the burning pile, we said, o fire, be thou cold, and a preservation unto abraham.m 	and they sought to lay a plot against him: but we caused them to be the sufferers.n and we delivered him, and lot, by bringing them into the land wherein we have blessed all creatures.o and we bestowed on him isaac and jacob, as an additional gift: and we made all of them righteous persons. we also made them models of religion,p that they might direct others by our command: and we inspired into them the doing of good works, and the observance of prayer, and the giving of alms; and they served us. and unto lot we gave wisdom and knowledge, and we delivered him out of the city which committed filthy crimes; for they were a wicked and insolent people;q and we led him into our mercy; for he was an upright person. and remember noah, when he called for destruction on his people,r before the prophets above mentioned: and we heard him, and delivered him and his family from a great strait: 	m the commentators relate that, by nimrod's order, a large space was enclosed at cûtha, and filled with a vast quantity of wood, which being set on fire burned so fiercely, that none dared to venture near it: then they bound abraham, and putting him into an engine (which some suppose to have been of the devil's invention), shot him into the midst of the fire; from which he was preserved by the angel gabriel who was sent to his assistance; the fire burning only the cords with which he was bound. they add that the fire having miraculously lost its heat, in respect to abraham, became an odoriferous air, and that the pile changed to a pleasant meadow; though it raged so furiously otherwise, that, according to some writers, about two thousand of the idolaters were consumed by it. 	this story seems to have had no other foundation than that passage of moses, where god is said to have brought abraham out of ur, of the chaldees, misunderstood: which words the jews, the most trifling interpreters of scripture, and some moderns who have followed them, have translated, out of the fire of the chaldees; taking the word ur, not for the proper name of a city, as it really is, but for an appellative, signifying fire. however, it is a fable of some antiquity, and credited, not only by the jews, but by several of the eastern christians; the twenty-fifth of the second canûn, or january, being set apart in the syrian calendar, for the commemoration of abraham's being cast into the fire. 	the jews also mention some other persecutions which abraham underwent on account of his religion, particularly a ten years' imprisonment; some saying he was imprisoned by nimrod; and others, by his father terah. 	n some tell us that nimrod, on seeing this miraculous deliverance from his palace, cried out, that he would make an offering to the god of abraham; and that he accordingly sacrificed four thousand kine. but, if he ever relented, he soon relapsed into his former infidelity: for he built a tower that he might ascend to heaven to see abraham's god; which being overthrown, still persisting in his design, he would be carried to heaven in a chest borne by four monstrous birds; but after wandering for some time through the air, he fell down on a mountain with such a force, that he made it shake, whereto (as some fancy) a passage in the korân alludes, which may be translated, although their contrivances be such as to make the mountains tremble. 	nimrod, disappointed in his design of making war with god, turned his arms against abraham, who, being a great prince, raised forces to defend himself; but god, dividing nimrod's subjects, and confounding their language, deprived him of the greater part of his people, and plagued those who adhered to him by swarms of gnats, which destroyed almost all of them: and one of those gnats having entered into the nostril, or ear, of nimrod, penetrated to one of the membranes of his brain, where, growing bigger every day, it gave him such intolerable pain, that he was obliged to cause his head to be beaten with a mallet, in order to procure some ease, which torture he suffered four hundred years; god being willing to punish, by one of the smallest of his creatures, him who insolently boasted himself to be lord of all. a syrian calendar places the death of nimrod, as if the time were well known, on the eighth of thamûz, or july. 	o i.e., palestine; in which country the greater part of the prophets appeared. 	p see chapter , p. . 	q see chapter , p. , &c., and chapter ii, p. . 	r see chapter , p. , note z. 	 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin, &c. vide morgan's mahometism expl. v. i, chapter .		 the ms gospel of barnabas, chapter . genes. xv. .		 vide targ. jonath. et hierosol. in genes. c. ii et ; et hyde, de rel. vet. pers. p. , &c.		 vide hyde, ibid., p. .		 r. eliez. pirke, c. , &c. vide maim. more nev. l. , c. . 	 glossa talmud. in gemar. bava bathra, , i. in aggada.		 al beidâwi.		 see chapter , p. . 	 chapter , p. . vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. art. nemrod. hyde, ubi supra.		 vide hyde, ibid. p. . and we protected him from the people who accused our signs of falsehood; for they were a wicked people, wherefore we drowned them all. and remember david and solomon, when they pronounced judgment concerning a field, when the sheep of certain people had fed therein by night, having no shepherd; and we were witnesses of their judgment: and we gave the understanding thereof unto solomon.s and on all of them we bestowed wisdom, and knowledge. and we compelled the mountains to praise us, with david; and the birds also:t and we did this. 	and we taught him the art of making coats of mail for you,u that they may defend you in your wars: will ye therefore be thankful? and unto solomon we subjected a strong wind:x it ran at his command to the land whereon we had bestowed our blessing:y and we knew all things. and we also subjected unto his command divers of the devils, who might dive to get pearls for him, and perform other work besides this;z and we watched over them.a and remember job;b when he cried unto his lord, saying, verily evil hath afflicted me: but thou art the most merciful of those who show mercy. 	s some sheep, in their shepherd's absence, having broken into another man's field (or vineyard, say others), by night, and eaten up the corn, a dispute arose thereupon: and the cause being brought before david and solomon, the former said, that the owner of the land should take the sheep, in compensation of the damage which he had sustained; but solomon, who was then but eleven years old, was of opinion that it would be more just for the owner of the field to take only the profit of the sheep, viz., their milk, lambs, and wool, till the shepherd should, by his own labour and at his own expense, put the field into as good condition as when the sheep entered it; after which the sheep might be returned to their master. and this judgment of solomon was approved by david himself as better than his own. 	t mohammed, it seems, taking the visions of the talmudists for truth, believed that when david was fatigued with singing psalms, the mountains, birds, and other parts of the creation, both animate and inanimate, relieved him in chanting the divine praises. this consequence the jews draw from the words of the psalmist, when he calls on the several parts of nature to join with him in celebrating the praise of god; it being their perverse custom to expound passages in the most literal manner, which cannot bear a literal sense without a manifest absurdity; and, on the contrary, to turn the plainest passages into allegorical fancies. 	u men, before his inventing them, used to arm themselves with broad plates of metal. lest this fable should want something of the marvellous, one writer tells us, that the iron which david used became soft in his hands like wax. 	x which transported his throne with prodigious swiftness. some say, this wind was violent or gentle, just as solomon pleased. 	y viz., palestine: whither the wind brought back solomon's throne in the evening, after having carried it to a distant country in the morning. 	z such as the building of cities and palaces, the fetching of rare pieces of art from foreign countries, and the like. 	a lest they should swerve from his orders, or do mischief according to their natural inclinations. jallalo'ddin says, that when they had finished any piece of building, they pulled it down before night, if they were not employed in something new. 	b the mohammedan writers tell us, that job was of the race of esau, and was blessed with a numerous family, and abundant riches; but that god proved him, by taking away all that he had, even his children, who were killed by the fall of a house; notwithstanding which he continued to serve god, and to return him thanks, as usual; that he was then struck with a filthy disease, his body being full of worms, and so offensive, that as he lay on the dunghill none could bear to come near him: that his wife, however (whom some call rahmat the daughter of ephraim the son of joseph, and others makhir the daughter of manasses), attended him with great patience, supporting him with what she earned by her labour; but that the devil appeared to her one day, after having reminded her of her past prosperity, promised her that if she would worship him, he would restore all they had lost; whereupon she asked her husband's consent, who was so angry at the proposal, that he swore, if he recovered, to give his wife a hundred stripes: that job having pronounced the prayer recorded in this passage, god sent gabriel, who taking him by the hand raised him up; and at the same time a fountain sprang up at his feet, of which having drank, the worms fell off his body, and washing therein he recovered his former health and beauty: that god then restored all to him double; his wife also becoming young and handsome again, and bearing him twenty-six sons; and that job, to satisfy his oath, was directed by god to strike her one blow with a palm-branch having a hundred leaves. some, to express the great riches which were bestowed on job after his sufferings, say he had two threshing-floors, one for wheat, and the other for barley, and that god sent two clouds which rained gold on the one, and silver on the other, till they ran over. the traditions differ as to the continuance of job's calamities; one will have it to be eighteen years, another thirteen, another three, and another exactly seven years seven months and seven hours. 	 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin, &c.		 see psalm cxlviii 	 tarikh montakkab. vide d'herbel. p. . see chapter . wherefore we heard him, and relieved him from the evil which was upon him: and we restored unto him his family, and as many more with them, through our mercy, and for an admonition unto those who serve god. and remember ismael, and edris,c and dhu'lkefl.d all these were patient persons; wherefore we led them into our mercy; for they were righteous doers. and remember dhu'lnun,e when he departed in wrath,f and thought that we could not exercise our power over him. and he cried out in the darkness,g saying, there is no god, besides thee: praise be unto thee! verily i have been one of the unjust. 	wherefore we heard him, and delivered him from affliction;h for so do we deliver the true believers. and remember zacharias, when he called upon his lord, saying, o lord, leave me not childless: yet thou art the best heir. wherefore we heard him, and we gave him john; and we rendered his wife fit for bearing a child unto him. these strove to excel in good works, and called upon us with love, and with fear; and humbled themselves before us. and remember her who preserved her virginity,i and into whom we breathed of our spirit; ordaining her and her son for a sign unto all creatures. verily this your religion is one religion,j and i am your lord; wherefore serve me. but the jews and christians have made schisms in the affair of their religion among themselves; but all of them shall appear before us. whosoever shall do good works, being a true believer, there shall be no denial of the reward due to his endeavors; and we will surely write it down unto him. an inviolable prohibition is laid on every city which we shall have destroyed; for that they shall not return any more into the world, 	c see chapter , p. . 	d who this prophet was is very uncertain. one commentator will have him to be elias, or joshua, or zacharias: another supposes him to have been the son of job, and to have dwelt in syria; to which some add, that he was first a very wicked man, but afterwards repenting, died; upon which these words appeared miraculously written over his door, now hath god been merciful unto dhu'lkefl: and a third tells us he was a person of great strictness of life, and one who used to decide causes to the satisfaction of all parties, because he was never in a passion: and that he was called dhu'lkefl from his continual fasting, and other religious exercises. 	e this is the surname of jonas; which was given him because he was swallowed by the fish. see chapter , p. . 	f some suppose jonas's anger was against the ninevites, being tired with preaching to them for so long a time, and greatly disgusted at their obstinacy and ill usage of him; but others, more agreeably to scripture, say the reason of his ill humour was god's pardoning of that people on their repentance, and averting the judgment which jonas had threatened them with, so that he thought he had been made a liar. 	g i.e., out of the belly of the fish. 	h see chapter . 	i namely, the virgin mary 	j being the same which was professed by all the prophets, and holy men and women, without any fundamental difference or variation. 	 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin, abu'lfeda, &c. see d'herbel. bibl. orient. art. aicub.		 jallalo'ddin. al beidâwi.		 abu'lf.		 jallalo'ddin.		 al beidâwi. until gog and magog shall have a passage opened for them,k and they shall hasten from every high hill,l and the certain promise shall draw near to be fulfilled: and behold, the eyes of the infidels shall be fixed with astonishment, and they shall say, alas for us! we were formerly regardless of this day; yea, we were wicked doers. verily both ye, o men of mecca, and the idols which ye worship besides god, shall be cast as fuel into hell fire: ye shall go down into the same. if these were really gods, they would not go down into the same: and all of them shall remain therein forever. 	in that place shall they groan for anguish; and they shall not hear ought therein.m as for those unto whom the most excellent reward of paradise hath been predestinated by us, they shall be transported far off from the same;n they shall not hear the least sound thereof: and they shall continue forever in the felicity which their souls desire. the greatest terror shall not trouble them; and the angels shall meet them to congratulate them, saying, this is your day which ye were promised. on that day we will roll up the heavens, as the angel al sijilo rolleth up the book wherein every man's actions are recorded. as we made the first creature out of nothing, so we will also reproduce it at the resurrection. this is a promise which it lieth on us to fulfil: we will surely perform it. and now have we written in the psalms, after the promulgation of the law, that my servants the righteous shall inherit the earth.p verily in this book are contained sufficient means of salvation, unto people who serve god. we have not sent thee, o mohammed, but as a mercy unto all creatures. say, no other hath been revealed unto me, than that your god is one god: will ye therefore be resigned unto him? but if they turn their backs to the confession of god's unity, say, i proclaim war against you all equally:q but i know not whether that which ye are threatened withr be nigh, or whether it be far distant. 	verily god knoweth the discourse which is spoken in public; and he also knoweth that which ye hold in private. i know not but peradventure the respite granted you is for a trial of you; and that he may enjoy the prosperity of this world for a time. say, lord, judge between me and my adversaries with truth. our lord is the merciful; whose assistance is to be implored against the blasphemies and calumnies which ye utter. 	k i.e., until the resurrection; one sign of the approach whereof will be the eruption of those barbarians. 	l in this passage some copies, instead of hadabin, i.e., an elevated part of the earth, have jadathin, which signifies a grave; and if we follow the latter reading, the pronoun they must not refer to gog and magog, but to mankind in general. 	m because of their astonishment and the insupportable torments they shall endure; or, as others expound the words, they shall not hear therein anything which may give them the least comfort. 	n one ebn al zabári objected to the preceding words, both ye and that which ye worship besides god, shall be cast into hell, because, being general , they asserted an absolute falsehood; some of the objects of idolatrous worship being so far from any danger of damnation, that they were in the highest favour with god, as jesus, ezra, and the angels: wherefore this passage was revealed, excepting those who were predestined to salvation. 	o whose office it is to write down the actions of every man's life, which, at his death, he rolls up, as completed. some pretend one of mohammed's scribes is here meant: and others take the word sijil, or, as it is also written, sijjill, for an appellative, signifying a book or written scroll; and accordingly render the passage, as a written scroll is rolled up. 	p these words are taken from psalm xxxvii. v. . 	q or, i have publicly declared unto you what i was commanded. 	r viz., the losses and disgraces which ye shall suffer by the future successes of the moslems; or, the day of judgment. 	 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. .		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin.		 iidem, &c. chapter xxii. entitled, the pilgrimage;s revealed at mecca.t in the name of the most merciful god. o men of mecca, fear your lord. verily the shock of the last houru will be a terrible thing. on the day whereon ye shall see it, every woman who giveth suck shall forget the infant which she suckleth,x and every female that is with young shall cast her burden; and thou shalt see men seemingly drunk, yet they shall not be really drunk: but the punishment of god will be severe. there is a man who disputeth concerning god without knowledge,y and followeth every rebellious devil: against whom it is written, that whoever shall take him for his patron, he shall surely seduce him, and shall lead him into the torment of hell. o men, if ye be in doubt concerning the resurrection, consider that we first created you of the dust of the ground; afterwards, of seed; afterwards, of a little coagulated blood;z afterwards, of a piece of flesh, perfectly formed in part, and in part imperfectly formed; that we might make our power manifest unto you: and we caused that which we please to rest in the wombs, until the appointed time of delivery. then we bring you forth infants; and afterwards we permit you to attain your age of full strength: and one of you dieth in his youth, and another of you is postponed to a decrepit age, so that he forgetteth whatever he knew. thou seest the earth sometimes dried up and barren: but when we send down rain thereon, it is put in motion and swelleth, and produceth every kind of luxuriant vegetables. this showeth that god is the truth, and that he raiseth the dead to life, and that he is almighty; and that the hour of judgment will surely come (there is no doubt thereof), and that god will raise again those who are in the graves. 	s some ceremonies used at the pilgrimage of mecca being mentioned in this chapter, gave occasion to the inscription. 	t some except two verses, beginning at these words, there are some men who serve god, in a wavering manner, &c. and others six verses, beginning at, these are two opposite parties, &c. 	u or, the earthquake which, some say, is to happen a little before the sun rises from the west; one sign of the near approach of the day of judgment. 	x see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . 	y this passage was revealed on account of al nodar ebn al hareth, who maintained that the angels were the daughters of god, that the korân was a fardel of old fables, and denied the resurrection. 	z see chapter . 	 jallalo'ddin.		 al beidâwi.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. , &c. al beidâwi. there is a man who disputeth concerning god without either knowledge, or a direction, or an enlightening book;a proudly turning his side, that he may seduce men from the way of god. ignominy shall attend him in this world; and on the day of resurrection we will make him taste the torment of burning, 	when it shall be said unto him. this thou sufferest because of that which thy hands have formerly committed; for god is not unjust towards mankind. there are some men who serve god in a wavering manner, standing, as it were, on the vergeb of the true religion. if good befall one of them, he resteth satisfied therein; but if any tribulation befall him, he turneth himself round, with the loss both of this world, and of the life to come. this is manifest perdition. he will call upon that, besides god, which can neither hurt him, nor profit him. this is an error remote from truth. he will invoke him who will sooner be of hurt to his worshipper than of advantage. such is surely a miserable patron, and a miserable companion. but god will introduce those who shall believe, and do righteous works, into gardens through which rivers flow; for god doth that which he pleaseth. whoso thinketh that god will not assist his apostle in this world, and in the world to come, let him strain a rope towards heaven, then let him put an end to his life, and see whether his devices can render that ineffectual, for which he was angry.c thus do we send down the koran, being evident signs: for god directeth whom he pleaseth. as to the true believers, and those who judaize, and the sabians, and the christians, and the magians, and the idolaters; verily god shall judge between them on the day of resurrection; for god is witness of all things. dost thou not perceive that all creatures both in heaven and on earth adore god;d and the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the mountains, and the trees, and the beasts, and many men? but many are worthy of chastisement: and whomsoever god shall render despicable, there shall be none to honour; for god doth that which he pleaseth. 	a the person here meant, it is said, was abu jahl, a principal man among the koreish, and a most inveterate enemy of mohammed and his religion. his true name was amru ebn heshâm, of the family of makhzûm; and he was surnamed abu'lhocm, i.e., the father of wisdom, which was afterwards changed into abu jahl, or the father of folly. he was slain in the battle of bedr. 	b this expression alludes to one who being posted in the skirts of an army, if he sees the victory inclining to his own side, stands his ground, but if the enemy is likely to prevail, takes to his heels. 	the passage, they say, was revealed on account of certain arabs of the desert, who came to medina, and having professed mohammedism, were well enough pleased with it so long as their affairs prospered, but if they met with any adversity, were sure to lay the blame on their new religion. a tradition of abu saïd mentions another accident as the occasion of this passage, viz., that a certain jew embraced islâm, but afterwards taking a dislike to it, on account of some misfortune which had befallen him, went to mohammed, and desired he might renounce it, and be freed from the obligation of it: but the prophet told him that no such thing was allowed in his religion. 	c or, let him tie a rope to the roof of his house, and hang himself; that is, let him carry his anger and resentment to ever so great a height, even to be driven to the most desperate extremities, and see whether with all his endeavours he will be able to intercept the divine assistance. 	d confessing his power, and obeying his supreme command. 	 jallalo'ddin.		 see chapter , p. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem. 	these are two opposite parties, who dispute concerning their lord.e and they who believe not shall have garments of fire fitted unto them: boiling water shall be poured on their heads; their bowels shall be dissolved thereby, and also their skins; and they shall be beaten with maces of iron. so often as they shall endeavor to get out of hell, because of the anguish of their torments, they shall be dragged back into the same; and their tormentors shall say unto them, taste ye the pain of burning. god will introduce those who shall believe, and act righteously, into gardens through which rivers flow: they shall be adorned therein with bracelets of gold, and pearls; and their vestures therein shall be silk. they are directed unto a good saying;f and are directed into the honourable way. but they who shall disbelieve, and obstruct the way of god, and hinder men from visiting the holy temple of mecca, which we have appointed for a place of worship unto all men: the inhabitant thereof, and the stranger have an equal right to visit it: and whosoever shall seek impiously to profane it, we will cause him to taste a grievous torment. call to mind when we gave the site of the house of the caaba for an abode unto abraham,g saying, do not associate anything with me; and cleanse my house for those who compass it, and who stand up, and who bow down to worship. and proclaim unto the people a solemn pilgrimage;h let them come unto thee on foot, and on every lean camel, arriving from every distant road; that they may be witnesses of the advantages which accrue to them from the visiting this holy place,i and may commemorate the name of god on the appointed days,j in gratitude for the brute cattle which he hath bestowed on them. wherefore eat thereof, and feed the needy, and the poor. 	afterwards let them put an end to the neglect of their persons;k and let them pay their vows,l and compass the ancient house.m 	e viz., the true believers, and the infidels. the passage is said to have been revealed on occasion of a dispute between the jews and the mohammedans; the former insisting that they were in greater favour with god, their prophet and revelations being prior to those of the latter; and these replying, that they were more in god's favour, for that they believed not only in moses but also in mohammed, and in all the scriptures without exception; whereas the jews rejected mohammed, though they knew him to be a prophet, out of envy. 	f viz., the profession of god's unity; or these words, which they shall use at their entrance into paradise, praise be unto god, who hath fulfilled his promise unto us. 	g i.e., for a place of religious worship; showing him the spot where it had stood, and also the model of the old building, which had been taken up to heaven at the flood. 	h it is related that abraham, in obedience to this command, went up to mount abu kobeis, near mecca, and cried from thence, o men, perform the pilgrimage to the house of your lord; and that god caused those who were then in the loins of their fathers, and the wombs of their mothers, from east to west, and who, he knew beforehand, would perform the pilgrimage, to hear his voice. some say, however, that these words were directed to mohammed, commanding him to proclaim the pilgrimage of valediction: according to which exposition the passage must have been revealed at medina. 	i viz., the temporal advantage made by the great trade driven at mecca during the pilgrimage, and the spiritual advantage of having performed so meritorious a work. 	j namely, the ten first days of dhu'lhajja; or the tenth day of the same month, on which they slay the sacrifices, and the three following days. 	k by shaving their heads, and other parts of their bodies, and cutting their beards and nails in the valley of mina; which the pilgrims are not allowed to do from the time they become mohrims, and have solemnly dedicated themselves to the performance of the pilgrimage, till they have finished the ceremonies, and slain their victims. 	l by doing the good works which they have vowed to do in their pilgrimage. some understand the words only of the performance of the requisite ceremonies. 	m i.e., the caaba; which the mohammedans pretend was the first edifice built and appointed for the worship of god. the going round this chapel is a principal ceremony of the pilgrimage, and is often repeated; but the last time of their doing it, when they take their farewell of the temple, seems to be more particularly meant in this place. 	 idem.		 idem.		 see the prelim. disc., sect. iv. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 iidem. see chapter , p. , chapter , p. , and bobov. de peregr. meccana, p. , &c. 	 see chapter , p. , and the prelim. disc. sect. iv. this let them do. and whoever shall regard the sacred ordinances of god;n this will be better for him in the sight of his lord. all sorts of cattle are allowed you to eat, except what hath been read unto you, in former passages of the koran, to be forbidden. but depart from the abomination of idols, and avoid speaking that which is false:o being orthodox in respect to god, associating no other god with him; for whoever associateth, any other with god is like that which falleth from heaven, and which the birds snatch away, or the wind bloweth to a far distant place.p this is so. and whoso maketh valuable offerings unto god;q verily they proceed from the piety of men's hearts. ye receive various advantages from the cattle designed for sacrifices, until a determined time for slaying them: then the place of sacrificing them is at the ancient house. unto the professors of every religionr have we appointed certain rites, that they may commemorate the name of god on slaying the brute cattle which he hath provided for them. your god is one god: wherefore resign yourselves wholly unto him. and do thou bear good tidings unto those who humble themselves; whose hearts, when mention is made of god, are struck with fear; and unto those who patiently endure that which befalleth them; and who duly perform their prayers, and give alms out of what we have bestowed on them. the camels slain for sacrifice have we appointed for you as symbols of your obedience unto god: ye also receive other advantages from them. wherefore commemorate the name of god over them, when ye slay them, standing on their feet disposed in right order:s and when they are fallen down dead, eat of them; and give to eat thereof both unto him who is content with what is given him, without asking, and unto him who asketh.t thus have we given you dominion over them, that ye might return us thanks. 	n by observing what he has commanded, and avoiding what he has forbidden, or, as the words also signify, whoever shall honour what god hath sanctified, or commanded not to be profaned; as the temple and territory of mecca, and the sacred months, &c. 	o either by asserting wrong and impious things of the deity; or by bearing false witness against your neighbours. 	p because he who falls into idolatry, sinketh from the height of faith into the depth of infidelity, has his thoughts distracted by wicked lusts, and is hurried by the devil into the most absurd errors. 	q by choosing a well-favoured and costly victim, in honour of him to whom it is destined. they say mohammed once offered a hundred fat camels, and among them one which had belonged to abu jahl, having in his nose a ring of gold: and that omar offered a noble camel, for which he had been bid three hundred dinârs. 	the original may also be translated generally, whoso regardeth the rites of the pilgrimage, &c. but the victims seem to be more particularly intended in this place. 	r jallalo'ddin understands this passage in a restrained sense, of the former nations who were true believers; to whom god appointed a sacrifice, and a fixed place and proper ceremonies for the offering of it. 	s that is, as some expound the word, standing on three feet, having one of their fore feet tied up, which is the manner of tying camels to prevent their moving from the place. some copies instead of sawâffa, read sawâffena, from the verb safana, which properly signifies the posture of a horse, when he stands on three feet, the edge of the fourth only touching the ground. 	t or, as the words may also be rendered, unto him who asketh in a modest and humble manner, and unto him who wanteth but dareth not ask. 			 al beidâwi.		 idem. their flesh is not accepted of god, neither their blood; but your piety is accepted of him. thus have we given you dominion over them, that ye might magnify god, for the revelations whereby he hath directed you. and bear good tidings unto the righteous, that god will repel the ill designs of the infidels from the true believers; for god loveth not every perfidious unbeliever. 	permission is granted unto those who take arms against the unbelievers, for that they have been unjustly persecuted by them (and god is certainly able to assist them): who have been turned out of their habitations injuriously, and for no other reason than because they say, our lord is god.u and if god did not repel the violence of some men by others, verily monasteries, and churches, and synagogues, and the temples of the moslems, wherein the name of god is frequently commemorated, would be utterly demolished.x and god will certainly assist him who shall be on his side: for god is strong and mighty. and he will assist those who, if we establish them in the earth, will observe prayer, and give alms, and command that which is just, and forbid that which is unjust. and unto god shall be the end of all things. if they accuse thee, o mohammed, of imposture; consider that, before them, o mohammed, of imposture; consider that, before them, the people of noah, and the tribes of ad and thamud, and the people of abraham, and the people of lot, and the inhabitants of madian, accused their prophets of imposture: and moses was also charged with falsehood. and i granted a long respite unto the unbelievers: but afterwards i chastised them; and how different was the change i made in their condition! how many cities have we destroyed, which were ungodly, and which are now fallen to ruin on their roofs? and how many wells have been abandoned,y and lofty castles? do they not therefore journey through the land? and have they not hearts to understand with, or ears to hear with? surely as to these things their eyes are not blind, but the hearts are blind which are in their breasts. they will urge thee to hasten the threatened punishment; but god will not fail to perform what he hath threatened: and verily one day with thy lord is as a thousand years, of those which ye compute.z unto how many cities have i granted respite, though they were wicked? yet afterwards i chastised them: and unto me shall they come to be judged at the last day. say, o men, verily i am only a public preacher unto you. 	u this was the first passage of the korân which allowed mohammed and his followers to defend themselves against their enemies by force, and was revealed a little before the flight to medina; till which time the prophet had exhorted his moslems to suffer the injuries offered them with patience, which is also commanded in above seventy different places of the korân. 	x that is, the public exercise of any religion, whether true or false, is supported only by force; and therefore, as mohammed would argue, the true religion must be established by the same means. 	y that is, how many spots in the deserts, which were formerly inhabited, are now abandoned? a neglected well being the proper sign of such a deserted dwelling in those parts, as ruins are of a demolished town. 	some imagine that this passage intends more particularly a well at the foot of a certain hill in the province of hadramaut, and a castle built on the top of the same hill, both belonging to the people of handha ebn safwân, a remnant of the thamudites, who having killed their prophet, were utterly destroyed by god, and their dwelling abandoned. 	z see pet. iii. . 		 al beidâwi, &c. vide the prelim. disc. sect. ii. p. , &c. 	 iidem and they who believe, and do good works, shall obtain forgiveness and an honourable provision. 	but those who endeavor to make our signs of none effect shall be the inhabitants of hell. we have sent no apostle, or prophet, before thee, but, when he read, satan suggested some error in his reading.a but god shall make void that which satan hath suggested: then shall god confirm his signs; for god is knowing and wise. but this he permitteth, that he may make that which satan hath suggested, a temptation unto those in whose hearts there is an infirmity, and whose hearts are hardened (for the ungodly are certainly in a wide disagreement from the truth): and that they on whom knowledge hath been bestowed may know that this book is the truth from thy lord, and may believe therein; and that their hearts may acquiesce in the same: for god is surely the director of those who believe, into the right way. but the infidels will not cease to doubt concerning it, until the hour of judgment cometh suddenly upon them; or until the punishment of a grievous dayb overtake them. on that day the kingdom shall be god's: he shall judge between them. and they who shall have believed, and shall have wrought righteousness, shall be in gardens of pleasure; but they who shall have disbelieved, and shall have charged our signs with falsehood, those shall suffer a shameful punishment. and as to those who shall have fled their country for the sake of god's true religion, and afterwards shall have been slain, or shall have died; on them will god bestow an excellent provision; and god is the best provider. he will surely introduce them with an introduction with which they shall be well pleased; for god is knowing and gracious. this is so. whoever shall take a vengeance equal to the injury which hath been done him,c and shall afterwards be unjustly treated;d verily god will assist him: for god is merciful, and ready to forgive. 	this shall be done, for that god causeth the night to succeed the day, and he causeth the day to succeed the night; and for that god both heareth and seeth. 	a the occasion of the passage is thus related. mohammed one day reading the rd chapter of the korân, when he came to this verse, what think ye of allât, and al uzza, and of manâh, the other third goddess? the devil put the following words into his mouth, which he pronounced through inadvertence, or, as some tell us, because he was then half asleep. viz., these are the most high and beauteous damsels, whose intercession is to be hoped for. the koreish, who were sitting near mohammed, greatly rejoiced at what they had heard, and when he had finished the chapter, joined with him and his followers in making their adoration: but the prophet, being acquainted by the angel gabriel with the reason of their compliance, and with what he had uttered, was deeply concerned at his mistake, till this verse was revealed for his consolation. 	we are told however by al beidâwi, that the more intelligent and accurate persons reject the aforesaid story; and the verb, here translated read, signifying also to wish for anything, interpret the passage of the suggestions of the devil to debauch the affections of those holy persons, or to employ their minds in vain wishes and desires. 	b or, a day which maketh childless; by which some great misfortune in war is expressed: as the overthrow the infidels received at bedr. some suppose the resurrection is here intended. 	c and shall not take a more severe revenge than the fact deserves. 	d by the aggressor's seeking to revenge himself again of the person injured, by offering him some further violence. 	the passage seems to relate to the vengeance which the moslems should take of the infidels, for their unjust persecution of them. 		 yahya.		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin, yahya, &c. see chapter , p. . this, because god is truth, and because what they invoke besides him is vanity; and for that god is the high, the mighty. dost thou not see that god sendeth down water from heaven, and the earth becometh green? for god is gracious and wise. unto him belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and on earth: and god is self- sufficient, worthy to be praised. dost thou not see that god hath subjected whatever is in the earth to your service, and also the ships which sail in the sea, by his command? and he withholdeth the heaven that it fall not on the earth, unless by his permission:e for god is gracious unto mankind, and merciful. it is he who hath given you life, and will hereafter cause you to die; afterwards he will again raise you to life, at the resurrection: but man is surely ungrateful. unto the professors of every religion have we appointed certain rites, which they observe. let them not therefore dispute with thee concerning this matter: but invite them unto thy lord: for thou followest the right direction. but if they enter into debate with thee, answer, god well knoweth that which ye do: god will judge between you on the day of resurrection, concerning that wherein ye now disagree. dost thou not know that god knoweth whatever is in heaven and on earth? verily this is written in the book of his decrees: this is easy with god. 	they worship, besides god, that concerning which he hath sent down no convincing proof, and concerning which they have no knowledge: but the unjust doers shall have none to assist them. and when our evident signs are rehearsed unto them, thou mayest perceive, in the countenances of the unbelievers, a disdain thereof: it wanteth little but that they rush with violence on those who rehearse our signs unto them. say, shall i declare unto you a worse thing than this? the fire of hell, which god hath threatened unto those who believe not, is worse; and an unhappy journey shall it be thither. o men, a parable is propounded unto you; wherefore hearken unto it. verily the idols which ye invoke, besides god, can never create a single fly, although they were all assembled for that purpose: and if the fly snatch anything from them, they cannot recover the same from it.f weak is the petitioner, and the petitioned. they judge not of god according to his due estimation: for god is powerful and mighty. god chooseth messengers from among the angels,g and from among men: for god is he who heareth and seeth. he knoweth that which is before them, and that which is behind them: and unto god shall all things return. o true believers, bow down, and prostrate yourselves, and worship your lord; and work righteousness, that ye may be happy: and fight in defence of god's true religion, as it behooveth you to fight for the same. he hath chosen you, and hath not imposed on you any difficulty in the religion which he hath given you, the religion of your father abraham: he hath named you moslems 	e which it will do at the last day. 	f the commentators say, that the arabs used to anoint the images of their gods with some odoriferous composition, and with honey, which the flies eat, though the doors of the temple were carefully shut, getting in at the windows or crevices. 	perhaps mohammed took this argument from the jews, who pretend that the temple of jerusalem, and the sacrifices there offered to the true god, were never annoyed by flies; whereas swarms of those insects infested the heathen temples, being drawn thither by the steam of the sacrifices. 	g who are the bearers of the divine revelations to the prophets; but ought not to be the objects of worship. 		 pirke aboth c. , sect. , .		 vide selden, de diis syris, synt. , c. . heretofore, and in this book; that our apostle may be a witness against you at the day of judgment, and that ye may be witnesses against the rest of mankind. wherefore be ye constant at prayer; and give alms: and adhere firmly unto god. he is your master; and he is the best master, and the best protector. ________ chapter xxiii. entitled, the true believers; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. now are the true believers happy: who humble themselves in their prayer, and who eschew all vain discourse, and who are doers of alms-deeds; and who keep themselves from carnal knowledge of any women except their wives, or the captives which their right hands possess (for as to them they shall be blameless: but whosoever coveteth any woman beyond these, they are transgressors): and who acquit themselves faithfully of their trust, and justly perform their covenant; and who observe their appointed times of prayer: 	these shall be the heirs, who shall inherit paradise; they shall continue therein forever. we formerly created man in a finer sort of clay; afterwards we placed him in the form of seed in a sure receptacle:h afterwards we made the seed coagulated blood; and we formed the coagulated blood into a piece of flesh: then we formed the piece of flesh into bones: and we clothed those bones with flesh: then we produced the same by another creation.i wherefore blessed be god, the most excellent creator!j after this shall ye die: and afterwards shall ye be restored to life, on the day of resurrection. and we have created over you seven heavens:k and we are not negligent of what we have created. and we send down rain from heaven, by measure; and we cause it to remain on the earth: we are also certainly able to deprive you of the same. and we cause gardens of palm-trees, and vineyards, to spring forth for you by means thereof; wherein ye have many fruits, and whereof ye eat. 	and we also raise for you a tree springing from mount sinai;l which produceth oil, and a sauce for those who eat. 	h viz., the womb. 	i i.e., producing a perfect man, composed of soul and body. 	j see chapter , p. , note d. 	k literally, seven paths; by which the heavens are meant, because, according to some expositors they are the paths of the angels and of the celestial bodies: though the original word also signifies things which are folded or placed like stories one above another, as the mohammedans suppose the heavens to be. 	l viz., the olive. the gardens near this mountain are yet famous for the excellent fruit-trees of almost all sorts which grow there. 		 vide voyages de thevenot, liv. , ch. . ye have likewise an instruction in the cattle; we give you to drink of the milk which is in their bellies, and ye receive many advantages from them; and of them do ye eat: and on them, and on ships, are ye carried.m we sent noah heretofore unto his people, and he said, o my people, serve god: ye have no god besides him; will ye therefore not fear the consequence of your worshipping other gods? and the chiefs of his people, who believed not, said, this is no other than a man, as ye are: he seeketh to raise himself to a superiority over you. if god had pleased to have sent a messenger unto you, he would surely have sent angels: we have not heard this of our fore-fathers. verily he is no other than a man disturbed with frenzy: wherefore wait concerning him for a time. noah said, o lord, do thou protect me; for that they accuse me of falsehood. and we revealed our orders unto him, saying, make the ark in our sight; and according to our revelation. and when our decree cometh to be executed, and the oven shall boil and pour forth water, carry into it of every species of animals one pair; and also thy family, except such of them on whom a previous sentence of destruction hath passed:n and speak not unto me in behalf of those who have been unjust; for they shall be drowned. and when thou and they who shall be with thee shall go up into the ark, say praise be unto god, who hath delivered us from the ungodly people! 	and say, o lord, cause me to come down from this ark with a blessed descent; for thou art the best able to bring me down from the same with safety. verily herein were signs of our omnipotence; and we proved mankind thereby. afterwards we raised up another generationo after them; and we sent unto them an apostle from among them,p who said, worship god: ye have no god besides him; will ye therefore not fear his vengeance? and the chiefs of his people, who believed not, and who denied the meeting of the life to come, and on whom we had bestowed affluence in this present life, said, this is no other than a man, as ye are; he eateth of that whereof ye eat, and he drinketh of that whereof ye drink: and if ye obey a man like unto yourselves, ye will surely be sufferers. doth he threaten you that after ye shall be dead, and shall become dust and bones, ye shall be brought forth alive from your graves? away, away with that ye are threatened with! there is no other life besides our present life: we die, and we live; and we shall not be raised again. 	this is no other than a man, who deviseth a lie concerning god: but we will not believe him. their apostle said, o lord, defend me; for that they have accused me of imposture. god answered, after a little while they shall surely repent their obstinacy. wherefore a severe punishment was justly inflicted on them, and we rendered them like the refuse which is carried down by a stream. away therefore with the ungodly people! afterwards we raised up other generationsq after them. 	m the beast more particularly meant in this place is the camel, which is chiefly used for carriage in the east; being called by the arabs, the land ship, on which they pass those seas of sand, the deserts. 	n see chapter , p. , &c. 	o namely, the tribe of ad, or of thamud. 	p viz., the prophet hûd, or sâleh. 	q as the sodomites, midianites, &c. no nation shall be punished before their determined time; neither shall they be respited after. afterwards we sent our apostles, one after another. so often as their apostle came unto any nation, they charged him with imposture: and we caused them successively to follow one another to destruction; and we made them only subjects of traditional stories. away therefore with the unbelieving nations! afterwards we sent moses, and aaron his brother, with our signs and manifest power, unto pharaoh and his princes: but they proudly refused to believe on him; for they were a haughty people. and they said, shall we believe on two men like unto ourselves; whose people are our servants? 	and they accused them of imposture: wherefore they became of the number of those who were destroyed. and we heretofore gave the book of the law unto moses, that the children of israel might be directed thereby. and we appointed the son of mary, and his mother, for a sign: and we prepared an abode for them in an elevated part of the earth,r being a place of quiet and security, and watered with running springs. o apostles, eat of those things which are good;s and work righteousness: for i well know that which ye do. this your religion is one religion;t and i am your lord: wherefore fear me. but men have rent the affair of their religion into various sects: every party rejoiceth in that which they follow. wherefore leave them in their confusion, until a certain time.u do they think that we hasten unto them the wealth and children which we have abundantly bestowed on them, for their good? but they do not understand. verily they who stand in awe, for fear of their lord, 	and who believe in the signs of their lord, and who attribute not companions unto their lord; and who give that which they give in alms, their hearts being struck with dread, for that they must return unto their lord: these hasten unto good, and are foremost to obtain the same. we will not impose any difficulty on a soul, except according to its ability; with us is a book, which speaketh the truth; and they shall not be injured. but their hearts are drowned in negligence, as to this matter: and they have works different from those we have mentioned; which they will continue to do, until when we chastise such of them as enjoy an affluence of fortune, by a severe punishment,x behold, they cry aloud for help: 	r the commentators tell us the place here intended is jerusalem, or damascus, or ramlah, or palestine, or egypt. 	but perhaps the passage means the hill to which the virgin mary retired to be delivered, according to the mohammedan tradition. 	s these words are addressed to the apostles in general, to whom it was permitted to eat of all clean and wholesome food; and were spoken to them severally at the time of their respective mission. some, however, think them directed particularly to the virgin mary and jesus, or singly to the latter (in which case the plural number must be used out of respect only), proposing the practice of the prophets for their imitation. mohammed probably designed in this passage to condemn the abstinence observed by the christian monks. 	t see chapter , p. . 	u i.e., till they shall be slain, or shall die a natural death. 	x by which is intended either the overthrow at bedr, where several of the chief korashites lost their lives; or the famine with which the meccans were afflicted, at the prayer of the prophet, conceived in these words, o god, set thy foot strongly on modar (an ancestor of the koreish), and give them years like the years of joseph: whereupon so great a dearth ensued, that they were obliged to feed on dogs, carrion, and burnt bones. 	 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin.		 see chapter , p. . 	 al beidâwi.		 idem. but it shall be answered them, cry not for help to-day: for ye shall not be assisted by us. my signs were read unto you, but ye turned back on your heels: proudly elating yourselves because of your possessing the holy temple; discoursing together by night, and talking foolishly. 	do they not therefore attentively consider that which is spoken unto them; whether a revelation is come unto them which came not unto their fore- fathers? or do they not know their apostle; and therefore reject him? or do they say, he is a madman? nay, he hath come unto them with the truth; but the greater part of them detest the truth. if the truth had followed their desires, verily the heavens and the earth, and whoever therein is, had been corrupted.y but we have brought them their admonition; and they turn aside from their admonition. dost thou ask of them any maintenance for thy preaching? since the maintenance of thy lord is better; for he is the most bounteous provider. thou certainly invitest them to the right way: and they who believe not in the life to come, do surely deviate from that way. if we had had compassion on them, and taken off from them the calamity which had befallen them,z they would surely have more obstinately persisted in their error, wandering in confusion. we formerly chastised them with a punishment:a yet they did not humble themselves before their lord, neither did they make supplications unto him; until, when we have opened upon them a door, from which a severe punishmentb hath issued, behold they are driven to despair thereat. 	it is god who hath created in you the senses of hearing and of sight, that ye may perceive our judgments, and hearts, that ye may seriously consider them: yet how few of you give thanks! it is he who hath produced you in the earth; and before him shall ye be assembled. it is he who giveth life, and putteth to death; and to him is to be attributed the vicissitude of night and day: do ye not therefore understand? but the unbelieving meccans say as their predecessors said: they say, when we shall be dead, and shall have become dust and bones, shall we really be raised to life? we have already been threatened with this, and our fathers also heretofore: this is nothing but fables of the ancients. say, whose is the earth, and whoever therein is, if ye know? they will answer, god's. say, will ye not therefore consider? say, who is the lord of the seven heavens, and the lord of the magnificent throne? they will answer, they are god's. say, will ye not therefore fear him? 	say, in whose hand is the kingdom of all things; who protecteth whom he pleaseth, but is himself protected of none; if ye know? they will answer, in god's. say, how therefore are ye bewitched? 	y that is, if there had been a plurality of gods, as the idolaters contend: or, if the doctrine taught by mohammed had been agreeable to their inclinations, &c. 	z viz., the famine. it is said that the meccans being reduced to eat ilhiz, which is a sort of miserable food made of blood and camels' hair, used by the arabs in time of scarcity, abu sofiân came to mohammed, and said, tell me, i adjure thee by god and the relation that is between us, dost thou think thou art sent as a mercy unto all creatures; since thou hast slain the fathers with the sword and the children with hunger? 	a namely, the slaughter at bedr. 	b viz., famine; which is more terrible than the calamities of war. 	according to these explications, the passage must have been revealed at medina; unless it be taken in a prophetical sense. 	 see chapter , p. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem. yea, we have brought them the truth; and they are certainly liars in denying the same. god hath not begotten issue; neither is there any other god with him: otherwise every god had surely taken away that which he had created;c and some of them had exalted themselves above the others.d far be that from god, which they affirm of him! he knoweth that which is concealed, and that which is made public: wherefore far be it from him to have those sharers in his honour which they attribute to him! say, o lord, if thou wilt surely cause me to see the vengeance with which they have been threatened; o lord, set me not among the ungodly people: for we are surely able to make thee see that with which we have threatened them. turn aside evil with that which is better:e we well know the calumnies which they utter against thee. and say, o lord i fly unto thee for refuge, against the suggestions of the devils 	and i have recourse unto thee, o lord, to drive them away, that they be not present with me.f the gainsaying of the unbelievers ceaseth not until, when death overtaketh any of them, he saith, o lord, suffer me to return to life, that i may do that which is right; in professing the true faith which i have neglected.g by no means. verily these are the words which ye shall speak: but behind them there shall be a bar,h until the day of resurrection. when therefore the trumpet shall be sounded, there shall be no relation between them which shall be regarded on that day; neither shall they ask assistance of each other. they whose balances shall be heavy with good works shall be happy; but they whose balances shall be light are those who shall lose their souls, and shall remain in hell for ever.i the fire shall scorch their faces, and they shall writhe their mouths therein for anguish: and it shall be said unto them, were not my signs rehearsed unto you; and did ye not charge them with falsehood? they shall answer, o lord, our unhappiness prevailed over us, and we were people who sent astray. o lord, take us forth from this fire: if we return to our former wickedness, we shall surely be unjust. 	c and set up a distinct creation and kingdom of his own. 	d see chapter , p. . 	e that is, by forgiving injuries, and returning of good for them: which rule is to be qualified, however, with this proviso; that the true religion receive no prejudice by such mildness and clemency. 	f to besiege me: or, as it may also be translated, that they hurt me not. 	g or, as the word may also import, in the world which i have left; that is, during the further term of life which shall be granted me, and from which i have been cut off. 	h the original word barzakh, here translated bar, primarily signifies any partition, or interstice, which divides one thing from another; but is used by the arabs not always in the same, and sometimes in an obscure sense. they seem generally to express by it what the greeks did by the word hades; one while using it for the place of the dead, another while for the time of their continuance in that state, another while for the state itself. it is defined by their critics to be the interval or space between this world and the next, or between death and the resurrection; every person who dies being said to enter into al barzakh; or, as the greek expresses it, [greek text]. one lexicographer tells us that in the korân it denotes the grave; but the commentators on this passage expound it a bar, or invincible obstacle, cutting off all possibility of return into the world, after death. see chapter , where the word again occurs. 	some interpreters understand the words we have rendered behind them, to mean before them (it being one of those words, of which there are several in the arabic tongue, that have direct contrary significations), considering al barzakh as a future space, and lying before, and not behind them. 	i see the prelim. disc. sect. iv., p. . 	 idem.		 idem.		 vide pocock. not. in port. mosis, p. , &c., and the prelim disc. sect. iv. p. . ebn maruf, apud gol. lex. arab. col. . 	god will say unto them, be ye driven away with ignominy thereinto: and speak not unto me to deliver you. verily there were a party of my servants, who said, o lord, we believe: wherefore forgive us, and be merciful unto us; for thou art the best of those who show mercy. but ye received them with scoffs, so that they suffered you to forget my admonition,j and ye laughed them to scorn. i have this day rewarded them, for that they suffered the injuries ye offered them with patience: verily they enjoy great felicity. god will say, what number of years have ye continued on earth? they will answer, we have continued there a day, or part of a day:k but ask those who keep account.l god will say, ye have tarried but a while, if ye knew it. did ye think that we had created you in sport, and that ye should not be brought again before us? wherefore let god be exalted, the king, the truth! there is no god besides him, the lord of the honourable throne. whoever together with the true god shall invoke another god, concerning whom he hath no demonstrative proof, shall surely be brought to an account for the same before his lord. verily the infidels shall not prosper. say, o lord, pardon, and show mercy; for thou art the best of those who show mercy. _______ chapter xxiv. entitled, light;m revealed at medina. in the name of the most merciful god. this sura have we sent down from heaven; and have ratified the same; and we have revealed evident signs, that ye may be warned. the whore, and the whoremonger, shall ye scourge with a hundred stripes.n and let not compassion towards them prevent you from executing the judgment of god;o if ye believe in god and the last day: and let some of the true believers be witnesses of their punishment.p 	j being unable to prevail on you by their remonstrances, because of the contempt wherein ye held them. 	k the time will seem thus short to them in comparison to the eternal duration of their torments, or because the time of their living in the world was the time of their joy and pleasure; it being usual for the arabs to describe what they like as of short, and what they dislike, as of long continuance. 	l that is, the angels, who keep account of the length of men's lives and of their works, or any other who may have leisure to compute; and not us, whose torments distract our thoughts and attention. 	m this title is taken from an allegorical comparison made between light and god, or faith in him, about the middle of the chapter. 	n this law is not to be understood to relate to married people, who are of free condition; because adultery in such, according to the sonna, is to be punished by stoning. 	o i.e., be not moved by pity, either to forgive the offenders, or to mitigate their punishment. mohammed was for so strict and impartial an execution of the laws, that he is reported to have said, if fâtema the daughter of mohammed steal, let her hand be struck off. 	p that is, let the punishment be inflicted in public, and not in private; because the ignominy of it is more intolerable than the smart, and more likely to work a reformation on the offender. some say there ought to be three persons present at the least; but others think two, or even one, to be sufficient. 		 see chapter , p. and .		 al beidâwi. 	 idem. the whoremonger shall not marry any other than a harlot, or an idolatress. and a harlot shall no man take in marriage, except a whoremonger, or an idolater. and this kind of marriage is forbidden the true believers.q but as to those who accuse women of reputation of whoredom,r and produce not four witnesses of the fact,s scourge them with fourscore stripes, and receive not their testimony forever; for such are infamous prevaricators; excepting those who shall afterwards repent, and amend; for unto such will god be gracious and merciful. they who shall accuse their wives of adultery, and shall have no witnesses thereof, besides themselves; the testimony which shall be required of one of them shall be, that he swear four times by god that he speaketh the truth: and the fifth time that he imprecate the curse of god on him if he be a liar. and it shall avert the punishment from the wife, if she swear four times by god that he is a liar; and if the fifth time she imprecate the wrath of god on her, if he speaketh the truth.t 	if it were not for the indulgence of god towards you, and his mercy, and that god is easy to be reconciled, and wise, he would immediately discover your crimes. 	q the preceding passage was revealed on account of the meaner and more indigent mohâjerins, or refugees, who sought to marry the whores of the infidels, taken captives in war, for the sake of the gain which they made by prostituting themselves. some think the prohibition was special, and regarded only the mohâjerins before mentioned; and others are of opinion it was general; but it is agreed to have been abrogated by the words which follow in this chapter, marry the single women among you; harlots being comprised under the appellation of single women. 	it is supposed by some that not marriage, but unlawful commerce with such women is here forbidden. 	r the arabic word, mohsinât, properly signifies women of unblamable conduct; but to bring the chastisement after mentioned on the calumniator, it is also requisite that they be free women, of ripe age, having their understandings perfect, and of the mohammedan religion. though the word be of the feminine gender, yet men are also supposed to be comprised in this law. 	abu hanîfa was of opinion that the slanderer ought to be scourged in public, as well as the fornicator; but the generality are against him. 	s see chapter , p. . 	t in case both swear, the man's oath discharges him from the imputation and penalty of slander, and the woman's oath frees her from the imputation and penalty of adultery: but though the woman do swear to her innocence, yet the marriage is actually void, or ought to be declared void by the judge: because it is not fit they should continue together after they have come to these extremities. 	 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 idem.		 idem. as to the party among you who have published the falsehood concerning ayesha,u think it not to be an evil unto you: on the contrary, it is better for you.x every man of them shall be punished according to the injustice of which he hath been guilty;y and he among them who hath undertaken to aggravate the samez shall suffer a grievous punishment. did not the faithful men, and the faithful women, when ye heard this, judge in their own minds for the best; and say, this is a manifest falsehood? have they produced four witnesses thereof? wherefore since they have not produced the witnesses, they are surely liars in the sight of god. had it not been for the indulgence of god towards you, and his mercy, in this world and in that which is to come, verily a grievous punishment had been inflicted on you, for the calumny which ye have spread: when ye published that with your tongues, and spoke that with your mouths, of which ye had no knowledge; and esteemed it to be light, whereas it was a matter of importance in the sight of god. when ye heard it, did ye say, it belongeth not unto us, that we should talk of this matter: god forbid! this is a grievous calumny. god warneth you, that ye return not to the like crime forever; if ye be true believers. and god declareth unto you his signs; for god is knowing and wise. verily they who love that scandal be published of those who believe, shall receive a severe punishment both in this world and in the next. god knoweth, but ye know not. 	had it not been for the indulgence of god towards you and his mercy, and that god is gracious and merciful, ye had felt his vengeance. o true believers, follow not the steps of the devil: for whosoever shall follow the steps of the devil, he will command them filthy crimes, and that which is unlawful. if it were not for the indulgence of god, and his mercy towards you, there had not been so much as one of you cleansed from his guilt forever: but god cleanseth whom he pleaseth; for god both heareth and knoweth. 	u for the understanding of this passage, it is necessary to relate the following story: 	mohammed having undertaken an expedition against the tribe of mostalak, in the sixth year of the hejra, took his wife ayesha with him, to accompany him. in their return, when they were not far from medina, the army removing by night, ayesha, on the road, alighted from her camel, and stepped aside on a private occasion: but, on her return, perceiving she had dropped her necklace, which was of onyxes of dhafâr, she went back to look for it; and in the meantime her attendants, taking it for granted, that she was got into her pavilion (or little tent surrounded with curtains, wherein women are carried in the east) set it again on the camel, and led it away. when she came back to the road, and saw her camel was gone, she sat down there, expecting that when she was missed some would be sent back to fetch her; and in a little time she fell asleep. early in the morning, safwân ebn al moattel, who had stayed behind to rest himself, coming by, and perceiving somebody asleep, went to see who it was and knew her to be ayesha; upon which he waked her, by twice pronouncing with a low voice these words, we are god's, and unto him must we return. then ayesha immediately covered herself with her veil; and safwân set her on his own camel, and led her after the army, which they overtook by noon, as they were resting. 	this accident had like to have ruined ayesha, whose reputation was publicly called in question, as if she had been guilty of adultery with safwân; and mohammed himself knew not what to think, when he reflected on the circumstances of the affair, which were improved by some malicious people very much to ayesha's dishonour; and notwithstanding his wife's protestations of her innocence, he could not get rid of his perplexity, nor stop the mouths of the censorious, till about a month after, when this passage was revealed, declaring the accusation to be unjust. 	x the words are directed to the prophet, and to abu becr, ayesha, and safwân, the persons concerned in this false report; since, besides the amends they might expect in the next world, god had done them the honour to clear their reputations by revealing eighteen verses expressly for that purpose. 	y the persons concerned in spreading the scandal were abd'allah ebn obba (who first raised it, and inflamed the matter to the utmost, out of hatred to mohammed), zeid ebn refâa, hassân ebn thabet, mestah ebn othâtha, a great-grandson of abd'almotalleb's, and hamna bint jahash: and every one of them received fourscore stripes, pursuant to the law ordained in this chapter, except only abd'allah, who was exempted, being a man of great consideration. 	it is said that, as a farther punishment, hassân and mestah became blind, and that the former of them also lost the use of both his hands. 	z viz., abd'allah ebn obba , who had not the grace to become a true believer, but died an infidel. 	 al bokhari in sonna, al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin, &c. vide abu'lf. vit. moh. p. , &c., and gagnier, vie de mahomet, lib. . c. . al beidâwi.		 abulfeda, vit. moh. p. .		 al beidâwi. 	 see chapter , p. . let not those among you, who possess abundance of wealth and have ability, swear that they will not give unto their kindred, and the poor, and those who have fled their country for the sake of god's true religion: but let them forgive, and act with benevolence towards them. do ye not desire that god should pardon you?a and god is gracious and merciful. moreover they who falsely accuse modest women, who behave in a negligent manner,b and are true believers, shall be cursed in this world, and in the world to come; and they shall suffer a severe punishment.c one day their own tongues shall bear witness against them, and their hands, and their feet, concerning that which they have done. on that day shall god render unto them their just due; and they shall know that god is the evident truth. the wicked women should be joined to the wicked men, and the wicked men to the wicked women; but the good women should be married to the good men, and the good men to the good women. these shall be cleared from the calumnies which slanderers speak of them;d they shall obtain pardon, and an honourable provision. o true believers, enter not any houses, besides your own houses, until ye have asked leave, and have saluted the family thereof:e this is better for you; peradventure ye will be admonished. and if ye shall find no person in the houses, yet do not enter them, until leave be granted you: and if it be said unto you, return back, do ye return back. this will be more decent for you:f and god knoweth that which ye do. it shall be no crime in you, that ye enter uninhabited houses,g wherein ye may meet with a convenience. god knoweth that which ye discover, and that which ye conceal. 	speak unto the true believers, that they restrain their eyes, and keep themselves from immodest actions: this will be more pure for them; for god is well acquainted with that which they do. 	a this passage was revealed on account of abu becr: who swore that he would not for the future bestow anything on mestah, though he was his mother's sister's son, and a poor mohâjer or refugee, because he had joined in scandalizing his daughter ayesha. but on mohammed's reading this verse to him, he continued mestah's pension. 	b i.e., who may be less careful in their conduct, and more free in their behaviour, as being conscious of no ill. 	c though the words be general, yet they principally regard those who should calumniate the prophet's wives. according to a saying of ebn abbas, if the threats contained in the whole korân be examined, there are none so severe as those occasioned by the false accusation of ayesha; wherefore he thought even repentance would stand her slanderers in no stead. 	d al beidâwi observes, on this passage, that god cleared four persons, by four extraordinary testimonies: for he cleared joseph by the testimony of a child in his mistress's family; moses, by means of the stone which fled away with his garments; mary, by the testimony of her infant; and ayesha, by these verses of the korân. 	e to enter suddenly or abruptly into any man's house or apartment, is reckoned a great incivility in the east; because a person may possibly be surprised in an indecent action or posture, or may have something discovered which he would conceal. it is said, that a man came to mohammed, and wanted to know whether he must ask leave to go in to his sister; which being answered in the affirmative, he told the prophet that his sister had nobody else to attend upon her, and it would be troublesome to ask leave every time he went in to her. what, replied mohammed, wouldest thou see her naked? 	f than to be importunate for admission, or to wait at the door. 	g i.e., which are not the private habitation of a family; such as public inns, shops, sheds, &c. 	 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin.		 al beidâwi.		 see chapter , p. . see chapter , p. , and chapter .		 see chapter , p. . 	 al beidâwi. and speak unto the believing women, that they restrain their eyes, and preserve their modesty, and discover not their ornaments,h except what necessarily appeareth thereof;i and let them throw their veils over their bosoms,j and not show their ornaments, unless to their husbands,k or their fathers, or their husbands' fathers, or their sons, or their husbands' sons, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons,l or their women,m or the captives which their right hands shall possess,n or unto such men as attend them, and have no need of women,o or unto children, who distinguish not the nakedness of women. and let them not make a noise with their feet, that their ornaments which they hide may thereby be discovered.p and be ye all turned unto god, o true believers, that ye may be happy. marry those who are singleq among you, and such as are honest of your men-servants and your maid-servants: if they be poor, god will enrich them of his abundance; for god is bounteous and wise. and let those who find not a match, keep themselves from fornication, until god shall enrich them of his abundance. and unto such of your slavesr as desire a written instrument allowing them to redeem themselves on paying a certain sum,s write one, if ye know good in them;t and give them of the riches of god, which he hath given you.u and compel not your maid-servants to prostitute themselves, if they be willing to live chastely; that ye may seek the casual advantage of this present life;x but whoever shall compel them thereto, verily god will be gracious and merciful unto such women after their compulsion. 	h as their clothes, jewels, and the furniture of their toilet; much less such parts of their bodies as ought not be seen. 	i some think their outward garments are here meant; and others their hands and faces: it is generally held, however, that a free woman ought not to discover even those parts, unless to the persons after excepted, or on some unavoidable occasion, as their giving evidence in public, taking advice or medicines in case of sickness, &c. 	j taking care to cover their heads, necks, and breasts. 	k for whose sake it is that they adorn themselves, and who alone have the privilege to see their whole body. 	l these near relations are also excepted, because they cannot avoid seeing them frequently, and there is no great danger to be apprehended from them. they are allowed, therefore, to see what cannot well be concealed in so familiar an intercourse, but no other part of their body, particularly whatever is between the navel and the knees. 	uncles not being here particularly mentioned, it is a doubt whether they may be admitted to see their nieces. some think they are included under the appellation of brothers: but others are of opinion that they are not comprised in this exception; and give this reason for it, viz., lest they should describe the persons of their nieces to their sons. 	m that is, such as are of the mohammedan religion; it being reckoned by some unlawful, or, at least, indecent, for a woman, who is a true believer, to uncover herself before one who is an infidel, because she will hardly refrain describing her to the men: but others suppose all women in general are here excepted; for, in this particular, doctors differ. 	n slaves of either sex are included in this exception, and, as some think, domestic servants who are not slaves; as those of a different nation. it is related, that mohammed once made a present of a man-slave to his daughter fâtema; and when he brought him to her, she had on a garment which was so scanty that she was obliged to leave either her head or her feet uncovered: and that the prophet, seeing her in great confusion on that account, told her, she need be under no concern, for that there was none present besides her father and her slave. 	o or have no desire to enjoy them; such as decrepit old men, and deformed or silly persons, who follow people as hangers-on, for their spare victuals, being too despicable to raise either a woman's passion, or a man's jealousy. whether eunuchs are comprehended under this general designation, is a question among the learned. 	p by shaking the rings, which the women in the east wear about their ankles, and are usually of gold or silver. the pride which the jewish ladies of old took in making a tinkling with these ornaments of their feet, is (among other things of that nature) severely reproved by the prophet isaiah. 	q i.e., those who are unmarried of either sex; whether they have been married before or not. 	r of either sex. 	s whereby the master obliges himself to set his slave at liberty, on receiving a certain sum of money, which the slave undertakes to pay. 	t that is, if ye have found them faithful, and have reason to believe they will perform their engagement. 	u either by bestowing something on them of your own substance, or by abating them a part of their ransom. some suppose these words are directed, not to the masters only, but to all moslems in general; recommending it to them to assist those who have obtained their freedom, and paid their ransom, either out of their own stock, or by admitting them to have a share in the public alms. 	x it seems abda'llah ebn obba had six women-slaves, on whom he laid a certain tax, which he obliged them to earn by the prostitution of their bodies: and one of them made her complaint to mohammed, which occasioned the revelation of this passage. 	 idem.		 jallalo'ddin.		 al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 idem. idem, yahya, &c.		 idem		 isaiah iii. and . 	 al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin and now have we revealed unto you evident signs, and a history like unto some of the histories of those who have gone before you,y and an admonition unto the pious. god is the light of heaven and earth: the similitude of his light is as a niche in a wall, wherein a lamp is placed, and the lamp enclosed in a case of glass; the glass appears as it were a shining star. it is lighted with the oil of a blessed tree, an olive neither of the east, nor of the west:z it wanteth little but that the oil thereof would give light, although no fire touched it. this is light added unto light:a god will direct unto his light whom he pleaseth. god propoundeth parables unto men; for god knoweth all things. in the houses which god hath permitted to be raised,b and that his name be commemorated therein! men celebrate his praise in the same, morning and evening, whom neither merchandising nor selling diverteth from the remembering of god, and the observance of prayer, and the giving of alms; fearing the day whereon men's hearts and eyes shall be troubled; that god may recompense them according to the utmost merit of what they shall have wrought, and may add unto them of his abundance a more excellent reward; for god bestoweth on whom he pleaseth without measure. but as to the unbelievers, their works are like the vapor in a plain,c which the thirsty traveller thinketh to be water, until, when he cometh thereto, he findeth it to be nothing; but he findeth god with him,d and he will fully pay him his account; and god is swift in taking an account; 	y i.e., the story of the false accusation of ayesha, which resembles those of joseph and the virgin mary. 	z but of a more excellent kind. some think the meaning to be that the tree grows neither in the eastern nor the western parts, but in the midst of the world, namely, in syria, where the best olives grow. 	a or a light whose brightness is doubly increased by the circumstances above mentioned. 	the commentators explain this allegory, and every particular of it, with great subtlety; interpreting the light here described to be the light revealed in the korân, or god's enlightening grace in the heart of man; and in divers other manners. 	b the connection of these words is not very obvious. some suppose they ought to be joined with the preceding words, like a niche, or it is lighted in the houses, &c., and that the comparison is more strong and just, by being made to the lamps in mosques, which are larger than those in private houses. some think they are rather to be connected with the following words, men praise, &c. and others are of opinion they are an imperfect beginning of a sentence, and that the words, praise ye god, or the like, are to be understood. however, the houses here intended are those set apart for divine worship; or particularly the three principal temples of mecca, medina, and jerusalem. 	c the arabic word serâb signifies that false appearance which, in the eastern countries, is often seen in sandy plains about noon, resembling a large lake of water in motion, and is occasioned by the reverberation of the sunbeams. it sometimes tempts thirsty travellers out of their way, but deceives them when they come near, either going forward (for it always appears at the same distance), or quite vanishing. 	d that is, he will not escape the notice or vengeance of god. 		 iidem.		 iidem.		 al beidâwi. 	or, as the darkness in a deep sea, covered by waves riding on waves, above which are clouds, being additions of darkness one over the other; when one stretcheth forth his hand, he is far from seeing it. and unto whomsoever god shall not grant his light, he shall enjoy no light at all. dost thou not perceive that all creatures both in heaven and earth praise god: and the birds also, extending their wings? every one knoweth his prayer, and his praise: and god knoweth that which they do. unto god belongeth the kingdom of heaven and earth; and unto god shall be the return at the last day. dost thou not see that god gently driveth forward the clouds, and gathereth them together, and then layeth them on heaps? thou also seest the rain, which falleth from the midst thereof; and god sendeth down from heaven as it were mountains, wherein there is hail; he striketh therewith whom he pleaseth, and turneth the same away from whom he pleaseth: the brightness of his lightning wanteth but little of taking away the sight. god shifteth the night, and the day: verily herein is an instruction unto those who have sight. and god hath created every animal of water;e one of them goeth on his belly, and another of them walketh upon two feet, and another of them walketh upon four feet: god createth that which he pleaseth; for god is almighty. now have we sent down evident signs: and god directeth whom he pleaseth into the right way. the hypocrites say, we believe in god, and on his apostle; and we obey them: yet a part of them turneth back, after this; but these are not really believers. and when they are summoned before god and his apostle, that he may judge between them; behold, a part of them retire: but if the right had been on their side, they would have come and submitted themselves unto him. is there an infirmity in their hearts? do they doubt? or do they fear lest god and his apostle act unjustly towards them? but themselves are the unjust doers.f 	the saying of the true believers, when they are summoned before god and his apostle, that he may judge between them, is no other than that they say, we have heard, and do obey: and these are they who shall prosper. whoever shall obey god and his apostle, and shall fear god, and shall be devout towards him; these shall enjoy great felicity. they swear by god, with a most solemn oath, that if thou commandest them, they will go forth from their houses and possessions. say, swear not to a falsehood: obedience is more requisite: and god is well acquainted with that which ye do. 	e this assertion, which has already occurred in another place, being not true in strictness, the commentators suppose that by water is meant seed; or else that water is mentioned only as the chief cause of the growth of animals, and a considerable and necessary constituent part of their bodies. 	f this passage was occasioned by bashir the hypocrite, who, having a controversy with a jew, appealed to caab ebn al ashraf, whereas the jew appealed to mohammed; or, as others tell us, by mogheira ebn wayel, who refused to submit a dispute he had with al. to the prophet's decision. 	 vide q. curt. de rebus alex. lib. , et gol. in alfrag. p. , et in adag. arab. ad calcem gram. erp. p. .		 chapter , p. . see chapter , p. .		 al beidâwi say, obey god, and obey the apostle: but if ye turn back, verily it is expected of him that he perform his duty, and of you that ye perform your duty; and if ye obey him, ye shall be directed, but the duty of our apostle is only public preaching. god promiseth unto such of you as believe, and do good works, that he will cause them to succeed the unbelievers in the earth, as he caused those who were before you to succeed the infidels of their time;g and that he will establish for them their religion which pleaseth them, and will change their fear into security. they shall worship me; and shall not associate any other with me. but whoever shall disbelieve after this, they will be the wicked doers. observe prayer, and give alms, and obey the apostle; that ye may obtain mercy. think not that the unbelievers shall frustrate the designs of god on earth: and their abode hereafter shall be hell fire; a miserable journey shall it be thither! o true believers, let your slaves and those among you who shall not have attained the age of puberty, ask leave of you, before they come into your presence, three times in the day;h namely, before the morning prayer,i and when ye lay aside your garments at noon,j and after the evening prayer.k these are the three times for you to be private: it shall be no crime in you, or in them, if they go in to you without asking permission after these times, while ye are in frequent attendance, the one of you on the other. thus god declareth his signs unto you; for god is knowing and wise. and when your children attain the age of puberty, let them ask leave to come into your presence at all times, in the same manner as those who have attained that age before them, ask leave. thus god declareth his signs unto you; and god is knowing and wise. as to such women as are past child-bearing, who hope not to marry again, because of their advanced age; it shall be no crime in them, if they lay aside their outer garments, not showing their ornaments; but if they abstain from this, it will be better for them.l god both heareth and knoweth. 	it shall be no crime in the blind, nor shall it be any crime in the lame, neither shall it be any crime in the sick, or in yourselves, that ye eat in your houses,m or in the houses of your fathers, or the houses of your mothers, or in the houses of your brothers, or the houses of your sisters, or the houses of your uncles on the father's side, or the houses of your aunts on the father's side, or the houses of your uncles on the mother's side, the houses of your aunts on the mother's side, or in those houses the keys whereof ye have in your possession, or in the house of your friend. it shall not be any crime in you whether ye eat together, or separately.n 	g i.e., as he caused the israelites to dispossess the canaanites, &c. 	h because there are certain times when it is not convenient, even for a domestic, or a child, to come in to one without notice. it is said this passage was revealed on account of asma bint morthed, whose servant entered suddenly upon her, at an improper time; but others say, it was occasioned by modraj ebn amru, then a boy, who, being sent by mohammed to call omar to him, went directly into the room where he was, without giving notice, and found him taking his noon's nap, and in no very decent posture; at which omar was so ruffled, that he wished god would forbid even their fathers, and children, to come in to them abruptly, at such times. 	i which is the time of people's rising from their beds, and dressing themselves for the day. 	j that is, when ye take off your upper garments to sleep at noon; which is a common custom in the east, and all warm countries. 	k when ye undress yourselves to prepare for bed. al beidâwi adds a fourth season, when permission to enter must be asked, viz., at night: but this follows of course. 	l see before, p. . 	m i.e., where your wives or families are; or in the houses of your sons, which may be looked on as your own. 	this passage was designed to remove some scruples or superstitions of the arabs in mohammed's time; some of whom thought their eating with maimed or sick people defiled them; others imagined they ought not to eat in the house of another, though ever so nearly related to them, or though they were entrusted with the key and care of the house in the master's absence, and might therefore conclude it would be no offence; and others declined eating with their friends though invited, lest they should be burthensome. the whole passage seems to be no more than a declaration that the things scrupled were perfectly innocent; however, the commentators say it is now abrogated, and that it related only to the old arabs, in the infancy of mohammedism. 	n as the tribe of leith thought it unlawful for a man to eat alone; and some of the ansârs, if they had a guest with them, never ate but in his company; so there were others who refused to eat with any, out of a superstitious caution lest they should be defiled, or out of a hoggish greediness. 						 idem. and when ye enter any houses, salute one anothero on the part of god, with a blessed and a welcome salutation. thus god declareth his signs unto you, that ye may understand. verily they only are true believers, who believe in god and his apostle, and when they are assembled with him on any affair,p depart not, until they have obtained leave of him. verily they who ask leave of thee are those who believe in god and his apostle. when therefore they ask leave of thee to depart, on account of any business of their own, grant leave unto such of them as thou shalt think fit, and ask pardon for them of god;q for god is gracious and merciful. let not the calling of the apostle be esteemed among you, as your calling the one to the other.r god knoweth such of you as privately withdraw themselves from the assembly, taking shelter behind one another. but let those who withstand his command take heed, lest some calamity befall them in this world, or a grievous punishment be inflicted on them in the life to come. doth not whatever is in heaven and on earth belong unto god? he well knoweth what ye are about: and on a certain day they shall be assembled before him; and he shall declare unto them that which they have done; for god knoweth all things. 	o literally yourselves; that is, according to al beidâwi, the people of the house, to whom ye are united by the ties of blood, and by the common bond of religion. and if there be nobody in the house, says jallalo'ddin, salute yourselves, and say, peace be on us, and on the righteous servants of god: for the angels will return your salutation. 	p as, at public prayers, or a solemn feast, or at council, or on a military expedition. 	q because such departure, though with leave, and on a reasonable excuse, is a kind of failure in the exact performance of their duty; seeing they prefer their temporal affairs to the advancement of the true religion. 	r these words are variously interpreted; for their meaning may be, either, make not light of the apostle's summons, as ye would of another person's of equal condition with yourselves, by not obeying it, or by departing out of, or coming into, his presence without leave first obtained; or, think not that when the apostle calls upon god in prayer, it is with him, as with you, when ye prefer a petition to a superior, who sometimes grants, but as often denies, your suit; or, call not to the apostle, as ye do to one another, that is, by name, or familiarly and with a loud voice; but make use of some honourable compellation, as, o apostle of god, or, o prophet of god, and speak in an humble modest manner. 	 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 iidem.		 al beidâwi. 	 idem, jallalo'ddin, &c. chapter xxv. entitled, al forkan; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. blessed be he who hath revealed the forkans unto his servant, that he may be a preacher to all creatures: unto whom belongeth the kingdom of heaven and of earth: who hath begotten no issue; and hath no partner in his kingdom: who hath created all things, and disposed the same according to his determinate will. yet have they taken other gods besides him; which have created nothing, but are themselves created:t and are able neither to avert evil from, nor to procure good unto themselves; and have not the power of death, or of life, or of raising the dead. and the unbelievers say, this koran is no other than a forgery which he hath contrived; and other people have assisted him therein:u but they utter an unjust thing, and a falsehood. they also say, these are fables of the ancients, which he hath caused to be written down; and they are dictated unto him morning and evening. say, he hath revealed it, who knoweth the secrets in heaven and earth: verily he is gracious and merciful. and they say, what kind of apostle is this? he eateth food, and walketh in the streets,x as we do: unless an angel be sent down unto him, and become a fellow preacher with him; or unless a treasure be cast down unto him; or he have a garden, of the fruit whereof he may eat; we will not believe. the ungodly also say, ye follow no other than a man who is distracted. 	behold what they liken thee unto. but they are deceived; neither can they find a just occasion to reproach thee. blessed be he, who, if he pleaseth, will make for thee a better provision than this which they speak of; namely, gardens through which rivers flow: and he will provide thee palaces. but they reject the belief of the hour of judgment, as a falsehood: and we have prepared for him, who shall reject the belief of that hour, burning fire; when it shall see them from a distant place, they shall hear it furiously raging and roaring. and when they shall be cast, bound together, into a strait place thereof, they shall there call for death; but it shall be answered them, call not this day for one death, but call for many deaths. say, is this better, or a garden of eternal duration, which is promised unto the pious? it shall be given unto them for a reward, and a retreat: 	s which is one of the names of the korân. see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. . 	t being either the heavenly bodies, or idols, the works of men's hands. 	u see chapter , p. . it is supposed the jews are particularly intended in this place; because they used to repeat passages of ancient history to mohammed, on which he used to discourse and make observations. 	x being subject to the same wants and infirmities of nature, and obliged to submit to the same low means of supporting himself and his family, with ourselves. the meccans were acquainted with mohammed, and with his circumstances and way of life, too well to change their old familiarity into the reverence due to the messenger of god; for a prophet hath no honour in his own country. 					 al beidâwi. therein shall they have whatever they please, continuing in the same forever. this is a promise to be demanded at the hands of thy lord. on a certain day he shall assemble them, and whatever they worship, besides god; and shall say unto the worshipped, did ye seduce these my servants; or did they wander of themselves from the right way? they shall answer, god forbid! it was not fitting for us, that we should take any protectors besides thee: but thou didst permit them and their fathers to enjoy abundance; so that they forgot thy admonition, and became lost people. 	and god shall say unto their worshippers, now have these convinced you of falsehood, in that which ye say: they can neither avert your punishment, nor give you any assistance. and whoever of you shall be guilty of injustice, him will we cause to taste a grievous torment. we have sent no messengers before thee, but they ate food, and walked through the streets: and we make some of you an occasion of trial unto others.y will ye persevere with patience? since the lord regardeth your perseverance. they who hope not to meet us at the resurrection say, unless the angels be sent down unto us, or we see our lord himself, we will not believe. verily they behave themselves arrogantly; and have transgressed with an enormous transgression. the day whereon they shall see the angels,z there shall be no glad tidings on that day for the wicked; and they shall say, be this removed far from us? and we will come unto the work which they shall have wrought, and we will make it as dust scattered abroad. on that day shall they who are destined to paradise be more happy in an abode, and have a preferable place of repose at noon.a on that day the heaven shall be cloven in sunder by the clouds, and the angels shall be sent down, descending visibly therein.b on that day the kingdom shall of right belong wholly unto the merciful; and that day shall be grievous for the unbelievers. on that day the unjust personc shall bite his hand for anguish and despair, and shall say, oh that i had taken the way of truth with the apostle! 	y giving occasion of envy, repining, and malice; to the poor, mean, and sick, for example, when they compare their own condition with that of the rich, the noble, and those who are in health: and trying the people to whom prophets are sent, by those prophets. 	z viz., at their death, or at the resurrection. 	a for the business of the day of judgment will be over by that time; and the blessed will pass their noon in paradise, and the damned in hell. 	b i.e., they shall part and make way for the clouds which shall descend with the angels, bearing the books wherein every man's actions are recorded. 	c it is supposed by some that these words particularly relate to okba ebn abi moait, who used to be much in mohammed's company, and having once invited him to an entertainment, the prophet refused to taste of his meat unless he would profess islâm; which accordingly he did. soon after, okba, meeting obba ebn khalf, his intimate friend, and being reproached by him for changing his religion, assured him that he had not, but had only pronounced the profession of faith to engage mohammed to eat with him, because he could not for shame let him go out of his house without eating. however, obba protested that he would not be satisfied, unless he went to mohammed, and set his foot on his neck, and spit in his face: which okba, rather than break with his friend, performed in the public hall, where he found mohammed sitting; whereupon the prophet told him that if ever he met him out of mecca, he would cut off his head. and he was as good as his word: for okba, being afterwards taken prisoner at the battle of bedr, had his head struck off by ali at mohammed's command. as for obba, he received a wound from the prophet's own hand, at the battle of ohod, of which he died at his return to mecca. 	 idem, jallal.		 idem.		 al beidâwi. vide gagnier, vie de mahom. vol. i, p. . 	alas for me! oh that i had not taken such a oned for my friend! he seduced me from the admonition of god, after it had come unto me: for the devil is the betrayer of man. and the apostle shall say, o lord, verily my people esteemed this korân to be a vain composition. in like manner did we ordain unto every prophet an enemy from among the wicked: but thy lord is a sufficient director and defender. the unbelievers say, unless the koran be sent down unto him entire at once,e we will not believe. but in this manner have we revealed it, that we might confirm thy heart thereby,f and we have dictated it gradually, by distinct parcels. they shall not come unto thee with any strange question; but we will bring thee the truth in answer, and a most excellent interpretation. they who shall be dragged on their faces into hell shall be in the worst condition, and shall stray most widely from the way of salvation. we heretofore delivered unto moses the book of the law; and we appointed him aaron his brother for a counsellor. and we said unto them, go ye to the people who charge our signs with falsehood. and we destroyed them with a signal destruction. and remember the people of noah, when they accused our apostles of imposture: we drowned them, and made them a sign unto mankind. and we have prepared for the unjust a painful torment. 	remember also ad, and thamud, and those who dwelt at al rass;g and many other generations within this period. unto each of them did we propound examples for their admonition; and each of them did we destroy with an utter destruction. the koreish have passed frequently near the city which was rained on by a fatal rain;h have they not seen where it once stood? yet have they not dreaded the resurrection. 	d according to the preceding note, this was obba ebn khalf. 	e as were the pentateuch, psalms, and gospel, according to the mohammedan notion whereas it was twenty-three years before the korân was completely revealed. 	f both to infuse courage and constancy into thy mind, and to strengthen thy memory and understanding. for, say the commentators, the prophet's receiving the divine direction, from time to time, how to behave, and to speak, on any emergency, and the frequent visits of the angel gabriel, greatly encouraged and supported him under all his difficulties: and the revealing of the korân by degrees was a great, and, to him, a necessary help for his retaining and understanding it; which it would have been impossible for him to have done with any exactness, had it been revealed at once; mohammed's case being entirely different from that of moses, david, and jesus, who could all read and write, whereas he was perfectly illiterate. 	g the commentators are at a loss where to place al rass. according to one opinion it was the name of a well (as the word signifies) near midian, about which some idolaters having fixed their habitations, the prophet shoaib was sent to preach to them; but they not believing on him, the well fell in, and they and their houses were all swallowed up. another supposes it to have been in a town in yamâma, where a remnant of the thamûdites settled, to whom a prophet was also sent; but they slaying him, were utterly destroyed. another thinks it was a well near antioch, where habîb al najjâr (whose tomb is still to be seen there, beige frequently visited by mohammedans) was martyred. and a fourth takes al rass to be a well in hadramaut, by which dwelt some idolatrous thamûdites, whose prophet was handha, or khantala (for i find the name written both ways) ebn safwân. these people were first annoyed by certain monstrous birds, called ankâ, which lodged in the mountain above them, and used to snatch away their children, when they wanted other prey; but this calamity was so far from humbling them, that on their prophet's calling down a judgment upon them, they killed him, and were all destroyed. 	h viz., sodom; for the koreish often passed by the place where it once stood, in the journeys they took to syria for the sake of trade. 	 see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. , &c.		 al beidâwi, &c. 		 abu'lf. geog. vide vit. saladini, p. . see chapter , p. , note y.		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin. when they see thee, they will receive thee only with scoffing, saying, is this he whom god hath sent as his apostle? verily he had almost drawn us aside from the worship of our gods, if we had not firmly persevered in our devotion towards them. but they shall know hereafter, when they shall see the punishment prepared for them, who hath strayed more widely from the right path. what thinkest thou? he who taketh his lust for his god; canst thou be his guardian?i dost thou imagine that the greater part of them hear, or understand? they are no other than like the brute cattle; yea, they stray more widely from the true path. dost thou not consider the works of thy lord, how he stretcheth forth the shadow before sunrise? if he had pleased, he would have made it immovable forever. then we cause the sun to rise, and to show the same; and afterwards we contract it by an easy and gradual contraction. it is he who hath ordained the night to cover you as a garment; and sleep to give you rest; and hath ordained the day for waking. 	it is he who sendeth the winds, driving abroad the pregnant clouds, as the forerunners of his mercy:j and we send down pure waterk from heaven, that we may thereby revive a dead country, and give to drink thereof unto what we have created, both of cattle and men, in great numbers;l and we distribute the same among them at various times, that they may consider: but the greater part of men refuse to consider, only out of ingratitude.m if we had pleased, we had sent a preacher unto every city:n wherefore, do not thou obey the unbelievers; but oppose them herewith, with a strong opposition. it is he who hath let loose the two seas; this fresh and sweet, and that salt and bitter; and hath placed between them a bar,o and a bound which cannot be passed. it is he who hath created man of water,p and hath made him to bear the double relation of consanguinity and affinity; for thy lord is powerful. they worship, besides god, that which can neither profit them nor hurt them: and the unbeliever is an assistant of the devil against his lord.q we have sent thee to be no other than a bearer of good tidings, and a denouncer of threats. 	i i.e., dost thou expect to reclaim such a one from idolatry and infidelity? 	j see chapter , p. . there is the same various reading here as is mentioned in the notes to that passage. 	k properly, purifying water; which epithet may perhaps refer to the cleansing quality of that element, of so great use both on religious and on common occasions. 	l that is, to such as live in the dry deserts, and are obliged to drink rain-water; which the inhabitants of towns, and places well-watered, have no occasion to do. 	m or, out of infidelity: for the old arabs used to think themselves indebted for their rains, not to god, but to the influence of some particular stars. 	n and had not given thee, o mohammed, the honour and trouble of being a preacher to the whole world in general. 	o to keep them asunder, and prevent their mixing with each other. the original word is barzakh; which has been already explained. 	p with which adam's primitive clay was mixed; or, of seed. see chapter , p. . 	q joining with him in his rebellion and infidelity. some think abu jahl is particularly struck at in this passage. the words may also be translated, the unbeliever is contemptible in the sight of his lord. 	 see the prelim. disc. sect. i. p. .		 in not. ad cap. , p. . say, i ask not of you any reward for this my preaching; besides the conversion of him who shall desire to take the way unto his lord.a 	and do thou trust in him who liveth, and dieth not; and celebrate his praise: (he is sufficiently acquainted with the faults of his servants): who hath created the heavens and the earth, and whatever is between them, in six days; and then ascended his throne: the merciful. ask now the knowing concerning him. when it is said unto the unbelievers, adore the merciful; they reply, and who is the merciful?b shall we adore that which thou commandest us? and this precept causeth them to fly the faster from the faith. blessed be he who hath placed the twelve signs in the heavens; and hath placed therein a lamp by day,c and the moon which shineth by night! it is he who hath ordained the night and the day to succeed each other, for the observation of him who will consider, or desireth to show his gratitude. the servants of the merciful are those who walk meekly on the earth, and when the ignorant speak unto them, answer, peace:d and who pass the night adoring their lord, and standing up to pray unto him; and who say, o lord, avert from us the torment of hell, for the torment thereof is perpetual; verily the same is a miserable abode and a wretched station: and who, when they bestow, are neither profuse nor niggardly; but observe a just medium between these;e and who invoke not another god together with the true god; neither slay the soul which god hath forbidden to be slain, unless for a just cause: and who are not guilty of fornication. but he who shall do this shall meet the reward of his wickedness: his punishment shall be doubled unto him on the day of resurrection; and he shall remain therein, covered with ignominy, forever: 	except him who shall repent and believe, and shall work a righteous work; unto them will god change their former evils into good;f for god is ready to forgive, and merciful. and whoever repenteth, and doth that which is right; verily he turneth unto god with an acceptable conversion. and they who do not bear false witness; and when they pass by vain discourse, pass by the same with decency; and who, when they are admonished by the signs of their lord, fall not down as if they were deaf and blind, but stand up and are attentive thereto: and who say, o lord, grant us of our wives and our offspring such as may be the satisfaction of our eyes; and make us patterns unto those who fear thee. these shall be rewarded with the highest apartments in paradise, because they have persevered with constancy; and they shall meet therein with greeting and salutation; they shall remain in the same forever: it shall be an excellent abode, and a delightful station. say, my lord is not solicitous on your account, if ye do not invoke him: ye have already charged his apostle with imposture; but hereafter shall there be a lasting punishment inflicted on you. 	a seeking to draw near unto him, by embracing the religion taught by me his apostle; which is the best return i expect from you for my labours. the passage, however, is capable of another meaning, viz., that mohammed desires none to give, but him who shall contribute freely and voluntarily towards the advancement of god's true religion. 	b see chapter , p. . 	c i.e., the sun. 	d this is intended here not as a salutation, but as a waiving all farther discourse and communication with the idolaters. 	e see chapter , p. . 	f blotting out their former rebellion, on their repentance, and confirming and increasing their faith and obedience. 				 al beidâwi.		 idem. chapter xxvi. entitled, the poets;g revealed at mecca.h in the name of the most merciful god. t. s. m.i these are the signs of the perspicuous book. peradventure thou afflictest thyself unto death, lest the meccans become not believers. if we pleased, we could send down unto them a convincing sign from heaven, unto which their necks would humbly submit. but there cometh unto them no admonition from the merciful, being newly revealed as occasions require, but they turn aside from the same; and they have charged it with falsehood: but a message shall come unto them, which they shall not laugh to scorn. do they not behold the earth, how many vegetables we cause to spring up therein, of every noble species? verily herein is a sign: but the greater part of them do not believe. verily thy lord is the mighty, the merciful god. remember when thy lord called moses, saying, go to the unjust people, 	the people of pharaoh; will they not dread me? moses answered, o lord, verily i fear lest they accuse me of falsehood, and lest my breast become straitened, and my tongue be not ready in speaking:k send therefore unto aaron, to be my assistant. also they have a crime to object against me:l and i fear they will put me to death. god said, they shall by no means put thee to death: wherefore go ye with our signs; for we will be with you, and will hear what passes between you and them. go ye therefore unto pharaoh, and say, verily we are the apostlem of the lord of all creatures: send away with us the children of israel. and when they had delivered their message, pharaoh answered, have we not brought thee up, among us, when a child; and hast thou not dwelt among us for several years of thy life?n yet hast thou done thy deed which thou hast done, and thou art an ungrateful person. 	g the chapter bears this inscription because at the conclusion of it the arabian poets are severely censured. 	h the five last verses, beginning at these words, and those who err follow the poets, &c., some take to have been revealed at medina. 	i see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. , &c. 	k see chap. , p. . 	l viz., the having killed an egyptian. 	m the word is in the singular number in the original; for which the commentators give several reasons. 	n it is said that moses dwelt among the egyptians thirty years, and then went to midian, where he stayed ten years; after which he returned to egypt, and spent thirty years in endeavouring to convert them; and that he lived after the drowning of pharaoh fifty years. 				 see cap. .		 al beidâwi. moses replied, i did it indeed, and i was one of those who erred;o 	wherefore i fled from you, because i feared you: but my lord hath bestowed on me wisdom, and hath appointed me one of his apostles. and this is the favor which thou hast bestowed on me, that thou hast enslaved the children of israel. pharaoh said, and who is the lord of all creatures? moses answered, the lord of heaven and earth, and whatever is between them: if ye are men of sagacity. pharaoh said unto those who were about him, do ye not hear? moses said, your lord, and the lord of your forefathers. pharaoh said unto those who were present, your apostle, who is sent unto you, is certainly distracted.p moses said, the lord of the east, and of the west, and of whatever is between them; if ye are men of understanding. pharaoh said unto him, verily if thou take any god besides me,q i will make thee one of those who are imprisoned.r moses answered, what, although i come unto you with a convincing miracle? 	pharaoh replied, produce it therefore, if thou speakest truth. and he cast down his rod, and behold, it became a visible serpent: and he drew forth his hand out of his bosom; and behold, it appeared white unto the spectators. pharaoh said unto the princes who were about him, verily this man is a skilful magician: he seeketh to dispossess you of your land by his sorcery; what therefore do ye direct? they answered , delay him and his brother by good words for a time; and send through the cities men to assemble and bring unto thee every skilful magician. so the magicians were assembled at an appointed time, on a solemn day. and it was said unto the people, are ye assembled together? perhaps we may follow the magicians, if they do get the victory. 	and when the magicians were come, they said unto pharaoh, shall we certainly receive a reward, if we do get the victory? he answered, yea; and ye shall surely be of those who approach my person. moses said unto them, cast down what ye are about to cast down. wherefore they cast down their ropes and their rods, and said, by the might of pharaoh, verily we shall be the conquerors. and moses cast down his rod, and behold, it swallowed up that which they had caused falsely to appear changed into serpents. whereupon the magicians prostrated themselves, worshipping, and said, we believe in the lord of all creatures, the lord of moses and of aaron. pharaoh said unto them, have ye believed on him, before i have given you permission? verily he is your chief who hath taught you magic:s but hereafter ye shall surely know my power. 	o having killed the egyptian undesignedly. 	p pharaoh, it seems, thought moses had given but wild answers to his question; for he wanted to know the person and true nature of the god whose messenger moses pretended to be; whereas he spoke of his works only. and because this answer gave so little satisfaction to the king, he is therefore supposed by some to have been a dahrite, or one who believed the eternity of the world. 	q from this and a parallel expression in the twenty-eighth chapter, it is inferred that pharaoh claimed the worship of his subjects, as due to his supreme power. 	r these words, says al beidâwi, were a more terrible menace than if he had said i will imprison thee; and gave moses to understand that he must expect to keep company with those wretches whom the tyrant had thrown, as was his custom, into a deep dungeon, where they remained till they died. 	s but has reserved the most efficacious secrets to himself. 					 idem.		 idem. i will cut off your hands and your feet, on the opposite sides, and i will crucify you all. 	they answered, it will be no harm unto us; for we shall return unto our lord. we hope that our lord will forgive us our sins, since we are the first who have believed.t and we spake by revelation unto moses, saying, march forth with my servants by night; for ye will be pursued. and pharaoh sent officers through the cities to assemble forces, saying, verily these are a small company; and they are enraged against us: but we are a multitude well provided. so we caused them to quit their gardens, and fountains, and treasures, and fair dwellings: thus did we do; and we made the children of israel to inherit the same.u 	and they pursued them at sunrise. and when the two armies were come in sight of each other, the companions of moses said, we shall surely be overtaken. moses answered, by no means; for my lord is with me, who will surely direct me. and we commanded moses by revelation, saying, smite the sea with thy rod. and when he had smitten it, it became divided into twelve parts, between which were as many paths, and every part was like a vast mountain. and we drew thither the others; and we delivered moses and all those who were with him: then we drowned the others. verily herein was a sign; but the greater part of them did not believe. verily thy lord is the mighty and the merciful. and rehearse unto them the story of abraham: 	when he said unto his father, and his people, what do ye worship? they answered, we worship idols; and we constantly serve them all the day long. abraham said, do they hear you, when ye invoke them? or do they either profit you, or hurt you? they answered, but we found our fathers do the same. he said, what think ye? the gods which ye worship, and your forefathers worshipped, are my enemy: except only the lord of all creatures, who hath created me, and directeth me; and who giveth me to eat, and to drink, 	and when i am sick, healeth me; and who will cause me to die, and will afterwards restore me to life; and who, i hope, will forgive my sins on the day of judgment. o lord, grant me wisdom; and join me with the righteous: and grant that i may be spoken of with honourx among the latest posterity; and make me an heir of the garden of delight: and forgive my father, for that he hath been one of those who go astray.y and cover me not with shame on the day of resurrection; on the day in which neither riches nor children shall avail, unless unto him who shall come unto god with a sincere heart: 	when paradise shall be brought near to the view of the pious, and hell shall appear plainly to those who shall have erred: 	t see chapter , p. , &c. 	u hence some suppose the israelites, after the destruction of pharaoh and his host, returned to egypt, and possessed themselves of the riches of that country. but others are of opinion that the meaning is no more than that god gave them the like possessions and dwellings in another country. 	x literally, grant me a tongue of truth, that is, a high encomium. the same expression is used in c. , p. . 	y by disposing him to repentance, and the receiving of the true faith. some suppose abraham pronounced this prayer after his father's death, thinking that possibly he might have been inwardly a true believer, but have concealed his conversion for fear of nimrod, and before he was forbidden to pray for him. 	 jallalo'ddin, yahya.		 al zamakh. see cap. , p. . 	 see cap. , p. , and c. , p. . and it shall be said unto them, where are your deities which ye served besides god? will they deliver you from punishment, or will they deliver themselves? and they shall be cast into the same, both they,z and those who have been seduced to their worship; and all the host of eblis. the seduced shall dispute therein with their false gods, saying, by god, we were in a manifest error, when we equalled you with the lord of all creatures: and none seduced us but the wicked. 	we have now no intercessors, nor any friend who careth for us. if we were allowed to return once more into the world, we would certainly become true believers. verily herein was a sign; but the greater part of them believed not. the lord is the mighty, the merciful. the people of noah accused god's messengers of imposture: when their brother noah said unto them, will ye not fear god? verily i am a faithful messenger unto you; 	wherefore fear god, and obey me. i ask no reward of you for my preaching unto you; i expect my reward from no other than the lord of all creatures: wherefore fear god, and obey me. they answered, shall we believe on thee, when only the most abject persons have followed thee? noah said, i have no knowledge of that which they did;a it appertaineth unto my lord alone to bring them to account, if ye understand; wherefore i will not drive away the believers:b i am no more than a public preacher. they replied, assuredly, unless thou desist, o noah, thou shalt be stoned. he said, o lord, verily my people take me for a liar; wherefore judge publicly between me and them; and deliver me and the true believers who are with me. wherefore we delivered him, and those who were with him, in the ark filled with men and animals; 	and afterwards we drowned the rest. verily herein was a sign; but the greater part of them believed not. thy lord is the mighty, the merciful. the tribe of ad charged god's messengers with falsehood: when their brother hud said unto them, will ye not fear god? verily i am a faithful messenger unto you; wherefore fear god, and obey me. i demand not of you any reward for my preaching unto you: i expect my reward from no other than the lord of all creatures. do ye build a landmark on every high place, to divert yourselves?c and do ye erect magnificent works, hoping that ye may continue in their possession forever? 	and when ye exercise your power, do ye exercise it with cruelty and rigour?d fear god, by leaving these things; and obey me. and fear him who hath bestowed on you that which ye know: he hath bestowed on you cattle, and children, and gardens, and springs of water. verily i fear for you the punishment of a grievous day. they answered, it is equal unto us whether thou admonish us, or dost not admonish us: this which thou preachest is only a device of the ancients; 	z see chapter , p. . 	a i.e., whether they have embraced the faith which i have preached, out of the sincerity of their hearts, or in prospect of some worldly advantage. 	b see chapter , p. . 	c or to mock the passengers; who direct themselves in their journeys by the stars, and have no need of such buildings? 	d putting to death, and inflicting other corporal punishments without mercy, and rather for the satisfaction of your passion than the amendment of the sufferer. 				 al beidâwi.		 idem. neither shall we be punished for what we have done. and they accused him of imposture: wherefore we destroyed them. verily herein was a sign: but the greater part of them believed not. 	thy lord is the mighty, the merciful. the tribe of thamud also charged the messengers of god with falsehood. when their brother saleh said unto them, will ye not fear god? verily i am a faithful messenger unto you: wherefore fear god, and obey me. i demand no reward of you for my preaching unto you: i expect my reward from no other than the lord of all creatures. shall ye be left forever secure in the possession of the things which are here; among gardens, and fountains, and corn, and palm-trees, whose branches sheathe their flowers. and will ye continue to cut habitations for yourselves out of the mountains, behaving with insolence?e 	fear god, and obey me; and obey not the command of the transgressors, who act corruptly in the earth, and reform not the same. they answered, verily thou art distracted: thou art no other than a man like unto us: produce now some sign, if thou speakest truth. saleh said, this she-camel shall be a sign unto you: she shall have her portion of water, and ye shall have your portion of water alternately, on a several day appointed for you;f and do her no hurt, lest the punishment of a terrible day be inflicted on you. but they slew her; and were made to repent of their impiety: for the punishment which had been threatened overtook them. verily herein was a sign; but the greater part of them did not believe. thy lord is the mighty, the merciful. 	the people of lot likewise accused god's messengers of imposture. when their brother lot said unto them, will ye not fear god? verily i am a faithful messenger unto you: wherefore fear god, and obey me. i demand no reward of you for my preaching: i expect my reward from no other than the lord of all creatures. do ye approach unto the males among mankind, and leave your wives which your lord hath created for you. surely ye are people who transgress. they answered, unless thou desist, o lot, thou shalt certainly be expelled our city. he said, verily i am one of those who abhor your doings: o lord, deliver me, and my family, from that which they act. 	wherefore we delivered him, and all his family, except an old woman, his wife, who perished among those who remained behind; then we destroyed the rest; and we rained on them a shower of stones; and terrible was the shower which fell on those who had been warned in vain. verily herein was a sign; but the greater part of them did not believe. thy lord is the mighty, the merciful. the inhabitants of the woodg also accused god's messengers of imposture. when shoaib said unto him, will ye not fear god? verily i am a faithful messenger unto you: 	e or, as the original word may also be rendered, showing art and ingenuity in your work. 	f that is, they were to have the use of the water by turns, the camel drinking one day, and the thamudites drawing the other day; for when this camel drank, she emptied the wells or brooks for that day. see chapter , p. . 	g see chapter , p. . shoaib being not called the brother of these people, which would have preserved the conformity between this passage and the preceding, it has been thought they were not midianites, but of another race; however, we find the prophet taxes them with the same crimes as he did those of midian. 					 see cap. , p. . wherefore fear god, and obey me. 	i ask no reward of you for my preaching: i expect my reward from no other than the lord of all creatures. give just measure, and be not defrauders; and weigh with an equal balance; and diminish not unto men aught of their matters; neither commit violence in the earth, acting corruptly. and fear him who hath created you, and also the former generations. they answered, certainly thou art distracted; thou art no more than a man, like unto us; and we do surely esteem thee to be a liar. cause now a part of the heaven to fall upon us, if thou speakest truth. shoaib said, my lord best knoweth that which ye do. and they charged him with falsehood: wherefore the punishment of the day of the shadowing cloudh overtook them; and this was the punishment of a grievous day. 	verily herein was a sign; but the greater part of them did not believe. thy lord is the mighty, the merciful. this book is certainly a revelation from the lord of all creatures, which the faithful spiriti hath caused to descend upon thy heart, that thou mightest be a preacher to thy people, in the perspicuous arabic tongue; and it is borne witness to in the scriptures of former ages. was it not a sign unto them, that the wise men among the children of israel knew it? had we revealed it unto any of the foreigners, and he had read the same unto them, yet they would not have believed therein. 	thus have we caused obstinate infidelity to enter the hearts of the wicked: they shall not believe therein, until they see a painful punishment. it shall come suddenly upon them, and they shall not foresee it: and they shall say, shall we be respited? do they therefore desire our punishment to be hastened?k what thinkest thou? if we suffer them to enjoy the advantage of this life for several years, and afterwards that with which they are threatened come upon them; what will that which they have enjoyed profit them? we have destroyed no city, but preachers were first sent unto it, to admonish the inhabitants thereof; neither did we treat them unjustly. 	the devils did not descend with the koran, as the infidels give out: it is not for their purpose, neither are they able to produce such a book; for they are far removed from hearing the discourse of the angels in heaven.l invoke no other god with the true god, lest thou become one of those who are doomed to punishment. and admonish thy more near relations.m and behave thyself with meeknessn towards the true believers who follow thee: 	h god first plagued them with such intolerable heat for seven days that all their waters were dried up, and then brought a cloud over them, under whose shade they ran, and were all destroyed by a hot wind and fire which proceeded from it. 	i i.e., gabriel, who is entrusted with the divine secrets and revelations. 	k the infidels were continually defying mohammed to bring some signal and miraculous destruction on them, as a shower of stones, &c. 	l see chapter , p. . 	m the commentators suppose the same command to have been virtually contained in the th chapter, which is prior to this in point of time. it is said that mohammed, on receiving the passage before us, went up immediately to mount safâ, and having called the several families to him, one by one, when they were all assembled, asked them whether, if he should tell them that mountain would bring forth a smaller mountain, they would believe him; to which they answering in the affirmative, verily, says he, i am a warner sent unto you, before a severe chastisement. 	n literally, lower thy wing. 	 al beidâwi.		 see the notes thereon, and the prelim. disc. sect. ii. p. .			 al beidâwi. and if they be disobedient unto thee, say, verily, i am clear of that which ye do. and trust in the most mighty, the merciful god; who seeth thee when thou risest up, and thy behavior among those who worship;o 	for he both heareth and knoweth. shall i declare unto you upon whom the devils descend? they descend upon every lying and wicked person:p they learn what is heard;q but the greater part of them are liars. and those who err follow the steps of the poets: dost thou not see that they rove as bereft of their senses through every valley; and that they say that which they do not?r except those who believe, and do good works, and remember god frequently; and who defend themselves, after they have been unjustly treated.s and they who act unjustly shall know hereafter with what treatment they shall be treated. 	o i.e., who seeth thee when thou risest up to watch and spend the night in religious exercises, and observeth thy anxious care for the moslems' exact performance of their duty. it is said that the night on which the precept of watching was abrogated. mohammed went privately from one house to another, to see how his companions spent the time; and that he found them so intent in reading the korân, and repeating their prayers, that their houses, by reason of the humming noise they made, seemed to be so many nests of hornets. some commentators, however, suppose that by the prophet's behaviour, in this place, are meant the various postures he used in praying at the head of his companions; as standing, bowing, prostration, and sitting. 	p the prophet, having vindicated himself from the charge of having communication with the devils, by the opposition between his doctrine and their designs, and their inability to compose so consistent a book as the korân, proceeds to show that the persons most likely to a correspondence with those evil spirits were liars and slanderers, that is, his enemies and opposers. 	q i.e., they are taught by the secret inspiration of the devils, and receive their idle and inconsistent suggestions for truth. it being uncertain whether the slanderers or the devils be the nominative case to the verb, the words may also be rendered, they impart what they hear; that is, the devils acquaint their correspondents on earth with such incoherent scraps of the angels' discourse as they can hear by stealth. 	r their compositions being as wild as the actions of a distracted man: for most of the ancient poetry was full of vain imaginations; as fabulous stories and descriptions, love verses, flattery, excessive commendations of their patrons, and as excessive reproaches of their enemies, incitements to vicious actions, vainglorious vauntings, and the like. 	s that is, such poets as had embraced mohammedism; whose works, free from the profaneness of the former, run chiefly on the praises of god, and the establishing his unity, and contain exhortations to obedience and other religious and moral virtues, without any satirical invectives, unless against such as have given just provocations, by having first attacked them, or some others of the true believers, with the same weapons. in this last case mohammed saw it was necessary for him to borrow assistance from the poets of his party, to defend himself and religion from the insults and ridicule of the others, for which purpose he employed the pens of labid ebn rabîa, abda'llah ebn rawâha, hassân ebn thabet, and the two caabs. it is related that mohammed once said to caab ebn malec, ply them with satires; for, by him in whose hand my soul is, they wound more deeply than arrows. 	 idem.		 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 idem.		 idem.		 see the prelim. disc. p. . al beidâwi. chapter xxvii. entitled, the ant;t revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. t. s. these are the signs of the koran, and of the perspicuous book: a direction, and good tidings unto the true believers? who regularly perform their prayer, and give alms, and firmly believe in the life to come. as to those who believe not in the life to come, we have prepared their works for them;u and they shall be struck with astonishment at their disappointment, when they shall be raised again: these are they whom an evil punishment awaiteth in this life; and in that which is to come they shall be the greatest losers. thou hast certainly received the koran from the presence of a wise, a knowing god. remember when moses said unto his family, verily i perceive fire; i will bring you tidings thereof, or i will bring you a lighted brand, that ye may be warmed.x and when he was come near unto it, a voice cried unto him, saying, blessed be he who is in the fire, and whoever is about it;y and praise be unto god, the lord of all creatures! o moses, verily i am god, the mighty, the wise: 	cast down now thy rod. and when he saw it, that it moved, as though it had been a serpent, he retreated, and fled, and returned not. and god said, o moses, fear not; for my messengers are not disturbed with fear in my sight: except he who shall have done amiss, and shall have afterwards substituted good in lieu of evil; for i am gracious and merciful.z moreover put thy hand into thy bosom; it shall come forth white, without hurt: this shall be one among the nine signsa unto pharaoh and his people: for they are a wicked people. and when our visible signs had come unto them, they said, this is a manifest sorcery. and they denied them, although their souls certainly knew them to be from god, out of iniquity and pride: but behold what was the end of the corrupt doers. we heretofore bestowed knowledge on david and solomon; and they said, praise be unto god, who hath made us more excellent than many of his faithful servants! and solomon was david's heir;b and he said, o men, we have been taught the speech of birds,c and have had all things bestowed on us; this is manifest excellence. 	t in this chapter is related, among other strange things, an odd story of the ant, which has therefore been pitched on for the title. 	u by rendering them pleasing and agreeable to their corrupt natures and inclinations. 	x see chapter , p. . 	y some suppose god to be intended by the former words, and by the latter, the angels who were present; others think moses and the angels are here meant, or all persons in general in this holy plain, and the country round it. 	z this exception was designed to qualify the preceding assertion, which seemed too general; for several of the prophets have been subject to sins, though not great ones, before their mission, for which they had reason to apprehend god's anger, though they are here assured that their subsequent merits entitle them to his pardon. it is supposed that moses's killing the egyptian undesignedly is hinted at. 	a see chapter , p. . 	b inheriting not only his kingdom, but also the prophetical office, preferably to his other sons, who were no less than nineteen. 		 yahya.		 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi.		 idem. 	 idem. and his armies were gathered together unto solomon, consisting of genii,d and men, and birds; and they were led in distinct bands, until they came unto the valley of ants.e and an ant, seeing the hosts approaching, said, o ants, enter ye into your habitations, lest solomon and his army tread you under foot, and perceive it not. and solomon smiled, laughing at her words, and said, o lord, excite me that i may be thankful for thy favor, wherewith thou hast favored me, and my parents; and that i may do that which is right, and well-pleasing unto thee: and introduce me, through thy mercy, into paradise, among thy servants the righteous. 	and he viewed the birds, and said, what is the reason that i see not the lapwing?f is she absent? verily i will chastise her with a severe chastisement,g or i will put her to death; unless she bring me a just excuse. and she tarried not long before she presented herself unto solomon, and said, i have viewed a country which thou hast not viewed; and i come unto thee from saba, with a certain piece of news. i found a womanh to reign over them, who is provided with everything requisite for a prince, and hath a magnificent throne.i 	c that is, the meaning of their several voices, though not articulate; of solomon's interpretation whereof the commentators give several instances. 	d for this fancy, as well as the former, mohammed was obliged to the talmudists, who, according to their manner, have interpreted the hebrew words of solomon, which the english version renders, i gat men-singers and women- singers, as if that prince had forced demons or spirits to serve him at his table, and in other capacities; and particularly in his vast and magnificent buildings, which they could not conceive he could otherwise have performed. 	e the valley seems to be so called from the great numbers of ants which are found there. some place it in syria, and others in tâyef. 	f the arab historians tell us that solomon, having finished the temple of jerusalem, went in pilgrimage to mecca, where, having stayed as long as he pleased, he proceeded toward yaman; and leaving mecca in the morning, he arrived by noon at sanaa, and being extremely delighted with the country, rested there; but wanting water to make the ablution, he looked among the birds for the lapwing, called by the arabs al hudbud, whose business it was to find it; for it is pretended she was sagacious or sharp-sighted enough to discover water underground, which the devils used to draw, after she had marked the place by digging with her bill: they add, that this bird was then taking a tour in the air, whence, seeing one of her companions alighting, she descended also, and having had a description given her by the other of the city of saba, whence she was just arrived, they both went together to take a view of the place, and returned soon after solomon had made the inquiry which occasioned what follows. 	it may be proper to mention her what the eastern writers fable of the manner of solomon's travelling. they say that he had a carpet of green silk, on which his throne was placed, being of a prodigious length and breadth, and sufficient for all his forces to stand on, the men placing themselves on his right hand, and the spirits on his left; and that when all were in order, the wind, at his command, took up the carpet, and transported it, with all that were upon it, wherever he pleased; the army of birds at the same time flying over their heads, and forming a kind of canopy, to shade them from the sun. 	g by plucking off her feathers, and setting her in the sun, to be tormented by the insects; or by shutting her up in a cage. 	h this queen the arabs name balkîs: some make her the daughter of al hodhâd ebn sharhabil, and others of sharahîl ebn malec; but they all agree she was a descendant of yárab ebn kahtân. she is placed the twenty-second in dr. pocock's list of the kings of yaman. 	i which the commentators say was made of gold and silver, and crowned with precious stones. but they differ as to the size of it; one making it fourscore cubits long, forty broad, and thirty high; while some say it was fourscore, and others thirty cubits every way. 	 see maracc. not. in loc. p. .		 vide midrash, yalkut shemuni, p. , f. , et millium, de mohammedismo ante mohammed. p. . eccles. ii. 		 al beidâwi. jallalo'ddin.		 idem. 	 see cap. , p. . al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin.		 vide pocock. spec. p. .		 al beidâwi, &c. vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. . ubi sup. i found her and her people to worship the sun, besides god: and satan hath prepared their works for them, and hath turned them aside from the way of truth (wherefore they are not rightly directed), lest they should worship god, who bringeth to light that which is hidden in heaven and earth, and knoweth whatever they conceal, and whatever they discover. god! there is no god but he; the lord of the magnificent throne. solomon said, we shall see whether thou hast spoken the truth, or whether thou art a liar. go with this my letter, and cast it down unto them; then turn aside from them, and wait to know what answer they will return. and when the queen of saba had received the letter,k she said, o nobles, verily an honourable letter hath been delivered unto me; 	it is from solomon, and this is the tenor thereof: in the name of the most merciful god, rise not up against me: but come and surrender yourselves unto me.l she said, o nobles, advise me in my business: i will not resolve on anything, until ye be witnesses and approve thereof. the nobles answered, we are endued with strength, and are endued with great prowess in war; but the command appertaineth unto thee: see therefore what thou wilt command.m she said, verily kings, when they enter a city by force, waste the same, and abase the most powerful of the inhabitants hereof: and so will these do with us. but i will send gifts unto them; and will wait for what further information those who shall be sent shall bring back. and when the queen's ambassador came unto solomon,n that prince said, will ye present me with riches? verily that which god hath given me is better than what he hath given you: but ye do glory in your gifts. return unto the people of saba. we will surely come unto them with forces, which they shall not be able to withstand; and we will drive them out from their city, humbled; and they shall become contemptible. and solomon said, o nobles, which of you will bring unto me her throne, before they come and surrender themselves unto me? a terrible geniuso answered, i will bring it unto thee, before thou arise from thy place:p for i am able to perform it, and may be trusted. 	k jallalo'ddin says that the queen was surrounded by her army when the lapwing threw the letter into her bosom; but al beidâwi supposes she was in an apartment of her palace, the doors of which were shut, and that the bird flew in at the window. the former commentator gives a copy of the epistle somewhat more full than that in the text; viz., from the servant of god, solomon, the son of david, unto balkîs queen of saba. in the name of the most merciful god. peace be on him who followeth the true direction. rise not up against me, but come and surrender yourselves unto me. he adds that solomon perfumed this letter with musk, and sealed it with his signet. 	l or, come unto me and resign yourselves unto the divine direction, and profess the true religion which i preach. 	m i.e., whether thou wilt obey the summons of solomon, or give us orders to make head against him. 	n bearing the presents, which they say were five hundred young slaves of each sex, all habited in the same manner, five hundred bricks of gold, a crown enriched with precious stones, besides a large quantity of musk, amber, and other things of value. some add that balkîs, to try whether solomon was a prophet or no, dressed the boys like girls, and the girls like boys, and sent him in a casket, a pearl not drilled, and an onyx drilled with a crooked hole; and that solomon distinguished the boys from the girls by the different manner of their taking water, and ordered one worm to bore the pearl, and another to pass a thread through the onyx. they also tell us that solomon, having notice of this embassy, by means of the lapwing, even before they set out, ordered a large square to be enclosed with a wall built of gold and silver bricks, wherein he ranged his forces and attendants to receive them. 	o this was an ifrît, or one of the wicked and rebellious genii; and his name, says al beidâwi, was dhacwân or sakhr. 	p i.e., from thy seat of justice. for solomon used to sit in judgment every day till noon. 	 jallalo'ddin		 al beidâwi.		 jallalo'ddin. 	 idem interp. 	and one with whom was the knowledge of the scripturesq said, i will bring it unto thee, in the twinkling of an eye.r and when solomon saw the throne placed before him, he said, this is a favor of my lord, that he may make trial of me, whether i will be grateful, or whether i will be ungrateful; and he who is grateful is grateful to his own advantage, but if any shall be ungrateful, verily my lord is self-sufficient and munificent. and solomon said unto his servants, alter her throne, that she may not know it, to the end we may see whether she be rightly directed, or whether she be one of those who are not rightly directed. and when she was come unto solomon,s it was said unto her, is thy throne like this? she answered, as though it were the same. and we have had knowledge bestowed on us before this, and have been resigned unto god.t but that which she worshipped, besides god, had turned her aside from the truth; for she was of an unbelieving people. it was said unto her, enter the palace.u and when she saw it, she imagined it to be a great water; and she discovered her legs, by lifting up her robe to pass through it.x whereupon solomon said unto her, verily this is a palace evenly floored with glass. then said the queen, o lord, verily i have dealt unjustly with my own soul; and i resign myself, together with solomon, unto god, the lord of all creatures.y also we heretofore sent unto the tribe of thamud their brother saleh; who said unto them, serve ye god. and behold, they were divided into two parties, who disputed among themselves.z saleh said, o my people why do ye hasten evil rather than good?a unless ye ask pardon of god, that ye may obtain mercy, ye are lost. 	q this person, as is generally supposed, was asaf the son of barachia, solomon's wazir (or visir), who knew the great or ineffable name of god, by pronouncing of which he performed this wonderful exploit. others, however, suppose it was al khedr, or else gabriel, or some other angel; and some imagine it to have been solomon himself. 	r the original is, before thou canst look at any object, and take thy eye off it. it is said that solomon, at asaf's desire, looked up to heaven, and before he cast his eye downwards, the throne made its way underground, and appeared before him. 	s for, on the return of her ambassador, she determined to go and submit herself to that prince; but before her departure, she secured her throne, as she thought, by locking it up in a strong castle, and setting a guard to defend it; after which she set out, attended by a vast army. 	t it is uncertain whether these be the words of balkîs, acknowledging her conviction by the wonders she had already seen; or of solomon and his people, acknowledging the favour of god, in calling them to the true faith before her. 	u or, as some understand the word, the court before the palace, which solomon had commanded to be built against the arrival of balkîs; the floor or pavement being of transparent glass, laid over running water, in which fish were swimming. fronting this pavement was placed the royal throne, on which solomon sat to receive the queen. 	x some arab writers tell us solomon had been informed that balkîs's legs and feet were covered with hair, like those of an ass, of the truth of which he had hereby an opportunity of being satisfied by ocular demonstration. 	y the queen of saba having by these words professed islâm, and renounced idolatry, solomon had thoughts of making her his wife; but could not resolve to do it; till the devils had by a depilatory taken off the hair from her legs. some, however, will have it that she did not marry solomon, but a prince of the tribe of hamdân. 	z concerning the doctrine preached by saleh; one party believing on him, and the other treating him as an impostor. 	a i.e., why do ye urge and defy the divine vengeance with which ye are threatened, instead of averting it by repentance? 	 jallalo'ddin.		 al beidâwi.		 jallalo'ddin. 	 idem, al beidâwi jallalo'ddin.		 apud al beidâwi they answered, we presage evil from thee, and from those who are with thee. saleh replied, the evil which ye presage is with god:b but ye are a people who are proved by a vicissitude of prosperity and adversity. and there were nine men in the city, who acted corruptly in the earth, and behaved not with integrity. 	and they said unto one another, swear ye reciprocally by god, that we will fall upon saleh and his family by night: and afterwards we will say unto him who hath right to avenge his blood, we were not so much as present at the destruction of his family; and we certainly speak the truth. and they devised a plot against him: but we devised a plot against them; and they perceived it not. and see what was the issue of their plot:c we utterly destroyed them and their whole people; and these their habitations remain empty, because of the injustice which they committed. verily herein is a sign unto people who understand. and we delivered those who believed, and feared god. and remember lot; when he said unto his people, do ye commit a wickedness, though ye see the heinousness thereof? do ye approach lustfully unto men, leaving the women? ye are surely an ignorant people. but the answer of his people was no other than that they said, cast the family of lot out of your city: for they are men who preserve themselves pure from the crimes of which ye are guilty. wherefore we delivered him and his family, except his wife, whom we decreed to be one of those who remained behind to be destroyed. and we rained on them a shower of stones: and dreadful was the shower which fell on those who had been warned in vain.d 	say, praise be unto god; and peace be upon his servants whom he hath chosen! is god more worthy, or the false gods which they associate with him? is not he to be preferred, who hath created the heavens and the earth, and sendeth down rain for you from heaven, whereby we cause delicious groves to spring up? it is not in your power to cause the trees thereof to shoot forth. is there any other god partner with the true god? verily these are a people who deviate from the truth. is not he more worthy to be adored, who hath established the earth, and hath caused rivers to flow through the midst thereof, and placed thereon immovable mountains, and set a bar between the two seas?e is there any other god equal with the true god? yet the greater part of them know it not. is not he more worthy who heareth the afflicted,f when he calleth upon him, and taketh off the evil which distressed him: and who hath made you the successors of your forefathers in the earth? is there any other god who can be equalled with the true god? how few consider these things! 	b see chapter , p. , where the egyptians in the same manner accuse moses as the cause of their calamities. 	c it is related that saleh, and those who believed on him, usually meeting to pray in a certain narrow place between the mountains, the infidels said, he thinks to make an end of us after three days, but we will be beforehand with him; and that a party of them went directly to the straits above mentioned, thinking to execute their design, but were terribly disappointed; for, instead of catching the prophet, they were caught themselves, their retreat being cut off by a large piece of rock, which fell down at the mouth of the straits, so that they perished there in a miserable manner. 	d see chapter , p. , and chapter , p. . 	e see chapter , p. . the word barzakh is not used here, but another of equivalent import. 	f literally, him who is driven by distress to implore god's assistance. 				 see cap. , p. , note m. 										 is not he more worthy who directeth you in the dark paths of the land and of the sea; and who sendeth the winds driving abroad the clouds, as the forerunners of his mercy!g is there any other god who can be equalled with the true god? far be god from having those partners in his power, which ye associate with him. is not he more worthy, who produceth a creature, and after it hath been dead restoreth it to life; and who giveth you food from heaven and earth? is there any other god with the true god, who doth this? say, produce your proof thereof, if ye speak truth. say, none either in heaven or earth knoweth that which is hidden, besides god: neither do they understand when they shall be raised. however, their knowledge attaineth some notion of the life to come:h yet they are in an uncertainty concerning the same; yea, they are blind as to the real circumstances thereof. and the unbelievers say, when we and our fathers shall have been reduced to dust, shall we be taken forth from the grave? 	verily we have been threatened with this, both we and our fathers, heretofore. this is no other than fables of the ancients. say unto them, pass through the earth, and see what hath been the end of the wicked. and be not thou grieved for them; neither be thou in any concern on account of the plots which they are contriving against thee. and they say, when will this threat be accomplished, if ye speak true? answer, peradventure some part of that punishment, which ye desire to be hastened may follow close behind you: verily thy lord is endued with indulgence towards mankind; but the greater part of them are not thankful. verily thy lord knoweth what their breasts conceal, and what they discover: and there is nothing hidden in heaven or on earth, but it is written in a clear book. verily this koran declareth unto the children of israel most of those points concerning which they disagree:i and it is certainly a direction, and a mercy unto the true believers. 	thy lord will decide the controversy between them, by his definitive sentence: and he is the mighty, the wise. therefore, put thy trust in god; for thou art in the manifest truth. verily thou shalt not make the dead to hear, neither shalt thou make the deaf to hear thy call to the true faith, when they retire and turn their backs: neither shalt thou direct the blind to extricate themselves out of their error. thou shalt make none to hear thee, except him who shall believe in our signs: and they are wholly resigned unto us. when the sentence shall be ready to fall upon them, we will cause a beastk to come forth unto them from out of the earth, which shall speak unto them:l verily men do not firmly believe in our signs. on the day of resurrection we will assemble, out of every nation, a company of those who shall have charged our signs with falsehood; and they shall be prevented from mixing together, 	g see chapter , p. , and chapter , p. . 	h or the words may be translated thus: yea, their knowledge faileth as to the life to come: yea, &c. 	i such as the comparing of god to sensible things, or to created beings: the removing all imperfections from the description of the divine being; the state of paradise and hell; the stories of ezra and jesus christ, &c. 	k the mohammedans call this beast, whose appearance will be one sign of the approach of the day of judgment, al jassâsa, or the spy. i have given the description of her elsewhere; to which should be added that she is to have two wings. 	l or, according to a different reading, viz., taclimohom instead of tocallimohom, who shall wound them. 		 al beidâwi.		 prelim. disc. sec. iv. p. , &c. 	 vide ibid. until they shall arrive at the place of judgment. and god shall say unto them, have ye charged my signs with falsehood, although ye comprehended them not with your knowledge. or what is it that ye were doing? and the sentence of damnation shall fall on them, for that they have acted unjustly: and they shall not speak in their own excuse. do they not see that we have ordained the night, that they may rest therein, and the day giving open light? verily herein are signs unto people who believe. on that day the trumpet shall be sounded; and whoever are in heaven and on earth shall be struck with terror, except those whom god shall please to exempt therefrom:m and all shall come before him in humble guise. 	and thou shalt see the mountains, and shalt think them firmly fixed; but they shall pass away, even as the clouds pass away. this will be the work of god, who hath rightly disposed all things: and he is well acquainted with that which ye do. whoever shall have wrought righteousness, shall receive a reward beyond the desert thereof; and they shall be secure from the terror of that day;n but whoever shall have wrought evil, shall be thrown on their faces into hell fire. shall ye receive the reward of any other than of that which ye shall have wrought? verily i am commanded to worship the lord of this territory of mecca, who hath sanctified the same: unto him belong all things. and i am commanded to be a moslem, and to rehearse the koran: he who shall be directed thereby will be directed to his own advantage; and to him who shall go astray, say, verily i am a warner only. and say, praise be unto god! he will show you his signs,o and ye shall know them: and thy lord is not regardless of that which they do. ________ chapter xxviii. entitled, the story;p revealed at mecca.q in the name of the most merciful god. t. s. m.r these are the signs of the perspicuous book. we will dictate unto thee, o mohammed, some parts of the history of moses and pharaoh, with truth; for the sake of people who believe. 	m see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. , &c. some say the persons exempted from this general consternation will be the angels gabriel, michael, israfil, and izraël; others suppose them to be the virgins of paradise, and the angels who guard that place, and carry god's throne; and others will have them to be the martyrs. 	n that is, from the fear of damnation, and the other terrors which will disturb the wicked; not from the general terror or consternation before mentioned. 	o viz., the successes of the true believers against the infidels, and particularly the victory of bedr 	p the title is taken from the th verse, where moses is said to have related the story of his adventures to shoaib. 	q some except a verse towards the latter end, beginning with these words: he who hath given thee the korân for a rule of faith and practice, &c. 	r see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. . 		 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi.		 idem.		 ebn abbas. now pharaoh lifted himself up in the land of egypt; and he caused his subjects to be divided into parties;s he weakened one party of them,t by slaying their male children, and preserving their females alive; for he was an oppressor. and we were minded to be gracious unto those who were weakened in the land, and to make them models of religion; and to make them the heirs of the wealth of pharaoh and his people,u and to establish a place for them in the earth; and to show pharaoh and haman,x and their forces, that destruction of their kingdom and nation by them, which they sought to avoid.y and we directed the mother of moses by revelation, saying, give him suck: and if thou fearest for him, cast him into the river; and fear not, neither be afflicted; for we will restore him unto thee, and will appoint him one of our apostles.z and when she had put the child in the ark, and had cast it into the river, the family of pharaoh took him up; providence designing that he should become an enemy, and a sorrow unto them. verily pharaoh and haman, and their forces were sinners. and the wife of pharaoh said, this child is a delight of the eye to me, and to thee:a kill him not; peradventure it may happen that he may be serviceable unto us; or we may adopt him for our son. and they perceived not the consequence of what they were doing. and the heart of the mother of moses became oppressed with fear; and she had almost discovered him, had we not armed her heart with constancy, that she might be one of those who believe the promises of god. 	and she said unto his sister, follow him. and she watched him at a distance; and they perceived it not. and we suffered him not to take the breasts of the nurses who were provided before his sister came up;b and she said, shall i direct you unto some of his nation, who may nurse him for you, and will be careful of him? and, at their desire, she brought his mother to them. so we restored him to his mother, that her mind might be set at ease, and that she might not be afflicted; and that she might know that the promise of god was true: but the greater part of mankind know not the truth. 	s i.e., either into companies, that they might the better attend his order and perform the services he exacted of them; or into opposite factions, to prevent their attempting anything against them, to deliver themselves from his tyranny. 	t viz., the israelites. 	u see chapter , p. . 	x this name is given to pharaoh's chief minister; from whence it is generally inferred that mohammed has here made haman, the favourite of ahasuerus king of persia, and who indisputably lived many ages after moses, to be that prophet's contemporary. but how probable soever this mistake may seem to us, it will be very hard, if not impossible, to convince a mohammedan of it; for, as has been observed in a parallel case, two very different persons may bear the same name. 	y for pharaoh had either dreamed, or been told by some diviners, that one of the hebrew nation should be the ruin of his kingdom; which prophecy is supposed to have been the occasion of his cruelty to them. this circumstance is owing to the invention of the jews. 	z it is related that the midwife appointed to attend the hebrew women, terrified by a light which appeared between the eyes of moses at his birth, and touched with an extraordinary affection for the child, did not discover him to the officers, so that his mother kept him in her house, and nursed him three months; after which it was impossible for her to conceal him any longer, the king then giving orders to make the searches more strictly. 	a this sudden affection or admiration was raised in them either by his uncommon beauty, or by the light which shone on his forehead, or because, when they opened the ark, they found him sucking his thumb, which supplied him with milk. 	b see chapter , p. . 	 al beidâwi.		 see p. , note x.		 vide reland. de rel moham. p. .		 see cap. , p. .		 vide shalshel. hakkab, p. . et r. eliez. pirke, c. 		 al beidâwi. see the notes to cap. , p. . idem, jallalo'ddin. and when moses had attained his age of full strength, and was become a perfect man, we bestowed on him wisdom and knowledge: and thus do we reward the upright. and he went into the city, at a time when the inhabitants thereof observed not what passed in the streets:c and he found therein two men fighting; the one being of his own party, and the other of his enemies.d and he who was of his party begged his assistance against him who was of the contrary party; and moses struck him with his fist, and slew him: but being sorry for what had happened, he said, this is of the work of the devil;e for he is a seducing and an open enemy. and he said, o lord, verily i have injured my own soul: wherefore forgive me. so god forgave him; for he is ready to forgive, and merciful. he said, o lord, by the favors with which thou hast favored me, i will not be an assistant to the wicked for the future. and the next morning he was afraid in the city, and looked about him, as one apprehensive of danger: and behold, he whom he had assisted the day before cried out unto him for help a second time. but moses said unto him, thou art plainly a quarrelsome fellow. and when he sought to lay hold on him who was an enemy unto them both, he said, o moses, dost thou intend to kill me, as thou killedst a man yesterday?f thou seekest only to be an oppressor in the earth, and seekest not to be a reconciler of quarrels. and a certain mang came from the farther part of the city, running hastily, and said, o moses, verily the magistrates are deliberating concerning thee, to put thee to death: depart therefore; i certainly advise thee well. 	wherefore he departed out of the city in great fear, looking this way and that, lest he should be pursued. and he said, o lord, deliver me from the unjust people. and when he was journeying towards madian, he said, peradventure my lord will direct me in the right way.h and when he arrived at the water of madian, he found about the well a company of men, who were watering their flocks. and he found, besides them, two women, who kept off their sheep at a distance. and he said unto them, what is the matter with you? they answered, we shall not water our flock, until the shepherds shall have driven away theirs; for our father is an old man, stricken in years. so moses watered their sheep for them;i and afterwards retired to the shade, saying, o lord, verily i stand in need of the good which thou shalt send down unto me. 	c viz., at noon; at which time it is usual in those countries for people to retire to sleep; or, as others rather suppose, a little within night. 	d i.e., the one being an israelite of his own religion and nation, and the other an idolatrous egyptian. 	e mohammed allows that moses killed the egyptian wrongfully; but, to excuse it, supposes that he struck him without designing to kill him. 	f some suppose these words to have been spoken by the israelite, who, because moses had reprimanded him, imagined he was going to strike him; and others, by the egyptian, who either knew or suspected that moses had killed his countryman the day before. 	g this person, says the tradition, was an egyptian, and pharaoh's uncle's son, but a true believer; who, finding that the king had been informed of what moses had done, and designed to put him to death, gave him immediate notice to provide for his safety by flight. 	h for moses knew not the way, and coming to a place where three roads met, committed himself to the guidance of god, and took the middle road, which was the right; providence likewise so ordering it, that his pursuers took the other two roads, and missed him. some say he was led by an angel in the appearance of a traveller. 	i by rolling away a stone of a prodigious weight, which had been laid over the mouth of the well by the shepherds, and required no less than seven men (though some name a much larger number) to remove it. 			 al beidâwi.		 jallalo'ddin.		 idem, interp. yahya. and one of the damselsk came unto him, walking bashfully, and said, my father calleth thee, that he may recompense thee for the trouble which thou hast taken in watering our sheep for us. and when he was come unto shoaib, and had told him the story of his adventures, he said unto him, fear not: thou hast escaped from unjust people. and one of the damsels said, my father, hire him for certain wages: the best servant thou canst hire is an able and trusty person.l and shoaib said unto moses, verily i will give thee one of these my two daughters in marriage, on condition that thou serve me for hire eight years; and if thou fulfil ten years, it is in thine own breast; for i seek not to impose a hardship on thee: and thou shalt find me, if god please, a man of probity. moses answered, let this be the covenant between me and thee: whichsoever of the two terms i shall fulfil let it be no crime in me if i then quit thy service; and god is witness of that which we say. and when moses had fulfilled the term,m and was journeying with his family towards egypt, he saw fire on the side of mount sinai. and he said unto his family, tarry ye here; for i see fire: peradventure i may bring you thence some tidings of the way,n or at least a brand out of the fire, that ye may be warmed. 	and when he was come thereto, a voice cried unto him from the right side of the valley, in the sacred bottom, from the tree, saying, o moses, verily i am god, the lord of all creatures: cast down now thy rod. and when he saw it that it moved, as though it had been a serpent, he retreated and fled, and returned not. and god said unto him, o moses, draw near, and fear not; for thou art safe. put thy hand into thy bosom, and it shall come forth white, without any hurt: and draw back thy hando unto thee which thou stretchest forth for fear. these shall be two evident signs from thy lord, unto pharaoh and his princes; for they are a wicked people. moses said, o lord, verily i have slain one of them; and i fear they will put me to death: but my brother aaron is of a more eloquent tongue than i am; wherefore send him with me for an assistant, that he may gain me credit; for i fear lest they accuse me of imposture. god said, we will strengthen thine arm by thy brother, and we will give each of you extraordinary power, so that they shall not come up to you, in our signs. ye two, and whoever shall follow you, shall be the conquerors. 	k this was sefûra (or zipporah) the elder, or, as others suppose, the younger daughter of shoaib, whom moses afterwards married. 	l the girl, being asked by her father how she knew moses deserved this character, told him that he had removed the vast stone above mentioned without any assistance, and that he looked not in her face, but held down his head till he heard her message, and desired her to walk behind him, because the wind ruffled her garments a little, and discovered some part of her legs. 	m viz., the longest terms of ten years. the mohammedans say, after the jews, that moses received from shoaib the rod of the prophets (which was a branch of a myrtle of paradise, and had descended to him from adam) to keep off the wild beasts from his sheep; and that this was the rod with which he performed all those wonders in egypt. 	n see chapter , p. . 	o literally, thy wing: the expression alludes to the action of birds, which stretch forth their wings to fly away when they are frighted, and fold them together again when they think themselves secure. 	 idem.		 vide shals. hakkab. p. . r. eliez. pirke, c. , &c.		 al beidâwi. and when moses came unto them with our evident signs, they said, this is no other than a deceitful piece of sorcery: neither have we heard of anything like this among our forefathers. and moses said, my lord best knoweth who cometh with a direction from him; and who shall have success in this life, as well as the next: but the unjust shall not prosper. and pharaoh said, o princes, i did not know that ye had any other god besides me.p wherefore do thou, o haman, burn me clay into bricks; and build me a high tower,q that i may ascend unto the god of moses: for i verily believe him to be a liar. and both he and his forces behaved themselves insolently and unjustly in the earth; and imagined that they should not be brought before us to be judged. 	wherefore we took him and his forces, and cast them into the sea. behold, therefore, what was the end of the unjust. and we made them deceitful guides, inviting their followers to hell fire; and on the day of resurrection they shall not be screened from punishment. we pursued them with a curse in this life; and on the day of resurrection they shall be shamefully rejected. and we gave the book of the law unto moses, after he had destroyed the former generations, to enlighten the minds of men, and for a direction, and a mercy; that peradventure they might consider. thou, o prophet, wast not on the west side of mount sinai, when we delivered moses his commission: neither wast thou one of those who were present at his receiving it: but we raised up several generations after moses; and life was prolonged unto them. neither didst thou dwell among the inhabitants of madian, rehearsing unto them our signs; but we have sent thee fully instructed in every particular. nor wast thou present on the side of the mount, when we called unto moses; but thou art sent as a mercy from thy lord; that thou mightest preach unto a people to whom no preacher hath come before thee,r that peradventure they may be warned; and lest, if a calamity had befallen them, for that which their hands had previously committed, they should have said, o lord, since thou hast not sent an apostle unto us, that we might follow thy signs, and become true believers, are we not excusable? yet when the truth is come unto them from before us, they say, unless he receive the same power to work miracles as moses received, we will not believe. have they not likewise rejected the revelation which was heretofore given unto moses? they say, two cunning imposturess have mutually assisted one another: and they say, verily we reject them both. say, produce therefore a book from god, which is more right than these two, that i may follow it; if ye speak truth. 	p see chapter , p. . 	q it is said that haman, having prepared bricks and other materials, employed no less than fifty thousand men, besides labourers, in the building; which they carried to so immense a height that the workmen could no longer stand on it: that pharaoh, ascending this tower, threw a javelin towards heaven, which fell back again stained with blood, whereupon he impiously boasted that he had killed the god of moses; but at sunset god sent the angel gabriel, who, with one stroke of his wing, demolished the tower, a part whereof, falling on the king's army, destroyed a million of men. 	r that is, to the arabians; to whom no prophet had been sent, at least since ismael. 	s viz., the pentateuch and the korân. some copies read, two impostors, meaning moses and mohammed. 					 al zamakhshari. 	but if they return thee no answer, know that they only follow their own desires: and who erreth more widely from the truth than he who followeth his own desire, without a direction from god? verily god directeth not the unjust people. and now have we caused our word to come unto them, that they may be admonished. they unto whom we have given the scriptures which were revealed before it, believe in the same; and when it is read unto them, say, we believe therein; it is certainly the truth from our lord: verily we were moslems before this.t these shall receive their reward twice,u because they have persevered, and repel evil by good, and distribute alms out of that which we have bestowed on them; and when they hear vain discourse, avoid the same, saying, we have our works, and ye have your works; peace be on you;x we covet not the acquaintance of the ignorant. verily thou canst not direct whom thou wilt: but god directeth whom he pleaseth; and he best knoweth those who will submit to be directed. the meccans say, if we follow the same direction with thee, we shall be forcibly expelled our land.y have we not established for them a secure asylum,z to which fruits of every sort are brought, as a provision for our bounty? but the greater part of them do not understand. how many cities have we destroyed, whose inhabitants lived in ease and plenty? and these their dwellings are not inhabited after them, unless for a little while;a and we were the inheritors of their wealth.b but thy lord did not destroy those cities, until he had sent unto their capital an apostle, to rehearse our signs unto them: neither did we destroy those cities, unless their inhabitants were injurious to their apostle. 	the things which are given you are the provisions of this present life, and the pomp thereof; but that which is with god is better and more durable: will ye not therefore understand? shall he then, unto whom we have promised an excellent promise of future happiness, and who shall attain the same, be as he on whom we have bestowed the provision of this present life, and who, on the day of resurrection, shall be one of those who are delivered up to eternal punishment? on that day god shall call unto them, and shall say, where are my partners, which ye imagined to be so? 	t holding the same faith in fundamentals, before the revelation of the korân, which we receive because it is consonant to the scriptures, and attested to by them. the passage intends those jews and christians who had embraced mohammedism. 	u because they have believed both in their own scriptures and in the korân. 	x see chap. , p. , note d. 	y this objection was made by al hareth ebn othmân ebn nawfal ebn abd menâf, who came to mohammed and told him that the koreish believed he preached the truth, but were apprehensive that if they made the arabs their enemies by quitting their religion, they would be obliged likewise to quit mecca, being but a handful of men, in comparison to the whole nation. 	z by giving them for their habitation the sacred territory of mecca, a place protected by god, and reverenced by man. 	a that is, for a day, or a few hours only, while travellers stay there to rest and refresh themselves; or, as the original may also signify, unless by a few inhabitants: some of those ancient cities and dwellings being utterly desolate, and others thinly inhabited. 	b there being none left to enjoy it after them. 					 al beidâwi. and they upon whom the sentence of damnation shall be justly pronounced shall answer, these, o lord, are those whom we seduced: but now we clearly quit them, and turn unto thee. they did not worship us, but their own lusts.c and it shall be said unto the idolaters, call now upon those whom ye associated with god: and they shall call upon them, but they shall not answer them; and they shall see the punishment prepared for them, and shall wish that they had submitted to be directed. on that day, god shall call unto them, and shall say, what answer did ye return to our messengers? but they shall not be able to give an account thereof on that day;d neither shall they ask one another for information. howbeit whoso shall repent and believe, and shall do that which is right, may expect to be happy. thy lord createth what he pleaseth; and chooseth freely: but they have no free choice. praise be unto god; and far be he removed from the idols which they associate with him! thy lord knoweth both the secret malice which their breasts conceal, and the open hatred which they discover. 	he is god; there is no god but he. unto him is the praise due, both in this life and in that which is to come: unto him doth judgment belong; and before him shall ye be assembled at the last day. say, what think ye? if god should cover you with perpetual night, until the day of resurrection; what god, besides god, would bring you light? will ye not therefore hearken? say, what think ye? if god should give you continual day, until the day of resurrection; what god, besides god, would bring you night, that ye might rest therein? will ye not therefore consider? of his mercy he hath made for you the night and the day, that ye may rest in the one, and may seek to obtain provision for yourselves of his abundance, by your industry, in the other; and that ye may give thanks. on a certain day god shall call unto them, and shall say, where are my partners, which ye imagined to share the divine power with me? and we will produce a witness out of every nation,e and will say, bring hither your proof of what ye have asserted. and they shall know that the right is god's alone; and the deities which they have devised shall abandon them. karûn was of the people of moses;f but he behaved insolently towards them: for we had given him so much treasure, that his keys would have loaded several strong men.g when his people said unto him, rejoice not immoderately; for god loveth not those who rejoice in their riches immoderately: 	c see chap. , p. . 	d literally, the account thereof shall be dark unto them; for the consternation they shall then be under, will render them stupid, and unable to return an answer. 	e viz., the prophet who shall have been sent to each nation. 	f the commentators say, karûn was the son of yeshar (or izhar), the uncle of moses, and, consequently, make him the same with the korah of the scriptures. this person is represented by them as the most beautiful of the israelites, and so far surpassing them all in opulency that the riches of karûn have become a proverb. the mohammedans are indebted to the jews for this last circumstance, to which they have added several other fables; for they tell us that he built a large palace overlaid with gold, the doors whereof were of massy gold; that he became so insolent because of his immense riches, as to raise a sedition against moses, though some pretend the occasion of his rebellion to have been his unwillingness to give alms, as moses had commanded; that one day, when that prophet was preaching to the people, and, among other laws which he published, declared that adulterers should be stoned, karûn asked him what if he should be found guilty of the same crime? to which moses answered, that in such case he would suffer the same punishment; and thereupon karûn produced a harlot, whom he had hired to swear that moses had lain with her, and charged him publicly with it; but on moses adjuring the woman to speak the truth, her resolution failed her, and she confessed that she was suborned by karûn to accuse him wrongfully; that then god directed moses, who had complained to him of this usage, to command the earth what he pleased, and it should obey him; whereupon he said, o earth swallow them up! and that immediately the earth opened under karûn and his confederates, and swallowed them up, with his palace and all his riches. there goes a tradition, that as karûn sank gradually into the ground, first to his knees, then to his waist, then to his neck, he cried out four several times, o moses, have mercy on me! but that moses continued to say, o earth, swallow them up, till at last he wholly disappeared; upon which god said to moses, thou hast no mercy on karûn, though he asked pardon of thee four times; but i would have had compassion on him if he had asked pardon of me but once. 	g the original word properly signifies any number of persons from ten to forty. some pretend these keys were a sufficient load for seventy men; and abulfeda says forty mules used to be employed to carry them. 				 abulfeda, jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi, &c. but seek to attain by means of the wealth which god hath given thee, the future mansion of paradise.h and forget not thy portion in this world; but be thou bounteous unto others, as god hath been bounteous unto thee; and seek not to act corruptly in the earth; for god loveth not the corrupt doers. he answered, i have received these riches, only because of the knowledge which is with me.i did he not know that god had already destroyed, before him, several generations, who were mightier than he in strength, and had amassed more abundance of riches? and the wicked shall not be asked to discover their crimes. and karûn went forth unto his people, in his pomp.k and they who loved this present life said, oh that we had the like wealth, as hath been given unto karûn? verily he is master of a great fortune. 	but those on whom knowledge had been bestowed answered, alas for you! the reward of god in the next life will be better unto him who shall believe and do good works; but none shall attain the same, except those who persevere with constancy. and we caused the ground to cleave in sunder, and to swallow up him and his palace: and he had no forces to defend him, besides god; neither was he rescued from punishment. and the next morning, those who had coveted his condition the day before said, aha! verily god bestoweth abundant provision on such of his servants as he pleaseth; and he is sparing unto whom he pleaseth. unless god had been gracious unto us, certainly the earth had swallowed us up also. aha! the unbelievers shall not prosper. as to this future mansion of paradise, we will give it unto them who seek not to exalt themselves in the earth, or to do wrong; for the happy issue shall attend the pious. whoso doth good shall receive a reward which shall exceed the merit thereof: but as to him who doth evil, they who work evil shall be rewarded according to the merit only of that which they shall have wrought. verily he who hath given thee the koran for a rule of faith and practice will certainly bring thee back home unto mecca.l say, my lord best knoweth who cometh with a true direction, and who is in a manifest error. 	h this passage is parallel to that in the new testament, make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. 	i for some say he was the most learned of all the israelites, and the best versed in the law, after moses and aaron; others pretend he was skilled in chemistry, or in merchandising, or other arts of gain, and others suppose (as the jews also fable ) that he found out the treasures of joseph in egypt. 	k it is said he rode on a white mule adorned with trappings of gold, and that he was clothed in purple, and attended by four thousand men, all well mounted and richly dressed. 	l this verse, some say, was revealed to mohammed when he arrived at johsa, in his flight from mecca to medina, to comfort him and still his complaints. 	 al beidâwi. vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. art. carun.		 luke xvi. .		 vide r. ghedal, shalsh. hakkab. p. .		 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi. thou didst not expect that the book of the koran should be delivered unto thee: but thou hast received it through the mercy of thy lord. be not therefore assisting to the unbelievers; neither let them turn thee aside from the signs of god, after they have been sent down unto thee: and invite men unto thy lord. and be not thou an idolater; neither invoke any other god, together with the true god: there is no god but he. everything shall perish, except himself: unto him belongeth judgment: and before him shall ye be assembled at the last day. ________ chapter xxix. entitled, the spider;m revealed at mecca.n in the name of the most merciful god. a. l. m.o do men imagine that it shall be sufficient for themp to say, we believe; will they not be proved?q we heretofore proved those who were before them; for god will surely know them who are sincere, and he will surely know the liars. do they who work evil think that they shall prevent us from taking vengeance on them? an ill judgment do they make. whoso hopeth to meet god, verily god's appointed time will certainly come; and he both heareth and knoweth. whoever striveth to promote the true religion, striveth for the advantage of his own soul; for god needeth not any of his creatures: and as to those who believe and work righteousness, we will expiate their evil deeds from them; and we will give them a reward according to the utmost merit of their actions. we have commanded man to show kindness towards his parents: but if they endeavor to prevail with thee to associate with me that concerning which thou hast no knowledge, obey them not.r unto me shall ye return; and i will declare unto you what ye have done. those who shall believe, and shall work righteousness, we will surely introduce into paradise, among the upright. 	m transient mention is made of this insect towards the middle of the chapter. 	n some think the first ten verses, ending with these words, and he well knoweth the hypocrites, were revealed at medina, and the rest at mecca; and others believe the reverse. 	o see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. , &c. 	p literally, that they shall be let alone, &c. 	q this passage reprehends the impatience of some of the prophet's companions, under the hardships which they sustained in defence of their religion, and the losses which they suffered from the infidels; representing to them that such trials and afflictions were necessary to distinguish the sincere person from the hypocrite, and the steady from the wavering. some suppose it to have been occasioned by the death of mahja, omar's slave, killed by an arrow at the battle of bedr, which was deeply lamented and laid to heart by his wife and parents. 	r that is, if they endeavour to pervert thee to idolatry. the passage is said to have been revealed on account of saad ebn abi wakkâs, and his mother hamna, who, when she heard that her son had embraced mohammedism, swore that she would neither eat nor drink till he returned to his old religion, and kept her oath for three days. 				 al beidâwi.		 idem. there are some men who say, we believe in god: but when such a one is afflicted for god's sake, he esteemeth the persecution of men to be as grievous as the punishment of god. yet if success cometh from thy lord, they say, verily we are with you. doth not god well know that which is in the breasts of his creatures? 	verily god well knoweth the true believers, and he well knoweth the hypocrites. the unbelievers say unto those who believe, follow our way, and we will bear your sins. howbeit they shall not bear any part of their sins; for they are liars: but they shall surely bear their own burdens, and other burdens besides their own burdens;s and they shall be examined, on the day of resurrection, concerning that which they have falsely devised. we heretofore sent noah unto his people; and he tarried among them one thousand years, save fifty years:t and the deluge took them away, while they were acting unjustly; but we delivered him and those who were in the ark, and we made the sameu a sign unto all creatures. we also sent abraham; when he said unto his people, serve god, and fear him; this will be better for you; if ye understand. ye only worship idols besides god, and forge a lie. verily those which ye worship, besides god, are not able to make any provision for you: seek therefore your provision from god; and serve him, and give thanks unto him; unto him shall ye return. if he charge me with imposture,x verily sundry nations before you likewise charged their prophets with imposture: but public preaching only is incumbent on an apostle. do they not see how god produceth creatures, and afterwards restoreth them?y verily this is easy with god. say, go through the earth, and see how he originally produceth creatures: afterwards will god reproduce another production; for god is almighty. 	he will punish whom he pleaseth, and he will have mercy on whom he pleaseth. before him shall ye be brought at the day of judgment: and ye shall not escape his reach, either in earth, or in heaven:z neither shall ye have any patron or defender besides god. as for those who believe not in the signs of god, or that they shall meet him at the resurrection, they shall despair of my mercy, and for them is a painful punishment prepared. 	s viz., the guilt of seducing others, which shall be added to the guilt of their own obstinacy without diminishing the guilt of such as shall be seduced by them. 	t this is true, if the whole life of noah be reckoned; and accordingly abulfeda says he was sent to preach in his two hundred and fiftieth year, and that he lived in all nine hundred and fifty: but the text seeming to speak of those years only which he spent in preaching to the wicked antediluvians, the commentators suppose him to have lived much longer. some say the whole length of his life was a thousand and fifty years; that his mission happened in the fortieth year of his age, and that he lived after the flood sixty years; and others give different numbers; one, in particular, pretending that noah lived near sixteen hundred years. 	this circumstance, says al beidâwi, was mentioned to encourage mohammed, and to assure him that god, who supported noah so many years against the opposition and plots of the antediluvian infidels, would not fail to defend him against all attempts of the idolatrous meccans and their partisans. 	u i.e., the ark. 	x this seems to be part of abraham's speech to his people: but some suppose that god here speaks, by way of apostrophe, first to the koreish, and afterwards to mohammed; and that the parenthesis is continued to these words, and the answer of his people was no other, &c. in which case we should have said, if ye charge mohammed your apostle with imposture, &c. 	y the infidels are bid to consider how god causeth the fruits of the earth to spring forth, and reneweth them every year, as in the preceding; which is an argument of his power to raise man, whom he created at first, to life again after death, at his own appointed time. 	z see psalm cxxxix. , &c. 			 idem, al zamakh.		 caab, apud yahyam. and the answer of his people was no other than that they said, slay him, or burn him. but god saved him from the fire.a verily herein were signs unto people who believed. and abraham said, ye have taken idols, besides god, to cement affection between you in this life: but on the day of resurrection, the one of you shall deny the other, and the one of you shall curse the other; and your abode shall be hell fire, and there shall be none to deliver you. and lot believed on him. and abraham said, verily i fly from my people, unto the place which my lord hath commanded me; or he is the mighty, the wise. and we gave him isaac and jacob; and we placed among his descendants the gift of prophecy and the scriptures: and we gave him his reward in this world; and in the next he shall be one of the righteous. we also sent lot; when he said unto his people, do ye commit filthiness which no creature hath committed before you? do ye approach lustfully unto men, and lay wait in the highways,b and commit wickedness in your assembly?c and the answer of his people was no other than that they said, bring down the vengeance of god upon us, if thou speakest truth. 	lot said, o lord, defend me against the corrupt people. and when our messengers came unto abraham with good tidings,d they said, we will surely destroy the inhabitants of this city: for the inhabitants thereof are unjust doers. abraham answered, verily lot dwelleth there. they replied, we well know who dwelleth therein: we will surely deliver him and his family, except his wife; she shall be one of those who remain behind. and when our messengers came unto lot, he was troubled for them, and his arm was straitened concerning them.e but they said, fear not, neither be grieved; for we will deliver thee and thy family, except thy wife; for she shall be one of those who remain behind. we will surely bring down upon the inhabitants of this city vengeance from heaven, for that they have been wicked doers; and we have left thereof a manifest signf unto people who understand. and unto the inhabitants of madian we sent their brother shoaib; and he said unto them, o my people, serve god, and expect the last day; and transgress not, acting corruptly in the earth. but they accused him of imposture; wherefore a storm from heaveng assailed them, and in the morning they were found in their dwellings dead and prostrate. and we also destroyed the tribes of ad, and thamud; and this is well known unto you from what yet remains of their dwellings. and satan prepared their works for them, and turned them aside from the way of truth, although they were sagacious people. and we likewise destroyed karûn, and pharaoh, and haman. moses came unto them with evident miracles, and they behaved themselves insolently in the earth: but they could not escape our vengeance. 	a see chapter . 	b some suppose the sodomites robbed and murdered the passengers; others, that they unnaturally abused their bodies. 	c their meetings being scenes of obscenity and riot. 	d see chapter , p. , &c. 	e see ibid. p. . 	f viz., the story of its destruction, handed down by common tradition; or else its ruins, or some other footsteps of this signal judgment; it being pretended that several of the stones, which fell from heaven on those cities, are still to be seen, and that the ground where they stood appears burnt and blackish. 	g see chapter , p. . 	every of them did we destroy in his sin. against some of them we sent a violent wind:h some of them did a terrible noise from heaven destroy:i some of them did we cause the earth to swallow up:k and some of them we drowned.l neither was god disposed to treat them unjustly; but they dealt unjustly with their own souls. the likeness of those who take other patrons besides god is as the likeness of the spider, which maketh herself a house: but the weakest of all houses surely is the house of the spider; if they knew this. moreover god knoweth what things they invoke, besides him; and he is the mighty, the wise. these similitudes do we propound unto men: but none understand them, except the wise. god hath created the heavens and the earth in truth; verily herein is a sign unto the true believers. rehearse that which hath been revealed unto thee of the book of the koran: and be constant at prayer; for prayer preserveth a man from filthy crimes, and from that which is blamable; and the remembering of god is surely a most important duty. god knoweth that which ye do. dispute not against those who have received the scriptures, unless in the mildest manner;m except against such of them as behave injuriously towards you: and say, we believe in the revelation which hath been sent down unto us, and also in that which hath been sent down unto you; our god and your god is one, and unto him are we resigned. thus have we sent down the book of the koran unto thee: and they unto whom we have given the former scriptures believe therein; and of these arabians also there is who believeth therein: and none reject our signs, except the obstinate infidels. thou couldest not read any book before this; neither couldest thou write it with thy right hand: then had the gainsayers justly doubted of the divine original thereof. but the same is evident signs in the breasts of those who have received understanding: for none reject our signs except the unjust. 	they say, unless a sign be sent down unto him from his lord, we will not believe. answer, signs are in the power of god alone; and i am no more than a public preacher. is it not sufficient for them that we have sent down unto thee the book of the koran, to be read unto them? verily herein is a mercy, and an admonition unto people who believe. say god is a sufficient witness between me and you: he knoweth whatever is in heaven and earth; and those who believe in vain idols, and deny god, they shall perish. they will urge thee to hasten the punishment which they defy thee to bring down upon them:n if there had not been a determined time for their respite, the punishment had come upon them before this; but it shall surely overtake them suddenly, and they shall not foresee it. they urge thee to bring down vengeance swiftly upon them: but hell shall surely encompass the unbelievers. 	h the original word properly signifies a wind that drives the gravel and small stones before it; by which the storm, or shower of stones, which destroyed sodom and gomorrah, seems to be intended. 	i which was the end of ad and thamud. 	k as it did karûn. 	l as the unbelievers in noah's time, and pharaoh and his army 	m i.e., without ill language or passion. this verse is generally supposed to have been abrogated by that of the sword; though some think it relates only to those who are in alliance with the moslems. 	n see chapter , p. on a certain day their punishment shall suddenly assail them, both from above them, and from under their feet; and god shall say, taste ye the reward of that which ye have wrought. o my servants who have believed, verily my earth is spacious: wherefore serve me.o every soul shall taste death: afterwards shall ye return unto us; and as for those who shall have believed, and wrought righteousness, we will surely lodge them in the higher apartments of paradise; rivers shall flow beneath them, and they shall continue therein forever. how excellent will be the reward of the workers of righteousness; 	who persevere with patience, and put their trust in their lord! how many beasts are there, which provide not their food? it is god who provideth for them, and for you; and he both heareth and knoweth. verily, if thou ask the meccans, who hath created the heavens and the earth, and hath obliged the sun and the moon to serve in their courses? they will answer, god. how therefore do they lie, in acknowledging of other gods? god maketh abundant provision for such of his servants as he pleaseth; and is sparing unto him, if he pleaseth: for god knoweth all things.p verily if thou ask them, who sendeth rain from heaven, and thereby quickeneth the earth, after it hath been dead? they will answer, god. say, god be praised! but the greater part of them do not understand. this present life is no other than a toy, and a plaything; but the future mansion of paradise is life indeed: if they knew this they would not prefer the former to the latter. when they sail in a ship, they call upon god, sincerely exhibiting unto him the true religion: but when he bringeth them safe to land, behold, they return to their idolatry; to show themselves ungrateful for that which we have bestowed on them, and that they may enjoy the delights of this life; but they shall hereafter know the issue. do they not see that we have made the territory of mecca an inviolable and secure asylum, when men are spoiled in the countries round about them? do they therefore believe in that which is vain, and acknowledge not the goodness of god? but who is more unjust than he who deviseth a lie against god, or denieth the truth, when it hath come unto him? is there not in hell an abode for the unbelievers? 	whoever do their utmost endeavor to promote our true religion, we will direct them into our ways; for god is with the righteous. 	o that is, if ye cannot serve me in one city or country, fly unto another, where ye may profess the true religion in safety; for the earth is wide enough, and ye may easily find places of refuge. mohammed is said to have declared, that whoever flies for the sake of his religion, though he stir but the distance of a span, merits paradise, and shall be the companion of abraham and of himself. 	p and particularly who will make a good, and who will make a bad use of their riches. 					 al beidâwi. chapter xxx. entitled, the greeks;q revealed at mecca.r in the name of the most merciful god. a. l. m.s the greeks have been overcome by the persians,t 	q the original word is al rûm; by which the later greeks, or subjects of the constantinopolitan empire, are here meant; though the arabs give the same name also to the romans, and other europeans. 	r some except the verse beginning at these words, praise be unto god. 	s the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. , &c. 	t the accomplishment of the prophecy contained in this passage, which is very famous among the mohammedans, being insisted on by their doctors as a convincing proof that the korân really came down from heaven, it may be excusable to be a little particular. 	the passage is said to have been revealed on occasion of a great victory obtained by the persians over the greeks, the news whereof coming to mecca, the infidels became strangely elated, and began to abuse mohammed and his followers, imagining that this success of the persians, who, like themselves, were idolaters, and supposed to have no scriptures, against the christians, who pretended as well as mohammed to worship one god, and to have divine scriptures, was an earnest of their own future successes against the prophet and those of his religion: to check which vain hopes, it was foretold, in the words of the text, that how improbable soever it might seem, yet the scale should be turned in a few years, and the vanquished greeks prevail as remarkably against the persians. 	that this prophecy was exactly fulfilled the commentators fail not to observe, though they do not exactly agree in the accounts they give of its accomplishment; the number of years between the two actions being not precisely determined. some place the victory gained by the persians in the fifth year before the hejra, and their defeat by the greeks in the second year after it, when the battle of bedr was fought: others place the former in the third or fourth year before the hejra, and the latter in the end of the sixth or beginning of the seventh year after it, when the expedition of al hodeibiyah was undertaken. 	the date of the victory gained by the greeks, in the first of these accounts, interferes with a story which the commentators tell, of a wager laid by abu becr with obba ebn khalf, who turned this prophecy into ridicule. abu becr at first laid ten young camels that the persians should receive an overthrow within three years; but on his acquainting mohammed with what he had done, that prophet told him that the word bed', made use of in this passage, signified no determinate number of years, but any number from three to nine (though some suppose the tenth year is included), and therefore advised him to prolong the time, and to raise the wager; which he accordingly proposed to obba, and they agreed that the time assigned should be nine years, and the wager a hundred camels. before the time was elapsed, obba died of a wound he had received at ohod, in the third year of the hejra; but the event afterwards showing that abu becr had won, he received the camels of obba's heirs, and brought them in triumph to mohammed. 	history informs us that the successes of khosru parviz, king of persia, who carried on a terrible war against the greek empire, to revenge the death of maurice, his father-in-law, slain by phocas, were very great, and continued in an uninterrupted course for two and twenty years. particularly in the year of christ , about the beginning of the sixth year before the hejra the persians, having the preceding year conquered syria, made themselves masters of palestine, and took jerusalem; which seems to be that signal advantage gained over the greeks mentioned in this passage, as agreeing best with the terms here used, and most likely to alarm the arabs by reason of their vicinity to the scene of action: and there was so little probability, at that time, of the greeks being able to retrieve their losses, much less to distress the persians, that in the following years the arms of the latter made still farther and more considerable progresses, and at length they laid siege to constantinople itself. but in the year , in which the fourth year of the hejra began, about ten years after the taking of jerusalem, the greeks, when it was least expected, gained a remarkable victory over the persians, and not only obliged them to quit the territories of the empire, by carrying the war into their own country, but drove them to the last extremity, and spoiled the capital city al madâyen; heraclius enjoying thenceforward a continued series of good fortune, to the deposition and death of khosru. for more exact information in these matters, and more nicely fixing the dates, either so as to correspond with or to overturn this pretended prophecy (neither of which is my business here), the reader may have recourse to the historians and chronologers. 	 jallalo'ddin, &c.		 al zamakh., al beidâwi.		 see p. , note h.		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin, &c.		 vide etiam asseman, bibl. orient. t. , part i. p. , &c. et boulainy. vie de mahom. p. , &c. in the nearest part of the land;u but after their defeat, they shall overcome the others in their turn, within a few years. unto god belongeth the disposal of this matter, both for what is past, and for what is to come: and on that day shall the believers rejoice in the success granted by god; for he granteth success unto whom he pleaseth, and he is the mighty, the merciful. this is the promise of god: god will not act contrary to his promise: but the greater part of men know not the veracity of god. they know the outward appearance of this present life; but they are careless as to the life to come. do they not consider within themselves that god hath not created the heavens and the earth, and whatever is between them, otherwise than in truth, and hath set them a determined period? verily a great number of men reject the belief of their future meeting their lord at the resurrection. do they not pass through the earth, and see what hath been the end of those who were before them? they excelled the meccans in strength, and broke up the earth,x and inhabited it in greater affluence and prosperity than they inhabit the same: and their apostles came unto them with evident miracles; and god was not disposed to treat them unjustly, but they injured their own souls by their obstinate infidelity; and the end of those who had done evil was evil, because they charged the signs of god with falsehood, and laughed the same to scorn. 	god produceth creatures, and will hereafter restore them to life: then shall ye return unto him. and on the day whereon the hour shall come, the wicked shall be struck dumb for despair; and they shall have no intercessors from among the idols which they associated with god. and they shall deny the false gods which they associated with him. on the day whereon the hour shall come, on that day shall the true believers and the infidels be separated: and they who shall have believed, and wrought righteousness, shall take their pleasure in a delightful meadow; but as for those who shall have disbelieved, and rejected our signs, and the meeting of the next life, they shall be delivered up to punishment. wherefore glorify god, when the evening overtaketh you, and when ye rise in the morning: and unto him be praise in heaven and earth; and at sunset, and when ye rest at noon.y he bringeth forth the living out of the dead, and he bringeth forth the dead out of the living;z and he quickeneth the earth after it hath been dead: and in like manner shall ye be brought forth from your graves. of his signs one is, that he hath created you of dust; and behold, ye are become men, spread over the face of the earth. 	and of his signs another is, that he hath created you, out of yourselves, wives, that ye may cohabit with them; and hath put love and compassion between you: verily herein are signs unto people who consider. 	u some interpreters, supposing that the land here meant is the land of arabia, or else that of the greeks, place the scene of action in the confines of arabia and syria, near bostra and adhraât; others imagine the land of persia is intended, and lay the scene in mesopotamia, on the frontiers of that kingdom; but ebn abbas, with more probability, thinks it was in palestine. 	x to dig for water and minerals, and to till the ground for seed, &c. 	y some are of opinion that the five times of prayer are intended in this passage; the evening including the time both of the prayer of sunset, and of the evening prayer properly so called, and the word i have rendered at sunset, marking the hour of afternoon prayer, since it may be applied also to the time a little before sunset. 	z see chapter , p. . 	 yahya, al beidâwi.		 mojahed, apud zamakh. jallalo'ddin. 	 al beidâwi. 											 and of his signs are also the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variety of your languages, and of your complexions:z verily herein are signs unto men of understanding. and of his signs are your sleeping by night and by day, and your seeking to provide for yourselves of his abundance: verily herein are signs unto people who hearken. of his signs others are, that he showeth you the lightning, to strike terror, and to give hope of rain, and that he sendeth down water from heaven, and quickeneth thereby the earth, after it hath been dead; verily herein are signs unto people who understand. and of his signs this also is one, namely, that the heaven and the earth stand firm at command: hereafter, when he shall call you out of the earth at one summons, behold, ye shall come forth. unto him are subject whosoever are in the heavens and on earth: all are obedient unto him. it is he who originally produceth a creature, and afterwards restoreth the same to life: and this is most easy with him. he justly challengeth the most exalted comparison, in heaven and earth;a and he is the mighty, the wise. he propoundeth unto a comparison taken from yourselves. have ye, among the slaves whom your right hands possess, any partner in the substance which we have bestowed on you, so that ye become equal sharers therein with them, or that ye fear them as ye fear one another?b thus we distinctly explain our signs, unto people who understand. but those who act unjustly, by attributing companions unto god, follow their own lusts, without knowledge: and who shall direct him whom god shall cause to err? they shall have none to help them. wherefore be thou orthodox, and set thy face towards the true religion, the institution of god, to which he hath created mankind disposed: there is no change in what god hath created.c this is the right religion; but the greater part of men know it not. 	and be ye turned unto him, and fear him, and be constant at prayer, and be not idolaters. of those who have made a schism in their religion, and are divided into various sects, every sect rejoice in their own opinion. when adversity befalleth men, they call upon their lord, turning unto him: afterwards, when he hath caused them to taste of his mercy, behold, a part of them associate other deities with their lord: to show themselves ungrateful for the favors which we have bestowed on them. enjoy therefore the vain pleasures of this life; but hereafter shall ye know the consequence. have we sent down unto them any authority, which speaketh of the false gods which they associate with him?d 	z which are certainly most wonderful, and, as i conceive, very hard to be accounted for, if we allow the several nations in the world to be all the offspring of one man, as we are assured by scripture they are, without having recourse to the immediate omnipotency of god. 	a that is, in speaking of him we ought to make use of the most noble and magnificent expressions we can possibly devise. 	b see chapter , p. 	c i.e., the immutable law, or rule, to which man is naturally disposed to conform, and which every one would embrace, as most fit for a rational creature, if it were not for the prejudices of education. the mohammedans have a tradition that their prophet used to say, that every person is born naturally disposed to become a moslem; but that a man's parents make him a jew, a christian, or a magian. 	d that is, have we either by the mouth of any prophet, or by any written revelation, commanded or encouraged the worship of more gods than one? when we cause men to taste mercy, they rejoice therein; but if evil befalleth them, for that which their hands have before committed, behold, they despair.e do they not see that god bestoweth provision abundantly on whom he pleaseth, and is sparing unto whom he pleaseth? verily herein are signs unto people who believe. give unto him who is of kin to thee his reasonable due; and also to the poor, and the stranger: this is better for those who seek the face of god; and they shall prosper. whatever ye shall give in usury,f to be an increase of men's substance, shall not be increased by the blessing of god: but whatever ye shall give in alms, for god's sake, they shall receive a twofold reward. it is god who hath created you, and hath provided food for you: hereafter will he cause you to die; and after that will he raise you again to life. is there any of your false gods, who is able to do the least of these things? praise be unto him; and far be he removed from what they associate with him! 	corruptiong hath appeared by land and by sea, for the crimes which men's hands have committed; that it might make them to tasteh a part of the fruits of that which they have wrought, that peradventure they might turn from their evil ways. say, go through the earth, and see what hath been the end of those who have been before you: the greater part of them were idolaters. set thy face therefore towards the right religion, before the day cometh, which none can put back from god. on that day shall they be separated into two companies: whoever shall have been an unbeliever, on him shall his unbelief be charged; and whoever shall have done that which is right, shall spread themselves couches of repose in paradise; that he may reward those who shall believe, and work righteousness, of his abundant liberality; for he loveth not the unbelievers. of his signs one is, that he sendeth the winds, bearing welcome tidings of rain, that he may cause you to taste of his mercy; and that ships may sail at his command, that ye may seek to enrich yourselves of his abundance by commerce; and that ye may give thanks. we sent apostles, before thee, unto their respective people, and they came unto them with evident proofs: and we took vengeance on those who did wickedly; and it was incumbent on us to assist the true believers. it is god who sendeth the winds, and raiseth the clouds, and spreadeth the same in the heaven, as he pleaseth; and afterwards disperseth the same: and thou mayest see the rain issuing from the midst thereof; and when he poureth the same down on such of his servants as he pleaseth, behold, they are filled with joy; although before it was sent down unto them, before such relief, they were despairing. consider therefore the traces of god's mercy; how he quickeneth the earth, after its state of death: verily the same will raise the dead; for he is almighty. 	yet if we should send a blasting wind, and they should see their corn yellow and burnt up, they would surely become ungrateful, after our former favors. thou canst not make the dead to hear, neither canst thou make the deaf to hear thy call, when they retire and turn their backs; 	e and seek not to regain the favour of god by timely repentance. 	f or by way of bribe. the word may include any sort of extortion or illicit gain. 	g viz., mischief and public calamities, such as famine, pestilence, droughts, shipwrecks, &c. or erroneous doctrines, or a general depravity of manners. 	h some copies read in the first person plural, that we might cause them to taste &c. 											 - neither canst thou direct the blind out of their error: thou shalt make none to hear, except him who shall believe in our signs; for they are resigned unto us. it is god who created you in weakness, and after weakness hath given you strength; and after strength, he will again reduce you to weakness, and gray hairs: he createth that which he pleaseth; and he is the wise, the powerful. on the day whereon the last hour shall come, the wicked will swear that they have not tarriedi above an hour: in like manner did they utter lies in their lifetime. but those on whom knowledge hath been bestowed, and faith, will say, ye have tarried, according to the book of god,k until the day of resurrection; for this is the day of resurrection; but ye knew it not. on that day their excuse shall not avail those who have acted unjustly; neither shall they be invited any more to make themselves acceptable unto god. and now have we propounded unto men, in this koran, parables of every kind: yet if thou bring them a verse thereof, the unbelievers will surely say, ye are no other than publishers of vain falsehoods. thus hath god sealed up the hearts of those who believe not: 	but do thou, o mohammed, persevere with constancy, for god is true; and let not those induce thee to waver, who have no certain knowledge. ________ chapter xxxi. entitled, lokmÂn;l revealed at mecca.m in the name of the most merciful god. a. l. m.n these are the signs of the wise book, a direction, and a mercy unto the righteous; who observe the appointed times of prayer, and give alms, and have firm assurance in the life to come: these are directed by their lord, and they shall prosper. there is a man who purchaseth a ludicrous story,o that he may seduce men from the way of god, without knowledge, and may laugh the same to scorn: these shall suffer a shameful punishment. 	i viz., in the world or in their graves. see chapter , p. . 	k that is, according to his foreknowledge and decree in the preserved table; or according to what is said in the korân, where the state of the dead is expressed by these words: behind them there shall be a bar until the day of resurrection. 	l the chapter is so entitled from a person of this name mentioned therein, of whom more immediately. 	m some except the fourth verse, beginning at these words, who observe the appointed times of prayer, and give alms, &c. and others three verses, beginning at these words, if all the trees in the earth were pens, &c. 	n see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. , &c. 	o i.e., vain and silly fables. the passage was revealed, it is said, on occasion of al nodar ebn al hareth, who, having brought from persia the romance of rostam and isfandiyar, the two heroes of that country, recited it in the assemblies of the koreish, highly extolling the power and splendour of the ancient persian kings, and preferring their stories to those of ad and thamud, david and solomon, and the rest which are told in the korân. some say that al nodar bought singing girls, and carried them to those who were inclined to become moslems to divert them from their purpose by songs and tales. 		 cap. , p. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem and when our signs are rehearsed unto him, he disdainfully turneth his back as though he heard them not, as though there were a deafness in his ears: wherefore denounce unto him a grievous punishment. but they who shall believe and work righteousness, shall enjoy gardens of pleasure: they shall continue therein forever: this is the certain promise of god; and he is the mighty, the wise. he hath created the heavens without visible pillars to sustain them, and thrown on the earth mountains firmly rooted, lest it should move with you;p and he hath replenished the same with all kinds of beasts; and we send down rain from heaven, and cause every kind of noble vegetable to spring forth therein. 	this is the creation of god: show me now what they have created, who are worshipped besides him? verily the ungodly are in a manifest error. we heretofore bestowed wisdom on lokmân,q and commanded him, saying, be thou thankful unto god: for whoever is thankful, shall be thankful to the advantage of his own soul; and if any shall be unthankful, verily god is self- sufficient, and worthy to be praised. and remember when lokmân said unto his son,r as he admonished him, oh my son, give not a partner unto god; for polytheism is a great impiety. we have commanded man concerning his parents,s (his mother carrieth him in her womb with weakness and faintness, and he is weaned in two years), saying, be grateful unto me, and to thy parents. unto me shall all come to be judged. 	p see chapter , p. . a learned writer, in his notes on this passage, says the original word rawâsiya, which the commentators in general will have to signify stable mountains, seems properly to express the hebrew word mechonim, i.e., bases or foundations; and therefore he thinks the korân has here translated that passage of the psalms, he laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved for ever. this is not the only instance which might be given that the mohammedan doctors are not always the best interpreters of their own scriptures. 	q the arab writers say, that lokmân was the son of baûra who was the son or grandson of a sister or aunt of job; and that he lived several centuries, and to the time of david, with whom he was conversant in palestine. according to the description they give of his person, he must have been deformed enough; for they say he was of a black complexion (whence some call him an ethiopian), with thick lips and splay feet: but in return he received from god wisdom and eloquence in a great degree, which some pretend were given him in a vision, on his making choice of wisdom preferably to the gift of prophecy, either of which were offered him. the generality of the mohammedans, therefore, hold him to have been no prophet, but only a wise man. as to his condition, they say he was a slave, but obtained his liberty on the following occasion: his master having one day given him a bitter melon to eat, he paid him such exact obedience as to eat it all; at which his master being surprised, asked him how he could eat so nauseous a fruit? to which he replied, it was no wonder that he should for once accept a bitter fruit from the same hand from which he had received so many favours. the commentators mention several quick repartees of lokmân, which, together with the circumstances above mentioned, agree so well with what maximus planudes has written of esop, that from thence, and from the fables attributed to lokmân by the orientals, the latter has been generally thought to have been no other than the esop of the greeks. however, that be (for i think the matter will bear a dispute), i am of opinion that planudes borrowed great part of his life of esop from the traditions he met with in the east concerning lokmân, concluding them to have been the same person, because they were both slaves, and supposed to be the writers of those fables which go under their respective names, and bear a great resemblance to one another; for it has long since been observed by learned men that the greater part of that monk's performance is an absurd romance, and supported by no evidence of the ancient writers. 	r whom some name anám (which comes pretty near the ennus of planudes), some ashcam, and others mathan. 	s the two verses which begin at these words, and end with the following, viz., and then will i declare unto you that which ye have done, are no part of lokmân's advice to his son, but are inserted by way of parenthesis, as very pertinent and proper to be repeated here, to show the heinousness of idolatry; they are to be read (excepting some additions) in the twenty-ninth chapter, and were originally revealed on account of saad ebn abi wakkâs, as has been already observed. 	 gol. in append. ad erpenii gram. p. .		 ps. civ. . 	 al zamakh, al beidâwi, &c. vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. p. , et marracc. in alc. p. .		 vide la vie d'esope, par m. de meziriac, et bayle, dict. hist. art. esope. rem. b. see cap. , p. , and the notes thereon. but if thy parents endeavor to prevail on thee to associate with me that concerning which thou hast no knowledge, obey them not: bear them company in this world in what shall be reasonable;t but follow the way of him who sincerely turneth unto me.u hereafter unto me shall ye return, and then will i declare unto you that which ye have done. oh my son, verily every matter, whether good or bad, though it be of the weight of a grain of mustard-seed, and be hidden in a rock, or in the heavens, or in the earth, god will bring the same to light; for god is clear-sighted and knowing. oh my son, be constant at prayer, and command that which is just, and forbid that which is evil: and be patient under the afflictions which shall befall thee; for this is a duty absolutely incumbent on all men. distort not thy face out of contempt to men, neither walk in the earth with insolence; for god loveth no arrogant, vain-glorious person. and be moderate in thy pace; and lower thy voice; for the most ungrateful of all voices surely is the voice of asses.x do ye not see that god hath subjected whatever is in heaven and on earth to your service, and hath abundantly poured on you his favors, both outwardly and inwardly?y there are some who dispute concerning god without knowledge, and without a direction, and without an enlightening book. 	and when it is said unto them, follow that which god hath revealed, they answer, nay, we will follow that which we found our fathers to practise. what, though the devil invite them to the torment of hell? whosoever resigneth himself unto god, being a worker of righteousness, taketh hold on a strong handle; and unto god belongeth the issue of all things. but whoever shall be an unbeliever, let not his unbelief grieve thee: unto us shall they return; then will we declare unto them that which they have done, for god knoweth the innermost parts of the breasts of men. we will suffer them to enjoy this world for a little while: afterwards we will drive them to a severe punishment. if thou ask them who hath created the heavens and the earth, they will surely answer, god. say, god be praised! but the greater part of them do not understand. unto god belongeth whatever is in heaven and earth: for god is the self- sufficient, the praiseworthy. if whatever trees are in the earth were pens, and he should after that swell the sea into seven seas of ink, the words of god would not be exhausted;z for god is mighty and wise. your creation and your resuscitation are but as the creation and resuscitation of one soul: verily god both heareth and seeth. 	t that is, show them all deference and obedience, so far as may be consistent with thy duty towards god. 	u the person particularly meant here was abu becr, at whose persuasion saad had become a moslem. 	x to the braying of which animal the arabs liken a loud and disagreeable voice. 	y i.e., all kinds of blessings, regarding as well the mind as the body. 	z this passage is said to have been revealed in answer to the jews, who insisted that all knowledge was contained in the law. 	a god being able to produce a million of worlds by the single word kun, i.e., be, and to raise the dead in general by the single word kum, i.e., arise. 					 al beidâwi. 	dost thou not see that god causeth the night to succeed the day, and causeth the day to succeed the night, and compelleth the sun and the moon to serve you? each of those luminaries hasteneth in its course to a determined period: and god is well acquainted with that which ye do. this is declared concerning the divine knowledge and power, for that god is the true being, and for that whatever ye invoke, besides him is vanity; and for that god is the high, the great god. dost thou not see that the ships run in the sea, through the favor of god, that he may show you of his signs? verily herein are signs unto every patient, grateful person. when waves cover them, like overshadowing clouds, they call upon god, exhibiting the pure religion unto him; but when he bringeth them safe to land, there is of them who halteth between the true faith and idolatry. howbeit, none rejecteth our signs, except every perfidious, ungrateful person. o men, fear your lord, and dread the day whereon a father shall not make satisfaction for his father at all: the promise of god is assuredly true. let not this present life, therefore, deceive you; neither let the deceiverb deceive you concerning god. verily the knowledge of the hour of judgment is with god; and he causeth the rain to descend at his own appointed time; and he knoweth what is in the wombs of females. no soul knoweth what it shall gain on the morrow; neither doth any soul know in what land it shall die;c but god is knowing and fully acquainted with all things. ________ chapter xxxii. entitled, adoration;d revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. a. l. m.e the revelation of this book, there is no doubt thereof, is from the lord of all creatures. will they say, mohammed hath forged it? nay it is the truth from thy lord, that thou mayest preach to a people, unto whom no preacher hath come before thee;f peradventure they will be directed. 	b viz., the devil. 	c in this passage five things are enumerated which are known to god alone, viz., the time of the day of judgment; the time of rain; what is forming in the womb, as whether it be male or female, &c.; what shall happen on the morrow; and where any person shall die. these the arabs, according to a tradition of their prophet, call the five keys of secret knowledge. the passage, it is said, was occasioned by al hareth ebn amru, who propounded questions of this nature to mohammed. 	as to the last particular, al beidâwi relates the following story: the angel of death passing once by solomon in a visible shape, and looking at one who was sitting with him, the man asked who he was, and upon solomon's acquainting him that it was the angel of death, said, he seems to want me; wherefore order the wind to carry me from hence into india; which being accordingly done, the angel said to solomon, i looked so earnestly at the man out of wonder; because i was commanded to take his soul in india, and found him with thee in palestine. 	d the title is taken from the middle of the chapter, where the believers are said to fall down adoring 	e see the prelim. disc. sect. iii p. , &c. 	f see chapter , p. . it is god who hath created the heavens and the earth, and whatever is between them, in six days; and then ascended his throne. ye have no patron or intercessor besides him. will ye not therefore consider? he governeth all things from heaven even to the earth: hereafter shall they return unto him, on the day whose length shall be a thousand years,g of those which ye compute. this is he who knoweth the future, and the present; the mighty, the merciful. it is he who hath made everything which he hath created exceeding good; and first created man of clay, and afterwards made his posterity of an extract of despicable water;h and then formed him into proper shape, and breathed of his spirit into him; and hath given you the senses of hearing and seeing, and hearts to understand. how small thanks do ye return! and they say, when we shall lie hidden in the earth, shall we be raised thence a new creature? 	yea, they deny the meeting of their lord at the resurrection. say, the angel of death,i who is set over you, shall cause you to die: then shall ye be brought back unto your lord. if thou couldest see, when the wicked shall bow down their heads before their lord, saying, o lord, we have seen, and have heard: suffer us therefore to return into the world, and we will work that which is right; since we are now certain of the truth of what hath been preached to us: thou wouldest see an amazing sight. if we had pleased we had certainly given unto every soul its direction: but the word which hath proceeded from me must necessarily be fulfilled, when i said, verily i will fill hell with genii and men, altogether.k taste therefore the torment prepared for you, because ye have forgotten the coming of this your day: we also have forgotten you; taste therefore the punishment of eternal duration, for that which ye have wrought. verily they only believe in our signs, who, when they are warned thereby, fall down adoring, and celebrate the praise of their lord, and are not elated with pride; their sides are raised from their beds, calling on their lord with fear and with hope; and they distribute alms out of what we have bestowed on them. no soull knoweth the complete satisfactionm which is secretly prepared for them, as a reward for that which they have wrought. 	g as to the reconciliation of this passage with another, which seems contradictory, see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . 	some, however, do not interpret the passage before us of the resurrection, but suppose that the words here describe the making and executing of the decrees of god, which are sent down from heaven to earth, and are returned (or ascend, as the verb properly signifies) back to him, after they have been put in execution; and present themselves, as it were, so executed, to his knowledge, in the space of a day with god, but with man, of a thousand years. others imagine this space to be the time which the angels, who carry the divine decrees, and bring them back executed, take in descending and reascending, because the distance from heaven to earth is a journey of five hundred years: and others fancy that the angels bring down at once decrees for a thousand years to come, which being expired, they return back for fresh orders, &c. 	h i.e., seed. 	i see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . 	k see chapter , p. , and chapter , p. . 	l not even an angel of those who approach nearest god's throne, nor any prophet who hath been sent by him. 	m literally, the joy of the eyes. the commentators fail not, on occasion of this passage, to produce that saying of their prophet, which was originally none of his own; god saith, i have prepared for my righteous servants, what eye hath not seen, nor hath ear heard, nor hath entered into the heart of man to conceive. 			 cap. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem. shall he, therefore, who is a true believer, be as he who is an impious transgressor? they shall not be held equal. as to those who believe and do that which is right, they shall have gardens of perpetual abode, an ample recompense for that which they shall have wrought: 	but as for those who impiously transgress, their abode shall be hell fire; so often as they shall endeavor to get thereout, they shall be dragged back into the same, and it shall be said unto them, taste ye the torment of hell fire, which ye rejected as a falsehood. and we will cause them to taste the nearer punishment of this world, besides the more grievous punishment of the next; peradventure they will repent. who is more unjust than he who is warned by the signs of his lord, and then turneth aside from the same? we will surely take vengeance on the wicked. we heretofore delivered the book of the law unto moses; wherefore be not thou in doubt as to the revelation thereof:n and we ordained the same to be a direction unto the children of israel; and we appointed teachers from among them, who should direct the people at our command, when they had persevered with patience, and had firmly believed in our signs. verily thy lord will judge between them, on the day of resurrection, concerning that wherein they have disagreed. is it not known unto them how many generations we have destroyed before them, through whose dwellings they walk?o verily herein are signs: will they not therefore hearken? do they not see that we drive rain unto a land bare of grass and parched up, and thereby produce corn, of which their cattle eat, and themselves also? will they not therefore regard? the infidels say to the true believers, when will this decision be made between us, if ye speak truth? answer, on the day of that decision,p the faith of those who shall have disbelieved shall not avail them; neither shall they be respited any longer. 	wherefore avoid them, and expect the issue: verily they expect to obtain some advantage over thee. 	n or, as some interpret it, of the revelation of the korân to thyself; since the delivery of the law to moses proves that the revelation of the korân to thee is not the first instance of the kind. others think the words should be translated thus: be thou not in doubt as to thy meeting of that prophet; supposing that the interview between moses and mohammed in the sixth heaven, when the latter took his night journey thither, is here intended. 	o the meccans frequently passing by the places where the adites, thamudites, midianites, sodomites, &c., once dwelt. 	p that is, on the day of judgment; though some suppose the day here intended to be that of the victory at bedr, or else that of the taking of mecca, when several of those who had been proscribed were put to death without remission. 			 idem.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. ii. p. . chapter xxxiii. entitled, the confederates;q revealed at medina. in the name of the most merciful god. o prophet, fear god, and obey not the unbelievers and the hypocrites:r verily god is knowing and wise. but follow that which is revealed unto thee from thy lord; for god is well acquainted with that which ye do; and put thy trust in god; for god is a sufficient protector. god hath not given a man two hearts within him; neither hath he made your wives (some of whom ye divorce, regarding them thereafter as your mothers) your true mothers; not hath he made your adopted sons your true sons.s this is your saying in your mouths: but god speaketh the truth; and he directed the right way. call such as are adopted, the sons of their natural fathers: this will be more just in the sight of god. and if ye know not their fathers, let them be as your brethren in religion, and your companions: and it shall be no crime in you, that ye errt in this matter; but that shall be criminal which your hearts purposely design; for god is gracious and merciful. the prophet is nigher unto the true believers than their own souls;u and his wives are their mothers.x those who are related by consanguinity are nigher of kin the one of them unto the others, according to the book of god, than the other true believers, and the mohâjerûn:y unless that ye do what is fitting and reasonable to your relations in general. this is written in the book of god.z 	q part of this chapter was revealed on occasion of the war of the ditch, which happened in the fifth year of the hejra, when medina was besieged, for above twenty days, by the joint and confederate forces of several jewish tribes, and of the inhabitants of mecca, najd, and tehâma, at the instigation of the jews of the tribe of nadhîr, who had been driven out of their settlement near medina, by mohammed, the year before. 	r it is related that abu sofiân, acrema ebn abi jahl, and abu'l a war al salami, having an amicable interview with mohammed, at which were present also abda'llah ebn obba, moatteb ebn kosheir, and jadd ebn kais, they proposed to the prophet that if he would leave off preaching against the worship of their gods, and acknowledge them to be mediators, they would give him and his lord no farther disturbance; upon which these words were revealed. 	s this passage was revealed to abolish two customs among the old arabs. the first was their manner of divorcing their wives, when they had no mind to let them go out of their house, or to marry again; and this the husband did by saying to the woman, thou art henceforward to me as the back of my mother; after which words pronounced he abstained from her bed, and regarded her in all respects as his mother, and she became related to all his kindred in the same degree as if she had been really so. the other custom was the holding their adopted sons to be as as nearly related to them as their natural sons, so that the same impediments of marriage arose from that supposed relation, in the prohibited degrees, as it would have done in the case of a genuine son. the latter mohammed had a peculiar reason to abolish-viz., his marrying the divorced wife of his freedman zeid, who was also his adopted son, of which more will be said by-and-bye. by the declaration which introduces this passage, that god has not given a man two hearts, is meant, that a man cannot have the same affection for supposed parents and adopted children, as for those who are really so. they tell us the arabs used to say, of a prudent and acute person, that he had two hearts; whence one abu mámer, or, as others write, jemîl ebn asad al fihri, was surnamed dhu'lkalbein, or the man with two hearts. 	t through ignorance or mistake; or, that ye have erred for the time past. 	u commanding them nothing but what is for their interest and advantage, and being more solicitous for their present and future happiness even than themselves; for which reason he ought to be dear to them, and deserves their utmost love and respect. in some copies these words are added, and he is a father unto them; every prophet being the spiritual father of his people, who are therefore brethren. it is said that this passage was revealed on some of mohammed's followers telling him, when he summoned them to attend him in the expedition of tabûc, that they would ask leave of their fathers and mothers. 	x though the spiritual relation between mohammed and his people, declared in the preceding words, created no impediment to prevent his taking to wife such women among them as he thought fit; yet the commentators are of opinion that they are here forbidden to marry any of his wives. 	y these words, which also occur, excepting the latter part of the sentence, in the eighth chapter, abrogate that law concerning inheritances, published in the same chapter, whereby the mohâjerûn and ansârs were to be the heirs of one another, exclusive of their nearer relations, who were infidels. 	z i.e., in the preserved table, or the korân; or, as others suppose, in the pentateuch. 	 vide abulfeda, vit. moh. p. , et gagnier, vie de mahomet, l. , c. i		 al beidâwi		 idem, jallalo'ddin, &c. see cap. , p. .		 al beidâwi.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. vi.		 see cap. , p. . remember when we accepted their covenant from the prophets,a and from thee, o mohammed, and from noah, and abraham, and moses, and jesus the son of mary, and received from them a firm covenant;b that god may examine the speakers of truth concerning their veracity:c and he hath prepared a painful torment for the unbelievers. o true believers, remember the favor of god towards you, when armies of infidels came against you,d and we sent against them a wind, and hosts of angels which ye saw not:e and god beheld that which ye did. 	when they came against you from above you, and from below you,f and when your sight became troubled, and your hearts came even to your throats for fear, and ye imagined of god various imaginations.g there were the faithful tried, and made to tremble with a violent trembling. 	a jallalo'ddin supposes this covenant was made when adam's posterity were drawn forth from his loins, and appeared before god like small ants: but marracci conjectures that the covenant here meant was the same which the talmudists pretend all the prophets entered into with god on mount sinai, where they were all assembled in person with moses. 	b whereby they undertook to execute their several commissions, and promised to preach the religion commanded them by god. 	c i.e., that he may at the day of judgment demand of the prophets in what manner they executed their several commissions, and how they were received by their people; or, as the words may also import, that he may examine those who believed on them, concerning their belief, and reward them accordingly. 	d these were the forces of the koreish and the tribe of ghatfân, confederated with the jews of al nadhîr and koreidha, who besieged medina to the number of twelve thousand men, in the expedition called the war of the ditch. 	e on the enemies' approach, mohammed, by the advice of salmân, the persian, ordered a deep ditch or entrenchment to be dug round medina, for the security of the city, and went out to defend it with three thousand men. both sides remained in their camps near a month, without any other acts of hostility than shooting of arrows and slinging of stones; till, in a winter's night, god sent a piercing cold east wind, which benumbed the limbs of the confederates, blew the dust in their faces, extinguished their fires, overturned their tents, and put their horses in disorder, the angels at the same time crying, allah acbar! round about their camp; whereupon toleiha ebn khowailed, the asadite, said aloud, mohammed is going to attack you with enchantments, wherefore provide for your safety by flight: and accordingly the koreish first, and afterward the ghatfânites, broke up the siege, and returned home; which retreat was also not a little owing to the dissensions among the confederate forces, the raising and fomenting whereof the mohammedans also ascribe to god. it is related that when mohammed heard that his enemies were retired, he said, i have obtained success by means of the east wind; and ad perished by the west wind. 	f the ghatfânites pitched on the east side of the town, on the higher part of the valley; and the koreish on the west side, on the lower part of the valley. 	g the sincere and those who were more firm of heart fearing they should not be able to stand the trial; and the weaker-hearted and hypocrites thinking themselves delivered up to slaughter and destruction 	 see cap. , p. .		 see cap. , p. .		 al beidâwi, abulf. vit. moh. p. , &c.		 idem. and when the hypocrites, and those in whose heart was an infirmity, said, god and his apostle have made you no other than a fallacious promise.h and when a party of themi said, o inhabitants of yathreb,k there is no place of security for you here; wherefore return home. and a part of them asked leave of the prophet to depart, saying, verily our houses are defenceless and exposed to the enemy: but they were not defenceless; and their intention was no other than to fly. if the city had been entered upon them by the enemy from the parts adjacent, and they had been asked to desert the true believers, and to fight against them; they had surely consented thereto: but they had not, in such case, remained in the samel but a little while. they had before made a covenant with god, that they would not turn their backs:m and the performance of their covenant with god shall be examined into hereafter. say, flight shall not profit you, if ye fly from death or from slaughter: and if it would, yet shall ye not enjoy this world but a little. say, who is he who shall defend you against god, if he is pleased to bring evil on you, or is pleased to show mercy towards you? they shall find none to patronize or protect them, besides god. god already knoweth those among you who hinder others from following his apostle, and who say unto their brethren, come hither unto us; and who come not to battle, except a little:n being covetous towards you:o but when fear cometh on them, thou seest them look unto thee for assistance, their eyes rolling about like the eyes of him who fainteth by reason of the agonies of death: yet when their fear is past they inveigh against you with sharp tongues; being covetous of the best and most valuable part of the spoils. these believe not sincerely; wherefore god hath rendered their works of no avail; and this is easy with god. 	they imagined that the confederates would not depart and raise the siege: and if the confederates should come another time, they would wish to live in the deserts among the arabs who dwell in tents,p and there to inquire after news concerning you; and although they were with you this time, yet they fought not, except a little. ye have in the apostle of god an excellent example,q unto him who hopeth in god, and the last day, and remembereth god frequently. 	h the person who uttered these words, it is said, was moatteb ebn kosheir, who told his fellows that mohammed had promised them the spoils of the persians and the greeks, whereas now not one of them dared to stir out of their entrenchment. 	i viz., aws ebn keidhi and his adherents. 	k this was the ancient and proper name of medina, or of the territory wherein it stands. some suppose the town was so named from its founder, yathreb, the son of kâbiya, the son of mahlayel, the son of aram, the son of sem, the son of noah; though others tell us it was built by the amalekites. 	l i.e., in the city; or, in their apostasy and rebellion, because the moslems would surely succeed at last. 	m the persons meant here were banu haretha, who having behaved very ill and run away on a certain occasion, promised they would do so no more. 	n either coming to the army in small numbers, or staying with them but a little while, and then returning on some feigned excuse; or behaving ill in time of action. some expositors take these words to be part of the speech of the hypocrites, reflecting on mohammed's companions for lying idle in the trenches, and not attacking the enemy. 	o i.e., sparing of their assistance either in person or with their purse; or being greedy after the booty. 	p that they might be absent, and not obliged to go to war. 	q viz., of firmness in time of danger, of confidence in the divine assistance, and of piety by fervent prayer for the same. 	 idem. vide abulf. ubi sup. p. .		 ahmed ebn yusof. see the prelim. disc. p. 		 al beidâwi. when the true believers saw the confederates, they said, this is what god and his apostle have foretold us;r and god and his apostle have spoken the truth: and it only increased their faith and resignation. of the true believers some men justly performed what they had promised unto god;s and some of them have finished their course,t and some of them wait the same advantage;u and they changed not their promise by deviating therefrom in the least: that god may reward the just performers of their covenant for their fidelity; and may punish the hypocritical, if he pleaseth, or may be turned unto them; for god is ready to forgive, and merciful. god hath driven back the infidels in their wrath: they obtained no advantage; and god was a sufficient protector unto the faithful in battle; for god is strong and mighty. and he hath caused such of those who have received the scriptures, as assisted the confederates, to come down out of their fortresses,x and he cast into their hearts terror and dismay:z a part of them ye slew, and a part ye made captives; 	r namely, that we must not expect to enter paradise without undergoing some trials and tribulations. there is a tradition that mohammed actually foretold this expedition of confederates some time before, and the success of it. 	s by standing firm with the prophet, and strenuously opposing the enemies of the true religion, according to their engagement. 	t or, as the words may be translated, have fulfilled their vow, or paid their debt to nature, by falling martyrs in battle; as did hamza, mohammed's uncle, masab ebn omair, and ans ebn al nadr, who were slain at the battle of ohod. the martyrs at the war of the ditch were six, including saad ebn moadh, who died of his wound about a month after. 	u as othmân and telha. 	x these were the jews of the tribe of koreidha, who, though they were in league with mohammed, had, at the incessant persuasion of caab ebn asad, a principal man among them, perfidiously gone over to his enemies in this war of the ditch, and were severely punished for it. for the next morning, after the confederate forces had decamped, mohammed and his men returned to medina, and, laying down their arms, began to refresh themselves after their fatigue; upon which gabriel came to the prophet and asked him whether he had suffered his people to lay down their arms, when the angels had not laid down theirs; and ordering him to go immediately against the koradhites, assuring him that himself would lead the way. mohammed, in obedience to the divine command, having caused public proclamation to be made that every one should pray that afternoon for success against the sons of koreidha, set forward upon the expedition without loss of time; and being arrived at the fortress of the koradhites, besieged them for twenty-five days, at the end of which those people, being in great terror and distress, capitulated, and at length, not daring to trust to mohammed's mercy, surrendered at the discretion of saad ebn moadh, hoping that he, being the prince of the tribe of aws, their old friends and confederates, would have some regard for them. but they were deceived: for saad, being greatly incensed at their breach of faith, had begged of god that he might not die of the wound he had received at the ditch till he saw vengeance taken on the koradhites, and therefore adjudged that the men should be put to the sword, the women and children made slaves, and their goods be divided among the moslems; which sentence mohammed had no sooner heard than he cried out, that saad had pronounced the sentence of god: and the same was accordingly executed, the number of men who were slain amounting to six hundred, or, as others say, to seven hundred, or very near, among whom were hoyai ebn akhtab, a great enemy of mohammed's, and caab ebn asad, who had been the chief occasion of the revolt of their tribe: and soon after saad, who had given judgment against them, died, his wound, which had been skinned over, opening again. 	z this was the work of gabriel, who, according to his promise, went before the army of moslems. it is said that mohammed, a little before he came to the settlement of the koradhites, asking some of his men whether anybody had passed them, they answered, that dohya ebn kholeifa, the calbite, had just passed by them, mounted on a white mule, with housings of satin: to which he replied, that person was the angel gabriel, who is sent to the sons of koreidha to shake their castles, and to strike their hearts with fear and consternation. 	 see cap. , p. ; cap. , p. ; cap. , p. , &c.		 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 abulf. vit. moh. p. .		 al beidâwi.		 see cap. , p. .		 al beidâwi, abulf. vit. moh. p. , &c. vide gagnier, vie de mah. l. , c. .		 ebn ishak. and god hath caused you to inherit their land, and their houses, and their wealth,a and a land on which ye have not trodden;b for god is almighty. o prophet, say unto thy wives, if ye seek this present life, and the pomp thereof, come, i will make a handsome provision for you, and i will dismiss you with an honourable dismission;c but if ye seek god and his apostle, and the life to come, verily god hath prepared for such of you as work righteousness a great reward. 	o wives of the prophet, whosoever of you shall commit a manifest wickedness, the punishment thereof shall be doubled unto her twofold;d and this is easy with god: but whosoever of you shall be obedient unto god and his apostle, and shall do that which is right, we will give her her reward twice,e and we have prepared for her an honourable provision in paradise. o wives of the prophet, ye are not as other women: if ye fear god, be not too complaisant in speech, lest he should covet, in whose heart is a disease of incontinence; but speak the speech which is convenient. and sit still in your houses; and set not out yourselves with the ostentation of the former time of ignorance:f and observe the appointed times of prayer, and give alms; and obey god, and his apostle; for god desireth only to remove from you the abomination of vanity, since ye are the household of the prophet, and to purify you by a perfect purification.g and remember that which is read in your houses, of the signs of god, and of the wisdom revealed in the koran; for god is clear-sighted, and well acquainted with your actions. verily the moslems of either sex, and the true believers of either sex, and the devout men, and the devout women, and the men of veracity, and the women of veracity, and the patient men, and the patient women, and the humble men, and the humble women, and the alms-givers of either sex, and the men who fast, and the women who fast, and the chaste men, and the chaste women, and those of either sex who remember god frequently; for them hath god prepared forgiveness, and a great reward. 	a their immovable possessions mohammed gave to the mohâjerin, saying, that the ansârs were in their own houses, but that the others were destitute of habitations. the movables were divided among his followers, but he remitted the fifth part, which was usual to be taken in other cases. 	b by which some suppose persia and greece are meant; others, khaibar; and others, whatever lands the moslems may conquer till the day of judgment. 	c this passage was revealed on mohammed's wives asking for more sumptuous clothes, and an additional allowance for their expenses; and he had no sooner received it than he gave them their option, either to continue with him or to be divorced, beginning with ayesha, who chose god and his apostle, and the rest followed her example; upon which the prophet thanked them, and the following words were revealed, viz., it shall not be lawful for thee to take other women to wife hereafter, &c. from hence some have concluded that wife who has her option given her, and chooses to stay with her husband, shall not be divorced, though others are of a contrary opinion. 	d for the crime would be more enormous and unpardonable in them, because of their superior condition, and the grace which they have received from god; whence it is that the punishment of a free person is ordained to be double to that of a slave, and prophets are more severely reprimanded for their faults than other men. 	e viz., once for her obedience, and a second time for her conjugal affection to the prophet, and handsome behaviour to him. 	f that is, in the old time of idolatry. some suppose the times before the flood, or the time of abraham, to be here intended, when women adorned themselves with all their finery, and went abroad into the streets to show themselves to the men. 	g the pronouns of the second person in this part of the passage being of the masculine gender, the shiites pretend the sentence has no connection with the foregoing or the following words; and will have it that by the household of the prophet are particularly meant fâtema and ali, and their two sons, hasan and hosein, to whom these words are directed. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 see after, in this chapter, p. .		 al beidâwi. see cap , p. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem. it is not fit for a true believer of either sex, when god and his apostle have decreed a thing, that they should have the liberty of choosing a different matter of their own:h and whoever is disobedient unto god and his apostle surely erreth with a manifest error. and remember when thou saidst to him unto whom god had been gracious,i and on whom thou also hadst conferred favours,k keep thy wife to thyself, and fear god: and thou didst conceal that in thy mind which god had determined to discover,l and didst fear men; whereas it was more just that thou shouldest fear god. but when zeidm had determined the matter concerning her, and had resolved to divorce her, we joined her in marriage unto thee;n lest a crime should be charged on the true believers, in marrying the wives of their adopted sons, when they have determined the matter concerning them;o and the command of god is to be performed. no crime is to be charged on the prophet, as to what god hath allowed him, conformable to the ordinance of god with regard to those who preceded him (for the command of god is a determinate decree), 	h this verse was revealed on account of zeinab (or zenobia), the daughter of jahash, and wife of zeid, mohammed's freedman, whom the prophet sought in marriage, but received a repulse from the lady and her brother abdallah, they being at first averse to the match: for which they are here reprehended. the mother of zeinab, it is said, was amîma, the daughter of abd'almotalleb, and aunt to mohammed. 	i viz., zeid ebn haretha, on whom god had bestowed the grace early to become a moslem. 	k by giving him his liberty, and adopting him for thy son, &c. 	zeid was of the tribe of calb, a branch of the khodaites, descended from hamyar, the son of saba; and being taken in his childhood by a party of freebooters, was bought by mohammed, or, as others say, by his wife khadijah before she married him. some years after, haretha, hearing where his son was, took a journey to mecca, and offered a considerable sum for his ransom; whereupon, mohammed said, let zeid come hither: and if he chooses to go with you, take him without ransom: but if it be his choice to stay with me, why should i not keep him? and zeid being come, declared that he would stay with his master, who treated him as if he were his only son. mohammed no sooner heard this, but he took zeid by the hand, and led him to the black stone of the caaba, where he publicly adopted him for his son, and constituted him his heir, with which the father acquiesced, and returned home well satisfied. from this time zeid was called the son of mohammed, till the publication of islâm, after which the prophet gave him to wife zeinab. 	l namely, thy affection to zeinab. the whole intrigue is artfully enough unfolded in this passage. the story is as follows:- 	some years after his marriage, mohammed, going to zeid's house on some affair, and not finding him at home, accidentally cast his eyes on zeinab, who was then in a dress which discovered her beauty to advantage, and was so smitten at the sight, that he could not forbear crying out, god be praised, who turneth the hearts of men as he pleaseth! this zeinab failed not to acquaint her husband with on his return home; whereupon, zeid, after mature reflection, thought he could do no less than part with his wife in favour of his benefactor, and therefore resolved to divorce her, and acquainted mohammed with his resolution; but he, apprehending the scandal it might raise, offered to dissuade him from it, and endeavoured to stifle the flames which inwardly consumed him; but at length, his love for her being authorized by this revelation, he acquiesced, and after the term of her divorce was expired, married her in the latter end of the fifth year of the hejra. 	m it is observed that this is the only person, of all mohammed's companions, whose name is mentioned in the korân. 	n whence zeinab used to vaunt herself above the prophet's other wives, saying that god had made the match between mohammed and herself, whereas their matches were made by their relations. 	o for this feigned relation, as has been observed, created an impediment of marriage among the old arabs within the prohibited degrees, in the same manner as if it had been real; and therefore mohammed's marrying zeinab, who had been his adopted son's wife, occasioned great scandal among his followers, which was much heightened by the jews and hypocrites: but the custom is here declared unreasonable, and abolished for the future. 	 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin.		 al jannabi. vide gagnier, vie de moh. l. . c. .		 al beidâwi, al jannabi, &c.		 idem. who brought the messages of god, and feared him, and feared none besides god: and god is a sufficient accountant. 	mohammed is not the father of any man among you; but the apostle of god, and the seal of the prophets: and god knoweth all things. o true believers, remember god with a frequent remembrance, and celebrate his praise morning and evening. it is he who is gracious unto you, and his angels intercede for you, that he may lead you forth from darkness into light; and he is merciful towards the true believers. their salutation, on the day whereon they shall meet him, shall be, peace! and he hath prepared for them an honourable recompense. o prophet, verily we have sent thee to be a witness, and a bearer of good tidings, and a denouncer of threats, and an inviter unto god, through his good pleasure, and a shining light. bear good tidings therefore unto the true believers, that they shall receive great abundance from god. and obey not the unbelievers, and the hypocrites, and mind not their evil treatment: but trust in god; and god is a sufficient protector. o true believers, when ye marry women who are believers, and afterwards put them away, before ye have touched them, there is no term prescribed you to fulfil towards themp after their divorce: but make them a present,q and dismiss them freely with an honourable dismission. o prophet, we have allowed thee thy wives unto whom thou hast given their dower, and also the slaves which thy right hand possesseth, of the booty which god hath granted thee;r and the daughters of thy uncle, and the daughters of thy aunts, both on thy father's side, and on thy mother's side, who have fled with thee from mecca,s and any other believing woman, if she give herself unto the prophet;t in case the prophet desireth to take her to wife. this is a peculiar privilege granted unto thee above the rest of the true believers.u 	we know what we have ordained them concerning their wives, and the slaves which their right hands possess: lest it should be deemed a crime in thee to make use of the privilege granted thee; for god is gracious and merciful. 	p that is, ye are not obliged to keep them any certain time before ye dismiss them, as ye are those with whom the marriage has been consummated. see chap. , p. . 	q i.e., if no dower has been assigned them: for if a dower has been assigned, the husband is obliged, according to the sonna, to give the woman half the dower agreed on, besides a present. this is still to be understood of such women with whom the marriage has not been consummated. 	r it is said, therefore, that the women slaves which he should buy are not included in this grant. 	s but not the others. it is related of omm hâni, the daughter of abu taleb, that she should say, the apostle of god courted me for his wife, but i excused myself to him, and he accepted of my excuse: afterwards this verse was revealed; but he was not thereby allowed to marry me, because i fled not with him. 	it may be observed that dr. prideaux is much mistaken when he asserts that mohammed, in this chapter, brings in god exempting him from the law in the fourth chapter, whereby the moslems are forbidden to marry within certain degrees, and giving him an especial privilege to take to wife the daughter of his brother, or the daughter of his sister. 	t without demanding any dower. according to a tradition of ebn abbas, the prophet, however, married no woman without assigning her a dower. the commentators are not agreed who was the woman particularly meant in this passage; but they name four who are supposed to have thus given themselves to the prophet, viz., maimûna bint al hareth, zeinab bint khozaima, ghozîa bint jâber, surnamed omm shoraic (which three he actually married), and khawla bint hakim, whom, as it seems, he rejected. 	u for no moslem can legally marry above four wives, whether free women or slaves; whereas mohammed is, by the preceding passage, left at liberty to take as many as he pleased, though with some restrictions. 	 idem.		 idem.		 page .		 see prid. life of mahomet, p. . thou mayest postpone the turn of such of thy wives as thou shalt please, in being called to thy bed; and thou mayest take unto thee her whom thou shalt please, and her whom thou shalt desire of those whom thou shalt have before rejected: and it shall be no crime in thee.x this will be more easy, that they may be entirely content, and may not be grieved, but may be well pleased with what thou shalt give every of them: god knoweth whatever is in your hearts; and god is knowing and gracious. it shall not be lawful for thee to take other women to wife hereafter,z nor to exchange any of thy wives for them,a although their beauty please thee; except the slaves whom thy right hand shall possess: and god observeth all things. o true believer, enter not the houses of the prophet, unless it be permitted you to eat meat with him, without waiting his convenient time; but when ye are invited, then enter. and when ye shall have eaten, disperse yourselves; and stay not to enter into familiar discourse: for this incommodeth the prophet. he is ashamed to bid you depart; but god is not ashamed of the truth. and when ye ask of the prophet's wives what ye may have occasion for, ask it of them from behind a curtain.b this will be more pure for your hearts and their hearts. neither is it fit for you to give any uneasiness to the apostle of god, or to marry his wives after him for ever:c for this would be a grievous thing in the sight of god. whether ye divulge a thing or conceal it, verily god knoweth all things. 	x by this passage some farther privileges were granted unto mohammed; for, whereas other men are obliged to carry themselves equally towards their wives, in case they had more than one, particularly as to the duties of the marriage bed, to which each has a right to be called in her turn (which right was acknowledged in the most early ages), and cannot take again a wife whom they have divorced the third time, till she has been married to another and divorced by him, the prophet was left absolutely at liberty to deal with them in these and other respects as he thought fit. 	z the commentators differ as to the express meaning of these words. some think mohammed was thereby forbidden to take any more wives than nine, which number he then had, and is supposed to have been his stint, as four was that of other men; some imagine that after this prohibition, though any of the wives he then had should die or be divorced, yet he could not marry another in her room: some think he was only forbidden from this time forward to marry any other woman than one of the four sorts mentioned in the preceding passage; and others are of opinion that this verse is abrogated by the two preceding verses, or one of them, and was revealed before them, though it be read after them. 	a by divorcing her and marrying another. al zamakhshari tells us that some are of opinion this prohibition is to be understood of a particular kind of exchange used among the idolatrous arabs, whereby two men made a mutual exchange of their wives without any other formality. 	b that is, let there be a curtain drawn between you, or let them be veiled while ye talk with them. as the design of the former precept was to prevent the impertinence of troublesome visitors, the design of this was to guard against too near an intercourse or familiarity between his wives and his followers; and was occasioned, it is said, by the hand of one of his companions accidentally touching that of ayesha, which gave the prophet some uneasiness. 	c i.e., either such as he shall divorce in his lifetime, or his widows after his death. this was another privilege peculiar to the prophet. 	it is related that, in the khalifat of omar, ashath ebn kais married the woman whom mohammed had dismissed without consummating his marriage with her; upon which the khalîf at first was thinking to stone her, but afterwards changed his mind, on its being represented to him that this prohibition related only to such women to whom the prophet had gone in. 	 see kor. c. , p. , &c.		 see gen. xxx. , &c		 see cap. , p. .		 as abu'l kasem hebatallah.		 al zamakh., al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin, &c.		 al beidâwi.		 see before, p. , note t. al beidâwi. it shall be no crime in them, as to their fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or the slaves which their right hands possess, if they speak to them unveiled:d and fear ye god;e for god is witness of all things. verily god and his angels bless the prophet. o true believers, do ye also bless him, and salute him with a respectful salutation.f as to those who offend god and his apostle, god shall curse them in this world and in the next; and he hath prepared for them a shameful punishment. and they who shall injure the true believers of either sex, without their deserving it, shall surely bear the guilt of calumny and a manifest injustice.g o prophet, speak unto thy wives, and thy daughters, and the wives of the true believers, that they cast their outer garmentsh over them when they walk abroad; this will be more proper, that they may be known to be matrons of reputation, and may not be affronted by unseemly words or actions. god is gracious and merciful. 	verily if the hypocrites, and those in whose hearts is an infirmity, and they who raise disturbances in medina, do not desist, we will surely stir thee up against them, to chastise them: henceforth they shall not be suffered to dwell near thee therein, except for a little time, and being accursed; wherever they are found they shall be taken, and killed with a general slaughter, according to the sentence of god concerning those who have been before; and thou shalt not find any change in the sentence of god. men will ask thee concerning the approach of the last hour; answer, verily the knowledge thereof is with god alone; and he will not inform thee: peradventure the hour is nigh at hand. verily god hath cursed the infidels, and hath prepared for them a fierce fire, wherein they shall remain forever: they shall find no patron or defender. on the day whereon their faces shall be rolled in hell fire, they shall say, oh that we had obeyed god, and had obeyed his apostle! and they shall say, o lord, verily we have obeyed our lords, and our great men; and they have seduced us from the right way. o lord, give them the double of our punishment; and curse them with a heavy curse! o true believers, be not as those who injured moses; but god cleared him from the scandal which they had spoken concerning him;i and he was of great consideration in the sight of god.k 	d see chapter , p. . 	e the words are directed to the prophet's wives. 	f hence the mohammedans seldom mention his name without adding, on whom be the blessing of god and peace! or the like words. 	g this verse was revealed, according to some, on occasion of certain hypocrites who had slandered ali; or, according to others, on occasion of those who falsely accused ayesha, &c. 	h the original word properly signifies the large wrappers, usually of white linen, with which the women in the east cover themselves from head to foot when they go abroad. 	i the commentators are not agreed what this injury was. some say that moses using to wash himself apart, certain malicious people gave out that he had a rupture (or, say others, that he was a leper, or an hermaphrodite), and for that reason was ashamed to wash with them; but god cleared him from this aspersion by causing the stone on which he had laid his clothes while he washed to run away with them into the camp, whither moses followed it naked; and by that means the israelites, in the midst of whom he was gotten ere he was aware, plainly perceived the falsehood of the report. others suppose karûn's accusation of moses is here intended, or else the suspicion of aaron's murder, which was cast on moses because he was with him when he died on mount hor; of which latter he was justified by the angels bringing his body and exposing it to public view, or, say some, by the testimony of aaron himself, who was raised to life for that purpose. 	the passage is said to have been occasioned by reflections which were cast on mohammed, on his dividing certain spoils; and that when they came to his ear, he said, god be merciful unto my brother moses: he was wronged more than this, and bore it with patience. 	k some copies for inda read abda, according to which the words should be translated, and he was an illustrious servant of god. 	 see cap. .		 see cap. , p. .		 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi.		 al bokhari. 	o true believers, fear god, and speak words well directed: that god may correct your works for you, and may forgive you your sins: and whoever shall obey god and his apostle shall enjoy great felicity. we proposed the faith unto the heavens, and the earth, and the mountains: and they refused to undertake the same, and were afraid thereof; but man undertook it:l verily he was unjust to himself, and foolish;m that god may punish the hypocritical men, and the hypocritical women, and the idolaters, and the idolatresses; and that god may be turned unto the true believers, both men and women; for god is gracious and merciful. ________ chapter xxxiv. entitled, saba;n revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. praise be unto god, unto whom belongeth whatever is in the heavens and on earth: and unto him be praise in the world to come; for he is wise and intelligent. he knoweth whatsoever entereth into the earth,o and whatsoever cometh out of the same,p and whatsoever descendeth from heaven,q and whatsoever ascendeth thereto:r and he is merciful and ready to forgive. the unbelievers say, the hour of judgment will not come unto us. answer, yea, by my lord, it will surely come unto you; it is he who knoweth the hidden secret: the weight of an ant, either in heaven or in earth, is not absent from him, nor anything lesser than this or greater, but the same is written in the perspicuous book of his decrees; 	l by faith is here understood entire obedience to the law of god, which is represented to be of so high concern (no less than eternal happiness or misery depending on the observance or neglect thereof), and so difficult in the performance, that if god should propose the same on the conditions annexed, to the vaster parts of the creation, and they had understanding to comprehend the offer, they would decline it, and not dare to take on them a duty, the failing wherein must be attended with so terrible a consequence; and yet man is said to have undertaken it, notwithstanding his weakness and the infirmities of his nature. some imagine this proposal is not hypothetical, but was actually made to the heavens, earth, and mountains, which at their first creation were endued with reason, and that god told them he had made a law, and had created paradise for the recompense of such as were obedient to it, and hell for the punishment of the disobedient; to which they answered they were content to be obliged to perform the services for which they were created, but would not undertake to fulfil the divine law on those conditions, and therefore desired neither reward nor punishment; they add that when adam was created, the same offer was made to him, and he accepted it. the commentators have other explications of this passage, which it would be too prolix to transcribe. 	m unjust to himself in not fulfilling his engagements and obeying the law he had accepted; and foolish in not considering the consequence of his disobedience and neglect. 	n mention is made of the people of saba in the fifteenth verse. 	o as the rain, hidden treasures, the dead, &c. 	p as animals, plants, metals, spring-water, &c. 	q as the angels, scriptures, decrees of god, rain, thunder and lightning, &c. 	r as the angels, men's works, vapours, smoke, &c. 			 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi.		 al beidâwi. that he may recompense those who shall have believed, and wrought righteousness: they shall receive pardon, and an honourable provision. but they who endeavor to render our signs of none effect shall receive a punishment of painful torment. those unto whom knowledge hath been given, see that the book which hath been revealed unto thee from thy lord is the truth, and directeth into the glorious and laudable way. the unbelievers say to one another, shall we show you a man who shall prophesy unto you, that when ye shall have been dispersed with a total dispersion, ye shall be raised a new creature? he hath forged a lie concerning god, or rather he is distracted. but they who believe not in the life to come shall fall into punishment and a wide error. have they not therefore considered what is before them, and what is behind them, of the heaven and the earth? if we please, we will cause the earth to open and swallow them up, or will cause a piece of the heaven to fall upon them: verily herein is a sign unto every servant, who turneth unto god. 	we heretofore bestowed on david excellence from us: and we said, o mountains, sing alternate praises with him; and we obliged the birds also to join therein.s and we softened the iron for him, saying, make thereof complete coats of mail,t and rightly dispose the small plates which compose the same: and work ye righteousness, o family of david; for i see that which ye do. and we made the wind subject unto solomon:u it blew in the morning for a month, and in the evening for a month. and we made a fountain of molten brass to flow for him.x and some of the genii were obliged to work in his presence, by the will of his lord; and whoever of them turned aside from our command, we will cause him to taste the pain of hell fire.y they made for him whatever he pleased of palaces, and statues,z and large dishes like fishponds,a and caldrons standing firm on their trevets;b and we said, work righteousness, o family of david, with thanksgiving; for few of my servants are thankful. 	s see chapter , p. 	t see ibid. 	u see ibid. and chapter , p. . 	x this fountain they say was in yaman, and flowed three days in a month. 	y or, as some expound the words, we caused him to taste the pain of burning; by which they understand the correction the disobedient genii received at the hands of the angel set over them, who whipped them with a whip of fire. 	z some suppose these were images of the angels and prophets, and that the making of them was not then forbidden; or else that they were not such images as were forbidden by the law. some say these spirits made him two lions, which were placed at the foot of his throne, and two eagles, which were set above it; and that when he mounted it the lions stretched out their paws, and when he sat down the eagles shaded him with their wings. 	a being so monstrously large that a thousand men might eat out of each of them at once. 	b these cauldrons, they say, were cut out of the mountains of yaman, and were so vastly big that they could not be moved; and people went up to them by steps. 		 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 idem.		 jallalo'ddin. and when we had decreed that solomon should die, nothing discovered his death unto them, except the creeping thing of the earth, which gnawed his staff.c and when his body fell down, the genii plainly perceived that if they had known that which is secret, they had not continued in a vile punishment.d the descendants of sabae had heretofore a sign in their dwelling; namely, two gardens on the right hand and on the left,f and it was said unto them, eat ye of the provision of your lord, and give thanks unto him; ye have a good country, and a gracious lord. but they turned aside from what we had commanded them; wherefore we sent against them the inundation of al arem,g and we changed their two gardens for them into two gardens producing bitter fruit, and tamarisks,h and some little fruit of the lote-tree. this we gave them in reward, because they were ungrateful: is any thus rewarded except the ungrateful? and we placed between them and the cities which we have blessed,i cities situated near each other; and we made the journey easy between them,k saying, travel through the same by night and by day, in security. but they said, o lord, put a greater distance between our journeys:l and they were unjust unto themselves; and we made them the subject of discourse, and dispersed them with a total dispersion.m verily, herein are signs unto every patient, grateful person. 	c the commentators, to explain this passage, tell us that david, having laid the foundations of the temple of jerusalem, which was to be in lieu of the tabernacle of moses, when he died, left it to be finished by his son solomon, who employed the genii in the work: that solomon, before the edifice was quite completed, perceiving his end drew nigh, begged of god that his death might be concealed from the genii till they had entirely finished it; that god therefore so ordered it, that solomon died as he stood at his prayers, leaning on his staff, which supported the body in that posture a full year; and the genii, supposing him to be alive, continued their work during that term, at the expiration whereof the temple being perfectly completed, a worm, which had gotten into the staff, ate it through, and the corpse fell to the ground and discovered the king's death. 	possibly this fable of the temple's being built by genii, and not by men, might take its rise from what is mentioned in scripture, that the house was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither; so that there was neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was building; the rabbins indeed, tell us of a worm, which might assist the workmen, its virtue being such as to cause the rocks and stones to fly in sunder. whether the worm which gnawed solomon's staff were of the same breed with this other, i know not; but the story has perfectly the air of a jewish invention. 	d i.e., they had not continued in servile subjection to the command of solomon, nor had gone on with the work of the temple. 	e saba was the son of yashhab, the son of yárab, the son of kahtân, whose posterity dwelt in yaman, in the city of mâreb, called also saba, about three days' journey from sanaa. 	f that is, two tracts of land, one on this side of their city, and the other on that, planted with trees, and made into gardens, which lay so thick and close together, that each tract seemed to be one continued garden: or, it may be, every house had a garden on each hand of it. 	g the commentators set down several significations of the word al arem, which are scarce worth mentioning: it most properly signifies mounds or dams for the stopping or containing of water, and is here used for that stupendous mound or building which formed the vast reservoir above the city of saba, described in another place, and which, for the great impiety, pride, and insolence of the inhabitants, was broken down in the night by a mighty flood, and occasioned a terrible destruction. al beidâwi supposes this mound was the work of queen balkîs, and that the above-mentioned catastrophe happened after the time of jesus christ; wherein he seems to be mistaken. 	h a low shrub bearing no fruit, and delighting in saltish and barren ground. 	i viz., the cities of syria. 	k by reason of their near distance, so that during the whole journey a traveller might rest in one town during the heat of the day, and in another at night; nor was he obliged to carry provisions with him. 	l this petition they made out of covetousness, that the poor being obliged to be longer on the road, they might make greater advantages in letting out their cattle, and furnishing the travellers with provision: and god was pleased to punish them by granting them their wish, and permitting most of the cities, which were between saba and syria, to be ruined and abandoned. 	m for the neighbouring nations justly wondered at so sudden and unforeseen a revolution in the affairs of this once flourishing people: whence it became a proverbial saying, to express a total dispersion, that they were gone and scattered like saba. 	of the descendants of saba, who quitted their country and sought new settlements on this inundation, the tribe of ghassân went into syria, the tribe of anmâr to yathreb, the tribe of jodhâm to tehâmah, the tribe of al azd to omân, the tribe of tay to najd, the tribe of khozaah to batan marr near mecca, banu amela to a mountain, thence called the mountain of amela, near damascus, and others went to hira in irâk, &c. 	 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin.		 i kings vi. .		 vide kimhi, in loc. buxt. lex. talm. p. , et schickardi tarich reg. pers. p. .		 al beidâwi.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. i. p. . 	 see ibid.		 jallal., al beidâwi.		 idem. 	 al beidâwi. vide gol. not. in alfrag. p. and eblis found his opinion of them to be true:n and they followed him, except a party of the true believers:o 	and he had no power over them, unless to tempt them, that we might know him who believed in the life to come, from him who doubted thereof. thy lord observeth all things. say unto the idolaters, call upon those whom ye imagine to be gods, besides god: they are not masters of the weight of an ant in heaven or on earth, neither have they any share in the creation or government of the same; nor is any of them assistant to him therein. no intercession will be of service in his presence, except the intercession of him to whom he shall grant permission to intercede for others:p and they shall wait in suspense until, when the terror shall be taken off from their hearts,q they shall say to one another: what doth your lord say? they shall answer, that which is just: and he is the high, the great god. say, who provideth food for you from heaven and earth? answer, god: and either we, or ye, follow the true direction, or are in a manifest error. say, ye shall not be examined concerning what we shall have committed: neither shall we be examined concerning what ye shall have done. say, our lord will assemble us together at the last day: then he will judge between us with truth; and he is the judge, the knowing. say, show me those whom ye have joined as partners with him? nay; rather he is the mighty, the wise god. we have not sent thee otherwise than unto mankind in general, a bearer of good tidings, and a denouncer of threats; but the greater part of men do not understand. and they say, when will this threat be fulfilled, if ye speak truth? answer, a threat is denounced unto you of a day which ye shall not retard one hour, neither shall ye hasten. 	the unbelievers say, we will by no means believe in this koran, nor in that which hath been revealed before it.r but if thou couldest see when the unjust doers shall be set before their lord! they will iterate discourse with one another: those who were esteemed weak shall say unto those who behaved themselves arrogantly,s had it not been for you, verily we had been true believers. they who behaved themselves arrogantly shall say unto those who were esteemed weak, did we turn you aside from the true direction, after it had come unto you? on the contrary, ye acted wickedly of your own free choice. 	n either his opinion of the sabeans, when he saw them addicted to pride and ingratitude, and the satisfying their lusts; or else the opinion he entertained of all mankind at the fall of adam, or at his creation, when he heard the angels say, wilt thou place in the earth one who will do evil therein, and shed blood? 	o who were saved from the common destruction. 	p see chapter , p. . 	q i.e., from the hearts of the intercessors, and of those for whom god shall allow them to intercede, by the permission which he shall then grant them; for no angel or prophet shall dare to speak at the last day without the divine leave. 	r it is said that the infidels of mecca, having inquired of the jews and christians concerning the mission of mohammed, were assured by them that they found him described as the prophet who should come, both in the pentateuch and in the gospel; at which they were very angry, and broke out into the words here recorded. 	s see chapter , p. , note 	 al beidâwi.		 vide poc. spec. p. , , and . 	 see cap. , p. ; cap. , p. ; and cap. , p. , &c. al beidâwi and they who were esteemed weak shall say unto those who behaved with arrogance, nay, but the crafty plot which ye devised by night and by day, occasioned our ruin: when ye commanded us that we should not believe in god, and that we should set up other gods as equals unto him. and they shall conceal their repentance,t after they shall have seen the punishment prepared for them. and we will put yokes on the necks of those who shall have disbelieved: shall they be rewarded any otherwise than according to what they shall have wrought? we have sent no warner unto any city, but the inhabitants thereof who lived in affluence said, verily we believe not that with which ye are sent. and those of mecca also say, we abound in riches and children, more than ye; and we shall not be punished hereafter. answer, verily my lord will bestow provision in abundance unto whom he pleaseth, and will be sparing unto whom he pleaseth: but the greater part of men know not this. neither your riches nor your children are the things which shall cause you to draw nigh unto us with a near approach: only whoever believeth, and worketh righteousness, they shall receive a double reward for that which they shall have wrought: and they shall dwell in security, in the upper apartments of paradise. but they who shall endeavor to render our signs of none effect shall be delivered up to punishment. say, verily my lord will bestow provision in abundance unto whom he pleaseth of his servants, and will be sparing unto whom he pleaseth: and whatever thing ye shall give in alms, he will return it; and he is the best provider of food. on a certain day he shall gather them altogether: then shall he say unto the angels, did these worship you? 	and the angels shall answer, god forbid! thou art our friend, and not these: but they worshipped devils; the greater part of them believed in them. on this day the one of you shall not be able either to profit or to hurt the other. and we will say unto those who have acted unjustly, taste ye the pain of hell fire, which ye rejected as a falsehood. when our evident signs are read unto them, they say of thee, o mohammed, this is no other than a man who seeketh to turn you aside from the gods which your fathers worshipped. and they say of the koran, this is no other than a lie blasphemously forged. and the unbelievers say of the truth, when it is come unto them, this is no other than manifest sorcery: yet we have given them no books of scripture wherein to exercise themselves, nor have we sent unto them any warner before thee. they who were before them in like manner accused their prophets of imposture: but these have not arrived unto the tenth part of the riches and strength which we had bestowed on the former: and they accused my apostles of imposture; and how severe was my vengeance! say, verily i advise you unto one thing, namely, that ye stand before god by two and two, and singly;u and then consider seriously and you will find that there is no madness in your companion mohammed: he is no other than a warner unto you, sent before a severe punishment. 	t see chapter , p. , note y. 	u i.e., that ye set yourselves to deliberate and judge of me and my pretensions coolly and sincerely, as in the sight of god, without passion or prejudice. the reason why they are ordered to consider either alone, or by two and two at most together, is because in larger assembles, where noise, passion, and prejudice generally prevail, men have not that freedom of judgment which they have in private. 					 al beidâwi. say, i ask not of you any reward for my preaching;x it is your own, either to give or not:y my reward is to be expected from god alone; and he is witness over all things. say, verily my lord sendeth down the truth to his prophets: he is the knower of secrets. say, truth is come, and falsehood is vanished, and shall not return any more. say, if i err, verily i shall err only against my own soul: but if i be rightly directed, it will be by that which my lord revealeth unto me; for he is ready to hear, and nigh unto those who call upon him. 	if thou couldest see, when the unbelievers shall tremble,z and shall find no refuge, and shall be taken from a near place,a and shall say, we believe in him! but how shall they receive the faith from a distant place:b since they had before denied him, and reviled the mysteries of faith, from a distant place? and a bar shall be placed between them and that which they shall desire; as it hath been done with those who behaved like them heretofore: because they have been in a doubt which hath caused scandal. ________ chapter xxxv. entitled, the creator;c revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. praise be unto god the creator of heaven and earth; who maketh the angels his messengers, furnished with two, and three, and four pair of wings:d god maketh what addition he pleaseth unto his creatures; for god is almighty. the mercy which god shall freely bestow on mankind, there is none who can withhold; and what he shall withhold, there is none who can bestow, besides him; and he is the mighty, the wise. o men, remember the favor of god towards you: is there any creator, besides god, who provideth food for you from heaven and earth? there is no god but he: how therefore are ye turned aside from acknowledging his unity? 	x mohammed, having in the preceding words answered the imputation of madness or vain enthusiasm, by appealing to their cooler thoughts of him and his actions, endeavours by these to clear himself of the suspicion of any worldly view or interest, declaring that he desired no salary or support from them for executing his commission, but expected his wages from god alone. 	y see chapter , p. . 	z viz., at their death, or the day of judgment, or the battle of bedr. 	a that is, from the outside of the earth to the inside thereof; or, from before god's tribunal to hell fire; or, from the plain of bedr to the well into which the dead bodies of the slain were thrown. 	b i.e., when they are in the other world; whereas faith is to be received in this. 	c some entitle this chapter the angels: both words occur in the first verse. 	d that is, some angels have a greater and some a lesser number of wings, according to their different orders, the words not being designed to express the particular number. gabriel is said to have appeared to mohammed, on the night he made his journey to heaven, with no less than six hundred wings. 			 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem. if they accuse thee of imposture, apostles before thee have also been accused of imposture: and unto god shall all things return. o men, verily the promise of god is true: let not therefore the present life deceive you, neither let the deceiver deceive you concerning god: for satan is an enemy unto you; wherefore hold him for an enemy: he only inviteth his confederates to be the inhabitants of hell. for those who believe not there is prepared a severe torment: but for those who shall believe and do that which is right, is prepared mercy and a great reward. shall he therefore for whom his evil work hath been prepared, and who imagineth it to be good, be as he who is rightly disposed, and discerneth the truth? verily god will cause to err whom he pleaseth, and will direct whom he pleaseth. let not thy soul therefore be spent in sighs for their sakes, on account of their obstinacy; for god well knoweth that which they do. 	it is god who sendeth the winds, and raiseth a cloud; and we drive the same unto a dead country, and thereby quicken the earth after it hath been dead; so shall the resurrection be.e whoever desireth excellence; unto god doth all excellence belong: unto him ascendeth the good speech; and the righteous work will he exalt. but as for them who devise wicked plots,f they shall suffer a severe punishment; and the device of those men shall be rendered vain. god created you first of the dust, and afterwards of seed;g and he hath made you man and wife. no female conceiveth, or bringeth forth, but with his knowledge. nor is anything added unto the age of him whose life is prolonged, neither is anything diminished from his age, but the same is written in the book of god's decrees. verily this is easy with god. the two seas are not to be held in comparison: this is fresh and sweet, pleasant to drink: but that is salt and bitter:h yet out of each of them ye eat fish,i and take ornamentsk for you to wear. thou seest the ships also ploughing the waves thereof, that ye may seek to enrich yourselves by commerce, of the abundance of god: peradventure ye will be thankful. he causeth the night to succeed the day, and he causeth the day to succeed the night; and he obligeth the sun and the moon to perform their services: each of them runneth an appointed course. this is god, your lord: his is the kingdom. but the idols which ye invoke besides him have not the power even over the skin of a date-stone: if ye invoke them, they will not hear your calling; and although they should hear, yet they would not answer you. on the day of resurrection they shall disclaim your having associated them with god: and none shall declare unto thee the truth, like one who is well acquainted therewith. o men, ye have need of god; but god is self-sufficient, and to be praised. if he pleaseth, he can take you away, and produce a new creature in your stead: neither will this be difficult with god. a burdened soul shall not bear the burden of another: and if a heavy- burdened soul call on another to bear part of its burden, no part thereof shall be borne by the person who shall be called on, although he be ever so nearly related. thou shalt admonish those who fear their lord in secret and are constant at prayer: and whoever cleanseth himself from the guilt of disobedience, cleanseth himself to the advantage of his own soul; for all shall be assembled before god at the last day. 	e see chapter , p. , note 	f as the koreish did against mohammed. see chapter , p. , note n. 	g see chapter , p. . 	h that is, the two collective bodies of salt water and fresh. see chapter , p. 	i see chapter , p. , note u. 	k as pearls and coral. 	the blind and the seeing shall not be held equal; neither darkness and light; nor the cool shade and the scorching wind: neither shall the living and the dead be held equal.l god shall cause him to hear whom he pleaseth; but thou shalt not make those to hear who are in their graves.m thou art no other than a preacher: verily we have sent thee with truth, a bearer of good tidings, and a denouncer of threats. there hath been no nation, but a preacher hath in past times been conversant among them: if they charge thee with imposture, they who were before them likewise charged their apostles with imposture. their apostles came unto them with evident miracles, and with divine writings,n and with the enlightening book:o afterwards i chastised those who were unbelievers; and how severe was my vengeance! dost thou not see that god sendeth down rain from heaven, and that we thereby produce fruits of various colours?q in the mountain also there are some tracts white and red, of various colours;q and others are of a deep black: and of men, and beasts, and cattle there are whose colours are in like manner various. such only of his servants fear god as are endued with understanding: verily god is mighty and ready to forgive. verily they who read the book of god, and are constant at prayer, and give alms out of what we have bestowed on them, both in secret and openly, hope for a merchandise which shall not perish: that god may fully pay them their wages, and make them a superabundant addition of his liberality; for he is ready to forgive the faults of his servants, and to requite their endeavors. that which we have revealed unto thee of the book of the koran is the truth, confirming the scriptures which were revealed before it: for god knoweth and regardeth his servants. and we have given the book of the koran in heritage unto such of our servants as we have chosen: of them there is one who injureth his own soul;r and there is another of them who keepeth the middle way;s and there is another of them who outstrippeth others in good works, by the permission of god. this is the great excellence. 	they shall be introduced into gardens of perpetual abode; they shall be adorned therein with bracelets of gold and pearls, and their clothing therein shall be of silk: and they shall say, praise be unto god, who hath taken away sorrow from us! verily our lord is ready to forgive the sinners, and to reward the obedient; 	l this passage expresses the great difference between a true believer and an infidel, truth and vanity, and their future reward and punishment. 	m i.e., those who obstinately persist in their unbelief, who are compared to the dead. 	n as the volumes delivered to abraham, and to other prophets before moses. 	o viz., the law or the gospel. 	p that is, of different kinds. see chapter , p. . 	q being more or less intense. 	r by not practising what he is taught and commanded in the korân. 	s that is, who meaneth well, and performeth his duty for the most part, but not perfectly 					 al beidâwi. who hath caused us to take up our rest in a dwelling of eternal stability, through his bounty, wherein no labor shall touch us, neither shall any weariness affect us. but for the unbelievers is prepared the fire of hell: it shall not be decreed them to die a second time; neither shall any part of the punishment thereof be made lighter unto them. thus shall every infidel be rewarded. and they shall cry out aloud in hell, saying, lord, take us hence, and we will work righteousness, and not what we have formerly wrought. but it shall be answered them, did we not grant you lives of length sufficient, that whoever would be warned might be warned therein; and did not the preachert come unto you? taste therefore the pains of hell. and the unjust shall have no protector. verily god knoweth the secrets both of heaven and earth, for he knoweth the innermost parts of the breasts of men. it is he who hath made you to succeed in the earth. whoever shall disbelieve, on him be his unbelief; and their unbelief shall only gain the unbelievers greater indignation in the sight of their lord; and their unbelief shall only increase the perdition of the unbelievers. say, what think ye of your deities which ye invoke besides god? show me what part of the earth they have created. or had they any share in the creation of the heavens? have we given unto the idolaters any book of revelations, so that they may rely on any proof therefrom to authorize their practice? nay; but the ungodly make unto one another only deceitful promises. verily god sustaineth the heavens and the earth, lest they fail: and if they should fail, none could support the same besides him; he is gracious and merciful. 	the koreish swore by god, with a most solemn oath, that if a preacher had come unto them, they would surely have been more willingly directed than any nation: but now a preacher is come unto them, it hath only increased in them their aversion from the truth, their arrogance in the earth, and their contriving of evil; but the contrivance of evil shall only encompass the authors thereof. do they expect any other than the punishment awarded against the unbelievers of former times? for thou shalt not find any change in the ordinance of god; neither shalt thou find any variation in the ordinance of god. have they not gone through the earth, and seen what hath been the end of those who were before them; although they were more mighty in strength than they? god is not to be frustrated by anything either in heaven or on earth; for he is wise and powerful. if god should punish men according to what they deserve, he would not leave on the back of the earth so much as a beast: but he respiteth them to a determined time; and when their time shall come, verily god will regard his servants. 	t viz., mohammed. chapter xxxvi. entitled, y. s.; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. y. s.u i swear by the instructive koran, that thou art one of the messengers of god, sent to show the right way. this is a revelation of the most mighty, the merciful god: that thou mayest warn a people whose fathers were not warned, and who live in negligence. our sentencex hath justly been pronounced against the greater part of them; wherefore they shall not believe. we have put yokesy on their necks, which come up to their chins; and they are forced to hold up their heads; and we have set a bar before them, and a bar behind them;z and we have covered them with darkness; wherefore they shall not see.a it shall be equal unto them whether thou preach unto them, or do not preach unto them; they shall not believe. 	but thou shalt preach with effect unto him only who followeth the admonition of the koran, and feareth the merciful in secret. wherefore bear good tidings unto him, of mercy, and an honourable reward. verily we will restore the dead to life, and will write down their works which they shall have sent before them, and their footsteps which they shall have left behind them: b and everything do we set down in a plain register. propound unto them as an example the inhabitants of the city of antioch, when the apostles of jesus came thereto:c 	u the meaning of these letters is unknown: some, however, from a tradition of ebn abbas, pretend they stand for ya insân, i.e., o man. this chapter, it is said, had several other titles given it by mohammed himself, and particularly that of the heart of the korân. the mohammedans read it to dying persons in their last agony. 	x viz., the sentence of damnation, which god pronounced against the greater part of genii and men at the fall of adam. 	y or collars, such as are described p. , note t. 	z that is, we have placed obstacles to prevent their looking either forwards or backwards. the whole passage represents the blindness and invincible obstinacy, with which god justly curses perverse and reprobate men. 	a it is said that when the koreish, in pursuance of a resolution they had taken, had sent a select number to beset mohammed's house, and to kill him, the prophet, having caused ali to lie down on his bed to deceive the assassins, went out and threw a handful of dust at them, repeating the nine first verses of this chapter, which end here; and they were thereupon stricken with blindness, so that they could not see him. 	b as their good or evil example, doctrine, &c. 	c to explain this passage, the commentators tell the following story:- 	the people of antioch being idolaters, jesus sent two of his disciples thither to preach to them; and when they drew near the city they found habîb, surnamed al najjâr, or the carpenter, feeding sheep, and acqainted him with their errand; whereupon he asked them what proof they had of their veracity, and they told him they could cure the sick, and the blind, and the lepers; and to demonstrate the truth of what they said, they laid their hands on a child of his who was sick, and immediately restored him to health. habîb was convinced by this miracle, and believed; after which they went into the city and preached the worship of one true god, curing a great number of people of several infirmities; but at length, the affair coming to the prince's ear, he ordered them to be imprisoned for endeavouring to seduce the people. when jesus heard of this, he sent another of his disciples, generally supposed to have been simon peter, who, coming to antioch, and appearing as a zealous idolater, soon insinuated 	 see the prelim. disc. sec. iii. p. , &c.		 vide bobov. de visit. Ægrot. p. .		 see cap. , p. ; c. ii, p. , &c. 	 see the prelim. disc. p. .		 vide abulf. vit moh. p. . when we sent unto them two of the said apostles;d but they charged them with imposture. wherefore we strengthened them with a third.e and they said, verily we are sent unto you by god. the inhabitants answered, ye are no other than men, as we are; ye only publish a lie. the apostles replied, our lord knoweth that we are really sent unto you: and our duty is only public preaching. those of antioch said, verily we presage evil from you: if ye desist not from preaching, we will surely stone you, and a painful punishment shall be inflicted on you by us. the apostles answered, your evil presage is with yourselves:f although ye be warned, will ye persist in yours errors? verily ye are a people who transgress exceedingly. and a certain mang came hastily from the farther parts of the city, and said, o my people, follow the messengers of god; 	follow him who demandeth not any reward of you: for these are rightly directed. what reason have i that i should not worship him who hath created me? for unto him shall ye return. shall i take other gods besides him? if the merciful be pleased to afflict me, their intercession will not avail me at all, neither can they deliver me: then should i be in a manifest error. verily i believe in your lord; wherefore hearken unto me. but they stoned him: and as he died, it was said unto him, enter thou into paradise. and he said, o that my people knew how merciful god hath been unto me! for he hath highly honoured me. and we sent not down against his people, after they had slain him, an army from heaven, nor the other instruments of destruction which we sent down on unbelievers in former days:h there was only one cry of gabriel from heaven, and behold, they became utterly extinct. oh the misery of men! no apostle cometh unto them, but they laugh him to scorn. 	do they not consider how many generations we have destroyed before them? verily they shall not return unto them: but all of them in general shall be assembled before us. himself into the favour of the inhabitants and of their prince, and at length took an opportunity to desire the prince would order the two persons who, as he was informed, had been put in prison for broaching new opinions, to be brought before him to be examined; and accordingly they were brought: when peter, having previously warned them to take no notice that they knew him, asked them who sent them, to which they answered, god, who had created all things, and had no companion. he then required some convincing proof of their mission, upon which they restored a blind person to his sight and performed some other miracles, with which peter seemed not to be satisfied, for that, according to some, he did the very same miracles himself, but declared that, if their god could enable them to raise the dead, he would believe them; which condition the two apostles accepting, a lad was brought who had been dead seven days, and at their prayers he was raised to life; and thereupon peter acknowledged himself convinced, and ran and demolished the idols, a great many of the people following him, and embracing the true faith; but those who believed not were destroyed by the cry of the angel gabriel. 	d some say these two were john and paul; but others name different persons. 	e viz., simon peter. 	f i.e., if any evil befall you, it will be the consequence of your own obstinacy and unbelief. see chapter , p. , note b. 	g this was habîb al najjâr, whose martyrdom is here described. his tomb is still shown near antioch, and is much visited by the mohammedans. 	h as a deluge, or a shower of stones, or a suffocating wind, &c. the words may also be translated, nor did we determine to send down such executioners of our justice. 	 al zamakh., al beidâwi, &c. vide etiam marracc. in alc. p. . 	 vide schultens, indic. geogr. ad calcem vitæ saladini, voce antiochia. one sign of the resurrection unto them is the dead earth:i we quicken the same by the rain, and produce thereout various sorts of grain, of which they eat. and we make therein gardens of palm-trees, and vines; and we cause springs to gush forth in the same: that they may eat of the fruits thereof, and of the labor of their hands. will they not therefore give thanks? praise be unto him who hath created all the different kinds, both of vegetables, which the earth bringeth forth, and of their own species, by forming the two sexes, and also the various sorts of things which they know not. the night also is a sign unto them: we withdraw the day from the same, and behold, they are covered with darkness: and the sun hasteneth to his place of rest.k this is the disposition of the mighty, the wise god. and for the moon have we appointed certain mansions,l until she change and return to be like the old branch of a palm-tree.m 	it is not expedient that the sun should overtake the moon in her course: neither doth the night outstrip the day: but each of these luminaries moving in a peculiar orbit. it is a sign also unto them, that they carry their offspring in the ship filled with merchandise;n and that we have made for them other conveniences like unto it,o whereon they ride. if we please, we drown them, and there is none to help them; neither are they delivered, unless through our mercy, and that they may enjoy life for a season. when it is said unto them, fear that which is before you, and that which is behind you,p that ye may obtain mercy: they withdraw from thee: and thou dost not bring them one sign, of the signs of their lord, but they turn aside from the same. and when it is said unto them, give alms of that which god hath bestowed on you; the unbelievers say unto those who believe, by way of mockery, shall we feed him whom god can feed, if he pleaseth?q verily ye are in no other than a manifest error. and they say, when will this promise of the resurrection be fulfilled, if ye speak truth? they only wait for one sounding of the trumpet,r which shall overtake them while they are disputing together; 	and they shall not have time to make any disposition of their effects, neither shall they return to their family. and the trumpet shall be sounded again;s and behold they shall come forth from their graves, and hasten unto their lord. 	i see cap. , p. , note y. 	k that is, he hasteneth to run his daily course, the setting of the sun resembling a traveller's going to rest. some copies vary in this place, and instead of limostakarrin laha, read la mostakarra laha; according to which the sentence should be rendered, the sun runneth his course without ceasing, and hath not a place of rest. 	l viz., these are twenty-eight constellations, through one of which the moon passes every night, thence called the mansions or houses of the moon. 	m for when a palm-branch grows old, it shrinks, and becomes crooked and yellow, not ill representing the appearance of the new moon. 	n some suppose that the deliverance of noah and his companions in the ark is here intended; and then the words should be translated, that we carried their progeny in the ark filled with living creatures. 	o as camels, which are the land-ships; or lesser vessels and boats. 	p i.e., the punishment of this world and of the next. 	q when the poor moslems asked alms of the richer koreish, they told them that if god could provide for them, as they imagined, and did not, it was an argument that they deserved not his favour so well as themselves: whereas god permits some to be in want, to try the rich and exercise their charity. 	r see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. , , and the notes to chapter 	s see ibid. 				 see the prelim. disc. sect. i. p. . they shall say, alas for us! who hath awakened us from our bed?t this is what the merciful promised us; and his apostles spoke the truth. it shall be but one sound of the trumpet, and behold, they shall be all assembled before us. on this day no soul shall be unjustly treated in the least; neither shall ye be rewarded, but according to what ye shall have wrought. on this day the inhabitants of paradise shall be wholly taken up with joy: they and their wives shall rest in shady groves, leaning on magnificent couches. there shall they have fruit, and they shall obtain whatever they shall desire. peace shall be the word spoken unto the righteous, by a merciful lord: but he shall say unto the wicked, be ye separated this day, o ye wicked, from the righteous. 	did i not command you, o sons of adam, that ye should not worship satan; because he was an open enemy unto you? and did i not say, worship me; this is the right way? but now hath he seduced a great multitude of you: did ye not therefore understand? this is hell, with which ye were threatened: be ye cast into the same this day to be burned; for that ye have been unbelievers. on this day we will seal up their mouths, that they shall not open them in their own defence; and their hands shall speak unto us, and their feet shall bear witness of that which they have committed.u if we pleased we could put out their eyes, and they might run with emulation in the way they use to take; and how should they see their error? and if we pleased we could transform them into other shapes, in their places when they should be found; and they should not be able to depart; neither should they repent.x unto whomsoever we grant a long life, him do we cause to bow down his body through age. will they not therefore understand? we have not taught mohammed the art of poetry;y nor is it expedient for him to be a poet. this book is no other than an admonition from god, and a perspicuous korân; 	that he may warn him who is living:z and the sentence of condemnation will be justly executed on the unbelievers. do they not consider that we have created for them, among the things which our hands have wrought, cattle of several kinds, of which they are possessors; and that we have put the same in subjection under them? some of them are for their riding; and on some of them do they feed: and they receive other advantages therefrom; and of their milk do they drink. will they not, therefore, be thankful? they have taken other gods, besides god, in hopes that they may be assisted by them; but they are not able to give them any assistance: yet are they a party of troops ready to defend them. let not their speech, therefore, grieve thee: we know that which they privately conceal, and that which they publicly discover. doth not man know that we have created him of seed? yet behold, he is an open disputer against the resurrection; 	t for they shall sleep during the interval between these two blasts of the trumpet, and shall feel no pain. 	u see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . 	x that is, they deserve to be thus treated for their infidelity and disobedience; but we bear with them out of mercy, and grant them respite. 	y that is in answer to the infidels, who pretended the korân was only a poetical composition. 	z i.e., endued with understanding; the stupid and careless being like dead persons. 				 jallalo'ddin.		 al beidâwi. and he propoundeth unto us a comparison, and forgetteth his creation. he saith, who shall restore bones to life, when they are rotten?a answer, he shall restore them to life, who produced them the first time: for he is skilled in every kind of creation: 	who giveth you fire out of the green tree,b and behold, ye kindle your fuel from thence. is not he who hath created the heavens and the earth able to create new creatures like unto them? yea certainly: for he is the wise creator. his command, when he willeth a thing, is only that he saith unto it, be; and it is. wherefore praise be unto him, in whose hand is the kingdom of all things, and unto whom ye shall return at the last day. ________ chapter xxxvii. entitled, those who rank themselves in order; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. by the angels who rank themselves in order;c and by those who drive forward and dispel the clouds;d and by those who read the koran for an admonition; verily your god is one: the lord of heaven and earth, and of whatever is between them, and the lord of the east.e we have adorned the lower heaven with the ornament of the stars: and we have placed therein a guard against every rebellious devil; that they may not listen to the discourse of the exalted princes (for they are darted at from every side, to repel them, and a lasting torment is prepared for them); 	except him who catcheth a word by stealth, and is pursued by a shining flame.f ask the meccans, therefore, whether they be stronger by nature, or the angels, whom we have created? we have surely created them of stiff clay. thou wonderest at god's power and their obstinacy; but they mock at the arguments urged to convince them: 	a see chapter , p. , note 	b the usual way of striking fire in the east is by rubbing together two pieces of wood, one of which is commonly of the tree called markh, and the other of that called afâr: and it will succeed even though the wood be green and wet. 	c some understand by these words the souls of men who range themselves in obedience to god's laws, and put away from them all infidelity and corrupt doings; or the souls of those who rank themselves in battle array, to fight for the true religion, and push on their horses to charge the infidels, &c. 	d or, who put in motion all bodies, in the upper and lower world, according to the divine command; or, who keep off men from disobedience to god, by inspiring them with good thoughts and inclinations; or, who drive away the devils from them, &c. 	e the original word, being in the plural number, is supposed to signify the different points of the horizon from whence the sun rises in the course of the year, which are in number (equal to the number of days in the old civil year), and have as many corresponding points where it successively sets, during that space. marracci groundlessly imagines this interpretation to be built on the error of the plurality of worlds. 	f see chapter , p. . 	 vide hyde, de rel. vet. pers. c. , p. , &c.		 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem, yahya. marracc. in alc. p. . when they are warned, they do not take warning; and when they see any sign, they scoff thereat, and say, this is no other than manifest sorcery: after we shall be dead, and become dust and bones, shall we really be raised to life, and our forefathers also? answer, yea: and ye shall then be despicable. there shall be but one blast of the trumpet, and they shall see themselves raised: 	and they shall say, alas for us! this is the day of judgment, this is the day of distinction between the righteous and the wicked, which ye rejected as a falsehood. gather together those who have acted unjustly, and their comrades, and the idols which they worshipped besides god, and direct them in the way to hell; and set them before god's tribunal; for they shall be called to account. what aileth you that ye defend not one another? but on this day they shall submit themselves to the judgment of god: and they shall draw nigh unto one another, and shall dispute among themselves. and the seduced shall say unto those who seduced them, verily ye came unto us with presages of prosperity;g and the seducers shall answer, nay, rather ye were not true believers: for we had no power over you to compel you; but ye were people who voluntarily transgressed: 	wherefore the sentence of our lord hath been justly pronounced against us, and we shall surely taste his vengeance. we seduced you; but we also erred ourselves. they shall both therefore be made partakers of the same punishment on that day. thus will we deal with the wicked: because, when it is said unto them, there is no god besides the true god, they swell with arrogance, and say, shall we abandon our gods for a distracted poet? nay: he cometh with the truth, and beareth witness to the former apostles. ye shall surely taste the painful torment of hell; and ye shall not be rewarded, but according to your works. but as for the sincere servants of god, 	they shall have a certain provision in paradise, namely, delicious fruits: and they shall be honoured: they shall be placed in gardens of pleasure, leaning on couches, opposite to one another:h a cup shall be carried round unto them, filled from a limpid fountain, for the delight of those who drink: it shall not oppress the understanding, neither shall they be inebriated therewith. and near them shall lie the virgins of paradise, refraining their looks from beholding any besides their spouses, having large black eyes, and resembling the eggs of an ostrich covered with feathers from the dust.i and they shall turn the one unto the other, and shall ask one another questions. and one of them shall say, verily i had an intimate friend while i lived in the world, 	who said unto me, art thou one of those who assertest the truth of the resurrection? after we shall be dead, and reduced to dust and bones, shall we surely be judged? then he shall say to his companions, will ye look down? and he shall look down, and shall see him in the midst of hell: and he shall say unto him, by god, it wanted little but thou hadst drawn me into ruin: and had it not been for the grace of my lord, i had surely been one of those who have been delivered up to eternal torment. 	g literally, from the right hand. the words may also be rendered, with force, to compel us; or with an oath, swearing that ye were in the right. 	h see chapter , p. , note 	i this may seem an odd comparison to an european; but the orientals think nothing comes so near the colour of a fine woman's skin as that of an ostrich's egg when kept perfectly clean. 										 shall we die any other than our first death; or do we suffer any punishment? verily this is great felicity: for the obtaining a felicity like this let the laborers labor. 	is this a better entertainment, or the tree of al zakkum?k verily we have designed the same for an occasion of dispute unto the unjust.l it is a tree which issueth from the bottom of hell: the fruit thereof resembleth the heads of devils;m and the damned shall eat of the same, and shall fill their bellies therewith; and there shall be given them thereon a mixture of filthy and boiling water to drink: afterwards shall they return into hell.n they found their fathers going astray, and they trod hastily in their footsteps: for the greater part of the ancients erred before them. 	and we sent warners unto them heretofore: and see how miserable was the end of those who were warned; except the sincere servants of god. noah called on us in former days: and we heard him graciously: and we delivered him and his family out of the great distress; and we caused his offspring to be those who survived to people the earth: and we left the following salutation to be bestowed on him by the latest posterity, namely, peace be on noah among all creatures! thus do we reward the righteous; for he was one of our servants the true believers. 	afterwards we drowned the others. abraham also was of his religion:o when he came unto his lord with a perfect heart. when he said unto his father and his people, what do ye worship? do ye choose false gods preferably to the true god? what therefore is your opinion of the lord of all creatures? and he looked and observed the stars, and said, verily i shall be sick,p and shall not assist at your sacrifices: and they turned their backs and departed from him.q and abraham went privately to their gods, and said, scoffingly unto them, do ye not eat of the meat which is set before you? 	what aileth you that ye speak not? and he turned upon them, and struck them with his right hand, and demolished them. and the people came hastily unto him: and he said, do ye worship the images which ye carve? whereas god hath created you, and also that which ye make. they said, build a pile for him, and cast him into the glowing fire. and they devised a plot against him; but we made them the inferior, and delivered him.r and abraham said, verily i am going unto my lord,s who will direct me. o lord, grant me a righteous issue. wherefore we acquainted him that he should have a son, who should be a meek youth. 	k there is a thorny tree so called, which grows in tehâma, and bears fruit like an almond, but extremely bitter; and therefore the same name is given to this infernal tree. 	l the infidels not conceiving how a tree could grow in hell, where the stones themselves serve for fuel. 	m or of serpents ugly to behold; the original word signifies both. 	n some suppose that the entertainment mentioned will be the welcome given the damned before they enter that place; and others, that they will be suffered to come out of hell from time to time, to drink their scalding liquor. 	o for noah and he agreed in the fundamental points both of faith and practice; though the space between them was no less than years. 	p he made as if he gathered so much from the aspect of the heavens-the people being greatly addicted to the superstitions of astrology-and made it his excuse for being absent from their festival, to which they had invited him. 	q fearing he had some contagious distemper. 	r see chapter , p. , &c. 	s whither he hath commanded me. 				 al beidâwi.		 idem. 	and when he had attained to years of discretion,t and could join in acts of religion with him, abraham said unto him, o my son, verily i saw in a dream that i should offer thee in sacrifice:u consider therefore what thou art of opinion i should do. he answered, o my father, do what thou art commanded: thou shalt find me, if god please, a patient person. and when they had submitted themselves to the divine will, and abraham had laid his son prostrate on his face,x we cried unto him, o abraham, now hast thou verified the vision. thus do we reward the righteous. verily this was a manifest trial. and we ransomed him with a noble victim.y and we left the following salutation to be bestowed on him by the latest posterity, namely, peace be on abraham! 	thus do we reward the righteous: for he was one of our faithful servants. and we rejoiced him with the promise of isaac: and of their offspring were some righteous doers, and others who manifestly injured their own souls. we were also gracious unto moses and aaron, heretofore: and we delivered them and their people from a great distress. and we assisted them against the egyptians; and they became the conquerors. and we gave them the perspicuous book of the law, and we directed them into the right way, and we left the following salutation to be bestowed on them by the latest posterity, 	namely, peace be on moses and aaron! thus do we reward the righteous; for they were two of our faithful servants. and eliasz was also one of those who were sent by us. 	t he was then thirteen years old. 	u the commentators say, that abraham was ordered in a vision, which he saw on the eighth night of the month dhu'lhajja, to sacrifice his son; and to assure him that this was not from the devil, as he was inclined to suspect, the same vision was repeated a second time the next night, when he knew it to be from god, and also a third time the night following, when he resolved to obey it, and to sacrifice his son; and hence some think the eighth, ninth, and tenth days of dhu'lhajja are called yawm altarwiya, yawm ar afat, and yawm alnehr, that is, the day of the vision, the day of knowledge, and the day of the sacrifice. 	it is the most received opinion among the mohammedans that the son whom abraham offered was ismael, and not isaac, ismael being his only son at that time: for the promise of isaac's birth is mentioned lower, as subsequent in time to this transaction. they also allege the testimony of their prophet, who is reported to have said, i am the son of the two who were offered in sacrifice; meaning his great ancestor, ismael, and his own father abd'allah: for abd'almotalleb had made a vow that if god would permit him to find out and open the well zemzem, and should give him ten sons, he would sacrifice one of them. accordingly, when he had obtained his desire in both respects, he cast lots on his sons, and the lot falling on abd'allah, he redeemed him by offering a hundred camels, which was therefore ordered to be the price of a man's blood in the sonna. 	x the commentators add, that abraham went so far as to draw the knife with all his strength across the lad's throat, but was miraculously hindered from hurting him. 	y the epithet of great or noble is here added, either because it was large and fat, or because it was accepted as the ransom of a prophet. some suppose this victim was a ram, and, if we may believe a common tradition, the very same which abel sacrificed, having been brought to abraham out of paradise; others fancy it was a wild goat, which came down from mount thabîr, near mecca, for the mohammedans lay the scene of this transaction in the valley of mina; as a proof of which they tell us that the horns of the victim were hung upon the spout of the caaba, where they remained till they were burnt, together with that building, in the days of abda'llah ebn zobeir; though others assure us that they had been before taken down by mohammed himself, to remove all occasion of idolatry. 	z this prophet the mohammedans generally suppose to be the same with al khedr, and confound him with phineas, and sometimes with edris, or enoch. some say he was the son of yasin, and nearly related to aaron; and others suppose him to have been a different person. he was sent to the inhabitants of baalbec, in syria, the heliopolis of the greeks, to reclaim them from the worship of their idol baal, or the sun, whose name makes part of that of the city, which was anciently called becc. 	 idem.		 idem, jallalo'ddin, al zamakh.		 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 idem.		 vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. art. ismail.		 see cap. , p. , note		 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi. when he said unto his people, do ye not fear god? do ye invoke baal, and forsake the most excellent creator? god is your lord, and the lord of your forefathers. but they accused him of imposture: wherefore they shall be delivered up to eternal punishment; except the sincere servants of god. and we left the following salutation to be bestowed on him by the latest posterity, 	namely, peace be on ilyâsin!a thus do we reward the righteous: for he was one of our faithful servants. and lot was also one of those who were sent by us. when we delivered him and his whole family, except an old woman, his wife, who perished, among those that remained behind: afterwards we destroyed the others.b and ye, o people of mecca, pass by the places where they once dwelt, as ye journey in the morning, and by night; will ye not therefore understand? jonas was also one of those who were sent by us.c 	when he fledd into the loaded ship; and those who were on board cast lots among themselves,e and he was condemned:f and the fish swallowed him;g for he was worthy of reprehension. and if he had not been one those who praised god,h verily he had remained in the belly thereof until the day of resurrection. and we cast him on the naked shore, and he was sick:i and we caused a plant of a gourdk to grow up over him; and we went him to an hundred thousand persons, or they were a greater number, and they believed: wherefore we granted them to enjoy this life for a season. inquire of the meccans whether thy lord hath daughters, and they sons?l 	have we created the angels of the female sex? and were they witnesses thereof? 	a the commentators do not well know what to make of this word. some think it is the plural of elias, or, as the arabs write it, ilyâs, and that both that prophet and his followers, or those who resembled him, are meant thereby; others divide the word, and read âl yasîn, i.e., the family of yasin, who was the father of elias according to an opinion mentioned above; and others imagine it signifies mohammed, or the korân, or some other book of scripture. but the most probable conjecture is that ilyâs and ilyâsin are the same name, or design one and the same person, as sinai and sinin denote one and the same mountain; the last syllable being added here, to keep up the rhyme or cadence, at the close of the verse. 	b see chapter , p. , &c., and chapter , p. , &c. 	c see chapter , p. . 	d see chapter , p. . 	e al beidâwi says the ship stood stock-still, wherefore they concluded that they had a fugitive servant on board, and cast lots to find him out. 	f i.e., he was taken by the lot. 	g when the lot fell on jonas he cried out, i am the fugitive; and immediately threw himself into the sea. 	h the words seem to relate particularly to jonas's supplication while in the whale's belly. 	i by reason of what he had suffered; his body becoming like that of a new-born child. it is said that the fish, after it had swallowed jonas, swam after the ship with its head above water, that the prophet might breathe, who continued to praise god till the fish came to land and vomited him out. 	the opinions of the mohammedan writers as to the time jonas continued in the fish's belly differ very much: some suppose it was part of a day, others three days, others seven, others twenty, and others forty. 	k the original word signifies a plant which spreads itself upon the ground, having no erect stalk or stem to support it, and particularly a gourd; though some imagine jonas's plant to have been a fig, and others the small tree or shrub called mauz, which bears very large leaves, and excellent fruit. the commentators add, that this plant withered the next morning, and that jonas being much concerned at it, god made a remonstrance to him in behalf of the ninivites, agreeable to what is recorded in scripture. 	l see chapter , p. . 	 idem.		 see cap. , p. .		 al beidâwi. 	 idem.		 idem. vide j leon. descr. afric. lib. . gab. sionit. de urb. orient. ad calcem geogr. nub. p. , et hottinger. hist. orient. p. , &c. do they not say of their own false invention, god hath begotten issue? and are they not really liars? hath he chosen daughters preferably to sons? ye have no reason to judge thus. will ye therefore not be admonished? or have ye a manifest proof of what ye say? produce now your book of revelations, if ye speak truth. and they make him to be of kin unto the genii;m whereas the genii know that they who affirm such things shall be delivered up to eternal punishment; (far be that from god, which they affirm of him!) 	except the sincere servants of god. moreover ye and that which ye worship shall not seduce any concerning god, except him who is destined to be burned in hell. there is none of us but hath an appointed place: we range ourselves in order, attending the commands of god; and we celebrate the divine praise.n the infidels said, if we had been favored with a book of divine revelations, of those which were delivered to the ancients, we had surely been sincere servants of god: 	yet now the koran is revealed, they believe not therein; but hereafter shall they know the consequence of their unbelief. our word hath formerly been given unto our servants the apostles; that they shall certainly be assisted against the infidels, and that our armies should surely be the conquerors. turn aside therefore from them, for a season: and see the calamities which shall afflict them; for they shall see thy future success and prosperity. do they therefore seek to hasten our vengeance? verily when it shall descend into their courts, an evil morning shall it be unto those who were warned in vain. turn aside from them therefore for a season, and see: hereafter shall they see thy success and their punishment. 	praise be unto thy lord, the lord who is far exalted above what they affirm of him! and peace be on his apostles! and praise be unto god, the lord of all creatures! 	m that is, the angels, who are also comprehended under the name of genii, being a species of them. some say that the infidels went so far as to assert that god and the devil were brothers, which blasphemous expression may have been occasioned by the magian notions. 	n these words are supposed to be spoken by the angels, disclaiming the worship paid to them by the idolaters, and declaring that they have each their station and office appointed them by god, whose commands they are at all times ready to execute, and whose praises they continually sing. there are some expositors, however, who think they are the words of mohammed and his followers; the meaning being, that each of them has a place destined for him in paradise, and that they are the men who range themselves in order before god, to worship and pray to him, and who celebrate his praise by rejecting every false notion derogatory to the divine wisdom and power. 					 al beidâwi. ________ chapter xxxviii. entitled, s.; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. s.o by the korân full of admonition.p verily the unbelievers are addicted to pride and contention. how many generations have we destroyed before them; and they cried for mercy, but it was not a time to escape. they wonder that a warner from among themselves hath come unto them. and the unbelievers said, this man is a sorcerer, and a liar: doth he affirm the gods to be but one god. surely this is a wonderful thing. 	o the meaning of this letter is unknown: some guess it stands for sidk, i.e., truth; or for sadaka, i.e., he (viz., mohammed) speaketh the truth; and others propose different conjectures, all equally uncertain. 	p something must be understood to answer this oath, which the commentators variously supply. 				 see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. , &c. and the chief men among them departed,q saying to one another, go, and persevere in the worship of your gods: verily this is the thing which is designed.r we have not heard anything like this in the last religion:s this is no other than a false contrivance. hath an admonition been sent unto him preferable to any other among us? verily they are in a doubt concerning my admonition: but they have not yet tasted my vengeance. are the treasures of the mercy of thy lord, the mighty, the munificent god, in their hands? is the kingdom of the heavens, and the earth, and of whatever is between them, in their possession? if it be so, let them ascend by steps unto heaven. 	but any army of the confederates shall even here be put to flight. the people of noah, and the tribe of ad, and pharaoh the contriver of the stakes,t and the tribe of thamud, and the people of lot, and the inhabitants of the wood near madian,u accused the prophets of imposture before them; these were the confederates against the messengers of god. all of them did no other than accuse their apostles of falsehood: wherefore my vengeance hath been justly executed upon them. and these wait only for one sounding of the trumpet; which there shall be no deferring. and they scoffingly say, o lord, hasten our sentence unto us, before the day of account. do thou patiently bear that which they utter: and remind them of our servant david, endued with strength;x for he was one who seriously turned himself unto god. we compelled the mountains to celebrate our praise with him, in the evening and at sunrise, and also the birds, which gathered themselves together unto him:y all of them returned frequently unto him for this purpose. and we established his kingdom, and gave him wisdom and eloquence of speech. 	hath the story of the two adversariesz come to thy knowledge; when they ascended over the wall into the upper apartment, 	q on the conversion of omar, the koreish being greatly irritated, the most considerable of them went in a body to abu taleb, to complain to him of his nephew mohammed's proceedings; but being confounded and put to silence by the prophet's arguments, they left the assembly, and encouraged one another in their obstinacy. 	r namely, to draw us from their worship. 	s i.e., in the religion which we received from our fathers; or, in the religion of jesus, which was the last before the mission of mohammed. 	t for they say pharaoh used to tie those he had a mind to punish by the hands and feet to four stakes fixed in the ground, and so tormented them. some interpret the words, which may also be translated the lord or master of the stakes, figuratively, of the firm establishment of pharaoh's kingdom; because the arabs fix their tents with stakes; but they may possibly intend that prince's obstinacy and hardness of heart. 	u see chapter , p. . 	x the commentators suppose that ability to undergo the frequent practice of religious exercises is here meant. they say david used to fast every other day, and to spend one-half of the night in prayer. 	y see chapter , p. . 	z these were two angels, who came unto david in the shape of men, to demand judgment in the feigned controversy after mentioned. it is no other than nathan's parable to david, a little disguised. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 jallalo'ddin.		 al beidâwi.		 idem. interp.		 sam. xii. when they went in unto david, and he was afraid of them.a they said, fear not: we are two adversaries who have a controversy to be decided. the one of us hath wronged the other: wherefore judge between us with truth, and be not unjust; and direct us into the even way. this my brother had ninety and nine sheep: and i had only one ewe: and he said, give her me to keep; and he prevailed against me in the discourse which we had together. david answered, verily he hath wronged thee in demanding thine ewe as an addition to his own sheep: and many of them who are concerned together in business wrong one another, except those who believe and do that which is right; but how few are they! and david perceived that we had tried him by this parable, and he asked pardon of his lord: and he fell down and bowed himself, and repented.b wherefore we forgave him this fault; and he shall be admitted to approach near unto us, and shall have an excellent place of abode in paradise. o david, verily we have appointed thee a sovereign prince in the earth: judge therefore between men with truth; and follow not thy own lust, lest it cause thee to err from the way of god: for those who err from the way of god shall suffer a severe punishment, because they have forgotten the day of account. we have not created the heavens and the earth, and whatever is between them, in vain.c this is the opinion of the unbelievers: but woe unto those who believe not, because of the fire of hell. shall we deal with those who believe and do good works, as with those who act corruptly in the earth? shall we deal with the pious as with the wicked? a blessed book have we sent down unto thee, o mohammed, that they may attentively meditate on the signs thereof, and that men of understanding may be warned. and we gave unto david solomon; how excellent a servant! for he frequently turned himself unto god. 	when the horses standing on three feet, and touching the ground with the edge of the fourth foot, and swift in the course, were set in parade before him in the evening,d he said, verily i have loved the love of earthly good above the remembrance of my lord: and have spent the time in viewing these horses, until the sun is hidden by the veil of night; bring the horses back unto me. and when they were brought back, he began to cut off their legs and their necks. 	a because they came suddenly upon him, on a day of privacy: when the doors were guarded, and no person admitted to disturb his devotions. for david, they say, divided his time regularly, setting apart one day for the service of god, another day for rendering justice to his people, another day for preaching to them, and another day for his own affairs. 	b the crime of which david had been guilty, was the taking the wife of uriah, and ordering her husband to be set in the front of the battle to be slain. 	some suppose this story was told to serve as an admonition to mohammed, who, it seems, was apt to covet what was another's. 	c so as to permit injustice to go unpunished, and righteousness unrewarded. 	d some say that solomon brought these horses, being a thousand in number, from damascus and nisibis, which cities he had taken; others say that they were left him by his father, who took them from the amalekites; while others, who prefer the marvellous, pretend that they came up out of the sea, and had wings. however, solomon, having one day a mind to view these horses, ordered them to be brought before him, and was so taken up with them that he spent the remainder of the day, till after sunset, in looking on them; by which means he neglected the prayer, which ought to have been said at that time, till it was too late; but when he perceived his omission, he was so greatly concerned at it, that ordering the horses to be brought back, he killed them all as an offering to god, except only a hundred of the best of them. but god made him ample amends for the loss of these horses, by giving him dominion over the winds. 	 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin.		 idem.		 al beidâwi, al zamakh., yahya. we also tried solomon, and placed on his throne a counterfeit body:e afterwards he turned unto god, and said, o lord, forgive me, and give me a kingdom which may not be obtained by any after me;f for thou art the giver of kingdoms. and we made the wind subject to him; it ran gently at his command, whithersoever we directed. and we also put the devils in subjection under him; and among them such as were every way skilled in building, and in diving for pearls:g and others we delivered to him bound in chains, saying, this is our gift: therefore be bounteous, or be sparing unto whom thou shalt think fit,h without rendering an account. and he shall approach near unto us, and shall have an excellent abode in paradise. 	and remember our servant job,i when he cried unto his lord, saying, verily satan hath afflicted me with calamity and pain. and it was said unto him, strike the earth with thy foot; which when he had done, a fountaink sprang up, and it was said to him, this is for thee to wash in, to refresh thee, and to drink. and we restored unto him his family, and as many more with them, through our mercy; and for an admonition unto those who are endued with understanding. and we said unto him, take a handful of rodsl in thy hand, and strike thy wife therewith;m and break not thine oath.n verily we found him a patient person: how excellent a servant was he! for he was one who frequently turned himself unto us. remember also our servants abraham, and isaac, and jacob, who were men strenuous and prudent. 	e the most received exposition of this passage is taken from the following talmudic fable. 	solomon, having taken sidon, and slain the king of that city, brought away his daughter jerâda, who became his favourite; and because she ceased not to lament her father's loss, he ordered the devils to make an image of him for her consolation: which being done, and placed in her chamber, she and her maids worshipped it morning and evening, according to their custom. at length solomon being informed of this idolatry, which was practised under his roof, by his vizir asâf, he broke the image, and having chastised the woman, went out into the desert, where he wept and made supplications to god; who did not think fit, however, to let his negligence pass without some correction. it was solomon's custom, while he eased or washed himself, to entrust his signet, on which his kingdom depended, with a concubine of his named amîna: one day, therefore, when she had the ring in her custody, a devil, named sakhar, came to her in the shape of solomon, and received the ring from her; by virtue of which he became possessed of the kingdom, and sat on the throne in the shape which he had borrowed, making what alterations in the law he pleased. solomon, in the meantime, being changed in his outward appearance, and known to none of his subjects, was obliged to wander about, and beg alms for his subsistence; till at length, after the space of forty days, which was the time the image had been worshipped in his house, the devil flew away, and threw the signet into the sea: the signet was immediately swallowed by a fish, which being taken and given to solomon, he found the ring in its belly, and having by this means recovered the kingdom, took sakhar, and tying a great stone to his neck, threw him into the lake of tiberias. 	f i.e., that i may surpass all future princes in magnificence and power. 	g see chapter , p. ; chapter , p. , &c. 	h some suppose these words to relate to the genii, and that solomon is thereby empowered to release or to keep in chains such of them as he pleased. 	i see chapter , p. . 	k some say there were two springs, one of hot water, wherein he bathed; and the other of cold, of which he drank. 	l the original not expressing what this handful was to consist of, one supposes it was to be only a handful of dry grass or of rushes, and another that it was a branch of a palm-tree. 	m the commentators are not agreed what fault job's wife had committed to deserve this chastisement: we have mentioned one opinion already. some think it was only because she stayed too long on an errand. 	n for he had sworn to give her a hundred stripes if he recovered. 	 vide talm. en jacob, part ii. et yalkut in lib. reg. p. . 	 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin, abulfeda.		 al beidâwi. see the notes to cap. , p. .		 see ibid. verily we purified them with a perfect purification, through the remembrance of the life to come;o and they were in our sight, elect and good men. and remember ismael, and elisha,p and dhu'lkefl:q for all these were good men. this is an admonition. verily the pious shall have an excellent place to return unto, 	namely, gardens of perpetual abode, the gates whereof shall stand open unto them. as they lie down therein, they shall there ask for many sorts of fruits, and for drink; and near them shall sit the virgins of paradise, refraining their looks from beholding any besides their spouses, and of equal age with them.r this is what ye are promised, at the day of account. this is our provision, which shall not fail. this shall be the reward of the righteous. but for the transgressors is prepared an evil receptacle, namely, hell: they shall be cast into the same to be burned, and a wretched couch shall it be. this let them taste, to wit, scalding water, and corruption flowing from the bodies of the damned, and divers other things of the same kind. and it shall be said to the seducers, this troop which was guided by you shall be thrown, together with you, headlong into hell: they shall not be bidden welcome: for they shall enter the fire to be burned. 	and the seduced shall say to their seducers, verily ye shall not be bidden welcome: ye have brought it upon us; and a wretched abode is hell. they shall say, o lord, doubly increase the torment of him who hath brought this punishment upon us, in the fire of hell. and the infidels shall say, why do we not see the men whom we numbered among the wicked, and whom we received with scorn? or do our eyes miss them? verily this is a truth; to wit, the disputing of the inhabitants of hell fire. say, o mohammed, unto the idolaters, verily i am no other than a warner: and there is no god, except the one only god, the almighty, the lord of heaven and earth, and of whatsoever is between them; the mighty, the forgiver of sins. say, it is a weighty message, from which ye turn aside. i had no knowledge of the exalted princes,s when they disputed concerning the creation of man: 	(it hath been revealed unto me only as a proof that i am a public preacher:) when thy lord said unto the angels, verily i am about to create man of clay: when i shall have formed him, therefore, and shall have breathed my spirit into him, do ye fall down and worship him.t and all the angels worshipped him, in general, except eblis, who was puffed up with pride, and became an unbeliever. god said unto him, o eblis, what hindereth thee from worshipping that which i have created with my hands? art thou elated with vain pride? or art thou really one of exalted merit? he answered, i am more excellent than he: thou hast created me of fire, and thou hast created him of clay. 	o or, as the words may be interpreted, according to al zamakhshari, we have purified them, or peculiarly destined and fitted them for paradise. 	p see chapter , p. . 	q see chapter , p. . al beidâwi here takes notice of another tradition concerning this prophet, viz., that he entertained and took care of a hundred israelites, who fled to him from certain slaughter, from which action he probably had the name of dhu'lkefl given him, the primary signification of the verb cafala being to maintain or take care of another. if a conjecture might be founded on this tradition, i should fancy the person intended was obadiah, the governor of ahab's house. 	r i.e., about thirty or thirty-three. 	s that is, the angels. 	t see chapter , p. . 		 see i kings xviii. .		 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . god said unto him, get thee hence therefore; for thou shalt be driven away from mercy; and my curse shall be upon thee, until the day of judgment. 	he replied, o lord, respite me, therefore, until the day of resurrection. god said, verily thou shalt be one of those who are respited until the day of the determined time. eblis said, by thy might do i swear, i will surely seduce them all, except thy servants who shall be peculiarly chosen from among them. god said, it is a just sentence; and i speak the truth: i will surely fill hell with thee, and with such of them as shall follow thee, altogether.u say unto the meccans, i ask not of you any reward for this my preaching: neither am i one of those who assume a part which belongs not to them. the koran is no other than an admonition unto all creatures: and ye shall surely know what is delivered therein to be true, after a season. ________ chapter xxxix. entitled, the troops;x revealed at mecca.y in the name of the most merciful god. the revelation of this book is from the mighty, the wise god. verily we have revealed this book unto thee with truth: wherefore serve god, exhibiting the pure religion unto him. ought not the pure religion to be exhibited unto god? but as to those who take other patrons besides him, saying, we worship them only that they may bring us nearer unto god; verily god will judge between them concerning that wherein they disagree. surely god will not direct him who is a liar, or ungrateful. if god had been minded to have had a son, he had surely chosen what he pleased out of that which he hath created.z but far be such a thing from him! he is the sole, the almighty god. he hath created the heavens and the earth with truth: he causeth the night to succeed the day, and he causeth the day to succeed the night, and he obligeth the sun and the moon to perform their services; each of them hastening to an appointed period. is not he the mighty, the forgiver of sins? he created you of one man, and afterwards out of him formed his wife: and he hath bestoweda on you four pair of cattle.b he formeth you in the wombs of your mothers, by several gradual formations,c within three veils of darkness.d this is god, your lord: his is the kingdom: there is no god but he. why therefore are ye turned aside from the worship of him to idolatry? 	u see chapter , p. , and chapter , p. , &c. 	x this title is taken from the latter end of the chapter, where it is said the wicked shall be sent to hell, and the righteous admitted into paradise by troops. 	y except the verse beginning, say, o my servants, who have transgressed against your own souls, &c. 	z because, says al beidâwi, there is no being besides himself but what hath been created by him, since there cannot be two necessarily-existent beings; and hence appears the absurdity of the imagination here condemned, because no creature can resemble the creator, or be worthy to bear the relation of a son to him. 	a literally, he hath sent down; from which expression some have imagined that these four kinds of beasts were created in paradise, and thence sent down to earth. 	b see chapter , p. . 	c see chapter , p. . 	d i.e., the belly, the womb, and the membranes which enclose the embryo. 			 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi.		 al zamakh. if ye be ungrateful, verily god hath no need of you; yet he liketh not ingratitude in his servants: but if ye be thankful, he will be well pleased with you. a burdened soul shall not bear the burden of another; hereafter shall ye return unto your lord, and he shall declare unto you that which ye have wrought, and will reward you accordingly; 	for he knoweth the innermost parts of your breasts. when harm befalleth a man, he calleth upon his lord, and turneth unto him: yet afterwards, when god hath bestowed on him favor from himself, he forgetteth that being which he invoked before,e and setteth up equals unto god, that he may seduce men from his way. say unto such a man, enjoy this life in thy infidelity for a little while; but hereafter shalt thou surely be one of the inhabitants of hell fire. shall he who giveth himself up to prayer in the hours of the night, prostrate, and standing, and who taketh heed as to the life to come, and hopeth for the mercy of his lord, be dealt with as the wicked unbeliever? say, shall they who know their duty and they who know it not, be held equal? verily the men of understanding only will be warned. say, o my servants who believe, fear your lord. they who do good in this world shall obtain good in the next;f and god's earth is spacious:g verily those who persevere with patience shall receive their recompense without measure. say, i am commanded to worship god, and to exhibit the pure religion unto him: and i am commanded to be the first moslem.h say, verily i fear, if i be disobedient unto my lord, the punishment of the great day. say, i worship god, exhibiting my religion pure unto him; but do ye worship that which ye will, besides him. say, verily they will be the losers, who shall lose their own souls, and their families, on the day of resurrection: is not this manifest loss? over them shall be roofs of fire, and under them shall be floors of fire. with this doth god terrify his servants: wherefore, oh my servants, fear him. but those who eschew the worship of idols, and are turned unto god, shall receive good tidings. bear good tidings therefore unto my servants, who hearken unto my word, and follow that which is most excellent therein: these are they whom god directeth, and these are men of understanding. 	him, therefore, on whom the sentence of eternal punishment shall be justly pronounced, canst thou, o mohammed, deliver him who is destined to dwell in the fire of hell? but for those who fear their lord will be prepared high apartments in paradise, over which shall be other apartments built; and rivers shall run beneath them: this is the promise of god; and god will not be contrary to the promise. dost thou not see that god sendeth down water from heaven, and causeth the same to enter and form sources in the earth; and produceth thereby corn of various sorts? afterwards he causeth the same to wither; and thou seest it become yellow: afterwards he maketh it crumble into dust. verily, herein is an instruction to men of understanding. 	e or, he forgetteth the evil which he before prayed against. 	f or, they who do good, shall obtain good even in this world. 	g wherefore let him who cannot safely exercise his religion where he was born or resides, fly to a place of liberty and security. 	h i.e., the first of the koreish who professeth the true religion, or the leader in chief of the moslems. 					 al beidâwi shall he, therefore, whose breast god hath enlarged to receive the religion of islam, and who followeth the light from his lord, be as he whose heart is hardened? but woe unto those whose hearts are hardened against the remembrance of god! they are in a manifest error. god hath revealed a most excellent discourse; a book conformable to itself, and containing repeated admonitions. the skins of those who fear their lord shrink for fear thereat; afterwards their skins grow soft, and their hearts also, at the remembrance of their lord. this is the direction of god: he will direct thereby whom he pleaseth; and whomsoever god shall cause to err, he shall have no director. shall he therefore who shall be obliged to screen himself with his face from the severity of the punishment on the day of resurrection, be as he who is secure therefrom? and it shall be said unto the ungodly, taste that which ye have deserved. those who were before them accused their apostles of imposture; wherefore a punishment came upon them from whence they expected it not: and god caused them to take shame in this present life; but the punishment of the life to come will certainly be greater. if they were men of understanding, they would know this. now have we proposed unto mankind, in this koran, every kind of parable; that they may be warned: an arabic koran, wherein there is no crookedness; that they may fear god. 	god propoundeth as a parable a man who hath several companions which are at mutual variance, and a man who committeth himself wholly to one person:l shall these be held in equal comparison? god forbid! but the greater part of them do not understand. verily thou, o mohammed, shalt die, and they also shall die: and ye shall debate the matterm with one another before your lord, at the day of resurrection. who is more unjust than he who uttereth a lie concerning god, and denieth the truth when it cometh unto him? is there not a dwelling provided in hell for the unbelievers? but he who bringeth the truth, and giveth credit thereto,n these are they who fear god; they shall obtain whatever they shall desire, in the sight of their lord: this shall be the recompense of the righteous; that god may expiate from them the very worst of that which they have wrought, and may render them their reward according to the utmost merit of the good which they have wrought. 	i for his hands shall be chained to his neck, and he shall not be able to oppose anything but his face to the fire. 	k i.e., no contradiction, defect, or doubt. 	l this passage represents the uncertainty of the idolater, who is distracted in the service of different masters; and the satisfaction of mind which attends the worshipper of the only true god. 	m for the prophet will represent his endeavours to reclaim them from idolatry, and their obstinacy; and they will make frivolous excuses, as that they obeyed their chiefs, and kept to the religion of their fathers, &c. 	n i.e., mohammed and his followers. some suppose that by the latter words abu becr is particularly intended, because he asserted the prophet's veracity in respect to his journey to heaven. 			 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem. is not god a sufficient protector of his servant? yet they will attempt to make thee afraid of the false deities which they worship besides god.o but he whom god shall cause to err, shall have none to direct him: and he whom god shall direct, shall have none to mislead him. is not god most mighty, able to avenge? if thou ask them who hath created the heavens and the earth, they will surely answer, god. say, do ye think, therefore, that the deities which ye invoke besides god, if god be pleased to afflict me, are able to relieve me from his affliction? or if he be pleased to show mercy unto me, that they are able to withhold his mercy? say, god is my sufficient support: in him let those put their trust, who seek in whom to confide. 	say, o my people, do ye act according to your state; verily i will act according to mine: hereafter shall ye know on which of us will be inflicted a punishment that shall cover him with shame, and on whom a lasting punishment shall fall. verily we have revealed unto thee the book of the koran, for the instruction of mankind, with truth. whoso shall be directed thereby shall be directed to the advantage of his own soul; and whoso shall err, shall only err against the same: and thou art not a guardian over them. god taketh unto himself the souls of men at the time of their death; and those which die not he also taketh in their sleep:p and he withholdeth those on which he hath passed the decree of death,q but sendeth back the others till a determined period.r verily herein are signs unto the people who consider. have the koreish taken idols for their intercessors with god? say, what, although they have not dominion over anything, neither do they understand? say, intercession is altogether in the disposal of god:s his is the kingdom of heaven and earth; and hereafter shall ye return unto him. when the one sole god is mentioned, the hearts of those who believe not in the life to come, shrink with horror: but when the false gods, which are worshipped besides him, are mentioned, behold they are filled with joy. say, o god, the creator of heaven and earth, who knowest that which is secret, and that which is manifest; thou shalt judge between thy servants concerning that wherein they disagree. if those who act unjustly were masters of whatever is in the earth, and as much more therewith, verily they would give it to ransom themselves from the evil of the punishment, on the day of resurrection: and there shall appear unto them, from god, terrors which they never imagined; and there shall appear unto them the evils of that which they shall have gained; and that which they mocked at shall encompass them. 	o the koreish used to tell mohammed that they feared their gods would do him some mischief, and deprive him of the use of his limbs, or of his reason, because he spoke disgracefully of them. it is thought by some that this passage was verified in khâled ebn al walîd; who, being sent by mohammed to demolish the idol al uzza, was advised by the keeper of her temple to take heed what he did, because the goddess was able to avenge herself severely; but he was so little moved at the man's warning, that he immediately stepped up to the idol, and broke her nose. to support the latter explication, they say that what happened to khâled is attributed to mohammed, because the former was then executing the prophet's orders. a circumstance not much different from the above mentioned is told of the demolition of allat. 	p that is, seemingly and to outward appearance, sleep being the image of death. 	q not permitting them to return again into their bodies. 	r viz., into their bodies, when they awake. 	s for none can or dare presume to intercede with him, unless by his permission. 	 idem.		 vide gagnier, not. in abulf. vit. moh. p. . 	 al beidâwi. 	when harm befalleth man, he calleth upon us; yet afterwards, when we have bestowed on him favor from us, he saith, i have received it merely because of god's knowledge of my deserts.t on the contrary, it is a trial; but the greater part of them know it not. those who were before them said the same:u but that which they had gained, profited them not: and the evils which they had deserved, fell upon them. and whoever of these meccans shall have acted unjustly, on them likewise shall fall the evils which they shall have deserved;x neither shall they frustrate the divine vengeance. do they not know that god bestoweth provision abundantly on whom he pleaseth, and is sparing unto whom he pleaseth? verily herein are signs unto people who believe. say, o my servants who have transgressed against your own souls, despair not of the mercy of god: seeing that god forgiveth all sins,y for he is gracious and merciful. and be turned unto your lord, and resign yourselves unto him, before the threatened punishment overtake you; for then ye shall not be helped. and follow the most excellent instructions which have been sent down unto you from your lord, before the punishment come suddenly upon you, and ye perceive not the approach thereof; and a soul say, alas! for that i have been negligent in my duty to god; verily i have been one of the scorners: or say, if god had directed me, verily i had been one of the pious: or say, when it seeth the prepared punishment, if i could return once more into the world, i would become one of the righteous. 	but god shall answer, my signs came unto thee heretofore, and thou didst charge them with falsehood, and wast puffed up with pride; and thou becamest one of the unbelievers. on the day of resurrection, thou shalt see the faces of those who have uttered lies concerning god, become black: is there not an abode prepared in hell for the arrogant? but god shall deliver those who shall fear him, and shall set them in their place of safety: evil shall not touch them, neither shall they be grieved. god is the creator of all things, and he is the governor of all things. his are the keys of heaven and earth: and they who believe not in the signs of god, they shall perish. say, do ye therefore bid me to worship other than god, oh ye fools? since it hath been spoken by revelation unto thee, and also unto the prophets who have been before thee, saying, verily if thou join any partners with god, thy work will be altogether unprofitable, and thou shalt certainly be one of those who perish: wherefore rather fear god, and be one of those who give thanks. but they make not a due estimation of god:z since the whole earth shall be but his handful, on the day of resurrection; and the heavens shall be rolled together in his right hand. praise be unto him! and far be he exalted above the idols which they associate with him! 	t or by means of my own wisdom. 	u as did karûn in particular. 	x as it happened accordingly: for they were punished with a sore famine for seven years and had the bravest of their warriors cut off at the battle of bedr. 	y to those who sincerely repent and profess his unity: for the sins of idolaters will not be forgiven. 	z see chapter , p. , note a. 		 see cap. , p. .		 al beidâwi.		 see p. , note h. the trumpet shall be sounded,a and whoever are in heaven, and whoever are on earth, shall expire; except those whom god shall please to exempt from the common fate.b afterwards it shall be sounded again; and behold, they shall arise and look up. and the earth shall shine by the light of its lord: and the book shall be laid open,c and the prophets and the martyrs shall be brought as witnesses; and judgment shall be given between them with truth, and they shall not be treated unjustly. 	and every soul shall be fully rewarded, according to that which it shall have wrought; for he perfectly knoweth whatever they do. and the unbelievers shall be driven unto hell by troops, until, when they shall arrive at the same, the gates thereof shall be opened: and the keepers thereofd shall say unto them, did not apostles from among you come unto you, who rehearsed unto you the signs of your lord, and warned you of the meeting of this your day? they shall answer, yea: but the sentence of eternal punishment hath been justly pronounced on the unbelievers.e it shall be said unto them, enter ye the gates of hell, to dwell therein forever; and miserable shall be the abode of the proud! but those who shall have feared their lord shall be conducted by troops towards paradise, until they shall arrive at the same: and the gates thereof shall be ready set open; and the guards thereof shall say unto them, peace be on you! ye have been good: wherefore enter ye into paradise, to remain therein forever. and they shall answer, praise be unto god, who hath performed his promise unto us, and hath made us to inherit the earth,f that we may dwell in paradise wherever we please! how excellent is the reward of those who work righteousness! and thou shalt see the angels going in procession round the throne, celebrating the praises of their lord: and judgment shall be given between them with truth; and they shall say, praise be unto god, the lord of all creatures! 	a the first time, says al beidâwi; who consequently supposes there will be no more than two blasts (and two only are distinctly mentioned in the korân), though others suppose there will be three. 	b these, some say, will be the angels gabriel, michael, and israfil, and the angel of death, who yet will afterwards all die, at the command of god; it being the constant opinion of the mohammedan doctors, that every soul, both of men and of animals, which live either on land or in the sea, and of the angels also, must necessarily taste of death: others suppose those who will be exempted are the angels who bear the throne of god, or the black-eyed damsels, and other inhabitants of paradise. 	the space between these two blasts of the trumpet will be forty days, according to yahya and others; there are some, however, who suppose it will be as many years. 	c see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . 	d see chapter , and the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . 	e see chapter , p. ; chapter , p. , &c. it seems as if the damned, by these words, attributed their ruin to god's decree of predestination. 	f this is a metaphorical expression, representing the perfect security and abundance which the blessed will enjoy in paradise. 	 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. .		 al beidâwi, yahya. 	 vide pocock. not. in port. mosis. p. . al beidâwi.		 jallalo'ddin		 see the prelim. disc. ubi sup. chapter xl. entitled, the true believer;g revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. h. m.h the revelation of this book is from the mighty, the wise god; the forgiver of sin and the accepter of repentance; severe in punishing; long suffering. there is no god but he: before him shall be the general assembly at the last day. none disputeth against the signs of god, except the unbelievers: but let not their prosperous dealing in the landi deceive thee with vain allurement. the people of noah, and the confederated infidels which were after them, accused their respective prophets of imposture before these; and each nation hatched ill designs against their apostle, that they might get him into their power; and they disputed with vain reasoning, that they might thereby invalidate the truth: wherefore i chastised them; and how severe was my punishment! thus hath the sentence of thy lord justly passed on the unbelievers; and they shall be the inhabitants of hell fire. the angels who bear the throne of god, and those who stand about it,k celebrate the praise of their lord, and believe in him; and they ask pardon for the true believers, saying, o lord, thou encompassest all things by thy mercy and knowledge; wherefore forgive those who repent, and follow thy path, and deliver them from the pains of hell: o lord, lead them also into gardens of eternal abode, which thou hast promised unto them, and unto every one who shall do right, of their fathers, and their wives, and their children; for thou art the mighty, the wise god. and deliver them from evil; for whomsoever thou shalt deliver from evil on that day, on him wilt thou show mercy; and this will be great salvation. 	but the infidels at the day of judgment, shall hear a voice crying unto them, verily the hatred of god towards you is more grievous than your hatred towards yourselves: since ye were called unto the faith, and would not believe. they shall say, o lord, thou hast given us death twice, and thou hast twice given us life;l and we confess our sins: is there therefore no way to get forth from this fire? and it shall be answered them, this hath befallen you, for that when one god was preached unto you, ye believed not; but if a plurality of gods had been associated with him, ye had believed: and judgment belongeth unto the high, the great god. 	g this title is taken from the passage wherein mention is made of one of pharaoh's family who believed in moses. 	h see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. , &c. 	i by trading into syria and yaman. see chapter , p. , note m. 	k these are the cherubim, the highest order of angels, who approach nearest to god's presence. 	l having first created us in a state of death, or void of life and sensation, and then given life to the inanimate body; and afterwards caused us to die a natural death, and raised us again at the resurrection. some understand the first death to be a natural death, and the second that in the sepulchre, after the body shall have been there raised to life in order to be examined; and consequently suppose the two revivals to be those of the sepulchre and the resurrection. 	 al beidâwi.		 see c p. , p. .		 see prelim disc. sect. iv. p. , &c. al beidâwi. jallal. it is he who showeth you his signs, and sendeth down food unto you from heaven: but none will be admonished, except he who turneth himself unto god. call therefore upon god, exhibiting your religion pure unto him, although the infidels be averse thereto. he is the being of exalted degree, the possessor of the throne; who sendeth down the spirit, at his command, on such of his servants as he pleaseth: that he may warn mankind of the day of meeting,m the day whereon they shall come forth out of their graves, and nothing of what concerneth them shall be hidden from god. unto whom will the kingdom belong, on that day? unto the only, the almighty god. on that day shall every soul be rewarded according to its merits: there shall be no injustice done on that day. verily god will be swift in taking an account. wherefore warn them, o prophet, of the day which shall suddenly approach; when men's hearts shall come up to their throats, and strangle them. the ungodly shall have no friend or intercessor who shall be heard. 	god will know the deceitful eye, and that which their breasts conceal; and god will judge with truth: but the false gods which they invoke, besides him, shall not judge at all: for god is he who heareth and seeth. have they not gone through the earth, and seen what hath been the end of those who were before them? they were more mighty than these in strength, and left more considerable footsteps of their power in the earth: yet god chastised them for their sins, and there was none to protect them from god. this they suffered, because their apostles had come unto them with evident signs, and they disbelieved: wherefore god chastised them; for he is strong, and severe in punishing. we heretofore sent moses with our signs and manifest power, unto pharaoh, and haman, and karûn; and they said, he is a sorcerer, and a liar. and when he came unto them with the truth from us, they said, slay the sons of those who have believed with him, and save their daughters alive:n but the stratagem of the infidels was no other than vain. and pharaoh said, let me alone, that i may kill moses;o and let him call upon his lord: verily i fear lest he change your religion, or cause violence to appear in the earth.p and moses said unto his people, verily i have recourse unto my lord and your lord, to defend me against every proud person, who believeth not in the day of account. and a man who was a true believer, of the family of pharaoh,q and concealed in his faith, said, will ye put a man to death, because he saith, god is my lord; seeing he is come unto you with evident signs from your lord? if he be a liar, on him will the punishment of his falsehood light; but if he speaketh the truth, some of those judgments with which he threateneth you will fall upon you: verily god directeth not him who is a transgressor, or a liar: 	m when the creator and his creatures, the inhabitants of heaven and of earth, the false deities and their worshippers, the oppressor and the oppressed, the labourer and his works, shall meet each other. 	n i.e., pursue the resolution which has been formerly taken, and execute it more strictly for the future. see chapter , p. , note r. 	o for they advised him not to put moses to death, lest it should be thought he was not able to oppose him by dint of argument. 	p by raising of commotions and seditions, in order to introduce his new religion. 	q this seems to be the same person who is mentioned, chapter , p. . 		 see cap. , p. 		 al beidâwi, jallal		 al beidâwi 										 	o my people, the kingdom is yours this day; and ye are conspicuous in the earth; but who shall defend us from the scourge of god, if it come unto us?r pharaoh said, i only propose to you what i think to be most expedient; and i guide you only into the right path. and he who had believed said, o my people, verily i fear for you a day like that of the confederates against the prophets in former times; a condition like that of the people of noah, and the tribes of ad and thamud, and of those who have lived after them; for god willeth not that any injustice be done unto his servants. o my people, verily i fear for you the day whereon men shall call unto one another;s the day whereon ye shall be turned back from the tribunal, and driven to hell: then shall ye have none to protect you against god. and he whom god shall cause to err shall have no director. joseph came unto you, before moses, with evident signs; but ye ceased not to doubt of the religion which he preached unto you, until, when he died, ye said, god will by no means send another apostle after him. thus doth god cause him to err, who is a transgressor, and a sceptic. they who dispute against the signs of god, without any authority which hath come unto them, are in great abomination with god, and with those who believe. thus doth god seal up every proud and stubborn heart. and pharaoh said, o haman, build me a tower, that i may reach the tracts, the tracts of heaven, and may view the god of moses;t for verily i think him to be a liar. 	and thus the evil of his work was prepared for pharaoh, and he turned aside from the right path: and the stratagems of pharaoh ended only in loss. and he who had believed said, o my people, follow me: i will guide you into the right way. o my people, verily this present life is but a temporary enjoyment; but the life to come is the mansion of firm continuance. whoever worketh evil shall only be rewarded in equal proportion to the same: but whoever worketh good, whether male or female, and is a true believer, they shall enter paradise: they shall be provided for therein superabundantly. and, o my people, as for me, i invite you to salvation; but ye invite me to hell fire: ye invite me to deny god, and to associate with him that whereof i have no knowledge; but i invite you to the most mighty, the forgiver of sins. there is no doubt but that the false gods to which ye invite me deserve not to be invoked, either in this world or in the next; and that we must return unto god; and that the transgressors shall be the inhabitants of hell fire: and ye shall then remember what i now say unto you. and i commit my affair unto god; for god regardeth his servants. wherefore god delivered him from the evils which they had devised; and a grievous punishment encompassed the people of pharaoh.u 	r see the speech of gamaliel to the jewish sanhedrim, when the apostles were brought before them. 	s i.e., the day of judgment, when the inhabitants of paradise and of hell shall enter into mutual discourse: when the latter shall call for help, and the seducers and the seduced shall cast the blame upon each other. 	t see chapter , p. . 	u some are of opinion that those who were sent by pharaoh to seize the true believer, his kinsman, are the persons more particularly meant in this place: for they tell us that the said believer fled to a mountain, where they found him at prayers, guarded by the wild beasts, which ranged themselves in order about him, and that his pursuers thereupon returned in a great fright to their master, who put them to death for not performing his command. 		 acts v. , 		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin		 al beidâwi. they shall be exposed to the fire of hell morning and evening:x and the day whereon the hour of judgment shall come, it shall be said unto them, enter, o people of pharaoh, into a most severe torment. 	and think on the time when the infidels shall dispute together in hell fire; and the weak shall say unto those who behaved with arrogance,y verily we were your followers: will ye therefore relieve us from any part of this fire? those who behaved with arrogance shall answer, verily we are all doomed to suffer therein: for god hath now judged between his servants. and they who shall be in the fire shall say unto the keepers of hell,z call ye on your lord, that he would ease us, for one day, from this punishment. they shall answer, did not your apostles come unto you with evident proofs? they shall say, yea. the keepers shall reply, do ye therefore call on god: but the calling of the unbelievers on him shall be only in vain. we will surely assist our apostles, and those who believe, in this present life, and on the day whereon the witnesses shall stand forth: a day, whereon the excuse of the unbelievers shall not avail them; but a curse shall attend them, and a wretched abode. we heretofore gave unto moses a direction; and we left as an inheritance unto the children of israel the book of the law; a direction, and an admonition to men of understanding. wherefore do thou, o prophet, bear the insults of the infidels with patience; for the promise of god is true; and ask pardon for thy fault;a and celebrate the praise of thy lord, in the evening and in the morning. as to those who impugn the signs of god, without any convincing proof which hath been revealed unto them, there is nothing but pride in their breasts;b but they shall not attain their desire: wherefore fly for refuge unto god; for it is he who heareth and seeth. verily the creation of heaven and earth is more considerable than the creation of man: but the greater part of men do not understand. 	the blind and the seeing shall not be held equal; nor they who believe and work righteousness, and the evil doer: how few revolve these things in their mind! the last hour will surely come; there is no doubt thereof: but the greater part of men believe it not. your lord said, call upon me, and i will hear you: but they who proudly disdain my service shall enter with ignominy into hell. it is god who hath appointed the night for you to take your rest therein, and the day to give you light: verily god is endued with beneficence towards mankind: but the greater part of men do not give thanks. this is god, your lord, the creator of all things; there is no god besides him: how therefore are ye turned aside from his worship? thus are they turned aside, who oppose the signs of god. 	x some expound these words of the previous punishment they are doomed to suffer according to a tradition of ebn masúd, which informs us that their souls are in the crops of black birds, which are exposed to hell fire every morning and evening until the day of judgment. 	y see chapter , p. , note 	z see chapter . 	a in being too backward and negligent in advancing the true religion, for fear of the infidels. 	b this sentence may be understood generally, though it was revealed on account of the idolatrous meccans or of the jews, who said of mohammed, this man is not our lord, but the messias, the son of david, whose kingdom will be extended over sea and land. 				 idem.		 idem.		 idem. it is god who hath given you the earth for a stable floor, and the heaven for a ceiling; and who hath formed you, and made your forms beautiful, and feedeth you with good things. this is god, your lord. wherefore blessed be god, the lord of all creatures! he is the living god: there is no god but he. wherefore call upon him, exhibiting unto him the pure religion. praise be unto god, the lord of all creatures! say, verily i am forbidden to worship the deities which ye invoke, besides god, after that evident proofs have come unto me from my lord; and i am commanded to resign myself unto the lord of all creatures. it is he who first created you of dust, and afterwards of seed, and afterwards of coagulated blood; and afterwards brought you forth infants out of your mothers' wombs: then he permitteth you to attain your age of full strength, and afterwards to grow old men (but some of you die before that age), and to arrive at the determined period of your life;c that peradventure ye may understand. 	it is he who giveth life, and causeth to die: and when he decreeth a thing, he only saith unto it, be, and it is. dost thou not observe those who dispute against the signs of god, how they are turned aside from the true faith? they who charge with falsehood the book of the koran, and the other scriptures and revealed doctrines which we have sent our former apostles to preach, shall hereafter know their folly, when the collars shall be on their necks, and the chains by which they shall be dragged into hell; then shall they be burned in the fire. and it shall be said unto them, where are the gods which ye associated, besides god? they shall answer, they have withdrawn themselves from us: yea, we called on nothingd heretofore. thus doth god lead the unbelievers into error. this hath befallen you, for that ye rejoiced insolently on earth, in that which was false; and for that ye were elated with immoderate joy. enter the gates of hell, to remain therein forever: and wretched shall be the abode of the haughty! wherefore persevere with patience, o mohammed; for the promise of god is true. whether we cause thee to see any part of the punishment with which we have threatened them, or whether we cause thee to die before thou see it; before us shall they be assembled at the last day. we have sent a great number of apostles before thee;e the histories of some of whom we have related unto thee, and the histories of others of them we have not related unto thee: but no apostle had the power to produce a sign, unless by the permission of god. when the command of god, therefore, shall come, judgment shall be given with truth; and then shall they perish who endeavor to render the signs of god of no effect. it is god who hath given you the cattle, that ye may ride on some of them, and may eat of others of them; 	(ye also receive other advantages therefrom;)f and that on them ye may arrive at the business proposed in your mind: and on them are ye carried by land, and on ships by sea. and he showeth you his signs; which, therefore, of the signs of god, will ye deny? do they not pass through the earth, and see what hath been the end of those who were before them? they were more numerous than these, and more mighty in strength, and left more considerable monuments of their power in the earth: yet that which they had acquired profited them not. 	c see chapter , p. . 	d seeing an idol is nothing in the world. 	e see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . 	f see chapter , p. 						 idem and when their apostles came unto them with evident proofs of their mission, they rejoiced in the knowledge which was with them:g but that which they mocked at encompassed them. and when they beheld our vengeance, they said, we believe in god alone, and we renounce the idols which we associated with him: but their faith availed them not, after they had beholden our vengeance. this was the ordinance of god, which was formerly observed in respect to his servants and then did the unbelievers perish. _______ chapter xli. entitled, are distinctly explained;h revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. h. m.i this is a revelation from the most merciful; a book, the verses whereof are distinctly explained,k an arabic koran, for the instruction of people who understand; bearing good tidings, and denouncing threats: but the greater part of them turn aside, and hearken not thereto. and they say, our hearts are veiled from the doctrine to which thou invitest us; and there is a deafness in our ears, and a curtain between us and thee: wherefore act thou as thou shalt think fit; for we shall act according to our own sentiments. say, verily i am only a man like you. it is revealed unto me, that your god is one god: wherefore direct your way straight unto him; and ask pardon of him for what is past. and woe be to the idolaters: who give not the appointed alms, and believe not in the life to come! but as to those who believe and work righteousness, they shall receive an everlasting reward. say, do ye indeed disbelieve in him who created the earth in two days;l and do ye set up equals unto him? he is the lord of all creatures. and he placed in the earth mountains firmly rooted,m rising above the same: and he blessed it; and provided therein the food of the creatures designed to be the inhabitants thereof, in four days;n equally, for those who ask.o 	g being prejudiced in favour of their own erroneous doctrines, and despising the instructions of the prophets. 	h some entitle this chapter worship, or adoration, because the infidels are herein commanded to forsake the worship of idols, and to worship god: but the thirty-second chapter bearing the same title, that which we have here prefixed is, for distinction, generally used. 	i see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. , &c. 	k see chapter , p. , note y. 	l viz., the two first days of the week. 	m see chapter , p. . 	n that is, including the two former days wherein the earth was created. 	o i.e., for all, in proportion to the necessity of each, and as their several appetites require. some refer the word sawâan, here translated equally, and which also signifies completely, to the four days; and suppose the meaning to be that god created these things in just so many entire and complete days. 				 jallalo'ddin.		 idem, al beidâwi. 	then he set his mind to the creation of heaven, and it was smoke;p and he said unto it, and to the earth, come, either obediently, or against your will. they answered, we come, obedient to thy command. and he formed them into seven heavens, in two days;q and revealed unto every heaven its office. and we adorned the lower heaven with lights, and placed therein, a guard of angels.r this is the disposition of the mighty, the wise god. if the meccans withdraw from these instructions, say, i denounce unto you a sudden destruction, like the destruction of ad and thamud. when the apostles came unto them before them and behind them,s saying, worship god alone; they answered, if our lord had been pleased to send messengers, he had surely sent angels; and we believe not the message with which ye are sent. as to the tribe of ad, they behaved insolently in the earth, without reason, and said, who is more mighty than we in strength? did they not see that god, who had created them, was more mighty than they in strength? and they knowingly rejected our signs. wherefore we sent against them a piercing wind, on days of ill luck,t that we might make them taste the punishment of shame in this world: but the punishment of the life to come will be more shameful; and they shall not be protected therefrom. and as to thamud, we directed them; but they loved blindness better than the true direction: wherefore the terrible noise of an ignominious punishment assailed them, for that which they had deserved; but we delivered those who believed, and feared god.u and warn them of the day, on which the enemies of god shall be gathered together unto hell fire, and shall march in distinct bands; until, when they shall arrive thereat, their ears, and their eyes, and their skins, shall bear witness against them of that which they shall have wrought. 	and they shall say unto their skins, wherefore do ye bear witness against us? they shall answer, god hath caused us to speak, who giveth speech unto all things: he created you the first time; and unto him are ye returned. ye did not hide yourselves, while ye sinned, so that your ears, and your eyes, and your skins could not bear witness against you:x but ye thought that god was ignorant of many things which ye did. this was your opinion, which ye imagined of your lord: it hath ruined you; and ye are become lost people. 	p or darkness. al zamakhshari says this smoke proceeded from the waters under the throne of god (which throne was one of the things created before the heavens and the earth), and rose above the water; that the water being dried up, the earth was formed out of it, and the heavens out of the smoke which had mounted aloft. 	q viz., on the fifth and sixth days of the week. it is said the heavens were created on thursday, and the sun, moon, and stars on friday; in the evening of which last day adam was made. 	r see chapter . 	s that is, on every side; persuading and urging them continually, and by arguments drawn from past examples, and the expectation of future rewards or punishments. 	t it is said that this wind continued from wednesday to wednesday inclusive, being the latter end of the month shawâl; and that a wednesday is the day whereon god sends down his judgments on a wicked people. 	u see chapter , p. , &c. 	x i.e., ye hid your crimes from men, little thinking that your very members, from which ye could not hide them, would rise up as witnesses against you. 					 idem.		 idem. whether they bear their torment, hell fire shall be their abode; or whether they beg for favor, they shall not obtain favor. and we will give them the devils to be their companions; for they dressed up for them the false notions which they entertained of this present world, and of that which is to come; and the sentence justly fitteth them, which was formerly pronounced on the nations of genii and men who were before them; for they perished. the unbelievers say, hearken not unto this koran: but use vain discoursey during the reading thereof; that ye may overcome the voice of the reader by your scoffs and laughter. wherefore we will surely cause the unbelievers to taste a grievous punishment, and we will certainly reward them for the evils which they shall have wrought. this shall be the reward of the enemies of god, namely, hell fire; therein is prepared for them an everlasting abode, as a reward for that they have wittingly rejected our signs. and the infidels shall say in hell, o lord, show us the two that seduced us, of the genii and men,z and we will cast them under our feet, that they may become most base and despicable. 	as for those who say, our lord is god, and who behave uprightly; the angels shall descend unto them,a and shall say, fear not, neither be ye grieved; but rejoice in the hopes of paradise which ye have been promised. we are your friends in this life, and in that which is to come: therein shall ye have that which your souls shall desire, and therein shall ye obtain whatever ye shall ask for; as a gift from a gracious and merciful god. who speaketh better than he who inviteth unto god, and worketh righteousness, and saith, i am a moslem? good and evil shall not be held equal. turn away evil with that which is better; and behold, the man between whom and thyself there was enmity shall become, as it were, thy warmest friend: but none shall attain to this perfection, except they who are patient; nor shall any attain thereto, except he who is endued with a great happiness of temper. and if a malicious suggestion be offered unto thee from satan, have recourse unto god; for it is he who heareth and knoweth. among the signs of his power are the night, and the day, and the sun, and the moon. worship not the sun, neither the moon: but worship god, who hath created them; if ye serve him. but if they proudly disdain his service; verily the angels, who are with thy lord, praise him night and day, and are not wearied. and among his signs another is, that thou seest the land waste; but when we send down rain thereon, it is stirred and fermenteth. and he who quickeneth the earth will surely quicken the dead; for he is almighty. 	verily those who impiously wrong our signs are not concealed from us. is he, therefore, better, who shall be cast into hell fire, or he who shall appear secure on the day of resurrection? work that which ye will: he certainly beholdeth whatever ye do. verily they who believe not in the admonition of the koran, after it hath come unto them, shall one day be discovered. it is certainly a book of infinite value: 	y or, talk aloud. 	z i.e., those of either species, who drew us into sin and ruin. some suppose that the two more particularly intended here are eblis and cain, the two authors of infidelity and murder. 	a either while they are living on earth to dispose their minds to good, to preserve them from temptations, and to comfort them; or at the hour of death to support them in their last agony; or at their coming forth from their graves at the resurrection. 			 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 idem. vanity shall not approach it, either from before it, or from behind it:b it is a revelation from a wise god, whose praise is justly to be celebrated. no other is said unto thee by the infidels of mecca than what hath been formerly said unto the apostles before thee: verily thy lord is inclined to forgiveness, and is also able to chastise severely. if we had revealed the koran in a foreign language,c they had surely said, unless the signs thereof be distinctly explained, we will not receive the same: is the book written in a foreign tongue, and the person unto whom it is directed an arabian? answer, it is, unto those who believe, a sure guide, and a remedy for doubt unto those who believe, a sure guide, and a remedy for doubt and uncertainty: but unto those who believe not, it is a thickness of hearing in their ears, and it is a darkness which covereth them; these are as they who are called unto from a distant place.d we heretofore gave the book of the law unto moses; and a dispute arose concerning the same: and if a previous decree had not proceeded from thy lord, to respite the opposers of that revelation, verily the matter had been decided between them, by the destruction of the infidels; for they were in a very great doubt as to the same. he who doth right, doth it to the advantage of his own soul; and he who doth evil, doth it against the same: for thy lord is not unjust towards his servants. unto him is reserved the knowledge of the hour of judgment: and no fruit cometh forth from the knops which involve it; neither doth any female conceive in her womb, nor is she delivered of her burden, but with his knowledge. on the day whereon he shall call them to him, saying, where are my companions which ye ascribed unto me? they shall answer, we assure thee there is no witness of this matter among us:e and the idols which they called on before shall withdraw themselves from them; and they shall perceive that there will be no way to escape. man is not wearied with asking good; but if evil befall him, he despondeth, and despaireth. 	and if we cause him to taste mercy from us, after affliction hath touched him, he surely saith, this is due to me on account of my deserts: i do not think the hour of judgment will ever come: and if i be brought before my lord, i shall surely attain, with him, the most excellent condition. but we will then declare unto those who shall not have believed, that which they have wrought; and we will surely cause them to taste a most severe punishment. when we confer favors on man, he turneth aside, and departeth without returning thanks: but when evil toucheth him, he is frequent at prayer. say, what think ye? if the koran be from god, and ye believe not therein; who will lie under a greater error, than he who dissenteth widely therefrom? hereafter we will show them our signs in the regions in the regions of the earth, and in themselves;f until it become manifest unto them that this book is the truth. is it not sufficient for thee that thy lord is witness of all things? are they not in a doubt as to the meeting of their lord at the resurrection? doth not he encompass all things? 	b that is, it shall not be prevailed against, or frustrated by any means or in any respect whatever. 	c see chapter , p. , &c. 	d being so far off that they hear not, or understand not the voice of him who calls to them. 	e for they shall disclaim their idols at the resurrection. 	f by the surprising victories and conquests of mohammed and his successors. 					 al beidâwi. chapter xlii. entitled, consultation;g revealed at mecca.h in the name of the most merciful god. h. m. a. s. k.i thus doth the mighty, the wise god reveal his will unto thee; and in like manner did he reveal it unto the prophets who were before thee. unto him belongeth whatever is in heaven, and in earth; and he is the high, the great god. it wanteth little but that the heavens be rent in sunder from above, at the awfulness of his majesty: the angels celebrate the praise of their lord, and ask pardon for those who dwell in the earth. is not god the forgiver of sins, the merciful? but as to those who take other gods for their patrons, besides him, god observeth their actions: for thou art not a steward over them. thus have we revealed unto thee an arabic koran, that thou mayest warn the metropolis of mecca, and the arabs who dwell round about it; and mayest threaten them with the day of the general assembly, of which there is no doubt: one part shall then be placed in paradise, and another part in hell. if god had pleased, he had made them all of one religion; but he leadeth whom he pleaseth into his mercy; and the unjust shall have no patron or helper. do they take other patrons, besides him? whereas god is the only true patron: he quickeneth the dead; and he is almighty. whatever matter ye disagree about, the decision thereof appertaineth unto god. this is god, my lord: in him do i trust, and unto him do i turn me: the creator of heaven and earth: he hath given you wives of your own species, and cattle both male and female; by which means he multiplieth you: there is nothing like him; and it is he who heareth and seeth. 	his are the keys of heaven and earth; he bestoweth provision abundantly on whom he pleaseth, and he is sparing unto whom he pleaseth; for he knoweth all things. he hath ordained you the religion which he commanded noah, and which we have revealed unto thee, o mohammed, and which we commanded abraham, and moses, and jesus:k saying, observe this religion, and be not divided therein. the worship of one god, to which thou invitest them, is grievous unto the unbelievers: 	g the title is taken from the verse wherein the believers are commended, among other things, for using deliberation in their affairs, and consulting together in order to act for the best. some, instead of this word, prefix the five single letters with which the chapter begins. 	h jallalo'ddin excepts three verses, beginning with these words, say, i ask not of you, for this my preaching, any reward, &c. 	i see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. , &c. 	k see ibid. sect. iv. p. and . god will elect thereto whom he pleaseth, and will direct unto the same him who shall repent. those who lived in times past were not divided among themselves, until after that the knowledge of god's unity had come unto them; through their own perverseness: and unless a previous decree had passed from thy lord, to bear with them till a determined time, verily the matter had been decided between them, by the destruction of the gainsayers. they who have inherited the scriptures after them,l are certainly in a perplexing doubt concerning the same.m wherefore invite them to receive the sure faith, and be urgent with them, as thou hast been commanded; and follow not their vain desires: and say, i believe in all the scriptures which god hath sent down; and i am commanded to establish justice among you: god is our lord and your lord: unto us will our works be imputed, and unto you will your works be imputed: let there be no wrangling between us and you; for god will assemble us all at the last day, and unto him shall we return. as to those who dispute concerning god, after obedience hath been paid him by receiving his religion, their disputing shall be vain in the sight of their lord; and wrath shall fall on them, and they shall suffer a grievous punishment. it is god who hath sent down the scripture with truth; and the balance of true judgment: and what shall inform with truth; and the balance of true judgment: and what shall inform thee whether the hour be nigh at hand? they who believe not therein wish it to be hastened by way of mockery: but they who believe dread the same, and know it to be the truth. are not those who dispute concerning the last hour in a wide error? god is bounteous unto his servants; he provideth for whom he pleaseth; and he is the strong, the mighty. whoso chooseth the tillage of the life to come,n unto him will we give increase in his tillage: and whoso chooseth the tillage of this world, we will give him the fruit thereof; but he shall have no part in the life to come. 	have the idolaters deities which ordain them a religion which god hath not allowed? but had it not been for the decree of respiting their punishment to the day of separating the infidels from the true believers, judgment had been already given between them: for the unjust shall surely suffer a painful torment. on that day thou shalt see the unjust in great terror, because of their demerits; and the penalty thereof shall fall upon them: but they who believe and do good works shall dwell in the delightful meadows of paradise; they shall obtain whatever they shall desire, with their lord. this is the greatest acquisition. this is what god promiseth unto his servants who believe and do good works. say, i ask not of you, for this my preaching, any reward, except the love of my relations: and whoever shall have deserved well by one good action, unto him will we add the merit of another action thereto; for god is inclined to forgive, and ready to reward. do they say, mohammed hath blasphemously forged a lie concerning god? if god pleaseth, he will seal up thy heart:o and god will absolutely abolish vanity, and will establish the truth in his words;p for he knoweth the innermost part of men's breasts. 	l viz., the modern jews and christians. 	m not understanding the true meaning, nor believing the real doctrines thereof. 	n labouring here to obtain a reward hereafter; for what is sown in this world will be reaped in the next. 	o the meaning of these words is somewhat obscure. some imagine they express a detestation of the forgery charged on the prophet by the infidels; because none could be capable of so wicked an action but one whose heart was close shut, and knew not his lord; as if he had said, god forbid that thou shouldst be void of grace, or have so little sense of thy duty. others think the signification to be that god might strike all the revelations which had been vouchsafed to mohammed, out of his heart at once; and others, that god would strengthen his heart with patience against the insults of the unbelievers. 	p wherefore if the doctrine taught in this book be of man, it will certainly fail and come to nothing; but if it be of god, it can never be overthrown. 				 al beidâwi.		 idem. it is he who accepteth repentance from his servants, and forgiveth sins, and knoweth that which ye do. he will incline his ear unto those who believe and work righteousness, and will add unto them above what they shall ask or deserve, of his bounty: but the unbelievers shall suffer a severe punishment. if god should bestow abundance upon his servants they would certainly behave insolently in the earth: but he sendeth down by measure unto every one that which he pleaseth; for he well knoweth and seeth the condition of his servants. it is he who sendeth down the rain, after men have despaired thereof, and spreadeth abroad his mercy; and he is the patron, justly to be praised. among his signs is the creation of heaven and earth, and of the living creatures with which he hath replenished them both; and he is able to gather them together before his tribunal, whenever he pleaseth. whatever misfortune befalleth you is sent unto you by god, for that which your hands have deserved; and yet he forgiveth many things: 	ye shall not frustrate the divine vengeance in the earth; neither shall ye have any protector or helper, against god. among his signs also are the ships running in the sea, like high mountains: if he pleaseth, he causeth the wind to cease, and they lie still on the back of the water: (verily herein are signs unto every patient and grateful person): or he destroyeth them by shipwreck, be cause of that which their crews have merited; though he pardoneth many things. and they who dispute against our signs shall know that there will be no way for them to escape our vengeance. whatever things are given you, they are the provision of this present life: but the reward which is with god is better, and more durable, for those who believe, and put their trust in their lord; and who avoid heinous and filthy crimes, and when they are angry, forgive; and who hearken unto their lord, and are constant at prayer, and whose affairs are directed by consultation among themselves, and who give alms out of what we have bestowed on them; and who, when an injury is done them, avenge themselvesq (and the retaliation of evil ought to be an evil proportionate thereto): but he who forgiveth and is reconciled unto his enemy, shall receive his reward from god;r for he loveth not the unjust doers. and whoso shall avenge himself, after he hath been injured; as to these, it is not lawful to punish them for it: 	but it is only lawful to punish those who wrong men, and act insolently in the earth, against justice; these shall suffer a grievous punishment. and whoso beareth injuries patiently, and forgiveth; verily this is a necessary work. whom god shall cause to err, he shall afterwards have no protector. and thou shalt see the ungodly, 	q using the means which god has put into their hands for their own defence. this is added to complete the character here given; for valour and courage are not inconsistent with clemency, the rule being, 					parcere subjectis, et debellare superbos. 	r see chapter , p. , &c. 					 idem. who shall say, when they behold the punishment prepared for them, is there no way to return back into the world? and thou shalt see them exposed unto hell fire; dejected, because of the ignominy they shall undergo: they shall look at the fire sideways, and by stealth; and the true believers shall say, verily the losers are they who have lost their own souls, and their families, on the day of resurrection: shall not the ungodly continue in eternal torment? they shall have no protectors to defend them against god: and whom god shall cause to err, he shall find no way to the truth. hearken unto your lord, before the day come, which god will not keep back: ye shall have no place of refuge on that day; neither shall ye be able to deny your sins. but if those to whom thou preachest turn aside from thy admonitions, verily we have not sent thee to be a guardian over them: thy duty is preaching only. when we cause man to taste mercy from us, he rejoiceth thereat: but if evil befall them, for that which their hands have formerly committed, verily man becometh ungrateful. unto god appertaineth the kingdom of heaven and earth: he createth that which he pleaseth; he giveth females unto whom he pleaseth, and he giveth males unto whom he pleaseth; or he giveth them males and females jointly: and he maketh whom he pleaseth to be childless; for he is wise and powerful. 	it is not fit for man that god should speak unto him otherwise than by private revelation, or from behind a veil, or by his sending of a messenger to reveal, by his permission, that which he pleaseth; for he is high and wise. thus have we revealed unto thee a revelation,s by our command. thou didst not understand, before this, what the book of the koran was, nor what the faith was: but we have ordained the same for a light; we will thereby direct such of our servants as we please: and thou shalt surely direct them into the right way, the way of god, unto whom belongeth whatever is in heaven and in earth. shall not all things return unto god? ________ chapter xliii. entitled, the ornaments of gold;t revealed at mecca.u in the name of the most merciful god. h. m.x by the perspicuous book; verily we have ordained the same an arabic koran that ye may understand: and it is certainly written in the original book,y kept with us, being sublime and full of wisdom. 	s or, as the words may be also translated, thus have we sent the spirit gabriel unto thee with a revelation. 	t the words chosen for the title of this chapter occurs p. . 	u some except the verse beginning with these words, and ask our apostles whom we have sent before thee, &c. 	x see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. , &c. 	y i.e., the preserved table; which is the original of all the scriptures in general. shall we therefore turn away from you the admonition, and deprive you thereof, because ye are a people who transgress? and how many prophets have we sent among those of old? and no prophet came unto them, out they laughed him to scorn: wherefore we destroyed nations who were more mighty than these in strength; and the example of those who were of old hath been already set before them. if thou ask them who created the heavens and the earth, they will certainly answer, the mighty, the wise god created them: who hath spread the earth as a bed for you, and hath made you paths therein, that ye may be directed: 	and who sendeth down rain from heaven by measure, whereby we quicken a dead country; (so shall ye be brought forth from your graves:) and who hath created all the various species of things, and hath given you ships and cattle, whereon ye are carried; that ye may sit firmly on the backs thereof, and may remember the favor of your lord, when ye sit thereon, and may say, praise be unto him, who hath subjected these unto our service! for we could not have mastered them by our own power: and unto our lord shall we surely return. yet have they attributed unto him some of his servants as his offspring: verily man is openly ungrateful. hath god taken daughters out of those beings which he hath created; and hath he chosen sons for you? but when one of them hath the news brought of the birth of a child of that sex which they attribute unto the merciful, as his similitude, his face becometh black, and he is oppressed with sorrow.z do they therefore attribute unto god female issue, which are brought up among ornaments, and are contentious without cause? and do they make the angels, who are the servants of the merciful, females? were they present at their creation? their testimony shall be written down, and they shall be examined concerning the same, on the day of judgment. and they say, if the merciful had pleased, we had not worshipped them. they have no knowledge herein: they only utter a vain lie. 	have we given them a book of revelations before this; and do they keep the same in their custody? but they say, verily we found our fathers practising a religion; and we are guided in their footsteps. thus we sent no preacher before thee, unto any city, but the inhabitants thereof who lived in affluence, said, verily we found our fathers practising a religion: and we tread in their footsteps. and the preacher answered, what, although i bring you a more right religion than that which ye found your fathers to practise? and they replied, verily we believe not that which ye are sent to preach. wherefore we took vengeance on them: and behold what hath been the end of those who accused our apostles of imposture. remember when abraham said unto his father, and his people, verily i am clear of the gods which ye worship, except him who hath created me; for he will direct me aright. and he ordained this to be a constant doctrine among his posterity; that they should be turned from idolatry to the worship of the only true god. verily i have permitted these meccans and their fathers to live in prosperity, until the truth should come unto them, and a manifest apostle: but now the truth is come unto them, they say, this is a piece of sorcery; and we believe not therein. 	and they say, had this korân been sent down unto some great man of either of the two cities,a we would have received it. 	z see chapter , p. , &c. 	a i.e., to one of the principal inhabitants of mecca, or of tâyef, such as al walid ebn al mogheira, or erwa ebn masud, the thakifite. 					 al beidâwi. do they distribute the mercy of thy lord?b we distribute the necessary provision among them, in this present life, and we raise some of them several degrees above the others, that the one of them may take the other to serve him: and the mercy of thy lord is more valuable than the riches which they gather together. if it were not that mankind would have become one sect of infidels, verily we had given unto those who believe not in the merciful, roofs of silver to their houses, and stairs of silver, by which they might ascend thereto, and doors of silver to their houses, and couches of silver, for them to lean on; and ornaments of gold: for all this is the provision of the present life; but the next life with thy lord shall be for those who fear him. whoever shall withdraw from the admonition of the merciful, we will chain a devil unto him; and he shall be his inseparable companion: (and the devils shall turn them aside from the way of truth; yet they shall imagine themselves to be rightly directed:) until, when he shall appear before us at the last day, he shall say unto the devil,c would to god that between me and thee there was the distance of the east from the west! oh how wretched a companion art thou! but wishes shall not avail you on this day, since ye have been unjust; for ye shall be partakers of the same punishment. canst thou, o prophet, make the deaf to hear, or canst thou direct the blind, and him who is in a manifest error? 	whether we take thee away, we will surely take vengeance on them; or whether we cause thee to see the punishment with which we have threatened them executed, we will certainly prevail over them. wherefore hold fast the doctrine which hath been revealed unto thee; for thou art in a right way: and it is a memorial unto thee and thy people, and hereafter shall ye be examined concerning your observance thereof. and ask our apostles whom we have sent before thee,d whether we have appointed gods for them to worship, besides the merciful. we formerly sent moses with our signs unto pharaoh and his princes, and he said, verily i am the apostle of the lord of all creatures. and when he came unto them with our signs, behold, they laughed him to scorn; although we showed them no sign, but it was greater than the other:e and we inflicted a punishmentf on them, that peradventure they might be converted. and they said unto moses, o magician, pray unto thy lord for us, according to the covenant which he hath made with thee; for we will certainly be directed. but when we took the plague from off them, behold, they brake their promise. 	and pharaoh made proclamation among his people, saying, o my people, is not the kingdom of egypt mine, and these rivers,g which flow beneath me? do ye not see? am not i better than this moses, who is a contemptible person, 	b by this expression the prophetic office is here particularly intended. 	c see chapter . 	d that is, ask those who profess the religions which they taught, and their learned men. 	e literally, than its sister. the meaning is that the miracles were all very great and considerable, or, as the french may express it, by a phrase nearly the same, les uns plus grands que les autres. 	f viz., the successive plagues which they suffered, previous to their final destruction in the red sea. 	g to wit, the nile and its branches. 			 idem, jallal., &c.		 idem. and can scarce express himself intelligibly?h have bracelets of gold, therefore, been put upon him;i or do the angels attend him in orderly procession? and pharaoh persuaded his people to light behavior; and they obeyed him: for they were a wicked people. and when they had provoked us to wrath, we took vengeance on them: and we drowned them all: and we made them a precedent, and an example unto others. and when the son of mary was proposed for an example, behold, thy people cried out through excess of joy thereat;k and they said, are our gods better, or he? they have proposed this instance unto thee no otherwise than for an occasion of dispute: yea, they are contentious men. jesus is no other than a servant, whom we favored with the gift of prophecy; and we appointed him for an examplel unto the children of israel: 	(if we pleased, verily we could from ourselves produce angels, to succeed you in the earth):m and he shall be a sign of the approach of the last hour;n wherefore doubt not thereof. and follow me: this is the right way. and let not satan cause you to turn aside: for he is your open enemy. and when jesus came with evident miracles, he said, now am i come unto you with wisdom,o and to explain unto you part of those things concerning which ye disagree; wherefore fear god, and obey me. verily god is my lord, and your lord; wherefore worship him: this is the right way. and the confederated sects among them fell to variance:p but woe unto those who have acted unjustly, because of the punishment of a grievous day. do the unbelievers wait for any other than the hour of judgment; that it may come upon them suddenly, while they foresee it not? the intimate friends, on that day, shall be enemies unto one another; except the pious. 	h see chapter , p. , note 	i such bracelets were some of the insignia of royalty; for when the egyptians raised a person to the dignity of a prince, they put a collar or chain of gold about his neck, and bracelets of gold on his wrists. 	k this passage is generally supposed to have been revealed on occasion of an objection made by one ebn al zabári to those words in the st chapter, by which all in general, who were worshipped as deities, besides god, are doomed to hell: whereupon the infidels cried out, we are contented that our gods should be with jesus; for he also is worshipped as god. some, however, are of opinion it might have been revealed in answer to certain idolaters, who said that the christians, who received the scriptures, worshipped jesus, supposing him to be the son of god; whereas the angels were more worthy of that honour than he. 	l or an instance of our power, by his miraculous birth. 	m as easily as we produced jesus without a father. the intent of the words is to show how just and reasonable it is to think that the angels should bear the relation of children to men, rather than to god; they being his creatures, as well as men, and equally in his power. 	n for some time before the resurrection jesus is to descend on earth, according to the mohammedans, near damascus, or, as some say, near a rock in the holy land named afik, with a lance in his hand, wherewith he is to kill antichrist, whom he will encounter at ludd, or lydda, a small town not far from joppa. they add that he will arrive at jerusalem at the time of morning prayer, that he shall perform his devotions after the mohammedan institution, and officiate instead of the imâm, who shall give place to him; that he will break down the cross, and destroy the churches of the christians, of whom he will make a general slaughter, excepting only such as shall profess islâm, etc. 	o that is, with a book of revelations, and an excellent system of religion. 	p this may be understood either of the jews in the time of jesus, who opposed his doctrine, or of the christians since, who have fallen into various opinions concerning him; some making him to be god, others the son of god, and others, one of the persons of the trinity, &c. 	 see gen. xli. .		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin.		 see p. .			 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi.		 idem. 	 idem.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. .		 see ibid. p. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin. o my servants, there shall no fear come on you this day, neither shall ye be grieved: who have believed in our signs, and have been moslems: 	enter ye into paradise, ye and your wives, with great joy. dishes of gold shall be carried round unto them, and cups without handles: and therein shall they enjoy whatever their souls shall desire, and whatever their eyes shall delight in: and ye shall remain therein forever. this is paradise, which ye have inherited as a reward for that which ye have wrought. therein shall ye have fruits in abundance, of which ye shall eat. but the wicked shall remain forever in the torment of hell: it shall not be made lighter unto them; and they shall despair therein. we deal not unjustly with them, but they deal unjustly with their own souls. and they shall call aloud, saying, o malec,q intercede for us that thy lord would end us by annihilation. he shall answer,r verily ye shall remain here forever. we brought you the truth heretofore, but the greater part of you abhorred the truth. have the infidels fixed on a method to circumvent our apostle? verily we will fix on a method to circumvent them. 	do they imagine that we hear not their secrets, and their private discourse? yea; and our messengers who attend thems write down the same. say, if the merciful had a son, verily i would be the first of those who should worship him. far be the lord of heaven and earth, the lord of the throne, from that which they affirm of him! wherefore let them wade in their vanity, and divert themselves until they arrive at their day with which they have been threatened. he who is god in heaven, is god on earth also: and he is the wise, the knowing. and blessed be he unto whom appertaineth the kingdom of heaven and earth, and of whatever is between them; with whom is the knowledge of the last hour; and before whom ye shall be assembled. they whom they invoke besides him have not the privilege to intercede for others; except those who bear witness to the truth, and know the same.t if thou ask them who hath created them, they will surely answer, god. how therefore are they turned away to the worship of others? god also heareth the saying of the prophet, o lord, verily these are people who believe not: and he answereth, therefore turn aside from them; and say, peace:u hereafter shall they know their folly. 	q this the mohammedans suppose to be the name of the principal angel who has the charge of hell. 	r some say that this answer will not be given till a thousand years after. 	s i.e., the guardian angels. 	t that is, to the doctrine of god's unity. the exception comprehends jesus, ezra, and the angels; who will be admitted as intercessors, though they have been worshipped as gods. 	u see chapter , p. , note d. 						 idem. chapter xliv. entitled, smoke;x revealed at mecca.y in the name of the most merciful god. h. m.z by the perspicuous book of the koran; verily we have sent down the same on a blessed nighta (for we had engaged so to do), on the night wherein is distinctly sent down the decree of every determined thing, as a command from us.b verily we have ever used to send apostles with revelations, at proper intervals, as a mercy from thy lord; for it is he who heareth and knoweth: the lord of heaven and earth, and of whatever is between them; if ye are men of sure knowledge. there is no god but he: he giveth life, and he causeth to die; he is your lord, and the lord of your forefathers. yet do they amuse themselves with doubt. but observe them, on the day whereon the heaven shall produce a visible smoke, 	which shall cover mankind:c this will be a tormenting plague. they shall say, o lord, take this plague from off us: verily we will become true believers. how should an admonition be of avail to them in this condition; when a manifest apostle came unto them, but they retired from him, saying, this man is instructed by others,d or is a distracted person? we will take the plague from off you, a little: but ye will certainly return to your infidelity.e on the day whereon we shall fiercely assault them with great power,f verily we will take vengeance on them. we made trial of the people of pharaoh before them, and an honourable messenger came unto them, 	x this word occurs within a few lines from the beginning of the chapter. 	y some except the verse beginning, we will take the plague off you a little, &c. 	z see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. , &c. 	a generally supposed to be that between the twenty-third and twenty- fourth of ramadân. see ibid. p. , and chapter , and the notes there. 	b for annually on this night, as the mohammedans are taught, all the events of the ensuing year, with respect to life and death and the other affairs of this world, are disposed and settled. some, however, suppose that these words refer only to that particular night on which the korân, wherein are completely contained the divine determinations in respect to religion and morality, was sent down; and, according to this exposition, the passage may be rendered, the night whereon every determined or adjudged matter was sent down. 	c the commentators differ in their expositions of this passage. some think it spoke of a smoke which seemed to fill the air during the famine which was inflicted on the meccans in mohammed's time, and was so thick that, though they could hear, yet they could not see one another. but, according to a tradition of ali, the smoke here meant is that which is to be one of the previous signs of the day of judgment, and will fill the whole space from east to west, and last for forty days. this smoke, they say, will intoxicate the infidels, and issue at their nose, ears and posteriors, but will very little inconvenience the true believers. 	d see chapter , p. . 	e if we follow the former exposition, the words are to be understood, of the ceasing of the famine upon the intercession of mohammed, at the desire of the koreish, and on their promise of believing on him; notwithstanding which, they fell back to their old incredulity; but if we follow the latter exposition, they are to be understood of god's taking away the plague of the smoke, after the expiration of the forty days, at the prayer of the infidels, and on their promise of receiving the true faith, which being done, they will immediately return to their wonted obstinacy. 	f some expound this of the slaughter at bedr, and others of the day of judgment. 	 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi.		 idem.		 see cap. , p. , note al zamakh., al beidâwi, yahya, jallalo'ddin.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. .		 al zamakh., al beidâwi. 										 saying, send unto me the servants of god;g verily i am a faithful messenger unto you: and lift not yourselves up against god; for i come unto you with manifest power. and i fly for protection unto my lord, and your lord, that ye stone me not.h 	if ye do not believe me, at least depart from me.i and when they accused him of imposture, he called upon his lord, saying, these are a wicked people. and god said unto him, march forth with my servants by night; for ye will be pursued: and leave the sea divided, that the egyptians may enter the same; for they are a host doomed to be drowned. how many gardens, and fountains, and fields of corn, and fair dwellings, and advantages which they enjoyed, did they leave behind them! thus we dispossessed them thereof; and we gave the same for an inheritance unto another people.k neither heaven nor earth wept for them;l neither were they respited any longer. and we delivered the children of israel from a shameful affliction; 	from pharaoh; for he was haughty, and a transgressor: and we chose them, knowingly,m above all people; and we showed them several signs,n wherein was an evident trial. verily these meccans say, assuredly our final end will be no other than our first natural death; neither shall we be raised again: bring now our forefathers back to life, if ye speak truth. are they better, or the people of tobba,o and those who were before them? we destroyed them, because they wrought wickedness. we have not created the heavens and the earth, and whatever is between them, by way of sport: we have created them no otherwise than in truth;p but the greater part of them do not understand. 	verily the day of separationq shall be the appointed term of them all: a day, whereon the master and the servant shall be of no advantage to one another, neither shall they be helped; excepting those on whom god shall have mercy; for he is the mighty, the merciful. verily, the fruit of the tree of al zakkum shall be the food of the impious:r 	g i.e., let the israelites go with me to worship their god. 	h or that ye injure me not, either by word or deed. 	i without opposing me or offering me any injury, which i have not deserved from you. 	k see chapter , p. . 	l that is, none pitied their destruction. 	m i.e., knowing that they were worthy of our choice; or, notwithstanding we knew they would, in time to come, fall into idolatry, &c. 	n as the dividing of the red sea, the cloud which shaded them, the raining on them manna and quails, &c. 	o the hamyarites, whose kings had the title of tobba. the commentators tell us that the tobba here meant was very potent, and built samarcand, or, as others say, demolished it; and that he was a true believer, but his subjects were infidels. 	this prince seems to have been abu carb asaad, who flourished about seven hundred years before mohammed, and embraced judaism, which religion he first introduced into yaman (being the true religion at that time, inasmuch as christianity was not then promulgated), and was, for that cause probably, slain by his own people. 	p see chapter , p. , and chapter , p. . 	q i.e., the day of judgment; when the wicked shall be separated from the righteous, &c. 	r jallalo'ddin supposes this passage to have been particularly levelled against abu jahl. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. i. p. .		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin. al jannâbi. vide poc. spec. p. . as the dregs of oil shall it boil in the bellies of the damned, like the boiling of the hottest water. and it shall be said to the tormentors, take him, and drag him into the midst of hell: and pour on his head the torture of boiling water, saying, taste this; for thou art that mighty and honourable person. 	verily this is the punishment of which ye doubted. but the pious shall be lodged in a place of security, among gardens and fountains: they shall be clothed in fine silk, and in satin; and they shall sit facing one another. thus shall it be: and we will espouse them to fair damsels, having large black eyes. in that place shall they call for all kinds of fruits, in full security: they shall not taste death therein, after the first death; and god shall deliver from the pains of hell: through the gracious bounty of thy lord. this will be great felicity. moreover we have rendered the koran easy for thee, by revealing it in thine own tongue; to the end that they may be admonished: wherefore do thou wait the event; for they wait to see some misfortune befall thee. ________ chapter xlv. entitled, the kneeling;s revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. h. m.t the revelation of this book is from the mighty, the wise god. verily both in heaven and earth are signs of the divine power unto the true believers: and in the creation of yourselves, and of the beasts which are scattered over the face of the earth, are signs unto people of sound judgment; and also in the vicissitude of night and day, and the rain which god sendeth down from heaven, whereby he quickeneth the earth after it hath been dead: in the change of the winds also are signs unto people of understanding. these are the signs of god; we rehearse them unto thee with truth. in what revelation therefore will they believe, after they have rejected god and his signs? woe unto every lying and impious person; who heareth the signs of god, which are read unto him, and afterwards proudly persisteth in infidelity, as though he heard them not: (denounce unto him a painful punishment:) and who, when he cometh to the knowledge of any of our signs, receiveth the same with scorn. for these is prepared a shameful punishment: before them lieth hell; and whatever they shall have gained shall not avail them at all, neither shall the idols which they have taken for their patrons, besides god; and they shall suffer a grievous punishment. 	this is a true direction: and for those who disbelieve the signs of their lord, is prepared the punishment of a painful torment. it is god who hath subjected the sea unto you, that the ships may sail therein, at his command; and that ye may seek advantage unto yourselves by commerce; of his bounty; and that ye may give thanks: and he obligeth whatever is in heaven and on earth to serve you; the whole being from him. verily herein are signs unto people who consider. 	s the word from which this chapter is denominated occurs p. . 	t see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. , &c. speak unto the true believers, that they forgive those who hope not for the days of god,u that he may reward people according to what they shall have wrought. whoso doeth that which is right doth it to the advantage of his own soul; and whoso doeth evil doth it against the same: hereafter shall ye return unto your lord. we gave unto the children of israel the book of the law, and wisdom, and prophecy; and we fed them with good things, and preferred them above all nations: and we gave them plain ordinances concerning the business of religion; neither do they fall to variance, except after that knowledge had come unto them, through envy among themselves: but thy lord will decide the controversy between them, on the day of resurrection, concerning that wherein they disagree. afterwards we appointed thee, o mohammed, to promulgate a law concerning the business of religion: wherefore follow the same, and follow not the desires of those who are ignorant.x verily they shall not avail thee against god at all; the unjust are the patrons of one another; but god is the patron of the pious. this koran delivereth evident precepts unto mankind; and is a direction, and a mercy, unto people who judge aright. 	do the workers of iniquity imagine that we will deal with them as with those who believe and do good works; so that their life and their death shall be equal? an ill judgment do they make. god hath created the heavens and the earth in truth; that he may recompense every soul according to that which it shall have wrought: and they shall not be treated unjustly. what thinkest thou? he who taketh his own lust for his god, and whom god causeth knowingly to err, and whose ears and whose heart he hath sealed up, and over whose eyes he hath cast a veil; who shall direct him, after god shall have forsaken him? will ye therefore not be admonished? they say, there is no other life, except our present life: we die, and we live; and nothing but time destroyeth us. but they have no knowledge in this matter; they only follow a vain opinion. and when our evident signs are rehearsed unto them, their argument which they offer against the same is no other than that they say, bring to life our fathers who have been dead; if ye speak truth. say, god giveth you life; and afterwards causeth you to die: hereafter will he assemble you together on the day of resurrection; there is no doubt thereof; but the greater part of men do not understand. unto god appertaineth the kingdom of heaven and earth; and the day whereon the hour shall be fixed, on that day shall those who charge the koran with vanity perish. and thou shalt see every nationy kneeling: every nation shall be called unto its book of account; and it shall be said unto them, this day shall ye be rewarded according to that which ye have wrought. 	u by the days of god, in this place, are meant the prosperous successes of his people in battle against the infidels. the passage is said to have been revealed on account of omar, who being reviled by one of the tribe of ghifâr, was thinking to revenge himself by force. some are of opinion that this verse is abrogated by that of war. 	x that is, of the principal koreish, who were urgent with mohammed to return to the religion of his forefathers. 	y the original word ommat properly signifies a people who profess one and the same law or religion. 			 see p. , note d.		 al beidâwi.		 idem. this our book will speak concerning you with truth; therein have we written down whatever ye have done.z as to those who shall have believed and done good works, their lord shall lead them into his mercy: this shall be manifest felicity. 	but as to the infidels, it shall be said unto them, were not my signs rehearsed unto you? but ye proudly rejected them, and became a wicked people! and when it was said unto you, verily the promise of god is true: and as to the hour of judgment, there is no doubt thereof: ye answered, we know not what the hour of judgment is: we hold an uncertain opinion only; and we are not well assured of this matter. but on that day the evils of that which they have wrought shall appear unto them; and that which they mocked at shall encompass them: and it shall be said unto them, this day will we forget you, as ye did forget the meeting of this your day: and your abode shall be hell fire; and ye shall have none to deliver you. this shall ye suffer, because ye turned the signs of god to ridicule; and the life of the world deceived you. on this day, therefore, they shall not be taken forth from thence, neither shall they be asked any more to render themselves well-pleasing unto god. wherefore praise be unto god, the lord of the heavens, and the lord of the earth; the lord of all creatures: and unto him be glory in heaven and earth; for he is the mighty, the wise god. _______ chapter xlvi. entitled, al ahkaf;a revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. h. m.b the revelation of this book is from the mighty, the wise god. we have not created the heavens, and the earth, and whatever is between them, otherwise than in truth,c and for a determined period:d but the unbelievers turn away from the warning which is given them. say, what think ye? show me what part of the earth the idols which ye invoke, besides god, have created? or, had they any share in the creation of the heavens? bring me a book of scripture revealed before this, or some footstep of ancient knowledge, to countenance your idolatrous practices; if ye are men of veracity. who is in a wider error than he who invoketh, besides god, that which cannot return him an answer, to the day of resurrection; and idols which regard not their calling on them: and which, when men shall be gathered together to judgment, will become their enemies, and will ungratefully deny their worship? 	z see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . 	a al ahkâf is the plural of hekf, and signifies lands which lie in a crooked or winding manner; whence it became the name of a territory in the province of hadramaut, where the adites dwelt. it is mentioned about the middle of the chapter. 	b see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. , &c. 	c see chapter , p. , and chapter , p. , &c. 	d being to last but a certain space of time, and not for ever. when our evident signs are rehearsed unto them, the unbelievers say of the truth,e when it cometh unto them, this is a manifest piece of sorcery. will they say, mohammed hath forged it? answer, if i have forged it, verily ye shall not obtain for me any favor from god: he well knoweth the injurious language which ye utter concerning it: he is a sufficient witness between me and you; and he is gracious and merciful. say, i am not singular among the apostles;f neither do i know what will be done with me or with you hereafter: i follow no other than what is revealed unto me; neither am i any more than a public warner. say, what is your opinion? if this book be from god, and ye believe not therein; and a witness of the children of israel bear witness to its consonancy with the law,g and believeth therein; and ye proudly reject the same: are ye not unjust doers? verily god directeth not unjust people. 	but those who believe not say of the true believers, if the doctrine of the koran had been good, they had not embraced the same before us.h and when they are not guided thereby, they say, this is an antiquated lie. whereas the book of moses was revealed before the koran, to be a guide and a mercy: and this is a book confirming the same, delivered in the arabic tongue; to denounce threats unto those who act unjustly, and to bear good tidings unto the righteous doers. as to those who say, our lord is god; and who behave uprightly: on them shall no fear come, neither shall they be grieved. these shall be the inhabitants of paradise, they shall remain therein forever: in recompense for that which they have wrought. we have commanded man to show kindness to his parents: his mother beareth him in her womb with pain, and bringeth him forth with pain: and the space of his being carried in her womb, and of his weaning, is thirty months;i until, when he attaineth his age of strength, and attaineth the age of forty years, he saith,k o lord, excite me, by the inspiration, that i may be grateful for their favors, wherewith thou hast favored me and my parents; and that i may work righteousness, which may please thee: and be gracious unto me in my issue; for i am turned unto thee, and am a moslem. these are they from whom we accept the good work which they have wrought, and whose evil works we pass by; and they shall be among the inhabitants of paradise: this is a true promise, which they are promised in this world. 	e i.e., any part of the revelations of the korân. 	f that is, i do not teach a doctrine different from what the former apostles and prophets have taught, nor am i able to do what they could not, particularly to show the signs which every one shall think fit to demand. 	g this witness is generally supposed to have been the jew abd'allah ebn salâm, who declared that mohammed was the prophet foretold by moses. some, however, suppose the witness here meant to have been moses himself. 	h these words were spoken, as some think, by the jews, when abd'allah professed islâm; or, according to others, by the koreish, because the first followers of mohammed were for the most part poor and mean people; or else by the tribes of amer, ghatfân, and asad, on the conversion of those of joheinah, mozeinah, aslam, and ghifar. 	i at the least. for if the full time of suckling an infant be two years, or twenty-four months, there remain but six months for the space of his being carried in the womb; which is the least that can be allowed. 	k these words, it is said, were revealed on account of abu becr, who professed islâm in the fortieth year of his age, two years after mohammed's mission, and was the only person, either of the mohâjerin or the ansârs, whose father and mother were also converted; his son abd'alrahmân, and his grandson abu atik, likewise embracing the same faith. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin		 idem. 	 see cap. , p. . al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin, &c. he who saith unto his parents, fie on you! do ye promise me that i shall be taken forth from the grave, and restored to life; when many generations have passed away before me, and none of them have returned back?l and his parents implore god's assistance, and say to their son, alas for thee! believe: for the promise of god is true. but he answereth, this is no other than silly fables of the ancients. these are they whom the sentence passed on the nations which have been before them, of genii and of men, justly fitteth: they shall surely perish.m for every one is prepared a certain degree of happiness or misery, according to that which they shall have wrought: that god may recompense them for their works: and they shall not be treated unjustly. on a certain day, the unbelievers shall be exposed before the fire of hell; and it shall be said unto them, ye received your good things in your lifetime, while ye were in the world; and ye enjoyed yourselves therein: wherefore this day ye shall be rewarded with the punishment of ignominy; for that ye behaved insolently in the earth, without justice, and for that ye transgressed. 	remember the brother of ad,n when he preached unto his people in al ahkaf (and there were preachers before him, and after him), saying, worship none but god: verily i fear for you the punishment of a great day. they answered, art thou come unto us that thou mayest turn us aside from the worship of our gods? bring on us now the punishment with which thou threatenest us, if thou art a man of veracity. he said, verily the knowledge of the time when your punishment will be inflicted is with god; and i only declare unto you that which i am sent to preach; but i see ye are an ignorant people. and when they saw the preparation made for their punishment, namely, a cloud traversing the sky, and tending towards their valleys, they said, this is a traversing cloud, which bringeth us rain. hud answered, nay; it is what ye demanded to be hastened: a wind, wherein is a severe vengeance: it will destroy everything,o at the command of its lord. and in the morning nothing was to be seen, besides their empty dwellings. thus do we reward wicked people. we had established them in the like flourishing condition wherein we have established you, o men of mecca; and we had given them ears, and eyes, and hearts: yet neither their ears, nor their eyes, nor their hearts profited them at all, when they rejected the signs of god; but the vengeance which they mocked at fell upon them. we heretofore destroyed the cities which were round about you;p and we variously proposed our signs unto them, that they might repent. did those protect them, whom they took for gods, besides god, and imagined to be honoured with his familiarity? nay; they withdrew from them: yet this was their false opinion which seduced them, and the blasphemy which they had devised. 	l the words seem to be general; but it is said they were revealed particularly on occasion of abd'alrahmân, the son of abu becr, who used these expressions to his father and mother before he professed islâm. 	m unless they redeem their fault by repentance, and embracing the true faith, as did abd'alrahmân. 	n i.e., the prophet hud. 	o which came to pass accordingly; for this pestilential and violent wind killed all who believed not in the doctrine of hud, without distinction of sex, age, or degree; and entirely destroyed their possessions. see the prelim. disc. sect. i. p. , and the notes to chapter , p. . 	p as the settlements of the thamudites, midianites, and the cities of sodom and gomorrah, &c. 					 al beidâwi. remember when we caused certain of the geniiq to turn aside unto thee, that they might hear the koran: and when they were present at the reading of the same, they said to one another, give ear: and when it was ended, they returned back unto their people, preaching what they had heard. they said, our people, verily we have heard a book read unto us, which hath been revealed since moses,r confirming the scripture which was delivered before it; and directing unto the truth, and the right way. 	our people, obey god's preacher: and believe in him; that he may forgive you your sins, and may deliver you from a painful punishment. and whoever obeyeth not god's preacher shall by no means frustrate god's vengeance on earth: neither shall he have any protectors besides him. these will be in a manifest error. do they not know that god, who hath created the heavens and the earth, and was not fatigued with the creation thereof, is able to raise the dead to life? yea verily; for he is almighty. on a certain day the unbelievers shall be exposed unto hell fire; and it shall be said unto them, is not this really come to pass? they shall answer, yea, by our lord. god shall reply, taste, therefore, the punishment of hell, for that ye have been unbelievers. do thou, o prophet, bear the insults of thy people with patience, as our apostles, who were endued with constancy, bear the injuries of their people: and require not their punishment to be hastened unto them. on the day whereon they shall see the punishment wherewith they have been threatened, it shall seem as though they had tarried in the world but an hour of a day. this is a fair warning. shall they perish except the people who transgress? ________ chapter xlvii. entitled, mohammed;s revealed at medina.t in the name of the most merciful god. god will render of none effect the works of those who believe not, and who turn away men from the way of god: but as to those who believe, and work righteousness, and believe the revelation which hath been sent down unto mohammed (for it is the truth from their lord), he will expiate their evil deeds from them, and will dispose their heart aright. 	q these genii, according to different opinions, were of nisibin, or of yaman, or of ninive; and in number nine or seven. they heard mohammed reading the korân by night, or after the morning prayer, in the valley of al nakhlah, during the time of his retreat to al tayef, and believed on him. 	r hence the commentators suppose those genii, before their conversion to mohammedism, to have been of the jewish religion. 	s some entitle this chapter war, which is therein commanded to be vigorously carried on against the enemies of the mohammedan faith. 	t some suppose the whole to have been revealed at mecca. 					 idem, jallalo'ddin. this will he do, because those who believe not follow vanity, and because those who believe follow the truth from their lord. thus god propoundeth unto men their examples. when ye encounter the unbelievers, strike off their heads, until ye have made a great slaughter among them; and bind them in bonds; and either give them a free dismission afterwards, or exact a ransom; until the war shall have laid down its arms.u this shall ye do. verily if god pleased he could take vengeance on them, without your assistance; but he commandeth you to fight his battles, that he may prove the one of you by the other. and as to those who fightx in defence of god's true religion, god will not suffer their works to perish: he will guide them, and will dispose their heart aright; and he will lead them into paradise, of which he hath told them. o true believers, if ye assist god, by fighting for his religion, he will assist you against your enemies; and will set your feet fast: but as for the infidels, let them perish; and their works shall god render vain. 	this shall befall them, because they have rejected with abhorrence that which god hath revealed: wherefore their works shall become of no avail. do they not travel through the earth, and see what hath been the end of those who were before them? god utterly destroyed them: and the like catastrophe awaiteth the unbelievers. this shall come to pass, for that god is the patron of the true believers, and for that the infidels have no protector. verily god will introduce those who believe, and do good works, into gardens beneath which rivers flow: but the unbelievers indulge themselves in pleasures, and eat as beasts eat; and their abode shall be hell fire. how many cities were more mighty in strength than thy city which hath expelled thee; yet have we destroyed them, and there was none to help them? shall he therefore, who followeth the plain declaration of his lord, be as he whose evil works have been dressed up for him by the devil; and who follow their own lusts? the description of paradise, which is promised unto the pious: therein are rivers of incorruptible water; and rivers of milk, the taste whereof changeth not; and rivers of wine, pleasant unto those who drink; and rivers of clarified honey: and therein shall they have plenty of all kinds of fruits; and pardon from their lord. shall the man for whom these things are prepared be as he who must dwell forever in hell fire; and will have the boiling water given him to drink, which shall burst their bowels? 	u this law the hanifites judge to be abrogated, or to relate particularly to the war of bedr, for the severity here commanded, which was necessary in the beginning of mohammedism, they think too rigorous to be put in practice in its flourishing state. but the persians and some others hold the command to be still in full force; for, according to them, all the men of full age who are taken in battle are to be slain, unless they embrace the mohammedan faith; and those who fall into the hands of the moslems after the battle are not to be slain, but may either be set at liberty gratis or on payment of a certain ransom, or may be exchanged for mohammedan prisoners, or condemned to slavery, at the pleasure of the imâm or prince. 	x some copies, instead of kâtilu, read kûtilu, according to which latter reading it should be rendered, who are slain, or suffer martyrdom, &c. 	 see cap. , p. and .		 al beidâwi. vide reland. dissert. de jure militari mohammedanor. p. . of the unbelievers there are some who give ear unto thee, until, when they go out from thee, they say, by way of derision, unto those to whom knowledge hath been given,y what hath he said now? these are they whose hearts god hath sealed up, and who follow their own lusts: but as to those who are directed, god will grant them a more ample direction, and he will instruct them what to avoid.z 	do the infidels wait for any other than the last hour, that it may come upon them suddenly? some signs thereof are already come:a and when it shall actually overtake them, how can they then receive admonition? know therefore, that there is no god but god: and ask pardon for thy sin,b and for the true believers, both men and women. god knoweth your busy employment in the world, and the place of your abode hereafter. the true believers say, hath not a sura been revealed commanding war against the infidels? but when a sura without any ambiguity is revealed, and war is mentioned therein, thou mayest see those in whose hearts is an infirmity,c look towards thee with the look of one whom death overshadoweth. but obedience would be more eligible for them, and to speak that which is convenient. and when the command is firmly established, if they give credit unto god, it will be better for them. were ye ready, therefore, if ye had been put in authority,d to commit outrages in the earth, and to violate the ties of blood? these are they whom god hath cursed, and hath rendered deaf, and whose eyes he hath blinded. do they not therefore attentively meditate on the koran? are there locks upon their hearts? verily they who turn their backs, after the true direction is made manifest unto them, satan shall prepare their wickedness for them, and god shall bear with them for a time. this shall befall them, because they say privately unto those who detest what god hath revealed, we will obey you in part of the matter.e but god knoweth their secrets. how therefore will it be with them, when the angels shall cause them to die, and shall strike their faces, and their backs?f 	this shall they suffer, because they follow that which provoketh god to wrath, and are averse to what is well pleasing unto him: and he will render their works vain. do they in whose hearts is an infirmity imagine that god will not bring their malice to light? if we pleased, we could surely show them unto thee, and thou shouldest know them by their marks; but thou shalt certainly know them by their perverse pronunciation of their words. god knoweth your actions: and we will try you, until we know those among you who fight valiantly, and who persevere with constancy: and we will try the reports of your behavior. 	y i.e., the more learned of mohammed's companions, such as ebn masúd and ebn abbâs. 	z or, as the words may also be translated, and he will reward them for their piety. 	a as the mission of mohammed, the splitting of the moon, and the smoke, mentioned in the forty-fourth chapter. 	b though mohammed here and elsewhere acknowledges himself to be a sinner, yet several mohammedan doctors pretend he was wholly free from sin, and suppose he is here commanded to ask forgiveness, not that he wanted it, but that he might set an example to his followers: wherefore he used to say of himself, if the tradition be true, i ask pardon of god a hundred times a day. 	c as hypocrisy, cowardice, or instability in their religion. 	d or, as the words may also be translated, if ye had turned back, and apostatized from your faith. 	e i.e., in part of what ye desire of us; by staying at home and not going forth with mohammed to war, and by private combination against him. 	f these words are supposed to allude to the examination of the sepulchre. 	 jallalo'ddin.		 idem, al beidâwi.		 see cap. , in the beginning.		 jallalo'ddin al beidâwi. verily those who believe not, and turn away men from the way of god, and make opposition against the apostle,g after the divine direction hath been manifested unto them, shall not hurt god at all; but he shall make their works to perish. o true believers, obey god; and obey the apostle: and render not your works of no effect. verily those who believe not, and who turn away men from the way of god, and then die, being unbelievers, god will by no means forgive. faint not therefore, neither invite your enemies to peace, while ye are the superior: for god is with you, and will not defraud you of the merit of your works. verily this present life is only a play and a vain amusement; but if ye believe, and fear god, he will give you your rewards. he doth not require of you your whole substance: if he should require the whole of you, and earnestly press you, ye would become niggardly, and it would raise your hatred against his apostle. 	behold, ye are those who are invited to expend part of your substance for the support of god's true religion; and there are some of you who are niggardly. but whoever shall be niggardly shall be niggardly towards his own soul: for god wanteth nothing, but ye are needy: and if ye turn back, he will substitute another people in your stead, who shall not be like unto you.h ________ chapter xlviii. entitled, the victory; revealed at medina. in the name of the most merciful god. verily we have granted thee a manifest victory:i that god may forgive theek thy preceding and thy subsequent sin,l and may complete his favour on thee, and direct thee in the right way; 	g these were the tribes of koreidha and al nadir; or those who distributed provision to the army of the koreish at bedr. 	h i.e., in backwardness and aversion to the propagation of the faith. the people here designed to be put in the place of these lukewarm moslems are generally supposed to be the persians, there being a tradition that mohammed, being asked what people they were, at a time when salmân was sitting by him, clapped his hand on his thigh, and said, this man and his nation. others, however, are of opinion the ansârs or the angels are intended in this place. 	i this victory, from which the chapter takes its title, according to the most received interpretation, was the taking of the city of mecca. the passage is said to have been revealed on mohammed's return from the expedition of al hodeibiya, and contains a promise or prediction of this signal success, which happened not till two years after, the preterite tense being therein used, according to the prophetic style, for the future. 	there are some, notwithstanding, who suppose the advantage here intended was the pacification of al hodeibiya, which is here called a victory, because the meccans sued for peace, and made a truce there with mohammed, their breaking of which occasioned the taking of mecca. others think the conquest of khaibar, or the victory over the greeks at mûta, &c., to be meant in this place. 	k that is to say, that god ay give thee an opportunity of deserving forgiveness by eradicating of idolatry, and exalting his true religion, and the delivering of the weak from the hands of the ungodly, &c. 	l i.e., whatever thou hast done worthy reprehension; or, thy sins committed as well in the time of ignorance as since. some expound the words more particularly, and say the preceding or former fault was his lying with his handmaid mary, contrary to his oath; and the latter, his marrying of zeinab, the wife of zeîd his adopted son. 	 al beidâwi. see cap. , p. , note y.		 idem. 	 al zamakh., al beidâwi, &c. see cap. , and the notes thereon.		 see cap. , and the notes thereon.		 al zamakh. and that god may assist thee with a glorious assistance. it is he who sendeth down secure tranquility into the hearts of the true believers, that they may increase in faith, beyond their former faith; (the hosts of heaven and earth are god's; and god is knowing and wise) that he may lead the true believers of both sexes into gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell therein forever; and may expiate their evil deeds from them: (this will be great felicity with god): and that he may punish the hypocritical men, and the hypocritical women, and the idolaters, and the idolatresses, who conceive an ill opinion of god. they shall experience a turn of evil fortune: and god shall be angry with them, and shall curse them, and hath prepared hell for them; and ill journey shall it be thither! unto god belong the hosts of heaven and earth; and god is mighty and wise. verily we have sent thee to be a witness, and a bearer of good tidings, and a denouncer of threats; that ye may believe in god, and his apostle; and may assist him, and revere him, and praise him morning and evening. 	verily they who swear fealtym unto thee, swear fealty unto god: the hand of god is over their hands.n whoever shall violate his oath, will violate the same to the hurt only of his own soul: but whoever shall perform that which he hath covenanted with god, he will surely give him a great reward. the arabs of the desert who were left behindo will say unto thee, our substance and our families employed us, so that we went not forth with thee to war; wherefore, ask pardon for us. they speak that with their tongues, which is not in their hearts. answer, who shall be able to obtain for you anything from god to the contrary, if he is pleased to afflict you, or is pleased to be gracious unto you? yea, verily, god is well acquainted with that which ye do. truly ye imagined that the apostle and the true believers would never return to their families: and this was prepared in your hearts: but ye imagined an evil imagination; and ye are a corrupt people. whoso believeth not in god and his apostle, verily we have prepared burning fire for the unbelievers. unto god belongeth the kingdom of heaven and earth: he forgiveth whom he pleaseth: and he punisheth whom he pleaseth: and god is inclined to forgive, and merciful. those who were left behind will say, when ye go forth to take the spoil,p suffer us to follow you. they seek to change the word of god.q say, ye shall by no means follow us: thus hath god said heretofore. they will reply, nay: ye envy us a share of the booty. but they are men of small understanding. 	m the original word signifies publicly to acknowledge or inaugurate a prince, by swearing fidelity and obedience to him. 	n that is, he beholdeth from above, and is witness to the solemnity of your giving your faith to his apostle, and will reward you for it. the expression alludes to the manner of their plighting their faith on these occasions. 	o these were the tribes of aslam, joheinah, mozeinah, and ghifâr, who, being summoned to attend mohammed in the expedition of al hodeibiya, stayed behind, and excused themselves by saying their families must suffer in their absence, and would be robbed of the little they had (for these tribes were of the poorer arabs); whereas in reality they wanted firmness in the faith, and courage to face the koreish. 	p viz., in the expedition of khaibar. the prophet returned from al hodeibiya in dhu'lhajja, in the sixth year of the hejra, and stayed at medina the remainder of that month and the beginning of moharram, and then set forward against the jews of khaibar, with those only who had attended him to hodeibiya; and having made himself master of the place, and all the castles and strongholds in that territory, took spoils to a great value, which he divided among them who were present at that expedition, and none else. 	q which was his promise to those who attended the prophet to al hodeibiya, that he would make them amends for their missing of the plunder of mecca at that time by giving them that of khaibar in lieu thereof. some think the word here intended, to be that passage in the ninth chapter, ye shall not go forth with me for the future, &c., which yet was plainly revealed long after the taking of khaibar, on occasion of the expedition of tabûc. 			 jallalo'ddin.		 idem, al beidâwi. say unto the arabs of the desert who were left behind, ye shall be called forth against a mighty and a warlike nation;r ye shall fight against them, or they shall profess islâm. if ye obey, god will give you a glorious reward: but if ye turn back, as ye turned back heretofore, he will chastise you with a grievous chastisement. it shall be no crime in the blind, neither shall it be a crime in the lame, neither shall it be a crime in the sick, if they go not forth to war: and whoso shall obey god and his apostle, he shall lead them into gardens beneath which rivers flow; but whoso shall turn back, he will chastise him with a grievous chastisement. now god was well pleased with the true believers, when they sware fidelity to thee under the tree;s and he knew that which was in their hearts; wherefore he sent down on them tranquility of mind,t and rewarded them with a speedy victory,u and many spoils which they took: for god is mighty and wise. 	god promised you many spoils which ye should take; but he have you these by way of earnest; and he restrained the hands of men from you:x that the same may be a sign unto the true believers; and that he may guide you into the right way. and he also promiseth you other spoils, which ye have not yet been able to take: but now hath god encompassed them for you; and god is almighty. if the unbelieving meccans had fought against you, verily they had turned their backs; and they would not have found a patron or protector: according to the ordinance of god, which hath been put in execution heretofore against opposers of the prophets; for thou shalt not find any change in the ordinance of god. it was he who restrained their hands from you, and your hands from them, in the valley of mecca; after that he had given you the victory over them:y and god saw that which ye did. 	r these were banu honeifa, who inhabited al yamâma, and were the followers of moseilama, mohammed's competitor; or any other of those tribes which apostatized from mohammedism, or, as others rather suppose, the persians or the greeks. 	s mohammed, when at al hodeibiya, sent jawwâs ebn omeyya the khozaïte, to acquaint the meccans that he was come with a peaceable intention to visit the temple; but they, on some jealousy conceived, refusing to admit him, the prophet sent othman ebn affân, whom they imprisoned, and a report ran that he was slain: whereupon mohammed called his men about him, and they took an oath to be faithful to him, even to death; during which ceremony he sat under a tree, supposed by some to have been an egyptian thorn, and by others a kind of lote-tree. 	t the original word is sakînat, of which notice has been taken elsewhere. 	u namely, the success at khaibar; or, as some rather imagine, the taking of mecca, &c. 	x i.e., the hands of those of khaibar, or of their successors of the tribes of asad and ghatfân, or of the inhabitants of mecca, by the pacification of al hodeibiya. 	y jallalo'ddin says that fourscore of the infidels came privately to mohammed's camp at al hodeibiya, with an intent to surprise some of his men, but were taken and brought before the prophet, who pardoned them and ordered them to be set at liberty; and this generous action was the occasion of the truce struck up by the koreish with mohammed; for thereupon they sent sohail ebn amru and some others (and not arwa ebn masúd, as is said by mistake in another place, for his errand was an actual defiance) to treat for peace. 	al beidâwi explains the passage by another story, telling us that acrema ebn abi jahl marching from mecca at the head of five hundred men to al hodeibiya, mohammed sent against him khâled ebn al walîd with a detachment, who drove the infidels back to the innermost part of mecca (as the word here translated valley properly signifies), and then left them, out of respect to the place. 	 vide abulf. vit. moh. p. , &c.		 al beidâwi.		 page . al beidâwi.		 idem.		 jallalo'ddin.		 idem, al beidâwi. vide abulf. vit. moh. p. . in not. ad cap. , p. .		 al beidâwi.		 prelim. disc. sect. ii. p. . these are they who believed not, and hindered you from visiting the holy temple, and also hindered the offering being detained, that it should not arrive at the place where it ought to be sacrificed.z had it not been that ye might have trampled on divers true believers, both men and women, whom ye know not, being promiscuously assembled with the infidels, and that a crime might therefore have lighted on you on their account, without your knowledge, he had not restrained your hands from them: but this was done, that god might lead whom he pleased into his mercy. if they had been distinguished from one another, we had surely chastised such of them as believed not, with a severe chastisement. when the unbelievers had put in their hearts an affected preciseness, the preciseness of ignorance, and god sent down his tranquility on his apostle and on the true believers;a and firmly fixed in them the word of piety,b and they were the most worthy of the same, and the most deserving thereof: for god knoweth all things. now hath god in truth verified unto his apostle the vision,c wherein he said, ye shall surely enter the holy temple of mecca, if god please, in full security; having your heads shaved, and your hair cut:d ye shall not fear: for god knoweth that which ye know not; and he hath appointed you, besides this, a speedy victory.e 	z mohammed's intent, in the expedition of al hodeibiya, being only to visit the temple of mecca in a peaceable manner, and to offer a sacrifice in the valley of mina, according to the established rites, he carried beasts with him for that purpose; but was not permitted by the koreish either to enter the temple or to go to mina. 	a this passage was occasioned by the stiffness of sohail and his companions in wording the treaty concluded with mohammed; for when the prophet ordered ali to begin with the form, in the name of the most merciful god, they objected to it, and insisted that he should begin with this: in thy name, o god; which mohammed submitted to, and proceeded to dictate, these are the conditions on which mohammed, the apostle of god, has made peace with those of mecca; to this sohail again objected, saying, if we had acknowledged thee to be the apostle of god, we had not given thee any opposition; whereupon mohammed ordered ali to write as sohail desired, these are the conditions which mohammed, the son of abdallah, &c. but the moslems were so disgusted thereat, that they were on the point of breaking off the treaty, and had fallen on the meccans, had not god appeased and calmed their minds, as it follows in the text. 	the terms of this pacification were that there should be a truce for ten years; that any person might enter into league either with mohammed or with the koreish, as he should think fit; and that mohammed should have the liberty to visit the temple of mecca the next year for three days. 	b i.e., the mohammedan profession of faith; or the bismillah, and the words, mohammed, the apostle of god, which were rejected by the infidels. 	c or dream which mohammed had at medina before he set out for al hodeibiya; wherein he dreamed that he and his companions entered mecca in security, with their heads shaven and their hair cut. this dream being imparted by the prophet to his followers, occasioned a great deal of joy among them, and they supposed it would be fulfilled that same year; but when they saw the truce concluded, which frustrated their expectation for that time, they were deeply concerned; whereupon this passage was revealed for their consolation, confirming the vision, which was not to be fulfilled till the year after, when mohammed performed the visitation distinguished by the addition of al kadâ, or completion, because he then completed the visitation of the former year, when the koreish not permitting him to enter mecca, he was obliged to kill his victims, and to shave himself at al hodeibiya. 	d i.e., some being shaved, and others having only their hair cut. 	e viz., the taking of khaibar. 	 al beidâwi. vide abulf. vit. moh. p. .		 idem. 	 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin. vide abulf. vit. moh. p. , . it is he who hath sent his apostle with the direction, and the religion of truth; that he may exalt the same above every religion: and god is a sufficient witness hereof. mohammed is the apostle of god: and those who are with him are fierce against the unbelievers, but compassionate towards one another. thou mayest see them bowing down, prostrate, seeking a recompense from god, and his good- will. their signs are in their faces, being marks of frequent prostration. this is their description in the pentateuch, and their description in the gospel: they are as seed which putteth forth its stalk and strengtheneth it, and swelleth in the ear, and riseth upon its stem; giving delight unto the sower. such are the moslems described to be: that the infidels may swell with indignation at them. god hath promised unto such of them as believe, and do good works, pardon and a great reward. ________ chapter xlix. entitled, the inner apartments; revealed at medina. in the name of the most merciful god. o true believers, anticipate not any matter in the sight of god and his apostle:f and fear god; for god both heareth and knoweth. o true believers, raise not your voices above the voice of the prophet;g neither speak loud unto him in discourse, as ye speak loud unto one another, lest your works become vain, and ye perceive it not. verily they who lower their voices in the presence of the apostle of god are those whose hearts god hath disposed unto piety: they shall obtain pardon, and a great reward. as to those who call unto thee from without the inner apartments;h the greater part of them do not understand the respect due to thee. if they wait with patience, until thou come forth unto them, it will certainly be better for them: but god is inclined to forgive, and merciful. 	f that is, do not presume to give your own decision in any case, before ye have received the judgment of god and his apostle. 	g this verse is said to have been occasioned by a dispute between abu becr and omar, concerning the appointing of a governor of a certain place; in which they raised their voices so high, in the presence of the apostle, that it was thought proper to forbid such indecencies for the future. 	h these, they say, were oyeyna ebn osein, and al akrá ebn hâbes; who wanting to speak with mohammed, when he was sleeping at noon in his women's apartment, had the rudeness to call out several times, mohammed, come forth to us. 				 jallal.		 al beidâwi. o true believers, if a wicked man come unto you with a tale, inquire strictly into the truth thereof; lest ye hurt people through ignorance, and afterwards repent of what ye have done;i and know that the apostle of god is among you: if he should obey you in many things, ye would certainly be guilty of a crime, in leading him into a mistake. but god hath made the faith amiable unto you, and hath prepared the same in your hearts; and hath rendered infidelity, and iniquity, and disobedience hateful unto you. these are they who walk in the right way; through mercy from god, and grace: and god is knowing, and wise. if two parties of the believers contend with one another, do ye endeavor to compose the matter between them: and if the one of them offer an insult unto the other, fight against that party which offered the insult, until they return unto the judgment of god; and if they do return, make peace between them with equity: and act with justice; for god loveth those who act justly.k 	verily the true believers are brethren; wherefore reconcile your brethren; and fear god, that ye may obtain mercy. o true believers, let not men laugh other men to scorn; who peradventure may be better than themselves: neither let women laugh other women to scorn; who may possibly be better than themselves. neither defame one another; nor call one another by opprobrious appellations. an ill name it is to be charged with wickedness, after having embraced the faith: and whoso repenteth not, they will be the unjust doers.l o true believers, carefully avoid entertaining a suspicion of another: for some suspicions are a crime. inquire not too curiously into other men's failings: neither let the one of you speak ill of another in his absence. would any of you desire to eat the flesh of his dead brother? surely ye would abhor it. and fear god; for god is easy to be reconciled, and merciful. o men, verily we have created you of a male and a female; and we have distributed you into nations and tribes, that ye might know one another. verily the most honourable of you, in the sight of god, is the most pious of you: and god is wise and knowing. the arabs of the desertm say, we believe. answer, ye do by no means believe; but say, we have embraced islâm:n for the faith hath not yet entered into your hearts. if ye obey god and his apostle, he will not defraud you of any part of the merit of your works: for god is inclined to forgive, and merciful. 	i this passage was occasioned, it is said, by the following accident. al walid ebn okba being sent by mohammed to collect the alms from the tribe of al mostalek, when he saw them come out to meet him in great numbers, grew apprehensive they designed him some mischief, because of past enmity between him and them in the time of ignorance, and immediately turned back, and told the prophet they refused to pay their alms, and attempted to kill him; upon which mohammed was thinking to reduce them by force: but on sending khâled ebn al walîd to them, he found his former messenger had wronged them, and that they continued in their obedience. 	k this verse is supposed to have been occasioned by a fray which happened between the tribes of al aws and al khazraj. some relate that the prophet one day riding on an ass, as he passed near abdallah ebn obba, the ass chanced to stale, at which ebn obba stopped his nose; and ebn rawâha said to him, by god, the piss of his ass smells sweeter than thy musk: whereupon a quarrel ensued between their followers, and they came to blows, though they struck one another only with their hands and slippers, or with palm-branches. 	l it is said that this verse was revealed on account of safiya bint hoyai, one of the prophet's wives; who came to her husband and complained that the women said to her, o thou jewess, the daughter of a jew and of a jewess: to which he answered, canst thou not say, aaron is my father, and moses is my uncle, and mohammed is my husband? 	m these were certain of the tribe of asad, who came to medina in a year of scarcity, and having professed mohammedism, told the prophet that they had brought all their goods and their families, and would not oppose him, as some other tribes had done: and this they said to obtain a part of the alms, and to upbraid him with their having embraced his religion and party. 	n that is, ye are not sincere believers, but outward professors only of the true religion. 	 idem, jallal.		 idem		 al beidâwi. see prid. life of mahom. p. , &c.		 idem. verily the true believers are those only who believe in god and his apostle, and afterwards doubt not; and who employ their substance and their persons in the defence of god's true religion: these are they who speak sincerely. say, will ye inform god concerning your religion?o but god knoweth whatever is in heaven and in earth: for god is omniscient. they upbraid thee that they have embraced islâm. answer, upbraid me not with your having embraced islâm: rather god upbraideth you, that he hath directed you to the faith;p if ye speak sincerely. verily god knoweth the secrets of heaven and earth: and god beholdeth that which ye do. ________ chapter l. entitled, k; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. k.q by the glorious koran: verily they wonder that a preacher from among themselves is come unto them; and the unbelievers say, this is a wonderful thing: after we shall be dead, and become dust, shall we return to life? this is a return remote from thought. now we know what the earth consumeth of them; and with us is a book which keepeth an account thereof. but they charge falsehood on the truth, after it hath come unto them: wherefore they are plunged in a confused business.r do they not look up to the heaven above them, and consider how we have raised it and adorned it; and that there are no flaws therein? we have also spread forth the earth, and thrown thereon mountains firmly rooted:s and we caused every beautiful kind of vegetables to spring up therein; for a subject of meditation, and an admonition unto every man who turneth unto us. and we send down rain as a blessing from heaven, whereby we cause gardens to spring forth, and the grain of harvest, 	and tall palm-trees having branches laden with dates hanging one above another, as a provision for mankind; and we thereby quicken a dead country: so shall be the coming forth of the dead from their graves. 	o i.e., will ye pretend to deceive him, by saying ye are true believers? 	p the obligation being not on god's side, but on yours, for that he has favoured you so far as to guide you into the true faith, if ye are sincere believers. 	q some imagine that this letter is designed to express the mountain kâf, which several eastern writers fancy encompass the whole world. others say it stands for kada al amr, i.e., the matter is decreed, viz., the chastisement of the infidels. see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. , &c. 	r not knowing what certainly to affirm of the korân; calling it sometimes a piece of poetry, at other times a piece of sorcery, and at other times a piece of divination, &c. 	s see chapter , p. , and chapter , p. . 		 vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. art. caf.		 al beidâwi. jallalo'ddin. the people of noah, and those who dwelt at al rass,t and thamud, and ad, and pharaoh, accused the prophets of imposture before the meccans; and also the brethren of lot, and the inhabitants of the wood near midian, and the people of tobba:u all these accused the apostles of imposture; wherefore the judgments which i threatened were justly inflicted on them. is our power exhausted by the first creation? yea; they are in a perplexity, because of a new creation which is foretold them, namely the raising of the dead. we created man, and we know what his soul whispereth within him; and we are nearer unto him than his jugular vein. when the two angels deputed to take account of a man's behavior, take an account thereof; one sitting on the right hand, and the other on the left: he uttereth not a word, but there is with him a watcher, ready to note it.x and the agony of death shall come in truth: this, o man, is what thou soughtest to avoid. and the trumpet shall sound: this will be the day which hath been threatened. 	and every soul shall come; and therewith shall be a driver and a witness.y and the former shall say unto the unbeliever, thou wast negligent heretofore of this day: but we have removed thy veil from off thee; and thy sight is become piercing this day. and his companions shall say, this is what is ready with me to be attested. and god shall say, cast into hell every unbeliever, and perverse person, and every one who forbade good, and every transgressor, and doubter of the faith, who set up another god with the true god; and cast him into a grievous torment. his companionz shall say, o lord, i did not seduce him; but he was in a wide error.a god shall say, wrangle not in my presence: since i threatened you beforehand with the torments which ye now see prepared for you. the sentence is not changed with me: neither do i treat my servants unjustly. on that day we will say unto hell, art thou full? and it shall answer, is there yet any addition?b 	and paradise shall be brought near unto the pious; and it shall be said unto them, this is what ye have been promised; unto every one who turned himself unto god, and kept his commandments; 	t see chapter , p. . 	u see chapter , p. . 	x the intent of the passage is to exalt the omniscience of god, who wants not the information of the guardian angels, though he has thought fit, in his wisdom, to give them that employment; for if they are so exact as to write down every word which falls from a man's mouth, how can we hope to escape the observation of him who sees our inmost thoughts? 	the mohammedans have a tradition that the angel who notes a man's good actions has the command over him who notes his evil actions; and that when a man does a good action, the angel of the right hand writes it down ten times, and when he commits an ill action, the same angel says to the angel of the left hand, forbear setting it down for seven hours; peradventure he may pray, or may ask pardon. 	y i.e., two angels, one acting as a sergeant, to bring every person before the tribunal; and the other prepared as a witness, to testify either for or against him. some say the former will be the guardian angel who took down his evil actions, and the other the angel who took down his good actions. 	z viz., the devil which shall be chained to him. 	a this will be the answer of the devil, whom the wicked person will accuse as his seducer; for the devil has no power over a man to cause him to do evil, any otherwise than by suggesting what is agreeable to his corrupt inclinations. 	b i.e., are there yet any more condemned to this place, or is my space to be enlarged and rendered more capacious to receive them? 	the commentators suppose hell will be quite filled at the day of judgment, according to that repeated expression in the korân, verily i will fill hell with you, &c. 		 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 see cap. , p. , &c. who feared the merciful in secret, and came unto him with a converted heart: enter the same in peace: this is the day of eternity. therein shall they have whatever they shall desire; and there will be a superabundant addition of bliss with us.c how many generations have we destroyed before the meccans, which were more mighty than they in strength? pass, therefore, through the regions of the earth, and see whether there be any refuge from our vengeance. verily herein is an admonition unto him who hath a heart to understand, or giveth ear, and is present with an attentive mind. we created the heavens and the earth, and whatever is between them, in six days, and no weariness affected us.d wherefore patiently suffer what they say;e and celebrate the praise of thy lord before sunrise, and before sunset, and praise him in some part of the night: and perform the additional parts of worship.f 	and hearken unto the day whereon the crier shall call men to judgment from a near place:g the day whereon they shall hear the voice of the trumpet in truth: this will be the day of men's coming forth from their graves: we give life, and we cause to die; and unto us shall be the return of all creatures: the day whereon the earth shall suddenly cleave in sunder over them. this will be an assembly easy for us to assemble. we well know what the unbelievers say; and thou art not sent to compel them forcibly to the faith. wherefore warn, by the koran, him who feareth my threatening. ________ chapter li. entitled, the dispersing; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. by the winds dispersing and scattering the dust;h and by the clouds bearing a load of rain;i by the ships running swiftly in the sea;k 	c see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . 	d this was revealed in answer to the jews, who said that god rested from his work of creation on the seventh day, and reposed himself on his throne, as one fatigued. 	e viz., either what the idolaters say, in denying the resurrection; or the jews, in speaking indecently of god. 	f these are the two inclinations used after the evening prayer, which are not necessary, or of precept, but voluntary, and of supererogation; and may therefore be added, or omitted, indifferently. 	g that is, from a place whence every creature may equally hear the call. this place, it is supposed, will be the mountain of the temple of jerusalem, which some fancy to be nigher heaven than any other part of the earth; whence israfil will sound the trumpet, and gabriel will make the following proclamation: o ye rotten bones, and torn flesh, and dispersed hairs, god commandeth you to be gathered together to judgment. 	h or, by the women who bring forth or scatter children, &c. 	i or, by the women bearing a burden in their womb, or the winds bearing the clouds, &c. 	k or, by the winds passing swiftly in the air, or the stars moving swiftly in their courses, &c. 				 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin.		 idem. and by the angels who distribute things necessary for the support of all creatures;l verily that wherewith ye are threatened is certainly true; and the last judgment will surely come. by the heaven furnished with paths;m ye widely differ in what ye say.n he will be turned aside from the faith, who shall be turned aside by the divine decree. 	cursed be the liars; who wade in deep waters of ignorance, neglecting their salvation. they ask, when will the day of judgment come? on that day shall they be burned in hell fire; and it shall be said unto them, taste your punishment; this is what ye demanded to be hastened. but the pious shall dwell among gardens and fountains, receiving that which their lord shall give them; because they were righteous doers before this day. they slept but a small part of the night;o and early in the morning they asked pardon of god: and a due portion of their wealth was given unto him who asked, and unto him who was forbidden by shame to ask. 	there are signs of the divine power and goodness in the earth, unto men of sound understanding; and also in your own selves: will ye not therefore consider? your sustenance is in the heaven; and also that which ye are promised.p wherefore by the lord of heaven and earth i swear that this is certainly the truth; according to what ye yourselves speak.q hath not the story of abraham's honoured guestsr come to thy knowledge? when they went in unto him, and said, peace: he answered peace; saying within himself, these are unknown people. and he went privately unto his family, and brought a fatted calf. and he set it before them, and when he saw they touched it not, he said, do ye not eat? and he began to entertain a fear of them. they said, fear not:s and they declared unto him the promise of a wise youth. and his wife drew near with exclamation, and she smote her face,t and said, i am an old woman, and barren. 	the angels answered, thus saith thy lord: verily he is the wise, the knowing. and abraham said unto them, what is your errand, therefore, o messengers of god? they answered, verily we are sent unto a wicked people: that we may send down upon them stones of baked clay, marked from thy lord, for the destruction of transgressors. and we brought forth the true believers who were in the city: but we found not therein more than one family of moslems. and we overthrew the same, and left a sign therein unto those who dread the severe chastisement of god. in moses also was a sign: when we sent him unto pharaoh with manifest power. but he turned back, with his princes, saying, this man is a sorceror, or a madman. 	l or, by the winds which distribute the rain, &c. 	m i.e., the paths or orbs of the stars, or the streaks which appear in the sky like paths, being thin and extended clouds. 	n concerning mohammed, or the korân, or the resurrection and day of judgment; speaking variously and inconsistently of them. 	o spending the greater part in prayer and religious meditation. 	p i.e., your food cometh from above, whence proceedeth the change of seasons and rain; and your future reward is also there, that is to say, in paradise, which is situate above the seven heavens. 	q that is, without any doubt or reserved meaning, as ye affirm a truth unto one another. 	r see chapter , p. , and chapter , p. . 	s some add, that to remove abraham's fear, gabriel, who was one of these strangers, touched the calf with his wing, and it immediately rose up and walked to its dam; upon which abraham knew them to be the messengers of god. 	t this, some pretend, she did for shame, because she felt her courses coming upon her. 					 al beidâwi. 	wherefore we took him and his forces, and cast them into the sea: and he was one worthy of reprehension. and in the tribe of ad also was a sign: when we sent against them a destroying wind;u it touched not aught whereon it came, but it rendered the same as a thing rotten, and reduced to dust. in thamud likewise was a sign: when it was said unto them, enjoy yourselves for a time.x but they insolently transgressed the command of their lord: wherefore a terrible noise from heaven assailed them, while they looked on;y and they were not able to stand on their feet, neither did they save themselves from destruction. and the people of noah did we destroy before these: for they were a people who enormously transgressed. we have built the heaven with might; and we have given it a large extent: and we have stretched forth the earth beneath; and how evenly have we spread the same! and of everything have we created two kinds,z that peradventure ye may consider. 	fly, therefore, unto god; verily i am a public warner unto you, from him. and set not up another god with the true god: verily i am a public warner unto you, from him. in like manner there came no apostle unto their predecessors, but they said, this man is a magician, or a madman. have they bequeathed this behavior successively the one to the other? yea; they are a people who enormously transgress. wherefore withdraw from them; and thou shalt not be blameworthy in so doing. yet continue to admonish: for admonition profiteth the true believers. i have not created genii and men for any other end than that they should serve me. i require not any sustenance from them; neither will i that they feed me. verily god is he who provideth for all creatures; possessed of mighty power. unto those who shall injure our apostle shall be given a portion like unto the portion of those who behaved like them in times past; and they shall not wish the same to be hastened. 	woe, therefore, to the unbelievers, because of their day with which they are threatened! ______ chapter lii. entitled, the mountain; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. by the mountain of sinai; and by the book written in an expanded scroll;a and by the visited house;b 	u see chapter , p. , &c. 	x i.e., for three days. see chapter , p. . 	y for this calamity happened in the daytime. 	z as for example: male and female; the heaven and the earth; the sun and the moon; light and darkness; plains and mountains; winter and summer; sweet and bitter, &c. 	a the book here intended, according to different opinions, is either the book or register wherein every man's actions are recorded; or the preserved table containing god's decrees; or the book of the law, which was written by god, moses hearing the creaking of the pen; or else the korân. 	b i.e., the caaba, so much visited by pilgrims; or, as some rather think, the original model of that house in heaven, called al dorâh, which is visited and compassed by the angels, as the other is by men. 			 jallalo'ddin.		 al zamakh., al beidâwi. and by the elevated roof of heaven; and by the swelling ocean: verily the punishment of thy lord will surely descend; there shall be none to withhold it. on that day the heaven shall be shaken, and shall reel; 	and the mountains shall walk and pass away. and on that day woe be unto those who accused god's apostles of imposture; who amused themselves in wading in vain disputes! on that day shall they be driven and thrust into the fire of hell; and it shall be said unto them, this is the fire which ye denied as a fiction. is this a magic illusion? or do ye not see? enter the same to be scorched: whether ye bear your torments patiently, or impatiently, it will be equal unto you: ye shall surely receive the reward of that which ye have wrought. but the pious shall dwell amidst gardens and pleasures; delighting themselves in what their lord shall have given them: and their lord shall deliver them from the pains of hell. and it shall be said unto them, eat and drink with easy digestion; because of that which ye have wrought: 	leaning on couches disposed in order: and we will espouse them unto virgins having large black eyes. and unto those who believe, and whose offspring follow them in the faith, we will join their offspring in paradise: and we will not diminish unto them aught of the merit of their works. (every man is given in pledge for that which he shall have wrought.c) and we will give them fruits in abundance, and flesh of the kinds which they shall desire. they shall present unto one another therein a cup of wine, wherein there shall be no vain discourse, nor any incitement unto wickedness. and youths appointed to attend them shall go round them: beautiful as pearls hidden in their shell. and they shall approach unto one another, and shall ask mutual questions. and they shall say, verily we were heretofore amidst our family, in great dread with regard to our state after death: but god hath been gracious unto us, and hath delivered us from the pain of burning fire: for we called on him heretofore; and he is the beneficent, the merciful. wherefore do thou, o prophet, admonish thy people. thou art not, by the grace of thy lord, a soothsayer, or a madman. 	do they say, he is a poet; we wait, concerning him, some adverse turn of fortune? say, wait ye my ruin: verily i wait, with you, the time of your destruction. do their mature understandings bid them say this; or are they people who perversely transgress? do they say, he hath forged the koran? verily they believe not. let them produce a discourse like unto it, if they speak truth. were they created by nothing; or were they creators of themselves? did they create the heavens and the earth? verily they are not firmly persuaded that god hath created them.d are the stores of thy lord in their hands? are they the supreme dispensers of all things? 	c i.e., every man is pledged unto god for his behaviour; and if he does well, he redeems his pledge, but if evil, he forfeits it. 	d for though they confess this with their tongues, yet they deny it by their averseness to render him his due worship. 				 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. have they a ladder whereby they may ascend to heaven, and hear the discourses of angels? let one, therefore, who hath heard them, produce an evident proof thereof. hath god daughters, and have ye sons?e 	dost thou ask them a reward for thy preaching? but they are laden with debts. are the secrets of futurity with them; and do they transcribe the same from the table of god's degrees? do they seek to lay a plot against thee? but the unbelievers are they who shall be circumvented.f have they any god, besides god? far be god exalted above the idols which they associate with him! if they should see a fragment of the heaven falling down upon them, they would say, it is only a thick cloud.g wherefore leave them, until they arrive at their day wherein they shall swoon for fear:h a day, in which their subtle contrivances shall not avail them at all, neither shall they be protected. and those who act unjustly shall surely suffer another punishment besides this:i but the greater part of them do not understand. and wait thou patiently the judgment of thy lord concerning them; for thou art in our eye: and celebrate the praise of thy lord, when thou risest up; and praise him in the night-season, and when the stars begin to disappear. ______ chapter liii. entitled, the star; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. by the star,k when it setteth;l your companion mohammed erreth not; nor is he led astray: neither doth he speak of his own will. it is no other than a revelation, which hath been revealed unto him. one mighty in power, endued with understanding, taught it him:m and he appearedn in the highest part of the horizon. afterwards he approached the prophet,o and near unto him; 	e see chapter , p. , &c. 	f see chapter , p. , &c. 	g this was one of the judgments which the idolatrous meccans defied mohammed to bring down upon them; and yet, says the text, if they should see a part of the heaven falling on them, they would not believe it till they were crushed to death by it. 	h i.e., at the first sound of the trumpet. 	i that is, besides the punishment to which they shall be doomed at the day of judgment, they shall be previously chastised by calamities in this life, as the slaughter at bedr, and the seven years' famine, and also after their death, by the examination of the sepulchre. 	k some suppose the stars in general, and others the pleiades in particular, to be meant in this place. 	l or, according to a contrary signification of the verb here used, when it riseth. 	m namely, the angel gabriel. 	n in his natural form, in which god created him, and in the eastern part of the sky. it is said that this angel appeared in his proper shape to none of the prophets, except mohammed, and to him only twice: once when he received the first revelation of the korân, and a second time when he took his night journey to heaven; as it follows in the text. 	o in a human shape. 		 al beidâwi.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . 	 al beidâwi. until he was at the distance of two bows' lengthp from him, or yet nearer; 	and he revealed unto his servant that which he revealed. the heart of mohammed did not falsely represent that which he saw. will ye therefore dispute with him concerning that which he saw?q he also saw him another time, by the lote-tree beyond which there is no passing:r near it is the garden of eternal abode. when the lote-tree covered that which it covered,s his eyesight turned not aside, neither did it wander: and he really beheld some of the greatest signs of his lord.t what think ye of allat, and al uzza, 	and manah, that other third goddess?u have ye male children, and god female?x this, therefore, is an unjust partition. they are no other than empty names, which ye and your fathers have named goddesses. god hath not revealed concerning them anything to authorize their worship. they follow no other than a vain opinion, and what their souls desire: yet hath the true direction come unto them from their lord. shall man have whatever he wisheth for?y the life to come and the present life are god's: and how many angels soever there be in the heavens, their intercession shall be of no avail, until after god shall have granted permission unto whom he shall please and shall accept. verily they who believe not in the life to come give unto the angels a female appellation. but they have no knowledge herein: they follow no other than a bare opinion; and a bare opinion attaineth not anything of truth. 	wherefore withdraw from him who turneth away from our admonition, and seeketh only the present life. this is their highest pitch of knowledge. verily thy lord well knoweth him who erreth from his way; and he well knoweth him who is rightly directed. unto god belongeth whatever is in heaven and earth: that he may reward those who do evil, according to that which they shall have wrought; and may reward those who do well, with the most excellent reward. as to those who avoid great crimes, and heinous sins, and are guilty only of lighter faults; verily thy lord will be extensive in mercy towards them. he well knew you when he produced you out of the earth, and when ye were embryos in your mothers' wombs: wherefore justify not yourselves: he best knoweth the man who feareth him. what thinkest thou of him who turneth aside from following the truth, 	p or, as the word also signifies, two cubits' length. 	q but he saw it in reality. 	r this tree, say the commentators, stands in the seventh heaven, on the right hand of the throne of god; and is the utmost bounds beyond which the angels themselves must not pass; or, as some rather imagine, beyond which no creature's knowledge can extend. 	s the words seem to signify that what was under this tree exceeded all description and number. some suppose the whole host of angels worshipping beneath it are intended, and others, the birds which sit on its branches. 	t seeing the wonders both of the sensible and the intellectual world. 	u those were three idols of the ancient arabs, of which we have spoken in the preliminary discourse. 	as to the blasphemy which some pretend mohammed once uttered, through inadvertence, as he was reading this passage, see chapter , p. . 	x see chapter , p. , &c. 	y i.e., shall he dictate to god, and name whom he pleases for his intercessors, or for his prophet; or shall he choose a religion according to his own fancy, and prescribe the terms on which he may claim the reward of this life and the next? 	 al beidâwi.		 jalallo'ddin.		 al beidâwi. 	 sect. i. p. , &c. al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin. and giveth little, and covetously stoppeth his hand?z is the knowledge of futurity with him, so that he seeth the same?a hath he not been informed of that which is contained in the books of moses, and of abraham who faithfully performed his engagements? to wit: that a burdened soul shall not bear the burden of another; 	and that nothing shall be imputed to a man for righteousness, except his own labor; and that his labor shall surely be made manifest hereafter, and that he shall be rewarded for the same with a most abundant reward; and that unto thy lord will be the end of all things; and that he causeth to laugh, and causeth to weep; and that he putteth to death, and giveth life: and that he createth the two sexes, the male and the female, of seed when it is emitted; and that unto him appertaineth another production, namely, the raising of the dead again to life hereafter; and that he enricheth, and causeth to acquire possessions; 	and that he is the lord of the dog-star;b and that he destroyed the ancient tribe of ad, and thamud, and left not any of them alive; and also the people of noah, before them; for they were most unjust and wicked: and he overthrew the cities which were turned upside down;c and that which covered them, covered them. which, therefore, of thy lord's benefits, o man, wilt thou call in question? this our apostle is a preacher like the preachers who preceded him. the approaching day of judgment draweth near: there is none who can reveal the exact time of the same, besides god. do ye, therefore, wonder at this new revelation, 	and do ye laugh, and not weep, spending your time in idle diversions? but rather worship god, and serve him. _______ chapter liv. entitled, the moon; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. the hour of judgment approacheth; and the moon hath been split in sunder:d 	z this passage, it is said, was revealed on account of al walid ebn al mogheira, who, following the prophet one day, was reviled by an idolater for leaving the religion of the koreish, and giving occasion of scandal; to which he answered, that what he did was out of apprehension of the divine vengeance: whereupon the man offered, for a certain sum, to take the guilt of his apostacy on himself; and the bargain being made, al walid returned to his idolatry, and paid the man part of what had been agreed on; but afterwards, on farther consideration, he thought it too much, and kept back the remainder. 	a that is, is he assured that the person with whom he made the above- mentioned agreement will be allowed to suffer in his stead hereafter? 	b sirius, or the greater dog-star, was worshipped by some of the old arabs. 	c viz., sodom, and the other cities involved in her ruin. see chapter , p. . 	d this passage is expounded two different ways. some imagine the words refer to a famous miracle supposed to have been performed by mohammed; for it is said that, on the infidels demanding a sign of him, the moon appeared cloven in two, one part vanishing, and the other remaining; and ebn masúd affirmed that he saw mount harâ interpose between the two sections. others think the preter tense is here used in the prophetic style for the future, and that the passage should be rendered, the moon shall be split in sunder: for this, they say, is to happen at the resurrection. the former opinion is supported by reading, according to some copies, wakad inshakka 'lkamaro, i.e., since the moon hath already been split in sunder; the splitting of the moon being reckoned by some to be one of the previous signs of the last day. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. i. p. , and hyde, not. in ulug. beig. tab. stell. fix. p. . see a long and fabulous account of this pretended miracle in gagnier, vie de mah. c. 			 al zamakh., al beidâwi. but if the unbelievers see a sign, they turn aside, saying, this is a powerful charm.e and they accuse thee, o mohammed, of imposture, and follow their own lusts: but everything will be immutably fixed.f and now hath a messageg come unto them, wherein is a determent from obstinate infidelity; the same being consummate wisdom: but warners profit them not; wherefore do thou withdraw from them. the day whereon the summoner shall summon mankind to an ungrateful business,h they shall come forth from their graves with downcast looks: numerous as locusts scattered far abroad; hastening with terror unto the summoner. the unbelievers shall say, this is a day of distress. the people of noah accused that prophet of imposture, before thy people rejected thee: they accused our servant of imposture, saying, he is a madman; and he was rejected with reproach. 	he called, therefore, upon his lord, saying, verily i am overpowered; wherefore avenge me.i so we opened the gates of heaven, with water pouring down, and we caused the earth to break forth into springs; so that the water of heaven and earth met, according to the decree which had been established. and we bare him on a vessel composed of planks and nails; which moved forward under our eyes:k as a recompense unto him who had been ungratefully rejected. and we left the said vessel for a sign: but is any one warned thereby? and how severe was my vengeance, and my threatening! now have we made the koran easy for admonition: but is any one admonished thereby? ad charged their prophet with imposture: but how severe was my vengeance, and my threatening! verily we sent against them a roaringl wind, on a day of continued ill luck;m 	it carried men away, as though they had been roots of palm-trees forcibly torn up.n and how severe was my vengeance and my threatening! now have we made the koran easy for admonition: but is any one admonished thereby? thamud charged the admonitions of their prophet with falsehood, and said, shall we follow a single man among us? verily we should then be guilty of error, and preposterous madness: is the office of admonition committed unto him preferably to the rest of us? nay; he is a liar, and an insolent fellow. 	e or, as the participle here used may also signify, a continued series of magic, or a transient magic illusion. 	f or will reach a final period of ruin or success in this world, and of misery or happiness in the next, which will be conclusive and unchangeable thenceforward for ever. 	g i.e., the korân, containing stories of former nations which have been chastised for their incredulity, and threats of a more dreadful punishment hereafter. 	h that is, when the angel israfil shall call men to judgment. 	i this petition was not preferred by noah till after he had suffered repeated violence from his people; for it is related that one of them having fallen upon him and almost strangled him, when he came to himself he said, o lord, forgive them, for they know not what they do. 	k i.e., under our special regard and keeping. 	l or, a cold wind. 	m viz., on a wednesday. see chapter , p. , note t. 	n it is related that they sought shelter in the clefts of rocks, and in pits, holding fast by one another; but that the wind impetuously tore them away, and threw them down dead. 		 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem. but god said to saleh, to-morrow shall they know who is the liar, and the insolent person: for we will surely send the she-camel for a trial of them:o and do thou observe them, and bear their insults with patience: and prophesy unto them that the water shall be divided between them,p and each portion shall be sat down to alternately. and they called their companion:q and he took a sword,r and slew her. 	but how severe was my vengeance, and my threatening! for we sent against them one cry of the angel gabriel; and they became like the dry sticks used by him who buildeth a fold for cattle.s and now have we made the koran easy for admonition: but is any one admonished thereby? the people of lot charged his preaching with falsehood: but we sent against them a wind driving a shower of stones, which destroyed them all except the family of lot; whom we delivered early in the morning, through favor from us. thus do we reward those who are thankful. and lot had warned them of our severity in chastising; but they doubted of that warning. and they demanded his guests of him, that they might abuse them: but we put out their eyes,t saying, taste my vengeance, and my threatening. and early in the morning a lasting punishmentu surprised them. taste, therefore, my vengeance, and my threatening. 	now have we made the koran easy for admonition: but is any one admonished thereby? the warning of moses also came unto the people of pharaoh; but they charged every one of our signs with imposture: wherefore we chastised them with a mighty and irresistible chastisement. are your unbelievers, o meccans, better than these? is immunity from punishment promised unto you in the scriptures? do they say, we are a body of men able to prevail against our enemies? the multitude shall surely be put to flight, and shall turn their back.x but the hour of judgment is their threatened time of punishment:y and that hour shall be more grievous and more bitter than their afflictions in this life. verily the wicked wander in error, and shall be tormented hereafter in burning flames. on that day they shall be dragged into the fire on their faces; and it shall be said unto them, taste ye the touch of hell. all things have we created bound by a fixed decree: 	and our command is no more than a single word,z like the twinkling of an eye. 	o see chapter , p. , &c. 	p that is, between the thamudites and the camel. see chapter , p. , note f. 	q namely, kodâr ebn salef; who was not an arab, but a stranger dwelling among the thamudites. see chapter , p. , note k. 	r or, as the word also imports, he became resolute and daring. 	s the words may signify either the dry boughs with which, in the east, they make folds or enclosures, to fence their cattle from wind and cold; or the stubble and other stuff with which they litter them in those folds during the winter season. 	t so that their sockets became filled up even with the other parts of their faces. this, it is said, was done by one stroke of the wing of the angel gabriel. see chapter , p. . 	u under which they shall continue till they receive their full punishment in hell. 	x this prophecy was fulfilled by the overthrow of the koreish at bedr. it is related, from a tradition of omar, that when this passage was revealed, mohammed professed himself to be ignorant of its true meaning; but on the day of the battle of bedr, he repeated these words as he was putting on his coat of mail. 	y i.e., the time when they shall receive their full punishment; what they suffer in this world being only the forerunner or earnest of what they shall feel in the next. 	z viz., kun, i.e., be. the passage may also be rendered, the execution of our purpose is but a single act, exerted in a moment. some suppose it refers to the business of the day of judgment. 					 al beidâwi. we have formerly destroyed nations like unto you; but is any of you warned by their example? everything which they do is recorded in the books kept by the guardian angels: and every action both small and great, is written down in the preserved table. moreover the pious shall dwell among gardens and rivers, in the assembly of truth, in the presence of a most potent king. ________ chapter lv. entitled, the merciful; revealed at mecca.a in the name of the most merciful god. the merciful hath taught his servant the koran. he created man: he hath taught him distinct speech. the sun and the moon run their courses according to a certain rule: and the vegetables which creep on the ground, and the trees submit to his disposition. he also raised the heaven; and he appointed the balance,b that ye should not transgress in respect to the balance: wherefore observe a just weight; and diminish not the balance. and the earth hath he prepared for living creatures: 	therein are various fruits, and palm-trees bearing sheaths of flowers; and grain having chaff, and leaves. which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny?c he created man of dried clay like an earthen vessel: but he created the genii of fire clear from smoke. which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? he is the lord of the east, and the lord of the west.d which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? he hath let loose the two seas,e that they meet each another: 	between them is placed a bar which they cannot pass. which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? from them are taken forth unions and lesser pearls. which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? his also are the ships, carrying their sails aloft in the sea like mountains. which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? every creature which liveth on the earth is subject to decay: but the glorious and honourable countenance of thy lord shall remain forever. 	a most of the commentators doubt whether this chapter was revealed at mecca or at medina; or partly at the one place, and partly at the other. 	b or justice and equity in mutual dealings. 	c the words are directed to the two species of rational creatures, men and genii; the verb and the pronoun being in the dual number. 	this verse is intercalated, or repeated by way of burden, throughout the whole chapter no less than thirty-one times, which was done, as marracci guesses, in imitation of david. 	d the original words are both in the dual number, and signify the different points of the horizon at which the sun rises and sets at the summer and winter solstice. see chapter , p. , note e. 	e of salt water and fresh; or the persian and mediterranean seas. 	 idem.		 see psalm cxxxvi.		 see cap. , p. . 	 al beidâwi. which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? unto him do all creatures which are in heaven and earth make petition: every day is he employed in some new work.f 	which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? we will surely attend to judge you, o men and genii, at the last day. which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? o ye collective body of genii and men, if ye be able to pass out of the confines of heaven and earth,g pass forth: ye shall not pass forth but by absolute power. which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? a flame of fire without smoke, and a smoke without flameh shall be sent down upon you; and ye shall not be able to defend yourselves therefrom. which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? and when the heaven shall be rent in sunder, and shall become red as a rose, and shall melt like ointment.i (which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny?) on that day neither man nor genius shall be asked concerning his sin.k 	which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? the wicked shall be known by their marks;l and they shall be taken by the forelocks, and the feet, and shall be cast into hell. which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? this is hell, which the wicked deny as a falsehood: they shall pass to and fro between the same and hot boiling water.m which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? but for him who dreadeth the tribunal of his lord are prepared two gardens:n (which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny?) planted with shady trees. which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? 	in each of them shall be two fountains flowing. which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? in each of them shall there be of every fruit two kinds.o which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? they shall repose on couches, the linings whereof shall be of thick silk interwoven with gold: and the fruit of the two gardens shall be near at hand together.p which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? therein shall receive them beauteous damsels, refraining their eyes from beholding any besides their spouses: whom no man shall have deflowered before them, neither any genius: 	f in executing those things which he hath decreed from eternity; by giving life and death, raising one and abasing another, hearing prayers and granting petitions, &c. 	g to fly from the power and to avoid the decree of god. 	h or, as the word also signifies, molten brass, which shall be poured on the heads of the damned. 	i or, shall appear like red leather; according to a different signification of the original word. 	k for their crimes will be known by their different marks; as it follows in the text. this, says al beidâwi, is to be understood of the time when they shall be raised to life, and shall be led towards the tribunal: for when they come to trial, they will then undergo an examination, as is declared in several places of the korân. 	l see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. , &c. 	m for the only respite they shall have from the flames of hell, will be when they are suffered to go to drink this scalding liquor. see chapter , p. . 	n i.e., one distinct paradise for men, and another for genii, or, as some imagine, two gardens for each person; one as a reward due to his works, and the other as a free and superabundant gift, &c. 	o some being known, and like the fruits of the earth; and others of new and unknown species, or fruits both green and ripe. 	p so that a man may reach them as he sits or lies down. 				 idem, jallalo'ddin. (which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny?) having complexions like rubies and pearls. which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? 	shall the reward of good works be any other good? which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? and besides these there shall be two other gardens:q (which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny?) of a dark green.r which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? in each of them shall be two fountains pouring forth plenty of water. which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? in each of them shall be fruits, and palm-trees, and pomegranates. which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? 	therein shall be agreeable and beauteous damsels: which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? having fine black eyes, and kept in pavilions from public view: which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? whom no man shall have deflowered before their destined spouses, nor any genius. which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? therein shall they delight themselves, lying on green cushions and beautiful carpets. which, therefore, of your lord's benefits will ye ungratefully deny? blessed be the name of thy lord, possessed of glory and honour! ______ chapter lvi. entitled, the inevitable; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. when the inevitables day of judgment shall suddenly come, no soul shall charge the prediction of its coming with falsehood: it will abase some, and exalt others. when the earth shall be shaken with a violent shock; and the mountains shall be dashed in pieces, and shall become as dust scattered abroad; and ye shall be separated into three distinct classes: the companions of the right hand; (how happy shall the companions of the right hand be!) and the companions of the left handt (how miserable shall the companions of the left hand be!), 	q for the inferior classes of the inhabitants of paradise. 	r from hence, says al beidâwi, it may be inferred that these gardens will chiefly produce herbs or the inferior sorts of vegetables, whereas the former will be planted chiefly with fruit-trees. the following part of this description also falls short of that of the other gardens, prepared for the superior classes. 	s the original word, the force whereof cannot well be expressed by a single one in english, signifies a calamitous accident, which falls surely and with sudden violence, and is therefore made use of here to design the day of judgment. 	t that is, the blessed and the damned; who may be thus distinguished here, because the books wherein their actions are registered will be delivered into the right hands of the former and into the left hands of the latter, thought he words translated right hand and left hand do also signify happiness and misery. 					 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin. 	and those who have preceded others in the faith shall precede them to paradise.u these are they who shall approach near unto god: they shall dwell in gardens of delight: (there shall be many of the former religions; and few of the last.x) reposing on couches adorned with gold and precious stones; sitting opposite to one another thereon.y youths which shall continue in their bloom forever, shall go round about to attend them, with goblets, and beakers, and a cup of flowing wine: their heads shall not ache by drinking the same, neither shall their reason be disturbed: 	and with fruits of the sorts which they shall choose, and the flesh of birds of the kind which they shall desire. and there shall accompany them fair damsels having large black eyes; resembling pearls hidden in their shells: as a reward for that which they shall have wrought. they shall not hear therein any vain discourse, or any charge of sin; but only the salutation, peace! peace! and the companions of the right hand (how happy shall the companions of the right hand be!) shall have their abode among lote-trees free from thorns, and trees of mauzz loaded regularly with their produce from top to bottom; under an extended shade, 	near a flowing water,a and amidst fruits in abundance, which shall not fail, nor shall be forbidden to be gathered: and they shall repose themselves on lofty beds.b verily we have created the damsels of paradise by a peculiar creation;c and we have made them virgins,d beloved by their husbands, of equal age with them; for the delight of the companions of the right hand. there shall be many of the former religions, and many of the latter.e 	u either the first converts to mohammedism, or the prophets, who were the respective leaders of their people, or any persons who have been eminent examples of piety and virtue, may be here intended. the original words literally rendered are, the leaders, the leaders: which repetition, as some suppose, was designed to express the dignity of these persons and the certainty of their future glory and happiness. 	x i.e., there shall be more leaders, who have preceded others in faith and good works, among the followers of the several prophets from adam down to mohammed, than of the followers of mohammed himself. 	y see chapter , p. , note a. 	z the original word talh is the name, not only of the mauz, but also of a very tall and thorny tree, which bears abundance of flowers of an agreeable smell, and seems to be the acacia. 	a which shall be conveyed in channels to such places and in such manner as every one shall desire. al beidâwi observes that the condition of the few who have preceded others in faith and good works, is represented by whatever may render a city life agreeable; and that the condition of the companions of the right hand, or the generality of the blessed, is represented by those things which make the principal pleasure of a country life; and that this is done to show the difference of the two conditions. 	b the word translated beds, signifies also, by way of metaphor, wives or concubines; and if the latter sense be preferred, the passage may be rendered thus, and they shall enjoy damsels raised on lofty couches, whom we have created, &c. 	c having created them purposely of finer materials than the females of this world, and subject to none of those inconveniences which are natural to the sex. some understand this passage of the beatified women; who, though they died old and ugly, shall yet be restored to their youth and beauty in paradise. 	d for how often soever their husbands shall go in unto them, they shall always find them virgins. 	e father marracci thinks this to be a manifest contradiction to what is said above, there shall be many of the former and few of the latter: but al beidâwi obviates such an objection, by observing that the preceding passage speaks of the leaders only, and those who have preceded others in faith and good works; and the passage before us speaks of the righteous of inferior merit and degree; so that though there be many of both sorts, yet there may be few of one sort, comparatively speaking, in respect to the other. 	 idem.		 idem.		 see p. .		 vide j. leon. descript. africæ, l. . al beidâwi.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. , &c. 	 see ibid. p. . 	and the companions of the left hand (how miserable shall the companions of the left hand be!) shall dwell amidst burning winds,f and scalding water, under the shade of a black smoke, neither cool nor agreeable. for they enjoyed the pleasures of life before this, while on earth; and obstinately persisted in a heinous wickedness: and they said, after we shall have died, and become dust and bones, shall we surely be raised to life? shall our forefathers also be raised with us? say, verily both the first and the last 	shall surely be gathered together to judgment, at the prefixed time of a known day. then ye, o men, who have erred, and denied the resurrection as a falsehood, shall surely eat of the fruit of the tree of al zakkum, and shall fill your bellies therewith: and ye shall drink thereon boiling water; and ye shall drink as a thirsty camel drinketh. this shall be their entertainment on the day of judgment. we have created you: will ye not therefore believe that we can raise you from the dead? what think ye? the seed which ye emit, do ye create the same, or are we the creators thereof? 	we have decreed death unto you all: and we shall not be prevented. we are able to substitute others like unto you in your stead, and to produce you again in the condition or form which ye know not. ye know the original production by creation; will ye not therefore consider that we are able to produce you by resuscitation? what think ye? the grain which ye sow, do ye cause the same to spring forth, or do we cause it to spring forth? if we pleased, verily we could render the same dry and fruitless, so that ye would not cease to wonder,g saying, verily we have contracted debtsh for seed and labor, but we are not permittedi to reap the fruit thereof. what think ye? the water which ye drink, do ye send down the same from the clouds, or are we the senders thereof? if we pleased, we could render the same brackish: will ye not therefore give thanks? 	what think ye? the fire which ye strike, do ye produce the tree whence ye obtain the same,k or are we the producers thereof? we have ordained the same for an admonition,l and an advantage to those who travel through the deserts. wherefore praise the name of thy lord, the great god. moreover i swearm by the setting of the stars; (and it is surely a great oath, if ye knew it;) that this is the excellent koran, the original whereof is written in the preserved book: none shall touch the same, except those who are clean.n it is a revelation from the lord of all creatures. 	will ye, therefore, despise this new revelation? 	f which shall penetrate into the passages of their bodies. 	g or to repent of your time and labour bestowed to little purpose, &c. 	h or, we are undone. 	i or, we are unfortunate wretches, who are denied the necessaries of life. 	k see chapter , p. , note b. 	l to put men in mind of the resurrection; which the production of fire in some sort resembles, or, of the fire of hell. 	m the particle la is generally supposed to be intensive in this place; but if it be taken for a negative, the words must be translated, i will not or do not swear, because what is here asserted is too manifest to need the confirmation of an oath. 	n or, let none touch the same, &c. purity both of body and mind being requisite in him who would use this book with the respect he ought, and hopes to edify by it: for which reason these words are usually written on the cover. 	 see cap. , p. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem. 	 see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. . and do ye make this return for your food which ye receive from god, that ye deny yourselves to be obliged to him for the same?o when the soul of a dying person cometh up to his throat, and ye at the same time are looking on; (and we are nigher unto him than ye, but ye see not his true condition;) would ye not, if ye are not to be rewarded for your action hereafter, cause the same to return into the body, if ye speak the truth?p and whether he be of those who shall approach near unto god,q his reward shall be rest, and mercy, and a garden of delights: or whether he be of the companions of the right hand, 	he shall be saluted with the salutation, peace be unto thee! by the companions of the right hand, his brethren: or whether he be of those who have rejected the true faith, and gone astray, his entertainment shall consist of boiling water, and the burning of hell fire. verily this is a certain truth. wherefore praise the name of thy lord, the great god. ________ chapter lvii. entitled, iron;r revealed at mecca, or at medina.s in the name of the most merciful god. whatever is in heaven and earth singeth praise unto god; and he is mighty and wise. his is the kingdom of heaven and earth; he giveth life, and he putteth to death; and he is almighty. he is the first, and the last; the manifest and the hidden: and he knoweth all things. it is he who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and then ascended his throne. he knoweth that which entereth into the earth, and that which issueth out of the same, and that which descendeth from heaven, and that which ascendeth thereto; and he is with you, wheresoever ye be: for god seeth that which ye do. his is the kingdom of heavens and earth; and unto god shall all things return. he causeth the night to succeed the day, and he causeth the day to succeed the night; and he knowest the innermost part of men's breasts. believe in god and his apostle, and lay out in alms a part of the wealth whereof god hath made you inheritors: for unto such of you as believe, and bestow alms, shall be given a great reward. 	o by ascribing the rains, which fertilize your lands, to the influence of the stars. 	some copies instead of rizkacom, i.e., your food, read shocracom, i.e., your gratitude; and then the passage may be rendered thus, and do ye make this return of gratitude, for god's revealing the korân, that ye reject the same as a fiction? 	p the meaning of this obscure passage is, if ye shall not be obliged to give an account of your actions at the last day, as by your denying the resurrection ye seem to believe, cause the soul of the dying person to return into his body; for ye may as easily do that as avoid the general judgment. 	q that is, of the leaders, or first professors of the faith. 	r the word occurs toward the end of the chapter. 	s it is uncertain which of the two places was the scene of revelation of this chapter. 											 			 see ibid. sect. i. p. .		 jallal., al beidâwi. and what aileth you, that ye believe not in god, when the apostle inviteth you to believe in your lord; and he hath received your covenantt concerning this matter, if ye believe any proposition? it is he who hath sent down unto his servant evident signs, that he may lead you out of darkness into light; for god is compassionate and merciful unto you. 	and what aileth you, that ye contribute not of your substance for the defence of god's true religion? since unto god appertaineth the inheritance of heaven and earth. those among you who shall have contributed and fought in defence of the faith, before the taking of mecca, shall not be held equal with those who shall contribute and fight for the same afterwards.u these shall be superior in degree unto those who shall contribute and fight for the propagation of the faith, after the above-mentioned success; but unto all hath god promised a most excellent reward; and god well knoweth that which ye do. who is he that will lend unto god an acceptable loan? for he will double the same unto him, and he shall receive moreover an honourable reward. on a certain day, thou shalt see the true believers of both sexes: their light shall run before them, and on their right hands;x and it shall be said unto them, good tidings unto you this day: gardens through which rivers flow; ye shall remain therein forever. this will be great felicity. on that day the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women shall say unto those who believe, stay for us,y what we may borrow some of your light. it shall be answered, return back into the world, and seek light. and a high wall shall be set betwixt them, wherein shall be a gate, within which shall be mercy; and without it, over against the same, the torment of hell. the hypocrites shall call out unto the true believers, saying, were we not with you? they shall answer, yea; but ye seduced your own souls by your hypocrisy; and ye waited our ruin; and ye doubted concerning the faith; and your wishes deceived you, until the decree of god came, and ye died: and the deceiver deceived you concerning god. this day, therefore, a ransom shall not be accepted of you, nor of those who have been unbelievers. your abode shall be hell fire: this is what ye have deserved; and an unhappy journey shall it be thither! is not the time yet come unto those who believe, that their hearts should humbly submit to the admonition of god, and to that truth which hath been revealed; and that they be not as those unto whom the scripture was given heretofore, and to whom the time of forbearance was prolonged, but their hearts were hardened, and many of them were wicked doers? know that god quickeneth the earth, after it hath been dead. now have we distinctly declared our signs unto you, that ye may understand. verily as to the almsgivers, both men and women, and those who lend unto god an acceptable loan, he will double the same unto them; and they shall moreover receive an honourable reward. and they who believe in god and his apostles, these are the men of veracity, and the witnesses in the presence of their lord: they shall have their reward, and their light. but as to those who believe not, and accuse our signs of falsehood, they shall be the companions of hell. 	t that is, ye are obliged to believe in him by the strongest arguments and motives. 	u because afterwards there was not so great necessity for either, the mohammedan religion being firmly established by that great success. 	x one light leading them the right way to paradise, and the other proceeding from the book wherein their actions are recorded, which they will hold in their right hand. 	y for the righteous will hasten to paradise swift as lightning. know that this present life is only a toy and a vain amusement: and worldly pomp, and the affectation of glory among you, and the multiplying of riches and children, are as the plants nourished by the rain, the springing up whereof delighteth the husbandmen; afterwards they wither, so that thou seest the same turned yellow, and at length they become dry stubble. and in the life to come will be a severe punishment for those who covet worldly grandeur; 	and pardon from god, and favor for those who renounce it: for this present life is no other than a deceitful provision. hasten with emulation to obtain pardon from your lord, and paradise, the extent whereof equalleth the extent of heaven and earth, prepared for those who believe in god and his apostles. this is the bounty of god: he will give the same unto whom he pleaseth; and god is endued with great bounty. no accident happeneth in the earth, nor in your persons, but the same was entered in the book of our decrees, before we created it: verily this is easy with god: and this is written lest ye immoderately grieve for the good which escapeth you, or rejoice for that which happened unto you; for god loveth no proud or vain-glorious person, or those who are covetous, and command men covetousness. and whoso turneth aside from giving alms; verily god is self-sufficient, worthy to be praised. we formerly sent our apostles with evident miracles and arguments; and we sent down with them the scriptures and the balance,z that men might observe justice: and we sent them down iron,a wherein is mighty strength for war,b and various advantages unto mankind: that god may know who assisteth him and his apostles in secret;c for god is strong and mighty. we formerly sent noah and abraham, and we established in their posterity the gift of prophecy, and the scripture: and of them some were directed, but many of them were evil-doers. afterwards we caused our apostles to succeed in their footsteps; and we caused jesus the son of mary to succeed them, and we gave him the gospel: and we put in the hearts of those that followed him compassion and mercy: but as to the monastic state, they instituted the same (we did not prescribe it to them) only out of a desire to please god; yet they observed not the same as it ought truly to have been observed. and we gave unto such of them as believed their reward: but many of them were wicked doers. o ye who believe in the former prophets,d fear god, and believe in his apostle mohammed: he will give you two portions of his mercy,e and he will ordain a light wherein ye may walk, and he will forgive you; for god is ready to forgive, and merciful: that those who have received the scriptures may know that they have not power over any of the favours of god,f and that good is in the hand of god; he bestoweth the same on whom he pleaseth; for god is endued with great beneficence. 	z i.e., a rule of justice. some think that a balance was actually brought down from heaven by the angel gabriel to noah, the use of which he was ordered to introduce among his people. 	a that is, we taught them how to dig the same from mines. al zamakhshari adds, that adam is said to have brought down with him from paradise five things made of iron, viz., an anvil, a pair of tongs, two hammers, a greater and a lesser, and a needle. 	b warlike instruments and weapons being generally made of iron. 	c that is, sincerely and heartily. 	d these words are directed to the jews and christians, or rather to the latter only. 	e one as a recompence for their believing in mohammed, and the other as a recompense for their believing in the prophets who preceded him; for they will not lose the reward of their former religion, though it be now abrogated by the promulgation of islâm. 	f i.e., that they cannot expect to receive any of the favours above mentioned, because they believe not in his apostle, and those favours are annexed to faith in him; or, that they have not power to dispose of god's favours, particularly of the greatest of them, the gift of prophecy, so as to appropriate the same to whom they please. 				 al beidâwi.		 idem. chapter lviii. entitled, she who disputed; revealed at medina.g in the name of the most merciful god. now hath god heard the speech of her who disputed with thee concerning her husband, and made her complaint unto god;h and god hath heard your mutual discourse: for god both heareth and seeth. as to those among you who divorce their wives, by declaring that they will thereafter regard them as their mothers; let them know that they are not their mothers. they only are their mothers who brought them forth;i and they certainly utter an unjustifiable saying and a falsehood: but god is gracious and ready to forgive. those who divorce their wives by declaring that they will for the future regard them as their mothers, and afterwards would repairk what they have said, shall be obliged to free a captive,l before they touch one another. that is what ye are warned to perform: and god is well apprised of that which ye do. and whoso findeth not a captive to redeem, shall observe a fast of two consecutive months, before they touch one another. and whoso shall not be able to fast that time, shall feed threescore poor men. this is ordained you, that ye may believe in god and his apostle. these are the statutes of god: and for the unbelievers is prepared a grievous torment. verily they who oppose god and his apostle shall be brought low, as the unbelievers who preceded them were brought low. and now have we sent down manifest signs: and an ignominious punishment awaiteth the unbelievers. 	g some are of opinion that the first ten verses of this chapter, ending with these words, and fear god, before whom ye shall be assembled, were revealed at mecca, and the rest at medina. 	h this was khawla bint thálaba, the wife of aws ebn al sâmat, who, being divorced by her husband by a form in use among the arabs in the time of ignorance, viz., by saying to her, thou art to me as the back of my mother, came to ask mohammed's opinion whether they were necessarily obliged to a separation; and he told her that it was not lawful for her to cohabit with her husband any more: to which she replying, that her husband had not put her away, the prophet repeated his former decision, adding that such form of speaking was by general consent understood to imply a perpetual separation. upon this the woman, being greatly concerned because of the smallness of her children, went home, and uttered her complaint to god in prayer: and thereupon this passage was revealed, allowing a man to take his wife again, notwithstanding his having pronounced the above-mentioned form of divorce, on doing certain acts of charity or mortification, by way of penance. 	i and therefore no woman ought to be placed in the same degree of prohibition, except those whom god has joined with them, as nursing mothers, and the wives of the prophet. 	k this seems to be here the true meaning of the original word, which properly signifies to return, and is variously expounded by the mohammedan doctors. 	l which captive, according to the most received decision, ought to be a true believer, as is ordered for the expiation of manslaughter. 	 idem.		 see cap. , p. .		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin, &c.		 al beidâwi see cap. , p. , and cap. , p. . 		 see cap. , p. . on a certain day god shall raise them all to life, and shall declare unto them that which they have wrought. god hath taken an exact account thereof; but they have forgotten the same: and god is witness over all things. dost thou not perceive that god knoweth whatever is in heaven and in earth? there is no private discourse among three persons, but he is the fourth of them; nor among five, but he is the sixth of them; neither among a smaller number than this, nor a larger, but he is with them, wheresoever they be: and he will declare unto them that which they have done, on the day of resurrection; for god knoweth all things. hast thou not observed those who have been forbidden to use clandestine discourse, but afterwards return to what they have been forbidden, and discourse privily among themselves of wickedness, and enmity, and disobedience towards the apostle?m and when they come unto thee, they salute thee with that form of salutation wherewith god doth not salute thee;n and they say among themselves, by way of derision, would not god punish us for what we say, if this man were a prophet? hell shall be their sufficient punishment: they shall go down into the same to be burned; and an unhappy journey shall it be! 	o true believers, when ye discourse privily together, discourse not of wickedness, and enmity, and disobedience towards the apostle; but discourse of justice and piety: and fear god, before whom ye shall be assembled. verily the clandestine discourse of the infidels proceedeth from satan, that he may grieve the true believers: but there shall be none to hurt them in the least, unless by the permission of god; wherefore in god let the faithful trust. o true believers, when it is said unto you, make room in the assembly; make room:o god will grant you ample room in paradise. and when it is said unto you, rise up; rise up: god will raise those of you who believe, and those to whom knowledge is given, to superior degrees of honour; and god is fully apprised of that which ye do. o true believers, when ye go to speak with the apostle, give alms previously to your discoursing with him;p this will be better for you, and more pure. but if ye find not what to give, verily god will be gracious and merciful unto you. do ye fear to give alms previously to your discoursing with the prophet, lest ye should impoverish yourselves? therefore if ye do it not, and god is gracious unto you, by dispensing with the said precept for the future, be constant at prayer, and pay the legal alms; and obey god and his apostle in all other matters: for god well knoweth that which ye do. 	m that is, the jews and hypocritical moslems, who caballed privately together against mohammed, and made signs to one another when they saw the true believers; and this they continued to do, notwithstanding they were forbidden. 	n it seems they used, instead of al salâm aleica, i.e., peace be upon thee, to say, al sâm aleica, i.e., mischief on thee, &c. 	o in this passage the moslems are commanded to give place, in the public assemblies, to the prophet and the more honourable of his companions; and not to press and crowd upon him, as they used to do, out of a desire of being near him, and hearing his discourse. 	p to show your sincerity, and to honour the apostle. it is doubted whether this be a counsel or a precept; but, however, it continued but a very little while in force, being agreed on all hands to be abrogated by the following passage, do ye fear to give alms, &c. 		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin.		 idem hast thou not observed those who have taken for their friends a people against whom god is incensed?q they are neither of you, nor of them:r and they swear to a lies knowingly. god hath prepared for them a grievous punishment; for it is evil which they do. they have taken their oaths for a cloak, and they have turned men aside from the way of god: wherefore a shameful punishment awaiteth them; neither their wealth nor their children shall avail them at all against god. these shall be the inhabitants of hell fire; they shall abide therein forever. on a certain day god shall raise them all: then will they swear unto him, as they swear now unto you, imagining that it will be of service to them. are they not liars? 	satan hath prevailed against them, and hath caused them to forget the remembrance of god. these are the party of the devil; and shall not the party of the devil be doomed to perdition? verily they who oppose god and his apostle shall be placed among the most vile. god hath written, verily i will prevail, and my apostles: for god is strong and mighty. thou shalt not find people who believe in god and the last day to love him who opposeth god and his apostle; although they be their fathers, or their sons, or their brethren, or their nearest relations. in the hearts of these hath god written faith; and he hath strengthened them with his spirit: and he will lead them into gardens, beneath which rivers flow, to remain therein forever. god is well pleased in them; and they are well pleased in him. these are the party of god: and shall not the party of god prosper? ________ chapter lix. entitled, the emigration;t revealed at medina. in the name of the most merciful god. whatever is in heaven and earth celebrateth the praise of god: and he is the mighty, the wise. 	q i.e., the jews. 	r being hypocrites, and wavering between the two parties. 	s i.e., they have solemnly professed islâm, which they believe not in their hearts. 	t the original word signifies the quitting or removing from one's native country or settlement, to dwell elsewhere, whether it be by choice or compulsion. it was he who caused those who believed not, of the people who receive the scripture, to depart from their habitations at the first emigration.u ye did not think that they would go forth: and they thought that their fortresses would protect them against god. but the chastisement of god came upon them, from whence they did not expect; and he cast terror into their hearts. they pulled down their houses with their own hands,x and the hands of the true believers. wherefore take example from them, o ye who have eyes. and if god had not doomed them to banishment, he had surely punished them in this world:y and in the world to come they shall suffer the torment of hell fire. this, because they opposed god and his apostle: and whoso opposeth god, verily god will be severe in punishing him. what palm-trees ye cut down, or left standing on their roots, were so cut down or left by the will of god; and that he might disgrace the wicked doers. and as to the spoils of these people which god hath granted wholly to his apostle,z ye did not push forward any horses or camels against the same;a but god giveth unto his apostles dominion over whom he pleaseth: for god is almighty. the spoils of the inhabitants of the towns which god hath granted to his apostle are due unto god and to the apostle, and to him who is of kin to the apostle, and the orphans, and the poor, and the traveller; that they may not be forever divided in a circle among such of you as are rich. what the apostle shall give you, that accept; and what he shall forbid you, that abstain from: and fear god; for god is severe in chastising. a part also belongeth to the poor mohâjerîn,b who have been dispossessed of their houses and their substance, seeking favor from god, and his good- will, and assisting god and his apostle. these are the men of veracity. 	u the people here intended were the jews of the tribe of al nadîr, who dwelt in medina, and when mohammed fled thither from mecca, promised him to stand neuter between him and his opponents, and made a treaty with him to that purpose. when he had gained the battle of bedr, they confessed that he was the prophet described in the law: but upon his receiving that disgrace at ohod, they changed their note; and caab ebn al ashraf, with forty horse, went and made a league with abu sofiân, which they confirmed by oath. upon this, mohammed got caab dispatched, and, in the fourth year of the hejra, set forward against al nadîr, and besieged them in their fortress, which stood about three miles from medina, for six days, at the end of which they capitulated, and were allowed to depart, on condition that they should entirely quit that place: and accordingly some of them went into syria, and others to khaibar and hira. 	this was the first emigration, mentioned in the passage before us. the other happened several years after, in the reign of omar, when that khalîf banished those who had settled at khaibar, and obliged them to depart out of arabia. 	dr. prideaux, speaking of mohammed's obliging those of al nadîr to quit their settlements, says that a party of his men pursued those who fled into syria, and having overtaken them, put them all to the sword, excepting only one man that escaped. with such cruelty, continues he, did those barbarians first set up to fight for that imposture they had been deluded into. but a learned gentleman has already observed that this is all grounded on a mistake, which the doctor was led into by an imperfection in the printed edition of elmacinus; where, after mentioning the expulsion of the nadîrites, are inserted som e incoherent words relating to another action which happened the month before, and wherein seventy moslems, instead of putting others to the sword, were surprised and put to the sword themselves, together with their leader al mondar ebn omar, caab ebn zeid alone escaping. 	x doing what damage they could, that the moslems might make the less advantage of what they were obliged to leave behind them. 	y by delivering them up to slaughter and captivity, as he did those of koreidha. 	z it is remarkable that in this expedition the spoils were not divided according to the law given for that purpose in the korân, but were granted to the apostle, and declared to be entirely in his disposition. and the reason was, because the place was taken without the assistance of horse, which became a rule for the future. 	a for the settlement of those of al nadîr being so near medina, the moslems went all on foot thither, except only the prophet himself. 	b wherefore mohammed distributed those spoils among the mohâjerîn, or those who had fled from mecca, only, and gave no part thereof to the ansârs, or those of medina, except only to three of them, who were in necessitous circumstances. 	 al beidâwi, jallal. &c. vide abulf. vit. moh. c. .		 idem interp.		 prid. life of mah. p. . vide gagnier, not. in abulf. vit. moh. p. .		 cap. , p. . 		 vide abulf. vit. moh. p. . al beidâwi.		 idem. vide abulf. ubi sup. p. . and they who quietly possessed the town of medina, and professed the faith without molestation, before them,c love him who hath fled unto them, and find in their breasts no want of that which is given the mohâjerîn,d but prefer them before themselves, although there be indigence among them. and whoso is preserved from the covetousness of his own soul, those shall surely prosper. 	and they who have come after theme say, o lord, forgive us and our brethren who have preceded us in the faith, and put not into our hearts ill- will against those who have believed: o lord, verily thou art compassionate and merciful. hast thou not observed them who play the hypocrites? they say unto their brethren who believe not, of those who have received the scriptures,f verily if ye be expelled your habitations, we will surely go forth with you; and we will not pay obedience, in your respect, unto any one forever: and if ye be attacked, we will certainly assist you. but god is witness that they are liars. verily if they be expelled, they will not go forth with them: and if they be attacked, they will not assist them;g and if they do assist them, they will surely turn their backs: and they shall not be protected. verily ye are stronger than they, by reason of the terror cast into their breasts from god. this, because they are not people of prudence. they will not fight against you in a body, except in fenced towns, or from behind walls. their strength in war among themselves is great:h thou thinkest them to be united; but their hearts are divided. this, because they are people who do not understand. like those who lately preceded them,i they have tasted the evil consequence of their deed; and a painful torment is prepared for them hereafter. thus have the hypocrites deceived the jews: like the devil, when he saith unto a man, be thou an infidel; and when he is become an infidel, he saith, verily i am clear of thee; for i fear god, the lord of all creatures. wherefore the end of them both shall be that they shall dwell in hell fire, abiding therein forever: and this shall be the recompense of the unjust. o true believers, fear god; and let a soul look what it sendeth before for the morrow:k and fear god, for god is well acquainted with that which ye do. and be not as those who have forgotten god, and whom he hath caused to forget their own souls: these are the wicked doers. 	the inhabitants of hell fire and the inhabitants of paradise shall not be held equal. the inhabitants of paradise are they who shall enjoy felicity. if we had sent down this koran on a mountain, thou wouldest certainly have seen the same humble itself, and cleave in sunder for fear of god. these similitudes do we propose unto men, that they may consider. he is god, besides whom there is no god; who knoweth that which is future, and that which is present: he is the most merciful; 	c that is, the ansârs; who enjoyed their houses and the free exercise of their religion before the hejra, while the converts of mecca were persecuted and harassed by the idolaters. 	d i.e., and bear them no grudge or envy on that account. 	e the persons here meant seem to be those who fled from mecca after mohammed began to gain strength, and his religion had made a considerable progress. 	f that is, the jews of the tribe of al nadîr. 	g and it happened accordingly; for ebn obba and his confederates wrote to the nadîrites to this purpose, but never performed their promise. 	h i.e., it is not their weakness or cowardice which makes them decline a field battle with you, since they show strength and valour enough in their wars with one another; but both fail them when they enter into the lists with god and his apostle. 	i viz., the idolaters who were slain at bedr; or the jews of kainokâ, who were plundered and sent into exile before those of al nadîr. 	k that is, for the next life, which may be called the morrow, as this present life may be called to-day. 					 al beidâwi. he is god, besides whom there is no god: the king, the holy, the giver of peace, the faithful, the guardian, the powerful, the strong, the most high. far be god exalted above the idols which they associate with him! he is god, the creator, the maker, the former. he hath most excellent names.l whatever is in heaven and in earth praiseth him: and he is the mighty, the wise. ________ chapter lx. entitled, she who is tried;m revealed at medina. in the name of the most merciful god. o true believers, take not my enemy and your enemy for your friends,n showing kindness towards them; since they believe not in the truth which hath come unto you, having expelled the apostle and yourselves from your native city, because ye believe in god, your lord. if ye go forth to fight in defence of my religion, and out of a desire to please me, and privately show friendship unto them;o verily i well know that which ye conceal, and that which ye discover: and whoever of you doth this, hath already erred from the straight path. if they get the better of you, they will be enemies unto you, and they will stretch forth their hands and their tongues against you with evil: and they earnestly desire that ye should become unbelievers. neither your kindred nor your children will avail you at all on the day of resurrection, which will separate you from one another: and god seeth that which ye do. ye have an excellent pattern in abraham, and those who were with him, when they said unto their people, verily we are clear of you, and of the idols which ye worship, besides god: we have renounced you; and enmity and hatred is begun between us and you forever, until ye believe in god alone: except abraham's saying unto his father, verily i will beg pardon for thee:p but i cannot obtain aught of god in thy behalf. o lord, in thee do we trust, and unto thee are we turned; and before thee shall we be assembled hereafter. 	l see cap. , p. , note x. 	m this chapter bears this title because it directs the women who desert and come over from the infidels to the moslems to be examined, and tried whether they be sincere in their profession of the faith. 	n this passage was revealed on account of hateb ebn abi balpaa, who understanding that mohammed had a design to surprise mecca, wrote a letter to the koreish, giving them notice of the intended expedition, and advised them to be on their guard: which letter he sent by sarah, a maid-servant belonging to the family of hâshem. the messenger had not been gone long, before gabriel discovered the affair to the prophet, who immediately sent after her; and having intercepted the letter, asked hateb how he came to be guilty of such an action? to which he replied that it was not out of infidelity, or a desire to return to idolatry, but merely to induce the koreish to treat his family, which was still at mecca, with some kindness; adding that he was well assured his intelligence would be of no service at all to the meccans, because he was satisfied god would take vengeance on them. whereupon mohammed received his excuse and pardoned him; but it was thought proper to forbid any such practices for the future. 	o the verb here used has also a contrary signification, according to which the words may be rendered, and yet openly show friendship unto them. 	p for in this abraham's example is not to be followed. see chapter , p. . 			 idem. vide abulf. vit. moh. p. . o lord, suffer us not to be put to trial by the unbelievers:q and forgive us, o lord; for thou art mighty and wise. verily ye have in them an excellent example, unto him who hopeth in god and the last day: and whoso turneth back; verily god is self-sufficient, and praiseworthy. peradventure god will establish friendship between yourselves and such of them as ye now hold for enemies:r for god is powerful; and god is inclined to forgive, and merciful. as to those who have not borne arms against you on account of religion, nor turned you out of your dwellings, god forbiddeth you not to deal kindly with them, and to behave justly towards them:s for god loveth those who act justly. but as to those who have borne arms against you on account of religion, and have dispossessed you of your habitations, and have assisted in dispossessing you, god forbiddeth you to enter into friendship with them: and whosoever of you entereth into friendship with them, those are unjust doers. 	o true believers, when believing women come unto you as refugees, try them: god well knoweth their faith. and if ye know them to be true believers, send them not back to the infidels: they are not lawful for the unbelievers to have in marriage; neither are the unbelievers lawful for them. but give their unbelieving husbands what they shall have expended for their dowers.t nor shall it be any crime in you if ye marry them, provided ye give them their dowries.u and retain not the patronage of the unbelieving women: but demand back that which ye have expended for the dowry of such of your wives as go over to the unbelievers; and let them demand back that which they have expended for the dowry of those who come over to you. this is the judgment of god, which he establisheth among you: and god is knowing and wise. 	q i.e., suffer them not to prevail against us, lest they thence conclude themselves to be in the right, and endeavour to make us deny our faith by the terror of persecution. 	r and this happened accordingly on the taking of mecca; when abu sofiân and others of the koreish, who had till then been inveterate enemies to the moslems, embraced the same faith, and became their friends and brethren. some suppose the marriage of mohammed with omm habîba, the daughter of abu sofiân, which was celebrated the year before, to be here intended. 	s this passage, it is said, was revealed on account of koteila bint abd'al uzza, who having, while she was an idolatress, brought some presents to her daughter, asma bint abi becr, the latter not only refused to accept them, but even denied her admittance. 	t for, according to the terms of the pacification of al hodeibiya, each side was to return whatever came into their power belonging to the other; wherefore when the moslems were, by this passage, forbidden to restore the married women who should come over to them, they were at the same time commanded to make some sort of satisfaction, by returning their dowry. 	it is related that, after the aforesaid pacification, while mohammed was yet at al hodeibiya, sobeia bint al hareth, of the tribe of aslam, having embrace mohammedism, her husband, mosâfer the makhzumite, came and demanded her back; upon which this passage was revealed: and mohammed, pursuant thereto, administered to her the oath thereafter directed, and returned her husband her dower; and then omar married her. 	u for what is returned to their former husbands is not to be considered as their dower. 	 al beidâwi.		 vide gagnier, not in abulf. vit. moh. p. . 	 al beidâwi.		 see cap. , p. , &c.		 al beidâwi. if any of your wivesx escape from you to the unbelievers, and ye have your turn by the coming over of any of the unbelievers' wives to you;y give unto those believers whose wives shall have gone away, out of the dowries of the latter, so much as they shall have expended for the dowers of the former: and fear god, in whom ye believe. o prophet, when believing women come unto thee, and plight their faith unto thee,z that they will not associate anything with god, nor steal, nor commit fornication, nor kill their children,a nor come with a calumny which they have forged between their hands and their feet,b nor be disobedient to thee in that which shall be reasonable: then do thou plight thy faith unto them, and ask pardon for them of god; for god is inclined to forgive, and merciful. o true believers, enter not into friendship with a people against whom god is incensed;c they despair of the life to come,d as the infidels despair of the resurrection of those who dwell in the graves. ________ chapter lxi. entitled, battle-array; revealed at mecca.e in the name of the most merciful god. whatever is in heaven and in earth celebrateth the praise of god; for he is mighty and wise. o true believers, why do ye say that which ye do not?f it is most odious in the sight of god, that ye say that which ye do not. verily god loveth those who fight for his religion in battle-array, as though they were a well-compacted building. remember when moses said unto his people, o my people, why do ye injure me;g since ye know that i am the apostle of god sent unto you? and when they had deviated from the truth, god made their hearts to deviate from the right way; for god directeth not wicked people. 	x literally, anything of your wives; which some interpret, any part of their dowry. 	y or, as the original verb may also be translated, and ye take spoils; in which case the meaning will be, that those moslems, whose wives shall have gone over to the infidels, shall have a satisfaction for their dower out of the next booty. this law, they saw, was given because of the idolaters, after the preceding verse had been revealed, refused to comply therewith, or to make any return of the dower of those women who went over to them from the moslems; so that the latter were obliged to indemnify themselves as they could. 	z see the prelim. disc. sect. ii. p. . some are of opinion that this passage was not revealed till the day of the taking of mecca; when, after having received the solemn submission of the men, he proceeded to receive that of the women. 	a see chapter . 	b jallalo'ddin understands these words of their laying their spurious children to their husbands. 	c i.e., the infidels in general; or the jews in particular. 	d by reason of their infidelity; or because they well know they cannot expect to be made partakers of the happiness of the next life, by reason of their rejecting of the prophet foretold in the law, and whose mission is confirmed by miracles. 	e or, as some rather judge, at medina; which opinion is confirmed by the explication in the next note. 	f the commentators generally suppose these words to be directed to the moslems, who, notwithstanding they had solemnly engaged to spend their lives and fortunes in defence of their faith, yet shamefully turned their backs at the battle of ohod. they may, however, be applied to hypocrites of all sorts, whose actions contradict their words. 	g viz., by your disobedience; or by maliciously aspersing me. 	 idem.		 idem.		 see cap. i, p. .		 al beidâwi.		 cap. , p. , &c. see cap. , p. . and when jesus the son of mary said, o children of israel, verily i am the apostle of god sent unto you, confirming the law which was delivered before me, and bringing good tidings of an apostle who shall come after me, and whose name shall be ahmed.i and when he produced unto them evident miracles, they said, this is manifest sorcery. but who is more unjust than he who forgeth a lie against god, when he is invited unto islam? and god directeth not the unjust people. they seek to extinguish god's light with their mouths: but god will perfect his light, though the infidels be averse thereto. it is he who hath sent his apostle with the direction, and the religion of truth, that he may exalt the same above every religion, although the idolaters be averse thereto. 	o true believers, shall i show you a merchandise which will deliver you from a painful torment hereafter? believe in god and his apostle; and defend god's true religion with your substance, and in your own persons. this will be better for you, if ye knew it. he will forgive you your sins, and will introduce you into gardens through which rivers flow, and agreeable habitations in gardens of perpetual abode. this will be great felicity. and ye shall obtain other things which ye desire, namely, assistance from god, and a speedy victory. and do thou bear good tidings to the true believers. o true believers, be ye assistants of god; as jesus the son of mary said to the apostles, who will be my assistants with respect to god?k the apostles answered, we will be the assistants of god. so a part of the children of israel believed, and a part believed not:l but we strengthened those who believed, above their enemy; wherefore they became victorious over them. ______ chapter lxii. entitled, the assembly; revealed at medina. in the name of the most merciful god. whatever is in heaven and earth praiseth god; the king, the holy, the mighty, the wise. 	i for mohammed also bore the name of ahmed; both names being derived from the same root, and nearly of the same signification. the persian paraphrast, to support what is here alleged, quotes the following words of christ, i go to my father, and the paraclete shall come: the mohammedan doctors unanimously teaching that by the paraclete (or, as they choose to read it, the periclyte, or illustrious) their prophet is intended, and no other. 	k see chapter , p. . 	l either by rejecting him, or by affirming him to be god, and the son of god. 	 see john xvi. , &c.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . 	 jallalo'ddin. it is he who hath raised up amidst the illiterate arabians an apostle from among themselves,m to rehearse his signs unto them, and to purify them, and to teach them the scriptures and wisdom; whereas before they were certainly in a manifest error; and others of them have not yet attained unto them, by embracing the faith; though they also shall be converted in god's good time; for he is mighty and wise. this is the free grace of god: he bestoweth the same on whom he pleaseth: and god is endued with great beneficence. the likeness of those who were charged with the observance of the law, and then observed it not, is as the likeness of an ass laden with books.n how wretched is the likeness of the people who charge the signs of god with falsehood! and god directeth not the unjust people. say, o ye who follow the jewish religion, if ye say that ye are the friends of god above other men, wish for death,o if ye speak truth. but they will never wish for it, because of that which their hands have sent before them:p and god well knoweth the unjust. say, verily death, from which ye fly, will surely meet you: then shall ye be brought before him who knoweth as well what is concealed as what is discovered; and he will declare unto you that which ye have done. o true believers, when ye are called to prayer on the day of assembly,q hasten to the commemoration of god and leave merchandising. this will be better for you, if you knew it. 	and when prayer is ended, then disperse yourselves through the land as ye list, and seek gain of the liberality of god:r and remember god frequently, that ye may prosper. but when they see any merchandising, or sport, they flock thereto, and leave thee standing up in the pulpit.s say, the reward which is with god is better than any sport or merchandise: and god is the best provider. 	m see the prelim. disc. sect. ii. p. . 	n because they understand not the prophecies contained in the law, which bear witness to mohammed, no more than the ass does the books he carries. 	o i.e., make it your request to god that he would translate you from this troublesome world to a state of never-fading bliss. 	p see chapter , p. . 	q that is, friday, which being more peculiarly set apart by mohammed for the public worship of god, is therefore called yawm al jomá, i.e., the day of the assembly or congregation; whereas before it was called al arûba. the first time this day was particularly observed, as some say, was on the prophet's arrival at medina, into which city he made his first entry on a friday: but others tell us that caab ebn lowa, one of mohammed's ancestors, gave the day its present name, because on that day the people used to be assembled before him. one reason given for the observation of friday, preferably to any other day of the week, is because on that day god finished the creation. 	by returning to your commerce and worldly occupations, if ye think fit: for the mohammedans do not hold themselves obliged to observe the day of their public assembly with the same strictness as the christians and jews do their respective sabbath; or particularly to abstain from work, after they have performed their devotions. some, however, from a tradition of their prophet, are of opinion that works of charity, and religious exercises, which may draw down the blessing of god, are recommended in this passage. 	r it is related that one friday, while mohammed was preaching, a caravan of merchants happened to arrive with their drums beating, according to custom; which the congregation hearing, they all ran out of the mosque to see them, except twelve only. 	 al beidâwi.		 vide gol. in alfrag p. .		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin. chapter lxiii. entitled, the hypocrites; revealed at medina. in the name of the most merciful god. when the hypocrites come unto thee, they say, we bear witness that thou art indeed the apostle of god. and god knoweth that thou art indeed his apostle: but god beareth witness that the hypocrites are certainly liars. they have taken their oaths for a protection, and they turn others aside from the way of god: it is surely evil which they do. this is testified of them, because they believed, and afterwards became unbelievers: wherefore a seal is set on their hearts, and they shall not understand. when thou beholdest them, their persons please thee:t and if they speak, thou hearest their discourse with delight. they resemble pieces of timber set up against a wall.u they imagine every shout to be against them.x they are enemies: wherefore beware of them. god curse them: how are they turned aside from the truth! and when it is said unto them, come, that the apostle of god may ask pardon for you; they turn away their heads, and thou seest them retire big with disdain. it shall be equal unto them, whether thou ask pardon for them, or do not ask pardon for them: god will by no means forgive them; for god directeth not the prevaricating people. these are the men who say to the inhabitants of medina, do not bestow anything on the refugees who are with the apostle of god, that they may be obliged to separate from him. whereas unto god belong the stores of heaven and earth: but the hypocrites do not understand. they say, verily, if we return to medina, the worthier shall expel thence the meaner.y whereas superior worth belongeth unto god and his apostle, and the true believers: but the hypocrites know it not. o true believers, let not your riches or your children divert you from the remembrance of god: for whosoever doth this, they will surely be losers. 	and give alms out of that which we have bestowed on you; before death come unto one of you, and he say, o lord, wilt thou not grant me respite for a short term: that i may give alms, and become one of the righteous? for god will by no means grant further respite to a soul, when its determined time is come: and god is fully apprised of that which ye do. 	t the commentators tell us, that abdallah ebn obba, a chief hypocrite, was a tall man of a very graceful presence, and of a ready and eloquent tongue; and used to frequent the prophet's assembly, attended by several like himself; and that these men were greatly admired by mohammed, who was taken with their handsome appearance, and listened to their discourse with pleasure. 	u being tall and big, but void of knowledge and consideration. 	x living under continual apprehensions; because they are conscious of their hypocrisy towards god, and their insincerity towards the moslems. 	y these, as well as the preceding, were the words of ebn obba to one of medina, who in a certain expedition quarrelling with an arab of the desert about water, received a blow on the head with a stick, and made his complaint thereof to him. 			 al beidâwi		 idem.		 idem. chapter lxiv entitled, mutual deceit; revealed at mecca.z in the name of the most merciful god. whatever is in heaven and earth celebrateth the praises of god: his is the kingdom, and unto him is the praise due; for he is almighty. it is he who hath created you; and one of you is predestined to be an unbeliever, and another of you is predestined to be a believer: and god beholdeth that which ye do. he hath created the heavens and the earth with truth; and he hath fashioned you, and given you beautiful forms: and unto him must ye all go. he knoweth whatever is in heaven and earth: and he knoweth that which ye conceal, and that which ye discover; for god knoweth the innermost part of men's breasts. have ye not been acquainted with the story of those who disbelieved heretofore, and tasted the evil consequence of their behavior? and for them is prepared in the life to come a tormenting punishment. this shall they suffer, because their apostles came unto them with evident proofs of their mission, and they said, shall men direct us? wherefore they believed not, and turned their backs. but god standeth in need of no person: for god is self-sufficient, and worthy to be praised. the unbelievers imagine that they shall not be raised again. say, yea, by my lord, ye shall surely be raised again; then shall ye be told that which ye have wrought; and this is easy with god. wherefore believe in god and his apostle, and the light which we have sent down: for god is well acquainted with that which ye do. on a certain day he shall assemble you, at the day of the general assembly: that will be the day of mutual deceit.a and whoso shall believe in god, and shall do that which is right, from him will he expiate his evil deeds, and he will lead him into gardens beneath which rivers flow, to remain therein forever. this will be great felicity. 	but they who shall not believe, and shall accuse our signs of falsehood, those shall be the inhabitants of hell fire, wherein they shall remain forever; and a wretched journey shall it be thither! no misfortune happeneth but by the permission of god; and whoso believeth in god, he will direct his heart: and god knoweth all things. wherefore obey god, and obey the apostle: but if ye turn back, verily the duty incumbent on our apostle is only public preaching. god! there is no god but he: wherefore in god let the faithful put their trust. o true believers, verily of your wives and your children ye have an enemy:b wherefore beware of them. but if ye pass over their offences, and pardon, and forgive them;c god is likewise inclined to forgive, and merciful. 	z the commentators are not agreed whether this chapter was revealed at mecca, or at medina; or partly at the one place, and partly at the other. 	a when the blessed will deceive the damned, by taking the places which they would have had in paradise had they been true believers; and contrariwise. 	b for these are apt to distract a man from his duty, especially in time of distress; a married man caring for the things that are of this world, while the unmarried careth for the things that belong to the lord. 	c considering that the hindrance they may occasion you proceeds from their affection, and their ill bearing your absence in time of war, &c. 	 idem, jallalo'ddin, yahya.		 idem.		 see i cor. vii. , &c. your wealth and your children are only a temptation; but with god is a great reward. wherefore fear god, as much as ye are able; and hear, and obey: and give alms, for the good of your souls; for whoso is preserved from the covetousness of his own soul, they shall prosper. if ye lend unto god an acceptable loan, he will double the same unto you, and will forgive you: for god is grateful, and long-suffering, knowing both what is hidden, and what is divulged; the mighty, the wise. ________ chapter lxv. entitled, divorce; revealed at medina. in the name of the most merciful god. o prophet, when ye divorce women, put them away at their appointed term;d and compute the term exactly: and fear god, your lord. oblige them not to go out of their apartments, neither let them go out, until the term be expired, unless they be guilty of manifest uncleanness. these are the statutes of god: and whoever transgresseth the statutes of god assuredly injureth his own soul. thou knowest not whether god will bring something new to pass, which may reconcile them after this. and when they shall have fulfilled their term, either retain them with kindness, or part from them honourably: and take witnesses from among you, men of integrity; and give your testimony as in the presence of god. this admonition is given unto him who believeth in god and the last day: and whoso feareth god, unto him will he grant a happy issue out of all his afflictions, and he will bestow on him an ample provision from whence he expecteth it not: and whoso trusteth in god, he will be his sufficient support; for god will surely attain his purpose. now hath god appointed unto everything a determined period. as to such of your wives as shall despair having their courses, by reason of their age; if ye be in doubt thereof, let their term be three months: and let the same be the term of those who have not yet had their courses. but as to those who are pregnant, their term shall be, until they be delivered of their burden.e and whoso feareth god, unto him will he make his command easy. this is the command of god, which he hath sent down unto you. and whoso feareth god, he will expiate his evil deeds from him, and will increase his reward. 	d that is, when they shall have had their courses thrice after the time of their divorce, if they prove not to be with child; or, if they prove with child, when they shall have been delivered. al beidâwi supposes husbands are hereby commanded to divorce their wives while they are clean; and says that the passage was revealed on account of ebn omar, who divorced his wife when she had her courses upon her, and was therefore obliged to take her again. 	e see chapter , p. . 					 cap. , p. . suffer the women whom ye divorce to dwell in some part of the houses wherein ye dwell; according to the room and conveniences of the habitations which ye possess: and make them not uneasy, that ye may reduce them to straits. and if they be with child, expend on them what shall be needful, until they be delivered of their burden. and if they suckle their children for you, give them their hire;f and consult among yourselves, according to what shall be just and reasonable. and if ye be put to a difficulty herein, and another woman shall suckle the child for him, let him who hath plenty expend proportionably in the maintenance of the mother and the nurse, out of his plenty: and let him whose income is scanty expend in proportion out of that which god hath given him. god obligeth no man to more than he hath given him ability to perform: god will cause ease to succeed hardship. how many cities have turned aside from the command of the lord and his apostles! wherefore we brought them to a severe account; and we chastised them with a grievous chastisement: and they tasted the evil consequence of their business; and the end of their business was perdition. 	god hath prepared for them a severe punishment: wherefore fear god, o ye who are endued with understanding. true believers, now hath god sent down unto you an admonition, an apostle who may rehearse unto you the perspicuous signs of god; that he may bring forth those who believe and do good works, from darkness into light. and whoso believeth in god, and doth that which is right, him will he lead into gardens beneath which rivers flow, to remain therein forever: now hath god made an excellent provision for him. it is god who hath created seven heavens, and as many different stories of the earth: the divine command descendeth between them;g that ye may know that god is omnipotent, and that god comprehendeth all things by his knowledge. ________ chapter lxvi. entitled, prohibition; revealed at medina. in the name of the most merciful god. o prophet, why holdest thou that to be prohibited which god hath allowed thee, seeking to please thy wives;h since god is inclined to forgive, and merciful? 	f which ought at least to be sufficient to maintain and clothe them during the time of suckling. see chapter , p. . 	g penetrating and pervading them all with absolute efficacy. god hath allowed you the dissolution of your oaths:i and god is your master; and he is knowing and wise. when the prophet intrusted as a secret unto one of his wives a certain accident; and when she disclosed the same, and god made it known unto him; he acquainted her with part of what she had done, and forbore to upbraid her with the other part thereof. and when he had acquainted her therewith, she said, who hath discovered this unto thee? he answered, the knowing, the sagacious god hath discovered it unto me.k 	h there are some who suppose this passage to have been occasioned by mohammed's protesting never to eat honey any more, because, having once eaten some in the apartment of hafsa, or of zeinab, three other of his wives, namely, ayesha, sawda, and safia, all told him they smelt he had been eating of the juice which distils from certain shrubs in those parts, and resembles honey in taste and consistence, but is of a very strong flavour, and which the prophet had a great aversion to. but the more received opinion is, that the chapter was revealed on the following occasion. mohammed having lain with a slave of his named mary, of coptic extract (who had been sent him as a present by al mokawkas, governor of eygpt), on the day which was due to ayesha, or to hafsa, and, as some say, on hafsa's own bed, while she was absent; and this coming to hafsa's knowledge, she took it extremely ill, and reproached her husband so sharply that, to pacify her, he promised, with an oath, never to touch the maid again: and to free him from the obligation of this promise was the design of the chapter. 	i cannot here avoid observing, as a learned writer has done before me, that dr. prideaux has strangely misrepresented this passage. for having given the story of the prophet's amour with his maid mary, a little embellished, he proceeds to tell us that in this chapter mohammed brings in god allowing him, and all his moslems, to lie with their maids when they will, notwithstanding their wives (whereas the words relate to the prophet only, who wanted not any new permission for that purpose, because it was a privilege already granted him, though to none else); and then, to show what ground he had for his assertion, adds that the first words of the chapter are, o prophet, why dost thou forbid what god hath allowed thee, that thou mayest please thy wives? god hath granted unto you to lie with your maid-servants. which last words are not to be found here, or elsewhere in the korân, and contain an allowance of what is expressly forbidden therein; though the doctor has thence taken occasion to make some reflections which might as well have been spared. i shall say nothing to aggravate the matter, but leave the reader to imagine what this reverend divine would have said of a mohammedan if he had caught him tripping in the like manner. 	having digressed so far, i will venture to add a word or two in order to account for one circumstance which dr. prideaux relates concerning mohammed's concubine mary; viz., that after her master's death, no account was had of her or the son which she had borne him, but both were sent away into egypt, and no mention made of either ever after among them; and then he supposes (for he seldom is at a loss for a supposition) that ayesha, out of the hatred which she bore her, procured of her father, who succeeded the impostor in the government, to have her thus disposed of. but it being certain, by the general consent of all the eastern writers, that mary continued in arabia till her death, which happened at medina about five years after that of her master, and was buried in the usual burying-place there, called al bakí, and that her son died before his father, it has been asked, whence the doctor had this? i answer, that i guess he had it partly from abulfaragius, according to the printed edition of whose work, the mary we are speaking of is said to have been sent with her sister shirin (not with her son) to alexandria by al mokawkas; though i make no doubt but we ought in that passage to read min, from, instead if ila, to (notwithstanding the manuscript copies of this author used by dr. pocock, the editor, and also a very fair one in my own possession, agree in the latter reading); and that the sentence ought to run thus, quam (viz., mariam) unà cum sorore shirina ab alexandria miserat al mokawkas. 	i by having appointed an expiation for that purpose; or, as the words may be translated, god hath allowed you to use an exception in your oaths if it please god; in which case a man is excused from guilt if he perform not his oath. the passage, though directed to all the moslems in general, seems to be particularly designed for quieting the prophet's conscience in regard to the oath above mentioned: but al beidâwi approves not this opinion, because such an oath was to be looked upon as an inconsiderate one, and required no expiation. 	k when mohammed found that hafsa knew of his having injured her, or ayesha, by lying with his concubine mary on the day due to one of them, he desired her to keep the affair secret, promising, at the same time, that he would not meddle with mary any more; and foretold her, as a piece of news which might soothe her vanity, that abu becr and omar should succeed him in the government of his people. hafsa, however, could not conceal this from ayesha, with whom she lived in strict friendship, but acquainted her with the whole matter: whereupon the prophet, perceiving, probably by ayesha's behaviour, that his secret had been discovered, upbraided hafsa with her betraying him, telling her that god had revealed it to him; and not only divorced her, but separated him from all his other wives for a whole month, which time he spent in the apartment of mary. in a short time, notwithstanding, he took hafsa again, by the direction, as he gave out, of the angel gabriel, who commended her for her frequent fasting and other exercises of devotion, assuring him likewise that she should be one of his wives in paradise. 	 al zamakh., al beidâwi.		 idem, jallal., yahya. 	 gagnier, not. ad abulf. vit. moh. p. . see cap. , p. , .		 prid. life of mah. p. .		 see cap. , p. ; cap. , p. ; and cap. , p. , &c. prid. life of mah. p. .		 gagnier, ubi supra.		 abulfarag. hist. dynast. p. .		 see cap. , p. . al beidâwi.		 idem. al zamakh, &c. if ye both be turned unto god (for your hearts have swerved) it is well: but if ye join against him, verily god is his patron; and gabriel, and the good man among the faithful, and the angels also are his assistants.l if he divorce you, his lord can easily give him in exchange other wives better than you, women resigned unto god, true believers, devout, penitent, obedient, given to fasting, both such as have been known by other men, and virgins. o true believers, save your souls, and those of your families, from the fire whose fuel is men and stones, over which are set angels fierce and terrible;m who disobey not god in what he hath commanded them, but perform what they are commanded. o unbelievers, excuse not yourselves this day; ye shall surely be rewarded for what ye have done.n o true believers, turn unto god with a sincere repentance: peradventure your lord will do away from you your evil deeds, and will admit you into gardens, through which rivers flow; on the day whereon god will not put to shame the prophet, or those who believe with him: their light shall run before them, and on their right hands,o and they shall say, lord, make our light perfect, and forgive us: for thou art almighty. o prophet, attack the infidels with arms, and the hypocrites with arguments; and treat them with severity: their abode shall be hell, and an ill journey shall it be thither. 	god propoundeth as a similitude unto the unbelievers, the wife of noah, and the wife of lot: they were under two of our righteous servants, and they deceived them both;p wherefore their husbands were of no advantage unto them at all, in the sight of god:q and it shall be said unto them, at the last day, enter ye into hell fire, with those who enter therein. god also propoundeth as a similitude unto those who believe, the wife of pharaoh;r when she said, lord, build me a house with thee in paradise; and deliver me from pharaoh and his doings, and deliver me from the unjust people: and mary the daughter of imran; who preserved her chastity, and into whose womb we breathed of our spirit,s and who believed in the words of her lord, and his scriptures, and was a devout and obedient person.t 	l this sentence is directed to hafsa and ayesha; the pronouns and verbs of the second person being in the dual number. 	m see chapter , and the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . 	n these words will be spoken to the infidels at the last day. 	o see chapter , p. . 	p who were both unbelieving women, but deceived their respective husbands by their hypocrisy. noah's wife, named wâïla, endeavoured to persuade the people her husband was distracted; and lot's wife, whose name was wâhela (though some writers give this name to the other, and that of wâïla to the latter), was in confederacy with the men of sodom, and used to give them notice when any strangers came to lodge with him, by a sign of smoke by day, and of fire by night. 	q for they both met with a disastrous end in this world, and will be doomed to eternal misery in the next. in like manner, as mohammed would insinuate, the infidels of his time had no reason to expect any mitigation of their punishment, on account of their relation to himself and the rest of the true believers. 	r viz., asia, the daughter of mozâhem. the commentators relate, that because she believed in moses, her husband cruelly tormented her, fastening her hands and feet to four stakes, and laying a large mill-stone on her breast, her face, at the same time, being exposed to the scorching beams of the son. these pains, however, were alleviated by the angels shading her with their wings, and the view of the mansion prepared for her in paradise, which was exhibited to her on her pronouncing the prayer in the text. at length god received her soul; or, as some say, she was taken up alive into paradise, where she eats and drinks. 	s see chapter , p. , &c. 	t on occasion of the honourable mention here made of these two extraordinary women, the commentators introduce a saying of their prophet, that among men there had been many perfect, but no more than four of the other sex had attained perfection; to wit, asia, the wife of pharaoh; mary, the daughter of imrân; khadîjah, the daughter of khowailed (the prophet's first wife); and fâtema, the daughter of mohammed. 	 jallal., al zamakh.		 see cap. , p. , , and . 	 jallal., al zamakh. chapter lxvii. entitled, the kingdom;u revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. blessed be he in whose hand is the kingdom, for he is almighty! who hath created death and life, that he might prove you, which of you is most righteous in his actions: and he is mighty, and ready to forgive. who hath created seven heavens, one above another: thou canst not see in a creature of the most merciful any unfitness or disproportion. lift up thine eyes again to heaven, and look whether thou seest any flaw: then take two other views; and thy sight shall return unto thee dull and fatigued. moreover we have adorned the lowest heaven with lamps, and have appointed them to be darted at the devils,x for whom we have prepared the torment of burning fire: and for those who believe not in their lord is also prepared the torment of hell; and ill journey shall it be thither. when they shall be thrown thereinto, they shall hear it bray like an ass;y and it shall boil, and almost burst for fury. so often as a company of them shall be thrown therein, the keepers thereof shall ask them, saying, did not a warner come unto you? they shall answer, yea, a warner came unto us: but we accused him of imposture, and said, god hath not revealed anything; ye are in no other than a great error: 	and they shall say, if we had hearkened, or had rightly considered, we should not have been among the inhabitants of burning fire: and they shall confess their sins; but far be the inhabitants of burning fire from obtaining mercy! verily they who fear their lord in secret shall receive pardon and a great reward. either conceal your discourse, or make it public; he knoweth the innermost part of your breasts: shall not he know all things who hath created them; since he is the sagacious, the knowing? it is he who hath levelled the earth for you: therefore walk through the regions thereof, and eat of his provision; unto him shall be the resurrection. are ye secure that he who dwelleth in heaven will not cause the earth to swallow you up? and behold, it shall shake. or are you secure that he who dwelleth in heaven will not send against you an impetuous whirlwind, driving the sands to overwhelm you? then shall ye know how important my warning was. those also who were before you disbelieved; and how grievous was my displeasure! do they not behold the birds above them, extending and drawing back their wings? none sustaineth them, except the merciful; for he regardeth all things. 	or who is he that will be as an army unto you, to defend you against the merciful? verily the unbelievers are in no other than a mistake. or who is he that will give you food, if he withholdeth his provision? yet they persist in perverseness, and flying from the truth. 	u it is also entitled by some, the saving, or the delivering, because, say they, it will save him who reads it from the torture of the sepulchre. 	x see chapter , p. . 	y see chapter , p. . is he, therefore, who goeth grovelling upon his face, better directed than he who walketh upright in a straight way?z say, it is he who hath given you being, and endued you with hearing, and sight, and understanding; yet how little gratitude have ye! say, it is he who hath sown you in the earth, and unto him shall ye be gathered together. they say, when shall this menace be put in execution, if ye speak truth? answer, the knowledge of this matter is with god alone: for i am only a public warner. but when they shall see the same nigh at hand, the countenance of the infidels shall grow sad: and it shall be said unto them, this is what ye have been demanding. say, what think ye? whether god destroy me and those who are with me, or have mercy on us; who will protect the unbelievers from a painful punishment? say, he is the merciful; in him do we believe, and in him do we put our trust. ye shall hereafter know who is in a manifest error. 	say, what think ye? if your water be in the morning swallowed up by the earth, who will give you clear and running water? ______ chapter lxviii. entitled, the pen; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. n.a by the pen, and what they write,b thou, o mohammed, through the grace of thy lord, art not distracted. verily there is prepared for thee an everlasting reward: for thou art of a noble disposition.c thou shalt see, and the infidels shall see, which of you are bereaved of your senses. verily thy lord well knoweth him who wandereth from his path; and he well knoweth those who are rightly directed: wherefore obey not those who charge thee with imposture. they desire that thou shouldest be easy with them, and they will be easy with thee.d 	z this comparison is applied by the expositors to the infidel and the true believer. 	a this letter is sometimes made the title of the chapter, but its meaning is confessedly uncertain. they who suppose it stands for the word nûn are not agreed as to its signification in this place; for it is not only the name of the letter n in arabic, but signifies also an inkhorn and a fish; some are of opinion the former signification is the most proper here, as consonant to what is immediately mentioned of the pen and writing, and, considering that the blood of certain fish is good ink, not inconsistent with the latter signification; which is, however, preferred by others, saying that either the whole species of fish in general is thereby intended, or the fish which swallowed jonas (who is mentioned in this chapter), or else that vast one called behemoth, fancied to support the earth, in particular. those who acquiesce in none of the foregoing explications have invented others of their own, and imagine this character stands for the table of god's decrees, or one of the rivers in paradise, &c. 	b some understand these words generally, and others of the pen with which god's decrees are written on the preserved table, and of the angels who register the same. 	c in that thou hast borne with so much patience and resignation the wrongs and insults of thy people, which have been greater than those offered to any apostle before thee. 	d i.e., if thou wilt let them alone in their idolatry and other wicked practices, they will cease to revile and persecute thee. 	 al zamakh., al beidâwi, yahya.		 al beidâwi.		 idem, jallal. 	but obey not any who is a common swearer, a despicable fellow, a defamer, going about with slander, who forbiddeth that which is good, who is also a transgressor, a wicked person, cruel, and besides this, of spurious birth:e although he be possessed of wealth and many children: when our signs are rehearsed unto him, he saith, they are fables of the ancients. we will stigmatize him on the nose.f verily we have tried the meccans,g as we formerly tried the owners of the garden;h when they swore that they would gather the fruit thereofi in the morning, and added not the exception, if it please god: wherefore a surrounding destruction from thy lord encompassed it, while they slept; 	and in the morning it became like a garden whose fruits had been gathered.k and they called the one to the other as they rose in the morning, saying, go out early to your plantation, if ye intend to gather the fruit thereof: so they went on, whispering to one another, no poor man shall enter the garden upon you, this day. and they went forth early, with a determined purpose. and when they saw the garden blasted and destroyed, they said, we have certainly mistaken our way: but when they found it to be their own garden, they cried, verily we are not permittedl to reap the fruit thereof. the worthier of them said, did i not say unto you, will ye not give praise unto god? they answered, praise be unto our lord! verily we have been unjust doers. 	and they began to blame one another,m and they said, woe be unto us! verily we have been transgressors: peradventure our lord will give us in exchange a better garden than this: and we earnestly beseech our lord to pardon us. thus is the chastisement of this life: but the chastisement of the next shall be more grievous: if they had known it, they would have taken heed. verily for the pious are prepared, with their lord, gardens of delight. shall we deal with the moslems, as with the wicked?n 	e the person at whom this passage was particularly levelled is generally supposed to have been mohammed's inveterate enemy, al walid ebn al mogheira, whom, to complete his character, he calls bastard, because al mogheira did not own him for his son till he was eighteen years of age. some, however, think it was al akhnas ebn shoraik, who was really of the tribe of thakîf, though reputed to be of that of zahra. 	f which being the most conspicuous part of the face, a mark set thereon is attended with the utmost ignominy. it is said that this prophetical menace was actually made good, al walid having his nose slit by a sword at the battle of bedr, the mark of which wound he carried with him to his grave. 	g by afflicting them with a grievous famine. see chapter , p. . 	h this garden was a plantation of palm-trees, about two parsangs from sanaa, belonging to a certain charitable man, who, when he gathered his dates, used to give public notice to the poor, and to leave them such of the fruit as the knife missed, or was blown down by the wind, or fell beside the cloth spread under the tree to receive it: after his death, his sons, who were then become masters of the garden, apprehending they should come to want if they followed their father's example, agreed to gather the fruit early in the morning, when the poor could have no notice of the matter: but when they came to execute their purpose, they found, to their great grief and surprise, that their plantation had been destroyed in the night. 	i literally, that they would cut it; the manner of gathering dates being to cut the clusters off with a knife. marracci supposes they intended to cut down the trees, and destroy the plantation; which, as he observes, renders the story ridiculous and absurd. 	k or, as the original may also be rendered, like a dark night; it being burnt up and black. 	l the same expression is used, chapter , p. . 	m for one advised this expedition, another approved of it, a third gave consent by his silence, but the fourth was absolutely against it. 	n this passage was revealed in answer to the infidels, who said, if we shall be raised again, as mohammed and his followers imagine, they will not excel us; but we shall certainly be in a better condition than they in the next world, as we are in this. 	 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 idem.		 idem, jallalo'ddin. 	 idem.		 al beidâwi idem. what aileth you that ye judge thus? have ye a book from heaven, wherein ye read that ye are therein promised that which ye shall choose? or have ye received oaths which shall be binding upon us to the day of resurrection, that ye shall enjoy what ye imagine? 	ask them, which of them will be the voucher of this. or have they companionso who will vouch for them? let them produce their companions, therefore, if they speak truth. on a certain day the leg shall be made bare;p and they shall be called upon to worship, but they shall not be able.q their looks shall be cast down: ignominy shall attend them; for that they were invited to the worship of god, while they were in safety, but would not hear. let me alone, therefore, with him who accuseth this new revelation of imposture. we will lead them gradually to destruction, by ways which they know not:r and i will bear with them for a long time; for my stratagem is effectual. dost thou ask them any reward for thy preaching? but they are laden with debts. are the secrets of futurity with them; and do they transcribe the same from the table of god's decrees?s wherefore patiently wait the judgment of thy lord: and be not like him who was swallowed by the fish;t when he cried unto god, being inwardly vexed. had not grace from his lord reached him, he had surely been cast forth on the naked shore, covered with shame: 	but his lord chose him, and made him one of the righteous. it wanteth little but that the unbelievers strike thee down with their malicious looks, when they hear the admonition of the koran; and they say, he is certainly distracted: but it is no other than an admonition unto all creatures. ______ chapter lxix. entitled, the infallible; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. the infallible!u what is the infallible? and what shall cause thee to understand what the infallible is? 	o or, as some interpret the word, idols; which can make their condition, in the next life, equal to that of the moslems? 	p this expression is used to signify a grievous and terrible calamity: thus they say, war has made bare the leg, when they would express the fury and rage of battle. 	q because the time of acceptance shall be past. al beidâwi is uncertain whether the words respect the day of judgment, or the article of death: but jallalo'ddin supposes them to relate to the former, and adds that the infidels shall not be able to perform the act of adoration, because their backs shall become stiff and inflexible. 	r i.e., by granting them long life and prosperity in this world; which will deceive them to their ruin. 	s see chapter , p. . 	t that is, be not impatient and pettish, as jonas was. see chapter , p. . 	u the original word al hâkkat is one of the names or epithets of the day of judgment. as the root from which it is derived signifies not only to be or come to pass of necessity, but also to verify; some rather think that day to be so called because it will verify and show the truth of what men doubt of in this life, viz., the resurrection of the dead, their being brought to account, and the consequent rewards and punishments. 				 idem, jallalo'ddin		 idem the tribes of thamud and ad denied as a falsehood the day which shall strikex men's hearts with terror. but thamud were destroyed by a terrible noise: and ad were destroyed by a roaring and furious wind; which god caused to assail them for seven nights and eight days successively: thou mightest have seen people during the same, lying prostrate, as though they had been the roots of hollow palm-trees;y and couldest thou have seen any of them remaining? pharaoh also, and those who were before him, and the cities which were overthrown,z were guilty of sin: 	and they severally were disobedient to the apostle of their lord; wherefore he chastised them with an abundant chastisement. when the water of the deluge arose, we carried you in the ark which swam thereon; that we might make the same a memorial unto you, and the retaining ear might retain it. and when one blast shall sound the trumpet, and the earth shall be moved from its place, and the mountains also, and shall be dashed in pieces at one stroke: on that day the inevitable hour of judgment shall suddenly come; and the heavens shall cleave in sunder, and shall fall in pieces, on that day: and the angels shall be on the sides thereof;a and eight shall bear the throne of thy lord above them, on that day.b on that day ye shall be presented before the judgment-seat of god; and none of your secret actions shall be hidden. and he who shall have his book delivered into his right hand shall say, take ye, read this my book; 	verily i thought that i should be brought to this my account: he shall lead a pleasing life, in a lofty garden, the fruits whereof shall be near to gather. eat and drink with easy digestion; because of the good works which ye sent before you, in the days which are past. but he who shall have his book delivered into his left hand shall say, oh that i had not received this book; and that i had not known what this my account was! oh that death had made an end of me! my riches have not profited me; and my power is passed from me. 	and god shall say to the keepers of hell, take him, and bind him, and cast him into hell to be burned: then put him into a chain of the length of seventy cubits:c because he believed not in the great god; and was not solicitous to feed the poor: wherefore this day he shall have no friend here; nor any food, but the filthy corruption flowing from the bodies of the damned, which none shall eat but the sinners. i sweard by that which ye see, and that which ye see not, 	that this is the discourse of an honourable apostle and not the discourse of a poet: how little do ye believe! neither is it the discourse of a soothsayer: how little are ye admonished! it is a revelation from the lord of all creatures. if mohammed had forged any part of these discourses concerning us, 	x arab. al kâriát, or the striking; which is another name or epithet of the last day. 	y see chapter , p. . 	z viz., sodom and gomorrah. see chapter , p. , note p. 	a these words seem to intimate the death of the angels at the demolition of their habitation; beside the ruins whereof they shall lie like dead bodies. 	b the number of those who bear it at present being generally supposed to be but four; to whom four more will be added at the last day, for the grandeur of the occasion. 	c i.e., wrap him round with it, so that he may not be able to stir. 	d or, i will not swear. see chapter , p. , note m. 						 idem. verily we had taken him by the right hand, and had cut in sunder the vein of his heart; neither would we have withheld any of you from chastising him. and verily this book is an admonition unto the pious; and we well know that there are some of you who charge the same with imposture: 	but it shall surely be an occasion of grievous sighing unto the infidels; for it is the truth of a certainty. wherefore praise the name of thy lord, the great god. ______ chapter lxx. entitled, the steps; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. one demanded and called for vengeance to fall on the unbelievers:e there shall be none to avert the same from being inflicted by god, the possessor of the steps:f by which the angels ascend unto him, and the spirit gabriel also, in a day whose space is fifty thousand years:g wherefore bear the insults of the meccans with becoming patience; for they see their punishment afar off, but we see it nigh at hand. on a certain day the heaven shall become like molten brass, and the mountains like wool of various colours, scattered abroad by the wind: 	and a friend shall not ask a friend concerning his condition, although they see one another. the wicked shall wish to redeem himself from the punishment of that day, by giving up his children, and his wife, and his brother, and his kindred who showed kindness unto him, and all who are in the earth; and that this might deliver him: by no means: for hell fire, dragging them by their scalps, shall call him who shall have turned his back, and fled from the faith, and shall have amassed riches, and covetously hoarded them. verily man is created extremely impatient:h 	when evil toucheth him, he is full of complaint; 	e the person here meant is generally supposed to have been al nodar ebn al hareth, who said, o god, if what mohammed preaches be the truth from thee, rain down upon us a shower of stones, or send some dreadful judgment to punish us. others, however, think it was abu jahl, who challenged mohammed to cause a fragment of heaven to fall on them. 	f by which prayers and righteous actions ascend to heaven; or by which the angels ascend to receive the divine commands, or the believers will ascend to paradise. some understand thereby the different orders of angels; or the heavens, which rise gradually one above another. 	g this is supposed to be the space which would be required for their ascent from the lowest part of creation to the throne of god, if it were to be measured; or the time which it would take a man up to perform that journey; and this is not contradictory to what is said elsewhere (if it be to be interpreted of the ascent of the angels), that the length of the day whereon they ascend is one thousand years; because that is meant only of their ascent from earth to the lower heaven, including also the time of their descent. 	but the commentators generally taking the day spoken of in both these passages to be the day of judgment, have recourse to several expedients to reconcile them, some of which we have mentioned in another place; and as both passages seem to contradict what the mohammedan doctors teach, that god will judge all creatures in the space of half a day, they suppose those large number of years are designed to express the time of the previous attendance of those who are to be judged; or else to the space wherein god will judge the unbelieving nations, of which they say there will be fifty, the trial of each nation taking up one thousand years, though that of the true believers will be over in the short space above mentioned. 	h see chapter , p. . 	 al zamakh., al beidâwi.		 al beidâwi.		 cap. , p. .		 prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. .		 see ibid. p. .		 see ibid. p. .		 al zamakh. but when good befalleth him, he becometh niggardly: except those who are devoutly given, and who persevere in their prayers; and those of whose substance a due and certain portion is ready to be given unto him who asketh, and him who is forbidden by shame to ask: and those who sincerely believe the day of judgment, and who dread the punishment of their lord: (for there is none secure from the punishment of their lord:) and who abstain from the carnal knowledge of women 	other than their wives, or the slaves which their right hands possess: (for as to them they shall be blameless; but whoever coveteth any woman besides these, they are transgressors:) and those who faithfully keep what they are intrusted with, and their covenant; and who are upright in their testimonies, and who carefully observe the requisite rites in their prayers: these shall dwell amidst gardens, highly honoured. what aileth the unbelievers, that they run before thee in companies, on the right hand and on the left? doth every man of them wish to enter into a garden of delight? by no means: verily we have created them of that which they know.i 	i sweark by the lord of the east and of the west,l that we are able to destroy them, and to substitute better than them in their room; neither are we to be prevented, if we shall please so to do. wherefore suffer them to wade in vain disputes, and to amuse themselves with sport: until they meet their day with which they have been threatened; the day whereon they shall come forth hastily from their graves, as though they were troops hastening to their standard: their looks shall be downcast; ignominy shall attend them. this is the day with which they have been threatened. ______ chapter lxxi. entitled, noah; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. verily we sent noah unto his people, saying, warn thy people, before a grievous punishment overtake them. noah said, o my people, verily i am a public warner unto you; wherefore serve god, and fear him, and obey me; he will forgive you part of your sins;m and will grant you respite until a determined time: for god's determined time, when it cometh, shall not be deferred; if ye were men of understanding, ye would know this. 	i viz., of filthy seed, which bears no relation or resemblance to holy beings; wherefore it is necessary for him who would hope to be an inhabitant of paradise, to perfect himself in faith and spiritual virtues, to fit himself for that place. 	k or, i will not swear, &c. see chapter , p. , note m. 	l the original words are in the plural number, and signify the different points of the horizon at which the sun rises and sets in the course of the year. see chapter , p. , note e. 	m i.e., your past sins; which are done away by the profession of the true faith. 					 al beidâwi. he said, lord, verily i have called my people night and day; but my calling only increaseth their aversion: and whensoever i call them to the true faith, that thou mayest forgive them, they put their fingers in their ears, and cover themselves with their garments, and persist in their infidelity, and proudly disdain my counsel. moreover i invited them openly, and i spake to them again in public; and i also secretly admonished them in private; and i said, beg pardon of your lord; for he is inclined to forgive: 	and he will cause the heaven to pour down rain plentifully upon you, and will give you increase of wealth and of children;n and he will provide you gardens, and furnish you with rivers. what aileth you, that ye hope not for benevolence in god;o since he hath created you variously?p do ye not see how god hath created the seven heavens, one above another; and hath placed the moon therein for a light, and hath appointed the sun for a taper? god hath also produced and caused you to spring forth from the earth: hereafter he will cause you to return into the same; and he will again take you thence, by bringing you forth from your graves. and god hath spread the earth as a carpet for you, that ye may walk therein through spacious paths. 	noah said, lord, verily they are disobedient unto me; and they follow him whose riches and children do no other than increase his perdition. and they devised a dangerous plot against noah: and the chief men said to the others, ye shall by no means leave your gods; neither shall ye forsake wadd, nor sowa, nor yaghuth, and yauk, and nesr.q and they seduced many; (for thou shalt only increase error in the wicked:) because of their sins they were drowned, and cast into the fire of hell; and they found none to protect them against god. and noah said, lord, leave not any families of the unbelievers on the earth: for if thou leave them, they will seduce thy servants, and will beget none but a wicked and unbelieving offspring.r lord, forgive me and my parents,s and every one who shall enter my house,t being a true believer, and the true believers of both sexes; and add unto the unjust doers nothing but destruction. 	n it is said that after noah had for a long time preached to them in vain, god shut up the heaven for forty years, and rendered their women barren. 	o i.e., that god will accept and amply reward those who serve him? for some suppose noah's people made him this answer, if what we now follow be the truth, we ought not to forsake it; but if it be false, how will god accept, or be favourable unto us, who have rebelled against him? 	p that is, as the commentators expound it, by various steps or changes, from the original matter, till ye became perfect men. 	q these were five idols worshipped by the antediluvians, and afterwards by the ancient arabs. see the prelim. disc. sect. i. p. . 	r they say noah preferred not this prayer for the destruction of his people till after he had tried them for nine hundred and fifty years, and found them incorrigible reprobates. 	s his father lamech, and his mother, whose name was shamkha, the daughter of enosh, being true believers. 	t the commentators are uncertain whether noah's dwelling-house be here meant, or the temple he had built for the worship of god, or the ark. 	 idem.		 idem.		 see cap. , p. , and cap. , p. , &c. chapter lxxii. entitled, the genii; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. say, it hath been revealed unto me that a company of genii attentively heard me reading the koran,u and said, verily we have heard an admirable discourse; which directeth unto the right institution; wherefore we believe therein, and we will by no means associate any other with our lord. he (may the majesty of our lord be exalted!) hath taken no wife, nor hath he begotten any issue. yet the foolish among usx hath spoken that which is extremely false of god; but we verily thought that neither man nor genius would by any means have uttered a lie concerning god. and there are certain men who fly for refuge unto certain of the genii;y but they increase their folly and transgression: and they also thought, as ye thought,z that god would not raise any one to life. and we formerly attempted to pry into what was transacting in heaven; but we found the same filled with a strong guard of angels, and with flaming darts: and we sat on some of the seats thereof to hear the discourse of its inhabitants; but whoever listeneth now, findeth a flame laid in ambush for him, to guard the celestial confines.a 	and we know not whether evil be hereby intended against those who are in the earth, or whether their lord intendeth to direct them aright. there are some among us who are upright; and there are some among us who are otherwise: we are of different ways. and we verily thought that we could by no means frustrate god in the earth, neither could we escape him by flight: wherefore, when we had heard the direction contained in the koran, we believed therein. and whoever believeth in his lord, need not fear any diminution of his reward, nor any injustice. there are some moslems among us; and there are others of us who swerve from righteousness.b and whoso embraceth islam, they earnestly seek true direction: but those who swerve from righteousness shall be fuel for hell. if they tread in the way of truth, we will surely water them with abundant rain:c that we may prove them thereby: but whoso turneth aside from the admonition of his lord, him will he send into a severe torment. verily the places of worship are set apart unto god: wherefore invoke not any other therein together with god. when the servant of godd stood up to invoke him, it wanted little but that the genii had pressed on him in crowds, to hear him rehearse the koran. 	u see chapter , p. , note q. 	x viz., eblis, or the rebellious genii. 	y for the arabs, when they found themselves in a desert in the evening (the genii being supposed to haunt such places about that time), used to say, i fly for refuge unto the lord of this valley, that he may defend me from the foolish among his people. 	z it is uncertain which of these pronouns is to be referred to mankind, and which to the genii, some expositors taking that of the third person to relate to the former, and that of the second person to the latter; and others being of the contrary opinion. 	a see chapter , p. . 	b see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. 	c i.e., we will grant them plenty of all good things. some think by these words rain is promised to the meccans, after their seven years' drought, on their embracing islâm. 	d viz., mohammed. 					 al beidâwi. 	say, verily i call upon my lord only, and i associate no other god with him. say, verily i am not able, of myself, to procure you either hurt, or a right institution. say, verily none can protect me against god; neither shall i find any refuge besides him. i can do no more than publish what hath been revealed unto me from god, and his messages. and whosoever shall be disobedient unto god, and his apostle, for him is the fire of hell prepared; they shall remain therein forever. until they see the vengeance with which they are threatened, they will not cease their opposition: but then shall they know who were the weaker in a protector, and the fewer in number. say, i know not whether the punishment with which ye are threatened be nigh, or whether my lord will appoint for it a distant term. he knoweth the secrets of futurity; and he doth not communicate his secrets unto any, except an apostle in whom he is well pleased: and he causeth a guard of angels to march before him, and behind him; that he may know that they have executed the commissions of their lord;e he comprehendeth whatever is with them; and counteth all things by number. ______ chapter lxxiii. entitled, the wrapped up; revealed at mecca.f in the name of the most merciful god. o thou wrapped up,g arise to prayer, and continue therein during the night, except a small part;h that is to say, during one half thereof: or do thou lessen the same a little or add thereto.i and repeat the koran with a distinct and sonorous voice: 	e that is to say, either that the prophet may know that gabriel and the other angels, who bring down the revelation, have communicated it to him pure and free from any diabolical suggestions; or that god may know that the prophet has published the same to mankind. 	f some will have the last verse, beginning at these words, verily thy lord knoweth, &c., to have been revealed at medina. 	g when this revelation was brought to mohammed, he was wrapped up in his garments, being affrighted at the appearance of gabriel; or, as some say, he lay sleeping unconcernedly, or, according to others, praying, wrapped up in one part of a large mantle or rug, with the other part of which ayesha had covered herself to sleep. 	this epithet of wrapped up, and another of the same import given to mohammed in the next chapter, have been imagined, by several learned men, pretty plainly to intimate his being subject to the falling sickness: a malady generally attributed to him by the christians, but mentioned by no mohammedan writer. though such an inference may be made, yet i think it scarce probable, much less necessary. 	h for a half is such, with respect to the whole. or, as the sentence may be rendered, pray half the night, within a small matter, &c. some expound these words as an exception to nights in general; according to whom the sense will be, spend one-half of every night in prayer, except some few nights in the year, &c. 	i i.e., set apart either less than half the night, as one-third, for example, or more, as two-thirds. or the meaning may be, either take a small matter from a lesser part of the night than one-half, e.g., from one-third, and so reduce it to a fourth; or add to such lesser part, and make it a full half. 	 idem.		 al zamakh., al beidâwi.		 hotting. hist. orient. l. i, c. . marracc. in alc. p. . vide gagnier, not. ad abulf. vit. moh. p. .		 see prideaux, life of mahomet, p. , and the authors there cited.		 see ockley's hist. of the saracens, vol. i. p. , &c			 al beidâwi.		 idem. for we will lay on thee a weighty word.k verily the rising by nightl is more efficacious for steadfast continuance in devotion, and more conducive to decent pronunciation:m for in the day-time thou hast long employment. and commemorate the name of thy lord; and separate thyself unto him, renouncing worldly vanities. he is the lord of the east, and of the west; there is no god but he. wherefore take him for thy patron: 	and patiently suffer the contumelies which the infidels utter against thee; and depart from them with a decent departure. and let me alone with those who charge the koran with falsehood, who enjoy the blessings of this life; and bear with them for a while: verily with us are heavy fetters, and a burning fire, and food ready to choke him who swalloweth it,n and painful torment. on a certain day the earth shall be shaken, and the mountains also, and the mountains shall become a heap of sand poured forth. verily we have sent unto you an apostle, to bear witness against you; as we sent an apostle unto pharaoh; but pharaoh was disobedient unto the apostle; wherefore we chastised him with a heavy chastisement. how, therefore, will ye escape, if ye believe not, the day which shall make children become gray-headed through terror? the heaven shall be rent in sunder thereby: the promise thereof shall surely be performed. verily this is an admonition; and whoever is willing to be admonished will take the way unto his lord. 	thy lord knoweth that thou continuest in prayer and meditation sometimes near two third parts of the night, and sometimes one half thereof, and at other times one third part thereof; and a part of thy companions, who are with thee, do the same. but god measureth the night and the day; he knoweth that ye cannot exactly compute the same: wherefore he turneth favourably unto you.o read, therefore, so much of the koran as may be easy unto you. he knoweth that there will be some infirm among you; and others travel through the earth, that they may obtain a competency of the bounty of god; and others fight in the defence of god's faith. read, therefore, so much of the same as may be easy. and observe the stated times of prayer, and pay the legal alms; and lend unto god an acceptable loan; for whatever good ye send before your souls, ye shall find the same with god. this will be better, and will merit a greater reward.p and ask god forgiveness; for god is ready to forgive, and merciful. 	k viz., the precepts contained in the korân; which are heavy and difficult to those who are obliged to observe them, and especially to the prophet, whose care it was to see that his people observed them also. 	l or, the person who riseth by night; or, the hours, or particularly the first hours of the night, &c. 	m for the nighttime is most proper for meditation and prayer, and also for reading god's word distinctly and with attention, by reason of the absence of every noise and object which may distract the mind. 	marracci, having mentioned this natural explication of the mohammedan commentators, because he finds one word in the verse which may be taken in a sense tending that way, says the whole may with greater exactness be expounded of the fitness of the night season for amorous diversions and discourse; and he paraphrases it in latin thus: certe in principio noctis majus robur et vim habet homo, ad foeminas premendas et subagitandas, et ad clarioribus verbis amores suos propalandos. a most effectual way, this, to turn a book into ridicule! 	n as thorns and thistles, the fruit of the infernal tree al zakkûm, and the corruption flowing from the bodies of the damned. 	o by making the matter easy to you, and dispensing with your scrupulous counting of the hours of the night which ye are directed to spend in reading and praying: for some of the moslems, not knowing how the time passed, used to watch the whole night, standing and walking about till their legs and feet swelled in a sad manner. the commentators add that this precept of dedicating a part of the night to devotion, is abrogated by the institution of the five hours of prayer. 	p i.e., the good which ye shall do in your lifetime will be much more meritorious in the sight of god, than what ye shall defer till death, and order by will. 	 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 marracc. in alc. p. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem. chapter lxxiv entitled, the covered; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. o thou covered,q arise and preach,r and magnify thy lord. and cleanse thy garments: and fly every abomination:s and be not liberal in hopes to receive more in return: and patiently wait for thy lord. when the trumpet shall sound, verily that day shall be a day of distress 	and uneasiness unto the unbelievers. let me alone with him whom i have created,t on whom i have bestowed abundant riches, and children dwelling in his presence,u and for whom i have disposed affairs in a smooth and easy manner,x and who desireth that i will yet add other blessings unto him. by no means: because he is an adversary to our signs.y i will afflict him with grievous calamities:z for he hath devised and prepared contumelious expressions to ridicule the koran. may he be cursed: how maliciously hath he prepared the same! 	and again, may he be cursed: how maliciously hath he prepared the same! then he looked, and frowned, and put on an austere countenance: 	q it is related, from mohammed's own mouth, that being on mount harâ, and hearing himself called, he looked on each hand, and saw nobody; but looking upwards, he saw the angel gabriel on a throne, between heaven and earth; at which sight being much terrified, he returned to his wife khadîjah, and bade her cover him up; and that then the angel descended, and addressed him in the words of the text. from hence some think this chapter to have been the first which was revealed: but the more received opinion is, that it was the th. others say that the prophet, having been reviled by certain of the koreish, was sitting in a melancholy and pensive posture, wrapped up in his mantle, when gabriel accosted him: and some say he was sleeping. see the second note to the preceding chapter. 	r it is generally supposed that mohammed is here commanded more especially to warn his near relations, the koreish; as he is expressly ordered to do in a subsequent revelation. 	s by the word abomination the commentators generally agree idolatry to be principally intended. 	t the person here meant is generally supposed to have been al walid ebn al mogheira, a principal man among the koreish. 	u being well provided for, and not obliged to go abroad to seek their livings, as most others of the meccans were. 	x by facilitating his advancement to power and dignity; which were so considerable that he was surnamed rihâna koreish, or the sweet odour of the koreish, and al wahîd, i.e., the only one, or the incomparable. 	y on the revelation of this passage it is said that walid's prosperity began to decay, and continued daily so to do to the time of his death. 	z or, as the words may be strictly rendered, i will drive him up the crag of a mountain; which some understand of a mountain of fire, agreeably to a tradition of their prophet, importing that al walid will be condemned to ascend this mountain, and then to be cast down from thence, alternately for ever; and that he will be seventy years in climbing up, and as many in falling down. 	 see cap. , p. , and the prelim. disc. sect. ii. p. . 	 al zamakh., al beidâwi, jallal.		 al beidâwi. idem.		 idem.		 idem. then he turned back, and was elated with pride; and he said, this is no other than a piece of magic, borrowed from others: these are only the words of a man. i will cast him to be burned in hell. and what shall make thee to understand what hell is? it leaveth not anything unconsumed, neither doth it suffer anything to escape: it scorcheth men's flesh: 	over the same are nineteen angels appointed. we have appointed none but angels to preside over hell fire:a and we have expressed the number of them only for an occasion of discord to the unbelievers;b that they to whom the scriptures have been given may be certain of the veracity of this book,c and the true believers may increase in faith; and that those to whom the scriptures have been given, and the true believers, may not doubt hereafter; and that those in whose hearts there is an infirmity, and the unbelievers, may say, what mystery doth god intend by this number? thus doth god cause to err whom he pleaseth; and he directeth whom he pleaseth. none knoweth the armies of thy lord,d besides him; and thise is no other than a memento unto mankind. assuredly. by the moon, and the night when it retreateth, and the morning when it reddeneth, i swear that this is one of the most terrible calamities, giving warning unto men, 	as well as unto him among you who desireth to go forward, as unto him who chooseth to remain behind. every soul is given in pledge for that which it shall have wrought:f except the companions of the right hand;g who shall dwell in gardens, and shall ask one another questions concerning the wicked, and shall also ask the wicked themselves, saying, what hath brought you into hell? they shall answer, we were not of those who were constant at prayer, neither did we feed the poor; and we waded in vain disputes with the fallacious reasoners; and we denied the day of judgment, until deathh overtook us: and the intercession of the interceders shall not avail them. 	what aileth them, therefore, that they turn aside from the admonition of the koran, as though they were timorous asses flying from a lion? but every man among them desireth that he may have expanded scrolls delivered to him from god.i by no means. they fear not the life to come. by no means: verily this is a sufficient warning. whoso is willing to be warned, him shall it warn: but they shall not be warned, unless god shall please. he is worthy to be feared; and he is inclined to forgiveness. 	a the reason of which is said to be, that they might be of a different nature and species from those who are to be tormented, lest they should have a fellow-feeling of, and compassionate their sufferings; or else, because of their great strength and severity of temper. 	b or, for a trial of them: because they might say this was a particular borrowed by mohammed of the jews. 	c and especially the jews; this being conformable to what is contained in their books. 	d i.e., all his creatures; or particularly the number and strength of the guards of hell. 	e the antecedent seems to be hell. 	f see chapter , p. . 	g i.e., the blessed; who shall redeem themselves by their good works. some say these are the angels, and others, such as die infants. 	h literally, that which is certain. 	i for the infidels to mohammed that they would never obey him as a prophet till he brought each man a writing from heaven, to this effect, viz., from god to such a one: follow mohammed. 	 idem		 jallal.		 see cap. , p. , note t. 	 al beidâwi.		 idem. chapter lxxv. entitled, the resurrection; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. verily i sweark by the day of resurrection; and i swear by the soul which accuseth itself:l doth man think that we will not gather his bones together? yea: we are able to put together the smallest bones of his fingers. but man chooseth to be wicked, for the time which is before him. he asketh, when will the day of resurrection be? but when the sight shall be dazzled, and the moon shall be eclipsed, and the sun and the moon shall be in conjunction;m 	on that day man shall say, where is a place of refuge? by no means: there shall be no place to fly unto. with thy lord shall be the sure mansion of rest on that day: on that day shall a man be told that which he hath done first and last.n yea; a man shall be an evidence against himself: and though he offer his excuses, they shall not be received. move not thy tongue, o mohammed, in repeating the revelations brought thee by gabriel, before he shall have finished the same, that thou mayest quickly commit them to memory: for the collecting the koran in thy mind, and the teaching thee the true reading thereof, are incumbent on us. but when we shall have read the same unto thee by the tongue of the angel, do thou follow the reading thereof: and afterwards it shall be our part to explain it unto thee. 	by no means shalt thou be thus hasty for the future. but ye love that which hasteneth away,o and neglect the life to come. some countenances on that day shall be bright, looking towards their lord: and some countenances, on that day, shall be dismal: they shall think that a crushing calamity shall be brought upon them. assuredly. when a man's soul shall come up to his throat, in his last agony, and the standers-by shall say, who bringeth a charm to recover him? and shall think it to be his departure out of this world; 	k or, i will not swear. see chapter , p. , note m. 	l being conscious of having offended, and of failing of perfection, notwithstanding its endeavours to do its duty; or, the pious soul which shall blame others, at the last day, for having been remiss in their devotions, &c. some understand the words of the soul of adam, in particular; who is continually blaming himself for having lost paradise by his disobedience. 	m rising both in the west: which conjunction is no contradiction to what is mentioned just before, of the moon's being eclipsed; because those words are not to be understood of a regular eclipse, but metaphorically, of the moon's losing her light at the last day in a preternatural manner. some think the meaning rather to be, that the sun and the moon shall be joined in the loss of their light. 	n or, the good which he hath done, and that which he hath left undone, &c. 	o i.e., the fleeting pleasures of this life. the words intimate the natural hastiness and impatience of man, who takes up with a present enjoyment, though short and bitter in its consequences, rather than wait for real happiness in futurity. 	 idem.		 see the prelim. disc. p. .		 al beidâwi.		 see cap. , p. . and one leg shall be joined with the other leg:p 	on that day unto thy lord shall he be driven. for he believed not,q neither did he pray; but he accused god's apostle of imposture, and turned back from obeying him: then he departed unto his family, walking with a haughty mien. wherefore, woe be unto thee; woe! and again, woe be unto thee; woe! doth man think that he shall be left at full liberty, without control? was he not a drop of seed, which was emitted? afterwards he became a little coagulated blood, and god formed him, and fashioned him with just proportion; and made of him two sexes, the male and the female. 	is not he who hath done this able to quicken the dead? ________ chapter lxxvi. entitled, man; revealed at mecca.r in the name of the most merciful god. did there not pass over man a long space of time; during which he was a thing not worthy of remembrance?s verily we have created man of the mingled seed of both sexes, that we might prove him: and we have made him to hear and to see.t we have surely directed him in the way; whether he be grateful, or ungrateful. verily we have prepared for the unbelievers chains, and collars, and burning fire. but the just shall drink of a cup of wine, mixed with the water of cafur,u a fountain whereof the servants of god shall drink; they shall convey the same by channels whithersoever they please. these fulfil their vow, and dread the day, the evil whereof will disperse itself far abroad; and give food unto the poor, and the orphan, and the bondman, for his sake, saying, we feed you for god's sake only: we desire no recompense from you, nor any thanks: 	p i.e., and when he shall stretch forth his legs together, as is usual with dying persons. the words may also be translated, and when one affliction shall be joined with another affliction. 	q or, he did not give alms; or, he was not a man of veracity. some suppose abu jahl, and others one adi ebn rabîa, to be particularly inveighed against in this chapter. 	r it is somewhat doubtful whether this chapter was revealed at mecca or medina. 	s some take these words to be spoken of adam, whose body, according to mohammedan tradition, was at first a figure of clay, and was left forty years to dry before god breathed life into it; others understand them of man in general and of the time he lies in the womb. 	t that he might be capable of receiving the rules and directions given by god for his guidance; and of meriting reward or punishment for his observance or neglect of them. 	u is the name of a fountain in paradise, so called from its resembling camphire (which the word signifies) in odour and whiteness. some take the word for an appellative, and think the wine of paradise will be mixed with camphire, because of its agreeable coolness and smell. 	 see the notes to cap. , p. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem. 	verily we dread, from our lord, a dismal and calamitous day.x wherefore god shall deliver them from the evil of that day, and shall cast on them brightness of countenance, and joy; and shall reward them, for their patient persevering, with a garden and silk garments: therein shall they repose themselves on couches; they shall see therein neither sun nor moon;y and the shades thereof shall be near spreading above them, and the fruits thereof shall hang low, so as to be easily gathered. and their attendants shall go round about unto them, with vessels of silver, and goblets: the bottles shall be bottles of silver shining like glass; they shall determine the measure thereof by their wish. and therein shall they be given to drink of a cup of wine, mixed with the water of zenjebil,z a fountain in paradise named salsabil:a and youths, which shall continue forever in their bloom, shall go round to attend them; when thou seest them, thou shalt think them to be scattered pearls: 	and when thou lookest, there shalt thou behold delights, and a great kingdom. upon them shall be garments of fine green silk, and of brocades, and they shall be adorned with bracelets of silver: and their lord shall give them to drink of a most pure liquor; and shall say unto them, verily this is your reward: and your endeavor is gratefully accepted. verily we have sent down unto thee the koran, by a gradual revelation. wherefore patiently wait the judgment of thy lord; and obey not any wicked person or unbeliever among them. and commemorate the name of thy lord, in the morning, and in the evening: and during some part of the night worship him, and praise him a long part of the night. verily these men love the transitory life, and leave behind them the heavy day of judgment. we have created them, and have strengthened their joints; and when we please, we will substitute others like unto them, in their stead. verily this is an admonition: and whoso willeth, taketh the way unto his lord: 	but ye shall not will, unless god willeth; for god is knowing and wise. he leadeth whom he pleaseth into his mercy; but for the unjust hath he prepared a grievous punishment. 	x it is related that hasan and hosein, mohammed's grandchildren, on a certain time being both sick, the prophet, among others, visited them, and they wished ali to make some vow to god for the recovery of his sons: whereupon ali, and fâtema, and fidda, their maid-servant, vowed a fast of three days in case they did well; as it happened they did. this vow was performed with so great strictness, that the first day, having no provisions in the house, ali was obliged to borrow three measures of barley of one simeon, a jew, of khaibar, one measure of which fâtema ground the same day, and baked five cakes of the meal, and they were set before them to break their fast with after sunset: but a poor man coming to them, they gave all their bread to him, and passed the night without tasting anything except water. the next day fâtema made another measure into bread, for the same purpose; but an orphan begging some food, they chose to let him have it, and passed that night as the first; and the third day they likewise gave their whole provision to a famished captive. upon this occasion gabriel descended with the chapter, before us, and told mohammed that god congratulated him on the virtues of his family. 	y because they shall not need the light of either. the word zamharîr, here translated moon, properly signifies extreme cold: for which reason some understand the meaning of the passage to be, that in paradise there shall be felt no excess either of heat or of cold. 	z the word signifies ginger, which the arabs delight to mix with the water they drink; and therefore the water of this fountain is supposed to have the taste of that spice. 	a signifies water which flows gently and pleasantly down the throat. 		 idem.		 see revel. xxi. .		 al beidâwi, jallal. chapter lxxvii. entitled, those which are sent; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. by the angels which are sent by god, following one another in a continual series; and those which move swiftly, with a rapid motion; and by those which disperse his commands, by divulging them through the earth; and by those which separate truth from falsehood, by distinguishing the same; and by those which communicate the divine admonitions, to excuse, or to threaten:b verily that which ye are promisedc is inevitable. when the stars, therefore, shall be put out, and when the heaven shall be cloven in sunder, 	and when the mountains shall be winnowed, and when the apostles shall have a time assigned to them to appear and bear testimony against their respective people; to what a day shall that appointment be deferred! to the day of separation: and what shall cause thee to understand what the day of separation is? on that day, woe be unto them who accused the prophets of imposture! have we not destroyed the obstinate unbelievers of old? we will also cause those of the latter times to follow them. thus do we deal with the wicked. woe be, on that day, unto them who accused the prophets of imposture! 	have we not created you of a contemptible drop of seed, which we placed in a sure repository, until the fixed term of delivery? and we were able to do this: for we are most powerful. on that day, woe be unto those who accused the prophets of imposture: have we not made the earth to contain the living and the dead, and placed therein stable and lofty mountains, and given you fresh water to drink? woe be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! it shall be said unto them, go ye to the punishment which ye denied as a falsehood: 	go ye into the shadow of the smoke of hell, which shall ascend in three columns, and shall not shade you from the heat, neither shall it be of service against the flame; but it shall cast forth sparks as big as towers, resembling yellow camels in colour.d woe be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! this shall be a day whereon they shall not speak to any purpose; neither shall they be permitted to excuse themselves. woe be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! this shall be the day of separation: we will assemble both you and your predecessors. wherefore, if ye have any cunning stratagem, employ stratagems against me. 	woe be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! 	b some understand the whole passage of the verses of the korân; which continued to be sent down, parcel after parcel, during the space of several years, and which rescind (for so the verb ásafa may also be translated) and abolish all former dispensations, divulging and making known the ways of salvation, distinguishing truth from falsehood, and communicating admonition, &c. some interpret the first three verses of the winds, sent in a continual succession, blowing with a violent gust, and dispersing rain over the earth; and others give different explications. 	c viz., the day of judgment. 	d being of fiery colour. others, however, suppose these sparks will be of a dusky hue, like that of black camels, which always inclines a little to the yellow; the word translated yellow, signifying sometimes black. some copies, by the variation of a vowel, have cables, instead of camels. but the pious shall dwell amidst shades and fountains, and fruits of the kinds which they shall desire: and it shall be said unto them, eat and drink with easy digestion, in recompense for that which ye have wrought; for thus do we reward the righteous doers. woe be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! eat, o unbelievers, and enjoy the pleasures of this life, for a little while: verily ye are wicked men. woe be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! and when it is said unto them, bow down; they do not bow down. woe be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! 	in what new revelation will they believe, after this. ________ chapter lxxviii. entitled, the news; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. concerning what do the unbelievers ask questions of one another? concerning the great news of the resurrection, about which they disagree. assuredly they shall hereafter know the truth thereof. again, assuredly they shall hereafter know the truth thereof. have we not made the earth for a bed, and the mountains for stakes to fix the same?e and have we not created you of two sexes; and appointed your sleep for rest; 	and made the night a garment to cover you; and destined the day to the gaining your livelihood; and built over you seven solid heavens; and placed therein a burning lamp? and do we not send down from the clouds pressing forth rain, water pouring down in abundance, that we may thereby produce corn, and herbs, and gardens planted thick with trees? verily the day of separation is a fixed period: the day whereon the trumpet shall sound, and ye shall come in troops to judgment; and the heaven shall be opened, and shall be full of gates for the angels to pass through; 	and the mountains shall pass away, and become as a vapor; verily hell shall be a place of ambush, a receptacle for the transgressors, who shall remain therein for ages: they shall not taste any refreshment therein, or any drink, except boiling water, and filthy corruption: a fit recompense for their deeds! for they hope that they should not be brought to an account, and they disbelieved our signs, accusing them of falsehood. but everything have we computed, and written down. 	taste, therefore: we will not add unto you any other than torment.f but for the pious is prepared a place of bliss: gardens planted with trees, and vineyards, 	e see chapter , p. , and chapter , p. . 	f this, say the commentators, is the most severe and terrible sentence in the whole korân, pronounced against the inhabitants of hell; they being hereby assured that every change in their torments will be for the worse. and damsels with swelling breasts, of equal age with themselves, and a full cup. they shall hear no vain discourse there, nor any falsehood. this shall be their recompense from thy lord; a gift fully sufficient: from the lord of heaven and earth, and of whatever is between them; the merciful. the inhabitants of heaven or of earth shall not dare to demand audience of him: the day whereon the spirit gabriel and the other angels shall stand in order, they shall not speak in behalf of themselves or others, except he only to whom the merciful shall grant permission, and who shall say that which is right. this is the infallible day. whoso, therefore, willeth, let him return unto his lord. 	verily we threaten you with a punishment nigh at hand: the day whereon a man shall behold the good or evil deeds which his hands have sent before him; and the unbeliever shall say, would to god i were dust! ________ chapter lxxix. entitled, those who tear forth; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. by the angels who tear forth the souls of some with violence; and by those who draw forth the souls of others with gentleness;g by those who glide swimmingly through the air with the commands of god; and those who precede and usher the righteous to paradise; and those who subordinately govern the affairs of this world: on a certain day, the disturbing blast of the trumpet shall disturb the universe; and the subsequent blast shall follow it. on that day men's hearts shall tremble: their looks shall be cast down. 	the infidels say, shall we surely be made to return whence we came?h after we shall have become rotten bones, shall we be again raised to life? they say, this then will be a return to loss. verily it will be but one sounding of the trumpet,i and, behold, they shall appear alive on the face of the earth.k hath not the story of moses reached thee? when his lord called unto him in the holy valley towa,l saying, go unto pharaoh; for he is insolently wicked: and say, hast thou a desire to become just and holy; and i will direct thee unto thy lord, that thou mayest fear to transgress. 	and he showed him the very great sign of the rod turned into a serpent: but he charged moses with imposture, and rebelled against god. then he turned back hastily; and he assembled the magicians, and cried aloud, 	g these are the angel of death and his assistants, who will take the souls of the wicked in a rough and cruel manner from the inmost part of their bodies, as a man drags up a thing from the bottom of the sea; but will take the souls of the good in a gentle and easy manner from their lips, as when a man draws a bucket of water at one pull. 	there are several other interpretations of this whole passage; some expounding all the five parts of the oath of the stars, others of the souls of men, others of the souls of warriors in particular, and others of war-horses: a detail of which, i apprehend, would rather tire than please. 	h i.e., shall we be restored to our former condition? 	i viz., the second or third blast, according to different opinions. 	k or, they shall appear at the place of judgment. the original word al sâhira is also one of the names of hell. 	l see chapter , p. . 					 al beidâwi. saying, i am your supreme lord. wherefore god chastised him with the punishment of the life to come, and also of this present life. verily herein is an example unto him who feareth to rebel. are ye more difficult to create, or the heaven which god hath built? he hath raised the height thereof, and hath perfectly formed the same: and he hath made the night thereof dark, and hath produced the light thereof. 	after this, he stretched out the earth,m whence he caused to spring forth the water thereof, and the pasture thereof; and he established the mountains, for the use of yourselves, and of your cattle. when the prevailing, the great day shall come, on that day shall a man call to remembrance what he hath purposely done: and hell shall be exposed to the view of the spectator. and whoso shall have transgressed, and shall have chosen this present life; verily hell shall be his abode; 	but whoso shall have dreaded the appearing before his lord, and shall have refrained his soul from lust, verily paradise shall be his abode. they will ask thee concerning the last hour, when will be the fixed time thereof? by what means canst thou give any information of the same? unto thy lord belongeth the knowledge of the period thereof: and thou art only a warner, who fearest the same. the day whereon they shall see the same, it shall seem to them as though they had not tarried in the world longer than an evening, or a morning thereof. ______ chapter lxxx. entitled, he frowned; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. the prophet frowned, and turned aside, because the blind man came unto him:n and how dost thou know whether he shall peradventure be cleansed from his sins, or whether he shall be admonished, and the admonition shall profit him? the man who is wealthy, thou receivest respectfully; whereas it is not to be charged on thee, that he is not cleansed: but him who cometh unto thee earnestly, seeking his salvation, and who feareth god, 	dost thou neglect. by no means shouldst thou act thus. verily the koran is an admonition (and he who is willing retaineth the same;) written in volumes honourable, exalted, and pure; by the hands of scribes honoured, and just.o 	m which had been created before the heavens, but without expansion. 	n this passage was revealed on the following occasion. a certain blind man, named abdallah ebn omm mactûm, came and interrupted mohammed while he was engaged in earnest discourse with some of the principal koreish, whose conversion he had hopes of; but the prophet taking no notice of him, the blind man, not knowing he was otherwise busied, raised his voice, and said, o apostle of god, teach me some part of what god hath taught thee; but mohammed, vexed at this interruption, frowned and turned away from him; for which he is here reprehended. after this, whenever the prophet saw ebn omm mactûm, he showed him great respect, saying, the man is welcome, on whose account my lord hath reprimanded me; and he made him twice governor of medina. 	o being transcribed from the preserved table, highly honoured in the sight of god, kept pure and uncorrupted from the hands of evil spirits, and touched only by the angels. some understand hereby the books of the prophets, with which the korân agrees in substance. 		 jallalo'ddin.		 idem al beidâwi. may man be cursed! what hath seduced him to infidelity? of what thing doth god create him? of a drop of seed doth he create him; and he formeth him with proportion; 	and then facilitateth his passage out of the womb: afterwards he causeth him to die, and layeth him in the grave; hereafter, when it shall please him, he shall raise him to life. assuredly, he hath not hitherto fully performed what god hath commanded him. let man consider his food; in what manner it is provided. we pour down water by showers; afterwards we cleave the earth in clefts, and we cause corn to spring forth therein, and grapes, and clover, and the olive, and the palm, 	and gardens planted thick with trees, and fruits, and grass, for the use of yourselves and of your cattle. when the stunning sound of the trumpet shall be heard; on that day shall a man fly from his brother, and his mother, and his father, and his wife, and his children. every man of them, on that day, shall have business of his own sufficient to employ his thoughts. on that day the faces of some shall be bright, laughing, and joyful: 	and upon the faces of others, on that day, shall there be dust; darkness shall cover them. these are the unbelievers, the wicked. ______ chapter lxxxi. entitled, the folding up; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. when the sun shall be folded up;p and when the stars shall fall; and when the mountains shall be made to pass away; and when the camels ten months gone with young shall be neglected;q and when the wild beasts shall be gathered together;r and when the seas shall boil;s and when the souls shall be joined again to their bodies; and when the girl who hath been buried alive shall be asked for what crime she was put to death;t 	and when the books shall be laid open; and when the heaven shall be removed;u and when hell shall burn fiercely; and when paradise shall be brought near; every soul shall know what it hath wrought. 	p as a garment that is laid by. 	q see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . 	r see ibid. p. and . 	s see ibid. p. . 	t for it was customary among the ancient arabs to bury their daughters alive as soon as they were born; for fear they should be impoverished by providing for them, or should suffer disgrace on their account. see chapter , p. . 	u or plucked away from its place, as the skin is plucked off from a camel which is flaying; for that is the proper signification of the verb here used. marracci fancies the passage alludes to that in the psalms, where, according to the versions of the septuagint and the vulgate, god is said to have stretched out the heaven like a skin. 			 al zamakh.		 psalm civ. . verily i swearx by the stars which are retrograde, which move swiftly, and which hide themselves;y and by the night, when it cometh on; and by the morning, when it appeareth; these these are the words of an honourable messenger,z 	endued with strength, of established dignity in the sight of the possessor of the throne, obeyed by the angels under his authority, and faithful: and your companion mohammed is not distracted. he had already seen him in the clear horizon:a and he suspected notb the secrets revealed unto him. neither are these the words of an accursed devil.c whither, therefore, are you going? this is no other than an admonition unto all creatures; unto him among you who shall be willing to walk uprightly: but ye shall not will, unless god willeth, the lord of all creatures. ________ chapter lxxxii. entitled, the cleaving in sunder; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. when the heaven shall be cloven in sunder; and when the stars shall be scattered; and when the seas shall be suffered to join their waters; and when the graves shall be turned upside down: every soul shall know what it hath committed, and what it hath omitted. o man, what hath seduced thee against thy gracious lord, who hath created thee, and put thee together, and rightly disposed thee? in what form he pleased hath he fashioned thee. assuredly. but ye deny the last judgment as a falsehood. 	verily there are appointed over you guardian angels,d honourable in the sight of god, writing down your actions; who know that which ye do. the just shall surely be in a place of delight: but the wicked shall surely be in hell; they shall be cast therein to be turned, on the day of judgment, and they shall not be absent therefrom forever. what shall cause thee to understand what the day of judgment is? again, what shall cause thee to understand what the day of judgment is? it is a day whereon one soul shall not be able to obtain anything in behalf of another soul: and the command, on that day, shall be god's. 	x or, i will not swear, &c. see chapter , p. , note m. 	y some understand hereby the stars in general, but the more exact commentators, five of the planets, viz., the two which accompany the sun, and the three superior planets; which have both a retrograde and a direct motion, and hide themselves in the rays of the sun, or when they set. 	z i.e., gabriel. 	a see chapter , p. . 	b some copies, by a change of one letter only, instead of dhanînin, read danînin; and then the words should be rendered, he is not tenacious of, or grudges not to communicate to you, the secret revelations which he has received. 	c who has overheard, by stealth, the discourse of the angels. the verse is an answer to a calumny of the infidels, who said the korân was only a piece of divination, or magic; for the arabs suppose the soothsayer, or magician, receives his intelligence from those evil spirits, who are continually listening to learn what they can from the inhabitants of heaven. 	d see chapter , p. , and the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . chapter lxxxiii. entitled, those who give short measure or weight; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. woe be unto those who give short measure or weight: who, when they receive by measure from other men, take the full; but when they measure unto them, or weigh unto them, defraud! do not these think they shall be raised again, at the great day, the day whereon mankind shall stand before the lord of all creatures? by no means. verily the register of the actions of the wicked is surely in sejjîn.e and what shall make thee to understand what sejjîn is? it is a book distinctly written. 	woe be on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture; who denied the day of judgment as a falsehood! and none denieth the same as a falsehood, except every unjust and flagitious person: who, when our signs are rehearsed unto him, saith, they are fables of the ancients. by no means: but rather their lusts have cast a veil over their hearts. by no means. verily they shall be shut out from their lord on that day; and they shall be sent into hell to be burned: then shall it be said unto them by the infernal guards, this is what ye denied as a falsehood. assuredly. but the register of the actions of the righteous is illiyyûn:f and what shall cause thee to understand what illiyyun is? 	it is a book distinctly written: those who approach near unto god are witnesses thereto.g verily the righteous shall dwell among delights: seated on couches they shall behold objects of pleasure; thou shalt see in their faces the brightness of joy. they shall be given to drink of pure wine, sealed; the seal whereof shall be musk:h and to this let those aspire, who aspire to happiness: and the water mixed therewith shall be of tasnîm,i a fountain whereof those shall drink who approach near unto the divine presence.k 	e is the name of the general register, wherein the actions of all the wicked, both men and genii, are distinctly entered. sejn signifies a prison; and this book, as some think, derives its name from thence, because it will occasion those whose deeds are there recorded to be imprisoned in hell. sejjin, or sajin, is also the name of the dungeon beneath the seventh earth, the residence of eblis and his host, where, it is supposed by some, that this book is kept, and where the souls of the wicked will be detained till the resurrection. if the latter explication be admitted, the words, and what shall make thee to understand what sejjin is? should be enclosed within a parenthesis. 	f the word is a plural, and signifies high places. some say it is the general register wherein the actions of the righteous, whether angels, men, or genii, are distinctly recorded. others will have it to be a place in the seventh heaven, under the throne of god, where this book is kept, and where the souls of the just, as many think, will remain till the last day. if we prefer the latter opinion, the words, and what shall make thee to understand what illiyyûn is? should likewise be enclosed in a parenthesis. 	g or, are present with, and keep the same. 	h i.e., the vessels containing the same shall be sealed with musk, instead of clay. some understand by the seal of this wine its farewell, or the flavour it will leave in the mouth after it is drank. 	i is the name of a fountain in paradise, so called from its being conveyed to the highest apartments. 	k for they shall drink the water of tasnîm pure and unmixed, being continually and wholly employed in the contemplation of god; but the other inhabitants of paradise shall drink it mixed with their wine. 	 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi. see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. . 	 jallalo'ddin. see the prelim. disc. ubi sup. al beidâwi. they who act wickedly laugh the true believers to scorn: 	and when they pass by them, they wink at one another: and when they turn aside to their people, they turn aside making scurrilous jests; and when they see them, they say, verily these are mistaken men. but they are not sent to be keepers over them.l wherefore one day the true believers, in their turn, shall laugh the infidels to scorn:m lying on couches they shall look down upon them in hell. shall not the infidels be rewarded for that which they have done? ________ chapter lxxxiv. entitled, the rending in sunder; revealed at mecca.n in the name of the most merciful god. when the heaven shall be rent in sunder, and shall obey its lord, and shall be capable thereof; and when the earth shall be stretched out,o and shall cast forth that which is therein,p and shall remain empty, and shall obey its lord, and shall be capable thereof: o man, verily laboring thou laborest to meet thy lord, and thou shalt meet him.q and he who shall have his book given into his right hand shall be called to an easy account, and shall turn unto his familyr with joy: 	but he who shall have his book given him behind his back,s shall invoke destruction to fall upon him, and he shall be sent into hell to be burned; because he rejoiced insolently amidst his family on earth. verily he thought he should never return unto god: yea verily, but his lord beheld him. wherefore i sweart by the redness of the sky after sunset, and by the night, and the animals which it driveth together, and by the moon when she is in the full; ye shall surely be transferred successively from state to state.u 	what aileth them, therefore, that they believe not the resurrection; and that, when the koran is read unto them, they worship not?x yea: the unbelievers accuse the same of imposture: but god well knoweth the malice which they keep hidden in their breasts. wherefore denounce unto them a grievous punishment, except those who believe and do good works: for them is prepared a never- failing reward. 	l i.e., the infidels are not commissioned by god to call the believers to account, or to judge of their actions. 	m when they shall see them ignominiously driven into hell. it is also said, that a door shall be shown the damned, opening into paradise, and they shall be bidden to go in; but when they come near the door it shall be suddenly shut, and the believers within shall laugh at them. 	n there are some who take this chapter to have been revealed at medina. 	o like a skin; every mountain and hill being levelled. 	p as the treasures hidden in its bowels, and the dead bodies which lie in their graves. 	q or, and thou shalt meet thy labour; whether thy works be good, or whether they be evil 	r i.e., his relations or friends who are true believers; or rather, to his wives and servants, of the damsels and youths of paradise, who wait to receive him. 	s that is, into his left hand; for the wicked will have that hand bound behind their back, and their right hand to their neck. 	t or, i will not swear. see chapter , p. , note m. 	u i.e., from the state of the living, to that of the dead; and from the state of the dead, to a new state of life in another world. 	x or, humble not themselves. 					 idem.		 idem. chapter lxxxv. entitled, the celestial signs; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. by the heaven adorned with signs;y by the promised day of judgment; by the witness, and the witnessed;z cursed were the contrivers of the pit,a of fire supplied with fuel; when they sat around the same, and were witnesses of what they did against the true believers:b and they afflicted them for no other reason, but because they believed in the mighty, the glorious god, unto whom belongeth the kingdom of heaven and earth: and god is witness of all things. 	verily for those who persecute the true believers of either sex, and afterwards repent not, is prepared the torment of hell; and they shall suffer the pain of burning.c but for those who believe, and do that which is right, are destined gardens beneath which rivers flow: this shall be great felicity. verily the vengeance of thy lord is severe. he createth, and he restoreth to life: he is inclined to forgive, and gracious; the possessor of the glorious throne, who effecteth that which he pleaseth. hath not the story of the hosts of pharaohd and of thamude reached thee? yet the unbelievers cease not to accuse the divine revelations of falsehood: 	y the original word properly signifies towers, which some interpret of real towers, wherein it is supposed the angels keep guard; and others, of the stars of the first magnitude: but the generality of expositors understand thereby the twelve signs of the zodiac, wherein the planets make their several stations. 	z the meaning of these words is very uncertain, and the explications of the commentators consequently vary. one thinks the witness to be mohammed, and that which is borne witness of, to be the resurrection, or the professors of the mohammedan faith; or else that these latter are the witness, and the professors of every other religion, those who will be witnessed against by them. another supposes the witness to be the guardian angel, and his charge the person witnessed against. another expounds the words of the day of arafat, the th of dhu'lhajja, and of the day of slaying the victims, which is the day following, or else of friday, the day of the weekly assembling of the mohammedans at their mosques, and of the people who are assembled on those days, &c. 	a literally, the lords of the pit. these were the ministers of the persecution raised by dhu nowâs, king of yaman, who was of the jewish religion, against the inhabitants of najrân; for they having embraced christianity (at that time the true religion, by the confession of mohammed himself), the bigoted tyrant commanded all those who would not renounce their faith to be cast into a pit, or trench, filled with fire, and there burnt to ashes. others, however, tell the story with different circumstances. 	b or, as some choose to understand the words, and shall be witnesses against themselves, at the day of judgment, of their unjust treatment of the true believers. 	c which pain, it is said, the persecutors of the christian martyrs above mentioned felt in this life; the fire bursting forth upon them from the pit, and consuming them. 	d see chapter , p. , &c. 	e see ibid. p. , &c. 	 yahya.		 see cap. , p. .		 jallal., al beidâwi, yahya.		 idem.		 idem. vide poc. spec. p. ; ecchellens. hist. arab. part i. c. ; and prid. life of mah. p. . 	 vide d'herbel. bibl. orient. art. abou navas. al beidâwi, yahya. 	but god encompasseth them behind, that they cannot escape. verily that which they reject is a glorious koran; the original whereof is written in a table kept in heaven.f ________ chapter lxxxvi. entitled, the star which appeared by night; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. by the heaven, and that which appeareth by night: but what shall cause thee to understand what that which appeareth by night is? it is the star of piercing brightness:g every soul hath a guardian set over it. let a man consider, therefore, of what he is created. he is created of seed poured forth, issuing from the loins, and the breastbones.h verily god is able to restore him to life, the day whereon all secret thoughts and actions shall be examined into; 	and he shall have no power to defend himself, nor any protector. by the heaven which returneth the rain;i and by the earth which openeth to let forth vegetables and springs: verily this is a discourse distinguishing good from evil: and it is not composed with lightness. verily the infidels are laying a plot to frustrate my designs: but i will lay a plot for their ruin. wherefore, o prophet, bear with the unbelievers: let them alone a while. ______ chapter lxxxvii. entitled, the most high;k revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. praise the name of thy lord, the most high; who hath created, and completely formed his creatures: 	f and preserved from the least change or corruption. see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. , and sect. iv. p. . 	g some take the words to signify any bright star, without restriction; but others think some particular star or stars to be thereby intended; which one supposes to be the morning star (peculiarly called al târek, or the appearing by nights), another saturn (that planet being by the arabs surnamed al thakeb, or the piercing, as it was by the greeks, phoenon, or the shining), and a third, the pleiades. 	h i.e., from the loins of the man, and the breast-bones of the woman. 	i or, as some expound it, which performeth its periodic motion, returning to the point from whence it began the same. the words seem designed to express the alternate returns of the different seasons of the year. 	k some take the first word of this chapter, viz., praise, for its title. 					 al beidâwi, yahya and who determineth them to various ends,l and directeth them to attain the same;m and who produceth the pasture for cattle, and afterwards rendereth the same dry stubble of a dusky hue. we will enable thee to rehearse our revelations;n and thou shalt not forget any part thereof, except what god shall please;o for he knoweth that which is manifest, and that which is hidden. and we will facilitate unto thee the most easy way.p wherefore admonish thy people, if thy admonition shall be profitable unto them. 	whoso feareth god, he will be admonished: but the most wretched unbeliever will turn away therefrom; who shall be cast to be broiled in the greater fire of hell, wherein he shall not die, neither shall he live. now hath he attained felicity, who is purified by faith, and who remembereth the name of his lord, and prayeth. but ye prefer this present life: yet the life to come is better, and more durable. verily this is written in the ancient books, the books of abraham and moses. ________ chapter lxxxviii. entitled, the overwhelming;q revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. hath the news of the overwhelming day of judgment reached thee? the countenances of some, on that day, shall be cast down; labouring and toiling:r they shall be cast into scorching fire to be broiled: they shall be given to drink of a boiling fountain: they shall have no food, but of dry thorns and thistles:s which shall not fatten, neither shall they satisfy hunger. but the countenances of others, on that day, shall be joyful; well pleased with their past endeavor: 	they shall be placed in a lofty garden, wherein thou shalt hear no vain discourse: therein shall be a running fountain; therein shall be raised beds, and goblets placed before them, and cushions laid in order, and carpets ready spread. do they not consider the camels,t how they are created; 	l determining their various species, properties, ways of life, &c. 	m guiding the rational by their reason and also by revelation, and the irrational by instinct, &c. 	n see chapter , p. . 	o i.e., except such revelations as god shall think fit to abrogate and blot out of thy memory. see chapter , p. , and chapter , p. . 	p to retain the relations communicated to thee by gabriel; or, as some understand the words, we will dispose thee to the profession and strict observance of the most easy religion, that is, of islâm. 	q that is a name, or epithet, of the last day; because it will suddenly overwhelm all creatures with fear and astonishment. it is also a name, or epithet, of hell fire. 	r i.e., dragging their chains, and labouring through hell fire, as camels labour through mud, &c. or, employing and fatiguing themselves in what shall not avail them. 	s such as the camels eat when green and tender. some take the original word al darí for the name of a thorny tree. 	t these animals are of such use, or rather necessity, in the east, that the creation of a species so wonderfully adapted to those countries is a very proper instance, to an arabian, of the power and wisdom of god. some, however, think the clouds (which the original word ibl also signifies) are here intended; the heaven being mentioned immediately after. 			 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem. and the heaven, how it is raised; and the mountains, how they are fixed; 	and the earth, how it is extended? wherefore warn thy people; for thou art a warner only: thou art not impowered to act with authority over them. but whoever shall turn back,u and disbelieve, god shall punish him with the greater punishment of the life to come. verily unto us shall they return: then shall it be our part to bring them to account. ________ chapter lxxxix. entitled, the daybreak; revealed at mecca.x in the name of the most merciful god. by the daybreak, and ten nights;y by that which is double, and that which is single;z and by the night when it cometh on: is there not in this an oath formed with understanding? hast thou not considered how thy lord dealt with ad, the people of irem,a adorned with lofty buildings,b the like whereof hath not been erected in the land;c and with thamud, who hewed the rocks in the valleyd into houses; 	u or, except him who shall turn back, and be an infidel: and god shall also punish him &c. by which exception some suppose that power is here given to mohammed to chastise obstinate infidels and apostates. 	x some are of opinion this chapter was revealed at medina. 	y that is, the ten nights of dhu'lhajja, or the th of that month (whence some understand the daybreak mentioned just before, of the morning of that day, or of the preceding); or the nights of the th of moharram; or, as others rather think, the th, th, and th of dhu'lhajja; all which are days peculiarly sacred among the mohammedans. 	z these words are variously interpreted. some understand thereby all things in general; some, all created beings (which are said to have been created by pairs, or of two kinds), and the creator, who is single; some, of the primum mobile, and the other orbs; some, of the constellations and the planets; some, of the nights before mentioned, taken either together or singly; and some, of the day of slaying the victims (the th of dhu'lhajja), and of the day of arafat, which is the day before, &c. 	a was the name of the territory or city of the adites, and of the garden mentioned in the next note; which were so called from irem, or aram, the grandfather of ad, their progenitor. some think aaron himself to be here meant, and his name to be added to signify the ancient adites, his immediate descendants, and to distinguish them from the latter tribe of that name: but the adjective and relative joined to the word are, in the original, of the feminine gender, which seems to contradict this opinion. 	b or pillars. some imagine these words are used to express the great size and strength of the old adites; and then they should be translated, who were of enormous stature. but the more exact commentators take the passage to relate to the sumptuous palace and delightful gardens built and made by sheddâd the son of ad. for they say ad left two sons, sheddâd and sheddîd, who reigned jointly after his decease, and extended their power over the greater part of the world; but sheddîd dying, his brother became sole monarch; who, having heard of the celestial paradise, made a garden in imitation thereof, in the deserts of aden, and called it irem, after the name of his great-grandfather: when it was finished he set out, with a great attendance, to take a view of it; but when they were come within a day's journey of the place, they were all destroyed by a terrible noise from heaven. al beidâwi adds that one abdallah ebn kelâbah (whom, after d'herbelot, i have elsewhere named colabah) accidentally hit on this wonderful place, as he was seeking a camel. 	c if we suppose the preceding words to relate to the vast stature of the adites, these must be translated, the like of whom hath not been created, &c. 	d the learned greaves, in his translation of abulfeda's description of arabia, has falsely rendered these words, which are there quoted, quibus petroe vallis responsum dederunt, i.e., to whom the rocks of the valley returned answer: which slip being made by so great a man, i do not at all wonder that la roque, and petis de la croix, from whose latin version, and with whose assistance, la roque made his french translation of the aforesaid treatise, have been led into the same mistake, and rendered those words, a qui les pierres de la valée rendirent réponse. the valley here meant, say the commentators, is wâdi'lkora, lying about one day's journey (not five and upwards, as abulfeda will have it) from al hejr. 	 see cap. , p. .		 al zamakh.		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin.		 idem. see the prelim. disc. p. .		 prelim. disc. p. .		 p. . it was published by dr. hudson, in the third vol. of the geograhphiæ veteris scriptor. gr. minor. and with pharaoh, the contriver of the stakes:e 	who had behaved insolently in the earth, and multiplied corruption therein? wherefore thy lord poured on them various kindsf of chastisement: for thy lord is surely in a watch-tower, whence he observeth the actions of men. moreover man, when his lord trieth him by prosperity, and honoureth him, and is bounteous unto him, saith, my lord honoureth me; but when he proveth him by afflictions, and withholdeth his provisions from him, he saith, my lord despiseth me. by no means:g but ye honour not the orphan, neither do ye excite one another to feed the poor; 	and ye devour the inheritance of the weak,h with undistinguishing greediness, and ye love riches with much affection. by no means should ye do thus. when the earth shall be minutely ground to dust; and thy lord shall come, and the angels rank by rank; and hell, on that day, shall be brought nigh:i on that day shall man call to remembrance his evil deeds; but how shall remembrance avail him? he shall say, would to god that i had heretofore done good works in my lifetime!k on that day none shall punish with his punishment; nor shall any bind with his bonds.l o thou soul which art at rest,m return unto thy lord, well pleased with thy reward, and well pleasing unto god: enter among my servants; 	and enter my paradise. 	e see chapter , p. . 	f the original word signifies a mixture, and also a scourge of platted thongs: whence some suppose the chastisement of this life is here represented by scourge, and intimated to be as much lighter than that of the next life, as scourging is lighter than death. 	g for worldly prosperity or adversity is not a certain mark either of the favour or disfavour of god. 	h not suffering women or young children to have any share in the inheritance of their husbands or parents. see chapter , p. . 	i there is a tradition that at the last day hell will be dragged towards the tribunal by , halters, each halter being hauled by , angels, and that it will come with great roaring and fury. 	k or, for this my latter life. 	l i.e., none shall be able to punish or to bind, as god shall then punish and bind the wicked. 	m some expound this of the soul, which, having, by pursuing the concatenation of natural causes, raised itself to the knowledge of that being which produced them, and exists of necessity, rests fully contented, or acquiesces in the knowledge of him, and the contemplation of his perfections. by this the reader will observe that the mohammedans are no strangers to quietism. others, however, understand the words of the soul, which, having attained the knowledge of the truth, rests satisfied, and relies securely thereon, undisturbed by doubts; or of the soul which is secure of its salvation, and free from fear or sorrow. 	 descr. de l'arabie, mise à la suite du voyage de la palestine, par la roque, p. .		 jallalo'ddin, al beidâwi. ebn hawkal, apud abulf. ubi sup. geogr. nub. p. .		 al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 idem. al beidâwi chapter xc. entitled, the territory; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. i swearn by this territory,o (and thou, o prophet, residest in this territory,)p and by the begetter, and that which he hath begotten;q verily we have created man in misery.r doth he think that none shall prevail over him?s he saith, i have wasted plenty of riches.t doth he think that none seeth him? have we not made him two eyes, and a tongue, and two lips; 	and shown him the two highways of good and evil? yet he attempteth not the cliff. what shall make thee to understand what the cliff is? it is to free the captive; or to feed, in the day of famine, the orphan who is of kin, or the poor man who lieth on the ground. whoso doth this, and is one of those who believe, and recommend perseverance unto each other, and recommend mercy unto each other; these shall be the companions of the right hand.u but they who shall disbelieve our signs shall be the companions of the left hand:x 	above them shall be arched fire. _____ chapter xci. entitled, the sun; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. by the sun, and its rising brightness; by the moon when she followeth him;y by the day, when it showeth its splendor; by the night, when it covereth him with darkness; by the heaven, and him who built it; by the earth, and him who spread it forth; by the soul, and him who completely formed it, and inspired into the same its faculty of distinguishing, and power of choosing, wickedness and piety: 	n or, i will not swear, &c. see chapter , p. , note m. 	o viz., the sacred territory of mecca. 	p or, thou shalt be allowed to do what thou pleasest in this territory; the words, in this sense, importing a promise of that absolute power which mohammed attained on the taking of mecca. 	q some understand these words generally; others of adam or abraham, and of their offspring, and of mohammed in particular. 	r or, to trouble. this passage was revealed to comfort the prophet under the persecutions of the koreish. 	s some expositors take a particular person to be here intended, who was one of mohammed's most inveterate adversaries; as al walid ebn al mogheira; others suppose abu'l ashadd ebn calda to be the man, who was so very strong, that a large skin being spread under his feet, and ten men pulling at it, they could not make him fall, though they tore the skin to pieces. 	t in a vain and ostentatious manner, or in opposing of mohammed. 	u see chapter , p. . 	x see ibid. 	y i.e., when she rises just after him, as she does at the beginning of the month; or when she gets after him, as happens when she is a little past the full. idem.		 idem.		 idem.		 al zamakh. 	 al beidâwi. idem.		 idem. now is he who hath purified the same, happy; 	but he who hath corrupted the same, is miserable. thamud accused their prophet saleh of imposture, through the excess of their wickedness: when the wretchz among them was sent to slay the camel; and the apostle of god said unto them, let alone the camel of god; and hinder not her drinking. but they charged him with imposture; and they slew her. wherefore their lord destroyed them, for their crime, and made their punishment equal unto them all: and he feareth not the issue thereof. ________ chapter xcii. entitled, the night; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. by the night, when it covereth all things with darkness; by the day, when it shineth forth; by his who hath created the male, and the female: verily your endeavor is different. now whoso is obedient, and feareth god, and professeth the truth of that faith which is most excellent; unto him will we facilitate the way to happiness: but whoso shall be covetous, and shall be wholly taken up with this world, and shall deny the truth of that which is most excellent; 	unto him will we facilitate the way to misery; and his riches shall not profit him, when he shall fall headlong into hell. verily unto us appertaineth the direction of mankind: and ours is the life to come, and the present life. wherefore i threaten you with fire which burneth fiercely, which none shall enter to be burned except the most wretched; who shall have disbelieved, and turned back. but he who strictly bewareth idolatry and rebellion shall be removed far from the same; who giveth his substance in alms, and by whom no benefit is bestowed on any, that it may be recompensed, 	but who bestoweth the same for the sake of his lord, the most high,a and hereafter he shall be well satisfied with his reward. ________ chapter xciii. entitled, the brightness; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. by the brightness of the morning;b and by the night, when it groweth dark: 	z viz., kedâr ebn sâlef. see chapter , p. , and chapter , p. . 	a jallalo'ddin thinks this whole description belongs peculiarly to abu becr: for when he had purchased belâl, the ethiopian (afterwards the prophet's muedhdhin, or crier to prayers), who purchased belâl, the ethiopian (afterwards the prophet's muedhdhin, or crier to prayers), who had been put to the rack on account of his faith, the infidels said he did it only out of a view of interest; upon which this passage was revealed. 	b the original word properly signifies the bright part of the day, when the sun shines full out, three or four hours after it is risen. thy lord hath not forsaken thee, neither doth he hate thee.c verily the life to come shall be better for thee than this present life: and thy lord shall give thee a reward wherewith thou shalt be well pleased. did he not find thee an orphan, and hath he not taken care of thee? and did he not find thee wandering in error, and hath he not guided thee into the truth? and did he not find thee needy, and hath he not enriched thee? wherefore oppress not the orphan: 	neither repulse the beggar: but declare the goodness of thy lord. _______ chapter xciv. entitled, have we not opened; revealed at mecca in the name of the most merciful god. have we not opened thy breast;d and eased thee of thy burden,e which galled thy back; and raise thy reputation for thee? verily a difficulty shall be attended with ease. verily a difficulty shall be attended with ease. when thou shalt have ended thy preaching; labor to serve god in return for his favours;f and make thy supplication unto thy lord. _______ chapter xcv. entitled, the fig; where it was revealed is disputed. in the name of the most merciful god. by the fig, and the olive;g and by mount sinai, 	c it is related that no revelation having been vouchsafed to mohammed for several days, in answer to some questions put to him by the koreish, because he had confidently promised to resolve them the next day, without adding the exception, if it please god, or because he had repulsed an importunate beggar, or else because a dead puppy lay under his seat, or for some other reason; his enemies said that god had left him: whereupon this chapter was sent down for his consolation. 	d by disposing and enlarging it to receive the truth, and wisdom, and prophecy; or, by freeing thee from uneasiness and ignorance? this passage is thought to intimate the opening of mohammed's heart, in his infancy, or when he took his journey to heaven, by the angel gabriel; who having wrung out the black drop, or seed of original sin, washed and cleansed the same, and filled it with wisdom and faith: but some think it relates to the occasion of the preceding chapter. 	e i.e., of thy sins committed before thy mission; or of thy ignorance, or trouble of mind. 	f or when thou shalt have finished thy prayer, labour in preaching the faith. 	g god, say the commentators swears by these two fruits, because of their great uses and virtues: for the fig is wholesome and of easy digestion, and physically good to carry off phlegm, and gravel in the kidneys or bladder, and to remove obstructions of the liver and spleen, and also cures the piles and the gout, &c.; the olive produces oil, which is not only excellent to eat, but otherwise useful for the compounding of ointments; the wood of the olive- tree, moreover, is good for cleansing the teeth, preventing their growing rotten, and giving a good odour to the mouth, for which reason the prophets, and mohammed in particular, made use of no other for toothpicks. 	some, however, suppose that these words do not mean the fruits or trees above mentioned, but two mountains in the holy land, where they grow in plenty; or else the temple of damascus and that at jerusalem. 	 see cap. , p. 		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin.		 al beidâwi, yahya. vide abulf. vit. moh. p. and ; prid, life of mohamet, p. , &c.		 al beidâwi.		 idem.		 idem, al zamakh. al zamakh.		 idem, yahya, al beidâwi, jallal. and this territory of security;h verily we created man of a most excellent fabric; afterwards we rendered him the vilest of the vile:i except those who believe, and work righteousness; for they shall receive an endless reward. what, therefore, shall cause thee to deny the day of judgment after this?k is not god the most wise judge? ________ chapter xcvi. entitled, congealed blood; revealed at mecca.l in the name of the most merciful god. read, in the name of thy lord, who hath created all things; who hath created man of congealed blood.m read, by thy most beneficent lord;n who taught the use of the pen; who teacheth man that which he knoweth not. assuredly. verily man becometh insolent, because he seeth himself abound in riches.o verily unto thy lord shall be the return of all. what thinkest thou as to him who forbiddeth 	our servant, when he prayeth?p what thinkest thou; if he follow the right direction; or command piety? what thinkest thou; if he accuse the divine revelations of falsehood, and turn his back? 	h viz., the territory of mecca. these words seem to argue the chapter to have been revealed there. 	i i.e., as the commentators generally expound this passage, we created man of comely proportion of body, and great perfection of mind; and yet we have doomed him, in case of disobedience, to be an inhabitant of hell. some, however, understand the words of the vigorous constitution of man in the prime and strength of his age, and of his miserable decay when he becomes old and decrepit: but they seem rather to intimate the perfect state of happiness wherein man was originally created, and his fall from thence, in consequence of adam's disobedience, to a state of misery in this world, and becoming liable to one infinitely more miserable in the next. 	k some suppose these words directed to mohammed, and others to man in general, by way of apostrophe. 	l the first five verses of this chapter, ending with the words, who taught man that which he knew not, are generally allowed to be the first passage of the korân which was revealed, though some give this honour to the seventy-four chapter, and others to the first, the next, they say, being the sixty-eighth. 	m all men being created of thick or concreted blood, except only adam, eve, and jesus. 	n these words, containing a repetition of the command, are supposed to be a reply to mohammed, who, in answer to the former words spoken by the angel, had declared that he could not read, being perfectly illiterate; and intimate a promise that god, who had inspired man with the art of writing, would graciously remedy this defect in him. 	o the commentators agree the remaining part of the chapter to have been revealed against abu jahl, mohammed's great adversary. 	p for abu jahl threatened that if he caught mohammed in the act of adoration, he would set his foot on his neck; but when he came and saw him in that posture, he suddenly turned back as in a fright, and, being asked what was the matter, said there was a ditch of fire between himself and mohammed, and a terrible appearance of troops, to defend him. 	 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv.		 vide marracc. in loc. p. .		 see cap. , p. .		 yahya. al beidâwi.		 idem. doth he not know that god seeth? assuredly. verily, if he forbear not, we will drag him by the forelock,q the lying, sinful forelock. and let him call his councilr to his assistance: we also will call the infernal guards to cast him into hell. assuredly. obey him not: but continue to adore god; and draw nigh unto him. ________ chapter xcvii. entitled, al kadr; where it was revealed is disputed. in the name of the most merciful god. verily we sent down the koran in the night of al kadr.s and what shall make thee understand how excellent the night of al kadr is? the night of al kadr is better than a thousand months. therein do the angels descend, and the spirit of gabriel also, by the permission of their lord, with his decrees concerning every matter.t it is peace until the rising of the morn. ________ chapter xcviii. entitled, the evidence;u where it was revealed is disputed. in the name of the most merciful god. the unbelievers among those to whom the scriptures were given, and among the idolaters, did not stagger,x until the clear evidencey had come unto them: 	q see chapter , p. , note o. 	r i.e., the council or assembly of the principal meccans, the far greater part of whom adhered to abu jahl. 	s the word al kadr signifies power and honor or dignity, and also the divine decree; and the night is so named either from its excellence above all other nights in the year, or because, as the mohammedans believe, the divine decrees for the ensuing year are annually on this night fixed and settled, or taken from the preserved table by god's throne, and given to the angels to be executed. on this night mohammed received his first revelations; when the korân, say the commentators, was sent down from the aforesaid table, entire and in one volume, to the lowest heaven, from whence gabriel revealed it to mohammed by parcels, as occasion required. 	the moslem doctors are not agreed where to fix the night of al kadr; the greater part are of opinion that it is one of the ten last nights of ramadân, and, as is commonly believed, the seventh of those nights, reckoning backward; by which means it will fall between the rd and th days of that month. 	t see the preceding note, and chapter , p. . 	u some entitle this chapter, from the first words, did not. 	x i.e., did not waver in their religion, or in their promises to follow the truth, when an apostle should come unto them. for the commentators pretend that before the appearance of mohammed, the jews and christians, as well as the worshippers of idols, unanimously believed and expected the coming of that prophet, until which time they declared they would persevere in their respective religions, and then would follow him; but when he came, they rejected him through envy. 	y viz., mohammed, or the korân. 	 see cap. , p. .		 al zamakh., al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin. 	 idem. an apostle from god, rehearsing unto them pure books of revelations; wherein are contained right discourses. neither were they unto whom the scriptures were given divided among themselves, until after the clear evidence had come unto them.z and they were commanded no other in the scriptures than to worship god, exhibiting unto him the pure religion, and being orthodox; and to be constant at prayer, and to give alms;a and this is the right religion. verily those who believe not, among those who have received the scriptures, and among the idolaters, shall be cast into the fire of hell, to remain therein forever. these are the worst of creatures. but they who believe, and do good works; these are the best of creatures: their reward with their lord shall be gardens of perpetual abode, through which rivers flow; they shall remain therein forever. god will be well pleased in them; and they shall be well pleased in him. this is prepared for him who shall fear his lord. ________ chapter xcix. entitled, the earthquake; where it was revealed is disputed. in the name of the most merciful god. when the earth shall be shaken by an earthquake;b and the earth shall cast forth her burdens;c and a man shall say, what aileth her? on that day the earth shall declare her tidings, for that thy lord will inspire her.d on that day men shall go forward in distinct classes, that they may behold their works. and whoever shall have wrought good of the weight of an ant,e shall behold the same. and whoever shall have wrought evil of the weight of an ant, shall behold the same. 	z but when the promised apostle was sent, and the truth became manifest to them, they withstood the clearest conviction, differing from one another in their opinions; some believing and acknowledging mohammed to be the prophet foretold in the scriptures, and others denying it. 	a but these divine precepts in the law and the gospel have they corrupted, changed, and violated. 	b this earthquake will happen at the first, or, as others say, at the second blast of the trumpet. 	c viz., the treasures and dead bodies within it. 	d i.e., will inform all creatures of the occasion of her trembling, and casting forth her treasures and her dead, by the circumstances which shall immediately attend them. some say the earth will, at the last day, be miraculously enabled to speak, and will give evidence of the actions of her inhabitants. 	e see chapter , p. , note y. 	 idem.		 idem.		 al zamakh., al beidâwi. see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. 		 see cap. , p. . al beidâwi. see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. chapter c. entitled, the war-horses which run swiftly; where it was revealed is disputed. in the name of the most merciful god. by the war-horses which run swiftly to the battle, with a panting noise; and by those which strike fire, by dashing their hoofs against the stones; and by those which make a sudden incursion on the enemy early in the morning, and therein raise the dust, and therein pass through the midst of the adverse troops:f verily man is ungrateful unto his lord; and he is witness thereof: and he is immoderate in the love of worldly good. doth he not know, therefore, when that which is in the graves shall be taken forth, 	and that which is in men's breasts shall be brought to light, that their lord will, on that day, be fully informed concerning them? ________ chapter ci. entitled, the striking; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. the striking!g what is the striking? and what shall make thee to understand how terrible the striking will be? on that day men shall be like moths scattered abroad, and the mountains shall become like carded wool of various colours driven by the wind. moreover he whose balance shall be heavy with good works, shall lead a pleasing life: but as to him whose balance shall be light, his dwelling shall be the pit of hell.h what shall make thee to understand how frightful the pit of hell is? it is a burning fire. 	f some will have it that not horses, but the camels which went to the battle of bedr, are meant in this passage. others interpret all the parts of the oath of the human soul; but their explications seem a little forced, and therefore i choose to omit them. 	g this is one of the names or epithets given to the last day, because it will strike the hearts of all creatures with terror. 	h the original word hâwiyat is the name of the lowest dungeon of hell, and properly signifies a deep pit or gulf. 	 yahya, ex trad. ali ebn abi taleb.		 al beidâwi. 	 idem, jallalo'ddin. chapter cii. entitled, the emulous desire of multiplying; where it was revealed is disputed. in the name of the most merciful god. the emulous desire of multiplying riches and children employeth you, until ye visit the graves.i by no means should ye thus employ your time: hereafter shall ye know your folly. again, by no means: hereafter shall ye know your folly. by no means: if ye knew the consequence hereof with certainty of knowledge, ye would not act thus. verily ye shall see hell: again, ye shall surely see it with the eye of certainty. then shall ye be examined, on that day, concerning the pleasures with which ye have amused yourselves in this life. ________ chapter ciii. entitled, the afternoon; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. by the afternoon;k verily man employeth himself in that which will prove of loss: except those who believe, and do that which is right; and who mutually recommend the truth, and mutually recommend perseverance unto each other. ________ chapter civ. entitled, the slanderer; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. woe unto every slanderer, and backbiter:l who heapeth up riches, and prepareth the same for the time to come! 	i i.e., until ye die. according to the exposition of some commentators, the words should be rendered thus: the contending or vieing in numbers wholly employeth you, so that ye visit even the graves, to number the dead: to explain which, they relate that there was a great dispute and contention between the descendants of abd menâf and the descendants of sahm, which of the two families were the more numerous; and it being found, on calculation, that the children of abd menâf exceeded those of sahm, the sahmites said that their numbers had been much diminished by wars in the time of ignorance, and insisted that the dead, as well as the living, should be taken into the account; and by this way of reckoning they were found to be more than the descendants of abd menâf. 	k or the time from the sun's declination to his setting, which is one of the five appointed times of prayer. the original word also signifies, the age, or time in general. 	this passage is said to have been revealed against al akhnas ebn shoreik, or al walîd ebn al mogheira, or omeyya ebn khalf, who were all guilty of slandering others, and especially the prophet. 			 al zamakh., al beidâwi, jallal.		 idem. he thinketh that his riches will render him immortal. by no means. he shall surely be cast into al hotama.m and who shall cause thee to understand what al hotama is? it is the kindled fire of god;n which shall mount above the hearts of those who shall be cast therein. verily it shall be as an arched vault above them on columns of vast extent. ________ chapter cv. entitled, the elephant; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. hast thou not seen how thy lord dealt with the masters of the elephant?o did he not make their treacherous design an occasion of drawing them into error; 	m is one of the names of hell, or the name of one of its apartments; which is so called because it will break in pieces whatever shall be thrown into it. 	n and therefore shall not be extinguished by any. 	o this chapter relates to the following piece of history, which is famous among the arabs; abraha ebn al sabâh, surnamed al ashram, i.e., the slit-nosed, king or viceroy of yaman, who was an ethiopian, and of the christian religion, having built a magnificent church at sanaa with a design to draw the arabs to go in pilgrimage thither, instead of visiting the temple of mecca, the koreish, observing the devotion and concourse of the pilgrims at the caaba began considerably to diminish, sent one nofail, as he is named by some of the tribe of kenânah, who getting into the aforesaid church by night, defiled the altar and walls thereof with his excrements. at this profanation abraha being highly incensed, vowed the destruction of the caaba, and accordingly set out against mecca at the head of a considerable army, wherein were several elephants, which he had obtained of the king of ethiopia, their numbers being, as some say, thirteen, though others mention but one. the meccans, at the approach of so considerable a host, retired to the neighbouring mountains, being unable to defend their city or temple; but god himself undertook the protection of both. for when abraha drew near to mecca, and would have entered it, the elephant on which he rode, which was a very large one, and named mahmûd, refused to advance any nigher to the town, but knelt down whenever they endeavoured to force him that way, though he would rise and march briskly enough if they turned him towards any other quarter: and while matters were in this posture, on a sudden a large flock of birds, like swallows, came flying from the sea coast, every one of which carried three stones, one in each foot, and one in its bill; and these stones they threw down upon the heads of abraha's men, certainly killing every one they struck. then god sent a flood, which swept the dead bodies, and some of those who had not been struck by the stones, into the sea: the rest fled toward yaman, but perished by the way; none of them reaching sanaa, except only abraha himself, who died soon after his arrival there, being struck with a sort of plague or putrefaction, so that his body opened, and his limbs rotted off by piecemeal. it is said that one of abraha's army, named abu yacsûm, escaped over the red sea into ethiopia, and going directly to the king, told him the tragical story; and upon that prince's asking him what sort of birds they were that had occasioned such a destruction, the man pointed to one of them, which had followed him all the way, and was at that time hovering directly over his head, when immediately the bird let fall the stone, and struck him dead at the king's feet. 	this remarkable defeat of abraha happened the very year mohammed was born, and as this chapter was revealed before the hejra, and within fifty-four years, at least, after it came to pass, when several persons who could have detected the lie, had mohammed forged this story out of his own head, were alive, it seems as if there was really something extraordinary in the matter, which might, by adding some circumstances, have been worked up into a miracle to his hands. marracci judges the whole to be either a fable, or else a feat of some evil spirits, of which he gives a parallel instance, as he thinks, in the strange defeat of brennus, when he was marching to attack the temple of apollo at delphi. dr. prideaux directly charges mohammed with coining this miracle, notwithstanding he might have been so easily disproved, and supposes, without any foundation, that this chapter might not have been published till othman's edition of the korân, which was many years after, when all might be dead who could remember anything of the above-mentioned war. but mohammed had no occasion to coin such a miracle himself, to gain the temple of mecca any greater veneration: the meccans were but too superstitiously fond of it, and obliged him, against his inclinations and original design, to make it the chief place of his new invented worship. i cannot, however, but observe dr. prideaux's partiality on this occasion, compared with the favourable reception he gives to the story of the miraculous overthrow of brennus and his army, which he concludes in the following words: "thus was god pleased in a very extraordinary manner to execute his vengeance upon those sacrilegious wretches for the sake of religion in general, how false and idolatrous soever that particular religion was, for which that temple at delphos was erected." if it be answered, that the gauls believed the religion, to the devotions of which that temple was consecrated, to be true (though that be not certain), and therefore it was an impiety in them to offer violence to it, whereas abraha acknowledged not the holiness of the caaba, or the worship there practised; i reply, that the doctor, on occasion of cambyses being killed by a wound he accidentally received in the same part of the body where he had before mortally wounded the apis, or bull worshipped by the egyptians, whose religion and worship that prince most certainly believed to be false and superstitious, makes the same reflection: "the egyptians," says he, "reckoned this as an especial judgment from heaven upon him for that fact, and perchance they were not much out in it: for it seldom happening in an affront given to any mode of worship, how erroneous soever it may be, but that religion is in general wounded hereby, there are many instances in history, wherein god hath very signally punished the profanations of religion in the worst of times, and under the worst modes of heathen idolatry." 	 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. .		 al beidâwi. 	 see the prelim. disc. p. . al zamakh., al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin, abulf. hist. gen. &c. see prid. life of mahomet, p. , &c., and d'herbel. bibl. orient. art. abrahah.		 refut. in alcor. p. .		 see prid. connection, part ii. book i. p. , and the authors there quoted.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. iii. p. .		 prid. life of mahomet, p. , .		 prid. connection, in the place above cited.		 ibid. part i. book iii. p. . and send against them flocks of birds, which casts down upon them stones of baked clay;p and render them like the leaves of corn eaten by cattle? ________ chapter cvi. entitled, koreish; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. for the uniting of the tribe of koreish;q their uniting in sending forth the caravan of merchants and purveyorsr in winter and summer; 	p these stones were of the same kind with those by which the sodomites were destroyed, and were no bigger than vetches, though they fell with such force as to pierce the helmet and the man through, passing out at his fundament. it is said also that on each stone was written the name of him who was to be slain by it. 	q some connect these words with the following, and suppose the natural order to be, let them serve the lord of this house, for the uniting, &c. others connect them with the last words of the preceding chapter, and take the meaning to be, that god had so destroyed the army of abraha for the uniting of the koreish, &c. and the last opinion is confirmed by one copy, mentioned by al beidâwi, wherein this and the preceding make but one chapter. it may not be amiss to observe, that the tribe of koreish, the most noble among all the arabians, and of which was mohammed himself, were the posterity of fehr, surnamed koreish, the son of malec, the son of al nadr, who was descended in a right line from ismael. some writers say that al nadr bore the surname of koreish, but the more received opinion is that it was his grandson fehr, who was so called because of his intrepid boldness, the word being a diminutive of karsh, which is the name of a sea monster, very strong and daring; though there be other reasons given for its imposition. 	r it was hâshem, the great-grandfather of mohammed, who first appointed the two yearly caravans here mentioned; one of which set out in the winter for yaman, and the other in summer for syria. 	 see cap. , p. .		 vide gagnier, vie de mah. t. i, p. and .		 see the prelim. disc. p. . al zamakh., jallal., al beidâwi. let them serve the lord of this house; who supplieth them with food against hunger,s and hath rendered them secure from fear.t _______ chapter cvii. entitled, necessaries; where it was revealed is disputed. in the name of the most merciful god. what thinkest thou of him who denieth the future judgment as a falsehood? it is he who pusheth away the orphan;u and stirreth not up others to feed the poor. woe be unto those who pray, and who are negligent at their prayer: who play the hypocrites, and deny necessariesx to the needy. ________ chapter cviii. entitled, al cawthar; revealed at mecca.y in the name of the most merciful god. verily we have given thee al cawthar.z 	s by means of the aforesaid caravans of purveyors; or, who supplied them with food in time of a famine, which those of mecca had suffered. 	t by delivering them from abraha and his troops; or, by making the territory of mecca a place of security. 	u the person here intended, according to some, was abu jahl, who turned away an orphan, to whom he was guardian, and who came to him naked, and asked for some relief out of his own money. somme say it was abu sofiân, who, having killed a camel, when an orphan begged a piece of the flesh, beat him away with his staff; and others think it was al walid ebn al mogheira, &c. 	x the original word al maûn properly signifies utensils, or whatever is of necessary use, as a hatchet, a pot, a dish, and a needle, to which some add a bucket and a hand-mill; or, according to a tradition of ayesha, fire, water, and salt; and this signification it bore in the time of ignorance: but since the establishment of the mohammedan religion, the word has been used to denote alms, either legal or voluntary; which seems to be the true meaning in this place. 	y there are some, however, who think it to have been revealed at medina. 	z this word signifies abundance, especially of good, and thence the gift of wisdom and prophecy, the korân, the office of intercessor, &c. or it may imply abundance of children, followers, and the like. it is generally, however, expounded of a river in paradise of that name, whence the water is derived into mohammed's pond, of which the blessed are to drink before their admission into that place. according to a tradition of the prophet's, this river, wherein his lord promised him abundant good, is sweeter than honey, whiter than milk, cooler than snow, and smoother than cream; its banks are of chrysolites, and the vessels to drink thereout of silver; and those who drink of it shall never thirst. 	euthymius zigabenus, instead of cauthar, reading canthar, supposes the word to have the same signification in arabic as in greek, and translates the two first verses of the chapter thus: [greek text],-i.e., we have given thee the beetle; wherefore pray unto thy lord, and slay it; and then he cries out, o wonderful and magnificent sacrifice, worthy of the legislator! 	 idem.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. iv. p. .		 al beidâwi, jallal. &c.		 in panoplia dogmat. inter sylburgii sarocenic. p. . wherefore pray unto thy lord, and slay the victims.a verily he who hateth thee shall be childless.b ________ chapter cix. entitled, the unbelievers; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. say: o unbelievers,c i will not worship that which ye worship; nor will ye worship that which i worship. neither do i worship that which ye worship; neither do ye worship that which i worship. ye have your religion, and i my religion. ________ chapter cx. entitled, assistance; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. when the assistance of god shall come, and the victory;d and thou shalt see the people enter into the religion of god by troops:e celebrate the praise of thy lord, and ask pardon of him;f for he is inclined to forgive. 	a which are to be sacrificed at the pilgrimage in the valley of mina. al beidâwi explains the words thus: pray with fervency and intense devotion, not out of hypocrisy; and slay the fatted camels and oxen, and distribute the flesh among the poor; for he says this chapter is the counterpart of the preceding, exhorting to those virtues which are opposite to the vices there condemned. 	b these words were revealed against al as ebn wayel, who, on the death of al kâsem, mohammed's son, called that prophet abtar, which signifies one who has no children or posterity. 	c it is said that certain of the koreish once proposed to mohammed that if he would worship their gods for a year, they would worship his god for the same space of time; upon which this chapter was revealed. 	d i.e., when god shall cause thee to prevail over thy enemies, and thou shalt take the city of mecca. 	e which happened in the ninth year of the hejra, when, mohammed having made himself master of mecca, and obliged the koreish to submit to him, the rest of the arabs came in to him in great numbers, and professed islâm. 	f most of the commentators agree this chapter to have been revealed before the taking of mecca, and suppose it gave mohammed warning of his death; for they say that when he read it al abbâs wept, and being asked by the prophet what was the reason of his weeping, answered, because it biddeth thee to prepare for death; to which mohammed replied, it is as thou sayest. and hence, adds jallalo'ddin, after the revelation of this chapter the prophet was more frequent in praising and asking pardon of god, because he thereby knew that his end approached; for mecca was taken in the eighth year of the hejra, and he died in the beginning of the tenth. 	 jallalo'ddin.		 idem, al beidâwi.		 see the prelim. disc. sect. ii. p. .		 al beidâwi. chapter cxi. entitled, abu laheb; revealed at mecca. in the name of the most merciful god. the hands of abu laheb shall perish,g and he shall perish.h his riches shall not profit him, neither that which he hath gained.i he shall go down to be burned into flaming fire;k and his wife also,l bearing wood,m having on her neck a cord of twisted fibres of a palm-tree. ________ chapter cxii. entitled, the declaration of god's unity;n where it was revealed is disputed. in the name of the most merciful god. say, god is one god; the eternal god: be begetteth not, neither is he begotten: and there is not any one like unto him. 	g abu laheb was the surname of abd'al uzza, one of the sons of abd'almotalleb, and uncle to mohammed. he was a most bitter enemy to his nephew, and opposed the establishment of his new religion to the utmost of his power. when that prophet, in obedience to the command he had received to admonish his near relations, had called them together, and told them he was a warner sent unto them before a grievous chastisement, abu laheb cried out, mayest thou perish! hast thou called us together for this? and took up a stone to cast at him. whereupon this passage was revealed. 	by the hands of abu laheb some commentators, by a synecdoche, understand his person; others, by a metonymy, his affairs in general, they being transacted with those members; or his hopes in this world and the next. 	h he died of grief and vexation at the defeat his friends had received at bedr, surviving that misfortune but seven days. they add, that his corpse was left aboveground three days, till it stank, and then some negroes were hired to bury him. 	i and accordingly his great possessions, and the rank and esteem in which he lived at mecca, were of no service to him, nor could protect him against the vengeance of god. al beidâwi mentions also the loss of his son otha, who was torn to pieces by a lion in the way to syria, though surrounded by the whole caravan. 	k arab. nâr dhât laheb; alluding to the surname of abu laheb, which signifies the father of flames. 	l her name was omm jemîl: she was the daughter of harb, and sister of abu sofiân. 	m for fuel in hell; because she fomented the hatred which her husband bore to mohammed; or, bearing a bundle of thorns and brambles, because she carried such, and strewed them by night in the prophet's way. 	n this chapter is held in particular veneration by the mohammedans, and declared, by a tradition of their prophet, to be equal in value to a third part of the whole korân. it is said to have been revealed in answer to the koreish, who asked mohammed concerning the distinguishing attributes of the god he invited them to worship. 	 see the prelim. disc. sect. ii. p. .		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin, &c.		 abulf. vit. moh. p. . al beidâwi.		 idem, jallalo'ddin.		 idem. chapter cxiii. entitled, the daybreak; where it was revealed is disputed. in the name of the most merciful god. say, i fly for refuge unto the lord of the daybreak,o that he may deliver me from the mischief of those things which he hath created;p and from the mischief of the night, when it cometh on;q and from the mischief of women blowing on knots;r and from the mischief of the envious, when he envieth. ________ chapter cxiv. entitled, men; where it was revealed is disputed.s in the name of the most merciful god. say, i fly for refuge unto the lord of men, the king of men, the god of men, that he may deliver me from the mischief of the whisperer who slyly withdraweth,t who whispereth evil suggestions into the breasts of men: from genii and men. 	o the original word properly signifies a cleaving, and denotes, says al beidâwi, the production of all things in general, from the darkness of privation to the light of existence, and especially of those things which proceed from others, as springs, rain, plants, children, &c., and hence it is used more particularly to signify the breaking forth of the light from darkness, which is a most wonderful instance of the divine power. 	p i.e., from the mischiefs proceeding either from the perverseness and evil choice of those beings which have a power to choose, or the natural effects of necessary agents, as fire, poison, &c., the world being good in the whole, though evils may follow from those two causes. 	q or, as the words may be rendered, from the mischief of the moon, when she is eclipsed. 	r that is, of witches, who used to tie knots in a cord, and to blow on them, uttering at the same time certain magical words over them, in order to work on or debilitate the person they had a mind to injure. this was a common practice in former days: what they call in france nouër l'eguillette, and the knots which the wizards in the northern parts tie, when they sell mariners a wind (if the stories told of them be true), are also relics of the same superstition. 	the commentators relate that lobeid, a jew, with the assistance of his daughters, bewitched mohammed, by tying eleven knots on a cord, which they hid in a well; whereupon mohammed falling ill, god revealed this chapter and the following, and gabriel acquainted him with the use he was to make of them, and of the place where the cord was hidden: according to whose directions the prophet sent ali to fetch the cord, and the same being brought, he repeated the two chapters over it, and at every verse (for they consist of eleven) a knot was loosed, till on finishing the last words, he was entirely freed from the charm. 	s this chapter was revealed on the same occasion and at the same time with the former. 	t i.e., the devil; who withdraweth when a man mentioneth god, or hath recourse to his protection. 	 al beidâwi.		 vide virgil. in pharmaceutria.		 al beidâwi, jallalo'ddin. 						finis an index of the principal matters contained in the koran and the notes thereon. _______ aaron, vide moses. al abbâs, one of mohammed's uncles, taken at bedr, and obliged to ransom himself, , n.; professes islâm, , n.; confesses a passage of the korân to be fulfilled in respect to himself, , n.; remarkable for his loud voice, , n. abda'lhareth, a son of adam, so named abda'llah dhu'lbajadin, , n. abda'llah ebn obba solûl, the hypocrite, admired for his person and eloquence, , n.; threatens to drive mohammed from medina, ib.; raises and inflames a scandalous story of ayesha, , n.; is present at an interview between mohammed and his adversaries, , n.; occasions a quarrel, , n.; promises to assist the nadirites, but fails them, , n.; endeavours to debauch mohammed's men at ohod, , n.; excused from going on the expedition to tabûc, , n.; desires mohammed's prayers in his last sickness, ; and to be buried in the prophet's shirt, , n. abda'llah ebn omm machîm, a blind man, occasions a passage of the korân, , n. abda'llah ebn rawâha, rebukes ebn obba, , n. abda'llah ebn saad, one of mohammed's amanuenses, imagines himself inspired, and corrupts the korân, , n.; apostatizes and is proscribed, but escapes with life, ib. abda'llah ebn salâm, a jew, intimate with mohammed, his honesty, , n.; supposed to have assisted in composing the korân, , n.; confounded by dr. prideaux with salmân, the persian, ib.; commended for his knowledge and faith, . abd menâf, a dispute between his descendants and the sahmites, , n. abda'lrahmân ebn awf, one of mohammed's first converts, p. d., ; an instance of his charity, , n. abel, vide cain; his ram sacrificed by abraham, , n. abraha al ashram, king of yaman, his expedition against mecca; the occasion, and success thereof, , n., &c. abraham, the patriarch, an idolater in his youth, , n.; how he came to the knowledge of the true god, ib.; demolishes the idols of the chaldeans, ; preaches to his people, ; his religion commended, , , , ; disputes with nimrod, ; escapes the fire into which he was thrown by nimrod's order, ; his praying for his father, , ; desires to be convinced of the resurrection, ; his sacrifice of birds, ; entertains the angels, , ; receives the promise of isaac, ; called the friend of god, ; is miraculously supplied by the changing of sand into meal, ib. n.; his sacrifice of his son, ; praises god for ismael and isaac, ; commanded, together with ismael, to build and cleanse the caaba, ; prays to god to raise up a prophet of their seed, and for the plenty and security of mecca, ib.; bequeaths the religion of islâm to his children, ib. abu amer, vide amer, &c. ad, a potent tribe of arabs, destroyed for their infidelity, , , , , , , . vide hûd. adam, traditions concerning his creation, , n., , n., , n.; worshipped by the angels, , , , , , ; his fall, , ; repents and prays, ; meets eve at mount arafat, , n.; retires with her to ceylon, ib.; their stature, ib.; his posterity extracted from his loins by god to acknowledge him for their lord, , n.; names his eldest son as directed by the devil, , n. adoption creates no matrimonial impediment, . adulterers, mohammed's sentence against them, , , n. adultery, its punishment, , ; what evidence required to convict a woman of it, . adversaries, the dispute of two terminated by david, . ahmed, the name under which mohammed was foretold by christ, . al ahkâf, the habitation of the adites, . aila, or elath, the sabbath-breakers there changed into apes, , . al akhnas, a hypocrite, , n., , n. alexander, vide dhu'lkarnein. ali is sent to mecca to publish part of the korân, , n.; the abstinence and charity of him and his family, , n. allât, an idol of the koreish, , . alms recommended, , , , , ; the punishment of not giving alms, in the next life, , n. amena, mohammed's mother; he is not permitted to pray for her, . amer and arbad attempt to kill mohammed, and their punishment, , n. amer (abu), a christian monk, and violent enemy to mohammed, , n. amer (banu), their abstinence on the pilgrimage, , n. ammâr ebn yâser tortured by the koreish on account of his fatih, , n. amru ebn lohai, the great introducer of idolatry among the arabs, , , n. amru (banu) build a mosque at koba, , n. anam, the name of lokmân's son, , n. angel of death, vide azraïl. angels, their original, , ; worship adam, vide adam; impeccable, , n.; of different forms and orders, ; not the objects of worship, ; nor ought to be hated, ; the number of them which support god's throne, ; are deputed to take an account of men's actions, ; some of them appointed to take the souls of men, ; to preside over hell, and to keep guard against the devils, ; assist the moslems at bedr, , ; believed by the arabs to be daughters of god, , , &c.; appear to abraham and lot, , , . animals, irrational, will be raised at the resurrection and judged, , n.; created of water, . ans ebn al nadar, his behaviour at ohod, , n. ansârs, or helpers, who, , n.; three of them excommunicated for refusing to attend mohammed to tabûc, . ants, the valley of, ; their queen's speech to them on the approach of solomon's army, ib. apostles were not believed who wrought miracles, ; those before mohammed accused likewise of imposture, , ; of christ, ; two of them sent to preach at antioch, . apparel, what kind ought to be worn by those who approach the divine presence, . arabians, their acuteness, ; their customs in relation to divorce, , n.; to adoption, ib.; in burying their daughters alive, , ; their superstitions in relation to eating, , &c., ; and in relation to cattle, , ; used to worship naked, and why, , n.; their injustice to orphans and women, , n.; deem the birth of a daughter a misfortune, , n.; the reconciliation of their tribes deemed miraculous, , n.; quit their new religion in great numbers on mohammed's death, . arabs of the desert more obstinate, . al arâf, what, , n. arafat, mount, why so called, , n.; the procession thereto, . arabad, vide amer. al arem, the inundation of, , n. ark of israel taken by the amalekites, , n. arrows for divination forbidden, . al as ebn wayel, an enemy of mohammed's, , . asaf, solomon's vizir, , n. asem, his charity, , n. ashadd (abu'l), his extraordinary strength, , n. ashama, king of ethiopia, embraces mohammedism, , n.; prayed for after his death by mohammed, . asia, the wife of pharaoh, marytred by her husband for believing in moses, , n.; is taken alive into paradise, ib.; one of the four perfect women, . aslam, , n. astrology, hinted at, . al aswad al ansi, the false prophet, , n. al aswad ebn abd yaghuth, al aswad ebn al motalleb, two of mohammed's enemies, . aws and khazraj, their enmity, , n. ayesha, mohammed's wife; the story of her accusation, , n. azraïl, the angel of death, why appointed to that office, , n.; a story of him and solomon, , n. azer, the name given to terah, abraham's father, , n. baal, the chief idol of the chaldeans, , n. babel, the tower of, destroyed, , n. backbiting, vide slander. bahira, . bakhtnasr, vide nebuchadnezzar. balaam, his punishment for cursing the israelites, , n. balkîs, queen of saba, visits solomon, and her reception, ; her legs hairy, ib.; marries solomon, ib. barnabas, his apocryphal gospel, some extracts thence, , n., , n. al barzakh, what, , n. becca, the same with mecca, . becr (abu) attends mohammed in his flight from mecca, , n.; bears testimony to the truth of mohammed's journey to heaven, , n.; his wager with obba ebn khalf, , n.; strikes a jew on the face for speaking irreverently of god, , n.; gives all he has towards the expedition of tabûc, , n.; purchases belâl, , n.; commpared to abraham, , n. bedr, mohammed's victory there, , , &c. bees, made use of as a similitude, . believers; the sincere ones, described, ; their reward, ; their sentence, . benjamin, son of jacob, , &c. birds, omens taken from them, , n. blessed, their future happiness described, , . blood forbidden, . boâth, the battle of, , n. bodeil, a dispute concerning his effects, occasions a passage of the korân, . boheira, the monk, . bribery to pervert justice forbidden, . burden, every soul to bear its own, . caab ebn al alshraf, a jew, mohammed's inveterate enemy, , n., , n.; slain by his means, ib., , n.; mistaken by dr. prideaux for another person, , n. caab ebn asad, persuades the jews in league with mohammed to desert him, , n. al caaba, appointed for a place of worship, , ; built and cleansed by abraham and ismael, ; the keys of it returned to othmân ebn telha, , n. cafûr, a fountain in paradise, . cain and abel, their sacrifices, ; cain kills his brother, ; instructed by a raven to bury him, ib. caleb, vide joshua. calf, the golden, of what and by whom made, ; animated, ib.; worshipped by the israelites, ib. calumny forbidden, . camels, an instance of god's wisdom, ; appointed for sacrifice, ; jacob abstains from their flesh and milk, , n. canaan, an unbelieving son of noah, ; caravans of purveyors sent out by the koreish, . carrion forbidden to be eaten, . cattle, their use, , ; superstitions of the old arabs concerning them, , , &c. al cawthar, a river in paradise, . ceylon, the isle of, vide serendib. charity recommended, , . chastity commended, . children, to inherit their parents substance, , . christ, vide jesus. christians declared infidels, ; and enemies of the moslems, ib. vide jews. collars to be worn by the unbelievers in the life to come, . commandments given the jews, , n. commerce from god, . companions of god, what, . congealed blood, the matter of which man is created, . contracts to be performed, . cow ordered to be sacrificed by the israelites, . creation, some account of it, . crimes to be punished with death, . david kills goliah, , ; his extraordinary devotion, ; the birds and mountains sing praises with him, ; makes breastplates, ; his repentance for taking the wife of uriah, ; his and solomon's judgment, . days appointed to commemorate god, . dead body raised to life by a part of the sacrificed cow, . debtors to be mercifully dealt with, . devil, vide eblis and satan; the occasion of his fall, , . devils included under the name genii, ; the patrons of unbelievers, , , ; their plot to defame solomon, ; were permitted to enter all the seven heavens till the birth of christ, . dhu'lkarnein, who he was, , n.; builds a wall to prevent the incursions of gog and magog, . dhu'lkefl, the prophet, opinions concerning him, ; saves a hundred israelites from slaughter, . dhu'lnûn, vide jonas. dhu nowâs, king of yaman, a jew, persecutes the christians, . disputes to be carried on with mildness, . ditch, war of the, . divorce, laws concerning it, , , , . dogs, &c., allowed to be trained up for hunting, . al dorâb, the celestial mode of the caaba, , n. drink of the damned, . dying persons, what part of the korân is usually read to them, , n. earth, its creation, ; remonstrates against the creation of man, , n.; is kept steady by the mountains, , . earthquake, a sign of the approach of the last day, . eblis refuses to worship adam at god's command, and why, , , , , ; his sentence, ib.; occasions the fall of adam, ib. eden, the meaning of the word in arabic, . edris, supposed to be the same with enoch, . education makes a man an infidel, . elephant, war of the, . elias, vide al khedr. elisha the prophet, . enoch, vide edris. entering into houses and apartments abruptly forbidden, , . envy forbidden, . esop, vide lokmân. eucharist, seems to have occasioned a fable in the korân, . eve, vide adam. evidence, vide witness. evil, vide good. examination of the sepulchre, , n. exhortation to the worship of god, ; to a good life, . ezekiel raises the dry bones, . ezra and his ass restored to life after they had been dead a hundred years, ; called by the jews the son of god, and why, faith must accompany good works, ; the reward of those who fight for it, , , , , , , , &c.; apostates from it to be put to death, ; partial faith not sufficient, , n. famine afflicts the meccans, ; ceases at mohammed's intercession, . fast of ramadân instituted, . fâtema, mohammed's daughter, one of the four perfect women, , n.; favoured of god like the virgin mary, , n.; her charity, , n. al fâtiha, the first chapter of the korân, often repeated by the mohammedans in their prayers, i, n. fidelity recommended, . figs, their virtues, , n. fire, the manner of striking it in the east, , n. fishing allowed during the pilgrimage, . flood, vide noah. food, what kinds are forbidden, , , , , , . forbidden fruit, what, , n. forgiveness, to whom it belongs, . al forkân, one of the names of the korân, , n. fornication forbidden, , ; its punishment, , , . fountain of molten brass flows for solomon, . fountains of paradise, , , . friday, set apart by mohammed for public worship, and why, , n. friendship with unbelievers forbidden, . fruits of the earth, their production an instance of god's power, . fugitives for the sake of religion shall be provided for and rewarded, , . gabriel revealed the korân to mohammed, ; assists the moslems at bedr, ; appears to zacharias, , n.; the angel of revelations, , n.; the enemy of the jews, ib.; appears twice to mohammed in his proper form, ; appears to the virgin mary, and causes her to conceive, ; the dust of his horse's feet animate the golden calf, ; generally appeared to mohammed in a human form, ; commanded to assist mohammed against the koreish, , n.; orders mohammed to go against the koradhites, , n. gaming forbidden, , . gânem (banu) build a mosque with an ill design, which is burnt, , n. garden, story of the, . genii, what, , n.; some of them converted on hearing the korân, . god, proofs of his existence, ; his omnipresence asserted, ; his omnipotence, , ; his power and providence conspicuous in his works, , , , ; his omniscience asserted, , , ; knoweth the secrets of men's hearts, ; and of futurity, ; five things known to him alone, , n.; his goodness set forth, , , , , ; in sending the scriptures and prophets, , ; the author of all good, ; his word, laws, and sentence unalterable, , , ; his mercy set forth, , , , , ; the only giver of victory, , ; his promise to the righteous, ; who acceptable to him, ; ruleth the heart of man, ; his tribunal, ; his throne, ; praiseworthy, , ; his attributes, , n.; ought not to be frequently sworn by, ; hath no issue, , , ; nor similitude, , ; rested not the seventh day through weariness, ; his worship recommended, ib.; his fear recommended, . gog and magog, , . goliah, vide jalût. good works, who shall be redeemed by them, , n. good and evil both from god, . gospel, vide jesus. greaves (mr.), a mistake of his, , n. greeks overcome the persians, . gudarz, the name of nebuchadnezzar, , n. habib, his martyrdom, , n. hâfedha, an idol of ad, , n. haman, pharaoh's chief minister, , . hami, . hamza, mohammed's uncle, killed at ohod, , n.; his body abused, , n. handha ebn safwân, a prophet, , n., , n. hareth (abu), a christian bishop, disputes with mohammed, , n. haretha (banu), reproached by mohammed for flying in battle, . harût and marût, two angels, their story and punishment, . hasan, the son of ali, an instance of his moderation and generosity, , n. hateb ebn abi baltaa sends a letter discovering mohammed's design against mecca, which is intercepted, , n. al hâwiyat, the name of an apartment in hell, , n. heathens, justice not to be observed with regard to them according to the jews, . heavens, the mohamedan belief concerning them, , n.; guarded by angels, ; and earth manifest god's wisdom, ; will fall at the last day, . al hejr, the habitation of the thamudites, . hell torments described, , , ; the portion of unbelievers, , ; prepared for those who choose the pomp of this life, ; and hoard up money, ; shall not hurt the believers, , n.; will be dragged towards god's tribunal at the last day, , n.; and will then be filled, , n. al hodeibiya, the trial there, ; the expedition thither, , &c. holy spirit, who is meant thereby, , n. honein, the battle of, . honey, an excellent medicine, . hospitality recommended, . al hotama, the name of an apartment in hell, . hûd, the prophet, his story, . see ad. hunting and fowling forbidden during the pilgrimage, , . husband, his superiority over the wife, ; his duty to her, , &c.; difference between them to be reconciled by friends, , . see divorce, wives, marriage, &c. hypocrites described, , &c.; their sentence, . idolaters compared to brutes, ; to a spider, ; not to be prayed for while such, ; their sentence, . idolatry, the heinousness thereof, ; unpardonable, if not repented of, . idols, their insignificancy, , , , ; will appear as witnesses against their worshippers, ; worshipped by the antediluvians, . ilhiz, a sort of food used by the arabs in time of scarcity, , n. illiyyûn, the meaning of the word, , n. ilyasin, who, , n. imâm, the meaning of the word, , n. immodesty condemned, . immunity declared to the idolaters for four months, . imposture charged on all the prophets, . imrân, father of the virgin mary, ; whether mohammed confounded him with the father of moses and miriam, , n. infidels, how they will appear at the last day, ; will drink boiling water, ; would have believed, had the korân been revealed to some great man, ; if not convinced by the korân, will not be convinced by miracles, ; have some notion of a future state, ; their blasphemy, ; to be made war upon, , ; those who die such not to be prayed for, , ; forbidden to approach mecca, . inheritances, laws relating thereto, , . injury, to forgive the same is meritorious, . intercalation of a month forbidden, . irem, the city of ad, . iron, its usefulness, ; some utensils of that metal brought by adam down from paradise, ib. isaac promised, ; his birth, ib. islâm the proper name of the mohammedan religion, , n.; the only true religion, ; the only religion till the death of abel, . ismael, vide abraham. israelites, their males slain by pharaoh, ; pass the red sea, ; god's goodness to them, ib., ; miraculously fed in the wilderness, ; lust for the herbs of egypt, ; worship the golden calf, , , ; their punishment, , ; change the word put into their mouth at jericho, , ; commanded to sacrifice a red cow, , &c.; demand to see god, and their punishment, ; refuse to enter the holy land, and their punishment, ; their transgression, ; desire a king, ; cursed by david and jesus, . vide jews. jacob bequeaths the religion of islâm to his children, ; grows blind by weeping for the loss of joseph, ; recovers his sight by means of joseph's garment, and goes into egypt, . jadd ebn kais, , n. jahl (abu), a great enemy of mohammed, ; his injustice to an orphan, , n.; terrified, seeing mohammed at prayers, ; his advice concerning mohammed, , n.; slain at bedr, , n. al jallâs ebn soweid, , n. jalût, or goliah, sent against the israelites, , n.; slain by david, . al jassâsa, the beast which will appear at the approach of the last day, , n. jesus promised to mary, ; his miraculous birth, ; compared to adam, ; speaks in his mother's womb, ; and in his cradle, ib.; the apostle of the jews, ib.; animates a bird of clay, when a child, ib., n.; performs several miracles, but not by his own power, ib.; raises three persons to life, ib.; causes a table with provisions to descend from heaven, ; his miracles deemed sorcery, ; rejected by the jews, ; sends two of his disciples to antioch, who work miracles, ; a curse denounced against those who believe not on him, ; the jews lay a plot for his life, but are disappointed, ; not really crucified, ib., ; whether he died or not, ; not god nor equal to god, , ; but an apostle only, , , ; the word of god, ; various opinions concerning him, ; will descend on earth before the resurrection, and kill antichrist, &c., , . jethro, vide shoaib. jews, vide israelites; particularly applied to, , ; accused of having corrupted the scriptures and of stifling passages, , n., , ; accuse the virgin mary of fornication, , n.; plot against jesus, ; their unbelief, , , n.; covetous of life, ; reproved for warring against one another, ; proof required by them of a prophet's mission, ; their punishments at different times for neglect of their religion, ; metamorphosed into apes and swine for their infidelity, , , ; pretend their punishment in hell shall be short, , ; their law confirmed by jesus and the korân, ; their laws concerning food, ; dispute with the mohammedans concerning god's favour, ; mohammed refuses to decide a controversy between them, ; league with the koreish against mohammed, ; demand that mohammed cause a book to descend from heaven, ; a controversy between a jew and a mohammedan, . jews and christians accused of condemning one another, ; and of corrupting the scriptures, ; guilty of two extremes as to their opinion of christ, ; none of them shall die before he believes in christ, ; their different behaviour to the moslems, ; to be protected on payment of tribute, . job, his story, , . john, the son of zacharias, his character, ; his murder revenged on the jews by nebuchadnezzar, ; the miracle of his blood, ib. jonâda first practises the intercalation of a month among the arabs, . jonas, his story, , , ; called dhu'lnûn, . joseph, his story, , &c. joshua and caleb sent as spies into the land of canaan, . journey, mohammed's to heaven, . jowâdh (abu'l), the hypocrite, finds fault with mohammed's distribution of the spoils at honein, . judgment (day of), the mohammedan tradition concerning it, ; described, , , , , ; the signs of its approach, , , , n.; called the hour, ; unknown to any besides god, ; will come suddenly, ib.; and inevitably, , . al judi, the mountain whereon noah's ark rested, . just and unjust, the difference between them, . al kadr, the name of the night on which the korân came down from heaven, . kail sent to mecca to obtain rain for ad, , n. kârûn (or corah), his story and fearful end, , &c. kebla, the part towards which the mohammedans turn in prayer, , n.; indifferent, , changed from jerusalem to mecca, , . kendah a tribe who used to bury their daughters alive, , n. keys of knowledge (the five), , n. khadijah, mohammed's wife, one of the four perfect women, , n khaibar, the expedition thither, , n. khaithama (abu), a story of him, , n. khâled ebn al walîd puts mohammed's horse to flight at the battle of ohod, , n.; demolishes the idol of al uzza, , n.; drives acrema and his men into mecca, , n. khantala, vide handha. khawla bint thalâba, her case occasions a passage of the korân, . khazraj, vide aws. al khedr, the prophet, his adventures with moses, , &c. khobaib, his martyrdom, , n. khozâa (the tribe of) held the angels to be the daughters of god, , n. kitfîr, joseph's master, , n. koba, mohammed founds a mosque there, , n. kobeis (abu), a mountain near mecca, whence abraham proclaimed the pilgrimage, , n. korân, the signification of the word, , n.; by whom composed, , n.; twenty-three years in completing, , n.; could not be composed by any besides god, ; men and genii defied to produce a chapter like it, ib., ; no forgery, ; sent down by god himself, ; its excellency, , n., , ; consonant to scripture, , ; no revelation more evident, ; contains all things necessary, , ; all differences to be decided by it, ; its contents partly literal and partly figurative, ; traduced by the unbelievers, ; as a piece of sorcery, , as a poetical composition, ; as a pack of fables, ; the sentence of those who believe not in it, ; when revealed, ; not liable to corruption, ; ought not to be touched by the unclean, . koreidha (tribe of), their destruction, , n. koreish (the tribe of), their nobility, , ; their enmity to mohammed, , n.; demand miracles of him, ; threaten him for abusing their gods, ; propound three questions to him, ; some of them attempt to kill him, but are struck blind, ; lose seventy of their principal men at bedr, , ; persecute mohammed's followers, ; plagued with famine, , n.; and several diseases, ; their manner of praying, ; make a truce with mohammed, , n.; violate the truce and lose mecca, , n. kosai names his sons from four idols, , n.; the koreish demand him to be raised to life by mohammed, , n. laheb (abu), mohammed's uncle, and bitter enemy, , n.; his and his wife's punishment, ib. lapwing gives solomon an account of the city of saba, ; carries a letter from him to the queen, ib.; her sagacity in finding water, ib. last day, vide judgment. law given to moses, ; confirmed by jesus, ; and the korân, . laws relating to inheritances, , ; legacies, , ; to divorce, vide divorce; to murder, vide murder, &c. laws of moses and jesus set aside by the korân, , n. laws of god, the punishment of those who conceal them, , n. lazarus raised, , n. legs made bare, the meaning of that expression, , n. leith (banu) thought it unlawful to eat alone, . letters, initial, explained, , n. life to come, how expressed in arabic, , n. lobâba (abu), his treachery, , n. lokmân, his history, ; whether the same with esop, . lot, his story, , ; his wife's infidelity, . lote-tree in heaven, . lots forbidden, , . madian, a city of hejâz, ; its inhabitants destroyed, . magog, vide gog. malec, the principal angel who has the charge of hell, . malec ebn al seif, a jew, , n. man, his wonderful formation, ; created various ways, ; shall be rewarded according to his deserts, ; ought to be thankful for the good things of this life, ; his ingratitude to god, ; his presumption in undertaking to fulfil the laws of god, ; why destroyed, . manna given to the israelites, . marriage, laws relating thereto, , ; mohammed's privileges as to marriage, , &c.; apt to distract a man from his duty, . martyrs, not dead but living, ; the sufferings of two mohammedans, . marût, vide harût. mary, the virgin, her story, , &c.; free from original sin, , miraculously fed, ib.; one of the four perfect women, , n.; calumniated by the jews, ; a woman of veracity, . al mashér al harâm, . masúd (ebn), a tradition of his in relation to pharaoh, . maturity of age, . measure ought to be just, , . mecca, the security and plenty of that city, . see caaba. meccans, their idolatry and superstitions condemned, , ; imagined their idols interceded for them with god, ; reproached for their ingratitude, ; threatened with destruction, ; require mohammed to show them the angels, , n.; send their poor out of the city to mohammed, , n.; hold a council and conspire mohammed's destruction, , n.; applied indecent circumstances to god, , n.; chastised with famine and sword, , n.; promised rain on their embracing islâm, , n. medina, its inhabitants reproved for declining the expedition of tabûc, . menât, an idol of the meccans, , . merwa, vide safâ. mestah, one of the accusers of ayesha, , n. midian, vide madian. michael the friend of the jews, , n. milk, its production wonderful, . mina, the valley of, . miracles required of mohammed, , n., , n., . months, sacred, to be observed, , , , . moon split in sunder, . mohâjerîn, or refugees, who, , n. mohammed promised to adam, ; foretold by christ, ; expected by jews and christians, ; sent at forty years of age, , n.; complained of by the koreish to his uncle, abu taleb, , n.; his revelations ridiculed by the meccans, , n.; his journey to heaven, ; enters into a league with those of medina, , n.; discovers the conspiracy of the meccans against his life, , n.; gains some proselytes of the genii by reading the korân, , n.; sent as a mercy to all creatures, ; the illiterate prophet, ; excuses his inability to work miracles, , ; his promise to those who fly for religion, , n.; accused of injustice in dividing the spoils, , ; flies to medina, ; foretells the victory at bedr, , n.; an account of that victory, , , &c.; loses the battle of ohod, where he is in danger of his life, ; reported to be slain, , n.; lays the fault on his men for disobeying his orders, ; endeavours to quiet their murmurs for that misfortune, , &c.; goes to meet the koreish at bedr according to their challenge, , n.; foretells the battle of the ditch, ; the fear of his men at that battle, ib.; his men swear fidelity to him at al hodeibiya, , n.; his generosity, ; makes a truce with the koreish for ten years, ib.; his courage at the battle of honein, , n.; expostulates with his followers on their unwillingness to go on the expedition to tabûc, , &c.; some account of that expedition, , n.; a conspiracy to kill him, , n., , n.; another attempt on his life, from which he is miraculously preserved, , n.; is almost prevailed on by the jews to go into syria, , n.; reproves the hypocritical moslems, ; his mercy to the disobedient, ; his wives demand a better allowance, on which he offers them a divorce, ; they choose to stay with him, and he lays down some rules for their behaviour, ib.; the jews reproach him on account of the number of his wives, , n.; his privileges in that and some other respects, , &c.; his divorced wives or widows not to marry again, ; his amour with mary, an egyptian slave, ; disputes in a jewish synagogue, , n.; decides a controversy in favour of a jew against a mohammedan, , n.; reprehended for a rash judgment, , n.; not allowed to pray for reprobate idolaters, ; utters blasphemy through inadvertance, , n.; no revelation vouchsafed him for several days, , , n.; enjoined to admonish his people, ; his near relation to the believers, ; demands respect and obedience from them, , ; challenges his opponents to produce a chapter like the korân, ; put out of conceit with honey, , desires nothing for his pains in preaching, ; acknowledges himself a sinner, ; commanded to pray by night, ; refuses the adoration of two christians, , n.; refuses to eat with an infidel, , in.; prophesies the defeat of the persians by the romans, ; reprehends his companions' impatience, ; and their imitating the christians, ; speaks by revelation, ; his dream at bedr, ; his dream at medina, ; his doctrine compared with that of the other prophets, ; is terrified at the approach of gabriel, ; is reprehended for his neglect of a poor blind man, ; demolishes the idols of mecca, ; warned to prepare for death, . mohammedans believe in all the scriptures and prophets without distinction, ; forbidden to hold friendship with infidels, , ; the hypocritical threatened, ; the lukewarm deceive their own souls, ; the sincere, their reward, , their description, . moseilama, the false prophet, , n. moses, his story, , &c., , &c., , &c., , &c.; his miraculous preservation in his infancy, , &c.; the impediment in his speech, how occasioned, , n.; kills an egyptian, and flies into midian, ; is entertained by shoaib, ; receives his rod from him, ib. n.; sees the fire in the bush, ; is sent to pharaoh, and receives the power of working miracles, ; his transactions in egypt, , , &c.; brings water from the rock, , , n., cleared from an unjust aspersion by a stone's running away with his clothes, , n.; treats with god, and receives the tables of the law from him, , ; breaks the tables, and is wroth with aaron on account of the golden calf, ; threatens the people, ib.; part of his law rehearsed, ; reproved for his vanity, , n.; his expedition in search of al khedr, ib.; his and aaron's relics in the ark, ; his law now corrupted, , n. moslems, vide mohammedans. murder, laws concerning it, , , , , . musulman, whence the word comes, , n. mysteries, how expressed in arabic, , n. al nadir (the tribe of) expelled arabia, , n. nebuchadnezzar takes jerusalem, , n. night, part of it to be spent in prayer, . nimrod disputes with abraham, ; his tower, , n.; attempts to ascend to heaven, , n.; his persecution of abraham and his punishment, ib. noah, his story, , , , , , &c.; his prayer, ; his wife's infideliity, . al nodar, one of mohammed's adversaries, his opinion of the korân, , n.; introduces a persian romance as preferable to it, , n. oath, an inconsiderate one, how to be expiated, ; an extraordinary one, . oaths, cautions concerning them, ; not to be violated, . obba ebn khalf disputes against the resurrection, , n.; his wager with abu becr, , n.; is wounded by mohammed, , n. oda ebn kais, an enemy of mohammed, . offerings to god recommended, ; a large one made by mohammed, ib og, fables concerning him, ohod, the battle fought there, , n., okail (abu), his charity, , n. okba ebn abi moait professes islâm and apostatizes, , n.; publicly abuses mohammed, ib.; taken and beheaded at bedr, ib. olive-trees grow at mount sinai, . olivet (mount), christ taken thence by a whirlwind, , n. omar, his deciding a dispute between a jew and a mohammedan, , n.; compared to noah, , n. omm salma, one of mohammed's wives, , n. omeyya ebn abi'lsalt, , n. opprobrious language forbidden, . orphans not to be injured, , ; a curse on those who defraud them, ; to be instructed in religion, . ostrich's egg, a fine woman's skin compared to it, . othmân ebn affân sent by mohammed to the koreish, is imprisoned, , n.; contributes largely to the expedition of tabûc, , n. othmân ebn matûn, his conversion occasioned by a passage of the korân, , n. othmân ebn telha has the keys of the caaba returned to him by mohammed, , n.; embraces mohammedism, ib oven, whence the first waters of the deluge poured forth, , n. ozair, vide ezra. parables, , , , , , paraclete, the mohammedan opinion concerning the person meant thereby, , n. paradise described, , , , &c.; where situate, , n.; its fruits, ; the portion of the distressed, . pardon will be granted to the penitent, . parents to be honoured, , ; make their children infidels, . patience recommended, , ; the sign of a true believer, , n. patriarchs before moses neither jews nor christians, . pen with which god's decrees are written, . penitent, their reward, . pentateuch, vide law persecutors, their sentence, . persians overcome by the greeks, , n. peter (st.), his stratagem to convert those of antioch, , n. pharaoh, his story, , &c., , &c., ; the common title of the kings of egypt, ; a punishment used by him, ; his presumption, . phineas ebn azura, a jew, his dishonesty, ; his indecent expressions concerning god, , , n. pico de adam, vide serendib. pilgrimage to mecca commanded, ; directions concerning it, , , , &c. pledges to be given where no contract in writing, . plurality of worlds, the belief thereof imputed to mohammed, i, n. poets censured, . pomp of this life of no value, . polygamy, vide marriage. prayer commanded and enforced, , , , , , &c.; directions concerning it, , , , , ; not to be entered on by him who is drunk, ; before reading the korân, ; for the penitent, . predestination, , . pre-existence of souls a doctrine not unknown to the mohammedans, , n. pride, abominable in the sight of god, . prideaux (dr.) charges the mohammedans with cruelty, without foundation, , n. confounds salmân with abd'allah ebn salâm, , n.; his partiality as to the story of abraha's overthrow, , n.; confounds caab ebn al ashraf, the jew, with caab ebn zohair, the poet, , n.; misled by erpenius, , n.; misquotes a passage of the korân, , n.; mistaken in asserting mohammed might marry his nieces, , n. prodigality, a crime, . prophets, their enemy will have god for his, ; rejected and persecuted before mohammed, , ; not chosen for their nobility or riches, . vide sinai. prosperity or adversity, no mark of god's favour or disfavour, . punishments and blessings of the next life, ; the manner, . quails given the israelites, ; what kind of birds they were, ib., n. quarrels between the true believers to be composed, ; to be avoided on the pilgrimage, . quietism, mohammedans no strangers to it, , n. rafe (abu), a jew, offers to worship mohammed, . rahûn, vide serendib. raïna, a word used by the jews to mohammed by way of derision, . al rakim, what, . ramadân (the month) appointed for a fast, . ransom of captives disapproved, . al rass, various opinions concerning it, , n. razeka, an idol of ad, . religion, no violence to be used in it, ; what is the right, ; fighting for it commanded and encouraged, , , , , , , , ; divided into various sects, ; harmony therein recommended, ; whether those of any religion may be saved, , n. repentance necessary to salvation, ; a death-bed one ineffectual, ib. resurrection asserted, , , , ; described, , ; the signs of its approach, ; its time known to god alone, . retaliation (the law of), . revelations in writinng given to several prophets, , n.; what are now extant according to the mohammedans, ib. revenge allowed, . riches will not gain a man admission into paradise, ; employ a man's whole life, . right way, what the mohammmedans so call, i, n. righteous, their reward, , , . righteousness, wherein it consists, . rites appointed in every religion, . rock, whence moses produced water, . saad ebn abi wakkâs, , , n. saad ebn moadh, his severity, , n.; dooms the koradhites to destruction, , n. saba, queen of, vide balkîs. saba, the wickedness of his posterity, and their punishment, . sabbath, the transgression thereof punished, . safâ and merwâ, mountains of, two monuments of god, . sasiya bint hoyai, one of mohammed's wives, , n. al sâhira, one of the names of hell, , n. saïba, . sâkia, an idol of ad, sakhar, a devil, gets solomon's signet, and reigns in his stead. , n.; his punishment, ib. sâleh, the prophet, his story, , &c., , &c. vide thamûd. sâlema, an idol of ad, . salsabil, a fountain in paradise, . salutation, mutual, recommended, . al sâmeri, the maker of the golden calf, who, , n., , n. sarah, wife of abraham, her laughing, . satan, his punishment for seducing our first parents, ; believed to assist the koreish, . saul, his story, , &c. sects and their leaders shall quarrel at the resurrection, . sejâj, the prophetess, , n. sejjîn, what, , n. sennacherib, , n. separation, the day of, a name of the day of judgment, . serâb, what, . serendib, the isle of, adam cast down thereon from paradise, , n.; the print of adam's foot shown on a mountain there, ib. sergius, the monk, , n. serpent, his sentence for assisting in the seduction of man, , n. seventy israelites demand to see god; are killed by lightning, and restored to life at the prayer of moses, . al seyid al najrâni, a jew, offers to worship mohammed, . shamhozai, a debauched angel, his penance, , n. shâs ebn kais, a jew, promotes a quarrel between aws and khazraj, , n. schechinah, misinterpreted by the commentators, , n. sheddâd, son of ad, makes a garden in imitation of paradise, , n.; is destroyed in going to view it, ib. sheep, the prodigious weight of their tails in the east, , n. shem, raised to life by jesus, , n. shoaib, the prophet, his story, , &c., . signs, the meaning of the word in the korân. , n. al sijil, the angel who takes an account of men's actions, . sin, the irremissible one, in the opinion of the mohammedans, , n.; the seven deadly sins, , n. sinai, mount, lifted over the israelites, , ; the souls of all the prophets present at the delivery of the law to moses thereon, . simon the cyrenæan, supposed to be crucified instead of jesus, , n. sirius, or the greater dog-star, worshipped by the old arabs, . slaves, how to be treated, ; women not to be compelled to prostitute themselves, . slander forbidden, ; the punishment of those who slander the prophets, , . sleepers, the seven, their story, , &c. smoke, which will precede the day of judgment, . sodom and gomorrah destroyed, . sodomy, . sofiân (abu) commands the army of the koreish at ohod, ; and the convoy of the caravan at bedr, ; challenges mohammed to meet him at bedr a second time, , n.; but fails, , n.; embraces mohammedism on the taking of mecca, ; expostulates with mohammed, . sohail ebn amru treats with mohammed on behalf of the koreish, . soheib flies to medinna, . solomon succeeds david, ; has power over the winds, , ; his and david's judgment, ; his manner of travelling, ; what passed between him and the queen of saba, , &c.; a trick of the devil's to blast his character, ; cleared by the mouth of mohammed, ib.; orders several of his horses to be killed, because they had diverted him from his prayers, ; is deprived of his signet and his kingdom for some days, ; his death concealed for a year, and in what manner, . sorâka ebn malec, the devil appears in his form, . soul, the origin of it, . spoils, laws concerning their division, , . stars darted at the devils, . stoning of adulterers, , n. striking, an epithet of the last day, . supererogation, . sura, or chapter of the korân, . sun and moon, not to be worshipped, ; are subject to god and the use of man, . swearer, a common, not to be obeyed, . swine's flesh. vide food. table caused to descend form heaven by jesus, ; of god's decrees, . tables of the law, . tabûc, the expedition of, . taghût, the meaning of the word, , n. tâleb (abu), mohammed's uncle, , n.; mohammed refuses to pray for him on his dying an infidel, ib. talût, vide saul. tasnîm, a fountain in paradise, . tebâla and jorash, their inhabitants embrace mohammedism, . temple of mecca, vide caaba; of jerusalem, built by genii, . thálaba grows suddenly rich on mohammed's prayer for him, , n.; refusing to pay alms is again reduced to poverty, ib. thakîf, the tribe of, demand terms of mohammed, which are denied them, , n. thamûd, the tribe of, their story and destruction, , , , . vide saleh. theft, its punishment, . throne of god, ; will be borne by eight angels on the day of judgment, . thunder celebrates the praise of god, . tima ebn obeirak, his theft, , n. time computed by the sun and moon, . titian, the name of the person supposed to be crucified in christ's stead, , n. tobba, the people of, destroyed, . toleihah, the false prophet, , , n. towa, the valley where moses saw the burning bush, . tribute, its imposition. . trinity, the belief thereof forbidden, , . true believers, who are such, . trumpet will sound at the last day, , . unbelievers described, ; their sentence, , , . unity of god asserted, . unrighteousness punished, . usury forbidden, , . al uzza, an idol of the meccans, , n., . variety of languages and complexions hard to be accounted for, . victory of the greeks over the persians foretold by mohammed, . visitation of the caaba, . al walid ebn al mogheira, a great enemy of mohammed, was a bastard, , n.; derides mohammed for calling god al rahmân, ; has his nose slit, , n.; his prosperity and decay, ; hires another to bear the guilt of his apostacy, ; his death, . al walid ebn okba, , n. war against infidels, commanded and recommended, , , , &c. waraka ebn nawfal acknowledged one god before the mission of mohammed, , n. wasîla, . water produced from the rock by moses, . weight to be just, , . whoredom, laws concerning it, , . wicked, their sentence, , , . see unbelievers. widows to be provided for, ; laws relating to them, . wife ought to be used justly, ; may be chastised, ; the number of wives allowed by the korân, ; their duty to their husbands, . see adultery, divorce and marriage. winds, their use, ; subject to solomon, , . wine forbidden, , . wills, laws relating to them, . witnesses, laws relating to them, , ; necessary in bargains, and to secure debts, . women ought to be respected, ; and to have a part of their relations' inheritance, ; not to be inherited against their will, ; to be subject to the men, ; unclean while they have their courses, ; some directions for their conduct, , ; the punishment of those who falsely accuse them of incontinence, , ; those who come over from the enemy, how to be dealt with, . works of an infidel, will appear to him at the last day, . al yamama, its inhabitants a warlike people, . al yaman, the inhabitants thereof slay their prophet, , n.; they are destroyed by nebuchadnezzar, ib. yathreb, the ancient name of medina, . al zabir, mount, , n. al zacât, vide alms. zacharias, praying for a son, is promised john, , ; educates the virgin mary, . al zakkûm, the tree of hell, , , &c. al zamharîr, what, , n. zeid ebn amru, acknowledged one god before the mission of mohammed, , n. zeid, the husband of zeinab, his story, , n.; the only person, of mohammed's companions, named in the korân, ib. zeinab, her marriage with mohammed, ib. zenjebil, a stream in paradise, . zoleikha, joseph's mistress, , &c. i i christianity and islam by c.h. becker, ph.d. professor of oriental history in the colonial institute of hamburg translated by rev. h.j. chaytor, m.a. headmaster of plymouth college table of contents the subject from different points of view: limits of treatment the nature of the subject: the historical points of connection between christianity and islam a. christianity and the rise of islam: . muhammed and his contemporaries . the influence of christianity upon the development of muhammed . muhammed's knowledge of christianity . the position of christians under muhammedanism b. the similarity of christian and muhammedan metaphysics during the middle ages: . the means and direction by which christian influence affected islam . the penetration of daily life by the spirit of religion; asceticism, contradictions and influences affecting the development of a clerical class and the theory of marriage . the theory of life in general with reference to the doctrine of immortality . the attitude of religion towards the state, economic life, society, etc. . the permanent importance to islam of these influences: the doctrine of duties . ritual . mysticism and the worship of saints . dogma and the development of scholasticism c. the influence of islam upon christianity: the manner in which this influence operated, and the explanation of the superiority of islam the influence of muhammedan philosophy the new world of european christendom and the modern east conclusion. the historical growth of religion bibliography christianity and islam a comparison of christianity with muhammedanism or with any other religion must be preceded by a statement of the objects with which such comparison is undertaken, for the possibilities which lie in this direction are numerous. the missionary, for instance, may consider that a knowledge of the similarities of these religions would increase the efficacy of his proselytising work: his purpose would thus be wholly practical. the ecclesiastically minded christian, already convinced of the superiority of his own religion, will be chiefly anxious to secure scientific proof of the fact: the study of comparative religion from this point of view was once a popular branch of apologetics and is by no means out of favour at the present day. again, the inquirer whose historical perspective is undisturbed by ecclesiastical considerations, will approach the subject with somewhat different interests. he will expect the comparison to provide him with a clear view of the influence which christianity has exerted upon other religions or has itself received from them: or he may hope by comparing the general development of special religious systems to gain a clearer insight into the growth of christianity. hence the object of such comparisons is to trace the course of analogous developments and the interaction of influence and so to increase the knowledge of religion in general or of our own religion in particular. a world-religion, such as christianity, is a highly complex structure and the evolution of such a system of belief is best understood by examining a religion to which we have not been bound by a thousand ties from the earliest days of our lives. if we take an alien religion as our subject of investigation, we shall not shrink from the consequences of the historical method: whereas, when we criticise christianity, we are often unable to see the falsity of the pre-suppositions which we necessarily bring to the task of inquiry: our minds follow the doctrines of christianity, even as our bodies perform their functions--in complete unconsciousness. at the same time we possess a very considerable knowledge of the development of christianity, and this we owe largely to the help of analogy. especially instructive is the comparison between christianity and buddhism. no less interesting are the discoveries to be attained by an inquiry into the development of muhammedanism: here we can see the growth of tradition proceeding in the full light of historical criticism. we see the plain man, muhammed, expressly declaring in the qoran that he cannot perform miracles, yet gradually becoming a miracle worker and indeed the greatest of his class: he professes to be nothing more than a mortal man: he becomes the chief mediator between man and god. the scanty memorials of the man become voluminous biographies of the saint and increase from generation to generation. yet more remarkable is the fact that his utterances, his _logia_, if we may use the term, some few of which are certainly genuine, increase from year to year and form a large collection which is critically sifted and expounded. the aspirations of mankind attribute to him such words of the new testament and of greek philosophers as were especially popular or seemed worthy of muhammed; the teaching also of the new ecclesiastical schools was invariably expressed in the form of proverbial utterances attributed to muhammed, and these are now without exception regarded as authentic by the modern moslem. in this way opinions often contradictory are covered by muhummed's authority. the traditions concerning jesus offer an analogy. our gospels, for instance, relate the beautiful story of the plucking of the ears of corn on the sabbath, with its famous moral application, "the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath." a christian papyrus has been discovered which represents jesus as explaining the sanctity of the sabbath from the judaeo-christian point of view. "if ye keep not the sabbath holy, ye shall not see the father," is the statement in an uncanonical gospel. in early christian literature, contradictory sayings of jesus are also to be found. doubtless here, as in muhammedan tradition, the problem originally was, what is to be my action in this or that question of practical life: answer is given in accordance with the religious attitude of the inquirer and jesus and muhammed are made to lend their authority to the teaching. traditional literary form is then regarded as historical by later believers. examples of this kind might be multiplied, but enough has been said to show that much and, to some extent, new light may be thrown upon the development of christian tradition, by an examination of muhammedanism which rose from similar soil but a few centuries later, while its traditional developments have been much more completely preserved. such analogies as these can be found, however, in any of the world-religions, and we propose to devote our attention more particularly to the influences which christianity and islam exerted directly upon one another. while muhammedanism has borrowed from its hereditary foe, it has also repaid part of the debt. by the very fact of its historical position islam was at first indebted to christianity; but in the department of christian philosophy, it has also exerted its own influence. this influence cannot be compared with that of greek or jewish thought upon christian speculation: christian philosophy, as a metaphysical theory of existence, was however strongly influenced by arabian thought before the outset of the reformation. on the other hand the influence of christianity upon islam--and also upon muhammed, though he owed more to jewish thought--was so extensive that the coincidence of ideas upon the most important metaphysical questions is positively amazing. there is a widespread belief even at the present day that islam was a complete novelty and that the religion and culture of the muhammedan world were wholly alien to western medievalism. such views are entirely false; during the middle ages muhammedanism and western culture were inspired by the same spirit. the fact has been obscured by the contrast between the two religions whose differences have been constantly exaggerated and by dissimilarities of language and nationality. to retrace in full detail the close connection which unites christianity and islam would be the work of years. within the scope of the present volume, all that can be done is to explain the points of contact between christian and muhammedan theories of life and religion. such is the object of the following pages. we shall first treat of muhammed personally, because his rise as a religious force will explain the possibility of later developments. this statement also explains the sense in which we shall use the term christianity. muhammedanism has no connection with post-reformation christianity and meets it only in the mission field. practical questions there arise which lie beyond the limits of our subject, as we have already indicated. our interests are concerned with the mediaeval church, when christianity first imposed its ideas upon muhammedanism at the time of its rise in the east, and afterwards received a material extension of its own horizon through the rapid progress of its protégé. our task is to analyse and explain these special relations between the two systems of thought. the religion now known as islam is as near to the preaching of muhammed or as remote from it, as modern catholicism or protestant christianity is at variance or in harmony with the teaching of jesus. the simple beliefs of the prophet and his contemporaries are separated by a long course of development from the complicated religious system in its unity and diversity which islam now presents to us. the course of this development was greatly influenced by christianity, but christian ideas had been operative upon muhammed's eager intellectual life at an even earlier date. we must attempt to realise the working of his mind, if we are to gain a comprehension of the original position of islam with regard to christianity. the task is not so difficult in muhammed's case as in that of others who have founded religious systems: we have records of his philosophical views, important even though fragmentary, while vivid descriptions of his experiences have been transmitted to us in his own words, which have escaped the modifying influence of tradition at second hand. muhammed had an indefinite idea of the word of god as known to him from other religions. he was unable to realise this idea effectively except as an immediate revelation; hence throughout the qoran he represents god as speaking in the first person and himself appears as the interlocutor. even direct commands to the congregation are introduced by the stereotyped "speak"; it was of primary importance that the qoran should be regarded as god's word and not as man's. this fact largely contributed to secure an uncontaminated transmission of the text, which seems also to have been left by muhammed himself in definite form. its intentional obscurity of expression does not facilitate the task of the inquirer, but it provides, none the less, considerable information concerning the religious progress of its author. here we are upon firmer ground than when we attempt to describe muhammed's outward life, the first half of which is wrapped in obscurity no less profound than that which veils the youth of the founder of christianity. muhammed's contemporaries lived amid religious indifference. the majority of the arabs were heathen and their religious aspirations were satisfied by local cults of the old semitic character. they may have preserved the religious institutions of the great south arabian civilisation, which was then in a state of decadence; the beginnings of islam may also have been influenced by the ideas of this civilisation, which research is only now revealing to us: but these points must remain undecided for the time being. south arabian civilisation was certainly not confined to the south, nor could an organised township such as mecca remain outside its sphere of influence: but the scanty information which has reached us concerning the religious life of the arabs anterior to islam might also be explained by supposing them to have followed a similar course of development. in any case, it is advisable to reserve judgment until documentary proof can replace ingenious conjecture. the difficulty of the problem is increased by the fact that jewish and especially christian ideas penetrated from the south and that their influence cannot be estimated. the important point for us to consider is the existence of christianity in southern arabia before the muhammedan period. nor was the south its only starting-point: christian doctrine came to arabia from the north, from syria and babylonia, and numerous conversions, for the most part of whole tribes, were made. on the frontiers also arabian merchants came into continual contact with christianity and foreign merchants of the christian faith could be found throughout arabia. but for the arabian migration and the simultaneous foundation of a new arabian religion, there is no doubt that the whole peninsula would have been speedily converted to christianity. the chief rival of christianity was judaism, which was represented in northern as in southern arabia by strong colonies of jews, who made proselytes, although their strict ritualism was uncongenial to the arab temperament which preferred conversion to christianity (naturally only as a matter of form). in addition to jewish, christian, and old semitic influences, zoroastrian ideas and customs were also known in arabia, as is likely enough in view of the proximity of the persian empire. these various elements aroused in muhammed's mind a vague idea of religion. his experience was that of the eighteenth-century theologians who suddenly observed that christianity was but one of many very similar and intelligible religions, and thus inevitably conceived the idea of a pure and natural religious system fundamental to all others. judaism and christianity were the only religions which forced themselves upon muhammed's consciousness and with the general characteristics of which he was acquainted. he never read any part of the old or new testament: his references to christianity show that his knowledge of the bible was derived from hearsay and that his informants were not representative of the great religious sects: muhammed's account of jesus and his work, as given in the qoran, is based upon the apocryphal accretions which grew round the christian doctrine. when muhammed proceeded to compare the great religions of the old and new testaments with the superficial pietism of his own compatriots, he was especially impressed with the seriousness of the hebrews and christians which contrasted strongly with the indifference of the heathen arabs. the arab was familiar with the conception of an almighty god, and this idea had not been obscured by the worship of trees, stones, fire and the heavenly bodies: but his reverence for this god was somewhat impersonal and he felt no instinct to approach him, unless he had some hopes or fears to satisfy. the idea of a reckoning between man and god was alien to the arab mind. christian and jewish influence became operative upon muhammed with reference to this special point. the idea of the day of judgment, when an account of earthly deeds and misdeeds will be required, when the joys of paradise will be opened to the good and the bad will be cast into the fiery abyss, such was the great idea, which suddenly filled muhammed's mind and dispelled the indifference begotten of routine and stirred his mental powers. polytheism was incompatible with the idea of god as a judge supreme and righteous, but yet merciful. thus monotheism was indissolubly connected with muhammed's first religious impulses, though the dogma had not assumed the polemical form in which it afterwards confronted the old arabian and christian beliefs. but a mind stirred by religious emotion only rose to the height of prophetic power after a long course of development which human knowledge can but dimly surmise. christianity and judaism had their sacred books which the founders of these religions had produced. in them were the words of god, transmitted through moses to the jews and through jesus to the christians. jesus and moses had been god's ambassadors to their peoples. who then could bring to the arabs the glad tidings which should guide them to the happy fields of paradise? among primitive peoples god is regarded as very near to man. the arabs had, their fortune-tellers and augurs who cast lots before god and explained his will in mysterious rhythmical utterances. muhammed was at first more intimately connected with this class of arab fortune-tellers than is usually supposed. the best proof of the fact is the vehemence with which he repudiates all comparison between these fortune-tellers and himself, even as early christian apologetics and polemics attacked the rival cults of the later classical world, which possessed forms of ritual akin to those observed by christianity. the existence of a fortune-telling class among the arabs shows that muhammed may well have been endowed with psychological tendencies which only awaited the vivifying influence of judaism and christianity to emerge as the prophetic impulse forcing him to stand forth in public and to stir the people from their indifference: "be ye converted, for the day of judgment is at hand: god has declared it unto me, as he declared it unto moses and jesus. i am the apostle of god to you, arabs. salvation is yours only if ye submit to the will of god preached by me." this act of submission muhammed calls islam. thus at the hour of islam's birth, before its founder had proclaimed his ideas, the influence of christianity is indisputable. it was this influence which made of the arab seer and inspired prophet, the apostle of god. muhammed regarded judaism and christianity as religious movements purely national in character. god in his mercy had announced his will to different nations through his prophets. as god's word had been interpreted for the jews and for the christians, so there was to be a special interpretation for the benefit of the arabs. these interpretations were naturally identical in manner and differed only as regards place and time. muhammed had heard of the jewish messiah and of the christian paraclete, whom, however, he failed to identify with the holy ghost and he applied to himself the allusions to one who should come after moses and jesus. thus in the qoran . we read, "jesus, the son of mary, said: children of israel, i am god's apostle to you. i confirm in your hands the thora (the law) and i announce the coming of another apostle after me whose name is ahmed." ahmed is the equivalent of muhammed. the verse has been variously interpreted and even rejected as an interpolation: but its authenticity is attested by its perfect correspondence with what we know of muhammed's pretensions. to trace in detail the development of his attitude towards christianity is a more difficult task than to discover the growth of his views upon judaism; probably he pursued a similar course in either case. at first he assumed the identity of the two religions with one another and with his own doctrine; afterwards he regarded them as advancing by gradations. adam, abraham, moses, jesus, and muhammed, these in his opinion were the chief stages in the divine scheme of salvation. each was respectively confirmed or abolished by the revelation which followed it, nor is this theory of muhammed's shaken by the fact that each revelation was given to a different nation. he regards all preceding prophets in the light of his own personality. they were all sent to people who refused them a hearing at the moment. punishment follows and the prophet finds a body of believers elsewhere. these temporary punishments are confused with the final judgment; in fact muhammed's system was not clearly thought out. the several prophets were but men, whose earthly careers were necessarily crowned with triumph: hence the crucifixion of jesus is a malicious invention of the jews, who in reality crucified some other sufferer, while jesus entered the divine glory. thus muhammed has no idea of the importance of the crucifixion to the christian church, as is shown by his treatment of it as a jewish falsehood. in fact, he develops the habit of characterising as false any statement in contradiction with his ideas, and this tendency is especially obvious in his dealings with judaism, of which he gained a more intimate knowledge. at first he would refer sceptics to christian and jewish doctrine for confirmation of his own teaching. the fact that with no knowledge of the old or new testament, he had proclaimed doctrines materially similar and the fact that these scriptures referred to himself, were proofs of his inspired power, let doubters say what they would. a closer acquaintance with these scriptures showed him that the divergencies which he stigmatised as falsifications denoted in reality vast doctrinal differences. in order to understand muhammed's attitude towards christianity, we will examine in greater detail his view of this religion, the portions of it which he accepted or which he rejected as unauthentic. in the first place he must have regarded the trinity as repugnant to reason: he considered the christian trinity as consisting of god the father, mary the mother of god, and jesus the son of god. in the qoran, god says, "hast thou, jesus, said to men, regard me and my mother as gods by the side of god?" jesus replies, "i will say nothing but the truth. i have but preached, pray to god, who is my lord and your lord" ( . , f). hence it has been inferred that muhammed's knowledge of christianity was derived from some particular christian sect, such as the tritheists or the arab female sect of the collyridians who worshipped the virgin mary with exaggerated reverence and assigned divine honours to her. it is also possible that we have here a development of some gnostic conception which regarded the holy ghost as of feminine gender, as semites would do;[a] instances of this change are to be found in the well-known hymn of the soul in the acts of thomas, in the gospel to the egyptians and elsewhere. i am inclined, however, to think it more probable that muhammed had heard of mariolatry and of the "mother of god," a title which then was a highly popular catchword, and that the apotheosis of jesus was known to him and also the doctrine of the trinity by name. further than this his knowledge did not extend; although he knows the holy ghost and identifies him with jesus, none the less his primitive reasoning, under the influence of many old beliefs, explained the mysterious triad of the trinity as husband, wife, and son. this fact is enough to prove that his theory of christianity was formed by combining isolated scraps of information and that he cannot have had any direct instruction from a christian knowing the outlines of his faith. [footnote a: the word for "spirit" is of the feminine gender in the semitic languages.] muhammed must also have denied the divinity of christ: this is an obvious result of the course of mental development which we have described and of his characteristically semitic theory of the nature of god. to him, god is one, never begetting and never begotten. denying the divinity of jesus, muhammed naturally denies the redemption through the cross and also the fact of the crucifixion. yet, strangely enough he accepted the miraculous birth; nor did he hesitate to provide this purely human jesus with all miraculous attributes; these were a proof of his divine commission, and marvellous details of this nature aroused the interest of his hearers. mary the sister of ahron--an obvious confusion with the old testament miriam--had been devoted to the service of god by her mother's vow, and lives in the temple under the guardianship of zacharias, to whom a later heir is born in answer to his prayers, namely john, the forerunner of the holy ghost. the birth is announced to mary and she brings forth jesus under a palm-tree, near which is a running spring and by the dates of which she is fed. on her return home she is received with reproaches by her family but merely points in reply to the new-born babe, who suddenly speaks from his cradle, asserting that he is the prophet of god. afterwards jesus performs all kinds of miracles, forms birds out of clay and makes them fly, heals the blind and lepers, raises the dead, etc., and even brings down from heaven a table ready spread. the jews will not believe him, but the youth follow him. he is not killed, but translated to god. christians are not agreed upon the manner of his death and the jews have invented the story of the crucifixion. muhammed's knowledge of christianity thus consists of certain isolated details, partly apocryphal, partly canonical, together with a hazy idea of the fundamental dogmas. thus the influence of christianity upon him was entirely indirect. the muhammedan movement at its outset was influenced not by the real christianity of the time but by a christianity which muhammed criticised in certain details and forced into harmony with his preconceived ideas. his imagination was profoundly impressed by the existence of christianity as a revealed religion with a founder of its own. certain features of christianity and of judaism, prayer, purification, solemn festivals, scriptures, prophets and so forth were regarded by him as essential to any religious community, because they happened to belong both to judaism and to christianity. he therefore adopted or wished to adopt these institutions. during the period of his life at medina, muhammed abandoned his original idea of preaching the doctrines which moses and jesus had proclaimed. this new development was the outcome of a struggle with judaism following upon an unsuccessful attempt at compromise. in point of fact judaism and christianity were as widely different from one another as they were from his own teaching and he was more than ever inclined to regard as his special forerunner, abraham, who had preceded both moses and jesus, and was revered by both religions as the man of god. he then brought abraham into connection with the ancient meccan ka'ba worship: the ka'ba or die was a sacred stone edifice, in one corner of which the "black stone" had been built in: this stone was an object of reverence to the ancient arabs, as it still is to the muhammedans. thus islam gradually assumed the form of an arab religion, developing universalist tendencies in the ultimate course of events. muhammed, therefore, as he was the last in the ranks of the prophets, must also be the greatest. he epitomised all prophecy and islam superseded every revealed religion of earlier date. muhammed's original view that earlier religions had been founded by god's will and through divine revelation, led both him and his successors to make an important concession: adherents of other religions were not compelled to adopt islam. they were allowed to observe their own faith unhindered, if they surrendered without fighting, and were even protected against their enemies, in return for which they had to pay tribute to their muslim masters; this was levied as a kind of poll-tax. thus we read in the qoran (ix. ) that "those who possess scriptures," i.e. the jews and christians, who did not accept islam were to be attacked until they paid the _gizja_ or tribute. thus the object of a religious war upon the christians is not expressed by the cry "death or islam"; such attacks were intended merely to extort an acknowledgment of muhammedan supremacy, not to abolish freedom of religious observance. it would be incorrect for the most part to regard the warrior bands which started from arabia as inspired by religious enthusiasm or to attribute to them the fanaticism which was first aroused by the crusades and in an even greater degree by the later turkish wars. the muhammedan fanatics of the wars of conquest, whose reputation was famous among later generations, felt but a very scanty interest in religion and occasionally displayed an ignorance of its fundamental tenets which we can hardly exaggerate. the fact is fully consistent with the impulses to which the arab migrations were due. these impulses were economic and the new religion was nothing more than a party cry of unifying power, though there is no reason to suppose that it was not a real moral force in the life of muhammed and his immediate contemporaries. anti-christian fanaticism there was therefore none. even in early years muhammedans never refused to worship in the same buildings as christians. the various insulting regulations which tradition represents christians as forced to endure were directed not so much against the adherents of another faith as against the barely tolerated inhabitants of a subjugated state. it is true that the distinction is often difficult to observe, as religion and nationality were one and the same thing to muhammedans. in any case religious animosity was a very subordinate phenomenon. it was a gradual development and seems to me to have made a spasmodic beginning in the first century under the influence of ideas adopted from christianity. it may seem paradoxical to assert that it was christian influence which first stirred islam to religious animosity and armed it with the sword against christianity, but the hypothesis becomes highly probable when we have realised the indifferentism of the muhammedan conquerors. we shall constantly see hereafter how much they owed in every department of intellectual life to the teaching of the races which they subjugated. their attitude towards other beliefs was never so intolerant as was that of christendom at that period. christianity may well have been the teaching influence in this department of life as in others. moreover at all times and especially in the first century the position of christians has been very tolerable, even though the muslims regarded them as an inferior class, christians were able to rise to the highest offices of state, even to the post of vizier, without any compulsion to renounce their faith. even during the period of the crusades when the religious opposition was greatly intensified, again through christian policy, christian officials cannot have been uncommon: otherwise muslim theorists would never have uttered their constant invectives against the employment of christians in administrative duties. naturally zealots appeared at all times on the muhammedan as well as on the christian side and occasionally isolated acts of oppression took place: these were, however, exceptional. so late as the eleventh century, church funeral processions were able to pass through the streets of bagdad with all the emblems of christianity and disturbances were recorded by the chroniclers as exceptional. in egypt, christian festivals were also regarded to some extent as holidays by the muhammedan population. we have but to imagine these conditions reversed in a christian kingdom of the early middle ages and the probability of my theory will become obvious. the christians of the east, who had broken for the most part with the orthodox church, also regarded islam as a lesser evil than the byzantine established church. moreover islam, as being both a political and ecclesiastical organisation, regarded the christian church as a state within a state and permitted it to preserve its own juridical and at first its own governmental rights. application was made to the bishops when anything was required from the community and the churches were used as taxation offices. this was all in the interests of the clergy who thus found their traditional claims realised. these relations were naturally modified in the course of centuries; the crusades, the turkish wars and the great expansion of europe widened the breach between christianity and islam, while as the east was gradually brought under ecclesiastical influence, the contrast grew deeper: the theory, however, that the muhammedan conquerors and their successors were inspired by a fanatical hatred of christianity is a fiction invented by christians. we have now to examine this early development of islam in somewhat greater detail: indeed, to secure a more general appreciation of this point is the object of the present work. the relationship of the qoran to christianity has been already noted: it was a book which preached rather than taught and enounced isolated laws but no connected system. islam was a clear and simple war-cry betokening merely a recognition of arab supremacy, of the unity of god and of muhammed's prophetic mission. but in a few centuries islam became a complex religious structure, a confusion of greek philosophy and roman law, accurately regulating every department of human life from the deepest problems of morality to the daily use of the toothpick, and the fashions of dress and hair. this change from the simplicity of the founder's religious teaching to a system of practical morality often wholly divergent from primitive doctrine, is a transformation which all the great religions of the world have undergone. religious founders have succeeded in rousing the sense of true religion in the human heart. religious systems result from the interaction of this impulse with pre-existing capacities for civilisation. the highest attainments of human life are dependent upon circumstances of time and place, and environment often exerts a more powerful influence than creative power. the teaching of jesus was almost overpowered by the graeco-oriental culture of later hellenism. dissensions persist even now because millions of people are unable to distinguish pure religion from the forms of expression belonging to an extinct civilisation. islam went through a similar course of development and assumed the spiritual panoply which was ready to hand. here, as elsewhere, this defence was a necessity during the period of struggle, but became a crushing burden during the peace which followed victory, for the reason that it was regarded as inseparable from the wearer of it. from this point of view the analogy with christianity will appear extremely striking, but it is something more than an analogy: the oriental hellenism of antiquity was to christianity that which the christian oriental hellenism of a few centuries later was to islam. we must now attempt to realise the nature of this event so important in the history of the world. a nomadic people, recently united, not devoid of culture, but with a very limited range of ideas, suddenly gains supremacy over a wide and populous district with an ancient civilisation. these nomads are as yet hardly conscious of their political unity and the individualism of the several tribes composing it is still a disruptive force: yet they can secure domination over countries such as egypt and babylonia, with complex constitutional systems, where climatic conditions, the nature of the soil and centuries of work have combined to develop an intricate administrative system, which newcomers could not be expected to understand, much less to recreate or to remodel. yet the theory has long been held that the arabs entirely reorganised the constitutions of these countries. excessive importance has been attached to the statements of arab authors, who naturally regarded islam as the beginning of all things. in every detail of practical life they regarded the prophet and his contemporaries as their ruling ideal, and therefore naturally assumed that the constitutional practices of the prophet were his own invention. the organisation of the conquering race with its tribal subordination was certainly purely arab in origin. in fact the conquerors seemed so unable to adapt themselves to the conditions with which they met, that foreigners who joined their ranks were admitted to the muhammedan confederacy only as clients of the various arab tribes. this was, however, a mere question of outward form: the internal organisation continued unchanged, as it was bound to continue unless chaos were to be the consequence. in fact, pre-existing administrative regulations were so far retained that the old customs duties on the former frontiers were levied as before, though they represented an institution wholly alien to the spirit of the muhammedan empire. those muhammedan authors, who describe the administrative organisation, recognise only the taxes which islam regarded as lawful and characterise others as malpractices which had crept in at a later date. it is remarkable that these so-called subsequent malpractices correspond with byzantine and persian usage before the conquest: but tradition will not admit the fact that these remained unchanged. the same fact is obvious when we consider the progress of civilisation in general. in every case the arabs merely develop the social and economic achievements of the conquered races to further issues. such progress could indeed only be modified by a general upheaval of existing conditions and no such movement ever took place. the germanic tribes destroyed the civilisations with which they met; they adopted many of the institutions of christian antiquity, but found them an impediment to the development of their own genius. the arabs simply continued to develop the civilisation of post-classical antiquity, with which they had come in contact. this procedure may seem entirely natural in the department of economic life, but by no means inevitable where intellectual progress is concerned. yet a similar course was followed in either case, as may be proved by dispassionate examination. islam was a rising force, a faith rather of experience than of theory or dogma, when it raised its claims against christianity, which represented all pre-existing intellectual culture. a settlement of these claims was necessary and the military triumphs are but the prelude to a great accommodation of intellectual interests. in this christianity played the chief part, though judaism is also represented: i am inclined, however, to think that jewish ideas as they are expressed in the qoran were often transmitted through the medium of christianity. there is no doubt that in medina muhammed was under direct jewish influence of extraordinary power. even at that time jewish ideas may have been in circulation, not only in the qoran but also in oral tradition, which afterwards became stereotyped: at the same time muhammed's utterances against the jews eventually became so strong during the medina period, for political reasons, that i can hardly imagine the traditions in their final form to have been adopted directly from the jews. the case of jewish converts is a different matter. but in christianity also much jewish wisdom was to be found at that time and it is well known that even the eastern churches regarded numerous precepts of the old testament, including those that dealt with ritual, as binding upon them. in any case the spirit of judaism is present, either directly or working through christianity, as an influence wherever islam accommodated itself to the new intellectual and spiritual life which it had encountered. it was a compromise which affected the most trivial details of life, and in these matters religious scrupulosity was carried to a ridiculous point: here we may see the outcome of that judaism which, as has been said, was then a definite element in eastern christianity. together with jewish, greek and classical ideas were also naturally operative, while persian and other ancient oriental conceptions were transmitted to islam by christianity: these instances i have collectively termed christian because christianity then represented the whole of later classical intellectualism, which influenced islam for the most part through christianity. it seems that the communication of these ideas to muhammedanism was impeded by the necessity of translating them not only into a kindred language, but into one of wholly different linguistic structure. for muhammedanism the difficulty was lessened by the fact that it had learned christianity in syria and persia through the semitic dialect known as aramaic, by which greek and persian culture had been transmitted to the arabs before the rise of islam. in this case, as in many others, the history of language runs on parallel lines with the history of civilisation. the necessities of increasing civilisation had introduced many aramaic words to the arabic vocabulary before muhammed's day: these importations increased considerably when the arabs entered a wider and more complex civilisation and were especially considerable where intellectual culture was concerned. even greek terms made their way into arabic through aramaic. this natural dependency of arabic upon aramaic, which in turn was connected with greek as the rival christian vernacular in these regions, is alone sufficient evidence that christianity exerted a direct influence upon muhammedanism. moreover, as we have seen, the qoran itself regarded christians as being in possession of divine wisdom, and some reference both to christianity and to judaism was necessary to explain the many unintelligible passages of the qoran. allusions were made to texts and statements in the thora and the gospels, and god was represented as constantly appealing to earlier revelations of himself. thus it was only natural that interpreters should study these scriptures and ask counsel of their possessors. of primary importance was the fact that both christians and jews, and the former in particular, accepted muhammedanism by thousands, and formed a new intellectual class of ability infinitely superior to that of the original muslims and able to attract the best elements of the arab nationality to their teaching. it was as impossible for these apostate christians to abandon their old habits of thought as it was hopeless to expect any sudden change in the economic conditions under which they lived. christian theories of god and the world naturally assumed a muhammedan colouring and thus the great process of accommodating christianity to muhammedanism was achieved. the christian contribution to this end was made partly directly and partly by teaching, and in the intellectual as well as in the economic sphere the ultimate ideal was inevitably dictated by the superior culture of christianity. the muhammedans were thus obliged to accept christian hypotheses on theological points and the fundaments of christian and muhammedan culture thus become identical. i use the term hypotheses, for the reason that the final determination of the points at issue was by no means identical, wherever the qoran definitely contradicted christian views of morality or social laws. but in these cases also, christian ideas were able to impose themselves upon tradition and to issue in practice, even when opposed by the actual text of the qoran. they did not always pass unquestioned and even on trivial points were obliged to encounter some resistance. the theory of the sunday was accepted, but that day was not chosen and friday was preferred: meetings for worship were held in imitation of christian practice, but attempts to sanctify the day and to proclaim it a day of rest were forbidden: except for the performance of divine service, friday was an ordinary week-day. when, however, the qoran was in any sort of harmony with christianity, the christian ideas of the age were textually accepted in any further development of the question. the fact is obvious, not only as regards details, but also in the general theory of man's position upon earth. * * * * * muhammed, the preacher of repentance, had become a temporal prince in medina; his civil and political administration was ecclesiastical in character, an inevitable result of his position as the apostle of god, whose congregation was at the same time a state. this theory of the state led later theorists unconsciously to follow the lead of christianity, which regarded the church as supreme in every department of life, and so induced muhammedanism to adopt views of life and social order which are now styled mediaeval. the theological development of this system is to be attributed chiefly to groups of pious thinkers in medina: they were excluded from political life when the capital was transferred from medina to damascus and were left in peace to elaborate their theory of the muhammedan divine polity. the influence of these groups was paramount: but of almost equal importance was the influence of the proselytes in the conquered lands who were christians for the most part and for that reason far above their arab contemporaries in respect of intellectual training and culture. we find that the details of jurisprudence, dogma, and mysticism can only be explained by reference to christian stimulus, nor is it any exaggeration to ascribe the further development of muhammed's views to the influence of thinkers who regarded the religious polity of islam as the realisation of an ideal which christianity had hitherto vainly striven to attain. this ideal was the supremacy of religion over life and all its activities, over the state and the individual alike. but it was a religion primarily concerned with the next world, where alone real worth was to be found. earthly life was a pilgrimage to be performed and earthly intentions had no place with heavenly. the joy of life which the ancient world had known, art, music and culture, all were rejected or valued only as aids to religion. human action was judged with reference only to its appraisement in the life to come. that ascetic spirit was paramount, which had enchained the christian world, that renunciation of secular affairs which explains the peculiar methods by which mediaeval views of life found expression. asceticism did not disturb the course of life as a whole. it might condemn but it could not suppress the natural impulse of man to propagate his race: it might hamper economic forces, but it could not destroy them. it eventually led to a compromise in every department of life, but for centuries it retained its domination over men's minds and to some material extent over their actions. such was the environment in which islam was planted: its deepest roots had been fertilised with christian theory, and in spite of muhammed's call to repentance, its most characteristic manifestations were somewhat worldly and non-ascetic. "islam knows not monasticism" says the tradition which this tendency produced. the most important compromise of all, that with life, which christianity only secured by gradual steps, had been already attained for islam by muhammed himself and was included in the course of his development. as islam now entered the christian world, it was forced to pass through this process of development once more. at the outset it was permeated with the idea of christian asceticism, to which an inevitable opposition arose, and found expression in such statements as that already quoted. but muhammed's preaching had obviously striven to honour the future life by painting the actual world in the gloomiest colours, and the material optimism of the secular-minded was unable to check the advance of christian asceticism among the classes which felt a real interest in religion. hence that surprising similarity of views upon the problem of existence, which we have now to outline. in details of outward form great divergency is apparent. christianity possessed a clergy while islam did not: yet the force of christian influence produced a priestly class in islam. it was a class acting not as mediator between god and man through sacraments and mysteries, but as moral leaders and legal experts; as such it was no less important than the scribes under judaism. unanimity among these scholars could produce decisions no less binding than those of the christian clergy assembled in church councils. they are representatives of the congregation which "has no unanimity, for such would be an error." islam naturally preferred to adopt unanimous conclusions in silence rather than to vote in assemblies. as a matter of fact a body of orthodox opinion was developed by this means with no less success than in christendom. any agreement which the quiet work of the scholars had secured upon any question was ratified by god and was thus irrevocably and eternally binding. for instance, the proclamation to the faithful of new ideas upon the exposition of the qoran or of tradition was absolutely forbidden; the scholars, in other words the clergy, had convinced themselves, by the fact of their unanimity upon the point, that the customary and traditional mode of exposition was the one pleasing to god. ideas of this kind naturally remind us of roman catholic practice. the influence of eastern christianity upon islam is undoubtedly visible here. this influence could not in the face of muhammedan tradition and custom, create an organised clergy, but it produced a clerical class to guard religious thought, and as religion spread, to supervise thought of every kind. christianity again condemned marriage, though it eventually agreed to a compromise sanctifying this tie; islam, on the contrary, found in the qoran the text "ye that are unmarried shall marry" ( , ). in the face of so clear a statement, the condemnation of marriage, which in any case was contrary to the whole spirit of the qoran, could not be maintained. thus the muhammedan tradition contains numerous sayings in support of marriage. "a childless house contains no blessing": "the breath of a son is as the breath of paradise"; "when a man looks upon his wife (in love) and she upon him, god looks down in mercy upon them both." "two prayers of a married man are more precious in the sight of god than seventy of a bachelor." with many similar variations upon the theme, muhammed is said to have urged marriage upon his followers. on the other hand an almost equally numerous body of warnings against marriage exists, also issued by muhammed. i know no instance of direct prohibition, but serious admonitions are found which usually take the form of denunciation of the female sex and were early interpreted as warnings by tradition. "fear the world and women": "thy worst enemies are the wife at thy side and thy concubine": "the least in paradise are the women": "women are the faggots of hell"; "pious women are rare as ravens with white or red legs and white beaks"; "but for women men might enter paradise." here we come upon a strain of thought especially christian. muhammed regarded the satisfaction of the sexual instincts as natural and right and made no attempt to put restraint upon it: christian asceticism regarded this impulse as the greatest danger which could threaten the spiritual life of its adherents, and the sentences above quoted may be regarded as the expression of this view. naturally the social position of the woman suffered in consequence and is so much worse in the traditional muhammedanism as compared with the qoran that the change can only be ascribed to the influence of the civilisation which the muhammedans encountered. the idea of woman as a creature of no account is certainly rooted in the ancient east, but it reached islam in christian dress and with the authority of christian hostility to marriage. with this hostility to marriage are probably connected the regulations concerning the covering of the body: in the ancient church only the face, the hands and the feet were to be exposed to view, the object being to prevent the suggestion of sinful thoughts: it is also likely that objections to the ancient habit of leaving the body uncovered found expression in this ordinance. similar objections may be found in muhammedan tradition; we may regard these as further developments of commands given in the qoran, but it is also likely that muhammed's apocryphal statements upon the point were dictated by christian religious theory. they often appear in connection with warnings against frequenting the public baths, which fact is strong evidence of their christian origin. "a bad house is the bath: much turmoil is therein and men show their nakedness." "fear that house that is called the bathhouse and if any enter therein, let him veil himself." "he who believes in god and the last judgment, let him enter the bath only in bathing dress." "nakedness is forbidden to us." there is a story of the prophet, to the effect that he was at work unclothed when a voice from heaven ordered him to cover his nakedness! * * * * * we thus see, that an astonishing similarity is apparent in the treatment even of questions where divergency is fundamental. divergency, it is true, existed, but pales before the general affinity of the two theories of life. our judgment upon christian medievalism in this respect can be applied directly and literally to muhammedanism. either religion regards man as no more than a sojourner in this world. it is not worth while to arrange for a permanent habitation, and luxurious living is but pride. hence the simplicity of private dwellings in mediaeval times both in the east and west. architectural expense is confined to churches and mosques, which were intended for the service of god. these christian ideas are reflected in the inexhaustible storehouse of muhammedan theory, the great collections of tradition, as follows. "the worst use which a believer can make of his money is to build." "every building, except a mosque, will stand to the discredit of its architect on the day of resurrection." these polemics which islam inherited from christianity are directed not only against building in general, but also against the erection and decoration of lofty edifices: "should a man build a house nine ells high, a voice will call to him from heaven, whither wilt thou rise, most profane of the profane?" "no prophet enters a house adorned with fair decoration." with these prohibitions should be connected the somewhat unintelligible fact that the most pious caliphs sat upon thrones (_mimbar_, "president's chair") of clay. the simplest and most transitory material thus serves to form the symbol of temporal power. a house is adorned not by outward show, but by the fact that prayer is offered and the qoran recited within its walls. these theories were out of harmony with the worldly tendencies of the conquerors, who built themselves castles, such as qusair amra: they belong to the spirit of christianity rather than to islam. upon similar principles we may explain the demand for the utmost simplicity and reserve in regard to the other enjoyments of life. to eat whenever one may wish is excess and two meals a day are more than enough. the portion set apart for one may also suffice for two. ideas of this kind are of constant recurrence in the muhammedan traditions: indispensable needs alone are to be satisfied, as indeed thomas aquinas teaches. similar observations apply to dress: "he who walks in costly garments to be seen of men is not seen of the lord." gold and silver ornaments, and garments of purple and silk are forbidden by both religions. princes live as simply as beggars and possess only one garment, so that they are unable to appear in public when it is being washed: they live upon a handful of dates and are careful to save paper and artificial light. such incidents are common in the oldest records of the first caliphs. these princes did not, of course, live in such beggary, and the fact is correspondingly important that after the lapse of one or two generations the muhammedan historians should describe their heroes as possessing only the typical garment of the christian saint. this one fact speaks volumes. every action was performed in god or with reference to god--an oft-repeated idea in either religion. there is a continual hatred of the world and a continual fear that it may imperil a man's soul. hence the sense of vast responsibility felt by the officials, a sense which finds expression even in the ordinary official correspondence of the authorities which papyri have preserved for us. the phraseology is often stereotyped, but as such, expresses a special theory of life. this responsibility is represented as weighing with especial severity upon a pious caliph. upon election to the throne he accepts office with great reluctance protesting his unworthiness with tears. the west can relate similar stories of gregory the great and of justinian. exhortations are frequent ever to remember the fact of death and to repent and bewail past sins. when a mention of the last judgment occurs in the reading of passages from the bible or qoran, the auditors burst into tears. upon one occasion a man was praying upon the roof of his house and wept so bitterly over his sins, that the tears ran down the waterspout and flooded the rooms below. this hyperbolical statement in a typical life of a saint shows the high value attributed to tears in the east. it is, however, equally a christian characteristic. the gracious gift of tears was regarded by mediaeval christianity as the sign of a deeply religious nature. gregory vii is said to have wept daily at the sacrifice of the mass and similar accounts are given to the credit of other famous christians. while a man should weep for his own sins, he is not to bewail any misfortune or misery which may befall him. in the latter case it is his duty to collect his strength, to resign himself and to praise god even amid his sufferings. should he lose a dear relative by death, he is not to break out with cries and lamentations like the heathen. lamentation for the dead is most strictly forbidden in islam. "we are god's people and to god we return" says the pious muslim on receiving the unexpected news of a death. resignation and patience in these matters is certainly made the subject of eloquent exhortation in the qoran, but the special developments of tradition betray christian influence. generally speaking, the whole ethical system of the two religions is based upon the contrast between god and the world, though muhammedan philosophy will recognize no principle beside that of god. as a typical example we may take a sentence from the spanish bishop isidor who died in : "good are the intentions directed towards god and bad are those directed to earthly gain or transitory fame." any muhammedan theologian would have subscribed to this statement. on the one hand stress is laid upon motive as giving its value to action. the first sentence in the most famous collection of traditions runs, "deeds shall be judged by their intentions." on the other hand is the contrast between god and the world, or as islam puts it, between the present and the future life. the christian gains eternal life by following christ. imitation of the master in all things even to the stigmata, is the characteristic feature of mediaeval christianity. nor is the whole of the so-called sunna obedience anything more than the imitation of muhammed which seeks to repeat the smallest details of his life. the infinite importance attached by islam to the sunna seems to me to have originated in christian influence. the development of it betrays original features, but the fundamental principle is christian, as all the leading ideas of islam are christian, in the sense of the term as paraphrased above. imitation of christ in the first instance, attempts to repeat his poverty and renunciation of personal property: this is the great christian ideal. muhammed was neither poor nor without possessions: at the end of his life he had become a prince and had directly stated that property was a gift from god. in spite of that his successors praise poverty and their praises were the best of evidence that they were influenced not by the prophet himself but by christianity. while the traditions are full of the praises of poverty and the dangers of wealth, assertions in praise of wealth also occur, for the reason that the pure muhammedan ideas opposed to christianity retained a certain influence. j. goldziher has published an interesting study showing how many words borrowed from this source occur in the written muhammedan traditions: an almost complete version of the lord's prayer is quoted. even the idea of love towards enemies, which would have been unintelligible to muhammed, made its way into the traditions: "the most virtuous of acts is to seek out him who rejects thee, to give to him that despises thee and to pardon him that oppresses thee." the gospel precept to do unto others as we would they should do unto us (matt. vii. , luke vi. ) is to be found in the arab traditions, and many similar points of contact may be noticed. a man's "neighbour" has ever been, despite the teaching of jesus, to the christian and to the muhammedan, his co-religionist. the whole department of muhammedan ethics has thus been subjected to strong christian influence. naturally this ecclesiasticism which dominated the whole of life, was bound to assert itself in state organisation. an abhorrence of the state, so far as it was independent of religion, a feeling unknown in the ancient world, pervades both christianity and muhammedanism, christianity first struggled to secure recognition in the state and afterwards fought with the state for predominance. islam and the state were at first identical: in its spiritual leaders it was soon separated from the state. its idea of a divine polity was elaborated to the smallest details, but remained a theory which never became practice. yet this ideal retained such strength that every muhammedan usurper was careful to secure his investiture by the caliph, the nominal leader of this ecclesiastical state, even if force were necessary to attain his object. for instance, saladin was absolutely independent of the nominal caliph in bagdad, but could not feel that his position was secure until he had obtained his sultan's patent from the caliph. only then did his supremacy rest upon a religious basis and he was not regarded by popular opinion as a legitimate monarch until this ceremony had been performed. this theory corresponds with constitutional ideals essentially christian. "the tyranny," wrote innocent iv to the emperor frederick ii, "which was once generally exercised throughout the world, was resigned into the hands of the church by constantine, who then received as an honourable gift from the proper source that which he had formerly held and exercised unrighteously." the long struggle between church and state in this matter is well known. in this struggle the rising power of islam had adopted a similar attitude. the great abhorrence of a secular "monarchy" in opposition to a religious caliphate, as expressed both by the dicta of tradition and by the abbassid historians, was inspired, in my opinion, by christian dislike of a divorce between church and state. the phenomenon might be explained without reference to external influence, but if the whole process be considered in connection, christian influence seems more than probable. a similar attitude was also assumed by either religion towards the facts of economic life. in either case the religious point of view is characteristic. the reaction against the tendency to condemn secular life is certainly stronger in islam, but is also apparent in christianity. thomas aquinas directly stigmatises trade as a disgraceful means of gain, because the exchange of wares does not necessitate labour or the satisfaction of necessary wants: muhammedan tradition says, "the pious merchant is a pioneer on the road of god." "the first to enter paradise is the honourable merchant." here the solution given to the problem differs in either case, but in christian practice, opposition was also obvious. common to both religions is the condemnation of the exaction of interest and monetary speculation, which the middle ages regarded as usury. islam, as usual, gives this christian idea the form of a saying enounced by muhammed: "he who speculates in grain for forty days, grinds and bakes it and gives it to the poor, makes an offering unacceptable to god." "he who raises prices to muslims (by speculation) will be cast head downwards by god into the hottest fire of hell." many similar traditions fulminate against usury in the widest sense of the word. these prohibitions were circumvented in practice by deed of gift and exchange, but none the less the free development of commercial enterprise was hampered by these fetters which modern civilisation first broke. enterprise was thus confined to agriculture under these circumstances both for christianity and islam, and economic life in either case became "mediaeval" in outward appearance. methods of making profit without a proportional expenditure of labour were the particular objects of this aversion. manual labour was highly esteemed both in the east and west. a man's first duty was to support himself by the work of his own hands, a duty proclaimed, as we know, from the apostolic age onwards. so far as islam is concerned, this view may be illustrated by the following utterances: "the best of deeds is the gain of that which is lawful": "the best gain is made by sale within lawful limits and by manual labour." "the most precious gain is that made by manual labour; that which a man thus earns and gives to himself, his people, his sons and his servants, is as meritorious as alms." thus practical work is made incumbent upon the believer, and the extent to which manufacture flourished in east and west during the middle ages is well known. a similar affinity is apparent as regards ideas upon social position and occupation. before god man is but a slave: even the mighty caliphs themselves, even those who were stigmatised by posterity as secular monarchs, included in their official titles the designation, "slave of god." this theory was carried out into the smallest details of life, even into those which modern observers would consider as unconcerned with religion. thus at meals the muslim was not allowed to recline at table, an ancient custom which the upper classes had followed for centuries: he must sit, "as a slave," according to the letter of the law. all are alike slaves, for the reason that they are believers: hence the humiliation of those whom chance has exalted is thought desirable. this idealism is undoubtedly more deeply rooted in the popular consciousness of the east than of the west. in the east great social distinctions occur; but while religion recognises them, it forbids insistence upon them. as especially distinctive of social work in either religion we might be inclined to regard the unparalleled extent of organizations for the care of the poor, for widows and orphans, for the old, infirm and sick, the public hospitals and almshouses and religious foundations in the widest sense of the term; but the object of these activities was not primarily social nor were they undertaken to make life easier for the poor: religious selfishness was the leading motive, the desire to purify self by good works and to secure the right to pre-eminence in heaven. "for the salvation of my soul and for everlasting reward" is the formula of many a christian foundation deed. very similar expressions of hope for eternal reward occur in muhammedan deeds of gift. a foundation inscription on a mosque, published by e. littmann, is stated in terms the purport of which is unmistakable. "this has been built by n or m: may a house be built for him in paradise (in return)." here again, the idea of the house in paradise is borrowed from christian ideas. we have already observed that in islam the smallest trivialities of daily life become matters of religious import. the fact is especially apparent in a wide department of personal conduct. islam certainly went to further extremes than christianity in this matter, but these customs are clearly only further developments of christian regulations. the call to simplicity of food and dress has already been mentioned. but even the simplest food was never to be taken before thanks had been given to god: grace was never to be omitted either before or after meals. divine ordinances also regulated the manner of eating. the prophet said, "with one finger the devils eat, with two the titans of antiquity and with three fingers the prophets." the application of the saying is obvious. similar sayings prescribe the mode of handling dishes and behaviour at a common meal, if the blessing of god is to be secured. there seems to be a christian touch in one of these rules which runs, in the words of the prophet: "he who picks up the crumbs fallen from the table and eats them, will be forgiven by god." "he who licks the empty dishes and his fingers will be filled by god here and in the world to come." "when a man licks the dish from which he has eaten, the dish will plead for him before god." i regard these words as practical applications of the text, "gather up the pieces that remain, that nothing be lost" (matt. xiv. : john vi. ). even to-day south italians kiss bread that has fallen to the ground, in order to make apology to the gift of god. volumes might be filled with rules of polite manners in this style: hardly any detail is to be found in the whole business of daily life, even including occupations regarded as unclean, which was not invested with some religious significance. these rules are almost entirely dictated by the spirit of early christianity and it is possible to reconstruct the details of life in those dark ages from these literary records which are now the only source of evidence upon such points. however, we must here content ourselves with establishing the fact that islam adopted christian practice in this as in other departments of life. the state, society, the individual, economics and morality were thus collectively under christian influence during the early period of muhammedanism. conditions very similar in general, affected those conceptions which we explain upon scientific grounds but which were invariably regarded by ancient and mediaeval thought as supernatural, conceptions deduced from the phenomena of illness and dreams. islam was no less opposed than christianity to the practice of magic in any form, but only so far as these practices seemed to preserve remnants of heathen beliefs. such beliefs were, however, continued in both religions in modified form. there is no doubt that ideas of high antiquity, doubtless of babylonian origin, can be traced as contributing to the formation of these beliefs, while scientific medicine is connected with the earlier discoveries of greece. common to both religions was the belief in the reality of dreams, especially when these seemed to harmonise with religious ideas: dreams were regarded as revelations from god or from his apostles or from the pious dead. the fact that man could dream and that he could appear to other men in dreams after his death was regarded as a sign of divine favour and the biographies of the saints often contain chapters devoted to this faculty. these are natural ideas which lie in the national consciousness of any people, but owe their development in the case of islam to christian influence. the same may be said of the belief that the prayers of particular saints were of special efficacy, and of attempts by prayer, forms of worship and the like to procure rain, avert plague and so forth: such ideas are common throughout the middle ages. thus in every department we meet with that particular type of christian theory which existed in the east during the seventh and eighth centuries. this mediaeval theory of life was subjected, as is well known, to many compromises in the west, and was materially modified by teutonic influence and the revival of classicism. it might therefore be supposed that in islam christian theory underwent similar modification or disappeared entirely. but the fact is not so. at the outset, we stated, as will be remembered, that muhammedan scholars were accustomed to propound their dicta as utterances given by muhammed himself, and in this form christian ideas also came into circulation among muhammedans. when attempts were made to systematise these sayings, all were treated as alike authentic, and, as traditional, exerted their share of influence upon the formation of canon law. thus questions of temporary importance to mediaeval christianity became permanent elements in muhammedan theology. one highly instructive instance may be given. during the century which preceded the byzantine iconoclastic controversy, the whole of nearer asia was disturbed by the question whether the erection and veneration of images was permissible. that constantinople attempted to prohibit such veneration is well known: but after a long struggle the church gained its wishes. islam was confronted with the problem and decided for prohibition, doubtless under jewish influence. sayings of muhammed forbid the erection of images. this prohibition became part of canon law and therefore binding for all time: it remains obligatory at the present day, though in practice it is often transgressed. thus the process of development which was continued in christendom, came to a standstill in islam, and many similar cases might be quoted. here begins the development of muhammedan jurisprudence or, more exactly, of the doctrine of duty, which includes every kind of human activity, duties to god and man, religion, civil law, the penal code, social morality and economics. this extraordinary system of moral obligations, as developed in islam, though its origin is obscure, is doubtless rooted in the ecclesiastical law of christendom which was then first evolved. i have no doubt that the development of muhammedan tradition, which precedes the code proper, was dependent upon the growth of canon law in the old church, and that this again, or at least the purely legal part of it, is closely connected with the pre-justinian legislation. roman law does not seem to me to have influenced islam immediately in the form of justinian's _corpus juris_, but indirectly from such ecclesiastical sources as the romano-syrian code. this view, however, i would distinctly state, is merely my conjecture. for our present purpose it is more important to establish the fact that the doctrine of duty canonised the manifold expressions of the theory that life is a religion, with which we have met throughout the traditional literature: all human acts are thus legally considered as obligatory or forbidden when corresponding with religious commands or prohibitions, as congenial or obnoxious to the law or as matters legally indifferent and therefore permissible. the arrangement of the work of daily life in correspondence with these religious points of view is the most important outcome of the muhammedan doctrine of duties. the religious utterances which also cover the whole business of life were first made duties by this doctrine: in practice their fulfilment is impossible, but the theory of their obligatory nature is a fundamental element in muhammedanism. where the doctrine of duties deals with legal rights, its application was in practice confined to marriage and the affairs of family life: the theoretical demands of its penal clauses, for instance, raise impossible difficulties. at the same time, it has been of great importance to the whole spiritual life of islam down to the present day, because it reflects muhammedan ideals of life and of man's place in the world. even to-day it remains the daily bread of the soul that desires instruction, to quote the words of the greatest father of the muhammedan church. it will thus be immediately obvious to what a vast extent christian theory of the seventh and eighth centuries still remains operative upon muhammedan thought throughout the world. considerable parts of the doctrine of duties are concerned with the forms of muhammedan worship. it is becoming ever clearer that only slight tendencies to a form of worship were apparent under muhammed. the mosque, the building erected for the special purpose of divine service, was unknown during the prophet's lifetime; nor was there any definite church organisation, of which the most important parts are the common ritual and the preaching. tendencies existed but no system, was to be found: there was no clerical class to take an interest in the development of an order of divine service. the caliphs prayed before the faithful in the capital, as did the governors in the provinces. the military commanders also led a simple service in their own stations. it was contact with foreign influence which first provided the impulse to a systematic form of worship. both christians and jews possessed such forms. their example was followed and a ritual was evolved, at first of the very simplest kind. no detailed organisation, however, was attempted, until christian influence led to the formation of the class which naturally took an interest in the matter, the professional theologians. these soon replaced the military service leaders. this change denoted the final stage in the development of ritual. the object of the theologians was to subject the various occupations of life to ritual as well as to religion. the mediatorial or sacramental theories of the priestly office were unknown to islam, but ritual customs of similar character were gradually evolved, and are especially pronounced in the ceremonies of marriage and burial. more important, however, was the development of the official service, the arrangement of the day and the hour of obligatory attendance and the introduction of preaching: under muhammed and his early followers, and until late in the omajjad period, preaching was confined to addresses, given as occasion demanded, but by degrees it became part of the regular ritual. with it was afterwards connected the intercession for the caliphs, which became a highly significant part of the service, as symbolising their sovereignty. it seems to me very probable that this practice was an adoption, at any rate in theory, of the christian custom of praying for the emperor. the pulpit was then introduced under christian influence, which thus completely transformed the chair (_mimbar_) of the ancient arab judges and rulers and made it a piece of church furniture; the christian _cancelli_ or choir screens were adopted and the mosque was thus developed. before the age of mosques, a lance had been planted in the ground and prayer offered behind it: so in the mosque a prayer niche was made, a survival of the pre-existing custom. there are many obscure points in the development of the worship, but one fact may be asserted with confidence: the developments of ritual were derived from pre-existing practices, which were for the most part christian. but the religious energy of islam was not exclusively devoted to the development and practice of the doctrine of duties; at the same time this ethical department, in spite of its dependency upon christian and jewish ideas, remains its most original achievement: we have pursued the subject at some length, because its importance is often overlooked in the course of attempts to estimate the connection between christianity and islam. on the other hand, affinities in the regions of mysticism and dogma have long been matter of common knowledge and a brief sketch of them will therefore suffice. if not essential to our purpose within the limits of this book, they are none the less necessary to complete our treatment of the subject. by mysticism we understand the expression of religious emotion, as contrasted with efforts to attain righteousness by full obedience to the ethical doctrine of duties, and also in contrast to the hair-splitting of dogmatic speculation: mysticism strove to reach immediate emotional unity with the godhead. no trace of any such tendency was to be found in the qoran: it entered islam as a complete novelty, and the affinities which enabled it to gain a footing have been difficult to trace. muhammedan mysticism is certainly not exclusively christian: its origins, like those of christian mysticism, are to be found in the pantheistic writings of the neoplatonist school of dionysius the areopagite: but islam apparently derived its mysticism from christian sources. in it originated the idea, with all its capacity for development, of the mystical love of god: to this was added the theory and practice of asceticism which was especially developed by christianity, and, in later times, the influence of indian philosophy, which is unmistakable. such are the fundamental elements of this tendency. when the idea of the nirwana, the arab _fan[=a]_, is attained, muhammedanism proper comes to an end. but orthodoxy controls the divergent elements: it opposes any open avowal of the logical conclusion, which would identify "god" and the "ego," but in practice this group of ideas, pantheistic in all but name, has been received and given a place side by side with the strict monotheism of the qoran and with the dogmatic theology. any form of mysticism which is pushed to its logical consequences must overthrow positive religion. by incorporating this dangerous tendency within itself, islam has averted the peril which it threatens. creed is no longer endangered, and this purpose being secured, thought is free. union with god is gained by ecstasy and leads to enthusiasm. these terms will therefore show us in what quarter we must seek the strongest impulses to mysticism. the concepts, if not the actual terms, are to be found in islam: they were undoubtedly transmitted by christianity and undergo the wide extension which results in the dervish and fakir developments. _dervish_ and _fakir_ are the persian and arabic words for "beggar": the word _sufi_, a man in a woollen shirt, is also used in the same sense. the terms show that asceticism is a fundamental element in mysticism; asceticism was itself an importation to islam. dervishes are divided into different classes or orders, according to the methods by which they severally prefer to attain ecstasy: dancing and recitation are practised by the dancing and howling dervishes and other methods are in vogue. it is an institution very different from monasticism but the result of a course of development undoubtedly similar to that which produced the monk: dervishism and monasticism are independent developments of the same original idea. among these muhammedan companies attempts to reach the point of ecstasy have developed to a rigid discipline of the soul; the believer must subject himself to his master, resigning all power of will, and so gradually reaches higher stages of knowledge until he is eventually led to the consciousness of his absolute identity with god. it seems to me beyond question that this method is reflected in the _exercitiis spiritualibus_ of ignatius loyola, the chief instrument by which the jesuits secured dominion over souls. any one who has realised the enormous influence which arab thought exerted upon spanish christianity so late as the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, will not regard the conjecture as unfounded. when a man's profession or position prevented him from practising these mystical exercises, he satisfied his religious needs by venerating persons who were nearer to the deity and whose intercession was effectual even after their death and sometimes not until they were dead: hence arose the veneration of saints, a practice as alien as pantheistic dogma to primitive islam. the adoption of christian saint worship was not possible until the person of muhammed himself had been exalted above the ordinary level of humanity. early muhammedans observed that the founder of christianity was regarded by popular opinion as a miracle worker of unrivalled power: it was impossible for the founder of islam to remain inferior in this respect. thus the early biographies of the prophet, which appeared in the first century of muhammedanism, recount the typical miracles of the gospels, the feeding of multitudes, healing the sick, raising the dead and so forth. two methods of adoption may be distinguished. special features are directly borrowed, or the line of advance is followed which had introduced the worship of saints and relics to christianity a short time before. the religious emotions natural to any people produced a series of ideas which pass from one religion to another. outward form and purport may be changed, but the essential points remain unaltered and are the living expression of that relation to god in which a people conceives itself to stand. higher forms of religion--a fact as sad as it is true--require a certain degree not only of moral but of intellectual capacity. thus we have traversed practically the whole circle of religious life and have everywhere found islam following in the path of christian thought. one department remains to be examined, which might be expected to offer but scanty opportunity for borrowings of this kind; this is dogma. here, if anywhere, the contrast between the two religions should be obvious. the initial divergencies were so pronounced, that any adoption of christian ideas would seem impossible. yet in those centuries, christianity was chiefly agitated by dogmatic questions, which occupied men's minds as greatly as social problems at the present day. here we can observe most distinctly, how the problems at least were taken over by islam. muhammedan dogmatic theology is concerned only with three main questions, the problem of free-will, the being and attributes of god, and the eternal uncreated nature of god's word. the mere mention of these problems will recall the great dogmatic struggles of early christianity. at no time have the problems of free-will and the nature of god, been subjects of fiercer dispute than during the christological and subsequent discussions. upholders of freedom or of determinism could alike find much to support their theories in the qoran: muhammed was no dogmatist and for him the ideas of man's responsibility and of god's almighty and universal power were not mutually exclusive. the statement of the problem was adopted from christianity as also was the dialectical subtlety by which a solution was reached, and which, while admitting the almighty power of god, left man responsible for his deeds by regarding him as free to accept or refuse the admonitions of god. thus the thinkers and their demands for justice and righteous dealing were reconciled to the blind fatalism of the masses, which again was not a native muhammedan product, but is the outcome of the religious spirit of the east. the problem of reconciling the attributes of god with the dogma of his unity was solved with no less subtlety. the mere idea that a multiplicity of attributes was incompatible with absolute unity was only possible in a school which had spent centuries in the desperate attempt to reconcile the inference of a divine trinity with the conception of absolute divine unity. finally, the third question, "was the qoran, the word of god, created or not?" is an obvious counterpart of the logos problem, of the struggle to secure recognition of the logos as eternal and uncreated together with god. islam solved the question by distinguishing the eternal and uncreated qoran from the revealed and created. the eternal nature of the qoran was a dogma entirely alien to the strict monotheism of islam: but this fact was never realised, any more than the fact that the acceptance of the dogma was a triumph for graeco-christian dialectic. there can be no more striking proof of the strength of christian influence: it was able to undermine the fundamental dogma of islam, and the muhammedans never realised the fact. in our review of these dogmatic questions, we have met with a novel tendency, that to metaphysical speculation and dialectic. it was from christendom, not directly from the greek world, that this spirit reached islam: the first attitude of muhammedanism towards it was that which christianity adopted towards all non-religious systems of thought. islam took it up as a useful weapon for the struggle against heresy. but it soon became a favourite and trusted implement and eventually its influence upon muhammedan philosophy became paramount. here we meet with a further christian influence, which, when once accepted, very largely contributed to secure a similar development of mediaeval christian and muhammedan thought. this was scholasticism, which was the natural and inevitable consequence of the study of greek dialectic and philosophy. it is not necessary to sketch the growth of scholasticism, with its barrenness of results in spite of its keen intellectual power, upon ground already fertilised by ecclesiastical pioneers. it will suffice to state the fact that these developments of the greek spirit were predominant here as in the west: in either case important philosophies rise upon this basis, for the most part professedly ecclesiastical, even when they occasionally struck at the roots of the religious system to which they belonged. in this department, islam repaid part of its debt to christianity, for the arabs became the intellectual leaders of the middle ages. thus we come to the concluding section of this treatise; before we enter upon it, two preliminary questions remain for consideration. if islam was ready to learn from christianity in every department of religious life, what was the cause of the sudden superiority of muhammedanism to the rising force of christianity a few centuries later? and secondly, in view of the traditional antagonism between the christian and muhammedan worlds, how was christianity able to adopt so large and essential a portion of muhammedan thought? the answer in the second case will be clear to any one who has followed our argument with attention. the intellectual and religious outlook was so similar in both religions and the problem requiring solution so far identical that nothing existed to impede the adoption of ideas originally christian which had been developed in the east. the fact that the west could accept philosophical and theological ideas from islam and that an actual interchange of thought could proceed in this direction, is the best of proofs for the soundness of our argument that the roots of muhammedanism are to be sought in christianity. islam was able to borrow from christianity for the reason that muhammed's ideas were derived from that source: similarly christianity was able to turn arab thought to its own purposes because that thought was founded upon christian principles. the sources of both religions lie in the east and in oriental thought. no less is true of judaism, a scholastic system which was excellently adapted by its international character, to become a medium of communication between christianity and muhammedanism during those centuries. in this connection special mention must be made of the spanish jews; to their work, not only as transmitting but also as originating ideas a bare reference must here suffice. but of greater importance was the direct exchange of thought, which proceeded through literary channels, by means of translations, especially by word of mouth among the christians and muhammedans who were living together in southern italy, sicily, and spain, and by commercial intercourse. the other question concerns the fundamental problem of european medievalism. we see that the problems with which the middle ages in europe were confronted and also that european ethics and metaphysics were identical with the muhammedan system: we are moreover assured that the acceptance of christian ideas by islam can only have taken place in the east: and the conclusion is obvious that mediaeval christianity was also primarily rooted in the east. the transmission of this religious philosophy to the non-oriental peoples of the west at first produced a cessation of progress but opened a new intellectual world when these peoples awoke to life in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. but throughout the intermediate period between the seventh and thirteenth centuries the east was gaining political strength and was naturally superior to the west where political organisation and culture had been shattered by the germanic invasions; in the east again there was an organic unity of national strength and intellectual ideals, as the course of development had not been interrupted. though special dogmatic points had been changed, the general religious theory remained unaltered throughout the nearer east. thus the rising power of islam, which had high faculties of self-accommodation to environment, was able to enter upon the heritage of the mixed graeco-oriental civilisation existing in the east; in consequence it gained an immediate advantage over the west, where eastern ideas were acclimatised with difficulty. the preponderance of muhammedan influence was increased by the fact that islam became the point of amalgamation for ancient eastern cultures, in particular for those of greece and persia: in previous centuries preparation had been made for this process by the steady transformation of hellenism to orientalism. persia, however, had been the main source of eastern civilisation, at any rate since the sassanid period: the debt of byzantine culture to persia is well known. unfortunately no thorough investigation has been made of these various and important changes, but it is clear that persian civilisation sent its influence far westward, at first directly and later through the medium of muhammedanism. the same facts hold good with regard to the diffusion of intellectual culture from persia. how far persian ideas may have influenced the development of muhammedan and even of christian eschatology, we need not here discuss: but the influence of the great graeco-christian schools of persia was enormous: they made the arabs acquainted with the most important works in greek and persian literature. to this fact was due the wide influence of islam upon christian civilisation, which is evidenced even to-day by the numerous words of arab origin to be found in modern european languages; it is in fact an influence the strength of which can hardly be exaggerated. not only the commercial products of the east, but important economic methods, the ideals of our so-called european chivalry and of its love poetry, the foundations of our natural sciences, even theological and philosophical ideas of high value were then sent to us from the east. the consequences of the crusades are the best proof of the enormous superiority of the muhammedan world, a fact which is daily becoming more obvious. here we are concerned only with the influence exerted by muhammedan philosophy. it would be more correct to speak of post-classical than of muhammedan philosophy. but as above, the influence of christianity upon islam was considered, so now the reverse process must be outlined. in either case it was the heir to the late classical age, to the mixed graeco-oriental culture, which influenced islam at first in christian guise. islam is often able to supplement its borrowings from christianity at the original sources, and when they have thus been deepened and purified, these adaptations are returned to christianity in muhammedan form. christian scholasticism was first based upon fragments of aristotle and chiefly inspired by neo-platonism: through the arabs it became acquainted with almost the whole of aristotle and also with the special methods by which the arabs approach the problem of this philosophy. to give any detailed account of this influence would be to write a history of mediaeval philosophy in its relation to ecclesiastical doctrine, a task which i feel to be beyond my powers. i shall therefore confine myself to an abstract of the material points selected from the considerable detail which specialists upon the subject have collected: i consider that arab influence during the first period is best explained by the new wealth of greek thought which the arabs appropriated and transmitted to europe. these new discoveries were the attainments of greece in the natural sciences and in logic: they extended the scope of dialectic and stimulated the rise of metaphysical theory: the latter, in combination with ecclesiastical dogma and greek science, became such a system of thought as that expounded in the summa of thomas aquinas. philosophy remained the handmaid of religion and arab influence first served only to complete the ecclesiastical philosophy of life. eventually, however, the methods of interpretation and criticism, peculiar to the arabs when dealing with aristotle became of no less importance than the subject matter of their inquiries. this form of criticism was developed from the emphasis which islam had long laid upon the value of wisdom, or recognition of the claims of reason. muhammedan tradition is full of the praises of wisdom, which it also originally regarded as the basis of religion. reason, however, gradually became an independent power: orthodoxy did not reject reason when it coincided with tradition, but under the influence of aristotelianism, especially as developed by averroës, reason became a power opposed to faith. the essential point of the doctrine was that truth was twofold, according to faith and according to reason. any one who was subtle enough to recognise both kinds of truth could preserve his orthodoxy: but the theory contained one great danger, which was immediately obvious to the christian church. the consequent struggle is marked by the constant connection of arab ideas with the characteristic expressions of christian feeling; these again are connected with the outset of a new period, when the pioneers of the renaissance liberate the west from the chains of greek ecclesiastical classicism, from oriental metaphysical religion and slowly pave the way for the introduction of germanic ideals directly derived from true classicism. not until that period does the west burst the bonds in which orientalism had confined it. christianity and islam then stand upon an equal footing in respect both of intellectual progress and material wealth. but as the west emerges from the shadow-land of the middle ages the more definite becomes its superiority over the east. western nations become convinced that the fetters which bind them were forged in the east, and when they have shaken off their chains, they discover their own physical and intellectual power. they go forth and create a new world, in which orientalism finds but scanty room. the east, however, cannot break away from the theories of life and mind which grew in it and around it. even at the present day the oriental is swathed in mediaevalism. a journalist, for instance, however european his mode of life, will write leaders supported by arguments drawn from tradition and will reason after the manner of the old scholasticism. but a change may well take place. islam may gradually acquire the spirit as well as the form of modern europe. centuries were needed before mediaeval christianity learned the need for submission to the new spirit. within christendom itself, it was non-christian ideas which created the new movement, but these were completely amalgamated with pre-existing christianity. thus, too, a renaissance is possible in the east, not merely by the importation and imitation of european progress, but primarily by intellectual advancement at home even within the sphere of religion. our task is drawing to its close. we have passed in review the interaction of christianity and islam, so far as the two religions are concerned. it has also been necessary to refer to the history of the two civilisations, for the reason that the two religions penetrate national life, a feature characteristic both of their nature and of the course of development which they respectively followed. this method of inquiry has enabled us to gain an idea of the rise and progress of muhammedanism as such. an attempt to explain the points of contact and resemblance between the two religions naturally tends to obscure the differences between them. had we devoted our attention to islam alone, without special reference to christianity, these differences, especially in the region of dogmatic theology, would have been more obvious. they are, however, generally well known. the points of connection are much more usually disregarded: yet they alone can explain the interchange of thought between the two mediaeval civilisations. the surprising fact is the amount of general similarity in religious theory between religions so fundamentally divergent upon points of dogma. nor is the similarity confined to religious theory: when we realise that material civilisation, especially when european medievalism was at its height, was practically identical in the christian west and the muhammedan east, we are justified in any reference to the unity of eastern and western civilisation. my statements may tend to represent islam as a religion of no special originality; at the same time, christianity was but one of other influences operative upon it; early arabic, zoroastrian, and jewish beliefs in particular have left traces on its development. may not as much be said of christianity? inquirers have seriously attempted to distinguish greek and jewish influences as the component elements of christianity: in any case, the extent of the elements original to the final orthodox system remains a matter of dispute. as we learn to appreciate historical connection and to probe beneath the surface of religions in course of development, we discover points of relationship and interdependency of which the simple believer never even dreams. the object of all this investigation is, in my opinion, one only: to discover how the religious experience of the founder of a faith accommodates itself to pre-existing civilisation, in the effort to make its influence operative. the eventual triumph of the new religion is in every case and at every time nothing more than a compromise: nor can more be expected, inasmuch as the religious instinct, though one of the most important influences in man, is not the sole determining influence upon his nature. recognition of this fact can only be obtained at the price of a breach with ecclesiastical mode of thought. premonitions of some such breach are apparent in modern muhammedanism: for ourselves, they are accomplished facts. if i correctly interpret the signs of the times, a retrograde movement in religious development has now begun. the religion inspiring a single personality, has secured domination over the whole of life: family, society, and state have bowed beneath its power. then the reaction begins: slowly religion loses its comprehensive force and as its history is learned, even at the price of sorrow, it slowly recedes within the true limits of its operation, the individual, the personality, in which it is naturally rooted. conclusion and bibliography the purpose of the present work has been to show not so much the identity of christian and muhammedan theories of life during the middle ages, as the parallel course of development common to both, and to demonstrate the fact that ideas could be transferred from one system to the other. detail has been sacrificed to this general purpose. the brief outline of muhammedan dogmatics and mysticism was necessary to complete the general survey of the question. any one of these subjects, and the same is true as regards a detailed life of muhammed, would require at least another volume of equal size for satisfactory treatment. the oriental scholar will easily see where i base my statements upon my own researches and where i have followed goldziher and snouck. my chief source of information, apart from the six great books of tradition, has been the invaluable compilation of soj[=u]t[=i], the great kanz el-'umm[=a]l (hyderabad, ). to those who do not read arabic may be recommended the french translation of the boch[=a]r[=i], of which two volumes are now published: _el-bokâhri, les traditions islamiques traduites ... par_ o. houdas and w. marçais. paris, . of general works dealing with the questions i have touched, the following, to which i owe a considerable debt, may be recommended:-- j. goldziher. muhammedanische studien, halle, and following year. die religion des islams (kult. d. gegenw., i, iii. ). c. snouck hurgronje. de islam (de gids, , us. f.). mekka. the hague, . une nouvelle biographie de mohammed (rev. hist. relig., ). leone caetani di teano. annali dell' islam. milan, and following years. f. buhl. muhammed's liv. copenhagen, . h. grimme. muhammed. munich, . j. wellhausen. das arabische reich und sein sturz. berlin, . th. nöldeke. geschichte des qoräns. gottingen, . (new edition by f. schwally in the press.) c.h. becker. die kanzel im kultus des alten islam. giessen, . papyri. schott-reinhardt, i. heidelberg, . th. w. juynboll. handleidung tot de kennis van de mohammedaansche wet. leyden, . t.j. de boer. geschichte der philosophie in islam. stuttgart, (also an english edition). d.b. macdonald. development of muslim theology, jurisprudence and constitutional theory. new york, . a. merx. idee und grundlinien einer allgemeinen geschichte der mystik. heidelberg, . a. müller. der islam im morgen- und abendland (oncken's collection). w. riedel. die kirchenrechtsquellen des patriarchats alexandrien. leipsic, . g. bruns and e. sachau. syrisch-römisches rechtsbuch. leipsic, . e. sachau. syrische rechtsbücher, i. berlin, . e. zachariae v. lingenthal. geschichte des griechisch-römischen rechts. rd ed., berlin, . h. v. eicken. geschichte und system der mittelalterlichen weltanschauung. stuttgart, . w. windelband. lehrbuck der geschichte der philosophie. th ed., tübingen, . c. baeumker und g. v. hertling. beiträge zur geschichte der philosophie des mittelalters (collected papers). g. gothein. ignatius von loyola und die gegenreformation. halle, . in conclusion, i may mention two works, which deal with the subject of this volume, but from a different standpoint:-- h.p. smith. the bible and islam (the ely lectures for ). w.a. shedd. islam and the oriental churches (philadelphia, ). distributed proofreaders a textbook of theosophy by c.w. leadbeater contents chapter i. what theosophy is ii. from the absolute to man iii. the formation of a solar system iv. the evolution of life v. the constitution of man vi. after death vii. reincarnation viii. the purpose of life ix. the planetary chains x. the result of theosophical study index chapter i what theosophy is "there is a school of philosophy still in existence of which modern culture has lost sight." in these words mr. a.p. sinnett began his book, _the occult world_, the first popular exposition of theosophy, published thirty years ago. [namely in .] during the years that have passed since then, many thousands have learned wisdom in that school, yet to the majority its teachings are still unknown, and they can give only the vaguest of replies to the query, "what is theosophy?" two books already exist which answer that question: mr. sinnett's _esoteric buddhism_ and dr. besant's _the ancient wisdom_. i have no thought of entering into competition with those standard works; what i desire is to present a statement, as clear and simple as i can make it, which may be regarded as introductory to them. we often speak of theosophy as not in itself a religion, but the truth which lies behind all religions alike. that is so; yet, from another point of view, we may surely say that it is at once a philosophy, a religion and a science. it is a philosophy, because it puts plainly before us an explanation of the scheme of evolution of both the souls and the bodies contained in our solar system. it is a religion in so far as, having shown us the course of ordinary evolution, it also puts before us and advises a method of shortening that course, so that by conscious effort we may progress more directly towards the goal. it is a science, because it treats both these subjects as matters not of theological belief but of direct knowledge obtainable by study and investigation. it asserts that man has no need to trust to blind faith, because he has within him latent powers which, when aroused, enable him to see and examine for himself, and it proceeds to prove its case by showing how those powers may be awakened. it is itself a result of the awakening of such powers by men, for the teachings which it puts before us are founded upon direct observations made in the past, and rendered possible only by such development. as a philosophy, it explains to us that the solar system is a carefully-ordered mechanism, a manifestation of a magnificent life, of which man is but a small part. nevertheless, it takes up that small part which immediately concerns us, and treats it exhaustively under three heads--present, past and future. it deals with the present by describing what man really is, as seen by means of developed faculties. it is customary to speak of man as having a soul. theosophy, as the result of direct investigation, reverses that dictum, and states that man _is_ a soul, and _has_ a body--in fact several bodies, which are his vehicles and instruments in various worlds. these worlds are not separate in space; they are simultaneously present with us, here and now, and can be examined; they are the divisions of the material side of nature--different degrees of density in the aggregation of matter, as will presently be explained in detail. man has an existence in several of these, but is normally conscious only of the lowest, though sometimes in dreams and trances he has glimpses of some of the others. what is called death is the laying aside of the vehicle belonging to this lowest world, but the soul or real man in a higher world is no more changed or affected by this than the physical man is changed or affected when he removes his overcoat. all this is a matter, not of speculation, but of observation and experiment. theosophy has much to tell us of the past history of man--of how in the course of evolution he has come to be what he now is. this also is a matter of observation, because of the fact that there exists an indelible record of all that has taken place--a sort of memory of nature--by examining which the scenes of earlier evolution may be made to pass before the eyes of the investigator as though they were happening at this moment. by thus studying the past we learn that man is divine in origin and that he has a long evolution behind him--a double evolution, that of the life or soul within, and that of the outer form. we learn, too, that the life of man as a soul is of, what to us seems, enormous length, and that what we have been in the habit of calling his life is in reality only one day of his real existence. he has already lived through many such days, and has many more of them yet before him; and if we wish to understand the real life and its object, we must consider it in relation not only to this one day of it, which begins with birth and ends with death, but also to the days which have gone before and those which are yet to come. of those that are yet to come there is also much to be said, and on this subject, too, a great deal of definite information is available. such information is obtainable, first, from men who have already passed much further along the road of evolution than we, and have consequently direct experience of it; and, secondly, from inferences drawn from the obvious direction of the steps which we see to have been previously taken. the goal of this particular cycle is in sight, though still far above us but it would seem that, even when that has been attained, an infinity of progress still lies before everyone who is willing to undertake it. one of the most striking advantages of theosophy is that the light which it brings to us at once solves many of our problems, clears away many difficulties, accounts for the apparent injustices of life, and in all directions brings order out of seeming chaos. thus, while some of its teaching is based upon the observation of forces whose direct working is somewhat beyond the ken of the ordinary man of the world, if the latter will accept it as a hypothesis he will very soon come to see that it must be a correct one, because it, and it alone, furnishes a coherent and reasonable explanation of the drama of life which is being played before him. the existence of perfected men, and the possibility of coming into touch with them and being taught by them, are prominent among the great new truths which theosophy brings to the western world. another of them is the stupendous fact that the world is not drifting blindly into anarchy, but that its progress is under the control of a perfectly organized hierarchy, so that final failure even for the tiniest of its units is of all impossibilities the most impossible. a glimpse of the working of that hierarchy inevitably engenders the desire to co-operate with it, to serve under it, in however humble a capacity, and some time in the far-distant future to be worthy to join the outer fringes of its ranks. this brings us to that aspect of theosophy which we have called religious. those who come to know and to understand these things are dissatisfied with the slow æons of evolution; they yearn to become more immediately useful, and so they demand and obtain knowledge of the shorter but steeper path. there is no possibility of escaping the amount of work that has to be done. it is like carrying a load up a mountain; whether one carries it straight up a steep path or more gradually by a road of gentle slope, precisely the same number of foot-pounds must be exerted. therefore to do the same work in a small fraction of the time means determined effort. it can be done, however, for it has been done; and those who have done it agree that it far more than repays the trouble. the limitations of the various vehicles are thereby gradually transcended, and the liberated man becomes an intelligent co-worker in the mighty plan for the evolution of all beings. in its capacity as a religion, too, theosophy gives its followers a rule of life, based not on alleged commands delivered at some remote period of the past, but on plain common sense as indicated by observed facts. the attitude of the student of theosophy towards the rules which it prescribes resembles rather that which we adopt to hygienic regulations than obedience to religious commandments. we may say, if we wish, that this thing or that is in accordance with the divine will, for the divine will is expressed in what we know as the laws of nature. because that will wisely ordereth all things, to infringe its laws means to disturb the smooth working of the scheme, to hold back for a moment that fragment or tiny part of evolution, and consequently to bring discomfort upon ourselves and others. it is for that reason that the wise man avoids infringing them--not to escape the imaginary wrath of some offended deity. but if from a certain point of view we may think of theosophy as a religion, we must note two great points of difference between it and what is ordinarily called religion in the west. first, it neither demands belief from its followers, nor does it even speak of belief in the sense in which that word is usually employed. the student of occult science either _knows_ a thing or suspends his judgment about it; there is no place in his scheme for blind faith. naturally, beginners in the study cannot yet _know_ for themselves, so they are asked to read the results of the various observations and to deal with them as probable hypotheses--provisionally to accept and act upon them, until such time as they can prove them for themselves. secondly, theosophy never endeavours to convert any man from whatever religion he already holds. on the contrary, it explains his religion to him, and enables him to see in it deeper meanings than he has ever known before. it teaches him to understand it and live it better than he did, and in many cases it gives back to him, on a higher and more intelligent level, the faith in it which he had previously all but lost. theosophy has its aspects as a science also; it is in very truth a science of life, a science of the soul. it applies to everything the scientific method of oft-repeated, painstaking observation, and then tabulates the results and makes deductions from them. in this way it has investigated the various planes of nature, the conditions of man's consciousness during life and after what is commonly called death. it cannot be too often repeated that its statements on all these matters are not vague guesses or tenets of faith, but are based upon direct and oft-repeated _observation_ of what happens. its investigators have dealt also to a certain extent with subjects more in the range of ordinary science, as may be seen by those who read the book on _occult chemistry_. thus we see that theosophy combines within itself some of the characteristics of philosophy, religion and science. what, it might be asked, is its gospel for this weary world? what are the main points which emerge from its investigations? what are the great facts which it has to lay before humanity? they have been well summed up under three main heads. "there are three truths which are absolute, and which cannot be lost, but yet may remain silent for lack of speech. "the soul of man is immortal and its future is the future of a thing whose growth and splendour has no limit. "the principle which gives life dwells in us and without us, is undying and eternally beneficent, is not heard or seen or smelt, but is perceived by the man who desires perception. "each man is his own absolute lawgiver, the dispenser of glory or gloom to himself, the decreer of his life, his reward, his punishment. "these truths, which are as great as is life itself, are as simple as the simplest mind of man." put shortly, and in the language of the man of the street, this means that god is good, that man is immortal, and that as we sow so we must reap. there is a definite scheme of things; it is under intelligent direction and works under immutable laws. man has his place in this scheme and is living under these laws. if he understands them and co-operates with them, he will advance rapidly and will be happy; if he does not understand them--if, wittingly or unwittingly, he breaks them, he will delay his progress and be miserable. these are not theories, but proved facts. let him who doubts read on, and he will see. chapter ii from the absolute to man of the absolute, the infinite, the all-embracing, we can at our present stage know nothing, except that it is; we can say nothing that is not a limitation, and therefore inaccurate. in it are innumerable universes; in each universe countless solar systems. each solar system is the expression of a mighty being, whom we call the logos, the word of god, the solar deity. he is to it all that men mean by god. he permeates it; there is nothing in it which is not he; it is the manifestation of him in such matter as we can see. yet he exists above it and outside it, living a stupendous life of his own among his peers. as is said in an eastern scripture: "having permeated this whole universe with one fragment of myself i remain." of that higher life of his we can know nothing. but of the fragment of his life which energises his system we may know something in the lower levels of its manifestation. we may not see him, but we may see his power at work. no one who is clairvoyant can be atheistic; the evidence is too tremendous. out of himself he has called this mighty system into being. we who are in it are evolving fragments of his life, sparks of his divine fire; from him we all have come; into him we shall all return. many have asked why he has done this; why he has emanated from himself all this system; why he has sent us forth to face the storms of life. we cannot know, nor is the question practical; suffice it that we are here, and we must do our best. yet many philosophers have speculated on this point and many suggestions have been made. the most beautiful that i know is that of a gnostic philosopher: "god is love, but love itself cannot be perfect unless it has those upon whom it can be lavished and by whom it can be returned. therefore he put forth of himself into matter, and he limited his glory, in order that through this natural and slow process of evolution we might come into being; and we in turn according to his will are to develop until we reach even his own level, and then the very love of god itself will become more perfect, because it will then be lavished on those, his own children, who will fully understand and return it, and so his great scheme will be realized and his will, be done." at what stupendous elevation his consciousness abides we know not, nor can we know its true nature as it shows itself there. but when he puts himself down into such conditions as are within our reach, his manifestation is ever threefold, and so all religions have imaged him as a trinity. three, yet fundamentally one; three persons (for person means a mask) yet one god, showing himself in those three aspects. three to us, looking at them from below, because their functions are different; one to him, because he knows them to be but facets of himself. all three of these aspects are concerned in the evolution of the solar system; all three are also concerned in the evolution of man. this evolution is his will; the method of it is his plan. next below this solar deity, yet also in some mysterious manner part of him, come his seven ministers sometimes called the planetary spirits. using an analogy drawn from the physiology of our own body, their relation to him is like that of the ganglia or the nerve centres to the brain. all evolution which comes forth from him comes through one or other of them. under them in turn come vast hosts or orders of spiritual beings, whom we call angels or devas. we do not yet know all the functions which they fulfil in different parts of this wonderful scheme, but we find some of them intimately connected with the building of the system and the unfolding of life within it. here in our world there is a great official who represents the solar deity and is in absolute control of all the evolution that takes place upon this planet. we may image him as the true king of this world and under him are ministers in charge of different departments. one of these departments is concerned with the evolution of the different races of humanity so that for each great race there is a head who founds it, differentiates it from all others, and watches over its development. another department is that of religion and education, and it is from this that all the greatest teachers of history have come--that all religions have been sent forth. the great official at the head of this department either comes himself or sends one of his pupils to found a new religion when he decides that one is needed. therefore all religions, at the time of their first presentation to the world, have contained a definite statement of the truth, and in its fundamentals this truth has been always the same. the presentations of it have varied because of differences in the races to whom it was offered. the conditions of civilization and the degree of evolution obtained by various races have made it desirable to present this one truth in divers forms. but the inner truth is always the same, and the source from which it comes is the same, even though the external phases may appear to be different and even contradictory. it is foolish for men to wrangle over the question of the superiority of one teacher or one form of teaching to another, for the teacher is always one sent by the great brotherhood of adepts, and in all its important points, in its ethical and moral principles, the teaching has always been the same. there is in the world a body or truth which lies at the back of all these religions, and represents the facts of nature as far as they are at present known to man. in the outer world, because of their ignorance of this, people are always disputing and arguing about whether there is a god; whether man survives death; whether definite progress is possible for him, and what is his relation to the universe. these questions are ever present in the mind of man as soon as intelligence is awakened. they are not unanswerable, as is frequently supposed; the answers to them are within the reach of anyone who will make proper efforts to find them. the truth is obtainable, and the conditions of its attainment are possible of achievement by anyone who will make the effort. in the earlier stages of the development of humanity the great officials of the hierarchy are provided from outside, from other and more highly evolved parts of the system, but as soon as men can be trained to the necessary level of power and wisdom these offices are held by them. in order to be fit to hold such an office a man must raise himself to a very high level, and must become what is called an adept--a being of goodness, power and wisdom so great that he towers above the rest of humanity, for he has already attained the summit of ordinary human evolution; he has achieved that which the plan of the deity marked out for him to achieve during this age or dispensation. but his evolution later on continues beyond that level--continues to divinity. a large number of men have attained the adept level--men not of one nation, but of all the leading nations of the world--rare souls who with indomitable courage have stormed the fortresses of nature, and captured her innermost secrets, and so have truly earned the right to be called adepts. among them there are many degrees and many lines of activity; but always some of them remain within touch of our earth as members of this hierarchy which has in charge the administration of the affairs of our world and of the spiritual evolution of our humanity. this august body is often called the great white brotherhood, but its members are not a community all living together. each of them, to a large extent, draws himself apart from the world, and they are in constant communication with one another and with their head; but their knowledge of higher forces is so great that this is achieved without any necessity for meeting in the physical world. in many cases they continue to live each in his own country, and their power remains unsuspected among those who live near them. any man who will may attract their attention, but he can do it only by showing himself worthy of their notice. none need fear that his efforts will pass unnoticed; such oversight is impossible, for the man who is devoting himself to service such as this, stands out from the rest of humanity like a great flame in a dark night. a few of these great adepts, who are thus working for the good of the world, are willing to take as apprentices those who have resolved to devote themselves utterly to the service of mankind; such adepts are called masters. one of these apprentices was helena petrovna blavatsky--a great soul who was sent out to offer knowledge to the world. with colonel henry steel olcott she founded the theosophical society for the spread of this knowledge which she had to give. among those who came into contact with her in those early days was mr. a.p. sinnett, the editor of _the pioneer_, and his keen intellect at once grasped the magnitude and the importance of the teaching which she put before him. although madame blavatsky herself had previously written _isis unveiled_, it had attracted but little attention, and it was mr. sinnett who first made the teaching really available for western readers in his two books, _the occult world_ and _esoteric buddhism_. it was through these works that i myself first came to know their author, and afterwards madame blavatsky herself; from both of them i learned much. when i asked madame blavatsky how one could learn still more, how one could make definite progress along the path which she pointed out to us, she told me of the possibility that other students might be accepted as apprentices by the great masters, even as she herself had been accepted, and that the only way to gain such acceptance was to show oneself worthy of it by earnest and altruistic work. she told me that to reach that goal a man must be absolutely one-pointed in his determination; that no one who tried to serve both god and mammon could ever hope to succeed. one of these masters himself had said: "in order to succeed, a pupil must leave his own world and come into ours." this means that he must cease to be one of the majority who live for wealth and power, and must join the tiny minority who care nothing for such things, but live only in order to devote themselves selflessly to the good of the world. she warned us clearly that the way was difficult to tread, that we should be misunderstood and reviled by those who still lived in the world, and that we had nothing to look forward to but the hardest of hard work; and though the result was sure, no one could foretell how long it would take to arrive at it. some of us accepted these conditions joyfully, and we have never for a moment regretted the decision. after some years of work i had the privilege of coming into contact with these great masters of the wisdom; from them i learnt many things--among others, how to verify for myself at first hand most of the teachings which they had given. so that, in this matter, i write of what i know, and what i have seen for myself. certain points are mentioned in the teaching, for the verification of which powers are required far beyond anything which i have gained so far. of them, i can say only that they are consistent with what i do know, and in many cases are necessary as hypotheses to account for what i have seen. they came to me, along with the rest of the theosophical system, upon the authority of these mighty teachers. since then i have learnt to examine for myself by far the greater part of what i was told, and i have found the information given to me to be correct in every particular; therefore i am justified in assuming the probability that that other part, which as yet i cannot verify, will also prove to be correct when i arrive at its level. to attain the honour of being accepted as an apprentice of one of the masters of the wisdom is the object set before himself by every earnest theosophical student. but it means a determined effort. there have always been men who were willing to make the necessary effort, and therefore there have always been men who knew. the knowledge is so transcendent that when a man grasps it fully he becomes more than man and he passes beyond our ken. but there are stages in the acquirement of this knowledge, and we may learn much if we will, from those who themselves are still in process of learning; for all human beings stand on one or other of the rungs of the ladder of evolution. the primitive stand at its foot; we who are civilized beings have already climbed part of the way. but though we can look back and see rungs of the ladder below us which we have already passed, we may also look up and see many rungs above us to which we have not yet attained. just as men are standing even now on each of the rungs below us, so that we can see the stages by which man has mounted, so also are there men standing on each of the rungs above us, so that from studying them we may see how man shall mount in the future. precisely because we see men on every step of this ladder, which leads up to a glory which as yet we have no words to express, we know that the ascent to that glory is possible for us. those who stand high above us, so high that they seem to us as gods in their marvellous knowledge and power, tell us that they stood not long since where we are standing now, and they indicate to us clearly the steps which lie between, which we also must tread if we would be as they. chapter iii the formation of a solar system the beginning of the universe (if ever it had a beginning) is beyond our ken. at the earliest point of history that we can reach, the two great opposites of spirit and matter, of life and form, are already in full activity. we find that the ordinary conception of matter needs a revision, for what are commonly called force and matter are in reality only two varieties of spirit at different stages in evolution and the real matter or basis of everything lies in the background unperceived. a french scientist has recently said: "there is no matter; there are nothing but holes in the æther." this also agrees with the celebrated theory of professor osborne reynolds. occult investigation shows this to be the correct view, and in that way explains what oriental sacred books mean when they say that matter is an illusion. the ultimate root-matter as seen at our level is what scientists call the æther of space. [this has been described in _occult chemistry_ under the name of koilon.] to every physical sense the space occupied by it appears empty, yet in reality this æther is far denser than anything of which we can conceive. its density is defined by professor reynolds as being ten thousand times greater than that of water, and its mean pressure as seven hundred and fifty thousand tons to the square inch. this substance is perceptible only to highly developed clairvoyant power. we must assume a time (though we have no direct knowledge on this point) when this substance filled all space. we must also suppose that some great being (not the deity of a solar system, but some being almost infinitely higher than that) changed this condition of rest by pouring out his spirit or force into a certain section of this matter, a section of the size of a whole universe. this effect of the introduction of this force is as that of the blowing of a mighty breath; it has formed within this æther an incalculable number of tiny spherical bubbles, [the bubbles are spoken of in _the secret doctrine_ as the holes which fohat digs in space.] and these bubbles are the ultimate atoms of which what we call matter is composed. they are not the atoms of the chemist, nor even the ultimate atoms of the physical world. they stand at a far higher level, and what are usually called atoms are composed of vast aggregations of these bubbles, as will be seen later. when the solar deity begins to make his system, he finds ready to his hand this material--this infinite mass of tiny bubbles which can be built up into various kinds of matter as we know it. he commences by defining the limit of his field of activity, a vast sphere whose circumference is far larger than the orbit of the outermost of his future planets. within the limit of that sphere he sets up a kind of gigantic vortex--a motion which sweeps together all the bubbles into a vast central mass, the material of the nebula that is to be. into this vast revolving sphere he sends forth successive impulses of force, gathering together the bubbles into ever more and more complex aggregations, and producing in this way seven gigantic interpenetrating worlds of matter of different degrees of density, all concentric and all occupying the same space. acting through his third aspect he sends forth into this stupendous sphere the first of these impulses. it sets up all through the sphere a vast number of tiny vortices, each of which draws into itself forty-nine bubbles, and arranges them in a certain shape. these little groupings of bubbles so formed are the atoms of the second of the interpenetrating worlds. the whole number of the bubbles is not used in this way, sufficient being left in the dissociated state to act as atoms for the first and highest of these worlds. in due time comes the second impulse, which seizes upon nearly all these forty-nine bubble-atoms (leaving only enough to provide atoms for the second world), draws them back into itself and then, throwing them out again, sets up among them vortices, each of which holds within itself , bubbles ( ^ ). these form the atoms of the third world. again after a time comes a third impulse, which in the same way seizes upon nearly all these , bubble-atoms, draws them back again into their original form, and again throws them outward once more as the atoms of the fourth world--each atom containing this time ^{ } bubbles. this process is repeated until the sixth of these successive impulses has built the atom of the seventh or the lowest world--that atom containing ^{ } of the original bubbles. this atom of the seventh world is the ultimate atom of the physical world--not any of the atoms of which chemists speak, but that ultimate out of which all their atoms are made. we have at this stage arrived at that condition of affairs in which the vast whirling sphere contains within itself seven types of matter, all one in essence, because all built of the same kind of bubbles, but differing in their degree of density. all these types are freely intermingled, so that specimens of each type would be found in a small portion of the sphere taken at random in any part of it, with, however, a general tendency of the heavier atoms to gravitate more and more towards the centre. the seventh impulse sent out from the third aspect of the deity does not, as before, draw back the physical atoms which were last made into the original dissociated bubbles, but draws them together into certain aggregations, thus making a number of different kinds of what may be called proto-elements, and these again are joined together into the various forms which are known to science as chemical elements. the making of these extends over a long period of ages, and they are made in a certain definite order by the interaction of several forces, as is correctly indicated in sir william crookes's paper, _the genesis of the elements_. indeed the process of their making is not even now concluded; uranium is the latest and heaviest element so far as we know, but others still more complicated may perhaps be produced in the future. as ages rolled on the condensation increased, and presently the stage of a vast glowing nebula was reached. as it cooled, still rapidly rotating, it flattened into a huge disc and gradually broke up into rings surrounding a central body--an arrangement not unlike that which saturn exhibits at the present day, though on a far larger scale. as the time drew near when the planets would be required for the purposes of evolution, the deity sets up somewhere in the thickness of each ring a subsidiary vortex into which a great deal of the matter of the ring was by degrees collected. the collisions of the gathered fragments caused a revival of the heat, and the resulting planet was for a long time a mass of glowing gas. little by little it cooled once more, until it became fit to be the theatre of life such as ours. thus were all the planets formed. almost all the matter of those interpenetrating worlds was by this time concentrated into the newly formed planets. each of them was and is composed of all those different kinds of matter. the earth upon which we are now living is not merely a great ball of physical matter, built of the atoms of that lowest world, but has also attached to it an abundant supply of matter of the sixth, the fifth, the fourth and other worlds. it is well known to all students of science that particles of matter never actually touch one another, even in the hardest of substances. the spaces between them are always far greater in proportion than their own size--enormously greater. so there is ample room for all the other kinds of atoms of all those other worlds, not only to lie between the atoms of the denser matter, but to move quite freely among them and around them. consequently, this globe upon which we live is not one world, but seven interpenetrating worlds, all occupying the same space, except that the finer types of matter extend further from the centre than does the denser matter. we have given names to these interpenetrating worlds for convenience in speaking of them. no name is needed for the first, as man is not yet in direct connection with it; but when it is necessary to mention it, it may be called the divine world. the second is described as the monadic, because in it exist those sparks of the divine life which we call the human monads; but neither of these can be touched by the highest clairvoyant investigations at present possible for us. the third sphere, whose atoms contain , bubbles, is called the spiritual world, because in it functions the highest spirit in man as now constituted. the fourth is the intuitional world, [previously called in theosophical literature the buddhic plane.] because from it come the highest intuitions. the fifth is the mental world, because from its matter is built the mind of man. the sixth is called the emotional or astral world, because the emotions of man cause undulations in its matter. (the name astral was given to it by mediæval alchemists, because its matter is starry or shining as compared to that of the denser world.) the seventh world, composed of the type of matter which we see all around us, is called the physical. the matter of which all these interpenetrating worlds are built is essentially the same matter, but differently arranged and of different degrees of density. therefore the rates at which these various types of matter normally vibrate differ also. they may be considered as a vast gamut of undulations consisting of many octaves. the physical matter uses a certain number of the lowest of these octaves, the astral matter another group of octaves just above that, the mental matter a still further group, and so on. not only has each of these worlds its own type of matter; it has also its own set of aggregations of that matter--its own substances. in each world we arrange these substances in seven classes according to the rate at which their molecules vibrate. usually, but not invariably, the slower oscillation involves also a larger molecule--a molecule, that is, built up by a special arrangement of the smaller molecules of the next higher subdivision. the application of heat increases the size of the molecules and also quickens and amplifies their undulation, so that they cover more ground, and the object, as a whole expands, until the point is reached where the aggregation of molecules breaks up, and the latter passes from one condition to that next above it. in the matter of the physical world the seven subdivisions are represented by seven degrees of density of matter, to which, beginning from below upwards, we give the names solid, liquid, gaseous, etheric, superetheric, subatomic and atomic. the atomic subdivision is one in which all forms are built by the compression into certain shapes of the physical atoms, without any previous collection of these atoms into blocks or molecules. typifying the physical ultimate atom for the moment by a brick, any form in the atomic subdivision would be made by gathering together some of the bricks, and building them into a certain shape. in order to make matter for the next lower subdivision, a certain number of the bricks (atoms) would first be gathered together and cemented into small blocks of say four bricks each, five bricks each, six bricks or seven bricks; and then these blocks so made would be used as building stones. for the next subdivision several of the blocks of the second subdivision cemented together in certain shapes would form building-stones, and so on to the lowest. to transfer any substance from the solid condition to the liquid (that is to say, to melt it) is to increase the vibration of its compound molecules until at last they are shaken apart into the simpler molecules of which they were built. this process can in all cases be repeated again and again until finally any and every physical substance can be reduced to the ultimate atoms of the physical world. each of these worlds has its inhabitants, whose senses are normally capable of responding to the undulations of their own world only. a man living (as we are all doing) in the physical world sees, hears, feels, by vibrations connected with the physical matter around him. he is equally surrounded by the astral and mental and other worlds which are interpenetrating his own denser world, but of them he is normally unconscious, because his senses cannot respond to the oscillations of their matter, just as our physical eyes cannot see by the vibrations of ultra-violet light, although scientific experiments show that they exist, and there are other consciousnesses with differently-formed organs who _can_ see by them. a being living in the astral world might be occupying the very same space as a being living in the physical world, yet each would be entirely unconscious of the other and would in no way impede the free movement of the other. the same is true of all other worlds. we are at this moment surrounded by these worlds of finer matter, as close to us as the world we see, and their inhabitants are passing through us and about us, but we are entirely unconscious of them. since our evolution is centred at present upon this globe which we call the earth, it is in connection with it only that we shall be speaking of these higher worlds, so in future when i use the term "astral world" i shall mean by it the astral part of our own globe only, and not (as heretofore) the astral part of the whole solar system. this astral part of our own world is also a globe, but of astral matter. it occupies the same place as the globe which we see, but its matter (being so much lighter) extends out into space on all sides of us further than does the atmosphere of the earth--a great deal further. it stretches to a little less than the mean distance of the moon, so that though the two physical globes, the earth and the moon, are nearly , miles apart, the astral globes of these two bodies touch one another when the moon is in perigee, but not when she is in apogee. i shall apply the term "mental world" to the still larger globe of mental matter in the midst of which our physical earth exists. when we come to the still higher globes we have spheres large enough to touch the corresponding spheres of other planets in the system, though their matter also is just as much about us here on the surface of the solid earth as that of the others. all these globes of finer matter are a part of us, and are all revolving round the sun with their visible part. the student will do well to accustom himself to think of our earth as the whole of this mass of interpenetrating worlds--not only the comparatively small physical ball in the centre of it. chapter iv the evolution of life all the impulses of life which i have described as building the interpenetrating worlds come forth from the third aspect of the deity. hence in the christian scheme that aspect is called "the giver of life", the spirit who brooded over the face of the waters of space. in theosophical literature these impulses are usually taken as a whole, and called the first outpouring. when the worlds had been prepared to this extent, and most of the chemical elements already existed, the second outpouring of life took place, and this came from the second aspect of the deity. it brought with it the power of combination. in all the worlds it found existing what may be thought of as elements corresponding to those worlds. it proceeded to combine those elements into organisms which it then ensouled, and in this way it built up the seven kingdoms of nature. theosophy recognizes seven kingdoms, because it regards man as separate from the animal kingdom and it takes into account several stages of evolution which are unseen by the physical eye, and gives to them the mediæval name of "elemental kingdoms". the divine life pours itself into matter from above, and its whole course may be thought of in two stages--the gradual assumption of grosser and grosser matter, and then the gradual casting off again of the vehicles which have been assumed. the earliest level upon which its vehicles can be scientifically observed is the mental--the fifth counting from the finer to the grosser, the first on which there are separated globes. in practical study it is found convenient to divide this mental world into two parts, which we call the higher and the lower according to the degree of density of their matter. the higher consists of the three finer subdivisions of mental matter; the lower part of the other four. when the outpouring reaches the higher mental world it draws together the ethereal elements there, combines them into what at that level correspond to substances and of these substances builds forms which it inhabits. we call this the first elemental kingdom. after a long period of evolution through different forms at that level, the wave of life, which is all the time pressing steadily downwards, learns to identify itself so fully with those forms that, instead of occupying them and withdrawing from them periodically, it is able to hold them permanently and make them part of itself, so that now from that level it can proceed to the temporary occupation of forms at a still lower level. when it reaches this stage we call it the second elemental kingdom, the ensouling life of which resides upon the higher mental levels, while the vehicles through which it manifests are on the lower. after another vast period of similar length, it is found that the downward pressure has caused this process to repeat itself; once more the life has identified itself with its forms, and has taken up its residence upon the lower mental levels, so that it is capable of ensouling bodies in the astral world. at this stage we call it the third elemental kingdom. we speak of all these forms as finer or grosser relatively to one another, but all of them are almost infinitely finer than any with which we are acquainted in the physical world. each of these three is a kingdom of nature, as varied in the manifestations of its different forms of life as is the animal or vegetable kingdom which we know. after a long period spent in ensouling the forms of the third of these elemental kingdoms it identifies itself with them in turn, and so is able to ensoul the etheric part of the mineral kingdom, and becomes the life which vivifies that--for there is a life in the mineral kingdom just as much as in the vegetable or the animal, although it is in conditions where it cannot manifest so freely. in the course of the mineral evolution the downward pressure causes it to identify itself in the same way with the etheric matter of the physical world, and from that to ensoul the denser matter of such minerals as are perceptible to our senses. in the mineral kingdom we include not only what are usually called minerals, but also liquids, gases and many etheric substances the existence of which is unknown to western science. all the matter of which we know anything is living matter, and the life which it contains is always evolving. when it has reached the central point of the mineral stage the downward pressure ceases, and is replaced by an upward tendency; the outbreathing has ceased and the indrawing has begun. when mineral evolution is completed, the life has withdrawn itself again into the astral world, but bearing with it all the results obtained through its experiences in the physical. at this stage it ensouls vegetable forms, and begins to show itself much more clearly as what we commonly call life--plant-life of all kinds; and at a yet later stage of its development it leaves the vegetable kingdom and ensouls the animal kingdom. the attainment of this level is the sign that it has withdrawn itself still further, and is now working from the lower mental world. in order to work in physical matter from that mental world it must operate through the intervening astral matter; and that astral matter is now no longer part of the garment of the group-soul as a whole, but is the individual astral body of the animal concerned, as will be later explained. in each of these kingdoms it not only passes a period of time which is to our ideas almost incredibly long, but it also goes through a definite course of evolution, beginning from the lower manifestations of that kingdom and ending with the highest. in the vegetable kingdom, for example, the life-force might commence its career by occupying grasses or mosses and end it by ensouling magnificent forest trees. in the animal kingdom it might commence with mosquitoes or with animalculæ, and might end with the finest specimens of the mammalia. the whole process is one of steady evolution from lower forms to higher, from the simpler to the more complex. but what is evolving is not primarily the form, but the life within it. the forms also evolve and grow better as time passes; but this is in order that they may be appropriate vehicles for more and more advanced waves of life. when the life has reached the highest level possible in the animal kingdom, it may then pass on into the human kingdom, under conditions which will presently be explained. the outpouring leaves one kingdom and passes to another, so that if we had to deal with only one wave of this outpouring we could have in existence only one kingdom at a time. but the deity sends out a constant succession of these waves, so that at any given time we find a number of them simultaneously in operation. we ourselves represent one such wave; but we find evolving alongside us another wave which ensouls the animal kingdom--a wave which came out from the deity one stage later than we did. we find also the vegetable kingdom, which represents a third wave, and the mineral kingdom, which represents a fourth; and occultists know of the existence all round us of three elemental kingdoms, which represent the fifth, sixth and seventh waves. all these, however, are successive ripples of the same great outpouring from the second aspect of the deity. we have here, then, a scheme of evolution in which the divine life involves itself more and more deeply in matter, in order that through that matter it may receive vibrations which could not otherwise affect it--impacts from without, which by degrees arouse within it rates of undulation corresponding to their own, so that it learns to respond to them. later on it learns of itself to generate these rates of undulation, and so becomes a being possessed of spiritual powers. we may presume that when this outpouring of life originally came forth from the deity, at some level altogether beyond our power of cognition, it may perhaps have been homogeneous; but when it first comes within practical cognizance, when it is itself in the intuitional world, but is ensouling bodies made of the matter of the higher mental world, it is already not one huge world-soul but many souls. let us suppose a homogeneous outpouring, which may be considered as one vast soul, at one end of the scale; at the other, when humanity is reached, we find that one vast soul broken up into millions of the comparatively little souls of individual men. at any stage between these two extremes we find an intermediate condition, the immense world-soul already subdivided, but not to the utmost limit of possible subdivision. each man is a soul, but not each animal or each plant. man, as a soul, can manifest through only one body at a time in the physical world, whereas one animal soul manifests simultaneously through a number of animal bodies, one plant soul through a number of separate plants. a lion, for example, is not a permanently separate entity in the same way as a man is. when the man dies--that is, when he as a soul lays aside his physical body--he remains himself exactly as he was before, an entity separate from all other entities. when the lion dies, that which has been the separate soul of him is poured back into the mass from which it came--a mass which is at the same time providing the souls for many other lions. to such a mass we give the name of "group-soul". to such a group-soul is attached a considerable number of lion bodies--let us say a hundred. each of those bodies while it lives has its hundredth part of the group-soul attached to it, and for the time being this is apparently quite separate, so that the lion is as much an individual during his physical life as the man; but he is not a permanent individual. when he dies the soul of him flows back into the group-soul to which it belongs, and that identical lion-soul cannot be separated again from the group. a useful analogy may help comprehension. imagine the group-soul to be represented by the water in a bucket, and the hundred lion bodies by a hundred tumblers. as each tumbler is dipped into the bucket it takes out from it a tumblerful of water (the separate soul). that water for the time being takes the shape of the vehicle which it fills, and is temporarily separate from the water which remains in the bucket, and from the water in the other tumblers. now put into each of the hundred tumblers some kind of colouring matter or some kind of flavouring. that will represent the qualities developed by its experiences in the separate soul of the lion during its lifetime. pour back the water from the tumbler into the bucket; that represents the death of the lion. the colouring matter or the flavouring will be distributed through the whole of the water in the bucket, but will be a much fainter colouring, a much less pronounced flavour when thus distributed than it was when confined in one tumbler. the qualities developed by the experience of one lion attached to that group-soul are therefore shared by the entire group-soul, but in a much lower degree. we may take out another tumblerful of water from that bucket, but we can never again get exactly the same tumblerful after it has once been mingled with the rest. every tumblerful taken from that bucket in the future will contain some traces of the colouring or flavouring put into each tumbler whose contents have been returned to the bucket. just so the qualities developed by the experience of a single lion will become the common property of all lions who are in the future to be born from that group-soul, though in a lesser degree than that in which they existed in the individual lion who developed them. that is the explanation of inherited instincts; that is why the duckling which has been hatched by a hen takes to the water instantly without needing to be shown how to swim; why the chicken just out of its shell will cower at the shadow of a hawk; why a bird which has been artificially hatched, and has never seen a nest, nevertheless knows how to make one, and makes it according to the traditions of its kind. lower down in the scale of animal life enormous numbers of bodies are attached to a single group-soul--countless millions, for example, in the case of some of the smaller insects; but as we rise in the animal kingdom the number of bodies attached to a single group-soul becomes smaller and smaller, and therefore the differences between individuals become greater. thus the group-souls gradually break up. returning to the symbol of the bucket, as tumbler after tumbler of water is withdrawn from it, tinted with some sort of colouring matter and returned to it, the whole bucketful of water gradually becomes richer in colour. suppose that by imperceptible degrees a kind of vertical film forms itself across the centre of the bucket, and gradually solidifies itself into a division, so that we have now a right half and a left half to the bucket, and each tumblerful of water which is taken out is returned always to the same section from which it came. then presently a difference will be set up, and the liquid in one half of the bucket will no longer be the same as that in the other. we have then practically two buckets, and when this stage is reached in a group-soul it splits into two, as a cell separates by fission. in this way, as the experience grows ever richer, the group-souls grow smaller but more numerous, until at the highest point we arrive at man with his single individual soul, which no longer returns into a group, but remains always separate. one of the life-waves is vivifying the whole of a kingdom; but not every group-soul in that life-wave will pass through the whole of that kingdom from the bottom to the top. if in the vegetable kingdom a certain group-soul has ensouled forest trees, when it passes on into the animal kingdom it will omit all the lower stages--that is, it will never inhabit insects or reptiles, but will begin at once at the level of the lower mammalia. the insects and reptiles will be vivified by group-souls which have for some reason left the vegetable kingdom at a much lower level than the forest tree. in the same way the group-soul which has reached the highest levels of the animal kingdom will not individualize into primitive savages, but into men of somewhat higher type, the primitive savages being recruited from group-souls which have left the animal kingdom at a lower level. group-souls at any level or at all levels arrange themselves into seven great types, according to the minister of the deity through whom their life has poured forth. these types are clearly distinguishable in all the kingdoms, and the successive forms taken by any one of them form a connected series, so that animals, vegetables, minerals and the varieties of the elemental creatures may all be arranged into seven great groups, and the life coming along one of those lines will not diverge into any of the others. no detailed list has yet been made of the animals, plants or minerals from this point of view; but it is certain that the life which is found ensouling a mineral of a particular type will never vivify a mineral of any other type than its own, though within that type it may vary. when it passes on to the vegetable and animal kingdoms it will inhabit vegetables and animals of that type and of no other; and when it eventually reaches humanity it will individualize into men of that type and of no other. the method of individualization is the raising of the soul of a particular animal to a level so much higher than that attained by its group-soul that it can no longer return to the latter. this cannot be done with _any_ animal, but only with those whose brain is developed to a certain level, and the method usually adopted to acquire such mental development is to bring the animal into close contact with man. individualization, therefore, is possible only for domestic animals, and only for certain kinds even of those. at the head of each of the seven types stands one kind of domestic animal--the dog for one, the cat for another, the elephant for a third, the monkey for a fourth, and so on. the wild animals can all be arranged on seven lines leading up to the domestic animals; for example, the fox and the wolf are obviously on the same line with the dog, while the lion, the tiger and the leopard equally obviously lead up to the domestic cat; so that the group-soul animating a hundred lions mentioned some time ago might at a later stage of its evolution have divided into, let us say, five group-souls each animating twenty cats. the life-wave spends a long period of time in each kingdom; we are now only a little past the middle of such an æon, and consequently the conditions are not favourable for the achievement of that individualization which normally comes only at the end of a period. rare instances of such attainment may occasionally be observed on the part of some animal much in advance of the average. close association with man is necessary to produce this result. the animal if kindly treated develops devoted affection for his human friend, and also unfolds his intellectual powers in trying to understand that friend and to anticipate his wishes. in addition to this, the emotions and the thoughts of the man act constantly upon those of the animal, and tend to raise him to a higher level both emotionally and intellectually. under favourable circumstances this development may proceed so far as to raise the animal altogether out of touch with the group to which he belongs, so that his fragment of a group-soul becomes capable of responding to the outpouring which comes from the first aspect of the deity. for this final outpouring is not like the others, a mighty outrush affecting thousands or millions simultaneously; it comes to each one individually as that one is ready to receive it. this outpouring has already descended as far as the intuitional world; but it comes no farther than that until this upward leap is made by the soul of the animal from below; but when that happens this third outpouring leaps down to meet it, and in the higher mental world is formed an ego, a permanent individuality--permanent, that is, until, far later in his evolution, the man transcends it and reaches back to the divine unity from which he came. to make this ego, the fragment of the group-soul (which has hitherto played the part always of ensouling force) becomes in its turn a vehicle, and is itself ensouled by that divine spark which has fallen into it from on high. that spark may be said to have been hovering in the monadic world over the group-soul through the whole of its previous evolution, unable to effect a junction with it until its corresponding fragment in the group-soul had developed sufficiently to permit it. it is this breaking away from the rest of the group-soul and developing a separate ego which marks the distinction between the highest animal and the lowest man. chapter v the constitution of man man is therefore in essence a spark of the divine fire, belonging to the monadic world.[ ] to that spark, dwelling all the time in that world, we give the name "monad". for the purposes of human evolution the monad manifests itself in lower worlds. when it descends one stage and enters the spiritual world, it shows itself there as the triple spirit having itself three aspects (just as in worlds infinitely higher the deity has his three aspects). of those three one remains always in that world, and we call that the spirit in man. the second aspect manifests itself in the intuitional world, and we speak of it as the intuition in man. the third shows itself in the higher mental world, and we call it the intelligence in man. these three aspects taken together constitute the ego which ensouls the fragment from the group-soul. thus man as we know him, though in reality a monad residing in the monadic world, shows himself as an ego in the higher mental world, manifesting these three aspects of himself (spirit, intuition and intelligence) through that vehicle of higher mental matter which we name the causal body. footnote : the president has now decided upon a set of names for the planes, so for the future these will be used instead of those previously employed. a table of them is given below for reference. new names old names . divine world Âdi plane . monadic world anupâdaka plane . spiritual world Âtmic or nirvânic plane . intuitional world buddhic plane . mental world mental plane . emotional or astral world astral plane . physical world physical plane these will supersede the names given in vol. ii of _the inner life._ this ego is the man during the human stage of evolution; he is the nearest correspondence, in fact, to the ordinary unscientific conception of the soul. he lives unchanged (except for his growth) from the moment of individualization until humanity is transcended and merged into divinity. he is in no way affected by what we call birth and death; what we commonly consider as his life is only a day in his life. the body which we can see, the body which is born and dies, is a garment which he puts on for the purposes of a certain part of his evolution. nor is it the only body which he assumes. before he, the ego in the higher mental world, can take a vehicle belonging to the physical world, he must make a connection with it through the lower mental and astral worlds. when he wishes to descend he draws around himself a veil of the matter of the lower mental world, which we call his mental body. this is the instrument by means of which he thinks all his concrete thoughts--abstract thought being a power of the ego himself in the higher mental world. next he draws round himself a veil of astral matter, which we call his astral body; and that is the instrument of his passions and emotions, and also (in conjunction with the lower part of his mental body) the instrument of all such thought as is tinged by selfishness and personal feeling. only after having assumed these intermediate vehicles can he come into touch with a baby physical body, and be born into the world which we know. he lives through what we call his life, gaining certain qualities as the result of its experiences; and at its end, when the physical body is worn out, he reverses the process of descent and lays aside one by one the temporary vehicles which he has assumed. the first to go is the physical body, and when that is dropped, his life is centred in the astral world and he lives in his astral body. the length of his stay in that world depends upon the amount of passion and emotion which he has developed within himself in his physical life. if there is much of these, the astral body is strongly vitalized, and will persist for a long time; if there is but little, the astral body has less vitality, and he will soon be able to cast that vehicle aside in turn. when that is done he finds himself living in his mental body. the strength of that depends upon the nature of the thoughts to which he has habituated himself, and usually his stay at this level is a long one. at last it comes to an end, and he casts aside the mental body in turn, and is once more the ego in his own world. owing to lack of development, he is as yet but partially conscious in that world; the vibrations of its matter are too rapid to make any impression upon him, just as the ultra-violet rays are too rapid to make any impression upon our eyes. after a rest there, he feels the desire to descend to a level where the undulations are perceptible to him, in order that he may feel himself to be fully alive; so he repeats the process of descent into denser matter, and assumes once more a mental, an astral and a physical body. as his previous bodies have all disintegrated, each in its tarn, these new vehicles are entirely distinct from them, and thus it happens that in his physical life he has no recollection whatever of other similar lives which have preceded it. when functioning in this physical world he remembers by means of his mental body; but since that is a new one, assumed only for this birth, it naturally cannot contain the memory of previous births in which it had no part. the man himself, the ego, does remember them all when in his own world, and occasionally some partial recollection of them or influence from them filters through into his lower vehicles. he does not usually, in his physical life, remember the experiences of earlier lives, but he does manifest in physical life the qualities which those experiences have developed in him. each man is therefore exactly what he has made himself during those past lives; if he has in them developed good qualities in himself, he possesses the good qualities now; if he neglected to train himself, and consequently left himself weak and of evil disposition, he finds himself precisely in that condition now. the qualities, good or evil, with which he is born are those which he has made for himself. this development of the ego is the object of the whole process of materialization; he assumes those veils of matter precisely because through them he is able to receive vibrations to which he can respond, so that his latent faculties may thereby be unfolded. though man descends from on high into these lower worlds, it is only through that descent that a full cognizance of the higher worlds is developed in him. full consciousness in any given world involves the power to perceive and respond to all the undulations of that world: therefore the ordinary man has not yet perfect consciousness at any level--not even in this physical world which he thinks he knows. it is possible for him to unfold his percipience in all these worlds, and it is by means of such developed consciousness that we observe all these facts which i am now describing. the causal body is the permanent vehicle of the ego in the higher mental world. it consists of matter of the first, second and third subdivisions of that world. in ordinary people it is not yet fully active, only that matter which belongs to the third subdivision being vivified. as the ego unfolds his latent possibilities through the long course of his evolution, the higher matter is gradually brought into action, but it is only in the perfected man whom we call the adept that it is developed to its fullest extent. such matter can be discerned by clairvoyant sight, but only by a seer who knows how to use the sight of the ego. it is difficult to describe a causal body fully, because the senses belonging to its world are altogether different from and higher than ours at this level. such memory of the appearance of a causal body as it is possible for a clairvoyant to bring into his physical brain represents it as ovoid, and as surrounding the physical body of the man, extending to a distance of about eighteen inches from the normal surface of that body. in the case of primitive man it resembles a bubble, and gives the impression of being empty. it is in reality filled with higher mental matter, but as this is not yet brought into activity it remains colourless and transparent. as advancement continues it is gradually stirred into alertness by vibrations which reach it from the lower bodies. this comes but slowly, because the activities of man in the earlier stages of his evolution are not of a character to obtain expression in matter so fine as that of the higher mental body; but when a man reaches the stage where he is capable either of abstract thought or of unselfish emotion the matter of the causal body is aroused into response. when these rates of undulation are awakened within him they show themselves in his causal body as colours, so that instead of being a mere transparent bubble it gradually becomes a sphere filled with matter of the most lovely and delicate hues--an object beautiful beyond all conception. it is found by experience that these colours are significant. the vibration which denotes the power of unselfish affection shows itself as a pale rose-colour; that which indicates high intellectual power is yellow; that which expresses sympathy is green, while blue betokens devotional feeling, and a luminous lilac-blue typifies the higher spirituality. the same scheme of colour-significance applies to the bodies which are built of denser matter, but as we approach the physical world the hues are in every case by comparison grosser--not only less delicate but also less living. in the course of evolution in the lower worlds man often introduces into his vehicles qualities which are undesirable and entirely inappropriate for his life as an ego--such, for example, as pride, irritability, sensuality. these, like the rest, are reducible to vibrations, but they are in all cases vibrations of the lower subdivisions of their respective worlds, and therefore they cannot reproduce themselves in the causal body, which is built exclusively of the matter of the three higher subdivisions of its world. for each section of the astral body acts strongly upon the corresponding section of the mental body, but only upon the corresponding section; it cannot influence any other part. so the causal body can be affected only by the three higher portions of the astral body; and the oscillations of those represent only good qualities. the practical effect of this is that the man can build into the ego (that is, into his true self) nothing but good qualities; the evil qualities which he develops are in their nature transitory and must be thrown aside as he advances, because he has no longer within him matter which can express them. the difference between the causal bodies of the savage and the saint is that the first is empty and colourless, while the second is full of brilliant, coruscating tints. as the man passes beyond even saint-hood and becomes a great spiritual power, his causal body increases in size, because it has so much more to express, and it also begins to pour out from itself in all directions powerful rays of living light. in one who has attained adeptship this body is of enormous dimensions. the mental body is built of matter of the four lower subdivisions of the mental world, and expresses the concrete thoughts of the man. here also we find the same colour-scheme as in the causal body. the hues are somewhat less delicate, and we notice one or two additions. for example, a thought of pride shows itself as orange, while irritability is manifested by a brilliant scarlet. we may see here sometimes the bright brown of avarice, the grey-brown of selfishness, and the grey-green of deceit. here also we perceive the possibility of a mixture of colours; the affection, the intellect, the devotion may be tinged by selfishness, and in that case their distinctive colours are mingled with the brown of selfishness, and so we have an impure and muddy appearance. although its particles are always in intensely rapid motion among themselves, this body has at the same time a kind of loose organization. the size and shape of the mental body are determined by those of the causal vehicle. there are in it certain striations which divide it more or less irregularly into segments, each of these corresponding to a certain department of the physical brain, so that every type of thought should function through its duly assigned portion. the mental body is as yet so imperfectly developed in ordinary men that there are many in whom a great number of special departments are not yet in activity, and any attempt at thought belonging to those departments has to travel round through some inappropriate channel which happens to be fully open. the result is that thought on those subjects is for those people clumsy and uncomprehending. this is why some people have a head for mathematics and others are unable to add correctly--why some people instinctively understand, appreciate and enjoy music, while others do not know one tune from another. all the matter of the mental body should be circulating freely, but sometimes a man allows his thought upon a certain subject to set and solidify, and then the circulation is impeded, and there is a congestion which presently hardens into a kind of wart on the mental body. such a wart appears to us down here as a prejudice; and until it is absorbed and free circulation restored, it is impossible for the man to think truly or to see clearly with regard to that particular department of his mind, as the congestion checks the free passage of undulations both outward and inward. when a man uses any part of his mental body it not only vibrates for the time more rapidly, but it also temporarily swells out and increases in size. if there is prolonged thought upon a subject this increase becomes permanent, and it is thus open to any man to increase the size of his mental body either along desirable or undesirable lines. good thoughts produce vibrations of the finer matter of the body, which by its specific gravity tends to float in the upper part of the ovoid; whereas bad thoughts, such as selfishness and avarice, are always oscillations of the grosser matter, which tends to gravitate towards the lower part of the ovoid. consequently the ordinary man, who yields himself not infrequently to selfish thoughts of various kinds, usually expands the lower part of his mental body, and presents roughly the appearance of an egg with its larger end downwards. the man who has repressed those lower thoughts, and devoted himself to higher ones, tends to expand the upper part of his mental body, and therefore presents the appearance of an egg standing on its smaller end. from a study of the colours and striations of a man's mental body the clairvoyant can perceive his character and the progress he has made in his present life. from similar features of the causal body he can see what progress the ego has made since its original formation, when the man left the animal kingdom. when a man thinks of any concrete object--a book, a house, a landscape--he builds a tiny image of the object in the matter of his mental body. this image floats in the upper part of that body, usually in front of the face of the man and at about the level of the eyes. it remains there as long as the man is contemplating the object, and usually for a little time afterwards, the length of time depending upon the intensity and the clearness of the thought. this form is quite objective, and can be seen by another person, if that other has developed the sight of his own mental body. if a man thinks of another, he creates a tiny portrait in just the same way. if his thought is merely contemplative and involves no feeling (such as affection or dislike) or desire (such as a wish to see the person) the thought does not usually perceptibly affect the man of whom he thinks. if coupled with the thought of the person there is a feeling, as for example of affection, another phenomenon occurs besides the forming of the image. the thought of affection takes a definite form, which it builds out of the matter of the thinker's mental body. because of the emotion involved, it draws round it also matter of his astral body, and thus we have an astromental form which leaps out of the body in which it has been generated, and moves through space towards the object of the feeling of affection. if the thought is sufficiently strong, distance makes absolutely no difference to it; but the thought of an ordinary person is usually weak and diffused, and is therefore not effective outside a limited area. when this thought-form reaches its object it discharges itself into his astral and mental bodies, communicating to them its own rate of vibration. putting this in another way, a thought of love sent from one person to another involves the actual transference of a certain amount both of force and of matter from the sender to the recipient, and its effect upon the recipient is to arouse the feeling of affection in him, and slightly but permanently to increase his power of loving. but such a thought also strengthens the power of affection in the thinker, and therefore it does good simultaneously to both. every thought builds a form; if the thought be directed to another person it travels to him; if it be distinctly selfish it remains in the immediate neighbourhood of the thinker; if it belongs to neither of these categories it floats for awhile in space and then slowly disintegrates. every man therefore is leaving behind him wherever he goes a trail of thought forms; as we go along the street we are walking all the time amidst a sea of other men's thoughts. if a man leaves his mind blank for a time, these residual thoughts of others drift through it, making in most cases but little impression upon him. sometimes one arrives which attracts his attention, so that his mind seizes upon it and makes it its own, strengthens it by the addition of its force, and then casts it out again to affect somebody else. a man therefore, is not responsible for a thought which floats into his mind, because it may be not his, but someone else's; but he _is_ responsible if he takes it up, dwells upon it and then sends it out strengthened. self-centred thought of any kind hangs about the thinker, and most men surround their mental bodies with a shell of such thoughts. such a shell obscures the mental vision and facilitates the formation of prejudice. each thought-form is a temporary entity. it resembles a charged battery, awaiting an opportunity to discharge itself. its tendency is always to reproduce its own rate of vibration in the mental body upon which it fastens itself, and so to arouse in it a like thought. if the person at whom it is aimed happens to be busy or already engaged in some definite train of thought, the particles of his mental body are already swinging at a certain determinate rate, and cannot for the moment be affected from without. in that case the thought-form bides its time, hanging about its object until he is sufficiently at rest to permit its entrance; then it discharges itself upon him, and in the act ceases to exist. the self-centred thought behaves in exactly the same way with regard to its generator, and discharges itself upon him when opportunity offers. if it be an evil thought, he generally regards it as the suggestion of a tempting demon, whereas in truth he tempts himself. usually each definite thought creates a new thought-form; but if a thought-form of the same nature is already hovering round the thinker, under certain circumstances a new thought on the same subject, instead of creating a new form, coalesces with and strengthens, the old one, so that by long brooding over the same subject a man may sometimes create a thought-form of tremendous power. if the thought be a wicked one, such a thought-form may become a veritable evil influence, lasting perhaps for many years, and having for a time all the appearance and powers of a real living entity. all these which have been described are the ordinary unpremeditated thoughts of man. a man can make a thought-form intentionally, and aim it at another with the object of helping him. this is one of the lines of activity adopted by those who desire to serve humanity. a steady stream of powerful thought directed intelligently upon another person may be of the greatest assistance to him. a strong thought-form may be a real guardian angel, and protect its object from impurity, from irritability or from fear. an interesting branch of the subject is the study of the various shapes and colours taken by thought-forms of different kinds. the colours indicate the nature of the thought, and are in agreement with those which we have already described as existing in the bodies. the shapes are of infinite variety, but are often in some way typical of the kind of thought which they express. every thought of definite character, such as a thought of affection or hatred, of devotion or suspicion, of anger or fear, of pride or jealousy, not only creates a form but also radiates an undulation. the fact that, each one of these thoughts is expressed by a certain colour indicates that the thought expresses itself as an oscillation of the matter of a certain part of the mental body. this rate of oscillation communicates itself to the surrounding mental matter precisely in the same way as the vibration of a bell communicates itself to the surrounding air. this radiation travels out in all directions, and whenever it impinges upon another mental body in a passive or receptive condition it communicates to it something of its own vibration. this does not convey a definite complete idea, as does the thought-form, but it tends to produce a thought of the same character as itself. for example, if the thought be devotional its undulations will excite devotion, but the object of the worship may be different in the case of each person upon whose mental body they impinge. the thought-form, on the other hand, can reach only one person, but will convey to that person (if receptive) not only a general devotional feeling, but also a precise image of the being for whom the adoration was originally felt. any person who habitually thinks pure, good and strong thoughts is utilizing for that purpose the higher part of his mental body--a part which is not used at all by the ordinary man, and is entirely undeveloped in him. such an one is therefore a power for good in the world, and is being of great use to all those of his neighbours who are capable of any sort of response. for the vibration which he sends out tends to arouse a new and higher part of their mental bodies, and consequently to open before them altogether new fields of thought. it may not be exactly the same thought as that sent out, but it is of the same nature. the undulations generated by a man thinking of theosophy do not necessarily communicate theosophical ideas to all those around him; but they do awaken in them more liberal and higher thought than that to which they have before been accustomed. on the other hand, the thought-forms generated under such circumstances, though more limited in their action than the radiation, are also more precise; they can affect only those who are to some extent open to them, but to them they will convey definite theosophical ideas. the colours of the astral body bear the same meaning as those of the higher vehicles, but are several octaves of colours below them, and much more nearly approaching to such hues as we see in the physical world. it is the vehicle of passion and emotion, and consequently it may exhibit additional colours, expressing man's less desirable feelings, which cannot show themselves at higher levels; for example, a lurid brownish-red indicates the presence of sensuality, while black clouds show malice and hatred. a curious livid grey betokens the presence of fear, and a much darker grey, usually arranged in heavy rings around the ovoid, indicates a condition of depression. irritability is shown by the presence of a number of small scarlet flecks in the astral body, each representing a small angry impulse. jealousy is shown by a peculiar brownish-green, generally studded with the same scarlet flecks. the astral body is in size and shape like those just described, and in the ordinary man its outline is usually clearly marked; but in the case of primitive man it is often exceedingly irregular, and resembles a rolling cloud composed of all the more unpleasant colours. when the astral body is comparatively quiet (it is never actually at rest) the colours which are to be seen in it indicate those emotions to which the man is most in the habit of yielding himself. when the man experiences a rush of any particular feeling, the rate of vibration which expresses that feeling dominates for a time the entire astral body. if, for example, it be devotion, the whole of his astral body is flushed with, blue, and while the emotion remains at its strongest the normal colours do little more than modify the blue, or appear faintly through a veil of it; but presently the vehemence of the sentiment dies away, and the normal colours re-assert themselves. but because of that spasm of emotion the part of the astral body which is normally blue has been increased in size. thus a man who frequently feels high devotion soon comes to have a large area of the blue permanently existing in his astral body. when the rush of devotional _feeling_ comes over him, it is usually accompanied by _thoughts_ of devotion. although primarily formed in the mental body, these draw round themselves a large amount of astral matter as well, so that their action is in both worlds. in both worlds also is the radiation which was previously described, so that the devotional man is a centre of devotion, and will influence other people to share both his thoughts and his feelings. the same is true in the case of affection, anger, depression--and, indeed, of all other feelings. the flood of emotion does not itself greatly affect the mental body, although for a time it may render it almost impossible for any activity from that mental body to come through into the physical brain. that is not because that body itself is affected, but because the astral body, which acts as a bridge between it and the physical brain, is vibrating so entirely at one rate as to be incapable of conveying any undulation which is not in harmony with that. the permanent colours of the astral body react upon, the mental. they produce in it their correspondences, several octaves higher, in the same manner as a musical note produces overtones. the mental body in its turn reacts upon the causal in the same way, and thus all the good qualities expressed in the lower vehicles by degrees establish themselves permanently in the ego. the evil qualities cannot do so, as the rates of vibrations which express them are impossible for the higher mental matter of which the causal body is constructed. so far, we have described vehicles which are the expression of the ego in their respective worlds--vehicles, which he provides for himself; in the physical world we come to a vehicle which is provided for him by nature under laws which will be later explained--which though also in some sense an expression of him, is by no means a perfect manifestation. in ordinary life we see only a small part of this physical body--only that which is built of the solid and liquid subdivisions of physical matter. the body contains matter of all the seven subdivisions, and all of them play their part in its life and are of equal importance, to it. we usually speak of the invisible part of the physical body as the etheric double; "double" because it exactly reproduces the size and shape of the part of the body that we can see, and "etheric" because it is built--of that finer kind of matter by the vibrations of which light is conveyed to the retina of the eye. (this must not be confused with the true æther of space--that of which matter is the negation.) this invisible part of the physical body is of great importance to us, since it is the vehicle through which flow the streams of vitality which keep the body alive, and without it, as a bridge to convey undulations of thought and feeling from the astral to the visible denser physical matter, the ego could make no use of the cells of his brain. the life of a physical body is one of perpetual change and in order that it shall live, it needs constantly to be supplied from three distinct sources. it must have food for its digestion, air for its breathing, and vitality for its absorption. this vitality is essentially a force, but when clothed in matter it appears to us as a definite element, which exists in all the worlds of which we have spoken. at the moment we are concerned with that manifestation of it which we find in the highest subdivision of the physical world. just as the blood circulates through the veins, so does the vitality circulate along the nerves; and precisely as any abnormality in the flow of the blood at once affects the physical body, so does the slightest irregularity in the absorption or flow of the vitality affect this higher part of the physical body. vitality is a force which comes originally from the sun. when an ultimate physical atom is charged with it, it draws round itself six other atoms, and makes itself into an etheric element. the original force of vitality is then subdivided into seven, each of the atoms carrying a separate charge. the element thus made is absorbed into the human body through the etheric part of the spleen. it is there split up into its component parts, which at once low to the various parts of the body assigned to them. the spleen is one of the seven force centres in the etheric part of the physical body. in each of our vehicles seven such centres should be in activity, and when they are thus active they are visible to clairvoyant sight. they appear usually as shallow vortices, for they are the points at which the force from the higher bodies enters the lower. in the physical body these centres are: ( ) at the base of the spine, ( ) at the solar plexus, ( ) at the spleen, ( ) over the heart, ( ) at the throat, ( ) between the eyebrows, and ( ) at the top of the head. there are other dormant centres, but their awakening is undesirable. the shape of all the higher bodies as seen by the clairvoyant is ovoid, but the matter composing them is not equally distributed throughout the egg. in the midst of this ovoid is the physical body. the physical body strongly attracts astral matter, and in its turn the astral matter strongly attracts mental matter. therefore by far the greater part of the matter of the astral body is gathered within the physical frame; and the same is true of the mental vehicle. if we see the astral body of a man in its own world, apart from the physical body we shall still perceive the astral matter aggregated in exactly the shape of the physical, although, as the matter is more fluidic in its nature, what we see is a body built of dense mist, in the midst of an ovoid of much finer mist. the same is true for the mental body. therefore, if in the astral or the mental world we should meet an acquaintance, we should recognise him by his appearance just as instantly as in the physical world. this, then, is the true constitution of man. in the first place he is a monad, a spark of the divine. of that monad the ego is a partial expression, formed in order that he may enter evolution, and may return to the monad with joy, bringing his sheaves with him in the shape of qualities developed by garnered experience. the ego in his turn puts down part of himself for the same purpose into lower worlds, and we call that part a personality, because the latin word _persona_ means a mask, and this personality is the mask which the ego puts upon himself when he manifests in worlds lower than his own. just as the ego is a small part and an imperfect expression of the monad, so is the personality a small part and an imperfect expression of the ego; so that what we usually think of as the man is only in truth a fragment of a fragment. the personality wears three bodies or vehicles, the mental, the astral and the physical. while the man is what we call alive and awake on the physical earth he is limited by his physical body, for he uses the astral and mental bodies only as bridges to connect himself with his lowest vehicle. one of the limitations of the physical body is that it quickly becomes fatigued and needs periodical rest. each night the man leaves it to sleep, and withdraws into his astral vehicle, which does not become fatigued, and therefore needs no sleep. during this sleep of the physical body the man is free to move about in the astral world; but the extent to which he does this depends upon his development. the primitive savage usually does not move more than a few miles away from his sleeping physical form--often not as much as that; and he has only the vaguest consciousness. the educated man is generally able to travel in his astral vehicle wherever he will, and has much more consciousness in the astral world, though he has not often the faculty of bringing into his waking life any memory of what he has seen and done while his physical body was asleep. sometimes he does remember some incident which he has seen, some experience which he has had, and then he calls it a vivid dream. more often his recollections are hopelessly entangled with vague memories of waking life, and with impressions made from without upon the etheric part of his brain. thus we arrive at the confused and often absurd dreams of ordinary life. the developed man becomes as fully conscious and active in the astral world as in the physical, and brings through into the latter full remembrance of what he has been doing in the former--that is, he has a continuous life without any loss of consciousness throughout the whole twenty-four hours, and thus throughout the whole of his physical life, and even through death itself. chapter vi after death death is the laying aside of the physical body; but it makes no more difference to the ego than does the laying aside of an overcoat to the physical man. having put off his physical body, the ego continues to live in his astral body until the force has become exhausted which has been generated by such emotions and passions as he has allowed himself to feel during earth-life. when that has happened, the second death takes place; the astral body also falls away from him, and he finds himself living in the mental body and in the lower mental world. in that condition he remains until the thought-forces generated during his physical and astral lives have worn themselves out; then he drops the third vehicle in its turn and remains once more an ego in his own world, inhabiting his causal body. there is, then, no such thing as death as it is ordinarily understood. there is only a succession of stages in a continuous life--stages lived in the three worlds one after another. the apportionment of time between these three worlds varies much as man advances. the primitive man lives almost exclusively in the physical world, spending only a few years in the astral at the end of each of his physical lives. as he develops, the astral life becomes longer, and as intellect: unfolds in him, and he becomes able to think, he begins to spend a little time in the mental world as well. the ordinary man of civilized races remains longer in the mental world than in the physical and astral; indeed, the more a man evolves the longer becomes his mental, life and the shorter his life in the astral world. the astral life is the result of all feelings which have in them the element of self. if they have been directly selfish, they bring him into conditions of great unpleasantness in the astral world; if, though tinged with thoughts of self, they have been good and kindly, they bring him a comparatively pleasant though still limited astral life. such of his thoughts and feelings as have been entirely unselfish produce their results in his life in the mental world; therefore that life in the mental, world cannot be other than blissful. the astral life, which the man has made for himself either miserable or comparatively joyous, corresponds to what christians call purgatory; the lower mental life, which is always entirely happy, is what is called heaven. man makes for himself his own purgatory and heaven, and these are not planes, but states of consciousness. hell does not exist; it is only a figment of the theological imagination; but a man who lives foolishly may make for himself a very unpleasant and long enduring purgatory. neither purgatory nor heaven can ever be eternal, for a finite cause cannot produce an infinite result. the variations in individual cases are so wide that to give actual figures is somewhat misleading. if we take the average man of what is called the lower middle class, the typical specimen of which would be a small shopkeeper or shop-assistant, his average life in the astral world would be perhaps about forty years, and the life in the mental world about two hundred. the man of spirituality and culture, on the other hand, may have perhaps twenty years of life in the astral world and a thousand in the heaven life. one who is specially developed may reduce the astral life to a few days or hours and spend fifteen hundred years in heaven. not only does the length of these periods vary greatly, but the conditions in both worlds also differ widely. the matter of which all these bodies are built is not dead matter but living, and that fact has to be taken into consideration. the physical body is built up of cells, each of which is a tiny separate life animated by the second outpouring, which comes forth from the second aspect of the deity. these cells are of varying kinds and fulfil various functions, and all these facts must be taken into account if the man wishes to understand the work of his physical body and to live a healthy life in it. the same thing applies to the astral and mental bodies. in the cell-life which permeates them there is as yet nothing in the way of intelligence, but there is a strong instinct always pressing in the direction of what is for its development. the life animating the matter of which such bodies are built is upon the outward arc of evolution, moving downwards or outwards into matter, so that progress for it means to descend into denser forms of matter, and to learn to express itself through them. unfoldment for the man is just the opposite of this; he has already sunk deeply into matter and is now rising out of that towards his source. there is consequently a constant conflict of interests between the man within and the life inhabiting the matter of his vehicles, inasmuch as its tendency is downward, while his is upward. the matter of the astral body (or rather the life animating its molecules) desires for its evolution such undulations as it can get, of as many different kinds as possible, and as coarse as possible. the next step in its evolution will be to ensoul physical matter and become used to its still slower oscillations; and as a step on the way to that, it desires the grossest of the astral vibrations. it has not the intelligence definitely to plan for these; but its instinct helps it to discover how most easily to procure them. the molecules of the astral body are constantly changing, as are those of the physical body, but nevertheless the life in the mass of those astral molecules has a sense, though a very vague sense, of itself as a whole--as a kind of temporary entity. it does not know that it is part of a man's astral body; it is quite incapable of understanding what a man is; but it realizes in a blind way that under its present conditions it receives many more waves, and much stronger ones, than it would receive if floating at large in the atmosphere. it would then only occasionally catch, as from a distance, the radiation of man's passions and emotions; now it is in the very heart of them, it can miss none, and it gets them at their strongest. therefore it feels itself in a good position, and it makes an effort to retain that position. it finds itself in contact with something finer than itself--the matter of the man's mental body; and it comes to feel that if it can contrive to involve that finer something in its own undulations, they will be greatly intensified and prolonged. since astral matter is the vehicle of desire and mental matter is the vehicle of thought, this instinct, when translated into our language, means that if the astral body can induce us to think that _we_ want what _it_ wants, it is much more likely to get it. thus it exercises a slow steady pressure upon the man--a kind of hunger on its side, but for him a temptation to what is coarse and undesirable. if he be a passionate man there is a gentle but ceaseless pressure in the direction of irritability; if he be a sensual man, an equally steady pressure in the direction of impurity. a man who does not understand this usually makes one of two mistakes with regard to it: either he supposes it to be the prompting of his own nature, and therefore regards that nature as inherently evil, or he thinks of the pressure as coming from outside--as a temptation of an imaginary devil. the truth lies between the two. the pressure is natural, not to the man but to the vehicle which he is using; its desire is natural and right for it, but harmful to the man, and therefore it is necessary that he should resist it. if he does so resist, if he declines to yield himself to the feelings suggested to him, the particles within him which need those vibrations become apathetic for lack of nourishment, and eventually atrophy and fall out from his astral body, and are replaced by other particles, whose natural wave-rate is more nearly in accordance with that which the man habitually permits within his astral body. this gives the reason for what are called promptings of the lower nature during life. if the man yields himself to them, such promptings grow stronger and stronger until at last he feels as though he could not resist them, and identifies himself with them--which is exactly what this curious half-life in the particles of the astral body wants him to do. at the death of the physical body this vague astral consciousness is alarmed. it realizes that its existence as a separated mass is menaced, and it takes instinctive steps to defend itself and to maintain its position as long as possible. the matter of the astral body is far more fluidic than that of the physical, and this consciousness seizes upon its particles and disposes them so as to resist encroachment. it puts the grossest and densest upon the outside as a kind of shell, and arranges the others in concentric layers, so that the body as a whole may become as resistant to friction as its constitution permits, and may therefore retain its shape as long as possible. for the man this produces various unpleasant effects. the physiology of the astral body is quite different from that of the physical; the latter acquires its information from without by means of certain organs which are specialized as the instruments of its senses, but the astral body has no separated senses in our meaning of the word. that which for the astral body corresponds to sight is the power of its molecules to respond to impacts from without, which come to them by means of similar molecules. for example, a man has within his astral body matter belonging to all the subdivisions of the astral world, and it is because of that that he is capable of "seeing" objects built of the matter of any of these subdivisions. supposing an astral object to be made of the matter of the second and third subdivisions mixed, a man living in the astral world could perceive that object only if on the surface of his astral body there were particles belonging to the second and third subdivisions of that world which were capable of receiving and recording the vibrations which that object set up. a man who from the arrangement of his body by the vague consciousness of which we have spoken, had on the outside of that vehicle only the denser matter of the lowest subdivision, could no more be conscious of the object which we have mentioned than we are ourselves conscious in the physical body of the gases which move about us in the atmosphere or of objects built exclusively of etheric matter. during physical life the matter of the man's astral body is in constant motion, and its particles pass among one another much as do those of boiling water. consequently at any given moment it is practically certain that particles of all varieties will be represented on the surface of his astral body, and that therefore when he is using his astral body during sleep he will be able to "see" by its means any astral object which approaches him. after death, if he has allowed the rearrangement to be made (as from ignorance, all ordinary persons do) his condition in this respect will be different. having on the surface of his astral body only the lowest and grossest particles, he can receive impressions only from corresponding particles outside; so that instead of seeing the whole of the astral world about him, he will see only one-seventh of it, and that the densest and most impure. the vibrations of this heavier matter are the expressions only of objectionable feelings and emotions, and of the least refined class of astral entities. therefore it emerges that a man in this condition can see only the undesirable inhabitants of the astral world, and can feel only its most unpleasant and vulgar influences. he is surrounded by other men, whose astral bodies are probably of quite ordinary character; but since he can see and feel only that which is lowest and coarsest in them, they appear to him to be monsters of vice with no redeeming features. even his friends seem not at all what they used to be, because he is now incapable of appreciating any of their better qualities. under these circumstances it is little wonder that he considers the astral world a hell; yet the fault is in no way with the astral world, but with himself--first, for allowing within himself so much of that cruder type of matter, and, secondly, for letting that vague astral consciousness dominate him and dispose it in that particular way. the man who has studied these matters declines absolutely to yield to the pressure during life or to permit the rearrangement after death, and consequently he retains his power of seeing the astral world as a whole, and not merely the cruder and baser part of it. the astral world has many points in common with the physical; just like the physical, it presents different appearances to different people, and even to the same person at different periods of his career. it is the home of emotions and of lower thoughts; and emotions are much stronger in that world than in this. when a person is awake we cannot see that larger part of his emotion at all; its strength goes in setting in motion the gross physical matter of the brain. so if we see a man show affection here, what we can see is not the whole of his affection, but only such part of it as is left after all this other work has been done. emotions therefore bulk far more largely in the astral life than in the physical. they in no way exclude higher thought if they are controlled, so in the astral world as in the physical a man may devote himself to study and to helping his fellows, or he may waste his time and drift about aimlessly. the astral world extends nearly to the mean distance of the orbit of the moon; but though the whole of this realm is open to any of its inhabitants who have not permitted the redistribution of their matter, the great majority remain much nearer to the surface of the earth. the matter of the different subdivisions of that world interpenetrates with perfect freedom, but there is on the whole a general tendency for the denser matter to settle towards the centre. the conditions are much like those which obtain in a bucket of water which contains in suspension a number of kinds of matter of different degrees of density. since the water is kept in perpetual motion, the different kinds of matter are diffused through it; but in spite of that, the densest matter is found in greatest quantity nearest to the bottom. so that though we must not at all think of the various subdivisions of the astral world as lying above one another as do the coats of an onion, it is nevertheless true that the average arrangement of the matter of those subdivisions partakes somewhat of that general character. astral matter interpenetrates physical matter precisely as though it were not there, but each subdivision of physical matter has a strong attraction for astral matter of the corresponding subdivision. hence it arises that every physical body has its astral counterpart. if i have a glass of water standing upon a table, the glass and the table, being of physical matter in the solid state, are interpenetrated by astral matter of the lowest subdivision. the water in the glass, being liquid, is interpenetrated by what we may call astral liquid--that is, by astral matter of the sixth subdivision; whereas the air surrounding both, being physical matter in the gaseous condition, is entirely interpenetrated by astral gaseous matter--that is, astral matter of the fifth subdivision. but just as air, water, glass and table are alike interpenetrated all the time by the finer physical matter which we have called etheric, so are all the astral counterparts interpenetrated by the finer astral matter of the higher subdivisions which correspond to the etheric. but even the astral solid is less dense than the finest of the physical ethers. the man who finds himself in the astral world after death, if he has not submitted to the rearrangement of the matter of his body, will notice but little difference from physical life. he can float about in any direction at will, but in actual fact he usually stays in the neighbourhood to which he is accustomed. he is still able to perceive his house, his room, his furniture, his relations, his friends. the living, when ignorant of the higher worlds, suppose themselves to have "lost" those who have laid aside their physical bodies; but the dead are never for a moment under the impression that they have lost the living. functioning as they are in the astral body, the dead can no longer see the physical bodies of those whom they have left behind; but they do see their astral bodies, and as those are exactly the same in outline as the physical, they are perfectly aware of the presence of their friends. they see each one surrounded by a faint ovoid of luminous mist, and if they happen to be observant, they may notice various other small changes in their surroundings; but it is at least quite clear to them that they have not gone away to some distant heaven or hell, but still remain in touch with the world which they know, although they see it at a somewhat different angle. the dead man has the astral body of his living friend obviously before him, so he cannot think of him as lost; but while the friend is awake, the dead man will not be able to make any impression upon him, for the consciousness of the friend is then in the physical world, and his astral body is being used only as a bridge. the dead man cannot therefore communicate with his friend, nor can he read his friend's higher thoughts; but he will see by the change in colour in the astral body any emotion which that friend may feel, and with a little practice and observation he may easily learn to read all those thoughts of his friend which have in them anything of self or of desire. when the friend falls asleep the whole position is changed. he is then also conscious in the astral world side by side with the dead man, and they can communicate in every respect as freely as they could during physical life. the emotions felt by the living react strongly upon the dead who love them. if the former give way to grief, the latter cannot but suffer severely. the conditions of life after death are almost infinite in their variety, but they can be calculated without difficulty by any one who will take the trouble to understand the astral world and to consider the character of the person concerned. that character is not in the slightest degree changed by death; the man's thoughts, emotions and desires are exactly the same as before. he is in every way the same man, minus his physical body; and his happiness or misery depends upon the extent to which this loss of the physical body affects him. if his longings have been such as need a physical body for their gratification, he is likely to suffer considerably. such a craving manifests itself as a vibration in the astral body, and while we are still in this world most of its strength is employed in setting in motion the heavy physical particles. desire is therefore a far greater force in the astral life than in the physical, and if the man has not been in the habit of controlling it, and if in this new life it cannot be satisfied, it may cause him great and long-continued trouble. take as an illustration the extreme case of a drunkard or a sensualist. here we have a lust which has been strong enough during physical life to overpower reason, common sense and all the feelings of decency and of family affection. after death the man finds himself in the astral world feeling the appetite perhaps a hundred times more strongly, yet absolutely unable to satisfy it because he has lost the physical body. such a life is a very real hell--the only hell there is; yet no one is punishing him; he is reaping the perfectly natural result of his own action. gradually as time passes this force of desire wears out, but only at the cost of terrible suffering for the man, because to him every day seems as a thousand years. he has no measure of time such as we have in the physical world. he can measure it only by his sensations. from a distortion of this fact has come the blasphemous idea of eternal damnation. many other cases less extreme than this will readily suggest themselves, in which a hankering which cannot be fulfilled may prove itself a torture. a more ordinary case is that of a man who has no particular vices, such as drink or sensuality, but yet has been attached entirely to things of the physical world, and has lived a life devoted to business or to aimless social functions. for him the astral world is a place of weariness; the only thing for which he craves are no longer possible for him, for in the astral world there is no business to be done, and, though he may have as much companionship as he wishes, society is now for him a very different matter, because all the pretences upon which it is usually based in this world are no longer possible. these cases, however, are only the few, and for most people the state after death is much happier than life upon earth. the first feeling of which the dead man is usually conscious is one of the most wonderful and delightful freedom. he has absolutely nothing to worry about, and no duties rest upon him, except those which he chooses to impose upon himself. for all but a very small minority, physical life is spent in doing what the man would much rather not do; but he has to do it in order to support himself or his wife and family. in the astral world no support is necessary; food is no longer needed, shelter is not required, since he is entirely unaffected by heat or cold; and each man by the mere exercise of his thought clothes himself as he wishes. for the first time since early childhood the man is entirely free to spend the whole of his time in doing just exactly what he likes. his capacity for every kind of enjoyment is greatly enhanced, if only that enjoyment does not need a physical body for its expression. if he loves the beauties of nature, it is now within his power to travel with great rapidity and without fatigue over the whole world, to contemplate all its loveliest spots, and to explore its most secret recesses. if he delights in art, all the world's masterpieces are at his disposal. if he loves music, he can go where he will to hear it, and it will now mean much more to him than it has ever meant before; for though he can no longer hear the physical sounds, he can receive the whole effect of the music into himself in far fuller measure than in this lower world. if he is a student of science, he can not only visit the great scientific men of the world, and catch from them such thoughts and ideas as may be within his comprehension, but also he can undertake researches of his own into the science of this higher world, seeing much more of what he is doing than has ever before been possible to him. best of all, he whose great delight in this world has been to help his fellow men will still find ample scope for his philanthropic efforts. men are no longer hungry, cold, or suffering from disease in this astral world; but there are vast numbers who, being ignorant, desire knowledge--who, being still in the grip of desire for earthly things, need the explanation which will turn their thought to higher levels--who have entangled themselves in a web of their own imaginings, and can be set free only by one who understands these new surroundings and can help them to distinguish the facts of the world from their own ignorant misrepresentation of them. all these can be helped by the man of intelligence and of kindly heart. many men arrive in the astral world in utter ignorance of its conditions, not realizing at first that they are dead, and when they do realize it fearing the fate that may be in store for them, because of false and wicked theological teaching. all of these need the cheer and comfort which can only be given to them by a man of common sense who possesses some knowledge of the facts of nature. there is thus no lack of the most profitable occupation for any man whose interests during his physical life have been rational; nor is there any lack of companionship. men whose tastes and pursuits are similar drift naturally together there just as they do here; and many realms of nature, which during our physical life are concealed by the dense veil of matter, now lie open for the detailed study of those who care to examine them. to a large extent people make their own surroundings. we have already referred to the seven subdivisions of this astral world. numbering these from the highest and least material downwards, we find that they fall naturally into three classes--divisions one, two and three forming one such class, and four, five and six another; while the seventh and lowest of all stands alone. as i have said, although they all interpenetrate, their substance has a general tendency to arrange itself according to its specific gravity, so that most of the matter belonging to the higher subdivisions is found at a greater elevation above the surface of the earth than the bulk of the matter of the lower portions. hence, although any person inhabiting the astral world can move into any part of it, his natural tendency is to float at the level which corresponds with the specific gravity of the heaviest matter in his astral body. the man who has not permitted the rearrangement of the matter of his astral body after death is entirely free of the whole astral world; but the majority, who do permit it, are not equally free--not because there is anything to prevent them from rising to the highest level or sinking to the lowest, but because they are able to sense clearly only a certain part of that world. i have described something of the fate of a man who is on the lowest level, shut in by a strong shell of coarse matter. because of the extreme comparative density of that matter he is conscious of less outside of his own subdivision than a man at any other level. the general specific gravity of his own astral body tends to make him float below the surface of the earth. the physical matter of the earth is absolutely non-existent to his astral senses, and his natural attraction is to that least delicate form of astral matter which is the counterpart of that solid earth. a man who has confined himself to that lowest subdivision will therefore usually find himself floating in darkness and cut off to a great extent from others of the dead, whose lives have been such as to keep them on a higher level. divisions four, five and six of the astral world (to which most people are attracted) have for their background the astral counterpart of the physical world in which we live, and all its familiar accessories. life in the sixth subdivision is simply like our ordinary life on this earth minus the physical body and its necessities while as it ascends through the fifth and fourth divisions it becomes less and less material and is more and more withdrawn from our lower world and its interests. the first, second and third sections, though occupying the same space, yet give the impression of being much further removed from the physical, and correspondingly less material. men who inhabit these levels lose sight of the earth and its belongings; they are usually deeply self-absorbed, and to a large extent create their own surroundings, though these are sufficiently objective to be perceptible to other men of their level, and also to clairvoyant vision. this region is the summerland of which we hear in spiritualistic circles--the world in which, by the exercise of their thought, the dead call into temporary existence their houses and schools and cities. these surroundings, though fanciful from our point of view, are to the dead as real as houses, temples or churches built of stone are to us, and many people live very contentedly there for a number of years in the midst of all these thought-creations. some of the scenery thus produced is very beautiful; it includes lovely lakes, magnificent mountains, pleasant flower gardens, decidedly superior to anything in the physical world; though on the other hand it also contains much which to the trained clairvoyant (who has learned to see things as they are) appears ridiculous--as, for example, the endeavours of the unlearned to make a thought-form of some of the curious symbolic descriptions contained in their various scriptures. an ignorant peasant's thought-image of a beast full of eyes within, or of a sea of glass mingled with fire, is naturally often grotesque, although to its maker it is perfectly satisfactory. this astral world is full of thought-created figures and landscapes. men of all religions image here their deities and their respective conceptions of paradise, and enjoy themselves greatly among these dream-forms until they pass into the mental world and come into touch with something nearer to reality. every one after death--any ordinary person, that is, in whose case the rearrangement of the matter of the astral body has been made--has to pass through all these subdivisions in turn. it does not follow that every one is conscious in all of them. the ordinarily decent person has in his astral body but little of the matter of its lowest portion--by no means enough to construct a heavy shell. the redistribution puts on the outside of the body its densest matter; in the ordinary man this is usually matter of the sixth subdivision, mixed with a little of the seventh, and so he finds himself viewing the counterpart of the physical world. the ego is steadily withdrawing into himself, and as he withdraws he leaves behind him level after level of this astral matter. so the length of the man's detention in any section of the astral world is precisely in proportion to the amount of its matter which is found in his astral body, and that in turn depends upon the life he has lived, the desires he has indulged, and the class of matter which by so doing he has attracted towards him and built into himself. finding himself then in the sixth section, still hovering about the places and persons with which he was most closely connected while on earth, the average man, as time passes on, finds the earthly surroundings gradually growing dimmer and becoming of less and less importance to him, and he tends more and more to mould his entourage into agreement with the more persistent of his thoughts. by the time that he reaches the third level he finds that this characteristic has entirely superseded the vision of the realities of the astral world. the second subdivision is a shade less material than the third, for if the latter is the summerland of the spiritualists, the former is the material heaven of the more ignorantly orthodox; while the first or highest level appears to be the special home of those who during life have devoted themselves to materialistic but intellectual pursuits, following them not for the sake of benefiting their fellow men, but either from motives of selfish ambition or simply for the sake of intellectual exercise. all these people are perfectly happy. later on they will reach a stage when they can appreciate something much higher, and when that stage comes they will find the higher ready for them. in this astral life people of the same nation and of the same interest tend to keep together, precisely as they do here. the religious people, for example, who imagine for themselves a material heaven, do not at all interfere with men of other faiths whose ideas of celestial joy are different. there is nothing to prevent a christian from drifting into the heaven of the hindu or the muhammadan, but he is little likely to do so, because his interests and attractions are all in the heaven of his own faith, along with friends who have shared that faith with him. this is by no means the true heaven described by any of the religions, but only a gross and material misrepresentation of it; the real thing will be found when we come to consider the mental world. the dead man who has not permitted the rearrangement of the matter of his astral body is free of the entire world, and can wander all over it at will, seeing the whole of whatever he examines, instead of only a part of it as the others do. he does not find it inconveniently crowded, for the astral world is much larger than the surface of the physical earth, while its population is somewhat smaller, because the average life of humanity in the astral world is shorter than the average in the physical. not only the dead, however, are the inhabitants of this astral world, but always about one-third of the living as well, who have temporarily left their physical bodies behind them in sleep. the astral world has also a great number of non-human inhabitants, some of them far below the level of man, and some considerably above him. the nature-spirits form an enormous kingdom, some of whose members exist in the astral world, and make a large part of its population. this vast kingdom exists in the physical world also, for many of its orders wear etheric bodies and are only just beyond the range of ordinary physical sight. indeed, circumstances not infrequently occur under which they can be seen, and in many lonely mountain districts these appearances are traditional among the peasants, by whom they are commonly spoken of as fairies, good people, pixies or brownies. they are protean, but usually prefer to wear a miniature human form. since they are not yet individualized, they may be thought of almost as etheric and astral animals; yet many of them are intellectually quite equal to average humanity. they have their nations and types just as we have, and they are often grouped into four great classes, and called the spirits of earth, water, fire and air. only the members of the last of these four divisions normally confine their manifestation to the astral world, but their numbers are so prodigious that they are everywhere present in it. another great kingdom has its representatives here--the kingdom of the angels (called in india the devas). this is a body of beings who stand far higher in evolution than man, and only the lowest fringe of their hosts touches the astral world--a fringe whose constituent members are perhaps at about the level of development of what we should call a distinctly good man. we are neither the only nor even the principal inhabitants of our solar system; there are other lines of evolution running parallel with our own which do not pass through humanity at all, though they must all pass through a level corresponding to that of humanity. on one of these other lines of evolution are the nature-spirits above described, and at a higher level of that line comes this great kingdom of the angels. at our present level of evolution they come into obvious contact with us only very rarely, but as we develop we shall be likely to see more of them--especially as the cyclic progress of the world is now bringing it more and more under the influence of the seventh ray. this seventh ray has ceremonial for one of its characteristics, and it is through ceremonial such as that of the church or of freemasonry that we come most easily into touch with the angelic kingdom. when all the man's lower emotions have worn themselves out--all emotions, i mean, which have in them any thought of self--his life in the astral world is over, and the ego passes on into the mental world. this is not in any sense a movement in space; it is simply that the steady process of withdrawal has now passed beyond even the finest kind of astral matter; so that the man's consciousness is focussed in the mental world. his astral body has not entirely disintegrated, though it is in process of doing so, and he leaves behind him an astral corpse, just as at a previous stage of the withdrawal he left behind him a physical corpse. there is a certain difference between the two which should be noticed, because of the consequences which ensue from it. when the man leaves his physical body his separation from it should be complete, and generally is so; but this is not the case with the much finer matter of the astral body. in the course of his physical life the ordinary man usually entangles himself so much in astral matter (which, from another point of view, means that he identifies himself so closely with his lower desires) that the indrawing force of the ego cannot entirely separate him from it again. consequently, when he finally breaks away from the astral body and transfers his activities to the mental, he loses a little of himself he leaves some of himself behind imprisoned in the matter of the astral body. this gives a certain remnant of vitality to the astral, corpse, so that it still moves freely in the astral world, and may easily be mistaken by the ignorant for the man himself--the more so as such fragmentary consciousness as still remains to it is part of the man, and therefore it naturally regards itself and speaks of itself as the man. it retains his memories, but is only a partial and unsatisfactory representation of him. sometimes in spiritualistic séances one comes into contact with an entity of this description, and wonders how it is that one's friend has deteriorated so much since his death. to this fragmentary entity we give the name "shade". at a later stage even this fragment of consciousness dies out of the astral body, but does not return to the ego to whom it originally belonged. even then the astral corpse still remains, but when it is quite without any trace of its former life we call it a "shell". of itself a shell cannot communicate at a séance, or take any action of any sort; but such shells are frequently seized upon by sportive nature-spirits and used as temporary habitations. a shell so occupied _can_ communicate at a séance and masquerade as its original owner, since some of his characteristics and certain portions of his memory can be evoked by the nature-spirit from his astral corpse. when a man falls asleep, he withdraws in his astral body, leaving the whole of the physical vehicle behind him. when he dies, he draws out with him the etheric part of the physical body, and consequently has usually at least a moment of unconsciousness while he is freeing himself from it. the etheric double is not a vehicle and cannot be used as such; so when the man is surrounded by it, he is for the moment able to function neither in the physical world nor the astral. some men succeed in shaking themselves free of this etheric envelope in a few moments; others rest within it for hours, days or even weeks. nor is it certain that, when the man is free from this, he will at once become conscious of the astral world. for there is in him a good deal of the lowest kind of astral matter, so that a shell of this may be made around him. but he may be quite unable to use that matter. if he has lived a reasonably decent life he is little in the habit of employing it or responding to its vibrations, and he cannot instantly acquire this habit. for that reason, he may remain unconscious until that matter gradually wears away, and some matter which he _is_ in the habit of using comes on the surface. such an occlusion, however, is scarcely ever complete, for even in the most carefully made shell some particles of the finer matter occasionally find their way to the surface, and give him fleeting glimpses of his surroundings. there are some men who cling so desperately to their physical vehicles that they will not relax their hold upon the etheric double, but strive with all their might to retain it. they may be successful in doing so for a considerable time, but only at the cost of great discomfort to themselves. they are shut out from both worlds, and find themselves surrounded by a dense grey mist, through which they see very dimly the things of the physical world, but with all the colour gone from them. it is a terrible struggle for them to maintain their position in this miserable condition, and yet they will not relax their hold upon the etheric double, feeling that that is at least some sort of link with the only world that they know. thus they drift about in a condition of loneliness and misery until from sheer fatigue their hold fails them, and they slip into the comparative happiness of astral life. sometimes in their desperation they grasp blindly at other bodies, and try to enter into them, and occasionally they are successful in such an attempt. they may seize upon a baby body, ousting the feeble personality for whom it was intended, or sometimes they grasp even the body of an animal. all this trouble arises entirely from ignorance, and it can never happen to anyone who understands the laws of life and death. when the astral life is over, the man dies to that world in turn, and awakens in the mental world. with him it is not at all what it is to the trained clairvoyant, who ranges through it and lives amidst the surroundings which he finds there, precisely as he would in the physical or astral worlds. the ordinary man has all through his life been encompassing himself with a mass of thought-forms. some which are transitory, to which he pays little attention, have fallen away from him long ago, but those which represent the main interests of his life are always with him, and grow ever stronger and stronger. if some of these have been selfish, their force pours down into astral matter, and he has exhausted them during his life in the astral world. but those which are entirely unselfish belong purely to his mental body, and so when he finds himself in the mental world it is through these special thoughts that he is able to appreciate it. his mental body is by no means fully developed; only those parts of it are really in action to their fullest extent which he has used in this altruistic manner. when he awakens again after the second death, his first sense is one of indescribable bliss and vitality--a feeling of such utter joy in living that he needs for the time nothing but just to live. such bliss is of the essence of life in all the higher worlds of the system. even astral life has possibilities of happiness far greater than anything that we can know in the dense body; but the heaven-life in the mental world is out of all proportion more blissful than the astral. in each higher world the same experience is repeated. merely to live in any one of them seems the uttermost conceivable bliss; and yet, when the next one is reached, it is seen that it far surpasses the last. just as the bliss increases, so does the wisdom and the breadth of view. a man fusses about in the physical world and thinks himself so busy and so wise; but when he touches even the astral, he realizes at once that he has been all the time only a caterpillar crawling about and seeing nothing but his own leaf, whereas now he has spread his wings like the butterfly and flown away into the sunshine of a wider world. yet, impossible as it may seem, the same experience is repeated when he passes into the mental world, for this life is in turn so much fuller and wider and more intense than the astral that once more no comparison is possible. and yet beyond all these there is still another life, that of the intuitional world, unto which even this is but as moonlight unto sunlight. the man's position in the mental world differs widely from that in the astral. there he was using a body to which he was thoroughly accustomed, a body which he had been in the habit of employing every night during sleep. here he finds himself living in a vehicle which he has never used before--a vehicle furthermore which is very far from being fully developed--a vehicle which shuts him out to a great extent from the world about him, instead of enabling him to see it. the lower part of his nature burnt itself away during his purgatorial life, and now there remain to him only his higher and more refined thoughts, the noble and unselfish aspirations which he poured out during earth-life. these cluster round him, and make a sort of shell about him, through the medium of which he is able to respond to certain types of vibrations in this refined matter. these thoughts which surround him are the powers by which he draws upon the wealth of the heaven-world, and he finds it to be a storehouse of infinite extent, upon which he is able to draw just according to the power of those thoughts and aspirations; for in this world is existing the infinite fullness of the divine mind, open in all its limitless affluence to every soul, just in proportion as that soul has qualified itself to receive. a man who has already completed his human evolution, who has fully realized and unfolded the divinity whose germ is within him, finds the whole of this glory within his reach; but since none of us has yet done that, since we are only gradually rising towards that splendid consummation, it follows that none of us as yet can grasp that entirety. but each draws from it and cognizes so much of it as he has by previous effort prepared himself to take. different individuals bring very different capacities; they tell us in the east that each man brings his own cup, and some of the cups are large and some are small, but small or large every cup is filled to its utmost capacity; the sea of bliss holds far more than enough for all. a man can look out upon all this glory and beauty only through the windows which he himself has made. every one of these thought-forms is such a window, through which response may come to him from the forces without. if during his earth-life he has chiefly regarded physical things, then he has made for himself but few windows through which this higher glory can shine in upon him. yet every man who is above the lowest savage must have had some touch of pure unselfish feeling, even if it were but once in all his life, and that will be a window for him now. the ordinary man is not capable of any great activity in this mental world; his condition is chiefly receptive, and his vision of anything outside his own shell of thought is of the most limited character. he is surrounded by living forces, mighty angelic inhabitants of this glorious world, and many of their orders are very sensitive to certain aspirations of man and readily respond to them. but a man can take advantage of these only in so far as he has already prepared himself to profit by them, for his thoughts and aspirations are only along certain lines, and he cannot suddenly form new lines. there are many directions which the higher thought may take--some of them personal and some impersonal. among the latter are art, music and philosophy; and a man whose interest lay along any one of these lines finds both measureless enjoyment and unlimited instruction waiting for him--that is, the amount of enjoyment and instruction is limited only by his power of perception. we find a large number of people whose only higher thoughts are those connected with affection and devotion. if a man loves another deeply or if he feels strong devotion to a personal deity, he makes a strong mental image of that friend or of the deity, and the object of his feeling is often present in his mind. inevitably he takes that mental image into the heaven-world with him, because it is to that level of matter that it naturally belongs. take first the case of affection. the love which forms and retains such an image is a very powerful force--a force which is strong enough to reach and to act upon the ego of his friend in the higher part of the mental world. it is that ego that is the real man whom he loves--not the physical body which is so partial a representation of him. the ego of the friend, feeling this vibration, at once and eagerly responds to it, and pours himself into the thought-form, which has been made for him; so that the man's friend is truly present with him more vividly than ever before. to this result it makes no difference whatever whether the friend is what we call living or dead; the appeal is made not to the fragment of the friend which is sometimes imprisoned in a physical body, but to the man himself on his own true level; and he always responds. a man who has a hundred friends can simultaneously and fully respond to the affection of every one of them, for no number of representations on a lower level can exhaust the infinity of the ego. thus every man in his heaven-life has around him all the friends for whose company he wishes, and they are for him always at their best, because he himself makes for them the thought-form through which they manifest to him. in our limited physical world we are so accustomed to thinking of our friend as only the limited manifestation which we know in the physical world, that it is at first difficult for us to realize the grandeur of the conception; when we can realize it, we shall see how much nearer we are in truth to our friends in the heaven-life than we ever were on earth. the same is true in the case of devotion. the man in the heaven-world is two great stages nearer to the object of his devotion than he was during physical life, and so his experiences are of a far more transcendent character. in this mental world, as in the astral, there are seven subdivisions. the first, second and third are the habitat of the ego in his causal body, so the mental body contains matter of the remaining four only, and it is in those sections that his heaven-life is passed. man does not, however, pass from one to the other of these, as is the case in the astral world, for there is nothing in this life corresponding to the rearrangement. rather is the man drawn to the level which best corresponds to the degree of his development, and on that level he spends the whole of his life in the mental body. each man makes his own conditions, so that the number of varieties is infinite. speaking broadly, we may say that the dominant characteristic observed in the lowest portion is unselfish family affection. unselfish it must be, or it would find no place here; all selfish tinges, if there were any, worked out their results in the astral world. the dominant characteristic of the sixth level may be said to be anthropomorphical religious devotion; while that of the fifth section is devotion expressing itself in active work of some sort. all these--the fifth, sixth and seventh subdivisions--are concerned with the working out of devotion to personalities (either to one's family and friends or to a personal deity) rather than the wider devotion to humanity for its own sake, which finds its expression in the next section. the activities of this fourth stage are varied. they can best be arranged in four main divisions: unselfish pursuit of spiritual knowledge; high philosophy or scientific thought; literary or artistic ability exercised for unselfish purposes; and service for the sake of service. even to this glorious heaven-life there comes an end, and then the mental body in its turn drops away as the others have done, and the man's life in his causal body begins. here the man needs no windows, for this is his true home and all his walls have fallen away. the majority of men have as yet but very little consciousness at such a height as this; they rest dreamily unobservant and scarcely awake, but such vision as they have is true, however limited it may be by their lack of development. still, every time they return, these limitations will be smaller, and they themselves will be greater; so that this truest life will be wider and fuller for them. as this improvement continues, this causal life grows, longer and longer, assuming an ever larger proportion as compared to the existence at lower levels. and as he grows, the man becomes capable not only of receiving but also of giving. then indeed is his triumph approaching, for he is learning the lesson of the christ, learning the crowning glory of sacrifice, the supreme delight of pouring out all his life for the helping of his fellow-men, the devotion of the self to the all, of celestial strength to human service, of all those splendid heavenly forces to the aid of the struggling sons of earth. that is part of the life that lies before us; these are some of the steps which even we who are still so near the bottom of the golden ladder may see rising above us, so that we may report them to those who have not seen as yet, in order that they too may open their eyes to the unimaginable splendour which surrounds them here and now in this dull daily life. this is part of the gospel of theosophy--the certainty of this sublime future for all. it is certain because it is here already, because to inherit it we have only to fit ourselves for it. chapter vii reincarnation this life of the ego in his own world, which is so glorious and so fully satisfying for the developed man, plays but a very small part in the life of the ordinary person, for in his case the ego has not yet reached a sufficient stage of development to be awake in his causal body. in obedience to the law of nature he has withdrawn into it, but in doing so he has lost the sensation of vivid life, and his restless desire to feel this once more pushes him in the direction of another descent into matter. this is the scheme of evolution appointed for man at the present stage--that he shall develop by descending into grosser matter, and then ascend to carry back into himself the result of the experiences so obtained. his real life, therefore, covers millions of years, and what we are in the habit of calling a life is only one day of this greater existence. indeed, it is in reality only a small part of one day; for a life of seventy years in the physical world is often succeeded by a period of twenty times that length spent in higher spheres. every one of us has a long line of these physical lives behind him, and the ordinary man has a fairly long line still in front of him. each of such lives is a day at school. the ego puts upon himself his garment of flesh and goes forth into the school of the physical world to learn certain lessons. he learns them, or does not learn them, or partially learns them, as the case may be, during his schoolday of earth-life; then he lays aside the vesture of the flesh and returns home to his own level for rest and refreshment. in the morning of each new life he takes up again his lesson at the point where he left it the night before. some lessons he may be able to learn in one day, while others may take him many days. if he is an apt pupil and learns quickly what is needed, if he obtains an intelligent grasp of the rules of the school, and takes the trouble to adapt his conduct to them, his school-life is comparatively short, and when it is over he goes forth fully equipped into the real life of the higher worlds for which all this is only a preparation. other egos are duller boys who do not learn so quickly; some of them do not understand the rules of the school, and through that ignorance are constantly breaking them; others are wayward, and even when they see the rules they cannot at once bring themselves to act in harmony with them. all of these have a longer school-life, and by their own actions they delay their entry upon the real life of the higher worlds. for this is a school in which no pupil ever fails; every one must go on to the end. he has no choice as to that; but the length of time which he will take in qualifying himself for the higher examinations is left entirely to his own discretion. the wise pupil, seeing that school-life is not a thing in itself, but only a preparation for a more glorious and far wider life, endeavours to comprehend as fully as possible the rules of his school, and shapes his life in accordance with them as closely as he can, so that no time may be lost in the learning of whatever lessons are necessary. he co-operates intelligently with the teachers, and sets himself to do the maximum of work which is possible for him, in order that as soon as he can he may come of age and enter into his kingdom as a glorified ego. theosophy explains to us the laws under which this school-life must be lived, and in that way gives a great advantage to its students. the first great law is that of evolution. every man has to become a perfect man, to unfold to the fullest degree the divine possibilities which lie latent within him, for that unfoldment is the object of the entire scheme so far as he is concerned. this law of evolution steadily presses him onward to higher and higher achievements. the wise man tries to anticipate its demands--to run ahead of the necessary curriculum, for in that way he not only avoids all collision with it, but he obtains the maximum of assistance from its action. the man who lags behind in the race of life finds its steady pressure constantly constraining him--a pressure which, if resisted, rapidly becomes painful. thus the laggard on the path of evolution has always the sense of being hunted and driven by his fate, while the man who intelligently co-operates is left perfectly free to choose the direction in which he shall move, so long as it is onward and upward. the second great law under which this evolution is taking place is the law of cause and effect. there can be no effect without its cause, and every cause must produce its effect. they are in fact not two but one, for the effect is really part of the cause, and he who sets one in motion sets the other also. there is in nature no such idea as that of reward or punishment, but only of cause and effect. anyone can see this in connection with mechanics or chemistry; the clairvoyant sees it equally clearly with regard to the problems of evolution. the same law obtains in the higher as in the lower worlds; there, as here, the angle of reflection is always equal to the angle of incidence. it is a law of mechanics that action and reaction are equal and opposite. in the almost infinitely finer matter of the higher worlds the reaction is by no means always instantaneous; it may sometimes be spread over long periods of time, but it returns inevitably and exactly. just as certain in its working as the mechanical law in the physical world is the higher law, according to which the man who sends out a good thought or does a good action receives good in return, while the man who sends out an evil thought or does an evil action, receives evil in return with equal accuracy--once more, not in the least a reward or punishment administered by some external will, but simply as the definite and mechanical result of his own activity. man has learnt to appreciate a mechanical result in the physical world, because the reaction is usually almost immediate and can be seen by him. he does not invariably understand the reaction in the higher worlds because that takes a wider sweep, and often returns not in this physical life, but in some future one. the action of this law affords the explanation of a number of the problems of ordinary life. it accounts for the different destinies imposed upon people, and also for the differences in the people themselves. if one man is clever in a certain direction and another is stupid, it is because in a previous life the clever man has devoted much effort to practise in that particular direction, while the stupid man is trying it for the first time. the genius and the precocious child are examples not of the favouritism of some deity but of the result produced by previous lives of application. all the varied circumstances which surrounded us are the result of our own actions in the past, precisely as are the qualities of which we find ourselves in possession. we are what we have made ourselves, and our circumstances are such as we have deserved. there is, however, a certain adjustment or apportionment of these effects. though the law is a natural law and mechanical in its operation, there are nevertheless certain great angels who are concerned with its administration. they cannot change by one feather-weight the amount of the result which follows upon any given thought or act, but they can within certain limits expedite or delay its action, and decide what form it shall take. if this were not done there would be at least a possibility that in his earlier stages the man might blunder so seriously that the results of his blundering might be more than he could bear. the plan of the deity is to give man a limited amount of free-will; if he uses that small amount well, he earns the right to a little more next time; if he uses it badly, suffering comes upon him as the result of such evil use, and he finds himself restrained by the result of his previous actions. as the man learns how to use his free-will, more and more of it is entrusted to him, so that he can acquire for himself practically unbounded freedom in the direction of good, but his power to do wrong is strictly restricted. he can progress as rapidly as he will, but he cannot wreck his life in his ignorance. in the earlier stages of the savage life of primitive man it is natural that there should be on the whole more of evil than of good, and if the entire result of his actions came at once upon a man as yet so little developed, it might well crush the newly evolved powers which are still so feeble. besides this, the effects of his actions are varied in character. while some of them produce immediate results, others need much more time for their action, and so it comes to pass that as the man develops he has above him a hovering cloud of undischarged results, some of them good, some of them bad. out of this mass (which we may regard for purposes of analogy much as though it were a debt owing to the powers of nature) a certain amount falls due in each of his successive births; and that amount, so assigned, may be thought of as the man's destiny for that particular life. all that it means is that a certain amount of joy and a certain amount of suffering are due to him, and will unavoidably happen to him; how he will meet this destiny and what use he will make of it, that is left entirely to his own option. it is a certain amount of force which has to work itself out. nothing can prevent the action of that force, but its action may always be modified by the application of a new force in another direction, just as is the case in mechanics. the result of past evil is like any other debt; it may be paid in one large cheque upon the bank of life--by some one supreme catastrophe; or it may be paid in a number of smaller notes, in minor troubles and worries; in some cases it may even be paid in the small change of a great number of petty annoyances. but one thing is quite certain--that, in some form or other, paid it will have to be. the conditions of our present life, then, are absolutely the result of our own action in the past; and the other side of that statement is that our actions in this life are building up conditions for the next one. a man who finds himself limited either in powers or in outer circumstances may not always be able to make himself or his conditions all that he would wish in this life; but he can certainly secure for the next one whatever he chooses. man's every action ends not with himself, but invariably affects others around him. in some cases this effect may be comparatively trivial, while in others it may be of the most serious character. the trivial results, whether good or bad, are simply small debits or credits in our account with nature; but the greater effects, whether good or bad, make a personal account which is to be settled with the individual concerned. a man who gives a meal to a hungry beggar, or cheers him by a kindly word, will receive the result of his good action as part of a kind of general fund of nature's benefits; but one who by some good action changes the whole current of another man's life will assuredly have to meet that same man again in a future life, in order that he who has been benefited may have the opportunity of repaying the kindness that has been done to him. one who causes annoyance to another will suffer proportionately for it somewhere, somehow, in the future, though he may never meet again the man whom he has troubled; but one who does serious harm to another, one who wrecks his life or retards his evolution, must certainly meet his victim again at some later point in the course of their lives, so that he may have the opportunity, by kindly and self-sacrificing service, of counterbalancing the wrong which he has done. in short, large debts must be paid personally, but small ones go into the general fund. these then are the principal factors which determine the next birth of the man. first acts the great law of evolution, and its tendency is to press the man into that position in which he can most easily develop the qualities which he most needs. for the purposes of the general scheme, humanity is divided into great races, called root-races, which rule and occupy the world successively. the great aryan or indo-caucasian race, which at the present moment includes the most advanced of earth's inhabitants, is one of these. that which came before it in the order of evolution was the mongolian race, usually called in theosophical books atlantean because the continent from which it ruled the world lay where now roll the waters of the atlantic ocean. before that came the negroid race, some of whose descendants still exist, though by this time much mingled with offshoots of later races. from each of these great root-races there are many offshoots which we call sub-races--such, for example, as the roman races or the teutonic; and each of the sub-races in turn divides itself into branch-races, such as the french and the italians, the english and the germans. these arrangements are made in order that for each ego there may be a wide choice of varying conditions and surroundings. each race is especially adapted to develop within its people one or other of the qualities which are needed in the course of evolution. in every nation there exist an almost infinite number of diverse conditions, riches and poverty, a wide field of opportunities or a total lack of them, facilities for development or conditions under which development is difficult or well-nigh impossible. amidst all these infinite possibilities the pressure of the law of evolution tends to guide the man to precisely those which best suit his needs at the stage at which he happens to be. but the action of this law is limited by that other law of which we spoke, the law of cause and effect. the man's actions in the past may not have been such as to deserve (if we may put it so) the best possible opportunities; he may have set in motion in his past certain forces the inevitable result of which will be to produce limitations; and these limitations may operate to prevent his receiving that best possible of opportunities, and so as the result of his own actions in the past he may have to put up with the second best. so we may say that the action of the law of evolution, which if left to itself would do the very best possible for every man, is restrained by the man's own previous actions. an important feature in that limitation--one which may act most powerfully for good or for evil--is the influence of the group of egos with which the man has made definite links in the past--those with whom he has formed strong ties of love or hate, of helping or of injury--those souls whom he must meet again because of connections made with them in days of long ago. his relation with them is a factor which must be taken into consideration before it can be determined where and how he shall be reborn. the will of the deity is man's evolution. the effort of that nature which is an expression of the deity is to give the man whatever is most suitable for that evolution; but this is conditioned by the man's deserts in the past and by the links which he has already formed. it may be assumed that a man descending into incarnation could learn the lessons necessary for that life in any one of a hundred positions. from half of these or more than half he may be debarred by the consequences of some of his many and varied actions in the past. among the few possibilities which remain open to him, the choice of one possibility in particular may be determined by the presence in that family or in that neighbourhood of other egos upon whom he has a claim for services rendered, or to whom he in his turn owes a debt of love. chapter viii the purpose of life to fulfil our duty in the divine scheme we must try to understand not only that scheme as a whole, but the special part that man is intended to play in it. the divine outbreathing reached its deepest immersion in matter in the mineral kingdom, but it reaches its ultimate point of differentiation not at the lowest level of materiality, but at the entrance into the human kingdom on the upward arc of evolution. we have thus to realize three stages in the course of this evolution. (a) the downward arc in which the tendency is towards differentiation and also towards greater materiality. in this stage spirit is involving itself in matter, in order that it may learn to receive impressions through it. (b) the earlier part of the upward arc, in which the tendency is still towards greater differentiation, but at the same time towards spiritualization and escape from materiality. in this stage the spirit is learning to dominate matter and to see it as an expression of itself. (c) the later part of the upward arc, when differentiation has been finally accomplished, and the tendency is towards unity as well as towards greater spirituality. in this stage the spirit, having learnt perfectly how to receive impression through matter and how to express itself through it, and having awakened its dormant powers, learns to use these powers rightly in the service of the deity. the object of the whole previous evolution has been to produce the ego as a manifestation of the monad. then the ego in its turn evolves by putting itself down into a succession of personalities. men who do not understand this look upon the personality as the self, and consequently live for it alone, and try to regulate their lives for what appears to be its temporary advantage. the man who understands realizes that the only important thing is the life of the ego, and that its progress is the object for which the temporary personality must be used. therefore when he has to decide between two possible courses he thinks not, as the ordinary man might: "which will bring the greater pleasure and profit to me as a personality?" but "which will bring greater progress to me as an ego?" experience soon teaches him that nothing can ever be really good for him, or for anyone, which is not good for all, and so presently he learns to forget himself altogether, and to ask only what will be best for humanity as a whole. clearly then at this stage of evolution whatever tends to unity, whatever tends to spirituality, is in accord with the plan of the deity for us, and is therefore right for us, while whatever tends to separateness or to materiality is equally certainly wrong for us. there are thoughts and emotions which tend to unity, such as love, sympathy, reverence, benevolence; there are others which tend to disunion, such as hatred, jealousy, envy, pride, cruelty, fear. obviously the former group are for us the right, the latter group are for us the wrong. in all these thoughts and feelings which are clearly wrong, we recognize one dominant note, the thought of self; while in all those which are clearly right we recognize that the thought is turned toward others, and that the personal self is forgotten. wherefore we see that selfishness is the one great wrong, and that perfect unselfishness is the crown of all virtue. this gives us at once a rule of life. the man who wishes intelligently to co-operate with the divine will must lay aside all thought of the advantage or pleasure of the personal self, and must devote himself exclusively to carrying out that will by working for the welfare and happiness of others. this is a high ideal, and difficult of attainment, because there lies behind us such a long history of selfishness. most of us are as yet far from the purely altruistic attitude; how are we to go to work to attain it, lacking as we do the necessary intensity in so many of the good qualities, and possessing so many which are undesirable? here comes into operation the great law of cause and effect to which i have already referred. just as we can confidently appeal to the laws of nature in the physical world, so may we also appeal to these laws of the higher world. if we find evil qualities within us, they have grown up by slow degrees through ignorance and through self-indulgence. now that the ignorance is dispelled by knowledge, now that in consequence we recognize the quality as an evil, the method of getting rid of it lies obviously before us. for each of these vices there is a contrary virtue; if we find one of them rearing its head within us, let us immediately determine deliberately to develop within ourselves the contrary virtue. if a man realizes that in the past he has been selfish, that means that he has set up within himself the habit of thinking of himself first and pleasing himself, of consulting his own convenience or his pleasure without due thought of the effect upon others; let him set to work purposefully to form the exactly opposite habit, to make a practice before doing anything of thinking how it will affect all those around him; let him set himself habitually to please others, even though it be at the cost of trouble or privation for himself. this also in time will become a habit, and by developing it he will have killed out the other. if a man finds himself full of suspicion, ready always to assign evil motives to the actions of those about him, let him set himself steadily to cultivate trust in his fellows, to give them credit always for the highest possible motives. it may be said that a man who does this will lay himself open to be deceived, and that in many cases his confidence will be misplaced. that is a small matter; it is far better for him that he should sometimes be deceived as a result of his trust in his fellows than that he should save himself from such deception by maintaining a constant attitude of suspicion. besides, confidence begets faithfulness. a man who is trusted will generally prove himself worthy of the trust, whereas a man who is suspected is likely presently to justify the suspicion. if a man finds in himself the tendency towards avarice, let him go out of his way to be especially generous; if he finds himself irritable, let him definitely train himself in calmness; if he finds himself devoured by curiosity, let him deliberately refuse again and again to gratify that curiosity; if he is liable to fits of depression, let him persistently cultivate cheerfulness, even under the most adverse circumstances. in every case the existence of an evil quality in the personality means a lack of the corresponding good quality in the ego. the shortest way to get rid of that evil and to prevent its reappearance is to fill the gap in the ego, and the good quality which is thus developed will show itself as an integral part of the man's character through all his future lives. an ego cannot be evil, but he can be imperfect. the qualities which he develops cannot be other than good qualities, and when they are well defined they show themselves in each of all his numerous personalities, and consequently those personalities can never be guilty of the vices opposite to these qualities; but where there is a gap in the ego, where there is a quality undeveloped, there is nothing inherent in the personality to check the growth of the opposite vice; and since others in the world about him already possess that vice, and man is an imitative animal, it is quite probable that it will speedily manifest itself in him. this vice, however, belongs to the vehicles only and not to the man inside. in these vehicles its repetition may set up a momentum which is hard to conquer; but if the ego bestirs himself to create in himself the opposite virtue, the vice is cut off at its root, and can no longer exist--neither in this life nor in all the lives that are to come. a man who is trying to evolve these qualities in himself will find certain obstacles in his way--obstacles which he must learn to surmount. one of these is the critical spirit of the age--the disposition to find fault with a thing, to belittle everything, to look for faults in everything and everyone. the exact opposite of this is what is needed for progress. he who wishes to move rapidly along the path of evolution must learn to see good in everything--to see the latent deity in everything and in everyone. only so can he help those other people--only so can he get the best out of those other things. another obstacle is the lack of perseverance. we tend in these days to be impatient; if we try any plan we expect immediate results from it, and if we do not get them, we give up that plan and try something else. that is not the way to make progress in occultism. the effort which we are making is to compress into one or two lives the evolution which would naturally take perhaps a hundred lives. that is not the sort of undertaking in which immediate results are to be expected. we attempt to uproot an evil habit, and we find it hard work; why? because we have indulged in that practice for, perhaps, twenty thousand years; one cannot shake off the custom of twenty thousand years in a day or two. we have allowed that habit to gain an enormous momentum, and before we can set up a force in the opposite direction we have to overcome that momentum. that cannot be done in a moment, but it is absolutely certain that it _will_ be done eventually, if we persevere, because the momentum, however strong it may be, is a finite quantity, whereas the power that we can bring to bear against it is the infinite power of the human will, which can make renewed efforts day after day, year after year, even life after life if necessary. another great difficulty in our way is the lack of clearness in our thought. people in the west are little used to clear thought with regard to religious matters. everything is vague and nebulous. for occult development vagueness and nebulosity will not do. our conceptions must be clear-cut and our thought-images definite. other necessary characteristics are calmness and cheerfulness; these are rare in modern life, but are absolute essentials for the work which we are here undertaking. the process of building a character is as scientific as that of developing one's muscles. many a man, finding himself with certain muscles flabby and powerless takes that as his natural condition, and regards their weakness as a kind of destiny imposed upon him; but anyone who understands a little of the human body is aware that by continued exercise those muscles can be brought into a state of health and the whole body eventually put in order. in exactly the same way, many a man finds himself possessed of a bad temper or a tendency to avarice or suspicion or self-indulgence, and when in consequence of any of these vices he commits some great mistake or does some great harm he offers it as an excuse that he is a hasty-tempered man, or that he possesses this or that quality by nature--implying that therefore he cannot help it. in this case just as in the other the remedy is in his own hands. regular exercise of the right kind will develop a certain muscle, and regular mental exercise of the right kind will develop a missing quality in a man's character. the ordinary man does not realize that he can do this, and even if he sees that he can do it, he does not see why he should, for it means much effort and much self-repression. he knows of no adequate motive for undertaking a task so laborious and painful. the motive is supplied by the knowledge of the truth. one who gains an intelligent comprehension of the direction of evolution feels it not only his interest but his privilege and his delight to co-operate with it. one who wills the end wills also the means; in order to be able to do good work for the world he must develop within himself the necessary strength and the necessary qualities. therefore he who wishes to reform the world must first of all reform himself. he must learn to give up altogether the attitude of insisting upon rights, and must devote himself utterly to the most earnest performance of his duties. he must learn to regard every connection with his fellow-man as an opportunity to help that fellow-man, or in some way to do him good. one who studies these subjects intelligently cannot but realize the tremendous power of thought, and the necessity for its efficient control. all action springs from thought, for even when it is done (as we say) without thought, it is the instinctive expression of the thoughts, desires and feelings which the man has allowed to grow luxuriantly within himself in earlier days. the wise man, therefore, will watch his thought with the greatest of care, for in it he possesses a powerful instrument, for the right use of which he is responsible. it is his duty to govern his thought, lest it should be allowed to run riot and to do evil to himself, and to others; it is his duty also to develop his thought-power, because by means of it a vast amount of actual and active good can be done. thus controlling his thought and his action, thus eliminating from himself all evil and unfolding in himself all good qualities, the man presently raises himself far above the level of his fellows, and stands out conspicuously among them as one who is working on the side of good as against evil, of evolution as against stagnation. the members of the great hierarchy, in whose hands is the evolution of the world, are watching always for such men in order that they may train them to help in the great work. such a man inevitably attracts their attention, and they begin to use him as an instrument in their work. if he proves himself a good and efficient instrument, presently they will offer him definite training as an apprentice, that by helping them in the world-business which they have to do he may some day become even as they are, and join the mighty brotherhood to which they belong. but for an honour so great as this mere ordinary goodness will not suffice. true, a man must be good first of all, or it would be hopeless to think of using him, but in addition to being good he must be wise and strong. what is needed is not merely a good man, but a great spiritual power. not only must the candidate have cast aside all ordinary weaknesses but he must have acquired strong positive qualities before he can offer himself to them with any hope that he will be accepted. he must live no longer as a blundering and selfish personality, but as an intelligent ego who comprehends the part which he has to play in the great scheme of the universe. he must have forgotten himself utterly; he must have resigned all thought of worldly profit or pleasure or advancement; he must be willing to sacrifice everything, and himself first of all, for the sake of the work that has to be done. he may be _in_ the world, but he must not be _of_ the world. he must be careless utterly of its opinion. for the sake of helping man he must make himself something more than man. radiant, rejoicing, strong, he must live but for the sake of others and to be an expression of the love of god in the world. a high ideal, yet not too high; possible, because there are men who have achieved it. when a man has succeeded in unfolding his latent possibilities so far that he attracts the attention of the masters of the wisdom, one of them will probably receive him as an apprentice upon probation. the period of probation is usually seven years, but may be either shortened or lengthened at the discretion of the master. at the end of that time, if his work has been satisfactory, he becomes what it commonly called the accepted pupil. this brings him into close relations with his master, so that the vibrations of the latter constantly play upon him, and he gradually learns to look at everything as the master looks at it. after yet another interval, if he proves himself entirely worthy, he may be drawn into a still closer relationship, when he is called the son of the master. these three stages mark his relationship to his own master only, not to the brotherhood as a whole. the brotherhood admits a man to its ranks only when he has fitted himself to pass the first of the great initiations. this entry into the brotherhood of those who rule the world may be thought of as the third of the great critical points in man's evolution. the first of these is when he becomes man--when he individualizes out of the animal kingdom and obtains a causal body. the second is what is called by the christian "conversion", by the hindu "the acquirement of discrimination", and by the buddhist "the opening of the doors of the mind". that is the point at which he realizes the great facts of life, and turns away from the pursuit of selfish ends in order to move intentionally along with the great current of evolution in obedience to the divine will. the third point is the most important of all, for the initiation which admits him to the ranks of the brotherhood also insures him against the possibility of failure to fulfil the divine purpose in the time appointed for it. hence those who have reached this point are called in the christian system the "elect", the "saved" or the "safe", and in the buddhist scheme "those who have entered on the stream". for those who have reached this point have made themselves absolutely certain of reaching a further point also--that of adeptship, at which they pass into a type of evolution which is definitely superhuman. the man who has become an adept has fulfilled the divine will so far as this chain of worlds is concerned. he has reached, even already at the midmost point of the æon of evolution, the stage prescribed for man's attainment at the end of it. therefore he is at liberty to spend the remainder of that time either in helping his fellow-men or in even more splendid work in connection with other and higher evolutions. he who has not yet been initiated is still in danger of being left behind by our present wave of evolution, and dropping into the next one--the "æonian condemnation" of which the christ spoke, which has been mistranslated "eternal damnation". it is from this fate of possible æonian failure--that is, failure for this age, or dispensation, or life-wave--that the man who attains initiation is "safe". he has "entered upon the stream" which now _must_ bear him on to adeptship in this present age, though it is still possible for him by his actions to hasten or delay his progress along the path which he is treading. that first initiation corresponds to the matriculation which admits a man to a university, and the attainment of adeptship to the taking of a degree at the end of a course. continuing the simile, there are three intermediate examinations, which are usually spoken of as the second, third, and fourth initiations, adeptship being the fifth. a general idea of the line of this higher evolution may be obtained by studying the list of what are called in buddhist books "the fetters" which must be cast off--the qualities of which a man must rid himself as he treads this path. these are: the delusion of separateness; doubt or uncertainty; superstition; attachment to enjoyment; the possibility of hatred; desire for life, either in this or the higher worlds; pride; agitation or irritability; and ignorance. the man who reaches the adept level has exhausted all the possibilities of moral development, and so the future evolution which still lies before him can only mean still wider knowledge and still more wonderful spiritual powers. chapter ix the planetary chains the scheme of evolution of which our earth forms a part is not the only one in our solar system, for ten separate chains of globes exist in that system which are all of them theatres of somewhat similar progress. each of these schemes of evolution is taking place upon a chain of globes, and in the course of each scheme its chain of globes goes through seven incarnations. the plan, alike of each scheme as a whole and of the successive incarnation of its chain of globes, is to dip step by step more deeply into matter, and then to rise step by step out of it again. each chain consists of seven globes, and both globes and chains observe the rule of descending into matter and then rising out of it again. in order to make this comprehensible let us take as an example the chain to which our earth belongs. at the present time it is in its fourth or most material incarnation, and therefore three of its globes belong to the physical world, two to the astral world, and two to the lower part of the mental world. the wave of divine life passes in succession from globe to globe of this chain, beginning with one of the highest, descending gradually to the lowest and then climbing again to the same level as that at which it began. let us for convenience of reference label the seven globes by the earlier letters of the alphabet, and number the incarnations in order. thus, as this is the fourth incarnation of our chain, the first globe in this incarnation will be a, the second b, the third c, the fourth (which is our earth) d, and so on. these globes are not all composed of physical matter. a contains no matter lower than that of the mental world; it has its counterpart in all the worlds higher than that, but nothing below it. b exists in the astral world; but c is a physical globe, visible to our telescopes, and is in fact the planet which we know as mars. globe d is our own earth, on which the life-wave of the chain is at present in action. globe e is the planet which we call mercury--also in the physical world. globe f is in the astral world, corresponding on the ascending arc to globe b in the descent; while globe g corresponds to globe a in having its lowest manifestation in the lower part of the mental world. thus it will be seen that we have a scheme of globes starting in the lower mental world, dipping through the astral into the physical and then rising into the lower mental through the astral again. just as the succession of the globes in a chain constitutes a descent into matter and an ascent from it again, so do the successive incarnations of a chain. we have described the condition of affairs in the fourth incarnation; looking back at the third, we find that that commences not on the lower level of the mental world but on the higher. globes a and g, then, are both of higher mental matter, while globes b and f are at the lower mental level. globes c and e belong to the astral world, and only globe d is visible in the physical world. although this third incarnation of our chain is long past, the corpse of this physical globe d is still visible to us in the shape of that dead planet the moon, whence that third incarnation is usually called the lunar chain. the fifth incarnation of our chain, which still lies very far in the future, will correspond to the third. in that, globes a and g will be built of higher mental matter, globes b and f of lower mental, globes c and e of astral matter, and only globe d will be in the physical world. this planet d is of course not yet in existence. the other incarnations of the chain follow the same general rule of gradually decreasing materiality; a, g, a and g are all in the intuitional world; b, f, b and f are all in the higher part of the mental world; c, e, c and e are in the lower part of the mental world; d and d are in the astral world. in the same way a, g, a and g belong to the spiritual world; b, if, b and f are in the intuitional world; c, e, c and e are in the higher part of the mental world; d-and d are in the lower part of the mental world. thus it will be seen that not only does the life-wave in passing through one chain of globes dip down into matter and rise out of it again, but the chain itself in its successive incarnations does exactly the same thing. there are ten schemes of evolution at present existing in our solar system, but only seven of them are at the stage where they have planets in the physical world. these are: ( ) that of an unrecognized planet vulcan, very near the sun, about which we have very little definite information. it was seen by the astronomer herschel, but is now said to have disappeared. we at first understood that it was in its third incarnation; but it is now regarded as possible that it has recently passed from its fifth to its sixth chain, which would account for its alleged disappearance; ( ) that of venus, which is in its fifth incarnation, and also therefore, has only one visible globe; ( ) that of the earth, mars and mercury, which has three visible planets because it is in its fourth incarnation; ( ) that of jupiter, ( ) that of saturn, ( ) that of uranus, all in their third incarnations; and ( ) that of neptune and the two unnamed planets beyond its orbit, which is in its fourth incarnation, and therefore has three physical planets as we have. in each incarnation of a chain (commonly called a chain-period) the wave of divine life moves seven times round the chain of seven planets, and each such movement is spoken of as a round. the time that the life-wave stays upon each planet is known as a world-period, and in the course of a world-period there are seven great root-races. as has been previously explained, these are subdivided into sub-races, and those again into branch-races. for convenience of reference we may state this in tabular form: branch-races make sub-race sub-races make root-race root-races make world-period world-periods make round rounds make chain-period chain-periods make scheme of evolution schemes of evolution make our solar system it is clear that the fourth root-race of the fourth globe of the fourth round of a fourth chain-period would be the central point of a whole scheme of evolution, and we find ourselves at the present moment only a little past that point. the aryan race, to which we belong, is the fifth root-race of the fourth globe, so that the actual middle point fell in the time of the last great root-race, the atlantean. consequently the human race as a whole is very little more than half-way through its evolution, and those few souls who are already nearing adeptship, which is the end and crown of this evolution, are very far in advance of their fellows. how do they come to be so far in advance? partly and in some cases because they have worked harder, but usually because they are older egos--because they were individualized out of the animal kingdom at an earlier date, and so have had more time for the human part of their evolution. any given wave of life sent forth from the deity usually spends a chain-period in each of the great kingdoms of nature. that which in our first chain was ensouling the first elemental kingdom must have ensouled the second of those kingdoms in the second chain, in the third of them in the moon-chain, and is now in the mineral kingdom in the fourth chain. in the future fifth chain it will ensoul the vegetable kingdom, in the sixth the animal, and in the seventh it will attain humanity. from this it follows that we ourselves represented the mineral kingdom on the first chain, the vegetable on the second, and the animal on the lunar chain. there some of us attained our individualization, and so we were enabled to enter this earth-chain as men. others who were a little more backward did not succeed in attaining it, and so had to be born into this chain as animals for a while before they could reach humanity. not all of mankind, however, entered this chain together. when the lunar chain came to its end the humanity upon it stood at various levels. not adeptship, but what is now for us the fourth step on the path, was the goal appointed for that chain. those who had attained it (commonly called in theosophical literature the lords of the moon) had, as is usual, seven choices before them as to the way in which they would serve. only one of those choices brought them, or rather a few of them, over into this earth-chain to act as guides and teachers to the earlier races. a considerable proportion--a vast proportion, indeed--of the moon-men had not attained that level, and consequently had to reappear in this earth-chain as humanity. besides this, a great mass of the animal kingdom of the moon-chain was surging up to the level of the individualization, and some of its members had already reached it, while many others had not. these latter needed further animal incarnations upon the earth-chain, and for the moment may be put aside. there were many classes even among the humanity, and the manner in which these distributed themselves over the earth-chain needs some explanation. it is the general rule that those who have attained the highest possible in any chain on any globe, in any root-race, are not born into the beginning of the next chain, globe or race, respectively. the earlier stages are always for the backward entities, and only when they have already passed through a good deal of evolution and are beginning to approach the level of those others who had done better, do the latter descend into incarnation and join them once more. that is to say, almost the earlier half of any period of evolution, whether it be a race, a globe or a chain, seems to be devoted to bringing the backward people up to nearly the level of those who have got on better; then these latter also (who, in the meantime, have been resting in great enjoyment in the mental world) descend into incarnation along with the others, and they press on together until the end of the period. thus the first of the egos from the moon who entered the earth-chain were by no means the most advanced. indeed they may be described as the least advanced of those who had succeeded in attaining humanity--the animal-men. coming as they did into a chain of new globes, freshly aggregated, they had to establish the forms in all the different kingdoms of nature. this needs to be done at the beginning of the first round in a new chain, but never after that; for though the life-wave is centred only upon one of the seven globes of a chain at any given time, yet life has not entirely departed from the other globes. at the present moment, for example, the life-wave of our chain is centred on this earth, but on the other two physical globes of our chain, mars and mercury, life still exists. there is still a population, human, animal and vegetable, and consequently when the life-wave goes round again to either of those planets there will be no necessity for the creation of new forms. the old types are already there, and all that will happen will be a sudden marvellous fecundity, so that the various kingdoms will quickly increase and multiply, and make a rapidly increasing population instead of a stationary one. it was, then, the animal-men, the lowest class of human beings of the moon-chain, who established the forms in the first round of the earth-chain. pressing closely after them were the highest of the lunar animal kingdom, who were soon ready to occupy the forms which had just been made. in the second journey round the seven globes of the earth-chain, the animal-men who had been the most backward of the lunar humanity were leaders of this terrene humanity, the highest of the moon-animals making its less developed grades. the same thing went on in the third round of the earth-chain, more and more of the lunar animals attaining individualization and joining the human rank, until in the middle of that round on this very globe d which we call the earth, a higher class of human beings--the second order of moon-men--descended into incarnation and at once took the lead. when we come to the fourth, our present round, we find the first order of the moon-men pouring in upon us--all the highest and the best of the lunar humanity who had only just fallen short of success. some of those who had already, even on the moon, entered upon the path soon attained its end, became adepts and passed away from the earth. some few others who had not been quite so far advanced have attained adeptship only comparatively recently--that is, within the last few thousand years, and these are the adepts of the present day. we, who find ourselves in the higher races of humanity now, were several stages behind them, but the opportunity lies before us of following in their steps if we will. the evolution of which we have been speaking is that of the ego himself, of what might be called the soul of man; but at the same time there has been also an evolution to the body. the forms built in the first round were very different from any of which we know anything now. properly speaking, those which were made on our physical earth can scarcely be called forms at all, for they were constructed of etheric matter only, and resembled vague, drifting and almost shapeless clouds. in the second round they were definitely physical, but still shapeless and light enough to float about in currents of wind. only in the third round did they begin to bear any kind of resemblance to man as we know him today. the very methods of reproduction of those primitive forms differed from those of humanity today, and far more resembled those which we now find only in very much lower types of life. man in those early days was androgynous, and a definite separation into sexes took place only about the middle of the third round. from that time onward until now the shape of man has been steadily evolving along definitely human lines, becoming smaller and more compact than it was, learning to stand upright instead of stooping and crawling, and generally differentiating itself from the animal forms out of which it had been evolved. one curious break in the regularity of this evolution deserves mention. on this globe, in this fourth round, there was a departure from the straightforward scheme of evolution. this being the middle globe of a middle round, the midmost point of evolution upon it marked the last moment at which it was possible for members of what had been the lunar animal kingdom to attain individualization. consequently a sort of strong effort was made--a special scheme was arranged to give a final chance to as many as possible. the conditions of the first and second rounds were specially reproduced in place of the first and second races--conditions of which in the earlier rounds these backward egos had not been able fully to take advantage. now, with the additional evolution, which they had undergone during the third round, some of them were able to take such advantage, and so they rushed in at the very last moment before the door was shut, and became just human. naturally they will not reach any high level of human development, but at least when they try again in some future chain it will be some advantage to them to have had even this slight experience of human life. our terrestrial evolution received a most valuable stimulus from the assistance given to us by our sister globe, venus. venus is at present in the fifth incarnation of its chain, and in the seventh round of that incarnation, so that its inhabitants are a whole chain-period and a half in front of us in evolution. since, therefore, its people are so much more developed than ours, it was thought desirable that certain adepts from the venus evolution should be transferred to our earth in order to assist in the specially busy time just before the closing of the door, in the middle of the fourth root-race. these august beings have been called the lords of the flame and the children of the fire-mist, and they have produced a wonderful effect upon our evolution. the intellect of which we are so proud is almost entirely due to their presence, for in the natural course of events the next round, the fifth, should be that of intellectual advancement, and in this our present fourth round we should be devoting ourselves chiefly to the cultivation of the emotions. we are therefore in reality a long way in advance of the programme marked out for us; and such advance is entirely due to the assistance given by these great lords of the flame. most of them stayed with us only through that critical period of our history; a few still remain to hold the highest offices of the great white brotherhood until the time when men of our own evolution shall have risen to such a height as to be capable of relieving their august visitors. the evolution lying before us is both of the life and of the form; for in future rounds, while the egos will be steadily growing in power, wisdom and love, the physical forms also will be more beautiful and more perfect than they have ever yet been. we have in this world at the present time men at widely differing stages of evolution, and it is clear that there are vast hosts of savages who are far behind the great civilized races of the world--so far behind that it is quite impossible that they can overtake them. later on in the course of our evolution a point will be reached at which it is no longer possible for those undeveloped souls to advance side by side with the others, so that it will be necessary that a division should be made. the proceeding is exactly analogous to the sorting out by a schoolmaster of the boys in his class. during the school year he has to prepare his boys for a certain examination, and by perhaps the middle of that school year he knows quite well which of them will pass it. if he should have in his class some who are hopelessly behind the rest, he might reasonably say to them when the middle period was reached: "it is quite useless for you to continue with your fellows, for the more difficult lessons which i shall now have to give will be entirely unintelligible to you. it is impossible that you can learn enough in the time to pass the examination, so that the effort would only be a useless strain for you, and meantime you would be a hindrance to the rest of the class. it is therefore far better for you to give up striving after the impossible, and to take up again the work of the lower class which you did not do perfectly, and then to offer yourselves for this examination along with next year's class, for what is now impossible for you will then be easy." this is in effect exactly what is said at a certain stage in our future evolution, to the most backward egos. they drop out of this year's class and come along with the next one. this is the "æonian condemnation" to which reference was made a little while ago. it is computed that about two-fifths of humanity will drop out of the class in this way, leaving the remaining three-fifths to go on with far greater rapidity to the glorious destinies which lie before them. chapter x the result of theosophical study "members of the theosophical society study these truths and theosophists endeavour to live them." what manner of man then is the true theosophist in consequence of his knowledge? what is the result in his daily life of all this study? finding that there is a supreme power who is directing the course of evolution, and that he is all-wise and all-loving, the theosophist sees that everything which exists within this scheme must be intended to further its progress. he realizes that the scripture which tells us that all things are working together for good, is not indulging in a flight of poetic fancy or voicing a pious hope, but stating a scientific fact. the final attainment of unspeakable glory is an absolute certainty for every son of man, whatever may be his present condition; but that is by no means all. here and at this present moment he is on his way towards the glory; and all the circumstances surrounding him are intended to help and not to hinder him, if only they are rightly understood. it is sadly true that in the world there is much of evil and of sorrow and of suffering; yet from the higher point of view the theosophist sees that terrible though this be, it is only temporary and superficial, and is all being utilized as a factor in the progress. when in the days of his ignorance he looked at it from its own level it was almost impossible to see this; while he looked from beneath at the under side of life, with his eyes fixed all the time upon some apparent evil, he could never gain a true grasp of its meaning. now he raises himself above it to the higher levels of thought and consciousness, and looks down upon it with the eye of the spirit and understands it in its entirety, so he can see that in very truth all is well--not that all will be well at some remote period, but that even now at this moment, in the midst of incessant striving and apparent evil, the mighty current of evolution is still flowing, and so all is well because all is moving on in perfect order towards the final goal. raising his consciousness thus above the storm and stress of worldly life, he recognizes what used to seem to be evil, and notes how it is apparently pressing backwards against the great stream of progress; but he also sees that the onward sweep of the divine law of evolution bears the same relation to this superficial evil as does the tremendous torrent of niagara to the fleckings of foam upon its surface. so while he sympathizes deeply with all who suffer, he yet realizes what will be the end of that suffering, and so for him despair or hopelessness is impossible. he applies this consideration to his own sorrows and troubles, as well as to those of the world, and therefore one great result of his theosophy is a perfect serenity--even more than that, a perpetual cheerfulness and joy. for him there is an utter absence of worry, because in truth there is nothing left to worry about, since he knows that all must be well. his higher science makes him a confirmed optimist, for it shows him that whatever of evil there may be in any person or in any movement, it is of necessity temporary, because it is opposed to the resistless stream of evolution; whereas whatever is good in any person or in any movement must necessarily be persistent and useful, because it has behind it the omnipotence of that current, and therefore it must abide and it must prevail. yet it must not for a moment be supposed that because he is so fully assured of the final triumph of good he remains careless or unmoved by the evils which exist in the world around him. he knows that it is his duty to combat these to the utmost of his power, because in doing this he is working upon the side of the great evolutionary force, and is bringing nearer the time of its ultimate victory. none will be more active than he in labouring for the good, even though he is absolutely free from the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness which so often oppresses those who are striving to help their fellow-men. another most valuable result of his theosophical study is the absence of fear. many people are constantly anxious or worried about something or other; they are fearing lest this or that should happen to them, lest this or that combination may fail, and so all the while they are in a condition of unrest; and most serious of all for many is the fear of death. for the theosophist the whole of this feeling is entirely swept away. he realizes the great truth of reincarnation. he knows that he has often before laid aside physical bodies, and so he sees that death is no more than sleep--that just as sleep comes in between our days of work and gives us rest and refreshment, so between these days of labour here on earth, which we call lives, there comes a long night of astral and of heavenly life to give us rest and refreshment and to help us on our way. to the theosophist death is simply the laying aside for a time of this robe of flesh. he knows that it is his duty to preserve the bodily vesture as long as possible, and gain through it all the experience he can; but when the time comes for him to lay it down he will do so thankfully, because he knows that the next stage will be a much pleasanter one than this. thus he will have no fear of death, although he realizes that he must live his life to the appointed end, because he is here for the purpose of progress, and that progress is the one truly momentous matter. his whole conception of life is different; the object is not to earn so much money, not to obtain such and such a position; the one important thing is to carry out the divine plan. he knows that for this he is here, and that everything else must give way to it. utterly free also is he from any religious fears or worries or troubles. all such things are swept aside for him, because he sees clearly that progress towards the highest is the divine will for us, that we cannot escape from that progress, and that whatever comes in our way and whatever happens to us is meant to help us along that line; that we ourselves are absolutely the only people who can delay our advance. no longer does he trouble and fear about himself. he simply goes on and does the duty which comes nearest in the best way that he can, confident that if he does this all will be well for him without his perpetual worrying. he is satisfied quietly to do his work and to try to help his fellows in the race, knowing that the great divine power behind will press him onward slowly and steadily, and do for him all that can be done, so long as his face is set steadfastly in the right direction, so long as he does all that he reasonably can. since he knows that we are all part of one great evolution and all literally the children of one father, he sees that the universal brotherhood of humanity is no mere poetical conception, but a definite fact; not a dream of something which is to be in the dim distance of utopia, but a condition existing here and now. the certainty of this all-embracing fraternity gives him a wider outlook upon life and a broad impersonal point of view from which to regard everything. he realizes that the true interests of all are in fact identical, and that no man can ever make real gain for himself at the cost of loss or suffering to some one else. this is not to him an article of religious belief, but a scientific fact proved to him by his study. he sees that since humanity is literally a whole, nothing which injures one man can ever be really for the good of any other, for the harm done influences not only the doer but also those who are about him. he knows that the only true advantage for him is that benefit which he shares with all. he sees that any advance which he is able to make in the way of spiritual progress or development is something secured not for himself alone but for others. if he gains knowledge or self-control, he assuredly acquires much for himself, yet he takes nothing away from anyone else, but on the contrary he helps and strengthens others. cognizant as he is of the absolute spiritual unity of humanity, he knows that, even in this lower world, no true profit can be made by one man which is not made in the name of and for the sake of humanity; that one man's progress must be a lifting of the burden of all the others; that one man's advance in spiritual things means a very slight yet not imperceptible advance to humanity as a whole; that every one who bears suffering and sorrow nobly in his struggle towards the light is lifting a little of the heavy load of the sorrow and suffering of his brothers as well. because he recognizes this brotherhood not merely as a hope cherished by despairing men, but as a definite fact following in scientific series from all other facts; because he sees this as an absolute certainty, his attitude towards all those around him changes radically. it becomes a posture ever of helpfulness, ever of the deepest sympathy, for he sees that nothing which clashes with their higher interests can be the right thing for him to do, or can be good for him in any way. it naturally follows that he becomes filled with the widest possible tolerance and charity. he cannot but be always tolerant, because his philosophy shows him that it matters little what a man believes, so long as he is a good man and true. charitable also he must be, because his wider knowledge enables him to make allowances for many things which the ordinary man does not understand. the standard of the theosophist as to right and wrong is always higher than that of the less instructed man, yet he is far gentler than the latter in his feeling towards the sinner, because he comprehends more of human nature. he realizes how the sin appeared to the sinner at the moment of its commission, and so he makes more allowances than is ever made by the man who is ignorant of all this. he goes further than tolerance, charity, sympathy; he feels positive love towards mankind, and that leads him to adopt a position of watchful helpfulness. he feels that every contact with others is for him an opportunity, and the additional knowledge which his study has brought to him enables him to give advice or help in almost any case which comes before him. not that he is perpetually thrusting his opinions upon other people. on the contrary, he observes that to do this is one of the commonest mistakes made by the uninstructed. he knows that argument is a foolish waste of energy, and therefore he declines to argue. if anyone desires from him explanation or advice he is more than willing to give it, yet he has no sort of wish to convert anyone else to his own way of thinking. in every relation of life this idea of helpfulness comes into play, not only with regard to his fellowmen but also in connection with the vast animal kingdom which surrounds him. units of this kingdom are often brought into close relation with man, and this is for him an opportunity of doing something for them. the theosophist recognizes that these are also his brothers, even though they may be younger brothers, and that he owes a fraternal duty to them also--so to act and so to think that his relation with them shall be always for their good and never for their harm. pre-eminently and above all, this theosophy is to him a doctrine of common sense. it puts before him, as far as he can at present know them, the facts about god and man and the relations between them; then he proceeds to take these facts into account and to act in relation to them with ordinary reason and common sense. he regulates his life according to the laws of evolution which it has taught him, and this gives him a totally different standpoint, and a touchstone by which to try everything--his own thoughts and feelings, and his own actions first of all, and then those things which come before him in the world outside himself. always he applies this criterion: is the thing right or wrong, does it help evolution or does it hinder it? if a thought or a feeling arises within himself, he sees at once by this test whether it is one he ought to encourage. if it be for the greatest good of the greatest number then all is well; if it may hinder or cause harm to any being in its progress, then it is evil and to be avoided. exactly the same reason holds good if he is called upon to decide with regard to anything outside himself. if from that point of view a thing be a good thing, then he can conscientiously support it; if not, then it is not for him. for him the question of personal interest does not come into the case at all. he thinks simply of the good of evolution as a whole. this gives him a definite foothold and the clear criterion, and removes from him altogether the pain of indecision and hesitation. the will of the deity is man's evolution; whatever therefore helps on that evolution must be good; whatever stands in the way of it and delays it, that thing must be wrong, even though it may have on its side all the weight of public opinion and immemorial tradition. knowing that the true man is the ego and not the body, he sees that it is the life of the ego only which is really of moment, and that everything connected with the body must unhesitatingly be subordinated to those higher interests. he recognizes that this earth-life is given to him for the purpose of progress, and that that progress is the one important thing. the real purpose of his life is the unfoldment of his powers as an ego, the development of his character. he knows that there must be evolvement not only of the physical body but also of the mental nature, of the mind and of the spiritual perceptions. he sees that nothing short of absolute perfection is expected of him in connection with this development; that all power with regard to it is in his own hands; that he has everlasting time before him in which to attain this perfection, but that the sooner it is gained the happier and more useful will he be. he recognizes his life as nothing but a day at school, and his physical body as a temporary vesture assumed for the purpose of learning through it. he knows at once that this purpose of learning lessons is the only one of any real importance, and that the man who allows himself to be diverted from that purpose by any consideration whatever is acting with inconceivable stupidity. to him the life devoted exclusively to physical objects, to the acquisition of wealth or fame, appears the merest child's-play--a senseless sacrifice of all that is really worth having for the sake of a few moments' gratification of the lower part of his nature. he "sets his affection on things above and not on things of the earth", not only because he sees this to be the right course of action, but because he realizes so clearly the valuelessness of these things of earth. he always tries to take the higher point of view, for he knows that the lower is utterly unreliable--that the lower desires and feelings gather round him like a dense fog, and make it impossible for him to see anything clearly from that level. whenever he finds a struggle going on within him he remembers that he himself is the higher, and that this which is the lower is not the real self, but merely an uncontrolled part of one of its vehicles. he knows that though he may fall a thousand times on the way towards his goal, his reason for trying to reach it remains just as strong after the thousandth fall as it was in the beginning, so that it would not only be useless but unwise and wrong to give way to despondency and hopelessness. he begins his journey upon the road of progress at once--not only because he knows that it is far easier for him now than it will be if he leaves the effort until later, but chiefly because if he makes the endeavour now and succeeds in achieving some progress, if he rises thereby to some higher level, he is in a position to hold out a helping hand to those who have not yet reached even that step on the ladder which he has gained. in that way he takes a part, however humble it may be, in the great divine work of evolution. he knows that he has arrived at his present position only by a slow process of growth, and so he does not expect instantaneous attainment of perfection. he sees how inevitable is the great law of cause and effect, and that when he once grasps the working of that law he can use it intelligently in regard to mental and moral development, just as in the physical world we can employ for our own assistance those laws of nature the action of which we have learnt to understand. understanding what death is, he knows that there can be no need to fear it or to mourn over it, whether it comes to himself or to those whom he loves. it has come to them all often before, so there is nothing unfamiliar about it. he sees death simply as a promotion from a life which is more than half physical to one which is wholly superior, so for himself he unfeignedly welcomes it; and even when it comes to those whom he loves, he recognizes at once the advantage for them, even though he cannot but feel a pang of regret that he should be temporarily separated from them so far as the physical world is concerned. but he knows that the so-called dead are near him still, and that he has only to cast off for a time his physical body in sleep in order to stand side by side with them as before. he sees clearly that the world is one, and that the same divine laws rule the whole of it, whether it be visible or invisible to physical sight. so he has no feeling of nervousness or strangeness in passing from one part of it to another, and no feeling of uncertainty as to what he will find on the other side of the veil. he knows that in that higher life there opens before him a splendid vista of opportunities both for acquiring fresh knowledge and for doing useful work; that life away from this dense body has a vividness and a brilliancy to which all earthly enjoyment is as nothing; and so through his clear knowledge and calm confidence the power of the endless life shines out upon all those round him. doubt as to his future is for him impossible, for just as by looking back on the savage he realizes that which he was in the past, so by looking to the greatest and wisest of mankind he knows what he will be in the future. he sees an unbroken chain of development, a ladder of perfection rising steadily before him, yet with human beings upon every step of it, so that he knows, that those steps are possible for him to climb. it is just because of the unchangeableness of the great law of cause and effect that he finds himself able to climb that ladder, because since the law works always in the same way, he can depend upon it and he can use it, just as he uses the laws of nature in the physical worlds. his knowledge of this law brings to him a sense of perspective and shows him that if something comes to him, it comes because he has deserved it as a consequence of actions which he has committed, of words which he has spoken, of thought to which he has given harbour in previous days or in earlier lives. he comprehends that all affliction is of the nature of the payment of a debt, and therefore when he has to meet with the troubles of life he takes them and uses them as a lesson, because he understands why they have come and is glad of the opportunity which they give him to pay off something of his obligation. again, and in yet another way, does he take them as an opportunity, for he sees that there is another side to them if he meets them in the right way. he spends no time in bearing prospective burdens. when trouble comes to him he does not aggravate it by foolish repining but sets himself to endure so much of it as is inevitable, with patience and with fortitude. not that he submits himself to it as a fatalist might, for he takes adverse circumstances as an incentive to such development as may enable him to transcend them, and thus out of long-past evil he brings forth a seed of future growth. for in the very act of paying the outstanding debt he develops qualities of courage and resolution that will stand him in good stead through all the ages that are to come. he is distinguishable from the rest of the world by his perennial cheerfulness, his undaunted courage under difficulties, and his ready sympathy and helpfulness; yet he is at the same time emphatically a man who takes life seriously, who recognizes that there is much for everyone to do in the world, and that there is no time to waste. he knows with utter certainty that he not only makes his own destiny but also gravely affects that of others around him, and thus he perceives how weighty a responsibility attends the use of his power. he knows that thoughts are things and that it is easily possible to do great harm or great good by their means. he knows that no man liveth to himself, for his every thought acts upon others as well; that the vibrations which he sends forth from his mind and from his mental nature are reproducing themselves in the minds and the mental natures of other men, so that he is a source either of mental health or of mental ill to all with whom he comes in contact. this at once imposes upon him a far higher code of social ethics than that which is known to the outer world, for he knows that he must control not only his acts and his words, but also his thoughts, since they may produce effects more serious and more far-reaching than their outward expression in the physical world. he knows that even when a man is not in the least thinking of others, he yet inevitably affects them for good or for evil. in addition to this unconscious action of his thought upon others he also employs it consciously for good. he sets currents in motion to carry mental help and comfort to many a suffering friend, and in this way he finds a whole new world of usefulness opening before him. he ranges himself ever on the side of the higher rather than the lower thought, the nobler rather than the baser. he deliberately takes the optimistic rather than the pessimistic view of everything, the helpful, rather than the cynical, because he knows that to be fundamentally the true view. by looking continually for the good in everything that he may endeavour to strengthen it, by striving always to help and never to hinder, he becomes ever of greater use to his fellow-men, and is thus in his small way a co-worker with the splendid scheme of evolution. he forgets himself utterly and lives but for the sake of others, realizing himself as a part of that scheme; he also realizes the god within him, and learns to become ever a truer expression of him, and thus in fulfilling god's will, he is not only blessed himself, but becomes a blessing to all. index adept, causal body of - further evolution of is on summit of human evolution level of , - work of - adepts, as members of hierarchy first of earth from venus - great brotherhood of - , - , many degrees of men have become some are masters some remain with mankind some take apprentices adeptship, older egos nearing Æonian condemnation - , Æther, breath, blown into bubbles in - , density of mean pressure of of space ultimate atoms formed in age or dispensation air, nature spirits of _ancient wisdom, the_ androgynous man angels, approach men through ceremonial guardian hosts of kingdom of of the law of cause and effect animals, additional evolution of are our younger brothers distinction between man and domestic heads of types of individualization of - man's emotions act on man's thoughts act on moon-, came to earth chain moon-, individualize , seven types of , souls of animal kingdom - , , animal-men of moon-chain - apprentice upon probation apprentices, to masters - accepted men may become , - qualifications necessary for - three stages of aryan root-race , aspects, three, of the logos three, of man , astral body, after death - , - , , cell-life of colours of - disintegration of effect of thought on - ego casts off , ego takes an , entity occupying - is bridge to mental body man in his, during sleep , matter of, is in constant motion never fatigued no separate senses in - of animal of group-soul permanent colours of reacts on causal body reacts on mental body shape of , shell around , , - , simile of boiling water - size of temptations caused by - vibrations of - , - , - astral corpse counterparts - , - entity - shell , - , - shell, result of vitality of - astral globe of earth - , - globe of moon - globes of earth-chain astral matter, arrangement of - attracts mental matter physical body attracts vibrations of astral sight - astral world, the appearance of , - death in delights of - descent of ego to - extent of - , inhabitants of the, is the home of emotions is the home of lower thoughts life period in, after death , - , man in, during sleep , man's freedom in , matter, simile of onion nature spirits in no measurement of time in non-human inhabitants of of moon scenery of , second outpouring enters second outpouring indrawn to sections of - the sixth plane is named , the summerland of withdrawal of ego from astro-mental forms , atlantean root-race , atomic matter atoms charged with vitality of interpenetrating worlds - physical ultimate ultimate - attainment is certain for all besant, dr. author of _the ancient wisdom_ birth of man, factors determining - blavatsky, h.p. author of _isis unveiled_ was a founder of the t.s. was an apprentice to a master bliss of the higher worlds - books, oriental sacred brain, connection with astral body connection with ego connection with mental body etheric part of branch-races - , bridges to ego , brotherhood, the great, of adepts - , - , entry into great white, the head of lords of the flame hold highest office in man may join in brotherhood of humanity, the universal - bubbles in space - aggregations of - , - form material of nebula casual body, the, abstract thoughts arouse appearance of - bad qualities do not affect , colours in - composition of is the vehicle of ego life in - mental body reacts upon of adept , of developed man of primitive man of saint of savage only good affects , permanent vehicle of ego unselfish emotions arouse cause and effect, law of - adjustment of angels connected with cannot be modified exactness of - explains problems of life - cause and effect, is universal simile of debts and - cell-life of astral body of mental body of physical body centres of force ceremonial, angels approach men through chain, a, consists of seven rounds life-wave of a , - lunar, the , - periods chains of globes descent of, into matter - incarnation of - character and simile of muscles how, is formed - chemical elements , children of the fire-mist (also see lords of flame) christ, the, learning the lesson of spoke of the "æonian condemnation" , church, the angels approach men through clairvoyant sight character seen by force-centres seen by colours of astral body - of causal body - of mental body of thoughts consciousness, development of - of developed man - states of corpse, astral physical the moon is a counterparts, astral - of globes crookes, sir william dead, the, can be helped - can continue studies can help their fellowmen communicate with living cravings of the - first feeling of friends of, in mental world - have no measurement of time in astral world - in mental world - in the three sections of astral world - , - most of, are happy period in astral world, - , period in mental world relation of, to earth - some seize other bodies thought-creations of what they see death, a second , artists after average men after - character not changed by conditions of life after cultured men after etheric double at happiness after , in astral world , lovers of music after misery after philanthropists after primitive men after sensualists after - spiritual men after students of science after what is , , , deity (see solar deity) demons, tempting , departments of the world devas, hosts of (also see angels) discrimination divine life ensouls matter - responds to vibrations divine world, extent of - first plane named , "door, shutting the" dreams earth, adepts from venus come to astral globe of - -chain first men of the - nature spirits of the purpose of life on earth-chain, the animal-men build early forms on - explained - incarnation of - moon-animals come to education, department of - ego, the, assumes bodies , bridges of to physical body , connection of, with brain desire of, for vivid life drops lower bodies ensouls fragment of group-soul fills mental images of himself gains qualities habitat of is a part expression of monad is the manifestation of the triple spirit in man life of, in causal body - life of, in lower bodies - lives for millions of years loses part of his life sometimes object of descent of , only good affects - , , origin of , passes to mental world remembers past lives sheaves of sight of the, simile of day at school and succession of personalities of withdraws from astral plane elemental kingdoms, the three - seven types of each of elemental creatures elements, chemical , proto- emotions affect life after death , - of the living react on the dead selfish and unselfish should be developed in fourth round the home of the emotional world (see astral world) entity, astral body - etheric, bodies of early humanity bodies of nature spirits matter etheric double, the at death - force-centres in is a bridge is not a vehicle - some dead cling to vitality flows through evil, is transitory , , - is utilized for progress man's powers of, are restricted simile of niagara falls, and evolution, additional, for animals advanced state of animal - break in regularity of central point of , early stages of, for backward entities examining scenes of early is the will of the deity , ladder of man restrains law of mineral - object of human of human forms - of life - other schemes of , pressure of , resistless stream of scheme of, a , - summit of human super-human , theosophy explains laws of three stages of - vegetable - eye-brows, force-centre between failure is impossible fairies (see nature-spirits) 'fetters' to be cast off fire-mist, children of the fire, nature-spirits of sparks of divine , , flame, lords of the fohat forces, the higher, adepts' knowledge of force-centres founder of each race founders of the theosophical society fragment of life of the logos of group-soul , of the monad freemasonry, angels approach men through free-will free-will, limitation of unbounded - _genesis of elements, the_ globe, astral, of earth astral of, moon mental globes, chains of seven, of earth-chain - 'god is love' word of (see also solar deity) group of egos group-soul, fragment, from, is ensouled - of domestic animals - numbers of bodies attached to one - spark hovers over group-souls - seven types of simile of bucket of water and - guardian angel head, force-centre in of each race of human evolution of religion and education - of the white brotherhood heart, force-centre in heaven, is a state of consciousness simile of capacity of cups and - varying capacities of men in - hell, non-existence of , , , hierarchy, the controls the world , head of man can join members of, watch for helpers - human evolution, beginning of - division of races of - the central point in - the half-way point of the summit of humanity, bodies of early - early, was androgynous races of receives help from venus service of, by thought - spiritual unity of immortal, the soul of man incarnations of earth-chain - individuality, a permanent individualization, is the first critical point of man's life of animals - of moon-animals - , - indo-caucasian root-race inhabitants of finer worlds initiations, the great , - simile of university degrees instincts, of animals of cell-life intellect is a fifth round development intelligence in man intuition in man , intuitional world, the , extent of monad manifests in second outpouring in third outpouring descends to - _isis unveiled_ jupiter, the planet king of the world, the kingdom, animal - , - first elemental mineral - , of angels - of nature-spirits - second elemental seven types of each third elemental vegetable - , kingdoms of nature ensouled by life-waves , the elemental - the seven, of nature , - koilon ladder of evolution, the , golden rungs of law, the, of evolution , - of cause and effect - laws, the immutable liberated man - life, cell- - conditions of, after death divine , , man's continuous the purpose of - , - life-waves, the - constant-successions of ensoul the kingdoms of nature , of chains - , - two stages of life-wave, the, now centred on earth period of, in each kingdom - logos, the (see solar deity) lords of the flame, assistance given by come to earth some still remain on earth of the moon 'love, god is' lunar-chain (see moon-chain) man, after death - can kill out vices - conflict of interest between, and his vehicles constitution of - distinction between animals and during sleep - , , early, was androgynous evolves through different races - exists in other worlds - , - factors determining birth of - free will of - , has latent powers has many lives - , has powers of evil restricted has several bodies - , is always affecting others - , is a monad is a soul - is a spark of divine fire is divine in origin is his own law-giver is immortal is influenced by his astral body-entity is not changed by death is separate from animal kingdom is the outcome of his past - learns to use his powers in service - liberated - makes his own destiny may be apprenticed to a master - , past history of - physical body of, is evolved from animal forms reaps result of his action - represents mineral kingdom of first chain the triple spirit in the triumph of three aspects of , - why, does not remember past lives (also see primitive man and savages) mars, the planet , life exists on master, son of a the - are adepts who take apprentices take apprentices - , - the great knowledge of "their world" matter, all, is living , astral , , , , , - atomic different densities of , etheric , formation of root- - intermingling of mental , , , , molecules of - power of attraction of root- matter, seven types of , starry sub-atomic sub-divisions of - super-etheric the senses respond to vibrations in ultimate - vibrations of - , , - whirling sphere of, a - memory of nature of past lives men, backward, drop out - bodies of first earth-chain - first, of earth-chain - moon- - mental, globe - globes of earth-chain images of friends - shell , warts (also see mental world) mental body, the, after death - bridge from, to physical body cell-life of composition of connection of brain with description of - , - effect of prejudice upon effect of thoughts upon - expresses concrete thoughts reacts on causal body shell , sight of - striations in - the astral body reacts upon the dead are unused to - the ego casts aside his - , the ego takes a - the memory of - thoughts shown as colours in - vibrations of , - warts on mental matter, globe of - the causal body is built of the mind is built of vibrations of mental world, average life in, after death - bliss of effect of higher thought in - ego formed in higher extent of formation of - friends of dead in - higher - , , - levels of lower - man in, after death - , - the fifth plane named - the monad manifests in higher the second outpouring descends to - wealth of mercury, the planet , life exists on mind, the divine the, of man (also see mental body) mineral, the kingdom - , , , man represents, of first chain seven types of the first out-pouring ensouls ministers in charge of departments the seven, of solar deity monad, the, descent of monad, origin of , monads, the home of human, , monadic world, the, extent of man belongs to the second plane named , - mongolian root-race moon, the, astral globe of , human goal on individualization on is a corpse lords of the moon-animals - individualize on earth - moon-chain, animal-men of - human goal on men of men come to earth-chain - was the third incarnation of our chain moon-men - distribution of, on earth-chain - first order of second order of some entered the path motive, the, for self-effort nature, memory of planes of seven kingdoms of nature-spirits, are not individualized are sometimes seen by men four classes of many wear etheric bodies the kingdom of where they exist - nebula, cooling of planets formed from rings of subsidiary vortices of vortex of negroid, the, race neptune, the planet nerves, vitality flows along _occult chemistry_ _occult world, the_ , occultism, how to progress in - official, pupils of great representing solar deity officials of the hierarchy olcott, colonel h.s. a founder of t.s. oriental sacred books origin, divine, of man , , - outpouring, the first - the second - , the third - path, the, conditions of fetters to be cast off on - fourth step on moon-men entered simile of mountain steeper , - peers of logos perfect men perseverance necessary for progress personality the purpose of the philosophy, theosophy is a physical body, attracts astral matter cells of the - during sleep man leaves his , early evolution of the - ego, drops his , physical body, ego takes a , etheric part of - future perfection of the of first round - of man is evolved from animal forms requirements of the - physical matter, subdivisions of vibrations of , physical world, the, descent of ego to - formation of - , - second outpouring enters - seven sub-divisions of _pioneer, the_, mr. a.p. sinnett, editor of planes of nature, the formation of - investigation of naming of planets, formation of future life on other planetary chains - planetary spirits, the seven simile of ganglia and powers latent in man are for use in service observation of history by observation of other worlds by - prejudices shown in mental body, primitive man, causal body of - during sleep life of, after death result of action of types of principle, undying, in man probation, apprentice upon period of promptings of lower nature - proto-elements pupils, accepted, of master of great officials of masters - , - (see also apprentices) purgatory is a state of consciousness - quotations from, a french scientist a gnostic philosopher a master an eastern scripture _the occult world_ race, founder of each head of each of life races, branch- , man evolves through different object of of humanity root- , - sub- , ray, the seventh record, indelible reincarnation - , - desire of ego for simile of days at school and - theosophy explains religion, adepts, teachers of department of founders of new religions, have one source start with basic truths the sending forth of reproduction, early methods of reynolds, prof. o. - right and wrong, the test of roman races, the root-matter root-races , round, a first, differs from others rounds, conditions, of early reproduced in fourth round - human forms on first three - saturn, rings of, simile of savages, causal bodies of - , - during sleep types of 'saved, the' scheme of evolution, a , - central point of school, of philosophy, there is a of life, none fail in the séances _secret doctrine, the_ seers can use sight of the ego senses, the, of astral body - respond to vibrations of matter service, man learns to use his powers in the joy of seven, 'bubbles' combine in powers of - , choices of lords of the moon - degrees of density of matter - force-centres in man's bodies globes of a chain - impulses of force - incarnations of chains interpenetrating worlds , kingdoms of nature life-waves ministers of solar deity planetary spirits sub-divisions of matter - sub-divisions of vitality types of animals - types of elemental creatures - types of group-souls - types of matter , types of men types of minerals types of vegetables sexes, separation of shade, the sheaves of the ego shell, of astral body , - , , - of thoughts , sight, astral - clairvoyant mental of ego simile of, boiling water - brick bucket of water - charged battery cups of varying capacities - days at school - , dense fog developing muscles flame in a dark night ganglia matter diffused in water niagara falls onion overtones of musical notes path up mountain payment of a debt - rungs of a ladder saturn's rings shutting a door sorting out school-boys university degrees vibrations of a bell warts sinnett, mr. a.p. , author of _the occult world_ , author of _esoteric buddhism_ , editor of _the pioneer_ sleep - , , man during - , the dead are met during solar deity, the, a being higher than builds his system - , field of activity of first aspect of fragment of life of - future planets of impulses of force of - , is a trinity official representing peers of plan of , second aspect of , , self-limitation of seven ministers of seven planetary spirits the king of the world represents third aspect of - , threefold manifestation of solar plexus, force-centre, the solar system, evolutionary table of formation of - inhabitants of the logos of a origin of ten chains of - solar systems, countless son of master soul, the group - , man is a , of an animal - of domestic animals - of grasses of insects of lions - of man , , of reptiles of trees plant- world- space, between atoms fohat digs holes in the æther of - worlds not separate in sparks, of divine fire - , of divine life , spine, force-centre at base of spirit, and matter in man , the triple, in man - spiritual world, the extent of - is the name of third plane , monads descend to spleen, the, vitality flows through stream, those who have entered the sub-atomic matter sub-races of humanity , summerland, the, of astral world sun, vitality comes from the super-etheric matter table of evolution of solar system teachers, authority of of earlier races of religion - tempting demons , test, the, of right and wrong teutonic sub-race theosophy, demands no belief explains reincarnation explains religions first popular exposition of is a philosophy is a religion , - is a science , never converts solves problems of life statements of, based on observation tells of past history the gospel of the great facts of what, does for us - theosophist, the, cheerfully faces trouble conception of life of does not try to convert has no fear of death knows the power of thought relation of, to animals sees purpose of life test of right and wrong of thought, abstract all actions spring from concrete , coupled with feeling -forces after death is a powerful instrument necessity for clear necessity for control of prolonged shell of thoughts, are things as a power for good build forms distance no hindrance to effect of, after death - , humanity helped by - meaning of colours of , - meaning of shapes of on theosophy - others affected by - self-centred - selfish and unselfish transmission of thought-forms - are temporary entities as guardian angels as tempting demons astro-mental , duration of - effect on others of - move through space thought images (see thought-forms) three, aspects of the logos - aspects of man critical points in man's evolution - elemental kingdoms - great truths in one outpourings - persons stages of apprenticeship stages of evolution - throat, the force-centre in time, no measure of, in astral world trinity of solar logos triple spirit in man - triumph, the, of man trust begets trust truth, one in diverse forms the, is obtainable truths, basic, of religions - the three great types of, animals - elemental creatures group-souls life matter men - minerals reptiles vegetables ultimate atoms physical atoms root-matter ultra-violet light - unity, the, of humanity - what tends to universe, the, beginning of universes, innumerable universal brotherhood of humanity, the uranium uranus, the planet vegetable, the, kingdom - , - seven types of vehicles, man's conflict of interest with his - venus, the planet adepts from, come to earth stage of evolution of vibrations, of astral body - , - , - of mental body of thought-forms , vibrations, in matter , , causal body affected by - ego responds to life learns to generate octaves of the senses respond to - vices, belong to the vehicles how to kill out - vitality, circulates along the nerves of astral corpse sub-division of - what it is vortices, force-centres appear as in matter in nebular - vulcan, the planet, was seen by herschel warts on mental body water, nature-spirits of waves, life- (see life-waves) wealth of the heaven world whirling sphere of matter - vortex in will, the divine , evolution is , fulfilment of wisdom, masters of the (see masters) word of god, the world, departments of the king of this -period worlds, bliss of the higher - inhabitants of finer - man exists in several - of different densities seven interpenetrating , - [illustration: _from a photograph by h.s. mendelssohn, , cathcart road, south kensington, london._ annie besant. ] annie besant an autobiography illustrated london second edition preface. it is a difficult thing to tell the story of a life, and yet more difficult when that life is one's own. at the best, the telling has a savour of vanity, and the only excuse for the proceeding is that the life, being an average one, reflects many others, and in troublous times like ours may give the experience of many rather than of one. and so the autobiographer does his work because he thinks that, at the cost of some unpleasantness to himself, he may throw light on some of the typical problems that are vexing the souls of his contemporaries, and perchance may stretch out a helping hand to some brother who is struggling in the darkness, and so bring him cheer when despair has him in its grip. since all of us, men and women of this restless and eager generation--surrounded by forces we dimly see but cannot as yet understand, discontented with old ideas and half afraid of new, greedy for the material results of the knowledge brought us by science but looking askance at her agnosticism as regards the soul, fearful of superstition but still more fearful of atheism, turning from the husks of outgrown creeds but filled with desperate hunger for spiritual ideals--since all of us have the same anxieties, the same griefs, the same yearning hopes, the same passionate desire for knowledge, it may well be that the story of one may help all, and that the tale of one should that went out alone into the darkness and on the other side found light, that struggled through the storm and on the other side found peace, may bring some ray of light and of peace into the darkness and the storm of other lives. annie besant. the theosophical society, & , avenue road, regent's park, london. _august_, . contents. chap. i. "out of the everywhere into the here" ii. early childhood iii. girlhood iv. marriage v. the storm of doubt vi. charles bradlaugh vii. atheism as i knew and taught it viii. at work ix. the knowlton pamphlet x. at war all round xi. mr. bradlaugh's struggle xii. still fighting xiii. socialism xiv. through storm to peace list of books quoted index list of illustrations. annie besant, _frontispiece_ horoscope of annie besant _page_ annie besant, _facing page_ thomas scott _facing page_ charles bradlaugh, m.p. _facing page_ charles bradlaugh and henry labouchere _facing page_ norwich branch of the socialist league _facing page_ strike committee of the matchmakers' union _facing page_ members of the matchmakers' union _facing page_ chapter i. "out of the everywhere into the here." on october , , i am credibly informed, my baby eyes opened to the light(?) of a london afternoon at . . a friendly astrologer has drawn for me the following chart, showing the position of the planets at this, to me fateful, moment; but i know nothing of astrology, so feel no wiser as i gaze upon my horoscope. keeping in view the way in which sun, moon, and planets influence the physical condition of the earth, there is nothing incongruous with the orderly course of nature in the view that they also influence the physical bodies of men, these being part of the physical earth, and largely moulded by its conditions. any one who knows the characteristics ascribed to those who are born under the several signs of the zodiac, may very easily pick out the different types among his own acquaintances, and he may then get them to go to some astrologer and find out under what signs they were severally born. he will very quickly discover that two men of completely opposed types are not born under the same sign, and the invariability of the concurrence will convince him that law, and not chance, is at work. we are born into earthly life under certain conditions, just as we were physically affected by them pre-natally, and these will have their bearing on our subsequent physical evolution. at the most, astrology, as it is now practised, can only calculate the interaction between these physical conditions at any given moment, and the conditions brought to them by a given person whose general constitution and natal condition are known. it cannot say what the person will do, nor what will happen to him, but only what will be the physical district, so to speak, in which he will find himself, and the impulses that will play upon him from external nature and from his own body. even on those matters modern astrology is not quite reliable--judging from the many blunders made--or else its professors are very badly instructed; but that there is a real science of astrology i have no doubt, and there are some men who are past masters in it. [illustration: horoscope of annie besant.] it has always been somewhat of a grievance to me that i was born in london, "within the sound of bow bells," when three-quarters of my blood and all my heart are irish. my dear mother was of purest irish descent, and my father was irish on his mother's side, though belonging to the devonshire woods on his father's. the woods were yeomen of the sturdy english type, farming their own land in honest, independent fashion. of late years they seem to have developed more in the direction of brains, from the time, in fact, that matthew wood became mayor of london town, fought queen caroline's battles against her most religious and gracious royal husband, aided the duke of kent with no niggard hand, and received a baronetcy for his services from the duke of kent's royal daughter. since then they have given england a lord chancellor in the person of the gentle-hearted and pure-living lord hatherley, while others have distinguished themselves in various ways in the service of their country. but i feel playfully inclined to grudge the english blood they put into my father's veins, with his irish mother, his galway birth, and his trinity college, dublin, education. for the irish tongue is musical in my ear, and the irish nature dear to my heart. only in ireland is it that if you stop to ask a worn-out ragged woman the way to some old monument, she will say: "sure, then, my darlin', it's just up the hill and round the corner, and then any one will tell you the way. and it's there you'll see the place where the blessed saint patrick set his foot, and his blessing be on yer." old women as poor as she in other nations would never be as bright and as friendly and as garrulous. and where, out of ireland, will you see a whole town crowd into a station to say good-bye to half a dozen emigrants, till the platform is a heaving mass of men and women, struggling, climbing over each other for a last kiss, crying, keening, laughing, all in a breath, till all the air is throbbing and there's a lump in your throat and tears in your eyes as the train steams out? where, out of ireland, will you be bumping along the streets on an outside car, beside a taciturn jarvey, who, on suddenly discovering that you are shadowed by "castle" spies, becomes loquaciously friendly, and points out everything that he thinks will interest you? blessings on the quick tongues and warm hearts, on the people so easy to lead, so hard to drive. and blessings on the ancient land once inhabited by mighty men of wisdom, that in later times became the island of saints, and shall once again be the island of sages, when the wheel turns round. my maternal grandfather was a typical irishman, much admired by me and somewhat feared also, in the childish days. he belonged to a decayed irish family, the maurices, and in a gay youth, with a beautiful wife as light-hearted as himself, he had merrily run through what remained to him in the way of fortune. in his old age, with abundant snow-white hair, he still showed the hot irish blood on the lightest provocation, stormily angry for a moment and easily appeased. my mother was the second daughter in a large family, in a family that grew more numerous as pounds grew fewer, and she was adopted by a maiden aunt, a quaint memory of whom came through my mother's childhood into mine, and had its moulding effect on both our characters. this maiden aunt was, as are most irish folk of decayed families, very proud of her family tree with its roots in the inevitable "kings." her particular kings were the "seven kings of france"--the "milesian kings"--and the tree grew up a parchment, in all its impressive majesty, over the mantelpiece of their descendant's modest drawing-room. this heraldic monster was regarded with deep respect by child emily, a respect in no wise deserved, i venture to suppose, by the disreputable royalties of whom she was a fortunately distant twig. chased out of france, doubtless for cause shown, they had come over the sea to ireland, and there continued their reckless plundering lives. but so strangely turns the wheel of time that these ill-doing and barbarous scamps became a kind of moral thermometer in the home of the gentle irish lady in the early half of the present century. for my mother has told me that when she had committed some act of childish naughtiness, her aunt would say, looking gravely over her spectacles at the small culprit, "emily, your conduct is unworthy of the descendant of the seven kings of france." and emily, with her sweet grey irish eyes and her curling masses of raven black hair, would cry in penitent shame over her unworthiness, with some vague idea that those royal, and to her very real, ancestors would despise her small, sweet, rosebud self, so wholly unworthy of their disreputable majesties. thus those shadowy forms influenced her in childhood, and exercised over her a power that made her shrink from aught that was unworthy, petty or mean. to her the lightest breath of dishonour was to be avoided at any cost of pain, and she wrought into me, her only daughter, that same proud and passionate horror at any taint of shame or merited disgrace. to the world always a brave front was to be kept, and a stainless reputation, for suffering might be borne but dishonour never. a gentlewoman might starve, but she must not run in debt; she might break her heart, but it must be with a smile on her face. i have often thought that the training in this reticence and pride of honour was a strange preparation for my stormy, public, much attacked and slandered life; and certain it is that this inwrought shrinking from all criticism that touched personal purity and personal honour added a keenness of suffering to the fronting of public odium that none can appreciate who has not been trained in some similar school of dignified self-respect. and yet perhaps there was another result from it that in value outweighed the added pain: it was the stubbornly resistant feeling that rose and inwardly asserted its own purity in face of foulest lie, and turning scornful face against the foe, too proud either to justify itself or to defend, said to itself in its own heart, when condemnation was loudest: "i am not what you think me, and your verdict does not change my own self. you cannot make me vile whatever you think of me, and i will never, in my own eyes, be that which you deem me to be now." and the very pride became a shield against degradation, for, however lost my public reputation, i could never bear to become sullied in my own sight--and that is a thing not without its use to a woman cut off, as i was at one time, from home, and friends, and society. so peace to the maiden aunt's ashes, and to those of her absurd kings, for i owe them something after all. and i keep grateful memory of that unknown grand-aunt, for what she did in training my dear mother, the tenderest, sweetest, proudest, purest of women. it is well to be able to look back to a mother who served as ideal of all that was noblest and dearest during childhood and girlhood, whose face made the beauty of home, and whose love was both sun and shield. no other experience in life could quite make up for missing the perfect tie between mother and child--a tie that in our case never relaxed and never weakened. though her grief at my change of faith and consequent social ostracism did much to hasten her death-hour, it never brought a cloud between our hearts; though her pleading was the hardest of all to face in later days, and brought the bitterest agony, it made no gulf between us, it cast no chill upon our mutual love. and i look back at her to-day with the same loving gratitude as ever encircled her to me in her earthly life. i have never met a woman more selflessly devoted to those she loved, more passionately contemptuous of all that was mean or base, more keenly sensitive on every question of honour, more iron in will, more sweet in tenderness, than the mother who made my girlhood sunny as dreamland, who guarded me, until my marriage, from every touch of pain that she could ward off or bear for me, who suffered more in every trouble that touched me in later life than i did myself, and who died in the little house i had taken for our new home in norwood, worn out, ere old age touched her, by sorrow, poverty, and pain, in may, . my earliest personal recollections are of a house and garden that we lived in when i was three and four years of age, situated in grove road, st. john's wood. i can remember my mother hovering round the dinner-table to see that all was bright for the home-coming husband; my brother--two years older than myself--and i watching "for papa"; the loving welcome, the game of romps that always preceded the dinner of the elder folks. i can remember on the st of october, , jumping up in my little cot, and shouting out triumphantly: "papa! mamma! i am four years old!" and the grave demand of my brother, conscious of superior age, at dinner-time: "may not annie have a knife to-day, as she is four years old?" it was a sore grievance during that same year, , that i was not judged old enough to go to the great exhibition, and i have a faint memory of my brother consolingly bringing me home one of those folding pictured strips that are sold in the streets, on which were imaged glories that i longed only the more to see. far-away, dusky, trivial memories, these. what a pity it is that a baby cannot notice, cannot observe, cannot remember, and so throw light on the fashion of the dawning of the external world on the human consciousness. if only we could remember how things looked when they were first imaged on the retinae; what we felt when first we became conscious of the outer world; what the feeling was as faces of father and mother grew out of the surrounding chaos and became familiar things, greeted with a smile, lost with a cry; if only memory would not become a mist when in later years we strive to throw our glances backward into the darkness of our infancy, what lessons we might learn to help our stumbling psychology, how many questions might be solved whose answers we are groping for in the west in vain. the next scene that stands out clearly against the background of the past is that of my father's death-bed. the events which led to his death i know from my dear mother. he had never lost his fondness for the profession for which he had been trained, and having many medical friends, he would now and then accompany them on their hospital rounds, or share with them the labours of the dissecting-room. it chanced that during the dissection of the body of a person who had died of rapid consumption, my father cut his finger against the edge of the breast-bone. the cut did not heal easily, and the finger became swollen and inflamed. "i would have that finger off, wood, if i were you," said one of the surgeons, a day or two afterwards, on seeing the state of the wound. but the others laughed at the suggestion, and my father, at first inclined to submit to the amputation, was persuaded to "leave nature alone." about the middle of august, , he got wet through, riding on the top of an omnibus, and the wetting resulted in a severe cold, which "settled on his chest." one of the most eminent doctors of the day, as able as he was rough in manner, was called to see him. he examined him carefully, sounded his lungs, and left the room followed by my mother. "well?" she asked, scarcely anxious as to the answer, save as it might worry her husband to be kept idly at home. "you must keep up his spirits," was the thoughtless answer. "he is in a galloping consumption; you will not have him with you six weeks longer." the wife staggered back, and fell like a stone on the floor. but love triumphed over agony, and half an hour later she was again at her husband's side, never to leave it again for ten minutes at a time, night or day, till he was lying with closed eyes asleep in death. i was lifted on to the bed to "say good-bye to dear papa" on the day before his death, and i remember being frightened at his eyes which looked so large, and his voice which sounded so strange, as he made me promise always to be "a very good girl to darling mamma, as papa was going right away." i remember insisting that "papa should kiss cherry," a doll given me on my birthday, three days before, by his direction, and being removed, crying and struggling, from the room. he died on the following day, october th, and i do not think that my elder brother and i--who were staying at our maternal grandfather's--went to the house again until the day of the funeral. with the death, my mother broke down, and when all was over they carried her senseless from the room. i remember hearing afterwards how, when she recovered her senses, she passionately insisted on being left alone, and locked herself into her room for the night; and how on the following morning her mother, at last persuading her to open the door, started back at the face she saw with the cry: "good god, emily! your hair is white!" it was even so; her hair, black, glossy and abundant, which, contrasting with her large grey eyes, had made her face so strangely attractive, had turned grey in that night of agony, and to me my mother's face is ever framed in exquisite silver bands of hair as white as the driven unsullied snow. i have heard that the love between my father and mother was a very beautiful thing, and it most certainly stamped her character for life. he was keenly intellectual and splendidly educated; a mathematician and a good classical scholar, thoroughly master of french, german, italian, spanish, and portuguese, with a smattering of hebrew and gaelic, the treasures of ancient and of modern literature were his daily household delight. nothing pleased him so well as to sit with his wife, reading aloud to her while she worked; now translating from some foreign poet, now rolling forth melodiously the exquisite cadences of "queen mab." student of philosophy as he was, he was deeply and steadily sceptical; and a very religious relative has told me that he often drove her from the room by his light, playful mockery of the tenets of the christian faith. his mother and sister were strict roman catholics, and near the end forced a priest into his room, but the priest was promptly ejected by the wrath of the dying man, and by the almost fierce resolve of the wife that no messenger of the creed he detested should trouble her darling at the last. deeply read in philosophy, he had outgrown the orthodox beliefs of his day, and his wife, who loved him too much to criticise, was wont to reconcile her own piety and his scepticism by holding that "women ought to be religious," while men had a right to read everything and think as they would, provided that they were upright and honourable in their lives. but the result of his liberal and unorthodox thought was to insensibly modify and partially rationalise her own beliefs, and she put on one side as errors the doctrines of eternal punishment, the vicarious atonement, the infallibility of the bible, the equality of the son with the father in the trinity, and other orthodox beliefs, and rejoiced in her later years in the writings of such men as jowett, colenso, and stanley. the last named, indeed, was her ideal christian gentleman, suave, polished, broad-minded, devout in a stately way. the baldness of a typical evangelical service outraged her taste as much as the crudity of evangelical dogmas outraged her intellect; she liked to feel herself a christian in a dignified and artistic manner, and to be surrounded by solemn music and splendid architecture when she "attended divine service." familiarity with celestial personages was detestable to her, and she did her duty of saluting them in a courtly and reverent fashion. westminster abbey was her favourite church, with its dim light and shadowy distances; there in a carven stall, with choristers chanting in solemn rhythm, with the many-coloured glories of the painted windows repeating themselves on upspringing arch and clustering pillars, with the rich harmonies of the pealing organ throbbing up against screen and monument, with the ashes of the mighty dead around, and all the stately memories of the past inwrought into the very masonry, there religion appeared to her to be intellectually dignified and emotionally satisfactory. to me, who took my religion in strenuous fashion, this dainty and well-bred piety seemed perilously like laodicean lukewarmness, while my headlong vigour of conviction and practice often jarred on her as alien from the delicate balance and absence of extremes that should characterise the gentlewoman. she was of the old _régime_; i of the stuff from which fanatics are made: and i have often thought, in looking back, that she must have had on her lips many a time unspoken a phrase that dropped from them when she lay a-dying: "my little one, you have never made me sad or sorry except for your own sake; you have always been too religious." and then she murmured to herself: "yes, it has been darling annie's only fault; she has always been too religious." methinks that, as the world judges, the dying voice spake truly, and the dying eyes saw with a real insight. for though i was then kneeling beside her bed, heretic and outcast, the heart of me was religious in its very fervour of repudiation of a religion, and in its rebellious uprising against dogmas that crushed the reason and did not satisfy the soul. i went out into the darkness alone, not because religion was too good for me, but because it was not good enough; it was too meagre, too commonplace, too little exacting, too bound up with earthly interests, too calculating in its accommodations to social conventionalities. the roman catholic church, had it captured me, as it nearly did, would have sent me on some mission of danger and sacrifice and utilised me as a martyr; the church established by law transformed me into an unbeliever and an antagonist. for as a child i was mystical and imaginative religious to the very finger-tips, and with a certain faculty for seeing visions and dreaming dreams. this faculty is not uncommon with the keltic races, and makes them seem "superstitious" to more solidly-built peoples. thus, on the day of my father's funeral, my mother sat with vacant eyes and fixed pallid face--the picture comes back to me yet, it so impressed my childish imagination--following the funeral service, stage after stage, and suddenly, with the words, "it is all over!" fell back fainting. she said afterwards that she had followed the hearse, had attended the service, had walked behind the coffin to the grave. certain it is that a few weeks later she determined to go to the kensal green cemetery, where the body of her husband had been laid, and went thither with a relative; he failed to find the grave, and while another of the party went in search of an official to identify the spot, my mother said, "if you will take me to the chapel where the first part of the service was read, i will find the grave." the idea seemed to her friend, of course, to be absurd; but he would not cross the newly-made widow, so took her to the chapel. she looked round, left the chapel door, and followed the path along which the corpse had been borne till she reached the grave, where she was quietly standing when the caretaker arrived to point it out. the grave is at some distance from the chapel, and is not on one of the main roads; it had nothing on it to mark it, save the wooden peg with the number, and this would be no help to identification at a distance since all the graves are thus marked, and at a little way off these pegs are not visible. how she found the grave remained a mystery in the family, as no one believed her straightforward story that she had been present at the funeral. with my present knowledge the matter is simple enough, for i now know that the consciousness can leave the body, take part in events going on at a distance, and, returning, impress on the physical brain what it has experienced. the very fact that she asked to be taken to the chapel is significant, showing that she was picking up a memory of a previous going from that spot to the grave; she could only find the grave if she started from _the place from which she had started before_. another proof of this ultra-physical capacity was given a few months later, when her infant son, who had been pining himself ill for "papa," was lying one night in her arms. on the next morning she said to her sister: "alf is going to die." the child had no definite disease, but was wasting away, and it was argued to her that the returning spring would restore the health lost during the winter. "no," was her answer. "he was lying asleep in my arms last night, and william" (her husband) "came to me and said that he wanted alf with him, but that i might keep the other two." in vain she was assured that she had been dreaming, that it was quite natural that she should dream about her husband, and that her anxiety for the child had given the dream its shape. nothing would persuade her that she had not seen her husband, or that the information he had given her was not true. so it was no matter of surprise to her when in the following march her arms were empty, and a waxen form lay lifeless in the baby's cot. my brother and i were allowed to see him just before he was placed in his coffin; i can see him still, so white and beautiful, with a black spot in the middle of the fair, waxen forehead, and i remember the deadly cold which startled me when i was told to kiss my little brother. it was the first time that i had touched death. that black spot made a curious impression on me, and long afterwards, asking what had caused it, i was told that at the moment after his death my mother had passionately kissed the baby brow. pathetic thought, that the mother's kiss of farewell should have been marked by the first sign of corruption on the child's face! i do not mention these stories because they are in any fashion remarkable or out of the way, but only to show that the sensitiveness to impressions other than physical ones, that was a marked feature in my own childhood, was present also in the family to which i belonged. for the physical nature is inherited from parents, and sensitiveness to psychic impressions is a property of the physical body; in our family, as in so many irish ones, belief in "ghosts" of all descriptions was general, and my mother has told me of the banshee that she had heard wailing when the death-hour of one of the family was near. to me in my childhood, elves and fairies of all sorts were very real things, and my dolls were as really children as i was myself a child. punch and judy were living entities, and the tragedy in which they bore part cost me many an agony of tears; to this day i can remember running away when i heard the squawk of the coming punch, and burying my head in the pillows that i might shut out the sound of the blows and the cry of the ill-used baby. all the objects about me were to me alive, the flowers that i kissed as much as the kitten i petted, and i used to have a splendid time "making believe" and living out all sorts of lovely stories among my treasured and so-called inanimate playthings. but there was a more serious side to this dreamful fancy when it joined hands with religion. chapter ii. early childhood. and now began my mother's time of struggle and of anxiety. hitherto, since her marriage, she had known no money troubles, for her husband was earning a good income; he was apparently vigorous and well: no thought of anxiety clouded their future. when he died, he believed that he left his wife and children safe, at least, from pecuniary distress. it was not so. i know nothing of the details, but the outcome of all was that nothing was left for the widow and children, save a trifle of ready money. the resolve to which my mother came was characteristic. two of her husband's relatives, western and sir william wood, offered to educate her son at a good city school, and to start him in commercial life, using their great city influence to push him forward. but the young lad's father and mother had talked of a different future for their eldest boy; he was to go to a public school, and then to the university, and was to enter one of the "learned professions"--to take orders, the mother wished; to go to the bar, the father hoped. on his death-bed there was nothing more earnestly urged by my father than that harry should receive the best possible education, and the widow was resolute to fulfil that last wish. in her eyes, a city school was not "the best possible education," and the irish pride rebelled against the idea of her son not being "a university man." many were the lectures poured out on the young widow's head about her "foolish pride," especially by the female members of the wood family; and her persistence in her own way caused a considerable alienation between herself and them. but western and william, though half-disapproving, remained her friends, and lent many a helping hand to her in her first difficult struggles. after much cogitation, she resolved that the boy should be educated at harrow, where the fees are comparatively low to lads living in the town, and that he should go thence to cambridge or to oxford, as his tastes should direct. a bold scheme for a penniless widow, but carried out to the letter; for never dwelt in a delicate body a more resolute mind and will than that of my dear mother. in a few months' time--during which we lived, poorly enough, in richmond terrace, clapham, close to her father and mother--to harrow, then, she betook herself, into lodgings over a grocer's shop, and set herself to look for a house. this grocer was a very pompous man, fond of long words, and patronised the young widow exceedingly, and one day my mother related with much amusement how he had told her that she was sure to get on if she worked hard. "look at me!" he said, swelling visibly with importance; "i was once a poor boy, without a penny of my own, and now i am a comfortable man, and have my submarine villa to go to every evening." that "submarine villa" was an object of amusement when we passed it in our walks for many a long day. "there is mr. ----'s submarine villa," some one would say, laughing: and i, too, used to laugh merrily, because my elders did, though my understanding of the difference between suburban and submarine was on a par with that of the honest grocer. my mother had fortunately found a boy, whose parents were glad to place him in her charge, of about the age of her own son, to educate with him; and by this means she was able to pay for a tutor, to prepare the two boys for school. the tutor had a cork leg, which was a source of serious trouble to me, for it stuck out straight behind when we knelt down to family prayers--conduct which struck me as irreverent and unbecoming, but which i always felt a desire to imitate. after about a year my mother found a house which she thought would suit her scheme, namely, to obtain permission from dr. vaughan, the then head-master of harrow, to take some boys into her house, and so gain means of education for her own son. dr. vaughan, who must have been won by the gentle, strong, little woman, from that time forth became her earnest friend and helper; and to the counsel and active assistance both of himself and of his wife, was due much of the success that crowned her toil. he made only one condition in granting the permission she asked, and that was, that she should also have in her house one of the masters of the school, so that the boys should not suffer from the want of a house-tutor. this condition, of course, she readily accepted, and the arrangement lasted for ten years, until after her son had left school for cambridge. the house she took is now, i am sorry to say, pulled down, and replaced by a hideous red-brick structure. it was very old and rambling, rose-covered in front, ivy-covered behind; it stood on the top of harrow hill, between the church and the school, and had once been the vicarage of the parish, but the vicar had left it because it was so far removed from the part of the village where all his work lay. the drawing-room opened by an old-fashioned half-window, half-door--which proved a constant source of grief to me, for whenever i had on a new frock i always tore it on the bolt as i flew through--into a large garden which sloped down one side of the hill, and was filled with the most delightful old trees, fir and laurel, may, mulberry, hazel, apple, pear, and damson, not to mention currant and gooseberry bushes innumerable, and large strawberry beds spreading down the sunny slopes. there was not a tree there that i did not climb, and one, a widespreading portugal laurel, was my private country house. i had there my bedroom and my sitting-rooms, my study, and my larder. the larder was supplied by the fruit-trees, from which i was free to pick as i would, and in the study i would sit for hours with some favourite book--milton's "paradise lost" the chief favourite of all. the birds must often have felt startled, when from the small swinging form perching on a branch, came out in childish tones the "thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers," of milton's stately and sonorous verse. i liked to personify satan, and to declaim the grand speeches of the hero-rebel, and many a happy hour did i pass in milton's heaven and hell, with for companions satan and "the son," gabriel and abdiel. then there was a terrace running by the side of the churchyard, always dry in the wettest weather, and bordered by an old wooden fence, over which clambered roses of every shade; never was such a garden for roses as that of the old vicarage. at the end of the terrace was a little summer-house, and in this a trap-door in the fence, which swung open and displayed one of the fairest views in england. sheer from your feet downwards went the hill, and then far below stretched the wooded country till your eye reached the towers of windsor castle, far away on the horizon. it was the view at which byron was never tired of gazing, as he lay on the flat tombstone close by--byron's tomb, as it is still called--of which he wrote:-- "again i behold where for hours i have pondered, as reclining, at eve, on yon tombstone i lay, or round the steep brow of the churchyard i wandered, to catch the last gleam of the sun's setting ray." reader mine, if ever you go to harrow, ask permission to enter the old garden, and try the effect of that sudden burst of beauty, as you swing back the small trap-door at the terrace end. into this house we moved on my eighth birthday, and for eleven years it was "home" to me, left always with regret, returned to always with joy. almost immediately afterwards i left my mother for the first time; for one day, visiting a family who lived close by, i found a stranger sitting in the drawing-room, a lame lady with a strong face, which softened marvellously as she smiled at the child who came dancing in; she called me to her presently, and took me on her lap and talked to me, and on the following day our friend came to see my mother, to ask if she would let me go away and be educated with this lady's niece, coming home for the holidays regularly, but leaving my education in her hands. at first my mother would not hear of it, for she and i scarcely ever left each other; my love for her was an idolatry, hers for me a devotion. (a foolish little story, about which i was unmercifully teased for years, marked that absolute idolatry of her, which has not yet faded from my heart. in tenderest rallying one day of the child who trotted after her everywhere, content to sit, or stand, or wait, if only she might touch hand or dress of "mamma," she said: "little one" (the name by which she always called me), "if you cling to mamma in this way, i must really get a string and tie you to my apron, and how will you like that?" "o mamma, darling," came the fervent answer, "do let it be in a knot." and, indeed, the tie of love between us was so tightly knotted that nothing ever loosened it till the sword of death cut that which pain and trouble never availed to slacken in the slightest degree.) but it was urged upon her that the advantages of education offered were such as no money could purchase for me; that it would be a disadvantage for me to grow up in a houseful of boys--and, in truth, i was as good a cricketer and climber as the best of them--that my mother would soon be obliged to send me to school, unless she accepted an offer which gave me every advantage of school without its disadvantages. at last she yielded, and it was decided that miss marryat, on returning home, should take me with her. miss marryat--the favourite sister of captain marryat, the famous novelist--was a maiden lady of large means. she had nursed her brother through the illness that ended in his death, and had been living with her mother at wimbledon park. on her mother's death she looked round for work which would make her useful in the world, and finding that one of her brothers had a large family of girls, she offered to take charge of one of them, and to educate her thoroughly. chancing to come to harrow, my good fortune threw me in her way, and she took a fancy to me and thought she would like to teach two little girls rather than one. hence her offer to my mother. miss marryat had a perfect genius for teaching, and took in it the greatest delight. from time to time she added another child to our party, sometimes a boy, sometimes a girl. at first, with amy marryat and myself, there was a little boy, walter powys, son of a clergyman with a large family, and him she trained for some years, and then sent him on to school admirably prepared. she chose "her children"--as she loved to call us--in very definite fashion. each must be gently born and gently trained, but in such position that the education freely given should be a relief and aid to a slender parental purse. it was her delight to seek out and aid those on whom poverty presses most heavily, when the need for education for the children weighs on the proud and the poor. "auntie" we all called her, for she thought "miss marryat" seemed too cold and stiff. she taught us everything herself except music, and for this she had a master, practising us in composition, in recitation, in reading aloud english and french, and later, german, devoting herself to training us in the soundest, most thorough fashion. no words of mine can tell how much i owe her, not only of knowledge, but of that love of knowledge which has remained with me ever since as a constant spur to study. her method of teaching may be of interest to some, who desire to train children with least pain, and the most enjoyment to the little ones themselves. first, we never used a spelling-book--that torment of the small child--nor an english grammar. but we wrote letters, telling of the things we had seen in our walks, or told again some story we had read; these childish compositions she would read over with us, correcting all faults of spelling, of grammar, of style, of cadence; a clumsy sentence would be read aloud, that we might hear how unmusical it sounded, an error in observation or expression pointed out. then, as the letters recorded what we had seen the day before, the faculty of observation was drawn out and trained. "oh, dear! i have nothing to say!" would come from a small child, hanging over a slate. "did you not go out for a walk yesterday?" auntie would question. "yes," would be sighed out; "but there's nothing to say about it." "nothing to say! and you walked in the lanes for an hour and saw nothing, little no-eyes? you must use your eyes better to-day." then there was a very favourite "lesson," which proved an excellent way of teaching spelling. we used to write out lists of all the words we could think of which sounded the same but were differently spelt. thus: "key, quay," "knight, night," and so on, and great was the glory of the child who found the largest number. our french lessons--as the german later--included reading from the very first. on the day on which we began german we began reading schiller's "wilhelm tell," and the verbs given to us to copy out were those that had occurred in the reading. we learned much by heart, but always things that in themselves were worthy to be learned. we were never given the dry questions and answers which lazy teachers so much affect. we were taught history by one reading aloud while the others worked--the boys as well as the girls learning the use of the needle. "it's like a girl to sew," said a little fellow, indignantly, one day. "it is like a baby to have to run after a girl if you want a button sewn on," quoth auntie. geography was learned by painting skeleton maps--an exercise much delighted in by small fingers--and by putting together puzzle maps, in which countries in the map of a continent, or counties in the map of a country, were always cut out in their proper shapes. i liked big empires in those days; there was a solid satisfaction in putting down russia, and seeing what a large part of the map was filled up thereby. the only grammar that we ever learned as grammar was the latin, and that not until composition had made us familiar with the use of the rules therein given. auntie had a great horror of children learning by rote things they did not understand, and then fancying they knew them. "what do you mean by that expression, annie?" she would ask me. after feeble attempts to explain, i would answer: "indeed, auntie, i know in my own head, but i can't explain." "then, indeed, annie, you do not know in your own head, or you could explain, so that i might know in my own head." and so a healthy habit was fostered of clearness of thought and of expression. the latin grammar was used because it was more perfect than the modern grammars, and served as a solid foundation for modern languages. miss marryat took a beautiful place, fern hill, near charmouth, in dorsetshire, on the borders of devon, and there she lived for some five years, a centre of beneficence in the district. she started a sunday school, and a bible class after awhile for the lads too old for the school, who clamoured for admission to her class in it. she visited the poor, taking help wherever she went, and sending food from her own table to the sick. it was characteristic of her that she would never give "scraps" to the poor, but would have a basin brought in at dinner, and would cut the best slice to tempt the invalid appetite. money she rarely, if ever, gave, but she would find a day's work, or busy herself to seek permanent employment for any one seeking aid. stern in rectitude herself, and iron to the fawning or the dishonest, her influence, whether she was feared or loved, was always for good. of the strictest sect of the evangelicals, she was an evangelical. on the sunday no books were allowed save the bible or the "sunday at home"; but she would try to make the day bright by various little devices; by a walk with her in the garden; by the singing of hymns, always attractive to children; by telling us wonderful missionary stories of moffat and livingstone, whose adventures with savages and wild beasts were as exciting as any tale of mayne reid's. we used to learn passages from the bible and hymns for repetition; a favourite amusement was a "bible puzzle," such as a description of some bible scene, which was to be recognised by the description. then we taught in the sunday school, for auntie would tell us that it was useless for us to learn if we did not try to help those who had no one to teach them. the sunday-school lessons had to be carefully prepared on the saturday, for we were always taught that work given to the poor should be work that cost something to the giver. this principle, regarded by her as an illustration of the text, "shall i give unto the lord my god that which has cost me nothing?" ran through all her precept and her practice. when in some public distress we children went to her crying, and asking whether we could not help the little children who were starving, her prompt reply was, "what will you give up for them?" and then she said that if we liked to give up the use of sugar, we might thus each save sixpence a week to give away. i doubt if a healthier lesson can be given to children than that of personal self-denial for the good of others. daily, when our lessons were over, we had plenty of fun; long walks and rides, rides on a lovely pony, who found small children most amusing, and on which the coachman taught us to stick firmly, whatever his eccentricities of the moment; delightful all-day picnics in the lovely country round charmouth, auntie our merriest playfellow. never was a healthier home, physically and mentally, made for young things than in that quiet village. and then the delight of the holidays! the pride of my mother at the good report of her darling's progress, and the renewal of acquaintance with every nook and corner in the dear old house and garden. the dreamy tendency in the child, that on its worldly side is fancy, imagination, on its religious side is the germ of mysticism, and i believe it to be far more common than many people think. but the remorseless materialism of the day--not the philosophic materialism of the few, but the religious materialism of the many--crushes out all the delicate buddings forth of the childish thought, and bandages the eyes that might otherwise see. at first the child does not distinguish between what it "sees" and what it "fancies"; the one is as real, as objective, to it as the other, and it will talk to and play with its dream-comrades as merrily as with children like itself. as a child, i myself very much preferred the former, and never knew what it was to be lonely. but clumsy grown-ups come along and tramp right through the dream-garden, and crush the dream-flowers, and push the dream-children aside, and then say, in their loud, harsh voices--not soft and singable like the dream-voices--"you must not tell such naughty stories, miss annie; you give me the shivers, and your mamma will be very vexed with you." but this tendency in me was too strong to be stifled, and it found its food in the fairy tales i loved, and in the religious allegories that i found yet more entrancing. how or when i learned to read, i do not know, for i cannot remember the time when a book was not a delight. at five years of age i must have read easily, for i remember being often unswathed from a delightful curtain, in which i used to roll myself with a book, and told to "go and play," while i was still a five-years'-old dot. and i had a habit of losing myself so completely in the book that my name might be called in the room where i was, and i never hear it, so that i used to be blamed for wilfully hiding myself, when i had simply been away in fairyland, or lying trembling beneath some friendly cabbage-leaf as a giant went by. i was between seven and eight years of age when i first came across some children's allegories of a religious kind, and a very little later came "pilgrim's progress," and milton's "paradise lost." thenceforth my busy fancies carried me ever into the fascinating world where boy-soldiers kept some outpost for their absent prince, bearing a shield with his sign of a red cross on it; where devils shaped as dragons came swooping down on the pilgrim, but were driven away defeated after hard struggle; where angels came and talked with little children, and gave them some talisman which warned them of coming danger, and lost its light if they were leaving the right path. what a dull, tire-some world it was that i had to live in, i used to think to myself, when i was told to be a good child, and not to lose my temper, and to be tidy, and not mess my pinafore at dinner. how much easier to be a christian if one could have a red-cross shield and a white banner, and have a real devil to fight with, and a beautiful divine prince to smile at you when the battle was over. how much more exciting to struggle with a winged and clawed dragon, that you knew meant mischief, than to look after your temper, that you never remembered you ought to keep until you had lost it. if i had been eve in the garden, that old serpent would never have got the better of me; but how was a little girl to know that she might not pick out the rosiest, prettiest apple from a tree that had no serpent to show it was a forbidden one? and as i grew older the dreams and fancies grew less fantastic, but more tinged with real enthusiasm. i read tales of the early christian martyrs, and passionately regretted i was born so late when no suffering for religion was practicable; i would spend many an hour in daydreams, in which i stood before roman judges, before dominican inquisitors, was flung to lions, tortured on the rack, burned at the stake; one day i saw myself preaching some great new faith to a vast crowd of people, and they listened and were converted, and i became a great religious leader. but always, with a shock, i was brought back to earth, where there were no heroic deeds to do, no lions to face, no judges to defy, but only some dull duty to be performed. and i used to fret that i was born so late, when all the grand things had been done, and when there was no chance of preaching and suffering for a new religion. from the age of eight my education accented the religious side of my character. under miss marryat's training my religious feeling received a strongly evangelical bent, but it was a subject of some distress to me that i could never look back to an hour of "conversion"; when others gave their experiences, and spoke of the sudden change they had felt, i used to be sadly conscious that no such change had occurred in me, and i felt that my dreamy longings were very poor things compared with the vigorous "sense of sin" spoken of by the preachers, and used dolefully to wonder if i were "saved." then i had an uneasy sense that i was often praised for my piety when emulation and vanity were more to the front than religion; as when i learned by heart the epistle of james, far more to distinguish myself for my good memory than from any love of the text itself; the sonorous cadences of many parts of the old and new testaments pleased my ear, and i took a dreamy pleasure in repeating them aloud, just as i would recite for my own amusement hundreds of lines of milton's "paradise lost," as i sat swinging on some branch of a tree, lying back often on some swaying bough and gazing into the unfathomable blue of the sky, till i lost myself in an ecstasy of sound and colour, half chanting the melodious sentences and peopling all the blue with misty forms. this facility of learning by heart, and the habit of dreamy recitation, made me very familiar with the bible and very apt with its phrases. this stood me in good stead at the prayer-meetings dear to the evangelical, in which we all took part; in turn we were called on to pray aloud--a terrible ordeal to me, for i was painfully shy when attention was called to me; i used to suffer agonies while i waited for the dreaded words, "now, annie dear, will you speak to our lord." but when my trembling lips had forced themselves into speech, all the nervousness used to vanish and i was swept away by an enthusiasm that readily clothed itself in balanced sentences, and alack! at the end, i too often hoped that god and auntie had noticed that i prayed very nicely--a vanity certainly not intended to be fostered by the pious exercise. on the whole, the somewhat calvinistic teaching tended, i think, to make me a little morbid, especially as i always fretted silently after my mother. i remember she was surprised on one of my home-comings, when miss marryat noted "cheerfulness" as a want in my character, for at home i was ever the blithest of children, despite my love of solitude; but away, there was always an aching for home, and the stern religion cast somewhat of a shadow over me, though, strangely enough, hell never came into my dreamings except in the interesting shape it took in "paradise lost." after reading that, the devil was to me no horned and hoofed horror, but the beautiful shadowed archangel, and i always hoped that jesus, my ideal prince, would save him in the end. the things that really frightened me were vague, misty presences that i felt were near, but could not see; they were so real that i knew just where they were in the room, and the peculiar terror they excited lay largely in the feeling that i was just going to see them. if by chance i came across a ghost story it haunted me for months, for i saw whatever unpleasant spectre was described; and there was one horrid old woman in a tale by sir walter scott, who glided up to the foot of your bed and sprang on it in some eerie fashion and glared at you, and who made my going to bed a terror to me for many weeks. i can still recall the feeling so vividly that it almost frightens me now! chapter iii. girlhood. in the spring of miss marryat announced her intention of going abroad, and asked my dear mother to let me accompany her. a little nephew whom she had adopted was suffering from cataract, and she desired to place him under the care of the famous düsseldorf oculist. amy marryat had been recalled home soon after the death of her mother, who had died in giving birth to the child adopted by miss marryat, and named at her desire after her favourite brother frederick (captain marryat). her place had been taken by a girl a few months older than myself, emma mann, one of the daughters of a clergyman, who had married miss stanley, closely related, indeed, if i remember rightly, a sister of the miss mary stanley who did such noble work in nursing in the crimea. for some months we had been diligently studying german, for miss marryat thought it wise that we should know a language fairly well before we visited the country of which it was the native tongue. we had been trained also to talk french daily during dinner, so we were not quite "helpless foreigners" when we steamed away from st. catherine's docks, and found ourselves on the following day in antwerp, amid what seemed to us a very babel of conflicting tongues. alas for our carefully spoken french, articulated laboriously! we were lost in that swirl of disputing luggage-porters, and could not understand a word! but miss marryat was quite equal to the occasion, being by no means new to travelling, and her french stood the test triumphantly, and steered us safely to a hotel. on the morrow we started again through aix-la-chapelle to bonn, the town which lies on the borders of the exquisite scenery of which the siebengebirge and rolandseck serve as the magic portal. our experiences in bonn were not wholly satisfactory. dear auntie was a maiden lady, looking on all young men as wolves to be kept far from her growing lambs. bonn was a university town, and there was a mania just then prevailing there for all things english. emma was a plump, rosy, fair-haired typical english maiden, full of frolic and harmless fun; i a very slight, pale, black-haired girl, alternating between wild fun and extreme pensiveness. in the boarding-house to which we went at first--the "château du rhin," a beautiful place overhanging the broad, blue rhine--there chanced to be staying the two sons of the late duke of hamilton, the marquis of douglas and lord charles, with their tutor. they had the whole drawing-room floor: we a sitting-room on the ground floor and bedrooms above. the lads discovered that miss marryat did not like her "children" to be on speaking terms with any of the "male sect." here was a fine source of amusement. they would make their horses caracole on the gravel in front of our window; they would be just starting for their ride as we went for walk or drive, and would salute us with doffed hat and low bow; they would waylay us on our way downstairs with demure "good morning"; they would go to church and post themselves so that they could survey our pew, and lord charles--who possessed the power of moving at will the whole skin of the scalp--would wriggle his hair up and down till we were choking with laughter, to our own imminent risk. after a month of this auntie was literally driven out of the pretty château, and took refuge in a girls' school, much to our disgust; but still she was not allowed to be at rest. mischievous students would pursue us wherever we went; sentimental germans, with gashed cheeks, would whisper complimentary phrases as we passed; mere boyish nonsense of most harmless kind, but the rather stern english lady thought it "not proper," and after three months of bonn we were sent home for the holidays, somewhat in disgrace. but we had some lovely excursions during those months; such clambering up mountains, such rows on the swift-flowing rhine, such wanderings in exquisite valleys. i have a long picture-gallery to retire into when i want to think of something fair, in recalling the moon as it silvered the rhine at the foot of drachenfels, or the soft, mist-veiled island where dwelt the lady who is consecrated for ever by roland's love. a couple of months later we rejoined miss marryat in paris, where we spent seven happy, workful months. on wednesdays and saturdays we were free from lessons, and many a long afternoon was passed in the galleries of the louvre, till we became familiar with the masterpieces of art gathered there from all lands. i doubt if there was a beautiful church in paris that we did not visit during those weekly wanderings; that of st. germain de l'auxerrois was my favourite--the church whose bell gave the signal for the massacre of st. bartholomew--for it contained such marvellous stained glass, deepest, purest glory of colour that i had ever seen. the solemn beauty of notre dame, the somewhat gaudy magnificence of la sainte chapelle, the stateliness of la madeleine, the impressive gloom of st. roch, were all familiar to us. other delights were found in mingling with the bright crowds which passed along the champs elysees and sauntered in the bois de boulogne, in strolling in the garden of the tuileries, in climbing to the top of every monument whence view of paris could be gained. the empire was then in its heyday of glitter, and we much enjoyed seeing the brilliant escort of the imperial carriage, with plumes and gold and silver dancing and glistening in the sunlight, while in the carriage sat the exquisitely lovely empress, with the little boy beside her, touching his cap shyly, but with something of her own grace, in answer to a greeting--the boy who was thought to be born to an imperial crown, but whose brief career was to find an ending from the spears of savages in a quarrel in which he had no concern. in the spring of it chanced that the bishop of ohio visited paris, and mr. forbes, then english chaplain at the church of the rue d'aguesseau, arranged to have a confirmation. as said above, i was under deep "religious impressions," and, in fact, with the exception of that little aberration in germany, i was decidedly a pious girl. i looked on theatres (never having been to one) as traps set by satan for the destruction of foolish souls; i was quite determined never to go to a ball, and was prepared to "suffer for conscience' sake "--little prig that i was--if i was desired to go to one. i was consequently quite prepared to take upon myself the vows made in my name at my baptism, and to renounce the world, the flesh, and the devil, with a heartiness and sincerity only equalled by my profound ignorance of the things i so readily resigned. that confirmation was to me a very solemn matter; the careful preparation, the prolonged prayers, the wondering awe as to the "seven-fold gifts of the spirit," which were to be given by "the laying on of hands," all tended to excitement. i could scarcely control myself as i knelt at the altar rails, and felt as though the gentle touch of the aged bishop, which fluttered for an instant on my bowed head, were the very touch of the wing of that "holy spirit, heavenly dove," whose presence had been so earnestly invoked. is there anything easier, i wonder, than to make a young and sensitive girl "intensely religious"? this stay in paris roused into activity an aspect of my religious nature that had hitherto been latent. i discovered the sensuous enjoyment that lay in introducing colour and fragrance and pomp into religious services, so that the gratification of the aesthetic emotions became dignified with the garb of piety. the picture-galleries of the louvre, crowded with madonnas and saints, the roman catholic churches with their incense-laden air and exquisite music, brought a new joy into my life, a more vivid colour to my dreams. insensibly, the colder, cruder evangelicalism that i had never thoroughly assimilated, grew warmer and more brilliant, and the ideal divine prince of my childhood took on the more pathetic lineaments of the man of sorrows, the deeper attractiveness of the suffering saviour of men. keble's "christian year" took the place of "paradise lost," and as my girlhood began to bud towards womanhood, all its deeper currents set in the direction of religious devotion. my mother did not allow me to read love stories, and my daydreams of the future were scarcely touched by any of the ordinary hopes and fears of a girl lifting her eyes towards the world she is shortly to enter. they were filled with broodings over the days when girl-martyrs were blessed with visions of the king of martyrs, when sweet st. agnes saw her celestial bridegroom, and angels stooped to whisper melodies in st. cecilia's raptured ear. "why then and not now?" my heart would question, and i would lose myself in these fancies, never happier than when alone. the summer of was spent with miss marryat at sidmouth, and, wise woman that she was, she now carefully directed our studies with a view to our coming enfranchisement from the "schoolroom." more and more were we trained to work alone; our leading-strings were slackened, so that we never felt them save when we blundered; and i remember that when i once complained, in loving fashion, that she was "teaching me so little," she told me that i was getting old enough to be trusted to work by myself, and that i must not expect to "have auntie for a crutch all through life." and i venture to say that this gentle withdrawal of constant supervision and teaching was one of the wisest and kindest things that this noble-hearted woman ever did for us. it is the usual custom to keep girls in the schoolroom until they "come out"; then, suddenly, they are left to their own devices, and, bewildered by their unaccustomed freedom, they waste time that might be priceless for their intellectual growth. lately, the opening of universities to women has removed this danger for the more ambitious; but at the time of which i am writing no one dreamed of the changes soon to be made in the direction of the "higher education of women." during the winter of - miss marryat was in london, and for a few months i remained there with her, attending the admirable french classes of m. roche. in the spring i returned home to harrow, going up each week to the classes; and when these were over, auntie told me that she thought all she could usefully do was done, and that it was time that i should try my wings alone. so well, however, had she succeeded in her aims, that my emancipation from the schoolroom was but the starting-point of more eager study, though now the study turned into the lines of thought towards which my personal tendencies most attracted me. german i continued to read with a master, and music, under the marvellously able teaching of mr. john farmer, musical director of harrow school, took up much of my time. my dear mother had a passion for music, and beethoven and bach were her favourite composers. there was scarcely a sonata of beethoven's that i did not learn, scarcely a fugue of bach's that i did not master. mendelssohn's "lieder" gave a lighter recreation, and many a happy evening did we spend, my mother and i, over the stately strains of the blind titan, and the sweet melodies of the german wordless orator. musical "at homes," too, were favourite amusements at harrow, and at these my facile fingers made me a welcome guest. thus set free from the schoolroom at ½, an only daughter, i could do with my time as i would, save for the couple of hours a day given to music, for the satisfaction of my mother. from then till i became engaged, just before i was , my life flowed on smoothly, one current visible to all and dancing in the sunlight, the other running underground, but full and deep and strong. as regards my outer life, no girl had a brighter, happier life than mine; studying all the mornings and most of the afternoons in my own way, and spending the latter part of the day in games and walks and rides--varied with parties at which i was one of the merriest of guests. i practised archery so zealously that i carried up triumphantly as prize for the best score the first ring i ever possessed, while croquet found me a most eager devotee. my darling mother certainly "spoiled" me, so far as were concerned all the small roughnesses of life. she never allowed a trouble of any kind to touch me, and cared only that all worries should fall on her, all joys on me. i know now what i never dreamed then, that her life was one of serious anxiety. the heavy burden of my brother's school and college life pressed on her constantly, and her need of money was often serious. a lawyer whom she trusted absolutely cheated her systematically, using for his own purposes the remittances she made for payment of liabilities, thus keeping upon her a constant drain. yet for me all that was wanted was ever there. was it a ball to which we were going? i need never think of what i would wear till the time for dressing arrived, and there laid out ready for me was all i wanted, every detail complete from top to toe. no hand but hers must dress my hair, which, loosed, fell in dense curly masses nearly to my knees; no hand but hers must fasten dress and deck with flowers, and if i sometimes would coaxingly ask if i might not help by sewing in laces, or by doing some trifle in aid, she would kiss me and bid me run to my books or my play, telling me that her only pleasure in life was caring for her "treasure." alas! how lightly we take the self-denying labour that makes life so easy, ere yet we have known what life means when the protecting motherwing is withdrawn. so guarded and shielded had been my childhood and youth from every touch of pain and anxiety that love could bear for me, that i never dreamed that life might be a heavy burden, save as i saw it in the poor i was sent to help; all the joy of those happy years i took, not ungratefully i hope, but certainly with as glad unconsciousness of anything rare in it as i took the sunlight. passionate love, indeed, i gave to my darling, but i never knew all i owed her till i passed out of her tender guardianship, till i left my mother's home. is such training wise? i am not sure. it makes the ordinary roughnesses of life come with so stunning a shock, when one goes out into the world, that one is apt to question whether some earlier initiation into life's sterner mysteries would not be wiser for the young. yet it is a fair thing to have that joyous youth to look back upon, and at least it is a treasury of memory that no thief can steal in the struggles of later life. "sunshine" they called me in those bright days of merry play and earnest study. but that study showed the bent of my thought and linked itself to the hidden life; for the fathers of the early christian church now became my chief companions, and i pored over the shepherd of hernias, the epistles of polycarp, barnabas, ignatius, and clement, the commentaries of chrysostom, the confessions of augustine. with these i studied the writings of pusey, liddon, and keble, with many another smaller light, joying in the great conception of a catholic church, lasting through the centuries, built on the foundations of apostles and of martyrs, stretching from the days of christ himself down to our own--"one lord, one faith one baptism," and i myself a child of that holy church. the hidden life grew stronger, constantly fed by these streams of study; weekly communion became the centre round which my devotional life revolved, with its ecstatic meditation, its growing intensity of conscious contact with the divine; i fasted, according to the ordinances of the church; occasionally flagellated myself to see if i could bear physical pain, should i be fortunate enough ever to tread the pathway trodden by the saints; and ever the christ was the figure round which clustered all my hopes and longings, till i often felt that the very passion of, my devotion would draw him down from his throne in heaven, present visibly in form as i felt him invisibly in spirit. to serve him through his church became more and more a definite ideal in my life, and my thoughts began to turn towards some kind of "religious life," in which i might prove my love by sacrifice and turn my passionate gratitude into active service. looking back to-day over my life, i see that its keynote--through all the blunders, and the blind mistakes, and clumsy follies--has been this longing for sacrifice to something felt as greater than the self. it has been so strong and so persistent that i recognise it now as a tendency brought over from a previous life and dominating the present one; and this is shown by the fact that to follow it is not the act of a deliberate and conscious will, forcing self into submission and giving up with pain something the heart desires, but the following it is a joyous springing forward along the easiest path, the "sacrifice" being the supremely attractive thing, not to make which would be to deny the deepest longings of the soul, and to feel oneself polluted and dishonoured. and it is here that the misjudgment comes in of many generous hearts who have spoken sometimes lately so strongly in my praise. for the efforts to serve have not been painful acts of self-denial, but the yielding to an overmastering desire. we do not praise the mother who, impelled by her protecting love, feeds her crying infant and stills its wailings at her breast; rather should we blame her if she turned aside from its weeping to play with some toy. and so with all those whose ears are opened to the wailings of the great orphan humanity; they are less to be praised for helping than they would be to be blamed if they stood aside. i now know that it is those wailings that have stirred my heart through life, and that i brought with me the ears open to hear them from previous lives of service paid to men. it was those lives that drew for the child the alluring pictures of martyrdom, breathed into the girl the passion of devotion, sent the woman out to face scoff and odium, and drove her finally into the theosophy that rationalises sacrifice, while opening up possibilities of service beside which all other hopes grow pale. the easter of was a memorable date in my life. i was introduced to the clergyman i married, and i met and conquered my first religious doubt. a little mission church had been opened the preceding christmas in a very poor district of clapham. my grandfather's house was near at hand, in albert square, and a favourite aunt and myself devoted ourselves a good deal to this little church, as enthusiastic girls and women will. at easter we decorated it with spring flowers, with dewy primroses and fragrant violets, and with the yellow bells of the wild daffodil, to the huge delight of the poor who crowded in, and of the little london children who had, many of them, never seen a flower. here i met the rev. frank besant, a young cambridge man, who had just taken orders, and was serving the little mission church as deacon; strange that at the same time i should meet the man i was to marry, and the doubts which were to break the marriage tie. for in the holy week preceding that easter eve, i had been--as english and roman catholics are wont to do--trying to throw the mind back to the time when the commemorated events occurred, and to follow, step by step, the last days of the son of man, living, as it were, through those last hours, so that i might be ready to kneel before the cross on good friday, to stand beside the sepulchre on easter day. in order to facilitate the realisation of those last sacred days of god incarnate on earth, working out man's salvation, i resolved to write a brief history of that week, compiled from the four gospels, meaning them to try and realise each day the occurrences that had happened on the corresponding date in a.d. , and so to follow those "blessed feet" step by step, till they were "... nailed for our advantage to the bitter cross." with the fearlessness which springs from ignorance i sat down to my task. my method was as follows:-- matthew. | mark. | luke. | john. | | | palm sunday. | palm sunday. | palm sunday. | palm sunday. | | | rode into | rode into | rode into | rode into jerusalem. | jerusalem. | jerusalem. | jerusalem. purified the | returned to | purified the | spoke in temple. returned | bethany. | temple. | the temple. to bethany. | | note: "taught | | | daily in the | | | temple." | | | | monday. | monday. | monday. | monday. | | | cursed the | cursed the | like matthew. | ---- fig-tree. | fig-tree. | | taught in the | purified the | | temple, and spake | temple. went | | many parables. | out of city. | | no breaks shown, | | | but the fig-tree | | | (xxi. ) did not | | | wither till | | | tuesday (see | | | mark). | | | | | | tuesday. | tuesday. | tuesday. | tuesday. | | | all chaps. xxi. | saw fig-tree | discourses | ---- , xxii.-xxv., | withered up. | no date | spoken on | then . | shown. | tuesday, for xxvi. | discourses | | gives passover | | | as "after two | | | days." | | | | | | wednesday. | wednesday. | wednesday. | wednesday. | | | blank. | ---- | ---- | ---- (possibly remained in bethany; the alabaster box of oinment.) | | | thursday. | thursday. | thursday. | thursday. | | | preparation of | same as matt.| same as matt. | discourses passover. eating | | | with disciples, of passover, and | | | but _before_ the institution of the | | | passover. washes holy eucharist. | | | the disciples' gethsemane. | | | feet. nothing betrayal by judas. | | | said of holy led captive to | | | eucharist, nor caiaphas. denied | | | of agony in by st. peter. | | | gethsemane. | | | malchus' ear. | | | led captive to | | | annas first. | | | then to caiaphas. | | | denied | | | by st. peter. | | | friday. | friday. | friday. | friday | | | led to pilate. | as matthew, | led to | taken to judas hangs | but hour of | pilate. sent | pilate. jews himself. tried. | crucifixion | to herod. | would not enter, condemned to | given, | sent back to | that they death. scourged | a.m. | pilate. rest | might eat and mocked. led | | as in | the passover. to crucifixion. | | matthew; but | scourged by darkness from | | _one_ | pilate before to . died at . | | malefactor | condemnation, | | repents. | and mocked. shown | | | by pilate to | | | jews at . i became uneasy as i proceeded with my task, for discrepancies leaped at me from my four columns; the uneasiness grew as the contradictions increased, until i saw with a shock of horror that my "harmony" was a discord, and a doubt of the veracity of the story sprang up like a serpent hissing in my face. it was struck down in a moment, for to me to doubt was sin, and to have doubted on the very eve of the passion was an added crime. quickly i assured myself that these apparent contradictions were necessary as tests of faith, and i forced myself to repeat tertullian's famous "credo quia impossible," till, from a wooden recital, it became a triumphant affirmation. i reminded myself that st. peter had said of the pauline epistles that in them were "some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest ... unto their own destruction." i shudderingly recognised that i must be very unlearned and unstable to find discord among the holy evangelists, and imposed on myself an extra fast as penance for my ignorance and lack of firmness in the faith. for my mental position was one to which doubt was one of the worst of sins. i knew that there were people like colenso, who questioned the infallibility of the bible, but i remembered how the apostle john had fled from the baths when cerinthus entered them, lest the roof should fall on the heretic, and crush any one in his neighbourhood, and i looked on all heretics with holy horror. pusey had indoctrinated me with his stern hatred of all heresy, and i was content to rest with him on that faith, "which must be old because it is eternal, and must be unchangeable because it is true." i would not even read the works of my mothers favourite stanley, because he was "unsound," and because pusey had condemned his "variegated use of words which destroys all definiteness of meaning"--a clever and pointed description, be it said in passing, of the dean's exquisite phrases, capable of so many readings. it can then be imagined with what a stab of pain this first doubt struck me, and with what haste i smothered it up, buried it, and smoothed the turf over its grave. _but it had been there_, and it left its mark. chapter iv. marriage. the last year of my girlish freedom was drawing to its close; how shall i hope to make commonsense readers understand how i became betrothed maiden ere yet nineteen, girl-wife when twenty years had struck? looking back over twenty-five years, i feel a profound pity for the girl standing at that critical point of life, so utterly, hopelessly ignorant of all that marriage meant, so filled with impossible dreams, so unfitted for the _rôle_ of wife. as i have said, my day-dreams held little place for love, partly from the absence of love novels from my reading, partly from the mystic fancies that twined themselves round the figure of the christ. catholic books of devotion--english or roman, it matters not, for to a large extent they are translations of the same hymns and prayers--are exceedingly glowing in their language, and the dawning feelings of womanhood unconsciously lend to them a passionate fervour. i longed to spend my time in worshipping jesus, and was, as far as my inner life was concerned, absorbed in that passionate love of "the saviour" which, among emotional catholics, really is the human passion of love transferred to an ideal--for women to jesus, for men to the virgin mary. in order to show that i am not here exaggerating, i subjoin a few of the prayers in which i found daily delight, and i do this in order to show how an emotional girl may be attracted by these so-called devotional exercises:-- "o crucified love, raise in me fresh ardours of love and consolation, that it may henceforth be the greatest torment i can endure ever to offend thee; that it may be my greatest delight to please thee." "let the remembrance of thy death, o lord jesu, make me to desire and pant after thee, that i may delight in thy gracious presence." "o most sweet jesu christ, i, unworthy sinner, yet redeemed by thy precious blood.... thine i am and will be, in life and in death." "o jesu, beloved, fairer than the sons of men, draw me after thee with the cords of thy love." "blessed are thou, o most merciful god, who didst vouchsafe to espouse me to the heavenly bridegroom in the waters of baptism, and hast imparted thy body and blood as a new gift of espousal and the meet consummation of thy love." "o most sweet lord jesu, transfix the affections of my inmost soul with that most joyous and most healthful wound of thy love, with true, serene, most holy, apostolical charity; that my soul may ever languish and melt with entire love and longing for thee. let it desire thee and faint for thy courts; long to be dissolved and be with thee." "oh, that i could embrace thee with that most burning love of angels." "let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; for thy love is better than wine. draw me, we will run after thee. the king hath brought me into his chambers.... let my soul, o lord, feel the sweetness of thy presence. may it taste how sweet thou art.... may the sweet and burning power of thy love, i beseech thee, absorb my soul." all girls have in them the germ of passion, and the line of its development depends on the character brought into the world, and the surrounding influences of education. i had but two ideals in my childhood and youth, round whom twined these budding tendrils of passion; they were my mother and the christ. i know this may seem strange, but i am trying to state things as they were in this life-story, and not give mere conventionalisms, and so it was. i had men friends, but no lovers--at least, to my knowledge, for i have since heard that my mother received two or three offers of marriage for me, but declined them on account of my youth and my childishness--friends with whom i liked to talk, because they knew more than i did; but they had no place in my day-dreams. these were more and more filled with the one ideal man, and my hopes turned towards the life of the sister of mercy, who ever worships the christ, and devotes her life to the service of his poor. i knew my dear mother would set herself against this idea, but it nestled warm at my heart, for ever that idea of escaping from the humdrum of ordinary life by some complete sacrifice lured me onwards with its overmastering fascination. now one unlucky result of this view of religion is the idealisation of the clergyman, the special messenger and chosen servant of the lord. far more lofty than any title bestowed by earthly monarch is that patent of nobility straight from the hand of the "king of kings," that seems to give to the mortal something of the authority of the immortal, and to crown the head of the priest with the diadem that belongs to those who are "kings and priests unto god." viewed in this way, the position of the priest's wife seems second only to that of the nun, and has, therefore, a wonderful attractiveness, an attractiveness in which the particular clergyman affected plays a very subordinate part; it is the "sacred office," the nearness to "holy things," the consecration which seems to include the wife--it is these things that shed a glamour over the clerical life which attracts most those who are most apt to self-devotion, most swayed by imagination. and the saddest pity of all this is that the glamour is most over those whose brains are quick, whose hearts are pure, who are responsive to all forms of noble emotions, all suggestions of personal self-sacrifice; if such in later life rise to the higher emotions whose shadows have attracted them, and to that higher self-sacrifice whose whispers reached them in their early youth, then the false prophet's veil is raised, the poverty of the conception seen, and the life is either wrecked, or through storm-wind and surge of battling billows, with loss of mast and sail, is steered by firm hand into the port of a nobler faith. that summer of saw me engaged to the young clergyman i had met at the mission church in the spring, our knowledge of each other being an almost negligeable quantity. we were thrown together for a week, the only two young ones in a small party of holiday-makers, and in our walks, rides, and drives we were naturally companions; an hour or two before he left he asked me to marry him, taking my consent for granted as i had allowed him such full companionship--a perfectly fair assumption with girls accustomed to look on all men as possible husbands, but wholly mistaken as regarded myself, whose thoughts were in quite other directions. startled, and my sensitive pride touched by what seemed to my strict views an assumption that i had been flirting, i hesitated, did not follow my first impulse of refusal, but took refuge in silence; my suitor had to catch his train, and bound me over to silence till he could himself speak to my mother, urging authoritatively that it would be dishonourable of me to break his confidence, and left me--the most upset and distressed little person on the sussex coast. the fortnight that followed was the first unhappy one of my life, for i had a secret from my mother, a secret which i passionately longed to tell her, but dared not speak at the risk of doing a dishonourable thing. on meeting my suitor on our return to town i positively refused to keep silence any longer, and then out of sheer weakness and fear of inflicting pain i drifted into an engagement with a man i did not pretend to love. "drifted" is the right word, for two or three months passed, on the ground that i was so much of a child, before my mother would consent to a definite engagement; my dislike of the thought of marriage faded before the idea of becoming the wife of a priest, working ever in the church and among the poor. i had no outlet for my growing desire for usefulness in my happy and peaceful home-life, where all religious enthusiasm was regarded as unbalanced and unbecoming; all that was deepest and truest in my nature chafed against my easy, useless days, longed for work, yearned to devote itself, as i had read women saints had done, to the service of the church and of the poor, to the battling against sin and misery--what empty names sin and misery then were to me! "you will have more opportunities for doing good as a clergyman's wife than as anything else," was one of the pleas urged on my reluctance. in the autumn i was definitely betrothed, and i married fourteen months later. once, in the interval, i tried to break the engagement, but, on my broaching the subject to my mother, all her pride rose up in revolt. would i, her daughter, break my word, would i dishonour myself by jilting a man i had pledged myself to marry? she could be stern where honour was involved, that sweet mother of mine, and i yielded to her wish as i had been ever wont to do, for a look or a word from her had ever been my law, save where religion was concerned. so i married in the winter of with no more idea of the marriage relation than if i had been four years old instead of twenty. my dreamy life, into which no knowledge of evil had been allowed to penetrate, in which i had been guarded from all pain, shielded from all anxiety, kept, innocent on all questions of sex, was no preparation for married existence, and left me defenceless to face a rude awakening. looking back on it all, i deliberately say that no more fatal blunder can be made than to train a girl to womanhood in ignorance of all life's duties and burdens, and then to let her face them for the first time away from all the old associations, the old helps, the old refuge on the mother's breast. that "perfect innocence" may be very beautiful, but it is a perilous possession, and eve should have the knowledge of good and evil ere she wanders forth from the paradise of a mother's love. many an unhappy marriage dates from its very beginning, from the terrible shock to a young girl's sensitive modesty and pride, her helpless bewilderment and fear. men, with their public school and college education, or the knowledge that comes by living in the outside world, may find it hard to realise the possibility of such infantile ignorance in many girls. none the less, such ignorance is a fact in the case of some girls at least, and no mother should let her daughter, blindfold, slip her neck under the marriage yoke. before leaving the harbourage of girlhood to set sail on the troublous sea of life, there is an occurrence of which i must make mention, as it marks my first awakening of interest in the outer world of political struggle. in the autumn of my mother and i were staying with some dear friends of ours, the robertses, at pendleton, near manchester. mr. roberts was "the poor man's lawyer," in the affectionate phrase used of him by many a hundred men. he was a close friend of ernest jones, and was always ready to fight a poor man's battle without fee. he worked hard in the agitation which saved women from working in the mines, and i have heard him tell how he had seen them toiling, naked to the waist, with short petticoats barely reaching to their knees, rough, foul-tongued, brutalised out of all womanly decency and grace; and how he had seen little children working there too, babies of three and four set to watch a door, and falling asleep at their work to be roused by curse and kick to the unfair toil. the old man's eye would begin to flash and his voice to rise as he told of these horrors, and then his face would soften as he added that, after it was all over and the slavery was put an end to, as he went through a coal district the women standing at their doors would lift up their children to see "lawyer roberts" go by, and would bid "god bless him" for what he had done. this dear old man was my first tutor in radicalism, and i was an apt pupil. i had taken no interest in politics, but had unconsciously reflected more or less the decorous whiggism which had always surrounded me. i regarded "the poor" as folk to be educated, looked after, charitably dealt with, and always treated with most perfect courtesy, the courtesy being due from me, as a lady, to all equally, whether they were rich or poor. but to mr. roberts "the poor" were the working-bees, the wealth producers, with a right to self-rule not to looking after, with a right to justice, not to charity, and he preached his doctrines to me in season and out of season. i was a pet of his, and used often to drive him to his office in the morning, glorying much in the fact that my skill was trusted in guiding a horse through the crowded manchester streets. during these drives, and on all other available occasions, mr. roberts would preach to me the cause of the people. "what do you think of john bright?" he demanded suddenly one day, looking at me with fiery eyes from under heavy brows. "i have never thought of him at all," was the careless answer. "isn't he a rather rough sort of man, who goes about making rows?" "there, i thought so!" he thundered at me fiercely. "that's just what i say. i believe some of you fine ladies would not go to heaven if you had to rub shoulders with john bright, the noblest man god ever gave to the cause of the poor." this was the hot-tempered and lovable "demagogue," as he was called, with whom we were staying when colonel kelly and captain deasy, two fenian leaders, were arrested in manchester and put on their trial. the whole irish population became seething with excitement, and on september th the police van carrying them to salford gaol was stopped at the bellevue railway arch by the sudden fall of one of the horses, shot from the side of the road. in a moment the van was surrounded, and crowbars were wrenching at the van door. it resisted; a body of police was rapidly approaching, and if the rescue was to be effective the door must be opened. the rescuers shouted to brett, the constable inside, to pass out his keys; he refused, and some one exclaimed, "blow off the lock!" in a moment the muzzle of a revolver was against the lock, and it was blown off; but brett, stooping down to look through the keyhole, received the bullet in his head, and fell dying as the door flew open. another moment, and allen, a lad of seventeen, had wrenched open the doors of the compartments occupied by kelly and deasy, dragged them out, and while two or three hurried them off to a place of safety, the others threw themselves between the fugitives and the police, and with levelled revolvers guarded their flight. the fenian leaders once safe, they scattered, and young william allen, whose one thought had been for his chiefs, seeing them safe, fired his revolver in the air, for he would not shed blood in his own defence. disarmed by his own act, he was set on by the police, brutally struck down, kicked and stoned, and was dragged off to gaol, faint and bleeding, to meet there some of his comrades in much the same plight as himself. then manchester went mad, and race-passions flared up into flame; no irish workman was safe in a crowd of englishmen, no englishman safe in the irish quarter. the friends of the prisoners besieged "lawyer roberts's" house, praying his aid, and he threw his whole fiery soul into their defence. the man who had fired the accidentally fatal shot was safely out of the way, and none of the others had hurt a human being. a special commission was issued, with mr. justice blackburn at its head--"the hanging judge," groaned mr. roberts--and it was soon in manchester, for all mr. roberts's efforts to get the venue of the trial changed were futile, though of fair trial then in manchester there was no chance. on october th the prisoners were actually brought up before the magistrates in irons, and mr. ernest jones, their counsel, failing in his protest against this outrage, threw down his brief and left the court. so great was the haste with which the trial was hurried on that on the th allen, larkin, gould (o'brien), maguire, and condon were standing in the dock before the commission charged with murder. my first experience of an angry crowd was on that day as we drove to the court; the streets were barricaded, the soldiers were under arms, every approach to the court crowded with surging throngs. at last our carriage was stopped as we were passing at a foot's pace through an irish section of the crowd, and various vehement fists came through the window, with hearty curses at the "d----d english who were going to see the boys murdered." the situation was critical, for we were two women and three girls, when i bethought myself that we were unknown, and gently touched the nearest fist: "friends, these are mr. roberts' wife and daughters." "roberts! lawyer roberts! god bless roberts! let his carriage through." and all the scowling faces became smile-wreathen, and curses changed to cheers, as a road to the court steps was cleared for us. alas! if there was passion on behalf of the prisoners outside, there was passion against them within, and the very opening of the trial showed the spirit that animated the prosecution and the bench. digby seymour, q.c., and ernest jones, were briefed for the defence, and mr. roberts did not think that they exercised sufficiently their right of challenge; he knew, as we all did, that many on the panel had loudly proclaimed their hostility to the irish, and mr. roberts persisted in challenging them as his counsel would not. in vain judge blackburn threatened to commit the rebellious solicitor: "these men's lives are at stake, my lord," was his indignant plea. "remove that man!" cried the angry judge, but as the officers of the court came forward very slowly--for all poor men loved and honoured the sturdy fighter--he changed his mind and let him stay. despite all his efforts, the jury contained a man who had declared that he "didn't care what the evidence was, he would hang every d----d irishman of the lot." and the result showed that he was not alone in his view, for evidence of the most disreputable kind was admitted; women of the lowest type were put into the box as witnesses, and their word taken as unchallengeable; thus was destroyed an _alibi_ for maguire, afterwards accepted by the crown, a free pardon being issued on the strength of it. nothing could save the doomed men from the determined verdict, and i could see from where i was sitting into a little room behind the bench, where an official was quietly preparing the black caps before the verdict had been delivered. the foregone "guilty" was duly repeated as verdict on each of the five cases, and the prisoners asked if they had anything to say why sentence of death should not be passed on them. allen, boy as he was, made a very brave and manly speech; he had not fired, save in the air--if he had done so he might have escaped; he had helped to free kelly and deasy, and did not regret it; he was willing to die for ireland. maguire and condon (he also was reprieved) declared they were not present, but, like allen, were ready to die for their country. sentence of death was passed, and, as echo to the sardonic "the lord have mercy on your souls," rang back from the dock in five clear voices, with never a quiver of fear in them, "god save ireland!" and the men passed one by one from the sight of my tear-dimmed eyes. it was a sorrowful time that followed; the despair of the heart-broken girl who was allen's sweetheart, and who cried to us on her knees, "save my william!" was hard to see; nothing we or any one could do availed to avert the doom, and on november rd allen, larkin, and o'brien were hanged outside salford gaol. had they striven for freedom in italy england would have honoured them; here she buried them as common murderers in quicklime in the prison yard. i have found, with a keen sense of pleasure, that mr. bradlaugh and myself were in to some extent co-workers, although we knew not of each other's existence, and although he was doing much, and i only giving such poor sympathy as a young girl might, who was only just awakening to the duty of political work. i read in the _national reformer_ for november , , that in the preceding week he was pleading on clerkenwell green for these men's lives:--"according to the evidence at the trial, deasy and kelly were illegally arrested. they had been arrested for vagrancy of which no evidence was given, and apparently remanded for felony without a shadow of justification. he had yet to learn that in england the same state of things existed as in ireland; he had yet to learn that an illegal arrest was sufficient ground to detain any of the citizens of any country in the prisons of this one. if he were illegally held, he was justified in using enough force to procure his release. wearing a policeman's coat gave no authority when the officer exceeded his jurisdiction. he had argued this before lord chief justice erie in the court of common pleas, and that learned judge did not venture to contradict the argument which he submitted. there was another reason why they should spare these men, although he hardly expected the government to listen, because the government sent down one of the judges who was predetermined to convict the prisoners; it was that the offence was purely a political one. the death of brett was a sad mischance, but no one who read the evidence could regard the killing of brett as an intentional murder. legally, it was murder; morally, it was homicide in the rescue of a political captive. if it were a question of the rescue of the political captives of varignano, or of political captives in bourbon, in naples, or in poland, or in paris, even earls might be found so to argue. wherein is our sister ireland less than these? in executing these men, they would throw down the gauntlet for terrible reprisals. it was a grave and solemn question. it had been said by a previous speaker that they were prepared to go to any lengths to save these irishmen. they were not. he wished they were. if they were, if the men of england, from one end to the other, were prepared to say, 'these men shall not be executed,' they would not be. he was afraid they had not pluck enough for that. their moral courage was not equal to their physical strength. therefore he would not say that they were prepared to do so. they must plead _ad misericordiam_. he appealed to the press, which represented the power of england; to that press which in its panic-stricken moments had done much harm, and which ought now to save these four doomed men. if the press demanded it, no government would be mad enough to resist. the memory of the blood which was shed in rose up like a bloody ghost against them to-day. he only feared that what they said upon the subject might do the poor men more harm than good. if it were not so, he would coin words that should speak in words of fire. as it was, he could only say to the government: you are strong to-day; you hold these men's lives in your hands; but if you want to reconcile their country to you, if you want to win back ireland, if you want to make her children love you--then do not embitter their hearts still more by taking the lives of these men. temper your strength with mercy; do not use the sword of justice like one of vengeance, for the day may come when it shall be broken in your hands, and you yourselves brained by the hilt of the weapon you have so wickedly wielded." in october he had printed a plea for ireland, strong and earnest, asking:-- "where is our boasted english freedom when you cross to kingstown pier? where has it been for near two years? the habeas corpus act suspended, the gaols crowded, the steamers searched, spies listening at shebeen shops for sedition, and the end of it a fenian panic in england. oh, before it be too late, before more blood stain the pages of our present history, before we exasperate and arouse bitter animosities, let us try and do justice to our sister land. abolish once and for all the land laws, which in their iniquitous operation have ruined her peasantry. sweep away the leech-like church which has sucked her vitality, and has given her back no word even of comfort in her degradation. turn her barracks into flax mills, encourage a spirit of independence in her citizens, restore to her people the protection of the law, so that they may speak without fear of arrest, and beg them to plainly and boldly state their grievances. let a commission of the best and wisest amongst irishmen, with some of our highest english judges added, sit solemnly to hear all complaints, and then let us honestly legislate, not for the punishment of the discontented, but to remove the causes of the discontent. it is not the fenians who have depopulated ireland's strength and increased her misery. it is not the fenians who have evicted tenants by the score. it is not the fenians who have checked cultivation. those who have caused the wrong at least should frame the remedy." in december, , i sailed out of the safe harbour of my happy and peaceful girlhood on to the wide sea of life, and the waves broke roughly as soon as the bar was crossed. we were an ill-matched pair, my husband and i, from the very outset; he, with very high ideas of a husband's authority and a wife's submission, holding strongly to the "master-in-my-own-house theory," thinking much of the details of home arrangements, precise, methodical, easily angered and with difficulty appeased. i, accustomed to freedom, indifferent to home details, impulsive, very hot-tempered, and proud as lucifer. i had never had a harsh word spoken to me, never been ordered to do anything, had had my way smoothed for my feet, and never a worry had touched me. harshness roused first incredulous wonder, then a storm of indignant tears, and after a time a proud, defiant resistance, cold and hard as iron. the easy-going, sunshiny, enthusiastic girl changed--and changed pretty rapidly--into a grave, proud, reticent woman, burying deep in her own heart all her hopes, her fears, and her disillusions. i must have been a very unsatisfactory wife from the beginning, though i think other treatment might gradually have turned me into a fair imitation of the proper conventional article. beginning with the ignorance before alluded to, and so scared and outraged at heart from the very first; knowing nothing of household management or economical use of money--i had never had an allowance or even bought myself a pair of gloves--though eager to perform my new duties creditably; unwilling to potter over little things, and liking to do swiftly what i had to do, and then turn to my beloved books; at heart fretting for my mother but rarely speaking of her, as i found my longing for her presence raised jealous vexation; with strangers about me with whom i had no sympathy; visited by ladies who talked to me only about babies and servants--troubles of which i knew nothing and which bored me unutterably--and who were as uninterested in all that had filled my life, in theology, in politics, in science, as i was uninterested in the discussions on the housemaid's young man and on the cook's extravagance in using "butter, when dripping would have done perfectly well, my dear"; was it wonderful that i became timid, dull, and depressed? all my eager, passionate enthusiasm, so attractive to men in a young girl, were doubtless incompatible with "the solid comfort of a wife," and i must have been inexpressibly tiring to the rev. frank besant. and, in truth, i ought never to have married, for under the soft, loving, pliable girl there lay hidden, as much unknown to herself as to her surroundings, a woman of strong dominant will, strength that panted for expression and rebelled against restraint, fiery and passionate emotions that were seething under compression--a most undesirable partner to sit in the lady's arm-chair on the domestic rug before the fire. [_que le diable faisait-elle dans cette galère,_] i have often thought, looking back at my past self, and asking, why did that foolish girl make her bed so foolishly? but self-analysis shows the contradictories in my nature that led me into so mistaken a course. i have ever been the queerest mixture of weakness and strength, and have paid heavily for the weakness. as a child i used to suffer tortures of shyness, and if my shoe-lace was untied would feel shamefacedly that every eye was fixed on the unlucky string; as a girl i would shrink away from strangers and think myself unwanted and unliked, so that i was full of eager gratitude to any one who noticed me kindly; as the young mistress of a house, i was afraid of my servants, and would let careless work pass rather than bear the pain of reproving the ill-doer; when i have been lecturing and debating with no lack of spirit on the platform, i have preferred to go without what i wanted at the hotel rather than to ring and make the waiter fetch it; combative on the platform in defence of any cause i cared for, i shrink from quarrel or disapproval in the home, and am a coward at heart in private while a good fighter in public. how often have i passed unhappy quarters of an hour screwing up my courage to find fault with some subordinate whom my duty compelled me to reprove, and how often have i jeered at myself for a fraud as the doughty platform combatant, when shrinking from blaming some lad or lass for doing their work badly! an unkind look or word has availed to make me shrink into myself as a snail into its shell, while on the platform opposition makes me speak my best. so i slid into marriage blindly and stupidly, fearing to give pain; fretted my heart out for a year; then, roused by harshness and injustice, stiffened and hardened, and lived with a wall of ice round me within which i waged mental conflicts that nearly killed me; and learned at last how to live and work in armour that turned the edge of the weapons that struck it, and left the flesh beneath unwounded, armour laid aside, but in the presence of a very few. my first serious attempts at writing were made in , and i took up two very different lines of composition; i wrote some short stories of a very flimsy type, and also a work of a much more ambitious character, "the lives of the black letter saints." for the sake of the unecclesiastically trained it may be as well to mention that in the calendar of the church of england there are a number of saints' days; some of these are printed in red, and are red letter days, for which services are appointed by the church; others are printed in black, and are black letter days, and have no special services fixed for them. it seemed to me that it would be interesting to take each of these days and write a sketch of the life of the saint belonging to it, and accordingly i set to work to do so, and gathered various books of history and legend where-from to collect my "facts." i do not in the least know what became of that valuable book; i tried macmillans with it, and it was sent on by them to some one who was preparing a series of church books for the young; later i had a letter from a church brotherhood offering to publish it, if i would give it as "an act of piety" to their order; its ultimate fate is to me unknown. the short stories were more fortunate. i sent the first to the _family herald_, and some weeks afterwards received a letter from which dropped a cheque as i opened it. dear me! i have earned a good deal of money since by my pen, but never any that gave me the intense delight of that first thirty shillings. it was the first money i had ever earned, and the pride of the earning was added to the pride of authorship. in my childish delight and practical religion, i went down on my knees and thanked god for sending it to me, and i saw myself earning heaps of golden guineas, and becoming quite a support of the household. besides, it was "my very own," i thought, and a delightful sense of independence came over me. i had not then realised the beauty of the english law, and the dignified position in which it placed the married woman; i did not understand that all a married woman earned by law belonged to her owner, and that she could have nothing that belonged to her of right.[ ] i did not want the money: i was only so glad to have something of my own to give, and it was rather a shock to learn that it was not really mine at all. from time to time after that i earned a few pounds for stories in the same journal; and the _family herald_, let me say, has one peculiarity which should render it beloved by poor authors; it pays its contributor when it accepts the paper, whether it prints it immediately or not; thus my first story was not printed for some weeks after i received the cheque, and it was the same with all the others accepted by the same journal. encouraged by these small successes, i began writing a novel! it took a long time to do, but was at last finished, and sent off to the _family herald_. the poor thing came back, but with a kind note, telling me that it was too political for their pages, but that if i would write one of "purely domestic interest," and up to the same level, it would probably be accepted. but by that time i was in the full struggle of theological doubt, and that novel of "purely domestic interest" never got itself written. i contributed further to the literature of my country a theological pamphlet, of which i forget the exact title, but it dealt with the duty of fasting incumbent on all faithful christians, and was very patristic in its tone. in january, , my little son was born, and as i was very ill for some months before, and was far too much interested in the tiny creature afterwards, to devote myself to pen and paper, my literary career was checked for a while. the baby gave a new interest and a new pleasure to life, and as we could not afford a nurse i had plenty to do in looking after his small majesty. my energy in reading became less feverish when it was done by the side of the baby's cradle, and the little one's presence almost healed the abiding pain of my mother's loss. i may pass very quickly over the next two years. in august, , a little sister was born to my son, and the recovery was slow and tedious, for my general health had been failing for some time. [illustration: _from a photograph by dighton's art studio, cheltenham_. annie besant .] the boy was a bright, healthy little fellow, but the girl was delicate from birth, suffering from her mother's unhappiness, and born somewhat prematurely in consequence of a shock. when, in the spring of , the two children caught the whooping cough, my mabel's delicacy made the ordeal well-nigh fatal to her. she was very young for so trying a disease, and after a while bronchitis set in and was followed by congestion of the lungs. for weeks she lay in hourly peril of death we arranged a screen round the fire like a tent, and kept it full of steam to ease the panting breath; and there i sat, day and night, all through those weary weeks, the tortured baby on my knees. i loved my little ones passionately, for their clinging love soothed the aching at my heart, and their baby eyes could not critically scan the unhappiness that grew deeper month by month; and that steam-filled tent became my world, and there, alone, i fought with death for my child. the doctor said that recovery was impossible, and that in one of the paroxysms of coughing she must die; the most distressing thing was that, at last, even a drop or two of milk would bring on the terrible convulsive choking, and it seemed cruel to add to the pain of the apparently dying child. at length, one morning the doctor said she could not last through the day; i had sent for him hurriedly, for the body had suddenly swollen up as a result of the perforation of one of the pleurae, and the consequent escape of air into the cavity of the chest. while he was there one of the fits of coughing came on, and it seemed as though it must be the last. he took a small bottle of chloroform out of his pocket, and putting a drop on a handkerchief held it near the child's face, till the drug soothed the convulsive struggle. "it can't do any harm at this stage," he said, "and it checks the suffering." he went away, saying that he feared he would never see the child alive again. one of the kindest friends i had in my married life was that same doctor, mr. lauriston winterbotham; he was as good as he was clever, and, like so many of his noble profession, he had the merits of discretion and silence. he never breathed a word as to my unhappiness, until in he came up to town to give evidence as to cruelty which--had the deed of separation not been held as condonation--would have secured me a divorce _a mensa et thoro._ the child, however, recovered, and her recovery was due, i think, to that chance thought of mr. winterbotham's about the chloroform, for i used it whenever the first sign of a fit of coughing appeared, and so warded off the convulsive attack and the profound exhaustion that followed, in which a mere flicker of breath at the top of the throat was the only sign of life, and sometimes even that disappeared, and i thought her gone. for years the child remained ailing and delicate, requiring the tenderest care, but those weeks of anguish left a deeper trace on mother than on child. once she was out of danger i collapsed physically, and lay in bed for a week unmoving, and then rose to face a struggle which lasted for three years and two months, and nearly cost me my life, the struggle which transformed me from a christian into an atheist. the agony of the struggle was in the first nineteen months--a time to be looked back upon with shrinking, as it was a hell to live through at the time. for no one who has not felt it knows the fearful anguish inflicted by doubt on the earnestly religious soul. there is in life no other pain so horrible, so keen in its torture, so crushing in its weight. it seems to shipwreck everything, to destroy the one steady gleam of happiness "on the other side" that no earthly storm could obscure; to make all life gloomy with a horror of despair, a darkness that verily may be felt. nothing but an imperious intellectual and moral necessity can drive into doubt a religious mind, for it is as though an earthquake shook the foundations of the soul, and the very being quivers and sways under the shock. no life in the empty sky; no gleam in the blackness of the night; no voice to break the deadly silence; no hand outstretched to save. empty-brained triflers who have never tried to think, who take their creed as they take their fashions, speak of atheism as the outcome of foul life and vicious desires. in their shallow heartlessness and shallower thought they cannot even dimly imagine the anguish of entering the mere penumbra of the eclipse of faith, much less the horror of that great darkness in which the orphaned soul cries out into the infinite emptiness: "is it a devil that has made the world? is the echo, 'children, ye have no father,' true? is all blind chance, is all the clash of unconscious forces, or are we the sentient toys of an almighty power that sports with our agony, whose peals of awful mockery of laughter ring back answer to the wailings of our despair?" how true are the noble words of mrs. hamilton king:-- "for some may follow truth from dawn to dark, as a child follows by his mother's hand, knowing no fear, rejoicing all the way; and unto some her face is as a star set through an avenue of thorns and fires, and waving branches black without a leaf; and still it draws them, though the feet must bleed, though garments must be rent, and eyes be scorched: and if the valley of the shadow of death be passed, and to the level road they come, still with their faces to the polar star, it is not with the same looks, the same limbs, but halt, and maimed, and of infirmity. and for the rest of the way they have to go it is not day but night, and oftentimes a night of clouds wherein the stars are lost."[ ] aye! but never lost is the star of truth to which the face is set, and while that shines all lesser lights may go. it was the long months of suffering through which i had been passing, with the seemingly purposeless torturing of my little one as a climax, that struck the first stunning blow at my belief in god as a merciful father of men. i had been visiting the poor a good deal, and had marked the patient suffering of their lives; my idolised mother had been defrauded by a lawyer she had trusted, and was plunged into debt by his non-payment of the sums that should have passed through his hands to others; my own bright life had been enshrouded by pain and rendered to me degraded by an intolerable sense of bondage; and here was my helpless, sinless babe tortured for weeks and left frail and suffering. the smooth brightness of my previous life made all the disillusionment more startling, and the sudden plunge into conditions so new and so unfavourable dazed and stunned me. my religious past became the worst enemy of the suffering present. all my personal belief in christ, all my intense faith in his constant direction of affairs, all my habit of continual prayer and of realisation of his presence--all were against me now. the very height of my trust was the measure of the shock when the trust gave way. to me he was no abstract idea, but a living reality, and all my heart rose up against this person in whom i believed, and whose individual finger i saw in my baby's agony, my own misery, the breaking of my mother's proud heart under a load of debt, and all the bitter suffering of the poor. the presence of pain and evil in a world made by a good god; the pain falling on the innocent, as on my seven months' old babe; the pain begun here reaching on into eternity unhealed; a sorrow-laden world; a lurid, hopeless hell; all these, while i still believed, drove me desperate, and instead of like the devils believing and trembling, i believed and hated. all the hitherto dormant and unsuspected strength of my nature rose up in rebellion; i did not yet dream of denial, but i would no longer kneel. as the first stirrings of this hot rebellion moved in my heart i met a clergyman of a very noble type, who did much to help me by his ready and wise sympathy. mr. besant brought him to see me during the crisis of the child's illness; he said little, but on the following day i received from him the following note:-- "_april_ , . "my dear mrs. besant,--i am painfully conscious that i gave you but little help in your trouble yesterday. it is needless to say that it was not from want of sympathy. perhaps it would be nearer the truth to say that it was from excess of sympathy. i shrink intensely from meddling with the sorrow of any one whom i feel to be of a sensitive nature. 'the heart hath its own bitterness, and the stranger meddleth not therewith.' it is to me a positively fearful thought that i might awaken such a reflection as "'and common was the commonplace, and vacant chaff well meant for grain.' conventional consolations, conventional verses out of the bible, and conventional prayers are, it seems to me, an intolerable aggravation of suffering. and so i acted on a principle that i mentioned to your husband that 'there is no power so great as that of one human faith looking upon another human faith.' the promises of god, the love of christ for little children, and all that has been given to us of hope and comfort, are as deeply planted in your heart as in mine, and i did not care to quote them. but when i talk face to face with one who is in sore need of them, my faith in them suddenly becomes so vast and heart-stirring that i think i must help most by talking naturally, and letting the faith find its own way from soul to soul. indeed, i could not find words for it if i tried. and yet i am compelled, as a messenger of the glad tidings of god, to solemnly assure you that all is well. we have no key to the 'mystery of pain' excepting the cross of christ. but there is another and a deeper solution in the hands of our father; and it will be ours when we can understand it. there is--in the place to which we travelsome blessed explanation of your baby's pain and your grief, which will fill with light the darkest heart. now you must believe without having seen; that is true faith. you must "'reach a hand through time to catch the far-off interest of tears.' that you may have strength so to do is part of your share in the prayers of "yours very faithfully, "w. d----." a noble letter, but the storm was beating too fiercely to be stilled, and one night in that summer of stands out clearly before me. mr. besant was away, and there had been a fierce quarrel before he left. i was outraged, desperate, with no door of escape from a life that, losing its hope in god, had not yet learned to live for hope for man. no door of escape? the thought came like a flash: "there is one!" and before me there swung open, with lure of peace and of safety, the gateway into silence and security, the gateway of the tomb. i was standing by the drawing-room window, staring hopelessly at the evening sky; with the thought came the remembrance that the means was at hand--the chloroform that had soothed my baby's pain, and that i had locked away upstairs. i ran up to my room, took out the bottle, and carried it downstairs, standing again at the window in the summer twilight, glad that the struggle was over and peace at hand. i uncorked the bottle, and was raising it to my lips, when, as though the words were spoken softly and clearly, i heard: "o coward, coward, who used to dream of martyrdom, and cannot bear a few short years of pain!" a rush of shame swept over me, and i flung the bottle far away among the shrubs in the garden at my feet, and for a moment i felt strong as for a struggle, and then fell fainting on the floor. only once again in all the strifes of my career did the thought of suicide recur, and then it was but for a moment, to be put aside as unworthy a strong soul. my new friend, mr. d----, proved a very real help. the endless torture of hell, the vicarious sacrifice of christ, the trustworthiness of revelation, doubts on all these hitherto accepted doctrines grew and heaped themselves on my bewildered soul. my questionings were neither shirked nor discouraged by mr. d----; he was not horrified nor was he sanctimoniously rebukeful, but met them all with a wide comprehension inexpressibly soothing to one writhing in the first agonies of doubt. he left cheltenham in the early autumn of , but the following extracts from a letter written in november will show the kind of net in which i was struggling (i had been reading m'leod campbell's work "on the atonement"):-- "you forget one great principle--that god is impassive, cannot suffer. christ, _quâ_ god, did not suffer, but as son of _man_ and in his humanity. still, it may be correctly stated that he felt to sin and sinners 'as god eternally feels'--_i.e., abhorrence of sin, and love of the sinner_. but to infer from that that the father in his godhead feels the sufferings which christ experienced solely in humanity, and because incarnate is, i think, wrong. "( ) i felt strongly inclined to blow you up for the last part of your letter. you assume, i think quite gratuitously, that god condemns the major part of his children to objectless future suffering. you say that if he does not, he places a book in their hands which threatens what he does not mean to inflict. but how utterly this seems to me opposed to the gospel of christ! all christ's references to eternal punishment may be resolved into references to the valley of hinnom, by way of imagery; with the exception of the dives parable, where is distinctly inferred a moral amendment beyond the grave. i speak of the unselfish desire of dives to save his brothers. the more i see of the controversy, the more baseless does the eternal punishment theory appear. it seems then, to me, that instead of feeling aggrieved and shaken, you ought to feel encouraged and thankful that god is so much better than you were taught to believe him. you will have discovered by this time in maurice's 'what is revelation?' (i suppose you have the 'sequel,' too?), that god's truth is our truth, and his love is our love, only more perfect and full. there is no position more utterly defeated in modern philosophy and theology than dean mansel's attempt to show that god's love, justice, &c., are different in kind from ours. mill and maurice, from totally alien points of view, have shown up the preposterous nature of the notion. "( ) a good deal of what you have thought is, i fancy, based on a strange forgetfulness of your former experience. if you have known christ--(whom to know is eternal life)--and that you have known him i am certain--can you really say that a few intellectual difficulties, nay, a few moral difficulties if you will, are able at once to obliterate the testimony of that higher state of being? "why, the keynote of all my theology is that christ is lovable because, and _just_ because, he is the perfection of all that i know to be noble and generous, and loving, and tender, and true. if an angel from heaven brought me a gospel which contained doctrines that would not stand the test of such perfect lovableness--doctrines hard, or cruel, or unjust--i should reject him and his trumpery gospel with scorn, knowing that neither could be christ's. know christ and judge religions by him; don't judge him by religions, and then complain because they find yourself looking at him through a blood-coloured glass." "i am saturating myself with maurice, who is the antidote given by god to this age against all dreary doublings and temptings of the devil to despair." many a one, in this age of controversy over all things once held sacred, has found peace and new light on this line of thought, and has succeeded in thus reconciling theological doctrines with the demands of the conscience for love and justice in a world made by a just and loving god. i could not do so. the awakening to what the world was, to the facts of human misery, to the ruthless tramp of nature and of events over the human heart, making no difference between innocent and guilty--the shock had been too great for the equilibrium to be restored by arguments that appealed to the emotions and left the intellect unconvinced. months of this long-drawn-out mental anguish wrought their natural effects on physical health, and at last i broke down completely, and lay for weeks helpless and prostrate, in raging and unceasing head-pain, unable to sleep, unable to bear the light, lying like a log on the bed, not unconscious, but indifferent to everything, consciousness centred, as it were, in the ceaseless pain. the doctor tried every form of relief, but, entrenched in its citadel, the pain defied his puny efforts. he covered my head with ice, he gave me opium--which only drove me mad--he did all that skill and kindness could do, but all in vain. finally the pain wore itself out, and the moment he dared to do so, he tried mental diversion; he brought me books on anatomy, on science, and persuaded me to study them; and out of his busy life would steal an hour to explain to me knotty points on physiology. he saw that if i were to be brought back to reasonable life, it could only be by diverting thought from the channels in which the current had been running to a dangerous extent. i have often felt that i owed life and sanity to that good man, who felt for the helpless, bewildered child-woman, beaten down by the cyclone of doubt and misery. so it will easily be understood that my religious wretchedness only increased the unhappiness of homelife, for how absurd it was that any reasonable human being should be so tossed with anguish over intellectual and moral difficulties on religious matters, and should make herself ill over these unsubstantial troubles. surely it was a woman's business to attend to her husband's comforts and to see after her children, and not to break her heart over misery here and hell hereafter, and distract her brain with questions that had puzzled the greatest thinkers and still remained unsolved! and, truly, women or men who get themselves concerned about the universe at large, would do well not to plunge hastily into marriage, for they do not run smoothly in the double-harness of that honourable estate. _sturm und drang_ should be faced alone, and the soul should go out alone into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil, and not bring his majesty and all his imps into the placid circle of the home. unhappy they who go into marriage with the glamour of youth upon them and the destiny of conflict imprinted on their nature, for they make misery for their partner in marriage as well as for themselves. and if that partner, strong in traditional authority and conventional habits, seeks to "break in" the turbulent and storm-tossed creature--well, it comes to a mere trial of strength and endurance, whether that driven creature will fall panting and crushed, or whether it will turn in its despair, assert its divine right to intellectual liberty, rend its fetters in pieces, and, discovering its own strength in its extremity, speak at all risks its "no" when bidden to live a lie. when that physical crisis was over i decided on my line of action. i resolved to take christianity as it had been taught in the churches, and carefully and thoroughly examine its dogmas one by one, so that i should never again say "i believe" where i had not proved, and that, however diminished my area of belief, what was left of it might at least be firm under my feet. i found that four chief problems were pressing for solution, and to these i addressed myself. how many are to-day the souls facing just these problems, and disputing every inch of their old ground of faith with the steadily advancing waves of historical and scientific criticism! alas! for the many canutes, as the waves wash over their feet. these problems were:-- ( ) the eternity of punishment after death. ( ) the meaning of "goodness" and "love," as applied to a god who had made this world, with all its sin and misery. ( ) the nature of the atonement of christ, and the "justice" of god in accepting a vicarious suffering from christ, and a vicarious righteousness from the sinner. ( ) the meaning of "inspiration" as applied to the bible, and the reconciliation of the perfections of the author with the blunders and immoralities of the work. it will be seen that the deeper problems of religion--the deity of christ, the existence of god, the immortality of the soul--were not yet brought into question, and, looking back, i cannot but see how orderly was the progression of thought, how steady the growth, after that first terrible earthquake, and the first wild swirl of agony. the points that i set myself to study were those which would naturally be first faced by any one whose first rebellion against the dogmas of the churches was a rebellion of the moral nature rather than of the intellectual, a protest of the conscience rather than of the brain. it was not a desire for moral licence which gave me the impulse that finally landed me in atheism; it was the sense of outraged justice and insulted right. i was a wife and mother, blameless in moral life, with a deep sense of duty and a proud self-respect; it was while i was this that doubt struck me, and while i was in the guarded circle of the home, with no dream of outside work or outside liberty, that i lost all faith in christianity. my education, my mother's example, my inner timidity and self-distrust, all fenced me in from temptations from without. it was the uprising of an outraged conscience that made me a rebel against the churches and finally an unbeliever in god. and i place this on record, because the progress of materialism will never be checked by diatribes against unbelievers, as though they became unbelievers from desire for vice and for licence to do evil. what religion has to face in the controversies of to-day is not the unbelief of the sty, but the unbelief of the educated conscience and of the soaring intellect; and unless it can arm itself with a loftier ethic and a grander philosophy than its opponent, it will lose its hold over the purest and the strongest of the younger generation. chapter v. the storm of doubt. my reading of heretical and broad church works on one side, and of orthodox ones on the other, now occupied a large part of my time, and our removal to sibsey, in lincolnshire, an agricultural village with a scattered population, increased my leisure. i read the works of robertson, stopford brooke, stanley, greg, matthew arnold, liddon, mansel, and many another, and my scepticism grew deeper and deeper as i read. the broad church arguments appeared to me to be of the nature of special pleading, skilful evasions of difficulties rather than the real meeting and solving of them. for the problem was: given a good god, how can he have created mankind, knowing beforehand that the vast majority of those whom he created were to be tortured for ever? given a just god, how can he punish people for being sinful, when they have inherited a sinful nature without their own choice and of necessity? given a righteous god, how can he allow sin to exist for ever, so that evil shall be as eternal as good, and satan shall reign in hell as long as christ in heaven? worst of all puzzles, perhaps, was that of the existence of evil and of misery, and the racking doubt whether god _could_ be good, and yet look on the evil and the misery of the world unmoved and untouched. it seemed so impossible to believe that a creator could be either cruel enough to be indifferent to the misery, or weak enough to be unable to stop it. the old dilemma faced me incessantly: "if he can prevent it and does not, he is not good; if he wishes to prevent it and cannot, he is not almighty." i racked my brains for an answer. i searched writings of believers for a clue, but i found no way of escape. not yet had any doubt of the existence of god crossed my mind. mr. d---- continued to write me, striving to guide me along the path which had led his own soul to contentment, but i can only find room here for two brief extracts, which will show how to himself he solved the problem. he thought me mistaken in my view "of the nature of the _sin_ and _error_ which is supposed to grieve god. i take it that sin is an absolutely necessary factor in the production of the perfect man. it was foreseen and allowed as means to an end--as, in fact, an education. the view of all the sin and misery in the world cannot grieve god any more than it can grieve you to see digby fail in his first attempt to build a card-castle or a rabbit-hutch. all is part of the training. god looks at the ideal man to which all tends.... "no, mrs. besant; i never feel at all inclined to give up the search, or to suppose that the other side may be right. i claim no merit for it, but i have an invincible faith in the morality of god and the moral order of the world. i have no more doubt about the falsehood of the popular theology than i have about the unreality of six robbers who attacked me three nights ago in a horrid dream. i exult and rejoice in the grandeur and freedom of the little bit of truth it has been given me to see. i am told that 'present-day papers,' by bishop ewing (edited), are a wonderful help, many of them, to puzzled people; i mean to get them. but i am sure you will find that the truth will (even so little as we may be able to find out) grow on you, make you free, light your path, and dispel, at no distant time, your _painful_ difficulties and doubts. i should say on no account give up your reading. i think with you that you could not do without it. it will be a wonderful source of help and peace to you. for there are struggles far more fearful than those of intellectual doubt. i am keenly alive to the gathered-up sadness of which your last two pages are an expression. i was sorrier than i can say to read them. they reminded me of a long and very dark time in my own life, when i thought the light never would come. thank god it came, or i think i could not have held out much longer. but you have evidently strength to bear it now. the more dangerous time, i should fancy, has passed. you will have to mind that the fermentation leaves clear spiritual wine, and not (as too often) vinegar. i wish i could write something more helpful to you in this great matter. but as i sit in front of my large bay window and see the shadows on the grass and the sunlight on the leaves, and the soft glimmer of the rosebuds left by the storms, i can but believe that all will be very well. 'trust in the lord, wait patiently for him'--they are trite words. but he made the grass, the leaves, the rosebuds, and the sunshine, and he is the father of our lord jesus christ. and now the trite words have swelled into a mighty argument." i found more help in theistic writers like grey, and agnostic like arnold, than i did in the broad church teachers, but these, of course, served to make return to the old faith more and more impossible. the church services were a weekly torture, but feeling as i did that i was only a doubter, i kept my doubts to myself. it was possible, i felt, that all my difficulties might be cleared up, and i had no right to shake the faith of others while in uncertainty myself. others had doubted and had afterwards recovered their faith; for the doubter silence was a duty; the blinded had better keep their misery to themselves. during these weary months of anxiety and torment i found some relief from the mental strain in practical parish work, nursing the sick, trying to brighten the lot of the poor. i learned then some of the lessons as to the agricultural labourer and the land that i was able in after-years to teach from the platform. the movement among the agricultural labourers, due to the energy and devotion of joseph arch, was beginning to be discussed in the fens, and my sympathies went strongly with the claims of the labourers, for i knew their life-conditions. in one cottage i had found four generations sleeping in one room--the great-grandfather and his wife, the unmarried grandmother, the unmarried mother, the little child; three men lodgers completed the tale of eight human beings crowded into that narrow, ill-ventilated garret. other cottages were hovels, through the broken roofs of which poured the rain, and wherein rheumatism and ague lived with the human dwellers. how could i do aught but sympathise with any combination that aimed at the raising of these poor? but the agricultural labourers' union was bitterly opposed by the farmers, and they would give no work to a "union man." one example may serve for all. there was a young married man with two small children, who was sinful enough to go to a union meeting and sinful enough to talk of it on his return home. no farmer would employ him in all the district round. he tramped about vainly looking for work, grew reckless, and took to drink. visiting his cottage, consisting of one room and a "lean-to," i found his wife ill with fever, a fever-stricken babe in her arms, the second child lying dead on the bed. in answer to my soft-spoken questions: yes, she was pining (starving), there was no work. why did she leave the dead child on the bed? because she had no other place for it till the coffin came. and at night the unhappy, driven man, the fever-stricken wife, the fever-stricken child, the dead child, all lay in the one bed. the farmers hated the union because its success meant higher wages for the men, and it never struck them that they might well pay less rent to the absent landlord and higher wage to the men who tilled their fields. they had only civil words for the burden that crushed them, hard words for the mowers of their harvests and the builders-up of their ricks; they made common cause with their enemies instead of with their friends, and instead of leaguing themselves together with the labourers as forming together the true agricultural interest, they leagued themselves with the landlords against the labourers, and so made ruinous fratricidal strife instead of easy victory over the common foe. and, seeing all this, i learned some useful lessons, and the political education progressed while the theological strife went on within. in the early autumn a ray of light broke the darkness. i was in london with my mother, and wandered one sunday morning into st. george's hall, where the rev. charles voysey was preaching. there to my delight i found, on listening to the sermon and buying some literature on sale in the ante-room, that there were people who had passed through my own difficulties, and had given up the dogmas that i found so revolting. i went again on the following sunday, and when the service was over i noticed that the outgoing stream of people were passing by mr. and mrs. voysey, and that many who were evidently strangers spoke a word of thanks to him as they went on. moved by a strong desire, after the long months of lonely striving, to speak to one who had struggled out of christian difficulties, i said to mr. voysey, as i passed in my turn, "i must thank you for very great help in what you said this morning," for in truth, never having yet doubted the existence of god, the teaching of mr. voysey that he was "loving unto _every_ man, and his tender mercy over _all_ his works," came like a gleam of light across the stormy sea of doubt and distress on which i had so long been tossing. the next sunday saw me again at the hall, and mrs. voysey gave me a cordial invitation to visit them in their dulwich home. i found their theism was free from the defects that had revolted me in christianity, and they opened up to me new views of religion. i read theodore parker's "discourse on religion," francis newman's works, those of miss frances power cobbe, and of others; the anguish of the tension relaxed; the nightmare of an almighty evil passed away; my belief in god, not yet touched, was cleared from all the dark spots that had sullied it, and i no longer doubted whether the dogmas that had shocked my conscience were true or false. i shook them off, once for all, with all their pain and horror and darkness, and felt, with joy and relief inexpressible, that they were delusions of the ignorance of man, not the revelations of a god. but there was one belief that had not been definitely challenged, but of which the _rationale_ was gone with the orthodox dogmas now definitely renounced--the doctrine of the deity of christ. the whole teaching of the broad church school tends, of course, to emphasise the humanity of christ at the expense of his deity, and when eternal punishment and the substitutionary atonement had gone there seemed no reason remaining sufficient to account for so tremendous a miracle as the incarnation of the deity. in the course of my reading i had become familiar with the idea of avatâras in eastern creeds, and i saw that the incarnate god was put forward as a fact by all ancient religions, and thus the way was paved for challenging the especially christian teaching, when the doctrines morally repulsive were cleared away. but i shrank from the thought of placing in the crucible a doctrine so dear from all the associations of the past; there was so much that was soothing and ennobling in the idea of a union between man and god, between a perfect man and a divine life, between a human heart and an almighty strength. jesus as god was interwoven with all art and all beauty in religion; to break with the deity of jesus was to break with music, with painting, with literature; the divine babe in his mother's arms; the divine man in his passion and his triumph; the friend of man encircled with the majesty of the godhead. did inexorable truth demand that this ideal figure, with all its pathos, its beauty, its human love, should pass away into the pantheon of the dead gods of the past? nor was this all. if i gave up belief in christ as god, i must give up christianity as creed. once challenge the unique position of the christ, and the name christian seemed to me to be a hypocrisy, and its renouncement a duty binding on the upright mind. i was a clergyman's wife; what would be the effect of such a step? hitherto mental pain alone had been the price demanded inexorably from the searcher after truth; but with the renouncing of christ outer warfare would be added to the inner, and who might guess the result upon my life? the struggle was keen but short; i decided to carefully review the evidence for and against the deity of christ, with the result that that belief followed the others, and i stood, no longer christian, face to face with a dim future in which i sensed the coming conflict. one effort i made to escape it; i appealed to dr. pusey, thinking that if he could not answer my questionings, no answer to them could be reasonably hoped for. i had a brief correspondence with him, but was referred only to lines of argument familiar to me--as those of liddon in his "bampton lectures"--and finally, on his invitation, went down to oxford to see him. i found a short, stout gentleman, dressed in a cassock, looking like a comfortable monk; but keen eyes, steadfastly gazing straight into mine, told of the force and subtlety enshrined in the fine, impressive head. but the learned doctor took the wrong line of treatment; he probably saw i was anxious, shy, and nervous, and he treated me as a penitent going to confession and seeking the advice of a director, instead of as an inquirer struggling after truth, and resolute to obtain some firm standing-ground in the sea of doubt. he would not deal with the question of the deity of jesus as a question for argument. "you are speaking of your judge," he retorted sternly, when i pressed a difficulty. the mere suggestion of an imperfection in the character of jesus made him shudder, and he checked me with raised hand. "you are blaspheming. the very thought is a terrible sin." would he recommend me any books that might throw light on the subject? "no, no; you have read too much already. you must pray; you must pray." when i urged that i could not believe without proof, i was told, "blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed"; and my further questioning was checked by the murmur, "o my child, how undisciplined! how impatient!" truly, he must have found in me--hot, eager, passionate in my determination to _know_, resolute not to profess belief while belief was absent--nothing of the meek, chastened, submissive spirit with which he was wont to deal in penitents seeking his counsel as their spiritual guide. in vain did he bid me pray as though i believed; in vain did he urge the duty of blind submission to the authority of the church, of blind, unreasoning faith that questioned not. i had not trodden the thorny path of doubt to come to the point from which i had started; i needed, and would have, solid grounds ere i believed. he had no conception of the struggles of a sceptical spirit; he had evidently never felt the pangs of doubt; his own faith was solid as a rock, firm, satisfied, unshakable; he would as soon have committed suicide as have doubted of the infallibility of the "universal church." "it is not your duty to ascertain the truth," he told me, sternly. "it is your duty to accept and believe the truth as laid down by the church. at your peril you reject it. the responsibility is not yours so long as you dutifully accept that which the church has laid down for your acceptance. did not the lord promise that the presence of the spirit should be ever with his church, to guide her into all truth?" "but the fact of the promise and its value are just the very points on which i am doubtful," i answered. he shuddered. "pray, pray," he said. "father, forgive her, for she knows not what she says." it was in vain that i urged on him the sincerity of my seeking, pointing out that i had everything to gain by following his directions, everything to lose by going my own way, but that it seemed to me untruthful to pretend to accept what was not really believed. "everything to lose? yes, indeed. you will be lost for time and lost for eternity." "lost or not," i rejoined, "i must and will try to find out what is true, and i will not believe till i am sure." "you have no right to make terms with god," he retorted, "as to what you will believe or what you will not believe. you are full of intellectual pride." i sighed hopelessly. little feeling of pride was there in me just then, but only a despairful feeling that in this rigid, unyielding dogmatism there was no comprehension of my difficulties, no help for me in my strugglings. i rose, and, thanking him for his courtesy, said that i would not waste his time further, that i must go home and face the difficulties, openly leaving the church and taking the consequences. then for the first time his serenity was ruffled. "i forbid you to speak of your disbelief," he cried. "i forbid you to lead into your own lost state the souls for whom christ died." [illustration: thomas scott.] slowly and sadly i took my way back to the station, knowing that my last chance of escape had failed me. i recognised in this famous divine the spirit of priest-craft, that could be tender and pitiful to the sinner, repentant, humble, submissive; but that was iron to the doubter, the heretic, and would crush out all questionings of "revealed truth," silencing by force, not by argument, all challenge of the traditions of the church. out of such men were made the inquisitors of the middle ages, perfectly conscientious, perfectly rigid, perfectly merciless to the heretic. to them heretics are centres of infectious disease, and charity to the heretic is "the worst cruelty to the souls of men." certain that they hold, "by no merit of our own, but by the mercy of our god, the one truth which he has revealed," they can permit no questionings, they can accept nought but the most complete submission. but while man aspires after truth, while his mind yearns after knowledge, while his intellect soars upward into the empyrean of speculation and "beats the air with tireless wing," so long shall those who demand faith from him be met by challenge for proof, and those who would blind him shall be defeated by his resolve to gaze unblenching on the face of truth, even though her eyes should turn him into stone. it was during this same autumn of that i first met mr. and mrs. scott, introduced to them by mr. voysey. at that time thomas scott was an old man, with beautiful white hair, and eyes like those of a hawk gleaming from under shaggy eyebrows. he had been a man of magnificent physique, and, though his frame was then enfeebled, the splendid lion-like head kept its impressive strength and beauty, and told of a unique personality. well born and wealthy, he had spent his earlier life in adventure in all parts of the world, and after his marriage he had settled down at ramsgate, and had made his home a centre of heretical thought. his wife, "his right hand," as he justly called her, was young enough to be his daughter--a sweet, strong, gentle, noble woman, worthy of her husband, and than that no higher praise could be spoken. mr. scott for many years issued monthly a series of pamphlets, all heretical, though very varying in their shades of thought; all were well written, cultured, and polished in tone, and to this rule mr. scott made no exception; his writers might say what they liked, but they must have something to say, and must say it in good english. his correspondence was enormous, from prime ministers downwards. at his house met people of the most varied opinions; it was a veritable heretical _salon_. colenso of natal, edward maitland, e. vansittart neale, charles bray, sarah hennell, and hundreds more, clerics and laymen, scholars and thinkers, all coming to this one house, to which the _entrée_ was gained only by love of truth and desire to spread freedom among men. for thomas scott my first freethought essay was written a few months after, "on the deity of jesus of nazareth," by the wife of a benefited clergyman. my name was not mine to use, so it was agreed that any essays from my pen should be anonymous. and now came the return to sibsey, and with it the need for definite steps as to the church. for now i no longer doubted, i had rejected, and the time for silence was past. i was willing to attend the church services, taking no part in any not directed to god himself, but i could no longer attend the holy communion, for in that service, full of recognition of jesus as deity and of his atoning sacrifice, i could no longer take part without hypocrisy. this was agreed to, and well do i remember the pain and trembling wherewith on the first "sacrament sunday" after my return i rose and left the church. that the vicar's wife should "communicate" was as much a matter of course as that the vicar should "administer"; i had never done anything in public that would draw attention to me, and a feeling of deadly sickness nearly overcame me as i made my exit, conscious that every eye was on me, and that my non-participation would be the cause of unending comment. as a matter of fact, every one naturally thought i was taken suddenly ill, and i was overwhelmed with calls and inquiries. to any direct question i answered quietly that i was unable to take part in the profession of faith required by an honest communicant, but the statement was rarely necessary, as the idea of heresy in a vicar's wife is slow to suggest itself to the ordinary bucolic mind, and i proffered no information where no question was asked. it happened that, shortly after that (to me) memorable christmas of , a sharp epidemic of typhoid fever broke out in the village of sibsey. the drainage there was of the most primitive type, and the contagion spread rapidly. naturally fond of nursing, i found in this epidemic work just fitted to my hand, and i was fortunate enough to be able to lend personal help that made me welcome in the homes of the stricken poor. the mothers who slept exhausted while i watched beside their darlings' bedsides will never, i like to fancy, think over-harshly of the heretic whose hand was as tender and often more skilful than their own. i think mother nature meant me for a nurse, for i take a sheer delight in nursing any one, provided only that there is peril in the sickness, so that there is the strange and solemn feeling of the struggle between the human skill one wields and the supreme enemy, death. there is a strange fascination in fighting death, step by step, and this is of course felt to the full where one fights for life as life, and not for a life one loves. when the patient is beloved the struggle is touched with agony, but where one fights with death over the body of a stranger there is a weird enchantment in the contest without personal pain, and as one forces back the hated foe there is a curious triumph in the feeling which marks the death-grip yielding up its prey, as one snatches back to earth the life which had well-nigh perished. the spring of brought me knowledge of a power that was to mould much of my future life. i delivered my first lecture, but delivered it to rows of empty pews in sibsey church. a queer whim took me that i would like to know how "it felt" to preach, and vague fancies stirred in me that i could speak if i had the chance. i saw no platform in the distance, nor had any idea of possible speaking in the future dawned upon me. but the longing to find outlet in words came upon me, and i felt as though i had something to say and was able to say it. so locked alone in the great, silent church, whither i had gone to practise some organ exercises, i ascended the pulpit steps and delivered my first lecture on the inspiration of the bible. i shall never forget the feeling of power and delight--but especially of power--that came upon me as i sent my voice ringing down the aisles, and the passion in me broke into balanced sentences and never paused for musical cadence or for rhythmical expression. all i wanted then was to see the church full of upturned faces, alive with throbbing sympathy, instead of the dreary emptiness of silent pews. and as though in a dream the solitude was peopled, and i saw the listening faces and the eager eyes, and as the sentences flowed unbidden from my lips and my own tones echoed back to me from the pillars of the ancient church, i knew of a verity that the gift of speech was mine, and that if ever--and then it seemed so impossible!--if ever the chance came to me of public work, this power of melodious utterance should at least win hearing for any message i had to bring. but the knowledge remained a secret all to my own self for many a long month, for i quickly felt ashamed of that foolish speechifying in an empty church; but, foolish as it was, i note it here, as it was the first effort of that expression in spoken words which later became to me one of the deepest delights of life. and, indeed, none can know, save they who have felt it, what joy there is in the full rush of language that moves and sways; to feel a crowd respond to the lightest touch; to see the faces brighten or darken at your bidding; to know that the sources of human emotion and human passion gush forth at the word of the speaker as the stream from the riven rock; to feel that the thought which thrills through a thousand hearers has its impulse from you, and throbs back to you the fuller from a thousand heart-beats. is there any emotional joy in life more brilliant than this, fuller of passionate triumph, and of the very essence of intellectual delight? in my marriage tie was broken. i took no new step, but my absence from the communion led to some gossip, and a relative of mr. besant pressed on him highly-coloured views of the social and professional dangers which would accrue if my heresy became known. my health, never really restored since the autumn of , grew worse and worse, serious heart trouble having arisen from the constant strain under which i lived. at last, in july or august, , the crisis came. i was told that i must conform to the outward observances of the church, and attend the communion; i refused. then came the distinct alternative; conformity or exclusion from home--in other words, hypocrisy or expulsion. i chose the latter. a bitterly sad time followed. my dear mother was heart-broken. to her, with her wide and vague form of christianity, loosely held, the intensity of my feeling that where i did not believe i would not pretend belief, was incomprehensible. she recognised far more fully than i did all that a separation from my home meant for me, and the difficulties that would surround a young woman, not yet twenty-six, living alone. she knew how brutally the world judges, and how the mere fact that a woman was young and alone justified any coarseness of slander. then i did not guess how cruel men and women could be, how venomous their tongues; now, knowing it, having faced slander and lived it down, i deliberately say that were the choice again before me i would choose as i chose then; i would rather go through it all again than live "in society" under the burden of an acted lie. the hardest struggle was against my mother's tears and pleading; to cause her pain was tenfold pain to me. against harshness i had been rigid as steel, but it was hard to remain steadfast when my darling mother, whom i loved as i loved nothing else on earth, threw herself on her knees before me, imploring me to yield. it seemed like a crime to bring such anguish on her; and i felt as a murderer as the snowy head was pressed against my knees. and yet--to live a lie? not even for her was that shame possible; in that worst crisis of blinding agony my will clung fast to truth. and it is true now as it ever was that he who loves father or mother better than truth is not worthy of her, and the flint-strewn path of honesty is the way to light and peace. then there were the children, the two little ones who worshipped me, who was to them mother, nurse, and playfellow. were they, too, demanded at my hands? not wholly--for a time. facts which i need not touch on here enabled my brother to obtain for me a legal separation, and when everything was arranged, i found myself guardian of my little daughter, and possessor of a small monthly income sufficient for respectable starvation. with a great price i had obtained my freedom, but--i was free. home, friends, social position, were the price demanded and paid, and, being free, i wondered what to do with my freedom. i could have had a home with my brother if i would give up my heretical friends and keep quiet, but i had no mind to put my limbs into fetters again, and in my youthful inexperience i determined to find something to do. the difficulty was the "something," and i spent various shillings in agencies, with a quite wonderful unanimity of failures. i tried fancy needle-work, offered to "ladies in reduced circumstances," and earned s. d. by some weeks of stitching. i experimented with a birmingham firm, who generously offered every one the opportunity of adding to their incomes, and on sending the small fee demanded, received a pencil-case, with an explanation that i was to sell little articles of that description, going as far as cruet-stands, to my friends. i did not feel equal to springing pencil-cases and cruet-stands on my acquaintances, so did not enter on that line of business, and similar failures in numerous efforts made me feel, as so many others have found, that the world-oyster is hard to open. however, i was resolute to build a nest for my wee daughter, my mother, and myself, and the first thing to do was to save my monthly pittance to buy furniture. i found a tiny house in colby road, upper norwood, near the scotts, who were more than good to me, and arranged to take it in the spring, and then accepted a loving invitation to folkestone, where my grandmother and two aunts were living, to look for work there. and found it. the vicar wanted a governess, and one of my aunts suggested me as a stop-gap, and thither i went with my little mabel, our board and lodging being payment for my work. i became head cook, governess, and nurse, glad enough to have found "something to do" that enabled me to save my little income. but i do not think i will ever take to cooking for a permanence; broiling and frying are all right, and making pie-crust is rather pleasant; but saucepans and kettles blister your hands. there is a charm in making a stew, to the unaccustomed cook, from the excitement of wondering what the result will be, and whether any flavour save that of onions will survive the competition in the mixture. on the whole, my cooking (strictly by cookery book) was a success, but my sweeping was bad, for i lacked muscle. this curious episode came to an abrupt end, for one of my little pupils fell ill with diphtheria, and i was transformed from cook to nurse. mabel i despatched to her grandmother, who adored her with a love condescendingly returned by the little fairy of three, and never was there a prettier picture than the red-gold curls nestled against the white, the baby-grace in exquisite contrast with the worn stateliness of her tender nurse. scarcely was my little patient out of danger when the youngest boy fell ill of scarlet fever; we decided to isolate him on the top floor, and i cleared away carpets and curtains, hung sheets over the doorways and kept them wet with chloride of lime, shut myself up there with the boy, having my meals left on the landing; and when all risk was over, proudly handed back my charge, the disease touching no one else in the house. and now the spring of had come, and in a few weeks my mother and i were to set up house together. how we had planned all, and had knitted on the new life together we anticipated to the old one we remembered! how we had discussed mabel's education, and the share which should fall to each! day-dreams; day-dreams! never to be realised. my mother went up to town, and in a week or two i received a telegram, saying she was dangerously ill, and as fast as express train would take me i was beside her. dying, the doctor said; three days she might live--no more. i told her the death-sentence, but she said resolutely, "i do not feel that i am going to die just yet," and she was right. there was an attack of fearful prostration--the valves of the heart had failed--a very wrestling with death, and then the grim shadow drew backwards. i nursed her day and night with a very desperation of tenderness, for now fate had touched the thing dearest to me in life. a second horrible crisis came, and for the second time her tenacity and my love beat back the death-stroke. she did not wish to die, the love of life was strong in her; i would not let her die; between us we kept the foe at bay. then dropsy supervened, and the end loomed slowly sure. it was then, after eighteen months' abstention, that i took the sacrament for the last time. my mother had an intense longing to communicate before she died, but absolutely refused to do so unless i took it with her. "if it be necessary to salvation," she persisted, doggedly, "i will not take it if darling annie is to be shut out. i would rather be lost with her than saved without her." i went to a clergyman i knew well, and laid the case before him; as i expected, he refused to allow me to communicate. i tried a second, with the same result. at last a thought struck me. there was dean stanley, my mother's favourite, a man known to be of the broadest school within the church of england; suppose i asked him? i did not know him, and i felt the request would be an impertinence; but there was just the chance that he might consent, and what would i not do to make my darling's death-bed easier? i said nothing to any one, but set out to the deanery, westminster, timidly asked for the dean, and followed the servant upstairs with a sinking heart. i was left for a moment alone in the library, and then the dean came in. i don't think i ever in my life felt more intensely uncomfortable than i did in that minute's interval as he stood waiting for me to speak, his clear, grave, piercing eyes gazing questioningly into mine. very falteringly--it must have been very clumsily--i preferred my request, stating boldly, with abrupt honesty, that i was not a christian, that my mother was dying, that she was fretting to take the sacrament, that she would not take it unless i took it with her, that two clergymen had refused to allow me to take part in the service, that i had come to him in despair, feeling how great was the intrusion, but--she was dying. his face changed to a great softness. "you were quite right to come to me," he answered, in that low, musical voice of his, his keen gaze having altered into one no less direct, but marvellously gentle. "of course i will go and see your mother, and i have little doubt that, if you will not mind talking over your position with me, we may see our way clear to doing as your mother wishes." i could barely speak my thanks, so much did the kindly sympathy move me; the revulsion from the anxiety and fear of rebuff was strong enough to be almost pain. but dean stanley did more than i asked. he suggested that he should call that afternoon, and have a quiet chat with my mother, and then come again on the following day to administer the sacrament. "a stranger's presence is always trying to a sick person," he said, with rare delicacy of thought, "and, joined to the excitement of the service, it might be too much for your dear mother. if i spend half an hour with her to-day, and administer the sacrament to-morrow, it will, i think, be better for her." so dean stanley came that afternoon, all the way to brompton, and remained talking with my mother for about half an hour, and then set himself to understand my own position. he finally told me that conduct was far more important than theory, and that he regarded all as "christians" who recognised and tried to follow the moral law of christ. on the question of the absolute deity of jesus he laid but little stress; jesus was "in a special sense the son of god," but it was folly to quarrel over words with only human meanings when dealing with the mystery of the divine existence, and, above all, it was folly to make such words into dividing walls between earnest souls. the one important matter was the recognition of "duty to god and man," and all who were one in that recognition might rightfully join in an act of worship, the essence of which was not acceptance of dogma, but love of god and self-sacrifice for man. "the holy communion," he concluded, in his soft tones, "was never meant to divide from each other hearts that are searching after the one true god. it was meant by its founder as a symbol of unity, not of strife." on the following day dean stanley celebrated the holy communion by the bedside of my dear mother, and well was i repaid for the struggle it had cost me to ask so great a kindness from a stranger, when i saw the comfort that gentle, noble heart had given to her. he soothed away all her anxiety about my heresy with tactful wisdom, bidding her have no fear of differences of opinion where the heart was set on truth. "remember," she told me he said to her--"remember that our god is the god of truth, and that therefore the honest search for truth can never be displeasing in his eyes." once again after that he came, and after his visit to my mother we had another long talk. i ventured to ask him, the conversation having turned that way, how, with views so broad as his, he found it possible to remain in communion with the church of england. "i think," he answered, gently, "that i am of more service to true religion by remaining in the church and striving to widen its boundaries from within, than if i left it and worked from without." and he went on to explain how, as dean of westminster, he was in a rarely independent position, and could make the abbey of a wider national service than would otherwise be possible. in all he said on this his love for and his pride in the glorious abbey were manifest, and it was easy to see that old historical associations, love of music, of painting, of stately architecture, were the bonds that held him bound to the "old historic church of england." his emotions, not his intellect, kept him churchman, and he shrank, with the over-sensitiveness of the cultured scholar, from the idea of allowing the old traditions to be handled roughly by inartistic hands. naturally of a refined and delicate nature, he had been rendered yet more exquisitely sensitive by the training of the college and the court; the polished courtesy of his manners was but the natural expression of a noble and lofty mind--a mind whose very gentleness sometimes veiled its strength. i have often heard dean stanley harshly spoken of, i have heard his honesty roughly challenged; but never has he been attacked in my presence that i have not uttered my protest against the injustice done him, and thus striven to repay some small fraction of that great debt of gratitude which i shall ever owe his memory. and now the end came swiftly. i had hurriedly furnished a couple of rooms in the little house, now ours, that i might take my mother into the purer air of norwood, and permission was given to drive her down in an invalid carriage. the following evening she was suddenly taken worse; we lifted her into bed, and telegraphed for the doctor. but he could do nothing, and she herself felt that the hand of death had gripped her. selfless to the last, she thought but for my loneliness. "i am leaving you alone," she sighed from time to time; and truly i felt, with an anguish i did not dare to realise, that when she died i should indeed be alone on earth. for two days longer she was with me, my beloved, and i never left her side for five minutes. on may th the weakness passed into gentle delirium, but even then the faithful eyes followed me about the room, until at length they closed for ever, and as the sun sank low in the heavens, the breath came slower and slower, till the silence of death came down upon us and she was gone. stunned and dazed with the loss, i went mechanically through the next few days. i would have none touch my dead save myself and her favourite sister, who was with us at the last. cold and dry-eyed i remained, even when they hid her from me with the coffin-lid, even all the dreary way to kensal green where her husband and her baby-son were sleeping, and when we left her alone in the chill earth, damp with the rains of spring. i could not believe that our day-dream was dead and buried, and the home in ruins ere yet it was fairly built. truly, my "house was left unto me desolate," and the rooms, filled with sunshine but unlighted by her presence, seemed to echo from their bare walls, "you are all alone." but my little daughter was there, and her sweet face and dancing feet broke the solitude, while her imperious claims for love and tendance forced me into attention to the daily needs of life. and life was hard in those days of spring and summer, resources small, and work difficult to find. in truth, the two months after my mother's death were the dreariest my life has known, and they were months of tolerably hard struggle. the little house in colby road taxed my slender resources heavily, and the search for work was not yet successful. i do not know how i should have managed but for the help ever at hand, of mr. and mrs. thomas scott. during this time i wrote for mr. scott pamphlets on inspiration, atonement, mediation and salvation, eternal torture, religious education of children, natural _v_. revealed religion, and the few guineas thus earned were very valuable. their house, too, was always open to me, and this was no small help, for often in those days the little money i had was enough to buy food for two but not enough to buy it for three, and i would go out and study all day at the british museum, so as to "have my dinner in town," the said dinner being conspicuous by its absence. if i was away for two evenings running from the hospitable house in the terrace, mrs. scott would come down to see what had happened, and many a time the supper there was of real physical value to me. well might i write, in , when thomas scott lay dead: "it was thomas scott whose house was open to me when my need was sorest, and he never knew, this generous, noble heart, how sometimes, when i went in, weary and overdone, from a long day's study in the british museum, with scarce food to struggle through the day--he never knew how his genial, 'well, little lady,' in welcoming tone, cheered the then utter loneliness of my life. to no living man--save one--do i owe the debt of gratitude that i owe to thomas scott." the small amount of jewellery i possessed, and all my superfluous clothes, were turned into more necessary articles, and the child, at least, never suffered a solitary touch of want. my servant mary was a wonderful contriver, and kept house on the very slenderest funds that could be put into a servant's hands, and she also made the little place so bright and fresh-looking that it was always a pleasure to go into it. recalling those days of "hard living," i can now look on them without regret. more, i am glad to have passed through them, for they have taught me how to sympathise with those who are struggling as i struggled then, and i never can hear the words fall from pale lips, "i am hungry," without remembering how painful a thing hunger is, and without curing that pain, at least for the moment. the presence of the child was good for me, keeping alive my aching, lonely heart: she would play contentedly for hours while i was working, a word now and again being enough for happiness; when i had to go out without her, she would run to the door with me, and the "good-bye" would come from down-curved lips; she was ever watching at the window for my return, and the sunny face was always the first to welcome me home. many and many a time have i been coming home, weary, hungry, and heart-sick, and the glimpse of the little face watching has reminded me that i must not carry in a grave face to sadden my darling, and the effort to throw off the depression for her sake threw it off altogether, and brought back the sunshine. she was the sweetness and joy of my life, my curly-headed darling, with her red-gold hair and glorious eyes, and passionate, wilful, loving nature. the torn, bruised tendrils of my heart gradually twined round this little life; she gave something to love and to tend, and thus gratified one of the strongest impulses of my nature. chapter vi. charles bradlaugh. during all these months the intellectual life had not stood still; i was slowly, cautiously feeling my way onward. and in the intellectual and social side of my life i found a delight unknown in the old days of bondage. first, there was the joy of freedom, the joy of speaking out frankly and honestly each thought. truly, i had a right to say: "with a great price obtained i this freedom," and having paid the price, i revelled in the liberty i had bought. mr. scott's valuable library was at my service; his keen brain challenged my opinions, probed my assertions, and suggested phases of thought hitherto untouched. i studied harder than ever, and the study now was unchecked by any fear of possible consequences. i had nothing left of the old faith save belief in "a god," and that began slowly to melt away. the theistic axiom: "if there be a god at all he must be at least as good as his highest creature," began with an "if," and to that "if" i turned my attention. "of all impossible things," writes miss frances power cobbe, "the most impossible must surely be that a man should dream something of the good and the noble, and that it should prove at last that his creator was less good and less noble than he had dreamed." but, i questioned, are we sure that there is a creator? granted that, if there is, he must be above his highest creature, but--is there such a being? "the ground," says the rev. charles voysey, "on which our belief in god rests is man. man, parent of bibles and churches, inspirer of all good thoughts and good deeds. man, the masterpiece of god's thought on earth. man, the text-book of all spiritual knowledge. neither miraculous nor infallible, man is nevertheless the only trustworthy record of the divine mind in things pertaining to god. man's reason, conscience, and affections are the only true revelation of his maker." but what if god were only man's own image reflected in the mirror of man's mind? what if man were the creator, not the revelation of his god? it was inevitable that such thoughts should arise after the more palpably indefensible doctrines of christianity had been discarded. once encourage the human mind to think, and bounds to the thinking can never again be set by authority. once challenge traditional beliefs, and the challenge will ring on every shield which is hanging in the intellectual arena. around me was the atmosphere of conflict, and, freed from its long repression, my mind leapt up to share in the strife with a joy in the intellectual tumult, the intellectual strain. i often attended south place chapel, where moncure d. conway was then preaching, and discussion with him did something towards widening my views on the deeper religious problems; i re-read dean mansel's "bampton lectures," and they did much towards turning me in the direction of atheism; i re-read mill's "examination of sir william hamilton's philosophy," and studied carefully comte's "philosophie positive." gradually i recognised the limitations of human intelligence and its incapacity for understanding the nature of god, presented as infinite and absolute; i had given up the use of prayer as a blasphemous absurdity, since an all-wise god could not need my suggestions, nor an all-good god require my promptings. but god fades out of the daily life of those who never pray; a personal god who is not a providence is a superfluity; when from the heaven does not smile a listening father, it soon becomes an empty space, whence resounds no echo of man's cry. i could then reach no loftier conception of the divine than that offered by the orthodox, and that broke hopelessly away as i analysed it. at last i said to mr. scott, "mr. scott, may i write a tract on the nature and existence of god?" he glanced at me keenly. "ah, little lady, you are facing, then, that problem at last? i thought it must come. write away." while this pamphlet was in ms. an event occurred which coloured all my succeeding life. i met charles bradlaugh. one day in the late spring, talking with mrs. conway--one of the sweetest and steadiest natures whom it has been my lot to meet, and to whom, as to her husband, i owe much for kindness generously shown when i was poor and had but few friends--she asked me if i had been to the hall of science, old street. i answered, with the stupid, ignorant reflection of other people's prejudices so sadly common, "no, i have never been there. mr. bradlaugh is rather a rough sort of speaker, is he not?" "he is the finest speaker of saxon-english that i have ever heard," she answered, "except, perhaps, john bright, and his power over a crowd is something marvellous. whether you agree with him or not, you should hear him." in the following july i went into the shop of mr. edward truelove, , high holborn, in search of some comtist publications, having come across his name as a publisher in the course of my study at the british museum. on the counter was a copy of the _national reformer_, and, attracted by the title, i bought it. i read it placidly in the omnibus on my way to victoria station, and found it excellent, and was sent into convulsions of inward merriment when, glancing up, i saw an old gentleman gazing at me, with horror speaking from every line of his countenance. to see a young woman, respectably dressed in crape, reading an atheistic journal, had evidently upset his peace of mind, and he looked so hard at the paper that i was tempted to offer it to him, but repressed the mischievous inclination. this first copy of the paper with which i was to be so closely connected bore date july , , and contained two long letters from a mr. arnold of northampton, attacking mr. bradlaugh, and a brief and singularly self-restrained answer from the latter. there was also an article on the national secular society, which made me aware that there was an organisation devoted to the propagandism of free thought. i felt that if such a society existed, i ought to belong to it, and i consequently wrote a short note to the editor of the _national reformer_, asking whether it was necessary for a person to profess atheism before being admitted to the society. the answer appeared in the _national reformer_:-- "s.e.--to be a member of the national secular society it is only necessary to be able honestly to accept the four principles, as given in the _national reformer_ of june th. this any person may do without being required to avow himself an atheist. candidly, we can see no logical resting-place between the entire acceptance of authority, as in the roman catholic church, and the most extreme rationalism. if, on again looking to the principles of the society, you can accept them, we repeat to you our invitation." i sent my name in as an active member, and find it is recorded in the _national reformer_ of august th. having received an intimation that londoners could receive their certificates at the hall of science from mr. bradlaugh on any sunday evening, i betook myself thither, and it was on august , , that i first set foot in a freethought hall. the hall was crowded to suffocation, and, at the very moment announced for the lecture, a roar of cheering burst forth, a tall figure passed swiftly up the hall to the platform, and, with a slight bow in answer to the voluminous greeting, charles bradlaugh took his seat. i looked at him with interest, impressed and surprised. the grave, quiet, stern, strong face, the massive head, the keen eyes, the magnificent breadth and height of forehead--was this the man i had heard described as a blatant agitator, an ignorant demagogue? he began quietly and simply, tracing out the resemblances between the krishna and the christ myths, and as he went from point to point his voice grew in force and resonance, till it rang round the hall like a trumpet. familiar with the subject, i could test the value of his treatment of it, and saw that his knowledge was as sound as his language was splendid. eloquence, fire, sarcasm, pathos, passion, all in turn were bent against christian superstition, till the great audience, carried away by the torrent of the orator's force, hung silent, breathing soft, as he went on, till the silence that followed a magnificent peroration broke the spell, and a hurricane of cheers relieved the tension. he came down the hall with some certificates in his hand, glanced round, and handed me mine with a questioning "mrs. besant?" then he said, referring to my question as to a profession of atheism, that he would willingly talk over the subject of atheism with me if i would make an appointment, and offered me a book he had been using in his lecture. long afterwards i asked him how he knew me, whom he had never seen, that he came straight to me in such fashion. he laughed and said he did not know, but, glancing over the faces, he felt sure that i was annie besant. from that first meeting in the hall of science dated a friendship that lasted unbroken till death severed the earthly bond, and that to me stretches through death's gateway and links us together still. as friends, not as strangers, we met--swift recognition, as it were, leaping from eye to eye; and i know now that the instinctive friendliness was in very truth an outgrowth of strong friendship in other lives, and that on that august day we took up again an ancient tie, we did not begin a new one. and so in lives to come we shall meet again, and help each other as we helped each other in this. and let me here place on record, as i have done before, some word of what i owe him for his true friendship; though, indeed, how great is my debt to him i can never tell. some of his wise phrases have ever remained in my memory. "you should never say you have an opinion on a subject until you have tried to study the strongest things said against the view to which you are inclined." "you must not think you know a subject until you are acquainted with all that the best minds have said about it." "no steady work can be done in public unless the worker study at home far more than he talks outside." "be your own harshest judge, listen to your own speech and criticise it; read abuse of yourself and see what grains of truth are in it." "do not waste time by reading opinions that are mere echoes of your own; read opinions you disagree with, and you will catch aspects of truth you do not readily see." through our long comradeship he was my sternest as well as gentlest critic, pointing out to me that in a party like ours, where our own education and knowledge were above those whom we led, it was very easy to gain indiscriminate praise and unstinted admiration; on the other hand, we received from christians equally indiscriminate abuse and hatred. it was, therefore, needful that we should be our own harshest judges, and that we should be sure that we knew thoroughly every subject that we taught. he saved me from the superficiality that my "fatal facility" of speech might so easily have induced; and when i began to taste the intoxication of easily won applause, his criticism of weak points, his challenge of weak arguments, his trained judgment, were of priceless service to me, and what of value there is in my work is very largely due to his influence, which at once stimulated and restrained. one very charming characteristic of his was his extreme courtesy in private life, especially to women. this outward polish, which sat so gracefully on his massive frame and stately presence, was foreign rather than english--for the english, as a rule, save such as go to court, are a singularly unpolished people--and it gave his manner a peculiar charm. i asked him once where he had learned his gracious fashions that were so un-english--he would stand with uplifted hat as he asked a question of a maidservant, or handed a woman into a carriage--and he answered, with a half-smile, half-scoff, that it was only in england he was an outcast from society. in france, in spain, in italy, he was always welcomed among men and women of the highest social rank, and he supposed that he had unconsciously caught the foreign tricks of manner. moreover, he was absolutely indifferent to all questions of social position; peer or artisan, it was to him exactly the same; he never seemed conscious of the distinctions of which men make so much. our first conversation, after the meeting at the hall of science, took place a day or two later in his little study in , turner street, commercial road, a wee room overflowing with books, in which he looked singularly out of place. later i learned that he had failed in business in consequence of christian persecution, and, resolute to avoid bankruptcy, he had sold everything he possessed, save his books, had sent his wife and daughters to live in the country with his father-in-law, had taken two tiny rooms in turner street, where he could live for a mere trifle, and had bent himself to the task of paying off the liabilities he had incurred--incurred in consequence of his battling for political and religious liberty. i took with me my ms. essay "on the nature and existence of god," and it served as the basis for our conversation; we found there was little difference in our views. "you have thought yourself into atheism without knowing it," he said, and all that i changed in the essay was the correction of the vulgar error that the atheist says "there is no god," by the insertion of a passage disclaiming this position from an essay pointed out to me by mr. bradlaugh. and at this stage of my life-story, it is necessary to put very clearly the position i took up and held so many years as atheist, because otherwise the further evolution into theosophist will be wholly incomprehensible. it will lead me into metaphysics, and to some readers these are dry, but if any one would understand the evolution of a soul he must be willing to face the questions which the soul faces in its growth. and the position of the philosophic atheist is so misunderstood that it is the more necessary to put it plainly, and theosophists, at least, in reading it, will see how theosophy stepped in finally as a further evolution towards knowledge, rendering rational, and therefore acceptable, the loftiest spirituality that the human mind can as yet conceive. in order that i may not colour my past thinkings by my present thought, i take my statements from pamphlets written when i adopted the atheistic philosophy and while i continued an adherent thereof. no charge can then be made that i have softened my old opinions for the sake of reconciling them with those now held. chapter vii. atheism as i knew and taught it. the first step which leaves behind the idea of a limited and personal god, an extra-cosmic creator, and leads the student to the point whence atheism and pantheism diverge, is the recognition that a profound unity of substance underlies the infinite diversities of natural phenomena, the discernment of the one beneath the many. this was the step i had taken ere my first meeting with charles bradlaugh, and i had written:-- "it is manifest to all who will take the trouble to think steadily, that there can be only one eternal and underived substance, and that matter and spirit must, therefore, only be varying manifestations of this one substance. the distinction made between matter and spirit is, then, simply made for the sake of convenience and clearness, just as we may distinguish perception from judgment, both of which, however, are alike processes of thought. matter is, in its constituent elements, the same as spirit; existence is _one_, however manifold in its phenomena; life is one, however multiform in its evolution. as the heat of the coal differs from the coal itself, so do memory, perception, judgment, emotion, and will differ from the brain which is the instrument of thought. but nevertheless they are all equally products of the one sole substance, varying only in their conditions.... i find myself, then, compelled to believe that one only substance exists in all around me; that the universe is eternal, or at least eternal so far as our faculties are concerned, since we cannot, as some one has quaintly put it, 'get to the outside of everywhere'; that a deity cannot be conceived of as apart from the universe; that the worker and the work are inextricably interwoven, and in some sense eternally and indissolubly combined. having got so far, we will proceed to examine into the possibility of proving the existence of that one essence popularly called by the name of _god_, under the conditions strictly defined by the orthodox. having demonstrated, as i hope to do, that the orthodox idea of god is unreasonable and absurd, we will endeavour to ascertain whether _any_ idea of god, worthy to be called an idea, is attainable in the present state of our faculties." "the deity must of necessity be that one and only substance out of which all things are evolved, under the uncreated conditions and eternal laws of the universe; he must be, as theodore parker somewhat oddly puts it, 'the materiality of matter as well as the spirituality of spirit'--_i.e._, these must both be products of this one substance; a truth which is readily accepted as soon as spirit and matter are seen to be but different modes of one essence. thus we identify substance with the all-comprehending and vivifying force of nature, and in so doing we simply reduce to a physical impossibility the existence of the being described by the orthodox as a god possessing the attributes of personality. the deity becomes identified with nature, co-extensive with the universe, but the _god_ of the orthodox no longer exists; we may change the signification of god, and use the word to express a different idea, but we can no longer mean by it a personal being in the orthodox sense, possessing an individuality which divides him from the rest of the universe."[ ] proceeding to search whether _any_ idea of god was attainable, i came to the conclusion that evidence of the existence of a conscious power was lacking, and that the ordinary proofs offered were inconclusive; that we could grasp phenomena and no more. "there appears, also, to be a possibility of a mind in nature, though we have seen that intelligence is, strictly speaking, impossible. there cannot be perception, memory, comparison, or judgment, but may there not be a perfect mind, unchanging, calm, and still? our faculties fail us when we try to estimate the deity, and we are betrayed into contradictions and absurdities; but does it therefore follow that he _is_ not? it seems to me that to deny his existence is to overstep the boundaries of our thought-power almost as much as to try and define it. we pretend to know the unknown if we declare him to be the unknowable. unknowable to us at present, yes! unknowable for ever, in other possible stages of existence? we have reached a region into which we cannot penetrate; here all human faculties fail us; we bow our heads on 'the threshold of the unknown.' "'and the ear of man cannot hear, and the eye of man cannot see, but if we could see and hear, this vision--were it not he?' thus sings alfred tennyson, the poet of metaphysics: '_if_ we could see and hear.' alas! it is always an 'if!'[ ] this refusal to believe without evidence, and the declaration that anything "behind phenomena" is unknowable to man as at present constituted--these are the two chief planks of the atheistic platform, as atheism was held by charles bradlaugh and myself. in this position was clearly reaffirmed. "it is necessary to put briefly the atheistic position, for no position is more continuously and more persistently misrepresented. atheism is _without_ god. it does not assert _no_ god. 'the atheist does not say "there is no god," but he says, "i know not what you mean by god; i am without idea of god; the word god is to me a sound conveying no clear or distinct affirmation. i do not deny god, because i cannot deny that of which i have no conception, and the conception of which, by its affirmer, is so imperfect that he is unable to define it to me."' (charles bradlaugh, "freethinker's text-book," p. .) the atheist neither affirms nor denies the possibility of phenomena differing from those recognised by human experience.... as his knowledge of the universe is extremely limited and very imperfect, the atheist declines either to deny or to affirm anything with regard to modes of existence of which he knows nothing. further, he refuses to believe anything concerning that of which he knows nothing, and affirms that that which can never be the subject of knowledge ought never to be the object of belief. while the atheist, then, neither affirms nor denies the unknown, he _does_ deny all which conflicts with the knowledge to which he has already attained. for example, he _knows_ that one is one, and that three times one are three; he _denies_ that three times one are, or can be, one. the position of the atheist is a clear and a reasonable one: i know nothing about 'god,' and therefore i do not believe in him or in it; what you tell me about your god is self-contradictory, and is therefore incredible. i do not deny 'god,' which is an unknown tongue to me; i do deny your god, who is an impossibility. i am without god."[ ] up to i find myself writing on the same lines: "no man can rationally affirm 'there is no god,' until the word 'god' has for him a definite meaning, and until everything that exists is known to him, and known with what leibnitz calls 'perfect knowledge.' the atheist's denial of the gods begins only when these gods are defined or described. never yet has a god been defined in terms which were not palpably self-contradictory and absurd; never yet has a god been described so that a concept of him was made possible to human thought--nor is anything gained by the assertors of deity when they allege that he is incomprehensible. if 'god' exists and is incomprehensible, his incomprehensibility is an admirable reason for being silent about him, but can never justify the affirmation of self-contradictory propositions, and the threatening of people with damnation if they do not accept them."[ ] "the belief of the atheist stops where his evidence stops. he believes in the existence of the universe, judging the accessible proof thereof to be adequate, and he finds in this universe sufficient cause for the happening of all phenomena. he finds no intellectual satisfaction in placing a gigantic conundrum behind the universe, which only adds its own unintelligibility to the already sufficiently difficult problem of existence. our lungs are not fitted to breathe beyond the atmosphere which surrounds our globe, and our faculties cannot breathe outside the atmosphere of the phenomenal."[ ] and i summed up this essay with the words: "i do not believe in god. my mind finds no grounds on which to build up a reasonable faith. my heart revolts against the spectre of an almighty indifference to the pain of sentient beings. my conscience rebels against the injustice, the cruelty, the inequality, which surround me on every side. but i believe in man. in man's redeeming power; in man's remoulding energy; in man's approaching triumph, through knowledge, love, and work."[ ] these views of existence naturally colour all views of life and of the existence of the soul. and here steps in the profound difference between atheism and pantheism; both posit an existence at present inscrutable by human faculties, of which all phenomena are modes; but to the atheist that existence manifests as force-matter, unconscious, unintelligent, while to the pantheist it manifests as life-matter, conscious, intelligent. to the one, life and consciousness are attributes, properties, dependent upon arrangements of matter; to the other they are fundamental, essential, and only limited in their manifestation by arrangements of matter. despite the attraction held for me in spinoza's luminous arguments, the over-mastering sway which science was beginning to exercise over me drove me to seek for the explanation of all problems of life and mind at the hands of the biologist and the chemist. they had done so much, explained so much, could they not explain all? surely, i thought, the one safe ground is that of experiment, and the remembered agony of doubt made me very slow to believe where i could not prove. so i was fain to regard life as an attribute, and this again strengthened the atheistic position. "scientifically regarded, life is not an entity but a property; it is not a mode of existence, but a characteristic of certain modes. life is the result of an arrangement of matter, and when rearrangement occurs the former result can no longer be present; we call the result of the changed arrangement death. life and death are two convenient words for expressing the general outcome of two arrangements of matter, one of which is always found to precede the other."[ ] and then, having resorted to chemistry for one illustration, i took another from one of those striking and easily grasped analogies, facility for seeing and presenting which has ever been one of the secrets of my success as a propagandist. like pictures, they impress the mind of the hearer with a vivid sense of reality. "every one knows the exquisite iridiscence of mother-of-pearl, the tender, delicate hues which melt into each other, glowing with soft radiance. how different is the dull, dead surface of a piece of wax. yet take that dull, black wax and mould it so closely to the surface of the mother-of-pearl that it shall take every delicate marking of the shell, and when you raise it the seven-hued glory shall smile at you from the erstwhile colourless surface. for, though it be to the naked eye imperceptible, all the surface of the mother-of-pearl is in delicate ridges and furrows, like the surface of a newly-ploughed field; and when the waves of light come dashing up against the ridged surface, they are broken like the waves on a shingly shore, and are flung backwards, so that they cross each other and the oncoming waves; and, as every ray of white light is made up of waves of seven colours, and these waves differ in length each from the others, the fairy ridges fling them backward separately, and each ray reaches the eye by itself; so that the colour of the mother-of-pearl is really the spray of the light waves, and comes from arrangement of matter once again. give the dull, black wax the same ridges and furrows, and its glory shall differ in nothing from that of the shell. to apply our illustration: as the colour belongs to one arrangement of matter and the dead surface to another, so life belongs to some arrangements of matter and is their resultant, while the resultant of other arrangements is death."[ ] the same line of reasoning naturally was applied to the existence of "spirit" in man, and it was argued that mental activity, the domain of the "spirit," was dependent on bodily organisation. "when the babe is born it shows no sign of mind. for a brief space hunger and repletion, cold and warmth are its only sensations. slowly the specialised senses begin to function; still more slowly muscular movements, at first aimless and reflex, become co-ordinated and consciously directed. there is no sign here of an intelligent spirit controlling a mechanism; there is every sign of a learning and developing intelligence, developing _pari passu_ with the organism of which it is a function. as the body grows, the mind grows with it, and the childish mind of the child develops into the hasty, quickly-judging, half-informed, unbalanced youthful mind of the youth; with maturity of years comes maturity of mind, and body and mind are vigorous and in their prime. as old age comes on and the bodily functions decay, the mind decays also, until age passes into senility, and body and mind sink into second childhood. has the immortal spirit decayed with the organisation, or is it dwelling in sorrow, bound in its 'house of clay'? if this be so, the 'spirit' must be unconscious, or else separate from the very individual whose essence it is supposed to be, for the old man does not suffer when his mind is senile, but is contented as a little child. and not only is this constant, simultaneous growth and decay of body and mind to be observed, but we know that mental functions are disordered and suspended by various physical conditions. alcohol, many drugs, fever, disorder the mind; a blow on the cranium suspends its functions, and the 'spirit' returns with the surgeon's trepanning. does the 'spirit' take part in dreams? is it absent from the idiot, from the lunatic? is it guilty of manslaughter when the madman murders, or does it helplessly watch its own instrument performing actions at which it shudders? if it can only work here through an organism, is its nature changed in its independent life, severed from all with which it was identified? can it, in its 'disembodied state,' have anything in common with its past?"[ ] it will be seen that my unbelief in the existence of the soul or spirit was a matter of cold, calm reasoning. as i wrote in : "for many of us evidence must precede belief. i would gladly believe in a happy immortality for all, as i would gladly believe that all misery and crime and poverty will disappear in --_if i could_. but i am unable to believe an improbable proposition unless convincing evidence is brought in support of it. immortality is most improbable; no evidence is brought forward in its favour. i cannot believe only because i wish."[ ] such was the philosophy by which i lived from to , when first some researches that will be dealt with in their proper place, and which led me ultimately to the evidence i had before vainly demanded, began to shake my confidence in its adequacy. amid outer storm and turmoil and conflict, i found it satisfy my intellect, while lofty ideals of morality fed my emotions. i called myself atheist, and rightly so, for i was without god, and my horizon was bounded by life on earth; i gloried in the name then, as it is dear to my heart now, for all the associations with which it is connected. "atheist is one of the grandest titles a man can wear; it is the order of merit of the world's heroes. most great discoverers, most deep-thinking philosophers, most earnest reformers, most toiling pioneers of progress, have in their turn had flung at them the name of atheist. it was howled over the grave of copernicus; it was clamoured round the death-pile of bruno; it was yelled at vanini, at spinoza, at priestley, at voltaire, at paine; it has become the laurel-bay of the hero, the halo of the martyr; in the world's history it has meant the pioneer of progress, and where the cry of 'atheist' is raised there may we be sure that another step is being taken towards the redemption of humanity. the saviours of the world are too often howled at as atheists, and then worshipped as deities. the atheists are the vanguard of the army of freethought, on whom falls the brunt of the battle, and are shivered the hardest of the blows; their feet trample down the thorns that others may tread unwounded; their bodies fill up the ditch that, by the bridge thus made, others may pass to victory. honour to the pioneers of progress, honour to the vanguard of liberty's army, honour to those who to improve earth have forgotten heaven, and who in their zeal for man have forgotten god."[ ] this poor sketch of the conception of the universe, to which i had conquered my way at the cost of so much pain, and which was the inner centre round which my life revolved for twelve years, may perhaps show that the atheistic philosophy is misjudged sorely when it is scouted as vile or condemned as intellectually degraded. it has outgrown anthropomorphic deities, and it leaves us face to face with nature, open to all her purifying, strengthening inspirations. "there is only one kind of prayer," it says, "which is reasonable, and that is the deep, silent adoration of the greatness and beauty and order around us, as revealed in the realms of non-rational life and in humanity; as we bow our heads before the laws of the universe, and mould our lives into obedience to their voice, we find a strong, calm peace steal over our hearts, a perfect trust in the ultimate triumph of the right, a quiet determination to 'make our lives sublime.' before our own high ideals, before those lives which show us 'how high the tides of divine life have risen in the human world,' we stand with hushed voice and veiled face; from them we draw strength to emulate, and even dare struggle to excel. the contemplation of the ideal is true prayer; it inspires, it strengthens, it ennobles. the other part of prayer is work; from contemplation to labour, from the forest to the street. study nature's laws, conform to them, work in harmony with them, and work becomes a prayer and a thanksgiving, an adoration of the universal wisdom, and a true obedience to the universal law."[ ] to a woman of my temperament, filled with passionate desire for the bettering of the world, the elevation of humanity, a lofty system of ethics was of even more importance than a logical, intellectual conception of the universe; and the total loss of all faith in a righteous god only made me more strenuously assertive of the binding nature of duty and the overwhelming importance of conduct. in this conviction found voice in a pamphlet on the "true basis of morality," and in all the years of my propaganda on the platform of the national secular society no subject was more frequently dealt with in my lectures than that of human ethical growth and the duty of man to man. no thought was more constantly in my mind than that of the importance of morals, and it was voiced at the very outset of my public career. speaking of the danger lest "in these stirring times of inquiry," old sanctions of right conduct should be cast aside ere new ones were firmly established, i wrote: "it therefore becomes the duty of every one who fights in the ranks of freethought, and who ventures to attack the dogmas of the churches, and to strike down the superstitions which enslave men's intellect, to beware how he uproots sanctions of morality which he is too weak to replace, or how, before he is prepared with better ones, he removes the barriers which do yet, however poorly, to some extent check vice and repress crime.... that which touches morality touches the heart of society; a high and pure morality is the life-blood of humanity; mistakes in belief are inevitable, and are of little moment; mistakes in life destroy happiness, and their destructive consequences spread far and wide. it is, then, a very important question whether we, who are endeavouring to take away from the world the authority on which has hitherto been based all its morality, can offer a new and firm ground whereupon may safely be built up the fair edifice of a noble life." i then proceeded to analyse revelation and intuition as a basis for morals, and, discarding both, i asserted: "the true basis of morality is utility; that is, the adaptation of our actions to the promotion of the general welfare and happiness; the endeavour so to rule our lives that we may serve and bless mankind." and i argued for this basis, showing that the effort after virtue was implied in the search for happiness: "virtue is an indispensable part of all true and solid happiness.... but it is, after all, only reasonable that happiness should be the ultimate test of right and wrong, if we live, as we do, in a realm of law. obedience to law must necessarily result in harmony, and disobedience in discord. but if obedience to law result in harmony it must also result in happiness--all through nature obedience to law results in happiness, and through obedience each living thing fulfils the perfection of its being, and in that perfection finds its true happiness." it seemed to me most important to remove morality from the controversies about religion, and to give it a basis of its own: "as, then, the grave subject of the existence of deity is a matter of dispute, it is evidently of deep importance to society that morality should not be dragged into this battlefield, to stand or totter with the various theories of the divine nature which human thought creates and destroys. if we can found morality on a basis apart from theology, we shall do humanity a service which can scarcely be overestimated." a study of the facts of nature, of the consequences of man in society, seemed sufficient for such a basis. "our faculties do not suffice to tell us about god; they do suffice to study phenomena, and to deduce laws from correlated facts. surely, then, we should do wisely to concentrate our strength and our energies on the discovery of the attainable, instead of on the search after the unknowable. if we are told that morality consists in obedience to the supposed will of a supposed perfectly moral being, because in so doing we please god, then we are at once placed in a region where our faculties are useless to us, and where our judgment is at fault. but if we are told that we are to lead noble lives, because nobility of life is desirable for itself alone, because in so doing we are acting in harmony with the laws of nature, because in so doing we spread happiness around our pathway and gladden our fellow-men--then, indeed, motives are appealed to which spring forward to meet the call, and chords are struck in our hearts which respond in music to the touch." it was to the establishment of this secure basis that i bent my energies, this that was to me of supreme moment. "amid the fervid movement of society, with its wild theories and crude social reforms, with its righteous fury against oppression and its unconsidered notions of wider freedom and gladder life, it is of vital importance that morality should stand on a foundation unshakable; that so through all political and religious revolutions human life may grow purer and nobler, may rise upwards into settled freedom, and not sink downwards into anarchy. only utility can afford us a sure basis, the reasonableness of which will be accepted alike by thoughtful student and hard-headed artisan. utility appeals to all alike, and sets in action motives which are found equally in every human heart. well shall it be for humanity that creeds and dogmas pass away, that superstition vanishes, and the clear light of freedom and science dawns on a regenerated earth--but well only if men draw tighter and closer the links of trustworthiness, of honour, and of truth. equality before the law is necessary and just; liberty is the birthright of every man and woman; free individual development will elevate and glorify the race. but little worth these priceless jewels, little worth liberty and equality with all their promise for mankind, little worth even wider happiness, if that happiness be selfish, if true fraternity, true brotherhood, do not knit man to man, and heart to heart, in loyal service to the common need, and generous self-sacrifice to the common good."[ ] to the forwarding of this moral growth of man, two things seemed to me necessary--an ideal which should stir the emotions and impel to action, and a clear understanding of the sources of evil and of the methods by which they might be drained. into the drawing of the first i threw all the passion of my nature, striving to paint the ideal in colours which should enthral and fascinate, so that love and desire to realise might stir man to effort. if "morality touched by emotion" be religion, then truly was i the most religious of atheists, finding in this dwelling on and glorifying of the ideal full satisfaction for the loftiest emotions. to meet the fascination exercised over men's hearts by the man of sorrows, i raised the image of man triumphant, man perfected. "rightly is the ideal christian type of humanity a man of sorrows. jesus, with worn and wasted body; with sad, thin lips, curved into a mournful droop of penitence for human sin; with weary eyes gazing up to heaven because despairing of earth; bowed down and aged with grief and pain, broken-hearted with long anguish, broken-spirited with unresisted ill-usage--such is the ideal man of the christian creed. beautiful with a certain pathetic beauty, telling of the long travail of earth, eloquent of the sufferings of humanity, but not the model type to which men should conform their lives, if they would make humanity glorious. and, therefore, in radiant contrast with this, stands out in the sunshine and under the blue summer sky, far from graveyards and torture of death agony, the fair ideal humanity of the atheist. in form strong and fair, perfect in physical development as the hercules of grecian art, radiant with love, glorious in self-reliant power; with lips bent firm to resist oppression, and melting into soft curves of passion and of pity; with deep, far-seeing eyes, gazing piercingly into the secrets of the unknown, and resting lovingly on the beauties around him; with hands strong to work in the present; with heart full of hope which the future shall realise; making earth glad with his labour and beautiful with his skill--this, this is the ideal man, enshrined in the atheist's heart. the ideal humanity of the christian is the humanity of the slave, poor, meek, broken-spirited, humble, submissive to authority, however oppressive and unjust; the ideal humanity of the atheist is the humanity of the free man who knows no lord, who brooks no tyranny, who relies on his own strength, who makes his brother's quarrel his, proud, true-hearted, loyal, brave."[ ] a one-sided view? yes. but a very natural outcome of a sunny nature, for years held down by unhappiness and the harshness of an outgrown creed. it was the rebound of such a nature suddenly set free, rejoicing in its liberty and self-conscious strength, and it carried with it a great power of rousing the sympathetic enthusiasm of men and women, deeply conscious of their own restrictions and their own longings. it was the cry of the freed soul that had found articulate expression, and the many inarticulate and prisoned souls answered to it tumultously, with fluttering of caged wings. with hot insistence i battled for the inspiration to be drawn from the beauty and grandeur of which human life was capable. "will any one exclaim, 'you are taking all beauty out of human life, all hope, all warmth, all inspiration; you give us cold duty for filial obedience, and inexorable law in the place of god'? all beauty from life? is there, then, no beauty in the idea of forming part of the great life of the universe, no beauty in conscious harmony with nature, no beauty in faithful service, no beauty in ideals of every virtue? 'all hope'? why, i give you more than hope, i give you certainty; if i bid you labour for this world, it is with the knowledge that this world will repay you a, thousand-fold, because society will grow purer, freedom more settled, law more honoured, life more full and glad. what is your heaven? a heaven in the clouds! i point to a heaven attainable on earth. 'all warmth'? what! you serve warmly a god unknown and invisible, in a sense the projected shadow of your own imaginings, and can only serve coldly your brother whom you see at your side? there is no warmth in brightening the lot of the sad, in reforming abuses, in establishing equal justice for rich and poor? you find warmth in the church, but none in the home? warmth in imagining the cloud glories of heaven, but none in creating substantial glories on earth?' all inspiration'? if you want inspiration to feeling, to sentiment, perhaps you had better keep to your bible and your creeds; if you want inspiration to work, go and walk through the east of london, or the back streets of manchester. you are inspired to tenderness as you gaze at the wounds of jesus, dead in judaea long ago, and find no inspiration in the wounds of men and women, dying in the england of to-day? you 'have tears to shed for him,' but none for the sufferer at your doors? his passion arouses your sympathies, but you see no pathos in the passion of the poor? duty is colder than 'filial obedience'? what do you mean by filial obedience? obedience to your ideal of goodness and love--is it not so? then how is duty cold? i offer you ideals for your homage: here is truth for your mistress, to whose exaltation you shall devote your intellect; here is freedom for your general, for whose triumph you shall fight; here is love for your inspirer, who shall influence your every thought; here is man for your master--not in heaven, but on earth--to whose service you shall consecrate every faculty of your being. 'inexorable law in the place of god'? yes; a stern certainty that you shall not waste your life, yet gather a rich reward at the close; that you shall not sow misery, yet reap gladness; that you shall not be selfish, yet be crowned with love; nor shall you sin, yet find safety in repentance. true, our creed _is_ a stern one, stern with the beautiful sternness of nature. but if we be in the right, look to yourselves; laws do not check their action for your ignorance; fire will not cease to scorch, because you 'did not know.'"[ ] with equal vigour did i maintain that "virtue was its own reward," and that payment on the other side of the grave was unnecessary as an incentive to right living. "what shall we say to miss cobbe's contention that duty will 'grow grey and cold' without god and immortality? yes, for those with whom duty is a matter of selfish calculation, and who are virtuous only because they look for a 'golden crown' in payment on the other side the grave. those of us who find joy in right-doing, who work because work is useful to our fellows, who live well because in such living we pay our contribution to the world's wealth, leaving earth richer than we found it--we need no paltry payment after death for our life's labour, for in that labour is its own 'exceeding great reward.'"[ ] but did any one yearn for immortality, that "not all of me shall die"? "is it true that atheism has no immortality? what is true immortality? is beethoven's true immortality in his continued personal consciousness, or in his glorious music deathless while the world endures? is shelley's true life in his existence in some far-off heaven, or in the pulsing liberty his lyrics send through men's hearts, when they respond to the strains of his lyre? music does not die, though one instrument be broken; thought does not die, though one brain be shivered; love does not die, though one heart's strings be rent; and no great thinker dies so long as his thought re-echoes through the ages, its melody the fuller-toned the more human brains send its music on. not only to the hero and the sage is this immortality given; it belongs to each according to the measure of his deeds; world-wide life for world-wide service; straitened life for straitened work; each reaps as he sows, and the harvest is gathered by each in his rightful order."[ ] this longing to leave behind a name that will live among men by right of service done them, this yearning for human love and approval that springs naturally from the practical and intense realisation of human brotherhood--these will be found as strong motives in the breasts of the most earnest men and women who have in our generation identified themselves with the freethought cause. they shine through the written and spoken words of charles bradlaugh all through his life, and every friend of his knows how often he has expressed the longing that "when the grass grows green over my grave, men may love me a little for the work i tried to do." needless to say that, in the many controversies in which i took part, it was often urged against me that such motives were insufficient, that they appealed only to natures already ethically developed, and left the average man, and, above all, the man below the average, with no sufficiently constraining motive for right conduct. i resolutely held to my faith in human nature, and the inherent response of the human heart when appealed to from the highest grounds; strange--i often think now--this instinctive certainty i had of man's innate grandeur, that governed all my thought, inconsistent as that certainty was with my belief in his purely animal ancestry. pressed too hard, i would take refuge in a passionate disdain for all who did not hear the thrilling voice of virtue and love her for her own sweet sake. "i have myself heard the question asked: 'why should i seek for truth, and why should i lead a good life, if there be no immortality in which to reap a reward?' to this question the freethinker has one clear and short answer: 'there is no reason why you should seek truth, if to you the search has no attracting power. there is no reason why you should lead a noble life, if you find your happiness in leading a poor and a base one.' friends, no one can enjoy a happiness which is too high for his capabilities; a book may be of intensest interest, but a dog will very much prefer being given a bone. to him whose highest interest is centred in his own miserable self, to him who cares only to gain his own ends, to him who seeks only his own individual comfort, to that man freethought can have no attraction. such a man may indeed be made religious by a bribe of heaven; he may be led to seek for truth, because he hopes to gain his reward hereafter by the search; but truth disdains the service of the self-seeker; she cannot be grasped by a hand that itches for reward. if truth is not loved for her own pure sake, if to lead a noble life, if to make men happier, if to spread brightness around us, if to leave the world better than we found it--if these aims have no attraction for us, if these thoughts do not inspire us, then we are not worthy to be secularists, we have no right to the proud title of freethinkers. if you want to be paid for your good lives by living for ever in a lazy and useless fashion in an idle heaven; if you want to be bribed into nobility of life; if, like silly children, you learn your lesson not to gain knowledge but to win sugar-plums, then you had better go back to your creeds and your churches; they are all you are fit for; you are not worthy to be free. but we--who, having caught a glimpse of the beauty of truth, deem the possession of her worth more than all the world beside; who have made up our minds to do our work ungrudgingly, asking for no reward beyond the results which spring up from our labour--we will spread the gospel of freethought among men, until the sad minor melodies of christianity have sobbed out their last mournful notes on the dying evening breeze, and on the fresh morning winds shall ring out the chorus of hope and joyfulness, from the glad lips of men whom the truth has at last set free."[ ] the intellectual comprehension of the sources of evil and the method of its extinction was the second great plank in my ethical platform. the study of darwin and herbert spencer, of huxley, büchner and haeckel, had not only convinced me of the truth of evolution, but, with help from w.h. clifford, lubbock, buckle, lecky, and many another, had led me to see in the evolution of the social instinct the explanation of the growth of conscience and of the strengthening of man's mental and moral nature. if man by study of the conditions surrounding him and by the application of intelligence to the subdual of external nature, had already accomplished so much, why should not further persistence along the same road lead to his complete emancipation? all the evil, anti-social side of his nature was an inheritance from his brute ancestry, and could be gradually eradicated; he could not only "let the ape and tiger die," but he could kill them out." it may be frankly acknowledged that man inherits from his brute progenitors various bestial tendencies which are in course of elimination. the wild-beast desire to fight is one of these, and this has been encouraged, not checked, by religion.... another bestial tendency is the lust of the male for the female apart from love, duty, and loyalty; this again has been encouraged by religion, as witness the polygamy and concubinage of the hebrews--as in abraham, david, and solomon, not to mention the precepts of the mosaic laws--the bands of male and female prostitutes in connection with pagan temples, and the curious outbursts of sexual passion in connection with religious revivals and missions. another bestial tendency is greed, the strongest grabbing all he can and trampling down the weak, in the mad struggle for wealth; how and when has religion modified this tendency, sanctified as it is in our present civilisation? all these bestial tendencies will be eradicated only by the recognition of human duty, of the social bond. religion has not eradicated them, but science, by tracing them to their source in our brute ancestry, has explained them and has shown them in their true light. as each recognises that the anti-social tendencies are the bestial tendencies in man, and that man in evolving further must evolve out of these, each also feels it part of his personal duty to curb these in himself, and so to rise further from the brute. this rational 'co-operation with nature' distinguishes the scientific from the religious person, and this constraining sense of obligation is becoming stronger and stronger in all those who, in losing faith in god, have gained hope for man."[ ] for this rational setting of oneself on the side of the forces working for evolution implied active co-operation by personal purity and nobility." to the atheist it seems that the knowledge that the perfecting of the race is only possible by the improvement of the individual, supplies the most constraining motive which can be imagined for efforts after personal perfection. the theist may desire personal perfection, but his desire is self-centred; each righteous individual is righteous, as it were, alone, and his righteousness does not benefit his fellows save as it may make him helpful and loving in his dealings with them. the atheist desires personal perfection not only for his joy in it as beautiful in itself, but because science has taught him the unity of the race, and he knows that each fresh conquest of his over the baser parts of his nature, and each strengthening of the higher, is a gain for all, and not for himself alone."[ ] besides all this, the struggle against evil, regarded as transitory and as a necessary concomitant of evolution, loses its bitterness. "in dealing with evil, atheism is full of hope instead of despair. to the christian, evil is as everlasting as good; it exists by the permission of god, and, therefore, by the will of god. our nature is corrupt, inclined to evil; the devil is ever near us, working all sin and all misery. what hope has the christian face to face with a world's wickedness? what answer to the question, whence comes sin? to the atheist the terrible problem has in it no figure of despair. evil comes from ignorance, we say; ignorance of physical and of moral facts. primarily, from ignorance of physical order; parents who dwell in filthy, unventilated, unweathertight houses, who live on insufficient, innutritious, unwholesome food, will necessarily be unhealthy, will lack vitality, will probably have disease lurking in their veins; such parents will bring into the world ill-nurtured children, in whom the brain will generally be the least developed part of the body; such children, by their very formation, will incline to the animal rather than to the human, and by leading an animal, or natural, life will be deficient in those qualities which are necessary in social life. their surroundings as they grow up, the home, the food, the associates, all are bad. they are trained into vice, educated into criminality; so surely as from the sown corn rises the wheat-ear, so from the sowing of misery, filth, and starvation shall arise crime. and the root of all is poverty and ignorance. educate the children, and give them fair wage for fair work in their maturity, and crime will gradually diminish and ultimately disappear. man is god-made, says theism; man is circumstance-made, says atheism. man is the resultant of what his parents were, of what his surroundings have been and are, and of what they have made him; himself the result of the past he modifies the actual, and so the action and reaction go on, he himself the effect of what is past, and one of the causes of what is to come. make the circumstances good and the results will be good, for healthy bodies and healthy brains may be built up, and from a state composed of such the disease of crime will have disappeared. thus is our work full of hope; no terrible will of god have we to struggle against; no despairful future to look forward to, of a world growing more and more evil, until it is, at last, to burned up; but a glad, fair future of an ever-rising race, where more equal laws, more general education, more just division, shall eradicate pauperism, destroy ignorance, nourish independence, a future to be made the grander by our struggles, a future to be made the nearer by our toil."[ ] this joyous, self-reliant facing of the world with the resolute determination to improve it is characteristic of the noblest atheism of our day. and it is thus a distintly elevating factor in the midst of the selfishness, luxury, and greed of modern civilisation. it is a virile virtue in the midst of the calculating and slothful spirit which too ofter veils itself under the pretence or religion. it will have no putting off of justice to a far-off day of reckoning, and it is ever spurred on by the feeling, "the night cometh, when no man can work." bereft of all hope of a personal future, it binds up its hopes with that of the race; unbelieving in any aid from deity, it struggles the more strenuously to work out man's salvation by his own strength. "to us there is but small comfort in miss cobbe's assurance that 'earth's wrongs and agonies' 'will be righted hereafter.' granting for a moment that man survives death what certainty have we that 'the next world' will be any improvement on this? miss cobbe assures us that this is 'god's world'; whose world will the next be, if not also his? will he be stronger there or better, that he should set right in that world the wrongs he has permitted here? will he have changed his mind, or have become weary of the contemplation of suffering? to me the thought that the world was in the hands of a god who permitted all the present wrongs and pains to exist would be intolerable, maddening in its hopelessness. there is every hope of righting earth's wrongs and of curing earth's pains if the reason and skill of man which have already done so much are free to do the rest; but if they are to strive against omnipotence, hopeless indeed is the future of the world. it is in this sense that the atheist looks on good as 'the final goal of ill,' and believing that that goal will be reached the sooner the more strenuous the efforts of each individual, he works in the glad certainty that he is aiding the world's progress thitherward. not dreaming of a personal reward hereafter, not craving a personal payment from heavenly treasury, he works and loves, content that he is building a future fairer than his present, joyous that he is creating a new earth for a happier race."[ ] such was the creed and such the morality which governed my life and thoughts from to , and with some misgivings to , and from which i drew strength and happiness amid all outer struggles and distress. and i shall ever remain grateful for the intellectual and moral training it gave me, for the self-reliance it nurtured, for the altruism it inculcated, for the deep feeling of the unity of man that it fostered, for the inspiration to work that it lent. and perhaps the chief debt of gratitude i owe to freethought is that it left the mind ever open to new truth, encouraged the most unshrinking questioning of nature, and shrank from no new conclusions, however adverse to the old, that were based on solid evidence. i admit sorrowfully that all freethinkers do not learn this lesson, but i worked side by side with charles bradlaugh, and the freethought we strove to spread was strong-headed and broad-hearted. the antagonism which, as we shall see in a few moments, blazed out against me from the commencement of my platform work, was based partly on ignorance, was partly aroused by my direct attacks on christianity, and by the combative spirit i myself showed in those attacks, and very largely by my extreme radicalism in politics. i had against me all the conventional beliefs and traditions of society in general, and i attacked them, not with bated breath and abundant apologies, but joyously and defiantly, with sheer delight in the intellectual strife. i was fired, too, with passionate sympathy for the sufferings of the poor, for the overburdened, overdriven masses of the people, not only here but in every land, and wherever a blow was struck at liberty or justice my pen or tongue brake silence. it was a perpetual carrying of the fiery cross, and the comfortable did not thank me for shaking them out of their soft repose. the antagonism that grew out of ignorance regarded atheism as implying degraded morality and bestial life, and they assailed my conduct not on evidence that it was evil, but on the presumption that an atheist must be immoral. thus a christian opponent at leicester assailed me as a teacher of free love, fathering on me views which were maintained in a book that i had not read, but which, before i had ever seen the _national reformer_, had been reviewed in its columns--as it was reviewed in other london papers--and had been commended for its clear statement of the malthusian position, but not for its contention as to free love, a theory to which mr. bradlaugh was very strongly opposed. nor were the attacks confined to the ascription to me of theories which i did not hold, but agents of the christian evidence society, in their street preaching, made the foulest accusations against me of personal immorality. remonstrances addressed to the rev. mr. engström, the secretary of the society, brought voluble protestations of disavowal and disapproval; but as the peccant agents were continued in their employment, the apologies were of small value. no accusation was too coarse, no slander too baseless, for circulation by these men; and for a long time these indignities caused me bitter suffering, outraging my pride, and soiling my good name. the time was to come when i should throw that good name to the winds for the sake of the miserable, but in those early days i had done nothing to merit, even ostensibly, such attacks. even by educated writers, who should have known better, the most wanton accusations of violence and would-be destructiveness were brought against atheists; thus miss frances power cobbe wrote in the _contemporary review_ that loss of faith in god would bring about the secularisation _or destruction_ of all cathedrals, churches, and chapels. "why," i wrote in answer, "should cathedrals, churches, and chapels be destroyed? atheism will utilise, not destroy, the beautiful edifices which, once wasted on god, shall hereafter be consecrated for man. destroy westminster abbey, with its exquisite arches, its glorious tones of soft, rich colour, its stonework light as if of cloud, its dreamy, subdued twilight, soothing as the 'shadow of a great rock in a weary land'? nay, but reconsecrate it to humanity. the fat cherubs who tumble over guns and banners on soldiers' graves will fitly be removed to some spot where their clumsy forms will no longer mar the upward-springing grace of lines of pillar and of arch; but the glorious building wherein now barbaric psalms are chanted and droning canons preach of eastern follies, shall hereafter echo the majestic music of wagner and beethoven, and the teachers of the future shall there unveil to thronging multitudes the beauties and the wonders of the world. the 'towers and spires' will not be effaced, but they will no longer be symbols of a religion which sacrifices earth to heaven and man to god."[ ] between the cultured and the uncultured burlesques of atheism we came off pretty badly, being for the most part regarded, as the late cardinal manning termed us, as mere "cattle." the moral purity and elevation of atheistic teaching were overlooked by many who heard only of my bitter attacks on christian theology. against the teachings of eternal torture, of the vicarious atonement, of the infallibility of the bible, i levelled all the strength of my brain and tongue, and i exposed the history of the christian church with unsparing hand, its persecutions, its religious wars, its cruelties, its oppressions. smarting under the suffering inflicted on myself, and wroth with the cruel pressure continually put on freethinkers by christian employers, speaking under constant threats of prosecution, identifying christianity with the political and social tyrannies of christendom, i used every weapon that history, science, criticism, scholarship could give me against the churches; eloquence, sarcasm, mockery, all were called on to make breaches in the wall of traditional belief and crass superstition. to argument and reason i was ever ready to listen, but i turned a front of stubborn defiance to all attempts to compel assent to christianity by appeals to force. "the threat and the enforcement of legal and social penalties against unbelief can never compel belief. belief must be gained by demonstration; it can never be forced by punishment. persecution makes the stronger among us bitter; the weaker among us hypocrites; it never has made and never can make an honest convert."[ ] that men and women are now able to speak and think as openly as they do, that a broader spirit is visible in the churches, that heresy is no longer regarded as morally disgraceful--these things are very largely due to the active and militant propaganda carried on under the leadership of charles bradlaugh, whose nearest and most trusted friend i was. that my tongue was in the early days bitterer than it should have been, i frankly acknowledge; that i ignored the services done by christianity and threw light only on its crimes, thus committing injustice, i am ready to admit. but these faults were conquered long ere i left the atheistic camp, and they were the faults of my personality, not of the atheistic philosophy. and my main contentions were true, and needed to be made; from many a christian pulpit to-day may be heard the echo of the freethought teachings; men's minds have been awakened, their knowledge enlarged; and while i condemn the unnecessary harshness of some of my language, i rejoice that i played my part in that educating of england which has made impossible for evermore the crude superstitions of the past, and the repetition of the cruelties and injustices under which preceding heretics suffered. but my extreme political views had also much to do with the general feeling of hatred with which i was regarded. politics, as such, i cared not for at all, for the necessary compromises of political life were intolerable to me; but wherever they touched on the life of the people they became to me of burning interest. the land question, the incidence of taxation, the cost of royalty, the obstructive power of the house of lords--these were the matters to which i put my hand; i was a home ruler, too, of course, and a passionate opponent of all injustice to nations weaker than ourselves, so that i found myself always in opposition to the government of the day. against our aggressive and oppressive policy in ireland, in the transvaal, in india, in afghanistan, in burmah, in egypt, i lifted up my voice in all our great towns, trying to touch the consciences of the people, and to make them feel the immorality of a land-stealing, piratical policy. against war, against capital punishment, against flogging, demanding national education instead of big guns, public libraries instead of warships--no wonder i was denounced as an agitator, a firebrand, and that all orthodox society turned up at me its most respectable nose. chapter viii. at work. from this sketch of the inner sources of action let me turn to the actions themselves, and see how the outer life was led which fed itself at these springs. i have said that the friendship between mr. bradlaugh and myself dated from our first meeting, and a few days after our talk in turner street he came down to see me at norwood. it was characteristic of the man that he refused my first invitation, and bade me to think well ere i asked him to my house. he told me that he was so hated by english society that any friend of his would be certain to suffer, and that i should pay heavily for any friendship extended to him. when, however, i wrote to him, repeating my invitation, and telling him that i had counted the cost, he came to see me. his words came true; my friendship for him alienated from me even many professed freethinkers, but the strength and the happiness of it outweighed a thousand times the loss it brought, and never has a shadow of regret touched me that i clasped hands with him in , and won the noblest friend that woman ever had. he never spoke to me a harsh word; where we differed, he never tried to override my judgment, nor force on me his views; we discussed all points of difference as equal friends; he guarded me from all suffering as far as friend might, and shared with me all the pain he could not turn aside; all the brightness of my stormy life came to me through him, from his tender thoughtfulness, his ever-ready sympathy, his generous love. he was the most unselfish man i ever knew, and as patient as he was strong. my quick, impulsive nature found in him the restful strength it needed, and learned from him the self-control it lacked. he was the merriest of companions in our rare hours of relaxation; for many years he was wont to come to my house in the morning, after the hours always set aside by him for receiving poor men who wanted advice on legal and other matters--for he was a veritable poor man's lawyer, always ready to help and counsel--and, bringing his books and papers, he would sit writing, hour after hour, i equally busy with my own work, now and then, perhaps, exchanging a word, breaking off just for lunch and dinner, and working on again in the evening till about ten o'clock--he always went early to bed when at home--he would take himself off again to his lodgings, about three-quarters of a mile away. sometimes he would play cards for an hour, euchre being our favourite game. but while we were mostly busy and grave, we would make holiday sometimes, and then he was like a boy, brimming over with mirth, full of quaint turns of thought and speech; all the country round london has for me bright memories of our wanderings--richmond, where we tramped across the park, and sat under its mighty trees; windsor, with its groves of bracken; kew, where we had tea in a funny little room, with watercress _ad libitum_; hampton court, with its dishevelled beauties; maidenhead and taplow, where the river was the attraction; and, above all, broxbourne, where he delighted to spend the day with his fishing-rod, wandering along the river, of which he knew every eddy. for he was a great fisherman, and he taught me all the mysteries of the craft, mirthfully disdainful of my dislike of the fish when i had caught them. and in those days he would talk of all his hopes of the future, of his work, of his duty to the thousands who looked to him for guidance, of the time when he would sit in parliament as member for northampton, and help to pass into laws the projects of reform for which he was battling with pen and tongue. how often he would voice his love of england, his admiration of her parliament, his pride in her history. keenly alive to the blots upon it in her sinful wars of conquest, in the cruel wrongs inflicted upon subject peoples, he was yet an englishman to the heart's core, but feeling above all the englishman's duty, as one of a race that had gripped power and held it, to understand the needs of those he ruled, and to do justice willingly, since compulsion to justice there was none. his service to india in the latest years of his life was no suddenly accepted task. he had spoken for her, pleaded for her, for many a long year, through press and on platform, and his spurs as member for india were won long ere he was member of parliament. a place on the staff of the _national reformer_ was offered me by mr. bradlaugh a few days after our first meeting, and the small weekly salary thus earned--it was only a guinea, for national reformers are always poor--was a very welcome addition to my resources. my first contribution appeared in the number for august , , over the signature of "ajax," and i wrote in it regularly until mr. bradlaugh died; from until his death i sub-edited it, so as to free him from all the technical trouble and the weary reading of copy, and for part of this period was also co-editor. i wrote at first under a _nom de guerre_, because the work i was doing for mr. scott would have been prejudiced had my name appeared in the columns of the terrible _national reformer_, and until this work--commenced and paid for--was concluded i did not feel at liberty to use my own name. afterwards, i signed my _national reformer_ articles, and the tracts written for mr. scott appeared anonymously. the name was suggested by the famous statue of "ajax crying for light," a cast of which may be seen in the centre walk by any visitor to the crystal palace, sydenham. the cry through the darkness for light, even though light should bring destruction, was one that awoke the keenest sympathy of response from my heart: "if our fate be death give light, and let us die!" to see, to know, to understand, even though the seeing blind, though the knowledge sadden, though the understanding shatter the dearest hopes--such has ever been the craving of the upward-striving mind in man. some regard it as a weakness, as a folly, but i am sure that it exists most strongly in some of the noblest of our race; that from the lips of those who have done most in lifting the burden of ignorance from the overstrained and bowed shoulders of a stumbling world has gone out most often into the empty darkness the pleading, impassioned cry: "give light!" the light may come with a blinding flash, but it is light none the less, and we can see. and now the time had come when i was to use that gift of speech which i had discovered in sibsey church that i possessed, and to use it to move hearts and brains all over the english land. in , tentatively, and in definitely, i took up this keen weapon, and have used it ever since. my first attempt was at a garden party, in a brief informal debate, and i found that words came readily and smoothly: the second in a discussion at the liberal social union on the opening of museums and art galleries on sunday. my first lecture was given at the co-operative institute, , castle street, oxford street, on august , . mr. greening--then, i think, the secretary--had invited me to read a paper before the society, and had left me the choice of the subject. i resolved that my first public lecture should be on behalf of my own sex, so i selected for my theme, "the political status of women," and wrote thereon a paper. but it was a very nervous person who presented herself at the co-operative institute on that august evening. when a visit to the dentist is made, and one stands on the steps outside, desiring to run away ere the neat little boy in buttons opens the door and beams on one with a smile of compassionate superiority and implike triumph, then the world seems dark and life is as a huge blunder. but all such feelings are poor and weak as compared with the sinking of the heart and the trembling of the knees which seize upon the unhappy lecturer as he advances towards his first audience, and as before his eyes rises a ghastly vision of a tongue-tied would-be lecturer, facing rows of listening faces, listening to--silence. but to my surprise all this miserable feeling vanished the moment i was on my feet and was looking at the faces before me. i felt no tremor of nervousness from the first word to the last, and as i heard my own voice ring out over the attentive listeners i was conscious of power and of pleasure, not of fear. and from that day to this my experience has been the same; before a lecture i am horribly nervous, wishing myself at the ends of the earth, heart beating violently, and sometimes overcome by deadly sickness. once on my feet, i feel perfectly at my ease, ruler of the crowd, master of myself. i often jeer at myself mentally as i feel myself throbbing and fearful, knowing that when i stand up i shall be all right, and yet i cannot conquer the physical terror and trembling, illusory as i know them to be. people often say to me, "you look too ill to go on the platform." and i smile feebly and say i am all right, and i often fancy that the more miserably nervous i am in the ante-room, the better i speak when once on the platform. my second lecture was delivered on september th, at mr. moncure d. conway's chapel, in st. paul's road, camden town, and redelivered a few weeks later at a unitarian chapel, where the rev. peter dean was minister. this was on the "true basis of morality," and was later printed as a pamphlet, which attained a wide circulation. this was all i did in the way of speaking in , but i took silent part in an electioneering struggle at northampton, where a seat for the house of commons had fallen vacant by the death of mr. charles gilpin. mr. bradlaugh had contested the borough as a radical in , obtaining , votes, and again in february, , when he received , ; of these no less than , were plumpers, while his four opponents had only , , and plumpers respectively; this band formed the compact and personally loyal following which was to win the seat for its chief in , after twelve years of steady struggle, and to return him over and over again to parliament during the long contest which followed his election, and which ended in his final triumph. they never wavered in their allegiance to "our charlie," but stood by him through evil report and good report, when he was outcast as when he was triumphant, loving him with a deep, passionate devotion, as honourable to them as it was precious to him. i have seen him cry like a child at evidences of their love for him, he whose courage no danger could daunt, and who was never seen to blench before hatred nor change his stern immobility in the face of his foes. iron to enmity, he was soft as a woman to kindness; unbending as steel to pressure, he was ductile as wax to love. john stuart mill had the insight in to see his value, and the courage to recognise it. he strongly supported his candidature, and sent a donation to his election expenses. in his "autobiography" he wrote (pp. , ):-- "he had the support of the working classes; having heard him speak i knew him to be a man of ability, and he had proved that he was the reverse of a demagogue by placing himself in strong opposition to the prevailing opinion of the democratic party on two such important subjects as malthusianism and proportional representation. men of this sort, who, while sharing the democratic feeling of the working classes, judge political questions for themselves, and have the courage to assert their individual convictions against popular opposition, were needed, as it seemed to me, in parliament; and i did not think that mr. bradlaugh's anti-religious opinions (even though he had been intemperate in the expression of them) ought to exclude him." it has been said that mr. mill's support of mr. bradlaugh's candidature at northampton cost him his own seat at westminster, and so bitter was bigotry at that time that the statement is very likely to be true. on this, mr. mill himself said: "it was the right thing to do, and if the election were yet to take place, i would do it again." at this election of september, --the second in the year, for the general election had taken place in the february, and mr. bradlaugh had been put up and defeated during his absence in america--i went down to northampton to report electioneering incidents for the _national reformer_, and spent some days there in the whirl of the struggle. the whig party was more bitter against mr. bradlaugh than was the tory. strenuous efforts were made to procure a liberal candidate, who would be able at least to prevent mr. bradlaugh's return, and, by dividing the liberal and radical party, should let in a tory rather than the detested radical. messrs. bell and james and dr. pearce came on the scene only to disappear. mr. jacob bright and mr. arnold morley were vainly suggested. mr. ayrton's name was whispered. major lumley was recommended by mr. bernal osborne. dr. kenealy proclaimed himself ready to come to the rescue of the whigs. mr. tillett, of norwich, mr. cox, of belper, were invited, but neither would consent to oppose a good radical who had fought two elections at northampton and had been the chosen of the radical workers for six years. at last mr. william fowler, a banker, accepted the task of handing over the representation of a liberal and radical borough to a tory, and duly succeeded in giving the seat to mr. mereweather, a very reputable tory lawyer. mr. bradlaugh polled , , thus adding another voters to those who had polled for him in the previous february. that election gave me my first experience of anything in the nature of rioting. the violent abuse levelled against mr. bradlaugh by the whigs, and the foul and wicked slanders circulated against him, assailing his private life and family relations, had angered almost to madness those who knew and loved him; and when it was found that the unscrupulous whig devices had triumphed, had turned the election against him, and given over the borough to a tory, the fury broke out into open violence. one illustration may be given as a type of these cruel slanders. it was known that mr. bradlaugh was separated from his wife, and it was alleged that being an atheist, and, (therefore!) an opponent of marriage, he had deserted his wife and children, and left them to the workhouse. the cause of the separation was known to very few, for mr. bradlaugh was chivalrously honourable to women, and he would not shield his own good name at the cost of that of the wife of his youth and the mother of his children. but since his death his only remaining child has, in devotion to her father's memory, stated the melancholy truth: that mrs. bradlaugh gave way to drink; that for long years he bore with her and did all that man could do to save her; that finally, hopeless of cure, he broke up his home, and placed his wife in the care of her parents in the country, leaving her daughters with her, while he worked for their support. no man could have acted more generously and wisely under these cruel circumstances than he did, but it was, perhaps, going to an extreme of quixotism, that he concealed the real state of the case, and let the public blame him as it would. his northampton followers did not know the facts, but they knew him as an upright, noble man, and these brutal attacks on his personal character drove them wild. stray fights had taken place during the election over these slanders, and, defeated by such foul weapons, the people lost control of their passions. as mr. bradlaugh was sitting well-nigh exhausted in the hotel, after the declaration of the poll, the landlord rushed in, crying to him to go out and try to stop the people, or there would be murder done at the "palmerston," mr. fowler's headquarters; the crowd was charging the door, and the windows were being broken with showers of stones. weary as he was, mr. bradlaugh sprang to his feet, and swiftly made his way to the rescue of those who had maligned and defeated him. flinging himself before the doorway, from which the door had just been battered down, he knocked down one or two of the most violent, drove the crowd back, argued and scolded them into quietness, and finally dispersed them. but at nine o'clock he had to leave northampton to catch the mail steamer for america at queenstown, and after he had left, word went round that he had gone, and the riot he had quelled broke out afresh. the riot act was at last read, the soldiers were called out, stones flew freely, heads and windows were broken, but no very serious harm was done. the "palmerston" and the printing-office of the _mercury_, the whig organ, were the principal sufferers; doors and windows disappearing somewhat completely. the day after the election i returned home, and soon after fell ill with a severe attack of congestion of the lungs. soon after my recovery i left norwood and settled in a house in westbourne terrace, bayswater, where i remained till . in the following january ( ), after much thought and self-analysis, i resolved to give myself wholly to propagandist work, as a freethinker and a social reformer, and to use my tongue as well as my pen in the struggle. i counted the cost ere i determined on this step, for i knew that it would not only outrage the feelings of such new friends as i had already made, but would be likely to imperil my custody of my little girl. i knew that an atheist was outside the law, obnoxious to its penalties, but deprived of its protection, and that the step i contemplated might carry me into conflicts in which everything might be lost and nothing could be gained. but the desire to spread liberty and truer thought among men, to war against bigotry and superstition, to make the world freer and better than i found it--all this impelled me with a force that would not be denied. i seemed to hear the voice of truth ringing over the battlefield: "who will go? who will speak for me?" and i sprang forward with passionate enthusiasm, with resolute cry: "here am i, send me!" nor have i ever regretted for one hour that resolution, come to in solitude, carried out amid the surging life of men, to devote to that sacred cause every power of brain and tongue that i possessed. very solemn to me is the responsibility of the public teacher, standing forth in press and on platform to partly mould the thought of his time, swaying thousands of readers and hearers year after year. no weighter responsibility can any take, no more sacred charge. the written and the spoken word start forces none may measure, set working brain after brain, influence numbers unknown to the forthgiver of the word, work for good or for evil all down the stream of time. feeling the greatness of the career, the solemnity of the duty, i pledged my word then to the cause i loved that no effort on my part should be wanted to render myself worthy of the privilege of service that i took; that i would read and study, and would train every faculty that i had; that i would polish my language, discipline my thought, widen my knowledge; and this, at least, i may say, that if i have written and spoken much, i have studied and thought more, and that i have not given to my mistress truth that "which hath cost me nothing." this same year ( ) that saw me launched on the world as a public advocate of freethought, saw also the founding of the theosophical society to which my freethought was to lead me. i have often since thought with pleasure that at the very time i began lecturing in england, h.p. blavatsky was at work in the united states, preparing the foundation on which in november, , the theosophical society was to be raised. and with deeper pleasure yet have i found her writing of what she called the noble work against superstition done by charles bradlaugh and myself, rendering the propaganda of theosophy far more practicable and safer than it would otherwise have been. the fight soon began, and with some queer little skirmishes. i was a member of the "liberal social union," and one night a discussion arose as to the admissibility of atheists to the society. dr. zerffi declared that he would not remain a member if avowed atheists were admitted. i promptly declared that i was an atheist, and that the basis of the union was liberty of opinion. the result was that i found myself cold-shouldered, and those that had been warmly cordial to me merely as a non-christian looked askance at me when i had avowed that my scepticism had advanced beyond their "limits of religious thought." the liberal social union soon knew me no more, but in the wider field of work open before me, the narrow-mindedness of this petty clique troubled me not at all. i started my definite lecturing work at south place chapel in january, , mr. moncure d. conway presiding for me, and i find in the _national reformer_ for january th, the announcement that "mrs. annie besant ('ajax') will lecture at south place chapel, finsbury, on 'civil and religious liberty.'" thus i threw off my pseudonym, and rode into the field of battle with uplifted visor. the identification led to an odd little exhibition of bigotry. i had been invited by the dialectical society to read a paper, and had selected for subject, "the existence of god." (it may be noted, in passing, that young students and speakers always select the most tremendous subjects for their discourses. one advances in modesty as one advances in knowledge, and after eighteen years of platform work, i am far more dubious than i was at their beginning as to my power of dealing in any sense adequately with the problems of life.) the dialectical society had for some years held their meetings in a room in adam street, rented from the social science association. when the members gathered as usual on february th, the door was found to be locked, and they had to gather on the stairs; they found that "ajax's" as yet undelivered paper was too much for social science nerves, and that entrance to their ordinary meeting-room was then and thenceforth denied them. so they, with "ajax," found refuge at the charing cross hotel, and speculated merrily on the eccentricities of religious bigotry. on february th i started on my first provincial lecturing tour, and after speaking at birkenhead that evening went on by the night mail to glasgow. some races--dog races--i think, had been going on, and very unpleasant were many of the passengers waiting on the platform. some birkenhead friends had secured me a compartment, and watched over me till the train began to move. then, after we had fairly started, the door was flung open by a porter, and a man was thrust in who half tumbled on to the seat. as he slowly recovered he stood up, and as his money rolled out of his hand on to the floor, and he gazed vaguely at it, i saw to my horror that he was drunk. the position was not pleasant, for the train was an express, and was not timed to stop for a considerable time. my odious fellow-passenger spent some time on the floor, hunting after his scattered coins; then he slowly gathered himself up and presently became conscious of my presence. he studied me for some time, and then proposed to shut the window. i assented quietly, not wanting to discuss a trifle and feeling in deadly terror--alone at night in an express with a man not drunk enough to be helpless, but too drunk to be controlled. never before nor since have i felt so thoroughly frightened. i can see him still, swaying as he stood, with eyes bleared and pendulous lips--but i sat there quiet and outwardly unmoved, as is always my impulse in danger till i see some way of escape, only grasping a penknife in my pocket, with a desperate resolve to use my feeble weapon as soon as the need arose. the man came towards me with a fatuous leer, when a jarring noise was heard and the train began to slacken. "what is that?" stammered my drunken companion. "they are putting on the brakes to stop the train," i answered very slowly and distinctly, though a very passion of relief made it hard to say quietly the measured words. the man sat down stupidly, staring at me, and in a minute or two the train pulled up at a station--it had been stopped by signal. my immobility was gone. in a moment i was at the window, called the guard, and explained rapidly that i was a woman travelling alone, and that a half-drunken man was in the carriage. with the usual kindness of a railway official, he at once moved me and my baggage into another compartment, into which he locked me, and he kept a friendly watch over me at every station at which we stopped until he landed me safely at glasgow. at glasgow a room had been taken for me at a temperance hotel, and it seemed to me so new and lonely a thing to be "all on my own account" in a strange hotel in a strange city, that i wanted to sit down and cry. this feeling, to which i was too proud to yield, was probably partly due to the extreme greyness and grubbiness of my surroundings. things are better now, but in those days temperance hotels were for the most part lacking in cleanliness. abstinence from alcohol and a superfluity of "matter in the wrong place" do not seem necessary correlatives, yet i rarely went to a temperance hotel in which water was liberally used for other purposes than that of drinking. from glasgow i went north to aberdeen, where i found a very stern and critical audience. not a sound broke the stillness as i walked up the hall; not a sound as i ascended the platform and faced the people; the canny scot was not going to applaud a stranger at sight; he was going to see what she was like first. in grim silence they listened; i could not move them; they were granite like their own granite city, and i felt i would like to take off my head and throw it at them, if only to break that hard wall. after about twenty minutes, a fortunate phrase drew a hiss from some child of the covenanters. i made a quick retort, there was a burst of cheering, and the granite vanished. never after that did i have to complain of the coldness of an aberdeen audience. back to london from aberdeen, and a long, weary journey it was, in a third-class carriage in the cold month of february; but the labour had in it a joy that outpaid all physical discomfort, and the feeling that i had found my work in the world gave a new happiness to life. on february th i stood for the first time on the platform of the hall of science, old street, st. luke's, london, and was received with that warmth of greeting which secularists are always so ready to extend to any who sacrifice aught to join their ranks. that hall is identified in my mind with many a bitter struggle, with both victory and defeat, but whether in victory or in defeat i found there always welcome; and the love and the courage wherewith secularists stood by me have overpaid a thousandfold any poor services i was fortunate enough to render, while in their ranks, to the cause of liberty, and wholly prevent any bitterness arising in my mind for any unfriendliness shown me by some, who have perhaps overstepped kindness and justice in their sorrowful wrath at my renunciation of materialism and atheism. so far as health was concerned, the lecturing acted as a tonic. my chest had always been a little delicate, and when i consulted a doctor on the possibility of my standing platform work, he answered, "it will either kill you or cure you." it entirely cured the lung weakness, and i grew strong and vigorous instead of being frail and delicate, as of old. it would be wearisome to go step by step over eighteen years of platform work, so i will only select here and there incidents illustrative of the whole. and here let me say that the frequent attacks made on myself and others, that we were attracted to free-thought propaganda by the gains it offered, formed a somewhat grotesque contrast to the facts. on one occasion i spent eight days in northumberland and durham, gave twelve lectures, and made a deficit of eleven shillings on the whole. of course such a thing could not happen in later years, when i had made my name by sheer hard work, but i fancy that every secularist lecturer could tell of similar experiences in the early days of "winning his way." the fact is that from mr. bradlaugh downwards every one of us could have earned a competence with comparative ease in any other line of work, and could have earned it with public approval instead of amid popular reproach. much of my early lecturing was done in northumberland and durham; the miners there are, as a rule, shrewd and hard-headed men, and very cordial is the greeting given by them to those they have reason to trust. at seghill and at bedlington i have slept in their cottages and have been welcomed to their tables, and i have a vivid memory of one evening at seghill, after a lecture, when my host, himself a miner, invited about a dozen of his comrades to supper to meet me; the talk ran on politics, and i soon found that my companions knew more of english politics, had a far shrewder notion of political methods, and were, therefore, much better worth talking to, than most of the ordinary men met at dinner parties "in society." they were of the "uneducated" class despised by "gentlemen," and had not then the franchise, but politically they were far better educated than their social superiors, and were far better fitted to discharge the duties of citizenship. how well, too, do i remember a ten-mile drive in a butcher's cart, to give a lecture in an out-of-the-way spot, unapproached by railway. such was the jolting as we rattled over rough roads and stony places, that i felt as though all my bones were broken, and as though i should collapse on the platform like a bag half-filled with stones. how kind they were to me, those genial, cordial miners, how careful for my comfort, and how motherly were the women! ah! if opponents of my views who did not know me were often cruel and malignant, there was compensation in the love and honour in which good men and women all the country over held me, and their devotion outweighed the hatred, and many a time and often soothed a weary and aching heart. lecturing in june, , at leicester, i came for the first time across a falsehood that brought sore trouble and cost me more pain than i care to tell. an irate christian opponent, in the discussion that followed the lecture, declared that i was responsible for a book entitled, "the elements of social science," which was, he averred, "the bible of secularists." i had never heard of the book, but as he stated that it was in favour of the abolition of marriage, and that mr. bradlaugh agreed with it, i promptly contradicted him; for while i knew nothing about the book, i knew a great deal about mr. bradlaugh, and i knew that on the marriage question he was conservative rather than revolutionary. he detested "free love" doctrines, and had thrown himself strongly on the side of the agitation led so heroically for many years by mrs. josephine butler. on my return to london after the lecture i naturally made inquiry as to the volume and its contents, and i found that it had been written by a doctor of medicine some years before, and sent to the _national reformer_ for review, as to other journals, in ordinary course of business. it consisted of three parts--the first advocated, from the standpoint of medical science, what is roughly known as "free love"; the second was entirely medical; the third consisted of a clear and able exposition of the law of population as laid down by the rev. mr. malthus, and--following the lines of john stuart mill--insisted that it was the duty of married persons to voluntarily limit their families within their means of subsistence. mr. bradlaugh, in reviewing the book, said that it was written "with honest and pure intent and purpose," and recommended to working men the exposition of the law of population. his enemies took hold of this recommendation, declared that he shared the author's views on the impermanence of the marriage tie, and, despite his reiterated contradictions, they used extracts against marriage from the book as containing his views. anything more meanly vile it would be difficult to conceive, but such were the weapons used against him all his life, and used often by men whose own lives contrasted most unfavourably with his own. unable to find anything in his own writings to serve their purpose, they used this book to damage him with those who knew nothing at first-hand of his views. what his enemies feared were not his views on marriage--which, as i have said, was conservative--but his radicalism and his atheism. to discredit him as politician they maligned him socially, and the idea that a man desires "to abolish marriage and the home," is a most convenient poniard, and the one most certain to wound. this was the origin of his worst difficulties, to be intensified, ere long, by his defence of malthusianism. on me also fell the same lash, and i found myself held up to hatred as upholder of views that i abhorred. i may add that far warmer praise than that bestowed on this book by mr. bradlaugh was given by other writers, who were never attacked in the same way. in the _reasoner_, edited by mr. george jacob holyoake, i find warmer praise of it than in the _national reformer_; in the review the following passage appears:-- "in some respects all books of this class are evils: but it would be weakness and criminal prudery--a prudery as criminal as vice itself--not to say that such a book as the one in question is not only a far lesser evil than the one that it combats, but in one sense a book which it is a mercy to issue and courage to publish." the _examiner_, reviewing the same book, declared it to be-- "a very valuable, though rather heterogeneous book.... this is, we believe, the only book that has fully, honestly, and in a scientific spirit recognised all the elements in the problem--how are mankind to triumph over poverty, with its train of attendant evils?--and fearlessly endeavoured to find a practical solution." the _british journal of homoeopathy_ wrote:-- "though quite out of the province of our journal, we cannot refrain from stating that this work is unquestionably the most remarkable one, in many respects, we have ever met with. though we differ _toto coelo_ from the author in his views of religion and morality, and hold some of his remedies to tend rather to a dissolution than a reconstruction of society, yet we are bound to admit the benevolence and philanthropy of his motives. the scope of the work is nothing less than the whole field of political economy." ernest jones and others wrote yet more strongly, but out of all these charles bradlaugh alone has been selected for reproach, and has had the peculiar views of the anonymous author fathered on himself. some of the lecture work in those days was pretty rough. in darwen, lancashire, in june, , stone-throwing was regarded as a fair argument addressed to the atheist lecturer. at swansea, in march, , the fear of violence was so great that a guarantee against damage to the hall was exacted by the proprietor, and no local friend had the courage to take the chair for me. in september, , at hoyland, thanks to the exertions of mr. hebblethwaite, a primitive methodist, and two protestant missionaries, i found the hall packed with a crowd that yelled at me with great vigour, stood on forms, shook fists at me, and otherwise showed feelings more warm than friendly. taking advantage of a lull in the noise, i began to speak, and the tumult sank into quietness; but as i was leaving the hall it broke out afresh, and i walked slowly through a crowd that yelled and swore and struck at me, but somehow those nearest always shrank back and let me pass. in the dark, outside the hall, they took to kicking, but only one kick reached me, and the attempts to overturn the cab were foiled by the driver, who put his horse at a gallop. later in the same month mr. bradlaugh and i visited congleton together, having been invited there by mr. and mrs. wolstenholme elmy. mr. bradlaugh lectured on the first evening to an accompaniment of broken windows, and i, sitting with mrs. elmy facing the platform, received a rather heavy blow on the back of the head from a stone thrown by some one in the room. we had a mile and a half to walk from the hall to the house, and were accompanied all the way by a stone-throwing crowd, who sang hymns at the tops of their voices, with interludes of curses and foul words. on the following evening i lectured, and our stone-throwing admirers escorted us to the hall; in the middle of the lecture a man shouted, "put her out!" and a well-known wrestler of the neighbourhood, named burbery, who had come to the hall with some friends to break up the meeting, stood up as at a signal in front of the platform and loudly interrupted. mr. bradlaugh, who was in the chair, told him to sit down, and, as he persisted in interrupting, informed him that he must either be quiet or go out. "put me out!" shouted mr. burbery, striking an attitude. mr. bradlaugh left the platform and walked up to the noisy swashbuckler, who at once grappled with him and tried to throw him. but mr. burbery had not reckoned on the massive strength of his opponent, and when the "throw" was complete mr. burbery was underneath. amid much excitement mr. burbery was propelled towards the door, being gently used on the way as a battering-ram against his friends who rushed to the rescue, and at the door was handed over to the police. the chairman then resumed his normal duties, with a brief "go on" to me, and i promptly went on, finishing the lecture in peace. but outside the hall there was plenty of stone-throwing, and mrs. elmy received a cut on the temple from a flint. this stormy work gradually lessened, and my experience of it was a mere trifle compared to that which my predecessors had faced. mr. bradlaugh's early experiences involved much serious rioting, and mrs. harriet law, a woman of much courage and of strong natural ability, had many a rough meeting in her lecturing days. in september, , mr. bradlaugh again sailed for america, still to earn money there to pay his debts. unhappily he was struck down by typhoid fever, and all his hopes of freeing himself thus were destroyed. his life was well-nigh despaired of, but the admirable skill of physician and nurse pulled him through. said the _baltimore advertiser_:-- "this long and severe illness has disappointed the hopes and retarded the object for which he came to this country; but he is gentleness and patience itself in his sickness in this strange land, and has endeared himself greatly to his physicians and attendants by his gratitude and appreciation of the slightest attention." his fortitude in face of death was also much commented on, lying there as he did far from home and from all he loved best. never a quiver of fear touched him as he walked down into the valley of the shadow of death; the rev. mr. frothingham bore public and admiring testimony in his own church to mr. bradlaugh's noble serenity, at once fearless and unpretending, and, himself a theist, gave willing witness to the atheist's calm strength. he came back to us at the end of september, worn to a shadow, weak as a child, and for many a long month he bore the traces of his wrestle with death. one part of my autumn's work during his absence was the delivery and subsequent publication of six lectures on the french revolution. that stormy time had for me an intense fascination. i brooded over it, dreamed over it, and longed to tell the story from the people's point of view. i consequently read a large amount of the current literature of the time, as well as louis blanc's monumental work and the histories of michelet, lamartine, and others. fortunately for me, mr. bradlaugh had a splendid collection of books on the subject, and ere we left england he brought me two cabs-full of volumes, aristocratic, ecclesiastical, democratic, and i studied all these diligently, and lived in them, till the french revolution became to me as a drama in which i had myself taken part, and the actors were to me as personal friends and foes. in this, again, as in so much of my public work, i have to thank mr. bradlaugh for the influence which led me to read fully all sides of a question, and to read most carefully those from which i differed most, ere i considered myself competent to write or to speak thereon. from onwards i held office as one of the vice-presidents of the national secular society--a society founded on a broad basis of liberty, with the inspiring motto, "we search for truth." mr. bradlaugh was president, and i held office under him till he resigned his post in february, , nine months after i had joined the theosophical society. the n.s.s., under his judicious and far-sighted leadership, became a real force in the country, theologically and politically, embracing large numbers of men and women who were freethinkers as well as radicals, and forming a nucleus of earnest workers, able to gather round them still larger numbers of others, and thus to powerfully affect public opinion. once a year the society met in conference, and many a strong and lasting friendship between men living far apart dated from these yearly gatherings, so that all over the country spread a net-work of comradeship between the staunch followers of "our charlie." these were the men and women who paid his election expenses over and over again, supported him in his parliamentary struggle, came up to london to swell the demonstrations in his favour. and round them grew up a huge party--"the largest personal following of any public man since mr. gladstone," it was once said by an eminent man--who differed from him in theology, but passionately supported him in politics; miners, cutlers, weavers, spinners, shoemakers, operatives of every trade, strong, sturdy, self-reliant men who loved him to the last. chapter ix. the knowlton pamphlet. the year dawned, and in its early days began a struggle which, ending in victory all along the line, brought with it pain and anguish that i scarcely care to recall. an american physician, dr. charles knowlton, convinced of the truth of the teaching of the rev. mr. malthus, and seeing that that teaching had either no practical value or tended to the great increase of prostitution, unless married people were taught to limit their families within their means of livelihood--wrote a pamphlet on the voluntary limitation of the family. it was published somewhere in the thirties--about , i think--and was sold unchallenged in england as well as in america for some forty years. philosophers of the bentham school, like john stuart mill, endorsed its teachings, and the bearing of population on poverty was an axiom in economic literature. dr. knowlton's work was a physiological treatise, advocating conjugal prudence and parental responsibility; it argued in favour of early marriage, with a view to the purity of social life; but as early marriage between persons of small means generally implies a large family, leading either to pauperism or to lack of necessary food, clothing, education, and fair start in life for the children, dr. knowlton advocated the restriction of the number of the family within the means of subsistence, and stated the methods by which this restriction could be carried out. the book was never challenged till a disreputable bristol bookseller put some copies on sale to which he added some improper pictures, and he was prosecuted and convicted. the publisher of the _national reformer_ and of mr. bradlaugh's and my books and pamphlets had taken over a stock of knowlton's pamphlets among other literature he bought, and he was prosecuted and, to our great dismay, pleaded guilty. we at once removed our publishing from his hands, and after careful deliberation we decided to publish the incriminated pamphlet in order to test the right of discussion on the population question, when, with the advice to limit the family, information was given as to how that advice could be followed. we took a little shop, printed the pamphlet, and sent notice to the police that we would commence the sale at a certain day and hour, and ourselves sell the pamphlet, so that no one else might be endangered by our action. we resigned our offices in the national secular society that we might not injure the society, but the executive first, and then the annual conference, refused to accept the resignations. our position as regarded the pamphlet was simple and definite; had it been brought to us for publication, we stated, we should not have published it, for it was not a treatise of high merit; but, prosecuted as immoral because it advised the limitation of the family, it at once embodied the right of publication. in a preface to the republished edition, we wrote:-- "we republish this pamphlet, honestly believing that on all questions affecting the happiness of the people, whether they be theological, political, or social, fullest right of free discussion ought to be maintained at all hazards. we do not personally endorse all that dr. knowlton says: his 'philosophical proem' seems to us full of philosophical mistakes, and--as we are neither of us doctors--we are not prepared to endorse his medical views; but since progress can only be made through discussion, and no discussion is possible where differing opinions are suppressed, we claim the right to publish all opinions, so that the public, enabled to see all sides of a question, may have the materials for forming a sound judgment." we were not blind to the danger to which this defiance of the authorities exposed us, but it was not the danger of failure, with the prison as penalty, that gave us pause. it was the horrible misconceptions that we saw might arise; the odious imputations on honour and purity that would follow. could we, the teachers of a lofty morality, venture to face a prosecution for publishing what would be technically described as an obscene book, and risk the ruin of our future, dependent as that was on our fair fame? to mr. bradlaugh it meant, as he felt, the almost certain destruction of his parliamentary position, the forging by his own hands of a weapon that in the hands of his foes would be well-nigh fatal. to me it meant the loss of the pure reputation i prized, the good name i had guarded--scandal the most terrible a woman could face. but i had seen the misery of the poor, of my sister-women with children crying for bread; the wages of the workmen were often sufficient for four, but eight or ten they could not maintain. should i set my own safety, my own good name, against the helping of these? did it matter that my reputation should be ruined, if its ruin helped to bring remedy to this otherwise hopeless wretchedness of thousands? what was worth all my talk about self-sacrifice and self-surrender, if, brought to the test, i failed? so, with heart aching but steady, i came to my resolution; and though i know now that i was wrong intellectually, and blundered in the remedy, i was right morally in the will to sacrifice all to help the poor, and i can rejoice that i faced a storm of obloquy fiercer and harder to bear than any other which can ever touch me again. i learned a lesson of stern indifference to all judgments from without that were not endorsed by condemnation from within. the long suffering that followed was a splendid school for the teaching of endurance. the day before the pamphlet was put on sale we ourselves delivered copies to the chief clerk of the magistrates at guildhall, to the officer in charge at the city police office in old jewry, and to the solicitor for the city of london. with each pamphlet was a notice that we would attend and sell the book from to p.m. on the following day, saturday, march th. this we accordingly did, and in order to save trouble we offered to attend daily at the shop from to a.m. to facilitate our arrest, should the authorities determine to prosecute. the offer was readily accepted, and after some little delay--during which a deputation from the christian evidence society waited upon mr. cross to urge the tory government to prosecute us--warrants were issued against us and we were arrested on april th. letters of approval and encouragement came from the most diverse quarters, including among their writers general garibaldi, the well-known economist, yves guyot, the great french constitutional lawyer, emile acollas, together with letters literally by the hundred from poor men and women thanking and blessing us for the stand taken. noticeable were the numbers of letters from clergymen's wives, and wives of ministers of all denominations. after our arrest we were taken to the police-station in bridewell place, and thence to the guildhall, where alderman figgins was sitting, before whom we duly appeared, while in the back of the court waited what an official described as "a regular waggon-load of bail." we were quickly released, the preliminary investigation being fixed for ten days later--april th. at the close of the day the magistrate released us on our own recognisances, without bail; and it was so fully seen on all sides that we were fighting for a principle that no bail was asked for during the various stages of the trial. two days later we were committed for trial at the central criminal court, but mr. bradlaugh moved for a writ of _certiorari_ to remove the trial to the court of queen's bench; lord chief justice cockburn said he would grant the writ if "upon looking at it (the book), we think its object is the legitimate one of promoting knowledge on a matter of human interest," but not if the science were only a cover for impurity, and he directed that copies of the book should be handed in for perusal by himself and mr. justice mellor. having read the book they granted the writ. the trial commenced on june th before the lord chief justice of england and a special jury, sir hardinge giffard, the solicitor-general of the tory government, leading against us, and we defending ourselves. the lord chief justice "summed up strongly for an acquittal," as a morning paper said; he declared that "a more ill-advised and more injudicious proceeding in the way of a prosecution was probably never brought into a court of justice," and described us as "two enthusiasts who have been actuated by a desire to do good in a particular department of society." he then went on to a splendid statement of the law of population, and ended by praising our straightforwardness and asserting knowlton's honesty of intention. every one in court thought that we had won our case, but they had not taken into account the religious and political hatred against us and the presence on the jury of such men as mr. walter, of the _times_. after an hour and thirty-five minutes of delay the verdict was a compromise: "we are unanimously of opinion that the book in question is calculated to deprave public morals, but at the same time we entirely exonerate the defendants from any corrupt motive in publishing it." the lord chief justice looked troubled, and said that he should have to translate the verdict into one of guilty, and on that some of the jury turned to leave the box, it having been agreed--we heard later from one of them--that if the verdict were not accepted in that form they should retire again, as six of the jury were against convicting us; but the foreman, who was bitterly hostile, jumped at the chance of snatching a conviction, and none of those in our favour had the courage to contradict him on the spur of the moment, so the foreman's "guilty" passed, and the judge set us free, on mr. bradlaugh's recognisances to come up for judgment that day week. on that day we moved to quash the indictment and for a new trial, partly on a technical ground and partly on the ground that the verdict, having acquitted us of wrong motive, was in our favour, not against us. on this the court did not agree with us, holding that the part of the indictment alleging corrupt motive was superfluous. then came the question of sentence, and on this the lord chief justice did his best to save us; we were acquitted of any intent to violate the law; would we submit to the verdict of the jury and promise not to sell the book? no, we would not; we claimed the right to sell, and meant to vindicate it. the judge pleaded, argued, finally got angry with us, and, at last, compelled to pass sentence, he stated that if we would have yielded he would have let us go free without penalty, but that as we would set ourselves against the law, break it and defy it--a sore offence from the judge's point of view--he could only pass a heavy sentence on each of six months' imprisonment, a fine of £ , and recognisances of £ for two years, and this, as he again repeated, upon the assumption "that they do intend to set the law at defiance." even despite this he made us first-class misdemeanants. then, as mr. bradlaugh stated that we should move for a writ of error, he liberated us on mr. bradlaugh's recognisance for £ , the queerest comment on his view of the case and of our characters, since we were liable jointly to £ , under the sentence, to say nothing of the imprisonment. but prison and money penalties vanished into thin air, for the writ of error was granted, proved successful, and the verdict was quashed. then ensued a somewhat anxious time. we were resolute to continue selling; were our opponents equally resolved to prosecute us? we could not tell. i wrote a pamphlet entitled "the law of population," giving the arguments which had convinced me of its truth, the terrible distress and degradation entailed on families by overcrowding and the lack of the necessaries of life, pleading for early marriages that prostitution might be destroyed, and limitation of the family that pauperism might be avoided; finally, giving the information which rendered early marriage without these evils possible. this pamphlet was put in circulation as representing our view of the subject, and we again took up the sale of knowlton's. mr. bradlaugh carried the war into the enemy's country, and commenced an action against the police for the recovery of some pamphlets they had seized; he carried the action to a successful issue, recovered the pamphlets, bore them off in triumph, and we sold them all with an inscription across them, "recovered from the police." we continued the sale of knowlton's tract for some time, until we received an intimation that no further prosecution would be attempted, and on this we at once dropped its publication, substituting for it my "law of population." [illustration: charles bradlaugh m.p.] but the worst part of the fight, for me, was to come. prosecution of the "law of population" was threatened, but never commenced; a worse weapon against me was in store. an attempt had been made in august, , to deprive me of the custody of my little girl by hiding her away when she went on her annual visit of one month to her father, but i had promptly recovered her by threatening to issue a writ of _habeas corpus._ now it was felt that the knowlton trial might be added to the charges of blasphemy that could be urged against me, and that this double-barrelled gun might be discharged with effect. i received notice in january, , that an application was to be made to the high court of chancery to deprive me of the child, but the petition was not filed till the following april. mabel was dangerously ill with scarlet fever at the time, and though this fact was communicated to her father i received a copy of the petition while sitting at her bedside. the petition alleged that, "the said annie besant is, by addresses, lectures, and writings, endeavouring to propagate the principles of atheism, and has published a book entitled 'the gospel of atheism.' she has also associated herself with an infidel lecturer and author named charles bradlaugh in giving lectures and in publishing books and pamphlets, whereby the truth of the christian religion is impeached, and disbelief in all religion inculcated." it further alleged against me the publication of the knowlton pamphlet, and the writing of the "law of population." unhappily, the petition came for hearing before the then master of the rolls, sir george jessel, a man animated by the old spirit of hebrew bigotry, to which he had added the time-serving morality of a "man of the world," sceptical as to all sincerity, and contemptuous of all devotion to an unpopular cause. the treatment i received at his hands on my first appearance in court told me what i had to expect. i had already had some experience of english judges, the stately kindness and gentleness of the lord chief justice, the perfect impartiality and dignified courtesy of the lords justices of appeal. my astonishment, then, can be imagined when, in answer to a statement by mr. ince, q.c., that i appeared in person, i heard a harsh, loud voice exclaim: "appear in person? a lady appear in person? never heard of such a thing! does the lady really appear in person?" as the london papers had been full of my appearing in person in the other courts and had contained the high compliments of the lord chief justice on my conduct of my own case, sir george jessel's pretended astonishment seemed a little overdone. after a variety of similar remarks delivered in the most grating tones and in the roughest manner, sir george jessel tried to obtain his object by browbeating me directly. "is this the lady?" "i am the respondent, my lord, mrs. besant." "then i advise you, mrs. besant, to employ counsel to represent you, if you can afford it; and i suppose you can." "with all submission to your lordship, i am afraid i must claim my right of arguing my case in person." "you will do so if you please, of course, but i think you had much better appear by counsel. i give you notice that, if you do not, you must not expect to be shown any consideration. you will not be heard by me at any greater length than the case requires, nor allowed to go into irrelevant matter, as persons who argue their own cases usually do." "i trust i shall not do so, my lord; but in any case i shall be arguing under your lordship's complete control." this encouraging beginning may be taken as a sample of the case--it was one long fight against clever counsel, aided by a counsel instead of a judge on the bench. only once did judge and counsel fall out. mr. ince and mr. bardswell had been arguing that my atheism and malthusianism made me an unfit guardian for my child; mr. ince declared that mabel, educated by me, would "be helpless for good in this world," and "hopeless for good hereafter, outcast in this life and damned in the next." mr. bardswell implored the judge to consider that my custody of her "would be detrimental to the future prospects of the child in society, to say nothing of her eternal prospects." had not the matter been to me of such heart-breaking importance, i could have laughed at the mixture of mrs. grundy, marriage establishment, and hell, presented as an argument for robbing a mother of her child. but mr. bardswell carelessly forgot that sir george jessel was a jew, and lifting eyes to heaven in horrified appeal, he gasped out: "your lordship, i think, will scarcely credit it, but mrs. besant says, in a later affidavit, that she took away the testament from the child because it contained coarse passages unfit for a child to read." the opportunity was too tempting for a jew to refrain from striking at a book written by apostate jews, and sir george jessel answered sharply: "it is not true to say there are no passages unfit for a child's reading, because i think there are a great many." "i do not know of any passages that could fairly be called coarse." "i cannot quite assent to that." barring this little episode judge and counsel showed a charming unanimity. i distinctly said i was an atheist, that i had withdrawn the child from religious instruction at the day-school she attended, that i had written various anti-christian books, and so on; but i claimed the child's custody on the ground that the deed of separation distinctly gave it to me, and had been executed by her father after i had left the christian church, and that my opinions were not sufficient to invalidate it. it was admitted on the other side that the child was admirably cared for, and there was no attempt at attacking my personal character. the judge stated that i had taken the greatest possible care of the child, but decided that the mere fact of my refusing to give the child religious instruction was sufficient ground for depriving me of her custody. secular education he regarded as "not only reprehensible, but detestable, and likely to work utter ruin to the child, and i certainly should upon this ground alone decide that this child ought not to remain another day under the care of her mother." sir george jessel denounced also my malthusian views in a fashion at once so brutal and so untruthful as to facts, that some years later another judge, the senior puisne judge of the supreme court of new south wales, declared in a judgment delivered in his own court that there was "no language used by lord cockburn which justified the master of the rolls in assuming that lord cockburn regarded the book as obscene," and that "little weight is to be attached to his opinion on a point not submitted for his decision"; he went on to administer a sharp rebuke for the way in which sir george jessel travelled outside the case, and remarked that "abuse, however, of an unpopular opinion, whether indulged in by judges or other people, is not argument, nor can the vituperation of opponents in opinion prove them to be immoral." however, sir george jessel was all-powerful in his own court, and he deprived me of my child, refusing to stay the order even until the hearing of my appeal against his decision. a messenger from the father came to my house, and the little child was carried away by main force, shrieking and struggling, still weak from the fever, and nearly frantic with fear and passionate resistance. no access to her was given me, and i gave notice that if access were denied me, i would sue for a restitution of conjugal rights, merely that i might see my children. but the strain had been too great, and i nearly went mad, spending hours pacing up and down the empty rooms, striving to weary myself to exhaustion that i might forget. the loneliness and silence of the house, of which my darling had always been the sunshine and the music, weighed on me like an evil dream; i listened for the patter of the dancing feet, and merry, thrilling laughter that rang through the garden, the sweet music of the childish voice; during my sleepless nights i missed in the darkness the soft breathing of the little child; each morning i longed in vain for the clinging arms and soft, sweet kisses. at last health broke down, and fever struck me, and mercifully gave me the rest of pain and delirium instead of the agony of conscious loss. through that terrible illness, day after day, mr. bradlaugh came to me, and sat writing beside me, feeding me with ice and milk, refused from all others, and behaving more like a tender mother than a man friend; he saved my life, though it seemed to me for awhile of little value, till the first months of lonely pain were over. when recovered, i took steps to set aside an order obtained by mr. besant during my illness, forbidding me to bring any suit against him, and even the master of the rolls, on hearing that all access had been denied to me, and the money due to me stopped, uttered words of strong condemnation of the way in which i had been treated. finally the deed of separation executed in was held to be good as protecting mr. besant from any suit brought by me, whether for divorce or for restitution of conjugal rights, while the clauses giving me the custody of the child were set aside. the court of appeal in april, , upheld the decision, the absolute right of the father as against a married mother being upheld. this ignoring of all right to her children on the part of the married mother is a scandal and a wrong that has since been redressed by parliament, and the husband has no longer in his grasp this instrument of torture, whose power to agonise depends on the tenderness and strength of the motherliness of the wife. in the days when the law took my child from me, it virtually said to all women: "choose which of these two positions, as wife and mother, you will occupy. if you are legally your husband's wife, you can have no legal claim to your children; if legally you are your husband's mistress, your rights as mother are secure." that stigma on marriage is now removed. one thing i gained in the court of appeal. the court expressed a strong view as to my right of access, and directed me to apply to sir george jessel for it, adding that it could not doubt he would grant it. under cover of this i applied to the master of the rolls, and obtained liberal access to the children; but i found that my visits kept mabel in a continual state of longing and fretting for me, while the ingenious forms of petty insult that were devised against me and used in the children's presence would soon become palpable to them and cause continual pain. so, after a painful struggle with myself, i resolved to give up the right of seeing them, feeling that thus only could i save them from constantly recurring conflict, destructive of all happiness and of all respect for one or the other parent. resolutely i turned my back on them that i might spare them trouble, and determined that, robbed of my own, i would be a mother to all helpless children i could aid, and cure the pain at my own heart by soothing the pain of others. as far as regards this whole struggle over the knowlton pamphlet, victory was finally won all along the line. not only did we, as related, recover all our seized pamphlets, and continue the sale till all prosecution and threat of prosecution were definitely surrendered; but my own tract had an enormous sale, so that when i withdrew it from sale in june, , i was offered a large sum for the copyright, an offer which i, of course, refused. since that time not a copy has been sold with my knowledge or permission, but long ere that the pamphlet had received a very complete legal vindication. for while it circulated untouched in england, a prosecution was attempted against it in new south wales, but was put an end to by an eloquent and luminous judgment by the senior puisne judge of the supreme court, mr. justice windmeyer, in december, . this judge, the most respected in the great australian colony, spoke out plainly and strongly on the morality of such teaching. "take the case," he said, "of a woman married to a drunken husband, steadily ruining his constitution and hastening to the drunkard's doom, loss of employment for himself, semi-starvation for his family, and finally death, without a shilling to leave those whom he has brought into the world, but armed with the authority of the law to treat his wife as his slave, ever brutally insisting on the indulgence of his marital rights. where is the immorality, if, already broken in health from unresting maternity, having already a larger family than she can support when the miserable breadwinner has drunk himself to death, the woman avails herself of the information given in this book, and so averts the consequences of yielding to her husband's brutal insistence on his marital rights? already weighted with a family that she is unable to decently bring up, the immorality, it seems to me, would be in the reckless and criminal disregard of precautions which would prevent her bringing into the world daughters whose future outlook as a career would be prostitution, or sons whose inherited taint of alcoholism would soon drag them down with their sisters to herd with the seething mass of degenerate and criminal humanity that constitutes the dangerous classes of great cities. in all these cases the appeal is from thoughtless, unreasoning prejudice to conscience, and, if listened to, its voice will be heard unmistakably indicating where the path of duty lies." the judge forcibly refused to be any party to the prohibition of such a pamphlet, regarding it as of high service to the community. he said: "so strong is the dread of the world's censure upon this topic that few have the courage openly to express their views upon it; and its nature is such that it is only amongst thinkers who discuss all subjects, or amongst intimate acquaintances, that community of thought upon the question is discovered. but let any one inquire amongst those who have sufficient education and ability to think for themselves, and who do not idly float, slaves to the current of conventional opinion, and he will discover that numbers of men and women of purest lives, of noblest aspirations, pious, cultivated, and refined, see no wrong in teaching the ignorant that it is wrong to bring into the world children to whom they cannot do justice, and who think it folly to stop short in telling them simply and plainly how to prevent it. a more robust view of morals teaches that it is puerile to ignore human passions and human physiology. a clearer perception of truth and the safety of trusting to it teaches that in law, as in religion, it is useless trying to limit the knowledge of mankind by any inquisitorial attempts to place upon a judicial index expurgatorius works written with an earnest purpose, and commending themselves to thinkers of well-balanced minds. i will be no party to any such attempt. i do not believe that it was ever meant that the obscene publication act should apply to cases of this kind, but only to the publication of such matter as all good men would regard as lewd and filthy, to lewd and bawdy novels, pictures and exhibitions, evidently published and given for lucre's sake. it could never have been intended to stifle the expression of thought by the earnest-minded on a subject of transcendent national importance like the present, and i will not strain it for that purpose. as pointed out by lord cockburn in the case of the queen v. bradlaugh and besant, all prosecutions of this kind should be regarded as mischievous, even by those who disapprove the opinions sought to be stifled, inasmuch as they only tend more widely to diffuse the teaching objected to. to those, on the other hand, who desire its promulgation, it must be a matter of congratulation that this, like all attempted persecutions of thinkers, will defeat its own object, and that truth, like a torch, 'the more it's shook it shines.'" the argument of mr. justice windmeyer for the neo-malthusian position was (as any one may see who reads the full text of the judgment) one of the most luminous and cogent i have ever read. the judgment was spoken of at the time in the english press as a "brilliant triumph for mrs. besant," and so i suppose it was; but no legal judgment could undo the harm wrought on the public mind in england by malignant and persistent misrepresentation. what that trial and its results cost me in pain no one but myself will ever know; on the other hand, there was the passionate gratitude evidenced by letters from thousands of poor married women--many from the wives of country clergymen and curates--thanking and blessing me for showing them how to escape from the veritable hell in which they lived. the "upper classes" of society know nothing about the way in which the poor live; how their overcrowding destroys all sense of personal dignity, of modesty, of outward decency, till human life, as bishop fraser justly said, is "degraded below the level of the swine." to such, and among such i went, and i could not grudge the price that then seemed to me as the ransom for their redemption. to me, indeed, it meant the losing of all that made life dear, but for them it seemed to be the gaining of all that gave hope of a better future. so how could i hesitate--i whose heart had been fired by devotion to an ideal humanity, inspired by that materialism that is of love and not of hate? and now, in august, , we find the _christian world,_ the representative organ of orthodox christian protestantism, proclaiming the right and the duty of voluntary limitation of the family. in a leading article, after a number of letters had been inserted, it said:-- "the conditions are assuredly wrong which bring one member of the married partnership into a bondage so cruel. it is no less evident that the cause of the bondage in such cases lies in the too rapid multiplication of the family. there was a time when any idea of voluntary limitation was regarded by pious people as interfering with providence. we are beyond that now, and have become capable of recognising that providence works through the common sense of individual brains. we limit population just as much by deferring marriage from prudential motives as by any action that may be taken after it.... apart from certain methods of limitation, the morality of which is gravely questioned by many, there are certain easily-understood physiological laws of the subject, the failure to know and to observe which is inexcusable on the part either of men or women in these circumstances. it is worth noting in this connection that dr. billings, in his article in this month's _forum_, on the diminishing birth-rate of the united states, gives as one of the reasons the greater diffusion of intelligence, by means of popular and school treatises on physiology, than formerly prevailed." thus has opinion changed in sixteen years, and all the obloquy poured on us is seen to have been the outcome of ignorance and bigotry. as for the children, what was gained by their separation from me? the moment they were old enough to free themselves, they came back to me, my little girl's too brief stay with me being ended by her happy marriage, and i fancy the fears expressed for her eternal future will prove as groundless as the fears for her temporal ruin have proved to be! not only so, but both are treading in my steps as regards their views of the nature and destiny of man, and have joined in their bright youth the theosophical society to which, after so many struggles, i won my way. the struggle on the right to discuss the prudential restraint of population did not, however, conclude without a martyr. mr. edward truelove, alluded to above, was prosecuted for selling a treatise by robert dale owen on "moral physiology," and a pamphlet entitled, "individual, family, and national poverty." he was tried on february , , before the lord chief justice in the court of queen's bench, and was most ably defended by professor w.a. hunter. the jury spent two hours in considering their verdict, and returned into court and stated that they were unable to agree. the majority of the jury were ready to convict, if they felt sure that mr. truelove would not be punished, but one of them boldly declared in court: "as to the book, it is written in plain language for plain people, and i think that many more persons ought to know what the contents of the book are." the jury was discharged, in consequence of this one man's courage, but mr. truelove's persecutors--the vice society--were determined not to let their victim free. they proceeded to trial a second time, and wisely endeavoured to secure a special jury, feeling that as prudential restraint would raise wages by limiting the supply of labour, they would be more likely to obtain a verdict from a jury of "gentlemen" than from one composed of workers. this attempt was circumvented by mr. truelove's legal advisers, who let a _procedendo_ go which sent back the trial to the old bailey. the second trial was held on may th at the central criminal court before baron pollock and a common jury, professor hunter and mr. j.m. davidson appearing for the defence. the jury convicted, and the brave old man, sixty-eight years of age, was condemned to four months' imprisonment and £ fine for selling a pamphlet which had been sold unchallenged, during a period of forty-five years, by james watson, george jacob holyoake, austin holyoake, and charles watts. mr. grain, the counsel employed by the vice society, most unfairly used against mr. truelove my "law of population," a pamphlet which contained, baron pollock said, "the head and front of the offence in the other [the knowlton] case." i find an indignant protest against this odious unfairness in the _national reformer_ for may th: "my 'law of population' was used against mr. truelove as an aggravation of his offence, passing over the utter meanness--worthy only of collette--of using against a prisoner a book whose author has never been attacked for writing it--does mr. collette, or do the authorities, imagine that the severity shown to mr. truelove will in any fashion deter me from continuing the malthusian propaganda? let me here assure them, one and all, that it will do nothing of the kind; i shall continue to sell the 'law of population' and to advocate scientific checks to population, just as though mr. collette and his vice society were all dead and buried. in commonest justice they are bound to prosecute me, and if they get, and keep, a verdict against me, and succeed in sending me to prison, they will only make people more anxious to read my book, and make me more personally powerful as a teacher of the views which they attack." a persistent attempt was made to obtain a writ of error in mr. truelove's case, but the tory attorney-general, sir john holker, refused it, although the ground on which it was asked was one of the grounds on which a similar writ had been granted to mr. bradlaugh and myself. mr. truelove was therefore compelled to suffer his sentence, but memorials, signed by , persons, asking for his release, were sent to the home secretary from every part of the country, and a crowded meeting in st. james's hall, london, demanded his liberation with only six dissentients. the whole agitation did not shorten mr. truelove's sentence by a single day, and he was not released from coldbath fields prison until september th. on the th of the same month the hall of science was crowded with enthusiastic friends, who assembled to do him honour, and he was presented with a beautifully-illuminated address and a purse containing £ (subsequent subscriptions raised the amount to £ s. d.). it is scarcely necessary to say that one of the results of the prosecution was a great agitation throughout the country, and a wide popularisation of malthusian views. some huge demonstrations were held in favour of free discussion; on one occasion the free trade hall, manchester, was crowded to the doors; on another the star music hall, bradford, was crammed in every corner; on another the town hall, birmingham, had not a seat or a bit of standing-room unoccupied. wherever we went, separately or together, it was the same story, and not only were malthusian lectures eagerly attended, and malthusian literature eagerly bought, but curiosity brought many to listen to our radical and freethought lectures, and thousands heard for the first time what secularism really meant. the press, both london and provincial, agreed in branding the prosecution as foolish, and it was generally remarked that it resulted only in the wider circulation of the indicted book, and the increased popularity of those who had stood for the right of publication. the furious attacks since made upon us have been made chiefly by those who differ from us in theological creed, and who have found a misrepresentation of our prosecution served them as a convenient weapon of attack. during the last few years public opinion has been gradually coming round to our side, in consequence of the pressure of poverty resulting from widespread depression of trade, and during the sensation caused in by "the bitter cry of outcast london," many writers in the _daily news_--notably mr. g.r. sims--boldly alleged that the distress was to a great extent due to the large families of the poor, and mentioned that we had been prosecuted for giving the very knowledge which would bring salvation to the sufferers in our great cities. among the useful results of the prosecution was the establishment of the malthusian league, "to agitate for the abolition of all penalties on the public discussion of the population question," and "to spread among the people, by all practicable means, a knowledge of the law of population, of its consequences, and of its bearing upon human conduct and morals." the first general meeting of the league was held at the hall of science on july , , and a council of twenty persons was elected, and this council on august nd elected dr. c.r. drysdale, m.d., president; mr. swaagman, treasurer; mrs. besant, secretary; mr. shearer, assistant-secretary; and mr. hember, financial secretary. since the league, under the same indefatigable president, has worked hard to carry out its objects; it has issued a large number of leaflets and tracts; it supports a monthly journal, the _malthusian;_ numerous lectures have been delivered under its auspices in all parts of the country; and it has now a medical branch, into which none but duly qualified medical men and women are admitted, with members in all european countries. another result of the prosecution was the accession of "d." to the staff of the _national reformer_. this able and thoughtful writer came forward and joined our ranks as soon as he heard of the attack on us, and he further volunteered to conduct the journal during our expected imprisonment. from that time to this--a period of fifteen years--articles from his pen appeared in its columns week by week, and during all that time not one solitary difficulty arose between editors and contributor. in public a trustworthy colleague, in private a warm and sincere friend, "d." proved an unmixed benefit bestowed upon us by the prosecution. nor was "d." the only friend brought to us by our foes. i cannot ever think of that time without remembering that the prosecution brought me first into close intimacy with mrs. annie parris--the wife of mr. touzeau parris, the secretary of the defence committee throughout all the fight--a lady who, during that long struggle, and during the, for me, far worse struggle that succeeded it, over the custody of my daughter, proved to me the most loving and sisterly of friends. one or two other friendships which will, i hope, last my life, date from that same time of strife and anxiety. the amount of money subscribed by the public during the knowlton and succeeding prosecutions gives some idea of the interest felt in the struggle. the defence fund committee in march, , presented a balance-sheet, showing subscriptions amounting to £ , s. d., and total expenditure in the queen v. bradlaugh and besant, the queen v. truelove, and the appeal against mr. vaughan's order (the last two up to date) of £ , s. this account was then closed and the balance of £ s. d. passed on to a new fund for the defence of mr. truelove, the carrying on of the appeal against the destruction of the knowlton pamphlet, and the bearing of the costs incident on the petition lodged against myself. in july this new fund had reached £ s. d., and after paying the remainder of the costs in mr. truelove's case, a balance of £ s. d. was carried on. this again rose to £ s. - / d., and the fund bore the expenses of mr. bradlaugh's successful appeal on the knowlton pamphlet, the petition and subsequent proceedings in which i was concerned in the court of chancery, and an appeal on mr. truelove's behalf, unfortunately unsuccessful, against an order for the destruction of the dale owen pamphlet. this last decision was given on february , , and on this the defence fund was closed. on mr. truelove's release, as mentioned above, a testimonial to the amount of £ s. d. was presented to him, and after the close of the struggle some anonymous friend sent to me personally £ as "thanks for the courage and ability shown." in addition to all this, the malthusian league received no less than £ s. d. during the first year of its life, and started on its second year with a balance in hand of £ s. d. a somewhat similar prosecution in america, in which the bookseller, mr. d.m. bennett, sold a book with which he did not agree, and was imprisoned, led to our giving him a warm welcome when, after his release, he visited england. we entertained him at the hall of science at a crowded gathering, and i was deputed as spokesman to present him with a testimonial. this i did in the following speech, quoted here in order to show the spirit then animating me:-- "friends, mr. bradlaugh has spoken of the duty that calls us here to-night. it is pleasant to think that in our work that duty is one to which we are not unaccustomed. in our army there are more true soldiers than traitors, more that are faithful to the trust of keeping the truth than those who shrink when the hour of danger comes. and i would ask mr. bennett to-night not to measure english feeling towards him by the mere number of those present. they that are here are representatives of many thousands of our fellow-countrymen. glance down this middle table, and you will see that it is not without some right that we claim to welcome you in the name of multitudes of the citizens of england. there are those who taunt us with want of loyalty, and with the name of infidels. in what church will they find men and women more loyal to truth and conscience? the name infidel is not for us so long as we are faithful to the truth we know. if i speak, as i have done, of national representation in this hall this evening, tell me, you who know those who sit here, who have watched some of them for years, others of them but for a brief time, do i not speak truth? take them one by one. your president but a little while ago in circumstances similar to those wherein our guest himself was placed, with the true lover's keenness that recognises the mistress under all disguise, beholding his mistress liberty in danger, under circumstances that would have blinded less sure eyes, leapt to her rescue. he risked the ambition of his life rather than be disloyal to liberty. and next is seated a woman, who, student of a noble profession, thought that liberty had greater claim upon her than even her work. when we stood in worse peril than even loss of liberty, she risked her own good name for the truth's sake. one also is here who, eminent in his own profession, came with the weight of his position and his right to speak, and gave a kindred testimony. one step further, and you see one who, soldier to liberty, throughout a long and spotless life, when the task was far harder than it is to-day, when there were no greetings, no welcomes, when to serve was to peril name as well as liberty, never flinched from the first until now. he is crowned with the glory of the jail, that was his for no crime but for claiming the right to publish that wherein the noblest thought is uttered in the bravest words. and next to him is another who speaks for liberty, who has brought culture, university degree, position in men's sight, and many friends, and cast them all at her beloved feet. sir, not alone the past and the present greet you to-night. the future also greets you with us. we have here also those who are training themselves to walk in the footsteps of the one most dear to them, who shall carry on, when we have passed away, the work which we shall have dropped from our hands. but he whom we delight to honour at this hour in truth honours us, in that he allows us to offer him the welcome that it is our glory and our pleasure to give. he has fought bravely. the christian creed had in its beginning more traitors and less true hearts than the creed of to-day. we are happy to-day not only in the thought of what manner of men we have for leaders, but in the thought of what manner of men we have as soldiers in our army. jesus had twelve apostles. one betrayed him for thirty pieces of silver; a second denied him. they all forsook him and fled. we can scarcely point to one who has thus deserted our sacred cause. the traditions of our party tell us of many who went to jail because they claimed for all that right of free speech which is the heritage of all. one of the most famous members of our body in england, richard carlile, turned bookseller to sell books that were prosecuted. this man became free-thinker, driven thereto by the bigotry and wickedness of the churches. he sold the books of hone not because he agreed with them, but because hone was prosecuted. he saw that the book in whose prosecution freedom was attacked was the book for the freeman to sell; and the story of our guest shows that in all this england and america are one. those who gave milton to the world can yet bring forth men of the same stamp in continents leagues asunder. because our friend was loyal and true, prison had to him no dread. it was far, far less of dishonour to wear the garb of the convict than to wear that of the hypocrite. the society we represent, like his society in america, pleads for free thought, speaks for free speech, claims for every one, however antagonistic, the right to speak the thought he feels. it is better that this should be, even though the thought be wrong, for thus the sooner will its error be discovered--better if the thought be right, for then the sooner does the gladness of a new truth find place in the heart of man. as the mouthpiece, sir, of our national secular society, and of its thousands of members, i speak to you now:-- "'address. "'_we seek for truth_.' "'to d.m. bennett. "'in asking you to accept at the hands of the national secular society of england this symbol of cordial sympathy and brotherly welcome, we are but putting into act the motto of our society. "we seek for truth" is our badge, and it is as truthseeker that we do you homage to-night. without free speech no search for truth is possible; without free speech no discovery of truth is useful; without free speech progress is checked, and the nations no longer march forward towards the nobler life which the future holds for man. better a thousandfold abuse of free speech than denial of free speech. the abuse dies in a day; the denial slays the life of the people and entombs the hope of the race. "'in your own country you have pleaded for free speech, and when, under a wicked and an odious law, one of your fellow-citizens was imprisoned for the publication of his opinions, you, not sharing the opinions but faithful to liberty, sprang forward to defend in him the principle of free speech which you claimed for yourself, and sold his book while he lay in prison. for this act you were in turn arrested and sent to jail, and the country which won its freedom by the aid of paine in the eighteenth century disgraced itself in the nineteenth by the imprisonment of a heretic. the republic of the united states dishonoured herself, and not you, in albany penitentiary. two hundred thousand of your countrymen pleaded for your release, but bigotry was too strong. we sent you greeting in your captivity; we rejoiced when the time came for your release. we offer you to-night our thanks and our hope--thanks for the heroism which never flinched in the hour of battle, hope for a more peaceful future, in which the memory of a past pain may be a sacred heritage and not a regret. "'charles bradlaugh, _president_.' "soldier of liberty, we give you this. do in the future the same good service that you have done in the past, and your reward shall be in the love that true men shall bear to you." that, however, which no force could compel me to do, which i refused to threats of fine and prison, to separation from my children, to social ostracism, and to insults and ignominy worse to bear than death, i surrendered freely when all the struggle was over, and a great part of society and of public opinion had adopted the view that cost mr. bradlaugh and myself so dear. i may as well complete the story here, so as not to have to refer to it again. i gave up neo-malthusianism in april, , its renunciation being part of the outcome of two years' instruction from mdme. h.p. blavatsky, who showed me that however justifiable neo-malthusianism might be while man was regarded only as the most perfect outcome of physical evolution, it was wholly incompatible with the view of man as a spiritual being, whose material form and environment were the results of his own mental activity. why and how i embraced theosophy, and accepted h.p. blavatsky as teacher, will soon be told in its proper place. here i am concerned only with the why and how of my renunciation of the neo-malthusian teaching, for which i had fought so hard and suffered so much. when i built my life on the basis of materialism i judged all actions by their effect on human happiness in this world now and in future generations, regarding man as an organism that lived on earth and there perished, with activities confined to earth and limited by physical laws. the object of life was the ultimate building-up of a physically, mentally, morally perfect man by the cumulative effects of heredity--mental and moral tendencies being regarded as the outcome of material conditions, to be slowly but surely evolved by rational selection and the transmission to offspring of qualities carefully acquired by, and developed in, parents. the most characteristic note of this serious and lofty materialism had been struck by professor w. k. clifford in his noble article on the "ethics of belief." taking this view of human duty in regard to the rational co-operation with nature in the evolution of the human race, it became of the first importance to rescue the control of the generation of offspring from mere blind brute passion, and to transfer it to the reason and to the intelligence; to impress on parents the sacredness of the parental office, the tremendous responsibility of the exercise of the creative function. and since, further, one of the most pressing problems for solution in the older countries is that of poverty, the horrible slums and dens into which are crowded and in which are festering families of eight and ten children, whose parents are earning an uncertain s., s., s., and s. a week; since an immediate palliative is wanted, if popular risings impelled by starvation are to be avoided; since the lives of men and women of the poorer classes, and of the worst paid professional classes, are one long, heart-breaking struggle "to make both ends meet and keep respectable"; since in the middle class marriage is often avoided, or delayed till late in life, from the dread of the large family, and late marriage is followed by its shadow, the prevalence of vice and the moral and social ruin of thousands of women; for these, and many other reasons, the teaching of the duty of limiting the family within the means of subsistence is the logical outcome of materialism linked with the scientific view of evolution, and with a knowledge of the physical law, by which evolution is accelerated or retarded. seeking to improve the physical type, scientific materialism, it seemed to me, must forbid parentage to any but healthy married couples; it must restrict childbearing within the limits consistent with the thorough health and physical well-being of the mother; it must impose it as a duty never to bring children into the world unless the conditions for their fair nurture and development are present. regarding it as hopeless, as well as mischievous, to preach asceticism, and looking on the conjunction of nominal celibacy with widespread prostitution as inevitable, from the constitution of human nature, scientific materialism--quite rationally and logically--advises deliberate restriction of the production of offspring, while sanctioning the exercise of the sexual instinct within the limits imposed by temperance, the highest physical and mental efficiency, the good order and dignity of society, and the self-respect of the individual. in all this there is nothing which for one moment implies approval of licentiousness, profligacy, unbridled self-indulgence. on the contrary, it is a well-considered and intellectually-defensible scheme of human evolution, regarding all natural instincts as matters for regulation, not for destruction, and seeking to develop the perfectly healthy and well-balanced physical body as the necessary basis for the healthy and well-balanced mind. if the premises of materialism be true, there is no answer to the neo-malthusian conclusions; for even those socialists who have bitterly opposed the promulgation of neo-malthusianism--regarding it as a "red herring intended to draw the attention of the proletariat away from the real cause of poverty, the monopoly of land and capital by a class"--admit that when society is built on the foundation of common property in all that is necessary for the production of wealth, the time will come for the consideration of the population question. nor do i now see, any more than i saw then, how any materialist can rationally avoid the neo-malthusian position. for if man be the outcome of purely physical causes, it is with these that we must deal in guiding his future evolution. if he be related but to terrestrial existence, he is but the loftiest organism of earth; and, failing to see his past and his future, how should my eyes not have been then blinded to the deep-lying causes of his present woe? i brought a material cure to a disease which appeared to me to be of material origin; but how when the evil came from a subtler source, and its causes lay not on the material plane? how if the remedy only set up new causes for a future evil, and, while immediately a palliative, strengthened the disease itself, and ensured its reappearance in the future? this was the view of the problem set before me by h.p. blavatsky when she unrolled the story of man, told of his origin and his destiny, showed me the forces that went to the making of man, and the true relation between his past, his present, and his future. for what is man in the light of theosophy? he is a spiritual intelligence, eternal and uncreate, treading a vast cycle of human experience, born and reborn on earth millennium after millennium, evolving slowly into the ideal man. he is not the product of matter, but is encased in matter, and the forms of matter with which he clothes himself are of his own making. for the intelligence and will of man are creative forces--not creative _ex nihilo_, but creative as is the brain of the painter--and these forces are exercised by man in every act of thought. thus he is ever creating round him thought-forms, moulding subtlest matter into shape by these energies, forms which persist as tangible realities when the body of the thinker has long gone back to earth and air and water. when the time for rebirth into this earth-life comes for the soul these thought-forms, its own progeny, help to form the tenuous model into which the molecules of physical matter are builded for the making of the body, and matter is thus moulded for the new body in which the soul is to dwell, on the lines laid down by the intelligent and volitional life of the previous, or of many previous, incarnations. so does each man create for himself in verity the form wherein he functions, and what he is in his present is the inevitable outcome of his own creative energies in his past. applying this to the neo-malthusian theory, we see in sexual love not only a passion which man has in common with the brute, and which forms, at the present stage of evolution, a necessary part of human nature, but an animal passion that may be trained and purified into a human emotion, which may be used as one of the levers in human progress, one of the factors in human growth. but, instead of this, man in the past has made his intellect the servant of his passions; the abnormal development of the sexual instinct in man--in whom it is far greater and more continuous than in any brute--is due to the mingling with it of the intellectual element, all sexual thoughts, desires, and imaginations having created thought-forms, which have been wrought into the human race, giving rise to a continual demand, far beyond nature, and in marked contrast with the temperance of normal animal life. hence it has become one of the most fruitful sources of human misery and human degradation, and the satisfaction of its imperious cravings in civilised countries lies at the root of our worst social evils. this excessive development has to be fought against, and the instinct reduced within natural limits, and this will certainly never be done by easy-going self-indulgence within the marital relation any more than by self-indulgence outside it. by none other road than that of self-control and self-denial can men and women now set going the causes which will build for them brains and bodies of a higher type for their future return to earth-life. they have to hold this instinct in complete control, to transmute it from passion into tender and self-denying affection, to develop the intellectual at the expense of the animal, and thus to raise the whole man to the human stage, in which every intellectual and physical capacity shall subserve the purposes of the soul. from all this it follows that theosophists should sound the note of self-restraint within marriage, and the gradual--for with the mass it cannot be sudden--restriction of the sexual relation to the perpetuation of the race. such was the bearing of theosophical teaching on neo-malthusianism, as laid before me by h.p. blavatsky, and when i urged, out of my bitter knowledge of the miseries endured by the poor, that it surely might, for a time at least, be recommended as a palliative, as a defence in the hands of a woman against intolerable oppression and enforced suffering, she bade me look beyond the moment, and see how the suffering must come back and back with every generation, unless we sought to remove the roots of wrong. "i do not judge a woman," she said, "who has resort to such means of defence in the midst of circumstances so evil, and whose ignorance of the real causes of all this misery is her excuse for snatching at any relief. but it is not for you, an occultist, to continue to teach a method which you now know must tend to the perpetuation of the sorrow." i felt that she was right, and though i shrank from the decision--for my heart somewhat failed me at withdrawing from the knowledge of the poor, so far as i could, a temporary palliative of evils which too often wreck their lives and bring many to an early grave, worn old before even middle age has touched them--yet the decision was made. i refused to reprint the "law of population," or to sell the copyright, giving pain, as i sadly knew, to all the brave and loyal friends who had so generously stood by me in that long and bitter struggle, and who saw the results of victory thrown away on grounds to them inadequate and mistaken! will it always be, i wonder, in man's climbing upward, that every step must be set on his own heart and on the hearts of those he loves? chapter x. at war all round. coming back to my work after my long and dangerous illness, i took up again its thread, heartsick, but with courage unshaken, and i find myself in the _national reformer_ for september , , saying in a brief note of thanks that "neither the illness nor the trouble which produced it has in any fashion lessened my determination to work for the cause." in truth, i plunged into work with added vigour, for only in that did i find any solace, but the pamphlets written at this time against christianity were marked with considerable bitterness, for it was christianity that had robbed me of my child, and i struck mercilessly at it in return. in the political struggles of that time, when the beaconsfield government was in full swing, with its policy of annexation and aggression, i played my part with tongue and pen, and my articles in defence of an honest and liberty-loving policy in india, against the invasion of afghanistan and other outrages, laid in many an indian heart a foundation of affection for me, and seem to me now as a preparation for the work among indians to which much of my time and thought to-day are given. in november of this same year ( ) i wrote a little book on "england, india, and afghanistan" that has brought me many a warm letter of thanks, and with this, the carrying on of the suit against mr. besant before alluded to, two and often three lectures every sunday, to say nothing of the editorial work on the _national reformer_, the secretarial work on the malthusian league, and stray lectures during the week, my time was fairly well filled. but i found that in my reading i developed a tendency to let my thoughts wander from the subject in hand, and that they would drift after my lost little one, so i resolved to fill up the gaps in my scientific education, and to amuse myself by reading up for some examinations; i thought it would serve as an absorbing form of recreation from my other work, and would at the same time, by making my knowledge exact, render me more useful as a speaker on behalf of the causes to which my life was given. at the opening of the new year ( ) i met for the first time a man to whom i subsequently owed much in this department of work--edward b. aveling, a d.sc. of london university, and a marvellously able teacher of scientific subjects, the very ablest, in fact, that i have ever met. clear and accurate in his knowledge, with a singular gift for lucid exposition, enthusiastic in his love of science, and taking vivid pleasure in imparting his knowledge to others, he was an ideal teacher. this young man, in january, , began writing under initials for the _national reformer_, and in february i became his pupil, with the view of matriculating in june at the london university, an object which was duly accomplished. and here let me say to any one in mental trouble, that they might find an immense relief in taking up some intellectual recreation of this kind; during that spring, in addition to my ordinary work of writing, lecturing, and editing--and the lecturing meant travelling from one end of england to the other--i translated a fair-sized french volume, and had the wear-and-tear of pleading my case for the custody of my daughter in the court of appeal, as well as the case before the master of the rolls; and i found it the very greatest relief to turn to algebra, geometry, and physics, and forget the harassing legal struggles in wrestling with formulae and problems. the full access i gained to my children marked a step in the long battle of freethinkers against disabilities, for, as noted in the _national reformer_ by mr. bradlaugh, it was "won with a pleading unequalled in any case on record for the boldness of its affirmation of freethought," a pleading of which he generously said that it deserved well of the party as "the most powerful pleading for freedom of opinion to which it has ever been our good fortune to listen." in the london _daily news_ some powerful letters of protest appeared, one from lord harberton, in which he declared that "the inquisition acted on no other principle" than that applied to me; and a second from mr. band, in which he sarcastically observed that "this christian community has for some time had the pleasure of seeing her majesty's courts repeatedly springing engines of torture upon a young mother--a clergyman's wife who dared to disagree with his creed--and her evident anguish, her long and expensive struggles to save her child, have proved that so far as heretical mothers are concerned modern defenders of the faith need not envy the past those persuasive instruments which so long secured the unity of the church. in making mrs. besant an example, the master of the rolls and lord justice james have been careful not to allow any of the effect to be lost by confusion of the main point--the intellectual heresy--with side questions. there was a malthusian matter in the case, but the judges were very clear in stating that without any reference whatever to that, they would simply, on the ground of mrs. besant's 'religious, or anti-religious, opinions,' take her child from her." the great provincial papers took a similar tone, the _manchester examiner_ going so far as to say of the ruling of the judges: "we do not say they have done so wrongly. we only say that the effect of their judgment is cruel, and it shows that the holding of unpopular opinions is, in the eye of the law, an offence which, despite all we had thought to the contrary, may be visited with the severest punishment a woman and a mother can be possibly called on to bear." the outcome of all this long struggle and of another case of sore injustice--in which mrs. agar-ellis, a roman catholic, was separated from her children by a judicial decision obtained against her by her husband, a protestant--was a change in the law which had vested all power over the children in the hands of the father, and from thenceforth the rights of the married mother were recognised to a limited extent. a small side-fight was with the national sunday league, the president of which, lord thurlow, strongly objected to me as one of the vice-presidents. mr. p.a. taylor and others at once resigned their offices, and, on the calling of a general meeting, lord thurlow was rejected as president. mr. p.a. taylor was requested to assume the presidency, and the vice-presidents who had resigned were, with myself, re-elected. little battles of this sort were a running accompaniment of graver struggles during all these battling years. and through all the struggles the organised strength of the freethought party grew, new members being enrolled in the national secular society in the year - , and in july, , the public adhesion of dr. edward b. aveling brought into the ranks a pen of rare force and power, and gave a strong impulse to the educational side of our movement. i presided for him at his first lecture at the hall of science on august , , and he soon paid the penalty of his boldness, finding himself, a few months later, dismissed from the chair of comparative anatomy at the london hospital, though the board admitted that all his duties were discharged with punctuality and ability. one of the first results of his adhesion was the establishment of two classes under the science and art department at south kensington, and these grew year after year, attended by numbers of young men and women, till in we had thirteen classes in full swing, as well as latin, and london university matriculation classes; all these were taught by dr. aveling and pupils that he had trained. i took advanced certificates, one in honours, and so became qualified as a science teacher in eight different sciences, and alice and hypatia bradlaugh followed a similar course, so that winter after winter we kept these classes going from september to the following may, from until the year . in addition to these miss bradlaugh carried on a choral union. personally i found that this study and teaching together with attendance at classes held for teachers at south kensington, the study for passing the first b.sc. and prel. sc. examinations at london university, and the study for the b.sc. degree at london, at which i failed in practical chemistry three times--a thing that puzzled me not a little at the time, as i had passed a far more difficult practical chemical examination for teachers at south kensington--all this gave me a knowledge of science that has stood me in good stead in my public work. but even here theological and social hatred pursued me. when miss bradlaugh and myself applied for permission to attend the botany class at university college, we were refused, i for my sins, and she only for being her father's daughter; when i had qualified as teacher, i stood back from claiming recognition from the department for a year in order not to prejudice the claims of mr. bradlaugh's daughters, and later, when i had been recognised, sir henry tyler in the house of commons attacked the education department for accepting me, and actually tried to prevent the government grant being paid to the hall of science schools because dr. aveling, the misses bradlaugh, and myself were unbelievers in christianity. when i asked permission to go to the botanical gardens in regent's park the curator refused it, on the ground that his daughters studied there. on every side repulse and insult, hard to struggle against, bitter to bear. it was against difficulties of this kind on every side that we had to make our way, handicapped in every effort by our heresy. let our work be as good as it might--and our science school was exceptionally successful--the subtle fragrance of heresy was everywhere distinguishable, and when mr. bradlaugh and myself are blamed for bitterness in our anti-christian advocacy, this constant gnawing annoyance and petty persecution should be taken into account. for him it was especially trying, for he saw his daughters--girls of ability and of high character, whose only crime was that they were his--insulted, sneered at, slandered, continually put at a disadvantage, because they were his children and loved and honoured him beyond all others. it was in october, , that i first met herbert burrows, though i did not become intimately acquainted with him till the socialist troubles of the autumn of drew us into a common stream of work. he came as a delegate from the tower hamlets radical association to a preliminary conference, called by mr. bradlaugh, at the hall of science, on october th, to consider the advisability of holding a great london convention on land law reform, to be attended by delegates from all parts of the kingdom. he was appointed on the executive committee with mr. bradlaugh, mr. mottershead, mr. nieass, and others. the convention was successfully held, and an advanced platform of land law reform adopted, used later by mr. bradlaugh as a basis for some of the proposals he laid before parliament. chapter xi. mr. bradlaugh's struggle. and now dawned the year , the memorable year in which commenced mr. bradlaugh's long parliamentary battle. after a long and bitter struggle he was elected, with mr. labouchere, as member for northampton, at the general election, and so the prize so long fought for was won. shall i ever forget that election day, april , ? how at four o'clock mr. bradlaugh came into the room at the "george", where his daughters and i were sitting, flung himself into a chair with, "there's nothing more to do; our last man is polled." then the waiting for the declaration through the long, weary hours of suspense, till as the time drew near we knelt by the window listening--listening to the hoarse murmur of the crowd, knowing that presently there would be a roar of triumph or a howl of anger when the numbers were read out from the steps of the town hall. and now silence sank, and we knew the moment had come, and we held our breath, and then--a roar, a wild roar of joy and exultation, cheer after cheer, ringing, throbbing, pealing, and then the mighty surge of the crowd bringing him back, their member at last, waving hats, handkerchiefs, a very madness of tumultuous delight, and the shrill strains of "bradlaugh for northampton!" with a ring of triumph in them they had never had before. and he, very grave, somewhat shaken by the outpour of love and exultation, very silent, feeling the weight of new responsibility more than the gladness of victory. and then the next morning, as he left the town, the mass of men and women, one sea of heads from hotel to station, every window crowded, his colours waving everywhere, men fighting to get near him, to touch him, women sobbing, the cries, "our charlie, our charlie; we've got you and we'll keep you." how they loved him, how they joyed in the triumph won after twelve years of strife. ah me! we thought the struggle over, and it was only beginning; we thought our hero victorious, and a fiercer, crueller fight lay in front. true, he was to win that fight, but his life was to be the price of the winning; victory for him was to be final, complete, but the laurel-wreath was to fall upon a grave. [illustration: _from a photograph by t. westley, , vernon street, northampton._ charles bradlaugh and henry labouchere.] the outburst of anger from the more bigoted of the christian community was as savage as the outburst of delight had been exultant, but we recked little of it. was he not member, duly elected, without possibility of assailment in his legal right? parliament was to meet on april th, the swearing-in beginning on the following day, and mr. bradlaugh had taken counsel with some other freethinking members as to the right of freethinkers to affirm. he held that under the act and vict. c. , and the evidence amendment acts and , the right to substitute affirmation for oath was clear; he was willing to take the oath as a necessary form if obligatory, but, believing it to be optional, he preferred affirmation. on may rd he presented himself and, according to the evidence of sir erskine may, the clerk of the house, given before the second select committee on his case, he "came to the table and delivered the following statement in writing to the clerk: 'to the right honourable the speaker of the house of commons. i, the undersigned, charles bradlaugh, beg respectfully to claim to be allowed to affirm, as a person for the time being by law permitted to make a solemn affirmation or declaration, instead of taking an oath. (signed) charles bradlaugh.' and being asked by the clerk upon what grounds he claimed to make an affirmation, he answered: 'by virtue of the evidence amendment acts, and .' whereupon the clerk reported to mr. speaker" the claim, and mr. speaker told mr. bradlaugh that he might address the house on the matter. "mr. bradlaugh's observations were very short. he repeated that he relied upon the evidence further amendment act, , and the evidence amendment act, , adding: 'i have repeatedly, for nine years past, made an affirmation in the highest courts of jurisdiction in this realm. i am ready to make such a declaration or affirmation.' substantially those were the words which he addressed to the speaker." this was the simple, quiet, and dignified scene which took place in the house. mr. bradlaugh was directed to withdraw, and he withdrew, and, after debate, a select committee was appointed to consider whether he could make affirmation; that committee decided against the claim, and gave in its report on may th. on the following day mr. bradlaugh presented himself at the table of the house to take the oath in the form prescribed by the law, and on the objection of sir henry drummond wolff, who submitted a motion that he should not be allowed to take the oath, another committee was appointed. before this committee mr. bradlaugh stated his case, and pointed out that the legal obligation lay on him to take the oath, adding: "any form that i went through, any oath that i took, i should regard as binding upon my conscience in the fullest degree. i would go through no form, i would take no oath, unless i meant it to be so binding." he wrote in the same sense to the _times_, saying that he should regard himself "as bound, not by the letter of its words, but by the spirit which the affirmation would have conveyed, had i been permitted to use it." the committee reported against him, and on june rd he was heard at the bar of the house, and made a speech so self-restrained, so noble, so dignified, that the house, in defiance of all its own rules, broke out over and over again into applause. in the debate that preceded his speech, members had lost sight of the ordinary rules of decency, and had used expressions against myself wholly gratuitous in such a quarrel; the grave rebuke to him who "was wanting in chivalry, because, while i can answer for myself and am able to answer for myself, nothing justified the introduction of any other name beside my own to make prejudice against me," brought irrepressible cheers. his appeal was wholly to the law. "i have not yet used--i trust no passion may tempt me into using--any words that would seem to savour of even a desire to enter into conflict with this house. i have always taught, preached, and believed the supremacy of parliament, and it is not because for a moment the judgment of one chamber of parliament should be hostile to me that i am going to deny the ideas i have always held; but i submit that one chamber of parliament--even its grandest chamber, as i have always held this to be--had no right to override the law. the law gives me the right to sign that roll, to take and subscribe the oath, and to take my seat there [with a gesture towards the benches]. i admit that the moment i am in the house, without any reason but your own good will, you can send me away. that is your right. you have full control over your members. but you cannot send me away until i have been heard in my place, not a suppliant as i am now, but with the rightful audience that each member has always had.... i am ready to admit, if you please, for the sake of argument, that every opinion i hold is wrong and deserves punishment. let the law punish it. if you say the law cannot, then you admit that you have no right, and i appeal to public opinion against the iniquity of a decision which overrides the law and denies me justice. i beg your pardon, sir, and that of the house too, if in this warmth there seems to lack respect for its dignity. and as i shall have, if your decision be against me, to come to that table when your decision is given, i beg you, before the step is taken in which we may both lose our dignity--mine is not much, but yours is that of the commons of england--i beg you, before the gauntlet is fatally thrown, i beg you, not in any sort of menace, not in any sort of boast, but as one man against six hundred, to give me that justice which on the other side of this hall the judges would give me, were i pleading there before them." but no eloquence, no plea for justice, could stay the tide of tory and religious bigotry, and the house voted that he should not be allowed to take the oath. summoned to the table to hear the decision communicated by the speaker, he answered that decision with the words firmly spoken: "i respectfully refuse to obey the order of the house, because that order was against the law." the speaker appealed to the house for direction, and on a division--during which the speaker and charles bradlaugh were left together in the chamber--the house ordered the enforcement of mr. bradlaugh's withdrawal. once more the order is given, once more the refusal made, and then the serjeant-at-arms was bidden to remove him. strange was the scene as little captain cosset walked up to the member of herculean proportions, and men wondered how the order would be enforced; but charles bradlaugh was not the man to make a vulgar brawl, and the light touch on his shoulder was to him the touch of an authority he admitted and to which he bowed. so he gravely accompanied his small captor, and was lodged in the clock tower of the house as prisoner until the house should further consider what to do with him--the most awkward prisoner it had ever had, in that in his person it was imprisoning the law. in a special issue of the _national reformer_, giving an account of the committee's work and of mr. bradlaugh's committal to the clock tower, i find the following from my own pen: "the tory party, beaten at the polls by the nation, has thus, for the moment, triumphed in the house of commons. the man chosen by the radicals of northampton has been committed to prison on the motion of the tory ex-chancellor of the exchequer, simply because he desires to discharge the duty laid upon him by his constituency and by the law of the land. as this paper goes to press, i go to westminster to receive from him his directions as to the conduct of the struggle with the nation into which the house of commons has so recklessly plunged." i found him busily writing, prepared for all events, ready for a long imprisonment. on the following day a leaflet from my pen, "law makers and law breakers," appealed to the people; after reciting what had happened, it concluded: "let the people speak. gladstone and bright are for liberty, and the help denied them within the house must come to them from without. no time must be lost. while we remain idle, a representative of the people is illegally held in prison. northampton is insulted, and in this great constituency every constituency is threatened. on freedom of election depends our liberty; on freedom of conscience depends our progress. tory squires and lordlings have defied the people and measured their strength against the masses. let the masses speak." but there was no need to make appeals, for the outrage itself caused so swiftly a growl of anger that on the very next day the prisoner was set free, and there came protest upon protest against the high-handed action of the house. in westminster hall , people gathered to cheer mr. bradlaugh when he came to the house on the day after his liberation. in less than a week meetings had thundered out their protest. liberal associations, clubs, societies, sent up messages of anger and of demand for justice. in trafalgar square there gathered--so said the papers--the largest crowd ever seen there, and on the thursday following--the meeting was held on monday--the house of commons rescinded its resolution, refusing to allow mr. bradlaugh to affirm, and admitted him on friday, july nd, to take his seat after affirmation. "at last the bitter struggle is over," i wrote, "and law and right have triumphed. the house of commons has, by rescinding the resolution passed by tories and ultramontanes, re-established its good name in the eyes of the world. the triumph is not one of freethought over christianity, nor is it over the house of commons; it is the triumph of law, brought about by good men--of all shades of opinion, but of one faith in justice--over tory contempt of law and ultramontane bigotry. it is the reassertion of civil and religious liberty under the most difficult circumstances, the declaration that the house of commons is the creation of the people, and not a club of the aristocracy with the right of blackballing in its own hands." the battle between charles bradlaugh and his persecutors was now transferred to the law courts. as soon as he had taken his seat he was served with a writ for having voted without having taken the oath, and this began the wearisome proceedings by which his defeated enemies boasted that they would make him bankrupt, and so vacate the seat he had so hardly gained. rich men like mr. newdegate sued him, putting forward a man of straw as nominal plaintiff; for many a weary month mr. bradlaugh kept all his enemies at bay, fighting each case himself; defeated time after time, he fought on, finally carrying the cases to the house of lords, and there winning them triumphantly. but they were won at such heavy cost of physical strength and of money, that they undermined his strength and burdened him heavily with debt. for all this time he had not only to fight in the law courts and to attend scrupulously to his parliamentary duties, but he had to earn his living by lecturing and writing, so that his nights away from the house were spent in travelling and his days in incessant labour. many of his defeated foes turned their weapons against me, hoping thus to give him pain; thus admiral sir john hay, at wigton, used language of me so coarse that the _scotsman_ and _glasgow herald_ refused to print it, and the editor of the _scotsman_ described it as "language so coarse that it could have hardly dropped from a yahoo." august th found me at brussels, whither i went, with miss hypatia bradlaugh, to represent the english freethinkers at the international freethought conference. it was an interesting gathering, attended by men of world-wide reputation, including dr. ludwig büchner, a man of noble and kindly nature. an international federation of freethinkers was there founded, which did something towards bringing together the freethinkers of different countries, and held interesting congresses in the following years in london and amsterdam; but beyond these meetings it did little, and lacked energy and vitality. in truth, the freethought party in each country had so much to do in holding its own that little time and thought could be given to international organisation. for myself, my introduction to dr. büchner, led to much interesting correspondence, and i translated, with his approval, his "mind in animals," and the enlarged fourteenth edition of "force and matter," as well as one or two pamphlets. this autumn of found the so-called liberal government in full tilt against the irish leaders, and i worked hard to raise english feeling in defence of irish freedom even against attack by one so much honoured as was mr. gladstone. it was uphill work, for harsh language had been used against england and all things english, but i showed by definite figures--all up and down england--that life and property were far safer in ireland than in england, that ireland was singularly free from crime save in agrarian disputes, and i argued that these would disappear if the law should step in between landlord and tenant, and by stopping the crimes of rack-renting and most brutal eviction, put an end to the horrible retaliations that were born of despair and revenge. a striking point on these evictions i quoted from mr. t.p. o'connor, who, using mr. gladstone's words that a sentence of eviction was a sentence of starvation, told of , processes of eviction issued in that one year. the autumn's work was varied by the teaching of science classes, a debate with a clergyman of the church of england, and an operation which kept me in bed for three weeks, but which, on the other hand, was useful, for i learned to write while lying on my back, and accomplished in this fashion a good part of the translation of "mind in animals." and here let me point a moral about hard work. hard work kills no one. i find a note in the _national reformer_ in from the pen of mr. bradlaugh: "it is, we fear, useless to add that, in the judgment of her best friends, mrs. besant has worked far too hard during the last two years." this is , and the thirteen years' interval has been full of incessant work, and i am working harder than ever now, and in splendid health. looking over the _national reformer_ for all these years, it seems to me that it did really fine educational work; mr. bradlaugh's strenuous utterances on political and theological matters; dr. aveling's luminous and beautiful scientific teachings; and to my share fell much of the educative work on questions of political and national morality in our dealings with weaker nations. we put all our hearts into our work, and the influence exercised was distinctly in favour of pure living and high thinking. in the spring of the court of appeal decided against mr. bradlaugh's right to affirm as member of parliament, and his seat was declared vacant, but he was at once returned again by the borough of northampton, despite the virulence of slander directed against him, so that he rightly described the election as "the most bitter i have ever fought." his work in the house had won him golden opinions in the country, and he was already recognised as a power there; so tory fear was added to bigoted hatred, and the efforts to keep him out of the house were increased. he was introduced to the house as a new member to take his seat by mr. labouchere and mr. burt, but sir stafford northcote intervened, and after a lengthy debate, which included a speech from mr. bradlaugh at the bar, a majority of thirty-three refused to allow him to take the oath. after a prolonged scene, during which mr. bradlaugh declined to withdraw and the house hesitated to use force, the house adjourned, and finally the government promised to bring in an affirmation bill, and mr. bradlaugh promised, with the consent of his constituents, to await the decision of the house on this bill. meantime, a league for the defence of constitutional rights was formed, and the agitation in the country grew: wherever mr. bradlaugh went to speak vast crowds awaited him, and he travelled from one end of the country to the other, the people answering his appeal for justice with no uncertain voice. on july nd, in consequence of tory obstruction, mr. gladstone wrote to mr. bradlaugh that the government were going to drop the affirmation bill, and mr. bradlaugh thereupon determined to present himself once more in the house, and fixed on august rd as the date of such action, so that the irish land bill might get through the house ere any delay in business was caused by him. the house was then closely guarded with police; the great gates were closed, reserves of police were packed in the law courts, and all through july this state of siege continued. on august nd there was a large meeting in trafalgar square, at which delegates were present from all parts of england, and from as far north as edinburgh, and on wednesday, august rd, mr. bradlaugh went down to the house. his last words to me were: "the people know you better than they know any one, save myself; whatever happens, mind, whatever happens, let them do no violence; i trust to you to keep them quiet." he went to the house entrance with dr. aveling, and into the house alone. his daughters and i went together, and with some hundreds of others carrying petitions--ten only with each petition, and the ten rigidly counted and allowed to pass through the gate, sufficiently opened to let one through at a time--reached westminster hall, where we waited on the steps leading to the passage of the lobby. an inspector ordered us off. i gently intimated that we were within our rights. dramatic order: "four officers this way." up they marched and looked at us, and we looked at them. "i think you had better consult inspector denning before you use violence," i remarked placidly. they thought they had, and in a few moments up came the inspector, and seeing that we were standing in a place where we had a right to be, and were doing no harm, he rebuked his over-zealous subordinates, and they retired and left us in peace. a man of much tact and discretion was inspector denning. indeed, all through this, the house of commons police behaved admirably well. even in the attack they were ordered to make on mr. bradlaugh, the police used as little violence as they could. it was mr. erskine, the deputy serjeant-at-arms, and his ushers, who showed the brutality; as dr. aveling wrote at the time: "the police disliked their work, and, as brave men, had a sympathy for a brave man. their orders they obeyed rigidly. this done, they were kindness itself." gradually the crowd of petitioners grew and grew; angry murmurs were heard, for no news came from the house, and they loved "charlie," and were mostly north country men, sturdy and independent. they thought they had a right to go into the lobby, and suddenly, with the impulse that will sway a crowd to a single action there was a roar, "petition, petition, justice, justice," and they surged up the steps, charging at the policemen who held the door. flashed into my mind my chief's charge, his words, "i trust to you to keep them quiet," and as the police sprang forward to meet the crowd i threw myself between them, with all the advantage of the position of the top of the steps that i had chosen, so that every man in the charging crowd saw me, and as they checked themselves in surprise i bade them stop for his sake, and keep for him the peace which he had bade us should not be broken. i heard afterwards that as i sprang forward the police laughed--they must have thought me a fool to face the rush of the charging men; but i knew his friends would never trample me down, and as the crowd stopped the laugh died out, and they drew back and left me my own way. sullenly the men drew back, mastering themselves with effort, reining in their wrath, still for his sake. ah! had i known what was going on inside, would i have kept his trust unbroken! and, as many a man said to me afterwards in northern towns, "oh! if you had let us go we would have carried him into the house up to the speaker's chair." we heard a crash inside, and listened, and there was sound of breaking glass and splintering wood, and in a few minutes a messenger came to me: "he is in palace yard." and we went thither and saw him standing, still and white, face set like marble, coat torn, motionless, as though carved in stone, facing the members' door. now we know the whole shameful story: how as that one man stood alone, on his way to claim his right, alone so that he could do no violence, fourteen men, said the central news, police and ushers, flung themselves upon him, pushed and pulled him down the stairs, smashing in their violence the glass and wood of the passage door; how he struck no blow, but used only his great strength in passive resistance--" of all i have ever seen, i never saw one man struggle with ten like that," said one of the chiefs, angrily disdainful of the wrong he was forced to do--till they flung him out into palace yard. an eye-witness thus reported the scene in the press: "the strong, broad, heavy, powerful frame of mr. bradlaugh was hard to move, with its every nerve and muscle strained to resist the coercion. bending and straining against the overpowering numbers, he held every inch with surprising tenacity, and only surrendered it after almost superhuman exertions to retain it. the sight--little of it as was seen from the outside--soon became sickening. the overborne man appeared almost at his last gasp. the face, in spite of the warmth of the struggle, had an ominous pallor. the limbs barely sustained him.... the trafalgar square phrase that this man might be broken but not bent occurred to minds apprehensive at the present appearance of him." they flung him out, and swift, short words were there interchanged. "i nearly did wrong at the door," he said afterwards, "i was very angry. i said to inspector denning, 'i shall come again with force enough to overcome it,' he said, 'when?' i said, 'within a minute if i raise my hand.'" he stood in palace yard, and there outside the gate was a vast sea of heads, the men who had journeyed from all parts of england for love of him, and in defence of the great right he represented of a constituency to send to parliament the man of its choice. ah! he was never greater than in that moment of outrage and of triumphant wrong; with all the passion of a proud man surging within him, insulted by physical violence, injured by the cruel wrenching of all his muscles--so that for weeks his arms had to be swathed in bandages--he was never greater than when he conquered his own wrath, crushed down his own longing for battle, stirred to flame by the bodily struggle, and the bodily injury, and with thousands waiting within sound of his voice, longing to leap to his side, he gave the word to tell them to meet him that evening away from the scene of conflict, and meanwhile to disperse quietly, "no riot, no disorder." but how he suffered mentally no words of mine may tell, and none can understand how it wrung his heart who does not know how he reverenced the great parliament of england, how he honoured law, how he believed in justice being done; it was the breaking down of his national ideals, of his pride in his country, of his belief that faith would be kept with a foe by english gentlemen, who with all their faults, he thought, held honour and chivalry dear. "no man will sleep in gaol for me to-night," he said to me that day; "no woman can blame me for her husband killed or wounded, but--" a wave of agony swept over his face, and from that fatal day charles bradlaugh was never the same man. some hold their ideals lightly, but his heart-strings were twined round his; some care little for their country--he was an englishman, law-abiding, liberty-loving, to his heart's core, of the type of the seventeenth-century patriot, holding england's honour dear. it was the treachery that broke his heart; he had gone alone, believing in the honour of his foes, ready to submit to expulsion, to imprisonment, and it was the latter that he expected; but he never dreamed that, going alone amongst his foes, they would use brutal and cowardly violence, and shame every parliamentary tradition by personal outrage on a duly-elected member, outrage more worthy of a slum pot-house than of the great commons house, the house of hampden and of vane, the house that had guarded its own from royal violence, and had maintained its privileges in the teeth of kings. these stormy scenes brought about a promise of government aid; mr. bradlaugh failed to get any legal redress, as, indeed, he expected to fail, on the ground that the officials of the house were covered by the house's order, but the government promised to support his claim to his seat during the next session, and thus prevented the campaign against them on which we had resolved. i had solely on my own responsibility organised a great band of people pledged to refrain from the use of all excisable articles after a certain date, and to withdraw all their moneys in the savings bank, thus seriously crippling the financial resources of the government. the response from the workers to my appeal to "stop the supplies" was great and touching. one man wrote that as he never drank nor smoked he would leave off tea; others that though tobacco was their one luxury, they would forego it; and so on. somewhat reluctantly, i asked the people to lay aside this formidable weapon, as "we have no right to embarrass the government financially save when they refuse to do the first duty of a government to maintain law. they have now promised to do justice, and we must wait." meanwhile the injuries inflicted on mr. bradlaugh, rupturing the sheaths of some of the muscles of the arm, laid him prostrate, and various small fights went on during the temporary truce in the great struggle. i turned up in the house two or three times, haled thither, though not in person, by the people who kept mr. bradlaugh out, and a speech of mine became the subject of a question by mr. ritchie, while sir henry tyler waged war on the science classes. another joy was added to life by the use of my name--which by all these struggles had gained a marketable value--as author of pamphlets i had never seen, and this forgery of my name by unscrupulous people in the colonies caused me a good deal of annoyance. in the strengthening of the constitutional agitation in the country, the holding of an international congress of freethinkers in london, the studying and teaching of science, the delivering of courses of scientific lectures in the hall of science, a sharp correspondence with the bishop of manchester, who had libelled secularists, and which led to a fiery pamphlet, "god's views on marriage," as retort--in all these matters the autumn months sped rapidly away. one incident of that autumn i record with regret. i was misled by very partial knowledge of the nature of the experiments performed, and by my fear that if scientific men were forbidden to experiment on animals with drugs they would perforce experiment with them on the poor in hospitals, to write two articles, republished as a pamphlet, against sir eardley wilmot's bill for the "total suppression of vivisection." i limited my approval to highly skilled men engaged in original investigations, and took the representations made of the character of the experiments without sufficient care to verify them. hence the publication of the one thing i ever wrote for which i feel deep regret and shame, as against the whole trend and efforts of my life. i am thankful to say that dr. anna kingsford answered my articles, and i readily inserted her replies in the paper in which mine had appeared--our _national reformer_--and she touched that question of the moral sense to which my nature at once responded. ultimately, i looked carefully into the subject, found that vivisection abroad was very different from vivisection in england, saw that it was in very truth the fiendishly cruel thing that its opponents alleged, and destroyed my partial defence of even its less brutal form. saw no cessation of the struggles in which mr. bradlaugh and those who stood by him were involved. on february th he was heard for the third time at the bar of the house of commons, and closed his speech with an offer that, accepted, would have closed the contest. "i am ready to stand aside, say for four or five weeks, without coming to that table, if the house within that time, or within such time as its great needs might demand, would discuss whether an affirmation bill should pass or not. i want to obey the law, and i tell you how i might meet the house still further, if the house will pardon me for seeming to advise it. hon. members have said that would be a bradlaugh relief bill. bradlaugh is more proud than you are. let the bill pass without applying to elections that have taken place previously, and i will undertake not to claim my seat, and when the bill has passed i will apply for the chiltern hundreds. i have no fear. if i am not fit for my constituents, they shall dismiss me, but you never shall. the grave alone shall make me yield." but the house would do nothing. he had asked for , signatures in favour of his constitutional right, and on february th, th, and th , petitions, bearing , signatures, were presented; the house treated them with contemptuous indifference. the house refused to declare his seat vacant, and also refused to allow him to fill it, thus half-disfranchising northampton, while closing every avenue to legal redress. mr. labouchere--who did all a loyal colleague could do to assist his brother member--brought in an affirmation bill; it was blocked. mr. gladstone, appealed to support the law declared by his own attorney-general, refused to do anything. an _impasse_ was created, and all the enemies of freedom rejoiced. out of this position of what the _globe_ called "quiet omnipotence" the house was shaken by an audacious defiance, for on february st the member it was trying to hold at arm's length took the oath in its startled face, went to his seat, and--waited events. the house then expelled him--and, indeed, it could scarcely do anything else after such defiance--and mr. labouchere moved for a new writ, declaring that northampton was ready, its "candidate was charles bradlaugh, expelled this house." northampton, ever steadfast, returned him for the third time--the vote in his favour showing an increase of over the second bye-election--and the triumph was received in all the great towns of england with wild enthusiasm. by the small majority of fifteen in a house of members--and this due to the vacillation of the government--he was again refused the right to take his seat. but now the whole liberal press took up his quarrel; the oath question became a test question for every candidate for parliament, and the government was warned that it was alienating its best friends. the _pall mall gazette_ voiced the general feeling. "what is the evidence that an oaths bill would injure the government in the country? of one thing we may be sure, that if they shirk the bill they will do no good to themselves at the elections. nobody doubts that it will be made a test question, and any liberal who declines to vote for such a bill will certainly lose the support of the northampton sort of radicalism in every constituency. the liberal press throughout the country is absolutely unanimous. the political non-conformists are for it. the local clubs are for it. all that is wanted is that the government should pick up a little more moral courage, and recognise that even in practice honesty is the best policy." the government did not think so, and they paid the penalty, for one of the causes that led to their defeat at the polls was the disgust felt at their vacillation and cowardice in regard to the rights of constituencies. not untruly did i write, in may, , that charles bradlaugh was a man "who by the infliction of a great wrong had become the incarnation of a great principle"; for the agitation in the country grew and grew, until, returned again to parliament at the general election, he took the oath and his seat, brought in and carried an oaths bill, not only giving members of parliament the right to affirm, but making freethinkers competent as jurymen, and relieving witnesses from the insult hitherto put upon those who objected to swearing; he thus ended an unprecedented struggle by a complete victory, weaving his name for ever into the constitutional history of his country. in the house of lords, lord redesdale brought in a bill disqualifying atheists from sitting in parliament, but in face of the feeling aroused in the country, the lords, with many pathetic expressions of regret, declined to pass it. but, meanwhile, sir henry tyler in the commons was calling out for prosecutions for blasphemy to be brought against mr. bradlaugh and his friends, while he carried on his crusade against mr. bradlaugh's daughters, dr. aveling, and myself, as science teachers. i summed up the position in the spring of in the following somewhat strong language: "this short-lived 'parliamentary declaration bill' is but one of the many clouds which presage a storm of prosecution. the reiterated attempts in the house of commons to force the government into prosecuting heretics for blasphemy; the petty and vicious attacks on the science classes at the hall; the odious and wicked efforts of mr. newdegate to drive mr. bradlaugh into the bankruptcy court; all these are but signs that the heterogeneous army of pious and bigoted christians are gathering together their forces for a furious attack on those who have silenced them in argument, but whom they hope to conquer by main force, by sheer brutality. let them come. free-thinkers were never so strong, never so united, never so well organised as they are to-day. strong in the goodness of our cause, in our faith in the ultimate triumph of truth, in our willingness to give up all save fidelity to the sacred cause of liberty of human thought and human speech, we await gravely and fearlessly the successors of the men who burned bruno, who imprisoned galileo, who tortured vanini--the men who have in their hands the blood-red cross of jesus of nazareth, and in their hearts the love of god and the hate of man." chapter xii. still fighting. all this hot fighting on the religious field did not render me blind to the misery of the irish land so dear to my heart, writhing in the cruel grip of mr. forster's coercion act. an article "coercion in ireland and its results," exposing the wrongs done under the act, was reprinted as a pamphlet and had a wide circulation. i pleaded against eviction-- , persons had been evicted during the quarter ending in march--for the trial of those imprisoned on suspicion, for indemnity for those who before the land act had striven against wrongs the land act had been carried to prevent, and i urged that "no chance is given for the healing measures to cure the sore of irish disaffection until not only are the prisoners in ireland set at liberty, but until the brave, unfortunate michael davitt stands once more a free man on irish soil." at last the government reconsidered its policy and resolved on juster dealings; it sent lord frederick cavendish over to ireland, carrying with him the release of the "suspects," and scarcely had he landed ere the knife of assassination struck him--a foul and cowardly murder of an innocent messenger of peace. i was at blackburn, to lecture on "the irish question," and as i was walking towards the platform, my heart full of joy for the dawning hope of peace, a telegram announcing the assassination was placed in my hands. never shall i forget the shock, the incredulous horror, the wave of despair. "it is not only two men they have killed," i wrote, a day or two later; "they have stabbed the new-born hope of friendship between two countries, and have reopened the gulf of hatred that was just beginning to close." alas! the crime succeeded in its object, and hurried the government into new wrong. hastily a new coercion bill was brought in, and rushed through its stages in parliament, and, facing the storm of public excitement, i pleaded still, "force no remedy," despite the hardship of the task. "there is excessive difficulty in dealing with the irish difficulty at the present moment. tories are howling for revenge on a whole nation as answer to the crime committed by a few; whigs are swelling the outcry; many radicals are swept away by the current, and feeling that 'something must be done,' they endorse the government action, forgetting to ask whether the 'something' proposed is the wisest thing. a few stand firm, but they are very few--too few to prevent the new coercion bill from passing into law. but few though we be who lift up the voice of protest against the wrong which we are powerless to prevent, we may yet do much to make the new act of brief duration, by so rousing public opinion as to bring about its early repeal. when the measure is understood by the public half the battle will be won; it is accepted at the moment from faith in the government; it will be rejected when its true character is grasped. the murders which have given birth to this repressive measure came with a shock upon the country, which was the more terrible from the sudden change from gladness and hope to darkness and despair. the new policy was welcomed so joyfully; the messenger of the new policy was slain ere yet the pen was dry which had signed the orders of mercy and of liberty. small wonder that cry of horror should be followed by measures of vengeance; but the murders were the work of a few criminals, while the measure of vengeance strikes the whole of the irish people. i plead against the panic which confounds political agitation and political redressal of wrong with crime and its punishment; the government measure gags every mouth in ireland, and puts, as we shall see, all political effort at the mercy of the lord-lieutenant, the magistracy, and the police." i then sketched the misery of the peasants in the grip of absentee landlords, the turning out on the roadside to die of the mother with new-born babe at her breast, the loss of "all thought of the sanctity of human life when the lives of the dearest are reckoned as less worth than the shillings of overdue rack-rental." i analysed the new act: "when this act passes, trial by jury, right of public meeting, liberty of press, sanctity of house, will one and all be held at the will of the lord-lieutenant, the irresponsible autocrat of ireland, while liberty of person will lie at the mercy of every constable. such is england's way of governing ireland in the year . and this is supposed to be a bill for the 'repression of crime.'" bluntly, i put the bald truth: "the plain fact is that the murderers have succeeded. they saw in the new policy the reconciliation of england and ireland; they knew that friendship would follow justice, and that the two countries, for the first time in history, would clasp hands. to prevent this they dug a new gulf, which they hoped the english nation would not span; they sent a river of blood across the road of friendship, and they flung two corpses to bar the newly-opened gate of reconciliation and peace. they have succeeded." into this whirl of political and social strife came the first whisper to me of the theosophical society, in the shape of a statement of its principles, which conveyed, i remarked, "no very definite idea of the requirements for membership, beyond a dreamy, emotional, scholarly interest in the religio-philosophic fancies of the past." also a report of an address by colonel olcott, which led me to suppose that the society held to "some strange theory of 'apparitions' of the dead, and to some existence outside the physical and apart from it." these came to me from some hindû freethinkers, who asked my opinion as to secularists joining the theosophical society, and theosophists being admitted to the national secular society. i replied, judging from these reports, that "while secularists would have no right to refuse to enrol theosophists, if they desired it, among their members, there is a radical difference between the mysticism of theosophy and the scientific materialism of secularism. the exclusive devotion to this world implied in the profession of secularism leaves no room for other-worldism; and consistent members of our body cannot join a society which professes belief therein."[ ] h.p. blavatsky penned a brief article in the _theosophist_ for august, , in which she commented on my paragraph, remarking, in her generous way, that it must have been written "while labouring under entirely misconceived notions about the real nature of our society. for one so highly intellectual and keen as that renowned writer to dogmatise and issue autocratic ukases, after she has herself suffered so cruelly and undeservedly at the hands of blind bigotry and social prejudice in her lifelong struggle for _freedom of thought_ seems, to say the least, absurdly inconsistent." after quoting my paragraph she went on: "until proofs to the contrary, we prefer to believe that the above lines were dictated to mrs. besant by some crafty misrepresentations from madras, inspired by a mean personal revenge rather than a desire to remain consistent with the principles of 'the scientific materialism of secularism.' we beg to assure the radical editors of the _national reformer_ that they were both very strangely misled by false reports about the radical editors of the _theosophist_. the term 'supernaturalists' can no more apply to the latter than to mrs. a. besant and mr. c. bradlaugh." h.p. blavatsky, when she commented, as she occasionally did, on the struggles going on in england, took of them a singularly large-hearted and generous view. she referred with much admiration to mr. bradlaugh's work and to his parliamentary struggle, and spoke warmly of the services he had rendered to liberty. again, in pointing out that spiritualistic trance orations by no means transcended speeches that made no such claim, i find her first mention of myself: "another lady orator, of deservedly great fame, both for eloquence and learning--the good mrs. annie besant--without believing in controlling spirits, or for that matter in her own spirit, yet speaks and writes such sensible and wise things, that we might almost say that one of her speeches or chapters contains more matter to benefit humanity than would equip a modern trance-speaker for an entire oratorical career."[ ] i have sometimes wondered of late years whether, had i met her then or seen any of her writings, i should have become her pupil. i fear not; i was still too much dazzled by the triumphs of western science, too self-assertive, too fond of combat, too much at the mercy of my own emotions, too sensitive to praise and blame. i needed to sound yet more deeply the depths of human misery, to hear yet more loudly the moaning of "the great orphan," humanity, to feel yet more keenly the lack of wider knowledge and of clearer light if i were to give effective help to man, ere i could bow my pride to crave admittance as pupil to the school of occultism, ere i could put aside my prejudices and study the science of the soul. the long-continued attempts of sir henry tyler and his friends to stimulate persecutions for blasphemy at length took practical shape, and in july, , mr. foote, the editor, mr. ramsey, the publisher, and mr. whittle, the printer of the _freethinker_, were summoned for blasphemy by sir henry tyler himself. an attempt was made to involve mr. bradlaugh in the proceedings, and the solicitors promised to drop the case against the editor and printer if mr. bradlaugh would himself sell them some copies of the paper. but however ready mr. bradlaugh had always shown himself to shield his subordinates by taking his sins on his own shoulders, he saw no reason why he should assume responsibility for a paper over which he had no control, and which was, he thought, by its caricatures, lowering the tone of freethought advocacy and giving an unnecessary handle to its foes. he therefore answered that he would sell the solicitors any works published by himself or with his authority, and sent them a catalogue of the whole of such works. the object of this effort of sir henry tyler's was obvious enough, and mr. bradlaugh commented: "the above letters make it pretty clear that sir henry w. tyler having failed in his endeavour to get the science classes stopped at the hall of science, having also failed in his attempt to induce sir w. vernon harcourt to prosecute myself and mrs. besant as editors and publishers of this journal, desires to make me personally and criminally responsible for the contents of a journal i neither edit nor publish, over which i have not a shadow of control, and in which i have not the smallest interest. why does sir h.w. tyler so ardently desire to prosecute, me for blasphemy? is it because two convictions will under the th and th will. iii. cap. , render me 'for ever' incapable of sitting in parliament?" the _whitehall review_ frankly put this forward as an object to be gained, and mr. bradlaugh was summoned to the mansion house on a charge of publishing blasphemous libels in the _freethinker_; meanwhile sir henry tyler put a notice on the order book to deprive "the daughters of mr. charles bradlaugh" of the grant they had earned as science teachers, and got an order which proved to be invalid, but which was acted on, to inspect mr. bradlaugh's and my own private banking accounts, i being no party to the case. looking back, i marvel at the incredible meannesses to which sir henry tyler and others stooped in defence of "religion"--heaven save the mark! let me add that his motion in the house of commons was a complete failure, and it was emphasised by the publication at the same time of the successful work, both as teachers and as students, of the "daughters of mr. charles bradlaugh," and of my being the only student in all england who had succeeded in taking honours in botany. i must pause a moment to chronicle, in september, , the death of dr. pusey, whom i had sought in the whirl of my early religious struggles. i wrote an article on him in the _national reformer_, and ended by laying a tribute on his grave: "a strong man and a good man. utterly out of harmony with the spirit of his own time, looking with sternly-rebuking eyes on all the eager research, the joyous love of nature, the earnest inquiry into a world doomed to be burnt up at the coming of its judge. an ascetic, pure in life, stern in faith, harsh to unbelievers because sincere in his own cruel creed, generous and tender to all who accepted his doctrines and submitted to his church. he never stooped to slander those with whom he disagreed. his hatred of heresy led him not to blacken the character of heretics, nor to descend to the vulgar abuse used by pettier priests. and therefore i, who honour courage and sincerity wherever i find them; i, who do homage to steadfastness wherever i find it; i, atheist, lay my small tribute of respect on the bier of this noblest of the anglo-catholics, edward bouverie pusey." as a practical answer to the numberless attacks made on us, and as a result of the enormous increase of circulation given to our theological and political writings by these harassing persecutions, we moved our publishing business to , fleet street, at the end of september, , a shop facing that at which richard carlile had carried on his publishing business for a great time, and so seemed still redolent with memories of his gallant struggles. two of the first things sold here were a pamphlet of mine, a strong protest against our shameful egyptian policy, and a critical volume on "genesis" which mr. bradlaugh found time to write in the intervals of his busy life. here i worked daily, save when out of london, until mr. bradlaugh's death in , assisted in the conduct of the business by mr. bradlaugh's elder daughter--a woman of strong character with many noble qualities, who died rather suddenly in december, , and in the work on the _national reformer_, first by dr. aveling, and then by mr. john robertson, its present editor. here, too, from onwards, worked with me thornton smith, one of mr. bradlaugh's most devoted disciples, who became one of the leading speakers of the national secular society; like her well-loved chief, she was ever a good friend and a good fighter, and to me the most loyal and loving of colleagues, one of the few--the very few--freethinkers who were large-hearted and generous enough not to turn against me when i became a theosophist. a second of these--alas! i could count them on my fingers--was the john robertson above mentioned, a man of rare ability and wide culture, somewhat too scholarly for popular propagandism of the most generally effective order, but a man who is a strength to any movement, always on the side of noble living and high thinking, loyal-natured as the true scot should be, incapable of meanness or treachery, and the most genial and generous of friends. among the new literary ventures that followed on our taking the large publishing premises in fleet street was a sixpenny magazine, edited by myself, and entitled _our corner_; its first number was dated january, , and for six years it appeared regularly, and served me as a useful mouthpiece in my socialist and labour propagandist work. among its contributors were moncure d. conway, professor ludwig büchner, yves guyot, professor ernst haeckel, g. bernard shaw, constance naden, dr. aveling, j.h. levy, j.l. joynes, mrs. edgren, john robertson, and many another, charles bradlaugh and i writing regularly each month. broke stormily, fights on every hand, and a huge constitutional agitation going on in the country, which forced the government into bringing in an affirmation bill; resolutions from liberal associations all over the land; preparations to oppose the re-election of disloyal members; no less than a thousand delegates sent up to london by clubs, trade unions, associations of every sort; a meeting that packed trafalgar square; an uneasy crowd in westminster hall; a request from inspector denning that mr. bradlaugh would go out to them--they feared for his safety inside; a word from him, "the government have pledged themselves to bring in an affirmation bill at once;" roar after roar of cheering; a veritable people's victory on that th of february, . it was the answer of the country to the appeal for justice, the rebuke of the electors to the house that had defied them. scarcely was this over when a second prosecution for blasphemy against messrs. foote, ramsey, and kemp began, and was hurried on in the central criminal court, before mr. justice north, a bigot of the sternest type. the trial ended in a disagreement of the jury, mr. foote defending himself in a splendid speech. the judge acted very harshly throughout, interrupted mr. foote continuously, and even refused bail to the defendants during the interval between the first and second trial; they were, therefore, confined in newgate from thursday to monday, and we were only allowed to see them through iron bars and lattice, as they exercised in the prison yard between : and : a.m. brought up to trial again on monday, they were convicted, and mr. foote was sentenced to a year's imprisonment, mr. ramsey to nine months, and mr. kemp to three months. mr. foote especially behaved with great dignity and courage in a most difficult position, and heard his cruel sentence without wincing, and with the calm words, "my lord, i thank you; it is worthy your creed." a few of us at once stepped in, to preserve to mr. ramsey his shop, and to mr. foote his literary property; dr. aveling undertook the editing of the _freethinker_ and of mr. foote's magazine _progress_; the immediate necessities of their families were seen to; mr. and mrs. forder took charge of the shop, and within a few days all was in working order. disapproving as many of us did of the policy of the paper, there was no time to think of that when a blasphemy prosecution had proved successful, and we all closed up in the support of men imprisoned for conscience' sake. i commenced a series of articles on "the christian creed; what it is blasphemy to deny," showing what christians must believe under peril of prosecution. everywhere a tremendous impulse was given to the freethought movement, as men awakened to the knowledge that blasphemy laws were not obsolete. from over the sea came a word of sympathy from the pen of h.p. blavatsky in the _theosophist_. "we prefer mr. foote's actual position to that of his severe judge. aye, and were we in his guilty skin, we would feel more proud, even in the poor editor's present position, than we would under the wig of mr. justice north." in april, , the long legal struggles of mr. bradlaugh against mr. newdegate and his common informer, that had lasted from july , , till april , , ended in his complete victory by the judgment of the house of lords in his favour. "court after court decided against me," he wrote; "and whig and tory journals alike mocked at me for my persistent resistance. even some good friends thought that my fight was hopeless, and that the bigots held me fast in their toils. i have, however, at last shaken myself free of mr. newdegate and his common informer. the judgment of the house of lords in my favour is final and conclusive, and the boasts of the tories that i should be made bankrupt for the penalties, have now, for ever, come to naught. yet but for the many poor folk who have stood by me with their help and sympathy, i should have long since been ruined. the days and weeks spent in the law courts, the harassing work connected with each stage of litigation, the watching daily when each hearing was imminent, the absolute hindrance of all provincial lecturing--it is hardly possible for any one to judge the terrible mental and pecuniary strain of all this long-drawn-out struggle." aye! it killed him at last, twenty years before his time, sapping his splendid vitality, undermining his iron constitution. the blasphemy trial of mr. bradlaugh, mr. foote, and mr. ramsey now came on, but this time in the queen's bench, before the lord chief justice coleridge. i had the honour of sitting between mr. bradlaugh and mr. foote, charged with the duty of having ready for the former all his references, and with a duplicate brief to mark off point after point as he dealt with it. messrs. foote and ramsey were brought up in custody, but were brave and bright with courage unbroken. mr. bradlaugh applied to have his case taken separately, as he denied responsibility for the paper, and the judge granted the application; it was clearly proved that he and i--the "freethought publishing company"--had never had anything to do with the production of the paper; that until november, , we published it, and then refused to publish it any longer; that the reason for the refusal was the addition of comic bible illustrations as a feature of the paper. i was called as witness and began with a difficulty; claiming to affirm, i was asked by the judge if the oath would not be binding on my conscience; i answered that any promise was binding on me whatever the form, and after some little argument the judge found a way out of the insulting form by asking whether the "invocation of the deity added anything to it of a binding nature--added any sanction?" "none, my lord," was the prompt reply, and i was allowed to affirm. sir hardinge giffard subjected me to a very stringent cross-examination, doing his best to entangle me, but the perfect frankness of my answers broke all his weapons of finesse and inuendo. some of the incidents of the trial were curious; sir hardinge giffard's opening speech was very able and very unscrupulous. all facts in mr. bradlaugh's favour were distorted or hidden; anything that could be used against him was tricked out in most seductive fashion. among the many monstrous perversions of the truth made by this most pious counsel, was the statement that changes of publisher, and of registration of the _freethinker_ were made in consequence of a question as to prosecuting it put in the house of commons. the change of publisher was admittedly made in november; the registration was made for the first time in november, and could not be changed, as there was no previous one. the house of commons was not sitting in november; the question alluded to was asked in the following february. this one deliberate lie of the "defender of the faith" will do as well as quoting a score of others to show how wickedly and maliciously he endeavoured to secure an unjust verdict. the speech over, a number of witnesses were called. sir hardinge did not call witnesses who knew the facts, such as mr. norrish, the shopman, or mr. whittle, the printer. these he carefully avoided, although he subpoenaed both, because he did not want the real facts to come out. but he put in two solicitor's clerks, who had been hanging about the premises, and buying endless _national reformers_ and _freethinkers_, sheaves of them which were never used, but by which sir hardinge hoped to convey the impression of a mass of criminality. he put in a gentleman from the british museum, who produced two large books, presumed to be _national reformers_ and _freethinkers_; what they were brought for nobody understood, the counsel for the crown as little as any one, and the judge, surveying them over his spectacles, treated them with supreme contempt, as utterly irrelevant. then a man came to prove that mr. bradlaugh was rated for stonecutter street, a fact no one disputed. two policemen came to say they had seen him go in. "you saw many people go in, i suppose?" queried the lord chief justice. on the whole the most miserably weak and obviously malicious case that could be brought into a court of law. one witness, however, must not be forgotten--mr. woodhams, bank manager. when he stated that mr. maloney, the junior counsel for the crown, had inspected mr. bradlaugh's banking account, a murmur of surprise and indignation ran round the court. "oh! oh!" was heard from the crowd of barristers behind. the judge looked down incredulously, and for a moment the examination was stopped by the general movement. unless sir hardinge giffard is a splendid actor, he was not aware of the infamous proceeding, for he looked as startled as the rest of his legal brethren. another queer incident occurred, showing, perhaps more than aught else, mr. bradlaugh's swift perception of the situation and adaptation to the environment. he wanted to read the mansion house deposition of norrish, to show why he was not called; the judge objected, and declined to allow it to be read. a pause while you might count five; then; "well, i think i may say the learned counsel did not call norrish because ..." and then the whole substance of the deposition was given in supposititious form. the judge looked down a minute, and then went off into silent laughter impossible to control at the adroit change of means and persistent gaining of end; barristers all round broke into ripples of laughter unrestrained; a broad smile pervaded the jury box; the only unmoved person was the defendant who proceeded in his grave statement as to what norrish "might" have been asked. the nature of the defence was very clearly stated by mr. bradlaugh: "i shall ask you to find that this prosecution is one of the steps in a vindictive attempt to oppress and to crush a political opponent--that it was a struggle that commenced on my return to parliament in . if the prosecutor had gone into the box i should have shown you that he was one of the first then in the house to use the suggestion of blasphemy against me there. since then i have never had any peace until the monday of this week. writs for penalties have been served, and suits of all kinds have been taken against me. on monday last the house of lords cleared me from the whole of one set, and, gentlemen, i ask you to-day to clear me from another. three times i have been re-elected by my constituents, and what sir henry tyler asks you to do is to send me to them branded with the dishonour of a conviction, branded not with the conviction for publishing heresy, but branded with the conviction, dishonourable to me, of having lied in this matter. i have no desire to have a prison's walls closed on me, but i would sooner ten times that, than that my constituents should think that for one moment i lied to escape the penalties. i am not indicted for anything i have ever written or caused to be written. as my lord at the very first stage this morning pointed out, it is no question with me, are the matters indicted blasphemous, or are they not blasphemous? are they defensible, or are they not defensible? that is not my duty here. on this i make no comment. i have no duty here of even discussing the policy of the blasphemy laws, although i cannot help thinking that, if i were here making my defence against them, i might say that they were bad laws unfairly revived, doing more mischief to those who revive them than to those whom they are revived against. but it is not for anything i have said myself; it is not for anything i have written myself; it is not for anything i have published myself. it is an endeavour to make me technically liable for a publication with which i have nothing whatever to do, and i will ask you to defeat that here. every time i have succeeded i have been met with some new thing. when i first fought it was hoped to defeat my election. when i was re-elected it was sought to make me bankrupt by enormous penalties, and when i escaped the suit for enormous penalties they hope now to destroy me by this. i have no question here about defending my heresy, not because i am not ready to defend it when it is challenged in the right way, and it there be anything in it that the law can challenge. i have never gone back from anything i have ever said; i have never gone back from anything i have ever written; i have never gone back from anything i have ever done; and i ask you not to allow this sir henry whatley tyler, who dares not come here to-day, to use you as the assassin uses the dagger, to stab a man from behind whom he never dares to face." the summing up by lord coleridge was perfect in eloquence, in thought, in feeling. nothing more touching could be imagined than the conflict between the real religious feeling, abhorrent of heresy, and the determination to be just, despite all prejudice. the earnest effort lest the prejudice he felt as a christian should weigh also in the minds of the jury, and should cause them to pervert justice. the absolute pleading to them to do what was right and not to admit against the unbeliever what they would not admit in ordinary cases. then the protest against prosecution of opinions; the admission of the difficulties in the hebrew scriptures, and the pathetic fear lest by persecution "the sacred truths might be struck through the sides of those who are their enemies." for intellectual clearness and moral elevation this exquisite piece of eloquence, delivered in a voice of silvery beauty, would be hard to excel, and lord coleridge did this piece of service to the religion so dear to his heart, that he showed that a christian judge could be just and righteous in dealing with a foe of his creed. there was a time of terrible strain waiting for the verdict, and when at last it came, "not guilty," a sharp clap of applause hailed it, sternly and rightly reproved by the judge. it was echoed by the country, which almost unanimously condemned the prosecution as an iniquitous attempt on the part of mr. bradlaugh's political enemies to put a stop to his political career. thus the _pall mall gazette_ wrote:-- "whatever may be the personal or political or religious aversion which is excited by mr. bradlaugh, it is impossible for even his bitterest opponents to deny the brilliance of the series of victories which he has won in the law courts. his acquittal in the blasphemy prosecution of saturday was but the latest of a number of encounters in which he has succeeded in turning the tables upon his opponents in the most decisive fashion. the policy of baiting mr. bradlaugh which has been persisted in so long, savours so strongly of a petty and malignant species of persecution that it is well that those who indulge in it should be made to smart for their pains. the wise and weighty words used by the lord chief justice in summing up should be taken seriously to heart: 'those persons are to be deprecated who would pervert the law, even with the best intentions, and "do evil that good may come, whose damnation" (says the apostle) "is just."' without emulating the severity of the apostle, we may say that it is satisfactory that the promoters of all these prosecutions should be condemned in costs." in the separate trial of messrs. foote and ramsey, mr. foote again defended himself in a speech of marked ability, and spoken of by the judge as "very striking." lord coleridge made a noble charge to the jury, in which he strongly condemned prosecutions of unpopular opinions, pointing out that no prosecution short of extermination could be effective, and caustically remarking on the very easy form of virtue indulged in by persecutors. "as a general rule," he said, "persecution, unless far more extreme than in england in the nineteenth century is possible, is certain to be in vain. it is also true, and i cannot help assenting to it, that it is a very easy form of virtue. it is a more difficult form of virtue, quietly and unostentatiously to obey what we believe to be god's will in our own lives. it is not very easy to do it; and it makes much less noise in the world. it is very easy to turn upon somebody else who differs from us, and in the guise of zeal of god's honour to attack somebody of a difference of opinion, whose life may be more pleasing to god and more conducive to his honour than our own. and when it is done by persons whose own lives are not free from reproach and who take that particular form of zeal for god which consists in putting the criminal law in force against others, that, no doubt, does more to create a sympathy with the defendant than with the prosecutor. and if it should be done by those who enjoy the wit of voltaire, and who do not turn away from the sneers of gibbon, and rather relish the irony of hume, our feelings do not go with the prosecutors, and we are rather disposed to sympathise with the defendant. it is still worse if the person who takes such a course takes it, not from a kind of notion that god wants his assistance, and that he can give it less on his own account than by prosecuting others--but it is mixed up with anything of partisan or political feeling, then nothing can be more foreign to what is high-minded, or religious, or noble, in men's conduct; and indeed, it seems to me that any one who will do that, not for the honour of god but for the purpose of the ban, deserves the most disdainful disapprobation." the jury disagreed, and a _nolle prosequi_ was entered. the net results of the trials were a large addition to the membership of the national secular society, an increase of circulation of freethought literature, the raising of mr. foote for a time to a position of great influence and popularity, and the placing of his name in history as a brave martyr for liberty of speech. the offence against good taste will be forgotten; the loyalty to conviction and to courage will remain. history does not ask if men who suffered for heresy ever published a rough word; it asks, were they brave in their steadfastness; were they faithful to the truth they saw? it may be well to place on record mr. foote's punishment for blasphemy: he spent twenty-two hours out of the twenty-four alone in his cell; his only seat was a stool without a back; his employment was picking matting; his bed was a plank with a thin mattress. during the latter part of his imprisonment he was allowed some books. chapter xiii. socialism. the rest of passed in the usual way of hard work; the affirmation bill was rejected, and the agitation for constitutional right grew steadily; the liberal press was won over, and mr. bradlaugh was beginning to earn golden opinions on all sides for his courage, his tenacity, and his self-control. a successful international congress at amsterdam took some of us over to the northern venice, where a most successful gathering was held. to me, personally, the year has a special interest, as being the one in which my attention was called, though only partially, to the socialist movement. i had heard louise michelle lecture in the early spring; a brief controversy in the _national reformer_ had interested me, but i had not yet concerned myself with the economic basis of socialism; i had realised that the land should be public property, but had not gone into the deeper economic causes of poverty, though the question was pressing with ever-increasing force on heart and brain. of socialist teaching i knew nothing, having studied only the older english economists in my younger days. in a more definite call to consider these teachings was to come, and i may perhaps open the record of with the words of greeting spoken by me to our readers in the first number of the _reformer_ for that year: "what tests may have for our courage, what strains on our endurance, what trials of our loyalty, none can tell. but this we know--that every test of courage successfully met, every strain of endurance steadily borne, every trial of loyalty nobly surmounted, leaves courage braver, endurance stronger, loyalty truer, than each was before. and therefore, for our own and for the world's sake, i will not wish you, friends, an in which there shall be no toil and no battling; but i will wish you, each and all, the hero's heart and the hero's patience, in the struggle for the world's raising that will endure through the coming year." on february rd i came for the first time across a paper called _justice_, in which mr. bradlaugh was attacked, and which gave an account of a meeting of the democratic federation--not yet the social democratic--in which a man had, apparently unrebuked, said that "all means were justifiable to attain" working-class ends. i protested strongly against the advocacy of criminal means, declaring that those who urged the use of such means were the worst foes of social progress. a few weeks later the _echo_ repeated a speech of mr. hyndman's in which a "bloodier revolution" than that of france was prophesied, and the extinction of "book-learning" seemed coupled with the success of socialism, and this again i commented on. but i had the pleasure, a week later, of reprinting from _justice_ a sensible paragraph, condemning the advocacy of violence so long as free agitation was allowed. the spring was marked by two events on which i have not time or space to dwell--the resignation by mr. bradlaugh of his seat, on the reiteration of the resolution of exclusion, and his triumphant return for the fourth time by an increased majority, a vote of , , a higher poll than that of the general election; and the release of mr. foote, on february th, from holloway, whence he was escorted by a procession a quarter of a mile in length. on the th of march he and his fellow-prisoners received a magnificent reception and were presented with valuable testimonials at the hall of science. taking up again the thread of socialism, the great debate in st. james's hall, london, between mr. bradlaugh and mr. hyndman on april th, roused me to a serious study of the questions raised. socialism has in england no more devoted, no more self-sacrificing advocate than henry hyndman. a man of wide and deep reading, wielding most ably a singularly fascinating pen, with talents that would have made him wealthy in any career he adopted, he has sacrificed himself without a murmur to the people's cause. he has borne obloquy from without, suspicion and unkindness from those he served, and surrounded by temptations to betray the people, he has never swerved from his integrity. he has said rash things, has been stirred to passionate outbursts and reckless phrases, but love to the people and sympathy with suffering lay at the root of his wildest words, and they count but little as against his faithful service. personally, my debt to him is of a mixed character; he kept me from socialism for some time by his bitter and very unjust antagonism to mr. bradlaugh; but it was the debate at st. james's hall that, while i angrily resented his injustice, made me feel that there was something more in practical socialism than i had imagined, especially when i read it over afterwards, away from the magic of mr. bradlaugh's commanding eloquence and personal magnetism. it was a sore pity that english socialists, from the outset of their movement, treated mr. bradlaugh so unfairly, so that his friends were set against socialists ere they began to examine their arguments. i must confess that my deep attachment to him led me into injustice to his socialist foes in those early days, and often made me ascribe to them calculated malignity instead of hasty and prejudiced assertion. added to this, their uncurbed violence in discussion, their constant interruptions during the speeches of opponents, their reckless inaccuracy in matters of fact, were all bars standing in the way of the thoughtful. when i came to know them better, i found that the bulk of their speakers were very young men, overworked and underpaid, who spent their scanty leisure in efforts to learn, to educate themselves, to train themselves, and i learned to pardon faults which grew out of the bitter sense of injustice, and which were due largely to the terrible pressure of our system on characters not yet strong enough--how few are strong enough!--to bear grinding injustice without loss of balance and of impartiality. none save those who have worked with them know how much of real nobility, of heroic self-sacrifice, of constant self-denial, of brotherly affection, there is among the social democrats. at this time also i met george bernard shaw, one of the most brilliant of socialist writers and most provoking of men; a man with a perfect genius for "aggravating" the enthusiastically earnest, and with a passion for representing himself as a scoundrel. on my first experience of him on the platform at south place institute he described himself as a "loafer," and i gave an angry snarl at him in the _reformer_, for a loafer was my detestation, and behold! i found that he was very poor, because he was a writer with principles and preferred starving his body to starving his conscience; that he gave time and earnest work to the spreading of socialism, spending night after night in workmen's clubs; and that "a loafer" was only an amiable way of describing himself because he did not carry a hod. of course i had to apologise for my sharp criticism as doing him a serious injustice, but privately felt somewhat injured at having been entrapped into such a blunder. meanwhile i was more and more turning aside from politics and devoting myself to the social condition of the people i find myself, in june, protesting against sir john lubbock's bill which fixed a twelve-hour day as the limit of a "young person's" toil. "a 'day' of twelve hours is brutal," i wrote; "if the law fixes twelve hours as a 'fair day' that law will largely govern custom. i declare that a 'legal day' should be eight hours on five days in the week and not more than five hours on the sixth. if the labour is of an exhausting character these hours are too long." on every side now the socialist controversy grew, and i listened, read, and thought much, but said little. the inclusion of john robertson in the staff of the _reformer_ brought a highly intellectual socialist into closer touch with us, and slowly i found that the case for socialism was intellectually complete and ethically beautiful. the trend of my thought was shown by urging the feeding of board school children, breaking down under the combination of education and starvation, and i asked, "why should people be pauperised by a rate-supported meal, and not pauperised by, state-supported police, drainage, road-mending, street-lighting, &c? "socialism in its splendid ideal appealed to my heart, while the economic soundness of its basis convinced my head. all my life was turned towards the progress of the people, the helping of man, and it leaped forward to meet the stronger hope, the lofty ideal of social brotherhood, the rendering possible to all of freer life; so long had i been striving thitherward, and here there opened up a path to the yearned-for goal! how strong were the feelings surging in my heart may be seen in a brief extract from an article published second week of january, : "christian charity? we know its work. it gives a hundred-weight of coal and five pounds of beef once a year to a family whose head could earn a hundred such doles if christian justice allowed him fair wage for the work he performs. it plunders the workers of the wealth they make, and then flings back at them a thousandth part of their own product as 'charity.' it builds hospitals for the poor whom it has poisoned in filthy courts and alleys, and workhouses for the worn-out creatures from whom it has wrung every energy, every hope, every joy. miss cobbe summons us to admire christian civilisation, and we see idlers flaunting in the robes woven by the toilers, a glittering tinselled super-structure founded on the tears, the strugglings, the grey, hopeless misery of the poor." this first month of january, , brought on me the first attack for my socialistic tendencies, from the pen of mr. w.p. ball, who wrote to the _reformer_ complaining of my paragraph, quoted above, in which i had advocated rate-supported meals for board school children. a brief controversy thus arose, in which i supported my opinion, waiving the question as to my being "at heart a socialist." in truth, i dreaded to make the plunge of publicly allying myself with the advocates of socialism, because of the attitude of bitter hostility they had adopted towards mr. bradlaugh. on his strong, tenacious nature, nurtured on self-reliant individualism, the arguments of the younger generation made no impression. he could not change his methods because a new tendency was rising to the surface, and he did not see how different was the socialism of our day to the socialist dreams of the past--noble ideals of a future not immediately realisable in truth, but to be worked towards and rendered possible in the days to come. could i take public action which might bring me into collision with the dearest of my friends, which might strain the strong and tender tie so long existing between us? my affection, my gratitude, all warred against the idea of working with those who wronged him so bitterly. but the cry of starving children was ever in my ears; the sobs of women poisoned in lead works, exhausted in nail works, driven to prostitution by starvation, made old and haggard by ceaseless work. i saw their misery was the result of an evil system, was inseparable from private ownership of the instruments of wealth production; that while the worker was himself but an instrument, selling his labour under the law of supply and demand, he must remain helpless in the grip of the employing classes, and that trade combinations could only mean increased warfare--necessary, indeed, for the time as weapons of defence--but meaning war, not brotherly co-operation of all for the good of all. a conflict which was stripped of all covering, a conflict between a personal tie and a call of duty could not last long, and with a heavy heart i made up my mind to profess socialism openly and work for it with all my energy. happily, mr. bradlaugh was as tolerant as he was strong, and our private friendship remained unbroken; but he never again felt the same confidence in my judgment as he felt before, nor did he any more consult me on his own policy, as he had done ever since we first clasped hands. a series of articles in _our corner_ on the "redistribution of political power," on the "evolution of society," on "modern socialism," made my position clear. "over against those who laud the present state of society, with its unjustly rich and its unjustly poor, with its palaces and its slums, its millionaires and its paupers, be it ours to proclaim that there is a higher ideal in life than that of being first in the race for wealth, most successful in the scramble for gold. be it ours to declare steadfastly that health, comfort, leisure, culture, plenty for every individual are far more desirable than breathless struggle for existence, furious trampling down of the weak by the strong, huge fortunes accumulated out of the toil of others, to be handed down to those who had done nothing to earn them. be it ours to maintain that the greatness of a nation depends not on the number of its great proprietors, on the wealth of its great capitalists, or the splendour of its great nobles, but on the absence of poverty among its people, on the education and refinement of its masses, on the universality of enjoyment in life.... enough for each of work, of leisure, of joy; too little for none, too much for none--such is the social ideal. better to strive after it worthily and fail, than to die without striving for it at all." then i differentiated the methods of the socialist and the radical individualist, pleading for union among those who formed the wings of the army of labour, and urging union of all workers against the idlers. for the weakness of the people has ever been in their divisions, in the readiness of each section to turn its weapons against other sections instead of against the common foe. all privileged classes, when they are attacked, sink their differences and present a serried front to their assailants; the people alone fight with each other, while the battle between themselves and the privileged is raging. i strove, as so many others were striving, to sound in the ears of the thoughtless and the careless the cry of the sufferings of the poor, endeavouring to make articulate their misery. thus in a description of edinburgh slums came the following: "i saw in a 'house' which was made by boarding up part of a passage, which had no window, and in which it was necessary to burn an oil lamp all day, thus adding to the burden of the rent, a family of three--man, wife, and child--whose lot was hardly 'of their own making.' the man was tall and bronzed, but he was dying of heart disease; he could not do hard work, and he was too clumsy for light work; so he sat there, after two days' fruitless search, patiently nursing his miserable, scrofulous baby in his dim and narrow den. the cases of individual hopeless suffering are heartbreaking. in one room lay a dying child, dying of low fever brought on by want of food. 'it hae no faither,' sobbed the mother; and for a moment i did not catch the meaning that the father had left to the mother all the burden of a child unallowed by law. in another lay the corpse of a mother, with the children round her, and hard-featured, gentle-hearted women came in to take back to their overcrowded beds 'the mitherless bairns.' in yet another a woman, shrunken and yellow, crouched over a glimmer of fire; "i am dying of cancer of the womb," she said, with that pathetic resignation to the inevitable so common among the poor. i sat chatting for a few minutes. 'come again, deary,' she said as i rose to go; 'it's gey dull sitting here the day through.'" the article in which these, among other descriptions, occurred was closed with the following: "passing out of the slums into the streets of the town, only a few steps separating the horror and the beauty, i felt, with a vividness more intense than ever, the fearful contrasts between the lots of men; and with more pressing urgency the question seemed to ring in my ears, 'is there no remedy? must there always be rich and poor?' some say that it must be so; that the palace and the slum will for ever exist as the light and the shadow. not so do i believe. i believe that the poverty is the result of ignorance and of bad social arrangements, and that therefore it may be eradicated by knowledge and by social change. i admit that for many of these adult dwellers in the slums there is no hope. poor victims of a civilisation that hides its brutality beneath a veneer of culture and of grace, for them individually there is, alas! no salvation. but for their children, yes! healthy surroundings, good food, mental and physical training, plenty of play, and carefully chosen work--these might save the young and prepare them for happy life. but they are being left to grow up as their parents were, and even when a few hours of school are given them the home half-neutralises what the education effects. the scanty aid given is generally begrudged, the education is to be but elementary, as little as possible is doled out. yet these children have each one of them hopes and fears, possibilities of virtue and of crime, a life to be made or marred. we shower money on generals and on nobles, we keep high-born paupers living on the national charity, we squander wealth with both hands on army and navy, on churches and palaces; but we grudge every halfpenny that increases the education rate and howl down every proposal to build decent houses for the poor. we cover our heartlessness and indifference with fine phrases about sapping the independence of the poor and destroying their self-respect. with loathsome hypocrisy we repair a prince's palace for him, and let him live in it rent-free, without one word about the degradation involved in his thus living upon charity; while we refuse to 'pauperise' the toiler by erecting decent buildings in which he may live--not rent-free like the prince, but only paying a rent which shall cover the cost of erection and maintenance, instead of one which gives a yearly profit to a speculator. and so, year after year, the misery grows, and every great city has on its womb a cancer; sapping its vitality, poisoning its life-blood. every great city is breeding in its slums a race which is reverting through the savage to the brute--a brute more dangerous in that degraded humanity has possibilities of evil in it beyond the reach of the mere wild beast. if not for love's sake, then for fear; if not for justice or for human pity, then for sheer desire of self-preservation; i appeal to the wise and to the wealthy to set their hands to the cure of social evil, ere stolidity gives place to passion and dull patience vanishes before fury, and they "'learn at last, in some wild hour, how much the wretched dare.'" because it was less hotly antagonistic to the radicals than the two other socialist organisations, i joined the fabian society, and worked hard with it as a speaker and lecturer. sidney webb, g. bernard shaw, hubert and mrs. bland, graham wallas--these were some of those who gave time, thought, incessant work to the popularising of socialist thought, the spreading of sound economics, the effort to turn the workers' energy toward social rather than merely political reform. we lectured at workmen's clubs wherever we could gain a hearing, till we leavened london radicalism with socialist thought, and by treating the radical as the unevolved socialist rather than as the anti-socialist, we gradually won him over to socialist views. we circulated questions to be put to all candidates for parliamentary or other offices, stirred up interest in local elections, educated men and women into an understanding of the causes of their poverty, won recruits for the army of propagandists from the younger of the educated middle class. that the london working classes to-day are so largely socialist is greatly due to the years of work done among them by members of the fabian society, as well to the splendid, if occasionally too militant, energy of the social democratic federation, and to the devotion of that noble and generous genius, william morris. during this same year ( ) a movement was set on foot in england to draw attention to the terrible sufferings of the russian political prisoners, and it was decided at a meeting held in my house to form a society of the friends of russia, which should seek to spread accurate and careful information about the present condition of russia. at that meeting were present charles bradlaugh, "stepniak," and many others, e.r. pease acting as honorary secretary. it is noteworthy that some of the most prominent russian exiles--such as kropotkin--take the view that the tzar himself is not allowed to know what occurs, and is very largely the victim of the bureaucracy that surrounds him. another matter, that increased as the months went on, was the attempt of the police authorities to stop socialist speaking in the open air. christians, freethinkers, salvationists, agitators of all kinds were, for the most part, left alone, but there was a regular crusade against the socialists. liberal and tory journals alike condemned the way in which in dod street, in september, the socialists' meetings were attacked. quiet persistence was shown by the promoters--members of the social democratic federation--and they were well supported by other socialists and by the radical clubs. i volunteered to speak on october th (my first sunday in london after the summoning and imprisoning of the speakers had commenced), but the attitude of the people was so determined on the preceding sunday that all interference was withdrawn. herbert burrows stood for the school board for the tower hamlets in the november of this year, and i find a paragraph in the _reformer_ in which i heartily wished him success, especially as the first candidate who had put forward a demand for industrial education. in this, as in so many practical proposals, socialists have led the way. he polled , votes, despite the furious opposition of the clergy to him as a freethinker, of the publicans to him as a teetotaler, of the maintainers of the present social system to him as a socialist. and his fight did much to make possible my own success in . with this autumn, too, began, in connection with the struggle for the right of meeting, the helping of the workmen to fair trial by providing of bail and legal defence. the first case that i bailed out was that of lewis lyons, sent to gaol for two months with hard labour by mr. saunders, of the thames police court. oh, the weary, sickening waiting in the court for "my prisoner," the sordid vice, the revolting details of human depravity to which my unwilling eyes and ears were witnesses. i carried lyons off in triumph, and the middlesex magistrates quashed the conviction, the evidence being pronounced by them to be "confusing, contradictory, and worthless." yet but for the chance of one of us stepping forward to offer bail and to provide the means for an appeal (i acted on mr. bradlaugh's suggestion and advice, for he acted as counsellor to me all through the weary struggles that lasted till , putting his great legal knowledge at my disposal, though he often disapproved my action, thinking me quixotic)--but for this, lewis lyons would have had to suffer his heavy sentence. the general election took place this autumn, and northampton returned mr. bradlaugh for the fifth time, thus putting an end to the long struggle, for he took the oath and his seat in the following january, and at once gave notice of an oaths bill, to give to all who claimed it, under all circumstances, the right to affirm. he was returned with the largest vote ever polled for him-- , --and he entered parliament with all the prestige of his great struggle, and went to the front at once, one of the recognised forces in the house. the action of mr. speaker peel promptly put an end to an attempted obstruction. sir michael hicks beach, mr. cecil raikes, and sir john hennaway had written to the speaker asking his interference, but the speaker declared that he had no authority, no right to stand between a duly elected member and the duty of taking the oath prescribed by statute. thus ended the constitutional struggle of six years, that left the victor well-nigh bankrupt in health and in purse, and sent him to a comparatively early grave. he lived long enough to justify his election, to prove his value to the house and to his country, but he did not live long enough to render to england all the services which his long training, his wide knowledge, his courage, and his honesty so eminently fitted him to yield. [illustration: norwich branch of the socialist league.] _our corner_ now served as a valuable aid in socialist propaganda, and its monthly "socialist notes" became a record of socialist progress in all lands. we were busy during the spring in organising a conference for the discussion of "the present commercial system, and the better utilisation of national wealth for the benefit of the community," and this was successfully held at south place institute on june th, th, th, the three days being given respectively, to the "utilisation of land," the "utilisation of capital," and the "democratic policy." on the th mr. bradlaugh spoke on the utilisation of waste lands, arguing that in a thickly populated country no one had the right to keep cultivable land uncultivated, and that where land was so kept there should be compulsory expropriation, the state taking the land and letting it out to cultivating tenants. among the other speakers were edward carpenter, william morris, sidney webb, john robertson, william saunders, w. donnisthorpe, edward aveling, charlotte wilson, mrs. fenwick miller, hubert bland, dr. pankhurst, and myself--men and women of many views, met to compare methods, and so help on the cause of social regeneration. bitter attacks were made on me for my socialist advocacy by some of the radicals in the freethought party, and looking back i find myself condemned as a "saint athanasius in petticoats," and as possessing a "mind like a milk-jug." this same courteous critic remarked, "i have heard mrs. besant described as being, like most women, at the mercy of her last male acquaintance for her views on economics." i was foolish enough to break a lance in self-defence with this assailant, not having then learned that self-defence was a waste of time that might be better employed in doing work for others. i certainly should not now take the trouble to write such a paragraph as the following: "the moment a man uses a woman's sex to discredit her arguments, the thoughtful reader knows that he is unable to answer the arguments themselves. but really these silly sneers at woman's ability have lost their force, and are best met with a laugh at the stupendous 'male self-conceit' of the writer. i may add that such shafts are specially pointless against myself. a woman who thought her way out of christianity and whiggism into freethought and radicalism absolutely alone; who gave up every old friend, male and female, rather than resign the beliefs she had struggled to in solitude; who, again, in embracing active socialism, has run counter to the views of her nearest 'male friends'; such a woman may very likely go wrong, but i think she may venture, without conceit, to at least claim independence of judgment. i did not make the acquaintance of one of my present socialist comrades, male or female, until i had embraced socialism." a foolish paragraph, as are all self-defences, and a mischievous one, as all retort breeds fresh strife. but not yet had come the self-control that estimates the judgments of others at their true value, that recks not of praise and blame; not yet had i learned that evil should not be met with evil, wrath with wrath; not yet were the words of the buddha the law to which i strove to render obedience: "hatred ceases not by hatred at any time; hatred ceases by love." the year was a terrible one for labour, everywhere reductions of wages, everywhere increase of the numbers of the unemployed; turning over the pages of _our corner_, i see "socialist notes" filled, month after month, with a monotonous tale, "there is a reduction of wages at" such and such a place; so many "men have been discharged at -----, owing to the slackness of trade." our hearts sank lower and lower as summer passed into autumn, and the coming winter threatened to add to starvation the bitter pains of cold. the agitation for the eight hours' day increased in strength as the unemployed grew more numerous week by week "we can't stand it," a sturdy, quiet fellow had said to me during the preceding winter; "flesh and blood can't stand it, and two months of this bitter cold, too." "we may as well starve idle as starve working," had said another, with a fierce laugh. and a spirit of sullen discontent was spreading everywhere, discontent that was wholly justified by facts. but ah! how patient they were for the most part, how sadly, pathetically patient, this crucified christ, humanity; wrongs that would set my heart and my tongue afire would be accepted as a matter of course. o blind and mighty people, how my heart went out to you; trampled on, abused, derided, asking so little and needing so much; so pathetically grateful for the pettiest services; so loving and so loyal to those who offered you but their poor services and helpless love. deeper and deeper into my innermost nature ate the growing desire to succour, to suffer for, to save. i had long given up my social reputation, i now gave up with ever-increasing surrender ease, comfort, time; the passion of pity grew stronger and stronger, fed by each new sacrifice, and each sacrifice led me nearer and nearer to the threshold of that gateway beyond which stretched a path of renunciation i had never dreamed of, which those might tread who were ready wholly to strip off self for man's sake, who for love's sake would surrender love's return from those they served, and would go out into the darkness for themselves that they might, with their own souls as fuel, feed the light of the world. as the suffering deepened with the darkening months, the meetings of the unemployed grew in number, and the murmurs of discontent became louder. the social democratic federation carried on an outdoor agitation, not without making blunders, being composed of human beings, but with abundant courage and self-sacrifice. the policy of breaking up socialist meetings went on while other meetings were winked at, and john williams, a fiery speaker, but a man with a record of pathetic struggle and patient heroism, was imprisoned for two months for speaking in the open air, and so nearly starved in gaol that he came out with his health broken for life. dawned, the year that was to close so stormily, and socialists everywhere were busying themselves on behalf of the unemployed, urging vestries to provide remunerative work for those applying for relief, assailing the local government board with practicable proposals for utilising the productive energies of the unemployed, circulating suggestions to municipalities and other local representative bodies, urging remedial measures. a four days' oral debate with mr. foote, and a written debate with mr. bradlaugh, occupied some of my energies, and helped in the process of education to which public opinion was being subjected. both these debates were largely circulated as pamphlets. a series of afternoon debates between representative speakers was organised at south place institute, and mr. corrie grant and myself had a lively discussion, i affirming "that the existence of classes who live upon unearned incomes is detrimental to the welfare of the community, and ought to be put an end to by legislation." another debate--in this very quarrelsome spring of --was a written one in the _national reformer_ between the rev. g.f. handel rowe and myself on the proposition, "is atheism logically tenable, and is there a satisfactory atheistic system for the guidance of human conduct." and so the months went on, and the menace of misery grew louder and louder, till in september i find myself writing: "this one thing is clear--society must deal with the unemployed, or the unemployed will deal with society. stormier and stormier becomes the social outlook, and they at least are not the worst enemies of society who seek to find some way through the breakers by which the ship of the commonwealth may pass into quiet waters." some amusement turned up in the shape of a charing cross parliament, in which we debated with much vigour the "burning questions" of the day. we organised a compact socialist party, defeated a liberal government, took the reins of office, and--after a queen's speech in which her majesty addressed her loyal commons with a plainness of speech never before (or since) heard from the throne--we brought in several bills of a decidedly heroic character. g. bernard shaw, as president of the local government board, and i, as home secretary, came in for a good deal of criticism in connection with various drastic measures. an international freethought congress, held in london, entailed fairly heavy work, and the science classes were ever with us. another written debate came with october, this time on the "teachings of christianity," making the fifth of these set discussions held by me during the year. this same month brought a change, painful but just: i resigned my much-prized position as co-editor of the _national reformer,_ and the number for october rd bore charles bradlaugh's name alone. the change did not affect my work on the paper, but i became merely a subordinate, though remaining, of course, joint proprietor. the reason cannot be more accurately given than in the paragraph penned at the time: "for a considerable time past, and lately in increasing number, complaints have reached me from various quarters of the inconvenience and uncertainty that result from the divided editorial policy of this paper on the question of socialism. some months ago i proposed to avoid this difficulty by resigning my share in the editorship; but my colleague, with characteristic liberality, asked me to let the proposal stand over and see if matters would not adjust themselves. but the difficulty, instead of disappearing, has only become more pressing; and we both feel that our readers have a right to demand that it be solved. "when i became co-editor of this paper i was not a socialist; and, although i regard socialism as the necessary and logical outcome of the radicalism which for so many years the _national reformer_ has taught, still, as in avowing myself a socialist i have taken a distinct step, the partial separation of my policy in labour questions from that of my colleague has been of my own making, and not of his, and it is, therefore, for me to go away. over by far the greater part of our sphere of action we are still substantially agreed, and are likely to remain so. but since, as socialism becomes more and more a question of practical politics, differences of theory tend to produce differences in conduct; and since a political paper must have a single editorial programme in practical politics, it would obviously be most inconvenient for me to retain my position as co-editor. i therefore resume my former position as contributor only, thus clearing the _national reformer_ of all responsibility for the views i hold." to this mr. bradlaugh added the following:-- "i need hardly add to this how very deeply i regret the necessity for mrs. besant's resignation of the joint editorship of this journal, and the real grief i feel in accepting this break in a position in which she has rendered such enormous service to the freethought and radical cause. as a most valued contributor i trust the _national reformer_ may never lose the efficient aid of her brain and pen. for thirteen years this paper has been richer for good by the measure of her never-ceasing and most useful work. i agree with her that a journal must have a distinct editorial policy; and i think this distinctness the more necessary when, as in the present case, every contributor has the greatest freedom of expression. i recognise in the fullest degree the spirit of self-sacrifice in which the lines, to which i add these words, have been penned by mrs. besant. "charles bradlaugh." it was a wrench, this breaking of a tie for which a heavy price had been paid thirteen years before, but it was just. any one who makes a change with which pain is connected is bound, in honour and duty, to take that pain as much as possible on himself; he must not put his sacrifice on others, nor pay his own ransom with their coin. there must be honour kept in the life that reaches towards the ideal, for broken faith to that is the only real infidelity. and there was another reason for the change that i dared not name to him, for his quick loyalty would then have made him stubbornly determined against change. i saw the swift turning of public opinion, the gradual approach to him among liberals who had hitherto held aloof, and i knew that they looked upon me as a clog and a burden, and that were i less prominently with him his way would be the easier to tread. so i slipped more and more into the background, no longer went with him to his meetings; my use to him in public was over, for i had become hindrance instead of help. while he was outcast and hated i had the pride of standing at his side; when all the fair-weather friends came buzzing round him i served him best by self-effacement, and i never loved him better than when i stood aside. but i continued all the literary work unaltered, and no change of opinions touched his kindness to me, although when, a little later, i joined the theosophical society, he lost his trust in my reasoning powers and judgment. in this same month of october the unemployed began walking in procession through the streets, and harshness on the part of the police led to some rioting. sir charles warren thought it his duty to dragoon london meetings after the fashion of continental prefects, with the inevitable result that an ill-feeling grew up between the people and the police. at last we formed a socialist defence association, in order to help poor workmen brought up and sentenced on police evidence only, without any chance being given them of proper legal defence, and i organised a band of well-to-do men and women, who promised to obey a telegraphic summons, night or day, and to bail out any prisoner arrested for exercising the ancient right of walking in procession and speaking. to take one instance: mr. burleigh, the well-known war correspondent, and mr. winks were arrested and "run in" with mr. j. knight, a workman, for seditious language. i went down to the police-station to offer bail for the latter: chief-constable howard accepted bail for messrs. burleigh and winks, but refused it for mr. knight. the next day, at the police-court, the preposterous bail of £ was demanded for mr. knight and supplied by my faithful band, and on the next hearing mr. poland, solicitor to the treasury, withdrew the charge against him for lack of evidence! then came the closing of trafalgar square, and the unexpected and high-handed order that cost some men their lives, many their liberty, and hundreds the most serious injuries. the metropolitan radical federation had called a meeting for november th to protest against the imprisonment of mr. o'brien, and as mr. matthews, from his place in the house, had stated that there was no intention of interfering with _bonâ fide_ political meetings, the radical clubs did not expect police interference. on november th sir charles warren had issued an order forbidding all meetings in the square, but the clubs trusted the promise of the home secretary. on saturday evening only, november th, when all arrangements were completed, did he issue a peremptory order, forbidding processions within a certain area. with this trap suddenly sprung upon them, the delegates from the clubs, the fabian society, the social democratic federation, and the socialist league, met on that same saturday evening to see to any details that had been possibly left unsettled. it was finally decided to go to the square as arranged, and, if challenged by the police, to protest formally against the illegal interference, then to break up the processions and leave the members to find their own way to the square. it was also decided to go sunday after sunday to the square, until the right of public meetings was vindicated. the procession i was in started from clerkenwell green, and walked with its banner in front, and the chosen speakers, including myself, immediately behind the flag. as we were moving slowly and quietly along one of the narrow streets debouching on trafalgar square, wondering whether we should be challenged, there was a sudden charge, and without a word the police were upon us with uplifted truncheons; the banner was struck down, and men and women were falling under a hail of blows. there was no attempt at resistance, the people were too much astounded at the unprepared attack. they scattered, leaving some of their number on the ground too much injured to move, and then made their way in twos and threes to the square. it was garrisoned by police, drawn up in serried rows, that could only have been broken by a deliberate charge. our orders were to attempt no violence, and we attempted none. mr. cunninghame graham and mr. john burns, arm-in-arm, tried to pass through the police, and were savagely cut about the head and arrested. then ensued a scene to be remembered; the horse police charged in squadrons at a hand-gallop, rolling men and women over like ninepins, while the foot police struck recklessly with their truncheons, cutting a road through the crowd that closed immediately behind them. i got on a waggonette and tried to persuade the driver to pull his trap across one of the roads, and to get others in line, so as to break the charges of the mounted police; but he was afraid, and drove away to the embankment, so i jumped out and went back to the square. at last a rattle of cavalry, and up came the life guards, cleverly handled but hurting none, trotting their horses gently and shouldering the crowd apart; and then the scots guards with bayonets fixed marched through and occupied the north of the square. then the people retreated as we passed round the word, "go home, go home." the soldiers were ready to fire, the people unarmed; it would have been but a massacre. slowly the square emptied and all was still. all other processions were treated as ours had been, and the injuries inflicted were terrible. peaceable, law-abiding workmen, who had never dreamed of rioting, were left with broken legs, broken arms, wounds of every description. one man, linnell, died almost immediately, others from the effect of their injuries. the next day a regular court-martial in bow street police court, witnesses kept out by the police, men dazed with their wounds, decent workmen of unblemished character who had never been charged in a police-court before, sentenced to imprisonment without chance of defence. but a gallant band rallied to their rescue. william t. stead, most chivalrous of journalists, opened a defence fund, and money rained in; my pledged bail came up by the dozen, and we got the men out on appeal. by sheer audacity i got into the police-court, addressed the magistrate, too astounded by my profound courtesy and calm assurance to remember that i had no right there, and then produced bail after bail of the most undeniable character and respectability, which no magistrate could refuse. breathing-time gained, a barrister, mr. w.m. thompson, worked day after day with hearty devotion, and took up the legal defence. fines we paid, and here mrs. marx aveling did eager service. a pretty regiment i led out of millbank prison, after paying their fines; bruised, clothes torn, hatless, we must have looked a disreputable lot. we stopped and bought hats, to throw an air of respectability over our _cortège_, and we kept together until i saw the men into train and omnibus, lest, with the bitter feelings now roused, conflict should again arise. we formed the law and liberty league to defend all unjustly assailed by the police, and thus rescued many a man from prison; and we gave poor linnell, killed in trafalgar square, a public funeral. sir charles warren forbade the passing of the hearse through any of the main thoroughfares west of waterloo bridge, so the processions waited there for it. w.t. stead, r. cunninghame graham, herbert burrows, and myself walked on one side the coffin, william morris, f. smith, r. dowling, and j. seddon on the other; the rev. stewart d. headlam, the officiating clergyman, walked in front; fifty stewards carrying long wands guarded the coffin. from wellington street to bow cemetery the road was one mass of human beings, who uncovered reverently as the slain man went by; at aldgate the procession took three-quarters of an hour to pass one spot, and thus we bore linnell to his grave, symbol of a cruel wrong, the vast orderly, silent crowd, bareheaded, making mute protest against the outrage wrought. it is pleasant to put on record here mr. bradlaugh's grave approval of the heavy work done in the police-courts, and the following paragraph shows how generously he could praise one not acting on his own lines: "as i have on most serious matters of principle recently differed very widely from my brave and loyal co-worker, and as the difference has been regrettably emphasised by her resignation of her editorial functions on this journal, it is the more necessary that i should say how thoroughly i approve, and how grateful i am to her for, her conduct in not only obtaining bail and providing legal assistance for the helpless unfortunates in the hands of the police, but also for her daily personal attendance and wise conduct at the police-stations and police-courts, where she has done so much to abate harsh treatment on the one hand and rash folly on the other. while i should not have marked out this as fitting woman's work, especially in the recent very inclement weather, i desire to record my view that it has been bravely done, well done, and most usefully done, and i wish to mark this the more emphatically as my views and those of mrs. besant seem wider apart than i could have deemed possible on many of the points of principle underlying what is every day growing into a most serious struggle." ever did i find charles bradlaugh thus tolerant of difference of opinion, generously eager to approve what to him seemed right even in a policy he disapproved. the indignation grew and grew; the police were silently boycotted, but the people were so persistent and so tactful that no excuse for violence was given, until the strain on the police force began to tell, and the tory government felt that london was being hopelessly alienated; so at last sir charles warren fell, and a wiser hand was put at the helm. chapter xiv. through storm to peace. out of all this turmoil and stress rose a brotherhood that had in it the promise of a fairer day. mr. stead and i had become close friends--he christian, i atheist, burning with one common love for man, one common hatred against oppression. and so in _our corner_ for february, , i wrote:--"lately there has been dawning on the minds of men far apart in questions of theology, the idea of founding a new brotherhood, in which service of man should take the place erstwhile given to service of god--a brotherhood in which work should be worship and love should be baptism, in which none should be regarded as alien who was willing to work for human good. one day as i was walking towards millbank gaol with the rev. s.d. headlam, on the way to liberate a prisoner, i said to him: 'mr. headlam, we ought to have a new church, which should include all who have the common ground of faith in and love for man.' and a little later i found that my friend mr. w.t. stead, editor of the _pall mall gazette,_ had long been brooding over a similar thought, and wondering whether men 'might not be persuaded to be as earnest about making this world happy as they are over saving their souls.' the teaching of social duty, the upholding of social righteousness, the building up of a true commonwealth--such would be among the aims of the church of the future. is the hope too fair for realisation? is the winning of such beatific vision yet once more the dream of the enthusiast? but surely the one fact that persons so deeply differing in theological creeds as those who have been toiling for the last three months to aid and relieve the oppressed, can work in absolute harmony side by side for the one end--surely this proves that there is a bond which is stronger than our antagonisms, a unity which is deeper than the speculative theories which divide." how unconsciously i was marching towards the theosophy which was to become the glory of my life, groping blindly in the darkness for that very brotherhood, definitely formulated on these very lines by those elder brothers of our race, at whose feet i was so soon to throw myself. how deeply this longing for something loftier than i had yet found had wrought itself into my life, how strong the conviction was growing that there was something to be sought to which the service of man was the road, may be seen in the following passage from the same article:-- "it has been thought that in these days of factories and of tramways, of shoddy, and of adulteration, that all life must tread with even rhythm of measured footsteps, and that the glory of the ideal could no longer glow over the greyness of a modern horizon. but signs are not awanting that the breath of the older heroism is beginning to stir men's breasts, and that the passion for justice and for liberty, which thrilled through the veins of the world's greatest in the past, and woke our pulses to responsive throb, has not yet died wholly out of the hearts of men. still the quest of the holy grail exercises its deathless fascination, but the seekers no longer raise eyes to heaven, nor search over land and sea, for they know that it waits them in the suffering at their doors, that the consecration of the holiest is on the agonising masses of the poor and the despairing, the cup is crimson with the blood of the "'people, the grey-grown speechless christ.' ... if there be a faith that can remove the mountains of ignorance and evil, it is surely that faith in the ultimate triumph of right in the final enthronement of justice, which alone makes life worth the living, and which gems the blackest cloud of depression with the rainbow-coloured arch of an immortal hope." as a step towards bringing about some such union of those ready to work for man, mr. stead and i projected the _link_, a halfpenny weekly, the spirit of which was described in its motto, taken from victor hugo: "the people are silence. i will be the advocate of this silence. i will speak for the dumb. i will speak of the small to the great and of the feeble to the strong.... i will speak for all the despairing silent ones. i will interpret this stammering; i will interpret the grumblings, the murmurs, the tumults of crowds, the complaints ill-pronounced, and all these cries of beasts that, through ignorance and through suffering, man is forced to utter ... i will be the word of the people. i will be the bleeding mouth whence the gag is snatched out. i will say everything." it announced its object to be the "building up" of a "new church, dedicated to the service of man," and "what we want to do is to establish in every village and in every street some man or woman who will sacrifice time and labour as systematically and as cheerfully in the temporal service of man as others do in what they believe to be the service of god." week after week we issued our little paper, and it became a real light in the darkness. there the petty injustices inflicted on the poor found voice; there the starvation wages paid to women found exposure; there sweating was brought to public notice. a finisher of boots paid s. d. per dozen pairs and "find your own polish and thread"; women working for - / hours per day, making shirts--"fancy best"--at from d. to s. per dozen, finding their own cotton and needles, paying for gas, towel, and tea (compulsory), earning from s. to s. per week for the most part; a mantle finisher s. d. a week, out of which d. for materials; "respectable hard-working woman" tried for attempted suicide, "driven to rid herself of life from want." another part of our work was defending people from unjust landlords, exposing workhouse scandals, enforcing the employers' liability act, charles bradlaugh's truck act, forming "vigilance circles" whose members kept watch in their own district over cases of cruelty to children, extortion, insanitary workshops, sweating, &c., reporting each case to me. into this work came herbert burrows, who had joined hands with me over the trafalgar square defence, and who wrote some noble articles in the _link_. a man loving the people with passionate devotion, hating oppression and injustice with equal passion, working himself with remorseless energy, breaking his heart over wrongs he could not remedy. his whole character once came out in a sentence when he was lying delirious and thought himself dying: "tell the people how i have loved them always." in our crusade for the poor we worked for the dockers." to-morrow morning, in london alone , to , adult men," wrote sidney webb, "will fight like savages for permission to labour in the docks for d. an hour, and one-third of them will fight in vain, and be turned workless away." we worked for children's dinners. "if we insist on these children being educated, is it not necessary that they shall be fed? if not, we waste on them knowledge they cannot assimilate, and torture many of them to death. poor waifs of humanity, we drive them into the school and bid them learn; and the pitiful, wistful eyes question us why we inflict this strange new suffering, and bring into their dim lives this new pang. 'why not leave us alone? 'ask the pathetically patient little faces. why not, indeed, since for these child martyrs of the slums, society has only formulas, not food." we cried out against "cheap goods," that meant "sweated and therefore stolen goods." "the ethics of buying should surely be simply enough. we want a particular thing, and we do not desire to obtain it either by begging or by robbery; but if in becoming possessed of it, we neither beg it nor steal, we must give for it something equivalent in exchange; so much of our neighbour's labour has been put into the thing we desire; if we will not yield him fair equivalent for that labour, yet take his article, we defraud him, and if we are not willing to give that fair equivalent we have no right to become the owners of his product." this branch of our work led to a big fight--a fight most happy in its results. at a meeting of the fabian society, miss clementina black gave a capital lecture on female labour, and urged the formation of a consumers' league, pledged only to buy from shops certificated "clean" from unfair wage. h.h. champion, in the discussion that followed, drew attention to the wages paid by bryant & may (limited), while paying an enormous dividend to their shareholders, so that the value of the original £ shares was quoted at £ s. d. herbert burrows and i interviewed some of the girls, got lists of wages, of fines, &c. "a typical case is that of a girl of sixteen, a piece-worker; she earns s. a week, and lives with a sister, employed by the same firm, who 'earns good money, as much as s. or s. a week.' out of the earnings s. a week is paid for the rent of one room. the child lives only on bread and butter and tea, alike for breakfast and dinner, but related with dancing eyes that once a month she went to a meal where 'you get coffee and bread and butter, and jam and marmalade, and lots of it.'" we published the facts under the title of "white slavery in london," and called for a boycott of bryant & may's matches. "it is time some one came and helped us," said two pale-faced girls to me; and i asked: "who will help? plenty of people wish well to any good cause; but very few care to exert themselves to help it, and still fewer will risk anything in its support. 'some one ought to do it, but why should i?' is the ever re-echoed phrase of weak-kneed amiability. 'some one ought to do it, so why _not_ i?' is the cry of some earnest servant of man, eagerly forward springing to face some perilous duty. between those two sentences lie whole centuries of moral evolution." i was promptly threatened with an action for libel, but nothing came of it; it was easier to strike at the girls, and a few days later fleet street was enlivened by the irruption of a crowd of match-girls, demanding annie besant. i couldn't speechify to match-girls in fleet street, so asked that a deputation should come and explain what they wanted. up came three women and told their story: they had been asked to sign a paper certifying that they were well treated and contented, and that my statements were untrue; they refused. "you had spoke up for us," explained one, "and we weren't going back on you." a girl, pitched on as their leader, was threatened with dismissal; she stood firm; next day she was discharged for some trifle, and they all threw down their work, some , of them, and then a crowd of them started off to me to ask what to do next. if we ever worked in our lives, herbert burrows and i worked for the next fortnight. and a pretty hubbub we created; we asked for money, and it came pouring in; we registered the girls to receive strike pay, wrote articles, roused the clubs, held public meetings, got mr. bradlaugh to ask questions in parliament, stirred up constituencies in which shareholders were members, till the whole country rang with the struggle. mr. frederick charrington lent us a hall for registration, mr. sidney webb and others moved the national liberal club to action; we led a procession of the girls to the house of commons, and interviewed, with a deputation of them, members of parliament who cross-questioned them. the girls behaved splendidly, stuck together, kept brave and bright all through. mr. hobart of the social democratic federation, messrs. shaw, bland, and oliver, and headlam of the fabian society, miss clementina black, and many another helped in the heavy work. the london trades council finally consented to act as arbitrators and a satisfactory settlement was arrived at; the girls went in to work, fines and deductions were abolished, better wages paid; the match-makers' union was established, still the strongest woman's trades union in england, and for years i acted as secretary, till, under press of other duties, i resigned, and my work was given by the girls to mrs. thornton smith; herbert burrows became, and still is, the treasurer. for a time there was friction between the company and the union, but it gradually disappeared under the influence of common sense on both sides, and we have found the manager ready to consider any just grievance and to endeavour to remove it, while the company have been liberal supporters of the working women's club at bow, founded by h.p. blavatsky. [illustration: strike committee of the matchmakers' union.] the worst suffering of all was among the box-makers, thrown out of work by the strike, and they were hard to reach. twopence-farthing per gross of boxes, and buy your own string and paste, is not wealth, but when the work went more rapid starvation came. oh, those trudges through the lanes and alleys round bethnal green junction late at night, when our day's work was over; children lying about on shavings, rags, anything; famine looking out of baby faces, out of women's eyes, out of the tremulous hands of men. heart grew sick and eyes dim, and ever louder sounded the question, "where is the cure for sorrow, what the way of rescue for the world?" in august i asked for a "match-girls' drawing-room." "it will want a piano, tables for papers, for games, for light literature; so that it may offer a bright, homelike refuge to these girls, who now have no real homes, no playground save the streets. it is not proposed to build an 'institution' with stern and rigid discipline and enforcement of prim behaviour, but to open a home, filled with the genial atmosphere of cordial comradeship, and self-respecting freedom--the atmosphere so familiar to all who have grown up in the blessed shelter of a happy home, so strange, alas! to too many of our east london girls." in the same month of august, two years later, h.p. blavatsky opened such a home. then came a cry for help from south london, from tin-box makers, illegally fined, and in many cases grievously mutilated by the non-fencing of machinery; then aid to shop assistants, also illegally fined; legal defences by the score still continued; a vigorous agitation for a free meal for children, and for fair wages to be paid by all public bodies; work for the dockers and exposure of their wrongs; a visit to the cradley heath chain-makers, speeches to them, writing for them; a contest for the school board for the tower hamlets division, and triumphant return at the head of the poll. such were some of the ways in which the autumn days were spent, to say nothing of scores of lectures--secularist, labour, socialist--and scores of articles written for the winning of daily bread. when the school board work was added i felt that i had as much work as one woman's strength could do. thus was ushered in , the to me never-to-be-forgotten year in which i found my way "home," and had the priceless good fortune of meeting, and of becoming the pupil of, h.p. blavatsky. ever more and more had been growing on me the feeling that something more than i had was needed for the cure of social ills. the socialist position sufficed on the economic side, but where to gain the inspiration, the motive, which should lead to the realisation of the brotherhood of man? our efforts to really organise bands of unselfish workers had failed. much indeed had been done, but there was not a real movement of self-sacrificing devotion, in which men worked for love's sake only, and asked but to give, not to take. where was the material for the nobler social order, where the hewn stones for the building of the temple of man? a great despair would oppress me as i sought for such a movement and found it not. [illustration: members of the matchmakers' union.] not only so; but since there had been slowly growing up a conviction that my philosophy was not sufficient; that life and mind were other than, more than, i had dreamed. psychology was advancing with rapid strides; hypnotic experiments were revealing unlooked-for complexities in human consciousness, strange riddles of multiplex personalities, and, most startling of all, vivid intensities of mental action when the brain, that should be the generator of thought, was reduced to a comatose state. fact after fact came hurtling in upon me, demanding explanation i was incompetent to give. i studied the obscurer sides of consciousness, dreams, hallucinations, illusions, insanity. into the darkness shot a ray of light--a.p. sinnett's "occult world," with its wonderfully suggestive letters, expounding not the supernatural but a nature under law, wider than i had dared to conceive. i added spiritualism to my studies, experimenting privately, finding the phenomena indubitable, but the spiritualistic explanation of them incredible. the phenomena of clairvoyance, clairaudience, thought-reading, were found to be real. under all the rush of the outer life, already sketched, these questions were working in my mind, their answers were being diligently sought. i read a variety of books, but could find little in them that satisfied me. i experimented in various ways suggested in them, and got some (to me) curious results. i finally convinced myself that there was some hidden thing, some hidden power, and resolved to seek until i found, and by the early spring of i had grown desperately determined to find at all hazards what i sought. at last, sitting alone in deep thought as i had become accustomed to do after the sun had set, filled with an intense but nearly hopeless longing to solve the riddle of life and mind, i heard a voice that was later to become to me the holiest sound on earth, bidding me take courage for the light was near. a fortnight passed, and then mr. stead gave into my hands two large volumes. "can you review these? my young men all fight shy of them, but you are quite mad enough on these subjects to make something of them." i took the books; they were the two volumes of "the secret doctrine," written by h.p. blavatsky. home i carried my burden, and sat me down to read. as i turned over page after page the interest became absorbing; but how familiar it seemed; how my mind leapt forward to presage the conclusions, how natural it was, how coherent, how subtle, and yet how intelligible. i was dazzled, blinded by the light in which disjointed facts were seen as parts of a mighty whole, and all my puzzles, riddles, problems, seemed to disappear. the effect was partially illusory in one sense, in that they all had to be slowly unravelled later, the brain gradually assimilating that which the swift intuition had grasped as truth. but the light had been seen, and in that flash of illumination i knew that the weary search was over and the very truth was found. i wrote the review, and asked mr. stead for an introduction to the writer, and then sent a note asking to be allowed to call. i received the most cordial of notes, bidding me come, and in the soft spring evening herbert burrows and i--for his aspirations were as mine on this matter--walked from netting hill station, wondering what we should meet, to the door of , lansdowne road. a pause, a swift passing through hall and outer room, through folding-doors thrown back, a figure in a large chair before a table, a voice, vibrant, compelling, "my dear mrs. besant, i have so long wished to see you," and i was standing with my hand in her firm grip, and looking for the first time in this life straight into the eyes of "h.p.b." i was conscious of a sudden leaping forth of my heart--was it recognition?--and then, i am ashamed to say, a fierce rebellion, a fierce withdrawal, as of some wild animal when it feels a mastering hand. i sat down, after some introductions that conveyed no ideas to me, and listened. she talked of travels, of various countries, easy brilliant talk, her eyes veiled, her exquisitely moulded fingers rolling cigarettes incessantly. nothing special to record, no word of occultism, nothing mysterious, a woman of the world chatting with her evening visitors. we rose to go, and for a moment the veil lifted, and two brilliant, piercing eyes met mine, and with a yearning throb in the voice: "oh, my dear mrs. besant, if you would only come among us!" i felt a well-nigh uncontrollable desire to bend down and kiss her, under the compulsion of that yearning voice, those compelling eyes, but with a flash of the old unbending pride and an inward jeer at my own folly, i said a commonplace polite good-bye, and turned away with some inanely courteous and evasive remark. "child," she said to me long afterwards, "your pride is terrible; you are as proud as lucifer himself." but truly i think i never showed it to her again after that first evening, though it sprang up wrathfully in her defence many and many a time, until i learned the pettiness and the worthlessness of all criticism, and knew that the blind were objects of compassion not of scorn. once again i went, and asked about the theosophical society, wishful to join, but fighting against it. for i saw, distinct and clear--with painful distinctness, indeed--what that joining would mean. i had largely conquered public prejudice against me by my work on the london school board, and a smoother road stretched before me, whereon effort to help should be praised not blamed. was i to plunge into a new vortex of strife, and make myself a mark for ridicule--worse than hatred--and fight again the weary fight for an unpopular truth? must i turn against materialism, and face the shame of publicly confessing that i had been wrong, misled by intellect to ignore the soul? must i leave the army that had battled for me so bravely, the friends who through all brutality of social ostracism had held me dear and true? and he, the strongest and truest friend of all, whose confidence i had shaken by my socialism--must he suffer the pang of seeing his co-worker, his co-fighter, of whom he had been so proud, to whom he had been so generous, go over to the opposing hosts, and leave the ranks of materialism? what would be the look in charles bradlaugh's eyes when i told him that i had become a theosophist? the struggle was sharp and keen, but with none of the anguish of old days in it, for the soldier had now fought many fights and was hardened by many wounds. and so it came to pass that i went again to lansdowne road to ask about the theosophical society. h.p. blavatsky looked at me piercingly for a moment. "have you read the report about me of the society for psychical research?" "no; i never heard of it, so far as i know." "go and read it, and if, after reading it, you come back--well." and nothing more would she say on the subject, but branched off to her experiences in many lands. i borrowed a copy of the report, read and re-read it. quickly i saw how slender was the foundation on which the imposing structure was built. the continual assumptions on which conclusions were based; the incredible character of the allegations; and--most damning fact of all--the foul source from which the evidence was derived. everything turned on the veracity of the coulombs, and they were self-stamped as partners in the alleged frauds. could i put such against the frank, fearless nature that i had caught a glimpse of, against the proud fiery truthfulness that shone at me from the clear, blue eyes, honest and fearless as those of a noble child? was the writer of "the secret doctrine" this miserable impostor, this accomplice of tricksters, this foul and loathsome deceiver, this conjuror with trap-doors and sliding panels? i laughed aloud at the absurdity and flung the report aside with the righteous scorn of an honest nature that knew its own kin when it met them, and shrank from the foulness and baseness of a lie. the next day saw me at the theosophical publishing company's office at , duke street, adelphi, where countess wachtmeister--one of the lealest of h.p.b.'s friends--was at work, and i signed an application to be admitted as fellow of the theosophical society. on receiving my diploma i betook myself to lansdowne road, where i found h.p.b. alone. i went over to her, bent down and kissed her, but said no word. "you have joined the society?" "yes." "you have read the report?" "yes." "well?" i knelt down before her and clasped her hands in mine, looking straight into her eyes. "my answer is, will you accept me as your pupil, and give me the honour of proclaiming you my teacher in the face of the world?" her stern, set face softened, the unwonted gleam of tears sprang to her eyes; then, with a dignity more than regal, she placed her hand upon my head. "you are a noble woman. may master bless you." from that day, the th of may, , until now--two years three and half months after she left her body on may , --my faith in her has never wavered, my trust in her has never been shaken. i gave her my faith on an imperious intuition, i proved her true day after day in closest intimacy living by her side; and i speak of her with the reverence due from a pupil to a teacher who never failed her, with the passionate gratitude which, in our school, is the natural meed of the one who opens the gateway and points out the path. "folly! fanaticism!" scoffs the englishman of the nineteenth century. be it so. i have seen, and i can wait. i have been told that i plunged headlong into theosophy and let my enthusiasm carry me away. i think the charge is true, in so far as the decision was swiftly taken; but it had been long led up to, and realised the dreams of childhood on the higher planes of intellectual womanhood. and let me here say that more than all i hoped for in that first plunge has been realised, and a certainty of knowledge has been gained on doctrines seen as true as that swift flash of illumination. i _know_, by personal experiment, that the soul exists, and that my soul, not my body, is myself; that it can leave the body at will; that it can, disembodied, reach and learn from living human teachers, and bring back and impress on the physical brain that which it has learned; that this process of transferring consciousness from one range of being, as it were, to another, is a very slow process, during which the body and brain are gradually correlated with the subtler form which is essentially that of the soul, and that my own experience of it, still so imperfect, so fragmentary, when compared with the experience of the highly trained, is like the first struggles of a child learning to speak compared with the perfect oratory of the practised speaker; that consciousness, so far from being dependent on the brain, is more active when freed from the gross forms of matter than when encased within them; that the great sages spoken of by h.p. blavatsky exist; that they wield powers and possess knowledge before which our control of nature and knowledge of her ways is but as child's play. all this, and much more, have i learned, and i am but a pupil of low grade, as it were in the infant class of the occult school; so the first plunge has been successful, and the intuition has been justified. this same path of knowledge that i am treading is open to all others who will pay the toll demanded at the gateway--and that toll is willingness to renounce everything for the sake of spiritual truth, and willingness to give all the truth that is won to the service of man, keeping back no shred for self. on june rd, in a review of "the secret doctrine" in the _national reformer,_ the following passages occur, and show how swiftly some of the main points of the teaching had been grasped. (there is a blunder in the statement that of the seven modifications of matter science knows only four, and till lately knew only three; these four are sub-states only, sub-divisions of the lowest plane.) after saying that the nineteenth-century englishman would be but too likely to be repelled if he only skimmed the book, i went on: "with telescope and with microscope, with scalpel and with battery, western science interrogates nature, adding fact to fact, storing experience after experience, but coming ever to gulfs unfathomable by its plummets, to heights unscalable by its ladders. wide and masterful in its answers to the 'how?' the 'why?' ever eludes it, and causes remain enwrapped in gloom. eastern science uses as its scientific instrument the penetrating faculties of the mind alone, and regarding the material plane as _maya_--illusion--seeks in the mental and spiritual planes of being the causes of the material effects. there, too, is the only reality; there the true existence of which the visible universe is but the shadow. "it is clear that from such investigations some further mental equipment is necessary than that normally afforded by the human body. and here comes the parting of the ways between east and west. for the study of the material universe, our five senses, aided by the instruments invented by science, may suffice. for all we can hear and see, taste and handle, these accustomed servitors, though often blundering, are the best available guides to knowledge. but it lies in the nature of the case that they are useless when the investigation is to be into modes of existence which cannot impress themselves on our nerve-ends. for instance, what we know as colour is the vibration frequency of etheric waves striking on the retina of the eye, between certain definite limits-- trillions of blows from the maximum, trillions from the minimum--these waves give rise in us to the sensation which the brain translates into colour. (why the trillion blows at one end of a nerve become 'red' at the other end we do not know; we chronicle the fact but cannot explain it.) but our capacity to respond to the vibration cannot limit the vibrational capacity of the ether; to _us_ the higher and lower rates of vibration do not exist, but if our sense of vision were more sensitive we should see where now we are blind. following this line of thought we realise that matter may exist in forms unknown to us, in modifications to which our senses are unable to respond. now steps in the eastern sage and says: 'that which you say _may_ be, _is_; we have developed and cultivated senses as much superior to yours as your eye is superior to that of the jelly-fish; we have evolved mental and spiritual faculties which enable us to investigate on the higher planes of being with as much certainty as you are investigating on the physical plane; there is nothing _supernatural_ in the business, any more than your knowledge is supernatural, though much above that accessible to the fish; we do not speculate on these higher forms of existence; we _know_ them by personal study, just as you know the fauna and flora of your world. the powers we possess are not supernatural, they are latent in every human being, and will be evolved as the race progresses. all that we have done is to evolve them more rapidly than our neighbours, by a procedure as open to you as it was to us. matter is everywhere, but it exists in seven modifications of which you only know four, and until lately only knew three; in those higher forms reside the causes of which you see the effects in the lower, and to know these causes you must develop the capacity to take cognisance of the higher planes.'" then followed a brief outline of the cycle of evolution, and i went on: "what part does man play in this vast drama of a universe? needless to say, he is not the only living form in a cosmos, which for the most part is uninhabitable by him. as science has shown living forms everywhere on the material plane, races in each drop of water, life throbbing in every leaf and blade, so the 'secret doctrine' points to living forms on higher planes of existence, each suited to its environment, till all space thrills with life, and nowhere is there death, but only change. amid these myriads are some evolving towards humanity, some evolving away from humanity as we know it, divesting themselves of its grosser parts. for man is regarded as a sevenfold being, four of these parts belonging to the animal body, and perishing at, or soon after, death; while three form his higher self, his true individuality, and these persist and are immortal. these form the ego, and it is this which passes through many incarnations, learning life's lesson as it goes, working out its own redemption within the limits of an inexorable law, sowing seeds of which it ever reaps the harvest, building its own fate with tireless fingers, and finding nowhere in the measureless time and space around it any that can lift for it one weight it has created, one burden it has gathered, unravel for it one tangle it has twisted, close for it one gulf it has digged." then after noting the approaches of western science to eastern, came the final words: "it is of curious interest to note how some of the latest theories seem to catch glimpses of the occult doctrines, as though science were standing on the very threshold of knowledge which shall make all her past seem small. already her hand is trembling towards the grasp of forces beside which all those now at her command are insignificant. how soon will her grip fasten on them? let us hope not until social order has been transformed, lest they should only give more to those who have, and leave the wretched still wretcheder by force of contrast. knowledge used by selfishness widens the gulf that divides man from man and race from race, and we may well shrink from the idea of new powers in nature being yoked to the car of greed. hence the wisdom of those 'masters,' in whose name madame blavatsky speaks, has ever denied the knowledge which is power until love's lesson has been learned, and has given only into the hands of the selfless the control of those natural forces which, misused, would wreck society." this review, and the public announcement, demanded by honesty, that i had joined the theosophical society, naturally raised somewhat of a storm of criticism, and the _national reformer_ of june th contained the following: "the review of madame blavatsky's book in the last _national reformer_, and an announcement in the _star_, have brought me several letters on the subject of theosophy. i am asked for an explanation as to what theosophy is, and as to my own opinion on theosophy--the word 'theosoph' is old, and was used among the neo-platonists. from the dictionary its new meaning appears to be, 'one who claims to have a knowledge of god, or of the laws of nature by means of internal illumination.' an atheist certainly cannot be a theosophist. a deist might be a theosophist. a monist cannot be a theosophist. theosophy must at least involve dualism. modern theosophy, according to madame blavatsky, as set out in last week's issue, asserts much that i do not believe, and alleges some things that, to me, are certainly not true. i have not had the opportunity of reading madame blavatsky's two volumes, but i have read during the past ten years many publications from the pen of herself, colonel olcott, and of other theosophists. they appear to me to have sought to rehabilitate a kind of spiritualism in eastern phraseology. i think many of their allegations utterly erroneous, and their reasonings wholly unsound. i very deeply regret indeed that my colleague and co-worker has, with somewhat of suddenness, and without any interchange of ideas with myself, adopted as facts matters which seem to me to be as unreal as it is possible for any fiction to be. my regret is greater as i know mrs. besant's devotion to any course she believes to be true. i know that she will always be earnest in the advocacy of any views she undertakes to defend, and i look to possible developments of her theosophic views with the very gravest misgiving. the editorial policy of this paper is unchanged, and is directly antagonistic to all forms of theosophy. i would have preferred on this subject to have held my peace, for the public disagreeing with mrs. besant on her adoption of socialism has caused pain to both; but on reading her article and taking the public announcement made of her having joined the theosophical organisation, i owe it to those who look to me for guidance to say this with clearness. "charles bradlaugh." "it is not possible for me here to state fully my reasons for joining the theosophical society, the three objects of which are: to found a universal brotherhood without distinction of race or creed; to forward the study of aryan literature and philosophy; to investigate unexplained laws of nature and the physical powers latent in man. on matters of religious opinion the members are absolutely free. the founders of the society deny a personal god, and a somewhat subtle form of pantheism is taught as the theosophic view of the universe, though even this is not forced on members of the society. i have no desire to hide the fact that this form of pantheism appears to me to promise solution of some problems, especially problems in psychology, which atheism leaves untouched. "annie besant." theosophy, as its students well know, so far from involving dualism, is based on the one, which becomes two on manifestation, just as atheism posits one existence, only cognisable in the duality force and matter, and as philosophic--though not popular--theism teaches one deity whereof are spirit and matter. mr. bradlaugh's temperate disapproval was not copied in its temperance by some other freethought leaders, and mr. foote especially distinguished himself by the bitterness of his attacks. in the midst of the whirl i was called away to paris to attend, with herbert burrows, the great labour congress held there from july th to july th, and spent a day or two at fontainebleau with h.p. blavatsky, who had gone abroad for a few weeks' rest. there i found her translating the wonderful fragments from "the book of the golden precepts," now so widely known under the name of "the voice of the silence." she wrote it swiftly, without any material copy before her, and in the evening made me read it aloud to see if the "english was decent." herbert burrows was there, and mrs. candler, a staunch american theosophist, and we sat round h.p.b. while i read. the translation was in perfect and beautiful english, flowing and musical; only a word or two could we find to alter, and she looked at us like a startled child, wondering at our praises--praises that any one with the literary sense would endorse if they read that exquisite prose poem. a little earlier in the same day i had asked her as to the agencies at work in producing the taps so constantly heard at spiritualistic _séances_. "you don't use spirits to produce taps," she said; "see here." she put her hand over my head, not touching it, and i heard and felt slight taps on the bone of my skull, each sending a little electric thrill down the spine. she then carefully explained how such taps were producible at any point desired by the operator, and how interplay of the currents to which they were due might be caused otherwise than by conscious human volition. it was in this fashion that she would illustrate her verbal teachings, proving by experiment the statements made as to the existence of subtle forces controllable by the trained mind. the phenomena all belonged to the scientific side of her teaching, and she never committed the folly of claiming authority for her philosophic doctrines on the ground that she was a wonder-worker. and constantly she would remind us that there was no such thing as "miracle"; that all the phenomena she had produced were worked by virtue of a knowledge of nature deeper than that of average people, and by the force of a well-trained mind and will; some of them were what she would describe as "psychological tricks," the creation of images by force of imagination, and in pressing them on others as a "collective hallucination"; others, such as the moving of solid articles, either by an astral hand projected to draw them towards her, or by using an elemental; others by reading in the astral light, and so on. but the proof of the reality of her mission from those whom she spoke of as masters lay not in these comparatively trivial physical and mental phenomena, but in the splendour of her heroic endurance, the depth of her knowledge, the selflessness of her character, the lofty spirituality of her teaching, the untiring passion of her devotion, the incessant ardour of her work for the enlightening of men. it was these, and not her phenomena, that won for her our faith and confidence--we who lived beside her, knowing her daily life--and we gratefully accepted her teaching not because she claimed any authority, but because it woke in us powers, the possibility of which in ourselves we had not dreamed of, energies of the soul that demonstrated their own existence. returning to london from paris, it became necessary to make a very clear and definite presentment of my change of views, and in the _reformer_ of august th i find the following: "many statements are being made just now about me and my beliefs, some of which are absurdly, and some of which are maliciously, untrue. i must ask my friends not to give credence to them. it would not be fair to my friend mr. bradlaugh to ask him to open the columns of this journal to an exposition of theosophy from my pen, and so bring about a long controversy on a subject which would not interest the majority of the readers of the _national reformer_. this being so i cannot here answer the attacks made on me. i feel, however, that the party with which i have worked for so long has a right to demand of me some explanation of the step i have taken, and i am therefore preparing a pamphlet dealing fully with the question. further, i have arranged with mr. r.o. smith to take as subject of the lectures to be delivered by me at the hall of science on august th and th 'why i became a theosophist.' meanwhile i think that my years of service in the ranks of the freethought party give me the right to ask that i should not be condemned unheard, and i even venture to suggest, in view of the praises bestowed on me by freethinkers in the past, that it is possible that there may be something to be said, from the intellectual standpoint, in favour of theosophy. the caricatures of it which have appeared from some freethinkers' pens represent it about as accurately as the christian evidence caricatures of atheism represent that dignified philosophy of life; and, remembering how much they are themselves misrepresented, i ask them to wait before they judge." the lectures were delivered, and were condensed into a pamphlet bearing the same title, which has had a very great circulation. it closed as follows:-- "there remains a great stumblingblock in the minds of many freethinkers which is certain to prejudice them against theosophy, and which offers to opponents a cheap subject for sarcasm--the assertion that there exist other living beings than the men and animals found on our own globe. it may be well for people who at once turn away when such an assertion is made to stop and ask themselves whether they really and seriously believe that throughout this mighty universe, in which our little planet is but as a tiny speck of sand in the sahara, this one planet only is inhabited by living things? is all the universe dumb save for _our_ voices? eyeless save for _our_ vision? dead save for _our_ life? such a preposterous belief was well enough in the days when christianity regarded our world as the centre of the universe, the human race as the one for which the creator had deigned to die. but now that we are placed in our proper position, one among countless myriads of worlds, what ground is there for the preposterous conceit which arrogates as ours all sentient existence? earth, air, water, all are teeming with living things suited to their environment; our globe is overflowing with life. but the moment we pass in thought beyond our atmosphere everything is to be changed. neither reason nor analogy support such a supposition. it was one of bruno's crimes that he dared to teach that other worlds than ours were inhabited; but he was wiser than the monks who burned him. all the theosophists aver is that each phase of matter has living things suited to it, and that all the universe is pulsing with life. 'superstition!' shriek the bigoted. it is no more superstition than the belief in bacteria, or in any other living thing invisible to the ordinary human eye. 'spirit' is a misleading word, for, historically, it connotes immateriality and a supernatural kind of existence, and the theosophist believes neither in the one nor the other. with him all living things act in and through a material basis, and 'matter' and 'spirit' are not found dissociated. but he alleges that matter exists in states other than those at present known to science. to deny this is to be about as sensible as was the hindû prince who denied the existence of ice because water, in his experience, never became solid. refusal to believe until proof is given is a rational position; denial of all outside of our own limited experience is absurd. "one last word to my secularist friends. if you say to me, 'leave our ranks,' i will leave them; i force myself on no party, and the moment i feel myself unwelcome i will go.[ ] it has cost me pain enough and to spare to admit that the materialism from which i hoped all has failed me, and by such admission to bring on myself the disapproval of some of my nearest friends. but here, as at other times in my life, i dare not purchase peace with a lie. an imperious necessity forces me to speak the truth, as i see it, whether the speech please or displease, whether it bring praise or blame. that one loyalty to truth i must keep stainless, whatever friendships fail me or human ties be broken. she may lead me into the wilderness, yet i must follow her; she may strip me of all love, yet i must pursue her; though she slay me, yet will i trust in her; and i ask no other epitaph on my tomb but "'she tried to follow truth.'" meanwhile, with this new controversy on my hands, the school board work went on, rendered possible, i ought to say, by the generous assistance of friends unknown to me, who sent me, £ a year during the last year and a half. so also went on the vigorous socialist work, and the continual championship of struggling labour movements, prominent here being the organisation of the south london fur-pullers into a union, and the aiding of the movement for shortening the hours of tram and 'bus men, the meetings for which had to be held after midnight. the feeding and clothing of children also occupied much time and attention, for the little ones in my district were, thousands of them, desperately poor. my studies i pursued as best i could, reading in railway carriages, tramcars, omnibuses, and stealing hours for listening to h.p.b. by shortening the nights. in october, mr. bradlaugh's shaken strength received its death-blow, though he was to live yet another fifteen months. he collapsed suddenly under a most severe attack of congestion and lay in imminent peril, devotedly nursed by his only remaining child, mrs. bonner, his elder daughter having died the preceding autumn. slowly he struggled back to life, after four weeks in bed, and, ordered by his physician to take rest and if possible a sea voyage, he sailed for india on november th, to attend the national congress, where he was enthusiastically acclaimed as "member for india." in november i argued a libel suit, brought by me against the rev. mr. hoskyns, vicar of stepney, who had selected some vile passages from a book which was not mine and had circulated them as representing my views, during the school board election of . i had against me the solicitor-general, sir edward clarke, at the bar, and baron huddleston on the bench; both counsel and judge did their best to browbeat me and to use the coarsest language, endeavouring to prove that by advocating the limitation of the family i had condemned chastity as a crime. five hours of brutal cross-examination left my denial of such teachings unshaken, and even the pleadings of the judge for the clergyman, defending his parishioners against an unbeliever and his laying down as law that the statement was privileged, did not avail to win a verdict. the jury disagreed, not, as one of them told me afterwards, on the question of the libel, but on some feeling that a clergyman ought not to be mulcted in damages for his over-zeal in defence of his faith against the ravening wolf of unbelief, while others, regarding the libel as a very cruel one, would not agree to a verdict that did not carry substantial damages. i did not carry the case to a new trial, feeling that it was not worth while to waste time over it further, my innocence of the charge itself having been fully proved. busily the months rolled on, and early in the year h.p.blavatsky had given to her £ , , to use in her discretion for human service, and if she thought well, in the service of women. after a good deal of discussion she fixed on the establishment of a club in east london for working girls, and with her approval miss laura cooper and i hunted for a suitable place. finally we fixed on a very large and old house, , bow road, and some months went in its complete renovation and the building of a hall attached to it. on august th it was opened by madame blavatsky, and dedicated by her to the brightening of the lot of hardworking and underpaid girls. it has nobly fulfilled its mission for the last three years. very tender was h.p.b.'s heart to human suffering, especially to that of women and children. she was very poor towards the end of her earthly life, having spent all on her mission, and refusing to take time from her theosophical work to write for the russian papers which were ready to pay highly for her pen. but her slender purse was swiftly emptied when any human pain that money could relieve came in her way. one day i wrote a letter to a comrade that was shown to her, about some little children to whom i had carried a quantity of country flowers, and i had spoken of their faces pinched with want. the following characteristic note came to me:-- "my dearest friend,--i have just read your letter to ---- and my heart is sick for the poor little ones! look here; i have but s. of _my own money_ of which i can dispose (for as you know i am a pauper, and proud of it), but i want you to take them and _not say a word_. this may buy thirty dinners for thirty poor little starving wretches, and i may feel happier for thirty minutes at the thought. now don't say a word, and do it; take them to those unfortunate babies who loved your flowers and felt happy. forgive your old uncouth friend, _useless_ in this world! "ever yours, "h.p.b." it was this tenderness of hers that led us, after she had gone, to found the "h.p.b. home for little children," and one day we hope to fulfil her expressed desire that a large but homelike refuge for outcast children should be opened under the auspices of the theosophical society. the lease of , lansdowne road expiring in the early summer of , it was decided that , avenue road should be turned into the headquarters of the theosophical society in europe. a hall was built for the meetings of the blavatsky lodge--the lodge founded by her--and various alterations made. in july her staff of workers was united under one roof; thither came archibald and bertram keightley, who had devoted themselves to her service years before, and the countess wachtmeister, who had thrown aside all the luxuries of wealth and of high social rank to give all to the cause she served and the friend she loved with deep and faithful loyajty; and george mead, her secretary and earnest disciple, a man of strong brain and strong character, a fine scholar and untiring worker; thither, too, claude wright, most lovable of irishmen, with keen insight underlying a bright and sunny nature, careless on the surface, and walter old, dreamy and sensitive, a born psychic, and, like many such, easily swayed by those around him; emily kislingbury also, a studious and earnest woman; isabel cooper oakley, intuitional and studious, a rare combination, and a most devoted pupil in occult studies; james pryse, an american, than whom none is more devoted, bringing practical knowledge to the help of the work, and making possible the large development of our printing department. these, with myself, were at first the resident staff, miss cooper and herbert burrows, who were also identified with the work, being prevented by other obligations from living always as part of the household. the rules of the house were--and are--very simple, but h.p.b. insisted on great regularity of life; we breakfasted at a.m., worked till lunch at , then again till dinner at . after dinner the outer work for the society was put aside, and we gathered in h.p.b.'s room where we would sit talking over plans, receiving instructions, listening to her explanation of knotty points. by midnight all the lights had to be extinguished. my public work took me away for many hours, unfortunately for myself, but such was the regular run of our busy lives. she herself wrote incessantly; always suffering, but of indomitable will, she drove her body through its tasks, merciless to its weaknesses and its pains. her pupils she treated very variously, adapting herself with nicest accuracy to their differing natures; as a teacher she was marvellously patient, explaining a thing over and over again in different fashions, until sometimes after prolonged failure she would throw herself back in her chair: "my god!" (the easy "mon dieu" of the foreigner) "am i a fool that you can't understand? here, so-and-so"--to some one on whose countenance a faint gleam of comprehension was discernible--"tell these flapdoodles of the ages what i mean." with vanity, conceit, pretence of knowledge, she was merciless, if the pupil were a promising one; keen shafts of irony would pierce the sham. with some she would get very angry, lashing them out of their lethargy with fiery scorn; and in truth she made herself a mere instrument for the training of her pupils, careless what they, or any one else thought of her, providing that the resulting benefit to them was secured. and we, who lived around her, who in closest intimacy watched her day after day, we bear witness to the unselfish beauty of her life, the nobility of her character, and we lay at her feet our most reverent gratitude for knowledge gained, lives purified, strength developed. o noble and heroic soul, whom the outside purblind world misjudges, but whom your pupils partly saw, never through lives and deaths shall we repay the debt of gratitude we owe to you. and thus i came through storm to peace, not to the peace of an untroubled sea of outer life, which no strong soul can crave, but to an inner peace that outer troubles may not avail to ruffle--a peace which belongs to the eternal not to the transitory, to the depths not to the shallows of life. it carried me scatheless through the terrible spring of , when death struck down charles bradlaugh in the plenitude of his usefulness, and unlocked the gateway into rest for h. p. blavatsky. through anxieties and responsibilities heavy and numerous it has borne me; every strain makes it stronger; every trial makes it serener; every assault leaves it more radiant. quiet confidence has taken the place of doubt; a strong security the place of anxious dread. in life, through death, to life, i am but the servant of the great brotherhood, and those on whose heads but for a moment the touch of the master has rested in blessing can never again look upon the world save through eyes made luminous with the radiance of the eternal peace. peace to all beings. footnotes: [footnote : this odious law has now been altered, and a married woman is a person, not a chattel.] [footnote : "the disciples," p. .] [footnote : "on the nature and existence of god." .] [footnote : "on the nature and existence of god." .] [footnote : "the gospel of atheism." .] [footnote : "why i do not believe in god." .] [footnote : ibid.] [footnote : ibid.] [footnote : "life, death, and immortality." .] [footnote : "life, death, and immortality." .] [footnote : "life, death, and immortality." .] [footnote : ibid.] [footnote : "the gospel of atheism." .] [footnote : "on the nature and existence of god." .] [footnote : "the true basis of morality." .] [footnote : "gospel of atheism." .] [footnote : "on the nature and existence of god." .] [footnote : "a world without god." .] [footnote : "the gospel of atheism." .] [footnote : "the gospels of christianity and freethought." .] [footnote : "a world without god." .] [footnote : "a world without god." .] [footnote : "the gospel of atheism." .] [footnote : "a world without god." .] [footnote : "a world without god." .] [footnote : "the christian creed." .] [footnote : _national reformer_, june , ] [footnote : _theosophist_, june, .] [footnote : i leave these words as they were written in . i resigned my office in the n.s.s. in , feeling that the n.s.s. was so identified with materialism that it had no longer place for me.] list of books quoted. "autobiography," j.s. mill, "christian creed, the," "freethinkers' text-book," "gospel of atheism, the," , , , "gospels of christianity and freethought," "life, death, and immortality," , , _link_, the, _national reformer_, the, , , , - , _our corner, _ , _theosophist_, the, , "true basis of morality," "why i do not believe in god," "world without god," , , index. affirmation bill brought in, rejected, atheist, position as an, authorship, first attempts at, . bennett, d.m., prosecution of, blasphemy prosecution, , , blavatsky, h.p., , meeting with, "bloody sunday," bradlaugh, charles, first meeting with, as friend, in the clock tower, and the scene in the house, _v_. newdegate; result, prosecuted for blasphemy, , confirmation, daughter, application to remove, denied access to, death of father, of mother, doubt the first, "elements of social science," engagement, essay, first freethought, fenians, the, _freethinker_ prosecution, , , freethought publishing company, the, harrow, life at, hoskyns, rev. e., libel action against, knowlton pamphlet, the, prosecution, trial, "law of population, the," , "law and liberty league," the, lecture, the first, linnell, the trafalgar square victim, funeral of, _link_, founding of the, malthusian league formed, malthusianism and theosophy, marriage, tie broken, no match-girls' strike, union, established, _national reformer,_ the, first contribution to, resignation of co-editorship, national secular society joined, elected vice-president of, resignation of, northampton election, struggle, , oaths bill, the, , _our corner_, , political opinions, pusey, dr., , russian politics, scientific work, school board, election to, scott, thomas, , socialism, debate on, between messrs. bradlaugh and hyndman, socialist debates, , socialists and open-air speaking, defence association, stanley, dean, , theosophical society, the, joined, headquarters established, theosophy and charles bradlaugh, the national secular society, trafalgar square, closing of, to the public, truelove, edward, trial of, voysey, rev. charles, working women's club, , about the online edition. italics have been changed to allcaps. footnotes are collected at the end of each chapter. notes: the "contents" and "list of illustrations" have been moved before the preface and acknowledgements. there are numerous nested quotes. illustrations have been included in the zip file. captions and references to illustrations are included. the index is not included. gutcheck.exe was run several times, but every footnote number gets reported. [frontispiece: paramhansa yogananda--see py.jpg] autobiography of a yogi by paramhansa yogananda with a preface by w. y. evans-wentz, m.a., d.litt., d.sc. "except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe."-john : . dedicated to the memory of luther burbank an american saint [illustration: map of india--see map.gif] contents preface, by w. y. evans-wentz list of illustrations chapter . my parents and early life . mother's death and the amulet . the saint with two bodies (swami pranabananda) . my interrupted flight toward the himalaya . a "perfume saint" performs his wonders . the tiger swami . the levitating saint (nagendra nath bhaduri) . india's great scientist and inventor, jagadis chandra bose . the blissful devotee and his cosmic romance (master mahasaya) . i meet my master, sri yukteswar . two penniless boys in brindaban . years in my master's hermitage . the sleepless saint (ram gopal muzumdar) . an experience in cosmic consciousness . the cauliflower robbery . outwitting the stars . sasi and the three sapphires . a mohammedan wonder-worker (afzal khan) . my guru appears simultaneously in calcutta and serampore . we do not visit kashmir . we visit kashmir . the heart of a stone image . my university degree . i become a monk of the swami order . brother ananta and sister nalini . the science of kriya yoga . founding of a yoga school at ranchi . kashi, reborn and rediscovered . rabindranath tagore and i compare schools . the law of miracles . an interview with the sacred mother (kashi moni lahiri) . rama is raised from the dead . babaji, the yogi-christ of modern india . materializing a palace in the himalayas . the christlike life of lahiri mahasaya . babaji's interest in the west . i go to america . luther burbank--an american saint . therese neumann, the catholic stigmatist of bavaria . i return to india . an idyl in south india . last days with my guru . the resurrection of sri yukteswar . with mahatma gandhi at wardha . the bengali "joy-permeated mother" (ananda moyi ma) . the woman yogi who never eats (giri bala) . i return to the west . at encinitas in california illustrations frontispiece map of india my father, bhagabati charan ghosh my mother swami pranabananda, "the saint with two bodies" my elder brother, ananta festival gathering in the courtyard of my guru's hermitage in serampore nagendra nath bhaduri, "the levitating saint" myself at age jagadis chandra bose, famous scientist two brothers of therese neumann, at konnersreuth master mahasaya, the blissful devotee jitendra mazumdar, my companion on the "penniless test" at brindaban ananda moyi ma, the "joy-permeated mother" himalayan cave occupied by babaji sri yukteswar, my master self-realization fellowship, los angeles headquarters self-realization church of all religions, hollywood my guru's seaside hermitage at puri self-realization church of all religions, san diego my sisters--roma, nalini, and uma my sister uma the lord in his aspect as shiva yogoda math, hermitage at dakshineswar ranchi school, main building kashi, reborn and rediscovered bishnu, motilal mukherji, my father, mr. wright, t.n. bose, swami satyananda group of delegates to the international congress of religious liberals, boston, a guru and disciple in an ancient hermitage babaji, the yogi-christ of modern india lahiri mahasaya a yoga class in washington, d.c. luther burbank therese neumann of konnersreuth, bavaria the taj mahal at agra shankari mai jiew, only living disciple of the great trailanga swami krishnananda with his tame lioness group on the dining patio of my guru's serampore hermitage miss bletch, mr. wright, and myself--in egypt rabindranath tagore swami keshabananda, at his hermitage in brindaban krishna, ancient prophet of india mahatma gandhi, at wardha giri bala, the woman yogi who never eats mr. e. e. dickinson my guru and myself ranchi students encinitas conference in san francisco swami premananda my father preface by w. y. evans-wentz, m.a., d.litt., d.sc. jesus college, oxford; author of the tibetan book of the dead, tibet's great yogi milarepa, tibetan yoga and secret doctrines, etc. the value of yogananda's autobiographyis greatly enhanced by the fact that it is one of the few books in english about the wise men of india which has been written, not by a journalist or foreigner, but by one of their own race and training--in short, a book about yogis by a yogi. as an eyewitness recountal of the extraordinary lives and powers of modern hindu saints, the book has importance both timely and timeless. to its illustrious author, whom i have had the pleasure of knowing both in india and america, may every reader render due appreciation and gratitude. his unusual life-document is certainly one of the most revealing of the depths of the hindu mind and heart, and of the spiritual wealth of india, ever to be published in the west. it has been my privilege to have met one of the sages whose life-history is herein narrated-sri yukteswar giri. a likeness of the venerable saint appeared as part of the frontispiece of my tibetan yoga and secret doctrines. {fn - } it was at puri, in orissa, on the bay of bengal, that i encountered sri yukteswar. he was then the head of a quiet ashrama near the seashore there, and was chiefly occupied in the spiritual training of a group of youthful disciples. he expressed keen interest in the welfare of the people of the united states and of all the americas, and of england, too, and questioned me concerning the distant activities, particularly those in california, of his chief disciple, paramhansa yogananda, whom he dearly loved, and whom he had sent, in , as his emissary to the west. sri yukteswar was of gentle mien and voice, of pleasing presence, and worthy of the veneration which his followers spontaneously accorded to him. every person who knew him, whether of his own community or not, held him in the highest esteem. i vividly recall his tall, straight, ascetic figure, garbed in the saffron-colored garb of one who has renounced worldly quests, as he stood at the entrance of the hermitage to give me welcome. his hair was long and somewhat curly, and his face bearded. his body was muscularly firm, but slender and well-formed, and his step energetic. he had chosen as his place of earthly abode the holy city of puri, whither multitudes of pious hindus, representative of every province of india, come daily on pilgrimage to the famed temple of jagannath, "lord of the world." it was at puri that sri yukteswar closed his mortal eyes, in , to the scenes of this transitory state of being and passed on, knowing that his incarnation had been carried to a triumphant completion. i am glad, indeed, to be able to record this testimony to the high character and holiness of sri yukteswar. content to remain afar from the multitude, he gave himself unreservedly and in tranquillity to that ideal life which paramhansa yogananda, his disciple, has now described for the ages. w. y. evans-wentz {fn - } oxford university press, . author's acknowledgments i am deeply indebted to miss l. v. pratt for her long editorial labors over the manuscript of this book. my thanks are due also to miss ruth zahn for preparation of the index, to mr. c. richard wright for permission to use extracts from his indian travel diary, and to dr. w. y. evans-wentz for suggestions and encouragement. paramhansa yogananda october , encinitas, california chapter: my parents and early life the characteristic features of indian culture have long been a search for ultimate verities and the concomitant disciple-guru {fn - } relationship. my own path led me to a christlike sage whose beautiful life was chiseled for the ages. he was one of the great masters who are india's sole remaining wealth. emerging in every generation, they have bulwarked their land against the fate of babylon and egypt. i find my earliest memories covering the anachronistic features of a previous incarnation. clear recollections came to me of a distant life, a yogi {fn - } amidst the himalayan snows. these glimpses of the past, by some dimensionless link, also afforded me a glimpse of the future. the helpless humiliations of infancy are not banished from my mind. i was resentfully conscious of not being able to walk or express myself freely. prayerful surges arose within me as i realized my bodily impotence. my strong emotional life took silent form as words in many languages. among the inward confusion of tongues, my ear gradually accustomed itself to the circumambient bengali syllables of my people. the beguiling scope of an infant's mind! adultly considered limited to toys and toes. psychological ferment and my unresponsive body brought me to many obstinate crying-spells. i recall the general family bewilderment at my distress. happier memories, too, crowd in on me: my mother's caresses, and my first attempts at lisping phrase and toddling step. these early triumphs, usually forgotten quickly, are yet a natural basis of self-confidence. my far-reaching memories are not unique. many yogis are known to have retained their self-consciousness without interruption by the dramatic transition to and from "life" and "death." if man be solely a body, its loss indeed places the final period to identity. but if prophets down the millenniums spake with truth, man is essentially of incorporeal nature. the persistent core of human egoity is only temporarily allied with sense perception. although odd, clear memories of infancy are not extremely rare. during travels in numerous lands, i have listened to early recollections from the lips of veracious men and women. i was born in the last decade of the nineteenth century, and passed my first eight years at gorakhpur. this was my birthplace in the united provinces of northeastern india. we were eight children: four boys and four girls. i, mukunda lal ghosh {fn - }, was the second son and the fourth child. father and mother were bengalis, of the kshatriya caste. {fn - } both were blessed with saintly nature. their mutual love, tranquil and dignified, never expressed itself frivolously. a perfect parental harmony was the calm center for the revolving tumult of eight young lives. father, bhagabati charan ghosh, was kind, grave, at times stern. loving him dearly, we children yet observed a certain reverential distance. an outstanding mathematician and logician, he was guided principally by his intellect. but mother was a queen of hearts, and taught us only through love. after her death, father displayed more of his inner tenderness. i noticed then that his gaze often metamorphosed into my mother's. in mother's presence we tasted our earliest bitter-sweet acquaintance with the scriptures. tales from the mahabharata and ramayana {fn - } were resourcefully summoned to meet the exigencies of discipline. instruction and chastisement went hand in hand. a daily gesture of respect to father was given by mother's dressing us carefully in the afternoons to welcome him home from the office. his position was similar to that of a vice-president, in the bengal-nagpur railway, one of india's large companies. his work involved traveling, and our family lived in several cities during my childhood. mother held an open hand toward the needy. father was also kindly disposed, but his respect for law and order extended to the budget. one fortnight mother spent, in feeding the poor, more than father's monthly income. "all i ask, please, is to keep your charities within a reasonable limit." even a gentle rebuke from her husband was grievous to mother. she ordered a hackney carriage, not hinting to the children at any disagreement. "good-by; i am going away to my mother's home." ancient ultimatum! we broke into astounded lamentations. our maternal uncle arrived opportunely; he whispered to father some sage counsel, garnered no doubt from the ages. after father had made a few conciliatory remarks, mother happily dismissed the cab. thus ended the only trouble i ever noticed between my parents. but i recall a characteristic discussion. "please give me ten rupees for a hapless woman who has just arrived at the house." mother's smile had its own persuasion. "why ten rupees? one is enough." father added a justification: "when my father and grandparents died suddenly, i had my first taste of poverty. my only breakfast, before walking miles to my school, was a small banana. later, at the university, i was in such need that i applied to a wealthy judge for aid of one rupee per month. he declined, remarking that even a rupee is important." "how bitterly you recall the denial of that rupee!" mother's heart had an instant logic. "do you want this woman also to remember painfully your refusal of ten rupees which she needs urgently?" "you win!" with the immemorial gesture of vanquished husbands, he opened his wallet. "here is a ten-rupee note. give it to her with my good will." father tended to first say "no" to any new proposal. his attitude toward the strange woman who so readily enlisted mother's sympathy was an example of his customary caution. aversion to instant acceptance--typical of the french mind in the west-is really only honoring the principle of "due reflection." i always found father reasonable and evenly balanced in his judgments. if i could bolster up my numerous requests with one or two good arguments, he invariably put the coveted goal within my reach, whether it were a vacation trip or a new motorcycle. father was a strict disciplinarian to his children in their early years, but his attitude toward himself was truly spartan. he never visited the theater, for instance, but sought his recreation in various spiritual practices and in reading the bhagavad gita. {fn - } shunning all luxuries, he would cling to one old pair of shoes until they were useless. his sons bought automobiles after they came into popular use, but father was always content with the trolley car for his daily ride to the office. the accumulation of money for the sake of power was alien to his nature. once, after organizing the calcutta urban bank, he refused to benefit himself by holding any of its shares. he had simply wished to perform a civic duty in his spare time. several years after father had retired on a pension, an english accountant arrived to examine the books of the bengal-nagpur railway company. the amazed investigator discovered that father had never applied for overdue bonuses. "he did the work of three men!" the accountant told the company. "he has rupees , (about $ , .) owing to him as back compensation." the officials presented father with a check for this amount. he thought so little about it that he overlooked any mention to the family. much later he was questioned by my youngest brother bishnu, who noticed the large deposit on a bank statement. "why be elated by material profit?" father replied. "the one who pursues a goal of evenmindedness is neither jubilant with gain nor depressed by loss. he knows that man arrives penniless in this world, and departs without a single rupee." [illustration: my father, bhagabati charan ghosh, a disciple of lahiri mahasaya--see father .jpg] early in their married life, my parents became disciples of a great master, lahiri mahasaya of benares. this contact strengthened father's naturally ascetical temperament. mother made a remarkable admission to my eldest sister roma: "your father and myself live together as man and wife only once a year, for the purpose of having children." father first met lahiri mahasaya through abinash babu, {fn - } an employee in the gorakhpur office of the bengal-nagpur railway. abinash instructed my young ears with engrossing tales of many indian saints. he invariably concluded with a tribute to the superior glories of his own guru. "did you ever hear of the extraordinary circumstances under which your father became a disciple of lahiri mahasaya?" it was on a lazy summer afternoon, as abinash and i sat together in the compound of my home, that he put this intriguing question. i shook my head with a smile of anticipation. "years ago, before you were born, i asked my superior officer-your father-to give me a week's leave from my gorakhpur duties in order to visit my guru in benares. your father ridiculed my plan. "'are you going to become a religious fanatic?' he inquired. 'concentrate on your office work if you want to forge ahead.' "sadly walking home along a woodland path that day, i met your father in a palanquin. he dismissed his servants and conveyance, and fell into step beside me. seeking to console me, he pointed out the advantages of striving for worldly success. but i heard him listlessly. my heart was repeating: 'lahiri mahasaya! i cannot live without seeing you!' "our path took us to the edge of a tranquil field, where the rays of the late afternoon sun were still crowning the tall ripple of the wild grass. we paused in admiration. there in the field, only a few yards from us, the form of my great guru suddenly appeared! {fn - } "'bhagabati, you are too hard on your employee!' his voice was resonant in our astounded ears. he vanished as mysteriously as he had come. on my knees i was exclaiming, 'lahiri mahasaya! lahiri mahasaya!' your father was motionless with stupefaction for a few moments. "'abinash, not only do i give you leave, but i give myself leave to start for benares tomorrow. i must know this great lahiri mahasaya, who is able to materialize himself at will in order to intercede for you! i will take my wife and ask this master to initiate us in his spiritual path. will you guide us to him?' "'of course.' joy filled me at the miraculous answer to my prayer, and the quick, favorable turn of events. "the next evening your parents and i entrained for benares. we took a horse cart the following day, and then had to walk through narrow lanes to my guru's secluded home. entering his little parlor, we bowed before the master, enlocked in his habitual lotus posture. he blinked his piercing eyes and leveled them on your father. "'bhagabati, you are too hard on your employee!' his words were the same as those he had used two days before in the gorakhpur field. he added, 'i am glad that you have allowed abinash to visit me, and that you and your wife have accompanied him.' "to their joy, he initiated your parents in the spiritual practice of kriya yoga. {fn - } your father and i, as brother disciples, have been close friends since the memorable day of the vision. lahiri mahasaya took a definite interest in your own birth. your life shall surely be linked with his own: the master's blessing never fails." lahiri mahasaya left this world shortly after i had entered it. his picture, in an ornate frame, always graced our family altar in the various cities to which father was transferred by his office. many a morning and evening found mother and me meditating before an improvised shrine, offering flowers dipped in fragrant sandalwood paste. with frankincense and myrrh as well as our united devotions, we honored the divinity which had found full expression in lahiri mahasaya. his picture had a surpassing influence over my life. as i grew, the thought of the master grew with me. in meditation i would often see his photographic image emerge from its small frame and, taking a living form, sit before me. when i attempted to touch the feet of his luminous body, it would change and again become the picture. as childhood slipped into boyhood, i found lahiri mahasaya transformed in my mind from a little image, cribbed in a frame, to a living, enlightening presence. i frequently prayed to him in moments of trial or confusion, finding within me his solacing direction. at first i grieved because he was no longer physically living. as i began to discover his secret omnipresence, i lamented no more. he had often written to those of his disciples who were over-anxious to see him: "why come to view my bones and flesh, when i am ever within range of your kutastha (spiritual sight)?" i was blessed about the age of eight with a wonderful healing through the photograph of lahiri mahasaya. this experience gave intensification to my love. while at our family estate in ichapur, bengal, i was stricken with asiatic cholera. my life was despaired of; the doctors could do nothing. at my bedside, mother frantically motioned me to look at lahiri mahasaya's picture on the wall above my head. "bow to him mentally!" she knew i was too feeble even to lift my hands in salutation. "if you really show your devotion and inwardly kneel before him, your life will be spared!" i gazed at his photograph and saw there a blinding light, enveloping my body and the entire room. my nausea and other uncontrollable symptoms disappeared; i was well. at once i felt strong enough to bend over and touch mother's feet in appreciation of her immeasurable faith in her guru. mother pressed her head repeatedly against the little picture. "o omnipresent master, i thank thee that thy light hath healed my son!" i realized that she too had witnessed the luminous blaze through which i had instantly recovered from a usually fatal disease. one of my most precious possessions is that same photograph. given to father by lahiri mahasaya himself, it carries a holy vibration. the picture had a miraculous origin. i heard the story from father's brother disciple, kali kumar roy. it appears that the master had an aversion to being photographed. over his protest, a group picture was once taken of him and a cluster of devotees, including kali kumar roy. it was an amazed photographer who discovered that the plate which had clear images of all the disciples, revealed nothing more than a blank space in the center where he had reasonably expected to find the outlines of lahiri mahasaya. the phenomenon was widely discussed. a certain student and expert photographer, ganga dhar babu, boasted that the fugitive figure would not escape him. the next morning, as the guru sat in lotus posture on a wooden bench with a screen behind him, ganga dhar babu arrived with his equipment. taking every precaution for success, he greedily exposed twelve plates. on each one he soon found the imprint of the wooden bench and screen, but once again the master's form was missing. with tears and shattered pride, ganga dhar babu sought out his guru. it was many hours before lahiri mahasaya broke his silence with a pregnant comment: "i am spirit. can your camera reflect the omnipresent invisible?" "i see it cannot! but, holy sir, i lovingly desire a picture of the bodily temple where alone, to my narrow vision, that spirit appears fully to dwell." "come, then, tomorrow morning. i will pose for you." again the photographer focused his camera. this time the sacred figure, not cloaked with mysterious imperceptibility, was sharp on the plate. the master never posed for another picture; at least, i have seen none. the photograph is reproduced in this book. lahiri mahasaya's fair features, of a universal cast, hardly suggest to what race he belonged. his intense joy of god-communion is slightly revealed in a somewhat enigmatic smile. his eyes, half open to denote a nominal direction on the outer world, are half closed also. completely oblivious to the poor lures of the earth, he was fully awake at all times to the spiritual problems of seekers who approached for his bounty. shortly after my healing through the potency of the guru's picture, i had an influential spiritual vision. sitting on my bed one morning, i fell into a deep reverie. "what is behind the darkness of closed eyes?" this probing thought came powerfully into my mind. an immense flash of light at once manifested to my inward gaze. divine shapes of saints, sitting in meditation posture in mountain caves, formed like miniature cinema pictures on the large screen of radiance within my forehead. "who are you?" i spoke aloud. "we are the himalayan yogis." the celestial response is difficult to describe; my heart was thrilled. "ah, i long to go to the himalayas and become like you!" the vision vanished, but the silvery beams expanded in ever-widening circles to infinity. "what is this wondrous glow?" "i am iswara.{fn - } i am light." the voice was as murmuring clouds. "i want to be one with thee!" out of the slow dwindling of my divine ecstasy, i salvaged a permanent legacy of inspiration to seek god. "he is eternal, ever-new joy!" this memory persisted long after the day of rapture. another early recollection is outstanding; and literally so, for i bear the scar to this day. my elder sister uma and i were seated in the early morning under a neem tree in our gorakhpur compound. she was helping me with a bengali primer, what time i could spare my gaze from the near-by parrots eating ripe margosa fruit. uma complained of a boil on her leg, and fetched a jar of ointment. i smeared a bit of the salve on my forearm. "why do you use medicine on a healthy arm?" "well, sis, i feel i am going to have a boil tomorrow. i am testing your ointment on the spot where the boil will appear." "you little liar!" "sis, don't call me a liar until you see what happens in the morning." indignation filled me. uma was unimpressed, and thrice repeated her taunt. an adamant resolution sounded in my voice as i made slow reply. "by the power of will in me, i say that tomorrow i shall have a fairly large boil in this exact place on my arm; and your boil shall swell to twice its present size!" morning found me with a stalwart boil on the indicated spot; the dimensions of uma's boil had doubled. with a shriek, my sister rushed to mother. "mukunda has become a necromancer!" gravely, mother instructed me never to use the power of words for doing harm. i have always remembered her counsel, and followed it. my boil was surgically treated. a noticeable scar, left by the doctor's incision, is present today. on my right forearm is a constant reminder of the power in man's sheer word. those simple and apparently harmless phrases to uma, spoken with deep concentration, had possessed sufficient hidden force to explode like bombs and produce definite, though injurious, effects. i understood, later, that the explosive vibratory power in speech could be wisely directed to free one's life from difficulties, and thus operate without scar or rebuke. {fn - } our family moved to lahore in the punjab. there i acquired a picture of the divine mother in the form of the goddess kali. {fn - } it sanctified a small informal shrine on the balcony of our home. an unequivocal conviction came over me that fulfillment would crown any of my prayers uttered in that sacred spot. standing there with uma one day, i watched two kites flying over the roofs of the buildings on the opposite side of the very narrow lane. "why are you so quiet?" uma pushed me playfully. "i am just thinking how wonderful it is that divine mother gives me whatever i ask." "i suppose she would give you those two kites!" my sister laughed derisively. "why not?" i began silent prayers for their possession. matches are played in india with kites whose strings are covered with glue and ground glass. each player attempts to sever the string of his opponent. a freed kite sails over the roofs; there is great fun in catching it. inasmuch as uma and i were on the balcony, it seemed impossible that any loosed kite could come into our hands; its string would naturally dangle over the roofs. the players across the lane began their match. one string was cut; immediately the kite floated in my direction. it was stationary for a moment, through sudden abatement of breeze, which sufficed to firmly entangle the string with a cactus plant on top of the opposite house. a perfect loop was formed for my seizure. i handed the prize to uma. "it was just an extraordinary accident, and not an answer to your prayer. if the other kite comes to you, then i shall believe." sister's dark eyes conveyed more amazement than her words. i continued my prayers with a crescendo intensity. a forcible tug by the other player resulted in the abrupt loss of his kite. it headed toward me, dancing in the wind. my helpful assistant, the cactus plant, again secured the kite string in the necessary loop by which i could grasp it. i presented my second trophy to uma. "indeed, divine mother listens to you! this is all too uncanny for me!" sister bolted away like a frightened fawn. {fn - } spiritual teacher; from sanskrit root gur, to raise, to uplift. {fn - } a practitioner of yoga, "union," ancient indian science of meditation on god. {fn - } my name was changed to yogananda when i entered the ancient monastic swami order in . my guru bestowed the religious title of paramhansa on me in (see ../chapters and ). {fn - } traditionally, the second caste of warriors and rulers. {fn - } these ancient epics are the hoard of india's history, mythology, and philosophy. an "everyman's library" volume, ramayana and mahabharata, is a condensation in english verse by romesh dutt (new york: e. p. dutton). {fn - } this noble sanskrit poem, which occurs as part of the mahabharata epic, is the hindu bible. the most poetical english translation is edwin arnold's the song celestial (philadelphia: david mckay, cents). one of the best translations with detailed commentary is sri aurobindo's message of the gita (jupiter press, semudoss st., madras, india, $ . ). {fn - } babu (mister) is placed in bengali names at the end. {fn - } the phenomenal powers possessed by great masters are explained in chapter , "the law of miracles." {fn - } a yogic technique whereby the sensory tumult is stilled, permitting man to achieve an ever-increasing identity with cosmic consciousness. (see p. .) {fn - } a sanskrit name for god as ruler of the universe; from the root is, to rule. there are names for god in the hindu scriptures, each one carrying a different shade of philosophical meaning. {fn - } the infinite potencies of sound derive from the creative word, aum, the cosmic vibratory power behind all atomic energies. any word spoken with clear realization and deep concentration has a materializing value. loud or silent repetition of inspiring words has been found effective in coueism and similar systems of psychotherapy; the secret lies in the stepping-up of the mind's vibratory rate. the poet tennyson has left us, in his memoirs, an account of his repetitious device for passing beyond the conscious mind into superconsciousness: "a kind of waking trance-this for lack of a better word-i have frequently had, quite up from boyhood, when i have been all alone," tennyson wrote. "this has come upon me through repeating my own name to myself silently, till all at once, as it were out of the intensity of the consciousness of individuality, individuality itself seemed to dissolve and fade away into boundless being, and this not a confused state but the clearest, the surest of the surest, utterly beyond words-where death was an almost laughable impossibility-the loss of personality (if so it were) seeming no extinction, but the only true life." he wrote further: "it is no nebulous ecstasy, but a state of transcendent wonder, associated with absolute clearness of mind." {fn - } kali is a symbol of god in the aspect of eternal mother nature. chapter: my mother's death and the mystic amulet my mother's greatest desire was the marriage of my elder brother. "ah, when i behold the face of ananta's wife, i shall find heaven on this earth!" i frequently heard mother express in these words her strong indian sentiment for family continuity. i was about eleven years old at the time of ananta's betrothal. mother was in calcutta, joyously supervising the wedding preparations. father and i alone remained at our home in bareilly in northern india, whence father had been transferred after two years at lahore. i had previously witnessed the splendor of nuptial rites for my two elder sisters, roma and uma; but for ananta, as the eldest son, plans were truly elaborate. mother was welcoming numerous relatives, daily arriving in calcutta from distant homes. she lodged them comfortably in a large, newly acquired house at amherst street. everything was in readiness-the banquet delicacies, the gay throne on which brother was to be carried to the home of the bride-to-be, the rows of colorful lights, the mammoth cardboard elephants and camels, the english, scottish and indian orchestras, the professional entertainers, the priests for the ancient rituals. father and i, in gala spirits, were planning to join the family in time for the ceremony. shortly before the great day, however, i had an ominous vision. it was in bareilly on a midnight. as i slept beside father on the piazza of our bungalow, i was awakened by a peculiar flutter of the mosquito netting over the bed. the flimsy curtains parted and i saw the beloved form of my mother. "awaken your father!" her voice was only a whisper. "take the first available train, at four o'clock this morning. rush to calcutta if you would see me!" the wraithlike figure vanished. "father, father! mother is dying!" the terror in my tone aroused him instantly. i sobbed out the fatal tidings. "never mind that hallucination of yours." father gave his characteristic negation to a new situation. "your mother is in excellent health. if we get any bad news, we shall leave tomorrow." "you shall never forgive yourself for not starting now!" anguish caused me to add bitterly, "nor shall i ever forgive you!" the melancholy morning came with explicit words: "mother dangerously ill; marriage postponed; come at once." father and i left distractedly. one of my uncles met us en route at a transfer point. a train thundered toward us, looming with telescopic increase. from my inner tumult, an abrupt determination arose to hurl myself on the railroad tracks. already bereft, i felt, of my mother, i could not endure a world suddenly barren to the bone. i loved mother as my dearest friend on earth. her solacing black eyes had been my surest refuge in the trifling tragedies of childhood. "does she yet live?" i stopped for one last question to my uncle. "of course she is alive!" he was not slow to interpret the desperation in my face. but i scarcely believed him. when we reached our calcutta home, it was only to confront the stunning mystery of death. i collapsed into an almost lifeless state. years passed before any reconciliation entered my heart. storming the very gates of heaven, my cries at last summoned the divine mother. her words brought final healing to my suppurating wounds: "it is i who have watched over thee, life after life, in the tenderness of many mothers! see in my gaze the two black eyes, the lost beautiful eyes, thou seekest!" father and i returned to bareilly soon after the crematory rites for the well-beloved. early every morning i made a pathetic memorial--pilgrimage to a large sheoli tree which shaded the smooth, green-gold lawn before our bungalow. in poetical moments, i thought that the white sheoli flowers were strewing themselves with a willing devotion over the grassy altar. mingling tears with the dew, i often observed a strange other-worldly light emerging from the dawn. intense pangs of longing for god assailed me. i felt powerfully drawn to the himalayas. one of my cousins, fresh from a period of travel in the holy hills, visited us in bareilly. i listened eagerly to his tales about the high mountain abode of yogis and swamis. {fn - } "let us run away to the himalayas." my suggestion one day to dwarka prasad, the young son of our landlord in bareilly, fell on unsympathetic ears. he revealed my plan to my elder brother, who had just arrived to see father. instead of laughing lightly over this impractical scheme of a small boy, ananta made it a definite point to ridicule me. "where is your orange robe? you can't be a swami without that!" but i was inexplicably thrilled by his words. they brought a clear picture of myself roaming about india as a monk. perhaps they awakened memories of a past life; in any case, i began to see with what natural ease i would wear the garb of that anciently-founded monastic order. chatting one morning with dwarka, i felt a love for god descending with avalanchic force. my companion was only partly attentive to the ensuing eloquence, but i was wholeheartedly listening to myself. i fled that afternoon toward naini tal in the himalayan foothills. ananta gave determined chase; i was forced to return sadly to bareilly. the only pilgrimage permitted me was the customary one at dawn to the sheoli tree. my heart wept for the lost mothers, human and divine. the rent left in the family fabric by mother's death was irreparable. father never remarried during his nearly forty remaining years. assuming the difficult role of father-mother to his little flock, he grew noticeably more tender, more approachable. with calmness and insight, he solved the various family problems. after office hours he retired like a hermit to the cell of his room, practicing kriya yoga in a sweet serenity. long after mother's death, i attempted to engage an english nurse to attend to details that would make my parent's life more comfortable. but father shook his head. [illustration: my mother, a disciple of lahiri mahasaya--see mother.jpg] "service to me ended with your mother." his eyes were remote with a lifelong devotion. "i will not accept ministrations from any other woman." fourteen months after mother's passing, i learned that she had left me a momentous message. ananta was present at her deathbed and had recorded her words. although she had asked that the disclosure be made to me in one year, my brother delayed. he was soon to leave bareilly for calcutta, to marry the girl mother had chosen for him. {fn - } one evening he summoned me to his side. "mukunda, i have been reluctant to give you strange tidings." ananta's tone held a note of resignation. "my fear was to inflame your desire to leave home. but in any case you are bristling with divine ardor. when i captured you recently on your way to the himalayas, i came to a definite resolve. i must not further postpone the fulfillment of my solemn promise." my brother handed me a small box, and delivered mother's message. "let these words be my final blessing, my beloved son mukunda!" mother had said. "the hour is here when i must relate a number of phenomenal events following your birth. i first knew your destined path when you were but a babe in my arms. i carried you then to the home of my guru in benares. almost hidden behind a throng of disciples, i could barely see lahiri mahasaya as he sat in deep meditation. "while i patted you, i was praying that the great guru take notice and bestow a blessing. as my silent devotional demand grew in intensity, he opened his eyes and beckoned me to approach. the others made a way for me; i bowed at the sacred feet. my master seated you on his lap, placing his hand on your forehead by way of spiritually baptizing you. "'little mother, thy son will be a yogi. as a spiritual engine, he will carry many souls to god's kingdom.' "my heart leaped with joy to find my secret prayer granted by the omniscient guru. shortly before your birth, he had told me you would follow his path. "later, my son, your vision of the great light was known to me and your sister roma, as from the next room we observed you motionless on the bed. your little face was illuminated; your voice rang with iron resolve as you spoke of going to the himalayas in quest of the divine. "in these ways, dear son, i came to know that your road lies far from worldly ambitions. the most singular event in my life brought further confirmation-an event which now impels my deathbed message. "it was an interview with a sage in the punjab. while our family was living in lahore, one morning the servant came precipitantly into my room. "'mistress, a strange sadhu {fn - } is here. he insists that he "see the mother of mukunda."' "these simple words struck a profound chord within me; i went at once to greet the visitor. bowing at his feet, i sensed that before me was a true man of god. "'mother,' he said, 'the great masters wish you to know that your stay on earth will not be long. your next illness shall prove to be your last.' {fn - } there was a silence, during which i felt no alarm but only a vibration of great peace. finally he addressed me again: "'you are to be the custodian of a certain silver amulet. i will not give it to you today; to demonstrate the truth in my words, the talisman shall materialize in your hands tomorrow as you meditate. on your deathbed, you must instruct your eldest son ananta to keep the amulet for one year and then to hand it over to your second son. mukunda will understand the meaning of the talisman from the great ones. he should receive it about the time he is ready to renounce all worldly hopes and start his vital search for god. when he has retained the amulet for some years, and when it has served its purpose, it shall vanish. even if kept in the most secret spot, it shall return whence it came.' "i proffered alms {fn - } to the saint, and bowed before him in great reverence. not taking the offering, he departed with a blessing. the next evening, as i sat with folded hands in meditation, a silver amulet materialized between my palms, even as the sadhu had promised. it made itself known by a cold, smooth touch. i have jealously guarded it for more than two years, and now leave it in ananta's keeping. do not grieve for me, as i shall have been ushered by my great guru into the arms of the infinite. farewell, my child; the cosmic mother will protect you." a blaze of illumination came over me with possession of the amulet; many dormant memories awakened. the talisman, round and anciently quaint, was covered with sanskrit characters. i understood that it came from teachers of past lives, who were invisibly guiding my steps. a further significance there was, indeed; but one does not reveal fully the heart of an amulet. how the talisman finally vanished amidst deeply unhappy circumstances of my life; and how its loss was a herald of my gain of a guru, cannot be told in this chapter. but the small boy, thwarted in his attempts to reach the himalayas, daily traveled far on the wings of his amulet. {fn - } sanskrit root meaning of swami is "he who is one with his self (swa)." applied to a member of the indian order of monks, the title has the formal respect of "the reverend." {fn - } the indian custom, whereby parents choose the life-partner for their child, has resisted the blunt assaults of time. the percentage is high of happy indian marriages. {fn - } an anchorite; one who pursues a sadhana or path of spiritual discipline. {fn - } when i discovered by these words that mother had possessed secret knowledge of a short life, i understood for the first time why she had been insistent on hastening the plans for ananta's marriage. though she died before the wedding, her natural maternal wish had been to witness the rites. {fn - } a customary gesture of respect to sadhus. chapter: the saint with two bodies "father, if i promise to return home without coercion, may i take a sight-seeing trip to benares?" my keen love of travel was seldom hindered by father. he permitted me, even as a mere boy, to visit many cities and pilgrimage spots. usually one or more of my friends accompanied me; we would travel comfortably on first-class passes provided by father. his position as a railroad official was fully satisfactory to the nomads in the family. father promised to give my request due consideration. the next day he summoned me and held out a round-trip pass from bareilly to benares, a number of rupee notes, and two letters. "i have a business matter to propose to a benares friend, kedar nath babu. unfortunately i have lost his address. but i believe you will be able to get this letter to him through our common friend, swami pranabananda. the swami, my brother disciple, has attained an exalted spiritual stature. you will benefit by his company; this second note will serve as your introduction." father's eyes twinkled as he added, "mind, no more flights from home!" i set forth with the zest of my twelve years (though time has never dimmed my delight in new scenes and strange faces). reaching benares, i proceeded immediately to the swami's residence. the front door was open; i made my way to a long, hall-like room on the second floor. a rather stout man, wearing only a loincloth, was seated in lotus posture on a slightly raised platform. his head and unwrinkled face were clean-shaven; a beatific smile played about his lips. to dispel my thought that i had intruded, he greeted me as an old friend. "baba anand (bliss to my dear one)." his welcome was given heartily in a childlike voice. i knelt and touched his feet. "are you swami pranabananda?" he nodded. "are you bhagabati's son?" his words were out before i had had time to get father's letter from my pocket. in astonishment, i handed him the note of introduction, which now seemed superfluous. "of course i will locate kedar nath babu for you." the saint again surprised me by his clairvoyance. he glanced at the letter, and made a few affectionate references to my parent. "you know, i am enjoying two pensions. one is by the recommendation of your father, for whom i once worked in the railroad office. the other is by the recommendation of my heavenly father, for whom i have conscientiously finished my earthly duties in life." i found this remark very obscure. "what kind of pension, sir, do you receive from the heavenly father? does he drop money in your lap?" he laughed. "i mean a pension of fathomless peace-a reward for many years of deep meditation. i never crave money now. my few material needs are amply provided for. later you will understand the significance of a second pension." abruptly terminating our conversation, the saint became gravely motionless. a sphinxlike air enveloped him. at first his eyes sparkled, as if observing something of interest, then grew dull. i felt abashed at his pauciloquy; he had not yet told me how i could meet father's friend. a trifle restlessly, i looked about me in the bare room, empty except for us two. my idle gaze took in his wooden sandals, lying under the platform seat. "little sir, {fn - } don't get worried. the man you wish to see will be with you in half an hour." the yogi was reading my mind-a feat not too difficult at the moment! again he fell into inscrutable silence. my watch informed me that thirty minutes had elapsed. the swami aroused himself. "i think kedar nath babu is nearing the door." i heard somebody coming up the stairs. an amazed incomprehension arose suddenly; my thoughts raced in confusion: "how is it possible that father's friend has been summoned to this place without the help of a messenger? the swami has spoken to no one but myself since my arrival!" abruptly i quitted the room and descended the steps. halfway down i met a thin, fair-skinned man of medium height. he appeared to be in a hurry. "are you kedar nath babu?" excitement colored my voice. "yes. are you not bhagabati's son who has been waiting here to meet me?" he smiled in friendly fashion. "sir, how do you happen to come here?" i felt baffled resentment over his inexplicable presence. "everything is mysterious today! less than an hour ago i had just finished my bath in the ganges when swami pranabananda approached me. i have no idea how he knew i was there at that time. "'bhagabati's son is waiting for you in my apartment,' he said. 'will you come with me?' i gladly agreed. as we proceeded hand in hand, the swami in his wooden sandals was strangely able to outpace me, though i wore these stout walking shoes. "'how long will it take you to reach my place?' pranabanandaji suddenly halted to ask me this question. "'about half an hour.' "'i have something else to do at present.' he gave me an enigmatical glance. 'i must leave you behind. you can join me in my house, where bhagabati's son and i will be awaiting you.' "before i could remonstrate, he dashed swiftly past me and disappeared in the crowd. i walked here as fast as possible." this explanation only increased my bewilderment. i inquired how long he had known the swami. "we met a few times last year, but not recently. i was very glad to see him again today at the bathing ghat." "i cannot believe my ears! am i losing my mind? did you meet him in a vision, or did you actually see him, touch his hand, and hear the sound of his feet?" "i don't know what you're driving at!" he flushed angrily. "i am not lying to you. can't you understand that only through the swami could i have known you were waiting at this place for me?" "why, that man, swami pranabananda, has not left my sight a moment since i first came about an hour ago." i blurted out the whole story. his eyes opened widely. "are we living in this material age, or are we dreaming? i never expected to witness such a miracle in my life! i thought this swami was just an ordinary man, and now i find he can materialize an extra body and work through it!" together we entered the saint's room. "look, those are the very sandals he was wearing at the ghat," kedar nath babu whispered. "he was clad only in a loincloth, just as i see him now." as the visitor bowed before him, the saint turned to me with a quizzical smile. "why are you stupefied at all this? the subtle unity of the phenomenal world is not hidden from true yogis. i instantly see and converse with my disciples in distant calcutta. they can similarly transcend at will every obstacle of gross matter." it was probably in an effort to stir spiritual ardor in my young breast that the swami had condescended to tell me of his powers of astral radio and television. {fn - } but instead of enthusiasm, i experienced only an awe-stricken fear. inasmuch as i was destined to undertake my divine search through one particular guru-sri yukteswar, whom i had not yet met-i felt no inclination to accept pranabananda as my teacher. i glanced at him doubtfully, wondering if it were he or his counterpart before me. [illustration: swami pranabananda, "the saint with two bodies", an exalted disciple of lahiri mahasaya--see pranabananda.jpg] the master sought to banish my disquietude by bestowing a soul-awakening gaze, and by some inspiring words about his guru. "lahiri mahasaya was the greatest yogi i ever knew. he was divinity itself in the form of flesh." if a disciple, i reflected, could materialize an extra fleshly form at will, what miracles indeed could be barred to his master? "i will tell you how priceless is a guru's help. i used to meditate with another disciple for eight hours every night. we had to work at the railroad office during the day. finding difficulty in carrying on my clerical duties, i desired to devote my whole time to god. for eight years i persevered, meditating half the night. i had wonderful results; tremendous spiritual perceptions illumined my mind. but a little veil always remained between me and the infinite. even with super-human earnestness, i found the final irrevocable union to be denied me. one evening i paid a visit to lahiri mahasaya and pleaded for his divine intercession. my importunities continued during the entire night. "'angelic guru, my spiritual anguish is such that i can no longer bear my life without meeting the great beloved face to face!' "'what can i do? you must meditate more profoundly.' "'i am appealing to thee, o god my master! i see thee materialized before me in a physical body; bless me that i may perceive thee in thine infinite form!' "lahiri mahasaya extended his hand in a benign gesture. 'you may go now and meditate. i have interceded for you with brahma.' {fn - } "immeasurably uplifted, i returned to my home. in meditation that night, the burning goal of my life was achieved. now i ceaselessly enjoy the spiritual pension. never from that day has the blissful creator remained hidden from my eyes behind any screen of delusion." pranabananda's face was suffused with divine light. the peace of another world entered my heart; all fear had fled. the saint made a further confidence. "some months later i returned to lahiri mahasaya and tried to thank him for his bestowal of the infinite gift. then i mentioned another matter. "'divine guru, i can no longer work in the office. please release me. brahma keeps me continuously intoxicated.' "'apply for a pension from your company.' "'what reason shall i give, so early in my service?' "'say what you feel.' "the next day i made my application. the doctor inquired the grounds for my premature request. "'at work, i find an overpowering sensation rising in my spine. {fn - } it permeates my whole body, unfitting me for the performance of my duties.' "without further questioning the physician recommended me highly for a pension, which i soon received. i know the divine will of lahiri mahasaya worked through the doctor and the railroad officials, including your father. automatically they obeyed the great guru's spiritual direction, and freed me for a life of unbroken communion with the beloved." {fn - } after this extraordinary revelation, swami pranabananda retired into one of his long silences. as i was taking leave, touching his feet reverently, he gave me his blessing: "your life belongs to the path of renunciation and yoga. i shall see you again, with your father, later on." the years brought fulfillment to both these predictions. {fn - } kedar nath babu walked by my side in the gathering darkness. i delivered father's letter, which my companion read under a street lamp. "your father suggests that i take a position in the calcutta office of his railroad company. how pleasant to look forward to at least one of the pensions that swami pranabananda enjoys! but it is impossible; i cannot leave benares. alas, two bodies are not yet for me!" {fn - } choto mahasaya is the term by which a number of indian saints addressed me. it translates "little sir.". {fn - } in its own way, physical science is affirming the validity of laws discovered by yogis through mental science. for example, a demonstration that man has televisional powers was given on nov. , at the royal university of rome. "dr. giuseppe calligaris, professor of neuro-psychology, pressed certain points of a subject's body and the subject responded with minute descriptions of other persons and objects on the opposite side of a wall. dr. calligaris told the other professors that if certain areas on the skin are agitated, the subject is given super-sensorial impressions enabling him to see objects that he could not otherwise perceive. to enable his subject to discern things on the other side of a wall, professor calligaris pressed on a spot to the right of the thorax for fifteen minutes. dr. calligaris said that if other spots of the body were agitated, the subjects could see objects at any distance, regardless of whether they had ever before seen those objects.". {fn - } god in his aspect of creator; from sanskrit root brih, to expand. when emerson's poem brahma appeared in the atlantic monthly in , most the readers were bewildered. emerson chuckled. "tell them," he said, "to say 'jehovah' instead of 'brahma' and they will not feel any perplexity." {fn - } in deep meditation, the first experience of spirit is on the altar of the spine, and then in the brain. the torrential bliss is overwhelming, but the yogi learns to control its outward manifestations. {fn - } after his retirement, pranabananda wrote one of the most profound commentaries on the bhagavad gita, available in bengali and hindi. {fn - } see chapter . chapter: my interrupted flight toward the himalayas "leave your classroom on some trifling pretext, and engage a hackney carriage. stop in the lane where no one in my house can see you." these were my final instructions to amar mitter, a high school friend who planned to accompany me to the himalayas. we had chosen the following day for our flight. precautions were necessary, as ananta exercised a vigilant eye. he was determined to foil the plans of escape which he suspected were uppermost in my mind. the amulet, like a spiritual yeast, was silently at work within me. amidst the himalayan snows, i hoped to find the master whose face often appeared to me in visions. the family was living now in calcutta, where father had been permanently transferred. following the patriarchal indian custom, ananta had brought his bride to live in our home, now at gurpar road. there in a small attic room i engaged in daily meditations and prepared my mind for the divine search. the memorable morning arrived with inauspicious rain. hearing the wheels of amar's carriage in the road, i hastily tied together a blanket, a pair of sandals, lahiri mahasaya's picture, a copy of the bhagavad gita, a string of prayer beads, and two loincloths. this bundle i threw from my third-story window. i ran down the steps and passed my uncle, buying fish at the door. "what is the excitement?" his gaze roved suspiciously over my person. i gave him a noncommittal smile and walked to the lane. retrieving my bundle, i joined amar with conspiratorial caution. we drove to chadni chowk, a merchandise center. for months we had been saving our tiffin money to buy english clothes. knowing that my clever brother could easily play the part of a detective, we thought to outwit him by european garb. on the way to the station, we stopped for my cousin, jotin ghosh, whom i called jatinda. he was a new convert, longing for a guru in the himalayas. he donned the new suit we had in readiness. well-camouflaged, we hoped! a deep elation possessed our hearts. "all we need now are canvas shoes." i led my companions to a shop displaying rubber-soled footwear. "articles of leather, gotten only through the slaughter of animals, must be absent on this holy trip." i halted on the street to remove the leather cover from my bhagavad gita, and the leather straps from my english-made sola topee (helmet). at the station we bought tickets to burdwan, where we planned to transfer for hardwar in the himalayan foothills. as soon as the train, like ourselves, was in flight, i gave utterance to a few of my glorious anticipations. "just imagine!" i ejaculated. "we shall be initiated by the masters and experience the trance of cosmic consciousness. our flesh will be charged with such magnetism that wild animals of the himalayas will come tamely near us. tigers will be no more than meek house cats awaiting our caresses!" this remark-picturing a prospect i considered entrancing, both metaphorically and literally-brought an enthusiastic smile from amar. but jatinda averted his gaze, directing it through the window at the scampering landscape. "let the money be divided in three portions." jatinda broke a long silence with this suggestion. "each of us should buy his own ticket at burdwan. thus no one at the station will surmise that we are running away together." i unsuspectingly agreed. at dusk our train stopped at burdwan. jatinda entered the ticket office; amar and i sat on the platform. we waited fifteen minutes, then made unavailing inquiries. searching in all directions, we shouted jatinda's name with the urgency of fright. but he had faded into the dark unknown surrounding the little station. i was completely unnerved, shocked to a peculiar numbness. that god would countenance this depressing episode! the romantic occasion of my first carefully-planned flight after him was cruelly marred. "amar, we must return home." i was weeping like a child. "jatinda's callous departure is an ill omen. this trip is doomed to failure." "is this your love for the lord? can't you stand the little test of a treacherous companion?" through amar's suggestion of a divine test, my heart steadied itself. we refreshed ourselves with famous burdwan sweetmeats, sitabhog (food for the goddess) and motichur (nuggets of sweet pearl). in a few hours, we entrained for hardwar, via bareilly. changing trains at moghul serai, we discussed a vital matter as we waited on the platform. "amar, we may soon be closely questioned by railroad officials. i am not underrating my brother's ingenuity! no matter what the outcome, i will not speak untruth." "all i ask of you, mukunda, is to keep still. don't laugh or grin while i am talking." at this moment, a european station agent accosted me. he waved a telegram whose import i immediately grasped. "are you running away from home in anger?" "no!" i was glad his choice of words permitted me to make emphatic reply. not anger but "divinest melancholy" was responsible, i knew, for my unconventional behavior. the official then turned to amar. the duel of wits that followed hardly permitted me to maintain the counseled stoic gravity. "where is the third boy?" the man injected a full ring of authority into his voice. "come on; speak the truth!" "sir, i notice you are wearing eyeglasses. can't you see that we are only two?" amar smiled impudently. "i am not a magician; i can't conjure up a third companion." the official, noticeably disconcerted by this impertinence, sought a new field of attack. "what is your name?" "i am called thomas. i am the son of an english mother and a converted christian indian father." "what is your friend's name?" "i call him thompson." by this time my inward mirth had reached a zenith; i unceremoniously made for the train, whistling for departure. amar followed with the official, who was credulous and obliging enough to put us into a european compartment. it evidently pained him to think of two half-english boys traveling in the section allotted to natives. after his polite exit, i lay back on the seat and laughed uncontrollably. my friend wore an expression of blithe satisfaction at having outwitted a veteran european official. on the platform i had contrived to read the telegram. from my brother, it went thus: "three bengali boys in english clothes running away from home toward hardwar via moghul serai. please detain them until my arrival. ample reward for your services." "amar, i told you not to leave marked timetables in your home." my glance was reproachful. "brother must have found one there." my friend sheepishly acknowledged the thrust. we halted briefly in bareilly, where dwarka prasad awaited us with a telegram from ananta. my old friend tried valiantly to detain us; i convinced him that our flight had not been undertaken lightly. as on a previous occasion, dwarka refused my invitation to set forth to the himalayas. while our train stood in a station that night, and i was half asleep, amar was awakened by another questioning official. he, too, fell a victim to the hybrid charms of "thomas" and "thompson." the train bore us triumphantly into a dawn arrival at hardwar. the majestic mountains loomed invitingly in the distance. we dashed through the station and entered the freedom of city crowds. our first act was to change into native costume, as ananta had somehow penetrated our european disguise. a premonition of capture weighed on my mind. deeming it advisable to leave hardwar at once, we bought tickets to proceed north to rishikesh, a soil long hallowed by feet of many masters. i had already boarded the train, while amar lagged on the platform. he was brought to an abrupt halt by a shout from a policeman. our unwelcome guardian escorted us to a station bungalow and took charge of our money. he explained courteously that it was his duty to hold us until my elder brother arrived. learning that the truants' destination had been the himalayas, the officer related a strange story. "i see you are crazy about saints! you will never meet a greater man of god than the one i saw only yesterday. my brother officer and i first encountered him five days ago. we were patrolling by the ganges, on a sharp lookout for a certain murderer. our instructions were to capture him, alive or dead. he was known to be masquerading as a sadhu in order to rob pilgrims. a short way before us, we spied a figure which resembled the description of the criminal. he ignored our command to stop; we ran to overpower him. approaching his back, i wielded my ax with tremendous force; the man's right arm was severed almost completely from his body. "without outcry or any glance at the ghastly wound, the stranger astonishingly continued his swift pace. as we jumped in front of him, he spoke quietly. "'i am not the murderer you are seeking.' "i was deeply mortified to see i had injured the person of a divine--looking sage. prostrating myself at his feet, i implored his pardon, and offered my turban-cloth to staunch the heavy spurts of blood. "'son, that was just an understandable mistake on your part.' the saint regarded me kindly. 'run along, and don't reproach yourself. the beloved mother is taking care of me.' he pushed his dangling arm into its stump and lo! it adhered; the blood inexplicably ceased to flow. "'come to me under yonder tree in three days and you will find me fully healed. thus you will feel no remorse.' "yesterday my brother officer and i went eagerly to the designated spot. the sadhu was there and allowed us to examine his arm. it bore no scar or trace of hurt! "'i am going via rishikesh to the himalayan solitudes.' he blessed us as he departed quickly. i feel that my life has been uplifted through his sanctity." the officer concluded with a pious ejaculation; his experience had obviously moved him beyond his usual depths. with an impressive gesture, he handed me a printed clipping about the miracle. in the usual garbled manner of the sensational type of newspaper (not missing, alas! even in india), the reporter's version was slightly exaggerated: it indicated that the sadhu had been almost decapitated! amar and i lamented that we had missed the great yogi who could forgive his persecutor in such a christlike way. india, materially poor for the last two centuries, yet has an inexhaustible fund of divine wealth; spiritual "skyscrapers" may occasionally be encountered by the wayside, even by worldly men like this policeman. we thanked the officer for relieving our tedium with his marvelous story. he was probably intimating that he was more fortunate than we: he had met an illumined saint without effort; our earnest search had ended, not at the feet of a master, but in a coarse police station! so near the himalayas and yet, in our captivity, so far, i told amar i felt doubly impelled to seek freedom. "let us slip away when opportunity offers. we can go on foot to holy rishikesh." i smiled encouragingly. but my companion had turned pessimist as soon as the stalwart prop of our money had been taken from us. "if we started a trek over such dangerous jungle land, we should finish, not in the city of saints, but in the stomachs of tigers!" ananta and amar's brother arrived after three days. amar greeted his relative with affectionate relief. i was unreconciled; ananta got no more from me than a severe upbraiding. "i understand how you feel." my brother spoke soothingly. "all i ask of you is to accompany me to benares to meet a certain saint, and go on to calcutta to visit your grieving father for a few days. then you can resume your search here for a master." amar entered the conversation at this point to disclaim any intention of returning to hardwar with me. he was enjoying the familial warmth. but i knew i would never abandon the quest for my guru. our party entrained for benares. there i had a singular and instant response to my prayers. a clever scheme had been prearranged by ananta. before seeing me at hardwar, he had stopped in benares to ask a certain scriptural authority to interview me later. both the pundit and his son had promised to undertake my dissuasion from the path of a sannyasi. {fn - } ananta took me to their home. the son, a young man of ebullient manner, greeted me in the courtyard. he engaged me in a lengthy philosophic discourse. professing to have a clairvoyant knowledge of my future, he discountenanced my idea of being a monk. "you will meet continual misfortune, and be unable to find god, if you insist on deserting your ordinary responsibilities! you cannot work out your past karma {fn - } without worldly experiences." krishna's immortal words rose to my lips in reply: "'even he with the worst of karma who ceaselessly meditates on me quickly loses the effects of his past bad actions. becoming a high-souled being, he soon attains perennial peace. arjuna, know this for certain: the devotee who puts his trust in me never perishes!'" {fn - } but the forceful prognostications of the young man had slightly shaken my confidence. with all the fervor of my heart i prayed silently to god: "please solve my bewilderment and answer me, right here and now, if thou dost desire me to lead the life of a renunciate or a worldly man!" i noticed a sadhu of noble countenance standing just outside the compound of the pundit's house. evidently he had overheard the spirited conversation between the self-styled clairvoyant and myself, for the stranger called me to his side. i felt a tremendous power flowing from his calm eyes. "son, don't listen to that ignoramus. in response to your prayer, the lord tells me to assure you that your sole path in this life is that of the renunciate." with astonishment as well as gratitude, i smiled happily at this decisive message. "come away from that man!" the "ignoramus" was calling me from the courtyard. my saintly guide raised his hand in blessing and slowly departed. "that sadhu is just as crazy as you are." it was the hoary-headed pundit who made this charming observation. he and his son were gazing at me lugubriously. "i heard that he too has left his home in a vague search for god." i turned away. to ananta i remarked that i would not engage in further discussion with our hosts. my brother agreed to an immediate departure; we soon entrained for calcutta. [illustration: i stand behind my elder brother, ananta.--see ananta.jpg] [illustration: last solstice festival celebrated by sri yukteswar, december, . my guru is seated in the center; i am at his right, in the large courtyard of his hermitage in serampore.--see festival.jpg] "mr. detective, how did you discover i had fled with two companions?" i vented my lively curiosity to ananta during our homeward journey. he smiled mischievously. "at your school, i found that amar had left his classroom and had not returned. i went to his home the next morning and unearthed a marked timetable. amar's father was just leaving by carriage and was talking to the coachman. "'my son will not ride with me to his school this morning. he has disappeared!' the father moaned. "'i heard from a brother coachman that your son and two others, dressed in european suits, boarded the train at howrah station,' the man stated. 'they made a present of their leather shoes to the cab driver.' "thus i had three clues-the timetable, the trio of boys, and the english clothing." i was listening to ananta's disclosures with mingled mirth and vexation. our generosity to the coachman had been slightly misplaced! "of course i rushed to send telegrams to station officials in all the cities which amar had underlined in the timetable. he had checked bareilly, so i wired your friend dwarka there. after inquiries in our calcutta neighborhood, i learned that cousin jatinda had been absent one night but had arrived home the following morning in european garb. i sought him out and invited him to dinner. he accepted, quite disarmed by my friendly manner. on the way i led him unsuspectingly to a police station. he was surrounded by several officers whom i had previously selected for their ferocious appearance. under their formidable gaze, jatinda agreed to account for his mysterious conduct. "'i started for the himalayas in a buoyant spiritual mood,' he explained. 'inspiration filled me at the prospect of meeting the masters. but as soon as mukunda said, "during our ecstasies in the himalayan caves, tigers will be spellbound and sit around us like tame pussies," my spirits froze; beads of perspiration formed on my brow. "what then?" i thought. "if the vicious nature of the tigers be not changed through the power of our spiritual trance, shall they treat us with the kindness of house cats?" in my mind's eye, i already saw myself the compulsory inmate of some tiger's stomach-entering there not at once with the whole body, but by installments of its several parts!'" my anger at jatinda's vanishment was evaporated in laughter. the hilarious sequel on the train was worth all the anguish he had caused me. i must confess to a slight feeling of satisfaction: jatinda too had not escaped an encounter with the police! "ananta, {fn - } you are a born sleuthhound!" my glance of amusement was not without some exasperation. "and i shall tell jatinda i am glad he was prompted by no mood of treachery, as it appeared, but only by the prudent instinct of self-preservation!" at home in calcutta, father touchingly requested me to curb my roving feet until, at least, the completion of my high school studies. in my absence, he had lovingly hatched a plot by arranging for a saintly pundit, swami kebalananda, {fn - } to come regularly to the house. "the sage will be your sanskrit tutor," my parent announced confidently. father hoped to satisfy my religious yearnings by instructions from a learned philosopher. but the tables were subtly turned: my new teacher, far from offering intellectual aridities, fanned the embers of my god-aspiration. unknown to father, swami kebalananda was an exalted disciple of lahiri mahasaya. the peerless guru had possessed thousands of disciples, silently drawn to him by the irresistibility of his divine magnetism. i learned later that lahiri mahasaya had often characterized kebalananda as rishi or illumined sage. luxuriant curls framed my tutor's handsome face. his dark eyes were guileless, with the transparency of a child's. all the movements of his slight body were marked by a restful deliberation. ever gentle and loving, he was firmly established in the infinite consciousness. many of our happy hours together were spent in deep kriya meditation. kebalananda was a noted authority on the ancient shastras or sacred books: his erudition had earned him the title of "shastri mahasaya," by which he was usually addressed. but my progress in sanskrit scholarship was unnoteworthy. i sought every opportunity to forsake prosaic grammar and to talk of yoga and lahiri mahasaya. my tutor obliged me one day by telling me something of his own life with the master. "rarely fortunate, i was able to remain near lahiri mahasaya for ten years. his benares home was my nightly goal of pilgrimage. the guru was always present in a small front parlor on the first floor. as he sat in lotus posture on a backless wooden seat, his disciples garlanded him in a semicircle. his eyes sparkled and danced with the joy of the divine. they were ever half closed, peering through the inner telescopic orb into a sphere of eternal bliss. he seldom spoke at length. occasionally his gaze would focus on a student in need of help; healing words poured then like an avalanche of light. "an indescribable peace blossomed within me at the master's glance. i was permeated with his fragrance, as though from a lotus of infinity. to be with him, even without exchanging a word for days, was experience which changed my entire being. if any invisible barrier rose in the path of my concentration, i would meditate at the guru's feet. there the most tenuous states came easily within my grasp. such perceptions eluded me in the presence of lesser teachers. the master was a living temple of god whose secret doors were open to all disciples through devotion. "lahiri mahasaya was no bookish interpreter of the scriptures. effortlessly he dipped into the 'divine library.' foam of words and spray of thoughts gushed from the fountain of his omniscience. he had the wondrous clavis which unlocked the profound philosophical science embedded ages ago in the vedas. {fn - } if asked to explain the different planes of consciousness mentioned in the ancient texts, he would smilingly assent. "'i will undergo those states, and presently tell you what i perceive.' he was thus diametrically unlike the teachers who commit scripture to memory and then give forth unrealized abstractions. "'please expound the holy stanzas as the meaning occurs to you.' the taciturn guru often gave this instruction to a near-by disciple. 'i will guide your thoughts, that the right interpretation be uttered.' in this way many of lahiri mahasaya's perceptions came to be recorded, with voluminous commentaries by various students. "the master never counseled slavish belief. 'words are only shells,' he said. 'win conviction of god's presence through your own joyous contact in meditation.' "no matter what the disciple's problem, the guru advised kriya yoga for its solution. "'the yogic key will not lose its efficiency when i am no longer present in the body to guide you. this technique cannot be bound, filed, and forgotten, in the manner of theoretical inspirations. continue ceaselessly on your path to liberation through kriya, whose power lies in practice.' "i myself consider kriya the most effective device of salvation through self-effort ever to be evolved in man's search for the infinite." kebalananda concluded with this earnest testimony. "through its use, the omnipotent god, hidden in all men, became visibly incarnated in the flesh of lahiri mahasaya and a number of his disciples." a christlike miracle by lahiri mahasaya took place in kebalananda's presence. my saintly tutor recounted the story one day, his eyes remote from the sanskrit texts before us. "a blind disciple, ramu, aroused my active pity. should he have no light in his eyes, when he faithfully served our master, in whom the divine was fully blazing? one morning i sought to speak to ramu, but he sat for patient hours fanning the guru with a hand-made palm-leaf punkha. when the devotee finally left the room, i followed him. "'ramu, how long have you been blind?' "'from my birth, sir! never have my eyes been blessed with a glimpse of the sun.' "'our omnipotent guru can help you. please make a supplication.' "the following day ramu diffidently approached lahiri mahasaya. the disciple felt almost ashamed to ask that physical wealth be added to his spiritual superabundance. "'master, the illuminator of the cosmos is in you. i pray you to bring his light into my eyes, that i perceive the sun's lesser glow.' "'ramu, someone has connived to put me in a difficult position. i have no healing power.' "'sir, the infinite one within you can certainly heal.' "'that is indeed different, ramu. god's limit is nowhere! he who ignites the stars and the cells of flesh with mysterious life-effulgence can surely bring luster of vision into your eyes.' "the master touched ramu's forehead at the point between the eyebrows. {fn - } "'keep your mind concentrated there, and frequently chant the name of the prophet rama {fn - } for seven days. the splendor of the sun shall have a special dawn for you.' "lo! in one week it was so. for the first time, ramu beheld the fair face of nature. the omniscient one had unerringly directed his disciple to repeat the name of rama, adored by him above all other saints. ramu's faith was the devotionally ploughed soil in which the guru's powerful seed of permanent healing sprouted." kebalananda was silent for a moment, then paid a further tribute to his guru. "it was evident in all miracles performed by lahiri mahasaya that he never allowed the ego-principle {fn - } to consider itself a causative force. by perfection of resistless surrender, the master enabled the prime healing power to flow freely through him. "the numerous bodies which were spectacularly healed through lahiri mahasaya eventually had to feed the flames of cremation. but the silent spiritual awakenings he effected, the christlike disciples he fashioned, are his imperishable miracles." i never became a sanskrit scholar; kebalananda taught me a diviner syntax. {fn - } literally, "renunciate." from sanskrit verb roots, "to cast aside." {fn - } effects of past actions, in this or a former life; from sanskrit kri, "to do." {fn - } bhagavad gita, ix, - . krishna was the greatest prophet of india; arjuna was his foremost disciple. {fn - } i always addressed him as ananta-da. da is a respectful suffix which the eldest brother in an indian family receives from junior brothers and sisters. {fn - } at the time of our meeting, kebalananda had not yet joined the swami order and was generally called "shastri mahasaya." to avoid confusion with the name of lahiri mahasaya and of master mahasaya (../chapter ), i am referring to my sanskrit tutor only by his later monastic name of swami kebalananda. his biography has been recently published in bengali. born in the khulna district of bengal in , kebalananda gave up his body in benares at the age of sixty-eight. his family name was ashutosh chatterji. {fn - } the ancient four vedas comprise over extant canonical books. emerson paid the following tribute in his journal to vedic thought: "it is sublime as heat and night and a breathless ocean. it contains every religious sentiment, all the grand ethics which visit in turn each noble poetic mind. . . . it is of no use to put away the book; if i trust myself in the woods or in a boat upon the pond, nature makes a brahmin of me presently: eternal necessity, eternal compensation, unfathomable power, unbroken silence. . . . this is her creed. peace, she saith to me, and purity and absolute abandonment--these panaceas expiate all sin and bring you to the beatitude of the eight gods." {fn - } the seat of the "single" or spiritual eye. at death the consciousness of man is usually drawn to this holy spot, accounting for the upraised eyes found in the dead. {fn - } the central sacred figure of the sanskrit epic, ramayana. {fn - } ahankara, egoism; literally, "i do." the root cause of dualism or illusion of maya, whereby the subject (ego) appears as object; the creatures imagine themselves to be creators. chapter: a "perfume saint" displays his wonders "to every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." i did not have this wisdom of solomon to comfort me; i gazed searchingly about me, on any excursion from home, for the face of my destined guru. but my path did not cross his own until after the completion of my high school studies. two years elapsed between my flight with amar toward the himalayas, and the great day of sri yukteswar's arrival into my life. during that interim i met a number of sages-the "perfume saint," the "tiger swami," nagendra nath bhaduri, master mahasaya, and the famous bengali scientist, jagadis chandra bose. my encounter with the "perfume saint" had two preambles, one harmonious and the other humorous. "god is simple. everything else is complex. do not seek absolute values in the relative world of nature." these philosophical finalities gently entered my ear as i stood silently before a temple image of kali. turning, i confronted a tall man whose garb, or lack of it, revealed him a wandering sadhu. "you have indeed penetrated the bewilderment of my thoughts!" i smiled gratefully. "the confusion of benign and terrible aspects in nature, as symbolized by kali, {fn - } has puzzled wiser heads than mine!" "few there be who solve her mystery! good and evil is the challenging riddle which life places sphinxlike before every intelligence. attempting no solution, most men pay forfeit with their lives, penalty now even as in the days of thebes. here and there, a towering lonely figure never cries defeat. from the maya {fn - } of duality he plucks the cleaveless truth of unity." "you speak with conviction, sir." "i have long exercised an honest introspection, the exquisitely painful approach to wisdom. self-scrutiny, relentless observance of one's thoughts, is a stark and shattering experience. it pulverizes the stoutest ego. but true self-analysis mathematically operates to produce seers. the way of 'self-expression,' individual acknowledgments, results in egotists, sure of the right to their private interpretations of god and the universe." "truth humbly retires, no doubt, before such arrogant originality." i was enjoying the discussion. "man can understand no eternal verity until he has freed himself from pretensions. the human mind, bared to a centuried slime, is teeming with repulsive life of countless world-delusions. struggles of the battlefields pale into insignificance here, when man first contends with inward enemies! no mortal foes these, to be overcome by harrowing array of might! omnipresent, unresting, pursuing man even in sleep, subtly equipped with a miasmic weapon, these soldiers of ignorant lusts seek to slay us all. thoughtless is the man who buries his ideals, surrendering to the common fate. can he seem other than impotent, wooden, ignominious?" "respected sir, have you no sympathy for the bewildered masses?" the sage was silent for a moment, then answered obliquely. "to love both the invisible god, repository of all virtues, and visible man, apparently possessed of none, is often baffling! but ingenuity is equal to the maze. inner research soon exposes a unity in all human minds-the stalwart kinship of selfish motive. in one sense at least, the brotherhood of man stands revealed. an aghast humility follows this leveling discovery. it ripens into compassion for one's fellows, blind to the healing potencies of the soul awaiting exploration." "the saints of every age, sir, have felt like yourself for the sorrows of the world." "only the shallow man loses responsiveness to the woes of others' lives, as he sinks into narrow suffering of his own." the sadhu's austere face was noticeably softened. "the one who practices a scalpel self-dissection will know an expansion of universal pity. release is given him from the deafening demands of his ego. the love of god flowers on such soil. the creature finally turns to his creator, if for no other reason than to ask in anguish: 'why, lord, why?' by ignoble whips of pain, man is driven at last into the infinite presence, whose beauty alone should lure him." the sage and i were present in calcutta's kalighat temple, whither i had gone to view its famed magnificence. with a sweeping gesture, my chance companion dismissed the ornate dignity. "bricks and mortar sing us no audible tune; the heart opens only to the human chant of being." we strolled to the inviting sunshine at the entrance, where throngs of devotees were passing to and fro. "you are young." the sage surveyed me thoughtfully. "india too is young. the ancient rishis {fn - } laid down ineradicable patterns of spiritual living. their hoary dictums suffice for this day and land. not outmoded, not unsophisticated against the guiles of materialism, the disciplinary precepts mold india still. by millenniums-more than embarrassed scholars care to compute!-the skeptic time has validated vedic worth. take it for your heritage." as i was reverently bidding farewell to the eloquent sadhu, he revealed a clairvoyant perception: "after you leave here today, an unusual experience will come your way." i quitted the temple precincts and wandered along aimlessly. turning a corner, i ran into an old acquaintance-one of those long-winded fellows whose conversational powers ignore time and embrace eternity. "i will let you go in a very short while, if you will tell me all that has happened during the six years of our separation." "what a paradox! i must leave you now." but he held me by the hand, forcing out tidbits of information. he was like a ravenous wolf, i thought in amusement; the longer i spoke, the more hungrily he sniffed for news. inwardly i petitioned the goddess kali to devise a graceful means of escape. my companion left me abruptly. i sighed with relief and doubled my pace, dreading any relapse into the garrulous fever. hearing rapid footsteps behind me, i quickened my speed. i dared not look back. but with a bound, the youth rejoined me, jovially clasping my shoulder. "i forgot to tell you of gandha baba (perfume saint), who is gracing yonder house." he pointed to a dwelling a few yards distant. "do meet him; he is interesting. you may have an unusual experience. good-by," and he actually left me. the similarly worded prediction of the sadhu at kalighat temple flashed to my mind. definitely intrigued, i entered the house and was ushered into a commodious parlor. a crowd of people were sitting, orient-wise, here and there on a thick orange-colored carpet. an awed whisper reached my ear: "behold gandha baba on the leopard skin. he can give the natural perfume of any flower to a scentless one, or revive a wilted blossom, or make a person's skin exude delightful fragrance." i looked directly at the saint; his quick gaze rested on mine. he was plump and bearded, with dark skin and large, gleaming eyes. "son, i am glad to see you. say what you want. would you like some perfume?" "what for?" i thought his remark rather childish. "to experience the miraculous way of enjoying perfumes." "harnessing god to make odors?" "what of it? god makes perfume anyway." "yes, but he fashions frail bottles of petals for fresh use and discard. can you materialize flowers?" "i materialize perfumes, little friend." "then scent factories will go out of business." "i will permit them to keep their trade! my own purpose is to demonstrate the power of god." "sir, is it necessary to prove god? isn't he performing miracles in everything, everywhere?" "yes, but we too should manifest some of his infinite creative variety." "how long did it take to master your art?" "twelve years." "for manufacturing scents by astral means! it seems, my honored saint, you have been wasting a dozen years for fragrances which you can obtain with a few rupees from a florist's shop." "perfumes fade with flowers." "perfumes fade with death. why should i desire that which pleases the body only?" "mr. philosopher, you please my mind. now, stretch forth your right hand." he made a gesture of blessing. i was a few feet away from gandha baba; no one else was near enough to contact my body. i extended my hand, which the yogi did not touch. "what perfume do you want?" "rose." "be it so." to my great surprise, the charming fragrance of rose was wafted strongly from the center of my palm. i smilingly took a large white scentless flower from a near-by vase. "can this odorless blossom be permeated with jasmine?" "be it so." a jasmine fragrance instantly shot from the petals. i thanked the wonder-worker and seated myself by one of his students. he informed me that gandha baba, whose proper name was vishudhananda, had learned many astonishing yoga secrets from a master in tibet. the tibetan yogi, i was assured, had attained the age of over a thousand years. "his disciple gandha baba does not always perform his perfume-feats in the simple verbal manner you have just witnessed." the student spoke with obvious pride in his master. "his procedure differs widely, to accord with diversity in temperaments. he is marvelous! many members of the calcutta intelligentsia are among his followers." i inwardly resolved not to add myself to their number. a guru too literally "marvelous" was not to my liking. with polite thanks to gandha baba, i departed. sauntering home, i reflected on the three varied encounters the day had brought forth. my sister uma met me as i entered our gurpar road door. "you are getting quite stylish, using perfumes!" without a word, i motioned her to smell my hand. "what an attractive rose fragrance! it is unusually strong!" thinking it was "strongly unusual," i silently placed the astrally scented blossom under her nostrils. "oh, i love jasmine!" she seized the flower. a ludicrous bafflement passed over her face as she repeatedly sniffed the odor of jasmine from a type of flower she well knew to be scentless. her reactions disarmed my suspicion that gandha baba had induced an auto-suggestive state whereby i alone could detect the fragrances. later i heard from a friend, alakananda, that the "perfume saint" had a power which i wish were possessed by the starving millions of asia and, today, of europe as well. "i was present with a hundred other guests at gandha baba's home in burdwan," alakananda told me. "it was a gala occasion. because the yogi was reputed to have the power of extracting objects out of thin air, i laughingly requested him to materialize some out-of-season tangerines. immediately the luchis {fn - } which were present on all the banana-leaf plates became puffed up. each of the bread-envelopes proved to contain a peeled tangerine. i bit into my own with some trepidation, but found it delicious." years later i understood by inner realization how gandha baba accomplished his materializations. the method, alas! is beyond the reach of the world's hungry hordes. the different sensory stimuli to which man reacts-tactual, visual, gustatory, auditory, and olfactory-are produced by vibratory variations in electrons and protons. the vibrations in turn are regulated by "lifetrons," subtle life forces or finer-than-atomic energies intelligently charged with the five distinctive sensory idea-substances. gandha baba, tuning himself with the cosmic force by certain yogic practices, was able to guide the lifetrons to rearrange their vibratory structure and objectivize the desired result. his perfume, fruit and other miracles were actual materializations of mundane vibrations, and not inner sensations hypnotically produced. {fn - } performances of miracles such as shown by the "perfume saint" are spectacular but spiritually useless. having little purpose beyond entertainment, they are digressions from a serious search for god. hypnotism has been used by physicians in minor operations as a sort of psychical chloroform for persons who might be endangered by an anesthetic. but a hypnotic state is harmful to those often subjected to it; a negative psychological effect ensues which in time deranges the brain cells. hypnotism is trespass into the territory of another's consciousness. its temporary phenomena have nothing in common with the miracles performed by men of divine realization. awake in god, true saints effect changes in this dream-world by means of a will harmoniously attuned to the creative cosmic dreamer. ostentatious display of unusual powers are decried by masters. the persian mystic, abu said, once laughed at certain fakirs who were proud of their miraculous powers over water, air, and space. "a frog is also at home in the water!" abu said pointed out in gentle scorn. "the crow and the vulture easily fly in the air; the devil is simultaneously present in the east and in the west! a true man is he who dwells in righteousness among his fellow men, who buys and sells, yet is never for a single instant forgetful of god!" on another occasion the great persian teacher gave his views on the religious life thus: "to lay aside what you have in your head (selfish desires and ambitions); to freely bestow what you have in your hand; and never to flinch from the blows of adversity!" neither the impartial sage at kalighat temple nor the tibetan-trained yogi had satisfied my yearning for a guru. my heart needed no tutor for its recognitions, and cried its own "bravos!" the more resoundingly because unoften summoned from silence. when i finally met my master, he taught me by sublimity of example alone the measure of a true man. {fn - } kali represents the eternal principle in nature. she is traditionally pictured as a four-armed woman, standing on the form of the god shiva or the infinite, because nature or the phenomenal world is rooted in the noumenon. the four arms symbolize cardinal attributes, two beneficent, two destructive, indicating the essential duality of matter or creation. {fn - } cosmic illusion; literally, "the measurer." maya is the magical power in creation by which limitations and divisions are apparently present in the immeasurable and inseparable. emerson wrote the following poem, to which he gave the title of maya: illusion works impenetrable, weaving webs innumerable, her gay pictures never fail, crowd each other, veil on veil, charmer who will be believed by man who thirsts to be deceived. {fn - } the rishis, literally "seers," were the authors of the vedas in an indeterminable antiquity.. {fn - } flat, round indian bread.. {fn - } laymen scarcely realize the vast strides of twentieth-century science. transmutation of metals and other alchemical dreams are seeing fulfillment every day in centers of scientific research over the world. the eminent french chemist, m. georges claude, performed "miracles" at fontainebleau in before a scientific assemblage through his chemical knowledge of oxygen transformations. his "magician's wand" was simple oxygen, bubbling in a tube on a table. the scientist "turned a handful of sand into precious stones, iron into a state resembling melted chocolate and, after depriving flowers of their tints, turned them into the consistency of glass. "m. claude explained how the sea could be turned by oxygen transformations into many millions of pounds of horsepower; how water which boils is not necessarily burning; how little mounds of sand, by a single whiff of the oxygen blowpipe, could be changed into sapphires, rubies, and topazes; and he predicted the time when it will be possible for men to walk on the bottom of the ocean minus the diver's equipment. finally the scientist amazed his onlookers by turning their faces black by taking the red out of the sun's rays." this noted french scientist has produced liquid air by an expansion method in which he has been able to separate the various gases of the air, and has discovered various means of mechanical utilization of differences of temperature in sea water. chapter: the tiger swami "i have discovered the tiger swami's address. let us visit him tomorrow." this welcome suggestion came from chandi, one of my high school friends. i was eager to meet the saint who, in his premonastic life, had caught and fought tigers with his naked hands. a boyish enthusiasm over such remarkable feats was strong within me. the next day dawned wintry cold, but chandi and i sallied forth gaily. after much vain hunting in bhowanipur, outside calcutta, we arrived at the right house. the door held two iron rings, which i sounded piercingly. notwithstanding the clamor, a servant approached with leisurely gait. his ironical smile implied that visitors, despite their noise, were powerless to disturb the calmness of a saint's home. feeling the silent rebuke, my companion and i were thankful to be invited into the parlor. our long wait there caused uncomfortable misgivings. india's unwritten law for the truth seeker is patience; a master may purposely make a test of one's eagerness to meet him. this psychological ruse is freely employed in the west by doctors and dentists! finally summoned by the servant, chandi and i entered a sleeping apartment. the famous sohong {fn - } swami was seated on his bed. the sight of his tremendous body affected us strangely. with bulging eyes, we stood speechless. we had never before seen such a chest or such football-like biceps. on an immense neck, the swami's fierce yet calm face was adorned with flowing locks, beard and moustache. a hint of dovelike and tigerlike qualities shone in his dark eyes. he was unclothed, save for a tiger skin about his muscular waist. finding our voices, my friend and i greeted the monk, expressing our admiration for his prowess in the extraordinary feline arena. "will you not tell us, please, how it is possible to subdue with bare fists the most ferocious of jungle beasts, the royal bengals?" "my sons, it is nothing to me to fight tigers. i could do it today if necessary." he gave a childlike laugh. "you look upon tigers as tigers; i know them as pussycats." "swamiji, i think i could impress my subconsciousness with the thought that tigers are pussycats, but could i make tigers believe it?" "of course strength also is necessary! one cannot expect victory from a baby who imagines a tiger to be a house cat! powerful hands are my sufficient weapon." he asked us to follow him to the patio, where he struck the edge of a wall. a brick crashed to the floor; the sky peered boldly through the gaping lost tooth of the wall. i fairly staggered in astonishment; he who can remove mortared bricks from a solid wall with one blow, i thought, must surely be able to displace the teeth of tigers! "a number of men have physical power such as mine, but still lack in cool confidence. those who are bodily but not mentally stalwart may find themselves fainting at mere sight of a wild beast bounding freely in the jungle. the tiger in its natural ferocity and habitat is vastly different from the opium-fed circus animal! "many a man with herculean strength has nonetheless been terrorized into abject helplessness before the onslaught of a royal bengal. thus the tiger has converted the man, in his own mind, to a state as nerveless as the pussycat's. it is possible for a man, owning a fairly strong body and an immensely strong determination, to turn the tables on the tiger, and force it to a conviction of pussycat defenselessness. how often i have done just that!" i was quite willing to believe that the titan before me was able to perform the tiger-pussycat metamorphosis. he seemed in a didactic mood; chandi and i listened respectfully. "mind is the wielder of muscles. the force of a hammer blow depends on the energy applied; the power expressed by a man's bodily instrument depends on his aggressive will and courage. the body is literally manufactured and sustained by mind. through pressure of instincts from past lives, strengths or weaknesses percolate gradually into human consciousness. they express as habits, which in turn ossify into a desirable or an undesirable body. outward frailty has mental origin; in a vicious circle, the habit-bound body thwarts the mind. if the master allows himself to be commanded by a servant, the latter becomes autocratic; the mind is similarly enslaved by submitting to bodily dictation." at our entreaty, the impressive swami consented to tell us something of his own life. "my earliest ambition was to fight tigers. my will was mighty, but my body was feeble." an ejaculation of surprise broke from me. it appeared incredible that this man, now "with atlantean shoulders, fit to bear," could ever have known weakness. "it was by indomitable persistency in thoughts of health and strength that i overcame my handicap. i have every reason to extol the compelling mental vigor which i found to be the real subduer of royal bengals." "do you think, revered swami, that i could ever fight tigers?" this was the first, and the last, time that the bizarre ambition ever visited my mind! "yes." he was smiling. "but there are many kinds of tigers; some roam in jungles of human desires. no spiritual benefit accrues by knocking beasts unconscious. rather be victor over the inner prowlers." "may we hear, sir, how you changed from a tamer of wild tigers to a tamer of wild passions?" the tiger swami fell into silence. remoteness came into his gaze, summoning visions of bygone years. i discerned his slight mental struggle to decide whether to grant my request. finally he smiled in acquiescence. "when my fame reached a zenith, it brought the intoxication of pride. i decided not only to fight tigers but to display them in various tricks. my ambition was to force savage beasts to behave like domesticated ones. i began to perform my feats publicly, with gratifying success. "one evening my father entered my room in pensive mood. "'son, i have words of warning. i would save you from coming ills, produced by the grinding wheels of cause and effect.' "'are you a fatalist, father? should superstition be allowed to discolor the powerful waters or my activities?' "'i am no fatalist, son. but i believe in the just law of retribution, as taught in the holy scriptures. there is resentment against you in the jungle family; sometime it may act to your cost.' "'father, you astonish me! you well know what tigers are-beautiful but merciless! even immediately after an enormous meal of some hapless creature, a tiger is fired with fresh lust at sight of new prey. it may be a joyous gazelle, frisking over the jungle grass. capturing it and biting an opening in the soft throat, the malevolent beast tastes only a little of the mutely crying blood, and goes its wanton way. "'tigers are the most contemptible of the jungle breed! who knows? my blows may inject some slight sanity of consideration into their thick heads. i am headmaster in a forest finishing school, to teach them gentle manners! "'please, father, think of me as tiger tamer and never as tiger killer. how could my good actions bring ill upon me? i beg you not to impose any command that i change my way of life.'" chandi and i were all attention, understanding the past dilemma. in india a child does not lightly disobey his parents' wishes. "in stoic silence father listened to my explanation. he followed it with a disclosure which he uttered gravely. "'son, you compel me to relate an ominous prediction from the lips of a saint. he approached me yesterday as i sat on the veranda in my daily meditation. "'"dear friend, i come with a message for your belligerent son. let him cease his savage activities. otherwise, his next tiger-encounter shall result in his severe wounds, followed by six months of deathly sickness. he shall then forsake his former ways and become a monk."' "this tale did not impress me. i considered that father had been the credulous victim of a deluded fanatic." the tiger swami made this confession with an impatient gesture, as though at some stupidity. grimly silent for a long time, he seemed oblivious of our presence. when he took up the dangling thread of his narrative, it was suddenly, with subdued voice. "not long after father's warning, i visited the capital city of cooch behar. the picturesque territory was new to me, and i expected a restful change. as usual everywhere, a curious crowd followed me on the streets. i would catch bits of whispered comment: "'this is the man who fights wild tigers.' "'has he legs, or tree-trunks?' "'look at his face! he must be an incarnation of the king of tigers himself!' "you know how village urchins function like final editions of a newspaper! with what speed do the even-later speech-bulletins of the women circulate from house to house! within a few hours, the whole city was in a state of excitement over my presence. "i was relaxing quietly in the evening, when i heard the hoofbeats of galloping horses. they stopped in front of my dwelling place. in came a number of tall, turbaned policemen. "i was taken aback. 'all things are possible unto these creatures of human law,' i thought. 'i wonder if they are going to take me to task about matters utterly unknown to me.' but the officers bowed with unwonted courtesy. "'honored sir, we are sent to welcome you on behalf of the prince of cooch behar. he is pleased to invite you to his palace tomorrow morning.' "i speculated awhile on the prospect. for some obscure reason i felt sharp regret at this interruption in my quiet trip. but the suppliant manner of the policemen moved me; i agreed to go. "i was bewildered the next day to be obsequiously escorted from my door into a magnificent coach drawn by four horses. a servant held an ornate umbrella to protect me from the scorching sunlight. i enjoyed the pleasant ride through the city and its woodland outskirts. the royal scion himself was at the palace door to welcome me. he proffered his own gold-brocaded seat, smilingly placing himself in a chair of simpler design. "'all this politeness is certainly going to cost me something!' i thought in mounting astonishment. the prince's motive emerged after a few casual remarks. "'my city is filled with the rumor that you can fight wild tigers with nothing more than your naked hands. is it a fact?' "'it is quite true.' "'i can scarcely believe it! you are a calcutta bengali, nurtured on the white rice of city folk. be frank, please; have you not been fighting only spineless, opium-fed animals?' his voice was loud and sarcastic, tinged with provincial accent. "i vouchsafed no reply to his insulting question. "'i challenge you to fight my newly-caught tiger, raja begum. {fn - } if you can successfully resist him, bind him with a chain, and leave his cage in a conscious state, you shall have this royal bengal! several thousand rupees and many other gifts shall also be bestowed. if you refuse to meet him in combat, i shall blazon your name throughout the state as an impostor!' "his insolent words struck me like a volley of bullets. i shot an angry acceptance. half risen from the chair in his excitement, the prince sank back with a sadistic smile. i was reminded of the roman emperors who delighted in setting christians in bestial arenas. "'the match will be set for a week hence. i regret that i cannot give you permission to view the tiger in advance.' "whether the prince feared i might seek to hypnotize the beast, or secretly feed him opium, i know not! "i left the palace, noting with amusement that the royal umbrella and panoplied coach were now missing. "the following week i methodically prepared my mind and body for the coming ordeal. through my servant i learned of fantastic tales. the saint's direful prediction to my father had somehow got abroad, enlarging as it ran. many simple villagers believed that an evil spirit, cursed by the gods, had reincarnated as a tiger which took various demoniac forms at night, but remained a striped animal during the day. this demon-tiger was supposed to be the one sent to humble me. "another imaginative version was that animal prayers to tiger heaven had achieved a response in the shape of raja begum. he was to be the instrument to punish me-the audacious biped, so insulting to the entire tiger species! a furless, fangless man daring to challenge a claw-armed, sturdy-limbed tiger! the concentrated venom of all humiliated tigers-the villagers declared-had gathered momentum sufficient to operate hidden laws and bring about the fall of the proud tiger tamer. "my servant further apprized me that the prince was in his element as manager of the bout between man and beast. he had supervised the erection of a storm-proof pavilion, designed to accommodate thousands. its center held raja begum in an enormous iron cage, surrounded by an outer safety room. the captive emitted a ceaseless series of blood-curdling roars. he was fed sparingly, to kindle a wrathful appetite. perhaps the prince expected me to be the meal of reward! "crowds from the city and suburbs bought tickets eagerly in response to the beat of drums announcing the unique contest. the day of battle saw hundreds turned away for lack of seats. many men broke through the tent openings, or crowded any space below the galleries." as the tiger swami's story approached a climax, my excitement mounted with it; chandi also was raptly mute. "amidst piercing sound-explosions from raja begum, and the hubbub of the somewhat terrified crowd, i quietly made my appearance. scantily clad around the waist, i was otherwise unprotected by clothing. i opened the bolt on the door of the safety room and calmly locked it behind me. the tiger sensed blood. leaping with a thunderous crash on his bars, he sent forth a fearsome welcome. the audience was hushed with pitiful fear; i seemed a meek lamb before the raging beast. "in a trice i was within the cage; but as i slammed the door, raja begum was headlong upon me. my right hand was desperately torn. human blood, the greatest treat a tiger can know, fell in appalling streams. the prophecy of the saint seemed about to be fulfilled. "i rallied instantly from the shock of the first serious injury i had ever received. banishing the sight of my gory fingers by thrusting them beneath my waist cloth, i swung my left arm in a bone-cracking blow. the beast reeled back, swirled around the rear of the cage, and sprang forward convulsively. my famous fistic punishment rained on his head. "but raja begum's taste of blood had acted like the maddening first sip of wine to a dipsomaniac long-deprived. punctuated by deafening roar, the brute's assaults grew in fury. my inadequate defense of only one hand left me vulnerable before claws and fangs. but i dealt out dazing retribution. mutually ensanguined, we struggled as to the death. the cage was pandemonium, as blood splashed in all directions, and blasts of pain and lethal lust came from the bestial throat. "'shoot him!' 'kill the tiger!' shrieks arose from the audience. so fast did man and beast move, that a guard's bullet went amiss. i mustered all my will force, bellowed fiercely, and landed a final concussive blow. the tiger collapsed and lay quietly. "like a pussycat!" i interjected. the swami laughed in hearty appreciation, then continued the engrossing tale. "raja begum was vanquished at last. his royal pride was further humbled: with my lacerated hands, i audaciously forced open his jaws. for a dramatic moment, i held my head within the yawning deathtrap. i looked around for a chain. pulling one from a pile on the floor, i bound the tiger by his neck to the cage bars. in triumph i moved toward the door. "but that fiend incarnate, raja begum, had stamina worthy of his supposed demoniac origin. with an incredible lunge, he snapped the chain and leaped on my back. my shoulder fast in his jaws, i fell violently. but in a trice i had him pinned beneath me. under merciless blows, the treacherous animal sank into semiconsciousness. this time i secured him more carefully. slowly i left the cage. "i found myself in a new uproar, this time one of delight. the crowd's cheer broke as though from a single gigantic throat. disastrously mauled, i had yet fulfilled the three conditions of the fight-stunning the tiger, binding him with a chain, and leaving him without requiring assistance for myself. in addition, i had so drastically injured and frightened the aggressive beast that he had been content to overlook the opportune prize of my head in his mouth! "after my wounds were treated, i was honored and garlanded; hundreds of gold pieces showered at my feet. the whole city entered a holiday period. endless discussions were heard on all sides about my victory over one of the largest and most savage tigers ever seen. raja begum was presented to me, as promised, but i felt no elation. a spiritual change had entered my heart. it seemed that with my final exit from the cage i had also closed the door on my worldly ambitions. "a woeful period followed. for six months i lay near death from blood poisoning. as soon as i was well enough to leave cooch behar, i returned to my native town. "'i know now that my teacher is the holy man who gave the wise warning.' i humbly made this confession to my father. 'oh, if i could only find him!' my longing was sincere, for one day the saint arrived unheralded. "'enough of tiger taming.' he spoke with calm assurance. 'come with me; i will teach you to subdue the beasts of ignorance roaming in jungles of the human mind. you are used to an audience: let it be a galaxy of angels, entertained by your thrilling mastery of yoga!' "i was initiated into the spiritual path by my saintly guru. he opened my soul-doors, rusty and resistant with long disuse. hand in hand, we soon set out for my training in the himalayas." chandi and i bowed at the swami's feet, grateful for his vivid outline of a life truly cyclonic. i felt amply repaid for the long probationary wait in the cold parlor! {fn - } sohong was his monastic name. he was popularly known as the "tiger swami." {fn - } "prince princess"-so named to indicate that this beast possessed the combined ferocity of tiger and tigress. chapter: the levitating saint "i saw a yogi remain in the air, several feet above the ground, last night at a group meeting." my friend, upendra mohun chowdhury, spoke impressively. i gave him an enthusiastic smile. "perhaps i can guess his name. was it bhaduri mahasaya, of upper circular road?" upendra nodded, a little crestfallen not to be a news-bearer. my inquisitiveness about saints was well-known among my friends; they delighted in setting me on a fresh track. "the yogi lives so close to my home that i often visit him." my words brought keen interest to upendra's face, and i made a further confidence. "i have seen him in remarkable feats. he has expertly mastered the various pranayamas {fn - } of the ancient eightfold yoga outlined by patanjali. {fn - } once bhaduri mahasaya performed the bhastrika pranayama before me with such amazing force that it seemed an actual storm had arisen in the room! then he extinguished the thundering breath and remained motionless in a high state of superconsciousness. {fn - } the aura of peace after the storm was vivid beyond forgetting." "i heard that the saint never leaves his home." upendra's tone was a trifle incredulous. "indeed it is true! he has lived indoors for the past twenty years. he slightly relaxes his self-imposed rule at the times of our holy festivals, when he goes as far as his front sidewalk! the beggars gather there, because saint bhaduri is known for his tender heart." "how does he remain in the air, defying the law of gravitation?" "a yogi's body loses its grossness after use of certain pranayamas. then it will levitate or hop about like a leaping frog. even saints who do not practice a formal yoga {fn - } have been known to levitate during a state of intense devotion to god." "i would like to know more of this sage. do you attend his evening meetings?" upendra's eyes were sparkling with curiosity. "yes, i go often. i am vastly entertained by the wit in his wisdom. occasionally my prolonged laughter mars the solemnity of his gatherings. the saint is not displeased, but his disciples look daggers!" on my way home from school that afternoon, i passed bhaduri mahasaya's cloister and decided on a visit. the yogi was inaccessible to the general public. a lone disciple, occupying the ground floor, guarded his master's privacy. the student was something of a martinet; he now inquired formally if i had an "engagement." his guru put in an appearance just in time to save me from summary ejection. "let mukunda come when he will." the sage's eyes twinkled. "my rule of seclusion is not for my own comfort, but for that of others. worldly people do not like the candor which shatters their delusions. saints are not only rare but disconcerting. even in scripture, they are often found embarrassing!" i followed bhaduri mahasaya to his austere quarters on the top floor, from which he seldom stirred. masters often ignore the panorama of the world's ado, out of focus till centered in the ages. the contemporaries of a sage are not alone those of the narrow present. "maharishi, {fn - } you are the first yogi i have known who always stays indoors." "god plants his saints sometimes in unexpected soil, lest we think we may reduce him to a rule!" the sage locked his vibrant body in the lotus posture. in his seventies, he displayed no unpleasing signs of age or sedentary life. stalwart and straight, he was ideal in every respect. his face was that of a rishi, as described in the ancient texts. noble-headed, abundantly bearded, he always sat firmly upright, his quiet eyes fixed on omnipresence. the saint and i entered the meditative state. after an hour, his gentle voice roused me. "you go often into the silence, but have you developed anubhava?" {fn - } he was reminding me to love god more than meditation. "do not mistake the technique for the goal." he offered me some mangoes. with that good-humored wit that i found so delightful in his grave nature, he remarked, "people in general are more fond of jala yoga (union with food) than of dhyana yoga (union with god)." his yogic pun affected me uproariously. "what a laugh you have!" an affectionate gleam came into his gaze. his own face was always serious, yet touched with an ecstatic smile. his large, lotus eyes held a hidden divine laughter. "those letters come from far-off america." the sage indicated several thick envelopes on a table. "i correspond with a few societies there whose members are interested in yoga. they are discovering india anew, with a better sense of direction than columbus! i am glad to help them. the knowledge of yoga is free to all who will receive, like the ungarnishable daylight. "what rishis perceived as essential for human salvation need not be diluted for the west. alike in soul though diverse in outer experience, neither west nor east will flourish if some form of disciplinary yoga be not practiced." the saint held me with his tranquil eyes. i did not realize that his speech was a veiled prophetic guidance. it is only now, as i write these words, that i understand the full meaning in the casual intimations he often gave me that someday i would carry india's teachings to america. [illustration: bhaduri mahasaya, "the levitating saint" "sir," i inquired, "why do you not write a book on yoga for the benefit of the world?" "i am training disciples," he replied. "they and their students will be living volumes, proof against the natural disintegrations of time and the unnatural interpretations of the critics."--see badhuri.jpg] "maharishi, i wish you would write a book on yoga for the benefit of the world." "i am training disciples. they and their students will be living volumes, proof against the natural disintegrations of time and the unnatural interpretations of the critics." bhaduri's wit put me into another gale of laughter. i remained alone with the yogi until his disciples arrived in the evening. bhaduri mahasaya entered one of his inimitable discourses. like a peaceful flood, he swept away the mental debris of his listeners, floating them godward. his striking parables were expressed in a flawless bengali. this evening bhaduri expounded various philosophical points connected with the life of mirabai, a medieval rajputani princess who abandoned her court life to seek the company of sadhus. one great-sannyasi refused to receive her because she was a woman; her reply brought him humbly to her feet. "tell the master," she had said, "that i did not know there was any male in the universe save god; are we all not females before him?" (a scriptural conception of the lord as the only positive creative principle, his creation being naught but a passive maya.) mirabai composed many ecstatic songs which are still treasured in india; i translate one of them here: "if by bathing daily god could be realized sooner would i be a whale in the deep; if by eating roots and fruits he could be known gladly would i choose the form of a goat; if the counting of rosaries uncovered him i would say my prayers on mammoth beads; if bowing before stone images unveiled him a flinty mountain i would humbly worship; if by drinking milk the lord could be imbibed many calves and children would know him; if abandoning one's wife would summon god would not thousands be eunuchs? mirabai knows that to find the divine one the only indispensable is love." several students put rupees in bhaduri's slippers which lay by his side as he sat in yoga posture. this respectful offering, customary in india, indicates that the disciple places his material goods at the guru's feet. grateful friends are only the lord in disguise, looking after his own. "master, you are wonderful!" a student, taking his leave, gazed ardently at the patriarchal sage. "you have renounced riches and comforts to seek god and teach us wisdom!" it was well-known that bhaduri mahasaya had forsaken great family wealth in his early childhood, when single-mindedly he entered the yogic path. "you are reversing the case!" the saint's face held a mild rebuke. "i have left a few paltry rupees, a few petty pleasures, for a cosmic empire of endless bliss. how then have i denied myself anything? i know the joy of sharing the treasure. is that a sacrifice? the shortsighted worldly folk are verily the real renunciates! they relinquish an unparalleled divine possession for a poor handful of earthly toys!" i chuckled over this paradoxical view of renunciation-one which puts the cap of croesus on any saintly beggar, whilst transforming all proud millionaires into unconscious martyrs. "the divine order arranges our future more wisely than any insurance company." the master's concluding words were the realized creed of his faith. "the world is full of uneasy believers in an outward security. their bitter thoughts are like scars on their foreheads. the one who gave us air and milk from our first breath knows how to provide day by day for his devotees." i continued my after-school pilgrimages to the saint's door. with silent zeal he aided me to attain anubhava. one day he moved to ram mohan roy road, away from the neighborhood of my gurpar road home. his loving disciples had built him a new hermitage, known as "nagendra math." {fn - } although it throws me ahead of my story by a number of years, i will recount here the last words given to me by bhaduri mahasaya. shortly before i embarked for the west, i sought him out and humbly knelt for his farewell blessing: "son, go to america. take the dignity of hoary india for your shield. victory is written on your brow; the noble distant people will well receive you." {fn - } methods of controlling life-force through regulation of breath. {fn - } the foremost ancient exponent of yoga. {fn - } french professors were the first in the west to be willing to scientifically investigate the possibilities of the superconscious mind. professor jules-bois, member of the l'ecole de psychologie of the sorbonne, lectured in america in ; he told his audiences that french scientists have accorded recognition to the superconsciousness, "which is the exact opposite of freud's subconscious mind and is the faculty which makes man really man and not just a super-animal." m. jules-bois explained that the awakening of the higher consciousness "was not to be confused with coueism or hypnotism. the existence of a superconscious mind has long been recognized philosophically, being in reality the oversoul spoken of by emerson, but only recently has it been recognized scientifically." the french scientist pointed out that from the superconsciousness come inspiration, genius, moral values. "belief in this is not mysticism though it recognized and valued the qualities which mystics preached." {fn - } st. theresa of avila and other christian saints were often observed in a state of levitation. {fn - } "great sage." {fn - } actual perception of god. {fn - } the saint's full name was nagendranath bhaduri. math means hermitage or ashram. chapter: india's great scientist, j.c. bose "jagadis chandra bose's wireless inventions antedated those of marconi." overhearing this provocative remark, i walked closer to a sidewalk group of professors engaged in scientific discussion. if my motive in joining them was racial pride, i regret it. i cannot deny my keen interest in evidence that india can play a leading part in physics, and not metaphysics alone. "what do you mean, sir?" the professor obligingly explained. "bose was the first one to invent a wireless coherer and an instrument for indicating the refraction of electric waves. but the indian scientist did not exploit his inventions commercially. he soon turned his attention from the inorganic to the organic world. his revolutionary discoveries as a plant physiologist are outpacing even his radical achievements as a physicist." i politely thanked my mentor. he added, "the great scientist is one of my brother professors at presidency college." i paid a visit the next day to the sage at his home, which was close to mine on gurpar road. i had long admired him from a respectful distance. the grave and retiring botanist greeted me graciously. he was a handsome, robust man in his fifties, with thick hair, broad forehead, and the abstracted eyes of a dreamer. the precision in his tones revealed the lifelong scientific habit. "i have recently returned from an expedition to scientific societies of the west. their members exhibited intense interest in delicate instruments of my invention which demonstrate the indivisible unity of all life. {fn - } the bose crescograph has the enormity of ten million magnifications. the microscope enlarges only a few thousand times; yet it brought vital impetus to biological science. the crescograph opens incalculable vistas." "you have done much, sir, to hasten the embrace of east and west in the impersonal arms of science." "i was educated at cambridge. how admirable is the western method of submitting all theory to scrupulous experimental verification! that empirical procedure has gone hand in hand with the gift for introspection which is my eastern heritage. together they have enabled me to sunder the silences of natural realms long uncommunicative. the telltale charts of my crescograph {fn - } are evidence for the most skeptical that plants have a sensitive nervous system and a varied emotional life. love, hate, joy, fear, pleasure, pain, excitability, stupor, and countless appropriate responses to stimuli are as universal in plants as in animals." "the unique throb of life in all creation could seem only poetic imagery before your advent, professor! a saint i once knew would never pluck flowers. 'shall i rob the rosebush of its pride in beauty? shall i cruelly affront its dignity by my rude divestment?' his sympathetic words are verified literally through your discoveries!" "the poet is intimate with truth, while the scientist approaches awkwardly. come someday to my laboratory and see the unequivocable testimony of the crescograph." gratefully i accepted the invitation, and took my departure. i heard later that the botanist had left presidency college, and was planning a research center in calcutta. when the bose institute was opened, i attended the dedicatory services. enthusiastic hundreds strolled over the premises. i was charmed with the artistry and spiritual symbolism of the new home of science. its front gate, i noted, was a centuried relic from a distant shrine. behind the lotus {fn - } fountain, a sculptured female figure with a torch conveyed the indian respect for woman as the immortal light-bearer. the garden held a small temple consecrated to the noumenon beyond phenomena. thought of the divine incorporeity was suggested by absence of any altar-image. [illustration: myself at age six--see atsix.jpg] [illustration: jagadis chandra bose, india's great physicist, botanist, and inventor of the crescograph--see bose.jpg] bose's speech on this great occasion might have issued from the lips of one of the inspired ancient rishis. "i dedicate today this institute as not merely a laboratory but a temple." his reverent solemnity stole like an unseen cloak over the crowded auditorium. "in the pursuit of my investigations i was unconsciously led into the border region of physics and physiology. to my amazement, i found boundary lines vanishing, and points of contact emerging, between the realms of the living and the non-living. inorganic matter was perceived as anything but inert; it was athrill under the action of multitudinous forces. "a universal reaction seemed to bring metal, plant and animal under a common law. they all exhibited essentially the same phenomena of fatigue and depression, with possibilities of recovery and of exaltation, as well as the permanent irresponsiveness associated with death. filled with awe at this stupendous generalization, it was with great hope that i announced my results before the royal society--results demonstrated by experiments. but the physiologists present advised me to confine myself to physical investigations, in which my success had been assured, rather than encroach on their preserves. i had unwittingly strayed into the domain of an unfamiliar caste system and so offended its etiquette. "an unconscious theological bias was also present, which confounds ignorance with faith. it is often forgotten that he who surrounded us with this ever-evolving mystery of creation has also implanted in us the desire to question and understand. through many years of miscomprehension, i came to know that the life of a devotee of science is inevitably filled with unending struggle. it is for him to cast his life as an ardent offering-regarding gain and loss, success and failure, as one. "in time the leading scientific societies of the world accepted my theories and results, and recognized the importance of the indian contribution to science. {fn - } can anything small or circumscribed ever satisfy the mind of india? by a continuous living tradition, and a vital power of rejuvenescence, this land has readjusted itself through unnumbered transformations. indians have always arisen who, discarding the immediate and absorbing prize of the hour, have sought for the realization of the highest ideals in life-not through passive renunciation, but through active struggle. the weakling who has refused the conflict, acquiring nothing, has had nothing to renounce. he alone who has striven and won can enrich the world by bestowing the fruits of his victorious experience. "the work already carried out in the bose laboratory on the response of matter, and the unexpected revelations in plant life, have opened out very extended regions of inquiry in physics, in physiology, in medicine, in agriculture, and even in psychology. problems hitherto regarded as insoluble have now been brought within the sphere of experimental investigation. "but high success is not to be obtained without rigid exactitude. hence the long battery of super-sensitive instruments and apparatus of my design, which stand before you today in their cases in the entrance hall. they tell you of the protracted efforts to get behind the deceptive seeming into the reality that remains unseen, of the continuous toil and persistence and resourcefulness called forth to overcome human limitations. all creative scientists know that the true laboratory is the mind, where behind illusions they uncover the laws of truth. "the lectures given here will not be mere repetitions of second-hand knowledge. they will announce new discoveries, demonstrated for the first time in these halls. through regular publication of the work of the institute, these indian contributions will reach the whole world. they will become public property. no patents will ever be taken. the spirit of our national culture demands that we should forever be free from the desecration of utilizing knowledge only for personal gain. "it is my further wish that the facilities of this institute be available, so far as possible, to workers from all countries. in this i am attempting to carry on the traditions of my country. so far back as twenty-five centuries, india welcomed to its ancient universities, at nalanda and taxila, scholars from all parts of the world. "although science is neither of the east nor of the west but rather international in its universality, yet india is specially fitted to make great contributions. {fn - } the burning indian imagination, which can extort new order out of a mass of apparently contradictory facts, is held in check by the habit of concentration. this restraint confers the power to hold the mind to the pursuit of truth with an infinite patience." tears stood in my eyes at the scientist's concluding words. is "patience" not indeed a synonym of india, confounding time and the historians alike? i visited the research center again, soon after the day of opening. the great botanist, mindful of his promise, took me to his quiet laboratory. "i will attach the crescograph to this fern; the magnification is tremendous. if a snail's crawl were enlarged in the same proportion, the creature would appear to be traveling like an express train!" my gaze was fixed eagerly on the screen which reflected the magnified fern-shadow. minute life-movements were now clearly perceptible; the plant was growing very slowly before my fascinated eyes. the scientist touched the tip of the fern with a small metal bar. the developing pantomime came to an abrupt halt, resuming the eloquent rhythms as soon as the rod was withdrawn. "you saw how any slight outside interference is detrimental to the sensitive tissues," bose remarked. "watch; i will now administer chloroform, and then give an antidote." the effect of the chloroform discontinued all growth; the antidote was revivifying. the evolutionary gestures on the screen held me more raptly than a "movie" plot. my companion (here in the role of villain) thrust a sharp instrument through a part of the fern; pain was indicated by spasmodic flutters. when he passed a razor partially through the stem, the shadow was violently agitated, then stilled itself with the final punctuation of death. "by first chloroforming a huge tree, i achieved a successful transplantation. usually, such monarchs of the forest die very quickly after being moved." jagadis smiled happily as he recounted the life-saving maneuver. "graphs of my delicate apparatus have proved that trees possess a circulatory system; their sap movements correspond to the blood pressure of animal bodies. the ascent of sap is not explicable on the mechanical grounds ordinarily advanced, such as capillary attraction. the phenomenon has been solved through the crescograph as the activity of living cells. peristaltic waves issue from a cylindrical tube which extends down a tree and serves as an actual heart! the more deeply we perceive, the more striking becomes the evidence that a uniform plan links every form in manifold nature." the great scientist pointed to another bose instrument. "i will show you experiments on a piece of tin. the life-force in metals responds adversely or beneficially to stimuli. ink markings will register the various reactions." deeply engrossed, i watched the graph which recorded the characteristic waves of atomic structure. when the professor applied chloroform to the tin, the vibratory writings stopped. they recommenced as the metal slowly regained its normal state. my companion dispensed a poisonous chemical. simultaneous with the quivering end of the tin, the needle dramatically wrote on the chart a death-notice. "bose instruments have demonstrated that metals, such as the steel used in scissors and machinery, are subject to fatigue, and regain efficiency by periodic rest. the life-pulse in metals is seriously harmed or even extinguished through the application of electric currents or heavy pressure." i looked around the room at the numerous inventions, eloquent testimony of a tireless ingenuity. "sir, it is lamentable that mass agricultural development is not speeded by fuller use of your marvelous mechanisms. would it not be easily possible to employ some of them in quick laboratory experiments to indicate the influence of various types of fertilizers on plant growth?" "you are right. countless uses of bose instruments will be made by future generations. the scientist seldom knows contemporaneous reward; it is enough to possess the joy of creative service." with expressions of unreserved gratitude to the indefatigable sage, i took my leave. "can the astonishing fertility of his genius ever be exhausted?" i thought. no diminution came with the years. inventing an intricate instrument, the "resonant cardiograph," bose then pursued extensive researches on innumerable indian plants. an enormous unsuspected pharmacopoeia of useful drugs was revealed. the cardiograph is constructed with an unerring accuracy by which a one-hundredth part of a second is indicated on a graph. resonant records measure infinitesimal pulsations in plant, animal and human structure. the great botanist predicted that use of his cardiograph will lead to vivisection on plants instead of animals. "side by side recordings of the effects of a medicine given simultaneously to a plant and an animal have shown astounding unanimity in result," he pointed out. "everything in man has been foreshadowed in the plant. experimentation on vegetation will contribute to lessening of human suffering." years later bose's pioneer plant findings were substantiated by other scientists. work done in at columbia university was reported by the new york times as follows: it has been determined within the past few years that when the nerves transmit messages between the brain and other parts of the body, tiny electrical impulses are being generated. these impulses have been measured by delicate galvanometers and magnified millions of times by modern amplifying apparatus. until now no satisfactory method had been found to study the passages of the impulses along the nerve fibers in living animals or man because of the great speed with which these impulses travel. drs. k. s. cole and h. j. curtis reported having discovered that the long single cells of the fresh-water plant nitella, used frequently in goldfish bowls, are virtually identical with those of single nerve fibers. furthermore, they found that nitella fibers, on being excited, propagate electrical waves that are similar in every way, except velocity, to those of the nerve fibers in animals and man. the electrical nerve impulses in the plant were found to be much slower than those in animals. this discovery was therefore seized upon by the columbia workers as a means for taking slow motion pictures of the passage of the electrical impulses in nerves. the nitella plant thus may become a sort of rosetta stone for deciphering the closely guarded secrets close to the very borderland of mind and matter. the poet rabindranath tagore was a stalwart friend of india's idealistic scientist. to him, the sweet bengali singer addressed the following lines: {fn - } o hermit, call thou in the authentic words of that old hymn called sama; "rise! awake!" call to the man who boasts his shastric lore from vain pedantic wranglings profitless, call to that foolish braggart to come forth out on the face of nature, this broad earth, send forth this call unto thy scholar band; together round thy sacrifice of fire let them all gather. so may our india, our ancient land unto herself return o once again return to steadfast work, to duty and devotion, to her trance of earnest meditation; let her sit once more unruffled, greedless, strifeless, pure, o once again upon her lofty seat and platform, teacher of all lands. {fn - } "all science is transcendental or else passes away. botany is now acquiring the right theory-the avatars of brahma will presently be the textbooks of natural history."-emerson. {fn - } from the latin root, crescere, to increase. for his crescograph and other inventions, bose was knighted in . {fn - } the lotus flower is an ancient divine symbol in india; its unfolding petals suggest the expansion of the soul; the growth of its pure beauty from the mud of its origin holds a benign spiritual promise. {fn - } "at present, only the sheerest accident brings india into the purview of the american college student. eight universities (harvard, yale, columbia, princeton, johns hopkins, pennsylvania, chicago, and california) have chairs of indology or sanskrit, but india is virtually unrepresented in departments of history, philosophy, fine arts, political science, sociology, or any of the other departments of intellectual experience in which, as we have seen, india has made great contributions. . . . we believe, consequently, that no department of study, particularly in the humanities, in any major university can be fully equipped without a properly trained specialist in the indic phases of its discipline. we believe, too, that every college which aims to prepare its graduates for intelligent work in the world which is to be theirs to live in, must have on its staff a scholar competent in the civilization of india."-extracts from an article by professor w. norman brown of the university of pennsylvania which appeared in the may, , issue of the bulletin of the american council of learned societies, th st., washington, d. c., cents copy. this issue (# ) contains over pages of a "basic bibliography for indic studies." {fn - } the atomic structure of matter was well-known to the ancient hindus. one of the six systems of indian philosophy is vaisesika, from the sanskrit root visesas, "atomic individuality." one of the foremost vaisesika expounders was aulukya, also called kanada, "the atom-eater," born about years ago. in an article in east-west, april, , a summary of vaisesika scientific knowledge was given as follows: "though the modern 'atomic theory' is generally considered a new advance of science, it was brilliantly expounded long ago by kanada, 'the atom-eater.' the sanskrit anus can be properly translated as 'atom' in the latter's literal greek sense of 'uncut' or indivisible. other scientific expositions of vaisesika treatises of the b.c. era include ( ) the movement of needles toward magnets, ( ) the circulation of water in plants, ( ) akash or ether, inert and structureless, as a basis for transmitting subtle forces, ( ) the solar fire as the cause of all other forms of heat, ( ) heat as the cause of molecular change, ( ) the law of gravitation as caused by the quality that inheres in earth-atoms to give them their attractive power or downward pull, ( ) the kinetic nature of all energy; causation as always rooted in an expenditure of energy or a redistribution of motion, ( ) universal dissolution through the disintegration of atoms, ( ) the radiation of heat and light rays, infinitely small particles, darting forth in all directions with inconceivable speed (the modern 'cosmic rays' theory), ( ) the relativity of time and space. "vaisesika assigned the origin of the world to atoms, eternal in their nature, i.e., their ultimate peculiarities. these atoms were regarded as possessing an incessant vibratory motion. . . . the recent discovery that an atom is a miniature solar system would be no news to the old vaisesika philosophers, who also reduced time to its furthest mathematical concept by describing the smallest unit of time (kala) as the period taken by an atom to traverse its own unit of space." {fn - } translated from the bengali of rabindranath tagore, by manmohan ghosh, in viswa-bharati. chapter: the blissful devotee and his cosmic romance "little sir, please be seated. i am talking to my divine mother." silently i had entered the room in great awe. the angelic appearance of master mahasaya fairly dazzled me. with silky white beard and large lustrous eyes, he seemed an incarnation of purity. his upraised chin and folded hands apprized me that my first visit had disturbed him in the midst of his devotions. his simple words of greeting produced the most violent effect my nature had so far experienced. the bitter separation of my mother's death i had thought the measure of all anguish. now an agony at separation from my divine mother was an indescribable torture of the spirit. i fell moaning to the floor. "little sir, quiet yourself!" the saint was sympathetically distressed. abandoned in some oceanic desolation, i clutched his feet as the sole raft of my rescue. "holy sir, thy intercession! ask divine mother if i find any favor in her sight!" this promise is one not easily bestowed; the master was constrained to silence. beyond reach of doubt, i was convinced that master mahasaya was in intimate converse with the universal mother. it was deep humiliation to realize that my eyes were blind to her who even at this moment was perceptible to the faultless gaze of the saint. shamelessly gripping his feet, deaf to his gentle remonstrances, i besought him again and again for his intervening grace. "i will make your plea to the beloved." the master's capitulation came with a slow, compassionate smile. what power in those few words, that my being should know release from its stormy exile? "sir, remember your pledge! i shall return soon for her message!" joyful anticipation rang in my voice that only a moment ago had been sobbing in sorrow. descending the long stairway, i was overwhelmed by memories. this house at amherst street, now the residence of master mahasaya, had once been my family home, scene of my mother's death. here my human heart had broken for the vanished mother; and here today my spirit had been as though crucified by absence of the divine mother. hallowed walls, silent witness of my grievous hurts and final healing! my steps were eager as i returned to my gurpar road home. seeking the seclusion of my small attic, i remained in meditation until ten o'clock. the darkness of the warm indian night was suddenly lit with a wondrous vision. haloed in splendor, the divine mother stood before me. her face, tenderly smiling, was beauty itself. "always have i loved thee! ever shall i love thee!" the celestial tones still ringing in the air, she disappeared. the sun on the following morning had hardly risen to an angle of decorum when i paid my second visit to master mahasaya. climbing the staircase in the house of poignant memories, i reached his fourth-floor room. the knob of the closed door was wrapped around with a cloth; a hint, i felt, that the saint desired privacy. as i stood irresolutely on the landing, the door was opened by the master's welcoming hand. i knelt at his holy feet. in a playful mood, i wore a solemn mask over my face, hiding the divine elation. "sir, i have come-very early, i confess!-for your message. did the beloved mother say anything about me?" "mischievous little sir!" not another remark would he make. apparently my assumed gravity was unimpressive. "why so mysterious, so evasive? do saints never speak plainly?" perhaps i was a little provoked. "must you test me?" his calm eyes were full of understanding. "could i add a single word this morning to the assurance you received last night at ten o'clock from the beautiful mother herself?" master mahasaya possessed control over the flood-gates of my soul: again i plunged prostrate at his feet. but this time my tears welled from a bliss, and not a pain, past bearing. "think you that your devotion did not touch the infinite mercy? the motherhood of god, that you have worshiped in forms both human and divine, could never fail to answer your forsaken cry." who was this simple saint, whose least request to the universal spirit met with sweet acquiescence? his role in the world was humble, as befitted the greatest man of humility i ever knew. in this amherst street house, master mahasaya {fn - } conducted a small high school for boys. no words of chastisement passed his lips; no rule and ferule maintained his discipline. higher mathematics indeed were taught in these modest classrooms, and a chemistry of love absent from the textbooks. he spread his wisdom by spiritual contagion rather than impermeable precept. consumed by an unsophisticated passion for the divine mother, the saint no more demanded the outward forms of respect than a child. "i am not your guru; he shall come a little later," he told me. "through his guidance, your experiences of the divine in terms of love and devotion shall be translated into his terms of fathomless wisdom." every late afternoon, i betook myself to amherst street. i sought master mahasaya's divine cup, so full that its drops daily overflowed on my being. never before had i bowed in utter reverence; now i felt it an immeasurable privilege even to tread the same ground which master mahasaya sanctified. "sir, please wear this champak garland i have fashioned especially for you." i arrived one evening, holding my chain of flowers. but shyly he drew away, repeatedly refusing the honor. perceiving my hurt, he finally smiled consent. "since we are both devotees of the mother, you may put the garland on this bodily temple, as offering to her who dwells within." his vast nature lacked space in which any egotistical consideration could gain foothold. [illustration: two brothers of therese neumann, i stand with them in konnersreuth, bavaria.--see nbrothers.jpg] [illustration: master mahasaya, ever engrossed in his blissful cosmic romance.--see mmahasaya.jpg] "let us go tomorrow to the dakshineswar temple, forever hallowed by my guru." master mahasaya was a disciple of a christlike master, sri ramakrishna paramhansa. the four-mile journey on the following morning was taken by boat on the ganges. we entered the nine-domed temple of kali, where the figures of the divine mother and shiva rest on a burnished silver lotus, its thousand petals meticulously chiseled. master mahasaya beamed in enchantment. he was engaged in his inexhaustible romance with the beloved. as he chanted her name, my enraptured heart seemed shattered into a thousand pieces. we strolled later through the sacred precincts, halting in a tamarisk grove. the manna characteristically exuded by this tree was symbolic of the heavenly food master mahasaya was bestowing. his divine invocations continued. i sat rigidly motionless on the grass amid the pink feathery tamarisk flowers. temporarily absent from the body, i soared in a supernal visit. this was the first of many pilgrimages to dakshineswar with the holy teacher. from him i learned the sweetness of god in the aspect of mother, or divine mercy. the childlike saint found little appeal in the father aspect, or divine justice. stern, exacting, mathematical judgment was alien to his gentle nature. "he can serve as an earthly prototype for the very angels of heaven!" i thought fondly, watching him one day at his prayers. without a breath of censure or criticism, he surveyed the world with eyes long familiar with the primal purity. his body, mind, speech, and actions were effortlessly harmonized with his soul's simplicity. "my master told me so." shrinking from personal assertion, the saint ended any sage counsel with this invariable tribute. so deep was his identity with sri ramakrishna that master mahasaya no longer considered his thoughts as his own. hand in hand, the saint and i walked one evening on the block of his school. my joy was dimmed by the arrival of a conceited acquaintance who burdened us with a lengthy discourse. "i see this man doesn't please you." the saint's whisper to me was unheard by the egotist, spellbound by his own monologue. "i have spoken to divine mother about it; she realizes our sad predicament. as soon as we get to yonder red house, she has promised to remind him of more urgent business." my eyes were glued to the site of salvation. reaching its red gate, the man unaccountably turned and departed, neither finishing his sentence nor saying good-by. the assaulted air was comforted with peace. another day found me walking alone near the howrah railway station. i stood for a moment by a temple, silently criticizing a small group of men with drum and cymbals who were violently reciting a chant. "how undevotionally they use the lord's divine name in mechanical repetition," i reflected. my gaze was astonished by the rapid approach of master mahasaya. "sir, how come you here?" the saint, ignoring my question, answered my thought. "isn't it true, little sir, that the beloved's name sounds sweet from all lips, ignorant or wise?" he passed his arm around me affectionately; i found myself carried on his magic carpet to the merciful presence. "would you like to see some bioscopes?" this question one afternoon from master mahasaya was mystifying; the term was then used in india to signify motion pictures. i agreed, glad to be in his company in any circumstances. a brisk walk brought us to the garden fronting calcutta university. my companion indicated a bench near the goldighi or pond. "let us sit here for a few minutes. my master always asked me to meditate whenever i saw an expanse of water. here its placidity reminds us of the vast calmness of god. as all things can be reflected in water, so the whole universe is mirrored in the lake of the cosmic mind. so my gurudeva often said." soon we entered a university hall where a lecture was in progress. it proved abysmally dull, though varied occasionally by lantern slide illustrations, equally uninteresting. "so this is the kind of bioscope the master wanted me to see!" my thought was impatient, yet i would not hurt the saint by revealing boredom in my face. but he leaned toward me confidentially. "i see, little sir, that you don't like this bioscope. i have mentioned it to divine mother; she is in full sympathy with us both. she tells me that the electric lights will now go out, and won't be relit until we have a chance to leave the room." as his whisper ended, the hall was plunged into darkness. the professor's strident voice was stilled in astonishment, then remarked, "the electrical system of this hall appears to be defective." by this time, master mahasaya and i were safely across the threshold. glancing back from the corridor, i saw that the scene of our martyrdom had again become illuminated. "little sir, you were disappointed in that bioscope, {fn - } but i think you will like a different one." the saint and i were standing on the sidewalk in front of the university building. he gently slapped my chest over the heart. a transforming silence ensued. just as the modern "talkies" become inaudible motion pictures when the sound apparatus goes out of order, so the divine hand, by some strange miracle, stifled the earthly bustle. the pedestrians as well as the passing trolley cars, automobiles, bullock carts, and iron-wheeled hackney carriages were all in noiseless transit. as though possessing an omnipresent eye, i beheld the scenes which were behind me, and to each side, as easily as those in front. the whole spectacle of activity in that small section of calcutta passed before me without a sound. like a glow of fire dimly seen beneath a thin coat of ashes, a mellow luminescence permeated the panoramic view. my own body seemed nothing more than one of the many shadows, though it was motionless, while the others flitted mutely to and fro. several boys, friends of mine, approached and passed on; though they had looked directly at me, it was without recognition. the unique pantomime brought me an inexpressible ecstasy. i drank deep from some blissful fount. suddenly my chest received another soft blow from master mahasaya. the pandemonium of the world burst upon my unwilling ears. i staggered, as though harshly awakened from a gossamer dream. the transcendental wine removed beyond my reach. "little sir, i see you found the second bioscope to your liking." the saint was smiling; i started to drop in gratitude on the ground before him. "you can't do that to me now; you know god is in your temple also! i won't let divine mother touch my feet through your hands!" if anyone observed the unpretentious master and myself as we walked away from the crowded pavement, the onlooker surely suspected us of intoxication. i felt that the falling shades of evening were sympathetically drunk with god. when darkness recovered from its nightly swoon, i faced the new morning bereft of my ecstatic mood. but ever enshrined in memory is the seraphic son of divine mother-master mahasaya! trying with poor words to do justice to his benignity, i wonder if master mahasaya, and others among the deep-visioned saints whose paths crossed mine, knew that years later, in a western land, i would be writing about their lives as divine devotees. their foreknowledge would not surprise me nor, i hope, my readers, who have come thus far with me. {fn - } these are respectful titles by which he was customarily addressed. his name was mahendra nath gupta; he signed his literary works simply "m." {fn - } the oxford english dictionary gives, as rare, this definition of bioscope: a view of life; that which gives such a view. master mahasaya's choice of a word was, then, peculiarly justified. chapter: i meet my master, sri yukteswar "faith in god can produce any miracle except one-passing an examination without study." distastefully i closed the book i had picked up in an idle moment. "the writer's exception shows his complete lack of faith," i thought. "poor chap, he has great respect for the midnight oil!" my promise to father had been that i would complete my high school studies. i cannot pretend to diligence. the passing months found me less frequently in the classroom than in secluded spots along the calcutta bathing ghats. the adjoining crematory grounds, especially gruesome at night, are considered highly attractive by the yogi. he who would find the deathless essence must not be dismayed by a few unadorned skulls. human inadequacy becomes clear in the gloomy abode of miscellaneous bones. my midnight vigils were thus of a different nature from the scholar's. the week of final examinations at the hindu high school was fast approaching. this interrogatory period, like the sepulchral haunts, inspires a well-known terror. my mind was nevertheless at peace. braving the ghouls, i was exhuming a knowledge not found in lecture halls. but it lacked the art of swami pranabananda, who easily appeared in two places at one time. my educational dilemma was plainly a matter for the infinite ingenuity. this was my reasoning, though to many it seems illogic. the devotee's irrationality springs from a thousand inexplicable demonstrations of god's instancy in trouble. "hello, mukunda! i catch hardly a glimpse of you these days!" a classmate accosted me one afternoon on gurpar road. "hello, nantu! my invisibility at school has actually placed me there in a decidedly awkward position." i unburdened myself under his friendly gaze. nantu, who was a brilliant student, laughed heartily; my predicament was not without a comic aspect. "you are utterly unprepared for the finals! i suppose it is up to me to help you!" the simple words conveyed divine promise to my ears; with alacrity i visited my friend's home. he kindly outlined the solutions to various problems he considered likely to be set by the instructors. "these questions are the bait which will catch many trusting boys in the examination trap. remember my answers, and you will escape without injury." the night was far gone when i departed. bursting with unseasoned erudition, i devoutly prayed it would remain for the next few critical days. nantu had coached me in my various subjects but, under press of time, had forgotten my course in sanskrit. fervently i reminded god of the oversight. i set out on a short walk the next morning, assimilating my new knowledge to the rhythm of swinging footsteps. as i took a short cut through the weeds of a corner lot, my eye fell on a few loose printed sheets. a triumphant pounce proved them to be sanskrit verse. i sought out a pundit for aid in my stumbling interpretation. his rich voice filled the air with the edgeless, honeyed beauty of the ancient tongue. {fn - } "these exceptional stanzas cannot possibly be of aid in your sanskrit test." the scholar dismissed them skeptically. but familiarity with that particular poem enabled me on the following day to pass the sanskrit examination. through the discerning help nantu had given, i also attained the minimum grade for success in all my other subjects. father was pleased that i had kept my word and concluded my secondary school course. my gratitude sped to the lord, whose sole guidance i perceived in my visit to nantu and my walk by the unhabitual route of the debris-filled lot. playfully he had given a dual expression to his timely design for my rescue. i came across the discarded book whose author had denied god precedence in the examination halls. i could not restrain a chuckle at my own silent comment: "it would only add to this fellow's confusion, if i were to tell him that divine meditation among the cadavers is a short cut to a high school diploma!" in my new dignity, i was now openly planning to leave home. together with a young friend, jitendra mazumdar, {fn - } i decided to join a mahamandal hermitage in benares, and receive its spiritual discipline. a desolation fell over me one morning at thought of separation from my family. since mother's death, my affection had grown especially tender for my two younger brothers, sananda and bishnu. i rushed to my retreat, the little attic which had witnessed so many scenes in my turbulent sadhana. {fn - } after a two-hour flood of tears, i felt singularly transformed, as by some alchemical cleanser. all attachment {fn - } disappeared; my resolution to seek god as the friend of friends set like granite within me. i quickly completed my travel preparations. "i make one last plea." father was distressed as i stood before him for final blessing. "do not forsake me and your grieving brothers and sisters." "revered father, how can i tell my love for you! but even greater is my love for the heavenly father, who has given me the gift of a perfect father on earth. let me go, that i someday return with a more divine understanding." with reluctant parental consent, i set out to join jitendra, already in benares at the hermitage. on my arrival the young head swami, dyananda, greeted me cordially. tall and thin, of thoughtful mien, he impressed me favorably. his fair face had a buddhalike composure. i was pleased that my new home possessed an attic, where i managed to spend the dawn and morning hours. the ashram members, knowing little of meditation practices, thought i should employ my whole time in organizational duties. they gave me praise for my afternoon work in their office. "don't try to catch god so soon!" this ridicule from a fellow resident accompanied one of my early departures toward the attic. i went to dyananda, busy in his small sanctum overlooking the ganges. "swamiji, {fn - } i don't understand what is required of me here. i am seeking direct perception of god. without him, i cannot be satisfied with affiliation or creed or performance of good works." the orange-robed ecclesiastic gave me an affectionate pat. staging a mock rebuke, he admonished a few near-by disciples. "don't bother mukunda. he will learn our ways." i politely concealed my doubt. the students left the room, not overly bent with their chastisement. dyananda had further words for me. "mukunda, i see your father is regularly sending you money. please return it to him; you require none here. a second injunction for your discipline concerns food. even when you feel hunger, don't mention it." whether famishment gleamed in my eye, i knew not. that i was hungry, i knew only too well. the invariable hour for the first hermitage meal was twelve noon. i had been accustomed in my own home to a large breakfast at nine o'clock. the three-hour gap became daily more interminable. gone were the calcutta years when i could rebuke the cook for a ten-minute delay. now i tried to control my appetite; one day i undertook a twenty-four hour fast. with double zest i awaited the following midday. "dyanandaji's train is late; we are not going to eat until he arrives." jitendra brought me this devastating news. as gesture of welcome to the swami, who had been absent for two weeks, many delicacies were in readiness. an appetizing aroma filled the air. nothing else offering, what else could be swallowed except pride over yesterday's achievement of a fast? "lord hasten the train!" the heavenly provider, i thought, was hardly included in the interdiction with which dyananda had silenced me. divine attention was elsewhere, however; the plodding clock covered the hours. darkness was descending as our leader entered the door. my greeting was one of unfeigned joy. "dyanandaji will bathe and meditate before we can serve food." jitendra approached me again as a bird of ill omen. i was in near-collapse. my young stomach, new to deprivation, protested with gnawing vigor. pictures i had seen of famine victims passed wraithlike before me. "the next benares death from starvation is due at once in this hermitage," i thought. impending doom averted at nine o'clock. ambrosial summons! in memory that meal is vivid as one of life's perfect hours. intense absorption yet permitted me to observe that dyananda ate absent-mindedly. he was apparently above my gross pleasures. "swamiji, weren't you hungry?" happily surfeited, i was alone with the leader in his study. "o yes! i have spent the last four days without food or drink. i never eat on trains, filled with the heterogenous vibrations of worldly people. strictly i observe the shastric {fn - } rules for monks of my particular order. "certain problems of our organizational work lie on my mind. tonight at home i neglected my dinner. what's the hurry? tomorrow i'll make it a point to have a proper meal." he laughed merrily. shame spread within me like a suffocation. but the past day of my torture was not easily forgotten; i ventured a further remark. "swamiji, i am puzzled. following your instruction, suppose i never asked for food, and nobody gives me any. i should starve to death." "die then!" this alarming counsel split the air. "die if you must mukunda! never admit that you live by the power of food and not by the power of god! he who has created every form of nourishment, he who has bestowed appetite, will certainly see that his devotee is sustained! do not imagine that rice maintains you, or that money or men support you! could they aid if the lord withdraws your life-breath? they are his indirect instruments merely. is it by any skill of yours that food digests in your stomach? use the sword of your discrimination, mukunda! cut through the chains of agency and perceive the single cause!" i found his incisive words entering some deep marrow. gone was an age-old delusion by which bodily imperatives outwit the soul. there and then i tasted the spirit's all-sufficiency. in how many strange cities, in my later life of ceaseless travel, did occasion arise to prove the serviceability of this lesson in a benares hermitage! the sole treasure which had accompanied me from calcutta was the sadhu's silver amulet bequeathed to me by mother. guarding it for years, i now had it carefully hidden in my ashram room. to renew my joy in the talismanic testimony, one morning i opened the locked box. the sealed covering untouched, lo! the amulet was gone. mournfully i tore open its envelope and made unmistakably sure. it had vanished, in accordance with the sadhu's prediction, into the ether whence he had summoned it. my relationship with dyananda's followers grew steadily worse. the household was alienated, hurt by my determined aloofness. my strict adherence to meditation on the very ideal for which i had left home and all worldly ambitions called forth shallow criticism on all sides. torn by spiritual anguish, i entered the attic one dawn, resolved to pray until answer was vouchsafed. "merciful mother of the universe, teach me thyself through visions, or through a guru sent by thee!" the passing hours found my sobbing pleas without response. suddenly i felt lifted as though bodily to a sphere uncircumscribed. "thy master cometh today!" a divine womanly voice came from everywhere and nowhere. this supernal experience was pierced by a shout from a definite locale. a young priest nicknamed habu was calling me from the downstairs kitchen. "mukunda, enough of meditation! you are needed for an errand." another day i might have replied impatiently; now i wiped my tear-swollen face and meekly obeyed the summons. together habu and i set out for a distant market place in the bengali section of benares. the ungentle indian sun was not yet at zenith as we made our purchases in the bazaars. we pushed our way through the colorful medley of housewives, guides, priests, simply-clad widows, dignified brahmins, and the ubiquitous holy bulls. passing an inconspicuous lane, i turned my head and surveyed the narrow length. a christlike man in the ocher robes of a swami stood motionless at the end of the road. instantly and anciently familiar he seemed; my gaze fed hungrily for a trice. then doubt assailed me. "you are confusing this wandering monk with someone known to you," i thought. "dreamer, walk on." after ten minutes, i felt heavy numbness in my feet. as though turned to stone, they were unable to carry me farther. laboriously i turned around; my feet regained normalcy. i faced the opposite direction; again the curious weight oppressed me. "the saint is magnetically drawing me to him!" with this thought, i heaped my parcels into the arms of habu. he had been observing my erratic footwork with amazement, and now burst into laughter. "what ails you? are you crazy?" my tumultuous emotion prevented any retort; i sped silently away. retracing my steps as though wing-shod, i reached the narrow lane. my quick glance revealed the quiet figure, steadily gazing in my direction. a few eager steps and i was at his feet. "gurudeva!" {fn - } the divine face was none other than he of my thousand visions. these halcyon eyes, in leonine head with pointed beard and flowing locks, had oft peered through gloom of my nocturnal reveries, holding a promise i had not fully understood. "o my own, you have come to me!" my guru uttered the words again and again in bengali, his voice tremulous with joy. "how many years i have waited for you!" we entered a oneness of silence; words seemed the rankest superfluities. eloquence flowed in soundless chant from heart of master to disciple. with an antenna of irrefragable insight i sensed that my guru knew god, and would lead me to him. the obscuration of this life disappeared in a fragile dawn of prenatal memories. dramatic time! past, present, and future are its cycling scenes. this was not the first sun to find me at these holy feet! my hand in his, my guru led me to his temporary residence in the rana mahal section of the city. his athletic figure moved with firm tread. tall, erect, about fifty-five at this time, he was active and vigorous as a young man. his dark eyes were large, beautiful with plumbless wisdom. slightly curly hair softened a face of striking power. strength mingled subtly with gentleness. as we made our way to the stone balcony of a house overlooking the ganges, he said affectionately: "i will give you my hermitages and all i possess." "sir, i come for wisdom and god-contact. those are your treasure-troves i am after!" the swift indian twilight had dropped its half-curtain before my master spoke again. his eyes held unfathomable tenderness. "i give you my unconditional love." precious words! a quarter-century elapsed before i had another auricular proof of his love. his lips were strange to ardor; silence became his oceanic heart. "will you give me the same unconditional love?" he gazed at me with childlike trust. "i will love you eternally, gurudeva!" "ordinary love is selfish, darkly rooted in desires and satisfactions. divine love is without condition, without boundary, without change. the flux of the human heart is gone forever at the transfixing touch of pure love." he added humbly, "if ever you find me falling from a state of god-realization, please promise to put my head on your lap and help to bring me back to the cosmic beloved we both worship." he rose then in the gathering darkness and guided me to an inner room. as we ate mangoes and almond sweetmeats, he unobtrusively wove into his conversation an intimate knowledge of my nature. i was awe-struck at the grandeur of his wisdom, exquisitely blended with an innate humility. "do not grieve for your amulet. it has served its purpose." like a divine mirror, my guru apparently had caught a reflection of my whole life. "the living reality of your presence, master, is joy beyond any symbol." "it is time for a change, inasmuch as you are unhappily situated in the hermitage." i had made no references to my life; they now seemed superfluous! by his natural, unemphatic manner, i understood that he wished no astonished ejaculations at his clairvoyance. "you should go back to calcutta. why exclude relatives from your love of humanity?" his suggestion dismayed me. my family was predicting my return, though i had been unresponsive to many pleas by letter. "let the young bird fly in the metaphysical skies," ananta had remarked. "his wings will tire in the heavy atmosphere. we shall yet see him swoop toward home, fold his pinions, and humbly rest in our family nest." this discouraging simile fresh in my mind, i was determined to do no "swooping" in the direction of calcutta. "sir, i am not returning home. but i will follow you anywhere. please give me your address, and your name." "swami sri yukteswar giri. my chief hermitage is in serampore, on rai ghat lane. i am visiting my mother here for only a few days." i wondered at god's intricate play with his devotees. serampore is but twelve miles from calcutta, yet in those regions i had never caught a glimpse of my guru. we had had to travel for our meeting to the ancient city of kasi (benares), hallowed by memories of lahiri mahasaya. here too the feet of buddha, shankaracharya and other yogi--christs had blessed the soil. "you will come to me in four weeks." for the first time, sri yukteswar's voice was stern. "now i have told my eternal affection, and have shown my happiness at finding you-that is why you disregard my request. the next time we meet, you will have to reawaken my interest: i won't accept you as a disciple easily. there must be complete surrender by obedience to my strict training." i remained obstinately silent. my guru easily penetrated my difficulty. "do you think your relatives will laugh at you?" "i will not return." "you will return in thirty days." "never." bowing reverently at his feet, i departed without lightening the controversial tension. as i made my way in the midnight darkness, i wondered why the miraculous meeting had ended on an inharmonious note. the dual scales of maya, that balance every joy with a grief! my young heart was not yet malleable to the transforming fingers of my guru. the next morning i noticed increased hostility in the attitude of the hermitage members. my days became spiked with invariable rudeness. in three weeks, dyananda left the ashram to attend a conference in bombay; pandemonium broke over my hapless head. "mukunda is a parasite, accepting hermitage hospitality without making proper return." overhearing this remark, i regretted for the first time that i had obeyed the request to send back my money to father. with heavy heart, i sought out my sole friend, jitendra. "i am leaving. please convey my respectful regrets to dyanandaji when he returns." "i will leave also! my attempts to meditate here meet with no more favor than your own." jitendra spoke with determination. "i have met a christlike saint. let us visit him in serampore." and so the "bird" prepared to "swoop" perilously close to calcutta! {fn - } sanskrita, polished; complete. sanskrit is the eldest sister of all indo-european tongues. its alphabetical script is devanagari, literally "divine abode." "who knows my grammar knows god!" panini, great philologist of ancient india, paid this tribute to the mathematical and psychological perfection in sanskrit. he who would track language to its lair must indeed end as omniscient. {fn - } he was not jatinda (jotin ghosh), who will be remembered for his timely aversion to tigers! {fn - } path or preliminary road to god. {fn - } hindu scriptures teach that family attachment is delusive if it prevents the devotee from seeking the giver of all boons, including the one of loving relatives, not to mention life itself. jesus similarly taught: "who is my mother? and who are my brethren?" (matthew : .) {fn - } ji is a customary respectful suffix, particularly used in direct address; thus "swamiji," "guruji," "sri yukteswarji," "paramhansaji." {fn - } pertaining to the shastras, literally, "sacred books," comprising four classes of scripture: the shruti, smriti, purana, and tantra. these comprehensive treatises cover every aspect of religious and social life, and the fields of law, medicine, architecture, art, etc. the shrutis are the "directly heard" or "revealed" scriptures, the vedas. the smritis or "remembered" lore was finally written down in a remote past as the world's longest epic poems, the mahabharata and the ramayana. puranas are literally "ancient" allegories; tantras literally mean "rites" or "rituals"; these treatises convey profound truths under a veil of detailed symbolism. {fn - } "divine teacher," the customary sanskrit term for one's spiritual preceptor. i have rendered it in english as simply "master." chapter: two penniless boys in brindaban "it would serve you right if father disinherited you, mukunda! how foolishly you are throwing away your life!" an elder-brother sermon was assaulting my ears. jitendra and i, fresh from the train (a figure of speech merely; we were covered with dust), had just arrived at the home of ananta, recently transferred from calcutta to the ancient city of agra. brother was a supervising accountant for the bengal-nagpur railway. "you well know, ananta, i seek my inheritance from the heavenly father." "money first; god can come later! who knows? life may be too long." "god first; money is his slave! who can tell? life may be too short." my retort was summoned by the exigencies of the moment, and held no presentiment. yet the leaves of time unfolded to early finality for ananta; a few years later {fn - } he entered the land where bank notes avail neither first nor last. "wisdom from the hermitage, i suppose! but i see you have left benares." ananta's eyes gleamed with satisfaction; he yet hoped to secure my pinions in the family nest. "my sojourn in benares was not in vain! i found there everything my heart had been longing for! you may be sure it was not your pundit or his son!" ananta joined me in reminiscent laughter; he had had to admit that the benares "clairvoyant" he selected was a shortsighted one. "what are your plans, my wandering brother?" "jitendra persuaded me to agra. we shall view the beauties of the taj mahal {fn - } here," i explained. "then we are going to my newly-found guru, who has a hermitage in serampore." ananta hospitably arranged for our comfort. several times during the evening i noticed his eyes fixed on me reflectively. "i know that look!" i thought. "a plot is brewing!" the denouement took place during our early breakfast. "so you feel quite independent of father's wealth." ananta's gaze was innocent as he resumed the barbs of yesterday's conversation. "i am conscious of my dependence on god." "words are cheap! life has shielded you thus far! what a plight if you were forced to look to the invisible hand for your food and shelter! you would soon be begging on the streets!" "never! i would not put faith in passers-by rather than god! he can devise for his devotee a thousand resources besides the begging-bowl!" "more rhetoric! suppose i suggest that your vaunted philosophy be put to a test in this tangible world?" "i would agree! do you confine god to a speculative world?" "we shall see; today you shall have opportunity either to enlarge or to confirm my own views!" ananta paused for a dramatic moment; then spoke slowly and seriously. "i propose that i send you and your fellow disciple jitendra this morning to the near-by city of brindaban. you must not take a single rupee; you must not beg, either for food or money; you must not reveal your predicament to anyone; you must not go without your meals; and you must not be stranded in brindaban. if you return to my bungalow here before twelve o'clock tonight, without having broken any rule of the test, i shall be the most astonished man in agra!" "i accept the challenge." no hesitation was in my words or in my heart. grateful memories flashed of the instant beneficence: my healing of deadly cholera through appeal to lahiri mahasaya's picture; the playful gift of the two kites on the lahore roof with uma; the opportune amulet amidst my discouragement; the decisive message through the unknown benares sadhu outside the compound of the pundit's home; the vision of divine mother and her majestic words of love; her swift heed through master mahasaya to my trifling embarrassments; the last-minute guidance which materialized my high school diploma; and the ultimate boon, my living master from the mist of lifelong dreams. never could i admit my "philosophy" unequal to any tussle on the world's harsh proving ground! "your willingness does you credit. i'll escort you to the train at once." ananta turned to the openmouthed jitendra. "you must go along as a witness and, very likely, a fellow victim!" a half hour later jitendra and i were in possession of one-way tickets for our impromptu trip. we submitted, in a secluded corner of the station, to a search of our persons. ananta was quickly satisfied that we were carrying no hidden hoard; our simple dhotis {fn - } concealed nothing more than was necessary. as faith invaded the serious realms of finance, my friend spoke protestingly. "ananta, give me one or two rupees as a safeguard. then i can telegraph you in case of misfortune." "jitendra!" my ejaculation was sharply reproachful. "i will not proceed with the test if you take any money as final security." "there is something reassuring about the clink of coins." jitendra said no more as i regarded him sternly. "mukunda, i am not heartless." a hint of humility had crept into ananta's voice. it may be that his conscience was smiting him; perhaps for sending two insolvent boys to a strange city; perhaps for his own religious skepticism. "if by any chance or grace you pass successfully through the brindaban ordeal, i shall ask you to initiate me as your disciple." this promise had a certain irregularity, in keeping with the unconventional occasion. the eldest brother in an indian family seldom bows before his juniors; he receives respect and obedience second only to a father. but no time remained for my comment; our train was at point of departure. jitendra maintained a lugubrious silence as our train covered the miles. finally he bestirred himself; leaning over, he pinched me painfully at an awkward spot. "i see no sign that god is going to supply our next meal!" "be quiet, doubting thomas; the lord is working with us." "can you also arrange that he hurry? already i am famished merely at the prospect before us. i left benares to view the taj's mausoleum, not to enter my own!" "cheer up, jitendra! are we not to have our first glimpse of the sacred wonders of brindaban? {fn - } i am in deep joy at thought of treading the ground hallowed by feet of lord krishna." the door of our compartment opened; two men seated themselves. the next train stop would be the last. "young lads, do you have friends in brindaban?" the stranger opposite me was taking a surprising interest. "none of your business!" rudely i averted my gaze. "you are probably flying away from your families under the enchantment of the stealer of hearts. {fn - } i am of devotional temperament myself. i will make it my positive duty to see that you receive food, and shelter from this overpowering heat." "no, sir, let us alone. you are very kind; but you are mistaken in judging us to be truants from home." no further conversation ensued; the train came to a halt. as jitendra and i descended to the platform, our chance companions linked arms with us and summoned a horse cab. we alit before a stately hermitage, set amidst the evergreen trees of well-kept grounds. our benefactors were evidently known here; a smiling lad led us without comment to a parlor. we were soon joined by an elderly woman of dignified bearing. "gauri ma, the princes could not come." one of the men addressed the ashram hostess. "at the last moment their plans went awry; they send deep regrets. but we have brought two other guests. as soon as we met on the train, i felt drawn to them as devotees of lord krishna." [illustration: (left to right) jitendra mazumdar, my companion on the "penniless test" at brindaban; lalit-da, my cousin; swami kebelananda ("shastri mahasaya"), my saintly sanskrit tutor; myself, as a high school youth--see friends.jpg] [illustration: ananda moyi ma, the bengali "joy-permeated mother."--see amoyima.jpg] [illustration: one of the caves occupied by babaji in the drongiri mountains near ranikhet in the himalayas. a grandson of lahiri mahasaya, ananda mohan lahiri (second from right, in white), and three other devotees are visiting the sacred spot.--see cave.jpg] "good-by, young friends." our two acquaintances walked to the door. "we shall meet again, if god be willing." "you are welcome here." gauri ma smiled in motherly fashion on her two unexpected charges. "you could not have come on a better day. i was expecting two royal patrons of this hermitage. what a shame if my cooking had found none to appreciate it!" these appetizing words had disastrous effect on jitendra: he burst into tears. the "prospect" he had feared in brindaban was turning out as royal entertainment; his sudden mental adjustment proved too much for him. our hostess looked at him with curiosity, but without remark; perhaps she was familiar with adolescent quirks. lunch was announced; gauri ma led the way to a dining patio, spicy with savory odors. she vanished into an adjoining kitchen. i had been premeditating this moment. selecting the appropriate spot on jitendra's anatomy, i administered a pinch as resounding as the one he had given me on the train. "doubting thomas, the lord works-in a hurry, too!" the hostess reentered with a punkha. she steadily fanned us in the oriental fashion as we squatted on ornate blanket-seats. ashram disciples passed to and fro with some thirty courses. rather than "meal," the description can only be "sumptuous repast." since arriving on this planet, jitendra and i had never before tasted such delicacies. "dishes fit for princes indeed, honored mother! what your royal patrons could have found more urgent than attending this banquet, i cannot imagine! you have given us a memory for a lifetime!" silenced as we were by ananta's requirement, we could not explain to the gracious lady that our thanks held a double significance. our sincerity at least was patent. we departed with her blessing and an attractive invitation to revisit the hermitage. the heat outdoors was merciless. my friend and i made for the shelter of a lordly cadamba tree at the ashram gate. sharp words followed; once again jitendra was beset with misgivings. "a fine mess you have got me into! our luncheon was only accidental good fortune! how can we see the sights of this city, without a single pice between us? and how on earth are you going to take me back to ananta's?" "you forget god quickly, now that your stomach is filled." my words, not bitter, were accusatory. how short is human memory for divine favors! no man lives who has not seen certain of his prayers granted. "i am not likely to forget my folly in venturing out with a madcap like you!" "be quiet, jitendra! the same lord who fed us will show us brindaban, and return us to agra." a slight young man of pleasing countenance approached at rapid pace. halting under our tree, he bowed before me. "dear friend, you and your companion must be strangers here. permit me to be your host and guide." it is scarcely possible for an indian to pale, but jitendra's face was suddenly sickly. i politely declined the offer. "you are surely not banishing me?" the stranger's alarm would have been comic in any other circumstances. "why not?" "you are my guru." his eyes sought mine trustfully. "during my midday devotions, the blessed lord krishna appeared in a vision. he showed me two forsaken figures under this very tree. one face was yours, my master! often have i seen it in meditation! what joy if you accept my humble services!" "i too am glad you have found me. neither god nor man has forsaken us!" though i was motionless, smiling at the eager face before me, an inward obeisance cast me at the divine feet. "dear friends, will you not honor my home for a visit?" "you are kind; but the plan is unfeasible. already we are guests of my brother in agra." "at least give me memories of touring brindaban with you." i gladly consented. the young man, who said his name was pratap chatterji, hailed a horse carriage. we visited madanamohana temple and other krishna shrines. night descended while we were at our temple devotions. "excuse me while i get sandesh." {fn - } pratap entered a shop near the railroad station. jitendra and i sauntered along the wide street, crowded now in the comparative coolness. our friend was absent for some time, but finally returned with gifts of many sweetmeats. "please allow me to gain this religious merit." pratap smiled pleadingly as he held out a bundle of rupee notes and two tickets, just purchased, to agra. the reverence of my acceptance was for the invisible hand. scoffed at by ananta, had its bounty not far exceeded necessity? we sought out a secluded spot near the station. "pratap, i will instruct you in the kriya of lahiri mahasaya, the greatest yogi of modern times. his technique will be your guru." the initiation was concluded in a half hour. "kriya is your chintamani," {fn - } i told the new student. "the technique, which as you see is simple, embodies the art of quickening man's spiritual evolution. hindu scriptures teach that the incarnating ego requires a million years to obtain liberation from maya. this natural period is greatly shortened through kriya yoga. just as jagadis chandra bose has demonstrated that plant growth can be accelerated far beyond its normal rate, so man's psychological development can be also speeded by an inner science. be faithful in your practice; you will approach the guru of all gurus." "i am transported to find this yogic key, long sought!" pratap spoke thoughtfully. "its unshackling effect on my sensory bonds will free me for higher spheres. the vision today of lord krishna could only mean my highest good." we sat awhile in silent understanding, then walked slowly to the station. joy was within me as i boarded the train, but this was jitendra's day for tears. my affectionate farewell to pratap had been punctuated by stifled sobs from both my companions. the journey once more found jitendra in a welter of grief. not for himself this time, but against himself. "how shallow my trust! my heart has been stone! never in future shall i doubt god's protection!" midnight was approaching. the two "cinderellas," sent forth penniless, entered ananta's bedroom. his face, as he had promised, was a study in astonishment. silently i showered the table with rupees. "jitendra, the truth!" ananta's tone was jocular. "has not this youngster been staging a holdup?" but as the tale was unfolded, my brother turned sober, then solemn. "the law of demand and supply reaches into subtler realms than i had supposed." ananta spoke with a spiritual enthusiasm never before noticeable. "i understand for the first time your indifference to the vaults and vulgar accumulations of the world." late as it was, my brother insisted that he receive diksha {fn - } into kriya yoga. the "guru" mukunda had to shoulder the responsibility of two unsought disciples in one day. breakfast the following morning was eaten in a harmony absent the day before. i smiled at jitendra. "you shall not be cheated of the taj. let us view it before starting for serampore." bidding farewell to ananta, my friend and i were soon before the glory of agra, the taj mahal. white marble dazzling in the sun, it stands a vision of pure symmetry. the perfect setting is dark cypress, glossy lawn, and tranquil lagoon. the interior is exquisite with lacelike carvings inlaid with semiprecious stones. delicate wreaths and scrolls emerge intricately from marbles, brown and violet. illumination from the dome falls on the cenotaphs of emperor shah-jahan and mumtaz mahall, queen of his realm and his heart. enough of sight-seeing! i was longing for my guru. jitendra and i were shortly traveling south by train toward bengal. "mukunda, i have not seen my family in months. i have changed my mind; perhaps later i shall visit your master in serampore." my friend, who may mildly be described as vacillating in temperament, left me in calcutta. by local train i soon reached serampore, twelve miles to the north. a throb of wonderment stole over me as i realized that twenty-eight days had elapsed since the benares meeting with my guru. "you will come to me in four weeks!" here i was, heart pounding, standing within his courtyard on quiet rai ghat lane. i entered for the first time the hermitage where i was to spend the best part of the next ten years with india's jyanavatar, "incarnation of wisdom." {fn - } see chapter . {fn - } the world-famous mausoleum.. {fn - } a dhoti-cloth is knotted around the waist and covers the legs.. {fn - } brindaban, in the muttra district of united provinces, is the hindu jerusalem. here lord krishna displayed his glories for the benefit of mankind.. {fn - } hari; an endearing name by which lord krishna is known to his devotees. {fn - } an indian sweetmeat.. {fn - } a mythological gem with power to grant desires. {fn - } spiritual initiation; from the sanskrit root diksh, to dedicate oneself. chapter: years in my master's hermitage "you have come." sri yukteswar greeted me from a tiger skin on the floor of a balconied sitting room. his voice was cold, his manner unemotional. "yes, dear master, i am here to follow you." kneeling, i touched his feet. "how can that be? you ignore my wishes." "no longer, guruji! your wish shall be my law!" "that is better! now i can assume responsibility for your life." "i willingly transfer the burden, master." "my first request, then, is that you return home to your family. i want you to enter college in calcutta. your education should be continued." "very well, sir." i hid my consternation. would importunate books pursue me down the years? first father, now sri yukteswar! "someday you will go to the west. its people will lend ears more receptive to india's ancient wisdom if the strange hindu teacher has a university degree." "you know best, guruji." my gloom departed. the reference to the west i found puzzling, remote; but my opportunity to please master by obedience was vitally immediate. "you will be near in calcutta; come here whenever you find time." "every day if possible, master! gratefully i accept your authority in every detail of my life-on one condition." "yes?" "that you promise to reveal god to me!" an hour-long verbal tussle ensued. a master's word cannot be falsified; it is not lightly given. the implications in the pledge open out vast metaphysical vistas. a guru must be on intimate terms indeed with the creator before he can obligate him to appear! i sensed sri yukteswar's divine unity, and was determined, as his disciple, to press my advantage. "you are of exacting disposition!" then master's consent rang out with compassionate finality: "let your wish be my wish." lifelong shadow lifted from my heart; the vague search, hither and yon, was over. i had found eternal shelter in a true guru. "come; i will show you the hermitage." master rose from his tiger mat. i glanced about me; my gaze fell with astonishment on a wall picture, garlanded with a spray of jasmine. "lahiri mahasaya!" "yes, my divine guru." sri yukteswar's tone was reverently vibrant. "greater he was, as man and yogi, than any other teacher whose life came within the range of my investigations." silently i bowed before the familiar picture. soul-homage sped to the peerless master who, blessing my infancy, had guided my steps to this hour. led by my guru, i strolled over the house and its grounds. large, ancient and well-built, the hermitage was surrounded by a massive-pillared courtyard. outer walls were moss-covered; pigeons fluttered over the flat gray roof, unceremoniously sharing the ashram quarters. a rear garden was pleasant with jackfruit, mango, and plantain trees. balustraded balconies of upper rooms in the two-storied building faced the courtyard from three sides. a spacious ground-floor hall, with high ceiling supported by colonnades, was used, master said, chiefly during the annual festivities of durgapuja. {fn - } a narrow stairway led to sri yukteswar's sitting room, whose small balcony overlooked the street. the ashram was plainly furnished; everything was simple, clean, and utilitarian. several western styled chairs, benches, and tables were in evidence. master invited me to stay overnight. a supper of vegetable curry was served by two young disciples who were receiving hermitage training. "guruji, please tell me something of your life." i was squatting on a straw mat near his tiger skin. the friendly stars were very close, it seemed, beyond the balcony. "my family name was priya nath karar. i was born {fn - } here in serampore, where father was a wealthy businessman. he left me this ancestral mansion, now my hermitage. my formal schooling was little; i found it slow and shallow. in early manhood, i undertook the responsibilities of a householder, and have one daughter, now married. my middle life was blessed with the guidance of lahiri mahasaya. after my wife died, i joined the swami order and received the new name of sri yukteswar giri. {fn - } such are my simple annals." master smiled at my eager face. like all biographical sketches, his words had given the outward facts without revealing the inner man. "guruji, i would like to hear some stories of your childhood." "i will tell you a few-each one with a moral!" sri yukteswar's eyes twinkled with his warning. "my mother once tried to frighten me with an appalling story of a ghost in a dark chamber. i went there immediately, and expressed my disappointment at having missed the ghost. mother never told me another horror-tale. moral: look fear in the face and it will cease to trouble you. "another early memory is my wish for an ugly dog belonging to a neighbor. i kept my household in turmoil for weeks to get that dog. my ears were deaf to offers of pets with more prepossessing appearance. moral: attachment is blinding; it lends an imaginary halo of attractiveness to the object of desire. "a third story concerns the plasticity of the youthful mind. i heard my mother remark occasionally: 'a man who accepts a job under anyone is a slave.' that impression became so indelibly fixed that even after my marriage i refused all positions. i met expenses by investing my family endowment in land. moral: good and positive suggestions should instruct the sensitive ears of children. their early ideas long remain sharply etched." master fell into tranquil silence. around midnight he led me to a narrow cot. sleep was sound and sweet the first night under my guru's roof. sri yukteswar chose the following morning to grant me his kriya yoga initiation. the technique i had already received from two disciples of lahiri mahasaya-father and my tutor, swami kebalananda-but in master's presence i felt transforming power. at his touch, a great light broke upon my being, like glory of countless suns blazing together. a flood of ineffable bliss, overwhelming my heart to an innermost core, continued during the following day. it was late that afternoon before i could bring myself to leave the hermitage. "you will return in thirty days." as i reached my calcutta home, the fulfillment of master's prediction entered with me. none of my relatives made the pointed remarks i had feared about the reappearance of the "soaring bird." i climbed to my little attic and bestowed affectionate glances, as though on a living presence. "you have witnessed my meditations, and the tears and storms of my sadhana. now i have reached the harbor of my divine teacher." "son, i am happy for us both." father and i sat together in the evening calm. "you have found your guru, as in miraculous fashion i once found my own. the holy hand of lahiri mahasaya is guarding our lives. your master has proved no inaccessible himalayan saint, but one near-by. my prayers have been answered: you have not in your search for god been permanently removed from my sight." father was also pleased that my formal studies would be resumed; he made suitable arrangements. i was enrolled the following day at the scottish church college in calcutta. happy months sped by. my readers have doubtless made the perspicacious surmise that i was little seen in the college classrooms. the serampore hermitage held a lure too irresistible. master accepted my ubiquitous presence without comment. to my relief, he seldom referred to the halls of learning. though it was plain to all that i was never cut out for a scholar, i managed to attain minimum passing grades from time to time. daily life at the ashram flowed smoothly, infrequently varied. my guru awoke before dawn. lying down, or sometimes sitting on the bed, he entered a state of samadhi. {fn - } it was simplicity itself to discover when master had awakened: abrupt halt of stupendous snores. {fn - } a sigh or two; perhaps a bodily movement. then a soundless state of breathlessness: he was in deep yogic joy. breakfast did not follow; first came a long walk by the ganges. those morning strolls with my guru-how real and vivid still! in the easy resurrection of memory, i often find myself by his side: the early sun is warming the river. his voice rings out, rich with the authenticity of wisdom. a bath; then the midday meal. its preparation, according to master's daily directions, had been the careful task of young disciples. my guru was a vegetarian. before embracing monkhood, however, he had eaten eggs and fish. his advice to students was to follow any simple diet which proved suited to one's constitution. master ate little; often rice, colored with turmeric or juice of beets or spinach and lightly sprinkled with buffalo ghee or melted butter. another day he might have lentil-dhal or channa {fn - } curry with vegetables. for dessert, mangoes or oranges with rice pudding, or jackfruit juice. visitors appeared in the afternoons. a steady stream poured from the world into the hermitage tranquillity. everyone found in master an equal courtesy and kindness. to a man who has realized himself as a soul, not the body or the ego, the rest of humanity assumes a striking similarity of aspect. the impartiality of saints is rooted in wisdom. masters have escaped maya; its alternating faces of intellect and idiocy no longer cast an influential glance. sri yukteswar showed no special consideration to those who happened to be powerful or accomplished; neither did he slight others for their poverty or illiteracy. he would listen respectfully to words of truth from a child, and openly ignore a conceited pundit. [illustration: my master, sri yukteswar, disciple of lahiri mahasaya--see yukteswar.jpg] eight o'clock was the supper hour, and sometimes found lingering guests. my guru would not excuse himself to eat alone; none left his ashram hungry or dissatisfied. sri yukteswar was never at a loss, never dismayed by unexpected visitors; scanty food would emerge a banquet under his resourceful direction. yet he was economical; his modest funds went far. "be comfortable within your purse," he often said. "extravagance will buy you discomfort." whether in the details of hermitage entertainment, or his building and repair work, or other practical concerns, master manifested the originality of a creative spirit. quiet evening hours often brought one of my guru's discourses, treasures against time. his every utterance was measured and chiseled by wisdom. a sublime self-assurance marked his mode of expression: it was unique. he spoke as none other in my experience ever spoke. his thoughts were weighed in a delicate balance of discrimination before he permitted them an outward garb. the essence of truth, all-pervasive with even a physiological aspect, came from him like a fragrant exudation of the soul. i was conscious always that i was in the presence of a living manifestation of god. the weight of his divinity automatically bowed my head before him. if late guests detected that sri yukteswar was becoming engrossed with the infinite, he quickly engaged them in conversation. he was incapable of striking a pose, or of flaunting his inner withdrawal. always one with the lord, he needed no separate time for communion. a self-realized master has already left behind the stepping stone of meditation. "the flower falls when the fruit appears." but saints often cling to spiritual forms for the encouragement of disciples. as midnight approached, my guru might fall into a doze with the naturalness of a child. there was no fuss about bedding. he often lay down, without even a pillow, on a narrow davenport which was the background for his customary tiger-skin seat. a night-long philosophical discussion was not rare; any disciple could summon it by intensity of interest. i felt no tiredness then, no desire for sleep; master's living words were sufficient. "oh, it is dawn! let us walk by the ganges." so ended many of my periods of nocturnal edification. my early months with sri yukteswar culminated in a useful lesson-"how to outwit a mosquito." at home my family always used protective curtains at night. i was dismayed to discover that in the serampore hermitage this prudent custom was honored in the breach. yet the insects were in full residency; i was bitten from head to foot. my guru took pity on me. "buy yourself a curtain, and also one for me." he laughed and added, "if you buy only one, for yourself, all mosquitoes will concentrate on me!" i was more than thankful to comply. every night that i spent in serampore, my guru would ask me to arrange the bedtime curtains. the mosquitoes one evening were especially virulent. but master failed to issue his usual instructions. i listened nervously to the anticipatory hum of the insects. getting into bed, i threw a propitiatory prayer in their general direction. a half hour later, i coughed pretentiously to attract my guru's attention. i thought i would go mad with the bites and especially the singing drone as the mosquitoes celebrated bloodthirsty rites. no responsive stir from master; i approached him cautiously. he was not breathing. this was my first observation of him in the yogic trance; it filled me with fright. "his heart must have failed!" i placed a mirror under his nose; no breath-vapor appeared. to make doubly certain, for minutes i closed his mouth and nostrils with my fingers. his body was cold and motionless. in a daze, i turned toward the door to summon help. "so! a budding experimentalist! my poor nose!" master's voice was shaky with laughter. "why don't you go to bed? is the whole world going to change for you? change yourself: be rid of the mosquito consciousness." meekly i returned to my bed. not one insect ventured near. i realized that my guru had previously agreed to the curtains only to please me; he had no fear of mosquitoes. his yogic power was such that he either could will them not to bite, or could escape to an inner invulnerability. "he was giving me a demonstration," i thought. "that is the yogic state i must strive to attain." a yogi must be able to pass into, and continue in, the superconsciousness, regardless of multitudinous distractions never absent from this earth. whether in the buzz of insects or the pervasive glare of daylight, the testimony of the senses must be barred. sound and sight come then indeed, but to worlds fairer than the banished eden. {fn - } the instructive mosquitoes served for another early lesson at the ashram. it was the gentle hour of dusk. my guru was matchlessly interpreting the ancient texts. at his feet, i was in perfect peace. a rude mosquito entered the idyl and competed for my attention. as it dug a poisonous hypodermic needle into my thigh, i automatically raised an avenging hand. reprieve from impending execution! an opportune memory came to me of one of patanjali's yoga aphorisms-that on ahimsa (harmlessness). "why didn't you finish the job?" "master! do you advocate taking life?" "no; but the deathblow already had been struck in your mind." "i don't understand." "patanjali's meaning was the removal of desire to kill." sri yukteswar had found my mental processes an open book. "this world is inconveniently arranged for a literal practice of ahimsa. man may be compelled to exterminate harmful creatures. he is not under similar compulsion to feel anger or animosity. all forms of life have equal right to the air of maya. the saint who uncovers the secret of creation will be in harmony with its countless bewildering expressions. all men may approach that understanding who curb the inner passion for destruction." "guruji, should one offer himself a sacrifice rather than kill a wild beast?" "no; man's body is precious. it has the highest evolutionary value because of unique brain and spinal centers. these enable the advanced devotee to fully grasp and express the loftiest aspects of divinity. no lower form is so equipped. it is true that one incurs the debt of a minor sin if he is forced to kill an animal or any living thing. but the vedas teach that wanton loss of a human body is a serious transgression against the karmic law." i sighed in relief; scriptural reinforcement of one's natural instincts is not always forthcoming. it so happened that i never saw master at close quarters with a leopard or a tiger. but a deadly cobra once confronted him, only to be conquered by my guru's love. this variety of snake is much feared in india, where it causes more than five thousand deaths annually. the dangerous encounter took place at puri, where sri yukteswar had a second hermitage, charmingly situated near the bay of bengal. prafulla, a young disciple of later years, was with master on this occasion. "we were seated outdoors near the ashram," prafulla told me. "a cobra appeared near-by, a four-foot length of sheer terror. its hood was angrily expanded as it raced toward us. my guru gave a welcoming chuckle, as though to a child. i was beside myself with consternation to see master engage in a rhythmical clapping of hands. {fn - } he was entertaining the dread visitor! i remained absolutely quiet, inwardly ejaculating what fervent prayers i could muster. the serpent, very close to my guru, was now motionless, seemingly magnetized by his caressing attitude. the frightful hood gradually contracted; the snake slithered between master's feet and disappeared into the bushes. "why my guru would move his hands, and why the cobra would not strike them, were inexplicable to me then," prafulla concluded. "i have since come to realize that my divine master is beyond fear of hurt from any living creature." one afternoon during my early months at the ashram, found sri yukteswar's eyes fixed on me piercingly. "you are too thin, mukunda." his remark struck a sensitive point. that my sunken eyes and emaciated appearance were far from my liking was testified to by rows of tonics in my room at calcutta. nothing availed; chronic dyspepsia had pursued me since childhood. my despair reached an occasional zenith when i asked myself if it were worth-while to carry on this life with a body so unsound. "medicines have limitations; the creative life-force has none. believe that: you shall be well and strong." sri yukteswar's words aroused a conviction of personally-applicable truth which no other healer-and i had tried many!-had been able to summon within me. day by day, behold! i waxed. two weeks after master's hidden blessing, i had accumulated the invigorating weight which eluded me in the past. my persistent stomach ailments vanished with a lifelong permanency. on later occasions i witnessed my guru's instantaneous divine healings of persons suffering from ominous disease-tuberculosis, diabetes, epilepsy, or paralysis. not one could have been more grateful for his cure than i was at sudden freedom from my cadaverous aspect. "years ago, i too was anxious to put on weight," sri yukteswar told me. "during convalescence after a severe illness, i visited lahiri mahasaya in benares. "'sir, i have been very sick and lost many pounds.' "'i see, yukteswar, {fn - } you made yourself unwell, and now you think you are thin.' "this reply was far from the one i had expected; my guru, however, added encouragingly: "'let me see; i am sure you ought to feel better tomorrow.' "taking his words as a gesture of secret healing toward my receptive mind, i was not surprised the next morning at a welcome accession of strength. i sought out my master and exclaimed exultingly, 'sir, i feel much better today.' "'indeed! today you invigorate yourself.' "'no, master!' i protested. 'it was you who helped me; this is the first time in weeks that i have had any energy.' "'o yes! your malady has been quite serious. your body is frail yet; who can say how it will be tomorrow?' "the thought of possible return of my weakness brought me a shudder of cold fear. the following morning i could hardly drag myself to lahiri mahasaya's home. "'sir, i am ailing again.' "my guru's glance was quizzical. 'so! once more you indispose yourself.' "'gurudeva, i realize now that day by day you have been ridiculing me.' my patience was exhausted. 'i don't understand why you disbelieve my truthful reports.' "'really, it has been your thoughts that have made you feel alternately weak and strong.' my master looked at me affectionately. 'you have seen how your health has exactly followed your expectations. thought is a force, even as electricity or gravitation. the human mind is a spark of the almighty consciousness of god. i could show you that whatever your powerful mind believes very intensely would instantly come to pass.' "knowing that lahiri mahasaya never spoke idly, i addressed him with great awe and gratitude: 'master, if i think i am well and have regained my former weight, shall that happen?' "'it is so, even at this moment.' my guru spoke gravely, his gaze concentrated on my eyes. "lo! i felt an increase not alone of strength but of weight. lahiri mahasaya retreated into silence. after a few hours at his feet, i returned to my mother's home, where i stayed during my visits to benares. "'my son! what is the matter? are you swelling with dropsy?' mother could hardly believe her eyes. my body was now of the same robust dimensions it had possessed before my illness. "i weighed myself and found that in one day i had gained fifty pounds; they remained with me permanently. friends and acquaintances who had seen my thin figure were aghast with wonderment. a number of them changed their mode of life and became disciples of lahiri mahasaya as a result of this miracle. "my guru, awake in god, knew this world to be nothing but an objectivized dream of the creator. because he was completely aware of his unity with the divine dreamer, lahiri mahasaya could materialize or dematerialize or make any change he wished in the cosmic vision. {fn - } "all creation is governed by law," sri yukteswar concluded. "the ones which manifest in the outer universe, discoverable by scientists, are called natural laws. but there are subtler laws ruling the realms of consciousness which can be known only through the inner science of yoga. the hidden spiritual planes also have their natural and lawful principles of operation. it is not the physical scientist but the fully self-realized master who comprehends the true nature of matter. thus christ was able to restore the servant's ear after it had been severed by one of the disciples." {fn - } sri yukteswar was a peerless interpreter of the scriptures. many of my happiest memories are centered in his discourses. but his jeweled thoughts were not cast into ashes of heedlessness or stupidity. one restless movement of my body, or my slight lapse into absent-mindedness, sufficed to put an abrupt period to master's exposition. "you are not here." master interrupted himself one afternoon with this disclosure. as usual, he was keeping track of my attention with a devastating immediacy. "guruji!" my tone was a protest. "i have not stirred; my eyelids have not moved; i can repeat each word you have uttered!" "nevertheless you were not fully with me. your objection forces me to remark that in your mental background you were creating three institutions. one was a sylvan retreat on a plain, another on a hilltop, a third by the ocean." those vaguely formulated thoughts had indeed been present almost subconsciously. i glanced at him apologetically. "what can i do with such a master, who penetrates my random musings?" [illustration: main building at the mount washington estates in los angeles, established in as american headquarters for the self-realization fellowship.--see mtwash.jpg] [illustration: self-realization church of all religions, hollywood, california.--see hollywood.jpg] "you have given me that right. the subtle truths i am expounding cannot be grasped without your complete concentration. unless necessary i do not invade the seclusion of others' minds. man has the natural privilege of roaming secretly among his thoughts. the unbidden lord does not enter there; neither do i venture intrusion." "you are ever welcome, master!" "your architectural dreams will materialize later. now is the time for study!" thus incidentally my guru revealed in his simple way the coming of three great events in my life. since early youth i had had enigmatic glimpses of three buildings, each in a different setting. in the exact sequence sri yukteswar had indicated, these visions took ultimate form. first came my founding of a boys' yoga school on a ranchi plain, then my american headquarters on a los angeles hilltop, finally a hermitage in southern california by the vast pacific. master never arrogantly asserted: "i prophesy that such and such an event shall occur!" he would rather hint: "don't you think it may happen?" but his simple speech hid vatic power. there was no recanting; never did his slightly veiled words prove false. sri yukteswar was reserved and matter-of-fact in demeanor. there was naught of the vague or daft visionary about him. his feet were firm on the earth, his head in the haven of heaven. practical people aroused his admiration. "saintliness is not dumbness! divine perceptions are not incapacitating!" he would say. "the active expression of virtue gives rise to the keenest intelligence." in master's life i fully discovered the cleavage between spiritual realism and the obscure mysticism that spuriously passes as a counterpart. my guru was reluctant to discuss the superphysical realms. his only "marvelous" aura was one of perfect simplicity. in conversation he avoided startling references; in action he was freely expressive. others talked of miracles but could manifest nothing; sri yukteswar seldom mentioned the subtle laws but secretly operated them at will. "a man of realization does not perform any miracle until he receives an inward sanction," master explained. "god does not wish the secrets of his creation revealed promiscuously. {fn - } also, every individual in the world has inalienable right to his free will. a saint will not encroach upon that independence." the silence habitual to sri yukteswar was caused by his deep perceptions of the infinite. no time remained for the interminable "revelations" that occupy the days of teachers without self-realization. "in shallow men the fish of little thoughts cause much commotion. in oceanic minds the whales of inspiration make hardly a ruffle." this observation from the hindu scriptures is not without discerning humor. because of my guru's unspectacular guise, only a few of his contemporaries recognized him as a superman. the popular adage: "he is a fool that cannot conceal his wisdom," could never be applied to sri yukteswar. though born a mortal like all others, master had achieved identity with the ruler of time and space. in his life i perceived a godlike unity. he had not found any insuperable obstacle to mergence of human with divine. no such barrier exists, i came to understand, save in man's spiritual unadventurousness. i always thrilled at the touch of sri yukteswar's holy feet. yogis teach that a disciple is spiritually magnetized by reverent contact with a master; a subtle current is generated. the devotee's undesirable habit-mechanisms in the brain are often cauterized; the groove of his worldly tendencies beneficially disturbed. momentarily at least he may find the secret veils of maya lifting, and glimpse the reality of bliss. my whole body responded with a liberating glow whenever i knelt in the indian fashion before my guru. "even when lahiri mahasaya was silent," master told me, "or when he conversed on other than strictly religious topics, i discovered that nonetheless he had transmitted to me ineffable knowledge." sri yukteswar affected me similarly. if i entered the hermitage in a worried or indifferent frame of mind, my attitude imperceptibly changed. a healing calm descended at mere sight of my guru. every day with him was a new experience in joy, peace, and wisdom. never did i find him deluded or intoxicated with greed or emotion or anger or any human attachment. "the darkness of maya is silently approaching. let us hie homeward within." with these words at dusk master constantly reminded his disciples of their need for kriya yoga. a new student occasionally expressed doubts regarding his own worthiness to engage in yoga practice. "forget the past," sri yukteswar would console him. "the vanished lives of all men are dark with many shames. human conduct is ever unreliable until anchored in the divine. everything in future will improve if you are making a spiritual effort now." master always had young chelas {fn - } in his hermitage. their spiritual and intellectual education was his lifelong interest: even shortly before he passed on, he accepted for training two six-year-old boys and one youth of sixteen. he directed their minds and lives with that careful discipline in which the word "disciple" is etymologically rooted. the ashram residents loved and revered their guru; a slight clap of his hands sufficed to bring them eagerly to his side. when his mood was silent and withdrawn, no one ventured to speak; when his laugh rang jovially, children looked upon him as their own. master seldom asked others to render him a personal service, nor would he accept help from a student unless the willingness were sincere. my guru quietly washed his clothes if the disciples overlooked that privileged task. sri yukteswar wore the traditional ocher-colored swami robe; his laceless shoes, in accordance with yogi custom, were of tiger or deer skin. master spoke fluent english, french, hindi, and bengali; his sanskrit was fair. he patiently instructed his young disciples by certain short cuts which he had ingeniously devised for the study of english and sanskrit. master was cautious of his body, while withholding solicitous attachment. the infinite, he pointed out, properly manifests through physical and mental soundness. he discountenanced any extremes. a disciple once started a long fast. my guru only laughed: "why not throw the dog a bone?" sri yukteswar's health was excellent; i never saw him unwell. {fn - } he permitted students to consult doctors if it seemed advisable. his purpose was to give respect to the worldly custom: "physicians must carry on their work of healing through god's laws as applied to matter." but he extolled the superiority of mental therapy, and often repeated: "wisdom is the greatest cleanser." "the body is a treacherous friend. give it its due; no more," he said. "pain and pleasure are transitory; endure all dualities with calmness, while trying at the same time to remove their hold. imagination is the door through which disease as well as healing enters. disbelieve in the reality of sickness even when you are ill; an unrecognized visitor will flee!" master numbered many doctors among his disciples. "those who have ferreted out the physical laws can easily investigate the science of the soul," he told them. "a subtle spiritual mechanism is hidden just behind the bodily structure." {fn - } sri yukteswar counseled his students to be living liaisons of western and eastern virtues. himself an executive occidental in outer habits, inwardly he was the spiritual oriental. he praised the progressive, resourceful and hygienic habits of the west, and the religious ideals which give a centuried halo to the east. discipline had not been unknown to me: at home father was strict, ananta often severe. but sri yukteswar's training cannot be described as other than drastic. a perfectionist, my guru was hypercritical of his disciples, whether in matters of moment or in the subtle nuances of behavior. "good manners without sincerity are like a beautiful dead lady," he remarked on suitable occasion. "straightforwardness without civility is like a surgeon's knife, effective but unpleasant. candor with courtesy is helpful and admirable." master was apparently satisfied with my spiritual progress, for he seldom referred to it; in other matters my ears were no strangers to reproof. my chief offenses were absentmindedness, intermittent indulgence in sad moods, non-observance of certain rules of etiquette, and occasional unmethodical ways. "observe how the activities of your father bhagabati are well-organized and balanced in every way," my guru pointed out. the two disciples of lahiri mahasaya had met, soon after i began my pilgrimages to serampore. father and sri yukteswar admiringly evaluated the other's worth. both had built an inner life of spiritual granite, insoluble against the ages. from transient teachers of my earlier life i had imbibed a few erroneous lessons. a chela, i was told, need not concern himself strenuously over worldly duties; when i had neglected or carelessly performed my tasks, i was not chastised. human nature finds such instruction very easy of assimilation. under master's unsparing rod, however, i soon recovered from the agreeable delusions of irresponsibility. "those who are too good for this world are adorning some other," sri yukteswar remarked. "so long as you breathe the free air of earth, you are under obligation to render grateful service. he alone who has fully mastered the breathless state {fn - } is freed from cosmic imperatives. i will not fail to let you know when you have attained the final perfection." my guru could never be bribed, even by love. he showed no leniency to anyone who, like myself, willingly offered to be his disciple. whether master and i were surrounded by his students or by strangers, or were alone together, he always spoke plainly and upbraided sharply. no trifling lapse into shallowness or inconsistency escaped his rebuke. this flattening treatment was hard to endure, but my resolve was to allow sri yukteswar to iron out each of my psychological kinks. as he labored at this titanic transformation, i shook many times under the weight of his disciplinary hammer. "if you don't like my words, you are at liberty to leave at any time," master assured me. "i want nothing from you but your own improvement. stay only if you feel benefited." for every humbling blow he dealt my vanity, for every tooth in my metaphorical jaw he knocked loose with stunning aim, i am grateful beyond any facility of expression. the hard core of human egotism is hardly to be dislodged except rudely. with its departure, the divine finds at last an unobstructed channel. in vain it seeks to percolate through flinty hearts of selfishness. sri yukteswar's wisdom was so penetrating that, heedless of remarks, he often replied to one's unspoken observation. "what a person imagines he hears, and what the speaker has really implied, may be poles apart," he said. "try to feel the thoughts behind the confusion of men's verbiage." but divine insight is painful to worldly ears; master was not popular with superficial students. the wise, always few in number, deeply revered him. i daresay sri yukteswar would have been the most soughtafter guru in india had his words not been so candid and so censorious. "i am hard on those who come for my training," he admitted to me. "that is my way; take it or leave it. i will never compromise. but you will be much kinder to your disciples; that is your way. i try to purify only in the fires of severity, searing beyond the average toleration. the gentle approach of love is also transfiguring. the inflexible and the yielding methods are equally effective if applied with wisdom. you will go to foreign lands, where blunt assaults on the ego are not appreciated. a teacher could not spread india's message in the west without an ample fund of accommodative patience and forbearance." i refuse to state the amount of truth i later came to find in master's words! though sri yukteswar's undissembling speech prevented a large following during his years on earth, nevertheless his living spirit manifests today over the world, through sincere students of his kriya yoga and other teachings. he has further dominion in men's souls than ever alexander dreamed of in the soil. father arrived one day to pay his respects to sri yukteswar. my parent expected, very likely, to hear some words in my praise. he was shocked to be given a long account of my imperfections. it was master's practice to recount simple, negligible shortcomings with an air of portentous gravity. father rushed to see me. "from your guru's remarks i thought to find you a complete wreck!" my parent was between tears and laughter. the only cause of sri yukteswar's displeasure at the time was that i had been trying, against his gentle hint, to convert a certain man to the spiritual path. with indignant speed i sought out my guru. he received me with downcast eyes, as though conscious of guilt. it was the only time i ever saw the divine lion meek before me. the unique moment was savored to the full. "sir, why did you judge me so mercilessly before my astounded father? was that just?" "i will not do it again." master's tone was apologetic. instantly i was disarmed. how readily the great man admitted his fault! though he never again upset father's peace of mind, master relentlessly continued to dissect me whenever and wherever he chose. new disciples often joined sri yukteswar in exhaustive criticism of others. wise like the guru! models of flawless discrimination! but he who takes the offensive must not be defenseless. the same carping students fled precipitantly as soon as master publicly unloosed in their direction a few shafts from his analytical quiver. "tender inner weaknesses, revolting at mild touches of censure, are like diseased parts of the body, recoiling before even delicate handling." this was sri yukteswar's amused comment on the flighty ones. there are disciples who seek a guru made in their own image. such students often complained that they did not understand sri yukteswar. "neither do you comprehend god!" i retorted on one occasion. "when a saint is clear to you, you will be one." among the trillion mysteries, breathing every second the inexplicable air, who may venture to ask that the fathomless nature of a master be instantly grasped? students came, and generally went. those who craved a path of oily sympathy and comfortable recognitions did not find it at the hermitage. master offered shelter and shepherding for the aeons, but many disciples miserly demanded ego-balm as well. they departed, preferring life's countless humiliations before any humility. master's blazing rays, the open penetrating sunshine of his wisdom, were too powerful for their spiritual sickness. they sought some lesser teacher who, shading them with flattery, permitted the fitful sleep of ignorance. during my early months with master, i had experienced a sensitive fear of his reprimands. these were reserved, i soon saw, for disciples who had asked for his verbal vivisection. if any writhing student made a protest, sri yukteswar would become unoffendedly silent. his words were never wrathful, but impersonal with wisdom. master's insight was not for the unprepared ears of casual visitors; he seldom remarked on their defects, even if conspicuous. but toward students who sought his counsel, sri yukteswar felt a serious responsibility. brave indeed is the guru who undertakes to transform the crude ore of ego-permeated humanity! a saint's courage roots in his compassion for the stumbling eyeless of this world. when i had abandoned underlying resentment, i found a marked decrease in my chastisement. in a very subtle way, master melted into comparative clemency. in time i demolished every wall of rationalization and subconscious reservation behind which the human personality generally shields itself. {fn - } the reward was an effortless harmony with my guru. i discovered him then to be trusting, considerate, and silently loving. undemonstrative, however, he bestowed no word of affection. my own temperament is principally devotional. it was disconcerting at first to find that my guru, saturated with jnana but seemingly dry of bhakti, {fn - } expressed himself only in terms of cold spiritual mathematics. but as i tuned myself to his nature, i discovered no diminution but rather increase in my devotional approach to god. a self-realized master is fully able to guide his various disciples along natural lines of their essential bias. my relationship with sri yukteswar, somewhat inarticulate, nonetheless possessed all eloquence. often i found his silent signature on my thoughts, rendering speech inutile. quietly sitting beside him, i felt his bounty pouring peacefully over my being. sri yukteswar's impartial justice was notably demonstrated during the summer vacation of my first college year. i welcomed the opportunity to spend uninterrupted months at serampore with my guru. "you may be in charge of the hermitage." master was pleased over my enthusiastic arrival. "your duties will be the reception of guests, and supervision of the work of the other disciples." kumar, a young villager from east bengal, was accepted a fortnight later for hermitage training. remarkably intelligent, he quickly won sri yukteswar's affection. for some unfathomable reason, master was very lenient to the new resident. "mukunda, let kumar assume your duties. employ your own time in sweeping and cooking." master issued these instructions after the new boy had been with us for a month. exalted to leadership, kumar exercised a petty household tyranny. in silent mutiny, the other disciples continued to seek me out for daily counsel. "mukunda is impossible! you made me supervisor, yet the others go to him and obey him." three weeks later kumar was complaining to our guru. i overheard him from an adjoining room. "that's why i assigned him to the kitchen and you to the parlor." sri yukteswar's withering tones were new to kumar. "in this way you have come to realize that a worthy leader has the desire to serve, and not to dominate. you wanted mukunda's position, but could not maintain it by merit. return now to your earlier work as cook's assistant." after this humbling incident, master resumed toward kumar a former attitude of unwonted indulgence. who can solve the mystery of attraction? in kumar our guru discovered a charming fount which did not spurt for the fellow disciples. though the new boy was obviously sri yukteswar's favorite, i felt no dismay. personal idiosyncrasies, possessed even by masters, lend a rich complexity to the pattern of life. my nature is seldom commandeered by a detail; i was seeking from sri yukteswar a more inaccessible benefit than an outward praise. kumar spoke venomously to me one day without reason; i was deeply hurt. "your head is swelling to the bursting point!" i added a warning whose truth i felt intuitively: "unless you mend your ways, someday you will be asked to leave this ashram." laughing sarcastically, kumar repeated my remark to our guru, who had just entered the room. fully expecting to be scolded, i retired meekly to a corner. "maybe mukunda is right." master's reply to the boy came with unusual coldness. i escaped without castigation. a year later, kumar set out for a visit to his childhood home. he ignored the quiet disapproval of sri yukteswar, who never authoritatively controlled his disciples' movements. on the boy's return to serampore in a few months, a change was unpleasantly apparent. gone was the stately kumar with serenely glowing face. only an undistinguished peasant stood before us, one who had lately acquired a number of evil habits. master summoned me and brokenheartedly discussed the fact that the boy was now unsuited to the monastic hermitage life. "mukunda, i will leave it to you to instruct kumar to leave the ashram tomorrow; i can't do it!" tears stood in sri yukteswar's eyes, but he controlled himself quickly. "the boy would never have fallen to these depths had he listened to me and not gone away to mix with undesirable companions. he has rejected my protection; the callous world must be his guru still." kumar's departure brought me no elation; sadly i wondered how one with power to win a master's love could ever respond to cheaper allures. enjoyment of wine and sex are rooted in the natural man, and require no delicacies of perception for their appreciation. sense wiles are comparable to the evergreen oleander, fragrant with its multicolored flowers: every part of the plant is poisonous. the land of healing lies within, radiant with that happiness blindly sought in a thousand misdirections. {fn - } "keen intelligence is two-edged," master once remarked in reference to kumar's brilliant mind. "it may be used constructively or destructively like a knife, either to cut the boil of ignorance, or to decapitate one's self. intelligence is rightly guided only after the mind has acknowledged the inescapability of spiritual law." my guru mixed freely with men and women disciples, treating all as his children. perceiving their soul equality, he showed no distinction or partiality. "in sleep, you do not know whether you are a man or a woman," he said. "just as a man, impersonating a woman, does not become one, so the soul, impersonating both man and woman, has no sex. the soul is the pure, changeless image of god." sri yukteswar never avoided or blamed women as objects of seduction. men, he said, were also a temptation to women. i once inquired of my guru why a great ancient saint had called women "the door to hell." "a girl must have proved very troublesome to his peace of mind in his early life," my guru answered causticly. "otherwise he would have denounced, not woman, but some imperfection in his own self-control." if a visitor dared to relate a suggestive story in the hermitage, master would maintain an unresponsive silence. "do not allow yourself to be thrashed by the provoking whip of a beautiful face," he told the disciples. "how can sense slaves enjoy the world? its subtle flavors escape them while they grovel in primal mud. all nice discriminations are lost to the man of elemental lusts." students seeking to escape from the dualistic maya delusion received from sri yukteswar patient and understanding counsel. "just as the purpose of eating is to satisfy hunger, not greed, so the sex instinct is designed for the propagation of the species according to natural law, never for the kindling of insatiable longings," he said. "destroy wrong desires now; otherwise they will follow you after the astral body is torn from its physical casing. even when the flesh is weak, the mind should be constantly resistant. if temptation assails you with cruel force, overcome it by impersonal analysis and indomitable will. every natural passion can be mastered. "conserve your powers. be like the capacious ocean, absorbing within all the tributary rivers of the senses. small yearnings are openings in the reservoir of your inner peace, permitting healing waters to be wasted in the desert soil of materialism. the forceful activating impulse of wrong desire is the greatest enemy to the happiness of man. roam in the world as a lion of self-control; see that the frogs of weakness don't kick you around." the devotee is finally freed from all instinctive compulsions. he transforms his need for human affection into aspiration for god alone, a love solitary because omnipresent. sri yukteswar's mother lived in the rana mahal district of benares where i had first visited my guru. gracious and kindly, she was yet a woman of very decided opinions. i stood on her balcony one day and watched mother and son talking together. in his quiet, sensible way, master was trying to convince her about something. he was apparently unsuccessful, for she shook her head with great vigor. "nay, nay, my son, go away now! your wise words are not for me! i am not your disciple!" sri yukteswar backed away without further argument, like a scolded child. i was touched at his great respect for his mother even in her unreasonable moods. she saw him only as her little boy, not as a sage. there was a charm about the trifling incident; it supplied a sidelight on my guru's unusual nature, inwardly humble and outwardly unbendable. the monastic regulations do not allow a swami to retain connection with worldly ties after their formal severance. he cannot perform the ceremonial family rites which are obligatory on the householder. yet shankara, the ancient founder of the swami order, disregarded the injunctions. at the death of his beloved mother, he cremated her body with heavenly fire which he caused to spurt from his upraised hand. sri yukteswar also ignored the restrictions, in a fashion less spectacular. when his mother passed on, he arranged the crematory services by the holy ganges in benares, and fed many brahmins in conformance with age-old custom. the shastric prohibitions were intended to help swamis overcome narrow identifications. shankara and sri yukteswar had wholly merged their beings in the impersonal spirit; they needed no rescue by rule. sometimes, too, a master purposely ignores a canon in order to uphold its principle as superior to and independent of form. thus jesus plucked ears of corn on the day of rest. to the inevitable critics he said: "the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath." {fn - } outside of the scriptures, seldom was a book honored by sri yukteswar's perusal. yet he was invariably acquainted with the latest scientific discoveries and other advancements of knowledge. a brilliant conversationalist, he enjoyed an exchange of views on countless topics with his guests. my guru's ready wit and rollicking laugh enlivened every discussion. often grave, master was never gloomy. "to seek the lord, one need not disfigure his face," he would remark. "remember that finding god will mean the funeral of all sorrows." among the philosophers, professors, lawyers and scientists who came to the hermitage, a number arrived for their first visit with the expectation of meeting an orthodox religionist. a supercilious smile or a glance of amused tolerance occasionally betrayed that the newcomers anticipated nothing more than a few pious platitudes. yet their reluctant departure would bring an expressed conviction that sri yukteswar had shown precise insight into their specialized fields. my guru ordinarily was gentle and affable to guests; his welcome was given with charming cordiality. yet inveterate egotists sometimes suffered an invigorating shock. they confronted in master either a frigid indifference or a formidable opposition: ice or iron! a noted chemist once crossed swords with sri yukteswar. the visitor would not admit the existence of god, inasmuch as science has devised no means of detecting him. "so you have inexplicably failed to isolate the supreme power in your test tubes!" master's gaze was stern. "i recommend an unheard-of experiment. examine your thoughts unremittingly for twenty-four hours. then wonder no longer at god's absence." a celebrated pundit received a similar jolt. with ostentatious zeal, the scholar shook the ashram rafters with scriptural lore. resounding passages poured from the mahabharata, the upanishads, {fn - } the bhasyas {fn - } of shankara. "i am waiting to hear you." sri yukteswar's tone was inquiring, as though utter silence had reigned. the pundit was puzzled. "quotations there have been, in superabundance." master's words convulsed me with mirth, as i squatted in my corner, at a respectful distance from the visitor. "but what original commentary can you supply, from the uniqueness of your particular life? what holy text have you absorbed and made your own? in what ways have these timeless truths renovated your nature? are you content to be a hollow victrola, mechanically repeating the words of other men?" "i give up!" the scholar's chagrin was comical. "i have no inner realization." for the first time, perhaps, he understood that discerning placement of the comma does not atone for a spiritual coma. "these bloodless pedants smell unduly of the lamp," my guru remarked after the departure of the chastened one. "they prefer philosophy to be a gentle intellectual setting-up exercise. their elevated thoughts are carefully unrelated either to the crudity of outward action or to any scourging inner discipline!" master stressed on other occasions the futility of mere book learning. "do not confuse understanding with a larger vocabulary," he remarked. "sacred writings are beneficial in stimulating desire for inward realization, if one stanza at a time is slowly assimilated. continual intellectual study results in vanity and the false satisfaction of an undigested knowledge." sri yukteswar related one of his own experiences in scriptural edification. the scene was a forest hermitage in eastern bengal, where he observed the procedure of a renowned teacher, dabru ballav. his method, at once simple and difficult, was common in ancient india. dabru ballav had gathered his disciples around him in the sylvan solitudes. the holy bhagavad gita was open before them. steadfastly they looked at one passage for half an hour, then closed their eyes. another half hour slipped away. the master gave a brief comment. motionless, they meditated again for an hour. finally the guru spoke. "have you understood?" "yes, sir." one in the group ventured this assertion. "no; not fully. seek the spiritual vitality that has given these words the power to rejuvenate india century after century." another hour disappeared in silence. the master dismissed the students, and turned to sri yukteswar. "do you know the bhagavad gita?" "no, sir, not really; though my eyes and mind have run through its pages many times." "thousands have replied to me differently!" the great sage smiled at master in blessing. "if one busies himself with an outer display of scriptural wealth, what time is left for silent inward diving after the priceless pearls?" sri yukteswar directed the study of his own disciples by the same intensive method of one-pointedness. "wisdom is not assimilated with the eyes, but with the atoms," he said. "when your conviction of a truth is not merely in your brain but in your being, you may diffidently vouch for its meaning." he discouraged any tendency a student might have to construe book-knowledge as a necessary step to spiritual realization. "the rishis wrote in one sentence profundities that commentating scholars busy themselves over for generations," he remarked. "endless literary controversy is for sluggard minds. what more liberating thought than 'god is'-nay, 'god'?" but man does not easily return to simplicity. it is seldom "god" for him, but rather learned pomposities. his ego is pleased, that he can grasp such erudition. men who were pridefully conscious of high worldly position were likely, in master's presence, to add humility to their other possessions. a local magistrate once arrived for an interview at the seaside hermitage in puri. the man, who held a reputation for ruthlessness, had it well within his power to oust us from the ashram. i cautioned my guru about the despotic possibilities. but he seated himself with an uncompromising air, and did not rise to greet the visitor. slightly nervous, i squatted near the door. the man had to content himself with a wooden box; my guru did not request me to fetch a chair. there was no fulfillment of the magistrate's obvious expectation that his importance would be ceremoniously acknowledged. a metaphysical discussion ensued. the guest blundered through misinterpretations of the scriptures. as his accuracy sank, his ire rose. "do you know that i stood first in the m. a. examination?" reason had forsaken him, but he could still shout. "mr. magistrate, you forget that this is not your courtroom," master replied evenly. "from your childish remarks i would have surmised that your college career was unremarkable. a university degree, in any case, is not remotely related to vedic realization. saints are not produced in batches every semester like accountants." after a stunned silence, the visitor laughed heartily. "this is my first encounter with a heavenly magistrate," he said. later he made a formal request, couched in the legal terms which were evidently part and parcel of his being, to be accepted as a "probationary" disciple. my guru personally attended to the details connected with the management of his property. unscrupulous persons on various occasions attempted to secure possession of master's ancestral land. with determination and even by instigating lawsuits, sri yukteswar outwitted every opponent. he underwent these painful experiences from a desire never to be a begging guru, or a burden on his disciples. his financial independence was one reason why my alarmingly outspoken master was innocent of the cunnings of diplomacy. unlike those teachers who have to flatter their supporters, my guru was impervious to the influences, open or subtle, of others' wealth. never did i hear him ask or even hint for money for any purpose. his hermitage training was given free and freely to all disciples. an insolent court deputy arrived one day at the serampore ashram to serve sri yukteswar with a legal summons. a disciple named kanai and myself were also present. the officer's attitude toward master was offensive. "it will do you good to leave the shadows of your hermitage and breathe the honest air of a courtroom." the deputy grinned contemptuously. i could not contain myself. "another word of your impudence and you will be on the floor!" i advanced threateningly. "you wretch!" kanai's shout was simultaneous with my own. "dare you bring your blasphemies into this sacred ashram?" but master stood protectingly in front of his abuser. "don't get excited over nothing. this man is only doing his rightful duty." the officer, dazed at his varying reception, respectfully offered a word of apology and sped away. amazing it was to find that a master with such a fiery will could be so calm within. he fitted the vedic definition of a man of god: "softer than the flower, where kindness is concerned; stronger than the thunder, where principles are at stake." there are always those in this world who, in browning's words, "endure no light, being themselves obscure." an outsider occasionally berated sri yukteswar for an imaginary grievance. my imperturbable guru listened politely, analyzing himself to see if any shred of truth lay within the denunciation. these scenes would bring to my mind one of master's inimitable observations: "some people try to be tall by cutting off the heads of others!" the unfailing composure of a saint is impressive beyond any sermon. "he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." {fn - } i often reflected that my majestic master could easily have been an emperor or world-shaking warrior had his mind been centered on fame or worldly achievement. he had chosen instead to storm those inner citadels of wrath and egotism whose fall is the height of a man. {fn - } "worship of durga." this is the chief festival of the bengali year and lasts for nine days around the end of september. immediately following is the ten-day festival of dashahara ("the one who removes ten sins"-three of body, three of mind, four of speech). both pujas are sacred to durga, literally "the inaccessible," an aspect of divine mother, shakti, the female creative force personified. {fn - } sri yukteswar was born on may , . {fn - } yukteswar means "united to god." giri is a classificatory distinction of one of the ten ancient swami branches. sri means "holy"; it is not a name but a title of respect. {fn - } literally, "to direct together." samadhi is a superconscious state of ecstasy in which the yogi perceives the identity of soul and spirit. {fn - } snoring, according to physiologists, is an indication of utter relaxation (to the oblivious practitioner, solely). {fn - } dhal is a thick soup made from split peas or other pulses. channa is a cheese of fresh curdled milk, cut into squares and curried with potatoes. {fn - } the omnipresent powers of a yogi, whereby he sees, hears, tastes, smells, and feels his oneness in creation without the use of sensory organs, have been described as follows in the taittiriya aranyaka: "the blind man pierced the pearl; the fingerless put a thread into it; the neckless wore it; and the tongueless praised it." {fn - } the cobra swiftly strikes at any moving object within its range. complete immobility is usually one's sole hope of safety. {fn - } lahiri mahasaya actually said "priya" (first or given name), not "yukteswar" (monastic name, not received by my guru during lahiri mahasaya's lifetime). (see page .) "yukteswar" is substituted here, and in a few other places in this book, in order to avoid the confusion, to reader, of two names. {fn - } "therefore i say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."-mark : . masters who possess the divine vision are fully able to transfer their realizations to advanced disciples, as lahiri mahasaya did for sri yukteswar on this occasion. {fn - } "and one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. and jesus answered and said, suffer ye thus far. and he touched his ear and healed him."-luke : - . {fn - } "give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."-matthew : . {fn - } disciples; from sanskrit verb root, "to serve." {fn - } he was once ill in kashmir, when i was absent from him. (see chapter .) {fn - } a courageous medical man, charles robert richet, awarded the nobel prize in physiology, wrote as follows: "metaphysics is not yet officially a science, recognized as such. but it is going to be. . . . at edinburgh, i was able to affirm before physiologists that our five senses are not our only means of knowledge and that a fragment of reality sometimes reaches the intelligence in other ways. . . . because a fact is rare is no reason that it does not exist. because a study is difficult, is that a reason for not understanding it? . . . those who have railed at metaphysics as an occult science will be as ashamed of themselves as those who railed at chemistry on the ground that pursuit of the philosopher's stone was illusory. . . . in the matter of principles there are only those of lavoisier, claude bernard, and pasteur-the experimental everywhere and always. greetings, then, to the new science which is going to change the orientation of human thought." {fn - } samadhi: perfect union of the individualized soul with the infinite spirit. {fn - } the subconsciously guided rationalizations of the mind are utterly different from the infallible guidance of truth which issues from the superconsciousness. led by french scientists of the sorbonne, western thinkers are beginning to investigate the possibility of divine perception in man. "for the past twenty years, students of psychology, influenced by freud, gave all their time to searching the subconscious realms," rabbi israel h. levinthal pointed out in . "it is true that the subconscious reveals much of the mystery that can explain human actions, but not all of our actions. it can explain the abnormal, but not deeds that are above the normal. the latest psychology, sponsored by the french schools, has discovered a new region in man, which it terms the superconscious. in contrast to the subconscious which represents the submerged currents of our nature, it reveals the heights to which our nature can reach. man represents a triple, not a double, personality; our conscious and subconscious being is crowned by a superconsciousness. many years ago the english psychologist, f. w. h. myers, suggested that 'hidden in the deep of our being is a rubbish heap as well as a treasure house.' in contrast to the psychology that centers all its researches on the subconscious in man's nature, this new psychology of the superconscious focuses its attention upon the treasure-house, the region that alone can explain the great, unselfish, heroic deeds of men." {fn - } jnana, wisdom, and bhakti, devotion: two of the main paths to god. {fn - } "man in his waking state puts forth innumerable efforts for experiencing sensual pleasures; when the entire group of sensory organs is fatigued, he forgets even the pleasure on hand and goes to sleep in order to enjoy rest in the soul, his own nature," shankara, the great vedantist, has written. "ultra-sensual bliss is thus extremely easy of attainment and is far superior to sense delights which always end in disgust." {fn - } mark : . {fn - } the upanishads or vedanta (literally, "end of the vedas"), occur in certain parts of the vedas as essential summaries. the upanishads furnish the doctrinal basis of the hindu religion. they received the following tribute from schopenhauer: "how entirely does the upanishad breathe throughout the holy spirit of the vedas! how is everyone who has become familiar with that incomparable book stirred by that spirit to the very depths of his soul! from every sentence deep, original, and sublime thoughts arise, and the whole is pervaded by a high and holy and earnest spirit. . . . the access to the vedas by means of the upanishads is in my eyes the greatest privilege this century may claim before all previous centuries." {fn - } commentaries. shankara peerlessly expounded the upanishads. {fn - } proverbs : . chapter: the sleepless saint "please permit me to go to the himalayas. i hope in unbroken solitude to achieve continuous divine communion." i actually once addressed these ungrateful words to my master. seized by one of the unpredictable delusions which occasionally assail the devotee, i felt a growing impatience with hermitage duties and college studies. a feebly extenuating circumstance is that my proposal was made when i had been only six months with sri yukteswar. not yet had i fully surveyed his towering stature. "many hillmen live in the himalayas, yet possess no god-perception." my guru's answer came slowly and simply. "wisdom is better sought from a man of realization than from an inert mountain." ignoring master's plain hint that he, and not a hill, was my teacher, i repeated my plea. sri yukteswar vouchsafed no reply. i took his silence for consent, a precarious interpretation readily accepted at one's convenience. in my calcutta home that evening, i busied myself with travel preparations. tying a few articles inside a blanket, i remembered a similar bundle, surreptitiously dropped from my attic window a few years earlier. i wondered if this were to be another ill-starred flight toward the himalayas. the first time my spiritual elation had been high; tonight conscience smote heavily at thought of leaving my guru. the following morning i sought out behari pundit, my sanskrit professor at scottish church college. "sir, you have told me of your friendship with a great disciple of lahiri mahasaya. please give me his address." "you mean ram gopal muzumdar. i call him the 'sleepless saint.' he is always awake in an ecstatic consciousness. his home is at ranbajpur, near tarakeswar." i thanked the pundit, and entrained immediately for tarakeswar. i hoped to silence my misgivings by wringing a sanction from the "sleepless saint" to engage myself in lonely himalayan meditation. behari's friend, i heard, had received illumination after many years of kriya yoga practice in isolated caves. at tarakeswar i approached a famous shrine. hindus regard it with the same veneration that catholics give to the lourdes sanctuary in france. innumerable healing miracles have occurred at tarakeswar, including one for a member of my family. "i sat in the temple there for a week," my eldest aunt once told me. "observing a complete fast, i prayed for the recovery of your uncle sarada from a chronic malady. on the seventh day i found a herb materialized in my hand! i made a brew from the leaves, and gave it to your uncle. his disease vanished at once, and has never reappeared." i entered the sacred tarakeswar shrine; the altar contains nothing but a round stone. its circumference, beginningless and endless, makes it aptly significant of the infinite. cosmic abstractions are not alien even to the humblest indian peasant; he has been accused by westerners, in fact, of living on abstractions! my own mood at the moment was so austere that i felt disinclined to bow before the stone symbol. god should be sought, i reflected, only within the soul. i left the temple without genuflection and walked briskly toward the outlying village of ranbajpur. my appeal to a passer-by for guidance caused him to sink into long cogitation. "when you come to a crossroad, turn right and keep going," he finally pronounced oracularly. obeying the directions, i wended my way alongside the banks of a canal. darkness fell; the outskirts of the jungle village were alive with winking fireflies and the howls of near-by jackals. the moonlight was too faint to supply any reassurance; i stumbled on for two hours. welcome clang of a cowbell! my repeated shouts eventually brought a peasant to my side. "i am looking for ram gopal babu." "no such person lives in our village." the man's tone was surly. "you are probably a lying detective." hoping to allay suspicion in his politically troubled mind, i touchingly explained my predicament. he took me to his home and offered a hospitable welcome. "ranbajpur is far from here," he remarked. "at the crossroad, you should have turned left, not right." my earlier informant, i thought sadly, was a distinct menace to travelers. after a relishable meal of coarse rice, lentil-dhal, and curry of potatoes with raw bananas, i retired to a small hut adjoining the courtyard. in the distance, villagers were singing to the loud accompaniment of mridangas {fn - } and cymbals. sleep was inconsiderable that night; i prayed deeply to be directed to the secret yogi, ram gopal. as the first streaks of dawn penetrated the fissures of my dark room, i set out for ranbajpur. crossing rough paddy fields, i trudged over sickled stumps of the prickly plant and mounds of dried clay. an occasionally-met peasant would inform me, invariably, that my destination was "only a krosha (two miles)." in six hours the sun traveled victoriously from horizon to meridian, but i began to feel that i would ever be distant from ranbajpur by one krosha. at midafternoon my world was still an endless paddy field. heat pouring from the avoidless sky was bringing me to near-collapse. as a man approached at leisurely pace, i hardly dared utter my usual question, lest it summon the monotonous: "just a krosha." the stranger halted beside me. short and slight, he was physically unimpressive save for an extraordinary pair of piercing dark eyes. "i was planning to leave ranbajpur, but your purpose was good, so i awaited you." he shook his finger in my astounded face. "aren't you clever to think that, unannounced, you could pounce on me? that professor behari had no right to give you my address." considering that introduction of myself would be mere verbosity in the presence of this master, i stood speechless, somewhat hurt at my reception. his next remark was abruptly put. "tell me; where do you think god is?" "why, he is within me and everywhere." i doubtless looked as bewildered as i felt. "all-pervading, eh?" the saint chuckled. "then why, young sir, did you fail to bow before the infinite in the stone symbol at the tarakeswar temple yesterday? {fn - } your pride caused you the punishment of being misdirected by the passer-by who was not bothered by fine distinctions of left and right. today, too, you have had a fairly uncomfortable time of it!" i agreed wholeheartedly, wonder-struck that an omniscient eye hid within the unremarkable body before me. healing strength emanated from the yogi; i was instantly refreshed in the scorching field. "the devotee inclines to think his path to god is the only way," he said. "yoga, through which divinity is found within, is doubtless the highest road: so lahiri mahasaya has told us. but discovering the lord within, we soon perceive him without. holy shrines at tarakeswar and elsewhere are rightly venerated as nuclear centers of spiritual power." the saint's censorious attitude vanished; his eyes became compassionately soft. he patted my shoulder. "young yogi, i see you are running away from your master. he has everything you need; you must return to him. mountains cannot be your guru." ram gopal was repeating the same thought which sri yukteswar had expressed at our last meeting. "masters are under no cosmic compulsion to limit their residence." my companion glanced at me quizzically. "the himalayas in india and tibet have no monopoly on saints. what one does not trouble to find within will not be discovered by transporting the body hither and yon. as soon as the devotee is willing to go even to the ends of the earth for spiritual enlightenment, his guru appears near-by." i silently agreed, recalling my prayer in the benares hermitage, followed by the meeting with sri yukteswar in a crowded lane. "are you able to have a little room where you can close the door and be alone?" "yes." i reflected that this saint descended from the general to the particular with disconcerting speed. "that is your cave." the yogi bestowed on me a gaze of illumination which i have never forgotten. "that is your sacred mountain. that is where you will find the kingdom of god." his simple words instantaneously banished my lifelong obsession for the himalayas. in a burning paddy field i awoke from the monticolous dreams of eternal snows. "young sir, your divine thirst is laudable. i feel great love for you." ram gopal took my hand and led me to a quaint hamlet. the adobe houses were covered with coconut leaves and adorned with rustic entrances. the saint seated me on the umbrageous bamboo platform of his small cottage. after giving me sweetened lime juice and a piece of rock candy, he entered his patio and assumed the lotus posture. in about four hours i opened my meditative eyes and saw that the moonlit figure of the yogi was still motionless. as i was sternly reminding my stomach that man does not live by bread alone, ram gopal approached me. "i see you are famished; food will be ready soon." a fire was kindled under a clay oven on the patio; rice and dhal were quickly served on large banana leaves. my host courteously refused my aid in all cooking chores. "the guest is god," a hindu proverb, has commanded devout observance from time immemorial. in my later world travels, i was charmed to see that a similar respect for visitors is manifested in rural sections of many countries. the city dweller finds the keen edge of hospitality blunted by superabundance of strange faces. the marts of men seemed remotely dim as i squatted by the yogi in the isolation of the tiny jungle village. the cottage room was mysterious with a mellow light. ram gopal arranged some torn blankets on the floor for my bed, and seated himself on a straw mat. overwhelmed by his spiritual magnetism, i ventured a request. "sir, why don't you grant me a samadhi?" "dear one, i would be glad to convey the divine contact, but it is not my place to do so." the saint looked at me with half-closed eyes. "your master will bestow that experience shortly. your body is not tuned just yet. as a small lamp cannot withstand excessive electrical voltage, so your nerves are unready for the cosmic current. if i gave you the infinite ecstasy right now, you would burn as if every cell were on fire. "you are asking illumination from me," the yogi continued musingly, "while i am wondering-inconsiderable as i am, and with the little meditation i have done-if i have succeeded in pleasing god, and what worth i may find in his eyes at the final reckoning." "sir, have you not been singleheartedly seeking god for a long time?" "i have not done much. behari must have told you something of my life. for twenty years i occupied a secret grotto, meditating eighteen hours a day. then i moved to a more inaccessible cave and remained there for twenty-five years, entering the yoga union for twenty hours daily. i did not need sleep, for i was ever with god. my body was more rested in the complete calmness of the superconsciousness than it could be by the partial peace of the ordinary subconscious state. "the muscles relax during sleep, but the heart, lungs, and circulatory system are constantly at work; they get no rest. in superconsciousness, the internal organs remain in a state of suspended animation, electrified by the cosmic energy. by such means i have found it unnecessary to sleep for years. the time will come when you too will dispense with sleep." "my goodness, you have meditated for so long and yet are unsure of the lord's favor!" i gazed at him in astonishment. "then what about us poor mortals?" "well, don't you see, my dear boy, that god is eternity itself? to assume that one can fully know him by forty-five years of meditation is rather a preposterous expectation. babaji assures us, however, that even a little meditation saves one from the dire fear of death and after-death states. do not fix your spiritual ideal on a small mountain, but hitch it to the star of unqualified divine attainment. if you work hard, you will get there." enthralled by the prospect, i asked him for further enlightening words. he related a wondrous story of his first meeting with lahiri mahasaya's guru, babaji. {fn - } around midnight ram gopal fell into silence, and i lay down on my blankets. closing my eyes, i saw flashes of lightning; the vast space within me was a chamber of molten light. i opened my eyes and observed the same dazzling radiance. the room became a part of that infinite vault which i beheld with interior vision. "why don't you go to sleep?" "sir, how can i sleep in the presence of lightning, blazing whether my eyes are shut or open?" "you are blessed to have this experience; the spiritual radiations are not easily seen." the saint added a few words of affection. at dawn ram gopal gave me rock candies and said i must depart. i felt such reluctance to bid him farewell that tears coursed down my cheeks. "i will not let you go empty-handed." the yogi spoke tenderly. "i will do something for you." he smiled and looked at me steadfastly. i stood rooted to the ground, peace rushing like a mighty flood through the gates of my eyes. i was instantaneously healed of a pain in my back, which had troubled me intermittently for years. renewed, bathed in a sea of luminous joy, i wept no more. after touching the saint's feet, i sauntered into the jungle, making my way through its tropical tangle until i reached tarakeswar. there i made a second pilgrimage to the famous shrine, and prostrated myself fully before the altar. the round stone enlarged before my inner vision until it became the cosmical spheres, ring within ring, zone after zone, all dowered with divinity. i entrained happily an hour later for calcutta. my travels ended, not in the lofty mountains, but in the himalayan presence of my master. {fn - } hand-played drums, used only for devotional music. {fn - } one is reminded here of dostoevski's observation: "a man who bows down to nothing can never bear the burden of himself." {fn - } see chapter . chapter: an experience in cosmic consciousness "i am here, guruji." my shamefacedness spoke more eloquently for me. "let us go to the kitchen and find something to eat." sri yukteswar's manner was as natural as if hours and not days had separated us. "master, i must have disappointed you by my abrupt departure from my duties here; i thought you might be angry with me." "no, of course not! wrath springs only from thwarted desires. i do not expect anything from others, so their actions cannot be in opposition to wishes of mine. i would not use you for my own ends; i am happy only in your own true happiness." "sir, one hears of divine love in a vague way, but for the first time i am having a concrete example in your angelic self! in the world, even a father does not easily forgive his son if he leaves his parent's business without warning. but you show not the slightest vexation, though you must have been put to great inconvenience by the many unfinished tasks i left behind." we looked into each other's eyes, where tears were shining. a blissful wave engulfed me; i was conscious that the lord, in the form of my guru, was expanding the small ardors of my heart into the incompressible reaches of cosmic love. a few mornings later i made my way to master's empty sitting room. i planned to meditate, but my laudable purpose was unshared by disobedient thoughts. they scattered like birds before the hunter. "mukunda!" sri yukteswar's voice sounded from a distant inner balcony. i felt as rebellious as my thoughts. "master always urges me to meditate," i muttered to myself. "he should not disturb me when he knows why i came to his room." he summoned me again; i remained obstinately silent. the third time his tone held rebuke. "sir, i am meditating," i shouted protestingly. "i know how you are meditating," my guru called out, "with your mind distributed like leaves in a storm! come here to me." snubbed and exposed, i made my way sadly to his side. "poor boy, the mountains couldn't give what you wanted." master spoke caressively, comfortingly. his calm gaze was unfathomable. "your heart's desire shall be fulfilled." sri yukteswar seldom indulged in riddles; i was bewildered. he struck gently on my chest above the heart. my body became immovably rooted; breath was drawn out of my lungs as if by some huge magnet. soul and mind instantly lost their physical bondage, and streamed out like a fluid piercing light from my every pore. the flesh was as though dead, yet in my intense awareness i knew that never before had i been fully alive. my sense of identity was no longer narrowly confined to a body, but embraced the circumambient atoms. people on distant streets seemed to be moving gently over my own remote periphery. the roots of plants and trees appeared through a dim transparency of the soil; i discerned the inward flow of their sap. the whole vicinity lay bare before me. my ordinary frontal vision was now changed to a vast spherical sight, simultaneously all-perceptive. through the back of my head i saw men strolling far down rai ghat road, and noticed also a white cow who was leisurely approaching. when she reached the space in front of the open ashram gate, i observed her with my two physical eyes. as she passed by, behind the brick wall, i saw her clearly still. all objects within my panoramic gaze trembled and vibrated like quick motion pictures. my body, master's, the pillared courtyard, the furniture and floor, the trees and sunshine, occasionally became violently agitated, until all melted into a luminescent sea; even as sugar crystals, thrown into a glass of water, dissolve after being shaken. the unifying light alternated with materializations of form, the metamorphoses revealing the law of cause and effect in creation. an oceanic joy broke upon calm endless shores of my soul. the spirit of god, i realized, is exhaustless bliss; his body is countless tissues of light. a swelling glory within me began to envelop towns, continents, the earth, solar and stellar systems, tenuous nebulae, and floating universes. the entire cosmos, gently luminous, like a city seen afar at night, glimmered within the infinitude of my being. the sharply etched global outlines faded somewhat at the farthest edges; there i could see a mellow radiance, ever-undiminished. it was indescribably subtle; the planetary pictures were formed of a grosser light. the divine dispersion of rays poured from an eternal source, blazing into galaxies, transfigured with ineffable auras. again and again i saw the creative beams condense into constellations, then resolve into sheets of transparent flame. by rhythmic reversion, sextillion worlds passed into diaphanous luster; fire became firmament. i cognized the center of the empyrean as a point of intuitive perception in my heart. irradiating splendor issued from my nucleus to every part of the universal structure. blissful amrita, the nectar of immortality, pulsed through me with a quicksilverlike fluidity. the creative voice of god i heard resounding as aum, {fn - } the vibration of the cosmic motor. suddenly the breath returned to my lungs. with a disappointment almost unbearable, i realized that my infinite immensity was lost. once more i was limited to the humiliating cage of a body, not easily accommodative to the spirit. like a prodigal child, i had run away from my macrocosmic home and imprisoned myself in a narrow microcosm. my guru was standing motionless before me; i started to drop at his holy feet in gratitude for the experience in cosmic consciousness which i had long passionately sought. he held me upright, and spoke calmly, unpretentiously. "you must not get overdrunk with ecstasy. much work yet remains for you in the world. come; let us sweep the balcony floor; then we shall walk by the ganges." i fetched a broom; master, i knew, was teaching me the secret of balanced living. the soul must stretch over the cosmogonic abysses, while the body performs its daily duties. when we set out later for a stroll, i was still entranced in unspeakable rapture. i saw our bodies as two astral pictures, moving over a road by the river whose essence was sheer light. "it is the spirit of god that actively sustains every form and force in the universe; yet he is transcendental and aloof in the blissful uncreated void beyond the worlds of vibratory phenomena," {fn - } master explained. "saints who realize their divinity even while in the flesh know a similar twofold existence. conscientiously engaging in earthly work, they yet remain immersed in an inward beatitude. the lord has created all men from the limitless joy of his being. though they are painfully cramped by the body, god nevertheless expects that souls made in his image shall ultimately rise above all sense identifications and reunite with him." the cosmic vision left many permanent lessons. by daily stilling my thoughts, i could win release from the delusive conviction that my body was a mass of flesh and bones, traversing the hard soil of matter. the breath and the restless mind, i saw, were like storms which lashed the ocean of light into waves of material forms-earth, sky, human beings, animals, birds, trees. no perception of the infinite as one light could be had except by calming those storms. as often as i silenced the two natural tumults, i beheld the multitudinous waves of creation melt into one lucent sea, even as the waves of the ocean, their tempests subsiding, serenely dissolve into unity. a master bestows the divine experience of cosmic consciousness when his disciple, by meditation, has strengthened his mind to a degree where the vast vistas would not overwhelm him. the experience can never be given through one's mere intellectual willingness or open-mindedness. only adequate enlargement by yoga practice and devotional bhakti can prepare the mind to absorb the liberating shock of omnipresence. it comes with a natural inevitability to the sincere devotee. his intense craving begins to pull at god with an irresistible force. the lord, as the cosmic vision, is drawn by the seeker's magnetic ardor into his range of consciousness. i wrote, in my later years, the following poem, "samadhi," endeavoring to convey the glory of its cosmic state: vanished the veils of light and shade, lifted every vapor of sorrow, sailed away all dawns of fleeting joy, gone the dim sensory mirage. love, hate, health, disease, life, death, perished these false shadows on the screen of duality. waves of laughter, scyllas of sarcasm, melancholic whirlpools, melting in the vast sea of bliss. the storm of maya stilled by magic wand of intuition deep. the universe, forgotten dream, subconsciously lurks, ready to invade my newly-wakened memory divine. i live without the cosmic shadow, but it is not, bereft of me; as the sea exists without the waves, but they breathe not without the sea. dreams, wakings, states of deep turia sleep, present, past, future, no more for me, but ever-present, all-flowing i, i, everywhere. planets, stars, stardust, earth, volcanic bursts of doomsday cataclysms, creation's molding furnace, glaciers of silent x-rays, burning electron floods, thoughts of all men, past, present, to come, every blade of grass, myself, mankind, each particle of universal dust, anger, greed, good, bad, salvation, lust, i swallowed, transmuted all into a vast ocean of blood of my own one being! smoldering joy, oft-puffed by meditation blinding my tearful eyes, burst into immortal flames of bliss, consumed my tears, my frame, my all. thou art i, i am thou, knowing, knower, known, as one! tranquilled, unbroken thrill, eternally living, ever-new peace! enjoyable beyond imagination of expectancy, samadhi bliss! not an unconscious state or mental chloroform without wilful return, samadhi but extends my conscious realm beyond limits of the mortal frame to farthest boundary of eternity where i, the cosmic sea, watch the little ego floating in me. the sparrow, each grain of sand, fall not without my sight. all space floats like an iceberg in my mental sea. colossal container, i, of all things made. by deeper, longer, thirsty, guru-given meditation comes this celestial samadhi. mobile murmurs of atoms are heard, the dark earth, mountains, vales, lo! molten liquid! flowing seas change into vapors of nebulae! aum blows upon vapors, opening wondrously their veils, oceans stand revealed, shining electrons, till, at last sound of the cosmic drum, vanish the grosser lights into eternal rays of all-pervading bliss. from joy i came, for joy i live, in sacred joy i melt. ocean of mind, i drink all creation's waves. four veils of solid, liquid, vapor, light, lift aright. myself, in everything, enters the great myself. gone forever, fitful, flickering shadows of mortal memory. spotless is my mental sky, below, ahead, and high above. eternity and i, one united ray. a tiny bubble of laughter, i am become the sea of mirth itself. sri yukteswar taught me how to summon the blessed experience at will, and also how to transmit it to others if their intuitive channels were developed. for months i entered the ecstatic union, comprehending why the upanishads say god is rasa, "the most relishable." one day, however, i took a problem to master. "i want to know, sir-when shall i find god?" "you have found him." "o no, sir, i don't think so!" my guru was smiling. "i am sure you aren't expecting a venerable personage, adorning a throne in some antiseptic corner of the cosmos! i see, however, that you are imagining that the possession of miraculous powers is knowledge of god. one might have the whole universe, and find the lord elusive still! spiritual advancement is not measured by one's outward powers, but only by the depth of his bliss in meditation. "ever-new joy is god. he is inexhaustible; as you continue your meditations during the years, he will beguile you with an infinite ingenuity. devotees like yourself who have found the way to god never dream of exchanging him for any other happiness; he is seductive beyond thought of competition. "how quickly we weary of earthly pleasures! desire for material things is endless; man is never satisfied completely, and pursues one goal after another. the 'something else' he seeks is the lord, who alone can grant lasting joy. "outward longings drive us from the eden within; they offer false pleasures which only impersonate soul-happiness. the lost paradise is quickly regained through divine meditation. as god is unanticipatory ever-newness, we never tire of him. can we be surfeited with bliss, delightfully varied throughout eternity?" "i understand now, sir, why saints call the lord unfathomable. even everlasting life could not suffice to appraise him." "that is true; but he is also near and dear. after the mind has been cleared by kriya yoga of sensory obstacles, meditation furnishes a twofold proof of god. ever-new joy is evidence of his existence, convincing to our very atoms. also, in meditation one finds his instant guidance, his adequate response to every difficulty." "i see, guruji; you have solved my problem." i smiled gratefully. "i do realize now that i have found god, for whenever the joy of meditation has returned subconsciously during my active hours, i have been subtly directed to adopt the right course in everything, even details." "human life is beset with sorrow until we know how to tune in with the divine will, whose 'right course' is often baffling to the egoistic intelligence. god bears the burden of the cosmos; he alone can give unerring counsel." {fn - } "in the beginning was the word, and the word was with god, and the word was god."-john : . {fn - } "for the father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the son."-john : . "no man hath seen god at any time; the only begotten son, which is in the bosom of the father, he hath declared him."-john : . "verily, verily, i say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that i do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because i go unto my father."-john : . "but the comforter, which is the holy ghost, whom the father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever i have said to you."-john : . these biblical words refer to the threefold nature of god as father, son, holy ghost (sat, tat, aum in the hindu scriptures). god the father is the absolute, unmanifested, existing beyond vibratory creation. god the son is the christ consciousness (brahma or kutastha chaitanya) existing within vibratory creation; this christ consciousness is the "only begotten" or sole reflection of the uncreated infinite. its outward manifestation or "witness" is aum or holy ghost, the divine, creative, invisible power which structures all creation through vibration. aum the blissful comforter is heard in meditation and reveals to the devotee the ultimate truth. chapter: the cauliflower robbery "master, a gift for you! these six huge cauliflowers were planted with my hands; i have watched over their growth with the tender care of a mother nursing her child." i presented the basket of vegetables with a ceremonial flourish. "thank you!" sri yukteswar's smile was warm with appreciation. "please keep them in your room; i shall need them tomorrow for a special dinner." i had just arrived in puri {fn - } to spend my college summer vacation with my guru at his seaside hermitage. built by master and his disciples, the cheerful little two-storied retreat fronts on the bay of bengal. i awoke early the following morning, refreshed by the salty sea breezes and the charm of my surroundings. sri yukteswar's melodious voice was calling; i took a look at my cherished cauliflowers and stowed them neatly under my bed. "come, let us go to the beach." master led the way; several young disciples and myself followed in a scattered group. our guru surveyed us in mild criticism. "when our western brothers walk, they usually take pride in unison. now, please march in two rows; keep rhythmic step with one another." sri yukteswar watched as we obeyed; he began to sing: "boys go to and fro, in a pretty little row." i could not but admire the ease with which master was able to match the brisk pace of his young students. "halt!" my guru's eyes sought mine. "did you remember to lock the back door of the hermitage?" [illustration: my guru's seaside hermitage at puri a steady stream of visitors poured from the world into the hermitage tranquillity. a number of learned men came with the expectation of meeting an orthodox religionist. a supercilious smile or a glance of amused tolerance occasionally betrayed that the newcomers anticipated nothing more than a few pious platitudes. yet their reluctant departure would bring an expressed conviction that sri yukteswar had shown precise insight into their specialized fields of knowledge. my guru always had young resident disciples in his hermitage. he directed their minds and lives with that careful discipline in which the word "disciple" is etymologically rooted.--see puri.jpg] "i think so, sir." sri yukteswar was silent for a few minutes, a half-suppressed smile on his lips. "no, you forgot," he said finally. "divine contemplation must not be made an excuse for material carelessness. you have neglected your duty in safeguarding the ashram; you must be punished." i thought he was obscurely joking when he added: "your six cauliflowers will soon be only five." we turned around at master's orders and marched back until we were close to the hermitage. "rest awhile. mukunda, look across the compound on our left; observe the road beyond. a certain man will arrive there presently; he will be the means of your chastisement." i concealed my vexation at these incomprehensible remarks. a peasant soon appeared on the road; he was dancing grotesquely and flinging his arms about with meaningless gestures. almost paralyzed with curiosity, i glued my eyes on the hilarious spectacle. as the man reached a point in the road where he would vanish from our view, sri yukteswar said, "now, he will return." the peasant at once changed his direction and made for the rear of the ashram. crossing a sandy tract, he entered the building by the back door. i had left it unlocked, even as my guru had said. the man emerged shortly, holding one of my prized cauliflowers. he now strode along respectably, invested with the dignity of possession. the unfolding farce, in which my role appeared to be that of bewildered victim, was not so disconcerting that i failed in indignant pursuit. i was halfway to the road when master recalled me. he was shaking from head to foot with laughter. "that poor crazy man has been longing for a cauliflower," he explained between outbursts of mirth. "i thought it would be a good idea if he got one of yours, so ill-guarded!" i dashed to my room, where i found that the thief, evidently one with a vegetable fixation, had left untouched my gold rings, watch, and money, all lying openly on the blanket. he had crawled instead under the bed where, completely hidden from casual sight, one of my cauliflowers had aroused his singlehearted desire. i asked sri yukteswar that evening to explain the incident which had, i thought, a few baffling features. my guru shook his head slowly. "you will understand it someday. science will soon discover a few of these hidden laws." when the wonders of radio burst some years later on an astounded world, i remembered master's prediction. age-old concepts of time and space were annihilated; no peasant's home so narrow that london or calcutta could not enter! the dullest intelligence enlarged before indisputable proof of one aspect of man's omnipresence. the "plot" of the cauliflower comedy can be best understood by a radio analogy. sri yukteswar was a perfect human radio. thoughts are no more than very gentle vibrations moving in the ether. just as a sensitized radio picks up a desired musical number out of thousands of other programs from every direction, so my guru had been able to catch the thought of the half-witted man who hankered for a cauliflower, out of the countless thoughts of broadcasting human wills in the world. {fn - } by his powerful will, master was also a human broadcasting station, and had successfully directed the peasant to reverse his steps and go to a certain room for a single cauliflower. intuition {fn - } is soul guidance, appearing naturally in man during those instants when his mind is calm. nearly everyone has had the experience of an inexplicably correct "hunch," or has transferred his thoughts effectively to another person. the human mind, free from the static of restlessness, can perform through its antenna of intuition all the functions of complicated radio mechanisms-sending and receiving thoughts, and tuning out undesirable ones. as the power of a radio depends on the amount of electrical current it can utilize, so the human radio is energized according to the power of will possessed by each individual. all thoughts vibrate eternally in the cosmos. by deep concentration, a master is able to detect the thoughts of any mind, living or dead. thoughts are universally and not individually rooted; a truth cannot be created, but only perceived. the erroneous thoughts of man result from imperfections in his discernment. the goal of yoga science is to calm the mind, that without distortion it may mirror the divine vision in the universe. radio and television have brought the instantaneous sound and sight of remote persons to the firesides of millions: the first faint scientific intimations that man is an all-pervading spirit. not a body confined to a point in space, but the vast soul, which the ego in most barbaric modes conspires in vain to cramp. "very strange, very wonderful, seemingly very improbable phenomena may yet appear which, when once established, will not astonish us more than we are now astonished at all that science has taught us during the last century," charles robert richet, nobel prizeman in physiology, has declared. "it is assumed that the phenomena which we now accept without surprise, do not excite our astonishment because they are understood. but this is not the case. if they do not surprise us it is not because they are understood, it is because they are familiar; for if that which is not understood ought to surprise us, we should be surprised at everything-the fall of a stone thrown into the air, the acorn which becomes an oak, mercury which expands when it is heated, iron attracted by a magnet, phosphorus which burns when it is rubbed. . . . the science of today is a light matter; the revolutions and evolutions which it will experience in a hundred thousand years will far exceed the most daring anticipations. the truths-those surprising, amazing, unforeseen truths-which our descendants will discover, are even now all around us, staring us in the eyes, so to speak, and yet we do not see them. but it is not enough to say that we do not see them; we do not wish to see them; for as soon as an unexpected and unfamiliar fact appears, we try to fit it into the framework of the commonplaces of acquired knowledge, and we are indignant that anyone should dare to experiment further." a humorous occurrence took place a few days after i had been so implausibly robbed of a cauliflower. a certain kerosene lamp could not be found. having so lately witnessed my guru's omniscient insight, i thought he would demonstrate that it was child's play to locate the lamp. master perceived my expectation. with exaggerated gravity he questioned all ashram residents. a young disciple confessed that he had used the lamp to go to the well in the back yard. sri yukteswar gave the solemn counsel: "seek the lamp near the well." i rushed there; no lamp! crestfallen, i returned to my guru. he was now laughing heartily, without compunction for my disillusionment. "too bad i couldn't direct you to the vanished lamp; i am not a fortune teller!" with twinkling eyes, he added, "i am not even a satisfactory sherlock holmes!" i realized that master would never display his powers when challenged, or for a triviality. delightful weeks sped by. sri yukteswar was planning a religious procession. he asked me to lead the disciples over the town and beach of puri. the festive day dawned as one of the hottest of the summer. "guruji, how can i take the barefooted students over the fiery sands?" i spoke despairingly. "i will tell you a secret," master responded. "the lord will send an umbrella of clouds; you all shall walk in comfort." i happily organized the procession; our group started from the ashram with a sat-sanga banner. {fn - } designed by sri yukteswar, it bore the symbol of the single {fn - } eye, the telescopic gaze of intuition. no sooner had we left the hermitage than the part of the sky which was overhead became filled with clouds as though by magic. to the accompaniment of astonished ejaculations from all sides, a very light shower fell, cooling the city streets and the burning seashore. the soothing drops descended during the two hours of the parade. the exact instant at which our group returned to the ashram, the clouds and rain passed away tracelessly. "you see how god feels for us," master replied after i had expressed my gratitude. "the lord responds to all and works for all. just as he sent rain at my plea, so he fulfills any sincere desire of the devotee. seldom do men realize how often god heeds their prayers. he is not partial to a few, but listens to everyone who approaches him trustingly. his children should ever have implicit faith in the loving-kindness of their omnipresent father." {fn - } sri yukteswar sponsored four yearly festivals, at the equinoxes and solstices, when his students gathered from far and near. the winter solstice celebration was held in serampore; the first one i attended left me with a permanent blessing. the festivities started in the morning with a barefoot procession along the streets. the voices of a hundred students rang out with sweet religious songs; a few musicians played the flute and khol kartal (drums and cymbals). enthusiastic townspeople strewed the path with flowers, glad to be summoned from prosaic tasks by our resounding praise of the lord's blessed name. the long tour ended in the courtyard of the hermitage. there we encircled our guru, while students on upper balconies showered us with marigold blossoms. many guests went upstairs to receive a pudding of channa and oranges. i made my way to a group of brother disciples who were serving today as cooks. food for such large gatherings had to be cooked outdoors in huge cauldrons. the improvised wood-burning brick stoves were smoky and tear-provoking, but we laughed merrily at our work. religious festivals in india are never considered troublesome; each one does his part, supplying money, rice, vegetables, or his personal services. master was soon in our midst, supervising the details of the feast. busy every moment, he kept pace with the most energetic young student. a sankirtan (group chanting), accompanied by the harmonium and hand-played indian drums, was in progress on the second floor. sri yukteswar listened appreciatively; his musical sense was acutely perfect. "they are off key!" master left the cooks and joined the artists. the melody was heard again, this time correctly rendered. in india, music as well as painting and the drama is considered a divine art. brahma, vishnu, and shiva-the eternal trinity-were the first musicians. the divine dancer shiva is scripturally represented as having worked out the infinite modes of rhythm in his cosmic dance of universal creation, preservation, and dissolution, while brahma accentuated the time-beat with the clanging cymbals, and vishnu sounded the holy mridanga or drum. krishna, an incarnation of vishnu, is always shown in hindu art with a flute, on which he plays the enrapturing song that recalls to their true home the human souls wandering in maya-delusion. saraswati, goddess of wisdom, is symbolized as performing on the vina, mother of all stringed instruments. the sama veda of india contains the world's earliest writings on musical science. the foundation stone of hindu music is the ragas or fixed melodic scales. the six basic ragas branch out into derivative raginis (wives) and putras (sons). each raga has a minimum of five notes: a leading note (vadi or king), a secondary note (samavadi or prime minister), helping notes (anuvadi, attendants), and a dissonant note (vivadi, the enemy). each one of the six basic ragas has a natural correspondence with a certain hour of the day, season of the year, and a presiding deity who bestows a particular potency. thus, ( ) the hindole raga is heard only at dawn in the spring, to evoke the mood of universal love; ( ) deepaka raga is played during the evening in summer, to arouse compassion; ( ) megha raga is a melody for midday in the rainy season, to summon courage; ( ) bhairava raga is played in the mornings of august, september, october, to achieve tranquillity; ( ) sri raga is reserved for autumn twilights, to attain pure love; ( ) malkounsa raga is heard at midnights in winter, for valor. the ancient rishis discovered these laws of sound alliance between nature and man. because nature is an objectification of aum, the primal sound or vibratory word, man can obtain control over all natural manifestations through the use of certain mantras or chants. {fn - } historical documents tell of the remarkable powers possessed by miyan tan sen, sixteenth century court musician for akbar the great. commanded by the emperor to sing a night raga while the sun was overhead, tan sen intoned a mantra which instantly caused the whole palace precincts to become enveloped in darkness. indian music divides the octave into srutis or demi-semitones. these microtonal intervals permit fine shades of musical expression unattainable by the western chromatic scale of semitones. each one of the seven basic notes of the octave is associated in hindu mythology with a color, and the natural cry of a bird or beast-do with green, and the peacock; re with red, and the skylark; mi with golden, and the goat; fa with yellowish white, and the heron; sol with black, and the nightingale; la with yellow, and the horse; si with a combination of all colors, and the elephant. three scales-major, harmonic minor, melodic minor-are the only ones which occidental music employs, but indian music outlines thatas or scales. the musician has a creative scope for endless improvisation around the fixed traditional melody or raga; he concentrates on the sentiment or definitive mood of the structural theme and then embroiders it to the limits of his own originality. the hindu musician does not read set notes; he clothes anew at each playing the bare skeleton of the raga, often confining himself to a single melodic sequence, stressing by repetition all its subtle microtonal and rhythmic variations. bach, among western composers, had an understanding of the charm and power of repetitious sound slightly differentiated in a hundred complex ways. ancient sanskrit literature describes talas or time-measures. the traditional founder of hindu music, bharata, is said to have isolated kinds of tala in the song of a lark. the origin of tala or rhythm is rooted in human movements-the double time of walking, and the triple time of respiration in sleep, when inhalation is twice the length of exhalation. india has always recognized the human voice as the most perfect instrument of sound. hindu music therefore largely confines itself to the voice range of three octaves. for the same reason, melody (relation of successive notes) is stressed, rather than harmony (relation of simultaneous notes). the deeper aim of the early rishi-musicians was to blend the singer with the cosmic song which can be heard through awakening of man's occult spinal centers. indian music is a subjective, spiritual, and individualistic art, aiming not at symphonic brilliance but at personal harmony with the oversoul. the sanskrit word for musician is bhagavathar, "he who sings the praises of god." the sankirtans or musical gatherings are an effective form of yoga or spiritual discipline, necessitating deep concentration, intense absorption in the seed thought and sound. because man himself is an expression of the creative word, sound has the most potent and immediate effect on him, offering a way to remembrance of his divine origin. the sankirtan issuing from sri yukteswar's second-story sitting room on the day of the festival was inspiring to the cooks amidst the steaming pots. my brother disciples and i joyously sang the refrains, beating time with our hands. by sunset we had served our hundreds of visitors with khichuri (rice and lentils), vegetable curry, and rice pudding. we laid cotton blankets over the courtyard; soon the assemblage was squatting under the starry vault, quietly attentive to the wisdom pouring from sri yukteswar's lips. his public speeches emphasized the value of kriya yoga, and a life of self-respect, calmness, determination, simple diet, and regular exercise. a group of very young disciples then chanted a few sacred hymns; the meeting concluded with sankirtan. from ten o'clock until midnight, the ashram residents washed pots and pans, and cleared the courtyard. my guru called me to his side. "i am pleased over your cheerful labors today and during the past week of preparations. i want you with me; you may sleep in my bed tonight." this was a privilege i had never thought would fall to my lot. we sat awhile in a state of intense divine tranquillity. hardly ten minutes after we had gotten into bed, master rose and began to dress. "what is the matter, sir?" i felt a tinge of unreality in the unexpected joy of sleeping beside my guru. "i think that a few students who missed their proper train connections will be here soon. let us have some food ready." "guruji, no one would come at one o'clock in the morning!" "stay in bed; you have been working very hard. but i am going to cook." at sri yukteswar's resolute tone, i jumped up and followed him to the small daily-used kitchen adjacent to the second-floor inner balcony. rice and dhal were soon boiling. my guru smiled affectionately. "tonight you have conquered fatigue and fear of hard work; you shall never be bothered by them in the future." as he uttered these words of lifelong blessing, footsteps sounded in the courtyard. i ran downstairs and admitted a group of students. "dear brother, how reluctant we are to disturb master at this hour!" one man addressed me apologetically. "we made a mistake about train schedules, but felt we could not return home without a glimpse of our guru." "he has been expecting you and is even now preparing your food." sri yukteswar's welcoming voice rang out; i led the astonished visitors to the kitchen. master turned to me with twinkling eyes. "now that you have finished comparing notes, no doubt you are satisfied that our guests really did miss their train!" i followed him to his bedroom a half hour later, realizing fully that i was about to sleep beside a godlike guru. {fn - } puri, about miles south of calcutta, is a famous pilgrimage city for devotees of krishna; his worship is celebrated there with two immense annual festivals, snanayatra and rathayatra. {fn - } the discovery of a radio microscope revealed a new world of hitherto unknown rays. "man himself as well as all kinds of supposedly inert matter constantly emits the rays that this instrument 'sees,'" reported the associated press. "those who believe in telepathy, second sight, and clairvoyance, have in this announcement the first scientific proof of the existence of invisible rays which really travel from one person to another. the radio device actually is a radio frequency spectroscope. it does the same thing for cool, nonglowing matter that the spectroscope does when it discloses the kinds of atoms that make the stars. . . . the existence of such rays coming from man and all living things has been suspected by scientists for many years. today is the first experimental proof of their existence. the discovery shows that every atom and every molecule in nature is a continuous radio broadcasting station. . . . thus even after death the substance that was a man continues to send out its delicate rays. the wave lengths of these rays range from shorter than anything now used in broadcasting to the longest kind of radio waves. the jumble of these rays is almost inconceivable. there are millions of them. a single very large molecule may give off , , different wave lengths at the same time. the longer wave lengths of this sort travel with the ease and speed of radio waves. . . . there is one amazing difference between the new radio rays and familiar rays like light. this is the prolonged time, amounting to thousands of years, which these radio waves will keep on emitting from undisturbed matter." {fn - } one hesitates to use "intuition"; hitler has almost ruined the word along with more ambitious devastations. the latin root meaning of intuition is "inner protection." the sanskrit word agama means intuitional knowledge born of direct soul-perception; hence certain ancient treatises by the rishis were called agamas. {fn - } sat is literally "being," hence "essence; reality." sanga is "association." sri yukteswar called his hermitage organization sat-sanga, "fellowship with truth." {fn - } "if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."-matthew : . during deep meditation, the single or spiritual eye becomes visible within the central part of the forehead. this omniscient eye is variously referred to in scriptures as the third eye, the star of the east, the inner eye, the dove descending from heaven, the eye of shiva, the eye of intuition, etc. {fn - } "he that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see? . . . he that teacheth man knowledge, shall he not know?"-psalm : - . {fn - } folklore of all peoples contains references to incantations with power over nature. the american indians are well-known to have developed sound rituals for rain and wind. tan sen, the great hindu musician, was able to quench fire by the power of his song. charles kellogg, the california naturalist, gave a demonstration of the effect of tonal vibration on fire in before a group of new york firemen. "passing a bow, like an enlarged violin bow, swiftly across an aluminum tuning fork, he produced a screech like intense radio static. instantly the yellow gas flame, two feet high, leaping inside a hollow glass tube, subsided to a height of six inches and became a sputtering blue flare. another attempt with the bow, and another screech of vibration, extinguished it." chapter: outwitting the stars "mukunda, why don't you get an astrological armlet?" "should i, master? i don't believe in astrology." "it is never a question of belief; the only scientific attitude one can take on any subject is whether it is true. the law of gravitation worked as efficiently before newton as after him. the cosmos would be fairly chaotic if its laws could not operate without the sanction of human belief. "charlatans have brought the stellar science to its present state of disrepute. astrology is too vast, both mathematically {fn - } and philosophically, to be rightly grasped except by men of profound understanding. if ignoramuses misread the heavens, and see there a scrawl instead of a script, that is to be expected in this imperfect world. one should not dismiss the wisdom with the 'wise.' "all parts of creation are linked together and interchange their influences. the balanced rhythm of the universe is rooted in reciprocity," my guru continued. "man, in his human aspect, has to combat two sets of forces-first, the tumults within his being, caused by the admixture of earth, water, fire, air, and ethereal elements; second, the outer disintegrating powers of nature. so long as man struggles with his mortality, he is affected by the myriad mutations of heaven and earth. "astrology is the study of man's response to planetary stimuli. the stars have no conscious benevolence or animosity; they merely send forth positive and negative radiations. of themselves, these do not help or harm humanity, but offer a lawful channel for the outward operation of cause-effect equilibriums which each man has set into motion in the past. "a child is born on that day and at that hour when the celestial rays are in mathematical harmony with his individual karma. his horoscope is a challenging portrait, revealing his unalterable past and its probable future results. but the natal chart can be rightly interpreted only by men of intuitive wisdom: these are few. "the message boldly blazoned across the heavens at the moment of birth is not meant to emphasize fate-the result of past good and evil-but to arouse man's will to escape from his universal thralldom. what he has done, he can undo. none other than himself was the instigator of the causes of whatever effects are now prevalent in his life. he can overcome any limitation, because he created it by his own actions in the first place, and because he has spiritual resources which are not subject to planetary pressure. "superstitious awe of astrology makes one an automaton, slavishly dependent on mechanical guidance. the wise man defeats his planets--which is to say, his past-by transferring his allegiance from the creation to the creator. the more he realizes his unity with spirit, the less he can be dominated by matter. the soul is ever-free; it is deathless because birthless. it cannot be regimented by stars. "man is a soul, and has a body. when he properly places his sense of identity, he leaves behind all compulsive patterns. so long as he remains confused in his ordinary state of spiritual amnesia, he will know the subtle fetters of environmental law. "god is harmony; the devotee who attunes himself will never perform any action amiss. his activities will be correctly and naturally timed to accord with astrological law. after deep prayer and meditation he is in touch with his divine consciousness; there is no greater power than that inward protection." "then, dear master, why do you want me to wear an astrological bangle?" i ventured this question after a long silence, during which i had tried to assimilate sri yukteswar's noble exposition. "it is only when a traveler has reached his goal that he is justified in discarding his maps. during the journey, he takes advantage of any convenient short cut. the ancient rishis discovered many ways to curtail the period of man's exile in delusion. there are certain mechanical features in the law of karma which can be skillfully adjusted by the fingers of wisdom. "all human ills arise from some transgression of universal law. the scriptures point out that man must satisfy the laws of nature, while not discrediting the divine omnipotence. he should say: 'lord, i trust in thee, and know thou canst help me, but i too will do my best to undo any wrong i have done.' by a number of means-by prayer, by will power, by yoga meditation, by consultation with saints, by use of astrological bangles-the adverse effects of past wrongs can be minimized or nullified. "just as a house can be fitted with a copper rod to absorb the shock of lightning, so the bodily temple can be benefited by various protective measures. ages ago our yogis discovered that pure metals emit an astral light which is powerfully counteractive to negative pulls of the planets. subtle electrical and magnetic radiations are constantly circulating in the universe; when a man's body is being aided, he does not know it; when it is being disintegrated, he is still in ignorance. can he do anything about it? "this problem received attention from our rishis; they found helpful not only a combination of metals, but also of plants and-most effective of all-faultless jewels of not less than two carats. the preventive uses of astrology have seldom been seriously studied outside of india. one little-known fact is that the proper jewels, metals, or plant preparations are valueless unless the required weight is secured, and unless these remedial agents are worn next to the skin." "sir, of course i shall take your advice and get a bangle. i am intrigued at the thought of outwitting a planet!" "for general purposes i counsel the use of an armlet made of gold, silver, and copper. but for a specific purpose i want you to get one of silver and lead." sri yukteswar added careful directions. "guruji, what 'specific purpose' do you mean?" "the stars are about to take an unfriendly interest in you, mukunda. fear not; you shall be protected. in about a month your liver will cause you much trouble. the illness is scheduled to last for six months, but your use of an astrological armlet will shorten the period to twenty-four days." i sought out a jeweler the next day, and was soon wearing the bangle. my health was excellent; master's prediction slipped from my mind. he left serampore to visit benares. thirty days after our conversation, i felt a sudden pain in the region of my liver. the following weeks were a nightmare of excruciating pain. reluctant to disturb my guru, i thought i would bravely endure my trial alone. but twenty-three days of torture weakened my resolution; i entrained for benares. there sri yukteswar greeted me with unusual warmth, but gave me no opportunity to tell him my woes in private. many devotees visited master that day, just for a darshan. {fn - } ill and neglected, i sat in a corner. it was not until after the evening meal that all guests had departed. my guru summoned me to the octagonal balcony of the house. "you must have come about your liver disorder." sri yukteswar's gaze was averted; he walked to and fro, occasionally intercepting the moonlight. "let me see; you have been ailing for twenty-four days, haven't you?" "yes, sir." "please do the stomach exercise i have taught you." "if you knew the extent of my suffering, master, you would not ask me to exercise." nevertheless i made a feeble attempt to obey him. "you say you have pain; i say you have none. how can such contradictions exist?" my guru looked at me inquiringly. i was dazed and then overcome with joyful relief. no longer could i feel the continuous torment that had kept me nearly sleepless for weeks; at sri yukteswar's words the agony vanished as though it had never been. i started to kneel at his feet in gratitude, but he quickly prevented me. "don't be childish. get up and enjoy the beauty of the moon over the ganges." but master's eyes were twinkling happily as i stood in silence beside him. i understood by his attitude that he wanted me to feel that not he, but god, had been the healer. i wear even now the heavy silver and lead bangle, a memento of that day-long-past, ever-cherished-when i found anew that i was living with a personage indeed superhuman. on later occasions, when i brought my friends to sri yukteswar for healing, he invariably recommended jewels or the bangle, extolling their use as an act of astrological wisdom. i had been prejudiced against astrology from my childhood, partly because i observed that many people are sequaciously attached to it, and partly because of a prediction made by our family astrologer: "you will marry three times, being twice a widower." i brooded over the matter, feeling like a goat awaiting sacrifice before the temple of triple matrimony. "you may as well be resigned to your fate," my brother ananta had remarked. "your written horoscope has correctly stated that you would fly from home toward the himalayas during your early years, but would be forcibly returned. the forecast of your marriages is also bound to be true." a clear intuition came to me one night that the prophecy was wholly false. i set fire to the horoscope scroll, placing the ashes in a paper bag on which i wrote: "seeds of past karma cannot germinate if they are roasted in the divine fires of wisdom." i put the bag in a conspicuous spot; ananta immediately read my defiant comment. "you cannot destroy truth as easily as you have burnt this paper scroll." my brother laughed scornfully. it is a fact that on three occasions before i reached manhood, my family tried to arrange my betrothal. each time i refused to fall in with the plans, {fn - } knowing that my love for god was more overwhelming than any astrological persuasion from the past. "the deeper the self-realization of a man, the more he influences the whole universe by his subtle spiritual vibrations, and the less he himself is affected by the phenomenal flux." these words of master's often returned inspiringly to my mind. occasionally i told astrologers to select my worst periods, according to planetary indications, and i would still accomplish whatever task i set myself. it is true that my success at such times has been accompanied by extraordinary difficulties. but my conviction has always been justified: faith in the divine protection, and the right use of man's god-given will, are forces formidable beyond any the "inverted bowl" can muster. the starry inscription at one's birth, i came to understand, is not that man is a puppet of his past. its message is rather a prod to pride; the very heavens seek to arouse man's determination to be free from every limitation. god created each man as a soul, dowered with individuality, hence essential to the universal structure, whether in the temporary role of pillar or parasite. his freedom is final and immediate, if he so wills; it depends not on outer but inner victories. sri yukteswar discovered the mathematical application of a , -year equinoctial cycle to our present age. {fn - } the cycle is divided into an ascending arc and a descending arc, each of , years. within each arc fall four yugas or ages, called kali, dwapara, treta, and satya, corresponding to the greek ideas of iron, bronze, silver, and golden ages. my guru determined by various calculations that the last kali yuga or iron age, of the ascending arc, started about a.d. . the iron age, years in duration, is a span of materialism; it ended about a.d. . that year ushered in dwapara yuga, a -year period of electrical and atomic-energy developments, the age of telegraph, radio, airplanes, and other space-annihilators. the -year period of treta yuga will start in a.d. ; its age will be marked by common knowledge of telepathic communications and other time-annihilators. during the years of satya yuga, final age in an ascending arc, the intelligence of a man will be completely developed; he will work in harmony with the divine plan. a descending arc of , years, starting with a descending golden age of years, then begins {fn - } for the world; man gradually sinks into ignorance. these cycles are the eternal rounds of maya, the contrasts and relativities of the phenomenal universe. {fn - } man, one by one, escapes from creation's prison of duality as he awakens to consciousness of his inseverable divine unity with the creator. master enlarged my understanding not only of astrology but of the world's scriptures. placing the holy texts on the spotless table of his mind, he was able to dissect them with the scalpel of intuitive reasoning, and to separate errors and interpolations of scholars from the truths as originally expressed by the prophets. "fix one's vision on the end of the nose." this inaccurate interpretation of a bhagavad gita stanza, {fn - } widely accepted by eastern pundits and western translators, used to arouse master's droll criticism. "the path of a yogi is singular enough as it is," he remarked. "why counsel him that he must also make himself cross-eyed? the true meaning of nasikagram is 'origin of the nose, not 'end of the nose.' the nose begins at the point between the two eyebrows, the seat of spiritual vision." {fn - } because of one sankhya {fn - } aphorism, "iswar-ashidha,"-"a lord of creation cannot be deduced" or "god is not proved," {fn - }--many scholars call the whole philosophy atheistical. "the verse is not nihilistic," sri yukteswar explained. "it merely signifies that to the unenlightened man, dependent on his senses for all final judgments, proof of god must remain unknown and therefore non-existent. true sankhya followers, with unshakable insight born of meditation, understand that the lord is both existent and knowable." master expounded the christian bible with a beautiful clarity. it was from my hindu guru, unknown to the roll call of christian membership, that i learned to perceive the deathless essence of the bible, and to understand the truth in christ's assertion-surely the most thrillingly intransigent ever uttered: "heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." {fn - } the great masters of india mold their lives by the same godly ideals which animated jesus; these men are his proclaimed kin: "whosoever shall do the will of my father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." {fn - } "if ye continue in my word," christ pointed out, "then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." {fn - } freemen all, lords of themselves, the yogi-christs of india are part of the immortal fraternity: those who have attained a liberating knowledge of the one father. "the adam and eve story is incomprehensible to me!" i observed with considerable heat one day in my early struggles with the allegory. "why did god punish not only the guilty pair, but also the innocent unborn generations?" master was more amused by my vehemence than my ignorance. "genesis is deeply symbolic, and cannot be grasped by a literal interpretation," he explained. "its 'tree of life' is the human body. the spinal cord is like an upturned tree, with man's hair as its roots, and afferent and efferent nerves as branches. the tree of the nervous system bears many enjoyable fruits, or sensations of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. in these, man may rightfully indulge; but he was forbidden the experience of sex, the 'apple' at the center of the bodily garden. {fn - } "the 'serpent' represents the coiled-up spinal energy which stimulates the sex nerves. 'adam' is reason, and 'eve' is feeling. when the emotion or eve-consciousness in any human being is overpowered by the sex impulse, his reason or adam also succumbs. {fn - } "god created the human species by materializing the bodies of man and woman through the force of his will; he endowed the new species with the power to create children in a similar 'immaculate' or divine manner. {fn - } because his manifestation in the individualized soul had hitherto been limited to animals, instinct-bound and lacking the potentialities of full reason, god made the first human bodies, symbolically called adam and eve. to these, for advantageous upward evolution, he transferred the souls or divine essence of two animals. {fn - } in adam or man, reason predominated; in eve or woman, feeling was ascendant. thus was expressed the duality or polarity which underlies the phenomenal worlds. reason and feeling remain in a heaven of cooperative joy so long as the human mind is not tricked by the serpentine energy of animal propensities. "the human body was therefore not solely a result of evolution from beasts, but was produced by an act of special creation by god. the animal forms were too crude to express full divinity; the human being was uniquely given a tremendous mental capacity-the 'thousand-petaled lotus' of the brain-as well as acutely awakened occult centers in the spine. "god, or the divine consciousness present within the first created pair, counseled them to enjoy all human sensibilities, but not to put their concentration on touch sensations. {fn - } these were banned in order to avoid the development of the sex organs, which would enmesh humanity in the inferior animal method of propagation. the warning not to revive subconsciously-present bestial memories was not heeded. resuming the way of brute procreation, adam and eve fell from the state of heavenly joy natural to the original perfect man. "knowledge of 'good and evil' refers to the cosmic dualistic compulsion. falling under the sway of maya through misuse of his feeling and reason, or eve-and adam-consciousness, man relinquishes his right to enter the heavenly garden of divine self-sufficiency. {fn - } the personal responsibility of every human being is to restore his 'parents' or dual nature to a unified harmony or eden." as sri yukteswar ended his discourse, i glanced with new respect at the pages of genesis. "dear master," i said, "for the first time i feel a proper filial obligation toward adam and eve!" {fn - } from astronomical references in ancient hindu scriptures, scholars have been able to correctly ascertain the dates of the authors. the scientific knowledge of the rishis was very great; in the kaushitaki brahmana we find precise astronomical passages which show that in b.c. the hindus were far advanced in astronomy, which had a practical value in determining the auspicious times for astrological ceremonies. in an article in east-west, february, , the following summary is given of the jyotish or body of vedic astronomical treatises: "it contains the scientific lore which kept india at the forefront of all ancient nations and made her the mecca of seekers after knowledge. the very ancient brahmagupta, one of the jyotish works, is an astronomical treatise dealing with such matters as the heliocentric motion of the planetary bodies in our solar system, the obliquity of the ecliptic, the earth's spherical form, the reflected light of the moon, the earth's daily axial revolution, the presence of fixed stars in the milky way, the law of gravitation, and other scientific facts which did not dawn in the western world until the time of copernicus and newton." it is now well-known that the so-called "arabic numerals," without whose symbols advanced mathematics is difficult, came to europe in the th century, via the arabs, from india, where that system of notation had been anciently formulated. further light on india's vast scientific heritage will be found in dr. p. c. ray's history of hindu chemistry, and in dr. b. n. seal's positive sciences of the ancient hindus. {fn - } the blessing which flows from the mere sight of a saint. {fn - } one of the girls whom my family selected as a possible bride for me, afterwards married my cousin, prabhas chandra ghose. {fn - } a series of thirteen articles on the historical verification of sri yukteswar's yuga theory appeared in the magazine east-west (los angeles) from september, , to september, . {fn - } in the year a.d. , . {fn - } the hindu scriptures place the present world-age as occurring within the kali yuga of a much longer universal cycle than the simple , -year equinoctial cycle with which sri yukteswar was concerned. the universal cycle of the scriptures is , , , years in extent, and measures out a day of creation or the length of life assigned to our planetary system in its present form. this vast figure given by the rishis is based on a relationship between the length of the solar year and a multiple of pi ( . , the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle). the life span for a whole universe, according to the ancient seers, is , , , , solar years, or "one age of brahma." scientists estimate the present age of the earth to be about two billion years, basing their conclusions on a study of lead pockets left as a result of radioactivity in rocks. the hindu scriptures declare that an earth such as ours is dissolved for one of two reasons: the inhabitants as a whole become either completely good or completely evil. the world-mind thus generates a power which releases the captive atoms held together as an earth. dire pronouncements are occasionally published regarding an imminent "end of the world." the latest prediction of doom was given by rev. chas. g. long of pasadena, who publicly set the "day of judgment" for sept. , . united press reporters asked my opinion; i explained that world cycles follow an orderly progression according to a divine plan. no earthly dissolution is in sight; two billion years of ascending and descending equinoctial cycles are yet in store for our planet in its present form. the figures given by the rishis for the various world ages deserve careful study in the west; the magazine time (dec. , , p. ) called them "reassuring statistics." {fn - } chapter vi: . {fn - } "the light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness."-luke : - . {fn - } one of the six systems of hindu philosophy. sankhya teaches final emancipation through knowledge of twenty-five principles, starting with prakriti or nature and ending with purusha or soul. {fn - } sankhya aphorisms, i: . {fn - } matthew : . {fn - } matthew : . {fn - } john : - . st. john testified: "but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of god, even to them that believe on his name (even to them who are established in the christ consciousness)."-john : . {fn - } "we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, god hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."-genesis : - . {fn - } "the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and i did eat. the woman said, the serpent beguiled me, and i did eat."-gen. : - . {fn - } "so god created man in his own image, in the image of god created he him; male and female created he them. and god blessed them, and god said unto them, be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it."-gen. : - . {fn - } "and the lord god formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."-gen. : . {fn - } "now the serpent (sex force) was more subtil than any beast of the field" (any other sense of the body).-gen. : . {fn - } "and the lord god planted a garden eastward in eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed."-gen. : . "therefore the lord god sent him forth from the garden of eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken."-gen. : . the divine man first made by god had his consciousness centered in the omnipotent single eye in the forehead (eastward). the all-creative powers of his will, focused at that spot, were lost to man when he began to "till the ground" of his physical nature. chapter: sasi and the three sapphires "because you and my son think so highly of swami sri yukteswar, i will take a look at him." the tone of voice used by dr. narayan chunder roy implied that he was humoring the whim of half-wits. i concealed my indignation, in the best traditions of the proselyter. my companion, a veterinary surgeon, was a confirmed agnostic. his young son santosh had implored me to take an interest in his father. so far my invaluable aid had been a bit on the invisible side. dr. roy accompanied me the following day to the serampore hermitage. after master had granted him a brief interview, marked for the most part by stoic silence on both sides, the visitor brusquely departed. "why bring a dead man to the ashram?" sri yukteswar looked at me inquiringly as soon as the door had closed on the calcutta skeptic. "sir! the doctor is very much alive!" "but in a short time he will be dead." i was shocked. "sir, this will be a terrible blow to his son. santosh yet hopes for time to change his father's materialistic views. i beseech you, master, to help the man." "very well; for your sake." my guru's face was impassive. "the proud horse doctor is far gone in diabetes, although he does not know it. in fifteen days he will take to his bed. the physicians will give him up for lost; his natural time to leave this earth is six weeks from today. due to your intercession, however, on that date he will recover. but there is one condition. you must get him to wear an astrological bangle; he will doubtless object as violently as one of his horses before an operation!" master chuckled. after a silence, during which i wondered how santosh and i could best employ the arts of cajolery on the recalcitrant doctor, sri yukteswar made further disclosures. "as soon as the man gets well, advise him not to eat meat. he will not heed this counsel, however, and in six months, just as he is feeling at his best, he will drop dead. even that six-month extension of life is granted him only because of your plea." the following day i suggested to santosh that he order an armlet at the jeweler's. it was ready in a week, but dr. roy refused to put it on. "i am in the best of health. you will never impress me with these astrological superstitions." the doctor glanced at me belligerently. i recalled with amusement that master had justifiably compared the man to a balky horse. another seven days passed; the doctor, suddenly ill, meekly consented to wear the bangle. two weeks later the physician in attendance told me that his patient's case was hopeless. he supplied harrowing details of the ravages inflicted by diabetes. i shook my head. "my guru has said that, after a sickness lasting one month, dr. roy will be well." the physician stared at me incredulously. but he sought me out a fortnight later, with an apologetic air. "dr. roy has made a complete recovery!" he exclaimed. "it is the most amazing case in my experience. never before have i seen a dying man show such an inexplicable comeback. your guru must indeed be a healing prophet!" after one interview with dr. roy, during which i repeated sri yukteswar's advice about a meatless diet, i did not see the man again for six months. he stopped for a chat one evening as i sat on the piazza of my family home on gurpar road. "tell your teacher that by eating meat frequently, i have wholly regained my strength. his unscientific ideas on diet have not influenced me." it was true that dr. roy looked a picture of health. but the next day santosh came running to me from his home on the next block. "this morning father dropped dead!" this case was one of my strangest experiences with master. he healed the rebellious veterinary surgeon in spite of his disbelief, and extended the man's natural term on earth by six months, just because of my earnest supplication. sri yukteswar was boundless in his kindness when confronted by the urgent prayer of a devotee. it was my proudest privilege to bring college friends to meet my guru. many of them would lay aside-at least in the ashram!-their fashionable academic cloak of religious skepticism. one of my friends, sasi, spent a number of happy week ends in serampore. master became immensely fond of the boy, and lamented that his private life was wild and disorderly. "sasi, unless you reform, one year hence you will be dangerously ill." sri yukteswar gazed at my friend with affectionate exasperation. "mukunda is the witness: don't say later that i didn't warn you." sasi laughed. "master, i will leave it to you to interest a sweet charity of cosmos in my own sad case! my spirit is willing but my will is weak. you are my only savior on earth; i believe in nothing else." "at least you should wear a two-carat blue sapphire. it will help you." "i can't afford one. anyhow, dear guruji, if trouble comes, i fully believe you will protect me." "in a year you will bring three sapphires," sri yukteswar replied cryptically. "they will be of no use then." variations on this conversation took place regularly. "i can't reform!" sasi would say in comical despair. "and my trust in you, master, is more precious to me than any stone!" a year later i was visiting my guru at the calcutta home of his disciple, naren babu. about ten o'clock in the morning, as sri yukteswar and i were sitting quietly in the second-floor parlor, i heard the front door open. master straightened stiffly. "it is that sasi," he remarked gravely. "the year is now up; both his lungs are gone. he has ignored my counsel; tell him i don't want to see him." half stunned by sri yukteswar's sternness, i raced down the stairway. sasi was ascending. "o mukunda! i do hope master is here; i had a hunch he might be." "yes, but he doesn't wish to be disturbed." sasi burst into tears and brushed past me. he threw himself at sri yukteswar's feet, placing there three beautiful sapphires. "omniscient guru, the doctors say i have galloping tuberculosis! they give me no longer than three more months! i humbly implore your aid; i know you can heal me!" "isn't it a bit late now to be worrying over your life? depart with your jewels; their time of usefulness is past." master then sat sphinxlike in an unrelenting silence, punctuated by the boy's sobs for mercy. an intuitive conviction came to me that sri yukteswar was merely testing the depth of sasi's faith in the divine healing power. i was not surprised a tense hour later when master turned a sympathetic gaze on my prostrate friend. "get up, sasi; what a commotion you make in other people's houses! return your sapphires to the jeweler's; they are an unnecessary expense now. but get an astrological bangle and wear it. fear not; in a few weeks you shall be well." sasi's smile illumined his tear-marred face like sudden sun over a sodden landscape. "beloved guru, shall i take the medicines prescribed by the doctors?" sri yukteswar's glance was longanimous. "just as you wish-drink them or discard them; it does not matter. it is more possible for the sun and moon to interchange their positions than for you to die of tuberculosis." he added abruptly, "go now, before i change my mind!" with an agitated bow, my friend hastily departed. i visited him several times during the next few weeks, and was aghast to find his condition increasingly worse. "sasi cannot last through the night." these words from his physician, and the spectacle of my friend, now reduced almost to a skeleton, sent me posthaste to serampore. my guru listened coldly to my tearful report. "why do you come here to bother me? you have already heard me assure sasi of his recovery." i bowed before him in great awe, and retreated to the door. sri yukteswar said no parting word, but sank into silence, his unwinking eyes half-open, their vision fled to another world. i returned at once to sasi's home in calcutta. with astonishment i found my friend sitting up, drinking milk. "o mukunda! what a miracle! four hours ago i felt master's presence in the room; my terrible symptoms immediately disappeared. i feel that through his grace i am entirely well." in a few weeks sasi was stouter and in better health than ever before. {fn - } but his singular reaction to his healing had an ungrateful tinge: he seldom visited sri yukteswar again! my friend told me one day that he so deeply regretted his previous mode of life that he was ashamed to face master. i could only conclude that sasi's illness had had the contrasting effect of stiffening his will and impairing his manners. the first two years of my course at scottish church college were drawing to a close. my classroom attendance had been very spasmodic; what little studying i did was only to keep peace with my family. my two private tutors came regularly to my house; i was regularly absent: i can discern at least this one regularity in my scholastic career! in india two successful years of college bring an intermediate arts diploma; the student may then look forward to another two years and his a.b. degree. the intermediate arts final examinations loomed ominously ahead. i fled to puri, where my guru was spending a few weeks. vaguely hoping that he would sanction my nonappearance at the finals, i related my embarrassing unpreparedness. but master smiled consolingly. "you have wholeheartedly pursued your spiritual duties, and could not help neglecting your college work. apply yourself diligently to your books for the next week: you shall get through your ordeal without failure." i returned to calcutta, firmly suppressing all reasonable doubts that occasionally arose with unnerving ridicule. surveying the mountain of books on my table, i felt like a traveler lost in a wilderness. a long period of meditation brought me a labor-saving inspiration. opening each book at random, i studied only those pages which lay thus exposed. pursuing this course during eighteen hours a day for a week, i considered myself entitled to advise all succeeding generations on the art of cramming. the following days in the examination halls were a justification of my seemingly haphazard procedure. i passed all the tests, though by a hairbreadth. the congratulations of my friends and family were ludicrously mixed with ejaculations betraying their astonishment. on his return from puri, sri yukteswar gave me a pleasant surprise. "your calcutta studies are now over. i will see that you pursue your last two years of university work right here in serampore." i was puzzled. "sir, there is no bachelor of arts course in this town." serampore college, the sole institution of higher learning, offered only a two-year course in intermediate arts. master smiled mischievously. "i am too old to go about collecting donations to establish an a.b. college for you. i guess i shall have to arrange the matter through someone else." two months later professor howells, president of serampore college, publicly announced that he had succeeded in raising sufficient funds to offer a four-year course. serampore college became a branch affiliation of the university of calcutta. i was one of the first students to enroll in serampore as an a.b. candidate. "guruji, how kind you are to me! i have been longing to leave calcutta and be near you every day in serampore. professor howells does not dream how much he owes to your silent help!" sri yukteswar gazed at me with mock severity. "now you won't have to spend so many hours on trains; what a lot of free time for your studies! perhaps you will become less of a last-minute crammer and more of a scholar." but somehow his tone lacked conviction. {fn - } in i heard from a friend that sasi was still in excellent health. chapter: a mohammedan wonder-worker "years ago, right in this very room you now occupy, a mohammedan wonder-worker performed four miracles before me!" sri yukteswar made this surprising statement during his first visit to my new quarters. immediately after entering serampore college, i had taken a room in a near-by boardinghouse, called panthi. it was an old-fashioned brick mansion, fronting the ganges. "master, what a coincidence! are these newly decorated walls really ancient with memories?" i looked around my simply furnished room with awakened interest. "it is a long story." my guru smiled reminiscently. "the name of the fakir {fn - } was afzal khan. he had acquired his extraordinary powers through a chance encounter with a hindu yogi. "'son, i am thirsty; fetch me some water.' a dust-covered sannyasi made this request of afzal one day during his early boyhood in a small village of eastern bengal. "'master, i am a mohammedan. how could you, a hindu, accept a drink from my hands?' "'your truthfulness pleases me, my child. i do not observe the ostracizing rules of ungodly sectarianism. go; bring me water quickly.' "afzal's reverent obedience was rewarded by a loving glance from the yogi. "'you possess good karma from former lives,' he observed solemnly. 'i am going to teach you a certain yoga method which will give you command over one of the invisible realms. the great powers that will be yours should be exercised for worthy ends; never employ them selfishly! i perceive, alas! that you have brought over from the past some seeds of destructive tendencies. do not allow them to sprout by watering them with fresh evil actions. the complexity of your previous karma is such that you must use this life to reconcile your yogic accomplishments with the highest humanitarian goals.' "after instructing the amazed boy in a complicated technique, the master vanished. "afzal faithfully followed his yoga exercise for twenty years. his miraculous feats began to attract widespread attention. it seems that he was always accompanied by a disembodied spirit whom he called 'hazrat.' this invisible entity was able to fulfill the fakir's slightest wish. "ignoring his master's warning, afzal began to misuse his powers. whatever object he touched and then replaced would soon disappear without a trace. this disconcerting eventuality usually made the mohammedan an objectionable guest! "he visited large jewelry stores in calcutta from time to time, representing himself as a possible purchaser. any jewel he handled would vanish shortly after he had left the shop. "afzal was often surrounded by several hundred students, attracted by the hope of learning his secrets. the fakir occasionally invited them to travel with him. at the railway station he would manage to touch a roll of tickets. these he would return to the clerk, remarking: 'i have changed my mind, and won't buy them now.' but when he boarded the train with his retinue, afzal would be in possession of the required tickets. {fn - } "these exploits created an indignant uproar; bengali jewelers and ticket-sellers were succumbing to nervous breakdowns! the police who sought to arrest afzal found themselves helpless; the fakir could remove incriminating evidence merely by saying: 'hazrat, take this away.'" sri yukteswar rose from his seat and walked to the balcony of my room which overlooked the ganges. i followed him, eager to hear more of the baffling mohammedan raffles. "this panthi house formerly belonged to a friend of mine. he became acquainted with afzal and asked him here. my friend also invited about twenty neighbors, including myself. i was only a youth then, and felt a lively curiosity about the notorious fakir." master laughed. "i took the precaution of not wearing anything valuable! afzal looked me over inquisitively, then remarked: "'you have powerful hands. go downstairs to the garden; get a smooth stone and write your name on it with chalk; then throw the stone as far as possible into the ganges.' "i obeyed. as soon as the stone had vanished under distant waves, the mohammedan addressed me again: "'fill a pot with ganges water near the front of this house.' "after i had returned with a vessel of water, the fakir cried, 'hazrat, put the stone in the pot!' "the stone appeared at once. i pulled it from the vessel and found my signature as legible as when i had written it. "babu, {fn - } one of my friends in the room, was wearing a heavy antique gold watch and chain. the fakir examined them with ominous admiration. soon they were missing! "'afzal, please return my prized heirloom!' babu was nearly in tears. "the mohammedan was stoically silent for awhile, then said, 'you have five hundred rupees in an iron safe. bring them to me, and i will tell you where to locate your timepiece.' "the distraught babu left immediately for his home. he came back shortly and handed afzal the required sum. "'go to the little bridge near your house,' the fakir instructed babu. 'call on hazrat to give you the watch and chain.' "babu rushed away. on his return, he was wearing a smile of relief and no jewelry whatever. "'when i commanded hazrat as directed,' he announced, 'my watch came tumbling down from the air into my right hand! you may be sure i locked the heirloom in my safe before rejoining the group here!' "babu's friends, witnesses of the comicotragedy of the ransom for a watch, were staring with resentment at afzal. he now spoke placatingly. "'please name any drink you want; hazrat will produce it.' "a number asked for milk, others for fruit juices. i was not too much shocked when the unnerved babu requested whisky! the mohammedan gave an order; the obliging hazrat sent sealed containers sailing down the air and thudding to the floor. each man found his desired beverage. "the promise of the fourth spectacular feat of the day was doubtless gratifying to our host: afzal offered to supply an instantaneous lunch! "'let us order the most expensive dishes,' babu suggested gloomily. 'i want an elaborate meal for my five hundred rupees! everything should be served on gold plates!' "as soon as each man had expressed his preferences, the fakir addressed himself to the inexhaustible hazrat. a great rattle ensued; gold platters filled with intricately-prepared curries, hot luchis, and many out-of-season fruits, landed from nowhere at our feet. all the food was delicious. after feasting for an hour, we started to leave the room. a tremendous noise, as though dishes were being piled up, caused us to turn around. lo! there was no sign of the glittering plates or the remnants of the meal." "guruji," i interrupted, "if afzal could easily secure such things as gold dishes, why did he covet the property of others?" "the fakir was not highly developed spiritually," sri yukteswar explained. "his mastery of a certain yoga technique gave him access to an astral plane where any desire is immediately materialized. through the agency of an astral being, hazrat, the mohammedan could summon the atoms of any object from etheric energy by an act of powerful will. but such astrally-produced objects are structurally evanescent; they cannot be long retained. afzal still yearned for worldly wealth which, though more hardly earned, has a more dependable durability." i laughed. "it too sometimes vanishes most unaccountably!" "afzal was not a man of god-realization," master went on. "miracles of a permanent and beneficial nature are performed by true saints because they have attuned themselves to the omnipotent creator. afzal was merely an ordinary man with an extraordinary power of penetrating a subtle realm not usually entered by mortals until death." "i understand now, guruji. the after-world appears to have some charming features." master agreed. "i never saw afzal after that day, but a few years later babu came to my home to show me a newspaper account of the mohammedan's public confession. from it i learned the facts i have just told you about afzal's early initiation from a hindu guru." the gist of the latter part of the published document, as recalled by sri yukteswar, was as follows: "i, afzal khan, am writing these words as an act of penance and as a warning to those who seek the possession of miraculous powers. for years i have been misusing the wondrous abilities imparted to me through the grace of god and my master. i became drunk with egotism, feeling that i was beyond the ordinary laws of morality. my day of reckoning finally arrived. "recently i met an old man on a road outside calcutta. he limped along painfully, carrying a shining object which looked like gold. i addressed him with greed in my heart. "'i am afzal khan, the great fakir. what have you there?' "'this ball of gold is my sole material wealth; it can be of no interest to a fakir. i implore you, sir, to heal my limp.' "i touched the ball and walked away without reply. the old man hobbled after me. he soon raised an outcry: 'my gold is gone!' "as i paid no attention, he suddenly spoke in a stentorian voice that issued oddly from his frail body: "'do you not recognize me?' "i stood speechless, aghast at the belated discovery that this unimpressive old cripple was none other than the great saint who, long, long ago, had initiated me into yoga. he straightened himself; his body instantly became strong and youthful. "'so!' my guru's glance was fiery. 'i see with my own eyes that you use your powers, not to help suffering humanity, but to prey on it like a common thief! i withdraw your occult gifts; hazrat is now freed from you. no longer shall you be a terror in bengal!' "i called on hazrat in anguished tones; for the first time, he did not appear to my inner sight. but some dark veil suddenly lifted within me; i saw clearly the blasphemy of my life. "'my guru, i thank you for coming to banish my long delusion.' i was sobbing at his feet. 'i promise to forsake my worldly ambitions. i will retire to the mountains for lonely meditation on god, hoping to atone for my evil past.' "my master regarded me with silent compassion. 'i feel your sincerity,' he said finally. 'because of your earlier years of strict obedience, and because of your present repentance, i will grant you one boon. your other powers are now gone, but whenever food and clothing are needed, you may still call successfully on hazrat to supply them. devote yourself wholeheartedly to divine understanding in the mountain solitudes.' "my guru then vanished; i was left to my tears and reflections. farewell, world! i go to seek the forgiveness of the cosmic beloved." {fn - } a moslem yogi; from the arabic faqir, poor; originally applied to dervishes under a vow of poverty. {fn - } my father later told me that his company, the bengal-nagpur railway, had been one of the firms victimized by afzal khan. {fn - } i do not recall the name of sri yukteswar's friend, and must refer to him simply as "babu" (mister). chapter: my master, in calcutta, appears in serampore "i am often beset by atheistic doubts. yet a torturing surmise sometimes haunts me: may not untapped soul possibilities exist? is man not missing his real destiny if he fails to explore them?" these remarks of dijen babu, my roommate at the panthi boardinghouse, were called forth by my invitation that he meet my guru. "sri yukteswarji will initiate you into kriya yoga," i replied. "it calms the dualistic turmoil by a divine inner certainty." that evening dijen accompanied me to the hermitage. in master's presence my friend received such spiritual peace that he was soon a constant visitor. the trivial preoccupations of daily life are not enough for man; wisdom too is a native hunger. in sri yukteswar's words dijen found an incentive to those attempts-first painful, then effortlessly liberating-to locate a realer self within his bosom than the humiliating ego of a temporary birth, seldom ample enough for the spirit. as dijen and i were both pursuing the a.b. course at serampore college, we got into the habit of walking together to the ashram as soon as classes were over. we would often see sri yukteswar standing on his second-floor balcony, welcoming our approach with a smile. one afternoon kanai, a young hermitage resident, met dijen and me at the door with disappointing news. "master is not here; he was summoned to calcutta by an urgent note." the following day i received a post card from my guru. "i shall leave calcutta wednesday morning," he had written. "you and dijen meet the nine o'clock train at serampore station." about eight-thirty on wednesday morning, a telepathic message from sri yukteswar flashed insistently to my mind: "i am delayed; don't meet the nine o'clock train." i conveyed the latest instructions to dijen, who was already dressed for departure. "you and your intuition!" my friend's voice was edged in scorn. "i prefer to trust master's written word." i shrugged my shoulders and seated myself with quiet finality. muttering angrily, dijen made for the door and closed it noisily behind him. as the room was rather dark, i moved nearer to the window overlooking the street. the scant sunlight suddenly increased to an intense brilliancy in which the iron-barred window completely vanished. against this dazzling background appeared the clearly materialized figure of sri yukteswar! bewildered to the point of shock, i rose from my chair and knelt before him. with my customary gesture of respectful greeting at my guru's feet, i touched his shoes. these were a pair familiar to me, of orange-dyed canvas, soled with rope. his ocher swami cloth brushed against me; i distinctly felt not only the texture of his robe, but also the gritty surface of the shoes, and the pressure of his toes within them. too much astounded to utter a word, i stood up and gazed at him questioningly. "i was pleased that you got my telepathic message." master's voice was calm, entirely normal. "i have now finished my business in calcutta, and shall arrive in serampore by the ten o'clock train." as i still stared mutely, sri yukteswar went on, "this is not an apparition, but my flesh and blood form. i have been divinely commanded to give you this experience, rare to achieve on earth. meet me at the station; you and dijen will see me coming toward you, dressed as i am now. i shall be preceded by a fellow passenger-a little boy carrying a silver jug." my guru placed both hands on my head, with a murmured blessing. as he concluded with the words, "taba asi," {fn - } i heard a peculiar rumbling sound. {fn - } his body began to melt gradually within the piercing light. first his feet and legs vanished, then his torso and head, like a scroll being rolled up. to the very last, i could feel his fingers resting lightly on my hair. the effulgence faded; nothing remained before me but the barred window and a pale stream of sunlight. i remained in a half-stupor of confusion, questioning whether i had not been the victim of a hallucination. a crestfallen dijen soon entered the room. "master was not on the nine o'clock train, nor even the nine-thirty." my friend made his announcement with a slightly apologetic air. "come then; i know he will arrive at ten o'clock." i took dijen's hand and rushed him forcibly along with me, heedless of his protests. in about ten minutes we entered the station, where the train was already puffing to a halt. "the whole train is filled with the light of master's aura! he is there!" i exclaimed joyfully. "you dream so?" dijen laughed mockingly. "let us wait here." i told my friend details of the way in which our guru would approach us. as i finished my description, sri yukteswar came into view, wearing the same clothes i had seen a short time earlier. he walked slowly in the wake of a small lad bearing a silver jug. for a moment a wave of cold fear passed through me, at the unprecedented strangeness of my experience. i felt the materialistic, twentieth-century world slipping from me; was i back in the ancient days when jesus appeared before peter on the sea? as sri yukteswar, a modern yogi-christ, reached the spot where dijen and i were speechlessly rooted, master smiled at my friend and remarked: "i sent you a message too, but you were unable to grasp it." dijen was silent, but glared at me suspiciously. after we had escorted our guru to his hermitage, my friend and i proceeded toward serampore college. dijen halted in the street, indignation streaming from his every pore. "so! master sent me a message! yet you concealed it! i demand an explanation!" "can i help it if your mental mirror oscillates with such restlessness that you cannot register our guru's instructions?" i retorted. the anger vanished from dijen's face. "i see what you mean," he said ruefully. "but please explain how you could know about the child with the jug." by the time i had finished the story of master's phenomenal appearance at the boardinghouse that morning, my friend and i had reached serampore college. "the account i have just heard of our guru's powers," dijen said, "makes me feel that any university in the world is only a kindergarten." chapter footnotes {fn - } the bengali "good-by"; literally, it is a hopeful paradox: "then i come." {fn - } the characteristic sound of dematerialization of bodily atoms. chapter: we do not visit kashmir "father, i want to invite master and four friends to accompany me to the himalayan foothills during my summer vacation. may i have six train passes to kashmir and enough money to cover our travel expenses?" as i had expected, father laughed heartily. "this is the third time you have given me the same cock-and-bull story. didn't you make a similar request last summer, and the year before that? at the last moment, sri yukteswarji refuses to go." "it is true, father; i don't know why my guru will not give me his definite word about kashmir. {fn - } but if i tell him that i have already secured the passes from you, somehow i think that this time he will consent to make the journey." father was unconvinced at the moment, but the following day, after some good-humored gibes, he handed me six passes and a roll of ten-rupee bills. "i hardly think your theoretical trip needs such practical props," he remarked, "but here they are." that afternoon i exhibited my booty to sri yukteswar. though he smiled at my enthusiasm, his words were noncommittal: "i would like to go; we shall see." he made no comment when i asked his little hermitage disciple, kanai, to accompany us. i also invited three other friends--rajendra nath mitra, jotin auddy, and one other boy. our date of departure was set for the following monday. on saturday and sunday i stayed in calcutta, where marriage rites for a cousin were being celebrated at my family home. i arrived in serampore with my luggage early monday morning. rajendra met me at the hermitage door. "master is out, walking. he has refused to go." i was equally grieved and obdurate. "i will not give father a third chance to ridicule my chimerical plans for kashmir. come; the rest of us will go anyhow." rajendra agreed; i left the ashram to find a servant. kanai, i knew, would not take the trip without master, and someone was needed to look after the luggage. i bethought myself of behari, previously a servant in my family home, who was now employed by a serampore schoolmaster. as i walked along briskly, i met my guru in front of the christian church near serampore courthouse. "where are you going?" sri yukteswar's face was unsmiling. "sir, i hear that you and kanai will not take the trip we have been planning. i am seeking behari. you will recall that last year he was so anxious to see kashmir that he even offered to serve without pay." "i remember. nevertheless, i don't think behari will be willing to go." i was exasperated. "he is just eagerly waiting for this opportunity!" my guru silently resumed his walk; i soon reached the schoolmaster's house. behari, in the courtyard, greeted me with a friendly warmth that abruptly vanished as soon as i mentioned kashmir. with a murmured word of apology, the servant left me and entered his employer's house. i waited half an hour, nervously assuring myself that behari's delay was being caused by preparations for his trip. finally i knocked at the front door. "behari left by the back stairs about thirty minutes ago," a man informed me. a slight smile hovered about his lips. i departed sadly, wondering whether my invitation had been too coercive or whether master's unseen influence were at work. passing the christian church, again i saw my guru walking slowly toward me. without waiting to hear my report, he exclaimed: "so behari would not go! now, what are your plans?" i felt like a recalcitrant child who is determined to defy his masterful father. "sir, i am going to ask my uncle to lend me his servant, lal dhari." "see your uncle if you want to," sri yukteswar replied with a chuckle. "but i hardly think you will enjoy the visit." apprehensive but rebellious, i left my guru and entered serampore courthouse. my paternal uncle, sarada ghosh, a government attorney, welcomed me affectionately. "i am leaving today with some friends for kashmir," i told him. "for years i have been looking forward to this himalayan trip." "i am happy for you, mukunda. is there anything i can do to make your journey more comfortable?" these kind words gave me a lift of encouragement. "dear uncle," i said, "could you possibly spare me your servant, lal dhari?" my simple request had the effect of an earthquake. uncle jumped so violently that his chair overturned, the papers on the desk flew in every direction, and his pipe, a long, coconut-stemmed hubble-bubble, fell to the floor with a great clatter. "you selfish young man," he shouted, quivering with wrath, "what a preposterous idea! who will look after me, if you take my servant on one of your pleasure jaunts?" i concealed my surprise, reflecting that my amiable uncle's sudden change of front was only one more enigma in a day fully devoted to incomprehensibility. my retreat from the courthouse office was more alacritous than dignified. i returned to the hermitage, where my friends were expectantly gathered. conviction was growing on me that some sufficient if exceedingly recondite motive was behind master's attitude. remorse seized me that i had been trying to thwart my guru's will. "mukunda, wouldn't you like to stay awhile longer with me?" sri yukteswar inquired. "rajendra and the others can go ahead now, and wait for you at calcutta. there will be plenty of time to catch the last evening train leaving calcutta for kashmir." "sir, i don't care to go without you," i said mournfully. my friends paid not the slightest attention to my remark. they summoned a hackney carriage and departed with all the luggage. kanai and i sat quietly at our guru's feet. after a half hour of complete silence, master rose and walked toward the second-floor dining patio. "kanai, please serve mukunda's food. his train leaves soon." getting up from my blanket seat, i staggered suddenly with nausea and a ghastly churning sensation in my stomach. the stabbing pain was so intense that i felt i had been abruptly hurled into some violent hell. groping blindly toward my guru, i collapsed before him, attacked by all symptoms of the dread asiatic cholera. sri yukteswar and kanai carried me to the sitting room. racked with agony, i cried, "master, i surrender my life to you;" for i believed it was indeed fast ebbing from the shores of my body. sri yukteswar put my head on his lap, stroking my forehead with angelic tenderness. "you see now what would have happened if you were at the station with your friends," he said. "i had to look after you in this strange way, because you chose to doubt my judgment about taking the trip at this particular time." i understood at last. inasmuch as great masters seldom see fit to display their powers openly, a casual observer of the day's events would have imagined that their sequence was quite natural. my guru's intervention had been too subtle to be suspected. he had worked his will through behari and my uncle sarada and rajendra and the others in such an inconspicuous manner that probably everyone but myself thought the situations had been logically normal. as sri yukteswar never failed to observe his social obligations, he instructed kanai to go for a specialist, and to notify my uncle. "master," i protested, "only you can heal me. i am too far gone for any doctor." "child, you are protected by the divine mercy. don't worry about the doctor; he will not find you in this state. you are already healed." with my guru's words, the excruciating suffering left me. i sat up feebly. a doctor soon arrived and examined me carefully. "you appear to have passed through the worst," he said. "i will take some specimens with me for laboratory tests." the following morning the physician arrived hurriedly. i was sitting up, in good spirits. "well, well, here you are, smiling and chatting as though you had had no close call with death." he patted my hand gently. "i hardly expected to find you alive, after i had discovered from the specimens that your disease was asiatic cholera. you are fortunate, young man, to have a guru with divine healing powers! i am convinced of it!" i agreed wholeheartedly. as the doctor was preparing to leave, rajendra and auddy appeared at the door. the resentment in their faces changed into sympathy as they glanced at the physician and then at my somewhat wan countenance. "we were angry when you didn't turn up as agreed at the calcutta train. you have been sick?" "yes." i could not help laughing as my friends placed the luggage in the same corner it had occupied yesterday. i quoted: "there was a ship that went to spain; when it arrived, it came back again!" master entered the room. i permitted myself a convalescent's liberty, and captured his hand lovingly. "guruji," i said, "from my twelfth year on, i have made many unsuccessful attempts to reach the himalayas. i am finally convinced that without your blessings the goddess parvati {fn - } will not receive me!" {fn - } although master failed to make any explanation, his reluctance to visit kashmir during those two summers may have been a foreknowledge that the time was not ripe for his illness there (see chapter ). {fn - } literally, "of the mountains." parvati, mythologically represented as a daughter of himavat or the sacred mountains, is a name given to the shakti or "consort" of shiva. chapter: we visit kashmir "you are strong enough now to travel. i will accompany you to kashmir," sri yukteswar informed me two days after my miraculous recovery from asiatic cholera. that evening our party of six entrained for the north. our first leisurely stop was at simla, a queenly city resting on the throne of himalayan hills. we strolled over the steep streets, admiring the magnificent views. "english strawberries for sale," cried an old woman, squatting in a picturesque open market place. master was curious about the strange little red fruits. he bought a basketful and offered it to kanai and myself, who were near-by. i tasted one berry but spat it hastily on the ground. "sir, what a sour fruit! i could never like strawberries!" my guru laughed. "oh, you will like them-in america. at a dinner there, your hostess will serve them with sugar and cream. after she has mashed the berries with a fork, you will taste them and say: 'what delicious strawberries!' then you will remember this day in simla." sri yukteswar's forecast vanished from my mind, but reappeared there many years later, shortly after my arrival in america. i was a dinner guest at the home of mrs. alice t. hasey (sister yogmata) in west somerville, massachusetts. when a dessert of strawberries was put on the table, my hostess picked up her fork and mashed my berries, adding cream and sugar. "the fruit is rather tart; i think you will like it fixed this way," she remarked. i took a mouthful. "what delicious strawberries!" i exclaimed. at once my guru's prediction in simla emerged from the fathomless cave of memory. it was staggering to realize that long ago sri yukteswar's god-tuned mind had sensitively detected the program of karmic events wandering in the ether of futurity. our party soon left simla and entrained for rawalpindi. there we hired a large landau, drawn by two horses, in which we started a seven-day trip to srinagar, capital city of kashmir. the second day of our northbound journey brought into view the true himalayan vastness. as the iron wheels of our carriage creaked along the hot, stony roads, we were enraptured with changing vistas of mountainous grandeur. "sir," auddy said to master, "i am greatly enjoying these glorious scenes in your holy company." i felt a throb of pleasure at auddy's appreciation, for i was acting as host on this trip. sri yukteswar caught my thought; he turned to me and whispered: "don't flatter yourself; auddy is not nearly as entranced with the scenery as he is with the prospect of leaving us long enough to have a cigaret." i was shocked. "sir," i said in an undertone, "please do not break our harmony by these unpleasant words. i can hardly believe that auddy is hankering for a smoke." {fn - } i looked apprehensively at my usually irrepressible guru. "very well; i won't say anything to auddy." master chuckled. "but you will soon see, when the landau halts, that auddy is quick to seize his opportunity." the carriage arrived at a small caravanserai. as our horses were led to be watered, auddy inquired, "sir, do you mind if i ride awhile with the driver? i would like to get a little outside air." sri yukteswar gave permission, but remarked to me, "he wants fresh smoke and not fresh air." the landau resumed its noisy progress over the dusty roads. master's eyes were twinkling; he instructed me, "crane up your neck through the carriage door and see what auddy is doing with the air." i obeyed, and was astounded to observe auddy in the act of exhaling rings of cigaret smoke. my glance toward sri yukteswar was apologetic. "you are right, as always, sir. auddy is enjoying a puff along with a panorama." i surmised that my friend had received a gift from the cab driver; i knew auddy had not carried any cigarets from calcutta. we continued on the labyrinthine way, adorned by views of rivers, valleys, precipitous crags, and multitudinous mountain tiers. every night we stopped at rustic inns, and prepared our own food. sri yukteswar took special care of my diet, insisting that i have lime juice at all meals. i was still weak, but daily improving, though the rattling carriage was strictly designed for discomfort. joyous anticipations filled our hearts as we neared central kashmir, paradise land of lotus lakes, floating gardens, gaily canopied houseboats, the many-bridged jhelum river, and flower-strewn pastures, all ringed round by the himalayan majesty. our approach to srinagar was through an avenue of tall, welcoming trees. we engaged rooms at a double-storied inn overlooking the noble hills. no running water was available; we drew our supply from a near-by well. the summer weather was ideal, with warm days and slightly cold nights. we made a pilgrimage to the ancient srinagar temple of swami shankara. as i gazed upon the mountain-peak hermitage, standing bold against the sky, i fell into an ecstatic trance. a vision appeared of a hilltop mansion in a distant land. the lofty shankara ashram before me was transformed into the structure where, years later, i established the self-realization fellowship headquarters in america. when i first visited los angeles, and saw the large building on the crest of mount washington, i recognized it at once from my long-past visions in kashmir and elsewhere. a few days at srinagar; then on to gulmarg ("mountain paths of flowers"), elevated by six thousand feet. there i had my first ride on a large horse. rajendra mounted a small trotter, whose heart was fired with ambition for speed. we ventured onto the very steep khilanmarg; the path led through a dense forest, abounding in tree-mushrooms, where the mist-shrouded trails were often precarious. but rajendra's little animal never permitted my oversized steed a moment's rest, even at the most perilous turns. on, on, untiringly came rajendra's horse, oblivious to all but the joy of competition. our strenuous race was rewarded by a breath-taking view. for the first time in this life, i gazed in all directions at sublime snow-capped himalayas, lying tier upon tier like silhouettes of huge polar bears. my eyes feasted exultingly on endless reaches of icy mountains against sunny blue skies. i rolled merrily with my young companions, all wearing overcoats, on the sparkling white slopes. on our downward trip we saw afar a vast carpet of yellow flowers, wholly transfiguring the bleak hills. our next excursions were to the famous royal "pleasure gardens" of the emperor jehangir, at shalimar and nishat bagh. the ancient palace at nishat bagh is built directly over a natural waterfall. rushing down from the mountains, the torrent has been regulated through ingenious contrivances to flow over colorful terraces and to gush into fountains amidst the dazzling flower-beds. the stream also enters several of the palace rooms, ultimately dropping fairy like into the lake below. the immense gardens are riotous with color--roses of a dozen hues, snapdragons, lavender, pansies, poppies. an emerald enclosing outline is given by symmetrical rows of chinars, {fn - } cypresses, cherry trees; beyond them tower the white austerities of the himalayas. kashmir grapes are considered a rare delicacy in calcutta. rajendra, who had been promising himself a veritable feast on reaching kashmir, was disappointed to find there no large vineyards. now and then i chaffed him jocosely over his baseless anticipation. "oh, i have become so much gorged with grapes i can't walk!" i would say. "the invisible grapes are brewing within me!" later i heard that sweet grapes grow abundantly in kabul, west of kashmir. we consoled ourselves with ice cream made of rabri, a heavily condensed milk, and flavored with whole pistachio nuts. we took several trips in the shikaras or houseboats, shaded by red-embroidered canopies, coursing along the intricate channels of dal lake, a network of canals like a watery spider web. here the numerous floating gardens, crudely improvised with logs and earth, strike one with amazement, so incongruous is the first sight of vegetables and melons growing in the midst of vast waters. occasionally one sees a peasant, disdaining to be "rooted to the soil," towing his square plot of "land" to a new location in the many-fingered lake. in this storied vale one finds an epitome of all the earth's beauties. the lady of kashmir is mountain-crowned, lake-garlanded, and flower-shod. in later years, after i had toured many distant lands, i understood why kashmir is often called the world's most scenic spot. it possesses some of the charms of the swiss alps, and of loch lomond in scotland, and of the exquisite english lakes. an american traveler in kashmir finds much to remind him of the rugged grandeur of alaska and of pikes peak near denver. as entries in a scenic beauty contest, i offer for first prize either the gorgeous view of xochimilco in mexico, where mountains, skies, and poplars reflect themselves in myriad lanes of water amidst the playful fish, or the jewel-like lakes of kashmir, guarded like beautiful maidens by the stern surveillance of the himalayas. these two places stand out in my memory as the loveliest spots on earth. yet i was awed also when i first beheld the wonders of yellowstone national park and of the grand canyon of the colorado, and of alaska. yellowstone park is perhaps the only region where one can see innumerable geysers shooting high into the air, performing year after year with clockwork regularity. its opal and sapphire pools and hot sulphurous springs, its bears and wild creatures, remind one that here nature left a specimen of her earliest creation. motoring along the roads of wyoming to the "devil's paint pot" of hot bubbling mud, with gurgling springs, vaporous fountains, and spouting geysers in all directions, i was disposed to say that yellowstone deserves a special prize for uniqueness. the ancient majestic redwoods of yosemite, stretching their huge columns far into the unfathomable sky, are green natural cathedrals designed with skill divine. though there are wonderful falls in the orient, none match the torrential beauty of niagara near the canadian border. the mammoth caves of kentucky and the carlsbad caverns in new mexico, with colorful iciclelike formations, are stunning fairylands. their long needles of stalactite spires, hanging from cave ceilings and mirrored in underground waters, present a glimpse of other worlds as fancied by man. most of the hindus of kashmir, world-famed for their beauty, are as white as europeans and have similar features and bone structure; many have blue eyes and blonde hair. dressed in western clothes, they look like americans. the cold himalayas protect the kashmiris from the sultry sun and preserve their light complexions. as one travels to the southern and tropical latitudes of india, he finds progressively that the people become darker and darker. after spending happy weeks in kashmir, i was forced to return to bengal for the fall term of serampore college. sri yukteswar remained in srinagar, with kanai and auddy. before i departed, master hinted that his body would be subject to suffering in kashmir. "sir, you look a picture of health," i protested. "there is a chance that i may even leave this earth." "guruji!" i fell at his feet with an imploring gesture. "please promise that you won't leave your body now. i am utterly unprepared to carry on without you." sri yukteswar was silent, but smiled at me so compassionately that i felt reassured. reluctantly i left him. "master dangerously ill." this telegram from auddy reached me shortly after my return to serampore. "sir," i wired my guru frantically, "i asked for your promise not to leave me. please keep your body; otherwise, i also shall die." "be it as you wish." this was sri yukteswar's reply from kashmir. a letter from auddy arrived in a few days, informing me that master had recovered. on his return to serampore during the next fortnight, i was grieved to find my guru's body reduced to half its usual weight. fortunately for his disciples, sri yukteswar burned many of their sins in the fire of his severe fever in kashmir. the metaphysical method of physical transfer of disease is known to highly advanced yogis. a strong man can assist a weaker one by helping to carry his heavy load; a spiritual superman is able to minimize his disciples' physical or mental burdens by sharing the karma of their past actions. just as a rich man loses some money when he pays off a large debt for his prodigal son, who is thus saved from dire consequences of his own folly, so a master willingly sacrifices a portion of his bodily wealth to lighten the misery of disciples. {fn - } by a secret method, the yogi unites his mind and astral vehicle with those of a suffering individual; the disease is conveyed, wholly or in part, to the saint's body. having harvested god on the physical field, a master no longer cares what happens to that material form. though he may allow it to register a certain disease in order to relieve others, his mind is never affected; he considers himself fortunate in being able to render such aid. the devotee who has achieved final salvation in the lord finds that his body has completely fulfilled its purpose; he can then use it in any way he deems fit. his work in the world is to alleviate the sorrows of mankind, whether through spiritual means or by intellectual counsel or through will power or by the physical transfer of disease. escaping to the superconsciousness whenever he so desires, a master can remain oblivious of physical suffering; sometimes he chooses to bear bodily pain stoically, as an example to disciples. by putting on the ailments of others, a yogi can satisfy, for them, the karmic law of cause and effect. this law is mechanically or mathematically operative; its workings can be scientifically manipulated by men of divine wisdom. the spiritual law does not require a master to become ill whenever he heals another person. healings ordinarily take place through the saint's knowledge of various methods of instantaneous cure in which no hurt to the spiritual healer is involved. on rare occasions, however, a master who wishes to greatly quicken his disciples' evolution may then voluntarily work out on his own body a large measure of their undesirable karma. jesus signified himself as a ransom for the sins of many. with his divine powers, {fn - } his body could never have been subjected to death by crucifixion if he had not willingly cooperated with the subtle cosmic law of cause and effect. he thus took on himself the consequences of others' karma, especially that of his disciples. in this manner they were highly purified and made fit to receive the omnipresent consciousness which later descended on them. only a self-realized master can transfer his life force, or convey into his own body the diseases of others. an ordinary man cannot employ this yogic method of cure, nor is it desirable that he should do so; for an unsound physical instrument is a hindrance to god--meditation. the hindu scriptures teach that the first duty of man is to keep his body in good condition; otherwise his mind is unable to remain fixed in devotional concentration. a very strong mind, however, can transcend all physical difficulties and attain to god-realization. many saints have ignored illness and succeeded in their divine quest. st. francis of assisi, severely afflicted with ailments, healed others and even raised the dead. i knew an indian saint, half of whose body was once festering with sores. his diabetic condition was so acute that under ordinary conditions he could not sit still at one time for more than fifteen minutes. but his spiritual aspiration was undeterrable. "lord," he prayed, "wilt thou come into my broken temple?" with ceaseless command of will, the saint gradually became able to sit daily in the lotus posture for eighteen continuous hours, engrossed in the ecstatic trance. "and," he told me, "at the end of three years, i found the infinite light blazing within my shattered form. rejoicing in the joyful splendour, i forgot the body. later i saw that it had become whole through the divine mercy." a historical healing incident concerns king baber ( - ), founder of the mogul empire in india. his son, prince humayun, was mortally ill. the father prayed with anguished determination that he receive the sickness, and that his son be spared. after all physicians had given up hope, humayun recovered. baber immediately fell sick and died of the same disease which had stricken his son. humayun succeeded baber as emperor of hindustan. many people imagine that every spiritual master has, or should have, the health and strength of a sandow. the assumption is unfounded. a sickly body does not indicate that a guru is not in touch with divine powers, any more than lifelong health necessarily indicates an inner illumination. the condition of the physical body, in other words, cannot rightfully be made a test of a master. his distinguishing qualifications must be sought in his own domain, the spiritual. numerous bewildered seekers in the west erroneously think that an eloquent speaker or writer on metaphysics must be a master. the rishis, however, have pointed out that the acid test of a master is a man's ability to enter at will the breathless state, and to maintain the unbroken samadhi of nirbikalpa. {fn - } only by these achievements can a human being prove that he has "mastered" maya or the dualistic cosmic delusion. he alone can say from the depths of realization: "ekam sat,"-"only one exists." "the vedas declare that the ignorant man who rests content with making the slightest distinction between the individual soul and the supreme self is exposed to danger," shankara the great monist has written. "where there is duality by virtue of ignorance, one sees all things as distinct from the self. when everything is seen as the self, then there is not even an atom other than the self. . . . "as soon as the knowledge of the reality has sprung up, there can be no fruits of past actions to be experienced, owing to the unreality of the body, in the same way as there can be no dream after waking." only great gurus are able to assume the karma of disciples. sri yukteswar would not have suffered in kashmir unless he had received permission from the spirit within him to help his disciples in that strange way. few saints were ever more sensitively equipped with wisdom to carry out divine commands than my god-tuned master. when i ventured a few words of sympathy over his emaciated figure, my guru said gaily: "it has its good points; i am able now to get into some small ganjis (undershirts) that i haven't worn in years!" listening to master's jovial laugh, i remembered the words of st. francis de sales: "a saint that is sad is a sad saint!" {fn - } it is a mark of disrespect, in india, to smoke in the presence of one's elders and superiors. {fn - } the oriental plane tree.. {fn - } many christian saints, including therese neumann (see chapter ), are familiar with the metaphysical transfer of disease. {fn - } christ said, just before he was led away to be crucified: "thinkest thou that i cannot now pray to my father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? but how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?"-matthew : - . {fn - } see ../chapters , notes. chapter: the heart of a stone image "as a loyal hindu wife, i do not wish to complain of my husband. but i yearn to see him turn from his materialistic views. he delights in ridiculing the pictures of saints in my meditation room. dear brother, i have deep faith that you can help him. will you?" my eldest sister roma gazed beseechingly at me. i was paying a short visit at her calcutta home on girish vidyaratna lane. her plea touched me, for she had exercised a profound spiritual influence over my early life, and had lovingly tried to fill the void left in the family circle by mother's death. "beloved sister, of course i will do anything i can." i smiled, eager to lift the gloom plainly visible on her face, in contrast to her usual calm and cheerful expression. roma and i sat awhile in silent prayer for guidance. a year earlier, my sister had asked me to initiate her into kriya yoga, in which she was making notable progress. an inspiration seized me. "tomorrow," i said, "i am going to the dakshineswar temple. please come with me, and persuade your husband to accompany us. i feel that in the vibrations of that holy place, divine mother will touch his heart. but don't disclose our object in wanting him to go." sister agreed hopefully. very early the next morning i was pleased to find that roma and her husband were in readiness for the trip. as our hackney carriage rattled along upper circular road toward dakshineswar, my brother-in-law, satish chandra bose, amused himself by deriding spiritual gurus of the past, present, and future. i noticed that roma was quietly weeping. [illustration: self-realization church of all religions, san diego, california--see sandiego.jpg] [illustration: i stand with my two sisters, roma (at left) and nalini--see sisters.jpg] [illustration: my sister uma, as a young girl--see uma.jpg] "sister, cheer up!" i whispered. "don't give your husband the satisfaction of believing that we take his mockery seriously." "mukunda, how can you admire worthless humbugs?" satish was saying. "a sadhu's very appearance is repulsive. he is either as thin as a skeleton, or as unholily fat as an elephant!" i shouted with laughter. my good-natured reaction was annoying to satish; he retired into sullen silence. as our cab entered the dakshineswar grounds, he grinned sarcastically. "this excursion, i suppose, is a scheme to reform me?" as i turned away without reply, he caught my arm. "young mr. monk," he said, "don't forget to make proper arrangements with the temple authorities to provide for our noon meal." "i am going to meditate now. do not worry about your lunch," i replied sharply. "divine mother will look after it." "i don't trust divine mother to do a single thing for me. but i do hold you responsible for my food." satish's tones were threatening. i proceeded alone to the colonnaded hall which fronts the large temple of kali, or mother nature. selecting a shady spot near one of the pillars, i arranged my body in the lotus posture. although it was only about seven o'clock, the morning sun would soon be oppressive. the world receded as i became devotionally entranced. my mind was concentrated on goddess kali, whose image at dakshineswar had been the special object of adoration by the great master, sri ramakrishna paramhansa. in answer to his anguished demands, the stone image of this very temple had often taken a living form and conversed with him. "silent mother with stony heart," i prayed, "thou becamest filled with life at the request of thy beloved devotee ramakrishna; why dost thou not also heed the wails of this yearning son of thine?" my aspiring zeal increased boundlessly, accompanied by a divine peace. yet, when five hours had passed, and the goddess whom i was inwardly visualizing had made no response, i felt slightly disheartened. sometimes it is a test by god to delay the fulfillment of prayers. but he eventually appears to the persistent devotee in whatever form he holds dear. a devout christian sees jesus; a hindu beholds krishna, or the goddess kali, or an expanding light if his worship takes an impersonal turn. reluctantly i opened my eyes, and saw that the temple doors were being locked by a priest, in conformance with a noon-hour custom. i rose from my secluded seat under the open, roofed hall, and stepped into the courtyard. its stone floor was scorching under the midday sun; my bare feet were painfully burned. "divine mother," i silently remonstrated, "thou didst not come to me in vision, and now thou art hidden in the temple behind closed doors. i wanted to offer a special prayer to thee today on behalf of my brother-in-law." my inward petition was instantly acknowledged. first, a delightful cold wave descended over my back and under my feet, banishing all discomfort. then, to my amazement, the temple became greatly magnified. its large door slowly opened, revealing the stone figure of goddess kali. gradually it changed into a living form, smilingly nodding in greeting, thrilling me with joy indescribable. as if by a mystic syringe, the breath was withdrawn from my lungs; my body became very still, though not inert. an ecstatic enlargement of consciousness followed. i could see clearly for several miles over the ganges river to my left, and beyond the temple into the entire dakshineswar precincts. the walls of all buildings glimmered transparently; through them i observed people walking to and fro over distant acres. though i was breathless and my body in a strangely quiet state, yet i was able to move my hands and feet freely. for several minutes i experimented in closing and opening my eyes; in either state i saw distinctly the whole dakshineswar panorama. spiritual sight, x-raylike, penetrates into all matter; the divine eye is center everywhere, circumference nowhere. i realized anew, standing there in the sunny courtyard, that when man ceases to be a prodigal child of god, engrossed in a physical world indeed dream, baseless as a bubble, he reinherits his eternal realms. if "escapism" be a need of man, cramped in his narrow personality, can any escape compare with the majesty of omnipresence? in my sacred experience at dakshineswar, the only extraordinarily-enlarged objects were the temple and the form of the goddess. everything else appeared in its normal dimensions, although each was enclosed in a halo of mellow light-white, blue, and pastel rainbow hues. my body seemed to be of ethereal substance, ready to levitate. fully conscious of my material surroundings, i was looking about me and taking a few steps without disturbing the continuity of the blissful vision. behind the temple walls i suddenly glimpsed my brother-in-law as he sat under the thorny branches of a sacred bel tree. i could effortlessly discern the course of his thoughts. somewhat uplifted under the holy influence of dakshineswar, his mind yet held unkind reflections about me. i turned directly to the gracious form of the goddess. "divine mother," i prayed, "wilt thou not spiritually change my sister's husband?" the beautiful figure, hitherto silent, spoke at last: "thy wish is granted!" i looked happily at satish. as though instinctively aware that some spiritual power was at work, he rose resentfully from his seat on the ground. i saw him running behind the temple; he approached me, shaking his fist. the all-embracing vision disappeared. no longer could i see the glorious goddess; the towering temple was reduced to its ordinary size, minus its transparency. again my body sweltered under the fierce rays of the sun. i jumped to the shelter of the pillared hall, where satish pursued me angrily. i looked at my watch. it was one o'clock; the divine vision had lasted an hour. "you little fool," my brother-in-law blurted out, "you have been sitting there cross-legged and cross-eyed for six hours. i have gone back and forth watching you. where is my food? now the temple is closed; you failed to notify the authorities; we are left without lunch!" the exaltation i had felt at the goddess' presence was still vibrant within my heart. i was emboldened to exclaim, "divine mother will feed us!" satish was beside himself with rage. "once and for all," he shouted, "i would like to see your divine mother giving us food here without prior arrangements!" his words were hardly uttered when a temple priest crossed the courtyard and joined us. "son," he addressed me, "i have been observing your face serenely glowing during hours of meditation. i saw the arrival of your party this morning, and felt a desire to put aside ample food for your lunch. it is against the temple rules to feed those who do not make a request beforehand, but i have made an exception for you." i thanked him, and gazed straight into satish's eyes. he flushed with emotion, lowering his gaze in silent repentance. when we were served a lavish meal, including out-of-season mangoes, i noticed that my brother-in-law's appetite was meager. he was bewildered, diving deep into the ocean of thought. on the return journey to calcutta, satish, with softened expression, occasionally glanced at me pleadingly. but he did not speak a single word after the moment the priest had appeared to invite us to lunch, as though in direct answer to satish's challenge. the following afternoon i visited my sister at her home. she greeted me affectionately. "dear brother," she cried, "what a miracle! last evening my husband wept openly before me. "'beloved devi,' {fn - } he said, 'i am happy beyond expression that this reforming scheme of your brother's has wrought a transformation. i am going to undo every wrong i have done you. from tonight we will use our large bedroom only as a place of worship; your small meditation room shall be changed into our sleeping quarters. i am sincerely sorry that i have ridiculed your brother. for the shameful way i have been acting, i will punish myself by not talking to mukunda until i have progressed in the spiritual path. deeply i will seek the divine mother from now on; someday i must surely find her!'" years later, i visited my brother-in-law in delhi. i was overjoyed to perceive that he had developed highly in self-realization, and had been blessed by the vision of divine mother. during my stay with him, i noticed that satish secretly spent the greater part of every night in divine meditation, though he was suffering from a serious ailment, and was engaged during the day at his office. the thought came to me that my brother-in-law's life span would not be a long one. roma must have read my mind. "dear brother," she said, "i am well, and my husband is sick. nevertheless, i want you to know that, as a devoted hindu wife, i am going to be the first one to die. {fn - } it won't be long now before i pass on." taken aback at her ominous words, i yet realized their sting of truth. i was in america when my sister died, about a year after her prediction. my youngest brother bishnu later gave me the details. "roma and satish were in calcutta at the time of her death," bishnu told me. "that morning she dressed herself in her bridal finery. "'why this special costume?' satish inquired. "'this is my last day of service to you on earth,' roma replied. a short time later she had a heart attack. as her son was rushing out for aid, she said: "'son, do not leave me. it is no use; i shall be gone before a doctor could arrive.' ten minutes later, holding the feet of her husband in reverence, roma consciously left her body, happily and without suffering. "satish became very reclusive after his wife's death," bishnu continued. "one day he and i were looking at a large smiling photograph of roma. "'why do you smile?' satish suddenly exclaimed, as though his wife were present. 'you think you were clever in arranging to go before me. i shall prove that you cannot long remain away from me; soon i shall join you.' "although at this time satish had fully recovered from his sickness, and was enjoying excellent health, he died without apparent cause shortly after his strange remark before the photograph." thus prophetically passed my dearly beloved eldest sister roma, and her husband satish-he who changed at dakshineswar from an ordinary worldly man to a silent saint. {fn - } goddess. {fn - } the hindu wife believes it is a sign of spiritual advancement if she dies before her husband, as a proof of her loyal service to him, or "dying in harness." chapter: i receive my university degree "you ignore your textbook assignments in philosophy. no doubt you are depending on an unlaborious 'intuition' to get you through the examinations. but unless you apply yourself in a more scholarly manner, i shall see to it that you don't pass this course." professor d. c. ghoshal of serampore college was addressing me sternly. if i failed to pass his final written classroom test, i would be ineligible to take the conclusive examinations. these are formulated by the faculty of calcutta university, which numbers serampore college among its affiliated branches. a student in indian universities who is unsuccessful in one subject in the a.b. finals must be examined anew in all his subjects the following year. my instructors at serampore college usually treated me with kindness, not untinged by an amused tolerance. "mukunda is a bit over-drunk with religion." thus summing me up, they tactfully spared me the embarrassment of answering classroom questions; they trusted the final written tests to eliminate me from the list of a.b. candidates. the judgment passed by my fellow students was expressed in their nickname for me-"mad monk." i took an ingenious step to nullify professor ghoshal's threat to me of failure in philosophy. when the results of the final tests were about to be publicly announced, i asked a classmate to accompany me to the professor's study. "come along; i want a witness," i told my companion. "i shall be very much disappointed if i have not succeeded in outwitting the instructor." professor ghoshal shook his head after i had inquired what rating he had given my paper. "you are not among those who have passed," he said in triumph. he hunted through a large pile on his desk. "your paper isn't here at all; you have failed, in any case, through non-appearance at the examination." i chuckled. "sir, i was there. may i look through the stack myself?" the professor, nonplused, gave his permission; i quickly found my paper, where i had carefully omitted any identification mark except my roll call number. unwarned by the "red flag" of my name, the instructor had given a high rating to my answers even though they were unembellished by textbook quotations. {fn - } seeing through my trick, he now thundered, "sheer brazen luck!" he added hopefully, "you are sure to fail in the a.b. finals." for the tests in my other subjects, i received some coaching, particularly from my dear friend and cousin, prabhas chandra ghose, {fn - } son of my uncle sarada. i staggered painfully but successfully-with the lowest possible passing marks-through all my final tests. now, after four years of college, i was eligible to sit for the a.b. examinations. nevertheless, i hardly expected to avail myself of the privilege. the serampore college finals were child's play compared to the stiff ones which would be set by calcutta university for the a.b. degree. my almost daily visits to sri yukteswar had left me little time to enter the college halls. there it was my presence rather than my absence that brought forth ejaculations of amazement from my classmates! my customary routine was to set out on my bicycle about nine-thirty in the morning. in one hand i would carry an offering for my guru-a few flowers from the garden of my panthi boardinghouse. greeting me affably, master would invite me to lunch. i invariably accepted with alacrity, glad to banish the thought of college for the day. after hours with sri yukteswar, listening to his incomparable flow of wisdom, or helping with ashram duties, i would reluctantly depart around midnight for the panthi. occasionally i stayed all night with my guru, so happily engrossed in his conversation that i scarcely noticed when darkness changed into dawn. one night about eleven o'clock, as i was putting on my shoes {fn - } in preparation for the ride to the boardinghouse, master questioned me gravely. "when do your a.b. examinations start?" "five days hence, sir." "i hope you are in readiness for them." transfixed with alarm, i held one shoe in the air. "sir," i protested, "you know how my days have been passed with you rather than with the professors. how can i enact a farce by appearing for those difficult finals?" sri yukteswar's eyes were turned piercingly on mine. "you must appear." his tone was coldly peremptory. "we should not give cause for your father and other relatives to criticize your preference for ashram life. just promise me that you will be present for the examinations; answer them the best way you can." uncontrollable tears were coursing down my face. i felt that master's command was unreasonable, and that his interest was, to say the least, belated. "i will appear if you wish it," i said amidst sobs. "but no time remains for proper preparation." under my breath i muttered, "i will fill up the sheets with your teachings in answer to the questions!" when i entered the hermitage the following day at my usual hour, i presented my bouquet with a certain mournful solemnity. sri yukteswar laughed at my woebegone air. "mukunda, has the lord ever failed you, at an examination or elsewhere?" "no, sir," i responded warmly. grateful memories came in a revivifying flood. "not laziness but burning zeal for god has prevented you from seeking college honors," my guru said kindly. after a silence, he quoted, "'seek ye first the kingdom of god, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.'" {fn - } for the thousandth time, i felt my burdens lifted in master's presence. when we had finished our early lunch, he suggested that i return to the panthi. "does your friend, romesh chandra dutt, still live in your boardinghouse?" "yes, sir." "get in touch with him; the lord will inspire him to help you with the examinations." "very well, sir; but romesh is unusually busy. he is the honor man in our class, and carries a heavier course than the others." master waved aside my objections. "romesh will find time for you. now go." i bicycled back to the panthi. the first person i met in the boardinghouse compound was the scholarly romesh. as though his days were quite free, he obligingly agreed to my diffident request. "of course; i am at your service." he spent several hours of that afternoon and of succeeding days in coaching me in my various subjects. "i believe many questions in english literature will be centered in the route of childe harold," he told me. "we must get an atlas at once." i hastened to the home of my uncle sarada and borrowed an atlas. romesh marked the european map at the places visited by byron's romantic traveler. a few classmates had gathered around to listen to the tutoring. "romesh is advising you wrongly," one of them commented to me at the end of a session. "usually only fifty per cent of the questions are about the books; the other half will involve the authors' lives." when i sat for the examination in english literature the following day, my first glance at the questions caused tears of gratitude to pour forth, wetting my paper. the classroom monitor came to my desk and made a sympathetic inquiry. "my guru foretold that romesh would help me," i explained. "look; the very questions dictated to me by romesh are here on the examination sheet! fortunately for me, there are very few questions this year on english authors, whose lives are wrapped in deep mystery so far as i am concerned!" my boardinghouse was in an uproar when i returned. the boys who had been ridiculing romesh's method of coaching looked at me in awe, almost deafening me with congratulations. during the week of the examinations, i spent many hours with romesh, who formulated questions that he thought were likely to be set by the professors. day by day, romesh's questions appeared in almost the same form on the examination sheets. the news was widely circulated in the college that something resembling a miracle was occurring, and that success seemed probable for the absent-minded "mad monk." i made no attempt to hide the facts of the case. the local professors were powerless to alter the questions, which had been arranged by calcutta university. thinking over the examination in english literature, i realized one morning that i had made a serious error. one section of the questions had been divided into two parts of a or b, and c or d. instead of answering one question from each part, i had carelessly answered both questions in group i, and had failed to consider anything in group ii. the best mark i could score in that paper would be , three less than the passing mark of . i rushed to master and poured out my troubles. "sir, i have made an unpardonable blunder. i don't deserve the divine blessings through romesh; i am quite unworthy." "cheer up, mukunda." sri yukteswar's tones were light and unconcerned. he pointed to the blue vault of the heavens. "it is more possible for the sun and moon to interchange their positions in space than it is for you to fail in getting your degree!" i left the hermitage in a more tranquil mood, though it seemed mathematically inconceivable that i could pass. i looked once or twice apprehensively into the sky; the lord of day appeared to be securely anchored in his customary orbit! as i reached the panthi, i overheard a classmate's remark: "i have just learned that this year, for the first time, the required passing mark in english literature has been lowered." i entered the boy's room with such speed that he looked up in alarm. i questioned him eagerly. "long-haired monk," he said laughingly, "why this sudden interest in scholastic matters? why cry in the eleventh hour? but it is true that the passing mark has just been lowered to points." a few joyous leaps took me into my own room, where i sank to my knees and praised the mathematical perfections of my divine father. every day i thrilled with the consciousness of a spiritual presence that i clearly felt to be guiding me through romesh. a significant incident occurred in connection with the examination in bengali. romesh, who had touched little on that subject, called me back one morning as i was leaving the boardinghouse on my way to the examination hall. "there is romesh shouting for you," a classmate said to me impatiently. "don't return; we shall be late at the hall." ignoring the advice, i ran back to the house. "the bengali examination is usually easily passed by our bengali boys," romesh told me. "but i have just had a hunch that this year the professors have planned to massacre the students by asking questions from our ancient literature." my friend then briefly outlined two stories from the life of vidyasagar, a renowned philanthropist. i thanked romesh and quickly bicycled to the college hall. the examination sheet in bengali proved to contain two parts. the first instruction was: "write two instances of the charities of vidyasagar." as i transferred to the paper the lore that i had so recently acquired, i whispered a few words of thanksgiving that i had heeded romesh's last-minute summons. had i been ignorant of vidyasagar's benefactions to mankind (including ultimately myself), i could not have passed the bengali examination. failing in one subject, i would have been forced to stand examination anew in all subjects the following year. such a prospect was understandably abhorrent. the second instruction on the sheet read: "write an essay in bengali on the life of the man who has most inspired you." gentle reader, i need not inform you what man i chose for my theme. as i covered page after page with praise of my guru, i smiled to realize that my muttered prediction was coming true: "i will fill up the sheets with your teachings!" i had not felt inclined to question romesh about my course in philosophy. trusting my long training under sri yukteswar, i safely disregarded the textbook explanations. the highest mark given to any of my papers was the one in philosophy. my score in all other subjects was just barely within the passing mark. it is a pleasure to record that my unselfish friend romesh received his own degree cum laude. father was wreathed in smiles at my graduation. "i hardly thought you would pass, mukunda," he confessed. "you spend so much time with your guru." master had indeed correctly detected the unspoken criticism of my father. for years i had been uncertain that i would ever see the day when an a.b. would follow my name. i seldom use the title without reflecting that it was a divine gift, conferred on me for reasons somewhat obscure. occasionally i hear college men remark that very little of their crammed knowledge remained with them after graduation. that admission consoles me a bit for my undoubted academic deficiencies. on the day i received my degree from calcutta university, i knelt at my guru's feet and thanked him for all the blessings flowing from his life into mine. "get up, mukunda," he said indulgently. "the lord simply found it more convenient to make you a graduate than to rearrange the sun and moon!" {fn - } i must do professor ghoshal the justice of admitting that the strained relationship between us was not due to any fault of his, but solely to my absences from classes and inattention in them. professor ghoshal was, and is, a remarkable orator with vast philosophical knowledge. in later years we came to a cordial understanding.. {fn - } although my cousin and i have the same family name of ghosh, prabhas has accustomed himself to transliterating his name in english as ghose; therefore i follow his own spelling here. {fn - } a disciple always removes his shoes in an indian hermitage. {fn - } matthew : . chapter: i become a monk of the swami order "master, my father has been anxious for me to accept an executive position with the bengal-nagpur railway. but i have definitely refused it." i added hopefully, "sir, will you not make me a monk of the swami order?" i looked pleadingly at my guru. during preceding years, in order to test the depth of my determination, he had refused this same request. today, however, he smiled graciously. "very well; tomorrow i will initiate you into swamiship." he went on quietly, "i am happy that you have persisted in your desire to be a monk. lahiri mahasaya often said: 'if you don't invite god to be your summer guest, he won't come in the winter of your life.'" "dear master, i could never falter in my goal to belong to the swami order like your revered self." i smiled at him with measureless affection. "he that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the lord, how he may please the lord: but he that is married careth for the things of the world, how he may please his wife." {fn - } i had analyzed the lives of many of my friends who, after undergoing certain spiritual discipline, had then married. launched on the sea of worldly responsibilities, they had forgotten their resolutions to meditate deeply. to allot god a secondary place in life was, to me, inconceivable. though he is the sole owner of the cosmos, silently showering us with gifts from life to life, one thing yet remains which he does not own, and which each human heart is empowered to withhold or bestow-man's love. the creator, in taking infinite pains to shroud with mystery his presence in every atom of creation, could have had but one motive-a sensitive desire that men seek him only through free will. with what velvet glove of every humility has he not covered the iron hand of omnipotence! the following day was one of the most memorable in my life. it was a sunny thursday, i remember, in july, , a few weeks after my graduation from college. on the inner balcony of his serampore hermitage, master dipped a new piece of white silk into a dye of ocher, the traditional color of the swami order. after the cloth had dried, my guru draped it around me as a renunciate's robe. "someday you will go to the west, where silk is preferred," he said. "as a symbol, i have chosen for you this silk material instead of the customary cotton." in india, where monks embrace the ideal of poverty, a silk-clad swami is an unusual sight. many yogis, however, wear garments of silk, which preserves certain subtle bodily currents better than cotton. "i am averse to ceremonies," sri yukteswar remarked. "i will make you a swami in the bidwat (non-ceremonious) manner." the bibidisa or elaborate initiation into swamiship includes a fire ceremony, during which symbolical funeral rites are performed. the physical body of the disciple is represented as dead, cremated in the flame of wisdom. the newly-made swami is then given a chant, such as: "this atma is brahma" {fn - } or "thou art that" or "i am he." sri yukteswar, however, with his love of simplicity, dispensed with all formal rites and merely asked me to select a new name. "i will give you the privilege of choosing it yourself," he said, smiling. "yogananda," i replied, after a moment's thought. the name literally means "bliss (ananda) through divine union (yoga)." "be it so. forsaking your family name of mukunda lal ghosh, henceforth you shall be called yogananda of the giri branch of the swami order." as i knelt before sri yukteswar, and for the first time heard him pronounce my new name, my heart overflowed with gratitude. how lovingly and tirelessly had he labored, that the boy mukunda be someday transformed into the monk yogananda! i joyfully sang a few verses from the long sanskrit chant of lord shankara: "mind, nor intellect, nor ego, feeling; sky nor earth nor metals am i. i am he, i am he, blessed spirit, i am he! no birth, no death, no caste have i; father, mother, have i none. i am he, i am he, blessed spirit, i am he! beyond the flights of fancy, formless am i, permeating the limbs of all life; bondage i do not fear; i am free, ever free, i am he, i am he, blessed spirit, i am he!" every swami belongs to the ancient monastic order which was organized in its present form by shankara. {fn - } because it is a formal order, with an unbroken line of saintly representatives serving as active leaders, no man can give himself the title of swami. he rightfully receives it only from another swami; all monks thus trace their spiritual lineage to one common guru, lord shankara. by vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience to the spiritual teacher, many catholic christian monastic orders resemble the order of swamis. in addition to his new name, usually ending in ananda, the swami takes a title which indicates his formal connection with one of the ten subdivisions of the swami order. these dasanamis or ten agnomens include the giri (mountain), to which sri yukteswar, and hence myself, belong. among the other branches are the sagar (sea), bharati (land), aranya (forest), puri (tract), tirtha (place of pilgrimage), and saraswati (wisdom of nature). the new name received by a swami thus has a twofold significance, and represents the attainment of supreme bliss (ananda) through some divine quality or state-love, wisdom, devotion, service, yoga-and through a harmony with nature, as expressed in her infinite vastness of oceans, mountains, skies. the ideal of selfless service to all mankind, and of renunciation of personal ties and ambitions, leads the majority of swamis to engage actively in humanitarian and educational work in india, or occasionally in foreign lands. ignoring all prejudices of caste, creed, class, color, sex, or race, a swami follows the precepts of human brotherhood. his goal is absolute unity with spirit. imbuing his waking and sleeping consciousness with the thought, "i am he," he roams contentedly, in the world but not of it. thus only may he justify his title of swami-one who seeks to achieve union with the swa or self. it is needless to add that not all formally titled swamis are equally successful in reaching their high goal. sri yukteswar was both a swami and a yogi. a swami, formally a monk by virtue of his connection with the ancient order, is not always a yogi. anyone who practices a scientific technique of god-contact is a yogi; he may be either married or unmarried, either a worldly man or one of formal religious ties. a swami may conceivably follow only the path of dry reasoning, of cold renunciation; but a yogi engages himself in a definite, step-by-step procedure by which the body and mind are disciplined, and the soul liberated. taking nothing for granted on emotional grounds, or by faith, a yogi practices a thoroughly tested series of exercises which were first mapped out by the early rishis. yoga has produced, in every age of india, men who became truly free, truly yogi-christs. like any other science, yoga is applicable to people of every clime and time. the theory advanced by certain ignorant writers that yoga is "unsuitable for westerners" is wholly false, and has lamentably prevented many sincere students from seeking its manifold blessings. yoga is a method for restraining the natural turbulence of thoughts, which otherwise impartially prevent all men, of all lands, from glimpsing their true nature of spirit. yoga cannot know a barrier of east and west any more than does the healing and equitable light of the sun. so long as man possesses a mind with its restless thoughts, so long will there be a universal need for yoga or control. [illustration: the lord in his aspect as shiva, not a historical personage like krishna, shiva is the name given to god in the last aspect of his threefold nature (creator-preserver-destroyer). shiva, the annihilator of maya or delusion, is symbolically represented in the scriptures as the lord of renunciates, the king of yogis. in hindu art he is always shown with the new moon in his hair, and wearing a garland of hooded snakes, ancient emblem of evil overcome and perfect wisdom. the "single" eye of omniscience is open on his forehead.--see shiva.jpg] the ancient rishi patanjali defines "yoga" as "control of the fluctuations of the mind-stuff." {fn - } his very short and masterly expositions, the yoga sutras, form one of the six systems of hindu philosophy. {fn - } in contradistinction to western philosophies, all six hindu systems embody not only theoretical but practical teachings. in addition to every conceivable ontological inquiry, the six systems formulate six definite disciplines aimed at the permanent removal of suffering and the attainment of timeless bliss. the common thread linking all six systems is the declaration that no true freedom for man is possible without knowledge of the ultimate reality. the later upanishads uphold the yoga sutras, among the six systems, as containing the most efficacious methods for achieving direct perception of truth. through the practical techniques of yoga, man leaves behind forever the barren realms of speculation and cognizes in experience the veritable essence. the yoga system as outlined by patanjali is known as the eightfold path. the first steps, ( ) yama and ( ) niyama, require observance of ten negative and positive moralities-avoidance of injury to others, of untruthfulness, of stealing, of incontinence, of gift-receiving (which brings obligations); and purity of body and mind, contentment, self-discipline, study, and devotion to god. the next steps are ( ) asana (right posture); the spinal column must be held straight, and the body firm in a comfortable position for meditation; ( ) pranayama (control of prana, subtle life currents); and ( ) pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses from external objects). the last steps are forms of yoga proper: ( ) dharana (concentration); holding the mind to one thought; ( ) dhyana (meditation), and ( ) samadhi (superconscious perception). this is the eightfold path of yoga {fn - } which leads one to the final goal of kaivalya (absoluteness), a term which might be more comprehensibly put as "realization of the truth beyond all intellectual apprehension." "which is greater," one may ask, "a swami or a yogi?" if and when final oneness with god is achieved, the distinctions of the various paths disappear. the bhagavad gita, however, points out that the methods of yoga are all-embracive. its techniques are not meant only for certain types and temperaments, such as those few who incline toward the monastic life; yoga requires no formal allegiance. because the yogic science satisfies a universal need, it has a natural universal applicability. a true yogi may remain dutifully in the world; there he is like butter on water, and not like the easily-diluted milk of unchurned and undisciplined humanity. to fulfill one's earthly responsibilities is indeed the higher path, provided the yogi, maintaining a mental uninvolvement with egotistical desires, plays his part as a willing instrument of god. there are a number of great souls, living in american or european or other non-hindu bodies today who, though they may never have heard the words yogi and swami, are yet true exemplars of those terms. through their disinterested service to mankind, or through their mastery over passions and thoughts, or through their single hearted love of god, or through their great powers of concentration, they are, in a sense, yogis; they have set themselves the goal of yoga-self-control. these men could rise to even greater heights if they were taught the definite science of yoga, which makes possible a more conscious direction of one's mind and life. yoga has been superficially misunderstood by certain western writers, but its critics have never been its practitioners. among many thoughtful tributes to yoga may be mentioned one by dr. c. g. jung, the famous swiss psychologist. "when a religious method recommends itself as 'scientific,' it can be certain of its public in the west. yoga fulfills this expectation," dr. jung writes. {fn - } "quite apart from the charm of the new, and the fascination of the half-understood, there is good cause for yoga to have many adherents. it offers the possibility of controllable experience, and thus satisfies the scientific need of 'facts,' and besides this, by reason of its breadth and depth, its venerable age, its doctrine and method, which include every phase of life, it promises undreamed-of possibilities. "every religious or philosophical practice means a psychological discipline, that is, a method of mental hygiene. the manifold, purely bodily procedures of yoga {fn - } also mean a physiological hygiene which is superior to ordinary gymnastics and breathing exercises, inasmuch as it is not merely mechanistic and scientific, but also philosophical; in its training of the parts of the body, it unites them with the whole of the spirit, as is quite clear, for instance, in the pranayama exercises where prana is both the breath and the universal dynamics of the cosmos. "when the thing which the individual is doing is also a cosmic event, the effect experienced in the body (the innervation), unites with the emotion of the spirit (the universal idea), and out of this there develops a lively unity which no technique, however scientific, can produce. yoga practice is unthinkable, and would also be ineffectual, without the concepts on which yoga is based. it combines the bodily and the spiritual with each other in an extraordinarily complete way. "in the east, where these ideas and practices have developed, and where for several thousand years an unbroken tradition has created the necessary spiritual foundations, yoga is, as i can readily believe, the perfect and appropriate method of fusing body and mind together so that they form a unity which is scarcely to be questioned. this unity creates a psychological disposition which makes possible intuitions that transcend consciousness." the western day is indeed nearing when the inner science of self-control will be found as necessary as the outer conquest of nature. this new atomic age will see men's minds sobered and broadened by the now scientifically indisputable truth that matter is in reality a concentrate of energy. finer forces of the human mind can and must liberate energies greater than those within stones and metals, lest the material atomic giant, newly unleashed, turn on the world in mindless destruction. {fn - } {fn - } i corinthians : - . {fn - } literally, "this soul is spirit." the supreme spirit, the uncreated, is wholly unconditioned (neti, neti, not this, not that) but is often referred to in vedanta as sat-chit-ananda, that is, being-intelligence-bliss. {fn - } sometimes called shankaracharya. acharya means "religious teacher." shankara's date is a center of the usual scholastic dispute. a few records indicate that the peerless monist lived from to b.c.; western historians assign him to the late eighth century a.d. readers who are interested in shankara's famous exposition of the brahma sutras will find a careful english translation in dr. paul deussen's system of the vedanta (chicago: open court publishing company, ). short extracts from his writings will be found in selected works of sri shankaracharya (natesan & co., madras). {fn - } "chitta vritti nirodha"-yoga sutra i: . patanjali's date is unknown, though a number of scholars place him in the second century b.c. the rishis gave forth treatises on all subjects with such insight that ages have been powerless to outmode them; yet, to the subsequent consternation of historians, the sages made no effort to attach their own dates and personalities to their literary works. they knew their lives were only temporarily important as flashes of the great infinite life; and that truth is timeless, impossible to trademark, and no private possession of their own. {fn - } the six orthodox systems (saddarsana) are sankhya, yoga, vedanta, mimamsa, nyaya, and vaisesika. readers of a scholarly bent will delight in the subtleties and broad scope of these ancient formulations as summarized, in english, in history of indian philosophy, vol. i, by prof. surendranath dasgupta (cambridge university press, ). {fn - } not to be confused with the "noble eightfold path" of buddhism, a guide to man's conduct of life, as follows ( ) right ideals, ( ) right motive, ( ) right speech, ( ) right action, ( ) right means of livelihood, ( ) right effort, ( ) right remembrance (of the self), ( ) right realization (samadhi). {fn - } dr. jung attended the indian science congress in and received an honorary degree from the university of calcutta. {fn - } dr. jung is here referring to hatha yoga, a specialized branch of bodily postures and techniques for health and longevity. hatha is useful, and produces spectacular physical results, but this branch of yoga is little used by yogis bent on spiritual liberation. {fn - } in plato's timaeus story of atlantis, he tells of the inhabitants' advanced state of scientific knowledge. the lost continent is believed to have vanished about b.c. through a cataclysm of nature; certain metaphysical writers, however, state that the atlanteans were destroyed as a result of their misuse of atomic power. two french writers have recently compiled a bibliography of atlantis, listing over historical and other references. chapter: brother ananta and sister nalini "ananta cannot live; the sands of his karma for this life have run out." these inexorable words reached my inner consciousness as i sat one morning in deep meditation. shortly after i had entered the swami order, i paid a visit to my birthplace, gorakhpur, as a guest of my elder brother ananta. a sudden illness confined him to his bed; i nursed him lovingly. the solemn inward pronouncement filled me with grief. i felt that i could not bear to remain longer in gorakhpur, only to see my brother removed before my helpless gaze. amidst uncomprehending criticism from my relatives, i left india on the first available boat. it cruised along burma and the china sea to japan. i disembarked at kobe, where i spent only a few days. my heart was too heavy for sightseeing. on the return trip to india, the boat touched at shanghai. there dr. misra, the ship's physician, guided me to several curio shops, where i selected various presents for sri yukteswar and my family and friends. for ananta i purchased a large carved bamboo piece. no sooner had the chinese salesman handed me the bamboo souvenir than i dropped it on the floor, crying out, "i have bought this for my dear dead brother!" a clear realization had swept over me that his soul was just being freed in the infinite. the souvenir was sharply and symbolically cracked by its fall; amidst sobs, i wrote on the bamboo surface: "for my beloved ananta, now gone." my companion, the doctor, was observing these proceedings with a sardonic smile. "save your tears," he remarked. "why shed them until you are sure he is dead?" when our boat reached calcutta, dr. misra again accompanied me. my youngest brother bishnu was waiting to greet me at the dock. "i know ananta has departed this life," i said to bishnu, before he had had time to speak. "please tell me, and the doctor here, when ananta died." bishnu named the date, which was the very day that i had bought the souvenirs in shanghai. "look here!" dr. misra ejaculated. "don't let any word of this get around! the professors will be adding a year's study of mental telepathy to the medical course, which is already long enough!" father embraced me warmly as i entered our gurpar road home. "you have come," he said tenderly. two large tears dropped from his eyes. ordinarily undemonstrative, he had never before shown me these signs of affection. outwardly the grave father, inwardly he possessed the melting heart of a mother. in all his dealings with the family, his dual parental role was distinctly manifest. soon after ananta's passing, my younger sister nalini was brought back from death's door by a divine healing. before relating the story, i will refer to a few phases of her earlier life. the childhood relationship between nalini and myself had not been of the happiest nature. i was very thin; she was thinner still. through an unconscious motive or "complex" which psychiatrists will have no difficulty in identifying, i often used to tease my sister about her cadaverous appearance. her retorts were equally permeated with the callous frankness of extreme youth. sometimes mother intervened, ending the childish quarrels, temporarily, by a gentle box on my ear, as the elder ear. time passed; nalini was betrothed to a young calcutta physician, panchanon bose. he received a generous dowry from father, presumably (as i remarked to sister) to compensate the bridegroom-to-be for his fate in allying himself with a human bean-pole. elaborate marriage rites were celebrated in due time. on the wedding night, i joined the large and jovial group of relatives in the living room of our calcutta home. the bridegroom was leaning on an immense gold-brocaded pillow, with nalini at his side. a gorgeous purple silk sari {fn - } could not, alas, wholly hide her angularity. i sheltered myself behind the pillow of my new brother-in-law and grinned at him in friendly fashion. he had never seen nalini until the day of the nuptial ceremony, when he finally learned what he was getting in the matrimonial lottery. feeling my sympathy, dr. bose pointed unobtrusively to nalini, and whispered in my ear, "say, what's this?" "why, doctor," i replied, "it is a skeleton for your observation!" convulsed with mirth, my brother-in-law and i were hard put to it to maintain the proper decorum before our assembled relatives. as the years went on, dr. bose endeared himself to our family, who called on him whenever illness arose. he and i became fast friends, often joking together, usually with nalini as our target. "it is a medical curiosity," my brother-in-law remarked to me one day. "i have tried everything on your lean sister-cod liver oil, butter, malt, honey, fish, meat, eggs, tonics. still she fails to bulge even one-hundredth of an inch." we both chuckled. a few days later i visited the bose home. my errand there took only a few minutes; i was leaving, unnoticed, i thought, by nalini. as i reached the front door, i heard her voice, cordial but commanding. "brother, come here. you are not going to give me the slip this time. i want to talk to you." i mounted the stairs to her room. to my surprise, she was in tears. "dear brother," she said, "let us bury the old hatchet. i see that your feet are now firmly set on the spiritual path. i want to become like you in every way." she added hopefully, "you are now robust in appearance; can you help me? my husband does not come near me, and i love him so dearly! but still more i want to progress in god-realization, even if i must remain thin {fn - } and unattractive." my heart was deeply touched at her plea. our new friendship steadily progressed; one day she asked to become my disciple. "train me in any way you like. i put my trust in god instead of tonics." she gathered together an armful of medicines and poured them down the roof drain. as a test of her faith, i asked her to omit from her diet all fish, meat, and eggs. after several months, during which nalini had strictly followed the various rules i had outlined, and had adhered to her vegetarian diet in spite of numerous difficulties, i paid her a visit. "sis, you have been conscientiously observing the spiritual injunctions; your reward is near." i smiled mischievously. "how plump do you want to be-as fat as our aunt who hasn't seen her feet in years?" "no! but i long to be as stout as you are." i replied solemnly. "by the grace of god, as i have spoken truth always, i speak truly now. {fn - } through the divine blessings, your body shall verily change from today; in one month it shall have the same weight as mine." these words from my heart found fulfillment. in thirty days, nalini's weight equalled mine. the new roundness gave her beauty; her husband fell deeply in love. their marriage, begun so inauspiciously, turned out to be ideally happy. on my return from japan, i learned that during my absence nalini had been stricken with typhoid fever. i rushed to her home, and was aghast to find her reduced to a mere skeleton. she was in a coma. "before her mind became confused by illness," my brother-in-law told me, "she often said: 'if brother mukunda were here, i would not be faring thus.'" he added despairingly, "the other doctors and myself see no hope. blood dysentery has set in, after her long bout with typhoid." i began to move heaven and earth with my prayers. engaging an anglo-indian nurse, who gave me full cooperation, i applied to my sister various yoga techniques of healing. the blood dysentery disappeared. but dr. bose shook his head mournfully. "she simply has no more blood left to shed." "she will recover," i replied stoutly. "in seven days her fever will be gone." a week later i was thrilled to see nalini open her eyes and gaze at me with loving recognition. from that day her recovery was swift. although she regained her usual weight, she bore one sad scar of her nearly fatal illness: her legs were paralyzed. indian and english specialists pronounced her a hopeless cripple. the incessant war for her life which i had waged by prayer had exhausted me. i went to serampore to ask sri yukteswar's help. his eyes expressed deep sympathy as i told him of nalini's plight. "your sister's legs will be normal at the end of one month." he added, "let her wear, next to her skin, a band with an unperforated two-carat pearl, held on by a clasp." i prostrated myself at his feet with joyful relief. "sir, you are a master; your word of her recovery is enough but if you insist i shall immediately get her a pearl." my guru nodded. "yes, do that." he went on to correctly describe the physical and mental characteristics of nalini, whom he had never seen. "sir," i inquired, "is this an astrological analysis? you do not know her birth day or hour." sri yukteswar smiled. "there is a deeper astrology, not dependent on the testimony of calendars and clocks. each man is a part of the creator, or cosmic man; he has a heavenly body as well as one of earth. the human eye sees the physical form, but the inward eye penetrates more profoundly, even to the universal pattern of which each man is an integral and individual part." i returned to calcutta and purchased a pearl for nalini. a month later, her paralyzed legs were completely healed. sister asked me to convey her heartfelt gratitude to my guru. he listened to her message in silence. but as i was taking my leave, he made a pregnant comment. "your sister has been told by many doctors that she can never bear children. assure her that in a few years she will give birth to two daughters." some years later, to nalini's joy, she bore a girl, followed in a few years by another daughter. "your master has blessed our home, our entire family," my sister said. "the presence of such a man is a sanctification on the whole of india. dear brother, please tell sri yukteswarji that, through you, i humbly count myself as one of his kriya yoga disciples." {fn - } the gracefully draped dress of indian women. {fn - } because most persons in india are thin, reasonable plumpness is considered very desirable. {fn - } the hindu scriptures declare that those who habitually speak the truth will develop the power of materializing their words. what commands they utter from the heart will come true in life. chapter: the science of kriya yoga the science of kriya yoga, mentioned so often in these pages, became widely known in modern india through the instrumentality of lahiri mahasaya, my guru's guru. the sanskrit root of kriya is kri, to do, to act and react; the same root is found in the word karma, the natural principle of cause and effect. kriya yoga is thus "union (yoga) with the infinite through a certain action or rite." a yogi who faithfully follows its technique is gradually freed from karma or the universal chain of causation. because of certain ancient yogic injunctions, i cannot give a full explanation of kriya yoga in the pages of a book intended for the general public. the actual technique must be learned from a kriyaban or kriya yogi; here a broad reference must suffice. kriya yoga is a simple, psychophysiological method by which the human blood is decarbonized and recharged with oxygen. the atoms of this extra oxygen are transmuted into life current to rejuvenate the brain and spinal centers. {fn - } by stopping the accumulation of venous blood, the yogi is able to lessen or prevent the decay of tissues; the advanced yogi transmutes his cells into pure energy. elijah, jesus, kabir and other prophets were past masters in the use of kriya or a similar technique, by which they caused their bodies to dematerialize at will. kriya is an ancient science. lahiri mahasaya received it from his guru, babaji, who rediscovered and clarified the technique after it had been lost in the dark ages. "the kriya yoga which i am giving to the world through you in this nineteenth century," babaji told lahiri mahasaya, "is a revival of the same science which krishna gave, millenniums ago, to arjuna, and which was later known to patanjali, and to christ, st. john, st. paul, and other disciples." kriya yoga is referred to by krishna, india's greatest prophet, in a stanza of the bhagavad gita: "offering inhaling breath into the outgoing breath, and offering the outgoing breath into the inhaling breath, the yogi neutralizes both these breaths; he thus releases the life force from the heart and brings it under his control." {fn - } the interpretation is: "the yogi arrests decay in the body by an addition of life force, and arrests the mutations of growth in the body by apan (eliminating current). thus neutralizing decay and growth, by quieting the heart, the yogi learns life control." krishna also relates {fn - } that it was he, in a former incarnation, who communicated the indestructible yoga to an ancient illuminato, vivasvat, who gave it to manu, the great legislator. {fn - } he, in turn, instructed ikshwaku, the father of india's solar warrior dynasty. passing thus from one to another, the royal yoga was guarded by the rishis until the coming of the materialistic ages. {fn - } then, due to priestly secrecy and man's indifference, the sacred knowledge gradually became inaccessible. kriya yoga is mentioned twice by the ancient sage patanjali, foremost exponent of yoga, who wrote: "kriya yoga consists of body discipline, mental control, and meditating on aum." {fn - } patanjali speaks of god as the actual cosmic sound of aum heard in meditation. {fn - } aum is the creative word, {fn - } the sound of the vibratory motor. even the yoga-beginner soon inwardly hears the wondrous sound of aum. receiving this blissful spiritual encouragement, the devotee becomes assured that he is in actual touch with divine realms. patanjali refers a second time to the life-control or kriya technique thus: "liberation can be accomplished by that pranayama which is attained by disjoining the course of inspiration and expiration." {fn - } st. paul knew kriya yoga, or a technique very similar to it, by which he could switch life currents to and from the senses. he was therefore able to say: "verily, i protest by our rejoicing which i have in christ, i die daily." {fn - } by daily withdrawing his bodily life force, he united it by yoga union with the rejoicing (eternal bliss) of the christ consciousness. in that felicitous state, he was consciously aware of being dead to the delusive sensory world of maya. in the initial states of god-contact (sabikalpa samadhi) the devotee's consciousness merges with the cosmic spirit; his life force is withdrawn from the body, which appears "dead," or motionless and rigid. the yogi is fully aware of his bodily condition of suspended animation. as he progresses to higher spiritual states (nirbikalpa samadhi), however, he communes with god without bodily fixation, and in his ordinary waking consciousness, even in the midst of exacting worldly duties. {fn - } "kriya yoga is an instrument through which human evolution can be quickened," sri yukteswar explained to his students. "the ancient yogis discovered that the secret of cosmic consciousness is intimately linked with breath mastery. this is india's unique and deathless contribution to the world's treasury of knowledge. the life force, which is ordinarily absorbed in maintaining the heart-pump, must be freed for higher activities by a method of calming and stilling the ceaseless demands of the breath." the kriya yogi mentally directs his life energy to revolve, upward and downward, around the six spinal centers (medullary, cervical, dorsal, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal plexuses) which correspond to the twelve astral signs of the zodiac, the symbolic cosmic man. one-half minute of revolution of energy around the sensitive spinal cord of man effects subtle progress in his evolution; that half-minute of kriya equals one year of natural spiritual unfoldment. the astral system of a human being, with six (twelve by polarity) inner constellations revolving around the sun of the omniscient spiritual eye, is interrelated with the physical sun and the twelve zodiacal signs. all men are thus affected by an inner and an outer universe. the ancient rishis discovered that man's earthly and heavenly environment, in twelve-year cycles, push him forward on his natural path. the scriptures aver that man requires a million years of normal, diseaseless evolution to perfect his human brain sufficiently to express cosmic consciousness. one thousand kriya practiced in eight hours gives the yogi, in one day, the equivalent of one thousand years of natural evolution: , years of evolution in one year. in three years, a kriya yogi can thus accomplish by intelligent self-effort the same result which nature brings to pass in a million years. the kriya short cut, of course, can be taken only by deeply developed yogis. with the guidance of a guru, such yogis have carefully prepared their bodies and brains to receive the power created by intensive practice. the kriya beginner employs his yogic exercise only fourteen to twenty-eight times, twice daily. a number of yogis achieve emancipation in six or twelve or twenty-four or forty-eight years. a yogi who dies before achieving full realization carries with him the good karma of his past kriya effort; in his new life he is harmoniously propelled toward his infinite goal. the body of the average man is like a fifty-watt lamp, which cannot accommodate the billion watts of power roused by an excessive practice of kriya. through gradual and regular increase of the simple and "foolproof" methods of kriya, man's body becomes astrally transformed day by day, and is finally fitted to express the infinite potentials of cosmic energy-the first materially active expression of spirit. kriya yoga has nothing in common with the unscientific breathing exercises taught by a number of misguided zealots. their attempts to forcibly hold breath in the lungs is not only unnatural but decidedly unpleasant. kriya, on the other hand, is accompanied from the very beginning by an accession of peace, and by soothing sensations of regenerative effect in the spine. the ancient yogic technique converts the breath into mind. by spiritual advancement, one is able to cognize the breath as an act of mind-a dream-breath. many illustrations could be given of the mathematical relationship between man's respiratory rate and the variations in his states of consciousness. a person whose attention is wholly engrossed, as in following some closely knit intellectual argument, or in attempting some delicate or difficult physical feat, automatically breathes very slowly. fixity of attention depends on slow breathing; quick or uneven breaths are an inevitable accompaniment of harmful emotional states: fear, lust, anger. the restless monkey breathes at the rate of times a minute, in contrast to man's average of times. the elephant, tortoise, snake and other animals noted for their longevity have a respiratory rate which is less than man's. the tortoise, for instance, who may attain the age of years, {fn - } breathes only times per minute. the rejuvenating effects of sleep are due to man's temporary unawareness of body and breathing. the sleeping man becomes a yogi; each night he unconsciously performs the yogic rite of releasing himself from bodily identification, and of merging the life force with healing currents in the main brain region and the six sub-dynamos of his spinal centers. the sleeper thus dips unknowingly into the reservoir of cosmic energy which sustains all life. the voluntary yogi performs a simple, natural process consciously, not unconsciously like the slow-paced sleeper. the kriya yogi uses his technique to saturate and feed all his physical cells with undecaying light and keep them in a magnetized state. he scientifically makes breath unnecessary, without producing the states of subconscious sleep or unconsciousness. by kriya, the outgoing life force is not wasted and abused in the senses, but constrained to reunite with subtler spinal energies. by such reinforcement of life, the yogi's body and brain cells are electrified with the spiritual elixir. thus he removes himself from studied observance of natural laws, which can only take him-by circuitous means as given by proper food, sunlight, and harmonious thoughts-to a million-year goal. it needs twelve years of normal healthful living to effect even slight perceptible change in brain structure, and a million solar returns are exacted to sufficiently refine the cerebral tenement for manifestation of cosmic consciousness. untying the cord of breath which binds the soul to the body, kriya serves to prolong life and enlarge the consciousness to infinity. the yoga method overcomes the tug of war between the mind and the matter-bound senses, and frees the devotee to reinherit his eternal kingdom. he knows his real nature is bound neither by physical encasement nor by breath, symbol of the mortal enslavement to air, to nature's elemental compulsions. introspection, or "sitting in the silence," is an unscientific way of trying to force apart the mind and senses, tied together by the life force. the contemplative mind, attempting its return to divinity, is constantly dragged back toward the senses by the life currents. kriya, controlling the mind directly through the life force, is the easiest, most effective, and most scientific avenue of approach to the infinite. in contrast to the slow, uncertain "bullock cart" theological path to god, kriya may justly be called the "airplane" route. the yogic science is based on an empirical consideration of all forms of concentration and meditation exercises. yoga enables the devotee to switch off or on, at will, life current from the five sense telephones of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. attaining this power of sense-disconnection, the yogi finds it simple to unite his mind at will with divine realms or with the world of matter. no longer is he unwillingly brought back by the life force to the mundane sphere of rowdy sensations and restless thoughts. master of his body and mind, the kriya yogi ultimately achieves victory over the "last enemy," death. so shalt thou feed on death, that feeds on men: and death once dead, there's no more dying then. {fn - } the life of an advanced kriya yogi is influenced, not by effects of past actions, but solely by directions from the soul. the devotee thus avoids the slow, evolutionary monitors of egoistic actions, good and bad, of common life, cumbrous and snail-like to the eagle hearts. the superior method of soul living frees the yogi who, shorn of his ego-prison, tastes the deep air of omnipresence. the thralldom of natural living is, in contrast, set in a pace humiliating. conforming his life to the evolutionary order, a man can command no concessionary haste from nature but, living without error against the laws of his physical and mental endowment, still requires about a million years of incarnating masquerades to know final emancipation. the telescopic methods of yogis, disengaging themselves from physical and mental identifications in favor of soul-individuality, thus commend themselves to those who eye with revolt a thousand thousand years. this numerical periphery is enlarged for the ordinary man, who lives in harmony not even with nature, let alone his soul, but pursues instead unnatural complexities, thus offending in his body and thoughts the sweet sanities of nature. for him, two times a million years can scarce suffice for liberation. gross man seldom or never realizes that his body is a kingdom, governed by emperor soul on the throne of the cranium, with subsidiary regents in the six spinal centers or spheres of consciousness. this theocracy extends over a throng of obedient subjects: twenty-seven thousand billion cells-endowed with a sure if automatic intelligence by which they perform all duties of bodily growths, transformations, and dissolutions-and fifty million substratal thoughts, emotions, and variations of alternating phases in man's consciousness in an average life of sixty years. any apparent insurrection of bodily or cerebral cells toward emperor soul, manifesting as disease or depression, is due to no disloyalty among the humble citizens, but to past or present misuse by man of his individuality or free will, given to him simultaneous with a soul, and revocable never. identifying himself with a shallow ego, man takes for granted that it is he who thinks, wills, feels, digests meals, and keeps himself alive, never admitting through reflection (only a little would suffice!) that in his ordinary life he is naught but a puppet of past actions (karma) and of nature or environment. each man's intellectual reactions, feelings, moods, and habits are circumscribed by effects of past causes, whether of this or a prior life. lofty above such influences, however, is his regal soul. spurning the transitory truths and freedoms, the kriya yogi passes beyond all disillusionment into his unfettered being. all scriptures declare man to be not a corruptible body, but a living soul; by kriya he is given a method to prove the scriptural truth. "outward ritual cannot destroy ignorance, because they are not mutually contradictory," wrote shankara in his famous century of verses. "realized knowledge alone destroys ignorance. . . . knowledge cannot spring up by any other means than inquiry. 'who am i? how was this universe born? who is its maker? what is its material cause?' this is the kind of inquiry referred to." the intellect has no answer for these questions; hence the rishis evolved yoga as the technique of spiritual inquiry. kriya yoga is the real "fire rite" often extolled in the bhagavad gita. the purifying fires of yoga bring eternal illumination, and thus differ much from outward and little-effective religious fire ceremonies, where perception of truth is oft burnt, to solemn chanted accompaniment, along with the incense! the advanced yogi, withholding all his mind, will, and feeling from false identification with bodily desires, uniting his mind with superconscious forces in the spinal shrines, thus lives in this world as god hath planned, not impelled by impulses from the past nor by new witlessnesses of fresh human motivations. such a yogi receives fulfillment of his supreme desire, safe in the final haven of inexhaustibly blissful spirit. the yogi offers his labyrinthine human longings to a monotheistic bonfire dedicated to the unparalleled god. this is indeed the true yogic fire ceremony, in which all past and present desires are fuel consumed by love divine. the ultimate flame receives the sacrifice of all human madness, and man is pure of dross. his bones stripped of all desirous flesh, his karmic skeleton bleached in the antiseptic suns of wisdom, he is clean at last, inoffensive before man and maker. referring to yoga's sure and methodical efficacy, lord krishna praises the technological yogi in the following words: "the yogi is greater than body-disciplining ascetics, greater even than the followers of the path of wisdom (jnana yoga), or of the path of action (karma yoga); be thou, o disciple arjuna, a yogi!" {fn - } {fn - } the noted scientist, dr. george w. crile of cleveland, explained before a meeting of the american association for the advancement of science the experiments by which he had proved that all bodily tissues are electrically negative, except the brain and nervous system tissues which remain electrically positive because they take up revivifying oxygen at a more rapid rate. {fn - } bhagavad gita, iv: . {fn - } bhagavad gita iv: - . {fn - } the author of manava dharma shastras. these institutes of canonized common law are effective in india to this day. the french scholar, louis jacolliot, writes that the date of manu "is lost in the night of the ante-historical period of india; and no scholar has dared to refuse him the title of the most ancient lawgiver in the world." in la bible dans l'inde, pages - , jacolliot reproduces parallel textual references to prove that the roman code of justinian follows closely the laws of manu. {fn - } the start of the materialistic ages, according to hindu scriptural reckonings, was b.c. this was the beginning of the descending dwapara age (see page ). modern scholars, blithely believing that , years ago all men were sunk in a barbarous stone age, summarily dismiss as "myths" all records and traditions of very ancient civilizations in india, china, egypt, and other lands. {fn - } patanjali's aphorisms, ii: . in using the words kriya yoga, patanjali was referring to either the exact technique taught by babaji, or one very similar to it. that it was a definite technique of life control is proved by patanjali's aphorism ii: . {fn - } patanjali's aphorisms, i: . {fn - } "in the beginning was the word, and the word was with god, and the word was god. . . . all things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."-john : - . aum (om) of the vedas became the sacred word amin of the moslems, hum of the tibetans, and amen of the christians (its meaning in hebrew being sure, faithful). "these things saith the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of god."-revelations : . {fn - } aphorisms ii: .. {fn - } i corinthians : . "our rejoicing" is the correct translation; not, as usually given, "your rejoicing." st. paul was referring to the omnipresence of the christ consciousness.. {fn - } kalpa means time or aeon. sabikalpa means subject to time or change; some link with prakriti or matter remains. nirbikalpa means timeless, changeless; this is the highest state of samadhi. {fn - } according to the lincoln library of essential information, p. , the giant tortoise lives between and years. {fn - } shakespeare: sonnet # . {fn - } bhagavad gita, vi: . chapter: founding a yoga school at ranchi "why are you averse to organizational work?" master's question startled me a bit. it is true that my private conviction at the time was that organizations were "hornets' nests." "it is a thankless task, sir," i answered. "no matter what the leader does or does not, he is criticized." "do you want the whole divine channa (milk curd) for yourself alone?" my guru's retort was accompanied by a stern glance. "could you or anyone else achieve god-contact through yoga if a line of generous-hearted masters had not been willing to convey their knowledge to others?" he added, "god is the honey, organizations are the hives; both are necessary. any form is useless, of course, without the spirit, but why should you not start busy hives full of the spiritual nectar?" his counsel moved me deeply. although i made no outward reply, an adamant resolution arose in my breast: i would share with my fellows, so far as lay in my power, the unshackling truths i had learned at my guru's feet. "lord," i prayed, "may thy love shine forever on the sanctuary of my devotion, and may i be able to awaken that love in other hearts." on a previous occasion, before i had joined the monastic order, sri yukteswar had made a most unexpected remark. "how you will miss the companionship of a wife in your old age!" he had said. "do you not agree that the family man, engaged in useful work to maintain his wife and children, thus plays a rewarding role in god's eyes?" "sir," i had protested in alarm, "you know that my desire in this life is to espouse only the cosmic beloved." master had laughed so merrily that i understood his observation was made merely as a test of my faith. "remember," he had said slowly, "that he who discards his worldly duties can justify himself only by assuming some kind of responsibility toward a much larger family." the ideal of an all-sided education for youth had always been close to my heart. i saw clearly the arid results of ordinary instruction, aimed only at the development of body and intellect. moral and spiritual values, without whose appreciation no man can approach happiness, were yet lacking in the formal curriculum. i determined to found a school where young boys could develop to the full stature of manhood. my first step in that direction was made with seven children at dihika, a small country site in bengal. a year later, in , through the generosity of sir manindra chandra nundy, the maharaja of kasimbazar, i was able to transfer my fast-growing group to ranchi. this town in bihar, about two hundred miles from calcutta, is blessed with one of the most healthful climates in india. the kasimbazar palace at ranchi was transformed into the headquarters for the new school, which i called brahmacharya vidyalaya {fn - } in accordance with the educational ideals of the rishis. their forest ashrams had been the ancient seats of learning, secular and divine, for the youth of india. at ranchi i organized an educational program for both grammar and high school grades. it included agricultural, industrial, commercial, and academic subjects. the students were also taught yoga concentration and meditation, and a unique system of physical development, "yogoda," whose principles i had discovered in . realizing that man's body is like an electric battery, i reasoned that it could be recharged with energy through the direct agency of the human will. as no action, slight or large, is possible without willing, man can avail himself of his prime mover, will, to renew his bodily tissues without burdensome apparatus or mechanical exercises. i therefore taught the ranchi students my simple "yogoda" techniques by which the life force, centred in man's medulla oblongata, can be consciously and instantly recharged from the unlimited supply of cosmic energy. the boys responded wonderfully to this training, developing extraordinary ability to shift the life energy from one part of the body to another part, and to sit in perfect poise in difficult body postures. {fn - } they performed feats of strength and endurance which many powerful adults could not equal. my youngest brother, bishnu charan ghosh, joined the ranchi school; he later became a leading physical culturist in bengal. he and one of his students traveled to europe and america, giving exhibitions of strength and skill which amazed the university savants, including those at columbia university in new york. at the end of the first year at ranchi, applications for admission reached two thousand. but the school, which at that time was solely residential, could accommodate only about one hundred. instruction for day students was soon added. in the vidyalaya i had to play father-mother to the little children, and to cope with many organizational difficulties. i often remembered christ's words: "verily i say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or brethren or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life." {fn - } sri yukteswar had interpreted these words: "the devotee who forgoes the life-experiences of marriage and family, and exchanges the problems of a small household and limited activities for the larger responsibilities of service to society in general, is undertaking a task which is often accompanied by persecution from a misunderstanding world, but also by a divine inner contentment." [illustration: yogoda math, beautiful hermitage of self-realization fellowship at dakshineswar on the ganges. founded in as a yoga retreat for students of east and west.--see math.jpg] [illustration: central building of the yogoda sat-sanga brahmacharya vidyalaya at ranchi, bihar, established in as a yoga school for boys, with grammar and high school education. connected with it is the philanthropic lahiri mahasaya mission.--see ranchi.jpg] one day my father arrived in ranchi to bestow a paternal blessing, long withheld because i had hurt him by refusing his offer of a position with the bengal-nagpur railway. "son," he said, "i am now reconciled to your choice in life. it gives me joy to see you amidst these happy, eager youngsters; you belong here rather than with the lifeless figures of railroad timetables." he waved toward a group of a dozen little ones who were tagging at my heels. "i had only eight children," he observed with twinkling eyes, "but i can feel for you!" with a large fruit orchard and twenty-five fertile acres at our disposal, the students, teachers, and myself enjoyed many happy hours of outdoor labor in these ideal surroundings. we had many pets, including a young deer who was fairly idolized by the children. i too loved the fawn so much that i allowed it to sleep in my room. at the light of dawn, the little creature would toddle over to my bed for a morning caress. one day i fed the pet earlier than usual, as i had to attend to some business in the town of ranchi. although i cautioned the boys not to feed the fawn until my return, one of them was disobedient, and gave the baby deer a large quantity of milk. when i came back in the evening, sad news greeted me: "the little fawn is nearly dead, through over feeding." in tears, i placed the apparently lifeless pet on my lap. i prayed piteously to god to spare its life. hours later, the small creature opened its eyes, stood up, and walked feebly. the whole school shouted for joy. but a deep lesson came to me that night, one i can never forget. i stayed up with the fawn until two o'clock, when i fell asleep. the deer appeared in a dream, and spoke to me: "you are holding me back. please let me go; let me go!" "all right," i answered in the dream. i awoke immediately, and cried out, "boys, the deer is dying!" the children rushed to my side. i ran to the corner of the room where i had placed the pet. it made a last effort to rise, stumbled toward me, then dropped at my feet, dead. according to the mass karma which guides and regulates the destinies of animals, the deer's life was over, and it was ready to progress to a higher form. but by my deep attachment, which i later realized was selfish, and by my fervent prayers, i had been able to hold it in the limitations of the animal form from which the soul was struggling for release. the soul of the deer made its plea in a dream because, without my loving permission, it either would not or could not go. as soon as i agreed, it departed. all sorrow left me; i realized anew that god wants his children to love everything as a part of him, and not to feel delusively that death ends all. the ignorant man sees only the unsurmountable wall of death, hiding, seemingly forever, his cherished friends. but the man of unattachment, he who loves others as expressions of the lord, understands that at death the dear ones have only returned for a breathing-space of joy in him. the ranchi school grew from small and simple beginnings to an institution now well-known in india. many departments of the school are supported by voluntary contributions from those who rejoice in perpetuating the educational ideals of the rishis. under the general name of yogoda sat-sanga, {fn - } flourishing branch schools have been established at midnapore, lakshmanpur, and puri. the ranchi headquarters maintains a medical department where medicines and the services of doctors are supplied freely to the poor of the locality. the number treated has averaged more than , persons a year. the vidyalaya has made its mark, too, in indian competitive sports, and in the scholastic field, where many ranchi alumni have distinguished themselves in later university life. the school, now in its twenty-eighth year and the center of many activities, {fn - } has been honored by visits of eminent men from the east and the west. one of the earliest great figures to inspect the vidyalaya in its first year was swami pranabananda, the benares "saint with two bodies." as the great master viewed the picturesque outdoor classes, held under the trees, and saw in the evening that young boys were sitting motionless for hours in yoga meditation, he was profoundly moved. "joy comes to my heart," he said, "to see that lahiri mahasaya's ideals for the proper training of youth are being carried on in this institution. my guru's blessings be on it." a young lad sitting by my side ventured to ask the great yogi a question. "sir," he said, "shall i be a monk? is my life only for god?" though swami pranabananda smiled gently, his eyes were piercing the future. "child," he replied, "when you grow up, there is a beautiful bride waiting for you." the boy did eventually marry, after having planned for years to enter the swami order. sometime after swami pranabananda had visited ranchi, i accompanied my father to the calcutta house where the yogi was temporarily staying. pranabananda's prediction, made to me so many years before, came rushing to my mind: "i shall see you, with your father, later on." as father entered the swami's room, the great yogi rose from his seat and embraced my parent with loving respect. "bhagabati," he said, "what are you doing about yourself? don't you see your son racing to the infinite?" i blushed to hear his praise before my father. the swami went on, "you recall how often our blessed guru used to say: 'banat, banat, ban jai.' {fn - } so keep up kriya yoga ceaselessly, and reach the divine portals quickly." the body of pranabananda, which had appeared so well and strong during my amazing first visit to him in benares, now showed definite aging, though his posture was still admirably erect. "swamiji," i inquired, looking straight into his eyes, "please tell me the truth: aren't you feeling the advance of age? as the body is weakening, are your perceptions of god suffering any diminution?" he smiled angelically. "the beloved is more than ever with me now." his complete conviction overwhelmed my mind and soul. he went on, "i am still enjoying the two pensions-one from bhagabati here, and one from above." pointing his finger heavenward, the saint fell into an ecstasy, his face lit with a divine glow-an ample answer to my question. noticing that pranabananda's room contained many plants and packages of seed, i asked their purpose. "i have left benares permanently," he said, "and am now on my way to the himalayas. there i shall open an ashram for my disciples. these seeds will produce spinach and a few other vegetables. my dear ones will live simply, spending their time in blissful god-union. nothing else is necessary." father asked his brother disciple when he would return to calcutta. "never again," the saint replied. "this year is the one in which lahiri mahasaya told me i would leave my beloved benares forever and go to the himalayas, there to throw off my mortal frame." my eyes filled with tears at his words, but the swami smiled tranquilly. he reminded me of a little heavenly child, sitting securely on the lap of the divine mother. the burden of the years has no ill effect on a great yogi's full possession of supreme spiritual powers. he is able to renew his body at will; yet sometimes he does not care to retard the aging process, but allows his karma to work itself out on the physical plane, using his old body as a time-saving device to exclude the necessity of working out karma in a new incarnation. months later i met an old friend, sanandan, who was one of pranabananda's close disciples. "my adorable guru is gone," he told me, amidst sobs. "he established a hermitage near rishikesh, and gave us loving training. when we were pretty well settled, and making rapid spiritual progress in his company, he proposed one day to feed a huge crowd from rishikesh. i inquired why he wanted such a large number. "'this is my last festival ceremony,' he said. i did not understand the full implications of his words. "pranabanandaji helped with the cooking of great amounts of food. we fed about guests. after the feast, he sat on a high platform and gave an inspired sermon on the infinite. at the end, before the gaze of thousands, he turned to me, as i sat beside him on the dais, and spoke with unusual force. "'sanandan, be prepared; i am going to kick the frame.' {fn - } "after a stunned silence, i cried loudly, 'master, don't do it! please, please, don't do it!' the crowd was tongue-tied, watching us curiously. my guru smiled at me, but his solemn gaze was already fixed on eternity. "'be not selfish,' he said, 'nor grieve for me. i have been long cheerfully serving you all; now rejoice and wish me godspeed. i go to meet my cosmic beloved.' in a whisper, pranabanandaji added, 'i shall be reborn shortly. after enjoying a short period of the infinite bliss, i shall return to earth and join babaji. {fn - } you shall soon know when and where my soul has been encased in a new body.' "he cried again, 'sanandan, here i kick the frame by the second kriya yoga.' {fn - } "he looked at the sea of faces before us, and gave a blessing. directing his gaze inwardly to the spiritual eye, he became immobile. while the bewildered crowd thought he was meditating in an ecstatic state, he had already left the tabernacle of flesh and plunged his soul into the cosmic vastness. the disciples touched his body, seated in the lotus posture, but it was no longer the warm flesh. only a stiffened frame remained; the tenant had fled to the immortal shore." i inquired where pranabananda was to be reborn. "that's a sacred trust i cannot divulge to anyone," sanandan replied. "perhaps you may find out some other way." years later i discovered from swami keshabananda {fn - } that pranabananda, a few years after his birth in a new body, had gone to badrinarayan in the himalayas, and there joined the group of saints around the great babaji. {fn - } vidyalaya, school. brahmacharya here refers to one of the four stages in the vedic plan for man's life, as comprising that of ( ) the celibate student (brahmachari); ( ) the householder with worldly responsibilities (grihastha); ( ) the hermit (vanaprastha); ( ) the forest dweller or wanderer, free from all earthly concerns (sannyasi). this ideal scheme of life, while not widely observed in modern india, still has many devout followers. the four stages are carried out religiously under the lifelong direction of a guru. {fn - } a number of american students also have mastered various asanas or postures, including bernard cole, an instructor in los angeles of the self-realization fellowship teachings. {fn - } mark : - .. {fn - } yogoda: yoga, union, harmony, equilibrium; da, that which imparts. sat-sanga: sat, truth; sanga, fellowship. in the west, to avoid the use of a sanskrit name, the yogoda sat-sanga movement has been called the self-realization fellowship. {fn - } the activities at ranchi are described more fully in chapter . the lakshmanpur school is in the capable charge of mr. g. c. dey, b.a. the medical department is ably supervised by dr. s. n. pal and sasi bhusan mullick. {fn - } one of lahiri mahasaya's favorite remarks, given as encouragement for his students' perseverance. a free translation is: "striving, striving, one day behold! the divine goal!" {fn - } i.e., give up the body. {fn - } lahiri mahasaya's guru, who is still living. (see chapter .) {fn - } the second kriya, as taught by lahiri mahasaya, enables the devotee that has mastered it to leave and return to the body consciously at any time. advanced yogis use the second kriya technique during the last exit of death, a moment they invariably know beforehand. {fn - } my meeting with keshabananda is described in chapter . chapter: kashi, reborn and rediscovered "please do not go into the water. let us bathe by dipping our buckets." i was addressing the young ranchi students who were accompanying me on an eight-mile hike to a neighboring hill. the pond before us was inviting, but a distaste for it had arisen in my mind. the group around me followed my example of dipping buckets, but a few lads yielded to the temptation of the cool waters. no sooner had they dived than large water snakes wiggled around them. the boys came out of the pond with comical alacrity. we enjoyed a picnic lunch after we reached our destination. i sat under a tree, surrounded by a group of students. finding me in an inspirational mood, they plied me with questions. "please tell me, sir," one youth inquired, "if i shall always stay with you in the path of renunciation." "ah, no," i replied, "you will be forcibly taken away to your home, and later you will marry." incredulous, he made a vehement protest. "only if i am dead can i be carried home." but in a few months, his parents arrived to take him away, in spite of his tearful resistance; some years later, he did marry. after answering many questions, i was addressed by a lad named kashi. he was about twelve years old, a brilliant student, and beloved by all. "sir," he said, "what will be my fate?" "you shall soon be dead." the reply came from my lips with an irresistible force. this unexpected disclosure shocked and grieved me as well as everyone present. silently rebuking myself as an enfant terrible, i refused to answer further questions. on our return to the school, kashi came to my room. "if i die, will you find me when i am reborn, and bring me again to the spiritual path?" he sobbed. i felt constrained to refuse this difficult occult responsibility. but for weeks afterward, kashi pressed me doggedly. seeing him unnerved to the breaking point, i finally consoled him. "yes," i promised. "if the heavenly father lends his aid, i will try to find you." during the summer vacation, i started on a short trip. regretting that i could not take kashi with me, i called him to my room before leaving, and carefully instructed him to remain, against all persuasion, in the spiritual vibrations of the school. somehow i felt that if he did not go home, he might avoid the impending calamity. no sooner had i left than kashi's father arrived in ranchi. for fifteen days he tried to break the will of his son, explaining that if kashi would go to calcutta for only four days to see his mother, he could then return. kashi persistently refused. the father finally said he would take the boy away with the help of the police. the threat disturbed kashi, who was unwilling to be the cause of any unfavorable publicity to the school. he saw no choice but to go. i returned to ranchi a few days later. when i heard how kashi had been removed, i entrained at once for calcutta. there i engaged a horse cab. very strangely, as the vehicle passed beyond the howrah bridge over the ganges, i beheld kashi's father and other relatives in mourning clothes. shouting to my driver to stop, i rushed out and glared at the unfortunate father. "mr. murderer," i cried somewhat unreasonably, "you have killed my boy!" the father had already realized the wrong he had done in forcibly bringing kashi to calcutta. during the few days the boy had been there, he had eaten contaminated food, contracted cholera, and passed on. my love for kashi, and the pledge to find him after death, night and day haunted me. no matter where i went, his face loomed up before me. i began a memorable search for him, even as long ago i had searched for my lost mother. [illustration: kashi, lost and rediscovered--see kashi.jpg] [illustration: my brother bishnu; motilal mukherji of serampore, a highly advanced disciple of sri yukteswar; my father; mr. wright; myself; tulsi narayan bose; swami satyananda of ranchi--see bishnu.jpg] [illustration: a group of delegates to the international congress of religious liberals at boston, where i gave my maiden speech in america. (left to right) rev. clay maccauley, rev. t. rhondda williams, prof. s. ushigasaki, rev. jabez t. sunderland, myself, rev. chas. w. wendte, rev. samuel a. eliot, rev. basil martin, rev. christopher j. street, rev. samuel m. crothers.--see congress.jpg] i felt that inasmuch as god had given me the faculty of reason, i must utilize it and tax my powers to the utmost in order to discover the subtle laws by which i could know the boy's astral whereabouts. he was a soul vibrating with unfulfilled desires, i realized-a mass of light floating somewhere amidst millions of luminous souls in the astral regions. how was i to tune in with him, among so many vibrating lights of other souls? using a secret yoga technique, i broadcasted my love to kashi's soul through the microphone of the spiritual eye, the inner point between the eyebrows. with the antenna of upraised hands and fingers, i often turned myself round and round, trying to locate the direction in which he had been reborn as an embryo. i hoped to receive response from him in the concentration-tuned radio of my heart. {fn - } i intuitively felt that kashi would soon return to the earth, and that if i kept unceasingly broadcasting my call to him, his soul would reply. i knew that the slightest impulse sent by kashi would be felt in my fingers, hands, arms, spine, and nerves. with undiminished zeal, i practiced the yoga method steadily for about six months after kashi's death. walking with a few friends one morning in the crowded bowbazar section of calcutta, i lifted my hands in the usual manner. for the first time, there was response. i thrilled to detect electrical impulses trickling down my fingers and palms. these currents translated themselves into one overpowering thought from a deep recess of my consciousness: "i am kashi; i am kashi; come to me!" the thought became almost audible as i concentrated on my heart radio. in the characteristic, slightly hoarse whisper of kashi, {fn - } i heard his summons again and again. i seized the arm of one of my companions, prokash das, {fn - } and smiled at him joyfully. "it looks as though i have located kashi!" i began to turn round and round, to the undisguised amusement of my friends and the passing throng. the electrical impulses tingled through my fingers only when i faced toward a near-by path, aptly named "serpentine lane." the astral currents disappeared when i turned in other directions. "ah," i exclaimed, "kashi's soul must be living in the womb of some mother whose home is in this lane." my companions and i approached closer to serpentine lane; the vibrations in my upraised hands grew stronger, more pronounced. as if by a magnet, i was pulled toward the right side of the road. reaching the entrance of a certain house, i was astounded to find myself transfixed. i knocked at the door in a state of intense excitement, holding my very breath. i felt that the successful end had come for my long, arduous, and certainly unusual quest! the door was opened by a servant, who told me her master was at home. he descended the stairway from the second floor and smiled at me inquiringly. i hardly knew how to frame my question, at once pertinent and impertinent. "please tell me, sir, if you and your wife have been expecting a child for about six months?" "yes, it is so." seeing that i was a swami, a renunciate attired in the traditional orange cloth, he added politely, "pray inform me how you know my affairs." when he heard about kashi and the promise i had given, the astonished man believed my story. "a male child of fair complexion will be born to you," i told him. "he will have a broad face, with a cowlick atop his forehead. his disposition will be notably spiritual." i felt certain that the coming child would bear these resemblances to kashi. later i visited the child, whose parents had given him his old name of kashi. even in infancy he was strikingly similar in appearance to my dear ranchi student. the child showed me an instantaneous affection; the attraction of the past awoke with redoubled intensity. years later the teen-age boy wrote me, during my stay in america. he explained his deep longing to follow the path of a renunciate. i directed him to a himalayan master who, to this day, guides the reborn kashi. {fn - } the will, projected from the point between the eyebrows, is known by yogis as the broadcasting apparatus of thought. when the feeling is calmly concentrated on the heart, it acts as a mental radio, and can receive the messages of others from far or near. in telepathy the fine vibrations of thoughts in one person's mind are transmitted through the subtle vibrations of astral ether and then through the grosser earthly ether, creating electrical waves which, in turn, translate themselves into thought waves in the mind of the other person. {fn - } every soul in its pure state is omniscient. kashi's soul remembered all the characteristics of kashi, the boy, and therefore mimicked his hoarse voice in order to stir my recognition. {fn - } prokash das is the present director of our yogoda math (hermitage) at dakshineswar in bengal. chapter: rabindranath tagore and i compare schools "rabindranath tagore taught us to sing, as a natural form of self-expression, like the birds." bhola nath, a bright fourteen-year-old lad at my ranchi school, gave me this explanation after i had complimented him one morning on his melodious outbursts. with or without provocation, the boy poured forth a tuneful stream. he had previously attended the famous tagore school of "santiniketan" (haven of peace) at bolpur. "the songs of rabindranath have been on my lips since early youth," i told my companion. "all bengal, even the unlettered peasants, delights in his lofty verse." bhola and i sang together a few refrains from tagore, who has set to music thousands of indian poems, some original and others of hoary antiquity. "i met rabindranath soon after he had received the nobel prize for literature," i remarked after our vocalizing. "i was drawn to visit him because i admired his undiplomatic courage in disposing of his literary critics." i chuckled. bhola curiously inquired the story. "the scholars severely flayed tagore for introducing a new style into bengali poetry," i began. "he mixed colloquial and classical expressions, ignoring all the prescribed limitations dear to the pundits' hearts. his songs embody deep philosophic truth in emotionally appealing terms, with little regard for the accepted literary forms. "one influential critic slightingly referred to rabindranath as a 'pigeon-poet who sold his cooings in print for a rupee.' but tagore's revenge was at hand; the whole western world paid homage at his feet soon after he had translated into english his gitanjali ('song offerings'). a trainload of pundits, including his one-time critics, went to santiniketan to offer their congratulations. "rabindranath received his guests only after an intentionally long delay, and then heard their praise in stoic silence. finally he turned against them their own habitual weapons of criticism. "'gentlemen,' he said, 'the fragrant honors you here bestow are incongruously mingled with the putrid odors of your past contempt. is there possibly any connection between my award of the nobel prize, and your suddenly acute powers of appreciation? i am still the same poet who displeased you when i first offered my humble flowers at the shrine of bengal.' "the newspapers published an account of the bold chastisement given by tagore. i admired the outspoken words of a man unhypnotized by flattery," i went on. "i was introduced to rabindranath in calcutta by his secretary, mr. c. f. andrews, {fn - } who was simply attired in a bengali dhoti. he referred lovingly to tagore as his gurudeva. "rabindranath received me graciously. he emanated a soothing aura of charm, culture, and courtliness. replying to my question about his literary background, tagore told me that one ancient source of his inspiration, besides our religious epics, had been the classical poet, bidyapati." inspired by these memories, i began to sing tagore's version of an old bengali song, "light the lamp of thy love." bhola and i chanted joyously as we strolled over the vidyalaya grounds. about two years after founding the ranchi school, i received an invitation from rabindranath to visit him at santiniketan in order to discuss our educational ideals. i went gladly. the poet was seated in his study when i entered; i thought then, as at our first meeting, that he was as striking a model of superb manhood as any painter could desire. his beautifully chiseled face, nobly patrician, was framed in long hair and flowing beard. large, melting eyes; an angelic smile; and a voice of flutelike quality which was literally enchanting. stalwart, tall, and grave, he combined an almost womanly tenderness with the delightful spontaneity of a child. no idealized conception of a poet could find more suitable embodiment than in this gentle singer. tagore and i were soon deep in a comparative study of our schools, both founded along unorthodox lines. we discovered many identical features-outdoor instruction, simplicity, ample scope for the child's creative spirit. rabindranath, however, laid considerable stress on the study of literature and poetry, and the self-expression through music and song which i had already noted in the case of bhola. the santiniketan children observed periods of silence, but were given no special yoga training. the poet listened with flattering attention to my description of the energizing "yogoda" exercises and the yoga concentration techniques which are taught to all students at ranchi. tagore told me of his own early educational struggles. "i fled from school after the fifth grade," he said, laughing. i could readily understand how his innate poetic delicacy had been affronted by the dreary, disciplinary atmosphere of a schoolroom. "that is why i opened santiniketan under the shady trees and the glories of the sky." he motioned eloquently to a little group studying in the beautiful garden. "a child is in his natural setting amidst the flowers and songbirds. only thus may he fully express the hidden wealth of his individual endowment. true education can never be crammed and pumped from without; rather it must aid in bringing spontaneously to the surface the infinite hoards of wisdom within." {fn - } i agreed. "the idealistic and hero-worshiping instincts of the young are starved on an exclusive diet of statistics and chronological eras." the poet spoke lovingly of his father, devendranath, who had inspired the santiniketan beginnings. "father presented me with this fertile land, where he had already built a guest house and temple," rabindranath told me. "i started my educational experiment here in , with only ten boys. the eight thousand pounds which came with the nobel prize all went for the upkeep of the school." the elder tagore, devendranath, known far and wide as "maharishi," was a very remarkable man, as one may discover from his autobiography. two years of his manhood were spent in meditation in the himalayas. in turn, his father, dwarkanath tagore, had been celebrated throughout bengal for his munificent public benefactions. from this illustrious tree has sprung a family of geniuses. not rabindranath alone; all his relatives have distinguished themselves in creative expression. his brothers, gogonendra and abanindra, are among the foremost artists {fn - } of india; another brother, dwijendra, is a deep-seeing philosopher, at whose gentle call the birds and woodland creatures respond. rabindranath invited me to stay overnight in the guest house. it was indeed a charming spectacle, in the evening, to see the poet seated with a group in the patio. time unfolded backward: the scene before me was like that of an ancient hermitage-the joyous singer encircled by his devotees, all aureoled in divine love. tagore knitted each tie with the cords of harmony. never assertive, he drew and captured the heart by an irresistible magnetism. rare blossom of poesy blooming in the garden of the lord, attracting others by a natural fragrance! in his melodious voice, rabindranath read to us a few of his exquisite poems, newly created. most of his songs and plays, written for the delectation of his students, have been composed at santiniketan. the beauty of his lines, to me, lies in his art of referring to god in nearly every stanza, yet seldom mentioning the sacred name. "drunk with the bliss of singing," he wrote, "i forget myself and call thee friend who art my lord." the following day, after lunch, i bade the poet a reluctant farewell. i rejoice that his little school has now grown to an international university, "viswa-bharati," where scholars of all lands have found an ideal setting. "where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; where knowledge is free; where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; where words come out from the depth of truth; where tireless striving stretches its arms toward perfection; where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit; where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action; into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake!" {fn - } rabindranath tagore {fn - } the english writer and publicist, close friend of mahatma gandhi. mr. andrews is honored in india for his many services to his adopted land. {fn - } "the soul having been often born, or, as the hindus say, 'traveling the path of existence through thousands of births' . . . there is nothing of which she has not gained the knowledge; no wonder that she is able to recollect . . . what formerly she knew. . . . for inquiry and learning is reminiscence all."-emerson. {fn - } rabindranath, too, in his sixties, engaged in a serious study of painting. exhibitions of his "futuristic" work were given some years ago in european capitals and new york. {fn - } gitanjali (new york: macmillan co.). a thoughtful study of the poet will be found in the philosophy of rabindranath tagore, by the celebrated scholar, sir s. radhakrishnan (macmillan, ). another expository volume is b. k. roy's rabindranath tagore: the man and his poetry (new york: dodd, mead, ). buddha and the gospel of buddhism (new york: putnam's, ), by the eminent oriental art authority, ananda k. coomaraswamy, contains a number of illustrations in color by the poet's brother, abanindra nath tagore. chapter: the law of miracles the great novelist leo tolstoy wrote a delightful story, the three hermits. his friend nicholas roerich {fn - } has summarized the tale, as follows: "on an island there lived three old hermits. they were so simple that the only prayer they used was: 'we are three; thou art three-have mercy on us!' great miracles were manifested during this naive prayer. "the local bishop {fn - } came to hear about the three hermits and their inadmissible prayer, and decided to visit them in order to teach them the canonical invocations. he arrived on the island, told the hermits that their heavenly petition was undignified, and taught them many of the customary prayers. the bishop then left on a boat. he saw, following the ship, a radiant light. as it approached, he discerned the three hermits, who were holding hands and running upon the waves in an effort to overtake the vessel. "'we have forgotten the prayers you taught us,' they cried as they reached the bishop, 'and have hastened to ask you to repeat them.' the awed bishop shook his head. "'dear ones,' he replied humbly, 'continue to live with your old prayer!'" how did the three saints walk on the water? how did christ resurrect his crucified body? how did lahiri mahasaya and sri yukteswar perform their miracles? modern science has, as yet, no answer; though with the advent of the atomic bomb and the wonders of radar, the scope of the world-mind has been abruptly enlarged. the word "impossible" is becoming less prominent in the scientific vocabulary. the ancient vedic scriptures declare that the physical world operates under one fundamental law of maya, the principle of relativity and duality. god, the sole life, is an absolute unity; he cannot appear as the separate and diverse manifestations of a creation except under a false or unreal veil. that cosmic illusion is maya. every great scientific discovery of modern times has served as a confirmation of this simple pronouncement of the rishis. newton's law of motion is a law of maya: "to every action there is always an equal and contrary reaction; the mutual actions of any two bodies are always equal and oppositely directed." action and reaction are thus exactly equal. "to have a single force is impossible. there must be, and always is, a pair of forces equal and opposite." fundamental natural activities all betray their mayic origin. electricity, for example, is a phenomenon of repulsion and attraction; its electrons and protons are electrical opposites. another example: the atom or final particle of matter is, like the earth itself, a magnet with positive and negative poles. the entire phenomenal world is under the inexorable sway of polarity; no law of physics, chemistry, or any other science is ever found free from inherent opposite or contrasted principles. physical science, then, cannot formulate laws outside of maya, the very texture and structure of creation. nature herself is maya; natural science must perforce deal with her ineluctable quiddity. in her own domain, she is eternal and inexhaustible; future scientists can do no more than probe one aspect after another of her varied infinitude. science thus remains in a perpetual flux, unable to reach finality; fit indeed to formulate the laws of an already existing and functioning cosmos, but powerless to detect the law framer and sole operator. the majestic manifestations of gravitation and electricity have become known, but what gravitation and electricity are, no mortal knoweth. {fn - } [illustration: a guru and disciple, forest hermitages were the ancient seats of learning, secular and divine, for the youth of india. here a venerable guru, leaning on a wooden meditation elbow-prop, is initiating his disciple into the august mysteries of spirit.--see guru.jpg] to surmount maya was the task assigned to the human race by the millennial prophets. to rise above the duality of creation and perceive the unity of the creator was conceived of as man's highest goal. those who cling to the cosmic illusion must accept its essential law of polarity: flow and ebb, rise and fall, day and night, pleasure and pain, good and evil, birth and death. this cyclic pattern assumes a certain anguishing monotony, after man has gone through a few thousand human births; he begins to cast a hopeful eye beyond the compulsions of maya. to tear the veil of maya is to pierce the secret of creation. the yogi who thus denudes the universe is the only true monotheist. all others are worshiping heathen images. so long as man remains subject to the dualistic delusions of nature, the janus-faced maya is his goddess; he cannot know the one true god. the world illusion, maya, is individually called avidya, literally, "not-knowledge," ignorance, delusion. maya or avidya can never be destroyed through intellectual conviction or analysis, but solely through attaining the interior state of nirbikalpa samadhi. the old testament prophets, and seers of all lands and ages, spoke from that state of consciousness. ezekiel says ( : - ): "afterwards he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east: and, behold, the glory of the god of israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory." through the divine eye in the forehead (east), the yogi sails his consciousness into omnipresence, hearing the word or aum, divine sound of many waters or vibrations which is the sole reality of creation. among the trillion mysteries of the cosmos, the most phenomenal is light. unlike sound-waves, whose transmission requires air or other material media, light-waves pass freely through the vacuum of interstellar space. even the hypothetical ether, held as the interplanetary medium of light in the undulatory theory, can be discarded on the einsteinian grounds that the geometrical properties of space render the theory of ether unnecessary. under either hypothesis, light remains the most subtle, the freest from material dependence, of any natural manifestation. in the gigantic conceptions of einstein, the velocity of light- , miles per second-dominates the whole theory of relativity. he proves mathematically that the velocity of light is, so far as man's finite mind is concerned, the only constant in a universe of unstayable flux. on the sole absolute of light-velocity depend all human standards of time and space. not abstractly eternal as hitherto considered, time and space are relative and finite factors, deriving their measurement validity only in reference to the yardstick of light-velocity. in joining space as a dimensional relativity, time has surrendered age-old claims to a changeless value. time is now stripped to its rightful nature-a simple essence of ambiguity! with a few equational strokes of his pen, einstein has banished from the cosmos every fixed reality except that of light. in a later development, his unified field theory, the great physicist embodies in one mathematical formula the laws of gravitation and of electromagnetism. reducing the cosmical structure to variations on a single law, einstein {fn - } reaches across the ages to the rishis who proclaimed a sole texture of creation-that of a protean maya. on the epochal theory of relativity have arisen the mathematical possibilities of exploring the ultimate atom. great scientists are now boldly asserting not only that the atom is energy rather than matter, but that atomic energy is essentially mind-stuff. "the frank realization that physical science is concerned with a world of shadows is one of the most significant advances," sir arthur stanley eddington writes in the nature of the physical world. "in the world of physics we watch a shadowgraph performance of the drama of familiar life. the shadow of my elbow rests on the shadow table as the shadow ink flows over the shadow paper. it is all symbolic, and as a symbol the physicist leaves it. then comes the alchemist mind who transmutes the symbols. . . . to put the conclusion crudely, the stuff of the world is mind-stuff. . . . the realistic matter and fields of force of former physical theory are altogether irrelevant except in so far as the mind-stuff has itself spun these imaginings. . . . the external world has thus become a world of shadows. in removing our illusions we have removed the substance, for indeed we have seen that substance is one of the greatest of our illusions." with the recent discovery of the electron microscope came definite proof of the light-essence of atoms and of the inescapable duality of nature. the new york times gave the following report of a demonstration of the electron microscope before a meeting of the american association for the advancement of science: "the crystalline structure of tungsten, hitherto known only indirectly by means of x-rays, stood outlined boldly on a fluorescent screen, showing nine atoms in their correct positions in the space lattice, a cube, with one atom in each corner and one in the center. the atoms in the crystal lattice of the tungsten appeared on the fluorescent screen as points of light, arranged in geometric pattern. against this crystal cube of light the bombarding molecules of air could be observed as dancing points of light, similar to points of sunlight shimmering on moving waters. . . . "the principle of the electron microscope was first discovered in by drs. clinton j. davisson and lester h. germer of the bell telephone laboratories, new york city, who found that the electron had a dual personality partaking of the characteristic of both a particle and a wave. the wave quality gave the electron the characteristic of light, and a search was begun to devise means for 'focusing' electrons in a manner similar to the focusing of light by means of a lens. "for his discovery of the jekyll-hyde quality of the electron, which corroborated the prediction made in by de broglie, french nobel prize winning physicist, and showed that the entire realm of physical nature had a dual personality, dr. davisson also received the nobel prize in physics." "the stream of knowledge," sir james jeans writes in the mysterious universe, "is heading towards a non-mechanical reality; the universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine." twentieth-century science is thus sounding like a page from the hoary vedas. from science, then, if it must be so, let man learn the philosophic truth that there is no material universe; its warp and woof is maya, illusion. its mirages of reality all break down under analysis. as one by one the reassuring props of a physical cosmos crash beneath him, man dimly perceives his idolatrous reliance, his past transgression of the divine command: "thou shalt have no other gods before me." in his famous equation outlining the equivalence of mass and energy, einstein proved that the energy in any particle of matter is equal to its mass or weight multiplied by the square of the velocity of light. the release of the atomic energies is brought about through the annihilation of the material particles. the "death" of matter has been the "birth" of an atomic age. light-velocity is a mathematical standard or constant not because there is an absolute value in , miles a second, but because no material body, whose mass increases with its velocity, can ever attain the velocity of light. stated another way: only a material body whose mass is infinite could equal the velocity of light. this conception brings us to the law of miracles. the masters who are able to materialize and dematerialize their bodies or any other object, and to move with the velocity of light, and to utilize the creative light-rays in bringing into instant visibility any physical manifestation, have fulfilled the necessary einsteinian condition: their mass is infinite. the consciousness of a perfected yogi is effortlessly identified, not with a narrow body, but with the universal structure. gravitation, whether the "force" of newton or the einsteinian "manifestation of inertia," is powerless to compel a master to exhibit the property of "weight" which is the distinguishing gravitational condition of all material objects. he who knows himself as the omnipresent spirit is subject no longer to the rigidities of a body in time and space. their imprisoning "rings-pass-not" have yielded to the solvent: "i am he." "fiat lux! and there was light." god's first command to his ordered creation (genesis : ) brought into being the only atomic reality: light. on the beams of this immaterial medium occur all divine manifestations. devotees of every age testify to the appearance of god as flame and light. "the king of kings, and lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto." {fn - } a yogi who through perfect meditation has merged his consciousness with the creator perceives the cosmical essence as light; to him there is no difference between the light rays composing water and the light rays composing land. free from matter-consciousness, free from the three dimensions of space and the fourth dimension of time, a master transfers his body of light with equal ease over the light rays of earth, water, fire, or air. long concentration on the liberating spiritual eye has enabled the yogi to destroy all delusions concerning matter and its gravitational weight; thenceforth he sees the universe as an essentially undifferentiated mass of light. "optical images," dr. l. t. troland of harvard tells us, "are built up on the same principle as the ordinary 'half-tone' engravings; that is, they are made up of minute dottings or stripplings far too small to be detected by the eye. . . . the sensitiveness of the retina is so great that a visual sensation can be produced by relatively few quanta of the right kind of light." through a master's divine knowledge of light phenomena, he can instantly project into perceptible manifestation the ubiquitous light atoms. the actual form of the projection-whether it be a tree, a medicine, a human body-is in conformance with a yogi's powers of will and of visualization. in man's dream-consciousness, where he has loosened in sleep his clutch on the egoistic limitations that daily hem him round, the omnipotence of his mind has a nightly demonstration. lo! there in the dream stand the long-dead friends, the remotest continents, the resurrected scenes of his childhood. with that free and unconditioned consciousness, known to all men in the phenomena of dreams, the god-tuned master has forged a never-severed link. innocent of all personal motives, and employing the creative will bestowed on him by the creator, a yogi rearranges the light atoms of the universe to satisfy any sincere prayer of a devotee. for this purpose were man and creation made: that he should rise up as master of maya, knowing his dominion over the cosmos. "and god said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." {fn - } in , shortly after i had entered the swami order, i witnessed a vision of violent contrasts. in it the relativity of human consciousness was vividly established; i clearly perceived the unity of the eternal light behind the painful dualities of maya. the vision descended on me as i sat one morning in my little attic room in father's gurpar road home. for months world war i had been raging in europe; i reflected sadly on the vast toll of death. as i closed my eyes in meditation, my consciousness was suddenly transferred to the body of a captain in command of a battleship. the thunder of guns split the air as shots were exchanged between shore batteries and the ship's cannons. a huge shell hit the powder magazine and tore my ship asunder. i jumped into the water, together with the few sailors who had survived the explosion. heart pounding, i reached the shore safely. but alas! a stray bullet ended its furious flight in my chest. i fell groaning to the ground. my whole body was paralyzed, yet i was aware of possessing it as one is conscious of a leg gone to sleep. "at last the mysterious footstep of death has caught up with me," i thought. with a final sigh, i was about to sink into unconsciousness when lo! i found myself seated in the lotus posture in my gurpar road room. hysterical tears poured forth as i joyfully stroked and pinched my regained possession-a body free from any bullet hole in the breast. i rocked to and fro, inhaling and exhaling to assure myself that i was alive. amidst these self-congratulations, again i found my consciousness transferred to the captain's dead body by the gory shore. utter confusion of mind came upon me. "lord," i prayed, "am i dead or alive?" a dazzling play of light filled the whole horizon. a soft rumbling vibration formed itself into words: "what has life or death to do with light? in the image of my light i have made you. the relativities of life and death belong to the cosmic dream. behold your dreamless being! awake, my child, awake!" as steps in man's awakening, the lord inspires scientists to discover, at the right time and place, the secrets of his creation. many modern discoveries help men to apprehend the cosmos as a varied expression of one power-light, guided by divine intelligence. the wonders of the motion picture, of radio, of television, of radar, of the photo-electric cell-the all-seeing "electric eye," of atomic energies, are all based on the electromagnetic phenomenon of light. the motion picture art can portray any miracle. from the impressive visual standpoint, no marvel is barred to trick photography. a man's transparent astral body can be seen rising from his gross physical form, he can walk on the water, resurrect the dead, reverse the natural sequence of developments, and play havoc with time and space. assembling the light images as he pleases, the photographer achieves optical wonders which a true master produces with actual light rays. the lifelike images of the motion picture illustrate many truths concerning creation. the cosmic director has written his own plays, and assembled the tremendous casts for the pageant of the centuries. from the dark booth of eternity, he pours his creative beam through the films of successive ages, and the pictures are thrown on the screen of space. just as the motion-picture images appear to be real, but are only combinations of light and shade, so is the universal variety a delusive seeming. the planetary spheres, with their countless forms of life, are naught but figures in a cosmic motion picture, temporarily true to five sense perceptions as the scenes are cast on the screen of man's consciousness by the infinite creative beam. a cinema audience can look up and see that all screen images are appearing through the instrumentality of one imageless beam of light. the colorful universal drama is similarly issuing from the single white light of a cosmic source. with inconceivable ingenuity god is staging an entertainment for his human children, making them actors as well as audience in his planetary theater. one day i entered a motion picture house to view a newsreel of the european battlefields. world war i was still being waged in the west; the newsreel recorded the carnage with such realism that i left the theater with a troubled heart. "lord," i prayed, "why dost thou permit such suffering?" to my intense surprise, an instant answer came in the form of a vision of the actual european battlefields. the horror of the struggle, filled with the dead and dying, far surpassed in ferocity any representation of the newsreel. "look intently!" a gentle voice spoke to my inner consciousness. "you will see that these scenes now being enacted in france are nothing but a play of chiaroscuro. they are the cosmic motion picture, as real and as unreal as the theater newsreel you have just seen-a play within a play." my heart was still not comforted. the divine voice went on: "creation is light and shadow both, else no picture is possible. the good and evil of maya must ever alternate in supremacy. if joy were ceaseless here in this world, would man ever seek another? without suffering he scarcely cares to recall that he has forsaken his eternal home. pain is a prod to remembrance. the way of escape is through wisdom! the tragedy of death is unreal; those who shudder at it are like an ignorant actor who dies of fright on the stage when nothing more is fired at him than a blank cartridge. my sons are the children of light; they will not sleep forever in delusion." although i had read scriptural accounts of maya, they had not given me the deep insight that came with the personal visions and their accompanying words of consolation. one's values are profoundly changed when he is finally convinced that creation is only a vast motion picture, and that not in it, but beyond it, lies his own reality. as i finished writing this chapter, i sat on my bed in the lotus posture. my room was dimly lit by two shaded lamps. lifting my gaze, i noticed that the ceiling was dotted with small mustard-colored lights, scintillating and quivering with a radiumlike luster. myriads of pencilled rays, like sheets of rain, gathered into a transparent shaft and poured silently upon me. at once my physical body lost its grossness and became metamorphosed into astral texture. i felt a floating sensation as, barely touching the bed, the weightless body shifted slightly and alternately to left and right. i looked around the room; the furniture and walls were as usual, but the little mass of light had so multiplied that the ceiling was invisible. i was wonder-struck. "this is the cosmic motion picture mechanism." a voice spoke as though from within the light. "shedding its beam on the white screen of your bed sheets, it is producing the picture of your body. behold, your form is nothing but light!" i gazed at my arms and moved them back and forth, yet could not feel their weight. an ecstatic joy overwhelmed me. this cosmic stem of light, blossoming as my body, seemed a divine replica of the light beams streaming out of the projection booth in a cinema house and manifesting as pictures on the screen. for a long time i experienced this motion picture of my body in the dimly lighted theater of my own bedroom. despite the many visions i have had, none was ever more singular. as my illusion of a solid body was completely dissipated, and my realization deepened that the essence of all objects is light, i looked up to the throbbing stream of lifetrons and spoke entreatingly. "divine light, please withdraw this, my humble bodily picture, into thyself, even as elijah was drawn up to heaven by a flame." this prayer was evidently startling; the beam disappeared. my body resumed its normal weight and sank on the bed; the swarm of dazzling ceiling lights flickered and vanished. my time to leave this earth had apparently not arrived. "besides," i thought philosophically, "the prophet elijah might well be displeased at my presumption!" {fn - } this famous russian artist and philosopher has been living for many years in india near the himalayas. "from the peaks comes revelation," he has written. "in caves and upon the summits lived the rishis. over the snowy peaks of the himalayas burns a bright glow, brighter than stars and the fantastic flashes of lightning." {fn - } the story may have a historical basis; an editorial note informs us that the bishop met the three monks while he was sailing from archangel to the slovetsky monastery, at the mouth of the dvina river. {fn - } marconi, the great inventor, made the following admission of scientific inadequacy before the finalities: "the inability of science to solve life is absolute. this fact would be truly frightening were it not for faith. the mystery of life is certainly the most persistent problem ever placed before the thought of man." {fn - } a clue to the direction taken by einstein's genius is given by the fact that he is a lifelong disciple of the great philosopher spinoza, whose best-known work is ethics demonstrated in geometrical order. {fn - } i timothy : - . {fn - } genesis : . chapter: an interview with the sacred mother "reverend mother, i was baptized in infancy by your prophet-husband. he was the guru of my parents and of my own guru sri yukteswarji. will you therefore give me the privilege of hearing a few incidents in your sacred life?" i was addressing srimati kashi moni, the life-companion of lahiri mahasaya. finding myself in benares for a short period, i was fulfilling a long-felt desire to visit the venerable lady. she received me graciously at the old lahiri homestead in the garudeswar mohulla section of benares. although aged, she was blooming like a lotus, silently emanating a spiritual fragrance. she was of medium build, with a slender neck and fair skin. large, lustrous eyes softened her motherly face. "son, you are welcome here. come upstairs." kashi moni led the way to a very small room where, for a time, she had lived with her husband. i felt honored to witness the shrine in which the peerless master had condescended to play the human drama of matrimony. the gentle lady motioned me to a pillow seat by her side. "it was years before i came to realize the divine stature of my husband," she began. "one night, in this very room, i had a vivid dream. glorious angels floated in unimaginable grace above me. so realistic was the sight that i awoke at once; the room was strangely enveloped in dazzling light. "my husband, in lotus posture, was levitated in the center of the room, surrounded by angels who were worshiping him with the supplicating dignity of palm-folded hands. astonished beyond measure, i was convinced that i was still dreaming. "'woman,' lahiri mahasaya said, 'you are not dreaming. forsake your sleep forever and forever.' as he slowly descended to the floor, i prostrated myself at his feet. "'master,' i cried, 'again and again i bow before you! will you pardon me for having considered you as my husband? i die with shame to realize that i have remained asleep in ignorance by the side of one who is divinely awakened. from this night, you are no longer my husband, but my guru. will you accept my insignificant self as your disciple?' {fn - } "the master touched me gently. 'sacred soul, arise. you are accepted.' he motioned toward the angels. 'please bow in turn to each of these holy saints.' "when i had finished my humble genuflections, the angelic voices sounded together, like a chorus from an ancient scripture. "'consort of the divine one, thou art blessed. we salute thee.' they bowed at my feet and lo! their refulgent forms vanished. the room darkened. "my guru asked me to receive initiation into kriya yoga. "'of course,' i responded. 'i am sorry not to have had its blessing earlier in my life.' "'the time was not ripe.' lahiri mahasaya smiled consolingly. 'much of your karma i have silently helped you to work out. now you are willing and ready.' "he touched my forehead. masses of whirling light appeared; the radiance gradually formed itself into the opal-blue spiritual eye, ringed in gold and centered with a white pentagonal star. "'penetrate your consciousness through the star into the kingdom of the infinite.' my guru's voice had a new note, soft like distant music. "vision after vision broke as oceanic surf on the shores of my soul. the panoramic spheres finally melted in a sea of bliss. i lost myself in ever-surging blessedness. when i returned hours later to awareness of this world, the master gave me the technique of kriya yoga. "from that night on, lahiri mahasaya never slept in my room again. nor, thereafter, did he ever sleep. he remained in the front room downstairs, in the company of his disciples both by day and by night." the illustrious lady fell into silence. realizing the uniqueness of her relationship with the sublime yogi, i finally ventured to ask for further reminiscences. "son, you are greedy. nevertheless you shall have one more story." she smiled shyly. "i will confess a sin which i committed against my guru-husband. some months after my initiation, i began to feel forlorn and neglected. one morning lahiri mahasaya entered this little room to fetch an article; i quickly followed him. overcome by violent delusion, i addressed him scathingly. "'you spend all your time with the disciples. what about your responsibilities for your wife and children? i regret that you do not interest yourself in providing more money for the family.' "the master glanced at me for a moment, then lo! he was gone. awed and frightened, i heard a voice resounding from every part of the room: "'it is all nothing, don't you see? how could a nothing like me produce riches for you?' "'guruji,' i cried, 'i implore pardon a million times! my sinful eyes can see you no more; please appear in your sacred form.' "'i am here.' this reply came from above me. i looked up and saw the master materialize in the air, his head touching the ceiling. his eyes were like blinding flames. beside myself with fear, i lay sobbing at his feet after he had quietly descended to the floor. "'woman,' he said, 'seek divine wealth, not the paltry tinsel of earth. after acquiring inward treasure, you will find that outward supply is always forthcoming.' he added, 'one of my spiritual sons will make provision for you.' "my guru's words naturally came true; a disciple did leave a considerable sum for our family." i thanked kashi moni for sharing with me her wondrous experiences. {fn - } on the following day i returned to her home and enjoyed several hours of philosophical discussion with tincouri and ducouri lahiri. these two saintly sons of india's great yogi followed closely in his ideal footsteps. both men were fair, tall, stalwart, and heavily bearded, with soft voices and an old-fashioned charm of manner. his wife was not the only woman disciple of lahiri mahasaya; there were hundreds of others, including my mother. a woman chela once asked the guru for his photograph. he handed her a print, remarking, "if you deem it a protection, then it is so; otherwise it is only a picture." a few days later this woman and lahiri mahasaya's daughter-in-law happened to be studying the bhagavad gita at a table behind which hung the guru's photograph. an electrical storm broke out with great fury. "lahiri mahasaya, protect us!" the women bowed before the picture. lightning struck the book which they had been reading, but the two devotees were unhurt. "i felt as though a sheet of ice had been placed around me to ward off the scorching heat," the chela explained. lahiri mahasaya performed two miracles in connection with a woman disciple, abhoya. she and her husband, a calcutta lawyer, started one day for benares to visit the guru. their carriage was delayed by heavy traffic; they reached the howrah main station only to hear the benares train whistling for departure. abhoya, near the ticket office, stood quietly. "lahiri mahasaya, i beseech thee to stop the train!" she silently prayed. "i cannot suffer the pangs of delay in waiting another day to see thee." the wheels of the snorting train continued to move round and round, but there was no onward progress. the engineer and passengers descended to the platform to view the phenomenon. an english railroad guard approached abhoya and her husband. contrary to all precedent, he volunteered his services. "babu," he said, "give me the money. i will buy your tickets while you get aboard." as soon as the couple was seated and had received the tickets, the train slowly moved forward. in panic, the engineer and passengers clambered again to their places, knowing neither how the train started, nor why it had stopped in the first place. arriving at the home of lahiri mahasaya in benares, abhoya silently prostrated herself before the master, and tried to touch his feet. "compose yourself, abhoya," he remarked. "how you love to bother me! as if you could not have come here by the next train!" abhoya visited lahiri mahasaya on another memorable occasion. this time she wanted his intercession, not with a train, but with the stork. "i pray you to bless me that my ninth child may live," she said. "eight babies have been born to me; all died soon after birth." the master smiled sympathetically. "your coming child will live. please follow my instructions carefully. the baby, a girl, will be born at night. see that the oil lamp is kept burning until dawn. do not fall asleep and thus allow the light to become extinguished." abhoya's child was a daughter, born at night, exactly as foreseen by the omniscient guru. the mother instructed her nurse to keep the lamp filled with oil. both women kept the urgent vigil far into the early morning hours, but finally fell asleep. the lamp oil was almost gone; the light flickered feebly. the bedroom door unlatched and flew open with a violent sound. the startled women awoke. their astonished eyes beheld the form of lahiri mahasaya. "abhoya, behold, the light is almost gone!" he pointed to the lamp, which the nurse hastened to refill. as soon as it burned again brightly, the master vanished. the door closed; the latch was affixed without visible agency. abhoya's ninth child survived; in , when i made inquiry, she was still living. one of lahiri mahasaya's disciples, the venerable kali kumar roy, related to me many fascinating details of his life with the master. "i was often a guest at his benares home for weeks at a time," roy told me. "i observed that many saintly figures, danda {fn - } swamis, arrived in the quiet of night to sit at the guru's feet. sometimes they would engage in discussion of meditational and philosophical points. at dawn the exalted guests would depart. i found during my visits that lahiri mahasaya did not once lie down to sleep. "during an early period of my association with the master, i had to contend with the opposition of my employer," roy went on. "he was steeped in materialism. "'i don't want religious fanatics on my staff,' he would sneer. 'if i ever meet your charlatan guru, i shall give him some words to remember.' "this alarming threat failed to interrupt my regular program; i spent nearly every evening in my guru's presence. one night my employer followed me and rushed rudely into the parlor. he was doubtless fully bent on uttering the pulverizing remarks he had promised. no sooner had the man seated himself than lahiri mahasaya addressed the little group of about twelve disciples. "'would you all like to see a picture?' "when we nodded, he asked us to darken the room. 'sit behind one another in a circle,' he said, 'and place your hands over the eyes of the man in front of you.' "i was not surprised to see that my employer also was following, albeit unwillingly, the master's directions. in a few minutes lahiri mahasaya asked us what we were seeing. "'sir,' i replied, 'a beautiful woman appears. she wears a red-bordered sari, and stands near an elephant-ear plant.' all the other disciples gave the same description. the master turned to my employer. 'do you recognize that woman?' "'yes.' the man was evidently struggling with emotions new to his nature. 'i have been foolishly spending my money on her, though i have a good wife. i am ashamed of the motives which brought me here. will you forgive me, and receive me as a disciple?' "'if you lead a good moral life for six months, i shall accept you.' the master enigmatically added, 'otherwise i won't have to initiate you.' "for three months my employer refrained from temptation; then he resumed his former relationship with the woman. two months later he died. thus i came to understand my guru's veiled prophecy about the improbability of the man's initiation." lahiri mahasaya had a very famous friend, swami trailanga, who was reputed to be over three hundred years old. the two yogis often sat together in meditation. trailanga's fame is so widespread that few hindus would deny the possibility of truth in any story of his astounding miracles. if christ returned to earth and walked the streets of new york, displaying his divine powers, it would cause the same excitement that was created by trailanga decades ago as he passed through the crowded lanes of benares. on many occasions the swami was seen to drink, with no ill effect, the most deadly poisons. thousands of people, including a few who are still living, have seen trailanga floating on the ganges. for days together he would sit on top of the water, or remain hidden for very long periods under the waves. a common sight at the benares bathing ghats was the swami's motionless body on the blistering stone slabs, wholly exposed to the merciless indian sun. by these feats trailanga sought to teach men that a yogi's life does not depend upon oxygen or ordinary conditions and precautions. whether he were above water or under it, and whether or not his body lay exposed to the fierce solar rays, the master proved that he lived by divine consciousness: death could not touch him. the yogi was great not only spiritually, but physically. his weight exceeded three hundred pounds: a pound for each year of his life! as he ate very seldom, the mystery is increased. a master, however, easily ignores all usual rules of health, when he desires to do so for some special reason, often a subtle one known only to himself. great saints who have awakened from the cosmic mayic dream and realized this world as an idea in the divine mind, can do as they wish with the body, knowing it to be only a manipulatable form of condensed or frozen energy. though physical scientists now understand that matter is nothing but congealed energy, fully-illumined masters have long passed from theory to practice in the field of matter-control. trailanga always remained completely nude. the harassed police of benares came to regard him as a baffling problem child. the natural swami, like the early adam in the garden of eden, was utterly unconscious of his nakedness. the police were quite conscious of it, however, and unceremoniously committed him to jail. general embarrassment ensued; the enormous body of trailanga was soon seen, in its usual entirety, on the prison roof. his cell, still securely locked, offered no clue to his mode of escape. the discouraged officers of the law once more performed their duty. this time a guard was posted before the swami's cell. might again retired before right. trailanga was soon observed in his nonchalant stroll over the roof. justice is blind; the outwitted police decided to follow her example. the great yogi preserved a habitual silence. {fn - } in spite of his round face and huge, barrel-like stomach, trailanga ate only occasionally. after weeks without food, he would break his fast with potfuls of clabbered milk offered to him by devotees. a skeptic once determined to expose trailanga as a charlatan. a large bucket of calcium-lime mixture, used in whitewashing walls, was placed before the swami. "master," the materialist said, in mock reverence, "i have brought you some clabbered milk. please drink it." trailanga unhesitatingly drained, to the last drop, the containerful of burning lime. in a few minutes the evildoer fell to the ground in agony. "help, swami, help!" he cried. "i am on fire! forgive my wicked test!" the great yogi broke his habitual silence. "scoffer," he said, "you did not realize when you offered me poison that my life is one with your own. except for my knowledge that god is present in my stomach, as in every atom of creation, the lime would have killed me. now that you know the divine meaning of boomerang, never again play tricks on anyone." the well-purged sinner, healed by trailanga's words, slunk feebly away. the reversal of pain was not due to any volition of the master, but came about through unerring application of the law of justice which upholds creation's farthest swinging orb. men of god-realization like trailanga allow the divine law to operate instantaneously; they have banished forever all thwarting crosscurrents of ego. the automatic adjustments of righteousness, often paid in an unexpected coin as in the case of trailanga and his would be murderer, assuage our hasty indignance at human injustice. "vengeance is mine; i will repay, saith the lord." {fn - } what need for man's brief resources? the universe duly conspires for retribution. dull minds discredit the possibility of divine justice, love, omniscience, immortality. "airy scriptural conjectures!" this insensitive viewpoint, aweless before the cosmic spectacle, arouses a train of events which brings its own awakening. the omnipotence of spiritual law was referred to by christ on the occasion of his triumphant entry into jerusalem. as the disciples and the multitude shouted for joy, and cried, "peace in heaven, and glory in the highest," certain pharisees complained of the undignified spectacle. "master," they protested, "rebuke thy disciples." "i tell you," jesus replied, "that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." {fn - } in this reprimand to the pharisees, christ was pointing out that divine justice is no figurative abstraction, and that a man of peace, though his tongue be torn from its roots, will yet find his speech and his defense in the bedrock of creation, the universal order itself. "think you," jesus was saying, "to silence men of peace? as well may you hope to throttle the voice of god, whose very stones sing his glory and his omnipresence. will you demand that men not celebrate in honor of the peace in heaven, but should only gather together in multitudes to shout for war on earth? then make your preparations, o pharisees, to overtopple the foundations of the world; for it is not gentle men alone, but stones or earth, and water and fire and air that will rise up against you, to bear witness of his ordered harmony." the grace of the christlike yogi, trailanga, was once bestowed on my sajo mama (maternal uncle). one morning uncle saw the master surrounded by a crowd of devotees at a benares ghat. he managed to edge his way close to trailanga, whose feet he touched humbly. uncle was astonished to find himself instantly freed from a painful chronic disease. {fn - } the only known living disciple of the great yogi is a woman, shankari mai jiew. daughter of one of trailanga's disciples, she received the swami's training from her early childhood. she lived for forty years in a series of lonely himalayan caves near badrinath, kedarnath, amarnath, and pasupatinath. the brahmacharini (woman ascetic), born in , is now well over the century mark. not aged in appearance, however, she has retained her black hair, sparkling teeth, and amazing energy. she comes out of her seclusion every few years to attend the periodical melas or religious fairs. this woman saint often visited lahiri mahasaya. she has related that one day, in the barackpur section near calcutta, while she was sitting by lahiri mahasaya's side, his great guru babaji quietly entered the room and held converse with them both. on one occasion her master trailanga, forsaking his usual silence, honored lahiri mahasaya very pointedly in public. a benares disciple objected. "sir," he said, "why do you, a swami and a renunciate, show such respect to a householder?" "my son," trailanga replied, "lahiri mahasaya is like a divine kitten, remaining wherever the cosmic mother has placed him. while dutifully playing the part of a worldly man, he has received that perfect self-realization for which i have renounced even my loincloth!" {fn - } one is reminded here of milton's line: "he for god only, she for god in him." {fn - } the venerable mother passed on at benares in . {fn - } staff, symbolizing the spinal cord, carried ritually by certain orders of monks. {fn - } he was a muni, a monk who observes mauna, spiritual silence. the sanskrit root muni is akin to greek monos, "alone, single," from which are derived the english words monk, monism, etc. {fn - } romans : . {fn - } luke : - . {fn - } the lives of trailanga and other great masters remind us of jesus' words: "and these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name (the christ consciousness) they shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."-mark : - . chapter: rama is raised from the dead "now a certain man was sick, named lazarus. . . . when jesus heard that, he said, this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of god, that the son of god might be glorified thereby.'" {fn - } sri yukteswar was expounding the christian scriptures one sunny morning on the balcony of his serampore hermitage. besides a few of master's other disciples, i was present with a small group of my ranchi students. "in this passage jesus calls himself the son of god. though he was truly united with god, his reference here has a deep impersonal significance," my guru explained. "the son of god is the christ or divine consciousness in man. no mortal can glorify god. the only honor that man can pay his creator is to seek him; man cannot glorify an abstraction that he does not know. the 'glory' or nimbus around the head of the saints is a symbolic witness of their capacity to render divine homage." sri yukteswar went on to read the marvelous story of lazarus' resurrection. at its conclusion master fell into a long silence, the sacred book open on his knee. "i too was privileged to behold a similar miracle." my guru finally spoke with solemn unction. "lahiri mahasaya resurrected one of my friends from the dead." the young lads at my side smiled with keen interest. there was enough of the boy in me, too, to enjoy not only the philosophy but, in particular, any story i could get sri yukteswar to relate about his wondrous experiences with his guru. "my friend rama and i were inseparable," master began. "because he was shy and reclusive, he chose to visit our guru lahiri mahasaya only during the hours of midnight and dawn, when the crowd of daytime disciples was absent. as rama's closest friend, i served as a spiritual vent through which he let out the wealth of his spiritual perceptions. i found inspiration in his ideal companionship." my guru's face softened with memories. "rama was suddenly put to a severe test," sri yukteswar continued. "he contracted the disease of asiatic cholera. as our master never objected to the services of physicians at times of serious illness, two specialists were summoned. amidst the frantic rush of ministering to the stricken man, i was deeply praying to lahiri mahasaya for help. i hurried to his home and sobbed out the story. "'the doctors are seeing rama. he will be well.' my guru smiled jovially. "i returned with a light heart to my friend's bedside, only to find him in a dying state. "'he cannot last more than one or two hours,' one of the physicians told me with a gesture of despair. once more i hastened to lahiri mahasaya. "'the doctors are conscientious men. i am sure rama will be well.' the master dismissed me blithely. "at rama's place i found both doctors gone. one had left me a note: 'we have done our best, but his case is hopeless.' "my friend was indeed the picture of a dying man. i did not understand how lahiri mahasaya's words could fail to come true, yet the sight of rama's rapidly ebbing life kept suggesting to my mind: 'all is over now.' tossing thus on the seas of faith and apprehensive doubt, i ministered to my friend as best i could. he roused himself to cry out: "'yukteswar, run to master and tell him i am gone. ask him to bless my body before its last rites.' with these words rama sighed heavily and gave up the ghost. {fn - } "i wept for an hour by his beloved form. always a lover of quiet, now he had attained the utter stillness of death. another disciple came in; i asked him to remain in the house until i returned. half-dazed, i trudged back to my guru. "'how is rama now?' lahiri mahasaya's face was wreathed in smiles. "'sir, you will soon see how he is,' i blurted out emotionally. 'in a few hours you will see his body, before it is carried to the crematory grounds.' i broke down and moaned openly. "'yukteswar, control yourself. sit calmly and meditate.' my guru retired into samadhi. the afternoon and night passed in unbroken silence; i struggled unsuccessfully to regain an inner composure. "at dawn lahiri mahasaya glanced at me consolingly. 'i see you are still disturbed. why didn't you explain yesterday that you expected me to give rama tangible aid in the form of some medicine?' the master pointed to a cup-shaped lamp containing crude castor oil. 'fill a little bottle from the lamp; put seven drops into rama's mouth.' "'sir,' i remonstrated, 'he has been dead since yesterday noon. of what use is the oil now?' "'never mind; just do as i ask.' lahiri mahasaya's cheerful mood was incomprehensible; i was still in the unassuaged agony of bereavement. pouring out a small amount of oil, i departed for rama's house. "i found my friend's body rigid in the death-clasp. paying no attention to his ghastly condition, i opened his lips with my right finger and managed, with my left hand and the help of the cork, to put the oil drop by drop over his clenched teeth. "as the seventh drop touched his cold lips, rama shivered violently. his muscles vibrated from head to foot as he sat up wonderingly. "'i saw lahiri mahasaya in a blaze of light,' he cried. 'he shone like the sun. 'arise; forsake your sleep,' he commanded me. 'come with yukteswar to see me.'" "i could scarcely believe my eyes when rama dressed himself and was strong enough after that fatal sickness to walk to the home of our guru. there he prostrated himself before lahiri mahasaya with tears of gratitude. "the master was beside himself with mirth. his eyes twinkled at me mischievously. "'yukteswar,' he said, 'surely henceforth you will not fail to carry with you a bottle of castor oil! whenever you see a corpse, just administer the oil! why, seven drops of lamp oil must surely foil the power of yama!' {fn - } "'guruji, you are ridiculing me. i don't understand; please point out the nature of my error.' "'i told you twice that rama would be well; yet you could not fully believe me,' lahiri mahasaya explained. 'i did not mean the doctors would be able to cure him; i remarked only that they were in attendance. there was no causal connection between my two statements. i didn't want to interfere with the physicians; they have to live, too.' in a voice resounding with joy, my guru added, 'always know that the inexhaustible paramatman {fn - } can heal anyone, doctor or no doctor.' "'i see my mistake,' i acknowledged remorsefully. 'i know now that your simple word is binding on the whole cosmos.'" as sri yukteswar finished the awesome story, one of the spellbound listeners ventured a question that, from a child, was doubly understandable. "sir," he said, "why did your guru use castor oil?" "child, giving the oil had no meaning except that i expected something material and lahiri mahasaya chose the near-by oil as an objective symbol for awakening my greater faith. the master allowed rama to die, because i had partially doubted. but the divine guru knew that inasmuch as he had said the disciple would be well, the healing must take place, even though he had to cure rama of death, a disease usually final!" sri yukteswar dismissed the little group, and motioned me to a blanket seat at his feet. "yogananda," he said with unusual gravity, "you have been surrounded from birth by direct disciples of lahiri mahasaya. the great master lived his sublime life in partial seclusion, and steadfastly refused to permit his followers to build any organization around his teachings. he made, nevertheless, a significant prediction. "'about fifty years after my passing,' he said, 'my life will be written because of a deep interest in yoga which the west will manifest. the yogic message will encircle the globe, and aid in establishing that brotherhood of man which results from direct perception of the one father.' "my son yogananda," sri yukteswar went on, "you must do your part in spreading that message, and in writing that sacred life." fifty years after lahiri mahasaya's passing in culminated in , the year of completion of this present book. i cannot but be struck by the coincidence that the year has also ushered in a new age-the era of revolutionary atomic energies. all thoughtful minds turn as never before to the urgent problems of peace and brotherhood, lest the continued use of physical force banish all men along with the problems. though the human race and its works disappear tracelessly by time or bomb, the sun does not falter in its course; the stars keep their invariable vigil. cosmic law cannot be stayed or changed, and man would do well to put himself in harmony with it. if the cosmos is against might, if the sun wars not with the planets but retires at dueful time to give the stars their little sway, what avails our mailed fist? shall any peace indeed come out of it? not cruelty but good will arms the universal sinews; a humanity at peace will know the endless fruits of victory, sweeter to the taste than any nurtured on the soil of blood. the effective league of nations will be a natural, nameless league of human hearts. the broad sympathies and discerning insight needed for the healing of earthly woes cannot flow from a mere intellectual consideration of man's diversities, but from knowledge of man's sole unity-his kinship with god. toward realization of the world's highest ideal-peace through brotherhood-may yoga, the science of personal contact with the divine, spread in time to all men in all lands. though india's civilization is ancient above any other, few historians have noted that her feat of national survival is by no means an accident, but a logical incident in the devotion to eternal verities which india has offered through her best men in every generation. by sheer continuity of being, by intransitivity before the ages-can dusty scholars truly tell us how many?-india has given the worthiest answer of any people to the challenge of time. the biblical story {fn - } of abraham's plea to the lord that the city of sodom be spared if ten righteous men could be found therein, and the divine reply: "i will not destroy it for ten's sake," gains new meaning in the light of india's escape from the oblivion of babylon, egypt and other mighty nations who were once her contemporaries. the lord's answer clearly shows that a land lives, not by its material achievements, but in its masterpieces of man. let the divine words be heard again, in this twentieth century, twice dyed in blood ere half over: no nation that can produce ten men, great in the eyes of the unbribable judge, shall know extinction. heeding such persuasions, india has proved herself not witless against the thousand cunnings of time. self-realized masters in every century have hallowed her soil; modern christlike sages, like lahiri mahasaya and his disciple sri yukteswar, rise up to proclaim that the science of yoga is more vital than any material advances to man's happiness and to a nation's longevity. very scanty information about the life of lahiri mahasaya and his universal doctrine has ever appeared in print. for three decades in india, america, and europe, i have found a deep and sincere interest in his message of liberating yoga; a written account of the master's life, even as he foretold, is now needed in the west, where lives of the great modern yogis are little known. nothing but one or two small pamphlets in english has been written on the guru's life. one biography in bengali, sri sri {fn - } shyama charan lahiri mahasaya, appeared in . it was written by my disciple, swami satyananda, who for many years has been the acharya (spiritual preceptor) at our vidyalaya in ranchi. i have translated a few passages from his book and have incorporated them into this section devoted to lahiri mahasaya. it was into a pious brahmin family of ancient lineage that lahiri mahasaya was born september , . his birthplace was the village of ghurni in the nadia district near krishnagar, bengal. he was the youngest son of muktakashi, the second wife of the esteemed gaur mohan lahiri. (his first wife, after the birth of three sons, had died during a pilgrimage.) the boy's mother passed away during his childhood; little about her is known except the revealing fact that she was an ardent devotee of lord shiva, {fn - } scripturally designated as the "king of yogis." the boy lahiri, whose given name was shyama charan, spent his early years in the ancestral home at nadia. at the age of three or four he was often observed sitting under the sands in the posture of a yogi, his body completely hidden except for the head. the lahiri estate was destroyed in the winter of , when the nearby jalangi river changed its course and disappeared into the depths of the ganges. one of the shiva temples founded by the lahiris went into the river along with the family home. a devotee rescued the stone image of lord shiva from the swirling waters and placed it in a new temple, now well-known as the ghurni shiva site. gaur mohan lahiri and his family left nadia and became residents of benares, where the father immediately erected a shiva temple. he conducted his household along the lines of vedic discipline, with regular observance of ceremonial worship, acts of charity, and scriptural study. just and open-minded, however, he did not ignore the beneficial current of modern ideas. the boy lahiri took lessons in hindi and urdu in benares study-groups. he attended a school conducted by joy narayan ghosal, receiving instruction in sanskrit, bengali, french, and english. applying himself to a close study of the vedas, the young yogi listened eagerly to scriptural discussions by learned brahmins, including a marhatta pundit named nag-bhatta. shyama charan was a kind, gentle, and courageous youth, beloved by all his companions. with a well-proportioned, bright, and powerful body, he excelled in swimming and in many skillful activities. in shyama charan lahiri was married to srimati kashi moni, daughter of sri debnarayan sanyal. a model indian housewife, kashi moni cheerfully carried on her home duties and the traditional householder's obligation to serve guests and the poor. two saintly sons, tincouri and ducouri, blessed the union. at the age of , in , lahiri mahasaya took the post of accountant in the military engineering department of the english government. he received many promotions during the time of his service. thus not only was he a master before god's eyes, but also a success in the little human drama where he played his given role as an office worker in the world. as the offices of the army department were shifted, lahiri mahasaya was transferred to gazipur, mirjapur, danapur, naini tal, benares, and other localities. after the death of his father, lahiri had to assume the entire responsibility of his family, for whom he bought a quiet residence in the garudeswar mohulla neighborhood of benares. it was in his thirty-third year that lahiri mahasaya saw fulfillment of the purpose for which he had been reincarnated on earth. the ash-hidden flame, long smouldering, received its opportunity to burst into flame. a divine decree, resting beyond the gaze of human beings, works mysteriously to bring all things into outer manifestation at the proper time. he met his great guru, babaji, near ranikhet, and was initiated by him into kriya yoga. this auspicious event did not happen to him alone; it was a fortunate moment for all the human race, many of whom were later privileged to receive the soul-awakening gift of kriya. the lost, or long-vanished, highest art of yoga was again being brought to light. many spiritually thirsty men and women eventually found their way to the cool waters of kriya yoga. just as in the hindu legend, where mother ganges offers her divine draught to the parched devotee bhagirath, so the celestial flood of kriya rolled from the secret fastnesses of the himalayas into the dusty haunts of men. {fn - } john : - . {fn - } a cholera victim is often rational and fully conscious right up to the moment of death. {fn - } the god of death. {fn - } literally, "supreme soul." {fn - } genesis : - . {fn - } sri, a prefix meaning "holy," is attached (generally twice or thrice) to names of great indian teachers. {fn - } one of the trinity of godhead-brahma, vishnu, shiva-whose universal work is, respectively, that of creation, preservation, and dissolution-restoration. shiva (sometimes spelled siva), represented in mythology as the lord of renunciates, appears in visions to his devotees under various aspects, such as mahadeva, the matted-haired ascetic, and nataraja, the cosmic dancer. chapter: babaji, the yogi-christ of modern india the northern himalayan crags near badrinarayan are still blessed by the living presence of babaji, guru of lahiri mahasaya. the secluded master has retained his physical form for centuries, perhaps for millenniums. the deathless babaji is an avatara. this sanskrit word means "descent"; its roots are ava, "down," and tri, "to pass." in the hindu scriptures, avatara signifies the descent of divinity into flesh. "babaji's spiritual state is beyond human comprehension," sri yukteswar explained to me. "the dwarfed vision of men cannot pierce to his transcendental star. one attempts in vain even to picture the avatar's attainment. it is inconceivable." the upanishads have minutely classified every stage of spiritual advancement. a siddha ("perfected being") has progressed from the state of a jivanmukta ("freed while living") to that of a paramukta ("supremely free"-full power over death); the latter has completely escaped from the mayic thralldom and its reincarnational round. the paramukta therefore seldom returns to a physical body; if he does, he is an avatar, a divinely appointed medium of supernal blessings on the world. an avatar is unsubject to the universal economy; his pure body, visible as a light image, is free from any debt to nature. the casual gaze may see nothing extraordinary in an avatar's form but it casts no shadow nor makes any footprint on the ground. these are outward symbolic proofs of an inward lack of darkness and material bondage. such a god-man alone knows the truth behind the relativities of life and death. omar khayyam, so grossly misunderstood, sang of this liberated man in his immortal scripture, the rubaiyat: "ah, moon of my delight who know'st no wane, the moon of heav'n is rising once again; how oft hereafter rising shall she look through this same garden after me-in vain!" the "moon of delight" is god, eternal polaris, anachronous never. the "moon of heav'n" is the outward cosmos, fettered to the law of periodic recurrence. its chains had been dissolved forever by the persian seer through his self-realization. "how oft hereafter rising shall she look . . . after me-in vain!" what frustration of search by a frantic universe for an absolute omission! christ expressed his freedom in another way: "and a certain scribe came, and said unto him, master, i will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. and jesus saith unto him, the foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the son of man hath not where to lay his head." {fn - } spacious with omnipresence, could christ indeed be followed except in the overarching spirit? krishna, rama, buddha, and patanjali were among the ancient indian avatars. a considerable poetic literature in tamil has grown up around agastya, a south indian avatar. he worked many miracles during the centuries preceding and following the christian era, and is credited with retaining his physical form even to this day. babaji's mission in india has been to assist prophets in carrying out their special dispensations. he thus qualifies for the scriptural classification of mahavatar (great avatar). he has stated that he gave yoga initiation to shankara, ancient founder of the swami order, and to kabir, famous medieval saint. his chief nineteenth-century disciple was, as we know, lahiri mahasaya, revivalist of the lost kriya art. [illustration: babaji, the mahavatar, guru of lahiri mahasaya, i have helped an artist to draw a true likeness of the great yogi-christ of modern india.--see babaji.jpg] the mahavatar is in constant communion with christ; together they send out vibrations of redemption, and have planned the spiritual technique of salvation for this age. the work of these two fully-illumined masters-one with the body, and one without it-is to inspire the nations to forsake suicidal wars, race hatreds, religious sectarianism, and the boomerang-evils of materialism. babaji is well aware of the trend of modern times, especially of the influence and complexities of western civilization, and realizes the necessity of spreading the self-liberations of yoga equally in the west and in the east. that there is no historical reference to babaji need not surprise us. the great guru has never openly appeared in any century; the misinterpreting glare of publicity has no place in his millennial plans. like the creator, the sole but silent power, babaji works in a humble obscurity. great prophets like christ and krishna come to earth for a specific and spectacular purpose; they depart as soon as it is accomplished. other avatars, like babaji, undertake work which is concerned more with the slow evolutionary progress of man during the centuries than with any one outstanding event of history. such masters always veil themselves from the gross public gaze, and have the power to become invisible at will. for these reasons, and because they generally instruct their disciples to maintain silence about them, a number of towering spiritual figures remain world-unknown. i give in these pages on babaji merely a hint of his life-only a few facts which he deems it fit and helpful to be publicly imparted. no limiting facts about babaji's family or birthplace, dear to the annalist's heart, have ever been discovered. his speech is generally in hindi, but he converses easily in any language. he has adopted the simple name of babaji (revered father); other titles of respect given him by lahiri mahasaya's disciples are mahamuni babaji maharaj (supreme ecstatic saint), maha yogi (greatest of yogis), trambak baba and shiva baba (titles of avatars of shiva). does it matter that we know not the patronymic of an earth-released master? "whenever anyone utters with reverence the name of babaji," lahiri mahasaya said, "that devotee attracts an instant spiritual blessing." the deathless guru bears no marks of age on his body; he appears to be no more than a youth of twenty-five. fair-skinned, of medium build and height, babaji's beautiful, strong body radiates a perceptible glow. his eyes are dark, calm, and tender; his long, lustrous hair is copper-colored. a very strange fact is that babaji bears an extraordinarily exact resemblance to his disciple lahiri mahasaya. the similarity is so striking that, in his later years, lahiri mahasaya might have passed as the father of the youthful-looking babaji. swami kebalananda, my saintly sanskrit tutor, spent some time with babaji in the himalayas. "the peerless master moves with his group from place to place in the mountains," kebalananda told me. "his small band contains two highly advanced american disciples. after babaji has been in one locality for some time, he says: 'dera danda uthao.' ('let us lift our camp and staff.') he carries a symbolic danda (bamboo staff). his words are the signal for moving with his group instantaneously to another place. he does not always employ this method of astral travel; sometimes he goes on foot from peak to peak. "babaji can be seen or recognized by others only when he so desires. he is known to have appeared in many slightly different forms to various devotees-sometimes without beard and moustache, and sometimes with them. as his undecaying body requires no food, the master seldom eats. as a social courtesy to visiting disciples, he occasionally accepts fruits, or rice cooked in milk and clarified butter. "two amazing incidents of babaji's life are known to me," kebalananda went on. "his disciples were sitting one night around a huge fire which was blazing for a sacred vedic ceremony. the master suddenly seized a burning log and lightly struck the bare shoulder of a chela who was close to the fire. "'sir, how cruel!' lahiri mahasaya, who was present, made this remonstrance. "'would you rather have seen him burned to ashes before your eyes, according to the decree of his past karma?' "with these words babaji placed his healing hand on the chela's disfigured shoulder. 'i have freed you tonight from painful death. the karmic law has been satisfied through your slight suffering by fire.' "on another occasion babaji's sacred circle was disturbed by the arrival of a stranger. he had climbed with astonishing skill to the nearly inaccessible ledge near the camp of the master. "'sir, you must be the great babaji.' the man's face was lit with inexpressible reverence. 'for months i have pursued a ceaseless search for you among these forbidding crags. i implore you to accept me as a disciple.' "when the great guru made no response, the man pointed to the rocky chasm at his feet. "'if you refuse me, i will jump from this mountain. life has no further value if i cannot win your guidance to the divine.' "'jump then,' babaji said unemotionally. 'i cannot accept you in your present state of development.' "the man immediately hurled himself over the cliff. babaji instructed the shocked disciples to fetch the stranger's body. when they returned with the mangled form, the master placed his divine hand on the dead man. lo! he opened his eyes and prostrated himself humbly before the omnipotent one. "'you are now ready for discipleship.' babaji beamed lovingly on his resurrected chela. 'you have courageously passed a difficult test. death shall not touch you again; now you are one of our immortal flock.' then he spoke his usual words of departure, 'dera danda uthao'; the whole group vanished from the mountain." an avatar lives in the omnipresent spirit; for him there is no distance inverse to the square. only one reason, therefore, can motivate babaji in maintaining his physical form from century to century: the desire to furnish humanity with a concrete example of its own possibilities. were man never vouchsafed a glimpse of divinity in the flesh, he would remain oppressed by the heavy mayic delusion that he cannot transcend his mortality. jesus knew from the beginning the sequence of his life; he passed through each event not for himself, not from any karmic compulsion, but solely for the upliftment of reflective human beings. his four reporter-disciples-matthew, mark, luke, and john-recorded the ineffable drama for the benefit of later generations. for babaji, also, there is no relativity of past, present, future; from the beginning he has known all phases of his life. yet, accommodating himself to the limited understanding of men, he has played many acts of his divine life in the presence of one or more witnesses. thus it came about that a disciple of lahiri mahasaya was present when babaji deemed the time to be ripe for him to proclaim the possibility of bodily immortality. he uttered this promise before ram gopal muzumdar, that it might finally become known for the inspiration of other seeking hearts. the great ones speak their words and participate in the seemingly natural course of events, solely for the good of man, even as christ said: "father . . . i knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by i said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me." {fn - } during my visit at ranbajpur with ram gopal, "the sleepless saint," {fn - } he related the wondrous story of his first meeting with babaji. "i sometimes left my isolated cave to sit at lahiri mahasaya's feet in benares," ram gopal told me. "one midnight as i was silently meditating in a group of his disciples, the master made a surprising request. "'ram gopal,' he said, 'go at once to the dasasamedh bathing ghat.' "i soon reached the secluded spot. the night was bright with moonlight and the glittering stars. after i had sat in patient silence for awhile, my attention was drawn to a huge stone slab near my feet. it rose gradually, revealing an underground cave. as the stone remained balanced in some unknown manner, the draped form of a young and surpassingly lovely woman was levitated from the cave high into the air. surrounded by a soft halo, she slowly descended in front of me and stood motionless, steeped in an inner state of ecstasy. she finally stirred, and spoke gently. "'i am mataji, {fn - } the sister of babaji. i have asked him and also lahiri mahasaya to come to my cave tonight to discuss a matter of great importance.' "a nebulous light was rapidly floating over the ganges; the strange luminescence was reflected in the opaque waters. it approached nearer and nearer until, with a blinding flash, it appeared by the side of mataji and condensed itself instantly into the human form of lahiri mahasaya. he bowed humbly at the feet of the woman saint. "before i had recovered from my bewilderment, i was further wonderstruck to behold a circling mass of mystical light traveling in the sky. descending swiftly, the flaming whirlpool neared our group and materialized itself into the body of a beautiful youth who, i understood at once, was babaji. he looked like lahiri mahasaya, the only difference being that babaji appeared much younger, and had long, bright hair. "lahiri mahasaya, mataji, and myself knelt at the guru's feet. an ethereal sensation of beatific glory thrilled every fiber of my being as i touched his divine flesh. "'blessed sister,' babaji said, 'i am intending to shed my form and plunge into the infinite current.' "'i have already glimpsed your plan, beloved master. i wanted to discuss it with you tonight. why should you leave your body?' the glorious woman looked at him beseechingly. "'what is the difference if i wear a visible or invisible wave on the ocean of my spirit?' "mataji replied with a quaint flash of wit. 'deathless guru, if it makes no difference, then please do not ever relinquish your form.' {fn - } "'be it so,' babaji said solemnly. 'i will never leave my physical body. it will always remain visible to at least a small number of people on this earth. the lord has spoken his own wish through your lips.' "as i listened in awe to the conversation between these exalted beings, the great guru turned to me with a benign gesture. "'fear not, ram gopal,' he said, 'you are blessed to be a witness at the scene of this immortal promise.' "as the sweet melody of babaji's voice faded away, his form and that of lahiri mahasaya slowly levitated and moved backward over the ganges. an aureole of dazzling light templed their bodies as they vanished into the night sky. mataji's form floated to the cave and descended; the stone slab closed of itself, as if working on an invisible leverage. "infinitely inspired, i wended my way back to lahiri mahasaya's place. as i bowed before him in the early dawn, my guru smiled at me understandingly. "'i am happy for you, ram gopal,' he said. 'the desire of meeting babaji and mataji, which you have often expressed to me, has found at last a sacred fulfillment.' "my fellow disciples informed me that lahiri mahasaya had not moved from his dais since early the preceding evening. "'he gave a wonderful discourse on immortality after you had left for the dasasamedh ghat,' one of the chelas told me. for the first time i fully realized the truth in the scriptural verses which state that a man of self-realization can appear at different places in two or more bodies at the same time. "lahiri mahasaya later explained to me many metaphysical points concerning the hidden divine plan for this earth," ram gopal concluded. "babaji has been chosen by god to remain in his body for the duration of this particular world cycle. ages shall come and go--still the deathless master, {fn - } beholding the drama of the centuries, shall be present on this stage terrestrial." chapter footnotes {fn - } matthew : - . {fn - } john : - . {fn - } the omnipresent yogi who observed that i failed to bow before the tarakeswar shrine (../chapter ). {fn - } "holy mother." mataji also has lived through the centuries; she is almost as far advanced spiritually as her brother. she remains in ecstasy in a hidden underground cave near the dasasamedh ghat. {fn - } this incident reminds one of thales. the great greek philosopher taught that there was no difference between life and death. "why, then," inquired a critic, "do you not die?" "because," answered thales, "it makes no difference." {fn - } "verily, verily, i say unto you, if a man keep my saying (remain unbrokenly in the christ consciousness), he shall never see death."-john : . chapter: materializing a palace in the himalayas "babaji's first meeting with lahiri mahasaya is an enthralling story, and one of the few which gives us a detailed glimpse of the deathless guru." these words were swami kebalananda's preamble to a wondrous tale. the first time he recounted it i was literally spellbound. on many other occasions i coaxed my gentle sanskrit tutor to repeat the story, which was later told me in substantially the same words by sri yukteswar. both these lahiri mahasaya disciples had heard the awesome tale direct from the lips of their guru. "my first meeting with babaji took place in my thirty-third year," lahiri mahasaya had said. "in the autumn of i was stationed in danapur as a government accountant in the military engineering department. one morning the office manager summoned me. "'lahiri,' he said, 'a telegram has just come from our main office. you are to be transferred to ranikhet, where an army post {fn - } is now being established.' "with one servant, i set out on the -mile trip. traveling by horse and buggy, we arrived in thirty days at the himalayan site of ranikhet. {fn - } "my office duties were not onerous; i was able to spend many hours roaming in the magnificent hills. a rumor reached me that great saints blessed the region with their presence; i felt a strong desire to see them. during a ramble one early afternoon, i was astounded to hear a distant voice calling my name. i continued my vigorous upward climb on drongiri mountain. a slight uneasiness beset me at the thought that i might not be able to retrace my steps before darkness had descended over the jungle. "i finally reached a small clearing whose sides were dotted with caves. on one of the rocky ledges stood a smiling young man, extending his hand in welcome. i noticed with astonishment that, except for his copper-colored hair, he bore a remarkable resemblance to myself. "'lahiri, you have come!' the saint addressed me affectionately in hindi. 'rest here in this cave. it was i who called you.' "i entered a neat little grotto which contained several woolen blankets and a few kamandulus (begging bowls). "'lahiri, do you remember that seat?' the yogi pointed to a folded blanket in one corner. "'no, sir.' somewhat dazed at the strangeness of my adventure, i added, 'i must leave now, before nightfall. i have business in the morning at my office.' "the mysterious saint replied in english, 'the office was brought for you, and not you for the office.' "i was dumbfounded that this forest ascetic should not only speak english but also paraphrase the words of christ. {fn - } "'i see my telegram took effect.' the yogi's remark was incomprehensible to me; i inquired his meaning. "'i refer to the telegram that summoned you to these isolated parts. it was i who silently suggested to the mind of your superior officer that you be transferred to ranikhet. when one feels his unity with mankind, all minds become transmitting stations through which he can work at will.' he added gently, 'lahiri, surely this cave seems familiar to you?' "as i maintained a bewildered silence, the saint approached and struck me gently on the forehead. at his magnetic touch, a wondrous current swept through my brain, releasing the sweet seed-memories of my previous life. "'i remember!' my voice was half-choked with joyous sobs. 'you are my guru babaji, who has belonged to me always! scenes of the past arise vividly in my mind; here in this cave i spent many years of my last incarnation!' as ineffable recollections overwhelmed me, i tearfully embraced my master's feet. "'for more than three decades i have waited for you here-waited for you to return to me!' babaji's voice rang with celestial love. 'you slipped away and vanished into the tumultuous waves of the life beyond death. the magic wand of your karma touched you, and you were gone! though you lost sight of me, never did i lose sight of you! i pursued you over the luminescent astral sea where the glorious angels sail. through gloom, storm, upheaval, and light i followed you, like a mother bird guarding her young. as you lived out your human term of womb-life, and emerged a babe, my eye was ever on you. when you covered your tiny form in the lotus posture under the nadia sands in your childhood, i was invisibly present! patiently, month after month, year after year, i have watched over you, waiting for this perfect day. now you are with me! lo, here is your cave, loved of yore! i have kept it ever clean and ready for you. here is your hallowed asana-blanket, where you daily sat to fill your expanding heart with god! behold there your bowl, from which you often drank the nectar prepared by me! see how i have kept the brass cup brightly polished, that you might drink again therefrom! my own, do you now understand?' "'my guru, what can i say?' i murmured brokenly. 'where has one ever heard of such deathless love?' i gazed long and ecstatically on my eternal treasure, my guru in life and death. "'lahiri, you need purification. drink the oil in this bowl and lie down by the river.' babaji's practical wisdom, i reflected with a quick, reminiscent smile, was ever to the fore. "i obeyed his directions. though the icy himalayan night was descending, a comforting warmth, an inner radiation, began to pulsate in every cell of my body. i marveled. was the unknown oil endued with a cosmical heat? "bitter winds whipped around me in the darkness, shrieking a fierce challenge. the chill wavelets of the gogash river lapped now and then over my body, outstretched on the rocky bank. tigers howled near-by, but my heart was free of fear; the radiant force newly generated within me conveyed an assurance of unassailable protection. several hours passed swiftly; faded memories of another life wove themselves into the present brilliant pattern of reunion with my divine guru. "my solitary musings were interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps. in the darkness, a man's hand gently helped me to my feet, and gave me some dry clothing. "'come, brother,' my companion said. 'the master awaits you.' "he led the way through the forest. the somber night was suddenly lit by a steady luminosity in the distance. "'can that be the sunrise?' i inquired. 'surely the whole night has not passed?' "'the hour is midnight.' my guide laughed softly. 'yonder light is the glow of a golden palace, materialized here tonight by the peerless babaji. in the dim past, you once expressed a desire to enjoy the beauties of a palace. our master is now satisfying your wish, thus freeing you from the bonds of karma.' {fn - } he added, 'the magnificent palace will be the scene of your initiation tonight into kriya yoga. all your brothers here join in a paean of welcome, rejoicing at the end of your long exile. behold!' "a vast palace of dazzling gold stood before us. studded with countless jewels, and set amidst landscaped gardens, it presented a spectacle of unparalleled grandeur. saints of angelic countenance were stationed by resplendent gates, half-reddened by the glitter of rubies. diamonds, pearls, sapphires, and emeralds of great size and luster were imbedded in the decorative arches. "i followed my companion into a spacious reception hall. the odor of incense and of roses wafted through the air; dim lamps shed a multicolored glow. small groups of devotees, some fair, some dark-skinned, chanted musically, or sat in the meditative posture, immersed in an inner peace. a vibrant joy pervaded the atmosphere. "'feast your eyes; enjoy the artistic splendors of this palace, for it has been brought into being solely in your honor.' my guide smiled sympathetically as i uttered a few ejaculations of wonderment. "'brother,' i said, 'the beauty of this structure surpasses the bounds of human imagination. please tell me the mystery of its origin.' "'i will gladly enlighten you.' my companion's dark eyes sparkled with wisdom. 'in reality there is nothing inexplicable about this materialization. the whole cosmos is a materialized thought of the creator. this heavy, earthly clod, floating in space, is a dream of god. he made all things out of his consciousness, even as man in his dream consciousness reproduces and vivifies a creation with its creatures. "'god first created the earth as an idea. then he quickened it; energy atoms came into being. he coordinated the atoms into this solid sphere. all its molecules are held together by the will of god. when he withdraws his will, the earth again will disintegrate into energy. energy will dissolve into consciousness; the earth-idea will disappear from objectivity. "'the substance of a dream is held in materialization by the subconscious thought of the dreamer. when that cohesive thought is withdrawn in wakefulness, the dream and its elements dissolve. a man closes his eyes and erects a dream-creation which, on awakening, he effortlessly dematerializes. he follows the divine archetypal pattern. similarly, when he awakens in cosmic consciousness, he will effortlessly dematerialize the illusions of the cosmic dream. "'being one with the infinite all-accomplishing will, babaji can summon the elemental atoms to combine and manifest themselves in any form. this golden palace, instantaneously created, is real, even as this earth is real. babaji created this palatial mansion out of his mind and is holding its atoms together by the power of his will, even as god created this earth and is maintaining it intact.' he added, 'when this structure has served its purpose, babaji will dematerialize it.' "as i remained silent in awe, my guide made a sweeping gesture. 'this shimmering palace, superbly embellished with jewels, has not been built by human effort or with laboriously mined gold and gems. it stands solidly, a monumental challenge to man. {fn - } whoever realizes himself as a son of god, even as babaji has done, can reach any goal by the infinite powers hidden within him. a common stone locks within itself the secret of stupendous atomic energy; {fn - } even so, a mortal is yet a powerhouse of divinity.' "the sage picked up from a near-by table a graceful vase whose handle was blazing with diamonds. 'our great guru created this palace by solidifying myriads of free cosmic rays,' he went on. 'touch this vase and its diamonds; they will satisfy all the tests of sensory experience.' "i examined the vase, and passed my hand over the smooth room-walls, thick with glistening gold. each of the jewels scattered lavishly about was worthy of a king's collection. deep satisfaction spread over my mind. a submerged desire, hidden in my subconsciousness from lives now gone, seemed simultaneously gratified and extinguished. "my stately companion led me through ornate arches and corridors into a series of chambers richly furnished in the style of an emperor's palace. we entered an immense hall. in the center stood a golden throne, encrusted with jewels shedding a dazzling medley of colors. there, in lotus posture, sat the supreme babaji. i knelt on the shining floor at his feet. "'lahiri, are you still feasting on your dream desires for a golden palace?' my guru's eyes were twinkling like his own sapphires. 'wake! all your earthly thirsts are about to be quenched forever.' he murmured some mystic words of blessing. 'my son, arise. receive your initiation into the kingdom of god through kriya yoga.' "babaji stretched out his hand; a homa (sacrificial) fire appeared, surrounded by fruits and flowers. i received the liberating yogic technique before this flaming altar. "the rites were completed in the early dawn. i felt no need for sleep in my ecstatic state, and wandered around the palace, filled on all sides with treasures and priceless objets d'art. descending to the gorgeous gardens, i noticed, near-by, the same caves and barren mountain ledges which yesterday had boasted no adjacency to palace or flowered terrace. "reentering the palace, fabulously glistening in the cold himalayan sunlight, i sought the presence of my master. he was still enthroned, surrounded by many quiet disciples. "'lahiri, you are hungry.' babaji added, 'close your eyes.' "when i reopened them, the enchanting palace and its picturesque gardens had disappeared. my own body and the forms of babaji and the cluster of chelas were all now seated on the bare ground at the exact site of the vanished palace, not far from the sunlit entrances of the rocky grottos. i recalled that my guide had remarked that the palace would be dematerialized, its captive atoms released into the thought-essence from which it had sprung. although stunned, i looked trustingly at my guru. i knew not what to expect next on this day of miracles. "'the purpose for which the palace was created has now been served,' babaji explained. he lifted an earthen vessel from the ground. 'put your hand there and receive whatever food you desire.' "as soon as i touched the broad, empty bowl, it became heaped with hot butter-fried luchis, curry, and rare sweetmeats. i helped myself, observing that the vessel was ever-filled. at the end of my meal i looked around for water. my guru pointed to the bowl before me. lo! the food had vanished; in its place was water, clear as from a mountain stream. "'few mortals know that the kingdom of god includes the kingdom of mundane fulfillments,' babaji observed. 'the divine realm extends to the earthly, but the latter, being illusory, cannot include the essence of reality.' "'beloved guru, last night you demonstrated for me the link of beauty in heaven and earth!' i smiled at memories of the vanished palace; surely no simple yogi had ever received initiation into the august mysteries of spirit amidst surroundings of more impressive luxury! i gazed tranquilly at the stark contrast of the present scene. the gaunt ground, the skyey roof, the caves offering primitive shelter-all seemed a gracious natural setting for the seraphic saints around me. "i sat that afternoon on my blanket, hallowed by associations of past-life realizations. my divine guru approached and passed his hand over my head. i entered the nirbikalpa samadhi state, remaining unbrokenly in its bliss for seven days. crossing the successive strata of self-knowledge, i penetrated the deathless realms of reality. all delusive limitations dropped away; my soul was fully established on the eternal altar of the cosmic spirit. on the eighth day i fell at my guru's feet and implored him to keep me always near him in this sacred wilderness. "'my son,' babaji said, embracing me, 'your role in this incarnation must be played on an outward stage. prenatally blessed by many lives of lonely meditation, you must now mingle in the world of men. "'a deep purpose underlay the fact that you did not meet me this time until you were already a married man, with modest business responsibilities. you must put aside your thoughts of joining our secret band in the himalayas; your life lies in the crowded marts, serving as an example of the ideal yogi-householder. "'the cries of many bewildered worldly men and women have not fallen unheard on the ears of the great ones,' he went on. 'you have been chosen to bring spiritual solace through kriya yoga to numerous earnest seekers. the millions who are encumbered by family ties and heavy worldly duties will take new heart from you, a householder like themselves. you must guide them to see that the highest yogic attainments are not barred to the family man. even in the world, the yogi who faithfully discharges his responsibilities, without personal motive or attachment, treads the sure path of enlightenment. "'no necessity compels you to leave the world, for inwardly you have already sundered its every karmic tie. not of this world, you must yet be in it. many years still remain during which you must conscientiously fulfill your family, business, civic, and spiritual duties. a sweet new breath of divine hope will penetrate the arid hearts of worldly men. from your balanced life, they will understand that liberation is dependent on inner, rather than outer, renunciations.' "how remote seemed my family, the office, the world, as i listened to my guru in the high himalayan solitudes. yet adamantine truth rang in his words; i submissively agreed to leave this blessed haven of peace. babaji instructed me in the ancient rigid rules which govern the transmission of the yogic art from guru to disciple. "'bestow the kriya key only on qualified chelas,' babaji said. 'he who vows to sacrifice all in the quest of the divine is fit to unravel the final mysteries of life through the science of meditation.' "'angelic guru, as you have already favored mankind by resurrecting the lost kriya art, will you not increase that benefit by relaxing the strict requirements for discipleship?' i gazed beseechingly at babaji. 'i pray that you permit me to communicate kriya to all seekers, even though at first they cannot vow themselves to complete inner renunciation. the tortured men and women of the world, pursued by the threefold suffering, {fn - } need special encouragement. they may never attempt the road to freedom if kriya initiation be withheld from them.' "'be it so. the divine wish has been expressed through you.' with these simple words, the merciful guru banished the rigorous safeguards that for ages had hidden kriya from the world. 'give kriya freely to all who humbly ask for help.' "after a silence, babaji added, 'repeat to each of your disciples this majestic promise from the bhagavad gita: "swalpamasya dharmasya, trayata mahato bhoyat"--"even a little bit of the practice of this religion will save you from dire fears and colossal sufferings."' {fn - } "as i knelt the next morning at my guru's feet for his farewell blessing, he sensed my deep reluctance to leave him. "'there is no separation for us, my beloved child.' he touched my shoulder affectionately. 'wherever you are, whenever you call me, i shall be with you instantly.' "consoled by his wondrous promise, and rich with the newly found gold of god-wisdom, i wended my way down the mountain. at the office i was welcomed by my fellow employees, who for ten days had thought me lost in the himalayan jungles. a letter soon arrived from the head office. "'lahiri should return to the danapur {fn - } office,' it read. 'his transfer to ranikhet occurred by error. another man should have been sent to assume the ranikhet duties.' "i smiled, reflecting on the hidden crosscurrents in the events which had led me to this furthermost spot of india. "before returning to danapur, i spent a few days with a bengali family at moradabad. a party of six friends gathered to greet me. as i turned the conversation to spiritual subjects, my host observed gloomily: "'oh, in these days india is destitute of saints!' "'babu,' i protested warmly, 'of course there are still great masters in this land!' "in a mood of exalted fervor, i felt impelled to relate my miraculous experiences in the himalayas. the little company was politely incredulous. "'lahiri,' one man said soothingly, 'your mind has been under a strain in those rarefied mountain airs. this is some daydream you have recounted.' "burning with the enthusiasm of truth, i spoke without due thought. 'if i call him, my guru will appear right in this house.' "interest gleamed in every eye; it was no wonder that the group was eager to behold a saint materialized in such a strange way. half-reluctantly, i asked for a quiet room and two new woolen blankets. "'the master will materialize from the ether,' i said. 'remain silently outside the door; i shall soon call you.' "i sank into the meditative state, humbly summoning my guru. the darkened room soon filled with a dim aural moonlight; the luminous figure of babaji emerged. "'lahiri, do you call me for a trifle?' the master's gaze was stern. 'truth is for earnest seekers, not for those of idle curiosity. it is easy to believe when one sees; there is nothing then to deny. supersensual truth is deserved and discovered by those who overcome their natural materialistic skepticism.' he added gravely, 'let me go!' "i fell entreatingly at his feet. 'holy guru, i realize my serious error; i humbly ask pardon. it was to create faith in these spiritually blinded minds that i ventured to call you. because you have graciously appeared at my prayer, please do not depart without bestowing a blessing on my friends. unbelievers though they be, at least they were willing to investigate the truth of my strange assertions.' "'very well; i will stay awhile. i do not wish your word discredited before your friends.' babaji's face had softened, but he added gently, 'henceforth, my son, i shall come when you need me, and not always when you call me. {fn - }' "tense silence reigned in the little group when i opened the door. as if mistrusting their senses, my friends stared at the lustrous figure on the blanket seat. "'this is mass-hypnotism!' one man laughed blatantly. 'no one could possibly have entered this room without our knowledge!' "babaji advanced smilingly and motioned to each one to touch the warm, solid flesh of his body. doubts dispelled, my friends prostrated themselves on the floor in awed repentance. "'let halua {fn - } be prepared.' babaji made this request, i knew, to further assure the group of his physical reality. while the porridge was boiling, the divine guru chatted affably. great was the metamorphosis of these doubting thomases into devout st. pauls. after we had eaten, babaji blessed each of us in turn. there was a sudden flash; we witnessed the instantaneous dechemicalization of the electronic elements of babaji's body into a spreading vaporous light. the god-tuned will power of the master had loosened its grasp of the ether atoms held together as his body; forthwith the trillions of tiny lifetronic sparks faded into the infinite reservoir. "'with my own eyes i have seen the conqueror of death.' maitra, {fn - } one of the group, spoke reverently. his face was transfigured with the joy of his recent awakening. 'the supreme guru played with time and space, as a child plays with bubbles. i have beheld one with the keys of heaven and earth.' "i soon returned to danapur. firmly anchored in the spirit, again i assumed the manifold business and family obligations of a householder." lahiri mahasaya also related to swami kebalananda and sri yukteswar the story of another meeting with babaji, under circumstances which recalled the guru's promise: "i shall come whenever you need me." "the scene was a kumbha mela at allahabad," lahiri mahasaya told his disciples. "i had gone there during a short vacation from my office duties. as i wandered amidst the throng of monks and sadhus who had come from great distances to attend the holy festival, i noticed an ash-smeared ascetic who was holding a begging bowl. the thought arose in my mind that the man was hypocritical, wearing the outward symbols of renunciation without a corresponding inward grace. "no sooner had i passed the ascetic than my astounded eye fell on babaji. he was kneeling in front of a matted-haired anchorite. "'guruji!' i hastened to his side. 'sir, what are you doing here?' "'i am washing the feet of this renunciate, and then i shall clean his cooking utensils.' babaji smiled at me like a little child; i knew he was intimating that he wanted me to criticize no one, but to see the lord as residing equally in all body-temples, whether of superior or inferior men. the great guru added, 'by serving wise and ignorant sadhus, i am learning the greatest of virtues, pleasing to god above all others-humility.'" {fn - } now a military sanatorium. by the british government had already established certain telegraphic communciations. {fn - } ranikhet, in the almora district of united provinces, is situated at the foot of nanda devi, the highest himalayan peak ( , feet) in british india. {fn - } "the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath."--mark : . {fn - } the karmic law requires that every human wish find ultimate fulfillment. desire is thus the chain which binds man to the reincarnational wheel. {fn - } "what is a miracle?-'tis a reproach, 'tis an implicit satire on mankind." --edward young, in night thoughts. {fn - } the theory of the atomic structure of matter was expounded in the ancient indian vaisesika and nyaya treatises. "there are vast worlds all placed away within the hollows of each atom, multifarious as the motes in a sunbeam."--yoga vasishtha. {fn - } physical, mental, and spiritual suffering; manifested, respectively, in disease, in psychological inadequacies or "complexes," and in soul-ignorance. {fn - } chapter ii: . {fn - } a town near benares. {fn - } in the path to the infinite, even illumined masters like lahiri mahasaya may suffer from an excess of zeal, and be subject to discipline. in the bhagavad gita, we read many passages where the divine guru krishna gives chastisement to the prince of devotees, arjuna. {fn - } a porridge made of cream of wheat fried in butter, and boiled with milk. {fn - } the man, maitra, to whom lahiri mahasaya is here referring, afterward became highly advanced in self-realization. i met maitra shortly after my graduation from high school; he visited the mahamandal hermitage in benares while i was a resident. he told me then of babaji's materialization before the group in moradabad. "as a result of the miracle," maitra explained to me, "i became a lifelong disciple of lahiri mahasaya." chapter: the christlike life of lahiri mahasaya "thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." {fn - } in these words to john the baptist, and in asking john to baptize him, jesus was acknowledging the divine rights of his guru. from a reverent study of the bible from an oriental viewpoint, {fn - } and from intuitional perception, i am convinced that john the baptist was, in past lives, the guru of christ. there are numerous passages in the bible which infer that john and jesus in their last incarnations were, respectively, elijah and his disciple elisha. (these are the spellings in the old testament. the greek translators spelled the names as elias and eliseus; they reappear in the new testament in these changed forms.) the very end of the old testament is a prediction of the reincarnation of elijah and elisha: "behold, i will send you elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the lord." {fn - } thus john (elijah), sent "before the coming . . . of the lord," was born slightly earlier to serve as a herald for christ. an angel appeared to zacharias the father to testify that his coming son john would be no other than elijah (elias). "but the angel said unto him, fear not, zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name john. . . . and many of the children of israel shall he turn to the lord their god. and he shall go before him {fn - } in the spirit and power of elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the lord." {fn - } jesus twice unequivocally identified elijah (elias) as john: "elias is come already, and they knew him not. . . . then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of john the baptist." {fn - } again, christ says: "for all the prophets and the law prophesied until john. and if ye will receive it, this is elias, which was for to come." {fn - } when john denied that he was elias (elijah), {fn - } he meant that in the humble garb of john he came no longer in the outward elevation of elijah the great guru. in his former incarnation he had given the "mantle" of his glory and his spiritual wealth to his disciple elisha. "and elisha said, i pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. and he said, thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when i am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee. . . . and he took the mantle of elijah that fell from him." {fn - } the roles became reversed, because elijah-john was no longer needed to be the ostensible guru of elisha-jesus, now perfected in divine realization. when christ was transfigured on the mountain {fn - } it was his guru elias, with moses, whom he saw. again, in his hour of extremity on the cross, jesus cried out the divine name: "eli, eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, my god, my god, why hast thou forsaken me? some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, this man calleth for elias. . . . let us see whether elias will come to save him." {fn - } the eternal bond of guru and disciple that existed between john and jesus was present also for babaji and lahiri mahasaya. with tender solicitude the deathless guru swam the lethean waters that swirled between the last two lives of his chela, and guided the successive steps taken by the child and then by the man lahiri mahasaya. it was not until the disciple had reached his thirty-third year that babaji deemed the time to be ripe to openly reestablish the never-severed link. then, after their brief meeting near ranikhet, the selfless master banished his dearly-beloved disciple from the little mountain group, releasing him for an outward world mission. "my son, i shall come whenever you need me." what mortal lover can bestow that infinite promise? unknown to society in general, a great spiritual renaissance began to flow from a remote corner of benares. just as the fragrance of flowers cannot be suppressed, so lahiri mahasaya, quietly living as an ideal householder, could not hide his innate glory. slowly, from every part of india, the devotee-bees sought the divine nectar of the liberated master. the english office superintendent was one of the first to notice a strange transcendental change in his employee, whom he endearingly called "ecstatic babu." "sir, you seem sad. what is the trouble?" lahiri mahasaya made this sympathetic inquiry one morning to his employer. "my wife in england is critically ill. i am torn by anxiety." "i shall get you some word about her." lahiri mahasaya left the room and sat for a short time in a secluded spot. on his return he smiled consolingly. "your wife is improving; she is now writing you a letter." the omniscient yogi quoted some parts of the missive. "ecstatic babu, i already know that you are no ordinary man. yet i am unable to believe that, at will, you can banish time and space!" the promised letter finally arrived. the astounded superintendent found that it contained not only the good news of his wife's recovery, but also the same phrases which, weeks earlier, lahiri mahasaya had repeated. the wife came to india some months later. she visited the office, where lahiri mahasaya was quietly sitting at his desk. the woman approached him reverently. "sir," she said, "it was your form, haloed in glorious light, that i beheld months ago by my sickbed in london. at that moment i was completely healed! soon after, i was able to undertake the long ocean voyage to india." day after day, one or two devotees besought the sublime guru for kriya initiation. in addition to these spiritual duties, and to those of his business and family life, the great master took an enthusiastic interest in education. he organized many study groups, and played an active part in the growth of a large high school in the bengalitola section of benares. his regular discourses on the scriptures came to be called his "gita assembly," eagerly attended by many truth-seekers. by these manifold activities, lahiri mahasaya sought to answer the common challenge: "after performing one's business and social duties, where is the time for devotional meditation?" the harmoniously balanced life of the great householder-guru became the silent inspiration of thousands of questioning hearts. earning only a modest salary, thrifty, unostentatious, accessible to all, the master carried on naturally and happily in the path of worldly life. though ensconced in the seat of the supreme one, lahiri mahasaya showed reverence to all men, irrespective of their differing merits. when his devotees saluted him, he bowed in turn to them. with a childlike humility, the master often touched the feet of others, but seldom allowed them to pay him similar honor, even though such obeisance toward the guru is an ancient oriental custom. a significant feature of lahiri mahasaya's life was his gift of kriya initiation to those of every faith. not hindus only, but moslems and christians were among his foremost disciples. monists and dualists, those of all faiths or of no established faith, were impartially received and instructed by the universal guru. one of his highly advanced chelas was abdul gufoor khan, a mohammedan. it shows great courage on the part of lahiri mahasaya that, although a high-caste brahmin, he tried his utmost to dissolve the rigid caste bigotry of his time. those from every walk of life found shelter under the master's omnipresent wings. like all god-inspired prophets, lahiri mahasaya gave new hope to the outcastes and down-trodden of society. "always remember that you belong to no one, and no one belongs to you. reflect that some day you will suddenly have to leave everything in this world-so make the acquaintanceship of god now," the great guru told his disciples. "prepare yourself for the coming astral journey of death by daily riding in the balloon of god-perception. through delusion you are perceiving yourself as a bundle of flesh and bones, which at best is a nest of troubles. {fn - } meditate unceasingly, that you may quickly behold yourself as the infinite essence, free from every form of misery. cease being a prisoner of the body; using the secret key of kriya, learn to escape into spirit." the great guru encouraged his various students to adhere to the good traditional discipline of their own faith. stressing the all-inclusive nature of kriya as a practical technique of liberation, lahiri mahasaya then gave his chelas liberty to express their lives in conformance with environment and up bringing. "a moslem should perform his namaj {fn - } worship four times daily," the master pointed out. "four times daily a hindu should sit in meditation. a christian should go down on his knees four times daily, praying to god and then reading the bible." with wise discernment the guru guided his followers into the paths of bhakti (devotion), karma (action), jnana (wisdom), or raja (royal or complete) yogas, according to each man's natural tendencies. the master, who was slow to give his permission to devotees wishing to enter the formal path of monkhood, always cautioned them to first reflect well on the austerities of the monastic life. the great guru taught his disciples to avoid theoretical discussion of the scriptures. "he only is wise who devotes himself to realizing, not reading only, the ancient revelations," he said. "solve all your problems through meditation. {fn - } exchange unprofitable religious speculations for actual god-contact. clear your mind of dogmatic theological debris; let in the fresh, healing waters of direct perception. attune yourself to the active inner guidance; the divine voice has the answer to every dilemma of life. though man's ingenuity for getting himself into trouble appears to be endless, the infinite succor is no less resourceful." [illustration: lahiri mahasaya, disciple of babaji and guru of sri yukteswar--see lahiri.jpg] the master's omnipresence was demonstrated one day before a group of disciples who were listening to his exposition of the bhagavad gita. as he was explaining the meaning of kutastha chaitanya or the christ consciousness in all vibratory creation, lahiri mahasaya suddenly gasped and cried out: "i am drowning in the bodies of many souls off the coast of japan!" the next morning the chelas read a newspaper account of the death of many people whose ship had foundered the preceding day near japan. the distant disciples of lahiri mahasaya were often made aware of his enfolding presence. "i am ever with those who practice kriya," he said consolingly to chelas who could not remain near him. "i will guide you to the cosmic home through your enlarging perceptions." swami satyananda was told by a devotee that, unable to go to benares, the man had nevertheless received precise kriya initiation in a dream. lahiri mahasaya had appeared to instruct the chela in answer to his prayers. if a disciple neglected any of his worldly obligations, the master would gently correct and discipline him. "lahiri mahasaya's words were mild and healing, even when he was forced to speak openly of a chela's faults," sri yukteswar once told me. he added ruefully, "no disciple ever fled from our master's barbs." i could not help laughing, but i truthfully assured sri yukteswar that, sharp or not, his every word was music to my ears. lahiri mahasaya carefully graded kriya into four progressive initiations. {fn - } he bestowed the three higher techniques only after the devotee had manifested definite spiritual progress. one day a certain chela, convinced that his worth was not being duly evaluated, gave voice to his discontent. "master," he said, "surely i am ready now for the second initiation." at this moment the door opened to admit a humble disciple, brinda bhagat. he was a benares postman. "brinda, sit by me here." the great guru smiled at him affectionately. "tell me, are you ready for the second technique of kriya?" the little postman folded his hands in supplication. "gurudeva," he said in alarm, "no more initiations, please! how can i assimilate any higher teachings? i have come today to ask your blessings, because the first divine kriya has filled me with such intoxication that i cannot deliver my letters!" "already brinda swims in the sea of spirit." at these words from lahiri mahasaya, his other disciple hung his head. "master," he said, "i see i have been a poor workman, finding fault with my tools." the postman, who was an uneducated man, later developed his insight through kriya to such an extent that scholars occasionally sought his interpretation on involved scriptural points. innocent alike of sin and syntax, little brinda won renown in the domain of learned pundits. besides the numerous benares disciples of lahiri mahasaya, hundreds came to him from distant parts of india. he himself traveled to bengal on several occasions, visiting at the homes of the fathers-in-law of his two sons. thus blessed by his presence, bengal became honeycombed with small kriya groups. particularly in the districts of krishnagar and bishnupur, many silent devotees to this day have kept the invisible current of spiritual meditation flowing. among many saints who received kriya from lahiri mahasaya may be mentioned the illustrious swami vhaskarananda saraswati of benares, and the deogarh ascetic of high stature, balananda brahmachari. for a time lahiri mahasaya served as private tutor to the son of maharaja iswari narayan sinha bahadur of benares. recognizing the master's spiritual attainment, the maharaja, as well as his son, sought kriya initiation, as did the maharaja jotindra mohan thakur. a number of lahiri mahasaya's disciples with influential worldly position were desirous of expanding the kriya circle by publicity. the guru refused his permission. one chela, the royal physician to the lord of benares, started an organized effort to spread the master's name as "kashi baba" (exalted one of benares). {fn - } again the guru forbade it. "let the fragrance of the kriya flower be wafted naturally, without any display," he said. "its seeds will take root in the soil of spiritually fertile hearts." although the great master did not adopt the system of preaching through the modern medium of an organization, or through the printing press, he knew that the power of his message would rise like a resistless flood, inundating by its own force the banks of human minds. the changed and purified lives of devotees were the simple guarantees of the deathless vitality of kriya. in , twenty-five years after his ranikhet initiation, lahiri mahasaya was retired on a pension. {fn - } with his availability in the daytime, disciples sought him out in ever-increasing numbers. the great guru now sat in silence most of the time, locked in the tranquil lotus posture. he seldom left his little parlor, even for a walk or to visit other parts of the house. a quiet stream of chelas arrived, almost ceaselessly, for a darshan (holy sight) of the guru. to the awe of all beholders, lahiri mahasaya's habitual physiological state exhibited the superhuman features of breathlessness, sleeplessness, cessation of pulse and heartbeat, calm eyes unblinking for hours, and a profound aura of peace. no visitors departed without upliftment of spirit; all knew they had received the silent blessing of a true man of god. the master now permitted his disciple, panchanon bhattacharya, to open an "arya mission institution" in calcutta. here the saintly disciple spread the message of kriya yoga, and prepared for public benefit certain yogic herbal {fn - } medicines. in accordance with ancient custom, the master gave to people in general a neem {fn - } oil for the cure of various diseases. when the guru requested a disciple to distil the oil, he could easily accomplish the task. if anyone else tried, he would encounter strange difficulties, finding that the medicinal oil had almost evaporated after going through the required distilling processes. evidently the master's blessing was a necessary ingredient. [illustration:--lmwriting.jpg] lahiri mahasaya's handwriting and signature, in bengali script, are shown above. the lines occur in a letter to a chela; the great master interprets a sanskrit verse as follows: "he who has attained a state of calmness wherein his eyelids do not blink, has achieved sambhabi mudra." (signed) "sri shyama charan deva sharman" the arya mission institution undertook the publication of many of the guru's scriptural commentaries. like jesus and other great prophets, lahiri mahasaya himself wrote no books, but his penetrating interpretations were recorded and arranged by various disciples. some of these voluntary amanuenses were more discerning than others in correctly conveying the profound insight of the guru; yet, on the whole, their efforts were successful. through their zeal, the world possesses unparalleled commentaries by lahiri mahasaya on twenty-six ancient scriptures. sri ananda mohan lahiri, a grandson of the master, has written an interesting booklet on kriya. "the text of the bhagavad gita is a part of the great epic, the mahabharata, which possesses several knot-points (vyas-kutas)," sri ananda wrote. "keep those knot-points unquestioned, and we find nothing but mythical stories of a peculiar and easily-misunderstood type. keep those knot-points unexplained, and we have lost a science which the east has preserved with superhuman patience after a quest of thousands of years of experiment. {fn - } it was the commentaries of lahiri mahasaya which brought to light, clear of allegories, the very science of religion that had been so cleverly put out of sight in the riddle of scriptural letters and imagery. no longer a mere unintelligible jugglery of words, the otherwise unmeaning formulas of vedic worship have been proved by the master to be full of scientific significance. . . . "we know that man is usually helpless against the insurgent sway of evil passions, but these are rendered powerless and man finds no motive in their indulgence when there dawns on him a consciousness of superior and lasting bliss through kriya. here the give-up, the negation of the lower passions, synchronizes with a take-up, the assertion of a beatitude. without such a course, hundreds of moral maxims which run in mere negatives are useless to us. "our eagerness for worldly activity kills in us the sense of spiritual awe. we cannot comprehend the great life behind all names and forms, just because science brings home to us how we can use the powers of nature; this familiarity has bred a contempt for her ultimate secrets. our relation with nature is one of practical business. we tease her, so to speak, to know how she can be used to serve our purposes; we make use of her energies, whose source yet remains unknown. in science our relation with nature is one that exists between a man and his servant, or in a philosophical sense she is like a captive in the witness box. we cross-examine her, challenge her, and minutely weigh her evidence in human scales which cannot measure her hidden values. on the other hand, when the self is in communion with a higher power, nature automatically obeys, without stress or strain, the will of man. this effortless command over nature is called 'miraculous' by the uncomprehending materialist. "the life of lahiri mahasaya set an example which changed the erroneous notion that yoga is a mysterious practice. every man may find a way through kriya to understand his proper relation with nature, and to feel spiritual reverence for all phenomena, whether mystical or of everyday occurrence, in spite of the matter-of-factness of physical science. {fn - } we must bear in mind that what was mystical a thousand years ago is no longer so, and what is mysterious now may become lawfully intelligible a hundred years hence. it is the infinite, the ocean of power, that is at the back of all manifestations. "the law of kriya yoga is eternal. it is true like mathematics; like the simple rules of addition and subtraction, the law of kriya can never be destroyed. burn to ashes all the books on mathematics, the logically-minded will always rediscover such truths; destroy all the sacred books on yoga, its fundamental laws will come out whenever there appears a true yogi who comprises within himself pure devotion and consequently pure knowledge." just as babaji is among the greatest of avatars, a mahavatar, and sri yukteswar a jnanavatar or incarnation of wisdom, so lahiri mahasaya may justly be called yogavatar, or incarnation of yoga. by the standards of both qualitative and quantitative good, he elevated the spiritual level of society. in his power to raise his close disciples to christlike stature and in his wide dissemination of truth among the masses, lahiri mahasaya ranks among the saviors of mankind. his uniqueness as a prophet lies in his practical stress on a definite method, kriya, opening for the first time the doors of yoga freedom to all men. apart from the miracles of his own life, surely the yogavatar reached the zenith of all wonders in reducing the ancient complexities of yoga to an effective simplicity not beyond the ordinary grasp. in reference to miracles, lahiri mahasaya often said, "the operation of subtle laws which are unknown to people in general should not be publicly discussed or published without due discrimination." if in these pages i have appeared to flout his cautionary words, it is because he has given me an inward reassurance. also, in recording the lives of babaji, lahiri mahasaya, and sri yukteswar, i have thought it advisable to omit many true miraculous stories, which could hardly have been included without writing, also, an explanatory volume of abstruse philosophy. new hope for new men! "divine union," the yogavatar proclaimed, "is possible through self-effort, and is not dependent on theological beliefs or on the arbitrary will of a cosmic dictator." through use of the kriya key, persons who cannot bring themselves to believe in the divinity of any man will behold at last the full divinity of their own selves. {fn - } matthew : . {fn - } many biblical passages reveal that the law of reincarnation was understood and accepted. reincarnational cycles are a more reasonable explanation for the different states of evolution in which mankind is found, than the common western theory which assumes that something (consciousness of egoity) came out of nothing, existed with varying degrees of lustihood for thirty or ninety years, and then returned to the original void. the inconceivable nature of such a void is a problem to delight the heart of a medieval schoolman. {fn - } malachi : . {fn - } "before him," i.e., "before the lord." {fn - } luke : - . {fn - } matthew : - . {fn - } matthew : - . {fn - } john : . {fn - } ii kings : - . {fn - } matthew : . {fn - } matthew : - . {fn - } "how many sorts of death are in our bodies! nothing is therein but death."-martin luther, in "table-talk." {fn - } the chief prayer of the mohammedans, usually repeated four or five times daily. {fn - } "seek truth in meditation, not in moldy books. look in the sky to find the moon, not in the pond."-persian proverb. {fn - } as kriya yoga is capable of many subdivisions, lahiri mahasaya wisely sifted out four steps which he discerned to be those which contained the essential marrow, and which were of the highest value in actual practice. {fn - } other titles bestowed on lahiri mahasaya by his disciples were yogibar (greatest of yogis), yogiraj (king of yogis), and munibar (greatest of saints), to which i have added yogavatar (incarnation of yoga). {fn - } he had given, altogether, thirty-five years of service in one department of the government. {fn - } vast herbal knowledge is found in ancient sanskrit treatises. himalayan herbs were employed in a rejuvenation treatment which aroused the attention of the world in when the method was used on pundit madan mohan malaviya, -year-old vice-chancellor of benares hindu university. to a remarkable extent, the noted scholar regained in days his health, strength, memory, normal eyesight; indications of a third set of teeth appeared, while all wrinkles vanished. the herbal treatment, known as kaya kalpa, is one of rejuvenation methods outlined in hindu ayurveda or medical science. pundit malaviya underwent the treatment at the hands of sri kalpacharya swami beshundasji, who claims as his birth year. he possesses documents proving him to be more than years old; associated press reporters remarked that he looked about . ancient hindu treatises divided medical science into branches: salya (surgery); salakya (diseases above the neck); kayachikitsa (medicine proper); bhutavidya (mental diseases); kaumara (care of infancy); agada (toxicology); rasayana (longevity); vagikarana (tonics). vedic physicians used delicate surgical instruments, employed plastic surgery, understood medical methods to counteract the effects of poison gas, performed caesarean sections and brain operations, were skilled in dynamization of drugs. hippocrates, famous physician of the th century b.c., borrowed much of his materia medica from hindu sources. {fn - } the east indian margosa tree. its medicinal values have now become recognized in the west, where the bitter neem bark is used as a tonic, and the oil from seeds and fruit has been found of utmost worth in the treatment of leprosy and other diseases. {fn - } "a number of seals recently excavated from archaeological sites of the indus valley, datable in the third millennium b.c., show figures seated in meditative postures now used in the system of yoga, and warrant the inference that even at that time some of the rudiments of yoga were already known. we may not unreasonably draw the conclusion that systematic introspection with the aid of studied methods has been practiced in india for five thousand years. . . . india has developed certain valuable religious attitudes of mind and ethical notions which are unique, at least in the wideness of their application to life. one of these has been a tolerance in questions of intellectual belief-doctrine-that is amazing to the west, where for many centuries heresy-hunting was common, and bloody wars between nations over sectarian rivalries were frequent."-extracts from an article by professor w. norman brown in the may, issue of the bulletin of the american council of learned societies, washington, d.c. {fn - } one thinks here of carlyle's observation in sartor resartus: "the man who cannot wonder, who does not habitually wonder (and worship), were he president of innumerable royal societies and carried . . . the epitome of all laboratories and observatories, with their results, in his single head,-is but a pair of spectacles behind which there is no eye." chapter: babaji's interest in the west "master, did you ever meet babaji?" it was a calm summer night in serampore; the large stars of the tropics gleamed over our heads as i sat by sri yukteswar's side on the second-story balcony of the hermitage. "yes." master smiled at my direct question; his eyes lit with reverence. "three times i have been blessed by the sight of the deathless guru. our first meeting was in allahabad at a kumbha mela." the religious fairs held in india since time immemorial are known as kumbha melas; they have kept spiritual goals in constant sight of the multitude. devout hindus gather by the millions every six years to meet thousands of sadhus, yogis, swamis, and ascetics of all kinds. many are hermits who never leave their secluded haunts except to attend the melas and bestow their blessings on worldly men and women. "i was not a swami at the time i met babaji," sri yukteswar went on. "but i had already received kriya initiation from lahiri mahasaya. he encouraged me to attend the mela which was convening in january, at allahabad. it was my first experience of a kumbha; i felt slightly dazed by the clamor and surge of the crowd. in my searching gazes around i saw no illumined face of a master. passing a bridge on the bank of the ganges, i noticed an acquaintance standing near-by, his begging bowl extended. "'oh, this fair is nothing but a chaos of noise and beggars,' i thought in disillusionment. 'i wonder if western scientists, patiently enlarging the realms of knowledge for the practical good of mankind, are not more pleasing to god than these idlers who profess religion but concentrate on alms.' "my smouldering reflections on social reform were interrupted by the voice of a tall sannyasi who halted before me. "'sir,' he said, 'a saint is calling you.' "'who is he?' "'come and see for yourself.' "hesitantly following this laconic advice, i soon found myself near a tree whose branches were sheltering a guru with an attractive group of disciples. the master, a bright unusual figure, with sparkling dark eyes, rose at my approach and embraced me. "'welcome, swamiji,' he said affectionately. "'sir,' i replied emphatically, 'i am not a swami.' "'those on whom i am divinely directed to bestow the title of "swami" never cast it off.' the saint addressed me simply, but deep conviction of truth rang in his words; i was engulfed in an instant wave of spiritual blessing. smiling at my sudden elevation into the ancient monastic order, {fn - } i bowed at the feet of the obviously great and angelic being in human form who had thus honored me. "babaji-for it was indeed he-motioned me to a seat near him under the tree. he was strong and young, and looked like lahiri mahasaya; yet the resemblance did not strike me, even though i had often heard of the extraordinary similarities in the appearance of the two masters. babaji possesses a power by which he can prevent any specific thought from arising in a person's mind. evidently the great guru wished me to be perfectly natural in his presence, not overawed by knowledge of his identity. "'what do you think of the kumbha mela?' "'i was greatly disappointed, sir.' i added hastily, 'up until the time i met you. somehow saints and this commotion don't seem to belong together.' "'child,' the master said, though apparently i was nearly twice his own age, 'for the faults of the many, judge not the whole. everything on earth is of mixed character, like a mingling of sand and sugar. be like the wise ant which seizes only the sugar, and leaves the sand untouched. though many sadhus here still wander in delusion, yet the mela is blessed by a few men of god-realization.' "in view of my own meeting with this exalted master, i quickly agreed with his observation. "'sir,' i commented, 'i have been thinking of the scientific men of the west, greater by far in intelligence than most people congregated here, living in distant europe and america, professing different creeds, and ignorant of the real values of such melas as the present one. they are the men who could benefit greatly by meetings with india's masters. but, although high in intellectual attainments, many westerners are wedded to rank materialism. others, famous in science and philosophy, do not recognize the essential unity in religion. their creeds serve as insurmountable barriers that threaten to separate them from us forever.' "'i saw that you are interested in the west, as well as the east.' babaji's face beamed with approval. 'i felt the pangs of your heart, broad enough for all men, whether oriental or occidental. that is why i summoned you here. "'east and west must establish a golden middle path of activity and spirituality combined,' he continued. 'india has much to learn from the west in material development; in return, india can teach the universal methods by which the west will be able to base its religious beliefs on the unshakable foundations of yogic science. "'you, swamiji, have a part to play in the coming harmonious exchange between orient and occident. some years hence i shall send you a disciple whom you can train for yoga dissemination in the west. the vibrations there of many spiritually seeking souls come floodlike to me. i perceive potential saints in america and europe, waiting to be awakened.'" at this point in his story, sri yukteswar turned his gaze fully on mine. "my son," he said, smiling in the moonlight, "you are the disciple that, years ago, babaji promised to send me." i was happy to learn that babaji had directed my steps to sri yukteswar, yet it was hard for me to visualize myself in the remote west, away from my beloved guru and the simple hermitage peace. "babaji then spoke of the bhagavad gita," sri yukteswar went on. "to my astonishment, he indicated by a few words of praise that he was aware of the fact that i had written interpretations on various gita chapters. "'at my request, swamiji, please undertake another task,' the great master said. 'will you not write a short book on the underlying basic unity between the christian and hindu scriptures? show by parallel references that the inspired sons of god have spoken the same truths, now obscured by men's sectarian differences.' "'maharaj,' {fn - } i answered diffidently, 'what a command! shall i be able to fulfill it?' "babaji laughed softly. 'my son, why do you doubt?' he said reassuringly. 'indeed, whose work is all this, and who is the doer of all actions? whatever the lord has made me say is bound to materialize as truth.' "i deemed myself empowered by the blessings of the saint, and agreed to write the book. feeling reluctantly that the parting-hour had arrived, i rose from my leafy seat. "'do you know lahiri?' {fn - } the master inquired. 'he is a great soul, isn't he? tell him of our meeting.' he then gave me a message for lahiri mahasaya. "after i had bowed humbly in farewell, the saint smiled benignly. 'when your book is finished, i shall pay you a visit,' he promised. 'good-by for the present.' "i left allahabad the following day and entrained for benares. reaching my guru's home, i poured out the story of the wonderful saint at the kumbha mela. "'oh, didn't you recognize him?' lahiri mahasaya's eyes were dancing with laughter. 'i see you couldn't, for he prevented you. he is my incomparable guru, the celestial babaji!' "'babaji!' i repeated, awestruck. 'the yogi-christ babaji! the invisible-visible savior babaji! oh, if i could just recall the past and be once more in his presence, to show my devotion at his lotus feet!' "'never mind,' lahiri mahasaya said consolingly. 'he has promised to see you again.' "'gurudeva, the divine master asked me to give you a message. "tell lahiri," he said, "that the stored-up power for this life now runs low; it is nearly finished."' "at my utterance of these enigmatic words, lahiri mahasaya's figure trembled as though touched by a lightning current. in an instant everything about him fell silent; his smiling countenance turned incredibly stern. like a wooden statue, somber and immovable in its seat, his body became colorless. i was alarmed and bewildered. never in my life had i seen this joyous soul manifest such awful gravity. the other disciples present stared apprehensively. "three hours passed in utter silence. then lahiri mahasaya resumed his natural, cheerful demeanor, and spoke affectionately to each of the chelas. everyone sighed in relief. "i realized by my master's reaction that babaji's message had been an unmistakable signal by which lahiri mahasaya understood that his body would soon be untenanted. his awesome silence proved that my guru had instantly controlled his being, cut his last cord of attachment to the material world, and fled to his ever-living identity in spirit. babaji's remark had been his way of saying: 'i shall be ever with you.' "though babaji and lahiri mahasaya were omniscient, and had no need of communicating with each other through me or any other intermediary, the great ones often condescend to play a part in the human drama. occasionally they transmit their prophecies through messengers in an ordinary way, that the final fulfillment of their words may infuse greater divine faith in a wide circle of men who later learn the story. "i soon left benares, and set to work in serampore on the scriptural writings requested by babaji," sri yukteswar continued. "no sooner had i begun my task than i was able to compose a poem dedicated to the deathless guru. the melodious lines flowed effortlessly from my pen, though never before had i attempted sanskrit poetry. "in the quiet of night i busied myself over a comparison of the bible and the scriptures of sanatan dharma. {fn - } quoting the words of the blessed lord jesus, i showed that his teachings were in essence one with the revelations of the vedas. to my relief, my book was finished in a short time; i realized that this speedy blessing was due to the grace of my param-guru-maharaj. {fn - } the chapters first appeared in the sadhusambad journal; later they were privately printed as a book by one of my kidderpore disciples. "the morning after i had concluded my literary efforts," master continued, "i went to the rai ghat here to bathe in the ganges. the ghat was deserted; i stood still for awhile, enjoying the sunny peace. after a dip in the sparkling waters, i started for home. the only sound in the silence was that of my ganges-drenched cloth, swish-swashing with every step. as i passed beyond the site of the large banyan tree near the river bank, a strong impulse urged me to look back. there, under the shade of the banyan, and surrounded by a few disciples, sat the great babaji! "'greetings, swamiji!' the beautiful voice of the master rang out to assure me i was not dreaming. 'i see you have successfully completed your book. as i promised, i am here to thank you.' "with a fast-beating heart, i prostrated myself fully at his feet. 'param-guruji,' i said imploringly, 'will you and your chelas not honor my near-by home with your presence?' "the supreme guru smilingly declined. 'no, child,' he said, 'we are people who like the shelter of trees; this spot is quite comfortable.' "'please tarry awhile, master.' i gazed entreatingly at him. 'i shall be back at once with some special sweetmeats.' "when i returned in a few minutes with a dish of delicacies, lo! the lordly banyan no longer sheltered the celestial troupe. i searched all around the ghat, but in my heart i knew the little band had already fled on etheric wings. "i was deeply hurt. 'even if we meet again, i would not care to talk to him,' i assured myself. 'he was unkind to leave me so suddenly.' this was a wrath of love, of course, and nothing more. "a few months later i visited lahiri mahasaya in benares. as i entered his little parlor, my guru smiled in greeting. "'welcome, yukteswar,' he said. 'did you just meet babaji at the threshold of my room?' "'why, no,' i answered in surprise. "'come here.' lahiri mahasaya touched me gently on the forehead; at once i beheld, near the door, the form of babaji, blooming like a perfect lotus. "i remembered my old hurt, and did not bow. lahiri mahasaya looked at me in astonishment. "the divine guru gazed at me with fathomless eyes. 'you are annoyed with me.' "'sir, why shouldn't i be?' i answered. 'out of the air you came with your magic group, and into the thin air you vanished.' "'i told you i would see you, but didn't say how long i would remain.' babaji laughed softly. 'you were full of excitement. i assure you that i was fairly extinguished in the ether by the gust of your restlessness.' "i was instantly satisfied by this unflattering explanation. i knelt at his feet; the supreme guru patted me kindly on the shoulder. "'child, you must meditate more,' he said. 'your gaze is not yet faultless-you could not see me hiding behind the sunlight.' with these words in the voice of a celestial flute, babaji disappeared into the hidden radiance. "that was one of my last visits to benares to see my guru," sri yukteswar concluded. "even as babaji had foretold at the kumbha mela, the householder-incarnation of lahiri mahasaya was drawing to a close. during the summer of his stalwart body developed a small boil on the back. he protested against lancing; he was working out in his own flesh the evil karma of some of his disciples. finally a few chelas became very insistent; the master replied cryptically: "'the body has to find a cause to go; i will be agreeable to whatever you want to do.' "a short time later the incomparable guru gave up his body in benares. no longer need i seek him out in his little parlor; i find every day of my life blessed by his omnipresent guidance." years later, from the lips of swami keshabananda, {fn - } an advanced disciple, i heard many wonderful details about the passing of lahiri mahasaya. "a few days before my guru relinquished his body," keshabananda told me, "he materialized himself before me as i sat in my hermitage at hardwar. "'come at once to benares.' with these words lahiri mahasaya vanished. "i entrained immediately for benares. at my guru's home i found many disciples assembled. for hours that day {fn - } the master expounded the gita; then he addressed us simply. "'i am going home.' "sobs of anguish broke out like an irresistible torrent. "'be comforted; i shall rise again.' after this utterance lahiri mahasaya thrice turned his body around in a circle, faced the north in his lotus posture, and gloriously entered the final maha-samadhi. {fn - } "lahiri mahasaya's beautiful body, so dear to the devotees, was cremated with solemn householder rites at manikarnika ghat by the holy ganges," keshabananda continued. "the following day, at ten o'clock in the morning, while i was still in benares, my room was suffused with a great light. lo! before me stood the flesh and blood form of lahiri mahasaya! it looked exactly like his old body, except that it appeared younger and more radiant. my divine guru spoke to me. "'keshabananda,' he said, 'it is i. from the disintegrated atoms of my cremated body, i have resurrected a remodeled form. my householder work in the world is done; but i do not leave the earth entirely. henceforth i shall spend some time with babaji in the himalayas, and with babaji in the cosmos.' "with a few words of blessing to me, the transcendent master vanished. wondrous inspiration filled my heart; i was uplifted in spirit even as were the disciples of christ and kabir {fn - } when they had gazed on their living gurus after physical death. "when i returned to my isolated hardwar hermitage," keshabananda went on, "i carried with me the sacred ashes of my guru. i know he has escaped the spatio-temporal cage; the bird of omnipresence is freed. yet it comforted my heart to enshrine his sacred remains." another disciple who was blessed by the sight of his resurrected guru was the saintly panchanon bhattacharya, founder of the calcutta arya mission institution. {fn - } i visited panchanon at his calcutta home, and listened with delight to the story of his many years with the master. in conclusion, he told me of the most marvelous event in his life. "here in calcutta," panchanon said, "at ten o'clock of the morning which followed his cremation, lahiri mahasaya appeared before me in living glory." swami pranabananda, the "saint with two bodies," also confided to me the details of his own supernal experience. "a few days before lahiri mahasaya left his body," pranabananda told me at the time he visited my ranchi school, "i received a letter from him, requesting me to come at once to benares. i was delayed, however, and could not leave immediately. as i was in the midst of my travel preparations, about ten o'clock in the morning, i was suddenly overwhelmed with joy to see the shining figure of my guru. "'why hurry to benares?' lahiri mahasaya said, smiling. 'you shall find me there no longer.' "as the import of his words dawned on me, i sobbed broken-heartedly, believing that i was seeing him only in a vision. "the master approached me comfortingly. 'here, touch my flesh,' he said. 'i am living, as always. do not lament; am i not with you forever?'" from the lips of these three great disciples, a story of wondrous truth has emerged: at the morning hour of ten, on the day after the body of lahiri mahasaya had been consigned to the flames, the resurrected master, in a real but transfigured body, appeared before three disciples, each one in a different city. "so when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. o death, where is thy sting? o grave, where is thy victory?" {fn - } {fn - } sri yukteswar was later formally initiated into the swami order by the mahant (monastery head) of buddh gaya. {fn - } "great king"-a title of respect. {fn - } a guru usually refers to his own disciple simply by his name, omitting any title. thus, babaji said "lahiri," not "lahiri mahasaya." {fn - } literally, "eternal religion," the name given to the body of vedic teachings. sanatan dharma has come to be called hinduism since the time of the greeks who designated the people on the banks of the river indus as indoos, or hindus. the word hindu, properly speaking, refers only to followers of sanatan dharma or hinduism. the term indian applies equally to hindus and mohammedans and other inhabitants of the soil of india (and also through the confusing geographical error of columbus, to the american mongoloid aboriginals). the ancient name for india is aryavarta, literally, "abode of the aryans." the sanskrit root of arya is "worthy, holy, noble." the later ethnological misuse of aryan to signify not spiritual, but physical, characteristics, led the great orientalist, max muller, to say quaintly: "to me an ethnologist who speaks of an aryan race, aryan blood, aryan eyes and hair, is as great a sinner as a linguist who speaks of a dolichocephalic dictionary or a brachycephalic grammar." {fn - } param-guru is literally "guru supreme" or "guru beyond," signifying a line or succession of teachers. babaji, the guru of lahiri mahasaya, was the param-guru of sri yukteswar. {fn - } my visit to keshabananda's ashram is described on pp. - . {fn - } september , is the date on which lahiri mahasaya left his body. in a few more days he would have reached his sixty-eighth birthday. {fn - } facing the north, and thrice revolving the body, are parts of a vedic rite used by masters who know beforehand when the final hour is about to strike for the physical body. the last meditation, during which the master merges himself in the cosmic aum, is called the maha, or great, samadhi. {fn - } kabir was a great sixteenth-century saint whose large following included both hindus and mohammedans. at the time of his death, the disciples quarreled over the manner of conducting the funeral ceremonies. the exasperated master rose from his final sleep, and gave his instructions. "half of my remains shall be buried by the moslem rites;" he said, "let the other half be cremated with a hindu sacrament." he then vanished. when the disciples opened the coffin which had contained his body, nothing was found but a dazzling array of gold-colored champak flowers. half of these were obediently buried by the moslems, who revere his shrine to this day. in his youth kabir was approached by two disciples who wanted minute intellectual guidance along the mystic path. the master responded simply: "path presupposes distance; if he be near, no path needest thou at all. verily it maketh me smile to hear of a fish in water athirst!" {fn - } panchanon established, in a seventeen-acre garden at deogarh in bihar, a temple containing a stone statue of lahiri mahasaya. another statue of the great master has been set by disciples in the little parlor of his benares home. {fn - } i corinthians : - . chapter: i go to america "america! surely these people are americans!" this was my thought as a panoramic vision of western faces passed before my inward view. immersed in meditation, i was sitting behind some dusty boxes in the storeroom of the ranchi school. a private spot was difficult to find during those busy years with the youngsters! the vision continued; a vast multitude, {fn - } gazing at me intently, swept actorlike across the stage of consciousness. the storeroom door opened; as usual, one of the young lads had discovered my hiding place. "come here, bimal," i cried gaily. "i have news for you: the lord is calling me to america!" "to america?" the boy echoed my words in a tone that implied i had said "to the moon." "yes! i am going forth to discover america, like columbus. he thought he had found india; surely there is a karmic link between those two lands!" bimal scampered away; soon the whole school was informed by the two-legged newspaper. {fn - } i summoned the bewildered faculty and gave the school into its charge. "i know you will keep lahiri mahasaya's yoga ideals of education ever to the fore," i said. "i shall write you frequently; god willing, someday i shall be back." tears stood in my eyes as i cast a last look at the little boys and the sunny acres of ranchi. a definite epoch in my life had now closed, i knew; henceforth i would dwell in far lands. i entrained for calcutta a few hours after my vision. the following day i received an invitation to serve as the delegate from india to an international congress of religious liberals in america. it was to convene that year in boston, under the auspices of the american unitarian association. my head in a whirl, i sought out sri yukteswar in serampore. "guruji, i have just been invited to address a religious congress in america. shall i go?" "all doors are open for you," master replied simply. "it is now or never." "but, sir," i said in dismay, "what do i know about public speaking? seldom have i given a lecture, and never in english." "english or no english, your words on yoga shall be heard in the west." i laughed. "well, dear guruji, i hardly think the americans will learn bengali! please bless me with a push over the hurdles of the english language." {fn - } when i broke the news of my plans to father, he was utterly taken aback. to him america seemed incredibly remote; he feared he might never see me again. "how can you go?" he asked sternly. "who will finance you?" as he had affectionately borne the expenses of my education and whole life, he doubtless hoped that his question would bring my project to an embarrassing halt. "the lord will surely finance me." as i made this reply, i thought of the similar one i had given long ago to my brother ananta in agra. without very much guile, i added, "father, perhaps god will put it into your mind to help me." "no, never!" he glanced at me piteously. i was astounded, therefore, when father handed me, the following day, a check made out for a large amount. "i give you this money," he said, "not in my capacity as a father, but as a faithful disciple of lahiri mahasaya. go then to that far western land; spread there the creedless teachings of kriya yoga." i was immensely touched at the selfless spirit in which father had been able to quickly put aside his personal desires. the just realization had come to him during the preceding night that no ordinary desire for foreign travel was motivating my voyage. "perhaps we shall not meet again in this life." father, who was sixty-seven at this time, spoke sadly. an intuitive conviction prompted me to reply, "surely the lord will bring us together once more." as i went about my preparations to leave master and my native land for the unknown shores of america, i experienced not a little trepidation. i had heard many stories about the materialistic western atmosphere, one very different from the spiritual background of india, pervaded with the centuried aura of saints. "an oriental teacher who will dare the western airs," i thought, "must be hardy beyond the trials of any himalayan cold!" one early morning i began to pray, with an adamant determination to continue, to even die praying, until i heard the voice of god. i wanted his blessing and assurance that i would not lose myself in the fogs of modern utilitarianism. my heart was set to go to america, but even more strongly was it resolved to hear the solace of divine permission. i prayed and prayed, muffling my sobs. no answer came. my silent petition increased in excruciating crescendo until, at noon, i had reached a zenith; my brain could no longer withstand the pressure of my agonies. if i cried once more with an increased depth of my inner passion, i felt as though my brain would split. at that moment there came a knock outside the vestibule adjoining the gurpar road room in which i was sitting. opening the door, i saw a young man in the scanty garb of a renunciate. he came in, closed the door behind him and, refusing my request to sit down, indicated with a gesture that he wished to talk to me while standing. "he must be babaji!" i thought, dazed, because the man before me had the features of a younger lahiri mahasaya. he answered my thought. "yes, i am babaji." he spoke melodiously in hindi. "our heavenly father has heard your prayer. he commands me to tell you: follow the behests of your guru and go to america. fear not; you will be protected." after a vibrant pause, babaji addressed me again. "you are the one i have chosen to spread the message of kriya yoga in the west. long ago i met your guru yukteswar at a kumbha mela; i told him then i would send you to him for training." i was speechless, choked with devotional awe at his presence, and deeply touched to hear from his own lips that he had guided me to sri yukteswar. i lay prostrate before the deathless guru. he graciously lifted me from the floor. telling me many things about my life, he then gave me some personal instruction, and uttered a few secret prophecies. "kriya yoga, the scientific technique of god-realization," he finally said with solemnity, "will ultimately spread in all lands, and aid in harmonizing the nations through man's personal, transcendental perception of the infinite father." with a gaze of majestic power, the master electrified me by a glimpse of his cosmic consciousness. in a short while he started toward the door. "do not try to follow me," he said. "you will not be able to do so." "please, babaji, don't go away!" i cried repeatedly. "take me with you!" looking back, he replied, "not now. some other time." overcome by emotion, i disregarded his warning. as i tried to pursue him, i discovered that my feet were firmly rooted to the floor. from the door, babaji gave me a last affectionate glance. he raised his hand by way of benediction and walked away, my eyes fixed on him longingly. after a few minutes my feet were free. i sat down and went into a deep meditation, unceasingly thanking god not only for answering my prayer but for blessing me by a meeting with babaji. my whole body seemed sanctified through the touch of the ancient, ever-youthful master. long had it been my burning desire to behold him. until now, i have never recounted to anyone this story of my meeting with babaji. holding it as the most sacred of my human experiences, i have hidden it in my heart. but the thought occurred to me that readers of this autobiography may be more inclined to believe in the reality of the secluded babaji and his world interests if i relate that i saw him with my own eyes. i have helped an artist to draw a true picture of the great yogi-christ of modern india; it appears in this book. the eve of my departure for the united states found me in sri yukteswar's holy presence. "forget you were born a hindu, and don't be an american. take the best of them both," master said in his calm way of wisdom. "be your true self, a child of god. seek and incorporate into your being the best qualities of all your brothers, scattered over the earth in various races." then he blessed me: "all those who come to you with faith, seeking god, will be helped. as you look at them, the spiritual current emanating from your eyes will enter into their brains and change their material habits, making them more god-conscious." he went on, "your lot to attract sincere souls is very good. everywhere you go, even in a wilderness, you will find friends." both of his blessings have been amply demonstrated. i came alone to america, into a wilderness without a single friend, but there i found thousands ready to receive the time-tested soul-teachings. i left india in august, , on the city of sparta, the first passenger boat sailing for america after the close of world war i. i had been able to book passage only after the removal, in ways fairly miraculous, of many "red-tape" difficulties concerned with the granting of my passport. during the two-months' voyage a fellow passenger found out that i was the indian delegate to the boston congress. "swami yogananda," he said, with the first of many quaint pronunciations by which i was later to hear my name spoken by the americans, "please favor the passengers with a lecture next thursday night. i think we would all benefit by a talk on 'the battle of life and how to fight it.'" alas! i had to fight the battle of my own life, i discovered on wednesday. desperately trying to organize my ideas into a lecture in english, i finally abandoned all preparations; my thoughts, like a wild colt eyeing a saddle, refused any cooperation with the laws of english grammar. fully trusting in master's past assurances, however, i appeared before my thursday audience in the saloon of the steamer. no eloquence rose to my lips; speechlessly i stood before the assemblage. after an endurance contest lasting ten minutes, the audience realized my predicament and began to laugh. [illustration: i stand on the dais before one of my classes in america. this class of a thousand yoga students was held in washington, d.c.--see dc.jpg] the situation was not funny to me at the moment; indignantly i sent a silent prayer to master. "you can! speak!" his voice sounded instantly within my consciousness. my thoughts fell at once into a friendly relation with the english language. forty-five minutes later the audience was still attentive. the talk won me a number of invitations to lecture later before various groups in america. i never could remember, afterward, a word that i had spoken. by discreet inquiry i learned from a number of passengers: "you gave an inspiring lecture in stirring and correct english." at this delightful news i humbly thanked my guru for his timely help, realizing anew that he was ever with me, setting at naught all barriers of time and space. once in awhile, during the remainder of the ocean trip, i experienced a few apprehensive twinges about the coming english-lecture ordeal at the boston congress. "lord," i prayed, "please let my inspiration be thyself, and not again the laughter-bombs of the audience!" the city of sparta docked near boston in late september. on the sixth of october i addressed the congress with my maiden speech in america. it was well received; i sighed in relief. the magnanimous secretary of the american unitarian association wrote the following comment in a published account {fn - } of the congress proceedings: "swami yogananda, delegate from the brahmacharya ashram of ranchi, india, brought the greetings of his association to the congress. in fluent english and a forcible delivery he gave an address of a philosophical character on 'the science of religion,' which has been printed in pamphlet form for a wider distribution. religion, he maintained, is universal and it is one. we cannot possibly universalize particular customs and convictions, but the common element in religion can be universalized, and we can ask all alike to follow and obey it." due to father's generous check, i was able to remain in america after the congress was over. four happy years were spent in humble circumstances in boston. i gave public lectures, taught classes, and wrote a book of poems, songs of the soul, with a preface by dr. frederick b. robinson, president of the college of the city of new york. {fn - } starting a transcontinental tour in the summer of , i spoke before thousands in the principal cities, ending my western trip with a vacation in the beautiful alaskan north. with the help of large-hearted students, by the end of i had established an american headquarters on the mount washington estates in los angeles. the building is the one i had seen years before in my vision at kashmir. i hastened to send sri yukteswar pictures of these distant american activities. he replied with a postcard in bengali, which i here translate: th august, child of my heart, o yogananda! seeing the photos of your school and students, what joy comes in my life i cannot express in words. i am melting in joy to see your yoga students of different cities. beholding your methods in chant affirmations, healing vibrations, and divine healing prayers, i cannot refrain from thanking you from my heart. seeing the gate, the winding hilly way upward, and the beautiful scenery spread out beneath the mount washington estates, i yearn to behold it all with my own eyes. everything here is going on well. through the grace of god, may you ever be in bliss. sri yukteswar giri years sped by. i lectured in every part of my new land, and addressed hundreds of clubs, colleges, churches, and groups of every denomination. tens of thousands of americans received yoga initiation. to them all i dedicated a new book of prayer thoughts in -whispers from eternity, with a preface by amelita galli-curci. {fn - } i give here, from the book, a poem entitled "god! god! god!", composed one night as i stood on a lecture platform: from the depths of slumber, as i ascend the spiral stairway of wakefulness, i whisper: god! god! god! thou art the food, and when i break my fast of nightly separation from thee, i taste thee, and mentally say: god! god! god! no matter where i go, the spotlight of my mind ever keeps turning on thee; and in the battle din of activity my silent war cry is ever: god! god! god! when boisterous storms of trials shriek, and when worries howl at me, i drown their clamor, loudly chanting: god! god! god! when my mind weaves dreams with threads of memories, then on that magic cloth i find embossed: god! god! god! every night, in time of deepest sleep, my peace dreams and calls, joy! joy! joy! and my joy comes singing evermore: god! god! god! in waking, eating, working, dreaming, sleeping, serving, meditating, chanting, divinely loving, my soul constantly hums, unheard by any: god! god! god! sometimes-usually on the first of the month when the bills rolled in for upkeep of the mount washington and other self-realization fellowship centers!-i thought longingly of the simple peace of india. but daily i saw a widening understanding between west and east; my soul rejoiced. i have found the great heart of america expressed in the wondrous lines by emma lazarus, carved at the base of the statue of liberty, the "mother of exiles": from her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command the air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she with silent lips. "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, i lift my lamp beside the golden door. {fn - } many of those faces i have since seen in the west, and instantly recognized.. {fn - } swami premananda, now the leader of the self-realization church of all religions in washington, d.c., was one of the students at the ranchi school at the time i left there for america. (he was then brahmachari jotin.) {fn - } sri yukteswar and i ordinarily conversed in bengali. {fn - } new pilgrimages of the spirit (boston: beacon press, ). {fn - } dr. and mrs. robinson visited india in , and were honored guests at the ranchi school. {fn - } mme. galli-curci and her husband, homer samuels, the pianist, have been kriya yoga students for twenty years. the inspiring story of the famous prima donna's years of music has been recently published (galli-curci's life of song, by c. e. lemassena, paebar co., new york, ). chapter: luther burbank--a saint amidst the roses "the secret of improved plant breeding, apart from scientific knowledge, is love." luther burbank uttered this wisdom as i walked beside him in his santa rosa garden. we halted near a bed of edible cacti. "while i was conducting experiments to make 'spineless' cacti," he continued, "i often talked to the plants to create a vibration of love. 'you have nothing to fear,' i would tell them. 'you don't need your defensive thorns. i will protect you.' gradually the useful plant of the desert emerged in a thornless variety." i was charmed at this miracle. "please, dear luther, give me a few cacti leaves to plant in my garden at mount washington." a workman standing near-by started to strip off some leaves; burbank prevented him. "i myself will pluck them for the swami." he handed me three leaves, which later i planted, rejoicing as they grew to huge estate. the great horticulturist told me that his first notable triumph was the large potato, now known by his name. with the indefatigability of genius, he went on to present the world with hundreds of crossed improvements on nature-his new burbank varieties of tomato, corn, squash, cherries, plums, nectarines, berries, poppies, lilies, roses. i focused my camera as luther led me before the famous walnut tree by which he had proved that natural evolution can be telescopically hastened. "in only sixteen years," he said, "this walnut tree reached a state of abundant nut production to which an unaided nature would have brought the tree in twice that time." [illustration: luther burbank, beloved friend, poses with me in his santa rosa garden.--see burbank.jpg] [illustration: luther burbank--see burbank .jpg] burbank's little adopted daughter came romping with her dog into the garden. "she is my human plant." luther waved to her affectionately. "i see humanity now as one vast plant, needing for its highest fulfillments only love, the natural blessings of the great outdoors, and intelligent crossing and selection. in the span of my own lifetime i have observed such wondrous progress in plant evolution that i look forward optimistically to a healthy, happy world as soon as its children are taught the principles of simple and rational living. we must return to nature and nature's god." "luther, you would delight in my ranchi school, with its outdoor classes, and atmosphere of joy and simplicity." my words touched the chord closest to burbank's heart-child education. he plied me with questions, interest gleaming from his deep, serene eyes. "swamiji," he said finally, "schools like yours are the only hope of a future millennium. i am in revolt against the educational systems of our time, severed from nature and stifling of all individuality. i am with you heart and soul in your practical ideals of education." as i was taking leave of the gentle sage, he autographed a small volume and presented it to me. {fn - } "here is my book on the training of the human plant," {fn - } he said. "new types of training are needed-fearless experiments. at times the most daring trials have succeeded in bringing out the best in fruits and flowers. educational innovations for children should likewise become more numerous, more courageous." i read his little book that night with intense interest. his eye envisioning a glorious future for the race, he wrote: "the most stubborn living thing in this world, the most difficult to swerve, is a plant once fixed in certain habits. . . . remember that this plant has preserved its individuality all through the ages; perhaps it is one which can be traced backward through eons of time in the very rocks themselves, never having varied to any great extent in all these vast periods. do you suppose, after all these ages of repetition, the plant does not become possessed of a will, if you so choose to call it, of unparalleled tenacity? indeed, there are plants, like certain of the palms, so persistent that no human power has yet been able to change them. the human will is a weak thing beside the will of a plant. but see how this whole plant's lifelong stubbornness is broken simply by blending a new life with it, making, by crossing, a complete and powerful change in its life. then when the break comes, fix it by these generations of patient supervision and selection, and the new plant sets out upon its new way never again to return to the old, its tenacious will broken and changed at last. "when it comes to so sensitive and pliable a thing as the nature of a child, the problem becomes vastly easier." magnetically drawn to this great american, i visited him again and again. one morning i arrived at the same time as the postman, who deposited in burbank's study about a thousand letters. horticulturists wrote him from all parts of the world. "swamiji, your presence is just the excuse i need to get out into the garden," luther said gaily. he opened a large desk-drawer containing hundreds of travel folders. "see," he said, "this is how i do my traveling. tied down by my plants and correspondence, i satisfy my desire for foreign lands by a glance now and then at these pictures." my car was standing before his gate; luther and i drove along the streets of the little town, its gardens bright with his own varieties of santa rosa, peachblow, and burbank roses. "my friend henry ford and i both believe in the ancient theory of reincarnation," luther told me. "it sheds light on aspects of life otherwise inexplicable. memory is not a test of truth; just because man fails to remember his past lives does not prove he never had them. memory is blank concerning his womb-life and infancy, too; but he probably passed through them!" he chuckled. the great scientist had received kriya initiation during one of my earlier visits. "i practice the technique devoutly, swamiji," he said. after many thoughtful questions to me about various aspects of yoga, luther remarked slowly: "the east indeed possesses immense hoards of knowledge which the west has scarcely begun to explore." intimate communion with nature, who unlocked to him many of her jealously guarded secrets, had given burbank a boundless spiritual reverence. "sometimes i feel very close to the infinite power," he confided shyly. his sensitive, beautifully modeled face lit with his memories. "then i have been able to heal sick persons around me, as well as many ailing plants." he told me of his mother, a sincere christian. "many times after her death," luther said, "i have been blessed by her appearance in visions; she has spoken to me." we drove back reluctantly toward his home and those waiting thousand letters. "luther," i remarked, "next month i am starting a magazine to present the truth-offerings of east and west. please help me decide on a good name for the journal." we discussed titles for awhile, and finally agreed on east-west. after we had reentered his study, burbank gave me an article he had written on "science and civilization." "this will go in the first issue of east-west," i said gratefully. as our friendship grew deeper, i called burbank my "american saint." "behold a man," i quoted, "in whom there is no guile!" his heart was fathomlessly deep, long acquainted with humility, patience, sacrifice. his little home amidst the roses was austerely simple; he knew the worthlessness of luxury, the joy of few possessions. the modesty with which he wore his scientific fame repeatedly reminded me of the trees that bend low with the burden of ripening fruits; it is the barren tree that lifts its head high in an empty boast. i was in new york when, in , my dear friend passed away. in tears i thought, "oh, i would gladly walk all the way from here to santa rosa for one more glimpse of him!" locking myself away from secretaries and visitors, i spent the next twenty-four hours in seclusion. the following day i conducted a vedic memorial rite around a large picture of luther. a group of my american students, garbed in hindu ceremonial clothes, chanted the ancient hymns as an offering was made of flowers, water, and fire-symbols of the bodily elements and their release in the infinite source. though the form of burbank lies in santa rosa under a lebanon cedar that he planted years ago in his garden, his soul is enshrined for me in every wide-eyed flower that blooms by the wayside. withdrawn for a time into the spacious spirit of nature, is that not luther whispering in her winds, walking her dawns? his name has now passed into the heritage of common speech. listing "burbank" as a transitive verb, webster's new international dictionary defines it: "to cross or graft (a plant). hence, figuratively, to improve (anything, as a process or institution) by selecting good features and rejecting bad, or by adding good features." "beloved burbank," i cried after reading the definition, "your very name is now a synonym for goodness!" luther burbank santa rosa, california u.s.a. december , i have examined the yogoda system of swami yogananda and in my opinion it is ideal for training and harmonizing man's physical, mental, and spiritual natures. swami's aim is to establish "how-to-live" schools throughout the world, wherein education will not confine itself to intellectual development alone, but also training of the body, will, and feelings. through the yogoda system of physical, mental, and spiritual unfoldment by simple and scientific methods of concentration and meditation, most of the complex problems of life may be solved, and peace and good-will come upon earth. the swami's idea of right education is plain commonsense, free from all mysticism and non-praciticality; otherwise it would not have my approval. i am glad to have this opportunity of heartily joining with the swami in his appeal for international schools on the art of living which, if established, will come as near to bringing the millennium as anything with which i am acquainted. {fn - } burbank also gave me an autographed picture of himself. i treasure it even as a hindu merchant once treasured a picture of lincoln. the hindu, who was in america during the civil war years, conceived such an admiration for lincoln that he was unwilling to return to india until he had obtained a portrait of the great emancipator. planting himself adamantly on lincoln's doorstep, the merchant refused to leave until the astonished president permitted him to engage the services of daniel huntington, the famous new york artist. when the portrait was finished, the hindu carried it in triumph to calcutta. [illustration: luther burbank's signature--see bsignature.jpg] {fn - } new york: century co., . chapter: therese neumann, the catholic stigmatist "return to india. i have waited for you patiently for fifteen years. soon i shall swim out of the body and on to the shining abode. yogananda, come!" sri yukteswar's voice sounded startlingly in my inner ear as i sat in meditation at my mt. washington headquarters. traversing ten thousand miles in the twinkling of an eye, his message penetrated my being like a flash of lightning. fifteen years! yes, i realized, now it is ; i have spent fifteen years in spreading my guru's teachings in america. now he recalls me. that afternoon i recounted my experience to a visiting disciple. his spiritual development under kriya yoga was so remarkable that i often called him "saint," remembering babaji's prophecy that america too would produce men and women of divine realization through the ancient yogic path. this disciple and a number of others generously insisted on making a donation for my travels. the financial problem thus solved, i made arrangements to sail, via europe, for india. busy weeks of preparations at mount washington! in march, i had the self-realization fellowship chartered under the laws of the state of california as a non-profit corporation. to this educational institution go all public donations as well as the revenue from the sale of my books, magazine, written courses, class tuition, and every other source of income. "i shall be back," i told my students. "never shall i forget america." at a farewell banquet given to me in los angeles by loving friends, i looked long at their faces and thought gratefully, "lord, he who remembers thee as the sole giver will never lack the sweetness of friendship among mortals." i sailed from new york on june , {fn - } in the europa. two students accompanied me: my secretary, mr. c. richard wright, and an elderly lady from cincinnati, miss ettie bletch. we enjoyed the days of ocean peace, a welcome contrast to the past hurried weeks. our period of leisure was short-lived; the speed of modern boats has some regrettable features! like any other group of inquisitive tourists, we walked around the huge and ancient city of london. the following day i was invited to address a large meeting in caxton hall, at which i was introduced to the london audience by sir francis younghusband. our party spent a pleasant day as guests of sir harry lauder at his estate in scotland. we soon crossed the english channel to the continent, for i wanted to make a special pilgrimage to bavaria. this would be my only chance, i felt, to visit the great catholic mystic, therese neumann of konnersreuth. years earlier i had read an amazing account of therese. information given in the article was as follows: ( ) therese, born in , had been injured in an accident at the age of twenty; she became blind and paralyzed. ( ) she miraculously regained her sight in through prayers to st. teresa, "the little flower." later therese neumann's limbs were instantaneously healed. ( ) from onward, therese has abstained completely from food and drink, except for the daily swallowing of one small consecrated wafer. ( ) the stigmata, or sacred wounds of christ, appeared in on therese's head, breast, hands, and feet. on friday of every week thereafter, she has passed through the passion of christ, suffering in her own body all his historic agonies. ( ) knowing ordinarily only the simple german of her village, during her friday trances therese utters phrases which scholars have identified as ancient aramaic. at appropriate times in her vision, she speaks hebrew or greek. ( ) by ecclesiastical permission, therese has several times been under close scientific observation. dr. fritz gerlick, editor of a protestant german newspaper, went to konnersreuth to "expose the catholic fraud," but ended up by reverently writing her biography. {fn - } as always, whether in east or west, i was eager to meet a saint. i rejoiced as our little party entered, on july th, the quaint village of konnersreuth. the bavarian peasants exhibited lively interest in our ford automobile (brought with us from america) and its assorted group-an american young man, an elderly lady, and an olive-hued oriental with long hair tucked under his coat collar. therese's little cottage, clean and neat, with geraniums blooming by a primitive well, was alas! silently closed. the neighbors, and even the village postman who passed by, could give us no information. rain began to fall; my companions suggested that we leave. "no," i said stubbornly, "i will stay here until i find some clue leading to therese." two hours later we were still sitting in our car amidst the dismal rain. "lord," i sighed complainingly, "why didst thou lead me here if she has disappeared?" an english-speaking man halted beside us, politely offering his aid. "i don't know for certain where therese is," he said, "but she often visits at the home of professor wurz, a seminary master of eichstatt, eighty miles from here." the following morning our party motored to the quiet village of eichstatt, narrowly lined with cobblestoned streets. dr. wurz greeted us cordially at his home; "yes, therese is here." he sent her word of the visitors. a messenger soon appeared with her reply. "though the bishop has asked me to see no one without his permission, i will receive the man of god from india." deeply touched at these words, i followed dr. wurz upstairs to the sitting room. therese entered immediately, radiating an aura of peace and joy. she wore a black gown and spotless white head dress. although her age was thirty-seven at this time, she seemed much younger, possessing indeed a childlike freshness and charm. healthy, well-formed, rosy-cheeked, and cheerful, this is the saint that does not eat! therese greeted me with a very gentle handshaking. we both beamed in silent communion, each knowing the other to be a lover of god. dr. wurz kindly offered to serve as interpreter. as we seated ourselves, i noticed that therese was glancing at me with naive curiosity; evidently hindus had been rare in bavaria. "don't you eat anything?" i wanted to hear the answer from her own lips. "no, except a consecrated rice-flour wafer, once every morning at six o'clock." "how large is the wafer?" "it is paper-thin, the size of a small coin." she added, "i take it for sacramental reasons; if it is unconsecrated, i am unable to swallow it." "certainly you could not have lived on that, for twelve whole years?" "i live by god's light." how simple her reply, how einsteinian! "i see you realize that energy flows to your body from the ether, sun, and air." a swift smile broke over her face. "i am so happy to know you understand how i live." "your sacred life is a daily demonstration of the truth uttered by christ: 'man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of god.'" {fn - } again she showed joy at my explanation. "it is indeed so. one of the reasons i am here on earth today is to prove that man can live by god's invisible light, and not by food only." "can you teach others how to live without food?" she appeared a trifle shocked. "i cannot do that; god does not wish it." as my gaze fell on her strong, graceful hands, therese showed me a little, square, freshly healed wound on each of her palms. on the back of each hand, she pointed out a smaller, crescent-shaped wound, freshly healed. each wound went straight through the hand. the sight brought to my mind distinct recollection of the large square iron nails with crescent-tipped ends, still used in the orient, but which i do not recall having seen in the west. the saint told me something of her weekly trances. "as a helpless onlooker, i observe the whole passion of christ." each week, from thursday midnight until friday afternoon at one o'clock, her wounds open and bleed; she loses ten pounds of her ordinary -pound weight. suffering intensely in her sympathetic love, therese yet looks forward joyously to these weekly visions of her lord. i realized at once that her strange life is intended by god to reassure all christians of the historical authenticity of jesus' life and crucifixion as recorded in the new testament, and to dramatically display the ever-living bond between the galilean master and his devotees. professor wurz related some of his experiences with the saint. "several of us, including therese, often travel for days on sight-seeing trips throughout germany," he told me. "it is a striking contrast-while we have three meals a day, therese eats nothing. she remains as fresh as a rose, untouched by the fatigue which the trips cause us. as we grow hungry and hunt for wayside inns, she laughs merrily." the professor added some interesting physiological details: "because therese takes no food, her stomach has shrunk. she has no excretions, but her perspiration glands function; her skin is always soft and firm." at the time of parting, i expressed to therese my desire to be present at her trance. "yes, please come to konnersreuth next friday," she said graciously. "the bishop will give you a permit. i am very happy you sought me out in eichstatt." therese shook hands gently, many times, and walked with our party to the gate. mr. wright turned on the automobile radio; the saint examined it with little enthusiastic chuckles. such a large crowd of youngsters gathered that therese retreated into the house. we saw her at a window, where she peered at us, childlike, waving her hand. from a conversation the next day with two of therese's brothers, very kind and amiable, we learned that the saint sleeps only one or two hours at night. in spite of the many wounds in her body, she is active and full of energy. she loves birds, looks after an aquarium of fish, and works often in her garden. her correspondence is large; catholic devotees write her for prayers and healing blessings. many seekers have been cured through her of serious diseases. her brother ferdinand, about twenty-three, explained that therese has the power, through prayer, of working out on her own body the ailments of others. the saint's abstinence from food dates from a time when she prayed that the throat disease of a young man of her parish, then preparing to enter holy orders, be transferred to her own throat. on thursday afternoon our party drove to the home of the bishop, who looked at my flowing locks with some surprise. he readily wrote out the necessary permit. there was no fee; the rule made by the church is simply to protect therese from the onrush of casual tourists, who in previous years had flocked on fridays by the thousands. we arrived friday morning about nine-thirty in konnersreuth. i noticed that therese's little cottage possesses a special glass-roofed section to afford her plenty of light. we were glad to see the doors no longer closed, but wide-open in hospitable cheer. there was a line of about twenty visitors, armed with their permits. many had come from great distances to view the mystic trance. therese had passed my first test at the professor's house by her intuitive knowledge that i wanted to see her for spiritual reasons, and not just to satisfy a passing curiosity. my second test was connected with the fact that, just before i went upstairs to her room, i put myself into a yogic trance state in order to be one with her in telepathic and televisic rapport. i entered her chamber, filled with visitors; she was lying in a white robe on the bed. with mr. wright following closely behind me, i halted just inside the threshold, awestruck at a strange and most frightful spectacle. [illustration: therese neumann, famous catholic stigmatist who inspired my pilgrimage to konnersreuth, bavaria--see neumann.jpg] blood flowed thinly and continuously in an inch-wide stream from therese's lower eyelids. her gaze was focused upward on the spiritual eye within the central forehead. the cloth wrapped around her head was drenched in blood from the stigmata wounds of the crown of thorns. the white garment was redly splotched over her heart from the wound in her side at the spot where christ's body, long ages ago, had suffered the final indignity of the soldier's spear-thrust. therese's hands were extended in a gesture maternal, pleading; her face wore an expression both tortured and divine. she appeared thinner, changed in many subtle as well as outward ways. murmuring words in a foreign tongue, she spoke with slightly quivering lips to persons visible before her inner sight. as i was in attunement with her, i began to see the scenes of her vision. she was watching jesus as he carried the cross amidst the jeering multitude. {fn - } suddenly she lifted her head in consternation: the lord had fallen under the cruel weight. the vision disappeared. in the exhaustion of fervid pity, therese sank heavily against her pillow. at this moment i heard a loud thud behind me. turning my head for a second, i saw two men carrying out a prostrate body. but because i was coming out of the deep superconscious state, i did not immediately recognize the fallen person. again i fixed my eyes on therese's face, deathly pale under the rivulets of blood, but now calm, radiating purity and holiness. i glanced behind me later and saw mr. wright standing with his hand against his cheek, from which blood was trickling. "dick," i inquired anxiously, "were you the one who fell?" "yes, i fainted at the terrifying spectacle." "well," i said consolingly, "you are brave to return and look upon the sight again." remembering the patiently waiting line of pilgrims, mr. wright and i silently bade farewell to therese and left her sacred presence. {fn - } the following day our little group motored south, thankful that we were not dependent on trains, but could stop the ford wherever we chose throughout the countryside. we enjoyed every minute of a tour through germany, holland, france, and the swiss alps. in italy we made a special trip to assisi to honor the apostle of humility, st. francis. the european tour ended in greece, where we viewed the athenian temples, and saw the prison in which the gentle socrates {fn - } had drunk his death potion. one is filled with admiration for the artistry with which the greeks have everywhere wrought their very fancies in alabaster. we took ship over the sunny mediterranean, disembarking at palestine. wandering day after day over the holy land, i was more than ever convinced of the value of pilgrimage. the spirit of christ is all-pervasive in palestine; i walked reverently by his side at bethlehem, gethsemane, calvary, the holy mount of olives, and by the river jordan and the sea of galilee. our little party visited the birth manger, joseph's carpenter shop, the tomb of lazarus, the house of martha and mary, the hall of the last supper. antiquity unfolded; scene by scene, i saw the divine drama that christ once played for the ages. on to egypt, with its modern cairo and ancient pyramids. then a boat down the narrow red sea, over the vasty arabian sea; lo, india! {fn - } the remarkable inclusion here of a complete date is due to the fact that my secretary, mr. wright, kept a travel diary. {fn - } other books on her life are therese neumann: a stigmatist of our day, and further chronicles of therese neumann, both by friedrich ritter von lama (milwaukee: bruce pub. co.). {fn - } matthew : . man's body battery is not sustained by gross food (bread) alone, but by the vibratory cosmic energy (word, or aum). the invisible power flows into the human body through the gate of the medulla oblongata. this sixth bodily center is located at the back of the neck at the top of the five spinal chakras (sanskrit for "wheels" or centers of radiating force). the medulla is the principal entrance for the body's supply of universal life force (aum), and is directly connected with man's power of will, concentrated in the seventh or christ consciousness center (kutastha) in the third eye between the eyebrows. cosmic energy is then stored up in the brain as a reservoir of infinite potentialities, poetically mentioned in the vedas as the "thousand-petaled lotus of light." the bible invariably refers to aum as the "holy ghost" or invisible life force which divinely upholds all creation. "what? know ye not that your body is the temple of the holy ghost which is in you, which ye have of god, and ye are not your own?"-i corinthians : . {fn - } during the hours preceding my arrival, therese had already passed through many visions of the closing days in christ's life. her entrancement usually starts with scenes of the events which followed the last supper. her visions end with jesus' death on the cross or, occasionally, with his entombment. {fn - } therese has survived the nazi persecution, and is still present in konnersreuth, according to american news dispatches from germany. {fn - } a passage in eusebius relates an interesting encounter between socrates and a hindu sage. the passage runs: "aristoxenus, the musician, tells the following story about the indians. one of these men met socrates at athens, and asked him what was the scope of his philosophy. 'an inquiry into human phenomena,' replied socrates. at this the indian burst out laughing. 'how can a man inquire into human phenomena,' he said, 'when he is ignorant of divine ones?'" the aristoxenus mentioned was a pupil of aristotle, and a noted writer on harmonics. his date is b.c. chapter: i return to india gratefully i was inhaling the blessed air of india. our boat rajputana docked on august , in the huge harbor of bombay. even this, my first day off the ship, was a foretaste of the year ahead-twelve months of ceaseless activity. friends had gathered at the dock with garlands and greetings; soon, at our suite in the taj mahal hotel, there was a stream of reporters and photographers. bombay was a city new to me; i found it energetically modern, with many innovations from the west. palms line the spacious boulevards; magnificent state structures vie for interest with ancient temples. very little time was given to sight-seeing, however; i was impatient, eager to see my beloved guru and other dear ones. consigning the ford to a baggage car, our party was soon speeding eastward by train toward calcutta. {fn - } our arrival at howrah station found such an immense crowd assembled to greet us that for awhile we were unable to dismount from the train. the young maharaja of kasimbazar and my brother bishnu headed the reception committee; i was unprepared for the warmth and magnitude of our welcome. preceded by a line of automobiles and motorcycles, and amidst the joyous sound of drums and conch shells, miss bletch, mr. wright, and myself, flower-garlanded from head to foot, drove slowly to my father's home. my aged parent embraced me as one returning from the dead; long we gazed on each other, speechless with joy. brothers and sisters, uncles, aunts, and cousins, students and friends of years long past were grouped around me, not a dry eye among us. passed now into the archives of memory, the scene of loving reunion vividly endures, unforgettable in my heart. as for my meeting with sri yukteswar, words fail me; let the following description from my secretary suffice. "today, filled with the highest anticipations, i drove yoganandaji from calcutta to serampore," mr. wright recorded in his travel diary. "we passed by quaint shops, one of them the favorite eating haunt of yoganandaji during his college days, and finally entered a narrow, walled lane. a sudden left turn, and there before us towered the simple but inspiring two-story ashram, its spanish-style balcony jutting from the upper floor. the pervasive impression was that of peaceful solitude. "in grave humility i walked behind yoganandaji into the courtyard within the hermitage walls. hearts beating fast, we proceeded up some old cement steps, trod, no doubt, by myriads of truth-seekers. the tension grew keener and keener as on we strode. before us, near the head of the stairs, quietly appeared the great one, swami sri yukteswarji, standing in the noble pose of a sage. "my heart heaved and swelled as i felt myself blessed by the privilege of being in his sublime presence. tears blurred my eager sight when yoganandaji dropped to his knees, and with bowed head offered his soul's gratitude and greeting, touching with his hand his guru's feet and then, in humble obeisance, his own head. he rose then and was embraced on both sides of the bosom by sri yukteswarji. "no words passed at the beginning, but the most intense feeling was expressed in the mute phrases of the soul. how their eyes sparkled and were fired with the warmth of renewed soul-union! a tender vibration surged through the quiet patio, and even the sun eluded the clouds to add a sudden blaze of glory. "on bended knee before the master i gave my own unexpressed love and thanks, touching his feet, calloused by time and service, and receiving his blessing. i stood then and faced two beautiful deep eyes smouldering with introspection, yet radiant with joy. we entered his sitting room, whose whole side opened to the outer balcony first seen from the street. the master braced himself against a worn davenport, sitting on a covered mattress on the cement floor. yoganandaji and i sat near the guru's feet, with orange-colored pillows to lean against and ease our positions on the straw mat. "i tried and tried to penetrate the bengali conversation between the two swamijis-for english, i discovered, is null and void when they are together, although swamiji maharaj, as the great guru is called by others, can and often does speak it. but i perceived the saintliness of the great one through his heart-warming smile and twinkling eyes. one quality easily discernible in his merry, serious conversation is a decided positiveness in statement-the mark of a wise man, who knows he knows, because he knows god. his great wisdom, strength of purpose, and determination are apparent in every way. "studying him reverently from time to time, i noted that he is of large, athletic stature, hardened by the trials and sacrifices of renunciation. his poise is majestic. a decidedly sloping forehead, as if seeking the heavens, dominates his divine countenance. he has a rather large and homely nose, with which he amuses himself in idle moments, flipping and wiggling it with his fingers, like a child. his powerful dark eyes are haloed by an ethereal blue ring. his hair, parted in the middle, begins as silver and changes to streaks of silvery-gold and silvery-black, ending in ringlets at his shoulders. his beard and moustache are scant or thinned out, yet seem to enhance his features and, like his character, are deep and light at the same time. "he has a jovial and rollicking laugh which comes from deep in his chest, causing him to shake and quiver throughout his body-very cheerful and sincere. his face and stature are striking in their power, as are his muscular fingers. he moves with a dignified tread and erect posture. "he was clad simply in the common dhoti and shirt, both once dyed a strong ocher color, but now a faded orange. "glancing about, i observed that this rather dilapidated room suggested the owner's non-attachment to material comforts. the weather-stained white walls of the long chamber were streaked with fading blue plaster. at one end of the room hung a picture of lahiri mahasaya, garlanded in simple devotion. there was also an old picture showing yoganandaji as he had first arrived in boston, standing with the other delegates to the congress of religions. "i noted a quaint concurrence of modernity and antiquation. a huge, cut-glass, candle-light chandelier was covered with cobwebs through disuse, and on the wall was a bright, up-to-date calendar. the whole room emanated a fragrance of peace and calmness. beyond the balcony i could see coconut trees towering over the hermitage in silent protection. "it is interesting to observe that the master has merely to clap his hands together and, before finishing, he is served or attended by some small disciple. incidentally, i am much attracted to one of them-a thin lad, named prafulla, {fn - } with long black hair to his shoulders, a most penetrating pair of sparkling black eyes, and a heavenly smile; his eyes twinkle, as the corners of his mouth rise, like the stars and the crescent moon appearing at twilight. "swami sri yukteswarji's joy is obviously intense at the return of his 'product' (and he seems to be somewhat inquisitive about the 'product's product'). however, predominance of the wisdom-aspect in the great one's nature hinders his outward expression of feeling. "yoganandaji presented him with some gifts, as is the custom when the disciple returns to his guru. we sat down later to a simple but well-cooked meal. all the dishes were vegetable and rice combinations. sri yukteswarji was pleased at my use of a number of indian customs, 'finger-eating' for example. "after several hours of flying bengali phrases and the exchange of warm smiles and joyful glances, we paid obeisance at his feet, bade adieu with a pronam, {fn - } and departed for calcutta with an everlasting memory of a sacred meeting and greeting. although i write chiefly of my external impressions of him, yet i was always conscious of the true basis of the saint-his spiritual glory. i felt his power, and shall carry that feeling as my divine blessing." from america, europe, and palestine i had brought many presents for sri yukteswar. he received them smilingly, but without remark. for my own use, i had bought in germany a combination umbrella-cane. in india i decided to give the cane to master. "this gift i appreciate indeed!" my guru's eyes were turned on me with affectionate understanding as he made the unwonted comment. from all the presents, it was the cane that he singled out to display to visitors. "master, please permit me to get a new carpet for the sitting room." i had noticed that sri yukteswar's tiger skin was placed over a torn rug. "do so if it pleases you." my guru's voice was not enthusiastic. "behold, my tiger mat is nice and clean; i am monarch in my own little kingdom. beyond it is the vast world, interested only in externals." as he uttered these words i felt the years roll back; once again i am a young disciple, purified in the daily fires of chastisement! as soon as i could tear myself away from serampore and calcutta, i set out, with mr. wright, for ranchi. what a welcome there, a veritable ovation! tears stood in my eyes as i embraced the selfless teachers who had kept the banner of the school flying during my fifteen years' absence. the bright faces and happy smiles of the residential and day students were ample testimony to the worth of their many-sided school and yoga training. yet, alas! the ranchi institution was in dire financial difficulties. sir manindra chandra nundy, the old maharaja whose kasimbazar palace had been converted into the central school building, and who had made many princely donations was now dead. many free, benevolent features of the school were now seriously endangered for lack of sufficient public support. i had not spent years in america without learning some of its practical wisdom, its undaunted spirit before obstacles. for one week i remained in ranchi, wrestling with critical problems. then came interviews in calcutta with prominent leaders and educators, a long talk with the young maharaja of kasimbazar, a financial appeal to my father, and lo! the shaky foundations of ranchi began to be righted. many donations including one huge check arrived in the nick of time from my american students. within a few months after my arrival in india, i had the joy of seeing the ranchi school legally incorporated. my lifelong dream of a permanently endowed yoga educational center stood fulfilled. that vision had guided me in the humble beginnings in with a group of seven boys. in the decade since , ranchi has enlarged its scope far beyond the boys' school. widespread humanitarian activities are now carried on there in the shyama charan lahiri mahasaya mission. the school, or yogoda sat-sanga brahmacharya vidyalaya, conducts outdoor classes in grammar and high school subjects. the residential students and day scholars also receive vocational training of some kind. the boys themselves regulate most of their activities through autonomous committees. very early in my career as an educator i discovered that boys who impishly delight in outwitting a teacher will cheerfully accept disciplinary rules that are set by their fellow students. never a model pupil myself, i had a ready sympathy for all boyish pranks and problems. sports and games are encouraged; the fields resound with hockey and football practice. ranchi students often win the cup at competitive events. the outdoor gymnasium is known far and wide. muscle recharging through will power is the yogoda feature: mental direction of life energy to any part of the body. the boys are also taught asanas (postures), sword and lathi (stick) play, and jujitsu. the yogoda health exhibitions at the ranchi vidyalaya have been attended by thousands. instruction in primary subjects is given in hindi to the kols, santals, and mundas, aboriginal tribes of the province. classes for girls only have been organized in near-by villages. the unique feature at ranchi is the initiation into kriya yoga. the boys daily practice their spiritual exercises, engage in gita chanting, and are taught by precept and example the virtues of simplicity, self-sacrifice, honor, and truth. evil is pointed out to them as being that which produces misery; good as those actions which result in true happiness. evil may be compared to poisoned honey, tempting but laden with death. overcoming restlessness of body and mind by concentration techniques has achieved astonishing results: it is no novelty at ranchi to see an appealing little figure, aged nine or ten years, sitting for an hour or more in unbroken poise, the unwinking gaze directed to the spiritual eye. often the picture of these ranchi students has returned to my mind, as i observed collegians over the world who are hardly able to sit still through one class period. {fn - } ranchi lies feet above sea level; the climate is mild and equable. the twenty-five acre site, by a large bathing pond, includes one of the finest orchards in india-five hundred fruit trees-mango, guava, litchi, jackfruit, date. the boys grow their own vegetables, and spin at their charkas. a guest house is hospitably open for western visitors. the ranchi library contains numerous magazines, and about a thousand volumes in english and bengali, donations from the west and the east. there is a collection of the scriptures of the world. a well-classified museum displays archeological, geological, and anthropological exhibits; trophies, to a great extent, of my wanderings over the lord's varied earth. the charitable hospital and dispensary of the lahiri mahasaya mission, with many outdoor branches in distant villages, have already ministered to , of india's poor. the ranchi students are trained in first aid, and have given praiseworthy service to their province at tragic times of flood or famine. in the orchard stands a shiva temple, with a statue of the blessed master, lahiri mahasaya. daily prayers and scripture classes are held in the garden under the mango bowers. branch high schools, with the residential and yoga features of ranchi, have been opened and are now flourishing. these are the yogoda sat-sanga vidyapith (school) for boys, at lakshmanpur in bihar; and the yogoda sat-sanga high school and hermitage at ejmalichak in midnapore. a stately yogoda math was dedicated in at dakshineswar, directly on the ganges. only a few miles north of calcutta, the new hermitage affords a haven of peace for city dwellers. suitable accommodations are available for western guests, and particularly for those seekers who are intensely dedicating their lives to spiritual realization. the activities of the yogoda math include a fortnightly mailing of self-realization fellowship teachings to students in various parts of india. it is needless to say that all these educational and humanitarian activities have required the self-sacrificing service and devotion of many teachers and workers. i do not list their names here, because they are so numerous; but in my heart each one has a lustrous niche. inspired by the ideals of lahiri mahasaya, these teachers have abandoned promising worldly goals to serve humbly, to give greatly. mr. wright formed many fast friendships with ranchi boys; clad in a simple dhoti, he lived for awhile among them. at ranchi, calcutta, serampore, everywhere he went, my secretary, who has a vivid gift of description, hauled out his travel diary to record his adventures. one evening i asked him a question. "dick, what is your impression of india?" "peace," he said thoughtfully. "the racial aura is peace." {fn - } we broke our journey in central provinces, halfway across the continent, to see mahatma gandhi at wardha. those days are described in chapter . {fn - } prafulla was the lad who had been present with master when a cobra approached (see page ). {fn - } literally, "holy name," a word of greeting among hindus, accompanied by palm-folded hands lifted from the heart to the forehead in salutation. a pronam in india takes the place of the western greeting by handshaking. {fn - } mental training through certain concentration techniques has produced in each indian generation men of prodigious memory. sir t. vijayaraghavachari, in the hindustan times, has described the tests put to the modern professional "memory men" of madras. "these men," he wrote, "were unusually learned in sanskrit literature. seated in the midst of a large audience, they were equal to the tests that several members of the audience simultaneously put them to. the test would be like this: one person would start ringing a bell, the number of rings having to be counted by the 'memory man.' a second person would dictate from a paper a long exercise in arithmetic, involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. a third would go on reciting from the ramayana or the mahabharata a long series of poems, which had to be reproduced; a fourth would set problems in versification which required the composition of verses in proper meter on a given subject, each line to end in a specified word, a fifth man would carry on with a sixth a theological disputation, the exact language of which had to be quoted in the precise order in which the disputants conducted it, and a seventh man was all the while turning a wheel, the number of revolutions of which had to be counted. the memory expert had simultaneously to do all these feats purely by mental processes, as he was allowed no paper and pencil. the strain on the faculties must have been terrific. ordinarily men in unconscious envy are apt to depreciate such efforts by affecting to believe that they involve only the exercise of the lower functionings of the brain. it is not, however, a pure question of memory. the greater factor is the immense concentration of mind." chapter: an idyl in south india "you are the first westerner, dick, ever to enter that shrine. many others have tried in vain." at my words mr. wright looked startled, then pleased. we had just left the beautiful chamundi temple in the hills overlooking mysore in southern india. there we had bowed before the gold and silver altars of the goddess chamundi, patron deity of the family of the reigning maharaja. "as a souvenir of the unique honor," mr. wright said, carefully stowing away a few blessed rose petals, "i will always preserve this flower, sprinkled by the priest with rose water." my companion and i {fn - } were spending the month of november, , as guests of the state of mysore. the maharaja, h.h. sri krishnaraja wadiyar iv, is a model prince with intelligent devotion to his people. a pious hindu, the maharaja has empowered a mohammedan, the able mirza ismail, as his dewan or premier. popular representation is given to the seven million inhabitants of mysore in both an assembly and a legislative council. the heir to the maharaja, h.h. the yuvaraja, sir sri krishna narasingharaj wadiyar, had invited my secretary and me to visit his enlightened and progressive realm. during the past fortnight i had addressed thousands of mysore citizens and students, at the town hall, the maharajah's college, the university medical school; and three mass meetings in bangalore, at the national high school, the intermediate college, and the chetty town hall where over three thousand persons had assembled. whether the eager listeners had been able to credit the glowing picture i drew of america, i know not; but the applause had always been loudest when i spoke of the mutual benefits that could flow from exchange of the best features in east and west. mr. wright and i were now relaxing in the tropical peace. his travel diary gives the following account of his impressions of mysore: "brilliantly green rice fields, varied by tasseled sugar cane patches, nestle at the protective foot of rocky hills-hills dotting the emerald panorama like excrescences of black stone-and the play of colors is enhanced by the sudden and dramatic disappearance of the sun as it seeks rest behind the solemn hills. "many rapturous moments have been spent in gazing, almost absent-mindedly, at the ever-changing canvas of god stretched across the firmament, for his touch alone is able to produce colors that vibrate with the freshness of life. that youth of colors is lost when man tries to imitate with mere pigments, for the lord resorts to a more simple and effective medium-oils that are neither oils nor pigments, but mere rays of light. he tosses a splash of light here, and it reflects red; he waves the brush again and it blends gradually into orange and gold; then with a piercing thrust he stabs the clouds with a streak of purple that leaves a ringlet or fringe of red oozing out of the wound in the clouds; and so, on and on, he plays, night and morning alike, ever-changing, ever-new, ever-fresh; no patterns, no duplicates, no colors just the same. the beauty of the indian change in day to night is beyond compare elsewhere; often the sky looks as if god had taken all the colors in his kit and given them one mighty kaleidoscopic toss into the heavens. "i must relate the splendor of a twilight visit to the huge krishnaraja sagar dam, {fn - } constructed twelve miles outside of mysore. yoganandaji and i boarded a small bus and, with a small boy as official cranker or battery substitute, started off over a smooth dirt road, just as the sun was setting on the horizon and squashing like an overripe tomato. "our journey led past the omnipresent square rice fields, through a line of comforting banyan trees, in between a grove of towering coconut palms, with vegetation nearly as thick as in a jungle, and finally, approaching the crest of a hill, we came face-to-face with an immense artificial lake, reflecting the stars and fringe of palms and other trees, surrounded by lovely terraced gardens and a row of electric lights on the brink of the dam-and below it our eyes met a dazzling spectacle of colored beams playing on geyserlike fountains, like so many streams of brilliant ink pouring forth-gorgeously blue waterfalls, arresting red cataracts, green and yellow sprays, elephants spouting water, a miniature of the chicago world's fair, and yet modernly outstanding in this ancient land of paddy fields and simple people, who have given us such a loving welcome that i fear it will take more than my strength to bring yoganandaji back to america. "another rare privilege-my first elephant ride. yesterday the yuvaraja invited us to his summer palace to enjoy a ride on one of his elephants, an enormous beast. i mounted a ladder provided to climb aloft to the howdah or saddle, which is silk-cushioned and boxlike; and then for a rolling, tossing, swaying, and heaving down into a gully, too much thrilled to worry or exclaim, but hanging on for dear life!" southern india, rich with historical and archaeological remains, is a land of definite and yet indefinable charm. to the north of mysore is the largest native state in india, hyderabad, a picturesque plateau cut by the mighty godavari river. broad fertile plains, the lovely nilgiris or "blue mountains," other regions with barren hills of limestone or granite. hyderabad history is a long, colorful story, starting three thousand years ago under the andhra kings, and continuing under hindu dynasties until a.d. , when it passed to a line of moslem rulers who reign to this day. the most breath-taking display of architecture, sculpture, and painting in all india is found at hyderabad in the ancient rock-sculptured caves of ellora and ajanta. the kailasa at ellora, a huge monolithic temple, possesses carved figures of gods, men, and beasts in the stupendous proportions of a michelangelo. ajanta is the site of five cathedrals and twenty-five monasteries, all rock excavations maintained by tremendous frescoed pillars on which artists and sculptors have immortalized their genius. hyderabad city is graced by the osmania university and by the imposing mecca masjid mosque, where ten thousand mohammedans may assemble for prayer. mysore state too is a scenic wonderland, three thousand feet above sea level, abounding in dense tropical forests, the home of wild elephants, bison, bears, panthers, and tigers. its two chief cities, bangalore and mysore, are clean, attractive, with many parks and public gardens. hindu architecture and sculpture achieved their highest perfection in mysore under the patronage of hindu kings from the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries. the temple at belur, an eleventh-century masterpiece completed during the reign of king vishnuvardhana, is unsurpassed in the world for its delicacy of detail and exuberant imagery. the rock pillars found in northern mysore date from the third century b.c., illuminating the memory of king asoka. he succeeded to the throne of the maurya dynasty then prevailing; his empire included nearly all of modern india, afghanistan, and baluchistan. this illustrious emperor, considered even by western historians to have been an incomparable ruler, has left the following wisdom on a rock memorial: this religious inscription has been engraved in order that our sons and grandsons may not think a new conquest is necessary; that they may not think conquest by the sword deserves the name of conquest; that they may see in it nothing but destruction and violence; that they may consider nothing as true conquest save the conquest of religion. such conquests have value in this world and in the next. [illustration: my companions and i pose before the "dream in marble," the taj mahal at agra.--see taj.jpg] asoka was a grandson of the formidable chandragupta maurya (known to the greeks as sandrocottus), who in his youth had met alexander the great. later chandragupta destroyed the macedonian garrisons left in india, defeated the invading greek army of seleucus in the punjab, and then received at his patna court the hellenic ambassador megasthenes. intensely interesting stories have been minutely recorded by greek historians and others who accompanied or followed after alexander in his expedition to india. the narratives of arrian, diodoros, plutarch, and strabo the geographer have been translated by dr. j. w. m'crindle {fn - } to throw a shaft of light on ancient india. the most admirable feature of alexander's unsuccessful invasion was the deep interest he displayed in hindu philosophy and in the yogis and holy men whom he encountered from time to time and whose society he eagerly sought. shortly after the greek warrior had arrived in taxila in northern india, he sent a messenger, onesikritos, a disciple of the hellenic school of diogenes, to fetch an indian teacher, dandamis, a great sannyasi of taxila. "hail to thee, o teacher of brahmins!" onesikritos said after seeking out dandamis in his forest retreat. "the son of the mighty god zeus, being alexander who is the sovereign lord of all men, asks you to go to him, and if you comply, he will reward you with great gifts, but if you refuse, he will cut off your head!" the yogi received this fairly compulsive invitation calmly, and "did not so much as lift up his head from his couch of leaves." "i also am a son of zeus, if alexander be such," he commented. "i want nothing that is alexander's, for i am content with what i have, while i see that he wanders with his men over sea and land for no advantage, and is never coming to an end of his wanderings. "go and tell alexander that god the supreme king is never the author of insolent wrong, but is the creator of light, of peace, of life, of water, of the body of man and of souls; he receives all men when death sets them free, being in no way subject to evil disease. he alone is the god of my homage, who abhors slaughter and instigates no wars. "alexander is no god, since he must taste of death," continued the sage in quiet scorn. "how can such as he be the world's master, when he has not yet seated himself on a throne of inner universal dominion? neither as yet has he entered living into hades, nor does he know the course of the sun through the central regions of the earth, while the nations on its boundaries have not so much as heard his name!" after this chastisement, surely the most caustic ever sent to assault the ears of the "lord of the world," the sage added ironically, "if alexander's present dominions be not capacious enough for his desires, let him cross the ganges river; there he will find a region able to sustain all his men, if the country on this side be too narrow to hold him. {fn - } "know this, however, that what alexander offers and the gifts he promises are things to me utterly useless; the things i prize and find of real use and worth are these leaves which are my house, these blooming plants which supply me with daily food, and the water which is my drink; while all other possessions which are amassed with anxious care are wont to prove ruinous to those who gather them, and cause only sorrow and vexation, with which every poor mortal is fully fraught. as for me, i lie upon the forest leaves, and having nothing which requires guarding, close my eyes in tranquil slumber; whereas had i anything to guard, that would banish sleep. the earth supplies me with everything, even as a mother her child with milk. i go wherever i please, and there are no cares with which i am forced to cumber myself. "should alexander cut off my head, he cannot also destroy my soul. my head alone, then silent, will remain, leaving the body like a torn garment upon the earth, whence also it was taken. i then, becoming spirit, shall ascend to my god, who enclosed us all in flesh and left us upon earth to prove whether, when here below, we shall live obedient to his ordinances and who also will require of us all, when we depart hence to his presence, an account of our life, since he is judge of all proud wrongdoing; for the groans of the oppressed become the punishment of the oppressor. "let alexander then terrify with these threats those who wish for wealth and who dread death, for against us these weapons are both alike powerless; the brahmins neither love gold nor fear death. go then and tell alexander this: dandamis has no need of aught that is yours, and therefore will not go to you, and if you want anything from dandamis, come you to him." with close attention alexander received through onesikritos the message from the yogi, and "felt a stronger desire than ever to see dandamis who, though old and naked, was the only antagonist in whom he, the conqueror of many nations, had met more than his match." alexander invited to taxila a number of brahmin ascetics noted for their skill in answering philosophical questions with pithy wisdom. an account of the verbal skirmish is given by plutarch; alexander himself framed all the questions. "which be the more numerous, the living or the dead?" "the living, for the dead are not." "which breeds the larger animals, the sea or the land?" "the land, for the sea is only a part of land." "which is the cleverest of beasts?" "that one with which man is not yet acquainted." (man fears the unknown.) "which existed first, the day or the night?" "the day was first by one day." this reply caused alexander to betray surprise; the brahmin added: "impossible questions require impossible answers." "how best may a man make himself beloved?" "a man will be beloved if, possessed with great power, he still does not make himself feared." "how may a man become a god?" {fn - } "by doing that which it is impossible for a man to do." "which is stronger, life or death?" "life, because it bears so many evils." alexander succeeded in taking out of india, as his teacher, a true yogi. this man was swami sphines, called "kalanos" by the greeks because the saint, a devotee of god in the form of kali, greeted everyone by pronouncing her auspicious name. kalanos accompanied alexander to persia. on a stated day, at susa in persia, kalanos gave up his aged body by entering a funeral pyre in view of the whole macedonian army. the historians record the astonishment of the soldiers who observed that the yogi had no fear of pain or death, and who never once moved from his position as he was consumed in the flames. before leaving for his cremation, kalanos had embraced all his close companions, but refrained from bidding farewell to alexander, to whom the hindu sage had merely remarked: "i shall see you shortly in babylon." alexander left persia, and died a year later in babylon. his indian guru's words had been his way of saying he would be present with alexander in life and death. the greek historians have left us many vivid and inspiring pictures of indian society. hindu law, arrian tells us, protects the people and "ordains that no one among them shall, under any circumstances, be a slave but that, enjoying freedom themselves, they shall respect the equal right to it which all possess. for those, they thought, who have learned neither to domineer over nor cringe to others will attain the life best adapted for all vicissitudes of lot." {fn - } "the indians," runs another text, "neither put out money at usury, nor know how to borrow. it is contrary to established usage for an indian either to do or suffer a wrong, and therefore they neither make contracts nor require securities." healing, we are told, was by simple and natural means. "cures are effected rather by regulating diet than by the use of medicines. the remedies most esteemed are ointments and plasters. all others are considered to be in great measure pernicious." engagement in war was restricted to the kshatriyas or warrior caste. "nor would an enemy coming upon a husbandman at his work on his land, do him any harm, for men of this class being regarded as public benefactors, are protected from all injury. the land thus remaining unravaged and producing heavy crops, supplies the inhabitants with the requisites to make life enjoyable." {fn - } the emperor chandragupta who in b.c. had defeated alexander's general, seleucus, decided seven years later to hand over the reins of india's government to his son. traveling to south india, chandragupta spent the last twelve years of his life as a penniless ascetic, seeking self-realization in a rocky cave at sravanabelagola, now honored as a mysore shrine. near-by stands the world's largest statue, carved out of an immense boulder by the jains in a.d. to honor the saint comateswara. the ubiquitous religious shrines of mysore are a constant reminder of the many great saints of south india. one of these masters, thayumanavar, has left us the following challenging poem: you can control a mad elephant; you can shut the mouth of the bear and the tiger; you can ride a lion; you can play with the cobra; by alchemy you can eke out your livelihood; you can wander through the universe incognito; you can make vassals of the gods; you can be ever youthful; you can walk on water and live in fire; but control of the mind is better and more difficult. in the beautiful and fertile state of travancore in the extreme south of india, where traffic is conveyed over rivers and canals, the maharaja assumes every year a hereditary obligation to expiate the sin incurred by wars and the annexation in the distant past of several petty states to travancore. for fifty-six days annually the maharaja visits the temple thrice daily to hear vedic hymns and recitations; the expiation ceremony ends with the lakshadipam or illumination of the temple by a hundred thousand lights. the great hindu lawgiver manu {fn - } has outlined the duties of a king. "he should shower amenities like indra (lord of the gods); collect taxes gently and imperceptibly as the sun obtains vapor from water; enter into the life of his subjects as the wind goes everywhere; mete out even justice to all like yama (god of death); bind transgressors in a noose like varuna (vedic deity of sky and wind); please all like the moon, burn up vicious enemies like the god of fire; and support all like the earth goddess. "in war a king should not fight with poisonous or fiery weapons nor kill weak or unready or weaponless foes or men who are in fear or who pray for protection or who run away. war should be resorted to only as a last resort. results are always doubtful in war." madras presidency on the southeast coast of india contains the flat, spacious, sea-girt city of madras, and conjeeveram, the golden city, capital site of the pallava dynasty whose kings ruled during the early centuries of the christian era. in modern madras presidency the nonviolent ideals of mahatma gandhi have made great headway; the white distinguishing "gandhi caps" are seen everywhere. in the south generally the mahatma has effected many important temple reforms for "untouchables" as well as caste-system reforms. the origin of the caste system, formulated by the great legislator manu, was admirable. he saw clearly that men are distinguished by natural evolution into four great classes: those capable of offering service to society through their bodily labor (sudras); those who serve through mentality, skill, agriculture, trade, commerce, business life in general (vaisyas); those whose talents are administrative, executive, and protective-rulers and warriors (kshatriyas); those of contemplative nature, spiritually inspired and inspiring (brahmins). "neither birth nor sacraments nor study nor ancestry can decide whether a person is twice-born (i.e., a brahmin);" the mahabharata declares, "character and conduct only can decide." {fn - } manu instructed society to show respect to its members insofar as they possessed wisdom, virtue, age, kinship or, lastly, wealth. riches in vedic india were always despised if they were hoarded or unavailable for charitable purposes. ungenerous men of great wealth were assigned a low rank in society. serious evils arose when the caste system became hardened through the centuries into a hereditary halter. social reformers like gandhi and the members of very numerous societies in india today are making slow but sure progress in restoring the ancient values of caste, based solely on natural qualification and not on birth. every nation on earth has its own distinctive misery-producing karma to deal with and remove; india, too, with her versatile and invulnerable spirit, shall prove herself equal to the task of caste-reformation. so entrancing is southern india that mr. wright and i yearned to prolong our idyl. but time, in its immemorial rudeness, dealt us no courteous extensions. i was scheduled soon to address the concluding session of the indian philosophical congress at calcutta university. at the end of the visit to mysore, i enjoyed a talk with sir c. v. raman, president of the indian academy of sciences. this brilliant hindu physicist was awarded the nobel prize in for his important discovery in the diffusion of light-the "raman effect" now known to every schoolboy. waving a reluctant farewell to a crowd of madras students and friends, mr. wright and i set out for the north. on the way we stopped before a little shrine sacred to the memory of sadasiva brahman, {fn - } in whose eighteenth-century life story miracles cluster thickly. a larger sadasiva shrine at nerur, erected by the raja of pudukkottai, is a pilgrimage spot which has witnessed numerous divine healings. many quaint stories of sadasiva, a lovable and fully-illumined master, are still current among the south indian villagers. immersed one day in samadhi on the bank of the kaveri river, sadasiva was seen to be carried away by a sudden flood. weeks later he was found buried deep beneath a mound of earth. as the villagers' shovels struck his body, the saint rose and walked briskly away. sadasiva never spoke a word or wore a cloth. one morning the nude yogi unceremoniously entered the tent of a mohammedan chieftain. his ladies screamed in alarm; the warrior dealt a savage sword thrust at sadasiva, whose arm was severed. the master departed unconcernedly. overcome by remorse, the mohammedan picked up the arm from the floor and followed sadasiva. the yogi quietly inserted his arm into the bleeding stump. when the warrior humbly asked for some spiritual instruction, sadasiva wrote with his finger on the sands: "do not do what you want, and then you may do what you like." the mohammedan was uplifted to an exalted state of mind, and understood the saint's paradoxical advice to be a guide to soul freedom through mastery of the ego. the village children once expressed a desire in sadasiva's presence to see the madura religious festival, miles away. the yogi indicated to the little ones that they should touch his body. lo! instantly the whole group was transported to madura. the children wandered happily among the thousands of pilgrims. in a few hours the yogi brought his small charges home by his simple mode of transportation. the astonished parents heard the vivid tales of the procession of images, and noted that several children were carrying bags of madura sweets. an incredulous youth derided the saint and the story. the following morning he approached sadasiva. "master," he said scornfully, "why don't you take me to the festival, even as you did yesterday for the other children?" sadasiva complied; the boy immediately found himself among the distant city throng. but alas! where was the saint when the youth wanted to leave? the weary boy reached his home by the ancient and prosaic method of foot locomotion. {fn - } miss bletch, unable to maintain the active pace set by mr. wright and myself, remained happily with my relatives in calcutta. {fn - } this dam, a huge hydro-electric installation, lights mysore city and gives power to factories for silks, soaps, and sandalwood oil. the sandalwood souvenirs from mysore possess a delightful fragrance which time does not exhaust; a slight pinprick revives the odor. mysore boasts some of the largest pioneer industrial undertakings in india, including the kolar gold mines, the mysore sugar factory, the huge iron and steel works at bhadravati, and the cheap and efficient mysore state railway which covers many of the state's , square miles. the maharaja and yuvaraja who were my hosts in mysore in have both recently died. the son of the yuvaraja, the present maharaja, is an enterprising ruler, and has added to mysore's industries a large airplane factory. {fn - } six volumes on ancient india (calcutta, ). {fn - } neither alexander nor any of his generals ever crossed the ganges. finding determined resistance in the northwest, the macedonian army refused to penetrate farther; alexander was forced to leave india and seek his conquests in persia. {fn - } from this question we may surmise that the "son of zeus" had an occasional doubt that he had already attained perfection. {fn - } all greek observers comment on the lack of slavery in india, a feature at complete variance with the structure of hellenic society. {fn - } creative india by prof. benoy kumar sarkar gives a comprehensive picture of india's ancient and modern achievements and distinctive values in economics, political science, literature, art, and social philosophy. (lahore: motilal banarsi dass, publishers, , pp., $ . .) another recommended volume is indian culture through the ages, by s. v. venatesvara (new york: longmans, green & co., $ . ). {fn - } manu is the universal lawgiver; not alone for hindu society, but for the world. all systems of wise social regulations and even justice are patterned after manu. nietzsche has paid the following tribute: "i know of no book in which so many delicate and kindly things are said to woman as in the lawbook of manu; those old graybeards and saints have a manner of being gallant to women which perhaps cannot be surpassed . . . an incomparably intellectual and superior work . . . replete with noble values, it is filled with a feeling of perfection, with a saying of yea to life, and a triumphant sense of well-being in regard to itself and to life; the sun shines upon the whole book." {fn - } "inclusion in one of these four castes originally depended not on a man's birth but on his natural capacities as demonstrated by the goal in life he elected to achieve," an article in east-west for january, , tells us. "this goal could be ( ) kama, desire, activity of the life of the senses (sudra stage), ( ) artha, gain, fulfilling but controlling the desires (vaisya stage), ( ) dharma, self-discipline, the life of responsibility and right action (kshatriya stage), ( ) moksha, liberation, the life of spirituality and religious teaching (brahmin stage). these four castes render service to humanity by ( ) body, ( ) mind, ( ) will power, ( ) spirit. "these four stages have their correspondence in the eternal gunas or qualities of nature, tamas, rajas, and sattva: obstruction, activity, and expansion; or, mass, energy, and intelligence. the four natural castes are marked by the gunas as ( ) tamas (ignorance), ( ) tamas-rajas (mixture of ignorance and activity), ( ) rajas-sattva (mixture of right activity and enlightenment), ( ) sattva (enlightenment). thus has nature marked every man with his caste, by the predominance in himself of one, or the mixture of two, of the gunas. of course every human being has all three gunas in varying proportions. the guru will be able rightly to determine a man's caste or evolutionary status. "to a certain extent, all races and nations observe in practice, if not in theory, the features of caste. where there is great license or so-called liberty, particularly in intermarriage between extremes in the natural castes, the race dwindles away and becomes extinct. the purana samhita compares the offspring of such unions to barren hybrids, like the mule which is incapable of propagation of its own species. artificial species are eventually exterminated. history offers abundant proof of numerous great races which no longer have any living representatives. the caste system of india is credited by her most profound thinkers with being the check or preventive against license which has preserved the purity of the race and brought it safely through millenniums of vicissitudes, while other races have vanished in oblivion." {fn - } his full title was sri sadasivendra saraswati swami. the illustrious successor in the formal shankara line, jagadguru sri shankaracharya of sringeri math, wrote an inspiring ode dedicated to sadasiva. east-west for july, , carried an article on sadasiva's life. chapter: last days with my guru "guruji, i am glad to find you alone this morning." i had just arrived at the serampore hermitage, carrying a fragrant burden of fruit and roses. sri yukteswar glanced at me meekly. "what is your question?" master looked about the room as though he were seeking escape. "guruji, i came to you as a high-school youth; now i am a grown man, even with a gray hair or two. though you have showered me with silent affection from the first hour to this, do you realize that once only, on the day of meeting, have you ever said, 'i love you'?" i looked at him pleadingly. master lowered his gaze. "yogananda, must i bring out into the cold realms of speech the warm sentiments best guarded by the wordless heart?" "guruji, i know you love me, but my mortal ears ache to hear you say so." "be it as you wish. during my married life i often yearned for a son, to train in the yogic path. but when you came into my life, i was content; in you i have found my son." two clear teardrops stood in sri yukteswar's eyes. "yogananda, i love you always." "your answer is my passport to heaven." i felt a weight lift from my heart, dissolved forever at his words. often had i wondered at his silence. realizing that he was unemotional and self-contained, yet sometimes i feared i had been unsuccessful in fully satisfying him. his was a strange nature, never utterly to be known; a nature deep and still, unfathomable to the outer world, whose values he had long transcended. a few days later, when i spoke before a huge audience at albert hall in calcutta, sri yukteswar consented to sit beside me on the platform, with the maharaja of santosh and the mayor of calcutta. though master made no remark to me, i glanced at him from time to time during my address, and thought i detected a pleased twinkle in his eyes. then came a talk before the alumni of serampore college. as i gazed upon my old classmates, and as they gazed on their own "mad monk," tears of joy showed unashamedly. my silver-tongued professor of philosophy, dr. ghoshal, came forward to greet me, all our past misunderstandings dissolved by the alchemist time. a winter solstice festival was celebrated at the end of december in the serampore hermitage. as always, sri yukteswar's disciples gathered from far and near. devotional sankirtans, solos in the nectar-sweet voice of kristo-da, a feast served by young disciples, master's profoundly moving discourse under the stars in the thronged courtyard of the ashram-memories, memories! joyous festivals of years long past! tonight, however, there was to be a new feature. "yogananda, please address the assemblage-in english." master's eyes were twinkling as he made this doubly unusual request; was he thinking of the shipboard predicament that had preceded my first lecture in english? i told the story to my audience of brother disciples, ending with a fervent tribute to our guru. "his omnipresent guidance was with me not alone on the ocean steamer," i concluded, "but daily throughout my fifteen years in the vast and hospitable land of america." after the guests had departed, sri yukteswar called me to the same bedroom where-once only, after a festival of my early years-i had been permitted to sleep on his wooden bed. tonight my guru was sitting there quietly, a semicircle of disciples at his feet. he smiled as i quickly entered the room. "yogananda, are you leaving now for calcutta? please return here tomorrow. i have certain things to tell you." the next afternoon, with a few simple words of blessing, sri yukteswar bestowed on me the further monastic title of paramhansa. {fn - } "it now formally supersedes your former title of swami," he said as i knelt before him. with a silent chuckle i thought of the struggle which my american students would undergo over the pronunciation of paramhansaji. {fn - } "my task on earth is now finished; you must carry on." master spoke quietly, his eyes calm and gentle. my heart was palpitating in fear. "please send someone to take charge of our ashram at puri," sri yukteswar went on. "i leave everything in your hands. you will be able to successfully sail the boat of your life and that of the organization to the divine shores." in tears, i was embracing his feet; he rose and blessed me endearingly. the following day i summoned from ranchi a disciple, swami sebananda, and sent him to puri to assume the hermitage duties. {fn - } later my guru discussed with me the legal details of settling his estate; he was anxious to prevent the possibility of litigation by relatives, after his death, for possession of his two hermitages and other properties, which he wished to be deeded over solely for charitable purposes. "arrangements were recently made for master to visit kidderpore, {fn - } but he failed to go." amulaya babu, a brother disciple, made this remark to me one afternoon; i felt a cold wave of premonition. to my pressing inquiries, sri yukteswar only replied, "i shall go to kidderpore no more." for a moment, master trembled like a frightened child. ("attachment to bodily residence, springing up of its own nature [i.e., arising from immemorial roots, past experiences of death]," patanjali wrote, {fn - } "is present in slight degree even in great saints." in some of his discourses on death, my guru had been wont to add: "just as a long-caged bird hesitates to leave its accustomed home when the door is opened.") "guruji," i entreated him with a sob, "don't say that! never utter those words to me!" sri yukteswar's face relaxed in a peaceful smile. though nearing his eighty-first birthday, he looked well and strong. basking day by day in the sunshine of my guru's love, unspoken but keenly felt, i banished from my conscious mind the various hints he had given of his approaching passing. "sir, the kumbha mela is convening this month at allahabad." i showed master the mela dates in a bengali almanac. {fn - } "do you really want to go?" not sensing sri yukteswar's reluctance to have me leave him, i went on, "once you beheld the blessed sight of babaji at an allahabad kumbha. perhaps this time i shall be fortunate enough to see him." "i do not think you will meet him there." my guru then fell into silence, not wishing to obstruct my plans. when i set out for allahabad the following day with a small group, master blessed me quietly in his usual manner. apparently i was remaining oblivious to implications in sri yukteswar's attitude because the lord wished to spare me the experience of being forced, helplessly, to witness my guru's passing. it has always happened in my life that, at the death of those dearly beloved by me, god has compassionately arranged that i be distant from the scene. {fn - } our party reached the kumbha mela on january , . the surging crowd of nearly two million persons was an impressive sight, even an overwhelming one. the peculiar genius of the indian people is the reverence innate in even the lowliest peasant for the worth of the spirit, and for the monks and sadhus who have forsaken worldly ties to seek a diviner anchorage. imposters and hypocrites there are indeed, but india respects all for the sake of the few who illumine the whole land with supernal blessings. westerners who were viewing the vast spectacle had a unique opportunity to feel the pulse of the land, the spiritual ardor to which india owes her quenchless vitality before the blows of time. [illustration: the woman yogi, shankari mai jiew, only living disciple of the great trailanga swami. the turbaned figure seated directly beside her is swami benoyananda, a director of our ranchi yoga school for boys in bihar. the picture was taken at the hardwar kumbha mela in ; the woman saint was then years old.--see majiew.jpg] [illustration: krishnananda, at the allahabad kumbha mela, with his tame vegetarian lioness.--see lion.jpg] [illustration: second-floor dining patio of sri yukteswar's serampore hermitage. i am seated (in center) at my guru's feet.--see serampore.jpg] the first day was spent by our group in sheer staring. here were countless bathers, dipping in the holy river for remission of sins; there we saw solemn rituals of worship; yonder were devotional offerings being strewn at the dusty feet of saints; a turn of our heads, and a line of elephants, caparisoned horses and slow-paced rajputana camels filed by, or a quaint religious parade of naked sadhus, waving scepters of gold and silver, or flags and streamers of silken velvet. anchorites wearing only loincloths sat quietly in little groups, their bodies besmeared with the ashes that protect them from the heat and cold. the spiritual eye was vividly represented on their foreheads by a single spot of sandalwood paste. shaven-headed swamis appeared by the thousands, ocher-robed and carrying their bamboo staff and begging bowl. their faces beamed with the renunciate's peace as they walked about or held philosophical discussions with disciples. here and there under the trees, around huge piles of burning logs, were picturesque sadhus, {fn - } their hair braided and massed in coils on top of their heads. some wore beards several feet in length, curled and tied in a knot. they meditated quietly, or extended their hands in blessing to the passing throng-beggars, maharajas on elephants, women in multicolored saris--their bangles and anklets tinkling, fakirs with thin arms held grotesquely aloft, brahmacharis carrying meditation elbow-props, humble sages whose solemnity hid an inner bliss. high above the din we heard the ceaseless summons of the temple bells. on our second mela day my companions and i entered various ashrams and temporary huts, offering pronams to saintly personages. we received the blessing of the leader of the giri branch of the swami order-a thin, ascetical monk with eyes of smiling fire. our next visit took us to a hermitage whose guru had observed for the past nine years the vows of silence and a strict fruitarian diet. on the central dais in the ashram hall sat a blind sadhu, pragla chakshu, profoundly learned in the shastras and highly revered by all sects. after i had given a brief discourse in hindi on vedanta, our group left the peaceful hermitage to greet a near-by swami, krishnananda, a handsome monk with rosy cheeks and impressive shoulders. reclining near him was a tame lioness. succumbing to the monk's spiritual charm--not, i am sure, to his powerful physique!-the jungle animal refuses all meat in favor of rice and milk. the swami has taught the tawny-haired beast to utter "aum" in a deep, attractive growl-a cat devotee! our next encounter, an interview with a learned young sadhu, is well described in mr. wright's sparkling travel diary. "we rode in the ford across the very low ganges on a creaking pontoon bridge, crawling snakelike through the crowds and over narrow, twisting lanes, passing the site on the river bank which yoganandaji pointed out to me as the meeting place of babaji and sri yukteswarji. alighting from the car a short time later, we walked some distance through the thickening smoke of the sadhus' fires and over the slippery sands to reach a cluster of tiny, very modest mud-and-straw huts. we halted in front of one of these insignificant temporary dwellings, with a pygmy doorless entrance, the shelter of kara patri, a young wandering sadhu noted for his exceptional intelligence. there he sat, cross-legged on a pile of straw, his only covering-and incidentally his only possession-being an ocher cloth draped over his shoulders. "truly a divine face smiled at us after we had crawled on all fours into the hut and pronamed at the feet of this enlightened soul, while the kerosene lantern at the entrance flickered weird, dancing shadows on the thatched walls. his face, especially his eyes and perfect teeth, beamed and glistened. although i was puzzled by the hindi, his expressions were very revealing; he was full of enthusiasm, love, spiritual glory. no one could be mistaken as to his greatness. "imagine the happy life of one unattached to the material world; free of the clothing problem; free of food craving, never begging, never touching cooked food except on alternate days, never carrying a begging bowl; free of all money entanglements, never handling money, never storing things away, always trusting in god; free of transportation worries, never riding in vehicles, but always walking on the banks of the sacred rivers; never remaining in one place longer than a week in order to avoid any growth of attachment. "such a modest soul! unusually learned in the vedas, and possessing an m.a. degree and the title of shastri (master of scriptures) from benares university. a sublime feeling pervaded me as i sat at his feet; it all seemed to be an answer to my desire to see the real, the ancient india, for he is a true representative of this land of spiritual giants." i questioned kara patri about his wandering life. "don't you have any extra clothes for winter?" "no, this is enough." "do you carry any books?" "no, i teach from memory those people who wish to hear me." "what else do you do?" "i roam by the ganges." at these quiet words, i was overpowered by a yearning for the simplicity of his life. i remembered america, and all the responsibilities that lay on my shoulders. "no, yogananda," i thought, sadly for a moment, "in this life roaming by the ganges is not for you." after the sadhu had told me a few of his spiritual realizations, i shot an abrupt question. "are you giving these descriptions from scriptural lore, or from inward experience?" "half from book learning," he answered with a straightforward smile, "and half from experience." we sat happily awhile in meditative silence. after we had left his sacred presence, i said to mr. wright, "he is a king sitting on a throne of golden straw." we had our dinner that night on the mela grounds under the stars, eating from leaf plates pinned together with sticks. dishwashings in india are reduced to a minimum! two more days of the fascinating kumbha; then northwest along the jumna banks to agra. once again i gazed on the taj mahal; in memory jitendra stood by my side, awed by the dream in marble. then on to the brindaban ashram of swami keshabananda. my object in seeking out keshabananda was connected with this book. i had never forgotten sri yukteswar's request that i write the life of lahiri mahasaya. during my stay in india i was taking every opportunity of contacting direct disciples and relatives of the yogavatar. recording their conversations in voluminous notes, i verified facts and dates, and collected photographs, old letters, and documents. my lahiri mahasaya portfolio began to swell; i realized with dismay that ahead of me lay arduous labors in authorship. i prayed that i might be equal to my role as biographer of the colossal guru. several of his disciples feared that in a written account their master might be belittled or misinterpreted. "one can hardly do justice in cold words to the life of a divine incarnation," panchanon bhattacharya had once remarked to me. other close disciples were similarly satisfied to keep the yogavatar hidden in their hearts as the deathless preceptor. nevertheless, mindful of lahiri mahasaya's prediction about his biography, i spared no effort to secure and substantiate the facts of his outward life. swami keshabananda greeted our party warmly at brindaban in his katayani peith ashram, an imposing brick building with massive black pillars, set in a beautiful garden. he ushered us at once into a sitting room adorned with an enlargement of lahiri mahasaya's picture. the swami was approaching the age of ninety, but his muscular body radiated strength and health. with long hair and a snow-white beard, eyes twinkling with joy, he was a veritable patriarchal embodiment. i informed him that i wanted to mention his name in my book on india's masters. "please tell me about your earlier life." i smiled entreatingly; great yogis are often uncommunicative. keshabananda made a gesture of humility. "there is little of external moment. practically my whole life has been spent in the himalayan solitudes, traveling on foot from one quiet cave to another. for a while i maintained a small ashram outside hardwar, surrounded on all sides by a grove of tall trees. it was a peaceful spot little visited by travelers, owing to the ubiquitous presence of cobras." keshabananda chuckled. "later a ganges flood washed away the hermitage and cobras alike. my disciples then helped me to build this brindaban ashram." one of our party asked the swami how he had protected himself against the himalayan tigers. {fn - } keshabananda shook his head. "in those high spiritual altitudes," he said, "wild beasts seldom molest the yogis. once in the jungle i encountered a tiger face-to-face. at my sudden ejaculation, the animal was transfixed as though turned to stone." again the swami chuckled at his memories. "occasionally i left my seclusion to visit my guru in benares. he used to joke with me over my ceaseless travels in the himalayan wilderness. "'you have the mark of wanderlust on your foot,' he told me once. 'i am glad that the sacred himalayas are extensive enough to engross you.' "many times," keshabananda went on, "both before and after his passing, lahiri mahasaya has appeared bodily before me. for him no himalayan height is inaccessible!" two hours later he led us to a dining patio. i sighed in silent dismay. another fifteen-course meal! less than a year of indian hospitality, and i had gained fifty pounds! yet it would have been considered the height of rudeness to refuse any of the dishes, carefully prepared for the endless banquets in my honor. in india (nowhere else, alas!) a well-padded swami is considered a delightful sight. {fn - } [illustration: mr. wright, myself, miss bletch--in egypt--see camel.jpg] [illustration: rabindranath tagore, inspired poet of bengal, and nobel prizeman in literature--see tagore.jpg] [illustration: mr. wright and i pose with the venerable swami keshabananda and a disciple at the stately hermitage in brindaban--see keshabananda.jpg] after dinner, keshabananda led me to a secluded nook. "your arrival is not unexpected," he said. "i have a message for you." i was surprised; no one had known of my plan to visit keshabananda. "while roaming last year in the northern himalayas near badrinarayan," the swami continued, "i lost my way. shelter appeared in a spacious cave, which was empty, though the embers of a fire glowed in a hole in the rocky floor. wondering about the occupant of this lonely retreat, i sat near the fire, my gaze fixed on the sunlit entrance to the cave. "'keshabananda, i am glad you are here.' these words came from behind me. i turned, startled, and was dazzled to behold babaji! the great guru had materialized himself in a recess of the cave. overjoyed to see him again after many years, i prostrated myself at his holy feet. "'i called you here,' babaji went on. 'that is why you lost your way and were led to my temporary abode in this cave. it is a long time since our last meeting; i am pleased to greet you once more.' "the deathless master blessed me with some words of spiritual help, then added: 'i give you a message for yogananda. he will pay you a visit on his return to india. many matters connected with his guru and with the surviving disciples of lahiri will keep yogananda fully occupied. tell him, then, that i won't see him this time, as he is eagerly hoping; but i shall see him on some other occasion.'" i was deeply touched to receive from keshabananda's lips this consoling promise from babaji. a certain hurt in my heart vanished; i grieved no longer that, even as sri yukteswar had hinted, babaji did not appear at the kumbha mela. spending one night as guests of the ashram, our party set out the following afternoon for calcutta. riding over a bridge of the jumna river, we enjoyed a magnificent view of the skyline of brindaban just as the sun set fire to the sky-a veritable furnace of vulcan in color, reflected below us in the still waters. the jumna beach is hallowed by memories of the child sri krishna. here he engaged with innocent sweetness in his lilas (plays) with the gopis (maids), exemplifying the supernal love which ever exists between a divine incarnation and his devotees. the life of lord krishna has been misunderstood by many western commentators. scriptural allegory is baffling to literal minds. a hilarious blunder by a translator will illustrate this point. the story concerns an inspired medieval saint, the cobbler ravidas, who sang in the simple terms of his own trade of the spiritual glory hidden in all mankind: under the vast vault of blue lives the divinity clothed in hide. one turns aside to hide a smile on hearing the pedestrian interpretation given to ravidas' poem by a western writer: "he afterwards built a hut, set up in it an idol which he made from a hide, and applied himself to its worship." ravidas was a brother disciple of the great kabir. one of ravidas' exalted chelas was the rani of chitor. she invited a large number of brahmins to a feast in honor of her teacher, but they refused to eat with a lowly cobbler. as they sat down in dignified aloofness to eat their own uncontaminated meal, lo! each brahmin found at his side the form of ravidas. this mass vision accomplished a widespread spiritual revival in chitor. in a few days our little group reached calcutta. eager to see sri yukteswar, i was disappointed to hear that he had left serampore and was now in puri, about three hundred miles to the south. "come to puri ashram at once." this telegram was sent on march th by a brother disciple to atul chandra roy chowdhry, one of master's chelas in calcutta. news of the message reached my ears; anguished at its implications, i dropped to my knees and implored god that my guru's life be spared. as i was about to leave father's home for the train, a divine voice spoke within. "do not go to puri tonight. thy prayer cannot be granted." "lord," i said, grief-stricken, "thou dost not wish to engage with me in a 'tug of war' at puri, where thou wilt have to deny my incessant prayers for master's life. must he, then, depart for higher duties at thy behest?" in obedience to the inward command, i did not leave that night for puri. the following evening i set out for the train; on the way, at seven o'clock, a black astral cloud suddenly covered the sky. {fn - } later, while the train roared toward puri, a vision of sri yukteswar appeared before me. he was sitting, very grave of countenance, with a light on each side. "is it all over?" i lifted my arms beseechingly. he nodded, then slowly vanished. as i stood on the puri train platform the following morning, still hoping against hope, an unknown man approached me. "have you heard that your master is gone?" he left me without another word; i never discovered who he was nor how he had known where to find me. stunned, i swayed against the platform wall, realizing that in diverse ways my guru was trying to convey to me the devastating news. seething with rebellion, my soul was like a volcano. by the time i reached the puri hermitage i was nearing collapse. the inner voice was tenderly repeating: "collect yourself. be calm." i entered the ashram room where master's body, unimaginably lifelike, was sitting in the lotus posture-a picture of health and loveliness. a short time before his passing, my guru had been slightly ill with fever, but before the day of his ascension into the infinite, his body had become completely well. no matter how often i looked at his dear form i could not realize that its life had departed. his skin was smooth and soft; in his face was a beatific expression of tranquillity. he had consciously relinquished his body at the hour of mystic summoning. "the lion of bengal is gone!" i cried in a daze. i conducted the solemn rites on march th. sri yukteswar was buried {fn - } with the ancient rituals of the swamis in the garden of his puri ashram. his disciples later arrived from far and near to honor their guru at a vernal equinox memorial service. the amrita bazar patrika, leading newspaper of calcutta, carried his picture and the following report: the death bhandara ceremony for srimat swami sri yukteswar giri maharaj, aged , took place at puri on march . many disciples came down to puri for the rites. one of the greatest expounders of the bhagavad gita, swami maharaj was a great disciple of yogiraj sri shyama charan lahiri mahasaya of benares. swami maharaj was the founder of several yogoda sat-sanga (self-realization fellowship) centers in india, and was the great inspiration behind the yoga movement which was carried to the west by swami yogananda, his principal disciple. it was sri yukteswarji's prophetic powers and deep realization that inspired swami yogananda to cross the oceans and spread in america the message of the masters of india. his interpretations of the bhagavad gita and other scriptures testify to the depth of sri yukteswarji's command of the philosophy, both eastern and western, and remain as an eye-opener for the unity between orient and occident. as he believed in the unity of all religious faiths, sri yukteswar maharaj established sadhu sabha (society of saints) with the cooperation of leaders of various sects and faiths, for the inculcation of a scientific spirit in religion. at the time of his demise he nominated swami yogananda his successor as the president of sadhu sabha. india is really poorer today by the passing of such a great man. may all fortunate enough to have come near him inculcate in themselves the true spirit of india's culture and sadhana which was personified in him. i returned to calcutta. not trusting myself as yet to go to the serampore hermitage with its sacred memories, i summoned prafulla, sri yukteswar's little disciple in serampore, and made arrangements for him to enter the ranchi school. "the morning you left for the allahabad mela," prafulla told me, "master dropped heavily on the davenport. "'yogananda is gone!' he cried. 'yogananda is gone!' he added cryptically, 'i shall have to tell him some other way.' he sat then for hours in silence." my days were filled with lectures, classes, interviews, and reunions with old friends. beneath a hollow smile and a life of ceaseless activity, a stream of black brooding polluted the inner river of bliss which for so many years had meandered under the sands of all my perceptions. "where has that divine sage gone?" i cried silently from the depths of a tormented spirit. no answer came. "it is best that master has completed his union with the cosmic beloved," my mind assured me. "he is eternally glowing in the dominion of deathlessness." "never again may you see him in the old serampore mansion," my heart lamented. "no longer may you bring your friends to meet him, or proudly say: 'behold, there sits india's jnanavatar!'" mr. wright made arrangements for our party to sail from bombay for the west in early june. after a fortnight in may of farewell banquets and speeches at calcutta, miss bletch, mr. wright and myself left in the ford for bombay. on our arrival, the ship authorities asked us to cancel our passage, as no room could be found for the ford, which we would need again in europe. "never mind," i said gloomily to mr. wright. "i want to return once more to puri." i silently added, "let my tears once again water the grave of my guru." {fn - } literally, param, highest; hansa, swan. the hansa is represented in scriptural lore as the vehicle of brahma, supreme spirit; as the symbol of discrimination, the white hansa swan is thought of as able to separate the true soma nectar from a mixture of milk and water. ham-sa (pronounced hong-sau) are two sacred sanskrit chant words possessing a vibratory connection with the incoming and outgoing breath. aham-sa is literally "i am he." {fn - } they have generally evaded the difficulty by addressing me as sir. {fn - } at the puri ashram, swami sebananda is still conducting a small, flourishing yoga school for boys, and meditation groups for adults. meetings of saints and pundits convene there periodically. {fn - } a section of calcutta. {fn - } aphorisms: ii: . {fn - } religious melas are mentioned in the ancient mahabharata. the chinese traveler hieuen tsiang has left an account of a vast kumbha mela held in a.d. at allahabad. the largest mela is held every twelfth year; the next largest (ardha or half) kumbha occurs every sixth year. smaller melas convene every third year, attracting about a million devotees. the four sacred mela cities are allahabad, hardwar, nasik, and ujjain. early chinese travelers have left us many striking pictures of indian society. the chinese priest, fa-hsien, wrote an account of his eleven years in india during the reign of chandragupta ii (early th century). the chinese author relates: "throughout the country no one kills any living thing, nor drinks wine. . . . they do not keep pigs or fowl; there are no dealings in cattle, no butchers' shops or distilleries. rooms with beds and mattresses, food and clothes, are provided for resident and traveling priests without fail, and this is the same in all places. the priests occupy themselves with benevolent ministrations and with chanting liturgies; or they sit in meditation." fa-hsien tells us the indian people were happy and honest; capital punishment was unknown. {fn - } i was not present at the deaths of my mother, elder brother ananta, eldest sister roma, master, father, or of several close disciples. (father passed on at calcutta in , at the age of eighty-nine.) {fn - } the hundreds of thousands of indian sadhus are controlled by an executive committee of seven leaders, representing seven large sections of india. the present mahamandaleswar or president is joyendra puri. this saintly man is extremely reserved, often confining his speech to three words-truth, love, and work. a sufficient conversation! {fn - } there are many methods, it appears, for outwitting a tiger. an australian explorer, francis birtles, has recounted that he found the indian jungles "varied, beautiful, and safe." his safety charm was flypaper. "every night i spread a quantity of sheets around my camp and was never disturbed," he explained. "the reason is psychological. the tiger is an animal of great conscious dignity. he prowls around and challenges man until he comes to the flypaper; he then slinks away. no dignified tiger would dare face a human being after squatting down upon a sticky flypaper!" {fn - } after i returned to america i took off sixty-five pounds. {fn - } sri yukteswar passed at this hour- : p.m., march , . {fn - } funeral customs in india require cremation for householders; swamis and monks of other orders are not cremated, but buried. (there are occasional exceptions.) the bodies of monks are symbolically considered to have undergone cremation in the fire of wisdom at the time of taking the monastic vow. chapter: the resurrection of sri yukteswar "lord krishna!" the glorious form of the avatar appeared in a shimmering blaze as i sat in my room at the regent hotel in bombay. shining over the roof of a high building across the street, the ineffable vision had suddenly burst on my sight as i gazed out of my long open third-story window. the divine figure waved to me, smiling and nodding in greeting. when i could not understand the exact message of lord krishna, he departed with a gesture of blessing. wondrously uplifted, i felt that some spiritual event was presaged. my western voyage had, for the time being, been cancelled. i was scheduled for several public addresses in bombay before leaving on a return visit to bengal. sitting on my bed in the bombay hotel at three o'clock in the afternoon of june , -one week after the vision of krishna-i was roused from my meditation by a beatific light. before my open and astonished eyes, the whole room was transformed into a strange world, the sunlight transmuted into supernal splendor. waves of rapture engulfed me as i beheld the flesh and blood form of sri yukteswar! "my son!" master spoke tenderly, on his face an angel-bewitching smile. for the first time in my life i did not kneel at his feet in greeting but instantly advanced to gather him hungrily in my arms. moment of moments! the anguish of past months was toll i counted weightless against the torrential bliss now descending. "master mine, beloved of my heart, why did you leave me?" i was incoherent in an excess of joy. "why did you let me go to the kumbha mela? how bitterly have i blamed myself for leaving you!" [illustration: krishna, ancient prophet of india, a modern artist's conception of the divine teacher whose spiritual counsel in the bhagavad gita has become the hindu bible. krishna is portrayed in hindu art with a peacock feather in his hair (symbol of the lord's lila, play or creative sport), and carrying a flute, whose enrapturing notes awaken the devotees, one by one, from their sleep of maya or cosmic delusion.--see krishna.jpg] "i did not want to interfere with your happy anticipation of seeing the pilgrimage spot where first i met babaji. i left you only for a little while; am i not with you again?" "but is it you, master, the same lion of god? are you wearing a body like the one i buried beneath the cruel puri sands?" "yes, my child, i am the same. this is a flesh and blood body. though i see it as ethereal, to your sight it is physical. from the cosmic atoms i created an entirely new body, exactly like that cosmic-dream physical body which you laid beneath the dream-sands at puri in your dream-world. i am in truth resurrected-not on earth but on an astral planet. its inhabitants are better able than earthly humanity to meet my lofty standards. there you and your exalted loved ones shall someday come to be with me." "deathless guru, tell me more!" master gave a quick, mirthful chuckle. "please, dear one," he said, "won't you relax your hold a little?" "only a little!" i had been embracing him with an octopus grip. i could detect the same faint, fragrant, natural odor which had been characteristic of his body before. the thrilling touch of his divine flesh still persists around the inner sides of my arms and in my palms whenever i recall those glorious hours. "as prophets are sent on earth to help men work out their physical karma, so i have been directed by god to serve on an astral planet as a savior," sri yukteswar explained. "it is called hiranyaloka or 'illumined astral planet.' there i am aiding advanced beings to rid themselves of astral karma and thus attain liberation from astral rebirths. the dwellers on hiranyaloka are highly developed spiritually; all of them had acquired, in their last earth-incarnation, the meditation-given power of consciously leaving their physical bodies at death. no one can enter hiranyaloka unless he has passed on earth beyond the state of sabikalpa samadhi into the higher state of nirbikalpa samadhi. {fn - } "the hiranyaloka inhabitants have already passed through the ordinary astral spheres, where nearly all beings from earth must go at death; there they worked out many seeds of their past actions in the astral worlds. none but advanced beings can perform such redemptive work effectually in the astral worlds. then, in order to free their souls more fully from the cocoon of karmic traces lodged in their astral bodies, these higher beings were drawn by cosmic law to be reborn with new astral bodies on hiranyaloka, the astral sun or heaven, where i have resurrected to help them. there are also highly advanced beings on hiranyaloka who have come from the superior, subtler, causal world." my mind was now in such perfect attunement with my guru's that he was conveying his word-pictures to me partly by speech and partly by thought-transference. i was thus quickly receiving his idea-tabloids. "you have read in the scriptures," master went on, "that god encased the human soul successively in three bodies-the idea, or causal, body; the subtle astral body, seat of man's mental and emotional natures; and the gross physical body. on earth a man is equipped with his physical senses. an astral being works with his consciousness and feelings and a body made of lifetrons. {fn - } a causal-bodied being remains in the blissful realm of ideas. my work is with those astral beings who are preparing to enter the causal world." "adorable master, please tell me more about the astral cosmos." though i had slightly relaxed my embrace at sri yukteswar's request, my arms were still around him. treasure beyond all treasures, my guru who had laughed at death to reach me! "there are many astral planets, teeming with astral beings," master began. "the inhabitants use astral planes, or masses of light, to travel from one planet to another, faster than electricity and radioactive energies. "the astral universe, made of various subtle vibrations of light and color, is hundreds of times larger than the material cosmos. the entire physical creation hangs like a little solid basket under the huge luminous balloon of the astral sphere. just as many physical suns and stars roam in space, so there are also countless astral solar and stellar systems. their planets have astral suns and moons, more beautiful than the physical ones. the astral luminaries resemble the aurora borealis-the sunny astral aurora being more dazzling than the mild-rayed moon-aurora. the astral day and night are longer than those of earth. "the astral world is infinitely beautiful, clean, pure, and orderly. there are no dead planets or barren lands. the terrestrial blemishes--weeds, bacteria, insects, snakes-are absent. unlike the variable climates and seasons of the earth, the astral planets maintain the even temperature of an eternal spring, with occasional luminous white snow and rain of many-colored lights. astral planets abound in opal lakes and bright seas and rainbow rivers. "the ordinary astral universe-not the subtler astral heaven of hiranyaloka-is peopled with millions of astral beings who have come, more or less recently, from the earth, and also with myriads of fairies, mermaids, fishes, animals, goblins, gnomes, demigods and spirits, all residing on different astral planets in accordance with karmic qualifications. various spheric mansions or vibratory regions are provided for good and evil spirits. good ones can travel freely, but the evil spirits are confined to limited zones. in the same way that human beings live on the surface of the earth, worms inside the soil, fish in water, and birds in air, so astral beings of different grades are assigned to suitable vibratory quarters. "among the fallen dark angels expelled from other worlds, friction and war take place with lifetronic bombs or mental mantric {fn - } vibratory rays. these beings dwell in the gloom-drenched regions of the lower astral cosmos, working out their evil karma. "in the vast realms above the dark astral prison, all is shining and beautiful. the astral cosmos is more naturally attuned than the earth to the divine will and plan of perfection. every astral object is manifested primarily by the will of god, and partially by the will-call of astral beings. they possess the power of modifying or enhancing the grace and form of anything already created by the lord. he has given his astral children the freedom and privilege of changing or improving at will the astral cosmos. on earth a solid must be transformed into liquid or other form through natural or chemical processes, but astral solids are changed into astral liquids, gases, or energy solely and instantly by the will of the inhabitants. "the earth is dark with warfare and murder in the sea, land, and air," my guru continued, "but the astral realms know a happy harmony and equality. astral beings dematerialize or materialize their forms at will. flowers or fish or animals can metamorphose themselves, for a time, into astral men. all astral beings are free to assume any form, and can easily commune together. no fixed, definite, natural law hems them round-any astral tree, for example, can be successfully asked to produce an astral mango or other desired fruit, flower, or indeed any other object. certain karmic restrictions are present, but there are no distinctions in the astral world about desirability of various forms. everything is vibrant with god's creative light. "no one is born of woman; offspring are materialized by astral beings through the help of their cosmic will into specially patterned, astrally condensed forms. the recently physically disembodied being arrives in an astral family through invitation, drawn by similar mental and spiritual tendencies. "the astral body is not subject to cold or heat or other natural conditions. the anatomy includes an astral brain, or the thousand-petaled lotus of light, and six awakened centers in the sushumna, or astral cerebro-spinal axis. the heart draws cosmic energy as well as light from the astral brain, and pumps it to the astral nerves and body cells, or lifetrons. astral beings can affect their bodies by lifetronic force or by mantric vibrations. "the astral body is an exact counterpart of the last physical form. astral beings retain the same appearance which they possessed in youth in their previous earthly sojourn; occasionally an astral being chooses, like myself, to retain his old age appearance." master, emanating the very essence of youth, chuckled merrily. "unlike the spacial, three-dimensional physical world cognized only by the five senses, the astral spheres are visible to the all-inclusive sixth sense-intuition," sri yukteswar went on. "by sheer intuitional feeling, all astral beings see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. they possess three eyes, two of which are partly closed. the third and chief astral eye, vertically placed on the forehead, is open. astral beings have all the outer sensory organs-ears, eyes, nose, tongue, and skin-but they employ the intuitional sense to experience sensations through any part of the body; they can see through the ear, or nose, or skin. they are able to hear through the eyes or tongue, and can taste through the ears or skin, and so forth. {fn - } "man's physical body is exposed to countless dangers, and is easily hurt or maimed; the ethereal astral body may occasionally be cut or bruised but is healed at once by mere willing." "gurudeva, are all astral persons beautiful?" "beauty in the astral world is known to be a spiritual quality, and not an outward conformation," sri yukteswar replied. "astral beings therefore attach little importance to facial features. they have the privilege, however, of costuming themselves at will with new, colorful, astrally materialized bodies. just as worldly men don new array for gala events, so astral beings find occasions to bedeck themselves in specially designed forms. "joyous astral festivities on the higher astral planets like hiranyaloka take place when a being is liberated from the astral world through spiritual advancement, and is therefore ready to enter the heaven of the causal world. on such occasions the invisible heavenly father, and the saints who are merged in him, materialize themselves into bodies of their own choice and join the astral celebration. in order to please his beloved devotee, the lord takes any desired form. if the devotee worshiped through devotion, he sees god as the divine mother. to jesus, the father-aspect of the infinite one was appealing beyond other conceptions. the individuality with which the creator has endowed each of his creatures makes every conceivable and inconceivable demand on the lord's versatility!" my guru and i laughed happily together. "friends of other lives easily recognize one another in the astral world," sri yukteswar went on in his beautiful, flutelike voice. "rejoicing at the immortality of friendship, they realize the indestructibility of love, often doubted at the time of the sad, delusive partings of earthly life. "the intuition of astral beings pierces through the veil and observes human activities on earth, but man cannot view the astral world unless his sixth sense is somewhat developed. thousands of earth-dwellers have momentarily glimpsed an astral being or an astral world. "the advanced beings on hiranyaloka remain mostly awake in ecstasy during the long astral day and night, helping to work out intricate problems of cosmic government and the redemption of prodigal sons, earthbound souls. when the hiranyaloka beings sleep, they have occasional dreamlike astral visions. their minds are usually engrossed in the conscious state of highest nirbikalpa bliss. "inhabitants in all parts of the astral worlds are still subject to mental agonies. the sensitive minds of the higher beings on planets like hiranyaloka feel keen pain if any mistake is made in conduct or perception of truth. these advanced beings endeavor to attune their every act and thought with the perfection of spiritual law. "communication among the astral inhabitants is held entirely by astral telepathy and television; there is none of the confusion and misunderstanding of the written and spoken word which earth-dwellers must endure. just as persons on the cinema screen appear to move and act through a series of light pictures, and do not actually breathe, so the astral beings walk and work as intelligently guided and coordinated images of light, without the necessity of drawing power from oxygen. man depends upon solids, liquids, gases, and energy for sustenance; astral beings sustain themselves principally by cosmic light." "master mine, do astral beings eat anything?" i was drinking in his marvelous elucidations with the receptivity of all my faculties-mind, heart, soul. superconscious perceptions of truth are permanently real and changeless, while fleeting sense experiences and impressions are never more than temporarily or relatively true, and soon lose in memory all their vividness. my guru's words were so penetratingly imprinted on the parchment of my being that at any time, by transferring my mind to the superconscious state, i can clearly relive the divine experience. "luminous raylike vegetables abound in the astral soils," he answered. "the astral beings consume vegetables, and drink a nectar flowing from glorious fountains of light and from astral brooks and rivers. just as invisible images of persons on the earth can be dug out of the ether and made visible by a television apparatus, later being dismissed again into space, so the god-created, unseen astral blueprints of vegetables and plants floating in the ether are precipitated on an astral planet by the will of its inhabitants. in the same way, from the wildest fancy of these beings, whole gardens of fragrant flowers are materialized, returning later to the etheric invisibility. although dwellers on the heavenly planets like hiranyaloka are almost freed from any necessity of eating, still higher is the unconditioned existence of almost completely liberated souls in the causal world, who eat nothing save the manna of bliss. "the earth-liberated astral being meets a multitude of relatives, fathers, mothers, wives, husbands, and friends, acquired during different incarnations on earth, {fn - } as they appear from time to time in various parts of the astral realms. he is therefore at a loss to understand whom to love especially; he learns in this way to give a divine and equal love to all, as children and individualized expressions of god. though the outward appearance of loved ones may have changed, more or less according to the development of new qualities in the latest life of any particular soul, the astral being employs his unerring intuition to recognize all those once dear to him in other planes of existence, and to welcome them to their new astral home. because every atom in creation is inextinguishably dowered with individuality, {fn - } an astral friend will be recognized no matter what costume he may don, even as on earth an actor's identity is discoverable by close observation despite any disguise. "the span of life in the astral world is much longer than on earth. a normal advanced astral being's average life period is from five hundred to one thousand years, measured in accordance with earthly standards of time. as certain redwood trees outlive most trees by millenniums, or as some yogis live several hundred years though most men die before the age of sixty, so some astral beings live much longer than the usual span of astral existence. visitors to the astral world dwell there for a longer or shorter period in accordance with the weight of their physical karma, which draws them back to earth within a specified time. "the astral being does not have to contend painfully with death at the time of shedding his luminous body. many of these beings nevertheless feel slightly nervous at the thought of dropping their astral form for the subtler causal one. the astral world is free from unwilling death, disease, and old age. these three dreads are the curse of earth, where man has allowed his consciousness to identify itself almost wholly with a frail physical body requiring constant aid from air, food, and sleep in order to exist at all. "physical death is attended by the disappearance of breath and the disintegration of fleshly cells. astral death consists of the dispersement of lifetrons, those manifest units of energy which constitute the life of astral beings. at physical death a being loses his consciousness of flesh and becomes aware of his subtle body in the astral world. experiencing astral death in due time, a being thus passes from the consciousness of astral birth and death to that of physical birth and death. these recurrent cycles of astral and physical encasement are the ineluctable destiny of all unenlightened beings. scriptural definitions of heaven and hell sometimes stir man's deeper-than-subconscious memories of his long series of experiences in the blithesome astral and disappointing terrestrial worlds." "beloved master," i asked, "will you please describe more in detail the difference between rebirth on the earth and in the astral and causal spheres?" "man as an individualized soul is essentially causal-bodied," my guru explained. "that body is a matrix of the thirty-five ideas required by god as the basic or causal thought forces from which he later formed the subtle astral body of nineteen elements and the gross physical body of sixteen elements. "the nineteen elements of the astral body are mental, emotional, and lifetronic. the nineteen components are intelligence; ego; feeling; mind (sense-consciousness); five instruments of knowledge, the subtle counterparts of the senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch; five instruments of action, the mental correspondence for the executive abilities to procreate, excrete, talk, walk, and exercise manual skill; and five instruments of life force, those empowered to perform the crystallizing, assimilating, eliminating, metabolizing, and circulating functions of the body. this subtle astral encasement of nineteen elements survives the death of the physical body, which is made of sixteen gross metallic and nonmetallic elements. "god thought out different ideas within himself and projected them into dreams. lady cosmic dream thus sprang out decorated in all her colossal endless ornaments of relativity. "in thirty-five thought categories of the causal body, god elaborated all the complexities of man's nineteen astral and sixteen physical counterparts. by condensation of vibratory forces, first subtle, then gross, he produced man's astral body and finally his physical form. according to the law of relativity, by which the prime simplicity has become the bewildering manifold, the causal cosmos and causal body are different from the astral cosmos and astral body; the physical cosmos and physical body are likewise characteristically at variance with the other forms of creation. "the fleshly body is made of the fixed, objectified dreams of the creator. the dualities are ever-present on earth: disease and health, pain and pleasure, loss and gain. human beings find limitation and resistance in three-dimensional matter. when man's desire to live is severely shaken by disease or other causes, death arrives; the heavy overcoat of the flesh is temporarily shed. the soul, however, remains encased in the astral and causal bodies. {fn - } the adhesive force by which all three bodies are held together is desire. the power of unfulfilled desires is the root of all man's slavery. "physical desires are rooted in egotism and sense pleasures. the compulsion or temptation of sensory experience is more powerful than the desire-force connected with astral attachments or causal perceptions. "astral desires center around enjoyment in terms of vibration. astral beings enjoy the ethereal music of the spheres and are entranced by the sight of all creation as exhaustless expressions of changing light. the astral beings also smell, taste, and touch light. astral desires are thus connected with an astral being's power to precipitate all objects and experiences as forms of light or as condensed thoughts or dreams. "causal desires are fulfilled by perception only. the nearly-free beings who are encased only in the causal body see the whole universe as realizations of the dream-ideas of god; they can materialize anything and everything in sheer thought. causal beings therefore consider the enjoyment of physical sensations or astral delights as gross and suffocating to the soul's fine sensibilities. causal beings work out their desires by materializing them instantly. {fn - } those who find themselves covered only by the delicate veil of the causal body can bring universes into manifestation even as the creator. because all creation is made of the cosmic dream-texture, the soul thinly clothed in the causal has vast realizations of power. "a soul, being invisible by nature, can be distinguished only by the presence of its body or bodies. the mere presence of a body signifies that its existence is made possible by unfulfilled desires. {fn - } "so long as the soul of man is encased in one, two, or three body-containers, sealed tightly with the corks of ignorance and desires, he cannot merge with the sea of spirit. when the gross physical receptacle is destroyed by the hammer of death, the other two coverings-astral and causal-still remain to prevent the soul from consciously joining the omnipresent life. when desirelessness is attained through wisdom, its power disintegrates the two remaining vessels. the tiny human soul emerges, free at last; it is one with the measureless amplitude." i asked my divine guru to shed further light on the high and mysterious causal world. "the causal world is indescribably subtle," he replied. "in order to understand it, one would have to possess such tremendous powers of concentration that he could close his eyes and visualize the astral cosmos and the physical cosmos in all their vastness-the luminous balloon with the solid basket-as existing in ideas only. if by this superhuman concentration one succeeded in converting or resolving the two cosmoses with all their complexities into sheer ideas, he would then reach the causal world and stand on the borderline of fusion between mind and matter. there one perceives all created things--solids, liquids, gases, electricity, energy, all beings, gods, men, animals, plants, bacteria-as forms of consciousness, just as a man can close his eyes and realize that he exists, even though his body is invisible to his physical eyes and is present only as an idea. "whatever a human being can do in fancy, a causal being can do in reality. the most colossal imaginative human intelligence is able, in mind only, to range from one extreme of thought to another, to skip mentally from planet to planet, or tumble endlessly down a pit of eternity, or soar rocketlike into the galaxied canopy, or scintillate like a searchlight over milky ways and the starry spaces. but beings in the causal world have a much greater freedom, and can effortlessly manifest their thoughts into instant objectivity, without any material or astral obstruction or karmic limitation. "causal beings realize that the physical cosmos is not primarily constructed of electrons, nor is the astral cosmos basically composed of lifetrons-both in reality are created from the minutest particles of god-thought, chopped and divided by maya, the law of relativity which intervenes to apparently separate the noumenon from his phenomena. "souls in the causal world recognize one another as individualized points of joyous spirit; their thought-things are the only objects which surround them. causal beings see the difference between their bodies and thoughts to be merely ideas. as a man, closing his eyes, can visualize a dazzling white light or a faint blue haze, so causal beings by thought alone are able to see, hear, feel, taste, and touch; they create anything, or dissolve it, by the power of cosmic mind. "both death and rebirth in the causal world are in thought. causal-bodied beings feast only on the ambrosia of eternally new knowledge. they drink from the springs of peace, roam on the trackless soil of perceptions, swim in the ocean-endlessness of bliss. lo! see their bright thought-bodies zoom past trillions of spirit-created planets, fresh bubbles of universes, wisdom-stars, spectral dreams of golden nebulae, all over the skiey blue bosom of infinity! "many beings remain for thousands of years in the causal cosmos. by deeper ecstasies the freed soul then withdraws itself from the little causal body and puts on the vastness of the causal cosmos. all the separate eddies of ideas, particularized waves of power, love, will, joy, peace, intuition, calmness, self-control, and concentration melt into the ever-joyous sea of bliss. no longer does the soul have to experience its joy as an individualized wave of consciousness, but is merged in the one cosmic ocean, with all its waves-eternal laughter, thrills, throbs. "when a soul is out of the cocoon of the three bodies it escapes forever from the law of relativity and becomes the ineffable ever-existent. {fn - } behold the butterfly of omnipresence, its wings etched with stars and moons and suns! the soul expanded into spirit remains alone in the region of lightless light, darkless dark, thoughtless thought, intoxicated with its ecstasy of joy in god's dream of cosmic creation." "a free soul!" i ejaculated in awe. "when a soul finally gets out of the three jars of bodily delusions," master continued, "it becomes one with the infinite without any loss of individuality. christ had won this final freedom even before he was born as jesus. in three stages of his past, symbolized in his earth-life as the three days of his experience of death and resurrection, he had attained the power to fully arise in spirit. "the undeveloped man must undergo countless earthly and astral and causal incarnations in order to emerge from his three bodies. a master who achieves this final freedom may elect to return to earth as a prophet to bring other human beings back to god, or like myself he may choose to reside in the astral cosmos. there a savior assumes some of the burden of the inhabitants' karma {fn - } and thus helps them to terminate their cycle of reincarnation in the astral cosmos and go on permanently to the causal spheres. or a freed soul may enter the causal world to aid its beings to shorten their span in the causal body and thus attain the absolute freedom." "resurrected one, i want to know more about the karma which forces souls to return to the three worlds." i could listen forever, i thought, to my omniscient master. never in his earth-life had i been able at one time to assimilate so much of his wisdom. now for the first time i was receiving a clear, definite insight into the enigmatic interspaces on the checkerboard of life and death. "the physical karma or desires of man must be completely worked out before his permanent stay in astral worlds becomes possible," my guru elucidated in his thrilling voice. "two kinds of beings live in the astral spheres. those who still have earthly karma to dispose of and who must therefore reinhabit a gross physical body in order to pay their karmic debts could be classified, after physical death, as temporary visitors to the astral world rather than as permanent residents. "beings with unredeemed earthly karma are not permitted after astral death to go to the high causal sphere of cosmic ideas, but must shuttle to and fro from the physical and astral worlds only, conscious successively of their physical body of sixteen gross elements, and of their astral body of nineteen subtle elements. after each loss of his physical body, however, an undeveloped being from the earth remains for the most part in the deep stupor of the death-sleep and is hardly conscious of the beautiful astral sphere. after the astral rest, such a man returns to the material plane for further lessons, gradually accustoming himself, through repeated journeys, to the worlds of subtle astral texture. "normal or long-established residents of the astral universe, on the other hand, are those who, freed forever from all material longings, need return no more to the gross vibrations of earth. such beings have only astral and causal karma to work out. at astral death these beings pass to the infinitely finer and more delicate causal world. shedding the thought-form of the causal body at the end of a certain span, determined by cosmic law, these advanced beings then return to hiranyaloka or a similar high astral planet, reborn in a new astral body to work out their unredeemed astral karma. "my son, you may now comprehend more fully that i am resurrected by divine decree," sri yukteswar continued, "as a savior of astrally reincarnating souls coming back from the causal sphere, in particular, rather than of those astral beings who are coming up from the earth. those from the earth, if they still retain vestiges of material karma, do not rise to the very high astral planets like hiranyaloka. "just as most people on earth have not learned through meditation-acquired vision to appreciate the superior joys and advantages of astral life and thus, after death, desire to return to the limited, imperfect pleasures of earth, so many astral beings, during the normal disintegration of their astral bodies, fail to picture the advanced state of spiritual joy in the causal world and, dwelling on thoughts of the more gross and gaudy astral happiness, yearn to revisit the astral paradise. heavy astral karma must be redeemed by such beings before they can achieve after astral death a permanent stay in the causal thought-world, so thinly partitioned from the creator. "only when a being has no further desires for experiences in the pleasing-to-the-eye astral cosmos, and cannot be tempted to go back there, does he remain in the causal world. completing there the work of redeeming all causal karma or seeds of past desires, the confined soul thrusts out the last of the three corks of ignorance and, emerging from the final jar of the causal body, commingles with the eternal. "now do you understand?" master smiled so enchantingly! "yes, through your grace. i am speechless with joy and gratitude." never from song or story had i ever received such inspiring knowledge. though the hindu scriptures refer to the causal and astral worlds and to man's three bodies, how remote and meaningless those pages compared with the warm authenticity of my resurrected master! for him indeed existed not a single "undiscover'd country from whose bourn no traveller returns"! "the interpenetration of man's three bodies is expressed in many ways through his threefold nature," my great guru went on. "in the wakeful state on earth a human being is conscious more or less of his three vehicles. when he is sensuously intent on tasting, smelling, touching, listening, or seeing, he is working principally through his physical body. visualizing or willing, he is working mainly through his astral body. his causal medium finds expression when man is thinking or diving deep in introspection or meditation; the cosmical thoughts of genius come to the man who habitually contacts his causal body. in this sense an individual may be classified broadly as 'a material man,' 'an energetic man,' or 'an intellectual man.' "a man identifies himself about sixteen hours daily with his physical vehicle. then he sleeps; if he dreams, he remains in his astral body, effortlessly creating any object even as do the astral beings. if man's sleep be deep and dreamless, for several hours he is able to transfer his consciousness, or sense of i-ness, to the causal body; such sleep is revivifying. a dreamer is contacting his astral and not his causal body; his sleep is not fully refreshing." i had been lovingly observing sri yukteswar while he gave his wondrous exposition. "angelic guru," i said, "your body looks exactly as it did when last i wept over it in the puri ashram." "o yes, my new body is a perfect copy of the old one. i materialize or dematerialize this form any time at will, much more frequently than i did while on earth. by quick dematerialization, i now travel instantly by light express from planet to planet or, indeed, from astral to causal or to physical cosmos." my divine guru smiled. "though you move about so fast these days, i had no difficulty in finding you at bombay!" "o master, i was grieving so deeply about your death!" "ah, wherein did i die? isn't there some contradiction?" sri yukteswar's eyes were twinkling with love and amusement. "you were only dreaming on earth; on that earth you saw my dream-body," he went on. "later you buried that dream-image. now my finer fleshly body-which you behold and are even now embracing rather closely!-is resurrected on another finer dream-planet of god. someday that finer dream-body and finer dream-planet will pass away; they too are not forever. all dream-bubbles must eventually burst at a final wakeful touch. differentiate, my son yogananda, between dreams and reality!" this idea of vedantic {fn - } resurrection struck me with wonder. i was ashamed that i had pitied master when i had seen his lifeless body at puri. i comprehended at last that my guru had always been fully awake in god, perceiving his own life and passing on earth, and his present resurrection, as nothing more than relativities of divine ideas in the cosmic dream. "i have now told you, yogananda, the truths of my life, death, and resurrection. grieve not for me; rather broadcast everywhere the story of my resurrection from the god-dreamed earth of men to another god-dreamed planet of astrally garbed souls! new hope will be infused into the hearts of misery-mad, death-fearing dreamers of the world." "yes, master!" how willingly would i share with others my joy at his resurrection! "on earth my standards were uncomfortably high, unsuited to the natures of most men. often i scolded you more than i should have. you passed my test; your love shone through the clouds of all reprimands." he added tenderly, "i have also come today to tell you: never again shall i wear the stern gaze of censure. i shall scold you no more." how much i had missed the chastisements of my great guru! each one had been a guardian angel of protection. "dearest master! rebuke me a million times-do scold me now!" "i shall chide you no more." his divine voice was grave, yet with an undercurrent of laughter. "you and i shall smile together, so long as our two forms appear different in the maya-dream of god. finally we shall merge as one in the cosmic beloved; our smiles shall be his smile, our unified song of joy vibrating throughout eternity to be broadcast to god-tuned souls!" sri yukteswar gave me light on certain matters which i cannot reveal here. during the two hours that he spent with me in the bombay hotel room he answered my every question. a number of world prophecies uttered by him that june day in have already come to pass. "i leave you now, beloved one!" at these words i felt master melting away within my encircling arms. "my child," his voice rang out, vibrating into my very soul-firmament, "whenever you enter the door of nirbikalpa samadhi and call on me, i shall come to you in flesh and blood, even as today." with this celestial promise sri yukteswar vanished from my sight. a cloud-voice repeated in musical thunder: "tell all! whosoever knows by nirbikalpa realization that your earth is a dream of god can come to the finer dream-created planet of hiranyaloka, and there find me resurrected in a body exactly like my earthly one. yogananda, tell all!" gone was the sorrow of parting. the pity and grief for his death, long robber of my peace, now fled in stark shame. bliss poured forth like a fountain through endless, newly opened soul-pores. anciently clogged with disuse, they now widened in purity at the driving flood of ecstasy. subconscious thoughts and feelings of my past incarnations shed their karmic taints, lustrously renewed by sri yukteswar's divine visit. in this chapter of my autobiography i have obeyed my guru's behest and spread the glad tiding, though it confound once more an incurious generation. groveling, man knows well; despair is seldom alien; yet these are perversities, no part of man's true lot. the day he wills, he is set on the path to freedom. too long has he hearkened to the dank pessimism of his "dust-thou-art" counselors, heedless of the unconquerable soul. i was not the only one privileged to behold the resurrected guru. one of sri yukteswar's chelas was an aged woman, affectionately known as ma (mother), whose home was close to the puri hermitage. master had often stopped to chat with her during his morning walk. on the evening of march , , ma arrived at the ashram and asked to see her guru. "why, master died a week ago!" swami sebananda, now in charge of the puri hermitage, looked at her sadly. "that's impossible!" she smiled a little. "perhaps you are just trying to protect the guru from insistent visitors?" "no." sebananda recounted details of the burial. "come," he said, "i will take you to the front garden to sri yukteswarji's grave." ma shook her head. "there is no grave for him! this morning at ten o'clock he passed in his usual walk before my door! i talked to him for several minutes in the bright outdoors. "'come this evening to the ashram,' he said. "i am here! blessings pour on this old gray head! the deathless guru wanted me to understand in what transcendent body he had visited me this morning!" the astounded sebananda knelt before her. "ma," he said, "what a weight of grief you lift from my heart! he is risen!" {fn - } in sabikalpa samadhi the devotee has spiritually progressed to a state of inward divine union, but cannot maintain his cosmic consciousness except in the immobile trance-state. by continuous meditation, he reaches the superior state of nirbikalpa samadhi, where he moves freely in the world and performs his outward duties without any loss of god-realization. {fn - } sri yukteswar used the word prana; i have translated it as lifetrons. the hindu scriptures refer not only to the anu, "atom," and to the paramanu, "beyond the atom," finer electronic energies; but also to prana, "creative lifetronic force." atoms and electrons are blind forces; prana is inherently intelligent. the pranic lifetrons in the spermatozoa and ova, for instance, guide the embryonic development according to a karmic design. {fn - } adjective of mantra, chanted seed-sounds discharged by the mental gun of concentration. the puranas (ancient shastras or treatises) describe these mantric wars between devas and asuras (gods and demons). an asura once tried to slay a deva with a potent chant. but due to mispronunciation the mental bomb acted as a boomerang and killed the demon. {fn - } examples of such powers are not wanting even on earth, as in the case of helen keller and other rare beings. {fn - } lord buddha was once asked why a man should love all persons equally. "because," the great teacher replied, "in the very numerous and varied lifespans of each man, every other being has at one time or another been dear to him." {fn - } the eight elemental qualities which enter into all created life, from atom to man, are earth, water, fire, air, ether, motion, mind, and individuality. (bhagavad gita: vii: .) {fn - } body signifies any soul-encasement, whether gross or subtle. the three bodies are cages for the bird of paradise. {fn - } even as babaji helped lahiri mahasaya to rid himself of a subconscious desire from some past life for a palace, as described in chapter . {fn - } "and he said unto them, wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together."-luke : . wherever the soul is encased in the physical body or in the astral body or in the causal body, there the eagles of desires-which prey on human sense weaknesses, or on astral and causal attachments-will also gather to keep the soul a prisoner. {fn - } "him that overcometh will i make a pillar in the temple of my god, and he shall go no more out (i.e., shall reincarnate no more). . . . to him that overcometh will i grant to sit with me in my throne, even as i also overcame, and am set down with my father in his throne."-revelation : , . {fn - } sri yukteswar was signifying that, even as in his earthly incarnation he had occasionally assumed the weight of disease to lighten his disciples' karma, so in the astral world his mission as a savior enabled him to take on certain astral karma of dwellers on hiranyaloka, and thus hasten their evolution into the higher causal world. {fn - } life and death as relativities of thought only. vedanta points out that god is the only reality; all creation or separate existence is maya or illusion. this philosophy of monism received its highest expression in the upanishad commentaries of shankara. chapter: with mahatma gandhi at wardha "welcome to wardha!" mahadev desai, secretary to mahatma gandhi, greeted miss bletch, mr. wright, and myself with these cordial words and the gift of wreaths of khaddar (homespun cotton). our little group had just dismounted at the wardha station on an early morning in august, glad to leave the dust and heat of the train. consigning our luggage to a bullock cart, we entered an open motor car with mr. desai and his companions, babasaheb deshmukh and dr. pingale. a short drive over the muddy country roads brought us to maganvadi, the ashram of india's political saint. mr. desai led us at once to the writing room where, cross-legged, sat mahatma gandhi. pen in one hand and a scrap of paper in the other, on his face a vast, winning, warm-hearted smile! "welcome!" he scribbled in hindi; it was a monday, his weekly day of silence. though this was our first meeting, we beamed on each other affectionately. in mahatma gandhi had honored the ranchi school by a visit, and had inscribed in its guest-book a gracious tribute. the tiny -pound saint radiated physical, mental, and spiritual health. his soft brown eyes shone with intelligence, sincerity, and discrimination; this statesman has matched wits and emerged the victor in a thousand legal, social, and political battles. no other leader in the world has attained the secure niche in the hearts of his people that gandhi occupies for india's unlettered millions. their spontaneous tribute is his famous title-mahatma, "great soul." {fn - } for them alone gandhi confines his attire to the widely-cartooned loincloth, symbol of his oneness with the downtrodden masses who can afford no more. [illustration: mahatma gandhi, i enjoy a quiet lunch with india's political saint at his hermitage in wardha, august, .--see gandhi.jpg] "the ashram residents are wholly at your disposal; please call on them for any service." with characteristic courtesy, the mahatma handed me this hastily-written note as mr. desai led our party from the writing room toward the guest house. our guide led us through orchards and flowering fields to a tile-roofed building with latticed windows. a front-yard well, twenty-five feet across, was used, mr. desai said, for watering stock; near-by stood a revolving cement wheel for threshing rice. each of our small bedrooms proved to contain only the irreducible minimum-a bed, handmade of rope. the whitewashed kitchen boasted a faucet in one corner and a fire pit for cooking in another. simple arcadian sounds reached our ears-the cries of crows and sparrows, the lowing of cattle, and the rap of chisels being used to chip stones. observing mr. wright's travel diary, mr. desai opened a page and wrote on it a list of satyagraha {fn - } vows taken by all the mahatma's strict followers (satyagrahis): "nonviolence; truth; non-stealing; celibacy; non-possession; body-labor; control of the palate; fearlessness; equal respect for all religions; swadeshi (use of home manufactures); freedom from untouchability. these eleven should be observed as vows in a spirit of humility." (gandhi himself signed this page on the following day, giving the date also-august , .) two hours after our arrival my companions and i were summoned to lunch. the mahatma was already seated under the arcade of the ashram porch, across the courtyard from his study. about twenty-five barefooted satyagrahis were squatting before brass cups and plates. a community chorus of prayer; then a meal served from large brass pots containing chapatis (whole-wheat unleavened bread) sprinkled with ghee; talsari (boiled and diced vegetables), and a lemon jam. the mahatma ate chapatis, boiled beets, some raw vegetables, and oranges. on the side of his plate was a large lump of very bitter neem leaves, a notable blood cleanser. with his spoon he separated a portion and placed it on my dish. i bolted it down with water, remembering childhood days when mother had forced me to swallow the disagreeable dose. gandhi, however, bit by bit was eating the neem paste with as much relish as if it had been a delicious sweetmeat. in this trifling incident i noted the mahatma's ability to detach his mind from the senses at will. i recalled the famous appendectomy performed on him some years ago. refusing anesthetics, the saint had chatted cheerfully with his disciples throughout the operation, his infectious smile revealing his unawareness of pain. the afternoon brought an opportunity for a chat with gandhi's noted disciple, daughter of an english admiral, miss madeleine slade, now called mirabai. {fn - } her strong, calm face lit with enthusiasm as she told me, in flawless hindi, of her daily activities. "rural reconstruction work is rewarding! a group of us go every morning at five o'clock to serve the near-by villagers and teach them simple hygiene. we make it a point to clean their latrines and their mud-thatched huts. the villagers are illiterate; they cannot be educated except by example!" she laughed gaily. i looked in admiration at this highborn englishwoman whose true christian humility enables her to do the scavengering work usually performed only by "untouchables." "i came to india in ," she told me. "in this land i feel that i have 'come back home.' now i would never be willing to return to my old life and old interests." we discussed america for awhile. "i am always pleased and amazed," she said, "to see the deep interest in spiritual subjects exhibited by the many americans who visit india." {fn - } mirabai's hands were soon busy at the charka (spinning wheel), omnipresent in all the ashram rooms and, indeed, due to the mahatma, omnipresent throughout rural india. gandhi has sound economic and cultural reasons for encouraging the revival of cottage industries, but he does not counsel a fanatical repudiation of all modern progress. machinery, trains, automobiles, the telegraph have played important parts in his own colossal life! fifty years of public service, in prison and out, wrestling daily with practical details and harsh realities in the political world, have only increased his balance, open-mindedness, sanity, and humorous appreciation of the quaint human spectacle. our trio enjoyed a six o'clock supper as guests of babasaheb deshmukh. the : p.m. prayer hour found us back at the maganvadi ashram, climbing to the roof where thirty satyagrahis were grouped in a semicircle around gandhi. he was squatting on a straw mat, an ancient pocket watch propped up before him. the fading sun cast a last gleam over the palms and banyans; the hum of night and the crickets had started. the atmosphere was serenity itself; i was enraptured. a solemn chant led by mr. desai, with responses from the group; then a gita reading. the mahatma motioned to me to give the concluding prayer. such divine unison of thought and aspiration! a memory forever: the wardha roof top meditation under the early stars. punctually at eight o'clock gandhi ended his silence. the herculean labors of his life require him to apportion his time minutely. "welcome, swamiji!" the mahatma's greeting this time was not via paper. we had just descended from the roof to his writing room, simply furnished with square mats (no chairs), a low desk with books, papers, and a few ordinary pens (not fountain pens); a nondescript clock ticked in a corner. an all-pervasive aura of peace and devotion. gandhi was bestowing one of his captivating, cavernous, almost toothless smiles. "years ago," he explained, "i started my weekly observance of a day of silence as a means for gaining time to look after my correspondence. but now those twenty-four hours have become a vital spiritual need. a periodical decree of silence is not a torture but a blessing." i agreed wholeheartedly. {fn - } the mahatma questioned me about america and europe; we discussed india and world conditions. "mahadev," gandhi said as mr. desai entered the room, "please make arrangements at town hall for swamiji to speak there on yoga tomorrow night." as i was bidding the mahatma good night, he considerately handed me a bottle of citronella oil. "the wardha mosquitoes don't know a thing about ahimsa, {fn - } swamiji!" he said, laughing. the following morning our little group breakfasted early on a tasty wheat porridge with molasses and milk. at ten-thirty we were called to the ashram porch for lunch with gandhi and the satyagrahis. today the menu included brown rice, a new selection of vegetables, and cardamom seeds. noon found me strolling about the ashram grounds, on to the grazing land of a few imperturbable cows. the protection of cows is a passion with gandhi. "the cow to me means the entire sub-human world, extending man's sympathies beyond his own species," the mahatma has explained. "man through the cow is enjoined to realize his identity with all that lives. why the ancient rishis selected the cow for apotheosis is obvious to me. the cow in india was the best comparison; she was the giver of plenty. not only did she give milk, but she also made agriculture possible. the cow is a poem of pity; one reads pity in the gentle animal. she is the second mother to millions of mankind. protection of the cow means protection of the whole dumb creation of god. the appeal of the lower order of creation is all the more forceful because it is speechless." three daily rituals are enjoined on the orthodox hindu. one is bhuta yajna, an offering of food to the animal kingdom. this ceremony symbolizes man's realization of his obligations to less evolved forms of creation, instinctively tied to bodily identifications which also corrode human life, but lacking in that quality of liberating reason which is peculiar to humanity. bhuta yajna thus reinforces man's readiness to succor the weak, as he in turn is comforted by countless solicitudes of higher unseen beings. man is also under bond for rejuvenating gifts of nature, prodigal in earth, sea, and sky. the evolutionary barrier of incommunicability among nature, animals, man, and astral angels is thus overcome by offices of silent love. the other two daily yajnas are pitri and nri. pitri yajna is an offering of oblations to ancestors, as a symbol of man's acknowledgment of his debt to the past, essence of whose wisdom illumines humanity today. nri yajna is an offering of food to strangers or the poor, symbol of the present responsibilities of man, his duties to contemporaries. in the early afternoon i fulfilled a neighborly nri yajna by a visit to gandhi's ashram for little girls. mr. wright accompanied me on the ten-minute drive. tiny young flowerlike faces atop the long-stemmed colorful saris! at the end of a brief talk in hindi {fn - } which i was giving outdoors, the skies unloosed a sudden downpour. laughing, mr. wright and i climbed aboard the car and sped back to maganvadi amidst sheets of driving silver. such tropical intensity and splash! reentering the guest house i was struck anew by the stark simplicity and evidences of self-sacrifice which are everywhere present. the gandhi vow of non-possession came early in his married life. renouncing an extensive legal practice which had been yielding him an annual income of more than $ , , the mahatma dispersed all his wealth to the poor. sri yukteswar used to poke gentle fun at the commonly inadequate conceptions of renunciation. "a beggar cannot renounce wealth," master would say. "if a man laments: 'my business has failed; my wife has left me; i will renounce all and enter a monastery,' to what worldly sacrifice is he referring? he did not renounce wealth and love; they renounced him!" saints like gandhi, on the other hand, have made not only tangible material sacrifices, but also the more difficult renunciation of selfish motive and private goal, merging their inmost being in the stream of humanity as a whole. the mahatma's remarkable wife, kasturabai, did not object when he failed to set aside any part of his wealth for the use of herself and their children. married in early youth, gandhi and his wife took the vow of celibacy after the birth of several sons. {fn - } a tranquil heroine in the intense drama that has been their life together, kasturabai has followed her husband to prison, shared his three-week fasts, and fully borne her share of his endless responsibilities. she has paid gandhi the following tribute: i thank you for having had the privilege of being your lifelong companion and helpmate. i thank you for the most perfect marriage in the world, based on brahmacharya (self-control) and not on sex. i thank you for having considered me your equal in your life work for india. i thank you for not being one of those husbands who spend their time in gambling, racing, women, wine, and song, tiring of their wives and children as the little boy quickly tires of his childhood toys. how thankful i am that you were not one of those husbands who devote their time to growing rich on the exploitation of the labor of others. how thankful i am that you put god and country before bribes, that you had the courage of your convictions and a complete and implicit faith in god. how thankful i am for a husband that put god and his country before me. i am grateful to you for your tolerance of me and my shortcomings of youth, when i grumbled and rebelled against the change you made in our mode of living, from so much to so little. as a young child, i lived in your parents' home; your mother was a great and good woman; she trained me, taught me how to be a brave, courageous wife and how to keep the love and respect of her son, my future husband. as the years passed and you became india's most beloved leader, i had none of the fears that beset the wife who may be cast aside when her husband has climbed the ladder of success, as so often happens in other countries. i knew that death would still find us husband and wife. for years kasturabai performed the duties of treasurer of the public funds which the idolized mahatma is able to raise by the millions. there are many humorous stories in indian homes to the effect that husbands are nervous about their wives' wearing any jewelry to a gandhi meeting; the mahatma's magical tongue, pleading for the downtrodden, charms the gold bracelets and diamond necklaces right off the arms and necks of the wealthy into the collection basket! one day the public treasurer, kasturabai, could not account for a disbursement of four rupees. gandhi duly published an auditing in which he inexorably pointed out his wife's four rupee discrepancy. i had often told this story before classes of my american students. one evening a woman in the hall had given an outraged gasp. "mahatma or no mahatma," she had cried, "if he were my husband i would have given him a black eye for such an unnecessary public insult!" after some good-humored banter had passed between us on the subject of american wives and hindu wives, i had gone on to a fuller explanation. "mrs. gandhi considers the mahatma not as her husband but as her guru, one who has the right to discipline her for even insignificant errors," i had pointed out. "sometime after kasturabai had been publicly rebuked, gandhi was sentenced to prison on a political charge. as he was calmly bidding farewell to his wife, she fell at his feet. 'master,' she said humbly, 'if i have ever offended you, please forgive me.'" {fn - } at three o'clock that afternoon in wardha, i betook myself, by previous appointment, to the writing room of the saint who had been able to make an unflinching disciple out of his own wife-rare miracle! gandhi looked up with his unforgettable smile. "mahatmaji," i said as i squatted beside him on the uncushioned mat, "please tell me your definition of ahimsa." "the avoidance of harm to any living creature in thought or deed." "beautiful ideal! but the world will always ask: may one not kill a cobra to protect a child, or one's self?" "i could not kill a cobra without violating two of my vows--fearlessness, and non-killing. i would rather try inwardly to calm the snake by vibrations of love. i cannot possibly lower my standards to suit my circumstances." with his amazing candor, gandhi added, "i must confess that i could not carry on this conversation were i faced by a cobra!" i remarked on several very recent western books on diet which lay on his desk. "yes, diet is important in the satyagraha movement-as everywhere else," he said with a chuckle. "because i advocate complete continence for satyagrahis, i am always trying to find out the best diet for the celibate. one must conquer the palate before he can control the procreative instinct. semi-starvation or unbalanced diets are not the answer. after overcoming the inward greed for food, a satyagrahi must continue to follow a rational vegetarian diet with all necessary vitamins, minerals, calories, and so forth. by inward and outward wisdom in regard to eating, the satyagrahi's sexual fluid is easily turned into vital energy for the whole body." the mahatma and i compared our knowledge of good meat-substitutes. "the avocado is excellent," i said. "there are numerous avocado groves near my center in california." gandhi's face lit with interest. "i wonder if they would grow in wardha? the satyagrahis would appreciate a new food." "i will be sure to send some avocado plants from los angeles to wardha." {fn - } i added, "eggs are a high-protein food; are they forbidden to satyagrahis?" "not unfertilized eggs." the mahatma laughed reminiscently. "for years i would not countenance their use; even now i personally do not eat them. one of my daughters-in-law was once dying of malnutrition; her doctor insisted on eggs. i would not agree, and advised him to give her some egg-substitute. "'gandhiji,' the doctor said, 'unfertilized eggs contain no life sperm; no killing is involved.' "i then gladly gave permission for my daughter-in-law to eat eggs; she was soon restored to health." on the previous night gandhi had expressed a wish to receive the kriya yoga of lahiri mahasaya. i was touched by the mahatma's open-mindedness and spirit of inquiry. he is childlike in his divine quest, revealing that pure receptivity which jesus praised in children, ". . . of such is the kingdom of heaven." the hour for my promised instruction had arrived; several satyagrahis now entered the room-mr. desai, dr. pingale, and a few others who desired the kriya technique. i first taught the little class the physical yogoda exercises. the body is visualized as divided into twenty parts; the will directs energy in turn to each section. soon everyone was vibrating before me like a human motor. it was easy to observe the rippling effect on gandhi's twenty body parts, at all times completely exposed to view! though very thin, he is not unpleasingly so; the skin of his body is smooth and unwrinkled. later i initiated the group into the liberating technique of kriya yoga. the mahatma has reverently studied all world religions. the jain scriptures, the biblical new testament, and the sociological writings of tolstoy {fn - } are the three main sources of gandhi's nonviolent convictions. he has stated his credo thus: i believe the bible, the koran, and the zend-avesta {fn - } to be as divinely inspired as the vedas. i believe in the institution of gurus, but in this age millions must go without a guru, because it is a rare thing to find a combination of perfect purity and perfect learning. but one need not despair of ever knowing the truth of one's religion, because the fundamentals of hinduism as of every great religion are unchangeable, and easily understood. i believe like every hindu in god and his oneness, in rebirth and salvation. . . . i can no more describe my feeling for hinduism than for my own wife. she moves me as no other woman in the world can. not that she has no faults; i daresay she has many more than i see myself. but the feeling of an indissoluble bond is there. even so i feel for and about hinduism with all its faults and limitations. nothing delights me so much as the music of the gita, or the ramayana by tulsidas. when i fancied i was taking my last breath, the gita was my solace. hinduism is not an exclusive religion. in it there is room for the worship of all the prophets of the world. {fn - } it is not a missionary religion in the ordinary sense of the term. it has no doubt absorbed many tribes in its fold, but this absorption has been of an evolutionary, imperceptible character. hinduism tells each man to worship god according to his own faith or dharma, {fn - } and so lives at peace with all religions. of christ, gandhi has written: "i am sure that if he were living here now among men, he would bless the lives of many who perhaps have never even heard his name . . . just as it is written: 'not every one that saith unto me, lord, lord . . . but he that doeth the will of my father.' {fn - } in the lesson of his own life, jesus gave humanity the magnificent purpose and the single objective toward which we all ought to aspire. i believe that he belongs not solely to christianity, but to the entire world, to all lands and races." on my last evening in wardha i addressed the meeting which had been called by mr. desai in town hall. the room was thronged to the window sills with about people assembled to hear the talk on yoga. i spoke first in hindi, then in english. our little group returned to the ashram in time for a good-night glimpse of gandhi, enfolded in peace and correspondence. night was still lingering when i rose at : a.m. village life was already stirring; first a bullock cart by the ashram gates, then a peasant with his huge burden balanced precariously on his head. after breakfast our trio sought out gandhi for farewell pronams. the saint rises at four o'clock for his morning prayer. "mahatmaji, good-by!" i knelt to touch his feet. "india is safe in your keeping!" years have rolled by since the wardha idyl; the earth, oceans, and skies have darkened with a world at war. alone among great leaders, gandhi has offered a practical nonviolent alternative to armed might. to redress grievances and remove injustices, the mahatma has employed nonviolent means which again and again have proved their effectiveness. he states his doctrine in these words: i have found that life persists in the midst of destruction. therefore there must be a higher law than that of destruction. only under that law would well-ordered society be intelligible and life worth living. if that is the law of life we must work it out in daily existence. wherever there are wars, wherever we are confronted with an opponent, conquer by love. i have found that the certain law of love has answered in my own life as the law of destruction has never done. in india we have had an ocular demonstration of the operation of this law on the widest scale possible. i don't claim that nonviolence has penetrated the , , people in india, but i do claim it has penetrated deeper than any other doctrine in an incredibly short time. it takes a fairly strenuous course of training to attain a mental state of nonviolence. it is a disciplined life, like the life of a soldier. the perfect state is reached only when the mind, body, and speech are in proper coordination. every problem would lend itself to solution if we determined to make the law of truth and nonviolence the law of life. just as a scientist will work wonders out of various applications of the laws of nature, a man who applies the laws of love with scientific precision can work greater wonders. nonviolence is infinitely more wonderful and subtle than forces of nature like, for instance, electricity. the law of love is a far greater science than any modern science. consulting history, one may reasonably state that the problems of mankind have not been solved by the use of brute force. world war i produced a world-chilling snowball of war karma that swelled into world war ii. only the warmth of brotherhood can melt the present colossal snowball of war karma which may otherwise grow into world war iii. this unholy trinity will banish forever the possibility of world war iv by a finality of atomic bombs. use of jungle logic instead of human reason in settling disputes will restore the earth to a jungle. if brothers not in life, then brothers in violent death. war and crime never pay. the billions of dollars that went up in the smoke of explosive nothingness would have been sufficient to have made a new world, one almost free from disease and completely free from poverty. not an earth of fear, chaos, famine, pestilence, the danse macabre, but one broad land of peace, of prosperity, and of widening knowledge. the nonviolent voice of gandhi appeals to man's highest conscience. let nations ally themselves no longer with death, but with life; not with destruction, but with construction; not with the annihilator, but with the creator. "one should forgive, under any injury," says the mahabharata. "it hath been said that the continuation of species is due to man's being forgiving. forgiveness is holiness; by forgiveness the universe is held together. forgiveness is the might of the mighty; forgiveness is sacrifice; forgiveness is quiet of mind. forgiveness and gentleness are the qualities of the self-possessed. they represent eternal virtue." nonviolence is the natural outgrowth of the law of forgiveness and love. "if loss of life becomes necessary in a righteous battle," gandhi proclaims, "one should be prepared, like jesus, to shed his own, not others', blood. eventually there will be less blood spilt in the world." epics shall someday be written on the indian satyagrahis who withstood hate with love, violence with nonviolence, who allowed themselves to be mercilessly slaughtered rather than retaliate. the result on certain historic occasions was that the armed opponents threw down their guns and fled, shamed, shaken to their depths by the sight of men who valued the life of another above their own. "i would wait, if need be for ages," gandhi says, "rather than seek the freedom of my country through bloody means." never does the mahatma forget the majestic warning: "all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." {fn - } gandhi has written: i call myself a nationalist, but my nationalism is as broad as the universe. it includes in its sweep all the nations of the earth. {fn - } my nationalism includes the well-being of the whole world. i do not want my india to rise on the ashes of other nations. i do not want india to exploit a single human being. i want india to be strong in order that she can infect the other nations also with her strength. not so with a single nation in europe today; they do not give strength to the others. president wilson mentioned his beautiful fourteen points, but said: "after all, if this endeavor of ours to arrive at peace fails, we have our armaments to fall back upon." i want to reverse that position, and i say: "our armaments have failed already. let us now be in search of something new; let us try the force of love and god which is truth." when we have got that, we shall want nothing else. by the mahatma's training of thousands of true satyagrahis (those who have taken the eleven rigorous vows mentioned in the first part of this chapter), who in turn spread the message; by patiently educating the indian masses to understand the spiritual and eventually material benefits of nonviolence; by arming his people with nonviolent weapons--non-cooperation with injustice, the willingness to endure indignities, prison, death itself rather than resort to arms; by enlisting world sympathy through countless examples of heroic martyrdom among satyagrahis, gandhi has dramatically portrayed the practical nature of nonviolence, its solemn power to settle disputes without war. gandhi has already won through nonviolent means a greater number of political concessions for his land than have ever been won by any leader of any country except through bullets. nonviolent methods for eradication of all wrongs and evils have been strikingly applied not only in the political arena but in the delicate and complicated field of indian social reform. gandhi and his followers have removed many longstanding feuds between hindus and mohammedans; hundreds of thousands of moslems look to the mahatma as their leader. the untouchables have found in him their fearless and triumphant champion. "if there be a rebirth in store for me," gandhi wrote, "i wish to be born a pariah in the midst of pariahs, because thereby i would be able to render them more effective service." the mahatma is indeed a "great soul," but it was illiterate millions who had the discernment to bestow the title. this gentle prophet is honored in his own land. the lowly peasant has been able to rise to gandhi's high challenge. the mahatma wholeheartedly believes in the inherent nobility of man. the inevitable failures have never disillusioned him. "even if the opponent plays him false twenty times," he writes, "the satyagrahi is ready to trust him the twenty-first time, for an implicit trust in human nature is the very essence of the creed." {fn - } "mahatmaji, you are an exceptional man. you must not expect the world to act as you do." a critic once made this observation. "it is curious how we delude ourselves, fancying that the body can be improved, but that it is impossible to evoke the hidden powers of the soul," gandhi replied. "i am engaged in trying to show that if i have any of those powers, i am as frail a mortal as any of us and that i never had anything extraordinary about me nor have i now. i am a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. i own, however, that i have enough humility to confess my errors and to retrace my steps. i own that i have an immovable faith in god and his goodness, and an unconsumable passion for truth and love. but is that not what every person has latent in him? if we are to make progress, we must not repeat history but make new history. we must add to the inheritance left by our ancestors. if we may make new discoveries and inventions in the phenomenal world, must we declare our bankruptcy in the spiritual domain? is it impossible to multiply the exceptions so as to make them the rule? must man always be brute first and man after, if at all?" {fn - } americans may well remember with pride the successful nonviolent experiment of william penn in founding his th century colony in pennsylvania. there were "no forts, no soldiers, no militia, even no arms." amidst the savage frontier wars and the butcheries that went on between the new settlers and the red indians, the quakers of pennsylvania alone remained unmolested. "others were slain; others were massacred; but they were safe. not a quaker woman suffered assault; not a quaker child was slain, not a quaker man was tortured." when the quakers were finally forced to give up the government of the state, "war broke out, and some pennsylvanians were killed. but only three quakers were killed, three who had so far fallen from their faith as to carry weapons of defence." "resort to force in the great war (i) failed to bring tranquillity," franklin d. roosevelt has pointed out. "victory and defeat were alike sterile. that lesson the world should have learned." "the more weapons of violence, the more misery to mankind," lao-tzu taught. "the triumph of violence ends in a festival of mourning." "i am fighting for nothing less than world peace," gandhi has declared. "if the indian movement is carried to success on a nonviolent satyagraha basis, it will give a new meaning to patriotism and, if i may say so in all humility, to life itself." before the west dismisses gandhi's program as one of an impractical dreamer, let it first reflect on a definition of satyagraha by the master of galilee: "ye have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but i say unto you, that ye resist not evil: {fn - } but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." gandhi's epoch has extended, with the beautiful precision of cosmic timing, into a century already desolated and devastated by two world wars. a divine handwriting appears on the granite wall of his life: a warning against the further shedding of blood among brothers. mahatma gandhi's handwriting in hindi [illustration--see gandhi .jpg] mahatma gandhi visited my high school with yoga training at ranchi. he graciously wrote the above lines in the ranchi guest-book. the translation is: "this institution has deeply impressed my mind. i cherish high hopes that this school will encourage the further practical use of the spinning wheel." (signed) mohandas gandhi september , [illustration--see gandhiflag.jpg] a national flag for india was designed in by gandhi. the stripes are saffron, white and green; the charka (spinning wheel) in the center is dark blue. "the charka symbolizes energy," he wrote, "and reminds us that during the past eras of prosperity in india's history, hand spinning and other domestic crafts were prominent." {fn - } his family name is mohandas karamchand gandhi. he never refers to himself as "mahatma." {fn - } the literal translation from sanskrit is "holding to truth." satyagraha is the famous nonviolence movement led by gandhi. {fn - } false and alas! malicious reports were recently circulated that miss slade has severed all her ties with gandhi and forsaken her vows. miss slade, the mahatma's satyagraha disciple for twenty years, issued a signed statement to the united press, dated dec. , , in which she explained that a series of baseless rumors arose after she had departed, with gandhi's blessings, for a small site in northeastern india near the himalayas, for the purpose of founding there her now-flourishing kisan ashram (center for medical and agricultural aid to peasant farmers). mahatma gandhi plans to visit the new ashram during . {fn - } miss slade reminded me of another distinguished western woman, miss margaret woodrow wilson, eldest daughter of america's great president. i met her in new york; she was intensely interested in india. later she went to pondicherry, where she spent the last five years of her life, happily pursuing a path of discipline at the feet of sri aurobindo ghosh. this sage never speaks; he silently greets his disciples on three annual occasions only. {fn - } for years in america i had been observing periods of silence, to the consternation of callers and secretaries. {fn - } harmlessness; nonviolence; the foundation rock of gandhi's creed. he was born into a family of strict jains, who revere ahimsa as the root-virtue. jainism, a sect of hinduism, was founded in the th century b.c. by mahavira, a contemporary of buddha. mahavira means "great hero"; may he look down the centuries on his heroic son gandhi! {fn - } hindi is the lingua franca for the whole of india. an indo-aryan language based largely on sanskrit roots, hindi is the chief vernacular of northern india. the main dialect of western hindi is hindustani, written both in the devanagari (sanskrit) characters and in arabic characters. its subdialect, urdu, is spoken by moslems. {fn - } gandhi has described his life with a devastating candor in the story of my experiments with truth (ahmedabad: navajivan press, - , vol.) this autobiography has been summarized in mahatma gandhi, his own story, edited by c. f. andrews, with an introduction by john haynes holmes (new york: macmillan co., ). many autobiographies replete with famous names and colorful events are almost completely silent on any phase of inner analysis or development. one lays down each of these books with a certain dissatisfaction, as though saying: "here is a man who knew many notable persons, but who never knew himself." this reaction is impossible with gandhi's autobiography; he exposes his faults and subterfuges with an impersonal devotion to truth rare in annals of any age. {fn - } kasturabai gandhi died in imprisonment at poona on february , . the usually unemotional gandhi wept silently. shortly after her admirers had suggested a memorial fund in her honor, lacs of rupees (nearly four million dollars) poured in from all over india. gandhi has arranged that the fund be used for village welfare work among women and children. he reports his activities in his english weekly, harijan. {fn - } i sent a shipment to wardha, soon after my return to america. the plants, alas! died on the way, unable to withstand the rigors of the long ocean transportation. {fn - } thoreau, ruskin, and mazzini are three other western writers whose sociological views gandhi has studied carefully. {fn - } the sacred scripture given to persia about b.c. by zoroaster. {fn - } the unique feature of hinduism among the world religions is that it derives not from a single great founder but from the impersonal vedic scriptures. hinduism thus gives scope for worshipful incorporation into its fold of prophets of all ages and all lands. the vedic scriptures regulate not only devotional practices but all important social customs, in an effort to bring man's every action into harmony with divine law. {fn - } a comprehensive sanskrit word for law; conformity to law or natural righteousness; duty as inherent in the circumstances in which a man finds himself at any given time. the scriptures define dharma as "the natural universal laws whose observance enables man to save himself from degradation and suffering." {fn - } matthew : . {fn - } matthew : . {fn - } "let not a man glory in this, that he love his country; let him rather glory in this, that he love his kind."-persian proverb. {fn - } "then came peter to him and said, lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and i forgive him? till seven times? jesus saith unto him, i say not unto thee, until seven times: but, until seventy times seven."-matthew : - . {fn - } charles p. steinmetz, the great electrical engineer, was once asked by mr. roger w. babson: "what line of research will see the greatest development during the next fifty years?" "i think the greatest discovery will be made along spiritual lines," steinmetz replied. "here is a force which history clearly teaches has been the greatest power in the development of men. yet we have merely been playing with it and have never seriously studied it as we have the physical forces. someday people will learn that material things do not bring happiness and are of little use in making men and women creative and powerful. then the scientists of the world will turn their laboratories over to the study of god and prayer and the spiritual forces which as yet have hardly been scratched. when this day comes, the world will see more advancement in one generation than it has seen in the past four." {fn - } that is, resist not evil with evil. (matthew : - ) chapter: the bengali "joy-permeated" mother "sir, please do not leave india without a glimpse of nirmala devi. her sanctity is intense; she is known far and wide as ananda moyi ma (joy-permeated mother)." my niece, amiyo bose, gazed at me earnestly. "of course! i want very much to see the woman saint." i added, "i have read of her advanced state of god-realization. a little article about her appeared years ago in east-west." "i have met her," amiyo went on. "she recently visited my own little town of jamshedpur. at the entreaty of a disciple, ananda moyi ma went to the home of a dying man. she stood by his bedside; as her hand touched his forehead, his death-rattle ceased. the disease vanished at once; to the man's glad astonishment, he was well." a few days later i heard that the blissful mother was staying at the home of a disciple in the bhowanipur section of calcutta. mr. wright and i set out immediately from my father's calcutta home. as the ford neared the bhowanipur house, my companion and i observed an unusual street scene. ananda moyi ma was standing in an open-topped automobile, blessing a throng of about one hundred disciples. she was evidently on the point of departure. mr. wright parked the ford some distance away, and accompanied me on foot toward the quiet assemblage. the woman saint glanced in our direction; she alit from her car and walked toward us. "father, you have come!" with these fervent words she put her arm around my neck and her head on my shoulder. mr. wright, to whom i had just remarked that i did not know the saint, was hugely enjoying this extraordinary demonstration of welcome. the eyes of the one hundred chelas were also fixed with some surprise on the affectionate tableau. i had instantly seen that the saint was in a high state of samadhi. utterly oblivious to her outward garb as a woman, she knew herself as the changeless soul; from that plane she was joyously greeting another devotee of god. she led me by the hand into her automobile. "ananda moyi ma, i am delaying your journey!" i protested. "father, i am meeting you for the first time in this life, after ages!" she said. "please do not leave yet." we sat together in the rear seats of the car. the blissful mother soon entered the immobile ecstatic state. her beautiful eyes glanced heavenward and, half-opened, became stilled, gazing into the near-far inner elysium. the disciples chanted gently: "victory to mother divine!" i had found many men of god-realization in india, but never before had i met such an exalted woman saint. her gentle face was burnished with the ineffable joy that had given her the name of blissful mother. long black tresses lay loosely behind her unveiled head. a red dot of sandalwood paste on her forehead symbolized the spiritual eye, ever open within her. tiny face, tiny hands, tiny feet-a contrast to her spiritual magnitude! i put some questions to a near-by woman chela while ananda moyi ma remained entranced. "the blissful mother travels widely in india; in many parts she has hundreds of disciples," the chela told me. "her courageous efforts have brought about many desirable social reforms. although a brahmin, the saint recognizes no caste distinctions. {fn - } a group of us always travel with her, looking after her comforts. we have to mother her; she takes no notice of her body. if no one gave her food, she would not eat, or make any inquiries. even when meals are placed before her, she does not touch them. to prevent her disappearance from this world, we disciples feed her with our own hands. for days together she often stays in the divine trance, scarcely breathing, her eyes unwinking. one of her chief disciples is her husband. many years ago, soon after their marriage, he took the vow of silence." the chela pointed to a broad-shouldered, fine-featured man with long hair and hoary beard. he was standing quietly in the midst of the gathering, his hands folded in a disciple's reverential attitude. refreshed by her dip in the infinite, ananda moyi ma was now focusing her consciousness on the material world. "father, please tell me where you stay." her voice was clear and melodious. "at present, in calcutta or ranchi; but soon i shall be returning to america." "america?" "yes. an indian woman saint would be sincerely appreciated there by spiritual seekers. would you like to go?" "if father can take me, i will go." this reply caused her near-by disciples to start in alarm. "twenty or more of us always travel with the blissful mother," one of them told me firmly. "we could not live without her. wherever she goes, we must go." reluctantly i abandoned the plan, as possessing an impractical feature of spontaneous enlargement! "please come at least to ranchi, with your disciples," i said on taking leave of the saint. "as a divine child yourself, you will enjoy the little ones in my school." "whenever father takes me, i will gladly go." a short time later the ranchi vidyalaya was in gala array for the saint's promised visit. the youngsters looked forward to any day of festivity-no lessons, hours of music, and a feast for the climax! "victory! ananda moyi ma, ki jai!" this reiterated chant from scores of enthusiastic little throats greeted the saint's party as it entered the school gates. showers of marigolds, tinkle of cymbals, lusty blowing of conch shells and beat of the mridanga drum! the blissful mother wandered smilingly over the sunny vidyalaya grounds, ever carrying within her the portable paradise. "it is beautiful here," ananda moyi ma said graciously as i led her into the main building. she seated herself with a childlike smile by my side. the closest of dear friends, she made one feel, yet an aura of remoteness was ever around her-the paradoxical isolation of omnipresence. "please tell me something of your life." "father knows all about it; why repeat it?" she evidently felt that the factual history of one short incarnation was beneath notice. i laughed, gently repeating my question. "father, there is little to tell." she spread her graceful hands in a deprecatory gesture. "my consciousness has never associated itself with this temporary body. before i came on this earth, father, 'i was the same.' as a little girl, 'i was the same.' i grew into womanhood, but still 'i was the same.' when the family in which i had been born made arrangements to have this body married, 'i was the same.' and when, passion-drunk, my husband came to me and murmured endearing words, lightly touching my body, he received a violent shock, as if struck by lightning, for even then 'i was the same.' "my husband knelt before me, folded his hands, and implored my pardon. "'mother,' he said, 'because i have desecrated your bodily temple by touching it with the thought of lust-not knowing that within it dwelt not my wife but the divine mother-i take this solemn vow: i shall be your disciple, a celibate follower, ever caring for you in silence as a servant, never speaking to anyone again as long as i live. may i thus atone for the sin i have today committed against you, my guru.' "even when i quietly accepted this proposal of my husband's, 'i was the same.' and, father, in front of you now, 'i am the same.' ever afterward, though the dance of creation change around me in the hall of eternity, 'i shall be the same.'" ananda moyi ma sank into a deep meditative state. her form was statue-still; she had fled to her ever-calling kingdom. the dark pools of her eyes appeared lifeless and glassy. this expression is often present when saints remove their consciousness from the physical body, which is then hardly more than a piece of soulless clay. we sat together for an hour in the ecstatic trance. she returned to this world with a gay little laugh. "please, ananda moyi ma," i said, "come with me to the garden. mr. wright will take some pictures." "of course, father. your will is my will." her glorious eyes retained the unchanging divine luster as she posed for many photographs. time for the feast! ananda moyi ma squatted on her blanket-seat, a disciple at her elbow to feed her. like an infant, the saint obediently swallowed the food after the chela had brought it to her lips. it was plain that the blissful mother did not recognize any difference between curries and sweetmeats! as dusk approached, the saint left with her party amidst a shower of rose petals, her hands raised in blessing on the little lads. their faces shone with the affection she had effortlessly awakened. "thou shalt love the lord thy god with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength:" christ has proclaimed, "this is the first commandment." {fn - } casting aside every inferior attachment, ananda moyi ma offers her sole allegiance to the lord. not by the hairsplitting distinctions of scholars but by the sure logic of faith, the childlike saint has solved the only problem in human life-establishment of unity with god. man has forgotten this stark simplicity, now befogged by a million issues. refusing a monotheistic love to god, the nations disguise their infidelity by punctilious respect before the outward shrines of charity. these humanitarian gestures are virtuous, because for a moment they divert man's attention from himself, but they do not free him from his single responsibility in life, referred to by jesus as the first commandment. the uplifting obligation to love god is assumed with man's first breath of an air freely bestowed by his only benefactor. on one other occasion after her ranchi visit i had opportunity to see ananda moyi ma. she stood among her disciples some months later on the serampore station platform, waiting for the train. "father, i am going to the himalayas," she told me. "generous disciples have built me a hermitage in dehra dun." as she boarded the train, i marveled to see that whether amidst a crowd, on a train, feasting, or sitting in silence, her eyes never looked away from god. within me i still hear her voice, an echo of measureless sweetness: "behold, now and always one with the eternal, 'i am ever the same.'" {fn - } i find some further facts of ananda moyi ma's life, printed in east-west. the saint was born in at dacca in central bengal. illiterate, she has yet stunned the intellectuals by her wisdom. her verses in sanskrit have filled scholars with wonderment. she has brought consolation to bereaved persons, and effected miraculous cures, by her mere presence. {fn - } mark : . chapter: the woman yogi who never eats "sir, whither are we bound this morning?" mr. wright was driving the ford; he took his eyes off the road long enough to gaze at me with a questioning twinkle. from day to day he seldom knew what part of bengal he would be discovering next. "god willing," i replied devoutly, "we are on our way to see an eighth wonder of the world-a woman saint whose diet is thin air!" "repetition of wonders-after therese neumann." but mr. wright laughed eagerly just the same; he even accelerated the speed of the car. more extraordinary grist for his travel diary! not one of an average tourist, that! the ranchi school had just been left behind us; we had risen before the sun. besides my secretary and myself, three bengali friends were in the party. we drank in the exhilarating air, the natural wine of the morning. our driver guided the car warily among the early peasants and the two-wheeled carts, slowly drawn by yoked, hump-shouldered bullocks, inclined to dispute the road with a honking interloper. "sir, we would like to know more of the fasting saint." "her name is giri bala," i informed my companions. "i first heard about her years ago from a scholarly gentleman, sthiti lal nundy. he often came to the gurpar road home to tutor my brother bishnu." "'i know giri bala well,' sthiti babu told me. 'she employs a certain yoga technique which enables her to live without eating. i was her close neighbor in nawabganj near ichapur. {fn - } i made it a point to watch her closely; never did i find evidence that she was taking either food or drink. my interest finally mounted so high that i approached the maharaja of burdwan {fn - } and asked him to conduct an investigation. astounded at the story, he invited her to his palace. she agreed to a test and lived for two months locked up in a small section of his home. later she returned for a palace visit of twenty days; and then for a third test of fifteen days. the maharaja himself told me that these three rigorous scrutinies had convinced him beyond doubt of her non-eating state.' "this story of sthiti babu's has remained in my mind for over twenty-five years," i concluded. "sometimes in america i wondered if the river of time would not swallow the yogini {fn - } before i could meet her. she must be quite aged now. i do not even know where, or if, she lives. but in a few hours we shall reach purulia; her brother has a home there." by ten-thirty our little group was conversing with the brother, lambadar dey, a lawyer of purulia. "yes, my sister is living. she sometimes stays with me here, but at present she is at our family home in biur." lambadar babu glanced doubtfully at the ford. "i hardly think, swamiji, that any automobile has ever penetrated into the interior as far as biur. it might be best if you all resign yourselves to the ancient jolt of the bullock cart!" as one voice our party pledged loyalty to the pride of detroit. "the ford comes from america," i told the lawyer. "it would be a shame to deprive it of an opportunity to get acquainted with the heart of bengal!" "may ganesh {fn - } go with you!" lambadar babu said, laughing. he added courteously, "if you ever get there, i am sure giri bala will be glad to see you. she is approaching her seventies, but continues in excellent health." "please tell me, sir, if it is absolutely true that she eats nothing?" i looked directly into his eyes, those telltale windows of the mind. [illustration: giri bala, this great woman yogi has not taken food or drink since . i am pictured with her, in , at her home in the isolated bengal village of biur. her non-eating state has been rigorously investigated by the maharaja of burdwan. she employs a certain yoga technique to recharge her body with cosmic energy from the ether, sun, and air.--see giribala.jpg] "it is true." his gaze was open and honorable. "in more than five decades i have never seen her eat a morsel. if the world suddenly came to an end, i could not be more astonished than by the sight of my sister's taking food!" we chuckled together over the improbability of these two cosmic events. "giri bala has never sought an inaccessible solitude for her yoga practices," lambadar babu went on. "she has lived her entire life surrounded by her family and friends. they are all well accustomed now to her strange state. not one of them who would not be stupefied if giri bala suddenly decided to eat anything! sister is naturally retiring, as befits a hindu widow, but our little circle in purulia and in biur all know that she is literally an 'exceptional' woman." the brother's sincerity was manifest. our little party thanked him warmly and set out toward biur. we stopped at a street shop for curry and luchis, attracting a swarm of urchins who gathered round to watch mr. wright eating with his fingers in the simple hindu manner. {fn - } hearty appetites caused us to fortify ourselves against an afternoon which, unknown at the moment, was to prove fairly laborious. our way now led east through sun-baked rice fields into the burdwan section of bengal. on through roads lined with dense vegetation; the songs of the maynas and the stripe-throated bulbuls streamed out from trees with huge, umbrellalike branches. a bullock cart now and then, the rini, rini, manju, manju squeak of its axle and iron-shod wooden wheels contrasting sharply in mind with the swish, swish of auto tires over the aristocratic asphalt of the cities. "dick, halt!" my sudden request brought a jolting protest from the ford. "that overburdened mango tree is fairly shouting an invitation!" the five of us dashed like children to the mango-strewn earth; the tree had benevolently shed its fruits as they had ripened. "full many a mango is born to lie unseen," i paraphrased, "and waste its sweetness on the stony ground." "nothing like this in america, swamiji, eh?" laughed sailesh mazumdar, one of my bengali students. "no," i admitted, covered with mango juice and contentment. "how i have missed this fruit in the west! a hindu's heaven without mangoes is inconceivable!" i picked up a rock and downed a proud beauty hidden on the highest limb. "dick," i asked between bites of ambrosia, warm with the tropical sun, "are all the cameras in the car?" "yes, sir; in the baggage compartment." "if giri bala proves to be a true saint, i want to write about her in the west. a hindu yogini with such inspiring powers should not live and die unknown-like most of these mangoes." half an hour later i was still strolling in the sylvan peace. "sir," mr. wright remarked, "we should reach giri bala before the sun sets, to have enough light for photographs." he added with a grin, "the westerners are a skeptical lot; we can't expect them to believe in the lady without any pictures!" this bit of wisdom was indisputable; i turned my back on temptation and reentered the car. "you are right, dick," i sighed as we sped along, "i sacrifice the mango paradise on the altar of western realism. photographs we must have!" the road became more and more sickly: wrinkles of ruts, boils of hardened clay, the sad infirmities of old age! our group dismounted occasionally to allow mr. wright to more easily maneuver the ford, which the four of us pushed from behind. "lambadar babu spoke truly," sailesh acknowledged. "the car is not carrying us; we are carrying the car!" our climb-in, climb-out auto tedium was beguiled ever and anon by the appearance of a village, each one a scene of quaint simplicity. "our way twisted and turned through groves of palms among ancient, unspoiled villages nestling in the forest shade," mr. wright has recorded in his travel diary, under date of may , . "very fascinating are these clusters of thatched mud huts, decorated with one of the names of god on the door; many small, naked children innocently playing about, pausing to stare or run wildly from this big, black, bullockless carriage tearing madly through their village. the women merely peep from the shadows, while the men lazily loll beneath the trees along the roadside, curious beneath their nonchalance. in one place, all the villagers were gaily bathing in the large tank (in their garments, changing by draping dry cloths around their bodies, dropping the wet ones). women bearing water to their homes, in huge brass jars. "the road led us a merry chase over mount and ridge; we bounced and tossed, dipped into small streams, detoured around an unfinished causeway, slithered across dry, sandy river beds and finally, about : p.m., we were close to our destination, biur. this minute village in the interior of bankura district, hidden in the protection of dense foliage, is unapproachable by travelers during the rainy season, when the streams are raging torrents and the roads serpentlike spit the mud-venom. "asking for a guide among a group of worshipers on their way home from a temple prayer (out in the lonely field), we were besieged by a dozen scantily clad lads who clambered on the sides of the car, eager to conduct us to giri bala. "the road led toward a grove of date palms sheltering a group of mud huts, but before we had reached it, the ford was momentarily tipped at a dangerous angle, tossed up and dropped down. the narrow trail led around trees and tank, over ridges, into holes and deep ruts. the car became anchored on a clump of bushes, then grounded on a hillock, requiring a lift of earth clods; on we proceeded, slowly and carefully; suddenly the way was stopped by a mass of brush in the middle of the cart track, necessitating a detour down a precipitous ledge into a dry tank, rescue from which demanded some scraping, adzing, and shoveling. again and again the road seemed impassable, but the pilgrimage must go on; obliging lads fetched spades and demolished the obstacles (shades of ganesh!) while hundreds of children and parents stared. "soon we were threading our way along the two ruts of antiquity, women gazing wide-eyed from their hut doors, men trailing alongside and behind us, children scampering to swell the procession. ours was perhaps the first auto to traverse these roads; the 'bullock cart union' must be omnipotent here! what a sensation we created-a group piloted by an american and pioneering in a snorting car right into their hamlet fastness, invading the ancient privacy and sanctity! "halting by a narrow lane we found ourselves within a hundred feet of giri bala's ancestral home. we felt the thrill of fulfillment after the long road struggle crowned by a rough finish. we approached a large, two-storied building of brick and plaster, dominating the surrounding adobe huts; the house was under the process of repair, for around it was the characteristically tropical framework of bamboos. "with feverish anticipation and suppressed rejoicing we stood before the open doors of the one blessed by the lord's 'hungerless' touch. constantly agape were the villagers, young and old, bare and dressed, women aloof somewhat but inquisitive too, men and boys unabashedly at our heels as they gazed on this unprecedented spectacle. "soon a short figure came into view in the doorway-giri bala! she was swathed in a cloth of dull, goldish silk; in typically indian fashion, she drew forward modestly and hesitatingly, peering slightly from beneath the upper fold of her swadeshi cloth. her eyes glistened like smouldering embers in the shadow of her head piece; we were enamored by a most benevolent and kindly face, a face of realization and understanding, free from the taint of earthly attachment. "meekly she approached and silently assented to our snapping a number of pictures with our 'still' and 'movie' cameras. {fn - } patiently and shyly she endured our photo techniques of posture adjustment and light arrangement. finally we had recorded for posterity many photographs of the only woman in the world who is known to have lived without food or drink for over fifty years. (therese neumann, of course, has fasted since .) most motherly was giri bala's expression as she stood before us, completely covered in the loose-flowing cloth, nothing of her body visible but her face with its downcast eyes, her hands, and her tiny feet. a face of rare peace and innocent poise-a wide, childlike, quivering lip, a feminine nose, narrow, sparkling eyes, and a wistful smile." mr. wright's impression of giri bala was shared by myself; spirituality enfolded her like her gently shining veil. she pronamed before me in the customary gesture of greeting from a householder to a monk. her simple charm and quiet smile gave us a welcome beyond that of honeyed oratory; forgotten was our difficult, dusty trip. the little saint seated herself cross-legged on the verandah. though bearing the scars of age, she was not emaciated; her olive-colored skin had remained clear and healthy in tone. "mother," i said in bengali, "for over twenty-five years i have thought eagerly of this very pilgrimage! i heard about your sacred life from sthiti lal nundy babu." she nodded in acknowledgment. "yes, my good neighbor in nawabganj." "during those years i have crossed the oceans, but i never forgot my early plan to someday see you. the sublime drama that you are here playing so inconspicuously should be blazoned before a world that has long forgotten the inner food divine." the saint lifted her eyes for a minute, smiling with serene interest. "baba (honored father) knows best," she answered meekly. i was happy that she had taken no offense; one never knows how great yogis or yoginis will react to the thought of publicity. they shun it, as a rule, wishing to pursue in silence the profound soul research. an inner sanction comes to them when the proper time arrives to display their lives openly for the benefit of seeking minds. "mother," i went on, "please forgive me, then, for burdening you with many questions. kindly answer only those that please you; i shall understand your silence, also." she spread her hands in a gracious gesture. "i am glad to reply, insofar as an insignificant person like myself can give satisfactory answers." "oh, no, not insignificant!" i protested sincerely. "you are a great soul." "i am the humble servant of all." she added quaintly, "i love to cook and feed people." a strange pastime, i thought, for a non-eating saint! "tell me, mother, from your own lips-do you live without food?" "that is true." she was silent for a few moments; her next remark showed that she had been struggling with mental arithmetic. "from the age of twelve years four months down to my present age of sixty-eight--a period of over fifty-six years--i have not eaten food or taken liquids." "are you never tempted to eat?" "if i felt a craving for food, i would have to eat." simply yet regally she stated this axiomatic truth, one known too well by a world revolving around three meals a day! "but you do eat something!" my tone held a note of remonstrance. "of course!" she smiled in swift understanding. "your nourishment derives from the finer energies of the air and sunlight, {fn - } and from the cosmic power which recharges your body through the medulla oblongata." "baba knows." again she acquiesced, her manner soothing and unemphatic. "mother, please tell me about your early life. it holds a deep interest for all of india, and even for our brothers and sisters beyond the seas." giri bala put aside her habitual reserve, relaxing into a conversational mood. "so be it." her voice was low and firm. "i was born in these forest regions. my childhood was unremarkable save that i was possessed by an insatiable appetite. i had been betrothed in early years. "'child,' my mother often warned me, 'try to control your greed. when the time comes for you to live among strangers in your husband's family, what will they think of you if your days are spent in nothing but eating?' "the calamity she had foreseen came to pass. i was only twelve when i joined my husband's people in nawabganj. my mother-in-law shamed me morning, noon, and night about my gluttonous habits. her scoldings were a blessing in disguise, however; they roused my dormant spiritual tendencies. one morning her ridicule was merciless. "'i shall soon prove to you,' i said, stung to the quick, 'that i shall never touch food again as long as i live.' "my mother-in-law laughed in derision. 'so!' she said, 'how can you live without eating, when you cannot live without overeating?' "this remark was unanswerable! yet an iron resolution scaffolded my spirit. in a secluded spot i sought my heavenly father. "'lord,' i prayed incessantly, 'please send me a guru, one who can teach me to live by thy light and not by food.' "a divine ecstasy fell over me. led by a beatific spell, i set out for the nawabganj ghat on the ganges. on the way i encountered the priest of my husband's family. "'venerable sir,' i said trustingly, 'kindly tell me how to live without eating.' "he stared at me without reply. finally he spoke in a consoling manner. 'child,' he said, 'come to the temple this evening; i will conduct a special vedic ceremony for you.' "this vague answer was not the one i was seeking; i continued toward the ghat. the morning sun pierced the waters; i purified myself in the ganges, as though for a sacred initiation. as i left the river bank, my wet cloth around me, in the broad glare of day my master materialized himself before me! "'dear little one,' he said in a voice of loving compassion, 'i am the guru sent here by god to fulfill your urgent prayer. he was deeply touched by its very unusual nature! from today you shall live by the astral light, your bodily atoms fed from the infinite current.'" giri bala fell into silence. i took mr. wright's pencil and pad and translated into english a few items for his information. the saint resumed the tale, her gentle voice barely audible. "the ghat was deserted, but my guru cast round us an aura of guarding light, that no stray bathers later disturb us. he initiated me into a kria technique which frees the body from dependence on the gross food of mortals. the technique includes the use of a certain mantra {fn - } and a breathing exercise more difficult than the average person could perform. no medicine or magic is involved; nothing beyond the kria." in the manner of the american newspaper reporter, who had unknowingly taught me his procedure, i questioned giri bala on many matters which i thought would be of interest to the world. she gave me, bit by bit, the following information: "i have never had any children; many years ago i became a widow. i sleep very little, as sleep and waking are the same to me. i meditate at night, attending to my domestic duties in the daytime. i slightly feel the change in climate from season to season. i have never been sick or experienced any disease. i feel only slight pain when accidentally injured. i have no bodily excretions. i can control my heart and breathing. i often see my guru as well as other great souls, in vision." "mother," i asked, "why don't you teach others the method of living without food?" my ambitious hopes for the world's starving millions were nipped in the bud. "no." she shook her head. "i was strictly commanded by my guru not to divulge the secret. it is not his wish to tamper with god's drama of creation. the farmers would not thank me if i taught many people to live without eating! the luscious fruits would lie uselessly on the ground. it appears that misery, starvation, and disease are whips of our karma which ultimately drive us to seek the true meaning of life." "mother," i said slowly, "what is the use of your having been singled out to live without eating?" "to prove that man is spirit." her face lit with wisdom. "to demonstrate that by divine advancement he can gradually learn to live by the eternal light and not by food." the saint sank into a deep meditative state. her gaze was directed inward; the gentle depths of her eyes became expressionless. she gave a certain sigh, the prelude to the ecstatic breathless trance. for a time she had fled to the questionless realm, the heaven of inner joy. the tropical darkness had fallen. the light of a small kerosene lamp flickered fitfully over the faces of a score of villagers squatting silently in the shadows. the darting glowworms and distant oil lanterns of the huts wove bright eerie patterns into the velvet night. it was the painful hour of parting; a slow, tedious journey lay before our little party. "giri bala," i said as the saint opened her eyes, "please give me a keepsake-a strip of one of your saris." she soon returned with a piece of benares silk, extending it in her hand as she suddenly prostrated herself on the ground. "mother," i said reverently, "rather let me touch your own blessed feet!" {fn - } in northern bengal. {fn - } h. h. sir bijay chand mahtab, now dead. his family doubtless possesses some record of the maharaja's three investigations of giri bala. {fn - } woman yogi. {fn - } "remover of obstacles," the god of good fortune. {fn - } sri yukteswar used to say: "the lord has given us the fruits of the good earth. we like to see our food, to smell it, to taste it--the hindu likes also to touch it!" one does not mind hearing it, either, if no one else is present at the meal! {fn - } mr. wright also took moving pictures of sri yukteswar during his last winter solstice festival in serampore. {fn - } "what we eat is radiation; our food is so much quanta of energy," dr. george w. crile of cleveland told a gathering of medical men on may , in memphis. "this all-important radiation, which releases electrical currents for the body's electrical circuit, the nervous system, is given to food by the sun's rays. atoms, dr. crile says, are solar systems. atoms are the vehicles that are filled with solar radiance as so many coiled springs. these countless atomfuls of energy are taken in as food. once in the human body, these tense vehicles, the atoms, are discharged in the body's protoplasm, the radiance furnishing new chemical energy, new electrical currents. 'your body is made up of such atoms,' dr. crile said. 'they are your muscles, brains, and sensory organs, such as the eyes and ears.'" someday scientists will discover how man can live directly on solar energy. "chlorophyll is the only substance known in nature that somehow possesses the power to act as a 'sunlight trap,'" william l. laurence writes in the new york times. "it 'catches' the energy of sunlight and stores it in the plant. without this no life could exist. we obtain the energy we need for living from the solar energy stored in the plant-food we eat or in the flesh of the animals that eat the plants. the energy we obtain from coal or oil is solar energy trapped by the chlorophyll in plant life millions of years ago. we live by the sun through the agency of chlorophyll." {fn - } potent vibratory chant. the literal translation of sanskrit mantra is "instrument of thought," signifying the ideal, inaudible sounds which represent one aspect of creation; when vocalized as syllables, a mantra constitutes a universal terminology. the infinite powers of sound derive from aum, the "word" or creative hum of the cosmic motor. chapter: i return to the west "i have given many yoga lessons in india and america; but i must confess that, as a hindu, i am unusually happy to be conducting a class for english students." my london class members laughed appreciatively; no political turmoils ever disturbed our yoga peace. india was now a hallowed memory. it is september, ; i am in england to fulfill a promise, given sixteen months earlier, to lecture again in london. england, too, is receptive to the timeless yoga message. reporters and newsreel cameramen swarmed over my quarters at grosvenor house. the british national council of the world fellowship of faiths organized a meeting on september th at whitefield's congregational church where i addressed the audience on the weighty subject of "how faith in fellowship may save civilization." the eight o'clock lectures at caxton hall attracted such crowds that on two nights the overflow waited in windsor house auditorium for my second talk at nine-thirty. yoga classes during the following weeks grew so large that mr. wright was obliged to arrange a transfer to another hall. the english tenacity has admirable expression in a spiritual relationship. the london yoga students loyally organized themselves, after my departure, into a self-realization fellowship center, holding their meditation meetings weekly throughout the bitter war years. unforgettable weeks in england; days of sight-seeing in london, then over the beautiful countryside. mr. wright and i summoned the trusty ford to visit the birthplaces and tombs of the great poets and heroes of british history. our little party sailed from southampton for america in late october on the bremen. the majestic statue of liberty in new york harbor brought a joyous emotional gulp not only to the throats of miss bletch and mr. wright, but to my own. the ford, a bit battered from struggles with ancient soils, was still puissant; it now took in its stride the transcontinental trip to california. in late , lo! mount washington. the year-end holidays are celebrated annually at the los angeles center with an eight-hour group meditation on december th (spiritual christmas), followed the next day by a banquet (social christmas). the festivities this year were augmented by the presence of dear friends and students from distant cities who had arrived to welcome home the three world travelers. the christmas day feast included delicacies brought fifteen thousand miles for this glad occasion: gucchi mushrooms from kashmir, canned rasagulla and mango pulp, papar biscuits, and an oil of the indian keora flower which flavored our ice cream. the evening found us grouped around a huge sparkling christmas tree, the near-by fireplace crackling with logs of aromatic cypress. gift-time! presents from the earth's far corners-palestine, egypt, india, england, france, italy. how laboriously had mr. wright counted the trunks at each foreign junction, that no pilfering hand receive the treasures intended for loved ones in america! plaques of the sacred olive tree from the holy land, delicate laces and embroideries from belgium and holland, persian carpets, finely woven kashmiri shawls, everlastingly fragrant sandalwood trays from mysore, shiva "bull's eye" stones from central provinces, old indian coins of dynasties long fled, bejeweled vases and cups, miniatures, tapestries, temple incense and perfumes, swadeshi cotton prints, lacquer work, mysore ivory carvings, persian slippers with their inquisitive long toe, quaint old illuminated manuscripts, velvets, brocades, gandhi caps, potteries, tiles, brasswork, prayer rugs-booty of three continents! one by one i distributed the gaily wrapped packages from the immense pile under the tree. "sister gyanamata!" i handed a long box to the saintly american lady of sweet visage and deep realization who, during my absence, had been in charge at mt. washington. from the paper tissues she lifted a sari of golden benares silk. "thank you, sir; it brings the pageant of india before my eyes." "mr. dickinson!" the next parcel contained a gift which i had bought in a calcutta bazaar. "mr. dickinson will like this," i had thought at the time. a dearly beloved disciple, mr. dickinson had been present at every christmas festivity since the founding of mt. washington. at this eleventh annual celebration, he was standing before me, untying the ribbons of his square little package. "the silver cup!" struggling with emotion, he stared at the present, a tall drinking cup. he seated himself some distance away, apparently in a daze. i smiled at him affectionately before resuming my role as santa claus. the ejaculatory evening closed with a prayer to the giver of all gifts; then a group singing of christmas carols. mr. dickinson and i were chatting together sometime later. "sir," he said, "please let me thank you now for the silver cup. i could not find any words on christmas night." "i brought the gift especially for you." "for forty-three years i have been waiting for that silver cup! it is a long story, one i have kept hidden within me." mr. dickinson looked at me shyly. "the beginning was dramatic: i was drowning. my older brother had playfully pushed me into a fifteen-foot pool in a small town in nebraska. i was only five years old then. as i was about to sink for the second time under the water, a dazzling multicolored light appeared, filling all space. in the midst was the figure of a man with tranquil eyes and a reassuring smile. my body was sinking for the third time when one of my brother's companions bent a tall slender willow tree in such a low dip that i could grasp it with my desperate fingers. the boys lifted me to the bank and successfully gave me first-aid treatment. "twelve years later, a youth of seventeen, i visited chicago with my mother. it was ; the great world parliament of religions was in session. mother and i were walking down a main street, when again i saw the mighty flash of light. a few paces away, strolling leisurely along, was the same man i had seen years before in vision. he approached a large auditorium and vanished within the door. [illustration: mr. e. e. dickinson of los angeles; he sought a silver cup--see dickinson.jpg] [illustration: sri yukteswar and myself in calcutta, . he is carrying the gift umbrella-cane--see gurus.jpg] [illustration: a group of ranchi students and teachers pose with the venerable maharaja of kasimbazar (at center, in white). in he gave his kasimbazar palace and twenty-five acres in ranchi as a permanent site for my yoga school for boys.--see teachers.jpg] "'mother,' i cried, 'that was the man who appeared at the time i was drowning!' "she and i hastened into the building; the man was seated on a lecture platform. we soon learned that he was swami vivekananda of india. {fn - } after he had given a soul-stirring talk, i went forward to meet him. he smiled on me graciously, as though we were old friends. i was so young that i did not know how to give expression to my feelings, but in my heart i was hoping that he would offer to be my teacher. he read my thought. "'no, my son, i am not your guru.' vivekananda gazed with his beautiful, piercing eyes deep into my own. 'your teacher will come later. he will give you a silver cup.' after a little pause, he added, smiling, 'he will pour out to you more blessings than you are now able to hold.' "i left chicago in a few days," mr. dickinson went on, "and never saw the great vivekananda again. but every word he had uttered was indelibly written on my inmost consciousness. years passed; no teacher appeared. one night in i prayed deeply that the lord would send me my guru. a few hours later, i was awakened from sleep by soft strains of melody. a band of celestial beings, carrying flutes and other instruments, came before my view. after filling the air with glorious music, the angels slowly vanished. "the next evening i attended, for the first time, one of your lectures here in los angeles, and knew then that my prayer had been granted." we smiled at each other in silence. "for eleven years now i have been your kriya yoga disciple," mr. dickinson continued. "sometimes i wondered about the silver cup; i had almost persuaded myself that vivekananda's words were only metaphorical. but on christmas night, as you handed me the square box by the tree, i saw, for the third time in my life, the same dazzling flash of light. in another minute i was gazing on my guru's gift which vivekananda had foreseen for me forty-three years earlier-a silver cup!" {fn - } the chief disciple of the christlike master sri ramakrishna. chapter: at encinitas in california "a surprise, sir! during your absence abroad we have had this encinitas hermitage built; it is a 'welcome-home' gift!" sister gyanamata smilingly led me through a gate and up a tree-shaded walk. i saw a building jutting out like a great white ocean liner toward the blue brine. first speechlessly, then with "oh's!" and "ah's!", finally with man's insufficient vocabulary of joy and gratitude, i examined the ashram-sixteen unusually large rooms, each one charmingly appointed. the stately central hall, with immense ceiling-high windows, looks out on a united altar of grass, ocean, sky-a symphony in emerald, opal, sapphire. a mantle over the hall's huge fireplace holds the framed likeness of lahiri mahasaya, smiling his blessing over this far pacific heaven. directly below the hall, built into the very bluff, two solitary meditation caves confront the infinities of sky and sea. verandahs, sun-bathing nooks, acres of orchard, a eucalypti grove, flagstone paths leading through roses and lilies to quiet arbors, a long flight of stairs ending on an isolated beach and the vast waters! was dream ever more concrete? "may the good and heroic and bountiful souls of the saints come here," reads "a prayer for a dwelling," from the zend-avesta, fastened on one of the hermitage doors, "and may they go hand in hand with us, giving the healing virtues of their blessed gifts as widespread as the earth, as far-flung as the rivers, as high-reaching as the sun, for the furtherance of better men, for the increase of abundance and glory. "may obedience conquer disobedience within this house; may peace triumph here over discord; free-hearted giving over avarice, truthful speech over deceit, reverence over contempt. that our minds be delighted, and our souls uplifted, let our bodies be glorified as well; and o light divine, may we see thee, and may we, approaching, come round about thee, and attain unto thine entire companionship!" [illustration: encinitas, california, overlooking the pacific. main building and part of the grounds of the self-realization fellowship--see encinitas.jpg] this self-realization fellowship ashram had been made possible through the generosity of a few american disciples, american businessmen of endless responsibilities who yet find time daily for their kriya yoga. not a word of the hermitage construction had been allowed to reach me during my stay in india and europe. astonishment, delight! during my earlier years in america i had combed the coast of california in quest of a small site for a seaside ashram; whenever i had found a suitable location, some obstacle had invariably arisen to thwart me. gazing now over the broad acres of encinitas, {fn - } humbly i saw the effortless fulfillment of sri yukteswar's long-ago prophecy: "a hermitage by the ocean." a few months later, easter of , i conducted on the smooth lawns at encinitas the first of many sunrise services. like the magi of old, several hundred students gazed in devotional awe at the daily miracle, the early solar fire rite in the eastern sky. to the west lay the inexhaustible pacific, booming its solemn praise; in the distance, a tiny white sailing boat, and the lonely flight of a seagull. "christ, thou art risen!" not alone with the vernal sun, but in the eternal dawn of spirit! many happy months sped by; in the peace of perfect beauty i was able to complete at the hermitage a long-projected work, cosmic chants. i set to english words and western musical notation about forty songs, some original, others my adaptations of ancient melodies. included were the shankara chant, "no birth, no death"; two favorites of sri yukteswar's: "wake, yet wake, o my saint!" and "desire, my great enemy"; the hoary sanskrit "hymn to brahma"; old bengali songs, "what lightning flash!" and "they have heard thy name"; tagore's "who is in my temple?"; and a number of my compositions: "i will be thine always," "in the land beyond my dreams," "come out of the silent sky," "listen to my soul call," "in the temple of silence," and "thou art my life." for a preface to the songbook i recounted my first outstanding experience with the receptivity of westerners to the quaintly devotional airs of the east. the occasion had been a public lecture; the time, april , ; the place, carnegie hall in new york. "mr. hunsicker," i had confided to an american student, "i am planning to ask the audience to sing an ancient hindu chant, 'o god beautiful!'" "sir," mr. hunsicker had protested, "these oriental songs are alien to american understanding. what a shame if the lecture were to be marred by a commentary of overripe tomatoes!" i had laughingly disagreed. "music is a universal language. americans will not fail to feel the soul-aspiration in this lofty chant." {fn - } during the lecture mr. hunsicker had sat behind me on the platform, probably fearing for my safety. his doubts were groundless; not only had there been an absence of unwelcome vegetables, but for one hour and twenty-five minutes the strains of "o god beautiful!" had sounded uninterruptedly from three thousand throats. blase' no longer, dear new yorkers; your hearts had soared out in a simple paean of rejoicing! divine healings had taken place that evening among the devotees chanting with love the lord's blessed name. the secluded life of a literary minstrel was not my role for long. soon i was dividing every fortnight between los angeles and encinitas. sunday services, classes, lectures before clubs and colleges, interviews with students, ceaseless streams of correspondence, articles for east-west, direction of activities in india and numerous small centers in american cities. much time was given, also, to the arrangement of kriya and other self-realization fellowship teachings into a series of studies for the distant yoga seekers whose zeal recognized no limitation of space. joyous dedication of a self-realization church of all religions took place in at washington, d.c. set amidst landscaped grounds, the stately church stands in a section of the city aptly called "friendship heights." the washington leader is swami premananda, educated at the ranchi school and calcutta university. i had summoned him in to assume leadership of the washington self-realization fellowship center. "premananda," i told him during a visit to his new temple, "this eastern headquarters is a memorial in stone to your tireless devotion. here in the nation's capital you have held aloft the light of lahiri mahasaya's ideals." premananda accompanied me from washington for a brief visit to the self-realization fellowship center in boston. what joy to see again the kriya yoga band who had remained steadfast since ! the boston leader, dr. m. w. lewis, lodged my companion and myself in a modern, artistically decorated suite. "sir," dr. lewis said to me, smiling, "during your early years in america you stayed in this city in a single room, without bath. i wanted you to know that boston possesses some luxurious apartments!" the shadows of approaching carnage were lengthening over the world; already the acute ear might hear the frightful drums of war. during interviews with thousands in california, and through a world-wide correspondence, i found that men and women were deeply searching their hearts; the tragic outer insecurity had emphasized need for the eternal anchorage. "we have indeed learned the value of meditation," the leader of the london self-realization fellowship center wrote me in , "and know that nothing can disturb our inner peace. in the last few weeks during the meetings we have heard air-raid warnings and listened to the explosion of delayed-action bombs, but our students still gather and thoroughly enjoy our beautiful service." another letter reached me from war-torn england just before america entered the conflict. in nobly pathetic words, dr. l. cranmer byng, noted editor of the wisdom of the east series, wrote: "when i read east-west i realized how far apart we seemed to be, apparently living in two different worlds. beauty, order, calm, and peace come to me from los angeles, sailing into port as a vessel laden with the blessings and comfort of the holy grail to a beleaguered city. "i see as in a dream your palm tree grove, and the temple at encinitas with its ocean stretches and mountain views, and above all its fellowship of spiritually minded men and women, a community comprehended in unity, absorbed in creative work, and replenished in contemplation. it is the world of my own vision, in the making of which i hoped to bear my little part, and now . . . "perhaps in the body i shall never reach your golden shores nor worship in your temple. but it is something and more, to have had the vision and know that in the midst of war there is still a peace that abides in your harbors and among your hills. greetings to all the fellowship from a common soldier, written on the watchtower waiting for the dawn." the war years brought a spiritual awakening among men whose diversions had never before included a study of the new testament. one sweet distillment from the bitter herbs of war! to satisfy a growing need, an inspiring little self-realization church of all religions was built and dedicated in at hollywood. the site faces olive hill and the distant los angeles planetarium. the church, finished in blue, white, and gold, is reflected amidst the water hyacinths in a large pool. the gardens are gay with flowers, a few startled stone deer, a stained-glass pergola, and a quaint wishing well. thrown in with the pennies and the kaleidoscopic wishes of man has been many a pure aspiration for the sole treasure of spirit! a universal benignity flows from small niches with statues of lahiri mahasaya and sri yukteswar, and of krishna, buddha, confucius, st. francis, and a beautiful mother-of-pearl reproduction of christ at the last supper. another self-realization church of all religions was founded in at san diego. a quiet hilltop temple, it stands in a sloping valley of eucalypti, overlooking sparkling san diego bay. sitting one evening in this tranquil haven, i was pouring out my heart in song. under my fingers was the sweet-toned organ of the church, on my lips the yearning plaint of an ancient bengali devotee who had searched for eternal solace: in this world, mother, none can love me; in this world they do not know love divine. where is there pure loving love? where is there truly loving thee? there my heart longs to be. my companion in the chapel, dr. lloyd kennell, the san diego center leader, was smiling a little at the words of the song. "tell me truly, paramhansaji, has it been worth it?" he gazed at me with an earnest sincerity. i understood his laconic question: "have you been happy in america? what about the disillusionments, the heartaches, the center leaders who could not lead, the students who could not be taught?" "blessed is the man whom the lord doth test, doctor! he has remembered now and then to put a burden on me!" i thought, then, of all the faithful ones, of the love and devotion and understanding that lay in the heart of america. with slow emphasis i went on, "but my answer is: yes, a thousand times yes! it has been worth-while; it has been a constant inspiration, more than ever i dreamed, to see west and east brought closer in the only lasting bond, the spiritual!" silently i added a prayer: "may babaji and sri yukteswarji feel that i have done my part, not disappointing the high hope in which they sent me forth." i turned again to the organ; this time my song was tinged with a martial valor: the grinding wheel of time doth mar full many a life of moon and star and many a brightly smiling morn-- but still my soul is marching on! darkness, death, and failures vied; to block my path they fiercely tried; my fight with jealous nature's strong-- but still my soul is marching on! new year's week of found me at work in my encinitas study, revising the manuscript of this book. "paramhansaji, please come outdoors." dr. lewis, on a visit from boston, smiled at me pleadingly from outside my window. soon we were strolling in the sunshine. my companion pointed to new towers in process of construction along the edge of the fellowship property adjoining the coast highway. "sir, i see many improvements here since my last visit." dr. lewis comes twice annually from boston to encinitas. "yes, doctor, a project i have long considered is beginning to take definite form. in these beautiful surroundings i have started a miniature world colony. brotherhood is an ideal better understood by example than precept! a small harmonious group here may inspire other ideal communities over the earth." "a splendid idea, sir! the colony will surely be a success if everyone sincerely does his part!" "'world' is a large term, but man must enlarge his allegiance, considering himself in the light of a world citizen," i continued. "a person who truly feels: 'the world is my homeland; it is my america, my india, my philippines, my england, my africa,' will never lack scope for a useful and happy life. his natural local pride will know limitless expansion; he will be in touch with creative universal currents." dr. lewis and i halted above the lotus pool near the hermitage. below us lay the illimitable pacific. "these same waters break equally on the coasts of west and east, in california and china." my companion threw a little stone into the first of the oceanic seventy million square miles. "encinitas is a symbolic spot for a world colony." "that is true, doctor. we shall arrange here for many conferences and congresses of religion, inviting delegates from all lands. flags of the nations will hang in our halls. diminutive temples will be built over the grounds, dedicated to the world's principal religions. "as soon as possible," i went on, "i plan to open a yoga institute here. the blessed role of kriya yoga in the west has hardly more than just begun. may all men come to know that there is a definite, scientific technique of self-realization for the overcoming of all human misery!" [illustration: speakers at a interracial meeting in san francisco during the convening of the peace conference. (left to right) dr. maneck anklesaria, john cohee, myself, hugh e. macbeth, vince m. townsend, jr., richard b. moore--see sanfr.jpg] [illustration: the self-realization church of all religions in washington, d.c., whose leader, swami premananda, is here pictured with me--see premananda.jpg] [illustration: my venerable father, seated in the tranquil lotus posture, calcutta, --see father .jpg] far into the night my dear friend-the first kriya yogi in america--discussed with me the need for world colonies founded on a spiritual basis. the ills attributed to an anthropomorphic abstraction called "society" may be laid more realistically at the door of everyman. utopia must spring in the private bosom before it can flower in civic virtue. man is a soul, not an institution; his inner reforms alone can lend permanence to outer ones. by stress on spiritual values, self-realization, a colony exemplifying world brotherhood is empowered to send inspiring vibrations far beyond its locale. august , , close of global war ii! end of a world; dawn of an enigmatic atomic age! the hermitage residents gathered in the main hall for a prayer of thanksgiving. "heavenly father, may never it be again! thy children go henceforth as brothers!" gone was the tension of war years; our spirits purred in the sun of peace. i gazed happily at each of my american comrades. "lord," i thought gratefully, "thou hast given this monk a large family!" {fn - } a small town on coast highway , encinitas is miles south of los angeles, and miles north of san diego. {fn - } i translate here the words of guru nanak's song: o god beautiful! o god beautiful! in the forest, thou art green, in the mountain, thou art high, in the river, thou art restless, in the ocean, thou art grave! to the serviceful, thou art service, to the lover, thou art love, to the sorrowful, thou art sympathy, to the yogi, thou art bliss! o god beautiful! o god beautiful! at thy feet, o i do bow! proofreaders autobiographical sketches. by annie besant . autobiographical sketches. i am so often asked for references to some pamphlet or journal in which may be found some outline of my life, and the enquiries are so often couched in terms of such real kindness, that i have resolved to pen a few brief autobiographical sketches, which may avail to satisfy friendly questioners, and to serve, in some measure, as defence against unfair attack. i. on october st, , i made my appearance in this "vale of tears", "little pheasantina", as i was irreverently called by a giddy aunt, a pet sister of my mother's. just at that time my father and mother were staying within the boundaries of the city of london, so that i was born well "within the sound of bow bells". though born in london, however, full three quarters of my blood are irish. my dear mother was a morris--the spelling of the name having been changed from maurice some five generations back--and i have often heard her tell a quaint story, illustrative of that family pride which is so common a feature of a decayed irish family. she was one of a large family, and her father and mother, gay, handsome, and extravagant, had wasted merrily what remained to them of patrimony. i can remember her father well, for i was fourteen years of age when he died. a bent old man, with hair like driven snow, splendidly handsome in his old age, hot-tempered to passion at the lightest provocation, loving and wrath in quick succession. as the family grew larger and the moans grew smaller, many a pinch came on the household, and the parents were glad to accept the offer of a relative to take charge of emily, the second daughter. a very proud old lady was this maiden aunt, and over the mantel-piece of her drawing-room ever hung a great diagram, a family tree, which mightily impressed the warm imagination of the delicate child she had taken in charge. it was a lengthy and well-grown family tree, tracing back the morris family to the days of charlemagne, and branching out from a stock of "the seven kings of france". was there ever yet a decayed. irish family that did not trace itself back to some "kings"? and these "milesian kings"--who had been expelled from france, doubtless for good reasons, and who had sailed across the sea and landed in fair erin, and there had settled and robbed and fought--did more good years after their death than they did, i expect, during their ill-spent lives, if they proved a source of gentle harmless pride to the old maiden lady who admired their names over her mantel-piece in the earlier half of the present century. and, indeed, they acted as a kind of moral thermometer, in a fashion that would much have astonished their ill-doing and barbarous selves. for my mother has told me how when she would commit some piece of childish naughtiness, her aunt would say, looking gravely over her spectacles at the small culprit: "emily, your conduct is unworthy of the descendant of the seven kings of france." and emily, with her sweet grey irish eyes, and her curling masses of raven-black hair, would cry in penitent shame over her unworthiness, with some vague idea that those royal, and to her very real ancestors, would despise her small sweet rosebud self, as wholly unworthy of their disreputable majesties. but that same maiden aunt trained the child right well, and i keep ever grateful memory of her, though i never knew her, for her share in forming the tenderest, sweetest, proudest, purest, noblest woman i have ever known. i have never met a woman more selflessly devoted to those she loved, more passionately contemptuous of all that was mean or base, more keenly sensitive on every question of honor, more iron in will, more sweet in tenderness, than the mother who made my girlhood sunny as dreamland, who guarded me until my marriage from every touch of pain that she could ward off, or could bear for me, who suffered more in every trouble that touched me in later life than i did myself, and who died in the little house i had taken for our new home in norwood, worn out ere old age touched her, by sorrow, poverty and pain, in may, . of my father my memory is less vivid, for he died when i was but five years old. he was of mixed race, english on his father's side, irish on his mother's, and was born in galway, and educated in ireland; he took his degree at dublin university, and walked the hospitals as a medical student. but after he had qualified as a medical man a good appointment was offered him by a relative in the city of london, and he never practised regularly as a doctor. in the city his prospects were naturally promising; the elder branch of the wood family, to which he belonged, had for many generations been settled in devonshire, farming their own land. when the eldest son william, my father, came of age, he joined with his father to cut off the entail, and the old acres were sold. meanwhile members of other branches had entered commercial life, and had therein prospered exceedingly. one of them had become lord mayor of london, had vigorously supported the unhappy queen caroline, had paid the debts of the duke of kent, in order that that reputable individual might return to england with his duchess, so that the future heir to the throne might be born on english soil; he had been rewarded with a baronetcy as a cheap method of paying his services. another, my father's first cousin once removed, a young barrister, had successfully pleaded a suit in which was concerned the huge fortune of a miserly relative, and had thus laid the foundations of a great success; he won for himself a vice-chancellorship and a knighthood, and then the lord chancellorship of england, with the barony of hatherley. a third, a brother of the last, western wood, was doing good service in the house of commons. a fourth, a cousin of the last two, had thrown himself with such spirit and energy into mining work, that he had accumulated a fortune. in fact all the scattered branches had made their several ways in the world, save that elder one to which my father belonged. that had vegetated on down in the country, and had grown poorer while the others grew richer. my father's brothers had somewhat of a fight for life. one has prospered and is comfortable and well-to-do. the other led for years a rough and wandering life, and "came to grief" generally. some years ago i heard of him as a store-keeper in portsmouth dock-yard, occasionally boasting in feeble fashion that his cousin was lord chancellor of england, and not many months since i heard from him in south africa, where he has secured some appointment in the commissariat department, not, i fear, of a very lucrative character. let us come back to pheasantina, who, i am told, was a delicate and somewhat fractious infant, giving to both father and mother considerable cause for anxiety. her first attempts at rising in the world were attended with disaster, for as she was lying in a cradle, with carved iron canopy, and was for a moment left by her nurse in full faith that she could not rise from the recumbent position, miss pheasantina determined to show that she was capable of unexpected independence, and made a vigorous struggle to assume that upright position which is the proud prerogative of man. in another moment the recumbent position was re-assumed, and the nurse returning found the baby's face covered with blood, streaming from a severe wound on the forehead, the iron fretwork having proved harder than the baby's head. the scar remains down to the present time, and gives me the valuable peculiarity of only wrinkling up one side of my forehead when i raise my eyebrows, a feat that i defy any of my readers to emulate. the heavy cut has, i suppose, so injured the muscles in that spot that they have lost the normal power of contraction. my earliest personal recollections are of a house and garden that we lived in when i was three and four years of age, situated in grove road, st. john's wood. i can remember my mother hovering round the dinner-table to see that all was bright for the home-coming husband; my brother--two years older than myself--and i watching "for papa"; the loving welcome, the game of romps that always preceded the dinner of the elder folks. i can remember on the first of october, , jumping up in my little cot, and shouting out triumphantly: "papa! mamma! i am four years old!" and the grave demand of my brother, conscious of superior age, at dinner-time: "may not annie have a knife to-day, as she is four years old?" it was a sore grievance during that same year , that i was not judged old enough to go to the great exhibition, and i have a faint memory of my brother consolingly bringing me home one of those folding pictured strips that are sold in the streets, on which were imaged glories that i longed only the more to see. far-away, dusky, trivial memories, these. what a pity it is that a baby cannot notice, cannot observe, cannot remember, and so throw light on the fashion of the dawning of the external world on the human consciousness. if only we could remember how things looked when they were first imaged on the retinae; what we felt when first we became conscious of the outer world; what the feeling was as faces of father and mother grew out of the surrounding chaos and became familiar things, greeted with a smile, lost with a cry; if only memory would not become a mist when in later years we strive to throw our glances backward into the darkness of our infancy, what lessons we might learn to help our stumbling psychology, how many questions might be solved whose answers we are groping for in vain. ii. the next scene that stands out clearly against the background of the past is that of my father's death-bed. the events which led to his death i know from my dear mother. he had never lost his fondness for the profession for which he had been trained, and having many medical friends, he would now and then accompany them on their hospital rounds, or share with them the labors of the dissecting room. it chanced that during the dissection of the body of a person who had died of rapid consumption, my father cut his finger against the edge of the breast-bone. the cut did not heal easily, and the finger became swollen and inflamed. "i would have that finger off, wood, if i were you," said one of the surgeons, a day or two afterwards, on seeing the state of the wound. but the others laughed at the suggestion, and my father, at first inclined to submit to the amputation, was persuaded to "leave nature alone". about the middle of august, , he got wet through, riding on the top of an omnibus, and the wetting resulted in a severe cold, which "settled on his chest". one of the most eminent doctors of the day, as able as he was rough in manner, was called to see him. he examined him carefully, sounded his lungs, and left the room followed by my mother. "well?" she asked, scarcely anxious as to the answer, save as it might worry her husband to be kept idly at home. "you must keep up his spirits", was the thoughtless answer. "he is in a galloping consumption; you will not have him with you six weeks longer." the wife staggered back, and fell like a stone on the floor. but love triumphed over agony, and half an hour later she was again at her husband's side, never to leave it again for ten minutes at a time, night or day, till he was lying with closed eyes asleep in death. i was lifted on to the bed to "say good-bye to dear papa" on the day before his death, and i remember being frightened at his eyes which looked so large, and his voice which sounded so strange, as he made me promise always to be "a very good girl to darling mamma, as papa was going right away". i remember insisting that "papa should kiss cherry", a doll given me on my birthday, three days before, by his direction, and being removed, crying and struggling, from the room. he died on the following day, october th, and i do not think that my elder brother and i--who were staying at our maternal grandfather's--went to the house again until the day of the funeral. with the death, my mother broke down, and when all was over they carried her senseless from the room. i remember hearing afterwards how, when she recovered her senses, she passionately insisted on being left alone, and locked herself into her room for the night; and how on the following morning her mother, at last persuading her to open the door, started back at the face she saw with the cry: "good god! emily! your hair is white!" it was even so; her hair, black, glossy and abundant, which, contrasting with her large grey eyes, had made her face so strangely attractive, had turned grey in that night of agony, and to me my mother's face is ever framed in exquisite silver bands of hair as white as the driven unsullied snow. i have heard that the love between my father and mother was a very beautiful thing, and it most certainly stamped her character for life. he was keenly intellectual, and splendidly educated; a mathematician and a good classical scholar, thoroughly master of french, german, italian, spanish, and portuguese, with a smattering of hebrew and gaelic, the treasures of ancient and of modern literature were his daily household delight. nothing pleased him so well as to sit with his wife, reading aloud to her while she worked; now translating from some foreign poet, now rolling forth melodiously the exquisite cadences of queen mab. student of philosophy as he was, he was deeply and steadily sceptical; and a very religious relative has told me that he often drove her from the room by his light playful mockery of the tenets of the christian faith. his mother and sister were strict roman catholics, and near the end forced a priest into his room, but the priest was promptly ejected by the wrath of the dying man, and by the almost fierce resolve of the wife that no messenger of the creed he detested should trouble her darling at the last. this scepticism of his was not wholly shared by his wife, who held to the notion that women should be "religious," while men might philosophise as they would; but it so deeply influenced her own intellectual life that she utterly rejected the most irrational dogmas of christianity, such as eternal punishment, the vicarious atonement of christ, the doctrine that faith is necessary to salvation, the equality of christ with god, the infallibility of the bible; she made morality of life, not orthodoxy of belief, her measure of "religion"; she was "a christian", in her own view of the matter, but it was a christian of the school of jowett, of colenso, and of stanley. the latter writer had for her, in after years, the very strongest fascination, and i am not sure that his "variegated use of words", so fiercely condemned by dr. pusey, did not exactly suit her own turn of mind, which shrank back intellectually from the crude dogmas of orthodox christianity, but clung poetically to the artistic side of religion, to its art and to its music, to the grandeur of its glorious fanes, and the solemnity of its stately ritual. she detested the meretricious show, the tinsel gaudiness, the bowing and genuflecting, the candles and the draperies, of romanism, and of its pinchbeck imitator ritualism; but i doubt whether she knew any keener pleasure than to sit in one of the carved stalls of westminster abbey, listening to the polished sweetness of dean stanley's exquisite eloquence; or to the thunder of the organ mingled with the voices of the white-robed choristers, as the music rose and fell, as it pealed up to the arched roof and lost itself in the carven fretwork, or died away softly among the echoes of the chapels in which kings and saints and sages lay sleeping, enshrining in themselves the glories and the sorrows of the past. to return to october, . on the day of the funeral my elder brother and i were taken back to the house where my father lay dead, and while my brother went as chief mourner, poor little boy swamped in crape and miserable exceedingly, i sat in an upstairs room with my mother and her sisters; and still comes back to me her figure, seated on a sofa, with fixed white face and dull vacant eyes, counting the minutes till the funeral procession would have reached kensal green, and then following in mechanical fashion, prayer-book in hand, the service, stage by stage, until to my unspeakable terror, with the words, dully spoken, "it is all over", she fell back fainting. and here comes a curious psychological problem which has often puzzled me. some weeks later she resolved to go and see her husband's grave. a relative who had been present at the funeral volunteered to guide her to the spot, but lost his way in that wilderness of graves. another of the small party went off to find one of the officials and to enquire, and my mother said: "if you will take me to the chapel where the first part of the service was read, i will find the grave". to humor her whim, he led her thither, and, looking round for a moment or two, she started from the chapel, followed the path along which the corpse had been borne, and was standing by the newly-made grave when the official arrived to point it out. her own explanation was that she had seen all the service; what is certain is, that she had never been to kensal green before, and that she walked steadily to the grave from the chapel. whether the spot had been carefully described to her, whether she had heard others talking of its position or not, we could never ascertain; she had no remembrance of any such description, and the matter always remained to us a problem. but after the lapse of years a hundred little things may have been forgotten which unconsciously served as guides at the time. she must have been, of course, at that time, in a state of abnormal nervous excitation, a state of which another proof was shortly afterwards given. the youngest of our little family was a boy about three years younger than myself, a very beautiful child, blue-eyed and golden haired--i have still a lock of his hair, of exquisite pale golden hue--and the little lad was passionately devoted to his father. he was always a delicate boy, and had i suppose, therefore, been specially petted, and he fretted continually for "papa". it is probable that the consumptive taint had touched him, for he pined steadily away, with no marked disease, during the winter months. one morning my mother calmly stated: "alf is going to die". it was in vain that it was urged on her that with the spring strength would return to the child. "no", she persisted. "he was lying asleep in my arms last night, and william came to me and said that he wanted alf with him, but that i might keep the other two." she had in her a strong strain of celtic superstition, and thoroughly believed that this "vision"--a most natural dream under the circumstances--was a direct "warning", and that her husband had come to her to tell her of her approaching loss. this belief was, in her eyes, thoroughly justified by the little fellow's death in the following march, calling to the end for "papa! papa!" my brother and i were allowed to see him just before he was placed in his coffin; i can see him still, so white and beautiful, with a black spot in the middle of the fair waxen forehead, and i remember the deadly cold which startled me when i was told to kiss my little brother. it was the first time that i had touched death. that black spot made a curious impression on me, and long afterwards, asking what had caused it, i was told that at the moment after his death my mother had passionately kissed the baby brow. pathetic thought, that the mother's kiss of farewell should have been marked by the first sign of corruption on the child's face. and now began my mother's time of struggle and of anxiety. hitherto, since her marriage, she had known no money troubles, for her husband was earning a good income; he was apparently vigorous and well: no thought of anxiety clouded their future. when he died, he believed that he left his wife and children safe, at least, from pecuniary distress. it was not so. i know nothing of the details, but the outcome of all was that nothing was left for the widow and children, save a trifle of ready money. the resolve to which, my mother came was characteristic. two of her husband's relatives, western and sir william wood, offered to educate her son at a good city school, and to start him in commercial life, using their great city influence to push him forward. but the young lad's father and mother had talked of a different future for their eldest boy; he was to go to a public school, and then to the university, and was to enter one of the "learned professions"--to take orders, the mother wished; to go to the bar, the father hoped. on his death-bed there was nothing more earnestly urged by my father than that harry should receive the best possible education, and the widow was resolute to fulfil that last wish. in her eyes, a city school was not "the best possible education", and the irish pride rebelled against the idea of her son not being "a university man". many were the lectures poured out on the young widow's head about her "foolish pride", especially by the female members of the wood family; and her persistence in her own way caused a considerable alienation between herself and them. but western and william, though half-disapproving, remained her friends, and lent many a helping hand to her in her first difficult struggles. after much cogitation, she resolved that the boy should be educated at harrow, where the fees are comparatively low to lads living in the town, and that he should go thence to cambridge or to oxford, as his tastes should direct. a bold scheme for a penniless widow, but carried out to the letter; for never dwelt in a delicate body a more resolute mind and will than that of my dear mother. in a few months' time--during which we lived, poorly enough, in richmond terrace, clapham, close to her father and mother--to harrow, then, she betook herself, into lodgings over a grocer's shop, and set herself to look for a house. this grocer was a very pompous man, fond of long words, and patronised the young widow exceedingly, and one day my mother related with much amusement how he had told her that she was sure to get on if she worked hard. "look at me!" he said swelling visibly with importance; "i was once a poor boy, without a penny of my own, and now i am a comfortable man, and have my submarine villa to go to every evening". that "submarine villa" was an object of amusement when we passed it in our walks for many a long day. "there is mr. ----'s submarine villa", some one would say, laughing: and i, too, used to laugh merrily, because my elders did, though my understanding of the difference between suburban and submarine was on a par with that of the honest grocer. my mother had fortunately found a boy, whose parents were glad to place him in her charge, of about the age of her own son, to educate with him; and by this means she was able to pay for a tutor, to prepare the two boys for school. the tutor had a cork leg, which was a source of serious trouble to me, for it stuck out straight behind when we knelt down to family prayers--conduct which struck me as irreverent and unbecoming, but which i always felt a desire to imitate. after about a year, my mother found a house which she thought would suit her scheme, namely, to obtain permission from dr. vaughan, the then head master of harrow, to take some boys into her house, and so gain means of education for her own son. dr. vaughan, who must have been won by the gentle, strong, little woman, from that time forth became her earnest friend and helper; and to the counsel and active assistance both of himself and of his wife, was due much of the success that crowned her toil. he made only one condition in granting the permission she asked, and that was, that she should also have in her house one of the masters of the school, so that the boys should not suffer from the want of a house-tutor. this condition, of course, she readily accepted, and the arrangement lasted for ten years, until after her son had left school for cambridge. the house she took is now, i am sorry to say, pulled down, and replaced by a hideous red-brick structure. it was very old and rambling, rose-covered in front, ivy-covered behind; it stood on the top of harrow hill, between the church and the school, and had once been the vicarage of the parish, but the vicar had left it because it was so far removed from the part of the village where all his work lay. the drawing-room opened by an old-fashioned half-window, half-door--which proved a constant source of grief to me, for whenever i had on a new frock i always tore it on the bolt as i flew through it--into a large garden which sloped down one side of the hill, and was filled with the most delightful old trees, fir and laurel, may, mulberry, hazel, apple, pear, and damson, not to mention currant and gooseberry bushes innumerable, and large strawberry beds spreading down the sunny slopes. there was not a tree there that i did not climb, and one, a widespreading portugal laurel, was my private country house. i had there my bedroom and my sitting-rooms, my study, and my larder. the larder was supplied by the fruit-trees, from which i was free to pick as i would, and in the study i would sit for hours with some favorite book--milton's "paradise lost" the chief favorite of all. the birds must often have felt startled, when from the small swinging form perching on a branch, came out in childish tones the "thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers", of milton's stately and sonorous verse. i liked to personify satan, and to declaim the grand speeches of the hero-rebel, and many a happy hour did i pass in milton's heaven and hell, with for companions satan and "the son", gabriel and abdiel. then there was a terrace running by the side of the churchyard, always dry in the wettest weather, and bordered by an old wooden fence, over which clambered roses of every shade; never was such a garden for roses as that of the old vicarage. at the end of the terrace was a little summer-house, and in this a trap-door in the fence, which swung open and displayed one of the fairest views in england. sheer from your feet downwards went the hill, and then far below stretched the wooded country till your eye reached the towers of windsor castle, far away on the horizon. it was the view at which byron was never tired of gazing, as he lay on the flat tombstone close by--byron's tomb, as it is still called--of which he wrote: "again i behold where for hours i have pondered, as reclining, at eve, on yon tombstone i lay, or round the steep brow of the churchyard i wandered, to catch the last gleam of the sun's setting ray." reader mine, if ever you go to harrow, ask permission to enter the old garden, and try the effect of that sudden burst of beauty, as you swing back the small trap-door at the terrace end. into this house we moved on my eighth birthday, and for eleven years it was "home" to me, left always with regret, returned to always with joy. almost immediately afterwards i left my mother for the first time; for one day, visiting a family who lived close by, i found a stranger sitting in the drawing-room, a lame lady with, a strong face, which softened marvellously as she smiled at the child who came dancing in; she called me to her presently, and took me on her lap and talked to me, and on the following day our friend came to see my mother, to ask if she would let me go away and be educated with this lady's niece, coming home for the holidays regularly, but leaving my education in her hands. at first my mother would not hear of it, for she and i scarcely ever left each other; my love for her was an idolatry, hers for me a devotion. [a foolish little story, about which i was unmercifully teased for years, marked that absolute idolatry of her, which has not yet faded from my heart. in tenderest rallying one day of the child who trotted after her everywhere, content to sit, or stand, or wait, if only she might touch hand or dress of "mamma," she said: "little one (the name by which she always called me), if you cling to mamma in this way, i must really get a string and tie you to my apron, and how will you like that?" "o mamma darling," came the fervent answer, "do let it be in a knot." and, indeed, the tie of love between us was so tightly knotted that nothing ever loosened it till the sword of death cut that which pain and trouble never availed to slacken in the slightest degree.] but it was urged upon her that the advantages of education offered were such as no money could purchase for me; that it would be a disadvantage for me to grow up in a houseful of boys--and, in truth, i was as good a cricketer and climber as the best of them--that my mother would soon be obliged to send me to school, unless she accepted an offer which gave me every advantage of school without its disadvantages. at last she yielded, and it was decided that miss marryat, on returning home, should take me with her. miss marryat--the favorite sister of captain marryat, the famous novelist--was a maiden lady of large means. she had nursed her brother through the illness that ended in his death, and had been living with her mother at wimbledon park. on her mother's death she looked round for work which would make her useful in the world, and finding that one of her brothers had a large family of girls, she offered to take charge of one of them, and to educate her thoroughly. chancing to come to harrow, my good fortune threw me in her way, and she took a fancy to me and thought she would like to teach two little girls rather than one. hence her offer to my mother. miss marryat had a perfect genius for teaching, and took in it the greatest delight. from time to time she added another child to our party, sometimes a boy, sometimes a girl. at first, with amy marryat and myself, there was a little boy, walter powys, son of a clergyman with a large family, and him she trained for some years, and then sent him on to school admirably prepared. she chose "her children"--as she loved to call us--in very definite fashion. each must be gently born and gently trained, but in such position that the education freely given should be a relief and aid to a slender parental purse. it was her delight to seek out and aid those on whom poverty presses most heavily, when the need for education for the children weighs on the proud and the poor. "auntie" we all called her, for she thought "miss marryat" seemed too cold and stiff. she taught us everything herself except music, and for this she had a master, practising us in composition, in recitation, in reading aloud english and french, and later, german, devoting herself to training us in the soundest, most thorough fashion. no words of mine can tell how much i owe her, not only of knowledge, bit of that love of knowledge which has remained with me ever since as a constant spur to study. her method of teaching may be of interest to some, who desire to train children with the least pain, and the most enjoyment to the little ones themselves. first, we never used a spelling-book--that torment of the small child--nor an english grammar. but we wrote letters, telling of the things we had seen in our walks, or told again some story we had read; these childish compositions she would read over with us, correcting all faults of spelling, of grammar, of style, of cadence; a clumsy sentence would be read aloud, that we might hear how unmusical it sounded; an error in observation or expression pointed out. then, as the letters recorded what we had seen the day before, the faculty of observation was drawn out and trained. "oh, dear! i have nothing to say!" would come from a small child, hanging over a slate. "did you not go out for a walk yesterday?" auntie would question. "yes", would be sighed out; "but there's nothing to say about it". "nothing to say! and you walked in the lanes for an hour and saw nothing, little no-eyes? you must use your eyes better to-day." then there was a very favorite "lesson", which proved an excellent way of teaching spelling. we used to write out lists of all the words we could think of, which sounded the same but were differently spelt. thus: "key, quay," "knight, night," and so on; and great was the glory of the child who found the largest number. our french lessons--as the german later--included reading from the very first. on the day on which we began german we began reading schiller's "wilhelm tell," and the verbs given to us to copy out were those that had occurred in the reading. we learned much by heart, but always things that in themselves were worthy to be learned. we were never given the dry questions and answers which lazy teachers so much affect. we were taught history by one reading aloud while the others worked--the boys as well as the girls learning the use of the needle. "it's like a girl to sew," said a little fellow, indignantly, one day. "it is like a baby to have to run after a girl if you want a button sewn on," quoth auntie. geography was learned by painting skeleton maps--an exercise much delighted in by small fingers--and by putting together puzzle maps, in which countries in the map of a continent, or counties in the map of a country, were always cut out in their proper shapes. i liked big empires in those days; there was a solid satisfaction in putting down russia, and seeing what a large part of the map was filled up thereby. the only grammar that we ever learned as grammar was the latin, and that not until composition had made us familiar with the use of the rules therein given. auntie had a great horror of children learning by rote things they did not understand, and then fancying they knew them. "what do you mean by that expression, annie?" she would ask me. after feeble attempts to explain, i would answer: "indeed, auntie, i know in my own head, but i can't explain". "then, indeed, annie, you do not know in your own head, or you could explain, so that i might know in my own head." and so a healthy habit was fostered of clearness of thought and of expression. the latin grammar was used because it was more perfect than the modern grammars, and served as a solid foundation for modern languages. miss marryat took a beautiful place, fern hill, near charmouth, in dorsetshire, on the borders of devon, and there she lived for some five years, a centre of beneficence in the district. she started a sunday-school, and a bible-class after a while for the lads too old for the school, who clamored for admission to her class in it. she visited the poor, taking help wherever she went, and sending food from her own table to the sick. it was characteristic of her that she would never give "scraps" to the poor, but would have a basin brought in at dinner, and would cut the best slice to tempt the invalid appetite. money she rarely, if ever, gave, but she would find a day's work, or busy herself to seek permanent employment for anyone asking aid. stern in rectitude herself, and iron to the fawning or the dishonest, her influence, whether she was feared or loved, was always for good. of the strictest sect of the evangelicals, she was an evangelical. on the sunday no books were allowed save the bible or the "sunday at home"; but she would try to make the day bright by various little devices; by a walk with her in the garden; by the singing of hymns, always attractive to children; by telling us wonderful missionary stories of moffat and livingstone, whose adventures with savages and wild beasts were as exciting as any tale of mayne reid's. we used to learn passages from the bible and hymns for repetition; a favorite amusement was a "bible puzzle", such as a description of some bible scene, which was to be recognised by the description. then we taught in the sunday-school, for auntie would tell us that it was useless for us to learn if we did not try to help those who had no one to teach them. the sunday-school lessons had to be carefully prepared on the saturday, for we were always taught that work given to the poor should be work that cost something to the giver. this principle, regarded by her as an illustration of the text, "shall i give unto the lord my god that which has cost me nothing?" ran through all her precept and her practice. when in some public distress we children went to her crying, and asking whether we could not help the little children who were starving, her prompt reply was: "what will you give up for them?" and then she said that if we liked to give up the use of sugar, we might thus each save d. a week to give away. i doubt if a healthier lesson can be given to children than that of personal self-denial for the good of others. daily, when our lessons were over, we had plenty of fun; long walks and rides, rides on a lively pony, who found small children most amusing, and on which the coachman taught us to stick firmly, whatever his eccentricities of the moment; delightful all-day picnics in the lovely country round charmouth, auntie our merriest playfellow. never was a healthier home, physically and mentally, made for young things than in that quiet village. and then the delight of the holidays! the pride of my mother at the good report of her darling's progress, and the renewal of acquaintance with every nook and corner in the dear old house and garden. iii. the strong and intense evangelicalism of miss marryat colored the whole of my early religious thought. i was naturally enthusiastic and fanciful, and was apt to throw myself strongly into the current of the emotional life around me, and hence i easily reflected the stern and narrow creed which ruled over my daily life. it was to me a matter of the most intense regret that christians did not go about as in the "pilgrim's progress", armed to do battle with apollyon and giant despair, or fight through a whole long day against thronging foes, until night brought victory and release. it would have been so easy, i used to think, to do tangible battle of that sort, so much easier than to learn lessons, and keep one's temper, and mend one's stockings. quick to learn, my lessons of bible and prayer book gave me no trouble, and i repeated page after page with little labor and much credit. i remember being praised for my love of the bible, because i had learned by heart all the epistle of st. james's, while, as a matter of fact, the desire to distinguish myself was a far more impelling motive than any love of "the holy book;" the dignified cadences pleased my ear, and were swiftly caught and reproduced, and i was proud of the easy fashion in which i mastered and recited page after page. another source of "carnal pride"--little suspected, i fear, by my dear instructress--was found in the often-recurring prayer meetings. in these the children were called on to take a part, and we were bidden pray aloud; this proceeding was naturally a sore trial, and being endued with an inordinate amount of "false pride"--the fear of appearing ridiculous, _i.e._, with self conceit--it was a great trouble when the summons came: "annie dear, will you speak to our lord". but the plunge once made, and the trembling voice steadied, enthusiasm and facility for cadenced speech always swallowed up the nervous "fear of breaking down", and i fear me that the prevailing thought was more often that god must think i prayed very nicely, than that i was a "miserable sinner", asking "pardon for the sake of jesus christ". the sense of sin, the contrition for man's fallen state, which are required by evangelicalism, can never be truly felt by any child; but whenever a sensitive, dreamy, and enthusiastic child comes under strong evangelistic influence, it is sure to manifest "signs of saving grace". as far as i can judge now, the total effect of the calvinistic training was to make me somewhat morbid, but this tendency was counteracted by the healthier tone of my mother's thought, and the natural gay buoyancy of my nature rose swiftly whenever the pressure of the teaching that i was "a child of sin", and could "not naturally please god", was removed. in the spring of , miss marryat announced her intention of going abroad, and asked my dear mother to let me accompany her. a little nephew whom she had adopted was suffering from cataract, and she desired to place him under the care of the famous düsseldorf oculist. amy marryat had been recalled home soon after the death of her mother, who had died in giving birth to the child adopted by miss marryat, and named at her desire after her favorite brother frederick (captain marryat). her place had been taken by a girl a few months older than myself, emma mann, one of the daughters of a clergyman who had married a miss stanley, closely related, indeed if i remember rightly, a sister of the miss mary stanley who did such noble work in nursing in the crimea. for some months we had been diligently studying german, for miss marryat thought it wise that we should know a language fairly well before we visited the country of which it was the native tongue. we had been trained also to talk french daily during dinner, so we were not quite "helpless foreigners" when we steamed away from st. catherine's docks, and found ourselves on the following day in antwerp, amid what seemed to us a very babel of conflicting tongues. alas for our carefully spoken french, articulated laboriously. we were lost in that swirl of disputing luggage-porters, and could not understand a word! but miss marryat was quite equal to the occasion, being by no means new to travelling, and her french stood the test triumphantly, and steered us safely to a hotel. on the morrow we started again through aix-la-chapelle to bonn, the town which lies on the borders of the exquisite scenery of which the siebengebirge and rolandseck serve as the magic portal. our experiences in bonn were not wholly satisfactory. dear auntie was a maiden lady, looking on all young men as wolves to be kept far from her growing lambs. bonn was a university town, and there was a mania just then prevailing there for all things english. emma was a plump, rosy, fair-haired typical english maiden, full of frolic and harmless fun; i a very slight, pale, black-haired girl, alternating between wild fun and extreme pensiveness. in the boarding-house to which we went at first--the "château du rhin", a beautiful place overhanging the broad blue rhine--there chanced to be staying the two sons of the late duke of hamilton, the marquis of douglas and lord charles, with their tutor. they had the whole drawing-room floor: we a sitting-room on the ground floor and bedrooms above. the lads discovered that miss marryat did not like her "children" to be on speaking terms with any of the "male sect". here was a fine source of amusement. they would make their horses caracole on the gravel in front of our window; they would be just starting for their ride as we went for walk or drive, and would salute us with doffed hat and low bow; they would waylay us on our way downstairs with demure "good morning"; they would go to church and post themselves so that they could survey our pew, and lord charles--who possessed the power of moving at will the whole skin of the scalp--would wriggle his hair up and down till we were choking with laughter, to our own imminent risk. after a month of this, auntie was literally driven out of the pretty _château_, and took refuge in a girls' school, much to our disgust, but still she was not allowed to be at rest. mischievous students would pursue us wherever we went; sentimental germans, with gashed cheeks, would whisper complimentary phrases as we passed; mere boyish nonsense of most harmless kind, but the rather stern english lady thought it "not proper", and after three months of bonn we were sent home for the holidays, somewhat in disgrace. but we had some lovely excursions during those months; such clambering up mountains, such rows on the swift-flowing rhine, such wanderings in exquisite valleys. i have a long picture-gallery to retire into when i want to think of something fair, in recalling the moon as it silvered the rhine at the foot of drachenfels, or the soft mist-veiled island where dwelt the lady who is consecrated for ever by roland's love. a couple of months later we rejoined miss marryat in paris, where we spent seven happy workful months. on wednesdays and saturdays we were free from lessons, and many a long afternoon was passed in the galleries of the louvre, till we became familiar with the masterpieces of art gathered there from all lands. i doubt if there was a beautiful church in paris that we did not visit during those weekly wanderings; that of st. germain de l'auxerrois was my favorite--the church whose bell gave the signal for the massacre of st. bartholomew--for it contained such marvellous stained glass, deepest purest glory of color that i had ever seen. the solemn beauty of notre dame, the somewhat gaudy magnificence of la sainte chapelle, the stateliness of la madeleine, the impressive gloom of st. roch, were all familiar to us. other delights were found in mingling with the bright crowds which passed along the champs elysées and sauntered in the bois de boulogne, in strolling in the garden of the tuileries, in climbing to the top of every monument whence view of paris could be gained. the empire was then in its heyday of glitter, and we much enjoyed seeing the brilliant escort of the imperial carriage, with plumes and gold and silver dancing and glistening in the sunlight, while in the carriage sat the exquisitely lovely empress with the little boy beside her, touching his cap shyly, but with something of her own grace, in answer to a greeting--the boy who was thought to be born to an imperial crown, but whose brief career was to find an ending from the spears of savages in a quarrel in which he had no concern. in the spring of it chanced that the bishop of ohio visited paris, and mr. forbes, then english chaplain at the church of the rue d'aguesseau, arranged to have a confirmation. as said above, i was under deep "religious impressions", and, in fact, with the exception of that little aberration in germany, i was decidedly a pious girl. i looked on theatres (never having been to one) as traps set by satan for the destruction of foolish souls; i was quite determined never to go to a ball, and was prepared to "suffer for conscience sake"--little prig that i was--if i was desired to go to one. i was consequently quite prepared to take upon myself the vows made in my name at my baptism, and to renounce the world, the flesh, and the devil, with a heartiness and sincerity only equalled by my profound ignorance of the things i so readily resigned. that confirmation was to me a very solemn matter; the careful preparation, the prolonged prayers, the wondering awe as to the "sevenfold gifts of the spirit", which were to be given by "the laying on of hands", all tended to excitement. i could scarcely control myself as i knelt at the altar rails, and felt as though the gentle touch of the aged bishop, which fluttered for an instant on my bowed head, were the very touch of the wing of that "holy spirit, heavenly dove", whose presence had been so earnestly invoked. is there anything easier, i wonder, than to make a young and sensitive girl "intensely religious". my mother came over for the confirmation and for the "first communion" on easter sunday, and we had a delightful fortnight together, returning home after we had wandered hand-in-hand over all my favorite haunts. the summer of was spent with miss marryat at sidmouth, and, wise woman that she was, she now carefully directed our studies with a view to our coming enfranchisement from the "school-room." more and more were we trained to work alone; our leading-strings were slackened, so that we never felt them save when we blundered; and i remember that when i once complained, in loving fashion, that she was "teaching me so little", she told me that i was getting old enough to be trusted to work by myself, and that i must not expect to "have auntie for a crutch all through life". and i venture to say that this gentle withdrawal of constant supervision and teaching was one of the wisest and kindest things that this noble-hearted woman ever did for us. it is the usual custom to keep girls in the school-room until they "come out"; then, suddenly, they are left to their own devices, and, bewildered by their unaccustomed freedom, they waste time that might be priceless for their intellectual growth. lately, the opening of universities to women has removed this danger for the more ambitious; but at the time of which i am writing no one dreamed of the changes soon to be made in the direction of the "higher education of women". during the winter of - miss marryat was in london, and for a few months i remained there with her, attending the admirable french classes of m. roche. in the spring i returned home to harrow, going up each week to the classes; and when these were over, auntie told me that she thought all she could usefully do was done, and that it was time that i should try my wings alone. so well, however, had she succeeded in her aims, that my emancipation from the school-room was but the starting-point of more eager study, though now the study turned into the lines of thought towards which my personal tendencies most attracted me. german i continued to read with a master, and music, under the marvellously able teaching of mr. john farmer, musical director of harrow school, took up much of my time. my dear mother had a passion for music, and beethoven and bach were her favorite composers. there was scarcely a sonata of beethoven's that i did not learn, scarcely a fugue of bach's that i did not master. mendelssohn's "lieder" gave a lighter recreation, and many a happy evening did we spend, my mother and i, over the stately strains of the blind titan, and the sweet melodies of the german wordless orator. musical "at homes", too, were favorite amusements at harrow, and at these my facile fingers made me a welcome guest. a very pleasant place was harrow to a light-hearted serious-brained girl. the picked men of the schools of oxford and cambridge came there as junior masters, so that one's partners at ball and croquet and archery could talk as well as flirt. never girl had, i venture to say, a brighter girlhood than mine. every morning and much of the afternoon spent in eager earnest study: evenings in merry party or quiet home-life, one as delightful as the other. archery and croquet had in me a most devoted disciple, and the "pomps and vanities" of the ballroom found the happiest of votaries. my darling mother certainly "spoiled" me, so far as were concerned all the small roughnesses of life. she never allowed a trouble of any kind to touch me, and cared only that all worries should fall on her, all joys on me. i know now what i never dreamed then, that her life was one of serious anxiety. the heavy burden of my brother's school and college-life pressed on her constantly, and her need of money was often serious. a lawyer whom she trusted absolutely cheated her systematically, using for his own purposes the remittances she made for payment of liabilities, thus keeping upon her a constant drain. yet for me all that was wanted was ever there. was it a ball to which we were going? i need never think of what i would wear till the time for dressing arrived, and there laid out ready for me was all i wanted, every detail complete from top to toe. no hand but hers must dress my hair, which, loosed, fell in dense curly masses nearly to my knees; no hand but hers must fasten dress and deck with flowers, and if i sometimes would coaxingly ask if i might not help by sewing in laces, or by doing some trifle in aid, she would kiss me and bid me run to my books or my play, telling me that her only pleasure in life was caring for her "treasure". alas! how lightly we take the self-denying labor that makes life so easy, ere yet we have known what life means when the protecting mother-wing is withdrawn. so guarded and shielded had been my childhood and youth from every touch of pain and anxiety that love could bear for me, that i never dreamed that life might be a heavy burden, save as i saw it in the poor i was sent to help; all the joy of those happy years i took, not ungratefully i hope, but certainly with as glad unconsciousness of anything rare in it as i took the sunlight. passionate love, indeed, i gave to my darling, but i never knew all i owed her till i passed out of her tender guardianship, till i left my mother's home. is such training wise? i am not sure. it makes the ordinary roughnesses of life come with so stunning a shock, when one goes out into the world, that one is apt to question whether some earlier initiation into life's sterner mysteries would not be wiser for the young. yet it is a fair thing to have that joyous youth to look back upon, and at least it is a treasury of memory that no thief can steal in the struggles of later life. during those happy years my brain was given plenty of exercise. i used to keep a list of the books i read, so that i might not neglect my work; and finding a "library of the fathers" on the shelves, i selected that for one _piéce de résistance_. soon those strange mystic writers won over me a great fascination, and i threw myself ardently into a study of the question: "where is now the catholic church?". i read pusey, and liddon, and keble, with many another of that school, and many of the seventeenth century english divines. i began to fast--to the intense disapproval of my mother, who cared for my health far more than for all the fathers the church could boast of--to use the sign of the cross, to go to weekly communion. indeed, the contrast i found between my early evangelical training and the doctrines of the primitive christian church would have driven me over to rome, had it not been for the proofs afforded by pusey and his co-workers, that the english church might be catholic although non-roman. but for them i should most certainly have joined the papal communion; for if the church of the early centuries be compared with rome and with geneva, there is no doubt that rome shows marks of primitive christianity of which geneva is entirely devoid. i became content when i found that the practices and doctrines of the anglican church could be knitted on to those of the martyrs and confessors of the early church, for it had not yet struck me that the early church might itself be challenged. to me, at that time, the authority of jesus was supreme and unassailable; his apostles were his infallible messengers; clement of rome, polycarp, and barnabas, these were the very pupils of the apostles themselves. i never dreamed of forgeries, of pious frauds, of writings falsely ascribed to venerated names. nor do i now regret that so it was; for, without belief, the study of the early fathers would be an intolerable weariness; and that old reading of mine has served me well in many of my later controversies with christians, who knew the literature of their church less well than i. to this ecclesiastical reading was added some study of stray scientific works, but the number of these that came in my way was very limited. the atmosphere surrounding me was literary rather than scientific. i remember reading a translation of plato that gave me great delight, and being rather annoyed by the insatiable questionings of socrates. lord derby's translation of the iliad also charmed me with its stateliness and melody, and dante was another favorite study. wordsworth and cowper i much disliked, and into the same category went all the th and th century "poets," though i read them conscientiously through. southey fascinated me with his wealth of oriental fancies, while spencer was a favorite book, put beside milton and dante. my novel reading was extremely limited; indeed the "three volume novel" was a forbidden fruit. my mother regarded these ordinary love-stories as unhealthy reading for a young girl, and gave me scott and kingsley, but not miss braddon or mrs. henry wood. nor would she take me to the theatre, though we went to really good concerts. she had a horror of sentimentality in girls, and loved to see them bright and gay, and above all things absolutely ignorant of all evil things and of premature love-dreams. happy, healthy and workful were those too brief years. iv. my grandfather's house, no. , albert square, clapham road, was a second home from my earliest childhood. that house, with its little strip of garden at the back, will always remain dear and sacred to me. i can see now the two almond trees, so rich in blossom every spring, so barren in fruit every autumn; the large spreading tufts of true irish shamrock, brought from ireland, and lovingly planted in the new grey london house, amid the smoke; the little nooks at the far end, wherein i would sit cosily out of sight reading a favorite book. inside it was but a commonplace london house, only one room, perhaps, differing from any one that might have been found in any other house in the square. that was my grandfather's "work-room", where he had a lathe fitted up, for he had a passion and a genius for inventive work in machinery. he took out patents for all sorts of ingenious contrivances, but always lost money. his favorite invention was of a "railway chair", for joining the ends of rails together, and in the ultimate success of this he believed to his death. it was (and is) used on several lines, and was found to answer splendidly, but the old man never derived any profit from his invention. the fact was he had no money, and those who had took it up and utilised it, and kept all the profit for themselves. there were several cases in which his patents dropped, and then others took up his inventions, and made a commercial success thereof. a strange man altogether was that grandfather of mine, whom i can only remember as a grand-looking old man, with snow-white hair and piercing hawk's eyes. the merriest of wild irishmen was he in his youth, and i have often wished that his biography had been written, if only as a picture of dublin society at the time. he had an exquisite voice, and one night he and some of his wild comrades went out singing through the streets as beggars. pennies, sixpences, shillings, and even half-crowns came showering down in recompense of street music of such unusual excellence; then the young scamps, ashamed of their gains, poured them all into the hat of a cripple they met, who must have thought that all the blessed saints were out that night in the irish capital. on another occasion he went to the wake of an old woman who had been bent nearly double by rheumatism, and had been duly "laid out", and tied down firmly, so as to keep the body straight in the recumbent position. he hid under the bed, and when the whisky was flowing freely, and the orgie was at its height, he cut the ropes with a sharp knife, and the old woman suddenly sat up in bed, frightening the revellers out of their wits, and, luckily for my grandfather, out of the room. many such tales would he tell, with quaint irish humor, in his later days. he died, from a third stroke of paralysis, in . the morrises were a very "clannish" family, and my grandfather's house was the london centre. all the family gathered there on each christmastide, and on christmas day was always held high festival. for long my brother and i were the only grandchildren within reach, and were naturally made much of. the two sons were out in india, married, with young families. the youngest daughter was much away from home, and a second was living in constantinople, but three others lived with their father and mother. bessie, the eldest of the whole family, was a woman of rigid honor and conscientiousness, but poverty and the struggle to keep out of debt had soured her, and "aunt bessie" was an object of dread, not of love. one story of her early life will best tell her character. she was engaged to a young clergyman, and one day when bessie was at church he preached a sermon taken without acknowledgment from some old divine. the girl's keen sense of honor was shocked at the deception, and she broke off her engagement, but remained unmarried for the rest of her life. "careful and troubled about many things" was poor aunt bessie, and i remember being rather shocked one day at hearing her express her sympathy with martha, when her sister left her to serve alone, and at her saying: "i doubt very much whether jesus would have liked it if martha had been lying about on the floor as well as mary, and there had been no supper. but there! it's always those who do the work who are scolded, because they have not time to be as sweet and nice as those who do nothing." nor could she ever approve of the treatment of the laborers in the parable, when those who "had borne the burden and heat of the day" received but the same wage as those that had worked but one hour. "it was not just", she would say doggedly. a sad life was hers, for she repelled all sympathy, and yet later i had reason to believe that she half broke her heart because none loved her well. she was ever gloomy, unsympathising, carping, but she worked herself to death for those whose love she chillily repulsed. she worked till, denying herself every comfort, she literally dropped. one morning, when she got out of bed, she fell, and crawling into bed again, quietly said she could do no more; lay there for some months, suffering horribly with unvarying patience; and died, rejoicing that at last she would have "rest". two other "aunties" were my playfellows, and i their pet. minnie, a brilliant pianiste, earned a precarious livelihood by teaching music. the long fasts, the facing of all weathers, the weary rides in omnibuses with soaked feet, broke down at last a splendid constitution, and after some three years of torture, commencing with a sharp attack of english cholera, she died the year before my marriage. but during my girlhood she was the gayest and merriest of my friends, her natural buoyancy re-asserting itself whenever she could escape from her musical tread-mill. great was my delight when she joined my mother and myself for our spring or summer trips, and when at my favorite st. leonards--at the far unfashionable end, right away from the gay watering-place folk--we settled down for four or five happy weeks of sea and country, and when minnie and i scampered over the country on horseback, merry as children set free from school. my other favorite auntie was of a quieter type, a soft pretty loving little woman. "co" we called her, for she was "such a cosy little thing", her father used to say. she was my mother's favorite sister, her "child", she would name her, because "co" was so much her junior, and when she was a young girl the little child had been her charge. "always take care of little co", was one of my mother's dying charges to me, and fortunately "little co" has--though the only one of my relatives who has done so--clung to me through change of faith, and through social ostracism. her love for me, and her full belief that, however she differed from me, i meant right, have never varied, have never been shaken. she is intensely religious--as will be seen in the later story, wherein her life was much woven with mine--but however much "darling annie's" views or actions might shock her, it is "darling annie" through it all; "you are so good" she said to me the last time i saw her, looking up at me with all her heart in her eyes; "anyone so good as you must come to our dear lord at last!" as though any, save a brute, could be aught but good to "little co". on the christmas following my eighteenth birthday, a little mission church in which minnie was much interested, was opened near albert square. my high church enthusiasm was in full bloom, and the services in this little mission church were "high", whereas those in all the neighboring churches were "low". a mr. hoare, an intensely earnest man, was working there in most devoted fashion, and was glad to welcome any aid; we decorated his church, worked ornaments for it, and thought we were serving god when we were really amusing ourselves in a small place where our help was over-estimated, and where the clergy, very likely unconsciously, flattered us for our devotion. among those who helped to carry on the services there, was a young undermaster of stockwell grammar school, the rev. frank besant, a cambridge man, who had passed as th wrangler in his year, and who had just taken orders. at easter we were again at albert square, and devoted much time to the little church, decking it on easter eve with soft yellow tufts of primrose blossom, and taking much delight in the unbounded admiration bestowed on the dainty spring blossoms by the poor who crowded in. i made a lovely white cross for the super-altar with camelias and azaleas and white geraniums, but after all it was not really as spring-like, as suitable for a "resurrection", as the simple sweet wild flowers, still dewy from their nests in field and glade and lane. that easter was memorable to me for another cause. it saw waked and smothered my first doubt. that some people did doubt the historical accuracy of the bible i knew, for one or two of the harrow masters were friends of colenso, the heretic bishop of natal, but fresh from my patristic studies, i looked on heretics with blind horror, possibly the stronger from its very vagueness, and its ignorance of what it feared. my mother objected to my reading controversial books which dealt with the points at issue between christianity and freethought, and i did not care for her favorite stanley, who might have widened my views, regarding him (on the word of pusey) as "unsound in the faith once delivered to the saints". i had read pusey's book on "daniel the prophet", and, knowing nothing of the criticisms he attacked, i felt triumphant at his convincing demonstrations of their error, and felt sure that none but the wilfully blind could fail to see how weak were the arguments of the heretic writers. that stately preface of his was one of my favorite pieces of reading, and his dignified defence against all novelties of "that which must be old because it is eternal, and must be unchangeable because it is true", at once charmed and satisfied me. the delightful vagueness of stanley, which just suited my mother's broad views, because it _was_ vague and beautiful, was denounced by pusey--not unwarrantably-- as that "variegated use of words which destroys all definiteness of meaning". when she would bid me not be uncharitable to those with whom i differed in matters of religion, i would answer in his words, that "charity to error is treason to truth", and that to speak out the truth unwaveringly as it was revealed, was alone "loyalty to god and charity to the souls of men". judge, then, of my terror at my own results when i found myself betrayed into writing down some contradictions from the bible. with that poetic dreaming which is one of the charms of catholicism, whether english or roman, i threw myself back into the time of the first century as the "holy week" of approached. in order to facilitate the realisation of those last sacred days of god incarnate on earth, working out man's salvation, i resolved to write a brief history of that week, compiled from the four gospels, meaning then to try and realise each day the occurrences that had happened on the corresponding date in a.d. , and so to follow those "blessed feet" step by step, till they were "... nailed for our advantage to the bitter cross." with the fearlessness which springs from ignorance i sat down to my task. my method was as follows: matthew. | mark. | luke. | john. | | | palm sunday. | palm sunday. | palm sunday. | palm sunday. | | | rode into | rode into | rode into | rode into jerusalem. | jerusalem. | jerusalem. | jerusalem. spoke purified the | returned to | purified the | in the temple. temple. returned | bethany. | temple. note: | to bethany. | | "taught daily | | | in the temple". | | | | monday. | monday. | monday. | monday. | | | cursed the fig | cursed the fig | like matthew. | tree. taught in | tree. purified | | the temple, and | the temple. | | spake many | went out of | | parables. no | city. | | breaks shown, | | | but the fig tree | | | (xxi., ) did | | | not wither till | | | tuesday (see | | | mark). | | | | | | tuesday. | tuesday. | tuesday. | tuesday. | | | all chaps, xxi., | saw fig tree | discourses. no | , xxii.-xxv., | withered up. | date shown. | spoken on tues- | then discourses.| | day, for xxvi., | | | gives passover as | | | "after two days". | | | | | | wednesday. | wednesday. | wednesday. | wednesday. | | | blank. | | | (possibly remained in bethany; the alabaster box of ointment.) | | | thursday. | thursday. | thursday. | thursday. | | | preparation of | same as matt. | same as matt. | discourses with passover. eating | | | disciples, but of passover, | | | _before_ the and institution | | | passover. washes of the holy eu- | | | the disciples' charist. gesthse- | | | feet. nothing said mane. betrayal | | | of holy eucharist, by judas. led | | | nor of agony in captive to caia- | | | gethsemane. phas. denied by | | | malchus' ear. st. peter. | | | led captive to | | | annas first. then | | | to caiaphas. denied | | | by st. peter. | | | friday. | friday. | friday. | friday. | | | led to pilate. | as matthew, | led to pilate. | taken to pilate. judas hangs | but hour of | sent to herod. | jews would not himself. tried. | crucifixion | sent back to | enter, that they condemned to | given, a.m. | pilate. rest as | might eat the death. scourged | | in matthew; but | passover. and mocked. | | _one_ male- | scourged by pi- led to cruci- | | factor repents. | late before con- fixion. darkness | | | demnation, and from to . | | | mocked. shown by died at . | | | pilate to jews | | | at . at this point i broke down. i had been getting more and more uneasy and distressed as i went on, but when i found that the jews would not go into the judgment hall lest they should be defiled, because they desired to eat the passover, having previously seen that jesus had actually eaten the passover with his disciples the evening before; when after writing down that he was crucified at a.m., and that there was darkness over all the land from to p.m., i found that three hours after he was crucified he was standing in the judgment hall, and that at the very hour at which the miraculous darkness covered the earth; when i saw that i was writing a discord instead of a harmony, i threw down my pen and shut up my bible. the shock of doubt was, however only momentary. i quickly recognised it as a temptation of the devil, and i shrank back horror-stricken and penitent for the momentary lapse of faith. i saw that these apparent contradictions were really a test of faith, and that there would be no credit in believing a thing in which there were no difficulties. _credo quia impossibile_; i repeated tertullian's words at first doggedly, at last triumphantly. i fasted as penance for my involuntary sin of unbelief. i remembered that the bible must not be carelessly read, and that st. peter had warned us that there were in it "some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest unto their own destruction". i shuddered at the "destruction" to the edge of which my unlucky "harmony" had drawn me, and resolved that i would never again venture on a task for which i was so evidently unfitted. thus the first doubt was caused, and though swiftly trampled down, it had none the less raised its head. it was stifled, not answered, for all my religious training had led me to regard a doubt as a sin to be repented of, not examined. and it left in my mind the dangerous feeling that there were some things into which it was safer not to enquire too closely; things which must be accepted on faith, and not too narrowly scrutinised. the awful threat: "he that believeth not shall be damned," sounded in my ears, and, like the angel with the flaming sword, barred the path of all too curious enquiry. v. the spring ripened into summer in uneventful fashion, so far as i was concerned, the smooth current of my life flowing on untroubled, hard reading and merry play filling the happy days. i learned later that two or three offers of marriage reached my mother for me; but she answered to each: "she is too young. i will not have her troubled." of love-dreams i had absolutely none, partly, i expect, from the absence of fiery novels from my reading, partly because my whole dream-tendencies were absorbed by religion, and all my fancies ran towards a "religious life". i longed to spend my time in worshipping jesus, and was, as far as my inner life was concerned, absorbed in that passionate love of "the savior" which, among emotional catholics, really is the human passion of love transferred to an ideal--for women to jesus, for men to the virgin mary. in order to show that i am not here exaggerating, i subjoin a few of the prayers in which i found daily delight, and i do this in order to show how an emotional girl may be attracted by these so-called devotional exercises. "o crucified love, raise in me fresh ardors of love and consolation, that it may henceforth be the greatest torment i can endure ever to offend thee; that it may be my greatest delight to please thee." "let the remembrance of thy death, o lord jesu, make me to desire and pant after thee, that i may delight in thy gracious presence." "o most sweet jesu christ, i, unworthy sinner, yet redeemed by thy precious blood.... thine i am and will be, in life and in death." "o jesu, beloved, fairer than the sons of men, draw me after thee with the cords of thy love." "blessed are thou, o most merciful god, who didst vouchsafe to espouse me to the heavenly bridegroom in the waters of baptism, and hast imparted thy body and blood as a new gift of espousal and the meet consummation of thy love." "o most sweet lord jesu, transfix the affections of my inmost soul with that most joyous and most healthful wound of thy love, with true, serene, most holy, apostolic charity; that my soul may ever languish and melt with entire love and longing for thee. let it desire thee and faint for thy courts; long to be dissolved and be with thee." "oh, that i could embrace thee with that most burning love of angels." "let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; for thy love is better than wine. draw me, we will run after thee. the king hath brought me into his chambers.... let my soul, o lord, feel the sweetness of thy presence. may it taste how sweet thou art.... may the sweet and burning power of thy love, i beseech thee, absorb my soul." to my dear mother this type of religious thought was revolting. but then, she was a woman who had been a wife and a devoted one, while i was a child awaking into womanhood, with emotions and passions dawning and not understood, emotions and passions which craved satisfaction, and found it in this "ideal man". thousands of girls in england are to-day in exactly this mental phase, and it is a phase full of danger. in america it is avoided by a frank, open, unsentimental companionship between boys and girls, between young men and young women. in england, where this wisely free comradeship is regarded as "improper", the perfectly harmless and natural sexual feeling is either dwarfed or forced, and so we have "prudishness" and "fastness". the sweeter and more loving natures become prudes; the more shallow as well as the more high-spirited and merry natures become flirts. often, as in my own case, the merry side finds its satisfaction in amusements that demand active physical exercise, while the loving side finds its joy in religious expansion, in which the idealised figure of jesus becomes the object of passion, and the life of the nun becomes the ideal life, as being dedicated to that one devotion. to the girl, of course, this devotion is all that is most holy, most noble, most pure. but analysing it now, after it has long been a thing of the past, i cannot but regard it as a mere natural outlet for the dawning feelings of womanhood, certain to be the more intense and earnest as the nature is deep and loving. one very practical and mischievous result of this religious feeling is the idealisation of all clergymen, as being the special messengers of, and the special means of communication with, the "most high". the priest is surrounded by the halo of deity. the power that holds the keys of heaven and of hell becomes the object of reverence and of awe. far more lofty than any title bestowed by earthly monarch is that patent of nobility straight from the hand of the "king of kings", which seems to give to the mortal something of the authority of the immortal, to crown the head of the priest with the diadem which belongs to those who are "kings and priests unto god". swayed by these feelings, the position of a clergyman's wife seems second only to that of the nun, and has therefore a wonderful attractiveness, an attractiveness in which the particular clergyman affected plays a very subordinate part; it is the "sacred office", the nearness to "holy things", the consecration involved, which seem to make the wife a nearer worshipper than those who do not partake in the immediate "services of the altar"--it is all these that shed a glamor over the clerical life which attracts most those who are most apt to self-devotion, most swayed by imagination. i know how incomprehensible this will seem to many of my readers, but it is a fact none the less, and the saddest pity of it is that the glamor is most over those whose brains are quick and responsive to all forms of noble emotions, all suggestions of personal self-sacrifice; and if such later rise to the higher emotions whose shadows have attracted them, and to that higher self-sacrifice whose whispers reached them in their early youth, then the false prophet's veil is raised, and the life is either wrecked, or through storm-wind and surge of battling billows, with loss of mast and sail, is steered by firm hand into the port of a higher creed. my mother, minnie, and i passed the summer holidays at st. leonards, and many a merry gallop had we over our favorite fields, i on a favorite black mare, gipsy queen, as full of life and spirits as i was myself, who danced gaily over ditch and hedge, thinking little of my weight, for i rode barely eight stone. at the end of those, our last free summer holidays, we returned as usual to harrow, and shortly afterwards i went to switzerland with some dear friends of ours named roberts. everyone about manchester will remember mr. roberts, the solicitor, the "poor man's lawyer". close friend of ernest jones, and hand-in-hand with him through all his struggles, mr. roberts was always ready to fight a poor man's battle for him without fee, and to champion any worker unfairly dealt with. he worked hard in the agitation which saved women from working in the mines, and i have heard him tell how he had seen them toiling, naked to the waist, with short petticoats barely reaching to their knees, rough, foul-tongued, brutalised out of all womanly decency and grace; and how he had seen little children working there too, babies of three and four set to watch a door, and falling asleep at their work to be roused by curse and kick to the unfair toil. the old man's eye would begin to flash and his voice to rise as he told of these horrors, and then his face would soften as he added that, after it was all over and the slavery was put an end to, as he went through a coal-district the women standing at their doors would lift up their children to see "lawyer roberts" go by, and would bid "god bless him" for what he had done. this dear old man was my first tutor in radicalism, and i was an apt pupil. i had taken no interest in politics, but had unconsciously reflected more or less the decorous whiggism which had always surrounded me. i regarded "the poor" as folk to be educated, looked after, charitably dealt with, and always treated with most perfect courtesy, the courtesy being due from me, as a lady, to all equally, whether they were rich or poor. but to mr. roberts "the poor" were the working-bees, the wealth producers, with a right to self-rule, not to looking after, with a right to justice, not to charity, and he preached his doctrines to me, in season and out of season. "what do you think of john bright?" he demanded of me one day. "i have never thought of him at all," i answered lightly. "isn't he a rather rough sort of man, who goes about making rows?" "there, i thought so," he broke out fiercely. "that's just what they say. i believe some of you fine ladies would not go to heaven if you had to rub shoulders with john bright, the noblest man god ever gave to the cause of the poor." and then he launched out into stories of john bright's work and john bright's eloquence, and showed me the changes that work and eloquence had made in the daily lives of the people. with mr. roberts, his wife, and two daughters, i went to switzerland as the autumn drew near. it would be of little interest to tell how we went to chamounix and worshipped mont blanc, how we crossed the mer de glace and the mauvais pas, how we visited the monastery of st. bernard (i losing my heart to the beautiful dogs), how we went by steamer down the lake of thun, how we gazed at the jungfrau and saw the exquisite staubbach, how we visited lausanne, and berne, and geneva, how we stood beside the wounded lion, and shuddered in the dungeon of chillon, how we walked distances we never should have attempted in england, how we younger ones lost ourselves on a sunday afternoon, after ascending a mountain, and returned footsore and weary, to meet a party going out to seek us with lanterns and ropes. all these things have been so often described that i will not add one more description to the list, nor dwell on that strange feeling of awe, of wonder, of delight, that everyone must have felt, when the glory of the peaks clad in "everlasting snow" is for the first time seen against the azure sky on the horizon, and you whisper to yourself, half breathless: "the alps! the alps!" during that autumn i became engaged to the rev. frank besant, giving up with a sigh of regret my dreams of the "religious life", and substituting for them the work which would have to be done as the wife of a priest, laboring ever in the church and among the poor. a queer view, some people may think, for a girl to take of married life, but it was the natural result of my living the life of the early church, of my enthusiasm for religious work. to me a priest was a half-angelic creature, whose whole life was consecrated to heaven; all that was deepest and truest in my nature chafed against my useless days, longed for work, yearned to devote itself, as i had read women saints had done, to the service of the church and the poor, to the battling against sin and misery. "you will have more opportunity for doing good as a clergyman's wife than as anything else," was one of the pleas urged on my reluctance. my ignorance of all that marriage meant was as profound as though i had been a child of four, and my knowledge of the world was absolutely _nil_. my darling mother meant all that was happiest for me when she shielded me from all knowledge of sorrow and of sin, when she guarded me from the smallest idea of the marriage relation, keeping me ignorant as a baby till i left her home a wife. but looking back now on all, i deliberately say that no more fatal blunder can be made than to train a girl to womanhood in ignorance of all life's duties and burdens, and then to let her face them for the first time away from all the old associations, the old helps, the old refuge on the mother's breast. that "perfect innocence" maybe very beautiful, but it is a perilous possession, and eve should have the knowledge of good and of evil ere she wanders forth from the paradise of a mother's love. when a word is never spoken to a girl that is not a caress; when necessary rebuke comes in tone of tenderest reproach; when "you have grieved me" has been the heaviest penalty for a youthful fault; when no anxiety has ever been allowed to trouble the young heart--then, when the hothouse flower is transplanted, and rough winds blow on it, it droops and fades. the spring and summer of passed over with little of incident, save one. we quitted harrow, and the wrench was great. my brother had left school, and had gone to cambridge; the master, who had lived with us for so long, had married and had gone to a house of his own; my mother thought that as she was growing older, the burden of management was becoming too heavy, and she desired to seek an easier life. she had saved money enough to pay for my brother's college career, and she determined to invest the rest of her savings in a house in st. leonard's, where she might live for part of the year, letting the house during the season. she accordingly took and furnished a house in warrior square, and we moved thither, saying farewell to the dear old vicarage, and the friends loved for so many happy years. at the end of the summer, my mother and i went down to manchester, to pay a long visit to the roberts's; a very pleasant time we passed there, a large part of mine being spent on horseback, either leaping over a bar in the meadow, or scouring the country far and wide. a grave break, however, came in our mirth. the fenian troubles were then at their height. on september th, colonel kelly and captain deasy, two fenian leaders, were arrested in manchester, and the irish population was at once thrown into a terrible ferment. on the th, the police van containing them was returning from the court to the county gaol at salford, and as it reached the railway arch which crosses the hyde road at bellevue, a man sprang out, shot one of the horses, and thus stopped the van. in a moment it was surrounded by a small band, armed with revolvers and with crowbars, and the crowbars were wrenching at the locked door. a reinforcement of police was approaching, and there was no time to be lost. the rescuers called to brett, a sergeant of police who was in charge inside the van, to pass the keys out, and, on his refusal, there was a cry: "blow off the lock!". the muzzle of a revolver was placed against the lock, and the revolver was discharged. unhappily, poor brett had stooped down to try and see through the keyhole what was going on outside, and the bullet, fired to blow open the lock, entered his head, and he fell dying on the floor. the rescuers rushed in, and one allen, a lad of seventeen, opened the doors of the compartments in which were kelly and deasy, and hurriedly pulled them out. two or three of the band, gathering round them, carried them off across the fields to a place of safety, while the rest gallantly threw themselves between their rescued friends and the strong body of police which charged down after the fugitives. with their revolvers pointed, they kept back the police, until they saw that the two fenian leaders were beyond all chance of capture, and then they scattered, flying in all directions. young william allen, whose one thought had been for his chiefs, was the earliest victim. as he fled, he raised his hand and fired his revolver straight in the air; he had been ready to use it in defence of others, he would not shed blood for himself. disarmed by his own act, he was set upon by the police, brutally struck down, kicked and stoned by his pursuers, and then, bruised and bleeding, he was dragged off to gaol, to meet there some of his comrades in much the same plight. the whole city of manchester went mad over the story, and the fiercest race-passions at once blazed out into flame; it became dangerous for an irish workman to be alone in a group of englishmen, for an englishman to venture into the irish quarter of the city. the friends of the arrested irishmen went straight to "lawyer roberts", and begged his aid, and he threw himself heart and soul into their defence. he soon found that the man who had fired the fatal shot was safe out of the way, having left manchester at once, and he trusted that it would at least be possible to save his clients from the death-penalty. a special commission was issued, with mr. justice blackburn at its head. "they are going to send that hanging judge," groaned mr. roberts when he heard it, and we felt there was small chance of escape for the prisoners. he struggled hard to have the _venue_ of the trial changed, protesting that in the state of excitement in which manchester was, there was no chance of obtaining an impartial jury. but the cry for blood and for revenge was ringing through the air, and of fairness and impartiality there was no chance. on the th of october, the prisoners were actually brought up before the magistrates _in irons_, and mr. ernest jones, the counsel briefed to defend them, after a vain protest against the monstrous outrage, threw down his brief and quitted the court. the trial was hurried on, and on october th, allen, larkin, gould (o'brien), maguire, and condon, stood before their judges. we drove up to the court; the streets were barricaded; soldiers were under arms; every approach was crowded by surging throngs. at last, our carriage was stopped in the midst of excited irishmen, and fists were shaken in the window, curses levelled at the "d----d english who were going to see the boys murdered". for a moment things were uncomfortable, for we were five women of helpless type. then i bethought myself that we were unknown, and, like the saucy girl i was, i leant forward and touched the nearest fist. "friends, these are mr. roberts' wife and daughters." "roberts! lawyer roberts! god bless roberts. let his carriage through." and all the scowling faces became smile-wreathen, and cheers sounded out for curses, and a road was cleared for us to the steps. very sad was that trial. on the first day mr. roberts got himself into trouble which threatened to be serious. he had briefed mr. digby seymour, q.c. as leader, with mr. ernest jones, for the defence, and he did not think that the jurymen proposed were challenged as they should be. we knew that many whose names were called were men who had proclaimed their hostility to the irish, and despite the wrath of judge blackburn, mr. roberts would jump up and challenge them. in vain he threatened to commit the sturdy solicitor. "these men's lives are at stake, my lord," he said indignantly. at last the officers of the court were sharply told: "remove that man," but as they advanced reluctantly--for all poor men loved and honored him--judge blackburn changed his mind and let him remain. at last the jury was empanelled, containing one man who had loudly proclaimed that he "didn't care what the evidence was, he would hang every d----d irishman of the lot". in fact, the verdict was a foregone conclusion. the most disreputable evidence was admitted; the suppositions of women of lowest character were accepted as conclusive; the _alibi_ for maguire-- clearly proved, and afterwards accepted by the crown, a free pardon being issued on the strength of it--was rejected with dogged obstinacy; how premeditated was the result may be guessed from the fact that i saw--with what shuddering horror may be estimated--some official in the room behind the judges' chairs, quietly preparing the black caps before the verdict had been given. the verdict of "guilty" was repeated in each of the five cases, and the prisoners were asked by the presiding judge if they had anything to say why sentence should not be passed on them. allen spoke briefly and bravely; he had not fired a shot, but he had helped to free kelly and deasy; he was willing to die for ireland. the others followed in turn, maguire protesting his innocence, and condon declaring also that he was not present (he also was reprieved). then the sentence of death was passed, and "god save ireland"! rang out in five clear voices in answer from the dock. we had a sad scene that night; the young girl to whom poor allen was engaged was heartbroken at her lover's doom, and bitter were her cries to "save my william!". no protests, no pleas, however, availed to mitigate the doom, and on november rd, allen, larkin, and o'brien were hanged outside salford gaol. had they striven for freedom in italy, england would have honored them as heroes; here she buried them as common murderers in quicklime in the prison yard. i have found, with a keen sense of pleasure, that mr. bradlaugh and myself were in to some extent co-workers, although we knew not of each other's existence, and although he was doing much, and i only giving such poor sympathy as a young girl might, who was only just awakening to the duty of political work. i read in the _national reformer_ for november , , that in the preceding week, he was pleading on clerkenwell green for these men's lives: "according to the evidence at the trial, deasy and kelly were illegally arrested. they had been arrested for vagrancy of which no evidence was given, and apparently remanded for felony without a shadow of justification. he had yet to learn that in england the same state of things existed as in ireland; he had yet to learn that an illegal arrest was sufficient ground to detain any of the citizens of any country in the prisons of this one. if he were illegally held, he was justified in using enough force to procure his release. wearing a policeman's coat gave no authority when the officer exceeded his jurisdiction. he had argued this before lord chief justice erle in the court of common pleas, and that learned judge did not venture to contradict the argument which he submitted. there was another reason why they should spare these men, although he hardly expected the government to listen, because the government sent down one of the judges who was predetermined to convict the prisoners; it was that the offence was purely a political one. the death of brett was a sad mischance, but no one who read the evidence could regard the killing of brett as an intentional murder. legally, it was murder; morally, it was homicide in the rescue of a political captive. if it were a question of the rescue of the political captives of varignano, or of political captives in bourbon, in naples, or in poland, or in paris, even earls might be found so to argue. wherein is our sister ireland less than these? in executing these men, they would throw down the gauntlet for terrible reprisals. it was a grave and solemn question. it had been said by a previous speaker that they were prepared to go to any lengths to save these irishmen. they were not. he wished they were. if they were, if the men of england, from one end to the other, were prepared to say, "these men shall not be executed," they would not be. he was afraid they had not pluck enough for that. their moral courage was not equal to their physical strength. therefore he would not say that they were prepared to do so. they must plead _ad misericordiam_. he appealed to the press, which represented the power of england; to that press which in its panic-stricken moments had done much harm, and which ought now to save these four doomed men. if the press demanded it, no government would be mad enough to resist. the memory of the blood which was shed in rose up like a bloody ghost against them to-day. he only feared that what they said upon the subject might do the poor men more harm than good. if it were not so, he would coin words that should speak in words of fire. as it was, he could only say to the government: you are strong to-day; you hold these men's lives in your hands; but if you want to reconcile their country to you, if you want to win back ireland, if you want to make her children love you--then do not embitter their hearts still more by taking the lives of these men. temper your strength with mercy; do not use the sword of justice like one of vengeance; for the day may come when it shall be broken in your hands, and you yourselves brained by the hilt of the weapon you have so wickedly wielded." in october he had printed a plea for ireland, strong and earnest, asking:-- "where is our boasted english freedom when you cross to kingstown pier? where has it been for near two years? the habeas corpus act suspended, the gaols crowded, the steamers searched, spies listening at shebeen shops for sedition, and the end of it a fenian panic in england. oh, before it be too late, before more blood shall stain the pages of our present history, before we exasperate and arouse bitter animosities, let us try and do justice to our sister land. abolish once and for all the land laws, which in their iniquitous operation have ruined her peasantry. sweep away the leech-like church which has sucked her vitality, and has given her back no word even of comfort in her degradation. turn her barracks into flax mills, encourage a spirit of independence in her citizens, restore to her people the protection of the law, so that they may speak without fear of arrest, and beg them to plainly and boldly state their grievances. let a commission of the best and wisest amongst irishmen, with some of our highest english judges added, sit solemnly to hear all complaints, and then let us honestly legislate, not for the punishment of the discontented, but to remove the causes of the discontent. it is not the fenians who have depopulated ireland's strength and increased her misery. it is not the fenians who have evicted tenants by the score. it is not the fenians who have checked cultivation. those who have caused the wrong at least should frame the remedy." vi. in december, , i was married at st. leonards, and after a brief trip to paris and southsea, we went to cheltenham where mr. besant had obtained a mastership. we lived at first in lodgings, and as i was very much alone, my love for reading had full swing. quietly to myself i fretted intensely for my mother, and for the daily sympathy and comradeship that had made my life so fair. in a strange town, among strangers, with a number of ladies visiting me who talked only of servants and babies--troubles of which i knew nothing--who were profoundly uninterested in everything that had formed my previous life, in theology, in politics, in questions of social reform, and who looked on me as "strange" because i cared more for the great struggles outside than for the discussions of a housemaid's young man, or the amount of "butter when dripping would have done perfectly well, my dear," used by the cook--under such circumstances it will not seem marvellous that i felt somewhat forlorn. i found refuge, however, in books, and energetically carried on my favorite studies; next, i thought i would try writing, and took up two very different lines of composition; i wrote some short stories of a very flimsy type, and also a work of a much more ambitious character, "the lives of the black letter saints". for the sake of the unecclesiastically trained it may be well to mention that in the calendar of the church of england there are a number of saints' days; some of these are printed in red, and are red letter days, for which services are appointed by the church; others are printed in black, and are black letter days, and have no special services fixed for them. it seemed to me that it would be interesting to take each of these days and write a sketch of the life of the saint belonging to it, and accordingly i set to work to do so, and gathered various books of history and legend wherefrom to collect my "facts". i don't in the least know what became of that valuable book; i tried macmillans with it, and it was sent on by them to someone who was preparing a series of church books for the young; later i had a letter from a church brotherhood offering to publish it, if i would give it as an "act of piety" to their order; its ultimate fate is to me unknown. the short stories were more fortunate. i sent the first to the _family herald_, and some weeks afterwards received a letter from which dropped a cheque as i opened it. dear me! i have earned a good deal of money since by my pen, but never any that gave me the intense delight of that first thirty shillings. it was the first money i had ever earned, and the pride of the earning was added to the pride of authorship. in my childish delight and practical religion, i went down on my knees and thanked god for sending it to me, and i saw myself earning heaps of golden guineas, and becoming quite a support of the household. besides, it was "my very own", i thought, and a delightful sense of independence came over me. i had not then realised the beauty of the english law, and the dignified position in which it placed the married woman; i did not understand that all a married woman earned by law belonged to her owner, and that she could have nothing that belonged to her of right.[ ] i did not want the money: i was only so glad to have something of my own to give, and it was rather a shock to learn that it was not really mine at all. [footnote : this odious law has now been altered, and a married woman is a person, not a chattel.] from time to time after that, i earned a few pounds for stories in the same journal; and the _family herald,_ let me say, has one peculiarity which should render it beloved by poor authors; it pays its contributor when it accepts the paper, whether it prints it immediately or not; thus my first story was not printed for some weeks after i received the cheque, and it was the same with all others accepted by the same journal. encouraged by these small successes, i began writing a novel! it took a long time to do, but was at last finished, and sent off to the _family herald._ the poor thing came back, but with a kind note, telling me that it was too political for their pages, but that if i would write one of "purely domestic interest", and up to the same level, it would probably be accepted. but by that time i was in the full struggle of theological doubt, and that novel of "purely domestic interest" never got itself written. i contributed further to the literature of my country a theological pamphlet, of which i forget the exact title, but it dealt with the duty of fasting incumbent on all faithful christians, and was very patristic in its tone. in january, , my little son was born, and as i was very ill for some months before,--and was far too much interested in the tiny creature afterwards, to devote myself to pen and paper, my literary career was checked for a while. the baby gave a new interest and a new pleasure to life, and as we could not afford a nurse i had plenty to do in looking after his small majesty. my energy in reading became less feverish when it was done by the side of the baby's cradle, and the little one's presence almost healed the abiding pain of my mother's loss. i may pass very quickly over the next two years. in august, , a little sister was born to my son, and the recovery was slow and tedious, for my general health had been failing for some time. i was, among other things, fretting much about my mother, who was in sore trouble. a lawyer in whom she had had the most perfect confidence betrayed it; for years she had paid all her large accounts through him, and she had placed her money in his hands. suddenly he was discovered by his partners to have been behaving unfairly; the crash came, and my mother found that all the money given by her for discharge of liabilities had vanished, while the accounts were unpaid, and that she was involved in debt to a very serious extent. the shock was a very terrible one to her, for she was too old to begin the world afresh. she sold off all she had, and used the money, as far as it would go, to pay the debts she believed to have been long ago discharged, and she was thus left penniless after thinking she had made a little competence for her old age. lord hatherley's influence obtained for my brother the post of undersecretary to the society of arts, and also some work from the patent office, and my mother went to live with him. but the dependence was intolerable to her, though she never let anyone but myself know she suffered, and even i, until her last illness, never knew how great her suffering had been. the feeling of debt weighed on her, and broke her heart; all day long while my brother was at his office, through the bitter winter weather, she would sit without a fire, lighting it only a little before his home-coming, so that she might save all the expense she could; often and often she would go out about half-past twelve, saying that she was going out to lunch, and would walk about till late in the afternoon, so as to avoid the lunch-hour at home. i have always felt that the winter of - killed her, though she lived on for three years longer; it made her an old broken woman, and crushed her brave spirit. how often i have thought since: "if only i had not left her! i should have seen she was suffering, and should have saved her." one little chance help i gave her, on a brief visit to town. she was looking very ill, and i coaxed out of her that her back was always aching, and that she never had a moment free from pain. luckily i had that morning received a letter containing £ s. from my liberal _family herald_ editor, and as, glancing round the room, i saw there were only ordinary chairs, i disregarded all questions as to the legal ownership of the money, and marched out without saying a word, and bought for £ s. a nice cushiony chair, just like one she used to have at harrow, and had it sent home to her. for a moment she was distressed, but i told her i had earned the money, and so she was satisfied. "oh, the rest!" she said softly once or twice during the evening. i have that chair still, and mean to keep it as long as i live. in the spring of both my children were taken ill with hooping-cough. the boy, digby, vigorous and merry, fought his way through it with no danger, and with comparatively little suffering; mabel, the baby, had been delicate since her birth; there had been some little difficulty in getting her to breathe after she was born, and a slight tendency afterwards to lung-delicacy. she was very young for so trying a disease as hooping-cough, and after a while bronchitis set in, and was followed by congestion of the lungs. for weeks she lay in hourly peril of death; we arranged a screen round the fire like a tent, and kept it full of steam to ease the panting breath, and there i sat all through those weary weeks with her on my lap, day and night. the doctor said that recovery was impossible, and that in one of the fits of coughing she must die; the most distressing thing was that at last the giving of a drop or two of milk brought on the terrible convulsive choking, and it seemed cruel to torture the apparently dying child. at length, one morning when the doctor was there, he said that she could not last through the day; i had sent for him hurriedly, for her body had swollen up rapidly, and i did not know what had happened; the pleura of one lung had become perforated, and the air escaping into the cavity of the chest had caused the swelling; while he was there, one of the fits of coughing came on, and it seemed as though it would be the last; the doctor took a small bottle of chloroform out of his pocket, and putting a drop on a handkerchief, held it near the child's face, till the drug soothed the convulsive struggle. "it can't do any harm at this stage," he said, "and it checks the suffering." he went away, saying that he would return in the afternoon, but he feared he would never see the child alive again. one of the kindest friends i had in my married life was that same doctor, mr. lauriston winterbotham; he was as good as he was clever, and, like so many of his noble, profession, he had the merits of discretion and of silence. that chance thought of his about the chloroform, verily, i believe, saved the child's life. whenever one of the convulsive fits was coming on i used it, and so not only prevented to a great extent the violence of the attacks, but also the profound exhaustion that followed them, when of breath at the top of the throat showing that she still lived. at last, though more than once we had thought her dead, a change took place for the better, and the child began slowly to mend. for years, however, that struggle for life left its traces on her, not only in serious lung-delicacy but also in a form of epileptic fits. in her play she would suddenly stop, and become fixed for about a minute, and then go on again as though nothing had occurred. on her mother a more permanent trace was left. not unnaturally, when the child was out of danger, i collapsed from sheer exhaustion, and i lay in bed for a week. but an important change of mind dated from those silent weeks with a dying child on my knees. there had grown up in my mind a feeling of angry resentment against the god who had been for weeks, as i thought, torturing my helpless baby. for some months a stubborn antagonism to the providence who ordained the sufferings of life had been steadily increasing in me, and this sullen challenge, "is god good?" found voice in my heart during those silent nights and days. my mother's sufferings, and much personal unhappiness, had been, intensifying the feeling, and as i watched my baby in its agony, and felt so helpless to relieve, more than once the indignant cry broke from my lips: "how canst thou torture a baby so? what has she done that she should suffer so? why dost thou not kill her at once, and let her be at peace?" more than once i cried aloud: "o god, take the child, but do not torment her." all my personal belief in god, all my intense faith in his constant direction of affairs, all my habit of continual prayer and of realisation of his presence, were against me now. to me he was not an abstract idea, but a living reality, and all my mother-heart rose up in rebellion against this person in whom i believed, and whose individual finger i saw in my baby's agony. at this time i met a clergyman--i do not give his name lest i should injure him--whose wider and more liberal views of christianity exercised much influence over me during the months of struggle that followed. mr. besant had brought him to me while the child was at her worst, and i suppose something of the "why is it?" had, unconsciously to me, shown itself to his keen eyes. on the day after his visit, i received from him the following letter, in which unbeliever as well as believer may recognise the deep human sympathy and noble nature of the writer:-- "april st, . "my dear mrs. besant,--i am painfully conscious that i gave you but little help in your trouble yesterday. it is needless to say that it was not from want of sympathy. perhaps it would be nearer the truth to say that it was from excess of sympathy. i shrink intensely from meddling with the sorrow of anyone whom i feel to be of a sensitive nature. 'the heart hath its own bitterness, and the stranger meddleth not therewith.' it is to me a positively fearful thought that i might await a reflection as 'and common was the common place, and vacant chaff well meant for grain'. conventional consolations, conventional verses out of the bible and conventional prayers are, it seems to me, an intolerable aggravation of suffering. and so i acted on a principle that i mentioned to your husband, that 'there is no power so great as that of one human faith looking upon another human faith'. the promises of god, the love of christ for little children, and all that has been given to us of hope and comfort, are as deeply planted in your heart as in mine, and i did not care to quote them. but when i talk face to face with one who is in sore need of them, my faith in them suddenly becomes so vast and heart-stirring that i think i must help most by talking naturally, and letting the faith find its own way from soul to soul. indeed i could not find words for it if i tried. and yet i am compelled, as a messenger of the glad tidings of god, to solemnly assure you that all is well. we have no key to the 'mystery of pain', excepting the cross of christ. but there is another and a deeper solution in the hands of our father. and it will be ours when we can understand it. there is--in the place to which we travel--some blessed explanation of your baby's pain and your grief, which will fill with light the darkest heart. now you must believe without having seen; that is true faith. you must 'reach a hand through time to catch the far-oft interest of tears'. that you may have strength so to do is part of your share in the prayers of yours very faithfully, w. d----." during the summer months i saw much of this clergyman, mr. d---- and his wife. we grew into closer intimacy in consequence of the dangerous illness of their only child, a beautiful boy a few months old. i had gained quite a name in cheltenham as a nurse--my praises having been sung by the doctor--and mrs. d---- felt she could trust me even with her darling boy while she snatched a night's sorely needed rest. my questionings were not shirked by mr. d----, nor discouraged; he was neither horrified nor sanctimoniously rebuking, but met them all with a wide comprehension inexpressibly soothing to one writhing in the first agony of real doubt. the thought of hell was torturing me; somehow out of the baby's pain through those seemingly endless hours had grown a dim realisation of what hell might be, full of the sufferings of the beloved, and my whole brain and heart revolted from the unutterable cruelty of a creating and destroying god. mr. d---- lent me maurice and robertson, and strove to lead me into their wider hope for man, their more trustful faith in god. everyone who has doubted after believing knows how, after the first admitted and recognised doubt, others rush in like a flood, and how doctrine after doctrine starts up in new and lurid light, looking so different in aspect from the fair faint outlines in which it had shone forth in the soft mists of faith. the presence of evil and pain in the world made by a "good god", and the pain falling on the innocent, as on my seven months' old babe; the pain here reaching on into eternity unhealed; these, while i yet believed, drove me desperate, and i believed and hated, instead of like the devils, "believed and trembled". next, i challenged the righteousness of the doctrine of the atonement, and while i worshipped and clung to the suffering christ, i hated the god who required the death sacrifice at his hands. and so for months the turmoil went on, the struggle being all the more terrible for the very desperation with which i strove to cling to some planks of the wrecked ship of faith on the tossing sea of doubt. after mr. d---- left cheltenham, as he did in the early autumn of , he still aided me in my mental struggles. he had advised me to read mcleod campbell's work on the atonement, as one that would meet many of the difficulties that lay on the surface of the orthodox view, and in answer to a letter dealing with this really remarkable work, he wrote (nov. , ): "( ) the two passages on pp. and you doubtless interpret quite rightly. in your third reference to pp. , , you forget one great principle--that god is impassive; cannot suffer. christ, quâ _god_, did not suffer, but as son of _man_ and in his _humanity_. still, it may be correctly stated that he felt to sin and sinners 'as god eternally feels'--_i.e., abhorrence of sin and love of the sinner_. but to infer from that that the father in his godhead feels the sufferings which christ experienced solely in humanity, and because incarnate, is, i think, wrong. "( ) i felt strongly inclined to blow you up for the last part of your letter. you assume, i think quite gratuitously, that god condemns the major part of his children to objectless future suffering. you say that if he does not, he places a book in their hands which threatens what he does not mean to inflict. but how utterly this seems to me opposed to the gospel of christ. all christ's reference to eternal punishment may be resolved into reference to the valley of hinnom, by way of imagery; with the exception of the dives parable, where is distinctly inferred a moral amendment beyond the grave. i speak of the unselfish desire of dives to save his brothers. the more i see of the controversy the more baseless does the eternal punishment theory appear. it seems, then, to me, that instead of feeling aggrieved and shaken, you ought to feel encouraged and thankful that god is so much better than you were taught to believe him. you will have discovered by this time, in maurice's 'what is revelation' (i suppose you have the 'sequel' too?) that god's truth _is_ our truth, and his love is our love, only more perfect and full. there is no position more utterly defeated in modern philosophy and theology, than dean mansel's attempt to show that god's justice, love, etc., are different in kind from ours. mill and maurice, from totally alien points of view, have shown up the preposterous nature of the notion. "( ) a good deal of what you have thought is, i fancy, based on a strange forgetfulness of your former experience. if you have known christ (whom to know is eternal life)--and that you have known him i am certain--can you really say that a few intellectual difficulties, nay, a few moral difficulties if you will, are able at once to obliterate the testimony of that higher state of being? "why, the keynote of all my theology is that christ is loveable because, and _just_ because, he is the perfection of all that i know to be noble and generous, and loving, and tender, and true. if an angel from heaven brought me a gospel which contained doctrines that would not stand the test of such perfect loveableness--doctrines hard, or cruel, or unjust--i should reject him and his trumpery gospel with scorn, knowing that neither could be christ's. "know christ and judge religions by him; don't judge him by religions, and then complain because you find yourself looking at him through a blood-colored glass.... "i am saturating myself with maurice, who is the antidote given by god to this age against all dreary doubtings and temptings of the devil to despair." on these lines weary strife went on for months, until at last brain and health gave way completely, and for weeks i lay prostrate and helpless, in terrible ceaseless head-pain, unable to find relief in sleep. the doctor tried every form of relief in vain; he covered my head with ice, he gave me opium--which only drove me mad--he used every means his skill could dictate to remove the pain, but all failed. at last he gave up the attempt to cure physically, and tried mental diversion; he brought me up books on anatomy and persuaded me to study them; i have still an analysis made by me at that time of luther holden's "human osteology ". he was wise enough to see that if i were to be brought back to reasonable life, it could only be by diverting thought from the currents in which it had been running to a dangerous extent. no one who has not felt it knows the fearful agony caused by doubt to the earnestly religious mind. there is in this life no other pain so horrible. the doubt seems to shipwreck everything, to destroy the one steady gleam of happiness "on the other side" that no earthly storm could obscure; to make all life gloomy with a horror of despair, a darkness that may verily be felt. fools talk of atheism as the outcome of foul life and vicious thought. they, in their shallow heartlessness, their brainless stupidity, cannot even dimly imagine the anguish of the mere penumbra of the eclipse of faith, much less the horror of that great darkness in which the orphaned soul cries out into the infinite emptiness: "is it a devil who has made this world? are we the sentient toys of an almighty power, who sports with our agony, and whose peals of awful mocking laughter echo the wailings of our despair?" vii. on recovering from that prostrating physical pain, i came to a very definite decision. i resolved that, whatever might be the result, i would take each dogma of the christian religion, and carefully and thoroughly examine it, so that i should never again say "i believe" where i had not proved. so, patiently and steadily, i set to work. four problems chiefly at this time pressed for solution. i. the eternity of punishment after death. ii. the meaning of "goodness" and "love" as applied to a god who had made this world with all its evil and its misery. iii. the nature of the atonement of christ, and the "justice" of god in accepting a vicarious suffering from christ, and a vicarious righteousness from the sinner. iv. the meaning of "inspiration" as applied to the bible, and the reconciliation of the perfection of the author with the blunders and the immoralities of the work. maurice's writings now came in for very careful study, and i read also those of robertson, of brighton, and of stopford brooke, striving to find in these some solid ground whereon i might build up a new edifice of faith. that ground, however, i failed to find; there were poetry, beauty, enthusiasm, devotion; but there was no rock on which i might take my stand. mansel's bampton lectures on "the limits of religious thought" deepened and intensified my doubts. his arguments seemed to make certainty impossible, and i could not suddenly turn round and believe to order, as he seemed to recommend, because proof was beyond reach. i could not, and would not, adore in god as the highest righteousness that which, in man was condemned as harsh, as cruel, and as unjust. in the midst of this long mental struggle, a change occurred in the outward circumstances of my life. i wrote to lord hatherley and asked him if he could give mr. besant a crown living, and he offered us first one in northumberland, near alnwick castle, and then one in lincolnshire, the village of sibsey, with a vicarage house, and an income of £ per annum. we decided to accept the latter. the village was scattered over a considerable amount of ground, but the work was not heavy. the church was one of the fine edifices for which the fen country is so famous, and the vicarage was a comfortable house, with large and very beautiful gardens and paddock, and with outlying fields. the people were farmers and laborers, with a sprinkling of shopkeepers; the only "society" was that of the neighboring clergy, tory and prim to an appalling extent. there was here plenty of time for study, and of that time i vigorously availed myself. but no satisfactory light came to me, and the suggestions and arguments of my friend mr. d---- failed to bring conviction to my mind. it appeared clear to me that the doctrine of eternal punishment was taught in the bible, and the explanations given of the word "eternal" by men like maurice and stanley, did not recommend themselves to me as anything more than skilful special pleading-- evasions, not clearings up, of a moral difficulty. for the problem was: given a good god, how can he have created mankind, knowing beforehand that the vast majority of those whom he had created were to be tortured for evermore? given a just god, how can he punish people for being sinful, when they have inherited a sinful nature without their own choice and of necessity? given a righteous god, how can he allow sin to exist for ever, so that evil shall be as eternal as good, and satan shall reign in hell, as long as christ in heaven? the answer of the broad church school was, that the word "eternal" applied only to god and to life which was one with his; that "everlasting" only meant "lasting for an age", and that while the punishment of the wicked might endure for ages it was purifying, not destroying, and at last all should be saved, and "god should be all in all". these explanations had (for a time) satisfied mr. d----, and i find him writing to me in answer to a letter of mine dated march th, : "on the subject of eternal punishment i have now not the remotest doubt. it is impossible to handle the subject exhaustively in a letter, with a sermon to finish before night. but you _must_ get hold of a few valuable books that would solve all kinds of difficulties for you. for most points read stopford brooke's sermons--they are simply magnificent, and are called ( ) christian modern life, ( ) freedom in the church of england, ( ) and (least helpful) 'sermons'. then again there is an appendix to llewellyn davies' 'manifestation of the son of god', which treats of forgiveness in a future state as related to christ and bible. as to that special passage about the blasphemy against the holy ghost (to which you refer), i will write you my notions on it in a future letter." a little later, according, he wrote: "with regard to your passage of difficulty about the unpardonable sin, i would say: ( ) if that sin is not to be forgiven in the world to come, it is implied that all other sins _are forgiven in the world to come_. ( ) you must remember that our lord's parables and teachings mainly concerned contemporary events and people. i mean, for instance, that in his great prophecy of _judgment_ he simply was speaking of the destruction of the jewish polity and nation. the _principles_ involved apply through all time, but he did not apply them except to the jewish nation. he was speaking then, not of 'the end of the _world_, (as is wrongly translated), but of 'the end of the _age_'. (every age is wound up with a judgment. french revolutions, reformations, etc., are all ends of ages and judgments.) [greek aion] does not, cannot, will not, and never did mean _world_, but _age_. well, then, he has been speaking of the jewish people. and he says that all words spoken against the son of man will be forgiven. but there is a blasphemy against the holy spirit of god--there is a confusion of good with evil, of light with darkness--which goes deeper down than this. when a nation has lost the faculty of distinguishing love from hatred, the spirit of falsehood and hypocrisy from the spirit of truth, god from the devil--_then its doom is pronounced_--the decree is gone forth against it. as the doom of judaism, guilty of this sin, _was then_ pronounced. as the _decree against it had already gone forth. it is a national warning, not an individual one. it applies to two ages of this world, and not to two worlds_. all its teaching was primarily _national_, and is only thus to be rightly read-- if not all, rather _most of it_. if you would be sure of this and understand it, see the parables, etc., explained in maurice's 'gospel of the kingdom of heaven' (a commentary on s. luke). i can only indicate briefly in a letter the line to be taken on this question. "with regard to the [greek: elui, elui, lama sabbachthani]. i don't believe that the father even momentarily hid his face from him. the life of sonship was unbroken. remark: ( ) it is a quotation from a psalm. ( ) it rises naturally to a suffering man's lips as expressive of agony, though not exactly framed for _his_ individual _agony_. ( ) the spirit of the psalm is one of trust, and hope, and full faith, notwithstanding the st verse. ( ) our lord's agony was very extreme, not merely of body but of _soul_. he spoke out of the desolation of one forsaken, not by his divine father but by his human brothers. i have heard sick and dying men use the words of beloved psalms in just such a manner. "the impassibility of god ( ) with regard to the incarnation, this presents no difficulty. christ suffered simply and entirely as man, was too truly a man not to do so. ( ) with regard to the father, the key of it is here. 'god _is_ love.' he does not need suffering to train into sympathy, because his nature is sympathy. he can afford to dispense with hysterics, because he sees ahead that his plan is working to the perfect result. i am not quite sure whether i have hit upon your difficulty here, as i have destroyed your last letter but one. but the 'gospel of the kingdom' is a wonderful 'eye-opener'." worst of all the puzzles, perhaps, was that of the existence of evil and of misery, and the racking doubt whether god _could_ be good, and yet look on the evil and the misery of the world unmoved and untouched. it seemed so impossible to believe that a creator could be either cruel enough to be indifferent to the misery, or weak enough to be unable to stop it: the old dilemma faced me unceasingly. "if he can prevent it, and does not, he is not good; if he wishes to prevent it, and cannot, he is not almighty;" and out of this i could find no way of escape. not yet had any doubt of the existence of god crossed my mind. in august, mr. d---- tried to meet this difficulty. he wrote: "with regard to the impassibility of god, i think there is a stone wrong among your foundations which causes your difficulty. another wrong stone is, i think, your view of the nature of the _sin_ and _error_ which is supposed to grieve god. i take it that sin is an absolutely necessary factor in the production of the perfect man. it was foreseen and allowed as a means to an end--as in fact an _education_. "the view of all the sin and misery in the world cannot grieve god, any more than it can grieve you to see digby fail in his first attempt to build a card-castle or a rabbit-hutch. all is part of the training. god looks at the ideal man to which all tends. the popular idea of the fall is to me a very absurd one. there was never an ideal state in the past, but there will be in the future. the genesis allegory simply typifies the first awakening of consciousness of good and evil--of two _wills_ in a mind hitherto only animal-psychic. "well then--there being no occasion for grief in watching the progress of his own perfect and unfailing plans--your difficulty in god's impassibility vanishes. christ, _quâ_ god, was, of course, impassible too. it seems to me that your position implies that god's 'designs' have partially (at least) failed, and hence the grief of perfect benevolence. now i stoutly deny that any jot or tittle of god's plans can fail. i believe in the ordering of all for the best. i think that the pain consequent on broken law is only an inevitable necessity, over which we shall some day rejoice. "the indifference shown to god's love cannot pain him. why? because it is simply a sign of defectiveness in the creature which the ages will rectify. the being who is indifferent is not yet educated up to the point of love. but he _will be_. the pure and holy suffering of christ was (pardon me) _wholly_ the consequence of his human nature. true it was because of the _perfection_ of his humanity. but his divinity had nothing to do with it. it was his _human heart_ that broke. it was because he entered a world of broken laws and of incomplete education that he became involved in suffering with the rest of his race..... "no, mrs. besant; i never feel at all inclined to give up the search, or to suppose that the other side may be right. i claim no merit for it, but i have an invincible faith in the morality of god and the moral order of the world. i have no more doubt about the falsehood of the popular theology than i have about the unreality of six robbers who attacked me three nights ago in a horrid dream. i exult and rejoice in the grandeur and freedom of the little bit of truth it has been given me to see. i am told that 'present-day papers', by bishop ewing (edited) are a wonderful help, many of them, to puzzled people: i mean to get them. but i am sure you will find that the truth will (even so little as we may be able to find out) grow on you, make you free, light your path, and dispel, at no distant time, your _painful_ difficulties and doubts. i should say on no account give up your reading. i think with you that you could not do without it. it will be a wonderful source of help and peace to you. for there are struggles far more fearful than those of intellectual doubt. i am keenly alive to the gathered-up sadness of which your last two pages are an expression. i was sorrier than i can say to read them. they reminded me of a long and very dark time in my own life, when i thought the light never would come. thank god it came, or i think i could not have held out much longer. but you have evidently strength to bear it now. the more dangerous time, i should fancy, has passed. you will have to mind that the fermentation leaves clear spiritual wine, and not (as too often) vinegar. "i wish i could write something more helpful to you in this great matter. but as i sit in front of my large bay window, and see the shadows on the grass and the sunlight on the leaves, and the soft glimmer of the rosebuds left by the storms, i cannot but believe that all will be very well. 'trust in the lord; wait patiently for him'--they are trite words. but he made the grass, the leaves, the rosebuds, and the sunshine, and he is the father of our lord jesus christ. and now the trite words have swelled into a mighty argument." despite reading and argument, my scepticism grew only deeper and deeper. the study of w.r. greg's "creed of christendom", of matthew arnold's "literature and dogma", helped to widen the mental horizon, while making a return to the old faith more and more impossible. the church services were a weekly torture, but feeling as i did that i was only a doubter, i spoke to none of my doubts. it was possible, i felt, that all my difficulties might be cleared up, and i had no right to shake the faith of others while in uncertainty myself. others had doubted and had afterwards believed; for the doubter silence was a duty; the blinded had better keep their misery to themselves. i found some practical relief in parish work of a non-doctrinal kind, in nursing the sick, in trying to brighten a little the lot of the poor of the village. but here, again, i was out of sympathy with most of those around me. the movement among the agricultural laborers, due to the energy and devotion of joseph arch, was beginning to be talked of in the fens, and bitter were the comments of the farmers on it, while i sympathised with the other side. one typical case, which happened some months later, may stand as example of all. there was a young man, married, with two young children, who was wicked enough to go into a neighboring county to a "union meeting", and who was, further, wicked enough to talk about it when he returned. he became a marked man; no farmer would employ him. he tramped about vainly, looking for work, grew reckless, and took to drink. visiting his cottage one day i found his wife ill, a dead child in the bed, a sick child in her arms; yes, she "was pining; there was no work to be had". "why did she leave the dead child on the bed? because there was no other place to put it." the cottage consisted of one room and a "lean-to", and husband and wife, the child dead of fever and the younger child sickening with it, were all obliged to lie on the one bed. in another cottage i found four generations sleeping in one room, the great-grandfather and his wife, the grandmother (unmarried), the mother (unmarried), and the little child, while three men-lodgers completed the tale of eight human beings crowded into that narrow, ill-ventilated garret. other cottages were hovels, through the broken roofs of which poured the rain, and wherein rheumatism and ague lived with the dwellers. how could i do aught but sympathise with any combination that aimed at the raising of these poor? but to sympathise with joseph arch was a crime in the eyes of the farmers, who knew that his agitation meant an increased drain on their pockets. for it never struck them that, if they paid less in rent to the absent landlord, they might pay more in wage to the laborers who helped to make their wealth, and they had only civil words for the burden that crushed them, and harsh ones for the builders-up of their ricks and the mowers of their harvests. they made common cause with their enemy, instead of with their friend, and instead of leaguing themselves with the laborers, as forming together the true agricultural interest, they leagued themselves with the landlords against the laborers, and so made fratricidal strife instead of easy victory over the common foe. in the summer and autumn of , i was a good deal in london with my mother.--my health had much broken down, and after a severe attack of congestion of the lungs, my recovery was very slow. one sunday in london, i wandered into st. george's hall, in which mr. charles voysey was preaching, and there i bought some of his sermons. to my delight i found that someone else had passed through the same difficulties as i about hell and the bible and the atonement and the character of god, and had given up all these old dogmas, while still clinging to belief in god. i went to st. george's hall again on the following sunday, and in the little ante-room, after the service, i found myself in a stream of people, who were passing by mr. and mrs. voysey, some evidently known to him, some strangers, many of the latter thanking him for his morning's work. as i passed in my turn i said: "i must thank you for very great help in what you have said this morning", for indeed the possibility opened of a god who was really "loving unto every man", and in whose care each was safe for ever, had come like a gleam of light across the stormy sea of doubt and distress on which i had been tossing for nearly twelve months. on the following sunday, i saw them again, and was cordially invited down to their dulwich home, where they gave welcome to all in doubt. i soon found that the theism they professed was free from the defects which revolted me in christianity. it left me god as a supreme goodness, while rejecting all the barbarous dogmas of the christian faith. i now read theodore parker's "discourse on religion", francis newman's "hebrew monarchy", and other works, many of the essays of miss frances power cobbe and of other theistic writers, and i no longer believed in the old dogmas and hated while i believed; i no longer doubted whether they were true or not; i shook them off, once for all, with all their pain, and horror, and darkness, and felt, with relief and joy inexpressible, that they were all but the dreams of ignorant and semi-savage minds, not the revelation of a god. the last remnant of christianity followed swiftly these cast-off creeds, though, in parting with this, one last pang was felt. it was the doctrine of the deity of christ. the whole teaching of the broad church school tends, of course, to emphasise the humanity at the expense of the deity of christ, and when the eternal punishment and the substitutionary atonement had vanished, there seemed to be no sufficient reason left for so stupendous a miracle as the incarnation of the deity. i saw that the idea of incarnation was common to all eastern creeds, not peculiar to christianity; the doctrine of the unity of god repelled the doctrine of the incarnation of a portion of the godhead. but the doctrine was dear from association; there was something at once soothing and ennobling in the idea of a union between man and god, between a perfect man and divine supremacy, between a human heart and an almighty strength. jesus as god was interwoven with all art, with all beauty in religion; to break with the deity of jesus was to break with music, with painting, with literature; the divine child in his mother's arms, the divine man in his passion and in his triumph, the human friend encircled with the majesty of the godhead--did inexorable truth demand that this ideal figure, with all its pathos, its beauty, its human love, should pass into the pantheon of the dead gods of the past? viii. the struggle was a sharp one ere i could decide that intellectual honesty demanded that the question of the deity of christ should be analysed as strictly as all else, and that the conclusions come to from an impartial study of facts should be faced as steadily as though they dealt with some unimportant question. i was bound to recognise, however, that more than intellectual honesty would be here required, for if the result of the study were--as i dimly felt it would be--to establish disbelief in the supernatural claims of christ, i could not but feel that such disbelief would necessarily entail most unpleasant external results. i might give up belief in all save this, and yet remain a member of the church of england: views on inspiration, on eternal torture, on the vicarious atonement, however heterodox, might be held within the pale of the church; many broad church clergymen rejected these as decidedly as i did myself, and yet remained members of the establishment; the judgment on "essays and reviews" gave this wide liberty to heresy within the church, and a laywoman might well claim the freedom of thought legally bestowed on divines. the name "christian" might well be worn while christ was worshipped as god, and obeyed as the "revealer of the father's will", the "well-beloved son", the "savior and lord of men". but once challenge that unique position, once throw off that supreme sovereignty, and then it seemed to me that the name "christian" became a hypocrisy, and its renouncement a duty incumbent on an upright mind. but i was a clergyman's wife; my position made my participation in the holy communion a necessity, and my withdrawal therefrom would be an act marked and commented upon by all. yet if i lost my faith in christ, how could i honestly approach "the lord's table", where christ was the central figure and the recipient of the homage paid there by every worshipper to "god made man"? hitherto mental pain alone had been the price demanded inexorably from the searcher after truth; now to the inner would be added the outer warfare, and how could i tell how far this might carry me? one night only i spent in this struggle over the question: "shall i examine the claims to deity of jesus of nazareth?". when morning broke the answer was clearly formulated: "truth is greater than peace or position. if jesus be god, challenge will not shake his deity; if he be man, it is blasphemy to worship him." i re-read liddon's "bampton lectures" on this controversy and renan's "vie de jesus". i studied the gospels, and tried to represent to myself the life there outlined; i tested the conduct there given as i should have tested the conduct of any ordinary historical character; i noted that in the synoptics no claim to deity was made by jesus himself, nor suggested by his disciples; i weighed his own answer to an enquirer, with its plain disavowal of godhood: "why callest thou me good? there is none good save one, that is god" (matt, xix., ); i conned over his prayers to "my father", his rest on divine protection, his trust in a power greater than his own; i noted his repudiation of divine knowledge: "of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, _neither the son_, but the father" (mark xiii., ); i studied the meaning of his prayer of anguished submission: "o my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me! nevertheless, not as i will, but as thou wilt" (matt, xxvi., ); i dwelt on his bitter cry in his dying agony: "my god, my god, why hast thou forsaken me?" (matt, xxvii., ); i asked the meaning of the final words of rest: "father, into thy hands i commend my spirit" (luke xxiii., ). and i saw that, if there were any truth in the gospels at all, they told the story of a struggling, suffering, sinning, praying man, and not of a god at all and the dogma of the deity of christ followed the rest of the christian doctrines into the limbo of past beliefs. yet one other effort i made to save myself from the difficulties i foresaw in connexion with this final breach with christianity. there was one man who had in former days wielded over me a great influence, one whose writings had guided and taught me for many years--dr. pusey, the venerable leader of the catholic party in the church, the learned patristic scholar, full of the wisdom of antiquity. he believed in christ as god; what if i put my difficulties to him? if he resolved them for me i should escape the struggle i foresaw; if he could not resolve them, then no answer to them was to be hoped for. my decision was quickly made; being with my mother, i could write to him unnoticed, and i sat down and put my questions clearly and fully, stating my difficulties and asking him whether, out of his wider knowledge and deeper reading, he could resolve them for me. i wish i could here print his answer, together with two or three other letters i received from him, but the packet was unfortunately stolen from my desk and i have never recovered it. dr. pusey advised me to read liddon's "bampton lectures", referred me to various passages, chiefly from the fourth gospel, if i remember rightly, and invited me to go down to oxford and talk over my difficulties. liddon's "bampton lectures" i had thoroughly studied, and the fourth gospel had no weight with me, the arguments in favor of its alexandrian origin being familiar to me, but i determined to accept his invitation to a personal interview, regarding it as the last chance of remaining in the church. to oxford, accordingly, i took the train, and made my way to the famous doctor's rooms. i was shown in, and saw a short, stout gentleman, dressed in a cassock, and looking like a comfortable monk; but the keen eyes, steadfastly gazing straight into mine, told me of the power and subtlety hidden by the unprepossessing form. the head was fine and impressive, the voice low, penetrating, drilled into a somewhat monotonous and artificially subdued tone. i quickly found that no sort of enlightenment could possibly result from our interview. he treated me as a penitent going to confession, seeking the advice of a director, not as an enquirer struggling after truth, and resolute to obtain some firm standing-ground in the sea of doubt, whether on the shores of orthodoxy or of heresy. he would not deal with the question of the deity of jesus as a question for argument; he reminded me: "you are speaking of your judge," when i pressed some question. the mere suggestion of an imperfection in jesus' character made him shudder in positive pain, and he checked me with raised hand, and the rebuke: "you are blaspheming; the very thought is a terrible sin". i asked him if he could recommend to me any books which would throw light on the subject: "no, no, you have read too much already. you must pray; you must pray." then, as i said that i could not believe without proof, i was told: "blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed," and my further questioning was checked by the murmur: "o my child, how undisciplined! how impatient!". truly, he must have found in me--hot, eager, passionate in my determination to know, resolute not to profess belief while belief was absent--but very little of that meek, chastened, submissive spirit to which he was accustomed in the penitents wont to seek his counsel as their spiritual guide. in vain did he bid me pray as though i believed; in vain did he urge the duty of blind submission to the authority of the church, of yielding, unreasoning faith, which received but questioned not. he had no conception of the feelings of the sceptical spirit; his own faith was solid as a rock-- firm, satisfied, unshakeable; he would as soon have committed suicide as have doubted of the infallibility of the "universal church". "it is not your duty to ascertain the truth," he told me sternly. "it is your duty to accept and to believe the truth as laid down by the church; at your peril you reject it; the responsibility is not yours so long as you dutifully accept that which the church has laid down for your acceptance. did not the lord promise that the presence of the spirit should be ever with his church, to guide her into all truth?" "but the fact of the promise and its value are the very points on which i am doubtful," i answered. he shuddered. "pray, pray," he said. "father, forgive her, for she knows not what she says." it was in vain i urged that i had everything to gain and nothing to lose by following his directions, but that it seemed to me that fidelity to truth forbade a pretended acceptance of that which was not believed. "everything to lose? yes, indeed. you will be lost for time and lost for eternity." "lost or not," i rejoined, "i must and will try to find out what is true, and i will not believe till i am sure." "you have no right to make terms with god," he answered, "as to what you will believe and what you will not believe. you are full of intellectual pride." i sighed hopelessly. little feeling of pride was there in me just then, and i felt that in this rigid unyielding dogmatism there was no comprehension of my difficulties, no help for me in my strugglings. i rose and, thanking him for his courtesy, said that i would not waste his time further, that i must go home and just face the difficulties out, openly leaving the church and taking the consequences. then for the first time his serenity was ruffled. "i forbid you to speak of your disbelief," he cried. "i forbid you to lead into your own lost state the souls for whom christ died." slowly and sadly i took my way back to the station, knowing that my last chance of escape had failed me. i recognised in this famous divine the spirit of the priest, which could be tender and pitiful to the sinner, repentant, humble, submissive, craving only for pardon and for guidance, but which was iron to the doubter, to the heretic, and would crush out all questionings of "revealed truth", silencing by force, not by argument, all challenge of the traditions of the church. out of such men were made the inquisitors of the middle ages, perfectly conscientious, perfectly rigid, perfectly merciless to the heretic. to them heretics were and are centres of infectious disease, and charity to them "the worst cruelty to the souls of men". certain that they hold "by no merit of our own, but by the mercy of our god the one truth which he hath revealed", they can permit no questionings, they can accept nought but the most complete submission. but while man aspires after truth, while his brain yearns after knowledge, while his intellect soars upward into the heaven of speculation and "beats the air with tireless wing", so long shall those who demand faith be met by challenge for proof, and those who would blind him shall be defeated by his determination to gaze unblenching on the face of truth, even though her eyes should turn him into stone. during this same visit to london i saw mr. and mrs. thomas scott for the first time. i had gone down to dulwich to see mr. and mrs. voysey, and after dinner we went over to upper norwood, and i was introduced to one of the most remarkable men i have ever met. at that time mr. scott was an old man, with beautiful white hair, and eyes like those of a hawk gleaming from under shaggy eyebrows; he had been a man of magnificent physique, and though his frame was then enfeebled, the splendid lion-like head kept its impressive strength and beauty, and told of a unique personality. of scotch descent and wellborn, thomas scott had, as a boy, been a page at the french court; his manhood was spent in many lands, for he "was a mighty hunter", though not "before the lord". he had lived for months among the north american indians, sharing the hardships of their wild life; he had hunted and fished all over the world. at last, he came home, married, and ultimately settled down at ramsgate, where he made his home a centre of heretical thought. he issued an enormous number of tracts and pamphlets, and each month he sent out a small packet to hundreds of subscribers and friends. this monthly issue of heretical literature soon made itself a power in the world of thought; the tracts were of various shades of opinion, but were all heretical: some moderate, some extreme; all were well-written, cultured and polished in tone--this was a rule to which mr. scott made no exceptions; his writers might say what they liked, but they must have something real to say, and they must say that something in good english. the little white packets found their way into many a quiet country parsonage, into many a fashionable home. his correspondence was world-wide and came from all classes--now a letter from a prime minister, now one from a blacksmith. all were equally welcome, and all were answered with equal courtesy. at his house met people of the most varying opinions. colenso, bishop of natal, edward maitland, e. vansittart neale, charles bray, sara hennell, w.j. birch, r. suffield, and hundreds more, clerics and laymen, scholars and thinkers, all gathered in this one home, to which the right of _entrée_ was gained only by love of truth and desire to spread freedom among men. mr. scott devoted his fortune to this great work. he would never let publishers have his pamphlets in the ordinary way of trade, but issued them all himself and distributed them gratuitously. if anyone desired to subscribe, well and good, they might help in the work, but make it a matter of business he would not. if anyone sent money for some tracts, he would send out double the worth of the money enclosed, and thus for years he carried on this splendid propagandist work. in all he was nobly seconded by his wife, his "right hand" as he well named her, a sweet, strong, gentle, noble woman, worthy of her husband, and than that no higher praise can be spoken. of both i shall have more to say hereafter, but at present we are at the time of my first visit to them at upper norwood, whither they had removed from ramsgate. kindly greeting was given by both, and on mr. voysey suggesting that judging by one essay of mine that he had seen--an essay which was later expanded into the one on "inspiration", in the scott series--my pen would be useful for propagandist work, mr. scott bade me try what i could do, and send him for criticism anything i thought good enough for publication; he did not, of course, promise to accept an essay, but he promised to read it. a question arose as to the name to be attached to the essay, in case of publication, and i told him that my name was not my own to use, and that i did not suppose that mr. besant could possibly, in his position, give me permission to attach it to a heretical essay; we agreed that any essays i might write should for the present be published anonymously, and that i should try my hand to begin with on the subject of the "deity of jesus of nazareth". and so i parted from those who were to be such good friends to me in the coming time of struggle. ix. my resolve was now made, and henceforth there was at least no more doubt so far as my position towards the church was concerned. i made up my mind to leave it, but was willing to make the leaving as little obtrusive as possible. on my return to sibsey i stated clearly the ground on which i stood. i was ready to attend the church services, joining in such parts as were addressed to "the supreme being", for i was still heartily theistic; "the father", shorn of all the horrible accessories hung round him by christianity, was still to me an object of adoration, and i could still believe in and worship one who was "righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works", although the moloch to whom was sacrificed the well-beloved son had passed away for ever from my creed. christian i was not, though theist i was, and i felt that the wider and more generous faith would permit me to bow to the common god with my christian brethren, if only i was not compelled to pay homage to that "son of man" whom christians believed divine, homage which to me had become idolatry, insulting to the "one god", to him of whom jesus himself had spoken as of "my god and your god". simply enough was the difficulty arranged for the moment. it was agreed that i should withdraw myself from the "holy communion"--for in that service, full of the recognition of jesus as deity, i could not join without hypocrisy. the ordinary services i would attend, merely remaining silent during those portions of them in which i could not honestly take part, and while i knew that these changes in a clergyman's wife could not pass unnoticed in a country village, i yet felt that nothing less than this was consistent with barest duty. while i had merely doubted, i had kept silence, and no act of mine had suggested doubt to others. now that i had no doubt that christianity was a delusion, i would no longer act as though i believed that to be of god which heart and intellect rejected as untrue. for awhile all went smoothly. i daresay the parishioners gossipped about the absence of their vicar's wife from the sacrament, and indeed i remember the pain and trembling wherewith, on the first "sacrament sunday" after my return, i rose from my seat and walked quietly from the church, leaving the white-spread altar. that the vicar's wife should "communicate" was as much a matter of course as that the vicar should "administer"; i had never in my life taken public part in anything that made me noticeable in any way among strangers, and still i can recall the feeling of deadly sickness that well nigh overcame me, as rising to go out i felt that every eye in the church was on me, and that my exit would be the cause of unending comment. as a matter of fact, everyone thought that i was taken suddenly ill, and many were the calls and enquiries on the following day. to any direct question, i answered quietly that i was unable to take part in the profession of faith required from an honest communicant, but the statement was rarely necessary, for the idea of heresy in a vicar's wife did not readily suggest itself to the ordinary bucolic mind, and i did not proffer information when it was unasked for. it happened that, shortly after that (to me) memorable christmas of , a sharp epidemic of typhoid fever broke out in the village of sibsey. the drainage there was of the most primitive type, and the contagion spread rapidly. naturally fond of nursing, i found in this epidemic work just fitted to my hand, and i was fortunate enough to be able to lend personal help that made me welcome in the homes of the stricken poor. the mothers who slept exhausted while i watched beside their darlings' bedsides will never, i like to fancy, think over harshly of the heretic whose hand was as tender and often more skilful than their own. i think mother nature meant me for a nurse, for i take a sheer delight in nursing anyone, provided only that there is peril in the sickness, so that there is the strange and solemn feeling of the struggle between the human skill one wields and the supreme enemy, death. there is a strange fascination in fighting death, step by step, and this is of course felt to the full where one fights for life as life, and not for a life one loves. when the patient is beloved, the struggle is touched with agony, but where one fights with death over the body of a stranger, there is a weird enchantment in the contest without personal pain, and as one forces back the hated foe there is a curious triumph in the feeling which marks the death-grip yielding up its prey, as one snatches back to earth the life which had well-nigh perished. meanwhile, the promise to mr. scott was not forgotten, and i penned the essay on "the deity of jesus of nazareth" which stands first in the collection of essays published later under the title, "my path to atheism". the only condition annexed to my sending it to mr. scott was the perfectly fair one that if published it should appear without my name. mr. scott was well pleased with the essay, and before long it was printed as one of the "scott series", to my great delight. but unfortunately a copy sent to a relative of mr. besant's brought about a storm. that gentlemen did not disagree with it--indeed he admitted that all educated persons must hold the views put forward--but what would society say? what would "the county families" think if one of the clerical party was known to be a heretic. this dreadful little paper bore the inscription "by the wife of a beneficed clergyman"; what would happen if the "wife of the beneficed clergyman" were identified with mrs. besant of sibsey? after some thought i made a compromise. alter or hide my faith i would not, but yield personal feelings i would. i gave up my correspondence with mr. and mrs. voysey, which might, it was alleged, he noticed in the village and so give rise to mischievous gossip. in this mr. and mrs. voysey most generously helped me, bidding me rest assured of their cordial friendship while counselling me for awhile to cease the correspondence which was one of the few pleasures of my life, but was not part of my duty to the higher and freer faith which we had all embraced. with keen regret i bade them for awhile farewell, and went back to my lonely life. in that spring of , i delivered my first lecture. it was delivered to no one, queer as that may sound to my readers. and indeed, it was queer altogether. i was learning to play the organ, and was in the habit of practising in the church by myself, without a blower. one day, being securely locked in, i thought i would like to try how "it felt" to speak from the pulpit. some vague fancies were stirring in me, that i could speak if i had the chance; very vague they were, for the notion that i might ever speak on the platform had never dawned on me; only the longing to find outlet in words was in me; the feeling that i had something to say, and the yearning to say it. so, queer as it may seem? i ascended the pulpit in the big, empty, lonely church, and there and then i delivered my first lecture! i shall never forget the feeling of power and of delight which came upon me as my voice rolled down the aisles, and the passion in me broke into balanced sentences, and never paused for rhythmical expression, while i felt that all i wanted was to see the church full of upturned faces, instead of the emptiness of the silent pews. and as though in a dream the solitude became peopled, and i saw the listening faces and the eager eyes, and as the sentences came unbidden from my lips, and my own tones echoed back to me from the pillars of the ancient church, i knew of a verity that the gift of speech was mine, and that if ever--and it seemed then so impossible--if ever the chance came to me of public work, that at least this power of melodious utterance should win hearing for any message i had to bring. but that knowledge remained a secret all to my own self for many a long month, for i quickly felt ashamed of that foolish speechifying in an empty church, and i only recall it now because, in trying to trace out one's mental growth, it is only fair to notice the first silly striving after that expression in spoken words, which, later, has become to me one of the deepest delights of life. and indeed none can know save they who have felt it what joy there is in the full rush of language which, moves and sways; to feel a crowd respond to the lightest touch; to see the faces brighten or graven at your bidding; to know that the sources of human passion and human emotion gush at the word of the speaker, as the stream from the riven rock; to feel that the thought that thrills through a thousand hearers has its impulse from you and throbs back to you the fuller from a thousand heart-beats; is there any joy in life more brilliant than this, fuller of passionate triumph, and of the very essence of intellectual delight? my pen was busy, and a second pamphlet, dealing with the johannine gospel, was written and sent up to mr. scott under the same conditions of anonymity as before, for it was seen that my authorship could in nowise be suspected, and mr. scott paid me for my work. i had also made a collection of theistic, but non-christian, hymns, with a view of meeting a want felt by mr. voysey's congregation at st. george's hall, and this was lying idle, while it might be utilised. so it was suggested that i should take up again my correspondence with mr. and mrs. voysey, and glad enough was i to do so. during this time my health was rapidly failing, and in the summer of it broke down completely. at last i went up to london to consult a physician, and was told i was suffering from general nervous exhaustion, which, was accompanied by much disturbance of the functions of the heart. "there is no organic disease yet," said dr. sibson, "but there soon will be, unless you can completely change your manner of life." such a change was not possible, and i grew rapidly worse. the same bad adviser who had before raised the difficulty of "what will society say?" again interfered, and urged that pressure should be put on me to compel me at least to conform to the outward ceremonies of the church, and to attend the holy communion. this i was resolved not to do, whatever might be the result of my "obstinacy ", and the result was not long in coming. i had been with the children to southsea, to see if the change would restore my shattered health, and stayed in town with my mother on my return under dr. sibson's care. very skilful and very good to me was dr. sibson, giving me for almost nothing all the wealthiest could have bought with their gold, but he could not remove all then in my life which made the re-acquiring of health impossible. what the doctor could not do, however, others did. it was resolved that i should either resume attendance at the communion, or should not return home; hypocrisy or expulsion--such was the alternative; i chose the latter. a bitterly sad time followed; my dear mother was heartbroken; to her, with her wide and vague form of christianity, loosely held, the intensity of my feeling that where i did not believe i would not pretend belief, was incomprehensible. she recognised far more fully than i all that a separation from my home meant for me, and the difficulties which would surround a young woman not yet six-and-twenty, living alone. she knew how brutally the world judges, and how the mere fact that a woman is young and alone justifies any coarseness of slander. then, i did not guess how cruel men and women could be, but knowing it from eleven years' experience, i deliberately say that i would rather go through it all again with my eyes wide open from the first, than have passed those eleven years "in society" under the burden of an acted lie. but the struggle was hard when she prayed me for her sake to give way; against harshness i had been rigid as steel, but to remain steadfast when my darling mother, whom i loved as i loved nothing else on earth, begged me on her knees to yield, was indeed hard. i felt as though it must be a crime to refuse submission when she urged it, but still--to live a lie? not even for her was that possible. then there were the children, the two little ones who worshipped me, i who was to them mother, nurse, and playfellow. were these also to be resigned? for awhile, at least, this complete loss was spared me, for facts (which i have not touched on in this record) came accidentally to my brother's knowledge, and he resolved that i should have the protection of legal separation, and should not be turned wholly penniless and alone into the world. so, when everything was arranged, i found myself possessed of my little girl, of complete personal freedom, and of a small monthly income sufficient for respectable starvation. x. the "world was all before us where to choose", but circumstances narrowed the choice down to hobson's. i had no ready money beyond the first month's payment of my annuity; furnished lodgings were beyond my means, and i had nothing wherewith to buy furniture. my brother offered me a home, on condition that i should give up my "heretical friends" and keep quiet; but, being freed from one bondage, nothing was further from my thoughts than to enter another. besides, i did not choose to be a burden on anyone, and i resolved to "get something to do", to rent a tiny house, and to make a nest where my mother, my little girl, and i could live happily together. the difficulty was the "something"; i spent various shillings in agencies, with a quite wonderful unanimity of failures. i tried to get some fancy needlework, advertised as an infallible source of income to "ladies in reduced circumstances"; i fitted the advertisement admirably, for i was a lady, and my circumstances were decidedly reduced, but i only earned s. d. by weeks of stitching, and the materials cost nearly as much as the finished work. i experimented with a birmingham firm, who generously offered everyone an opportunity of adding to their incomes, and received in answer to the small fee demanded a pencil-case, with an explanation that i was to sell little articles of that description--going as far as cruet-stands--to my friends; i did not feel equal to springing pencil-cases and cruet-stands casually on my acquaintances, so did not start in that business. it would be idle to relate all the things i tried, and failed in, until i began to think that the "something to do" was not so easy to find as i had expected. i made up my mind to settle at upper norwood, near mr. and mrs. scott, who were more than good to me in my trouble; and i fixed on a very little house in colby road, gipsy hill, to be taken from the ensuing easter. then came the question of furniture; a friend of mr. scott's gave me an introduction to a manufacturer, who agreed to let me have furniture for a bedroom and sitting-room, and to let me pay him by monthly instalments. the next thing was to save a few months' annuity, and so have a little money in hand, wherewith to buy necessaries on starting, and to this end i decided to accept a loving invitation to folkestone, where my grandmother was living with two of my aunts, and there to seek some employment, no matter what, provided it gave me food and lodging, and enabled me to put aside my few pounds a month. relieved from the constant strain of fear and anxiety, my health was quickly improving, and the improvement became more rapid after i went down with my mother to folkestone. the hearty welcome offered to me there was extended with equal warmth to little mabel, who soon arrived, a most forlorn little maiden. she was only three years old, and she had not seen me for some weeks; her passion of delight was pitiful; she clung to me, in literal fashion, for weeks afterwards, and screamed if she lost sight of me for a moment; it was long before she got over the separation and the terror of her lonely journey from sibsey and london in charge only of the guard. but she was a "winsome wee thing", and danced into everyone's heart; after "mamma", "granny" was the prime favorite, and my dear mother worshipped her first grand-daughter; never was prettier picture than the red-golden hair nestled against the white, the baby-grace contrasting with the worn stateliness of her tender nurse. from that time forward-- with the exception of a few weeks of which i shall speak presently and of the yearly stay of a month with her father--little mabel was my constant companion, until sir george jessel's brutality robbed me of my child. she would play contentedly while i was working, a word now and again enough to make her happy; when i had to go out without her she would run to the door with me, and the "good-bye" came from down-curved lips, and she was ever watching at the window for my return, and the sunny face was always the first to welcome me home. many and many a time have i been coming home, weary and heart-sick, and the glimpse of the little face watching has reminded me that i must not carry in a grave face to sadden my darling, and the effort to throw off the dreariness for her sake shook it off altogether, and brought back the sunshine. i have never forgiven sir george jessel, and i never shall, though his death has left me only his memory to hate. at folkestone, i continued my search for "something to do", and for some weeks sought for pupils, thinking i might thus turn my heresy to account. but pupils are not readily attainable by a heretic woman, away from her natural home, and with a young child as "encumbrance". it chanced, however, that the vicar of folkestone, mr. woodward, was then without a governess, and his wife was in very delicate health. my people knew him well, and as i had plenty of spare time, i offered to teach the children for a few hours a day. the offer was gladly accepted, and i soon arranged to go and stay at the house for awhile, until he could find a regular governess. i thought that at least i could save my small income while i was there, and mabel and i were to be boarded and lodged in exchange for my work. this work was fairly heavy, but i did not mind that; it soon became heavier. some serious fault on the part of one or both servants led to their sudden retirement, and i became head cook as well as governess and nurse. on the whole, i think i shall not try to live by cooking, if other trades fail; i don't mind boiling and frying, and making pie-crust is rather pleasant, but i do object to lifting saucepans and blistering my hands over heavy kettles. there is a certain charm in making a stew, especially to the unaccustomed cook, because of the excitement of wondering what the result of such various ingredients will be, and whether any flavor save that of onions will survive the competition in the mixture. on the whole my services as cook were voted very successful; i did my cooking better than i did my sweeping: the latter was a failure from sheer want of muscular strength. this curious episode came to an end abruptly. one of my little pupils fell ill with diptheria, and i was transformed from cook into sick-nurse. i sent my mabel off promptly to her dear grandmother's care, and gave myself up to my old delight in nursing. but it is a horrible disease, diptheria, and the suffering of the patient is frightful to witness. i shall never forget the poor little girl's black parched lips and gasping breath. scarcely was she convalescent, when the youngest boy, a fine, strong, healthy little fellow, sickened with scarlet fever. we elders held a consultation, and decided to isolate the top floor from the rest of the house, and to nurse the little lad there; it seemed almost hopeless to prevent such a disease from spreading through a family of children, but our vigorous measures were successful, and none other suffered. i was voted to the post of nurse, and installed myself promptly, taking up the carpets, turning out the curtains, and across the door ways hanging sheets which i kept always wet with chloride of lime. my meals were brought upstairs and put on the landing outside; my patient and i remained completely isolated, until the disease had run its course; and when all risk was over, i proudly handed over my charge, the disease touching no other member of the flock. it was a strange time, those weeks of the autumn and early winter in mr. woodward's house. he was a remarkably good man, very religious and to a very remarkable extent not "of this world". a "priest" to the tips of his finger-nails, and looking on his priestly office as the highest a man could fill, he yet held it always as one which put him at the service of the poorest who needed help. he was very good to me, and, while deeply lamenting my "perversion", held, by some strange unpriestlike charity, that my "unbelief" was but a passing cloud, sent as trial by "the lord", and soon to vanish again, leaving me in the "sunshine of faith". he marvelled much, i learned afterwards, where i gained my readiness to work heartily for others, and to remain serenely content amid the roughnesses of my toiling life. to my great amusement i heard later that his elder daughters, trained in strictest observance of all church ceremonies, had much discussed my non-attendance at the sacrament, and had finally arrived at the conclusion that i had committed some deadly sin, for which the humble work which i undertook at their house was the appointed penance, and that i was excluded from "the blessed sacrament" until the penance was completed! very shortly after the illness above-mentioned, my mother went up to town, whither i was soon to follow her, for now the spring had arrived, and it was time to prepare our new home. how eagerly we had looked forward to taking possession; how we had talked over our life together and knitted on the new one we anticipated to the old one we remembered; how we had planned out mabel's training and arranged the duties that should fall to the share of each! day-dreams, that never were to be realised! but a brief space had passed since my mother's arrival in town, when i received a telegram from my brother, stating that she was dangerously ill, and summoning me at once to her bedside. as swiftly as express train could carry me to london i was there, and found my darling in bed, prostrate, the doctor only giving her three days to live. one moment's sight i caught of her face, drawn and haggard; then as she saw me it all changed into delight; "at last! now i can rest." the brave spirit had at length broken down, never again to rise; the action of her heart had failed, the valves no longer performed their duty, and the bluish shade of forehead and neck told that the blood was no longer sent pure and vivifying through the arteries. but her death was not as near as the doctor had feared; "i do not think she can live four-and-twenty hours," he said to me, after i had been with her for two days. i told her his verdict, but it moved her little; "i do not feel that i am going to die just yet," she said resolutely, and she was right. there was an attack of fearful prostration, a very wrestling with death, and then the grim shadow drew backwards, and she struggled back to life. soon, as is usual in cases of such disease, dropsy intervened, with all its weariness of discomfort, and for week after week her long martyrdom dragged on. i nursed her night and day, with a very desperation of tenderness, for now fate had touched the thing that was dearest to me in life. a second horrible crisis came, and for the second time her tenacity and my love beat back the death-stroke. she did not wish to die--the love of life was strong in her; i would not let her die; between us we kept the foe at bay. at this period, after eighteen months of abstention, and for the last time, i took the sacrament. this statement will seem strange to my readers, but the matter happened in this wise: my dear mother had an intense longing to take it, but absolutely refused to do so unless i partook of it with her. "if it be necessary to salvation," she persisted doggedly, "i will not take it if darling annie is to be shut out. i would rather be lost with her than saved without her." in vain i urged that i could not take it without telling the officiating clergyman of my heresy, and that under such circumstances the clergyman would be sure to refuse to administer to me. she insisted that she could not die happy if she did not take it with me. i went to a clergyman i knew well, and laid the case before him; as i expected, he refused to allow me to communicate. i tried a second; the result was the same. i was in despair; to me the service was foolish and superstitious, but i would have done a great deal more for my mother than eat bread and drink wine, provided that the eating and drinking did not, by pretence of faith on my part, soil my honesty. at last a thought struck me; there was dean stanley, my mother's favorite, a man known to be of the broadest school within the church of england; suppose i asked him? i did not know him, though as a young child i had known his sister as my mother's friend, and i felt the request would be something of an impertinence. yet there was just the chance that he might consent, and then my darling's death-bed would be the easier. i told no one, but set out resolutely for the deanery, westminster, timidly asked for the dean, and followed the servant upstairs with a very sinking heart. i was left for a moment alone in the library, and then the dean came in. i don't think i ever in my life felt more intensely uncomfortable than i did in that minute's interval, as he stood waiting for me to speak, his clear, grave, piercing eyes gazing right into mine. very falteringly i preferred my request, stating baldly that i was not a believer in christ, that my mother was dying, that she was fretting to take the sacrament, that she would not take it unless i took it with her, that two clergymen had refused to allow me to take part in the service, that i had come to him in despair, feeling how great was the intrusion, but--she was dying. "you were quite right to come to me," he said as i concluded, in that soft musical voice of his, his keen gaze having changed into one no less direct, but marvellously gentle: "of course, i will go and see your mother, and i have little doubt that if you will not mind talking over your position with me, we may see our way clear to doing as your mother wishes." i could barely speak my thanks, so much did the kindly sympathy move me; the revulsion from the anxiety and fear of rebuff was strong enough to be almost pain. but dean stanley did more than i asked. he suggested that he should call that afternoon, and have a quiet chat with my mother, and then come again on the following day to administer the sacrament. "a stranger's presence is always trying to a sick person," he said, with rare delicacy of thought; "and joined to the excitement of the service it might be too much for your dear mother. if i spend half-an-hour with her to-day, and administer the sacrament to-morrow, it will, i think, be better for her." so dean stanley came that afternoon, and remained talking with my mother for about half-an-hour, and then set himself to understand my own position. he finally told me that conduct was far more important than theory, and that he regarded all as "christians" who recognised and tried to follow the moral law. on the question of the absolute deity of jesus he laid but little stress; jesus was, "in a special sense", the "son of god", but it was folly to jangle about words with only human meanings when dealing with the mysteries of divine existence, and above all it was folly to make such words into dividing lines between earnest souls. the one important matter was the recognition of "duty to god and man", and all who were one in that recognition might rightfully join in an act of worship, the essence of which was not acceptance of dogma, but love of god and self-sacrifice for man. "the holy communion", he said, in his soft tones, "was never meant to divide from each other hearts that are searching after the one true god; it was meant by its founder as a symbol of unity, not of strife". on the following day he came again, and celebrated the "holy communion" by the bedside of my dear mother. well was i repaid for the struggle it had cost me to ask so great a kindness from a stranger, when i saw the comfort that gentle noble heart had given to my mother. he soothed away all her anxiety about my heresy with tactful wisdom, bidding her have no fear of differences of opinion where the heart was set on truth. "remember", she told me he had said to her, "remember that our god is the god of truth, and that therefore the honest search for truth can never be displeasing in his eyes". once again after that he came, and after his visit to my mother we had another long talk. i ventured to ask him, the conversation having turned that way, how, with views so broad as his own, he found it possible to remain in communion with the church of england. "i think", he said gently, "that i am of more service to true religion by remaining in the church and striving to widen its boundaries from within, than if i left it and worked from without". and he went on to explain how, as dean of westminster, he was in a rarely independent position, and could make the abbey of a wider national service than would otherwise be possible. in all he said on this his love for and his pride in the glorious abbey were manifest, and it was easy to see that old historical associations, love of music, of painting, and of stately architecture, were the bonds that held him bound to the "old historic church of england". his emotions, not his intellect, kept him churchman, and he shrunk with the over-sensitiveness of the cultured scholar from the idea of allowing the old traditions, to be handled roughly by inartistic hands. naturally of a refined and delicate nature, he had been rendered yet more sensitive by the training of the college and the court; the exquisite courtesy of his manners was but the high polish of a naturally gentle and artistic spirit, a spirit whose gentleness sometimes veiled its strength. i have often heard dean stanley harshly spoken of, i have heard his honesty roughly challenged, but never in my presence has he been attacked that i have not uttered my protest against the injustice done him, and thus striven to repay some small fraction of that great debt of gratitude which i shall owe to his memory as long as i live. as the spring grew warmer, my mother rallied wonderfully, and we began to dare to hope. at last it was decided to move her down to norwood; she was wearying for change, and it was thought that the purer air of the country might aid the system to recover tone and strength. the furniture was waiting for me to send for it, and it was soon, conveyed to colby road; it only furnished two rooms, but i could easily sleep on the floor, and i made the two rooms on the ground floor into bedroom and sitting-room for my dear invalid. one little servant-maid was all our slender resources could afford, and a very charming one was found for me by mrs. scott. through the months of hard work and poor living that followed, mary was the most thoughtful and most generous of comrades. and, indeed, i have been very fortunate in my servants, always finding in them willingness to help, and freely-rendered, ungrudging kindness. i have just said that i could only furnish two rooms, but on my next visit to complete all the arrangements for my mother's reception, i found the bedroom that was to be mine neatly and prettily furnished. the good fairy was mrs. scott, who, learning the "nakedness of the land" from mary, had determined that i should not be as uncomfortable as i had expected. it was the beginning of may, and the air was soft and bright and warm. we hired an invalid carriage and drove slowly down to norwood. my mother seemed to enjoy the drive, and when we lifted her into the bright cosy room prepared for her, she was delighted with the change. on the following morning the improvement was continued, but in the evening she was taken suddenly worse, and we lifted her into bed and telegraphed for the doctor. but now the end had come; her strength completely failed, and she felt that death was upon her; but selfless to the last, her only fear was for me. "i am leaving you alone," she would sigh from time to time, and truly i felt, with an anguish i dared not realise, that when she died i should indeed be alone on earth. for two days longer she was with me, and, miser with my last few hours, i never left her side for five minutes. at last on the th of may the weakness passed into delirium, but even then the faithful eyes followed me about the room, until at length they closed for ever, and as the sun sank low in the heavens, the breath came slower and slower, till the silence of death came down upon us and she was gone. all that followed was like a dream. i would have none touch my dead save myself and her favorite sister, who was with us at the last; she wept over her, but i could not, not even when they hid her beneath the coffin-lid, nor all that weary way to kensal green, whither we took her to lay her with her husband and her baby-son. i could not believe that our day-dream was dead and buried, and the home destroyed ere it was fairly made. my "house was left unto" me "desolate", and the rooms filled with sunshine, but unlighted by her presence, seemed to reiterate to me: "you are all alone ". xi. the two months after my mother's death were the dreariest my life has known, and they were months of tolerably hard struggle. the little house in colby road taxed my slender resources heavily, and the search for work was not yet successful. i do not know how i should have managed but for the help, ever at hand, of mr. and mrs. thomas scott. during this time i wrote for mr. scott pamphlets on inspiration, atonement, mediation and salvation, eternal torture, religious education of children, natural _v._ revealed religion, and the few guineas thus earned were very valuable. their house, too, was always open to me, and this was no small help, for often in those days the little money i had was enough to buy food for two but not enough to buy it for three, and i would go out and study all day at the british museum, so as to "have my dinner in town", the said dinner being conspicuous by its absence. if i was away for two evenings running from the hospitable house in the terrace, mrs. scott would come down to see what had happened, and many a time the supper there was of real physical value to me. well might i write, in , when thomas scott lay dead: "it was thomas scott whose house was open to me when my need was sorest, and he never knew, this generous noble heart, how sometimes, when i went in, weary and overdone, from a long day's study in the british museum, with scarce food to struggle through the day--he never knew how his genial 'well, little lady', in welcoming tone, cheered the then utter loneliness of my life. to no living man or woman--save one--do i owe the debt of gratitude that i owe to thomas scott." the small amount of jewellery i possessed, and all my superfluous clothes, were turned into more necessary articles, and the child, at least, never suffered a solitary touch of want. mary was a wonderful contriver, and kept house on the very slenderest funds that could be put into a servant's hands, and she also made the little place so bright and fresh-looking that it was always a pleasure to go into it. recalling those days of "hard living", i can now look on them without regret. more, i am glad to have passed through them, for they have taught me how to sympathise with those who are struggling as i struggled then, and i never can hear the words fall from pale lips: "i am hungry", without remembering how painful a thing hunger is, and without curing that pain, at least for the moment. but i turn from this to the brighter side of my life, the intellectual and social side, where i found a delight unknown in the old days of bondage. first, there was the joy of freedom, the joy of speaking out frankly and honestly each thought. truly, i had the right to say: "with a great price obtained i this freedom," and having paid the price, i revelled in the liberty i had bought. mr. scott's valuable library was at my service; his keen brain challenged my opinions, probed my assertions, and suggested phases of thought hitherto untouched. i studied harder than ever, and the study now was unchecked by any fear of possible consequences. i had nothing left of the old faith save belief in "a god", and that began slowly to melt away. the theistic axiom: "if there be a god at all he must be at least as good as his highest creature", began with an "if", and to that "if" i turned my attention. "of all impossible things", writes miss frances power cobbe, "the most impossible must surely be that a man should dream something of the good and the noble, and that it should prove at last that his creator was less good and less noble than he had dreamed." but, i questioned, are we sure that there is a creator? granted that, if there is, he must be above his highest creature, but--is there such a being? "the ground", says the rev. charles voysey, "on which our belief in god rests is man. man, parent of bibles and churches, inspirer of all good thoughts and good deeds. man, the master-piece of god's thought on earth. man, the text-book of all spiritual knowledge. neither miraculous nor infallible, man is nevertheless the only trustworthy record of the divine mind in things perhaps pertaining to god. man's reason, conscience, and affections are the only true revelation of his maker." but what if god were only man's own image reflected in the mirror of man's mind? what if man were the creator, not the revelation of his god? it was inevitable that such thoughts should arise after the more palpably indefensible doctrines of christianity had been discarded. once encourage the human mind to think, and bounds to the thinking can never again be set by authority. once challenge traditional beliefs, and the challenge will ring on every shield which is hanging in the intellectual arena. around me was the atmosphere of conflict, and, freed from its long repression, my mind leapt up to share in the strife with a joy in the intellectual tumult, the intellectual strain. at this time i found my way to south place chapel, to which mr. moncure d. conway was attracting many a seeker after truth. i was fortunate enough to be introduced to this remarkable religious leader, and to his charming wife, one of the sweetest and steadiest natures which it has been my lot to meet. it was from. mrs. conway that i first heard of mr. bradlaugh as a speaker that everyone should hear. she asked me one day if i had been to the hall of science, and i said, with the stupid, ignorant reflexion of other people's prejudices which is but too common: "no, i have never been. mr. bradlaugh is rather a rough sort of speaker, is he not?" "he is the finest speaker of saxon english that i have ever heard," mrs. conway answered, "except, perhaps, john bright, and his power over a crowd is something marvellous. whether you agree with him or not, you should hear him." i replied that i really did not know what his views were, beyond having a vague notion that he was an atheist of a rather pronounced type, but that i would go and hear him when i had an opportunity. mr. conway had passed beyond the emotional theism of mr. voysey, and talk with him did something towards widening my views on the question of a divine existence. i re-read carefully mansel's bampton lectures, and found in them much to provoke doubt, nothing to induce faith. take the following phrases, and think whither they carry us. dean mansel is speaking of god as infinite, and he says: "that a man can be conscious of the infinite is, then, a supposition which, in the very terms in which it is expressed, annihilates itself.... the infinite, if it is to be conceived at all, must be conceived as potentially everything and actually nothing; for if there is anything in general which it cannot become, it is thereby limited; and if there is anything in particular which it actually is, it is thereby excluded from being any other thing. but again, it must also be conceived as actually everything and potentially nothing: for an unrealised potentiality is likewise a limitation. if the infinite can be that which it is not, it is by that very possibility marked out as incomplete and capable of a higher perfection. if it is actually everything, it possesses no characteristic feature by which it can be distinguished from anything else and discerned as an object of consciousness." could any argument more thoroughly atheistic be put before a mind which dared to think out to the logical end any train of thought? such reasoning can lead but to one of two ends: despair of truth and consequent acceptance of the incomprehensible as divine, or else the resolute refusal to profess belief where reason is helpless, and where faith is but the credulity of ignorance. in my case, it had the latter effect. at the same time i re-read mill's "examination of sir w. hamilton's philosophy", and also went through a pretty severe study of comte's _philosophic positive_. i had entirely given up the use of prayer, not because i was an atheist but because i was still a theist. it seemed to me to be absurd to pray, if i believed in a god who was wiser and better than myself. an all-wise god did not need my suggestions: an all-good god would do all that was best without my prompting. prayer appeared to me to be a blasphemous impertinence, and for a considerable time i had discontinued its use. but god fades gradually out of the daily life of those who never pray; a god who is not a providence is a superfluity; when from the heaven does not smile a listening father, it soon becomes an empty space whence resounds no echo of man's cry. at last i said to mr. scott: "mr. scott, may i write a tract on the nature and existence of god?" he glanced at me keenly: "ah, little lady; you are facing then that problem at last? i thought it must come. write away." the thought that had been driving me forward found its expression in the opening words of the essay (published a few months later, with one or two additions that were made after i had read two of mr. bradlaugh's essays, his "plea for atheism", and "is there a god?"): "it is impossible for those who study the deeper religious problems of our time to stave off much longer the question which lies at the root of them all, 'what do you believe in regard to god?' we may controvert christian doctrines one after another; point by point we may be driven from the various beliefs of our churches; reason may force us to see contradictions where we had imagined harmony, and may open our eyes to flaws where we had dreamed of perfection; we resign all idea of a revelation; we seek for god in nature only: we renounce for ever the hope (which glorified our former creed into such alluring beauty) that at some future time we should verily 'see' god; that 'our eyes should behold the king in his beauty', in that fairy 'land which is very far off'. but every step we take onwards towards a more reasonable faith and a surer light of truth, leads us nearer and nearer to the problem of problems: 'what is that which men call god?". i sketched out the plan of my essay and had written most of it when on returning one day from the british museum i stopped at the shop of mr. edward truelove, high holborn. i had been working at some comtist literature, and had found a reference to mr. truelove's shop as one at which comtist publications might be bought. lying on the counter was a copy of the _national reformer_, and attracted by the title i bought it. i had never before heard of nor seen the paper, and i read it placidly in the omnibus; looking up, i was at first puzzled and then amused to see an old gentleman gazing at me with indignation and horror printed on his countenance; i realised that my paper had disturbed his peace of mind, and that the sight of a young woman, respectably dressed in crape, reading an atheistic journal in an omnibus was a shock too great to be endured by the ordinary philistine without sign of discomposure. he looked so hard at the paper that i was inclined to offer it to him for his perusal, but repressed the mischievous inclination, and read on demurely. this first copy of the paper with which i was to be so closely connected bore date july th, , and contained two long letters from a mr. arnold of northampton, attacking mr. bradlaugh, and a brief and singularly self-restrained answer from the latter. there was also an article on the national secular society, which made me aware that there was an organisation devoted to the propagandism of free thought. i felt that if such a society existed, i ought to belong to it, and i consequently wrote a short note to the editor of the _national reformer_, asking whether it was necessary for a person to profess atheism before being admitted to the society. the answer appeared in the _national reformer_:-- "s.e.--to be a member of the national secular society it is only necessary to be able honestly to accept the four principles, as given in the _national reformer_ of june th. this any person may do without being required to avow himself an atheist. candidly, we can see no logical resting-place between the entire acceptance of authority, as in the roman catholic church, and the most extreme nationalism. if, on again looking to the principles of the society, you can accept them, we repeat to you our invitation." i sent my name in as an active member, and find it recorded in the _national reformer_ of august th. having received an intimation that londoners could receive their certificates at the hall of science from mr. bradlaugh on any sunday evening, i betook myself thither, and it was on the nd august, , that i first set foot in a freethought hall. as i sat, much crushed, surveying the crowded audience with much interest and longing to know which were members of the brotherhood i had entered, a sudden roar of cheering startled me. i saw a tall figure passing swiftly along and mounting the stairs, and the roar deepened and swelled as he made a slight acknowledgment of the greeting and sat down. i remember well my sensations as i looked at charles bradlaugh for the first time. the grave, quiet, _strong_ look, as he sat facing the crowd, impressed me strangely, and most of all was i surprised at the breadth of forehead, the massive head, of the man i had heard described as a mere ignorant demagogue. the lecture was on "the ancestry and birth of jesus", and was largely devoted to tracing the resemblance between the christ and krishna myths. as this ground was well-known to me, i was able to judge of the lecturer's accuracy, and quickly found that his knowledge was as sound as his language was splendid. i had never before heard eloquence, sarcasm, fire, and passion brought to bear on the christian superstition, nor had i ever before felt the sway of the orator, nor the power that dwells in spoken words. after the lecture, mr. bradlaugh came down the hall with some certificates of membership of the national secular society in his hand, and glancing round for their claimants caught, i suppose, some look of expectancy in my face, for he paused and handed me mine, with a questioning, "mrs. besant?". then he said that if i had any doubt at all on the subject of atheism, he would willingly discuss it with me, if i would write making an appointment for that purpose. i made up my mind to take advantage of the opportunity, and a day or two later saw me walking down commercial road, looking for turner street. my first conversation with mr. bradlaugh was brief, direct, and satisfactory. we found that there was little real difference between our theological views, and my dislike of the name "atheist" arose from my sharing in the vulgar error that the atheist asserted, "there is no god". this error i corrected in the draft of my essay, by inserting a few passages from pamphlets written by acknowledged atheists, to which mr. bradlaugh drew my attention; with this exception the essay remained as it was sketched, being described by mr. bradlaugh as "a very good atheistic essay", a criticism which ended with the smiling comment: "you have thought yourself into atheism without knowing it." very wise were some of the suggestions made: "you should never say you have an opinion on a subject until you have tried to study the strongest things said against the view to which you are inclined". "you must not think you know a subject until you are acquainted with all that the best minds have said about it." "no steady work can be done in public unless the worker study at home far more than he talks outside." and let me say here that among the many things for which i have to thank mr. bradlaugh, there is none for which i owe him more gratitude than for the fashion in which he has constantly urged the duty of all who stand forward as teachers to study deeply every subject they touch, and the impetus he has given to my own love of knowledge by the constant spur of criticism and of challenge, criticism of every weak statement, challenge of every hastily-expressed view. it will be a good thing for the world when a friendship between a man and a woman no longer means protective condescension on one side and helpless dependence on the other, but when they meet on equal ground of intellectual sympathy, discussing, criticising, studying, and so aiding the evolution of stronger and clearer thought-ability in each. a few days after our first discussion, mr. bradlaugh offered me a place on the staff of the _national reformer_ at a small weekly salary; and my first contribution appeared in the number for august th, over the signature of "ajax"; i was obliged to use a _nom de guerre_ at first, for the work i was doing for mr. scott would have been injured had my name appeared in the columns of the terrible _national reformer_, and until the work commenced and paid for was concluded i did not feel at liberty to use my own name. later, i signed my _national reformer_ articles, and the tracts written for mr. scott appeared anonymously. the name was suggested by the famous statue of "ajax crying for light", a cast of which stands in the centre walk of the crystal palace. the cry through the darkness for light, even if light brought destruction, was one that awoke the keenest sympathy of response from my heart: "if our fate be death, give light, and let us die!" to see, to know, to understand, even though the seeing blind, though the knowledge sadden, though the understanding shatter the dearest hopes, such has ever been the craving of the upward-striving mind of man. some regard it as a weakness, as a folly, but i am sure that it exists most strongly in some of the noblest of our race; that from the lips of those who have done most in lifting the burden of ignorance from the overstrained and bowed shoulders of a stumbling world has gone out most often into the empty darkness the pleading, impassioned cry :-- "give light." xii. my first lecture was delivered at the co-operative society's hall, , castle street, on august , . twice before this, i had ventured to raise my voice in discussion, once at a garden-party at which i was invited to join in a brief informal debate, and discovered that words came readily and smoothly, and the second time at the liberal social union, in a discussion on a paper read by a member--i forget by whom-- dealing with the opening of museums and art galleries on sunday. my membership of that same "liberal" social union was not, by the way, of very long duration. a discussion arose, one night, on the admissibility of atheists to the society. dr. zerffi declared that he would not remain a member if avowed atheists were admitted. i declared that i was an atheist, and that the basis of the union was liberty. the result was that i found myself coldshouldered, and those who had been warmly cordial to me as a theist looked askance at me after i had avowed that my scepticism had advanced beyond their "limits of religious thought". the liberal social union knew me no more, but in the wider field of work open before me the narrowmindedness of this petty clique troubled me not at all. to return from this digression to my first essay in lecturing work. an invitation to read a paper before the co-operative society came to me from mr. greenwood, who was, i believe, the secretary, and as the subject was left to my own choice, i determined that my first public attempt at speech should be on behalf of my own sex, and selected for it, "the political status of women". with much fear and trembling was that paper written, and it was a very nervous person who presented herself at the co-operative hall. when a visit to the dentist is made, and one stands on the steps outside, desiring to run away ere the neat little boy in buttons opens the door and beams on one with a smile of compassionate contempt and implike triumph, then the world seems dark and life is as a huge blunder. but all such feelings are poor and weak when compared with the sinking of the heart, and the trembling of the knees, which, seize upon the unhappy lecturer as he advances towards his first audience, and as before his eyes rises a ghastly vision of a tongue-tied would-be speaker facing rows of listening faces, listening to--silence. all this miserable feeling, however, disappeared the moment i rose to my feet and looked at the faces before me. no tremor of nervousness touched me from the first word to the last. and a similar experience has been mine ever since. i am still always nervous before a lecture, and feel miserable and ill-assured, but, once on my feet, i am at my ease, and not once on the platform after the lecture has commenced have i experienced the painful feeling of hesitancy and "fear of the sound of my own voice" of which i have often heard people speak. the death of mr. charles gilpin in september left vacant one of the seats for northampton, and mr. bradlaugh at once announced his intention of again presenting himself to the constituency as a candidate. he had at first stood for the borough in , and had received votes; on february th, , he received votes, and of these were plumpers; the other candidates were messrs. merewether, phipps, gilpin, and lord henley; mr. merewether had plumpers; mr. phipps, ; mr. gilpin, ; lord henley, . thus signs were already seen of the compact and personally loyal following which was to win the seat for its chief in , after twelve years of steady struggle. in , mr. john stuart mill had strongly supported mr. bradlaugh's candidature, and had sent a donation to his election fund. mr. mill wrote in his autobiography (pp. , ): "he had the support of the working classes; having heard him speak i knew him to be a man of ability, and he had proved that he was the reverse of a demagogue by placing himself in strong opposition to the prevailing opinion of the democratic party on two such important subjects as malthusianism. and personal representation. men of this sort, who, while sharing the democratic feelings of the working classes, judge political questions for themselves, and have courage to assert their individual convictions against popular opposition, were needed, as it seemed to me, in parliament; and i did not think that mr. bradlaugh's anti-religious opinions (even though he had been intemperate in the expression of them) ought to exclude him." when the election was over, and after mr. mill had himself been beaten at westminster, he wrote, referring to his donation: "it was the right thing to do, and if the election were yet to take place, i would do it again". the election in february, took place while mr. bradlaugh was away in america, and this second one in the same year took place on the eve of his departure on another american lecturing tour. i went down to northampton to report electioneering incidents for the _national reformer_, and spent some days there in the whirl of the struggle. the whig party was more bitter against mr. bradlaugh than was the tory, and every weapon that could be forged out of slander and falsehood was used against him by "liberals", who employed their christianity as an electioneering dodge to injure a man whose sturdy radicalism they feared. over and over again mr. bradlaugh was told that he was an "impossible candidate", and gibe and sneer and scoff were flung at the man who had neither ancestors nor wealth to recommend him, who fought his battle with his brain and his tongue, and whose election expenses were paid by hundreds of contributions from poor men and women in every part of the land. strenuous efforts were made to procure a "liberal" candidate, who should be able at least to prevent mr. bradlaugh's return by obtaining the votes of the liberal as against the radical party. messrs. bell and james and dr. pearce came on the scene only to disappear. mr. jacob bright and mr. arthur arnold were suggested. mr. ayrton's name was whispered. major lumley was recommended by mr. bernal osborne. dr. kenealy proclaimed himself ready to rescue the liberal party in their dire strait. mr. tillet of norwich, mr. cox of belper, were invited, but neither of these would consent to oppose a sound radical, who had fought two elections at northampton and who had been before the constituency for six years. at last mr. william fowler, a banker, was invited, and accepted the task of handing over the representation of a radical borough to a tory. october th was fixed as the election day, and at . on that day mr. merewether, the tory, was declared elected with , votes. mr. bradlaugh polled , , having added another voters to those who had polled for him in the previous february. the violent abuse levelled against mr. bradlaugh by the whigs, and the foul and wicked slanders circulated against him, had angered almost to madness those who knew and loved him, and when it was found that the unscrupulous whig devices had succeeded in turning the election against him, the fury broke out into open violence. as mr. bradlaugh was sitting well-nigh exhausted in the hotel, the landlord rushed in, crying to him to go out and try to stop the people, or there would be murder done at the "palmerston", mr. fowler's head-quarters; the crowd was charging the door, and the windows were being broken, with showers of stones. weary as he was, mr. bradlaugh sprang to his feet and swiftly made his way to the rescue of those who had defeated him. flinging himself before the door, he drove the crowd back, scolded them into quietness and dispersed them. but at nine o'clock he had to leave the town to catch the mail for queenstown, where he was to join the steamer for america, and after he had left, the riot he had quelled broke out afresh. the soldiers were called out, the riot act was read, stones flew freely, heads and windows were broken, but no very serious harm was done. the "palmerston" and the printing office of the _mercury_, the whig organ, were the principal sufferers, windows and doors vanishing somewhat completely. in this same month of october i find i noted in the _national reformer_ that it was rumored "that on hearing that the prince of wales had succeeded the earl of ripon as grand master of the grand lodge of england, mr. bradlaugh immediately sent in his resignation". "the report", i added demurely, "seems likely to be a true one". i had not much doubt of the fact, having seen the cancelled certificate. my second lecture was delivered on september th, during the election struggle, at mr. moncure d. conway's chapel in st. paul's road, camden town, and was on "the true basis of morality.". the lecture was re-delivered a few weeks later at a unitarian chapel, where the minister was the rev. peter dean, and gave, i was afterwards told, great offence to some of the congregation, especially to miss frances power cobbe, who declared that she would have left the chapel had not the speaker been a woman. the ground of complaint was that the suggested "basis" was utilitarian and human instead of intuitional and theistic. published as a pamphlet, the lecture has reached its seventh thousand. in october i had a severe attack of congestion of the lungs, and soon after my recovery i left norwood to settle in london. i found that my work required that i should be nearer head-quarters, and i arranged to rent part of a house-- , westbourne park terrace, bayswater--two lady friends taking the remainder. the arrangement proved a very comfortable one, and it continued until my improved means enabled me, in , to take a house of my own. in january, , i made up my mind to lecture regularly, and in the _national reformer_ for january th i find the announcement that "mrs. annie besant (ajax) will lecture at south place chapel, finsbury, on 'civil and religious liberty'", mr. conway took the chair at this first identification of "ajax" with myself, and sent a very kindly notice of the lecture to the _cincinnati commercial_. mr. charles watts wrote a report in the _national reformer_ of january th. dr. maurice davies also wrote a very favorable article in a london journal, but unfortunately he knew mr. walter besant, who persuaded him to suppress my name, so that although the notice appeared it did me no service. my struggle to gain my livelihood was for some time rendered considerably more difficult by this kind of ungenerous and underhand antagonism. a woman's road to the earning of her own living, especially when she is weighted with the care of a young child, is always fairly thorny at the outset, and does not need to be rendered yet more difficult by secret attempts to injure, on the part of those who trust that suffering and poverty may avail to bend pride to submission. my next lecture was given in the theatre royal, northampton, and in the _national reformer_ of february th appears for the first time my list of lecturing engagements, so that in february next i shall complete my first decade of lecturing for the freethought and republican cause. never, since first i stood on the freethought platform, have i felt one hour's regret for the resolution taken in solitude in january, , to devote to that sacred cause every power of brain and tongue that i possessed. not lightly was that resolution taken, for i know no task of weightier responsibility than that of standing forth as teacher, and swaying thousands of hearers year after year. but i pledged my word then to the cause i loved that no effort on my part should be wanting to render myself worthy of the privilege of service which i took; that i would read, and study, and would train every faculty that i had; that i would polish my language, discipline my thought, widen my knowledge; and this, at least, i may say, that if i have written and spoken much i have studied and thought more, and that at least i have not given to my mistress, liberty, that "which hath cost me nothing". a queer incident occurred on february th. i had been invited by the dialectical society to read a paper, and selected for subject "the existence of god". the dialectical society had for some years held their meetings in a room in adam street rented from the social science association. when the members gathered as usual on this th february, the door was found closed, and they were informed that ajax's paper had been too much for the social science nerves, and that entrance to the ordinary meeting-place was henceforth denied. we found refuge in the charing cross hotel, where we speculated merrily on the eccentricities of religious charity. on february th, i started on my first lecturing tour in the provinces. after lecturing at birkenhead on the evening of that day, i started by the night mail for glasgow. some races--dog races, i think--had been going on, and very unpleasant were many of the passengers waiting on the platform. some birkenhead friends had secured me a compartment, and watched over me till the train began to move. then, after we had fairly started, the door was flung open by a porter and a man was thrust in who half tumbled on to the seat. as he slowly recovered, he stood up, and as his money rolled out of his hand on to the floor and he gazed vaguely at it, i saw, to my horror, that he was drunk. the position was pleasant, for the train was an express and was not timed to stop for a considerable time. my odious fellow-passenger spent some time on the floor hunting for his scattered coins. then he slowly gathered himself up, and presently became conscious of my presence. he studied me for some time and then proposed to shut the window. i assented quietly, not wanting to discuss a trifle, and feeling in deadly terror. alone at night in an express, with a man not drunk enough to be helpless but too drunk to be controlled. never, before or since, have i felt so thoroughly frightened, but i sat there quiet and unmoved, only grasping a penknife in my pocket, with a desperate resolve to use my feeble weapon as soon as the need arose. the man had risen again to his feet and had come over to me, when a jarring noise was heard and the train began to slacken. "what is that?" stammered my drunken companion. "they are putting on the brakes to stop the train," i said very slowly and distinctly, though a very passion of relief made it hard to say quietly the measured words. the man sat down stupidly, staring at me, and in a minute or two more the train pulled up at a station. it had been stopped by signal. in a moment i was at the window, calling the guard. i rapidly explained to him that i was travelling alone, that a half-drunken man was with me, and i begged him to put me into another carriage. with the usual kindliness of a railway official, the guard at once moved my baggage and myself into an empty compartment, into which he locked me, and he kept a friendly watch over me at every station at which we stopped until he landed me safely at glasgow. at glasgow a room had been taken for me at a temperance hotel, and it seemed to me a new and lonely sort of thing to be "on my own account" in a strange city in a strange hotel. by the way, why are temperance hotels so often lacking in cleanliness? surely abstinence from wine and superfluity of "matter in the wrong place" need not necessarily be correlated in hotel-life, and yet my experience leads me to look for the twain together. here and there i have been to temperance hotels in which water is used for other purposes than that of drinking, but these are, i regret to say, the exceptions to a melancholy rule. from glasgow i went north to aberdeen, and from aberdeen home again to london. a long weary journey that was, in a third-class carriage in the cold month of february, but the labor had in it a joy that outpaid all physical discomfort, and the feeling that i had found my work in the world gave a new happiness to my life. i reported my doings to the chief of our party in america, and found them only half approved. "you should have waited till i returned, and at least i could have saved you some discomforts," he wrote; but the discomforts troubled me little, and i think i rather preferred the independent launch out into lecturing work, trusting only to my own courage and ability to win my way. so far as health was concerned, the lecturing acted as a tonic. my chest had always been a little delicate, and when i consulted a doctor on the possibility of my lecturing he answered: "it will either kill you or cure you". it has entirely cured the lung weakness, and i have grown strong and vigorous instead of being frail and delicate as of old. on february th i delivered my first lecture at the hall of science, london, and was received with that warmth of greeting which freethinkers are ever willing to extend to one who sacrifices aught to join their ranks. from that day to this that hearty welcome at our central london hall has never failed me, and the love and courage wherewith freethinkers have ever stood by me have overpaid a thousandfold any poor services i have been fortunate enough to render to the common cause. it would be wearisome to go step by step over the ten years' journeys and lectures; i will only select, here and there, incidents illustrative of the whole. some folk say that the lives of freethought lecturers are easy, and that their lecturing tours are lucrative in the extreme. on one occasion i spent eight days in the north lecturing daily, with three lectures on the two sundays, and made a deficit of s. on the journey! i do not pretend that such a thing would happen now, but i fancy that every freethought lecturer could tell of a similar experience in the early days of "winning his way". there is no better field for freethought and radical work than northumberland and durham; the miners there are as a rule shrewd and hard-headed men, and very cordial is the greeting given by them to those whom they have reason to trust. at seghill and at bedlington i have slept in their cottages and have been welcomed to their tables, and i remember one evening at seghill, after a lecture, that my host invited about a dozen miners to supper to meet me; the talk ran on politics, and i soon found that my companions knew more of english politics and had a far shrewder notion of political methods than i had found among the ordinary "diners-out" in "society". they were of the "uneducated" class despised by "gentlemen" and had not the vote, but politically they were far better educated than their social superiors, and were far better fitted to discharge the duties of citizenship. on may th i attended, for the first time, the annual conference called by the national secular society. it was held at manchester, in the society's rooms in grosvenor street, and it is interesting and encouraging to note how the society has grown and strengthened since that small meeting held nearly ten years ago. mr. bradlaugh was elected president; messrs. a. trevelyan, t. slater, c. watts, c.c. cattell, r.a. cooper, p.a.v. le lubez, n. ridgway, g.w. foote, g.h. reddalls, and mrs. besant vice presidents. messrs. watts and standring were elected as secretary and assistant-secretary--both offices were then honorary, for the society was too poor to pay the holders--and mr. le lubez treasurer. the result of the conference was soon seen in the energy infused into the freethought propaganda, and from that time to this the society has increased in numbers and in influence, until that which was scarcely more than a skeleton has become a living power in the land on the side of all social and political reforms. the council for consisted of but thirty-nine members, including president, vice-presidents, and secretary, and of these only nine were available as a central executive. let freethinkers compare this meagre list with the present, and then let them "thank" man "and take courage". lecturing at leicester in june, i came for the first time across a falsehood of which i have since heard plenty. an irate christian declared that i was responsible for a book entitled the "elements of social science", which was, he averred, the "bible of secularists". i had never heard of the book, but as he insisted that it was in favor of the abolition of marriage, and that mr. bradlaugh agreed with it, i promptly contradicted him, knowing that mr. bradlaugh's views on marriage were conservative rather than revolutionary. on enquiry afterwards i found that the book in question had been written some years before by a doctor of medicine, and had been sent for review by its publisher to the _national reformer_ among other papers. i found further that it consisted of three parts; the first dealt with the sexual relation, and advocated, from the standpoint of an experienced medical man, what is roughly known as "free love"; the second was entirely medical, dealing with diseases; the third consisted of a very clear and able exposition of the law of population as laid down by malthus, and insisted--as john stuart mill had done--that it was the duty of married persons to voluntarily limit their families within their means of subsistence. mr. bradlaugh, in the _national reformer_, in reviewing the book, stated that it was written "with honest and pure intent and purpose", and recommended to working men the exposition of the law of population. because he did this christians and tories who desire to injure him still insist that he shares the author's views on sexual relations, and despite his reiterated contradictions, they quote detached pieces of the work, speaking against marriage, as containing his views. anything more meanly vile and dishonest than this it would be difficult to imagine, yet such are the weapons used against atheists in a christian country. unable to find in mr. bradlaugh's own writings anything to serve their purpose, they take isolated passages from a book he neither wrote nor published, but once reviewed with a recommendation of a part of it which says nothing against marriage. that the book is a remarkable one and deserves to be read has been acknowledged on all hands. personally, i cordially dislike a large part of it, and dissent utterly from its views on the marital relation, but none the less i feel sure that the writer is an honest, good, and right meaning man. in the _reasoner_, edited by mr. george jacob holyoake, i find warmer praise of it than in the _national reformer_; in the review the following passage appears:-- "in some respects all books of this class are evils: but it would be weakness and criminal prudery--a prudery as criminal as vice itself--not to say that such a book as the one in question is not only a far lesser evil than the one that it combats, but in one sense a book which it is a mercy to issue and courage to publish." the _examiner_, reviewing the same book, declared it to be "a very valuable, though rather heterogeneous book.... this is, we believe, the only book that has fully, honestly, and in a scientific spirit recognised all the elements in the problem--how are mankind to triumph over poverty, with its train of attendant evils?--and fearlessly endeavored to find a practical solution." the _british journal of homæopathy_ wrote: "though quite out of the province of our journal, we cannot refrain from stating that this work is unquestionably the most remarkable one, in many respects, we have ever met with. though we differ _toto coelo_ from the author in his views of religion and morality, and hold some of his remedies to tend rather to a dissolution than a reconstruction of society, yet we are bound to admit the benevolence and philanthropy of his motives. the scope of the work is nothing less than the whole field of political economy." ernest jones and others wrote yet more strongly, but out of all these charles bradlaugh alone has been selected for reproach, and has had the peculiar views of the anonymous author fathered on himself. why? the reason is not far to seek. none of the other writers are active radical politicians, dangerous to the luxurious idleness of the non-producing but all-consuming "upper classes" of society. these know how easy it is to raise social prejudice against a man by setting afloat the idea that he desires to "abolish marriage and the home". it is the most convenient poniard and the one most certain to wound. therefore those whose profligacy is notorious, who welcome into their society the blandfords, aylesburys, and st. leonards, rave against a man as a "destroyer of marriage" whose life is pure, and whose theories on this, as it happens, are "orthodox", merely because his honest atheism shames their hypocritical professions, and his sturdy republicanism menaces their corrupt and rotting society. xiii. sometimes my lecturing experiences were not of the smoothest. in june, , i visited darwen in lancashire, and found that stone-throwing was considered a fair argument to be addressed to "the atheist lecturer". on my last visit to that place in may, , large and enthusiastic audiences attended the lectures, and not a sign of hostility was to be seen outside the hall. at swansea, in march, , the fear of violence was so great that no local friend had the courage to take the chair for me (a guarantee against damage to the hall had been exacted by the proprietor). i had to march on to the platform in solitary state, introduce myself, and proceed with my lecture. if violence had been intended, none was offered: it would have needed much brutality to charge on to a platform occupied by a solitary woman. (by the way, those who fancy that a lecturer's life is a luxurious one may note that the swansea lecture spoken of was one of a series of ten, delivered within eight days at wednesbury, bilston, kidderminster, swansea, and bristol, most of the travelling being performed through storm, rain, and snow.) on september, th, , i had rather a lively time at hoyland, a village near barnsley. a mr. hebblethwaite, a primitive methodist minister, "prepared the way of the" atheist by pouring out virulent abuse on atheism in general, and this atheist in particular; two protestant missionaries aided him vigorously, exhorting the pious christians to "sweep secularists out". the result was a very fair row; i got through the lecture, despite many interruptions, but when it was over a regular riot ensued; the enraged christians shook their fists at me, swore at me, and finally took to kicking as i passed out to the cab; only one kick, however, reached me, and the attempts to overturn the cab were foiled by the driver, who put his horse at a gallop. a somewhat barbarous village, that same village of hoyland. congleton proved even livelier on september th and th. mr. bradlaugh lectured there on september th to an accompaniment of broken windows; i was sitting with mrs. wolstenholme elmy in front of the platform, and received a rather heavy blow at the back of the head from a stone thrown by someone in the room. we had a mile and a half to walk from the hall to mrs. elmy's house, and this was done in the company of a mud-throwing crowd, who yelled curses, hymns, and foul words with delightful impartiality. on the following evening i was to lecture, and we were escorted to the hall by a stone-throwing crowd; while i was lecturing a man shouted "put her out!" and a well-known wrestler of the neighborhood, named burbery, who had come to the hall with seven friends, stood up in the front row and loudly interrupted. mr. bradlaugh, who was in the chair, told him to sit down, and as he persisted in making a noise, informed him that he must either be quiet or go out. "put me out!" said burbery, striking an attitude. mr. bradlaugh left the platform and walked up to the noisy swashbuckler, who at once grappled with him and tried to throw him; but mr. burbery had not reckoned on his opponent's strength, and when the "throw" was complete mr. burbery was underneath. amid much excitement mr. burbery was propelled to the door, where he was handed over to the police, and the chairman resumed his seat and said "go on", whereupon on i went and finished the lecture. there was plenty more stone-throwing outside, and mrs. elmy received a cut on the temple, but no serious harm was done-- except to christianity. in the summer of a strong protest was made by the working classes against the grant of £ , for the prince of wales visit to india, and on sunday, july th, i saw for the first time one of the famous "hyde park demonstrations". mr. bradlaugh called a meeting to support messrs. taylor, macdonald, wilfrid lawson, burt, and the other fourteen members of the house of commons who voted in opposition to the grant, and to protest against burdening the workers to provide for the amusement of a spendthrift prince. i did not go into the meeting, but, with mr. bradlaugh's two daughters, hovered on the outskirts. a woman is considerably in the way in such a gathering, unless the speakers reach the platform in carriages, for she is physically unfitted to push her way through the dense mass of people, and has therefore to be looked after and saved from the crushing pressure of the crowd. i have always thought that a man responsible for the order of such huge gatherings ought not to be burdened in addition with the responsibility of protecting his female friends, and have therefore preferred to take care of myself outside the meetings both at hyde park and in trafalgar square. the method of organisation by which the london radicals have succeeded in holding perfectly orderly meetings of enormous size is simple but effective. a large number of "marshals" volunteer, and each of these hands in to mr. bradlaugh a list of the "stewards" he is prepared to bring; the "marshals" and "stewards" alike are members of the radical and secular associations of the metropolis. these officials all wear badges, a rosette of the northampton election colors; directions are given to the marshals by mr. bradlaugh himself, and each marshal, with his stewards, turns up at the appointed place at the appointed time, and does the share of the work allotted to him. a ring two or three deep is formed round the place whence the speakers are to address the meeting, and those who form the ring stand linked arm-in-arm, making a living barrier round this empty spot. there a platform, brought thither in pieces, is screwed together, and into this enclosure only the chosen speakers and newspaper reporters are admitted. the marshals and stewards who are not told off for guarding the platform are distributed over the ground which the meeting is to occupy, and act as guardians of order. the hyde park meeting against the royal grant was a thoroughly successful one, and a large number of protests came up from all parts of the country. being from the poorer classes, they were of course disregarded, but none the less was a strong agitation against royal grants carried on throughout the autumn and winter months. the national secular society determined to gather signatures to a "monster petition against royal grants", and the superintendence of this was placed in my hands. the petition was drafted by mr. bradlaugh, and ran as follows:-- "to the honorable the commons of great britain and ireland, in parliament assembled. "the humble petition of the undersigned, "prays,--that no further grant or allowance may be made to any member of the royal family until an account shall have been laid before your honorable house, showing the total real and personal estates and incomes of each and every member of the said royal family who shall be in receipt of any pension or allowance, and also showing all posts and places of profit severally held by members of the said royal family, and also showing all pensions, if any, formerly charged on any estates now enjoyed by any member or members of the said royal family, and in case any such pensions shall have been transferred, showing how and at what date such transfer took place." day after day, week after week, month after month, the postman delivered rolls of paper, little and big, each roll containing names and addresses of men and woman who protested against the waste of public money on our greedy and never-satisfied royal house. the sheets often bore the marks of the places to which they had been carried; from a mining district some would come coal-dust-blackened, which had been signed in the mines by workers who grudged to idleness the fruits of toil; from an agricultural district the sheets bore often far too many "crosses", the "marks" of those whom church and landlord had left in ignorance, regarding them only as machines for sowing and reaping. from september, , to march, , they came in steady stream, and each was added to the ever-lengthening roll which lay in one corner of my sitting-room and which assumed ever larger and larger proportions. at last the work was over, and on june th, , the "monster"--rolled on a mahogany pole presented by a london friend, and encased in american cloth--was placed in a carriage to be conveyed to the house of commons; the heading ran: "the petition of the undersigned charles bradlaugh, annie besant, charles watts, and , others". unrolled, it was nearly a mile in length, and a very happy time we had in rolling the last few hundred yards. when we arrived at the house, mr. bradlaugh and mr. watts carried the petition up westminster hall, each holding one end of the mahogany pole. messrs. burt and macdonald took charge of the "monster" at the door of the house, and, carrying it in, presented it in due form. the presentation caused considerable excitement both in the house and in the press, and the _newcastle daily chronicle_ said some kindly words of the "labor and enthusiasm" bestowed on the petition by myself. at the beginning of august, , the first attempt to deprive me of my little daughter, mabel, was made, but fortunately proved unsuccessful. the story of the trick played is told in the _national reformer_ of august nd, and i quote it just as it appeared there :-- "personal.--mrs. annie besant, as some of our readers are aware, was the wife of a church of england clergyman, the rev. frank besant, vicar of sibsey, near boston, in lincolnshire. there is no need, _at present_, to say anything about the earlier portion of her married life; but when mrs. besant's opinions on religious matters became liberal, the conduct of her husband rendered a separation absolutely necessary, and in a formal deed of separation was drawn up, and duly executed. under this deed mrs. besant is entitled to the sole custody and control of her infant daughter mabel until the child becomes of age, with the proviso that the little girl is to visit her father for one month in each year. having recently obtained possession of the person of the little child under cover of the annual visit, the rev. mr. besant sought to deprive mrs. besant entirely of her daughter, on the ground of mrs. besant's atheism. vigorous steps were at once taken by messrs. lewis and lewis (to whom our readers will remember we entrusted the case of mr. lennard against mr. woolrych), by whose advice mrs. besant at once went down herself to sibsey to demand the child; the little girl had been hidden, and was not at the vicarage, but we are glad to report that mrs. besant has, after some little difficulty, recovered the custody of her daughter. it was decided against percy bysshe shelley that an atheist father could not be the guardian of his own children. if this law be appealed to, and anyone dares to enforce it, we shall contest it step by step; and while we are out of england, we know that in case of any attempt to retake the child by force we may safely leave our new advocate to the protection of the stout arms of our friends, who will see that no injustice of this kind is done her. so far as the law courts are concerned, we have the most complete confidence in mr. george henry lewis, and we shall fight the case to house of lords if need be. charles bradlaugh." the attempt to take the child from me by force indeed failed, but later the theft was successfully carried out by due process of law. it is always a blunder from a tactical point of view for a christian to use methods of illegal violence in persecuting an atheist in this christian land; legal violence is a far safer weapon, for courage can checkmate the first, while it is helpless before the second. all christians who adopt the sound old principle that "no faith need be kept with the heretic" should remember that they can always guard themselves against unpleasant consequences by breaking faith under cover of the laws against heresy, which still remain on our statute book _ad majorem dei gloriam_. in september, , mr. bradlaugh again sailed for america, leaving plenty of work to be done by his colleagues before he returned. the executive of the national secular society had determined to issue a "secular song book", and the task of selection and of editing was confided to me. the little book was duly issued, and ran through two editions; then, feeling that it was marred by many sins both of commission and omission, i set my face against the publication of a third edition, hoping that a compilation more worthy of free thought might be made. i am half inclined to take the matter up again, and set to work at a fresh collection. the delivery and publication of a course of six lectures on the early part of the french revolution was another portion of that autumn's work; they involved a large amount of labor, as i had determined to tell the story from the people's point of view, and was therefore compelled to read a large amount of the current literature of the time, as well as the great standard histories of louis blanc, michelet, and others. fortunately for me, mr. bradlaugh had a splendid collection of works on the subject, and before he left england he brought to me two cabs full of books, french and english, from all points of view, aristocratic, ecclesiastical, democratic, and i studied these diligently and impartially until the french revolution became to me as a drama in which i had myself taken part, and the actors therein became personal friends and foes. in this, again, as in so much of my public work, i have to thank mr. bradlaugh for the influence which led me to read fully all sides of a question, and to read most carefully those from which i differed most, ere i judged myself competent to write or to speak thereon. the late autumn was clouded by the news of mr. bradlaugh's serious illness in america. after struggling for some time against ill-health he was struck down by an attack of pleurisy, to which soon was added typhoid fever, and for a time lay at the brink of the grave. dr. otis, his able physician, finding that it was impossible to give him the necessary attendance at the fifth avenue hotel, put him into his own carriage and drove him to the hospital of st. luke's, where he confided him to the care of dr. leaming, himself also visiting him daily. of this illness the _baltimore advertiser_ wrote: "mr. charles bradlaugh, the famous english radical lecturer, has been so very dangerously ill that his life has almost been despaired of. he was taken ill at the fifth avenue hotel, and partially recovered; but on the day upon which a lecture had been arranged from him before the liberal club he was taken down a second time with a relapse, which has been very near proving fatal. the cause was overwork and complete nervous prostration which brought on low fever. his physician has allowed one friend only to see him daily for five minutes, and removed him to st. luke's hospital for the sake of the absolute quiet, comfort, and intelligent attendance he could secure there, and for which he was glad to pay munificently. this long and severe illness has disappointed the hopes and retarded the object for which he came to this country; but he is gentleness and patience itself in his sickness in this strange land, and has endeared himself greatly to his physicians and attendants by his gratitude and appreciation of the slightest attention." there is no doubt that the care so willingly lavished on the english stranger saved his life, and those who in england honor charles bradlaugh as chief and love him as friend must always keep in grateful memory those who in his sorest need served him so nobly well. those who think that an atheist cannot calmly face the prospect of death might well learn a lesson from the fortitude and courage shown by an atheist as he lay at the point of death, far from home and from all he loved best. the rev. mr. frothingham bore public and admiring testimony in his own church to mr. bradlaugh's perfect serenity, at once fearless and unpretending, and, himself a theist, gave willing witness to the atheist's calm strength. mr. bradlaugh returned to england at the end of december, worn to a shadow and terribly weak, and for many a long month he bore the traces of his wrestle with death. indeed, he felt the effect of the illness for years, for typhoid fever is a foe whose weapons leave scars even after the healing of the wounds it inflicts. the first work done by mr. bradlaugh on resuming the editorial chair of the _national reformer_, was to indite a vigorous protest against the investment of national capital in the suez canal shares. he exposed the financial condition of egypt, gave detail after detail of the khedive's indebtedness, unveiled the rottenness of the egyptian government, warned the people of the danger of taking the first steps in a path which must lead to continual interference in egyptian finance, denounced the shameful job perpetrated by mr. disraeli in borrowing the money for the purchase from the rothschilds at enormous interest. his protest was, of course, useless, but its justice has been proved by the course of events. the bombarding of alexandria, the shameful repression of the national movement in egypt, the wholesale and useless slaughter in the soudan, the waste of english lives and english money, the new burden of debt and of responsibility now assumed by the government, all these are the results of the fatal purchase of shares in the suez canal by mr. disraeli; yet against the chorus of praise which resounded from every side when the purchase was announced, but one voice of disapproval and of warning was raised at first; others soon caught the warning and saw the dangers it pointed out, but for awhile charles bradlaugh stood alone in his opposition, and to him belongs the credit of at once seeing the peril which lay under the purchase. the conference of the national secular society held at leeds showed the growing power of the organisation, and was made notable by a very pleasant incident--the presentation to a miner, william washington, of a silver tea-pot and some books, in recognition of a very noble act of self-devotion. an explosion had occurred on december th, , at swaithe main pit, in which miners were killed; a miner belonging to a neighboring pit, named william washington, an atheist, when every one was hanging back, sprang into the cage to descend into the pit in forlorn hope of rescue, when to descend seemed almost certain death. others swiftly followed the gallant volunteer, but he had set the example, and it was felt by the executive of the national secular society that his heroism deserved recognition, william washington set his face against any gift to himself, so the subscription to a testimonial was limited to d., and a silver teapot was presented to him for his wife and some books for his children. at this same conference a committee was appointed, consisting of messrs. charles bradlaugh, g.j. holyoake, c. watts, r.a. cooper,--gimson, t. slater, and mrs. besant, to draw up a fresh statement of the principles and objects of the national secular society; it was decided that this statement should be submitted to the ensuing conference, that the deliberation on the report of the committee should "be open to all freethinkers, but that only those will be entitled to vote on the ratification who declare their determination to enter the society on the basis of the ratified constitution". it was hoped that by this means various scattered and independent societies might be brought into union, and that the national secular society might he thereby strengthened. the committee held a very large number of meetings and finally decided on the following statement, which was approved of at the conference held at nottingham in , and stands now as the "principles and object of the national secular society":-- "the national secular society has been formed to maintain the principles and rights of freethought, and to direct their application to the secular improvement of this life. "by the principle of freethought is meant the exercise of the understanding upon relevant facts, and independently of penal or priestly intimidation. "by the rights of freethought are meant the liberty of free criticism for the security of truth, and the liberty of free publicity for the extension of truth. "secularism relates to the present existence of man, and to actions the issue of which can be tested by experience. "it declares that the promotion of human improvement and happiness is the highest duty, and that morality is to be tested by utility. "that in order to promote effectually the improvement and happiness of mankind, every individual of the human family ought to be well placed and well instructed, and that all who are of a suitable age ought to be usefully employed for their own and the general good. "that human improvement and happiness cannot be effectually promoted without civil and religious liberty; and that, therefore, it is the duty of every individual to actively attack all barriers to equal freedom of thought and utterance for all, upon political, theological, and social subjects. "a secularist is one who deduces his moral duties from considerations which pertain to this life, and who, practically recognising the above duties, devotes himself to the promotion of the general good. "the object of the national secular society is to disseminate the above principles by every legitimate means in its power." at this same conference of leeds was inaugurated the subscription to the statue to be erected in rome to the memory of giordano bruno, burned in that city for atheism in ; this resulted in the collection of £ . the executive appointed by the leeds conference made great efforts to induce the freethinkers of the country to work for the repeal of the blasphemy laws, and in october they issued a copy of a petition against those evil laws to every one of the forty branches of the society. the effort proved, however, of little avail. the laws had not been put in force for a long time, and were regarded with apathy as being obsolete, and it has needed the cruel imprisonments inflicted by mr. justice north on messrs. foote, ramsey, and kemp, to arouse the freethought party to a sense of their duty in the matter. the year had scarcely opened ere we found ourselves with a serious fight on our hands. a pamphlet written early in the present century by charles knowlton, m.d., entitled "the fruits of philosophy", which had been sold unchallenged in england for nearly forty years, was suddenly seized at bristol as an obscene publication. the book had been supplied in the ordinary course of business by mr. charles watts, but the bristol bookseller had altered its price, had inserted some indecent pictures in it, and had sold it among literature to which the word obscene was fairly applied. in itself, dr. knowlton's work was merely a physiological treatise, and it advocated conjugal prudence and parental responsibility; it argued in favor of early marriage, but as over-large families among persons of limited incomes imply either pauperism, or lack of necessary food, clothing, education, and fair start in life for the children, dr. knowlton advocated the restriction of the number of the family within the means of existence, and stated the means by which this restriction should be carried out. on hearing of the prosecution, mr. watts went down to bristol, and frankly announced himself as the publisher of the book. soon after his return to london he was arrested on the charge of having published an obscene book, and was duly liberated on bail. mr. and mrs. watts, mr. bradlaugh and myself met to arrange our plan of united action on friday, january th, and it was decided that mr. watts should defend the book, that a fund should at once be raised for his legal expenses, and that once more the right of publication of useful knowledge in a cheap form should be defended by the leaders of the freethought party. after long and friendly discussion we separated with the plan of the campaign arranged, and it was decided that i should claim the sympathy and help of the plymouth friends, whom i was to address on the following sunday, january th. i went down to plymouth on january th, and there received a telegram from mr. watts, saying that a change of plan had been decided on. i was puzzled, but none the less i appealed for help as i had promised to do, and a collection of £ s. d. for mr. watts' defence fund was made after my evening lecture. to my horror, on returning to london, i found that mr. watts had given way before the peril of imprisonment, and had decided to plead guilty to the charge of publishing an obscene book, and to throw himself on the mercy of the court, relying on his previous good character and on an alleged ignorance of the contents of the incriminated work. the latter plea we knew to be false, for mr. watts before going down to bristol to declare himself responsible for the pamphlet had carefully read it and had marked all the passages which, being physiological, might be attacked as "obscene". this marked copy he had sent to the bristol bookseller, before he himself went to bristol to attend the trial, and under these circumstances any pretence of ignorance of the contents of the book was transparently inaccurate. mr. watts' surrender, of course, upset all the arrangements we had agreed on; mr. bradlaugh and myself were prepared to stand by him in battle, but not in surrender. i at once returned to the secretary of the plymouth branch the money collected for defence, not for capitulation, and mr. bradlaugh published the following brief statement in the _national reformer_ for january st: "prosecution of mr. charles watts.--mr. charles watts, as most of our readers will have already learned, has been committed for trial at the central criminal court for february th, for misdemeanor, for publication of a work on the population question, entitled "fruits of philosophy", by charles knowlton, m.d. this book has been openly published in england and america for more than thirty years. it was sold in england by james watson, who always bore the highest repute. on james watson's retirement from business it was sold by holyoake & co., at fleet street house, and was afterwards sold by mr. austin holyoake until the time of his death; and a separate edition was, up till last week, still sold by mr. brooks, of , strand, w.c. when mr. james watson died, mr. charles watts bought from james watson's widow a large quantity of stereotype plates, including this work. if this book is to be condemned as obscene, so also in my opinion must be many published by messrs. w.h. smith & son, and other publishers, against whose respectability no imputation has been made. such books as darwin's 'origin of species' and 'descent of man' must immediately be branded as obscene, while no medical work must be permitted publication; and all theological works, like those of dulaure, inman, etc., dealing with ancient creeds, must at once be suppressed. the bulk of the publications of the society for the repeal of the contagious diseases acts, together with its monthly organ, the _shield_, would be equally liable. the issue of the greater part of classic authors, and of lemprière, shakspere, sterne, fielding, richardson, rabelais, etc., must be stopped: while the bible--containing obscene passages omitted from the lectionary--must no longer be permitted circulation. all these contain obscenity which is either inserted to amuse or to instruct, and the medical work now assailed deals with physiological points purely to instruct, and to increase the happiness of men and women. "if the pamphlet now prosecuted had been brought to me for publication, i should probably have declined to publish it, not because of the subject-matter, but because i do not like its style. if i had once published it, i should defend it until the very last. here mr. watts and myself disagree in opinion; and as he is the person chiefly concerned, it is, of course, right that his decision should determine what is done. he tells me that he thinks the pamphlet indefensible, and that he was misled in publishing it without examination as part of james watson's stock. i think it ought to be fought right through. under these circumstances i can only leave mr. watts to speak for himself, as we so utterly differ in opinion on this case that i cease to be his proper interpreter. i have, therefore, already offered mr. watts the columns of the _national reformer_, that he may put before the party his view of the case, which he does in another column."--c. bradlaugh. xiv. up to this time (january, ) mr. watts had acted as sub-editor of the _national reformer_, and printer and publisher of the books and pamphlets issued by mr. bradlaugh and myself. the continuance of this common work obviously became impossible after mr. watts had determined to surrender one of his publications under threat of prosecution. we felt that for two main reasons we could no longer publicly associate ourselves with him: ( ) we could not retain on our publications the name of a man who had pleaded guilty to the publication of an obscene work; ( ) many of our writings were liable to prosecution for blasphemy, and it was necessary that we should have a publisher who could be relied on to stand firm in time of peril; we felt that if mr. watts surrendered one thing he would be likely to surrender others. this feeling on my part was strengthened by the remembrance of a request of his made a few months before, that i would print my own name instead of his as publisher of a political song i had issued, on the ground that it might come within the law of seditious libel. i had readily acceded at the time, but when absolute surrender under attack followed on timid precaution against attack, i felt that a bolder publisher was necessary to me. no particular blame should be laid on persons who are constitutionally timid; they have their own line of usefulness, and are often pleasant and agreeable folk enough; but they are out of place in the front rank of a fighting movement, for their desertion in face of the enemy means added danger for those left to carry on the fight. we therefore decided to sever ourselves from mr. watts; and mr. bradlaugh, in the _national reformer_ of january th, inserted the following statement: "the divergence of opinion between myself and mr. charles watts is so complete on the knowlton case, that he has already ceased to be sub-editor of this journal, and i have given him notice determining our connexion on and from march th. my reasons for this course are as follows. the knowlton pamphlet is either decent or indecent. if decent it ought to be defended; if indecent it should never have been published. to judge it indecent is to condemn, with the most severe condemnation, james watson whom i respected, and austin holyoake with whom i worked. i hold the work to be defensible, and i deny the right of any one to interfere with the full and free discussion of social questions affecting the happiness of the nation. the struggle for a free press has been one of the marks of the freethought party throughout its history, and as long as the party permits me to hold its flag, i will never voluntarily lower it. i have no right and no power to dictate to mr. watts the course he should pursue, but i have the right and duty to refuse to associate my name with a submission which is utterly repugnant to my nature, and inconsistent with my whole career." after a long discussion, mr. bradlaugh and i made up our minds as to the course we would pursue. we decided that we would never again place ourselves at a publisher's mercy, but would ensure the defence of all we published by publishing everything ourselves; we resolved to become printers and publishers, and to take any small place we could find and open it as a freethought shop. i undertook the sub-editorship of the _national reformer_, and the weekly summary of news, which had hitherto been done by mr. watts, was placed in the hands of mr. bradlaugh's daughters. the next thing to do was to find a publishing office. somewhere within reach of fleet street the office must be; small it must be, as we had no funds and the risk of starting a business of which we knew nothing was great. still "all things are possible to" those who are resolute; we discovered a tumble-down little place in stonecutter street and secured it by the good offices of our friend, mr. charles herbert; we borrowed a few hundred pounds from personal friends, and made our new tenement habitable; we drew up a deed of partnership, founding the "freethought publishing company", mr. bradlaugh and myself being the only partners; we engaged mr. w.j. ramsey as manager of the business; and in the _national reformer_ of february th we were able to announce: "the publishing office of the _national reformer_ and of all the works of charles bradlaugh and annie besant is now at , stonecutter street, e.c., three doors from farringdon street, where the manager, mr. w.j. ramsey, will be glad to receive orders for the supply of any freethought literature". a week later we issued the following address: "address from the freethought publishing company to the readers of the 'national reformer'. "when the prospectus of the _national reformer_ was issued by the founder, charles bradlaugh, in , he described its policy as 'atheistic in theology, republican in politics, and malthusian in social economy', and a free platform was promised and has been maintained for the discussion of each of these topics. in ventilating the population question the stand taken by mr. bradlaugh, both here and on the platform, is well known to our old readers, and many works bearing on this vital subject have been advertised and reviewed in these columns. in this the _national reformer_ has followed the course pursued by mr. george jacob holyoake, who in published a 'freethought directory', giving a list of the various books supplied from the 'fleet street house', and which list contained amongst others: "'anti-marcus on the population question.' "fowler's tracts on physiology, etc. "dr. c. knowlton's 'fruits of philosophy'. "'moral physiology: a plain treatise on the population question.' "in this directory mr. g.j. holyoake says: "'no. fleet street is a central secular book depot, where all works extant in the english language on the side of freethought in religion, politics, morals, and culture are kept in stock, or are procured at short notice.' "we shall try to do at stonecutter street that which mr. holyoake's directory promised for fleet street house. "the partners in the freethought publishing company are annie besant and charles bradlaugh, who have entered into a legal partnership for the purpose of sharing the legal responsibility of the works they publish. "we intend to publish nothing that we do not think we can morally defend. all that we do publish we shall defend. we do not mean that we shall agree with all we publish, but we shall, so far as we can, try to keep the possibility of free utterance of earnest, honest opinion. "it may not be out of place here to remind new readers of this journal of that which old readers well know, that no articles are editorial except those which are unsigned or bear the name of the editor, or that of the sub-editor; for each and every other article the author is allowed to say his own say in his own way; the editor only furnishes the means to address our readers, leaving to him or to her the right and responsibility of divergent thought. "annie besant "charles bradlaugh." thus we found ourselves suddenly launched on a new undertaking, and with some amusement and much trepidation i realised that i was "in business", with business knowledge amounting to _nil_. i had, however, fair ability and plenty of goodwill, and i determined to learn my work, feeling proud that i had become one of the list of "freethought publishers", who published for love of the cause of freedom, and risked all for the triumph of a principle ere it wore "silver slippers and walked in the sunshine with applause". on february th mr. watts was tried at the old bailey. he withdrew his plea of "not guilty", and pleaded "guilty". his counsel urged that he was a man of good character, that mr. george jacob holyoake had sold the incriminated pamphlet, that mr. watts had bought the stereo-plates of it in the stock of the late mr. austin holyoake, which he had taken over bodily, and that he had never read the book until after the bristol investigation. "mr. watts pledges himself to me", the counsel stated, "that he was entirely ignorant of the contents of this pamphlet until he heard passages read from it in the prosecution at bristol". the counsel for the prosecution pointed out that this statement was inaccurate, and read passages from mr. watts' deposition made on the first occasion at bristol, in which mr. watts stated that he had perused the book, and was prepared to justify it as a medical work. he, however, did not wish to press the case, if the plates and stock were destroyed, and mr. watts was accordingly discharged on his own recognisances in £ to come up for judgment when called on. while this struggle was raging, an old friend of mr. bradlaugh's, mr. george odger, was slowly passing away; the good old man lay dying in his poor lodgings in high street, oxford street, and i find recorded in the _national reformer_ of march th, that on february th we had been to see him, and that "he is very feeble and is, apparently, sinking fast; but he is as brave and bright, facing his last enemy, as he has ever been facing his former ones". he died on march th, and was buried in brompton cemetery on the th of the same month. a grave question now lay before us for decision. the knowlton pamphlet had been surrendered; was that surrender to stand as the last word of the freethought party on a book which had been sold by the most prominent men in its ranks for forty years? to our minds such surrender, left unchallenged, would be a stain on all who submitted to it, and we decided that faulty as the book was in many respects it had yet become the symbol of a great principle, of the right to circulate physiological knowledge among the poor in pamphlets published at a price they could afford to pay. deliberately counting the risk, recognising that by our action we should subject ourselves to the vilest slander, knowing that christian malice would misrepresent and ignorance would echo the misrepresentation --we yet resolved that the sacrifice must be made, and made by us in virtue of our position in the freethought party. if the leaders flinched how could the followers be expected to fight? the greatest sacrifice had to be made by mr. bradlaugh. how would an indictment for publishing an obscene book affect his candidature for northampton? what a new weapon for his foes, what a new difficulty for his friends! i may say here that our worst forebodings were realised by the event; we have been assailed as "vendors of obscene literature", as "writers of obscene books", as "living by the circulation of filthy books". and it is because such accusations have been widely made that i here place on permanent record the facts of the case, for thus, at least, some honest opponents will learn the truth and will cease to circulate the slanders they may have repeated in ignorance. on february th our determination to republish the knowlton pamphlet was announced by mr. bradlaugh in an address delivered by him at the hall of science on "the right of publication". extracts from a brief report, published in the _national reformer_ of march th, will show the drift of his statement: "mr. bradlaugh was most warmly welcomed to the platform, and reiterated cheers greeted him as he rose to make his speech. few who heard him that evening will forget the passion and the pathos with which he spoke. the defence of the right to publish was put as strongly and as firmly as words could put it, and the determination to maintain that right, in dock and in jail as on the platform, rang out with no uncertain sound. truly, as the orator said: 'the bold words i have spoken from this place would be nothing but the emptiest brag and the coward's boast, if i flinched now in the day of battle'. every word of praise of the fighters of old would fall in disgrace on the head of him who spoke it, if when the time came to share in their peril he shrunk back from the danger of the strife.... mr. bradlaugh drew a graphic picture of the earlier struggles for a free press, and then dealt with the present state of the law; from that he passed on to the pamphlet which is the test-question of the hour; he pointed out how some parts of it were foolish, such as the 'philosophical proem', but remarked that he knew no right in law to forbid the publication of all save wisdom; he then showed how, had he originally been asked to publish the pamphlet, he should have raised some objections to its style, but that was a very different matter from permitting the authorities to stop its sale; the style of many books might be faulty without the books being therefore obscene. he contended the book was a perfectly moral medical work, and was no more indecent than every other medical work dealing with the same subject. the knowledge it gave was useful knowledge; many a young man might be saved from disease by such a knowledge as was contained in the book; if it was argued that such books should not be sold at so cheap a rate, he replied that it was among the masses that such physiological knowledge was needed, 'and if there is one subject above all others', he exclaimed, 'for which a man might gladly sacrifice his hopes and his life, surely it is for that which would relieve his fellow-men from poverty, the mother of crimes, and would make happy homes where now only want and suffering reign'. he had fully counted the cost; he knew all he might lose; but carlile before him had been imprisoned for teaching the same doctrine, 'and what carlile did for his day, i, while health and strength remain, will do for mine'." the position we took up in republishing the pamphlet was clearly stated in the preface which we wrote for it, and which i here reprint, as it gives plainly and briefly the facts of the case: "publishers' preface to dr. knowlton's 'fruits of philosophy'. "the pamphlet which we now present to the public is one which has been lately prosecuted under lord campbell's act, and which we now republish in order to test the right of publication. it was originally written by charles knowlton, m.d., an american physician, whose degree entitles him to be heard with respect on a medical question. it is openly sold and widely circulated in america at the present time. it was first published in england, about forty years ago, by james watson, the gallant radical who came to london and took up richard carlile's work when carlile was in jail. he sold it unchallenged for many years, approved it, and recommended it. it was printed and published by messrs. holyoake and co., and found its place, with other works of a similar character, in their 'freethought directory' of , and was thus identified with freethought literature at the then leading freethought _depôt_ . mr. austin holyoake, working in conjunction with mr. bradlaugh at the _national reformer_ office, johnson's court, printed and published it in his turn, and this well-known freethought advocate, in his 'large or small families'. selected this pamphlet, together with r.d. owen's 'moral physiology' and the 'elements of social science', for special recommendation. mr. charles watts, succeeding to mr. austin holyoake's business, continued the sale, and when mr. watson died in , he bought the plates of the work (with others) from mrs. watson, and continued to advertise and to sell it until december rd, . for the last forty years the book has thus been identified with freethought, advertised by leading freethinkers, published under the sanction of their names, and sold in the head-quarters of freethought literature. if during this long period the party has thus--without one word of protest--circulated an indecent work, the less we talk about freethought morality the better; the work has been largely sold, and if leading freethinkers have sold it--profiting by the sale--in mere carelessness, few words could be strong enough to brand the indifference which thus scattered obscenity broadcast over the land. the pamphlet has been withdrawn from circulation in consequence of the prosecution instituted against mr. charles watts, but the question of its legality or illegality has not been tried; a plea of 'guilty' was put in by the publisher, and the book, therefore, was not examined, nor was any judgment passed upon it; no jury registered a verdict, and the judge stated that he had not read the work. "we republish this pamphlet, honestly believing that on all questions affecting the happiness of the people, whether they be theological, political, or social, fullest right of free discussion ought to be maintained at all hazards. we do not personally endorse all that dr. knowlton says: his 'philosophical proem' seems to us full of philosophical mistakes, and--as we are neither of us doctors--we are not prepared to endorse his medical views; but since progress can only be made through discussion, and no discussion is possible where differing opinions are suppressed, we claim the right to publish all opinions, so that the public, enabled to see all sides of a question, may have the materials for forming a sound judgment. "the alterations made are very slight; the book was badly printed, and errors of spelling and a few clumsy grammatical expressions have been corrected; the sub-title has been changed, and in one case four lines have been omitted, because they are repeated word for word further on. we have, however, made some additions to the pamphlet, which are in all cases kept distinct from the original text. physiology has made great strides during the past forty years, and not considering it right to circulate erroneous physiology, we submitted the pamphlet to a doctor in whose accurate knowledge we have the fullest confidence, and who is widely known in all parts of the world as the author of the "elements of social science"; the notes signed "g.r." are written by this gentleman. references to other works are given in foot notes for the assistance of the reader, if he desires to study the subject further. "old radicals will remember that richard carlile published a work entitled 'every woman's book', which deals with the same subject, and advocates the same object, as dr. knowlton's pamphlet. e.d. owen objected to the 'style and tone' of carlile's 'every woman's book' as not being 'in good taste', and he wrote his 'moral physiology', to do in america what carlile's work was intended to do in england. this work of carlile's was stigmatised as 'indecent' and 'immoral' because it advocated, as does dr. knowlton's, the use of preventive checks to population. in striving to carry on carlile's work, we cannot expect to escape carlile's reproach, but whether applauded or condemned we mean to carry it on, socially as well as politically and theologically. "we believe, with the rev. mr. malthus, that population has a tendency to increase faster than the means of existence, and that _some_ checks must therefore exercise control over population; the checks now exercised are semi-starvation and preventible disease; the enormous mortality among the infants of the poor is one of the checks which now keeps down the population. the checks that ought to control population are scientific, and it is these which we advocate. we think it more moral to prevent the conception of children, than, after they are born, to murder them by want of food, air, and clothing. we advocate scientific checks to population, because, so long as poor men have large families, pauperism is a necessity, and from pauperism grow crime and disease. the wage which would support the parents and two or three children in comfort and decency is utterly insufficient to maintain a family of twelve or fourteen, and we consider it a crime to bring into the world human beings doomed to misery or to premature death. it is not only the hand-working classes which are concerned in this question. the poor curate, the struggling man of business, the young professional man, are often made wretched for life by their inordinately large families, and their years are passed in one long battle to live; meanwhile the woman's health is sacrificed and her life embittered from the same cause. to all of these, we point the way of relief and of happiness; for the sake of these we publish what others fear to issue, and we do it, confident that if we fail the first time, we shall succeed at last, and that the english public will not permit the authorities to stifle a discussion of the most important social question which can influence a nation's welfare. "charles bradlaugh. "annie besant." we advertised the sale of the pamphlet in the _national reformer_ of march th (published march nd) in the following words: fruits of philosophy. by charles knowlton, m.d. price sixpence. this pamphlet will be republished on saturday, march th, _in extenso_, with some additional medical notes by a london doctor of medicine. it will be on sale at , stonecutter street, e.g., after p.m. until close of shop. no one need apply before this time, as none will be on sale. mr. charles bradlaugh and mrs. annie besant will be in attendance from that hour, and will sell personally the first hundred copies. freethought publishing company, , stonecutter street, e.c. in addition to this we ourselves delivered copies on march rd to mr. martin, the chief clerk of the magistrates at guildhall, to the officer in charge at the city police office in old jewry, and to the solicitor for the city of london. with each pamphlet we handed in a notice that we should attend personally to sell the book on march th, at stonecutter street, from to p.m. these precautions were taken in order to force the authorities to prosecute us, and not any of our subordinates, if they prosecuted at all. the account of the first sale will interest many: "on saturday we went down to stonecutter street, accompanied by the misses bradlaugh and mr. and mrs. touzeau parris; we arrived at no. at three minutes to four, and found a crowd awaiting us. we promptly filled the window with copies of the pamphlet, as a kind of general notice of the sale within, and then opened the door. the shop was filled immediately, and in twenty minutes over copies were sold. no one sold save mr. bradlaugh and myself, but miss bradlaugh sorted dozens with a skill that seemed to stamp her as intended by nature for the business, while her sister supplied change with a rapidity worthy of a bank clerk. several detectives favored us with a visit, and one amused us by coming in and buying two copies from mr. bradlaugh, and then retiring gracefully; after an interval of perhaps a quarter of an hour he reappeared, and purchased one from me. two policemen outside made themselves useful; one patrolled the street calmly, and the other very kindly aided norrish, mr. eamsey's co-worker, in his efforts to keep the stream flowing quietly, without too much pressure. mr. bradlaugh's voice was heard warningly from time to time, bidding customers not to crowd, and everything went well and smoothly, save that i occasionally got into fearful muddles in the intricacies of 'trade price'; i disgusted one customer, who muttered roughly 'ritchie', and who, when i gave him two copies, and put his shilling in the till, growled: 'i shan't take them'. i was fairly puzzled, till mr. bradlaugh enlightened me as to the difficulty, 'ritchie' to me being unknown; it appeared that 'ritchie', muttered by the buyer, meant that the copies were wanted by a bookseller of that name, and his messenger was irate at being charged full price. friends from various parts appeared to give a kindly word; a number of the members of the dialectical society came in, and many were the congratulations and promises of aid in case of need. several who came in offered to come forward as bail, and their names were taken by mr. parris. the buyer that most raised my curiosity was one of mr. watts' sons, who came in and bought seven copies, putting down only trade-price on the counter; no one is supplied at trade-price unless he buys to sell again, and we have all been wondering why mr. watts should intend to sell the knowlton pamphlet, after he has proclaimed it to be obscene and indecent. at six o'clock the shutters were put up, and we gave up our amateur shop-keeping; our general time for closing on saturday is p.m., but we kept the shop open on saturday for the special purpose of selling the knowlton pamphlet. we sold about copies, besides sending out a large number of country parcels, so that if the police now amuse themselves in seizing the work, they will entirely have failed in stopping its circulation. the pamphlet, during the present week, will have been sold over england and scotland, and the only effect of the foolish police interference will be to have sold a large edition. we must add one word of thanks to them for the kindly aid given us by their gratuitous advertisement." [i may note here, in passing, that we printed our edition verbatim from that issued by james watson, not knowing that various editions were in circulation. it was thereupon stated by mr. watts that we had not reprinted the pamphlet for which he was prosecuted, so we at once issued another edition, printed from his own version.] the help that flowed in to us from all sides was startling both in quantity and quality; a defence committee was quickly formed, consisting of the following persons: "c.r. drysdale, m.d., miss vickery, h.r.s. dalton, b.a., w.j. birch, m.a., j. swaagman, mrs. swaagman, p.a.v. le lubez, mdme. le lubez, miss bradlaugh, miss h. bradlaugh, mrs. parris, t. allsop, e. truelove, mark e. marsden, f.a. ford, mrs. fenwick miller, g.n. strawbridge, w.w. wright, mrs. rennick, mrs. lowe, w. bell, thomas slater, g. f. forster, j. scott, g. priestley, j.w. white, j. hart, h. brooksbank, mrs. brooksbank, g. middleton, j. child, ben. w. elmy, elizabeth wolstenholme elmy, touzeau parris (hon. sec.), captain r.h. dyas, thomas roy (president of the scottish secular union), r.a. cooper, robert forder, william wayham, mrs. elizabeth wayham, professor emile acollas (ancien professeur de droit français à l'université de berne), w. reynolds, c. herbert, j.f. haines, h. rogers (president of the trunk and portmanteau makers' trade society), yves guyot (redacteur en chef du _radical_ et du _bien public),_ w.j. ramsey, j. wilks, mrs. wilks, j.e. symes, e. martin, w.e. adams, mrs. adams, john bryson (president of the northumberland miners' mutual confident association), ralph young, j. grout, mrs. grout, general cluseret, a. talandier (member of the chamber of deputies), j. baxter langley, ll.d., m.r.c.s., f.l.s." mrs. fenwick miller's letter of adhesion is worthy republication; it puts so tersely the real position: " , francis terrace. victoria park. "march st. "my dear mrs. besant,--i feel myself privileged in having the opportunity of expressing both to you and to the public, by giving you my small aid to your defence, how much i admire the noble position taken up by mr. bradlaugh and yourself upon this attempt to suppress free discussion, and to keep the people in enforced ignorance upon the most important of subjects. it is shameful that you should have to do it through the cowardice of the less important person who might have made himself a hero by doing as you now do, but was too weak for his opportunities. since you have had to do it, however, accept the assurance of my warm sympathy, and my readiness to aid in any way within my power in your fight. please add my name to your committee. you will find a little cheque within: i wish i had fifty times as much to give. "under other circumstances, the pamphlet might well have been withdrawn from circulation, since its physiology its obsolete, and consequently its practical deductions to some extent unsound. but it must be everywhere comprehended that _this is not the point_. the book would have been equally attacked had its physiology been new and sound; the prosecution is against the right to issue a work upon the special subject, and against the freedom of the press and individual liberty.--believe me, yours very faithfully, r. fenwick miller." among the many received were letters of encouragement from general garibaldi, m. talandier, professor emile acollas, and the rev. s.d. headlam. as we did not care to be hunted about london by the police, we offered to be at stonecutter street daily from to a.m. until we were arrested, and our offer was readily accepted. friends who were ready to act as bail came forward in large numbers, and we arranged with some of them that they should be within easy access in case of need. there was a little delay in issuing the warrants for our arrest. a deputation from the christian evidence society waited on mr. (now sir richard) cross, to ask that the government should prosecute us, and he acceded to their request. the warrants were issued on april rd, and were executed on april th. the story of the arrest i take from my own article in the _national reformer,_ premising that we had been told that "the warrants were in the hands of simmons". "thursday morning found us again on our way to stonecutter street, and as we turned into it we were aware of three gentlemen regarding us affectionately from beneath the shelter of a ladder on the off-side of farringdon street. 'that's simmons,' quoth mr. bradlaugh, as we went in, and i shook my head solemnly, regarding 'simmons' as the unsubstantial shadow of a dream. but as the two misses bradlaugh and myself reached the room above the shop, a gay--'i told you so', from mr. bradlaugh downstairs, announced a visit, and in another moment mr. bradlaugh came up, followed by the three unknown. 'you know what we have come for,' said the one in front; and no one disputed his assertion. detective-sergeant r. outram was the head officer, and he produced his warrant at mr. bradlaugh's request; he was accompanied by two detective officers, messrs. simmons and williams. he was armed also with a search warrant, a most useful document, seeing that the last copy of the edition (of , copies) had been sold on the morning of the previous day, and a high pile of orders was accumulating downstairs, orders which we were unable to fulfil. mr. bradlaugh told him, with a twinkle in his eye, that he was too late, but offered him every facility for searching. a large packet of 'text books'--left for that purpose by norrish, if the truth were known-- whose covers were the same color as those of the 'fruits', attracted mr. outram's attention, and he took off some of the brown paper wrapper, but found the goods unseizable. he took one copy of the 'cause of woman', by ben elmy, and wandered up and down the house seeking for goods to devour, but found nothing to reward him for his energy. meanwhile we wrote a few telegrams and a note or two, and after about half-an-hour's delay, we started for the police-station in bridewell place, arriving there at . . the officers, who showed us every courtesy and kindness consistent with the due execution of their duty, allowed mr. bradlaugh and myself to walk on in front, and they followed us across the roar of fleet street, down past ludgate hill station, to the police office. here we passed into a fair-sized room, and were requested to go into a funny iron-barred place; it was a large oval railed in, with a brightly polished iron bar running round it, the door closing with a snap. here we stood while two officers in uniform got out their books; one of these reminded mr. bradlaugh of his late visits there, remarking that he supposed the 'gentleman you were so kind to will do you the same good turn now'. mr. bradlaugh dryly replied that he didn't think so, accepting service and giving it were two very different things. our examination then began; names, ages, abodes, birth-places, number of children, color of hair and eyes, were all duly enrolled; then we were measured, and our heights put down; next we delivered up watches, purses, letters, keys--in fact emptied our pockets; then i was walked off by the housekeeper into a neighboring cell and searched--a surely most needless proceeding; it strikes me this is an unnecessary indignity to which to subject an uncondemned prisoner, except in cases of theft, where stolen property might be concealed about the person. it is extremely unpleasant to be handled, and on such a charge as that against myself a search was an absurdity. the woman was as civil as she could be, but, as she fairly enough said, she had no option in the matter. after this, i went back to the room and rejoined my fellow prisoner and we chatted peaceably with our guardians; they quite recognised our object in our proceedings, and one gave it as his opinion that we ought to have been summoned, and not taken by warrant. taken, however, we clearly were, and we presently drove on to guildhall, mr. outram in the cab with us, and mr. williams on the box. "at guildhall, we passed straight into the court, through the dock, and down the stairs. here mr. outram delivered us over to the gaoler, and the most uncomfortable part of our experiences began. below the court are a number of cells, stone floored and whitewashed walled; instead of doors there are heavy iron gates, covered with thick close grating; the passages are divided here and there with similar strong iron gates, only some of which are grated. the rules of the place of course divided the sexes, so mr. bradlaugh and myself were not allowed to occupy the same cell; the gaoler, however, did the best he could for us, by allowing me to remain in a section of the passage which separated the men's from the women's cells, and by putting mr. bradlaugh into the first of the men's. then, by opening a little window in the thick wall, a grating was discovered, through which we could dimly see each other. mr. bradlaugh's face, as seen from my side, scored all over with the little oblong holes in the grating reflected by the dull glimmer of the gas in the passage, was curious rather than handsome; mine was, probably, not more attractive. in this charming place we passed two hours-and-a-half, and it was very dull and very cold. we solaced ourselves, at first, by reading the _secular review_, mr. bradlaugh tearing it into pages, and passing them one by one through the grating. by pushing on his side and pulling on mine, we managed to get them through the narrow holes. our position when we read them was a strange satire on one article (which i read with great pain), which expressed the writer's opinion that the book was so altered as not to be worth prosecuting. neither the police nor the magistrate recognised any difference between the two editions. as i knew the second edition, taken from mr. watts', was almost ready for delivery as i read, i could not help smiling at the idea that no one 'had the courage' to reprint it. "mr. bradlaugh paced up and down his limited kingdom, and after i had finished correcting an _n.r._, i sometimes walked and sometimes sat, and we chatted over future proceedings, and growled at our long detention, and listened to names of prisoners being called, until we were at last summoned to 'go up higher', and we joyfully obeyed. it was a strange sort of place to stand in, the dock of a police-court the position struck one as really funny, and everyone who looked at us seemed to feel the same incongruity: officials, chief clerk, magistrate, all were equally polite, and mr. bradlaugh seemed to get his own way from the dock as much as everywhere else. the sitting magistrate was alderman figgins, a nice, kindly old gentleman, robed in marvellous, but not uncomely, garments of black velvet, purple, and dark fur. below the magistrate, on either hand, sat a gentleman writing, one of whom was mr. martin, the chief clerk, who took the purely formal evidence required to justify the arrest. the reporters all sat at the right, and mr. touzeau parris shared their bench, sitting on the corner nearest us. just behind him mr. outram had kindly found seats for the two misses bradlaugh, who surveyed us placidly, and would, i am sure, had their duty called them to do so, have gladly and willingly changed places with us. the back of the court was filled with kindly faces, and many bright smiles greeted us; among the people were those who so readily volunteered their aid, those described by an official as 'a regular waggon-load of bail'. their presence there was a most useful little demonstration of support, and the telegrams that kept dropping in also had their effect. 'another of your friends, mr. bradlaugh,' quoth the chief clerk, as the fourth was handed to him, and i hear that the little buff envelopes continued to arrive all the afternoon. i need not here detail what happened in the court, as a full report by a shorthand writer appears in another part of the paper, and i only relate odds and ends. it amused me to see the broad grin which ran round when the detective was asked whether he had executed the seizure warrant, and he answered sadly that there was 'nothing to seize'. when bail was called for, dr. drysdale, messrs. swaagman, truelove, and bell were the first summoned, and no objections being raised to them, nor further securities asked for, these four gentlemen were all that were needed. we were then solemnly and severally informed that we were bound over in our own recognizances of £ each to appear on tuesday, april th, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, to answer, etc., etc., etc., to which adjuration i only replied by a polite little bow. after all this we passed into a small room at one side, and there waited till divers papers were delivered unto us, and we were told to depart in peace. a number of people had gathered outside and cheered us warmly as we came out, one voice calling: 'bravo! there's some of the old english spirit left yet'. being very hungry (it was nearly three o'clock), we went off to luncheon, very glad that the warrant was no longer hanging over our heads, and on our way home we bought a paper announcing our arrest. the evening papers all contained reports of the proceedings, as did also the papers of the following morning. i have seen the _globe, standard, daily news, times, echo, daily telegraph_, and they all give perfectly fair reports of what took place. it is pleasant that they all seem to recognise that our reason for acting as we have done is a fair and honorable desire to test the right of publication." xv. the preliminary investigation before the magistrates at guildhall duly came on upon april th, the prosecution being conducted by mr. douglas straight and mr. f. mead. the case was put by mr. straight with extreme care and courtesy, the learned counsel stating, "i cannot conceal from myself, or from those who instruct me, that everything has been done in accordance with fairness and _bona fides_ on the part of mr. bradlaugh and the lady sitting by the side of him". mr. straight contended that the good intentions of a publisher could not be taken as proving that a book was not indictable, and laid stress on the cheapness of the work, "the price charged is so little as sixpence". mr. bradlaugh proved that there was no physiological statement in knowlton, which was not given in far fuller detail in standard works on physiology, quoting carpenter, dalton, acton, and others; he showed that malthus, professor fawcett, mrs. fawcett, and others, advocated voluntary limitation of the family, establishing his positions by innumerable quotations. a number of eminent men were in court, subpoenaed to prove their own works, and i find on them the following note, written by myself at the time:-- "we necessarily put some of our medical and publishing witnesses to great inconvenience in summoning them into court, but those who were really most injured were the most courteous. mr. trübner, although suffering from a painful illness, and although, we had expressed our willingness to accept in his stead some member of his staff, was present, kindly and pleasant as usual. dr. power, a most courteous gentleman, called away from an examination of some young men, never thought of asking that he should be relieved from the citizen's duty, but only privately asked to be released as soon as possible. dr. parker was equally worthy of the noble profession to which he belonged, and said he did not want to stay longer than he need, but would be willing to return whenever wanted. needless to say that dr. drysdale was there, ready to do his duty. dr. w.b. carpenter was a strange contrast to these; he was rough and discourteous in manner, and rudely said that he was not responsible for 'human physiology, by dr. carpenter', as his responsibility had ceased with the fifth edition. it seems a strange thing that a man of eminence, presumably a man of honor, should disavow all responsibility for a book which bears his name as author on the title-page. clearly, if the 'human physiology' is not dr. carpenter's, the public is grossly deceived by the pretence that it is, and if, as dr. carpenter says, the whole responsibility rests on dr. power, then that gentleman should have the whole credit of that very useful book. it is not right that dr. carpenter should have all the glory and dr. power all the annoyance resulting from the work." among all the men we came into contact with during the trial, dr. carpenter and professor fawcett were the only two who shrank from endorsing their own written statements. the presiding magistrate, mr. alderman figgins, devoted himself gallantly to the unwonted task of wading through physiological text books, the poor old gentleman's hair sometimes standing nearly on end, and his composure being sadly ruffled when he found that dr. carpenter's florid treatise, with numerous illustrations of a, to him, startling character, was given to young boys and girls as a prize in government examinations. he compared knowlton with the work of dr. acton's submitted to him, and said despondingly that one was just the same as the other. at the end of the day the effect made on him by the defence was shown by his letting us go free without bail. mr. bradlaugh finished his defence at the next hearing of the case on april th, and his concluding remarks, showing the position we took, may well find their place here: "the object of this book is to circulate amongst the masses of the poor and wretched (as far as my power will circulate it), and to seek to produce in their minds such prudential views on the subject of population as shall at least hinder some of the horrors to be witnessed amongst the starving. i have not put you to the trouble of hearing proof--even if i were, in this court, permitted to do so--of facts on the population question, because the learned counsel for the prosecution, with the frankness which characterises this prosecution, admitted there was the tendency on the part of animated nature to increase until checked by the absence or deficiency of the means of subsistence. this being so, some checks must step in; these checks must be either positive or preventive and prudential. what are positive checks? the learned counsel has told you what they are. they are war, disease, misery, starvation. they are in china--to take a striking instance--accompanied by habits so revolting that i cannot now allude to them. see the numbers of miserable starving children in the great cities and centres of population. is it right to go to these people and say, 'bring into the world children who cannot live', who all their lives are prevented by the poverty-smitten frames of their parents, and by their own squalid surroundings, from enjoying almost every benefit of the life thrust on them! who inherit the diseases and adopt the crimes which poverty and misery have provided for them? the very medical works i have put in in this case show how true this is in too many cases, and if you read the words of dr. acton, crime is sometimes involved of a terrible nature which the human tongue governed by training shrinks from describing. we justly or erroneously believe that we are doing our duty in putting this information in the hands of the people, and we contest this case with no kind of bravado; the penalty we already have to pay is severe enough, for even while we are defending this, some portion of the public press is using words of terrorism against the witnesses to be called, and is describing myself and my co-defendant in a fashion that i feel sure will find no sanction here, and that i hope will never occur again. we contest this because the advocacy of such views on population has been familiar to me for many years. the _public journal of health_, edited by dr. hardwicke, the coroner for central middlesex, will show you that in i was known, in relation to this question, to men high in position in the land as original thinkers and political economists; that the late john stuart mill has left behind him, in his autobiography, testimony concerning me on this subject, according unqualified praise to me for the views thereon which i had labored to disseminate; and that lord amberley thanked me, in a society of which we were then both associates, for having achieved what i had in bringing these principles to the knowledge of the poorer classes of the people. with taxation on every hand extending, with the cost of living increasing, and with wages declining--and, as to the last element, i am reminded that recently i was called upon to arbitrate in a wages' dispute in the north of england for a number of poor men, and, having minutely scrutinised every side of the situation, was compelled to reduce their wages by per cent., there having been already a reduction of per cent, in the short space of some twenty months previously--i say, with wages declining, with the necessaries of life growing dearer and still dearer, and with the burden of rent and taxation ever increasing-- if, in the presence of such a condition of life among the vast industrial and impoverished masses of this land, i am not to be allowed to tell them how best to prevent or to ameliorate the wretchedness of their lot--if, with all this, i may not speak to them of the true remedy, but the law is to step in and say to me, 'your mouth is closed'; then, i ask you, what remedy is there remaining by which i am to deal with this awful misery?" the worthy magistrate duly committed us for trial, accepting our own recognizances in £ each to appear at the central criminal court on may th. to the central criminal court, however, we had not the smallest intention of going, if we could possibly avoid it, so mr. bradlaugh immediately took steps to obtain a writ of _certiorari_ to remove the indictment to the court of queen's bench. on april th mr. bradlaugh moved for the writ before lord chief justice cockburn and mr. justice mellor, and soon after he began his argument the judge stopped him, saying that he would grant the writ if, "upon, looking at it we think its object is the legitimate one of promoting knowledge on a matter of human interest, then, lest there should be any miscarriage resulting from any undue prejudice, we might think it is a case for trial by a judge and a special jury. i do not say it is so, mark, but only put it so, that if, on the other hand, science and philosophy are merely made the pretence of publishing a book which is calculated to arouse the passions of those who peruse it, then it follows that we must not allow the pretence to prevail, and treat the case otherwise than as one which may come before anybody to try. if we really think it is a fair question as to whether it is a scientific work or not, and its object is a just one, then we should be disposed to accede to your application, and allow it to be tried by a judge and special jury, and for that purpose allow the proceedings to be removed into this court. but, before we decide that, we must look into the book and form our own judgment as to the real object of the work." two copies of the book were at once handed up to the bench, and on april th the court granted the writ, the lord chief justice saying: "we have looked at the book which is the subject-matter of the indictment, and we think it really raises a fair question as to whether it is a scientific production for legitimate purposes, or whether it is what the indictment alleged it to be, an obscene publication." further, the court accepted mr. bradlaugh's recognisances for £ for the costs of the prosecution. some, who have never read the knowlton pamphlet, glibly denounce it as a filthy and obscene publication. the lord chief justice of england and mr. justice mellor, after reading it, decided to grant a writ which they had determined not to grant if the book had merely a veneer of science and was "calculated to arouse the passions". christian bigotry has ever since striven to confound our action with the action of men who sell filth for gain, but only the shameless can persist in so doing when their falsehoods are plainly exposed, as they are exposed here. the most touching letters from the poor came to us from all parts of the kingdom. one woman, who described herself as "very poor", and who had had thirteen children and was expecting another, wrote saying, "if you want money we will manage to send you my husband's pay one week". an army officer wrote thanking us, saying he had "a wife, seven children, and three servants to keep on s. d. a day; d. per head per diem keeps life in us. the rest for education and raiment." a physician wrote of his hospital experience, saying that it taught him that "less dangerous preventive checks to large families [than over-lactation] should be taught to the lower classes". many clergymen wrote of their experience among the poor, and their joy that some attempt was being made to teach them how to avoid over-large families, and letter after letter came to me from poor curates' wives, thanking me for daring to publish information of such vital importance. in many places the poor people taxed themselves so much a week for the cost of the defence, because they could not afford any large sum at once. as soon as we were committed for trial, we resigned our posts on the executive of the national secular society, feeling that we had no right to entangle the society in a fight which it had not authorised us to carry on. we stated that we did not desire to relinquish our positions, "but we do desire that the members of the executive shall feel free to act as they think wisest for the interest of freethought". the letter was sent to the branches of the society, and of the thirty-three who answered all, except burnley and nottingham, refused to accept our resignation. on the executive a very clever attempt was made to place us in a difficult position by stating that the resignations were not accepted, but that, as we had resigned, and as the council had no power to renew appointments made by the conference, it could not invite us to resume our offices. this ingenious proposal was made by mr. george jacob holyoake, who all through the trial did his best to injure us, apparently because he had himself sold the book long before we had done so, and was anxious to shield himself from condemnation by attacking us. his resolution was carried by five votes to two. mr. haines and mr. ramsey, detecting its maliciousness, voted against it. the votes of the branches, of course, decided the question overwhelmingly in our favor, but we declined to sit on the executive with such a resolution standing, and it was then carried--mr. holyoake and mr. watts only voting against--that "this council acknowledge the consideration shown by mr. bradlaugh and mrs. besant for the public repute of the national secular society by tendering their resignations, and whilst disclaiming all responsibility for the book, 'fruits of philosophy', decline to accept such resignations". so thoroughly did we agree that the society ought not to be held responsible for our action, that we published the statement: "the freethought party is no more the endorser of our malthusianism than it is of our republicanism, or of our advocacy of woman suffrage, or of our support of the north in america, or of the part we take in french politics". i may add that at the nottingham conference mr. bradlaugh was re-elected president with only four dissentients, the party being practically unanimous in its determination to uphold a free press. the next stage of the prosecution was the seizure of our book packets and letters in the post-office by the tory government. the "freethinker's text book", the _national reformer_, and various pamphlets were seized, as well as the "fruits of philosophy", and sealed letters were opened. many meetings were held denouncing the revival of a system of government _espionage_ which, it was supposed, had died out in england, and so great was the commotion raised that a stop was soon put to this form of government theft, and we recovered the stolen property. on may th mr. edward truelove was attacked for the publication of robert dale owen's "moral physiology", and of a pamphlet entitled "individual, family, and national poverty", and as both were pamphlets dealing with the population question, mr. truelove's case was included in the general defence. among the witnesses we desired to subpoena was charles darwin, as we needed to use passages from his works; he wrote back a most interesting letter, telling us that he disagreed with preventive checks to population on the ground that over-multiplication was useful, since it caused a struggle for existence in which only the strongest and the ablest survived, and that he doubted whether it was possible for preventive checks to serve as well as positive. he asked us to avoid calling him if we could: "i have been for many years much out of health, and have been forced to give up all society or public meetings, and it would be great suffering to me to be a witness in court.... if it is not asking too great a favor, i should be greatly obliged if you would inform me what you decide, as apprehension of the coming exertion would prevent the rest which i require doing me much good." needless to add that i at once wrote to mr. darwin that we would not call him, but his gentle courtesy has always remained a pleasant memory to me. another kind act was that of the famous publisher, mr. h.g. bohn, who volunteered himself as a witness, and drew attention to the fact that every publisher of serious literature was imperilled by the attempt to establish a police censorship. the trial commenced on june th, in the court of queen's bench at westminster, before the lord chief justice of england and a special jury. sir hardinge giffard, the solicitor-general of the tory government, mr. douglas straight, and mr. mead, were the prosecuting counsel. the special jury consisted of the following: alfred upward, augustus voelcker, captain alfred henry waldy, thomas richard walker, robert wallace, edmund waller, arthur walter, charles alfred walter, john ward, arthur warre; the two talesmen, who were afterwards added to make up the number, were george skinner and charles wilson. the solicitor-general made a bitter and violent speech, full of party hate and malice, endeavoring to prejudice the jury against the work by picking out bits of medical detail and making profuse apologies for reading them, and shuddering and casting up his eyes with all the skill of a finished actor. for a man accustomed to old bailey practice he was really marvellously easily shocked; a simple physiological fact brought him to the verge of tears, while the statement that people often had too large families covered him with such modest confusion that he found it hard to continue his address. it fell to my lot to open the defence, and to put the general line of argument by which we justified the publication; mr. bradlaugh dealt with the defence of the book as a medical work--until the lord chief justice suggested that there was no "redundancy of details, or anything more than it is necessary for a medical man to know"--and strongly urged that the knowledge given by the pamphlet was absolutely necessary for the poor. we called as witnesses for the defence miss alice vickery--the first lady who passed the examination of the pharmaceutical society of great britain, and who has since passed the examinations qualifying her to act as a physician--dr. charles drysdale, and mr. h.g. bohn. dr. drysdale bore witness to the medical value of the pamphlet, stating that "considering it was written forty years ago ... the writer must have been a profound student of physiology, and far advanced in the medical science of his time". "i have always considered it an excellent treatise, and i have found among my professional brethren that they have had nothing to say against it." mr. bohn bore witness that he had published books which "entirely covered your book, and gave a great deal more." mr. bradlaugh and myself then severally summed up our case, and the solicitor-general made a speech for the prosecution very much of the character of his first one, doing all he could to inflame the minds of the jury against us. the lord chief justice, to quote a morning paper, "summed up strongly for an acquittal". he said that "a more ill-advised and more injudicious proceeding in the way of a prosecution was probably never brought into a court of justice". he described us as "two enthusiasts, who have been actuated by the desire to do good in a particular department of society". he bade the jury be careful "not to abridge the full and free right of public discussion, and the expression of public and private opinion on matters which are interesting to all, and materially affect the welfare of society." then came an admirable statement of the law of population, and of his own view of the scope of the book which i present in full as our best justification. "the author, doctor knowlton, professes to deal with the subject of population. now, a century ago a great and important question of political economy was brought to the attention of the scientific and thinking world by a man whose name everybody is acquainted with, namely, malthus. he started for the first time a theory which astonished the world, though it is now accepted as an irrefragable truth, and has since been adopted by economist after economist. it is that population has a strong and marked tendency to increase faster than the means of subsistence afforded by the earth, or that the skill and industry of man can produce for the support of life. the consequence is that the population of a country necessarily includes a vast number of persons upon whom poverty presses with a heavy and sad hand. it is true that the effects of over-population are checked to a certain extent by those powerful agencies which have been at work since the beginning of the world. great pestilences, famines, and wars have constantly swept away thousands from the face of the earth, who otherwise must have contributed to swell the numbers of mankind. the effect, however, of this tendency to increase faster than the means of subsistence, leads to still more serious evils amongst the poorer classes of society. it necessarily lowers the price of labor by reason of the supply exceeding the demand. it increases the dearth of provisions by making the demand greater than the supply, and produces direful consequences to a large class of persons who labor under the evils, physical and moral, of poverty. you find it, as described by a witness called yesterday, in the overcrowding of our cities and country villages, and the necessarily demoralising effects resulting from that over-crowding. you have heard of the way in which women--i mean child-bearing women--are destroyed by being obliged to submit to the necessities of their position before they are fully restored from the effects of child-birth, and the effects thus produced upon the children by disease and early death. that these are evils--evils which, if they could be prevented, it would be the first business of human charity to prevent--there cannot be any doubt. that the evils of over-population are real, and not imaginary, no one acquainted with the state of society in the present day can possibly deny. malthus suggested, years ago, and his suggestion has been supported by economists since his time, that the only possible way of keeping down population was by retarding marriage to as late a period as possible, the argument being that the fewer the marriages the fewer would be the people. but another class of theorists say that that remedy is bad, and possibly worse than the disease, because, although you might delay marriage, you cannot restrain those instincts which are implanted in human nature, and people will have the gratification and satisfaction of passions powerfully implanted, if not in one way, in some other way. so you have the evils of prostitution substituted for the evils of over-population. now, what says dr. knowlton? there being this choice of evils--there being this unquestioned evil of over-population which exists in a great part of the civilised world--is the remedy proposed by malthus so doubtful that probably it would lead to greater evils than the one which it is intended to remedy? dr. knowlton suggests--and here we come to the critical point of this inquiry--he suggests that, instead of marriage being postponed, it shall be hastened. he suggests that marriage shall take place in the hey-day of life, when the passions are at their highest, and that the evils of over-population shall be remedied by persons, after they have married, having recourse to artificial means to prevent the procreation of a numerous offspring, and the consequent evils, especially to the poorer classes, which the production of a too numerous offspring is certain to bring about. now, gentlemen, that is the scope of the book. with a view to make those to whom these remedies are suggested understand, appreciate, and be capable of applying them, he enters into details as to the physiological circumstances connected with the procreation of the species. the solicitor-general says--and that was the first proposition with which he started--that the whole of this is a delusion and a sham. when knowlton says that he wishes that marriage should take place as early as possible--marriage being the most sacred and holy of all human relations--he means nothing of the kind, but means and suggests, in the sacred name of marriage, illicit intercourse between the sexes, or a kind of prostitution. now, gentlemen, whatever may be your opinion about the propositions contained in this work, when you come to weigh carefully the views of this undoubted physician and would-be philosopher, i think you will agree with me that to say that he meant to depreciate marriage for the sake of prostitution, and that all he says about marriage is only a disguise, and intended to impress upon the mind sentiments of an entirely different character for the gratification of passion, otherwise than by marriage, is a most unjust accusation. (applause in court.) i must say that i believe that every word he says about marriage being a desirable institution, and every word he says with reference to the enjoyments and happiness it engenders, is said as honestly and truly as anything probably ever uttered by any man. i can only believe that when the solicitor-general made that statement he had not half studied the book. but i pass that by. i come to the plain issue before you. knowlton goes into physiological details connected with the functions of the generation and procreation of children. the principles of this pamphlet, with its details, are to be found in greater abundance and distinctness in numerous works to which your attention has been directed, and, having these details before you, you must judge for yourselves whether there is anything in them which is calculated to excite the passions of man and debase the public morals. if so, every medical work is open to the same imputation." the lord chief justice then dealt with the question whether conjugal prudence was in itself immoral, and pointed out to the jury that the decision of this very serious question was in their hands: "a man and woman may say, 'we have more children than we can supply with the common necessaries of life: what are we to do? let us have recourse to this contrivance.' then, gentlemen, you should consider whether that particular course of proceeding is inconsistent with morality, whether it would have a tendency to degrade and deprave the man or woman. the solicitor-general, while doubtless admitting the evils and mischiefs of excessive population, argues that the checks proposed are demoralising in their effects, and that it is better to bear the ills we have than have recourse to remedies having such demoralising results. these are questions for you, twelve thinking men, probably husbands and fathers of families, to consider and determine. that the defendants honestly believe that the evils that this work would remedy, arising from over-population and poverty, are so great that these checks may be resorted to as a remedy for the evils, and as bettering the condition of humanity, although there might be things to be avoided, if it were possible to avoid them, and yet remedy the evils which they are to prevent--that such is the honest opinion of the defendants, we, who have read the book, and who have heard what they have said, must do them the justice of believing. i agree with the solicitor-general if, with a view to what is admitted to be a great good, they propose something to the world, and circulate it especially among the poorer classes, if they propose something inconsistent with public morals, and tending to destroy the domestic purity of women, that it is not because they do not see the evils of the latter, while they see the evils of the former, that they must escape; if so, they must abide the consequences of their actions, whatever may have been their motive. they say, 'we are entitled to submit to the consideration of the thinking portion of mankind the remedies which we propose for these evils. we have come forward to challenge the inquiry whether this is a book which we are entitled to publish.' they do it fairly, i must say, and in a very straightforward manner they come to demand the judgment of the proper tribunal. you must decide that with a due regard and reference to the law, and with an honest and determined desire to maintain the morals of mankind. but, on the other hand, you must carefully consider what is due to public discussion, and with an anxious desire not, from any prejudiced view of this subject, to stifle what may be a subject of legitimate inquiry. but there is another view of this subject, that knowlton intended to reconcile with marriage the prevention of over-population. upon the perusal of this work, i cannot bring myself to doubt that he honestly believed that the remedies he proposed were less evils than even celibacy or over-population on the one hand, or the prevention of marriage on the other hand--in that honesty of intention i entirely concur. but whether, in his desire to reconcile marriage with a check on over-population, he did not overlook one very important consideration connected with that part of society which should abuse it, is another and a very serious consideration." when the jury retired there was but one opinion in court, namely, that we had won our case. but they were absent for an hour and thirty-five minutes, and we learned afterwards that several were anxious to convict, not so much because of the book as because we were freethinkers. at last they agreed to a compromise, and the verdict delivered was: "we are unanimously of opinion that the book in question is calculated to deprave public morals, but at the same time we entirely exonerate the defendants from any corrupt motives in publishing it." the lord chief justice looked troubled, and said gravely that he would have to direct them to return a verdict of guilty on such a finding. the foreman, who was bitterly hostile, jumped at the chance without consulting his colleagues, some of whom had turned to leave the box, and thus snatched a technical verdict of "guilty" against us. mr. george skinner, of , great chapel gate, westminster, wrote to me on the following day to say that six of the jurymen did not consent to the verdict of "guilty", and that they had agreed that if the judge would not accept the verdict as handed in they would then retire again, and that they would never have given a verdict of guilty; but the stupid men had not the sense to speak out at the right time, and their foreman had his way. the lord chief justice at once set us free to come up for judgment on that day week, june th--the trial had lasted till the st--and we went away on the same recognizances given before by mr. bradlaugh, an absolutely unprecedented courtesy to two technically "convicted prisoners".[ ] [footnote : a report of the trial can be obtained from the freethought publishing company, price s. it contains an exact report of all that was said and done.] xvi. the week which intervened between the verdict of the jury and the day on which we were ordered to appear in court to receive sentence was spent by us in arranging all our affairs, and putting everything in train for our anticipated absence. one serious question had to be settled, but it did not need long consideration. what were we to do about the knowlton pamphlet? we promptly decided to ignore the verdict and to continue the sale. recognising that the fact of this continued sale would be brought up against us in court and would probably seriously increase our sentence, we none the less considered that as we had commenced the fight we were bound to maintain it, and we went on with the sale as before. on june th we attended the court of queen's bench to receive judgment, the lord chief justice and mr. justice mellor being on the bench. we moved to quash the indictment, on arrest of judgment, and for a new trial, the first on the ground that the indictment did not set out the words complained of. the judges were against us on this, but it is interesting to note that the lord chief justice remarked that "the language of the book is not open to any particular objection". i argued that the jury, having exonerated us from any corrupt motive, could not be regarded as having found us guilty on an indictment which charged us with a corrupt motive: the lord chief justice held that "in the unnecessary and superfluous part of the indictment, there is no judgment against you", and refused to believe that anyone would be found afterwards so base as to accuse us of evil intent, because of the formal words of the indictment, the jury having acquitted us of any corrupt intention. the judge unfortunately imputed to others his own uprightness, and we have found many--among them sir w.t. charley, the present common sergeant-- vile enough to declare what he thought impossible, that we were found guilty of wilfully corrupting the morals of the people. the judges decided against us on all the points raised, but it is due to them to say that in refusing to quash the indictment, as mr. bradlaugh asked, they were misled by the misrepresentation of an american case by sir hardinge giffard, and, to quote the words of the lord chief justice, they sheltered themselves "under the decisions of the american courts, and left this matter to be carefully gone into by the court of error". the question of sentence then arose, and two affidavits were put in, one by a reporter of the _morning advertiser_, named lysaght. this individual published in the _advertiser_ a very garbled report of a meeting at the hall of science on the previous sunday, evidently written to anger the lord chief justice, and used by sir hardinge giffard with the same object. in one thing, however, it was accurate, and that was in stating that we announced our intention to continue the sale of the book. on this arose an argument with the lord chief justice; he pointed out that we did not deny that the circulation of the book was going on, and we assented that it was so. it was almost pathetic to see the judge, angry at our resolution, unwilling to sentence us, but determined to vindicate the law he administered. "the question is," he urged, "what is to be the future course of your conduct? the jury have acquitted you of any intention to deliberately violate the law; and that, although you did publish this book, which was a book that ought not to have been published, you were not conscious of the effect it might have, and had no intention to violate the law. that would induce the court, if it saw a ready submission on your part, to deal with the case in a very lenient way. the jury having found that it was a violation of the law, but with a good motive or through ignorance, the court, in awarding punishment upon such a state of things, would, of course, be disposed to take a most indulgent view of the matter. but if the law has been openly set at defiance, the matter assumes a very different aspect, and it must be dealt with as a very grave and aggravated case." we could not, however, pledge ourselves to do anything more than stop the sale pending the appeal on the writ of error which we had resolved to go for. "have you anything to say in mitigation?" was the judge's last appeal; but mr. bradlaugh answered: "i respectfully submit myself to the sentence of the court"; and i: "i have nothing to say in mitigation of punishment". the sentence and the reason for its heavy character have been so misrepresented, that i print here, from the shorthand report taken at the time, the account of what passed:-- "the lord chief justice, after having conferred for some minutes with mr. justice mellor, said: the case has now assumed a character of very, very grave importance. we were prepared, if the defendants had announced openly in this court that having acted in error as the jury found--of which finding i think they are entitled to the benefit--but still having been, after a fair and impartial trial, found by the jury guilty of doing of that which was an offence against the law, they were ready to submit to the law and to do everything in their power to prevent the further publication and circulation of a work which has been declared by the jury to be a work calculated to deprave public morals, we should have been prepared to discharge them on their own recognizances to be of good behavior in the future. but we cannot help seeing in what has been said and done pending this trial, and since the verdict of the jury was pronounced, that the defendants, instead of submitting themselves to the law, have set it at defiance by continuing to circulate this book. that being so i must say that that which before was an offence of a comparatively slight character--looking to what the jury have found in reference to the contention of the defendants--now assumes the form of a most grave and aggravated offence, and as such we must deal with it. the sentence is that you, charles bradlaugh, and you, annie besant, be imprisoned for the term of six calendar months; that you each pay a fine of £ to the queen; and that you enter further into your own recognizances in a sum of £ each to be of good behavior for the term of two years; and i tell you at the same time that you will not be of 'good behavior' and will be liable to forfeit that sum if you continue to publish this book. no persuasion or conviction on your part that you are doing that which is morally justifiable can possibly warrant you in violating the law or excuse you in doing so. no one is above the law; all owe obedience to the law from the highest to the lowest, and if you choose to set yourself at defiance against the law--to break it and defy it--you must expect to be dealt with accordingly. i am very sorry indeed that such should be the result, but it is owing to your being thus contumacious, notwithstanding that you have had a fair trial, and the verdict of a competent jury, which ought to have satisfied you that you ought to abstain from doing what has been clearly demonstrated and shown to be wrong. "mr. bradlaugh: would your lordship entertain an application to stay execution of the sentence? "the lord chief justice: certainly not. on consideration, if you will pledge yourselves unreservedly that there shall be no repetition of the publication of the book, at all events, until the court of appeal shall have decided contrary to the verdict of the jury and our judgment; if we can have that positive pledge, and you will enter into your recognizances that you will not avail yourselves of the liberty we extend to continue the publication of this book, which it is our bounden duty to suppress, or do our utmost to suppress, we may stay execution; but we can show no indulgence without such a pledge. "mr. bradlaugh: my lord, i meant to offer that pledge in the fullest and most unreserved sense, because, although i have my own view as to what is right, i also recognise that the law having pronounced sentence, that is quite another matter so far as i, as a citizen, am concerned. i do not wish to ask your lordship for a favor without yielding to the court during the time that i take advantage of its indulgence. "the lord chief justice: i wish you had taken this position sooner. "mr. bradlaugh: if the sentence goes against us, it is another matter; but if you should consent to give us time for the argument of this writ of error, we would bind ourselves during that time. i should not like your lordship to be induced to grant this request on the understanding that in the event of the ultimate decision being against me i should feel bound by that pledge. "the lord chief justice: i must do you the justice to say that throughout the whole of this battle our conduct has been straightforward since you took it up. "mr. bradlaugh: i would not like your lordship to think that, in the event of the ultimate decision being against us, there was any sort of pledge. i simply meant that the law having pronounced against us, if your lordship gives us the indulgence of fighting it in the higher court, no sort of direct or indirect advantage shall be taken of the indulgence. "the lord chief justice: you will not continue the publication? "mr. bradlaugh: not only will i stop the circulation of the book myself, but i will do all in my power to prevent other people circulating it. "the lord chief justice: then you can be discharged on your own recognizances for £ , 'to be of good behavior,' which you will understand to mean, that you will desist from the publication of this work until your appeal shall have been heard, and will engage to prosecute the appeal without delay. "mr. bradlaugh: certainly; until the present, i have undoubtedly circulated the book. although there is a blunder in the affidavits i do not disguise the matter of fact. i shall immediately put the thing under my own control, and i will at once lock up every copy in existence, and will not circulate another copy until the appeal is decided. "mr. justice mellor: it must be that you will really, to the best of your ability, prevent the circulation of this book until this matter has been determined. "the lord chief justice: and what mr. bradlaugh says, i understand that you, mrs. besant, also assent to? "mrs. besant: yes: that is my pledge until the writ of error has been decided. i do not want to give a pledge which you may think was not given honestly. i will give my pledge, but it must be understood that the promise goes no further than that decision. "mr. justice mellor: you will abstain yourself from circulating the book, and, so far as you can, suppress its circulation? "mr. bradlaugh: every copy that is unsold shall be at once put under lock and key until the decision of the case. "the solicitor-general: my lord, i think there should be no misunderstanding upon this; i understand that the defendants have undertaken that during the pendency of the appeal this book shall not be circulated at all. but if the decision should be against them they are under no pledge not to publish. "mr. bradlaugh: i hope your lordship will not ask us what we shall do in future. "the lord chief justice: we have meted out the amount of punishment upon the assumption--there being no assertion to the contrary, but rather an admission--that they do intend to set the law at defiance. if we had understood that they were prepared to submit themselves to the law, we should have been disposed to deal with them in the most indulgent manner; but as we understood that they did not intend this, we have meted out to them such a punishment as we hope, when undergone, will have a deterrent effect upon them, and may prevent other people offending in like manner. we have nothing to do with what may happen after the defendants obtain a judgment in their favor, if they do so, or after the sentence is carried out, if they do not. our sentence is passed, and it will stand, subject only to this, that we stay execution until a writ of error may be disposed of, the defendants giving the most unqualified and unreserved pledge that they will not allow another copy of the book to be sold. "mr. bradlaugh: quite so, my lord; quite so." we were then taken into custody, and went down to the crown office to get the form for the recognizances, the amount of which, £ , after such a sentence, was a fair proof of the view of the court as to our good faith in the whole matter. as a married woman, i was unable to give recognizances, being only a chattel, not a person cognisable by law; the court mercifully ignored this--or i should have had to go to prison--and accepted mr. bradlaugh's sole recognizance as covering us both. it further inserted in the sentence that we were "to be placed in the first class of misdemeanants", but as the sentence was never executed, we did not profit by this alleviation. the rest of the story of the knowlton pamphlet is soon told. we appeared in the court of appeal on january th, th, and st, . mr. bradlaugh argued the case, i only making a brief speech, and on february th the court, composed of lords justices bramwell, brett, and cotton, gave judgment in our favor and quashed the indictment. thus we triumphed all along the line; the jury acquitted us of all evil motive, and left us morally unstained; the court of appeal quashed the indictment, and set us legally free. none the less have the ignorant, the malicious, and the brutal, used this trial and sentence against us as a proof of moral obliquity, and have branded us as "vendors of obscene books" on this sole ground. with the decision of the court of appeal our pledge not to sell the knowlton pamphlet came to an end, and we at once recommenced the sale. the determination we came to was announced in the _national reformer_ of march rd, and i reprint here the statement i wrote at the time in mr. bradlaugh's name as well as my own. "the plan of the campaign. "the first pitched battle of the new campaign for the liberty of the press has, as all our readers know, ended in the entire defeat of the attacking army, and in the recapture of the position originally lost. there is no conviction--of ours--registered against the knowlton pamphlet, the whole of the proceedings having been swept away; and the prosecutors are left with a large sum out of pocket, and no one any the worse for all their efforts. the banker's account of the unknown prosecutor shows a long and melancholy catalogue of expenses, and there is no glory and no success to balance them on the other side of the ledger. on the contrary, our prosecutors have advertised the attacked pamphlet, and circulated it by thousands and by hundreds of thousands; they have caused it to be reprinted in holland and in america, and have spread it over india, australia, new zealand, and the whole continent of europe; they have caused the population question to be discussed, both at home and abroad, in the press and in the public meeting; they have crammed the largest halls in england and scotland to listen to the preaching of malthusianism; they have induced the publication of a modern pamphlet on the question which is selling by thousands; they have enormously increased the popularity of the defendants, and made new friends for them in every class of society; in the end, knowlton is being circulated as vigorously as ever, and since the case was decided more copies have been sold than would have been disposed of in ten years at the old rate of sale. truly, our prosecutors must feel delighted at the results of their labors. "so much for the past: what as to the future? some, fancying we should act as they themselves would do under the like circumstances, dream that we shall now give way. we have not the smallest intention of doing anything of the kind. we said, nearly a year ago, that so long as knowlton was prosecuted we should persist in selling him; we repeated the same determination in court, and received for it a heavy sentence; we repeat the same to-day, in spite of the injudicious threat of lord justice brett. before we went up for judgment in the court of appeal we had made all preparations for the renewal of the struggle; parcels were ready to be forwarded to friends who had volunteered to sell in various towns; if we had gone to jail from the court these would at once have been sent; as we won our case, they were sent just the same. on the following day orders were given to tell any wholesale agents who inquired that the book was again on sale, and the bills at , stonecutter street, announcing the suspension, of the sale, were taken down; from that day forward all orders received have been punctually attended to, and the sale has been both rapid and steady. there is, however, one difference between the sale of knowlton and that of our other literature: knowlton is not sold across the counter at stonecutter street. when we were arrested in april , we stopped the sale across counter, and we do not, at present, intend to recommence it. our reason is very simple. the sale across counter does not, in any fashion, cause us any additional risk; the danger of it falls entirely on mr. ramsey and on mr. and mrs. norrish; we fail to see that there is any courage in running other people into danger, and we prefer, therefore, to take the risk on ourselves. we do not intend to go down again and personally sell behind the counter; we thought it right to challenge a prosecution once, but, having done so, we intend now to go quietly on our ordinary way of business, and wait for any attack that may come. "meanwhile, we are not only selling the 'fruits of philosophy', but we also are striving to gain the legal right to do so. in the appeal from mr. vaughan's decision mr. bradlaugh again raises all the disputed questions, and that appeal will be argued as persistently as was the one just decided in our favor. we are also making efforts to obtain an alteration of the law of libel, and we hope soon to be able to announce the exact terms of the proposed bill. "my own pamphlet, on 'the law of population', is another effort in the same direction. at our trial the lord chief justice said, that it was the advocacy of the preventive checks which was the assailable part of knowlton; that advocacy is strongly and clearly to be found in the new pamphlet, together with facts useful to mothers, as to the physical injury caused by over-rapid child-bearing, which knowlton did not give. the pamphlet has the advantage of being written fifty years later than the 'fruits of philosophy', and is more suitable, therefore, for circulation at the present day. we hope that it may gradually replace knowlton as a manual for the poor. while we shall continue to print and sell knowlton as long as any attempt is made to suppress it, we hope that the more modern pamphlet may gradually supersede the old one. "if another prosecution should be instituted against us, our prosecutors would have a far harder task before them than they had last time. in the first place, they would be compelled to state, clearly and definitely, what it is to which they object; and we should, therefore, be able to bring our whole strength to bear on the assailed point. in the second place, they would have to find a jury who would be ready to convict, and after the full discussion of the question which has taken place the finding of such a jury would be by no means an easy thing to do. lastly, they must be quite sure not to make any legal blunders, for they may be sure that such sins will find them out. perhaps, on the whole, they had better leave us alone. "i believe that our readers will be glad to have this statement of our action, and this assurance that we feel as certain of winning the battle of a free press as when we began it a year ago, and that our determination is as unwavering as when serjeant outram arrested us in the spring of last year.--annie besant." several purchases were made from us by detectives, and we were more than once threatened with prosecution. at last evidence for a new prosecution was laid before the home office, and the government declined to institute fresh proceedings or to have anything more to do with the matter. the battle was won. as soon as we were informed of this decision, we decided to sell only the copies we had in stock, and not to further reprint the pamphlet. out-of-date as was much of its physiology, it was defended as a symbol, not for its intrinsic worth. we issued a circular stating that-- "the knowlton pamphlet is now entirely out of print, and, , having been printed, the freethought publishing company do not intend to continue the publication, which has never at any time been advertised by them except on the original issue to test the question. 'the law of population', price d., post free d., has been specially written by mrs. besant to supersede the knowlton pamphlet." thus ended a prolonged resistance to an unfair attempt to stifle discussion, and, much as i have suffered in consequence of the part i took in that fight, i have never once regretted that battle for the saving of the poor. in july, , a side-quarrel on the pamphlet begun which lasted until december rd, , and was fought through court after court right out to a successful issue. we had avoided a seizure warrant by removing all our stock from , stonecutter street, but of the pamphlets had been seized at mr. truelove's, in holborn, and that gentleman was also proceeded against for selling the work. the summons for selling was withdrawn, and mr. bradlaugh succeeded in having his name and mine inserted as owners of the books in the summons for their destruction. the books remained in the custody of the magistrate until after the decision of the court of queen's bench, and on february th, , mr. bradlaugh appeared before mr. vaughan at bow street, and claimed that the books should be restored to him. mr. collette, of the vice society, argued on the other hand that the books were obscene, and ought therefore to be destroyed. mr. vaughan reserved his decision, and asked for the lord chief justice's summing-up in the queen _v._ bradlaugh and besant. on february th he made an order for the destruction of the pamphlets, against which mr. bradlaugh appealed to the general sessions on the following grounds: " st. that the said book is not an obscene book within the meaning of the th and st victoria, cap. . nd. that the said book is a scientific treatise on the law of population and its connexion with poverty, and that there is nothing in the book which is not necessary and legitimate in the description of the question. rd. that the advocacy of non-life-destroying checks to population is not an offence either at common law or by statute, and that the manner in which that advocacy is raised in the said book, 'the fruits of philosophy', is not such as makes it an indictable offence. th. that the discussion and recommendation of checks to over-population after marriage is perfectly lawful, and that there is in the advocacy and recommendations contained in the book 'fruits of philosophy' nothing that is prurient or calculated to inflame the passions. th. that the physiological information in the said book is such as is absolutely necessary for understanding the subjects treated, and such information is more fully given in carpenter's treatises on physiology, and kirke's 'handbook of physiology', which later works are used for the instruction of the young under government sanction. th. that the whole of the physiological information contained in the said book, 'the fruits of philosophy', has been published uninterruptedly for fifty years, and still is published in dear books, and that the publication of such information in a cheap form cannot constitute an offence." after a long argument before mr. edlin and a number of other middlesex magistrates, the bench affirmed mr. vaughan's order, whereupon mr. bradlaugh promptly obtained from the lord chief justice and mr. justice mellor a writ of _certiorari_, removing their order to the queen's bench division of the high court of justice with a view to quashing it. the matter was not argued until the following november, on the th of which month it came on before mr. justice mellor and mr. justice field. the court decided in mr. bradlaugh's favor and granted a rule quashing mr. vaughan's order, and with this fell the order of the middlesex magistrates. the next thing was to recover the pamphlets thus rescued from destruction, and on december rd mr. bradlaugh appeared before mr. vaughan at bow street in support of a summons against mr. henry wood, a police inspector, for detaining copies of the "fruits of philosophy". after a long argument mr. vaughan ordered the pamphlets to be given up to him, and he carried them off in triumph, there and then, on a cab. we labelled the rescued pamphlets and sold every one of them, in mocking defiance of the vice society. the circulation of literature advocating prudential checks to population was not stopped during the temporary suspension of the sale of the knowlton pamphlet between june, , and february, . in october, , i commenced in the _national reformer_ the publication of a pamphlet entitled: "the law of population, its consequences, and its bearing upon human conduct and morals". this little book included a statement of the law, evidence of the serious suffering among the poor caused by over-large families, and a clear statement of the checks proposed, with arguments in their favor. the medical parts were omitted in the _national reformer_ articles, and the pamphlet was published complete early in november, at the price of sixpence--the same as knowlton's--the first edition consisting of , copies. a second edition of , was issued in december, but all the succeeding editions were of , copies each. the pamphlet is now in its ninetieth thousand, and has gone all over the civilised world. it has been translated into swedish, danish, dutch, french, german, and italian, and , copies have been sold of an american reprint. on the whole, the prosecution of did not do much in stopping the circulation of literature on the population question. the "law" has been several times threatened with prosecution, and the initial steps have been taken, but the stage of issuing a warrant for its seizure has never yet been reached. twice i have had the stock removed to avoid seizure, but on each occasion the heart of the prosecutors has failed them, and the little book has carried its message of mercy unspeeded by the advertisement of prosecution. the struggle on the right to discuss the prudential restraint of population did not, however, conclude without a martyr. mr. edward truelove, alluded to above, was prosecuted for selling a treatise by robert dale owen on "moral physiology", and a pamphlet entitled, "individual, family, and national poverty". he was tried on february st, , before the lord chief justice in the court of queen's bench, and was most ably defended by professor w.a. hunter. the jury spent two hours in considering their verdict, and then returned into court and stated that they were unable to agree. the majority of the jury were ready to convict, if they felt sure that mr. truelove would not be punished, but one of them boldly declared in court: "as to the book, it is written in plain language for plain people, and i think that many more persons ought to know what the contents of the book are". the jury was discharged, in consequence of this one man's courage, but mr. truelove's persecutors-- the wretched vice society--were determined not to let their victim free. they proceeded to trial a second time, and wisely endeavored to secure a special jury, feeling that as prudential restraint would raise wages by limiting the supply of labor, they would be more likely to obtain a verdict from a jury of "gentlemen" than from one composed of workers. this attempt was circumvented by mr. truelove's legal advisers, who let a _procedendo_ go which sent back the trial to the old bailey. the second trial was held on may th at the central criminal court before baron pollock and a common jury, professor hunter and mr. j.m. davidson appearing for the defence. the jury convicted, and the brave old man, sixty-eight years of age, was condemned to four months' imprisonment and £ fine for selling a pamphlet which had been sold unchallenged, during a period of forty-five years, by james watson, george jacob holyoake, austin holyoake, and charles watts. mr. grain, the counsel employed by the vice society, most unfairly used against mr. truelove my "law of population", a pamphlet which contained, baron pollock said, "the head and front of the offence in the other [the knowlton] case". i find an indignant protest against this odious unfairness in the _national reformer_ for may th: "'my law of population' was used against mr. truelove as an aggravation of his offence; passing over the utter meanness--worthy only of collette--of using against a prisoner a book whose author has never been attacked for writing it--does mr. collette, or do the authorities, imagine that the severity shown to mr. truelove will in any fashion deter me from continuing the malthusian propaganda? let me here assure them, one and all, that it will do nothing of the kind; i shall continue to sell the 'law of population' and to advocate scientific checks to population, just as though mr. collette and his vice society were all dead and buried. in commonest justice they are bound to prosecute me, and if they get, and keep, a verdict against me, and succeed in sending me to prison, they will only make people more anxious to read my book, and make me more personally powerful as a teacher of the views which they attack." a persistent attempt was made to obtain a writ of error in mr. truelove's case, but the tory attorney-general, sir john holker, refused it, although the ground on which it was asked was one of the grounds on which a similar writ had been granted to mr. bradlaugh and myself. mr. truelove was therefore compelled to suffer his sentence, but memorials, signed by , persons, asking for his release, were sent to the home secretary from every part of the country, and a crowded meeting in st. james' hall, london, demanded his liberation with only six dissentients. the whole agitation did not shorten mr. truelove's sentence by a single day, and he was not released from coldbath fields' prison until september th. on the th of the same month the hall of science was crowded with enthusiastic friends, who assembled to do him honor, and he was presented with a beautifully-illuminated address and a purse containing £ (subsequent subscriptions raised the amount to £ s. d.). it is scarcely necessary to say that one of the results of the prosecution was a great agitation throughout the country, and a wide popularisation of malthusian views. some huge demonstrations were held in favor of free discussion; on one occasion the free trade hall, manchester, was crowded to the doors; on another the star music hall, bradford, was crammed in every corner; on another the town hall, birmingham, had not a seat or a bit of standing-room unoccupied. wherever we went, separately or together, it was the same story, and not only were malthusian lectures eagerly attended, and malthusian literature eagerly bought, but curiosity brought many to listen to our radical and freethought lectures, and thousands heard for the first time what secularism really meant. the press, both london and provincial, agreed in branding the prosecution as foolish, and it was widely remarked that it resulted only in the wider circulation of the indicted book, and the increased popularity of those who had stood for the right of publication. the furious attacks since made upon us have been made chiefly by those who differ from us in theological creed, and who have found a misrepresentation of our prosecution served them as a convenient weapon of attack. during the last few years public opinion has been gradually coming round to our side, in consequence of the pressure of poverty resulting from widespread depression of trade, and during the sensation caused in by "the bitter cry of outcast london", many writers in the _daily news_--notably mr. g.r. sims--boldly alleged that the distress was to a great extent due to the large families of the poor, and mentioned that we had been prosecuted for giving the very knowledge which would bring salvation to the sufferers in our great cities. among the useful results of the prosecution was the establishment of the malthusian league, "to agitate for the abolition of all penalties on the public discussion of the population question", and "to spread among the people, by all practicable means, a knowledge of the law of population, of its consequences, and of its bearing upon human conduct and morals". the first general meeting of the league was held at the hall of science on july th, , and a council of twenty persons was elected, and this council on august nd elected dr. c.r. drysdale, m.d. president, mr. swaagman treasurer, mrs. besant secretary, mr. shearer assistant secretary, and mr. hember financial secretary. since the league, under the same indefatigable president, has worked hard to carry out its objects; it has issued a large number of leaflets and tracts; it supports a monthly journal, the _malthusian_; numerous lectures have been delivered under its auspices in all parts of the country; and it has now a medical branch, into which none but duly qualified medical men and women are admitted, with members in all european countries. another result of the prosecution was the accession of "d." to the staff of the _national reformer_. this able and thoughtful writer came forward and joined our ranks as soon as he heard of the attack on us, and he further volunteered to conduct the journal during our imprisonment. from that time to this--a period of eight years--articles from his pen have appeared in our columns week by week, and during all that time not one solitary difficulty has arisen between editors and contributor. in public a trustworthy colleague, in private a warm and sincere friend, "d." has proved an unmixed benefit bestowed upon us by the prosecution. nor was "d." the only friend brought to us by our foes. i cannot ever think of that time without remembering that the prosecution brought me first into close intimacy with mrs. annie parris--the wife of mr. touzeau parris, the secretary of the defence committee throughout all the fight-- a lady who, during that long struggle, and during the, for me, far worse struggle that succeeded it, over the custody of my daughter, proved to me the most loving and sisterly of friends. one or two other friendships which will, i hope, last my life, date from that same time of strife and anxiety. the amount of money subscribed by the public during the knowlton and succeeding prosecutions gives some idea of the interest felt in the struggle. the defence fund committee in march, , presented a balance-sheet, showing subscriptions amounting to £ , s. d., and total expenditure in the queen _v._ bradlaugh and besant, the queen _v._ truelove, and the appeal against mr. vaughan's order (the last two up to date) of £ , s. this account was then closed and the balance of £ s. d. passed on to a new fund for the defence of mr. truelove, the carrying on of the appeal against the destruction of the knowlton pamphlet, and the bearing of the costs incident on the petition lodged against myself. in july this new fund had reached £ s. d., and after paying the remainder of the costs in mr. truelove case, a balance of £ s. d. was carried on. this again rose to £ s. - / d., and the fund bore the expenses of mr. bradlaugh's successful appeal on the knowlton pamphlet, the petition and subsequent proceedings in which i was concerned in the court of chancery, and an appeal on mr. truelove's behalf, unfortunately unsuccessful, against an order for the destruction of the dale owen pamphlet. this last decision was given on february st, , and on this the defence fund was closed. on mr. truelove's release, as mentioned above, a testimonial to the amount of £ s. d. was presented to him, and after the close of the struggle some anonymous friend sent to me personally £ as "thanks for the courage and ability shown". in addition to all this, the malthusian league received no less than £ s. d. during the first year of its life, and started on its second year with a balance in hand of £ s. d. the propaganda of freethought was not forgotten while this malthusian quarrel was raging, and in august the freethought publishing company issued the first english edition of lectures by colonel robert ingersoll, the eminent freethought advocate of the united states. since that time various other publishers have circulated thousands of his lectures, but it has always been to me a matter of satisfaction that we were the first to popularise the eloquent american in england. the ruling of the lord chief justice that a book written with pure intention and meant to convey useful knowledge might yet be obscene, drew from me a pamphlet entitled, "is the bible indictable?", in which i showed that the bible came clearly within the judge's ruling. this turning of the tables on our persecutors caused considerable sensation at the time, and the pamphlet had, and still has, a very wide circulation. it is needless to add that the sunday freethought lectures were carried on despite the legal toils of the week, and, as said above, the large audiences attracted by the prosecution gave a splendid field for the inculcation of freethought views. the national secular society consequently increased largely in membership, and a general impulse towards freethought was manifest throughout the land. the year , so far as lecturing work was concerned, was largely taken up with a crusade against the beaconsfield government and in favor of peace. lord beaconsfield's hired roughs broke up several peace meetings during the winter, and on february th mr. bradlaugh and mr. auberon herbert, at the request of a meeting of working-class delegates, held in hyde park a "demonstration in favor of peace". the war party attacked the meeting and some sharp fighting took place, but a resolution "that this meeting declares in favor of peace" was carried despite them. a second meeting was called by the working men's committee for march th, and a large force of medical students, roughs, militia-men, and "gentlemen", armed with loaded bludgeons, heavy pieces of iron, sticks with metal twisted round them, and various sharp-cutting weapons, went to hyde park to make a riot. the meeting was held and the resolution carried, but after it had dissolved there was some furious fighting. we learned afterwards that a large money reward had been offered to a band of roughs if they would disable mr. bradlaugh, and a violent organised attack was made on him. the stewards of the meeting carried short policemen's truncheons to defend themselves, and a number of these gathered round their chief and saved his life. he and his friends had to fight their way out of the park; a man, armed with some sharp instrument, struck at mr. bradlaugh from behind, and cut one side of his hat from top to brim; his truncheon was dinted with the jagged iron used as weapon; and his left arm, with which he guarded his head, was one mass of bruises from wrist to elbow. lord beaconsfield's friends very nearly succeeded in their attempt at murder, after all, for a dangerous attack of erysipelas set in, in the injured arm, and confined mr. bradlaugh to his room for sixteen days. the provinces were far more strongly against war than was the capital, and in them we held many large and enthusiastic meetings in favor of peace. at huddersfield the great drill hall was crammed for a lecture by me against war, and throughout yorkshire and lancashire scarcely a voice was ever raised in crowded meetings in defence of the beaconsfieldian policy. a leaflet of mine, entitled "rushing into war", was reprinted in various parts of the country, and was circulated in tens of thousands, and each freethought leader worked with tongue and pen, on platform and in press, to turn the public feeling against war. the freethought party may well take credit to itself for having been first in the field against the tory policy, and for having successfully begun the work later carried on by mr. gladstone in his midlothian campaign. they did more than any other party in the country to create that force of public opinion which overthrew the tory government in . xvii. the year was a dark one for me; it saw me deprived of my little daughter, despite the deed of separation by which the custody of the child had been assigned to me. the first notice that an application was to be made to the high court of chancery to deprive me of this custody reached me in january, , while the decision on the knowlton case was still pending, but the petition was not filed till april. the time was ill-chosen; mabel had caught scarlet fever at a day-school she was attending, and for some days was dangerously ill. the fact of her illness was communicated to her father, and while the child was lying ill in bed, and i had cancelled all engagements so that i might not leave her side, i received a copy of the petition to deprive me of her custody. this document alleged as grounds for taking away the child: "the said annie besant is, by addresses, lectures, and writings, endeavoring to propagate the principles of atheism, and has published a book intituled: 'the gospel of atheism'. she has also associated herself with an infidel lecturer and author, named charles bradlaugh, in giving lectures and in publishing books and pamphlets, whereby the truth of the christian religion is impeached, and disbelief in all religion is inculcated. "the said annie besant has also, in conjunction with the said charles bradlaugh, published an indecent and obscene pamphlet called 'the fruits of philosophy'. "the said pamphlet has recently been the subject of legal proceedings, in the course of which the said annie besant publicly justified its contents and publication, and stated, or inferred, that in her belief it would be right to teach young children the physiological facts contained in the said pamphlet. [this was a deliberate falsehood: i had never stated or inferred anything of the kind.] the said annie besant has also edited and published a pamphlet intituled 'the law of population; its consequences, and its bearing upon human conduct and morals', to which book or pamphlet your petitioners crave leave to refer." the petition was unfortunately heard before the master of the rolls, sir george jessel, a man animated by the old spirit of hebrew bigotry, and who had superadded to this the coarse time-serving morality of "a man of the world", sceptical of all sincerity, and contemptuous of all self-devotion to a cause that did not pay, as of a weakness by which he was himself singularly unassailable. the treatment i received at his hands on my first appearance in court told me what i had to expect. after my previous experience of the courtesy of english judges, i was startled to hear a harsh, loud voice exclaim, in answer to a statement from mr. ince. q.c., that i appeared in person: "appear in person? a lady appear in person? never heard of such a thing! does the lady really appear in person?" after a variety of similar remarks, delivered in the most grating tones and with the roughest manner, sir george jessel tried to attain his object by browbeating me directly. "is this the lady?" "i am the respondent to the petition, my lord--mrs. besant." "then i advise you, mrs. besant, to employ counsel to represent you, if you can afford it, and i suppose you can." "with all submission to your lordship, i am afraid i must claim my right of arguing my case in person." "you will do so if you please, of course, but i think you had much better appear by counsel. i give you notice that, if you do not, you must not expect to be shown any consideration. you will not be heard by me at any greater length than the case requires, nor allowed to go into irrelevant matter, as persons who argue their own cases generally do." "i trust i shall not do so, my lord; but in any case i shall be arguing under your lordship's complete control." this encouraging beginning may be taken as a sample of the case. mr. ince, the counsel on the other side, was constantly practising in the rolls' court, knew all the judge's peculiarities, how to flatter and humor him on the one hand, and how to irritate him against his opponent on the other. nor was mr. ince above using his influence with the master of the rolls to obtain an unfair advantage, knowing that whatever he said would be believed against any contradiction of mine: thus he tried to obtain costs against me on the ground that the public helped me, whereas his client received no subscriptions in aid of his suit; yet as a matter of fact subscriptions had been collected for his client, and the bishop of lincoln, and many of the principal clergy and churchmen of the diocese had contributed liberally towards the persecution of the atheist. mr. ince and mr. bardswell argued that my atheism and malthusianism made me an unfit guardian for my child; mr. ince declared that mabel, educated by me, would "be helpless for good in this world", and "hopeless for good hereafter"; outcast in this life and damned in the next; mr. bardswell implored the judge to consider that my custody of her "would be detrimental to the future prospects of the child in society, to say nothing of her eternal prospects". i could have laughed, had not the matter been so terribly serious, at the mixture of mrs. grundy, marriage-establishment, and hell, presented as an argument for robbing a mother of her child. once only did judge and counsel fall out; mr. bardswell had carelessly forgotten that sir george jessel was a jew, and lifting eyes to heaven said: "your lordship, i think, will scarcely credit it, but mrs. besant says in a later affidavit that she took away the testament from the child, because it contained coarse passages unfit for a child to read." to his horror, sir george jessel considered there were "some passages which a child had better not read in the new testament", and went on: "it is not true to say there are no passages that are unfit for a child's reading, because i think there are a great many. "mr. bardswell: i do not know of any passages that could fairly be called coarse. "sir g. jessel: i cannot quite assent to that." with the exception of this little outburst of religious feeling against the book written by apostate jews, jewish judge and christian counsel were united in their hatred of the atheist. my argument fell on deaf ears; i distinctly admitted that i was an atheist, that i had withdrawn the child from religious instruction at school, that i was the author of the "gospel of atheism", "the fruits of christianity", "the freethinkers' text book, part ii.", and "the law of population", produced against me: i claimed her custody on the ground that it was given me by the deed of separation executed by the father who was trying to set it aside, and that no pretence was made that the child was neglected, the admission being, on the contrary, that she was admirably cared for: i offered lastly, if she were taken from me, to devote £ a-year to her maintenance and education, provided that she were placed in the hands of a third person, not of her father. sir george jessel decided against me, as he had clearly intended to do from the very outset, and as the part of his judgment affecting freethinkers as parents is of continued interest i reprint it here. "i am glad to say that, so far as i can see, mrs. besant has been kind and affectionate in her conduct and behavior towards the child, and has taken the greatest possible care of her so far as regards her physical welfare. i have no doubt she entertains that sincere affection for the child which a mother should always feel, and which no merely speculative opinions can materially affect. but, unfortunately, since her separation from her husband, mrs. besant has taken upon herself not merely to ignore religion, not merely to believe in no religion, but to publish and avow that non-belief--to become the publisher of pamphlets written by herself, and to deliver lectures composed by herself, stating her disbelief in religion altogether, and stating that she has no belief in the existence of a providence or a god. she has endeavored to convince others, by her lectures and by her pamphlets, that the denial of all religion is a right and proper thing to recommend to mankind at large. it is not necessary for me to express any opinion as to the religious convictions of any one, or even as to their non-religious convictions. but i must, as a man of the world, consider what effect on a woman's position this course of conduct must lead to. i know, and must know as a man of the world, that her course of conduct must quite cut her off, practically, not merely from the sympathy of, but from social intercourse with, the great majority of her sex. i do not believe a single clergyman's wife in england living with her husband would approve of such conduct, or associate with mrs. besant; and i must take that into consideration in considering what effect it would have upon the child if brought up by a woman of such reputation. but the matter does not stop there. not only does mrs. besant entertain those opinions which are reprobated by the great mass of mankind--whether rightly or wrongly i have no business to say, though i, of course, think rightly--but she carries those speculative opinions into practice as regards the education of the child, and from the moment she does that she brings herself within the lines of the decisions of lord chancellors and eminent judges with reference to the custody of children by persons holding speculative opinions, and in those cases it has been held that before giving the custody of a child to those who entertain such speculative opinions the court must consider what effect infusing those opinions as part of its practical education would have upon the child. that is undoubtedly a matter of the greatest importance. upon this point there is no conflict of testimony whatever. mrs. besant herself says that she prohibited the governess from giving any religious education to the child, and has prevented the child from obtaining any religious education at all. when the child went to school-- a day school, as i understand--mrs. besant prohibited the governess of that school from imparting any religious education, in the same way that she had prohibited the former governess, who was a home governess, from giving any religious education, and mrs. besant gave none herself. it is, therefore, not only the entertaining and publishing these opinions, but she considers it her duty so to educate the child as to prevent her having any religious opinions whatever until she attains a proper age. i have no doubt that mrs. besant is conscientious in her opinions upon all these matters, but i also have a conscientious opinion, and i am bound to give effect to it. i think such a course of education not only reprehensible but detestable, and likely to work utter ruin to the child, and i certainly should upon this ground alone decide that this child ought not to remain another day under the care of her mother." as to the publication of the knowlton pamphlet, sir george jessel decided that that also was a good ground for separating mother and child. he committed himself to the shameful statement, so strongly condemned by the lord chief justice, that dr. knowlton was in favor of "promiscuous intercourse without marriage", and then uttered the gross falsehood that his view "was exactly the same as was entertained by the lord chief justice of england". after this odious misrepresentation, i was not surprised to hear from him words of brutal insult to myself. i print here an article on him written at the time, not one word of which i now regret, and which i am glad to place on record in permanent form, now that only his memory remains for me to hate. "sir george jessel. "during the long struggle which began in march, , no word has escaped me against the respective judges before whom i have had to plead. some have been harsh, but, at least, they have been fairly just, and even if a sign of prejudice appeared, it was yet not sufficient to be a scandal to the bench. of sir george jessel, however, i cannot speak in terms even of respect, for in his conduct towards myself he has been rough, coarse, and unfair, to an extent that i never expected to see in any english judge. sir george jessel is subtle and acute, but he is rude, overbearing, and coarse; he has the sneer of a mephistopheles, mingled with a curious monkeyish pleasure in inflicting pain. sir george jessel prides himself on being 'a man of the world', and he expresses the low morality common to that class when the phrase is taken in its worst sense; he holds, like the 'men of the world', who 'see life' in leicester square and the haymarket, that women are kept chaste only through fear and from lack of opportunity; that men may be loose in morals if they will, and that women are divided into two classes for their use--one to be the victims and the toys of the moment, the others to be kept ignorant and strictly guarded, so as to be worthy of being selected as wives. sir george jessel considers that a woman becomes an outcast from society because she thinks that women would be happier, healthier, safer, if they had some slight acquaintance with physiology, and were not condemned, through ignorance, to give birth to human lives foredoomed to misery, to disease, and to starvation. sir george jessel says that no 'modest woman' will associate with one who spreads among her sex the knowledge which will enable her sisters to limit their families within their means. the old brutal jewish spirit, regarding women as the mere slaves of men, breaks out in the coarse language which disgraced himself rather than the woman at whom it was aimed. sir george jessel might have been surprised, had he been in the free trade hall, manchester, on the following day, and had seen it filled with men and women, quiet looking, well dressed, and respectable, and had heard the cries of 'shame on him!' which rang round the hall, when his brutal remark was quoted. such language only causes a re-action towards the insulted person even among those who would otherwise be antagonistic, and sir george jessel has ranged on my side many a woman who, but for him, would have held aloof. "sir george jessel is a jew; he thinks that a parent should be deprived of a child if he or she withholds from it religious training. two hundred years ago, sir george jessel's children might have been taken from him because he did not bring them up as christians; sir george jessel and his race have been relieved from disabilities, and he now joins the persecuting majority, and deals out to the atheist the same measure dealt to his forefathers by the christians. the master of the rolls pretended that by depriving me of my child he was inflicting no punishment on me! if the master of the rolls have any children, he must be as hard-hearted in the home as he is on the bench, if he would not feel that any penalty was inflicted on him if his little ones were torn from him and handed over to a christian priest, who would teach them to despise him as a jew, and hate him as a denier of christ. even now, jews are under many social disabilities, and even when richly gilt, christian society looks upon them with thinly-concealed dislike. the old wicked prejudice still survives against them, and it is with shame and with disgust that liberals see a jew trying to curry favor with christian society by reviving the obsolete penalties once inflicted on his own people. "sir george jessel was not only brutally harsh; he was also utterly unfair. he quoted the lord chief justice as agreeing with him in his judgment on knowlton, on points where the chief had distinctly expressed the contrary opinion, and he did this not through ignorance, but with the eloquent words of sir alexander cockburn lying in front of him, and after i had pointed out to him, and he had deliberately read, or professed to read, the passages which contained the exact contrary of that which he put into the chief's mouth. "of one thing sir george jessel and his christian friends may be sure: that neither prosecution nor penalty will prevent me from teaching both atheism and malthusianism to all who will listen to me, and since christianity is still so bigoted as to take the child from the mother because of a difference of creed, i will strain every nerve to convert the men and women around me, and more especially the young, to a creed more worthy of humanity. "sir george jessel pretended to have the child's interests at heart: in reality he utterly ignored them. i offered to settle £ a year on the child if she was placed in the charge of some trustworthy and respectable person, but the master did not even notice the offer. he takes away the child from plenty and comfort, and throws her into comparative poverty; he takes her away from most tender and watchful care, and places her under the guardianship of a man so reckless of her health, that he chose the moment of her serious illness to ask for her removal; he takes her away from cultured and thoughtful society to place her among half-educated farmers. nay, he goes further: dr. drysdale's affidavit stated that it was absolutely necessary at present that she should have her mother's care; and sir george jessel disregards this, and, in her still weak state, drags her from her home and from all she cares for, and throws her into the hands of strangers. if any serious results follow, sir george jessel will be morally, though not legally, responsible for them. in her new home she can have no gentle womanly attendance. no christian lady of high character will risk the misconstruction to which she would be exposed by living alone at sibsey vicarage with a young clergyman who is neither a bachelor nor a widower; the child will be condemned either to solitary neglect at home, or to the cold strictness of a boarding-school. she is bright, gay, intelligent, merry now. what will she be at a year's end? my worst wish for sir george jessel is that the measure he has meted out to me may, before he dies, be measured out to him or his." there is little to add to the story. i gave the child up, as i was compelled to do, and gave notice of appeal to the court of appeal against the order of the master of the rolls. meanwhile, as all access to the children was denied me by the father, i gave him notice that unless access were given i would sue for a restitution of conjugal rights, merely for the sake of seeing my children. as the deed of separation had been broken by his action, i supposed that the courts would not permit it to be broken for his advantage while holding it binding on me. unhappily, at this critical point, my health gave way; the loneliness and silence of the house, of which my darling had always been the sunshine and the music, weighed on me like an evil dream: at night i could not sleep, missing in the darkness the soft breathing of the little child; her cries as she clung to me and was forcibly carried away rang ever in my ears; at last, on july th, i was suddenly struck down with fever, and had the rest of pain and delirium instead of the agony of conscious loss. while i was lying there prostrate an order was served on me from the master of the rolls, granted on mr. besant's application, to restrain me from bringing any suit against him. as soon as i recovered, i took steps for contesting this order, but no definite action could be taken until after the long vacation. the case came on for hearing first in november, , and then in january, . all access to the children had been denied me, and the money due to me had been withheld. by this my opponent had put himself so completely in the wrong that even the master of the rolls uttered words of severe condemnation of the way in which i had been treated. then a curious interlude took place. the master of the rolls advised me to file a counter-claim for divorce or for judicial separation, and i gladly agreed to do so, feeling very doubtful as to the master of the rolls' power to do anything of the kind, but very glad that he should think he had the authority. while the claim was being prepared, i obtained access to the children under an interim order, as well as the money owing to me, and at the end of march the case again came before the master of the rolls. the claim filed alleged distinct acts of cruelty, and i brought witnesses to support the claim, among them the doctor who had attended me during my married life. mr. ince filed an answer of general denial, adding that the acts of cruelty, if any, were "done in the heat of the moment". he did not, however, venture to contest the case, although i tendered myself for cross-examination, but pleaded the deed of separation as a bar to further proceedings on my part; i argued on the other hand that as the deed had been broken by the plaintiff's act, all my original rights revived. sir george jessel held that the deed of separation condoned all that had gone before it, if it was raised as a bar to further proceedings, and expressed his regret that he had not known there would be "any objection on the other side", when he advised a claim for a judicial separation. on the final hearing of the case in april in the rolls' court sir george jessel decided that the deed of separation was good as protecting mr. besant from any suit on my part to obtain a decree for the restitution of conjugal rights, although it had been set aside on the one matter of value to me--the custody of my child. the net result of the proceedings was that had i gone to the divorce court in , i might at least have obtained a divorce _a mensa e thoro_; that in my desire to avoid publicity, and content in what i believed to be secure possession of my child, i had agreed to a deed which fully protected mr. besant against any action on my part, but which could be set aside by him for the purpose of robbing me of my child. the argument in the court of appeal came on during april, and was, as i expected, decided against me, the absolute right of the father being declared, and a married mother held to have no sort of claim over her own children. the worst stigma affixed to marriage by the law of england is this ignoring of any right of the married mother to her child; the law protects the unmarried, but insults the married, mother, and places in the hands of the legal husband an instrument of torture whose power to agonise depends on the tenderness and strength of the motherliness of the wife. in fact the law says to every woman: "choose which of these two positions you will have: if you are legally your husband's wife you can have no legal claim to your children; if legally you are your husband's mistress, then your rights as mother are secure". but one thing i gained in the court of appeal. the court expressed a strong view as to my right of access, and directed me to apply to sir george jessel for it, stating that it could not doubt that he would give it. i made the application and obtained an order of access to the children, seeing them alone, once a month; of a visit of the children to london twice a year, with their governess, for a week each time; of a week at the seaside in similar fashion once a year; of a weekly letter from each of them with the right of reply. this order, obtained after such long struggle, has proved useless. the monthly visit so upset my poor little daughter, and made her fret so constantly after me, that in mercy to her i felt compelled to relinquish it; on the first visit to the seaside, i was saddled with the cost of maintaining the rev. mr. and mrs. child, who were placed as guardians of the children, and who treated me in their presence as though i were a dangerous animal from whom they were to be protected. to give but an instance of the sort of treatment i received, i wished mabel to have the benefit of sea-bathing, and was told that she could not be allowed to bathe with me, and this with a suggestiveness that sorely taxed my self-control. i could not apply to the court against the ingenious forms of petty insult employed, while i felt that they must inevitably estrange the children from me if practised always in their presence. after a vain appeal that some sort of consideration should be shown to me, an appeal answered by a mocking suggestion that i should complain to the master of the rolls, i made up my mind as to my future course. i resolved neither to see nor to write to my children until they were old enough to understand and to judge for themselves, and i know that i shall win my daughter back in her womanhood, though i have been robbed of her childhood. by effacing myself then, i saved her from a constant and painful struggle unfitted for childhood's passionate feelings, and left her only a memory that she loves, undefaced by painful remembrances of her mother insulted in her presence. unhappily sir george jessel has terribly handicapped her future; left to me she would have had the highest education now open to girls; left to her present guardian she receives only fifth-rate teaching, utterly unfitted for the present day. twice i have offered to bear the whole expense of her education in the high school at cheltenham, or in some london college, without in any way appearing in the matter, but each time my offer has been roughly and insultingly refused, and the influence that marred the mother's life is undermining the future happiness of the child's. but i am not without hope that i may be able to obtain from the court of chancery an order for the benefit of its ward, and i trust before very long that i shall be able to insure to my child an education which will fit her to play her part worthily when she reaches womanhood. i had hoped to save her from the pain of rejecting a superstitious faith, but that is now impossible, and she must fight her way out of darkness into light as her mother did before her. but in order that she may do so, education now is of vital importance, and that i am striving to obtain for her. i live in the hope that in her womanhood she may return to the home she was torn from in her childhood, and that, in faithful work and noble endeavor, she may wear in future years in the freethought ranks a name not wholly unloved or unhonored therein, for the sake of the woman who has borne it in the van through eleven years of strife. the end. self-development and the way to power by l. w. rogers price cents "we may be either the suffering slaves of nature or the happy masters of her laws." self development and the way to power it is the natural right of every human being to be happy--to escape all the miseries of life. happiness is the normal condition, as natural as the landscapes and the seasons. it is unnatural to suffer and it is only because of our ignorance that we do suffer. happiness is the product of wisdom. to attain perfect wisdom, to comprehend fully the purpose of life, to realize completely the relationship of human beings to each other, is to put an end to all suffering, to escape every ill and evil that afflicts us. perfect wisdom is unshadowed joy. why do we suffer in life? because in the scheme of nature we are being forced forward in evolution and we lack the spiritual illumination that alone can light the way and enable us to move safely among the obstacles that lie before us. usually we do not even see or suspect the presence of trouble until it suddenly leaps upon us like a concealed tiger. one day our family circle is complete and happy. a week later death has come and gone and joy is replaced with agony. today we have a friend. tomorrow he will be an enemy and we do not know why. a little while ago we had wealth and all material luxuries. there was a sudden change and now we have only poverty and misery and yet we seek in vain for a reason why this should be. there was a time when we had health and strength; but they have both departed and no trace of a reason appears. aside from these greater tragedies of life innumerable things of lesser consequence continually bring to us little miseries and minor heartaches. we most earnestly desire to avoid them but we never see them until they strike us, until in the darkness of our ignorance we blunder upon them. the thing we lack is the spiritual illumination that will enable us to look far and wide, finding the hidden causes of human suffering and revealing the method by which they may be avoided; and if we can but reach illumination the evolutionary journey can be made both comfortably and swiftly. it is as though we must pass through a long, dark room filled with furniture promiscuously scattered about. in the darkness our progress would be slow and painful and our bruises many. but if we could press a button that would turn on the electric light we could then make the same journey quickly and with perfect safety and comfort. the old method of education was to store the mind with as many facts, or supposed facts, as could be accumulated and to give a certain exterior polish to the personality. the theory was that when a man was born he was a completed human being and that all that could be done for him was to load him up with information that would be used with more or less skill, according to the native ability he happened to be born with. the theosophical idea is that the physical man, and all that constitutes his life in the physical world, is but a very partial expression of the self; that in the ego of each there is practically unlimited power and wisdom; that these may be brought through into expression in the physical world as the physical body and its invisible counterparts, which together constitute the complex vehicle of the ego's manifestation, are evolved and adapted to the purpose; and that in exact proportion that conscious effort is given to such self-development will spiritual illumination be achieved and wisdom attained. thus the light that leads to happiness is kindled from within and the evolutionary journey that all are making may be robbed of its suffering. why does death bring misery? chiefly because it separates us from those we love. but when we have evolved the faculty of clairvoyance, in our work of self-development, the separation vanishes and our "dead" friends are as much with us as the living. the only other reason why death brings grief or fear is because we do not understand it and comprehend the part it plays in human evolution. but the moment our ignorance gives way to comprehension such fear vanishes and a serene happiness takes its place. why do we have enemies from whose words or acts we suffer? because in our limited physical consciousness we do not perceive the unity of all life and realize that our wrong thinking and doing must react upon us through other people--a situation from which there is no possible escape except through ceasing to think evil and then patiently awaiting the time when the causes we have already generated are fully exhausted. when spiritual illumination comes, and we no longer stumble in the night of ignorance, the last enemy will disappear and we shall make no more forever. why do people suffer from poverty and disease? only because of our blundering ignorance that makes their existence possible for us, and because we do not comprehend their meaning and their lessons, nor know the attitude to assume toward them. had we but the wisdom to understand why they come to people, why they are necessary factors in their evolution, they would trouble us no longer. when nature's lesson is fully learned these mute teachers will vanish. and so it is with all forms of suffering we experience. they are at once reactions from our ignorant blunderings and instructors that point out the better way. when we have comprehended the lessons they teach they are no longer necessary and disappear. thus our evolution is going forward and has gone forward in the past. we know that the human race has passed through a long evolution during which it has acquired five senses by which knowledge is gained. nobody who has given thought to the subject will make the mistake of supposing that this evolution is completed and that the five senses are all we shall ever possess. in this long evolutionary journey the next thing we shall do is to develop the sixth sense. some people have already done so and all are approaching it. this dawning sense is called clairvoyance. fair investigation will show that the clairvoyant possesses certain powers not common to the majority of people. this is merely the beginning of the development of the sixth sense, and probably with the majority of clairvoyants it goes no further than etheric and lower astral sight. in other words, they are able to raise the consciousness only to a grade of matter a little beyond the grasp of ordinary vision, while the properly developed, trained clairvoyant raises his consciousness two full planes beyond. the higher the consciousness is raised the further the horizon of knowledge extends and the clairvoyant is able to hand down information that appears quite miraculous; but it is perfectly natural. if a certain person were born blind and had never understood any more about eyesight than most people understand about clairvoyance; if this person could know how many doorways were in a large building only by groping along with his hands and thus acquiring the knowledge by touch, and another person who could see should glance along the block and instantly tell the blind man the correct number, that would be to the blind man a miracle. now, when a clairvoyant sees things at a distance where the physical eye cannot reach he really does nothing more remarkable. when we see a thing we receive the vibrations caused by light. that gives the information. when the clairvoyant "sees" at a distance through what we mistakenly call solid substances he receives vibrations of matter so fine that it interpenetrates solids as the ether does. every human being must make, and is making, this long evolutionary journey from spiritual infancy to godlike power and perfection, but there are two ways in which it may be done. we may, as the vast majority do, accept the process of unconscious evolution and submit to nature's whip and spur that continuously urge the thoughtless and indifferent forward until they finally reach the goal. or, we may choose conscious evolution and work intelligently with nature, thus making progress that is comparatively of enormous rapidity and at the same time avoid much of what hamlet called the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." the degree to which mind can control circumstances and dominate matter is far greater than is generally believed. our impressions about matter are very illusory. no form of matter is permanent. change goes on everywhere at every instant, by physical laws in the physical body and by astral and mental laws in our invisible bodies. we are not the same being, physically, mentally or spiritually, any two days in succession. the very soul itself is subject to this law of change. it may expand and shine out through the physical organism resplendent, or it may only faintly glimmer through a constantly coarsening body. what is the law of soul growth? through adherence to what principle may we reach spiritual illumination? there are certain well established facts about the laws of growth that we should not overlook when seeking the way forward. nothing whatever can grow without use, without activity. inaction causes atrophy. physiologists tell us that if the arm be tied to the body so that it cannot be used it will in time become so enfeebled, that it is of no further service. it will wither away. that is nature's law of economy. she never gives life where it is useless, where it can not, or will not, be utilized. on the other hand, exercise increases power. to increase the size and strength of muscles we must use them. this is just as true of mental and moral faculties as it is of the physical body. the only way to make the brain keen and powerful is to exercise it by original thinking. one way to gain soul powers is to give free play to the loftiest aspirations of which we are capable, and to do it systematically instead of at random. we grow to be like the things we think about. now, the reverse of all this must be equally true. to give no thought to higher things, to become completely absorbed in material affairs, is to stifle the soul, to invite spiritual atrophy. turning our attention to nature we shall find in the parasite convincing proof of all this. the parasite, whether plant or animal, is living evidence that to refuse or neglect to use an organ or faculty results in being deprived of it. the dodder, says drummond, has roots like other plants, but when it fixes sucker discs on the branches of neighboring plants and begins to get its food through them, its roots perish. when it fails to use them it loses them. he also points to the hermit-crab as an illustration of this great fact in nature, that disuse means loss, and that to shirk responsibility is the road to degeneration. the hermit-crab was once equipped with a hard shell and with as good means of locomotion as other crabs. but instead of courageously following the hardy life of other crustaceans it formed the bad habit of taking up its residence in the cast-off shells of mollusks. this made life easy and indolent. but it paid the price of all shirking. in time it lost four legs, while the shell over the vital portion of its body degenerated to a thin membrane which leaves it practically helpless when it is out of its captured home. and this is the certain result of all shirking of responsibility. there may be an apparent temporary gain, but it always means greater loss, either immediate or remote. so nature punishes inaction with atrophy. whatever is not used finally ceases to be. in plain language, apathy, inaction, idleness, uselessness, is the road to degeneration. on the other hand, aspiration and activity mean growth, development, power. so we grow, physically, mentally and morally, by activity, by exercise of the organs or the faculties we desire to possess. it is only by the constant exercise of these things that we can grow at all. when this great law of nature is understood we see at once how it is that life is full of trouble; why it is that the whole visible world seems to be designed to keep us constantly at work physically and mentally, to challenge our resourcefulness in improving our physical, social and political conditions, to continually try our patience and to forever test our courage. it is the way of development. it is the price of progress. the universe is a training school for evolving intelligence--a vast gymnasium for the development of moral fibre. we become mentally clever by playing at the game of life. we match our courage against its adversities and acquire fearlessness. we try our optimism against its disappointments and learn cheerfulness. we pit our patience against its failures and gain persistence. we are torn from the pinnacle of ambition by opponents and learn toleration of others. we fall from the heights of vanity and pride, and learn to be modest and humble. we encounter pain and sorrow and learn sympathy with suffering. it is only by such experiences that we can grow to rounded measure. it is only in an environment thus adapted to our spiritual development that we can evolve the latent powers within us. such is the universe in which we find ourselves and from it there is no escape. no man can avoid life--not even the foolish one who, when the difficulties before him appear for the moment overwhelming, tries to escape them by suicide. a man cannot die. he can only choose how he will live. he may either helplessly drift through the world suffering from all the ills and evils that make so many unhappy or he may choose the method of conscious evolution that alone makes life truly successful. we may be either the suffering slaves of nature or the happy masters of her laws. now, all powers possessed by any human being, no matter how exalted his position in evolution, or how sublime his spiritual power, are latent in all human beings and can, in time, be developed and brought into action. of course there is no magic rule by which the ignoramus can instantly become wise or by which a brutal man can be at once transformed into a saint. it may require scores of incarnations to accomplish a work so great, but when a man reaches the point in his evolution where he begins to comprehend the purpose of life, and to evolve the will to put forth his energies in co-operation with nature, his rise to wisdom and power may be swift indeed. but this transformation from the darkness of ignorance to spiritual illumination, from helplessness "in the fell clutch of circumstance" to power over nature, must be brought about by his own efforts, for it is a process of evolution--of forcing the latent to become the active. therefore one must resolve to take oneself in hand for definite and systematic self-development. nobody else can do the work for us. certain moral qualities must be gained before there can be spiritual illumination and genuine wisdom and such qualities, or virtues, have to be evolved by the laws under which all growth occurs. it is just as impossible to acquire a moral quality by reading about its desirability as to evolve muscular strength by watching the performance of a group of athletes. to gain muscular strength one must take part in the physical activities that produce it. he must live the athletic life. to win spiritual strength and supremacy he must live the spiritual life. there is no other way. he must first learn what mental and moral qualities are essential, and how to gain them, and then set earnestly about the work of acquiring them. the first thing necessary is to get a clear understanding of the fact that the physical body is not the self but only a vehicle or instrument through which the self is being manifested in the visible world. the body is as much your instrument as the hand is, or as your pen is. it is a thing which you, the self, use and a clear conception of this fact--a feeling that this is the fact--is the first step toward that absolute control of the physical body that lays the foundation for success in conscious evolution. when we feel that in managing the physical body we are controlling something that is not ourself we are fairly started on the right road. now, there are three things that a person must possess to be successful in self-development. if he has not these three qualifications he will make but little progress; but, fortunately, any lacking quality can be evolved and if one does not possess these three necessities his first work is to create them. these three things are an ardent desire, an iron will and an alert intelligence. why are these three qualifications essential to success and what purpose do they serve? desire is nature's motor power--the propulsive force that pushes everything forward in its evolution. it is desire that stimulates to action. desire drives the animal into the activities that evolve its physical body and sharpen its intelligence. if it had no desire it would lie inert and perish. but the desire for food, for drink, for association with its kind, impel it to action, and the result is the evolution of strength, skill and intelligence in proportion to the intensity of its desires. to gratify these desires it will accept battle no matter how great may be the odds against it and will unhesitatingly risk life itself in the combat. desire not only induces the activity that develops physical strength and beauty, but also has its finer effects. hunger compels the animal not only to seek food, but to pit its cunning against that of its prey. driven forward by desire it develops, among other qualities, strength, courage, patience, endurance, intelligence. desire plays the same role with man at his higher stage of evolution. it stimulates him to action; and always as his activity satisfies his original desire a new one replaces the old and lures him on to renewed exertion. the average young man beginning his business career, desires only a comfortable cottage. but when that is attained he wants a mansion. he soon tires of the mansion and wants a palace. then he wants several--at the seaside, in the city, and on the mountains. at first he is satisfied with a horse; then he demands an automobile, and finally a steam yacht. he sets out as a youth to earn a livelihood and welcomes a small salary. but the desire for money pushes him into business for himself and he works tirelessly for a competence. he feels that a small fortune should satisfy anybody but when he gets it he wants to be a millionaire. if he succeeds in that he then desires to become a multi-millionaire. whether the desire is for wealth, or for fame, or for power, the same result follows--when the desire is satisfied a greater one takes its place and spurs the ambitious one to still further exertion. he grasps the prize he believes to contain complete satisfaction only to discover that while he was pursuing it desire had grown beyond it, and so the goal he would attain is always far ahead of him. thus are we tricked and apparently mocked by nature until we finally awake to the fact that all the objects of desire--the fine raiment, the jewels, the palaces, the wealth, the power, are but vain and empty things; and that the real reward for all our efforts to secure them is not these objects at all _but the new powers we have evolved in getting them;_ powers that we did not before possess and which we should not have evolved but for nature's great propulsive force--desire. the man who accumulates a fortune by many years of persistent effort in organizing and developing a business enterprise, by careful planning and deep thinking, may naturally enough look upon the fortune he will possess for a few years before it passes on to others, as his reward. but the truth is that it is a very transient and perishable and worthless thing compared to the new powers that were unconsciously evolved in getting it--powers that will be retained by the man and be brought into use in future incarnations. desire, then, plays a most important role in human evolution. it awakens, stimulates, propels. what wind is to the ship, what steam is to the locomotive, desire is to the human being. it has been written in a great book, "kill out desire," and elsewhere it is written, "resist not evil." we may find, in similar exalted pronouncements, truths that are very useful to disciples but which might be confusing and misleading to the man of the world if he attempted to literally apply them. perhaps for the average mortal "kill out desire" might be interpreted "transmute desire." without desire man would be in a deathlike and dangerous condition--a condition in which further progress would be impossible. but by transmuting the lower desires into the higher he moves steadily forward and upward without losing the motive power that urges him forever onward. to transmute desire, to continually replace the lower with the higher, really is killing desire out but it is doing it by the slow and safe evolutionary process. as to crushing it suddenly, that is simply impossible; but substitution may work wonders. suppose, for example, that a young man is a gambler and his parents are much distressed about it. the common and foolish course is to lecture him on the sin of gambling and to tearfully urge him to associate only with very proper young men. but the young gambler is not in the least interested in that sort of a life, which appears to him to be a kind of living death, and such entreaty does not move him. his parents would do better by looking more closely into the case. why is he a gambler? he desires money. he seeks excitement. he wants to live in an atmosphere of intense life and activity. very well. these desires are quite right in themselves. it is useless to try to crush them. it is nonsense to argue that he does not want these things. clearly enough he does want them and that is precisely why he gambles. then do not attempt the impossibility of killing the desire but change the objects of his desires. say to him: "you desire money and a life full of turbulence and excitement. well, you can get all that in a better and a legitimate way and have the respect of your friends besides. you can go into politics. that is a field within the pale of the law and in it you can have scope for all the energy and activity and intensity of life you long for, with all the element of chance which you find so attractive." and when the young man has had his fling there and tires of it then something else can be attempted. but to try to crush desire and curb the outrushing life is both foolish and impossible. we can only direct it. there are, of course, certain gross desires that must be gotten rid of by the most direct and least objectionable method, and when one really desires to be free from a given vice or moral weakness and sets earnestly and intelligently about it his release is not so difficult as the complete tyranny of most vices would lead one to suppose. there is a process by which any of us may be free if we will take the trouble to patiently put it into practice. this method will apply to any desire from which we wish to be released. for example, let us take the person who has a settled desire for alcoholic stimulants but really wishes to be rid of it forever. many people who are thus afflicted to the point where they occasionally become intoxicated feel, when they recover their normal condition, that no price would be too great to pay for freedom from this humiliating habit. as a rule such a man tries to close his eyes to his shame and forget it, promising himself that he will be stronger when the temptation again assails him. but it is just this putting it aside, this casting it out of his mind, that perpetuates his weakness. he instinctively shrinks from dwelling upon the thought of whither he is drifting. so he puts the unpleasant subject aside altogether and when the inner desire asserts itself again he finds himself precisely as helpless as before. now, his certain method of escape from this tyranny of desire is to turn his mind resolutely to an examination of the whole question. let him look the facts in the face, however humiliating they may be. he should call his imagination to his assistance. it should be used to picture to himself his future if he does not succeed in breaking up the unfortunate slavery of the desire nature. he should think of the fact that as he grows older the situation grows worse. he should picture himself as the helpless, repulsive sot, with feeble body and weakening mind, and reflect upon the humiliation he must endure, the poverty he must face, and the physical and mental pain he must bear in the future if he now fails to break the desire ties that bind him. this creates in him a feeling of repulsion toward the cause of it all; and if he continues to think daily upon this hideous picture of what he is slowly drifting toward--if he daily regards it all with a feeling of slight repulsion--then even within a month or two he will find that his desire for drink is slowly fading out. this is as true of all other desires that enslave us. the desire for alcoholic stimulants merely illustrates the principle involved. any desire from which one wishes to be free may be escaped by the same method. but one who would free himself from the desire-nature should not make the mistake of creating a feeling of intense hostility toward the thing he seeks to escape; for hatred is also a tie. he should merely reach a position of complete indifference. he should think of it not with settled hostility, but with slight repulsion; and if he does that daily, mentally dwelling upon the pain and humiliation it causes, he will find the ties loosening, the desire weakening. desire is a force that may be beneficial or detrimental, according to its use. as we may eradicate a desire so may we create a desire. how, then, may one who seeks the highest self-development use desire, this propulsive force of nature, to help himself forward? he should desire spiritual progress most earnestly, for without such desire he cannot succeed. therefore if the aspirant does not have the ardent desire for spiritual illumination he must create it. to accomplish this let him again call imagination to his assistance. let him picture himself as having his power for usefulness many times multiplied by occult development. he should think of himself as possessing the inner sight that enables him to understand the difficulties of others and to comprehend their sorrows. he should daily think of the fact that this would so broaden and quicken his sympathies that he would be enormously more useful in the world than he can now possibly be and that he could become a source of happiness to thousands. let him reflect that as he gets farther along in occult development and in unselfishness and spirituality he may have the inestimable privilege of coming into contact with some of the exalted intelligences that watch over and assist the struggling aspirants on their upward way. he should daily recall the fact that he is now moving forward toward a freer, richer, more joyous life than he has yet known and that every effort brings him nearer to its realization. thus dwelling on the subject in its various aspects he creates the ardent desire that serves to propel him forward. if he feels that these things make an ideal a little too high for him at present he may reach that point by degrees. he may at first dwell in thought upon the personal satisfaction that would come from the possession of astral sight. let him reflect upon what it would mean to be conscious of the invisible world; to have all its wonders laid open before him; to be able to consciously meet the so-called dead, including his own friends and relatives; to be able to have the positive personal proof that we survive the death of the physical body; to be able to become one of the "invisible helpers" of the world; to have available the priceless advantages of the astral region and to bring the consciousness of all this into the physical life. that is certainly something worth all the time and effort required to attain it. thus thinking constantly of the widened life and added powers it would confer, the desire to move forward in self-development will be greatly stimulated. but the student should always keep it in mind that the real purpose of acquiring new powers is to increase his capacity for service to the race, and that he who falls short of that ideal walks upon dangerous ground. the second requisite is a firm will. it should not be forgotten that an unusual and difficult thing is being attempted in which a person of weak will cannot possibly hope to succeed. even in the ordinary life of the world considerable will power is essential to success. to succeed in business, to become expert in a profession, or to completely master an art, requires strong will, determination, perseverance. the difficulties in occult development are still greater and, while it is true that any degree of effort is well worth while, the weaklings will not go far. only those with the indomitable will that knows neither surrender nor compromise may hope for a large measure of success. once the will is thoroughly aroused and brought into action every hindrance in the way will be swept aside. "the human will, that force unseen, the offspring of a deathless soul, can hew a way to any goal tho' walls of granite intervene. * * * * * "be not impatient of delay, but wait as one who understands. when spirit rises and commands the gods are ready to obey." mighty, indeed, is this force when aroused. but a person may be easily deceived about his will. he is likely to think that his will is much stronger than it really is. he may say to himself, "oh, yes, i would go through anything for the sake of the higher life and spiritual illumination." but that is no guarantee that after a few months of monotonous work he may not abandon it unless he adopts the wise plan of strengthening his will as he moves forward. let him begin this by testing his present strength of will, but let him not be discouraged by the result. he should remember that whatever he lacks in will power he can evolve by proper effort. to find out whether he really has much strength of will a person may begin to observe to what extent he permits his daily plans to be modified, or entirely changed, by the things that run counter to his will. does he hold steadfastly to his purpose or does he weakly surrender to small obstacles? has he the will power to even begin the day as he has planned it? the evening before he decides that he will rise at six o'clock the next morning. he knows there are certain excellent reasons why he should do so and he retires with the matter fully decided. it is positively settled that at exactly six o'clock the day's program shall begin. but when the clock strikes that hour the next morning he feels strongly disinclined to obey the summons. it involves some bodily discomfort to rise at that moment and he concludes that, after all, perhaps he was a bit hasty the evening before in fixing upon that hour! whereupon he reconsiders the matter and makes it seven; and when that time arrives he generously extends it to eight o'clock. the hour, of course, is unimportant. but whatever may have been the hour that was previously determined upon the keeping of that determination is of the greatest importance and the failure to put the resolution into effect is evidence of the possession of a weak will. now all this proves that such persons have very little real will power, for they permit the desire for trifling bodily comfort to set their plans aside. such persons are still slaves to the physical body and weakly permit it to upset carefully outlined programs. they are not yet ready for good work in occult development, where real success can come only to those who have steadfast strength of purpose. people who fail to assert the will and bring the body into complete subjection probably little realize what a price they pay for a trifling physical pleasure; for until we voluntarily take the right course we have not escaped the evolutionary necessity of compulsion and may reasonably expect sooner or later to be thrown into an environment that will apply the stimulus we still need to arouse the will. it may be unpleasant while it is occurring, but what better fortune could befall an indolent man than to find himself in circumstances where his poverty or other necessity compels him to subordinate bodily comfort to the reign of the will? nature provides the lessons we require. we may wisely co-operate with her and thus escape the sting. but so long as we need the lesson we may be quite sure that it awaits us. all the business activities of the world are developing the will. through them will and desire work together in evolving latent powers. desire arouses will power. a man desires wealth and the desire plunges him into business activities and stimulates the will by which he overcomes all the difficulties that lie in his way. ardent desire for an education arouses the will of the student and the awakened will triumphs over poverty and all other barriers between him and the coveted diploma. if a man stands at a lower point in evolution where he has not the ambition for intellectual culture nor for fame nor for wealth, but only the desire for shelter and food, still that primitive desire forces him into action; and while his will power will be evolved only in proportion to the strength of the desire that prompts him, it must nevertheless grow. instead of rising at a certain hour because the will decrees it he may rise only because he knows his livelihood depends upon it. but he is learning the same lesson--the overcoming of the inertia of the physical body--albeit it is compulsory instead of voluntary. but all this is unconscious evolution. it is the long, slow, painful process. it is the only way possible for those who are not wise enough to co-operate with nature in her evolutionary work and thus rise above the necessity of compulsion. how, then, may we develop the will when it is so weak that we are still the slaves of nature instead of the masters of destiny? will power, like any other faculty, may be cultivated and made strong. to do this one may plan in advance what he will do under certain circumstances and then carry out the program without evasion or hesitation when the time arrives. his forethought will enable him to do this if he does not undertake things too difficult at first. let him resolve to do at a certain hour some small thing which, in the ordinary course of his duties, he sees is necessary but unpleasant; and then firmly resolve in advance that exactly at the appointed time he will do it. thus fortified before the trial comes he will probably go successfully through with it. after once deciding upon the time there should be no postponement and not an instant's delay when the moment arrives. one of the things we have to learn is to overcome the inertia of the physical body and many people are not really awake on the physical plane because they have not done so. to a certain extent they are "dead" within the physical body for it is a condition much nearer death than that supposed death of one who no longer has the physical body. the inert mass of physical matter in which such people are functioning leaves them only half alive until they have aroused themselves from its domination. they remind one of the lines: "life is a mystery, death is a doubt, and some folks are dead while they're walking about!" this inertia of the physical body that so often renders people nearly useless is very largely a matter of habit and can be overcome to a surprising degree by simply using a little will-power. everybody is familiar with the fact that it is sometimes much easier to think and act than at other times. but perhaps it is not so well known that the dull periods can invariably be overcome by an effort of the will and the physical body be made to do its proper work. an actor or lecturer after months of continuous work may find the brain and body growing tired and dull. he may feel when going before his audience that he has not an idea nor the wit to express it were someone else to furnish it. yet by an effort of the will he can quickly overcome the condition and change from stupidity to mental alertness and intensity of thought. the self is never tired. it is only the physical body that grows weary. it is true that it has its limitations and must not be overtaxed and driven beyond endurance as a tired horse is sometimes cruelly urged forward with whip and spur. judgment must always be used in determining one's capacity for work. but that which is to be done should never be done draggingly, with the inertia of the physical body marring the work. we should be fully awake instead of "dead" while we "are walking about." if a person resolves to be the master of the body he may soon acquire the power to arouse it to activity and alertness during all his waking hours, very much as one may acquire the habit of keen observation and be conscious of what is occurring in his vicinity instead of being carelessly unconscious of the major portion of what is going on immediately about him. this matter of giving attention to the things that may properly engage the mind, and of using the will to arouse and control it, is of very great importance. is it not what we call "paying attention" that makes the connection between the ego and the objective world? giving attention is a process of consciousness. the person who fails in attention misses the purpose of life and throws away valuable time and opportunity. to give attention is to be alive and awake and in a condition to make the most of limited physical life. yet many people cannot give sustained attention to an ordinary conversation nor direct the mind with sufficient precision to state a simple fact without wandering aimlessly about in the effort, bringing in various incidental matters until the original subject, instead of being made clear, is obscured in a maze of unimportant details or lost sight of altogether. such habits of mind should be put resolutely aside by one who would hasten self-development. the attention should be fixed deliberately upon the subject in hand, whatever it may be, and nothing should be permitted to break the connection between that and the mind. whether it is a conversation or a book, or a manual task, or a problem being silently worked out intellectually, it should have undivided attention until the mind is ready for something else. perhaps few of us give to any subject the close attention which alone can prove its own effectiveness and demonstrate the fact that there goes with such steadily sustained attention a subtle power of extended, or accentuated, consciousness. when ten minutes is given to a certain subject and other thoughts are constantly intruding, so that when the ten minutes have passed only five minutes have actually been devoted to the subject, the result is by no means a half of what would have been accomplished had the whole of the ten minutes been given to uninterrupted attention. the time thus spent in wavering attention is practically without effect. the connection between mind and subject has not been complete. mind and subject were, so to say, out of focus. attention must be sustained to the point where it becomes concentration. the mind must be used as a sun-glass can be used. hold the glass between sun and paper, out of focus, for an hour and nothing will happen. a yellow circle of light falls on the paper and that is all. but bring it into perfect focus, concentrating the rays to the finest possible point, and the paper turns brown and finally bursts into the fire that will consume it. they are the same rays that were previously ineffective. concentration produced results. the mind must be brought under such complete control of the will that it can be manipulated like a search-light, turned in this direction or that, or flung full upon some obscure subject and held steadily there till it illuminates every detail of it, as the search-light sends a dazzling ray through space and shows every rock and tree on a hillside far away through the darkness of the night. the third necessity is keen intelligence. the force of desire, directed by the will, must be supplemented by an alert mind. there is a popular notion that good motives are sufficient in themselves and that when one has the desire to attain spiritual illumination, plus the will to achieve, nothing more is needed but purity of purpose. but this is a misconception. it is true that the mystic makes devotion the vital thing in his spiritual growth; and it is also true that the three paths of action, knowledge and devotion blend and become one at a higher stage. but while there are methods of development in which intellect is not at first made a chief factor it can by no means be ignored in the long-run; nor are we now considering those methods. a good intellect, therefore, is a necessary part of the equipment. good motives play a most important part, indeed, in occult progress. they safeguard the aspirant on his upward way. without pure motives, without a large measure of unselfishness, the greatest dangers would encompass him. but good motives cannot take the place of good sense and relieve him of the necessity of thinking. he must develop judgment and discrimination. there are things he must know, and he must use his knowledge, or difficulties will follow no matter how noble may be his intentions. suppose, for illustration, that two men set out upon a dark might to cross a wild and rugged piece of ground--one with bad motives and the other with good. one is going out to rob a house and if need be, to kill anybody who might try to interfere with his plans. his motives are very bad but he has perfect knowledge of the dangerous ground he is to cross and he will therefore travel over it in safety. the other man has the best of motives. he is going to spend the night with a sick and helpless neighbor. but he has no knowledge of the rough and treacherous ground he must cross in the darkness and his good motives will not insure him against stumbling over the stones or falling into a ditch and breaking his arm. good motives are not enough. we must know! progress in occultism is impossible without knowledge. but how is a keen, alert intelligence to be acquired if we do not possess it? like any other latent faculty or power it may be evolved. as the physical strength may be steadily increased by constant exercise of the muscles, so mind may increase in power by systematic work. it should be exercised in original thinking. a stated period, if only a quarter of an hour daily, can be set aside for the purpose. a book on a serious subject will furnish material but the too common method of reading, of following the author lazily and accepting whatever he sets forth as a matter of course, is of little value. one must read with discrimination, receiving the ideas offered as a juryman would receive testimony from a witness, considering it from every possible viewpoint, examining it in the light of known facts, turning it over in the mind, weighing it thoughtfully, and accepting or rejecting according to its reasonableness or its lack of reason. in such mental work for intellectual growth each paragraph can be considered by itself and only a small portion of the time should be given to the reading while the remainder is devoted to pondering over what has been read. of course a specific study is an advantage and perhaps nothing is better than to study occultism, thinking deeply upon the problems of human evolution. another method that goes admirably with such work is the close observation and study of all the life in manifestation about us. we should try to comprehend people, to observe and understand them. every word, act and facial expression has its meaning to be caught and interpreted. all this will not only sharpen the wits but also strengthen human sympathy for it enables us the better to know the difficulties and sorrows of others. if such practices are followed faithfully day by day the growth will be steady. still another useful practice is to exercise the imagination, the art of creating mental pictures with no physical object present. the face of an absent friend can be called up in the mind and reproduced in every detail--the color of the eyes and hair, the various moods and expressions. or one's childhood home can be recalled and the imagination made to reconstruct it. the house being complete the landscape can be reproduced, with the hills, trees and roads. repeated practice at "seeing mentally" is of the greatest value in occult development. while the aspirant is thus working to improve the three essential qualifications of desire, will and intelligence--to intensify his desire to possess powers for the helping of others, to strengthen the will to get such powers, and to steadily improve the intellect--he should also be giving most earnest attention to meditation, for it is through this practice that the most remarkable results may be produced in the transformation of his bodies, visible and invisible, through which the ego manifests itself in the physical world. in the degree that these are organized and made sensitive and responsive they cease to be limitations of consciousness. such sensitiveness and responsiveness may be brought about by meditation, together with proper attention to the purification of the physical and astral bodies; for purity and sensitiveness go together. meditation is a subject so very important to the aspirant that specific instructions should guide him. the average person, used to the turbulent life of occidental civilization, will find it a sufficiently difficult matter to control the mind, and to finally acquire the power to direct it as he desires, even with all the conditions in his favor. the serene hours of morning are the most favorable of the twenty-four for meditation. regularity has a magic of its own and the hour should be the same each morning. to be alone in surroundings as quiet as possible is another essential. the most desirable time for meditation is soon after awakening in the morning. before turning the mind to any of the business affairs of the day let the aspirant sit calmly down and mediate upon any wholesome thought, like patience, courage or compassion, keeping the mind steadily upon the subject for five minutes. two very important things are being accomplished by such meditation. first, we are getting control of the mind and learning to direct it where and how we choose; and, second, we are attracting and building into the bodies we possess certain grades of imponderable matter that will make thinking and acting along these lines easier and easier for us until they are established habits and we actually become in daily life patient, courageous and compassionate. whatever qualities or virtues we desire to possess may be gained through the art of meditation and the effort to live up to the ideal dwelt upon daily by the mind. while it is absolutely true that any human being can make of himself that which he desires to be--can literally raise himself to any ideal he is capable of conceiving--it must not be supposed that it can be done in a short time and by intermittent effort. we sometimes hear it said that all we need do is to realize that all power is within us, when, presto! we are the thing we would be! it is quite true that we must realize their existence before we can call the latent powers into expression; but the work of arousing the latent into the active is a process of growth, of actual evolutionary change. the physical body as it is now is not sensitive enough to respond to subtle vibrations. its brain is not capable of receiving and registering the delicate vibrations sent outward by the ego, and the task of changing it so that it can do so is not a trifling or easy one. but every effort produces its effect and to the persistent and patient devotee of self-development the final result is certain. but it is not a matter of miraculous accomplishment. it is a process of inner growth. there are, it is quite true, cases in which people who have entered upon this method of self-development have, in a short time, attained spiritual illumination, becoming fully conscious of the invisible world and its inhabitants while awake in the physical body; extending the horizon of consciousness to include both worlds, and coming into possession of the higher clairvoyance that enables one to trace past causes and modify impending effects. but such people are those who have given so much attention to self-development in past lives that they have now but little more to do in order to come into full possession of occult powers. sometimes it requires little more than the turning of their attention to the matter. becoming a member of the theosophical society or seriously taking up theosophical studies is sometimes the final step that leads to the opening of the inner sight. but how can one know to what point he may have advanced in the past and where he now stands? how may we know whether there is but a little work ahead or a great deal? we cannot know; nor is it important to know. the person who should take up the task merely because he thinks there is little to do would certainly fail. the very fact that he would not venture upon the undertaking if he thought the task a difficult one is evidence that he has not the qualifications necessary for the success of the occult student. unless he is filled with a longing to possess greater power to be used in the service of humanity, and fired with an enthusiasm that would hesitate at no difficulties, he has not yet reached the point in his evolution where he awaits only the final steps that will make him a disciple. but even the absence of the keen desire for spiritual progress, which is the best evidence of the probability of success, should not deter anybody from entering upon the systematic study of theosophy and devoting to it all the time and energy he can; nor should the thought that many years might pass without producing any very remarkable results lead him to conclude that the undertaking would not be a profitable one. the time will come with each human being when he will step out of the great throng that drifts with the tide and enter upon the course of conscious evolution, assisting nature instead of ignoring her beneficent plan; and since it is but a question of time the sooner a beginning is made the better, for the sooner will suffering cease. there should be a word of warning about the folly of trying to reach spiritual illumination by artificial methods. astral sight is sometimes quickly developed by crystal gazing and also by a certain regulation of the breathing. for two reasons such methods should be avoided. one is that any powers thus gained can not be permanent, and the other is that they may be more or less dangerous. many people have made physical wrecks of themselves or have become insane by some of these methods. there are those who advertise to quickly teach clairvoyance, for a consideration, as though spiritual powers could really be conferred instead of evolved! it is true that efforts toward the evolution of such powers may be enormously aided by teachers, but such instruction can not be bought, and the offer to furnish it for money is the best evidence of its worthlessness. those who teach this ancient wisdom select their own pupils from the morally fit, and tuition can be paid only in devotion to truth and service to humanity. that is the only road that leads to instruction worth having, and until the aspirant is firmly upon that sound moral ground he is much better off without powers, the selfish use of which would lead to certain disaster. but how shall the pupil find the teacher? he need not find him, at first, so far as the limited consciousness is concerned. long before he knows anything of it in his waking hours he may be receiving instruction while he is out of the physical body during the hours of sleep. the teacher finds the pupil long before the pupil suspects that the teacher exists; and since it is the pupil who has the limited consciousness it is quite natural that it should be so. thus it is inevitable that all who enter upon the way that leads to spiritual illumination must long remain ignorant of the fact that any teachers are interested in them or that anybody is giving the slightest attention to them. naturally enough one cannot know until the moment arrives when his brain has become sufficiently sensitive to retain a memory of at least a fragment of his superphysical experiences. but what leads to the selection of the pupil? his earnestness, his unselfishness, his devotion, his spiritual aspirations. there is an old occult maxim to the effect that when the pupil is ready the master is waiting. they have need of many more than are ready to be taught. those who lead and enlighten watch eagerly for all who will qualify themselves to enter upon the upward way. every human being gets exactly what he fits himself to receive. he cannot possibly be overlooked. by his spiritual aspiration each lights the lamp in the window of his soul and to the watchers from the heights that light against the background of the overwhelming materiality of our times must be as the sun in a cloudless sky. other things come later but these simpler things, to realize the necessity for conscious evolution, to comprehend the method of soul development, to take full control of the mind and the physical body, to resolutely curb the grosser desires and to give free rein to the higher aspirations are the first infant steps in the self-development that leads to illumination. then we begin to discover that this very desire for greater spiritual power is generating a force that carries us forward and upward. we soon begin to observe actual progress. the brain becomes clearer, the intellect keener. our sphere of influence grows wider, our friendships become warmer. aspiration lifts us into a new and radiant life, and the wondrous powers of the soul begin to become a conscious possession. and to this soul growth there is no limit. the aspirant will go on and on in this life and others with an ever-extending horizon of consciousness until he has the mental grasp of a plato, the vivid imagination of a dante, the intuitive perception of a shakespeare. it is not by the outward acquirement of facts that such men become wise and great. it is by developing the soul from within until it illuminates the brain with that flood of light called genius. and when, through the strife and storm, we finally reach the tranquility of the inner peace we shall comprehend the great fact that life really is joy when lived in the possession of spiritual power and in perfect harmony with the laws of the universe. with even these first steps in occult achievement the aspirant enters upon a higher and more satisfactory life than he has ever known. literally he becomes a new man. gradually the old desires and impulses fade away and new and nobler aspirations take their place. he has learned obedience to law only to find that obedience was the road to conquest. he has risen above the gross and sensuous by the power of conscious evolution; and, looking back upon what he has been with neither regret nor apology, he comprehends that significant thought of tennyson: on stepping stones of their dead selves men rise to higher things. the way of initiation by the same author initiation and its results a sequel to the "way of initiation" by rudolf steiner, ph.d. translated from the german by clifford bax contents a foreword i. the astral centers (chakras) ii. the constitution of the etheric body iii. dream life iv. the three states of consciousness v. the dissociation of human personality during initiation vi. the first guardian of the threshold vii. the second guardian of the threshold selected list of occult works in same clear print and rich binding as this book price $ . prepaid the way of initiation or how to attain knowledge of the higher worlds by rudolf steiner, ph.d. from the german by ~max gysi~ with some biographical notes of the author by ~edouard schurÉ~ first americanized edition macoy publishing and masonic supply co. new york, u.s.a. copyright by macoy publishing and masonic supply co. - - john st. new york, u.s.a. contents. page the personality of rudolf steiner and his development i. the superphysical world and its gnosis ii. how to attain knowledge of the higher worlds iii. the path of discipleship iv. probation v. enlightenment vi. initiation vii. the higher education of the soul viii. the conditions of discipleship list of occult and kindred books transcriber's note: words printed in bold are noted with tildes; ~bold~. there is no corresponding anchor for footnote number . translator's note. (for the english edition.) being deeply interested in dr. steiner's work and teachings, and desirous of sharing with my english-speaking friends the many invaluable glimpses of truth which are to be found therein, i decided upon the translation of the present volume. it is due to the kind co-operation of several friends who prefer to be anonymous that this task has been accomplished, and i wish to express my hearty thanks for the literary assistance rendered by them--also to thank dr. peipers of munich for permission to reproduce his excellent photograph of the author. the special value of this volume consists, i think, in the fact that no advice is given and no statement made which is not based on the personal experience of the author, who is, in the truest sense, both a mystic and an occultist. if the present volume should meet with a reception justifying a further venture, we propose translating and issuing during the coming year a further series of articles by dr. steiner in continuation of the same subject, and a third volume will consist of the articles now appearing in the pages of the theosophist, entitled "the education of children." max gysi. publisher's note. while the pleasant german vernacular is still discernable in the text of this work, we wish to state that it has been americanized in spelling, phraseology, and definition, to make plainer to the western mind the wonderful truths experienced by its distinguished author. the readers, especially occult, theosophic, masonic, and new thought students, we believe, will appreciate the clearness with which his teachings lead to the simple rich harmony of life. macoy pub. & masonic sup. co. the personality of rudolf steiner and his development by edouard schurÉ[ ] many of even the most cultivated men of our time have a very mistaken idea of what is a true mystic and a true occultist. they know these two forms of human mentality only by their imperfect or degenerate types, of which recent times have afforded but too many examples. to the intellectual man of the day, the mystic is a kind of fool and visionary who takes his fancies for facts; the occultist is a dreamer or a charlatan who abuses public credulity in order to boast of an imaginary science and of pretended powers. be it remarked, to begin with, that this definition of mysticism, though deserved by some, would be as unjust as erroneous if one sought to apply it to such personalities as joachim del fiore of the thirteenth century, jacob boehme of the sixteenth, or st. martin, who is called "the unknown philosopher," of the eighteenth century. no less unjust and false would be the current definition of the occultist if one saw in it the slightest connection with such earnest seekers as paracelsus, mesmer, or fabre d'olivet in the past, as william crookes, de rochat, or camille flammarion in the present. think what we may of these bold investigators, it is undeniable that they have opened out regions unknown to science, and furnished the mind with new ideas. [ ] translated by kind permission of the author from the introduction to _le mystère chrétien et les mystères antiques_. traduit de l'allemand par edouard schuré, librairie académique, perrin & co., , paris. no, these fanciful definitions can at most satisfy that scientific dilettantism which hides its feebleness under a supercilious mask to screen its indolence, or the worldly scepticism which ridicules all that threatens to upset its indifference. but enough of these superficial opinions. let us study history, the sacred and profane books of all nations, and the last results of experimental science; let us subject all these facts to impartial criticism, inferring similar effects from identical causes, and we shall be forced to give quite another definition of the mystic and the occultist. the true mystic is a man who enters into full possession of his inner life, and who, having become cognizant of his sub-consciousness, finds in it, through concentrated meditation and steady discipline, new faculties and enlightenment. these new faculties and this enlightenment instruct him as to the innermost nature of his soul and his relations with that impalpable element which underlies all, with that eternal and supreme reality which religion calls god, and poetry the divine. the occultist, akin to the mystic, but differing from him as a younger from an elder brother, is a man endowed with intuition and with synthesis, who seeks to penetrate the hidden depths and foundations of nature by the methods of science and philosophy: that is to say, by observation and reason, methods invariable in principle, but modified in application by being adapted to the descending kingdoms of spirit or the ascending kingdoms of nature, according to the vast hierarchy of beings and the alchemy of the creative word. the mystic, then, is one who seeks for truth and the divine directly within himself, by a gradual detachment and a veritable birth of his higher soul. if he attains it after prolonged effort, he plunges into his own glowing centre. then he immerses himself, and identifies himself with that ocean of life which is the primordial force. the occultist, on the other hand, discovers, studies, and contemplates this same divine outpouring given forth in diverse portions, endowed with force, and multiplied to infinity in nature and in humanity. according to the profound saying of paracelsus: _he sees in all beings the letters of an alphabet, which, united in man, form the complete and conscious word of life_. the detailed analysis that he makes of them, the syntheses that he constructs with them, are to him as so many images and forecastings of this central divine, of this sun of beauty, of truth and of life, which he sees not, but which is reflected and bursts upon his vision in countless mirrors. the weapons of the mystic are concentration and inner vision; the weapons of the occultist are intuition and synthesis. each corresponds to the other; they complete and presuppose each other. these two human types are blended in the adept, in the higher initiate. no doubt one or the other, and often both, are met with in the founders of great religions and the loftiest philosophies. no doubt also they are to be found again, in a less, but still very remarkable degree, among a certain number of personages who have played a great part in history as reformers, thinkers, poets, artists, statesmen. why, then, should these two types of mind, which represent the highest human faculties, and were formerly the object of universal veneration, usually appear to us now as merely deformed and travestied? why have they become obliterated? why should they have fallen into such discredit? that is the result of a profound cause existing in an inevitable necessity of human evolution. during the last two thousand years, but especially since the sixteenth century, humanity has achieved a tremendous work, namely, the conquest of the globe and the constitution of experimental science, in what concerns the material and visible world. that this gigantic and herculean task should be successfully accomplished, it was necessary that there should be a temporary eclipse of man's transcendental faculties, so that his whole power of observation might be concentrated on the outer world. these faculties, however, have never been extinct or even inactive. they lay dormant in the mass of men; they remained active in the elect, far from the gaze of the vulgar. now, they are showing themselves openly under new forms. before long they will assume a leading and directing importance in human destinies. i would add that at no period of history, whether among the nations of the ancient aryan cycle, or in the semitic civilizations of asia and africa--whether in the græco-latin world, or in the middle ages and in modern times, have these royal faculties, for which positivism would substitute its dreary nomenclature, ever ceased to operate at the beginning and in the background of all great human creations and of all fruitful work. for how can we imagine a thinker, a poet, an inventor, a hero, a master of science or of art, a genius of any kind, without a mighty ray of those two master-faculties which make the mystic and the occultist--the inner vision and the sovereign intuition. * * * * * rudolf steiner is both a mystic and an occultist. these two natures appear in him in perfect harmony. one could not say which of the two predominates over the other. in intermingling and blending, they have become one homogeneous force. hence a special development in which outward events play but a secondary part. dr. steiner was born in upper austria in . his earliest years were passed in a little town situated on the leytha, on the borders of styria, the carpathians, and hungary. from childhood his character was serious and concentrated. this was followed by a youth inwardly illuminated by the most marvellous intuitions, a young manhood encountering terrible trials, and a ripe age crowned by a mission which he had dimly foreseen from his earliest years, but which was only gradually formulated in the struggle for truth and life. this youth, passed in a mountainous and secluded region, was happy in its way, thanks to the exceptional faculties that he discovered in himself. he was employed in a catholic church as a choir boy. the poetry of the worship, the profundity of the symbolism, had a mysterious attraction for him; but, as he possessed the innate gift of _seeing souls_, one thing terrified him. this was the secret unbelief of the priests, entirely engrossed in the ritual and the material part of the service. there was another peculiarity: no one, either then or later, allowed himself to talk of any gross superstition in his presence, or to utter any blasphemy, as if those calm and penetrating eyes compelled the speaker to serious thought. in this child, almost always silent, there grew up a quiet and inflexible will, to master things through understanding. that was easier for him than for others, for he possessed from the first that self-mastery, so rare even in the adult, which gives the mastery over others. to this firm will was added a warm, deep and almost painful sympathy; a kind of pitiful tenderness to all beings and even to inanimate nature. it seemed to him that all souls had in them something divine. but in what a stony crust is hidden the shining gold! in what hard rock, in what dark gloom lay dormant the precious essence! vaguely as yet did this idea stir within him--he was to develop it later--that the divine soul is present in all men, but in a latent state. it is a sleeping captive that has to be _awakened from enchantment_. to the sight of this young thinker, human souls became transparent, with their troubles, their desires, their paroxysms of hatred or of love. and it was probably owing to the terrible things he saw, that he spoke so little. and yet, what delights, unknown to the world, sprang from this involuntary clairvoyance! among the remarkable inner revelations of this youth, i will instance only one which was extremely characteristic. the vast plains of hungary, the wild carpathian forests, the old churches of those mountains in which the monstrance glows brightly as a sun in the darkness of the sanctuary, were not there for nothing, but they were helpful to meditation and contemplation. at fifteen years of age, steiner became acquainted with a herbalist at that time staying in his country. the remarkable thing about this man was that he knew not only the species, families, and life of plants in their minutest details, but also their secret virtues. one would have said that he had spent his life in conversing with the unconscious and fluid soul of herbs and flowers. he had the gift of seeing the vital principle of plants, their etheric body, and what occultism calls the elementals of the vegetable world. he talked of it as of a quite ordinary and natural thing. the calm and coolly scientific tone of his conversation still further excited the curiosity and admiration of the youth. later on, steiner knew that this strange man was a messenger from the master, whom as yet he knew not, but who was to be his real initiator, and who was already watching over him from afar. what the curious, double-sighted botanist told him, young steiner found to be in accordance with the logic of things. that confirmed an inner feeling of long standing, and which more and more forced itself on his mind as the fundamental law, and as the basis of the great all. that is to say: _the two-fold current which constitutes the very movement of the world_, and which might be called _the flux and reflux of the universal life_. we are all witnesses and are conscious of the outward current of _evolution_, which urges onward all beings of heaven and of earth--stars, plants, animals and humanity--and causes them to move forward towards an infinite future, without our perceiving the initial force which impels them and makes them go on without pause or rest. but there is in the universe _an inverse current_, which interposes itself and perpetually breaks in on the other. it is that of _involution_, by which the principles, forces, entities and souls which come from the invisible world and the kingdom of the eternal infiltrate and ceaselessly intermingle with the visible reality. no evolution of matter would be comprehensible without this occult and astral current, which is the great propeller of life, with its hierarchy of powers. thus the spirit, which contains the future in germ, _involves_ itself in matter; thus matter, which receives the spirit, _evolves_ towards the future. while, then, we are moving on blindly towards the unknown future, this future is approaching us consciously, infusing itself in the current of the world and man who elaborate it. _such is the two-fold movement of time, the out-breathing and the in-breathing of the soul of the world, which comes from the eternal and returns thither._ from the age of eighteen, young steiner possessed the spontaneous consciousness of this two-fold current--a consciousness which is the condition of all spiritual vision. this vital axiom was forced upon him by a direct and involuntary seeing of things. thenceforth he had the unmistakable sensation of occult powers which were working behind and through him for his guidance. he gave heed to this force and obeyed its admonitions, for he felt in profound accordance with it. this kind of perception, however, formed a separate category in his intellectual life. this class of truths seemed to him something so profound, so mysterious, and so sacred, that he never imagined it possible to express it in words. he fed his soul thereon, as from a divine fountain, but to have scattered a drop of it beyond would have seemed to him a profanation. beside this inner and contemplative life, his rational and philosophic mind was powerfully developing. from sixteen to seventeen years of age, rudolf steiner plunged deeply into the study of kant, fichte and schelling. when he came to vienna some years after, he became an ardent admirer of hegel, whose transcendental idealism borders on occultism; but speculative philosophy did not satisfy him. his positive mind demanded the solid basis of the sciences of observation. so he deeply studied mathematics, chemistry, mineralogy, botany and zoology. "these studies," he said "afford a surer basis for the construction of a spiritual system of the universe than history and literature. the latter, wanting in exact methods, would then throw no side-lights on the vast domain of german science." inquiring into everything, enamored of high art, and an enthusiast for poetry, steiner nevertheless did not neglect literary studies. as a guide therein he found an excellent professor in the person of julius schröer, a distinguished scholar of the school of the brothers grimm, who strove to develop in his pupils the art of oratory and of composition. to this distinguished man the young student owed his great and refined literary culture. "in the desert of prevailing materialism," says steiner, "his house was to me an oasis of idealism." but this was not yet the master whom he sought. amidst these varied studies and deep meditations, he could as yet discern the building of the universe but in a fragmentary way; his inborn intuition prevented any doubt of the divine origin of things and of a spiritual beyond. a distinctive mark of this extraordinary man was that he never knew any of those crises of doubt and despair which usually accompany the transition to a definite conviction in the life of mystics and of thinkers. nevertheless, he felt that the central light which illumines and penetrates the whole was still lacking in him. he had reached young manhood, with its terrible problems. what was he going to do with his life? the sphinx of destiny was facing him. how should he solve its problem? it was at the age of nineteen that the aspirant to the mysteries met with his guide--the master--so long anticipated. it is an undoubted fact, admitted by occult tradition and confirmed by experience, that those who seek the higher truth from an impersonal motive find a master to initiate them at the right moment: that is to say, when they are ripe for its reception. "knock, and it shall be opened to you," said jesus. that is true with regard to everything, but above all with regard to truth. only, the desire must be ardent as a flame, in a soul pure as crystal. the master of rudolf steiner was one of those men of power who live, unknown to the world, under cover of some civil state, to carry out a mission unsuspected by any but their fellows in the brotherhood of self-sacrificing masters. they take no ostensible part in human events. to remain unknown is the condition of their power, but their action is only the more efficacious. for they inspire, prepare and direct those who will act in the sight of all. in the present instance the master had no difficulty in completing the first and spontaneous initiation of his disciple. he had only, so to speak, to point out to him his own nature, to arm him with his needful weapons. clearly did he show him the connection between the official and the secret sciences; between the religious and the spiritual forces which are now contending for the guidance of humanity; the antiquity of the occult tradition which holds the hidden threads of history, which mingles them, separates, and re-unites them in the course of ages. swiftly he made him clear the successive stages of inner discipline, in order to attain conscious and intelligent clairvoyance. in a few months the disciple learned from oral teaching the depth and incomparable splendor of the esoteric synthesis. rudolf steiner had already sketched for himself his intellectual mission: "to re-unite science and religion. to bring back god into science, and nature into religion. thus to re-fertilize both art and life." but how to set about this vast and daring undertaking? how conquer, or rather, how tame and transform the great enemy, the materialistic science of the day, which is like a terrible dragon covered with its carapace and couched on its huge treasure? how master this dragon of modern science and yoke it to the car of spiritual truth? and, above all, how conquer the bull of public opinion? rudolf steiner's master was not in the least like himself. he had not that extreme and feminine sensibility which, though not excluding energy, makes every contact an emotion and instantly turns the suffering of others into a personal pain. he was masculine in spirit, a born ruler of men, looking only at the species, and for whom individuals hardly existed. he spared not himself, and he did not spare others. his will was like a ball which, once shot from the cannon's mouth, goes straight to its mark, sweeping off everything in its way. to the anxious questioning of his disciple he replied in substance: "if thou wouldst fight the enemy, begin by understanding him. thou wilt conquer the dragon only by penetrating his skin. as to the bull, thou must seize him by the horns. it is in the extremity of distress that thou wilt find thy weapons and thy brothers in the fight. i have shown thee who thou art, now go--and _be_ thyself!" rudolf steiner knew the language of the masters well enough to understand the rough path that he was thus commanded to tread; but he also understood that this was the only way to attain the end. he obeyed, and set forth. * * * * * from the life of rudolf steiner becomes divided into three quite distinct periods: from twenty to thirty years of age ( - ), the viennese period, a time of study and of preparation; from thirty to forty ( - ), the weimar period, a time of struggle and combat; from forty to forty-six ( - ), the berlin period, a time of action and of organization, in which his thought crystallized into a living work. i pass rapidly over the vienna period, in which steiner took the degree of doctor of philosophy. he afterwards wrote a series of scientific articles on zoology, geology, and the theory of colors, in which theosophical ideas appear in an idealist clothing. while acting as tutor in several families, with the same conscientious devotion that he gave to everything, he conducted as chief editor a weekly viennese paper, the _deutsche wochenschrift_. his friendship with the austrian poetess, marie eugénie delle grazie, cast, as it were, into this period of heavy work a warm ray of sunshine, with a smile of grace and poetry. in steiner was summoned to collaborate in the archives of goethe and schiller at weimar, to superintend the re-editing of goethe's scientific works. shortly after, he published two important works, _truth and science_ and _the philosophy of liberty_. "the occult powers that guided me," he says, "forced me to introduce spiritualistic ideas imperceptibly into the current literature of the time." but in these various tasks he was but studying his ground while trying his strength. so distant was the goal that he did not dream of being able to reach it as yet. to travel round the world in a sailing vessel, to cross the atlantic, the pacific and the indian ocean, in order to return to a european port, would have seemed easier to him. while awaiting the events that would allow him to equip his ship and to launch it on the open sea, he came into touch with two illustrious personalities who helped to determine his intellectual position in the contemporary world. these two persons were the celebrated philosopher, friedrich nietzsche, and the no less famous naturalist, ernst haeckel. rudolf steiner had just written an impartial treatise on the author of _zarathustra_. in consequence of this, nietzsche's sister begged the sympathetic critic to come and see her at naumburg, where her unhappy brother was slowly dying. madame foerster took the visitor to the door of the apartment where nietzsche was lying on a couch in a comatose condition, inert, stupified. to steiner there was something very significant in this melancholy sight. in it he saw the final act in the tragedy of the would-be superman. nietzsche, the author of _beyond good and evil_, had not, like the realists of bismarckian imperialism, renounced idealism, for he was naturally intuitive; but in his individualistic pride he sought to cut off the spiritual world from the universe, and the divine from human consciousness. instead of placing the superman, of whom he had a poetic vision, in the spiritual kingdom, which is his true sphere, he strove to force him into the material world, which alone was real in his eyes. hence, in that splendid intellect arose a chaos of ideas and a wild struggle which finally brought on softening of the brain. to explain this particular case, it is needless to bring in atavism or the theory of degeneracy. the frenzied combat of ideas and of contradictory sentiments, of which this brain was the battlefield, was enough. steiner had done justice to all the genius that marked the innovating ideas of nietzsche, but this victim of pride, self-destroyed by negation, was to him none the less a tragic instance of the ruin of a mighty intellect which madly destroys itself in breaking away from spiritual intelligence. madame foerster did her utmost to enrol dr. steiner under her brother's flag. for this she used all her skill, making repeated offers to the young publicist to become editor and commentator of nietzsche's works. steiner withstood her insistence as best he could, and ended by taking himself off altogether, for which madame foerster never forgave him. she did not know that rudolf steiner bore within him the consciousness of a work no less great and more valuable than that of her brother. nietzsche had been merely an interesting episode in the life of the esoteric thinker on the threshold of his battlefield. his meeting with the celebrated naturalist, ernst haeckel, on the contrary, marks a most important phase in the development of his thought. was not the successor of darwin apparently the most formidable adversary of the spiritualism of this young initiate, of that philosophy which to him was the very essence of his being and the breath of his thought? indeed, since the broken link between man and animal has been re-joined, since man can no longer believe in a special and supernatural origin, he has begun altogether to doubt his divine origin and destiny. he no longer sees himself as anything but one phenomenon among so many phenomena, a passing form amidst so many forms, a frail and chance link in a blind evolution. steiner, then, is right in saying: "the mentality deduced from natural sciences is the greatest power of modern times." on the other hand, he knew that this system merely reproduces a succession of external forms among living beings, and not the inner and acting forces of life. he knew it from personal initiation, and a deeper and vaster view of the universe. so also he could exclaim with more assurance than most of our timid spiritualists and startled theologians: "is the human soul then to rise on the wings of enthusiasm to the summits of the true, the beautiful and the good, only to be swept away into nothingness, like a bubble of the brain?" yes, haeckel was the adversary. it was materialism in arms, the dragon with all his scales, his claws, and his teeth. steiner's desire to understand this man, and to do him justice as to all that was great in him, to fathom his theory so far as it was logical and plausible, was only the more intense. in this fact one sees all the loyalty and all the greatness of his comprehensive mind. the materialistic conclusions of haeckel could have no influence on his own ideas which came to him from a different science; but he had a presentment that in the indisputable discoveries of the naturalist he should find the surest basis of an evolutionary spiritualism and a rational theosophy. he began, then, to study eagerly the _history of natural creation_. in it haeckel gives a fascinating picture of the evolution of species, from the amoeba to man. in it he shows the successive growth of organs, and the physiological process by which living beings have raised themselves to organisms more and more complex and more and more perfect. but in this stupendous transformation, which implies millions and millions of years, he never explains the initial force of this universal ascent, nor the series of special impulses which cause beings to rise step by step. to these primordial questions, haeckel has never been able to reply except by admitting spontaneous generation,[ ] which is tantamount to a miracle as great as the creation of man by god from a clod of earth. to a theosophist like steiner, on the other hand, the cosmic force which elaborates the world comprises in its spheres, fitted one into another, the myriads of souls which crystallize and incarnate ceaselessly in all beings. he, who saw the _underside_ of creation, could but recognize and admire the extent of the all-round gaze with which haeckel surveyed his _above_. it was in vain that the naturalist would deny the divine author of the universal scheme: he proved it in spite of himself, in so well describing his work. as to the theosophist, he greeted, in the surging of species and in the breath which urges them onward--man in the making, the very thought of god, the visible expression of the planetary word.[ ] [ ] a speech delivered in paris, th august . see also haeckel's _history of natural creation_, th lecture. [ ] this is how dr. steiner himself describes the famous german naturalist: "haeckel's personality is captivating. it is the most complete contrast to the _tone_ of his writings. if haeckel had but made a slight study of the philosophy of which he speaks, not even as a dilettante, but like a child, he would have drawn the most lofty spiritual conclusions from his phylogenetic studies. haeckel's doctrine is grand, but haeckel himself is the worst of commentators on his doctrine. it is not by showing our contemporaries the weak points in haeckel's doctrine that we can promote intellectual progress, but by pointing out to them the grandeur of his phylogenetic thought." steiner has developed these ideas in two works: _welt und lebensanschauungen im ten jahrhundert_ (theories of the universe and of life in the nineteenth century), and _haeckel und seine gegner_ (haeckel and his opponents). while thus pursuing his studies, rudolf steiner recalled the saying of his master: "to conquer the dragon, his skin must be penetrated." while stealing within the carapace of present-day materialism, he had seized his weapons. henceforth he was ready for the combat. he needed but a field of action to give battle, and a powerful aid to uphold him therein. he was to find his field in the theosophical society, and his aid in a remarkable woman. in rudolf steiner went to berlin to conduct a literary magazine and to give lectures there. on his arrival, he found there a branch of the theosophical society. the german branch of this society was always noted for its great independence, which is natural in a country of transcendental philosophy and of fastidious criticism. it had already made a considerable contribution to occult literature through the interesting periodical, _the sphinx_, conducted by dr. hübbe-schleiden, and dr. carl du prel's book--_philosophie der mystik_. but, the leaders having retired, it was almost over with the group. great discussions and petty wranglings divided the theosophists beyond the rhine. should rudolf steiner enter the theosophical society? this question forced itself urgently upon him, and it was of the utmost gravity, both for himself and for his cause. through his first master, through the brotherhood with which he was associated, and by his own innermost nature, steiner belongs to another school of occultism, i mean to the esoteric christianity of the west, and most especially to the rosicrucian initiation. after mature consideration he resolved to join the theosophical society of which he became a member in . he did not, however, enter it as a pupil of the eastern tradition, but as an initiate of rosicrucian esotericism who gladly recognized the profound depth of the hindu wisdom and offered it a brotherly hand to make a magnetic link between the two. he understood that the two traditions were not meant to contend with each other, but to act in concert, with complete independence, and thus to work for the common good of civilization. the hindu tradition, in fact, contains the greatest treasure of occult science as regards cosmogony and the prehistoric periods of humanity, while the tradition of christian and western esotericism looks from its immeasurable height upon the far-off future and the final destinies of our race. for the past contains and prepares the future, as the future issues from the past and completes it. rudolf steiner was assisted in his work by a powerful recruit and one of inestimable value in the propagandist work that he was about to undertake. mlle. marie von sivers, a russian by birth, and of an unusually varied cosmopolitan education (she writes and speaks russian, french, german, and english equally well), had herself also reached theosophy by other roads, after long seeking for the truth which illumines all because it illumines the very depths of our own being. the extreme refinement of her aristocratic nature, at once modest and proud, her great and delicate sensitiveness, the extent and balance of her intelligence, her artistic and mental endowments, all made her wonderfully fitted for the part of an agent and an apostle. the oriental theosophy had attracted and delighted her without altogether convincing her. the lectures of dr. steiner gave her the light which convinces by casting its beams on all sides, as from a transplendent centre. independent and free, she, like many russians in good society, sought for some ideal work to which she could devote all her energies. she had found it. dr. steiner having been appointed general secretary of the german section of the theosophical society, mlle. marie von sivers became his assistant. from that time, in spreading the work throughout germany and the adjacent countries, she displayed a real genius for organization, maintained with unwearied activity. as for rudolf steiner, he had already given ample proof of his profound thought and his eloquence. he knew himself, and he was master of himself. but such faith, such devotion must have increased his energy a hundredfold, and given wings to his words. his writings on esoteric questions followed one another in rapid succession.[ ] [ ] _die mystik, im aufgange des neuzeitlichen geisteslebens_ ( ); _das christentum als mystische tatsache_ ( ); _theosophie_ ( ). he is now preparing an important book, which will no doubt be his chief work, and which is to be called _geheimwissenschaft_ (occult science). he delivered lectures in berlin, leipzig, cassel, munich, stuttgart, vienna, budapest, etc. all his books are of a high standard. he is equally skilled in the deduction of ideas in philosophical order, and in rigorous analysis of scientific facts. and when he so chooses, he can give a poetical form to his thought, in original and striking imagery. but his whole self is shown only by his presence and his speech, private or public. the characteristic of his eloquence is a singular force, always gentle in expression, resulting undoubtedly from perfect serenity of soul combined with wonderful clearness of mind. added to this at times is an inner and mysterious vibration which makes itself felt by the listener from the very first words. never a word that could shock or jar. from argument to argument, from analogy to analogy, he leads you on from the known to the unknown. whether following up the comparative development of the earth and of man, according to occult tradition, through the lemurian, atlantean, asiatic and european periods; whether explaining the physiological and psychic constitution of man as he now is; whether enumerating the stages of rosicrucian initiation, or commenting on the gospel of st. john and the apocalypse, or applying his root-ideas to mythology, history and literature, that which dominates and guides his discourse is ever this power of synthesis, which co-ordinates facts under one ruling idea and gathers them together in one harmonious vision. and it is ever this inward and contagious fervor, this secret music of the soul, which is, as it were, a subtle melody in harmony with the universal soul. such, at least, is what i felt on first meeting him and listening to him two years ago. i could not better describe this undefinable feeling than by recalling the saying of a poet-friend to whom i was showing the portrait of the german theosophist. standing before those deep and clear-seeing eyes, before that countenance, hollowed by inward struggles, moulded by a lofty spirit which has proved its balance on the heights and its calm in the depths, my friend exclaimed: "behold a master of himself and of life!" the way of initiation i the superphysical world and its gnosis in this practical age and because of the many various claims of the day, it is but natural that people, who hear of transcendentalism should at once ask the question: "how may we for ourselves know the truth of such statements?" indeed, it is noticeable, as a characteristic of the majority, that they will accept nothing on faith, or mere "authority," but wish rather to rely entirely upon their own judgment. therefore, when a mystic undertakes to explain something of the superphysical nature of man, and of the destiny of the human soul and spirit before birth and after death, he is at once confronted with that fundamental demand. such doctrine, they seem to think is important only when you have shown them the way by which they may convince themselves of its truth. [ ] translated from _lusifer-gnosis_ (may to dec. ), a theosophical magazine, published by m. altmann, leipzig, and edited by dr. rudolph steiner ( motzstrasse, berlin, w.). this translation appeared first in the _theosophist_ (october -june ), a magazine of brotherhood, of comparative religion, philosophy and science, and of occultism. edited by annie besant, president of the theosophical society, adyar, madras. this critical inquiry is quite justified; and no true mystic or occultist will dispute its fairness, yet it is unfortunate that with many who make the demand, there exists a feeling of skepticism or antagonism toward the mystic or any attempt on his part to explain anything occult. this feeling becomes especially marked when the mystic intimates how the truths which he has described may be attained. for they say, "whatever is true may be demonstrated; therefore, prove to us what you assert." they demand that the truth must be something clear and simple, something which an ordinary intellect may comprehend. "surely," they add, "this knowledge cannot be the possession of a chosen few, to whom it is given by a special revelation." and in this way the real messenger of transcendental truth is frequently confronted with people who reject him, because--unlike the scientist, for example, he can produce no proofs for his assertions, of such a nature as they are able to understand. again, there are those who cautiously reject any information pertaining to the superphysical because to them it does not seem reasonable. thereupon they partially satisfy themselves, by claiming that we cannot know anything of what lies beyond birth or death, or of anything which cannot be perceived through our five ordinary physical senses. these are but a few of the arguments and criticisms with which to-day the messenger of a spiritual philosophy is confronted; but they are similar to all those which compose the key-note of our time, and he who puts himself at the service of a spiritual movement must recognize this condition quite clearly. for his own part, the mystic is aware that his knowledge rests upon superphysical facts; which to him are just as tangible, for example, as those that form the foundation of the experiences and observations described by a traveller in africa or any strange land. to the mystic applies what annie besant has said in her manual, "death and after?" "a seasoned african explorer would care but little for the criticisms passed on his report by persons who had never been there; he might tell what he saw, describe the animals whose habits he had studied, sketch the country he had traversed, sum up its products and its characteristics. if he was contradicted, laughed at, set right, by untravelled critics, he would be neither ruffled nor distressed, but would merely leave them alone. ignorance cannot convince knowledge by repeated asseveration of its nescience. the opinion of a hundred persons on a subject of which they are wholly ignorant is of no more weight than the opinion of one such person. evidence is strengthened by many consenting witnesses, testifying each to his knowledge of a fact, but nothing multiplied a thousand times remains nothing." here is expressed the mystic's view of his own situation. he hears the objections which are raised on every side, yet he knows that for himself he has no need to dispute them. he realizes that his certain knowledge is being criticized by those who have not had his experience, that he is in the position of a mathematician who has discovered a truth which can lose no value though a thousand voices are raised in opposition. then again will arise the objection of the skeptics: "mathematical truths may be proven to anyone," they will say, "and though perhaps you have really found something, we shall accept it only when we have learned of its truth through our own investigation." such then have reason to consider themselves to be in the right, because it is clear to them that anyone who acquires the necessary knowledge can prove a mathematical truth, while the experiences professed by the mystic if true depend upon the special faculties of a few elect mystics, in whom they assume they are expected to blindly believe. for him, who rightly considers this objection, all justification for the doubt immediately vanishes; and mystics can here use the very logical reasoning of the skeptics themselves, by emphasizing the truth that the way to higher knowledge is open to anyone who will acquire for himself the faculties by which he may prove the spiritual truths herein claimed. the mystic asserts nothing which his opponents would not also be compelled to assert, if they did but fully comprehend their own statements. they, however, in making an assertion, often formulate a claim which constitutes a direct contradiction of that assertion. skeptics are seldom willing to acquire the necessary faculties to test the assertions of the mystic, but prefer to judge him offhand, without regard to their own lack of qualification. the sincere mystic says to them: "i do not claim to be 'chosen' in the sense that you mean. i have merely developed within myself, some of man's additional senses in order to acquire the faculties through which it is possible to speak of glimpses into superphysical regions." these senses are dormant within you and every other person, until they are developed, (as is necessary with the usual senses and faculties more noticeable in the growth of a child). yet his opponents answer: "you must prove your truths to us as we now are!" this at once appears a difficult task, for they have not complied with the necessity of developing the dormant powers within them, they are still unwilling to do so, and yet they insist that he shall give them proofs; nor do they see that this is exactly as if a peasant at his plough should demand of the mathematician the proof of a complicated problem, without his undergoing the trouble of learning mathematics. this mixed mental condition appears to be so general and its solution so simple that one almost hesitates to speak of it. and yet it indicates a delusion under which millions of people continue living at the present time. when explained to them they always agree in theory, since it is quite as plain as, that two and two make four; yet in practice they continually act in contradiction. the mistake has grown to be second nature with many; they indulge it without realizing that they do so without desiring to be convinced of its error; just as they set themselves against other laws which they should and would at all times recognize as embodying a principle of the simplest nature, if they but gave it an unbiased consideration. it matters not whether the mystic of to-day moves among thinking artisans, or in a more educated circle, wherever he goes he meets with the same prejudice, the same self-contradiction. one finds it in popular lectures, in the newspapers and magazines, and even in the more learned works or treatises. here we must recognize quite clearly that we are dealing with a consensus of opinion that amounts to a sign of the times, which we may not simply pronounce as incompetent, nor deal with as possibly a correct but unjust criticism. we must understand that this prejudice against the higher truths, lies deep in the very being of our age. we must understand clearly that the great successes, the immense advance marking our time, necessarily encourages this condition. the nineteenth century especially had in the above respect a dark side to its wonderful excellences. its greatness rests upon discoveries in the external world, and conquest of natural forces for technical and industrial purposes. these successes could have been attained only by the employment of the mind directed toward material results. the civilization of the present day is the result of the training of our senses, and of that part of our mind which is occupied with the world of sense. almost every step we take in the busy marts of to-day shows us how much we owe to this kind of training. and it is under the influence of these blessings of civilization that the habits of thought, prevalent among our fellow-men, have been developed. they continue to abide by the senses and the mind, because it is by means of these that they have grown great. people were taught to train themselves to admit nothing as true except those things that were presented to them by the senses or the intellect. and nothing is more apt to claim for itself the only valid testimony, the only absolute authority, than the mind or the senses. if a man has acquired by means of them a certain degree of culture, he thenceforth accustoms himself to submit everything to their consideration, everything to their criticism. and again in another sphere, in the domain of social life, we find a similar trait. the man of the nineteenth century insisted, in the fullest sense of the word, upon the absolute freedom of personality, and repudiated any authority in the social commonwealth. he endeavored to construct the community in such a way that the full independence, the self-chosen vocation of each individual, should, without interference, be assured. in this way it became habitual for him to consider everything from the standpoint of the average individual. this same individuality is also helpful in the search of knowledge on the spiritual plane, for the higher powers which lie dormant in the soul may be developed by one person in this direction by another in that. one will make more progress, another less. but when they develop those powers, and attach value to them, men begin to differentiate themselves. and then one must allow, to the advanced student, more right to speak on the subject, or to act in a certain way, than to another who is less advanced. this is more essential in matters of the higher realm than on the plane of the senses and the mind, where experiences are more nearly the same. it is also noticeable that the present formation of the social commonwealth has helped to bring about a revolt against the higher powers of man. according to the mystic, civilization during the nineteenth century has moved altogether along physical lines; and people have accustomed themselves to move on the physical plane alone, and to feel at home there. the higher powers are developed only on planes higher than the physical, and the knowledge which these faculties bring is, therefore, unknown to the physical man. it is only necessary to attend mass-meetings, if one wishes to be convinced of the fact that the speakers there are totally unable to think any thoughts but those which refer to the physical plane, the world of sense. this can also be seen through the leading journalists of our papers and magazines; and, indeed, on all sides one may observe the haughtiest and most complete denial of everything that cannot be seen with the eyes, or felt with the hands, or comprehended by the average mind. we do not condemn this attitude for it denotes a necessary stage in the development of humanity. without the pride and prejudices of mind and sense, we should never have achieved our great conquests over material life, nor have been able to impart to the personality a certain measure of elasticity: neither can we hope that many ideals, which must be founded on man's desire for freedom and the assertion of personality, may yet be realized. but this dark side of a purely materialistic civilization has deeply affected the whole being of the modern man. for proof it is not necessary to refer to the obvious facts already named; it would be easy to demonstrate, by certain examples (which are greatly underrated, especially to-day), how deeply rooted in the mind of the modern man is this adhesion to the testimony of the senses, or the average intelligence. and it is just these things that indicate the need for the renewal of spiritual life. the strong response evoked by professor friedrich delitzsch's _babel and bible theory_ fully justifies a reference to its author's method of thinking, as a sign of the time. professor delitzsch has demonstrated the relationship of certain traditions in the old testament, to the babylonian accounts of the creation, and this fact, coming from such a source and in such a form, has been realized by many who would otherwise have ignored such questions. it has led many to reconsider the so-called idea of revelation. they ask themselves: "how is it possible to accept the idea that the contents of the old testament were revealed by god, when we find very similar conceptions among decidedly heathen nations?" this problem cannot here be further discussed. delitzsch found many opponents who feared that through his exposition, the very foundations of religion had been shaken. he has defended himself in a pamphlet, _babel and bible, a retrospect and a forecast_. here we shall only refer to a single statement in the pamphlet. one of importance, because it reveals the view of an eminent scientist regarding the position of man with respect to transcendental truths. and to-day innumerable other people think and feel just like delitzsch. the statement affords an excellent opportunity for us to find out what is the innermost conviction of our contemporaries, expressed quite freely and, therefore, in its truest form. delitzsch turns to those who reproach him with a somewhat liberal use of the term "revelation," and who would fain regard it as "a kind of old priestly wisdom" which "has nothing at all to do with the layman," making this reply. "for my part, i am of opinion that while our children or ourselves are instructed in school or at church as regards revelation, not only are we within our right, but it is our duty, to think independently concerning these deep questions, possessing also, as they do, an eminently practical side, were it only that we might avoid giving our children 'evasive' answers. for this very reason it will be gratifying to many searchers after truth when the dogma of a special 'choosing' of israel shall have been brought forward into the light of a wider historical outlook, through the union of babylonian, assyrian, and old testament research.... [a few pages earlier we are shown the direction of such thoughts.] for the rest, it would seem to me that the only logical thing is for church and school to be satisfied as regards the whole past history of the world and of humanity, with the belief in one almighty creator of heaven and earth, and that these tales of the old testament should be classified by themselves under some such title as 'old hebraic myths.'" (it may be taken as a matter of course, we suppose, that no one will see in the following remarks an attack on the investigator delitzsch.) what, then, is here averred in naive simplicity? nothing less than that the mind which is engaged upon physical investigation may assert the right of judging experiences of superphysical nature. there is no thought that this mind without further development may perhaps be unfit to reflect upon the teachings of these "revelations." when one wishes to understand that which appears as a "revelation," one must employ the kind of knowledge or forces through which the "revelation," itself has come to us. he who develops within himself the mystical power of perception soon observes that in certain stories of the old testament which by delitzsch were called "old hebraic myths," there are revealed to him truths of a higher nature than those which may be comprehended by the intellect, which is only concerned with the things of sense. his own experiences will lead him to see that these "myths" have proceeded out of a mystic perception of transcendental truths. and then, in one illuminative moment, his whole point of view is changed. as little as one may demonstrate the fallacy of a mathematical problem by discovering who solved it first, or even that several people have solved it, just so little may one impugn the truth of a biblical narrative by the discovery of a similar story elsewhere. instead of demanding that everyone should insist upon his right, or even his duty, to think independently on the so-called "revelations," we ought rather to consider that only he who has developed in himself those latent powers which make it possible for him to relive that which was once realized by those very mystics, who proclaimed the "supersensuous revelations," has a right to decide anything about the matter. here we have an excellent example of how the average intellect, qualified for the highest triumphs in practical sense-knowledge, sets itself up, in naive pride, as a judge in domains, the existence of which it does not even care to know. for purely historical investigation is also carried on by nothing but the experience of the senses. in just the same way has the investigation of the new testament led us into a blind alley. at any costs the method of the "newer historical investigation" had to be directed upon the gospels. these documents have been compared with each other, and brought into relation with all sorts of records, in order that we might find out what really happened in palestine from the year to the year ; how the "historical personality" of whom they tell really lived, and what he may really have said. angelus selesius, of the seventeenth century, has already expressed the whole of the critical attitude toward this kind of investigation: "though christ were yearly born in bethlehem, and never had birth in you yourself, then were you lost for ever; and if within yourself it is not reared again, the cross at golgotha can save you not from pain." nor are these the words of one who doubted, but those of a christian, strong in his belief. and his equally fervent predecessor, meister eckhart, said in the thirteenth century: "there are some who desire to see god with their eyes, as they look at a cow; and just as they love a cow, so they desire to love god.... simple-minded people imagine that god may be seen as if he stood there and they stood here. but this is not so: in that perception, god and i are one." these words must not be understood as directed against the investigation of "historical truth." _yet no one can rightly understand the historic truth of such documents as the gospels, unless he has first experienced within himself the mystical meaning which they contain._ all such comparisons and analyses are quite worthless, for no one can discover who was "born in bethlehem" but he who has mystically experienced the christ within himself; neither can anyone in whom it has not already been erected, decide how it is that "the cross at golgotha" can deliver us from pain. purely historical investigation "can discover no more concerning the mystic reality than the dismembering anatomist, perhaps, can discover the secret of a great poetical genius." (see my book, _das christentum als mystische tatsache_, berlin, c. a. schwetschke und sohn, , or its french translation, mentioned on page .) he who can see clearly in these matters is aware how deeply rooted, at the present time, is the "pride" of the intellect, which only concerns itself with the facts of sense. it says: "i do not wish to develop faculties in order that i may reach the higher truths; i wish to form my decisions concerning them with the powers that i now possess." in a well-meant pamphlet, which is written, however, entirely in that spirit of the age which we have already indicated (_what do we know about jesus?_ by a. kalthoff, berlin, ), we read as follows: "christ, who symbolizes the life of the community, may be discerned within himself by the man of to-day: out of his own soul the man of to-day can create christ just as well as the author of a gospel created him; as a man he may put himself in the same position as the gospel-writers, because he can reinstate himself into the same soul-processes, can himself speak or write gospel." "these words might be true, but they may also be entirely erroneous. they are true when understood in the sense of angelus silesius, or of meister eckhart, that is when they refer to the development of powers dormant in every human soul, which, from some such idea, endeavors to experience within itself the christ of the gospels. they are altogether wrong, if a more or less shallow ideal of the christ is thus created out of the spirit of an age that acknowledges the truth of no perceptions other than those of the senses." the life of the spirit can be understood only when we do not presume to criticize it with the lower mind, but rather when we develop it reverently within ourselves. no one can hope to learn anything of the higher truths if he demands that they shall be lowered to the "average understanding." this statement provokes the question: "why, then, do you mystics proclaim these truths to people who, you declare, cannot as yet understand them? why should there be movements in the furtherance of certain teachings, when the powers which render men able to conceive of these teachings are still undeveloped?" it is the task of this book to elucidate this apparent contradiction. it will show that the spiritual currents of our day originate from a different source, in a different manner, from the science which relies entirely on the lower intellect. yet, in spite of this, these spiritual currents are not to be considered as less scientific than the science which is based upon physical facts alone. rather do they extend the field of scientific investigation into the superphysical. we must close this chapter with one more question, which is likely to arise: how may one attain to superphysical truths, and, of what help are spiritual movements towards this attainment? ii how to attain knowledge of the higher worlds in every man there are latent faculties by means of which he may acquire for himself knowledge of the higher worlds. the mystic, master, theosophist, or gnostic speaks of a soul-world and a spirit-world, which are, for him, just as real as the world which we see with our physical eyes, or touch with our physical hands. and those who wish to develop the spiritual senses, which unfold psychic knowledge, should understand that safe advice can be given only by those who have already developed such power within themselves. as long as the human race has existed, there have been lodges and schools in which those who possessed these higher faculties have given instruction to those who were in search of them. such are called occult schools, and the instruction which is imparted therein is called esoteric science, or occult teaching. this designation sometimes leads to misunderstanding. he who hears it may be very easily misled into the belief that those who work in these schools desire to represent a special, privileged class, which arbitrarily withholds its knowledge from its fellow-creatures. indeed, he may even think that perhaps there is nothing really important behind such knowledge. for he is tempted to think that, if it were a true knowledge, there would be no need of making a secret of it: one might then communicate it publicly to the advantage of all men. those who have been initiated into occult knowledge are not in the least surprised that the uninitiated should so think. only he who has to a certain degree experienced this initiation into the higher knowledge of being can understand the secret of that initiation. but it may be asked: how, then, shall the uninitiated, considering the circumstances, develop any interest at all in this so-called mystic knowledge? how and why ought they to search for something of the nature of which they can form no idea? such a question is based upon an entirely erroneous conception of the real nature of occult knowledge. there is, in truth, no fundamental difference between occult knowledge and all the rest of man's knowledge and capacity. this mystic knowledge is no more a secret for the average man than writing is a secret to him who has never learned to read. and just as everyone who chooses the correct method may learn to write, so too can everyone who searches after the right way become a disciple, and even a teacher. in only one respect are the conditions here different from those that apply to external thought-activities. the possibility of acquiring the art of writing may be withheld from someone through poverty, or through the state of civilization into which he has been born; but for the attainment of knowledge in the higher worlds there is no obstacle for him who sincerely searches for it. many believe that it is necessary to find, here or there, the masters of the higher knowledge, in order to receive enlightenment from them. in the first place, he who strives earnestly after the higher knowledge need not be afraid of any difficulty or obstacle in his search for an initiate who shall be able to lead him into the profounder secrets of the world. everyone, on the contrary, may be certain that an initiate will find him, under any circumstances, if there is in him an earnest and worthy endeavor to attain this knowledge. for it is a strict law with all initiates to withhold from no man the knowledge that is due him. but there is an equally strict law which insists that no one shall receive any occult knowledge until he is worthy and well prepared. and the more strictly he observes these two laws, the more perfect is an initiate. the order which embraces all initiates is surrounded, as it were, by a wall, and the two laws here mentioned form two strong principles by which the constituents of this wall are held together. you may live in close friendship with an initiate, yet this wall will separate him from you just as long as you have not become an initiate yourself. you may enjoy in the fullest sense the heart, the love of an initiate, yet he will only impart to you his secret when you yourself are ready for it. you may flatter him; you may torture him; nothing will induce him to divulge to you anything which he knows ought not be disclosed, inasmuch as you, at the present stage of your evolution, do not understand rightly how to receive the secret into your soul. the ways which prepare a man for the reception of such a secret are clearly prescribed. they are indicated by the unfading, everlasting letters within the temples where the initiates guard the higher secrets. in ancient times, anterior to "history," these temples were outwardly visible; to-day, because our lives have become so unspiritual, they are mostly quite invisible to external sight. yet they are present everywhere, and all who seek may find them. only within his soul may a man discover the means which will open for him the lips of the initiate. to a certain high degree he must develop within himself special faculties, and then the greatest treasures of the spirit become his own. he must begin with a certain fundamental attitude of the soul: the student of occultism calls it the path of devotion, of veneration. only he who maintains this attitude can, in occultism, become a disciple. and he who has experience in these things is able to perceive even in the child the signs of approaching discipleship. there are children who look up with religious awe to those whom they venerate. for such people they have a respect which forbids them to admit, even in the innermost sanctuary of the heart, any thought of criticism or opposition. these children grow up into young men and maidens who feel happy when they are able to look up to anything venerable. from the ranks of such children are recruited many disciples. have you ever paused outside the door of some venerated man, and have you, on this your first visit, felt a religious awe as you pressed the handle, in order to enter the room which for you is a holy place? then there has been manifested in you an emotion which may be the germ of your future discipleship. it is a blessing for every developing person to have such emotions upon which to build. only it must not be thought that such qualities contain the germ of submissiveness and slavery. experience teaches us that those can best hold their heads erect who have learned to venerate where veneration is due. and veneration is always in its own place when it rises from the depths of the heart. if we do not develop within ourselves this deeply-rooted feeling that there is something higher than ourselves, we shall never find enough strength to evolve to something higher. the initiate has only acquired the power of lifting his intellect to the heights of knowledge by guiding his heart into the depths of veneration and devotion. the heights of the spirit can only be reached by passing through the portals of humility. man can certainly have the right to gaze upon the reality, but he must first earn this right. you can only acquire right knowledge when you are ready to esteem it. there are laws in the spiritual life, as in the physical life. rub a glass rod with an appropriate material and it will become electric, that is to say, it will acquire the power of attracting small bodies. this exemplifies natural law. (and if one has learned even a little of physics, one knows this.) similarly, if one is acquainted with the first principles of occultism, one knows that every feeling of true devotion aids in developing qualities, which sooner or later, lead to the path of knowledge. he who possesses within himself this feeling of devotion, or who is fortunate enough to receive it from his education, brings a great deal along with him, when, later in life, he seeks an entrance to the higher knowledge. but he who has had no such preparation will find himself confronted with difficulties, even upon the first step of the path of knowledge, unless he undertakes, by rigorous self-education, to create the devotional mood within himself. in our time it is especially important that full attention be given to this point. our civilization tends much more toward criticism, the giving of judgments, and so forth, than toward devotion, and a selfless veneration. our children criticize much more than they worship. but every judgment, every carping criticism, frustrates the powers of the soul for the attainment of the higher knowledge, in the same measure that all heartfelt devotion develops them. in this we do not wish to say anything against our civilization nor pass judgment upon it. for it is to this critical faculty, this self-conscious human discernment, this "prove all things and hold fast to the good," that we owe the greatness of our civilization. we could never have attained the science, the commerce, the industry, the law of our time, had we not exercised our critical faculty everywhere, had we not everywhere applied the standard of our judgment. but what we have thereby gained in external culture we have had to pay for with a corresponding loss of the higher knowledge, of the spiritual life. now the important thing that everyone must clearly understand is that, for him who is right in the midst of the objective civilization of our time, it is very difficult to advance to the knowledge of the higher worlds. he can do so only if he work energetically within himself. at a time when the conditions of outward life were simpler, spiritual exaltation was easier of attainment. that which ought to be venerated, that which should be kept holy, stood out in better relief from the ordinary things of the world. in a period of criticism these ideals are much lowered; other emotions take the place of awe, veneration, respect, and prayer. our own age continually pushes these better emotions further and further back, so that in the daily life of the people they play but a very small part. he who seeks for higher knowledge must create it within himself; he himself must instil it into his soul. it cannot be done by study; it can only be done through living. he who wishes to become a disciple must therefore assiduously cultivate the devotional mood. everywhere in his environment he must look for that which demands of him admiration and homage. whenever his duties or circumstances permit, he should try to abstain entirely from all criticism or judgment. if i meet a brother and blame him for his weakness, i rob myself of power to win the higher knowledge; but if i try to enter lovingly into his merits, i then gather such power. the disciple should seek to benefit both himself and others. experienced occultists are aware how much they owe to the continual searching for the good in all things, and the withholding of all harsh criticism. this must be not only an external rule of life; but it must take possession of the innermost part of our souls. we have it in our power to perfect ourselves, and by and by to transform ourselves completely. but this transformation must take place in the innermost self, in the mental life. it is not enough that i show respect only in my outward bearing toward a person; i must have this respect in my thought. the disciple must begin by drawing this devotion into his thought-life. he must altogether banish from his consciousness all thoughts of disrespect, of criticism, and he must endeavor straightway to cultivate thoughts of devotion. every moment, in which we set ourselves to banish from our consciousness whatever remains in it of disparaging, suspicious judgment of our fellow-men, brings us nearer to the knowledge of higher things. and we rise rapidly when, in such moments, we fill our consciousness with only those thoughts that evoke admiration, respect, and veneration for men and things. he who has experience in these matters will know that in every such moment powers are awakened in man which otherwise would remain dormant. in this way the spiritual eyes of a man are opened. he begins to see things around him which hitherto he was unable to perceive. he begins to understand that hitherto he had seen only a part of the world around him. the man with whom he comes in contact now shows him quite a different aspect from that which he showed before. of course, through this single rule of life, he will not yet be able to see what has elsewhere been described as the human aura, because, for that, a still higher training is necessary. but he may rise to that higher development if he has previously had a thorough training in devotion.[ ] [ ] in the last chapter of the book entitled _theosophie_ (berlin, c. a. schwetschke und sohn), dr. rudolf steiner fully describes this "path of knowledge;" here it is only intended to give some practical details. noiseless and unnoticed by the outer world is the following of the "path of discipleship." it is not necessary that anyone should observe a change in the disciple. he performs his duties as hitherto; he attends to his business as usual. the transformation goes on only in the inner part of the soul, hidden from outward sight. at first the entire soul-life of a man is flooded by this fundamental spring of devotion for everything which is truly venerable. his entire soul-life finds in this devotional mood its pivot. just as the sun, through its rays, will vivify everything living, so in the life of the disciple this reverence vivifies all the perceptions of the soul. at first it is not easy for people to believe that feelings like reverence, respect, and so forth, have anything to do with their perceptions. this comes from the fact that one is inclined to think of perception as a faculty quite by itself, one that stands in no relation to what otherwise happens in the soul. in so thinking, we do not remember that it is the soul which perceives. and feelings are for the soul what food is for the body. if we give the body stones in place of bread its activity will cease. it is the same with the soul. veneration, homage, devotion, are as nutriment which makes it healthy and strong, especially strong for the activity of perception. disrespect, antipathy, and under-estimation, bring about the starvation and the withering of this activity. for the occultist this fact is visible in the aura. a soul which harbors the feelings of devotion and reverence, brings about a change in its aura. certain yellowish-red or brown-red tints will vanish, and tints of bluish-red will replace them. and then the organ of perception opens. it receives information of facts in its environment of which it hitherto had no knowledge. reverence awakens a sympathetic power in the soul, and through this we attract similar qualities in the beings which surround us, that would otherwise remain hidden. more effective still is that power which can be obtained by devotion when another feeling is added. one learns to give up oneself less and less to the impressions of the outer world, and to develop in its place a vivid inward life. he who darts from one impression of the outer world to another, who constantly seeks dissipations, cannot find the way to occultism. neither should the disciple blunt himself to the outer world; but let his rich inner life point out the direction in which he ought to lend himself to its impressions. when passing through a beautiful mountain district, the man with depth of soul and richness of emotion has different experiences from the man with few emotions. only what we experience within ourselves reveals the beauties of the outer world. one man sails across the ocean, and only a few inward experiences pass through his soul; but another will then hear the eternal language of the world-spirit, and for him are unveiled the mysteries of creation. one must have learned to control one's own feelings and ideas if one wishes to develop any intimate relationship with the outer world. every phenomenon in that outer world is full of divine splendor, but one must have felt the divine within oneself before one may hope to discover it without. the disciple is told to set apart certain moments of his daily life during which to withdraw into himself, quietly and alone. at such times he ought not to occupy himself with his own personal affairs, for this would bring about the contrary of that at which he is aiming. during these moments he ought rather to listen in complete silence to the echoes of what he has experienced, of what the outward world has told him. then, in these periods of quiet, every flower, every animal, every action will unveil to him secrets undreamed of, and thus will he prepare himself to receive new impressions of the external world, as if he viewed it with different eyes. for he who merely desires to enjoy impression after impression, only stultifies the perceptive faculty, while he who lets the enjoyment afterwards reveal something to him, thus enlarges and educates it. he must be careful not merely to let the enjoyment reverberate, as it were; but, renouncing any further emotions of joy, begin to work upon his pleasurable experiences with an inward activity. the danger at this point is very great. instead of working within one-self, it is easy to fall into the opposite habit of afterward trying to completely exhaust the enjoyment. let us not undervalue the unforeseen sources of error which here confront the disciple. he must of necessity pass through a host of temptations, each of which tends only to harden his ego and to imprison it within itself. he ought to open it wide for the whole world. it is necessary that he should seek enjoyment, for in this way only can the outward world get at him; and if he blunts himself to enjoyment he becomes as a plant which cannot longer draw nourishment from its environment. yet, if he stops at the enjoyment, he is then shut up within himself, and will only be something to himself and nothing to the world. however much he may live within himself, however intensely he may cultivate his ego, the world will exclude him. he is dead to the world. the disciple considers enjoyment only as a means of ennobling himself for the world. pleasure to him is as a scout who informs him concerning the world, and after having been taught by pleasure he passes on to work. he does not learn in order that he may accumulate wisdom as his own treasure, but in order that he may put his learning at the service of the world. in all forms of occultism there is a fundamental principle which must not be transgressed, if any goal at all is to be reached. all occult teachers must impress upon their pupils that, _every branch of knowledge which you seek only to enrich your own learning, only to accumulate treasure for yourself, leads you away from the path; but all knowledge which you seek for working in the service of humanity and for the uplifting of the world brings you a step forward_. this law must be rigidly observed; nor is one a genuine disciple until he has adopted it as the guide for his whole life. in many occult schools this truth is expressed in the following short sentence: _every idea which does not become an ideal for you, slays a power within your soul: every idea which becomes an ideal creates within you a vital force_. iii the path of discipleship at the very beginning of his course the student is directed to the _path of reverence_, and the development of the _inner life_. the occult teaching also gives practical instructions by the observance of which he may learn to follow that path and develop that inner life. these practical directions have no arbitrary basis. they rest on ancient experience and ancient wisdom, and wheresoever the ways to higher knowledge are marked out, they are of the same nature. all genuine teachers of occultism agree as to the essential character of these rules, although they do not always express them in the same words. this difference of expression is of a minor character, more seeming than real, and is due to circumstances which need not be mentioned here. no teacher wishes, by means of such rules, to establish an ascendency over other persons. he would not tamper with individual independence. indeed, no one respects and cherishes human individuality more than the teachers of occultism. it was said, in the first part of this book, that the order which embraces all initiates was surrounded by a wall, and that two laws formed the principles by which it was upheld. whenever the initiate leaves this enclosure and steps forth into the world, he must submit to a third inviolable law. it is this: keep watch over each of your actions and each of your words, in order that you may not hinder the free-will of any human being. those who recognize that genuine occult teachers are thoroughly permeated with this principle will understand that they can add to their independence by the practical directions which they are advised to follow. one of the first of these rules may be thus expressed in our language: "provide for yourself moments of inward calm, and in these moments _learn to distinguish between the real and the unreal_." i say advisedly "expressed in our language," because originally all rules and teachings of occult science were expressed in a symbolical sign-language. those who desire to master its whole scope and meaning must first obtain permission to learn this symbolical language, and before such permission may be obtained, it is necessary to have taken the first steps in occult knowledge. this may be achieved by the careful observance of such rules as are here given. the path is open to all who earnestly _will_ to enter it. simple, in truth and easy to follow, is the rule concerning moments of inner calm; but it leads to the goal only when the pursuit is as earnest and strict as the way is simple. it will, therefore, be stated here, without further preamble, the method in which this rule should be observed. the student must mark off a small part of his daily life in which to occupy himself with something quite different from the avocations of his ordinary life, and the _way_ in which he occupies himself at such a time must also differ from the way in which he performs the rest of his duties. but this does not mean that what he does in the time thus set apart has no connection with his daily work. on the contrary, the man who seeks such moments in the right way will soon find that it is just this which gives him full power to do his daily task. nor must it be supposed that the observance of this rule really deprives anyone of time needed for the performance of his duties. _if any person really has no more time at his disposal, five minutes a day will suffice._ the real point is the manner in which these five minutes are spent. at these periods a man should raise himself completely above his work-a-day life. his thoughts and feelings must take on a different coloring. his joys and sorrows, his cares, experiences, and actions, must pass in review before his soul. and he must cultivate a frame of mind which enables him to regard all his other experiences from a higher point of view. we need only bear in mind how different is the point of view from which in ordinary life we regard the experiences and actions of another, and that from which we judge our own. this is inevitable, for we are interwoven with our own actions and experiences, while we only contemplate those of another. our aim, in moments of retirement, must be to contemplate and judge our own experiences and actions, as though it were not ourselves but some other person to whom they applied. suppose, for example, that a certain misfortune has befallen someone. what a different attitude that person takes towards it as compared with an identical misfortune that has befallen his neighbor! no one can blame this attitude as unjustifiable; it is a part of human nature. and just as it is in exceptional circumstances, so it is also in the daily affairs of life. the student must endeavor to attain the power of regarding himself at certain times as he would regard a stranger. he must contemplate himself with the inward calm of the critic. when this is attained, our own experiences present themselves in a new light. as long as we are interwoven with them and are, as it were, within them, we are as closely connected with the unreal as with the real. when we attain to a calm survey, the real is separated from the unreal. sorrow and joy, every thought, every resolve, appear changed when we contemplate ourselves in this way. it is as though we had spent the whole day in a place where we saw the smallest objects at the same range of vision as the largest ones, and in the evening climbed a neighboring hill and surveyed the whole scene at once. then the parts of the place take on proportions different from those they bore when seen from within. the value of such calm inward contemplation depends less on the actual thing we contemplate than on the power which such inward calm develops in us. for in every human being there is, besides what we call the work-a-day man, a higher being. this higher being remains concealed until it is awakened. and each of us can only awaken it for himself. but as long as this higher being is not awakened, the higher faculties that might lead to supersensual knowledge, must lie dormant or remain hidden in every man. this power which leads to inward calm is a magic force that sets free certain higher faculties. until a seeker feels this magic force within him, he must continue to follow strictly and earnestly the rules given. to every man who thus perseveres, the day will come when a spiritual light is revealed to him, and a whole new world, whose existence was hitherto unsuspected, is discerned by an eye within him. because he begins to follow this rule, there is no need for any outward change in the life of the student. he performs his duties as before, and at first he endures the same sorrows and experiences the same joys as of old. in no way does it estrange him from life, rather is he enabled to devote himself to it the more completely, because in the moments set apart he has a higher life of his own. gradually this higher life will make its influence felt on the ordinary life. the calm of the moments set apart will influence his ordinary existence as well. the whole man will grow calmer, will attain serenity in all his actions, and will cease to be perturbed by all manner of incidents. gradually a student who thus advances will guide himself more and more, and be less governed by circumstances and external influences. such a man will soon discover how great a source of strength lies for him in these periods of contemplation. he will cease to be annoyed by things that formerly worried him; and countless matters that once filled him with fear will now cease to alarm him. he acquires a new outlook on life. formerly he may have taken up this or that task with a sense of timidity. he would say: "i lack the power to do this as well as i could wish." now he no longer admits such a thought but, instead forms one quite different. he says to himself: "i will summon all my strength in order to do my work as well as i possibly can." and he suppresses the thought which encourages timidity; for he knows that this very timidity might spoil his undertaking, and that in any event it can contribute nothing to the improvement of his labor. and thus one thought after another, each fraught with advantage to his whole life, begins to penetrate the student's outlook. they take the place of those which gave a hampering and weakening effect. he begins to steer his own ship, on a firm, secure course, among the waves of life, which formerly tossed it helplessly to and fro. and this calm and serenity react on the whole being. they assist the growth of the inner man, and of those inner faculties which lead to higher knowledge. for it is by his progress in this direction that the student gradually attains to a state in which he himself determines the manner in which the impressions of the external world shall affect him. thus, he may hear a word, spoken with the object of wounding or vexing him. before he began his occult studies it would indeed have been painful or irritating. but now that he is in the path of discipleship, he is able to take from it the sting or the power to hurt, even before it enters his consciousness. take another example: we naturally grow impatient when we are kept waiting, but the student is so permeated, in his moments of calm, with the realization of the uselessness of impatience, that this calmness is present with him on every occasion. the impatience which would naturally overcome him vanishes, and an interval which would otherwise have been wasted in the expression of impatience may be utilized by making some profitable observation during the period of waiting. now we must realize the significance of these facts. we must remember that the "higher being" in a man is in constant development, and only the state of calm and serenity here described renders an orderly development possible. the waves of outward life press in upon the inner man from all sides, if, instead of controlling this outward life, he is controlled by it. such a man is like a plant which tries to expand in a cleft in the rock, and is stunted in its growth until new space is given it. no outward forces can supply space for the inner man; it can only be supplied by the inner calm which he may give to his soul. outward circumstances can only alter the course of his outward life; they can never awaken the spiritual inner man. the student must himself give birth to the new and higher man within him. the higher man becomes the "inner ruler," who directs the circumstances of the outer man with sure guidance. as long as the latter has the upper hand, this inner man is enslaved, and cannot therefore develop his powers. _if another than myself has the power to make me angry, i am not master of myself_, or, to put it better, i have not yet found "the ruler within me." i must develop the power within, of letting the impressions of the outer world approach me only in the way in which i myself choose; then only do i really become an occult student. and only by earnestly striving after this power can a student reach the goal. it is not of so much importance to achieve a great deal in a given time, as to be earnest in the search. many have striven for years without noticing any marked advance; but many of those who did not despair, and struggled on undaunted, have sometimes quite suddenly achieved the "inner victory." in many situations it requires a good deal of effort to achieve these moments of inward calm. but the greater the effort needed, the more important is the achievement. in esoteric studies, everything depends on the energy, inward truthfulness, and uncompromising sincerity with which we contemplate ourselves and our actions from the standpoint of complete strangers. but only one side of the student's inner activity is characterized by this birth of his own higher being. something else in addition is needed. even if a man regards himself as a stranger, it is only himself that he contemplates; he looks at those experiences and actions, with which he is connected, through his particular mode of life, while it is necessary for him to rise above this, and attain to a purely human point of view, to be no longer connected with his own individual circumstances. he must pass on to the contemplation of those things which concern him as a human being, even though he dwell in a different condition and different circumstances. in this way something is brought to birth within him which rises beyond the personal point of view. thus his gaze is directed to higher worlds than those he knows in every-day life. and then he begins to feel and realize that he belongs to these higher worlds about which his senses and his daily occupations can tell him nothing. in this way he shifts the central point of his being to the inner part of his nature. he listens to the voices within him which speak to him in his moments of calm; and inwardly he cultivates an intercourse with the spiritual world, which removes him from the every-day world, whose voices he no longer hears. around him there is silence. he puts away from him all his external surroundings, and everything which even reminds him of such external impressions. his entire soul is filled with calm, inward contemplation and converse with the purely spiritual world. this calm contemplation must become a necessity to the student. he is plunged completely into a world of thought, and must develop an earnest desire for calm thinking. he must learn to love the in-pouring of the spirit. then he will learn to regard this thought-world and its thought-forms as more real than the every-day things which surround him, and he begins to deal with thoughts as with things existing in space. and then the moment is at hand when the revelations of his quiet thinking begin to seem much higher and more real than the things existing in space. he discovers that this thought-world is an expression of life, and realizes that thoughts are not mere phantoms, but that through them, beings, who were hidden before, now speak to him. he begins to hear voices through the silence. formerly his ear was the only organ of hearing; now he can listen with his soul. an inner language and an inner voice are revealed to him. it is a moment of supremest ecstasy to the student when this experience first comes to him. an inner light floods the whole external world for him, and he is "born anew." through his being passes a current from a divine world, bringing with it divine bliss. this thought-life of the soul, which is gradually widened into a life of spiritual being, is designated by the gnosis and by theosophy as meditation (contemplative thought). this meditation is the means by which supersensual knowledge is attained. but during such moments the student must not be content to give himself up to the luxury of sensation. he must not permit undefined feelings to take possession of his soul. that would only hinder him from attaining true spiritual knowledge. his thoughts must be clearly and sharply defined, and he will be helped in this by not allowing himself to be carried away blindly by the thoughts that spring up within him. rather must he permeate his mind with the lofty ideas which originated with advanced students to whom inspiration has already come. let him first of all study the wisdom which originated in such moments of meditation. the student will find such in the mystical, gnostic, and theosophical literature of our time, and will there gain the material for his meditation. wise men have inscribed in these books the thoughts of divine science, or have proclaimed them to the world through their agents. such meditation produces a complete transformation in the student. he begins to form entirely new conceptions of reality. all things acquire fresh values in his eyes. and it cannot be declared too often that this transformation does not estrange him from the world nor keep him from his daily round of duties. for he begins to realize that his most insignificant actions or experiences are in close connection with the great cosmic beings and events. when once this connection is revealed to him in his moments of contemplation, he is endowed with fresher and fuller power for his daily duties. for then he knows that his labor and his suffering are given and endured for the sake of a great spiritual cosmic whole. thus, instead of weariness, his meditation gives him strength to live. with firm step the student advances in life. no matter what it may bring him, he goes forward erect. in the past he knew not why he worked and suffered, but now he knows. it is obvious that such meditation is more likely to lead to the goal, if conducted under the direction of experienced persons, who know actually how everything may best be done. we should, therefore, seek the advice and direction of such experienced guides (they are called gurus in certain schools of thought). what would otherwise be mere uncertain groping is transformed by such direction into work that is sure of its goal. those who apply to the teachers having such knowledge and experience will never apply in vain. they must, however, be quite sure that it is the advice of a friend they desire, not the domination of a would-be ruler. those who really know are always the most modest of men, and nothing is further from their nature than what is called the passion for power. those who, by means of meditation, rise to that which unites man with spirit, are bringing to life within them the eternal element which is not limited by birth nor death. only those who have had no experience for themselves can doubt the existence of this eternal element. thus meditation becomes the way by which man also attains to the recognition and contemplation of his eternal, indestructible, essential being. and only through meditation can one attain to such a view of life. gnosis and theosophy tell of the eternal nature of this essential being, and of its reincarnation. the question is often asked: "why does a man know nothing of those experiences which lie beyond the borders of birth and death?" not thus should we ask, but rather: "how may we attain to such knowledge?" the entrance to the path is opened by right meditation. this alone can revive the memory of events that lie beyond the borders of birth and death. everyone can attain to this knowledge; in each of us is the faculty of recognizing and contemplating for ourselves the truths of mysticism, theosophy, and gnosis; but the right means must be chosen. only a being with ears and eyes can perceive tones and colors, nor can the eye perceive without the light by which things are made visible. occult science gives the means of developing the spiritual ears and eyes, and kindling the spiritual light. there are, according to esoteric teachers, three steps by which the goal may be attained: . _probation._ this develops the spiritual senses. . _enlightenment._ this kindles the spiritual light. . _initiation._ this establishes intercourse with the higher spiritual beings. the following teachings proceed from a secret tradition, but precise information concerning its nature and its name cannot be given at present. they refer to the three steps which, in the school of this tradition, lead to a certain degree of initiation. but here we shall find only so much of this tradition as may be openly declared. these teachings are extracted from a much deeper and more secret doctrine. in the occult schools themselves a definite course of instruction is followed, and in addition to this there are certain practices which enable the souls of men to attain a conscious intercourse with the spiritual world. these practices bear about the same relation to what will be imparted in the following pages, as the teaching which is given in a well-disciplined school bears to the instruction that may be received occasionally during a walk. and yet the ardent and persevering search for what is here hinted at will lead to the way by which one obtains access to a genuine occult school. but, of course, an impatient perusal, devoid of sincerity and perseverance, can lead to nothing at all. he who believes himself to be ready for more must apply to an occult teacher. the study of these things can only be successful if the student will observe what has already been written in previous chapters. the stages which the above-mentioned tradition specifies are the following three: i. probation, ii. enlightenment, iii. initiation. it is not altogether necessary that these three stages should be so taken that one must have quite completed the first before beginning the second, nor this in its turn before commencing the third. with respect to certain things one can partake of enlightenment, and even of initiation, while with others one is still in the probationary stage. yet it will be necessary to spend a certain time in this stage of probation before any enlightenment at all can commence, and at least to some degree one must be enlightened before it is possible even to enter upon the stage of initiation. in giving an account of them, however, it is necessary, for the sake of clearness, that the three stages follow, one after another. iv probation probation consists of a strict cultivation of the emotional and mental life. through this cultivation the "spiritual body" becomes equipped with new instruments of perception and new organs of activity, just as, out of indeterminate living matter, the natural forces have fitted the physical body with the various organs so well known to the physical senses. the beginning of this cultivation is made by directing the attention of the soul to certain events in the world that surrounds us. such events are the germinating, expanding, and flourishing of _life_ in its myriad forms on the one hand, and, on the other, the fading, decaying, and passing out of life from all things so far as perceptible to the ordinary senses. wherever we turn our eyes we can observe these things happening simultaneously, and everywhere they naturally evoke in men thoughts and feelings. but under ordinary circumstances a man fails to grasp the importance of these sensations. he hurries on too quickly from impression to impression. what is necessary, therefore, is that he should fix his attention intently and quite consciously upon these phenomena. wherever he observes expansion and flourishing of a certain kind, he must banish everything else from his soul, and entirely surrender himself for a short time to this one impression. he will soon convince himself that a sensation which heretofore in a similar case would have merely flitted through his soul, is now so magnified that it becomes of a powerful and energetic nature. he should at once allow this thought-form to reverberate throughout his whole being, yet quietly within himself, and to do so he must become inwardly quite still. he should draw himself away from the outward world, and follow only that which his soul tells him. yet it must not be thought that we can make much progress if we blunt our senses to the world. for, one must first contemplate these objects as keenly and precisely as possible, and then give up to the sensations that result, and the thoughts that arise within the soul. what is most important is, that one should direct the attention, with perfect inner balance, upon both of these phenomena. if one obtains the necessary quiet and surrenders himself to that which arises in the soul, he will, in due time, experience many wonderful thoughts and feelings, unknown to him before. indeed, the more one fixes the attention in such a way, alternately upon something growing, expanding, and flourishing, and upon something else that is fading and decaying, the more vivid will these feelings become. and just as natural forces evolve the physical eyes and ears of the physical body, out of living matter, so will the organs of clairvoyance evolve themselves from the spiritual feelings which are thus evoked. a definite thought-form unites itself with the germinating and expanding object, and another, equally definite, with that which is fading and decaying. but this will only take place if the cultivation of these feelings be striven for in the way described. it is possible to describe only approximately what these feelings are like. indeed, everyone must arrive at his own conception of them as he passes through these inward experiences. he who has frequently fixes his attention on the phenomena of germinating, expanding, and flourishing, will feel something remotely allied to the sensation caused by witnessing a sunrise; and the phenomena of fading and decaying will produce in him an experience comparable, in the same way, to the gradual uprising of the moon on the horizon. both these feelings are forces which, when carefully cultivated, with a continually increasing improvement, will lead to the greatest occult results. to him who again and again, systematically and with design, surrenders himself to such feelings, a new world is opened. the "spiritual" world, the so-called "astral plane," begins to dawn upon him. blooming and fading are facts which no longer make indefinite impressions on him, as of old, but instead they form themselves into spiritual lines and figures of which he had previously suspected nothing. and these lines and figures have for the different phenomena different forms. a blooming flower, an animal growing, a decaying tree, evoke in his soul definite lines. the astral plane slowly broadens out before him. its forms are not in any sense arbitrary. for two students who find themselves at the same stage of development will always see the same lines and figures under the same conditions. just as certainly as a round table will be seen as round by two normal persons, not as round by the one and square by the other; so, too, before the perception of two souls a blooming flower will present the same spiritual form. and just as the shapes of animals and plants are described in ordinary natural history, so, too, the teacher in an occult school describes and delineates the spiritual forms of growing and decaying processes after their nature and species. if the student has progressed so far that he can see such aspects of phenomena which are also physically observable with his external eyes, he will then be not far from the condition which will enable him to behold things that have no physical existence, and must therefore remain entirely hidden to those who have undergone no training in an occult school. it should be emphasized that the occult explorer ought never to lose himself in speculation on the meaning of this or that. by such intellectualizing he only directs himself away from the right road. he ought to look out on the sense-world freshly, with healthy senses and quickened observation, and then to give himself up to his own sensations. he ought not to wish, in a speculative manner, to make out what this or that means, but rather to allow the things themselves to inform him.[ ] [ ] it should be remarked that artistic perception, when coupled with a quiet introspective nature, forms the best foundation for the development of occult faculties. it pierces through the superficial aspect of things and in so doing touches their secrets. a further point of importance is that which is called in occult science "orientation in the higher worlds." this point is attained when one realizes with complete consciousness that feelings and thoughts are veritable realities, just as much as are tables and chairs in the world of the physical senses. feelings and thoughts act upon each other in the astral-world and in the thought (or mental) world, just as objects of sense act upon each other in the physical world. as long as anyone is not truly permeated with this realization, he will not believe that an evil thought projected from his mind may have as devastating an effect upon other thought forms as that wrought upon physical objects by a bullet shot at random. such a one will perhaps never allow himself to perform a physically visible action which he considers to be wrong, yet he will not shrink from harboring evil thoughts or feelings, for these do not appear to him to be dangerous to the rest of the world. nevertheless we can advance in occult science only when we guard our thoughts and feelings in just the same way as a man would guard the steps he takes in the physical world. if anyone sees a wall before him he does not attempt to dash right through it, but directs his course alongside; in other words, he guides himself by the laws of the physical world. there are such laws also in the world of thought and feeling, but there they cannot impose themselves upon us from without. they must flow out of the life of the soul itself. we arrive at such a condition when we forbid ourselves, at all times, to foster wrong thoughts or feelings. all arbitrary goings to-and-fro, all idle fancies, all accidental ups-and-downs of emotion must be forbidden in the same way. but, in so doing, let it not be thought that we bring about a deficiency of emotion. on the contrary, if we regulate our inner life in this manner, we shall speedily find ourselves rich in feelings and in genuine creative imagination. in place of a mere chaos of petty feelings and fantastic trains of thought, there appear significant emotions, and thoughts that are fruitful, and it is emotions and thoughts of this kind that lead a man to "orientation in the higher world." he has entered into the right condition for the things of that world, and they entail for him definite consequences. just as a physical man finds his way between physical things, so, too, his path now leads him straight between the _growing_ and the _fading_, which he has already come to know in the way described above. for he follows all processes of growing and flourishing, (and, on the other hand, of withering and decaying) that is necessary for his own and the world's prosperity. the occult student has also to bestow a further care on the world of _sound_. he must discriminate between the tones which are produced from the so-called inert (lifeless) bodies (for example, a bell, a musical instrument, or a falling mass), and those which proceed from a living creature (an animal or a person). he who hears the striking of a bell will receive the sound and attach to it a certain sensation, but he who hears the cry of an animal will, in addition to this sensation, become aware that the sound reveals also an inward experience of the animal, either of pain or of pleasure. the student is concerned with the latter aspect of the sound. he must concentrate his whole attention upon it, so that the sound reveals to him something that lies outside of his own soul, and, more than this, must merge himself in this exterior thing. he must closely connect his own emotion with the pleasure or pain communicated to him by means of the sound, and must care nothing whether the sound be pleasant or unpleasant to him, welcome or not; his soul must be filled with only that which proceeds from the creature out of whom the sound has come. he who systematically and deliberately performs such exercises will develop within himself the faculty of intermingling, as it were, with the creature from which the sound proceeded. a person sensitive to music will find it easier to cultivate his spiritual life in this respect than one who is unmusical, but no one should think that a mere sense of music will take the place of this culture. as an occult student, one must learn to contemplate the whole of nature in this way. by so doing a new faculty is developed in the world of thought and feeling. through her manifold sounds the whole of nature begins to whisper secrets to the student. what hitherto was merely incomprehensible noise to his soul will become by this means a coherent _language of nature_. and whereas, hitherto, he heard sound only from the resonance of so-called inanimate objects, he now understands a new speech of the soul. should he advance in this culture of the soul, he will soon learn that he can hear what hitherto he did not even surmise. he begins to hear with the soul. one thing more must be added before we can reach the topmost point in this direction. what is of special importance in the development of the student is the way in which he hears the speech of other men. he must accustom himself to do this in such a way that while doing so his inner self is absolutely still. if someone expresses an opinion and another hears it, the inner self of the latter will be stirring in general assent or contradiction. many people in such a case feel themselves urged to an expression of their assent, or, more especially, of their contradiction. all such assent or contradiction must, in the occult student, be silenced. it is not imperative that he should, therefore, quite suddenly begin to make his life entirely different, in order that he may attain to this inward and fundamental calm. he might, therefore, begin by doing so in special cases, deliberately selected by himself. thus quite slowly and by degrees will this new way of listening creep into his habits, as of itself: in the occult schools these things are systematically practiced. for the sake of practice the student is obliged to listen for a certain period to the most contradictory thoughts, and at the same time to suppress all assent, and more especially all adverse criticism. the point is that in such a way not only all intellectual judgment is silenced, but also all sense of displeasure, denial, or even acceptance. the student must be particularly watchful that such feelings, even if they are not upon the surface, do not still remain lurking in the innermost recesses of his soul. he must listen, for example, to the statements of people who in some respects are far beneath him, and, while so doing, suppress every feeling of greater knowledge or of superiority. it is useful for everyone to listen in this way to children, for even the wisest may learn very much from children. so does it come about that we hear the words of others impersonally, completely divested of our own personality with its opinions and feelings. he who thus makes a practice of listening uncritically, even when a completely contradictory opinion is advanced, learns again and again to blend himself, to become identified, with the being of another. he then hears, as it were, through the words and into the souls of others. through continual exercise of this kind only, sound becomes the right medium for the revelation of the spirit and the soul. of course, it implies the strictest self-discipline, but it leads to a high goal. when these practices are undertaken in connection with those that deal with the sounds of nature, the soul develops a new sense of hearing. it is enabled to receive demonstrations from the spiritual world which do not find their expression in outward sounds apprehensible by the physical ear. the perception of the "inner word" awakens. gradually truths from the spiritual world reveal themselves to the student, and he hears them expressed in a spiritual way.[ ] [ ] only to him, who listens disinterestedly, comes the ability to perceive really from within, silently, and without emotion arising from personal opinion or personal taste,--to such only can the great souls, who are known in occultism as the masters speak. as long as our opinions and feelings are in a state of vehement opposition to the communications from the masters, they remain silent. all high truths are attained through such "inner encouragement," and what we hear from the lips of a genuine occult teacher has been experienced in this manner. in so saying it must not be supposed that it is useless to acquaint oneself with the writings on occult science, before one can actually gain this inner encouragement. on the contrary, the reading of such writings, and the listening to eminent teachers of occult lore, are themselves the means of attaining a personal knowledge. every sentence of the esoteric wisdom which one hears is adapted to direct the senses to that point which must be attained before the soul can experience a real advance. to the practice of all that has been indicated, must be added an ardent study of what the occult teacher gives out to the world. in all occult schools such a study belongs to the probationary period, and he who would employ other methods will attain no goal if he omits the instructions of the occult teacher, for inasmuch as these instructions proceed from an actual "inner word," an actual "encouragement," they possess in themselves a spiritual vitality. they are not mere words; they are living powers; and while you follow the words of an occultist, while you read a book which comes from a genuine inner experience, powers are at work in your soul which make you clairvoyant, just as natural forces have created out of living matter your eyes and ears. v enlightenment. enlightenment is the result of very simple processes. here, too, it is a matter of developing certain feelings and thoughts which are dormant within all men, but must be awakened. only he who carries out these simple processes with complete patience, continuously and strenuously, can be led by them to the reception of inner illumination. the primary step is taken by observing in a particular way different natural objects--a transparent stone of beautiful form (a crystal), a plant, and an animal. one should endeavor at first to direct one's whole attention to a comparison of the stone with the animal, as follows: the thoughts which, accompanied by strong emotions, are thus induced, must pass through the soul, and no other emotions or thoughts must be mixed with them, or disturb the intense contemplation. one then says to oneself: "the stone has a form and the animal also has a form. the stone remains motionless in its place, but the animal is able to move about. it is impulse (desire) which causes the animal to change its place, and it is these impulses to which the form of the animal is of use. its organs and instruments are the expression of these impulses. the form of the stone, on the contrary, is fashioned, not in accordance with impulses, but in accordance with an impulseless force."[ ] [ ] the fact here mentioned, in its bearing on the contemplation of crystals, is in many ways distorted by those who have only heard of it in an outward (exoteric) manner, and in this way such practises as crystal-gazing have their origin. misrepresentations of such a kind are the outcome of misunderstanding. they have been described in many books, but they never form the subject of genuine (esoteric) teaching. if one sinks deeply into such thoughts, and while so doing observes the stone and the animal with fixed attention, then there arise in the soul two separate kinds of emotion. from the stone into the soul there streams one kind of emotion, and from the animal, another. probably in the beginning the experiment will not succeed, but little by little, with genuine and patient practice, these emotions become manifest. again and again one should practice. at first the emotions last only as long as the contemplation. later on, they work afterwards, and then they grow to something which remains alive in the soul. one then needs only to reflect, and both emotions invariably arise, apart from all contemplation of an external object. out of these emotions, and the thoughts which are bound up with them, clairvoyant organs are formed. should the plant be added to the contemplation, one will notice that the feeling outflowing from it, both in its quality and in its degree, lies between that which emanates from the stone and that from the animal. the organs which are so formed are spiritual eyes. we learn by degrees and through their means to see both astral and mental colors. as long as one has attained only the condition described as probation, the spiritual world with its lines and figures remains dark, but through enlightenment it will become clear. it must be noted here that the words "dark" and "light," as well as the other common expressions, only approximately describe what is really meant; for language as usually understood is constructed to suit physical conditions alone. occult science describes what emanates from the stone and is seen by clairvoyant eyes, as "blue" or "bluish-red," and that which is observed as coming from the animal is described as "red" or "reddish-yellow." in reality they are colors of a spiritual kind which are discerned. the color proceeding from the plant is "green." plants are just those natural phenomena whose qualities in the higher worlds are similar to their qualities in the physical world, but it is not so with stones and animals. it must now be clearly understood that the above-mentioned colors only suggest the prevailing shades of the stone, the plant, or the animal. in reality, all possible overtones exist, for every animal, every stone, every plant has its own peculiar shade of color. in addition to these there are the creatures of the higher worlds, who always incorporate themselves with colors not their own, often marvellous, often horrible. in short, the variety of colors in these higher worlds is immeasurably greater than in the physical world. if a man has once acquired the faculty of seeing with spiritual eyes, he sooner or later, meets with the beings here mentioned, some of them higher, some lower than man himself; beings who never entered into physical existence. when he has advanced thus far, the way to a great deal lies open before him; but it is inadvisable to proceed further without an experienced guide. indeed, for all that has here been described, such experienced guidance is desirable, and he who has the endurance to fulfil the elementary conditions of enlightenment, will assuredly seek and discover his guide. under all circumstances it is important to give warning, and he who will not heed it had better leave untrodden all the steps of occult science. it is necessary that he who would become an occult student should lose none of his attributes as a good and noble man, and one susceptible to all physical truths. indeed, throughout his apprenticeship he must continually increase his moral strength, his inner purity, and his powers of observation. let us give an example: during the preliminary practices of enlightenment, the student must be careful always to be enlarging his sympathy with the animal and human worlds, and his sense of nature's beauty. if he is not careful to do this he continually dulls both sense and feeling; his heart grows cold and his sympathies dwarfed; which lead to perilous results. how enlightenment proceeds, in the sense of the foregoing practices, if one rises from the stone, the plant, and the animal, up to man, and how, after enlightenment, under all circumstances, the gentle hand of the pilot comes on a certain day, and leads to initiation--of these things the next chapter will deal in so far as it can and may do so. in our time, the path to occult science is sought after by many. it is sought in various ways, and many dangerous and even objectionable modes are practiced. therefore it is that those who know of the truth and dangers concerning these things have allowed a greater portion of the occult training and the necessary warning to be published. only so much is here imparted as this permission allows, and it is necessary that something of the truth should be known in order that it may counteract the great danger of these errors. if nothing be _forced_, there is no danger for him who follows the way already described; only one thing should be noted: no one ought to spend more time or power upon such practices than is at his disposal with due regard to his circumstances and his duties. no one ought suddenly to change anything in the external conditions of his life. if one desires genuine results, one must have patience; one should be able to cease the practice after a few minutes, and then peacefully to continue one's daily work, and no thought of these practices ought to be mingled with the work of the day. he who has not learned to wait, in the best and highest sense of the word, is of no use as an occult student, nor will he ever attain results of much real value. he who is in search of occult knowledge, by the means indicated in the foregoing pages, must fortify himself throughout the whole course of his efforts by the understanding that after persevering for some time he may have made suitable progress without becoming conscious of it in the precise way which he had expected. he who does not remember this is likely to lose heart, and in a little while to abandon his efforts altogether. the mental powers and faculties about to be developed are at first of the most subtle kind, and their nature differs entirely from the conceptions of them which may be formed in the student's mind. he has been accustomed to occupy himself with the physical world alone, and the mental and astral worlds seem to elude his gaze, and baffle his conceptions. it is, therefore, not remarkable if, at first, he fails to realize the new forces, mental and astral, which are developing in his own being. this is why it is dangerous to enter the path leading to occult knowledge without experienced guidance. the teacher can see the progress made by the pupil, long before the latter becomes conscious of it for himself. he sees the delicate organs of spiritual vision beginning to form themselves, before the pupil is aware of their existence, and a great part of the duties of the teacher consists in perpetual watchfulness, lest the disciple lose confidence, patience, and perseverance, before he becomes conscious of his own progress. the teacher, as we know, can confer upon the student no powers which are not already latent within him, and his sole function is to assist in the awakening of slumbering faculties. but he may be a pillar of strength to him who strives to penetrate through darkness into the light. there are many who leave the occult path soon after setting foot upon it, because they are not immediately conscious of their own progress. and even when higher experiences begin to dawn upon the seeker, he is apt to regard them as illusions, because he had anticipated them quite differently. he loses courage, either because he regards these first experiences as of no value, or because they appear so insignificant that he has no hope of their leading to any appreciable results within a measurable time. courage and self-confidence are the two lamps which must never be allowed to burn themselves out on the pathway to the occult. he who cannot patiently repeat an exercise which has failed for an apparently unlimited number of times, will never travel far. long before one is aware of any distinct perception of progress, comes an inarticulate mental impression that the right road has been found. this is a feeling to be welcomed, and to be encouraged, since it may evolve into a trustworthy guide. above all, it is imperative to extirpate the idea that any fantastic, mysterious practices are required for the attainment of higher experiences. it must be clearly realized that ordinary every-day human feelings and thoughts must form the basis from which the start is to be made, and that it is only needful to give these thoughts and feelings a new direction. everyone must say to himself: "in my own sphere of thoughts and sensations lie enfolded the deepest mysteries, but hitherto i have been unable to perceive them." in the end it all resolves itself into the fact that man, ordinarily, carries body, soul and spirit about with him, yet is conscious only of the body, not of the soul and spirit, and that the student in due time attains to a similar consciousness of soul and spirit. hence it is highly important to give the proper direction to thoughts and feelings, in order that one may develop the perception of that which is invisible to a person living the ordinary life. one of the ways by which this development may be carried out will now be indicated. again, like almost everything else we have explained so far, it is quite a simple matter. yet the results are of the greatest consequence, if the experiment is carried out with perseverance, and in the right frame of mind. place before you the small seed of a plant. it is then necessary, while contemplating this significant object, to create with intensity the right kind of thoughts, and through these thoughts to develop certain feelings. in the first place, let the student clearly grasp what is really presented to his vision. let him describe to himself the shape, color, and all other qualities of the grain of seed. then let his mind dwell upon the following train of thought: "this grain of seed, if planted in the soil, will grow into a plant of complex structure." let him clearly picture this plant to himself. let him build it up in his imagination. and then let him reflect that the object now existing only in his imagination will presently be brought into actual physical existence by the forces of the earth and of light. if the thing contemplated by him were an artificially-made object, though such a close imitation of nature that no external difference could be detected by human eyesight, no forces inherent in the earth or light could avail to produce from it a plant. he who thoroughly grasps this thought and inwardly assimilates it will also be able to form the following idea with the right feeling. he will reasons thus: "that which is ultimately to grow out of this seed is already, as a force, now secretly enfolded within it. the artificial duplicate of the seed contains no such force. and yet both appear to be alike to my eyes. the real seed, therefore, contains something invisible which is not present in the imitation." it is this invisible something on which thought and feeling are now to be concentrated.[ ] let the student fully realize that this invisible something will later on translate itself into a visible plant, perceptible by him in shape and color. let him dwell upon the thought: "_the invisible will become visible._ if i could not think, then i could not now realize, that which will become visible later on." [ ] anyone who might object that a microscopical examination would reveal the difference between the two would only show that he has failed to grasp the intention of the experiment. the intention is not to investigate the physical structure of the object, but to use it as a means for the development of psychic force. particular stress must be laid on the importance of _feeling with intensity_ that which one thinks. in calmness of mind a single thought must be vitally experienced within oneself to the exclusion of all disturbing influences. sufficient time must be taken to allow the thought, and the state of feeling connected therewith, to become, as it were, imbedded in the soul. if that is accomplished in the right way--possibly not until after numerous attempts--an inward force will make itself felt. and this force will create new powers of perception. the grain of seed will appear as if enclosed in a small luminous cloud. the spiritualized vision of the student perceives it as a kind of flame. this flame is of a lilac color in the centre, blue at the edges. then appears that which one could not see before, and which was created by the power of thought and feeling brought into life within oneself. that which was physically invisible (the plant which will not become visible until later on) has there revealed itself to the spiritual eye. it is pardonable if, to many men, all this appears to be mere illusion. many will say: "what is the value of such visions or such hallucinations?" and many will thus fall away, and no longer continue to tread the path. but this is precisely the important point--not to confuse, at this difficult stage of human evolution, spiritual reality with the mere creations of phantasy, and to have the courage to press manfully onward, instead of growing timorous and faint-hearted. on the other hand, however, it is necessary to insist on the necessity of maintaining unimpaired, and of perpetually cultivating, the healthy attitude of mind which is required for the distinguishing of truth from illusion. never during all these exercises must the student surrender the fully conscious control of himself. he must continue to think as soundly and sanely in these spiritual conditions as he does with regard to the things and occurrences of ordinary life. it would be unfortunate if he lapses into reveries. he must at every moment be clear-headed and sober-minded and it would be the greatest mistake if the student, through such practices, lost his mental equilibrium, or if he were prevented from judging as sanely and clearly as before, the matters of work-a-day life. the disciple should, therefore, examine himself again and again to find out whether he has remained unaltered in relation to the circumstances among which he lives, or whether perchance he has lost his mental balance. he must ever maintain a calm repose within his own individuality, and an open mind for everything, being careful at the same time not to drift into vague reveries or to experiment with all sorts of exercises. the lines for development here indicated, belong to those which have been followed, and whose efficacy has been demonstrated in the schools of occultism from the earliest ages, and none but such will here be given. anyone attempting to employ methods of meditation devised by himself, or which he may have come across in the course of promiscuous reading will inevitably be led astray, and will lose himself in a boundless morass of incoherent phantasies. a further exercise which may succeed the one described above, is the following: let the disciple place himself in front of a plant which has attained the stage of full development. now let his mind be absorbed by the reflection that the time is near at hand when this plant will wither and die. "nothing," he should say to himself, "nothing of what i now see before me will endure. but this plant will have evolved seeds which in their turn will grow into new plants. again i become aware that in what i see something lies concealed which i cannot see. i will fill my mind wholly with the thought that this plant-form with its colors will cease to be. but the reflection that the plant has produced seeds teaches me that it will not disappear into nothing. that which will prevent this disappearance, i can at present no more see with my eyes than i could originally discern the plant in the grain of seed. _the plant, therefore, contains something which my eyes are unable to see._ if this thought fully lives in me, and combines with the corresponding state of feeling, then, in due time, there will again develop a force in my soul which will ripen into a new kind of perception." out of the plant there grows once more a flame-like appearance, which is, of course, correspondingly larger than that which was previously described. this flame is greenish at the centre, and is tinged with yellow at the outer edge. he who has won this vision has gained greatly, inasmuch as he sees things, not only in their present state of being, but also in their development and decay. he begins to see in all things the spirit, of which the bodily organs of sight have no perception, and he has taken the initial steps on that road, which will gradually lead him to the solution, by direct vision, of the secret of birth and death. to the outer senses, a being begins to exist at its birth, and ceases to exist at its death. this, however, only appears to be so, because these senses are unable to apprehend the concealed spirit. birth and death are only, for this spirit, transformations, just as the unfolding of the flower from the bud is a transformation enacted before our physical eyes. but if one desires to attain to direct perception of these facts, one must first awaken the spiritual vision by the means here indicated. in order to meet an objection which may be raised by certain people already possessed of some psychical experience, let it be at once admitted that there are shorter ways than this, and that there are persons who have direct perception of the actualities of birth and death, without having had to pass through all the stages of discipline here set forth. there are also human beings endowed with high psychical faculties, to whom only a slight impulse is necessary for the developing of these powers. but they are exceptional, and the methods described above are safer, and are capable of general application. similarly, it is possible to gain some knowledge of chemistry by special methods; but in order to make safer the science of chemistry, the recognized, reliable course must be followed. an error fraught with serious consequences would result from the assumption that the goal could be reached more simply by allowing the mind to dwell merely on an imaginary plant or a grain of seed. it may be possible by such means to evoke a force which would enable the soul to attain the inner vision. but this vision will be, in most cases, a mere figment of the imagination, for the main object is not to create arbitrarily a mental vision, but to allow the veritable nature of things to form an image within one's mind. the truth must come up from the depth of one's own soul, not at the call of one's ordinary self, but rather must the objects of one's perception themselves exercise their magical power, if one is to perceive their inner reality. after the disciple has evolved, by such means, the rudiments of spiritual vision, he may proceed to the contemplation of human nature itself. simple appearances of ordinary life must be chosen first. but before making any attempts in this direction, it is imperative for the student to strive after an absolute sincerity of moral character. he must banish all thoughts of ever using the insight to be attained in these ways for his own selfish ends. he must be absolutely determined that under no circumstances will he avail himself, in an evil sense, of any power which he may gain over his fellow-creatures. this is the reason why everyone who desires to gain direct insight into the secrets of human nature must follow the golden rule of true occultism. and the golden rule is this: for every one step that you take in the pursuit of the hidden knowledge, take three steps in the perfecting of your own character. he who obeys this rule can perform such exercises as that which is now to be explained. begin by observing a person filled with a desire for some object. direct your attention to this desire. it is best to choose a time when this desire is at its height, and when it is not yet certain whether the object of the desire will be attained or not. then surrender yourself entirely to the contemplation of that which you observe, but maintain the utmost inner tranquility of soul. make every endeavor to be deaf and blind to everything that may be going on around you at the same time, and bear in mind particularly that this contemplation is to evoke a state of feeling in your soul. allow this state of feeling to arise in your soul, like a cloud rising on an otherwise cloudless horizon. it is to be expected, of course, that your observation will be interrupted, because the person on whom it is directed will not remain in this particular state of mind for a sufficient length of time. presumably you will fail in your experiment hundreds and hundreds of times. it is simply a question of not losing patience. after many attempts you will ultimately realize the state of feeling spoken of above as fast as the corresponding mental phenomena pass through the soul of the person under observation. after a time you will begin to notice that this feeling in your own soul is evoking the power of spiritual vision into the psychical condition of the other. a luminous image will appear in your field of vision. and this luminous image is the so-called astral manifestation evoked by the desire-state when under observation. again we may describe this image as flame-like in appearance. it is yellowish red in the centre and reddish-blue or lilac at the edges. much depends upon treating such experiences of the inner vision with great delicacy. it will be best for you at first to talk of them to nobody except your teacher, if you have one. the attempt to describe such appearances in appropriate words usually leads to gross self-deception. one employs ordinary terms not applicable to such purposes, and therefore much too gross and clumsy. the consequence is that one's own attempt to clothe this vision in words unconsciously leads one to blend the actual experience with an alloy of imaginary details. it is, therefore, another important law for the occult inquirer that he should know how to observe silence concerning his inner visions. observe silence even towards yourself. do not endeavor to express in words that which you see, or to fathom it with reasoning faculties that are inadequate. freely surrender yourself to these spiritual impressions without any mental reservations, and without disturbing them by thinking about them too much. for you must remember that your reasoning faculties were, at first, by no means equal to your faculties of observation. you have acquired these reasoning faculties through experiences hitherto confined exclusively to the world as apprehended by your physical senses, and the faculties you are now acquiring transcend these experiences. do not, therefore, try to measure your new and higher perceptions by the old standard. only he who has already gained some certainty in his observation of inner experiences ought to speak about them with the idea of thereby stimulating his fellow-beings. as a supplementary exercise the following may be set forth. direct your observation in the same way upon a fellow-being to whom the fulfilment of some wish, the gratification of some desire has just been granted. if the same rules and precautions are adopted as in the previous instance, you will once more attain to spiritual perception. you will distinguish a flame-like appearance which is yellow in the centre and greenish at the edges. by such observations of one's fellow-creatures one may easily be led into a moral fault--one may become uncharitable. all conceivable means must be taken to fight against this tendency. anyone exercising such powers of observation should have risen to the level on which one is absolutely convinced that thoughts are actual things. he may then no longer allow himself to admit thoughts incompatible with the highest reverence for the dignity of human life and of human liberty. not for one moment must he entertain the idea of regarding a human being as a mere object for observation. it must be the aim of self-education to see that the faculties for a psychic observation of human nature go hand in hand with a full recognition of the rights of each individual. that which dwells in each human being must be regarded as something holy, and to be held inviolate by us even in our thoughts and feelings. we must be possessed by a feeling of reverential awe for all that is human. for the present, only these two examples can be given as to the methods by which an insight into human nature may be achieved, but they will at least serve to point out the way which must be followed. he who has gained the inner tranquility and repose which are indispensable for such observations, will by so doing, already have undergone a great transformation. this will soon reach the point at which the increase of his spiritual worth will manifest itself in the confidence and composure of his outward demeanor. again, this alteration in his demeanor will react favorably on his inner condition, and thus he will be able to help himself further along the road. he will find ways of penetrating further and further into those secrets of human nature, those hidden from our external senses, and will then become qualified for a deeper insight into the mysterious correlations between the nature of man, and all else that exists in the universe. by following this path, the disciple will approach closer and closer to the day on which he will be deemed worthy of taking the first steps of initiation; but before these can be taken it is necessary to assure oneself of unflinching courage. at first it may not be at all apparent to the student why it should be necessary, but he cannot fail to be convinced of it in the end. the quality which is indispensable to him who would be initiated is a certain measure of courage and fearlessness. he must absolutely go out of his way to find opportunities for developing these virtues. in the occult schools they are cultivated quite systematically; but life in this respect is itself an excellent school of occultism, nay, possibly the best. to face danger calmly, to try to overcome difficulties unswervingly, this is what the student must learn to do; for instance, in the presence of some peril, he must rise at once to the conception that fears are altogether useless, and ought not to be entertained for one moment, but that the mind ought simply to be concentrated on what is to be done. he must reach a point where it has become impossible for him ever again to feel afraid or to lose his courage. by self-discipline in this direction he will develop within himself distinct qualities which he needs if he is to be initiated into the higher mysteries. just as man in his physical being requires nervous force in order to use his physical senses, so also, in his psychic nature, he requires the force which is only produced in the courageous and the fearless. for in penetrating to the higher mysteries he will see things not yet revealed to the physical eyesight nor to any other of the human senses. the latter, by hiding from our gaze, the higher verities (things which we could not bear to behold) are in reality our benefactors, since they prevent us from perceiving that which, if realized without due preparation, would throw us into unutterable consternation. the disciple must be prepared to endure this sight, although he has lost certain supports in the outer world by a realization of the very illusions that encompassed him. it is truly and literally as if his attention were suddenly drawn to a certain danger by which for some time he had been unconsciously threatened. he was not afraid hitherto, but now that he sees his peril, he is overcome by terror, even though the danger has not been rendered any greater by his knowledge thereof. the forces at work in the world are both destructive and creative. the destiny of manifested beings is birth and death. the initiate is to behold this march of destiny. the veil, which in the ordinary course of life clouds the spiritual eyes, is to be uplifted, and the man is to see himself as one interwoven with these forces, with this destiny. his own nature contains destructive and creative powers. as undisguisedly as the other objects of his vision are revealed to the eye of the seer, his own soul is bared to his gaze. in the face of this self-knowledge, the disciple must not suffer himself to droop, and in this he will succeed only if he has brought with him an excess of the necessary strength. in order that this may be the case he must learn to maintain inner calm and confidence in the most difficult circumstances; he must nourish within himself a firm faith in the beneficent forces of existence. he must be prepared to find that many motives which have actuated him hitherto will actuate him no longer. he must needs perceive that he has hitherto often thought or acted in a certain manner, because he was still in the toils of ignorance. reasons which formerly influenced him will now disappear. he has done many things out of personal vanity; he will now perceive how utterly futile all such vanity is in the eyes of the initiate. he has done much from motives of avarice; he will now be aware of the destructive effect of all avariciousness. he will have to develop entirely new springs for his thought and action, and it is for this that courage and fearlessness are required. it is especially a matter of cultivating this courage and this fearlessness in the inmost depths of the mental life. the disciple must learn never to despair. he must always be equal to the thought: "i will forget that i have again failed in this matter. i will try once more, as though nothing at all had happened." thus he will fight his way on to the firm conviction that the universe contains inexhaustible fountains of strength from which he may drink. he must aspire again and again to the divine which will uplift and support him, however feeble and impotent the mortal part of his being may prove. he must be capable of pressing on towards the future, undismayed by any experiences of the past. every teacher of occultism will carefully ascertain how far the disciple, aspiring to initiation into the higher mysteries, has advanced on the road of spiritual preparation. if he fulfil these conditions to a certain degree, he is then worthy to hear uttered those names of things which form the key that unlocks the higher knowledge. for initiation consists in this very act of learning to know the things of the universe by those names which they bear in the spirit of their divine author. and the mystery of things lies in these names. therefore it is that the initiate speaks another language than that of the uninitiate, for he knows the names by which things were called into existence. vi initiation the highest degree in occultism, of which it is possible to speak in a book for general readers, is initiation. one cannot give public information concerning all that lies beyond, though the way to it can always be found by one who has previously pressed forward and penetrated the lower secrets and mysteries. the knowledge and power which are conferred upon a man through initiation could not be obtained in any other manner except in some far distant future, after many incarnations, on quite another road and in quite another form. he who is initiated to-day experiences something which he would otherwise have to experience at a much later period and under quite different circumstances. it is right that a person should learn only so much of the secrets of nature as correspond to his own degree of development, and for this reason alone do obstacles bar his way to complete knowledge and power. people should not be trusted with the use of fire-arms until they have had enough experience to make it certain that they will not use them mischievously or without care. if a person, without the necessary preparation, were initiated to-day, he would still lack those experiences which, in the normal course of his development, would come to him in the future during other incarnations and would then bring with them the corresponding secrets. at the door of initiation these experiences must, therefore, be supplied in some other way, and in their place the candidate has to undergo the preliminary teaching. these are so-called "trials" which have to be passed. these trials are now being discussed in various books and magazines, but, owing to the very nature of such discussion, it is not surprising that quite false impressions are received concerning them. for those who have not already gone through the periods of probation and enlightenment know nothing of these trials, and consequently cannot appropriately describe them. certain matters or subjects connected with the higher worlds are produced before the candidate, but he is able to see and hear these only when he can perceive clearly the figures, tones, and colors, for which he has been prepared by the teachings on probation and enlightenment. the first trial consists in obtaining a clearer comprehension of the corporeal attributes of what seem to be lifeless things, then of plants, of animals, of human beings (in the way that the average person possesses them). this does not mean what is commonly called "scientific knowledge"; with that it has no connection, but it has to do with intuition. what usually occurs is that the initiate discloses to the candidate how the objects of nature and the essence of living things reveal themselves to the spiritual and mental hearing and sight. in a certain way these things then lie revealed--naked--before the beholder. attributes and qualities which are concealed from physical eyes and ears can then be seen and heard. heretofore they have been enwrapped as in a veil, and the falling away of this veil for the candidate, occurs at what is called the process of purification by fire. the first trial is therefore known as the "fire-trial," which will briefly be explained thus: for some people the every day ordinary life is a more or less unconscious process of initiation by means of the fire-trial. these persons are those who have passed through a wealth of developing experiences, and who find that their self-confidence, courage, and fortitude have been greatly augmented in a normal way--who have learned to bear sorrow and disappointment, from the failure of their undertakings, with greatness of mind, and especially with quiet and unbroken strength. those who have gone through such experiences are often initiates, without knowing it, and it needs but little to open for them the spiritual hearing and sight--to make them clairvoyant. for it must be noted that a genuine fire-trial is not merely intended to satisfy the curiosity of the candidate. he would learn, undoubtedly, many unusual things, of which others, devoid of such experiences, can have no idea; but yet this knowledge is not the end nor aim, but merely the path to the end. the real aim and object is this--that the candidate shall acquire for himself, through this knowledge of the higher worlds, a greater and truer self-confidence, a higher and nobler courage, and a perseverance, an attitude of mind, altogether different from what he could have obtained in the lower world. after the fire-trial a candidate may turn from the school; but because he has gone thus far he will accomplish his ordinary life work, greatly strengthened in all his spiritual and physical relations, and in his next incarnation he will continue to seek further initiation and advancement. in his present life, at all events, he will prove himself a more useful member of society, will be of greater service to humanity than he was before, and in whatever position he may find himself, his firmness, prudence, and favorable influence over his fellows will have greatly increased. after coming out of the fire-trial, if he should wish to continue in the occult school, he then has to be instructed in a certain writing-system which is used by those in the school. occult teachings are written in this occult writing-system, because what is really occult can neither be perfectly spoken of in words of our ordinary speech, nor set forth in the ordinary ways of writing. those who have learned much from the initiates can but partially translate the teachings of occultism into terms of ordinary speech. the symbols or signs of the secret script are not arbitrarily invented or imagined, but correspond to powers which are active and efficacious in nature. it is through these symbols or signs that one learns the language of such matters. the candidate immediately sees for himself that these symbols correspond to the figures, tones and colors which he has learned to perceive during the periods of probation and enlightenment. he now understands that all which went before was like learning how to spell, and that only now does he begin to read in the higher worlds. all that appeared to him before as separate figures, tones and colors, is now revealed to him as a perfect unity, a coherent harmony, and here, for the first time, he attains a real certainty in observing and following the higher knowledge. hitherto it was not possible for him to be sure that what he saw had been clearly or correctly perceived. now, at last, it is possible that a correct understanding between the candidate and the initiate begin to arise concerning the spheres of the higher worlds. for no matter how close the connection between the two may be, no matter what form their intercourse may take in ordinary life, the initiate can only communicate to the candidate, on these planes, in the direct form or figures of the secret alphabet. through this occult speech the student also learns certain rules of conduct for life, certain duties and obligations, of which, previously, he knew nothing whatever. when he learns to know these rules, he is able to perform actions which have a significance and a meaning such as the actions of another who is not initiated can never possess. the only point of view from which he is now able to look upon things; the only plane from which he can now make manifest his deeds, is that of the higher worlds and the instructions concerning such deeds can only be read, or understood, in the secret script. yet it must be clearly understood and emphasized that there are persons who, _unconsciously_, have the ability or faculty of performing these actions, notwithstanding they have never been in an occult school. such "helpers of humanity and the world" proceed blessedly and beneficently through life. there are certain fundamental reasons, which cannot be here discussed, why they are in possession of seemingly supernatural gifts. the only difference between these persons and the pupils of an occult school is that the former act unconsciously, while the latter work with a full knowledge, insight, judgment, and understanding of the entire matter in hand. often the candidate has to win by training that which has been bestowed by a higher power upon his fellow, for the good of humanity. one should freely and openly honor these favored ones of god; but he should not, on their account, consider the work of the occult schools unnecessary or superfluous. now that the student has learned the "mystery language," there awaits him yet another trial. by this he must prove whether he can move with freedom and certainty in the higher worlds. in ordinary life a man will be impelled to actions by outward motives and conditions. he works at this or that because certain duties are imposed upon him by outward circumstances. it need hardly be mentioned that the occult student must in no way neglect any of the duties connected with his ordinary life because he is a student in an occult school and in the higher worlds. none of his duties there can constrain him to treat with inattention or carelessness any one of his duties in the lower world. the father will remain just as good a father to his family, the mother just as good a mother; and neither the officer nor the soldier, nor anyone else, will be detained from their necessary duties because they are students in occultism. on the contrary, all the qualities which make capable men are increased to a degree of which the uninitiated can form no idea. that this may not always appear to be the case is due merely to the fact that they have not always the ability to correctly judge or criticize the initiate. the deeds of the latter are not always entirely intelligible to the former. but, as we have said before, this only happens in certain cases. for him who has arrived at the so-called "steps of initiation," there are new duties to be performed to which no outer stimulus is given. he will be moved to do these things by no external pressure, but by those rules of conduct which have been communicated to him in the mystery-language. in this second trial he must prove that, led by such rules of conduct, he can act from inner promptings just as firmly as an officer performs his obligatory duties. for this purpose the teacher will set before the pupil certain definite tasks. the latter now has to perform some deed in consequence of observations made from the total of what he learned during probation and enlightenment. he has to find the way to what he is now to perform, by means of the mystery-language, which by this time is familiar to him. if he discerns his duty and executes it correctly, he has endured the trial, and he recognizes the success, which attends the fulfilment of the task, by the changed manner with which the spiritual eyes and ears now apprehend the figures, tones and colors. the occult teacher tells him distinctly how these must appear after the consummation of the trial, and the candidate must know how he can effect this change. this trial is known as the "water-trial," because, in consequence of its performance taking place on the higher planes, that support, which would otherwise have been received from outward conditions, is now taken away. one's movements are like those which are made in water by someone learning to swim, and his feelings are those of one having no support except his own efforts. this practice must be often repeated until the candidate attains absolute poise and assurance. these trials are also dependent upon a quality which is produced by his experiences in the higher worlds. the candidate cultivates this quality to an extent which he could not possibly reach in so short a time while developing in the ordinary way, but could attain only after many incarnations. in order to bring about the change here mentioned, the following condition is necessary: the candidate must be guided altogether by what has been proven to him by the cultivation of his higher faculties, by the results of his reading in the secret symbols. should he, during these experiences, attempt to introduce any of his own opinions or desires, or should he diverge for one moment from the laws and rules which he has proved to be right, something quite other than that which is expected will occur. in such cases the candidate loses sight of the goal for which these matters are undertaken, and the result is confusion. he has, therefore, manifold opportunities, during these trials, for the development of self-control, and this, indeed, is the principal quality needed. these trials are, therefore, much more easily endured by those who, before initiation, have gone through a life which has enabled them to acquire command of themselves. those who have developed the characteristic of following their higher principles and ideals without thought of personal honor or desire, who always discern the duty to be fulfilled, even though the inclinations and sympathies are too often ready to lead them another way, are already unconscious initiates in the midst of every day life. they need but little to enable them to succeed in the prescribed trials. indeed, one may say that a certain measure of initiation, thus unconsciously acquired in life, will be absolutely necessary before entering upon the second trial. for even as many who during youth have not learned to write or spell, find much difficulty in learning to do so in later years, so is it also difficult to develop, merely from a knowledge of the higher worlds, the necessary degree of self-control, if one has not already acquired a certain measure of it in the course of ordinary life. the things of the physical world do not alter by merely desiring them to do so, but in the higher worlds our wishes, inclinations and desires are causes that produce effects. if we wish to bring about particular changes in these worlds, we must hold ourselves in absolute control, we must follow the right principle, must entirely subdue the personal will. there is an attribute which at this stage of initiation has to be especially considered,--a really healthy and sure faculty of judgment. attention must be directed to the education of this faculty during all the previous stages, and in the course of them it must be proven whether the candidate has developed this quality sufficiently to make him fit to tread the path of true knowledge, for, further progress is now possible only if he is able to distinguish illusion, superstition, unsubstantial fancies, and all manner of such things, from the true realities. at first, this is much more difficult to accomplish upon the higher stages of existence than upon the lower. every prejudice, every cherished opinion regarding these matters, in whatever connection, must be banished. truth alone must guide. there must be perfect readiness to surrender at once any existing opinion, idea, or inclination, when the logical idea demands it. absolute certainty in the higher worlds can be obtained only when one does not obtrude his own opinions. people whose mode of thought inclines them to phantasy, prejudice and so forth, can make no progress on the occult way. yet be not dismayed--there is, in truth, a glorious treasure that the persistent occult student shall attain. all doubt as to the higher worlds will be taken away from him. in all their law they will reveal themselves to his gaze, but so long as he is blindfolded he cannot see these heights and compensations. it is, indeed, unfortunate for him if illusions and fallacies ran away with his intellect and reason. dreamers and people inclined to phantasies, are as unfit for the occult path as are superstitious people; for in dreams, illusions and superstitions lurk the most dangerous enemies on the road to knowledge. because the candidate has already seen upon the portals that opened to him the first trial, the words, "without a normal common-sense all your efforts are in vain;" and upon the gateway, which leads to the second trial, "all prejudices must fall away," it is not necessary to think that the capacity for inspiration and enthusiasm, and all the poetry of life, is lost to the student of occultism. if he be now sufficiently advanced, a third trial awaits the candidate. no aim, no boundary lines, are here set for him. all is left entirely in his own hands. he finds himself in a condition where nothing external impels or induces him to act. he must find the way of his own accord and from within himself. conditions or people who might have stimulated him to action are no longer there. nothing and nobody but he himself alone can give the strength which he now needs. if he should not find this strength within he will very soon be standing where he was before; but it should be stated that very few of those who have endured the previous trials will fail at this point in finding the necessary strength. if they have come so far they will endure at this point also. the only thing necessary is the ability to make a resolution quickly. for here, in the truest meaning of the phrase, one must find oneself. in all matters one must instantly resolve to hear the suggestions, the inspirations of the spirit. one has no time for doubt or delay. every moment of hesitation would add to the proof that one was not yet ready. all that hinders one from hearing the voice of the spirit must be boldly conquered. it is entirely a matter of proving one's presence of mind, and it is this attribute to which attention must be paid during all the foregoing stages of development. all temptations to act, or even to think, which hitherto assailed a man, must here cease; but in order that he may not slip into inaction, he must not lose his hold upon himself. for only in himself can he find that one sure centre-point on which he can depend. no one should feel an antipathy to this principle of self-rejection. for him who has endured the trials already described, it indicates the most perfect felicity. in this, as in the other stages before mentioned, every day life itself can, for many people, be an occult school. those who have reached the point of being able to act without delay or personal consideration and can make prompt resolutions when suddenly confronted with some task or problem demanding immediate action, have, indeed, undergone their occult schooling in daily life. the situation which one wishes to suggest is one in which a successful action is impossible unless the person concerned grasps the whole matter and acts at once. he is quick to act when misfortune is in sight, while a moment's hesitation might lead to a catastrophe; and he who possesses the qualities which can be developed into a permanent attribute of such a kind, has already evolved, unknown to himself, the degree of ripeness necessary for the third trial. for, as already remarked, at this stage all depends upon the development of presence of mind. in the occult schools this trial is known as the "air-trial," because while undergoing it, the candidate cannot support himself either upon the firm ground, or any external cause, or that which he has learned in probation and enlightenment--from the figures and tones and colors, but solely upon himself. if the occult student has endured these trials, he is then permitted to enter "the temple of the higher wisdom." all that can be said further upon this subject can be given out only in the smallest hints and suggestions. the responsibility of the next step has so often been illy expressed by words, that many say the pupil has here to take an "oath," promising to betray nothing that comes from the teacher. however, these expressions, "oath" and "betrayal," are in no way appropriate, and are misleading. it is no oath, in the ordinary sense of the word, but is rather an experience that comes at this stage. here the candidate appreciates the true value of the occult teachers, and their place in the service of humanity. at last he begins to understand the world correctly. it is not so much a matter of "withholding" the higher truths already learned, but much more of upholding them in the right way and with the necessary tact. that concerning which one learns to "keep silence" is something quite different. one gains possession of this fine attribute in regard to many things of which one had previously spoken, and especially in regard to the manner in which one has spoken of them. yet he would be a poor initiate who did not place all his mystical experiences, as adequately and as far-reachingly as possible, at the service of humanity. the sole obstacle in such matters is the misunderstanding of the person who receives the communication. above all, the higher or occult secrets are not allowed to be spoken of promiscuously, but no one who has passed the steps of development above described, is it actually forbidden to speak of these matters. no one is asked for a negative oath, but everything is entrusted to the judgment, integrity and sense of responsibility of the candidate for initiation. what one really learns is to find out, within oneself, what should be done under all circumstances, and the "oath" means nothing more than this, that one is found qualified to be entrusted with matters of such importance. if the candidate is found fit, he is then given what is called, symbolically, "the draught of forgetfulness." this means that he will be initiated into the secret knowledge enabling him to act without being continually disturbed by the lower memory. this is absolutely necessary for the initiate, for he must possess full faith in the immediate present. he must be able to destroy that veil of memory which extends itself round humanity more and more thickly with every moment of life. if one judges things which happen to-day, by the experiences of yesterday, he is subjected to a multitude of errors. of course, it is not intended that the reader should renounce all the experience acquired in life. he ought always to keep it in mind as firmly as possible. but, as an initiate, one should acquire the ability to judge every fresh experience irrespective of oneself, unclouded by all bygone experiences. one must be prepared, at every moment, that a new thing or being shall bring to one a new revelation. if one judges the new by the standard of the old, he necessarily falls into error. the memory of past experiences is very useful, however, for it makes one better able to perceive the new. if one had not gone through a certain experience, he probably would not have seen the attributes of this or that being or thing; but having had such experiences he ought to be enabled to discern the new, without judging it by the old. in this way the initiate obtains certain definite qualities, and by means of these many things are revealed to him, while they remain concealed from the uninitiated. the second draught which is given to the initiate is the "draught of remembrance." by receiving this he becomes capable of keeping the higher secrets ever present in the soul. ordinary memory would not be sufficient to ensure this; he must be absolutely at one with the higher truths. he must not merely know them, but be able, as a matter of course, to manifest and administer them in living actions, even as an ordinary man eats and drinks. they must become one's practice, one's inclinations, one's habits. it must be unnecessary to recall them to mind (in the usual sense of the term); they must become a part of oneself and express themselves through one's very being; they must flow through one, just as the life-currents run through one's bodily organism. so must we make ourselves as perfect in a spiritual sense as nature has made us in a physical. vii the higher education of the soul if a man carries out the culture of his thoughts and feelings and emotions in the way already described in the chapters on probation, enlightenment, and initiation, he then effects a change in his soul such as nature has effected in his body. before this training, soul and spirit are undifferentiated masses. in such a state the clairvoyant will perceive them as interlacing clouds, rotating spirally, and having usually a dull glimmer of reddish or reddish-brown color, or, perhaps, of reddish-yellow; but after this growth they begin to assume a brilliant yellowish-green or yellow-blue hue, and become of a regular structure. a man attains such regularity of structure, and at the same time the higher knowledge, when he brings into the realm of his thoughts, feelings and emotions, an order, such as nature has brought into his bodily organs, by means of which he can see, hear, digest, breathe, speak and so forth. gradually the student learns, as it were, to breathe, to see with the soul, and to speak and hear with the spirit. in the following pages a few of the practical points pertaining to the higher education of the soul and spirit will be more fully treated. they are such as may be practically attained by anyone without additional instruction, and by means of which a further step in occult science may be taken. a particular kind of discipline must be patiently attempted such as to avoid every emotion of impatience, for it produces a paralyzing, yea, even a deadening, effect on the higher faculties within us. one must not expect immeasurable glimpses of the higher worlds to open out before one from day to day, for assuredly, as a rule, this does not occur. contentment with the smallest progress, repose and tranquility must more and more possess the soul. it is conceivable, of course, that the learner may impatiently expect results, but he will attain nothing so long as he fails to master this impatience. nor is it of any use to struggle against this impatience in the ordinary way, for then it will only become stronger than ever. it is thus that men deceive themselves, for in such a case it embeds itself all the more firmly in the depths of the soul. it is only by repeatedly surrendering oneself to a single definite thought, and by making it absolutely one's own, that anything is really attained. one should think: "i must certainly do everything possible for the culture of soul and spirit, but i will work tranquilly until, by higher powers, i shall be found worthy of definite illumination." when this thought has become so powerful in a man that it is an actual trait in his character, he is treading the right path. this trait will then express itself even in external affairs. the gaze of the eye becomes tranquil; the movements of the body become sure; the resolutions defined; and all that we call nervous susceptibility gradually disappears. rules that seem trifling and insignificant must be taken into account. for example, suppose that someone affronts us. before we receive this occult education, we would have directed our resentment against the wrong-doer; there would have been an uprush of anger within us. but in such a case the occult student will think to himself: "an affront of this kind can make no difference to my worth," and whatever must be done to meet the affront, he accomplishes with calm and composure, not with passion. to him it is not a matter of how an affront is to be borne, but without hesitation he is led to ignore or punish the affront to his own person in exactly the same way as if it had been offered to another, in which case one has the right to resent or disregard it. it must always be remembered, however, that the occult training is perfected not by coarse external processes, but by subtle, silent alterations in the life of thought and emotion. patience has an attractive, while impatience has a repellent, effect on the treasures of the higher knowledge. in the higher regions of being, nothing can be attained by haste and restlessness. desire and longing for immediate results must be silenced, for these are qualities of the soul before which all higher knowledge recedes. however precious this knowledge may be accounted, one must not desire to anticipate the time of its coming. and, furthermore, he who wishes to have it for his own sake alone will never attain it. it is absolutely demanded that one should be true to himself in his innermost soul. one must not there be deceived by anything; he must encounter, face to face and with absolute truthfulness, his own faults, failings, and unfitness. the moment you try to excuse to yourself any one of your weaknesses, you place an obstacle in the way which leads upward. there is one way only by which to get rid of such obstacles. our faults and weaknesses can be removed only by self-illumination, and that is by correctly understanding them. all that is needed lies latent in the human soul and can be evoked. a man immediately improves his understanding and his reason when in repose he makes it clear to himself why he is weak in any respect. self-knowledge of this kind is naturally difficult, for the temptation to deceive oneself is immeasurably great. he who is accustomed to be truthful with himself has opened the portals into a deeper insight. all curiosity must fall away from the student. he must wean himself as much as possible from inquiries into matters of which he wishes to know only for the gratification of his personal thirst for superficial information. he must ask himself only what things will assist him in the perfection of his innermost being for the service of the general evolution. nevertheless, his delight in knowledge and his devotion to it must in no degree become relaxed. he must listen devoutly to all that contributes to such an end, and should seek every opportunity of doing so. for this interior culture it is especially necessary that the desire-life should be carefully educated. one must not become wholly destitute of desire, for if we are to accomplish something it is necessary that we should desire it, and a desire will always be fulfilled if a certain special force is behind it. this particular force results from a right knowledge: "do not desire at all until you know the true conditions of any sphere." that is one of the golden rules for the occult student. the wise man first ascertains the laws of the world, and then his desires become powers which realize themselves. let us consider an example in which the effect is evident. there are certainly many who would like to learn from their own intuition something about their life before birth. such a desire is altogether aimless, and leads to no result so long as the person in question has not acquired a knowledge of the laws that govern the nature of the eternal, and a knowledge of them in their subtlest and most intimate character. but if he has actually acquired this knowledge and then wishes to pass onward, he is able to do so by his elevated and purified desire. moreover, it is of no use to say to oneself: "yes, i will forthwith examine my previous life, and study with that aim in view." one must rather be ready to abandon such desire, to eliminate it altogether, and first of all, learn, without consideration of this aim. one should cultivate devotion to knowledge without regard to desires. it is only then that one enters into possession of the desire which we are considering, in a way that leads to its own fulfilment. from one's anger or vexation arises an adverse condition in the spiritual world, so that those forces which would open the eyes of the soul are turned away. for example, if someone should annoy me, he sends forth a current into the world of the soul. so long as i allow myself to be annoyed, i cannot see this current. my own annoyance clouds it. but from this it must not be supposed that when i no longer feel annoyed i will see the astral vision. to see an astral vision it is indispensable that the eye of the soul should already be developed; but the capacity for sight of this kind is latent in everyone. and again it is true that during the development, so long as one can be annoyed the sight remains inactive; nor does it present itself immediately, when one has overcome to a small extent this feeling of annoyance. one must continually persevere in the struggle with such a feeling, and patiently make progress: then, some day, he will find that this eye of the soul has become fully developed. of course annoyance is not the only quality with which we have to struggle before attaining this end. many people grow impatient or sceptical, because they have for years cultivated certain qualities of the soul and yet clairvoyance has not ensued. they have developed only a few qualities and have allowed others to run wild. the gift of clairvoyance first manifests itself when all those qualities which do not permit the development of the latent faculties are suppressed. undoubtedly the beginnings of such hearing and seeing may appear at an earlier period, but these are only young and tender shoots which are subject to all possible error, and which, if they be not carefully fostered, may quickly die. the qualities which have to be combated, in addition to anger and vexation, are such as ambition, timidity, curiosity, superstition, conceit, the disease of prejudice, idle love of gossip, and the making of distinctions in regard to human beings according to the merely outward marks of rank, sex, race, and so forth. in our time it is difficult for people to comprehend that the combating of such qualities can have any connection with an increase of capacity for knowledge. but every devotee of occultism is aware that much more depends upon such matters than upon the expansion of the intellect or the employment of artificial practices. it is particularly easy for a misunderstanding of this point to arise, inasmuch as many believe that one should cultivate foolhardiness because one must be fearless, and that one should ignore altogether the differences in men because one has to combat the prejudices of race, rank, and so forth. rather should one first learn to appreciate these differences correctly, then one is no longer entangled in prejudice. even in the usual sense it is true that a fear of any phenomenon hinders one from estimating it rightly; that a race-prejudice prevents one from looking into a man's soul. the student of occultism must bring his common-sense to perfection in all its exactitude and subtlety. even everything that a man says without having clearly thought it out will place an obstacle in the path of his occult education. at the same time we must here consider one point which can only be elucidated by giving an example. thus, if anyone should say something to which another must reply, the one replying should be careful to consider the intention, the feelings, even the prejudices of this other person, rather than what he has to say at the moment on the subject under discussion. in other words, the student must apply himself keenly to the cultivation of a certain fine tact. he must learn to judge how much it may mean to this other person if his opinion be opposed. it must not be imagined for a moment that he ought for this reason, to withhold his own opinion. one must give to the questioner as careful a hearing as possible, and from what one has heard, formulate one's own reply. in such cases there is a certain thought which will constantly recur to the student, and he is treading the true path if this thought becomes so vital within him that it grows into a trait of his character. the thought is as follows: "it matters little whether my view be different from his, the vital point is whether he will discover the right view for himself if i am able to contribute something towards it." by thoughts of such a kind, the mode of action and the character of the student will become permeated with gentleness, one of the most essential qualities for the reception of occult teaching. harshness obscures that internal image which ought to be evoked by the eye of the soul, while by gentleness many obstacles are cleared from the way, and the inner organs opened. along with this gentleness another trait will presently be developed in the soul. he will make a quiet estimate of all the subtleties in the soul-life around him, without considering the emotions of his own soul. and if this condition has been attained, the soul-emotions in the environment of others will have such an effect on him that the soul within him grows, and, growing, becomes organized, as a plant expands in the sunlight. gentleness, quiet reserve, and true patience, open the soul to the world of souls, and the spirit to the realm of spirits. persevere in repose and retirement; close the senses to that which they brought you before you began your training; bring into utter stillness all those thoughts which, in accordance with your previous habits, were tossed up and down within you; become quite still and silent within, wait in patience, and then the tranquil higher worlds will begin to develop the sight of your soul and the hearing of your spirit. do not suppose that you will _immediately_ see and hear in the worlds of soul and spirit, for all that you are doing does but help the development of your higher senses, and you will not be able to see with the soul and to hear with the spirit before you have to some degree acquired those senses. when you have persevered for a time in repose and retirement, then go about your daily affairs, having first impressed upon your mind the thought: "some day, when i am ready, i shall attain what i am to attain." finally: "make no attempt whatever to attract any of these higher powers to yourself by an effort of the will." these are instructions which every occult student receives from his teacher at the entrance of the way. if he observes them, he then improves himself; and if he does not observe them, all his labor is in vain; but they are difficult of achievement for him only who has not patience and perseverance. no other obstacles exist save those which one places for oneself, and these may be avoided by anyone if he really wills it. it is necessary to continually insist upon this point, because many people form an altogether wrong conception of the difficulty that lies in the path of occultism. in a certain sense, it is easier to accomplish the earlier steps of the occult way, than it is for one who has received no instruction, to get rid of the difficulties of one's every-day life. in addition to this, it must be understood that only such things are here imparted as are attended by no danger to the health of soul or body. there are certain other ways which lead more quickly to the goal, but it is not well to treat of them publicly, because they may sometimes have certain effects on a man which would necessitate the immediate intervention of an experienced teacher, and in any case would require his continual supervision. now, as something about these quicker ways frequently forces itself into publicity, it becomes necessary to give express warning against entering upon them without personal guidance. for reasons which only the initiated can understand, it will never be possible to give public instruction concerning these other ways in their true form, and the fragments which here and there make their appearance can never lead to anything profitable, but may easily result in the undermining of health, fortune and peace of mind. he who does not wish to put himself in the power of certain dark forces, of whose nature and origin he may know nothing, had far better avoid meddling in such matters. something may here be added concerning the environment in which the practices of occult instruction ought to be undertaken. this is of great importance, although for almost every man the case is different. he who practices in an environment which is only filled with selfish interests, as for example, the modern struggle for existence, ought to be sure that these interests are without influence upon the development of his spiritual organs. it is true that the inner laws of these organs are so powerful that this influence cannot be fatally injurious. just as a lily, however inappropriate the environment in which it may be placed, can never become a thistle, so the eye of the soul can never grow to anything but its destined end, even though it be subjected to all the modern reverse influences. but it is well if, under all circumstances, the student should now and then seek for his environment the quietude, the inner dignity, the sweetness of nature herself. especially fortunate are the conditions of him who is able to pursue his occult studies in the green world of plants, or among the sunny mountains or the delightful interplay of simple things. this develops the inner organs in a degree of harmony which is difficult to obtain amid the noise and commercialism of a modern city. he also is more favorably situated than the mere townsman, who, during his childhood at least, was able to breathe the perfume of the pines, to gaze on the snowy peaks, or observe the silent activity of woodland creatures and insects. yet no one who is obliged to live in a city should fail to give his evolving soul and spirit the nurture that comes from the inspired utterances of the mighty teachers of man. he who cannot every springtime follow day by day the unfolding of the greenwood, ought in its place to draw into his heart the sublime doctrines of the _bhagavad gîtâ_, or of _st. john's gospel_, or of thomas à kempis. there are various paths to the summit of insight, but a right selection is invaluable. the adept in occultism could, indeed, say much concerning these paths--much that might seem strange to an uninitiated hearer. for example, suppose that someone has advanced far along the occult path, and wholly unaware of his nearness, may be standing at the entrance to the sight of the soul and the hearing of the spirit, and then he has the good fortune to pass peacefully into its very presence, and a bandage falls away from the eyes of his soul. suddenly he can see--his vision is attained! another, it may be, has advanced so far that this bandage needs only to be loosened, and by some stroke of destiny this occurs. for another one this very stroke might actually have the effect of paralyzing his powers and undermining his energy, but for the occult student it becomes the occasion of his enlightenment. perhaps a third has patiently persevered for years, and without any marked result. suddenly, while tranquilly seated in his quiet chamber, light envelops him, the walls become transparent, they vanish away, and a new world expands before his opened eyes, or is audible to his awakened spirit. viii the conditions of discipleship the conditions of entrance into an occult school are not of a nature to be formulated in an arbitrary way by anyone. they are the natural outcome of occult knowledge. just as a man will never become a painter if he does not choose to handle a paintbrush, so can no one receive occult training if he is unwilling to fulfil the claims which are put forward by the occult teacher. in fact, the teacher can give nothing but advice, and it is as such that everything he states ought to be considered. he has already trodden the probationary path which leads to the knowledge of higher worlds. from experience he knows what is necessary, and it all depends on the free will of each particular person whether he chooses to follow the same path or not. if anyone, without intending to satisfy the conditions, should demand occult training from a teacher, such a demand would be equivalent to saying: "teach me to paint, but do not ask me to handle a brush." the occult teacher never goes a step further, unless it be in accord with the free will of the recipient. it must be emphasized that a general wish for higher knowledge is not sufficient, yet many will probably have but such a weak desire. for him who has merely this vague idea, and is not prepared to accept the special conditions of the occult teacher, the latter, for the present, can do nothing. this ought to be kept in mind by those who complain that occult teachers do not "meet them half way." he who cannot, or will not, fulfil the severe conditions necessary, must for the time abandon occult training. it is true that the conditions are, indeed, hard, and yet they are not severe since their fulfilment not only ought to be, but must be, an altogether voluntary deed. to him who does not remember this it is easy for the claims of the occult teacher to seem a coercion of the soul or the conscience; for the training here mentioned is founded on a development of the inner life, and it is the work of the teacher to give advice concerning it. and yet, if something be demanded as the result of free choice, it cannot be considered as a fetter. if anyone says to the teacher: "give me your secrets, but leave me my customary feelings and thoughts," he is then making an impossible demand. such an one desires no more than to satisfy his curiosity and thirst for sensations, so that by one who takes an attitude like this, occult knowledge can never be obtained. let us now consider in their right order the conditions of discipleship. it should be emphasized that the complete fulfilment of any one of these conditions is by no means demanded, but only the effort to gain such fulfilment. no one can at first reach these high ideals, but the path which leads to their fulfilment may be entered by everyone. it is the will that matters, the attitude taken when entering the path. . the _first condition_ is the directing of the attention to the advancement of bodily and spiritual health. of course, discipleship does not in the first place depend on the health of a man, but everyone can endeavor to improve in this respect, and only from a healthy man may proceed a healthy perception. no occult teacher would refuse a man who is not healthy, but it is demanded that the pupils should have the desire for a healthy life. in this respect he must attain the greatest possible independence. the good counsels of others, which, though generally unsought, are received by everybody, are as a rule superfluous. each must endeavor to take care of himself. from the physical aspect it will be more a matter of warding off harmful influences than of anything else. for in carrying out one's duty one has often to do things which are disadvantageous to health. one must learn how, at the right moment, to place duty higher than the care of health; but with a little good-will, what is there that cannot be omitted? duty must in many cases be accounted higher than health, indeed, if need be, higher than life itself, but the disciple must never put pleasure as high as either one of these. pleasure for him can be only a means to health and life, and in respect to this it is absolutely necessary that we should be quite honest and truthful with ourselves. it is of no avail to lead an ascetic life so long as it is born of motives like those that give rise to other enjoyments. there are people who find satisfaction in asceticism, as do others in wine-bibbling, but they must not imagine that asceticism of this kind will assist them to attain the higher knowledge. many ascribe to their unfavorable circumstances everything which apparently prevents them from making progress in this direction. they say that with their conditions of life they cannot develop themselves to any great extent. for other reasons it may be desirable for many to change their conditions of life, but no one need do so for the purpose of occult training. for this it is only necessary that one should do for one's health so much as one finds possible in the position one holds. every kind of work may serve the whole of humanity, and it is a surer sign of greatness in the human soul to perceive clearly how necessary for the whole is a petty--perhaps even an unlovely--employment than to think: "this work is not good enough for me: i am destined for something else." it is especially important for the disciple to strive after complete spiritual health. in any case, an unhealthy emotional or thought-life leads one away from the path of higher knowledge. the foundations here consist of clear, calm thinking, reliable conceptions, and stable feelings. nothing should be more alien to the disciple than an inclination toward a whimsical, excitable life, toward nervousness, intoxication, and fanaticism. he should acquire a healthy outlook on all circumstances of life; he should go through life steadily and should let things act on him and speak to him in all tranquillity. wherever it is possible he should endeavor to do justice to life. everything in his tastes and criticisms which is one-sided or extravagant ought to be avoided. if this be not so, the disciple will strand himself in a world of his own imagination, instead of attaining the higher worlds, and in place of truth his own favorite opinions will assert themselves. it is better for the disciple to be "matter-of-fact" than overwrought and fanciful. . the _second condition_ is that one should feel oneself as a link in the general life. much is included in the fulfilment of this condition, but each can only fulfil it after his own manner. if i am a school teacher and my pupil does not answer what is desired of him, i must first direct my feeling not against the pupil but to myself. i ought to feel myself so much at one with my pupil that i ask myself: "may not that in the pupil which does not satisfy my demand be perhaps the result of my own faults?" or if perchance it be his unconscious, or even vicious error, as _teacher_, instead of directing my feelings against him, i shall rather cogitate on the way in which i myself ought to behave, or in kindness show him what is right, so that he may in the future be better able to satisfy my demands. from such a manner of thinking there will come gradually a change over the whole mental attitude. this holds good for the smallest as well as for the greatest. from this point of view i look on a criminal, for instance, altogether differently from the way i should have looked upon him of old. i suspend my judgment and think to myself: "i am only a man as he is. perhaps the education which, owing to favorable circumstances, has been mine, and nothing else, has saved me from a similar fate." i may even come to the conclusion that if the teachers who took pains with me had done the same for him, this brother of mine would have been quite different. i shall reflect on the fact that something which has been withheld from him has been given to me, and that i may, perhaps, owe my goodness to the fact that he has been thus deprived of it. and then will it no longer be difficult to grasp the conception that i am a link in the whole of humanity, and that consequently i, too, in part, bear the responsibility for everything that happens. by this it is not implied that such a thought should be translated immediately into external action. it should be quietly cultivated in the soul. it will then express itself gradually in the outward behavior of a person, and in such matters each can begin only by reforming himself. it were futile, from such a standpoint, to make general claims on all humanity. it is easy to form an idea of what men ought to be, but the disciple works, not on the surface, but in the depths. and, therefore, it would be wrong if one should endeavor to bring these demands of the occult teacher into relation with any external or political claims. as a rule, political agitators know well what can be demanded of other people, but they say little of demands on themselves. . now with these demands on ourselves the _third condition_ for occult training is intimately connected. the student must be able to realize the idea that his thoughts and feelings are as important for the world as his deeds. it must be recognized that it is as pernicious to hate a fellow-being as to strike him. one can then discern also that by perfecting oneself one accomplishes something not only for oneself but for the whole world. the world profits by pure thoughts and feelings as much as by one's good behavior, and so long as one cannot believe in this world-wide importance of the inner self, one is not fit for discipleship. one is permeated with a true conception of the soul's importance, only when one works at this inner self as if it were at least as important as all external things. it must be admitted that one's feelings produce an effect as much as the action of the hand. . in so saying we have already mentioned the _fourth condition_: the idea that the real being of man does not lie in the exterior but in the interior. he who regards himself as merely a product of the outer world, a result of the physical world, cannot succeed in this occult training. but he who is able to realize this conception is then also able to distinguish between inner duty and external success. he learns to recognize that the one cannot at once be measured by the other. the student must learn for himself the right position between what is demanded by his external conditions and what he recognizes to be the right conduct for himself. he ought not to force upon his environment anything for which it can have no appreciation, but at the same time he must be altogether free from the desire to do merely what can be appreciated by those around him. in his own sincere and wisdom-seeking soul, and only there, must he look for the recognition of his truths. but from his environment he must learn as much as he possibly can, so that he may discern what those around him need, and what is of use to them. in this way he will develop within himself what is known in occultism as the "spiritual balance." on one side of the scales there lies a heart open for the needs of the outward world, and on the other lies an inner fortitude and an unfaltering endurance. . and here, again, we have hinted at the _fifth condition_: firmness in the carrying out of any resolution when once it has been made. nothing should induce the disciple to deviate from any such resolution once it is formed, save only the perception that he has made a mistake. every resolution is a force, and even if such a force does not produce immediate effect on the point at which it was directed, nevertheless it works in its own way. success is of great importance only when an action arises from desire, but all actions which are rooted in desire are worthless in relation to the higher worlds. there the love expended on an action is alone of importance. in this love, all that impels the student to perform an action ought to be implanted. thus he will never grow weary of again and again carrying out in action some resolution, even though he has repeatedly failed. and in this way he arrives at the condition in which he does not first count on the external effect of his actions, but is contented with the doing of them. he will learn to sacrifice for the world his actions, nay, more, his whole being, without caring at all how his sacrifice may be received. he who wishes to become a disciple must declare himself ready for such a sacrifice, such an offering. . a _sixth condition_ is the development of a sense of gratitude with regard to everything which relates to man. one must realize that one's existence is, as it were, a gift from the entire universe. only consider all that is needed in order that each of us may receive and maintain his existence! consider what we owe to nature and to others than ourselves! those who desire an occult training must be inclined toward thoughts like these, for he who cannot enter into such thoughts will be incapable of developing within himself that all-inclusive love which it is necessary to possess before one can attain to higher knowledge. that which we do not love cannot manifest itself to us. and every manifestation must fill us with gratitude, or we ourselves are not the richer for it. . all the conditions here set forth must be united in a _seventh_: to regard life continually in the manner demanded by these conditions. the student thus makes it possible to give to his life the stamp of uniformity. all his many modes of expression will, in this way, be brought into _harmony_, and cease to contradict each other. and thus he will prepare himself for the peace which he must attain during the preliminary steps of his training. if a person intend, earnestly and sincerely, to fulfil the conditions mentioned above, he may then address himself to a teacher of occultism. the latter will then be found ready to give the first words of counsel. any external formality will consist of giving to these conditions a complete expression, a knowledge of which can only be imparted orally to each individual candidate. since everything interior must manifest itself in an exterior way, they teach a very important lesson. even as a picture cannot be said to be here, when it exists only in the brain of the painter, so, too, there cannot be an occult training without an external expression. external forms are regarded as worthless by those only who do not know that the internal must find expression in the external. it is true that it is the spirit and not the form that really matters; but just as the form is void without the spirit, so would the spirit remain inactive as long as it could not create a form. the stipulated conditions are so designed that they may render the disciple strong enough to fulfil the further demands which the teacher must make. if he be faulty in the fulfilment of these conditions, then before each new demand he will stand hesitating. without this fulfilment he will be lacking in that faith in man which it is necessary for him to possess; for on faith in man and a genuine love for man, all striving after truth must be founded. and the love of man must be slowly widened out into a love for all living creatures, nay, indeed, for all existence. he who fails to fulfil the conditions here given will not possess a perfect love for all up-building, for all creation, nor a tendency to abstain from all destruction and annihilation as such. the disciple must so train himself that, not in deeds only, but also in words, thoughts and feelings, he will never destroy anything for the sake of destruction. he must find his pleasure in the growing and creating aspect of things, and is only justified in assisting the apparent destruction of anything when, by such readjustment, he is able to promote a greater life. let it not be thought that, in so saying, it is implied that the disciple may allow the triumph of evil, but rather that he must endeavor to find, even in the bad, those aspects through which he may change it into good. he will see more and more clearly that the best way to combat imperfection and evil is by the creation of the perfect and the good. the student knows that nothing can come from nothing, but also that the imperfect may be changed into the perfect. he who develops in himself the tendency to create, will soon find the capacity for facing the evil. he who enters an occult school must be quite sure that his intention is to construct and not to destroy. the student ought, therefore, to bring with him the will for sincere and devoted work, and to this end he ought to be capable of great devotion, for one should be anxious to learn what one does not yet know; he should look reverently on that which discloses itself. work and devotion,--these are the fundamental attributes which must be claimed from the disciple. some will have to discover that they do not make real progress in the school, even if in their own opinion they are unceasingly active; they have not grasped in the right manner the meaning of work and meditation. that kind of learning which is undertaken without meditation will advance the student least, and the work which is done for selfish returns will be the least successful. in the love of work, the love to do better work; yes, the love to do perfect work, is the quality which unfolds occult power; and in qualifying for better things one need give little heed for greater returns. if he who is learning seeks for wholesome thoughts and sound judgment, he need not spoil his devotion with doubts and suspicions. the fact that one does not oppose some communication which has been made, but gives to it due attention and even sympathy, does not imply a lack of independent judgment. those who have arrived at a somewhat advanced stage of knowledge are aware that they owe everything to a quiet attention and assimilation, and not to a stubborn personal judgment. one should always remember that he does not need to learn what he is already able to understand. therefore, if one desires only to judge, he is apt to cease learning. what is of importance in an occult school, however, is study: one ought to desire, with heart and soul, to be a student: if one cannot understand something it is far better not to judge, lest one wrongly condemn; far wiser to wait for a true understanding. the higher one climbs up the ladder of knowledge, the more he requires this faculty of calm and devotional listening. all perception of truths, all life and activity in the world of spirit, become in these higher regions delicate and subtle in comparison with the activities of the ordinary mind, and of life in the physical world. the more the sphere of a man's activity widens out before him, the more transcendent is the nature of the task to be accomplished by him. it is for this reason that, although there is in reality only one possible fact regarding the higher truths, men come to look at them from such different points of view. it is possible to arrive at this one true standpoint if, through work and devotion, one has so risen that he can really behold the truth. only he who judges in accordance with preconceived ideas and habitual ways of thought, rather than from sufficient preparation, can arrive at any opinion which differs from the true one. just as there is only one correct opinion concerning a mathematical problem, so also with regard to things of the higher worlds; but before one can arrive at this knowledge he must first prepare himself. truth and the higher life do, indeed, abide in every human soul, and it is true that everyone can and must sooner or later find them for himself. w. j. colville's books. a selection of the most popular works by this great author and well-known lecturer in europe, america and australia. ~universal spiritualism.~ spirit communion in all ages among all people. the work has two distinctive features: ( st) a resume of the spiritual faith and practice of egypt, india, persia, greece, rome, china, japan and other ancient nations, not excepting europe, during christian centuries. ( nd) a summary of recent experiences in america, great britain, australia, france, germany, italy and other modern lands, all tending to show the persistent continuity of spiritual revelation. clairvoyance, telepathy and psychic phenomena in general are dealt with in separate chapters at the close of the volume, which extends to pages, making it a highly useful text-book for all who are interested in the question of human immortality. _w. j. colville._ cloth. no. , . ~old and new psychology.~ twenty-four chapters, including explanatory essays on many subjects of vital interest to all teachers and students. _w. j. colville._ cloth. no. , . ~throne of eden, the.~ twenty-six chapters presenting important teachings entrusted to the writer's charge; also a record of extensive travel in the southern hemisphere; and a rational system of preventing as well as healing diseases. _w. j. colville._ cloth. no. , . ~life and power from within.~ an excellent book, embracing the most advanced mental-physical teaching and the simplest rules for the guidance of daily life according to new thought standards. _w. j. colville._ cloth. no. , . ~dashed against the rock.~ a scientific novel, illustrated with many remarkable diagrams. _w. j. colville._ cloth. no. , . ~health from knowledge~; or, the law of correspondences as applied to healing. _w. j. colville._ leatherette. no. , . ~birthdays, the significance of~; or our places in the universal zodiac. _w. j. colville._ leatherette. no. , . . paper no. , . ~onesimus templeton.~ a vivid romance tracing the evolution of a soul from bondage to liberty. _w. j. colville._ cloth. no. , . ~living decalogue, the.~ expository lectures. _w. j. colville._ leatherette. no. , . ~glints of wisdom~, or helpful sayings for busy moments. abstracts from lectures by _w. j. colville._ an encyclopedia of psychological laws contained in an endless variety of subjects. leatherette, flexible. no. . . . paper no. , . ~fate mastered-destiny fulfilled.~ three stirring essays on live issues. very tasteful presentation volume. _w. j. colville._ cloth: no. , . ~mental therapeutics, elementary text book of.~ twelve practical lessons. _w. j. colville._ no. , . ~lectures~, by _w. j. colville_, on various subjects: atlantis, the way of initiation, initiation and its results. symbolism--its use and value, etc. send for list, each ¢. for . _new works and reprints of older books will be added to this list as fast as they can be prepared. write for them; also for the latest lectures; either to mr. colville or to the publisher._ james allen's books. a foreward. ~james allen's books.~ "i looked upon the world, and saw that it was shadowed by sorrow and scorched by the fierce fires of suffering--i looked for the cause, but could not find it until i looked within, and there found both the cause and the self-made nature of the cause. i looked again, deeper, and found the remedy. i found one law, the law of love; one life, the life of adjustment to that law; one truth, the truth of a conquered mind and a quiet and obedient heart. and i dreamed of writing a book which should help men and women, rich or poor, learned or unlearned, worldly or unworldly, to find within themselves the source of all success, all happiness, all accomplishment, all truth: and the dream remained with me, and at last became substantial, and now i send it forth into the world on its mission of healing and blessedness, knowing that it cannot fail to reach the homes and hearts of those who are waiting and ready to receive it." ~as a man thinketh.~ inspiring and helpful "new thought." ~the path of prosperity.~ a way leading out of undesirable conditions to health, success, power, abounding happiness and the realization of prosperity. ~out from the heart.~ most optimistic and uplifting. ~entering the kingdom.~ that heavenly kingdom within the heart of man, where perfect trust, knowledge, peace and love await all who will enter its golden gateways. ~the way of peace.~ it's realization and attainment. ~the heavenly life.~ how to attain its supreme happiness in this life, on this earth here and now. any of the above in either style of binding as follows: paper covers, size - / × - / " " " " . cloth binding, " " " " " " " . leather binding, " " " " " " " . watered silk, " " " " " " " . special gift editions, with colored borders, - / × - / , embossed . _order and read one of the books--say the path of prosperity, and you'll ask the price per dozen, wanting your every friend to have one._ a selected assortment of books. historical, fraternal, symbolical, mystic, astrologic, occult, psychic, spiritualistic, optimistic, philosophic, masonic, new thought, etc. delivered to any address on receipt of price, or if desired for use on our circulating library plan; send us the price of the book, and we will prepay postage to you. after reading return it to us carefully protected and we will return the money (except on paper bindings), less the postage we have paid on it, and % for the first month's use, and % for each additional month. ~altar in the wilderness, the.~ in seven chapters--the golden age, the exile, life in death, the conflict. the wilderness, illumination, the temple.--representing the seven spiritual ages of man. _ethelbert johnson._ cloth, no. , . . paper, no. , . ~ancient mystic oriental masonry.~ its teachings, rules, laws and present usages which govern the order at the present day. _dr. r. swinburne clymer._ cloth, no. , . ~ben hur~, a tale of christ. the great christian drama. _gen. lew wallace._ no. , . ~book of the master, the.~ a clue to the mysterious religion of ancient egypt. _w. marsham adams._ cloth, no. , . ~brotherhood.~ nature's law. _burcham harding._ no. , . ~brother of the third degree.~ an interesting and fascinating story of the thrilling experiences of an earnest occult student on his way upward to those sublime heights of universal love and devotion to humanity, attained only by the true initiates of the great white brotherhood--a vivid picture of life in the famous occult schools of paris and the far east; explaining much which has so long been veiled in mystery. _w. l. carver._ pages, cloth. no. , . ~constructive psychology.~ the constructive principle of character building. _dr. j. d. buck._ no. , . ~culture of concentration.~ occult powers and their acquirement. _wm. q. judge._ no. , . ~discovery of the soul, the.~ throwing light on the path of progressive man, leading through mysticism to the discovery of those unused powers within the soul, which duly appropriated give expression to the divine in man. _floyd b. wilson._ no. , . ~egypt the cradle of ancient masonry.~ comprising a history of egypt, with a comprehensive and authentic account of the antiquity of masonry, the result of many years of personal investigation and exhaustive research in india, persia, syria and the valley of the nile. _norman f. de clifford._ beautifully illustrated. art canvass binding, vol., × . pgs, no. . half american morocco, vol., " " " no. . full american morocco, vol., " " " no. . full persian morocco, vol., " " " no. . ~egyptian symbols, a comparison~ with those of the hebrews. including principle of symbology, application to egyptian symbols, to the symbols of color and to the symbols of the bible. a clear, concise exposition of a most interesting subject, by _frederick portal_. translated from the french, by _john w. simons_. illustrated. no. , . ~harmonies of evolution.~ this work marks out a new path in the treatment of the so-called occult in nature, attempting to explain rather than to mystify and to illustrate and elucidate the correlation of spiritual and physical forces in nature. _florence huntley._ pgs. no. , . ~hermes and plato.~ the mysteries of egypt and of eleusis. _edouard shure._ no. , . ~history of initiation.~ in twelve lectures: general introduction, history of initiation in hindostan, philosophy of the eastern mysteries, initiation in persia, initiation in greece, ceremonies of initiation into the mysteries of bacchus, the celtic mysteries, ceremonies in britain, symbols and doctrines of the druids, gothic mysteries, doctrines and morality, history of initiation in america, comprising the rites, ceremonies and doctrines of all the secret and mysterious institutions of the ancient world. _rev. george oliver, d.d._ illustrated, pgs. blue cloth and gilt stamps, - / × - / , gilt. no. , . ~history of the knights templar.~ _c. g. addison._ a condensed narrative or history of the great crusades; a thrilling account of the longest and hardest struggle for freedom of christian principles that the world has ever known; no such zeal, no such ardor has ever been recorded; no such battles have been fought in ancient or modern times; no such persecutions, martyrdom and suffering for any cause as that endured by the crusaders, out of which has grown our beautiful system of templarism. the work is also a record of the various events in connection with the order from those strenuous times to the present day, containing the proceedings of triennial encampments down to and including the th at saratoga in . some of these original proceedings are very scarce, and only to be found in rare collections. order one of the histories; get up a club; ask for agency, and see to it that every sir knight has a better knowledge of his glorious ancestry. we guarantee they will sell. full art canvass. no. . library sheep. no. . half american russia. no. . half american morocco. no. . full american russia. no. . full american morocco. no. . full persian morocco. no. . ~initiation, the way of,~ or how to attain knowledge of the higher world. _rudolf steiner, ph.d._ arranged from the translation by _max gysi_. notes by _edouard schuré_. a valuable guide in a matter between you and yourself. new large type. no. , . , paper. no. , . ~initiation and its results.~ _rudolf steiner, ph.d._ (now in press). a sequel to the way of initiation. these works, in the plainest and clearest way, give more instruction in occult knowledge than any yet published. the mystics and philosophic press indorse them in the highest terms. new large type. no. , . ~in tune with the infinite.~ _ralph waldo trine._ bound in japanese style or special silk. no. , . ~josephus.~ the authentic works and life of this great jewish historian and celebrated warrior. translated by _wm. winston, m.a._ pgs., attractively bound and illustrated. - / × - / . no. , . ~kingdom of love, the.~ _henry frank._ beautifully expressed, wholesome, helpful and inspiring essays. pgs. no. , . ~koran, the.~ commonly called the alkoran of mohammed (the mohammedian bible). pgs. no. , . ~krishna and orpheus~, the great initiates of the east and west. _edouard schuré._ no. , . ~last great initiate, jesus the.~ _edouard schuré._ the essenes, st. john, etc. no. , . ~life and writings of dr. rob't. fludd~, the english rosicrucian. _i. b. craven._ cloth. no. , . ~light on the path.~ a treatise for the personal use of those who are unfamiliar with the eastern wisdom but desire to enter within its influence. _c. m._ cloth. no. , . , leather. no. , . ~lost word found, the.~ "the most compelling bit of literature yet presented by dr. buck, and unlike anything ever written concerning the mystery of the lost word." _j. d. buck._ no. , . ~man limitless.~ "a study of the possibilities of man when acting under infinite guidance with which he is in absolute touch." _floyd b. wilson._ no. , . ~man of mount moriah, the.~ from symbolism and prophecy to sacrifice and fulfillment--a wonderfully interesting story of the grand architect at the building of king solomon's temple. beautifully illustrated, followed by forty pages of the best masonic and o.e.s. poetry, including "esther, a sacred drama." pgs. edition after edition has been sold, which enables us to greatly increase the quality and style of the book for serviceable wear and richness of appearance. _c. m. boutelle._, half morocco and full gilt. no. . half russia and full gilt. no. . half morocco, marble edge. no. . half russia, marble edge. no. . half cloth, marble edge. no. . heavy paper sides, marble edge. no. . ~mastery of mind in the making of a man, the.~ a searching analysis and exposition of the power of mind in body-building and the forming of personality. _henry frank._ pgs. no. , . ~messianic expectation and modern judaism.~ _solomon schindler._ cloth. no. , . ~morals and dogma~, ancient accepted scottish rite from the st, to d degree, by _albert pike, grand commander_. this valuable work is the result of years of study, translations from ancient and modern languages, and thousands of dollars expenditure by the author. the masonic and theosophical student will find in it a mine of knowledge that can be found nowhere else, and heretofore within the reach of but few. the greatest book ever written or printed about free masonry. pgs. - / × - / . cloth binding with gold stamps. no. , . ~myrtle baldwin.~ a novel of great interest, especially to the fraternity, as it is full of masonic principles. _bro. charles clark munn_, author of the hermet, etc. pgs. - / × - / . illustrated, green cloth, black and gold stamps. an excellent gift. no. , . ~mystical life of ours, this.~ _ralph waldo trine._ no. , . ~occult science in india~, and among the ancients, with an account of their mystic initiations and history of spiritualism. _louis jacolliot._ cloth. no. , . ~occultist's travels, an.~ _willy reichel._ cloth. no. , . ~paths to power.~ "the struggling will gain strength--the doubting assurance--and the despairing hope, from this book." fifteenth edition. _floyd b. wilson._ no. , . ~philosophy of fire, the.~ "there is nothing new under the sun." fire philosophy is the foundation of all true initiation, and all mystic and occult fraternities, as well as the secret doctrine and ancient mysteries. atlantis, its beauty, and its fall. the templars, and fire philosophers. the therapeutae and essenes and their initiation. second and very much enlarged edition, contains the rosicrucian fire philosophy according to jennings. _r. s. clymer._ about pgs. silk cloth. symbol in gold. no. , . ~pythagoras and the delphic mysteries.~ _edouard schuré._ no. , . ~queen moo and the egyptian sphinx.~ a most interesting and valuable work--the result of extensive research among the ruined palaces, tombs and temples, and careful study of the signs, symbols and ancient manuscripts of the mayas of prehistoric yucatan; showing evidences of a civilization antedating, by centuries, that of the eastern hemisphere, and giving a reasonable solution of that mystery of the ages--the origin and meaning of the egyptian sphinx. _augustus le plongeon._ beautifully illustrated with full page half-tone prints, from photographs taken by the author while exploring those ancient remains. no. . reduced from . to . ~queen moo's talisman.~ the fall of the maya empire. a beautiful poem with introduction and explanatory argument. _alice le plongeon._ profusely illustrated. cloth. no. , . ~rose croix, the.~ a story of two hemispheres. a most interesting novel. _david tod gilliam._ pgs. no. , . ~rosicrucians, the.~ their teachings and mysteries according to the manifestoes issued at various times by the fraternity itself. also some of their secret teachings and the mystery of the order explained. _bro. r. swinburne clymer._ pgs. no. , . ~rubaiyat of omar khayyam, the.~ with full page illustrations in colors and tinted border designs, × . deckel edge, no. . . watered silk, no. , . . limp leather, no. , . ~sacred mysteries.~ freemasonry in times anterior to the temple of solomon. relics of the mayas and quiches , years ago, their relation to the sacred mysteries of egypt, greece, chaldea and india. _augustus le plongeon._ no. , . ~sermon on the mount~, and other extracts from the new testament. a verbatim translation from the greek with notes on the mystical or arcane sense. _james m. pryse._ cloth. no. , . ~servant in the house, the.~ a beautiful and uplifting drama of brotherly love. _charles rann kennedy._ no. , . ~signs and symbols.~ _dr. george oliver._ illustrated and explained in a series of twelve lectures on freemasonry. no. , . ~sixth and seventh books of moses, the.~ the wonderful arts of the old wise hebrews, taken from the mosaic books of the kabbalah and the talmud, for the good of mankind. pgs. paper, no. , . ~story of the other wise man, the.~ a beautiful narrative. _henry van dyke._ exquisitely printed and bound. cloth, no. , . . and limp leather. no. , . ~spirit of freemasonry.~ comprising lectures on the state of freemasonry in the eighteenth century, the design, rites, ceremonies and institutions of the ancients, nature of the lodge, furniture, apparel and jewels of masons, temple at jerusalem geometry, master mason's order, secrecy of masons, charity, brotherly love, occupations, and a corollary; followed by an appendix containing charges, addresses and orations on various masonic occasions. _william hutchinson._ with copious notes, critical and explanatory, of great value, by the _rev. george oliver_. no. , . ~swedenborg rite~, and the great masonic leaders of the eighteenth century. the masonic career of swedenborg and his followers, and the relation between the symbolic system of swedenborgianism and modern freemasonry. _samuel beswick._ no. , . ~symbol of glory~, showing the object and end of freemasonry in a valedictory and thirteen lectures: masonic science, poetry and philosophy, knowledge, doctrines, circle and parallel meaning, great lights, and masonic ladder, theological virtues and masonry, clouded canopy and ladder symbols, application, blazing star, symbol of glory, etc. _rev. george oliver._ pgs., cloth, black and gold stamps. no. , . ~symbolism of freemasonry.~ illustrating and explaining its science and philosophy, its legends, myths and symbols. _mackey._ pgs. no. , . ~temple, the.~ its ministry and services at the time of jesus christ. _rev. dr. eidersheim._ pgs. no. , . ~through silence to realization.~ this work embodies a system of instruction for mental growth and attainment of ideals. _floyd b. wilson._ - / × - / . no. , . ~voice of the silence~, and other chosen fragments from the book of the golden precepts for the daily use of lanoos. _b. p. blavatsky._ cloth. no. , . . leather. no. , . condensed list of new books, etc., regularly in stock, for sale, exchange or circulating library use. may be exchanged if not found to be what is wanted. order by number. a.a.s.r., book of the. _mcclenachan_ . adoptive rite, revised, enlarged. _macoy_ . ahiman rezon, general. _sickels_ . morocco binding, gilt edges . akin's manual of the lodge . all these things added. _allen_ . altar in the wilderness. _johnson._ cloth . paper . amaranth odes . paper . amaranth ritual, revised, enlarged. _macoy_ . ancient const. reprint . music. _anderson_ . ancient mysteries and modern masonry . paper. _rev. charles h. vail_ . annotated constitutions. _simons_ . an occultist's travels. _reichel._ cloth . ancient mystic oriental masonry. _clymer_ . ancient order of hurcules (_burlesque_), copies . ante room talks, _bloomer_ . antiquities of freemasonry. _oliver_ . antiquities of the orient unveiled. _redding_ . arcane schools-hist. of fmsy. _john yorker_ . as a man thinketh. _j. allen._ cloth, - / × - / . leather . watered silk . special gift edition . paper . ben hur. _wallace_ . bible testimony to theosophical truths . biography of mrs. babington . birthdays, their significance. _colville_ . paper . book of a.a.s.r. _mcclenachan_ . book of i.o.o.f. forms . book of the chapter. _mackey_ . book of the master. _adams._ cloth . brotherhood. _harding_ . brotherhood of healers. _j. macbeth._ cloth . brother of third degree. _carver_ . buechners fraternal register, vest pock. leather . busbee's digest, i.o.o.f. . chapter, book of the, _mackey_, cloth . chapter music. _ilsley_ . charges of a mason. _chase_ . christmas, easter and burial services, k.t. . leather. _rev. cornelius l. twing_ . morocco . paper . coles initiation ritual (_burlesque_), copies . colorado grand lodge monitor. _foster._ cloth . leather . concise cyclopedia of freemasonry. _hawkins_ . concordia, words only. _ilsley_ . constitution and history, a.a.s.r. . constitutions, o.e.s., _africa_, paper . cosmogony of evolution. _ingalese._ cloth . culture of concentration. _w. q. judge_ . constructive psychology. _buck_ . council monitor, _chase_ . council monitor. _mackey_ . craft masonry. _cunningham_ . morocco . cross masonic chart, revised . crucifixion, by an eye witness . cryptic masonry. _mackey_ . cyclopedia of fraternities. _stevens_ . cushing's manual, parliamentary law . dashed against the rock. _colville_ . daughters of sphinx (_burlesque_), copies . diagram of parliamentary rules. _smith_ . morocco, parchment chart . discovery of the soul . divine pedigree of man. _t. j. hudson_ . dream child. _huntley_ . drew's monitor, small . early history and antiquities. _fort_ . early history and proceedings, n.y. vol. i . early history, new york. _ross_ . eden to malta. _beller_ . egyptian symbols. _portal_, _simons_ . egypt the cradle of msry. _de clifford_, vol. . half american morocco, vol. . full american morocco, vol. . full persian morocco, vol. . election and installation . paper . emerson's essays . ency. and history. _oliver & macoy._ cloth . library, sheep, marble edge . half american russia . half american morocco . full american russia . full american morocco . full persian morocco . encyclopedia, _mackey_, _mcclenachan_, cloth . sheep . half russia, gilt top . full morocco . two volume edition . encyclopedia of fraternities. _stevens_ . entering the kingdom. _j. allen_ . leather . watered silk . special gift edition . paper . evolution of the soul. _t. j. hudson_ . fate mastered . female masonry, "_a la lease_" . five grand periods of masonry. _oliver_ . five jewels of the orient, the. _burton_ . floral march. _simpson_ . floral work. _bunnell_ . paper . florida monitor, _gr. lodge comm_ . leather . freemasonry and jesuitry . freemason's monitor. _sickels_ . same, lodge, to comdy., leather . freemason's monitor. _thornberg_ . leather . freemason's monitor. _webb._ cloth . leather . freimaurer's handbuch. _committee_ . leather . freimaurer's handbuch, small . fundamental truths. _n.d._ cloth . funeral services. _simons_--_macoy_ . paper bound . gem of song, o.e.s. _pitkin & mathews_ . paper . general ahiman rezon, a large monitor . same, morocco and gilt. _sickels_--_macoy_ . genius of freemasonry. _buck_ . great work. _t.k._ . guide to chapter. _sheville_, _gould_, limp cloth . same in cloth and gilt binding . leather bound with flap . bound in imitation cowhide morocco . large library size, cloth bound . same in imitation morocco . hand book of freemasonry. _drew_ . harmonia. _music_, _cutler_ . harmonies of evolution. _huntley_ . health from knowledge. _colville_ . leatherette . heavenly life. _james allen._ cloth . hermes and plato. _schuré_ . hermetic writing of paracelsus. _waite._ vol. . heroines of jerico. ceremonies. cloth. _dickson_ . heroines of jerico. ritual, cloth. _dickson_ . historical landmarks. _oliver_ . historical sketch--morton commandery . history and power of mind. _ingalese._ cloth . history of a. &. a. scottish rite. _folger_ . history of colored freemasonry. _grimshaw_ . history of freemasonry, concise. _gould._ cloth . library--sheep . half morocco . full morocco . levant . hist. of freemasonry & concordant orders . half morocco. _stillson & hughan_ . full morocco . levant . history of frmsy. _gould_, vol. / calf . morocco. (shopworn, sets only) . history of freemasonry. _mitchell_, vols. . library--sheep . morocco . history of initiation. _oliver_ . history of k.t. revised. _addison_ . library sheep . half american russia . half american morocco . full american russia . full american morocco . full persian morocco . history of o.e.s. _engle_ . history of rosicrucians--_waite_ . initiation, way of. _rudolf steiner, ph.d._ . paper . initiation and its results. _rudolf steiner, ph.d._ . initiation of a candidate-- copies (_burlesque_) . indian masonry. _wright_ . in memoriam--orin welsh. (_shopworn_) . installation ceremonies. _simons_--_whiting_ . paper . introduction and history, a.a.s.r. . in tune with the infinite. _trine_ . i.o.o.f. hist. and manual . half morocco . full morocco . irish prince and hebrew prophet. _kissick_ . jerico road. (i.o.o.f.) _thompson_ . jesuitry and frmsy. _rameses_ . jesus, the last great initiate. _schuré_ . jewels of pythian knighthood, cloth . half morocco . full morocco . josephus, the works of . kabbalah unveiled. _s. l. m. mathers._ cloth . kingdom of love. _frank_ . king solomon's secret (_farce_) . k. of p. drill. _carnahan._ leather . cloth . knights of the zoroasters (_burlesque_), copies . knight templar melodies, per doz. . koran. translated by _sale_ . krishna and orpheus. _schuré_ . labyrinth as a life story. _o.e.s._ paper . law of mental medicine. _t. j. hudson_ . law of psychic phenomena. _t. j. hudson_ . lexicon of freemasonry. _mackey_ . life and power from within. _colville_ . life and doctrine of paracelsus. cloth . life and writings of dr. robt. fludd. cloth . light of asia. _edwin arnold_ . light on the path. _m.c._ cloth . leather . lights and shadows. _morris_--_mackey_ . living decalogue. _colville_ . lodge goat. _comic_ . lodge music. _ilsley_ . lost word found. _buck_ . low twelve. _ellis_ . morocco . mackey's ritualist, leather . man limitless. _wilson_ . man of mount moriah. _boutelle_ . half morocco . half russia . half russia, gilt edges . half morocco, gilt edges . paper . manual, lodge of perfection. _nor. jurisdiction_ . manual of lodge of n.j. (new) . manual of the chapter. _sheville and gould_ . manual of the lodge. _mackey_ . manual of the lodge of n.j. illust'd. . leather . masonic burial services. _macoy_ . masonic eclectic, vols., shopworn . masonic gem. _rev. a. l. alford_ . masonic jurisprudence. _simons_ . masonic jurisprudence. _mackey_ . masonic jurisprudence and symbolism. _lawrence_ . masonic law and practice. _lockwood_ . masonic lodge music, (kane lodge, n.j.) . paper . masonic light on abduction of morgan . masonic musical manual. lithographed . leather. _w. h. janes._ lithographed . paper board, - / × . lithographed . paper flexible. lithographed . paper board. cheaper print . paper flexible. cheaper print . cloth board. cheaper print . paper flexible. words only × . cloth flexible. words only × . cloth board and stamp. words only × . masonic orpheus. words and music. _dow_ . masonic parliamentary law. _mackey_ . masonic poetry. _morris._ silk cloth, gilt edge . masonic sketch book. _e. du laurans_ . masonic token. _anderson_ . masonic trials. treatise upon law. _look_ . mastery of mind in making of man. _frank_ . maurerisches liederbuch. _roehr._ cloth . messianic expectations and modern judaism . metal therapeutics. a text book. _colville_ . meyer's tactics . middle chamber work. paper . miniature monitor. _webb_ . leather . missing link (_burlesque_), copies . same with outfit . mission of masonry. _peters_ . paper . monitor of a.a.s.r. by _webb_--_carson_ . monitor--grand lodge n.y. . moot court martial, copies (_burlesque_) . morals and dogma, scottish rite. _pike_ . munchers of hard tack, copies (_burlesque_) . music of chapter. _marsh._ cloth . paper flexible . american morocco . paper board . myrtle baldwin. _munn_ . mystic chord. _mabie_ . paper . mystic masonry. _buck_ . mystic tie. _morris_--_mackey_ . new light from the great pyramid. _parsons_ . new odd fellows manual--_grosh_, leather . cloth. larger edition . morocco and gilt. larger edition . new woman (_burlesque_), copies . nuggets from king solomon's mines. _schmalz_ . obelisk and freemasonry. _weisse_, paper . obituary rites of freemasonry. _macoy_ . occult science in india. _jacolliot._ cloth . ocean of theosophy, the. _w. q. judge._ cloth . half morocco . full morocco . odd fellowship. his. and manual. _ross_ . odd fellowship, official history. canvas . half morocco. art canvas . full morocco . o.e.s. burial services. _macoy_ . o.e.s. manual. _macoy._ original edition . old and new psychology. _colville_ . onesimus templeton. _colville_ . on the road to self-knowledge. _jones._ cloth . oriental order of humility, copies (_burlesque_) . origin of freemasonry and k.t. _bennett_ . out from the heart. _j. allen._ cloth . leather . watered silk . special gift edition . paper . path of prosperity, the. _j. allen_ . leather . watered silk . special gift edition . paper . paths to power. _wilson_ . perfect way; or, finding of christ. _kingsford_ . embossed cloth cover . philosophy of fire. _clymer._ cloth . poetry of freemasonry. _morris._ silk cloth, gilt . prelate's lesson . principles, practice, masonic law. _simons_ . put through (comic) . pythagoras and the delphic mysteries. _schuré_ . pythian knighthood, cloth. _cornahan_ . half morocco . full morocco . queen moo and egyptian sphinx. _le plongeon_ . queen moo's talisman. cloth . queen of sahara, copies (_burlesque_) . queen of the south. _macoy_ . paper . ransford drill. _o.e.s._ . red blood of odd fellowship . review of cryptic masonry. _warvelle_, paper . roberts' rules of order . rose croix. _gilliam_ . rosicrucians. _clymer_ . royal arch companion. _chase_, limp cloth . same in cloth and gilt binding . leather bound with flap . royal arch standard. _mcgown_, limp cloth . same in cloth and gilt binding . leather bound with flap . royal order of ogling owls (_burlesque_), cop. . rubaiyat of omar khayram. deckel edge . watered silk . limp leather . ruins of empires. _voleny_ . paper . leather . sacred mysteries. _a. le plongeon_ . scarlet book of frmsy. _redding_ . scientific demonstration of the future . secret doctrine abridged . sermon on the mount. _pryse._ cloth . sermons and addresses. pages. (shopworn) . servant in the house. _kennedy_ . shibboleth, k.t. monitor. _connor_ . sickles ahiman rezon, general . genuine morocco . sickles monitor . leather . signet of k.s., freemason's daughter. _arnold_ . signs and symbols. _oliver_ . singular story of freemasonry . sixth and seventh book of moses . smith's diagram of parliamentary rules, cloth . leather, parchment chart . smithsonian comedetta (_burlesque_), copies . solomon's temple. _caldecott_ . sons of osirus (_burlesque_), copies . spirit of freemasonry. _oliver_, _hutchison_ . standard masonic monitor. _simons_--_macoy_ . same, in leather and gilt . standard monitor, colorado, cloth . leather . standard monitor, florida, cloth . leather . standard monitor illinois, cook cloth . leather . star chamber. _frazer_-- copies (_burlesque_) . story of the other wise man. cloth. _van dyke_ . limp leather . swedenborg rite. _beswick_ . symbolism of freemasonry. _oliver_ . symbol of glory. _oliver_ . tabernacle. _caldecott_ . tactics, k. t. _grant_ . leather . tactics, n.y. regulation . tactics vest pocket . morocco . leather . templar hand book . temple. _eidersheim._ cloth . this mystical life of ours. _trine_ . thoughts for the occasion . throne of eden. _w. j. colville_ . through silence to realization. _wilson_ . traditions, origins, early history. _pierson_ . trial of jesus. _druker_ . twentieth century orient (_burlesque_), copies . universal spiritualism . van nest's burlesque ritual, copies . vocal manual, words only. _macoy_ . vocal star, o.e.s. paper . voice of the silence, the. _blavastky._ cloth . paper . washington and his masonic compeers . way of initiation. _rudolf steiner, ph.d._ . paper . way of peace, the. _j. allen._ cloth . leather . watered silk . special gift edition . paper . webb's monitor . leather . what all the world's a-seeking. _trine_ . wisdom of the ages (_burlesque_), copies . witching hour. _thomas_ . worshipful master's assistant. _macoy_ . same, in morocco and gilt . degrees k.p. or ninety in the shade. comic . _exchanged if not satisfactory._ _send for list containing a more complete description of all kinds of masonic books, rituals, music, charts, engravings, certificates and engrossing; pins, jewels, charms in stock and to order; blanks, books, aprons, and general supplies for the lodge or members._ circulating library. (free reading) (home reading) for our many customers, who, having no room for a collection of books on masonry, yet wish to be conversant with its origin and history, as well as proficient in all matters pertaining to the lodge and its welfare, we have set aside several well-filled cases of rare, old and out-of-print works--constitutions, histories, proceedings, etc., also a fine lot of up-to-date monitors, manuals, jurisprudence, worshipful master's assistant and others. (_see list on preceding pages._) we invite you to consult them freely at the office, without charge or to use them at your homes at the rate of ten per cent of their value for the first thirty days, and an additional five per cent for each month thereafter--which will cover the expense of wear, tear, wrapping, book-keeping, etc.--thus, for a comparatively small item of cost you can add to your store of knowledge, for greater usefulness and personal enjoyment. as time and carfare is an important item, you can order the books to be sent through the mail or express, by enclosing stamps or money order equaling their value, which will be refunded, less the percentage, when the books are returned. readers in any part of the united states can take advantage of the mail rates--books-- / lb. for one cent,--which we advance by prepaying them to your express or post office, deducting the same when refunding balance. to secure books on the circulating library plan, order the books in the usual way, send money order equivalent to the value of the book and state that you wish them on the library plan. trusting you will find it convenient to make use of the books at the office or try a selection from the list for your evenings at home, we are, yours fraternally, macoy publishing & masonic supply co. new york, u.s.a. made available by the hathitrust digital library.) _the theosophy of islam._ letters from a sÛfÎ teacher _shaikh sharfuddÎn manerÎ_ or _makhdÛm-ul-mulk_. translated from the persian by baijnÂth singh theosophical publishing society. benares city and london theosophist office, aydar; madras, s. printed by thakur das manager, at the tara printing works, benares. _all rights reserved._ registered under act xxv of . _foreword._ =shaikh sharf-ud-dîn= was the son of =shaikh yahiâ=. his birthplace is =maner=, a village near =patnâ= in =behâr= (india). a love of knowledge and the religious life, and signs of spiritual greatness, were found in him from his early childhood. a strange being was once seen by the cradle of the baby. the mother, frightened, reported the matter to her father, =shahâb-ud-dîn=, a great saint. the latter consoled her, saying that the mysterious presence was no less a being than the prophet =khezar=[ ] himself, and that the baby was expected to be a man of great spiritual advancement. he acquired secular knowledge under =ashraf-ud-dîn=, a famous professor of those days. he first refused to marry, but had to yield when, being ill, he was advised by the physician to take to marriage as the remedy for his disease. he left home after the birth of a son, travelled in many places, and was at last initiated (at, or near =dehli=) by =najîb-ud-dîn firdausî=. the latter made him his deputy on earth under a deed drawn twelve years earlier under the direction of the prophet of =islâm= himself, asked him to leave the place, and quitted his body shortly after. [ ] a mysterious personage, according to some, a prophet; according to others, a _walî_ or 'friend of god'. he is supposed to be an immortal being, an invisible teacher and helper of mankind. moses was sent by god to seek his instruction. '_khezar_' literally means 'green', a metaphorical expression for auspiciousness, blessedness, wholesomeness and fertility. on his initiation, =sharf-ud-dîn= lived for many a long year in the woods of =bihiâ= and the =râjgiri= hills. in his later days he adopted =bihâr= (now a subdivisional town) as his residence, at the request of some of his friends and disciples. he died on thursday, the th of shawwâl, hijra, in the opening years of the th century a. d. his titular name is =makhdûm-ul-mulk=, 'master of the kingdom or the world.' he was equally proficient in secular learning and esoteric knowledge, and possessed superhuman powers. his tomb at =bihâr= is still resorted to as a place of sanctity by a large number of devout mahomedans. he wrote many works, of which three only have yet been published. these are:-- ( .) _maktûbât-i-sadî_, a 'series of a hundred letters' (or rather essays on definite subjects) addressed to his disciple =qâzî shams-ud-dîn= in hijra. ( .) _maktûbât-i-bist-o-hasht_, a 'series of letters', being replies to the correspondence of his senior disciple, =mozaffar=, the prince of =balkh=. ( .) _fawâed-i-ruknî_, a number of brief notes prepared for the use of his disciple =rukn-ud-dîn=. the present booklet consists of the translation of copious extracts from _maktûbât-i-sadî_, the most elaborate and comprehensive of the three published works, with notes occasionally added from the other two with a view to elucidate or complete the subject in hand. these extracts, it is hoped, will cover the greater part of, if not all, the _principles_ inculcated in these books, and are expected to give the reader a fair knowledge of the _teaching_ of the author _in all its phases_. matters relating to mere exoteric rites, legends and traditions have been omitted. the translation does not pretend to be always very literal, but an honest attempt has been made to present a faithful rendering of the original to the english-knowing public, that they may be able to better appreciate the teachings of =islâm=, and that the brotherhood of creeds may have one more advocate to plead its cause before the tribunal of the human intellect. gayÂ, (behÂr.) baijnÂth singh. _ ._ contents. page. foreword on monotheism turning to god, or conversion on seeking the teacher on the qualifications of a teacher on discipleship on discipleship (continued) the friend of god the brotherhood of friends polytheism, and the friendship of god lights the unveiling of the supersensuous on the same illumination dreams on misconceptions the outer and inner ailments the origin of theosophy seeking the path the pillars of the path religion, the path and truth accessory to prayers purification the motive prayer invoking the divine help the divine allegiance the sacred formula the naked faith the inner polytheism the divine knowledge love and devotion seeking god the way to god speech and conduct magnanimity knowledge the steps of a disciple islâm the noble qualities contemplation renunciation on the same the clearing of the path self-control truth the descent from adam confidence pursuit and renunciation the company of the saints service the transmutation of evil qualities avarice the evil of the world renunciation of the world the final doom the soul the heart the desire-nature (=nafs=) desire discipline of the desire-nature discipline of the desire-nature (continued) alienation from the desire-nature self-toleration hidden differences of stages heedlessness sorrow conduct seclusion death hell heaven letters from a sÛfÎ teacher. on monotheism (tauhÎd). masters of the path have divided monotheism into four stages. the first stage consists in repeating, vocally, without any inner conviction, "there is no god save allâh."[ ] this is hypocrisy, and does not profit on the day of resurrection. the second stage consists in repeating the said _logion_ vocally with an inner conviction based upon conventional imitation (as in the case of ordinary people), or some form of reasoning (as in the case of an intellectual theist). this is verily the visible body of monotheism, frees one from gross polytheism and from hell, and leads to heaven. this second stage, though safer than the first, and less unstable, is for all that a low one, fit for old women.[ ] the third stage consists in light shining in the heart, which reveals the one agent alone as the root of all phenomena, and the non-agency of all else. this is quite unlike the conviction of ordinary people or that of an intellectual theist. such a conviction is a fetter to the soul, whereas the vision of the light breaks all fetters. there must be a difference between one who believes a certain gentleman to be in his house, on the testimony of others (as in the case of ordinary people), another who infers the residence of that gentleman in the house, because he sees his horses and servants at the gate (as in the case of the intellectual theist), and another who actually sees the gentleman in the house (as in the case of the third stage). in the third stage one sees the creatures and the creator, and distinguishes them from him. this much of separation still persists--hence it is not perfect union in the eyes of the masters. [ ] =lâ elâha ill' allâh=. [ ] weak souls.--_trs._ the fourth stage consists in the pouring forth of the divine light so profusely, that it absorbs all individual existences in the eyes of the pilgrim. as in the case of the absorption of particles floating in the atmosphere in the light of the sun, the particles become invisible--they do not cease to exist, nor do they become the sun, but they are inevitably lost to sight in the overpowering glare of the sun--so, here, a creature does not become god, nor does it cease to exist. ceasing to exist is one thing, invisibility is another.... when thou lookest through a mirror, thou dost not see the mirror, for thou mergest it into the reflexion of thy face, and yet thou canst not say that the mirror has ceased to exist, or that it has become that reflexion, or that the reflexion has become the mirror. such is the vision of the divine energy in all beings without distinction. this state is called by the sûfîs, absorption in monotheism. many have lost their balance here: no one can pass through this forest without the help of the divine grace and the guidance of a teacher, perfect, open-eyed, experienced in the elevations and depressions of the path and inured to its blessings and sufferings.... some pilgrims attain to this lofty state only for an hour a week, some for an hour a day, some for two hours a day, some remain absorbed for the greater portion of their time.... beyond the four is the stage of complete absorption, _i. e._, losing the very consciousness of being absorbed and of seeking after god--for such a consciousness still implies separation. here, the soul merges itself and the universe into the divine light, and loses the consciousness of merging as well. "merge into him, this is monotheism: lose the sense of merging, this is unity." here there are neither formulæ nor ceremonies, neither being nor non-being, neither description nor allusion, neither heaven nor earth. it is this stage alone that unveils the mystery: "all are non-existent save him;" "all things are perishable save his face;" "i am the true and the holy one." absolute unity without duality is realised here. "do not be deluded, but know: every one who merges in god is not god." the first stage of monotheism is like the outermost shell of the almond; the second stage is like the second shell; the third stage is like the core; the fourth stage is like the essence of the core--the oil of the almond. all these are known by the name of the almond, but each differs immensely from the others in status, result, and use. this note should be studied patiently and intelligently, since it deals with the basis of all developments, activities, and supersensuous phenomena. it will explain the phraseology and the allusions in the writings of the saints, and throw light on the verses on monotheism and the stages thereof. o brother! though an ant, thou mayest turn out to be a solomon. do not think thou art an impure sinner: though a gnat, thou mayest become a lion.... god raises the monotheist out of the dualist, the faithful out of the faithless, and the devotee out of the sinner.--_letter ._ [the following extracts on monotheism from _the series of letters_, another work of the author, may be aptly added.--_trs._] according to a tradition of the prophet, all beings were created out of darkness, but each took in light according to its capacity, and thus became luminous. hence all beings are sparks of the divine light, and their luminosity is derived from it. now one can fully understand the sacred verse: "god is the light of heaven and earth."--_letter ._ thou-ness and i-ness pertain to our world. they do not exist in the region of the beloved. he is the one reality: futile is the assertion of any existence but his.--_letter ._ turning to god or conversion (=taubÂh=). =taubâh= literally means to turn back. but the nature of the turning must be different with different individuals according to the difference in their conditions and stages. ordinary people would turn from sin with apology in order to escape punishment; middling ones would turn from their deeds to secure the regard of the master; the elect would turn from all worlds, here and hereafter, and feel the insignificance and non-existence thereof in order to realise the glory of the maker. the turning of a beginner cannot be permanent. a saint says of himself: "i turned back times and failed each time; but my seventy-first turning proved steady, and i failed no more." =khwâjâ= (master) =zunnoon= of egypt observes that the =taubâh= of ordinary people consists in turning from sins, that of the elect in turning from heedlessness. =khwâjâ sobaid= and many others are of opinion that =taubâh= consists in remembering one's past transgressions and being ever ashamed of them, so that one may not grow proud of one's many virtues. on the other hand, =khwâjâ junnaid= and many others hold the view that =taubâh= consists in forgetting past transgressions, _i. e._, in expunging their impressions from the heart, so that it may become as pure as if it had never committed them. =taubâh= is obligatory for all pilgrims at all times, since for each pilgrim there is always a stage higher than his present one. if he halts at any stage, he stops his pilgrimage and commits sin. =taubâh= consists in a firm and sincere resolution to abstain from sins, so as to assure god of one's unwillingness to commit them in future; and in compensating, to one's best ability, those one has harmed in any way.... =taubâh= is the basis of all developments, as the ground is for the foundation of a building. the chief requisite is =Îmân= (peace, faith, or moral sense). =taubâh= and =Îmân= appear together, and the latter illumines the heart in proportion to the former. the real =taubâh= lies in turning from one's nature. when the disciple turns from his nature he becomes another; _i. e._, he does not become another man, but his qualities change. then he unfolds true =Îmân=, which sweeps away many-ness and leads to unity. ere the turning, =Îmân= is but conventional and nominal. "how long will you worship god with your tongue only? this is no better than worshipping desires. so long as thou dost not become a moslem from _within_, how canst thou be a moslem merely from _without_?" the lame ass of conventional faith and the lip-behaviour that we have cannot help us to tread the path. none ought to despair under any circumstance whatsoever. here work is without a motive, and requires no payment. many are instantly raised from the level of image-worship to a stage higher than the angels and heaven. the lord does whatever he wishes. "how" and "why" find no room here. may god make thee a seer of his, and remove thee from thyself! do thou aspire high, though thou art low at present. o brother, human aspiration should stoop to nothing, either on earth or in heaven! "such men are so constituted as to care for neither hell nor heaven. they seek god and god only, and spurn what is not he." theosophy (=tasavvuf=) is ceaseless motion, since standing water becomes stagnant. a man may corporeally be in his closet, yet his spirit may run to the =malakût=[ ] and the =jabrût=.[ ] rapid motion, like the morning breeze, can neither be seen nor grasped.--_letters - ._ [ ] the astral and lower mental planes. [ ] the higher mental plane. on seeking the teacher. the saints on the path--blessed be they--unanimously declare that it is incumbent upon a neophyte, after the maturity of his conversion (=taubâh=), to seek a teacher, perfect, experienced in the elevations and depressions of the path, its joys and sorrows, possessed of balance, and versed in the internal ailments of a disciple and their remedies.... though in the beginning one does not need a teacher, and the seed can be sown merely with the help of divine grace, the seed, when sown in the soil of the heart, does need a teacher for its further growth, for the following reasons given in the books of the saints: . since one cannot go to the =kâbâ=[ ] without a guide, albeit the way is visible and sensuous, and the pilgrim possesses eyes and feet, it is impossible without a guide to tread the occult path trodden by , prophets, which has no visible track and is supersensuous. [ ] the sacred shrine at =meccâ=. . as there are many thieves and robbers on a sensuous way, and one cannot travel without a guide, so on the occult path there are many robbers in the guise of the world, the desire-nature and the elementals, and one cannot travel without the guidance of a master. . there are many precipices and dangers on the path, leading to one or other of the many heretic schools formed by those who, having entered the path without a perfect guide, on the strength of their own intellectual resources, fell and perished in the forest and deserted the law. others, more fortunate, have safely crossed those dangers under the protection of masters, and have seen the victims, and known where and why they fell. all pilgrims are liable to these dangers. if one secures the help of a mighty teacher, one can be saved and progress with the help of his secret hints and instructions, else one may fall into some heresy and lose the fruit of one's labour. . the pilgrim may pass, on the way, through certain spiritual conditions, and the soul may put off the physical garment, catch the reflection of the divine light, display superhuman powers as a divine agent during the continuance of the experiences, taste the relish of "i am god, the holy one," and become proud of having reached the goal. the pilgrim cannot understand this intellectually: but if the soul, during the continuance of these experiences, is not helped by a mighty master, he may, it is feared, lose faith, and fall a victim to a false notion of unity. . the pilgrim on the way unfolds supersensuous powers, and sees supersensuous phenomena--devilish, passional, and divine. but he cannot understand them, as they are spoken in a supersensuous language (_i. e._ revealed through an unfamiliar medium).... if, at this stage, he is not aided by a teacher, helping him on behalf of god, and versed in the interpretation of supersensuous words and symbols, he cannot progress further.... when god opens the eyes of a man, so that he distinguishes good from evil, and resolves to follow the one and avoid the other, but does not know how to do it, he must betake himself to a divine man and make a firm determination to change his condition. then the divine man will take him up, help him to subdue the desire-nature, gently induce him to abstain from his defects and blemishes, and keep him away from bad companions. a disciple can, with the help of a teacher, do in an hour what he would do unaided in a year.... it is said: a disciple may reach the goal with the help of a single teacher, or of more than one teacher. (in the latter case) each teacher may be the means of the revelation of one stage only; yet it is more consistent with decency and politeness for the disciple to refrain from looking upon such a stage as the limit of development attained by his teacher, ... inasmuch as the perfect ones are not at all concerned with the business of stages and conditions. but one cannot leave one teacher for another without the permission of the former. who does so deserts the path. it is the practice of the masters--blessed be they!--to impose a threefold discipline on a student. if he observes it, he receives the robe (the real one, not the conventional)--else he is rejected. the threefold discipline consists of: . service of the world for a year. . service of god for a year. . watching the heart for a year.--_letter ._ on the qualifications of a teacher. broadly speaking there are five qualifications: ( ) devotion to god. one cannot be thus devoted, unless one is free from servility to all save him. ( ) capacity to receive truths direct from god without any intermediary. one cannot unfold this capacity without completely getting rid of the lower human nature. ( ) nearness to god. one cannot approach god unless one is equipped with the divine character, and one's spirit reflects the light of the divine attributes. ( ) acquisition of knowledge from god without any intermediary. for this the heart should be cleansed of all impressions, sensual and intellectual. ( ) being an elect of the heart doctrine, which relates to the knowledge of the divine essence, the divine qualities, and the divine works. one cannot attain to this stage without a second birth. "one born of the mother's womb sees this world; one born of the self (_i. e._, quitting the lower human nature) sees the supersensuous world." nevertheless it is said that the qualifications of a teacher are indescribable and innumerable. a teacher is not the body, the head, or the beard, visible to man. he is in reality the inner being by the side of god, in the region of truth, clothed in divine mercy and glory.... here is a query: how can a beginner find out such a teacher and guide, know and follow him? it is not meet for a beginner to weigh divine men with the balance of his little intellect and to look at them with his limited vision. nor is it meet to follow another on his mere assertion. then how to know if such a one is a genuine teacher or a mere pretender? answer: each seeker is furnished with materials appropriate to his lot. he cannot transcend them, ... nor can anything hinder him from using them. query: is there any sign whereby to distinguish a pretender from a true teacher, the worthy from the unworthy? answer: there are many signs, but it is impossible to describe and fix them. for all that, there is no sign or mood, the presence or absence of which _alone_ would mark a teacher or a pretender. in short, one blessed with the divine grace should set his feet on the path, turn away from sensual pleasures and passional gratifications, and fix his attention on god. then the glance of some perfect teacher will shine in the mirror of the heart.... when a true disciple catches such a glance, he instantly contracts a love for the beauty of his godly strength, becomes restless and uneasy, and comes to the path. this uneasiness forbodes fortune and success. perfect discipleship consists in perfect love for the beauty of the teacher's godly strength. a disciple should follow the wishes of his teacher, and not his own wishes.... in each locality there is a teacher who protects men living in that area. the king of the time is only one, but there is an ordinary teacher in each town. according to tradition there are always friends of god, who are the props of the world and the channels of the transmission of blessing and mercy from heaven to earth.... o brother, know for certain that this work has been before thee and me (_i. e._, in bygone ages), and that each man has already reached a certain stage. no one has begun this work for the first time. everything is according to divine dispensation. do you suppose , prophets to have ushered any new work into the world? by no means. they stirred up what lay already in the bosom, and led man to what was ordained for him by god....--_letter ._ on discipleship. desire is a craving in the heart for a certain object. the craving produces a stir in the heart, the stir arouses a tendency to seek for the object. the nobler the object, the purer the desire.... desire is threefold:-- ( ) desire for the world. it consists in the absorption of a man in the seeking of worldly objects. such a desire is a downright danger. when it clouds the heart of a neophyte, it keeps him back from all virtues, and lures him to failure. a life spent in the gratification of such a desire deprives one of eternal happiness after resurrection. ( ) desire for heaven. the soul transcends the previous stage, longs for the heavenly state and permanent happiness, and practises lifelong asceticism, so that he may attain his object on the day of resurrection. the desire for heaven is nobler than the desire for the world.... ( ) desire for god. a man (at this stage) unfolds the inner sight, aspires to transcend the created universe, and considers it disgraceful to seize anything contained in that area--so that he develops a longing for the creator himself and is respected in heaven as well as on earth. when a disciple ceases to hanker after the world and heaven, and regards everything save his object as a hindrance to his (onward) march, he should heartily endeavour to seek god, come manfully to the path, and resort to a compassionate teacher, so that the latter may help him in treading the path, and tell him of its dangers, thus securing him a safe journey without any break or failure. the teacher cannot turn an unruly candidate into an earnest disciple.... if the spirit of the path lies latent in a candidate, it will unfold by his company and service. the divine law works in this way. on discipleship. (_continued._) when a man calls himself a disciple, he ought to justify the title to the fullest extent and firmly tread the straight path. he should constantly use the collyrium of turning back (=taubâh=), put on the robe of detachment from connexions and from self, drink the wine of seeking out of the cup of purity, draw the sword of magnanimity from the sheath of religion, dismiss the cravings of the infidel desire, practise absorption, and not care for the higher or the lower worlds. when he has become proficient in the truths of discipleship and the subtleties of seeking, has gathered the fruits of purification and asceticism, begun to tread the path and passed through several stages of the journey--then, if asked whether he is a disciple, he can say: "i may be one, god helping." thus is discipleship justified, and pretension avoided. this is the way of those endowed with insight and divine wisdom. not to look to personality at any stage, nor to depend upon its possessions. many saints with a lifelong devotion have slipped down from dizzy heights.... a disciple who concentrates in himself the purity of all the angels and the piety of all men is self-conceited and sure to fall, if he knows himself to be better than a dog.... the beginner has a tongue, the proficient scholar is silent.--_letter ._ a disciple is a worshipper of his teacher. if his rest and movements are in accordance with his commands, he is a disciple; if he follows his own desires, he is a follower of his desires, not of his teacher. a disciple is he who loses himself in the teacher. he shakes off his desires, as a serpent casts its slough. if he has even the least remnant of desire left in him, and doubts and protests find room in his heart, he is a worshipper of himself, not of the teacher.... a disciple should be a worshipper of the teacher, [so that he may become a worshipper of god]. one who obeys the messenger verily obeys god.--_fawâed-i-ruknî._ god has concealed precious gifts under the difficulties he has imposed upon these men (_i. e._ the disciples). a disciple should manfully discharge his duties without fail, in spite of the hardships and trials of the path. god does not work in one way only, and it is difficult to know which way will lead the disciple to him--joy or sorrow, gifts or privation. there is a divine secret underneath all sufferings and enjoyments in the world.--_the series of letters, letter ._ "a long journey is needed to ripen the raw." as a fruit requires both sunshine and shadow for its maturity, so a pilgrim requires the dual experience--joy and sorrow, union and separation, presence and absence,--for his perfection.--_ibid, letter ._ there is no bar to the reception of the divine light. if there is any, it is due to lack of capacity. how can an unpolished mirror reflect an image?... the pilgrim needs patience and endurance, not hurry and unrest. god knows each man as he is, and sheds the light when he deserves it.--_ibid, letter ._ contentment is a _sine quâ non_; one without it should abandon occultism and go to the market. the performance of duties to the best of one's abilities cannot be dispensed with, as it is necessary for the safe passage of the pilgrim. while sane, he should follow truth. truth in words and conduct is ever beneficial, never harmful.--_ibid, letter ._ the friend of god--(the =walÎ=). the =walî= (or the friend of god) is one who constantly receives the favours of the deity, which consist in his being guarded against all troubles, the hardest of which is the commission of sins. as a prophet must be sinless, so must a friend be protected. the distinction between the two is this: the one is beyond the commission of a sin; the other is liable to commit a sin on rare occasions, but does not persist therein.... the friend is endowed with all possible virtues.... again, it is said, the friend is he who does not fail in his duties to god and the universe. he does not serve through hope and fear of agreeable and disagreeable consequences. he does not set any value on his individuality.... a friend may be either known or unknown to the people. if unknown, he is not affected by the evils of fame.... a friend is he who does not long for the world or for heaven, who forsakes himself for the divine friendship and turns his heart to the true one.... the friends are the special objects of the love of god. owing to their devotion, they have been chosen as the governors of his kingdom, the channels of his activities, receive special powers, and are liberated from the bondage of the desire-nature. they do not desire anything save him, nor feel attachment to anything save him. they have been before us, are in these days, and will be till the end of the world.... they are to-day the appointed agents of god to serve as channels for the propagation of the messages of the ancient prophets, and to govern the world--so that the rain may pour from heaven by their blessings, that plants may grow from the earth by their purity, and that the faithful may prevail over the faithless by their strength. superhuman powers are a kind of idols in this world. if a saint is content with their possession, he stops his onward progress. if he turns away from them he advances the cause of his union with god. here is a subtile mystery, and it is this: true friendship consists in the rejection of all save the beloved. but attention to superhuman powers and reliance upon them means the rejection of the beloved, and satisfaction with something other than himself.--_letter ._ the brotherhood of friends. [there is a passage on the hierarchy of divine friends in =fawâed-i-ruknî=, another work of the author, which is translated below as a supplement to the present subject.--_trs._] there are , =walîs= who are not known to the world. they do not know one another, nor are they conscious of their exalted position. they ever remain veiled from the world, as well as from themselves. there are =akhyâr= (the charitable or the benevolent) who solve the difficulties of the world and keep the gate of the divine sanctuary. there are forty =abdâl= (the substitutes); =abrâr= (the liberated); =nujabâ= (the pure); =autâd= (the pegs); =nuqabâ= (the watchers); =qutub= (the pole), also called =gaus=, the 'redresser of grievances'. all these know one another and are interdependent for the discharge of their respective duties. (total, --_trs._) according to another authority (=majma-us-sâerîn=) there are =walîs= ever working in the world. when one of them retires, another takes his place, so that there is never any diminution in the number . they are made up of + + + + + . the =one= is the =qutub= of the world, the preservation of which is due to his holy existence. if he retired without another to take his place, the world would fall to pieces. when the =qutub= retires, one of the _three_ takes his place; one of the _five_ fills up the gap in the _three_, one of the _seven_ fills up the gap in the _five_, one of the _forty_ fills up the gap in the _seven_, one of the _three hundred_ fills up the gap in the _forty_, and a man is posted to the vacancy in the rank of the _three hundred_--so that ever continue working in the world, and every spot is blessed by their auspicious feet. their outer life is similar to that of ordinary people, so the latter cannot know them. inwardly, they are united with god. love, friendship, and the mysteries have to do with the _within_, not with the _without_. they (the =walîs=) are too strong to be hindered by earth, water, fire, air, plains and hills. being in the east, they can see and hear men in the west. they can instantly go from the east to the west, come from the west to the east, go to and come back from =arsh= (the divine throne). theirs are many superhuman powers of like nature. polytheism, and the friendship of god. polytheism is twofold:-- ( ) the outer, which consists in worshipping a god other than the one highest god.... ( ) the inner, which consists in thinking of a being, other than god, as a helper at the time of need. some say that to see anything save him, is polytheism for an occultist. some say that to refer to any separated self in any way, to be inclined to do anything with one's own will, and to resort to one's own schemes and plans in any emergency, are all forms of polytheism.... the chosen friend is he who is of god alone, both without and within. he neither acts nor thinks against [the divine will]. he does not mix with the desire-nature, forgets his services in the presence of the master, and cannot do without him.... he is so filled with him in all respects--both without and within--that it is impossible for anything else to enter into him.... he loses his desire, will, and all individual qualities, and exists merely through god's desire and will. he gets what he wills--not because he wills anything other than what is god's will, but because his will is one with god's. nay god unfolds his will in him.--_letter ._ lights. when the mirror of the heart is cleansed of impurities, it becomes capable of reflecting the supersensuous lights. they appear in the beginning as flashes, but gain in power and volume as the heart becomes purer--manifesting [gradually] as the lamp, the flame, the stars, the moon, and the sun. the forms of flashes arise from ablutions and prayers ...; those of the lamp, the flame and the stars, from the _partial_ purity of the heart; that of the full moon, from its _perfect_ purity; that of the sun, from the soul reflecting its glory in the perfectly purified heart. a time comes when [the inner light] is a thousand times more luminous than the [external] sun. if [the visions of] the sun and moon are simultaneous, the latter signifies the heart reflecting the light of the soul, the former the soul itself. the light of the soul is _formless_, but is seen behind a _veil_ distorting the _idea_ into the form of the sun. sometimes the light of the divine attributes may cast its reflection in the mirror of the heart according to the purity of the latter.... this light distinguishes itself by a feeling of bliss in the heart, which shows that it comes from god and not from others. it is hard to describe this bliss. it is said that the light of the constructive attributes is illuminative, but not scorching; that of the disintegrating attributes scorching, but not illuminative. this is beyond the comprehension of intellect. sometimes, when the purity of the heart is complete, the seer sees the true one _within_ him, if he looks _within_, the true one _without_ him, if he looks to the universe. when the divine light is reflected in the light of the soul, the vision gives bliss. when the divine light shines _without_ the media of the soul and the heart, the vision manifests formlessness and infinity, uniqueness and harmony, the basis and support of _all_ existence. here there is neither rising nor setting, neither right nor left, neither up nor down, neither space nor time, neither far nor near, neither night nor day, neither heaven nor earth. here the pen breaks, the tongue falters, intellect sinks into nothingness, intelligence and knowledge miss the way in the wilderness of amazement.--_letter _. the unveiling of the supersensuous. the essence of the unveiling lies in coming _out_ of the veils. the seer perceives things not perceived by him before. the "veils" mean hindrances keeping one back from the perfect vision of the divine beauty, and consist of the various worlds--according to some, , in number, according to others, , --all present in the constitution of man. man has an eye correlated to each world, with which he observes that world during the unveiling. these worlds are included under a twofold division: light and darkness, heaven and earth, invisible and visible, spiritual and physical,--each pair expressing the same sense in different words.... when a sincere pilgrim, impelled by his aspiration, turns from the lower nature to follow the law, and begins to tread the path under the protection of a teacher, he unfolds an eye for each of the veils uplifted by him, to observe the conditions of the world before him. first, he unfolds the eye of intellect and comprehends the intellectual mysteries to the extent of the uplifting of the veil. this is called the _intellectual unveiling_, and should not be depended on. most of the philosophers are at this stage and take it as the final goal. this stage transcended, the sincere pilgrim comes to unveil the heart, and perceives various lights. this is called the _perceptual unveiling_. next, he unveils the secrets; this is the _inspirational unveiling_, and the mysteries of creation and existence are revealed to him. next, he unveils the soul; this is the _spiritual unveiling_, and he can now view heaven and hell, and communicate with the angels. when the soul is completely cleansed of earthly impurities, and is thoroughly pure, he unveils infinity and is privileged to gaze at the circle of eternity, to comprehend instantly both past and future, getting rid of the limitations of space and time, ... to see both fore and aft ... to read hearts, know events, and tread on water, fire, and air. such miracles are not to be relied on.... next comes the _innermost unveiling_, enabling the pilgrim to enter the plane of the divine attributes.... the innermost is the bridge between the divine attributes and the plane of the soul, enabling the soul to experience the divine vision, and reflect the divine character. this is called the _unveiling of the divine attributes_. during this stage, the disciple unfolds esoteric knowledge, revelation from god, his vision, his bliss, real absorption, real existence, or unity,--according as he unveils the divine attributes of intelligence, audition, sight, construction, disintegration, stability, or oneness. similarly one may think of other qualities.--_letter ._ * * * * * [the last two extracts tacitly refer to the following =sûfî= classification of the human constitution:-- . the body (=tan=), the brain-consciousness, or intellect, correlated to the physical plane (=nâsût=). . the heart (=dil=), the desires and the lower mind, correlated to the astral and lower mental planes (=malakût=). . the soul (=rûh=), the higher mind, the ego, correlated to the higher mental plane (=jabarût=). . the spirit (=sirr=, or the _mystery_), correlated to the spiritual planes (=lâhût=)--_trs._] on the same. [the following supplementary notes from _the series of letters_ may prove both instructive and interesting.--_trs._] you say you hear certain words, but not from the organ of speech, or through the organ of sound. speech and sound belong to this world: what you hear belongs to =malakût=.--_loc. cit., letter ._ a pilgrim may hear the _sound_ in his body, nay, in the minerals, plants, and animals. but if he hears from them the same =zikr= (_i. e._, the sacred formula) as practised by him, it is but an echo of his practice--an imaginary phenomenon, not a real one: whereas, if he hears from them the =zikr= peculiar to them, the phenomenon is real.... the universe being endless, the phenomena are endless.--_ibid, letter ._ powers and phenomena are trials for a pilgrim. regard them as obstacles, and never care for them.... it is a rare boon to pass from the name to the named.... the vision of the prophet khezar foretells your success on the path.... the odours, sacred and unearthly, experienced by you, pertain to the =malakût=: how can you find their likeness on earth?--_ibid, letter ._ illumination. there is a difference between divine illumination and soul-illumination. when the mirror of the heart is cleansed of all impurities, and has become thoroughly clear, it may serve to focus the rays of the divine sun and so reflect the divinity and all his attributes. but this boon is not enjoyed by every clean heart. every runner does not catch the game (lit., the antelope), but only he who runs _can_ catch it.... a clean heart reflects some of the qualities of the soul. if thoroughly clean, it may at times reflect all the qualities. sometimes the essence of the soul--the divine viceroy--may display its nature, and assert "i am the true one" by virtue of its viceroyalty. sometimes the whole universe may be seen making obeisance at the viceregal throne, and the soul may mistake the divine viceroy for god.... such mistakes are common, and cannot be avoided without the divine grace and the help of the teacher. now to come to the difference: ( ) soul-illumination conquers the lower nature temporarily, _i. e._, so long as the illumination continues;--divine illumination conquers it permanently. ( ) soul-illumination is not inconsistent with the foulness of the heart, does not solve all doubts, nor does it impart the bliss of divine knowledge;--divine illumination is the reverse of this. ( )--soul-illumination may induce pride, self-conceit, and egoism.... divine illumination does away with all these, and increases the fervour of seeking. 'illumination' and 'obscuration' are two words generally used among the =sûfîs=. the former means the unfolding of god, the latter means the infolding of god. these expressions do not apply to his essence, since it is changeless. as when one finds the solution of a problem, and says, "the problem is solved"--the problem is not solved, but one's mind unfolds so as to grasp the problem; knowledge being called the solution of the problem, ignorance its obscuration--so, when one sees all from god, and not from self, when self does away with the lower nature and sees the unknowable,--this is designated illumination.--_letter ._ dreams. _first_, a pilgrim passing through the _earthly_ qualities sees in his dreams heights and depths, streets and wells, gloomy and deserted sites, waters and mountains. _secondly_, passing through the _watery_ qualities, he sees greens and pastures, trees and sown fields, rivers and springs. _thirdly_, passing through the _airy_ qualities, he sees himself walking or flying in the air, going up the heights. _fourthly_, passing through the _fiery_ qualities, he sees lamps and flames. _fifthly_, passing through the _etheric_, he finds himself walking or flying over the heavens, going from one heaven to another, sees the circling of the sky, and the angels. _sixthly_, passing through the _starry_ region, he sees the stars, the sun and the moon. _seventhly_, passing through the _animal_ qualities, he sees the corresponding animals. if he finds himself prevailing over an animal, it indicates his conquest over the corresponding quality. if he finds himself overcome by an animal, it denotes the predominance of the corresponding quality, and he should guard himself against it. the pilgrim has to pass through thousands of worlds, and in each world he perceives visions and experiences difficulties peculiar to it. o brother, the soul is for the goal. it should boldly cry out: "let me either cease to live, or reach the goal."--_letter ._ on misconceptions. many men fall from doubt and suspicion. a class of people say, "god does not need our worship and services, and has no concern with our virtues and vices: why should we restrain ourselves?" such a doubt arises from sheer ignorance, and supposes that the law enjoins duties for the sake of god. no. duties are for the sake of man alone.... an ignorant man of this sort fitly compares with a patient who, being prescribed a certain treatment by his physician, does not follow it, and says that his abstinence does no harm to the physician. he speaks truly enough, but works his own destruction. the physician did not prescribe to please himself, but to cure him. a second class of men transgress the law and depend on the divine mercy. god is both merciful and a chastiser. we find that there are many distressed and poor men in this world in spite of his mercy and his mountains of treasure, that not a single grain of wheat grows without laborious cultivation, and that no man can be healthy without food, water and medicine. as he has ordained means for health and wealth without which they cannot be had, such is the case in the moral sphere also. denial and ignorance are poisons to the soul, and idleness its disease. the antidotes for the poisons are knowledge and wisdom alone. the remedies for the disease are prayers and worship alone. he who takes poison while depending on the divine mercy, kills himself. the disease of the heart consists in desires. he who does not restrain his desires risks his life if he knows them as sinful. but if he does not regard them as harmful he has no life to risk, since he is already dead. for such disregard is denial, and denial poisons faith. a third set would understand by self-discipline, as imposed by the law, complete freedom from lust, anger and other evils. when they fail after practising self-discipline for a length of time, they regard the task as impossible. "man, as he is constituted, cannot be pure, just as a black blanket cannot turn into a white one. why should we undertake an impossible feat?" (so they think).--it is ignorance and vanity to suppose that the law enjoins complete freedom from lust and other impulses inherent in human nature. the prophet has said, "i am a man, and may be angry," and signs of anger were at times visible in him. god praises one who controls anger, not one who is devoid of anger. again, the prophet had nine wives, and a man destitute of the sexual desire should be medically treated. the prophet has countenanced the begetting of progeny and the perpetuation of the race. but he has instructed that the two (lust and anger) should be subdued so as to be under the control of the law, as a horse under the control of the rider, or a dog under the control of the hunter. the animals should be trained, else they will set upon and overthrow the man. lust and anger are like the dog and the horse, and it is impossible to catch the heavenly game without them. but they should be under control, else they will destroy _us_. in short, the object of self-discipline is to break and subdue these impulses, and this is possible. a _fourth_ set proudly declare that everything is according to the divine will. what is the use of exertion?--when the prophet spoke of the divine will, his companions said, "we shall depend upon it and refrain from exertion." the prophet replied, "_ye shall exert_, and [then] what has been ordained will be given." thus, man should not refrain from exertion. if he has in the beginning been ordained to a noble destiny, he will attain to it [by exertion]. good and evil destinies hinge upon virtue and vice, in the same way as health and death upon food and starvation.--_letter ._ the outer and inner ailments. man has been formed of two different substances, the earthly and the heavenly. as his earthly frame is liable to ailments, so is the heavenly; and there are doctors for the treatment and cure of both. the doctors of the bodily ailments are the physicians, and those of the moral ailments are the prophets and [later on] the saints who are their successors. as a sick man would certainly die if not treated by a skilled physician, so a soul suffering from the moral diseases would certainly die, if not helped by a prophet or a perfect saint. as a physician examines the pulse to ascertain the disease of a patient, and recommends him to resort to one thing and abstain from another, with a view to restore physical equilibrium and health,--so also the divine messenger ascertains the moral ailments of the disciple, and prescribes different duties based on the law according to his receptivity and capacity, recommending this, disallowing that, so as to reduce his inner perplexities and desires to a state of harmony required by the law, and bring about moral health in the shortest possible time. as a sick man going against the instructions of his physician gets worse and worse and has to die, so a moral patient disobeying the law gets more and more perverse and has to perish through ignorance.--_letter ._ the origin of theosophy the institution of theosophy (=tasavvuf=) is ancient. it has been practised by the prophets and the saints. as evil impulses predominate in the world, the theosophist (=sûfî=) is looked down upon by men. the theosophist is one who has lost the self, exists in the true one, is beyond the reach of the lower nature, and is at one with truth. a theosophical student (=mutasavvif=) is he who seeks to become a theosophist through asceticism and purification, and disciplines himself in the ways of the theosophist.... the prophet had a place in his mosque set apart to discourse privately with his elect companions, who trod the path. there were senior disciples such as =abû bakar=, =omar=, =osman=, =alî= and =salmân=; and mediocre ones, such as =belal= and others. the arab chiefs and his ordinary companions were not admitted there. the elect companions were about in number. when the prophet wished to shew his special regard to a particular companion (=sûfî=), he favoured him with a piece of his garment (n. b. the word =sûfî= may be derived either from =safâ=, purity, or from =sûf=, dress.--_trs._) the first theosophist was adam, and the last mohammad; and theosophy has continued amongst the followers of mohammad.--_letter ._ seeking the path. the aspiration of the seeker should be such that, if offered this world with its pleasures, the next with its heaven, and the universe with its sufferings, he should leave the world and its pleasures for the profane, the next world and its heaven for the faithful, and choose the sufferings for himself. he turns from the lawful in order to avoid heaven, in the same way that common people turn from the unlawful to avoid hell. he seeks the master and his vision in the same way that worldly men seek ease and wealth. the latter seek increase in all their works; he seeks the one alone in all. if given anything, he gives it away; if not given, he is content. the marks of the seeker are as follows. he is happy if he does not get the desired object, so that he may be liberated from all bonds; he opposes the desire-nature so much, that he would not gratify its craving, even if it cried therefor for seventy years; he is so harmonised with god that ease and uneasiness, a boon and a curse, admission and rejection are the same to him; he is too resigned to beg for anything either from god or from the world; his asceticism keeps him as fully satisfied with his little all--a garment or a blanket--as others might be with the whole world.... he vigilantly melts his desire-nature in the furnace of asceticism and does not think of anything save the true one. he sees him on the right and on the left, sitting and standing. such a seeker is called the divine seer. he attaches no importance to the sovereignty of earth or of heaven. his body becomes emaciated by devotional aspirations, while his heart is cheered with divine blessedness. thoughts of wife and children, of this world and the next, do not occupy his heart. though his body be on earth, his soul is with god. though here, he has already been there, reached the goal, and seen the beloved with his inner eye. this stage can be reached only under the protection of a perfect teacher, the path safely trodden under his supervision only.... it is indispensable for a disciple to put off his desires and protests, and place himself before the teacher as a dead body before the washer of the dead, so that he may deal with him as he likes. virtue and vice have their uses and evils. often a virtue throws one the farther from god, and a vice leads one the nearer to him.... the virtue that begins in peace and ends in pride throws one the farther from god; the vice that begins in fear and ends in repentance leads one the nearer to him.--_letter ._ the pillars of the path. their words enliven the heart; their deeds liberate men; their compassion is universal; they do not care for feeding and clothing themselves, but feed and clothe all; they do not look to the evil of others, but stand as their saviours, return good for evil, and bless them that curse. why?--for they are protected: no gale save the zephyr of love can blow over the world from the horizon of their heart. their compassion shines as the sun over friend and foe alike. they are humble as the earth, trodden by the feet of all. they are not hostile to any man, nor do they grasp at anything of the world. all creatures are their children, they are not the children of any. they are absolute compassion for the whole universe, for east and west,--for they are liberated and see all from the one root.... one void of these qualities cannot tread the path. in the case of a theosophist, the heart goes first, then comes the tongue. in the case of a worldly-wise man, the tongue goes first, and then the heart.--_letter ._ religion, the path and truth. religion (=sharîat=), the path (=tarîqat=), and truth (=haqîqat=). _religion_ is a way laid down by a prophet for his followers, with the help of god. all prophets equally call the attention of men to monotheism and service. so there is but _one_ religion, _one_ appeal, and _one_ god. their teachings cannot be contradictory, as they are based on divine inspiration. the difference is merely verbal and formal, but there is no difference in the essentials. they are the [spiritual] physicians of humanity, and have prescribed religions for their respective followers according to their needs. religion consists of a series of injunctions and prohibitions, and deals with monotheism, bodily purification, prayers, fasts, pilgrimages, the holy war, charity, and so on. the _path_ is based on religion, and consists in seeking the essence of the forms [dealt with by religion], investigating them, purifying the heart, and cleansing the moral nature of impurities such as hypocrisy, avarice, polytheism, and so on. religion deals with external conduct and bodily purification; the path deals with the inner purification. religion is the soundness of external purification. _truth_ is the soundness of the inner condition. the one is liable to alterations, is the work of man and can be acquired; the other is immutable, the same from the time of adam to the end of the world, and is the divine grace. the one is like matter, or the body. the other is like spirit, or the soul.--_letters and ._ [a higher stage is simply mentioned, in _fawâed-i-ruknî_, as =mârfat= (the divine knowledge), without any detailed explanation. thus, =sharîat= corresponds to the exoteric religion of any given nation; =tarîqat= to the lesser mysteries of the ancient western mystic, or the probationary path of the eastern mystic; =haqîqat= to the greater mysteries of the ancient western mystic, or the path proper of the eastern mystic; =mârfat= to the stage of the perfect man, or the master.--_trs._] accessory to prayers. after the morning prayer, the twilight should be spent in muttering the divine names, sacred recitations, repentance and apology. one should not speak at this time, except to obey an express injunction or prohibition of the scriptures, to bless or benefit the faithful, and to instruct a student in need of knowledge. the company of a saint, a knower of god, or one's own teacher, if available, is preferable to mutterings and recitations. before the sunset prayer, some time should be spent in attentively examining the desire-nature _i. e._, reviewing the gains made and the losses incurred during the day. one should go to sleep pure, and with holy recitations, and should not sleep unless overpowered. one should get up in the latter part of the night before twilight, and immediately take to the sacred duties.--_letter ._ purification. it is purity which makes man respectable. it is the storehouse of all boons and virtues.... =islâm= is based on purity, and cannot tolerate the slightest stain. she does not show her face to the impure. _first_:--the purity of the body, the garment, and food. _second_:--the purity of the senses, _i. e._, abstinence from sins and transgressions. _third_:--the purity of the heart, _i. e._, renunciation of all evil qualities, such as uncharitableness, envy and malice. with the first purity, the disciple takes the first step on the path; with the second, he takes the second step; with the third, the third. this is the essence of =taubâh=--turning from impurity to purity. at first he was a temple of idols; now he becomes a mosque. at first he was a demon; now he becomes a man. at first he was dark as the night; now he becomes bright as day. it is now that the sun of =Îmân= (peace or faith) shines in his heart, and =islâm= shows her face and leads him to the divine knowledge. any work whatsoever, without this purity, is but a ceremony or tradition on the lines of the forefathers, but is _not_ =islâm=. * * * * * know god as your constant guardian. living under his ever-watchful eye, one ought to be modest and feel ashamed to bring one's transgressions to his notice. * * * * * as prayers cannot be duly performed without the outer purity, so the divine knowledge is impossible without the inner purity. as fresh water--not water already used--is necessary for the one, so pure monotheism--not mixed--is necessary for the other.[ ] [ ] see "monotheism"--_trs._ * * * * * the inner purification is hinted at in the prophet's prayer: "o god, purge out hypocrisy from my heart."--_letters & ._ the motive. the value of a disciple's act lies in his motive. the motive is to the act as life is to the body and light to the eye. as the body without life or the eye without light is useless, so the acts of a disciple without a pure motive are mere forms. with the seers, forms are denial and destruction, not faith and salvation. a valid motive arises from purity, as rays from the sun and sparks from the flame. when the motive is not biassed by worldly attractions, it is called _ascetic_ purity by the sûfîs. when the motive is not biassed by heavenly attractions, it is called _spiritual_ purity. it is said that the motive of a man is according to his knowledge and wisdom. if desire and love of the world predominate in the heart of a man, all his acts will be worldly--even his prayers and fasts. if desire and love of heaven predominate in his heart, all his acts will be heavenly--even his eating and sleeping. again there are others, of loftier aspiration, caring neither for earth nor for heaven, but for god only. all acts done by such men will be purely divine.... a disciple should always be careful to purify his motive and to get out of mere forms. for this, he should obey the instructions of a teacher, his motive, though in the beginning mixed with hypocrisy and insincerity, will ultimately be purified by obeying his instructions.... the disciple should act as the earth, so that the teacher may act as the sky--wet him with his rains, warm him with his sun, shade him under his clouds, perfume him with the fragrant breeze of his compassion--and thus help his growth.--_letter ._ prayer. the daily routine of a disciple, in the absence of his teacher, should be such as to secure purity of heart, whether by prayer, sacred study, mutterings, or meditation. the secret of prayer is inexpressible. when the disciple, renouncing separateness, stands for prayer in a mood of self-surrender, his body ranks with =kâbâ's= shrine, his heart with =arsh= (the divine throne); and his spirit sees the vision divine.... the devotee mostly prays with the fire of love without observing external forms (_e. g._ kneeling and prostration), takes all devotees as one, and does not stigmatise any man with the brand of infidelity and damnation. in the state of prayer, one merged in the divine cannot be conscious of anything else; as alî, while praying, was operated upon, and an arrow drawn out of his thigh, but he did not feel it.--_letter ._ invoking the divine help. opinions vary as to which is the better course, invocation of the divine help, or self-surrender to the divine will. in some cases the one is preferable, in others the other, according to the tendency and condition of each individual. if invocation induces _unfolding_, it is good. if it induces _infolding_,[ ] it should be stopped. if it induces neither the one nor the other, its performance and omission are of equal value. if _knowledge_ preponderates at the time of invocation, it is to be continued, for such an invocation is a worship in itself. if _divine wisdom_ preponderates at the time, silence is preferable.... [ ] see p. . what is the use of invoking the divine help, if the divine will is irrevocable?--answer: the revocation by invocation is also in accordance with the divine will, the invocation being simply an ordained means, as a shield is a means to repel an arrow, and watering is a means to grow seeds. if one resorts to an invocation, it is to be repeated three, five or seven times.--_letter ._ the divine allegiance. the divine allegiance gives freedom and the sovereignty of the whole world.... god never made anything so precious as the heart of his servant, because it is there that he treasured up the wealth of his wisdom: "i cannot be contained in heaven or earth, but i am contained in the heart of my faithful servant." what is service?--to be resigned to the divine will without a murmur. a servant is he who does not think of wages, and has been liberated from the bonds of desire. he who serves god for wages is the servant of the wages, not of god. =khwâjâ hasân basri= says: "seek the knowledge that is revealed by service, and seek the service that is revealed by knowledge." knowledge and service are equally necessary, but knowledge is superior, being the root and guide. hence it is that the prophet says: "knowledge rules conduct, and conduct follows it." again, he says that the sleep of the wise is better than the prayers of the ignorant, and that the ignorant do more evil than good by their acts.--_letters - ._ the sacred formula. the disciple should ever practise the formula: "there is no god except =allâh="--vocally or inaudibly, whether he be alone or in company. let him not for a moment step out of this fort. the fort is made of the negative "no god" and the affirmative "except =allâh=" phrases; and it protects the pilgrim entering therein against the two highway robbers: the desire-nature and satan. when the disciple unfolds the inner eye in the plane of unity, he transcends affirmation and denial, as they are inconsistent with unity. affirmation and denial inhere in the nature of man, and a disciple does not attain to unity unless he goes beyond human nature. affirmation and denial are in themselves a form of polytheism, since a valid affirmation and a valid denial each need three elements--the affirmer, the affirmation and the affirmed; the denier, the denial and the denied. when a believer in _two_ is a polytheist, how can a believer in _six_ be a monotheist? when the non-god has no existence, what is to be denied? when thou thyself art not, how canst thou affirm?... this is the zenith of unity, and the stage of the perfect ones.... he who sees with the eye of unity finds the non-god non-existent.... whenever mohammad, transcending the realm of his mission, looked with the inner eye into the realm of unity, he eagerly and yearningly wished his personality blotted out, the dividing line erased, and the human limitation cast away. but the compassion of the beloved would ever intervene, and bring him back to the realm of his mission for the delivery of the message.--_letter ._ the naked faith. intellect is a bondage; faith, the liberator. the disciple should be stripped naked of everything in the universe in order to gaze at the beauty of faith. but thou lovest thy personality, and canst not afford to put off the hat of self-esteem and exchange reputation for disgrace.... all attachments have dropped from the masters. their garment is pure of all material stain. their hands are too short to seize anything tainted with impermanence. light has shone in their hearts enabling them to see god. absorbed in his vision are they, so that they look not to their individualities, exist not for their individualities, have forgotten their individualities in the ecstasy of his existence, and have become completely his. they speak, yet do not speak; hear, yet do not hear; move, yet do not move; sit, yet do not sit. there is no [individual] being in their being, no speech in their speech, no hearing in their hearing. speakers, they are dumb; hearers, they are deaf. they care little for material conditions, and think of the true one [alone]. worldly men are not aware of their whereabouts. physically with men, they are internally with god. they are a boon to the universe--not to themselves, for they _are not_ themselves.... the knowledge that accentuates personality is verily a hindrance. the knowledge that leads to god is alone true knowledge. the learned are confined in the prison of the senses, since they but gather their knowledge through sensuous objects. he that is bound by sense-limitations is barred from supersensuous knowledge. real knowledge wells up from the fountain of life, and the student thereof need not resort to senses and gropings. the iron of human nature must be put into the melting-pot of discipline, hammered on the anvil of asceticism, and then handed over to the polishing agency of the divine love, so that the latter may cleanse it of all material impurities. it then becomes a mirror capable of reflecting the spiritual world, and may fitly be used by the king for the beholding of his own image.--_letter ._ the inner polytheism. the prophet says, "polytheism in my followers is more imperceptible than the motion of an ant on a black stone on a dark night." such a polytheism, though not affecting the [exoteric] faith, injures the essence and fruit of faith. pure gold and an alloy of gold are both gold, but the latter cannot be as precious as the former. true faith consists in monotheism, which is the antithesis of polytheism. real monotheism appears only when the root of polytheism[ ] has been destroyed. in order to secure true faith or monotheism, every impurity that stains it should be cast away. such impurities constitute the inner polytheism. looking to any save god for help or hindrance; hoping or fearing from any save him; hypocrisy, anger and pride, even in their most subtile forms; pleasure and pain at being praised and blamed by others; regarding virtue and vice as means of union with and separation from god--all these come under the _inner_ polytheism. in short, no one can be established in faith unless his character comes up to the standard: "he is wholly from god, by god, and for god." [ ] separateness. again the prophet says: "there is no peace for the faithful except in the presence of god, and death is anything save his presence."--_letter ._ the divine knowledge. divine knowledge is the essence of the faithful soul. one destitute of it does not really exist. the knowledge of the creator follows from the knowledge of created objects, and leads to the safety and permanence of the knower. one way to the divine knowledge is to see the whole universe as subject to the divine will, to sever connection from all, and to realize the unity of god and the eternity of his nature and attributes. another is through one's own nature. "he that knows his own nature, verily knows his god." god first shewed his powers in the universe to enable monotheists to gain knowledge of him by observing it. this way being too long for the sages, he placed in man the essences of the entire creation, thus making human nature the facsimile of the whole universe and the ladder to his knowledge. pilgrims tread the path of divine knowledge _in_ themselves, look for the pure and the foul _in_ themselves, and find the indication and proof of that knowledge _in_ themselves. god engages some men in observation, and they know him by pondering over his creation. he leads others to his knowledge through asceticism. there is another class of men whose hearts he illumines at once. again, some are debarred from the _essence_ of the divine knowledge, others from the path itself. "the divine beauty has thousands of aspects, each atom presenting some peculiar one." =noori= was asked: "what is the proof of god?" he replied: "the proof of god is god himself." they asked him again: "then what is the use of intellect?" he said: "intellect is a failure, it cannot lead save to what is a failure like itself." intellect can only look upon an entity either as _body_, _essence_ or _accident_; or in space and time. it cannot go beyond those limitations. if it fixes any of those limitations on god, it sinks to infidelity. if, bewildered, it exclaims: "i do not find any existence save with these properties. so, god being without any of these properties, is perhaps naught,"--it is still dragged down to infidelity.... in short, divine knowledge depends upon divine illumination alone. divine knowledge is the knowledge of god as he is in his essence, attributes, and works. the sage should know god in the same way as god knows himself, and as he has described himself in the =qurân=. there are two theories as to the _perfection_ of this knowledge. some intellectualists hold that the sage knows god in the same way as god knows himself. if he does not know him perfectly, he knows a part of him. but god is partless. so sages are equal in divine knowledge. intellectualists hold to the possibility of perfect divine knowledge. the other theory is held by the sûfîs and a few intellectualists as well, _viz._, that no one knows god perfectly. they know him to exist, and know it to the extent necessary for their salvation. they do not hold to the possibility of perfect divine knowledge. with the masters of the path, divine knowledge is the actual and direct perception of god: with the intellectualists, it is the sound intellectual knowledge of god. it is incumbent on a pilgrim not to be satisfied and stand still until he reaches the goal. the more he knows, the more he should seek.... the whole world is satisfied with a smell or a word (_i. e._ very little), and no one has received even a drop from the holy cup. "i asked him, 'whose art thou with all this beauty?' he said, 'i am my own, for i am verily one. i am the lover, the beloved, and love; i am the mirror, the image and the beholder'."--_letter ._ love and devotion. this world and the next are intended to be used in seeking god. an objection raised against such a use of the next world is untenable: for prayer and fast, pilgrimage and the holy war, and all the exoteric obligations cease _as such_ in the next world; but devotion--seeking after god--ever endures. if you go to heaven, each day of the heavenly life will open up new vistas of divine knowledge. an endless work is this, may it never end! when god loves a man, he inflicts troubles on him and takes away his wealth, wife and children, so that he may be bound to naught, and estranged from all save him. if he suffers patiently, he receives boons without toil. if he endures cheerfully, he is purified of all evils. again, god's love for a man makes him aware of the defects of his desire-nature, so that he becomes its instructor and censor. the following are the signs of a man's love for god:-- . being given to prayer and seclusion. . according to others, preferring the divine word to human words, the divine presence to the sight of man, the service of god to the service of the world; and not grieving for any loss save separation from him. . according to =junnaid=: not being tired in his service. . according to a certain sage: avoiding sins. * * * * * it is dangerous to assert one's love for god. the word "=mahabbat=" (love) is derived from "=hibba=" (a seed.) the seed is the germ of life, as it is there that lies the real plant. the seed is put into the soil, lies concealed therein, and receives sun and rain, heat and cold, without any [apparent] change. when the time comes, it sprouts, flowers, and fructifies. so, when love takes root in the heart, it bears presence and absence, joy and sorrow, union and separation, with equanimity.... devotion is the perfection of love. worship makes a servant, knowledge makes a knower, abstinence makes an ascetic, sincere seeking makes an earnest aspirant, sacrifice of all the world makes a friend, self-sacrifice makes a lover, losing the perishable and imperishable elements of self in the beloved makes a devotee. it has been said: devotion is born of the light of the presence of the eternal beloved. it is like a flash of lightning, illuminating the eye of the devotee, speaking to his ear, enlivening his movements, and alienating him from all the world--so that his acts are not for self nor for others, but are works of impersonal devotion to the beloved. devotion is beyond words, intellect, and astral perception. "i am devotion, beyond this world and the next; i conquer all without arrow or bow; i shine as the sun in every atom, yet my presence for its very brightness is unperceived; i speak in every tongue, i hear in every ear; yet, strange to say, i am tongueless and earless; as every thing in the universe is verily myself, my like cannot be found therein."--_letters to ._ [the following extract from _fawâed-i-ruknî_ may appropriately find place here.--_trs._] as prayers and fasts are the _outer_ duties, so love and devotion are the _inner_ duties. their ingredients are pain and sorrow. devotion leads the devotee to god. hence devotion is necessary to tread the path. know devotion as life, its absence as death. the privilege of devotion is not granted to every man, nor does every man deserve it. he who deserves it is worthy of his god; he who does not deserve it is unworthy of him. a devotee alone can appreciate the value of devotion. a vast multitude seek after heaven, while very few seek after devotion; for heaven is the lot of the desire-nature, while devotion is the lot of the soul. get rid of the notion of selfhood, and give up thy self to devotion. when thou hast done so, thou hast reached the goal. dost thou know why so many obstacles have been set up on the path?--in order that the devotee may gradually develop strength, and be able to see the beloved without a veil. the boat on the sea [of life] is devotion; the boatman is the divine grace. seeking god. nothing is more binding upon you than to seek god. if you go to market, seek him. if you come home, seek him. if you enter a tavern, seek him. if the angel of death come to you, take care not to neglect the seeking. tell him, "do thou thy work, i do mine." ... if you be taken down to hell, you shall not neglect the seeking. say to the angel of hell, "strike my useless personality with the whip of chastisement: i, on my part, tread the path of seeking"--so that the work may go on. if you are taken up to heaven, do not look to the _houris_ and palaces, but speed on the way of seeking. "tho' they offer me both the worlds, i will not have them without thy presence." the first stage on the path of seeking is _humility_. the great ones say: 'humility is the messenger from god to man.' sown in the heart, it impels to god. practised for some time, it turns into _courage_. masters unanimously hold that love cannot put up save with the courage of the disciple. practised for some time, courage turns into _seeking_. this seeking is led by the divine will to the secrets of [the holy formula], "there is no god except allâh." the drum of seeking proclaims at the gate of the divine sanctuary, "he who seeks god obtains him." a cry resounds: "let neither sky nor earth, heaven nor hell, hinder the path of my seekers, for they seek me, and i am their goal." these are the steps on the ladder of human progress. each pilgrim has his own stage, according to his aspiration. the vigilant seeker should kill out self-conceit and self-respect with asceticism and purification, transcend both the worlds, and be ready to lose his life. it is unlawful for him to aspire after anything in the universe. "one does not unite with the all, unless one parts with all." it is said: when adam was lodged in paradise, the law commanded him not to approach the tree, while the path dictated to him to turn away from all. adam said unto himself. "this paradise is full of wonders, and i am its lord. but my heart longs to visit the abode of sorrow: lordship will not serve my purpose." a voice spoke to his spirit, "adam, wilt thou remove to a foreign country?" "yes," answered adam, "for i have something to do." the voice said, "do this work here." adam: "the other is more important." the voice: "heretofore, paradise and the angels have been thy servants. now thou shalt have to exchange the home of peace for the abode of condemnation, the crown for poverty, reputation for disgrace." adam: "i accept all these, and will proclaim my freedom throughout the universe." so it cannot be said that adam was deprived of paradise, but rather that paradise was deprived of adam.--_letter ._ the way to god. =khwâjâ bâyazîd= was asked, "what is the way to god?" he replied: "when _thou_ hast vanished on the way, _then_ hast thou come to god." mark this: if one attached to the way cannot see god, how can one attached to self see god? when the sun of divine knowledge rises, all modes of knowledge become ignorance; when divine aspiration appears, all desires melt away.... whoever is bound to his exterior--his turban, his robe, the size and colour of his garment--is still attached to the personality and a worshipper thereof. thou canst serve either personality or the law: two contraries cannot unite. so long as you hanker after approbation and dignity, so long as you become angry at an insult, you are with your old genius and self-conceit, and have not been accepted by the law. you should sacrifice yourself in the self. to no purpose do you change your dress and food. if you eat a single blade of grass in a lifetime, remain clad in a single garment for a thousand years, are shut up in a monastery away from the sight of men,--beware, lest you should be deluded. all these are but the subtleties of the desire-nature, its cunning and craft. many pious men are as motionless as a serpent or a scorpion frozen with cold. their piety is not due to rectitude and purity, but to lack of opportunity. when summer comes in and the surroundings change, one may behold what they do.... no one can safely tread the path without a guide.... in the beginning, a disciple is not a fit recipient of the divine light. he is like a bat, unable to bear the light of the sun. as it is dangerous folly to travel in utter darkness, he needs a light less dazzling than the sun, in order to illumine the path for his safety. such a light is that coming from the masters, who, like the moon [reflecting the light of the sun], have become fit reflectors of the spiritual light.--_letter ._ speech and conduct. all learned men base conduct on speech. they have gathered their learning through the avenues of hearing and speaking. the masters of truth have received their knowledge through divine inspiration, which depends on following the law. with them, knowledge does not depend upon words or speech. it has no connection with the tongue. knowledge is that which makes a man follow the law. secular learning deals with words. knowledge deals with truth, and is not to be found save in the region of the real. the province of the tongue is letters, and they are limited. knowledge comes from the heart, and the heart does not perish. god has not given knowledge to all, whereas he has not withheld speech from any. knowledge is that which controls desire and leads to god. that which contributes to the gratification of desire and leads to the courts of chiefs and oppressors is not knowledge, but a snare. knowledge makes one humble and frees from ostentation and disputes.... the end of all learning is the beginning of discipleship. the _first_ robe worn by a disciple consists in coming out of the self. the _second_ robe consists in setting no value on what he heretofore took as divine, so that the flame of discipleship burns all things in him. then, he begins to see lights and utter charming words, leading to self-conceit and the admiration of others. this is a snare of the desire-nature, and stops his progress. here comes in the necessity of a teacher to help him cross this stage and bring him from stagnation to motion. thus _light is a thicker veil than darkness_. hence is it that the wise are dumb and blind, unaffected by the opinion of the people. hence is it, again, that the difficulties of a disciple cannot be solved by a learned man, as the latter is but versed in religion, while the difficulties of the former are connected with the path. it is useless for a disciple to follow the learned, as the dicta of the latter are concerned with _outer_ conduct, while he has to deal with the _inner_ life. the one is preparing for the destruction of self; the other seeks salvation for the self through knowledge. the business of the learned is to gather up what has been left by others, and store in his bosom the knowledge of the past. the business of the disciple is to throw away and renounce what he has, and to unlearn what he has learned. so they are opposites and cannot be reconciled in any way.--_letter ._ magnanimity. a disciple lacking in magnanimity makes no progress at all. one whose aspiration does not go beyond heaven, is not fit for this battle. the wise hold that the desire to have everything in the world according to one's own wishes, befits a woman, not a _man_.... in short, a magnanimous disciple should first of all tread upon his own life, and try his sword on his own desire-nature, not on an infidel. for the infidel can only hurt the body, and plunder earthly possessions; whereas the desire-nature injures the very root of religion and destroys faith.... be on the alert, and take no step without due caution, for time is a penalty to the heedless. it is said:--when a man wishes to enter the path, the chief of the evil ones, satan, seizes his skirt and says: "i bear the cross of curse for this work, that no unclean fellow may enter the path. if any dare come in without the robe of monotheism and sincere earnestness, i lop off his feet." ... "should thy inner eyes unfold, every atom would tell thee a hundred secrets. then wouldst thou see each atom ever advancing. all are absorbed in the march--_thou_ art blind--and the march goes on _in thee_ as well. there is no limit to the progress of love. such _has been_, there is no help." from highest heaven to lowest abyss, all things are seeking and striving. it is the wicked man alone who has made peace with the enemy, and cut himself off from the beloved.--_letter ._ knowledge. knowledge is to purification and asceticism what ablution is to prayer. no practice is possible without knowledge, as no prayer is possible without ablution.... knowledge is of two kinds: that received from teachers and books, and that unfolded in the soul. again the latter kind is twofold: ( ) the knowledge transmitted from the divine sanctuary into:-- (_a_) the soul of a prophet. such knowledge is called =wahî=.[ ] (_b_) the soul of a master. such knowledge is =ilbâm= (inspiration). ( ) the knowledge transmitted into:-- (_a_) the soul of a master from a prophet. (_b_) the soul of a disciple from a master. [ ] a revelation received from god through an angel (mostly gabriel).--_trs._ as a master sees god in the soul of a prophet, so a disciple sees god in the soul of a master. "so long as the tablet of thy heart bears the impression of letters, thou dost not know any of the secret meanings. when the letters completely vanish from the tablet of thy heart, then comes the knowledge of the secret meanings." knowledge is the key to all virtues, as ignorance is the key to all vices. knowledge ushers in liberation, ignorance brings in destruction. the celestial ranks and abnormal sacred powers spring from knowledge; chastisements in the various grades of hell result from ignorance. so the faithful should shun ignorance and the ignorant in the same way as vice and infidelity. "a wise man is my friend, and a fool is my foe." as ignorance and the ignorant are to be avoided, so is it obligatory to seek knowledge and the company of the wise--not worldly knowledge, but the moral; not the worldly wise but the morally wise. "if you acquire knowledge thoughtlessly, you will use it as a means of gaining worldly position. true knowledge is that which leads to the divine sanctuary, not that which leads to wealth, rank and passional gratifications." the company of a sage for a day is more conducive to progress than purification and asceticism.--_letter ._ [the following note may be added from "_the series of letters_."--_trs._] real knowledge comes from the soul, and a true knower is he in whom lies the original and final knowledge. the purer the soul, the deeper and more subtile its comprehensions.--_loc. cit., letter _. the steps of a disciple. the first step is religion (=sharîat=). when the disciple has _fully_ paid the demand of religion, and aspires to go beyond, the path (=tarîqat=) appears before him. it is the way to the heart. when he has fully observed the conditions of the path, and aspires to soar higher, the veils of the heart are rent, and truth (=haqîqat=) shines therein. it is the way to the soul, and the goal of the seeker. broadly speaking, there are four stages: =nâsût=, =malakût=, =jabarût= and =lâhût=, each leading to the next. =nâsût= is the animal nature, and functions through the five senses--_e. g._, eating, contacting, seeing, hearing and the like. when the disciple controls the senses to the limit of bare necessity, and transcends the animal nature by purification and asceticism, he reaches =malakût=--the region of the angels. the duties of this stage are prayers to god. when he is not proud of these, he transcends this stage and reaches =jabarût=--the region of the soul. no one knows the soul but with the divine help; and truth, which is its mansion, baffles description and allusion. the duties of this stage are love, earnestness, joy, seeking, extasy and insensibility. when the pilgrim transcends these by forgetting self altogether, he reaches =lâhût=, the unconditioned state. here words fail. religion is for the desire-nature; the path, for the heart; truth for the soul. religion leads the desire-nature from =nâsût= to =malakût=, and transmutes it into heart. the path leads the heart from =malakût= to =jabarût=, and transmutes it into soul. truth leads the soul from =jabarût= to the divine sanctuary. the real work is to transmute the desire-nature into heart, the heart into soul, and to unify the three into one. "the lover, the beloved and love are essentially one." this is absolute monotheism.... "the motive of the faithful is superior to their acts." acts by themselves are of no value: the importance lies in the heart. it is said that the traveller on the divine path has three states: ( ) action.[ ] ( ) knowledge. ( ) love. these three states are not experienced unless god wills it so. but one should work and wait. he will do verily what he has willed. he looks neither to the destruction nor to the salvation of any one. [ ] _lit._, walking or moving. one who wishes to arrive at the truth _must_ serve a teacher. no one can transcend the bondage and darkness of desires unless he, with the help of the divine grace, comes under the protection of a perfect and experienced teacher. as the teacher _knows_, he will teach the disciple according to his capacity, and will prescribe remedies suited to his ailments, so that "there is no god except =allâh=" be firmly established in his nature, and the ingress of the evil spirits be cut off from his heart. all the world seeks to tread the divine path. but each knows according to his _inner_ purity, each seeks and aspires according to his knowledge, and each treads the path according to his seeking and aspiration.--_letters & ._ [the following extracts from "_a series of letters_" may throw further light on the subject. the =sûfî mulk= (or =nâsût=,) =malakût=, =jabarût= and =lâhût= severally correspond to, if they are not identical with, the physical, astro-mental, causal and spiritual planes of modern theosophical literature.--_trs._] it is not permitted to give out the knowledge gained through [supersensuous] vision. this much only can be recorded:-- the objects of the senses constitute this world (=mulk=); those cognised by intellect constitute the plane of =malakût=; the potentialities of all beings constitute the plane of =jabarût=; ... in other words, this world is visible, the =malakût= is supersensuous, the =jabarût= is super-supersensuous.... the subtlety of this world cannot bear comparison with that of =malakût=, the subtlety of =malakût= with that of =jabarût=, nor the subtlety of =jabarût= with that of the holy essence divine. there is not an atom of this world but is permeated by =malakût=; not an atom of =malakût= but is permeated by =jabarût=; not an atom of this world, =malakût= and =jabarût= but is permeated by god, and conscious of him. being the most subtile, he must permeate all--for the greater the subtlety, the greater the quality of permeation. now you may understand the meaning of the verse: "god is with thee wherever thou art, and in thy very being, though thou mayest not see him; nearer is he to thee than the nerve of thy neck." hence is it said that this world, =malakût=, =jabarût= and god himself are all with thee, and that the true man is the focus and mirror of all the mysteries of the divine essence. it is not permitted to go further lest exotericism may censure. "utter not secrets before the mob if thou art a true devotee hast thou not seen that =mansûr=, intoxicated with devotion, uttered a secret and was put to death?"--_loc. cit., letter _. islÂm. =islâm= is other than the lower nature. so long as the lower impulses do not yield to purity, the heart has no affinity with islâm. the investigators of truth give to the bundle of the impulses the name of 'the desire-nature'. the outer body with its limbs and joints is not dangerous, but is simply a horse to carry the directions of the law. god says: 'he sent us a horse from his mighty palace. let us ride on it and come to the path'. so long as it carries his directions we should not vex it. if it attempts to transgress the law, let us punish it with the whip of asceticism, so that it may come back to the path. this is the discipline of the body. but if a man pricks his limb with a pin, saying that he thereby subdues the desire-nature, he is a sinner. many ignorant fellows labour under a delusion and foolishly take self-torture as an important discipline. by no means transgress the limit of the law and common-sense. the body is a valuable horse, and fit to carry the divine charges. it is the desire-nature, and not the body, which deserves rooting out and chastisement. the world is arrayed into two parties, the party of god and the party of satan. look well and see to which _you_ belong.... a knower has said, "no one comes to worship god, unless promised the bribe of heaven and threatened with the torture of hell." this indicates an indifference to monotheism. it is said: on an =Îd= day[ ] =shiblî= the saint was seen mourning and clad in black. he was told: "this is the =Îd= day. why are you so clad?" he replied: "i see all men rejoicing and clad in new suits, but _not one_ of them is aware of god. i mourn this day over their heedlessness." o brother, thou hast become inured to heedlessness, hast barred the gate of divine knowledge and art content with the gratification of desires. rest assured, so long as thou dost not put off thy desires, thou canst not put on the robe of faith; so long as thou dost not look upon the desire-nature as thy foe, faith cannot come to thee as thy friend; so long as thou dost not cease thy connection with satan, thou canst not see the beauty of "there is no god save =allâh="; so long as thou dost not turn from the world, thou canst not approach the path of purity. [ ] the muhammadan festival day at the end of the ramzân fast.--_trs._ since the lord is thy origin, thou hast not come; since the lord is thy goal, thou wilt not go. "there is no god save =allâh=." nothing can be separated from the infinite, and attached to non-god. since the origin is from him, the end is verily in him. separation and union, coming and going, are thus unreal. this is a long story. discreet silence is here absolutely necessary.--_letter ._ the noble qualities noble qualities were in the beginning of creation given to adam, who left them as a legacy to other prophets. mohammad, the head of the prophets, received them in his turn. similarly, evil qualities were allotted to satan who handed them down to his followers--the proud and the disobedient.... since the noble qualities are the precious legacy of adam to mohammad, no garment or decoration is better for the faithful than that of the noble qualities. they are based upon harmony with the divine will and the prophet's life. one should curb one's temper, lest it should embitter the life of others. one should ever be cheerful, and of controlled tongue. one should always salute others. one should be charitable, and abstain from slander, abusive words and untruthfulness. one should adapt one's words and deeds (_e. g._ eating and sleeping) to the scriptural injunctions. one should ever be magnanimous and free from the taints of miserliness, hatred, greed and suspicion. one should do one's best to practise at all times the virtues possessed by the prophet, and flee from vices. the prophet has said: "seek him who flees from thee; forgive him who injures thee; give to him who does not give to thee." the prophet always concealed the defects of the faithful, and bore injuries and reproaches to propagate religion. he was never angry for himself. he did not tolerate flattery, neglect, or silence in the service of truth. he helped the friends when they were disabled. he worked for a servant in the family, when the latter was ill. he accepted the invitations and presents of others. he never found fault with any unprohibited food. he used any garment allowed by the law--sometimes a blanket, sometimes a silk wrapper, sometimes a worn out cotton garment. he rode sometimes on a horse, sometimes on a camel, sometimes on an ass. sometimes he walked on foot, without shoes, wrapper, turban or cap. he slept on a mat without bedding.... he had no miraculous power: his virtues were sufficient guarantee of his godliness. many an unbeliever, just as he saw him, would exclaim, "this is not the face of a hypocrite," and swear allegiance to =islâm= without asking for miracle or argument.... the noble qualities are based on knowledge and insight. he who is fettered by self-conceit cannot be expected to purify his nature. hence the pilgrim should use insight to acquire the virtues of the prophet. he should guard the virtues he has been endowed with, and acquire those he is lacking in by self-exertion (_i. e._ asceticism, service, and the company of the saints). most of the virtues can be acquired, and we have been ordered [by the scriptures] to strive therefor to the limit of our powers. man is a mirror who, when trained, perfected, and cleansed of impurities shows within him all the divine attributes of construction and disintegration. then he realises his divinity and the purpose of his life. a sage refers to this very fact in these lines: "it is thou who art the divine scripture; it is thou who art the mirror of the royal beauty. beyond thee there is naught in the universe: seek thy object within thyself, for thou art that."--_letter ._ contemplation. the prophet has restricted the use of contemplation to the works of god, not to his nature and attributes. thinking on god may soon end in unbelief. in order that thought may work, its object must be limited, and the divine nature and attributes are unlimited. hence a student should contemplate on the objects of creation, noticing their [relative] permanence and impermanence, and realising the position and changes of each in its phenomenal aspect. he will thus be led to the knowledge of the creator. hence the seeker should [while not neglecting outward activities, holy recitations and other duties] contemplate from time to time on creation--seeing the wisdom of the creator therein--, on his desires, on the heart and the body; he should enquire into his stages from the beginning of creation to its end, and study his own character. his contemplation should be in conformity with religion, based upon knowledge and experience, and irrespective of considerations of gain and loss, so that he may develop insight. right contemplation achieves in a short time the results of long practice and worship. the prophet has said, "contemplation for an hour is better than [formal] worship for sixty years." as the range of the _outer_ vision differs with different men, so is it the case with _insight_, or the _inner_ vision. some see as far as heaven, some as far as the divine throne. a few have the _perfect_ insight which pierces through all creation to the creator. the end of contemplation is the advancement of knowledge and the acquisition of wisdom. when the heart develops knowledge and wisdom, there is a change in its condition. with that change, there comes a change in conduct as well, and the man _turns_. with the _turning_, he begins to tread the path. treading attracts him to god. _then_ a current of divine attraction may carry him to a stage inaccessible to men and genii by exertion and asceticism.... if thou longest and dost not succeed, be not dejected; for, as the great lord has said, "asking is for men, acceptance for god."--_letter ._ renunciation. the _first_ duty incumbent upon a seeker is the practice of =tajrîd= and =tafrîd=. the one is to quit present possessions; the other, to cease to care for the morrow. the _second_ duty is seclusion, outer and inner. outer seclusion consists in flying from the world and turning thy face to the wall, in order that thou mayest give up thy life on the divine threshold; inner seclusion consists in cleansing the heart of all thoughts connected with the non-god, whether the non-god be earth or heaven. the _third_ duty is at-onement in speech and thought, which consists in ceasing to speak and think of the non-god. the _fourth_ duty is the practice of moderation in speech, food and sleep, since this triad supports the desire-nature. too much speaking is a bar to holy recitations; too much sleep interferes with meditation; too much food brings on inertia and checks the performance of duties. purity of body as well as of mind is necessary at all times--purity of body _alone_ is not sufficient--in order that the divine attraction may uplift thee to a stage unattainable by _all_ the efforts and ascetic practices of _all_ genii and men put together. very easy to speak of this, but very hard the practice--since this practice does not lie with the bodily organs or elements, but with the heart and the soul which are beyond our control. the gate to the path is knowledge and wisdom. he who avoids this gate has to plod on his way through an endless forest infested by demons, and ends by losing his life and faith.... eternal life is the life in spirit without a body. it is attained by love, not by obedience. servants wait for an order and seek remedies for their ailments; lovers are impelled by love and invite ailments without asking for a remedy. the beloved ever cries, "stay at a distance lest thou shouldst perish." the lover answers, "i am prepared from the very beginning to give up my life. death is better than a life without thee." the life of the body has no value on the path. whoso cares for the one has no business with the other. love says to thee: "give up a life which must turn into dust, and i shall instal thee on the throne of glorious at-onement. now the choice is thine." although there is no heart _without_ love, yet the priceless treasure of divine love does not fall to the lot of greedy and mean fellows, who are content with prayers and fasts, and have but given up their earthly claims for higher honours. be cheerful and hopeful, for the door of compassion is open. god has created doubt interfering with conviction, the lower nature veiling the face of truth, duality warring with monotheism, the alloy claiming the place of the genuine coin, a thousand foes arrayed against each friend, a temple of idols facing every mosque, a suffering balancing each blessing. "he does all this; but man, awe-stricken, cannot breathe a sigh: for his face is like a mirror, and a mirror is clouded by breathing."--_letter ._ on the same. =tajrîd= and =tafrîd= are indispensable for a disciple. the one is the renunciation of the world and of outer concerns; the other is the renunciation of self. no impurity in his heart, no burden on his back, no market in his bosom;--not reckoned with any class of people, not concerned with any particular object, his aspirations soaring above earth, heaven and the divine throne,--such a disciple rests in his beloved. the beloved away, all the worlds cannot please; their absence leaves no void when he is there. as said by a noble soul, "no grief in the company of god; no joy in the company of the non-god." one away from god is at the very centre of sorrow and suffering, albeit he may hold the key of all the treasures of the earth. one attached to god, however poor, is king of heaven and earth. =khwâjâ sirrî saqtî= was wont to pray: "o god! punish me, if such be thy will, any way save by veiling thyself." this is the only real hell.... as observed by some one, "with thee, the heart is a mosque; without thee, 'tis but a shrine of idols. with thee, the heart is a heaven; the heart without thee is a hell." in short, when the disciple realises the greatness of god, feels the pangs of his seeking, knows that "who gains him gains all, who loses him loses all," and finds that he can dispense with all save him,--he then overcomes his old habits and unfolds the vision, "i am from god and for god." life and death, acceptance and rejection, praise and blame, are thenceforth equal in his eyes. heaven and earth find no place in his heart. he bows to none for food, clothes or money. his goal being the divine sanctuary, he longs for naught save god.--_letter ._ the clearing of the path. the path should be cleared of all impurities inherent in the lower self.... the great ones have declared: "he that takes a step in obedience to his desire-nature loves it better than god. he cannot be a believer: how can he be a saint?" nothing but constant _turning_ (=taubâh=) can guard the path against the onslaughts of the desire-nature. as the ordinary soul should turn from sensuality, cruelty and avarice, so should the developed soul turn from purity, worship and meditation. the sages have said: "thou must acquire all virtues, such as truth, purity and worship. when acquired, thou must scatter them in the air of supreme indifference. were all prophets, saints and angels to sing the hymn of his unity, their final chorus would end thus: 'we turn to god from all we have said.[ ]'" [ ] or "we retract with repentance what we have said."--_trs._ art thou endowed with the purity of all the saints, plume thyself not over it; art thou distressed with a thousand shocks, seek not refuge in flight. he that does not burn himself here in the fire of =taubâh= certainly deserves the doom of hell-fire. so burn thou to-day in the fire of =taubâh= whatever thou knowest of thyself, be it merit or defect. if to-day thou dost not cast aside the thorns from thy path, they will hereafter turn into arrows and pierce thy heart.--_letter ._ self-control. the self-controlled is one who has freed himself from the bondage of self. the seven hells and the eight heavens are too narrow to hold him--only the vast expanse of god is wide enough to receive him. if the joy of heaven and the torture of hell ceased to be, there would be no loss to the spiritual aspect of god. "what a vastness! if the worlds were not, it would not be less by a hair's breadth. the kingdom of its glory is truly without beginning or end." freedom from self leads to freedom from all. so long as thou art bound to any of the lower qualities, thou art its slave.... the path is a jealous master and will not put up with any partner. so long as thou art a friend to self, thou art a stranger to god. be then estranged from self that thou mayest unite with him. the dead wall of self cannot be pulled down save with the help of a perfect teacher. self-control will not allow thee to look down upon any creature, _e. g._ to tread upon even the lowliest ant in thy way. wert thou able to raise the veil of ignorance from thine eyes, then wouldst thou see each and every being seeking and adoring god. the prophet prayed, "show me things as they are." his senior disciple ever prayed: "o god, show me truth and untruth, and help me to follow the one and avoid the other." so it is said: "when god seeks the welfare of a man, he shows his defects to him," that he may change from a temple of idols into a mosque. * * * * * rest assured that thou hast nothing but good to expect, once self has been stripped off from thee. so long as thy self lies before thee, thou canst but swell in self-respect. a satan in very truth is he that respects self, whether in the guise of angel or of man, whether on earth, in heaven or in hell. self-respect consists in not transcending self. "endless as the veils are, none is thicker than self-conceit. know its destruction as thy foremost duty."--_letter ._ truth. =khwâjâ zunnoon= of egypt says: "truth is the sword of god on earth. it may not be laid on anything without cutting it." truth consists in looking to the actor, and not to his instruments. true faith consists in ceasing to desire anything save truth.... once upon a time =zunnoon=, while returning from jerusalem, saw a figure loom in the distance, and desired to question it. on drawing near, it was found to be an old woman clad in wool, with a stick in her hand. =zunnoon= said, "whence comest thou?" the dame replied, "from god." =zunnoon= again enquired, "whither dost thou go?" the old woman rejoined, "to god." =zunnoon= then offered her a gold coin. she refused the gift, saying, "what an illusion has overcome thee? i work for god and do not receive anything save what comes from him. as i worship him and him alone, i cannot receive what is not himself and comes from other than himself." having spoken thus, she vanished. such is to be the ideal of the aspirant. working for god alone is the test of true devotion. some think they work for him, but they work for themselves. they have conquered the desires of this world, but they seek for fruits in a higher world. a few work irrespective of all consideration of internal suffering or celestial joy, in pure love to carry out the divine will. "the earth is a place of suffering, heaven is a place of joy. we shall not receive the fruits of either, even to the measure of a barleycorn." it has been said. the virtuous often prove more selfish in their virtue than the sinners in their sin. the gratification of the latter is but transitory, the joy of the former is permanent. god does not gain by the self-denial of men, nor does he lose by their sensual gratifications.... it is an old adage, that the mere description of a savoury dish only intensifies the misery of hunger. take an onward step if you can: lose your head and give up your life. as god is essentially one, a true believer must be a monotheist. look for the proof of this in the holy _logion_, one half of which, "there is no god," separates [the believer from the non-god], while the other half, "save =allâh=," unites [him with god]. one unites with god in proportion to one's renunciation of the non-god. he who claims to have faith should look at his own heart. if his heart flies from the non-god, his claim is genuine. if it longs for anything save god, and shrinks from the means of divine union, let him weep over his faith. either he has already lost it, or is about to do so. a certain great one has said: "all men claim to love, but if the claim is carefully scrutinised, 'loving' turns out to mean 'being loved.'" true love consists in the complete renunciation of all desires. if one looks for the gratification of a desire, one plays the part of the beloved, not of the lover.--_letter ._ the descent from adam. the pilgrim justifies his descent from adam when he enters the heart. now he has finished the turning, and begins his pilgrimage. by the virtue of his complete turning, anything coming in contact with him undergoes a change. this is the power of transmutation. this explains the phenomena of transmutation wrought by many derveshes (_e. g._ the change of wine into an innocuous beverage). such a pilgrim may lawfully lay his hand on the imperial treasury, and use the wealth of kings. (religious injunctions vary with circumstances. it is reported in the traditions that a young man came to the prophet and asked if he could lawfully take a certain oil in the fast month of ramzân. he said, "no." next followed an old man who put the same question. he said, "yes." the companions of the prophet were confused, and asked, "how is it, o messenger of god, that you allowed in the one case what you prohibited in the other." he replied: "the one was a young man, and i was afraid of the fire of his youth; the other was an old man, and i did not apprehend any danger for him.") but those who take to the _outer_ conduct without having reached the _inner_ stage, court their own ruin. such a stage must have the sanction of divine authority. a time comes to the master of the heart, when all his limbs become [as sacred as] the heart. no part of his body, _e. g._, a nail or a hair, should be cast aside, as it partakes of the sanctity of the heart. the broken hairs of the prophet were divided by his companions as a precious gift amongst themselves.... hence arose the practice of sharing among disciples the pieces of the teacher's worn-out mantle. the practice is a mere sham if the teacher is not a master. he who has completed the turning and reached the heart, is a master. only such a one is entitled to the honour of a leader,--not one who is below this stage. _question_:--how to distinguish the real master from a mere pretender? _answer_:--the _true_ seeker has an _inner_ eye enabling him to recognise a real master. he would not be attracted to a pretender. dost thou not behold that if different kinds of animals flock together, and different kinds of food be placed before them, each will fall to on his own appropriate food and turn away from what is meant for others?... the true seeker also is known as _such_, as his inner eye opens to the vision of the master, and he receives the nourishment suited to his aspiration. the master begins to work on him. he is [as one] dead, and the master gives him a wash[ ], purifying him of all undesirable elements. this purification completes the turning. then he begins his journey on the divine path--which is called the pilgrimage. [ ] this refers to the practice of washing the dead body before burial or cremation.--_trs._ this is not devotion as ordinarily understood (_i. e._ prayer, fast, almsgiving, etc.). allegiance to a master is in itself devotion; progress on the path is its fruit. a brief prayer, a day's fast, or a simple charity, performed or given in obedience to a master's direction, are more beneficial than long protracted prayers, or splendid gifts, performed or given in response to the call of the desire-nature. as a qualification for the path, seek to get rid of old habits. but it is not possible to get rid of old habits and purify the dross without the service of a master, since he alone can, by his knowledge, gradually drive out the host of the evil elements, and help one towards the realisation of "there is no god save =allâh=." continue thy seeking till _the_ seeking unveils itself, and destroys thy self in thee. henceforth the disciple has nothing to do: the seeking will itself lead him on. so long as thou seekest any but the beloved, no seeker art thou. how then canst thou be wholly his? by wholly turning to him. he can afford to have thousands of friends, for he can reach all alike. the sun is with all--east and west, hindu and turk--for his range is unlimited. but _thou_ art limited in capacity, and canst not feel the warmth of his rays unless thou wholly expose thyself to him. all the worlds are benefited by him, yet he does not lose in the least. * * * * * here one should guard against a possible misunderstanding. to love a thing as a _means_ does not interfere with the love for the _end_ or the _final_ object. our foes even ought to be loved as connected with the lord. this is not a division of love, but its perfection. love is a peculiar state: friendship with foes is possible only here. =abul abbâs=--peace be on him--said to a party marching to war against the unbelievers, "would i might lick the dust of the feet of the unbelievers whom ye would kill for his sake." the care of a scholar for pen and paper cannot be said to divert his attention from learning. the _real_ object of love ought to be only one (_i. e._ god), but loving others as subservient to the final object (_i. e._ divine love) is by no means harmful. if a man loves god, he must love the prophets and the masters--nay, if he ponders well, he must love _all_ as connected with him. all the universe is his work and is certainly himself. "duality does not approach thy sanctuary: the whole world is thyself and thy energy. the universe is the shadow of thy presence; all is the result of thy mighty workmanship." but if it be the divine will to put an end to a certain work of his, using thee as instrument, thou as a devotee must destroy it, and none should accuse thee of lack of respect for his work. this is a very high stage. if =mohammad= and his blessed companions killed the unbelievers, they did so in obedience to the divine will. the lover has not to seek his own pleasure.--_letter ._ confidence. the =sûfî= trusts in god. =khwâjâ yahiâ= observes: "he who does not trust god cannot receive divine illumination." _explanation_: god deals with a man according to his expectations. one who suspects him cannot receive any light. again, it is a friend who is trusted, and it is a foe who is suspected. suspicion invites hostility; confidence, love. there is a distinction, however, between mere groundless hope and reasonable expectation. one who endeavours to obey the divine commands may reasonably expect the divine grace; but it is a vain hope for one guilty of commissions and omissions to expect exemption from hell and enjoyment of heaven.... so it is wise to check the accounts of the desire-nature, and prepare for death; and it is foolish to follow the desire-nature and hope for the remission of sins.--_letter ._ pursuit and renunciation. =sûfîs= differ as to whether they should follow or renounce worldly pursuits. complete renunciation is only permitted at a very high stage, _i. e._ that of absolute unity and perfect trust in god. working for a livelihood began with adam. he cultivated lands and taught cultivation to his children. the prophet =shoaib= was a merchant and possessed cattle. =moses= served as his shepherd. if work interfered with the principle of trust in god, the prophets would not have worked for a livelihood. =mohammad= warned his friends against the abuse of the principle of trust, and ever kept in store a year's provision for his children. work is a duty for him who has to support another; but he should work so as not to be cut off from god. each should look to his circumstances and inner attitude, in order to decide whether he should resort to work or cease from work. if ceasing separates him from god, work should be resorted to; if ceasing leads him to god, work should be left aside. work is as lawful as prayer and fast. the more you pray, the more you fast, the better; but to look for your salvation therefrom is dualism. you should adore for the glorification of god and the strengthening of your love, but you should rely on his grace for your salvation. similarly, work is better than renunciation; but it is not the work, but rather the divine grace, which is to be looked up to as providence. a dervesh should avoid begging as far as possible, as it is dangerous in many respects. he, however, may beg (a) to gratify his hunger.... (b) to pull down his personality, ... (c) knowing the world as the divine steward. it is more in keeping with the ceremonious glorification of the lord to ask of his steward than of himself.--_letter ._ the company of the saints. holy company is an important discipline for the pupil. it is very effective in conquering nature and habit. hence is it laid down by the holy saints as binding upon a disciple. the rationale of it is this. the desire-nature consists of certain ingrained tendencies, and is affected by the tendencies of one's associates. the prophet says: "men follow the religion of their friends, so they should always be careful of their company." ... it is said that a man, while going round =kâbâ=, prayed: "lord, make my brothers virtuous." others asked him, "why dost thou pray for thy brothers at this sacred spot, and not for thyself?" he replied: "i have brothers who, when i return to them, will elevate me by their virtues if they are virtuous, and degrade me by their vices if they are vicious. as my righteousness rests on theirs, i pray for them, that they may help me in reaching the goal." =malik= (peace on him!) says: "do not associate with a brother or a friend, unless you would thereby advance the cause of religion. to associate with any other object is absolutely forbidden." _explanation_: if you associate with a superior, he will benefit you by his presence; if you associate with an inferior, you should benefit him by teaching him religion and morality, and yourself too by learning something useful he may know. company is to be sought for the sake of the lord, not for selfish gratification. nothing is more dangerous for a beginner than loneliness. a story runs thus. there was a disciple of master =junnaid= who fancied he had made great progress and could not be harmed by isolation. so he took to seclusion. nightly, a procession appeared before him with a horse for him to ride, and he was requested to ride up to heaven,--a delightful place with sweet dishes, running brooks and fair company--where he enjoyed himself till morn, and slept. on awakening, he would find himself at the door of his hermitage. he turned proud and boastful. on hearing the report, the master came to him, asked him and was told what had happened, and advised him to repeat three times when he went to the pleasure-haunt: "there is nothing to be relied upon save god, and there is no power except his." he refused to act up to the advice for a few nights more. at last he wished to test the efficiency of the master's lesson and repeated the sentence as advised. the whole procession fell into confusion and scattered, and he found himself in a cemetery with the bones of the dead around him. then he came to realise his guilt, repented, and returned to the company of his fellow-disciples. * * * * * the rule of society is to behave with each according to his position in life. _with reference to elders_, to serve them; not to speak before them save when necessary, and then only with their permission, and after they have finished if they are speaking; not to sit on an elevated seat in their presence. _with reference to equals_, to live in harmony, and to share one's wealth with them (not as a loan, but as a free gift). _with reference to the young_, to treat them with love and kindness. _general_: elders to be treated as one's own parents, equals as one's own brothers, the younger ones as one's own children. none to be asked for anything, but each to be helped. life to be rendered agreeable to all. not to oppose others except at the call of religious duty. to associate with those strong in religion, integrity and moderation. not to mix with those opposed in religion and temperament. to avoid the company of a youth. (the desire in the young for the company of their elders aids the development of their intelligence and knowledge. the desire in elders for the company of youths leads to sin and folly).... =sûfîs=, when conversing with one another, never say, "this is mine," "that is thine;" "i wish it were so," "i wish it were not so." it is the verdict of the masters of knowledge that god does not approve of the use of words denoting i-ness. if thou wouldst know the unknown, taste the nectar of grace and transcend the seven heavens, then close the five senses, and pass from the perishable to the imperishable. they asked master =shiblî=, "who is a knower, and how is he to be distinguished?" he said, "he is deaf, dumb and blind." they replied, "these are the marks of an unbeliever." he rejoined: "the unbeliever is deaf to the voice of truth, dumb for the utterance of truth, and blind to the vision of truth; whereas the knower is deaf, dumb and blind to all save truth."--_letter ._ service. service is an essential duty for the disciple. its gains are superior to those of worship. it kills the desire-nature; it breeds humility and good manners; it destroys pride, impurity and inertia, quickens the soul and illumines the inner and the outer man. they asked a great one, "how many ways are there to god?" he said: "there are as many ways as there are atoms in the universe. but the best and the shortest is service. i have reached the goal by treading this path, and recommend it to my disciples." ... _rules of service_: to put aside one's own desires, to render oneself agreeable to others, ... and to regard one's powers and possessions as intended for the use of others.... as the wealthy are to serve with their wealth and the learned with their knowledge--so the disciple is to use _all_ his activities for the service of others.... all great ones began with service, which gradually lifted them to the rank of masters.--_letter ._ [the following notes gleaned from other works of the author are added as bearing on the subject.--_trs._] the outer conduct of an occultist should be in accordance with the mental capacity of the people surrounding him. he should speak what concerns them only, and not of his own relations with god. master =yahiâ= observes: "when with others, i say 'my lord'; when alone, i say 'my beloved'; when united, i say 'i'." obey the law, whatever your stage or position. such is the approved mode of conduct, as recommended by the masters of wisdom.--_the series of letters,--letter ._ a certain great one was told that the chief of a certain town spent the whole night in prayers. he replied that the poor fellow had missed the way and undertaken the work of others. on being questioned again, he added that that man's path of duty lay in feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, comforting the distressed, and fulfilling the wants of the needy; and that keeping up all night in prayer was the duty of a recluse. each man ought to work according to his position in life.--_fawâed-i-ruknî._ the transmutation of evil qualities. the purification of character by the transmutation of evil qualities into virtues is to be ever striven for as an essential duty. if neglected, it must breed dangers and difficulties. man has all the qualities found in the animals. his resurrection will be determined by his predominant quality, not by his outer body on earth--_i. e._, he will turn into the form of the corresponding animal. for instance, the predominance of anger, lust, pride or flattery in earthly life, produces severally the forms of the dog, the hog, the lion and the fox, on the day of resurrection. similarly of other qualities.... many men will be seen in bestial form on the day of resurrection, and many beasts in human form. the dog of the cave-recluses[ ] will rise in the form of man, owing to his human qualities. mount =ahud= will have a rock drawn out of it, and will stand in the rank of the pure ones in human form.... those endowed with the inner eye know that all beings, even the mineral, pray. "every particle of dust in the air is full of the light of divine love. all atoms in the universe are centres--active or potential--of divine love." [ ] the reference is to the seven sages who, with a dog, retired to a cave to avoid the persecution of a tyrant, awoke after a sleep of years, and slept again to awake on the day of resurrection.--_trs._ such a difficult task lies in front, and none take to it save the wise. so thou shouldst not be heedless, but slowly and steadily discipline thyself so as to overcome a part of thy animal nature--it is indeed a mighty achievement to overcome it in its entirety. he who wishes to know the nature of his resurrection should see what is the predominating quality in his life: his resurrection will be determined by this quality. it is not difficult to know thus much. similarly, if a man wishes to know whether god is pleased or displeased with him, he should look at his life. a life wholly devoted to righteousness must please god: righteousness is the indication of his pleasure. a life wholly given to vice must displease god: vice is the indication of his displeasure. a life partly righteous and partly vicious is to be valued according to the predominating element in it. if the earthly life is not turned to account, there shall be no progress on the other side. if a man who has not transmuted [on earth] the evil qualities in his nature, is taken to heaven at his death, and all celestial boons are bestowed upon him, those qualities will not change. he will have only the houris, the palaces, the roast cocks and the stream of running water, but will be too weak to realise the real object--the goal of the _inner_ man, and the ideal of all the disciples and of the master. how insignificant are all other gains where that is lost! how immaterial is any loss, where that is gained! frequent ablutions and baths remove sloth and drowsiness. the divine vision on resurrection day depends on the divine grace, not on merit. no eye deserves his vision, no ear his voice, no intellect his knowledge, no feet his path.... self-reproach is necessary for a seeker.--_letter ._ avarice. to work for show, and desire the rank of a saint, is not the mark of piety. thy deeds are all tainted with desire. purity consists in the spirit of service, not in avarice. the one is not compatible with the other. but we want bribes to serve the lord. o brother, cast off avarice. god does not owe anything to any one, and his gifts on earth or after death are gratuitous. do all your works for his service, not in the hope of gaining heaven or shunning hell.... he who aspires to work in his service should be careful of the purity of his motives, which is a function of the heart. an act without pure motive cannot soar from the region of sham to the sphere of service.... a prayer worth the name is one performed with the fervour of the heart, and not with the lips only. the motto of monotheism, "there is no god save =allâh=," if repeated as a talk at moments of sale and purchase, can not be regarded as a declaration of divine unity.... god says: "my shrine is not a place of sale and purchase. thou goest to market with the object of gaining something thou hast not. but if thou comest to my shrine, come with the distinct understanding that thou losest all and returnest a pauper." =khwâjâ ahmad= had a vision of god, who told him: "=ahmad=, all men ask me for something, save =bâyazîd=[ ] who asks for myself alone."--_letter ._ [ ] a great muhammadan saint. the evil of the world. the world and all things therein are to be avoided, save as needed for the lord's sake. the world may be classed under three groups:-- ( ) the first group is purely worldly, and cannot serve his cause. it consists of: (_a_) vices. their commission in the mind or with the body does not serve his cause. (_b_) too much of lawful enjoyments. this is the root of all failures and sins. ( ) the second group is purely divine, but may be turned to selfish use by an impure motive, _e. g._, meditation, prayer and asceticism, if practised with the object of gaining the respect of the people. ( ) the third group is apparently worldly but really divine, _e. g._, eating for the sake of the divine service; marriage with the object of begetting a child who shall repeat "there is no god save =allâh="; making a small fortune with the object of peacefully serving god. in short, the world is that which gratifies the cravings of desire in the present, and is of no use after death; that which may help on the other side of death is not worldly.... he who appropriates the world to the limit of _bare_ necessity (food, garment and a dwelling-house) breaks his bonds; whereas he who seeks luxurious living exposes himself to endless troubles.... the great ones have remarked that the lowest stage of purity shows itself as an inner craving for well-being after death and a diminution of worldly desires, ending in a gradual estrangement from this world, and the realisation of other worlds.... the work is harder than you imagine. all worldly pleasures are sorrows and sufferings.--_letter ._ renunciation of the world. service of the lord is impossible without renunciation of the world. when thy body works for the world and thy heart longs for it, how canst thou serve him? the heart is one; it cannot attend to two things at the same time. the world and the lord are wide apart as east and west. the more you approach the one, the farther you recede from the other.... renunciation is twofold:-- ( ) human renunciation, _i. e._ the renunciation which can be achieved by a man. it consists of three stages: (_a_) ceasing to seek for the worldly objects one has not. (_b_) casting off the worldly objects one has. (_c_) ceasing to entertain worldly desires in the mind. ( ) superhuman renunciation, which consists in complete indifference to the world. it can be accomplished, with the help of the divine grace, by one who has achieved success in all the three stages of human renunciation. the second is the true renunciation with many sages. the expulsion of worldly desires from the mind is a most difficult task. you will find many cases of _apparent_ renunciation, with an _inner_ longing for the world. but when you cease to seek for what you have not, and cast off what you have, the divine grace will enable you to drive out worldly desires from your mind. relinquishment of the world will not give _real_ renunciation, so long as the heart still craves for the world. the prophets were master-ascetics. one of them was solomon, who possessed the sovereignty of all the worlds, and was certainly an ascetic. _conclusion_: the separation of the heart from worldly cravings, in spite of the possession of worldly objects, is superior to the separation of the body from worldly objects, in spite of the worldly cravings that remain in the heart. renunciation is the basis of all virtue and progress, and, as such, is the first condition of discipleship. =ahmad hambal= (peace on him!) says that renunciation is threefold:-- (_a_) abstinence from what is forbidden by the scriptures. this is the lower renunciation. (_b_) abstinence from over-indulgence in lawful pleasures. this is the higher renunciation. (_c_) renunciation of that which separates man from god. this is the highest renunciation.--_letter ._ the final doom. there are two classes of travellers, the noble and the wicked. each class has its peculiar speed, path, and doom. noble souls are divided into ordinary noble ones, and the more advanced. the former attain heaven and the heavenly ranks by following the ascetic practices prescribed by religion. the more advanced approach purity by following the path of devotion. the wicked, too, are divided into ordinary wicked ones, and the more degraded. the former include some of the believers, leading a sinful life, disobeying the divine injunctions, and addicted to sensual pleasures. they tread the path of transgression and go to hell. the latter are the unbelievers, solely attending to sensual pleasures and earthly gains, and wholly disbelieving in religion and the disembodied life. they risk the permanent for the sake of the transient, and finally lose this world as well as the next. the former suffer in hell temporarily, but finally escape it by virtue of their faith, albeit imperfect. the latter eternally suffer in hell owing to total absence of faith. there are different gradations in hell, as there are grades of unbelief or hypocrisy. there are thinkers and blind followers amongst unbelievers as well as amongst believers. as the faith of a thoughtful believer is superior to that of an ordinary believer, so the sufferings of a thoughtful unbeliever are intenser than those of an ordinary unbeliever. ordinary unbelief is inherited from ancestors and surroundings, and is punished in the first infernal region. intellectual unbelief does not rest upon tradition, but upon researches carried on for long years, self-denial and discipline of the lower nature, all intended for and ending in scepticism and atheism.--_letter ._ the soul (=rÛh=). people differ in their opinions on the soul--some call it a body, some an essence, some an accident; some regard it as eternal, others as created. orthodox =islâm= declares its existence, but is silent on its nature and quality. god says: "if questioned on the soul, say, 'it is from the will of god.'," =abû bakr qahatî=, however, holds that the soul is beyond the category of created objects. [the author does not subscribe to this view, and enters on a controversy to show its heresy.--_trs._]--_letter ._ [the following notes from _the series of letters_, may be added as bearing on the subject.--_trs._] in search of peace, and fervently longing for spiritual fragrance, a pilgrim came to the soul and said: "thou art a reflection of the glorious sun, unfading; all the attributes of the absolute one lie verily in thee. transcending reason and understanding, thou eludest description and predication. there is no creature above thee, there is no beloved beyond thee." these lines from master =farîd attâr=, and the hints underlying them, ought to be carefully pondered over--so that one may realise that there is no existence outside the self, and that whatever one seeks is to be sought within the self. if an authority be needed, one may read from the =qurân=: "he is within thee, though _thou_ mayest not see." again, this couplet is worth perusal: "adam first ran towards all the atoms of the universe, but he did not find god so long as he found not the way within himself."--_loc. cit., letter _. the connection of the soul with the body compares well with that of god with his universe: for the soul is neither within the body nor without it, neither united with it nor separated from it. soul and body belong to two different planes of existence; yet for all that there is not an atom in the body but is pervaded by the soul.... the soul retains its innate purity, linked though it be to the body for myriads of years.--_ibid, letter ._ the heart. there is a treasure buried in the heart of the knower. it is love. a single jewel out of it is worth a thousand heavens. the guardian of heaven is an angel named =rizwân=, whereas the guardian of the treasure of love is god himself. know that thy merit is measured by what thou seekest.... if thou worshippest to obtain heaven or avoid hell, thou worshippest thy own desires. if thou seekest or fearest an object, thou art the worshipper of that object. thy real value depends on what is in thy heart. if thy heart is attached to god, thou art a divine man.... =junnaid=, when ill, prayed for his recovery. a voice answered him, "dost _thou_ come in between myself and thee?" thou walkest every morning to office and comest back at dusk. where is the difference between thee and the fire-worshipper and the jew? thy prayers are for increase of wealth, and thy pilgrimages for popular approbation. all thy acts are similarly tainted with name and form. the real end of life is yet veiled from thee.--_letter ._ =nafs=, the desire-nature. some say the desire-nature is a substance, placed in the body, similar to the soul. others say it is a quality of the body, similar to life. but all take it as the source of evil qualities and acts. these evils are grouped into: (a) sins, (b) qualities, _e. g._ pride, envy, anger. the former pertain more to the _outer_ man, the latter more to the _inner_ man. the former are purified by ascetic practices, the latter by =taubâh= (or turning).... it is said that the desire-nature and the soul are both mysterious entities in the body, corresponding to demons and angels, hell and heaven in the macrocosm;--the one being the centre of evil, the other the centre of good. there is no help against the desire-nature save in ascetic practices. man is the epitome of the whole universe, and is composed of the soul, the desire-nature and the body. he bears the characteristics of all the worlds. the earth, water, fire and air of this world appear in his body as the four humours: blood, phlegm, melancholy and bile. other worlds are not less vividly marked in him. the soul leads him to heaven, being its image; the desire-nature leads him to hell, being its image. =bû alî= saw his desire-nature in the form of a hog. he wished to kill it, but it said to him, "do not trouble thyself: i belong to the army of god, _thou_ canst not annihilate me." =mohammad nûrî= speaks of his desire-nature coming out of his throat in the form of a miniature fox. "i knew it was the desire-nature, so i put it under my feet and began to trample upon it. it grew the larger and the stronger. i said, 'pain and torture destroy all things, but they simply aid your growth!' it said, 'this is due to the fact of my constitution being the other way: what is pain for others is pleasure for me.'" =abul abbâs= saw it in the form of a yellowish dog. when he attempted to turn it out, it came underneath the skirts of his garment, and disappeared. =abul qâsim= saw it in the form of a serpent. another dervesh saw it in the form of a mouse, and asked who it was. it said, "i am the death of the heedless and the salvation of the divine friends. if i were not, they would turn proud of their purity and noble deeds." these stories go to show that the desire-nature is a corporeal being--not a quality--albeit it is endowed with qualities. it should be subdued by ascetic practices, but it cannot be completely destroyed in its essential nature. there need not be any fear from its existence, when it has been subdued by the disciple.... this dreary forest cannot be crossed save with the help of the divine grace and under the protection of a master of compassion.--_letter ._ desire. 'desire' is a term covering all the qualities of =nafs=. it prevents union, tortures the disciple, and stands against the seeker. it is to be opposed and not to be gratified. "he who follows it is ruined; he who opposes it attains his object." desires are twofold: (_a_) those connected with the senses and sex; (_b_) ambition of power and fame. the victims of the former resort to brothels without seriously affecting the well-being of others. the victims of the latter resort to holy places, and become the pests of the world. they isolate themselves from society and mislead others. he who seeks the allegiance of his desires is far away from god, be he above the sky; he who renounces his desires is in close touch with god, be he in a heathen temple. master =ibrâhîm= says: "i went to see a jewish monk in turkey, who had confined himself in a temple for seventy years. he opened a window and said he had not shut himself up there to secure the position of an ascetic, but to break the dog within him and restrain it from harming the world at large. i praised god for showing the right path to his misguided devotee. he went on, '=ibrâhîm=, how long will you seek men?--seek the self, and watch it when found. the desire-nature constantly puts on many a semblance of divinity, and invites man to his ruin.'".... it is said of master =abû alî= that he wished to cut off his genital organ, as the root of lust, when his eyes fell on it while bathing. a voice whispered to his soul, "by my honour, no organ is better or worse than another in my eyes. if you lop it off, i can put in each hair of your body the whole lust of your genital organ." it is no use destroying the organ: it is a vehicle for carrying the divine command. but a man can transmute its quality, god helping.--_letter ._ discipline of the desire-nature. the desire-nature is the worst foe. it is very difficult to be armed against it, since, firstly, it is an _internal_ foe, and it is almost impossible to guard the house against a thief co-tenant; and, secondly, it is a _lovely_ foe, and a man is blind to the defects of his beloved, whose shortcomings take on the appearance of merits. such being the case, the desire-nature may ere long hurl a man unawares to the lowest depth of degradation. if you ponder well, you will find it at the root of all the troubles that beset man in the past or may beset him in the future. this being the foe, one should intelligently strive to overcome it. it is improper to overcome it _all at once_, as it is a vehicle and instrument of the soul; nor is it proper to let it go wholly unbridled, in view of the probable dangers. so the disciple needs a middle course, and it is this: you should strengthen it to the extent of enabling it to perform its duties; you should weaken it to the measure of preventing the chance of its leading you astray. anything besides this rule is objectionable. it is reported in sacred tradition that on seeing =abdullâh masûd=, who had by ascetic practices weakened his body, his feet having become incapable of motion, his eyes having sunk in their sockets, =mohammad= said, "o =abdullâh=, be warned! thy desire-nature has claims on thee." so the conclusion is that the desire-nature should be disciplined by knowledge, so that it may neither overcome (nor disobey) thee, nor be itself destroyed. the middle course consists in restraining the desire-nature by temperance. there are three ways of thus subduing it: (_a_) withholding gratification; ... (_b_) imposing religious observances; (_c_) invoking the divine help for mastery over it. if you follow this threefold method, the desire-nature will be amenable to discipline.--_letter ._ discipline of the desire-nature. (_continued._) the discipline of the desire-nature is recommended by all creeds and nations, and is known by sages as a means of developing the supersensuous faculties.... but thy business lies with the discipline only, it is god's to grant supersensuous faculties. thy labours cannot bear fruit without his grace. avoid as much as possible the thought of personality and its activities, and never follow the promptings of the desire-nature. it is thy existence that veils thee. had there been the veil of a single activity, it could be uplifted by another opposite activity. but _the whole_ of thyself being a veil, thou canst not be fit for the divine vision, unless and until _thou_ vanish completely. it should not be forgotten in this connection that the discipline of the desire-nature means the transmutation of its qualities, not the destruction of its essential nature--for _that_ is impossible. but its existence need not be regarded as dangerous after it has been subdued by the inner ruler. fasting is recommended by all nations and creeds. it helps the receptivity of the heart, the purity of the intellect, and the health of the body. regulation of food is an important work. it is food that imparts strength and weakness, purity and foulness to all the organs of the body. it must be pure in quality and moderate in quantity.--_letter ._ alienation from the desire-nature. alienation from the personality is the first step to acquaintance with god. the one is a necessary condition for the other. all aspirants find fault with, and impose tasks on, the desire-nature, so that this wall of separation be pulled down, and a way be found to the divine sanctuary. so long as thou lookest down upon a single soul as inferior to thee, thou art self-conceited, and blind to the divine presence. "if thou hast knowledge, put that knowledge into practice; solve thy difficulties by knowledge and practice (combined)." ... the knowledge of all the sages culminates in the realisation that they do not know. there has been a single master of woe in each cycle, protecting others under his charge. on the path of asceticism, a considerable amount of prolonged exercises is a necessary preliminary to initial success, which, too, is doubtful. on the other hand, he who is trained on the path of woe has for his first stage the purity of devotion.... be of good cheer, in spite of thy lack of devotion and the heavy weight of thy sins. "never despair of the divine grace"--it affords protection to all sinners. poor as thou art at present, do not be dejected: "the lord has created a beautiful form for thee," and "made man after his image."--_letter ._ self-toleration. he who is on good terms with the self is dead, though apparently living; he whose life is in god is really living, though apparently dead. death is not of the body alone: the _inner_ man may die in the same way as the _outer_. men are perishing in the sea of desires. their saviours are the prophets who help them to cross the sea of desires and merge in the divine unity.... the ungodly live in the form only and are dead in the _spirit_, since true life consists in human nature responding to the divine life. on the other hand, "those who have sacrificed themselves on the path of god are not to be considered as dead, but as living with their lord." ... "the divine treasury is too full of prayers already. put in a grain of humble devotion if you can."--_letter ._ hidden differences of stages. men differ, in the gradations of their progress, as heaven from hell, though they are so similar in their outer forms. all men--whether in the past, the present or the future--are the centres of mysteries. each body treasures a divine secret; each heart feels impelled to the path; each soul radiates a glory unfathomable by human and angelic intelligences.... the best and holiest men had an obscure life. * * * * * once upon a time =zunnoon= sent a disciple of his, to enquire about =bâyazîd=. when the disciple reached the latter's house at bustâm, he found him seated on the floor of his cottage. but he did not know that he was =bâyazîd=. =bâyazîd= asked the disciple what he wanted. he said he wanted to see =bâyazîd=. =bâyazîd= replied: "which =bâyazîd= do you want, and whence? now i am =bâyazîd=, yet i have been in search of =bâyazîd= for several years, and to no effect." the disciple took him for a madcap, and, returning, reported the matter to =zunnoon=. =zunnoon= with tears in his eyes exclaimed: "our brother =bâyazîd= has gone forth into god with the true devotees." ... there was one =helâl=, a slave to =mogîra=. on his death the prophet with his companions went to the house of =mogîra=. the latter was not even aware of the death of =helâl=, for none took care of him, alive or dead, as he was the lowliest in the household. =mogîra= came to receive the party and kissed the blessed feet of the prophet. the prophet asked =mogîra= what had happened in the household. he said that all was well. the prophet went on: "=mogîra=, the worthiest of your household has departed, and you do not know of it." =mogîra=, astonished, remarked "i never supposed =helâl= to have been so advanced." ... the prophet was then (at his request) taken to the place where the dead body was. he found it in a stable at the feet of the beasts, clasped the head and said with tears in his eyes: "=helâl=, thy body lies on this earth, but thy soul is with the lord." all the saints and chiefs then wished in earnest devotion to have been the dust of =helâl's= feet. the prophet continued: "there are seven men in each cycle who support the world by their blessings and lead the faithful to victory by their magnanimity. =helâl= was the head of these."--_letter ._ heedlessness. heedlessness is blamed by all creeds and sects. it is heedlessness that lies at the root of all failures. it has been said. when a man heedlessly approaches the path, the devil warns him, saying: "i was the teacher of the celestial hosts, but i lost that post. now i guard the gate of the path. you may enter with the pass of devotion only--else will you have to share my fate, being unfit for the path." ... everlasting purity is the character of the angel; lifelong transgression is the character of the devil; turning with sorrow from sin to purity is the character of man. lifelong purity is impossible for man. he is born imperfect, void of reason, with desires (the agents of the devil) in full sway. reason (the curb of desires and the light of the angelic essence) develops later--_i. e._, after the capture of the heart by desires. hence the necessity of turning and self-discipline, _pari-passu_ with the development of reason, for the recovery of the heart from desires and the devil.--_letter ._ sorrow. no reading is so useful as that of the diary of sorrows.... the goal is unattainable save through the destruction of the desire-nature. either be ready to kill it out and tread the path, or withdraw yourself from the rank of the seekers--so that others may pass on (unimpeded by your presence). _a story._--david, when about to pray, saw an ant, and wished to remove it from the place. the ant appealed to david against his cruelty. david said: "god, how am i to deal with thy creatures?" god replied, "behave with self-restraint, lest thou shouldst harm any; do not look to the outer body of a creature, but to the spirit underlying. an ant, if permitted, may rend asunder the dark veil, radiate the light of divine unity from its bosom, and put to shame many a monotheist." _another story._--once upon a time, moses prayed so warmly that the stimulating effect was felt by him till the succeeding day. he wondered whether any one could be so blessed as he was the night before. the angel gabriel presently came with this message from god: "there is one, in this forest, who can cure the ills of my devotees." moses hastened to the spot, and found a frog croaking in a pool. the frog said: "moses, i have long been waiting to uproot pride from your heart. the divine influence you felt last night passed through me. i received it first and then passed it on to you. be warned against the repetition of the boast!"--_letter ._ conduct. an act not permitted by the =qurân= is fruitless; a desire not sanctioned by the prophet is vain. to wish for any help on the path save that from the path is forbidden. the =qurân= permits nothing save sincere conduct, and sincerity springs from the heart that has tasted pain.... the masters of the path are spiritual beings. their word is life; the purity of their sorrow vitalises the world; their character is spotless.... so long as thou dost not unlearn all thy previous notions, habits and defects, thou canst not unfold the eye of wisdom in the heart, and feel the relish of the science of truth.... he who is destitute of divine wisdom to-day (_i. e._, on earth) will not have the divine wisdom to-morrow (_i. e._, after death). acts not based on knowledge are futile; ascetic practices not countenanced by religion are misleading and devilish. it is knowledge that unfastens the gate of good luck. it is knowledge that can comprehend the greatness of =islâm=, the mysteries thereof, the glorious character of the prophets, the sublimity of their mission, the different stages of the advanced souls, the secret of the human constitution, the evil in the wicked, the respect due to faith and the faithful, the injunctions and prohibitions of religions. tread zealously the path of knowledge till you get rid of ignorance. knowledge is the shortest way to god; and ignorance is the densest veil between thee and him. as knowledge is productive of good, so is ignorance productive of evil. it is ignorance which brings in faithlessness, neglect of religious duties, affinity to the devil, alienation from the prophets and the pure souls, and other innumerable evils. seek no connexion with the self, lest thou shouldst be affected with pride.... "thou canst not reach me, so long as 'thy-ness' inheres in thee: thou shalt reach me only when thou quittest thy self." o brother, subdue thy desires with asceticism tempered by knowledge; cut off the head of the desire-nature with the sword of self-discipline, as advised by the scriptures ... and (then) put on the robe of =islâm=. if thou art really in earnest, tread upon thy life--so dear to thee--and do not fear death; what follows is life, through and through. "if thou dependest upon (bodily) life, thou wilt lag behind. thou art life in the world of life alone. grasp well the subtile fact--thou _art_ that which thou seekest." the foremost duty of the seeker lies in seeing the beloved as the only life, and in eliminating the evil of his own separated existence.--_letter ._ seclusion. a man not wanted by the world for its intellectual or theological education, may isolate himself from others, and avoid company save on necessary occasions, such as those of the friday and the =Îd= prayers, a pilgrimage to =meccâ=, and other useful meetings. the man who wishes to avoid company altogether, had better live far away from human habitation (in a mountain or on a desert island). else [let him not isolate himself altogether] unless he knows for certain that his gains from attendance at the friday prayer or other social gatherings are really outweighed by the losses he incurs from coming into contact with human society.... but there may be a different sort of man, a master of knowledge, needed by others for their religious enlightenment, the exposition of truths, the setting aside of heretical arguments, and for stirring them to live out the teachings of religion. it is hardly lawful for such a man to absolutely avoid human society. it is narrated of a sage named =abû bakar= that, as he wandered about the hills with the object of leading a life of prayer and worship in seclusion, he heard a voice saying, "=abû bakar=, why dost thou desert the creatures of the lord when thou hast attained the position of a divine light?" so he returned to the society of men. such a man, though living corporeally in the world and doing his duties to it, has to work for his own salvation as well. =omar= (peace on him!) said of himself, "should i sleep at night i would ruin myself, should i sleep during the day, i would ruin my subjects." it is exceedingly hard to be corporeally in the world and to be at the same time mentally away from it. =imâm gazâlî= opines that a learned man may be excused for isolating himself and burying his knowledge in days of trouble and degeneration, when a man may send for a religious teacher, but declines to learn anything of him--when no man appreciates the importance of religious duties.... an extremely weak man should not resort to seclusion.... the real object of seclusion is mental isolation, not bodily separation.--_letter ._ death. there are three classes of men: ( ) the man of desires. ( ) the beginner who is just turning back. ( ) the advanced knower of god. the _first_ does not recollect death; or if he ever does so, he does it in a spirit of sorrow for the loss of worldly objects, and begins to murmur at it. recollection of death throws him the further from god. the _second_ is given to the practice of recollecting death, so that he may live fear-stricken, and accomplish his turning the more successfully.... the _third_ never forgets death, as it is the guarantee of his union with the beloved. but the highest stage of development is shewn in the soul that completely surrenders itself to the lord, and foregoes all choice of life or death.... the frequent recollection of death is recommended, as it is calculated to disturb physical enjoyment, and thereby lead to salvation.... death is welcome to the faithful, as it sets him free from the prison of earth-life and its tortures.... as remarked by an esteemed friend, earth-life is a state of slumber, the after-death life is a state of waking, and death is an intermediate state.... death (to an ordinary mortal) is more painful than a cut with the sword or the axe, or the extraction of flesh from his body.... a calm look, and the repetition of the holy formula, these are becoming on the part of the dying man.--_letter ._ hell. every man is liable to suffer in hell, and it is difficult to be certain of exemption therefrom. according to the prophet, there are , apartments in hell, each apartment containing , doors, each door having , serpents and , scorpions; and the unbelievers and the evil-minded cannot help passing through each of them.... such is the description of hell, and of its subdivisions which correspond to the number of earthly desires. the factor seven in the subdivisions corresponds to the seven organs used in the commission of sins. if you wish to know your destiny, you should look at your character, since your natural inclinations presage your destiny. if they tend to good, you are not intended for hell; if they tend to evil, you are destined therefor. as the =qurân= says, "the virtuous are to be blessed in heaven, the vicious are to suffer in hell." here is a secret. when death takes away the earthly veil (the body), the desire-nature is yet more or less tainted with earthly impurities. in some cases the mirror of the soul may be too darkened to admit of any cleansing. such a soul is eternally barred from the divine presence. in other cases, (_i. e._ unrighteous believers), the rust is capable of being cleansed, and so the desire-nature is exposed to hell-fire to the extent of the purification needed. the time varies from a brief moment to , years. no man quits this earth without some impurity, however slight, in him.--_letter ._ heaven. heaven contains apartments made of various gems, the outside of which is visible from the inside, and the inside from the outside. they abound with pleasures and comforts not tasted or conceived by men (on earth).... heaven is a vast palace made of a single pearl. it contains seven apartments of red ruby. each apartment contains seven rooms of green emerald. each room is provided with a gorgeous seat, trays and maid-servants. each seat has beddings of different colours, and a houri as the bed-maker. each tray is furnished with dishes. heaven is intended for those who salute and feed others, fast and pray.... when the dwellers of heaven wish to communicate with their brothers, their seats move the one towards the other. thus they meet and talk of their past relationship on earth. there is procreation in heaven if so desired: conception, birth, and maturity all taking place instantaneously. the dwellers of heaven are beautiful as =joseph=, and well-behaved as =mohammad=. the duration of the lowest heavenly life is years. such is the heaven of the ordinary soul. now as to the destiny of the prophets, the purest devotees, and the saints. theirs is the vision of the divine face, in the supreme relish of which the grosser enjoyments of heaven are forgotten. orthodox =islâm= does not regard the divine vision as the fruit of human works, but as the result of divine grace. it holds a similar doctrine as to the faith in the lord of human beings upon earth.--_letter ._ [the following brief note is added from the _series of letters_.--_trs._] =imâm qasherî=, explaining the secrets of the =qurân=, says: "what the faithful will manifestly enjoy after death in heaven, is inwardly experienced by the saints on earth."--_loc. cit., _. the end. transcriber's notes. unusual and archaic spellings have been maintained. obvious printing and spelling errors have been fixed. in the original text, persian and arabic transliterations, some proper names and locations were printed in gesperrt (g e s p e r r t). such words have been rendered surrounded by == (=gesperrt=). the abbreviation "trs." used throughout the text stands for "translator," not "transcriber." details of the changes: toc page : title "introduction" removed. toc page : on discipleship (continued) originally: discipleship (continued) toc page : the outer and inner ailments originally: the outer and the inner ailments toc page : the desire-nature (=nafs=) originally: the desire-nature (=nafs=) toc page : discipline of the desire-nature (continued) originally: the same (continued) page : there must be a difference between originally: there must be difference between page footnote : weak souls.--_trs._ originally: weak souls.--_trans._ page : =zunnoon= of egypt observes that the =taubâh= originally: =zoonoon= of egypt observes that the =taubâh= page : on the other hand, =khwâjâ junnaid= originally: on the other hand, =khwâja junnaid= page : can neither be seen nor grasped. originally: can neither be seen not grasped. page footnote : the sacred shrine at =meccâ=. originally: the sacred shrine at =mecca=. page : and lose the fruit of one's labour. originally: and lose the fruit of one's labor. page : discipleship and the subtleties of seeking, originally: discipleship and the subleties of seeking, page : a disciple should be a worshipper of the teacher, [so that he may become a worshipper of god]. one who obeys the messenger verily obeys god. originally: a disciple should be a worshipper of the teacher, [so that he may become a worshipper of god. one who obeys the messenger verily obeys god page : the friend of god--(the =walÎ=). originally: the friend of god--(the =walee=). page : the =walî= (or the friend of god) is originally: the =walee= (or the friend of god) is page : here is a subtile mystery, originally: here is a subtle mystery, page : there are , =walîs= originally: there are , =walees= page : there are =walîs= ever originally: there are =walees= ever page : they (the =walîs=) are too strong originally: they (the =walees=) are too strong page : invisible and visible, spiritual and physical, originally: invisible and visible, spirtual and physical, page : virtues and vices: why should we restrain originally: virtues and vices: why should should we restrain page : disciples such as =abû bakar=, =omar=, originally: disciples such as =abubakar=, =omar=, page : sacred recitations, repentance and apology. originally: sacred recitations, repentence and apology. page : may gradually develop strength, originally: may gradually develope strength, page : do not look to the _houris_ originally: do not look to the _hooris_ page : are concerned with _outer_ conduct, originally: are concerned will _outer_ conduct, page : the heart develops knowledge and wisdom, originally: the heart developes knowledge and wisdom, page : checks the performance of duties. originally: checks the preformance of duties. page : transmutation wrought by many derveshes originally: transmutation wrought by many darveshes page : =abul abbâs=--peace be on him--said originally: =abul abbas=--peace be on him--said page : renounce worldly pursuits. originally: renounce wordly pursuits. page : master =yahiâ= observes: originally: master =yehiâ= observes: page : only the houris, the palaces, originally: only the houries, the palaces, page : after death are gratuitous. originally: after death are gratuitious. page : diminution of worldly desires originally: diminution of worldy desires page : =abû bakr qahatî=, however, holds originally: =abu bakr qahatî=, however, holds page : one may read from the =qurân=: originally: one may read from the =qorân=: page : discipline of the desire-nature. originally: the discipline of the desire-nature. page : angelic essence) develops later-- originally: angelic essence) developes later-- page : grasp well the subtile fact originally: grasp well the subtle fact +-------------------------------------------------+ |transcriber's note: | | | |obvious typographic errors have been corrected. | | | |the publisher updated some of the text of the | |book list by hand, indicating those which were | |out of print. | |the original text has been retained. | | | +-------------------------------------------------+ echoes from the orient a broad outline of theosophical doctrines by william q. judge [occultus] second point loma edition the theosophical publishing company point loma, california entered according to act of congress, in the year , in the office of the librarian of congress, at washington, d. c. by william q. judge. [illustration: logo] the aryan theosophical press point loma, california dedicated to helena petrovna blavatsky with love and gratitude by the author to the reader echoes from the orient was written by mr. judge sixteen years ago ( ) as a series of papers for a well known periodical. the author wrote under the name of "_occultus_," as it was intended that his personality should be hidden until the series was completed. the value of these papers as a popular presentation of theosophical teaching was at once seen and led to their publication in book form. as mr. judge wrote in his "antecedent words" to the earlier edition: "the restrictions upon the treatment of the subject growing out of the popular character of the paper in which they were published precluded the detail and elaboration that would have been possible in a philosophical or religious periodical. no pretense is made that the subject of theosophy as understood in the orient has been exhaustively treated, for, believing that millions of years have been devoted by the sages who are the guardians of theosophical truth to its investigation, i think no one writer could do more than to repeat some of the echoes reaching his ears." the reader should remember that the scope and influence of the theosophical movement have since that time ( ) greatly expanded, the work of the universal brotherhood and theosophical society now reaching nearly every country in the world. point loma, california, echoes from the orient. i. what appears to the western mind to be a very strange superstition prevails in india about wonderful persons who are said to be of immense age, and who keep themselves secluded in places not accessible to the ordinary traveler. so long has this been current in india that the name applied to these beings is well known in the sanskrit language: "mahâtma," a compound of two words, _maha_, great, and _âtma_, soul. the belief in the existence of such persons is not confined to the ignorant, but is shared by the educated of all castes. the lower classes look upon the mahâtmas as a sort of gods, and think most of their wonderful powers and great age. the pundits, or learned class, and educated hindus in general, have a different view; they say that mahâtmas are men or souls with unlimited knowledge of natural laws and of man's history and development. they claim also that the mahâtmas--or rishees, as they sometimes call them--have preserved the knowledge of all natural laws for ages, not only by tradition among their disciples, but also by actual records and in libraries existing somewhere in the many underground temples and passages in india. some believers assert that there are also stores of books and records in secluded parts all over that part of thibet which is not known to europeans, access to them being possible only for the mahâtmas and adepts. the credence given to such a universal theory grows out of an old indian doctrine that man is a spiritual being--a soul, in other words--and that this soul takes on different bodies from life to life on earth in order at last to arrive at such perfect knowledge, through repeated experience, as to enable one to assume a body fit to be the dwelling-place of a mahâtma or perfected soul. then, they say, that particular soul becomes a spiritual helper to mankind. the perfected men are said to know the truth about the genesis of worlds and systems, as well as the development of man upon this and other planets. were such doctrines held only in india, it would be natural to pass the subject by with this brief mention. but when it is found that a large body of people in america and europe hold the same beliefs, it is interesting to note such an un-western development of thought. the theosophical society was founded in new york in , with the avowed object of forming a nucleus for a universal brotherhood, and its founders state that they believe the indian mahâtmas directed them to establish such a society. since its foundation it has gained members in all countries, including people of wealth as well as those in moderate circumstances, and the highly cultured also. within its ranks there flourish beliefs in the mahâtmas of india and in reïncarnation and its twin doctrine, karma. this last holds that no power, human or divine, can save one from the consequences of acts performed, and that in this life we are experiencing the results due to us for all acts and thoughts which were ours in the preceding incarnation. this has brought out a large body of literature in books and magazines published in the united states, england, india, and elsewhere. newspapers are published in the interest of the new-old cult in the vernacular of hindûstan and also in old ceylon. even japan has its periodicals devoted to the same end, and to ignore so wide-spread a movement would bespeak ignorance of the factors at work in our development. when such an eminent authority as the great french savant, emile burnouf, says that the theosophical movement must be counted as one of the three great religious influences in the world to-day, there is no need of an excuse for presenting its features in detail to readers imbued with the civilization of the west. ii. in my former paper i merely hinted at the two principal doctrines promulgated by the theosophical society; it is well now to notice the fact that the society itself was organized amid a shout of laughter, which at intervals ever since has been repeated. very soon after it launched forth it found a new member in a bavarian gentleman, baron henry louis de palm, who not long thereafter died and obligingly left his body to be cremated. the funeral was held at masonic hall, new york city, and attracted widespread attention from both press and public. it was theosophical in its character, and while conducted with befitting dignity in view of the solemnity of the occasion, was along distinctly original lines. all this of course, drew forth satire from the press, but served the purpose of gaining some attention for the young society. its history since then has been remarkable, and it is safe to say that no other similar body in this century has drawn to itself so much consideration, stirred up such a thinking among people on mystical subjects, and grown so rapidly amid the loudest derision and against the fiercest opposition, within the short space of fifteen years. while the press has been sneering and enemies have been plotting, the workers in the society have established centers all over the world, and are to-day engaged persistently in sending out theosophical literature into every nook and corner of the united states. a glance at the theosophical map shows a line of branches of the society dotting a strip of this country which reaches from the city of new york to the pacific coast; at either end this belt spreads out to take in boston and new orleans in the east and san francisco and san diego in the west; while near the middle of the continent there is another accumulation of centers. this is claimed to be strictly and mystically theosophical, because at each end of the magic line of effort and at its central point there is an accumulation of nucleï. it is a fact that the branches of the society in america are rapidly running up into the first hundred. for some little time there existed in washington a branch of the society called the gnostic, but it never engaged in any active work. after it had been once incontinently dissolved by its president, who thereafter withdrew, leaving the presidency in the hands of another, the governing body of the american theosophists formally dischartered the gnostic, and its members joined other branches. there is, however, to-day a washington branch named boldly after the much lauded and belittled mme. h. p. blavatsky, while the theosophical map shows an accumulation of influences in washington that point to an additional branch, and inquiry in official quarters discloses the fact that the matter is already mooted. the theosophical map of which i have spoken is a curiosity, an anomaly in the nineteenth century. few of the members are allowed to see it; but those who are say that it is a register of the actual state, day by day, of the whole united states section--a sort of weather map, with areas of pressure and theosophical humidity in all directions. where a branch is well founded and in good condition, the spot or sensitive surface shows clearness and fixity. in certain places which are in a formative condition there is another appearance symptomatic of a vortex that may soon bring forth a branch; while, wherever the principle of disintegration has crept into an existing organization, there the formerly bright and fixed spots grow cloudy. by means of this map, those who are managing the real growth of the movement can tell how it is going and aid it intelligently. of course all this sounds ridiculous in our age; but, whether true or false, there are many theosophists who believe it. a similar arrangement would be desirable in other branches of our civilization. the grand theories of the theosophists regarding evolution, human races, religions and general civilization, as well as the future state of man and the various planets he inhabits, should engage our more serious attention; and of these i propose to speak at another time. iii. the first echo from the burnished and mysterious east which reverberated from these pages sounded the note of universal brotherhood. among the men of this day such an idea is generally accepted as vague and utopian, but one which it will do no harm to subscribe to; they therefore quickly assent, and as quickly nullify the profession by action in the opposite direction. for the civilization of to-day, and especially of the united states, is an attempt to accentuate and glorify the individual. the oft-repeated declaration that any born citizen may aspire to occupy the highest office in the gift of the nation is proof of this, and the mahâtmas who guard the truth through the ages while nations are decaying, assert that the reaction is sure to come in a relapse into the worst forms of anarchy. the only way to prevent such a relapse is for men to really practice the universal brotherhood they are willing to accept with the tongue. these exalted beings further say that all men are--as a scientific and dynamic fact--united, whether they admit it or not; and that each nation suffers, on the moral as well as the physical plane, from the faults of all other nations, and receives benefit from the others also even against its will. this is due to the existence of an imponderable, tenuous medium which interpenetrates the entire globe, and in which all the acts and thoughts of every man are felt and impressed, to be afterward reflected again. hence, say the adepts, the thoughts or the doctrines and beliefs of men are of the higher importance, because those that prevail among people of a low character are just as much and as easily reflected upon the earth as are the thoughts and beliefs of persons occupying a higher plane of culture. this is a most important tenet, if true; for, with the aid of the discoveries just now admitted by science respecting hypnotism, we are at once able to see that an enormous hypnotizing machine is about. as this tenuous medium--called by the men of the east "akàsa" and by the mediæval philosophers the "astral light"--is entirely beyond our control, we are at the mercy of the pictures made in it and reflected upon us. if to this we add the wonderfully interesting doctrine of reïncarnation, remembering also that the images made in the astral light persist for centuries, it is at once seen that upon returning again to earth-life we are affected for good or evil by the conduct, the doctrine and the aspirations of preceding nations and men. returning here now, for instance, we are moved, without our knowledge, by the impressions made in the astral light at the time when the indians, the spaniards and the harsh puritans lived upon the earth. the words of the immortal shakspere-- the evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interrèd with their bones, receive a striking exemplification under this doctrine. for, as the evil thoughts and deeds are the more material and therefore more firmly impacted into the astral light, while the good, being spiritual, easily fade out, we are in effect at the mercy of the evil done. and the adepts assert that shakspere was, unconsciously to himself, inspired by one of their own number. i shall refer again to this branch of the subject. the scheme of evolution put forth by these beings and their disciples is so broad, deep and far-reaching as to stagger the ordinary mind. it takes in with ease periods of years running up into trillions and quadrillions. it claims that man has been on earth for millions of years more than science yet is willing to admit. it is not bound by the narrow scheme of biblical chronologists, nor startled by the magnificent age of civilizations which disappeared long ago. the keepers of this doctrine say that they and their predecessors lived in those older times, and have preserved not only the memory of them, but also complete records. these records, moreover, are not merely on perishable paper and palm leaf, but on imperishable stone. they point to such remains as the statues twenty-seven feet high found on easter island; to rows of gigantic statues in asia, that by their varying heights show the gradual diminution of human stature, which kept pace with other degenerations; and, to crown all, they say that they possess to-day in the east the immense and well guarded collections of records of all sorts. not only are these records said to relate to the physical history of man, but also to his astral and spiritual evolution. before closing this paper, i can only indicate one of their basic doctrines in the scheme of evolution. that is, that the evolution of the inner, astral form of man came first in order, and continued for an immense number of years before his physical structure was built up around it. this, with other portions of the doctrine, is vital and will aid much in an understanding of the complex questions presented to us by the history of the human race, both that which is known and that which is still resting on conjecture. iv. the records to which in my last paper i referred, as having been kept by the adepts and now in the possession of their present representatives and successors--adepts also--relate not only to the birth of planets in this solar system, but also to the evolution and development of man, through the various kingdoms of nature, until he reaches the most perfect condition which can be imagined. the evolution of the human being includes not only the genesis of his mortal frame, but, as well, the history of the inner man, whom they are accustomed to call the real one. this, then, brings us to a very interesting claim put forward for the wisdom religion, that it pretends to throw light not only upon man's emotions and mental faculties, but also upon his pre-natal and post-mortem states, both of which are of the highest interest and importance. such questions as, "where have i come from?" and, "what shall be my condition after death?" trouble and confuse the minds of all men, ignorant or cultured. priests and thinkers have, from time to time, formulated theories, more or less absurd, as to those pre-natal and post-mortem states, while the science of to-day laughs in derision at the idea of making any inquiry into the matter whatever. theologians have offered explanations, all of which relate only to what they suppose will happen to us after death, leaving entirely out of view and wholly unanswered the natural question, "what were we before we were born here?" and, taking them on their own ground, they are in a most illogical position, because, having once postulated immortality for the soul--the real man--they cannot deny immortality in either direction. if man is immortal, that immortality could never have had a beginning, or else it would have an end. hence their only escape from the dilemma is to declare that each soul is a special creation. but this doctrine of a special creation for each soul born upon the earth, is not dwelt upon or expounded by the priests, inasmuch as it is deemed better to keep it discreetly in the background. the wisdom religion, on the other hand, remains logical from beginning to end. it declares that man is a spiritual being, and allows of no break in the chain of anything once declared immortal. the ego of each man is immortal; "always was existent, always will be, and never can be nonexistent;" appearing now and again, and reäppearing, clothed in bodies on each occasion different, it only appears to be mortal; it always remains the substratum and support for the personality acting upon the stage of life. and in those appearances as mortal, the questions mooted above--as to the pre-natal and post-mortem states--are of vital interest, because knowledge or ignorance concerning them alters man's thought and action while an actor on the stage, and it is necessary for him to know in order that he may so live as to aid in the grand upward sweep of the evolutionary wave. now the adepts have for ages pursued scientific experimentation and investigation upon those lines. seers themselves of the highest order, they have recorded not only their own actual experiences beyond the veil of matter, on both sides, but have collected, compared, analyzed and preserved the records of experiences of the same sort by hundreds of thousands of lesser seers, their own disciples; and this process has been going on from time immemorial. let science laugh as it may, the adepts are the only true scientists, for they take into account every factor in the question, whereas science is limited by brain-power, by circumstance, by imperfection of instruments, and by a total inability to perceive anything deeper than the mere phenomena presented by matter. the records of the visions and experiences of the greater and lesser seers, through the ages, are extant to-day. of their mass, nothing has been accepted except that which has been checked and verified by millions of independent observations; and therefore the adepts stand in the position of those who possess actual experimental knowledge of what precedes the birth of the ego in a human form, and what succeeds when the "mortal coil" is cast away. this recording of experiences still goes on; for the infinity of the changes of nature in its evolution permits of no stoppage, no "last word," no final declaration. as the earth sweeps around the sun, it not only passes through new places in its orbit, but, dragged as it is by the sun through his greater orbit, involving millions of millions of years, it must in that larger circle enter upon new fields in space and unprecedented conditions. hence the adepts go farther yet and state that, as the phenomena presented by matter to-day are different from those presented a million years ago, so matter will in another million of years show different phenomena still. indeed, if we could translate our sight to that time, far back in the past of our globe, we could see conditions and phenomena of the material world so different from those now surrounding us that it would be almost impossible to believe we had ever been in such a state as that then prevailing. and the changes toward the conditions that will prevail at a point equally remote in advance of us, in time, and which will be not less than those that have occurred, are in progress now. nothing in the material world endures absolutely unchanged in itself or its conditions, even for the smallest conceivable portion of time. all that _is_, is forever in process of _becoming_ something else. this is not mere transcendentalism, but is an old established doctrine called, in the east, "the doctrine of the constant, eternal change of atoms from one state into another." v. the ancient doctrine of the constant, eternal change of every atom from state to state, is founded upon, or rather grows out of, another which postulates that there is no such thing as dead matter. at every conceivable point in the universe there are lives; nowhere can be found a spot that is dead; and each life is forever hastening onward to higher evolution. to admit this, we must of course grant that matter is never perceived by the eye or through any instrument. it is but the phenomena of matter that we recognize with the senses, and hence, say the sages, the thing denominated "matter" by us is an illusion. even the protoplasm of the schools is not the original matter; it is simply another of the phenomena. this first original matter is called by paracelsus and others primordial matter, the nearest approach to which in the eastern school is found in the sanskrit word _mulaprakriti_. this is the root of matter, invisible, not to be weighed, or measured, or tested with any instrument of human invention. and yet it is the only real matter underlying all the phenomena to which we erroneously give its name. but even it is not dead, but full of the lives first referred to. now, bearing this in mind, we consider the vast solar system, yet vast only when not compared with the still greater aggregation of stars and planets around it. the great sidereal year covered by the sun in going through the twelve signs of the zodiac includes over , mortal years of days each. while this immense circuit is being traversed, the sun drags the whole solar system with him around his own tremendous orbit, and we may imagine--for there are no observations on the point--that, while the , years of travel around the zodiac have been passing, the solar system as a whole has advanced along the sun's own orbit only a little distance. but after millions of years shall have been consumed in these progresses, the sun must bring his train of planets to stellar space where they have never been before; here other conditions and combinations of matter may very well obtain--conditions and states of which our scientists have never heard, of which there never has been recorded one single phenomenon; and the difference between planetary conditions then and now will be so great that no resemblance shall be observed. this is a branch of cyclic law with which the eastern sages are perfectly familiar. they have inquired into it, recorded their observations, and preserved them. having watched the uncountable lives during cycles upon cycles past, and seen their behavior under different conditions in other stellar spaces long ago left behind, they have some basis upon which to draw conclusions as to what will be the state of things in ages yet to come. this brings us to an interesting theory offered by theosophy respecting life itself as exhibited by man, his death and sleep. it relates also to what is generally called "fatigue." the most usual explanation for the phenomenon of sleep is that the body becomes tired and more or less depleted of its vitality and then seeks repose. this, says theosophy, is just the opposite of the truth, for, instead of having suffered a loss of vitality, the body, at the conclusion of the day, has more life in it than when it waked. during the waking state the life-waves rush into the body with greater intensity every hour, and, we being unable to resist them any longer than the period usually observed, they overpower us and we fall asleep. while sleeping, the life waves adjust themselves to the molecules of the body; and when the equilibrium is complete we again wake to continue the contest with life. if this periodical adjustment did not occur, the life current would destroy us. any derangement of the body that tends to inhibit this adjustment is a cause of sleeplessness, and perhaps death. finally, death of the body is due to the inequality of the contest with the life force; it at last overcomes us, and we are compelled to sink into the grave. disease, the common property of the human race, only reduces the power of the body to adjust and resist. children, say the adepts, sleep more than adults, and need earlier repose, because the bodily machine, being young and tender, is easily overcome by life and made to sleep. of course, in so short an article, i cannot elaborate this theory; but, although not probably acceptable now to science, it will be one day accepted as true. as it is beginning to be thought that electricity is all-pervading, so, perhaps, ere long it will be agreed that life is universal even in what we are used to calling dead matter. as, however, it is plain to any observant mind that there seems to be more or less intelligence in the operations of this life energy, we naturally approach another interesting theosophical doctrine as to the beings and hierarchies directing this energy. vi. while studying these ancient ideas, we may as well prepare ourselves to have them clash with many long-accepted views. but since science has very little save conjecture to offer when it attempts to solve the great problems of genesis and cosmo-genesis, and, in the act of denying old dogmas, almost always starts with a hypothesis, the theosophist may feel safe. in important matters, such as the heat of the sun or the history of the moon there is no agreement between scientists or astronomers. newton, pouillet, zöllner, secchi, fizeau, waterston, rosetti, and others all differ about the sun, the divergence between their estimates of its heat being as high as , , degrees. if we find the adepts stating that the moon is not a mass thrown off from the earth in cooling, but, on the contrary, is the progenitor of this globe, we need not fear the jeers of a science that is as uncertain and unsafe in many things as it is positive. had i to deal only with those learned men of the schools who abide by the last utterance from the mouths of the leaders of science, i should never attempt the task of speaking of the beings and hierarchies who guide the lives of which i wrote in my last. my pen would drop from a hand paralyzed by negations. but the spiritual beliefs of the common people will still be in vogue when the learned materialist has passed away. the great immanuel kant said: "i confess i am much disposed to assert the existence of immaterial natures in the world, and to place my own soul in the class of these beings. it will hereafter, i know not where nor when, yet be proved that the human soul stands, even in this life, in indissoluble connection with all immaterial natures in the spirit world, that it reciprocally acts upon these, and receives impressions from them." and the greater number of men think so also. that there are hierarchies ruling in the universe is not a new idea. it can be easily found to-day in the christian church. the early fathers taught it, st. paul spoke of it, and the roman catholic church has it clearly now in the book of ritual of the spirits of the stars. the four archangels who guard the four cardinal points represent the groups of rulers in the ancient system, or the heads of each group. in that system the rulers are named dhyan chôhans. although the theosophical philosophy does not postulate a personal god, whether extra- or intra-cosmic, it cannot admit that nature is left unaided in her work, but asserts that the dhyan chôhans aid her, and are constantly occupied in directing the all-pervading life in its evolutionary movement. mme. blavatsky, speaking on this subject in her _secret doctrine_, quotes from the old _book of dzyan_ thus: "an army of the sons of light stands at each angle, the lipika in the middle wheel." the four angles are the four quarters, and the "middle wheel" is the center of space; and that center is everywhere, because as space is illimitable, the center of it must be wherever the cognizing consciousness is. and the same author, using the _disciple's catechism_, writes: "what is it that ever is? space, the anupadaka. what is it that ever was? the germ in the root. what is it that is ever coming and going? the great breath. then there are three eternals? no, the three are one. that which ever is is one; that which ever was is one; that which is ever being and becoming is also one; and this is space." in this parentless and eternal space is the wheel in the center where the lipika are, of whom i cannot speak; at the four angles are the dhyan chôhans, and doing their will among men on this earth are the adepts--the mahâtmas. the harmony of the spheres is the voice of the law, and that voice is obeyed alike by the dhyan chôhan and the mahâtma--on their part with willingness, because they are the law; on the part of men and creatures because they are bound by the adamantine chains of the law which they do not understand. when i said that nothing could be spoken about the lipika, i meant that, because of their mysterious nature and incomprehensible powers, it is not possible to know enough to say anything with either sense or certainty. but of the dhyan chôhans and the adepts we may know something, and are often given, as it were, tangible proof of their existence. for the adepts are living men, using bodies similar to ours; they are scattered all over the earth in all nations; they know each other, but not according to mere forms and masonic signs of recognition, unless we call natural, physical, and astral signs masonic. they have times when they meet together and are presided over by some among their number who are more advanced in knowledge and power than the rest; and these higher adepts again have their communications, at which that one who presides is the highest; from these latter begins the communication with the dhyan chôhans. all in their several degrees do that work which pertains to their degree, and although only to the highest can be ascribed any governance or guidance of nature and mankind, yet the very least occupies an important place in the whole scheme. freemasons and the numerous mock-rosicrucians of the day will probably not unanimously accept this view, inasmuch as these adepts have not submitted to their ritual; but that there has always been a widespread--and, if you please, a sometimes sneaking--belief in such beings and orders, is not difficult to discern or prove. vii. an old argument for the existence of an extra-cosmic--a personal--god, is this very intelligence that appears to pervade nature, from which the conclusion is drawn that there is a being who is the intelligent director. but theosophy does not admit any such god, for he is neither necessary nor possible. there are too many evidences of implacability in the operations of nature for us to be able for very long to cherish the notion of a personal god. we see that storms will rage and overwhelm good and bad together; that earthquakes have no respect for age, sex or rank, and that wherever a natural law has to act it will do so regardless of human pain or despair. the wisdom religion in postulating hierarchies such as those i have previously referred to, does not thereby outline a personal god. the difference between the personal god--say jehovah for one--and the lipika with the hosts of the dhyan chôhans, is very great. law and order, good sense, decency and progress are all subservient to jehovah, sometimes disappearing altogether under his beneficent sway; while in the wisdom religion the dhyan chôhans can only follow the immutable laws eternally traced in the universal mind, and this they do intelligently, because they are in fact men become gods. as these eternal laws are far-reaching, and as nature herself is blind, the hierarchies--the hosts at the angles--have to guide the evolutionary progress of matter. in order to grasp the doctrine better, let us take one period of manifestation such as that we are now in. this began millions of millions of years ago, succeeding a vast period of darkness or hibernation. it is called chaos in the christian scheme. and preceding that period of sleep there were eternally other periods of activity or manifestation. now, in those prior periods of energy and action the same evolutionary progress went on, from and out of which came great beings--men perfected and become what to us are gods, who had aided in countless evolutions in the eternal past. these became dhyan chôhans and took part in all succeeding evolutions. such is the great goal for a human soul to strive after. before it the paltry and impossible rewards of the christian heaven turn to dross. the mistake must not be made of confining these great evolutionary periods and the beings spoken of, to our miserable earth. we are only in the chain. there are other systems, other spaces where energy, knowledge and power are exercised. in the mysterious milky-way there are spots vast in size and incomprehensibly distant, where there is room for many such systems as ours; and even while we now watch the assemblage of stars, there is some spot among them where the vast night of death is spreading remorselessly over a once fair system. now these beings, under the sway of the law as they are, seem perhaps to be sometimes implacable. occasions are met where to mortal judgment it would seem to be wise or just to save a city from destruction, or a nation from decay, or a race from total extinction. but if such a fate is the natural result of actions performed or a necessary step in the cyclic sweep, it cannot be averted. as one of the masters of this noble science has written: "we never pretended to be able to draw nations in the mass to this or that crisis in spite of the _general drift of the world's cosmic relations_. the cycles must run their rounds. periods of mental and moral light and darkness succeed each other as day does night. the major and minor yugas must be accomplished _according to the established order of things_. and we, borne along on the mighty tide, can only modify and direct some of its minor currents. if we had the powers of the imaginary personal god, and the immutable laws were but toys to play with, then, indeed, might we have created conditions that would have turned this earth into an arcadia for lofty souls." and so in individual cases--even among those who are in direct relations with some adept--the law cannot be infringed. karma demands that such and such a thing should happen to the individual, and the greatest god or the smallest adept cannot lift a finger to prevent it. a nation may have heaped up against its account as a nation a vast amount of bad karma. its fate is sure, and although it may have noble units in it, great souls even who are adepts themselves, nothing can save it, and it will "go out like a torch dipped in water." such was the end of ancient egypt, of whose former glory no man of this day knows aught. although to us she appears in the historical sky as a full-risen sun, she yet had her period of growth, when mighty adepts sat upon the throne and guided the people. she gradually reached a high point of power and then her people grew material; the adepts retired; pretended adepts took their place, and gradually her glory waned until at last the light of egypt became darkness. the same story was repeated in chaldea and assyria and also upon the surface of our own america. here a great, a glorious civilization once flourished, only to disappear as the others did; and that a grand development of civilization is beginning here again is one of the operations of the just and perfect law of karma to the eye of the theosophist, but one of the mysterious workings of an irresponsible providence to those who believe in a personal god who giveth the land of other men to the good christian. the development of the american nation has a mysterious but potent connection with the wonderful past of the atlanteans, and is one of those great stories outlined in the book of fate by the lipika to whom i referred last week. viii. among the adepts the rise and fall of nations and civilizations are subjects which are studied under the great cyclic movements. they hold that there is an indissoluble connection between man and every event that takes place on this globe, not only the ordinary changes in politics and social life, but all the happenings in the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms. the changes in the seasons are for and through man; the great upheavals of continents, the movements of immense glaciers, the terrific eruptions of volcanoes, or the sudden overflowings of great rivers, are all for and through man, whether he be conscious of it or present or absent. and they tell of great changes in the inclination of the axis of the earth, past and to come, all due to man. this doctrine is incomprehensible to the western nineteenth century, for it is hidden from observation, opposed to tradition and contradicted by education. but the theosophist who has passed beyond the elementary stages knows that it is true nevertheless. "what," says the worshipper of science, "has man got to do with the charleston earthquake, or with the showers of cosmic dust that invade our atmosphere? nothing." but the adept, standing on the immeasurable height where centuries lie under his glance, sees the great cycles and the lesser ones rolling onward, influenced by man and working out their changes for his punishment, reward, experience and development. it is not necessary now to try to make it clear how the thoughts and deeds of men effect any changes in material things; that i will lay down for the present as a dogma, if you please, to be made clear later on. the great subject of cycles has been touched upon, and brings us close to a most fascinating statement made by the theosophical adepts. it is this, that the cycles in their movement are bringing up to the surface now, in the united states and america generally, not only a great glory of civilization which was forgotten eleven thousand or more years ago, but also the very men, the monads--the egos, as they call them--who were concerned so many ages since in developing and bringing it to its final lustre. in fact, we of the nineteenth century, hearing of new discoveries and inventions every day, and dreaming of great advances in all arts and sciences, are the same individuals who inhabited bodies among the powerful and brilliant as well as wicked, atlanteans, whose name is forever set immortal in the atlantic ocean. the europeans are also atlantean monads; but the flower, so to speak, of this revival or resurrection, is and is to be on the american continent. i will not say the united states, for mayhap, when the sun of our power has risen again, there may be no united states for it to rise upon. of course, in order to be able to accept in any degree this theory, it is essential that one should believe in the twin theosophical doctrines of karma and reïncarnation. to me it seems quite plain. i can almost see the atlanteans in these citizens of america, sleepy, and not well aware who they are, but yet full of the atlantean ideas, which are only prevented from full and clear expression by the inherited bodily and mental environment which cramps and binds the mighty man within. this again is nemesis-karma that punishes us by means of these galling limitations, penning up our power and for the time frustrating our ambition. it is because, when we were in atlantean bodies, we did wickedly, not the mere sordid wicked things of this day, but high deeds of evil such as by st. paul were attributed to unknown spiritual beings in high places. we degraded spiritual things and turned mighty powers over nature to base uses; we did _in excelsis_ that which is hinted at now in the glorification of wealth, of material goods, of the individual over the spiritual and above the great man--humanity. this has now its compensation in our present inability to attain what we want or to remove from among us the grinding-stones of poverty. we are, as yet, only preparers, much as we may exalt our plainly crude american development. herein lies the very gist of the cycle's meaning. it is a preparatory cycle with much of necessary destruction in it; for, before construction, we must have some disintegration. we are preparing here in america a new race which will exhibit the perfection of the glories that i said were being slowly brought to the surface from the long forgotten past. this is why the americas are seen to be in a perpetual ferment. it is the seething and bubbling of the older races in the refining-pot, and the slow coming up of the material for the new race. here, and nowhere else, are to be found men and women of every race living together, being governed together, attacking nature and the problems of life together, and bringing forth children who combine, each one, two races. this process will go on until in the course of many generations there will be produced on the american continents an entirely new race; new bodies; new orders of intellect; new powers of the mind; curious and unheard-of psychic powers, as well as extraordinary physical ones; with new senses and extensions of present senses now unforeseen. when this new sort of body and mind are generated--then other monads, or our own again, will animate them and paint upon the screen of time the pictures of , years ago. ix. in dealing with these doctrines one is compelled now and then to greatly extend the scope and meaning of many english words. the word "race" is one of these. in the theosophical scheme, as given out by the sages of the east, seven great races are spoken of. each one of these includes all the different so-called races of our modern ethnology. hence the necessity for having seven great root-races, sub-races, family races, and countless offshoot races. the root-race sends off sub-races, and these divide into family groups; all, however, being included in the great root-race then undergoing development. the appearance of these great root-races is always just when the world's development permits. when the globe was forming, the first root-race was more or less ethereal and had no such body as we now inhabit. the cosmic environment became more dense and the second race appeared, soon after which the first wholly disappeared. then the third came on the scene, after an immense lapse of time, during which the second had been developing the bodies needed for the third. at the coming of the fourth root-race it is said that the present human form was evolved, although gigantic and in some respects different from our own. it is from this point--the fourth race--that the theosophical system begins to speak of man as such. the old book quoted by mme. blavatsky has it in this wise: "thus two by two on the seven zones the third race gave birth to the fourth;" and, "the first race on every zone was moon-colored; the second, yellow, like gold; the third, red; the fourth, brown, which became black with sin." topinard, in his _anthropology_, gives support to this, as he says that there are three fundamental colors in the human organism--red, yellow and black. the brown race, which became black with sin, refers to the atlantean sorcerer race of which i spoke in my last; its awfully evil practices, both mental and physical, having produced a change in the color of the skin. the evolution of these seven great races covers many millions of years, and it must not be forgotten that when the new race is fully evolved the preceding race disappears, as the monads in it have been gradually reïncarnated in the bodies of the new race. the present root-race to which we belong, no matter what the sub-race or family we may be in, is the fifth. it became a separate, distinct and completely-defined race about one million years ago, and has yet many more years to serve before the sixth will be ushered in. this fifth race includes also all the nations in europe, as they together form a family race and are not to be divided off from each other. now, the process of forming the foundation, or great spinal column, for that race which is to usher in the sixth, and which i said is now going on in the americas, is a slow process for us. obliged as we are by our inability to judge or to count except by relativity, the gradual coming together of nations and the fusion of their offspring over and over again so as to bring forth something new in the human line, is so gradual as to seem almost without progress. but this change and evolution go on nevertheless, and a very careful observer can see evidences of it. one fact deserves attention. it is the inventive faculty displayed by americans. this is not accorded much force by our scientists, but the occultist sees in it an evidence that the brains of these inventors are more open to influences and pictures from the astral world than are the brains of the older nations. reports have been brought to me by competent persons of children, boys and girls, who were born with most abnormal faculties of speech, or memory or otherwise, and some such cases i have seen myself. all of these occur in america, and many of them in the west. there is more nervousness here than in the older nations. this is accounted for by the hurry and rush of our civilization; but such an explanation really explains nothing, because the question yet remains, "why is there such hurry and push and change in the united states?" such ordinary arguments go in a circle, since they leave out of sight the fundamental reason, so familiar to the theosophist, that it is human evolution going on right before our eyes in accordance with cyclic laws. the theosophical adepts believe in evolution, but not that sort which claims an ape as our ancestor. their great and comprehensive system is quite able to account for rudimentary muscles and traces of organs found complete only in the animal kingdom without having to call a pithecoid ape our father, for they show the gradual process of building the temple for the use of the divine ego, proceeding ceaselessly, and in silence, through ages upon ages, winding in and out among all the forms in nature in every kingdom, from the mineral up to the highest. this is the real explanation of the old jewish, masonic and archaic saying that the temple of the lord is not made with hands and that no sound of building is heard in it. x. it is well now to say, more definitely than i have as yet, a few words of the two classes of beings, one of which has been much spoken of in theosophical literature, and also by those on the outside who write of the subject either in seriousness or in ridicule. these two classes of exalted personages are the mahâtmas and nirmânakâyas. in respect to the mahâtmas, a great many wrong notions have currency, not only with the public, but as well with theosophists in all parts of the world. in the early days of the theosophical society the name mahâtma was not in use here, but the title then was "brothers." this referred to the fact that they were a band of men who belonged to a brotherhood in the east. the most wonderful powers and, at times, the most extraordinary motives were attributed to them by those who believed in their existence. they could pass to all parts of the world in the twinkling of an eye. across the great distance that india is from here they could precipitate letters to their friends and disciples in new york. many thought that if this were done it was only for amusement; others looked at it in the light of a test for the faithful, while still others often supposed mahâtmas acted thus for pure love of exercising their power. the spiritualists, some of whom believed that mme. blavatsky really did the wonderful things told of her, said that she was only a medium, pure and simple, and that her brothers were familiar spooks of séance rooms. meanwhile the press in general laughed, and mme. blavatsky and her theosophical friends went on doing their work and never gave up their belief in the brothers, who after a few years came to be called mahâtmas. indiscriminately with mahâtma the word adept has been used to describe the same beings, so that we have these two titles made use of without accuracy and in a misleading fashion. the word adept signifies proficiency, and is not uncommon, so that, when using it, some description is necessary if it is to be applied to the brothers. for that reason i used theosophical adepts in a previous paper. a mahâtma is not only an adept, but much more. the etymology of it will make the matter clearer, the word being strictly sanskrit, from _mahâ_, great, and _âtmâ_, soul--hence great soul. this does not mean a noble-hearted man merely, but a perfected being, one who has attained to the state often described by mystics and held by scientific men to be an impossibility, when time and space are no obstacles to sight, to action, to knowledge or to consciousness. hence they are said to be able to perform the extraordinary feats related by various persons, and also to possess information of a decidedly practical character concerning the laws of nature, including that mystery for science--the meaning, operation and constitution of life itself--and concerning the genesis of this planet as well as the races upon it. these large claims have given rise to the chief complaint brought forward against the theosophical adepts by those writers outside of the society who have taken the subject up--that they remain, if they exist at all, in a state of cold and selfish quietude, seeing the misery and hearing the groans of the world, yet refusing to hold out a helping hand except to a favored few; possessing knowledge of scientific principles, or of medicinal preparations, and yet keeping it back from learned men or wealthy capitalists who desire to advance commerce while they turn an honest penny. although, for one, i firmly believe, upon evidence given me, in all that is claimed for these adepts, i declare groundless the complaint advanced, knowing it to be due to a want of knowledge of those who are impugned. adepts and mahâtmas are not a miraculous growth, nor the selfish successors of some who, accidentally stumbling upon great truths, transmitted them to adherents under patent rights. they are human beings trained, developed, cultivated through not only a life but long series of lives, always under evolutionary laws and quite in accord with what we see among men of the world or of science. just as a tyndall is greater than a savage, though still a man, so is the mahâtma, not ceasing to be human, still greater than a tyndall. the mahâtma-adept is a natural growth, and not produced by any miracle; the process by which he so becomes may be to us an unfamiliar one, but it is in the strict order of nature. some years ago a well-known anglo-indian, writing to the theosophical adepts, queried if they had ever made any mark upon the web of history, doubting that they had. the reply was that he had no bar at which to arraign them, and that they had written many an important line upon the page of human life, not only as reigning in visible shape, but down to the very latest dates when, as for many a long century before, they did their work behind the scenes. to be more explicit, these wonderful _men_ have swayed the destiny of nations and are shaping events to-day. pillars of peace and makers of war such as bismarck, or saviors of nations such as washington, lincoln and grant, owe their elevation, their singular power, and their astonishing grasp upon the right men for their purposes, not to trained intellect or long preparation in the schools of their day, but to these very unseen adepts, who crave no honors, seek no publicity and claim no acknowledgment. each one of these great human leaders whom i have mentioned had in his obscure years what he called premonitions of future greatness, or connection with stirring events in his native land. lincoln always felt that in some way he was to be an instrument for some great work, and the stray utterances of bismarck point to silent hours, never openly referred to, when he felt an impulse pushing him to whatever of good he may have done. a long array of instances could be brought forward to show that the adepts have made "an ineffaceable mark upon diverse eras." even during the great uprising in india that threatened the english rule there, they saw long in advance the influence england and india would have in the affairs of the world through the very psychic and metaphysical changes of to-day, and often hastened to communicate, by their own occult and wonderful methods, the news of successes for english arms to districts and peoples in the interior who might have risen under the stimulus of imaginary reports of english disasters. at other times, vague fears were spread instantly over large masses of the hindûs, so that england at last remained master, even though many a patriotic native desired another result. but the adepts do not work for the praise of men, for the ephemeral influence of a day, but for the future races and man's best and highest good. xi. for an exhaustive disquisition upon adepts, mahâtmas and nirmânakâyas, more than a volume would be needed. the development illustrated by them is so strange to modern minds and so extraordinary in these days of general mediocrity, that the average reader fails to grasp with ease the views advanced in a condensed article; and nearly everything one would say about adepts--to say nothing of the nirmânakâyas--requiring full explanation of recondite laws and abstruse questions, is liable to be misunderstood, even if volumes should be written upon them. the development, conditions, powers, and function of these beings carry with them the whole scheme of evolution; for, as said by the mystics, the mahâtma is the efflorescence of an age. the adepts may be dimly understood to-day, the nirmânakâyas have as yet been only passingly mentioned, and the mahâtmas are misconceived by believers and deniers alike. but one law governing them is easy to state and ought not to be difficult for the understanding. they do not, will not, and must not interfere with karma; that is, however apparently deserving of help an individual may be, they will not extend it in the manner desired if his karma does not permit it; and they would not step into the field of human thought for the purpose of bewildering humanity by an exercise of power which on all sides would be looked upon as miraculous. some have said that if the theosophical adepts were to perform a few of their feats before the eyes of europe, an immense following for them would at once arise; but such would not be the result. instead of it there would be dogmatism and idolatry worse than have ever been, with a reaction of an injurious nature impossible to counteract. hypnotism--though by another name--has long been known to them. the hypnotic condition has often aided the schemes of priests and churches. to compel recognition of true doctrine is not the way of these sages, for compulsion is hypnotism. to feed a multitude with only five loaves would be easy for them; but as they never act upon sentiment but continually under the great cosmic laws, they do not advance with present material aid for the poor in their hands. but, by using their natural powers, they every day influence the world, not only among the rich and poor of europe and america, but in every other land, so that what does come about in our lives is better than it would have been had they not had part therein. the other class referred to--nirmânakâyas--constantly engage in this work deemed by them greater than earthly enterprises: the betterment of the soul of man, and any other good that they can accomplish through human agents. around them the long-disputed question of nirvâna revolves, for all that they have not been distinctly considered in it. for, if max müller's view of nirvâna, that it is annihilation, be correct, than a nirmânakâya is an impossibility. paradoxically speaking, they are in and out of that state at one and the same time. they are owners of nirvâna who refuse to accept it in order that they may help the suffering orphan, humanity. they have followed the injunction of the _book of the golden precepts_: "step out from sunlight into shade, to make more room for others." a greater part is taken in the history of nations by the nirmânakâyas than anyone supposes. some of them have under their care certain men in every nation who from their birth are destined to be great factors in the future. these they guide and guard until the appointed time. and such protégés but seldom know that such influence is about them, especially in the nineteenth century. acknowledgment and appreciation of such great assistance are not required by the nirmânakâyas, who work behind the veil and prepare the material for a definite end. at the same time, too, one nirmânakâya may have many different men--or women--whom he directs. as patanjali puts it, "in all these bodies one mind is the moving cause." strange, too, as it may seem, often such men as napoleon buonaparte are from time to time helped by them. such a being as napoleon could not come upon the scene fortuitously. his birth and strange powers must be in the order of nature. the far-reaching consequences going with a nature like his, unmeasurable by us, must in the eastern theosophical philosophy be watched and provided for. if he was a wicked man, so much the worse for him; but that could never deter a nirmânakâya from turning him to his uses. that might be by swerving him, perchance, from a path that would have plunged the world into depths of woe and been made to bring about results in after years which napoleon never dreamed of. the fear of what the world might think of encouraging a monster at a certain point never can deter a sage who sees the end that is best. and in the life of napoleon there are many things going to show at times an influence more powerful than he could grapple. his foolhardy march to moscow was perhaps engineered by these silent campaigners, and also his sudden and disastrous retreat. what he could have done had he remained in france, no present historian is competent to say. the oft-doubted story of the red letter from the red man just when napoleon was in a hesitating mood, may have been an encouragement at a particular juncture. "whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad." nor will the defeat at waterloo be ever understood until the nirmânakâyas give their records up. as a change in the thought of a people who have been tending to gross atheism is one always desired by the sages of the wisdom religion, it may be supposed that the wave of spiritualistic phenomena resulting now quite clearly in a tendency back to a universal acknowledgment of the soul, has been aided by the nirmânakâyas. they are in it and of it; they push on the progress of a psychic deluge over great masses of people. the result is seen in the literature, the religion and the drama of to-day. slowly but surely the tide creeps up and covers the once dry shore of materialism, and, though priests may howl, demanding "the suppression of theosophy with a firm hand," and a venal press may try to help them, they have neither the power nor the knowledge to produce one backward ripple, for the master hand is guided by omniscient intelligence propelled by a gigantic force, and--_works behind the scene_. xii. there have been so many secret societies during the christian era, by whom claims were made to knowledge of nature's secret laws, that a natural question arises: "in what do the theosophic eastern sages differ from the many rosicrucians and others so often heard of?" the old bookshelves of germany are full of publications upon rosicrucianism, or by pretended and genuine members of that order, and to-day it is not uncommon to find those who have temerity enough to dub themselves "rosicrucians." the difference is that which exists between reality and illusion, between mere ritualism and the signs printed by nature upon all things and beings passing forever up the road to higher states of existence. the rosicrucian and masonic fraternities known to history rely upon outward signs and tokens to indicate the status in the order of their members, who, without such guarantees, are only uninitiated outsiders. but the sages we speak of, and their disciples, carry with them the indelible mark and speak the well-known words that show they are beings developed under laws, and not merely persons who, having undergone a childish ordeal, are possessed of a diploma. the adepts may be called rugged oaks that have no disguise, while the undeveloped man dabbling in masonic words and formulas is only a donkey wearing a lion's skin. there are many adepts living in the world, all of whom know each other. they have means of communication unknown to modern civilization, by using which they can transmit to and receive from each other messages at any moment and from immense distances, without using any mechanical means. we might say that there is a society of adepts, provided that we never attach to the word "society" the meaning ordinarily conveyed by it. it is a society which has no place of meeting, which exacts no dues, which has no constitution or by-laws other than the eternal laws of nature; there are no police or spies attached to it and no complaints are made or received in it, for the reason that any offender is punished by the operation of law entirely beyond his control--his mastery over the law being lost upon his infringing it. under the protection and assistance and guidance of this society of adepts are the disciples of each one of its members. these disciples are divided into different degrees, corresponding to the various stages of development; the least developed disciples are assisted by those who are in advance of them, and the latter in a similar manner by others, until the grade of disciple is reached where direct intercourse with the adepts is possible. at the same time, each adept keeps a supervisory eye upon all his disciples. through the agency of the disciples of adepts many effects are brought about in human thought and affairs, for from the higher grades are often sent those who, without disclosing their connection with mysticism, influence individuals who are known to be main factors in events about to occur. it is claimed that the theosophical society receives assistance in its growth and the spreading of its influence from the adepts and their accepted disciples. the history of the society would seem to prove this, for unless there were some hidden but powerful force operating for its advantage it would have long ago sunk into obscurity, destroyed by the storm of ridicule and abuse to which it has been subjected. promises were made, in the early history of the society, that assistance would at all times be rendered, and prophecies were hinted that it would be made the target for vilification and the object of opposition. both prophecies have been fulfilled to the letter. in just the same way as a polished diamond shows the work which gives it value and brilliancy, so the man who has gone through probation and teaching under the adepts carries upon his person the ineffaceable marks. to the ordinary eye untrained in this department, no such indications are visible; but those who can see describe them as being quite prominent and wholly beyond the control of the bearer. for this reason that one who has progressed, say, three steps along the way, will have three marks, and it is useless to pretend that his rank is a step higher, for, if it were, then the fourth mark would be there, since it grows with the being's development. now, as these signatures cannot be imitated or forged, the whole inner fraternity has no need for concealment or signs. no one can commit a fraud upon or extract from them the secrets of higher degrees by having obtained signs and pass-words out of a book or in return for the payment of fees, and none can procure the conferring of any advancement until the whole nature of the man exactly corresponds to the desired point of development. in two ways the difference between the adept fraternity and the worldly secret societies can be seen--in their treatment of nations and of their own direct special disciples. nothing is forced or depends upon favor. everything is arranged in accordance with the best interests of a nation, having in view the cyclic influences at any time prevailing, and never before the proper time. when they desire to destroy the chains forged by dogmatism, they do not make the error of suddenly appearing before the astonished eyes of the people; for they know well that such a course would only alter the dogmatic belief in one set of ideas to a senseless and equally dogmatic adherence to the adepts as gods, or else create in the minds of many the surety that the devil was present. xiii. the training of the disciple by the teachers of the school to which the theosophical adepts belong is peculiar to itself, and not in accord with prevailing modern educational ideas. in one respect it is a specialization of the pilgrimage to a sacred place so common in india, and the enshrined object of the journey is the soul itself, for with them the existence of soul is one of the first principles. in the east the life of man is held to be a pilgrimage, not only from the cradle to the grave, but also through that vast period of time, embracing millions upon millions of years, stretching from the beginning to the end of a manvantara, or period of evolution, and as he is held to be a spiritual being, the continuity of his existence is unbroken. nations and civilizations rise, grow old, decline and disappear; but the being lives on, spectator of all the innumerable changes of environment. starting from the great all, radiating like a spark from the central fire, he gathers experience in all ages, under all rulers, civilizations and customs, ever engaged in a pilgrimage to the shrine from which he came. he is now the ruler and now the slave; to-day at the pinnacle of wealth and power, to-morrow at the bottom of the ladder, perhaps in abject misery, but ever the same being. to symbolize this, the whole of india is dotted with sacred shrines, to which pilgrimages are made, and it is the wish of all men in that so-called benighted land to make such a journey at least once before death, for the religious duties of life are not fully performed without visiting such sacred places. one great reason for this, given by those who understand the inner significance of it, is that the places of pilgrimage are centers of spiritual force from which radiate elevating influences not perceptible to the pig-sticking, wine-drinking traveller. it is asserted by many, indeed, that at most of the famous places of pilgrimage there is an adept of the same order to which the theosophical adepts are said to belong, who is ready always to give some meed of spiritual insight and assistance to those of pure heart who may go there. he, of course, does not reveal himself to the knowledge of the people, because it is quite unnecessary, and might create the necessity for his going elsewhere. superstitions have arisen from the doctrine of pilgrimages, but, as that is quite likely to come about in this age, it is no reason why places of pilgrimage should be abolished, since, if the spiritual centers were withdrawn, good men who are free from superstition would not receive the benefits they now may have. the adepts founded these places in order to keep alive in the minds of the people the soul idea which modern science and education would soon turn into agnosticism, were they to prevail unchecked. but the disciple of the adept knows that the place of pilgrimage symbolizes his own nature, shows him how he is to start on the scientific investigation of it and how to proceed, by what roads and in which direction. he is supposed to concentrate into a few lives the experience and practice which it takes ordinary men countless incarnations to acquire. his first steps, as well as his last, are on difficult, often dangerous places; the road, indeed, "winds up hill all the way," and upon entering it he leaves behind the hope for reward so common in all undertakings. nothing is gained by favor, but all depends upon his actual merit. as the end to be reached is self-dependence with perfect calmness and clearness, he is from the beginning made to stand alone, and this is for most of us a difficult thing which frequently brings on a kind of despair. men like companionship, and cannot with ease contemplate the possibility of being left altogether to themselves. so, instead of being constantly in the company of a lodge of fellow-apprentices, as is the case in the usual worldly secret society, he is forced to see that, as he entered the world alone, he must learn to live there in the same way, leaving it as he came, solely in his own company. but this produces no selfishness, because, being accompanied by constant meditation upon the unseen, the knowledge is acquired that the loneliness felt is only in respect to the lower, personal, worldly self. another rule that this disciple must follow is that no boasting may be indulged in on any occasion, and this gives us the formula that, given a man who speaks of his powers as an adept or boasts of his progress on the spiritual planes, we can be always sure he is neither adept nor disciple. there have been those in the theosophical society who gave out to the world that they were either adepts in fact or very near it, and possessed of great powers. under our formula it follows that they were mere boasters, with nothing behind their silly pretensions but vanity and a fair knowledge of the weakness as well as the gullibility of human nature; upon the latter they play for either their profit or pleasure. but, hiding themselves under an exterior which does not attract attention, there are many of the real disciples in the world. they are studying themselves and other human hearts. they have no diplomas, but there resides in them a consciousness of constant help and a clear knowledge of the true lodge which meets in real secrecy and is never found mentioned in any directory. their whole life is a persistent pursuit of the fast-moving soul which, although appearing to stand still, can distance the lightning; and their death is only another step forward to greater knowledge through better physical bodies in new lives. xiv. looking back into the past the nineteenth-century historian finds his sight speedily striking a mist and at last plunging into inky darkness. bound down in fact by the influence of a ridiculous dogmatism which allows only some six thousand years for man's life on earth, he is unwilling to accept the old chronologies of the egyptians or hindûs, and, while permitting the assumption of vast periods for geological changes, he is staggered by a few millions of years more or less when they are added to the length of time during which humanity has peopled the globe. the student of theosophy, however, sees no reason why he should doubt the statement made by his teachers on this subject. he knows that the periods of evolution are endless. these are called manvantaras, because they are between two manus, or, two men. these periods may be called waves whose succession has no cessation. each grand period, including within it all the minor evolutions, covers , , , , human years; under a single manu the human years come and go, , , in number, and the lesser yugas--or ages--more immediately concerning us, comprise of solar years , , . during these solar revolutions the human races sweep round and round this planet. cave-dwellers, lake-dwellers and those of a neolithic or any other age appear and disappear over and over again, and in each of those we who now read, write and think of them were ourselves the very egos whose past we are trying to trace. but, going deep into geological strata, the doubt of man's existence contemporaneously with the plesiosaurus arises because no fossil _genus homo_ is discovered in the same stratum. it is here that the theories of the theosophist come in and furnish the key. those hold that before man developed any physical body he clothed himself with an astral form; and this is why h. p. blavatsky writes in her _secret doctrine_: "it teaches the birth of the _astral_ before the _physical_ body, the former being the model for the latter." at the time of the huge antediluvian animals they absorbed in their enormous bodies so much of the total quantity of gross matter available for frames of sentient beings that the astral man remained without a corporeal frame, as yet unclothed "with coats of skin." for this reason he could exist in the same place with those huge birds and reptiles without fear. their massive proportions inspired him with no terror, and by their consumption of food there was no lessening of his sustenance. and, therefore, being of such a composition that he left no impression upon mud or plastic rock, the death of one astral body after another left no fossil and no mark to be unearthed by us in company with the very beasts and birds which were his contemporaries. man was all this time acquiring the power to clothe himself with a dense frame. he threw off astral bodies one after another, in the ceaseless pursuit, each effort giving him a little more density. then he began to cast a shadow, as it were, and the vast, unwieldy animal world--and others as well--felt more and more the draughts made upon it by the coming man. as he thickened they grew smaller, and his remains could not be deposited in any stratum until such time as he had grown to sufficient hardness. but our modern anthropologists have not yet discovered when that was. they are ready enough to make definite statements, but, learned as they are, there are surprises awaiting them not so far off. while, therefore, our explorers are finding, now and then, the remains of animals and birds and reptiles in strata which show an age far greater than any assigned to the human race, they never come upon human skeletons. how could man leave any trace at a stage when he could not press himself into the clay or be caught by soft lava or masses of volcanic dust? i do not mean, however, to say that the period of the plesiosaurus is the period of the man of astral body devoid of a material one. the question of exact period may well be left for a more detailed account; this is only to point to the law and to the explanation for the non-appearance of man's remains in very early geologic strata. but the theosophic adepts insist that there are still in the earth bony remains of man, which carry his first appearance in a dense body many millions of years farther back than have yet been admitted, and these remains will be discovered by us before much time shall have rolled away. one of the first results of these discoveries will be to completely upset the theory as to the succession of ages, as i may call it, which is given and accepted at the present time, and also the estimation of the various civilizations that have passed from the earth and left no trace except in the inner constitution of ourselves--for it is held that _we are those very persons_, now in different bodies, who so long ago lived and loved and died upon the planet. we began to make karma then and have been under its influence ever since, and it seems fitting that that great doctrine should be taken up at another time for a more careful examination. xv. the oriental doctrine of reward and punishment of the human ego is very different from the theological scheme accepted throughout christendom, since the brahmins and buddhists fix the place of punishment and compensation upon this earth of ours, while the christian removes the "bar of god" to the hereafter. we may not profitably stop to argue upon logic with the latter; it will be sufficient to quote to them the words of jesus, st. matthew, and the psalmist. "with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you again," said jesus; and matthew declares that for every word, act, and thought we shall have to answer, while david, the royal poet, sang that those who serve the lord should never eat beggar's bread. we all know well that the first two declarations do away with the vicarious atonement; and as for the jewish singer's notion, it is negatived every day in any city of either hemisphere. among the ceylonese buddhists the name of the doctrine is kamma; with the hindûs it is karma. viewed in its religious light, it "is the good and bad deeds of sentient beings, by the infallible influence or efficacy of which those beings are met with due rewards or punishment, according as they deserve, in any state of being."[a] when a being dies, he emits, as it were, a mass of force or energy, which goes to make up the new personality when he shall be reïncarnated. in this energy is found the summation of the life just given up, and by means of it the ego is forced to assume that sort of body among those appropriate circumstances which together are the means for carrying out the decrees of karma. hence hell is not a mythical place or condition after death in some unknown region specially set apart by the almighty for the punishment of his children, but is in very truth our own globe, for it is on the earth, in earth-lives experienced in human bodies, that we are punished for bad deeds previously done, and meet with happiness and pleasure as rewards for old merit. when one sees, as is so common, a good man suffering much in his life, the question naturally arises, "has karma anything to do with it, and is it just that such a person should be so afflicted?" for those who believe in karma it is quite just, because this man in a previous life must have done such acts as deserve punishment now. and, similarly, the wicked man who is free from suffering, happy and prosperous, is so because in a previous existence he had been badly treated by his fellows or had experienced much suffering. and the perfect justice of karma is well illustrated in his case because, although now favored by fortune, he, being wicked, is generating causes which, when he shall be reborn, will operate then to punish him for his evil-doing now. some may suppose that the ego should be punished after death, but such a conclusion is not logical. for _evil deeds committed here on the objective plane could not with any scientific or moral propriety be punished on a plane which is purely subjective_. and such is the reason why so many minds, both of the young and old, have rejected and rebelled against the doctrine of a hellfire in which they would be eternally punished for commission of sin on earth. even when unable to formulate the reason in metaphysical terms, they instinctively knew that it would be impossible to remove the scene of compensation from the very place where the sin and confusion had been done and created. when the disciples of jesus asked him if the man who was born blind was thus brought into the world for some sin he had committed they had in mind this doctrine of karma, just as all the hindûs and buddhists have when they see some of their fellows crippled or deformed or deprived of sight. the theory above hinted at of the person at death throwing out from himself the new personality, so to speak, ready to await the time when the ego should return to earth seeking a new body, is a general law that operates in a great many other instances besides the birth or death of a being. it is that which is used by the theosophists to explain the relations between the moon and the earth. for, as the moon is held by them to be the planet on which we lived before reaching the earth and before there was any such earth whatever; and that, when our so-called satellite came to die, all the energy contained in it was thrown out into space, where in a single vortex it remained until the time came for that energy to be again supplied with a body--this earth--so the same law prevails with men, the single units in the vast aggregate which is known among advanced theosophists as the great manu. men being, as to their material envelope, derived from the moon, must follow the law of their origin, and therefore the buddhist priest says, as quoted: "at the death of a being nothing goes out from him to the other world for his rebirth; but by the efficacy--or, to use a more figurative expression, by the ray--of influence which kamma emits, a new being is produced in the other world very identical with the one who died away," for in this "new being" is held all the life of the deceased. the term "being," as applied to it may be taken by us with some qualification. it is more properly a mass of energy devoid of conscience and crowded with desires of the person from whom it emanated; and its special province is to await the return of the individuality and form for that the new body in which it shall suffer or enjoy. each man is therefore his own creator under the great cosmic laws that control all creations. a better term in place of "creation" is "evolution," for we, from life to life, are engaged in evolving out of the material provided in this _manvantara_ new bodies at every turn of the wheel of rebirth. the instruments we use in this work are desire and will. desire causes the will to fix itself on objective life; in that plane it produces force and out of that comes matter in its objective form. footnote: [a] the rev. t. p. terunnanse, high-priest at dodanduwa, ceylon. xvi. very many western people say that this oriental doctrine of karma is difficult to understand, being fit only for educated and thoughtful persons. but in india, ceylon and burmah, not to mention other asiatic countries, the whole mass of the people accept and seem to understand it. the reason for this lies probably in the fact that they also firmly believe in reïncarnation, which may be said to be the twin doctrine to karma. indeed, the one cannot be properly considered without keeping the other in view, for karma--whether as punishment or reward--could have no actual or just operation upon the ego unless the means for its operation were furnished by reïncarnation. our deserts are meted out to us while we are associating in life with each other, and not while we are alone, nor in separateness. if being raised to power in a nation or becoming possessed of wealth is called a reward, it would lose all value were there no people to govern and no associated human beings with and upon whom we could spend our wealth and who might aid us in satisfying our manifold desires. and so the law of reïncarnation drags us into life again and again, bringing with us uncounted times the various egos whom we have known in prior births. this is in order that the karma--or causes--generated in company with those egos may be worked out, for to take us off separately into an unknown hell, there to receive some sort of punishment, or into an impossible serio-comic heaven to meet our reward, would be as impossible as unjust. hence, no just-hanged murderer absolved by priest or praising jesus can escape. he, together with his victim, must return to this earth, each to aid the other in adjusting the disturbed harmony, during which process each makes due compensation. with this doctrine we restore justice to her seat in the governance of men, for without it the legal killing of the murderer after condemnation is only a half remedy, since no provision is made by the state for the being hurled out of the body nor for the dependants he may have left behind, and, still further, nothing is done for those who in the family of the murderer survive him. but the theosophical sages of all ages push the doctrine of karma beyond a mere operation upon incarnated men. they view all worlds as being bound together and swayed by karma. as the old hindû book, the _bhagavad-gîtâ_, says, "all worlds up to that of brahmâ are subject to karma." hence it acts on all planes. so viewing it, they say that this world as it is now conditioned is the actual result of what it came to be at the beginning of the _pralaya_ or grand death which took place billions upon billions of years ago. that is, the world evolves just as man does. it is born, it grows old, it dies, and it is reïncarnated. this goes on many times, and during those incarnations it suffers and enjoys in its own way for its previous evolutions. for it the reward is a greater advance along the line of evolution, and the punishment is a degraded state. of course, as i said in a former article, these states have man for their object and cause, for he is the crown of all evolution. and, coming down from the high consideration of great cosmic spaces and phenomena, the theosophist is taught to apply these laws of karma and reïncarnation to every atom in the body in _especial_ and apart from the total karma. since we are made up of a mass of lives, our thoughts and acts affect those atoms or lives and impress them with a karma of their own. as the oriental thinkers say, "not a moment passes without some beings coming to life in us, acquiring karma, dying, and being reïncarnated." the principal divisions of karma are three in number. one sort is that now operating in the present life and body, bringing about all the circumstances and changes of life. of this we see illustrations every day, with now and then strange climaxes which throw upon the doctrine the brightest light. one such is immortalized in india by a building erected by the favored son of fortune, as we would say, and thus it came about. a rajah had a very strange dream, so affecting that he called upon his soothsayers for interpretation. they said that their horoscopes showed he was required next day to give an immense sum of money to the first person he should see after awaking, their intention being to present themselves at an early hour. next day the king arose unusually early, stepped to his window, threw it open, and there before him was a chandalah sweeping up the dirt. to him he gave a fortune, and thus in a moment raised him to affluence from abject poverty. the chandalah then built a huge building to commemorate his sudden release from the grinding chains of poverty. another class of karma is that which is held over and not now in operation because the man does not furnish the appropriate means for bringing it into action. this may be likened to vapor held in suspension in the atmosphere and not visible to the eye, but which will fall as rain upon the earth the moment conditions are ripe. the last chief class is that karma which we are making now, and which will be felt by us in future births. its appropriate symbol is the arrow shot forward in the air by the archer. xvii. the spirit is not affected by karma at any time or under any circumstances, and so the theosophical adepts would not use the terms "cultivation of the spirit." the spirit in man, called by them _ishwara_, is immutable, eternal and indivisible--the fundamental basis of all. hence they say that the body and all objects are impermanent and thus deluding to the soul whenever they are mistaken for reality. they are only real on and for this plane and during the time when the consciousness takes them up here for cognition. they are therefore relatively real and not so in an absolute sense. this can easily be proved from dreams. in the dream state we lose all knowledge of the objects which while awake we thought real and proceed to suffer and enjoy in that new state. in this we find the consciousness applying itself to objects partaking of course of the nature of the experiences of the waking condition, but at the same time producing the sensations of pleasure and pain while they last. let us imagine a person's body plunged in a lethargy extending over twenty years and the mind undergoing a pleasant or unpleasant dream, and we have a life just of that sort, altogether different from the life of one awake. for the consciousness of this dreamer the reality of objects known during the waking state is destroyed. but as material existence is a necessary evil and the one in which alone emancipation or salvation can be obtained, it is of the greatest importance and hence karma which governs it and through whose decrees emancipation may be reached must be well understood and then be accepted and obeyed. karma will operate to produce a deformed or deficient body, to give in a good body a bad disposition or _vicè versâ_; it will cause diseases, hurts or annoyances, or bring about pleasures and favorable situations for the material frame. so we sometimes find with a deformed or disagreeable body a most enlightened and noble mind. in this case the physical karma is bad and the mental good. this leads us to the sort of karma that works upon the mental plane. at the same time that an unfavorable karmic cause is showing forth in the physical structure another and better sort is working out in the mind and disposition or has eventuated in conferring a mind well balanced, calm, cheerful, deep, and brilliant. hence we discover a purely physical as compared with an entirely mental karma. purely physical would be that resulting, say from a removal from the ground of fruit peel which might otherwise cause some unknown person to fall and be hurt. purely mental might be due to a life spent in calm, philosophical thought and the like. there is in one of the hindû books a strange sentence respecting this part of the subject, reading: "perfection of body or superhuman powers are produced by birth or by herbs or by incantations, penances, or meditations." among mental afflictions esteemed as worse than any bodily hurt or loss is that karma from a preceding life which results in obscurity of such a character that there is a loss of all power to conceive of the reality of spirit or the existence of soul--that is, materialism. the last field of operation for this law may be said to be the psychical nature. of this in america we have numerous examples in mediums, clairvoyants, clairaudients, mind-readers, hysteriacs, and all sorts of abnormal sensitives. there could be no clairvoyant according to the oriental scheme if the person so afflicted, using as i think the proper term, had not devoted much of previous lives to a one-sided development of the psychical nature resulting now in powers which make the possessor an abnormality in society. a very strange belief of the hindûs is that one which allows the possibility of a change of state by a mortal of such a character that the once man becomes a _deva_ or lesser god. they divide nature into several departments, in each of which are conscious powers or entities called _devas_, to put it roughly. yet this is not so far apart from the ideas of some of our best scientific men who have said there is no reason why in each ray of the spectrum there may not be beings to us unseen. many centuries ago the hindû thinker admitted this, and pushing further on declared that a man might through a certain sort of karma become one of these beings, with corresponding enjoyment and freedom from care, but with the certainty, however, of eventually changing back again to begin the weary round of birth over again. what might be called the doctrine of the nullification of karma is an application in this department of the well-known law in physics which causes an equilibrium when two equal forces oppose each other. a man may have in his karmic account a very unpleasant cause and at the same time a cause of opposite character. if these come together for expression at the same time they may so counteract each other as that neither will be apparent and the equilibrium is the equivalent of both. in this way it is easy to understand the biblical verse: "charity covereth a multitude of sins," as referring to the palliative effect of charitable deeds as opposed to deeds of wickedness, and giving a reason for the mediæval knight devoting some of the years of his life to almsgiving. in the _bhagavad-gîtâ_, a book revered by all in india, the highest place is given to what is called _karma-yôga_ or the religion of the performance of works and duty, and there it is said: "he who, unattached to the fruits of his actions, performs such actions as must be done, is both renouncer and devotee; not he who kindles no sacrificial fires and performs no ceremonies. he who remains inert, restraining the organs of action, and pondering with his heart on objects of sense, is called a false pietist of bewildered soul. but he who, restraining his senses by his heart and being free from interest in acting, undertakes active devotion through the organs of action, is praiseworthy." xviii. that the doctrine of karma is unjust, unsympathetic, and fatalistic has been claimed by those who oppose it, but such conclusions are not borne out by experience among those races who believe in it, nor will the objections stand a close examination. the hindûs and buddhists thoroughly believe in karma, convinced that no one but themselves punishes or rewards in this or any life, yet we do not find them cold or unsympathetic. indeed, in the relations of life it is well known that the hindû is as loving and tender as his american brother, and there are as many instances of heroic self-sacrifice in their history as in ours. some go further than this and say that the belief in karma and reïncarnation has made the hindû more gentle in his treatment of men and animals than are the europeans, and more spiritual in his daily life. going deeper into their history, the belief in karma is found side by side with material works of great magnitude, and whose remains to this day challenge our wonder, admiration, and respect; it is doubtful whether we could ever show such triumphs over nature as can be seen at any time in the rock-cut temples of hindustan. so it would appear that this doctrine of ours is not likely to produce bad or enervating effects upon the people who accept it. "but," says an objector, "it is fatalism. if karma is karma, if i am to be punished in such and such a manner, then it will come about so whether i will or not, and hence i must, like the turk, say 'kismet,' and do nothing." now, although the mohammedan doctrine of kismet has been abused as fatalism, pure and simple, it was not so held by the prophet nor by his greatest disciples, for they taught that it was law and not fate. and neither is karma amenable to this objection. in the minds of those who, having vaguely apprehended karma as applying to one life only, do not give the doctrine its true majestic, endless sweep, fatalism is the verdict. when, on the other hand, each man is seen as the fashioner of the fate for his next fleeting earth personality, there can be no fatality in it, because in his own hand is the decree. he set in motion the causes which will inevitably have certain results. just as easily he could have made different causes and thus brought about different results. that there are a repellant coldness and want of tenderness in a doctrine which thus deals out inflexible justice and compels us to forever lose our friends and beloved relatives, once death has closed the door, is the feeling of a few who make sentiment their rule in life. but while sentiment and our own wishes are not the guiding laws of nature, there is no reason even on the sentimental ground for this objection; it is due to a partial knowledge of the doctrine which, when fully known, is found to be as full of opportunity for the exercise of what is dear to the heart as any other theory of life. the same law that throws us into life to suffer or enjoy, as may be deserved, decrees that the friends and the relatives who are like unto each other must incarnate together, until by reason of differentiation of character they cannot under any law of attraction remain in company. not unless and until they become different do they separate from each other. and who would wish to be eternally tied to the side of uncongenial relatives or acquaintances merely because there was an accident of birth! for our aid also this law works well and ceaselessly. "those whom you help will help you in other lives," is the declaration. in ages past perhaps we knew those who long since have passed up to greater heights. the very moment in the long series of incarnations we come near to where they are pursuing their pilgrimage, they at once extend assistance, whether that be on the material or moral planes. and it makes no difference whether one or the other is aware of who is assisting or who is being assisted. inflexible law guides the current and brings about the result. thus the members of the whole human family reciprocally act on one another, forced into it by a law which is as kind as it is great, which turns the contempt we bore in the past into present honor and opportunity to help our fellows. there is no favoritism possible in nature; no man has any privilege or gift which he has not deserved, either as a reward or a compensation. looking at the present life spread before our limited vision, we may see perhaps no cause why there should be any such reward to an unworthy man, but karma never errs and will surely repay. and it not only rewards, but to it solely belong those compensations which we with revenge attempt to mete out. it is with this in view that the holy writ of the christians says, "vengeance is mine; i will repay," for so surely as one hurts another so is the certainty of karma striking the offender;--but let the injured one beware that he does not desire the other punished, for by karma will he be punished also. so from all this web of life and ceaselessly revolving wheel, karma furnishes the escape and the means of escape, and by reïncarnation we are given the time for escape. xix. in the egyptian _book of the dead_, chapter x describes the place where, after death, disembodied souls remain in different degrees of perfection. some are shown as taking wheat three cubits high, while others are only permitted to glean it--"he gleaned the fields of aanroo." thus some enjoy the perfection of spiritual bliss, while others attain only to minor degrees in that place or state where divine justice is meted out to the soul. devachan is the land of reward; the domain of spiritual effects. the word spiritual here refers to disembodiment; it must only be used as relative to our material existence. the christian demonstrates this fact by the material _entourage_ of his heaven. in the _secret doctrine_, h. p. blavatsky says: "death itself is unable to deliver man from it [karma], since death is simply the door through which he passes to another life on earth, after a little rest on its threshold--devachan." devachan, then, is the threshold of life. in the hindû system it is etymologically the place of the gods, indra's heaven. indra is the regent of heaven, who gives to those who can reach his realm long-enduring gifts of happiness and dominion. the _bhavagad-gîtâ_ says: "after enjoying felicity for innumerable years in the regions of indra, he is born again upon this earth." for the purpose of this article, we assume that the entire man, minus the body, goes into devachan. this, however, is not so. the _post-mortem_ division of our sevenfold constitution given by theosophy is exact. it exhibits the basis of life, death and reïncarnation. it shows the composite being, man, in analogy with that other composite being, nature. both are a unity in diversity. man, suspended in nature, like her, divides and reünites. this sevenfold division will be treated in a future article. devachan, being a state of prolonged subjective happiness after the death of the body, is plainly the heaven of the christian, but with a difference. it is a heaven made scientifically possible. heaven itself must accord with the divine laws projected into nature. as sleep is a release from the body, during which we have dreams, so death is a complete separation and release, after which in devachan we dream until, on being again incarnated in a new body on earth, we come once more into what we call waking existence. even the human soul would weary of the ceaseless round of rebirths, if some place or state were not provided in which rest could be obtained; in which germinating aspirations, restricted by earth-life, could have their full development. no energy can be annihilated, least of all a psychic energy; these must somewhere find an outlet. it is found in devachan; this realization is the rest of the soul. its deepest desires, its highest needs are there enjoyed. there every hope blooms out in full and glorious flower. to prolong this blissful state, hindû books give many incantations and provide innumerable ceremonies and sacrifices, all of them having for end and aim a long stay in devachan. the christian does precisely the same. he longs for heaven, prays that he may go there, and offers up to his god such propitiatory rites and acts as seem best to him, the only difference being that he does not do it half so scientifically as the hindû. the hindû is also more vivid in his conception of this heaven than the christian is. he postulates many places or conditions adapted to the energic and qualitative differences between souls. kama-loka and other states are where concrete desires, restricted by life in the body, have full expression, while in tribûvana the abstract and benevolent thinkers absorb the joys of lofty thought. the orthodox heaven has no such proviso. it also ignores the fact that a settled monotony of celestial existence would exhaust the soul--would be stagnation, not growth. devachanic life is development of aspiration, passing through the various stages of gestation, birth, cumulative growth, downward momentum and departure to another condition, all rooted in joy. there is nothing in the mere fact of death to mould a soul anew. it is a group of psychic energies, and heaven must have something in common with these, or why should it gravitate there? souls differ as men do. in devachan each one receives that degree of bliss which it can assimilate; its own development determines its reward. the christian places all the snuffy old saints as high as other holy souls, sinking genius to the level of the mediocre mass, while the hindû gives infinite variety of occupation and existence suited to grave and gay, the soul of genius or of poetry. no one sits in undesired seats, nor sings psalms he never liked, nor lives in a city which might pall upon him if he were forever compelled to walk its pearly streets. the laws of cause and effect forbid that devachan should be monotonous. results are proportionate to antecedent energies. the soul oscillates between devachan and earth-life, finding in each conditions suited to its continuous development, until, through effort, it reaches a perfection in which it ceases to be the subject of the laws of action and reäction, becoming instead their conscious co-worker. devachan is a dream, but only in the sense in which objective life can be called such. both last until karma is satisfied in one direction, and begins to work in the other. the devachanee has no idea of space or time except such as he makes for himself. he creates his own world. he is with all he ever loved, not in bodily companionship, but in one to him real, close and blissful. when a man dies, the brain dies last. life is still busy there after death has been announced. the soul marshals up all past events, grasps the sum total, the average tendency stands out, the ruling hope is seen. their final aroma forms the keynote of devachanic existence. the lukewarm man goes neither to heaven nor hell. nature spews him out of her mouth. positive conditions, objective or subjective, are only reached through positive impulsion. devachanic distribution is governed by the ruling motive of the soul. the hater may, by reäction, become the lover, but the indifferent have no propulsion, no growth. xx. it is quite evident to the unprejudiced inquirer that christian priests for some reason or other studiously ignore the composite nature of man, although their great authority, st. paul, clearly refers to it. he spoke of body, soul, and spirit, they only preach of body and soul; he declared we had a spiritual body, they remain misty as to the soul's body and cling to an absurd resurrection of the material casket. it became the duty of theosophists to draw the attention of the modern mind once more to the oriental division of man's constitution, for through that alone can an understanding of his state before and after death be attained. the division laid down by st. paul is threefold, the hindû one is of a sevenfold character. st. paul's is meant for those who require broad outlines, but do not care to inquire into details. spirit, soul, and body, however, include the whole seven divisions, the latter being a more complete analysis; and it is suspected by many deep thinkers that paul knew the complete system but kept it back for good reasons of his own. an analysis of body discloses more than mere molecular structure, for it shows a force or life or power that keeps it together and active throughout its natural period. some writers on theosophical subjects, dealing more or less accurately with the eastern system, have called this _prâna_ or _jîva_; others, however, call it _prâna_ alone, which seems more appropriate, because the human aspect of the life force is dependent upon _prâna_, or _breath_. the _spirit_ of st. paul may be taken for our purposes to be the sanskrit _Âtmâ_. spirit is universal, indivisible, and common to all. in other words, there are not many spirits, one for each man, but solely one spirit which shines upon all men alike, finding as many souls--roughly speaking--as there are beings in the world. in man the spirit has a more complete instrument or assemblage of tools with which to work. this spiritual identity is the basis of the philosophy; upon it the whole structure rests; to individualize spirit, assigning to each human being his own spirit, particular to him and separate from the spirit of any other man, is to throw to the ground the whole theosophic philosophy, will nullify its ethics and defeat its object. starting then with _Âtmâ_--spirit--as including the whole, being its basis and support, we find the hindû offering the theory of sheaths or covers of the soul or inner man. these sheaths are necessary the moment evolution begins and visible objects appear, so that the aim of the soul may be attained in conjunction with nature. in this way, through a process which would be out of place here, a classification is arrived at by means of which the phenomena of life and consciousness may be explained. the six vehicles used by the spirit and by means of which the ego gains experience are: _body_, as a gross vehicle. _vitality_, or _prâna_. _astral body_, or _linga sharîra_. _animal soul_, or _kâma rûpa_. _human soul_, or _manas_. _spiritual soul_, or _buddhi_. the _linga sharîra_ is needed as a more subtle body than the corporeal frame, because the latter is in fact only stupid, inert matter. _kâma rûpa_ is the body, or collection, of desires and passions; _manas_ may be properly called the mind, and _buddhi_ is the highest intellection beyond brain or mind. it is that which discriminates. at the death of the body, _prâna_ flies back to the reservoir of force; the astral body dissipates after a longer period and often returns with _kâma rûpa_ when aided by certain other forces to séance-rooms, where it masquerades as the deceased, a continual lie and ever-present snare. the human and the spiritual soul go into the state spoken of before as _devachan_ or heaven, where the stay is prolonged or short according to the energies appropriate to that state generated during earth-life. when these begin to exhaust themselves the ego is gradually drawn back to earth-life, where through human generation it takes up a new body, with another astral body, vitality, and animal soul. this is the "wheel of rebirth," from which no man can escape unless he conforms to true ethics and acquires true knowledge and consciousness while living in a body. it was to stop this ceaselessly revolving wheel that buddha declared his perfect law, and it is the aim of the true theosophist to turn his great and brilliant "wheel of the law" for the healing of the nations. xxi. high in the esteem of the hindû stands the serpent, both as a symbol and a creature. moving in a wavy line, he figures the vast revolution of the sun through eternal space carrying the rapidly whirling earth in her lesser orbit; periodically casting his skin, he presents a visible illustration of renewal of life or reïncarnation; coiling to strike, he shows the working of the law of karma-nemesis which, with a basis in our actions, deals an unerring blow. as a symbol with tail in mouth, forming a circle, he represents eternity, the circle of necessity, all-devouring time. for the older initiates he spoke to them also of the astral light which is at once devilish and divine. probably in the whole field of theosophic study there is nothing so interesting as the astral light. among the hindûs it is known as akâsa, which can also be translated as æther. through a knowledge of its properties they say that all the wonderful phenomena of the oriental yogis are accomplished. it is also claimed that clairvoyance, clairaudience, mediumship, and seership as known to the western world are possible only through its means. it is the register of our deeds and thoughts, the great picture gallery of the earth, where the seer can always gaze upon any event that has ever happened, as well as those to come. swimming in it as in a sea are beings of various orders and also the astral remains of deceased men and women. the rosicrucians and other european mystics called these beings sylphs, salamanders, gnomes, undines, elementals; the hindû calls them gandharbhas or celestial musicians, yakshas, rakshâsas and many more. the "spooks" of the dead--mistaken by spiritualists for the individuals who are no more--float in this akâsic substance, and for centuries have been known to the mystical hindû as bhûta, another name for devil, or pisâcha, a most horrible devil; neither of them any more than the cast-off soul-body nearest earth, devoid of conscience and only powerful for evil. but the term "astral light," while not new, is purely of occidental origin. porphyry spoke of it when referring to the celestial or soul-body, which he says is immortal, luminous, and "star-like;" paracelsus called it the "sidereal light;" later it grew to be known as astral. it was said to be the same as the _anima mundi_ or soul of the world. modern scientific investigators approach it when they speak of "luminiferous ether" and "radiant matter." the great astronomer, camille flammarion, who was a member of the theosophical society during his life, speaks of the astral light in his novel _uranie_ and says: "the light emanating from all these suns that people immensity, the light reflected through space by all these worlds lighted by these suns, _photographs_ throughout the boundless heaven the centuries, the days, the moments as they pass.... from this it results that the histories of all the worlds are travelling through space without dispersing altogether, and that all the events of the past are present and live evermore in the bosom of the infinite." like all unfamiliar or occult things the astral light is difficult to define, and especially so from the very fact that it is called "light." it is not the light as we know it, and neither is it darkness. perhaps it was said to be a light because when clairvoyants saw by means of it, the distant objects seemed to be illuminated. but as equally well distant sounds can be heard in it, heavy bodies levitated by it, odors carried thousands of miles through it, thoughts read in it, and all the various phenomena by mediums brought about under its action, there has been a use of the term "light" which while unavoidable is none the less erroneous. a definition to be accurate must include all the functions and powers of this light, but as those are not fully known even to the mystic, and wholly _terra incognita_ for the scientist, we must be content with a partial analysis. it is a substance easily imagined as imponderable ether which, emanating from the stars, envelopes the earth and permeates every atom of the globe and each molecule upon it. obeying the laws of attraction and repulsion, it vibrates to and fro, making itself now positive and now negative. this gives it a circular motion which is symbolized by the serpent. it is the great final agent, or prime mover, cosmically speaking, which not only makes the plant grow but also keeps up the diastole and systole of the human heart. very like the action of the sensitive photographic plate is this light. it takes, as flammarion says, the pictures of every moment and holds them in its grasp. for this reason the egyptians knew it as the recorder; it is the recording angel of the christian, and in one aspect it is yâma, the judge of the dead in the hindû pantheon, for it is by the pictures we impress therein that we are judged by karma. as an enormous screen or reflector the astral light hangs over the earth and becomes a powerful universal hypnotizer of human beings. the pictures of all acts good and bad done by our ancestors as by ourselves, being ever present to our inner selves, we constantly are impressed by them by way of suggestion and go then and do likewise. upon this the great french priest-mystic, Éliphas lévi, says: "we are often astonished when in society at being assailed by evil thoughts and suggestions that we would not have imagined possible, and we are not aware that we owe them solely to the presence of some morbid neighbor; this fact is of great importance, since it relates to the manifestation of conscience--one of the most terrible and incontestable secrets of the magic art.... so diseased souls have a bad breath, and vitiate the moral atmosphere; that is to say, they mingle impure reflections with the astral light which penetrates them, and thus establish deleterious currents." there is also a useful function of this light. as it preserves the pictures of all past events and things, and as there is nothing new under the sun, the appliances, the ideas, the philosophy, the arts and sciences of long buried civilizations are continually being projected in pictures out of the astral into the brains of living men. this gives a meaning not only to the oft-recurring "coïncidence" of two or more inventors or scientists hitting upon the same ideas or inventions at about the same time and independently of each other, but also to other events and curious happenings. some self-styled scientists have spoken learnedly of telepathy, and other phenomena, but give no sufficient reason in nature for thought-transference or apparitions or clairvoyance or the hundred and one varieties of occurrences of an occult character noticed from day to day among all conditions of men. it is well to admit that thought may be transferred without speech directly from one brain to another, but how can the transference be effected without a medium? that medium is the astral light. the moment the thought takes shape in the brain it is pictured in this light, and from there is taken out again by any other brain sensitive enough to receive it intact. knowing the strange properties of the astral plane and the actual fate of the sheaths of the soul spoken of in another article, the theosophical adepts of all times gave no credit to pretended returning of the dead. Éliphas lévi learned this well and said: "the astral light combining with ethereal fluids forms the astral phantom of which paracelsus speaks. this astral body being freed at death, attracts to itself and preserves for a long time, by the sympathy of likeness, the reflection of the past life; if a powerfully sympathetic will draws it into the proper current it manifests itself in the form of an apparition." but with a sensitive, abnormally constituted person present--a medium, in other words, and all of that class are nervously unbalanced--the strong will is not needed, for the astral light and the living medium's astral body recall these soulless phantoms, and out of the same reservoir take their speech, their tones, their idiosyncrasies of character, which the deluded devotees of this debasing practice are cheated into imagining as the returned self of dead friend or relative. yet all i have referred to here are only instances of a few of the various properties of the astral light. so far as concerns our world it may be said that astral light is everywhere, interpenetrating all things; to have a photographic power by which it grasps pictures of thoughts, deeds, events, tones, sounds, colors, and all things; reflective in the sense that it reflects itself into the minds of men; repellant from its positive side and attractive from the negative; capable of assuming extreme density when drawn in around the body by powerful will or by abnormal bodily states, so that no physical force can penetrate it. this phase of its action explains some facts officially recorded during the witchcraft excitement in salem. it was there found that although stones and other flying objects came toward the possessed one they always fell as it were from the force of gravity _just at the person's feet_. the hindû yogi gives evidence of a use of this condensation of the astral light when he allows arrows and other projectiles to be thrown at him, all of them falling at his feet no matter how great their momentum, and the records of genuine spiritualistic phenomena in the united states furnish similar experiences. the astral light is a powerful factor, unrecognized by science, in the phenomenon of hypnotism. its action will explain many of the problems raised by binet, charcot and others, and especially that class in which two or more distinct personalities seem to be assumed by the subject, who can remember in each only those things and peculiarities of expression which belong to that particular stratum of their experience. these strange things are due to the currents in the astral light. in each current will be found a definite series of reflections, and they are taken up by the inner man, who reports them through speech and action on this plane as if they were his own. by the use of these currents too, but unconsciously, the clairvoyants and clairaudients seem to read in the hidden pages of life. this light can therefore be impressed with evil or good pictures, and these are reflected into the subconscious mind of every human being. if you fill the astral light with bad pictures, just such as the present century is adept at creating, it will be our devil and destroyer, but if by the example of even a few good men and women a new and purer sort of events are limned upon this eternal canvas, it will become our divine uplifter. _there is no religion higher than truth_ the universal brotherhood and theosophical society _established for the benefit of the people of the earth and all creatures_ objects this brotherhood is a part of a great and universal movement which has been active in all ages. this organization declares that brotherhood is a fact in nature. its principal purpose is to teach brotherhood, demonstrate that it is a fact in nature and make it a living power in the life of humanity. its subsidiary purpose is to study ancient and modern religions, science, philosophy and art; to investigate the laws of nature and the divine powers in man. the universal brotherhood and theosophical society, founded by h. p. blavatsky at new york, , continued after her death under the leadership of the co-founder, william q. judge, and now under the leadership of their successor, katherine tingley, has its headquarters at the international theosophical center, point loma, california. this organization is not in any way connected with nor does it endorse any other societies using the name of theosophy. the universal brotherhood and theosophical society, welcomes to membership all who truly love their fellow men and desire the eradication of the evils caused by the barriers of race, creed, caste or color, which have so long impeded human progress; to all sincere lovers of truth and to all who aspire to higher and better things than the mere pleasures and interests of a worldly life, and are prepared to do all in their power to make brotherhood a living energy in the life of humanity, its various departments offer unlimited opportunities. the whole work of the organization is under the direction of the leader and official head, katherine tingley, as outlined in the constitution. * * * do not fail to profit by the following: it is a regrettable fact that many people use the name of theosophy and of our organization for self-interest, as also that of h. p. blavatsky the foundress, to attract attention to themselves and to gain public support. this they do in private and public speech and in publications, also by lecturing throughout the country. without being in any way connected with the universal brotherhood and theosophical society, in many cases they permit it to be inferred that they are, thus misleading the public, and many honest inquirers are hence led away from the truths of theosophy as presented by h. p. blavatsky and her successors, william q. judge and katherine tingley, and practically exemplified in their theosophical work for the uplifting of humanity. the international brotherhood league founded in by katherine tingley its objects are: . to help men and women to realize the nobility of their calling and their true position in life. . to educate children of all nations on the broadest lines of universal brotherhood, and to prepare destitute and homeless children to become workers for humanity. . to ameliorate the condition of unfortunate women, and assist them to a higher life. . to assist those who are, or have been, in prisons, to establish themselves in honorable positions in life. . to abolish capital punishment. . to bring about a better understanding between so-called savage and civilized races, by promoting a closer and more sympathetic relationship between them. . to relieve human suffering resulting from flood, famine, war, and other calamities; and, generally, to extend aid, help and comfort to suffering humanity throughout the world. for further information regarding the above notices, address katherine tingley international theosophical headquarters, point loma, california books recommended to inquirers for _complete_ book list write to the theosophical publishing co., point loma, california isis unveiled (h. p. blavatsky). vols., royal vo, about pages; cloth; with portrait of the author. _point loma edition, with a preface._ postpaid . key to theosophy, the (h. p. blavatsky). _point loma edition, with glossary and exhaustive index. portraits of h. p. blavatsky and w. q. judge._ vo, cloth, pages. postpaid . _a clear exposition of theosophy in form of question and answer._ the book for students. secret doctrine, the (h. p. blavatsky). the synthesis of science, religion, and philosophy. new point loma edition, vols., royal vo, about pages; cloth postpaid . voice of the silence, the (for the daily use of disciples). translated and annotated by h. p. blavatsky pocket size, leather . light on the path (m. c.), with comments, and a chapter on karma; leather . embossed paper . mysteries of the heart doctrine, the. prepared by katherine tingley and her pupils. square vo, cloth . paper . a series of eight pamphlets, comprising different articles in above, paper, each . bhagavad gÎt (recension by w. q. judge, american edition) pocket size, morocco, gilt edges . _the pearl of the scriptures of the east._ yoga aphorisms (translated by w. q. judge). pocket size, leather . epitome of theosophical teachings, an (w. q. judge) pages . concentration, culture of. (w. q. judge) . incidents in the history of the theosophical movement (joseph h. fussell). pages, royal vo . life at point loma, the. some notes by katherine tingley, leader and official head of the universal brotherhood and theosophical society. . reprinted from _los angeles post_, dec., katherine tingley, humanity's friend; a visit to katherine tingley (by john hubert greusel); a study of rÂja yoga at point loma (reprint from the san francisco _chronicle_, january th, ). the above three comprised in a pamphlet of pages, published by the woman's theosophical propaganda league, point loma . echoes from the orient (w. q. judge); cloth . paper . valued articles, giving a broad outline of the theosophical doctrines, written for the newspaper-reading public. errors of christian science, some of the. criticism by h. p. blavatsky and w. q. judge . hypnotism: theosophical views on. ( pp.) . nightmare tales. (h. p. blavatsky). _newly illustrated by r. machell._ a collection of the weirdest tales ever written down. they contain paragraphs of the profoundest mystical philosophy. cloth . paper . the plough and the cross. a story of new ireland (william patrick o'ryan); mo, pages, illustrated, cloth . occultism, studies in (h. p. blavatsky). pocket size, vols., cloth; per set . vol. . practical occultism. occultism _vs._ the occult arts. the blessing of publicity. . vol. . hypnotism. black magic in science. signs of the times . vol. . psychic and noetic action . vol. . kosmic mind. dual aspect of wisdom . vol. . esoteric character of the gospels . vol. . astral bodies. constitution of the inner man . theosophical manuals elementary handbooks for students price, each, paper . ; cloth . no. . elementary theosophy. no. . the seven principles of man. no. . karma. no. . reincarnation. no. . man after death. no. . kâmaloka and devachan. no. . teachers and their disciples. no. . the doctrine of cycles. no. . psychism, ghostology, and the astral plane. no. . the astral light. no. . psychometry, clairvoyance, and thought-transference. no. . the angel and the demon. ( vols., c. each) no. . the flame and the clay. no. . on god and prayer. no. . theosophy: the mother of religions. no. . from crypt to pronaos. (an essay on the rise and fall of dogma) no. . earth. (its parentage; its rounds and its races) no. . sons of the firemist. (a study of man) the path series specially adapted for inquirers in theosophy already published no. . the purpose of the universal brotherhood and theosophical society . no. . theosophy generally stated (w. q. judge) . no. . mislaid mysteries (h. coryn, m. d.) . no. . theosophy and its counterfeits . no. . some perverted presentations of theosophy (h. t. edge, b. a.) . thirty copies $ . ; copies $ . lotus group literature lotus library for children _introduced under the direction of katherine tingley_ . the little builders and their voyage to rangi (r. n.) . . the coming of the king (machell); cloth, gilt edges . lotus song book. fifty original songs with copyrighted music . lotus song--"the sun temple"--_with music_ . theosophical periodicals century path. illustrated weekly, edited by katherine tingley a magazine devoted to the brotherhood of humanity, the promulgation of theosophy, and the study of ancient and modern ethics, philosophy, science, and art year $ . single copy . write for a sample copy to new century corporation point loma, california, u. s. a. rÂja yoga messenger. _illustrated._ monthly. yearly subscription . unsectarian publication for young folk, conducted by a staff of pupils of the râja yoga school at lomaland. address master albert g. spalding, business manager, rÂja yoga messenger, point loma, california. international theosophical chronicle. _illustrated._ monthly. yearly subscription, postpaid . the theosophical book co., bartlett's buildings holborn circus, london, e. c. theosophia. _illustrated._ monthly. yearly subscription, postpaid . universella broderskapets förlag, box , stockholm , sweden. universale bruderschaft. _illustrated._ monthly. yearly subscription, postpaid . j. th. heller, vestnertorgraben , nürnberg, germany lotus-knoppen. _illustrated._ monthly. yearly subscription, postpaid . a. goud, steentilstraat , groningen, holland subscriptions to the above four magazines may be secured also through the theosophical publishing co., point loma, california. neither the editors of the above publications, nor the officers of the universal brotherhood and theosophical society, or of any of its departments, receive salaries or other remuneration. all profits arising from the business of the theosophical publishing co., are devoted to humanitarian work. all who assist in this work are directly helping that cause. the present edition of light on the path is a verbatim reprint of the edition (george redway, london) in which later edition the notes by the author first appear. the comments, which are not in the edition, are here taken directly from _lucifer_, volume i, - , where they were first published. also in this volume we reprint verbatim the original edition ( ) of through the gates of gold by the same author, together with a commentary by william q. judge taken from his magazine, _the path_, march, . *light on the path* _a treatise_ written for the personal use of those who are ignorant of the eastern wisdom, and who desire to enter within its influence _written down by_ m.c. _with notes by the author_ *light on the path* light on the path i these rules are written for all disciples: attend you to them. before the eyes can see, they must be incapable of tears. before the ear can hear, it must have lost its sensitiveness. before the voice can speak in the presence of the masters it must have lost the power to wound. before the soul can stand in the presence of the masters its feet must be washed in the blood of the heart. . kill out ambition. . kill out desire of life. . kill out desire of comfort. . work as those work who are ambitious. respect life as those do who desire it. be happy as those are who live for happiness. seek in the heart the source of evil and expunge it. it lives fruitfully in the heart of the devoted disciple as well as in the heart of the man of desire. only the strong can kill it out. the weak must wait for its growth, its fruition, its death. and it is a plant that lives and increases throughout the ages. it flowers when the man has accumulated unto himself innumerable existences. he who will enter upon the path of power must tear this thing out of his heart. and then the heart will bleed, and the whole life of the man seem to be utterly dissolved. this ordeal must be endured: it may come at the first step of the perilous ladder which leads to the path of life: it may not come until the last. but, o disciple, remember that it has to be endured, and fasten the energies of your soul upon the task. live neither in the present nor the future, but in the eternal. this giant weed cannot flower there: this blot upon existence is wiped out by the very atmosphere of eternal thought. . kill out all sense of separateness. . kill out desire for sensation. . kill out the hunger for growth. . yet stand alone and isolated, because nothing that is imbodied, nothing that is conscious of separation, nothing that is out of the eternal, can aid you. learn from sensation and observe it, because only so can you commence the science of self-knowledge, and plant your foot on the first step of the ladder. grow as the flower grows, unconsciously, but eagerly anxious to open its soul to the air. so must you press forward to open your soul to the eternal. but it must be the eternal that draws forth your strength and beauty, not desire of growth. for in the one case you develop in the luxuriance of purity, in the other you harden by the forcible passion for personal stature. . desire only that which is within you. . desire only that which is beyond you. . desire only that which is unattainable. . for within you is the light of the world--the only light that can be shed upon the path. if you are unable to perceive it within you, it is useless to look for it elsewhere. it is beyond you; because when you reach it you have lost yourself. it is unattainable, because it for ever recedes. you will enter the light, but you will never touch the flame. . desire power ardently. . desire peace fervently. . desire possessions above all. . but those possessions must belong to the pure soul only, and be possessed therefore by all pure souls equally, and thus be the especial property of the whole only when united. hunger for such possessions as can be held by the pure soul; that you may accumulate wealth for that united spirit of life, which is your only true self. the peace you shall desire is that sacred peace which nothing can disturb, and in which the soul grows as does the holy flower upon the still lagoons. and that power which the disciple shall covet is that which shall make him appear as nothing in the eyes of men. . seek out the way. . seek the way by retreating within. . seek the way by advancing boldly without. . seek it not by any one road. to each temperament there is one road which seems the most desirable. but the way is not found by devotion alone, by religious contemplation alone, by ardent progress, by self-sacrificing labor, by studious observation of life. none alone can take the disciple more than one step onward. all steps are necessary to make up the ladder. the vices of men become steps in the ladder, one by one, as they are surmounted. the virtues of man are steps indeed, necessary--not by any means to be dispensed with. yet, though they create a fair atmosphere and a happy future, they are useless if they stand alone. the whole nature of man must be used wisely by the one who desires to enter the way. each man is to himself absolutely the way, the truth, and the life. but he is only so when he grasps his whole individuality firmly, and, by the force of his awakened spiritual will, recognises this individuality as not himself, but that thing which he has with pain created for his own use, and by means of which he purposes, as his growth slowly develops his intelligence, to reach to the life beyond individuality. when he knows that for this his wonderful complex separated life exists, then, indeed, and then only, he is upon the way. seek it by plunging into the mysterious and glorious depths of your own inmost being. seek it by testing, all experience, by utilizing the senses in order to understand the growth and meaning of individuality, and the beauty and obscurity of those other divine fragments which are struggling side by side with you, and form the race to which you belong. seek it by study of the laws of being, the laws of nature, the laws of the supernatural: and seek it by making the profound obeisance of the soul to the dim star that burns within. steadily, as you watch and worship, its light will grow stronger. then you may know you have found the beginning of the way. and when you have found the end its light will suddenly become the infinite light. . look for the flower to bloom in the silence that follows the storm not till then. it shall grow, it will shoot up, it will make branches and leaves and form buds, while the storm continues, while the battle lasts. but not till the whole personality of the man is dissolved and melted--not until it is held by the divine fragment which has created it, as a mere subject for grave experiment and experience--not until the whole nature has yielded and become subject unto its higher self, can the bloom open. then will come a calm such as comes in a tropical country after the heavy rain, when nature works so swiftly that one may see her action. such a calm will come to the harassed spirit. and in the deep silence the mysterious event will occur which will prove that the way has been found. call it by what name you will, it is a voice that speaks where there is none to speak--it is a messenger that comes, a messenger without form or substance; or it is the flower of the soul that has opened. it cannot be described by any metaphor. but it can be felt after, looked for, and desired, even amid the raging of the storm. the silence may last a moment of time or it may last a thousand years. but it will end. yet you will carry its strength with you. again and again the battle must be fought and won. it is only for an interval that nature can be still. these written above are the first of the rules which are written on the walls of the hall of learning. those that ask shall have. those that desire to read shall read. those who desire to learn shall learn. peace be with you. ii out of the silence that is peace a resonant voice shall arise. and this voice will say, it is not well; thou hast reaped, now thou must sow. and knowing this voice to be the silence itself thou wilt obey. thou who art now a disciple, able to stand, able to hear, able to see, able to speak, who hast conquered desire and attained to self-knowledge, who hast seen thy soul in its bloom and recognised it, and heard the voice of the silence, go thou to the hall of learning and read what is written there for thee. . stand aside in the coming battle, and though thou fightest be not thou the warrior. . look for the warrior and let him fight in thee. . take his orders for battle and obey them. . obey him not as though he were a general, but as though he were thyself, and his spoken words were the utterance of thy secret desires; for he is thyself, yet infinitely wiser and stronger than thyself. look for him, else in the fever and hurry of the fight thou mayest pass him; and he will not know thee unless thou knowest him. if thy cry meet his listening ear, then will he fight in thee and fill the dull void within. and if this is so, then canst thou go through the fight cool and unwearied, standing aside and letting him battle for thee. then it will be impossible for thee to strike one blow amiss. but if thou look not for him, if thou pass him by, then there is no safeguard for thee. thy brain will reel, thy heart grow uncertain, and in the dust of the battlefield thy sight and senses will fail, and thou wilt not know thy friends from thy enemies. he is thyself, yet thou art but finite and liable to error. he is eternal and is sure. he is eternal truth. when once he has entered thee and become thy warrior, he will never utterly desert thee, and at the day of the great peace he will become one with thee. . listen to the song of life. . store in your memory the melody you hear. . learn from it the lesson of harmony. . you can stand upright now, firm as a rock amid the turmoil, obeying the warrior who is thyself and thy king. unconcerned in the battle save to do his bidding, having no longer any care as to the result of the battle, for one thing only is important, that the warrior shall win, and you know he is incapable of defeat--standing thus, cool and awakened, use the hearing you have acquired by pain and by the destruction of pain. only fragments of the great song come to your ears while yet you are but man. but if you listen to it, remember it faithfully, so that none which has reached you is lost, and endeavor to learn from it the meaning of the mystery which surrounds you. in time you will need no teacher. for as the individual has voice, so has that in which the individual exists. life itself has speech and is never silent. and its utterance is not, as you that are deaf may suppose, a cry: it is a song. learn from it that you are part of the harmony; learn from it to obey the laws of the harmony. . regard earnestly all the life that surrounds you. . learn to look intelligently into the hearts of men. . regard most earnestly your own heart. . for through your own heart comes the one light which can illuminate life and make it clear to your eyes. study the hearts of men, that you may know what is that world in which you live and of which you will to be a part. regard the constantly changing and moving life which surrounds you, for it is formed by the hearts of men; and as you learn to understand their constitution and meaning, you will by degrees be able to read the larger word of life. . speech comes only with knowledge. attain to knowledge and you will attain to speech. . having obtained the use of the inner senses, having conquered the desires of the outer senses, having conquered the desires of the individual soul, and having obtained knowledge, prepare now, o disciple, to enter upon the way in reality. the path is found: make yourself ready to tread it. . inquire of the earth, the air, and the water, of the secrets they hold for you. the development of your inner senses will enable you to do this. . inquire of the holy ones of the earth of the secrets they hold for you. the conquering of the desires of the outer senses will give you the right to do this. . inquire of the inmost, the one, of its final secret which it holds for you through the ages. the great and difficult victory, the conquering of the desires of the individual soul, is a work of ages; therefore expect not to obtain its reward until ages of experience have been accumulated. when the time of learning this seventeenth rule is reached, man is on the threshold of becoming more than man. . the knowledge which is now yours is only yours because your soul has become one with all pure souls and with the inmost. it is a trust vested in you by the most high. betray it, misuse your knowledge, or neglect it, and it is possible even now for you to fall from the high estate you have attained. great ones fall back, even from the threshold, unable to sustain the weight of their responsibility, unable to pass on. therefore look forward always with awe and trembling to this moment, and be prepared for the battle. . it is written that for him who is on the threshold of divinity no law can be framed, no guide can exist. yet to enlighten the disciple, the final struggle may be thus expressed: hold fast to that which has neither substance nor existence. . listen only to the voice which is soundless. . look only on that which is invisible alike to the inner and the outer sense. peace be with you. notes _note on rule ._--ambition is the first curse: the great tempter of the man who is rising above his fellows. it is the simplest form of looking for reward. men of intelligence and power are led away from their higher possibilities by it continually. yet it is a necessary teacher. its results turn to dust and ashes in the mouth; like death and estrangement it shows the man at last that to work for self is to work for disappointment. but though this first rule seems so simple and easy, do not quickly pass it by. for these vices of the ordinary man pass through a subtle transformation and reappear with changed aspect in the heart of the disciple. it is easy to say, i will not be ambitious: it is not so easy to say, when the master reads my heart he will find it clean utterly. the pure artist who works for the love of his work is sometimes more firmly planted on the right road than the occultist, who fancies he has removed his interest from self, but who has in reality only enlarged the limits of experience and desire, and transferred his interest to the things which concern his larger span of life. the same principle applies to the other two seemingly simple rules. linger over them and do not let yourself be easily deceived by your own heart. for now, at the threshold, a mistake can be corrected. but carry it on with you and it will grow and come to fruition, or else you must suffer bitterly in its destruction. _note on rule _.--do not fancy you can stand aside from the bad man or the foolish man. they are yourself, though in a less degree than your friend or your master. but if you allow the idea of separateness from any evil thing or person to grow up within you, by so doing you create karma, which will bind you to that thing or person till your soul recognises that it cannot be isolated. remember that the sin and shame of the world are your sin and shame; for you are a part of it; your karma is inextricably interwoven with the great karma. and before you can attain knowledge you must have passed through all places, foul and clean alike. therefore, remember that the soiled garment you shrink from touching may have been yours yesterday, may be yours tomorrow. and if you turn with horror from it, when it is flung upon your shoulders, it will cling the more closely to you. the self-righteous man makes for himself a bed of mire. abstain because it is right to abstain--not that yourself shall be kept clean. _note on rule ._--these four words seem, perhaps, too slight to stand alone. the disciple may say, should i study these thoughts at all did i not seek out the way? yet do not pass on hastily. pause and consider awhile. is it the way you desire, or is it that there is a dim perspective in your visions of great heights to be scaled by yourself, of a great future for you to compass? be warned. the way is to be sought for its own sake, not with regard to your feet that shall tread it. there is a correspondence between this rule and the th of the nd series. when after ages of struggle and many victories the final battle is won, the final secret demanded, then you are prepared for a further path. when the final secret of this great lesson is told, in it is opened the mystery of the new way--a path which leads out of all human experience, and which is utterly beyond human perception or imagination. at each of these points it is needful to pause long and consider well. at each of these points it is necessary to be sure that the way is chosen for its own sake. the way and the truth come first, then follows the life. _note on rule _.--seek it by testing all experience, and remember that when i say this i do not say, yield to the seductions of sense in order to know it. before you have become an occultist you may do this; but not afterwards. when you have chosen and entered the path you cannot yield to these seductions without shame. yet you can experience them without horror: can weigh, observe and test them, and wait with the patience of confidence for the hour when they shall affect you no longer. but do not condemn the man that yields; stretch out your hand to him as a brother pilgrim whose feet have become heavy with mire. remember, o disciple, that great though the gulf may be between the good man and the sinner, it is greater between the good man and the man who has attained knowledge; it is immeasurable between the good man and the one on the threshold of divinity. therefore be wary lest too soon you fancy yourself a thing apart from the mass. when you have found the beginning of the way the star of your soul will show its light; and by that light you will perceive how great is the darkness in which it burns. mind, heart, brain, all are obscure and dark until the first great battle has been won. be not appalled and terrified by this sight; keep your eyes fixed on the small light and it will grow. but let the darkness within help you to understand the helplessness of those who have seen no light, whose souls are in profound gloom. blame them not, shrink not from them, but try to lift a little of the heavy karma of the world; give your aid to the few strong hands that hold back the powers of darkness from obtaining complete victory. then do you enter into a partnership of joy, which brings indeed terrible toil and profound sadness, but also a great and ever-increasing delight. _note on rule ._--the opening of the bloom is the glorious moment when perception awakes: with it comes confidence, knowledge, certainty. the pause of the soul is the moment of wonder, and the next moment of satisfaction, that is the silence. know, o disciple, that those who have passed through the silence, and felt its peace and retained its strength, they long that you shall pass through it also. therefore, in the hall of learning, when he is capable of entering there, the disciple will always find his master. those that ask shall have. but though the ordinary man asks perpetually, his voice is not heard. for he asks with his mind only; and the voice of the mind is only heard on that plane on which the mind acts. therefore, not until the first twenty-one rules are past do i say those that ask shall have. to read, in the occult sense, is to read with the eyes of the spirit. to ask is to feel the hunger within--the yearning of spiritual aspiration. to be able to read means having obtained the power in a small degree of gratifying that hunger. when the disciple is ready to learn, then he is accepted, acknowledged, recognised. it must be so, for he has lit his lamp, and it cannot be hidden. but to learn is impossible until the first great battle has been won. the mind may recognise truth, but the spirit cannot receive it. once having passed through the storm and attained the peace, it is then always possible to learn, even though the disciple waver, hesitate, and turn aside. the voice of the silence remains within him, and though he leave the path utterly, yet one day it will resound and rend him asunder and separate his passions from his divine possibilities. then with pain and desperate cries from the deserted lower self he will return. therefore i say, peace be with you. my peace i give unto you can only be said by the master to the beloved disciples who are as himself. there are even some amongst those who are ignorant of the eastern wisdom to whom this can be said, and to whom it can daily be said with more completeness. regard the three truths. they are equal. part ii _note on sect. ii_--to be able to stand is to have confidence; to be able to hear is to have opened the doors of the soul; to be able to see is to have attained perception; to be able to speak is to have attained the power of helping others; to have conquered desire is to have learned how to use and control the self; to have attained to self-knowledge is to have retreated to the inner fortress from whence the personal man can be viewed with impartiality; to have seen thy soul in its bloom is to have obtained a momentary glimpse in thyself of the transfiguration which shall eventually make thee more than man; to recognise is to achieve the great task of gazing upon the blazing light without dropping the eyes and not falling back in terror, as though before some ghastly phantom. this happens to some, and so when the victory is all but won it is lost; to hear the voice of the silence is to understand that from within comes the only true guidance; to go to the hall of learning is to enter the state in which learning becomes possible. then will many words be written there for thee, and written in fiery letters for thee easily to read. for when the disciple is ready the master is ready also. _note on rule _.--look for it and listen to it first in your own heart. at first you may say it is not there; when i search i find only discord. look deeper. if again you are disappointed, pause and look deeper again. there is a natural melody, an obscure fount in every human heart. it may be hidden over and utterly concealed and silenced--but it is there. at the very base of your nature you will find faith, hope, and love. he that chooses evil refuses to look within himself, shuts his ears to the melody of his heart, as he blinds his eyes to the light of his soul. he does this because he finds it easier to live in desires. but underneath all life is the strong current that cannot be checked; the great waters are there in reality. find them, and you will perceive that none, not the most wretched of creatures, but is a part of it, however he blind himself to the fact and build up for himself a phantasmal outer form of horror. in that sense it is that i say to you--all those beings among whom you struggle on are fragments of the divine. and so deceptive is the illusion in which you live, that it is hard to guess where you will first detect the sweet voice in the hearts of others. but know that it is certainly within yourself. look for it there, and once having heard it, you will more readily recognise it around you. _note on rule ._--from an absolutely impersonal point of view, otherwise your sight is colored. therefore impersonality must first be understood. intelligence is impartial: no man is your enemy: no man is your friend. all alike are your teachers. your enemy becomes a mystery that must be solved, even though it take ages: for man must be understood. your friend becomes a part of yourself, an extension of yourself, a riddle hard to read. only one thing is more difficult to know--your own heart. not until the bonds of personality are loosed, can that profound mystery of self begin to be seen. not till you stand aside from it will it in any way reveal itself to your understanding. then, and not till then, can you grasp and guide it. then, and not till then, can you use all its powers, and devote them to a worthy service. _note on rule ._--it is impossible to help others till you have obtained some certainty of your own. when you have learned the first rules and have entered the hall of learning with your powers developed and sense unchained, then you will find there is a fount within you from which speech will arise. after the th rule i can add no words to what is already written. my peace i give unto you. [greek: d] these notes are written only for those to whom i give my peace; those who can read what i have written with the inner as well as the outer sense. comments i "before the eyes can see they must be incapable of tears." it should be very clearly remembered by all readers of this volume that it is a book which may appear to have some little philosophy in it, but very little sense, to those who believe it to be written in ordinary english. to the many, who read in this manner it will be--not caviare so much as olives strong of their salt. be warned and read but a little in this way. there is another way of reading, which is, indeed, the only one of any use with many authors. it is reading, not between the lines but within the words. in fact, it is deciphering a profound cipher. all alchemical works are written in the cipher of which i speak; it has been used by the great philosophers and poets of all time. it is used systematically by the adepts in life and knowledge, who, seemingly giving out their deepest wisdom, hide in the very words which frame it its actual mystery. they cannot do more. there is a law of nature which insists that a man shall read these mysteries for himself. by no other method can he obtain them. a man who desires to live must eat his food himself: this is the simple law of nature--which applies also to the higher life. a man who would live and act in it cannot be fed like a babe with a spoon; he must eat for himself. i propose to put into new and sometimes plainer language parts of "light on the path"; but whether this effort of mine will really be any interpretation i cannot say. to a deaf and dumb man, a truth is made no more intelligible if, in order to make it so, some misguided linguist translates the words in which it is couched into every living or dead language, and shouts these different phrases in his ear. but for those who are not deaf and dumb one language is generally easier than the rest; and it is to such as these i address myself. the very first aphorisms of "light on the path," included under number i, have, i know well, remained sealed as to their inner meaning to many who have otherwise followed the purpose of the book. there are four proven and certain truths with regard to the entrance to occultism. the gates of gold bar that threshold; yet there are some who pass those gates and discover the sublime and illimitable beyond. in the far spaces of time all will pass those gates. but i am one who wish that time, the great deluder, were not so over-masterful. to those who know and love him i have no word to say; but to the others--and there are not so very few as some may fancy--to whom the passage of time is as the stroke of a sledge-hammer, and the sense of space like the bars of an iron cage, i will translate and re-translate until they understand fully. the four truths written on the first page of "light on the path," refer to the trial initiation of the would-be occultist. until he has passed it, he cannot even reach to the latch of the gate which admits to knowledge. knowledge is man's greatest inheritance; why, then, should he not attempt to reach it by every possible road? the laboratory is not the only ground for experiment; _science_, we must remember, is derived from _sciens_, present participle of _scire_, "to know,"--its origin is similar to that of the word "discern," to "ken." science does not therefore deal only with matter, no, not even its subtlest and obscurest forms. such an idea is born merely of the idle spirit of the age. science is a word which covers all forms of knowledge. it is exceedingly interesting to hear what chemists discover, and to see them finding their way through the densities of matter to its finer forms; but there are other kinds of knowledge than this, and it is not every one who restricts his (strictly scientific) desire for knowledge to experiments which are capable of being tested by the physical senses. everyone who is not a dullard, or a man stupefied by some predominant vice, has guessed or even perhaps discovered with some certainty, that there are subtle senses lying within the physical senses. there is nothing at all extraordinary in this; if we took the trouble to call nature into the witness box we should find that everything which is perceptible to the ordinary sight, has something even more important than itself hidden within it; the microscope has opened a world to us, but within those encasements which the microscope reveals, lies a mystery which no machinery can probe. the whole world is animated and lit, down to its most material shapes, by a world within it. this inner world is called astral by some people, and it is as good a word as any other, though it merely means starry; but the stars, as locke pointed out, are luminous bodies which give light of themselves. this quality is characteristic of the life which lies within matter; for those who see it, need no lamp to see it by. the word star, moreover, is derived from the anglo-saxon "stir-an," to steer, to stir, to move, and undeniably it is the inner life which is master of the outer, just as a man's brain guides the movements of his lips. so that although astral is no very excellent word in itself, i am content to use it for my present purpose. the whole of "light on the path" is written in an astral cipher and can therefore only be deciphered by one who reads astrally. and its teaching is chiefly directed towards the cultivation and development of the astral life. until the first step has been taken in this development, the swift knowledge, which is called intuition with certainty, is impossible to man. and this positive and certain intuition is the only form of knowledge which enables a man to work rapidly or reach his true and high estate, within the limit of his conscious effort. to obtain knowledge by experiment is too tedious a method for those who aspire to accomplish real work; he who gets it by certain intuition, lays hands on its various forms with supreme rapidity, by fierce effort of will; as a determined workman grasps his tools, indifferent to their weight or any other difficulty which may stand in his way. he does not stay for each to be tested--he uses such as he sees are fittest. all the rules contained in "light on the path," are written for all disciples, but only for disciples---those who "take knowledge." to none else but the student in this school are its laws of any use or interest. to all who are interested seriously in occultism, i say first--take knowledge. to him who hath shall be given. it is useless to wait for it. the womb of time will close before you, and in later days you will remain unborn, without power. i therefore say to those who have any hunger or thirst for knowledge, attend to these rules. they are none of my handicraft or invention. they are merely the phrasing of laws in super-nature, the putting into words truths as absolute in their own sphere, as those laws which govern the conduct of the earth and its atmosphere. the senses spoken of in these four statements are the astral, or inner senses. no man desires to see that light which illumines the spaceless soul until pain and sorrow and despair have driven him away from the life of ordinary humanity. first he wears out pleasure; then he wears out pain--till, at last, his eyes become incapable of tears. this is a truism, although i know perfectly well that it will meet with a vehement denial from many who are in sympathy with thoughts which spring from the inner life. _to see_ with the astral sense of sight is a form of activity which it is difficult for us to understand immediately. the scientist knows very well what a miracle is achieved by each child that is born into the world, when it first conquers its eyesight and compels it to obey its brain. an equal miracle is performed with each sense certainly, but this ordering of sight is perhaps the most stupendous effort. yet the child does it almost unconsciously, by force of the powerful heredity of habit. no one now is aware that he has ever done it at all; just as we cannot recollect the individual movements which enabled us to walk up a hill a year ago. this arises from the fact that we move and live and have our being in matter. our knowledge of it has become intuitive. with our astral life it is very much otherwise. for long ages past, man has paid very little attention to it--so little, that he has practically lost the use of his senses. it is true, that in every civilization the star arises, and man confesses, with more or less of folly and confusion, that he knows himself to be. but most often he denies it, and in being a materialist becomes that strange thing, a being which cannot see its own light, a thing of life which will not live, an astral animal which has eyes, and ears, and speech, and power, yet will use none of these gifts. this is the case, and the habit of ignorance has become so confirmed, that now none will see with the inner vision till agony has made the physical eyes not only unseeing, but without tears--the moisture of life. to be incapable of tears is to have faced and conquered the simple human nature, and to have attained an equilibrium which cannot be shaken by personal emotions. it does not imply any hardness of heart, or any indifference. it does not imply the exhaustion of sorrow, when the suffering soul seems powerless to suffer acutely any longer; it does not mean the deadness of old age, when emotion is becoming dull because the strings which vibrate to it are wearing out. none of these conditions are fit for a disciple, and if any one of them exist in him it must be overcome before the path can be entered upon. hardness of heart belongs to the selfish man, the egotist, to whom the gate is forever closed. indifference belongs to the fool and the false philosopher; those whose lukewarmness makes them mere puppets, not strong enough to face the realities of existence. when pain or sorrow has worn out the keenness of suffering, the result is a lethargy not unlike that which accompanies old age, as it is usually experienced by men and women. such a condition makes the entrance to the path impossible, because the first step is one of difficulty and needs a strong man, full of psychic and physical vigor, to attempt it. it is a truth, that, as edgar allan poe said, the eyes are the windows for the soul, the windows of that haunted palace in which it dwells. this is the very nearest interpretation into ordinary language of the meaning of the text. if grief, dismay, disappointment or pleasure, can shake the soul so that it loses its fixed hold on the calm spirit which inspires it, and the moisture of life breaks forth, drowning knowledge in sensation, then all is blurred, the windows are darkened, the light is useless. this is as literal a fact as that if a man, at the edge of a precipice, loses his nerve through some sudden emotion he will certainly fall. the poise of the body, the balance, must be preserved, not only in dangerous places, but even on the level ground, and with all the assistance nature gives us by the law of gravitation. so it is with the soul, it is the link between the outer body and the starry spirit beyond; the divine spark dwells in the still place where no convulsion of nature can shake the air; this is so always. but the soul may lose its hold on that, its knowledge of it, even though these two are part of one whole; and it is by emotion, by sensation, that this hold is loosed. to suffer either pleasure or pain, causes a vivid vibration which is, to the consciousness of man, life. now this sensibility does not lessen when the disciple enters upon his training; it increases. it is the first test of his strength; he must suffer, must enjoy or endure, more keenly than other men, while yet he has taken on him a duty which does not exist for other men, that of not allowing his suffering to shake him from his fixed purpose. he has, in fact, at the first step to take himself steadily in hand and put the bit into his own mouth; no one else can do it for him. the first four aphorisms of "light on the path," refer entirely to astral development. this development must be accomplished to a certain extent--that is to say it must be fully entered upon--before the remainder of the book is really intelligible except to the intellect; in fact, before it can be read as a practical, not a metaphysical treatise. in one of the great mystic brotherhoods, there are four ceremonies, that take place early in the year, which practically illustrate and elucidate these aphorisms. they are ceremonies in which only novices take part, for they are simply services of the threshold. but it will show how serious a thing it is to become a disciple, when it is understood that these are all ceremonies of sacrifice. the first one is this of which i have been speaking. the keenest enjoyment, the bitterest pain, the anguish of loss and despair, are brought to bear on the trembling soul, which has not yet found light in the darkness, which is helpless as a blind man is, and until these shocks can be endured without loss of equilibrium the astral senses must remain sealed. this is the merciful law. the "medium," or "spiritualist," who rushes into the psychic world without preparation, is a law-breaker, a breaker of the laws of super-nature. those who break nature's laws lose their physical health; those who break the laws of the inner life, lose their psychic health. "mediums" become mad, suicides, miserable creatures devoid of moral sense; and often end as unbelievers, doubters even of that which their own eyes have seen. the disciple is compelled to become his own master before he adventures on this perilous path, and attempts to face those beings who live and work in the astral world, and whom we call masters, because of their great knowledge and their ability to control not only themselves but the forces around them. the condition of the soul when it lives for the life of sensation as distinguished from that of knowledge, is vibratory or oscillating, as distinguished from fixed. that is the nearest literal representation of the fact; but it is only literal to the intellect, not to the intuition. for this part of man's consciousness a different vocabulary is needed. the idea of "fixed" might perhaps be transposed into that of "at home." in sensation no permanent home can be found, because change is the law of this vibratory existence. that fact is the first one which must be learned by the disciple. it is useless to pause and weep for a scene in a kaleidoscope which has passed. it is a very well-known fact, one with which bulwer lytton dealt with great power, that an intolerable sadness is the very first experience of the neophyte in occultism. a sense of blankness falls upon him which makes the world a waste, and life a vain exertion. this follows his first serious contemplation of the abstract. in gazing, or even in attempting to gaze, on the ineffable mystery of his own higher nature, he himself causes the initial trial to fall on him. the oscillation between pleasure and pain ceases for--perhaps an instant of time; but that is enough to have cut him loose from his fast moorings in the world of sensation. he has experienced, however briefly, the greater life; and he goes on with ordinary existence weighted by a sense of unreality, of blank, of horrid negation. this was the nightmare which visited bulwer lytton's neophyte in "zanoni"; and even zanoni himself, who had learned great truths, and been entrusted with great powers, had not actually passed the threshold where fear and hope, despair and joy seem at one moment absolute realities, at the next mere forms of fancy. this initial trial is often brought on us by life itself. for life is after all, the great teacher. we return to study it, after we have acquired power over it, just as the master in chemistry learns more in the laboratory than his pupil does. there are persons so near the door of knowledge that life itself prepares them for it, and no individual hand has to invoke the hideous guardian of the entrance. these must naturally be keen and powerful organizations, capable of the most vivid pleasure; then pain comes and fills its great duty. the most intense forms of suffering fall on such a nature, till at last it arouses from its stupor of consciousness, and by the force of its internal vitality steps over the threshold into a place of peace. then the vibration of life loses its power of tyranny. the sensitive nature must suffer still; but the soul has freed itself and stands aloof, guiding the life towards its greatness. those who are the subjects of time, and go slowly through all his spaces, live on through a long drawn series of sensations, and suffer a constant mingling of pleasure and of pain. they do not dare to take the snake of self in a steady grasp and conquer it, so becoming divine; but prefer to go on fretting through divers experiences, suffering blows from the opposing forces. when one of these subjects of time decides to enter on the path of occultism, it is this which is his first task. if life has not taught it to him, if he is not strong enough to teach himself and if he has power enough to demand the help of a master, then this fearful trial, depicted in zanoni, is put upon him. the oscillation in which he lives, is for an instant stilled; and he has to survive the shock of facing what seems to him at first sight as the abyss of nothingness. not till he has learned to dwell in this abyss, and has found its peace, is it possible for his eyes to have become incapable of tears. ii "before the ear can hear, it must have lost its sensitiveness." the first four rules of "light on the path" are, undoubtedly, curious though the statement may seem, the most important in the whole book, save one only. why they are so important is that they contain the vital law, the very creative essence of the astral man. and it is only in the astral (or self-illuminated) consciousness that the rules which follow them have any living meaning. once attain to the use of the astral senses and it becomes a matter of course that one commences to use them; and the later rules are but guidance in their use. when i speak like this i mean, naturally, that the first four rules are the ones which are of importance and interest to those who read them in print upon a page. when they are engraved on a man's heart and on his life, unmistakably then the rules become not merely interesting, or extraordinary, metaphysical statements, but actual facts in life which have to be grasped and experienced. the four rules stand written in the great chamber of every actual lodge of a living brotherhood. whether the man is about to sell his soul to the devil, like faust; whether he is to be worsted in the battle, like hamlet; or whether he is to pass on within the precincts; in any case these words are for him. the man can choose between virtue and vice, but not until he is a man; a babe or a wild animal cannot so choose. thus with the disciple, he must first become a disciple before he can even see the paths to choose between. this effort of creating himself as a disciple, the re-birth, he must do for himself without any teacher. until the four rules are learned no teacher can be of any use to him; and that is why "the masters" are referred to in the way they are. no real masters, whether adepts in power, in love, or in blackness, can affect a man till these four rules are passed. tears, as i have said, may be called the moisture of life. the soul must have laid aside the emotions of humanity, must have secured a balance which cannot be shaken by misfortune, before its eyes can open upon the super-human world. the voice of the masters is always in the world; but only those hear it whose ears are no longer receptive of the sounds which affect the personal life. laughter no longer lightens the heart, anger may no longer enrage it, tender words bring it no balm. for that within, to which the ears are as an outer gateway, is an unshaken place of peace in itself which no person can disturb. as the eyes are the windows of the soul, so are the ears its gateways or doors. through them comes knowledge of the confusion of the world. the great ones who have conquered life, who have become more than disciples, stand at peace and undisturbed amid the vibration and kaleidoscopic movement of humanity. they hold within themselves a certain knowledge, as well as a perfect peace; and thus they are not roused or excited by the partial and erroneous fragments of information which are brought to their ears by the changing voices of those around them. when i speak of knowledge, i mean intuitive knowledge. this certain information can never be obtained by hard work, or by experiment; for these methods are only applicable to matter, and matter is in itself a perfectly uncertain substance, continually affected by change. the most absolute and universal laws of natural and physical life, as understood by the scientist, will pass away when the life of this universe has passed away, and only its soul is left in the silence. what then will be the value of the knowledge of its laws acquired by industry and observation? i pray that no reader or critic will imagine that by what i have said i intend to depreciate or disparage acquired knowledge, or the work of scientists. on the contrary, i hold that scientific men are the pioneers of modern thought. the days of literature and of art, when poets and sculptors saw the divine light, and put it into their own great language--these days lie buried in the long past with the ante-phidian sculptors and the pre-homeric poets. the mysteries no longer rule the world of thought and beauty; human life is the governing power, not that which lies beyond it. but the scientific workers are progressing, not so much by their own will as by sheer force of circumstances, towards the far line which divides things interpretable from things uninterpretable. every fresh discovery drives them a step onward. therefore do i very highly esteem the knowledge obtained by work and experiment. but intuitive knowledge is an entirely different thing. it is not acquired in any way, but is, so to speak, a faculty of the soul; not the animal soul, that which becomes a ghost after death, when lust or liking or the memory of ill deeds holds it to the neighborhood of human beings, but the divine soul which animates all the external forms of the individualized being. this is, of course, a faculty which indwells in that soul, which is inherent. the would-be disciple has to arouse himself to the consciousness of it by a fierce and resolute and indomitable effort of will. i use the word indomitable for a special reason. only he who is untameable, who cannot be dominated, who knows he has to play the lord over men, over facts, over all things save his own divinity can arouse this faculty. "with faith all things, are possible." the skeptical laugh at faith and pride themselves on its absence from their own minds. the truth is that faith is a great engine, an enormous power, which in fact can accomplish all things. for it is the convenant or engagement between man's divine part and his lesser self. the use of this engine is quite necessary in order to obtain intuitive knowledge; for unless a man believes such knowledge exists within himself how can he claim and use it? without it he is more helpless than any drift-wood or wreckage on the great tides of the ocean. they are cast hither and thither indeed; so may a man be by the chances of fortune. but such adventures are purely external and of very small account. a slave may be dragged through the streets in chains, and yet retain the quiet soul of a philosopher, as was well seen in the person of epictetus. a man may have every worldly prize in his possession, and stand absolute master of his personal fate, to all appearance, and yet he knows no peace, no certainty, because he is shaken within himself by every tide of thought that he touches on. and these changing tides do not merely sweep the man bodily hither and thither like drift-wood on the water; that would be nothing. they enter into the gate-ways of his soul, and wash over that soul and make it blind and blank and void of all permanent intelligence so that passing impressions affect it. to make my meaning plainer i will use an illustration. take an author at his writing, a painter at his canvas, a composer listening to the melodies that dawn upon his glad imagination; let any one of these workers pass his daily hours by a wide window looking on a busy street. the power of the animating life blinds sight and hearing alike, and the great traffic of the city goes by like nothing but a passing pageant. but a man whose mind is empty, whose day is objectless, sitting at that same window, notes the passers-by and remembers the faces that chance to please or interest him. so it is with the mind in its relation to eternal truth. if it no longer transmits its fluctuations, its partial knowledge, its unreliable information to the soul, then in the inner place of peace already found when the first rule has been learned--in that inner place there leaps into flame the light of actual knowledge. then the ears begin to hear. very dimly, very faintly at first. and, indeed, so faint and tender are these first indications of the commencement of true actual life, that they are sometimes pushed aside as mere fancies, mere imaginings. but before these are capable of becoming more than mere imaginings, the abyss of nothingness has to be faced in another form. the utter silence which can only come by closing the ears to all transitory sounds comes as a more appalling horror than even the formless emptiness of space. our only mental conception of blank space is, i think, when reduced to its barest element of thought, that of black darkness. this is a great physical terror to most persons, and when regarded as an eternal and unchangeable fact, must mean to the mind the idea of annihilation rather than anything else. but it is the obliteration of one sense only; and the sound of a voice may come and bring comfort even in the profoundest darkness. the disciple, having found his way into this blackness, which is the fearful abyss, must then so shut the gates of his soul that no comforter can enter there nor any enemy. and it is in making this second effort that the fact of pain and pleasure being but one sensation becomes recognisable by those who have before been unable to perceive it. for when the solitude of silence is reached the soul hungers so fiercely and passionately for some sensation on which to rest, that a painful one would be as keenly welcomed as a pleasant one. when this consciousness is reached the courageous man by seizing and retaining it, may destroy the "sensitiveness" at once. when the ear no longer discriminates between that which is pleasant or that which is painful, it will no longer be affected by the voices of others. and then it is safe and possible to open the doors of the soul. "sight" is the first effort, and the easiest, because it is accomplished partly by an intellectual effort. the intellect can conquer the heart, as is well known in ordinary life. therefore, this preliminary step still lies within the dominion of matter. but the second step allows of no such assistance, nor of any material aid whatever. of course, i mean by material aid the action of the brain, or emotions, or human soul. in compelling the ears to listen only to the eternal silence, the being we call man becomes something which is no longer man. a very superficial survey of the thousand and one influences which are brought to bear on us by others will show that this must be so. a disciple will fulfil all the duties of his manhood; but he will fulfil them according to his own sense of right, and not according to that of any person or body of persons. this is a very evident result of following the creed of knowledge instead of any of the blind creeds. to obtain the pure silence necessary for the disciple, the heart and emotions, the brain and its intellectualisms, have to be put aside. both are but mechanisms, which will perish with the span of man's life. it is the essence beyond, that which is the motive power, and makes man live, that is now compelled to rouse itself and act. now is the greatest hour of danger. in the first trial men go mad with fear; of this first trial bulwer lytton wrote. no novelist has followed to the second trial, though some of the poets have. its subtlety and great danger lies in the fact that in the measure of a man's strength is the measure of his chance of passing beyond it or coping with it at all. if he has power enough to awaken that unaccustomed part of himself, the supreme essence, then has he power to lift the gates of gold, then is he the true alchemist, in possession of the elixir of life. it is at this point of experience that the occultist becomes separated from all other men and enters on to a life which is his own; on to the path of individual accomplishment instead of mere obedience to the genii which rule our earth. this raising of himself into an individual power does in reality identify him with the nobler forces of life and make him one with them. for they stand beyond the powers of this earth and the laws of this universe. here lies man's only hope of success in the great effort; to leap right away from his present standpoint to his next and at once become an intrinsic part of the divine power as he has been an intrinsic part of the intellectual power, of the great nature to which he belongs. he stands always in advance of himself, if such a contradiction can be understood. it is the men who adhere to this position, who believe in their innate power of progress, and that of the whole race, who are the elder brothers, the pioneers. each man has to accomplish the great leap for himself and without aid; yet it is something of a staff to lean on to know that others have gone on that road. it is possible that they have been lost in the abyss; no matter, they have had the courage to enter it. why i say that it is possible they have been lost in the abyss is because of this fact, that one who has passed through is unrecognisable until the other and altogether new condition is attained by both. it is unnecessary to enter upon the subject of what that condition is at present. i only say this, that in the early state in which man is entering upon the silence he loses knowledge of his friends, of his lovers, of all who have been near and dear to him; and also loses sight of his teachers and of those who have preceded him on his way. i explain this because scarce one passes through without bitter complaint. could but the mind grasp beforehand that the silence must be complete, surely this complaint need not arise as a hindrance on the path. your teacher, or your predecessor may hold your hand in his, and give you the utmost sympathy the human heart is capable of. but when the silence and the darkness comes, you lose all knowledge of him; you are alone and he cannot help you, not because his power is gone, but because you have invoked your great enemy. by your great enemy, i mean yourself. if you have the power to face your own soul in the darkness and silence, you will have conquered the physical or animal self which dwells in sensation only. this statement, i feel, will appear involved; but in reality it is quite simple. man, when he has reached his fruition, and civilization is at its height, stands between two fires. could he but claim his great inheritance, the encumbrance of the mere animal life would fall away from him without difficulty. but he does not do this, and so the races of men flower and then droop and die and decay off the face of the earth, however splendid the bloom may have been. and it is left to the individual to make this great effort; to refuse to be terrified by his greater nature, to refuse to be drawn back by his lesser or more material self. every individual who accomplishes this is a redeemer of the race. he may not blazon forth his deeds, he may dwell in secret and silence; but it is a fact that he forms a link between man and his divine part; between the known and the unknown; between the stir of the marketplace and the stillness of the snow-capped himalayas. he has not to go about among men in order to form this link; in the astral he _is_ that link, and this fact makes him a being of another order from the rest of mankind. even so early on the road towards knowledge, when he has but taken the second step, he finds his footing more certain, and becomes conscious that he is a recognised part of a whole. this is one of the contradictions in life which occur so constantly that they afford fuel to the fiction writer. the occultist finds them become much more marked as he endeavors to live the life he has chosen. as he retreats within himself and becomes self-dependent, he finds himself more definitely becoming part of a great tide of definite thought and feeling. when he has learned the first lesson, conquered the hunger of the heart, and refused to live on the love of others, he finds himself more capable of inspiring love. as he flings life away it comes to him in a new form and with a new meaning. the world has always been a place with many contradictions in it, to the man; when he becomes a disciple he finds life is describable as a series of paradoxes. this is a fact in nature, and the reason for it is intelligible enough. man's soul "dwells like a star apart," even that of the vilest among us; while his consciousness is under the law of vibratory and sensuous life. this alone is enough to cause those complications of character which are the material for the novelist; every man is a mystery, to friend and enemy alike, and to himself. his motives are often undiscoverable, and he cannot probe to them or know why he does this or that. the disciple's effort is that of awakening consciousness in this starry part of himself, where his power and divinity lie sleeping. as this consciousness becomes awakened, the contradictions in the man himself become more marked than ever; and so do the paradoxes which he lives through. for, of course man creates his own life; and "adventures are to the adventurous" is one of those wise proverbs which are drawn from actual fact, and cover the whole area of human experience. pressure on the divine part of man re-acts upon the animal part. as the silent soul awakes it makes the ordinary life of the man more purposeful, more vital, more real, and responsible. to keep to the two instances already mentioned, the occultist who has withdrawn into his own citadel has found his strength; immediately he becomes aware of the demands of duty upon him. he does not obtain his strength by his own right, but because he is a part of the whole; and as soon as he is safe from the vibration of life and can stand unshaken, the outer world cries out to him to come and labor in it. so with the heart. when it no longer wishes to take, it is called upon to give abundantly. "light on the path" has been called a book of paradoxes, and very justly; what else could it be, when it deals with the actual personal experience of the disciple? to have acquired the astral senses of sight and hearing; or in other words to have attained perception and opened the doors of the soul, are gigantic tasks and may take the sacrifice of many successive incarnations. and yet, when the will has reached its strength, the whole miracle may be worked in a second of time. then is the disciple the servant of time no longer. these two first steps are negative; that is to say they imply retreat from a present condition of things rather than advance towards another. the two next are active, implying the advance into another state of being. iii "before the voice can speak in the presence of the masters." speech is the power of communication; the moment of entrance into active life is marked by its attainment. and now, before i go any further, let me explain a little the way in which the rules written down in "light on the path" are arranged. the first seven of those which are numbered are sub-divisions of the two first unnumbered rules, those with which i have dealt in the two preceding papers. the numbered rules were simply an effort of mine to make the unnumbered ones more intelligible. "eight" to "fifteen" of these numbered rules belong to this unnumbered rule which is now my text. as i have said, these rules are written for all disciples, but for none else; they are not of interest to any other persons. therefore i trust no one else will trouble to read these papers any further. the first two rules, which include the whole of that part of the effort which necessitates the use of the surgeon's knife, i will enlarge upon further if i am asked to do so. but the disciple is expected to deal with a snake, his lower self, unaided; to suppress his human passions and emotions by the force of his own will. he can only demand assistance of a master when this is accomplished, or at all events, partially so. otherwise the gates and windows of his soul are blurred, and blinded, and darkened, and no knowledge can come to him. i am not, in these papers, purposing to tell a man how to deal with his own soul; i am simply giving, to the disciple, knowledge. that i am not writing even now, so that all who run may read, is owing to the fact that super-nature prevents this by its own immutable laws. the four rules which i have written down for those in the west who wish to study them, are as i have said, written in the ante-chamber of every living brotherhood; i may add more, in the ante-chamber of every living or dead brotherhood, or order yet to be formed. when i speak of a brotherhood or an order, i do not mean an arbitrary constitution made by scholiasts and intellectualists; i mean an actual fact in super-nature, a stage of development towards the absolute god or good. during this development the disciple encounters harmony, pure knowledge, pure truth, in different degrees, and, as he enters these degrees, he finds himself becoming part of what might be roughly described as a layer of human consciousness. he encounters his equals, men of his own selfless character, and with them his association becomes permanent and indissoluble, because founded on a vital likeness of nature. to them he becomes pledged by such vows as need no utterance or framework in ordinary words. this is one aspect of what i mean by a brotherhood. if the first rules are conquered, the disciple finds himself standing at the threshold. then if his will is sufficiently resolute his power of speech comes; a two-fold power. for, as he advances now, he finds himself entering into a state of blossoming, where every bud that opens throws out its several rays or petals. if he is to exercise his new gift, he must use it in its two-fold character. he finds in himself the power to speak in the presence of the masters; in other words, he has the right to demand contact with the divinest element of that state of consciousness into which he has entered. but he finds himself compelled, by the nature of his position, to act in two ways at the same time. he cannot send his voice up to the heights where sit the gods till he has penetrated to the deep places where their light shines not at all. he has come within the grip of an iron law. if he demands to become a neophyte, he at once becomes a servant. yet his service is sublime, if only from the character of those who share it. for the masters are also servants; they serve and claim their reward afterwards. part of their service is to let their knowledge touch him; his first act of service is to give some of that knowledge to those who are not yet fit to stand where he stands. this is no arbitrary decision, made by any master or teacher or any such person, however divine. it is a law of that life which the disciple has entered upon. therefore was it written in the inner doorway of the lodges of the old egyptian brotherhood, "the laborer is worthy of his hire." "ask and ye shall have," sounds like something too easy and simple to be credible. but the disciple cannot "ask" in the mystic sense in which the word is used in this scripture until he has attained the power of helping others. why is this? has the statement too dogmatic a sound? is it too dogmatic to say that a man must have foothold before he can spring? the position is the same. if help is given, if work is done, then there is an actual claim--not what we call personal claim of payment, but the claim of co-nature. the divine give, they demand that you also shall give before you can be of their kin. this law is discovered as soon as the disciple endeavors to speak. for speech is a gift which comes only to the disciple of power and knowledge. the spiritualist enters the psychic-astral world, but he does not find there any certain speech, unless he at once claims it and continues to do so. if he is interested in "phenomena," or the mere circumstance and accident of astral life, then he enters no direct ray of thought or purpose, he merely exists and amuses himself in the astral life as he has existed and amused himself in the physical life. certainly there are one or two simple lessons which the psychic-astral can teach him, just as there are simple lessons which material and intellectual life teach him. and these lessons have to be learned; the man who proposes to enter upon the life of the disciple without having learned the early and simple lessons must always suffer from his ignorance. they are vital, and have to be studied in a vital manner; experienced through and through, over and over again, so that each part of the nature has been penetrated by them. to return. in claiming the power of speech, as it is called, the neophyte cries out to the great one who stands foremost in the ray of knowledge on which he has entered, to give him guidance. when he does this, his voice is hurled back by the power he has approached, and echoes down to the deep recesses of human ignorance. in some confused and blurred manner the news that there is knowledge and a beneficent power which teaches is carried to as many men as will listen to it. no disciple can cross the threshold without communicating this news, and placing it on record in some fashion or other. he stands horror-struck at the imperfect and unprepared manner in which he has done this; and then comes the desire to do it well, and with the desire thus to help others comes the power. for it is a pure desire, this which comes upon him; he can gain no credit, no glory, no personal reward by fulfilling it. and therefore he obtains the power to fulfil it. the history of the whole past, so far as we can trace it, shows very plainly that there is neither credit, glory, nor reward to be gained by this first task which is given to the neophyte. mystics have always been sneered at, and seers disbelieved; those who have had the added power of intellect have left for posterity their written record, which to most men appears unmeaning and visionary, even when the authors have the advantage of speaking from a far-off past. the disciple who undertakes the task, secretly hoping for fame or success, to appear as a teacher and apostle before the world, fails even before his task is attempted, and his hidden hypocrisy poisons his own soul, and the souls of those he touches. he is secretly worshiping himself, and this idolatrous practice must bring its own reward. the disciple who has the power of entrance, and is strong enough to pass each barrier, will, when the divine message comes to his spirit, forget himself utterly in the new consciousness which falls on him. if this lofty contact can really rouse him, he becomes as one of the divine in his desire to give rather than to take, in his wish to help rather than be helped, in his resolution to feed the hungry rather than take manna from heaven himself. his nature is transformed, and the selfishness which prompts men's actions in ordinary life suddenly deserts him. iv "before the voice can speak in the presence of the masters, it must have lost the power to wound." those who give merely passing and superficial attention to the subject of occultism--and their name is legion--constantly inquire why, if adepts in life exist, they do not appear in the world and show their power. that the chief body of these wise ones should be understood to dwell beyond the fastnesses of the himalayas, appears to be a sufficient proof that they are only figures of straw. otherwise why place them so far off? unfortunately, nature has done this and not personal choice or arrangement. there are certain spots on the earth where the advance of "civilization" is unfelt, and the nineteenth century fever is kept at bay. in these favored places there is always time, always opportunity, for the realities of life; they are not crowded out by the doings of an inchoate, money-loving, pleasure seeking society. while there are adepts upon the earth, the earth must preserve to them places of seclusion. this is a fact in nature which is only an external expression of a profound fact in super-nature. the demand of the neophyte remains unheard until the voice in which it is uttered has lost the power to wound. this is because the divine-astral life[a] is a place in which order reigns, just as it does in natural life. there is, of course, always the center and the circumference as there is in nature. close to the central heart of life, on any plane, there is knowledge, there order reigns completely; and chaos makes dim and confused the outer margin of the circle. in fact, life in every form bears a more or less strong resemblance to a philosophic school. there are always the devotees to knowledge who forget their own lives in their pursuit of it; there are always the flippant crowd who come and go--of such, epictetus said that it was [as] easy to teach them philosophy as to eat custard with a fork. the same state exists in the super-astral life; and the adept has an even deeper and more profound seclusion there in which to dwell. this place of retreat is so safe, so sheltered, that no sound which has discord in it can reach his ears. why should this be, will be asked at once, if he is a being of such great powers as those say who believe in his existence? the answer seems very apparent. he serves humanity and identifies himself with the whole world; he is ready to make vicarious sacrifice for it at any moment--_by living not by dying for it_. why should he not die for it? because he is part of the great whole, and one of the most valuable parts of it. because he lives under laws of order which he does not desire to break. his life is not his own, but that of the forces which work behind him. he is the flower of humanity, the bloom which contains the divine seed. he is, in his own person, a treasure of the universal nature, which is guarded and made safe in order that the fruition shall be perfected. it is only at definite periods of the world's history that he is allowed to go among the herd of men as their redeemer. but for those who have the power to separate themselves from this herd he is always at hand. and for those who are strong enough to conquer the vices of the personal human nature, as set forth in these four rules, he is consciously at hand, easily recognised, ready to answer. [footnote a: of course every occultist knows by reading eliphas lévi and other authors that the "astral" plane is a plane of unequalized forces, and that a state of confusion necessarily prevails. but this does not apply to the "divine astral" plane, which is a plane where wisdom, and therefore order, prevails.] but this conquering of self implies a destruction of qualities which most men regard as not only indestructible but desirable. the "power to wound" includes much that men value, not only in themselves, but in others. the instinct of self-defense and of self-preservation is part of it; the idea that one has any right or rights, either as a citizen, or man, or individual, the pleasant consciousness of self-respect and of virtue. these are hard sayings to many; yet they are true. for these words that i am writing now, and those which i have written on this subject, are not in any sense my own. they are drawn from the traditions of the lodge of the great brotherhood, which was once the secret splendor of egypt. the rules written in its ante-chamber were the same as those now written in the ante-chamber of existing schools. through all time the wise men have lived apart from the mass. and even when some temporary purpose or object induces one of them to come into the midst of human life, his seclusion and safety is preserved as completely as ever. it is part of his inheritance, part of his position, he has an actual title to it, and can no more put it aside than the duke of westminster can say he does not choose to be the duke of westminster. in the various great cities of the world an adept lives for a while from time to time, or perhaps only passes through; but all are occasionally aided by the actual power and presence of one of these men. here in london, as in paris and st. petersburgh, there are men high in development. but they are only known as mystics by those who have the power to recognise; the power given by the conquering of self. otherwise how could they exist, even for an hour, in such a mental and psychic atmosphere as is created by the confusion and disorder of a city? unless protected and made safe their own growth would be interfered with, their work injured. and the neophyte may meet an adept in the flesh, may live in the same house with him, and yet be unable to recognise him, and unable to make his own voice heard by him. for no nearness in space, no closeness of relations, no daily intimacy, can do away with the inexorable laws which give the adept his seclusion. no voice penetrates to his inner hearing till it has become a divine voice, a voice which gives no utterance to the cries of self. any lesser appeal would be as useless, as much a waste of energy and power, as for mere children who are learning their alphabet to be taught it by a professor of philology. until a man has become, in heart and spirit, a disciple, he has no existence for those who are teachers of disciples. and he becomes this by one method only--the surrender of his personal humanity. for the voice to have lost the power to wound, a man must have reached that point where he sees himself only as one of the vast multitudes that live; one of the sands washed hither and thither by the sea of vibratory existence. it is said that every grain of sand in the ocean bed does, in its turn, get washed up on to the shore and lie for a moment in the sunshine. so with human beings, they are driven hither and thither by a great force, and each, in his turn, finds the sunrays on him. when a man is able to regard his own life as part of a whole like this he will no longer struggle in order to obtain anything for himself. this is the surrender of personal rights. the ordinary man expects, not to take equal fortunes with the rest of the world, but in some points, about which he cares, to fare better than the others. the disciple does not expect this. therefore, though he be, like epictetus, a chained slave, he has no word to say about it. he knows that the wheel of life turns ceaselessly. burne jones has shown it in his marvellous picture--the wheel turns, and on it are bound the rich and the poor, the great and the small--each has his moment of good fortune when the wheel brings him uppermost--the king rises and falls, the poet is _fêted_ and forgotten, the slave is happy and afterwards discarded. each in his turn is crushed as the wheel turns on. the disciple knows that this is so, and though it is his duty to make the utmost of the life that is his, he neither complains of it nor is elated by it, nor does he complain against the better fortune of others. all alike, as he well knows, are but learning a lesson; and he smiles at the socialist and the reformer who endeavor by sheer force to re-arrange circumstances which arise out of the forces of human nature itself. this is but kicking against the pricks; a waste of life and energy. in realizing this a man surrenders his imagined individual rights, of whatever sort. that takes away one keen sting which is common to all ordinary men. when the disciple has fully recognised that the very thought of individual rights is only the outcome of the venomous quality in himself, that it is the hiss of the snake of self which poisons with its sting his own life and the lives of those about him, then he is ready to take part in a yearly ceremony which is open to all neophytes who are prepared for it. all weapons of defense and offense are given up; all weapons of mind and heart, and brain, and spirit. never again can another man be regarded as a person who can be criticized or condemned; never again can the neophyte raise his voice in self-defense or excuse. from that ceremony he returns into the world as helpless, as unprotected, as a new-born child. that, indeed, is what he is. he has begun to be born again on to the higher plane of life, that breezy and well-lit plateau from whence the eyes see intelligently and regard the world with a new insight. i have said, a little way back, that after parting with the sense of individual rights, the disciple must part also with the sense of self-respect and of virtue. this may sound a terrible doctrine, yet all occultists know well that it is not a doctrine, but a fact. he who thinks himself holier than another, he who has any pride in his own exemption from vice or folly, he who believes himself wise, or in any way superior to his fellow men, is incapable of discipleship. a man must become as a little child before he can enter into the kingdom of heaven. virtue and wisdom are sublime things; but if they create pride and a consciousness of separateness from the rest of humanity in the mind of a man, then they are only the snakes of self re-appearing in a finer form. at any moment he may put on his grosser shape and sting as fiercely as when he inspired the actions of a murderer who kills for gain or hatred, or a politician who sacrifices the mass for his own or his party's interests. in fact, to have lost the power to wound, implies that the snake is not only scotched, but killed. when it is merely stupefied or lulled to sleep it awakes again and the disciple uses his knowledge and his power for his own ends, and is a pupil of the many masters of the black art, for the road to destruction is very broad and easy, and the way can be found blindfold. that it is the way to destruction is evident, for when a man begins to live for self he narrows his horizon steadily till at last the fierce driving inwards leaves him but the space of [a] pin's-head to dwell in. we have all seen this phenomenon occur in ordinary life. a man who becomes selfish isolates himself, grows less interesting and less agreeable to others. the sight is an awful one, and people shrink from a very selfish person at last, as from a beast of prey. how much more awful is it when it occurs on the more advanced plane of life, with the added powers of knowledge, and through the greater sweep of successive incarnations! therefore i say, pause and think well upon the threshold. for if the demand of the neophyte is made without the complete purification, it will not penetrate the seclusion of the divine adept, but will evoke the terrible forces which attend upon the black side of our human nature. v "before the soul can stand in the presence of the masters, its feet must be washed in the blood of the heart." the word soul, as used here, means the divine soul, or "starry spirit." "to be able to stand is to have confidence"; and to have confidence means that the disciple is sure of himself, that he has surrendered his emotions, his very self, even his humanity; that he is incapable of fear and unconscious of pain; that his whole consciousness is centered in the divine life, which is expressed symbolically by the term "the masters"; that he has neither eyes, nor ears, nor speech, nor power, save in and for the divine ray on which his highest sense has touched. then he is fearless, free from suffering, free from anxiety or dismay; his soul stands without shrinking or desire of postponement, in the full blaze of the divine light which penetrates through and through his being. then he has come into his inheritance and can claim his kinship with the teachers of men; he is upright, he has raised his head, he breathes the same air that they do. but before it is in any way possible for him to do this, the feet of the soul must be washed in the blood of the heart. the sacrifice, or surrender of the heart of man, and its emotions, is the first of the rules; it involves the "attaining of an equilibrium which cannot be shaken by personal emotion." this is done by the stoic philosopher; he, too, stands aside and looks equably upon his own sufferings, as well as on those of others. in the same way that "tears" in the language of occultists expresses the soul of emotion, not its material appearance, so blood expresses, not that blood which is an essential of physical life, but the vital creative principle in man's nature, which drives him into human life in order to experience pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow. when he has let the blood flow from the heart he stands before the masters as a pure spirit which no longer to incarnate for the sake of emotion and experience. through great cycles of time successive incarnations in gross matter may yet be his lot; but he no longer desires them, the crude wish to live has departed from him. when he takes upon him man's form in the flesh he does it in the pursuit of a divine object, to accomplish the work of "the masters," and for no other end. he looks neither for pleasure nor pain, asks for no heaven, and fears no hell; yet he has entered upon a great inheritance which is not so much a compensation for these things surrendered, as a state which simply blots out the memory of them. he lives now not in the world, but with it: his horizon has extended itself to the width of the whole universe. karma consider with me that the individual existence is a rope which stretches from the infinite to the infinite and has no end and no commencement, neither is it capable of being broken. this rope is formed of innumerable fine threads, which, lying closely together, form its thickness. these threads are colorless, are perfect in their qualities of straightness, strength, and levelness. this rope, passing as it does through all places, suffers strange accidents. very often a thread is caught and becomes attached, or perhaps is only violently pulled away from its even way. then for a great time it is disordered, and it disorders the whole. sometimes one is stained with dirt or with color, and not only does the stain run on further than the spot of contact, but it discolors other of the threads. and remember that the threads are living--are like electric wires, more, are like quivering nerves. how far, then, must the stain, the drag awry, be communicated! but eventually the long strands, the living threads which in their unbroken continuity form the individual, pass out of the shadow into the shine. then the threads are no longer colorless, but golden; once more they lie together, level. once more harmony is established between them; and from that harmony within the greater harmony is perceived. this illustration presents but a small portion--a single side of the truth: it is less than a fragment. yet, dwell on it; by its aid you may be led to perceive more. what it is necessary first to understand is, not that the future is arbitrarily formed by any separate acts of the present, but that the whole of the future is in unbroken continuity with the present as the present is with the past. on one plane, from one point of view, the illustration of the rope is correct. it is said that a little attention to occultism produces great karmic results. that is because it is impossible to give any attention to occultism without making a definite choice between what are familiarly called good and evil. the first step in occultism brings the student to the tree of knowledge. he must pluck and eat; he must choose. no longer is he capable of the indecision of ignorance. he. goes, on, either on the good or on the evil path. and to step definitely and knowingly even but one step on either path produces great karmic results. the mass of men walk waveringly, uncertain as to the goal they aim at; their standard of life is indefinite; consequently their karma operates in a confused manner. but when once the threshold of knowledge is reached, the confusion begins to lessen, and consequently the karmic results increase enormously, because all are acting in the same direction on all the different planes: for the occultist cannot be half-hearted, nor can he return when he has passed the threshold. these things are as impossible as that the man should become the child again. the individuality has approached the state of responsibility by reason of growth; it cannot recede from it. he who would escape from the bondage of karma must raise his individuality out of the shadow into the shine; must so elevate his existence that these threads do not come in contact with soiling substances, do not become so attached as to be pulled awry. he simply lifts himself out of the region in which karma operates. he does not leave the existence which he is experiencing because of that. the ground may be rough and dirty, or full of rich flowers whose pollen stains, and of sweet substances that cling and become attachments--but overhead there is always the free sky. he who desires to be karmaless must look to the air for a home; and after that to the ether. he who desires to form good karma will meet with many confusions, and in the effort to sow rich seed for his own harvesting may plant a thousand weeds, and among them the giant. desire to sow no seed for your own harvesting; desire only to sow that seed the fruit of which shall feed the world. you are part of the world; in giving it food you feed yourself. yet in even this thought there lurks a great danger which starts forward and faces the disciple, who has for long thought himself working for good, while in his inmost soul he has perceived only evil; that is, he has thought himself to be intending great benefit to the world while all the time he has unconsciously embraced the thought of karma, and the great benefit he works for is for himself. a man may refuse to allow himself to think of reward. but in that very refusal is seen the fact that reward is desired. and it is useless for the disciple to strive to learn by means of checking himself. the soul must be unfettered, the desires free. but until they are fixed only on that state wherein there is neither reward nor punishment, good nor evil, it is in vain that he endeavors. he may seem to make great progress, but some day he will come face to face with his own soul, and will recognise that when he came to the tree of knowledge he chose the bitter fruit and not the sweet; and then the veil will fall utterly, and he will give up his freedom and become a slave of desire. therefore be warned, you who are but turning toward the life of occultism. learn now that there is no cure for desire, no cure for the love of reward, no cure for misery of longing, save in the fixing of the sight and hearing upon that which is invisible and soundless. begin even now to practise it, and so a thousand serpents will be kept from your path. live in the eternal. the operations of the actual laws of karma are not to be studied until the disciple has reached the point at which they no longer affect himself. the initiate has a right to demand the secrets of nature and to know the rules which govern human life. he obtains this right by having escaped from the limits of nature and by having freed himself from the rules which govern human life. he has become a recognised portion of the divine element, and is no longer affected by that which is temporary. he then obtains a knowledge of the laws which govern temporary conditions. therefore you who desire to understand the laws of karma, attempt first to free yourself from these laws; and this can only be done by fixing your attention on that which is unaffected by those laws. *through the gates of gold* *through the gates of gold* *a fragment of thought* prologue every man has a philosophy of life of his own, except the true philosopher. the most ignorant boor has some conception of his object in living, and definite ideas as to the easiest and wisest way of attaining that object. the man of the world is often, unconsciously to himself, a philosopher of the first rank. he deals with his life on principles of the clearest character, and refuses to let his position be shattered by chance disaster. the man of thought and imagination has less certainty, and finds himself continually unable to formulate his ideas on that subject most profoundly interesting to human nature,--human life itself. the true philosopher is the one who would lay no claim to the name whatever, who has discovered that the mystery of life is unapproachable by ordinary thought, just as the true scientist confesses his complete ignorance of the principles which lie behind science. whether there is any mode of thought or any effort of the mind which will enable a man to grasp the great principles that evidently exist as causes in human life, is a question no ordinary thinker can determine. yet the dim consciousness that there is cause behind the effects we see, that there is order ruling the chaos and sublime harmony pervading the discords, haunts the eager souls of the earth, and makes them long for vision of the unseen and knowledge of the unknowable. why long and look for that which is beyond all hope until the inner eyes are opened? why not piece together the fragments that we have, at hand, and see whether from them some shape cannot be given to the vast puzzle? chapter i the search for pleasure i we are all acquainted with that stern thing called misery, which pursues man, and strangely enough, as it seems at first, pursues him with no vague or uncertain method, but with a positive and unbroken pertinacity. its presence is not absolutely continuous, else man must cease to live; but its pertinacity is without any break. there is always the shadowy form of despair standing behind man ready to touch him with its terrible finger if for too long he finds himself content. what has given this ghastly shape the right to haunt us from the hour we are born until the hour we die? what has given it the right to stand always at our door, keeping that door ajar with its impalpable yet plainly horrible hand, ready to enter at the moment it sees fit? the greatest philosopher that ever lived succumbs before it at last; and he only is a philosopher, in any sane sense, who recognises the fact that it is irresistible, and knows that like all other men he must suffer soon or late. it is part of the heritage of men, this pain and distress; and he who determines that nothing shall make him suffer, does but cloak himself in a profound and chilly selfishness. this cloak may protect him from pain, it will also separate him from pleasure. if peace is to be found on earth, or any joy in life, it cannot be by closing up the gates of feeling, which admit us to the loftiest and most vivid part of our existence. sensation, as we obtain it through the physical body, affords us all that induces us to live in that shape. it is inconceivable that any man would care to take the trouble of breathing, unless the act brought with it a sense of satisfaction. so it is with every deed of every instant of our life. we live because it is pleasant even to have the sensation of pain. it is sensation we desire, else we would with one accord taste of the deep waters of oblivion, and the human race would become extinct. if this is the case in the physical life, it is evidently the case with the life of the emotions,--the imagination, the sensibilities, all those fine and delicate formations which, with the marvellous recording mechanism of the brain, make up the inner or subtile man. sensation is that which makes their pleasure; an infinite series of sensations is life to them. destroy the sensation which makes them wish to persevere in the experiment of living, and there is nothing left. therefore the man who attempts to obliterate the sense of pain, and who proposes to maintain an equal state whether he is pleased or hurt, strikes at the very root of life, and destroys the object of his own existence. and that must apply, so far as our present reasoning or intuitive powers can show us, to every state, even to that of the oriental's longed-for nirvana. this condition can only be one of infinitely subtiler and more exquisite sensation, if it is a state at all, and not annihilation; and according to the experience of life from which we are at present able to judge, increased subtility of sensation means increased vividness,--as, for instance, a man of sensibility and imagination feels more in consequence of the unfaithfulness or faithfulness of a friend than can a man of even the grossest physical nature feel through the medium of the senses. thus it is clear that the philosopher who refuses to feel, leaves himself no place to retreat to, not even the distant and unattainable nirvanic goal. he can only deny himself his heritage of life, which is in other words the right of sensation. if he chooses to sacrifice that which makes him man, he must be content with mere idleness of consciousness,--a condition compared to which the oyster's is a life of excitement. but no man is able to accomplish such a feat. the fact of his continued existence proves plainly that he still desires sensation, and desires it in such positive and active form that the desire must be gratified in physical life. it would seem more practical not to deceive one's self by the sham of stoicism, not to attempt renunciation of that with which nothing would induce one to part. would it not be a bolder policy, a more promising mode of solving the great enigma of existence, to grasp it, to take hold firmly and to demand of it the mystery of itself? if men will but pause and consider what lessons they have learned from pleasure and pain, much might be guessed of that strange thing which causes these effects. but men are prone to turn away hastily from self-study, or from any close analysis of human nature. yet there must be a science of life as intelligible as any of the methods of the schools. the science is unknown, it is true, and its existence is merely guessed, merely hinted at, by one or two of our more advanced thinkers. the development of a science is only the discovery of what is already in existence; and chemistry is as magical and incredible now to the ploughboy as the science of life is to the man of ordinary perceptions. yet there may be, and there must be, a seer who perceives the growth of the new knowledge as the earliest dabblers in the experiments of the laboratory saw the system of knowledge now attained evolving itself out of nature for man's use and benefit. ii doubtless many more would experiment in suicide, as many now do, in order to escape from the burden of life, if they could be convinced that in that manner oblivion might be found. but he who hesitates before drinking the poison from the fear of only inviting change of mode of existence, and perhaps a more active form of misery, is a man of more knowledge than the rash souls who fling themselves wildly on the unknown, trusting to its kindliness. the waters of oblivion are something very different from the waters of death, and the human race cannot become extinct by means of death while the law of birth still operates. man returns to physical life as the drunkard returns to the flagon of wine,--he knows not why, except that he desires the sensation produced by life as the drunkard desires the sensation produced by wine. the true waters of oblivion lie far behind our consciousness, and can only be reached by ceasing to exist in that consciousness,--by ceasing to exert the will which makes us full of senses and sensibilities. why does not the creature man return into that great womb of silence whence he came, and remain in peace, as the unborn child is at peace before the impetus of life has reached it? he does not do so because he hungers for pleasure and pain, joy and grief, anger and love. the unfortunate man will maintain that he has no desire for life; and yet he proves his words false by living. none can compel him to live; the galley-slave may be chained to his oar, but his life cannot be chained to his body. the superb mechanism of the human body is as useless as an engine whose fires are not lit, if the will to live ceases,--that will which we maintain resolutely and without pause, and which enables us to perform the tasks which otherwise would fill us with dismay, as, for instance, the momently drawing in and giving out of the breath. such herculean efforts as this we carry on without complaint, and indeed with pleasure, in order that we may exist in the midst of innumerable sensations. and more; we are content, for the most part, to go on without object or aim, without any idea of a goal or understanding of which way we are going. when the man first becomes aware of this aimlessness, and is dimly conscious that he is working with great and constant efforts, and without any idea towards what end those efforts are directed, then descends on him the misery of nineteenth-century thought. he is lost and bewildered, and without hope. he becomes sceptical, disillusioned, weary, and asks the apparently unanswerable question whether it is indeed worth while to draw his breath for such unknown and seemingly unknowable results. but are these results unknowable? at least, to ask a lesser question, is it impossible to make a guess as to the direction in which our goal lies? iii this question, born of sadness and weariness, which seems to us essentially part of the spirit of the nineteenth century, is in fact a question which must have been asked all through the ages. could we go back throughout history intelligently, no doubt we should find that it came always with the hour when the flower of civilization had blown to its full, and when its petals were but slackly held together. the natural part of man has reached then its utmost height; he has rolled the stone up the hill of difficulty only to watch it roll back again when the summit is reached,--as in egypt, in rome, in greece. why this useless labor? is it not enough to produce a weariness and sickness unutterable, to be forever accomplishing a task only to see it undone again? yet that is what man has done throughout history, so far as our limited knowledge reaches. there is one summit to which, by immense and united efforts, he attains, where there is a great and brilliant efflorescence of all the intellectual, mental, and material part of his nature. the climax of sensuous perfection is reached, and then his hold weakens, his power grows less, and he falls back, through despondency and satiety, to barbarism. why does he not stay on this hill-top he has reached, and look away to the mountains beyond, and resolve to scale those greater heights? because he is ignorant, and seeing a great glittering in the distance, drops his eyes bewildered and dazzled, and goes back for rest to the shadowy side of his familiar hill. yet there is now and then one brave enough to gaze fixedly on this glittering, and to decipher something of the shape within it. poets and philosophers, thinkers and teachers,--all those who are the "elder brothers of the race,"--have beheld this sight from time to time, and some among them have recognised in the bewildering glitter the outlines of the gates of gold. those gates admit us to the sanctuary of man's own nature, to the place whence his life-power comes, and where he is priest of the shrine of life. that it is possible to enter here, to pass through those gates, some one or two have shown us. plato, shakespeare, and a few other strong ones have gone through and spoken to us in veiled language on the near side of the gates. when the strong man has crossed the threshold he speaks no more to those at the other side. and even the words he utters when he is outside are so full of mystery, so veiled and profound, that only those who follow in his steps can see the light within them. iv what men desire is to ascertain how to exchange pain for pleasure; that is, to find out in what way consciousness may be regulated in order that the sensation which is most agreeable is the one that is experienced. whether this can be discovered by dint of human thought is at least a question worth considering. if the mind of man is turned upon any given subject with a sufficient concentration, he obtains illumination with regard to it sooner or later. the particular individual in whom the final illumination appears is called a genius, an inventor, one inspired; but he is only the crown of a great mental work created by unknown men about him, and receding back from him through long vistas of distance. without them he would not have had his material to deal with. even the poet requires innumerable poetasters to feed upon. he is the essence of the poetic power of his time, and of the times before him. it is impossible to separate an individual of any species from his kin. if, therefore, instead of accepting the unknown as unknowable, men were _with one accord_ to turn their thoughts towards it, those golden gates would not remain so inexorably shut. it does but need a strong hand to push them open. the courage to enter them is the courage to search the recesses of one's own nature without fear and without shame. in the fine part, the essence, the flavor of the man, is found the key which unlocks those great gates. and when they open, what is it that is found? voices here and there in the long silence of the ages speak to answer that question. those who have passed through have left words behind them as legacies to others of their kin. in these words we can find definite indications of what is to be looked for beyond the gates. but only those who desire to go that way read the meaning hidden within the words. scholars, or rather scholiasts, read the sacred books of different nations, the poetry and the philosophy left by enlightened minds, and find in it all the merest materiality. imagination glorifying legends of nature, or exaggerating the psychic possibilities of man, explains to them all that they find in the bibles of humanity. what is to be found within the words of those books is to be found in each one of us; and it is impossible to find in literature or through any channel of thought that which does not exist in the man who studies. this is of course an evident fact known to all real students. but it has to be especially remembered in reference to this profound and obscure subject, as men so readily believe that nothing can exist for others where they themselves find emptiness. one thing is soon perceived by the man who reads: those who have gone before have not found that the gates of gold lead to oblivion. on the contrary, sensation becomes real for the first time when that threshold is crossed. but it is of a new order, an order unknown to us now, and by us impossible to appreciate without at least some clew as to its character. this clew can be obtained undoubtedly by any student who cares to go through all the literature accessible to us. that mystic books and manuscripts exist, but remain inaccessible simply because there is no man ready to read the first page of any one of them, becomes the conviction of all who have studied the subject sufficiently. for there must be the continuous line all through: we see it go from dense ignorance up to intelligence and wisdom; it is only natural that it should go on to intuitive knowledge and to inspiration. some scant fragments we have of these great gifts of man; where, then, is the whole of which they must be a part? hidden behind the thin yet seemingly impassable veil which hides it from us as it hid all science, all art, all powers of man till he had the courage to tear away the screen. that courage comes only of conviction. when once man believes that the thing exists which he desires, he will obtain it at any cost. the difficulty in this case lies in man's incredulity. it requires a great tide of thought and attention to set in towards the unknown region of man's nature in order that its gates may be unlocked and its glorious vistas explored. that it is worth while to do this whatever the hazard may be, all must allow who have asked the sad question of the nineteenth century,--is life worth living? surely it is sufficient to spur man to new effort,--the suspicion that beyond civilization, beyond mental culture, beyond art and mechanical perfection, there is a new, another gateway, admitting to the realities of life. v when it seems as if the end was reached, the goal attained, and that man has no more to do,--just then, when he appears to have no choice but between eating and drinking and living in his comfort as the beasts do in theirs, and scepticism which is death,--then it is that in fact, if he will but look, the golden gates are before him. with the culture of the age within him and assimilated perfectly, so that he is himself an incarnation of it, then he is fit to attempt the great step which is absolutely possible, yet is attempted by so few even of those who are fitted for it. it is so seldom attempted, partly because of the profound difficulties which surround it, but much more because man does not realize that this is actually the direction in which pleasure and satisfaction are to be obtained. there are certain pleasures which appeal to each individual; every man knows that in one layer or another of sensation he finds his chief delight. naturally he turns to this systematically through life, just as the sunflower turns to the sun and the water-lily leans on the water. but he struggles throughout with an awful fact which oppresses him to the soul,--that no sooner has he obtained his pleasure than he loses it again and has once more to go in search of it. more than that; he never actually reaches it, for it eludes him at the final moment. this is because he endeavors to seize that which is untouchable and satisfy his soul's hunger for sensation by contact with external objects. how can that which is external satisfy or even please the inner man,--the thing which reigns within and has no eyes for matter, no hands for touch of objects, no senses with which to apprehend that which is outside its magic walls? those charmed barriers which surround it are limitless, for it is everywhere; it is to be discovered in all living things, and no part of the universe can be conceived of without it, if that universe is regarded as a coherent whole. and unless that point is granted at the outset it is useless to consider the subject of life at all. life is indeed meaningless unless it is universal and coherent, and unless we maintain our existence by reason of the fact that we are part of that which is, not by reason of our own being. this is one of the most important factors in the development of man, the recognition--profound and complete recognition--of the law of universal unity and coherence. the separation which exists between individuals, between worlds, between the different poles of the universe and of life, the mental and physical fantasy called space, is a nightmare of the human imagination. that nightmares exist, and exist only to torment, every child knows; and what we need is the power of discrimination between the phantasmagoria of the brain, which concern ourselves only, and the phantasmagoria of daily life, in which others also are concerned. this rule applies also to the larger case. it concerns no one but ourselves that we live in a nightmare of unreal horror, and fancy ourselves alone in the universe and capable of independent action, so long as our associates are those only who are a part of the dream; but when we desire to speak with those who have tried the golden gates and pushed them open, then it is very necessary--in fact it is essential--to discriminate, and not bring into our life the confusions of our sleep. if we do, we are reckoned as madmen, and fall back into the darkness where there is no friend but chaos. this chaos has followed every effort of man that is written in history; after civilization has flowered, the flower falls and dies, and winter and darkness destroy it. while man refuses to make the effort of discrimination which would enable him to distinguish between the shapes of night and the active figures of day, this must inevitably happen. but if man has the courage to resist this reactionary tendency, to stand steadily on the height he has reached and put out his foot in search of yet another step, why should he not find it? there is nothing to make one suppose the pathway to end at a certain point, except that tradition which has declared it is so, and which men have accepted and hug to themselves as a justification for their indolence. vi indolence is, in fact, the curse of man. as the irish peasant and the cosmopolitan gypsy dwell in dirt and poverty out of sheer idleness, so does the man of the world live contented in sensuous pleasures for the same reason. the drinking of fine wines, the tasting of delicate food, the love of bright sights and sounds, of beautiful women and admirable surroundings,--these are no better for the cultivated man, no more satisfactory as a final goal of enjoyment for him, than the coarse amusements and gratifications of the boor are for the man without cultivation. there can be no final point, for life in every form is one vast series of fine gradations; and the man who elects to stand still at the point of culture he has reached, and to avow that he can go no further, is simply making an arbitrary statement for the excuse of his indolence. of course there is a possibility of declaring that the gypsy is content in his dirt and poverty, and, because he is so, is as great a man as the most highly cultured. but he only is so while he is ignorant; the moment light enters the dim mind the whole man turns towards it. so it is on the higher platform; only the difficulty of penetrating the mind, of admitting the light, is even greater. the irish peasant loves his whiskey, and while he can have it cares nothing for the great laws of morality and religion which are supposed to govern humanity and induce men to live temperately. the cultivated gourmand cares only for subtle tastes and perfect flavors; but he is as blind as the merest peasant to the fact that there is anything beyond such gratifications. like the boor he is deluded by a mirage that oppresses his soul; and he fancies, having once obtained a sensuous joy that pleases him, to give himself the utmost satisfaction by endless repetition, till at last he reaches madness. the bouquet of the wine he loves enters his soul and poisons it, leaving him with no thoughts but those of sensuous desire; and he is in the same hopeless state as the man who dies mad with drink. what good has the drunkard obtained by his madness? none; pain has at last swallowed up pleasure utterly, and death steps in to terminate the agony. the man suffers the final penalty for his persistent ignorance of a law of nature as inexorable as that of gravitation,--a law which forbids a man to stand still. not twice can the same cup of pleasure be tasted; the second time it must contain either a grain of poison or a drop of the elixir of life. the same argument holds good with regard to intellectual pleasures; the same law operates. we see men who are the flower of their age in intellect, who pass beyond their fellows and tower over them, entering at last upon a fatal treadmill of thought, where they yield to the innate indolence of the soul and begin to delude themselves by the solace of repetition. then comes the barrenness and lack of vitality,--that unhappy and disappointing state into which great men too often enter when middle life is just passed. the fire of youth, the vigor of the young intellect, conquers the inner inertia and makes the man scale heights of thought and fill his mental lungs with the free air of the mountains. but then at last the physical reaction sets in; the physical machinery of the brain loses its powerful impetus and begins to relax its efforts, simply because the youth of the body is at an end. now the man is assailed by the great tempter of the race who stands forever on the ladder of life waiting for those who climb so far. he drops the poisoned drop into the ear, and from that moment all consciousness takes on a dulness, and the man becomes terrified lest life is losing its possibilities for him. he rushes back on to a familiar platform of experience, and there finds comfort in touching a well-known chord of passion or emotion. and too many having done this linger on, afraid to attempt the unknown, and satisfied to touch continually that chord which responds most readily. by this means they get the assurance that life is still burning within them. but at last their fate is the same as that of the gourmand and the drunkard. the power of the spell lessens daily as the machinery which feels loses its vitality; and the man endeavors to revive the old excitement and fervor by striking the note more violently, by hugging the thing that makes him feel, by drinking the cup of poison to its fatal dregs. and then he is lost; madness falls on his soul, as it falls on the body of the drunkard. life has no longer any meaning for him, and he rushes wildly into the abysses of intellectual insanity. a lesser man who commits this great folly wearies the spirits of others by a dull clinging to familiar thought, by a persistent hugging of the treadmill which he asserts to be the final goal. the cloud that surrounds him is as fatal as death itself, and men who once sat at his feet turn away grieved, and have to look back at his early words in order to remember his greatness. vii what is the cure for this misery and waste of effort? is there one? surely life itself has a logic in it and a law which makes existence possible; otherwise chaos and madness would be the only state which would be attainable. when a man drinks his first cup of pleasure his soul is filled with the unutterable joy that comes with a first, a fresh sensation. the drop of poison that he puts into the second cup, and which, if he persists in that folly, has to become doubled and trebled till at last the whole cup is poison,--that is the ignorant desire for repetition and intensification; this evidently means death, according to all analogy. the child becomes the man; he cannot retain his childhood and repeat and intensify the pleasures of childhood except by paying the inevitable price and becoming an idiot. the plant strikes its roots into the ground and throws up green leaves; then it blossoms and bears fruit. that plant which will only make roots or leaves, pausing persistently in its development, is regarded by the gardener as a thing which is useless and must be cast out. the man who chooses the way of effort, and refuses to allow the sleep of indolence to dull his soul, finds in his pleasures a new and finer joy each time he tastes them,--a something subtile and remote which removes them more and more from the state in which mere sensuousness is all; this subtile essence is that elixir of life which makes man immortal. he who tastes it and who will not drink unless it is in the cup finds life enlarge and the world grow great before his eager eyes. he recognises the soul within the woman he loves, and passion becomes peace; he sees within his thought the finer qualities of spiritual truth, which is beyond the action of our mental machinery, and then instead of entering on the treadmill of intellectualisms he rests on the broad back of the eagle of intuition and soars into the fine air where the great poets found their insight; he sees within his own power of sensation, of pleasure in fresh air and sunshine, in food and wine, in motion and rest, the possibilities of the subtile man, the thing which dies not either with the body or the brain. the pleasures of art, of music, of light and loveliness,--within these forms, which men repeat till they find only the forms, he sees the glory of the gates of gold, and passes through to find the new life beyond which intoxicates and strengthens, as the keen mountain air intoxicates and strengthens, by its very vigor. but if he has been pouring, drop by drop, more and more of the elixir of life into his cup, he is strong enough to breathe this intense air and to live upon it. then if he die or if he live in physical form, alike he goes on and finds new and finer joys, more perfect and satisfying experiences, with every breath he draws in and gives out. chapter ii the mystery of threshold i there is no doubt that at the entrance on a new phase of life something has to be given up. the child, when it has become the man, puts away childish things. saint paul showed in these words, and in many others which he has left us, that he had tasted of the elixir of life, that he was on his way towards the gates of gold. with each drop of the divine draught which is put into the cup of pleasure something is purged away from that cup to make room for the magic drop. for nature deals with her children generously: man's cup is always full to the brim; and if he chooses to taste of the fine and life-giving essence, he must cast away something of the grosser and less sensitive part of himself. this has to be done daily, hourly, momently, in order that the draught of life may steadily increase. and to do this unflinchingly, a man must be his own schoolmaster, must recognise that he is always in need of wisdom, must be ready to practise any austerities, to use the birch-rod unhesitatingly against himself, in order to gain his end. it becomes evident to any one who regards the subject seriously, that only a man who has the potentialities in him both of the voluptuary and the stoic has any chance of entering the golden gates. he must be capable of testing and valuing to its most delicate fraction every joy existence has to give; and he must be capable of denying himself all pleasure, and that without suffering from the denial. when he has accomplished the development of this double possibility, then he is able to begin sifting his pleasures and taking away from his consciousness those which belong absolutely to the man of clay. when those are put back, there is the next range of more refined pleasures to be dealt with. the dealing with these which will enable a man to find the essence of life is not the method pursued by the stoic philosopher. the stoic does not allow that there is joy within pleasure, and by denying himself the one loses the other. but the true philosopher, who has studied life itself without being bound by any system of thought, sees that the kernel is within the shell, and that, instead of crunching up the whole nut like a gross and indifferent feeder, the essence of the thing is obtained by cracking the shell and casting it away. all emotion, all sensation, lends itself to this process, else it could not be a part of man's development, an essential of his nature. for that there is before him power, life, perfection, and that every portion of his passage thitherwards is crowded with the means of helping him to his goal, can only be denied by those who refuse to acknowledge life as apart from matter. their mental position is so absolutely arbitrary that it is useless to encounter or combat it. through all time the unseen has been pressing on the seen, the immaterial overpowering the material; through all time the signs and tokens of that which is beyond matter have been waiting for the men of matter to test and weigh them. those who will not do so have chosen the place of pause arbitrarily, and there is nothing to be done but let them remain there undisturbed, working that treadmill which they believe to be the utmost activity of existence. ii there is no doubt that a man must educate himself to perceive that which is beyond matter, just as he must educate himself to perceive that which is in matter. every one knows that the early life of a child is one long process of adjustment, of learning to understand the use of the senses with regard to their special provinces, and of practice in the exercise of difficult, complex, yet imperfect organs entirely in reference to the perception of the world of matter. the child is in earnest and works on without hesitation if he means to live. some infants born into the light of earth shrink from it, and refuse to attack the immense task which is before them, and which must be accomplished in order to make life in matter possible. these go back to the ranks of the unborn; we see them lay down their manifold instrument, the body, and fade into sleep. so it is with the great crowd of humanity when it has triumphed and conquered and enjoyed in the world of matter. the individuals in that crowd, which seems so powerful and confident in its familiar demesne, are infants in the presence of the immaterial universe. and we see them, on all sides, daily and hourly, refusing to enter it, sinking back into the ranks of the dwellers in physical life, clinging to the consciousnesses they have experienced and understand. the intellectual rejection of all purely spiritual knowledge is the most marked indication of this indolence, of which thinkers of every standing are certainly guilty. that the initial effort is a heavy one is evident, and it is clearly a question of strength, as well as of willing activity. but there is no way of acquiring this strength, or of using it when acquired, except by the exercise of the will. it is vain to expect to be born into great possessions. in the kingdom of life there is no heredity except from the man's own past. he has to accumulate that which is his. this is evident to any observer of life who uses his eyes without blinding them by prejudice; and even when prejudice is present, it is impossible for a man of sense not to perceive the fact. it is from this that we get the doctrine of punishment and salvation, either lasting through great ages after death, or eternal. this doctrine is a narrow and unintelligent mode of stating the fact in nature that what a man sows that shall he reap. swedenborg's great mind saw the fact so clearly that he hardened it into a finality in reference to this particular existence, his prejudices making it impossible for him to perceive the possibility of new action when there is no longer the sensuous world to act in. he was too dogmatic for scientific observation, and would not see that, as the spring follows the autumn, and the day the night, so birth must follow death. he went very near the threshold of the gates of gold, and passed beyond mere intellectualism, only to pause at a point but one step farther. the glimpse of the life beyond which he had obtained appeared to him to contain the universe; and on his fragment of experience he built up a theory to include all life, and refused progress beyond that state or any possibility outside it. this is only another form of the weary treadmill. but swedenborg stands foremost in the crowd of witnesses to the fact that the golden gates exist and can be seen from the heights of thought, and he has cast us a faint surge of sensation from their threshold. iii when once one has considered the meaning of those gates, it is evident that there is no other way out of this form of life except through them. they only can admit man to the place where he becomes the fruit of which manhood is the blossom. nature is the kindest of mothers to those who need her; she never wearies of her children or desires them to lessen in multitude. her friendly arms open wide to the vast throng who desire birth and to dwell in forms; and while they continue to desire it, she continues to smile a welcome. why, then, should she shut her doors on any? when one life in her heart has not worn out a hundredth part of the soul's longing for sensation such as it finds there, what reason can there be for its departure to any other place? surely the seeds of desire spring up where the sower has sown them. this seems but reasonable; and on this apparently self-evident fact the indian mind has based its theory of re-incarnation, of birth and re-birth in matter, which has become so familiar a part of eastern thought as no longer to need demonstration. the indian knows it as the western knows that the day he is living through is but one of many days which make up the span of a man's life. this certainty which is possessed by the eastern with regard to natural laws that control the great sweep of the soul's existence is simply acquired by habits of thought. the mind of many is fixed on subjects which in the west are considered unthinkable. thus it is that the east has produced the great flowers of the spiritual growth of humanity. on the mental steps of a million men buddha passed through the gates of gold; and because a great crowd pressed about the threshold he was able to leave behind him words which prove that those gates will open. chapter iii the initial effort i it is very easily seen that there is no one point in a man's life or experience where he is nearer the soul of things than at any other. that soul, the sublime essence, which fills the air with a burnished glow, is there, behind the gates it colors with itself. but that there is no one pathway to it is immediately perceived from the fact that this soul must from its very nature be universal. the gates of gold do not admit to any special place; what they do is to open for egress from a special place. man passes through them when he casts off his limitation. he may burst the shell that holds him in darkness, tear the veil that hides him from the eternal, at any point where it is easiest for him to do so, and most often this point will be where he least expects to find it. men go in search of escape with the help of their minds, and lay down arbitrary and limited laws as to how to attain the, to them, unattainable. many, indeed, have hoped to pass through by the way of religion, and instead they have formed a place of thought and feeling so marked and fixed that it seems as though long ages would be insufficient to enable them to get out of the rut! some have believed that by the aid of pure intellect a way was to be found; and to such men we owe the philosophy and metaphysics which have prevented the race from sinking into utter sensuousness. but the end of the man who endeavors to live by thought alone is that he dwells in fantasies, and insists on giving them to other men as substantial food. great is our debt to the meta-physicians and transcendentalists; but he who follows them to the bitter end, forgetting that the brain is only one organ of use, will find himself dwelling in a place where a dull wheel of argument seems to turn forever on its axis, yet goes nowhither and carries no burden. virtue (or what seems to each man to be virtue, his own special standard of morality and purity) is held by those who practise it to be a way to heaven. perhaps it is, to the heaven of the modern sybarite, the ethical voluptuary. it is as easy to become a gourmand in pure living and high thinking as in the pleasures of taste or sight or sound. gratification is the aim of the virtuous man as well as of the drunkard; even if his life be a miracle of abstinence and self-sacrifice, a moment's thought shows that in pursuing this apparently heroic path he does but pursue pleasure. with him pleasure takes on a lovely form because his gratifications are those of a sweet savor, and it pleases him to give gladness to others rather than to enjoy himself at their expense. but the pure life and high thoughts are no more finalities in themselves than any other mode of enjoyment; and the man who endeavors to find contentment in them must intensify his effort and continually repeat it,--all in vain. he is a green plant indeed, and the leaves are beautiful; but more is wanted than leaves. if he persists in his endeavor blindly, believing that he has reached his goal when he has not even perceived it, then he finds himself in that dreary place where good is done perforce, and the deed of virtue is without the love that should shine through it. it is well for a man to lead a pure life, as it is well for him to have clean hands,--else he becomes repugnant. but virtue as we understand it now can no more have any special relation to the state beyond that to which we are limited than any other part of our constitution. spirit is not a gas created by matter, and we cannot create our future by forcibly using one material agent and leaving out the rest. spirit is the great life on which matter rests, as does the rocky world on the free and fluid ether; whenever we can break our limitations we find ourselves on that marvellous shore where wordsworth once saw the gleam of the gold. when we enter there all the present must disappear alike,--virtue and vice, thought and sense. that a man reaps what he has sown must of course be true also; he has no power to carry virtue, which is of the material life, with him; yet the aroma of his good deeds is a far sweeter sacrifice than the odor of crime and cruelty. yet it may be, however, that by the practice of virtue he will fetter himself into one groove, one changeless fashion of life in matter, so firmly that it is impossible for the mind to conceive that death is a sufficient power to free him, and cast him upon the broad and glorious ocean,--a sufficient power to undo for him the inexorable and heavy latch of the golden gate. and sometimes the man who has sinned so deeply that his whole nature is scarred and blackened by the fierce fire of selfish gratification is at last so utterly burned out and charred that from the very vigor of the passion light leaps forth. it would seem more possible for such a man at least to reach the threshold of the gates than for the mere ascetic or philosopher. but it is little use to reach the threshold of the gates without the power to pass through. and that is all that the sinner can hope to do by the dissolution of himself which comes from seeing his own soul. at least this appears to be so, inevitably because his condition is negative. the man who lifts the latch of the golden gate must do so with his own strong hand, must be absolutely positive. this we can see by analogy. in everything else in life, in every new step or development, it is necessary for a man to exercise his most dominant will in order to obtain it fully. indeed in many cases, though he has every advantage and though he use his will to some extent, he will fail utterly of obtaining what he desires from lack of the final and unconquerable resolution. no education in the world will make a man an intellectual glory to his age, even if his powers are great; for unless he positively desires to seize the flower of perfection, he will be but a dry scholar, a dealer in words, a proficient in mechanical thought, and a mere wheel of memory. and the man who has this positive quality in him will rise in spite of adverse circumstances, will recognise and seize upon the tide of thought which is his natural food, and will stand as a giant at last in the place he willed to reach. we see this practically every day in all walks of life. wherefore it does not seem possible that the man who has simply succeeded through the passions in wrecking the dogmatic and narrow part of his nature should pass through those great gates. but as he is not blinded by prejudice, nor has fastened himself to any treadmill of thought, nor caught the wheel of his soul in any deep rut of life, it would seem that if once the positive will might be born within him, he could at some time not hopelessly far distant lift his hand to the latch. undoubtedly it is the hardest task we have yet seen set us in life, that which we are now talking of,--to free a man of all prejudice, of all crystallized thought or feeling, of all limitations, yet develop within him the positive will. it seems too much of a miracle; for in ordinary life positive will is always associated with crystallized ideas. but many things which have appeared to be too much of a miracle for accomplishment have yet been done, even in the narrow experience of life given to our present humanity. all the past shows us that difficulty is no excuse for dejection, much less for despair; else the world would have been without the many wonders of civilization. let us consider the thing more seriously, therefore, having once used our minds to the idea that it is not impossible. the great initial difficulty is that of fastening the interest on that which is unseen. yet, this is done every day, and we have only to observe how it is done in order to guide our own conduct. every inventor fastens his interest firmly on the unseen; and it entirely depends on the firmness of that attachment whether he is successful or whether he fails. the poet who looks on to his moment of creation as that for which he lives, sees that which is invisible and hears that which is soundless. probably in this last analogy there is a clew as to the mode by which success in this voyage to the unknown bourn ("whence," indeed, "no traveller returns") is attained. it applies also to the inventor and to all who reach out beyond the ordinary mental and psychical level of humanity. the clew lies in that word "creation." ii the words "to create" are often understood by the ordinary mind to convey the idea of evolving something out of nothing. this is clearly not its meaning; we are mentally obliged to provide our creator with chaos from which to produce the worlds. the tiller of the soil, who is the typical producer of social life, must have his material, his earth, his sky, rain, and sun, and the seeds to place within the earth. out of nothing he can produce nothing. out of a void nature cannot arise; there is that material beyond, behind, or within, from which she is shaped by our desire for a universe. it is an evident fact that the seeds and the earth, air, and water which cause them to germinate exist on every plane of action. if you talk to an inventor, you will find that far ahead of what he is now doing he can always perceive some other thing to be done which he cannot express in words because as yet he has not drawn it into our present world of objects. that knowledge of the unseen is even more definite in the poet, and more inexpressible until he has touched it with some part of that consciousness which he shares with other men. but in strict proportion to his greatness he lives in the consciousness which the ordinary man does not even believe can exist,--the consciousness which dwells in the greater universe, which breathes in the vaster air, which beholds a wider earth and sky, and snatches seeds from plants of giant growth. it is this place of consciousness that we need to reach out to. that it is not reserved only for men of genius is shown by the fact that martyrs and heroes have found it and dwelt in it. it is not reserved for men of genius only, but it can only be found by men of great soul. in this fact there is no need for discouragement. greatness in man is popularly supposed to be a thing inborn. this belief must be a result of want of thought, of blindness to facts of nature. greatness can only be attained by growth; that is continually demonstrated to us. even the mountains, even the firm globe itself, these are great by dint of the mode of growth peculiar to that state of materiality,--accumulation of atoms. as the consciousness inherent in all existing forms passes into more advanced forms of life it becomes more active, and in proportion it acquires the power of growth by assimilation instead of accumulation. looking at existence from this special point of view (which indeed is a difficult one to maintain for long, as we habitually look at life in planes and forget the great lines which connect and run through these), we immediately perceive it to be reasonable to suppose that as we advance beyond our present standpoint the power of growth by assimilation will become greater and probably change into a method yet more rapid, easy, and unconscious. the universe is, in fact, full of magnificent promise for us, if we will but lift our eyes and see. it is that lifting of the eyes which is the first need and the first difficulty; we are so apt readily to be content with what we see within touch of our hands. it is the essential characteristic of the man of genius that he is comparatively indifferent to that fruit which is just within touch, and hungers for that which is afar on the hills. in fact he does not need the sense of contact to arouse longing. he knows that this distant fruit, which he perceives without the aid of the physical senses, is a subtler and a stronger food than any which appeals to them. and how is he rewarded! when he tastes that fruit, how strong and sweet is its flavor, and what a new sense of life rushes upon him! for in recognising that flavor he has recognised the existence of the subtile senses, those which feed the life of the inner man; and it is by the strength of that inner man, and by his strength only, that the latch of the golden gates can be lifted. in fact it is only by the development and growth of the inner man that the existence of these gates, and of that to which they admit, can be even perceived. while man is content with his gross senses and cares nothing for his subtile ones, the gates remain literally invisible. as to the boor the gateway of the intellectual life is as a thing uncreate and non-existent, so to the man of the gross senses, even if his intellectual life is active, that which lies beyond is uncreate and non-existent, only because he does not open the book. to the servant who dusts the scholar's library the closed volumes are meaningless; they do not even appear to contain a promise unless he also is a scholar, not merely a servant. it is possible to gaze throughout eternity upon a shut exterior from sheer indolence,--mental indolence, which is incredulity, and which at last men learn to pride themselves on; they call it scepticism, and talk of the reign of reason. it is no more a state to justify pride than that of the eastern sybarite who will not even lift his food to his mouth; he is "reasonable" also in that he sees no value in activity, and therefore does not exercise it. so with the sceptic; decay follows the condition of inaction, whether it be mental, psychic, or physical. iii and now let us consider how the initial difficulty of fastening the interest on that which is unseen is to be overcome. our gross senses refer only to that which is objective in the ordinary sense of the word; but just beyond this field of life there are finer sensations which appeal to finer senses. here we find the first clew to the stepping-stones we need. man looks from this point of view like a point where many rays or lines centre; and if he has the courage or the interest to detach himself from the simplest form of life, the point, and explore but a little way along these lines or rays, his whole being at once inevitably widens and expands, the man begins to grow in greatness. but it is evident, if we accept this illustration as a fairly true one, that the chief point of importance is to explore no more persistently on one line than another: else the result must be a deformity. we all know how powerful is the majesty and personal dignity of a forest tree which has had air enough to breathe, and room for its widening roots, and inner vitality with which to accomplish its unceasing task. it obeys the perfect natural law of growth, and the peculiar awe it inspires arises from this fact. how is it possible to obtain recognition of the inner man, to observe its growth and foster it? let us try to follow a little way the clew we have obtained, though words will probably soon be useless. we must each travel alone and without aids, as the traveller has to climb alone when he nears the summit of the mountain. no beast of burden can help him there; neither can the gross senses or anything that touches the gross senses help him here. but for a little distance words may go with us. the tongue recognises the value of sweetness or piquancy in food. to the man whose senses are of the simplest order there is no other idea of sweetness than this. but a finer essence, a more highly placed sensation of the same order, is reached by another perception. the sweetness on the face of a lovely woman, or in the smile of a friend, is recognised by the man whose inner senses have even a little--a mere stirring of--vitality. to the one who has lifted the golden latch the spring of sweet waters, the fountain itself whence all softness arises, is opened and becomes part of his heritage. but before this fountain can be tasted, or any other spring reached, any source found, a heavy weight has to be lifted from the heart, an iron bar which holds it down and prevents it from arising in its strength. the man who recognises the flow of sweetness from its source through nature, through all forms of life, he has lifted this, he has raised himself into that state in which there is no bondage. he knows that he is a part of the great whole, and it is this knowledge which is his heritage. it is through the breaking asunder of the arbitrary bond which holds him to his personal centre that he comes of age and becomes ruler of his kingdom. as he widens out, reaching by manifold experience along those lines which centre at the point where he stands embodied, he discovers that he has touch with all life, that he contains within himself the whole. and then he has but to yield himself to the great force which we call good, to clasp it tightly with the grasp of his soul, and he is carried swiftly on to the great, wide waters of real living. what are those waters? in our present life we have but the shadow of the substance. no man loves without satiety, no man drinks wine without return of thirst. hunger and longing darken the sky and make the earth unfriendly. what we need is an earth that will bear living fruit, a sky that will be always full of light. needing this positively, we shall surely find it. chapter iv the meaning of pain i look into the deep heart of life, whence pain comes to darken men's lives. she is always on the threshold, and behind her stands despair. what are these two gaunt figures, and why are they permitted to be our constant followers? it is we who permit them, we who order them, as we permit and order the action of our bodies; and we do so as unconsciously. but by scientific experiment and investigation we have learned much about our physical life, and it would seem as if we can obtain at least as much result with regard to our inner life by adopting similar methods. pain arouses, softens, breaks, and destroys. regarded from a sufficiently removed standpoint, it appears as medicine, as a knife, as a weapon, as a poison, in turn. it is an implement, a thing which is used, evidently. what we desire to discover is, who is the user; what part of ourselves is it that demands the presence of this thing so hateful to the rest? medicine is used by the physician, the knife by the surgeon; but the weapon of destruction is used by the enemy, the hater. is it, then, that we do not only use means, or desire to use means, for the benefit of our souls, but that also we wage warfare within ourselves, and do battle in the inner sanctuary? it would seem so; for it is certain that if man's will relaxed with regard to it he would no longer retain life in that state in which pain exists. why does he desire his own hurt? the answer may at first sight seem to be that he primarily desires pleasure, and so is willing to continue on that battlefield where it wages war with pain for the possession of him, hoping always that pleasure will win the victory and take him home to herself. this is but the external aspect of the man's state. in himself he knows well that pain is co-ruler with pleasure, and that though the war wages always it never will be won. the superficial observer concludes that man submits to the inevitable. but that is a fallacy not worthy of discussion. a little serious thought shows us that man does not exist at all except by exercise of his positive qualities; it is but logical to suppose that he chooses the state he will live in by the exercise of those same qualities. granted, then, for the sake of our argument, that he desires pain, why is it that he desires anything so annoying to himself? ii if we carefully consider the constitution of man and its tendencies, it would seem as if there were two definite directions in which he grows. he is like a tree which strikes its roots into the ground while it throws up young branches towards the heavens. these two lines which go outward from the central personal point are to him clear, definite, and intelligible. he calls one good and the other evil. but man is not, according to any analogy, observation, or experience, a straight line. would that he were, and that life, or progress, or development, or whatever we choose to call it, meant merely following one straight road or another, as the religionists pretend it does. the whole question, the mighty problem, would be very easily solved then. but it is not so easy to go to hell as preachers declare it to be. it is as hard a task as to find one's way to the golden gate! a man may wreck himself utterly in sense-pleasure,--may debase his whole nature, as it seems,--yet he fails of becoming the perfect devil, for there is still the spark of divine light within him. he tries to choose the broad road which leads to destruction, and enters bravely on his headlong career. but very soon he is checked and startled by some unthought-of tendency in himself,--some of the many other radiations which go forth from his centre of self. he suffers as the body suffers when it develops monstrosities which impede its healthy action. he has created pain, and encountered his own creation. it may seem as if this argument is difficult of application with regard to physical pain. not so, if man is regarded from a loftier standpoint than that we generally occupy. if he is looked upon as a powerful consciousness which forms its external manifestations according to its desires, then it is evident that physical pain results from deformity in those desires. no doubt it will appear to many minds that this conception of man is too gratuitous, and involves too large a mental leap into unknown places where proof is unobtainable. but if the mind is accustomed to look upon life from this standpoint, then very soon none other is acceptable; the threads of existence, which to the purely materialistic observer appear hopelessly entangled, become separated and straightened, so that a new intelligibleness illumines the universe. the arbitrary and cruel creator who inflicts pain and pleasure at will then disappears from the stage; and it is well, for he is indeed an unnecessary character, and, worse still, is a mere creature of straw, who cannot even strut upon the boards without being upheld on all sides by dogmatists. man comes into this world, surely, on the same principle that he lives in one city of the earth or another; at all events, if it is too much to say that this is so, one may safely ask, why is it not so? there is neither for nor against which will appeal to the materialist, or which would weigh in a court of justice; but i aver this in favor of the argument,--that no man having once seriously considered it can go back to the formal theories of the sceptics. it is like putting on swaddling-clothes again. granting, then, for the sake of this argument, that man is a powerful consciousness who is his own creator, his own judge, and within whom lies all life in potentiality, even the ultimate goal, then let us consider why he causes himself to suffer. if pain is the result of uneven development, of monstrous growths, of defective advance at different points, why does man not learn the lesson which this should teach him, and take pains to develop equally? it would seem to me as if the answer to this question is that this is the very lesson which the human race is engaged in learning. perhaps this may seem too bold a statement to make in the face of ordinary thinking, which either regards man as a creature of chance dwelling in chaos, or as a soul bound to the inexorable wheel of a tyrant's chariot and hurried on either to heaven or to hell. but such a mode of thought is after all but the same as that of the child who regards his parents as the final arbiters of his destinies, and in fact the gods or demons of his universe. as he grows he casts aside this idea, finding that it is simply a question of coming of age, and that he is himself the king of life like any other man. so it is with the human race. it is king of its world, arbiter of its own destiny, and there is none to say it nay. who talk of providence and chance have not paused to think. destiny, the inevitable, does indeed exist for the race and for the individual; but who can ordain this save the man himself? there is no clew in heaven or earth to the existence of any ordainer other than the man who suffers or enjoys that which is ordained. we know so little of our own constitution, we are so ignorant of our divine functions, that it is impossible for us yet to know how much or how little we are actually fate itself. but this at all events we know,--that so far as any provable perception goes, no clew to the existence of an ordainer has yet been discovered; whereas if we give but a very little attention to the life about us in order to observe the action of the man upon his own future, we soon perceive this power as an actual force in operation. it is visible, although our range of vision is so very limited. the man of the world, pure and simple, is by far the best practical observer and philosopher with regard to life, because he is not blinded by any prejudices. he will be found always to believe that as a man sows so shall he reap. and this is so evidently true when it is considered, that if one takes the larger view, including all human life, it makes intelligible the awful nemesis which seems consciously to pursue the human race,--that inexorable appearance of pain in the midst of pleasure. the great greek poets saw this apparition so plainly that their recorded observation has given to us younger and blinder observers the idea of it. it is unlikely that so materialistic a race as that which has grown up all over the west would have discovered for itself the existence of this terrible factor in human life without the assistance of the older poets,--the poets of the past. and in this we may notice, by the way, one distinct value of the study of the classics,--that the great ideas and facts about human life which the superb ancients put into their poetry shall not be absolutely lost as are their arts. no doubt the world will flower again, and greater thoughts and more profound discoveries than those of the past will be the glory of the men of the future efflorescence; but until that far-off day comes we cannot prize too dearly the treasures left us. there is one aspect of the question which seems at first sight positively to negative this mode of thought; and that is the suffering in the apparently purely physical body of the dumb beings,--young children, idiots, animals,--and their desperate need of the power which comes of any sort of knowledge to help them through their sufferings. the difficulty which will arise in the mind with regard to this comes from the untenable idea of the separation of the soul from the body. it is supposed by all those who look only at material life (and especially by the physicians of the flesh) that the body and the brain are a pair of partners who live together hand in hand and react one upon another. beyond that they recognise no cause and therefore allow of none. they forget that the brain and the body are as evidently mere mechanism as the hand or the foot. there is the inner man--the soul--behind, using all these mechanisms; and this is as evidently the truth with regard to all the existences we know of as with regard to man himself. we cannot find any point in the scale of being at which soul-causation ceases or can cease. the dull oyster must have that in him which makes him choose the inactive life he leads; none else can choose it for him but the soul behind, which makes him be. how else can he be where he is, or be at all? only by the intervention of an impossible creator called by some name or other. it is because man is so idle, so indisposed to assume or accept responsibility, that he falls back upon this temporary makeshift of a creator. it is temporary indeed, for it can only last during the activity of the particular brain power which finds its place among us. when the man drops this mental life behind him, he of necessity leaves with it its magic lantern and the pleasant illusions he has conjured up by its aid. that must be a very uncomfortable moment, and must produce a sense of nakedness not to be approached by any other sensation. it would seem as well to save one's self this disagreeable experience by refusing to accept unreal phantasms as things of flesh and blood and power. upon the shoulders of the creator man likes to thrust the responsibility not only of his capacity for sinning and the possibility of his salvation, but of his very life itself, his very consciousness. it is a poor creator that he thus contents himself with,--one who is pleased with a universe of puppets, and amused by pulling their strings. if he is capable of such enjoyment, he must yet be in his infancy. perhaps that is so, after all; the god within us is in his infancy, and refuses to recognise his high estate. if indeed the soul of man is subject to the laws of growth, of decay, and of re-birth as to its body, then there is no wonder at its blindness. but this is evidently not so; for the soul of man is of that order of life which causes shape and form, and is unaffected itself by these things,--of that order of life which like the pure, the abstract flame burns wherever it is lit. this cannot be changed or affected by time, and is of its very nature superior to growth and decay. it stands in that primeval place which is the only throne of god,--that place whence forms of life emerge and to which they return. that place is the central point of existence, where there is a permanent spot of life as there is in the midst of the heart of man. it is by the equal development of that,--first by the recognition of it, and then by its equal development upon the many radiating lines of experience,--that man is at last enabled to reach the golden gate and lift the latch. the process is the gradual recognition of the god in himself; the goal is reached when that godhood is consciously restored to its right glory. iii the first thing which it is necessary for the soul of man to do in order to engage in this great endeavor of discovering true life is the same thing that the child first does in its desire for activity in the body,--he must be able to stand. it is clear that the power of standing, of equilibrium, of concentration, of uprightness, in the soul, is a quality of a marked character. the word that presents itself most readily as descriptive of this quality is "confidence." to remain still amid life and its changes, and stand firmly on the chosen spot, is a feat which can only be accomplished by the man who has confidence in himself and in his destiny. otherwise the hurrying forms of life, the rushing tide of men, the great floods of thought, must inevitably carry him with them, and then he will lose that place of consciousness whence it was possible to start on the great enterprise. for it _must_ be done knowingly, and without pressure from without,--this act of the new-born man. all the great ones of the earth have possessed this confidence, and have stood firmly on that place which was to them the one solid spot in the universe. to each man this place is of necessity different. each man must find his earth and his own heaven. we have the instinctive desire to relieve pain, but we work in externals in this as in everything else. we simply alleviate it; and if we do more, and drive it from its first chosen stronghold, it reappears in some other place with reinforced vigor. if it is eventually driven off the physical plane by persistent and successful effort, it reappears on the mental or emotional planes where no man can touch it. that this is so is easily seen by those who connect the various planes of sensation, and who observe life with that additional illumination. men habitually regard these different forms of feeling as actually separate, whereas in fact they are evidently only different sides of one centre,--the point of personality. if that which arises in the centre, the fount of life, demands some hindered action, and consequently causes pain, the force thus created being driven from one stronghold must find another; it cannot be driven out. and all the blendings of human life which cause emotion and distress exist for its use and purposes as well as for those of pleasure. both have their home in man; both demand their expression of right. the marvellously delicate mechanism of the human frame is constructed to answer to their lightest touch; the extraordinary intricacies of human relations evolve themselves, as it were, for the satisfaction of these two great opposites of the soul. pain and pleasure stand apart and separate, as do the two sexes; and it is in the merging, the making the two into one, that joy and deep sensation and profound peace are obtained. where there is neither male nor female neither pain nor pleasure, there is the god in man dominant, and then is life real. to state the matter in this way may savor too much of the dogmatist who utters his assertions uncontradicted from a safe pulpit; but it is dogmatism only as a scientist's record of effort in a new direction is dogmatism. unless the existence of the gates of gold can be proved to be real, and not the mere phantasmagoria of fanciful visionaries, then they are not worth talking about at all. in the nineteenth century hard facts or legitimate arguments alone appeal to men's minds; and so much the better. for unless the life we advance towards is increasingly real and actual, it is worthless, and time is wasted in going after it. reality is man's greatest need, and he demands to have it at all hazards, at any price. be it so. no one doubts he is right. let us then go in search of reality. iv one definite lesson learned by all acute sufferers will be of the greatest service to us in this consideration. in intense pain a point is reached where it is indistinguishable from its opposite, pleasure. this is indeed so, but few have the heroism or the strength to suffer to such a far point. it is as difficult to reach it by the other road. only a chosen few have the gigantic capacity for pleasure which will enable them to travel to its other side. most have but enough strength to enjoy and to become the slave of the enjoyment. yet man has undoubtedly within himself the heroism needed for the great journey; else how is it martyrs have smiled amid the torture? how is it that the profound sinner who lives for pleasure can at last feel stir within himself the divine afflatus? in both these cases the possibility has arisen of finding the way; but too often that possibility is killed by the overbalance of the startled nature. the martyr has acquired a passion for pain and lives in the idea of heroic suffering; the sinner becomes blinded by the thought of virtue and worships it as an end, an object, a thing divine in itself; whereas it can only be divine as it is part of that infinite whole which includes vice as well as virtue. how is it possible to divide the infinite,--that which is one? it is as reasonable to lend divinity to any object as to take a cup of water from the sea and declare that in that is contained the ocean. you cannot separate the ocean; the salt water is part of the great sea and must be so; but nevertheless you do not hold the sea in your hand. men so longingly desire personal power that they are ready to put infinity into a cup, the divine idea into a formula, in order that they may fancy themselves in possession of it. these only are those who cannot rise and approach the gates of gold, for the great breath of life confuses them; they are struck with horror to find how great it is. the idol-worshipper keeps an image of his idol in his heart and burns a candle always before it. it is his own, and he is pleased at that thought, even if he bow in reverence before it. in how many virtuous and religious men does not this same state exist? in the recesses of the soul the lamp is burning before a household god,--a thing possessed by its worshipper and subject to him. men cling with desperate tenacity to these dogmas, these moral laws, these principles and modes of faith which are their household gods, their personal idols. bid them burn the unceasing flame in reverence only to the infinite, and they turn from you. whatever their manner of scorning your protest may be, within themselves it leaves a sense of aching void. for the noble soul of the man, that potential king which is within us all, knows full well that this household idol may be cast down and destroyed at any moment,--that it is without finality in itself, without any real and absolute life. and he has been content in his possession, forgetting that anything possessed can only by the immutable laws of life be held temporarily. he has forgotten that the infinite is his only friend; he has forgotten that in its glory is his only home,--that it alone can be his god. there he feels as if he is homeless; but that amid the sacrifices he offers to his own especial idol there is for him a brief resting-place; and for this he clings passionately to it. few have the courage even slowly to face the great desolateness which lies outside themselves, and must lie there so long as they cling to the person which they represent, the "i" which is to them the centre of the world, the cause of all life. in their longing for a god they find the reason for the existence of one; in their desire for a sense-body and a world to enjoy in, lies to them the cause of the universe. these beliefs may be hidden very deep beneath the surface, and be indeed scarcely accessible; but in the fact that they are there is the reason why the man holds himself upright. to himself he is himself the infinite and the god; he holds the ocean in a cup. in this delusion he nurtures the egoism which makes life pleasure and makes pain pleasant. in this profound egoism is the very cause and source of the existence of pleasure and of pain. for unless man vacillated between these two, and ceaselessly reminded himself by sensation that he exists, he would forget it. and in this fact lies the whole answer to the question, "why does man create pain for his own discomfort?" the strange and mysterious fact remains unexplained as yet, that man in so deluding himself is merely interpreting nature backwards and putting into the words of death the meaning of life. for that man does indeed hold within him the infinite, and that the ocean is really in the cup, is an incontestable truth; but it is only so because the cup is absolutely non-existent. it is merely an experience of the infinite, having no permanence, liable to be shattered at any instant. it is in the claiming of reality and permanence for the four walls of his personality, that man makes the vast blunder which plunges him into a prolonged series of unfortunate incidents, and intensifies continually the existence of his favorite forms of sensation. pleasure and pain become to him more real than the great ocean of which he is a part and where his home is; he perpetually knocks himself painfully against these walls where he feels, and his tiny self oscillates within his chosen prison. chapter v the secret of strength i strength to step forward is the primary need of him who has chosen his path. where is this to be found? looking round, it is not hard to see where other men find their strength. its source is profound conviction. through this great moral power is brought to birth in the natural life of the man that which enables him, however frail he may be, to go on and conquer. conquer what? not continents, not worlds, but himself. through that supreme victory is obtained the entrance to the whole, where all that might be conquered and obtained by effort becomes at once not his, but himself. to put on armor and go forth to war, taking the chances of death in the hurry of the fight, is an easy thing; to stand still amid the jangle of the world, to preserve stillness within the turmoil of the body, to hold silence amid the thousand cries of the senses and desires, and then, stripped of all armor and without hurry or excitement take the deadly serpent of self and kill it, is no easy thing. yet that is what has to be done; and it can only be done in the moment of equilibrium when the enemy is disconcerted by the silence. but there is needed for this supreme moment a strength such as no hero of the battlefield needs. a great soldier must be filled with the profound convictions of the justness of his cause and the rightness of his method. the man who wars against himself and wins the battle can do it only when he knows that in that war he is doing the one thing which is worth doing, and when he knows that in doing it he is winning heaven and hell as his servitors. yes, he stands on both. he needs no heaven where pleasure comes as a long-promised reward; he fears no hell where pain waits to punish him for his sins. for he has conquered once for all that shifting serpent in himself which turns from side to side in its constant desire of contact, in its perpetual search after pleasure and pain. never again (the victory once really won) can he tremble or grow exultant at any thought of that which the future holds. those burning sensations which seemed to him to be the only proofs of his existence are his no longer. how, then, can he know that he lives? he knows it only by argument. and in time he does not care to argue about it. for him there is then peace; and he will find in that peace the power he has coveted. then he will know what is that faith which can remove mountains. ii religion holds a man back from the path, prevents his stepping forward, for various very plain reasons. first it makes the vital mistake of distinguishing between good and evil. nature knows no such distinction; and the moral and social laws set us by our religions are as temporary, as much a thing of our own special mode and form of existence, as are the moral and social laws of the ants or the bees. we pass out of that state in which these things appear to be final, and we forget them forever. this is easily shown, because a man of broad habits of thought and of intelligence must modify his code of life when he dwells among another people. these people among whom he is an alien have their own deep-rooted religions and hereditary convictions, against which he cannot offend. unless his is an abjectly narrow and unthinking mind, he sees that their form of law and order is as good as his own. what then can he do but reconcile his conduct gradually to their rules? and then if he dwells among them many years the sharp edge of difference is worn away, and he forgets at last where their faith ends and his commences. yet is it for his own people to say he has done wrong, if he has injured no man and remained just? i am not attacking law and order; i do not speak of these things with rash dislike. in their place they are as vital and necessary as the code which governs the life of a beehive is to its successful conduct. what i wish to point out is that law and order in themselves are quite temporary and unsatisfactory. a man's soul passes away from its brief dwelling-place, thoughts of law and order do not accompany it. if it is strong, it is the ecstasy of true being and real life which it becomes possessed of, as all know who have watched by the dying. if the soul is weak, it faints and fades away, overcome by the first flush of the new life. am i speaking too positively? only those who live in the active life of the moment, who have not watched beside the dead and dying, who have not walked the battlefield and looked in the faces of men in their last agony, will say so. the strong man goes forth from his body exultant. why? because he is no longer held back and made to quiver by hesitation. in the strange moment of death he has had release given him; and with a sudden passion of delight he recognises that it is release. had; he been sure of this before, he would have been a great sage, a man to rule the world, for he would have had the power to rule himself and his own body. that release from the chains of ordinary life can be obtained as easily during life as by death. it only needs a sufficiently profound conviction to enable the man to look on his body with the same emotions as he would look on the body of another man, or on the bodies of a thousand men. in contemplating a battlefield it is impossible to realize the agony of every sufferer; why, then, realize your own pain more keenly than another's? mass the whole together, and look at it all from a wider standpoint than that of the individual life. that you actually feel your own physical wound is a weakness of your limitation. the man who is developed psychically feels the wound of another as keenly as his own, and does not feel his own at all if he is strong enough to will it so. every one who has examined at all seriously into psychic conditions knows this to be a fact, more or less marked, according to the psychic development. in many instances, the psychic is more keenly and selfishly aware of his own pain than of any other person's; but that is when the development, marked perhaps so far as it has gone, only reaches a certain point. it is the power which carries the man to the margin of that consciousness which is profound peace and vital activity. it can carry him no further. but if he has reached its margin he is freed from the paltry dominion of his own self. that is the first great release. look at the sufferings which come upon us from our narrow and limited experience and sympathy. we each stand quite alone, a solitary unit, a pygmy in the world. what good fortune can we expect? the great life of the world rushes by, and we are in danger each instant that it will overwhelm us or even utterly destroy us. there is no defence to be offered to it; no opposition army can be set up, because in this life every man fights his own battle against every other man, and no two can be united under the same banner. there is only one way of escape from this terrible danger which we battle against every hour. turn round, and instead of standing against the forces, join them; become one with nature, and go easily upon her path. do not resist or resent the circumstances of life any more than the plants present the rain and the wind. then suddenly, to your own amazement, you find you have time and strength to spare, to use in the great battle which it is inevitable every man must fight,--that in himself, that which leads to his own conquest. some might say, to his own destruction. and why? because from the hour when he first tastes the splendid reality of living he forgets more and more his individual self. no longer does he fight for it, or pit its strength against the strength of others. no longer does he care to defend or to feed it. yet when he is thus indifferent to its welfare, the individual self grows more stalwart and robust, like the prairie grasses and the trees of untrodden forests. it is a matter of indifference to him whether this is so or not. only, if it is so, he has a fine instrument ready to his hand; and in due proportion to the completeness of his indifference to it is the strength and beauty of his personal self. this is readily seen; a garden flower becomes a mere degenerate copy of itself if it is simply neglected; a plant must be cultivated to the highest pitch, and benefit by the whole of the gardener's skill, or else it must be a pure savage, wild, and fed only by the earth and sky. who cares for any intermediate states? what value or strength is there in the neglected garden rose which has the canker in every bud? for diseased or dwarfed blossoms are sure to result from an arbitrary change of condition, resulting from the neglect of the man who has hitherto been the providence of the plant in its unnatural life. but there are wind-blown plains where the daisies grow tall, with moon faces such as no cultivation can produce in them. cultivate, then, to the very utmost; forget no inch of your garden ground, no smallest plant that grows in it; make no foolish pretence nor fond mistake in the fancy that you are ready to forget it, and so subject it to the frightful consequences of half-measures. the plant that is watered to-day and forgotten to-morrow must dwindle or decay. the plant that looks for no help but from nature itself measures its strength at once, and either dies and is re-created or grows into a great tree whose boughs fill the sky. but make no mistake like the religionists and some philosophers; leave no part of yourself neglected while you know it to be yourself. while the ground is the gardener's it is his business to tend it; but some day a call may come to him from another country or from death itself, and in a moment he is no longer the gardener, his business is at an end, he has no more duty of that kind at all. then his favorite plants suffer and die, and the delicate ones become one with the earth. but soon fierce nature claims the place for her own, and covers it with thick grass or giant weeds, or nurses some sapling in it till its branches shade the ground. be warned, and tend your garden to the utmost, till you can pass away utterly and let it return to nature and become the wind-blown plain where the wild-flowers grow. then, if you pass that way and look at it, whatever has happened will neither grieve nor elate you. for you will be able to say, "i am the rocky ground, i am the great tree, i am the strong daisies," indifferent which it is that flourishes where once your rose-trees grew. but you must have learned to study the stars to some purpose before you dare to neglect your roses, and omit to fill the air with their cultivated fragrance. you must know your way through the trackless air, and from thence to the pure ether; you must be ready to lift the bar of the golden gate. cultivate, i say, and neglect nothing. only remember, all the while you tend and water, that you are impudently usurping the tasks of nature herself. having usurped her work, you must carry it through until you have reached a point when she has no power to punish you, when you are not afraid of her, but can with a bold front return her her own. she laughs in her sleeve, the mighty mother, watching you with covert, laughing eye, ready relentlessly to cast the whole of your work into the dust if you do but give her the chance, if you turn idler and grow careless. the idler is father of the madman in the sense that the child is the father of the.man. nature has put her vast hand on him and crushed the whole edifice. the gardener and his rose-trees are alike broken and stricken by the great storm which her movement has created; they lie helpless till the sand is swept over them and they are buried in a weary wilderness. from this desert spot nature herself will re-create, and will use the ashes of the man who dared to face her as indifferently as the withered leaves of his plants. his body, soul, and spirit are all alike claimed by her. iii the man who is strong, who has resolved to find the unknown path, takes with the utmost care every step. he utters no idle word, he does no unconsidered action, he neglects no duty or office however homely or however difficult. but while his eyes and hands and feet are thus fulfilling their tasks, new eyes and hands and feet are being born within him. for his passionate and unceasing desire is to go that way on which the subtile organs only can guide him. the physical world he has learned, and knows how to use; gradually his power is passing on, and he recognises the psychic world. but he has to learn this world and know how to use it, and he dare not lose hold of the life he is familiar with till he has taken hold of that with which he is unfamiliar. when he has acquired such power with his psychic organs as the infant has with its physical organs when it first opens its lungs, then is the hour for the great adventure. how little is needed--yet how much that is! the man does but need the psychic body to be formed in all parts, as is an infant's; he does but need the profound and unshakable conviction which impels the infant, that the new life is desirable. once those conditions gained and he may let himself live in the new atmosphere and look up to the new sun. but then his must remember to check his new experience by the old. he is breathing still, though differently; he draws air into his lungs, and takes life from the sun. he has been born into the psychic world, and depends now on the psychic air and light. his goal is not here: this is but a subtile repetition of physical life; he has to pass through it according to similar laws. he must study, learn, grow, and conquer; never forgetting the while that his goal is that place where there is no air nor any sun or moon. do not imagine that in this line of progress the man himself is being moved or changing his place. not so. the truest illustration of the process is that of cutting through layers of crust or skin. the man, having learned his lesson fully, casts off the physical life; having learned his lesson fully, casts off the psychic life; having learned his lesson fully, casts off the contemplative life, or life of adoration. all are cast aside at last, and he enters the great temple where any memory of self or sensation is left outside as the shoes are cast from the feet of the worshipper. that temple is the place of his own pure divinity, the central flame which, however obscured, has animated him through all these struggles. and having found this sublime home he is sure as the heavens themselves. he remains still, filled with all knowledge and power. the outer man, the adoring, the acting, the living personification, goes its own way hand in hand with nature, and shows all the superb strength of the savage growth of the earth, lit by that instinct which contains knowledge. for in the inmost sanctuary, in the actual temple, the man has found the subtile essence of nature herself. no longer can there be any difference between them or any half-measures. and now comes the hour of action and power. in that inmost sanctuary all is to be found: god and his creatures, the fiends who prey on them, those among men who have been loved, those who have been hated. difference between them exists no longer. then the soul of man laughs in its strength and fearlessness, and goes forth into the world in which its actions are needed, and causes these actions to take place without apprehension, alarm, fear, regret, or joy. this state is possible to man while yet he lives in the physical; for men have attained it while living. it alone can make actions in the physical divine and true. life among objects of sense must forever be an outer shape to the sublime soul,--it can only become powerful life, the life of accomplishment, when it is animated by the crowned and indifferent god that sits in the sanctuary. the obtaining of this condition is so supremely desirable because from the moment it is entered there is no more trouble, no more anxiety, no more doubt or hesitation. as a great artist paints his picture fearlessly and never committing any error which causes him regret, so the man who has formed his inner self deals with his life. but that is when the condition is entered. that which we who look towards the mountains hunger to know is the mode of entrance and the way to the gate. the gate is that gate of gold barred by a heavy bar of iron. the way to the threshold of it turns a man giddy and sick. it seems no path, it seems to end perpetually, its way lies along hideous precipices, it loses itself in deep waters. once crossed and the way found it appears wonderful that the difficulty should have looked; so great. for the path where it disappears does but turn abruptly, its line upon the precipice edge is wide enough for the feet, and across the deep waters that look so treacherous there, is always a ford and a ferry. so it happens in all profound experiences of human nature. when the first grief tears the heart asunder it seems that the path has ended and a blank darkness taken the place of the sky. and yet by groping the soul passes on, and that difficult and seemingly hopeless turn in the road is passed. so with many another form or human torture. sometimes throughout a long period or a whole lifetime the path of existence is perpetually checked by what seem like insurmountable obstacles. grief, pain, suffering, the loss of all that is beloved or valued, rise up before the terrified soul and check it at every turn. who places those obstacles there? the reason shrinks at the childish dramatic picture which the religionists place before it,--god permitting the devil to torment his creatures for their ultimate good! when will that ultimate good be attained? the idea involved in this picture supposes an end, a goal. there is none. we can any one of us safely assent to that; for as far as human observation, reason, thought, intellect, or instinct can reach towards grasping the mystery of life, all data obtained show that the path is endless and that eternity cannot be blinked and converted by the idling soul into a million years. in man, taken individually or as a whole, there clearly exists a double constitution. i am speaking roughly now, being well aware that the various schools of philosophy cut him up and subdivide him according to their several theories. what i mean is this: that two great tides of emotion sweep through his nature, two great forces guide his life; the one makes him an animal, and the other makes him a god. no brute of the earth is so brutal as the man who subjects his godly power to his animal power. this is a matter of course, because the whole force of the double nature is then used in one direction. the animal pure and simple obeys his instincts only and desires no more than to gratify his love of pleasure; he pays but little regard to the existence of other beings except in so far as they offer him pleasure or pain; he knows nothing of the abstract love of cruelty or of any of those vicious tendencies of the human being which have in themselves their own gratification. thus the man who becomes a beast has a million times the grasp of life over the natural beast, and that which in the pure animal is sufficiently innocent enjoyment, uninterrupted by an arbitrary moral standard, becomes in him vice, because it is gratified on principle. moreover he turns all the divine powers of his being into this channel, and degrades his soul by making it the slave of his senses. the god, deformed and disguised, waits on the animal and feeds it. consider then whether it is not possible to change the situation. the man himself is king of the country in which this strange spectacle is seen. he allows the beast to usurp the place of the god because for the moment the beast pleases his capricious royal fancy the most. this cannot last always; why let it last any longer? so long as the animal rules there will be the keenest sufferings in consequence of change, of the vibration between pleasure and pain, of the desire for prolonged and pleasant physical life. and the god in his capacity of servant adds a thousand-fold to all this, by making physical life so much more filled with keenness of pleasure,--rare, voluptuous, aesthetic pleasure,--and by intensity of pain so passionate that one knows not where it ends and where pleasure commences. so long as the god serves, so long the life of the animal will be enriched and increasingly valuable. but let the king resolve to change the face of his court and forcibly evict the animal from the chair of state, restoring the god to the place of divinity. ah, the profound peace that falls upon the palace! all is indeed changed. no longer is there the fever of personal longings or desires, no longer is there any rebellion or distress, no longer any hunger for pleasure or dread of pain. it is like a great calm descending on a stormy ocean; it is like the soft rain of summer falling on parched ground; it is like the deep pool found amidst the weary, thirsty labyrinths of the unfriendly forest. but there is much more than this. not only is man more than an animal because there is the god in him, but he is more than a god because there is the animal in him. once force the animal into his rightful place, that of the inferior, and you find yourself in possession of a great force hitherto unsuspected and unknown. the god as servant adds a thousand-fold to the pleasures of the animal; the animal as servant adds a thousand-fold to the powers of the god. and it is upon the union, the right relation of these two forces in himself, that man stands as a strong king, and is enabled to raise his hand and lift the bar of the golden gate. when these forces are unfitly related, then the king is but a crowned voluptuary, without power, and whose dignity does but mock him; for the animals, undivine, at least know peace and are not torn by vice and despair. that is the whole secret. that is what makes man strong, powerful, able to grasp heaven and earth in his hands. do not fancy it is easily done. do not be deluded into the idea that the religious or the virtuous man does it! not so. they do no more than fix a standard, a routine, a law, by which they hold the animal in check. the god is compelled to serve him in a certain way, and does so, pleasing him with the beliefs and cherished fantasies of the religious, with the lofty sense of personal pride which makes the joy of the virtuous. these special and canonized vices are things too low and base to be possible to the pure animal, whose only inspirer is nature herself, always fresh as the dawn. the god in man, degraded, is a thing unspeakable in its infamous power of production. the animal in man, elevated, is a thing unimaginable in its great powers of service and of strength. you forget, you who let your animal self live on, merely checked and held within certain bounds, that it is a great force, an integral portion of the animal life of the world you live in. with it you can sway men, and influence the very world itself, more or less perceptibly according to your strength. the god, given his right place, will so inspire and guide this extraordinary creature, so educate and develope it, so force it into action and recognition of its kind, that it will make you tremble when you recognise the power that has awakened within you. the animal in yourself will then be a king among the animals of the world. this is the secret of the old-world magicians who made nature serve them and work miracles every day for their convenience. this is the secret of the coming race which lord lytton foreshadowed for us. but this power can only be attained by giving the god the sovereignty. make your animal ruler over yourself, and he will never rule others. epilogue secreted and hidden in the heart of the world and in the heart of man is the light which can illumine all life, the future and the past. shall we not search for it? surely some must do so. and then perhaps those will add what is needed to this poor fragment of thought. through the gates of gold from _the path_, march, the most notable book for guidance in mysticism which has appeared since _light on the path_ was written has just been published under the significant title of _through the gates of gold_. though the author's name is withheld, the occult student will quickly discern that it must proceed from a very high source. in certain respects the book may be regarded as a commentary on _light on the path_. the reader would do well to bear this in mind. many things in that book will be made clear by the reading of this one, and one will be constantly reminded of that work, which has already become a classic in our literature. _through the gates of gold_ is a work to be kept constantly at hand for reference and study. it will surely take rank as one of the standard books of theosophy. the "gates of gold" represent the entrance to that realm of the soul unknowable through the physical perceptions, and the purpose of this work is to indicate some of the steps necessary to reach their threshold. through its extraordinary beauty of style and the clearness of its statement it will appeal to a wider portion of the public than most works of a theosophical character. it speaks to the western world in its own language, and in this fact lies much of its value. those of us who have been longing for something "practical" will find it here, while it will probably come into the hands of thousands who know little or nothing of theosophy, and thus meet wants deeply felt though unexpressed. there are also doubtless many, we fancy, who will be carried far along in its pages by its resistless logic until they encounter something which will give a rude shock to some of their old conceptions, which they have imagined as firmly based as upon a rock--a shock which may cause them to draw back in alarm, but from which they will not find it so easy to recover, and which will be likely to set them thinking seriously. the titles of the five chapters of the book are, respectively, "the search for pleasure," "the mystery of threshold," "the initial effort," "the meaning of pain," and "the secret of strength." instead of speculating upon mysteries that lie at the very end of man's destiny, and which cannot be approached by any manner of conjecture, the work very sensibly takes up that which lies next at hand, that which constitutes the first step to be taken if we are ever to take a second one, and teaches us its significance. at the outset we must cope with sensation and learn its nature and meaning. an important teaching of _light on the path_ has been misread by many. we are not enjoined to kill out sensation, but to "kill out _desire_ for sensation," which is something quite different. "sensation, as we obtain it through the physical body, affords us all that induces us to live in that shape," says this work. the problem is, to extract the meaning which it holds for us. that is what existence is for. "if men will but pause and consider what lessons they have learned from pleasure and pain, much might be guessed of that strange thing which causes these effects." "the question concerning results seemingly unknowable, that concerning the life beyond the gates," is presented as one that has been asked throughout the ages, coming at the hour "when the flower of civilization had blown to its full, and when its petals are but slackly held together," the period when man reaches the greatest physical development of his cycle. it is then that in the distance a great glittering is seen, before which many drop their eyes bewildered and dazzled, though now and then one is found brave enough to gaze fixedly on this glittering, and to decipher something of the shape within it. "poets and philosophers, thinkers and teachers, all those who are the 'elder brothers of the race'--have beheld this sight from time to time, and some among them have recognized in the bewildering glitter the outlines of the gates of gold." those gates admit us to the sanctuary of man's own nature, to the place whence his life-power comes, and where he is priest of the shrine of life. it needs but a strong hand to push them open, we are told. "the courage to enter them is the courage to search the recesses of one's own nature without fear and without shame. in the fine part, the essence, the flavor of the man, is found the key which unlocks those great gates." the necessity of killing out the sense of separateness is profoundly emphasized as one of the most important factors in this process. we must divest ourselves of the illusions of the material life. "when we desire to speak with those who have tried the golden gates and pushed them open, then it is very necessary--in fact it is essential--to discriminate, and not bring into our life the confusions of our sleep. if we do, we are reckoned as madmen, and fall back into the darkness where there is no friend but chaos. this chaos has followed every effort of man that is written in history; after civilization has flowered, the flower falls and dies, and winter and darkness destroy it." in this last sentence is indicated the purpose of civilization. it is the blossoming of a race, with the purpose of producing a certain spiritual fruit; this fruit having ripened, then the degeneration of the great residuum begins, to be worked over and over again in the grand fermenting processes of reincarnation. our great civilization is now flowering and in this fact we may read the reason for the extraordinary efforts to sow the seed of the mystic teachings wherever the mind of man may be ready to receive it. in the "mystery of threshold," we are told that "only a man who has the potentialities in him both of the voluptuary and the stoic has any chance of entering the golden gates. he must be capable of testing and valuing to its most delicate fraction every joy existence has to give; and he must be capable of denying himself all pleasure, and that without suffering from the denial." the fact that the way is different for each individual is finely set forth in "the initial effort," in the words that man "may burst the shell that holds him in darkness, tear the veil that hides him from the eternal, at any moment where it is easiest for him to do so; and most often this point will be where he least expects to find it." by this we may see the uselessness of laying down arbitrary laws in the matter. the meaning of those important words, "all steps are necessary to make up the ladder," finds a wealth of illustration here. these sentences are particularly pregnant: "spirit is not a gas created by matter, and we cannot create our future by forcibly using one material agent and leaving out the rest. spirit is the great life on which matter rests, as does the rocky world on the free and fluid ether; whenever we can break our limitations we find ourselves on that marvellous shore where wordsworth once saw the gleam of the gold." virtue, being of the material life, man has not the power to carry it with him, "yet the aroma of his good deeds is a far sweeter sacrifice than the odor of crime and cruelty." "to the one who has lifted the golden latch the spring of sweet waters, the fountain itself whence all softness arises, is opened and becomes part of his heritage. but before this can be reached a heavy weight has to be lifted from the heart, an iron bar which holds it down and prevents it from arising in its strength." the author here wishes to show that there is sweetness and light in occultism, and not merely a wide dry level of dreadful karma, such as some theosophists are prone to dwell on. and this sweetness and light may be reached when we discover the iron bar and raising it shall permit the heart to be free. this iron bar is what the hindus call "the knot of the heart"! in their scriptures they talk of unloosing this knot, and say that when that is accomplished freedom is near. but what is the iron bar and the knot? is the question we must answer. it is the astringent power of self--of egotism--of the idea of separateness. this idea has many strongholds. it holds its most secret court and deepest counsels near the far removed depths and centre of the heart. but it manifests itself first, in that place which is nearest to our ignorant perceptions, where we see it first after beginning the search. when we assault and conquer it there it disappears. it has only retreated to the next row of outworks where for a time it appears not to our sight, and we imagine it killed, while it is laughing at our imaginary conquests and security. soon again we find it and conquer again, only to have it again retreat. so we must follow it up if we wish to grasp it at last in its final stand just near the "kernel of the heart." there it has become "an iron bar that holds down the heart," and there only can the fight be really won. that disciple is fortunate who is able to sink past all the pretended outer citadels and seize at once this _personal devil_ who holds the bar of iron, and there wage the battle. if won there, it is easy to return to the outermost places and take them by capitulation. this is very difficult, for many reasons. it is not a mere juggle of words to speak of this trial. it is a living tangible thing that can be met by any real student. the great difficulty of rushing at once to the centre lies in the unimaginable terrors which assault the soul on its short journey there. this being so it is better to begin the battle on the outside in just the way pointed out in this book and _light on the path_, by testing experience and learning from it. in the lines quoted the author attempts to direct the eyes of a very materialistic age to the fact which is an accepted one by all true students of occultism, that the true heart of a man--which is visibly represented by the muscular heart--is the focus point for spirit, for knowledge, for power; and that from that point the converged rays begin to spread out fan-like, until they embrace the universe. so it is the gate. and it is just at that neutral spot of concentration that the pillars and the doors are fixed. it is beyond it that the glorious golden light burns, and throws up a "burnished glow." we find in this the same teachings as in the upanishads. the latter speaks of "the ether which is within the heart," and also says that we must pass across that ether. "the meaning of pain" is considered in a way which throws a great light on the existence of that which for ages has puzzled many learned men. "pain arouses, softens, breaks, and destroys. regarded from a sufficiently removed standpoint, it appears as a medicine, as a knife, as a weapon, as a poison, in turn. it is an implement, a thing which is used, evidently. what we desire to discover is, who is the user; what part of ourselves is it that demands the presence of this thing so hateful to the rest?" the task is, to rise above both pain and pleasure and unite them to our service. "pain and pleasure stand apart and separate, as do the two sexes; and it is in the merging, the making the two into one, that joy and deep sensation and profound peace are obtained. where there is neither male nor female, neither pain nor pleasure, there is the god in man dominant, and then is life real." the following passage can hardly fail to startle many good people: "destiny, the inevitable, does indeed exist for the race and for the individual; but who can ordain this save the man himself? there is no clew in heaven or earth to the existence of any ordainer other than the man who suffers or enjoys that which is ordained." but can any earnest student of theosophy deny, or object to this? is it not a pure statement of the law of karma? does it not agree perfectly with the teaching of the bhagavat-gita? there is surely no power which sits apart like a judge in court, and fines us or rewards us for this misstep or that merit; it is we who shape, or ordain, our own future. god is not denied. the seeming paradox that a god exists within each man is made clear when we perceive that our separate existence is an illusion; the physical, which makes us separate individuals, must eventually fall away, leaving each man one with all men, and with god, who is the infinite. and the passage which will surely be widely misunderstood is that in "the secret of strength." "religion holds a man back from the path, prevents his stepping forward, for various very plain reasons. first, it makes the vital mistake of distinguishing between good and evil. nature knows no such distinctions." religion is always man-made. it cannot therefore be the whole truth. it is a good thing for the ordinary and outside man, but surely it will never bring him to the gates of gold. if religion be of god how is it that we find that same god in his own works and acts violating the precepts of religion? he kills each man once in life; every day the fierce elements and strange circumstances which he is said to be the author of, bring on famine, cold and innumerable untimely deaths; where then, in the true, can there be any room for such distinctions as right and wrong? the disciple, must as he walks on the path, abide by law and order, but if he pins his faith on any religion whatever he will stop at once, and it makes no matter whether he sets up mahatmas, gods, krishna, vedas or mysterious acts of grace, each of these will stop him and throw him into a rut from which even heavenly death will not release him. religion can only teach morals and ethics. it cannot answer the question "what am i?" the buddhist ascetic holds a fan before his eyes to keep away the sight of objects condemned by his religion. but he thereby gains no knowledge, for that part of him which is affected by the improper sights has to be known by the man himself, and it is by experience alone that the knowledge can be possessed and assimilated. the book closes gloriously, with some hints that have been much needed. too many, even of the sincerest students of occultism, have sought to ignore that one-half of their nature, which is here taught to be necessary. instead of crushing out the animal nature, we have here the high and wise teaching that we must learn to fully understand the animal and subordinate it to the spiritual. "the god in man, degraded, is a thing unspeakable in its infamous power of production. the animal in man, elevated, is a thing unimaginable in its great powers of service and of strength," and we [are] told that our animal self is a great force, the secret of the old-world magicians, and of the coming race which lord lytton foreshadowed. "but this power can only be attained by giving the god the sovereignty. make your animal ruler over your self, and he will never rule others." this teaching will be seen to be identical with that of the closing words of _the idyll of the white lotus_: "he will learn how to expound spiritual truths, and to enter into the life of his highest self, and he can learn also to hold within him the glory of that higher self, and yet to retain life upon this planet so long as it shall last, if need be; to retain life in the vigor of manhood, till his entire work is completed, and he has taught the three truths to all who look for light." there are three sentences in the book which ought to be imprinted in the reader's mind, and we present them inversely: "secreted and hidden in the heart of the world and the heart of man is the light which can illumine all life, the future and the past." "on the mental steps of a million men buddha passed through the gates of gold; and because a great crowd pressed about the threshold he was able to leave behind him words which prove that those gates will open." "this is one of the most important factors in the development of man, the recognition--profound and complete recognition--of the law of universal unity and coherence." project gutenberg (this file was produced from images generously made available by the internet archive/american libraries.) a dictionary of islam being a cyclopÆdia of the doctrines, rites, ceremonies, and customs, together with the technical and theological terms, of the muhammadan religion. by thomas patrick hughes, b.d., m.r.a.s. with numerous illustrations. london: w. h. allen & co., , waterloo place, pall mall. s.w. . dedicated (with permission) to the right reverend thomas valpy french, d.d., first bishop of lahore, with much affection and esteem, by his lordship's obedient servant, thomas patrick hughes. preface. the increased interest manifested in relation to all matters affecting the east, and the great attention now given to the study of comparative religion, seem to indicate that the time has come when an attempt should be made to place before the english-speaking people of the world a systematic exposition of the doctrines of the muslim faith. the present work is intended to supply this want, by giving, in a tabulated form, a concise account of the doctrines, rites, ceremonies, and customs, together with the technical and theological terms, of the muhammadan religion. although compiled by a clergyman who has had the privilege of being engaged in missionary work at peshawar for a period of twenty years, this "dictionary of islam" is not intended to be a controversial attack on the religious system of muhammad, but rather an exposition of its principles and teachings. divided, as the muslim world is, into numerous sects, it has been found impossible to take into consideration all the minor differences which exist amongst them. the dictionary is, for the most part, an exposition of the opinions of the sunni sect, with explanations of the chief points on which the shiah and wahhabi schools of thought differ from it. very special attention has been given to the views of the wahhabis, as it is the author's conviction that they represent the earliest teachings of the muslim faith as they came from muhammad and his immediate successors. when it is remembered that, according to mr. wilfrid blunt's estimate, the shiah sect only numbers some ten millions out of the one hundred and seventy-five millions of muhammadans in the world, it will be seen that, in compiling a dictionary of muhammadanism, the shiah tenets must of necessity occupy a secondary place in the study of the religion. still, upon all important questions of theology and jurisprudence, these differences have been noticed. the present book does not profess to be a biographical dictionary. the great work of ibn khallikan, translated into english by slane, supplies this. but short biographical notices of persons connected with the early history of islam have been given, inasmuch as many of these persons are connected with religious dogmas and ceremonies; the martyrdom of husain, for instance, as being the foundation of the muharram ceremonies; abu hanifah, as connected with a school of jurisprudence; and the khalifah `umar as the real founder of the religious and political power of islam. in the biographical notice of muhammad, the author has expressed his deep obligations to sir william muir's great work, the life of mahomet. it is impossible for anyone to write upon the subject of muhammadanism without being largely indebted, not only to sir william muir's books, but also to the works of the late mr. lane, the author of modern egyptians, new editions of which have been edited by mr. stanley lane poole. numerous quotations from these volumes will be found in the present work. but whilst the author has not hesitated in this compilation to avail himself of the above and similar works, he has, during a long residence amongst muhammadan peoples, been able to consult very numerous arabic and persian works in their originals, and to obtain the assistance of very able muhammadan native scholars of all schools of thought in islam. he is specially indebted to dr. f. steingass, of the university of munich, the author of the english-arabic and arabic-english dictionaries, for a careful revision of the whole work. the interesting article on writing is from the pen of this distinguished scholar, as well as some valuable criticisms on the composition of the qur'an, and a biographical sketch of the khalifah `umar. orientalists may, perhaps, be surprised to find that sikhism has been treated as a sect of islam, but the compiler has been favoured with a very able and scholarly article on the subject by mr. f. pincott, m.r.a.s., in which he shows that the "religion of nanak was really intended as a compromise between hinduism and muhammadanism, if it may not even be spoken of as the religion of a muhammadan sect,"--the publication of which in the present work seemed to be most desirable. at the commencement of the publication of the work, the author received very valuable assistance from the rev. f. a. p. shirreff, m.a., principal of the lahore divinity college, as well as from other friends, which he must gratefully acknowledge. amongst the numerous suggestions which the author received for the compilation of this dictionary, was one from a well-known arabic scholar, to the effect that the value of the work would be enhanced if the quotations from the qur'an, and from the traditions, were given in their original arabic. this, however, seemed incompatible with the general design of the book. the whole structure of the work is intended to be such as will make it available to english scholars unacquainted with the arabic language; and, consequently, most of the information given will be found under english words rather than under their arabic equivalents. for example, for information regarding the attributes of the divine being, the reader must refer to the english god, and not to the arabic allah; for all the ritual and laws regarding the liturgical service, to the english prayer, and not to the arabic salat; for the marriage laws and ceremonies, to the english marriage, and not to the arabic nikah. it is hoped that, in this way, the information given will be available to those who are entirely unacquainted with oriental languages, or, indeed, with eastern life. the quotations from the qur'an have been given chiefly from palmer's and rodwell's translations; and those in the qur'anic narrative of biblical characters (moses for example) have been taken from mr. stanley lane poole's edition of lane's selections. but, when needful, entirely new translations of quotations from the qur'an have been given. the "dictionary of islam" has been compiled with very considerable study and labour, in the hope that it will be useful to many;--to the government official called to administer justice to muslim peoples; to the christian missionary engaged in controversy with muslim scholars; to the oriental traveller seeking hospitality amongst muslim peoples; to the student of comparative religion anxious to learn the true teachings of islam;--to all, indeed, who care to know what are those leading principles of thought which move and guide one hundred and seventy-five millions of the great human family, forty millions of whom are under the rule of her most gracious majesty the empress of india. july rd, . [transcriber's note: the remainder of this book has only been prepared as an html file, which, due to including numerous phrases in arabic, hebrew, and greek script, as well as numerous tables, would be hard to present as plain text.] the fourth-dimensional reaches of the exposition san francisco, by cora lenore williams, m. s. author of "as if" and essays on "involution" paul elder and company publisher - san francisco copyright, by paul elder and company san francisco to my father and mother contents lines on "fourth-dimensional insight" by ormeida curtis harrison. (tissue facing frontispiece.) a fourteenth century legend essay on the fourth-dimensional reaches of the exposition. by cora lenore williams: general status of the fourth-dimensional theory fourth-dimensional aspects of the panama-pacific international exposition bibliography: books and poems having fourth-dimensional insight illustrations an unborn space. the court of four seasons. from an etching by gertrude partington (frontispiece) a structure brave. palace of fine arts. from an etching by gertrude partington a building inside out. the court of ages. from an etching by gertrude partington a four-dimensional cover design. by julia manchester mackie. (cover.) time is, and all the detail of the world confounds the plastic mind. with multitude of shapes and sounds do the swift elements of thought contend to form a whole which life may comprehend. only to those of high intent is life revealed, and quick dreams sent - half glimpsed truths omnipotent. out of the silence of an unborn space a spirit moves, and thought comes face to face with the immutable, and time is past, and the spent soul, done, meets truth at last. chance, fate, occasion, circumstance, in interfused radiance are lost. past, present, future, all combined in one sure instantaneous grasp of mind, and all infinity unrolls at our command, and beast and man and god unite, as worlds expand. - ormeida curtis harrison. a fourteenth century legend friar bacon, reading one day of the many conquests of england, bethought himself how he might keep it hereafter from the like conquests and so make himself famous to all posterity. this (after great study) he found could be no way so well done as one; which was to make a head of brass, and if he could make this head to speak (and hear it when it spoke) then might he be able to wall all england about with brass. to this purpose he got one friar bungey to assist him, who was a great scholar and magician (but not to be compared to friar bacon); these two with great study and pains so formed a head of brass that in the inward parts thereof there was all things like as in a natural man's head. this being done they were as far from perfection of the work as they were before, for they knew not how to give those parts that they had made motion, without which it was impossible that it should speak. many books they read, but yet could not find out any hope of what they sought, that at the last they concluded to raise a spirit and to know of him that which they could not attain by their own studies. the spirit straight obeyed, and appeared unto them, asking what they would. he told them that with a continual fume of the six hottest simples it should have motion, and in one month space speak: the time of the month: or the day he knew not. also he told them that if they heard it not before it had done speaking, all their labor should be lost. then went these two learned friars home again and prepared the simples ready and made the fume, and with continual watching attended when this brazen head should speak. thus watched they for three weeks without any rest, so that they were so weary and sleepy that they could not any longer refrain from rest. then called friar bacon his man miles, and told him that it was not unknown to him what pains friar bungey and himself had taken for three weeks space only to make and to hear the brazen head speak, which if they did not, then had they lost all their labor, and all england had a great loss thereby. therefore he entreated miles that he would watch whilst that they slept and call them if the head spake. 'fear not (good master), i will harken and attend, upon the head and if it do chance to speak, i will call you; therefore, i pray take you both your rest and let me alone for watching this head.' * * * * at last, after some noise, the head spake these two words: 'time is.' miles, hearing it to speak no more, thought his master would be angry if he waked him for that, and therefore he let them both sleep and began to mock the head in this manner: 'thou brazen-faced head, hath my master took all this pains about thee and now dost thou requite him with two words, "time is"?' * * * * after half an hour had past, the head did speak again two words which were these: 'time was.' miles respected these words as little as he did the former and would not wake his master, but still scoffed at the brazen head, that it had learned no better words, and have had such a tutor as his master; * * * * '"time was!" i knew that, brazen-face, without your telling. i knew time was and i know what things there was when time was, and if you speak no wiser, no master shall be waked for me.' * * * * * * * * the brazen head spake again these words: 'time is past'; and therewith fell down and presently followed a terrible noise, with strange flashes of fire, so that miles was half dead with fear. at this noise the two friars waked and wondered to see the whole room so full of smoke, but that being vanished, they might perceive the brazen head broken and lying on the ground. at this sight they grieved, and called miles to know how this came. miles, half dead with fear, said that it fell down of itself and that with the noise and fire that followed he was almost frightened out of his wits. friar bacon asked him if it did not speak. 'yes,' quoth miles, 'it spake, but to no purpose.' general status of the fourth-dimensional theory the human mind has so long followed its early cow-paths through the wilderness of sense that great hardihood is required even to suggest that there may be other and better ways of traversing the empirical common. so it is that the fear of being proclaimed a brazenhead has restrained me until this eleventh hour from telling of my discoveries concerning the fourth-dimensional reaches of our exposition. that i have the courage now is due to my desire to help in its preservation; not to the end of enclosing it in a brass wall, but to lift it out of the realm of things temporal and give it permanent meaning for our thought and aspiration. would we save our exposition from the ravages of time we have to exorcise that monster with the enigmatical utterances of the aforesaid brazen head. the philosophers are telling us that time is the fourth dimension in the process of evolving for our consciousness. i take it that there are three stages in this evolution; the first, that of immediate experience, is subsumed by the phrase 'time is'; the second is a passing from the concrete to the abstract through the fact that 'time was'; and the glory of the last is visioned only when we can say 'time is past.' while many books have been written descriptive of the exposition, none has succeeded in accounting completely for the joy we have in yonder miracle of beauty. and this through no fault of the writers. when all has been said concerning plan and execution there is still a subtle something not spatialized for consciousness. length, breadth, and height do not suffice to set forth the ways of our delight in it. what of this perceptual residue? obviously to give it extension we shall have to ascribe to reality other dimensions than those of our present sense realm. some disciple of bergson interrupts: 'ah, this whereof you speak is a spiritual thing and as such is given by the intuition. why, then, do you seek to spatialize it?' and the layman out of his mental repugnance to things mathematical echoes, 'why?' we have to answer that the process of creative evolution makes imperative the transfixion by the intellect of these so-called spiritual perceptions. although the intuition transcends the intelligence in its grasp of beauty and truth, we may attain to the higher insight it has to offer only if the things of the spirit become known to the intellect - a point in bergson's philosophy which the majority of his readers overlook. 'we have,' he says, 'to engender the categories of our thought; it is not enough that we determine what these are.' bergson is preeminently the prophet of the higher space concept. we had done better to have held to kant, for now we are not only confronted with the fourth dimension as a thought-form, but with the duty as well of furthering its creation. and in that light we have to regard what of worth and meaning the exposition has for us. although the scientist has found it useful on occasion to postulate the fourth dimension, he has not thought necessary as yet to put it in the category of reality; much less has the layman. consequently the mathematician holds the sole title to its knowledge unless we recognize the claims of the medium to a fourth-dimensional insight. there is much, however, today which points to our coming to such perception as the natural result of our evolution and quite apart from geometrical abstractions or occultism. it is as though some great tidal wave had swept over space and we have, quite unbeknown to ourselves, been lifted by it to new heights. and when we have once obtained our spiritual balance we shall doubtless find that our space world has taken to itself another direction, inconceivable as that now seems. space is more than room wherein to move about; it is, first of all, the room in which we think, and upon how we do so depends the number of its dimensions. if the attention has become 'riveted to the object of its practical interest' to the extent that this is the only good the creature knows, then is its thought-form one-dimensional even though its bodily movements are three-spaced. the great peacock moth wings a sure course mateward to the mystification of the scientist; the dog finds the direct road home - his master cannot tell how; mary antin climbs to an education over difficulties apparently insurmountable; rockefeller knows his goal and attains it, regardless of other moral worths. for these the way is certain. they can suffer no deflection since there are no relative values, no possible choices. their purpose makes the road one-dimensional. that the majority of persons are still feeling their way over the surface of things is attested by the general mental ineptitude for the study of solid geometry. depth and height play little part in our physical perception. for most of us the third dimension is practically unknown beyond the reach of a few feet. a beachey soaring aloft - why all the bravado of curve and loop? sooner or later he will fall to his death. ay, verily! but his is a joyous martyrdom making for the evolution of consciousness. not always shall we crawl like flies the surface of our globe! while a man's space-world is limited by his thought, it is, on the other hand, as boundless as his thought. that the world evolves with our consciousness, is at once the philosophy of 'creative evolution' and of the higher space theory. our present spatial milieu has settled down to a seemingly three dimensional finality because our thought-form has become so habitual as to give rise to certain geometric axioms. all we need in order to come to a fourth-dimensional consciousness, said henri poincare, 'the greatest of moderns,' is a new table of distribution; that is, a breaking up of old associations of ideas and the forming of new relations - a simple matter were it not for our mental inertia. lester ward speculates that life remained aquatic for the vast periods that paleontology would indicate; cambrian, silurian, devonian, carboniferous - a duration greater than all subsequent time - for the reason that the creature had not progressed beyond the stage when it could move otherwise than in a straight line when actuated by desire for food or mate. life was not able to maintain itself on land until it had overcome this one-dimensional limitation. a venturesome pterodactyl was he who first essayed to make his way among the many obstructions to be found ashore! by what intuition was he impelled? it is a matter of common observation that the growth of the higher perceptive faculty is strangely concomitant with adversity. the intuitive person is a person who has suffered. when conditions press sufficiently hard, a new table of distribution may be the only means for survival. thus we proceed to make a virtue of necessity and so come to the recognition of other values which we denominate spiritual because we have not as yet spatialized them. the caterpillar has to mount the twig to find the tender green that is his food, but, he solaces himself for the journey by thinking himself a creature of the light. mr. carpenter, in an interesting study of what he calls intermediate types, shows that the seers and spiritually-minded come to be such because they found themselves differing in some wise from their fellows, and dwelling on that difference had their minds turned inward. progress in thought and imagination naturally followed, with the result that these were lifted above the majority and came thereby to larger vision. failure may well be the measure of extension in a new dimension. the significance of the much fumbling and groping of earth's creatures is the desire for a larger outlook. man has to feel his way out of a three-fold world even as the worm out of his hole. that we are hearing much of the principle of relativity is perhaps the best indication we have that the collective human consciousness is about to enter a higher dimension. so long as man knew only an absolute good was his world a definitely determined world. now that the question of relative values obtrudes itself on every side the range of consciousness promises to be infinite. man's interest having in these latter days become largely centered on value-judgments and estimates of worth, an exposition affords perhaps the most general application of the principle of relativity, bringing it home to the collective mind in an intimately human way as nothing else could: - with nation vying with nation and individual with individual in all of the arts and crafts of human industry, absolute standards must needs vanish, and with their going we may be able to set up such a distribution of values as will give new direction to our efforts. however that may be, the industrial competition to which, in the last analysis, the exposition owes its inception, is pushing many aside from the beaten highways into hitherto unexplored regions of thought and endeavor, and who is to say that we may not in consequence find a direction quite at right angles to all of our wonted ways of thinking. certainly there could be no more fitting occasion for the launching of a new thought-form than a great international exposition. the fourth-dimensional aspects of the panama-pacific international exposition and i know not if, save in this, such gift be allowed to man, that out of three sounds he frame, not a fourth sound, but a star. consider it well: each tone of our scale in itself is naught: it is everywhere in the world - loud, soft, and all is said: give it to me to use! i mix it with two in my thought: and there! ye have heard and seen: consider and bow the head! - browning. the panama-pacific international exposition is best seen in its fourth-dimensional aspect when approached through the gateway of memory. this is what one might expect, for that entrance alone has the requisite geometrical structure. you will recall having heard, i am sure, how in the fourth dimension a person may go in and out of a locked room at his pleasure with bolts and bars untouched. broad and open as is this gate of memory, when you pass its portals the wall closes behind you; there is no visible opening to mark the spot of your entry. a feeling of detachment comes over you. this is augmented by the burst of light and color that flashes across the field of your vision, and for the first time you understand the purport of those 'banners yellow, glorious, golden' which 'do float and flow.' they seem to bear you on breezes of their own creating to the freedom of outer spaces. what you had taken for the flauntings of festivity are become the heralds of hyperspace. as you wend your way down the avenue of time you feel an inexpressive lightness, a sensation of being lifted out of yourself. the moment seems unique. things are unrelated. there is no concern of proportion. the place is one of immediacy. you wander from the ephemeral to the ephemeral. 'time is,' you say, in childish glee. and you hasten to assemble images as many and as disparate as possible, believing that you are drinking life at its fountain head. the outer world presents itself to your consciousness in the form of facts in juxtaposition. you read guide-books and rejoice in the acquisition of knowledge. gradually through the perception of the same phantasmagoria comes an at-oneness with your fellows. you are caught up in the swirl of a larger self. soon you weary of the heterogeneous. the zone of consciousness stands revealed in all its grotesqueness. 'time is,' you cry, but to give thought its impulse, and you hasten on if perchance you may discover the direction of the life-principle. what you had taken for reality is but its cross-section - so does this empirical realm stand to the higher world of your spirit, even as a plane to a solid. now you turn your attention from things to relations in the hope of getting at truth in the large. a passage in plato comes vividly to your mind. 'for a man must have intelligence of universals, and be able to proceed from the many particulars of sense to one conception of reason; - this is the recollection of those things which our soul once saw while following god, when, regardless of that which we now call being, she raised her head up towards the true being.' henceforth the multiplicity that you seek is one of organization and has nothing to do with number. 'time was,' you proclaim, that consciousness might sift out the irrelevant. as you pass from collection to collection individual fact becomes prolonged into general law and science dominates the field of thought. a thousand years are as a day when subsumed by its laws. you look at the objects of man's creating with new eyes. the displays are no longer contests of laborious industry but of vision, and faith. you see that truth has made itself manifest through the long repetition of the same fundamental theme. that which is unique and personal you are surprised to find of less value than the habit perfected by patient practice. the routine and monotony of daily toil become glorified in the light that now falls athwart your vision. you learn to substitute for your personal feeling the common impersonal element felt by the many. your concern is not as formerly to recollect, but to symbolize. to this end you study frieze and statuary and frequent lectures. your sense of social solidarity grows through mutual comprehension of the same truths. and again that 'vexing, forward reaching sense of some more noble permanence' urges you on. 'time was;' you joyously affirm for man to come to the knowledge of an eternal self. but that, your tradition and education have led you to believe, is still yonder, worlds away. and you image the soul in its quest passing from life to life as you are now passing from building to building, from hall to hall. but glad the thought - there will be courts wherein you may perhaps glimpse the plan of the whole and so gather strength and purpose for another housing. all at once you know that death has no fear for you and you feel toward your present life as you do toward these palaces of the mundane - the sooner compassed the better. you pass from court to edifice and from edifice to court, marveling at the symmetry of plan and structure. unity, balance, and harmony become manifest as spatial properties - you had been taught to regard them as principles of art. you wonder if art itself may not be merely a matter of right placing - the adjustment of a thing to its environment. you are certain that this is so as each coign and niche offers you its particular insight. strange vagaries float through your mind - one's duty to the inanimate things of one's possession; the house too large for the personality of the owner; the right setting for certain idiosyncrasies; character building as a constructive process; the ideal as the limit of an infinite series - each pointing the way, as you think, to a different vista of human outlook. what then your glad surprise to find these converging toward one ideal synthesis. in anticipation of the splendor you hasten on till earth shall have attained to heaven. there it stands - 'a structure brave,' the palace of art, the temple of the soul - and you know you were made to be perfect too. now that you apprehend the plan of the whole, symmetry takes on a vital significance for your thought. you try to recall what you learned of it in geometry. there was a folding over, you remember, and a fitting together 'congruence' you believe it was called. but that could have no meaning for solids. stop! a folding over? why, that implies another dimension! the two halves of a leaf can be brought together only as one or the other is lifted out of the plane of the leaf into a third dimension. so to bring two buildings into superposition when they are alike except for a reverse order of parts, would necessitate a fourth dimension and a turning inside out. quick as the thought, the court you are in is that - a building inside out! ah! you know now wherefor that wonderful uplifting sensation that comes whenever you enter one of these beautiful inclosures. you have passed into the fourth dimension of spatial realization. 'time is past,' you shout aloud, and laugh to find yourself on the inside of externality. cubism in architecture! futurism, in very truth! you visit again the galleries of the new art, not to scoff, but in earnest desire for enlightenment as to this thing which is so near to consciousness and yet so far. you find yourself exclaiming: 'ah, there is something here unfathomed by the cynic's sneer!' as you gaze at the portrayal so strangely weird in form and color you ask yourself where have i felt that, seen this, before? immediately you are transported in memory to the midst of a crowded street. in the mad bustle and noise you are conscious only of mechanical power; of speed - always of speed. your voice far away - 'the child, oh, the child!' a swooning sensation. men's faces as triangles and horses with countless legs. the chaos of primal forces about youthen darkness. as the past fuses with the present you awaken to a larger privilege of life than man now knows. you feel yourself encompassed by truth, vital and strong. this art, erstwhile so baffling, stands revealed as the struggle of a superhuman entity for self-expression. the tendency toward god has to begin anew with each round of the life-spiral - that eternal circle which life pursues. now you find yourself in the court of the universe. bands of many-colored light, the white radiance of eternity, stream athwart the sky. the illumination is of the wonder that now is. how marvelously strange the sight of the world-consciousness passing over into a higher thought-form! each individual element suffering reversal to take its proper place in the new world-order! you see positive becoming negative, negative becoming positive, and evolution giving place to involution - a process as yet uncomprehended by our narrow thought. and the secret of the world-struggle across the sea you know; men passing their nature's bound; new hopes and loyalties supplanting old ties and joys; the established creeds of right and wrong as they vanish in this immeasurable thirst for an unknown good. all these things you know to be the travail of the world as it gives birth to some higher entity than individual man. 'time is past,' and as you speak a dove settles to rest upon a pediment. therewith you are carried away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and you behold a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away. you see the holy city coming down out of heaven - her light is like unto a stone most precious, as it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal, and the walls thereof are adorned with all manner of precious stones - and they brought the glory and the honor of the nations into it. creative evolution (after bergson) out of a sense of immediacy comes an intuition of things forming. pressed up by the vital urge, mind meets matter and matter mind in mutual understanding. that which apprehends, since by the object shaped, a fitting instrument is for what itself has wrought. from the same stuff, cut by an identical process, thing and intellect to congruence come, in a space-world forever unfolding. no preestablished harmony this of inner to outer realm corresponding, nor spirit nor form by the other determined. stranger far the genesis whereof i speak: from the universal flux, in a moment, that is ever unique, life to new consciousness springs; creator and created together evolve, in a time-stream continually changing. my bibliography of fourth-dimensional insight while to books i owe much, i owe still more to the beautiful people by whom i have been, like marcus aurelius, all my life surrounded, and particularly to my parents of large vision. creative evolution: bergson. an intuition so great that if spatialized it would lead to a world of infinite dimensions. the ethical implications of bergson's philosophy: una bernard sait. the new infinite and the old theology: c. j. keyser. the fourth dimension: c. h. hinton. first and last things: h. g. wells. the art of creation: edward carpenter. some neglected factors of evolution: bernard. a scientific presentation of involution, a book than which none other has more light to throw on present world problems. primer of higher space: claude bragdon. projective ornament: claude bragdon. paracelsus: browning. abt vogler: browning. commemoration ode: lowell. the book of revelations. here ends "the fourth dimensional reaches of the panama-pacific international exposition," written by cora lenore williams, m.s., with lines on fourth-dimensional insight by ormeida curtis harrison; and the illustrations are from etchings done by gertrude partington, and the fourth dimensional cover design by julia manchester mackie. published by paul elder & company, and printed under the typographical direction of h. a. funke at their tomoye press, in san francisco, during the month of november, nineteen hundred and fifteen. at http://www.freeliterature.org (from images generously made available by internet archive.) [illustration: (calligraphy) _upon him, mohammad, salvation._] the life of mohammad the prophet of allah _"the man's words were not false..._ _a fiery mass of life cast-up from_ _the great bosom of nature herself."_ ("_on heroes_," by thomas carlyle, london, .) this work is issued in a strictly limited edition of copies on imperial japanese vellum with an extra suite of the plates and copies on hand-made paper. no. [illustration: (ornamental page) frontispiece] "_in the name_ _of allah!_ _the compassionate_ _the merciful_" history of the prophecy "_upon his hero_ _(mohammad),_ _boundless veneration."_ [illustration: (calligraphy) _there is no god but allah, and mohammad is the prophet of allah._] the life of mohammad the prophet of allah by e. dinet and sliman ben ibrahim illustrated by e. dinet ornamental pages by mohammad racim paris the paris book club, , rue de chateaudun this work is dedicated by the author-painter and his arab collaborator to the memory of the valiant moslem soldiers particularly those of france and england who, in the sacred cause of right, justice and humanity have piously sacrificed their lives in the great war of the nations preface _an existence, so full of stirring events as that of the prophet mohammad, cannot be described by us in all its details. as there are limits to all books, we have had to rest content with a selection of the most important episodes, so that each might be developed as we deemed necessary. thus we present to the reader a series of pictures and not a complete history._ _our scaffolding and sketches are borrowed from very ancient authors such as ibn hisham, ibn sad, etc., without forgetting a more modern writer, ali borhan id-din al-halabi who, in his book known by the title of "es sirat'al halabia," gathered together different versions from all the best-known historians. an incontestable proof of their veracity, in our opinion, is that these narratives, some dating as far back as twelve centuries, fit in perfectly with the manners, customs, hopes and language of the moslems of the desert; those who at the present day, by their mode of living, are more akin to the arabs of the hijaz among whom mohammad accomplished his mission._ _these remarks will serve to warn the reader that in this work will be found none of those learned paradoxes destined to destroy traditions, such sophisms delighting modern orientalists by reason of their love of novelty._ _the study of innovations introduced in this way into the prophet's history has caused us to note that they were often prompted by feelings inimical to islam which were not only out of place in scientific research, but were also unworthy of our epoch. as displayed by their authors, they generally denoted strange ignorance of arab customs, notwithstanding that these commentaries were accompanied by considerable erudition, although too bookish. in order to refute such new-fangled assertions, it was enough to check each in turn. being so contradictory, one killed the other. their extreme improbabilities, from the standpoint of oriental psychology, only served to enhance with still greater clarity the perfect likelihood of those traditions sanctioned in the world of islam._ _we have been guided by them. we have been satisfied to choose those that seemed most characteristic, setting each in its proper place, thanks to information gleaned in long interviews with pilgrims visiting the holy cities of the hijaz, while reviewing these episodes in the light of our experience of moslem life, in the great desert of sahara, where one of us two had lived from birth and the other for the last thirty years and more._ _in strict agreement with the qur'an, the only indisputable book according to the moslem doctors of the earliest times and those imbued with the modern liberal spirit, such as the celebrated shaikh abdu, we have put aside all the posthumous miracles attributed to the arab prophet and which only serve to blur his true physiognomy._ _among all the prophets founders of religions, mohammad is the only one who, relying solely on the evidence shown by his mission and the divine eloquence of the qur'an, was able to do without the assistance of miracles, thus performing the greatest of all--the one which ernest renan, forgetting his example, declared to be utterly impossible. "the greatest miracle," said he, speaking of jesus christ, "would have been if he had wrought not any. never would the laws of history and popular psychology have been more violently infringed."_ _on the other hand, we have taken care not to turn a deaf ear to tales in legendary shape. a legend, and above all, an oriental legend, is an incomparable means of expression. it serves to paint mere facts in lasting colours and make them stand out in bold relief, far removed from the icy and so-called impartial account of an up-to-date reporter._ _our readers, enlightened by the foregoing warning, must therefore not let themselves be the victims of the numerous errors committed by hellenism, latinism and scholasticism, when interpreting "literally" the sacred books of the east, while beneath seeming magic allegories scattered here and there in this narrative, will easily be discerned realities, poetically transposed, but not at all disfigured by the imagination of the arabs._ _with still more reason, the qur'an should be read in the same way, for is it not written:_ "god setteth forth these similitudes to men that haply they may be admonished." (the qur'an, xiv, .) _it may also seem strange that in the illustrations accompanying the text, no portrait of the prophet will be found, nor any picturing of events in which he figured as the hero._ _and this is why: being sincere moslems, we do not want to run counter to the true principles of islam, far less hostile than is supposed to the portrayal of mortals' faces, but strictly forbidding the image of the divinity, considered to be rank blasphemy leading to idolatry more or less disguised. to represent the likenesses of the prophets is to belittle them inevitably and sacrilegiously._ _and after all, in the eyes of the believer, what does the prim effigy of one of god's messengers on earth, however marvellously painted, look like in comparison with the sublime idea that the mind of the faithful creates, under the influence of fervid faith? this has been so well understood by certain persian painters of miniatures, that, having to sketch mohammad in the varied phases of his nocturnal ascension, they veiled his face entirely, because they found themselves powerless to picture it, and feared also to impair features so revered. there is no greater proof of their intention than the meticulous care with which in the same pictures all other faces are treated, including that of buraq, the winged steed with the head of a human being; and also the lineaments of the angels in the celestial procession._ _in place, therefore, of an imaginary portrait and necessarily falsified drawings, we have adopted a more indirect style of illustration, but by its means we hope to have succeeded in evoking a few lights and shadows, undoubtedly emanating from the superman who came into the world at makkah (mecca)._ _his features, solely known by the descriptions of those who penned his history, appear to us dimly through a gauzy veil of dreamland that we shall not try to rend asunder, for behind this mysterious filmy mask, the sacred lineaments will enjoy the rare and precious advantage of not having been spoilt, like so many others, by impossible attempts of pictorial reconstitution. on the other hand, his ways and doings have been brought down to our own times, with religious fidelity, by three hundred millions of disciples, scattered all over the earth's surface._ _the constant thought of all moslems, of whatever race, is to imitate in everything, in the most humble as well as in the highest, of life's functions, the habits of the prophet whose image is engraved in their hearts. and this is so true, that simply by the way in which he washes his hands, the difference can be seen between an arab moslem and an arab christian._ _looking upon true believers going to and fro, we consequently view the movements of mohammad. it is but a pale reflection, but nevertheless incontestably authentic; whereas, despite the perfection of their statues, the roman emperors can only offer to us their limbs and faces, stiffened in attitudes of awkward pride; remaining as corpses that our imagination is powerless to resuscitate._ _impressed by these facts, we had the idea of illustrating this history of mohammad by picturing the religious doings of his disciples; a few scenes of arab life, and views of the hijaz, his native land._ [illustration: (ornamental page) chapter the first ] [illustration: _praying round the sacred temple of the ka'bah of mekka._] [illustration: (calligraphy) _in the name of allah, the compassionate, the merciful._ ] chapter the first [sidenote: the moslem prayer] a rosy ray lit up the horizon; the stars paled, and a voice cried out in cadence, in the silence of dawn: "_allah is the greatest! there is no god but allah, and mohammad is the prophet of allah! come and pray! come to salvation!_" high up above the flat housetops and the palm-trees of the oasis, the last notes of the muazzin's call, wafted from the balcony of the slender minaret, died away in the infinite space of the desert.... mohammedans who were still slumbering, enwrapped in the white folds of their shroud-like mantles, sprung to their feet with a start, like dead men coming to life. they hurried to fountains where they performed their ablutions; and then, with clean skins and pure thoughts, they gathered together in long processions, elbow to elbow, all turned in one direction: that of the holy ka'bah of makkah (mecca). standing erect, heads slightly bent, eyes downcast, perfectly still in the long folds of their garments, they seemed as if metamorphosed into a crowd of statues. following the example of the imam, in front of them, but in the same direction, and announcing each phase of the prayer by the takbir: "_allah is the greatest!_" they all lifted their open hands on a level with their foreheads, to bear witness to their ecstasy in the presence of the almighty power of the master of the worlds. then, every man made the same movement, bending their backs and bowing low before the throne of his supreme majesty. but this did not suffice to express all the humility of their souls, so they dropped to the ground and prostrated themselves, piously pressing their faces against the earth. for a few moments they remained in this supplicating posture, as if crushed by the weight of the entire firmament which might have been prostrated with them. they held up their heads at last and rose to a sitting posture, both knees on the ground, their heads bowed under the burden of their fervour. the prayer terminated by salutation, accompanied by the face being turned first to the right, then to the left, addressed to the two recording angels who unceasingly attend every true believer. generally, however, the faithful who ask nothing from allah, not even their daily bread, remain a little longer on their knees, and placing, breast-high, their open palms under their eyes, as if reading a book, they implore divine mercy for the salvation of their souls, for their relatives, and for islam. only a few parts of the prayer: the takbir, the fatihah and the final salutation are loudly intoned by the imam. the congregation pray inwardly; the takbir alone is murmured in whispers that are barely audible. such half-silence enhances the grandeur of their gestures, so expressive and simple, in which dignity is closely allied to humility; and being totally devoid of affectation, constitutes the most poignant display of adoration imaginable. every day, each time the rays of the sun change colour: at rosy dawn; flaming noon; during gilded sunset, when it descends below the horizon in all the yellow sadness of its disappearance; and at the moment it is enshrouded in the blue veiling of night, not only in the mosques, but also in the houses and streets, in _cafés_ and market-places, in the country or the desert, all moslems, alone or grouped together, wherever they may be, without needing to be called by the muazzin or led by the imam, are bound to stop short in their work and even interrupt their trend of thought, for a few minutes, thus glorifying the benefactor. for more than thirteen centuries, from the atlantic's african shore as far as the chinese coast-line of the pacific, more than two hundred millions of the faithful turn five times daily in the direction of the holy ka'bah of makkah; their millions of prayers being garnered there to be offered up to the most high, bearing witness to the undying gratitude of the souls of islam. [sidenote: description of makkah (_mecca_)] this mysterious town, upon which the aspirations of so many human beings close in, was almost unknown in ancient times. what is it like? is it one of those cities, picturesquely situated, where ostentatious kings built splendid palaces, accumulating therein all the treasures of creation? is it one of those vast commercial boroughs dominating land and sea routes to which the riches and produce of the universe came in abundance? or was it an extensive imperial capital whose valiant warriors bent neighbouring peoples beneath their yoke? makkah has nothing in common with all this, being established in one of the most arid and forsaken spots on earth; and in olden times its only commerce consisted in desert caravan traffic, so that it was neither rich nor powerful. nevertheless, many opulent towns are jealous of its glory, for it shelters in its midst the holy temple of the ka'bah, besides being the birthplace of our lord mohammad, the prince of prophets! in our own times, despite gifts brought from the furthermost corners of the world by the hundred thousand pilgrims who come each year to prostrate themselves in its temple, makkah, "the mother of cities," by the splendour of its palaces and mosques, cannot vie with any great capital. in the eyes of the true believers, its treasures are radiant with incomparable brilliancy, but which is not terrestrial. as a matter of fact, the aspect of makkah--"allah's delight"--is no different from other arab desert centres. there are more numerous and loftier dwellings, better decorated than in general, but its characteristics, on the whole, are unchanged. from the top of the jabal abi-kubeis which dominates it on the eastern side, it can be viewed stretching from north to south in a narrow valley. at first, it seems to form part of the earth on which it stands, because the bare and rocky mountains surrounding it are not separated from these heights by any oasis or verdant strip, and the terrace-roofs of the houses do not stand out from the heaps of stony fragments that have rolled down from the crags. the spectator's eyes gradually get used to the landscape and pick out architectural lines; mysterious entrances to dwellings; lace-work of tall, straight minarets; and then, astonished at the sudden apparition of a big town that he never thought was there, he sees it, as in a kind of mirage, increasing excessively. now it is the turn of the rocks to look as if changed into houses; hills becoming immense suburbs extending boundlessly. if, in this chaos of sharply-outlined shapes, it is difficult for the eye to distinguish dwellings from steep rocks; one cannot fail to be startled at once by the strange aspect of a great cube of masonry, built up in the middle of a spacious quadrangular courtyard and veiled by black silk, shining in violent contrast to the dull tints of the entire sun-scorched landscape. this black cube is the holy ka'bah, the veritable heart of islam, and like so many veins bringing blood to the heart to vivify the body, all the prayers of islam flow towards this temple to vivify souls. it is the only spot on earth where moslems, when adoring the eternal, can meet face to face. [sidenote: the temple of the ka'bah and the black stone] the ka'bah is not the tomb of the prophet, nor an object to be worshipped, as many europeans imagine. it is a temple called "beit allah al haram" (the holy house of allah), and its origin can be traced to the most distant days of antiquity. according to the arab tradition, it was built by adam, the father of the human race. destroyed by the flood, it was rebuilt on the same foundations, by the prophet abraham, with the help of his son, ishmael, the ancestor of the arabs. since then, often repaired, but retaining the same lines and proportions, the ka'bah became the goal of arab pilgrims flocking to adore allah, the only one, and perform seven ritual circuits instituted by their forefathers under the title of "tawaf." little by little, the worship of allah, the only one, having degenerated in the memory of the pilgrims who added the practice of idolatry, mohammad was sent to destroy the three hundred and sixty images they adored. in the east angle of the monument is incrusted the famous black stone "hajaru'l-aswad", framed in a silver circle. this stone, which came down from paradise, was brought by the angel jibra'il (gabriel) to abraham and his son, during the rebuilding of the temple, and they placed it where it is still to be seen this day, in order to serve pilgrims as a starting-point for their ritual circuits. primitively as white as milk, its present characteristic ebony tint is due to the pollution of the sins of the pilgrims who came to touch and kiss it, while imploring the merciful to pardon them. close to the ka'bah is the well of zamzam. its miraculous water gushed forth from the earth to save ishmael from the tortures of thirst when lost in the desert with his mother, hajar (hagar). neglected by the arab tribes, in the dark days of ignorance, it became choked up by sand and was dug anew by abdul muttalib, a few years before the birth of mohammad. the water, ever since, is revered by pilgrims who use it for drinking purposes and for their ablutions, thereby sanctifying themselves by the remembrance of their ancestors. the two functions of "siqayah," (management of water supply), and of "hajaba," (superintendence of the ka'bah) were posts greatly sought after on account of their prerogatives. at the epoch at which our story begins, they were both united in the hands of abdul muttalib bin hashem, of the quraish tribe, the grandfather of the future prophet. [sidenote: the marriage of abdullah, father of the prophet] one day, abdul muttalib, custodian of the ka'bah, set forth from the sanctuary, his favourite son, abdullah, holding his hand. on the threshold of the temple was seated quotila, a woman of the bani asad tribe. on catching sight of the lad, she started to her feet, evincing sudden surprise. she stared at him with strange persistence, because she was fascinated by a supernatural light that radiated from his brow. 'whither art thou going?' she called to him.--'to where my father leadeth me.'--'stop and listen to me. i offer thee a hundred camels, being as many as thy father was bound to sacrifice to save thy life, if thou wilt consent to throw thyself upon me, now at once.'--'i am in my father's company and cannot disobey him, nor leave him,' replied abdullah, petrified at such shamelessness, especially in the presence of such a respectable person as abdul muttalib. the young man turned away, filled with confusion, and rejoined abdul muttalib who took him to the house of wahb ibn abdi manaf, whose daughter the superintendent of the well thought would make a good wife for his boy. wahb was one of the chieftains of the bani zahrah tribe and abdul muttalib being numbered among the princes of the quraish, a most noble tribe, an alliance between two such authentically aristocratic families would be easily brought about and so the marriage of abdullah, with aminah, daughter of wahb, took place without further loss of time. abdullah went off with his bride to the dwelling of abu talib, his uncle. there the marriage was consummated during the young couple's sojourn of three days and three nights. when the newly-married young man went out of the house, he came face to face again with quotila, the woman who had previously hailed him with such lack of decency and he was surprised at her complete indifference as she saw him pass by. abdullah was considered to be the handsomest youth in makkah. his manly bearing had aroused the sensual passions of most of the women of the city to such an extent that, when his marriage was announced, they fell ill by dint of jealousy and disappointment. quotila, however, was not a victim to vulgar lust, being the sister of waraqah ibn taufal, the learned man renowned throughout arabia for his knowledge of the sacred books. from him she had learnt how, in that part of the country, a prophet was about to come into the world, whose father would be known by rays of light illuminating his face with a pearly or starry sheen. this sign she had detected on the brow of abdullah, and was haunted by the ambitious desire of becoming the mother of the coming apostle. her hopes dashed to the ground, she no longer heeded abdullah, notwithstanding his good looks. knowing nothing of all this, he felt hurt at her indifference, following so quickly on her great ardour. 'how comes it that thou dost not ask me again for what thou hungered for but a little while ago?' he asked quotila.--'who art thou?' she replied.--'i am abdullah bin abdul muttalib.'--'art thou the stripling whose brow seemed to me to be surrounded with a luminous aureola which has now disappeared? what hath befell thee, since we first met?' he apprised her of his marriage, and quotila guessed that the radiance surrounding the future prophet had passed away from the forehead of abdullah into the womb of aminah, his wife.--'by allah, i made no mistake!' she told him. 'on thy brow i discovered the pure light that i would have dearly liked to possess in the depths of my body. but now it belongeth to another who will be delivered of "the best among created beings," and there remaineth naught of thee that i care for.' thus it came about that abdullah, by the words that fell from the lips of this learned woman, got to hear of his wife's pregnancy and the future in store for his son. abdullah did not live long enough to have the happiness of knowing his offspring, for mohammad's father died at yasrib two months before aminah was delivered. aminah, mother of allah's chosen one, spoke thus: "since the day i carried my son in my womb, until i brought him forth, i never suffered the least pain. i never even felt his weight and should not have known the state i was in, if it had not been that after i conceived and was about to fall asleep, an angel appeared to me, saying: 'dost thou not see that thou art pregnant with the lord of thy nation; the prophet of all thy people? know it full well.' at the same instant, a streak of light, darting out of my body, went up northwards--yea, even unto the land of syria. "when the day of my deliverance came due, the angel appeared to me again and gave me a warning: 'when thou shalt bring forth thy child into the world, thou must utter these words: 'for him i implore the protection of allah, the only one, against the wickedness of the envious,' and thou shalt call him by the name of mohammad which means the lauded, as he is announced in the taurat and the injil, for he will be lauded by all the inhabitants of heaven and earth.'" when the planet al-moushtari passed, a line of light darted for the second time from aminah's body in the direction of faraway syria and it illuminated the palace of the town of busra. at the same time, other prodigies astonished the world: the lake sowa suddenly dried up; a violent earthquake made the palace of chosroes the great tremble, and shattered fourteen of its towers; the sacred fire, kept alight for more than a thousand years, went out, in spite of the exertions of its persian worshippers, and all the idols of the universe were found with their heads bowed down in great shame. all these portents caused fear in the hearts of those who witnessed them; but, despite the predictions of al moudzenab, the parsee sorcerer, who had been warned in a dream that a great upheaval in the destiny of the universe would be caused by an event to take place in arabia, the occurrence was unperceived: the birth of a child of the quraish tribe at makkah, a tiny town lost in the midst of the wilderness, unknown to the gorgeous monarchs of east and west alike, or else despised by them. [illustration: calligraphy: _then when ye have ended the prayer, make mention of allah, standing, and sitting, and reclining._] [illustration: (ornamental page) chapter the second] [illustration: _the night of the maulid, the prophet's birth day._ _moslems leaving a village mosque._] [illustration: (calligraphy) _have we not opened thy breast for thee? * and taken off from thee thy burden?_] chapter the second [sidenote: the birth of mohammad] our lord mohammad (may allah shower his blessings upon him and grant him salvation!) was born a few seconds before the rising of the morning star, on a monday, the twelfth day of the month rabi-ul-awwal of the first year of the era of the elephant. (august th, a.d. ). when he came into the world, he was devoid of all pollution, circumcised naturally and the umbilical cord had been cut by the hand of the angel jibra'il. the atmosphere of the city being fatal to infants, the leading citizens were in the habit of confiding their children to bedouin wet-nurses who brought them up in their badya-land, where dwelt the bedouins, or nomads. shortly after the birth of mohammad, about a dozen women belonging to the tribe of the bani sad, all bronzed by the bracing breezes of their country, arrived at makkah, to seek nurslings. upon one of them devolved the honour of suckling the prophet of allah. and she was halimah, signifying "the gentle". [sidenote: mohammad's childhood with the bani sad tribe in their badya land] quoth halimah bint zuib: "it was a barren year, and both my husband, haris bin abdul ozza and myself, were plunged in dire distress. we made up our minds to go to makkah where i purposed to seek a foster-child whose grateful parents would help us out of our miserable plight. we joined a caravan where there were many women of our tribe, bound likewise on the same errand. "the she-ass i was riding was so thin and exhausted by privation that she came nigh upon breaking down on the road and we did not get a wink of sleep all night by reason of our poor child being tortured by the pangs of hunger. neither in my breasts, nor in the udder of a female camel driven by my husband, did there remain one drop of milk to relieve my baby's pain. "all sleepless as i was, i fell a prey to despair. in my parlous state, could i hope to take charge of a suckling? "lagging far behind the caravan, we arrived in makkah at last, but all the new-born babes had already been allotted to the other women, except one child and that was mohammad. "his father being dead and his family far from rich, despite the high rank it held in makkah, none of the wet-nurses cared to take charge of the baby boy. "we likewise turned away from him at first, but i was full of shame at thinking i should have to journey back empty-handed, for i feared the mockery of my friends luckier than i. besides, my feelings were deeply stirred when i gazed upon that fine infant, bound to wither away in the unwholesome air of the town. "my heart became filled with compassion; i felt my milk welling up miraculously in my breasts, so i said to my husband: 'i swear by allah that i have a good mind to adopt that orphan boy, notwithstanding that we have but slight hopes of ever earning anything worth talking about by so doing.'--'i cannot say thou art wrong,' he replied. 'perhaps with him, the blessing of allah may once more favour our tent.' "scarcely listening, i could no longer restrain myself and rushed towards the handsome baby fast asleep. i placed my hand on its pretty little breast; he smiled and opened his eyes sparkling with light. i kissed his brow between them. holding him tightly in my embrace, i made my way back to where our caravan was encamped. once there, i offered him my right breast so that he should enjoy such nourishment as allah chose to grant him. to my extreme astonishment, he found enough milk to satisfy his hunger. i proffered my left breast, but he refused it, leaving it to his foster-brother, and he always behaved in like fashion. "a greater marvel still was when from our she-camel's teats, dried-up that morning, my husband drew enough milk to appease the hunger that gnawed my entrails, and for the first time for many a month, the shades of night brought us refreshing sleep. 'by allah, o halimah!' exclaimed my husband, next day, on awaking, 'thou hast adopted a child that is verily blessed!' "with the little boy, i mounted my she-ass who started off at a rapid pace. she was not long in coming up with my surprised companions and even trotted in front of them. thereupon they cried out: 'o halimah! pull up thy ass, in order that we may journey home all together. is that the same animal you bestrode when we departed?'--'aye; 'tis she and no other.'--'then she is under some spell that we cannot unravel!' "we reached our tents of the bani sad. i know no more arid soil than ours and our flocks had been mowed down by famine. but we marvelled at finding them in more thriving condition than during the most prosperous seasons, and the swollen teats of our ewes yielded more milk than we knew what to do with. "our neighbour's flocks, on the contrary, were in a grievous state and their masters threw the blame on their shepherds. 'woe to ye all, stupid serving-men!' cried the sheep-owners. 'lead our lambs to graze with those of halimah!' "the men obeyed, but all in vain: the sweet grass that seemed to spring up out of the earth offering its tender sprigs to our sheep, withered immediately they were gone on their way. "prosperity and blessings remained in our tent unceasingly. mohammad attained his second year and it was then i weaned him. his disposition was truly uncommon. at the age of nine months, he talked in a charming way with accents that touched all hearts. he was never dirty; nor did he ever sob or scream, except peradventure when his nakedness chanced to be seen. if he was uneasy at nights and refused to close his eyes, i would bring him out of the tent, when he would fix his gaze immediately with admiration on the stars. he showed great joy, and when his glances were sated with the sight, he let his eyelids droop and allowed slumber to claim him." [illustration: _watching over camels grazing._] but when he was weaned, halimah was obliged to take mohammad back to his mother who was eager to have him with her. what grief therefore for the poor wet-nurse! she could not resign herself to such cruel separation. as soon as she got to makkah, she threw herself at aminah's feet and burst out supplicating as she kissed them. 'see how the bracing air of the badya hath profited thy child. think that those breezes will do him still greater good now that he is beginning to walk. fear the pestilential air of the city! thou wouldst see him waste away before thine eyes and remember my words when it was too late.' moved by these touching prayers and thinking only of her son's health, aminah stifled her motherly feelings and finished by consenting to let halimah take mohammad back to the badya. his good-hearted nurse, buckling him securely to her loins, went off, overjoyed, on the road leading to her encampment. home again at the badya of the bani sad, mohammad's first footsteps were printed on the ripple-marked carpet of the immaculate sands, where he inhaled with welcome nostrils the sweet odours of the aromatic plants growing on the hillocks. and there it was he slept under the dark blue tent of the star-studded sky and his chest expanded, breathing the limpid air of desert nights. he grew strong, thanks to the healthy, wholesome food of the nomads: milk and cheese, with unleavened bread baked under hot ashes and, now and again, camel's flesh or mutton, devoid of the sickening smell of wool-grease that comes from animals bred in confined stabling. such moral and physical well-being, that he owed to the badya, was of great help to him, during ordeals later in life. he was always pleased to recur to his childhood's days. 'allah granted me two inestimable favours,' he would often say. 'first came the privilege of being born in the most noble of all the arab tribes, the quraish; secondly, that of being brought up in the bani sad region, the most salubrious of the entire hijaz.' never were there effaced from his mind those pictures of the desert which were impressed on his earliest glances when, in company with other nomadic lads, he would climb to the top of a rock to watch over a grazing flock. notwithstanding, being inclined to dream and meditate, he did not agree very well with the turbulence and high spirits of the little bedouins of his own age, and preferred to hide away from them, and ramble in solitude not too far from the tents. [sidenote: mohammad and the two angels] he went out, one morning, with his foster-brother leading the flocks of his foster-father to the pasturage. all of a sudden, about the middle of the day, mohammad's young companion went back alone. 'come hither quickly!' he shouted to his father and mother, his voice hoarse with affright. 'my brother, the quraish, having slipped away from us, according to his wont, two men, clothed all in white, seized hold of him, threw him on the ground and split his chest open.' in mad fear, poor halimah, followed by her husband, ran as fast as her legs would carry her, following the road pointed out by the youthful shepherd. mohammad was found seated on the top of a hill. he was perfectly calm, but his face had taken on the sinister tint of the dust and ashes to which we must all return. they fondled him gently and put question after question to him. 'what ails thee, o child of ours? what hath befell thee?'--'while i was intent upon looking after the grazing sheep,' he replied, 'i saw two white forms appear. at first, i took them to be two great birds, but as they drew nearer, i saw my mistake: they were two men clad in tunics of dazzling whiteness.'--'is that the boy?' said one of them to his companion, pointing to me. 'yea! 'tis he!' as i stood stupefied with fear, they seized me; threw me down and cut my breast open. they drew out of my heart a black clot of blood which they cast far away; and then closing up my chest, they disappeared like phantoms.' the words of allah, in the qur'an, seem to allude to this incident: "_have we not opened thy breast for thee? * and taken off from thee thy burden. * which galled thy back?_" (the qur'an, xciv. , , ). this story, together with many others to be met with in the pages of this work, must be taken to be a parable, which, in this case, signifies that allah opened mohammad's breast when quite young, so that the joy of monotheistic truth should penetrate therein and permeate his being, relieving him of the heavy burden of idol-worship. mohammad's foster-parents continued to live in a state of bewilderment and haris said to his wife: 'i fear the boy is a prey to falling sickness, evidently due to spells cast by neighbours, jealous of the prosperity and the blessing that the child hath brought into our tent. but whether possessed by the evil one who conjured up this hallucination; or because, on the contrary, the boy's vision is a true one and pointeth to a glorious future, our responsibility is none the less heavy. let us give him back to his family, before his disease becometh more violent.' halimah was regretfully obliged to agree with such wise arguments and, taking mohammad with her, she turned in the direction of makkah. the boy, now four years of age, walked by her side, and, on the outskirts of the town, they found themselves in the midst of a great crowd wending their way to the market or the temple pilgrimage. night had come on. hustled in the dense throng, halimah was soon separated from her foster-son and was unable to find him in the dark, despite her active search and desperate shouts. without losing time, she hurried to apprise abdul muttalib, whose high social position made it easy for him to send out clever men on the track of his grandson, while he rode on horseback to head the searchers. in the tihamah water-course, one of the trackers soon found a child seated among some shrubs. he was amusing himself by pulling the branches. 'who art thou, child?' he was asked. 'i am mohammad, son of abdullah bin abdul muttalib.' well pleased at having found the boy he was looking for, the man lifted up the child and carried him to the arms of his grandfather following behind. abdul muttalib embraced mohammad affectionately, sat him on the pommel of his saddle in front of him and brought him back to makkah. to show his joy, the old man slaughtered some sheep and distributed their flesh to the poor of the city. then, taking his grandson astride on his shoulder, he performed the ritual circuits round the ka'bah in token of gratitude. accompanied by poor halimah, now recovered from her anguish, he led mohammad into the presence of aminah, his mother. after she had given way to the effusive joy of a loving mother, she turned to halimah: 'what doth this signify? o nurse, thou wast so desirous of keeping my son by thy side, and now thou dost bring him back to me, all of a sudden?'--'i considered that he had reached an age when i could do no more for him than i have done; and fearing unlucky accidents, i bring him back to thee, knowing how thou wert longing to set eyes on him again.' nevertheless, perplexity and sadness were only too clearly to be read on the kind nurse's features. not being deceived by her explanations, aminah continued: 'thou dost hide from me the true motive of thy return. i wait to hear thee tell the whole truth.' halimah then thought it best to repeat what her husband had said, and aminah's maternal pride was sorely wounded. 'can it be that thou art afraid lest my son should fall a victim to the devil?' she quickly retorted.--'i confess that such is my fear.'--'know then that the demon's wiles are powerless to do him harm, for a glorious destiny is in store for him.' aminah made the nurse acquainted with the marvellous events that had happened during her pregnancy and lying-in. after having thanked and rewarded halimah for her devotion, aminah kept her child with her, and his health, fortified by life in the open air, had now nothing to fear from unhealthy conditions of town life. [sidenote: aminah's death (_a.d. _)] under the vigilant eyes of the most loving of mothers, mohammad grew up handsome and intelligent; but he was not fated to long enjoy maternal affection which no other love can equal. on returning from a journey to yasrib, whither she had taken him, aminah died suddenly, halfway on the road, in the straggling village of al-abwa, where she was buried. the sorrowing orphan boy, scarce seven years of age, was brought back to makkah by a black slave-girl, umm aiman; entirely devoted to his young master and who, including five camels, constituted his sole inheritance. he was taken in hand by his grandfather, abdul muttalib, who had always shown him great affection, and the old man's love increased daily, as he saw the lad growing up more and more like abdullah, his father, so much regretted. the following anecdote gives an idea of abdul muttalib's boundless affection for his grandson: in makkah, where the streets are narrow and crooked like those of all the towns of the desert, there is only one open space of any size--the square in which stands the ka'bah, and where, morning and evening, the citizens gathered together, resting and gossiping about their business as well as performing their devotions. not a day passed without the servants of abdul muttalib throwing down a carpet in the temple's shade; and round the rug sat his sons, grandsons and the leading townsmen, awaiting his coming. the respect shown to the superintendent of "the house of allah" was so great, that never did anyone ever dare to put his foot even on the outer edge of his carpet. it came to pass one day that young mohammad took up a position right in the middle of the revered carpet, scandalising in the highest degree his uncles who drove him away immediately. but abdul muttalib was coming, and he had witnessed the conflict from afar. 'let my grandson go back at once to where he was seated!' he called out. 'he is the delight of my old age and his great audacity ariseth from the presentiment he hath of his destiny, for he shall occupy higher rank than any arab hath ever attained.' so saying, he made mohammad sit by his side and fondled his cheeks and his shoulders, while in ecstasies at the least thing the boy said or did. again the fates decreed, that mohammad should be deprived of gentle love: abdul muttalib died at the age of ninety-five, unanimously regretted by his fellow-citizens. the unlucky orphan boy was received into the house of his uncle abu talib, who had been chosen for this kind succour by his grandsire, for the reason that, alone among his uncles, he was the brother of both the mother and father of abdullah, mohammad's father. [sidenote: mohammad's first journey in syria (_a.d. _)] having a large family and not being very well off, although the management of the ka'bah had been bequeathed to him, abu talib was obliged to do business with the lands of yaman and syria. shortly after sheltering his nephew under his roof, he undertook the task of organising a caravan of quraish men, and he was to lead them back to their tents. all was in readiness; the loads were shared and divided, corded and balanced on the pack-saddles of the kneeling camels, grunting according to their habit. their drivers began, by dint of blows and shouts, to force them to rise to their feet and direct their swaying stride in a northerly direction. this sight caused mohammad to remember his beloved badya, where caravans resembling this one about to depart passed to and fro continually. fresh separation, this time from his beloved uncle, was about to plunge him into the sadness of solitude. he stood still, gloomy and silent. at last, heartbroken, he threw himself into abu talib's embrace, casting his young arms round him, and hiding his face in the folds of his uncle's mantle, to conceal his tears brought on by longing and despair. greatly moved by this spontaneous manifestation of affection, and guessing how ardent was his nephew's wish to accompany him, abu talib declared: 'by allah! we'll take him with us; he'll not leave me and i'll not leave him.' mohammad dried his tears and, jumping for joy, he busied himself in hastening the final preparations for the journey. at a sign from his uncle, he perched himself on the female camel, getting up behind him. when the caravan began to pass along the tracks made by the bedouin tribes, mohammad's lungs, contracted by breathing the vitiated air of houses and streets, were deliciously dilated, revelling in liberally gulping down the life-giving air of the badya to which he was accustomed. being used to a nomadic existence from childhood, the young traveller was able to support most valiantly the exhausting privations and terrible fatigue of such an interminable journey in the midst of the hijaz deserts. for more than a year, the countries he passed through were so much alike in their sands and rocks, that the caravan seemed as if marking time. in the pitiless desert there was no other sign of life, except the presence of him who is everywhere, eternally existant, but not to be seen by mortal eyes. [sidenote: how mohammad met the monk bahira] on the terrace-roof of a convent perched, like a turban on a tall man's head, on the top of a steep hill, the lesser chain of the jabal hauran, the most learned monk, bahira, looked out afar over the syrian plains, stretching away in infinite space in the direction of arabia. all of a sudden, his attention was drawn to the strange aspect of a solitary cloud, white and oblong, that stood out in bold relief on the immaculate blue background of the sky. like some enormous bird, the cloud hovered above a small caravan winding its way northwards. the fleecy mass in the heavens covered the straggling procession with its azure shade and moved with the line of travellers. at the foot of the hill on which the monastery was built, the caravan halted, close to a great tree that grew on the brink of a dried-up wady, and began to organise the encampment. at that moment, the cloud stopped still and vanished in the celestial canopy, while the branches of the tree were bent, as if beneath the gusts of a breeze acting on those twigs and leaves, at the same time throwing their shade over one of the caravaneers, as if to protect him from the blazing rays of the sun. seeing these prodigies, bahira guessed that among these wayfarers coming from the hijaz, would be found the man he had been awaiting so long: the prophet announced by the sacred books. so bahira hurried down from the flat roof, gave orders to prepare a bountiful meal and sent a messenger to invite all the folks of the caravan without exception, young or old, nobles or slaves. the messenger returned, in company with the men of makkah whose coming bahira awaited on the threshold of his monastery. 'by lat and uzza! thy conduct doth puzzle me, o bahira!' exclaimed one of the guests. 'many a time and oft have we passed by the convent; yet, until now thou hast never heeded us; never didst thou dream of showing us the least sign of hospitality. what maggot biteth thee this day?'--'thou dost not err,' replied bahira. 'i have cogent reasons for behaving as i do. but ye are my guests at this hour and i pray that ye honour me by gathering together to partake of the repast that i have prepared for you all.' while the people he had invited were enjoying the food with the appetites of men having recently been sorely deprived, bahira scrutinised them all in turn, trying to find the one answering to the description given in his books. much to his disappointment, he did not succeed. there was no one to be seen whose appearance agreed with the description. but as he had just witnessed marvels that could not be explained, otherwise than by the reason that one of allah's elect was surely present, he refused to be discouraged. 'o men of the quraish tribe!' he asked; 'is there not one of you remaining in your tents?'--'aye, one only,' was the reply. 'we left him alone at rest on account of his extreme youth.'--'why did ye not bring him hither? go, call him at once, so that he shareth the meal in your company.'--'by lat and uzza!' swore one of the guests; 'we give you right. of a surety we are to blame for having left one of us behind, while we profit by thine invitation, especially as he is a son of abdullah bin abdul muttalib.' rising, he went and fetched mohammad and brought him into the midst of the group of guests. bahira eyed the newcomer with great attention and when the men had done eating and drinking, the monk went to him, taking him on one side. 'o young man!' said the monk, 'i have a question to ask. by lat and uzza, wilt thou consent to answer?' bahira desired to put him to the test by invoking the idols lat and uzza, exactly as he had just heard his guests swearing, but mohammad replied thus: 'put no question to me in the name of lat and uzza, for there is nothing on this earth that i hate more than them.'--'well then, by allah! wilt thou answer me?'--' question me and, by allah! i'll answer thee!' thereupon bahira interrogated him on everything that was of interest, such as his family, his position in life, his dreams that, now and again, disturbed his slumbers, and many other things. finally, just as the youth, after having taken leave of the saintly scholar, turned to go away, the collar of his tunic yawned slightly and bahira caught sight of the "seal of prophecy," imprinted on the lad's back, below the nape of the neck, on the exact spot indicated by the sacred texts. bahira's last doubts vanished--here, indeed, standing in his presence, was the prophet whose advent had been foretold. therefore, the monk went up to abu talib and spoke to him, saying: 'what relation is this lad to thee?'--'he is my son.'--'no! he is no son of thine!'--'true enough! he is not my son, but that of my brother.'--'what hath become of thy brother?'--'he died while his wife was still pregnant with my nephew.'--'thou dost speak the truth. mark then my words: lose no time in returning to thy country with thy brother's son and watch over him with constant vigilance. above all, beware of jews! if they saw him and learnt what i have just learnt about him, by allah! they would do him harm, for this son of thy brother is chosen to play a great part in the world!' abu talib, much impressed by the warnings of a man whose scientific reputation was universally recognised, made haste to finish his business at busra in syria, and started back home to makkah with his nephew, where they arrived safe and sound. protected by allah and guided by his uncle, who watched over him with true paternal care, mohammad grew up and became an accomplished young man. he was extremely chaste. abu talib being busily engaged in executing some repairs in the zamzam well, several quraish striplings, among them being mohammad, fetched and carried big stones fitted to the work. so as to be more at their ease, they lifted up their _izars_ (a kind of tunic) in front, passing them over their head and rolling them round the neck, thus protected from the sharp edges of the stones carried on the shoulders; and all this was done without troubling about the fact that they were showing their nakedness. mohammad was obliged to imitate them; but so soon as he felt his nakedness exposed to every eye, he was seized with a fit of atrocious anguish; great drops of sweat stood out on his brow; a shudder of shame shook his entire frame and he fainted away. such innate modesty, and the protection granted by allah to his elect, safeguarded the young man from the excesses in which lads often fall at the period of puberty. among all the youths of the same age, he was the best-looking; the most generous; the most easygoing; the most truth-telling; the most devoted friend; and the most devoid of debauchery, to such an extent that his fellow-citizens called him "al-amin," which means: "the reliable man." [sidenote: the second syrian voyage (_a.d. _)] like abu talib, most of the men of makkah were obliged, to eke out a living, to traffic with syria and the yaman. their town, situated in one of the most frightfully barren countries of the world, offered no resources and its citizens only made both ends meet by dint of trading with these two countries between which it served as a link. its caravans crawled to the yaman to procure raw materials from that region, known as arabia felix; and also products brought from overseas, imported from ethiopia, india and even far china. the camels came laden with fragrant spices, sweet-smelling incense, ivory, gold dust, silks and many other articles of luxury. arriving in the hijaz, they added dates from yasrib or taif. then they wended their way into syria, to exchange these goods for agricultural produce, such as grain, wheat, barley, rice, figs and raisins, as well as for imports of greek and roman civilisation. even women carried on this kind of trade, confiding their goods to those who organised caravans. these female traffickers sold the merchandise in return for a share of the profits. khadijah bint khuaild, a rich and noble widow, at the head of a thriving enterprise of this kind, hearing that everybody was unanimous in extolling mohammad's well-merited reputation for prudence and probity, thought it would be well to entrust him with the direction of her commerce. she sent for him and, as a beginning, proposed that he should take charge of a caravan she was despatching to syria and offered a salary twice as large as she was generally in the habit of paying. mohammad accepted; but abu talib, calling to mind what the monk bahira had told him, grew uneasy when the camels were ready to start. he spoke privately to each of the caravaneers, urging them to watch over his nephew, and making them responsible for any harm that might come to him. it was with maisarah, a slave, khadijah's right-hand man, that abu talib was most solemn in his warnings. about to travel with mohammad, maisarah, a good servant, simple-minded and devoted, already greatly impressed by the confidential observations of such a prominent citizen as abu talib, fell under the sway of the charm and influence exercised by his young master over all who approached him. maisarah felt great liking and boundless admiration for mohammad. in every incident of the journey, maisarah noted miraculous tokens, proving the superhuman disposition of the man he served, and indeed, certain events showed that the slave guessed aright. the road he had so often travelled, knowing all its fatigue and danger; the interminable tracks where the inexorable orb of day dried up the water-skins and gave the mortals who went that way a foretaste of the flames of jahannam; the paths marked out by the bones of men and animals that had succumbed to pitiless thirst, were passed as easily as if they had been enchanted. every day, at the hour when the sun, rising high over the heads of the travellers, threatened them with its deadly, blazing rays, light clouds, like the feathers of a bird, floated in the azure sky. they increased and met; then they were stretched out in long lines resembling the beam-feathers of enormous wings, opened to protect mohammad beneath their shade. when the sun, losing its formidable power, began to sink gradually below the horizon, the feathers of these clouds dropped away one by one, vanishing in the last golden rays that the incandescent orb threw out through space before disappearing. the protecting wings, now useless, closed, making room for the stars which sparkle nowhere in the world so brilliantly as over deserts. even the camels seemed overjoyed; they doubled the stride of their great long legs and the path seems to fold itself backwards as they advance. no dead body of any of them was added to the sinister skeletons left behind by previous caravans. once only during the whole journey, a couple of khadijah's camels showed signs of exhaustion and lagged behind the convoy. despite the insults and blows showered on them, maisarah failed to bring them in line with the others. the two wretched beasts were completely bathed in sweat, a certain sign that they would soon fall, never to rise again. maisarah, devoted to his mistress's interests, was extremely perplexed. he did not want to forsake his tired camels; but on the other hand, he had not forgotten abu talib's pressing recommendations concerning the young man then leading the caravan, so the slave ran to apprise him of what was taking place. mohammad halted and came back with maisarah to see the pair of camels who were lying down, uttering painful, pitiful groans each time an effort was made to make them get up. he leant over them and, with his blessed hands, touched their feet hacked by the sharp pebbles of the hammadah, and the poor beasts that had not even stirred under the lash, suddenly rose to their feet and with enormous strides, grunting joyously, caught up with the leaders of the caravan. good luck lasted when the caravan reached busra, in syria. mohammad sold out all the goods he brought with unexpected profit, and found, at extraordinarily advantageous rates, what he had come to get, without even having to undergo the horrors of never-ending haggling, according to oriental custom. he awakened the sympathy and interest of everyone by his winning ways, frankness and honesty; but above all, by that mysterious radiance emanating from predestinated beings; which the old masters interpreted by a golden aureola, called magnetism by the scientists of the present day, because they lack the power of explaining its nature. in this region, where enthusiasm for questions of religion ran high; where every hill is topped by a monastery and where every stone calls up the remembrance of a prophet, this young traveller, before whom nature itself seemed to bow down, excited in the highest degree the curiosity of all these monks. they were renowned for researches in sacred texts and lived in hopes of the coming of a new apostle of allah. all flocked to put questions to maisarah, known to many among them during previous journeys. they soon divined that he was mohammad's confidential slave; and a nestorian monk, named jordis, predicted great things to the devoted serving-man, making the same kind of recommendations as bahira had made to abu talib. all transactions being terminated, the caravan turned homewards, and immediately the mysterious cloud, that seemed to be awaiting the travellers, took its place over mohammad's head and never ceased to accompany him until the journey's end. on the outskirts of makkah, at the spot called bathen mou, maisarah prevailed on mohammad to go on ahead of the convoy, so as to carry to khadijah, without the least delay, the good news of their return. the widow was in the habit of going up with her servants to the top of her house whence she could see the road to syria, dipping, in a north-easterly direction, into the ravine overlooked by the jabal quayqwan. she certainly felt no anxiety concerning her goods, but without confessing as much to herself as yet, she was fearful lest anything harmful should happen to the man to whom she had confided them: young mohammad who, by his noble bearing and upright disposition, had so deeply impressed her that his absence weighed her down. it seemed to be never-ending. one day, among all these weary weeks of waiting, when the sun at its zenith was setting the town in a blaze, preventing the inhabitants from stirring out in the streets or mounting to the housetops, khadijah lingered at her usual observatory. her beautiful eyes, their lids scorched by dint of staring searchingly into the depths of the white-hot horizon, had just reluctantly closed, in despair at not seeing the caravan so impatiently desired ... all of a sudden, the house became filled with delicious, cool air; while the blinding reverberation of sunlight on the white terraces and calcined rocks was softened by a gauzy veil of sheltering violet shade ... just then, the door opened and mohammad entered khadijah's dwelling. doing his duty like a scrupulous manager, he turned in all the accounts of his expedition, and enumerated the magnificent results thereof. she thanked and complimented him warmly, but without being very much astonished at his success, for she began to think he was predestinated. the coincidence of his arrival with that of the cloud which granted such beneficent shade had not failed to strike her, and she divined the obvious connection of the circumstances. 'where is maisarah?' quoth she.--'with the caravan over which he watches.'--'go back at once and fetch him; increase the camels' speed, for great is my haste to admire the riches thou dost bring me.' mohammad heard and obeyed; and the cloud, flying away from the house, followed and accompanied him on the syrian road. henceforward, khadijah's doubts were dispelled, and her faithful slave maisarah, who soon arrived, confirmed her opinion. 'the cloud thou didst remark,' he told her, 'accompanied us unceasingly from the day we left makkah until we returned. ever since we went out of busra, and enlightened by the predictions of the learned monks of the hauran, i am forced to acknowledge that it was formed by the wings of two angels whose mission was to protect my master from the sun's ardent rays.' he then narrated all those incidents of the journey in which he could make out miraculous tokens and khadijah never grew tired of questioning him. [illustration: _the flocks_ views] [sidenote: the marriage of mohammad and khadijah (_a.d. _)] this noble, generous woman rewarded mohammad by giving him double the salary she had promised and thenceforward had but one idea: to get him to take care of her entire wealth. the best way was to marry him, and the dictates of her heart urged her to carry out her plan. there was but one objection: the difference in their ages. mohammad had only just attained his twenty-fifth year, while she was close upon forty. nevertheless, khadijah's age did not prevent her from being the most marrigeable lady in all the town, not, as might be rightly thought, on account of her riches (according to arab customs, the husband brings the dowry and has no right to his wife's property), but because of her personal qualities, charming ways, distinguished manners, chastity and aristocratic descent, khadijah being the daughter of khuaild bin asad, bin abdul ozza, bin qusaiy, bin kilab, bin morra, bin kab, bin lawaiy, bin ghalib.... she was therefore the queen of a court of suitors trying to dazzle her, some by the purity of their pedigrees; others by the extent of their riches. but all in vain. since the death of her second husband, abu hala, it seemed as if she had made up her mind to end her days without contracting a third alliance. when she met mohammad and began to appreciate his moral qualities, all her resolutions soon weakened and the feelings that drew her towards him increased each day in intensity. she determined to sound him. maisarah has said: "two months and twenty days after our return from syria, my mistress sent me to my master and i questioned him thus: 'o mohammad! hast thou any reason for remaining a bachelor?'--'my hands are empty. i do not possess the wherewithal to furnish the dowry of a betrothed bride.'--'but if the small amount thou hast should be considered enough by a rich, worthy and noble lady--what then?'--'to whom dost thou allude?'--'i mean khadijah!'--'why joke with me? how, with the trifle i could offer as a dowry, should i dare to seek her presence and offer to take her in marriage?'--'rest easy on that score. i'll see to it.' my master's accents and looks sufficed for me to become aware of his feelings towards my mistress. without further delay, i sought her out and told her what i thought. beaming with joy, she made all her arrangements for speedy nuptials." at first, khadijah had to obtain the consent of khuaild, her father, who so far had inexorably repulsed all suitors, as he never found any rich or noble enough for his daughter. to gain her ends, she resorted to trickery. coached by her, mohammad made arrangements for a big feast, inviting his uncles, khuaild and a group of quraish tribesmen of the highest rank. khuaild's weak point was a love of fermented beverages and, as was his wont, he drank a little more than was reasonable. his daughter seized the opportunity to speak to him thus: 'o my father? mohammad ben abdullah asks me to marry him and i beg thee to bring about our union.' khuaild, giddy with the fumes of wine, and seeing everything tinted with a rosy hue, gave his consent without reflecting, and khadijah, immediately, following the custom prevailing at that epoch, bedewed her betrothed with perfumes and threw a sumptuous mantle over his shoulders. khuaild woke up out of his fit of drunkenness and interrogated his daughter: 'what doth all this signify?'--'thou knowest full well, o my father! thou hast just now settled my betrothal with mohammad, son of abdullah.'--'could i have done this thing: marry thee to the orphan adopted by abu talib? ah no! never will i consent while i live!'--'dost desire then to dishonour thyself in the eyes of the quraish chiefs here this day, by confessing thou wert drunk just now?' she continued in this strain, until at last khuaild, finding nothing to say in response, was obliged to give his definite consent. thereupon abu talib made the following speech: 'praise be to allah who created us, the bani hashem, descendants of ibrahim (abraham) and of the seed of ishmael, who did appoint us to be custodians of his house, the holy ka'bah, and administrators of his sacred territory; and who made us as lords over the arabs. here before ye standeth my brother's son, mohammad bin abdullah; no man can be weighed in the balance with him, for he is far above all others as regards nobility, merit, generosity and wisdom. if he be not favoured by fortune, remember that wealth is naught else than a passing, inconstant shadow; a loan to be repaid eventually. now the soul of mohammad bin abdullah leaneth towards the noble dame khadijah, whose soul eke leaneth towards him; and he doth beg at this hour that thou, o khuaild! in thy generosity, should give her to him to be his wife. as dowry, he bringeth twenty young female camels, and i call upon ye to be my witnesses, o my quraish brethren!' the marriage took place, and so as to celebrate it duly, khadijah had her young and graceful slaves to dance to the sound of tabors, before the company assembled; all unanimously overjoyed at this alliance between two such noble families. khadijah was mohammad's first wife. she never had a rival in her husband's heart, and, until the day of her death, she was his sole, beloved spouse. she gave him seven children; three sons: al-qasim, at-tahir and at-taiyib; and four daughters: ruqaiyah, fatimah, zainab and ummu kulsum. after the birth of al-qasim, the eldest boy, a familiar surname, "abul qasim," that is to say, the father of qasim, was bestowed on mohammad, full of joy at the coming of a scion of his house. unfortunately, the poor child, greatly cherished by his father, was destined to die in infancy. the same fate overtook his brothers, at-tahir and at-taiyib, who passed away in like fashion in "the days of ignorance." only mohammad's daughters witnessed the advent of islam and were counted among its first and most faithful servants. [sidenote: how the temple of the ka'bah was rebuilt (_a.d. _)] after partial destruction by fire, the ka'bah had been badly restored. the roof fell in, and thieves took advantage of the breach to get into the sanctuary and carry off part of the treasure, constituted by pilgrims' offerings. fresh repairs were urgently needed; but as bad luck would have it, the walls were so dilapidated that they could no longer bear the least weight. there was nothing to be done but to raze them to the ground. if, however, the idea of rebuilding such a revered monument met with no objection, its demolition seemed to be the most dangerous sacrilege imaginable. after much hesitation, finally dispelled by a series of obvious miracles, the quraish men came to the resolution of tearing down the old walls of which the remains were in heaps on the ground. then, as the ancient foundations were formed of blocks of stone admirably fitting one into the other, each clan of the quraish tribe undertook part of the task of rebuilding. the workers, actuated by the zeal that always arises from rivality, soon built up the walls to the height at which the famous black stone, "al-hajaru'l-aswad," should be fixed. who was to have the honour of putting the precious relic back in its place? there was not the slightest chance of coming to an agreement on this point, and, in consequence of each party pleading the precedence of the purest noble descent or the greatest merit, the discussion grew so heated that most tragical results were to be feared. under the influence of jealousy, groups were formed and stood face to face. the bani abed-dar, joining the bani adiyy bin kab, brought forth a bowl filled with blood, plunging their hands therein, and swearing they would die sooner than relinquish the privilege in anyone else's favour, because they thought it devolved upon them by right. for four days and four nights, the adversaries, with threatening mien, remained on the look-out, absorbed in the task of vigilantly watching each other. at last, abu-ummayah, their senior, spoke out, saying: 'there will come a time when all this must finish and this is what i propose: name as umpire the first man who cometh into our midst, and let him settle the dispute that destroyeth our union.' the advice given was not displeasing to the stubborn rivals and they finally agreed to follow it. it happened then, at that very moment, that they saw coming towards them a young man about thirty years of age. they recognised him as "al-amin" (the reliable); in other words: mohammad. nothing could have been more fortunate, and all being as of one mind on this point, they accepted him as arbitrator at once, submitting the cause of their conflict to his judgment. when they terminated explaining the case, mohammad, instead of hearkening to their respective claims, only said: 'bring a mantle and spread it out on the ground.' when they had obeyed his behest, he took the black stone in his hands and placing it in the middle of the cloak, he went on: 'let the most influential person of each party take hold of the mantle by the corner that is in front of him.' all did as they were told, and then he turned towards those who held the corners of the mantle. 'now, lift the cloak,' he continued; 'all together, up to the height of the wall which is being built.' they obeyed and when the lifted cloak was level with the spot where the black stone was to be built in, mohammad took the relic and with his own hands, put it in its place. thanks to his presence of mind, all cause of discord disappeared. he had given satisfaction to each of the rival groups, without favouring one more than the other; and caused the proud arabs to be reconciled without bloodshed, for the first time in all their history; in short, there was honour due to him which no one contested. high above the black stone, the walls rose rapidly, carried up by the workers toiling as friends. the ribs of a ship wrecked on the jeddah coast furnished a flat terrace-roof, and when the monument was finished, it was entirely draped with a veil of the finest lawn, woven by the copts. in later years, the veil consisted of striped yaman cloth; and still later, the ka'bah was covered by hajaj bin yusef with the "kiswah," or garment of black silk, such as is still thrown over it at the present day, being renewed yearly. [illustration: (calligraphy) _and provide for your journey; but the best provision is the fear of allah._] [illustration: (ornamental page) chapter the third] [illustration: _"at takbir", or glorification._] [illustration: (calligraphy) _verily, we have caused it (the qur'an) to descend on the night of power._] chapter the third [sidenote: desert retirement] to him they called "al-amin," (the reliable), his fellow-citizens were ready to grant the highest and most coveted honours, with a post of preponderance in their city. but being of a disposition equally devoid of vanity or ambition, he disdainfully refused to reply to their flattering advances, and his fortuitous intervention in the dispute arising from the rebuilding of the ka'bah was the only time he was mixed up with public affairs during a period of fifteen years, dating from his wedding-day. how did he pass his time? allah had inspired him with the love of solitude, and mohammad loved more than anything to wander all alone on great empty plains stretching away farther than the eye could reach. what were the causes of this liking? doubtless, in the gloomy desert surrounding makkah, he conjured up over and over again the delightful memories of his childhood, passed in the badya; but his highly-gifted soul found satisfaction of a more exalted kind. in the first place, he was spared the sight of the moral and religious errors of the arabs at that period. the arabs were, in the highest degree, aristocratic, proud, independent and courageous. their generosity towards their guests was exemplified in a refined manner that has never been surpassed; and, among them, a certain hatim tay may be looked upon as the prince of generous hosts. by their natural gifts of eloquence and poetry, they can bear comparison with the most brilliant orators or magnificent poets of the universe. their poetry, above all, allowing them to celebrate heroic exploits; and their open-minded generosity by which they were led to sing love's joy and sadness, became, for such hot-blooded men, the object of passionate adoration, marvellously well served by the most enchanting language ever known. their public fairs, particularly that held at okaz, furnished an opportunity for real poetical contests, where the winner heard his poem applauded by a madly delighted throng, and then it was written out fully in letters of gold, and hung up in the temple of the ka'bah. of these poetical triumphs, called "al-muaalaquate," ("the suspended"), seven have been handed down to us and prove what great heights were attained by the genius of the bedouin primitive poets. but, at the same time as we admire such brilliant qualities innate in the arabs, we have to deplore great errors. the monotheistic religion of their great ancestor ibrahim (abraham) was entirely forgotten, despite their continued veneration for the temple built with their own hands. they had become "mushrikun," ("associates"). to allah, the only one, partners were adjoined in the shape of idols, who were generally preferred. every tribe and family possessed a favourite idol; and, at that epoch, three hundred and sixty false gods, of wood or stone, dishonoured the holy ka'bah. the most gross superstition flourished in addition to idolatry. games of chance, divining by arrows, drunkenness and sorcery debased the brains of these men, all otherwise remarkably gifted. fretting under all restraint, lacking all ideas of decency, they married as many women as they could afford to feed; and as widows were considered to belong to their husbands' estate, revolting unions took place between stepmothers and stepsons. still more abominable was the custom of the "wa'du'l-binat," (burying girls alive). by some strange morbid decay of the feeling of honour, and also through fear that the debauchery of daughters or their capture by an enemy might one day bring opprobrium on their families, many unnatural fathers preferred to get rid of their female offspring, by burying them alive as soon as they were born. to sum up: the arabs' leaning towards ostentation, their aristocratic prejudice and overweening pride, caused them to rebel against all discipline or authority. consequently, union and progress becoming impossible, incessant warfare and pitiless vendettas between tribes and families submerged all arabia in a sea of blood. such were the errors that saddened mohammad. he could no longer bring himself to look upon them, and as he saw no cure for such deep-rooted and general evil, which he thought was infallibly destined to draw down on his people the terrible punishment of heaven, such as annihilated the inhabitants of thamud and ad, he hid himself away in the most deserted spots he could find. far from the contact of human beings, he was able to drive out of his memory the odious remembrance of their iniquity. it was then that he gave way entirely to the imperious need of meditation and religious worship that mastered his soul. he wandered in sandy ravines, following capricious meandering watercourses, or climbing up the steep sides of rocky mountains, to recline at their summits and let his glance and imagination be lost in the depths of the arid expanse that stretched away at his feet as far as the most unattainable horizon. during many long hours, stock-still in the midst of such impressive empty space; in this ocean of light where deathly silence reigned, he would be engrossed in mute and ecstatic contemplation of the sight--incomparably grand and varied--offered to him by the elements of heaven and earth obeying a mysterious, unknown, inconceivable, universal and unique power.... he gazed on dunes and rocks, veiled at first by the dawn's rosy gauze, studded with humble pebbles that became sparkling precious stones when the early rays of the sun broke forth. next came the shroud of dazzling light which the orb of day, at its zenith, spread over the tired earth that was as still as a corpse. then followed a golden flood that the sun, as it declined, let loose in great waves all over the world, as if wishing that its departure should give rise to even greater regret. at last was seen the moon's scarf, irisated like a pigeon's breast, splashing the sky with its sparks that changed into myriads of stars. and there arose proud columns that in still weather the sand erected joyously, as if trying to reach the blue vault above; or furious spouts which, on stormy days, gushed from the bottom of ravines, to attack dark, lightning-loaded mists. caravans of clouds sometimes careered, shaped like flocks of white sheep, driven by the wind away from the high peaks where they were formed; forced to depart before they could bedew their birthplace with rainy tears. on other days, diluvian storms broke in cascades over bare mountains, vomiting forth impetuous torrents, thundering in the valleys. in comparison with these formidable elements, which never dared to rebel against the law imposed upon them by supreme power, how weak and arrogant humanity seemed to be! it relied upon the strength of mundane institutions, and now such feeble trifles were liquefied by the mirage viewed by mohammad in the mirrored waves of seething ether, as if to proffer the image of the absolute vanity of the things of this world. the "khelous" (desert retirement), was the main source of mohammad's education. it cleansed his heart of all worldly thoughts. that is why tradition has named it "safat as safa,"--the purity of purity. little by little, the soul of the boundless desert penetrated his soul, bringing him the intuition of the unlimited grandeur of the lord of all the worlds. the most imperceptible secrets of nature communed in the uttermost hidden depths of his being, impregnating his mind so violently that these eternal truths were on the point of escaping from his lips. carlyle, the great thinker, cannot restrain his admiration in this connection. "the word of such a man is a voice direct from nature's own heart. men do and must listen to that as to nothing else;--all else is wind in comparison." (_the hero as prophet_, london, .) how is it that some orientalists of the west have put forward the theory that mohammad profited by this retirement to arrange and elaborate his future task in its most minute details? some of these scholars have even gone so far as to insinuate that, during his seclusion, he composed the qur'an in its entirety. have they not noticed that, in this divine book, there is no preconceived plan according to human methods; and that each of the surahs, taken alone, is applicable to events that happened later, extending over a period of more than two decades and which it was impossible for mohammad to foresee? that they could find no other explanation of his long meditation is due to their ignorance of the arab mind. if these learned men had lived among the bedouins long enough to understand that the contemplation in which the denizens of the desert are often seen engrossed, squatting on a hill-top, staring into vacancy, is not that state of empty-headed idiocy described by a few travellers, possessed of more humour than observation. if, above all, they themselves had the opportunity of revelling in the unutterable charm of the ecstasy, which can only arise from viewing the immensity of the desert, they would have acknowledged that thereby surprising advantage accrues to the intuitive faculties of the intellect, and therefore they could never have been so clumsily mistaken. this contemplation is as a crucible in which melt nascent emotive feelings and thoughts, issuing therefrom in a state of extraordinary purity. it may be also be compared to an accumulator storing up supernatural force, although hidden and unknowing, such as the latent power of fire lurking in the core of a tree-trunk. the forces accumulated by contemplation remain unsuspected by all, even by those in whom they reside. but let the tiniest spark fly out and a flashing flame will immediately rise heavenwards to dazzle the universe. at that epoch, it is certain that mohammad had none of the intentions with which orientalists have credited him. he had not even made a plan of any kind. in his "khilwah" there was meditation, but no premeditation. mohammad, at last, enjoyed luminous visions and heard mysterious calls, at the moment fixed by providence to manifest his bounty by the intervention of the man he had chosen to be his prophet. mohammad has said: "for ten months before the first revelation, my sleep was disturbed by dazzling dreams, like unto the rays of early dawn, and when i could no longer be seen from the houses, i heard voices calling: 'o mohammad! o mohammad!' i turned round and looked behind me, first to the right, then to the left, but i could only see shrubs and stones. it was then that i was overwhelmed with frightful anguish. hating sorcerers and diviners, i feared lest i had become like them, unknowingly and against my will. these voices that seemed to spring from inanimate objects, might have been those of the jinn in hiding--the jinn that give informations to wizards and fortune-tellers concerning celestial matters and so help them to carry on their nefarious trade." [sidenote: the revelations (_a.d. _)] hollowed out of a block of red granite on the jabal an-noor, or mountain of light, about three miles from makkah, to the left of the arafa road, is the grotto of hira, chosen by mohammad to seek seclusion there yearly for one whole month, living day and night in absolute retirement. he would take some provisions, consisting mainly of "kaak" (a kind of biscuit cooked in oil and which possessed the advantage of remaining indefinitely in a good state of preservation), so as not to be forced to return to the town. if, by any chance, his stock of food became exhausted and he was obliged to go and fetch other eatables, he went back to his cave, for any interruption of his ecstatic meditations made him suffer greatly. he was now forty, and, for the last fifteen years, by dint of anxious adoration, he tried to rid the hanif religion, that is to say the monotheistic creed of his ancestor abraham, of the vulgar modifications from which it had suffered at the hands of the citizens of makkah, when one night, the twenty-fifth, twenty-seventh or twenty-ninth of the month of ramadhan (january - , or , a.d. ), the unforgettable event occurred by which the merciful one proved his generosity to his creature, by sending his revelation on earth in the first verses of the qur'an, by the lips of his messenger. the prophet has said: "i had fallen asleep in the grotto of hira, when the angel jibra'il appeared to me, and unfolding before my eyes a long strip of silken stuff embroidered with written letters: 'read!' said he.--'i am not one of those who read,' i replied. he caught hold of me at once, tightening the silken folds round my limbs, mouth and nostrils with such violence that i could not breathe. i thought the hour of my death had arrived. "letting me go, he repeated: 'read!'--'i am not one of those who read,' i answered as before. again he clutched me and i felt my last breath about to escape from my breast. finally he loosened his hold and repeated for the third time: 'read!'--'what am i to read?' i asked, in my affright lest he tighten the silk around me anew and this time i felt certain that my lungs would not have held out. "it was then that he said to me: '_read! in the name of thy lord who created * created man from clots of blood * read! for thy lord is the most beneficent * who hath taught the use of the pen * hath taught man that which he knew not._' (the qur'an, xcvi, - ). "i recited these words after him. he vanished. starting out of my sleep, i had the impression that the whole of a book had just been engraved on my heart. "i went out of the cave to collect my thoughts, when halfway down the mountain, i heard a voice that came from heaven, crying out to me: 'o mohammad, thou art the prophet of allah and i am jibra'il!' i raised my glance to the sky. it was filled by jibra'il's presence. despite all i could do to turn my eyes, wellnigh blinded, in the direction of other parts of the horizon, the angel's dazzling apparition was always before me. and i stood rooted to the spot, unable to go backwards or forwards. i was petrified. "for the second time, jibra'il said to me: 'o mohammad, thou art the prophet of allah and i am jibra'il!' he then disappeared like a vision in a dream. it was then that in great haste, my heart beating in the most terrible anguish, i ran towards my dwelling...." [illustration: _the encampment._ views] when the prophet crossed the threshold of his house, he rushed to khadijah, hiding his face in her lap and trembling as if in a fit of ague, as he cried: 'cover me up! cover me up!' his servants flocked busily round him, keeping him enwrapped until his emotion had subsided. khadijah, much upset, questioned him: 'o father of qasim, where wert thou? by allah, what befell thee? i sent some of my servants to meet thee, but they came back without having met thee, either at hira, or on the outskirts of the city.' the prophet told her what had happened to him. 'i thought i should have died!' he added. 'that could not be,' answered khadijah, regaining her composure. 'surely allah sought not to do thee harm, for thou art kind to thy family, merciful to the weak and helpful towards the victims of injustice. o son of my uncle! thou dost bring me excellent tidings and that i do affirm. i swear, by the name of him who holdeth in his hands the soul of khadijah, that i hoped for this news. there is no doubt about it--thou wilt be the prophet of our nation.' ever since she had heard the miraculous reports that maisarah, her slave, brought her, and which confirmed what she had remarked herself, khadijah was convinced that the highest destiny was in store for her husband, and she was not at all astonished at such a revelation. she quickly gathered her flowing robes about her, and hastened to the house of her cousin waraqah ibn naufal to apprise him of what had just come to her ears. no man in makkah was more conversant with holy writ than waraqah, a convert to christianity; and, like the syrian monks, he lived in hopes of the advent of a prophet to be born in arab-land. therefore, he had no sooner heard his cousin's story than he cried out, while tears of joy welled up in his eyes: 'most holy god! if what thou sayest is exact, o khadijah, he who manifested his presence to thy husband is the great namus, allah's confidant: the angel who appeared to our lord moses! mohammad will be the prophet of our nation! doubt it not and repeat my words to him that he be convinced thereof.' what time the prophet, according to his wont after each term of retirement, was performing the ritual circuits round the ka'bah, waraqah, despite weakness due to his great age and blindness caused by too much reading, had himself led at once into mohammad's presence, so as to listen to the story of his adventure from his own lips. when the sightless old man was satisfied that mohammad told the truth and had repeated to him the same predictions, he exclaimed: 'ah! i should like to be still in the land of the living when your fellow-men will send thee into exile!'--'how so?' cried the prophet. 'shall i be banished?'--'of a surety, they will send thee into exile,' waraqah went on, 'for never hath mortal man brought what thou bringest without falling a victim to the most dastardly persecution. ah! if god deigned to lengthen my days until then, i would devote all my energies to helping thee to triumph over thy enemies!' death, however, prevented waraqah from seeing his wishes fulfilled. all mohammad's doubt vanished. the fulgurating revelation set all his unknowing aspirations in a blaze and fanned the flame of the latent forces stored in his soul during fifteen years of contemplation. it had opened his eyes and taught him the formidable, superhuman part he had to play and which was now forced upon him. in reality, all this was quite unexpected, despite the monks' predictions that he had forgotten long ago, even if he had ever paid the slightest attention to them. his anguish and his fear lest he should have fallen a victim to diabolical hallucinations furnishes us with indisputable proofs of his state of mind. he who had fled from his fellows and had never aspired to fill any post of public utility, such as his citizen-comrades would have been glad to grant, was ready now, with resolute faith and courage, to fulfil the most overwhelming mission that can be confided to a human being, and he cared not a jot for the terrible ordeals that he knew were inevitable. during that night, for ever memorable, known by the name of "leilat-al-qada," or "night of destiny," the qur'an came down in its entirety from the highest heaven where it was kept, as far as the inferior heaven, situated immediately above the earth. and there it had been deposited in the "bait-al-izza," or "house of glory," underneath which was erected the "baitu'l-lah," or "house of allah," which signifies the holy ka'bah. "_verily, we have caused it (the qur'an) to descend on the night of power * and what shall teach thee what the night of power is? * the night of power is better than a thousand months! * therein descend the angels and the spirit by permission of their lord for every matter. * all is peace until the breaking of the morn._" (the qur'an, xcvii, - .) then, from this lower heaven, after the first verses are revealed to mohammad, together with a general comprehension of his mission, the words of allah, comprising the qur'an, come down now from between his lips, surah following surah, for a period of twenty-three years, so as to guide all his actions, establish the laws of religion and organise the triumph of islam. for the benefit of our european readers, we consider it needful to add the following commentary to this story of the revelation, according to arab historians: the angel jibra'il, who sought out the prophet at hira is none other than the angel gabriel who appeared to daniel; and to mary, the mother of jesus; but real moslems say that jibra'il is totally unlike the pink-cheeked, fair-haired youth, with wings of varied hues, as seen in the cheap, religious, saintly images of the europeans. the angel jibra'il is "ar-ruh," the "pure spirit," (the qur'an, xcvii, ); and also "an namus," or "the invisible adviser." sometimes he manifested his presence to mohammad by stray sounds resembling tinkling bells or the hum of bees, by which he caused allah's messenger to suffer more than anything. his brow would be bathed in sweat, even during cold wintry days, and it was only when the noise died away that he understood what the angel had revealed to him. at other times, when jibra'il taught mohammad ritual movements, the angel made his presence manifest by assuming the appearance of a mortal resembling dihyah ibn khalifah, one of the prophet's companions. the revelation, of which this angel is the symbolic intermediary, is a divine irradiation and should be looked upon as the highest degree of the mysterious force, evidently surrounding mortals, since it is totally independent of a man's will-power, and which we call inspiration. [sidenote: the first moslems.] prayer, preceded by ablutions, was the first duty taught to the prophet by the celestial envoy. mohammad, having returned to the place where he had first heard the revelation, jibra'il appeared again, in the shape of a human being. 'o prophet!' he said, 'you must lead men to proclaim that there is no god but allah.' he drove him towards a watercourse where jibra'il stamped on the ground with his foot. a spring immediately gushed forth, and setting the example, the angel taught mohammad the rites of purification by means of ablutions preceding all prayers. he then went through the prayers, with the bowing, prostrations and sentences of which they should be comprised; and the prophet prayed with him, guided by the angel's movements and words. mohammad felt his body relieved from a weighty burden by the purification, and his soul brightened by the benefits of these prayers. then it was that, thrilling with the faith of belief, mohammad was about to return home to his wife when jibra'il appearing once more, said to him: 'teach khadijah salvation by islam!' that is to say, by voluntary resignation to all the creator's commands. he obeyed and spoke thus: 'o khadijah! jibra'il ordereth me to teach thee salvation by islam.' and khadijah answered: 'allah is salvation; from him cometh salvation, and let salvation be on jibra'il.' thus it came about that, of all living beings, khadijah was islam's first convert. the prophet took her at once to the miraculous spring, where he taught her what he had just learnt. copying her husband, she purified herself by the ablutions and recited the prayers. ever since that day, allah made use of this admirable woman to mitigate the sorrows and pains of his prophet in all the ordeals he had to undergo. khadijah's devotion endowed mohammad with deep contempt for mortals' wickedness, and his wife's firm faith served to comfort him when he was looked upon as an impostor. one of the first of the prophet's companions to believe in his mission was ali, son of abu talib, only about ten years old just then, and who mohammad had adopted during a period of famine, so as to relieve his uncle, at the head of a very large family. noticing that mohammad and khadijah kept aloof and became absorbed in prayer, he marvelled greatly at seeing no object of worship set up in front of them and he put this question to the prophet: 'what rites were ye both performing just now?'--'we were saying the prayers of the pure religion that allah hath just chosen for himself and for which he hath chosen me to be the prophet,' he replied. 'o ali! i do invite thee to join with me. i invite thee to worship the only allah that hath no partners and i call upon thee to renounce the idols lat and uzza who can neither benefit nor harm their worshippers.' 'say then: "_he is one allah: * allah the everlasting! * if he begetteth not, and he is not begotten; * and there is none like unto him. * he is allah beside whom there is no god. he knoweth things visible and invisible. he is the compassionate, the merciful! * and when he decreeth a thing, he only saith to it, 'be,' and it is. * there is no allah but he; the living, the self-subsisting. neither slumber seizeth him, nor sleep. * no vision taketh in him, but he taketh in all vision: and he is the subtile, the all-informed! it is he who causeth to laugh and to weep * he causeth to die and maketh alive * he bringeth forth the living out of the dead and the dead out of the living: he quickeneth the earth after its death; thus it is that ye too shall be brought forth. * the east and the west is allah's: therefore, whichever way ye turn, there is the face of allah: truly allah is omnipresent and omniscient ... * this is allah, your lord. all power is his, but gods whom ye call on beside him have no power over the husk of a date-stone!_" (the qur'an, cxii, , . lix, . ii, iii, . vi, . liii, , . xxx, . ii, . xxxv, .) 'never until this day,' ali replied, 'have i hearkened unto such words and i wish to consult abu talib, my father.'--'do nothing of the sort!' the prophet hastened to tell him, for mohammad feared lest the news of his mission should be noised abroad before the hour arrived to divulge it in open day. 'if thou dost come to islam, o ali! thou must keep the secret.' greatly troubled in his mind by all he had just heard, ali passed a sleepless night, but allah (glory be to him!) guided him on the road to salvation. early in the morning, he went to mohammad and professed the religion of islam with all his heart. from that day onwards, when came the hour of prayer, ali followed mohammad to the ravine to pray with him, unbeknown to the boy's father and uncles. but one day, when they were both praying at the place called, "nakhlat-al-mahal," abu talib caught them unawares and questioned the prophet, saying: 'o son of my brother, what is this religion of which thou dost follow the rites in thy prayers?'--'it is the religion of allah, of his angels and his prophets--the religion of our ancestor ibrahim. allah hath sent me to preach it to all men; and thou, the most worthy and the nearest of my relatives, i invite thee to tread the road to salvation.'--'i cannot give up the religion and the tradition of my fathers,' abu talib declared; 'and yet i hold thee to be so sincere that i believe in the truth of what thou sayest. continue, however, to fufill thy mission without anxiety, for no harm shall come to thee so long as i live.' turning towards his son, he added: 'thou mayest hearken to mohammad, and follow him as obediently as thou canst, for he will never guide thy footsteps except in the path of righteousness.' zayd ibn harith, a captive, freed and adopted by mohammad, and who had so much affection for his liberator that he refused to go away with his father when he came to pay the ransom, soon followed all's example and became a convert to islam. next followed one of the most noted men of makkah, abdul-ka'bah, son of abu quhafah, whom we shall call henceforward abu bakr, being the name he assumed later and caused to become celebrated. he happened one day to be at the house of hakim ibn hazam, when a slave of the household came and spoke to his master as follow: 'khadijah, thy aunt, maintaineth that her husband is a prophet sent by the most high, like moses!' hearing this, abu bakr, who had great faith in mohammad's sincerity, and had heard some of waraqah's predictions, jumped up hurriedly, much moved; and sought out the prophet to interrogate him. no sooner had abu bakr hearkened to mohammad's utterances giving details of the revelation, than he was overtaken by enthusiasm and cried out: 'by my father and my mother and by all the friends of truth, i believe what thou hast told me and i bear witness that there is no god but allah and that thou art his prophet!' hearing his speech, khadijah, draped in a crimson veil, came out of a near-by room and said to abu bakr: 'praised be allah who hath guided thee, o son of abu quhafah!' this conversion was a source of great joy for the prophet. abu bakr held high rank in the city. he was very rich; remarkably well favoured, with fine features and aristocratic bearing; conversant with the sciences of genealogy and the meanings of dreams. truthful in his speech; affable in neighbourly intercourse, he had been chosen by his fellow-citizens for the extremely delicate post of the umpire whose duty it was to judge cases of homicide and fix the amount of the "qisas," or money compensation for wilful murder. a fervent believer, abu bakr's entire efforts were now devoted to leading his friends and the people of his party to the prophet, so that he might invite them to islam. abu bakr's activities were successful; the confidence he inspired induced his partisans to hearken with favour to mohammad's discourse. the enunciation of this religion, so simple and withal so great; in such conformity with the inward longings of the soul of mortals, led them gradually to look with horror upon the state of gross idolatry in which they had hitherto wallowed. besides, this religion was that of abraham, their ancestor, and as his creed was still dormant in their hearts, despite themselves, it was easy for them to acknowledge it. last of all, the superhuman accents of the man who preached this new belief and his radiant, expressive looks, stirred their whole being and they hastened to be converted by him. about fifteen of the leading men of the quraish tribe came to the prophet in the same way and became ennobled by islam. we may mention usman ibn affan, abd ar ralman ibn auf, sad ibn abi waqqs, zubayr ibn al-auwam, talha ubaydullah, ubayda ibn harith, jafar ibn abdul muttalib, and many others. at the same time as these conversions, so important by reason of the proselytes ranking highly, we must not forget one more humble, but most touching: that of mohammad's nurse. as soon as the call of her foster-son came to her ears, good halimah, who had always believed that the boy she had reared would make his mark in life, hastened with haris, her husband, to be counted among the faithful. every person, too, belonging to mohammad's household, had become a convert from the onset, and among them, his daughters, still very young; without forgetting a negress, umm al ayman. this little group of believers now led a life filled with ever-changing emotion. what could be more charming than their secret meetings when they prayed and adored allah in perfect union? but they had to take unheard-of precautions so as not to awaken the hostile suspicions of idolaters. even in his own house, the prophet was forced to beware of his neighbours, and when he proclaimed the "takbir," he spoke into a pitcher buried in the ground, so as to deaden the sound of his voice. in these circumstances, only clandestine propaganda was possible, and during the first three years, the progress of islam was excessively slow and timid. on the other hand, revelation had suddenly stopped; and mohammad, no longer feeling himself upheld by the inspiration of the almighty, began to doubt and despair. he was wandering to and fro, anxious and alone, in a wild valley, when he heard a celestial voice causing him to look up. in the vivid brightness of great light, he recognised the angel that had appeared to him at hira. he could not support the brilliancy of this formidable apparition and, blinded, rushed to his dwelling where he had himself wrapped up in his mantle, so as to calm the tremor of his frame and shade his dazzled eyes. it was then that allah sent down the following verses: "_o thou enwrapped in thy mantle! * arise and warn! * warn thy relatives of nearer kin * and lower thy wing over the faithful who follow thee. * and if they disobey thee, then say: 'i verily am clear of your doings' * and put thy trust in the mighty, the merciful_." (the qur'an, lxxiv, , . xxvi, - ). the prophet rose up, his eyes sparkling with sublime energy. until that day, he had never dared to proclaim his mission publicly, for he foresaw the hatred it would foment among his idolatrous fellow-citizens. but having been ordered by his supreme master to preach the doctrines of islam, which was mohammad's most earnest wish, he threw off the restraint that crushed him, and resolved to have recourse to strong measures. he ordered ali to prepare a meal composed of a leg of lamb, hot corn and a jar of milk. he then invited his relatives to partake of it. not one refused, and there came forty persons all told; among them his uncles on his father's side: abu talib, hamzah, abbas and abu lahab. when the guests had eaten their fill, much to their great surprise, for this modest repast could have been easily swallowed up by any one man among them, mohammad made as if to address the meeting. but abu lahab, having some suspicions respecting his nephew's ideas which did not meet with his approval, took the words out of his mouth. 'what kind of spell does our host seek to cast over us?' he cried. in superstitious fear of being bewitched, the proof of such a dire fate being furnished by the fact that their hunger had been appeased by a most meagre banquet, the guests scattered away in great haste. affronted by their lack of courtesy, the prophet said to ali: 'didst thou give heed to my uncle when he cared not how impolitely he behaved in preventing me from speaking? but no matter! get another meal ready for to-morrow, and go round and invite all the same people.' next day, in the presence of the guests once more gathered together, mohammad hastened to make himself heard and succeeded in so doing. 'no one living hath ever brought to the arabs what i bring,' he declared; 'that is to say, glorious good fortune in this world and supreme felicity in the next. allah the most high hath commanded me to summon all men to him. who among ye wisheth to share my work and help me to accomplish my mission? such a man shall be my proxy and my lieutenant--nay, my brother!' at this unexpected declaration, all the people present stared at each other in stupefaction; and knowing not what to reply, their features betrayed naught else but fierce enmity and showed what their answer would have been. faithful ali, expecting an outburst of joy, at such great, good news, coupled with ardent competition in hopes of the honour of becoming mohammad's henchman, forgot that his youth demanded his silence in the midst of such a gathering of noble folks; and standing up erect, carried away by his enthusiasm, he cried out: 'o prophet of allah! i will be thy lieutenant!' instead of smiling at the pretensions of the lad, the prophet patted ali's neck affectionately while proclaiming: 'here is my proxy and my lieutenant! here standeth my brother! listen to him and obey!' by this time the stupefaction of the guests was boundless, but they suppressed their rage and received the declaration with great bursts of merriment. abu lahab turned to abu talib and shouted ironically: 'hast heard thy nephew's speech? he ordereth thee to listen to his son and obey him!' with the exception of abu talib, saddened by this scandalous scene, all went away, jeering sarcastily and exasperated. it is certain that this utter defeat grieved the prophet, without discouraging him in the least, for, from that day, the revelation gave him support, instruction and guidance unceasingly. [sidenote: the announcement of the hour] and mohammad began to preach. he was hurried along by the revelations which came to him quickly, one after the other, all terrible; and announcing "the frightful blow," being the end of the world and the day of judgment. "_the blow! what is the blow? * and what shall teach thee what the blow is? * the day when men shall be like scattered moths, * and the mountains shall be like flock of carded wool._" (the qur'an, ci, , .) mohammad thought this disaster, destined to punish mankind for its perversity, was imminent. so he increased his reproofs among his fellow-men, in order to deliver them from the sway of their passions and guide them into the path of salvation before the blow fell. but they answered him, saying: "_the hour will not come upon us!_" (the qur'an, xxxiv, .) obeying the orders of allah, he reiterated his adjurations: "_verily, the hour will surely arrive: there no doubt with regard to it. * o men, fear your lord! verily, the earthquake of the hour will be a tremendous thing! * when the earth is shaken with its shaking, * and when the earth hath cast forth her burdens of buried dead, * and man shall say: what aileth her? * on that day shall she tell out her tidings, * because thy lord hath inspired her. * on that day shall men come forward in bands to behold their works, * and whosoever shall have wrought an atom's weight of good shall behold it, * and whosoever shall have wrought an atom's weight of evil shall behold it._" (the qur'an, xl, . xxii, . xcix, - .) as a result of these gruesome prophecies, given out with accents of firm conviction, unbelievers felt a shudder of anguish convulsing their being; but as they saw nothing take place as time went on, not even precursory signs, they soon regained their equanimity and fell back again into their erring ways. the prophet could not tell for what time the hour was fixed: _the knowledge of it is only with my lord._ (the qur'an, vii, .) but mohammad knew punishment was inevitable in this world or the next, and he was in despair at having to think that his infidel fellow-men would meet with a fate even sadder than that of the peoples of thamud and ad. [sidenote: the first hostilities] following the prophet's first sermons, the faithful sought no longer to hide their belief; but, to avoid useless disputes, they held clandestine meetings in a desert ravine where they said their prayers. a group of idolaters dogged their footsteps and having succeeded in discovering their retreat, lavished foul epithets on them. the believers, unable to put up with the insults offered to their religion, grew furious and a fight took place, during which sad ibn abi waqqs picked up the jawbone of a camel's skeleton in the sand and dashed it violently in the face of one of the associates, causing the vital fluid to flow. these were the first drops of blood shed in the struggle now beginning between islam and idolatry. wishing to prevent a renewal of these incidents, the prophet resolved to retreat to pray in peace with his disciples in the house of arqam, situated on the sufah hill. nevertheless, fury increased among the idol-worshippers. so long as mohammad had gone no further than to summon them to salvation, even blaming them and threatening them with the punishment of divine wrath, his adversaries merely shrugged their shoulders and laughed at him; but when he retaliated by turning their wooden or stone images into ridicule, pointing out that they were dumb, deaf, blind and powerless, the rage of the idolaters was unbounded. not only did he sting them to the quick through attacking their beliefs, but he did them great harm commercially, for in the hands of leading citizens, the idols were a source of considerable revenue, and constituted efficacious means of domination over the superstitious common people. alone, among the men of his party who had refused to embrace the islamic faith, his uncle, abu talib, still gave him proofs of affection, thus greatly scandalising the other members of the quraish tribe, who sent him a deputation of the most influential among them: utbah ibn rabiyah, abu sufyan ibn harib, abu jahal and several chieftains of equal note. 'o abu talib!' said these delegates, 'your brother's son insulteth our gods and our beliefs. he mocketh at the religion and traditions of our forefathers. shall we not rid ourselves of him? or wilt thou not remain neutral and thus let us be free to act towards him as we think fit? for we know that thou dost not share his convictions any more than we do.' abu talib dismissed them with a polite and conciliatory reply. mohammad, as may well be surmised, continued his sermons with unfailing ardour. the enmity of the quraish tribesmen assumed a more serious aspect; their representatives returning to see abu talib, to make the following declaration: 'we have the greatest respect for thine age, nobility and rank, but we asked thee to rid us of thy brother's son and thou didst not do so. now, we can no longer put up with the affronts with which he overwhelmeth our beliefs and traditions, so deprive him of thy protection and leave us free to treat him as we choose. in case of refusal on thy part, we must reckon thee as being against us in the war we declare on him, and which will last until one of the two parties are exterminated!' they then departed, leaving abu talib in despair at being cut off from his partisans and, on the other hand, firmly resolving never to throw over his nephew. in that state of mind, he sent for mohammad. 'o son of my brother!' quoth he; 'our fellow-citizens of the quraish have returned and made solemn declarations to me. reflect; take compassion on me; have pity for thyself, and do not put upon me a burden too heavy to bear. 'o my uncle!' replied the prophet; 'if in order to make me renounce my mission, they placed the sun on my left and the moon on my right, i swear that, by allah, i would not yield before i fulfilled my task triumphantly or perished in the attempt!' thinking that abu talib had spoken as he did as a hint that he would have to cast him adrift, by reason of his inability to protect him, his nephew burst into tears and went away. abu talib, much moved, called him back at once and said to him affectionately: 'go, o son of my brother! go forth and preach as thou wilt. by god, i'll never turn away from thee!' finding that no threats succeeded in estranging uncle and nephew, the delegates went back to abu talib for the third time, taking with them ammarah ibn walid, and then the deputation made the following proposal: 'o abu talib! here is ammarah ibn walid, one of the most accomplished and handsome young men among all the youths of makkah. we bring him to thee. adopt him for thy son. he belongeth to thee. in exchange, hand over to us thy brother's son thou didst adopt, so that we put him to death, for he hath stirred up strife in our tribe.'--'by god!' replied abu talib, 'what's this fine bargain ye now put forward? you would fain give me your son, so that i feed and clothe him; and i should have to let you take mine to be killed by you! that could not be! no, by god!--never!' with rage in their hearts, the delegate's left him. the mausam--the time for the pilgrimage--drawing nigh, the quraish idolaters held a meeting at the dwelling of walid ibn moghayrah so as to consult together with regard to the way in which they ought to behave to the prophet. walid was spokesman, and he said: 'o assembly of quraish men! the mausam will soon bring innumerable pilgrims to makkah. of a surety, they have heard about mohammad, and they will question you concerning him. how will ye answer? ye must be all of one mind, so as not to contradict each other, which would nullify the effect of your utterances.'--'it is for thee to advise us, o walid!'--'it is for you to speak first. i will listen and discuss your opinions.'--'well then! we shall say that mohammad is a diviner.'--'no! we know the diviners! he hath none of their mutterings or rhyming emphasis.'--'we'll say that he is possessed.'--'no! we have seen men possessed; and unlike them, he is not subject to fits of suffocation and convulsions.'--'we'll say he is a poet.'--'no! he is no poet. we know all the styles of versification as used by the poets, and his speech does not resemble that of any one of them.'--'we'll say he is a sorcerer.'--'no! for we have fallen across sorcerers, and he performeth none of their magical operations. of a truth, his success is due to the charm and beauty of his discourse.' arraigned before the tribunal of their own conscience, the citizens assembled were forced to acknowledge the rigorous truth of this last remark. all of them, more or less, had felt the words springing from the ecstatic soul of allah's apostle go home to them. all of them had ofttimes been about to give way to the fascination caused by his accents, ringing with the inspiration of superhuman faith. the quraish men were only restrained by the importance of their material interests and the violence of their earthly passions, thus seriously threatened by his pure doctrine. nevertheless, they were bound to come to a decision at once, so as to prevent, at all costs, the arabs belonging to distant tribes from undergoing the same ordeal. therefore, they agreed to say that mohammad possessed potent spells by which he stirred up strife in families, estranging a brother from his brother, a son from his father, and a husband from a wife. [illustration: _moslem praying on the terrace-roof of her dwelling._] when the pilgrims began to pour in, walid and his accomplices were on the watch, posted on all the roads leading to makkah. not a single arab passed along these highways without being warned against mohammad by the conspirators in ambush. but although a few pilgrims were alarmed at these warnings and feared the spells that they were informed were threatening them, the majority felt their curiosity increasing with regard to this extraordinary man, whose utterances gave rise to such great apprehension among the lords of the city. thus it came to pass that when the travellers returned to their tribes, they told what they had seen; so that it plainly resulted that the campaign, organised against mohammad by his enemies, only achieved the purpose of spreading his renown all over arabia. in order to add fresh fuel to the fire of their rage, increasing as the prophet's reputation became established--a result partly due to their involuntary efforts--the idol-worshippers sought every opportunity to heap insults on him. being all together, one day, in the precincts of the temple, they worked each other up. 'no! never have we endured from anybody what this man hath made us endure,' they cried out in chorus. at that very moment, mohammad came on the scene and began to perform the ritual circuits round the ka'bah. they rushed at him, all at one bound. 'art thou the man who dareth to insult the gods of our fathers?' they shouted. 'aye, i am that man!' he replied, undisturbed. one of the enraged citizens caught hold of the collar of his mantle, and twisting it roughly, tried to strangle him. abu bakr, who chanced to be standing near, interfered. 'how now? would ye kill a man who proclaimeth that allah is his god?' he said sadly, and freed the prophet, not without suffering ill-treatment himself, for a portion of his beard was plucked out by mohammad's assailant. the danger he had risked in these circumstances did not prevent the prophet from returning to the ka'bah to perform his devotions, without letting the furious glances of his assembled adversaries trouble him. acting under the orders of abu jahal, a man fetched some sheeps' entrails from the slaughter-house. he chose those of an animal that had been killed several days before, and while the prophet was prostrate as he prayed, the rascal covered the nape of his neck and his shoulders with the offal. all those present were seized with such outrageous fits of mirth that they fell seated on the ground, rolling one against the other. as for allah's elect, he seemed not even to have noticed the affront offered to him, and continued to pray. it was his daughter fatimah who, arriving a few moments later, threw the filth far from her father, and railed at the wretches who had belittled themselves by the infliction of such a repulsive insult. on a par with abu jahal, ranking with those who are branded eternally in history's pages on account of their atrocious treatment of the prophet, was one of his uncles, a son of abu muttalib, surnamed abu lahab, "the man vowed to hell-fire." mohammad was preaching one day on the hill of safa, in the midst of a crowd of inhabitants of that region, when abu lahab interrupted him rudely. 'mayst thou be annihilated!' he bawled; 'thou who hast called us together to listen to such nonsense!' to this insult the following surah of the qur'an (cxi) replies: "_let the hands of abu lahab perish, and let himself perish! * his wealth and his gains shall avail him not. * burned shall he be at the fiery flame, * and his wife laden with the fire-wood, * on her neck a rope of twisted palm-fibre._" this surah, quickly becoming renowned, increased abu lahab's resentment and probably had even more effect on that of his wife, umm jemil, who found herself attacked therein in a way that was as annoying as it was deserved. to be nicknamed "carrier of fire-wood" was past endurance; but had she not, on one occasion, strewn the path of mohammad with thorny branches; had not her tongue lit up the fires of hatred with the faggots of calumny that she hawked about everywhere? the odious couple resorted shamelessly to the vilest acts, daily throwing heaps of filth on the terrace of mohammad's house or in front of his door, for he was their neighbour. worked up or terrorised by these fanatics, most of the dwellers in makkah repulsed the prophet or avoided him. children and wastrels pursued him with their jibes in the street. he was perfectly indifferent to such provocations. what was it all to him? nothing more than a passing breeze. he never even seemed to notice the persons who acted thus; he only looked at those he hoped to convert. [sidenote: the incident of the blind man] it happened one day when mohammad had taken in hand some of the most noted townsmen who were beginning to be moved by his arguments, that a blind pauper, ibn umm maktum, came forward, and humbly begged to be granted a small share of the knowledge vouchsafed to the prophet by allah. engrossed in his discussion with the citizens whose conversion he so ardently desired; fearing, too, to miss an opportunity which might never occur again, mohammad was seized with a fit of momentary vexation and replied curtly to the blind man, who stumbled away sorrowfully without having been enlightened. immediately afterwards, the prophet fell a prey to remorse. might not that blind man, enlightened by faith, have been able to open the eyes of other human beings imprisoned in the darkness of ignorance? and the revelation increased mohammad's remorse by confirming his error: "_he frowned, and he turned his back * because the blind man came to him ... * as to him who hath become wealthy * him therefore thou didst receive with honour * yet it is not thy concern that he endeavours not to be pure; * but as to him who cometh to thee in earnest, * and full of fears, * him dost thou neglect. * do not so. verily this surah is a warning._" (the qur'an, lxxx, - .) ever since that day, the prophet took great care to treat rich and poor, slaves and nobles alike, with the same consideration. the exasperation of the idolaters reached the highest pitch when they saw their own slaves drawn towards mohammad by his levelling doctrines; and when the town rang with the revelation of surahs threatening the rich and the sweaters of the people. "_the desire of increasing riches occupieth you, * till ye come to the grave. * nay! but in the end ye shall know * nay! once more; in the end ye shall know your folly. * nay! would that ye knew it with knowledge of certainty; * then shall ye surely on that day be taken to task concerning the pleasures of this life._" (the qur'an, cii, - .) abu jahal, meeting the prophet at safa, could not contain himself, and forgetting the self-control befitting a man of his high social position, he blurted out such a vulgar insult that the pen refuses to write it. the prophet answered not a word, as was his wont, but a freed female slave of abdullah ibn jedhan had witnessed the scene, while looking out of the back of her dwelling that was just on the spot. as hamzah, mohammad's uncle, came by a few moments later, she told him what she heard. [sidenote: how hamzah was converted. utbah's proposals] hamzah's disposition was haughty and choleric. he felt his blood boiling with rage when he heard of the affront offered to his nephew. when returning from the chase--his favourite pastime--he generally stopped to gossip with the folks he met on the road, but this time he never halted, hurrying as fast as his legs would carry him towards the temple. when he caught sight of abu jahal, seated in a group of his partisans, he went straight up to him, and brandishing his bow above his head, he slashed the face of mohammad's uncle by a stinging blow. 'so! thou dost insult my nephew,' he cried. 'learn that i profess the same religion as he. all he proclaimeth, do i proclaim likewise. stop me from doing so, if thou dost believe thou canst!' all the assistants, belonging to the banu makhzum tribe of whom abu jahal was a chieftain, rose up to avenge him. but abu jahal, ashamed at having done a thing unworthy of a high-born lord, under the influence of profound hatred, bid them stand back. 'let hamzah go in peace,' he said to them, 'for verily, i did grievously offend my brother's son.' as for hamzah, the blessing of allah was upon him in his outburst of rage and ennobled him by islam of which he became one of the most devoted and formidable defenders. utbah ibn rabiyah, one of the most noted idol-worshippers, was greatly shocked when his young son, huzaifah, became a convert to islam and drew away from his father. hoping to put an end to the discord established by mohammad's doctrines, not only in the quraish tribe, but even in the bosom of families, he planned to come forward as mediator. seeing allah's apostle seated, quite alone, near the temple, utbah said to his partisans: 'will ye authorise me to speak to him, and discuss one or two proposals in your name? perhaps he may accept them and so leave us in peace.' under the influence of the consternation they felt at the conversion of such an important personage as hamzah--a conversion that had led others to follow suit--and well knowing that it would be best to come to some agreement, they replied: 'aye, go to him and speak in our name.' thereupon, utbah left them and went to sit by the side of the prophet. 'o son of my friend!' said utbah in most affectionate tones; 'thou dost belong to us, although by insulting our religion and the traditions of our fathers, thou hast embroiled us. therefore i come to thee to put an end to this great misfortune. give an ear to my proposals. maybe they will find grace in thy sight.'--'speak! i am listening.'--'o son of my friend! if thou dost hope that thy undertaking will make thee wealthy, each of us is willing to sacrifice a part of his fortune, in order that thou shalt become the richest man among us. if thou seekest honours, we will set thee up as lord over us all and come to no decision without consulting thee. dost dream of royal privileges? we will make thee our king. if, on the contrary, the thoughts that inspire thee arise from some malady which thou art powerless to resist, we will have fetched at any cost and from any country the most celebrated doctors, so that thou mayst be cured. choose therefore!' the prophet had listened unmoved. 'hast thou no more to say?' he answered utbah. 'now 'tis thy turn to hearken to my words.' he then recited the surah of "the made plain," in which unbelievers are menaced with the eternal torments of hell, and believers comforted by the promise of the inconceivable felicity of paradise (the qur'an, xli). utbah, his hands clasped behind his back, stood hearkening to the sentences, now imperative and then compassionate, that fell upon his ears in rhythm and cadence totally new to him. stupefied, he remained stock-still, his attitude unchanged, although the prophet had ceased speaking some little time. mohammad, after having prostrated himself, his brow touching the earth, rose up and turned to utbah, saying: 'thou hast heard me, o utbah? now, 'tis for thee to choose.' utbah, bewildered, went back to his companions. they all noticed his troubled face, so different on his return from what it had been before he left them. 'come now, o utbah! what aileth thee?' they queried.--'i have just listened to extraordinary words,' he answered. 'by our gods! i've never heard anything like it before. 'tis neither poetry, nor sorcery, nor magic. o quraish men assembled! believe me and let this man fulfil his mission among the arabs, for his words are full of surprising prophecies. if harm corrieth to him by the arabs' fault, ye will be freed from all anxiety. if, on the other hand, he succeedeth and shall conquer the arabs, his empire will be thy empire, seeing that he is one of us, and thanks to him, ye will attain the highest pinnacle of power.' but what availed such prudent conclusions in the face of jealousy and hatred? 'with his tongue he hath cast a spell over thee, as he hath done to others,' his hearers replied; and utbah, shrugging his shoulders, went away, declaring: 'such is my advice. now do as ye please.' nevertheless, utbah's opinion impressed the idolaters. next day, after sunset, they foregathered, according to custom, in the precincts of the temple, and decided to speak to mohammad in person. they sent for him, and he came, hoping that their eyes were open to the light. but they only wanted to renew the proposals of the day before. he refused just as scornfully. 'since thou dost set thyself up as a prophet,' they said, changing their arguments, 'take pity on thy country. there is no land more hemmed-in by mountains, or more poor in its water-supply; more difficult to live in. therefore, ask allah to put aside the girdle of mountains, make the soil easier to till, and give us rivers resembling those of syria and iraq. or else, ask him to resuscitate one of our ancestors, qusaiyy ibn kilab, for instance, who was a wise and truthful man, so that we may consult him concerning thy pretensions and let us know if they are veracious or false. if he giveth thee right and thou dost satisfy our demands, then will we believe thee and have faith in thy mission as allah's apostle.' 'i have not been sent to thee for this,' was all the prophet cared to reply. 'i have told you what i was charged to do; and i tell you once more that if you accept, your happiness is assured in this life and the next. should ye refuse, then i bow down to the decrees of allah who shall judge between us.'--'since thou wilt ask nothing for us,' they returned; 'crave a favour for thyself. ask allah to send one of his angels to convince us; ask him to lavish on thee all the pleasures of this world that thy heart can desire, such as delicious gardens, marvellous palaces, or treasures of gold and silver. instead of which, we see thee as one who "_eateth food and walketh the marts_" (the qur'an, xxv, ), exactly the same as the most humble among us! if thou art really a prophet, let allah give us proofs of the power with which he hath endowed thee, and of the dignity to which he hath raised thee.'--'i am not one of those who make such demands of allah, and to you i renew my adjuration.'--'ask allah to "_make the heaven to fall in pieces on us, as thou hast given out_," (the qur'an, xvii, ), if he hath power to do so, according to what thou dost maintain. if not, thy word deserveth no credit.'--'nothing could be easier for the almighty. if he shall decide to act as ye say, he will accomplish the task. ye ask him for miracles? the miracles are to be found in all he hath created and ye do not understand! see how death springeth from life and life from death! of a surety, he can, by a miracle, undo the prodigies of the order of nature he hath created. thus did he for my predecessors, but in vain. therefore, admire his unceasing miracles in nature and crave no others.' unable to catch the prophet tripping, the idol-worshippers, to check him, brought forward nazir ibn haris who, having been a great traveller, had garnered many fine stories. as soon as mohammad began to preach, nazir took his stand quite near him, trying to get his hearers away by reciting the wonderful exploits of rustam and isfandyar. 'see now, i lavish on my audience fine tales,' nazir was bold enough to add, 'that will bear comparison with those sent down by allah to his prophet.' the quraish men also sent a delegation to the learned jews of yasrib and to the prince halib ibn malik, illustrious above all men by reason of his wisdom, science and power, in order to ask that some means should be found to prove that mohammad was an impostor. but all these efforts were useless, and there was no need to believe in the legend of a miracle based on these words of the qur'an: "_the hour hath approached and the moon hath been cleft._" (liv, ). some writers assert that habib having asked the prophet to perform a miracle, in order to prove the veracity of his mission, mohammad gave an order to the moon which incontinently split into two equal parts; one ascending towards the east and the other to the west. according to the opinion of the most trustworthy doctors of islam, such as al baidawi and zamakhshri, this verse really means: "the hour (of the day of resurrection) approacheth and (to announce it) the moon will be cleft." the truth of this assertion is proved by the verses that follow almost immediately: "_turn away then from them (the unbelievers)! on the day when the summoner shall summon to a horrible affair, * with downcast eyes shall they come forth from their graves, as if they were scattered locusts._" (the qur'an, liv, and .) besides, this supposed miracle is so flagrantly contradicted by numerous verses of the qur'an that it is not possible to admit it. "_nothing hindered us from sending thee (mohammad) with the power of working miracles, except that the people of old treated them as lies._" (the qur'an, xvii, .) there was such slight efficacity in miracles! the israelites bowed down to the golden calf immediately after the miracle wrought by moses to save them from the waves of the red sea and pharaoh's hosts. the idolaters of makkah would not have been more greatly impressed by the sight of the most astonishing miracle. "_with their most binding oath have they sworn by allah, that if a sign come unto them, they will certainly believe it; say: signs are in the power of allah alone: and what shall make ye to understand that if they were wrought these men would not believe it * and though we had sent down the angels to them, and the dead had spoken to them, and we had gathered all things about them in hosts, they had not believed, unless allah willed it._" (the qur'an, vi, , .) [sidenote: the miracle of the qur'an] nevertheless there was one miracle, the only one placed to mohammad's credit, and which was the cause of great anxiety among the quraish idolaters: the miracle of the "ayates," a word generally rendered by "verses," but really meaning: "miraculous signs" of the qur'an. the miracles wrought by earlier prophets had been transient, so to say, and for that very reason, rapidly forgotten, while that of the verses may be called "the permanent miracle." its activity was unceasing. everywhere and at all hours, each believer, by reciting the verses, helped to realise the miracle, and in this can be found the explanation of many sudden conversions, incomprehensible for the european who knows nothing of the qur'an, or judges it by cold and inaccurate translations. the wonderful charm of this book, resembling no other masterpiece of the literature of mankind, needs not to be explained to us moslems, because we consider it emanates from the words of allah himself, sent down through the mouth of his prophet. in this connection, we think it will be interesting to quote the opinion of two orientalists, justly celebrated. this is the conception of savary, the first to translate the qur'an into french: "mohammad was learned in the study of his language, the richest and the most harmonious in the world, and which, by the composition of its verses, permits thoughts as they soar to be correctly described. by the harmony of its sounds, it imitates the cries of animals, murmuring waters, thunder and the breeze. mohammad, i repeat, being past master of a language that so many poets have embellished and which exists since the beginning of the world, took great pains to add every charm of elocution to his precepts of morality. poets were greatly looked up to in arabia. labid ibn rabyah, an illustrious poet, nailed one of his poems on the door of the temple of makkah. his reputation and the value of his works kept all competitors away. none came forward to compete for the prize.... the second chapter of the qur'an--some writers say the th--was then placed by the side of the poem. labid, although a worshipper of graven images, was seized with a fit of admiration after reading the first verses and confessed himself vanquished." he became a convert very soon after and one day, his admirers being desirous of gathering together his complete works, questioned him on this subject. 'i have no recollection of any of my poetry,' he replied, 'for my entire memory hath been absorbed by the verses of the book of revelation.' we will now give the opinion of stanley lane poole: "the style (of the surahs) is haughty in every part and full of passion. the words are those of a man who tries with all his heart to convince his readers. even nowadays, they give an impression of the vehemence and fire with which they were originally hurled forth at mohammad's hearers surrounding him. these are the broken utterances of a human heart totally incapable of hypocrisy; the heart of a man who has exercised extraordinary influence over mankind." if the magic of the style and the thoughts of the qur'an produced this effect on learned men, who were neither arabs nor moslems, how great then was the enthusiasm created among the arabs of the hijaz, especially as the verses were couched in their own poetical language? you only, travellers who have had an opportunity of seeing the emotion that overcomes the audience of an imam reciting the sacred verses, can have a slight idea of this feeling. you may have seen poor caravaneers, still powdered all over by the sand of their desert, where they have just endured the greatest fatigue, rushing towards the mosque, instead of seeking refreshing repose; drawn thither, as if hypnotised by the imam's voice. sometimes even, in the time of ramadhan, moslems, after having fasted all day, pass the whole of the night in ecstasy, as they listen to the divine word. it is certain that the illiterate bedouins of our day do not always understand the real meaning of the words recited by the imam, but the rhythm, the cadence, the harmony of the assonances animating the wonderful verses, echoing in their breasts to the beatings of their hearts, convey to them an explanation, vague perhaps, but truly in accordance with the spirit of the text, and above all, full of incomparable suggestion. on the other hand, how vapid would seem to them the explanation, more literal but less emotional, of a "talib" pedant or a frigid grammarian. as for the arab of the hijaz, comprehending the most subtle hints of the language of the qur'an--his own language--and who welcomed the surahs as they issued from the lips of his fellow-countryman: the genial, inspired messenger of allah, that listener was overwhelmed by such sudden surprise that he remained as if petrified. could this supernatural language come from mohammad, known to be completely illiterate and possessing no other knowledge than that due to nature and intuition? this seemed perfectly impossible. the arab was therefore forced to admit that mohammad's words were dictated by the almighty. besides, it was following no ingenious falsehood that the prophet attributed the verses of the qur'an to allah. he was absolutely convinced of their divine origin. the terrible crises by which the revelation manifested itself, bringing him the solution of unknown problems in language so new to him; so different to his own; even upbraiding him when he made mistakes and commanding him to recite these verses, despite any resistance he might make, left him without the slightest doubt on that head. consequently, it was with the most perfect faith that he felt boundless admiration for the qur'an; that is to say for the words of allah. had not allah revealed to him these verses: "_say: then bring ten surahs like it of your devising, and call whom ye can to your aid beside allah, if ye are men of truth._" (the qur'an, xi, ). convinced of their powerlessness, "the unlettered prophet", (the qur'an, vii, ), challenged the most celebrated poets, giving them the right to call him a cheat, if they could compose ten surahs resembling his. to doubt the absolute and strangely moving sincerity of mohammad and picture him as a vulgar, but clever, ambitious man, as some modern historians have done, one must be blinded by preconceived ideas, worthy of the days of the inquisition. carlyle, in his book, "on heroes," treated such fanaticism or stupidity as it deserved: "a false man found a religion?" he exclaims, speaking of mohammad. "why a false man cannot build a brick house! if he do not know and follow truly the properties of mortar, burnt clay and what else he works in, it is no house that he makes, but a rubbish-heap. it will not stand for twelve centuries, to lodge a hundred-and-eighty millions; it will fall straightway." [sidenote: how it was forbidden to listen to the qur'an] being powerless to struggle against the irresistible effect produced by the recitation of the qur'an, the quraish idol-worshippers resolved to forbid people to listen to it. by threats, the tribesmen frightened those who tried to approach the prophet, when as was his wont, he recited, on the threshold of the ka'bah, a few passages of the revealed book. so as not to hear him, they put their fingers in their ears; or else, to drown his voice, they whistled, clapped their hands, or bawled, as loudly as they could, scraps of doggerel composed by idolater-poets. the unexpected result was that the very men who had made it a crime to listen to the celebrated verses, were moved by that unconquerable curiosity which attracts weak mortals towards forbidden things. one night, abu sufyan, abu jahal and al-akhnas went out of their houses, bending their steps, each unknown to the other, towards the dwelling of the prophet. once there, their ears glued to the wall, they tried to overhear the recital of some of the divine surahs. in the darkness of the night, they did not see one another. but when day dawned, they came face to face on their homeward road, and blamed each other mutually: 'what would our partisans think, if they had caught us doing this thing?' and they took a solemn oath never to be so imprudent again. but the next night and the night after that, the same thing occurred, followed by the same exchange of reproaches. [illustration: (calligraphy) _o thou enwrapped in thy mantle! * arise and warn! * and thy lord--magnify him!_] [illustration: (ornamental page) chapter the fourth] [illustration: _ar ruku, or inclination._] [illustration: (calligraphy) _ye shall assuredly be tried in your possessions and in yourselves._] chapter the fourth [sidenote: persecution] quoth the prophet: "allah created paradise for the man who obeyeth him, even if only a black abyssinian slave; and hell for the man rebelling against him, even if he be a nobleman of the quraish." islam, tending towards the perfect equality of castes and races, naturally attracted all the poor and downtrodden of the city. with increasing vexation, the idolatrous masters saw their slaves, in eager crowds, converted to the new faith. but as these wretched folks were in the tyrants' power, they glutted their vengeance on them, not daring to attack disciples of the prophet occupying higher rank. oummayatah ibn khalaf, having become aware of the conversion of his black slave, bilal ibn hammah, was engrossed with but a single thought: that of torturing him with the most dastardly refinements. placing his neck in a noose made from a rough rope of palm-fibre, he gave him into the hands of boys knowing no pity. they dragged him along behind them, like a beast of burden, just for amusement. the rope, pulled this way and that by the juvenile wrongdoers, ploughed a sanguinary furrow in bilal's flesh. nevertheless, he seemed insensible to pain. thereupon his master deprived him of food and drink, and led him from the town at noonday, in the middle of summer, throwing him out in the "ramda," a sandy plain, so torrid that a slice of meat, thrown on the ground, cooked itself immediately. he made his slave lie down, stretched out on his back, an enormous stone on his breast. 'thou shalt stop there,' he ordered, 'until thou dost abjure mohammad's doctrines, and worship lat and uzza.' but the stoical moslem did nothing more than lift the forefinger of his right hand, saying again and again: 'ahad! ahad! allah is one! allah is one!' thus testifying the scorn he felt for his master who dared to couple wooden or stone associates with the master of the worlds. the affirmation of the slave produced insensibility to pain, because the ineffable joy of the sacrifice for his faith mingled with and mastered the bitterness of torture. passing one day near the ramda, abu bakr witnessed this cruel sight. 'fearest thou not the justice of allah, the most high, o oummayatah! when thou dost inflict such torment on that wretched man?' he cried indignantly.--'thou didst corrupt him; therefore 'tis thy duty to save him,' was the cynical reply.--'willingly! i possess a young black slave, stronger and a better worker than thine. moreover, he is entirely devoted to thy idols. i offer him to thee in exchange.' oummayatah accepted and turned bilal over to abu bakr who granted him his freedom straightway. besides, this generous man (may allah make him welcome in his grace!) purchased six other slaves, men and women, all islamic converts, merely to set them free, and deliver them out of the hands of their idolatrous masters. these persecutions continued notwithstanding, becoming more and more barbarous. the banu makhzum tribe took ammar, with yaser, his father, and summayy, his mother, out on the ramda, in order to make them suffer all the tortures prompted by diabolical ferocity. ammar was enclosed in an iron breastplate that held him down on the ground, exposed to the blazing rays of the sun at its zenith. his flesh crackled as if in contact with molten metal. but the same thing happened as with bilal; the idolaters were unable to drag from ammar or his parents, tortured in like fashion, one blasphemous word. it was then that, blinded by rage, abu jahal drove his spear through summayy's heart, mocking the dying woman by telling her: 'if thou dost believe in mohammad, 'tis because thou art in love with his beauty!' summayy was the first martyr to islam, but such constancy was not to be found in all. a few believers, enfeebled by privation and torture to such an extent that they could not stand upright, finished by letting fall from their lips, despite themselves, the blasphemous utterances ensuring release. for such as these, crushed by shame and shedding tears of repentance, the following surah of consolation has come down: "_whoso after he hath believed in god, denieth him, if he were forced to it and if his heart remain steadfast in the faith (shall be guiltless:) * but whoso openeth his breast to infidelity--on them in that case shall be wrath from god, and a severe punishment awaiteth them._" (the qur'an, xvi, ). when the prophet saw what tortures were inflicted on his disciples and that he was powerless to protect them, he was overwhelmed with intense sadness. the martyrs' courage proved to him how deeply the roots of faith were planted in their hearts; nevertheless he considered that such sacrifices should be avoided. so he advised all who were weak, or even such as were not forced by imperious necessity to remain in makkah, to emigrate to abyssinia, a land inhabited by christians, whose chieftain, the najashi (negus) was celebrated for his tolerance and justice. [sidenote: the emigration to abyssinia (_a.d. _)] sixteen moslems were the first to depart. among them was usman ibn affan and his wife ruqaiyah, one of the prophet's daughters. they went out from makkah secretly and on foot. reaching the shore of the red sea, they chartered a _felucca_ which carried them over to the opposite bank, from whence they journeyed to the court of the najashi who welcomed them kindly. another caravan soon joined them, and the little mussulman colony, having taken refuge in abyssinian territory, was made up of eighty-three men and eighteen women. exasperated at seeing their victims escape from their clutches; and still more furious to have to include among the emigrants members of their own families, such as umm-i-habibah, daughter of abu sufyan, the idolaters despatched to the najashi two ambassadors, umar ibn al as and abdullah, son of abu rabiyah, bearing rich presents, with a view to claiming the fugitives, described as being dangerous agitators, capable of causing a revolution in his kingdom. the najashi had already seen that the contrary was the case. by their honesty and virtue, the fugitives had gained the esteem and sympathy of his subjects, so that he did not feel inclined to favour the request of the ambassadors, despite their valuable gifts. they then thought it would be as well to touch upon the religious susceptibilities of the christian monarch, and put him on his guard against the danger of islam. 'know then what these impostors seek to attain,' said they to him. 'they have set foot in thine empire in order to turn thy subjects away from the religion of jesus, even as they sought to lead the quraish astray from the religion of their ancestors. shouldst thou wish to put our veracity to the test, question them concerning their opinions with regard to jesus, thy god.' the najashi followed this piece of advice. he interrogated the most learned among the emigrants and elicited the following reply from jafar, mohammad's cousin, son of abu talib: 'these are the verses revealed to the prophet: "_the messiah isa (jesus), son of maryam (mary), is only an apostle of allah, and his word which he conveyed into maryam..._" (the qur'an, iv, .) this answer was not at all displeasing to the najashi. if it did not acknowledge the divinity of jesus, it showed, at least, the deep veneration in which he was held by the moslems, and the abyssinian monarch was fully reassured as to the fugitives' intentions. so he sent the ambassadors away, without accepting any of their presents or giving them the slightest satisfaction. [sidenote: the conversion of umar, son of al-khattab] the unbelievers had succeeded in making fierce umar think that he would save his country by ridding it of mohammad. so umar, having buckled on his sword, and his eyes flashing fire, bent his steps in the direction of the safa district, where he fancied he might fall across the prophet. umar, on his way, met na'im, who had gone over to islam unbeknown to his fellow-tribesmen. 'wither goest thou, o umar?' queried the convert.--'to seek out this fellow mohammad who hath stirred up strife in the midst of the quraish. oh, by our gods! i must kill him!'--'by allah! thy soul leadeth thee to do a mad act, o umar! dost thou think that the abd-i-manaf will leave thee in peace on the face of the earth, if thou dost put to death their relative, mohammad?' he added, trying to deter him from carrying out his abominable plan. 'would it not be far better to get certain members of thine own household to explain their doings?'--'who are these persons under my roof?'--'thy sister fatimah and thy brother-in-law said ibn zayd. they, too, are moslems.' at these words, umar stopped dead, the direction of his fury changing, and in great haste, he hurried to the dwelling of fatimah, his sister. just as he got there, khubab, a fervent disciple, was reading the surah "ta-ha" written out on a piece of parchment. at the sound of umar's furious knocking, khubab fled into an adjoining room, and fatimah hid the parchment in the folds of her attire. but khubab's voice had been overheard by umar who asked in imperative accents: 'what is this recitation in an undertone that i heard, and which ye cut short when i arrived?'--'there was nothing to hear. thou art mistaken,' his brother-in-law and sister protested in chorus.--'no, no! there is no mistake; neither do i err when i tell you i have learnt that ye follow mohammad's religion!' without waiting for any further explanation, he rushed at his brother-in-law, knocked him down, sat on his chest and seized him by the beard. fatimah threw herself on her brother and made desperate efforts to free her husband. 'thou speakest the truth! we are moslems!' umar lost his wits at this confession and by a brutal blow in the face, he dashed courageous fatimah to the ground. 'yea, we are moslems, o enemy of allah!' she repeated, staring boldly at him, her blood flowing freely. 'yea, we believe in allah and his prophet! now do with us as thou wilt!' when umar saw his sister's blood, the indomitable courage of the weak woman impressed him greatly and he was ashamed of what he had done. 'give me the parchment that i heard you reading,' he asked his sister in softer accents; 'i wish to get some idea of that which hath been revealed to mohammad.'--'we fear thou mayest destroy the writing.'--'be not afraid! by allah! ye shall have it back so soon as i shall have read it.' despite her wish to try and convert her brother, fatimah raised objections. 'o my brother! i cannot confide it to thee, for thou art unclean. only pure hands are allowed to touch the book in which are inscribed the words of allah.' umar rose with docility and performed his ablutions. then did fatimah hand over the parchment on which was written the surah, "ta-ha", which begins with these words: _not to sadden thee have we sent down this qur'an to thee * but as a warning for him who feareth._ (xx, and .) immediately after the reading of the first verses, umar, who was remarkably well learnt, could not refrain from uttering a cry of admiration: 'how beautiful! what sublime language!'--'o umar!' exclaimed khubab, coming out of his hiding-place, 'i had great hopes that the almighty would fulfil, in thy favour, the wish i heard the prophet make but yesterday: 'o allah!' said he, 'strengthen islam by the conversion of either one or the other of those two men: abu jahal or umar.'--'lead me at once to mohammad,' replied umar, 'so that i may become a convert to islam in his presence. where is he?' khubab, in triumph, sent him to the dwelling of arqam in the safa district. in that house, the disciples, clustering in union round the prophet, were drinking in his words, when imperative knocks shook the door. one of the comrades rose up and, by a crack in the wood, caught sight of the terrible warrior, his sword dangling from his belt. thunderstruck at this apparition, he came back to warn the prophet who calmly told him: 'bring him in here. if he cometh with good intentions, we will grant him generous welcome, but if evil designs guide his footsteps, we will kill him with his own sword.' the companions having obeyed, umar entered. mohammad went to meet him, and coming face to face with him in the entrance-hall, he caught him by the collar and, with a sudden pull, dragged him into the midst of the company assembled. 'what is thy motive in coming here, o son of al khattab?' he asked. 'dost thou still mean to remain wallowing in impiety until the wrath of the almighty crusheth thee?'--'o prophet!' answered umar with unaccustomed humility, 'i come to declare my faith in allah, his messenger, and his revelation.'--'praise be to allah! glory to him!' cried mohammad. when his companions were informed of umar's sudden conversion, they went their different ways, full of gratitude towards him who had decreed it. umar was not a man to remain patient and conceal his convictions. in the street, he stopped the first passer-by he met, one jamil ibn mamar, of the jumah tribe, and said to him: 'dost know, o jamil, that i have become a mussulman?' the words were hardly out of his mouth, before jamil, an incorrigible gossip, tucked his mantle tightly round him and ran to the temple. 'o assembly of the quraish men!' shouted he to the idolaters who were there in groups. 'an astounding piece of news! the son of al khattab hath lost his reason!'--'thou liest!' interrupted umar who had followed him. 'on the contrary, i have set out on the road to salvation. i bear witness that there is no other god but allah and that mohammad is his prophet!' on hearing these words, amounting to insulting aggression, the quraish bounded forward, as one man, to throw themselves on umar, who steadfastly awaited their attack and a fearful struggle took place. the sun, darting its flaming rays on the fighters, forced them to desist for a short space of time. during the truce, umar sat down on the ground, surrounded by his enemies whose threatening hands were stretched over his head. 'do with me as ye will,' he told them in tones of the most scornful indifference, 'but, by allah! if i were only at the head of three hundred mussulmans, we should not be long before we wrested this temple from you, and never would ye be able to retake it!' [illustration: _the friday visit of moslems to the cemetery._] at this juncture, a respected old man, attired in a striped mantle and a sumptuously embroidered tunic, drew nigh, brought there by the tumult of which he asked the cause. 'umar is demented,' was the answer.--'how so?' said the old man to the idolaters. 'if this man hath voluntarily chosen some religion different to yours, hath he not a right to do so? what want ye of him? moreover, think ye that his relatives will not feel inclined to interfere on his behalf?' struck more by the fear of reprisals than by the wisdom of his words, umar's assailants clustering round him, dropped back and dispersed. it seemed as if a heavy cloak had been lifted from his shoulders. no one, except mohammad, dared to pray in public. umar, caring naught for the fury he might cause, made up his mind to follow the prophet's example, and every day, the sturdy warrior turned like mohammad in the direction of the bait-ul-muquaddas (the holy temple of jerusalem). doing exactly the same as the prophet, umar took his stand between the angle of the ka'bah where the black stone is enframed and the angle looking towards the yaman; and there publicly said his prayers. encouraged by this audacity, numerous were the moslems who came to pray in public by his side, despite the angry glances of the unbelievers, only restrained by the reputation of umar who had earned the surname of "al faruq," (the cleaver), because he had once cleft in twain an arab who refused to bow down to a decision given out by the prophet. [sidenote: the exile of the banu ha sham (_a.d. _)] despite the superiority of numbers, the idol-worshippers of the quraish were obliged to acknowledge the critical state of their party. unless they could put an end to the irresistible movement that daily brought new conversions, their domination over the arabs would soon become a thing of the past. they called a meeting, and, after consulting, resolved to break off all relations with the banu hasham and the banu muttalib who were to be banished from makkah until they consented to hand over mohammad, their relative. in order to prevent themselves being tempted to break their word, the quraish leaders wrote out the conditions of this compact on a sheet of parchment which they hung up inside the ka'bah. their plan was most cunning. among the banu hasham and the banu muttalib were a large number of idolaters who the quraish thought would refuse to identify themselves with mohammad and suffer for his cause. therefore, strife would be stirred up in the bosom of the prophet's family. but, contrary to the idol-worshippers' conjectures, the example of abu talib, mohammad's uncle, carried away all the members of his family--with the exception of irreducible abu lahab--actuated by feelings of unanimous solidarity. this fact enables us to divine one of the reasons that prevented abu talib from adopting the islamic religion, although he worked hard and successfully, helping it to triumph. he did not forget abu lahab's ironical remark: 'thou hast naught else to do than to obey thy son ali, now that mohammad hath chosen him to be his lieutenant.' abu talib's pride caused him to dread mockery. 'i would willingly become a convert to islam,' said he, one day, 'were it not that i fear to become the laughing-stock of the men of makkah when they would see me saying my prayers.' nevertheless, these motives would not have held him back, if he had not considered that the protection he granted to his nephew, threatened on all sides, would lose all its power following the day when the uncle also should have abjured the religion of his forefathers. directly after the proclamation of the decree of expulsion, the members of the prophet's family, mussulmans or idolaters, left their houses, scattered here and there in different districts of the town, and assembled in a neighbouring ravine where abu talib possessed a stronghold. during a period of two years, the exiles endured the greatest privations. their provisions were quickly exhausted and it was impossible to renew them. they were forbidden to show themselves in the markets, and if one among them, having succeeded in getting to follow a caravan, tried to procure a few articles of food, the dealers, watched by abu jahal or fearing to be denounced, asked such high prices that the luckless wight was obliged to give up all ideas of purchase, and return empty-handed to his starving family. the outlaws were sometimes secretly revictualled by compassionate folks, such as hisham ibn umar who had recourse to the following stratagem. at nightfall, he led a camel, laden with provisions, to the entrance of the ravine, and gave him a violent cut with a whip, in such a way that the animal bolted in the direction of the starving fugitives and was captured by them. but such a godsend was not an everyday occurrence, and mohammad and his family were driven to feed on the leaves of the thorny bushes growing in the valley. [sidenote: the decree of expulsion destroyed by a worm] meanwhile, the prophet was apprised by a vision that, in order to destroy the impious document, written by the quraish, allah had sent a gnawing worm and only the holy name had been respected. abu talib, hearing about this, and having faith in his nephew's vision, went with his brothers and sought out the unbelievers. they exulted on seeing him approach, his features distorted by the pangs of hunger. conquered by famine, was abu talib about to throw over his nephew? they were so sure that this was the case, that they accepted his proposals without hesitation. 'let us go and look at the parchment,' he said. 'if mohammad speaketh truly, the act is abolished. should that be, ye must swear to cancel your ruling of outlawry that oppresseth us. for my part, i swear to give mohammad up to you if he hath lied.' the act was sealed with three seals. since it had been deposited in the ka'bah, it had neither been seen nor touched by anyone. therefore allah's enemies thought it impossible that the prophet's vision could be authentic and, anticipating victory, they went to the temple with abu talib, to see the state of the parchment. the prophet's words had come true. in the act in question, the gnawing maggot had destroyed every unjust and impious sentence. naught remained intact except a narrow strip of parchment on which could be read these words: "in thy name, allah!" this verification plunged the idolaters into a state of unspeakable stupor. abu jahal was the first to leave the temple and he tried to retract the promise given by the quraish. thereupon, many among them, hisham ibn umar, zohair ibn abi ommayah, moutam ibn adiyy, etc., whose interests and intercourse had suffered on account of the odious decree, having only signed it under duress, protested one after the other. "we supported this iniquitous law against our will. now it no longer exists. therefore the impious pact set forth therein should be annulled." abu jahal was forced to bow down in the face of the prodigy and these vehement protestations. the compact was cancelled. the banu hasham and the banu muttalib returned without let or hindrance to their dwellings. [sidenote: the death of abu talib and khadijah] it seemed as if islam was henceforward to soar aloft safely, when two events suddenly caused its wings to be clipped. first came the death of abu talib, its indefatigable protector, who had passed the age of eighty. we have already mentioned that, despite all his sympathy for islam, abu talib had never consented to profess it. abu talib, in his dying moments, having advised all present to obey mohammad in everything, for he was sure to lead them into the path of righteousness, the prophet risked a supreme effort. 'o my uncle!' said mohammad, 'thou dost soothe their souls with wise counsel, but wilt thou do nothing for thine own?'--'what wouldst have me do?'--'bear witness simply that there is no allah but allah!--'o son of my brother! i know that thou dost speak truly, but i fear to be accused of only testifying in affright at the approach of death. were it not for this fear, be assured that i would follow thy advice, in order to freshen thine eyes in which i read the high degree of thy affection.' some writers maintain that abbas, seeing the dying man's lips move, and having placed his ear close to them, made the following declaration to the prophet: 'be not uneasy, o son of my brother! thy uncle hath just uttered the words thou didst wish him to say.' but the most accredited traditions refuse to accept this version. where is the truth? allah only knows! three days after this bereavement, fraught with fatal consequences, the prophet had to put up with a still more grievous loss. khadijah, his admirable companion, who gave herself to him when he was poor and had believed in him when he was called an impostor; khadijah, to whom he confided all his hopes; khadijah, the sweet consoling creature when he was crushed by the weight of despair; khadijah, the first female moslem, the "mother of the believers," was taken from him by the fates at the age of sixty-five. (may allah welcome her in his grace!) khadijah's ascendancy over him was so great and yet so tender that while she lived, he had never been unfaithful. never, although he was then in the prime of life, would he consent to have other wives or concubines, as permitted by the customs of his country, in spite of being invited on all sides to do so. and never, when khadijah was no more, did he forget her. ayishah, who later on became mohammad's favourite spouse, was keenly jealous of the remembrance of his first wife, daily evoked by him. "never was i so jealous of any wife of the prophet as of khadijah," ayishah is known to have said, "although i never met her and notwithstanding that her death took place long before my marriage. but the prophet was always talking about her, and when he slaughtered a sheep, he always kept back a liberal share to be given to khadijah's female friends. "i said to him once: 'it seems as if khadijah was the only woman in the whole world!' thereupon he began to enumerate her incomparable qualities and declared that she would have a palace built of pearls in paradise, with no noise or household cares to trouble her. "hala bint khuaild, khadijah's sister, was taken to see allah's messenger. he noticed that she spoke in the same way as his dead wife, and was so stirred that, overcome by jealousy, i could not help showing temper and i exclaimed: 'what meanest thou by continually conjuring up the remembrance of these old quraish females, with their toothless, red gums and faces betraying the ravages of age? hath not allah given thee better women in their stead?'" but despite these scenes, despite the beauty and intelligence of ayishah and his other wives, the prophet always preferred khadijah. he included her among the four most perfect women that ever came on earth. the three others were asiyah, pharoah's wife who saved moses; maryam (mary), mother of isa (jesus); and fatimah-tuz-zahra, one of mohammad's daughters by khadijah. [sidenote: the journey to taif] stricken by his double mourning, threatened by the unbelievers who no longer concealed their intentions, now that his noble protector was no more, the prophet resolved to preach outside makkah. if he succeeded in gaining over some of the neighbouring arab peoples, these reinforcements, increasing the number of citizens of makkah already converted, and which was far from inconsiderable, would make up a party sufficiently strong to hold his detractors in respect. his first attempt was made at taif, a small town about seventy-two miles to the east of makkah, renowned for its grapes, figs, pomegranates and the roses of its enchanting gardens. accompanied by zayd ibn haris, the prophet arrived in the market-place where he found many noted saqifs assembled. he sat by their side and stated the reasons of his journey: his divine mission and the hostility of his party. most of those present were beginning to fall under the influence of the wonted charm of his words, when three brothers, ranking among the most noble and predominant of the saqifs, interrupted him abruptly. 'this man hath doubtless stolen or torn the veil of the ka'bah!' exclaimed the first of the brothers, 'and now, having taken to his heels, he tells ye a story about being allah's messenger!'--'hath allah not been able to find anyone but thee?' jeered the second.--'by allah! i'll never have anything to do with thee!' declared the third. 'if thou art truly the prophet of allah, as thou dost assert, thou art so far above me that i dare not argue with thee; and if thou art merely an impostor, it would not be fitting that i belittle myself by replying.' these remarks broke the charm, and the crowd, veering round, showed its hostility by shouting insults. the prophet saw that there was no hope for him in that town for the moment, and rose up to depart. so as to make it impossible for him to renew his attempt, his contradictors stirred up the lowest dregs of the populace against him. slaves and vagabonds, arrayed in a double row, awaited him on each side of the road he was bound to take. they found amusement in stoning his bare legs. when exhausted by his sufferings, he sat down in the middle of the road, trying to shield his bleeding feet, his tormentors lifted him up by the arms and continued their barbarous fun. in vain, devoted zayd tried to protect him by getting in front of him; the faithful henchman was struck down by a stone that cut his face. staggering, falling, rising and dragging themselves along in the midst of sneering jibes, mohammad and his companion at last reached a garden wall, behind which they took refuge, and dropped extenuated in the shade of a tree covered with vine branches, leaves and grapes. 'o allah!' cried the prophet, 'to thee i complain of my puny strength and the failure of my zeal with regard to these men. o thou! most compassionate and merciful, thou art the lord of the weak and thou art my lord! i have none but thee on whom to lean! but if thou be not angry with me because i am powerless to ensure love and respect for thy word, i care nothing for all the ordeals i undergo!' the villanous mob did not dare to trespass in the garden in order to follow up their victims. the owners of the property, charitable folks, indignant at the scene they had just witnessed, ordered adas, their gardener, to gather bunches of grapes and carry a basketful to their momentary guests. when the inflammation of their limbs, covered with bruises, had subsided by reason of repose in the beneficial shade; and their thirst being quenched by the honeyed juice of the celebrated grapes of taif, the prophet and his companion set out again on the road to makkah. [illustration: _the departure._ views] foreseeing the welcome in store for him, mohammad could not do otherwise than claim the assistance of some influential citizen. halting at the cave of mount hira, he sent zayd to find a protector. after two rebuffs at the hands of al akhnas and sohail, who excused themselves, zayd approached muta'm bin adiyy who, consenting to take the responsibility on himself, armed his serving-men and posted them in the precincts of the ka'bah. brought back by zayd, mohammad was then enabled, thanks to the escort of this little army, to make the seven ritual circuits before returning to his dwelling. [sidenote: the nocturnal journey and ascension] "al-isra," the nocturnal journey, and "al-miraj" the prophet's ascension, have given rise to innumerable debates between the doctors of islam. some think that this miraculous journey was really, physically accomplished; whilst others, relying on the most accredited traditions--among which is that of ayishah, abu bakr's daughter and mohammad's favourite wife--maintain that mohammad's soul alone undertook the journey, and that it should only be looked upon as a veracious vision such as frequently came to the prophet in his sleep. one night, the twenty-seventh of the month of rabi'-ul-awwal, the angel jibra'il, upon whom devolved the duty of directing the heavenly bodies, was ordered by the almighty to increase the moon's brilliancy by adding a part of the sun's radiance; and that of the stars by a share of the moon's brightness, so that the firmament that night should be resplendent with light. the angel was then to descend to where mohammad was sleeping, and carry him up to allah through the seven zones of heaven. quoth the prophet: "i was in a deep sleep when jibra'il appeared to me, bringing al-buraq, the prophet's usual mount. this animal ressembled none to be found on earth. his size was greater than that of an ass; less than that of a mule. his coat was more dazzlingly white than snow; he had the face of a man, but was dumb. great wings like those of a bird allowed him to rise in the air and career through space. his mane, tail, feathers and breast-piece were studded with priceless precious stones that sparkled like myriads of stars. "i got on his back and, in a twinkling, he carried me from the "masjidu'l-haram" to the "masjidu'l-aqsa" (_i.e._ the sacred makkan temple to the faraway temple of jerusalem). i alighted and fastened his bridle to the ring used by the prophets. a man appeared in front of me, offering a cup of milk and a cup of wine. i drank the milk and refused the wine. jibra'il, who had accompanied me without outstripping me or allowing me to outrun him, approved what i had done. 'if thou hadst preferred wine to milk,' he told me, 'thy people would have preferred error to truth.'" after visiting the temple, the prophet climbed up the "sakhrah," the sacred rock (on which now stands the marvellous dome of the mosque of umar) which bowed down in his honour and also so as to enable him to remount al-buraq. still led by his celestial guide, he continued his journey by ascending through the heavens. we need not copy the descriptions of this ascension, or "miraj," in every detail. many writers, particularly the persians, have given a free rein to their imagination in this connection, whilst others, more serious, such as ibn-i-hisham, ibn-i-sad and abul fida, are content to set forth an extremely simple narrative. we shall only mention mohammad's meeting with the prophets known before him: abraham, moses and jesus; then his visit to the paradise of believers, where the gardens honoured him by giving out sweet odours and his halt in hell, destined to receive unbelievers, where the flames congealed when he went along. after having passed through the seven zones of the heavens, it was not long before he heard the scratching of pens writing in the "book of fate," and the thanksgivings of the angels glorifying the almighty. finally, he reached the "sidratu'l-muntaha," the "lote-tree of the extremity." at this spot, jibra'il left him, saying: "here is the boundary of knowledge, where i am forced to halt. as for thee, o prince of messengers! o friend of the master of the worlds! continue thy glorious ascension and progress in the light of thy lights." and the chosen one continued to pass through the veils covering that which is hidden, until he reached the veil of unity and looked upon that which eyes cannot see, nor minds imagine. the eyes of his body would not have been able to support the brilliancy of this sight which must have brought on blindness. therefore, allah opened the eyes of mohammad's heart, thus permitting him to contemplate the infinite splendour. allah bade him draw near to his throne, "_at the distance of two bows, or even closer_" (the qur'an, liii, ), and after having confirmed the choice he had made in charging mohammad to be the carrier of good tidings to his servants, he fixed the number of prayers--fifty in all--that each believer should offer up daily to the creator, in gratitude for his bounty. when the chosen one went down, moses met him again and questioned him. 'o prophet of allah! what hath our master ordered thee with regard to the number of prayers which his disciples should offer up?'--'fifty prayers during the day and the night.'--'o thou, the best of created beings!' moses rejoined, 'go back to our master, and beg him to lighten this burden, too heavy for the weakness and laziness of mankind.' so mohammad went back several times into the presence of the master of the worlds, until he prevailed upon him to reduce the number of prayers to five only. this parable, which serves to decide definitively the number of daily prayers, also demonstrates admirably that an excess of devotion, in the islamic creed, is considered to be an error. "_allah desireth to make your burden light to you: for man hath been created weak._" (the qur'an, iv, .) why should the almighty be in need of the prayers of mankind? "_we ask not of thee to make provision for thyself--we will provide for thee._" (the qur'an, xx, .) allah has sent prayer to his servants as one of his most salutary favours. five times daily, devotion brings absolute rest to believers; that is to say, complete interruption of the feelings that stir them, whether an excess of joy leading to ruin in the aberrations of debauchery, or an excess of sadness causing them to perish in the madness of despair. five times daily, prayer forces them by its accompanying ablutions, to call to mind the cleanliness of the body, at the same time as the purity of the soul. the day after his vision, the prophet, beaming with delight, was met by his mortal enemy, abu jahal, who addressed him ironically: 'o mohammad! hast thou not one of those marvellous tales which we are used to hear from thee to tell us this morning?'--'indeed i have!' replied the prophet. 'between yesternight and this morning i have been to jerusalem and back.'--'gather round quickly, o quraish! hasten and hearken to the wonderful adventure of the nocturnal journey undertaken by mohammad!' shouted abu jahal. the crowd soon grew, and the prophet gave out the narrative we have just set forth. most of his hearers, belonging to the clan of the idol-worshippers, followed the example of their chieftain and received it with outbursts of the coarsest merriment. some clapped their hands; others held their heads in their hands as if to stop their brains from bursting. as for the believers, one party was undecided whether to put faith in the story or not; and the remainder, unsettled by the attitude of the public, dared not manifest their confidence openly. profiting by the confusion, abu jahal hastened to speak to abu bakr. 'maybe thou dost not know the last extraordinary adventure of thy prophet? he pretends to have accomplished in the night the journey from the "holy temple" of makkah to the "faraway temple" of jerusalem--there and back!' abu jahal was full of glee, in anticipation, at the thought of the vexation and bewilderment which were sure to be seen in the face of his fellow-citizen. contrary to abu jahal's expectations, however, abu bakr replied without uneasiness: 'whatever mohammad asserts is true and i believe it. if he maintains that he went up to the seventh heaven in an hour and came back in the same space of time, i should still have faith in his declarations.' such dependable testimony caused the faithful to take heart; thus it turned out that abu jahal, by trying to instil incredulity in men's minds, only succeeded in strengthening their beliefs. desirous of catching the prophet redhanded as a cheat, abu jahal interrogated him concerning the temple of jerusalem, calling on him for a description thereof. but he was utterly routed when mohammad, whom his foe thought had never set foot in jerusalem, except during this nocturnal vision, described the city in all its peculiarities and with great accuracy, endorsed by all among those assembled who had ever undertaken that journey. therefore the believers, their faith revived, hastened to put on the five "garments of purity," which means that they offered up the five prayers brought down to them from heaven by the prophet. [sidenote: how six inhabitants of yasrib were converted (_a.d. _)] towards the end of the year, usman ibn affan and his wife ruqaiyah returned from abyssinia, accompanied by a few emigrants, among whom, one of them, called sukran, died on arrival. the prophet married his widow, sauda, daughter of zoma, thus rewarding the zeal of one of the first female converts to islam, who had so valiantly undergone the ordeals of persecution and exile. wishing, in the same way, to show his appreciation of the unchanging devotion of abu bakr, the veracious, and to bind him still closer by a matrimonial alliance, the prophet, at the same epoch, espoused his daughter ayishah, although she had barely reached the age of ten. but, in her case, the marriage was not consummated until many years later, at al-madinah, after the hegira. despite abu bakr's energetic affirmations; despite the strengthening of the believers' zeal by the rule of the five prayers, the story of the nocturnal ascension was far from being advantageous to the cause of islam. the narrative, on the contrary, furnished its enemies with an opportunity of petty triumph, enabling them to pile up fresh mockery and institute greater persecution. the case would have seemed hopeless to any other but mohammad. he knew not what it meant to be discouraged, feeling certain that the almighty would never abandon his apostle to whom he had revealed the following verses: "_say: i betake me for refuge to the lord of men, * the king of men, * allah of men * against the mischief of the stealthily withdrawing whisperer (satan) * who hides himself at the name of allah, * who whispereth in man's breast against jinn and men._" (the qur'an, cxiv, .) postponing for the time being the conversion of the makkans, the prophet turned his attention towards arab strangers in the town, attracted in great crowds by the ceremonies of the pilgrimage to the ka'bah and the ritual circuits. during the fair that was held at that time, he went untiringly from group to group. but, just as indefatigable, close behind, was his uncle, abu lahab, who, as soon as he saw the prophet in the centre of a ring of men, would call out loudly to them: 'hearken not to that man! his sole thought is to tear the cult of lat and uzza from out of your hearts; and trick ye all with the insane doctrines that he pretends it is his mission to preach.' these words aroused the arabs' suspicions, and they turned away from mohammad with remarks after this fashion: 'thy fellow-citizens know thee better than we, so begin by convincing them!' or else: 'if allah should cause thee to triumph, thy glory will not profit us, but only thy party. therefore, it is not to our advantage to ally ourselves to thee.' these rebuffs had no effect on the prophet. no sooner did any noteworthy person arrive in makkah than mohammad sought his presence at once. one day, on the hill of aqabah, he went up to a group of six men, fresh arrivals, and with his usual politeness, he addressed them thus: 'what are you, o my good lords?'--'we are of the khazraj tribe.'--'masters over the jews settled in yasrib, methinks?'--'we are indeed their masters.'--'will ye not sit down here awhile, so that i may speak with you?'--'willingly.' they sat by his side, and he tried to gather them into the fold of islam by reciting verses of the qur'an. charmed by his eloquence and the novelty of his words, the khazraj men listened attentively and paused to reflect. the jews, inhabiting their land and bent beneath their yoke, were folks well versed in the knowledge of holy writ. thus it was that whenever disagreement arose between them and their masters, these children of israel were wont to murmur: 'we await the coming of a prophet. when his hour arrives, we shall all follow him and thanks to his assistance, we shall triumph over you and become your masters in our turn.' whilst mohammad spoke unto the tribesmen, they exchanged glances and came to this conclusion: 'evidently this is the prophet whose advent is threatened by the jews. we must not let them forestall us with him.' so they replied to his appeal, saying: 'our land is made desolate by perpetual war waged between us and our arab brothers, the aus tribe. we will go to them, and call their attention to thy cause and thy religion. if through thee, allah should reconcile and unite us, there will not be in all arabia a man more powerful than thee!' [sidenote: the two oaths of the aqabah (_a.d. _)] the new converts kept their word and spread mohammad's doctrines in their region. the following year, twelve mussulmans from yasrib, ten being of the khazraj and two belonging to the aus, arrived in makkah for the mausam rejoicings. they met the prophet on the aqabah and took an oath of fidelity towards him. with a view to completing their religious education and making fresh converts, mohammad delegated musab ibn umr, one of his most learned disciples, who went away with them. in yasrib, the islamic creed did not meet with the difficulties that hampered its progress in makkah, where it was harmful to the interests of the exploiters of the idols. musab's task turned out to be particularly easy, and the "permanent miracle" of the surahs of the qur'an, recited by him, produced its effect with lightning-like rapidity. resembling a beneficial rainstorm which might have broke, in a few minutes, over every part of a country suffering from drought, restoring life and fertility, islam had diffused its wholesome dew over every district of the town, calming dissensions and causing the virtues necessary for its triumph to take root and flourish in the citizens' hearts. soon there was not a single family among the aus or the khazraj which did not count several believers among its members. musab, who had good reasons to be proud of the result of his mission, returned to makkah to report progress to mohammad. when the date of the pilgrimage came due, seventy-five mussulmans, two being women, joined the caravan of their fellow-citizens who were still idolaters. the converts, full of zeal, arranged to meet the prophet on the aqabah, during the night preceding the second day of tashriq, in order to offer a safe place of refuge in their city, for him and his disciples. ka'b ibn malik, one of the pilgrims, has said: "we made up our minds to keep our movements secret from our idolatrous fellow-citizens, among whom we slept until one third of the night was passed. we then went out, one after another, stealthily, making our way, slowly and silently, towards a pass on the slopes of the aqabah, where we all met together to await the prophet. he soon arrived, accompanied by his uncle abbas ibn abdul-muttalib. "he had not yet abjured the religion of his ancestors, but he had great affection for his nephew from whom he wished to ward off all misfortune, following the example of his brother, abu talib. having been informed of the plans of the people of yasrib, abbas wanted to see for himself what amount of confidence mohammad could have in their proposals. abbas was the first to address the meeting and spoke as follows: 'o assembly of the khazraj and the aus! my brother's son, as ye know, holds high rank among us, and although we do not share his convictions, we have hitherto protected him against his fellow-citizens. in our "qawm" he finds honour and safety. nevertheless, at the present hour, he turns towards you, and desires to settle in your midst. reflect! if ye decide to remain faithful to your promises and shield him from all dangers whatsoever, it will be well. but should ye fear to be forced one day to throw him over, and give him into the hands of his enemies, it would be better, now at once, to confess that your purpose is not steadfast by withdrawing your proposals and leaving him with his own party.' "without the slightest hesitation, we answered abbas: 'thou hast heard what we proposed. thou canst rely on us absolutely!' then we turned to mohammad: 'speak, o prophet! what dost thou want of us, for thy lord and for thyself?' "after having recited a few surahs and recapitulated the fundamental principles of islam, the prophet added: 'swear that ye will fight to defend me and my disciples, as ye would fight to defend your wives and children.' "we took the required oath with unanimous enthusiasm: 'by allah! we are war-children, and our fathers have taught us how to manufacture all weapons!'--'o prophet!' broke in abul hasham, 'there exists a compact, between the jews of yasrib and us, which we shall have to break, perhaps, in order to uphold thy cause. what would be our position, in our land, if, after being victorious thanks to us, thou didst go back to thy "qawm"?' "the prophet smiled and protested: 'rest easy on that score! your blood hath become my blood and your honour, my honour. he who wrongeth you, wrongeth me. i'll fight the enemies you fight, and support whom ye support; ye are mine and i am yours! choose then twelve najibs among you as leaders.' "after having consulted together, we chose nine khazraj and three aus. when we brought the twelve men to him, he said: 'ye shall be my delegates in your "qawm," as were the apostles of jesus, son of mary, among their people.' "the najibs pledged their words; but, just as the solemn oath was about to be sworn, ibn-i-ubadah rose and said: 'o assembly of the khazraj and aus! have ye reflected seriously anent the consequences of the compact ye intend to make with this man? for his sake ye swear to go to war with white, swarthy and black men. but if, in days to come, seeing your property pillaged and your nobles massacred, ye were to forsake him, shame would be brought upon you in this world and the next.'--'we are resigned in anticipation to the loss of our property and to the death of our best men, if such a sacrifice is useful for the cause of islam,' we replied unhesitatingly, 'but may we ask the prophet what we shall receive in exchange?' he replied: 'paradise!' "_who, from desire to behold the face of their lord, are constant amid trials, and observe prayer, and give alms in secret and openly out of what we have bestowed upon them and turn aside evil by good: for these is the recompense of the abode * gardens of eden--into which they shall enter together with the just of their fathers, and their wives, and their descendants: and the angels shalt go in unto them at every portal: * peace be upon you! say they, because ye have patiently endured! * and charming is the recompense of the abode!_ "_so oft as they are fed therefrom with fruit for sustenance, they shall say, 'this same was our sustenance of eld!' but they will only resemble those of earth, being infinitely more delicious ... * and theirs shall be the houris with large black eyes like close-kept pearls ... * no vain discourse shall they hear therein, nor charge of sin * we will remove whatever rancour was in their hearts ... and they shall say 'praise be to allah who hath guided us hither.' *_ "_and other things which ye desire will he bestow: help from allah and greedy conquest! ... * o ye who believe! be ansars of allah! (i.e. helpers, soldiers.)_ (the qur'an, xiii, , , . ii, . lvi, , . vii, . lxi, , .)" "when they heard these promises of inconceivable bliss in paradise, announced by such tokens as are understood by mortals' weak brains, the faithful felt their souls filled with hope and said to the prophet: 'stretch out thine hand!' mohammad offered his hand, opened out, the palm turned upwards; and asad ibn zarara came and struck it with his right hand, followed by abul hisham and al bara; and, one after the other, all the yasrib pilgrims, who from that day forth called themselves, "ansars." "we were getting ready to return furtively to our encampment, our hearts brimming over with joy and hope, when, in the silence of the night, on the summit of the aqabah, a voice resounded, the most shrill i had ever heard. 'o assembly of the quraish!' it shouted, 'be on your guard! the sons of the khazraj and aus have sworn to fall upon you with the sword!' "we shuddered, but the prophet removed our fears by saying: 'that is the voice of the demon of the aqabah which means that iblis (satan) is shrieking. he is allah's enemy, and his cry has not been heard by any of our adversaries.' we returned to our tents, where we found our fellow-citizens sleeping soundly, suspecting naught of that which had taken place. "nevertheless, upon awaking, next day, a deputation of quraish nobles arrived, warned either by the voice of iblis, or by reports of spies dogging the prophet's footsteps. 'o assembly of the khazraj and aus!' said these delegates, 'it hath come to our ears that ye have allured one of our men, mohammad ibn abdullah and taken an oath with him to wage war upon us.' "the idolaters of our party, knowing nothing about the events of the night, swore with most evident sincerity that the quraish were mistaken. 'this business is improbable!' exclaimed one of their chieftains, abu salul by name. 'my "qawm" would not have hidden it from me and i have heard naught about it.'" the quraish tribesmen went away, more or less tranquilised, but they met on their road some bedouins who had been witnesses of the strange gathering in the aqabah ravine and who imparted their suspicions. the quraish, convinced of the treachery of the khazraj and the aus, turned back in great haste to the encampment. but the tents were struck; the birds had flown and were far off by that time, out of danger. [sidenote: the plot against the prophet] henceforward the prophet could reckon on safety and shelter in the town of yasrib and he gave orders to all his disciples to take refuge within its walls. the idolaters could not help feeling great apprehension, by reason of their victims meeting with the inhabitants of a rival city. the worshippers of images impeded the union by means of great violence, and it was only one by one, or in small, successive groups, that the believers were able to reach their place of safety. from that day onwards, they took the name of "muhajirun," or emigrants. as for the prophet, relieved of all anxiety concerning them, he stopped in makkah with ali and abu bakr only. they knew full well the risk they ran, but despite abu bakr's adjurations, mohammad wished to make a supreme effort, and resort to force before leaving his native town. he still hoped to rescue some of his fellow-countrymen from idolatry, especially as he now had a shelter to offer them; and besides, he did not like to leave his post without authorisation from the lord. the emigration of the believers carried the fury of the quraish idolaters to the highest pitch as well as causing them great anxiety. they resolved to strike a decisive blow. they called a meeting in the "dar-un-nadwa," "house of counsel," built by their ancestor, qusayy ibn kilab. the most important resolutions were taken in this "dar-un-nadwa," where only the descendants of qusayy were admitted, but not until they had reached the age of forty. just as representatives of every division of the quraish were entering the "house of counsel," a tall, old man of haughty bearing, attired in woollen garments, appeared on the threshold. in reply to questions as to who he was and what he wanted, he replied: 'i am a shaikh of the najd. attracted by your noble gait and the sweetness of your favourite scents, i feel great desire to hear you speak. if ye consent to admit me to your noble assembly, perchance my advice may not be entirely useless.' the inhabitants of the najd lived too far away to be suspected of acting in complicity with mohammad, therefore the committee of the elders found that nothing prevented them from authorising the noble stranger to be present during the meeting, and he followed them into the hall of debate. the head committee started the discussion at once. 'we all know,' they said to each other, 'about the intrigues of this man mohammad and the danger with which he threatens our country. we will talk over the best means of defence. let each of us give his opinion freely.' the first to speak was abul bukhtari who made this proposal: 'let us cast our enemy into a dungeon, load him with chains, and bolt the door upon him until he die.'--'such a proceeding would be fraught with fatal consequences,' the shaikh of the najd objected, 'if you carry it out. the news of your act of violence would filter through the prison gates and reach the ears of mohammad's companions who, ye may be sure, would quickly attack you in order to free him. thanks to assistance of the yasrib mussulmans, they would be victorious. let us hear some one else's proposition.' asad ibn rabiya rose and said: 'why cannot we expulse him from among us and banish him from our country? when he is gone, little we reck where he taketh refuge or what becometh of him. we shall be well rid of him.'--'truly, a fine piece of advice!' exclaimed the shaikh of the najd. 'know ye nothing about the beauty of your adversary's speech, the charm of his voice and the strength of his arguments? scarcely will he have set foot among the neighbouring arab tribes, when he will dominate them by his eloquence, cause them to follow in his wake, and come back from exile at their head, to have his own way with you all! try and find a more reasonable plan to crush him.' then it was the turn of abu jahal. 'by our gods!' said he, 'i have a project which, i am certain, will satisfy you entirely.'--'speak! what is thy plan?' exclaimed his audience.--'this is it. in each subdivision of our tribe we'll choose a young, vigorous warrior belonging to a family equally noble and respected, and we'll place in his hand a well-sharpened sword. these young warriors, banded together, shall throw themselves on mohammad at the same instant; all striking him at once. by acting in this way, the responsibility of shedding his blood will be shared among all the subdivisions to which the murderers belong, and the abd manaf, relatives of the dead man, unable to declare war upon every subdivision of our tribe, will be obliged to content themselves with receiving the "diyah" (blood ransom) that we may be good enough to offer.'--'these are words of intelligence!' exclaimed the shaikh of the najd, who was no other than iblis (satan) disguised in human shape. 'that man's motion points to the only way out of your difficulty.' this perfidious counsel met with the unanimous approval of the assembly. the unbelievers flattered themselves that their enemy was already got rid of, but they had reckoned without the will of the almighty. the angel jibra'il, sent by him, warned the prophet of the conspiracy to take his life, and brought him orders to emigrate in his turn, at the same time warning him as follows: 'sleep not this night upon thy wonted couch.' in mohammad's house were several sums of money deposited with him by unbelievers, and he did not care to go away before having given back what was due to each rightful owner. he charged his faithful ali to carry this out, after having told him what he had just heard and saying: 'sleep in my stead, on my habitual couch, and wrap thyself in this--my green mantle of the hazramaut. fear naught; no harm can come to thee from my enemies.' when the first four hours of the night had gone by, the conspirators, among whom was abu jahal who had come to excite their zeal, were posted in ambush close to the door of the house, to prevent mohammad from escaping. they did not wish to consummate their crime in darkness, for people might then have denied the participation of the quraish. they preferred to await daybreak, so that it might be plainly visible that each and every one had an equal share in the murder. but he who never sleeps watched over his prophet surrounded by foes. "_verily on their necks, we have placed chains which reach the chin, and forced up are their heads * and before them have we set a barrier and behind them a barrier, and we have shrouded them in a veil, so that they shall not see._" (the qur'an, xxxvi, - .) confiding in the protection of his lord, mohammad crept quietly out of his dwelling, picking up some loose earth and throwing a handful or two on the head of each conspirator. he then went away. the eyes of the miscreants, beneath lids heavy with tedious waiting and blinded by the bandage of sleep that allah had placed thereon, saw nothing. 'for whom are ye watching here?' quoth a passer-by, coming on the scene.--'for mohammad.'--'allah hath saved him and he hath tricked you all. he hath just departed right under your noses and after covering your pates with dust, he strode away gaily.' each startled man swiftly clapped his hand to his head and, withdrawing his fingers dirty with dust, gave signs of stupefaction. but, peering through a crack in the door, they saw ali asleep on the prophet's couch and wrapped in his green mantle. this sight set the villains' minds at rest and they all stood sentinel till dawn. actuated by the same impulse, when the sun rose, they battered down the door and with swords unsheathed, threw themselves on ali. he sat up facing them. they recognised him and called out: 'how now! can it be thee, o ali? where is thy companion?'--'i know not.' in their fury at having been so finely tricked, they seized up ali and imprisoned him in the temple; but quickly recognising what a grave mistake they would make by being revenged on the son of abu talib, they set him free. [illustration: (calligraphy) _and before them have we set a barrier and behind them a barrier, and we have shrouded them in a veil, so that they shall not see._] [illustration: (ornamental page) chapter the fifth] [illustration: _interior of a mosque._ _al mihrab: the niche marking the direction of makkah._] [illustration: (calligraphy) _and fight for the cause of allah against those who fight against you._] chapter the fifth [sidenote: the hegira, or the emigration of the prophet to madinah] at the moment when the mohammedans were emigrating to yasrib, abu bakr begged the prophet to let him join them, but was answered thus: 'it is needless to hurry. maybe allah may give thee the companion thou dost prefer to undertake the journey in thy company.' hoping that this companion would turn out to be the prophet in person, abu bakr purchased two swift she-camels, which he stabled in the courtyard of his house, feeding them liberally, and keeping them in readiness to take to the road. ayishah has said: "the prophet, who never let a day go by, without coming to see my father, morning or evening, arrived suddenly at an unwonted hour. abu bakr guessed that some serious matter brought his son-in-law to our dwelling, and made room for him on the bench. the prophet sat down and told him: 'allah authoriseth me to depart from makkah with my "qawm." my turn hath come to emigrate.'--'with me, o prophet! in company with me?' supplicated abu bakr, plying him with questions. 'yea, in thy company.'--'at this answer, tears of joy such as i had never seen before, welled up in my father's eyes, and he apprised mohammad of his preparations for travel.'" the she-camels, in rare fettle, were handed over to ibn-i-arqas, an idolater, but in whom, nevertheless, abu bakr placed great confidence. ibn-i-arqas was to take them to graze, and three days later, lead them to a meeting-place appointed at the mouth of a cave in the jabal saur, about an hour and half's walk from makkah, on the road leading to the sea. ibn-i-arqas would then serve as a guide as far as yasrib. by a small door at the back of the house, the two fugitives went off secretly, stepping softly, and making their way to the saur cave. the prophet's naked feet were soon bleeding, cut by the sharp, loose stones of the mountain paths. abu bakr, in despair at seeing the blood of god's chosen one flowing, carried him on his back the rest of the way, and put him down in front of the entrance to the grot in which he entered first. he explored every hole and corner to make sure that it did not serve as a refuge for wild beasts or reptiles. he picked up all the stones, which he piled in his cloak, and threw them down the side of the mountain. then, with torn fragments of his apparel, he stopped up any holes which might have been places of concealment for scorpions or other venomous insects. then only did he admit mohammad who fell asleep, his head resting on his companion's thigh. but under the sand carpeting the cave, was hidden a viper which had thus escaped abu bakr's vigilant, searching glances. by an involuntary movement, the devoted disciple stamped on the reptile which, furious, turned with a hiss, and drove its dart into abu bakr's heel. the pain was atrocious, but, fearing to awaken the prophet whose head was pillowed on his companion's thigh, abu bakr made not the slightest movement, nor did he let a cry escape his lips. shortly afterwards, the venom began its malignant course through his veins, and the intensity of the pain drew tears from his eyes. a few burning drops fell on mohammad's cheek. waking up with a start, the prophet asked: 'what ails thee, o sincere friend?'--'i have been stung by a viper.' the sacrifice of his being, made by abu bakr, had overwhelmed him with joy bringing warmth to his heart, and triumphed over the evil effects of the poison that had begun to freeze his limbs, so that directly the prophet rubbed the poisonous wound with a little of his saliva, all pain and swelling disappeared. the quraish, disturbed and maddened by the flight of mohammad and abu bakr, despatched two town-criers, one on each side of the city of makkah, charging them to offer a reward of a hundred she-camels for anyone who should overtake the fugitives. the most cunning trackers set out in all directions. abu jahal lost no time in rushing to abu bakr's dwelling, and knocked furiously at the door. asma, ayishah's sister, came out to him. 'where is thy father?' he asked.--'by god! i know not,' she replied. he lifted his hand and slapped her face so brutally that he tore out one of her earrings. he then rejoined a group of young men who were following a clue that took them to the jabal saur. scarcely had his apostle sought shelter in the grot, then allah ordered a shrub, grown to about a man's height, and known as "umm-ul-ghilan," a little way off from the cave, to leave the spot where it flourished and block up the entrance. then he sent a spider to spin its web between the branches of the shrub and the jagged edges of the cavern's mouth; and also a pair of wild pigeons that built a nest and laid eggs in the narrow entrance. at that juncture, the trackers began to arrive from all parts, enticed by the bait of the reward; but they were brought to a standstill by the fragile barrier built by the most humble among insects: a web that the slightest breath of the breeze sufficed to destroy. 'there is nothing to be done in this cave,' declared one of the unbelievers, ummayyata ibn khalaf, just as they were getting ready to enter. 'see this cobweb. it dates, without a doubt, from before the birth of the man we are pursuing. how could mohammad have entered the cave without tearing these slender threads? and look at those pigeons' eggs. would he not have broken them as well?' all found these deductions well-grounded and gave up a search that seemed futile. abu jahal was the only one who guessed they were on the right track. 'nevertheless, i feel that our enemy is not far off,' he said. 'he is looking at us now, but magic spells cloud our eyes!' they went away, never thinking about searching on the ground for the tell-tale traces of the fugitives' footsteps. while this scene was being enacted, abu bakr trembled greatly; not for his own life, but for that of his companion, to whom he said: 'my death means nothing more than a man dying; but thine means all the lives of thy disciples!' they remained in their hiding-place three days and three nights. abdullah, son of abu bakr, passed the whole of the day among the unbelievers of makkah; and at night, brought all the news he could gather. ibn-i-fuhairah, one of abu bakr's shepherds, led his flock to graze among those of the quraish. at night, he drove his sheep in front of the cave, thus bringing food to the fugitives: milk and the flesh of the lambs. the following day, he went away with his flock, leading it over abdullah's tracks so as to efface them. on the third day, the vigilance of the quraish being somewhat relaxed, ibn-i-arqas kept his appointment punctually, bringing abu bakr's two she-camels, and a third belonging to him. asma, too, had not been idle. she brought bags filled with provisions. all being in readiness, abu bakr made the best camel kneel down in front of the prophet, whom he asked to mount on her back. 'i cannot ride a camel that doth not belong to me', replied mohammad.--'by my father and mother, she's thine! i give her to thee.'--'i cannot accept the gift. tell me what she cost thee. i'll buy her for the same price.' the bargain concluded, the prophet bestrode that she-camel. abu bakr rode the other, taking up behind him, ibn-i-fuhairah, his faithful serving-man. ibn-i-arqas, on his own camel, guided the little caravan on the western road to yasrib which runs, now and again, along the seashore. [sidenote: suraqa's mishap] quoth suraqa ibn malik: "i was in a group of makkans gossiping over recent events and the price set upon mohammad's head, when a man of the nomadic tribes, coming from the badya-land, told us the following story: 'on the road leading to the sea, i passed a small caravan comprising three she-camels. i seemed to recognise the riders. they were mohammad and his companions.' "i winked to him to be silent and said out loud, in an indifferent sort of tone: 'thou art mistaken. the folks thou didst meet were bedouins that i sent out to search for straying camels belonging to me.' "i remained a little longer in the midst of the citizens, before returning to my dwelling, where i ordered my serving-maid to lead my horse to a secluded spot in the valley. i also ordered one of my slaves, a negro gifted with prodigious strength and indomitable courage, to drive one of my camels to the same place and there await my coming. i left my house by a back-door, bending down, trailing my spear low, on a level with the ground, so as to prevent the glistening of steel in the sunlight. i took all these precautions so as not to call the attention of those who, allured by the promised reward, might have followed and forced me to share with them, were i successful. "arrived at the place of meeting, i mounted my camel and, accompanied by my slave who ran behind, holding my horse by the bridle, i diligently followed the track of the fugitives. when i thought i was sufficiently near to them, i mounted my horse, and left my camel to the care of my slave, giving him orders to rejoin me as quickly as possible. "my steed was fresh, not having been ridden for some days and he was renowned lor his speed. i put him at a gallop. but after a few strides, he stuck his toes in the ground and fell, his nostrils in the sand, snorting and trembling. i was thrown off. impressed by this evil omen, i pulled some "azlams" (divining arrows) out of my quiver to consult the decrees of fate. the signs pointed to bad luck, but the reward excited my greed, so i stuck to my plan and continued in pursuit. "shortly afterwards i caught sight of the fugitives and, urging on my steed, i got so near that i could hear the voice of the prophet reciting the qur'an; but to my great astonishment, the noise of my galloping horse's hoofs did not cause him the least uneasiness. he did not even deign to turn his head. on the other hand, abu bakr kept on looking round, and seemed to be in a state of the liveliest anxiety. "just another effort and i was right up with them, when suddenly my horse's legs sank up to his knees into the earth, although it seemed very hard and firm in that spot. i was thrown over his head. i got up, exasperated, swearing at him and lashing him to make him get a foothold. but all in vain. his struggles and efforts only succeeded in making him sink more deeply down, as far as his belly, whilst a dust-cloud resembling a pillar of smoke, issued from the hole where he was swallowed up. i was overcome by sudden fear. "once more i tried my luck by the arrows. the forebodings of evil fortune were just as plainly shown. feeling sure, therefore, that some great calamity was in store to punish me for my projects, i cried out: 'o mohammad, i plead for mercy at thy hands! in exchange, i'll bring thee useful tidings and beguile all those who are following me; but pray to thy god that he set my horse free.' "mohammad threw up his hands, saying: 'o allah! if suraqa is sincere, deliver his steed.' the words were no sooner out of his mouth than the soil lessened its grip, and getting up on my horse whose legs were now at liberty, i rejoined the fugitives with whom i offered to share my arms, and provisions. they refused, not wishing to accept anything from an unbeliever and they commanded me to leave them in peace. "from what i had witnessed, i became convinced that mohammad would conquer in the end, and i persisted in demanding a safe-conduct proving that he granted me his pardon and that there no longer existed any cause for enmity between him and me. obeying his orders, abu bakr made out, on a piece of leather, the document i claimed. it saved my life during the taif expedition. i then turned back. once more in makkah, i told my black slave and all my fellow-citizens--who had guessed the motives governing my journey--that i had seen nothing, and i cursed the information that had led me to set out on such a useless and fatiguing expedition." [sidenote: the prophet's arrival at quba (_june th a.d. _)] thanks to the inconceivable rapidity with which news travels in arabian countries, the mussulmen of yasrib had already heard of the prophet's departure and that he intended to rejoin them. quoth one among them: "every day, after the morning prayer, we go to the hira, a burning plain, covered with scattered black pebbles and which stretches out south-west of the town. there, our hands shading our eyes from the dazzling sun, we gaze as far as our sight permits, hoping to catch sight of allah's apostle. we turn not back in the direction of our dwellings until high noon, doubly defeated by the blaze of the perpendicular rays of the sun and their reverberation on white sand and calcined stones. "one day, among all these days of overwhelming heat, we had just returned, when a jew, noted for the extraordinary acuity of his sight, made out, from the top of one of the towers on the ramparts, a caravan consisting of a few men in white garb, mounted on camels. they seemed rising and falling, driven to and fro by the eddying mirage. "guessing that he saw the prophet and his companions, the jew turned round in the direction of the city. 'o assembly of the arabs!' he shouted in resouding accents, 'the good luck ye did expect hath come at last!' "awakened from our siesta, we rushed in the direction of the caravan. it was encamped at the foot of a solitary palm-tree, a few paces off the quba oasis. with abu bakr, the prophet was resting in the shade of this tree. as both appeared to be about the same age, and considering that the majority had never met allah's apostle, we hesitated, not knowing to whom of the couple we should pay homage. "just then, the palm's scanty shade having changed its direction, the sunlight fell on the face of one of the travellers. thereupon, we noticed the other rise to his feet and stretch his mantle over the head of his companion, to protect him from the rays of the orb of day. thus an end was put to our hesitation." the banu amir ibn auf to whom the hamlet of quba belonged, now arrived, transported with joy, to invite to sojourn in their midst the illustrious guest sent to them by allah. the prophet lodged with kulsum ibn hidmi; abu bakr with khubib ibn saf, while the other muhajirun took up their quarters with sad ibn khazimah, one of the najibs. [sidenote: the era of the hegira] this happy ending of mohammad's journey took place on a monday, at noon, the twelfth day of the month rabi'u'l-awwal. the year of this emigration, renowned under the name of "hijrah" (called "hegira" by the europeans), has been adopted by mussulmans for the beginning of their era. it corresponds to a.d. . at first, such a choice creates surprise, and yet no other event in the prophet's existence exercised more decisive influence over the world-wide success of his cause. had he remained in makkah, granting even his final triumph, islam would have remained there with him. the arabs of all arabia, fearing the power with which islam endowed the quraish alone, would have formed a coalition to prevent it spreading out of the sacred city. whereas, after having begun, despite all malice, to plant the roots of his religion firmly in his native town, it was easy for the prophet to return there when he had won over the rest of the arabs to his cause. this proves how impenetrable are the designs of providence, and how frequently the misfortunes with which god afflicts us, burdening us with suffering, determine the cause of our successes. if the prophet had not been persecuted and banished by his own people, he would never have been able to fulfil his universal mission, and the world would never have been enlightened by islam. the prophet sojourned at quba tuesday, wednesday and thursday. all rejoined him there. his faithful henchman, after having restituted all the deposits confided to his care to their rightful owners, arrived at quba, his feet badly lacerated, having tramped night and day. mohammad embraced him warmly, bandaged his wounds with his blessed hands, and made him rest by his side in kulsum's dwelling. mohammad also busied himself with laying the first brick of a mosque--the first place of public prayer in islam--and left to ammar ibn yasar the care of finishing it. this mosque was called "at taqwa," _i.e._ the mosque of "the fear of god." reference is made to it in these verses: "_there is indeed a mosque founded from its first day upon the fear of god; more right is it that thou take thy stand therein; therein are men who aspire to keep themselves pure and allah loveth those who purify themselves._" (the qur'an, ix, .) [sidenote: arrival of the prophet at yasrib] despite the persistence of the banu amir who wished him to remain in their hamlet, the prophet departed on friday, at daybreak, riding the she-camel he had bought of abu bakr, and which became celebrated under the name of "al-qaswa," _i.e._ "she that hath split ears and nostrils." a great throng of horsemen and people on foot followed him, and his companions fought for the honour of holding his bridle. the hour of prayer arrived when he was passing through the territory of the banu salim ibn auf. he alighted and recited, for the first time, the friday prayer, leading a numerous band of believers in pious array behind him. at the termination of the prayer, he turned towards the faithful to preach them a sermon. then he once more bestrode his she-camel, and escorted by a crowd animated by the most ardent enthusiasm, made a triomphal entry into yasrib. on every terrace-roof, the "zawat-ul-khidar," those who are generally hidden inside houses--women and young girls--were grouped together, ressembling, in their bright-hued draperies, pretty birds of vividly-tinted plumage, perched on the edges of cliffs. with melodious voices, quavering by reason of emotion, they sang in chorus: "the full moon hath risen above our heads--emerging from the sanniyat-ul-wida (the farewell mountain pass)!--numerous are the thanksgivings we must offer up to allah,--with the purest fervour of our supplications!--o thou, his messenger among us,--the orders thou dost bring us shall be piously executed!" in every district through which the prophet passed, that of the banu baid, banu saida, banu haris, banu adyy, etc., a deputation of leading men caught his camel by the bridle and stopped it, to be able to say: 'remain with us, o prophet! here wilt thou find riches, power and safety.' but he replied: 'let my she-camel go, for she hath received orders from on high.' and smiling kindly, he added: 'the blessing of allah be upon you!' he let the reins hang loose on the neck of the animal he was riding, and she, stretching her long neck far above the escort of believers, turned her head first to the right and then to the left, as if searching, with her great black eyes shaded by lengthy lashes, for the halting-place assigned to her by providence. after a thousand windings and turnings, she stopped in the middle of a wide expanse of waste ground, and knelt down; but as the prophet did not alight, she rose and took a few more strides, hesitatingly. finally, and decisively, she went back to the spot where she had stopped at first, and knelt down again. she stretched the entire length of her neck on the ground and uttered low grunts. so then mohammad alighted, saying: 'allah causeth me to set foot on the ground in a blessed spot. here will be the finest place in which to dwell.' this piece of property was a "marbad," _i.e._ a barn-floor, where dates were laid out to dry. it was situated in the district of the banu nijar, not far from the house of abu ayyub ansari who offered hospitality to the prophet, and took his saddle and saddle-bags to his dwelling. whilst the apostle, momentarily freed from the veneration of the populace, was settling under that friendly roof, young people and slaves dispersed in all directions, singing: 'mohammad hath come! the prophet of allah hath come to our town!' ever since that day, eternally memorable, the city of yasrib was called, "madinatu'n-nabi," the city of the prophet; and by abbreviation, "al-madinah." (medinah). [sidenote: how the mosque of al-madinah was built] at al-madinah, mohammad's first care was to erect a mosque. he sought for the owners of the ground where his she-camel had knelt, and they turned out to be two orphans, named sahil and sohail, whose guardian was muaz ibn afra. the prophet asked them how much they wanted for their piece of property. 'allah's reward is the only price we ask,' was their reply. mohammad, however, refused the gift. the purchase-money, fixed at ten dinars, was advanced by abu bakr, who had transferred all his wealth from makkah to al-madinah. acting under the prophet's orders, the believers lost no time in getting to work. they cleared up the "marbad," where there were ruined walls, a palm-tree and a few neglected tombs. they levelled the ground and, as soon as the foundations were dug, mohammad lifted a big stone to place in the cavity, and his noble breast became covered in dust. seeing this, his companions tried to prevent him from doing manual labour; but he said to abu bakr: 'say no more, but follow my example. put a stone next to mine.' he then commanded umar to place another at the side of the one set down by abu bakr; and each of the leading moslems contributed in succession his stone to the structure. when the stone foundations reached up to a third of the eventual height of the walls, the believers began to knead clay with water, making unbaked bricks, with which they intended to finish the building. the prophet, as before, continued to encourage his followers by his example, and he carried bricks in his mantle. seeing one of the workers with a double load on his back, mohammad wiped his disciple's hair and neck, soiled with clay, and said: 'the reward of the labourer awaits him in heaven, but thou wilt find a double reward.' all the believers toiled in high spirits, and to quicken their task by working in measure, the masons sang in chorus, and the verses of their chants related to their exalted hopes. when the walls were seven cubits high, the faithful covered the building with a flat roof, made of palm-tree trunks, thatched with lathes and palm-leaves. on this, they spread a layer of beaten earth, thick enough to prevent rain filtering through. the ceiling was supported inside by columns of date-tree trunks, and the floor was sprinkled with gravel. the building was one hundred cubits in length; its breadth being a little less. it could be entered by three doors; of which the principal was called "bab-ur-rahma," or "door of mercy." the "mimbar," or pulpit, was fashioned out of a simple palm-tree trunk on which the prophet mounted when he preached his sermons. it can thus be seen that this first mosque, identical with those of the poorest villages of the sahara, was far from resembling the marvellous edifices which were to be constructed a little later for the islamic religion. at the same time as the mosque was being finished, mohammad had caused two little hovels to be built with clods of earth--"hujrah"--leaning against the walls of the temple. the prophet proposed to live there with his family and he sent zayd, his adopted son, to makkah to fetch them. when the houses were finished, he left the dwelling of abu ayyub and settled down with his people who lost no time in arriving. as for the muhajirun, they had all been generously and hospitably welcomed by the ansars, proud and joyful to receive beneath their roof-trees those of the strangers who fell to them by lot. mohammad was especially moved by the cordial welcome extended to his fellow-countrymen by his new disciples. but, with his great insight concerning the souls of mortals, he resolved to tighten the bonds of such touching friendship. so that it should be proof against all insinuations dictated by the rivalry, inevitable in the future, between the muhajirun who had forsaken their country, families and wealth to follow him; and the ansars who had offered the safe shelter and material assistance to which his triumph was due. would not each party have some little reason to claim for it alone first rank in the prophet's affection and the annals of islam? in order to avoid such dangerous contingencies and create real family ties for the exiles, mohammad profited by the cloudless exaltation uniting muhajirun and ansars just then, to issue a decree of perfect brotherhood between them. he ordained that they should pair off in couples consisting of a man of the mohajirun and an ansar. 'fraternise in allah!' he told them. 'ye are brothers!' henceforward, every mussulman of al-madinah had for brother a mussulman of makkah. it would be sheer madness to try and find words to express the degree of devotion attained by this brotherhood of religion, stronger than ties of blood, for it was supernatural. all these men's hearts, united in the love of allah, were now nothing more than a single heart, palpitating in different breasts. each man loved his brother better than himself, and during the first years of the hegira, when one died, the other inherited his property, to the exclusion of his natural heirs. among the fraternal unions thus constituted, we may note those of abu bakr with kharijah ibn zayd; ummar with usman ibn malik; abu ubaidah with sad ibn muaz; and usman ibn affan with aus ibn najar. the prophet had been the first to choose ali for his brother, thus sealing the bond of fraternity that he had signed when beginning his mission. but as ali belonged to the muhajirun, the ansars might have been vexed because the apostle did not choose a brother in their ranks. that was why, at the death of one of their najibs, asad ibn zararah, mohammad took his place as najib, pretexting that he was one of them, because his uncle on his mother's side had formerly dwelt in their city. in this way, thanks to his sense of psychology and diplomatic skill, mohammad achieved a wonderful result: the wars between the kajraz and the aus which, for centuries past, had deluged yasrib with blood, ceased as by magic, soon after his arrival. he metamorphosed the inhabitants of al-madinah into the brothers of the makkan emigrants, formerly their rivals. [sidenote: the quiblah of makkah] in the beginning, the prophet allowed the believers full liberty to turn in any direction they pleased when saying their prayers, for: "_the east and the west is allah's; therefore, whichever way ye turn, there is the face of allah. truly allah is omnipresent, omniscient._" (the qur'an, ii, ). while terminating the building of the first mosque, the prophet divined that prayerful impulsiveness diverted in one direction would be more thrilling, because of the feeling of union in the same ideals that was bound to result. by means of a cube of masonry, composed of stone and clay placed against the wall of the building looking south, he primitively established the qiblah, or direction of prayer, towards the temple of jerusalem. but he was ordered by a verse to change the direction towards makkah: "_we have formerly seen thee turning thy face towards every part of the heaven; but we will assuredly have thee turn to a qiblah which shall please thee. turn then thy face towards the sacred mosque, and wherever ye be, turn your faces in that direction._" (the qur'an, ii, ). and ever since that day, the qiblah remains definitively fixed for all the mussulmans of the world, in the direction of the temple of makkah. [sidenote: institution of the azan, or call of the mu'azzin] prayer in common is incontestably the most profitable; the fervour of each believer communicating with the soul of his neighbour. "it is worth twenty-seven times more than isolated prayer," says the prophet. it was therefore necessary to summon all believers together every day, at the same hours fixed for the five prayers. how was the exact time of meeting to be determined? scattered over the different districts of the city, some came too early; others too late. a consultation of the leading moslems took place. some were for the use of a beacon, to be lit on a commanding eminence; others suggested the blowing of a horn; and the rest proposed bell-ringing. but all these methods were rejected, because they were borrowed, from persians, jews or christians. [illustration: _the mu'azzin's call._] meanwhile, abdullah ibn zayd arrived, and he told of a dream he had had the night before. a man attired all in green passed close to me, carrying a hand-bell. i stopped him and begged him to sell me his bell. 'what dost thou want it for?'--'to summon believers to prayer.'--'a much better way,' he replied, 'would be to proclaim the profession of faith of islam with all the strength of thy lungs.' the prophet, alive to the fact that the resonance of the human voice is more capable of communicating emotion than the most perfect metal instrument of music, declared at once: 'in thy dream was truth. go and find bilal. his voice is powerful and harmonious. i charge thee to order him to mount to the roof of the mosque and summon the believers to prayers.' so bilal, the freed negro, told to call all the believers together, of all ranks and races, uttered from the terrace of the mosque the cry of the islamic soul: "_allah is great! there is no god but allah, and mohammad is the prophet of allah! come to prayer! come to salvation!_" like exquisite perfume wafted from a priceless flask, these words in the melodious voice of bilal and issuing from his strong lungs, resounded through the city. echoing in all dwellings, they caused every citizen to inhale with delight the refreshing scent of prayer. ever since, in every mosque all the world over, it is the duty of a crier, called a "muazzin," to give this summons to prayer five times daily which he does from the top of a slender minaret erected for that purpose. [sidenote: the fast of ramadhan] after having decided that the human voice should be used for the call to prayer, mohammad, when first he dwelt in al-madinah, continued to set forth the formal obligations of the islamic religion. he was in the habit of fasting three days every month when he received this revelation: "_as to the month ramadhan, in which the qur'an was sent down to be man's guidance ... as soon as anyone of you observeth the moon, let him set about the fast..... you are allowed on the night of the fast to approach your wives: they are your garment and ye are their garment ... eat and drink until ye can discern a white thread from a black thread by the daybreak: afterwards fast strictly till night, and go not in unto them, but pass the time in the mosques._" (the qur'an, ii, , ). by these verses was the fast of the month of ramadhan established, and numerous were the advantages accruing therefrom: man, full of self-love, runs after everything bringing material gratification, and flees from all that falls to the lot of the poor and the weak. to rid him of this fatal propensity, nothing is more salutary than the pangs of hunger and thirst. the faithful, their bodies no longer burdened by their aliments, foregathered all day long, and the nourishment that prayer provided for their souls, was more impatiently expected than the nourishment of their stomachs. in the torrid climate of al-madinah, nevertheless, their thirst, unquenched during never-ending summer days, became real torture. with dry throats, gasping, many among them were on the point of breaking down when they looked upon the limpid water of the "saqiya" and heard its tempting trickling. the example of their brethren, more resigned, soon made them pluck up fresh courage. the bonds of religious fraternity were tightened still more by this ordeal, and, having assisted each other to vanquish such terrible adversaries as hunger and thirst, believers were ready to stand firm against the fiercest enemies among mortals. during thirty days, without murmuring and with ever-increasing exaltation, the ansars and the mohadjirun went through the first fast of ramadhan. at last the crescent of the new month was about to appear; every terrace-roof and all the hills were crowded with the faithful, all trying to get the first glimpse. the sun's golden disc was scarcely submerged in the blue waves of the desert's horizon when every eye scrutinised anxiously the depths of the sky of emerald-like limpidity. suddenly, in the lower part of the shaded canopy of heaven, the thin silver bow appeared. a long-drawn sigh escaped from every breast, as if each had been pierced by invisible arrows, shot from this bow. but the faithful had heaved no sigh of deliverance. on the contrary, the sigh was caused by regret at having so soon concluded the fasting ordeal, in easy payment of the debt of gratitude owing to the benefactor. during this pious trial, each soul was fortified and each body strengthened. in order to pass through the frightful deserts that encircled them, before going forth to conquer the world, the believers were training themselves to get accustomed, as if it were a mere pastime, to endure the tortures of hunger and thirst that they were bound to undergo, later on, in the depths of these very wildernesses. when, after such self-imposed deprivation, they were able to appreciate the real value of the benefit of food, the prophet imposed upon them the "sadaqat-ul-fitr," the alms of the breaking of the fast, forcing the faithful rich to give a share of their victuals to the faithful poor. [sidenote: property bestowed in alms, and the prohibition of fermented liquours] mohammad judged that the obligation of feeding the poor once a year, the day after the fast, was insufficient. he completed his ruling by instituting the "zakat-ul-mal," the bestowal of property in alms, intended to safeguard the existence of pauper mussulmans without overburdening rich folks. this kind of almsgiving, being one of the five foundations of pratical religion, is due upon all property and revenue whatsoever: gold, silver, flocks, fruits, grain; and varies from a third to a tenth of such resources. it should be bestowed with the greatest tact and humility: "_o ye who believe! make not your alms void by reproach and injury, like him who spendeth his substance to be seen of men. the likeness of such an one is that of a rock with a thin soil upon it, on which a heavy rain falleth, but leaveth it hard * and the likeness of those who expend their substance from a desire to please allah, and through their own steadfastness, is as a garden on a hill, on which the heavy rain falleth, and yieldeth its fruits twofold; and even if a heavy rain fall not on it, yet there is a dew ... * if ye give your alms openly, it is well; and if ye conceal them and give them to the poor, this too will be of advantage to you ... * those who know them not, think them rich because of their modesty. by this their token thou shall know them--they ask not of men with importunity: and whatever good thing ye expend in alms, allah verily taketh knowledge of it. * ye shall by no means attain to goodness till ye expend that which ye love as alms. * but alms are only to be given to the poor and the needy, and those who collect them, and to those whose hearts are won to islam, and for ransoming, and for debtors, and for the cause of allah, and the wayfarer. this is an ordinance from allah._" (the qur'an, ii, , , . iii, . ix, .) by the foregoing verses, was instituted the impost of the "zakat-ul-mal;" literally: "the purification," because it serves, as it were, to "purify" wealth and excuse it. the prophet foresaw the universal ravages of alcoholism, as deadly in its effects as the worship of idols, and he forbade the use of fermented liquors. he had first received this revelation: "_they will ask thee concerning vinous liquors ... say: in them is great sin, and advantage also, to men; but their sin is greater than their advantage._" (the qur'an, ii, .) many among the faithful gave up these beverages, whilst others could not bring it over their hearts to do so. a second revelation brought this caution: "_come not to prayer when drunken, bid wait till ye can understand what ye utter._" (the qur'an, iv, .) ali caused this announcement. having drunk to excess just at the hour of prayer, he recited: 'o ye unbelievers ... we worship what ye worship. ye have no religion and i have no religion,' instead of saying: "_o ye unbelievers * i worship not what ye worship! * to you your religion; and to me my religion._" (the qur'an, cix, , , .) formal prohibition was finally decreed in these imperative verses: "_o believers! wine and games of chance, and statues and the divining arrows, are only an abomination of satan's work! avoid them, that ye may prosper. * only would satan sow hatred and strife among you, by wine and games of chance, and turn you aside from the remembrance of allah, and from prayer: will ye not, therefore, desist from them? obey allah and obey the apostle!_" (the qur'an, v, , .) [sidenote: ayishah in the house of the prophet] ayishah, so kind, witty, and learned, was only the prophet's wife in name. about this time, she became a member of his household. quoth ayishah: "one day, surrounded by my companions, i was playing on a swing. umm-i-rumman, my mother, called me. "i ran to her without knowing what she wanted of me. she took my hand, and made me stop on the threshold until i had got my breath. she then washed my face and forehead and led me into the house. many women of the ansars were there and they said to me: 'happiness do we wish thee, and blessings, and the best of luck!' "my mother left me to the care of these women. they decked me out and had scarcely finished when allah's apostle suddenly came in...." [sidenote: hostility of the jews and the munafiqin] in the beginning, a certain number of jews--and among them, the learned mukhariq and abdullah ibn salam, were so moved by the advances and arguments of the prophet that they came and were converted by him. as for the others, their vanity was greatly flattered by the fact that the temple of solomon, their ancestor, had been chosen for the qiblah, or direction in which moslems were to pray. their pride, therefore, led them to conclude that their temple was immensely superior to that of makkah, and consequently that the jewish race dominated the arabs. when, following the orders of allah, the qiblah was changed from jerusalem to the ka'bah, they were deeply mortified. besides, they soon found out how prejudicial to their interests was the coming of mohammad to al-madinah. thanks to his efforts, fraternity reigned among the arab factions, whose feuds had hitherto been a source of profit. the prophet, whose advent was foreshadowed in their books and on whom they founded great hopes, was born at last. they saw him in their midst, but he did not belong to their race; he sprung from that of ishmael. mohammad brought with him the pure light of islam which they sought to extinguish by every means in their power. not venturing to rely on their own strength, they sought to embroil the arab townsmen and met with valuable assistance granted by a few noblemen, whose prejudices were wounded by the principles of equality of the qur'an. they felt belittled at merely becoming the brothers of those they scorned as being beneath them. these fresh adversaries, who were called "munafiqin," or hypocrites, were particularly dangerous, for they mingled in the ranks of sincere mussulmans and, to all appearances, professed the same doctrines. in this way, they wormed out secrets and sold them to jews and idolaters. [sidenote: al-jahad (the holy war), and how it was instituted] the prophet began to feel the urgency of taking up arms for the triumph of the faith, which could not be definitive until after the conquest of makkah where stood the holy temple of the arabs. he had received the revelation of the warlike undertaking with orders to unsheath the sword in his struggle against idolaters: "_and fight for the cause of allah against those who fight against you: but commit not the injustice of attacking them first: verily allah loveth not the unjust: * and kill them wherever ye shall find them, and eject them from whatever place they have ejected you..._" (the qur'an, ii, , .) such were the ordinances of "al-jahad," "the holy war" so violently criticised by christians. but did not jesus--their lord and ours--himself declare: "think not that i am come to send peace on earth: i come not to send peace, but a sword." (st. matthew, x, .) "i am come to send fire on the earth; and what will i, if it be already kindled?" (st. luke, xii, .) if the institution of the "jahad," destined for the triumph of truth over idolatry, stirred up strife among the families of mohammad's fellow-countrymen for a few years, did not the words of jesus, still more imperative in this connection, lead to much more terrible consequences; lasting too, for centuries among all christian nations? "for i am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." (st. matthew, x, .) "if any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." (st. luke, xiv, .) the "jahad" was not instituted to attack the adversaries of religion only; it was also proclaimed against those enemies, no less perfidious, that lurk in every man's own heart. quoth the prophet: "the most meritorious holy war is that which one declares against one's own "passions."" mohammad and the believers had been patient quite long enough. banished from the land of their birth after having endured pitiless persecution, did they not have the right, relying on the revealed verses, to resort to the force of arms? the site of al-madinah ensured victory, for that city overlooked all the caravan routes to syria, of which the commerce formed the sole resource of makkah, surrounded by barren wastes. by stopping these caravans, the prophet could starve out the ungrateful town and force its citizens to beg for mercy. in this way, the apostle would not be compelled to kill too many of his fellow-countrymen, whom he still loved despite their iniquity. he wanted to spare them, hoping to win them over and induce them to become steadfast supporters of religion. thus began the long series of campaigns called "ghazwah" when the prophet was personally in command; and "saria," when one of his lieutenants led the van. we shall only mention the most characteristic of these innumerable expeditions; putting on one side the first minor skirmishes and come at once to the famous ghazwah of badr. [sidenote: the ghazwah of badr (_year of the hegira, a.d. _)] a caravan of exceptional importance, comprising a thousand camels, had been sent into syria by the citizens of makkah. it was to bring back the most valuable and highly-prized merchandise. this was the opportunity awaited by the prophet. if he succeeded in capturing the caravan, he would deal a ruinous blow at those who banished him and, as he hoped, without useless bloodshed, for the escort of the convoy numbered at most two score. these men could oppose no real resistance and would be obliged to surrender without fighting. the prophet arrived too late. the caravan had gone past. he made up his mind to fall upon it by surprise during its return journey. one of his partisans, posted by him to watch the roads, brought the news that the caravan had been seen, and would soon be near al-madinah, following the usual route, between the mountains and the sea. thereupon, the prophet summoned all the believers, of any origin whatsoever. the call was answered by more than three hundred men, all desirous of inflicting exemplary punishment on the idolaters. seventy-three mohadjirun joined the ranks and, for the first time, two hundred and forty ansars stood shoulder to shoulder with their brothers in islam. seventy camels were gathered together to carry water and food; and also to relieve men on foot who took it in turns to ride. the expedition was poor in cavalry, possessing only four horses whose names were beraja, al-bahrmi, yasum and sail. they were led riderless by the bridle, only to be used at some propitious moment during the battle. the "liwa," or white banner, was confided to musab-al-abdri, and the flag of the ansars was carried by sad ibn muaz. unfortunately, the organisation of such a numerous "qawm" could not be kept secret. the "hypocrites" and the banu israil, watching every step taken by mohammad, found out what he was preparing and also his destination. they send messengers to abu sufyan, the leader of the caravan, to inform him of the threatening danger. he sent an arab of the ghifar tribe, named dhamdham, to beg for assistance and promised him a rich reward if, thanks to his diligence, the convoy could be saved. all the inhabitants of makkah had contributed, more or less, to the organisation of the great caravan; and, counting upon its approaching return, they were already revelling in the fine profits that would accrue to them. all day long, in groups, they wended their way to the city gates, gazing, till their eyes ached, into the depths of the valley following the road to syria, hoping to catch sight of a messenger. at last there came a day when a man, swaying to and fro, by reason of the swift amble of his racing camel, appeared at the end of the ravine, advancing towards them. when he was near enough to enable his aspect and that of the animal to be made out, the stupefaction of the makkans was inconceivable. to show his despair, the man, who was no other than dhamdham, had rent his garments, turned his saddle round, slit the nostrils and cut the ears of his camel. as soon as he was near enough to make himself heard, weak from fatigue, gasping for breath, he cried out: 'woe unto you, o men of the quraish! your caravan--your caravan!...' in great anxiety, the quraish gathered round him, besieging him with questions; and when he could breathe freely, he described the perilous plight of their caravan. their fury broke loose. just when they were on the point of fulfilling their most dazzling hopes, this man mohammad, of whom they thought they had rid themselves for ever, threatened them with ruin! an urgent council, called together hastily, decided that there was not a moment to lose. to prevent such a catastrophe, every one, rich or poor, was ready to sacrifice riches and life. an army was immediately raised, composed of nine hundred and fifty men, having at their disposal one hundred horses and seven hundred camels. the idolatrous troops marched out of the town amidst frenzied cheers; groups of young singing-girls, each as dazzling as the sun; their faces radiant; their eyes sparkling; their garb of the brightest hues, glittering with gold and precious stones, headed the warriors. these girls shouted bitter mockery against the mussulmans; or recited epic poems, accompanying their rhymes with the thumping of tabors, causing the hearts of their lovers to palpitate with burning ardour. what spurred them on even better were the suggestions of iblis (satan) who, lurking in the recesses of their souls, filled the unbelievers with dreams of victory and vengeance, although ready to desert his victims shamelessly in case allah should exert his might in favour of their adversaries. "_the evil one had already bewitched them by exaggerated praise of their actions; and furthermore had said: 'no man shall conquer you this day; and verily i will be near to help you._'" (the qur'an, viii, ) the prophet had no idea of his enemies' preparations. after having laid in a stock of water at al-rouha, he halted near the village of safra; pitched his tents in the valley of zufran, and sent out two scouts, bisbas and adi, to seek for information. at early morn, the following day, he took to the road again, halting a few miles away from the wells of badr. the two scouts, guessing that the caravan was heading towards this important spot for replenishing water supplies, reached there by having urged on their camels unmercifully. on arriving, they met two bedouin women who were quarrelling loudly, while they filled their goat-skins. with insulting remarks, one claimed the repayment of a loan, and the woman in debt replied: 'have patience until to-morrow or the day after, for by then the great caravan will have come back and thereby i shall have earned enough to settle with thee.'--'she is right,' broke in an najd, chief of the juhinna tribe, who happened to be at the well. 'they tell me that the caravan will certainly be here to-morrow or the next day.' having got to know all they wanted, bisbas and adi watered their animals and rode back in all haste to bring the news to the prophet, well pleased to see that things had turned out exactly as he foresaw. a few minutes later, however, he was rejoined by one of his partisans in his pay at makkah. this friend brought bad news: the expedition of the idol-worshippers was coming by forced marches to the succour of abu sufyan. these tidings caused mohammad the greatest anxiety: the ardour of the mussulmans, who had set out to attack a caravan defended by a weak escort, might perhaps be damped upon finding themselves faced by superior forces? he did not intend to hide the gravity of the situation, but calling the head-men together, he laid the information before them, and asked where they thought it would be best to make their effort. they were submerged by a great wave of vacillation. it must be confessed that the irresistible bait of booty added great charm to a wish to inflict punishment on the idolaters. under the necessity of coming to a decision, some of them objected: 'dost thou lead us to be slaughtered?' they were severely blamed for speaking thus. "_and remember when allah promised you that one of the two troops should fall to you, and ye desired that they who had no arms should fall to you._" (the qur'an, viii, .) then uprose mikdad, protesting stoutly: 'o prophet! go without hesitation whither thou art ordered. by allah! we'll not tell thee as the banu israil told moses: "go fight by the side of the lord and we'll await thy return here!" on the contrary, we say to thee: "go fight by the side of thy lord and thou wilt find us with thee, always and everywhere."' the prophet called down divine blessings on the head of his courageous disciple; and then added: 'reflect, o my partisans!' he then turned towards the ansars who might not have considered themselves bound by the oath of the aqbah to do anything else than to protect him so long as he dwelt in their town. but sad ibn muaz rose to his feet, pained to have to think that the devotion of the ansars could be doubted, if only for a moment. 'our confidence in thee is unlimited. we have given thee our word,' he exclaimed. 'go where thou art ordered and i swear by him who sendeth thee to bring about the triumph of truth, that shouldst thou ask us to jump in the sea, we would leap with thee!' this declaration freed the prophet from the anxiety that weighed him down, and which had prevented him from having recourse to the ansars in preceding expeditions. his features were radiant with inspired, grateful emotion; and fixing his eyes on a vision that he alone was privileged to see: 'rejoice, o men of my "qawm!" he cried. 'i look upon warriors fighting, and the enemy's troops are routed!' there was not a man but what understood that soon the battle would rage and all made preparations with admirable confidence. as for abu sufyan, ever since he had been warned that the mussulmans were on the march, he was constantly on the look-out. he accelerated the speed of the caravan and, going on in front himself, arrived at badr soon after the prophet's scouts. he questioned an najd who had not yet left the well. 'hath no prowler been seen about here?'--'i only saw two camels, each ridden by a man; and they watered their animals.' abu sufyan hastened to the spot where the traces could still be seen, showing where the camels had knelt whilst their masters drew water from the well. he found fresh droppings, and, crumbling some in his fingers, picked out many date-kernels. 'by our gods! these camels hail from al-madinah, and the enemy is not far off!' he thought, knowing that in all the country round, only the camels of al-madinah were fed on soaked kernels of dates. therefore, changing the direction of the caravan at once so as to leave the badr well on one side, he turned off the direct road and took a westerly route along the sea-shore. he was thus able to escape from the soldiers of islam; and when he was safe, sent another messenger to the quraish, to inform them of what he had done, advising them to return to makkah, as he no longer desired their aid. 'nothing of the kind!' exclaimed their chief, abu jahal, carried away by hatred. 'let us push on to the well of badr. we'll camp there three days and three nights, passing the time in joyous revels, slaughtering cattle, enjoying the meat, and drinking our fill of wine. every year a fair is held there, lasting a week, attracting arabs from far and near. when they hear of our expedition to that spot, the echo of the news will have a great effect, inspiring all with salutary fear of our power!' puffed up with pride by reason of this speech, so flattering to their vanity, and allured by the festivals and liquors in store for them, the idolaters approved their chieftain's plan and continued on the march to badr. the believers bent their steps towards the same goal, not knowing whether they would meet the caravan, the quraish army, or both united. in order to find out, mohammad sent ali and zubayr as scouts. they caught two young men seeking for a well from which to fill their empty goat-skins, strapped to their shoulders. they were made prisoners and taken to the camp to be interrogated, but as the prophet was at his devotions, the scouts questioned the lads. 'we were looking for water for the quraish army,' the two captives confessed. the quraish forces, therefore, were already in these parts? this seemed most unlikely, for the scouts did not know the strength of the enemy in camels and horses, and considered the prisoners' avowal to be a falsehood. so they fell to brutally beating the young idolaters. 'think not that ye can hoodwink us with your lies,' said ali and zubayr. 'we know perfectly well that ye belong to the caravan of abu sufyan.' again they rained blows on the boys. to escape such unjust chastisement, and also to keep the mussulmans in this state of error so profitable to abu jahal's plans, because it prevented mohammad's men from suspecting how close their enemies were to them, the prisoners began to supplicate their tormentors. 'mercy, my lords! verily nothing escapeth your sharp sight! yea, we confess it--we belong to abu sufyan's caravan.' proud of their perspicacity and content with having obtained this avowal, ali and zubayr set them free. meanwhile the prophet had finished praying, and as he knew how to read men's minds, he upbraided his disciples. 'what is all this? when your prisoners tell you the truth, ye beat them, and now they lie and ye set them free?' he continued the examination. 'where are the quraish?'--'on the other side of that high hill of sand.'--'how many are they?'--'we know not.'--'how many camels do they slaughter daily?'--'nine or ten.'--'oho? they number from nine hundred to a thousand,' said mohammad to himself. 'who is at their head?' the prisoners quoted the names of the most noted men of the city, and the prophet, shaking his head sadly, turned to his companions, saying: 'of a truth, makkah sends against us the best part of its liver!' (meaning its best beloved children.) nevertheless, the die was cast. the mussulmans, who had set out to fall on a caravan protected by a puny escort, found themselves facing a force at least three times greater than theirs, and assisted by formidable cavalry. at all costs, the well of badr must be reached before the enemy. the believers began their march again and attained the borders of the wadi superior which they found quite dry. their supply of water was exhausted, and next day they suffered terribly from thirst. satan tried to exploit these pangs by filling their brains with most depressing thoughts. 'see where you are led by the man who pretendeth to be the messenger of the almighty! ye are surrounded by countless enemies, only waiting till your strength be broken by the agonies of thirst. they will then attack you and ye will be defenceless and an easy quarry.' every brain was bewildered. luckily, their training during the fast of ramadhan had accustomed the believers to endure the torments of thirst and prevented them from breaking down. at the very moment when the heat, concentrated in the lofty heights of the wadi, was on the point of making their position untenable, great clouds crowned the high peaks. the sombre veils darkening the sun were torn aside, and allah let loose beneficial showers to drench his faithful servants. the wadi, only just before filled with stones and sand, was transformed into a raging torrent. the believers were able to quench their thirst, and they dug holes all along the wadi that was at once filled by the swelling of the waters. they washed their clothing, heavy with sweat, and performed their ablutions. last, but not least, the shifting sands that rendered their advance so difficult, grew solid by the damp, and made the ground firm beneath their feet. "_he sent down upon you water from heaven that he might thereby cleanse you, and cause the pollution of satan to pass from you, and that he might gird up your hearts, and stablish your feet by it._" (the qur'an, viii, .) for the idolaters, the storm was most disastrous. it overtook them in soil known as "sabkha," signifying low-lying clay mixed with salt, churned by wet into greasy, sticky mud. their camels slipped up and fell, their long legs comically gliding backwards, powerless to rise without the help of their drivers. horses floundered, their hoofs sinking in the mire and, unable to find foothold, dropped back on their riders. the confusion and tumult cannot be described, and the efforts of the unbelievers, to extricate themselves, hampered their advance and exhausted them by fatigue. the believers, being cleansed, purified and refreshed, passed the night in invigorating sleep. they did not even take the trouble to post sentinels, relying blindly on the words of the prophet who assured them that the angels would guard the camp. he alone remained wakeful, absorbed in prayer. "_recollect when sleep, a sign of security from him, fell upon you._" (the qur'an, viii, .) the hour arrived when the fate of islam was to be decided. it was on a friday, the seventeenth day of the month of ramadhan. [illustration: _believers perceiving the new moon of the month of ramadhan._] hubbab-ul-ansari, renowned for his sage counsels, craved permission to be heard, 'o prophet!' said he; hath the spot where we are now encamped been pointed out by a revelation, and therefore we are forbidden to go forward or retreat? or are we free to discuss the choice of ground befitting warlike strategy?'--'no revelation hath imposed this place upon me. speak freely and explain any stratagem that thou dost judge the most advantageous.'--'in that case, strike the tents,' hubbab rejoined, 'and with our troops, go down the channel of the wadi and fill up every well we pass until arriving at the last. there thou must dig a reservoir that will fill itself with all the water running under the sand, whilst the wells higher up, which we shall have choked, will have run completely dry. i know the strength and direction of the stream. thanks to this reservoir, our warriors, during the battle, will be able to refresh their burning throats or relieve their sufferings if wounded, but our adversaries will not find anywhere in the surrounding country a single drop of water wherewith to slake their thirst.' this piece of advice seemed reasonable to the prophet, who carried out hubbab's idea to the letter, and so fixed the future battlefield, for the unbelievers would be forced to come and try to wrest from him the only spot where water was to be found. then sad ibn muaz spoke: 'o prophet! allow us to build for thee an "arish" (shelter from the sun's rays) on this hill, from which thou wilt be able to watch every move in the fighting. near thee, thy she-camel shall be hobbled, and we will gallop into the enemy's midst. should allah grant us victory, thine eyes will be gladdened by the sight of our valour in defending the faith. should fate be against us, thou wilt have naught else to do than to climb into the saddle and rejoin our rearguards, as devoted to thee as we are, and who will cover thy retreat.' the prophet accepted, adding: 'allah will reward you all by rendering assistance more efficacious than anything ye can imagine.' the believers cut down twigs of "araq" which they wattled, and so set up a shelter thatched with sheaves of "surfah". mohammad retired therein in company with abu bakr, and when the advanced groups of enemy horsemen made their appearance, wheeling about defiantly before his eyes: 'o allah!' he exclaimed, 'so there are the quraish at last; urged on by monstrous pride to brave thee and call thy messenger a liar!' the enemy was assembled. after their efforts of the preceding day to extricate themselves from the briny mud of the "sabkah," they had awakened with their throats afire; the storm, over too soon, not having filled any of the "ghadirs" and the wells of the wadi having been choked up, the idolaters had not been able to find the least drop of water to allay the thirst that began to torture them. it was not to be wondered at, therefore, that the sight of the sheet of water sparkling in the reservoir dug by the believers and which reflected the sun's rays, blinding their eyes, should increase the fury of their revengeful feelings. some of the horsemen, reckoning on the speed of their steeds, dashed recklessly forward, hoping to reach the tempting liquid. the prophet ordered his archers to let the mounted men get quite near, and when they were well within range, to riddle them with showers of arrows. all rolled on the ground, mortally wounded, with the exception of one rider, called hakim. al asad al makhzumi, another idolater, instead of being discouraged by the result of this first attempt, felt his blood boiling in his veins and shouted loudly enough to be heard by both parties: 'by our gods! by lat and uzza! i swear to slake my thirst in the cistern of mohammad's "qawm." then i'll demolish it and only death can stop me!' he dashed forward, brimming over with arrogance. hamzah went to meet him and, with a blow from his scimitar, sliced off one of his legs and sent it flying. al asad fell backwards, turned himself over, and hopping with surprising agility on both hands and his sound leg, tried to make his way to the reservoir and keep his oath. but hamzah was there to meet him and finished him off just as he reached the goal. three champions came forward from among the ranks of the unbelievers to challenge the believers to single combat, and they were utbah with his son, al walid, and his brother, shaibah. hamzah, ali, and obaidah were chosen by the prophet to oppose them. stalwart hamzah and impetuous ali soon rid themselves of their adversaries, stretching them bleeding and lifeless on the sand, but obaidah and utbah had no sooner crossed swords than they both wounded each other grievously. obaidah, one leg so deeply gashed that the marrow dripped from the bone, was on his back, at his enemy's mercy, when ali and hamzah came to the rescue and freed him by killing utbah. they then lifted up their wounded comrade and carried him to the prophet, who supported his head lovingly on his knee, consoling him by the glad tidings of the reward awaiting him in paradise. obaidah soon breathed his last sigh and was thus the first martyr struck down in the holy war. after these single combats causing the hearts of all the lookers-on to palpitate with warlike ardour, the shock of the forces could no longer be postponed. the prophet had drawn up his warriors in line, shoulder to shoulder, in serried ranks, like stone blocks cemented to form a wall, and it was all he could do to restrain the impatience of many who, outstripping their brothers-in-arms, would have run to face certain and useless slaughter. such an one, sad ibn quzai, was far in advance of the post assigned to him. so as to make him take his proper place, mohammad struck him on the breast with the shaft of an arrow he held in his hand. 'thou didst hurt me, o prophet!' cried sad. 'as a messenger from allah, sent to bring about the triumph of right and justice, thou dost owe me reparation on thine own body.'--'satisfy thyself!'--'thou art clothed, whereas my flesh was naked.' the prophet laid bare his breast, saying: 'give me as good as i gave, o sad!' profiting by the permission, sad threw himself on mohammad, took him in his arms and pressed his lips to his body. 'why do thou this thing?' asked the prophet.--'o messenger of allah! death faceth me and i desired that for my last farewell, my flesh should touch thy flesh!' moved by such fierce devotion, mohammad called down the blessing of the most high on sad. then, having ordered his men to wait without flinching for the enemy's attack, he went back with abu bakr to the _arish_, of which the entrance was guarded by sad ibn muaz, sword in hand. the prophet prayed: 'o allah, remember thy promise! if this day, thou dost let the army of the soldiers of the faith be exterminated, no one will be left on earth to adore thee!' uneasy at the great disparity of numbers, mohammad renewed his supplicating prostrations. his mantle slipped from his shoulders. abu bakr picked it up and threw it over him again, saying: 'rest easy, o prophet! allah will surely do what he promised!' overwrought by excess of fatigue and anxiety, the prophet lost his senses, and his eyes closed for a second, only to reopen almost immediately. a smile lit up his features. 'good news, o abu bakr!' he cried. 'the angel jibra'il flieth to our assistance. i see the sand rising in a whirlwind under his horse's hoofs! leaving the "arish" abruptly, he called out to his army: 'our enemies are routed! already i see their backs turned in wild flight! i swear by him who holdeth mohammad's soul in the hollow of his hand, that any believer killing a foe hath the right to his spoils; and any believer killed face to the enemy will be immediately welcomed by allah in the gardens of paradise.' amir ibn hammam, listening to these promises, held a handful of dates, and was about to lift them to his mouth, when he threw them on the ground with a sudden gesture of disdain, and shouted in tones of joyous exaltation: 'bakhr! bakhr! considering that between me and my entry into paradise there is only the slight barrier of death at the hands of the men over there'. without finishing the sentence, he drew his sword and fell on the idolaters, digging a bloody road through their ranks, until be succumbed outnumbered. another among the faithful having heard the prophet declare that allah would consider the martyr fighting with no armour than that of his faith to be more deserving than any, threw off his breastplate and followed amir's footsteps until he, too, fell cut to pieces, but not until he had sent many unbelievers to the infernal regions. from that moment, it was impossible to restrain the believers. the apostle scraped up a handful of dust, throwing it in the direction of the quraish. 'may their faces be covered with confusion!' he cried. 'forward! o believers! forward!' the faithful, like a human hurricane, threw themselves on the unbelievers and frightful noises rent the air. the clashing of weapons, cries of despair and triumph, reverberating again and again by reason of the echoes of the valley, were accompanied by a strange uproar, sounding jerkily, like the beating a of a drum. quoth an arab idolater of the banu ghifar: "i went with one of my cousins to the top of a hill overlooking the battlefield, so as to find out which side was victorious, meaning to join the conquerors and plunder the vanquished. "all of a sudden, at the very moment when the warriors of islam attacked, i saw rising up behind them, from the depths of the valley, a great pillar of sand approaching with marvellous velocity. in its tawny spirals that threatened the clouds, fantastic and terrifying visions appeared and faded. it was like a gigantic combat of the earth rebelling against the heavens! "sounds quite as strange escaped from the whirlwind, freezing my blood with horror. there was the neighing and trampling of galloping steeds; the beating of great wings; the roll of loud drums and, dominating the tumult, an imperious voice shouting: 'forward, haizum!' "in less than the twinkling of an eye, the whirlwind overtook the believers, falling with them on to the ranks of the idol-worshippers. it soon reached us as well, smothering us in its yellow darkness. i lost sight of my companion, and was nigh fainting with fear. powerful gusts of wind drove me hither and thither, and i had to cling to projecting rocks so as not to be swept away like a wisp of straw. my ears were deafened by atrocious clamours. the curses and the groans of the wounded; the blasphemy of the vanquished, mingled now with the rumbling of thunder. in the yellow, foggy obscurity, flashes of lightning gleamed; swords and spears glittered. "at last, when the whirlwind passed away, i saw my comrade prone on the ground, his breast torn open, showing the membrane of his heart and, like trees uprooted by a hurricane, countless dead bodies strewed the bed of the wadi; and in the distance, lit up by a ray of sunlight, the soldiers of islam pursued the enemy in flight." this whirlwind was the track of jibra'il riding his horse, haizum, that mohammad had seen at the head of three thousand angels flying to his aid. the whirlwind of sand, uplifted by the tempestuous wind, allied itself to the human whirlwind swept along by the stormy breeze of faith and both, at one bound, rushed upon allah's foes. the shock was irresistible. the furious billows of the raging sands struck the idolaters straight in the face, blistering the flesh, filling mouths and nostrils, blinding eyes, so that they knew not where to strike, nor where to turn to defend themselves. the believers, on the contrary, felt their impetuosity increased by the pushing of the hurricane, and their eyes, freely open, enabled them to avoid their adversaries' attack, and cut them down to a certainty. better still: unknown, supernatural strength increased the strength of their arms tenfold, to such an extent that they fancied they struck at empty air, because they felt no resistance to the impact of their weapons. "scarcely did i threaten a head with the edge of my blade," one of the conquerors narrated later, "than i saw it fly off my adversary's shoulders and roll on the ground, even before my weapon touched it." "_so it was not ye who slew them, but allah slew them._" (the qur'an, viii, ). seventy idolaters bit the dust; and, among them, all the conspirators who tried to assassinate the prophet at makkah. twenty-four of the dead belonged to the highest aristocracy: utbah, al walid, shaibah, umaiyah ibn khalaf, abu bukhtari, hanzalah, abu sufyan's son, etc., and, most important of all, the chief of the expedition, the famous abu jahal. knowing that the latter was the life and soul of the plots weaved against the prophet, the faithful sought for the arch-conspirator everywhere in the fight. one of them, muaz ibn amr, having succeeded in falling across him, pierced his thigh with a furious lunge. ikrimah, abu jahal's son, rushed to his father's assistance and, with a scimitar, avenged him by hacking the left arm of muaz. it hung from his shoulder by a strip of flesh. his movements hampered by the useless, swinging limb, muaz stooped, and placing his foot on it, tore it off by roughly standing erect again. he threw it far from him and went on fighting. two young ansars, sons of afrah, coming to the rescue, dragged abu jahal out of the saddle and left him for dead, riddled with wounds. the prophet's mind was more engrossed with the fate of abu jahal than with that of any other of his foes. ibn-i-masud went out to search, and found him at last, in the midst of a pile of corpses. the chief of the idolaters was still breathing. ibn-i-masud placed his foot on the dying man's neck, even as one stamps on a viper, but just as he leant over, abu jahal, to brave him, seized him by the beard, and gazing at his conqueror, with a mad look of impotent rage, he shouted, the death-rattle sounding in his throat: 'hast ever seen such a noble fellow as i, murdered by such vile ploughmen?' to put an end to the infidel's insults, ibn-i-masud cut off his head and brought it to the prophet. at the sight of the blood-stained face of his enemy, mohammad exclaimed: 'verily, this man was the detestable pharaoh of his nation!' corpses soon became decomposed, exposed to the sun's torrid rays; the tumefied faces of the dead took on the colour of pitch. this phenomenon proved to the believers that the infidels had been struck down by celestial warriors, for were they not already carbonised by the flames of hell? mohammad scoured the whole of the battlefield, ordering all the dead bodies he came across to be buried at once, no matter of which creed. huzaifah, one of the early islamic adepts, accompanying mohammad, suddenly came upon the remains of utbah ibn rabiyah, his father. the son's features became distorted and blanched with mortal pallor. 'hast thy father's death shattered thy soul?' asked the prophet.--'no, by allah! but i knew my father was endowed with intelligence, goodness and generosity. i had hopes that he would have trodden the path of salvation. his death depriveth me of that hope. hence my grief!' the prophet, impressed by the reply of this stoical mussulman, called down the blessings of the lord on his head. mohammad then had his she-camel led to him and, mounting, rode to a dried-up well in which he ordered twenty-four of his best-known enemies to be buried. he stopped his she-camel in front of the mouth of this well and called on the dead by name: 'o such an one, son of such an one! and thou, such an one, son of such an one! would ye not have preferred this day to have obeyed allah and his messenger? of a surety, we have found that which our lord promised us; but you--have ye found that which your divinities promised you?--'o apostle!' said ura, 'why dost thou speak to soulless bodies?'--'by him who holdeth in his hands the soul of mohammad!' he replied, 'i swear that thou dost not hear my words as distinctly as they!' by this he meant to inform ura that these infidels, now dwelling in hell, were compelled to acknowledge the truth of words that he had ofttimes repeated to them when they were in the land of the living. thus does a "hadis" of ayishah explain this scene, for it is said in the qur'an: "_verily then, thou canst make the dead to bear._" (xxx, ). the believers only lost fourteen men, six mohadjirun and eight ansars, winning eternal glory as the first fallen in the holy war. [sidenote: the sojourn at badr and the return to al-madinah] the prophet remained three days on the field of battle to bury the dead and gather together the booty which he left to be guarded by the family of the najjar. he then got ready to go back to al-madinah. two couriers, zayd, his adopted son, and ibn-i-ruhah, sent on to carry the glad tidings, reached there before him. they arrived at the moment when the situation of the believers in the city was becoming critical. gravediggers had not finished cleansing their hands from the earth with which they had just covered the last resting-place of roghaid, mohammad's daughter, married to usman. she had been carried off by painful illness. "hypocrites" and jews put the most alarming rumours in circulation concerning the prophet's fate and they were getting ready to attack his supporters.... the good news spread all over the town with lightning-like rapidity; causing confusion in the haunts of "hypocrites" and jews; reassuring the faithful and causing great enthusiasm in their ranks. all of them--a vast crowd of men, women and children--went forth to acclaim the conqueror, the procession marching to the cadence of drums. they sang in chorus the chant with which he had been welcomed when he first arrived: "the full moon hath risen above our head--emerging from the sanniyat-ul-wida;--numerous are the thanksgivings we must offer up to allah--with the purest fervour of our supplications.--o thou his messenger among us--the orders thou dost bring us shall be piously executed!" ever since this battle, for ever memorable, which by its results eventually changed the whole face of the world, although only fought out by a small number of men, the wadi of badr is visited yearly by thousands of pilgrims. it is written by the traveller abul hosain ibn zubair. "a small market-town, surrounded by ramparts, stands now upon its site ... what was once the well where the unbelievers were buried, is now a clump of palm-trees, and a little farther off are the tombs of the martyrs. "to the left of the road leading from safra, is the mountain of mercy--ar rahman--by which the angels descended from heaven. "the "arish," the shelter where mohammad stood, is said to have been erected on the slope of a sandhill, called jabl-ul-tabl, the mountain of the drum, because the roll of supernatural drums is frequently heard there by pilgrims; this mysterious martial music celebrating the remembrance of the first victory of islam." there were as many prisoners as dead: three score and ten, mostly belonging to the best families among the idolaters. two of them, aqbah and an nazir, whose insults to the prophet were beyond all measure, suffered the death penalty after condemnation. abbas, mohammad's uncle, compelled by his pecuniary interests to remain behind in makkah, had not yet made up his mind to embrace the islamic faith. he had gone to the aid of the caravan in danger, and was taken prisoner. his commanding stature and bodily vigour stood him not in good stead, for he was captured by the weakest warrior among the ansars and remained petrified with surprise. the ropes that bound him cut cruelly into his flesh. he sighed heavily in pain. one of the faithful, recollecting the captive's handsome behaviour and that he was a relative of the prophet, loosened his bonds most charitably. hearing of this and not admitting that a member of his family should be favoured, mohammad ordered the bonds of all the other prisoners to be loosened in the same way. it now remained to decide the fate of the captives. abu bakr, pretexting the ties of blood uniting victors and vanquished, was of opinion that a ransom should be accepted. fierce umar, recalling the fact that all the prisoners had made themselves conspicuous by their persecution of the mussulmans and were responsible for the prophet's banishment, proposed that they should be pitilessly exterminated. both opinions rallied an equal number of partisans. the prophet sided with abu bakr. he gave orders to respect luckless valour and to treat the captives with the greatest humanity. he caused them to be freed from their bonds and had them guarded by all the mussulmans in turn who, faithfully obeying his commands, deprived themselves of bread in favour of their prisoners; the believers being content with dried dates. the ransom was fixed according to each prisoner's wealth. abbas, mohammad's uncle, had to give the largest amount; the others were liberated without paying anything. nevertheless, mohammad required that before being set free, each captive knowing how to read and write, should give lessons to two children of the ansars. among the prisoners was abul' as ibn rabiyah, a rich man in high repute. he had married zainab, the daughter of the prophet, before the revelation, and was still an idolater. for the ransom of her husband, zainab sent from makkah a sum of money and a necklace, a wedding-gift from her mother khadijah. the prophet, recognising this piece of jewellery which he had ofttimes seen round the neck of his beloved and regretted khadijah, was unable to repress his emotion and put this question to his disciples: 'if ye do not oppose me, i will send her husband back to zainab, and renounce all claims to ransom.' no objection being raised, mohammad told his prisoner that he was free. 'but only on one condition. restore my daughter to my arms, for a woman of the mussulmans cannot remain in the power of an idolater.' the captive accepted most reluctantly, and as soon as he was again in makkah, he kept his word. the quraish, however, hearing of zainab's departure, started off in pursuit of her, and one of them, hibar, struck her so brutally with the shaft of his spear, that he threw her out of her "hawdaj," (a kind of litter), and she dropped from the back of her camel to the ground. shortly after her arrival at al-madinah, the poor woman, not having recovered from her fall, and being pregnant, died from the effects of the ill-treatment she had thus undergone. under the influence of grief and despair, the prophet gave orders that anyone putting his hand on the villain hibar was to burn him alive. but it was not long before mohammad cancelled this cruel command, declaring: 'the master of the worlds alone hath the right to inflict the torture of fire!' this was in allusion to the flames of hell. as for abul'as, retaken by the mussulmans while conducting a caravan back from syria-, he was again liberated by the prophet and became a convert to islam. mohammad thus let no opportunity escape to prove his generosity to the prisoners, his own fellow-countrymen. the prophet's clemency resulted immediately in the conversion of no small number of makkans, marvelling at the tales told by the captives who, upon regaining the bosom of their families, bore witness to the kindness with which they had been treated. perhaps the fact of such compassion towards the enemies of islam constituted peril in the future? so said a revelation to the prophet, blaming him at the same time. mohammad was overwhelmed with profound sadness, at the thought that his generosity would cause the death of many believers, as he dared not hope that goodness would sweep away all feeling of enmity. as soon as the victory was won, the division of the booty was near to causing serious quarrels among the faithful. each man desired to keep to himself all he had plundered. those who had fought without thinking of stripping the dead, put in a claim, saying to their comrades who wanted to keep that which they had taken: 'had it not been for us, ye would have been unable to seize any booty at all.' finally, the men of the rear-guard also complained: 'if we had not considered the prophet's safety above all things, we should have fought with you and pillaged as ye did.' the debate seemed to be turning out badly when a revelation put an end to the dispute: "_they will question thee about the spoils. say: the spoils are allah's and the apostle's._" (the qur'an, viii, .) back again in al-madinah, mohammad divided the booty with the most scrupulous fairness, and gave out that not only the rearguard should receive their share, but also a few of the faithful who had remained in the city to uphold the cause of islam during the absence of their chief. thus did mohammad succeed in contenting everybody. so far as he was concerned, he only took the same share as a common soldier; but it was settled that in future the fifth part of the booty "_should belong to allah and to the apostle and to the near of kin and to orphans, and to the poor and to the wayfarer_." (the qur'an, viii, .) the makkans were joyfully celebrating the return of the great caravan that had caused them such immense anxiety, when the remains of the routed army began to straggle back. at first, the citizens refused to believe such dire disaster, so great had been their confidence in the superiority of the numbers and equipment of their soldiers. the fugitives were considered to be cowards deserting before the battle had begun. but when doubt was no longer possible, profound consternation overtook allah's enemies. the fury of abu lahab, the real organiser of the expedition, was inconceivable. in his presence, one of the fugitives told of the miracles he had witnessed and which, in his opinion, were an excuse for the defeat. 'the mussulmans, assuredly, were granted supernatural succour, for i saw, with my own eyes, in the whirling tempest, many warriors gifted with superhuman strength, wearing white tunics, mounted on dapple-grey horses, and fighting side by side with our enemies.'--'by allah! verily, they were angels!' exclaimed one of those present, abu rafiah, a servant of abbas, mohammad's uncle. abu lahab, enraged at the impression of terror produced by this story and the remarks that had followed, hurled himself on abu-rafiah, threw him down and beat him unmercifully in the most savage fashion. 'art thou not ashamed thus to profit by the master's absence to strike his serving-man?' the wife of abbas, revolted at the sight, shouted to abu lahab. catching up a spear, she struck him in the face with it, and drew blood. the punishment was so well deserved that no one protested. abu lahab, humiliated in the eyes of all, hastened to hide his shame and rage in the most secluded part of his dwelling. not being in the best of health just then, he could not master the exasperation he felt. his blood was turned; the whole of his body broke out in reddish pustules, known as "adsah", and he was carried off in less than a week. as for abu sufyan and his wife, hind, in despair at the death of their son, hanzalah, and debased by the defeat, they showed themselves conspicuously as being athirst for vengeance. abu sufyan exercised his authority by prohibiting all show of grief. 'weep not for your dead,' he proclaimed. 'do not give way to the usual funereal lamentations. let poets be careful not to compose elegies. o makkans! avoid causing the joy of our foes by the sight of your sadness. let only one thought absorb your minds--that of vengeance!' he took a solemn oath to abstain from going near his wife or making use of his perfumes until the day when striking revenge should bring balm to his heart. the effect of the prophet's victory spread far and wide among all the tribes of arabia. the tidings crossed the seas; the prophet having despatched an emissary to the najashi of abyssinia, to announce the result of the battle and to inform all the believers, who had taken refuge at this monarch's court, that they would be in safety behind the walls of al-madinah, at mohammad's side. [illustration: calligraphy (end chapter ) _believers! when ye confront a troop, stand firm and make frequent mention of the name of allah; haply it shall fare well with you._] [illustration: (ornamental page) chapter the sixth] [illustration: _"as sidjah", or prostration._] [illustration: (calligraphy) _and be not faint-hearted, and be not sorrowful; for ye shall gain the upper hand if ye be believers._] chapter the sixth [sidenote: ali's marriage] by reason of admirable devotion, indomitable courage and the absolute purity of his way of living, ali had become one of the most popular heroes of islam, but his extreme poverty forced him to hire himself out to an ansar, a garden landlord. when ali was not engaged in prayer, he passed the hours in watering date-trees. he deserved that this lowly situation, bearing no comparison with his exploits, should have been changed so as to give him new lustre in the eyes of the people. abu bakr and usman, finding him one day busily engaged in drawing water from a well, bade him halt in his work, and reminded him of a former desire of his, when he had thought of marrying fatimah, the prophet's daughter. ali got out of temper. 'ye know how poor i am,' he told them. 'it's cruel of you to bring up a dream that can never come true!' but they were so persistent, affirming that he could count upon their good offices, that ali repressed his timidity, and carrying his sword, armour and sandals, that constituted his sole wealth, went and knocked at the prophet's door. mohammad welcomed him with these words: 'here stands a man more dear to me than any other.' ali remained silent, with bowed head. 'speak!' commanded mohammad.--'o prophet!' ali made up his mind to reply at last, 'thou didst bring me up, an orphan boy, with a father's love. this day have i arrived at an age when a man should have a home of his own. once more i seek thine aid. i come to ask thee to give me thy daughter fatimah in marriage.'--what dower bringest thou?'--'thou knowest my poverty. i bring thee all i possess: my sword, armour and sandals.'--'thy sword belongeth to thy religion, i cannot accept it. but thy good right arm is strong enough to defend thy breast better than any cuirass. go sell thine armour and bring me the price thereof to serve as my daughter's dower.' ali, all his wishes gratified, sought out a buyer. usman offered him a good price and then gave him back his armour, begging him to accept it as a wedding-present. the marriage was soon arranged; ratified by mohammad saying to ali: 'verily, allah gave thee my daughter in heaven before i gave her to thee in this world.' a great number of the faithful, summoned by bilal, were present to listen to the "khutbah" (sermon) of their chief, who wished to apprise them of the betrothal of his daughter to ali. bilal was charged to procure the few simple things indispensable in a household. half the dowry served to buy a mattress and a pillow of palm-fibre, a goat-skin for water and a few earthenware platters. with the other half, were purchased butter, dates, and flour, forming the frugal betrothal repast. when, according to custom, a group of women came to fetch the bride and lead her into her husband's room, the prophet, in memory of her on whom this duty would have devolved, namely khadijah, fatimah's mother, was overtaken by a profound fit of sadness. showers of tears coursed down his cheeks. when he had mastered his emotion, he placed ali at his right hand, with fatimah at his left, saying to them: 'may allah cause to be born to you noble descendants, who shall be an honour to our race!' for three days and three nights, the newly-married couple remained absorbed in prayer. it was only on the fourth night that chaste ali, to whom mohammad declared that he hoped a long line of male children would spring from this marriage, dared to approach his wife in whose veins coursed the blood of the prophet. nine months later, fatimah brought into the world a son who was named hasan. a year after the birth of hasan, his brother husain was born. the offspring of hasan and husain, called _sharifs_, are the sole descendants of the prophet. [sidenote: the prophet's marriage with hafsah and ummu'l-masakin.] hafsah, daughter of umar and widow of khunes, wished to marry again, but she was of such a haughty disposition that no one came forward to offer to be her husband. abu bakr, and usman after him, to whom her hand had been proposed, both declined. umar, greatly annoyed at his daughter's humiliation, opened his heart to the prophet who replied: 'usman will marry a better woman than hafsah; and hafsah will marry a better man than usman.' mohammad gave his daughter ummi-kulsum in marriage to usman, whilst, to honour umar, the prophet took haughty hafsah to wife. shortly afterwards, mohammad also espoused the widow of ubaidah, the martyr of badr. she was a woman whose charity was inexhaustible and earned the surname of "ummu'l-masakin," (the mother of the poor). [sidenote: the battle of uhud (_year iii of the hegira, a.d. _)] the inhabitants of makkah could not console themselves for the defeat at badr. the future seemed to them black indeed. their caravans dared not venture on the syrian road, blocked by the prophet's bold stroke. ruin and famine were inevitable at an early date. to guard against such impending disaster, they decided to devote the large profits made by their great caravan to arming an expedition which would avenge their dead and grant them commercial security. allured by offers of money, numerous bedouins of the vicinity came forward to proffer assistance. already worked up by the inflammatory satires of the poets kab ibn ashraf and abu uzd, these tribesmen, called "habash," or confederates, were enrolled in the ranks of the army raised by abu sufyan. at the head of these troops, three thousand strong, were safunah and ikrimah, sons of ibn-i-khalaf and abu jahal, two of the mighty dead of badr, and khalid ibn walid, the unconquerable soldier. the women's thirst for revenge was equally ardent; and hind, the wife of abu sufyan, bore along behind her a horde of her companions resolved to stop any warrior who might be tempted to run away. in the fertile plains, north of al-madinah, the fellahs were peacefully engaged in their work of agriculture, or watching over their grazing flocks, when all of a sudden, the soldiers of abu sufyan, who had taken the greatest precautions to hide their rapid advance, debouched from the ravines of the western mountains. all resistance being impossible, the ill-fated peasants fled in great haste to escape being massacred, and to warn their fellow-citizens of the invasion of allah's enemies. from the top of their ramparts, the dwellers in al-madinah looked down on a sight that made their agriculturists' hearts bleed. like a swarm of gigantic locusts, the camels of the idolatrous army ravaged the verdant meadows, whilst horsemen slaughtered cattle and, madly rushing, the riders trampled down and scattered the golden harvest, with all the disdain of traders for the work of husbandmen. in the face of this havoc wrought before their eyes, the faithful found themselves in a state of most irritating powerlessness. the plain afforded commodious space for the manoeuvres of their enemies' countless cavalry, and the believers had no mounted men to put in the field.... their sole resource was the wisdom of allah's apostle; so, ready for any sacrifice, they gathered round him. now mohammad had dreamed that he saw his sword-blade notched; his foes slaughtering his flocks, whilst a breastplate was close to his hand. the prophet told his followers of his dream and explained what it signified. 'the notched blade means that i shall be wounded. the slaughtered flocks show that a great number of my disciples will die; and the breastplate near me symbolizes the ramparts of al-madinah which alone can save us from disaster. let us shut ourselves up in the city and we shall have nothing to fear from our adversaries. should they attack, they can easily be repulsed and made to suffer cruel losses; and if they fall back without attacking, they will be crushed in their retreat by the shame of not having dared to fight us.' such had always been the tactics of the people of al-madinah from time immemorial; but their quality of mussulmans and their victory at the battle of badr had changed all their ideas. thinking that they were now and for ever invincible, they no longer had the patience to remain impassible while their gardens were laid waste. furthermore, those who had not fought at badr were burning with desire to show that they too were full of courage. the worst that could befall them was martyrdom to which they sincerely aspired. abdullah ibn abi salul, chief of the "hypocrites," was alone opposed to an advance. for once in a way, the prophet agreed with him. nevertheless, in the face of the unanimity and the enthusiasm of the true believers, mohammad considered that he ought to give way, and resolved to order the march out that he disapproved in his foresight. after having recited the afternoon prayer, _asr_, he went back into his house to buckle on his armour. the warriors, too, were ready. a compact crowd surrounded the dwelling of the prophet who soon appeared, girt with his coat of mail, helmet on head, sword by his side, shield on his shoulders, and spear in hand.... whilst waiting, the faithful had had time to reflect. they began to regret their hasty decision, and their chiefs, ashamed at having upheld different ideas to those of allah's chosen one, said to him: 'we ought to have bowed down to thy judgment. we feel inclined to remain where we are. thou canst put aside thine armour.'--'when a prophet hath buckled on his breastplate,' replied mohammad, 'he forfeits the right to take it off until the fight is finished.' the army of the believers numbered a thousand foot-soldiers, but possessed only two horses. the standard of the mohadjirun was confided to musab ibn amir; that of the aus to uqaid; the banner of the khazraj being borne by habbab. just before sunset, the column went forward, taking a northerly direction. scarcely had they passed the ramparts, when they were rejoined by a troop of six hundred men, all well-armed. they were jews; allies of abdullah, the "hypocrite," and it was thanks to his counsel that they offered their assistance to the prophet. 'allah's aid sufficeth,' he answered, as he sent them away, for knowing their secret sympathies, he feared they might betray him. abdullah, belittled by the rejection of his allies, lost no time in trying to spread anxiety in the soldiers' ranks by perfidious remarks such as these: 'mohammad listens to the chatter of good-for-nothing folks, and spurns the good advice i give him. why go to face certain death?' in this way, he succeeded in decoying a third of the little army, thus reduced to about seven hundred men and, at the head of the deserters, he turned back on the road to al-madinah, followed by the hooting of the true believers. the next morning, on a saturday, the eleventh day of the month of shawwal, before daybreak, the prophet ordered the tents to be folded. he asked for a guide clever enough to lead his troops, unseen by the enemy, to the jabl-ul-uhud, a mountain rising isolated in the plain. abu haythama came forward and led them through the orchards and palm-tree plantations of the banu harith. the owner of one of these gardens, a "hypocrite," named mirba, his eyes eaten away by ophthalmia, rose up as he heard mohammad's footsteps at the head of his troops, and shouted to him: 'if even it were true that thou art the prophet of allah, i would not authorise thee to go through my garden!' picking up a clod, he added: 'by allah! if i did not fear to strike someone else, i would hurl this earth in thy face.' the believers wished to punish the insolence of the "hypocrite" by taking his life, but mohammad restrained them, saying: 'kill him not, for he is blind. his heart is as blind as his eyes.' along this by-path, and concealed behind the thick foliage of the orchards, the mussulmans reached the mountain of uhud before sunrise, without having been caught sight of by their foes. the prophet arranged his forces for the fight. they had the mountain behind them; their left wing being covered by the pass of ainin, so that there was no fear of being turned. to be more sure, he posted ibn jubayr above this defile, with fifty of his most skilful archers, to whom mohammad gave the following strict order: 'if the idolaters' cavalry attempt to outflank us, by slipping through the ravine, repulse them with showers of arrows. but whether the enemy should be above or below us, remain steadfast at your post, and whatever befalls, take care not to go forward!' at this juncture, a loud outcry was heard resounding in the direction of the plain. the makkans had just perceived the believers who, with the oblique rays of the sun playing on their spears, stood out in glowing relief on the rocky slopes of the jabal-ul-uhud. exactly as the prophet had foreseen, the enemy's army, its right wing directed by khalid ibn walid, the terrible, and its left wing commanded by ikrimah, son of abu jahal, spread itself out in a semi-circle, so as to surround and turn the mussulmans. abu sufyan, chieftain of the infidels, trying to wound the vanity of the banu abdi'd-dar, guarding the flag, called to them thus: 'o ye who carried our standard at badr, remember the disaster of which the blame must be laid on you. a soldier should follow the flag, but ye fled with it. if this day ye fear to be unable to defend it, let me confide it to other hands.' stung to the quick by such an insult, the banu abdi'd-dar threw up their heads boldly. 'we shall know how to guard our flag,' said they; 'and if we are alive to-morrow, thou shalt do justice to our valour.' hind now came forward, leading her companions to take their stand behind the guardians of the flag. and the women sang: "courage! o sons of the abdi'd-dar!--courage! o defenders of the women at your heels!--strike with every blade!--we are daughters of the star of tariq--our feet glide on soft carpets.--pearls glisten in our necklaces--and musk perfumeth our tresses.--if ye show a bold front to the enemy, we will embrace you!--should you flee from the foe, we shall repulse you--and you will be dishonoured eternally by our scorn!" on the side of the believers, the prophet was not sparing of encouragement. 'who among you,' he exclaimed, offering a glistening sword, 'is capable of giving this weapon its due?'--'and what is its due, prithee?' asked abu dujana, coming forward.--'its due is to strike with its blade till it be twisted!'--'well then, i swear to give it its due!' abu dujana was a redoubtable warrior. he received the sabre from mohammad's hands and, rolling round his head a red turban that he never wore, except on great occasions when death was nigh, he strode superbly up and down in front of the ranks. 'such defiant bearing would give rise to allah's wrath,' the prophet declared, 'on any other occasion but this.' among the enemy was an inhabitant of medinah, abu amir, converted to christianity and nicknamed "ar rahib," which means "the monk." having got into his head that he could lead a few of his fellow-countrymen in the aus tribe astray from the cause of islam, he went and stood before them, saying: 'o "qawm" of the aus! 'tis i, abu amir, a son of your soul. will ye not hear me out?'--'may allah refuse thee all favour, o scoundrel!' they replied. choking with shame and rancour, "the monk" went away, after picking up a pebble which he threw in fury at them. when "the monk" had retired, an idolater of terrible appearance, bestriding a gigantic camel, advances; challenging the believers thrice. at the third provocation, zubayr stepped out of the ranks. with the leap of a panther, he sprang on to the camel's rump, threw his arms round his adversary, and rolling with him on the ground, never let go his hold until he had torn his throat open. seeing the combat beginning, abu dujana could restrain himself no longer. he drew his sword. 'there is no good fortune in the ranks of cowards!' he exclaimed. 'i strike with the sword of allah and his prophet!' the scarlet turban was seen digging into the very centre of the enemy's massed troops like a glowing brand. by dint of prodigies of audacity, he struck down all those he met on his way, when suddenly he found himself facing a strange being who, vomiting forth the vilest blasphemy, was followed by a crowd of girls playing on tabors. abu dujana brandished his blade over his adversary's head, but on hearing the piercing shrieks uttered by hind, he recognised her. the sword of the prophet was rendered generous by him, for he knew it ought not to strike a woman. following abu dujana's onslaught, the battle raged furiously and all the combatants were at grips. arshah, the quraish standard-bearer, was struck down by hamzah, and showed all his teeth in the snarling grin of death. siba-al-ghassani picked up the flag, and challenged his companion's conqueror. 'come a little nearer, o son of the procuress!' replied hamzah; and at a single stroke, he made him share the fate of arshah. wishing to avenge his uncle tahaimah, slain at badr by hamzah, zubayr ibn mutam promised to free his abyssininan slave, al-uhayha, if he succeeded in killing hamzah. thus spoke al-uhayha: "during the battle, i had no eyes but for hamzah. when i caught sight of him, he was like a rutting grey camel, throwing down all he met with such terrible blows that none of them rose again. not daring to face him, i dogged his footsteps, skulking behind bushes or rocks. at last, he neared the spot where i was hidden. i am skilled at throwing the abyssinian javelin and rarely miss my mark. just as hamzah cut siba down with a blow on the head, i balanced my spear and sent it hissing at him. it stuck in his groin, coming out between his thighs. terrible in his wrath, hamzah turned to attack me, but his strength failing him, he fell down in a huddled heap and died on the spot. i then came out of my place of concealment, tore my spear from his dead body and left the battlefield. i only struck at hamzah to gain my freedom." the standard-bearer of the mohadjirun, musab ibn amir, was slain at the prophet's side. his murderer, qaumiah-al-lissi, thinking that he had killed mohammad himself, returned to his comrades. 'i've slain mohammad!' he bawled, puffed up with pride. ali seized the standard that had slipped from musab's grasp, and accepted the challenge of abu sad ibn abi talhah, the idolaters' standard-bearer, who uttered these jeering words: 'o companions of mohammad! ye maintain that our swords send you to paradise whilst yours despatch us to hell! by lat and uzza! ye lie in your teeth, for ye take good care not to rush on our blades!' ali did not allow him to say anything else. no sooner did the two men meet, than the mocking idol-worshipper was sent rolling in agony to earth. ali's arm was lifted to finish him off when suddenly the young man averted his head and turned away: abu sad, in falling, had exposed his nakedness to his conqueror. a furious fight took place round the flag of the quraish, and, many other infidels passed from life to death. two defenders of this banner, mishfah and his brother, al zulas, both pierced through and through by arrows, dragged themselves along to their mother, sulafa, one of hind's companions. the two lads, vomiting streams of blood, rested their heads in the lap of the woman who had brought them into the world. 'o my poor boys!' she cried, her voice choked with sobs, 'who dealt you these terrible blows?'--'when we fell,' her sons replied, 'we heard a voice saying: "take these darts from me. i am asim, son of allah."' and sulafa swore that asim's skull should be fashioned by her into a cup from which she would drink vinous liquors. the balance of victory was clearly in favour of the believers. the quraish flag was laid out on the ground, close to a heap of dead bodies, and no idolater dared to lift the banner. the rout of allah's foes had begun. the fury of hind, her serving-girls, and her female friends was changed to terror. they lifted their draperies, showing their legs, in order to flee more easily in wild haste. the archers, posted near the ravine on the slopes of the uhud, could see all this better than anyone else, and they stamped with hot impatience, fearing that they would not be able to take a hand in plundering the vanquished. in vain their chieftain, ibn jubayr, tried to retrain them by bidding them remember the prophet's strict orders, and their duty which was to cover the army's flank by guarding the mountain pass. 'the fight is finished,' they answered in ill-humour. 'victory is ours! we mean to have our share of the booty, or deserve the crown of martyrdom.' like a living torrent, they rushed down the declivity of the ravine, disobeying allah and his messenger. "_already had allah made good to you his promise, when by his permission ye destroyed your foes, until your courage failed you, and ye disputed together about the order, and disobeyed, after that the prophet had brought you within view of that for which ye longed._" (the qur'an, iii, .) khalid, the valiant, farseeing warrior commanding the quraish left wing and who, till then, recognised that it was impossible to turn the position, perceived the fault of the archers. at the head of his cavalry, he charged ibn jubayr, surrounded by a handful of men remaining faithful to him, and after they were crushed beneath the hoofs of the horses, khalid took the mussulmans in the rear while they were engrossed with the thoughts of plunder. at the same time, a woman of the idolaters, amr bint alqamah, lifted the standard abandoned by the makkans who, ashamed at their own cowardice when they saw what this courageous woman had done, went back and fought again. in triumphant tones, dominating all clamour and clash of arms, the voice of qumiah, slayer of musab, rang out: 'verily, mohammad hath just been killed!' the current of the combat deviated. the day, that had begun so favourably, became a day of calamity. attacked in the rear, maddened by the fatal news, the mussulmans gave way, and a number fled to al-madinah. even usman, in despair, allowed himself to be led away. a great many of the most noble combatants fell martyrs in the fight, and allah's enemies rained showers of arrows and stones on a small group of the faithful surrounding the prophet. one stone, thrown by the son of abu waqas, struck mohammad, splitting his lip, breaking a front tooth, on the right. another projectile smashed the rings of his helmet, driving them into his cheek. abu ubaidah, by biting the rings forced into the flesh, managed to drag them out. little he recked when he broke a tooth on each; and he sucked in ecstasy the blood flowing from the wounds of allah's chosen one. moved by such fierce devotion, mohammad said to him: 'he who hath sucked my blood hath naught to fear from the flames of hell; but how can those men prosper who have shed the blood of their prophet?' meanwhile, the situation became more and more critical. during the thick of the fight, mohammad was knocked down, and thrown into a deep hole that he had not noticed behind him. ali and talha helped him out at once. then ali, together with abu bakr and umar, both wounded, hurled themselves on the assailants whose forces increased unceasingly, threatening to encircle the believers. there were moments when the prophet had no one with him except abu dujana, shielding him with his body riddled by arrows, and abu talha who protected mohammad by means of a leather buckler. abu talha was an archer so strong that he broke three bows by bending them. he said to mohammad who rose up to see the result of the fighting and give directions: 'o thou for whom i would give father and mother in ransom, lie down, i beg of thee. thou might be struck by an arrow. let my breast protect thy breast.' at that moment, a foeman's dart, that he dashed aside, mutilated his hand. no longer able to use his bow, he unsheathed his sabre, but was so greatly exhausted by fatigue that, overcome by sleep, he closed his eyes and his weapon fell from his grasp. umm-i-amr, a heroine of the ansars, a goat-skin on her back, flew along the ranks of the believers, pouring water in their mouths to refresh them. she seized a sword and fought with manly vigour near mohammad, until she fell, badly wounded. ali abu aakr and umar had been separated from the prophet in the ebb and flow of the fight; and the shouts of the infidels announcing his death deprived them of all courage. the three believers were like soulless bodies and they did not even think of defending themselves. seeing them in this state, anas ibn nazir shamed them: 'what aileth you that ye are so downcast?'--'the prophet is dead.'--'well then what have ye to do with life, now he is gone? die as he died.' setting the example, he dashed forward, and fell covered with so many wounds that only his sister was able to recognise his dead body, and that by a peculiarity of his fingers. this was a rallying signal. abashed by their own despondency, ali, abu bakr and umar, followed by a few of the faithful, copying umar, rushed to a part of the battlefield where the enemy masses were furiously attacking a few men still standing. suddenly, among these heroes resisting with superhuman energy, kab ibn malik recognised the prophet in person whose eyes sparkled under his helmet. 'o mussulmans! o brothers!' shouted kab, in stentorian accents. 'good news! look at the prophet of allah! he is safe and sound!' this cry awakened fresh courage in the heart of every man. on all sides, the mussulmans rushed recklessly to the spot whence the glad cry proceeded. after having disengaged the prophet, they were afire with irresistible ardour and cut a bloody path through the overthrown enemy's ranks as far as the ravine of ainin, which they never ought to have abandoned. the effort of the idolaters to storm this impregnable position was unavailing. ubi ibn khalaf cried out in his fury: 'o mohammad! where art thou? shouldst thou be still alive, i swear thou shalt not escape me!' the prophet would not allow his partisans to tear ubi limb from limb as they wished to do, but dragging a spear from the grasp of al haris, mohammad drove its steel into ubi's throat. he dropped forward on his horse's neck and, after vainly trying to save himself by clutching at the mane, fell heavily to the ground. the idolaters, exhausted, gave up the idea of avenging his death. the fight was finished.... finding a little water in the hollow of a rock, ali filled his shield and offered it to the prophet. but he turned against the smell of this water and refused to drink it. so ali then used it to wash the wounds of allah's chosen one, but in vain, his blood continuing to flow so freely as to give rise to great uneasiness. fatimah, who in a state of great anxiety, had arrived at the scene of battle with a few of her companions, caused some fragments of a rush-mat to be set on fire and covered her father's wounds with the ashes. this dressing put a stop to the hemorrhage. the prophet recited the midday prayer, but remained seated, in consequence of extreme fatigue and the suffering brought on by his wounds. behind him, also seated for the same reason, all the combatants prayed with him, and gave thanks to the almighty for having saved them despite their disobedience. the death-roll numbered three score and ten, equalling the count of the idolatrous prisoners of badr. many of the believers considered that this coincidence formed a punishment for having accepted a ransom in their greed for worldly profit. the bodies of the martyrs of uhud were in a parlous state. athirst for vengeance, the women of the quraish had thrown away their tabors in order to hurl themselves on the corpses and mutilate them odiously. hind, their mistress, was the most ferocious of them all. taking out her earrings, pulling off necklaces, bracelets and ankle-rings, she handed them all to al-uhayha, the slayer of hamzah; and, in place of her gewgaws, adorned herself with necklaces and bangles fashioned with noses and ears sliced from the heads of her foes. like a filthy hyena, she squatted on hamzah's remains. with ensanguined finger-nails, she tore his body open and dragged out the liver with fury, making her teeth meet in it. she then climbed to the top of a lofty rock and turning towards the soldiers of islam, howled with all the strength of her lungs: "we have paid you back for the day of badr!--i was tortured by the remembrance of my father--of my son, and of my uncle, murdered by you!--my soul is now at rest and my vengeance is glutted.--my "uhayha" (grief) hath been softened by thee--o uhayha! o conqueror of hamzah! i'll sing thy praises--until my bones crumble into dust in my grave!" [illustration: _setting out for al jihad, or holy war._ views] abu sufyan, searching every nook and corner of the field of battle in the hope of finding mohammad's lifeless body, stopped short in front of hamzah's corpse at the same time as jalis, chief of the arab confederates. abu sufyan amused himself by striking the corners of the dead man's mouth with the point of a spear. 'take a good taste of the bitterness of rebellion,' he said. seeing this, jalis, although an idolater, was greatly shocked. 'o banu kinana!' cried he to his partisans, 'admire the behaviour of the lord of the quraish towards his cousin now that he is lifeless!' abu sufyan, alive to the fact that his conduct was vile, drew jalis on one side and supplicated him. 'keep all this a secret, o jalis, for i am ashamed of what i did just now in thy presence.' he then drew near to a spot within hail of the faithful, entrenched on the slopes of the uhud, and called out to them: 'is mohammad with you?' there being no answer, he joyfully concluded that the prophet was dead. before going away, he bawled as loudly as he could: 'assuredly, war is a game of chance. this day avengeth the day of badr; hubal, our god, is victorious. he is the all-highest!' at this blasphemy, the prophet ordered umar to reply. he cried out: 'allah is the most high; the most majestic!' recognising umar's voice, abu sufyan asked him: 'o umar! i conjure thee, inform me if we have killed mohammad.'--'no, by my faith! he is even now listening to thee.' abu sufyan, disappointed, rejoined: 'evidently, i am bound to believe thee in preference to ibn qamiah who boasts of having killed him. but i swear to meet you next year at badr.'--'that is understood!' replied umar. 'we pledge our word to meet thee there.' the prophet despatched ali to track the infidels. 'take heed how they carry themselves,' mohammad impressed upon his scout. 'see if they ride their camels and lead their horses by the bridle. that will certainly denote that they give up all hope of battle and are going to makkah. if, on the contrary, they mount their steeds and drive their camels before them, it is a sure sign that they are bound for al-madinah with the intention of cutting us off. in that case, there is but one thing to be done: to hurl ourselves upon them without loss of time, so as to attack them and hack our way through.' a few minutes later, ali returned. he had seen the quraish alight from their horses, bestride their camels and set out in the direction of makkah. reassured as to the enemy's intentions, the believers busied themselves with the burial of the martyrs. first of all, the prophet sought to find the body of his uncle hamzah. mohammad discovered it in a hollow of the wadi, the belly ripped open; and with ears and nose cut off. 'were it not that i feared to grieve safiyah (hamzah's sister), and to set an example which perhaps would become law, i would leave these remains unburied, until they should disappear in the entrails of jackals and vultures; thus keeping alive the hope of revenge. if the almighty should ever deliver into our hands the wretches who have thus treated thee, i swear to exercise most terrible reprisals.' the prophet then received this revelation: "_if ye make reprisals, then make them to the same extent that ye were injured: but if ye can endure patiently, best will it surely be for the patiently enduring._" (the qur'an, xvi, .) thus warned, mohammad relinquished his ideas of retaliation, and earnestly urged the faithful to abstain from mutilating their enemies. the news of the disaster having reached al-madinah, all the women, and safiyah among them, came in crowds to attend to the wounded and mourn for the dead. the prophet charged safiyah's son, zubayr ibn awam, to send his mother away, to prevent her seeing her brother's corpse, so atrociously disfigured. 'i have been told that my brother was mutilated for the cause of islam,' she replied, 'and i shall be resigned no matter how horrible the sight, please allah!' she went straightway to where hamzah was lying and after having prayed over him with fervent firmness, she departed. funerals then began. after having led that of his uncle hamzah, the prophet, so as not to fatigue the believers who were already exhausted, had the dead bodies buried two by two, or three by three, in the same grave, and without being washed according to custom. 'for i bear witness for these martyrs,' he declared. 'those who have been struck down on allah's road will be resuscitated on the day of resurrection when their wounds will appear fresh and bloody; smelling sweetly of musk.' when it came to his ears that several families had carried their dead to al-madinah to bury them there, he upbraided them and ordained: 'henceforward, ye shall bury your dead where they fall.' the battle of uhud did not result fatally for islam as might reasonably have been feared. there were grievous losses; but several advantages accrued from the fight. the defeat was due to having disregarded the prophet's first idea, and to disobeying his orders on the field. in future, the believers submitted entirely to him; they were resolved to carry out his commands to the letter even in case he should be killed, according to the verse alluding to the momentary despondency of ali, abu bakr, and umar: "_mohammad is no more than an apostle; other apostles have already passed away before him; if then he die, or be slain, will ye turn upon your heels?_" (the qur'an, iii, .) moreover, defeats, when faith is fervent, serve only to sharpen energy: "_and how many a prophet hath combated an enemy on whose side were many myriads? yet were they not daunted at what befell them on the path of allah, nor were they weakened, nor did they basely submit! and allah loveth those who endure with steadfastness._" (the qur'an, iii, .) clemency henceforward was not to be shown to the idolaters: the savage mutilation of the seventy martyrs proved that compassion was inadmissible. a distinction was also clearly established between the true believers and the "hypocrites," such as abdullah ibn salul and his partisans. the prophet knew what they were, but the majority of his disciples were ignorant of these double-faced men's perfidy, as demonstrated by their cowardly desertion in the hour of danger. concerning the uhud, quoth mohammad: "that mountain loveth us and we return its affection! o allah! abraham declared the territory of makkah to be sacred. i declare the territory of al-madinah, situated between the two harrah, to be sacred also." [sidenote: the marriage of mohammad and zainab] zayd, the enfranchised slave and adopted son of the prophet, had taken zainab bint jahsh to wife, but the marriage had not been concluded easily. zainab was of noble birth. ali, sent to make the matrimonial demand, found it rejected by her and her brothers. the union was only brought about when the prophet came forward in person, and zainab continued to behave most haughtily towards the freed man now her husband. having gone one day to zayd's dwelling to speak to him, mohammad was received by zainab who, hidden behind a curtain, said: 'zayd hath gone out; but come in and wait awhile.' the prophet refused, and was about to depart, when a gust of air having lifted the hanging, he involuntarily caught sight of zainab. she made a great impression on him; so much so that as he turned to go, he could not help exclaiming: 'glory to him who inclineth all hearts!' this cry filled zainab with boundless pride. when poor zayd returned, he was received with more scornful haughtiness than ever, and she hastened to let him know the effect produced upon allah's apostle by her radiant beauty. zayd began to feel that life with his spouse, already hard to please, would soon be unbearable. he made up his mind to see mohammad; and then he told him: 'maybe zainab pleaseth thee? if so, i'll get rid of her.'--'go back to thy wife and keep her to thyself,' replied the prophet. but zayd had had enough of her. ever since the sight of zainab had forced a cry of admiration from the prophet, her husband did not dare to approach her and considered that he would have no peace until after he had divorced her. so he went back to mohammad. 'o prophet!' said he, 'the way zainab talketh to me is worse than ever. i wish to repudiate her.'--'fear allah,' replied mohammad, 'and keep thy wife to thyself.'--'but i'm no longer master in my own house!'--'if that is so, put her away from thee.' as soon as she was repudiated, zainab had but a single thought: to become the wife of the prophet; and she never ceased intriguing to gain her ends. at last a revelation came down to mohammad: "_and when zayd had settled the necessary matter of her divorce, we married her to thee._" (the qur'an, xxxiii, .) so he resolved to be wedded to zainab. the jews and the "hypocrites" declared this was scandalous. 'mohammad marries his son's wife!' was their cry, and they worked with a will to make capital out of the incident and bring him into disrepute. the following verses, however, stopped every true believer from listening to the discreditable group: "_name your adopted sons after their fathers: this will be more right before allah. but if ye know not who their fathers are, still let them be your brethren in the faith, and your comrades * mohammad is not the father of any man among you._" (the qur'an, xxxiii, , .) the adoption of zayd, dating from before the birth of islam, and which might have proved a serious stumbling-block in the political career of its chief, was thus annulled, and the freed man, called zayd ibn mohammad, now went by his real name: zayd ibn al-haris. but the affection that mohammad had for zayd and his son usamah, was strengthened by this solution which put an end to all feelings of restraint. such is the adventure of zainab, which all the historians who are enemies of islam have passionately exploited in order to sully the prophet's memory. we shall not discuss the subject, because, in our opinion, the details of the life of a man like mohammad cannot be isolated from the whole of his work and judged separately. in common with all the prophets, without exception, mohammad doubtless had what some call "moments of weakness;" but they have nothing to do with his inspiration. moreover, the historians of mohammad enjoy the unusual honour of having felt such great respect for his memory, that they refused to discuss his conduct. when the historians of other prophets cut out of their lives all that they consider may belittle them in the eyes of posterity, the writers set themselves up, in reality, as critics of their heroes' acts. in the foregoing narrative, which has served as a pretext for so many pamphlets, we find the most incontestable proof of the sincerity of the arab prophet's biographers. following their example, and as a token of our impartiality, we thought it our duty to relate this episode, although of secondary interest, and greatly inferior to other events for which we have not found space in this work. [sidenote: the ghazwah, or expedition of zat-ir-riqua (_year iv of the hegira, a.d. _)] having heard that the banu muharib and the banu saliba of the najd were preparing an expedition against him, the prophet decided to be beforehand with them, and set out to meet his foes. in his haste, he had only been able to get together a small number of camels; one for six men who took it in turns to ride. the believers were compelled to bind up their cruelly wounded feet, from which the nails were torn by the sharp stones of the hammadas, with "ruqqah": fragments of their apparel. hence the name of zat-ir-riga bestowed on this expedition. after having camped at nakhl, mohammad's soldiers came in sight of the assembled enemy. the two armies remained motionless, face to face, neither making up its mind to begin the hostilities; the mussulmans, because of their numerical inferiority out of all proportion; and the infidels, in consequence of their terror arising from the influence of the recent victories of islam. it was in these circumstances that the prophet instituted the "salatu'l-khauf," the prayer of peril. he divided the believers into two groups; one saying the prayer, and the other keeping a vigilant eye on the enemy. greatly impressed by the resolute bearing of the mussulmans, whom their foes hoped to surprise, but who had come out and showed fight, the allies began to retreat, one after the other, so that, passing from extreme vigilance, as shown at first, the believers became a prey to exaggerated confidence. during the torrid heat of the middle of the day, they were scattered here and there enjoying their "siesta" in the shade of the numerous "talhah" (gum-trees), growing in the valley, and had posted no sentinels to keep watch and ward. a bedouin of the banu mustaliq perceived this lack of precaution. by crawling along on hands and knees, he succeeded in approaching the prophet and lifting the silver-hilted sabre hanging to the branches under which the apostle was resting, the tribesman said: 'o mohammad, let me look at thy sword-blade.' after having run his thumb along the edge of the steel as if to try it, he brandished it over the prophet's head and cried out: 'o mohammad! dost thou not fear me?'--'no! why should i fear thee?'--'art thou not afraid of the weapon i hold?'--'no, for allah protecteth me,' replied the prophet, with the greatest calm, gazing boldly at his agressor. petrified at such indifference in the face of danger, the bedouin was overwhelmed with supernatural emotion which paralysed his heart's action. cold sweat bathed his brow; his fingers, gripping the sword-hilt, opened out involuntarily, and the sabre fell at mohammad's feet. he picked it up quietly. 'and now, what will save thee from my blows?' he asked.--'thy generosity!' replied the downcast brigand. he was right. the prophet let him depart without compelling him to embrace the mohammedan faith, for he wished to accustom idolaters to the generosity of islam, so that they should come to it of their own accord. the bedouin, who before leaving his own bivouac, had boasted that he would bring in mohammad's head, declared to his people: 'i have just met the best of men.' and he went back to the prophet and became a convert to islam. [sidenote: the ghazwah, or expedition of the banu mustaliq (_year v of the hegira, a.d. _)] now it was the turn of the banu mustaliq to get restless and conspire against islam. the prophet resolved to punish them, and, at the head of his troops, he came upon them on their own territory at qudid, near the wells of al mirisiyah. the two armies crashed together in their shock, and many were slain on both sides. allah routed the banu mustaliq; and an enormous amount of booty: camels, sheep and captives, fell into the hands of his warriors. among the prisoners was the daughter of the lord of the mustaliqs, beautiful juwairiyah. as a result of the drawing by lot, she fell to sabit ibn qais, but promised her master a heavy ransom in exchange for liberty. she then sought out the prophet and told him: 'i am juwairiyah, daughter of haris, lord of the mustaliqs. thou knowest my unlucky fate. i know thy magnanimity and i come to implore thy help to pay my ransom.'--'i will settle thy ransom,' he replied; 'and i'll marry thee, if so be thou art willing.' she accepted, and despite ayishah's jealousy, aroused by the charm and grace of juwairiyah, the marriage was decided. in the meantime, haris had arrived, bringing his daughter's ransom. mohammad gave him back juwairiyah, but only to ask him immediately for her hand, offering as dower the sum of four hundred drachmas. as soon as the news of this union was noised abroad, the believers said: 'the prophet hath allied himself to the banu mustaliq. we must therefore look upon them as our allies.' the faithful gave back all the booty; together with all the captives who had just been shared among them. few women ever brought such a blessing to her tribe as this juwairiyah. after the severe fighting, whilst the soldiers were watering their panting camels at the well al mirisiyah, a violent quarrel was nigh bringing ansars and mohadjirun to blows. jajjah, leading umar's horse by the bridle, hustled simana ibn ubair, an ally of the banu auf ibn khazraj, in order to deprive him of his turn at the well. simana turned upon him, and the two adversaries, locked in murderous embrace, rolled on the ground, simana shouting: 'help! o comrades of the ansars!' and jajjah: 'help! o comrades of the mohadjirun!' they were hauled apart, and for the moment the quarrel came to nothing. but on both sides, great effervescence reigned in the minds of the tribesmen. the "hypocrite," abdullah ibn abi salul, an eye-witness of the scuffle, worked up the men's exasperation to the highest pitch by these words: 'o citizens of al-madinah! have ye seen the impudence of all these quraish? they pick a quarrel with us in our own country, abusing our hospitality and relying on their numbers. such is the result of your candour, when ye opened your doors to them and shared your property with them. how true is the saying of our ancestors: 'feed thy dog and he will devour thee!' once back in al-madinah, will not the strong make up their minds to drive out the weak?' zayd, son of arquam, reported these wicked remarks to mohammad. by his side stood umar who flew into a violent passion. 'o prophet!' he cried. 'wilt thou not order abbad ibn bashir to put this impostor to death?'--'how cometh it, umar, that thou canst give such a piece of advice?' rejoined the prophet. 'if people are able to say: 'mohammad cutteth his companions' throats,' what a fine stir there would be in al-madinah. no, no!' he went on, turning to abbad; 'but give out orders to depart at once.' the sun was at its zenith; the heat overpowering. it was not a favourable moment for folding the tents. nevertheless, the prophet, lashing his she-camel on the tender skin of her belly, to increase her speed, led his soldiers in a forced march lasting all day, all night, and all through the morning of the next day till noon. it was then, seeing his brave warriors beginning to stagger, that he called a halt. all his men, worn out by fatigue, dropped on the ground, overcome by deep sleep where they fell, without having been able to give vent to the feelings of fury seething in their hearts and which might have caused most sanguinary conflicts among them. the "hypocrite" abdullah had a son who was also called abdullah. he was a sincere believer and he went to the prophet. 'they tell me,' quoth the young man, 'that thou didst intend to kill abdullah, my father. in that case, charge me to bring thee his head, for by allah! thou shalt know that among the khazraj, there is no son more devoted to his father than i. if thou shouldst charge any other to execute him, i should not be able to bear the sight of his murderer going unpunished and i should kill him. therefore i should be slaying a true mussulman in order to avenge a mussulman "hypocrite," and render myself deserving of hell-fire.' the prophet tranquilised the stoical believer by these words: 'give no credit to what thou didst hear. on the contrary, we look upon thy father as our friend and comrade, so long as he remaineth with us.' [sidenote: the tayannum, or the ceremony of ablution performed with sand] it was during this expedition that the following revelation came down: "_but if ye are sick, or on a journey, or if one of you come from the place of retirement, or if ye have touched women and find no water, then take clean sand and rub your faces and your hands with it._" (the qur'an, v, .) thus was established the tayammum, or purification by sand, destined to prevent the believers from ever forgetting their salutary duty; for this did away with the pretext, so frequent in their deserts, that lack of water hindered the performance of ablutions. [sidenote: the battle of the ditch (_year v of the hegira, a.d. _)] a deputation of jews from the tribe of the banu nazir, and a few malcontents of the wayls journeyed to makkah to offer the quraish an alliance. the ghatafans, a tribe hailing from the north of the hijaz, and the "habash," or arab confederates, joined them. thus was organised a vast conspiracy, threatening al-madinah on all sides. this time, when the prophet got to hear of the importance of this expedition, he had no difficulty in persuading the believers that the only way to save themselves was by entrenchment in the town and there awaiting the advent of the enemy. al-madinah was protected in almost every direction, either by ramparts, fortlets, or gardens. at the north only would it have been possible for the enemy to arrange a formidable assault. a learned persian, salman-i-farisi, recently converted, explained to the prophet a system of efficacious protection. it was by means of a ditch, and salman had seen it practised in his own country. mohammad was so struck by the persian's arguments that this ditch was ordered to be dug immediately. all the believers, confiding in their chief's farsightedness, set ardently to work. nevertheless, they were in a state of extreme distress. an icy north wind, such as blows frequently in winter on these table-lands of the desert where there is intense radiation, benumbed their shivering bodies. roads where the work of revictualling was carried on were blocked by the enemy; provisions were lacking. the pangs of hunger would have paralysed their strength if it had not been kept up and rekindled by faith, for all they had to eat were a few grains of barley cooked in rancid, nauseous mutton-fat. meanwhile, the shovelfuls of earth accumulated, thrown up with great spirit by the workers, and the ditch had reached a good depth, when suddenly the pickaxes struck against a rock which they were powerless to uproot. mohammad filled his mouth with water and spat it out on the stone, at the same time as he implored the help of the almighty. the diggers again applied themselves to their task and the vigour of their arms, increased tenfold by the certainty of success which the prophet's action had instilled into their hearts, met with no further obstacles. it seemed to them that the hard stone had become as friable as the sand; the rock splitting into countless fragments under the attack of their tools. scarcely was the ditch ready, when the entire plain was covered by the tents of the enemy's army, ten thousand strong: the quraish, banu kamanah, ghatafans, arabs of the tuhamah and of the najd, etc. despite their great superiority of numbers, the infidels were not sanguine as to the result of their conflict with the prince of apostles, and they cast about for new allies. huwai ibn akhtab, an enemy of allah, approached kab ibn asad, prince of the jewish tribe of the banu quraizah who, although deeply hostile to the prophet, had signed a treaty with him. ill at ease, kab repulsed his visitor in these terms: 'o huwai! the step thou dost take is fraught with great danger for my tribe. i have signed a treaty with strict fidelity.'--'open thy door to me, o kab, for i only wish to partake of thy "shishah," a kind of soup. kab let him in, and huwai immediately broached the subject that brought him there. he vaunted the power of the ten thousand confederates encamped near the uhud, and demonstrated how he was certain of ridding the world of mohammad. 'thou bringest me ugly business, o huwai!' replied kab, still hesitating. ''tis an empty raincloud in which only thunder and lightning remain. i see no advantage for me. what have i to do with all this?' his interlocutor never left off until he had coaxed kab into cancelling his contract with mohammad and forming an alliance with the infidels. the rumour of this defection coming to the prophet's ears, he sent sad ibn muaz, sad ibn ubaidah and chuat ibn zubayr to see if it was true. when these envoys reminded the banu quraizah of their pledge, the following reply was made: 'who is this prophet of allah of whom ye speak? there exists no treaty between him and us.' this was downright treachery, for the banu quraizah were marvellously well-informed as to the believers' secrets and weak points of the town. to guard against the anxiety that such treason might create among his disciples, mohammad, when his envoys returned, exclaimed: 'allah is great! here have we good news! hearken, o moslem comrades!' in this way he predicted that the spoils accruing from the overthrow of the banu quraizah would soon enrich the believers, thus brazenly betrayed. the sight of the ten thousand sparkling spears that made the plain look like a field of darts, produced, nevertheless, a great impression on the believers lining the ramparts. the "hypocrites," as was their wont, instead of exhorting the citizens to pluck up courage, tried to sow the seeds of panic. 'admire mohammad,' they would say. 'he promised us the treasures of chosroes and of cæsar; and yet, this very day, he himself is not certain of having a roof over his head!' to put an end to these gloomy forebodings, the prophet made his troops sally forth and posted them behind the ditch. they were covered in the rear by the sala hill. at that juncture, some of the soldiers whose courage was on the wane asked the permission of the prophet to return, saying: 'of a truth, our houses are left defenceless.' "_but they were not left defenceless: verily their sole wish was to flee away * if the enemy had effected an entry at all points, and they had been asked to promote rebellion among the believers, they would certainly have done so; but only a short time would they have remained in._" (the qur'an, xxxiii, , .) frankly, great anxiety reigned; but the faith of the sincere mussulmans and the unchanging serenity of the apostle got the best of it. on the other hand, the confederates, despite all their advantage, were still smitten with terror at the thought of the mysterious forces that they always found facing them each time they fought against allah's warriors; and dared not risk an attack before making sure that it would not turn out to be another miserable, humiliating failure. so they were contented with drawing near to the walls. for twenty days and twenty nights, hostilities were limited to encircling the city and a few flights of arrows, without any result. ashamed, at last, of their inaction, several horsemen of the quraizah and kinanas, got ready for the fray. in close rank, they broke away from the enemy front. their breasts pressed to the necks of their steeds, they dashed forward in a frenzied charge, swallowed up in the orange-tinted whirlwind of dust.... then suddenly, the living hurricane stopped dead, and when the clouds of sand enfolding the idolatrous riders lifted, they were seen petrified with affright in front of the deep ditch in which they had nearly been engulphed; whilst the horses, with twitching nostrils, their mouths twisted and bleeding by reason of the sudden jerk of the bit, stopping them in their forward bound, remained with stiffened, trembling legs on the edge of the trench.... 'by our gods!' swore the infidels, 'this is a trick that arabs never play!' they sought for a spot where the moat was the most narrow, and savagely spurring on their steeds, they lifted them in fantastic jumping efforts and so reached the other side. ali, followed by a few soldiers, went out to meet them. getting between them and the ditch, he cut off their retreat. one of the men on horseback, amr ibn abd-i-aud, of frightful aspect and gigantic stature, howled the vilest curses and challenged the believers to single combat. with the permission of the prophet who buckled on his own breastplate, rolled his turban round his head and placed his sword in his hand, ali stood face to face with the giant. at the sight of his assailant, only a boy, amr, the terrible, made a gesture of scorn and pity. 'i am loth to shed thy blood,' he said, 'for thy father was my friend '--'as for me,' retorted ali, 'i shall have no compunction in shedding thine.' at these words, amr foamed with rage, and ali bade him remark that if he despised his young adversary, he did not disdain to profit by remaining on horseback to defend himself against an enemy on foot. amr jumped off his horse and hamstrung it; thereby showing that he did not wish to use it for fight or flight. mad with rage at the mocking challenge of so youthful a foe, he beat his own face with his clenched fists.... then he rushed at ali, aiming a fierce blow which glanced lightly off the lad's forehead, after having smashed his shield to pieces. as quick as lightning, ali sprung on one side and, by an unexpected bound, got behind his adversary. carried forward by the violence of his advance, the monster was bewildered and staggered when he tried to turn round. ali seized the opportunity at once and made a skilful thrust. the blade pierced amr's throat, through and through, cutting the carotid artery. an enormous gush of blood spurted from the gaping wound; like a drunken man, the colossus, with hoarse hiccoughs proceeding from his severed throat, made a few faltering steps and fell in a heap at the feet of islam's champion. at this sight, the mussulmans sang the "takbir," and the other infidels, overwhelmed by consternation, fled at a wild gallop. one of them, nuhfil ibn abdullah, having miscalculated his jump, rolled with his mount down into the ditch, where he was slowly being killed by showers of stones, when zubayr put an end to the torture by a cut from his scimitar, which after having cleft his body in twain, was stopped by the saddle. safiyah, the prophet's aunt on his mother's side, kept an eye on the foe from the top of a fortlet belonging to hasan ibn sabit, who remained by her side. she caught sight of a jew wandering round the ramparts and said to hasan: 'seest thou that jew prowler? without a doubt, he seeketh to find a weak point in our walls, and whilst the prophet and his soldiers are busy on the front facing the enemy, other jews will be fetched to follow the spy and capture our fortlet. go down and kill him!'--'may allah pardon thee! o daughter of abdul muttalib, i am not a warrior accustomed to the use of arms. i am a poet.' shrugging her shoulders, masculine-minded safiyah seized a mace and went down. gliding behind the jew, she felled him by dint of dealing repeated blows on his head; and then went back to hasan. 'now thou canst go down and strip the jew of all he possesseth, for it is not seemly for a woman to undress a man.' several skirmishes of slight importance took place at long intervals; but if an attack was not to be feared, thanks to the precautionary moat which had upset the confederates' calculations, the garrison might have been mastered by famine. great uneasiness prevailed in their ranks. meanwhile, naim, prince of the ghatafans, sought out mohammad, saying: 'o prophet! i have become a mussulman and my people know it not. i am entirely at thy disposal.'--'of what use is all thy courage? thou art alone! but couldst thou not help us by provoking relinquishment among the confederates? in all wars, there are tricks which are licit.' naim understood at once the part he had to play. he went to the banu quraizah, having often broken bread among them when he was an idolater. [illustration: _"al fitr", the prayer on the breaking of the ramadhan fast._] 'o banu quraizah!' said he, 'ye know how i feel towards you all?'--'verily, and we have entire confidence in thee.'--'being so, listen to me. the quraish and the ghatafans, your allies, are not in the same position as you. this part of the country is yours: here is your property; here dwell your families. ye cannot abandon your land for another. they, on the contrary, are only here to fight mohammad and his companions; their belongings and their families are beyond their enemies' reach. if the fortune of war turneth against them, they will return in tranquility to their own country and leave you in yours, to do the best you can with this man. will ye be able to resist him, once ye face him alone? fight therefore no more with these "qawms" without claiming hostages chosen from their noblemen, so as to make sure that you will never be left in the lurch before ye have brought mohammad to his knees.'--'of a truth, thy advice is good!' they declared unanimously. nai then went to the quraish idol-worshippers and talked to them. 'ye know how i feel towards you all.'--'aye.'--'i have been able to ascertain something that i consider is only right that you should be told at once. but swear to keep it secret.'--'we swear!'--'this is it,' he went on. 'know that the jews regret having annulled their compact with mohammad and consequently have sent him this message: "most certainly do we regret what we did, but if thou dost consent to pardon us, we will give up to thee several hostages chosen amongst the most noble of the quraish or the ghatafans we have seized; and we will remain thy faithful allies until thine enemies are exterminated." mohammad having accepted, the jews therefore will come and claim hostages, pretexting that they are certain of never being thrown over whilst holding these sureties. take care never to give them a single hostage!' he said the same thing to the ghatafans, his fellow-countrymen, and was just as successful with them. the quraish and the ghatafans swore they would be on their guard. one night, on the eve of a saturday in the month of shawwal, abu sufyan and the chieftains of the ghatafans sent ikrimah to the banu quraizah, charging him to say to them: 'we can no longer sojourn in these parts, so unsuitable to our horses and camels. be ready to fight mohammad to-morrow. we must get done with him!' they made answer: 'to-morrow is a saturday, the sabbath day, which means obligatory repose in our religion. but, at any rate, we cannot fight by your side unless ye grant us hostages chosen from the most noble among you, as a guarantee that ye will not abandon us before having crushed our common enemy.' when ikrimah repeated these words, the quraish and the ghatafans cried out: 'by all our gods, what naim told us concerning the banu quraizah was perfect truth!' the confederates immediately sent another message, declaring plainly: 'by our gods, we'll not give you a single hostage!' it was now the turn of the banu quraizah to find out how correct was the information vouchsafed by naim and they came to a rupture with the confederates. this piece of news, reported by naim, made the prophet rejoice exceedingly; but being desirous of knowing the effect produced by this rupture in the ranks of the quraish and the ghatafans, he said to huzaifah: 'make thy way, this very night, into the enemy's camp and find out what they may be planning. come back and tell me without letting anyone know.' thanks to the pitchy darkness of that wintry night, huzaifah glided among the enemies' tents. a high, icy wind had put out all the fires and blown down all the cooking-pots. the whistling gusts deafened all ears; and the shivering idolaters huddled together, wrapped up in the folds of their mantles. 'keep an eye on your companions!' was the watchword shouted by abu sufyan, meaning: 'beware of spies!' huzaifah, with great presence of mind, seized the hand of an infidel standing close to him and demanded in threatening accents: 'who art thou?'--'such an one; son of such an one.' huzaifah let him go, and the infidel, forced to exonerate himself, never thought of putting questions as well. the relinquishment of the banu quraizah; the difficulties with regard to feeding camels and horses; and, above all, the disorder arising from that calamitous night, caused abu sufyan to be discouraged. after a short discussion between him and the other quraish chieftains, in the hearing of invisible huzaifah, the return of the besiegers to their dwellings was decided. having got to know all he wanted, huzaifah went back to his camp. he found the prophet praying and he beckoned to his disciple to approach. when huzaifah was close to him, to warm his messenger, he covered him with part of the mantle spread out on the ground in lieu of a praying carpet. when mohammad had finished his devotions, he listened to the intrepid scout and congratulated him on the success of his mission. next day, the plain was clear of the enemy; and the prophet, leaving the ditch, led his troops back to al-madinah. 'the quraish came here to attack us for the last time,' he declared. 'henceforward it will be for us to go and beard them in their dens.' [sidenote: the treaty of al-hudaibiyah (_year vi of the hegira a.d. _)] the prophet dreamt that he entered makkah in the midst of his companions and then marched to mina, in the valley of sacrifices. this vision embodied the greatest desire of his heart; and all the believers felt the same, as they suffered from not being able to visit the holy places since the hegira. so mohammad determined to satisfy their craving. in the month of zu'l-qa'dah, he went out of al-madinah, and took the road to makkah at the head of fourteen hundred pilgrims, driving seventy camels for sacrificial purposes. to show that his intentions were peaceful, he caused garlands to be hung round the victims' necks. furthermore, at zu'l halifah, he solemnly put himself in the state of "ihram," which consists in assuming the pilgrim's garb of double cloths without seams, and abstaining from all that is forbidden during the visit to the holy places: approaching women; the use of perfumes; cutting the beard, hair or nails; fighting or quarrelling; and the slaying of animals others than those sacrificed. his disciples followed his example and he gave out the "talbiyah": "_i stand up for thy service, o allah!_" which they all repeated in chorus. at osfan, he met with bishr ibn al-kâab on his return from makkah whither he had been sent to glean information, and who told him: 'o prophet! the quraish know that thou art on the way. they have called upon the saquifs and the habash who are coming to face thee, bringing with them their wives and children, to stop themselves from even thinking of flight. they also lead their she-camels and the young camels, so as to be certain not to suffer from lack of meat or milk; and the warriors have covered their bodies with skins of panthers as a token that they will never give in, but fight to the last gasp. at this moment, they are encamped at zu sua. khalid ibn walid, at the head of their cavalry, is in ambush at kurrat-ul-ghamin.' 'who can guide us along some other road than that by which they expect us?' asked the prophet. a guide of the aslams proffered his services and led the army of the believers through an unknown path, but it was frightful to look upon. it meandered through an inextricable chaos of wild ravines, jagged rocky heights, abrupt ascents and descents, strewn with pointed pebbles that cut the feet of men and animals. after having mastered exhaustion and fatigue, the believers debouched in the sandy bed of a broad wadi which seemed to their bruised and bleeding feet like a carpet of the richest pile. they offered up thanksgivings to the compassionate, and obeying the commands of their inspired leader, they cried out: "_we implore the forgiveness of allah and we repent in his presence!_" then they went through the pass of al morar, and arrived at the foot of the hill of al-hudaibiyah, situated partly on holy ground and partly in ordinary territory, a day's journey from makkah. at this spot, qaswa, the prophet's she-camel, suddenly knelt and refused to get up. 'is she restive?' asked his companions.--'no, she is not restive,' replied mohammad; 'but she is stopped by him who formerly stopped the elephant of the negus abrah, and prevented him entering makkah.' and the apostle gave orders to pitch the tents. the enemy, surprised at not having met mohammad, and knowing he was not far off, soon found out that he had taken a new road. they turned back in the greatest haste, sending their horsemen on in front to bar the way to their city. they despatched budail and several arabs of the khuzzah tribe, to sound the prophet as to his intentions. budail, having heard from the prophet's own lips that all he wanted was to make a pilgrimage to the holy places and not to wage war against his fellow-countrymen, returned to inform the quraish. but they had no faith in the khuzza men whose secret sympathy for mohammad was known, so they sent him another messenger, al halis ibn alqamah. 'let the victims be paraded in front of him,' ordered the prophet when he saw him arrive. when al halis had seen the long rows of victims going by with garlands round their necks which were shorn at the parts where their throats would be cut, he thought it would be useless to continue and went back to the quraish to give them an account of his observations. 'sit down,' they told him. 'thou art naught else but a simpleton of the bedouin tribes and thou dost not understand the cunning of mohammad who haileth from our part of the country.' al-halis got out of temper. 'o assembly of the quraish! ye do not respect the terms of our compact. no one hath a right to drive away from the temple of allah the man who cometh to glorify the most high! by him who holdeth in his hands the soul of al-halis, ye will let mohammad finish his pious visit in peace; or else we confederates will break off with you--and at once!' they shrugged their shoulders. 'pshaw! let us be until we have achieved what we have planned.' and they charged ora ibn masud, a chieftain of the saquifs, with the mission which, in their judgment, had been badly carried out by the previous messengers. 'o assembly of the quraish!' he objected; 'i have hearkened to the bitter words with which ye welcomed the return of your men sent to the enemy. ye know me by my mother; i am on your side, for i belong to the folks dwelling in the makkan valley. if ye suspect me in the least, lay your hearts bare ere i depart.'--'thou art in the right. we know thee. we are not at all distrustful of thee.' ora came into the presence of the prophet and bowed down to him. 'o mohammad,' he said, 'thou hast gathered together a horde of people of all countries and thou dost come back to thy egg (birthplace) to smash it with their assistance! now the quraish have sworn a most solemn oath, to the effect that never, so long as their eyelashes quiver on their eyelids, shalt thou set foot again in makkah, unless by force of arms. and, by our gods! the scum surrounding thee must flee from thy side, before the sun setteth on another day!' at these words, a flame of indignation lit up the eyes of the companions standing, the lower half of their faces veiled, behind the prophet. from out of the group, strode abu bakr. he went up to the infidel and shouted to him: 'begone and bite the belly of lat, thine idol! dost thou think for a moment that we could abandon allah's messenger?'--'who is this man, o mohammad?' queried ora.--'the son of abu kuhafah.'--'by our gods!' ora went on, turning to abu bakr, 'if i were not bound to thee by a debt of gratitude, i would have rewarded thee according to thy deserts. but, by thine insult, we are quits for the future.' the messenger now went up to mohammad, and while speaking to him, plucked familiarly at his beard, as was the custom in those days between people engaged in discussion. 'take thy hand away from the prophet's face before i come to rid thee of thine arm!' cried another of the companions. 'who is this boor?' asked ora.--'dost thou not know him?' replied the prophet with a smile. 'he is thy brother's son, al mughairah shuba.'--'o traitor!' exclaimed ora to his nephew, 'hast thou so soon forgotten thy crimes that were pardoned thanks to my intervention?' he then continued his conversation with mohammad who treated him with the respect due to his rank. the prophet reiterated his statement that his intentions were purely pacific. during his sojourn in the camp of the believers, ora was able to see how boundless was their veneration for their chieftain. when the prophet performed his ablutions, his companions rushed to share the water he had used. if he had his head shaved, not a hair fell to the ground without being picked up and treasured. so ora, on his return, said to those who had sent him forth: 'i have seen chosroes in the midst of his sumptuous persian court; cæsar, in the proud senate of roman patricians; the negus, at the head of his formidable bodyguard of abyssinian warriors. well then, i swear that i have never met with a monarch who, surrounded by the noblemen of his court, held the same position as mohammad among his companions. and what is more remarkable, contrary to what taketh place round about the mighty, mohammad's followers expect nothing from him; neither favours, riches, nor honours! that is what i have ascertained. now act as it pleaseth you.' although the quraish were deeply affected by his declaration, they persisted in their delusion and sent forty or fifty of their partisans to prowl round the believers' army, with the idea of surprising and capturing a few soldiers of islam. the believers were on their guard and it was they who took a certain number of the infidels prisoners. they were led before the prophet, but resolved not to belie his own words of peace, he pardoned and freed them, although by having been caught attacking perfidiously, they deserved death. just then, mohammad wanted to send umar with a message to the noblemen of makkah, but he made the following reply: 'o prophet! the quraish know my feelings towards them as manifested by many inimical acts of mine. i have everything to fear from them, because there is no longer any member of my family in makkah. but i can show you a man whose influence will be much more efficacious than mine. i mean usman ibn affan.' mohammad, recognising this to be sound advice, despatched usman to abu sufyan and the noblemen of the city, to assure them that he was actuated by pacific sentiments, and to inform them of his wish to do honour to the "house of allah" by a pilgrimage. when the prophet's envoy had finished explaining the object of his mission to the men of makkah, they replied: 'o usman! if thou dost desire to perform the ritual circuits of the "tawaf," we authorise thee to do so.'--'i will not accomplish them unless following in the footsteps of allah's messenger.' this answer exasperated the citizens of makkah who threw usman into a prison, despite his quality of ambassador. finding that usman did not return, the believers concluded that he had been murdered and they were overwhelmed with the most profound indignation. mohammad hesitated no longer and proclaimed: 'we will not go away until we have punished the "qawm" of the infidels for the abominable crime they have just committed!' umar, acting under the prophet's orders, cried out with all the strength of his lungs: 'o believers! come and take the oath--the oath! come while ye invoke the name of allah!' the prophet, seated in the shade of a gum-tree, awaited the coming of the faithful who went in haste to him. they quivered with enthusiasm, and resolved to follow him blindly even if they had to make war in holy territory. they struck their palms against his to swear fidelity till death. just then, the news of usman's murder being denied on the best authority, the prophet clapped his hands together, so as to take the oath in place of usman and acknowledge it. meanwhile, the intense agitation manifested on this occasion, in the ranks of the believers, was notified by spies to the quraish. they grew uneasy and sent sohail ibn amr with a flag of truce, giving him the following instructions: 'offer peace to mohammad, but claim as condition that he turneth back this year, for never could we put up with the sarcasms of the arabs who will maintain that he came into our city in spite of all we said or did. next year, at the same epoch, he may accomplish his pilgrimage to the holy places, and it pleaseth him.' sohail went back with these proposals and the prophet accepted, despite umar's vehement protestations. 'i am the servant of allah,' mohammad told him. 'he leadeth me not astray, and i cannot disobey the orders he sendeth me. how now, o umar? i decide; and thou must perforce oppose my decision?' umar, hearing these words, was overtaken by such confusion that he trembled in every limb, and icy sweat poured off him.... quoth umar: "from that day forth, i have never ceased praying, fasting, giving alms, and freeing slaves, so as to be granted pardon for my error." 'o ali!' said the prophet, at this juncture, 'write: in the name of allah, the merciful, the compassionate!'--'i cannot accept that wording,' protested sohail. 'write simply: in thy name, o allah!'--'so be it! write: in thy name, o allah! it hath been agreed between the undersigned, mohammad, prophet of allah, and--'--'if i acknowledged that thou art the prophet of allah,' interrupted sohail. 'i should not be at war with thee!'--'well then, write: between mohammad ibn abdullah and sohail ibn amr: hostilities shall be suspended for a period of ten years. anyone escaping from makkah and taking refuge with mohammad shall be given up to the quraish. mohammad and his followers will turn back, and not attempt to enter into makkah this year, against the will of the quraish. next year, the quraish will cease all opposition to the visit of the mussulmans to the holy places where they may sojourn for three days, but only carrying the arms permitted to pilgrims: sheathed sabres.' hearing these clauses, seemingly so disadvantageous for them, the mussulmans were roused and shouted: 'o prophet! is it thou who signeth such a compact?'--'assuredly!' replied mohammad with a smile. 'those among us who take refuge with the idolaters being insincere, we need not regret them; and allah will have rid us of them. as for those of the makkan mussulmans who take refuge with us, if we give them up, allah will not abandon them, for he will know how to succour them.' the treaty had scarcely been signed by the leading believers and principals among the idolaters, when abu jindal, son of sohail, who had become converted and kept a prisoner, suddenly made his appearance, still dragging round his ankles the links of his broken chains. he rushed into the midst of his moslem brethren who welcomed him with transports of joy. sohail flew into a passion at this sight. he lashed his son's face with a thorny twig; and, seizing him by his garments, drove him into the prophet's presence, saying: 'o mohammad! here is the first fugitive: i call upon thee to give him up to me; the treaty having been concluded before he arrived.'--'thou hast right on thy side.'--'o my mussulman brethren!' cried abu jindal, 'am i thus given back to the idolaters who persecute me on account of my religion? see to what state they have reduced me!' the whole of the stoical believer's body was indeed covered with traces of the ill-usage from which he had suffered. 'be resigned, o abu jindal,' said the prophet; 'and put thy trust in allah. he will not abandon thee; nor you; nor the "mustazifin" (those who are oppressed like thee); and he will deliver thee when the time cometh.... but we have concluded a treaty on these terms, with the "qawm" of the quraish, and on no account can we break our word.' nevertheless, the prophet made overtures to sohail, asking him to give up abu jindal in exchange for a ransom; but sohail refused unmercifully. umar, in his turn, approached the ill-fated mussulman, saying: 'patience, o abu jindal! thou art in the power of infidels whose blood hath no more value than that of dogs,' and he showed him his sword, hoping thereby to incite him to murder his father. despite everything, the son loved his father tenderly and thus did he reply: 'why dost thou not slay him thyself?'--'the prophet hath forbidden us to do so.'--'well then, must not i also observe the conditions imposed by mohammad?' when muqirris ibn hafz, one of the makkans who had accompanied sohail, witnessed this distressing scene, he was overcome with pity, and swore to protect abu jindal against his father and all his persecutors. but whilst their companion was dragged away in the direction of makkah, the believers were heartbroken.... their sanguine enthusiasm, arising from the fact of their expedition, gave place to gloomy discouragement; and when the prophet, to show them that all was finished, sent forth his order: 'sacrifice the victims and shave your heads!' it seemed as if they had suddenly lost their hearing. loudly invoking the name of allah, mohammad slew the first victim with his own hand. he then sat down and was shaved by khurash ibn umaiyah. recovering from their state of prostration by this example, the believers repented, and ashamed at having shown such little eagerness in obeying their leader, they imitated him at once by sacrificing the victims and cutting off their own hair. allah (glory be to him!) sent a high wind that whirled away the shorn locks and carried them within the precincts of the holy temple.... the sojourn of mohammad at al-hudaibiyah extended over nineteen or twenty days. he gave the signal to return; and his soldiers who, until the last moment, secretly hoped to march on the enemy, obeyed him without murmuring, despite their deep disappointment. on arriving at al-madinah, fresh scenes of the kind they had just witnessed, produced a heartbreaking effect. nothwithstanding, they were much gratified to find that the prophet refused to give up to the idolaters several moslem women who had fled from makkah, such as: ummi-i-kulsum bint ogbah, sabiyah bint al-haris, etc., a revelation having taught him that women were not to be included in the treaty: "_o believers! when believing women, fleeing from idolatry, come over to you as refugees, then make trial of them ... and if ye have ascertained them to be believers, let them not go back to the unbelievers; they are not lawful for them, nor are the unbelievers lawful for these women. but give the husbands back what they have spent for their dowers._" (the qur'an, lx, .) by way of compensation, the clauses of the treaty concerning men were scrupulously respected. like abu jindal, there was a believer named abu basir who had escaped from his persecutors and he was given back to a tribesman of the banu amar, accompanied by a slave; these two having been sent to al-madinah to claim the refugee. they took him away in full view of the believers who would have preferred to sink into the earth sooner than be forced to remain powerless and witness such a sight. alone, among them all, the prophet who saw what they could not see, remained unmoved and promised freedom by the aid of the almighty to his ill-fated disciples. at zu'l holifah, the three men sat down in the shade of a wall to rest awhile. the tribesman of the banu amar, priding himself on the success of his mission, thought he would act the part of an invincible hero and, unsheathing his sabre, he flourished it, bawling: 'with this good sword, i could cut down ansars from daybreak to nightfall and never feel tired!'--'is thy blade really so sharp as all that?' asked abu basir. 'let me see if it is, o my brother!' blinded by pride, the man of the banu amar cast all distrust from his mind. he allowed the edge of the steel to be examined by abu basir who, suddenly pulling it out of the conceited wretch's hands, brandished it over the infidel's head and with a single blow, stretched him dead at his feet. seeing this, the slave, overcome by terror, fled to al-madinah where he implored mohammad's protection. at the same moment, abu basir arrived, bestriding his victim's she-camel which he had captured. he made the animal kneel before the mosque and, with the sabre in his grasp, he went and addressed the prophet, saying: 'thou canst not be blamed for what hath occurred, for thou didst remain true to thy word in giving me into the hands of my enemies. but allah hath delivered me from their persecution! here are the spoils. a fifth part is due to thee, take it!'--'i can touch no plunder coming from that foe without being false to my oath. away with thy booty; and now, go whither it pleaseth thee.' when abu basir was gone, after taking leave of him, the prophet added: 'woe to his people! that man is a brand of war! would that he were accompanied by a few comrades as determined as he!' abu basir went to al-aish, near the seashore, on the road to syria trodden by the quraish caravans. once there, he was met by abu jindal and seventy other mussulmans who, having heard that the prophet could not be held responsible for those who freed themselves without his assistance, had made good their escape from the idolaters. these refugees were quite as determined as abu basir. they elected to remain in that part of the country because it was very woody and well suited to the irregular warfare of partisans in ambush. they captured all the convoys venturing in those regions and their success and the enticement of booty caused them to be joined by many arabs of the ghifar, aslams, and buhaunah tribes, etc., who became converts to islam and formed a "jihsh" of more then three hundred highwaymen. it was then that the believers began to fathom the reasons for the prophet's placidness when he accepted the paragraph, seemingly so unfavourable, concerning the restitution of fugitives. hungered by the stoppage of all revictualling caravans, the quraish finished by sending written entreaties, begging him to suppress the very clause which at first pleased them so much. they informed mohammad that all mussulmans who should get out of makkah to join him, could remain under his protection; and he was begged to recall abu basir and his fellow-raiders. so it turned out that when mohammad gave the quraish satisfaction, he had the advantage of doing a generous act at the same time as he increased his fighting strength to a most appreciable extent. the results, therefore, of the expedition of al-hudaibiyah, to all appearances so poor, were of great importance. in the qur'an, it is set down as being almost equal to the battle of badr. in fact, at the moment when the mussulmans thought they ought to attack the holy city, all of them, whether makkan mohadjirun, or ansars of al-madinah, took the oath of fealty without hesitation. after the prophet's death, the tree under which he accepted the pledge was so celebrated that numerous were the faithful who came to pray in its shade; and umar was obliged to have it felled, because he feared lest it became the object of a cult tainted with fetichism. to crown all and complete these results, the following verses came down: "_well pleased now hath allah been with the believers when they plighted fealty to thee under the tree; and he knew what was in their hearts: therefore did he send down upon them a spirit of secure repose, and rewarded them with a speedy victory. * and with the rich booty which they took._" (the qur'an, xlviii, , .) [illustration: (calligraphy) _nay rather allah is your liege lord, and he is the best of helpers._] [illustration: (ornamental page) chapter the seventh] [illustration: _an arab horseman of the desert._] [illustration: (calligraphy) _verily, we have won for thee an undoubted victory._] chapter the seventh mohammad was never able to get the jews to ally themselves with him, despite all his advances, and the encouragement he had lavished on them. as we have seen already, they could not admit of the expected prophet belonging to any other race but theirs; nor pardon him for having, by means of religious fraternity, put an end to the secular quarrels of the citizens of al-madinah, which, in olden days, had been a source of abundant profit. to sum up, the victories of the islamic arabs led the jews to fear that they would never be able to free themselves from the arabic yoke. therefore each fresh success of the mussulman armies increased the jealousy of the jews and their perfidy soon degenerated into open hostility, necessitating a long series of expeditions against them. for the sake of clarity, we gather into one chapter the whole of these expeditions, although they took place at long intervals. [sidenote: expedition against the qaynuqa jews (_year ii of the hegira a.d. _) ] an arab woman, seated close to the shop belonging to a jeweller of the qaynuqa jews, was the victim of a most insulting practical joke. without her knowing it, someone had hooked the lowest edge of her robe to the part of the apparel covering her shoulders, so that when she rose to her feet, her nakedness was displayed to the gaze of the jews in the shop, who were all overtaken by a fit of the most indecent hilarity. an arab, very indignant, struck down the insulter with a blow from a club. he was felled in his turn, by the jeweller's relatives. other arabs rushed to avenge him, and a pitched battle took place in the open, blood flowing on both sides. jews being the agressors, the prophet, knowing their deep-rooted inimical feelings, profited by the opportunity to demand in due form that they should become converts to islam. at first he tried persuasion: 'by so doing, you will be making a loan to allah which will bring you in marvellous interest,' he told them.--'allah must be very poor,' they replied, 'since he is reduced to borrow of us who are rich?' at this blasphemy, the prophet threatened them with exemplary punishment, unless they embraced islam immediately. they shrugged their shoulders. 'thou art proud indeed by reason of thy victory over soldiers of no account,' said the jews. 'try now to attack us and thou wilt see that we are in nowise like thy fellow-countrymen of makkah.' mohammad called upon the mussulmans to come to his aid, and the banu qaynuqa, losing their arrogance as soon as allah's warriors showed themselves, ran away and took refuge in neighbouring strongholds belonging to their co-religionists. after holding out for a fortnight, they had to surrender and beg for mercy. the prophet ordered their throats to be cut as an example to the other jews that would deliver them from the temptation of copying their slaughtered brethren. abdullah, the "hypocrite," with whom they were allied, interceded with mohammad in their favour. twice he answered: 'let me be.' abdullah placed his hand on the heart of allah's apostle and supplicated him, saying: 'i cannot stand by and see them massacred! it would be black ingratitude on my part!'--'they are at thy disposal,' the prophet told him at last. 'but their belongings are ours.' the qaynuqa, saved by the intervention of the "hypocrite," had to go into exile in syria, and their property was divided among the victors. [sidenote: expedition against the jews of the banu nadir (_year iii of the hegira, a.d. _)] the jews of the banu nadir having claimed money compensation for the death of two of their brethren killed by the soldiers of amr, the prophet went among the tribesmen to enquire into the matter. he had just given them satisfaction; and, whilst conversing with a few companions, the prophet was seated in the shade of a house, when a jew, son of jahsh ibn ka'b, climbed stealthily on to the flat roof with the intention of crushing mohammad with great stones already brought there. by celestial inspiration, mohammad looked up just as the son of jahsh was about to commit the crime. the apostle of allah moved quickly away from the wall, dragging his companions with him. as soon as he returned to al-madinah, he called his warriors together, and set out with them to punish the authors of this treacherous act. the banu nadir, having failed in their attempt, shut themselves up in their strongholds, but after holding out for six days, they had to follow the example of the qaynuqa and surrender unconditionally, throwing themselves on the mercy of their conqueror. their lives were spared, but of all their immense wealth, each man was only allowed the load of one camel. [sidenote: expedition against the jews of the banu quraizah (_year v of the hegira, a.d. _)] the confederates, being dispersed following their defeat at the battle of the ditch, the mussulmans had laid down their arms. one day, when taking their siesta, recuperating after passing sleepless nights and undergoing great fatigue during the siege, they were suddenly awakened by the voice of the mua'zzin. acting under the prophet's orders, he shouted: 'let all who hear and obey refrain this day from saying the prayer of "asr" (afternoon), unless in the midst of the banu quraizah.' mohammad judged that the treachery of these tribesmen, renouncing their alliance and joining his enemies, deserved immediate punishment. the same day, he camped with his soldiers at the well of enna, in front of his enemies' citadels; and after a blocus of twenty-five days, forced them to capitulate. the aus, to whom the banu quraizah had long been allied, begged the prophet to spare their lives, as in the case of the qaynuqa. the prophet, however, considered that the treachery of the banu quraizah was a much more serious matter and he was not at all inclined to let himself be mollified. at last, desirous of meeting them halfway, he said: 'o assembly of the aus! will ye not consent to let one among you become arbitrator and decide what shall be done with your allies?'--'yea! we consent.'--'then let one of your chieftains, sa'b ibn mu'adh, seal their fate.' now, sa'b ibn mu'adh had been badly wounded during the battle of the ditch by an arrow which had severed an artery in the arm and he prayed allah to let him live long enough to punish the banu quraizah for their felony. sa'b, corpulent and too weak to walk, had himself placed on the back of an ass; where propped up by cushions and supported by two believers, he was led to the assembly of the mohadjirun and the ansars, who stood up to do him honour, saying: 'the prophet hath commissioned thee to decide the fate of they allies.'--'will ye swear by allah that my decision be carried into effect!'--'we swear it!'--'well then, i decide that the men shall be slain, their property divided, and their wives and children sent into bondage.'--'thy decision hath been inspired by the will of allah!' concluded mohammad. seven hundred jews paid for their unjustifiable treachery with their lives. the wish for which sa'b had lived was fulfilled. his old wound burst open, causing the last drops of his blood to flow away, and he earned the crown of martyrdom. [sidenote: expedition against the jews of khaibar (_year vi of the hegira, a.d. _)] notwithstanding these grave defeats, the power of the jews in arabia was not definitively crushed. the land of khaibar, about ninety-six miles north of al-madinah, still belonged to them and it was richer and more important than the territory they had lost. many jews, driven from the neighbourhood of al-madinah, had taken refuge there; and by their thirst for revenge, they rekindled the hatred which the inhabitants already felt towards islam. the jews of khaibar, fancying themselves safe from any attack of the mussulmans, never let an opportunity escape to do them harm; and copying the manner in which mohammad had proceeded against the makkans, the jews found out a good way to satisfy their rancour. the region between khaibar and the sea was inhabited by the tribe of the ghatafans, their allies, and they had come to an agreement to block the road and stop all mussulman caravans leaving al-madinah to travel to syria. the damage inflicted from these tactics had often made the prophet think about sending an expedition against the jews of khaibar, but he was too busy round about makkah, to carry out this plan. on returning from al-hudaibiyah, the ten years' truce, signed with the quraish, freed him from all anxiety as regarded them, and the revelation he received at that moment: "_he rewarded them with a speedy victory. * and with a rich booty,_" (the qur'an, xlviii, - ), seeming to him to apply to khaibar, and nothing else, he hesitated no longer, and decided to march against this fortress, the last stronghold of the jews in arabia. the ghatafans, secretly forewarned by abdullah, the "hypocrite," rushed to the aid of the jews, their allies, but on arriving at the wadi'r raji, they found that the mussulman forces had outstripped them and thus they were cut off from the road to khaibar. whilst brought to a dead stop, disagreeably surprised, they heard noises behind them, near their tents, and imagining that part of the mussulman "qawm" had been diverted to take them in the rear, they turned back in great haste. the palm-gardens of khaibar, spreading between the sombre heights of the harra like an emerald lake whence emerged rocky, citadel-crowned islets, came suddenly into view, after passing through a ravine. to be able to take possession of them, the prophet invoked the aid of the almighty. but night coming on, mohammad postponed the attack till the following day. when the first rays of the sun gilded the tops of the date-trees, the khaibar husbandmen left their strongholds to go in their gardens; their spades, pickaxes and baskets hanging from their shoulders. suddenly, they found themselves confronted by the believers' army debouching from the harra; spearheads and swords reflecting the light of the rising sun in ensanguined radiance. 'mohammad and his jihsh!' they cried, and throwing away implements and baskets, fled as fast as their legs would carry them. 'allah is great!' proclaimed the prophet. 'khaibar shall be destroyed. when we swoop down on the territory of a nation, its awakening is terrible! lo and behold the sinister omen! on our behalf, its inhabitants abandon their tools that will serve to undermine their ramparts and dig their graves.' the first of the many khaibar citadels to fall into the mussulmans' hands was that of na'im. it was there they had to mourn the loss of mahmud ibn maslama, who, tired of having fought all day in the sun, wearing heavy armour, had imprudently gone close to the rampart to rest in the shade. a mill-stone, hurled from an embrasure, smashed the valiant soldier's helmet, split his skull, and caused the skin of his forehead to fall down over his eyes. in that parlous state, the wounded man was brought into the presence of the prophet who put the strip of flesh back in its place, fastening a turban round it; but the best of attention was unavailing in face of such a serious injury, and it was not long before mahmud gave up the ghost. the citadels of natha, the next to be invested, resisted more obstinately. in order to force the besieged to capitulate, the prophet gave orders to cut down under their eyes four hundred palm-trees of their oasis, but all in vain. he therefore put an end to such devastation, contrary to his principles, for as he has said: 'among all trees, there is one which is blessed like a mussulman: 'tis the palm.' the siege continuing, famine began to make itself felt, discouraging the besiegers, when umar, having taken a jew prisoner, the captive, to save his life, offered to give the prophet valuable information. in the cellars of sa'b ibn mu'adh, one of the natha citadels, called after the man, instruments of warfare of all kinds were stored: battering-rams; catapults for siege purposes; and armour, shields, pikes, lances and swords for the equipment of combatants. just then, this fort happened to be weakly garrisoned, and the jewish captive undertook to take the mussulmans inside by means of a secret itinerary known to him alone. mohammad having accepted the offer, seized upon sa'b easily, and thanks to the machines he found therein, which he used to destroy the ramparts, he captured the remaining fortresses of natha, one after the other. they all contained provisions in abundance. while taking one of these forts, the poet amr ibn u'l-uhayha, pursuing one of the enemy, dealt him a furious sabre-cut, aiming at his legs to stop him in his flight. but the blade, too short, striking the empty air, rebounded from the force of the blow and pierced amar's knee, setting up such strong hemorrhage that he expired soon afterwards, being sacrificed by his own hand, whilst fighting for allah. the most important of all the khaibar citadels was still standing: that of al-qamus, in which kinana, prince of the banu-nadir, had taken refuge. it was defended by marhab al-yahudi, an illustrious warrior. built on the top of a vertical black rock, with smooth sides, and surrounded by cleverly-designed fortifications, this fort was said to be impregnable. after ten days of desperate efforts against the ramparts, the believers, however, succeeded in effecting a breach, into which leapt the prophet, setting the example to his companions; but after having been in the greatest danger, he was compelled to retrace his steps. the shooting pains of neuralgia forcing him to take forty-eight hours' rest, he entrusted the standard to abu bakr, who led an attack through the breach, with the most ardent courage, but he also had to beat a retreat at last. umar took his place, accomplishing prodigies of valour, likewise without success. hearing of their failure, mohammad declared: 'by allah! to-morrow i'll confide the flag to an intrepid fellow, to whom flight is unknown. he loveth allah and his messenger, and by them he is beloved. 'tis he who will capture al-qamus by sheer strength.' next day, all the companions clustering close to the prophet were anxious to learn who was the man among them to be so greatly honoured. but without glancing at the group, he sent for ali who had to remain in the rear because he was suffering from painful ophthalmia. led by a friend, he came into the prophet's presence. ali's eyes were covered by a bandage. 'come hither, close to me,' said mohammad. 'take this flag and keep a hold on it until the almighty shall open a way for thee through these ramparts.'--'i suffer cruelly from my eyes, o prophet!' replied ali. 'i cannot even see to walk.' mohammad made ali rest his head in his lap; separated the young man's swollen eyelids, and rubbed the bloodshot eyes with a little saliva. all inflammation vanished immediately and every vestige of pain disappeared.... the prophet then buckled his own breastplate on ali and armed him with his own sword, celebrated under the title of "dhu'l-fiqar". ali went towards the fortress, planting in the ground, close to the ramparts, the white flag on which stood out in bold relief, embroidered in black letters, the islamic profession of faith. he then got ready to storm the breach.... al-harith, at the head of a few jews, tried to bar the way and drive back the mussulman hero, but the leader of the children of israel succumbed, struck down by ali; and the soldiers who had followed all ran away. the brother of al-harith, marhab, famous and feared, came now to the front, eager for revenge. he produced an effect of terror by his gigantic stature, double armour, a pair of swords, a three-headed spear, a double turban; and his helmet on which sparkled a jewel as big as an egg. his eyes, too, glistened like two carbuncles. puffed up by pride, he strode to the breach. 'the whole of the land of khaibar, from end to end, knoweth my valour! when war rageth, sometimes i pierce with my lance; and sometimes i slice with my sword! doth there exist in all the world a champion who dare stand up against me?' without being moved by this bragging bombast, ali showed himself to take up the challenge: 'i'll be that man! verily i, called by my mother haydra, the lion cub, in memory of my father, known as the lion. with my sabre i'll give thee good measure!' hearing this reply, marhab became purple with rage. brandishing his scimitar, he rushed at ali. the formidable blade hissed through the air and it seemed as if the champion of islam had just been annihilated. but the sword of the terrible jew was stopped by ali's shield in which it penetrated deeply and stuck therein. without giving his adversary time to drag it away, ali loosened his hold of the buckler, now useless and in his way, and replied to the attack by a wonderful cut that split the helmet, turban and skull of his enemy, scattering the brains in every direction. the steel was only stopped by the jew's teeth, forming barrier. the giant fell in a huddled heap, like a tower ruined by an earthquake, in a cloud of dust, with a noise as of thunder.... seized with affright, the jewish soldiers fled, pursued by ali's men. he tore from its hinges the heavy door of the ramparts and it served him as a shield in place of the one broken in the fight. resistance was cut short and al-qamus, the impregnable, was captured by the warriors of islam. when the fall of the famous fort became known, the jews of fadak and of wadi'l-qura, two places a few days' march towards the north, sent in their submission. in concordance with their co-religionists of khaibar, they supplicated the prophet to let them live as farmers on their estates which they alone knew how to cultivate properly; and to allow them to take half of the crops as remuneration for their labour. mohammad consented, on condition that the believers would have the right to alter this decision, should they deem it necessary. khaibar was the most fertile land of all the hijaz; the spoils were therefore considerable. one half was set apart to defray the expenses of the pilgrimage to take place during the current year; the rest was distributed among the warriors. the land, with the exception of the portion due to the prophet and to orphans, was divided in such a way that each man received one share, and each charger two shares; making three shares for each horseman. this was done with the aim of encouraging the breed of horses. a supplementary gift fell to the lot of any soldier being the owner of a pure-blooded courser. [sidenote: importance of horse-breeding according to the prophet] these measures show the importance attributed by the prophet to the equine race in the life of the arabs. up till then, horses were very rare in arabia, being looked upon as articles of luxury, as it were. led by the bridle by the side of the camels ridden by the warriors, the steeds were only called upon when charging or pursuing the enemy. the prophet completed these arrangements by founding race-meetings destined to develop emulation among breeders and horsemen. in the qur'an, so as to inspire believers with the fear, of the day of retribution, horses galloping breathless are called to witness: "_by the panting chargers! * and those that dash off sparks of fire * and those that scour to the attack at morn! * and stir therein the dust aloft! * and cleave therein their midway through a host! * truly, man is to his lord ungrateful! * and of this he verily is himself a witness * and truly he is vehement in the love of this world's good. * knoweth he not, then, that when that which is in the graves shall be torn forth * and that which is in men's breasts shall be brought out * verity their lord shall on that day be well informed concerning them?_" (the qur'an, c, - .) unfortunately, tame translation is powerless to give an idea of the dizzy, whirling rhythm and the panting, galloping, neighing--if one may venture so to write--assonance of the first verses of this surah. one of the most celebrated horsemen of that epoch, abdullah ibn abi sarh, afterwards governor of egypt and who inflicted cruel defeats on the romans, by land and sea, was such an enthusiastic admirer of this surah that it was always on his lips, and he recited it even on his deathbed. thanks to the vigorous impulsion given by the prophet to horse-breeding, the race of pure-blooded barbs unrivalled in the world, was soon formed, to be kept up ever afterwards. [sidenote: the poisoned lamb] after sunset, when the prophet had said the prayer of "magrib," he went back to the camp. near his tent, he saw seated the jewess zainab, daughter of al-harith, and wife of sallam ibn mishkam. she awaited mohammad's coming to give him the present she had brought: a lamb spitted on a spear, and which had been roasted at a fire fed with aromatic wood from the desert. he thanked the woman, and when she had taken her leave, he invited his companions to sit down and partake of the roast. its crisp, golden outer skin looked very tempting. the prophet was the first to fall to, twisting off a shoulder, into which he bit and began to chew a morsel. following his example, bishr ibn u'l-bara took a mouthful of meat; masticating and swallowing it. the other guests had already reached out their hands in like fashion, when the prophet spat out the piece he was chewing and stopped them abruptly, shouting: 'hold your hands! this shoulder hath just told me that it is poisoned!'--'by him who is generosity incarnate!' exclaimed bishr, 'i thought that my mouthful had a peculiar flavour and guessed what it meant; but seeing thee chew thine, i could not spit it out, saving your reverence. if this poison should destroy thy life, what liking can remain to me for mine?' scarcely had bishr uttered these words than his face, overspread by a blackish hue, became distorted, and he writhed on the ground, a prey to unbearable suffering. the prophet sent at once for the jewess and said to her: 'thou hast poisoned this lamb?'--'who told thee so?'--'this!' and he showed her the fragment of shoulder he held.--'it is true,' she confessed.--'why didst thou do this thing?'--'my father, my uncle, my husband and many of my people have suffered the sad fate thou knowest of, by thy fault. and i did think: if mohammad is naught but a mighty monarch, i end his days and glut their vengeance and mine. if, on the contrary, he is truly a prophet, he is in no danger, because his allah will warn him of my purpose.' this clever answer calmed the prophet and he was perchance on the point of pardoning the guilty woman for her abominable crime, when bishr expired at that moment. mohammad delivered the jewess into the hands of the dead man's relatives who came clamouring to be avenged. zainab was crucified and the remains of the fatal lamb were burnt. although the prophet spat out the perfidious piece of meat almost as soon as it passed his lips, the poison filtered through his body as far as his entrails, and he never fully recovered from its pernicious effects. three years later, when fatally ill, bishr's sister coming into his house to ask after his health, he told her: 'the vein of my heart was torn by the food i ate with thy brother, at khaibar.' [sidenote: amratu'l-qada or the pious visitation (_year vii of the hegira, a.d. _)] at the same time as the expeditionary forces, laden with spoils, came back from khaibar, the last emigrants arrived from abyssinia. among them was jafar, son of abu talib and brother to ali. their return made mohammad very joyful. with sincere effusion, he kissed jafar between the eyes and declared: 'i know not which causeth me the greatest joy: the taking of khaibar, or the return of jafar.' among those returning was also umm habiba, daughter of abu sufyan, the prophet's mortal enemy. she had emigrated with her husband, ubaydu'llah ibn jahsh, but he was a convert to christianity and had died in abyssinia, while she remained steadfast to islam. as a reward for such fidelity, as well as hoping to disarm by alliance one of his most fierce adversaries, the prophet had sent amr ibn umayya to the negus, asking to be married by proxy to umm habiba and to have her sent back afterwards with the other emigrants. this being done, umm habiba, on arriving at al-madinah, was received in the dwelling of her illustrious husband. as for the emigrants, mohammad proposed that they should be allowed a share of the khaibar booty. this arrangement being ratified by unanimous consent, they were thus compensated for having sacrificed their property and left their country in order to remain true to their faith. the date on which the treaty of al-hudaibiyah gave the prophet the right to come to makkah with his disciples to visit the holy places having arrived, he was now on the point of being able to fulfil one of his most ardent aspirations and also see his native land. followed by the same number of pilgrims, and driving before him the same number of camels, destined to be sacrificed, as in the expedition of al-hudaibiyah, he made his partisans disarm and left in the valley of batn ya'jiju, a great quantity of weapons, brought as a precautionary measure, in the care of a guard, two hundred strong, commanded by aws ibn khawli. 'we only penetrate into the holy land,' declared the prophet, 'carrying the arms of the traveller: our swords in their scabbards, according to the terms of our oath, but if we detect in the glances of the idolatrous quraish the slightest sign of treachery, our other weapons will be found handy.' he then pushed on. self-communing, he climbed the kuda hill, in order to descend into the valley near the cemetery of al-hajun where rested his beloved khadijah (may allah welcome her in his grace!) when he cast eyes on the first houses of makkah, unspeakable emotion overpowered him by reason of the remembrances and hopes they evoked. fearing lest treachery, on the part of the infidels, should force him to order reprisals, causing the blood of his fellow-countrymen to sully the streets of the city where he was born, he cried out: 'o allah, spare us all misfortune in the holy city!' he never ceased repeating this request until he left the precincts of makkah. on the approach of the believers, the leading citizens, exasperated at the triumphant return of the men they had banished, went out of the town and hid their impotent rage in tents pitched in the neighbouring ravines. as for the mass of the inhabitants, like all mobs, they were dominated by a feeling of curiosity and clustered either on the heights of the jabal qu'ayqu'an, or on the terrace-roof of the "dar-un-nadwa", house of council, from which they were able to look down into the interior of the temple. from the gossip of the crowd could be gathered the general hope: that the prophet and his partisans would arrive in a state of complete exhaustion, their blood and bodies impoverished by the torrid summer heat and pernicious fevers of al-madinah. forewarned by divine inspiration, mohammad cautioned his companions. 'allah will be merciful to those,' said he, 'who this day display their bodily vigour.' with the exception of the common people mustering on the roof of the "dar-un-nadwa," the city was quite empty. the prophet could have captured it without striking a blow; but his soul, incapable of such treachery, was entirely engrossed by pious thoughts. riding his she-camel, qaswa, its bridle held by abdullah ibn rawaha, and surrounded and followed by his disciples, he passed through the outlying districts, under the eyes of enemies, without even honouring them by a single glance. he alighted on the temple threshold, wrapping himself up in the folds of his mantle, by throwing one end over his left shoulder, leaving his right arm and shoulder at liberty. followed and imitated by all the faithful, he kissed the black stone and performed the "tawaf," the seven ritual circuits round the ka'bah. the three first were made with swift, measured strides (called "ramal," or "harwala"), with a view of proving the fine state of health of the believers to the infidels looking on. they shook their heads gloomily, saying to each other: 'so these are the men described to us as enfeebled by the heat and fevers of al-madinah!' at the bottom of their hearts, the unbelievers were forced to confess that such men as these, their mental well-being surpassing even their bodily health, were unconquerable. the four remaining circuits were made with slow dignity, as mohammad had no desire to demand useless efforts from his partisans; and ever since that day, this manner of performing the "tawaf" is religiously copied by pilgrims. [illustration: _"among all trees, one is blessed like the mussulman, 'tis the palm," said the prophet._ views] the prophet then ordered bilal to call the faithful to prayer. when the idolaters heard the resounding accents of the black freed slave, reverberating in the echoes of the valley, they were so deeply annoyed that they envied the fate of their illustrious dead, abu jabal and abu lahab, prevented from hearing this call by the weight of the earth piled on their graves. after the prayer, mohammad again bestrode his she-camel, to perform the "sa'y" which is the run between the two hills of safa and marwa. his example swept away the believers' scruples; for until then, they had hesitated about going through this ceremony, being embarrassed by the presence of the idols isaf and na'ila, set up at that spot. by the performance of these rites, instituted by abraham and perpetuated by the arabs, the prophet had in view a nationalist and political goal, which he wished to combine with his religious aims. if he kissed the black stone, it was not by reason of a feeling of superstitious worship which would have contradicted all the principles of the qur'an much too flagrantly, but solely through a feeling of reverence for this relic of his glorious ancestor. quoth ibn abi shayba, following isa ibn talha: "addressing the black stone, the prophet declared: verily, i know that thou art nothing more than a stone, powerless to do harm, or be of any use. then he kissed it.... in this conjuncture, abu bakr, followed by umar, one after the other, came and kissed it, declaring: by allah! i know that thou art nothing more than a stone, powerless to do harm or be of any use, and if i had not seen the prophet kiss thee, i should not have kissed thee!" in like fashion, by the "sa'y" and the ablutions at the well of zamzam, mohammad kept alive the touching remembrance of the arab's ancestor ishmael and of his mother hajar (hagar). "being too weak to carry any farther her wretched child succumbing athirst in a horrible desert, hajar placed her offspring on the ground in the shade of a shrub and ascended a hill, hoping to see from afar a well or spring; but all in vain. then, fearing that the soul of ishmael might have escaped from his body, she came back, panting, to his side, and climbed another hill for the same purpose, but with no more success than before. so she went down again, tortured by the same anguish. "seven times did she run in despair between the two hills until, maddened, she thought she would only find a corpse, when she caught sight of her beloved son quenching his thirst at a spring which, by order of the compassionate, had gushed forth under the heel of the poor child. and to this miraculous well was given the name of zamzam." in imitation of hajar, pilgrims pass seven times along the path of agony which she trod between the two hills known as safa and marwa, and it is their duty to drink and perform their ablutions at the zamzam spring. on the following day, in commemoration of the sacrifice of abraham, the victims were immolated in the valley of mina. their flesh was shared among the pilgrims who, having shaved their heads, were once again in the state of "halal," ordinary life, which they had relinquished since zu'l-holifah. while still in the state of "ihram," mohammad, thanks to the special privilege derived from his position as allah's messenger, married a woman of makkah, named maimunah. she was fifty years of age and extremely poor; but this matrimonial alliance was bound to bring notable recruits to islam. in the first place, her brother-in-law, al-abbas, was mohammad's uncle. he was her "wakil," or guardian, and decreed her union with the prophet. but the marriage was only consummated at the first halt on the return journey to al-madinah. despite the rage of the idolatrous quraish, who could not bear to look upon the sight of their enemy's pilgrimage, the prophet had gained his end: to inform the arabs of the whole of the peninsula that he had no intention of abolishing their secular traditions; but on the contrary, would devote all his efforts to consolidate them, by restoring their primitive purity. the "amratu'l-qada" was thus the cause of great reaction; bringing about immediate conversions; among others, those of three great personages: uthman ibn talha, amr ibnu'l-as and khalid ibn walid, besides preparing the minds of the majority of the arabs to follow their example. [sidenote: the prophet sends ambassadors to the principal monarchs of the world] the definitive defeat of the jews rallied a great part of arabia to the prophet; and the rest of the peninsula was fatally bound, in course of time, to come under the sway of islam. it was then that mohammad turned towards neighbouring empires. allah's presence filled the universe and islam, which counted already in its ranks disciples of many different origins, was not destined to be merely confined to the land of the arabs. it spread over the whole world. as it is written in the qur'an: "_we have not sent thee otherwise than to mankind at large._" (xxxiv, ). to the most powerful monarchs of europe, therefore, mohammad despatched envoys carrying letters inviting those potentates to embrace the religion of allah, the only one; and the missives bore a seal on which the prophet had caused to be engraved these words, set out in three lines: "from allah--the prophet--mohammad." on receipt of the message, al-mundhir, king of bahrayn, and badhan, persian satrap of yaman, became converts to islam. al-muqawqas, viceroy of egypt, sent rich presents, among which, as well as duldul, a white mule, and ya'fur, an ass, was a young slave, mary the copt. she at once became mohammad's concubine. hirqal, (heraclius), the roman emperor, and the najashi, (negus), of abyssinia, both replied by most courteous letters. kesra (chosroes), king of persia, swore he would punish the prophet for his audacity and the almighty immediately chastised the monarch, for he was murdered by his son shiru'e, (siroes), who took his father's place on the throne. al-harith, son of abu shamar, was fated to see his kingdom torn asunder, even as he had torn the letters delivered to him by the prophet's envoy. only one of these ambassadors, al-harith ibn amr, was received with contumely and afterwards treacherously murdered near karak in the balqua region, following orders given by shurabil al-ghassani who governed this region under roman rule. [sidenote: the expedition of mutah (_year vii of the hegira, a.d. _)] when the news of the outrage on his ambassador came to the prophet's ears, he determined to be instantly avenged, although he did not conceal from himself the dangers of the undertaking. this time the believers had to face, not only the syrian arabs, outnumbering those of the hijaz, but also the roman troops who occupied the balqua-land. the prophet placed zayd ibn al-haris at the head of three thousand men; but foreseeing that in this unequal struggle, his army might be deprived of its leader, he nominated in advance, as successor, jafar, son of abu talib; and if misfortune befell jafar, abdullah ibn rawaha; and lastly, in the case of anything unluckily happening to the latter, it was left to the soldiers to choose a commander themselves. a jew was present at the council of war and made the following remarks: 'o abul qasim! (a surname of mohammad), if thou art really a prophet, all the men thou hast appointed are irretrievably lost. when our prophets of israel, after having placed a general at the head of their armies, used to add: 'and, if he is killed, name such an one in his place,' that infallibly meant that he was bound to lose his life.' then, turning to zayd, he went on: 'i swear to thee that if mohammad is a true prophet, thou wilt never return from this expedition.' zayd replied simply: 'i swear to thee that mohammad is the prophet of allah.' then the apostle tied the white "liwa" (flag) to a spearhead and gave it into the hands of zayd. filled with funereal sentiments, mohammad accompanied his troops to saniyat-ul-wida, (the pass of farewells). it was there that he halted and gave them his final instructions: 'remain ever in fear of allah. fight in his name and kill his foes who are yours. but leave in peace such men as dwell in the seclusion of monasteries. spare women, children and the blind. destroy no monuments; cut down no trees; and when ye shall have avenged the death of al-harith ibn amr, summon the arab tribes of syria to islam.' shurahbil, anxious as to the results of his cowardly outrage, called upon all the arabs of the surrounding country: the banu bahra, the banu lakhm, the judham, the baliyy, etc., and he notified his fears to theodurus, lieutenant of heraclius, who sent him all the roman troops then occupying the land. shurahbil had therefore mustered an army of nearly a hundred thousand men before the mussulman forces arrived at mu'an. when they found themselves fronting such formidable cohorts, the believers remained two days and two nights in consultation and many among them proposed that a messenger should be despatched to the prophet who would then decide whether they were to turn back or fight. perhaps he might send them reinforcements. but the utterances of abdullah ibn rawaha revived the courage of the believers. 'o comrades! how is it that ye seem to fear the very thing ye come to seek: martyrdom in the holy war? we reckon not on numbers to gain the victory, but on the faith with which allah hath inspired us!'--'thou dost speak truly!' they cried and, hesitating no longer, advanced towards the enemy, coming in contact with him at mutah, a little village situated south of the karab fort. like lions, they dashed into the centre of their massed foes, whose chief, malik ibn rafila, was killed by a spear-thrust.... recovering from their first surprise and profiting by their great numerical superiority, the infidels were not long in getting the best of the struggle and they encircled the mussulmans completely. outnumbered, zayd ibn al-haris died the death of a hero; and jafar, obeying the prophet's instructions, bounded forward to uphold the standard that zayd's contracted fingers still gripped, and to take command in his place. jafar rode a magnificent chestnut charger, but seeing the immediate danger, he alighted and hamstrung his steed, so that if the master succumbed, his horse should not be captured by the enemy to be used against islam. by his example, he was able to rally the believers and lead them in an enthusiastic charge, whilst waving the islamic standard which proudly spread its wings above their heads. but soon, like an eagle wounded in its flight, the flag fell down; the hand that held it being hacked off by a blow from a scimitar. jafar picked up the standard, grasping it in his left hand, when another sword-cut sliced his unwounded wrist. jafar stooped, and seizing the flag between the bleeding stumps of his arms, he kept it aloft by pressing the staff against his breast, and with sublime heroism, continued to charge the enemy until he fell, riddled with ninety wounds. abdullah ibn rawaha succeeded him and met with the same fate shortly afterwards. the mussulmans, attacked on all sides, seeing their leaders struck down, gave way and began to flee in disorder. arqam ibn amir stopped them. 'o comrades!' he cried out, ''tis better to be struck in the breast than in the back!' picking up the standard, he passed it on to khalid ibn walid who refused it at first, saying: 'thou hast a better right to this honour than i, for thou wert at badr.' but arqam insisting, khalid took charge of the flag. his impetuous energy instilled fresh courage and confidence into the hearts of the believers, ashamed of their momentary weakness, and being a skilful strategist as well as a valiant soldier, he succeeded with the help of allah, in freeing the mussulman troops and reorganising the fighting front in such masterly fashion that the infidels were unable to claim the victory. at sunrise, the next day, he was first to attack, so as not to give the enemy time to recover from his partial defeat. to deceive him with regard to the numerical weakness of the islamic forces, he resorted to the following stratagem: by rapid evolutions of various sections of his army, he made the rearguards pass to the van, and _vice versa_, in such a way that the enemy, continually seeing fresh adversaries confronting him, imagined that the mussulmans had been greatly reinforced during the night. the infidels' certainty of triumph, mainly founded on their numbers, vanished; and seized with indescribable terror, they gave way, pursued by the believers who slaughtered them ruthlessly. during that memorable day, khalid had nine sabres broken in his hand. by divine inspiration, the prophet was informed of the ordeals of his army. after general prayer, he went up in the pulpit, his eyes full of tears, and cried out three times: 'the gate of good! know ye all that zayd hath fallen a martyr; implore the mercy of allah in his favour. then jafar and abdullah died martyrs; implore the mercy of allah for them. then the standard was upheld by khalid ibn walid, who is the sword among all the swords of allah. and the almighty granted him victory.' mohammad afterwards went to see asama bint omis, the wife of jafar, and bent down over his children to "smell" them; tears welling up in his eyes and trickling pearl-like down his beard. 'o prophet!' asked asama, 'what maketh thee weep? hast thou had news of jafar and his comrades?'--'aye, and now they are no more!' the wretched woman dropped down, groaning in despair and, lacerating her cheeks with her nails. attracted by her shrieks, the other wives imitated her and the whole house resounded with lugubrious lamentation. the prophet ordered one of his companions to impose silence on the women. 'it is not fitting,' said mohammad, 'to mourn thus for jafar. hath he not obtained the great reward? i pray allah that he may permit the father's place on this earth to be taken in posterity by the most accomplished among his children!' suddenly he lifted his eyes to heaven and murmured: 'the salvation and mercy of allah be upon you!'--'to whom dost thou speak, o prophet?' asked one of his followers.--'i have just seen jafar go by in the midst of a procession of angels. he was mounting to paradise with ruby-studded wings in lieu of his amputated hands. he greeted me and i returned his greeting.' sohail, who recorded this tradition, is careful to add: 'such are merely images: the wings are symbols of the supernatural strength of jafar's soul; and the rubies are the precious drops of his blood.' in the midst of the universal mourning at al-madinah, the prophet ordered the funereal repast know as "al-oudhim," to be prepared. it was destined for the families of the martyrs; for it is hard for those whose souls are saddened to have to think about preparing nourishment for the body. when the return of the army was announced, the whole of the population of the city, rich or poor, went out to meet it. the prophet ordained that the mounted men should lift up the children and give them a ride on the pummels of the saddles. he took the son of jafar in his arms and seated the child in front of him. the soldiers, on arriving, confirmed the tidings of their leaders' death and the people of al-madinah, thinking that these heroes had not been fully avenged, threw handfuls of dust in the soldiers' faces, and inveighed against them: 'o cowards! ye fled, even when ye trod the path of allah!' the prophet bade the crowd be silent and made this declaration: 'on the contrary, these warriors deserve your greatest praise, for they returned and charged courageously!' [sidenote: the taking of makkah (_the st day of ramadhan year viii of the hegira, january th a.d. _)] it was not long before the idolaters of makkah violated the ten years' truce, signed at al-hudaibiyah. by surprise, one night, they massacred a score of mussulmans belonging to the tribe of the khuza'a, encamped at the well of al-watir. in face of such terrible treachery, the prophet threw all scruples to the winds. determined to attack, he proposed to organise an expedition. the makkans, well aware that their crime would not go unpunished, delegated abu sufyan to go to al-madinah, to offer compensation and ask for the truce to be maintained. on arriving, abu sufyan went to the dwelling of umm habiba, his daughter, who, as we know, was one of mohammad's wives. but, when he made as if to sit down on a carpet, umm habiba, guessing his purpose, quickly folded up the rug and placed it on one side. 'o my daughter,' said abu sufyan in offended tones, 'dost find thy father unworthy of that carpet, or is that carpet unworthy of thy father?'--'that carpet belongeth to the prophet,' she replied. 'now thou art a worshipper of idols; therefore in a state of impurity, and thou wouldst sully it with thy impiety.'--'of a surety, o my daughter, some misfortune hath happened, bringing disorder to thy mind, since the day thou left us!' understanding, by this kind of welcome, that there was no hope for him in that quarter, he sought out the prophet from whom no reply was obtained. then he made desperate attempts to circumvent abu bakr; and tried his best with umar and ali, supplicating them to intercede in favour of his fellow-citizens, but with no greater success. full of apprehension, he mounted his camel and went back on the road to makkah. the steps taken by abu sufyan no longer allowed the prophet to conceal his designs. his sole care was to hurry on with his preparation, so as to surprise the men of makkah before they had time to place the city in a state of defence. on the tenth day of the month of ramadhan, after having left abu ruhm kulthum al-shifari as his lieutenant at al-madinah, the prophet set out, followed by an army of no inconsiderable strength, increased on the way by numerous tribes joining, and the total forces soon numbered ten thousand men. the fast of ramadhan was strictly kept by all the faithful, but when they reached the well of al-kadid in the middle of the day exactly, the prophet judged that their constancy had been sufficiently tested. fearing that deprivation of drink, joined to extreme fatigue, might have a dangerous effect on their health, he asked for a jar filled with water to be brought to him. overlooking the crowd on his tall she-camel, he swallowed a mouthful in front of all, so as teach by his example that they might break their fast when on a journey as soon as they felt their strength exhausted. thus prescribes the qur'an: "_but he among you who shall be sick, or on a journey, shall fast that same number of other days._" (ii, .) after that halt, the prophet hastened the march of his army so actively that he camped at marru'dh-dhahran, close to the town gates, before the quraish were able to find out anything about the important strength of the mussulman troops, or the road they had taken. abbas, mohammad's uncle, kept in makkah till then by his business functions as superintendent of the water supply, joined the believers at al-juhfa, with the whole of his family. the sincerity of his conversion had not caused him to forget the love he felt for his fellow-citizens. he was most uneasy about their fate, in case they should behave in such a way that mohammad would be forced to take the town by murderous onslaught. quoth abbas: "when the tents were pitched, i rode the prophet's white mule and went to al-arak, on the road to the arafa, hoping to meet a carrier of wood, brickmaker, or pilgrim whom i might charge to take a warning to the quraish and exhort them to go and implore the mercy of allah. "whilst advancing with due precaution in the dark, two men passed quite close to me. they were hidden from my sight by big boulders and they talked in whispers. one of them, his mind engrossed by the myriads of golden stars that the camp-fires of the faithful caused to scintillate on the hills beneath the real silvery stars of the firmament, said: 'never have i seen so many lights as this night on those mountains.'--'they are probably the camp-fires of the khuza'a, determined to wage war to avenge their dead.'--'the khuza'a are not so numerous. no, truly, these cannot be their fires!' replied the first speaker whose voice i recognised. it was that of abu sufyan. 'o father of handala!' i called to him.--'o father of al-fadl! if 'tis thee, what dost thou want of me?' he returned, having also recognised my voice.--'o abu sufyan! the prophet is here at the head of such a great army that all resistance is impossible. to-morrow the quraish will be cut to pieces!'--'what is to be done! canst thou advise me?'--'if thou art taken prisoner during the fight, thy head will be cut off. doubt it not. but get up behind me on my mule. i will take thee to mohammad and implore him for thee.' "abu sufyan, understanding that this was his last hope of safety, could only submit. he got up behind me and we went on in front of his companion budayl, who made up his mind to follow us. "every time the flicker of one of the many camp-fires lit up our little group, on the dark background, sentinels stopped us, asking: 'who is that man?' but when i told them that i was abbas, the prophet's uncle, and as they recognised the mule, they allowed us to pass.... "all went well until we came to the lights of umar's tents. he came forward to meet us and also demanded: 'who is that man?' just then, the flame of the brazier lit up the face of my companion who held me tightly. umar knew him again, and cried out in sudden joy: 'ah! 'tis thee, abu sufyan, with no treaty or safe-conduct, o enemy of allah! the almighty be praised for delivering thee into our hands!' "he ran to the prophet's tent. i made the mule gallop along, outstripped him and jumped off, going into mohammad's tent; but umar arrived, almost at the same instant. 'o prophet!' he shouted. 'here is abu sufyan, allah's enemy, without treaty or safe-conduct, given up to us by the almighty! charge me to cut his head off!' "i interfered: 'o prophet! he is under my protection. no one but me shall go near him this night.' as umar kept on manifesting still greater hatred, i said to him: 'softly, o umar! if abu sufyan was one of the banu adi ibn kab, thy relatives, thou wouldst not behave in this way; but he is one of the banu abd manaf, related to the prophet, which thou must not forget!' "umar made answer: 'softly, o abbas! know that thy conversion gave me more pleasure than that of my father, al-khattab, would have caused me, for he lived and died in idolatry; for the sole reason that, as i know well, the prophet attached more importance to thy conversion than to that of my father.' allah's messenger cut our dispute short by saying: 'take away abu sufyan, o abbas, and to-morrow at dawn, come back here with him.' "i obeyed. abu sufyan passed the night in perfect safety in my tent, but seeing all the mussulmans rise up at one bound at the first glimmer of daybreak, he was overcome by anxiety. 'o father of al-fadl!' he asked; 'what are they about? do they want to kill me?'--'be not alarmed,' i told him in reply. 'they only want to pray.' "at the sight of these ten thousand men, the mysterious light reflected by the rosy dawn playing on them; all piously repeating every gesture of the prophet; bowing down when he bowed down and prostrating themselves when he prostrated himself, he could not refrain from exclaiming: 'by allah! i have never seen kings obeyed as this man is obeyed; not even chosroes, nor cæsar, nor any of the most powerful monarchs of the universe!' "'come,' i told him, when prayers had been said. 'i will intercede for thee; and thou wilt intercede for thy qawm.'--'how now?' asked the prophet when the idolater came before him. 'dost thou not acknowledge, o abu sufyan! that there is no god but allah?'--'by my father and my mother! how patient, generous and conciliatory thou art! yea, i acknowledge it. if with allah there were other gods, they would have given me some little help.'--'dost thou acknowledge that i am the prophet of allah?'--'by my father and my mother! as for that, there is still some doubt in my mind. i will see later.'--'woe unto thee! o abu sufyan!' i exclaimed, indignant at his reply. 'hasten to bear witness to the whole truth, or i deprive thee of my protection and thine head will fall from thy shoulders!' "abu sufyan still hazarded a few objections: 'what wilt thou do with the statue of al-uzza that is in my dwelling?'--'thou shalt throw it in the privy!' shouted an angry voice. it was that of umar, listening behind the canvas of the tent, hoping to be ordered to execute the man who had been an enemy of allah. 'woe unto thee, o umar! thou art an indecent fellow,' he replied. 'let me come to terms with my uncle's son.' "having made up his mind by this time, he recited the profession of islamic faith integrally, at the same time as his companion budayl, who had just rejoined us. "i remarked to the prophet: 'thou knowest how proud is abu sufyan. invest him with some authority, no matter what, and he will be bound to us definitively.' "my idea met with mohammad's approbation and he gave out the following proclamation: 'he who taketh refuge in the dwelling of abu sufyan will be in safety; he who taketh refuge in the temple will be in safety; he who layeth down his arms and remaineth shut up in his house will be in safety.' "the prophet then said to me: 'o abbas! bring abu sufyan to a halt where the valley is narrow, on the mountain top, so that all the warriors of allah will pass before his eyes.' i obeyed and took my stand with abu sufyan on one of the rocks overhanging the outlet of the valley. one after the other passed the soldiers of the sulaym, the muzayna, the banu ghifar, the banu ka'b, the kinana, the juhayn, etc., and my companion, despite all his efforts, could not hide the impression made upon him by the numbers of the believers. when he caught sight of the ashja, he cried out: 'those tribesmen, notwithstanding, were the most inveterate of all the prophet's enemies!'--'truly,' i retorted, 'but allah, in his generosity, instilled islam in their hearts!' "at last, the prophet appeared, surrounded by his bodyguard, the flower of his army, comprising the ansars and the mohadjirun, called "al-khadra," the green guards. when abu sufyan saw these warriors entirely covered in sombre armour, from which the sun caused blinding sparks to fly, he started in affright: 'by allah! o abbas, who are those men?'--'the prophet with his companions, the ansars and the mohadjirun.'--'none can make a stand against such troops! verily, o abbas, this morning, thy brother's son is resplendent with the majesty of a glorious king!'--'his majesty is not that of a king, o abu sufyan! 'tis that of a prophet. and now that thine eyes convince thee that all resistance would be rank folly, hasten back to thy people and let thy good advice save them from misfortune!' without losing a minute, abu sufyan went on his way to the town, where immediately on arriving, he was surrounded by anxious crowds overwhelming him with questions. 'o assembly of the quraish!' he cried, 'mohammad is upon us with such an army that ye cannot hope to resist him for a single instant!'" his wife, hind, furious at the emotion caused by these tidings, caught him by his moustaches to make him hold his tongue and she bawled: 'hearken not to the old fool and traitor! kill him!' tearing himself out of the shrew's clutches, abu sufyan went on: 'woe unto you, if ye let yourselves be led astray by this woman! again i say to you, ye are lost without fail if ye dream of resistance.' he then added proudly: 'all those who take refuge in the dwelling of abu sufyan will be in safety.'--'may allah cause thee to perish!' was the reply made to him on all sides. 'how can thy house afford security for all of us?' it was then that he concluded to announce that which he had intentionally omitted, out of pure vanity: 'likewise will be in safety all those taking refuge in the temple; and eke those who, laying down their arms, remain behind closed doors in their dwellings.' [sidenote: entry of the prophet into makkah] the prophet stopped his she-camel at dhu tawad. at the sight of makkah, where he hoped to make his entry victoriously without shedding the blood of his fellow-countrymen, he offered up thanksgivings to the most generous, bowing down deeply until his beard swept the pummel of his saddle. he then placed his troops for the occupation of the city: zubayr was to go in by the kuda road; khalid ibn walid, by the outlying western districts; sa'd ibn ubayda, by the pass of al-kada. but as the latter chieftain, in his ardour, let drop this remark: 'to-day is a day of carnage; allowable even in the holy precincts!' mohammad bade ali deprive the rash speaker of his command and take charge of the standard in his place. zubayr, ali, and ubayda met with no resistance and, without striking a blow, occupied the parts of the city assigned to them. as for khalid, just as he passed through the suburbs, a volley of arrows disturbed his troops and several of his men were killed. the darts came from marksmen in ambush, posted by safwan ibn umayya and ikrimah, behind the rocks of the jabal al-khandama. without the least hesitation, khalid called on his soldiers to storm the position. he routed the enemy, massacred many and pursued the survivors, putting them to the sword. some fled to the temple; others ran towards the sea. from the summit of al-hajun, which the prophet had just reached, he saw the sparkle of spearheads and swords. 'what's this?' he cried. 'did i not forbid all fighting?' he despatched an ansar to khalid and when he came into the presence of mohammad, he upbraided him severely for having given battle against his strict orders. 'the enemy were the agressors. they riddled us with their arrows,' replied khalid. 'i held back as much as i could, but i was obliged to unsheath my sword to defend ourselves.... and allah granted us the victory!'--'the will of allah be done!' concluded the prophet, getting ready to make his own entry into the town. he rode qaswa, his favourite she-camel. behind him, on the same animal, was usama, the son of zayd ibn al-haris. mohammad prostrated himself on his saddle and recited the surah of victory: "_verily, we have won for thee an undoubted victory * in token that allah forgiveth thy earlier and later faults, and fulfilleth his goodness to thee, and guideth thee on the right way. * and that allah succoureth thee with a mighty succour._" (the qur'an, xlviii, , , .) round the red-striped drapery that covered his head, the prophet rolled a black turban, letting one end hang down between his shoulders. he rode to the ka'bah to perform the "tawaf", and without leaving the saddle, saluted the black stone by touching it with the end of a hooked stick. he then alighted to enter the sanctuary, but seeing the idols that dishonoured it, he started back in horror. in front of an image of abraham holding divining arrows, he cried out: 'may allah annihilate all those who represent our ancestor abraham trying to peer into futurity by means of arrows!' mohammad ordered the impious statue to be destroyed. with his own hands, he shattered a dove carved in wood and went in proclaiming: 'allah is great!' [illustration: _bird's-eye view of makkah, the most sacred city, as seen from the jabal abi-qubais._ views] he then went up to the three hundred and sixty idols ranged round the temple. beginning with the biggest: hubal, he pierced its eyes with the hooked stick, saying: 'truth hath come, error hath vanished; error is perishable!' the idol fell face downwards, shattered in a thousand pieces. one after the other suffered the same fate, as he passed in front of them. a single effigy remained standing--the idol of the khuza'a--fashioned out of bronze and enamel. it stood superbly erect on the temple's terrace-roof. 'kneel down,' was the order given by the prophet to ali. mohammad mounted on his shoulders. 'rise!' ali was unable to do so, despite all his bodily strength. he felt himself crushed by supernatural weight: that of the prophecy. seeing this, the prophet got down, knelt in his turn and said to ali: 'climb up on my back to destroy that idol!' ali, overcome by confusion, refused; but finally obeyed, as mohammad persisted. quoth ali: "i stood upon the prophet's shoulders; he drew himself up erect and i felt myself lifted by some unknown force by which i could have risen to heaven had i tried. "the idol was fixed by iron clamps, but at the words of the prophet: 'truth hath come; error hath vanished,' it tottered without the least effort on my part and falling to the ground, crumbled away in dust." the people, recovered from affright, stole gradually forth from their dwellings and, dumb with stupor, looked on while their impotent idols were being destroyed.... when the last vestige of idolatry had disappeared, the prophet, turning towards the ka'bah, proclaimed: 'there is no god but allah! he hath no associates! he hath kept his word and succoured his servant and dispersed his enemies!' mohammad turned to the makkans: 'o assembly of the quraish! how shall i treat you, do ye think?'--'with generosity, o generous brother, son of a generous man!' they replied, devoured by anxiety.--'begone!' he told them. 'ye are free!' (according to the laws of war, they were slaves and captives.) the only exceptions to this magnanimous amnesty were made in the cases of eleven men and six women whose conduct had been inexcusable. he ordered them to be put to death, wherever found. the sentence was immediately carried out, and a few of the condemned were executed, including huwarith, who brutally ill-treated fatimah, the prophet's daughter and ali's wife, when she went away from makkah. in order to establish the new state of affairs firmly, mohammad proceeded to appoint immediately the two most important functions of makkah: the custodian of the ka'bah and that of the zamzam well. he sent to claim the keys of the temple from uthman ibn talha who, after having in a fit of fury locked the gates, took the keys away with him to his house. the prophet had them torn from him forcibly, and intended to confide them to his uncle abbas whom he maintained at his post as superintendent of the zamzam well. but a revelation made the prophet alter his mind and he was ordered to reinstate the former custodian of the temple. mohammad therefore charged ali to take the keys back to uthman and say to him: 'o son of talha, take the keys once more and with them the appointment as custodian of the ka'bah.' this official, touched by such generosity, so little deserved, hastened to give the prophet the promise of sincere gratitude and absolute fidelity. just then a touching group approached: there was abu quhafa, an old blind man, bent beneath the burden of his eighty-seven years, and leaning on the arm of his son, abu bakr. 'why didst thou not let this noble old man remain in his dwelling, whither i could have gone to see him?' said the prophet to abu bakr.--'it is only right that he cometh to thee, and not that thou shouldst go to him,' replied abu bakr. mohammad made the venerable sightless man sit by his side, paying him great attention, stroking his breast affectionately, and was overjoyed to hear that abu quhafa had come to announce his conversion to the faith of islam. [sidenote: the prophet at safa] next day, all the inhabitants of makkah wended their way towards the hill of safa where the prophet had called them together to receive their submission. tranquilized already by the generosity of the first utterances and acts of their conqueror, they did not seem to be affected by the feelings of sadness, shame and dejectedness that usually overcome the vanquished. was not their conqueror one of their own people? would not his glory become their glory; his triumph, their triumph; and his empire, their empire? as a matter of fact, despite their hostility towards him, most of them had suffered cruelly at being separated from their genial fellow-countryman; the man who, in the heyday of his youth, had been called by them: "al-amin," the reliable. they were greatly moved as they called to mind the mysterious charm of his personality and the irresistible allurement of his speech. for some time past, in secret, they had feverishly longed to join the enthusiastic religious movement that mohammad stirred up throughout the whole of arabia, and become converted in their turn. how derisive their idols seemed now; the miserable fragments of the graven images swelling the garbage heaps swept out of the city! even those men who exploited the superstition surrounding the false gods of wood or stone, were the first to arrive at safa, being in a hurry to get the fact forgotten that they had been the priests of such a coarse cult. despite the levelling humility which mohammad required of all his disciples, those who had waxed fat on the proceeds of commercial idolatry were inwardly proud of the family ties binding them to the prophet upon whom, of old, they had showered the vilest insults. as for mohammad, it is impossible to describe the sublime emotion that seized upon his great soul when he saw flocking to him from all parts, their eyes at last open to the light, all those among his fellow-countrymen who had so stubbornly fought against him and whom he cherished, notwithstanding their injustice. seated beneath the prophet, umar, as his deputy, received the submission of the makkans who all came, one after the other, to strike his palm, and in the name of mohammad, he pledged his word to protect them. when this grand ceremony was finished, a most poignant scene was enacted on the slopes of the hill. an odious barrier, formed by the idols, which for nigh upon twenty years separated the quraish mohadjirun from the quraish dwelling in makkah, was broken down never to be set up again, and all the enemy brethren threw themselves in each other's arms, reconciled and reunited in "the path of allah." a third group of brothers rejoined them soon. they were the ansar citizens of al-madinah, the rival town to makkah; and the two cities, now having become two sisters, called themselves by the glorious name of "al-haramani, the two sacred cities." one incident, however, cast a gloom over this unforgettable manifestation that realised so perfectly the dream which had haunted the prophet, filling him with superhuman perseverance. the khuza'a, falling across one of the murderers of their brethren, cut his throat. mohammad caused the guilty parties to be brought before him and, after blaming them severely, he added: 'i will compensate your victim's relatives myself, but cease all reprisals. too much blood hath been shed already. on the day when he created the heavens and the earth, allah declared the territory of makkah to be holy; its sacred character hath remained for all before me and shall remain for all after me. not only shall the lives of human beings be sacred here, but it is likewise forbidden to hunt game, fell trees and cut grass.'--'in this prohibition, o prophet! the idhkhir must be excepted,' remarked abbas. 'it furnisheth us with that which we cannot do without, to wit: fuel for the forge and the cooking of food.' after a moment's silence, the prophet concluded: 'with the exception of the idhkhir, which it will be allowable to uproot.' following this declaration, all those condemned to death, and who had not been executed the first day, were granted a free pardon. among the crowd of makkan women who came to declared their devotion, mohammad's attention was drawn to a female hiding herself behind her companions. despite the fact that she was disguised, he recognised ferocious hind, the wife of abu sufyan. 'aye! 'tis i!' she cried, throwing off her veil, 'i am hind, and i implore pardon for the past!' the prophet, in spite of the odious mutilation of the body of his uncle hamzah, forgave her. hind, when she returned to her dwelling, lavished insults on her private family idol: 'o impotent idol! how mad we all were to rely on thy succour!' and she smashed it to pieces. the son of abu jahal, ikrimah, who had organised the ambush that nearly entrapped khalid, fled to the sea coast. the fugitive's pardon was granted to umm hakim, his wife, who rejoined him when he was on the point of embarking. she brought him back, and the prophet, fearful lest his companions, remembering how he had been so often outraged by abu jahal, ikrimah's father, might seek to be avenged on ikrimah personally, declared: 'ikrimah hath come to islam. let no one insult his father's memory! to insult the dead is to wound the living!' and ikrimah, deeply moved by such rare tolerance, became one of the most ardent defenders of the religion. al-uhayha, the slayer of hamzah, was pardoned likewise, after becoming a convert to islam. habbar who, by a blow of the shaft of his spear, had brought about the death of zainab, mohammad's daughter, had fled, fearing deserved punishment; and then, confiding in the infinite clemency of the prophet, came and gave himself up, after having embraced the islamic faith in all sincerity. 'go thy way in peace,' said allah's apostle. 'thy conversion doth wipe out the past; but never let me see thee more!' safwan, the second instigator of the ambush in which khalid was to have fallen, profited also by the victor's magnanimity; and as he begged for a delay of two month's reflection before abjuring idolatry, the prophet replied: 'i grant thee four months.' ibn abi sarh was the only man who had great trouble in softening the just wrath that his defection had kindled in mohammad's heart. ibn abi sarh was well versed in the arts of calligraphy and horsemanship. formerly in the prophet's employ as secretary, he had shamelessly changed words and altered the sense of the revelations whilst copying them out, in order to make a mockery of the word of allah. when his crime was discovered, he fled to makkah and reverted to idol-worship. when the town was taken, he took refuge under the roof of usman ibn affan, his foster-brother. after having kept the faithless scribe in hiding for some time, usman made up his mind to take him to the prophet and beg for mercy, but in vain. at each supplication, he averted his head. finally, giving way to fresh and pressing entreaties, mohammad consented to grant a free pardon, but when the guilty wretch was gone, the prophet said to his companions: 'if i kept silence just now, it was but to give one of you time to kill him.'--'we were only waiting for one glance of thine eyes to put him to death.'--'a sign by a look of the eye is a treacherous act,' he replied, 'ill befitting one of allah's messengers.' from the foregoing examples, it can be seen how carefully the prophet tried to win over his fellow-countrymen by gentleness, but nevertheless never deviating from inexorable firmness when anything concerning idolatry was in question. his mercy led to results which could never have been obtained by sanguinary repression. he conquered all hearts. with the exception of the hawazin and the saquifs, all the neighbouring tribes came in at once and made their submission. from that day onwards, no one could earn the title of mohadjer by emigration, because islam was as firmly establised in makkah as in al-madinah. [sidenote: ghazwah or expedition of hunain (_ th day of shawwal, year viii of the hegira, th of january, a.d. _)] relying on the solidity of the ramparts surrounding their town of taif; hoping to be able to take refuge there in case of defeat, the hawazin and the saquifs had refused to bow down to the prophet. they even got ready to fight him and, under the leadership of two celebrated warriors, malik ibn awf and durayd ibnu's-simma, they mustered in the valley of awtas. mohammad, being told about their plans, sent ibn abi hadrad as scout. when he came back with positive information, the prophet resolved to set out and face his foes. his ten thousand soldiers were joined by more than two thousand makkans, lately converted, and impatient to prove their devotion and fervour. the effect produced by the army of the believers was so imposing that a voice in the group of the banu bakr, it is said, cried out: 'truly we need not fear defeat with such a big army!' this exclamation of pride displeased the prophet greatly, for vanity weakens endeavour and causes forgetfulness of the fact that victory is granted by allah. mohammad blamed the boastful cry in the most severe terms. on the bank of a "wadi," the troops saw a big green tree, growing by itself, which the idolaters worshipped and looked upon with superstitious awe. beneath its shade, they sacrificed victims and, on its branches, they hung their weapons, imagining they would become invincible by this verdant contact. several soldiers, their minds not yet sufficiently purified from the stain of fetich observances, longed to possess likewise a tree, "dhat anwat,"--"carrier of weapons"--and sent in a demand to the apostle which made him very indignant. 'your demand,' he replied, 'is just as abominable as that of the banu-isra'il, when saved by a miracle from pharaoh's hosts and the waves of the sea, they asked moses for an idol in human shape. ye are a stupid "qawm" accustomed to adopt without reflecting the vilest custome of your neighbours!' quoth jabir ibn abdullah: "shortly before daybreak, we reached the "wadi" of hunain, at the entrance of an extremely narrow and deep defile. all of a sudden, while we were still in the black shadows of the lofty crags, the first rays of the sun, on the other side of of the pass, lit up a sight that made our hearts leap impatiently. "under the careless guard of a few sentinels, our enemies' tents were pitched in the plain. between them, women and children passed to and fro. round the encampment, countless flocks of sheep and herds of camels were about to depart to pasture-land. without waiting for the prophet's orders, overwrought by the hope of plunder, we rush into the pass, so narrow that we were pressed together, shoulder to shoulder. no sooner was the entire army in the defile, when a lengthy, whistling murmur was heard in the air and, like great swarms of locusts, clouds of arrows darkened the sky. the darts were showered on us, aimed from two ridges, overlooking the pass.... we had fallen into an ambush organised by cunning durayd. "in consequence of the sting of the arrows from which there was no escape, for not one was lost in the soil, all finding a target as they pierced with a hissing noise the flesh of men, horses and camels, mad terror overcame us. indescribable panic was also caused by our foes, lying in wait, concealed at the egress of the pass and who, with savage shouts, charged into our ranks. tugging at the bridles of our camels, we turned round, the poor beasts grunting gloomily and shaking their long necks bristling with arrows. in the inextricable confusion of their stampede and fright, they tripped each other up and rolled over on the ground with their riders, who were at once trampled on by fleeing comrades.... "whilst the archers continued to distress us with their darts, we discovered that the entry into the pass was barricaded by another detachment of our enemies who had allowed us to ride through and now awaited our return. at their head was a soldier of the hawazin, bestriding a gigantic red camel and he was signalling with a spear to which he had fixed a black flag. when a believer passed within reach, he lowered his lance to run him through, and perchance he missed, he signalled with his flag lifted again to those following him, and they pursued the mussulman and put him to death." the defeat seemed irretrievable. already many of the prophet's old enemies, their hearts still brimming with, rancour, began to gloat over the critical situation of the mussulmans. 'their flight will not cease until they reach the sea coast!' cried abu sufyan, who busied himself with consulting his divining arrows which he carried concealed in his quiver. 'mohammad's sorcery is powerless this day!' exclaimed kalada ibn hanbal in his turn. but his brother safwan, although not yet converted, silenced him with these words: 'may a gag close thy mouth!' in the midst of general confusion, the prophet alone was cool and collected. he posted himself on a low hill, to the right of the valley. 'i am the prophet of allah and no impostor!' he declared, and urging his mule forward, went to throw himself in the thick of the fight. abu bakr rushed in front of the animal and, seizing the bridle, held it back. to try and rally his troops, mohammad ordered abbas to shout: 'o ansars and mohadjirun, my companions! o ye who took their oath over there!' (at al-hudaibiyah). when, from the top of a rock, his stentorian voice carried the prophet's cry to the fugitives, they were covered with great confusion. regaining their self-control, they replied: 'we are here at thy service!' but what was to be done to stem such a torrent of fleeing men and beasts, crowded together between the two vertical sides of the ravine? the faithful did their best to lash the camels, twisting their necks by pulling the bridle contrariwise. with great strides, the frightened animals kept on in their flight.... it was then that the warriors of allah slung their shields round their necks and jumped out of the saddle, leaving their camels to go on alone. unsheathing their swords, the soldiers turned back to begin fighting again. the prophet, standing up in his stirrups, saw with joy that the situation was changed, and when his gaze fell upon the countless warriors rushing into the brazier of the battle, he cried out: 'the furnace is alight!' ali, accompanied by an ansar, resolved to put a stop to the exploits of the bedouin of the hawazin, proudly waving his spear adorned with the black flag. with one blow of his scimitar, ali hamstrung the camel, and at the same moment, the ansar brought down the infidel by slicing his leg from the knee to the heel, putting an end to his misery as soon as he was flattened out on the ground. mad terror seized the idolaters when thinking they had crushed the mussulmans, they resumed the offensive. it was now the infidels' turn to give way.... mohammad ordered his mule to lie down. the animal bent its knees until its belly rested on the ground. then taking up a handful of dust, the prophet, as he had done at badr, threw it towards his enemies whose flight became a mad rout. it seemed as if they had been blinded by this dust and that their soldiers were dispersed exactly the same as these impalpable atoms.... "_now hath allah helped you in many battle-fields, and, on the day of hunain, when ye prided yourselves on your numbers; but it availed you nothing; and the earth, with all its breadth, became too strait for you: then turned ye your backs in flight. * then did allah send down a spirit of tranquillity upon his apostle, and upon the faithful; and he sent down hosts which ye saw not and punished the infidels._" (the qur'an, ix, , .) harried by the sword during their retreat, malik and the remains of his army managed to find safety in the fortified town of taif. less lucky, durayd, the infidels' second leader, was unable to escape his fate. ninety years of age and blind, he was unable to direct his camel when abandoned by his panic-stricken fellow-countrymen, and he fell into the hands of a mere lad, rabi'a ibn rafia. when he saw the litter in which reclined this celebrated warrior, paralysed by the infirmities of great age, the youth thought he had captured a woman. he made the camel kneel, parted the hangings and was petrified at only finding an old man. vexed and disappointed, he dealt durayd a sabre-cut, but the aged fighter did not even seem to know that he had been struck. 'what sort of weapon hath thy mother placed in thy hands, o little vagabond?' he asked in accents of supreme scorn. 'take my sabre, hanging from my camel's saddle. lift the blade aloft and hit between the vertebrae of the back and those of the head. that was how i used to strike men down.' abashed at his first failure, rabi'a followed this piece of advice and the famous warrior rolled dead in the dust. urged on by the spur of victory, the prophet pursued the fugitives to the foot of the ramparts of taif and tried to take the town. after a useless siege of twenty days, he preferred to give up all ideas of an attack in favour of other means, slower but more sure, and instead of invoking the wrath of the divinity against the inhabitants, he said: 'o allah! enlighten the people of taif and inspire them with a desire to come to thy apostle of their own free will!' despite the disappointment of his troops, he retook the road to makkah, camping at al-ji'rana where all the prisoners were collected, as well as all the booty to be divided. when the prophet arrived, a female captive, ash-shayma, of the banu sad, which was a fraction of the hawazin, was struggling to escape from the brutality of the soldiery. on perceiving mohammad, she cried out: 'o prophet of allah, i am thy foster-sister!'--'prove it!'--'see the scar on my shoulder where thou didst bite me when i carried thee, a baby boy, on my back.' the prophet recognised the cicatrice. much moved, he shed tears, spread his mantle on the ground, and asked ash-shayma to sit down on it. 'according to thy wish,' he said, 'thou wilt find generous friendship by my side; or thou canst return to thy tribe with all the gifts i'll lavish on thee.'--'send me back to my people in the desert, o prophet! such is my sole desire.' mohammad set her free, after having loaded her with presents. a deputation of the hawazin was presented to the prophet, and abu sorada, an old man belonging to the division of the banu sa's, spoke in their name: 'o prophet! among thy prisoners are thine aunts, sisters of the wet-nurses who suckled thee. as for the male captives, they were the companions of thy childhood--almost of thy race! in the great misfortune which crusheth us, we implore thee in the name of allah! if, for the same reasons, we were forced to implore al-harith ibn abi chammar, or nu'man ibnu'l mundhir, they would surely take pity on us! now thou art the best of nurslings!'--'which do ye prefer: your families or your property?' asked mohammad, scarcely able to hide his tender feelings.--' o prophet! give our wives and children back to us. we love them quite otherwise to our property.'--'i restore to you all male and female captives belonging to the banui muttalib,' declared mohammad loudly.--'but those who are ours belong to the apostle of allah!' cried the mohadjirun and the ansars immediately. thus all the prisoners, numbering about six thousand, were given up to the delegates of the hawazin. the family of malik ibn awf formed an exception to this ruling. mohammad, however, charged those he had just liberated to make him the following proposal: 'if malik cometh to me and becometh a convert to islam, i will give him back his property. nay, more--i will make him a present of a hundred camels.' malik accepted. he left taif secretly, and when converted, gave such tokens of sincerity, that the prophet appointed him as commander over all the mussulmans of the country. it was the best way to curb the resistance of the inhabitants of taif. and so it turned out indeed, for this able leader, proud of the investiture, at the head of troops stirred by faith, continued to war against the saquifs. by pitilessly raiding their flocks and caravans, blocking them by hunger behind the ramparts of their city, he soon compelled them to come in their turn and implore the prophet's mercy, when they were converted to islam. the booty was considerable, consisting of about twenty-four thousand camels and forty thousand sheep. after the emotions of the affair of the prisoners, mohammad resolved to postpone the division of the plunder until another day, and he mounted his she-camel. but his soldiers were so impatient to share the spoils that they followed and importuned him. by accident, they pushed his animal against a thorny shrub, and its branches tore the mantle of allah's chosen one. 'now, you men, give me back my mantle!' he told them, and yielding to their entreaties, he returned to see the booty shared among them. he tried, above all, to ingratiate himself definitively with the nobles of the city, by favouring them in all ways; and afterwards, they were called "al-mu'allafa qulubuhum," "those whose hearts have been won over." abu sufyan and mu'awiya his son; hakim ibn hizam, an-nadr ibn al-harith, suhayl, ikrimah uyayna, al-ajra, and safwan, all received fifty camels each. this difference of treatment gave rise to protestations. ibn mirdas manifested his dissatisfaction in a piece of poetry: 'my share of the booty and that of al-ubayd have been distributed to oyama and al-ajra. and yet their fathers, al-hasan and al-habis, never took precedence of my father in any assembly whatsoever!' the prophet sent for him and asked: 'hast thou composed these rhymes: "my share of the booty and that of al-ubayd have been distributed to al-ajra and oyama?" changing the order of the two last names mentioned; without noticing that he had thus broken the metre. in the qur'an, allah says: "_we have not taught him (mohammad) poetry._" (xxxvi, .) abu bakr pointed this out to him. 'no matter,' he replied. 'the meaning remaineth the same.' and he gave orders to "cut the poet's tongue" by granting him all he claimed. an arab of the tamim tribe, dhu'l khuwaysira, dared to say to allah's messenger: 'thou wert unjust in thy division.' umar started up. 'i'll cut the throat of that insolent churl!' he shouted.--'nay! let him go his own road,' was mohammad's simple reply. the prophet was obliged to resort to most skilful political measures in order to spare all kinds of feelings during the division of these riches; and to prevent dangerous jealousy arising among his disciples. all the spoils, nevertheless, were nearly all allotted and he seemed to have forgotten his devoted ansars who, naturally, expected to rank among the first to be rewarded. with ever-increasing surprise, they saw no share offered to them and the rich bounty flowing into the hands of the quraish and the bedouins. at last there was no more left to give away and the ansars exchanged bitter remarks: 'by allah, the prophet thinketh only of his own people. now that, thanks to us, he hath returned victorious to his birthplace, we are forgotten and neglected.' sa'd ibn ubada, having heard these complaints, went and told mohammad, who said: 'good! call the ansars together!' when they were mustered, the prophet came before them. 'o assembly of the ansars!' he said; 'i have been told about your talk and the sadness of your souls. did i not seek you out when ye had been led astray? hath not allah led you all into the right path? ye were unfortunate: hath not allah made you happy? each man was his brother's enemy: hath not allah reconciled your hearts?'--'truly!' they answered unanimously. 'allah and his apostle are the most compassionate and generous!'--'and on your part,' he added, 'did ye not welcome me with compassion and generosity when i was a homeless wanderer? have ye not the right to say to me: "thou wert branded as an impostor and we put faith in thee; thou wert east down and we helped thee to be victorious; thou wert poverty-stricken and we made thee rich?"'--'nay, nay!' protested every man of the assembly. 'we are indebted to thee for everything and thou dost owe us nothing!'--'in that case,' he went on, 'o ansar comrades! how could you let the least feeling of affection arise in your hearts concerning the fleeting riches of this world, with which i have endowed certain persons in order to strengthen their vacillating faith, whilst i knew that you were unshaken. know ye not that these people will return to their homesteads with camels and sheep only, whilst ye will take the prophet of allah back with you to your dwellings?... by him who holdeth mohammad's soul in his hands, i swear that if the arab tribes retired into one valley and the ansars into another, i would follow into the valley of the ansars. for me, the ansars are as a shirt on the skin; and for me, the other tribes are as the mantle outside everything. o allah, show mercy to the ansars; to the sons of the ansars; and to the children of their children!' these words, which the prophet was unable to utter without betraying intense emotion, mollified the entire assembly. tears of gratitude flowed from the eyes of the ansars so abundantly that their beards were wetted. all cried out, sobs causing them to falter: 'aye, verily, we accept our share of the booty, for the most beautiful portion is ours!' [illustration: (calligraphy) _now hath allah helped you in many battle-fields, and, on the day of hunain, when ye prided yourselves on your numbers; but it availed you nothing._] [illustration: (ornamental page) chapter the eighth] [illustration: _"ad-da'wah" or the invocation_] [illustration: (calligraphy) _accomplish the pilgrimage and the visitation of the holy places in honour of allah._] chapter the eighth [sidenote: ayishah slandered] quoth ayishah: "during my return from the mustaliq expedition, pressing need compelled me to alight from my hawdaj, (a kind of litter carried on a camel's back). i found a lonely spot and stopped behind, waiting until all the soldiers had marched past. but seeing my camel halted, and thinking i was inside the hawdaj, they drove the animal forward to ensure it remaining in line with the rest. "when i came back and found my camel gone, i shouted despairingly; but all in vain, until overcome by fatigue, i dropped down and fell asleep. one of the rearguards, safwan ibnu'l-mu'attal, catching sight of me, recognised me and cried out: 'to allah we belong and to him shall we return!' having awakened me by this exclamation, he brought up his camel, helping me into the saddle, and he led the animal by the bridle until we rejoined the prophet." scandalmongers got hold of the story and ascribed shameful motives to this chance meeting. despite the accused woman's protestations of innocence, mohammad felt suspicion gnawing at his heart, and he kept ayishah at a distance, greatly to the confusion of his father-in-law, abu bakr. at last, a revelation called the accusers liars, and condemned calumny: "_with allah it was a grave matter_," (the qur'an, xxiv, ), thus ridding the prophet of all suspicion and putting an end to a painful situation. [sidenote: the birth and death of ibrahim] in year viii of the hegira, mary, the coptic concubine, gave birth to a boy. the prophet, who had never found consolation for the death of his sons brought into the world by khadijah, was beside himself with joy. he gave a slave as a present to abu rafi'a, for having brought the news that a son was born, and mohammad declared that the child's advent freed the mother. on the seventh day, the baby's hair was shaved off and buried; two sheep were sacrificed and alms were distributed to the poor. all the wet-nurses vied with each other for the honour of suckling the prophet's son, who was called ibrahim. he was given into the care of umm burda, wife of al-bara ibn aws, and she, was rewarded by the gift of a palm-garden. she took her nursling into the country, to the banu mazin, where the prophet went frequently to see his son. he used to take him in his arms, unceasingly "smelling" him and covering him with kisses. the affection he felt for the child's mother, mary the copt, also increased, much to the great vexation of his other wives. it happened, too, that he broke his strictly impartial household laws, and granted mary a night that rightly belonged to hafsa, umar's daughter. she was grieved to the heart by her rights being forgotten and reproached mohammad so bitterly that he promised to cease all intercourse with his freed slave on condition that hafsa held her tongue. but haughty hafsa broke her word. she told her grievances to ayishah, who was likewise furiously exasperated at the favour shown to mary. it was now the turn of hafsa to rouse the indignation of the other joint wives. scenes, scandal and shrieks caused life to be unbearable; so, renouncing all consideration and refusing to let his spouses dictate to him, the prophet put hafsa away, after having blamed her severely for her indiscretion. for a whole month, he refused to have anything to do with his helpmates who, although there was now no cause for jealousy, still continued their quarrels; each woman accusing the other of being the cause of their common husband's neglect. all his wives swore that in future they would not pester him with their scolding. but mohammad kept his oath strictly. he sought seclusion in a room to which access could only be had by a staircase of palm-tree trunks, and where his sole couch consisted of a mat, of which the rough fibre made dents in his flesh. his meals were brought to him by a black guardian who stood--an inexorable sentinel--in front of the door, which remained closed even to the most beloved among the prophet's companions. at last, on the twenty-ninth day, mindful of the grief felt by umar and abu bakr at the humiliation experienced by their daughters, hafsa and ayishah, mohammad took them both back, and all his other wives as well, after he had recited the following verses: "_if ye assist one another against the prophet, then verily, allah is his protector and gabriel and every just man among the faithful; and the angels are his helpers besides. * haply if he put you both away, his lord will give him in exchange other wives better than you: moslems, believers, devout, penitent, worshippers, observant of fasting._" (the qur'an, lxvi, , .) the joy and hopes accompanying the birth of ibrahim were not destined to last long. the child breathed its last sigh at the age of seventeen months, under his father's eyes, and mohammad could not repress showers of tears. seeing the prophet's grief and remembering that in cases of mourning he forbade all lamentations, rending of garments, or laceration of faces, abdu'r-rahman ibn awf said to him: 'thou also, o messenger of allah?'--'o ibn awf!' he replied. 'tears arise from compassion. they are not prohibited like shrieks and lamentations which are protestations inspired by the evil one against the decrees of providence.' then, as his tears flowed in still greater abundance, he added: 'the eyes shed tears; the heart is full of affliction, but we utter no exclamation displeasing to the lord. true resignation is manifested at the first shock; as, later, time bringeth succour. o ibrahim, we are deeply saddened by being separated from thee; but we belong to allah and to him shall we return!' zaira, mother of the wet-nurse, washed the poor little dead body; al-fadl ibn al-abbas and usama ibn zayd carried it to the cemetery of al-bagi and lowered it into the grave. when the earth covered the son on whom he had founded such great hopes, the prophet prayed over the tiny tomb, and exclaimed: 'declare, o my son! allah is my lord, his messenger is my father, and islam is my religion!' all who assisted at this scene were shaken by sobs. all of a sudden, their faces took on a livid tint, which, at the same time, spread over the earth, the sand, and the rocks. the azure of the sky changed to a leaden hue; the sunlight paled and gradually faded away, although no clouds gathered to veil it. an icy shudder, resembling that of fever, caused the whole face of nature to be stirred; and the birds, with cries of fright, took refuge in their nocturnal shelters. the last rays, still illuminating surrounding objects with dim and sinister light, began to die away and darkness came on in open day, whilst a few twinkling stars appeared in the sky. the people in terror knew not which way to turn so as to escape the fearful cataclysm they anticipated. many in the crowd, struck by the phenomenon coinciding with the death of ibrahim, cried out: 'o prophet! the eyes of the sun itself are dimmed by tears and it hath departed to take part in thy mourning!' the prophet, struggling against his grief, drew himself up erect and proclaimed in firm accents: 'nay; it is not so. the sun and the moon are two tokens of allah's almightiness. like everything beautiful in this world, their beauty is liable to be eclipsed by his orders.... but there is no eclipse for the death of any mortal!' [sidenote: ghazwah, or expedition of tabuk (_jumada, year viii of the hegira, august a.d. _)] at the battle of mutah, the christian greeks learnt to their cost what it meant to put the valour of allah's warriors to the test; and in their hatred of islam's steady growth, they busied themselves in mustering a most terrible army to crush it. the prophet heard of this. he resolved to be first in the field and attack. only his unshaken confidence in divine protection could have inspired him with such temerity. how many thousands of soldiers must he gather together so as not to court irretrievable disaster? now the moment was not in the least favourable: a long drought had withered crops and herbage; flocks were decimated; horrible famine plunged the whole region in desolation; and the torrid heat of the second half of summer destroyed all energy. the harvest of the savoury fruit of each oasis, watered by inexhaustible wells, alone promised to be abundant and invigorating; and it was precisely when the faithful were about to profit by the only benefits of this lean year that the apostle issued his marching orders. secret discontent invaded every heart and the incorrigible "hypocrites" hastened to exploit it by hawking about everywhere perfidious remarks, such as these: 'do ye think this war against the banu'l-asfar (the descendants of fair-headed ishaq) will be child's play, as was that against the swarthy sons of ishmael? remember that arriving exhausted by the intolerable heat of the season and the superhuman fatigue of the road, ye will have to face the nazarene soldiers encased in armour!' these arguments, which would have been logical if the struggle had not been in the cause of allah, began to weaken the minds of those who were hesitating. as for those who were convinced, they could not get away from the unheard-of difficulties bound to be met with in feeding the troops, by reason of the dearth of provisions; and means of transport, in consequence of the scarcity of camels. following the lack of pasturage, the majority of these animals that had not succumbed to hunger, were in a pitiful state of decline. all these circumstances were unfavorable; but no obstacle could stop the chosen one. as the "hypocrites" met to conspire in the house of suwaylim, a jew, the prophet sent talha ibn ubaydu'llah to burn their den. they said, "_march not out in the heat." say: "a fiercer heat wilt be the fire of hell! little then let them laugh, and much let them weep as the meed of their doings._" (the qur'an, ix, , .) caring nothing for his own toil, the prophet spared no pains to impress upon his disciples the grandeur of the goal. so as to arouse general interest, he treated each man differently according to the inward aspirations of his being. if in some he awakened the pure hope of celestial satisfaction, suitable to their souls loving ideality; in others, he did not discourage hopes of material gratification, such as booty and profane pleasures. al-jadd ibn qays was a man of intrigue. he said to the prophet: 'thou knowest that in my "qawm" no man loveth woman better than i. now, i fear i shall not be able to restrain myself at the sight of the charming lasses of the banu'l-asfar. in that case, wilt thou blame me?' the prophet avoided answering. al-jadd interpreted such silence as showing that mohammad promised to shut his eyes. the debauchee could not repress a start of joy, despite the presence of his son, who made a gesture of disapproval, and his father threw his sandal in the lad's face. thanks to the indefatigable activity of their leader, it was not long before the believers were carried away by enthusiasm. the difficulties to be overcome; the sacrifices to be made, instead of diminishing their optimism, only succeeded in feeding it, and those whose poverty or infirmities prevented them from joining the ranks of the fighters, became so sad that they were nicknamed the "bakka'un," or "weepers." nevertheless, they are excused by this revelation: "_it is no crime in the weak, and in the sick, and in those who find not the means of contributing, to stay at home, provided that they are sincere with allah and his apostle. nor in those who when they came to thee that thou shoulsdt mount them, and thou didst say: "i find not wherewith to mount you," and turned away their eyes, and shed floods of tears for grief, because they found no means to contribute towards the expense._" (the qur'an, ix, , .) moved by their despair, the prophet made an urgent appeal to the devotion of all the believers who, with admirable emulation, replied at once by bringing considerable sums. abu bakr placed the whole of his fortune at the disposition of the prophet. usman ibn affan furnished ten thousand warriors with provisions and weapons. all vied with each other in acts of generosity and women stripped themselves of their most precious jewellery. the expeditionary force was soon organised and numbered between thirty to forty thousand men; a figure hitherto unknown in arabia. the troops were assembled at the sanniyat-ul-wida pass. seeing the exaltation of the believers, the "hypocrites" considered it prudent to conceal their sentiments, but they arranged to group themselves together in the rear and when the army had disappeared behind the "farewell pass," the shufflers dropped out, one after the other, and made their way back to al-madinah. their conduct was not surprising, but unfortunately their fatal advice had deterred four good moslems from their duty: the poet ka'b ibn mabk, murara ibnu'r-rabi', hilal ibn umayya and abu khaythama. the latter, suffocated by the extreme heat and also, perchance, by feelings of shame, went into his orchard, surrounded by protecting walls. it was there, under intertwining palms and vine-branches with leaves and grapes, which stretched like serpentine bind-weeds from one date-tree to another, that two shelters were erected, built of palm-tree trunks and foliage; so impervious to sunlight that the obscurity therein seemed to be the shades of night. to complete the resemblance, the mysterious darkness of each of these arbours was illuminated by a young woman's face, as brilliant as the moon in the fulness of its fourteenth night. kindly attentive as well as beautiful, these loving spouses had carefully watered the sandy soil, whence arose exquisite, moist odours. ingeniously, too, they had hung up, in draughty corners, oozing goat-skins in which water got to be as cool as snow; and they had prepared delicate dishes of which the aroma sufficed to excite the most rebellious appetite.... abu khaythama, bathed in sweat, powdered all over with sand, experienced a sensation of eden-like comfort, when he glanced at the delights in readiness and was about to revel in enjoyment by lazily stretching his limbs on soft rugs. but, suddenly, the emerald-tinted reflection of the shade that gently caressed his tired eyes, was furrowed by the flash of a vision: in a gloomy, wild, boundless space, beneath the deep azure hue of a cloudless sky, under the unbearable sting of a pitiless sun, a long line of human beings dragged itself along with difficulty, coming into view and then being lost to sight amid yellowish waves formed by rocks or sandheaps.... he recognised these mortals. they were his brethren in islam. at their head was ... allah's chosen one! 'the prophet leads an expedition, under yon blazing sky! and abu khaythama is at rest, in this fresh shade, with fresh water and two fresh beauties! no! that cannot be!' he cried; and turning to his wives, each of them hoping to gain the preference: 'by allah! i go not into the shelter of any among you! i rejoin the prophet! prepare my provisions for the journey; and that quickly!' they obeyed. releasing his camel, busy just then in drawing water, he clapped on the saddle. then he took down his sword, spear and shield from where they were hanging, and without a look behind, abandoned fresh shade, fresh water and fresh beauties, to hurry in the track of the army. he rejoined it at tabuk. meanwhile, after having followed the windings of the wadi'l-qura, a broad valley where the verdant splashes of colour of more than one oasis, encircling many villages or strongholds, stood out in gay, bold relief on the dull hue of the arid landscape, the expedition had reached the fringe of the frightful desert surrounding al-hijr, or mada'in salih, the thamud country. the sight of this inhospitable region oppressed the hearts of the believers. with its harra, or burning soil cracked and laid waste by celestial flames that marked it with a distinguishing funereal hue of ashes and charcoal, it offered to their view the most startling image of a country cursed by the almighty. [sidenote: the thamud country] in the earliest ages, the idolatrous and debauched inhabitants of thamud, proud of the prosperity of their seven towns and massive dwellings, hewn out of the solid rock, welcomed with derision the prophet salih, sent by allah to lead them in the right path. so as to show them that his mission was genuine, salih implored the most high to grant him the aid of a miracle. thereupon, a rock split itself, with a roar which may be compared to that of ocean waves, and brought forth a wonder in the shape of a gigantic she-camel, wonderfully hairy and advanced ten months in pregnancy. she dropped a little foal, already weaned, and bearing an astonishing resemblance to its mother. miracles have nearly always been powerless to convert hardened sinners and the only result of this marvel was a recrudescence of perversity among the people of thamud. to testify how little they valued such a portent, these impious wretches resolved to do away with the prodigy. with sharp blades, they studded the two steep sides of a narrow rocky pass, through which, each morning, the she-camel passed to graze in the plains. in the evening, returning with her little camel, she rushed through and tore her flanks most cruelly. the poor beast, quivering, uttered groans and, it is said, the echo thereof resounds even nowadays, from time to time. she dropped down and died at the egress of the defile that was called: "al-huwayra,"--the camel-foal--remarkable by reason of a rock that took on a faithful resemblance to the young animal. salih, after such sacrilege, realised how useless were his efforts, and called down the curse of allah on the head of the thamud people, upon whom punishment was quickly inflicted: "_and they hewed them out secure abodes in the mountains * but they rebelled against their lord's command: so the tempest took them as they watched its coming ... * so that they were not able to stand upright, and could not help themselves.... * we sent against them a single shout; and they became like the dry sticks of the fold-builders._" (the qur'an, xv, . li, , . liv, .) ever since the wrath of heaven destroyed its inhabitants, the country of thamud is deserted. the abodes of this ungodly people alone were left and are still remaining. under the brows of their frontals, the wide-open doors look like the pupils of fantastic eyes, dilated by the horror of the formidable sight they witnessed. the crevices scarring the walls seem, likewise, to be mouths distorted by affright and calling out to those who dare set foot in this desolate domain: "admire by our example, the vanity of mortals' pride and the emptiness of their undertakings. who can describe the mighty efforts by which our masters carved us out of the heart of the mountain and adorned us with slender pillars and graceful sculpture? sheltered in our bosom, stronger than iron, were they wrong to reckon that they were in perfect safety? "how mad were they! in vain their contracted hands clung despairingly to the angles of our walls, the storm of divine wrath passed over them ... and they disappeared for evermore. even we tottered on our foundations like unto the limbs of a man devoured by fever whose teeth chatter noisily. if we were spared, it was only so that we might serve as a lesson to travellers straying into our mournful land." when the army of the believers penetrated into the midst of strangely-shaped stone blocks, emerging like reefs from a sea of sand, and showing in their smooth sides the dark openings that were the abodes of the people of thamud, the prophet covered his face with a corner of his mantle, so as to avoid looking at these vestiges of impiety. he closed his mouth and nostrils, not wishing to breathe the impure air emanating from the ruins, and urged on his camel to get away from them as quickly as possible. fearing lest irresistible curiosity might lead the soldiers of islam astray, he exhorted them thus: 'if ye enter these dens of the ungodly, do so only with tears in your eyes as ye recall their sad fate.' he knew that tears of this kind, welling up by reason of such terrible remembrances, would cause the attraction of curiosity to be dominated by fear of the almighty. impressed, however, by the strangeness of these dwellings, seemingly those of superhuman beings or evil spirits; and by the deathly silence that reigned in these parts where formerly a powerful people lived a riotous life of pride and debauchery, the faithful sought but to follow the example of their inspired guide and flee from the accursed ruins. besides, the soldiers were urged onwards by thirst; and when, in the midst of the sandy plains, the famous well of the thamud people came in sight where the she-camel of the miracle used to drink, they broke their ranks in the greatest disorder, trying to outstrip each other, racing to be the first to slake their thirst. the prophet, who had been unable to restrain them, hurried along with his she-camel, caught them up, and gave his orders in accents of great severity: 'beware of that water, tainted by impiety. take care not to use it for drinking purposes; nor for your ablutions; nor for cooking your food! let all who have drunk of it, vomit it forth! those who have kneaded "hays" with it must throw that "hays" to their camels! those who have used it to cook their victuals must scatter those victuals on the ground without touching them!' to put an end to all temptation, he ordered the march to be resumed, without taking into account the fatigue or the thirst of his troops. his face still veiled by a fold of his mantle, the prophet, obeyed and followed blindly by his soldiers, among whom deception and suffering had not caused the slightest murmur, soon reached the entrance to the narrow, weird pass of the "mabraku'n-naqa." skirted on each side by crags from one hundred and fifty to two hundred cubits high, the dark defile produced the most sinister impression. the faithful felt their breasts shrinking as if crushed between the dizzy dominating walls. what they most feared was to hear the resounding echoes of the miraculous, disembowelled she-camel. in that case, no power on earth could have mastered the mad terror that must have overwhelmed the animals ridden by the soldiers. by dint of wild leaps and bounds, the camels would have thrown off their loads of arms and food, and ridding themselves of their drivers, taken to flight; when, after throwing down and trampling all those who might have tried to stop them, the men must have been abandoned on foot in the midst of the most frightful of all deserts. the slightest noises, amplified by the sonorous echoes of the rocky heights, made the believers start and shudder. they went on in the most profound silence, thinking only of how best to speed their camels. at last the lugubrious passage was traversed; the soldiers' breath came and went normally in their breasts now relieved of all oppression, and a wide, open space, suitable for pitching the tents, offered itself to their gaze. when the believers had finished the work of encampment, the prophet warned them that a heavy tempest would rage during the night, and he enjoined them solemnly: 'let those in charge of camels tie them securely and no man leave his tent without a companion.' they had scarcely time to give a look at the hobbles of their beasts than the prophet's prediction began to come true. the sun had set, covered by a misty veil, contrasting with its habitual sumptuous purple; its rayless pallor was the sign of an extraordinary storm. all of a sudden, a brownish curtain sprung up from the horizon, to drag in its moving folds the orb of day, and the shades of coming night took on a tarry tint. the darkness thickened to such an extent that each man might have thought he was struck blind. a strange rumbling sound arose from the depth of the desert and approached with incredible rapidity, soon changing its deafening uproar which might have been taken for the hissing of monstrous vipers, accompanied by diabolical vociferation. at the same moment, the camp was crushed by a gigantic whirling spout of sand, tearing away in its gyrations everything that was not securely fastened. the pitchy darkness gave way to yellow obscurity, still more impenetrable to the eye. sheltered behind their camels, turning their backs to the tempest whilst shuddering and snorting in terror, the faithful veiled their faces and covered their arms and legs, so as to guarantee their limbs against the fury of the raging sand that sank painfully into their flesh like thousands of wasps' stings. the soldiers flattened themselves face downwards on the ground, digging in their nails; holding fast in fear of being swept away like flock of wool.... despite the horror of the hour, two soldiers forgot the formal directions of the prophet. one of them, urged by necessity, left the encampment and at once fell suffocated. the other tried to run after his maddened camel that had broken its trammels and galloped away, only to be caught immediately in the whirlwind, and rolled round and round in its spirals, like a pebble spinning when hurled from a sling; and he was whisked up to the summit of the jabala tay. when told of this, the prophet exclaimed: 'did i not forbid you to leave the camp without a companion?' he invoked the mercy of the compassionate in favour of the suffocated soldier who gradually regained consciousness and came back to life. as for the other victim, the tay mountains restored him when the expedition returned. the hurricane, at last, after having exhausted its impotent fury against the soldiers of allah, passed away to ravage other regions and the faithful had no further accidents to deplore. but they were broken down by their former difficult marches; and that night, instead of granting invigorating rest, only brought them fresh fatigue. the simoon having dried up the last vestiges of moisture in their bodies, their thickened blood circulated difficultly in their veins and the beatings of their temples led to unbearable singing in the ears. what would become of them on the long road they still had to travel before reaching the first well? the aspect of the surrounding country was not at all calculated to encourage them. they fancied that they were tramping through the ruins of a world destroyed by an inconceivable outbreak of fire. a black line marked the horizon: the never-ending harra, which seemed in some parts to be formed of coal, soot and ashes; and in others, of iron congealed when molten, with enormous bubbles which, in bursting, had laid great crevices open, bordered with scattered slag as sharp as broken glass.... there, at any rate, the flames were extinguished, whereas, on the way they went, fires seemed to be still smouldering. blocks of rock rose up on all sides, like a real forest, and by their shape and colour, they could bear comparison with gigantic tree-trunks, partly calcined and partly incandescent. some were distorted in such strange fashion that, in the eyes of the faithful, they looked like mouthing demons escaped from hell and posted where they stood to revel in the torments of allah's soldiers passing by. slippery slabs and pointed black stones of volcanic origin covered the earth, except where it was carpeted by sand of dazzling whiteness which, by its intense reverberation, kindled myriads of white-hot embers under every stone and in all the windings and turnings of the crags and peaks. even in the depths of the sapphire sky, a hovering vulture and a rare fleeting cloud were tinted with a bright orange hue, as if they reflected the blaze of an immense furnace. to complete the illusion, lofty pillars of sand hung over all these remains, like columns of smoke issuing from a badly-extinguished conflagration. the believers' eyes, inflamed by the sandstorm, reddened by the refraction on the dunes, produced--even in their sockets--the effect of burning embers. each time they put their feet, lacerated by the pebbles of the hammada, to the overheated ground, their sufferings were unbearable. their thickened saliva, mixed with impalpable dust, formed a firm paste, which the throat would not allow to pass. their skin, stretched as on a drumhead, resounded at the slightest touch, cracking in broad furrows, and split lips made speech impossible. some of the soldiers were a prey to delirium, caused by thirst; a sure sign of death. to bring them back to life, the only resource of their companions was to make the sufferers drink the liquid contained in the stomach of a slaughtered camel, and to plaster the dying man's parched breast with the still moist residue. the prophet endured the sufferings of each of his disciples, but at no moment was his confidence shaken; he knew that if allah often sees fit to put his servants to the test, never does he abandon them. so mohammad never ceased to implore his mercy. would the day never come to an end? the sun, as if fastened in the sky by invisible bonds, at last seemed determined to come down to earth. the orb was veiled, as on the preceding eve; its ruby disc was swallowed up on the horizon by the dark cloud in waiting and which, travelling fast towards the zenith, covered the camp with an ebony canopy, fringed with stalactites reflecting coppery tints. a series of lightning flashes struck furiously against the sides of this cupola, breaking it into a thousand fragments. from between them, large drops of rain escaped, and then came more and more, to be followed at last by a diluvian downpour. the poor, parched soldiers shuddered delightfully in feelings of indescribable comfort when the blessed shower, soaking through their garments, refreshed their racked limbs; and they rushed to quench their thirst at the numerous pools which the waters of the heavens, rolling in cascades on the bare slopes, formed in every depression of the soil. [illustration: _the pilgrims of mount arafa, on the ninth day of the month of zu'l hijjah._ views] thus reinvigorated, and their goat-skins filled again, the believers joyfully resisted the fatigue of the march between each successive halting-place and finally emerged, safe and sound, from that accursed region. [sidenote: arrival and sojourn of the prophet at tabuk] a vast plain of sparkling sand, streaked by a thin line of a beautiful peacock blue, now spread itself out to the gaze of the prophet and his men. this line, the goal of their efforts, soon became notched; and at last appeared, sharply outlined on the turquoise sky, the slender tufts of the palm-trees of which it was formed. this was the oasis of tabuk! no pen can describe the joy of those, who having endured the anguish of thirst, arrived at this safe haven, an oasis of date-trees; nor give an idea of the expression on their faces when, having slaked their thirst and performed their ablutions, they looked down on the crystal water rippling in the "sawaqi;" nor of their satisfaction when they laid themselves down in the light shade of the palm-trees. the prophet's soldiers had got through the hardest part of their task. they had triumphed over the obstacles opposed to them by nature, and henceforward could look with deep disdain on any barriers formed by the weapons of the infidels. besides, thanks to the fantastic rapidity with which tidings travel through the desert, their arrival at tabuk soon came to the ears of the christians and the syrian arabs who had formed a coalition to fight the believers. the enemies of allah were overcome by stupor, for they had felt certain that if the prophet should try to carry out his audacious plan at such a time of year, the bones of all the men of his army would be scattered over the lonely hijaz wilderness. therefore, in spite of their enormous numerical superiority, they concluded that any struggle against forty thousand believers who had just accomplished this prodigious feat would be madness, and finish by overwhelming their opponents with indescribable disaster. strife broke the ranks of their innumerable army, and each party it comprised fled towards its own part of the country without having dared to face the prophet. the pitiful helter-skelter retreat of the allies enhanced the magic power of islam as greatly as the most brilliant victory; and if mohammad had not been kept back by the necessity of fulfilling his mission in the hijaz before any other undertaking, he could have penetrated in the depth of the palatinat almost without striking a blow. as it was, established at tabuk, he received the eager submission of the arab lords who hurried to him, one and all, coming not only from the vicinity, but also from distant regions, such as those of sinai and syria. alone, the proud prince of "dawmatu'l-jandal," an important town situated on the outskirts of the "nefud" (desert of red sand), having refused submission, the prophet sent khalid the terrible to him; and he was brought to his knees at once. during the few weeks' rest granted to his army, mohammad never ceased the work of organising the country and teaching new converts. one event only saddened him in his success: the death of a most devoted comrade, known as "dhu nijadayn," (the man with the two shoulder-belts). to prove to all in what esteem he held this perfect mussulman, he insisted in helping, with his own noble hands, the gravedigger to lower the body into the earth, and ibn mas'ud, jealous at seeing the dead man so highly honoured, exclaimed: 'ah! why am i not buried in that tomb?' [sidenote: the prophet goes back to al-madinah] the return journey took place without any incident worthy of narration. the hot months having gone by, the army was spared the pangs of thirst; and during the first days of the month of ramadhan, the soldiers re-entered al-madinah. in such a moment, in the midst of the acclamations greeting the returning, energetic soldiers, the perfidious "qawm" of the "hypocrites" knew not where to turn to hide their shame. to palliate their meanness, they invoked the most specious pretexts in vain. the apostle did not even deign to honour them by resentment, reserved for the shaming of the three ansars, deterred from their duty by the double-faced crew. despite the repentant humility of the abashed men, the prophet sentenced them most rigorously by putting them under interdict and forbidding the believers to have anything to do with them. the delinquents were completely isolated and the faithful fled from them as if they were plague-stricken. allah, notwithstanding, moved by their remorse, pardoned them: "_he hath also turned in mercy unto the three who were left behind, so that the earth, spacious as it is, became too strait for them; and their souls became so straitened within them, that they bethought them that there was no refuge from allah but unto himself. then was he turned to them that they might turn to him. verily allah is he that turneth, the merciful!_" (the qur'an, ix, .) the "ghazwah" of tabuk was the last expedition led by the prophet. to conclude the conquest of arabia, he was satisfied thenceforth to send his lieutenants to accomplish a certain number of "saraya" or expeditions, all fully successful, but which it would take too long to describe here. he dwelt in al-madinah, kept busy in receiving the numerous submissions brought about by the victories of islam. there were those of the princes of dawmatu'l-jandal; of the yaman; of the uman, of buhayra; of the yamama; of taif; of najran, etc. he also devoted his energies to the most difficult task of governing the arabs, for the first time united to form a people of brothers; and in his work as legislator, he displayed the resources of as much genius as when he was at the head of his armies. about this time, the famous chief of the "hypocrites," abdullah ibn salul, died. seized with remorse in his last moments, abdullah implored mohammad's pardon and, despite the objections of ungovernable umar, the prophet was not to be stopped from saying prayers over the body of his perfidious foe and burying him with his own hands. after this proof of clemency and forgetfulness of offences, there no longer remained a single "hypocrite" in al-madinah. in his turn, ka'b ibn zuhayr, who had passed his life in composing virulent satires against the prophet, came to be converted by him, and recited a poem which he had written in his honour. when ka'b got as far as the fifty-first verse: "the messenger of allah is a flaming sword illuminating mortals; a sword of india, unsheathed by allah," mohammad pardoned him, making him a present of his mantle which he threw over the poet's shoulders. after the return of his victorious lieutenants, the prophet despatched missionaries to the newly-converted tribes, in order to prevent them backsliding by introducing any of their past superstitions into the religion. one of the principal missionaries was mu'adh ibn jabal, who was about to set out for the yaman. so that all should see the consideration he attached to the mission entrusted to mu'adh, the prophet bound a turban round his envoy's head, helped him to mount his camel, and walked by the animal's side, giving final instructions. mu'adh confused, made as if to alight, but mohammad stopped him. 'remain in the saddle, o sincere friend!' he said. 'i follow the orders of heaven and satisfy my heart. it is needful that a man performing important duties should be honoured. ah! if only i had hopes of seeing thee again, i should cut our conversation short; but probably i now speak to thee for the last time.' much moved, they separated; never to meet again in this world.... in the month of zu'l-qa'dah, the apostle, ever mindful of the religious and political importance of the pilgrimage to makkah, sent abu bakr to accomplish it at the head of three hundred mussulmans. scarcely had abu bakr reached zu'l holifah, when the surah of "bara'ah" was revealed: "_o believers! only they who join gods with allah (that is to say, those who in any way whatsoever, associate allah the only one with other divinities or persons) are unclean! let them not therefore, after this their year, come near the sacred temple (of makkah)._" (the qur'an, ix, .) this surah, remarkable as being the only one in the qur'an without the introductory form: "in the name of allah, the merciful, the compassionate," was of the greatest importance, in so far as the pilgrimage was concerned. it forbid all who were not mussulmans from setting foot in holy territory and even nowadays this prohibition being rigorously enforced, the pilgrims of islam are safeguarded against enemy spies, and protected from the unseemly curiosity of foreigners. this was also the final blow struck at idolatry among the arabs who could no longer come to makkah unless they disowned their idols. consequently, the prophet charged ali to rejoin the pilgrims' caravan in all haste and recite this imperative surah to the assembled faithful, after the sacrifices had been made in the valley of mina. [sidenote: the valedictory pilgrimage (_zul-hijjah, in year x of the hegira, march a.d. _)] the following year, the prophet determined to lead the pilgrimage to makkah personally. since the hegira, he had only accomplished the "amratu'l-qada," or pious visitation, at a time when makkah had not yet been entirely won over to islam. now the "hajj u'l-akbar," or greater pilgrimage, which imposes, besides the visit to the sacred temple of allah, a visit to the mountain of arafa, or of recognition, (so called because our first parents, adam and eve, met each other there after having been driven out of paradise), is one of the five pillars of the practical religion of islam. mohammad also wished to see his native land for the last time, having a presentiment of his coming end, for he felt himself secretly undermined by the vestiges of poison remaining in his veins. he solemnly announced his intention. the idea of seeing the apostle of allah and accomplishing the pilgrimage with him, stirred the enthusiasm of the whole of arabia, and the number of pilgrims who accompanied him from al-madinah or joined him on the way, may be set down at about hundred thousand. at zu'l hobfah, all the faithful, following the prophet's example, put themselves in the state of "ihram," as described in the chapter of al-hudaibiyah, and assumed the robe also called "ihram," consisting of two seamless wrappers free from any dye likely to stain the skin. one piece of drapery is wrapped round the waist and the other, thrown loosely over the shoulders, covers the chest; the head, arms, and legs being left bare. after the prophet had proclaimed the "talbiyah," the pilgrims took it up in chorus: "_i stand up for thy service, o allah! there is no partner with thee! verily thine is the praise, the blessing and the kingdom!_" during the journey, two unimportant incidents arose which we note nevertheless, because they show that a pilgrim is obliged to suppress all feelings of impatience or anger. the camel of safiyah, one of the prophet's wives, was a slow animal, and being heavily laden, did not keep up with the caravan, despite the efforts of its driver. ayishah's camel, possessing a good turn of speed and lightly burdened, mohammad, after having tried to explain these facts to its fair rider, gave orders to change the loads of the two animals. but this displeased ayishah. she lost her temper and cried out: 'thou sayest thou art prophet? then why not do things justly?' no sooner had these words escaped her lips, than her father, abu bakr, slapped her face; and as mohammad upbraided him, he replied: 'didst hear what she said?'--'yea; but she must be excused. the essence of a woman's mind is jealousy; and when jealousy masters her, she is incapable of seeing in what direction runs the current of a wadi!' on arriving at the encampment of al-arj, the camel carrying the provisions of the prophet and of abu bakr was missing. ayishah's father laid the blame on the driver: 'how's this? thou hadst but one camel to look after and thou hast let it go astray?' carried away by great anger, abu bakr, with his whip, gave the man a good hiding. 'admire the conduct of this pilgrim in the state of "ihram!"' said the prophet, ironically. 'come now, o abu bakr, be calm, and rest assured that thy serving-man's sole desire was not to lose thy camel.' the caravan took the same road as that of the pious visitation. the prophet entered makkah in open day, and made his she-camel kneel in front of the entrance of the sacred precincts, called the "door of salvation," and on catching sight of the ka'bah, he exclaimed: 'o allah, increase the glory of this temple and the number of its visitors!' after three ablutions, he kissed the black stone, whilst tears welled up in his eyes. he then performed the "tawaf," and the "sa'y," in the same way as during the pious visit. on the eighth day of the month of zu'l-hijjah, he went to the valley of mina where he caused a tent of woollen stuff to be pitched; and it was there he said the prayers of the afternoon; of sunset; and of nightfall. next day, after the prayer of the "fajr," he once more bestrode his she-camel, al-qaswa, in order to reach the mountain of arafa. countless crowds having gathered on the mountain's rocky slopes, as well as on the plain and in the surrounding ravines, the prophet preached, remaining on his she-camel which he had ridden and halted on the summit. standing immediately beneath him, was rabiyah ibn ummayatah, posted there to repeat the words of the sermon, with his resounding voice, during a pause made for that purpose at the conclusion of each sentence. after allah had been glorified by the "takbir," the prophet exhorted the faithful to treat their wives with the greatest gentleness, and never to forget that the rights of spouses are equal to their duties. he explicitly forbade the exaction of any interest whatsoever on money lent; and no murders committed during the "days of ignorance" were to be avenged. he fixed the duration of the year at twelve lunar months; and declared that the "nasi," which added a month every three years to reestablish equilibrium and bring the same dates back to the same seasons, was impious and must be abolished.... he then concluded, as he cried: 'o believers, your blood and your belongings ought to be looked upon as holy to each of you, even as this day is holy and as this land is holy! o believers, remember what i say, for i know not if ever i shall be with you again on this spot, when this day is past. and, above all, never forget that every mussulman should be truly a brother to every other mussulman, for all the mussulmans in the world form a single people of brothers!... o allah! have i fulfilled my mission?'--'yea, verily, o allah!' replied in unanimous outcry the hundred thousand mouths of the pilgrims, in accents of the most ardent gratitude.--'o allah! hearken to their testimony!' cried mohammad. at another spot, near the summit of the arafa, and known by the name of "as-sakhrah," recognisable by being paved with broad slabs, a sudden revelation came down to the prophet. under the burden of divine inspiration penetrating the heart of her rider, the she-camel al-qaswa came nigh to breaking all her limbs, and she fell on her knees. here are the words of allah, the most high: "_this day have i perfected your religion for you, and have filled up the measure of my favours towards you; and it is my pleasure that islam be your religion...._" (the qur'an, v, .) this revelation, terminating the prophet's sermon which had so deeply touched the believers, stirred up the purest enthusiasm in the whole of the assembly. nevertheless, abu bakr, far from participating in the general joy, was seized with a fit of intense melancholy, and was unable to hold back the tears that filled his eyes. he thought that having found favour in the eyes of the almighty, his mercy was bound to decrease. knowing that his son-in-law's mission was terminated, abu bakr was afraid that the prophet would soon disappear from this world.... the indigo shades of night had fallen over the valley and spread along the slopes of the arafa. all by himself, on the mountain top, overlooking the great multitude of pilgrims, the prophet, on the back of his tall she-camel, still remained in the light of the last golden rays of sunset. his glance, ecstatic by faith, was resplendent with superhuman brilliancy; but his face, emaciated by illness, had taken on the immaterial aspect of a vision about to fade.... the rising shadows reached and veiled him.... it was now the turn of the companions of the prophet to find themselves overcome by the same mournful apprehension that abu bakr had felt, although scarcely a few moments before, they were manifesting their joy at hearing that their religion had been perfected by allah.... by degrees, their emotion was communicated to the entire assembly of the believers and their hundred thousand hearts were filled with the keenest anguish. the prophet gave the signal of departure; but to prevent the accidents which any haste would inevitably cause among the great masses of such a gathering, he tugged the bridle of swift qaswa to him, twisting her head round until her nostrils touched her ribs, whilst he slid on to her withers; unceasingly exhorting all: 'go quietly, o ye people!' on arriving at muzdalifa, he said the prayer, "isha," and next day, after the daybreak prayer, riding his she-camel, led by bilal, and protected from the sun by a mantle that usama, riding behind him, held over his head, he went into the valley of mina, in order to throw seven stones against each of the three pillars of rude masonry, called "jumurat." this is in commemoration of the pebbles thrown by abraham to drive away the devil who thrice tried to stop him at that spot. after that, the prophet, to prove his gratitude for the sixty-three years of life granted to him by the creator, freed sixty-three slaves and, with his own hands, sacrificed sixty-three camels, their flesh and skins being distributed among the pilgrims by ali, acting under mohammad's orders. he then had his head shaved by mi'mar ibn abdullah, who commenced at the right temple and finished at the left. finally, after having once more performed the "tawaf" round the kab'ah, and drunk for the last time some zamzam water in a vase offered to him by his uncle abbas, the superintendent of the well, he set out again on the road to al-madinah. such was the pilgrimage called the "valedictory visitation," which overwhelmed the believers with such deep emotion by apprising them that mohammad's mission was fulfilled. this pilgrimage serves as a pattern for all the pilgrimages which, during thirteen centuries, have brought annually to these holy places, one hundred and fifty to two hundred thousand pilgrims, collected from all parts of the universe. any pilgrimage, be the religion giving rise to it what it may, causes inexpressible emotion by the sight of so many faces beaming with faith; and the most sceptical among the onlookers finds it difficult to escape the contagion of this outbreak of fervour. but, among the majority of the spectators, inadmissible practices soon overcome sympathetic feelings and change them into aversion. at makkah, doubtless, as in all religious centres without exception, pilgrims are ruthlessly exploited; but in this city, at least, the traffickers may be excused: they dwell in the most inhospitable of all deserts and have no other means of getting a living. what makes the mussulman pilgrimage essentially different to any other, is the absence of those innumerable chapels, whose narrow arches imprison souls, hampering them as they soar towards the creator and holding them back on earth at the mercy of the clergy. here are no fetishes, such as statuettes or miraculous icons, surrounded by their procession of votive offerings; nor that multitude of saints, their worship taking the place of that of the "eternal," generally neglected on these occasions. there are also none of those monks clad in varied gowns, all jealous of each other; quarrelling over pilgrims and religious resorts for the greater glory of their sect or order. at makkah, prayers are said in the vast quadrangular courtyard surrounding the ka'bah; the ethereal vault of heaven takes the place of the masonry work of chapel roofs and, purified from all its mists, it opens to souls thirsting for ideal good, its lapis-lazuli depths, more vertiginous here than in any other part of the world. at makkah, nothing is worshipped except allah, the chosen one, and pilgrims seek the remembrance of abraham and mohammad for no other reason than to strengthen the fervour of their faith by following the prophet's example. they never pray to these prophets in the same way as christians adore their saints; on the contrary, moslems pray to allah for their prophets. the gates of the ka'bah enclosure are open day and night. the pilgrim hurries there as soon as he gets to makkah. at the sight of the temple draped in black, the object of his unceasing thoughts during the severe ordeals of the journey, in the midst of sandstorms or tempest-tossed, he is overtaken by such emotion that in this moment of superhuman ecstasy, he wishes his soul to be snatched away. sobbing, his breast heaving fitfully, under the influence of remorse, his face convulsed by shame, he approaches the black stone to kiss it, exclaiming: 'o allah! pardon me my sins; free my being from their burden and purify my heart, o thou, the most merciful among the compassionate!' when the hour of prayer is called by the muazzin, the spacious quadrangle is invaded by a veritable sea of believers; their hurrying waves scarcely leaving in the serried ranks the needful space for prostration. following one of the "takbirs" of the imam, said after him in an immense sigh escaping simultaneously from every breast, a great swell passes over all the faithful, causing every head to be bowed, like billows breaking. at another "takbir," it seems that the ground suddenly gives way under the pilgrims' feet. at one bound, every forehead is pressed to the earth, where the body of each man remains crushed by the threefold weight of contrition, gratitude and adoration; like so many rays converging in the direction of the temple which seems to be made still taller by the added height of the prostrated pilgrims. above them, the black silk veil undulates, stirred by the gusts of a mysterious breeze which many attribute to angels' beating wings. the assembly of the arafa is distinguished by quite as much grandeur. in a wild valley stands the conical mountain of arafa. its slopes, bare of all vegetation, bristle with enormous boulders. there is no sign of life on its sides, nor in the neighbourhood; all around is the image of desolation and the silence of death. but every year, on the ninth day of the month of zu'l-hijjah, the funereal landscape evokes most strikingly the future day of resurrection. soil, sand and rocks disappear, truly cloaked by human beings, enwrapped in their white "ihrams," and who might be taken for the resuscitated dead, freeing themselves from their shrouds after having lifted the rocks which were their gravestones. as it will happen on that supreme day, all the earth's races are represented in the countless crowds gathered together at this spot, deserted but a short time before. here some arabs, with eyes of eagles, their complexion of a reddish bronze; ottomans, their features showing them to be energetic and headstrong; hindoos, with faces clear-cut and olive-tinted; berbers, fair-haired and rosy-cheeked, their eyes blue; somalis and soudanese, their black skins shining in the sun with lunar gleams; refined persians; bold turcomans; yellow chinese, with closed eyelids; javanese, high cheek-boned, etc.... nowhere else in the world can such a variety of faces and languages be met with. after the prayer of the "asr," (afternoon), the "khatib," or preacher, riding his she-camel, gorgeously harnessed, appears on the summit of the arafa where the sermon is given forth, interrupted by frequent "talbiyahs": "_labbaika! allahummah! labbaika!_" (i stand up for thy service, o allah! i stand up! i stand up!) at each "talbiyah," the pilgrims wave the ends of their white draperies over their heads and the whole mountain seems to be palpitating under the beating of myriads of wings ready to fly, whilst a lengthy clamour rises to the sky from every part of the valley, reverberating in the sonorous echoes of the desert. "_labbaika! allahummah! labbaika!_" shout two hundred thousand pilgrims with one voice, neglecting their own idioms, so as to become united in the same tongue: that of the arabs, chosen by the almighty for the revelation of his book. in that sublime hour, in language as well as by the heart, all these mortals are cordially brothers. they have forgotten all their racial differences, distinctions of rank or caste, and all their political and religious feuds.... on the arafa, islam once more finds its perfect unity and its primitive outbreak of enthusiasm. what great consolation! what balm for some of its wounds! quoth the prophet: 'the moslems are as one body; the pain in any single limb gives rise to fever and insomnia in the whole of the frame.' on the arafa, islam has nothing to fear from enemy spies; it can make good its losses and prepare its future. despite its disasters, it is more alive than ever! such is the impression of this unforgettable day, that each of the assistants takes back with him to his own country, as well as the title, so greatly envied, of "haji," signifying pilgrim to the holy places. [illustration: (calligraphy) _say: go through the earth, and see how he hath brought forth created beings._] [illustration: (ornamental page) chapter the ninth] [illustration: _al madinah, the city of the prophet. the dome of mohammad's tomb._] [illustration: (calligraphy) _thou truly art mortal, o mohammad, and they truly are mortals._] chapter the ninth [sidenote: illness and death of the prophet (_rabi'u'l-awwal, year ix of the hegira. june a.d. ._)] quoth abu muwayhiba, the prophet's serving-man: "one night towards the end of the month of safar, my master woke me up. "i must go and implore the blessing of allah," said he, "for those at rest in the tombs of baqui'u a'l-gharqad. come with me." "i accompanied him. "blessed be you, o dwellers in the tomb!" he exclaimed, when we reached the cemetery. "rest in peace! allah hath spared you terrible ordeals, like unto the anguish of a dark night, more terribly black at the end than at the beginning. such are the torments in store for those who are still upon this earth!" "as he finished speaking, the whole of his body was shaken by the palsy of fever, and he wended his way back to his dwelling with difficulty; his temples racked by the unbearable pains known as "suda"...." quoth ayishah: "when the prophet returned from his visit to the cemetery of al-baqi, he came to see me in the middle of the night. i was suffering from violent headache and as i complained, he said: 'ah! 'tis i who ought to complain of pains in the head and not thou!' he went on, jokingly: 'would it not be better for thee to die whilst i am still in the land of the living? i could implore the mercy of allah in thy favour; with my own hands i could enfold thee in thy winding-sheet; i could pray over thy body and place thee in thy grave.' 'of a surety thou doest me great honour in apprising me that thou wouldst act thus in my favour,' i replied; 'but i fear that after i was buried, thy sole consolation would be to bring back with thee, into my room, some other of thy wives!' at this sally, a smile returned to the prophet's face and, for a brief moment, he forgot his pain." as time went on, his illness left him no rest; nevertheless, mastering his sufferings, his mind was busier than ever, and he occupied himself with the future of islam, for he felt that the effects of his management would soon be lacking. thinking that syria was one of the gates through which the warriors of allah would have to march to conquer the world, mohammad's gaze was unceasingly turned towards that country and he resolved to organise a third expedition against the christians, in whose power it was. great rivalry at once arose with regard to commanding such an incursion. of heroes and generals having been put to the test, islam had enough and to spare. the most famous among them: ansars or mohadjirun, anxiously awaited the prophet's choice. to the stupefaction of all, however, usama, barely twenty years of age, was chosen. it is true that this lad was the son of zayd ibn harith, the martyr of mutah. mohammad placed great reliance on the revengeful ardour that usama would show in fighting the murderers of his father on the very spot where he gloriously succumbed, than on the experience and warlike valour of the mussulman generals. this selection caused deception and gave rise to murmuring. the believers hesitated to put boundless confidence, such as is indispensable for success, in a chief so young and inexperienced. having been told about this, the prophet rose and cut short all disputes by these words: 'ye criticise my choice of usama, even as ye formerly cavilled at that of zayd, his father! listen! to you i swear, by allah! that zayd was truly worthy of the post of command with which i did entrust him. i cherished him above all other men; and after him, his son is the man i prefer. go, carry out my orders, and have confidence!' these simple words, uttered in a tone of inspired conviction, banished all hesitation; smoothing away all jealousy as if by magic; and the noblest and most famous among all the chieftains, together with the most humble soldiers, came enthusiastically to obey the commands of the stripling. when the expedition marched into the "farewell pass," the prophet was deeply moved as he saw his troops disappear. the superhuman faith animating the warriors at the parting hour proved to him that no obstacle could bar their way on the road to victory and that the irresistible torrent of islam, like unto the salutary overflow of a wadi, was about to inundate the world and bring it the prolific germs of its new civilisation. meanwhile, it was not long before the alarming news, relating to the prophet's illness, stopped usama's forward progress, bringing him back to al-madinah. about that time, the apostle received a letter, couched in these terms: "musailimah, the prophet of allah, to mohammad, the prophet of allah. peace be with thee, i am thy associate. let the exercise of authority be divided between us. half the earth is mine, and half belongeth to the quraish. but the quraish are a greedy people, and will not be satisfied with a fair division." the author of this epistle, musailimah, prince of the yamama, had recently been converted to islam; and then, fully appreciating the majesty of the part played by the prophet, this pretender planned with monstrous pride to play the some part in his turn. to the envoys bringing the impudent missive, mohammad replied: 'were it not that your situation as ambassadors causeth me to look upon your lives as sacred, i would have you beheaded.' and he handed them this answer: "mohammad, the prophet of allah to musailimah, the impostor. peace be with those who follow the right road! the earth is allah's, and he giveth it to whom he will. those only prosper who fear the lord!" both musailimah and al-aswad, another impostor, soon found out the danger run by those who enacted the part of prophet without having been called by allah. they expiated their temerity most cruelly. the prophet's illness became daily more serious. he grew so weak that he could only move about by dint of the most painful efforts. being in the house of maimunah, he sent for his other wives. his usual habit was to pass the night in turn, impartially, at each of their dwellings; but feeling himself weighed down by intense suffering, he begged them to let him remain with ayishah alone for the duration of his illness; and to this they consented. quoth ayishah: "the prophet left the abode of maimunah, thanks to the assistance of al-fadl and ali, who held him in their arms. a bandage was bound tightly round his head, and his weakness was so great that he had no sooner set foot in my room than he swooned. when he came to, lancinating pains tortured his temples; and hoping to soothe his pangs, he asked: 'pour over me six skinsful of water drawn from a very cold spring, so that i may be in a fit state to go forth and preach to the faithful.' we sat him in a stone trough, borrowed from hafsa, and poured water over him in abundance, until he bade us stop, by a wave of his hand, saying: 'enough!'" momentarily invigorated, mohammad went out through ayishah's door which gave on to the mosque; and again supported by his cousin ali and al-fadl, he had great trouble in mounting the steps of the pulpit, from which he made the following declaration to the faithful assembled: 'o believers, if among you there be one whose back i have beaten, here is my back so that he may do himself justice! if there be one whose honour i may have wounded, here is my honour, let him be avenged! if there be one whose property i may have seized, here is my property, let him satisfy his claim! let no one hesitate in fear of my resentment, for resentment formeth no part of my disposition.' after having stepped down to give out the noonday prayer, he went up in the pulpit again and repeated the same declaration. a man arose and claimed payment of a debt amounting to three drachmas. the prophet handed them over to him at once, adding: 'it is easier to put up with shame in this world than in the other.' he then evoked the remembrance of the martyrs of uhud, to whom he devoted the best part of his prayer, imploring allah's blessings in their favour. he wound up as follows: 'allah hath offered one of his servants the choice between the riches of this earth and those that are to be found at his side.' at these words, divining that the prophet was alluding to himself and the state of his health, abu bakr burst into tears, and exclaimed: 'ah! why cannot we offer our lives as a ransom for thine?'--'o believers!' replied mohammad, 'it hath come to my ears that ye fear your prophet may die; but before me hath any prophet been immortal as he accomplished his mission? how can i dwell eternally among you? every soul is doomed to die. i must return to allah and ye likewise will return to him.' quoth ayishah: "after this effort, when the prophet came back to my room, he fainted away again. when the call of the muazzin was heard, he rose up and asked for water wherewith to perform his ablutions, meaning to lead the prayers. he swooned three times. "as the faithful awaited his coming in the mosque, he sent bilal to fetch abu bakr, so that he could perform the duties of imam instead of the prophet. the crowd, guessing the reason of this change, broke out into fits of sobbing.... "the prophet was frequently seized with delirium. one thursday, whilst all his companions gathered round his bed, he said to them: 'bring hither to me ink and parchment; i would place on record a book for you which shall prevent your going astray for evermore.'--'allah's messenger is burdened by pain,' said umar; 'have we not the qur'an? allah's book sufficeth for us.' "several of his companions, accustomed never to argue about anything said by the prophet and remembering that he was illiterate, thought that in this supreme moment a miracle was about to be accomplished. therefore they wanted to give him what he asked for. they were opposed by his partisans sharing umar's opinion, and a quarrel began, the prophet recovering his senses by the noise. he told them reproachfully: 'it is not seemly to quarrel thus at a prophet's bedside. go away!' "to soothe his unbearable pain, he dipped his hands in a pitcher of cold water and passed his wet palms over his face, as if to wipe it: 'o allah!' he cried, 'help me to support the terrors of the death struggle!' "he had fatimah, his beloved daughter, fetched to him twice and spoke to her secretly, whispering in her ear. the first time, fatimah's face was bathed in tears; the second time, her features were lit up by a smile. we asked her the reason of her changed expression, and she told us: 'the first time, my father warned me that he must soon succumb to his illness, and i could not repress my tears. the second time, he informed me that of all his family, i should be the first to rejoin him, and so great was my joy that i could not stop myself from smiling.'" on the monday, the twelfth day of rabi'u'l-awwal, abu bakr was saying prayers in the presence of the faithful, when ayishah's door, giving into the mosque, was thrown open. supported by ali and al-fadl, the prophet appeared. his turban was twisted tightly round his head, and his benumbed feet dragged along the ground. on seeing him, the faithful were comforted by a ray of hope and a wave of emotion stirred them all. without turning round, abu bakr guessed that only the arrival of the prophet could have given rise to such a manifestation while prayers were being said, and he moved away to join the ranks of the worshippers and let his place be taken by mohammad. but he made bakr go back; pulling him by his garment, as he said: 'continue to lead the prayers.' he then sat down on abu bakr's right hand, under the pulpit, and his face beamed with happiness, at the sight of the piety of the congregation. when prayers had been said, he spoke to the believers for the last time; and in tones firm enough to be heard outside the mosque, he preached a sermon predicting terrible ordeals and charging them with the strictest observance of the principles of the qur'an, for such would be the only way leading to salvation. leaning against one of the palm-tree trunk pillars, he chatted familiarly with some of his companions, and then went back to his room. quoth ayishah: "after this last effort, the prophet was again overtaken by greater pain than ever, and covered his face with a black garment, which he threw off again, as it stifled him.... "just then, abdu'r rahman, son of abu bakr, came in, holding in his hand a small twig of green "araq," with which he was picking his teeth. the prophet stared at the little stick and i made out that he would have liked it. so i took it out of abdu'r rahman's hand. cutting off the end of the toothpick, i shook it, cleaned it and gave it to allah's messenger who immediately made use of it, picking his teeth more carefully than ever before. when he had finished, he let the little stick drop from between his faltering fingers. he raised his eyes to heaven, repeating three times: 'o allah! with the compassionate on high....!' and i felt his head, resting between my chin and shoulder, grow heavy on my arm. "i guessed that the prophet had chosen the eternal dwelling and that his noble soul had just been taken by the angel of death. i placed my head on the pillow and uttered a great cry of distress.... his wives came running in; and all together, we went down on our knees, and tore our faces with our nails." on hearing these lamentations, the believers filled the mosque. they were dazed, like sheep straying on a dark, wintry night; but not one of the faithful would admit that the prophet was dead. the disappearance of the man who led them in every way seemed an impossibility. 'how can he be dead?' they cried. 'did we not count upon him to be our witness on the day of resurrection? he is not dead; he hath been carried up to heaven, even as was isa (jesus).' and through the door they cried: 'beware lest ye bury him!' this met with umar's approval: 'no, verily, the prophet is not dead! he hath gone to visit the lord, even as moses did, when after an absence of forty days, he reappeared to his people. in like fashion, mohammad will be restored to us. those who say he is dead are traitors to the cause of islam. let their hands and feet be cut off!' at that juncture, abu bakr, who had been fetched from the as-sunuh quarter where he lived, arrived on horseback, galloping as fast as possible. he alighted and, making his way through the crowd in consternation, he went into the mosque without speaking to a soul, and from there, passed into the room of his daughter ayishah in order to see allah's messenger. a piece of striped stuff was thrown over the body; abu bakr uncovered the prophet's face, kissed him, wept and then broke down under the weight of his great grief.... 'o thou for whose ransom i would have offered both father and mother,' he cried, 'thy career is well accomplished!' tearing himself away from his sorrowful contemplation, he covered up mohammad's face again and went out, going straight up to umar who was haranguing the people. 'sit down, o umar!' he said. umar refused to obey him. in the meantime, the majority of the faithful left him by himself, and gathered round abu bakr who told them: 'o believers, if ye adore mohammad, know that mohammad is dead; but if ye adore allah, know that allah is alive, for allah cannot die! ye must have forgotten these verses of the qur'an: "_mohammad is no more than an apostle; other apostles have already passed away before him; if then he die, or be slain, will ye turn upon your heels? thou truly art mortal, o (mohammad), and they truly are mortals._" (the qur'an, iii, , and xxxix, .) quoth umar: "by allah! scarcely did i hear abu bakr recite these verses than i felt my legs give way under me. i was near falling down, for then i began to understand that the prophet was really dead!" [sidenote: abu bakr elected] before thinking about the funeral, it was urgent to guard against the pressing danger threatening islam, totally broken up by the loss of its inspired guide. the man who had succeeded in bringing together in religious fraternity families and tribes at loggerheads for centuries, having disappeared, what would become of this brotherhood? the immediate nomination of a caliph, or lieutenant appointed to continue the prophet's task, could alone prevent irretrievable disaggregation. this urgent necessity stirred the tribes tumultuously; a tragical conflict between ansars and mohadjirun was imminent, each party claiming to have the caliph chosen from among its adherents. happily, umar's energy and spirit of decision easily averted the crisis. having succeeded in gaining a few moments' silence, he called upon the believers to take notice that during the last days of his life, mohammad had designated abu bakr, his companion during the hegira, to take his place as "imam," and doubtless the prophet would have chosen him for caliph. this opinion carried the day. when the sun rose again, all the believers, forgetting their disputes, came and took the oath of fidelity to abu bakr. [sidenote: the prophet's burial] this important question being settled, the faithful were free to arrange the prophet's funeral and give way to the despair that racked their souls. at first, they were embarrassed, not daring to strip off his garments so as to wash the body according to the usual rites. respect forbid them to look on his nakedness, as if it were sacrilegious to do so. after long discussions, irresistible sleep weighed down their eyelids; their chins rested on their breasts, when suddenly, a voice proceeding from the chamber of death was heard. they awoke at its sound and it replied to what was passing in their minds: 'wash the prophet without undressing him.' that was the solution they sought, and without further delay, they acted on the suggestion. with striped stuff of the yaman, abbas erected a kind of tent in the room, so as to keep the crowd away from the body. by the aid of seven skinsful of water drawn from the well of al-ghars, at quba, preferred by mohammad to any other, ali, usama, abbas and his sons, and shukran, the freed slave, proceeded with the ritual washing. abbas, assisted by his sons, al-fadl and qutham, turned the venerated body over. usama and shukran sprinkled it with water and ali wiped it without removing the shirt. the first washing was done with plain water, the next with an infusion of lotus-flowers; and the third, and last, with camphorated water. abbas and ali then perfumed every part of the body that comes in contact with the earth during the ceremony of prostration: forehead, nose, hands, knees and feet. 'how sweet is thy smell, o prophet!' exclaimed ali; and all marvelled at not finding on mohammad's frame any of those horrible traces of decomposition following the separation of the soul from the body, with the exception of a slight bluish tinge appearing on the nails. instead of a shroud, the prophet was wrapped in the garments he wore at the moment of death: his shirt, which after the ablutions was wrung out and allowed to drip; and a double robe woven at najran. it was then that ali and abbas, having replaced mohammad on his bed, allowed the crowd to enter. the room was at once filled with as many believers as it would hold, and after they had said: 'peace be with thee, o prophet, and also the mercy and blessing of allah!' they got ready to pray without an "imam" to lead them, for the real "imam" was present, although his soul had been called back to the side of the almighty. abu bakr and umar were in the front rank of the worshippers, and they concluded the prayer by these words: "_o allah! we bear witness that he hath accomplished the mission thou didst entrust to him. o allah! grant peace to those among us who follow faithfully the orders thou hast revealed to him and hasten to reunite us with him. amin!_" and all the people, stirred to the innermost depths of their being, repeated: "_amin! amin!_" fresh difficulties now arose, concerning the place of burial; some wanting the grave to be dug in the mosque; others, at al-baqi, among the tombs of the prophet's family. a few mentioned makkah, his birthplace. abu bakr silenced them, affirming that he had heard mohammad say: 'allah only taketh the soul of a prophet on the spot where it is fitting that he should be buried.' the bed was accordingly moved away and the grave dug in the ground underneath it. this task was alloted to talha, the gravedigger of al-madinah. he strengthened the sides of the grave by means of nine unburnt bricks, and carpeted the bottom with the red blanket that served the prophet as a rug for his camel when travelling, and which was not to be used by anyone now that he was dead. ali, al-fadl, qutham, and shakran lowered the body into its last resting-place.... al mughira ibn shu'ba affirms that he was the last man to have the happiness of contemplating the face of the chosen one before it was covered with earth. "i let my finger-ring drop into the grave,' he says, 'so that when i regained it, i should be the last to address a farewell salute to the prophet." the sad ceremony was concluded in the middle of the night between tuesday and wednesday. on the morrow, at dawn, when in his call to prayer, bilal, the "muazzin," proclaimed: 'there is no god but allah, and mohammad is the prophet of allah!' he could only shout the name of mohammad through his sobs. the whole town replied to him, as by an echo, in a long moan of despair which rose to heaven, from every door and window of the houses.... ever since that day, the twelfth of the month of rabi'u'l-awwal, year xii of the hegira, (june th, a.d. ), this extraordinary man, who was, to say the least, the equal of the greatest of all prophets; monarch, general theologian, legislator and philosopher, and whose religion counts at the present time three hundred millions of disciples, rests in this spot where his noble soul was carried aloft. a sumptuous mosque, erected over the room where he died, has taken the place of the humble temple of raw bricks and palm-trunks that he built up with his own hand. a visit to his tomb is not one of the pillars of islamic pratical religion, but nevertheless there are few pilgrims who, after the severe trials endured during their journey to makkah, hesitate to undertake the twelve days' caravan travel, so distressing and dangerous, between mohammad's birthplace and al-madinah, in order to salute the prophet's grave piously and enthusiastically.... even the learned men of europe are beginning to forget secular prejudices and do justice to the founder of islam. 'if a man's value is to be estimated by the grandeur of his works,' declares dr. g. le bon, 'we can say that mohammad was one of the greatest men known in history.' [illustration (calligraphy) _mohammad is no more than an apostle; other apostles have already passed away before him; if then he die, or be slain, will ye turn upon your heels?_] [illustration: _imam leading the prayers._] [illustration: (calligraphy) _o my supreme master, lavish thy blessings and thy favours for ever and ever on thy friend (mohammad), the best of all created beings._] the prophet's portrait according to his son-in-law, ali, the prophet was of middle height and sturdy build. his head was large, his complexion healthy; with smooth cheeks, a thick beard, and wavy hair. when he was vexed, a vein swelled out on his forehead, from the top of his aquiline nose between his eyebrows which were well arched and meeting. his big eyes, framed by long lashes, were of a deep black, lit up at times by a few red gleams, and his glance was extraordinarily keen. his mouth was large, well suited to eloquence. his teeth, as white as hailstones, were slightly separated in front. the palms of his hands, of which the fingers were long and slender, were broad and soft to the touch like fine silk. the seal of prophecy--which the monk bahira discovered--was just below the nape of the neck, between mohammad's shoulder-blades. it resembled the scar left by the bite of a leech, and was of a reddish hue, surrounded by a few hairs. the prophet's gait was slow, solemn and majestic. in all circumstances, he never lost his presence of mind and was quick-witted. when he turned round, the whole of his body moved, unlike frivolous folks twisting their necks and rolling their heads about. if he held out an object to show it, he made use of the whole of his hand and not two or three fingers. when surprised, he glorified allah, turning the palms of his hands to heaven, nodding his head and biting his lips. when he made an affirmation, he struck his widely-open left hand with his right thumb to lay stress on his declaration. if angry, his face flushed; he stroked his beard and passed his hand over his face, taking a deep breath and exclaiming: 'i leave it to allah, the best proxy!' he was a man of few words; but each had many different meanings, some plain and others hidden. as for the charm of his elocution, it was supernatural, going straight to the heart. none could resist it. the prophet's merriment never went beyond a smile, but if he was overcome by an excess of gaiety, he covered his mouth with his hand. his disposition was even, without self-sufficiency or obstinacy. whenever any of his companions called him, he replied immediately: 'here i am!' he liked to play with their children and would press them to his noble breast. he used to make the sons of his uncle abbas stand in a row and, promising to reward the child who got first to him, they would all run into his arms and jump on his knees. he interested himself in the doings of all, whether slaves or nobles, and followed the funeral of the most humble believer. he flew one day into a most violent passion because, through negligence, he had not been apprised of the death of a poor negro who swept out the mosque. he insisted on being told where the grave was situated and went to pray over it. when an applicant tried to get close to the prophet's ear so as not to be overheard, he would bend his head until the man had finished speaking. when a visitor took the hand of mohammad, he was never the first to withdraw it, but waited until the other chose to relax his grasp. the prophet often said: 'to be a good mussulman, we must wish for others that which we wish for ourselves.' never did he let his blessed hand fall on a woman, nor on one of his slaves. quoth anas, who was seven years in his service: "'he never scolded me; he never even asked me: 'hast done this?' or: 'why didst thou not do that'" abu dharr heard the prophet declare: 'these servants are your brothers, placed under your authority by allah. whoso is master over his brother must give him the same food as he eateth and the same apparel as he weareth.' an arab who bore arms at the battle of hunain, tells the following story: "my feet were shod with heavy sandals and in the thick of the fight, i accidentally trod on the prophet's foot. he struck me with the whip he held in his hand and cried out: 'by allah! thou hast hurt me!' and all night long, i reproached myself for having inflicted pain on allah's messenger. next day, early in the morning, he sent for me. i went into his presence. i was trembling with fright. 'thou art the man,' said he, 'who crushed my foot yesterday under thy thick sole and whom i lashed with my whip? well then, here are eighty lambs. i give them to thee. take them away.' and ever since that incident, the prophet's patience got the best of his anger." of a loving disposition, he suffered at having been deprived at an early age of maternal affection, which led him always to busy himself about the way mothers and children got on together. his ideas in this connection were summed up in this sentence: 'a son gains paradise at his mother's feet.' while saying prayers, if he heard a child cry, he would hasten to conclude, so as to allow the mother to go and console her offspring, for he knew how mothers suffer when they hear their children cry. his marvellous insight into mortals' souls and the depths of all things, causing him to be the most prodigious psychologist ever known, did not prevent him from consulting his companions for the least thing. ayishah tells us: 'i never knew anybody ask for advice and listen to different opinions so carefully as the prophet.' if feelings of kindly dignity prevented mohammad from resorting to vulgar mockery or making use of cutting remarks, his mood was nevertheless playful. he was fond of joking, which is not reproved by allah, if the sally contains a grain of truth. one day, for amusement, he told safiyah, his aunt on his father's side, that 'old women were not allowed to enter paradise.' the noble dame, well advanced in years, burst into tears. so he went on: 'but all women will be resuscitated with the aspect of females thirty-three years of age, just as if they had all been born on the same day.' the three things he loved best in this world were prayer, perfumes, and women. he was so fond of praying that his feet used to swell in consequence of standing for too long a time whilst at his devotions; but he considered that the right to pray so often was one of the prerogatives of his position as a prophet. still he would not admit that his example should be followed. this he proved when upraiding abdullah ibn amir: 'have i heard aright when they tell me thou dost pass the night in prayer, upstanding; and then fast next day? if thou shouldst keep on at this, thou wilt endanger thy sight and wear out thy body. thy duty, that thou owest to thyself and thy people, is to fast and break thy fast; to rise in the night and also to sleep.' next to prayer, mohammad preferred women, for which his detractors have blamed him severely. he was certainly an ardent lover; a male, in every respect, morally and physically, but endowed with that chastity which fits in well with healthy voluptuousness. following his example, even nowadays, the arabs are remarkable for their extreme decency, although devoid of all affectation and having nothing in common with the hypocritical mock-modesty of puritans. mohammad had twenty-three wives, but he only had intercourse with twelve of them; his other marriages taking place for political reasons. all the tribes were eager to be allied to him through one of their daughters and he was beseiged by matrimonial offers. one of these women, azza, sister to dihya al-kalbi, died of joy when she heard that the prophet accepted her as spouse. his love of women caused him to be brimful of kindness to them, and he sought to better their lot whenever he could. to begin with, he abolished the monstrous custom of burying girls alive, "wa'du'l-binat," of which we have already spoken. he then regulated polygamy, limiting the number of legitimate helpmates to four, which did not prevent him from urging the faithful to give heed to this verse of the qur'an: "_if ye fear that ye shall not act equitably, then marry but one woman only._" (iv, .) then, after declaring that: 'among all things which are licit, divorce is the most displeasing to allah,' he allowed a wife to ask for release if the husband neglected the duties of marriage. finally, thanks to his ruling, a virgin could no longer be taken in marriage against her will; the dower, formerly given by the husband to the father of the affianced maiden, was ordered to be handed over to her. such is the wise custom of the dower which the enemies of islam call the purchase of a wife. doubtless, they know nothing about the terrible retort of moslems when they notice that in certain western countries the dowry is paid to the bridegroom by the bride's father! over and above the dower, the mussulman husband has to defray household expenses without touching his wife's fortune to which he has no right. the prophet also ordained that a wife is always entitled to some part of an inheritance. if it is only half a share, that is because the compensation found by the spouse in the dowry and the household upkeep is taken into account. the prophet was fond of perfumes; for they completed the process of purification by ablutions. the man who has a sweet smell will be worthier and better able to safeguard his honour than he whose bodily odour is disgusting. mohammad scented himself with musk and he liked sandal-wood, camphor and ambergris to be burnt. he used pomade for his hair, and four plaits hung down over his ears, two on each side. he clipped beard and moustache with scissors, keeping all in order by means of an ivory, or tortoise-shell comb. he blackened his eyelids with "kuhl," which brightens the eye and strengthens the lashes. he took care of his teeth by rubbing them often with the "miswak," (fragment of soft "araq" wood), of which the fibre, when the end is chewed, has the same effect as a brush. his apparel consisted generally of a tunic of cotton cloth, short-sleeved, and not too long; together with a cloak, four cubits long and two wide, woven in the uman region. he also had a yamanite mantle, six cubits long and three wide, which he wore on fridays and holydays. then, last of all, came his green mantle, inherited by the caliphs; and a turban known as "as-sahab," bequeathed to his son-in-law, ali. the prophet took the greatest care of his personal appearance and reached as far as simple, although very refined elegance. he was wont to look at himself in a mirror, or if that was lacking, in a jar full of water, to comb his hair, or adjust the folds of his turban, letting one end hang down behind his back. he used to say: 'by attending to our exterior, we please him of whom we are the servants.' to make amends, he severely condemned extravagance in clothing; particularly the use of silk, which for rich people furnishes an opportunity for a display of pride belittling the needy; but he permitted it for those to whom it was necessary for reasons of bodily health. his love of justice and charity extended to animals. it was he who told how "a man saw a dog so thirsty that it lapped up mud. taking off one of his slippers, the man filled it with water which he offered to the dog; keeping on in the same way until the animal had quenched its thirst. allah was pleased at what the man did and welcomed him to paradise." this kindness and the mysterious radiation emanating from mohammad's personality made an impression on animals; and even on inanimate objects, as well as on human beings. when he went up the steps of a pulpit newly constructed in the mosque of al-madinah, the humble palm-tree trunk on which he habitually stood when preaching, began to groan and was only quieted when he laid his blessed fingers on it. the prophet worked with his own hands. he milked his ewes, cobbled his shoes, mended his clothes, fed his camels, pitched his tent, etc., without accepting the assistance of anyone. he carried home his own purchases from the market, and replied to one of the faithful who wished to do so for him: 'it is incumbent on the buyer to take away what he buyeth.' thus, by his example, he condemned the practice of wealthy people who bought largely, and without troubling about the weight of their purchases, forced their servants to carry the goods. his disdain for the riches of this world reached to the highest pitch. according to ayishah, this is what he said on this head: "allah offered to change all the pebbles round makkah, into pure gold for me and i answered: 'o allah! all i ask is to be hungry one day and satisfied the next. the day i am hungry, i will implore thee and the day i am satisfied, i will thank thee.' what have i to do with worldly wealth? i am like the traveller who lieth down in the shade of a tree; the sun, as it turneth, beateth down upon him and he goeth away from that tree never to return. o allah! let me die poor and resuscitate me in the ranks of the poor!" the prophet's sobriety was extreme; he never would have several kinds of food served at the same repast. if he ate meat, he went without dates; and if he ate dates, he deprived himself of meat. he showed a predilection for milk which appeases thirst and hunger at one and the same time. many months often passed without a fire being kindled in any of the prophet's houses for baking bread or preparing other kinds of food. all this time, he and his family lived on dried dates only and his sole beverage was plain water. when hunger-pains gnawed his entrails too cruelly, he placed a stone on his belly and bound it there with a girdle. he departed this life without having a surfeit of any sort of victuals, not even of barley cake. he never troubled about his body, so far as comfort went, although he kept it in a state of perfect purity by dint of continual ablutions. he frequently slept on a rugged mat, the rough bristles deeply marking his flesh. his pillow was made of palm-fibre and his bed was a mantle folded in two. one night, when ayishah had folded it in four, the prophet lost his temper, found his couch too soft and ordered it to be restored to its usual state. before dying, he freed all his slaves and distributed the small amount of property he still possessed. he deemed it unseemly to appear before the lord with gold in his possession. in his dwelling, but thirty measures of barley were found; and to buy them, he had been forced to leave his breastplate at a usurer's as security for a loan. [illustration: (calligraphy) _there is no god but allah, and mohammad is the prophet of allah._] [illustration: (ornamental page) chapter the tenth] [illustration: _a writing-lesson at a village school devoted to the teaching of the qur'an._] [illustration: (calligraphy) _say: o my people! act as ye best can: i verily will act my part, and hereafter shall ye know!_] chapter the tenth [sidenote: the march of islam] at the very moment when fate had deprived islam of its genial founder, the organisation of this new religion was definitively and meticulously arranged even in its most humble practices. the soldiers of allah had already conquered the whole of arabia and the attack on the colossal empire of the cæsars in syria was begun. a short period of unrest, inevitable after the disappearance of the inspired guide, caused a few rebellions; but islam was so strongly constituted, overflowing with such enthusiasm that it was about to astonish the world by its impressive forward march, unique perhaps in the annals of history. for the first time, rushing forth from their country forsaken by nature, the proud arabs, stirred by the miracle of faith, were about to become masters in less than a century of the best part of the old civilised world from india to andalusia, and that despite their extreme numerical inferiority. this marvellous épopée engrossed the mind of the most wonderful man of our time, napoleon, who always manifested the most sympathetic interest in favour of islam. during the egyptian campaign, he declared that he was: "muslimun muwahhidun," _i.e._ unitarian mussulman. (_bonaparte el l'islam_, by ch. cherfils.) towards the end of his life, he returned to the subject: 'he thought that apart from fortuitous circumstances, giving rise to miracles, there must have been something more than we know in the establishing of islam; that the christian world had been so remarkably cut into by the results of some first cause still hidden; that these peoples, perhaps, suddenly emerging from the desert depths, had endured long periods of civil war in their midst, during which great characters and talents had been formed, as well as irresistible impulses, or some other cause of the same kind.' (las casas, _mémorial de sainte-hélène_, iii, p. .) guessing, therefore, that beneath the slumber of islam in decadence, there were incomparable reserves of energy, he tried, not once but often, to win it over by an alliance. if he succeeded, he deemed himself capable of awakening it and, by its aid, changing the face of the world. napoleon was not mistaken; civil wars had indeed exalted the heroic qualities of the arabs, but they had made all organisation and progress impossible. had it not been for the advent of mohammad, these intrepid soldiers would have remained eternally in their deserts, solely absorbed by the obsession of hereditary feuds. when islam, abolishing pride of caste, birth, or race, made all believers really brothers and endowed them with religious and poetical souls, based on equality, there was no exploit that these fiery-minded men, their hearts untamable, were incapable of performing. these treasures of combative energy, accumulated during centuries of civil war, were not the only means by which they overthrew so many peoples, all different and superior to them in culture at that epoch. the arabs, likewise, had stored dream-treasures in their deserts, and these visions of an unpolished, though young people were about to be imposed on those peoples who, although educated, were old and worn-out. we advise all those who may have doubts about the genius of the arabs to look through a collection of photographs showing the edifices erected in every part of the countries they held in subjection. there is nothing more striking than the unity of type distinguishing these monuments from all other monuments in the world; and these buildings, with their remarkable family likeness, were set up in india, turkestan, persia, syria, turkey, egypt, barbary, spain, etc., all countries essentially different and so peculiar, by reason of their characteristic genius, that the genius of greece or rome was never able to be grafted successfully. the arabs borrowed largely from those they conquered, often utilising their talent and even their muscles in order to build palaces and mosques; but arabic dreams were thus always realised. the exceptional originality of the arab style resided in the fact that it was always imperiously guided by an art that was born at the same time as islam. this art had no predecessors and offers us, as it were, the materialness of the arabs' ideal. it is the art of calligraphic decoration, applied to the glorification of the word of allah, otherwise the verses of the qur'an. even reduced to its own resources, this art of arabic calligraphy is one of the most marvellous forms of decorative skill that has ever sprung from human imagination. it is perhaps the only science of ornament of which it may be said without exaggeration that it possesses a soul, for like the voice, it expresses thought. owing nothing even to the most cultured parts of the outer world, its independence resembles that of music and seems like the stenography of the innermost beatings of the heart. look at the letters which spring swiftly and horizontally from right to left as if acting under the impulse of inward life. then they whirl on their own axis in discreet or impassioned curves, and are next erect, coming to a sudden halt, fixed in perpendicular pride.... they soon start off again in their frenzied gallop, unrolling their flourishes, bestriding each other in delicious fantasy and causing the imagination to soar in wild dreams. to follow the impulses of the reed-pen having traced these letters; and in order to enjoy the pure eminence of their form or the intense emotion of their curve, one need not be a past master of arabic, or a subtile graphologist; any artistic mind can penetrate without any effort the secrets of their soul. after having expressed the ideal of his nation with such perfection, the arab calligrapher bent beneath his yoke--almost religious--everything that was destined to support or enframe it: architecture and other systems of embellishment, forcing them to yield to the sway of his shaping skill. under this yoke, the heavy, hemispherical dome of byzantium was improved by adopting the pure outline of the saracen helmet. the curves of the commonplace arcade became those of the graceful ogive, or of the proud, far-extending arch. the vulgar towers were metamorphosed into elegant minarets, leaping towards the peaks of ecstasy. [illustration: _theological students, in the courtyard of al-azhar, the great cairo moslem university._] in short, the only system of decoration which, with the exception of calligraphy, borrows nothing from nature: geometrical ornament--from which the greek and latin races merely derived poor and frigid effects--became endowed with real life. henceforward this decoration was significantly labelled as arabesque and, following the example of its model, it tried skilfully to astonish the mind by straying in the midst of the most inextricable entanglements and unexpected transformations.... how precious are the creations of moslem art! european amateurs nowadays outbid each other in golden offers for its vestiges, hoping through them to introduce into their homes a few gleams of the mirages that inspired their authors. radiant stained-glass, variegated glassware, stuffs worked with gold or silver wire, sparkling silks, damaskeened, inlaid bronzes, exquisite miniatures in the dwellings of the west, do they not all sing the glory of islam? among all these treasures, connoisseurs already begin to prefer those of calligraphy which animates the transcription of the divine verses by the delicate colouring of copies of the qur'an, or of the thick enamel of earthware. by so doing, the buyers of europe follow the example of mussulman princes of the best epoch who, to possess a page of calligraphy by a celebrated artist, lavished madly as much money as is given in our time for masterpieces of painters. may not these sacred inscriptions, causing their new possessors to be thrilled with admiration by reason of the refined elegance of their form, reveal one day to their purchasers the sublime beauty of the islamic soul lurking in these writings? [sidenote: influence of moslem civilisation in europe during the middle ages and the renaissance] even at a period when europe was not inimically inclined towards islam, it was dazzled by all its marvels and borrowed largely from the decorative and architectural genius of the arabs. deep research would soon prove that it owes much more to it than to greek or latin antiquity. such a study would take us too far from our subject. we may, however, point out as a curious fact that, according to the historian dulaure, arab architects were employed in the work of building the parisian cathedral of notre dame. in the domain of science, the influence of the moslems was just as fertile. to give an idea thereof, we cannot do better than summarise the opinion vouchsafed by doctor gustave le bon, in his remarkable work: _la civilisation des arabes_. (_the civilisation of the arabs._) "first of all, it must be acknowledged that it is to the arabs that we owe entirely the idea of experiment and observation, the basis of modern scientific methods, overriding the authority of a master. this substitution is therefore not the work of bacon, to whom it is generally attributed. "after having established that the highest degree of science consists in giving rise to phenomena oneself and at will, the celebrated scientist humboldt adds: "the arabs reached to this height, which was almost unknown to the ancients." "the study of mathematics enjoyed overspread favour among the arabs, and the progress accomplished in algebra metamorphosed that science to such an extent that its invention has been attributed to them. to them also are due the first application of algebra to geometry, and the introduction of tangents into trigonometry. "astronomy was passionately studied in their schools of bagdad, damascus, samarcand, cairo, fez, toledo, cordova, etc., and their discoveries may be summed up in the following enumeration: introduction of tangents into astronomical calculation; construction of tables of planetary movement; strict determination of the obliquity of the ecliptic and of its gradual diminution; exact estimation of the procession of the equinoxes; and the first precise determination of the year's duration. to them also we owe the ascertainment of the irregularities of the greatest latitude of the moon, and the discovery of the third lunar inequality, now called variation. "in geography, the contribution of these bold travellers is most remarkable from a scientific viewpoint. they made those exact astronomical determinations which form the first foundation of cartography, and rectified the enormous errors of position committed by the greeks. "from the standpoint of exploration, they published accounts of travel which caused different parts of the world, scarcely suspected before them, to be known, and where no european had ever set foot. the sources of the nile, running through the great equatorial lakes, are exactly set out on a map by al-idrisi, dating from the year , and which were only discovered by europeans during the second half of the nineteenth century. "in physical sciences, the sum total of their discoveries is still more considerable. the following enumeration proves their importance: high attainment of knowledge in theoretical physics, especially in optics and in the creation of the most ingenious mechanical apparatus; discovery of the most fundamental bodies of chemistry, such as alcohol, nitric acid, sulphuric acid; and the most essential operation, such as distillation; application of chemistry to pharmacy and commerce, especially as regards the extraction of metals, the manufacturing of paper from rags, which they caused to take the place of parchment, papyrus, or chinese silk-paper. "they were probably the first to use the compass in navigation; at any rate, they certainly introduced this fundamental invention to europe. "to conclude: the discovery of firearms. in , the emir yaqub resorted already to artillery at the siege of mahdiyya; in , the sultan abu yusuf used cannons at the siege of sijilmasa. in , two englishmen, lord derby and lord salisbury, were present at the siege of algeciras, defended by the arabs in the same way. these travellers, having witnessed the effect of gunpowder, took this discovery back to their country. it was through them that the english made use of it, four years later, at cressy. "in medical science, the moslems followed greek writers, and afterwards made most important progress. nearly all the medical knowledge of europe, at the epoch of the renaissance, was borrowed from them. the remarkable progress they made in medicine, was in surgery; the description of maladies; _materia medica_; and pharmacy. they found out a quantity of methods, of which many--the use of cold water in typhoid fever, for instance--crop up again in modern times, after having been forgotten for centuries. "_materia medica_ owes them numerous medicines, such as: cassia, senna, rhubarb, tamarinds, camphor, alcohol, ammonia, etc. they were the true creators of pharmacy. most of the preparations still in use nowadays are due to them: syrups, emulsions, pomades, ointments, distilled water, etc. "surgery also owes fundamental progress to the arabs. their work served as a basis for the teaching of faculties of medecine until quite recently. in the eleventh century of our era, they knew the treatment of cataract by the lowering or the extraction of the crystalline; lithotrity; the treatment of hemorrhage by irrigations of cold water; the use of caustics; setons; and cauterization by fire. anesthesia, of which the principal discovery is supposed to be modern, seems to have been known to them. as a matter of fact, they speak favourably of the use of tare before undertaking painful operations, so that the patient may be put to sleep until "loss of consciousness and feeling" supervenes. "they had, likewise, implicit confidence in hygiene in medical treatment, and placed great reliance on the resources of nature. expectant medecine, which, at the present time, seems the last word of modern science, reasons exactly in the same way." (dr. g. le bon, _la civilisation des arabes._) in the domain of ideas, the influence of the moslems had perhaps still more valuable consequences. jesus preached equality and fraternity, but mohammad was lucky enough to realise both among the believers during his lifetime. it would be absurd to maintain that his direct example served to guide the french revolution which was not inspired by much of his levelling works. nevertheless, the first attempts of this enfranchisement of ideas and the organisation of modern society on a new basis--and of this there is ample proof--resulted logically from his doctrines. honour is due to a mussulman philosopher, ibn rushd, or averroes, who lived in spain from to , for being the first to introduce freethought--not to be confused with atheism--into europe. averroes opposed the pure deism of islam to mythological pantheism and christian anthromorphism, and his 'commentaries of aristotle,' although vividly coloured with mussulman tints, impassioned all independent minds in medieval europe. averroism, born of this enthusiasm, may be justly considered not only the precursor of reform, but also the father of modern rationalism. the influence exercised by mussulman customs over those of europe was equally healthful. the arabs joined most chivalrous manners to extreme religious tolerance. "it was among the arabs of spain that the knightly spirit arose, and which was afterwards appropriated by the warriors of the north, as if it was a quality inherent in christian nations," declares the celebrated spanish writer blasco ibanez, in his novel: _dans l'ombre de la cathédrale_. (_in the shadow of the cathedral._) in this connection, we can again quote dr. le bon: "like christian chivalry, which came later, arab chivalry had a code of its own. no man was worthy to be a knight unless he possessed the following qualities: kindness, valour, amability, poetical talent, eloquence, bodily strength, skill in horsemanship, and cleverness in handling spear, sword and bow.... "in , the wali of cordova having laid siege to toledo, belonging to the christians, queen berengaria, shut up in the city, sent him a herald to bid him take notice that it was unworthy of a brave, gallant and generous knight to attack a woman. the arab general retired forthwith, asking as sole favour, to be allowed the honour of saluting the queen.... "the arab chronicles of spain are full of stories of the same kind, proving how wide-spread were these knight-errant-like qualities; and a very religious learned man, barthélemy st. hilaire, admits most loyally how greatly european customs are indebted to them. in his book on the qur'an, he says: "through having intercourse with the arabs and copying them, the boorish barons of the middle ages toned down their rough habits; and the knights, without lessening their bravery, became cognisant of more delicate, noble and humane sentiments. it is doubtful whether christianism alone, despite its benevolence, would have inspired them with these feelings." "the reader may perhaps ask why, under these conditions, the influence of the arabs is so unappreciated in our day by learned men who, by their intellect, seem far above all religious prejudice. that is because independence of opinion is more apparent than real, and we are not at all free to think as we like about certain subjects. the hereditary prejudices professed by us against islamism and its disciples have accumulated during too many centuries not to have become part and parcel of our organism.... "if we join thereto other prejudices also hereditary, and increased in each generation by our detestable classic education: that all sciences and literature of the past spring solely from greeks and romans, we can easily understand that the great influence of the arabs in the history of european civilisation is generally slighted. "in certain minds, it will always seem humiliating that it is owing to the moslems that christian europe shook off barbarism...." (dr. gustave le bon, _la civilisation des arabes_.) what caused islam to fall so rapidly, after having, during the eight centuries of its domination in spain, placed that country not only at the head of occidental civilisation, but also causing it to shine quite as brilliantly from delhi and bokhara, as far as constantinople and fez? the first cause may be found in the non-observance of the strictly levelling principles that the prophet had so much trouble to establish while he lived, and which were the motives of his successes and of those of the first caliphs. one example will serve to show how rigorously these principles were applied in the beginning: "a rich, powerful, and proud monarch, jabala, newly converted, struck violent blows in the face of a poor bedouin, who had accidentally pushed against him while he was performing his devotions round the ka'bah. without bringing into account the rank of the delinquent, or the danger of estranging such an important personage, the caliph umar thought that, for the honour of the future of islam, equality in the eyes of law and justice should override all other considerations, and he condemned king jabala to undergo, at the hands of the humble bedouin, the same chastisement as had been inflicted on him." with such strict principles, no one could possibly be proud of anything but his personal merit; and emulation gave birth to miracles for the greater good of islam. no men were chosen as chieftains except those who deserved that honour, and once elected, they were blindly obeyed because they were sincerely admired and respected. unfortunately, the complete observance of this master-thought of the prophet turned out to be ephemeral, and already under the rule of usman, the third caliph, aristocratic prejudices began to regain their evil influence. in vain mohammad had said to his beloved daughter, fatimah-tuz-zahra: 'work, and reckon not that it sufficeth for thee to be the prophet's daughter;' the sons of most unimportant people despised their mussulman brothers of more lowly origin, and thought that their social rank exempted them from making those efforts without which no progress can be realised. moreover, rivalry between folks more proud of their forbears than of their own works, gave rise again to fractricidal struggles, as ruthless as in the past; and with them, the disorganisation and general anarchy which had paralysed the arabs of pre-islamic times. having lost all taste for study; separated and exhausted by incessant civil wars, the moslems were only able to offer puny resistance to the christians, who dreamt of revenge and had profited by these dissensions to organise themselves. in the past as in the present, islam might have avoided the greater part of its misfortunes if it always remembered this last adjuration of the prophet in his sermon of the valedictory pilgrimage: 'never forget that each mussulman should be a true brother to every other mussulman!' the second cause of its decline arose from one of the primordial qualities of islam. the conformity of its dogma, almost entirely devoid of supernaturalism, to the exigencies of reason, was at first inestimably advantageous for science which remained free from the hindrances of superstition. this suffices to explain the rapid rise of its civilisation. but the moslem mind had gradually been lulled, being satisfied with the magnificent results attained by the enthusiasm reigning in the first centuries of the hegira. henceforth, it was at the mercy of animal passions and fetishism, in certain newly-conquered countries. the cult of saints and intercessors, "awliya," or "murabitun," borrowed from the christians and so strictly forbidden by the qur'an, took the place of the cult of science and, by its gross superstitions, barred all progress. philosophers like averroes, tried to struggle, but it was too late; the evil was too deeply rooted among the masses who called these enlightened men ungodly, and demanded that they should be put out of favour.... these two causes of decay are ancient, and contradict the real doctrine of the qur'an. on the other hand, there is one, dating from the nineteenth century only, and which seems to be in accordance, if not with the spirit, at least with the letter of the holy book. it is that which results from the prohibition of any interest whatsoever being received for money lent. "_they who swallow down usury, shall arise in the resurrection only as he ariseth whom satan hath infected by his touch. this, for that they say, 'selling is only the like of usury': and yet allah hath allowed selling, and forbidden usury._" (the qur'an, ii, .) the excellence of this principle is unquestionable, and, until the last century, the slight inconveniences which might have troubled the moslems in consequence of usury practised among them by jews and christians, were not to be compared with the advantages of this precept of the qur'an. but at the present time, when credit is indispensable to all great undertakings and when bankers have become the real masters of the world, islam, by adhering with exaggerated rigidity to the text of these verses, is momentarily reduced to financial and political ruin. [sidenote: the future of islam] such, we think, rapidly summarised, are the three leading causes of the decline of islam. is there no remedy for this state of decay? are the three hundred millions of moslems spread over the surface of the globe, to be condemned to remain eternally in the sad situation established for them beyond the pale of modern civilisation? we think not. for the two first causes, the remedy is simple: it consists in returning to the principles instituted by the prophet. the remedy for the third is to be found perhaps in a less strict interpretation of the letter, but certainly in accordance with the spirit of the sacred text. enlightened moslems are fully aware of this and henceforward, they will take care not to confuse banking operations with the sordid usury condemned by the prophet. the wounds inflicted on islam during the last century have at last awakened it from its lethargy. its very defeats have shown the necessity of adopting the scientific method of its conquerors. islam recalls to mind the words of the prophet: "go, seek for science everywhere, even in far china. the benefits of science are superior to the benefits of devotion. on the day of resurrection, the ink used by learned men and the blood poured out by martyrdom will be measured: neither shall be preferred." renovators, men of genius, such as the celebrated shaykh abduh, have pointed out the right road to islam, proving to moslems that the teaching of mohammad agrees with that of modern civilisation. thereupon, myriads of young men have gone through courses of european study and show wonderful facility, without losing any part of their native originality; and, very soon, innumerable moslems will take their places in the modern world without fear of any disparaging comparisons. does this mean that the empire of islam, following the example of japan, will regain its rank among great political powers? considering that the future of nations depends on the will of allah, it is always presumptuous to predict it. besides, political might is the most ephemeral of all; a few months are enough to overthrow the most formidable empires. such power proves nothing as regards the vitality of a religion, and is not absolutely necessary for the subject we treat. there are, indeed, conquests differing from those of armies. the imperialism of the israelites, which disappeared centuries ago, has never given the slightest sign of a return movement and yet few peoples possess at present the power of the jews. persecution was for them the great educator, and nowadays, in all the nations of europe and america, the jews, thanks to their activity and intelligence, occupy the front rank. why does not the same effect, due to the same cause--persecution--take place among the moslems, who, for the most part, are first, cousins to the israelites and who possess the advantage of numbers? objections are against the possibility of such a revival: fatalism, fanaticism, polygamy. let us examine them. can mussulman fatalism fit in with a real effort on the road to progress? if some criticisms are justified by the way in which fatalism is understood by certain followers of the murabitun, it has never possessed the importance ascribed to it. islam is not more fatalist than determinism, and it is still less than christianism which adheres strictly to the letter of the following precepts of the gospel: 'therefore i say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.' (st. matthew, vi, .) why then accuse fatalism of having paralysed all effects among the moslems, when the prophet was one of the most active, persevering and energetic men that the world has ever known; and when islam is the only religion which, no sooner founded, was followed immediately by such a marvellous épopée and such splendid civilisation? the word "islam" signifies "resignation to the decrees of allah," that is to say: to that which looks as if it could be mastered by energy and courage. "_say: o my people! act as ye best can._" (the qur'an, iv, .) far from being the cause of weakness, such resignation becomes the source of incomparable moral strength for the believer, fortifying him during the ordeals of adversity. in their intercourse with civilised beings belonging to other religions, will not moslems be stopped by the implacable and irreducible fanaticism of which they are accused? the main object is to see if this fanaticism is not one of the countless legends inimically invented during the middle ages. in order to permit the reader to form an opinion, here are some extracts chosen among thousands of the same kind. according to ibn abbas, ibn jari said: "a man of the banu salim ibn awf, named al-husayn, father of two sons who were christians, whilst he was a mussulman, asked the prophet: "ought i not force my children to embrace islamism? they will have no other religion than the christian religion!" allah (may he be glorified!) thereupon revealed for this man the following verse: "_let there be no compulsion in religion._" (the qur'an, ii, .) when the christian ambassadors of the hijr territory came to see the prophet at al-madinah, he offered them half of his mosque so that they might say their prayers therein. he rose to his feet one day, as a funeral procession went by, and when he was told that it was only a jew's burial, he replied: 'is it not a soul?' he also said: 'he who ill-treateth a jew or a christian will find me his accuser on the day of judgment. with ungodliness an empire may last; but never with injustice.' notwithstanding all legends, never, beyond the hijaz, which means the sacred territory and its vicinity, did moslems use force to obtain conversions. the spanish christians were never molested on account of their belief during the eight centuries of mussulman domination. many of them, indeed, occupied the highest posts at the court of the caliphs of cordova. on the other hand, these same christians, as soon as they became conquerors, immediately exterminated all moslems without exception. the jews, who had lived in peace under arab rule, were treated in the same way. in his _voyage religieux en orient_, the abbé michon pays homage to truth by this exclamation: 'it is a sad thing for christian nations that religious tolerance, the great law of charity between the peoples, should have been taught by mussulmans.' (quoted by comte de castries, in his book on islam.) what about the armenian massacres? will be alleged against us. our answer is that every time they have not been provoked by rebellions and conspiracies, they are condemned by all true moslems just in the same way as the massacre of all the moslems in spain is condemned nowadays by true christians. but the armenian massacres were never the outcome of religious causes, for never have the disciples of mohammad thought of imitating the followers of torquemada by forcing the armenians to choose between conversion and death at the stake. besides, moslems do not lean towards proselytism. strictly speaking, they have no missionaries, and if their religion, at the present day, is the one that causes the most conversions in africa and asia, it is, as a. burdo justly remarks: 'by a kind of moral endosmose.' (_les arabes dans l'afrique centrale._) a good example, free from any proselytizing attempts, produces in religious souls a much more powerful impression than the importunities of cathechists. despite his hostility to islam and his partiality, the "savant" dozy is obliged to acknowledge that in spain, formerly: 'it is a positive fact that many christians became converted to islam out of conviction.' the rule of conduct of a mussulman towards the followers of other religions is fixed by these words of the qur'an: "_to you your religions; and to me my religion._" (cix, .) how can a mussulman be intolerant, when he venerates alike the prophets honoured by jew and christian? for him, moses, who spoke with allah; and jesus, inspired by allah, deserve the same veneration as mohammad, the friend of allah. "_we make no distinction between any of his apostles._" (the qur'an, ii, .) never does any mussulman dare to utter the slightest insult towards jesus; never would he allow any to be uttered in his presence, even coming from the lips of people of christian origin who consider jesus to be responsible for sacerdotal errors. to insult jesus would be to insult the qur'an which orders him to be revered. we were privileged once to witness the uncommon sight of a mussulman condemned by a christian judge for having struck a jew who, in the presence of this disciple of mohammad, had made outrageous remarks on the birth of jesus. let us now compare the respectful attitude of the moslems as far as jesus is concerned, with the manner in which europeans behave when mohammad's name is mentioned. in the middle ages, monks and troubadours represented him to be either some monstrous idol, or an incorrigible drunkard, fallen on a dung-heap and devoured by hogs. hence, they pointed out, the repugnance of his disciples for swine-flesh. we should never be done if we tried to quote all that in former times sprung from the fertile imagination of mohammad's enemies. the first orientalists were no kinder. in the eighteenth century, gagnier, a most learned man, after blaming the abbé maracci and doctor prideaux for their impassioned insults, speaks in his turn of mohammad as 'the most villanous of all men; the most deadly of allah's enemies; the idiotic prophet,' etc., whilst claiming to speak in guarded terms! the companions of the prophet have likewise not been spared from the earliest times. so that the barbarity with which cardinal ximenes burnt the marvellous libraries of the moslems of spain should be forgotten, many calumniators invented the famous legend of the conflagration of the libraries of alexandria, by order of the caliph umar, thus fully showing the slanderers' great disdain for chronology. these collections of books had not been in existence for several centuries when islam was revealed to the world. the first library, that of bruchium, containing four hundred thousand volumes, was destroyed by fire during the war of cæsar against the alexandrians; and the second, that of serapeum, comprising two hundred thousand volumes, bequeathed by antony, was completely pillaged in the reign of theodosius. these ridiculous legends are dying out gradually at the present day; and yet we prefer their candid fanaticism to the malicious calumny with which certain writers, still impregnated with medieval passionate partiality, try from behind a screen of oriental science, to belittle one of the men who do the most honour, not only to history, but to the history of humanity. after having adopted the modern civilisation of christians, may not the moslems conclude by adopting their religion as well? to answer this question, we need only quote the opinion of an author who, although a fervent christian, acknowledges facts most loyally. in the course of a remarkable study of islam, he writes: "islam is the only religion which has no recreants--it is very difficult, if not impossible, to form an exact idea of the spiritual state of a moslem evangelized by a christian. we can only imagine something very near it, by trying to realise in our minds the feelings of an enlightened christian whom an idolater might be trying to convert to his gross, superstitious cult." (_l'islam_, by comte henry de castries.) islam, in spite of its irreducibleness, offers christians many proofs of its feelings of veneration towards jesus. therefore, whence comes the hatred with which the followers of christ pursue mohammad even in our present century of tolerance--not to say religious indifference? is it because of its asiatic origin? was not christianism essentially asiatic, before saint paul had stripped it of jewish trappings? jesus declared: 'i am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of israel.' (st. matthew, xv, .) is it because of its doctrine? the doctrine of islam is almost the same as that of certain protestant sects. is it because of the remembrance of the crusades? despite the years that are past, this remembrance has still disastrous influence over many ignorant minds, but if that was all, it would not suffice to explain away the ostracism shown in europe to islam. we must seek therefore some other cause, and we find it furnished by the example of the only religion really reviled and persecuted in the same way. there exists a protestant sect, the mormons. after prodigies of will-power, labour and intelligence, they have transformed one of the saddest regions, a mere salt desert, into a thriving country. europe and america ought to have applauded this work of civilisation, unanimously and enthusiastically. far from so doing, every sect of christianity forgot their own disagreements and united themselves against the mormons with the same feeling of reprobation. of what crime were they guilty? they practised polygamy like the moslems. such is the true explanation of the mystery: islam is warned that it will never be granted recognition unless it renounces polygamy. we shall not risk trying to defend a custom thus violently condemned, but content ourselves with making a few observations. as a matter of fact, polygamy is universal and will last out the world, despite all present or future legislation. this is denied by none. the only question is to know if it is preferable to let it be avowed and limited, or let it flourish hypocritically and boundlessly. all travellers, gérard de nerval and lady morgan to wit, have noted that among polygamous moslems, polygamy is generally less widespread than among so-called monogamous christians. what can be more natural? for catholics and protestants, does not polygamy possess the allurement of forbidden fruit? [illustration: _tombs of the khaliphs. under their rule, moslem civilisation enlightened the world._] by troubling about polygamy, shall we not be set down as old-fashioned? without taking other things into consideration, the needs of modern life render it impraticable in large cities. it will have died out before long, among civilised moslems. if the principle survives, it will only be applied in the desert depths where it is an imperious necessity. will morality improve by the disappearance of polygamy? that remains doubtful. prostitution, so rare in most mussulman lands, will extend its ravages. a plague, now totally unknown, will break out: that of the celibacy of women, which causes desolation in monogamous countries--where, above all, following great wars, it attains disastrous proportions. in a study on the future of the french colonies, charles dumas, writing about the moslems, states: 'no race can gain freedom when it condemns the half of itself (i.e. its women) to eternal bondage.' is it true that mussulman women are reduced to such a lamentable situation? it is certain that in the eyes of european women enjoying untrammelled freedom, the wearing of a veil and semi-claustration as well, to which the women of islam are subjected, must seem to be tokens of the most unbearable slavery. but if these ladies of europe heard the reflexions of these same mussulman women, objects of monogamists' wives' heartfelt commiseration, they would be surprised to learn that they, in their turn, are not envied, but charitably pitied. besides, the wearing of the veil and claustration are in no wise religious obligations. the verses of the qur'an (xxxiii, , ) by which these questions are supported, are solely aimed at the prophet's wives and not at those of all believers, as might be deduced from the inexact translation of verse , by kasimirski. these practices, put in force many years after mohammad's death, are therefore fiercely attacked by numerous champions of the feminine cause. among them, we note qasim bey amin, with his book: "tahriru'l-mirat" ("woman's emancipation"); and es zahawi, the poet of bagdad, who wrote a celebrated letter on the veil, and says: 'woman is the remedy of youth, the beauty of nature and the splendour of life. without women, man is a sterile syllogism--he does not conclude!' and then, relying on this verse: "_and it is for the women to act as the husbands act towards them with all fairness._" (the qur'an, ii, ), he claims complete female freedom. we will conclude by quoting the words of one of the fair sex, al-sitti malika who, with the consent of her father, hifni bey nasif, formerly professor at the university of al azhar, published a qasida, terminating with this verse: 'to unveil, if one is chaste, is no harm; and if one is not chaste, veils in excess offer no protection.' at the same times as european queens of fashion have tried to acclimatise the turkish veil in the west, perhaps at some future period, near or distant, the custom of wearing the veil may die out in the east. in that case, the flower of mussulman beauty will have been stripped of its graceful calyx. will not the woman of the east regret the mysterious charm she owed to her filmy mask? will she be compensated by the advantages accruing to her in consequence of budding forth in the strong light of civilisation? the example of the great misery reigning among her sisters of the west, struggling for life in opposition to men, may perhaps frighten the woman of the east when, with dazzled eyes, scarcely awakened from harem dreams, she plunges into the vortex of modern existence. the question is too delicate. we dare not come to a conclusion. after all, the interest and possibility of such reforms vary too completely, from one country to another, so that no general rule can be fixed. but if we hesitate about passing judgment on the reforms we have just set forth, we acknowledge unreservedly, to make amends, that the education of woman is an imperious necessity for the future of islam. education has nothing to do with the above-mentioned customs. it is in agreement with all the principles of the religion, and during the period of islamic splendour, was lavished on mussulman femininity whose culture was superior to that of european women in those days. in the east, education has never disappeared as completely as in some regions of the maghrib. during a certain number of years, many mussulman women passed their leisure harem hours in educating themselves, and their new intellectual birth began to be generalised. from education alone the evolution of manners and customs will proceed wherever it will be necessary in the sense and proportions creating the least amount of trouble in the bosom of families. [sidenote: conclusion] the knots relating to polygamy and the emancipation of woman (the only questions that give a shadow of right to inimical critics of islam) once cut, islam will appear to be what it really is: a religion essentially in conformity with the most modern needs and ideas, so much so that an englishman, oswald wirth, was able to write: 'i discovered, one fine day, that i was a mussulman, without knowing it, like monsieur jourdain with his prose.' in like fashion, goethe, after having studied the principles of the qur'an, declared: 'if that is islam, do we not all live in islam?' very soon, no one will venture to give credence to the childish legends perpetuated since the crusades, and islam will at last claim to take its place in the van of modern civilisation.... we were writing the concluding lines when suddenly the most formidable conflict ever know in history broke out in europe, and thousands of moslem soldiers, descendants of the warriors of poitiers, immediately invaded the whole of france. this time, they came not as conquerors, but as friends; as brothers-in-arms, summoned by the allies to take part in this gigantic struggle on which depends the fate of civilisation. their traditional heroism has been admired by all. the french soil is riddled by thousands of their graves, thereby they have implanted islam for ever in the heart of europe, in the most glorious way; and a strong contingent of the prophet's disciples is now in european territory. after such services rendered, it will be churlish to refuse them the freedom of the city, so to speak, that we have already claimed on their behalf. we go further and ask if it is admissible to think that their example, dealing the last blow at the imputations of the past, may give some europeans food for fresh reflexion? undeceived by the failure of integral rationalism, many anxious minds seek new paths. "the modern system of intuition, towards which they hurry, following bergson, its celebrated defender, represents decided reaction against rationalism, or to be more exact, against the powerlessness of rationalism.... "in the hearts of men hungering after faith, this eminent thinker has caused the aspirations they seem to have lost definitively to be born anew. he allows them to hope for the survival of the soul; he tells them that this world is not a great mass of machinery driven by blind forces and that intelligence is not the only formula of our senses.... "in affirming all this, the illustrious philosopher is perhaps confining himself to the task of reviving ancient illusions; but he has awakened them so that we may hear; and at a moment when they may serve to prepare the elements of a new religion, needed by many men." (_la vie des vérités_, by dr. gustave le bon.) such a movement is irresistible, especially after the sanguinary ordeals we have undergone. we are therefore about to witness the efforts of new and old religions, trying to monopolize these manifestations and turn them to account. rationalism, however, although defeated, has nevertheless been fruitful, and it will oppose an insuperable barrier to the dogmas that run counter to reason much too violently. on the other hand, must not mystic, pathetic and poetical aspirations be reckoned with? are they not the essential final causes of all religions? to sum up, are not the most needful conditions of a modern religion those of advanced protestantism: "unitarism," clothed in a glorious cloak of poetry? islam, freed from all the dross which it accumulated in its course, has precisely these conditions, and already small communities of european converts to islam have been founded in england and america. one of them, having mr. quilliam at his head, exists for several years past at liverpool, and is remarkable for the fact that the majority of its proselytes belong to the weaker sex. the conversion of lord headley, an english peer, followed by that of other well-known leading londoners, created a great sensation. the mussulman commonwealth, founded by this eminent man, publishes a monthly magazine, "the islamic review," from which we take the following significant passage: "why have englishmen and other europeans become mussulmans? in the first place, because they sought for some simple, logical, essentially practical creed; (for we english flatter ourselves that we are the most practical people under the sun) a creed fitting in with the conditions, customs, and occupations of every people; a divine, true creed, where the creator and man are face to face, without any intermediary." (sheldrake.) that is what practical minds have found in islam which, having no sacrements or worship of saints, needs no priest and could, at a pinch, do without a temple. as allah's presence fills the universe, is not the whole of the earth one immense mosque? moreover, several modern desists, generally finding it difficult to express the aspiration of their souls, will find in the pure deism of true islam, the most admirable ritual movements and words of prayer that an artistic mind could dream of. in short, for more than one, 'islam realises the maximum of altruism with a minimum of metaphysics.' (christian cherfils.) other isolated conversions have taken place in france and in different countries of europe, africa and asia. perhaps, in this way, we may witness the realisation of this "hadis" of the prophet: 'assuredly allah will make this religion (islam) all-powerful by means of men who were strangers thereto!' of the principal characteristic of islam is that it is wonderfully fitted to all races of creation. among his first disciples, mohammad counted not only arabs of the most different tribes, but also persians, such as salman al-farsi; christians, such as waraqa; abyssinians, such as bilal; jews, such as mukhayriq, abdullah ibn sallam, etc. as it is said in the qur'an: "_we have not sent thee otherwise than to mankind at large._" (xxxiv, .) even during mohammad's life, and in the very beginning, his doctrine asserted its stamp of universality. if suitable to all races, it is equally suitable to all intellects and to all degrees of civilisation. of supreme simplicity, as in mu'tazilitcism; desperately esoteric, as in sufiism, bringing guidance and consolation to the european "savant"--leaving thought absolutely free and untrammelled--as well as to the negro of the soudan, thereby delivered from the superstition of his fetishism. it exalts the soul of a practical english merchant, for whom 'time is money,' quite as much as that of a mystical philosopher; of a contemplative oriental; or of a man of the west loving art and poetry. it will even allure a modern medical man, by the logic of its repeated ablutions and the rhythm of its bowing and prostration, just as salutary for physical well-being as for the health of the soul itself. it is therefore not too foolhardy to think that when the fearful storm has passed and the respect due to all nationalities, as well as to all religions, shall have been enforced, islam will be able to look upon a future brimming with real hope. thanks to the great share it has taken in the events causing the upheaval of european civilisation, it has entered therein and will appear at last in its true light. the different nations will vie with each other in seeking to be allied to it, for they will have put its value to the test and have recognised the inexhaustible resources it possesses. the disciples of the prophet, awakened from their momentary lethargy, will take their brilliant place in the world. --"insha'llah!"--if allah be willing! [illustration: (calligraphy) _allah will perhaps establish goodwill between yourselves and those of them with whom ye are at enmity, and allah is powerful: and allah is gracious, merciful._] _this book was finished at bou-sâada, on the twenty-seventh day of the month of ramadhan; in the year of the hegira--the th of july, a.d. ._ _o allah! be indulgent towards its authors; excuse the extravagant audacity that urged them on in their hope of doing good, to affront such a vast subject, despite the scantiness of their knowledge._ _o thou, the omniscient! pardon them the errors which, through ignorance, they may have committed in such a sublime history as that of thy messenger, our lord mohammad, the seal of the prophets._ _may allah pour out for him his blessings and his favours!_ _likewise on his relatives,_ _and on his companions!_ _amin._ Étienne dinet. sliman ben ibrahim. [illustration: _a traditional old scribe of the desert._ calligraphy: _one's pen should be ennobled; that is, by treating of worthy matters._] the book was finished in the year of the hegira [illustration: map of the hijaz and the road to syria] bibliography fearing to enlarge this work too much, we prefer to publish the notes, which we deem necessary for its justification, under the title: "l'orient vu de l'occident," (the east seen from the west), forming a pamphlet to be issued later on. nevertheless, we give as follows a list of those works which we have specially consulted. works in arabic "al-qur'an wa huwa'l-huda wa'l-furqan."--"tafsir anwaru't tanzil wa asraru't tawil," by al-baydawi, (commonly referred to as "the commentary of al-baydawi.")--"tafsiru'l qur'ani'l karim," by the shaykh mohammad abduh. ("the commentary of the shaykh mohammad abduh.")--"siratu'n-rasul," by ibn hisham. (ibn hisham's "life of the prophet.")--"kitabu't tabaqat," by ibn sad. (the "tabaqat" of ibn sad.)--"insanu'l-'uyun fi sirati'l-amiri'l-mamun," by ali ibn burhanu'd-dini'l-halabi.--"nuru'l yaqin fi sirati sayyidi'l-marsulin," by mohammad al-khudri.--"kitabu's-sahih," by al-bukhari. (the "sahih" of al-bukhari.)--"rihlat," by abi'l husayn ibn jubayr. (the "travels of ibn jubayr.")--"ar-rihlatu'l hijaziyya," by mohammad al-batanuni.--"al-bourdate," by the shaykh al-busiri. (the "burda," or "mantle poem of al-busiri.")--"ummu'l qura," by al-kawakibi. islamic works, in english "the spirit of islam", by ameer ali syied.--"islamic review," edited by khwaja kamal-ud-din, b.a., l.l.b. works in french, or translated into french le coran, traduction de savary.--le coran, traduction de kasimirski.--le coran, analysé par j. la baume.--le coran, sa poésie, ses lois, par stanley lane pole.--l'esprit libéral du coran, par benâttar, el hadi sebâï et abdelâziz ettsalbi.--encyclopédie de l'islam, dirigée par le professeur houtsma.--les traditions islamiques d'el bokhari, traduction de houdas.--l'islam, par le comte henry de castries.--l'islamisme, par houdas.--"oumm el quora", (la mère des cités) de el kaouakibi, compte-rendu littéral, d'après la version d'omar bouderba, par christian cherfils (en préparation).--l'islamisme au point de vue social, textes d'auguste comte, publiés par christian cherfils.--bonaparte et l'islam, par christian cherfils.--vie de mahomet, par j. gagnier.--essai sur l'histoire des arabes, par caussin de perceval.--histoire des arabes, de sédillot.--histoire des arabes, de huart.--"la civilisation des arabes", par le dr. gustave le bon.--essai sur l'histoire de l'islamisme, par dozy.--histoire des musulmans d'espagne, par dozy.--le présent de l'homme lettre, pour réfuter les partisans de la croix, par abd allah le drogman.--de l'état présent et de l'avenir de l'islam, par e. montet.--les héros (mahomet, le héros comme prophète), par carlyle.--averrhoës et l'averrhoïsme, par e. renan.--les musulmans français de l'afrique du nord, par ismaïl hamet.--les vieux arabes, par p. radiot.--voyage en arabie, par hubert.--mon voyage à la mecque, par g. courtellement.--"mohammed et la fin du monde", par p. casanova.--l'enseignement de l'arabe au collège de france, par p. casanova.--revue du monde musulman, dirigée par a. le chatelier.--"l'orient vu de l'occident", par e. dinet et sliman ben ibrahim. translation of the arabic calligraphy title: _there is no god but allah, and mohammad is the prophet of allah._ chapter the first. opening: _in the name of allah, the compassionate, the merciful._ closing: _then when ye have ended the prayer, make mention of allah, standing, and sitting, and reclining._ (the qur'an, iv, .) chapter the second. opening: _have we not opened thy breast for thee? * and taken off from thee thy burden?_ (the qur'an, xciv, - .) closing: _and provide for your journey; but the best provision is the fear of allah._ (the qur'an, ii, .) chapter the third. opening: _verily, we have caused it (the qur'an) to descend on the night of power._ (the qur'an, xcvii, .) closing: _o thou enwrapped in thy mantle! * arise and warn! * and thy lord--magnify him!_ (the qur'an, lxxiv, - .) chapter the fourth. opening: _ye shall assuredly be tried in your possessions and in yourselves._ (the qur'an, iii, .) closing: _and before them have we set a barrier and behind them a barrier, and we have shrouded them in a veil, so that they shall not see._ (the qur'an, xxxvi, .) chapter the fifth. opening: _and fight for the cause of allah against those who fight against you._ (the qur'an, ii, .) closing: _believers! when ye confront a troop, stand firm and make frequent mention of the name of allah; haply it shall fare well with you._ (the qur'an, viii, .) chapter the sixth. opening: _and be not faint-hearted, and be not sorrowful; for ye shall gain the upper hand if ye be believers._ (the qur'an, iii, .) closing: _nay rather allah is your liege lord, and he is the best of helpers._ (the qur'an, iii, .) chapter the seventh. opening: _verily, we have won for thee an undoubted victory._ (the qur'an, xlviii, .) closing: _now hath allah helped you in many battle-fields, and, on the day of hunain, when ye prided yourselves on your numbers; but it availed you nothing._ (the qur'an, ix, .) chapter the eighth. opening: _accomplish the pilgrimage and the visitation of the holy places in honour of allah._ (the qur'an, ii, .) closing: _say: go through the earth, and see how he hath brought forth created beings._ (the qur'an, xxix, .) chapter the ninth. opening: _thou truly art mortal, o mohammad, and they truly are mortals._ (the qur'an, xxxix, .) closing: _mohammad is no more than an apostle; other apostles have already passed away before him; if then he die, or be slain, will ye turn upon your heels?_ (the qur'an, iii, .) portrait of the prophet. opening: _o my supreme master, lavish thy blessings and thy favours for ever and ever on thy friend (mohammad), the best of all created beings._ (al-bourdate. poem by the shaykh al-busiri, in honour of the prophet.) closing: _there is no god but allah, and mohammad is the prophet of allah._ chapter the tenth. opening: _say: o my people! act as ye best can: i verily will act my part, and hereafter shall ye know!_ (the qur'an, vi, .) closing: _allah will perhaps establish goodwill between yourselves and those of them with whom ye are at enmity, and allah is powerful: and allah is gracious, merciful._ (the qur'an, lx, .) final engraving: _one's pen should be ennobled; that is, by treating of worthy matters._ cover: _upon him, mohammad, salvation._ seal: mohammad's seal. [transcriber's note: seal not found.] list of illustrations frontispiece.--ornamental page chapter the first.--ornamental page praying round the sacred temple of the ka'bah of makkah chapter the second.--ornamental page the night of the "maulid," the prophet's birthday. moslems leaving a village mosque. scenes of the badya, or nomadic life. --watching over camels grazing --the flocks chapter the third.--ornamental page "at takbir," or the glorification scenes of the badya, or nomadic life. --the encampment moslem woman praying on the terrace-roof of her dwelling chapter the fourth.--ornamental page "ar ruku," or the inclination the friday visit of moslems to the cemetery scenes of the badya, or nomadic life. --the departure chapter the fifth.--ornamental page interior of a mosque. "al mihrab," the niche marking the direction of makkah the mu'azzin's call believers perceiving the new moon of the month of ramadhan chapter the sixth.--ornamental page "as sidjah," or prostration setting out for the "jihad," or holy war "al fitr," the prayer on the breaking of the ramadhan fast chapter the seventh.--ornamental page an arab horseman of the desert "among all trees, one is blessed like the mussulman; 'tis the palm," said the prophet bird's-eye view of makkah, the most sacred city, as seen from the jabal abi-qubais chapter the eighth.--ornamental page "ad dawah," or the invocation the pilgrims of mount arafa, on the ninth day of the month of zu'l hijjah chapter the ninth.--ornamental page al-madinah, the city of the prophet. the dome of mohammad's tomb portrait of the prophet.--imam leading the prayer chapter the tenth.--ornamental page a writing lesson at a village school devoted to the teaching of the qur'an theological students in the courtyard of al-azhar, the great cairo moslem university tombs of the kaliphs. under their rule, moslem civilisation enlightened the world a traditional old scribe of the desert final ornamental page index preface chapter the first.--the moslem prayer.--description of makkah. --the temple of the ka'bah and the black stone.--the marriage of abdullah, father of the prophet. chapter the second.--the birth of mohammad.--mohammad's childhood with the banu sad tribe in their badya-land.--mohammad and the two angels.--aminah's death.--mohammad's first journey to syria.--how mohammad met the monk bahira.--the second syrian voyage.--the marriage of mohammad and khadijah.--how the temple of the ka'bah was rebuilt. chapter the third.--desert retirement.--the revelation.--the first moslems.--the announcement of the hour.--the first hostilities.--the incident of the blind man.--how hamzah was converted.--utbah's proposals.--the miracle of the qur'an.--how it was forbidden to listen to the qur'an. chapter the fourth.--persecution.--the emigration to abyssinia.--the conversion of umar, son of al khattab.--the exile of the banu hasham.--the decree of expulsion destroyed by a worm.--the death of abu talib and khadijah.--the journey to taif.--the nocturnal journey and ascension.--how six inhabitants of yasrib were converted.--the two oaths of the aqabah.--the plot against the prophet. chapter the fifth.--the hegira, or the migration of the prophet to al-madinah.--suraqa's mishap.--the prophet's arrival at quba. --the era of the hegira.--arrival of the prophet at yasrib. --how the mosque of al-madinah was built.--the qiblah of makkah. --institution of the azan, or call of the mu'azzin.--the fast of ramadhan.--property bestowed in alms, and the prohibition of fermented liquors.--ayishah in the house of the prophet. --hostility of the jews and the munafiqun.--al-jihad (the holy war), and how it was instituted.--the gazwah of badr.--the sojourn at badr and the return to al-madinah. chapter the sixth.--ali's marriage.--the prophet's marriage with hafsah and ummu'l masakin.--the battle of uhud.--the marriage of mohammad and zainab.--the ghazwah, or expedition of zat-ir-riqua.--the ghazwah, or expedition of the banu mustaliq.--the tayammum, or the ceremony of ablution performed with sand.--the battle of the ditch.--the treaty of al-hudaibiyah. chapter the seventh.--expedition against the qaynuqa jews. --expedition against the jews of the banu nadir.--expedition against the jews of the banu quraizah.--expedition against the jews of khaibar.--importance of horse-breeding according to the prophet.--the poisoned lamb.--amratu'l-qada, or the pious visitation.--the prophet sends ambassadors to the principal monarchs of the world.--the expedition of mutah.--the taking of makkah.--entry of the prophet into makkah.--the prophet at safa.--ghazwah, or expedition of hunain. chapter the eighth.--ayishah slandered.--the birth and death of ibrahim.--ghazwah, or expedition of tabuk.--the thamud country. --arrival and sojourn of the prophet at tabuk. the prophet goes back to al-madinah.--the valedictory pilgrimage. chapter the ninth.--- illness and death of the prophet.--abu-bakr elected.--the prophet's burial. the prophets portrait. chapter the tenth.--the march of islam.--influence of moslem civilisation in europe during the middle ages and the renaissance. --the future of islam.--conclusion. map of the hijaz and the road to syria. bibliography. index of the arabic calligraphy. list of illustrations. this book was issued from the press on the thirtieth of august for the paris book club * * * * * transcriber's notes: the original text does not include in-line translations of the calligraphy that opens and closes each chapter. here, translations have been added to calligraphy as captions and also appear in the original translation of arabic calligraphy index. 'opening:' and 'closing:' tags have been added to that list. there appear to be some discrepancies in the year of the hegira, particularly in the sidenotes. year of the hegira= , year i= , year ii= , etc. inconsistencies in spelling of arabic names: variations in use of vowels, word endings, transliteration and internal punctuation have been left as printed. examples: husain v. husayn, habiba v. habibah, al bagi v. al baqi, muazzin v. mu'azzin. variations that could be validated as typographical errors have been corrected. examples: zeinah to zeinab, zamzan to zamzam, al-rahmah to al-rahman. obvious typographical errors in english and french have been repaired. from the caves and jungles of hindostan by helena petrovna blavatsky translated from the russian translator's preface "you must remember," said mme. blavatsky, "that i never meant this for a scientific work. my letters to the russian messenger, under the general title: 'from the caves and jungles of hindostan,' were written in leisure moments, more for amusement than with any serious design. "broadly speaking, the facts and incidents are true; but i have freely availed myself of an author's privilege to group, colour, and dramatize them, whenever this seemed necessary to the full artistic effect; though, as i say, much of the book is exactly true, l would rather claim kindly judgment for it, as a romance of travel, than incur the critical risks that haunt an avowedly serious work." to this caution of the author's, the translator must add another; these letters, as mme blavatsky says, were written in leisure moments, during and , for the pages of the russki vyestnik, then edited by m. katkoff. mme. blavatsky's manuscript was often incorrect; often obscure. the russian compositors, though they did their best to render faithfully the indian names and places, often produced, through their ignorance of oriental tongues, forms which are strange, and sometimes unrecognizable. the proof-sheets were never corrected by the author, who was then in india; and, in consequence, it has been impossible to restore all the local and personal names to their proper form. a similar difficulty has arisen with reference to quotations and cited authorities, all of which have gone through a double process of refraction: first into russian, then into english. the translator, also a russian, and far from perfectly acquainted with english, cannot claim to possess the erudition necessary to verify and restore the many quotations to verbal accuracy; all that is hoped is that, by a careful rendering, the correct sense has been preserved. the translator begs the indulgence of english readers for all imperfections of style and language; in the words of the sanskrit proverb: "who is to be blamed, if success be not reached after due effort?" the translator's best thanks are due to mr. john c. staples, for valuable help in the early chapters.--london, july, contents in bombay on the way to karli in the karli caves vanished glories a city of the dead brahmanic hospitalities a witch's den god's warrior the banns of marriage the caves of bagh an isle of mystery jubblepore from the caves and jungles of hindostan in bombay late in the evening of the sixteenth of february, , after a rough voyage which lasted thirty-two days, joyful exclamations were heard everywhere on deck. "have you seen the lighthouse?" "there it is at last, the bombay lighthouse." cards, books, music, everything was forgotten. everyone rushed on deck. the moon had not risen as yet, and, in spite of the starry tropical sky, it was quite dark. the stars were so bright that, at first, it seemed hardly possible to distinguish, far away amongst them, a small fiery point lit by earthly hands. the stars winked at us like so many huge eyes in the black sky, on one side of which shone the southern cross. at last we distinguished the lighthouse on the distant horizon. it was nothing but a tiny fiery point diving in the phosphorescent waves. the tired travellers greeted it warmly. the rejoicing was general. what a glorious daybreak followed this dark night! the sea no longer tossed our ship. under the skilled guidance of the pilot, who had just arrived, and whose bronze form was so sharply defined against the pale sky, our steamer, breathing heavily with its broken machinery, slipped over the quiet, transparent waters of the indian ocean straight to the harbour. we were only four miles from bombay, and, to us, who had trembled with cold only a few weeks ago in the bay of biscay, which has been so glorified by many poets and so heartily cursed by all sailors, our surroundings simply seemed a magical dream. after the tropical nights of the red sea and the scorching hot days that had tortured us since aden, we, people of the distant north, now experienced something strange and unwonted, as if the very fresh soft air had cast its spell over us. there was not a cloud in the sky, thickly strewn with dying stars. even the moonlight, which till then had covered the sky with its silvery garb, was gradually vanishing; and the brighter grew the rosiness of dawn over the small island that lay before us in the east, the paler in the west grew the scattered rays of the moon that sprinkled with bright flakes of light the dark wake our ship left behind her, as if the glory of the west was bidding good-bye to us, while the light of the east welcomed the newcomers from far-off lands. brighter and bluer grew the sky, swiftly absorbing the remaining pale stars one after the other, and we felt something touching in the sweet dignity with which the queen of night resigned her rights to the powerful usurper. at last, descending lower and lower, she disappeared completely. and suddenly, almost without interval between darkness and light, the red-hot globe, emerging on the opposite side from under the cape, leant his golden chin on the lower rocks of the island and seemed to stop for a while, as if examining us. then, with one powerful effort, the torch of day rose high over the sea and gloriously proceeded on its path, including in one mighty fiery embrace the blue waters of the bay, the shore and the islands with their rocks and cocoanut forests. his golden rays fell upon a crowd of parsees, his rightful worshippers, who stood on shore raising their arms towards the mighty "eye of ormuzd." the sight was so impressive that everyone on deck became silent for a moment, even a red-nosed old sailor, who was busy quite close to us over the cable, stopped working, and, clearing his throat, nodded at the sun. moving slowly and cautiously along the charming but treacherous bay, we had plenty of time to admire the picture around us. on the right was a group of islands with gharipuri or elephanta, with its ancient temple, at their head. gharipuri translated means "the town of caves" according to the orientalists, and "the town of purification" according to the native sanskrit scholars. this temple, cut out by an unknown hand in the very heart of a rock resembling porphyry, is a true apple of discord amongst the archaeologists, of whom none can as yet fix, even approximately, its antiquity. elephanta raises high its rocky brow, all overgrown with secular cactus, and right under it, at the foot of the rock, are hollowed out the chief temple and the two lateral ones. like the serpent of our russian fairy tales, it seems to be opening its fierce black mouth to swallow the daring mortal who comes to take possession of the secret mystery of titan. its two remaining teeth, dark with time, are formed by two huge pillars t the entrance, sustaining the palate of the monster. how many generations of hindus, how many races, have knelt in the dust before the trimurti, your threefold deity, o elephanta? how many centuries were spent by weak man in digging out in your stone bosom this town of temples and carving your gigantic idols? who can say? many years have elapsed since i saw you last, ancient, mysterious temple, and still the same restless thoughts, the same recurrent questions vex me snow as they did then, and still remain unanswered. in a few days we shall see each other again. once more i shall gaze upon your stern image, upon your three huge granite faces, and shall feel as hopeless as ever of piercing the mystery of your being. this secret fell into safe hands three centuries before ours. it is not in vain that the old portuguese historian don diego de cuta boasts that "the big square stone fastened over the arch of the pagoda with a distinct inscription, having been torn out and sent as a present to the king dom juan iii, disappeared mysteriously in the course of time....," and adds, further, "close to this big pagoda there stood another, and farther on even a third one, the most wonderful of all in beauty, incredible size, and richness of material. all those pagodas and caves have been built by the kings of kanada, (?) the most important of whom was bonazur, and these buildings of satan our (portuguese) soldiers attacked with such vehemence that in a few years one stone was not left upon another...." and, worst of all, they left no inscriptions that might have given a clue to so much. thanks to the fanaticism of portuguese soldiers, the chronology of the indian cave temples must remain for ever an enigma to the archaeological world, beginning with the brah-mans, who say elephanta is , years old, and ending with fergusson, who tries to prove that it was carved only in the twelfth century of our era. whenever one turns one's eyes to history, there is nothing to be found but hypotheses and darkness. and yet gharipuri is mentioned in the epic mahabharata, which was written, according to colebrooke and wilson, a good while before the reign of cyrus. in another ancient legend it is said that the temple of trimurti was built on elephanta by the sons of pandu, who took part in the war between the dynasties of the sun and the moon, and, belonging to the latter, were expelled at the end of the war. the rajputs, who are the descendants of the first, still sing of this victory; but even in their popular songs there is nothing positive. centuries have passed and will pass, and the ancient secret will die in the rocky bosom of the cave still unrecorded. on the left side of the bay, exactly opposite elephanta, and as if in contrast with all its antiquity and greatness, spreads the malabar hill, the residence of the modern europeans and rich natives. their brightly painted bungalows are bathed in the greenery of banyan, indian fig, and various other trees, and the tall and straight trunks of cocoanut palms cover with the fringe of their leaves the whole ridge of the hilly headland. there, on the south-western end of the rock, you see the almost transparent, lace-like government house surrounded on three sides by the ocean. this is the coolest and the most comfortable part of bombay, fanned by three different sea breezes. the island of bombay, designated by the natives "mambai," received its name from the goddess mamba, in mahrati mahima, or amba, mama, and amma, according to the dialect, a word meaning, literally, the great mother. hardly one hundred years ago, on the site of the modern esplanade, there stood a temple consecrated to mamba-devi. with great difficulty and expense they carried it nearer to the shore, close to the fort, and erected it in front of baleshwara the "lord of the innocent"--one of the names of the god shiva. bombay is part of a considerable group of islands, the most remarkable of which are salsetta, joined to bombay by a mole, elephanta, so named by the portuguese because of a huge rock cut in the shape of an elephant thirty-five feet long, and trombay, whose lovely rock rises nine hundred feet above the surface of the sea. bombay looks, on the maps, like an enormous crayfish, and is at the head of the rest of the islands. spreading far out into the sea its two claws, bombay island stands like a sleepless guardian watching over his younger brothers. between it and the continent there is a narrow arm of a river, which gets gradually broader and then again narrower, deeply indenting the sides of both shores, and so forming a haven that has no equal in the world. it was not without reason that the portuguese, expelled in the course of time by the english, used to call it "buona bahia." in a fit of tourist exaltation some travellers have compared it to the bay of naples; but, as a matter of fact, the one is as much like the other as a lazzaroni is like a kuli. the whole resemblance between the former consists in the fact that there is water in both. in bombay, as well as in its harbour, everything is original and does not in the least remind one of southern europe. look at those coasting vessels and native boats; both are built in the likeness of the sea bird "sat," a kind of kingfisher. when in motion these boats are the personi-fication of grace, with their long prows and rounded poops. they look as if they were gliding backwards, and one might mistake for wings the strangely shaped, long lateen sails, their narrow angles fastened upwards to a yard. filling these two wings with the wind, and careening, so as almost to touch the surface of the water, these boats will fly along with astonishing swiftness. unlike our european boats, they do not cut the waves, but glide over them like a sea-gull. the surroundings of the bay transported us to some fairy land of the arabian nights. the ridge of the western ghats, cut through here and there by some separate hills almost as high as themselves, stretched all along the eastern shore. from the base to their fantastic, rocky tops, they are all overgrown with impenetrable forests and jungles inhabited by wild animals. every rock has been enriched by the popular imagination with an independent legend. all over the slope of the mountain are scattered the pagodas, mosques, and temples of numberless sects. here and there the hot rays of the sun strike upon an old fortress, once dreadful and inaccessible, now half ruined and covered with prickly cactus. at every step some memorial of sanctity. here a deep vihara, a cave cell of a buddhist bhikshu saint, there a rock protected by the symbol of shiva, further on a jaina temple, or a holy tank, all covered with sedge and filled with water, once blessed by a brahman and able to purify every sin, all indispensable attribute of all pagodas. all the surroundings are covered with symbols of gods and goddesses. each of the three hundred and thirty millions of deities of the hindu pantheon has its representative in something consecrated to it, a stone, a flower, a tree, or a bird. on the west side of the malabar hill peeps through the trees valakeshvara, the temple of the "lord of sand." a long stream of hindus moves towards this celebrated temple; men and women, shining with rings on their fingers and toes, with bracelets from their wrists up to their elbows, clad in bright turbans and snow white muslins, with foreheads freshly painted with red, yellow, and white, holy sectarian signs. the legend says that rama spent here a night on his way from ayodhya (oudh) to lanka (ceylon) to fetch his wife sita who had been stolen by the wicked king ravana. rama's brother lakshman, whose duty it was to send him daily a new lingam from benares, was late in doing so one evening. losing patience, rama erected for himself a lingam of sand. when, at last, the symbol arrived from benares, it was put in a temple, and the lingam erected by rama was left on the shore. there it stayed during long centuries, but, at the arrival of the portuguese, the "lord of sand" felt so disgusted with the feringhi (foreigners) that he jumped into the sea never to return. a little farther on there is a charming tank, called vanattirtha, or the "point of the arrow." here rama, the much worshipped hero of the hindus, felt thirsty and, not finding any water, shot an arrow and immediately there was created a pond. its crystal waters were surrounded by a high wall, steps were built leading down to it, and a circle of white marble dwellings was filled with dwija (twice born) brahmans. india is the land of legends and of mysterious nooks and corners. there is not a ruin, not a monument, not a thicket, that has no story attached to it. yet, however they may be entangled in the cobweb of popular imagination, which becomes thicker with every generation, it is difficult to point out a single one that is not founded on fact. with patience and, still more, with the help of the learned brahmans you can always get at the truth, when once you have secured their trust and friendship. the same road leads to the temple of the parsee fire-worshippers. at its altar burns an unquenchable fire, which daily consumes hundredweights of sandal wood and aromatic herbs. lit three hundred years ago, the sacred fire has never been extinguished, notwithstanding many disorders, sectarian discords, and even wars. the parsees are very proud of this temple of zaratushta, as they call zoroaster. compared with it the hindu pagodas look like brightly painted easter eggs. generally they are consecrated to hanuman, the monkey-god and the faithful ally of rama, or to the elephant headed ganesha, the god of the occult wisdom, or to one of the devis. you meet with these temples in every street. before each there is a row of pipals (ficus religiosa) centuries old, which no temple can dispense with, because these trees are the abode of the elementals and the sinful souls. all this is entangled, mixed, and scattered, appearing to one's eyes like a picture in a dream. thirty centuries have left their traces here. the innate laziness and the strong conservative tendencies of the hindus, even before the european invasion, preserved all kinds of monuments from the ruinous vengeance of the fanatics, whether those memorials were buddhist, or belonged to some other unpopular sect. the hindus are not naturally given to senseless vandalism, and a phrenologist would vainly look for a bump of destructiveness on their skulls. if you meet with antiquities that, having been spared by time, are, nowadays, either destroyed or disfigured, it is not they who are to blame, but either mussulmans, or the portuguese under the guidance of the jesuits. at last we were anchored and, in a moment, were besieged, ourselves as well as our luggage, by numbers of naked skeleton-like hindus, parsees, moguls, and various other tribes. all this crowd emerged, as if from the bottom of the sea, and began to shout, to chatter, and to yell, as only the tribes of asia can. to get rid of this babel confusion of tongues as soon as possible, we took refuge in the first bunder boat and made for the shore. once settled in the bungalow awaiting us, the first thing we were struck with in bombay was the millions of crows and vultures. the first are, so to speak, the county council of the town, whose duty it is to clean the streets, and to kill one of them is not only forbidden by the police, but would be very dangerous. by killing one you would rouse the vengeance of every hindu, who is always ready to offer his own life in exchange for a crow's. the souls of the sinful forefathers transmigrate into crows and to kill one is to interfere with the law of karma and to expose the poor ancestor to something still worse. such is the firm belief, not only of hindus, but of parsees, even the most enlightened amongst them. the strange behaviour of the indian crows explains, to a certain extent, this superstition. the vultures are, in a way, the grave-diggers of the parsees and are under the personal protection of the farvardania, the angel of death, who soars over the tower of silence, watching the occupations of the feathered workmen. the deafening caw of the crows strikes every new comer as uncanny, but, after a while, is explained very simply. every tree of the numerous cocoa-nut forests round bombay is provided with a hollow pumpkin. the sap of the tree drops into it and, after fermenting, becomes a most intoxicating beverage, known in bombay under the name of toddy. the naked toddy wallahs, generally half-caste portuguese, modestly adorned with a single coral necklace, fetch this beverage twice a day, climbing the hundred and fifty feet high trunks like squirrels. the crows mostly build their nests on the tops of the cocoa-nut palms and drink incessantly out of the open pumpkins. the result of this is the chronic intoxication of the birds. as soon as we went out in the garden of our new habitation, flocks of crows came down heavily from every tree. the noise they make whilst jumping about everywhere is indescribable. there seemed to be something positively human in the positions of the slyly bent heads of the drunken birds, and a fiendish light shone in their eyes while they were examining us from foot to head. we occupied three small bungalows, lost, like nests, in the garden, their roofs literally smothered in roses blossoming on bushes twenty feet high, and their windows covered only with muslin, instead of the usual panes of glass. the bungalows were situated in the native part of the town, so that we were transported, all at once, into the real india. we were living in india, unlike english people, who are only surrounded by india at a certain distance. we were enabled to study her character and customs, her religion, superstitions and rites, to learn her legends, in fact, to live among hindus. everything in india, this land of the elephant and the poisonous cobra, of the tiger and the unsuccessful english missionary, is original and strange. everything seems unusual, unexpected, and striking, even to one who has travelled in turkey, egypt, damascus, and palestine. in these tropical regions the conditions of nature are so various that all the forms of the animal and vegetable kingdoms must radically differ from what we are used to in europe. look, for instance, at those women on their way to a well through a garden, which is private and at the same time open to anyone, because somebody's cows are grazing in it. to whom does it not happen to meet with women, to see cows, and admire a garden? doubtless these are among the commonest of all things. but a single attentive glance will suffice to show you the difference that exists between the same objects in europe and in india. nowhere more than in india does a human being feel his weakness and insignificance. the majesty of the tropical growth is such that our highest trees would look dwarfed compared with banyans and especially with palms. a european cow, mistaking, at first sight, her indian sister for a calf, would deny the existence of any kinship between them, as neither the mouse-coloured wool, nor the straight goat-like horns, nor the humped back of the latter would permit her to make such an error. as to the women, each of them would make any artist feel enthusiastic about the gracefulness of her movements and drapery, but still, no pink and white, stout anna ivanovna would condescend to greet her. "such a shame, god forgive me, the woman is entirely naked!" this opinion of the modern russian woman is nothing but the echo of what was said in by a distinguished russian traveler, "the sinful slave of god, athanasius son of nikita from tver," as he styles himself. he describes india as follows: "this is the land of india. its people are naked, never cover their heads, and wear their hair braided. women have babies every year. men and women are black. their prince wears a veil round his head and wraps another veil round his legs. the noblemen wear a veil on one shoulder, and the noblewomen on the shoulders and round the loins, but everyone is barefooted. the women walk about with their hair spread and their breasts naked. the children, boys and girls, never cover their shame until they are seven years old...." this description is quite correct, but athanasius nikita's son is right only concerning the lowest and poorest classes. these really do "walk about" covered only with a veil, which often is so poor that, in fact, it is nothing but a rag. but still, even the poorest woman is clad in a piece of muslin at least ten yards long. one end serves as a sort of short petticoat, and the other covers the head and shoulders when out in the street, though the faces are always uncovered. the hair is erected into a kind of greek chignon. the legs up to the knees, the arms, and the waist are never covered. there is not a single respectable woman who would consent to put on a pair of shoes. shoes are the attribute and the prerogative of disreputable women. when, some time ago, the wife of the madras governor thought of passing a law that should induce native women to cover their breasts, the place was actually threatened with a revolution. a kind of jacket is worn only by dancing girls. the government recognized that it would be unreasonable to irritate women, who, very often, are more dangerous than their husbands and brothers, and the custom, based on the law of manu, and sanctified by three thousand years' observance, remained unchanged. for more than two years before we left america we were in constant correspondence with a certain learned brahman, whose glory is great at present ( ) all over india. we came to india to study, under his guidance, the ancient country of aryas, the vedas, and their difficult language. his name is dayanand saraswati swami. swami is the name of the learned anchorites who are initiated into many mysteries unattainable by common mortals. they are monks who never marry, but are quite different from other mendicant brotherhoods, the so-called sannyasi and hossein. this pandit is considered the greatest sanskritist of modern india and is an absolute enigma to everyone. it is only five years since he appeared on the arena of great reforms, but till then, he lived, entirely secluded, in a jungle, like the ancient gymnosophists mentioned by the greek and latin authors. at this time he was studying the chief philosophical systems of the "aryavartta" and the occult meaning of the vedas with the help of mystics and anchorites. all hindus believe that on the bhadrinath mountains ( , feet above the level of the sea) there exist spacious caves, inhabited, now for many thousand years, by these anchorites. bhadrinath is situated in the north of hindustan on the river bishegunj, and is celebrated for its temple of vishnu right in the heart of the town. inside the temple there are hot mineral springs, visited yearly by about fifty thousand pilgrims, who come to be purified by them. from the first day of his appearance dayanand saraswati produced an immense impression and got the surname of the "luther of india." wandering from one town to another, today in the south, tomorrow in the north, and transporting himself from one end of the country to another with incredible quickness, he has visited every part of india, from cape comorin to the himalayas, and from calcutta to bombay. he preaches the one deity and, "vedas in hand," proves that in the ancient writings there was not a word that could justify polytheism. thundering against idol worship, the great orator fights with all his might against caste, infant marriages, and superstitions. chastising all the evils grafted on india by centuries of casuistry and false interpretation of the vedas, he blames for them the brahmans, who, as he openly says before masses of people, are alone guilty of the humiliation of their country, once great and independent, now fallen and enslaved. and yet great britain has in him not an enemy, but rather an ally. he says openly--"if you expel the english, then, no later than tomorrow, you and i and everyone who rises against idol worship will have our throats cut like mere sheep. the mussulmans are stronger than the idol worshippers; but these last are stronger than we." the pandit held many a warm dispute with the brah-mans, those treacherous enemies of the people, and has almost always been victorious. in benares secret assassins were hired to slay him, but the attempt did not succeed. in a small town of bengal, where he treated fetishism with more than his usual severity, some fanatic threw on his naked feet a huge cobra. there are two snakes deified by the brahman mythology: the one which surrounds the neck of shiva on his idols is called vasuki; the other, ananta, forms the couch of vishnu. so the worshipper of shiva, feeling sure that his cobra, trained purposely for the mysteries of a shivaite pagoda, would at once make an end of the offender's life, triumphantly exclaimed, "let the god vasuki himself show which of us is right!" dayanand jerked off the cobra twirling round his leg, and with a single vigorous movement, crushed the reptile's head. "let him do so," he quietly assented. "your god has been too slow. it is i who have decided the dispute, now go," added he, addressing the crowd, "and tell everyone how easily perish the false gods." thanks to his excellent knowledge of sanskrit the pandit does a great service, not only to the masses, clearing their ignorance about the monotheism of the vedas, but to science too, showing who, exactly, are the brahmans, the only caste in india which, during centuries, had the right to study sanskrit literature and comment on the vedas, and which used this right solely for its own advantage. long before the time of such orientalists as burnouf, colebrooke and max muller, there have been in india many reformers who tried to prove the pure monotheism of the vedic doctrines. there have even been founders of new religions who denied the revelations of these scriptures; for instance, the raja ram mohun roy, and, after him, babu keshub chunder sen, both calcutta bengalees. but neither of them had much success. they did nothing but add new denominations to the numberless sects existing in india. ram mohun roy died in england, having done next to nothing, and keshub chunder sen, having founded the community of "brahmo-samaj," which professes a religion extracted from the depths of the babu's own imagination, became a mystic of the most pronounced type, and now is only "a berry from the same field," as we say in russia, as the spiritualists, by whom he is considered to be a medium and a calcutta swedenborg. he spends his time in a dirty tank, singing praises to chaitanya, koran, buddha, and his own person, proclaiming himself their prophet, and performs a mystical dance, dressed in woman's attire, which, on his part, is an attention to a "woman goddess" whom the babu calls his "mother, father and eldest brother." in short, all the attempts to re-establish the pure primitive monotheism of aryan india have been a failure. they always got wrecked upon the double rock of brahmanism and of prejudices centuries old. but lo! here appears unexpectedly the pandit dayanand. none, even of the most beloved of his disciples, knows who he is and whence he comes. he openly confesses before the crowds that the name under which he is known is not his, but was given to him at the yogi initiation. the mystical school of yogis was established by patanjali, the founder of one of the six philosophical systems of ancient india. it is supposed that the neo-platonists of the second and third alexandrian schools were the followers of indian yogis, more especially was their theurgy brought from india by pythagoras, according to the tradition. there still exist in india hundreds of yogis who follow the system of patanjali, and assert that they are in communion with brahma. nevertheless, most of them are do-nothings, mendicants by profession, and great frauds, thanks to the insatiable longing of the natives for miracles. the real yogis avoid appearing in public, and spend their lives in secluded retirement and studies, except when, as in dayanand's case, they come forth in time of need to aid their country. however, it is perfectly certain that india never saw a more learned sanskrit scholar, a deeper metaphysician, a more wonderful orator, and a more fearless denunciator of every evil, than dayanand, since the time of sankharacharya, the celebrated founder of the vedanta philosophy, the most metaphysical of indian systems, in fact, the crown of pantheistic teaching. then, dayanand's personal appearance is striking. he is immensely tall, his complexion is pale, rather european than indian, his eyes are large and bright, and his greyish hair is long. the yogis and dikshatas (initiated) never cut either their hair or beard. his voice is clear and loud, well calculated to give expression to every shade of deep feeling, ranging from a sweet childish caressing whisper to thundering wrath against the evil doings and falsehoods of the priests. all this taken together produces an indescribable effect on the impressionable hindu. wherever dayanand appears crowds prostrate themselves in the dust over his footprints; but, unlike babu keshub chunder sen, he does not teach a new religion, does not invent new dogmas. he only asks them to renew their half-forgotten sanskrit studies, and, having compared the doctrines of their forefathers with what they have become in the hands of brahmans, to return to the pure conceptions of deity taught by the primitive rishis--agni, vayu, aditya, and anghira--the patriarchs who first gave the vedas to humanity. he does not even claim that the vedas are a heavenly revelation, but simply teaches that "every word in these scriptures belongs to the highest inspiration possible to the earthly man, an inspiration that is repeated in the history of humanity, and, when necessary, may happen to any nation....." during his five years of work swami dayanand made about two million proselytes, chiefly amongst the higher castes. judging by appearances, they are all ready to sacrifice to him their lives and souls and even their earthly possessions, which are often more precious to them than their lives. but dayanand is a real yogi, he never touches money, and despises pecuniary affairs. he contents himself with a few handfuls of rice per day. one is inclined to think that this wonderful hindu bears a charmed life, so careless is he of rousing the worst human passions, which are so dangerous in india. a marble statue could not be less moved by the raging wrath of the crowd. we saw him once at work. he sent away all his faithful followers and forbade them either to watch over him or to defend him, and stood alone before the infuriated crowd, facing calmly the monster ready to spring upon him and tear him to pieces. here a short explanation is necessary. a few years ago a society of well-informed, energetic people was formed in new york. a certain sharp-witted savant surnamed them "la societe des malcontents du spiritisme." the founders of this club were people who, believing in the phenomena of spiritualism as much as in the possibility of every other phenomenon in nature, still denied the theory of the "spirits." they considered that the modern psychology was a science still in the first stages of its development, in total ignorance of the nature of the psychic man, and denying, as do many other sciences, all that cannot be explained according to its own particular theories. from the first days of its existence some of the most learned americans joined the society, which became known as the theosophical society. its members differed on many points, much as do the members of any other society, geographical or archeological, which fights for years over the sources of the nile, or the hieroglyphs of egypt. but everyone is unanimously agreed that, as long as there is water in the nile, its sources must exist somewhere. so much about the phenomena of spiritualism and mesmerism. these phenomena were still waiting their champollion--but the rosetta stone was to be searched for neither in europe nor in america, but in the far-away countries where they still believe in magic, where wonders are performed daily by the native priesthood, and where the cold materialism of science has never yet reached--in one word, in the east. the council of the society knew that the lama-buddhists, for instance, though not believing in god, and denying the personal immortality of the soul, are yet celebrated for their "phenomena," and that mesmerism was known and daily practised in china from time immemorial under the name of "gina." in india they fear and hate the very name of the spirits whom the spiritualists venerate so deeply, yet many an ignorant fakir can perform "miracles" calculated to turn upside-down all the notions of a scientist and to be the despair of the most celebrated of european prestidigitateurs. many members of the society have visited india--many were born there and have themselves witnessed the "sorceries" of the brahmans. the founders of the club, well aware of the depth of modern ignorance in regard to the spiritual man, were most anxious that cuvier's method of comparative anatomy should acquire rights of citizenship among metaphysicians, and, so, progress from regions physical to regions psychological on its own inductive and deductive foundation. "otherwise," they thought, "psychology will be unable to move forward a single step, and may even obstruct every other branch of natural history." instances have not been wanting of physiology poaching on the preserves of purely metaphysical and abstract knowledge, all the time feigning to ignore the latter absolutely, and seeking to class psychology with the positive sciences, having first bound it to a bed of procrustes, where it refuses to yield its secret to its clumsy tormentors. in a short time the theosophical society counted its members, not by hundreds, but by thousands. all the "malcontents" of american spiritualism--and there were at that time twelve million spiritualists in america--joined the society. collateral branches were formed in london, corfu, australia, spain, cuba, california, etc. everywhere experiments were being performed, and the conviction that it is not spirits alone who are the causes of the phenomena was becoming general. in course of time branches of the society were in india and in ceylon. the buddhist and brahmanical members became more numerous than the europeans. a league was formed, and to the name of the society was added the subtitle, "the brotherhood of humanity." after an active correspondence between the arya-samaj, founded by swami dayanand, and the theosophical society, an amalgamation was arranged between the two bodies. then the chief council of the new york branch decided upon sending a special delegation to india, for the purpose of studying, on the spot, the ancient language of the vedas and the manuscripts and the wonders of yogism. on the th of december, , the delegation, composed of two secretaries and two members of the council of the theosophical society, started from new york, to pause for a while in london, and then to proceed to bombay, where it landed in february, . it may easily be conceived that, under these circumstances, the members of the delegation were better able to study the country and to make fruitful researches than might, otherwise, have been the case. today they are looked upon as brothers and aided by the most influential natives of india. they count among the members of their society pandits of benares and calcutta, and buddhist priests of the ceylon viharas--amongst others the learned sumangala, mentioned by minayeff in the description of his visit to adam's peak--and lamas of thibet, burmah, travancore and elsewhere. the members of the delegation are admitted to sanctuaries where, as yet, no european has set his foot. consequently they may hope to render many services to humanity and science, in spite of the illwill which the representatives of positive science bear to them. as soon as the delegation landed, a telegram was despatched to dayanand, as everyone was anxious to make his personal acquaintance. in reply, he said that he was obliged to go immediately to hardwar, where hundreds of thousands of pilgrims were expected to assemble, but he insisted on our remaining behind, since cholera was certain to break out among the devotees. he appointed a certain spot, at the foot of the himalayas, in the jab, where we were to meet in a month's time. alas! all this was written some time ago. since then swami dayanand's countenance has changed completely toward us. he is, now, an enemy of the theosophical society and its two founders--colonel olcott and the author of these letters. it appeared that, on entering into an offensive and defensive alliance with the society, dayanand nourished the hope that all its members, christians, brahmans and buddhists, would acknowledge his supremacy, and become members of the arya samaj. needless to say, this was impossible. the theosophical society rests on the principle of complete non-interference with the religious beliefs of its members. toleration is its basis and its aims are purely philosophical. this did not suit dayanand. he wanted all the members, either to become his disciples, or to be expelled from the society. it was quite clear that neither the president, nor the council could assent to such a claim. englishmen and americans, whether they were christians or freethinkers, buddhists, and especially brahmans, revolted against dayanand, and unanimously demanded that the league should be broken. however, all this happened later. at the time of which i speak we were friends and allies of the swami, and we learned with deep interest that the hardwar "mela," which he was to visit, takes place every twelve years, and is a kind of religious fair, which attracts representatives from all the numerous sects of india. learned dissertations are read by the disputants in defence of their peculiar doctrines, and the debates are held in public. this year the hardwar gathering was exceptionally numerous. the sannyasis--the mendicant monks of india--alone numbered , and the cholera, foreseen by the swami, actually broke out. as we were not yet to start for the appointed meeting, we had plenty of spare time before us; so we proceeded to examine bombay. the tower of silence, on the heights of the malabar hill, is the last abode of all the sons of zoroaster. it is, in fact, a parsee cemetery. here their dead, rich and poor, men, women and children, are all laid in a row, and in a few minutes nothing remains of them but bare skeletons. a dismal impression is made upon a foreigner by these towers, where absolute silence has reigned for centuries. this kind of building is very common in every place were parsees live and die. in bombay, of six towers, the largest was built years ago, and the least but a short time since. with few exceptions, they are round or square in shape, from twenty to forty feet high, without roof, window, or door, but with a single iron gate opening towards the east, and so small that it is quite covered by a few bushes. the first corpse brought to a new tower--"dakhma"--must be the body of the innocent child of a mobed or priest. no one, not even the chief watcher, is allowed to approach within a distance of thirty paces of these towers. of all living human beings "nassesalars"--corpse-carriers--alone enter and leave the "tower of silence." the life these men lead is simply wretched. no european executioner's position is worse. they live quite apart from the rest of the world, in whose eyes they are the most abject of beings. being forbidden to enter the markets, they must get their food as they can. they are born, marry, and die, perfect strangers to all except their own class, passing through the streets only to fetch the dead and carry them to the tower. even to be near one of them is a degradation. entering the tower with a corpse, covered, whatever may have been its rank or position, with old white rags, they undress it and place it, in silence, on one of the three rows presently to be described. then, still preserving the same silence, they come out, shut the gate, and burn the rags. amongst the fire-worshippers, death is divested of all his majesty and is a mere object of disgust. as soon as the last hour of a sick person seems to approach, everyone leaves the chamber of death, as much to avoid impeding the departure of the soul from the body, as to shun the risk of polluting the living by contact with the dead. the mobed alone stays with the dying man for a while, and having whispered into his ear the zend-avesta precepts, "ashem-vohu" and "yato-ahuvarie," leaves the room while the patient is still alive. then a dog is brought and made to look straight into his face. this ceremony is called "sas-did," the "dog's-stare." a dog is the only living creature that the "drux-nassu"--the evil one--fears, and that is able to prevent him from taking possession of the body. it must be strictly observed that no one's shadow lies between the dying man and the dog, otherwise the whole strength of the dog's gaze will be lost, and the demon will profit by the occasion. the body remains on the spot where life left it, until the nassesalars appear, their arms hidden to the shoulders under old bags, to take it away. having deposited it in an iron coffin--the same for everyone--they carry it to the dakhma. if any one, who has once been carried thither, should happen to regain consciousness, the nassesalars are bound to kill him; for such a person, who has been polluted by one touch of the dead bodies in the dakhma, has thereby lost all right to return to the living, by doing so he would contaminate the whole community. as some such cases have occurred, the parsees are trying to get a new law passed, that would allow the miserable ex-corpses to live again amongst their friends, and that would compel the nassesalars to leave the only gate of the dakhma unlocked, so that they might find a way of retreat open to them. it is very curious, but it is said that the vultures, which devour without hesitation the corpses, will never touch those who are only apparently dead, but fly away uttering loud shrieks. after a last prayer at the gate of the dakhma, pronounced from afar by the mobed, and re-peated in chorus by the nassesalars, the dog ceremony is repeated. in bombay there is a dog, trained for this purpose, at the entrance to the tower. finally, the body is taken inside and placed on one or other of the rows, according to its sex and age. we have twice been present at the ceremonies of dying, and once of burial, if i may be permitted to use such an incongruous term. in this respect the parsees are much more tolerant than the hindus, who are offended by the mere presence at their religious rites of an european. n. bayranji, a chief official of the tower, invited us to his house to be present at the burial of some rich woman. so we witnessed all that was going on at a distance of about forty paces, sitting quietly on our obliging host's verandah. while the dog was staring into the dead woman's face, we were gazing, as intently, but with much more disgust, at the huge flock of vultures above the dakhma, that kept entering the tower, and flying out again with pieces of human flesh in their beaks. these birds, that build their nests in thousands round the tower of silence, have been purposely imported from persia. indian vultures proved to be too weak, and not sufficiently bloodthirsty, to perform the process of stripping the bones with the despatch prescribed by zoroaster. we were told that the entire operation of denuding the bones occupies no more than a few minutes. as soon as the ceremony was over, we were led into another building, where a model of the dakhma was to be seen. we could now very easily imagine what was to take place presently inside the tower. in the centre there is a deep waterless well, covered with a grating like the opening into a drain. around it are three broad circles, gradually sloping downwards. in each of them are coffin-like receptacles for the bodies. there are three hundred and sixty-five such places. the first and smallest row is destined for children, the second for women, and the third for men. this threefold circle is symbolical of three cardinal zoroastrian virtues--pure thoughts, kind words, and good actions. thanks to the vultures, the bones are laid bare in less than an hour, and, in two or three weeks, the tropical sun scorches them into such a state of fragility, that the slightest breath of wind is enough to reduce them to powder and to carry them down into the pit. no smell is left behind, no source of plagues and epidemics. i do not know that this way may not be preferable to cremation, which leaves in the air about the ghat a faint but disagreeable odour. the ghat is a place by the sea, or river shore, where hindus burn their dead. instead of feeding the old slavonic deity "mother wet earth" with carrion, parsees give to armasti pure dust. armasti means, literally, "fostering cow," and zoroaster teaches that the cultivation of land is the noblest of all occupations in the eyes of god. accordingly, the worship of earth is so sacred among the parsees, that they take all possible precautions against polluting the "fostering cow" that gives them "a hundred golden grains for every single grain." in the season of the monsoon, when, during four months, the rain pours incessantly down and washes into the well everything that is left by the vultures, the water absorbed by the earth is filtered, for the bottom of the well, the walls of which are built of granite, is, to this end, covered with sand and charcoal. the sight of the pinjarapala is less lugubrious and much more amusing. the pinjarapala is the bombay hospital for decrepit animals, but a similar institution exists in every town where jainas dwell. being one of the most ancient, this is also one of the most interesting, of the sects of india. it is much older than buddhism, which took its rise about to b.c. jainas boast that buddhism is nothing more than a mere heresy of jainism, gautama, the founder of buddhism, having been a disciple and follower of one of the jaina gurus. the customs, rites, and philosophical conceptions of jainas place them midway between the brahmanists and the buddhists. in view of their social arrangements, they more closely resemble the former, but in their religion they incline towards the latter. their caste divisions, their total abstinence from flesh, and their non-worship of the relics of the saints, are as strictly observed as the similar tenets of the brahmans, but, like buddhists, they deny the hindu gods and the authority of the vedas, and adore their own twenty-four tirthankaras, or jinas, who belong to the host of the blissful. their priests, like the buddhists', never marry, they live in isolated viharas and choose their successors from amongst the members of any social class. according to them, prakrit is the only sacred language, and is used in their sacred literature, as well as in ceylon. jainas and buddhists have the same traditional chronology. they do not eat after sunset, and carefully dust any place before sitting down upon it, that they may not crush even the tiniest of insects. both systems, or rather both schools of philosophy, teach the theory of eternal indestructible atoms, following the ancient atomistic school of kanada. they assert that the universe never had a beginning and never will have an end. "the world and everything in it is but an illusion, a maya," say the vedantists, the buddhists, and the jainas; but, whereas the followers of sankaracharya preach parabrahm (a deity devoid of will, understanding, and action, because "it is absolute understanding, mind and will"), and ishwara emanating from it, the jainas and the buddhists believe in no creator of the universe, but teach only the existence of swabhawati, a plastic, infinite, self-created principle in nature. still they firmly believe, as do all indian sects, in the transmigration of souls. their fear, lest, by killing an animal or an insect, they may, perchance, destroy the life of an ancestor, develops their love and care for every living creature to an almost incredible extent. not only is there a hospital for invalid animals in every town and village, but their priests always wear a muslin muzzle, (i trust they will pardon the disrespectful expression!) in order to avoid destroying even the smallest animalcule, by inadvertence in the act of breathing. the same fear impels them to drink only filtered water. there are a few millions of jainas in gujerat, bombay, konkan, and some other places. the bombay pinjarapala occupies a whole quarter of the town, and is separated into yards, meadows and gardens, with ponds, cages for beasts of prey, and enclosures for tame animals. this institution would have served very well for a model of noah's ark. in the first yard, however, we saw no animals, but, instead, a few hundred human skeletons--old men, women and children. they were the remaining natives of the, so-called, famine districts, who had crowded into bombay to beg their bread. thus, while, a few yards off, the official "vets." were busily bandaging the broken legs of jackals, pouring ointments on the backs of mangy dogs, and fitting crutches to lame storks, human beings were dying, at their very elbows, of starvation. happily for the famine-stricken, there were at that time fewer hungry animals than usual, and so they were fed on what remained from the meals of the brute pensioners. no doubt many of these wretched sufferers would have consented to transmigrate instantly into the bodies of any of the animals who were ending so snugly their earthly careers. but even the pinjarajala roses are not without thorns. the graminivorous "subjects," of course, could mot wish for anything better; but i doubt very much whether the beasts of prey, such as tigers, hyenas, and wolves, are content with the rules and the forcibly prescribed diet. jainas themselves turn with disgust even from eggs and fish, and, in consequence, all the animals of which they have the care must turn vegetarians. we were present when an old tiger, wounded by an english bullet, was fed. having sniffed at a kind of rice soup which was offered to him, he lashed his tail, snarled, showing his yellow teeth, and with a weak roar turned away from the food. what a look he cast askance upon his keeper, who was meekly trying to persuade him to taste his nice dinner! only the strong bars of the cage saved the jaina from a vigorous protest on the part of this veteran of the forest. a hyena, with a bleeding head and an ear half torn off, began by sitting in the trough filled with this spartan sauce, and then, without any further ceremony, upset it, as if to show its utter contempt for the mess. the wolves and the dogs raised such disconsolate howls that they attracted the attention of two inseparable friends, an old elephant with a wooden leg and a sore-eyed ox, the veritable castor and pollux of this institution. in accordance with his noble nature, the first thought of the elephant concerned his friend. he wound his trunk round the neck of the ox, in token of protection, and both moaned dismally. parrots, storks, pigeons, flamingoes--the whole feathered tribe--revelled in their breakfast. monkeys were the first to answer the keeper's invitation and greatly enjoyed themselves. further on we were shown a holy man, who was feeding insects with his own blood. he lay with his eyes shut, and the scorching rays of the sun striking full upon his naked body. he was literally covered with flies, mosquitoes, ants and bugs. "all these are our brothers," mildly observed the keeper, pointing to the hundreds of animals and insects. "how can you europeans kill and even devour them?" "what would you do," i asked, "if this snake were about to bite you? is it possible you would not kill it, if you had time?" "not for all the world. i should cautiously catch it, and then i should carry it to some deserted place outside the town, and there set it free." "nevertheless; suppose it bit you?" "then i should recite a mantram, and, if that produced no good result, i should be fair to consider it as the finger of fate, and quietly leave this body for another." these were the words of a man who was educated to a certain extent, and very well read. when we pointed out that no gift of nature is aimless, and that the human teeth are all devouring, he answered by quoting whole chapters of darwin's theory of natural selection and origin of species. "it is not true," argued he, "that the first men were born with canine teeth. it was only in course of time, with the degradation of humanity,--only when the appetite for flesh food began to develop--that the jaws changed their first shape under the influence of new necessities." i could not help asking myself, "ou la science va-t'elle se fourrer?" the same evening, in elphinstone's theatre, there was given a special performance in honour of "the american mission," as we are styled here. native actors represented in gujerati the ancient fairy drama sita-rama, that has been adapted from the ramayana, the celebrated epic by vilmiki. this drama is composed of fourteen acts and no end of tableaux, in addition to transformation scenes. all the female parts, as usual, were acted by young boys, and the actors, accord-ing to the historical and national customs, were bare-footed and half-naked. still, the richness of the costumes, the stage adornments and transformations, were truly wonderful. for instance, even on the stages of large metropolitan theatres, it would have been difficult to give a better representation of the army of rama's allies, who are nothing more than troops of monkeys under the leadership of hanuman--the soldier, statesman, dramatist, poet, god, who is so celebrated in history (that of india s.v.p.). the oldest and best of all sanskrit dramas, hanuman-natak, is ascribed to this talented forefather of ours. alas! gone is the glorious time when, proud of our white skin (which after all may be nothing more than the result of a fading, under the influences of our northern sky), we looked down upon hindus and other "niggers" with a feeling of contempt well suited to our own magnificence. no doubt sir william jones's soft heart ached, when translating from the sanskrit such humiliating sentences as the following: "hanuman is said to be the forefather of the europeans." rama, being a hero and a demi-god, was well entitled to unite all the bachelors of his useful monkey army to the daughters of the lanka (ceylon) giants, the rakshasas, and to present these dravidian beauties with the dowry of all western lands. after the most pompous marriage ceremonies, the monkey soldiers made a bridge, with the help of their own tails, and safely landed with their spouses in europe, where they lived very happily and had a numerous progeny. this progeny are we, europeans. dravidian words found in some european languages, in basque for instance, greatly rejoice the hearts of the brahmans, who would gladly promote the philologists to the rank of demi-gods for this important discovery, which confirms so gloriously their ancient legend. but it was darwin who crowned the edifice of proof with the authority of western education and western scientific literature. the indians became still more convinced that we are the veritable descendants of hanuman, and that, if one only took the trouble to examine carefully, our tails might easily be discovered. our narrow breeches and long skirts only add to the evidence, however uncomplimentary the idea may be to us. still, if you consider seriously, what are we to say when science, in the person of darwin, concedes this hypothesis to the wisdom of ancient aryas. we must perforce submit. and, really, it is better to have for a forefather hanu-man, the poet, the hero, the god, than any other monkey, even though it be a tailless one. sita-rama belongs to the category of mythological dramas, something like the tragedies of aeschylus. listening to this production of the remotest antiquity, the spectators are carried back to the times when the gods, descending upon earth, took an active part in the everyday life of mortals. nothing reminds one of a modern drama, though the exterior arrangement is the same. "from the sublime to the ridiculous there is but a step," and vice versa. the goat, chosen for a sacrifice to bacchus, presented the world tragedy (greek script here). the death bleatings and buttings of the quadrupedal offering of antiquity have been polished by the hands of time and of civilization, and, as a result of this process, we get the dying whisper of rachel in the part of adrienne lecouvreur, and the fearfully realistic "kicking" of the modern croisette in the poisoning scene of the sphinx. but, whereas the descendants of themistocles gladly receive, whether captive or free, all the changes and improvements considered as such by modern taste, thinking them to be a corrected and enlarged edition of the genius of aeschylus; hindus, happily for archaeologists and lovers of antiquity, have never moved a step since the times of our much honoured forefather hanuman. we awaited the performance of sita-rama with the liveliest curiosity. except ourselves and the building of the theatre, everything was strictly indigenous and nothing reminded us of the west. there was not the trace of an orchestra. music was only to be heard from the stage, or from behind it. at last the curtain rose. the silence, which had been very remarkable before the performance, considering the huge crowd of spectators of both sexes, now became absolute. rama is one of the incarnations of vishnu and, as most of the audience were worshippers of vishnu, for them the spectacle was not a mere theatrical performance, but a religious mystery, representing the life and achievements of their favourite and most venerated gods. the prologue was laid in the epoch before creation began (it may safely be said that no dramatist would dare to choose an earlier one)--or, rather, before the last manifestation of the universe. all the philosophical sects of india, except mussulmans, agree that the universe has always existed. but the hindus divide the periodical appearances and vanishings into days and nights of brahma. the nights, or withdrawals of the objective universe, are called pralayas, and the days, or epochs of new awakening into life and light, are called manvantaras, yugas, or "centuries of the gods." these periods are also called, respectively, the inbreathings and outbreathings of brahma. when pralaya comes to an end brahma awakens, and, with this awakening, the universe that rested in deity, in other words, that was reabsorbed in its subjective essence, emanates from the divine principle and becomes visible. the gods, who died at the same time as the universe, begin slowly to return to life. the "invisible" alone, the "infinite," the "lifeless," the one who is the unconditioned original "life" itself, soars, surrounded by shoreless chaos. its holy presence is not visible. it shows itself only in the periodical pulsation of chaos, represented by a dark mass of waters filling the stage. these waters are not, as yet, separated from the dry land, because brahma, the creative spirit of narayana, has not yet separated from the "ever unchanging." then comes a heavy shock of the whole mass and the waters begin to acquire transparency. rays, proceeding from a golden egg at the bottom, spread through the chaotic waters. receiving life from the spirit of narayana, the egg bursts and the awakened brahma rises to the surface of the water in the shape of a huge lotus. light clouds appear, at first transparent and web-like. they gradually become condensed, and transform themselves into prajapatis, the ten personified creative powers of brahma, the god of everything living, and sing a hymn of praise to the creator. something naively poetical, to our unaccustomed ears, breathed in this uniform melody unaccompanied by any orchestra. the hour of general revival has struck. pralaya comes to an end. everything rejoices, returning to life. the sky is separated from the waters and on it appear the asuras and gandharvas, the heavenly singers and musicians. then indra, yama, varuna, and kuvera, the spirits presiding over the four cardinal points, or the four elements, water, fire, earth, and air, pour forth atoms, whence springs the serpent "ananta." the monster swims to the surface of the waves and, bending its swanlike neck, forms a couch on which vishnu reclines with the goddess of beauty, his wife lakshmi, at his feet. "swatha! swatha! swatha!" cries the choir of heavenly musicians, hailing the deity. in the russian church service this is pronounced swiat! swiat! swiat! and means holy! holy! holy! in one of his future avatars vishnu will incarnate in rama, the son of a great king, and lakshmi will become sita. the motive of the whole poem of ramayana is sung in a few words by the celestial musicians. kama, the god of love, shelters the divine couple and, that very moment, a flame is lit in their hearts and the whole world is created. later there are performed the fourteen acts of the drama, which is well known to everybody, and in which several hundred personages take part. at the end of the prologue the whole assembly of gods come forward, one after another, and acquaint the audience with the contents and the epilogue of their performance, asking the public not to be too exacting. it is as though all these familiar deities, made of painted granite and marble, left the temples and came down to remind mortals of events long past and forgotten. the hall was full of natives. we four alone were representatives of europe. like a huge flower bed, the women displayed the bright colors of their garments. here and there, among handsome, bronze-like heads, were the pretty, dull white faces of parsee women, whose beauty reminded me of the georgians. the front rows were occupied by women only. in india it is quite easy to learn a person's religion, sect, and caste, and even whether a woman is married or single, from the marks painted in bright colors on everyone's forehead. since the time when alexander the great destroyed the sacred books of the gebars, they have constantly been oppressed by the idol worshippers. king ardeshir-babechan restored fire worship in the years - a.c. since then they have again been persecuted during the reign of one of the shakpurs, either ii., ix., or xi., of the sassanids, but which of them is not known. it is, however, reported that one of them was a great protector of the zartushta doctrines. after the fall of yesdejird, the fire-worshippers emigrated to the island of ormasd, and, some time later, having found a book of zoroastrian prophecies, in obedience to one of them they set out for hindustan. after many wanderings, they appeared, about , or , years ago, in the territory of maharana-jayadeva, a vassal of the rajput king champanir, who allowed them to colonize his land, but only on condition that they laid down their weapons, that they abandoned the persian language for hindi, and that their women put off their national dress and clothed themselves after the manner of hindu women. he, however, allowed them to wear shoes, since this is strictly prescribed by zoroaster. since then very few changes have been made. it follows that the parsee women could only be distinguished from their hindu sisters by very slight differences. the almost white faces of the former were separated by a strip of smooth black hair from a sort of white cap, and the whole was covered with a bright veil. the latter wore no covering on their rich, shining hair, twisted into a kind of greek chignon. their foreheads were brightly painted, and their nostrils adorned with golden rings. both are fond of bright, but uniform, colors, both cover their arms up to the elbow with bangles, and both wear saris. behind the women a whole sea of most wonderful turbans was waving in the pit. there were long-haired rajputs with regular grecian features and long beards parted in the middle, their heads covered with "pagris" consisting of, at least, twenty yards of finest white muslin, and their persons adorned with earrings and necklaces; there were mahrata brahmans, who shave their heads, leaving only one long central lock, and wear turbans of blinding red, decorated in front with a sort of golden horn of plenty; bangas, wearing three-cornered helmets with a kind of cockscomb on the top; kachhis, with roman helmets; bhillis, from the borders of rajastan, whose chins are wrapped three times in the ends of their pyramidal turbans, so that the innocent tourist never fails to think that they constantly suffer from toothache; bengalis and calcutta babus, bare-headed all the year round, their hair cut after an athenian fashion, and their bodies clothed in the proud folds of a white toga-virilis, in no way different from those once worn by roman senators; parsees, in their black, oilcloth mitres; sikhs, the followers of nanaka, strictly monotheist and mystic, whose turbans are very like the bhillis', but who wear long hair down to their waists; and hundreds of other tribes. proposing to count how many different headgears are to be seen in bombay alone, we had to abandon the task as impracticable after a fortnight. every caste, every trade, guild, and sect, every one of the thousand sub-divisions of the social hierarchy, has its own bright turban, often sparkling with gold lace and precious stones, which is laid aside only in case of mourning. but, as if to compensate for this luxury, even the mem-bers of the municipality, rich merchants, and rai-bahadurs, who have been created baronets by the government, never wear any stockings, and leave their legs bare up to the knees. as for their dress, it chiefly consists of a kind of shapeless white shirt. in baroda some gaikwars (a title of all the baroda princes) still keep in their stables elephants and the less common giraffes, though the former are strictly forbidden in the streets of bombay. we had an opportunity of seeing ministers, and even rajas, mounted on these noble animals, their mouths full of pansupari (betel leaves), their heads drooping under the weight of the precious stones on their turbans, and each of their fingers and toes adorned with rich golden rings. while the evening i am describing lasted, however, we saw no elephants, no giraffes, though we enjoyed the company of rajas and ministers. we had in our box the hand-some ambassador and late tutor of the mahararana of oodeypore. our companion was a raja and a pandit. his name was a mohunlal-vishnulal-pandia. he wore a small pink turban sparkling with diamonds, a pair of pink barege trousers, and a white gauze coat. his raven black hair half covered his amber-colored neck, which was surrounded by a necklace that might have driven any parisian belle frantic with envy. the poor raiput was awfully sleepy, but he stuck heroically to his duties, and, thoughtfully pulling his beard, led us all through the endless labyrinth of metaphysical entanglements of the ramayana. during the entr'actes we were offered coffee, sherbets, and cigarettes, which we smoked even during the performance, sitting in front of the stage in the first row. we were covered, like idols, with garlands of flowers, and the manager, a stout hindu clad in transparent muslins, sprinkled us several times with rose-water. the performance began at eight p.m. and, at half-past two, had only reached the ninth act. in spite of each of us having a punkah-wallah at our backs, the heat was unbearable. we had reached the limits of our endurance, and tried to excuse ourselves. this led to general disturbance, on the stage as well as in the auditorium. the airy chariot, on which the wicked king ravana was carrying sita away, paused in the air. the king of the nagas (serpents) ceased breathing flames, the monkey soldiers hung motionless on the trees, and rama himself, clad in light blue and crowned with a diminutive pagoda, came to the front of the stage and pronounced in pure english speech, in which he thanked us for the honour of our presence. then new bouquets, pansu-paris, and rose-water, and, finally, we reached home about four a.m. next morning we learned that the performance had ended at half-past six. on the way to karli it is an early morning near the end of march. a light breeze caresses with its velvety hand the sleepy faces of the pilgrims; and the intoxicating perfume of tuberoses mingles with the pungent odors of the bazaar. crowds of barefooted brahman women, stately and well-formed, direct their steps, like the biblical rachel, to the well, with brass water pots bright as gold upon their heads. on our way lie numerous sacred tanks, filled with stagnant water, in which hindus of both sexes perform their prescribed morning ablutions. under the hedge of a garden somebody's tame mongoose is devouring the head of a cobra. the headless body of the snake convulsively, but harmlessly, beats against the thin flanks of the little animal, which regards these vain efforts with an evident delight. side by side with this group of animals is a human figure; a naked mali (gardener), offering betel and salt to a monstrous stone idol of shiva, with the view of pacifying the wrath of the "destroyer," excited by the death of the cobra, which is one of his favourite servants. a few steps before reaching the railway station, we meet a modest catholic procession, consisting of a few newly converted pariahs and some of the native portuguese. under a baldachin is a litter, on which swings to and fro a dusky madonna dressed after the fashion of the native goddesses, with a ring in her nose. in her arms she carries the holy babe, clad in yellow pyjamas and a red brah-manical turban. "hari, hari, devaki!" ("glory to the holy virgin!") exclaim the converts, unconscious of any difference between the devaki, mother of krishna, and the catholic madonna. all they know is that, excluded from the temples by the brahmans on account of their not belonging to any of the hindu castes, they are admitted sometimes into the christian pagodas, thanks to the "padris," a name adopted from the portuguese padre, and applied indiscriminately to the missionaries of every european sect. at last, our gharis--native two-wheeled vehicles drawn by a pair of strong bullocks--arrived at the station. english employes open wide their eyes at the sight of white-faced people travelling about the town in gilded hindu chariots. but we are true americans, and we have come hither to study, not europe, but india and her products on the spot. if the tourist casts a glance on the shore opposite to the port of bombay, he will see a dark blue mass rising like a wall between himself and the horizon. this is parbul, a flat-topped mountain , feet high. its right slope leans on two sharp rocks covered with woods. the highest of them, mataran, is the object of our trip. from bombay to narel, a station situated at the foot of this mountain, we are to travel four hours by railway, though, as the crow flies, the distance is not more than twelve miles. the railroad wanders round the foot of the most charming little hills, skirts hundreds of pretty lakes, and pierces with more than twenty tunnels the very heart of the rocky ghats. we were accompanied by three hindu friends. two of them once belonged to a high caste, but were excommunicated from their pagoda for association and friendship with us, unworthy foreigners. at the station our party was joined by two more natives, with whom we had been in correspondence for many a year. all were members of our society, reformers of the young india school, enemies of brahmans, castes, aid prejudices, and were to be our fellow-travelers and visit with us the annual fair at the temple festivities of karli, stopping on the way at mataran and khanduli. one was a brahman from poona, the second a moodeliar (landowner) from madras, the third a singalese from kegalla, the fourth a bengali zemindar, and the fifth a gigantic rajput, whom we had known for a long time by the name of gulab-lal-sing, and had called simply gulab-sing. i shall dwell upon his personality more than on any of the others, because the most wonderful and diverse stories were in circulation about this strange man. it was asserted that he belonged to the sect of raj-yogis, and was an initiate of the mysteries of magic, alchemy, and various other occult sciences of india. he was rich and independent, and rumour did not dare to suspect him of deception, the more so because, though quite full of these sciences, he never uttered a word about them in public, and carefully concealed his knowledge from all except a few friends. he was an independent takur from rajistan, a province the name of which means the land of kings. takurs are, almost without exception, descended from the surya (sun), and are accordingly called suryavansa. they are prouder than any other nation in the world. they have a proverb, "the dirt of the earth cannot stick to the rays of the sun." they do not despise any sect, except the brahmans, and honor only the bards who sing their military achievements. of the latter colonel tod writes somewhat as follows,* "the magnificence and luxury of the rajput courts in the early periods of history were truly wonderful, even when due allowance is made for the poetical license of the bards. from the earliest times northern india was a wealthy country, and it was precisely here that was situated the richest satrapy of darius. at all events, this country abounded in those most striking events which furnish history with her richest materials. in rajistan every small kingdom had its thermopylae, and every little town has produced its leonidas. but the veil of the centuries hides from posterity events that the pen of the historian might have bequeathed to the everlasting admiration of the nations. somnath might have appeared as a rival of delphi, the treasures of hind might outweigh the riches of the king of lydia, while compared with the army of the brothers pandu, that of xerxes would seem an inconsiderable handful of men, worthy only to rank in the second place." * in nearly every instance the passages quoted from various authorities have been retranslated from the russian. as the time and labor needful for verification would he too great, the sense only of these passages is given here. they do not pretend to be textual.--translator england did not disarm the rajputs, as she did the rest of the indian nations, so gulab-sing came accompanied by vassals and shield-bearers. possessing an inexhaustible knowledge of legends, and being evidently well acquainted with the antiquities of his country, gulab-sing proved to be the most interesting of our companions. "there, against the blue sky," said gulab-lal-sing, "you behold the majestic bhao mallin. that deserted spot was once the abode of a holy hermit; now it is visited yearly by crowds of pilgrims. according to popular belief the most wonderful things happen there--miracles. at the top of the mountain, two thousand feet above the level of the sea, is the platform of a fortress. behind it rises another rock two hundred and seventy feet in height, and at the very summit of this peak are to be found the ruins of a still more ancient fortress, which for seventy-five years served as a shelter for this hermit. whence he obtained his food will for ever remain a mystery. some think he ate the roots of wild plants, but upon this barren rock there is no vegetation. the only mode of ascent of this perpendicular mountain consists of a rope, and holes, just big enough to receive the toes of a man, cut out of the living rock. one would think such a pathway accessible only to acrobats and monkeys. surely fanaticism must provide wings for the hindus, for no accident has ever happened to any of them. unfortunately, about forty years ago, a party of englishmen conceived the unhappy thought of exploring the ruins, but a strong gust of wind arose and carried them over the precipice. after this, general dickinson gave orders for the destruction of all means of communication with the upper fortress, and the lower one, once the cause of so many losses and so much bloodshed, is now entirely deserted, and serves only as a shelter for eagles and tigers." listening to these tales of olden times, i could not help comparing the past with the present. what a difference! "kali-yug!" cry old hindus with grim despair. "who can strive against the age of darkness?" this fatalism, the certainty that nothing good can be expected now, the conviction that even the powerful god shiva himself can neither appear nor help them are all deeply rooted in the minds of the old generation. as for the younger men, they receive their education in high schools and universities, learn by heart herbert spencer, john stuart mill, darwin and the german philosophers, and entirely lose all respect, not only for their own religion, but for every other in the world. the young "educated" hindus are materialists almost without exception, and often achieve the last limits of atheism. they seldom hope to attain to anything better than a situation as "chief mate of the junior clerk," as we say in russia, and either become sycophants, disgusting flatterers of their present lords, or, which is still worse, or at any rate sillier, begin to edit a newspaper full of cheap liberalism, which gradually develops into a revolutionary organ. but all this is only en passant. compared with the mysterious and grandiose past of india, the ancient aryavarta, her present is a natural indian ink background, the black shadow of a bright picture, the inevitable evil in the cycle of every nation. india has become decrepit and has fallen down, like a huge memorial of antiquity, prostrate and broken to pieces. but the most insignificant of these fragments will for ever remain a treasure for the archeologist and the artist, and, in the course of time, may even afford a clue to the philosopher and the psychologist. "ancient hindus built like giants and finished their work like goldsmiths," says archbishop heber, describing his travel in india. in his description of the taj-mahal of agra, that veritable eighth wonder of the world, he calls it "a poem in marble." he might have added that it is difficult to find in india a ruin, in the least state of preservation, that cannot speak, more eloquently than whole volumes, of the past of india, her religious aspirations, her beliefs and hopes. there is not a country of antiquity, not even excluding the egypt of the pharaohs, where the development of the subjective ideal into its demonstration by an objective symbol has been expressed more graphically, more skillfully, and artistically, than in india. the whole pantheism of the vedanta is contained in the symbol of the bisexual deity ardhanari. it is surrounded by the double triangle, known in india under the name of the sign of vishnu. by his side lie a lion, a bull, and an eagle. in his hands there rests a full moon, which is reflected in the waters at his feet. the vedanta has taught for thousands of years what some of the german philosophers began to preach at the end of last century and the beginning of this one, namely, that everything objective in the world, as well as the world itself, is no more than an illusion, a maya, a phantom created by our imagination, and as unreal as the reflection of the moon upon the surface of the waters. the phenomenal world, as well as the subjectivity of our conception concerning our egos, are nothing but, as it were, a mirage. the true sage will never submit to the temptations of illusion. he is well aware that man will attain to self-knowledge, and become a real ego, only after the entire union of the personal fragment with the all, thus becoming an immutable, infinite, universal brahma. accordingly, he considers the whole cycle of birth, life, old age, and death as the sole product of imagination. generally speaking, indian philosophy, split up as it is into numerous metaphysical teachings, possesses, when united to indian ontological doctrines, such a well developed logic, such a wonderfully refined psychology, that it might well take the first rank when contrasted with the schools, ancient and modern, idealist or positivist, and eclipse them all in turn. that positivism expounded by lewis, that makes each particular hair on the heads of oxford theologians stand on end, is ridiculous child's play compared with the atomistic school of vaisheshika, with its world divided, like a chessboard, into six categories of everlasting atoms, nine substances, twenty-four qualities, and five motions. and, however difficult, and even impossible may seem the exact representation of all these abstract ideas, idealistic, pantheistic, and, sometimes, purely material, in the condensed shape of allegorical symbols, india, nevertheless, has known how to express all these teachings more or less successfully. she has immortalized them in her ugly, four-headed idols, in the geometrical, complicated forms of her temples, and even in the entangled lines and spots on the foreheads of her sectaries. we were discussing this and other topics with our hindu fellow-travellers when a catholic padre, a teacher in the jesuit college of st. xavier in bombay, entered our carriage at one of the stations. soon he could contain himself no longer, and joined in our conversation. smiling and rubbing his hands, he said that he was curious to know on the strength of what sophistry our companions could find anything resembling a philosophical explanation "in the fundamental idea of the four faces of this ugly shiva, crowned with snakes," pointing with his finger to the idol at the entrance to a pagoda. "it is very simple," answered the bengali babu. "you see that its four faces are turned towards the four cardinal points, south, north, west, and east--but all these faces are on one body and belong to one god." "would you mind explaining first the philosophical idea of the four faces and eight hands of your shiva," interrupted the padre. "with great pleasure. thinking that our great rudra (the vedic name for this god) is omnipresent, we represent him with his face turned simultaneously in all directions. eight hands indicate his omnipotence, and his single body serves to remind us that he is one, though he is everywhere, and nobody can avoid his all-seeing eye, or his chastising hand." the padre was going to say something when the train stopped; we had arrived at narel. it is hardly twenty-five years since, for the first time, a white man ascended mataran, a huge mass of various kinds of trap rock, for the most part crystalline in form. though quite near to bombay, and only a few miles from khandala, the summer residence of the europeans, the threatening heights of this giant were long considered inaccessible. on the north, its smooth, almost vertical face rises , feet over the valley of the river pen, and, further on, numberless separate rocks and hillocks, covered with thick vegetation, and divided by valleys and precipices, rise up to the clouds. in , the railway pierced one of the sides of mataran, and now has reached the foot of the last mountain, stopping at narel, where, not long ago, there was nothing but a precipice. from narel to the upper plateau is but eight miles, which you may travel on a pony, or in an open or closed palanquin, as you choose. considering that we arrived at narel about six in the evening, this course was not very tempting. civilization has done much with inanimate nature, but, in spite of all its despotism, it has not yet been able to conquer tigers and snakes. tigers, no doubt, are banished to the more remote jungles, but all hinds of snakes, especially cobras and coralillos, which last by preference inhabit trees, still abound in the forests of mataran as in days of old, and wage a regular guerilla warfare against the invaders. woe betide the belated pedestrian, or even horseman, if he happens to pass under a tree which forms the ambuscade of a coralillo snake! cobras and other reptiles seldom attack men, and will generally try to avoid them, unless accidentally trodden upon, but these guerilleros of the forest, the tree serpents, lie in wait for their victims. as soon as the head of a man comes under the branch which shelters the coralillo, this enemy of man, coiling its tail round the branch, dives down into space with all the length of is body, and strikes with its fangs at the man's forehead. this curious fact was long considered to be a mere fable, but it has now been verified, and belongs to the natural history of india. in these cases the natives see in the snake the envoy of death, the fulfiller of the will of the bloodthirsty kali, the spouse of shiva. but evening, after the scorchingly hot day, was so tempting, and held out to us from the distance such promise of delicious coolness, that we decided upon risking our fate. in the heart of this wondrous nature one longs to shake off earthly chains, and unite oneself with the boundless life, so that death itself has its attractions in india. besides, the full moon was about to rise at eight p.m. three hours' ascent of the mountain, on such a moonlit, tropical night as would tax the descriptive powers of the greatest artists, was worth any sacrifice. apropos, among the few artists who can fix upon canvas the subtle charm of a moonlit night in india public opinion begins to name our own v.v. vereshtchagin. having dined hurriedly in the dak bungalow we asked for our sedan chairs, and, drawing our roof-like topees over our eyes, we started. eight coolies, clad, as usual, in vine-leaves, took possession of each chair and hurried up the mountain, uttering the shrieks and yells no true hindu can dispense with. each chair was accompanied besides by a relay of eight more porters. so we were sixty-four, without counting the hindus and their servants--an army sufficient to frighten any stray leopard or jungle tiger, in fact any animal, except our fearless cousins on the side of our great-grandfather hanuman. as soon as we turned into a thicket at the foot of the mountain, several dozens of these kinsmen joined our procession. thanks to the achievements of rama's ally, monkeys are sacred in india. the government, emulating the earlier wisdom of the east india company, forbids everyone to molest them, not only when met with in the forests, which in all justice belong to them, but even when they invade the city gardens. leaping from one branch to another, chattering like magpies, and making the most formidable grimaces, they followed us all the way, like so many midnight spooks. sometimes they hung on the trees in full moonlight, like forest nymphs of russian mythology; sometimes they preceded us, awaiting our arrival at the turns of the road as if showing us the way. they never left us. one monkey babe alighted on my knees. in a moment the authoress of his being, jumping without any ceremony over the coolies' shoulders, came to his rescue, picked him up, and, after making the most ungodly grimace at me, ran away with him. "bandras (monkeys) bring luck with their presence," remarked one of the hindus, as if to console me for the loss of my crumpled topee. "besides," he added, "seeing them here we may be sure that there is not a single tiger for ten miles round." higher and higher we ascended by the steep winding path, and the forest grew perceptibly thicker, darker, and more impenetrable. some of the thickets were as dark as graves. passing under hundred-year-old banyans it was impossible to distinguish one's own finger at the distance of two inches. it seemed to me that in certain places it would not be possible to advance without feeling our way, but our coolies never made a false step, but hastened onwards. not one of us uttered a word. it was as if we had agreed to be silent at these moments. we felt as though wrapped in the heavy veil of dark-ness, and no sound was heard but the short, irregular breathing of the porters, and the cadence of their quick, nervous footsteps upon the stony soil of the path. one felt sick at heart and ashamed of belonging to that human race, one part of which makes of the other mere beasts of burden. these poor wretches are paid for their work four annas a day all the year round. four annas for going eight miles upwards and eight miles downwards not less than twice a day; altogether thirty-two miles up and down a mountain , feet high, carrying a burden of two hundredweight! however, india is a country where everything is adjusted to never changing customs, and four annas a day is the pay for unskilled labor of any kind. gradually open spaces and glades became more frequent and the light grew as intense as by day. millions of grasshoppers were shrilling in the forest, filling the air with a metallic throbbing, and flocks of frightened parrots rushed from tree to tree. sometimes the thundering, prolonged roars of tigers rose from the bottom of the precipices thickly covered with all kinds of vegetation. shikaris assure us that, on a quiet night, the roaring of these beasts can be heard for many miles around. the panorama, lit up, as if by bengal fires, changed at every turn. rivers, fields, forests, and rocks, spread out at our feet over an enormous distance, moved and trembled, iridescent, in the silvery moonlight, like the tides of a mirage. the fantastic character of the pictures made us hold our breath. our heads grew giddy if, by chance, we glanced down into the depths by the flickering moonlight. we felt that the precipice, , feet deep, was fascinating us. one of our american fellow travelers, who had begun the voyage on horseback, had to dismount, afraid of being unable to resist the temptation to dive head foremost into the abyss. several times we met with lonely pedestrians, men and young women, coming down mataran on their way home after a day's work. it often happens that some of them never reach home. the police unconcernedly report that the missing man has been carried off by a tiger, or killed by a snake. all is said, and he is soon entirely forgotten. one person, more or less, out of the two hundred and forty millions who inhabit india does not matter much! but there exists a very strange superstition in the deccan about this mysterious, and only partially explored, mountain. the natives assert that, in spite of the considerable number of victims, there has never been found a single skeleton. the corpse, whether intact or mangled by tigers, is immediately carried away by the monkeys, who, in the latter case, gather the scattered bones, and bury them skillfully in deep holes, that no traces ever remain. englishmen laugh at this superstition, but the police do not deny the fact of the entire disappearance of the bodies. when the sides of the mountain were excavated, in the course of the construction of the railway, separate bones, with the marks of tigers' teeth upon them, broken bracelets, and other adornments, were found at an incredible depth from the surface. the fact of these things being broken showed clearly that they were not buried by men, because, neither the religion of the hindus, nor their greed, would allow them to break and bury silver and gold. is it possible, then, that, as amongst men one hand washes the other, so in the animal kingdom one species conceals the crimes of another? having spent the night in a portuguese inn, woven like an eagle's nest out of bamboos, and clinging to the almost vertical side of a rock, we rose at daybreak, and, having visited all the points de vue famed for their beauty, made our preparations to return to narel. by daylight the panorama was still more splendid than by night; volumes would not suffice to describe it. had it not been that on three sides the horizon was shut out by rugged ridges of mountain, the whole of the deccan plateau would have appeared before our eyes. bombay was so distinct that it seemed quite near to us, and the channel that separates the town from salsetta shone like a tiny silvery streak. it winds like a snake on its way to the port, surrounding kanari and other islets, which look the very image of green peas scattered on the white cloth of its bright waters, and, finally, joins the blinding line of the indian ocean in the extreme distance. on the outer side is the northern konkan, terminated by the tal-ghats, the needle-like summits of the jano-maoli rocks, and, lastly, the battlemented ridge of funell, whose bold silhouette stands out in strong relief against the distant blue of the dim sky, like a giant's castle in some fairy tale. further on looms parbul, whose flat summit, in the days of old, was the seat of the gods, whence, according to the legends, vishnu spoke to mortals. and there below, where the defile widens into a valley, all covered with huge separate rocks, each of which is crowded with historical and mythological legends, you may perceive the dim blue ridge of mountains, still loftier and still more strangely shaped. that is khandala, which is overhung by a huge stone block, known by the name of the duke's nose. on the opposite side, under the very summit of the mountain, is situated karli, which, according to the unanimous opinion or archeologists, is the most ancient and best preserved of indian cave temples. one who has traversed the passes of the caucasus again and again; one who, from the top of the cross mountain, has beheld beneath her feet thunderstorms and lightnings; who has visited the alps and the rigi; who is well acquainted with the andes and cordilleras, and knows every corner of the catskills in america, may be allowed, i hope, the expression of a humble opinion. the caucasian mountains, i do not deny, are more majestic than ghats of india, and their splendour cannot be dimmed by comparison with these; but their beauty is of a type, if i may use this expression. at their sight one experiences true delight, but at the same time a sensation of awe. one feels like a pigmy before these titans of nature. but in india, the himalayas excepted, mountains produce quite a different impression. the highest summits of the deccan, as well as of the triangular ridge that fringes northern hindostan, and of the eastern ghats, do not exceed , feet. only in the ghats of the malabar coast, from cape comorin to the river surat, are there heights of , feet above the surface of the sea. so that no comparison can be dawn between these and the hoary headed patriarch elbruz, or kasbek, which exceeds , feet. the chief and original charm of indian mountains wonderfully consists in their capricious shapes. sometimes these mountains, or, rather, separate volcanic peaks standing in a row, form chains; but it is more common to find them scattered, to the great perplexity of geologists, without visible cause, in places where the formation seems quite unsuitable. spacious valleys, surrounded by high walls of rock, over the very ridge of which passes the railway, are common. look below, and it will seem to you that you are gazing upon the studio of some whimsical titanic sculptor, filled with half finished groups, statues, and monuments. here is a dream-land bird, seated upon the head of a monster six hundred feet high, spreading its wings and widely gaping its dragon's mouth; by its side the bust of a man, surmounted by a helmet, battlemented like the walls of a feudal castle; there, again, new monsters devouring each other, statues with broken limbs, disorderly heaps of huge balls, lonely fortresses with loopholes, ruined towers and bridges. all this scattered and intermixed with shapes changing incessantly like the dreams of delirium. and the chief attraction is that nothing here is the result of art, everything is the pure sport of nature, which, however, has occasionally been turned to account by ancient builders. the art of man in india is to be sought in the interior of the earth, not on its surface. ancient hindus seldom built their temples otherwise than in the bosom of the earth, as though they were ashamed of their efforts, or did not dare to rival the sculpture of nature. having chosen, for instance, a pyramidal rock, or a cupola shaped hillock like elephanta, or karli, they scraped away inside, according to the puranas, for centuries, planning on so grand a style that no modern architecture has been able to conceive anything to equal it. fables (?) about the cyclops seem truer in india than in egypt. the marvellous railroad from narel to khandala reminds one of a similar line from genoa up the apenines. one may be said to travel in the air, not on land. the railway traverses a region , feet above konkan, and, in some places, while one rail is laid on the sharp edge of the rock, the other is supported on vaults and arches. the mali khindi viaduct is feet high. for two hours we hastened on between sky and earth, with abysses on both sides thickly covered with mango trees and bananas. truly english engineers are wonderful builders. the pass of bhor-ghat is safely accomplished and we are in khandala. our bungalow here is built on the very edge of a ravine, which nature herself has carefully concealed under a cover of the most luxuriant vegetation. everything is in blossom, and, in this unfathomed recess, a botanist might find sufficient material to occupy him for a lifetime. palms have disappeared; for the most part they grow only near the sea. here they are replaced by bananas, mango trees, pipals (ficus religiosa), fig trees, and thousands of other trees and shrubs, unknown to such outsiders as ourselves. the indian flora is too often slandered and misrepresented as being full of beautiful, but scentless, flowers. at some seasons this may be true enough, but, as long as jasmines, the various balsams, white tuberoses, and golden champa (champaka or frangipani) are in blossom, this statement is far from being true. the aroma of champa alone is so powerful as to make one almost giddy. for size, it is the king of flowering trees, and hundreds of them were in full bloom, just at this time of year, on mataran and khandala. we sat on the verandah, talking and enjoying the surrounding views, until well-nigh midnight. everything slept around us. khandala is nothing but a big village, situated on the flat top of one of the mountains of the sahiadra range, about , feet above the sea level. it is surrounded by isolated peaks, as strange in shape as any we have seen. one of them, straight before us, on the opposite side of the abyss, looked exactly like a long, one-storied building, with a flat roof and a battlemented parapet. the hindus assert that, somewhere about this hillock, there exists a secret entrance, leading into vast interior halls, in fact to a whole subterranean palace, and that there still exist people who possess the secret of this abode. a holy hermit, yogi, and magus, who had inhabited these caves for "many centuries," imparted this secret to sivaji, the celebrated leader of the mahratta armies. like tanhauser, in wagner's opera, the unconquerable sivaji spent seven years of his youth in this mysterious abode, and therein acquired his extraordinary strength and valour. sivaji is a kind of indian ilia moorometz, though his epoch is much nearer to our times. he was the hero and the king of the mahrattas in the seventeenth century, and the founder of their short-lived empire. it is to him that india owes the weakening, if not the entire destruction, of the mussulman yoke. no taller than an ordinary woman, and with the hand of a child, he was, nevertheless, possessed of wonderful strength, which, of course, his compatriots ascribed to sorcery. his sword is still preserved in a museum, and one cannot help wondering at its size and weight, and at the hilt, through which only a ten-year-old child could put his hand. the basis of this hero's fame is the fact that he, the son of a poor officer in the service of a mogul emperor, like another david, slew the mussulman goliath, the formidable afzul khan. it was not, however, with a sling that he killed him, he used in this combat the formidable mahratti weapon, vaghnakh, consisting of five long steel nails, as sharp as needles, and very strong. this weapon is worn on the fingers, and wrestlers use it to tear each other's flesh like wild animals. the deccan is full of legends about sivaji, and even the english historians mention him with respect. just as in the fable respecting charles v, one of the local indian traditions asserts that sivaji is not dead, but lives secreted in one of the sahiadra caves. when the fateful hour strikes (and according to the calculations of the astrologers the time is not far off) he will reappear, and will bring freedom to his beloved country. the learned and artful brahmans, those jesuits of india, profit by the profound superstition of the masses to extort wealth from them, sometimes to the last cow, the only food giver of a large family. in the following passage i give a curious example of this. at the end of july, , this mysterious document appeared in bombay. i translate literally, from the mahratti, the original having been translated into all the dialects of india, of which there are . "shri!" (an untranslatable greeting). "let it be known unto every one that this epistle, traced in the original in golden letters, came down from indra-loka (the heaven of indra), in the presence of holy brahmans, on the altar of the vishveshvara temple, which is in the sacred town of benares. "listen and remember, o tribes of hindustan, rajis-tan, punjab, etc., etc. on saturday, the second day of the first half of the month magha, , of shalivahan's era" ( a.d.), "the eleventh month of the hindus, during the ashwini nakshatra" (the first of the twenty-seven constellations on the moon's path), "when the sun enters the sign capricorn, and the time of the day will be near the constellation pisces, that is to say, exactly one hour and thirty-six minutes after sunrise, the hour of the end of the kali-yug will strike, and the much desired satya-yug will commence" (that is to say, the end of the maha-yug, the great cycle that embraces the four minor yugas). "this time satya-yug will last , years. during all this time a man's lifetime will be years. the days will become longer and will consist of twenty hours and forty-eight minutes, and the nights of thirteen hours and twelve minutes, that is to say, instead of twenty-four hours we shall have exactly thirty-four hours and one minute. the first day of satya-yug will be very important for us, because it is then that will appear to us our new king with white face and golden hair, who will come from the far north. he will become the autonomous lord of india. the maya of human unbelief, with all the heresies over which it presides, will be thrown down to patala" (sig-nifying at once hell and the antipodes), "and the maya of the righteous and pious will abide with them, and will help them to enjoy life in mretinloka" (our earth). "let it also be known to everyone that, for the dissemination of this divine document, every separate copy of it will be rewarded by the forgiveness of as many sins as are generally forgiven when a pious man sacrifices to a brahman one hundred cows. as for the disbelievers and the indifferent, they will be sent to naraka" (hell). "copied out and given, by the slave of vishnu, malau shriram, on saturday, the th day of the first half of shravan" (the fifth month of the hindu year), " , of shalivalian's era" (that is, th july, ). the further career of this ignorant and cunning epistle is not known to me. probably the police put a stop to its distribution; this only concerns the wise administrators. but it splendidly illustrates, from one side, the credulity of the populace, drowned in superstition, and from the other the unscrupulousness of the brahmans. concerning the word patala, which literally means the opposite side, a recent discovery of swami dayanand saraswati, whom i have already mentioned in the preceding letters, is interesting, especially if this discovery can be accepted by philologists, as the facts seem to promise. dayanand tries to show that the ancient aryans knew, and even visited, america, which in ancient mss. is called patala, and out of which popular fancy constructed, in the course of time, something like the greek hades. he supports his theory by many quotations from the oldest mss., especially from the legends about krishna and his favourite disciple arjuna. in the history of the latter it is mentioned that arjuna, one of the five pandavas, descendants of the moon dynasty, visited patala on his travels, and there married the widowed daughter of king nagual, called illupl. comparing the names of father and daughter we reach the following considerations, which speak strongly in favour of dayanand's supposition. ( ) nagual is the name by which the sorcerers of mexico, indians and aborigines of america, are still designated. like the assyrian and chaldean nargals, chiefs of the magi, the mexican nagual unites in his person the functions of priest and of sorcerer, being served in the latter capacity by a demon in the shape of some animal, generally a snake or a crocodile. these naguals are thought to be the descendants of nagua, the king of the snakes. abbe brasseur de bourbourg devotes a considerable amount of space to them in his book about mexico, and says that the naguals are servants of the evil one, who, in his turn, renders them but a temporary service. in sanskrit, likewise, snake is naga, and the "king of the nagas" plays an important part in the history of buddha; and in the puranas there exists a tradition that it was arjuna who introduced snake worship into patala. the coincidence, and the identity of the names are so striking that our scientists really ought to pay some attention to them. ( ) the name of arjuna's wife illupl is purely old mexican, and if we reject the hypothesis of swami daya-nand it will be perfectly impossible to explain the actual existence of this name in sanskrit manuscripts long before the christian era. of all ancient dialects and languages it is only in those of the american aborigines that you constantly meet with such combinations of consonants as pl, tl, etc. they are abundant especially in the language of the toltecs, or nahuatl, whereas, neither in sanskrit nor in ancient greek are they ever found at the end of a word. even the words atlas and atlantis seem to be foreign to the etymology of the european languages. wherever plato may have found them, it was not he who invented them. in the toltec language we find the root atl, which means water and war, and directly after america was discovered columbus found a town called atlan, at the entrance of the bay of uraga. it is now a poor fishing village called aclo. only in america does one find such names as itzcoatl, zempoaltecatl, and popocatepetl. to attempt to explain such coincidences by the theory of blind chance would be too much, consequently, as long as science does not seek to deny dayanand's hypothesis, which, as yet, it is unable to do, we think it reasonable to adopt it, be it only in order to follow out the axiom "one hypothesis is equal to another." amongst other things dayanand points out that the route that led arjuna to america five thousand years ago was by siberia and behring's straits. it was long past midnight, but we still sat listening to this legend and others of a similar kind. at length the innkeeper sent a servant to warn us of the dangers that threatened us if we lingered too long on the verandah on a moonlit night. the programme of these dangers was divided into three sections--snakes, beasts of prey, and dacoits. besides the cobra and the "rock-snake," the surrounding mountains are full of a kind of very small mountain snake, called furzen, the most dangerous of all. their poison kills with the swiftness of lightning. the moonlight attracts them, and whole parties of these uninvited guests crawl up to the verandahs of houses, in order to warm themselves. here they are more snug than on the wet ground. the verdant and perfumed abyss below our verandah happened, too, to be the favorite resort of tigers and leopards, who come thither to quench their thirst at the broad brook which runs along the bottom, and then wander until daybreak under the windows of the bungalow. lastly, there were the mad dacoits, whose dens are scattered in mountains inaccessible to the police, who often shoot europeans simply to afford themselves the pleasure of sending ad patres one of the hateful bellatis (foreigners). three days before our arrival the wife of a brahman disappeared, carried off by a tiger, and two favorite dogs of the commandant were killed by snakes. we declined to wait for further explanations, but hurried to our rooms. at daybreak we were to start for karli, six miles from this place. in the karli caves at five o'clock in the morning we had already arrived at the limit, not only of driveable, but, even, of rideable roads. our bullock-cart could go no further. the last half mile was nothing but a rough sea of stones. we had either to give up our enterprise, or to climb on all-fours up an almost perpendicular slope two hundred feet high. we were utterly at our wits' end, and meekly gazed at the historical mass before us, not knowing what to do next. almost at the summit of the mountain, under the overhanging rocks, were a dozen black openings. hundreds of pilgrims were crawling upwards, looking, in their holiday dresses, like so many green, pink, and blue ants. here, however, our faithful hindu friends came to our rescue. one of them, putting the palm of his hand to his mouth, produced a strident sound something between a shriek and a whistle. this signal was answered from above by an echo, and the next moment several half naked brahmans, hereditary watchmen of the temple, began to descend the rocks as swiftly and skillfully as wild cats. five minutes later they were with us, fastening round our bodies strong leathern straps, and rather dragging than leading us upwards. half an hour later, exhausted but perfectly safe, we stood before the porch of the chief temple, which until then had been hidden from us by giant trees and cactuses. this majestic entrance, resting on four massive pillars which form a quadrangle, is fifty-two feet wide and is covered with ancient moss and carvings. before it stands the "lion column," so-called from the four lions carved as large as nature, and seated back to back, at its base. over the principal entrance, its sides covered with colossal male and female figures, is a huge arch, in front of which three gigantic elephants are sculptured in relief, with heads and trunks that project from the wall. the shape of the temple is oval. it is feet long and forty-six feet wide. the central space is separated on each side from the aisles by forty-two pillars, which sustain the cupola-shaped ceiling. further on is an altar, which divides the first dome from a second one which rises over a small chamber, formerly used by the ancient aryan priests for an inner, secret altar. two side passages leading towards it come to a sudden end, which suggests that, once upon a time, either doors or wall were there which exist no longer. each of the forty-two pillars has a pedestal, an octagonal shaft, and a capital, described by fergusson as "of the most exquisite workmanship, representing two kneeling elephants surmounted by a god and a goddess." fergusson further says that this temple, or chaitya, is older and better preserved than any other in india, and may be assigned to a period about years b.c., because prinsep, who has read the inscription on the silastamba pillar, asserts that the lion pillar was the gift of ajmitra ukasa, son of saha ravisobhoti, and another inscription shows that the temple was visited by dathama hara, otherwise dathahamini, king of ceylon, in the twentieth year of his reign, that is to say, years before our era. for some reason or other, dr. stevenson points to seventy years b.c. as the date, asserting that karlen, or karli, was built by the emperor devobhuti, under the supervision of dhanu-kakata. but how can this be maintained in view of the above-mentioned perfectly authentic inscriptions? even fergusson, the celebrated defender of the egyptian antiquities and hostile critic of those of india, insists that karli belongs to the erections of the third century b.c., adding that "the disposition of the various parts of its architecture is identical with the architecture of the choirs of the gothic period, and the polygonal apsides of cathedrals." above the chief entrance is found a gallery, which reminds one of the choirs, where, in catholic churches, the organ is placed. besides the chief entrance there are two lateral entrances, leading to the aisles of the temple, and over the gallery there is a single spacious window in the shape of a horseshoe, so that the light falls on the daghopa (altar) entirely from above, leaving the aisles, sheltered by the pillars, in obscurity, which increases as you approach the further end of the building. to the eyes of a spectator standing at the entrance, the whole daghopa shines with light, and behind it is nothing but impenetrable darkness, where no profane footsteps were permitted to tread. a figure on the dag-hopa, from the summit of which "raja priests" used to pronounce verdicts to the people, is called dharma-raja, from dharma, the hindu minos. above the temple are two stories of caves, in each of which are wide open galleries formed by huge carved pillars, and from these galleries an opening leads to roomy cells and corridors, sometimes very long, but quite useless, as they invariably come to an abrupt termination at solid walls, without the trace of an issue of any kind. the guardians of the temple have either lost the secret of further caves, or conceal them jealously from europeans. besides the viharas already described, there are many others, scattered over the slope of the mountain. these temple-monasteries are all smaller than the first, but, according to the opinion of some archeologists, they are much older. to what century or epoch they belong is not known except to a few brahmans, who keep silence. generally speaking, the position of a european archaeologist in india is very sad. the masses, drowned in superstition, are utterly unable to be of any use to him, and the learned brahmans, initiated into the mysteries of secret libraries in pagodas, do all they can to prevent archeological research. however, after all that has happened, it would be unjust to blame the conduct of the brahmans in these matters. the bitter experience of many centuries has taught them that their only weapons are distrust and circumspection, without these their national history and the most sacred of their treasures would be irrevocably lost. political coups d'etat which have shaken their country to its foundation, mussulman invasions that proved so fatal to its welfare, the all-destructive fanaticism of mussulman vandals and of catholic padres, who are ready for anything in order to secure manuscripts and destroy them--all these form a good excuse for the action of the brahmans. however in spite of these manifold destructive tendencies, there exist in many places in india vast libraries capable of pouring a bright and new light, not only on the history of india itself, but also on the darkest problems of universal history. some of these libraries, filled with the most precious manuscripts, are in the possession of native princes and of pagodas attached to their territories, but the greater part is in the hands of the jainas (the oldest of hindu sects) and of the rajputana takurs, whose ancient hereditary castles are scattered all over rajistan, like so many eagles' nests on high rocks. the existence of the celebrated collections in jassulmer and patana is not unknown to the government, but they remain wholly beyond its reach. the manuscripts are written in an ancient and now completely forgotten language, intelligible only to the high priests and their initiated librarians. one thick folio is so sacred and inviolable that it rests on a heavy golden chain in the centre of the temple of chintamani in jassulmer, and taken down only to be dusted and rebound at the advent of each new pontiff. this is the work of somaditya suru acharya, a great priest of the pre-mussulman time, well-known in history. his mantle is still preserved in the temple, and forms the robe of initiation of every new high priest. colonel james tod, who spent so many years in india and gained the love of the people as well as of the brahmans--a most uncommon trait in the biography of any anglo-indian--has written the only true history of india, but even he was never allowed to touch this folio. natives commonly believe that he was offered initiation into the mysteries at the price of the adoption of their religion. being a devoted archaeologist he almost resolved to do so, but, having to return to england on account of his health, he left this world before he could return to his adopted country, and thus the enigma of this new book of the sibyl remains unsolved. the takurs of rajputana, who are said to possess some of the underground libraries, occupy in india position similar to the position of european feudal barons of the middle ages. nominally they are dependent on some of the native princes or on the british government; but de facto they are perfectly independent. their castles are built on high rocks, and besides the natural difficulty of entering them, their possessors are made doubly unreachable by the fact that long secret passages exist in every such castle, known only to the present owner and confided to his heir only at his death. we have visited two such underground halls, one of them big enough to contain a whole village. no torture would ever induce the owners to disclose the secret of their entrances, but the yogis and the initiated adepts come and go freely, entirely trusted by the takurs. a similar story is told concerning the libraries and subterranean passages of karli. as for the archaeologists, they are unable even to determine whether this temple was built by buddhists or brahmans. the huge daghopa that hides the holy of holies from the eyes of the worshippers is sheltered by a mushroom-shaped roof, and resembles a low minaret with a cupola. roofs of this description are called "umbrellas," and usually shelter the statues of buddha and of the chinese sages. but, on the other hand, the worshippers of shiva, who possess the temple nowadays, assert that this low building is nothing but a lingam of shiva. besides, the carvings of gods and goddesses cut out of the rock forbid one to think that the temple is the production of the buddhists. fergusson writes, "what is this monument of antiquity? does it belong to the hindus, or to the buddhists? has it been built upon plans drawn since the death of sakya sing, or does it belong to a more ancient religion?" that is the question. if fergusson, being bound by facts existing in inscriptions to acknowledge the antiquity of karli, will still persist in asserting that elephanta is of much later date, he will scarcely be able to solve this dilemma, because the two styles are exactly the same, and the carvings of the latter are still more magnificent. to ascribe the temples of elephanta and kanari to the buddhists, and to say that their respective periods correspond to the fourth and fifth centuries in the first case, and the tenth in the second, is to introduce into history a very strange and unfounded anachronism. after the first century a.d. there was not left a single influential buddhist in india. conquered and persecuted by the brahmans, they emigrated by thousands to ceylon and the trans-himalayan districts. after the death of king asoka, buddhism speedily broke down, and in a short time was entirely displaced by the theocratic brahmanism. fergusson's hypothesis that the followers of sakya sing, driven out by intolerance from the continent, probably sought shelter on the islands that surround bombay, would hardly sustain critical analysis. elephanta and salsetta are quite near to bombay, two and five miles distant respectively, and they are full of ancient hindu temples. is it credible, then, that the brahmans, at the culminating point of their power, just before the mussulman invasions, fanatical as they were, and mortal enemies of the buddhists, would allow these hated heretics to build temples within their possessions in general and on gharipuri in particular, this latter being an island consecrated to their hindu pagodas? it is not necessary to be either a specialist, an architect, or an eminent archeologist, in order to be convinced at the first glance that such temples as elephanta are the work of cyclopses, requiring centuries and not years for their construction. whereas in karli everything is built and carved after a perfect plan, in elephanta it seems as if thousands of different hands had wrought at different times, each following its own ideas and fashioning after its own device. all three caves are dug out of a hard porphyry rock. the first temple is practically a square, feet inches long and feet wide. it contains twenty-six thick pillars and sixteen pilasters. between some of them there is a distance of or feet, between others feet inches, feet / inches, and so on. the same lack of uniformity is found in the pedestals of the columns, the finish and style of which is constantly varying. why, then, should we not pay some attention to the explanations of the brahmans? they say that this temple was begun by the sons of pandu, after "the great war," mahabharata, and that after their death every true believer was bidden to continue the work according to his own notions. thus the temple was gradually built during three centuries. every one who wished to redeem his sins would bring his chisel and set to work. many were the members of royal families, and even kings, who personally took part in these labors. on the right hand side of the temple there is a corner stone, a lingam of shiva in his character of fructifying force, which is sheltered by a small square chapel with four doors. round this chapel are many colossal human figures. according to the brahmans, these are statues representing the royal sculptors themselves, they being doorkeepers of the holy of holies, hindus of the highest caste. each of the larger figures leans upon a dwarf representative of the lower castes, which have been promoted by the popular fancy to the rank of demons (pisachas). moreover, the temple is full of unskillful work. the brahmans hold that such a holy place could not be deserted if men of the preceding and present generations had not become unworthy of visiting it. as to kanari or kanhari, and some other cave temples, there is not the slightest doubt that they were all erected by buddhists. in some of them were found inscriptions in a perfect state of preservation, and their style does not remind one in the least of the symbolical buildings of the brahmans. archbishop heber thinks the kanari caves were built in the first or second centuries b.c. but elephanta is much older and must be classed among prehistoric monuments, that is to say, its date must be assigned to the epoch that immediately followed the "great war," mahabharata. unfortunately the date of this war is a point of disagreement between european scientists; the celebrated and learned dr. martin haug thinks it is almost antediluvian, while the no less celebrated and learned professor max muller places it as near the first century of our era as possible. the fair was at its culmination when, having finished visiting the cells, climbing over all the stories, and examining the celebrated "hall of wrestlers," we descended, not by way of the stairs, of which there is no trace to be found, but after the fashion of pails bringing water out of a deep well, that is to say, by the aid of ropes. a crowd of about three thousand persons had assembled from the surrounding villages and towns. women were there adorned from the waist down in brilliant-hued saris, with rings in their noses, their ears, their lips, and on all parts of their limbs that could hold a ring. their raven-black hair which was smoothly combed back, shone with cocoanut oil, and was adorned with crimson flowers, which are sacred to shiva and to bhavani, the feminine aspect of this god. before the temple there were rows of small shops and of tents, where could be bought all the requisites for the usual sacrifices--aromatic herbs, incense, sandal wood, rice, gulab, and the red powder with which the pilgrim sprinkles first the idol and then his own face. fakirs, bairagis, hosseins, the whole body of the mendicant brotherhood, was present among the crowd. wreathed in chaplets, with long uncombed hair twisted at the top of the head into a regular chignon, and with bearded faces, they presented a very funny likeness to naked apes. some of them were covered with wounds and bruises due to mortification of the flesh. we also saw some bunis, snake-charmers, with dozens of various snakes round their waists, necks, arms, and legs--models well worthy of the brush of a painter who intended to depict the image of a male fury. one jadugar was especially remarkable. his head was crowned with a turban of cobras. expanding their hoods and raising their leaf-like dark green heads, these cobras hissed furiously and so loudly that the sound was audible a hundred paces off. their "stings" quivered like lightning, and their small eyes glittered with anger at the approach of every passer-by. the expression, "the sting of a snake," is universal, but it does not describe accurately the process of inflicting a wound. the "sting" of a snake is perfectly harmless. to introduce the poison into the blood of a man, or of an animal, the snake must pierce the flesh with its fangs, not prick with its sting. the needle-like eye teeth of a cobra communicate with the poison gland, and if this gland is cut out the cobra will not live more than two days. accordingly, the supposition of some sceptics, that the bunis cut out this gland, is quite unfounded. the term "hissing" is also inaccurate when applied to cobras. they do not hiss. the noise they make is exactly like the death-rattle of a dying man. the whole body of a cobra is shaken by this loud and heavy growl. here we happened to be the witnesses of a fact which i relate exactly as it occurred, without indulging in explanations or hypotheses of any kind. i leave to naturalists the solution of the enigma. expecting to be well paid, the cobra-turbaned buni sent us word by a messenger boy that he would like very much to exhibit his powers of snake-charming. of course we were perfectly willing, but on condition that between us and his pupils there should be what mr. disraeli would call a "scientific frontier."* we selected a spot about fifteen paces from the magic circle. i will not describe minutely the tricks and wonders that we saw, but will proceed at once to the main fact. with the aid of a vaguda, a kind of musical pipe of bamboo, the buni caused all the snakes to fall into a sort of cataleptic sleep. the melody that he played, monotonous, low, and original to the last degree, nearly sent us to sleep ourselves. at all events we all grew extremely sleepy without any apparent cause. we were aroused from this half lethargy by our friend gulab-sing, who gathered a handful of a grass, perfectly unknown to us, and advised us to rub our temples and eyelids with it. then the buni produced from a dirty bag a kind of round stone, something like a fish's eye, or an onyx with a white spot in the centre, not bigger than a ten-kopek bit. he declared that anyone who bought that stone would be able to charm any cobra (it would produce no effect on snakes of other kinds) paralyzing the creature and then causing it to fall asleep. moreover, by his account, this stone is the only remedy for the bite of a cobra. you have only to place this talisman on the wound, where it will stick so firmly that it cannot be torn off until all the poison is absorbed into it, when it will fall off of itself, and all danger will be past. * written in . being aware that the government gladly offers any premium for the invention of a remedy for the bite of the cobra, we did not show any unreasonable interest on the appearance of this stone. in the meanwhile, the buni began to irritate his cobras. choosing a cobra eight feet long, he literally enraged it. twisting its tail round a tree, the cobra arose and hissed. the buni quietly let it bite his finger, on which we all saw drops of blood. a unanimous cry of horror arose in the crowd. but master buni stuck the stone on his finger and proceeded with his performance. "the poison gland of the snake has been cut out," remarked our new york colonel. "this is a mere farce." as if in answer to this remark, the buni seized the neck of the cobra, and, after a short struggle, fixed a match into its mouth, so that it remained open. then he brought the snake over and showed it to each of us separately, so that we all saw the death-giving gland in its mouth. but our colonel would not give up his first impression so easily. "the gland is in its place right enough," said he, "but how are we to know that it really does contain poison?" then a live hen was brought forward and, tying its legs together, the buni placed it beside the snake. but the latter would pay no attention at first to this new victim, but went on hissing at the buni, who teased and irritated it until at last it actually struck at the wretched bird. the hen made a weak attempt to cackle, then shuddered once or twice and became still. the death was instantaneous. facts will remain facts, the most exacting critic and disbeliever notwithstanding. this thought gives me courage to write what happened further. little by little the cobra grew so infuriated that it became evident the jadugar himself did not dare to approach it. as if glued to the trunk of the tree by its tail, the snake never ceased diving into space with its upper part and trying to bite everything. a few steps from us was somebody's dog. it seemed to attract the whole of the buni's attention for some time. sitting on his haunches, as far as possible from his raging pupil, he stared at the dog with motionless glassy eyes, and then began a scarcely audible song. the dog grew restless. putting his tail between his legs, he tried to escape, but remained, as if fastened to the ground. after a few seconds he crawled nearer and nearer to the buni, whining, but unable to tear his gaze from the charmer. i understood his object, and felt awfully sorry for the dog. but, to my horror, i suddenly felt that my tongue would not move, i was perfectly unable either to get up or even to raise my finger. happily this fiendish scene was not prolonged. as soon as the dog was near enough, the cobra bit him. the poor animal fell on his back, made a few convulsive movements with his legs, and shortly died. we could no longer doubt that there was poison in the gland. in the meanwhile the stone had dropped from the buni's finger and he approached to show us the healed member. we all saw the trace of the prick, a red spot not bigger than the head of an ordinary pin. next he made his snakes rise on their tails, and, holding the stone between his first finger and thumb, he proceeded to demonstrate its influence on the cobras. the nearer his hand approached to the head of the snake, the more the reptile's body recoiled. looking steadfastly at the stone they shivered, and, one by one, dropped as if paralyzed. the buni then made straight for our sceptical colonel, and made him an offer to try the experiment himself. we all protested vigorously, but he would not listen to us, and chose a cobra of a very considerable size. armed with the stone, the colonel bravely approached the snake. for a moment i positively felt petrified with fright. inflating its hood, the cobra made an attempt to fly at him, then suddenly stopped short, and, after a pause, began following with all its body the circular movements of the colonel's hand. when he put the stone quite close to the reptile's head, the snake staggered as if intoxicated, its hissing grew weak, its hood dropped helplessly on both sides of its neck, and its eyes closed. drooping lower and lower, the snake fell at last on the ground like a stick, and slept. only then did we breathe freely. taking the sorcerer aside we expressed our desire to buy the stone, to which he easily assented, and, to our great astonishment, asked for it only two rupees. this talisman became my own property and i still keep it. the buni asserts, and our hindu friends confirm the story, that it is not a stone but an excrescence. it is found in the mouth of one cobra in a hundred, between the bone of the upper jaw and the skin of the palate. this "stone" is not fastened to the skull, but hangs, wrapped in skin, from the palate, and so is very easily cut off; but after this operation the cobra is said to die. if we are to believe bishu nath, for that was our sorcerer's name, this excrescence confers upon the cobra who possesses it the rank of king over the rest of his kind. "such a cobra," said the buni, "is like a brahman, a dwija brahman amongst shudras, they all obey him. there exists, moreover, a poisonous toad that also, sometimes, possesses this stone, but its effect is much weaker. to destroy the effect of a cobra's poison you must apply the toad's stone not later than two minutes after the infliction of the wound; but the stone of a cobra is effectual to the last. its healing power is certain as long as the heart of the wounded man has not ceased to beat." bidding us good-bye, the buni advised us to keep the stone in a dry place and never to leave it near a dead body, also, to hide it during the sun and moon eclipses, "otherwise," said he, "it will lose all its power." in case we were bitten by a mad dog, he said, we were to put the stone into a glass of water and leave it there during the night, next morning the sufferer was to drink the water and then forget all danger. "he is a regular devil and not a man!" exclaimed our colonel, as soon as the buni had disappeared on his way to a shiva temple, where, by the way, we were not admitted. "as simple a mortal as you or i," remarked the rajput with a smile, "and, what is more, he is very ignorant. the truth is, he has been brought up in a shivaite pagoda, like all the real snake-charmers. shiva is the patron god of snakes, and the brahmans teach the bunis to produce all kinds of mesmeric tricks by empirical methods, never explaining to them the theoretical principles, but assuring them that shiva is behind every phenomenon. so that the bunis sincerely ascribe to their god the honor of their 'miracles."' "the government of india offers a reward for an antidote to the poison of the cobra. why then do the bunis not claim it, rather than let thousands of people die helpless?" "the brahmans would never suffer that. if the government took the trouble to examine carefully the statistics of deaths caused by snakes, it would be found that no hindu of the shivaite sect has ever died from the bite of a cobra. they let people of other sects die, but save the members of their own flock." "but did we not see how easily he parted with his secret, notwithstanding we were foreigners. why should not the english buy it as readily?" "because this secret is quite useless in the hands of europeans. the hindus do not try to conceal it, because they are perfectly certain that without their aid nobody can make any use of it. the stone will retain its wonderful power only when it is taken from a live cobra. in order to catch the snake without killing it, it must be cast into a lethargy, or, if you prefer the term, charmed. who is there among the foreigners who is able to do this? even amongst the hindus, you will not find a single individual in all india who possesses this ancient secret, unless he be a disciple of the shivaite brahmans. only brahmans of this sect possess a monopoly of the secret, and not all even of them, only those, in short, who belong to the pseudo-patanjali school, who are usually called bhuta ascetics. now there exist, scattered over the whole of india, only about half-a-dozen of their pagoda schools, and the inmates would rather part with their very lives than with their secret." "we have paid only two rupees for a secret which proved as strong in the colonel's hands as in the hands of the buni. is it then so difficult to procure a store of these stones?" our friend laughed. "in a few days," said he, "the talisman will lose all its healing powers in your inexperienced hands. this is the reason why he let it go at such a low price, which he is, probably, at this moment sacrificing before the altar of his deity. i guarantee you a week's activity for your purchase, but after that time it will only be fit to be thrown out of the window." we soon learned how true were these words. on the following day we came across a little girl, bitten by a green scorpion. she seemed to be in the last convulsions. no sooner had we applied the stone than the child seemed relieved, and, in an hour, she was gaily playing about, whereas, even in the case of the sting of a common black scorpion, the patient suffers for two weeks. but when, about ten days later, we tried the experiment of the stone upon a poor coolie, just bitten by a cobra, it would not even stick to the wound, and the poor wretch shortly expired. i do not take upon myself to offer, either a defence, or an explanation of the virtues of the "stone." i simply state the facts and leave the future career of the story to its own fate. the sceptics may deal with it as they will. yet i can easily find people in india who will bear witness to my accuracy. in this connection i was told a funny story. when dr. (now sir j.) fayrer, who lately published his thanatophidia, a book on the venomous snakes of india, a work well known throughout europe, he categorically stated in it his disbelief in the wondrous snake-charmers of india. however, about a fortnight or so after the book appeared amongst the anglo-indians, a cobra bit his own cook. a buni, who happened to pass by, readily offered to save the man's life. it stands to reason that the celebrated naturalist could not accept such an offer. nevertheless, major kelly and other officers urged him to permit the experiment. declaring that in spite of all, in less than an hour his cook would be no more, he gave his consent. but it happened that in less than an hour the cook was quietly preparing dinner in the kitchen, and, it is added, dr. fayrer seriously thought of throwing his book into the fire. the day grew dreadfully hot. we felt the heat of the rocks in spite of our thick-soled shoes. besides, the general curiosity aroused by our presence, and the unceremonious persecutions of the crowd, were becoming tiring. we resolved to "go home," that is to say, to return to the cool cave, six hundred paces from the temple, where we were to spend the evening and to sleep. we would wait no longer for our hindu companions, who had gone to see the fair, and so we started by ourselves.---- on approaching the entrance of the temple we were struck by the appearance of a young man, who stood apart from the crowd and was of an ideal beauty. he was a member of the sadhu sect, a "candidate for saintship," to use the expression of one of our party. the sadhus differ greatly from every other sect. they never appear unclothed, do not cover themselves with damp ashes, wear no painted signs on their faces, or foreheads, and do not worship idols. belonging to the adwaiti section of the vedantic school, they believe only in parabrahm (the great spirit). the young man looked quite decent in his light yellow costume, a kind of nightgown without sleeves. he had long hair, and his head was uncovered. his elbow rested on the back of a cow, which was itself well calculated to attract attention, for, in addition to her four perfectly shaped legs, she had a fifth growing out of her hump. this wonderful freak of nature used its fifth leg as if it were a hand and arm, hunting and killing tiresome flies, and scratching its head with the hoof. at first we thought it was a trick to attract attention, and even felt offended with the animal, as well as with its handsome owner, but, coming nearer, we saw that it was no trick, but an actual sport of mischievous nature. from the young man we learned that the cow had been presented to him by the maharaja holkar, and that her milk had been his only food during the last two years. sadhus are aspirants to the raj yoga, and, as i have said above, usually belong to the school of the vedanta. that is to say, they are disciples of initiates who have entirely resigned the life of the world, and lead a life of monastic chastity. between the sadhus and the shivaite bunis there exists a mortal enmity, which manifests itself by a silent contempt on the side of the sadhus, and on that of the bunis by constant attempts to sweep their rivals off the face of the earth. this antipathy is as marked as that between light and darkness, and reminds one of the dualism of the ahura-mazda and ahriman of the zoroastrians. masses of people look up to the first as to magi, sons of the sun and of the divine principle, while the latter are dreaded as dangerous sorcerers. having heard most wonderful accounts of the former, we were burning with anxiety to see some of the "miracles" ascribed to them by some even among the englishmen. we eagerly invited the sadhu to visit our vihara during the evening. but the handsome ascetic sternly refused, for the reason that we were staying within the temple of the idol-worshippers, the very air of which would prove antagonistic to him. we offered him money, but he would not touch it, and so we parted. a path, or rather a ledge cut along the perpendicular face of a rocky mass feet high, led from the chief temple to our vihara. a man needs good eyes, sure feet, and a very strong head to avoid sliding down the precipice at the first false step. any help would be quite out of the question, for, the ledge being only two feet wide, no one could walk side by side with another. we had to walk one by one, appealing for aid only to the whole of our personal courage. but the courage of many of us was gone on an unlimited furlough. the position of our american colonel was the worst, for he was very stout and short-sighted, which defects, taken together, caused him frequent vertigos. to keep up our spirits we indulged in a choral performance of the duet from norma, "moriam' insieme," holding each other's hands the while, to ensure our being spared by death or dying all four in company. but the colonel did not fail to frighten us nearly out of our lives. we were already half way up to the cave when he made a false step, staggered, lost hold of my hand, and rolled over the edge. we three, having to clutch the bushes and stones, were quite unable to help him. a unanimous cry of horror escaped us, but died away as we perceived that he had succeeded in clinging to the trunk of a small tree, which grew on the slope a few steps below us. fortunately, we knew that the colonel was good at athletics, and remarkably cool in danger. still the moment was a critical one. the slender stem of the tree might give way at any moment. our cries of distress were answered by the sudden appearance of the mysterious sadhu with his cow. they were quietly walking along about twenty feet below us, on such invisible projections of the rock that a child's foot could barely have found room to rest there, and they both traveled as calmly, and even carelessly, as if a comfortable causeway were beneath their feet, instead of a vertical rock. the sadhu called out to the colonel to hold on, and to us to keep quiet. he patted the neck of his monstrous cow, and untied the rope by which he was leading her. then, with both hands he turned her head in our direction, and clucking with his tongue, he cried "chal!" (go). with a few wild goat-like bounds the animal reached our path, and stood before us motion-less. a for the sadhu himself, his movements were as swift and as goat-like. in a moment he had reached the tree, tied the rope round the colonel's body, and put him on his legs again; then, rising higher, with one effort of his strong hand he hoisted him up to the path. our colonel was with us once more, rather pale, and with the loss of his pince-nez, but not of his presence of mind. an adventure that had threatened to become a tragedy ended in a farce. "what is to be done now?" was our unanimous inquiry. "we cannot let you go alone any further." "in a few moments it will be dark and we shall be lost," said mr. y----, the colonel's secretary. and, indeed, the sun was dipping below the horizon, and every moment was precious. in the meanwhile, the sadhu had fastened the rope round the cow's neck again and stood before us on the pathway, evidently not understanding a word of our conversation. his tall, slim figure seemed as if suspended in the air above the precipice. his long, black hair, floating in the breeze, alone showed that in him we beheld a living being and not a magnificent statue of bronze. forgetting our recent danger and our present awkward situation, miss x----, who was a born artist, exclaimed: "look at the majesty of that pure profile; observe the pose of that man. how beautiful are his outlines seen against the golden and blue sky. one would say, a greek adonis, not a hindu!" but the "adonis" in question put a sudden stop to her ecstasy. he glanced at miss x---- with half-pitying, half-kindly, laughing eyes, and said with his ringing voice in hindi-- "bara-sahib cannot go any further without the help of someone else's eyes. sahib's eyes are his enemies. let the sahib ride on my cow. she cannot stumble." "i! ride on a cow, and a five-legged one at that? never!" exclaimed the poor colonel, with such a helpless air, nevertheless, that we burst out laughing. "it will be better for sahib to sit on a cow than to lie on a chitta" (the pyre on which dead bodies are burned), remarked the sadhu with modest seriousness. "why call forth the hour which has not yet struck?" the colonel saw that argument was perfectly useless, and we succeeded in persuading him to follow the sadhu's advice, who carefully hoisted him on the cow's back, then, recommending him to hold on by the fifth leg, he led the way. we all followed to the best of our ability. in a few minutes more we were on the verandah of our vihara, where we found our hindu friends, who had arrived by another path. we eagerly related all our adventures, and then looked for the sadhu, but, in the meanwhile, he had disappeared together with his cow. "do not look for him, he is gone by a road known only to himself," remarked gulab-sing carelessly. "he knows you are sincere in your gratitude, but he would not take your money. he is a sadhu, not a buni," added he proudly. we remembered that it was reported this proud friend of ours also belonged to the sadhu sect. "who can tell," whispered the colonel in my ear, "whether these reports are mere gossip, or the truth?" sadhu-nanaka must not be confounded with guru-nanaka, a leader of the sikhs. the former are adwaitas, the latter monotheists. the adwaitas believe only in an impersonal deity named parabrahm. in the chief hall of the vihara was a life-sized statue of bhavani, the feminine aspect of shiva. from the bosom of this devaki streams forth the pure cold water of a mountain spring, which falls into a reservoir at her feet. around it lay heaps of sacrificial flowers, rice, betel leaves and incense. this hall was, in consequence, so damp that we preferred to spend the night on the verandah in the open air, hanging, as it were, between sky and earth, and lit from below by numerous fires kept burning all the night by gulab-sing's servants, to scare away wild beasts, and, from above, by the light of the full moon. a supper was arranged after the eastern fashion, on carpets spread upon the floor, and with thick banana leaves for plates and dishes. the noiselessly gliding steps of the servants, more silent than ghosts, their white muslins and red turbans, the limitless depths of space, lost in waves of moonlight, before us, and behind, the dark vaults of ancient caves, dug out by unknown races, in unknown times, in honor of an unknown, prehistoric religion--all these, our surroundings, transported us into a strange world, and into distant epochs far different from our own. we had before us representatives of five different peoples, five different types of costume, each quite unlike the others. all five are known to us in ethnography under the generic name of hindus. similarly eagles, condors, hawks, vultures, and owls are known to ornithology as "birds of prey," but the analogous differences are as great. each of these five companions, a rajput, a bengali, a madrasi, a sinhalese and a mahratti, is a descendant of a race, the origin of which european scientists have discussed for over half a century without coming to any agreement. rajputs are called hindus and are said to belong to the aryan race; but they call themselves suryavansa, that is to say, descendants of surya or the sun. the brahmans derive their origin from indu, the moon, and are called induvansa; indu, soma, or chandra, meaning moon in sanskrit. if the first aryans, appearing in the prologue of universal history, are brahmans, that is to say, the people who, according to max muller, having crossed the himalayas conquered the country of the five rivers, then the rajputs are no aryans; and if they are aryans they are not brahmans, as all their genealogies and sacred books (puranas) show that they are much older than the brahmans; and, in this case, moreover, the aryan tribes had an actual existence in other countries of our globe than the much renowned district of the oxus, the cradle of the germanic race, the ancestors of aryans and hindus, in the fancy of the scientist we have named and his german school. the "moon" line begins with pururavas (see the genealogical tree prepared by colonel tod from the ms. puranas in the oodeypore archives), that is to say, two thousand two hundred years before christ, and much later than ikshvaku, the patriarch of the suryavansa. the fourth son of pururavas, rech, stands at the head of the line of the moon-race, and only in the fifteenth generation after him appears harita, who founded the kanshikagotra, the brahman tribe. the rajputs hate the latter. they say the children of the sun and rama have nothing in common with the children of the moon and krishna. as for the bengalis, according to their traditions and history, they are aborigines. the madrasis and the sinhalese are dravidians. they have, in turn, been said to belong to the semites, the hamites, the aryans, and, lastly, they have been given up to the will of god, with the conclusion drawn that the sinhalese, at all events, must be mongolians of turanian origin. the mahrattis are aborigines of the west of india, as the bengalis are of, the east; but to what group of tribes belong these two nationalities no ethnographer can define, save perhaps a german. the traditions of the people themselves are generally denied, because they are not in harmony with foregone conclusions. the meaning of ancient manuscripts is disfigured, and, in fact, sacrificed to fiction, if only the latter proceeds from the mouth of some favorite oracle. the ignorant masses are often blamed and found to be guilty of superstition for creating idols in the spiritual world. is not, then, the educated man, the man who craves after knowledge, who is enlightened, still more inconsistent than these masses, when he deals with his favorite authorities? are not half a dozen laurel-crowned heads allowed by him to do whatever they like with facts, to draw their own conclusions, according to their own liking, and does he not stone every one who would dare to rise against the decisions of these quasi-infallible specialists, and brand him as an ignorant fool? let us remember the case in point of louis jacolliot, who spent twenty years in india, who actually knew the language and the country to perfection, and who, nevertheless, was rolled in the mud by max muller, whose foot never touched indian soil. the oldest peoples of europe are mere babes com-pared with the tribes of asia, and especially of india. and oh! how poor and insignificant are the genealogies of the oldest european families compared with those of some rajputs. in the opinion of colonel tod, who for over twenty years studied these genealogies on the spot, they are the completest and most trustworthy of the records of the peoples of antiquity. they date from , to , years b.c., and their authenticity may often be proved by reference to greek authors. after long and careful research and comparison with the text of the puranas, and various monumental inscriptions, colonel tod came to the conclusion that in the oodeypore archives (now hidden from public inspection), not to mention other sources, may be found a clue to the history of india in particular, and to universal ancient history in general. colonel tod advises the earnest seeker after this clue not to think, with some flippant archaeologists who are insufficiently acquainted with india, that the stories of rama, the mahabharata, krishna, and the five brothers pandu, are mere allegories. he affirms that he who seriously considers these legends will very soon become thoroughly convinced that all these so-called "fables" are founded on historical facts, by the actual existence of the descendants of the heroes, by tribes, ancient towns, and coins still extant; that to acquire the right to pronounce a final opinion one must read first the inscriptions on the inda-prestha pillars of purag and mevar, on the rocks of junagur, in bijoli, on aravuli and on all the ancient jaina temples scattered throughout india, where are to be found numerous inscriptions in a language utterly unknown, in comparison with which the hieroglyphs will seem a mere toy. yet, nevertheless, professor max muller, who, as already mentioned, was never in india, sits as a judge and corrects chronological tables as is his wont, and europe, taking his words for those of an oracle, endorses his decisions. et c'est ainsi que s'ecrit l'histoire. talking of the venerable german sanskritist's chronology, i cannot resist the desire to show, be it only to russia, on what a fragile basis are founded his scientific discussions, and how little he is to be trusted when he pronounces upon the antiquity of this or that manuscript. these pages are of a superficial and descriptive nature, and, as such, make no pretense to profound learning, so that what follows may seem incongruous. but it must be remembered that in russia, as elsewhere in europe, people estimate the value of this philological light by the points of exclamation lavished upon him by his admiring followers, and that no one reads the veda bhashaya of swami dayanand. it may even be that i shall not be far from the truth in saying that the very existence of this work is ignored, which may perhaps be a fortunate fact for the reputation of professor max muller. i shall be as brief as possible. when professor max muller states, in his sahitya-grantha, that the aryan tribe in india acquired the notion of god step by step and very slowly, he evidently wishes to prove that the vedas are far from being as old as is supposed by some of his colleagues. having presented, in due course, some more or less valuable evidence to prove the truth of this new theory, he ends with a fact which, in his opinion, is indisputable. he points to the word hiranya-garbha in the mantrams, which he translates by the word "gold," and adds that, as the part of the vedas called chanda appeared , years ago, the part called mantrams could not have been written earlier than , years ago. let me remind the reader that the vedas are divided into two parts: chandas--slokas, verses, etc.; and mantrams--prayers and rhythmical hymns, which are, at the same time, incantations used in white magic. professor max muller divides the mantram ("agnihi poorwebhihi," etc.) philologically and chronologically, and, finding in it the word hiranya-garbha, he denounces it as an anachronism. the ancients, he says, had no knowledge of gold, and, therefore, if gold is mentioned in this mantram it means that the mantram was composed at a comparatively modern epoch, and so on. but here the illustrious sanskritist is very much mistaken. swami dayanand and other pandits, who sometimes are far from being dayanand's allies, maintain that professor max muller has completely misunderstood the meaning of the term hiranya. originally it did not mean, and, when united to the word garbha, even now does not mean, gold. so all the professor's brilliant demonstrations are labor in vain. the word hiranya in this mantram must be translated "divine light"--mystically a symbol of knowledge; analogically the alchemists used the term "sublimated gold" for "light," and hoped to compose the objective metal out of its rays. the two words, hiranya-garbha, taken together, mean, literally, the "radiant bosom," and, when used in the vedas, designate the first principle, in whose bosom, like gold in the bosom of the earth, rests the light of divine knowledge and truth, the essence of the soul liberated from the sins of the world. in the mantrams, as in the chandas, one must always look for a double meaning: ( ) a metaphysical one, purely abstract, and ( ) one as purely physical; for everything existing upon the earth is closely bound to the spiritual world, from which it proceeds and by which it is reabsorbed. for instance indra, the god of thunder, surya, the sun-god, vayu, god of the wind, and agni, god of fire, all four depending on this first divine principle, expand, according to the mantram from hiranya-garbha, the radiant bosom. in this case the gods are the personifications of the forces of nature. but the initiated adepts of india understand very clearly that the god indra, for instance, is nothing more than a mere sound, born of the shock of electrical forces, or simply electricity itself. surya is not the god of the sun, but simply the centre of fire in our system, the essence whence come fire, warmth, light, and so on; the very thing, namely, which no european scientist, steering an even course between tyndall and schropfer, has, as yet, defined. this concealed meaning has totally escaped professor max muller's attention, and this is why, clinging to the dead letter, he never hesitates before cutting a gordian knot. how then can he be permitted to pronounce upon the antiquity of the vedas, when he is so far from the right understanding of the language of these ancient writings. the above is a resume of dayanand's argument, and to him the sanskritists must apply for further particulars, which they will certainly find in his rigvedadi bhashya bhoomika. in the cave, every one slept soundly round the fire except myself. none of my companions seemed to mind in the least either the hum of the thousand voices of the fair, or the prolonged, far-away roar of the tigers rising from the valley, or even the loud prayers of the pilgrims who passed to and fro all night long, never fearing to cross the steep passage which, even by daylight, caused us such perplexity. they came in parties of twos and threes, and sometimes there appeared a lonely unescorted woman. they could not reach the large vihara, because we occupied the verandah at its entrance, and so, after grumbling a little, they entered a small lateral cave something like a chapel, containing a statue of devaki-mata, above a tank full of water. each pilgrim prostrated himself for a time, then placed his offering at the feet of the goddess and bathed in the "holy waters of purification," or, at the least, sprinkled some water over his forehead, cheeks, and breast. lastly, retreating backwards, he knelt again at the door and disappeared in the darkness with a final invocation: "mata, maha mata!"--mother, o great mother! two of gulab-sing's servants, with traditional spears and shields of rhinoceros skin, who had been ordered to protect us from wild beasts, sat on the steps of the verandah. i was unable to sleep, and so watched with increasing curiosity everything that was going on. the takur, too, was sleepless. every time i raised my eyes, heavy with fatigue, the first object upon which they fell was the gigantic figure of our mysterious friend. having seated himself after the eastern fashion, with his feet drawn up and his arms round his knees, the rajput sat on a bench cut in the rock at one end of the verandah, gazing out into the silvery atmosphere. he was so near the abyss that the least incautious movement would expose him to great danger. but the granite goddess, bhavani herself, could not be more immovable. the light of the moon before him was so strong that the black shadow under the rock which sheltered him was doubly impenetrable, shrouding his face in absolute darkness. from time to time the flame of the sinking fires leaping up shed its hot reflection on the dark bronze face, enabling me to distinguish its sphinx-like lineaments and its shining eyes, as unmoving as the rest of the features. "what am i to think? is he simply sleeping, or is he in that strange state, that temporary annihilation of bodily life?... only this morning he was telling us how the initiate raj-yogis were able to plunge into this state at will... oh, if i could only go to sleep....." suddenly a loud prolonged hissing, quite close to my ear, made me start, trembling with indistinct reminiscences of cobras. the sound was strident and evidently came from under the hay upon which i rested. then it struck one! two! it was our american alarum-clock, which always traveled with me. i could not help laughing at myself, and, at the same time, feeling a little ashamed of my involuntary fright. but neither the hissing, nor the loud striking of the clock, nor my sudden movement, that made miss x---- raise her sleepy head, awakened gulab-sing, who still hung over the precipice. another half hour passed. the far-away roar of the festivity was still heard, but everything round me was calm and still. sleep fled further and further from my eyes. a fresh, strong wind arose, before the dawn, rustling the leaves and then shaking the tops of the trees that rose above the abyss. my attention became absorbed by the group of three rajputs before me--by the two shield bearers and their master. i cannot tell why i was specially attracted at this moment by the sight of the long hair of the servants, which was waving in the wind, though the place they occupied was comparatively sheltered. i turned my eyes upon their sahib, and the blood in my veins stood still. the veil of somebody's topi, which hung beside him, tied to a pillar, was simply whirling in the wind, while the hair of the sahib himself lay as still as if it had been glued to his shoulders, not a hair moved, nor a single fold of his light muslin garment. no statue could be more motionless. what is this then? i said to myself. is it delirium? is this a hallucination, or a wonderful inexplicable reality? i shut my eyes, telling myself i must look no longer. but a moment later i again looked up, startled by a crackling sound from above the steps. the long, dark silhouette of some animal appeared at the entrance, clearly outlined against the pale sky. i saw it in profile. its long tail was lashing to and fro. both the servants rose swiftly and noiselessly and turned their heads towards gulab-sing, as if asking for orders. but where was gulab-sing? in the place which, but a moment ago, he occupied, there was no one. there lay only the topi, torn from the pillar by the wind. i sprang up: a tremendous roar deafened me, filling the vihara, wakening the slumbering echoes, and resounding, like the softened rumbling of thunder, over all the borders of the precipice. good heavens! a tiger! before this thought had time to shape itself clearly in my mind, the sleepers sprang up and the men all seized their guns and revolvers, and then we heard the sound of crashing branches, and of something heavy sliding down into the precipice. the alarm was general. "what is the matter now?" said the calm voice of gulab-sing, and i again saw him on the stone bench. "why should you be so frightened?" "a tiger! was it not a tiger?" came in hasty, questioning tones from europeans and hindus. miss x---- trembled like one stricken with fever. "whether it was a tiger, or something else, matters very little to us now. whatever it was, it is, by this time, at the bottom of the abyss," answered the rajput yawning. "i wonder the government does not destroy all these horrid animals," sobbed poor miss x----, who evidently believed firmly in the omnipotence of her executive. "but how did you get rid of the 'striped one'?" insisted the colonel. "has anyone fired a shot?" "you europeans think that shooting is, if not the only, at least the best way to get rid of wild animals. we possess other means, which are sometimes more efficacious than guns," explained babu narendro-das sen. "wait until you come to bengal, there you will have many opportunities to make acquaintance with the tigers." it was now getting light, and gulab-sing proposed to us to descend and examine the rest of the caves and the ruins of a fortress before the day became too hot, so, at half-past three, we went by another and easier way to the valley, and, happily, this time we had no adventures. the mahratti did not accompany us. he disappeared without informing us whither he was going. we saw logarh, a fortress which was captured by sivaji from the moguls in , and the ruins of the hall, where the widow of nana farnavese, under the pretext of an english protectorate, became de facto the captive of general wellesley in , with a yearly pension of , rupees. we then started for the village of vargaon, once fortified and still very rich. we were to spend the hottest hours of the day there, from nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, and proceed afterwards to the historical caves of birsa and badjah, about three miles from karli. at about two p.m. when, in spite of the huge punkahs waving to and fro, we were grumbling at the heat, appeared our friend the mahratta brahman, whom we thought we had lost on the way. accompanied by half-a-dozen daknis (inhabitants of the dekhan plateau) he was slowly advancing, seated almost on the ears of his horse, which snorted and seemed very unwilling to move. when he reached the verandah and jumped down, we saw the reason of his disappearance. across the saddle was tied a huge tiger, whose tail dragged in the dust. there were traces of dark blood in his half opened mouth. he was taken from the horse and laid down by the doorstep. was it our visitor of the night before? i looked at gulab-sing. he lay on a rug in a corner, resting his head on his hand and reading. he knitted his brows slightly, but did not say a word. the brahman who had just brought the tiger was very silent too, watching over certain preparations, as if making ready for some solemnity. we soon learned that, in the eyes of a superstitious people, what was about to happen was a solemnity indeed. a bit of hair cut from the skin of a tiger that has been killed, neither by bullet, nor by knife, but by a "word," is considered the best of all talismans against his tribe. "this is a very rare opportunity," explained the mahratti. "it is very seldom that one meets with a man who possesses the word. yogis and sadhus do not generally kill wild animals, thinking it sinful to destroy any living creature, be it even a cobra or a tiger, so they simply keep out of the way of noxious animals. there exists only one brotherhood in india whose members possess all secrets, and from whom nothing in nature is concealed. here is the body of the tiger to testify that the animal was not killed with a weapon of any kind, but simply by the word of gulab-lal-sing. i found it, very easily, in the bushes exactly under our vihara, at the foot of the rock over which the tiger had rolled, already dead. tigers never make false steps. gulab-lal-sing, you are a raj-yogi, and i salute you!" added the proud brahman, kneeling before the takur. "do not use vain words, krishna rao!" interrupted gulab-sing. "get up; do not play the part of a shudra." "i obey you, sahib, but, forgive me, i trust my own judgment. no raj-yogi ever yet acknowledged his connection with the brotherhood, since the time mount abu came into existence." and he began distributing bits of hair taken from the dead animal. no one spoke, i gazed curiously at the group of my fellow-travelers. the colonel, president of our society, sat with downcast eyes, very pale. his secretary, mr. y----, lay on his back, smoking a cigar and looking straight above him, with no expression in his eyes. he silently accepted the hair and put it in his purse. the hindus stood round the tiger, and the sinhalese traced mysterious signs on its forehead. gulab-sing continued quietly reading his book.---- the birza cave, about six miles from vargaon, is constructed on the same plan as karli. the vault-like ceiling of the temple rests upon twenty-six pillars, eighteen feet high, and the portico on four, twenty-eight feet high; over the portico are carved groups of horses, oxen, and elephants, of the most exquisite beauty. the "hall of initiation" is a spacious, oval room, with pillars, and eleven very deep cells cut in the rock. the bajah caves are older and more beautiful. inscriptions may still be seen showing that all these temples were built by buddhists, or, rather, by jainas. modern buddhists believe in one buddha only, gautama, prince of kapilavastu (six centuries before christ) whereas the jainas recognize a buddha in each of their twenty-four divine teachers (tirthankaras) the last of whom was the guru (teacher) of gautama. this disagreement is very embarrassing when people try to conjecture the antiquity of this or that vihara or chaitya. the origin of the jaina sect is lost in the remotest, unfathomed antiquity, so the name of buddha, mentioned in the inscriptions, may be attributed to the last of the buddhas as easily as to the first, who lived (see tod's genealogy) a long time before , b.c. one of the inscriptions in the baira cave, for instance, in cuneiform characters, says: "from an ascetic in nassik to the one who is worthy, to the holy buddha, purified from sins, heavenly and great." this tends to convince scientists that the cave was cut out by buddhists. another inscription, in the same cave, but over an-other cell, contains the following: "an agreeable offering of a small gift to the moving force [life], to the mind principle [soul], the well-beloved material body, fruit of manu, priceless treasure, to the highest and here present, heavenly." of course the conclusion is drawn that the building does not belong to the buddhists, but to the brahmans, who believe in manu. here are two more inscriptions from bajah caves. "an agreeable gift of the symbol and vehicle of the purified saka-saka." "gift of the vehicle of radha [wife of krishna, symbol of perfection] to sugata who is gone for ever." sugata, again, is one of the names of buddha. a new contradiction! it was somewhere here, in the neighborhood of vargaon, that the mahrattis seized captain vaughan and his brother, who were hanged after the battle of khirki. next morning we drove to chinchor, or, as it is called here, chinchood. this place is celebrated in the annals of the dekkan. here one meets with a repetition in miniature of what takes place on a larger scale at l'hassa in tibet. as buddha incarnates in every new dalai-lama, so, here, gunpati (ganesha, the god of wisdom with the elephant's head) is allowed by his father shiva to incarnate in the eldest son of a certain brahman family. there is a splendid temple erected in his honor, where the avatars (incarnations) of gunpati have lived and received adoration for over two hundred years. this is how it happened. about years ago a poor brahman couple were promised, in sleep, by the god of wisdom that he would incarnate in their eldest son. the boy was named maroba (one of the god's titles) in honor of the deity. maroba grew up, married, and begot several sons, after which he was commanded by the god to relinquish the world and finish his days in the desert. there, during twenty-two years, according to the legend, maroba wrought miracles and his fame grew day by day. he lived in an impenetrable jungle, in a corner of the thick forest that covered chinchood in those days. gunpati appeared to him once more, and promised to incarnate in his descendants for seven generations. after this there was no limit to his miracles, so that the people began to worship him, and ended by building a splendid temple for him. at last maroba gave orders to the people to bury him alive, in a sitting posture, with an open book in his hands, and never to open his grave again under penalty of his wrath and maledictions. after the burial of maroba, gunpati incarnated in his first-born, who began a conjuring career in his turn. so that maroba-deo i, was replaced by chintaman-deo i. this latter god had eight wives and eight sons. the tricks of the eldest of these sons, narayan-deo i, became so celebrated that his fame reached the ears of the emperor alamgir. in order to test the extent of his "deification," alamgir sent him a piece of a cow's tail wrapped in rich stuffs and coverings. now, to touch the tail of a dead cow is the worst of all degradations for a hindu. on receiving it narayan sprinkled the parcel with water, and, when the stuffs were unfolded, there was found enclosed in them a nosegay of white syringa, instead of the ungodly tail. this transformation rejoiced the emperor so much that he presented the god with eight villages, to cover his private expenses. narayan's social position and property were inherited by chintaman-deo ii., whose heir was dharmadhar, and, lastly, narayan ii came into power. he drew down the malediction of gunpati by violating the grave of maroba. that is why his son, the last of the gods, is to die without issue. when we saw him he was an aged man, about ninety years old. he was seated on a kind of platform. his head shook and his eyes idiotically stared without seeing us, the result of his constant use of opium. on his neck, ears, and toes, shone precious stones, and all around were spread offerings. we had to take off our shoes before we were allowed to approach this half-ruined relic.---- on the evening of the same day we returned to bombay. two days later we were to start on our long journey to the north-west provinces, and our route promised to be very attractive. we were to see nassik, one of the few towns mentioned by greek historians, its caves, and the tower of rama; to visit allahabad, the ancient prayaga, the metropolis of the moon dynasty, built at the confluence of the ganges and jumna; benares, the town of five thousand temples and as many monkeys; cawnpur, notorious for the bloody revenge of nana sahib; the remains of the city of the sun, destroyed, according to the computations of colebrooke, six thousand years ago; agra and delhi; and then, having explored rajistan with its thousand takur castles, fortresses, ruins, and legends, we were to go to lahore, the metropolis of the punjab, and, lastly, to stay for a while in amritsar. there, in the golden temple, built in the centre of the "lake of immortality," was to be held the first meeting of the members of our society, brahmans, buddhists, sikhs, etc.--in a word, the representatives of the one thousand and one sects of india, who all sympathized, more or less, with the idea of the brotherhood of humanity of our theosophical society. vanished glories benares, prayaga (now allahabad), nassik, hurdwar, bhadrinath, matura--these were the sacred places of prehistoric india which we were to visit one after the other; but to visit them, not after the usual manner of tourists, a vol d'oiseau, with a cheap guide-book in our hands and a cicerone to weary our brains, and wear out our legs. we were well aware that all these ancient places are thronged with traditions and overgrown with the weeds of popular fancy, like ruins of ancient castles covered with ivy; that the original shape of the building is destroyed by the cold embrace of these parasitic plants, and that it is as difficult for the archaeologist to form an idea of the architecture of the once perfect edifice, judging only by the heaps of disfigured rubbish that cover the country, as for us to select from out the thick mass of legends good wheat from weeds. no guides and no cicerone could be of any use whatever to us. the only thing they could do would be to point out to us places where once there stood a fortress, a castle, a temple, a sacred grove, or a celebrated town, and then to repeat legends which came into existence only lately, under the mussulman rule. as to the undisguised truth, the original history of every interesting spot, we should have had to search for these by ourselves, assisted only by our own conjectures. modern india does not present a pale shadow of what it was in the pre-christian era, nor even of the hindostan of the days of akbar, shah-jehan and aurungzeb. the neighborhood of every town that has been shattered by many a war, and of every ruined hamlet, is covered with round reddish pebbles, as if with so many petrified tears of blood. but, in order to approach the iron gate of some ancient fortress, it is not over natural pebbles that it is necessary to walk, but over the broken fragments of some older granite remains, under which, very often, rest the ruins of a third town, still more ancient than the last. modern names have been given to them by mussulmans, who generally built their towns upon the remains of those they had just taken by assault. the names of the latter are sometimes mentioned in the legends, but the names of their predecessors had completely disappeared from the popular memory even before the mussulman invasion. will a time ever come for these secrets of the centuries to be revealed? knowing all this beforehand, we resolved not to lose patience, even though we had to devote whole years to explorations of the same places, in order to obtain better historical information, and facts less disfigured than those obtained by our predecessors, who had to be contented with a choice collection of naive lies, poured forth from the mouth of some frightened semi-savage, or some brahman, unwilling to speak and desirous of disguising the truth. as for ourselves, we were differently situated. we were helped by a whole society of educated hindus, who were as deeply interested in the same questions as ourselves. besides, we had a promise of the revelation of some secrets, and the accurate translation of some ancient chronicles, that had been preserved as if by a miracle. the history of india has long since faded from the memories of her sons, and is still a mystery to her conquerors. doubtless it still exists, though, perchance, only partly, in manuscripts that are jealously concealed from every european eye. this has been shown by some pregnant words, spoken by brahmans on their rare occasions of friendly expansiveness. thus, colonel tod, whom i have already quoted several times, is said to have been told by a mahant, the chief of an ancient pagoda-monastery: "sahib, you lose your time in vain researches. the bellati india [india of foreigners] is before you, but you will never see the gupta india [secret india]. we are the guardians of her mysteries, and would rather cut out each other's tongues than speak." yet, nevertheless, tod succeeded in learning a good deal. it must be borne in mind that no englishman has ever been loved so well by the natives as this old and courageous friend of the maharana of oodeypur, who, in his turn, was so friendly towards the natives that the humblest of them never saw a trace of contempt in his demeanour. he wrote before ethnology had reached its present stage of development, but his book is still an authority on everything concerning rajistan. though the author's opinion of his work was not very high, though he stated that "it is nothing but a conscientious collection of materials for a future historian," still in this book is to be found many a thing undreamed of by any british civil servant. "let our friends smile incredulously. let our enemies laugh at our pretensions to penetrate the world-mysteries of aryavarta," as a certain critic recently expressed himself. however pessimistic may be our critics' views, yet, even in the event of our conclusions not proving more trustworthy than those of fergusson, wilson, wheeler, and the rest of the archeologists and sanskritists who have written about india, still, i hope, they will not be less susceptible of proof. we are daily reminded that, like unreasonable children, we have undertaken a task before which archaeologists and historians, aided by all the influence and wealth of the government, have shrunk dismayed; that we have taken upon ourselves a work which has proved to be beyond the capacities of the royal asiatic society. let it be so. let everyone try to remember, as we ourselves remember, that not very long ago a poor hungarian, who not only had no means of any kind but was almost a beggar, traveled on foot to tibet through unknown and dangerous countries, led only by the love of learning and the eager wish to pour light on the historical origin of his nation. the result was that inexhaustible mines of literary treasures were discovered. philology, which till then had wandered in the egyptian darkness of etymological labyrinths, and was about to ask the sanction of the scientific world to one of the wildest of theories, suddenly stumbled on the clue of ariadne. philology discovered, at last, that the sanskrit language is, if not the forefather, at least--to use the language of max muller--"the elder brother" of all classical languages. thanks to the extraordinary zeal of alexander csoma de koros, tibet yielded a language the literature of which was totally unknown. he partly translated it and partly analyzed and explained it. his translations have shown the scientific world that ( ) the originals of the zend-avesta, the sacred scriptures of the sun-worshippers, of tripitaka, that of the buddhists, and of aytareya-brahmanam, that of the brahmans, were written in one and the same sanskrit language; ( ) that all these three languages--zend, nepalese, and the modern brahman sanskrit--are more or less dialects of the first; ( ) that old sanskrit is the origin of all the less ancient indo-european languages, as well as of the modern european tongues and dialects; ( ) that the three chief religions of heathendom--zoroastrianism, buddhism and brahmanism--are mere heresies of the monotheistic teachings of the vedas, which does not prevent them from being real ancient religions and not modern falsifications. the moral of all this is evident. a poor traveler, without either money or protection, succeeded in gaining admittance to the lamaseries of tibet and to the sacred literature of the isolated tribe which inhabits it, probably because he treated the mongolians and the tibetans as his brothers and not as an inferior race--a feat which has never been accomplished by generations of scientists. one cannot help feeling ashamed of humanity and science when one thinks that he whose labors first gave to science such precious results, he who was the first sower of such an abundant harvest, remained, almost until the day of his death, a poor and obscure worker. on his way from tibet he walked to calcutta without a penny in his pocket. at last csoma de koros became known, and his name began to be pronounced with honor and praise whilst he was dying in one of the poorest parts of calcutta. being already very ill, he wanted to get back to tibet, and started on foot again through sikkhim. he succumbed to his illness on the road and was buried in darhjeeling. it is needless to say we are fully aware that what we have undertaken is simply impossible within the limits of ordinary newspaper articles. all we hope to accomplish is to lay the foundation stone of an edifice, whose further progress must be entrusted to future generations. in order to combat successfully the theories worked out by two generations of orientalists, half a century of diligent labor would be required. and, in order to replace these theories with new ones, we must get new facts, facts founded not on the chronology and false evidence of scheming brahmans, whose interest is to feed the ignorance of european sanskritists (as, unfortunately, was the experience of lieutenant wilford and louis jacolliot), but on indubitable proofs that are to be found in inscriptions as yet undeciphered. the clue to these inscriptions europeans do not possess, because, as i have already stated, it is guarded in mss. which are as old as the inscriptions and which are almost out of reach. even in case our hopes are realized and we obtain this clue, a new difficulty will arise before us. we shall have to begin a systematic refutation, page by page, of many a volume of hypotheses published by the royal asiatic society. a work like this might be accomplished by dozens of tireless, never-resting sanskritists--a class which, even in india, is almost as rare as white elephants. thanks to private contributions and the zeal of some educated hindu patriots, two free classes of sanskrit and pali had already been opened--one in bombay by the theosophical society, the other in benares under the presidency of the learned rama-misra-shastri. in the present year, , the theosophical society has, altogether, fourteen schools in ceylon and india. our heads full of thoughts and plans of this kind, we, that is to say, one american, three europeans, and three natives, occupied a whole carriage of the great indian peninsular railroad on our way to nassik, one of the oldest towns in india, as i have already mentioned, and the most sacred of all in the eyes of the inhabitants of the western presidency. nassik borrowed its name from the sanskrit word "nasika," which means nose. an epic legend assures us that on this very spot lakshman, the eldest brother of the deified king rama, cut off the nose of the giantess sarpnaka, sister of ravana, who stole sita, the "helen of troy" of the hindus. the train stops six miles from the town, so that we had to finish our journey in six two-wheeled, gilded chariots, called ekkas, and drawn by bullocks. it was one o'clock a.m., but, in spite of the darkness of the hour, the horns of the animals were gilded and adorned with flowers, and brass bangles tinkled on their legs. our waylay through ravines overgrown with jungle, where, as our drivers hastened to inform us, tigers and other four-footed misanthropes of the forest played hide-and-seek. however, we had no opportunity of making the acquaintance of the tigers, but enjoyed instead a concert of a whole community of jackals. they followed us step by step, piercing our ears with shrieks, wild laughter and barking. these animals are annoying, but so cowardly that, though numerous enough to devour, not only all of us, but our gold-horned bullocks too, none of them dared to come nearer than the distance of a few steps. every time the long whip, our weapon against snakes, alighted on the back of one of them, the whole horde disappeared with unimaginable noise. nevertheless, the drivers did not dispense with a single one of their superstitious precautions against tigers. they chanted mantrams in unison, spread betel over the road as a token of their respect to the rajas of the forest, and, after every couplet, made the bullocks kneel and bow their heads in honor of the great gods. needless to say, the ekka, as light as a nutshell, threatened each time to fall with its passenger over the horns of the bullocks. we had to endure this agreeable way of traveling for five hours under a very dark sky. we reached the inn of the pilgrims in the morning at about six o'clock. the real cause of nassik's sacredness, however, is not the mutilated trunk of the giantess, but the situation of the town on the banks of the godavari, quite close to the sources of this river which, for some reason or other, are called by the natives ganga (ganges). it is to this magic name, probably, that the town owes its numerous magnificent temples, and the selectness of the brahmans who inhabit the banks of the river. twice a year pilgrims flock here to pray, and on these solemn occasions the number of the visitors exceeds that of the inhabitants, which is only , . very picturesque, but equally dirty, are the houses of the rich brahmans built on both sides of the way from the centre of the town to the godavari. a whole forest of narrow pyramidal temples spreads on both sides of the river. all these new pagodas are built on the ruins of those destroyed by the fanaticism of the mussulmans. a legend informs us that most of them rose from the ashes of the tail of the monkey god hanuman. retreating from lanka, where the wicked ravana, having anointed the brave hero's tail with some combustible stuff set it on fire, hanuman, with a single leap through the air, reached nassik, his fatherland. and here the noble adornment of the monkey's back, burned almost entirely during the voyage, crumbled into ashes, and from every sacred atom of these ashes, fallen to the ground, there rose a temple.... and, indeed, when seen from the mountain, these numberless pagodas, scattered in a most curious disorderly way, look as if they had really been thrown down by handfuls from the sky. not only the river banks and the surrounding country, but every little island, every rock peeping from the water is covered with temples. and not one of them is destitute of a legend of its own, different versions of which are told by every individual of the brahmanical community according to his own taste--of course in the hope of a suitable reward. here, as everywhere else in india, brahmans are divided into two sects--worshippers of shiva and worshippers of vishnu--and between the two there is rivalry and warfare centuries old. though the neighborhood of the godavari shines with a twofold fame derived from its being the birthplace of hanuman and the theatre of the first great deeds of rama, the incarnation of vishnu, it possesses as many temples dedicated to shiva as to vishnu. the material of which the pagodas consecrated to shiva are constructed is black basalt. and it is, exactly, the color of the material which is the apple of discord in this case. the black material is claimed by the vaishnavas as their own, it being of the same color as the burned tail of rama's ally. they try to prove that the shivaites have no right to it. from the first days of their rule the english inherited endless lawsuits between the fighting sectarians, cases decided in one law-court only to be transferred on appeal to another, and always having their origin in this ill-omened tail and its pretensions. this tail is a mysterious deus ex machina that directs all the thoughts of the nassik brahmans pro and contra. on the subject of this tail were written more reams of paper and petitions than in the quarrel about the goose between ivan ivanitch and ivan nikiphoritch; and more ink and bile were spilt than there was mud in mirgorod, since the creation of the universe. the pig that so happily decided the famous quarrel in gogol would be a priceless blessing to nassik, and the struggle for the tail. but unhappily even the "pig" if it hailed from "russia" would be of no avail in india; for the english would suspect it at once, and arrest it as a russian spy! rama's bathing place is shown in nassik. the ashes of pious brahmans are brought hither from distant parts to be thrown into the godavari, and so to mingle for ever with the sacred waters of ganges. in an ancient ms. there is a statement of one of rama's generals, who, somehow or other, is not mentioned in the ramayana. this statement points to the river godavari as the frontier between the kingdoms of rama, king of ayodya (oude), and of ravana, king of lanka (ceylon). legends and the poem of ramayana state that this was the spot where rama, while hunting, saw a beautiful antelope, and, intending to make a present to his beloved sita of its skin, entered the regions of his unknown neighbor. no doubt rama, ravana, and even hanuman, promoted, for some unexplained reason, to the rank of a monkey, are historical personages who once had a real existence. about fifty years ago it was vaguely suspected that the brahmans possessed priceless mss. it was reported that one of these mss. treats of the prehistoric epoch when the aryans first invaded the country, and began an endless war with the dark aborigines of southern india. but the religious fanaticism of the hindus never allowed the english government to verify these reports. the most interesting sights of nassik are its cave-temples, about five miles from the town. the day before we started thither, i certainly did not dream that a "tail" would have to play an important part in our visit to nassik, that, in this case, it would save me, if not from death, at least from disagreeable and perhaps dangerous bruises. this is how it happened. as the difficult task of ascending a steep mountain lay before us, we decided to hire elephants. the best couple in the town was brought before us. their owner assured us "that the prince of wales had ridden upon them and was very contented." to go there and back and have them in attendance the whole day--in fact the whole pleasure-trip--was to cost us two rupees for each elephant. our native friends, accustomed from infancy to this way of riding, were not long in getting on the back of their elephant. they covered him like flies, with no predilection for this or that spot of his vast back. they held on by all kinds of strings and ropes, more with their toes than their fingers, and, on the whole, presented a picture of contentment and comfort. we europeans had to use the lady elephant, as being the tamer of the two. on her back there were two little benches with sloping seats on both sides, and not the slightest prop for our backs. the wretched, undergrown youngsters seen in european circuses give no idea of the real size of this noble beast. the mahout, or driver, placed himself between the huge animal's ears whilst we gazed at the "perfected" seats ready for us with an uneasy feeling of distrust the mahout ordered his elephant to kneel, and it must be owned that in climbing on her back with the aid of a small ladder, i felt what the french call chair de poule. our she-elephant answered to the poetical name of "chanchuli peri," the active fairy, and really was the most obedient and the merriest of all the representatives of her tribe that i have ever seen. clinging to each other we at last gave the signal for departure, and the mahout goaded the right ear of the animal with an iron rod. first the elephant raised herself on her fore-legs, which movement tilted us all back, then she heavily rose on her hind ones, too, and we rolled forwards, threatening to upset the mahout. but this was not the end of our misfortunes. at the very first steps of peri we slipped about in all directions, like quivering fragments of blancmange. the journey came to a sudden pause. we were picked up in a hasty way, replaced on our respective seats, during which proceeding peri's trunk proved very active, and the journey continued. the very thought of the five miles before us filled us with horror, but we would not give up the excursion, and indignantly refused to be tied to our seats, as was suggested by our hindu companions, who could not suppress their merry laughter.... however, i bitterly repented this display of vanity. this unusual mode of locomotion was something incredibly fantastical, and, at the same time, ridiculous. a horse carrying our luggage trotted by peri's side, and looked, from our vast elevation, no bigger than a donkey. at every mighty step of peri we had to be prepared for all sorts of unexpected acrobatic feats, while jolted from one side to the other by her swinging gait. this experience, under the scorching sun, unavoidably induced a state of body and mind something between sea-sickness and a delirious nightmare. as a crown to our pleasures, when we began to ascend a tortuous little path over the stony slope of a deep ravine, our peri stumbled. this sudden shock caused me to lose my balance altogether. i sat on the hinder part of the elephant's back, in the place of honor, as it is esteemed, and, once thoroughly shaken, rolled down like a log. no doubt, next moment i should have found myself at the bottom of the ravine, with some more or less sad loss to my bodily constitution, if it had not been for the wonderful dexterity and instinct of the clever animal. having felt that something was wrong she twisted her tail round me, stopped instantaneously and began to kneel down carefully. but my natural weight was too much for the thin tail of this kind animal. peri did not lose hold of me, but, having at last knelt down, she moaned plaintively, though discreetly, thinking probably that she had nearly lost her tail through being so generous. the mahout hurried to my rescue and then examined the damaged tail of his animal. we now witnessed a scene that clearly showed us the coarse cunning, greediness and cowardice of a low-class hindu, of an outcast, as they are denominated here. the mahout very indifferently and composedly examined peri's tail, and even pulled it several times to make sure, and was already on the point of hoisting himself quietly into his usual place, when i had the unhappy thought of muttering something that expressed my regret and compassion. my words worked a miraculous transformation in the mahout's behavior. he threw himself on the ground, and rolled about like a demoniac, uttering horrible wild groans. sobbing and crying he kept on repeating that the mam-sahib had torn off his darling peri's tail, that peri was damaged for ever in everybody's estimation, that peri's husband, the proud airavati, lineal descendant of indra's own favourite elephant, having witnessed her shame, would renounce his spouse, and that she had better die.... yells and bitter tears were his only answer to all remonstrances of our companions. in vain we tried to persuade him that the "proud airavati" did not show the slightest disposition to be so cruel, in vain we pointed out to him that all this time both elephants stood quietly together, airavati even at this critical moment rubbing his trunk affectionately against peri's neck, and peri not looking in the least discomfited by the accident to her tail. all this was of no avail! our friend narayan lost his patience at last. he was a man of extraordinary muscular strength and took recourse to a last original means. with one hand he threw down a silver rupee, with the other he seized the mahout's muslin garment and hurled him after the coin. without giving a thought to his bleeding nose, the mahout jumped at the rupee with the greediness of a wild beast springing upon its prey. he prostrated himself in the dust before us repeatedly, with endless "salaams," instantly changing his deep sorrow into mad joy. he gave another pull at the unfortunate tail and gladly declared that, thanks to the "prayers of the sahib," it really was safe; to demonstrate which he hung on to it, till he was torn away and put back on his seat. "is it possible that a single, miserable rupee can have been the cause of all this?" we asked each other in utter bewilderment. "your astonishment is natural enough," answered the hindus. "we need not express how ashamed and how disgusted we all feel at this voluntary display of humiliation and greed. but do not forget that this wretch, who certainly has a wife and children, serves his employer for twelve rupees a year, instead of which he often gets nothing but a beating. remember also the long centuries of tyrannical treatment from brahmans, from fanatical mussulmans, who regard a hindu as nothing better than an unclean reptile, and, nowadays, from the average englishman, and maybe you will pity this wretched caricature of humanity." but the "caricature" in question evidently felt perfectly happy and not in the least conscious of a humiliation of any kind. sitting on the roomy forehead of his peri, he was telling her of his unexpected wealth, reminding her of her "divine" origin, and ordering her to salute the "sahibs" with her trunk. peri, whose spirits had been raised by the gift of a whole stick of sugar-cane from me, lifted her trunk backwards and playfully blew into our faces. on the threshold of the nassik caves we bid good-bye to the modern pigmy india, to the petty things of her everyday life, and to her humiliations. we re-entered the unknown world of india, the great and the mysterious. the main caves of nassik are excavated in a mountain bearing the name of pandu-lena, which points again to the undying, persistent, primaeval tradition that ascribes all such buildings to the five mythical (?) brothers of prehistoric times. the unanimous opinion of archaeologists esteems these caves more interesting and more important than all the caves of elephanta and karli put together. and, nevertheless--is it not strange?--with the exception of the learned dr. wilson, who, it may be, was a little too fond of forming hasty opinions, no archaeologist has, as yet, made so bold as to decide to what epoch they belong, by whom they were erected, and which of the three chief religions of antiquity was the one professed by their mysterious builders. it is evident, however, that those who wrought here did not all belong either to the same generation or to the same sect. the first thing which strikes the attention is the roughness of the primitive work, its huge dimensions, and the decline of the sculpture on the solid walls, whereas the sculpture and carvings of the six colossi which prop the chief cave on the second floor, are magnificently preserved and very elegant. this circumstance would lead one to think that the work was begun many centuries before it was finished. but when? one of the sanskrit inscriptions of a comparatively recent epoch (on the pedestal of one of the colossi) clearly points to b.c. as the year of the building. at all events, barth, stevenson, gibson, reeves, and some other scientists, who being westerns can have none of the prejudices proper to the native pundits, have formed this conjecture on the basis of some astronomical data. besides, the conjunction of the planets stated in the inscription leaves no doubt as to the dates, it must be either b.c., or of our era, or b.c., which last is impossible, because buddha and buddhist monasteries are mentioned in the inscription. i translate some of the most important sentences: "to the most perfect and the highest! may this be agreeable to him! the son of king kshaparata, lord of the kshatriya tribe and protector of people, the ruler of dinik, bright as the dawn, sacrifices a hundred thousand cows that graze on the river banasa, together with the river, and also the gift of gold by the builder of this holy shelter of gods, the place of the curbing of the brahmans' passions. there is no more desirable place than this place, neither in prabhasa, where accumulate hundreds of thousands of brahmans repeating the sacred verse, nor in the sacred city gaya, nor on the steep mountain near dashatura, nor on the serpents' field in govardhana, nor in the city pratisraya where stands the monastery of buddhists, nor even in the edifice erected by depana-kara on the shores of the fresh water [?] sea. this place, giving incomparable favors, is agreeable and useful in all respects to the spotted deerskin of an ascetic. a safe boat given also by him who built the gratuitous ferry daily transports to the well-guarded shore. by him also who built the house for travelers and the public fountain, a gilded lion was erected by the ever-assaulted gate of this govardhana, also another [lion] by the ferry-boat, and another by ramatirtha. various kinds of food will always be found here by the scanty flock; for this flock more than a hundred kinds of herbs and thousands of mountain roots are stored by this generous giver. in the same govardhana, in the luminous mountain, this second cave was dug by the order of the same beneficent person, during the very year when the sun, shukra and rahu, much respected by men, were in the full glory of their rise; it was in this year that the gifts were offered. lakshmi, indra and yama having blessed them, returned with shouts of triumph to their chariot, kept on the way free from obstacles [the sky], by the force of mantrams. when they [the gods] all left, poured a heavy shower....." and so on. rahn and kehetti are the fixed stars which form the head and the tail of the constellation of the dragon. shukra is venus. lakshmi, indra and yama stand here for the constellations of virgo, aquarius and taurus, which are subject and consecrated to these three among the twelve higher deities. the first caves are dugout in a conical hillock about two hundred and eighty feet from its base. in the chief of them stand three statues of buddha; in the lateral ones a lingam and two jaina idols. in the top cave there is a statue of dharma raja, or yudhshtira, the eldest of the pandus, who is worshipped in a temple erected in his honor, between pent and nassik. farther on is a whole labyrinth of cells, where buddhist hermits probably lived, a huge statue of buddha in a reclining posture. and another as big, but surrounded with pillars adorned with figures of various animals. styles, epochs and sects are here as much mixed up and entangled as different trees in a thick forest. it is very remarkable that almost all the cave temples of india are to be found inside conical rocks and mountains. it is as though the ancient builders looked for such natural pyramids purposely. i noticed this peculiarity in karli, and it is to be met with only in india. is it a mere coincidence, or is it one of the rules of the religious architecture of the remote past? and which are the imitators--the builders of the egyptian pyramids, or the unknown architects of the under ground caves of india? in pyramids as well as in caves everything seems to be calculated with geometrical exactitude. in neither case are the entrances ever at the bottom, but always at a certain distance from the ground. it is well known that nature does not imitate art, and, as a rule, art tries to copy certain forms of nature. and if, even in this similarity of the symbols of egypt and india, nothing is to be found but a coincidence, we shall have to own that coincidences are sometimes very extraordinary. egypt has borrowed many things from india. we must not forget that nothing is known about the origin of the pharaohs, and that the few facts science has succeeded in discovering, far from contradicting our theory, suggest india as the cradle of the egyptian race. in the days of remote antiquity kalluka-bhatta wrote: "during the reign of visvamitra, first king of the soma-vansha dynasty, after a five days battle, manu-vena, the heir of ancient kings, was abandoned by the brahmans, and emigrated with his army, and, having traversed arya and barria, at last reached the shores of masra....." arya is iran or persia; barria is an ancient name of arabia; masr or masra is a name of cairo, disfigured by mussulmans into misro and musr. kalluka-bhatta is an ancient writer. sanskritists still quarrel over his epoch, wavering between , years b.c., and the reign of the emperor akbar (the time of john the terrible and elizabeth of england). on the grounds of this uncertainty, the evidence of kalluka-bhatta might be objected to. in this case, there are the words of a modern historian, who has studied egypt all his life, not in berlin or london, like some other historians, but in egypt, deciphering the inscriptions of the oldest sarcophagi and papyri, that is to say, the words of henry brugsch-bey: "... i repeat, my firm conviction is that the egyptians came from asia long before the historical period, having traversed the suez promontory, that bridge of all the nations, and found a new fatherland on the banks of the nile." an inscription on a hammamat rock says that sankara, the last pharaoh of the eleventh dynasty, sent a nobleman to punt: "i was sent on a ship to punt, to bring back some aromatic gum, gathered by the princes of the red land." commenting on this inscription, brugsch-bey explains that "under the name of punt the ancient inhabitants of chemi meant a distant land surrounded by a great ocean, full of mountains and valleys, and rich in ebony and other expensive woods, in perfumes, precious stones and metals, in wild beasts, giraffes, leopards and big monkeys." the name of a monkey in egypt was kaff, or kafi, in hebrew koff, in sanskrit kapi. in the eyes of the ancient egyptians, this punt was a sacred land, because punt or panuter was "the original land of the gods, who left it under the leadership of a-mon [manu-vena of kalluka-bhatta?] hor and hator, and duly arrived in chemi." hanuman has a decided family likeness to the egyptian cynocephalus, and the emblem of osiris and shiva is the same. qui vivra verra! our return journey was very agreeable. we had adapted ourselves to peri's movements and felt ourselves first-rate jockeys. but for a whole week afterwards we could hardly walk. a city of the dead what would be your choice if you had to choose between being blind and being deaf? nine people out of ten answer this question by positively preferring deafness to blindness. and one whose good fortune it has been to contemplate, even for a moment, some fantastic fairy-like corner of india, this country of lace-like marble palaces and enchanting gardens, would willingly add to deafness, lameness of both legs, rather than lose such sights. we are told that saadi, the great poet, bitterly complained of his friends looking tired and indifferent while he praised the beauty and charm of his lady-love. "if the happiness of contemplating her wonderful beauty," remonstrated he, "was yours, as it is mine, you could not fail to understand my verses, which, alas, describe in such meagre and inadequate terms the rapturous feelings experienced by every one who sees her even from a distance!" i fully sympathize with the enamoured poet, but cannot condemn his friends who never saw his lady-love, and that is why i tremble lest my constant rhapsodies on india should bore my readers as much as saadi bored his friends. but what, i pray you, is the poor narrator to do, when new, undreamed-of charms are daily discovered in the lady-love in question? her darkest aspects, abject and immoral as they are, and sometimes of such a nature as to excite your horror--even these aspects are full of some wild poetry, of originality, which cannot be met with in any other country. it is not unusual for a european novice to shudder with disgust at some features of local everyday life; but at the same time these very sights attract and fascinate the attention like a horrible nightmare. we had plenty of these experiences whilst our ecole buissoniere lasted. we spent these days far from railways and from any other vestige of civilization. happily so, because european civilization does not suit india any better than a fashionable bonnet would suit a half naked peruvian maiden, a true "daughter of sun," of cortes' time. all the day long we wandered across rivers and jungles, passing villages and ruins of ancient fortresses, over local-board roads between nassik and jubblepore, traveling with the aid of bullock cars, elephants, horses, and very often being carried in palks. at nightfall we put up our tents and slept anywhere. these days offered us an opportunity of seeing that man decidedly can surmount trying and even dangerous conditions of climate, though, perhaps, in a passive way, by mere force of habit. in the afternoons, when we, white people, were very nearly fainting with the roasting heat, in spite of thick cork topis and such shelter as we could procure, and even our native companions had to use more than the usual supplies of muslin round their heads--the bengali babu traveled on horseback endless miles, under the vertical rays of the hot sun, bareheaded, protected only by his thick crop of hair. the sun has no influence whatever on bengali skulls. they are covered only on solemn occasions, in cases of weddings and great festivities. their turbans are useless adornments, like flowers in a european lady's hair. bengali babus are born clerks; they invade all railroad stations, post and telegraph offices and government law courts. wrapped in their white muslin toga virilis, their legs bare up to the knees, their heads unprotected, they proudly loaf on the platforms of railway stations, or at the entrances of their offices, casting contemptuous glances on the mahrattis, who dearly love their numerous rings and lovely earrings in the upper part of their right ears. bengalis, unlike the rest of the hindus, do not paint sectarian signs on their foreheads. the only trinket they do not completely despise is an expensive necklace; but even this is not common. contrary to all expectations, the mahrattis, with all their little effeminate ways, are the bravest tribe of india, gallant and experienced soldiers, a fact which has been demonstrated by centuries of fighting; but bengal has never as yet produced a single soldier out of its sixty-five million inhabitants. not a single bengali is to be found in the native regiments of the british army. this is a strange fact, which i refused to believe at first, but which has been confirmed by many english officers and by bengalis themselves. but with all this, they are far from being cowardly. their wealthy classes do lead a somewhat effeminate life, but their zemindars and peasantry are undoubtedly brave. disarmed by their present government, the bengali peasants go out to meet the tiger, which in their country is more ferocious than elsewhere, armed only with a club, as composedly as they used to go with rifles and swords. many out-of-the-way paths and groves which most probably had never before been trodden by a european foot, were visited by us during these short days. gulab-lal-sing was absent, but we were accompanied by a trusted servant of his, and the welcome we met with almost everywhere was certainly the result of the magic influence of his name. if the wretched, naked peasants shrank from us and shut their doors at our approach, the brahmans were as obliging as could be desired. the sights around kandesh, on the way to thalner and mhau, are very picturesque. but the effect is not entirely due to nature's beauty. art has a good deal to do with it, especially in mussulman cemeteries. now they are all more or less destroyed and deserted, owing to the increase of the hindu inhabitants around them, and to the mussulman princes, once the rightful lords of india, being expelled. mussulmans of the present day are badly off and have to put up with more humiliations than even the hindus. but still they have left many memorials behind them, and, amongst others, their cemeteries. the mussulman fidelity to the dead is a very touching feature of their character. their devotion to those that are gone is always more demonstrative than their affection for the living members of their families, and almost entirely concentrates itself on their last abodes. in proportion as their notions of paradise are coarse and material, the appearance of their cemeteries is poetical, especially in india. one may pleasantly spend whole hours in these shady, delightful gardens, amongst their white monuments crowned with turbans, covered with roses and jessamine and sheltered with rows of cypresses. we often stopped in such places to sleep and dine. a cemetery near thalner is especially attractive. out of several mausoleums in a good state of preservation the most magnificent is the monument of the family of kiladar, who was hanged on the city tower by the order of general hislop in . four other mausoleums attracted our attention and we learned that one of them is celebrated throughout india. it is a white marble octagon, covered from top to bottom with carving, the like of which could not be found even in pere la chaise. a persian inscription on its base records that it cost one hundred thousand rupees. by day, bathed in the hot rays of the sun, its tall minaret-like outline looks like a block of ice against the blue sky. by night, with the aid of the intense, phosphorescent moonlight proper to india, it is still more dazzling and poetical. the summit looks as if it were covered with freshly fallen snow-crystals. raising its slender profile above the dark background of bushes, it suggests some pure midnight apparition, soaring over this silent abode of destruction and lamenting what will never return. side by side with these cemeteries rise the hindu ghats, generally by the river bank. there really is something grand in the ritual of burning the dead. witnessing this ceremony the spectator is struck with the deep philosophy underlying the fundamental idea of this custom. in the course of an hour nothing remains of the body but a few handfuls of ashes. a professional brahman, like a priest of death, scatters these ashes to the winds over a river. the ashes of what once lived and felt, loved and hated, rejoiced and wept, are thus given back again to the four elements: to earth, which fed it during such a long time and out of which it grew and developed; to fire, emblem of purity, that has just devoured the body in order that the spirit may be rid of everything impure, and may freely gravitate to the new sphere of posthumous existence, where every sin is a stumbling block on the way to "moksha," or infinite bliss; to air, which it inhaled and through which it lived, and to water, which purified it physically and spiritually, and is now to receive its ashes into her pure bosom. the adjective "pure" must be understood in the figurative sense of the mantram. generally speaking, the rivers of india, beginning with the thrice sacred ganges, are dreadfully dirty, especially near villages and towns. in these rivers about two hundred millions of people daily cleanse themselves from the tropical perspiration and dirt. the corpses of those who are not worth burning are thrown in the same rivers, and their number is great, because it includes all shudras, pariahs, and various other outcasts, as well as brahman children under three years of age. only rich and high-born people are buried pompously. it is for them that the sandal-wood fires are lit after sunset; it is for them that mantrams are chanted, and for them that the gods are invoked. but shudras must not listen on any account to the divine words dictated at the beginning of the world by the four rishis to veda vyasa, the great theologian of aryavarta. no fires for them, no prayers. as during his life a shudra never approaches a temple nearer than seven steps, so even after death he cannot be put on the same level with the "twice-born." brightly burn the fires, extending like a fiery serpent along the river. the dark outlines of strange, wildly-fantastical figures silently move amongst the flames. sometimes they raise their arms towards the sky, as if in a prayer, sometimes they add fuel to the fires and poke them with long iron pitchforks. the dying flames rise high, creeping and dancing, sputtering with melted human fat and shooting towards the sky whole showers of golden sparks, which are instantly lost in the clouds of black smoke. this on the right side of the river. let us now see what is going on on the left. in the early hours of the morning, when the red fires, the black clouds of miasmas, and the thin figures of the fakirs grow dim and vanish little by little, when the smell of burned flesh is blown away by the fresh wind which rises at the approach of the dawn, when, in a word, the right side of the river with its ghotas plunges into stillness and silence, to be reawakened when the evening comes, processions of a different kind appear on the left bank. we see groups of hindu men and women in sad, silent trains. they approach the river quietly. they do not cry, and have no rituals to perform. we see two men carrying something long and thin, wrapped in an old red rug. holding it by the head and feet they swing it into the dirty, yellowish waves of the river. the shock is so violent that the red rug flies open and we behold the face of a young woman tinged with dark green, who quickly disappears in the river. further on another group; an old man and two young women. one of them, a little girl of ten, small, thin, hardly fully developed, sobs bitterly. she is the mother of a stillborn child, whose body is to be thrown in the river. her weak voice monotonously resounds over the shore, and her trembling hands are not strong enough to lift the poor little corpse that is more like a tiny brown kitten than a human being. the old man tries to console her, and, taking the body in his own hands, enters the water and throws it right in the middle. after him both the women get into the river, and, having plunged seven times to purify themselves from the touch of a dead body, they return home, their clothes dripping with wet. in the meanwhile vultures, crows and other birds of prey gather in thick clouds and considerably retard the progress of the bodies down the river. occasionally some half-stripped skeleton is caught by the reeds, and stranded there helplessly for weeks, until an outcast, whose sad duty it is to busy himself all his life long with such unclean work, takes notice of it, and catching it by the ribs with his long hook, restores it to its highway towards the ocean. but let us leave the river bank, which is unbearably hot in spite of the early hour. let us bid good-bye to the watery cemetery of the poor. disgusting and heart-rending are such sights in the eyes of a european! and unconsciously we allow the light wings of reverie to transport us to the far north, to the peaceful village cemeteries where there are no marble monuments crowned with turbans, no sandal-wood fires, no dirty rivers to serve the purpose of a last resting place, but where humble wooden crosses stand in rows, sheltered by old birches. how peacefully our dead repose under the rich green grass! none of them ever saw these gigantic palms, sumptuous palaces and pagodas covered with gold. but on their poor graves grow violets and lilies of the valley, and in the spring evenings nightingales sing to them in the old birch-trees. no nightingales ever sing for me, either in the neighboring groves, or in my own heart. the latter least of all.---- let us stroll along this wall of reddish stone. it will lead us to a fortress once celebrated and drenched with blood, now harmless and half ruined, like many another indian fortress. flocks of green parrots, startled by our approach, fly from under every cavity of the old wall, their wings shining in the sun like so many flying emeralds. this territory is accursed by englishmen. this is chandvad, where, during the sepoy mutiny, the bhils streamed from their ambuscades like a mighty mountain torrent, and cut many an english throat. tatva, an ancient hindu book, treating of the geography of the times of king asoka ( - b.c.), teaches us that the mahratti territory spreads up to the wall of chandvad or chandor, and that the kandesh country begins on the other side of the river. but english people do not believe in tatva or in any other authority and want us to learn that kandesh begins right at the foot of chandor hillocks.---- twelve miles south-east from chandvad there is a whole town of subterranean temples, known under the name of enkay-tenkay. here, again, the entrance is a hundred feet from the base, and the hill is pyramidal. i must not attempt to give a full description of these temples, as this subject must be worked out in a way quite impossible in a newspaper article. so i shall only note that here all the statues, idols, and carvings are ascribed to buddhist ascetics of the first centuries after the death of buddha. i wish i could content myself with this statement. but, unfortunately, messieurs les archeologues meet here with an unexpected difficulty, and a more serious one than all the difficulties brought on them by the inconsistencies of all other temples put together. in these temples there are more idols designated buddhas than anywhere else. they cover the main entrance, sit in thick rows along the balconies, occupy the inner walls of the cells, watch the entrances of all the doors like monster giants, and two of them sit in the chief tank, where spring water washes them century after century without any harm to their granite bodies. some of these buddhas are decently clad, with pyramidal pagodas as their head gear; others are naked; some sit, others stand; some are real colossi, some tiny, some of middle size. however, all this would not matter; we may go so far as to overlook the fact of gautama's or siddhartha-buddha's reform consisting precisely in his earnest desire to tear up by the roots the brahmanical idol-worship. though, of course, we cannot help remembering that his religion remained pure from idol-worship of any kind during centuries, until the lamas of tibet, the chinese, the burmese, and the siamese taking it into their lands disfigured it, and spoilt it with heresies. we cannot forget that, persecuted by conquer-ing brahmans, and expelled from india, it found, at last, a shelter in ceylon where it still flourishes like the legendary aloe, which is said to blossom once in its lifetime and then to die, as the root is killed by the exuberance of blossom, and the seeds cannot produce anything but weeds. all this we may overlook, as i said before. but the difficulty of the archaeologists still exists, if not in the fact of idols being ascribed to early buddhists, then in the physiognomies, in the type of all these enkay-tenkay buddhas. they all, from the tiniest to the hugest, are negroes, with flat noses, thick lips, forty five degrees of the facial angle, and curly hair! there is not the slightest likeness between these negro faces and any of the siamese or tibetan buddhas, which all have purely mongolian features and perfectly straight hair. this unexpected african type, unheard of in india, upsets the antiquarians entirely. this is why the archaeologists avoid mentioning these caves. enkay-tenkay is a worse difficulty for them than even nassik; they find it as hard to conquer as the persians found thermopylae. we passed by maleganva and chikalval, where we examined an exceedingly curious ancient temple of the jainas. no cement was used in the building of its outer walls, they consist entirely of square stones, which are so well wrought and so closely joined that the blade of the thinnest knife cannot be pushed between two of them; the interior of the temple is richly decorated. on our way back we did not stop in thalner, but went straight on to ghara. there we had to hire elephants again to visit the splendid ruins of mandu, once a strongly fortified town, about twenty miles due north east of this place. this time we got there speedily and safely. i mention this place because some time later i witnessed in its vicinity a most curious sight, offered by the branch of the numerous indian rites, which is generally called "devil worship." mandu is situated on the ridge of the vindhya mountains, about two thousand feet above the surface of the sea. according to malcolm's statement, this town was built in a.d. , and for a long time was the capital of the hindu rajas of dhara. the historian ferishtah points to mandu as the residence of dilivan-khan-ghuri, the first king of malwa, who flourished in - . in the town was taken by bahadur-shah, king of gujerat, but in akbar won this town back, and a marble slab over the town gate still bears his name and the date of his visit. on entering this vast city in its present state of solitude (the natives call it the "dead town") we all experienced a peculiar feeling, not unlike the sensation of a man who enters pompeii for the first time. everything shows that mandu was once one of the wealthiest towns of india. the town wall is thirty-seven miles long. streets ran whole miles, on their sides stand ruined palaces, and marble pillars lie on the ground. black excavations of the subterranean halls, in the coolness of which rich ladies spent the hottest hours of the day, peer from under dilapidated granite walls. further on are broken stairs, dry tanks, waterless fountains, endless empty yards, marble platforms, and disfigured arches of majestic porches. all this is overgrown with creepers and shrubs, hiding the dens of wild beasts. here and there a well-preserved wall of some palace rises high above the general wreck, its empty windows fringed with parasitic plants blinking and staring at us like sightless eyes, protesting against troublesome intruders. and still further, in the very centre of the ruins, the heart of the dead town sends forth a whole crop of broken cypresses, an untrimmed grove on the place where heaved once so many breasts and clamoured so many passions. in this town was called shadiabad, the abode of happiness. the franciscan missionaries, adolf aquaviva, antario de moncerotti, and others, who came here in that very year as an embassy from goa to seek various privileges from the mogul government, described it over and over again. at this epoch it was one of the greatest cities of the world, whose magnificent streets and luxurious ways used to astonish the most pompous courts of india. it seems almost incredible that in such a short period nothing should remain of this town but the heaps of rubbish, amongst which we could hardly find room enough for our tent. at last we decided to pitch it in the only building which remained in a tolerable state of preservation, in yami-masjid, the cathedral-mosque, on a granite platform about twenty-five steps higher than the square. the stairs, constructed of pure marble like the greater part of the town buildings, are broad and almost untouched by time, but the roof has entirely disappeared, and so we were obliged to put up with the stars for a canopy. all round this building runs a low gallery supported by several rows of thick pillars. from a distance it reminds one, in spite of its being somewhat clumsy and lacking in proportion, of the acropolis of athens. from the stairs, where we rested for a while, there was a view of the mausoleum of gushanga-guri, king of malwa, in whose reign the town was at the culmination of its brilliancy and glory. it is a massive, majestic, white marble edifice, with a sheltered peristyle and finely carved pillars. this peristyle once led straight to the palace, but now it is surrounded with a deep ravine, full of broken stones and overgrown with cacti. the interior of the mausoleum is covered with golden lettering of inscriptions from the koran, and the sarcophagus of the sultan is placed in the middle. close by it stands the palace of baz-bahadur, all broken to pieces--nothing now but a heap of dust covered with trees. we spent the whole day visiting these sad remains, and returned to our sheltering place a little before sunset, exhausted with hunger and thirst, but triumphantly carrying on our sticks three huge snakes, killed on our way home. tea and supper were waiting for us. to our great astonishment we found visitors in the tent. the patel of the neighboring village--something between a tax-collector and a judge--and two zemindars (land owners) rode over to present us their respects and to invite us and our hindu friends, some of whom they had known previously, to accompany them to their houses. on hearing that we intended to spend the night in the "dead town" they grew awfully indignant. they assured us it was highly dangerous and utterly impossible. two hours later hyenas, tigers, and other beasts of prey were sure to come out from under every bush and every ruined wall, without mentioning thousands of jackals and wild cats. our elephants would not stay, and if they did stay no doubt they would be devoured. we ought to leave the ruins as quickly as possible and go with them to the nearest village, which would not take us more than half an hour. in the village everything had been prepared for us, and our friend the babu was already there, and getting impatient at our delay. only on hearing this did we become aware that our bareheaded and cautious friend was conspicuous by his absence. probably he had left some time ago, without consulting us, and made straight to the village where he evidently had friends. sending for us was a mere trick of his. but the evening was so sweet, and we felt so comfortable, that the idea of upsetting all our plans for the morning was not at all attractive. besides, it seemed quite ridiculous to think that the ruins, amongst which we had wandered several hours without meeting anything more dangerous than a snake, swarmed with wild animals. so we smiled and returned thanks, but would not accept the invitation. "but you positively must not dare to stay here," insisted the fat patel. "in case of accident, i shall be responsible for you to the government. is it possible you do not dread a sleepless night spent in fighting jackals, if not something worse? you do not believe that you are surrounded with wild animals..... it is true they are invisible until sunset, but nevertheless they are dangerous. if you do not believe us, believe the instinct of your elephants, who are as brave as you, but a little more reasonable. just look at them!" we looked. truly, our grave, philosophic-looking elephants behaved very strangely at this moment. their lifted trunks looked like huge points of interrogation. they snorted and stamped restively. in another minute one of them tore the thick rope, with which he was tied to a broken pillar, made a sudden volte-face with all his heavy body, and stood against the wind, sniffing the air. evidently he perceived some dangerous animal in the neighborhood. the colonel stared at him through his spectacles and whistled very meaningly. "well, well," remarked he, "what shall we do if tigers really assault us?" "what shall we do indeed?" was my thought. "takur gulab-lal-sing is not here to protect us." our hindu companions sat on the carpet after their oriental fashion, quietly chewing betel. on being asked their opinion, they said they would not interfere with our decision, and were ready to do exactly as we liked. but as for the european portion of our party, there was no use concealing the fact that we were frightened, and we speedily prepared to start. five minutes later we mounted the elephants, and, in a quarter of an hour, just when the sun disappeared behind the mountain and heavy darkness instantaneously fell, we passed the gate of akbar and descended into the valley. we were hardly a quarter of a mile from our abandoned camping place when the cypress grove resounded with shrieking howls of jackals, followed by a well-known mighty roar. there was no longer any possibility of doubting. the tigers were disappointed at our escape. their discontentment shook the very air, and cold perspiration stood on our brows. our elephant sprang forward, upsetting the order of our procession and threatening to crush the horses and their riders before us. we ourselves, however, were out of danger. we sat in a strong howdah, locked as in a dungeon. "it is useless to deny that we have had a narrow escape!" remarked the colonel, looking out of the window at some twenty servants of the patel, who were busily lighting torches. brahmanic hospitalities in an hour's time we stopped at the gate of a large bungalow, and were welcomed by the beaming face of our bareheaded bengali. when we were all safely gathered on the verandah, he explained to us that, knowing beforehand that our "american pigheadedness" would not listen to any warning, he had dodged up this little scheme of his own and was very glad he had been successful. "now let us go and wash our hands, and then to supper. and," he added, addressing me, "was it not your wish to be present at a real hindu meal? this is your opportunity. our host is a brahman, and you are the first europeans who ever entered the part of his house inhabited by the family."---- who amongst europeans ever dreamed of a country where every step, and the least action of everyday life, especially of the family life, is controlled by religious rites and cannot be performed except according to a certain programme? india is this country. in india all the important incidents of a man's life, such as birth, reaching certain periods of a child's life, marriage, fatherhood, old age and death, as well as all the physical and physiological functions of everyday routine, like morning ablutions, dressing, eating, et tout ce qui s'en suit, from a man's first hour to his last sigh, everything must be performed according to a certain brahmanical ritual, on penalty of expulsion from his caste. the brahmans may be compared to the musicians of an orchestra in which the different musical instruments are the numerous sects of their country. they are all of a different shape and of a different timbre; but still every one of them obeys the same leader of the band. however widely the sects may differ in the interpretation of their sacred books, however hostile they may be to each other, striving to put forward their particular deity, every one of them, obeying blindly the ancient custom, must follow like musicians the same directing wand, the laws of manu. this is the point where they all meet and form a unanimous, single-minded community, a strongly united mass. and woe to the one who breaks the symphony by a single discordant note! the elders and the caste or sub-caste councils (of these there are any number), whose members hold office for life, are stern rulers. there is no appeal against their decisions, and this is why expulsion from the caste is a calamity, entailing truly formidable consequences. the excommunicated member is worse off than a leper, the solidarity of the castes in this respect being something phenomenal. the only thing that can bear any comparison with it is the solidarity of the disciples of loyola. if members of two different castes, united by the sincerest feelings of respect and friendship, may not intermarry, may not dine together, are forbidden to accept a glass of water from each other, or to offer each other a hookah, it becomes clear how much more severe all these restrictions must be in the case of an excommunicated person. the poor wretch must literally die to everybody, to the members of his own family as to strangers. his own household, his father, wife, children, are all bound to turn their faces from him, under the penalty of being excommunicated in their turn. there is no hope for his sons and daughters of getting married, however innocent they may be of the sin of their father. from the moment of "excommunication" the hindu must totally disappear. his mother and wife must not feed him, must not let him drink from the family well. no member of any existing caste dares to sell him his food or cook for him. he must either starve or buy eatables from outcasts and europeans, and so incur the dangers of further pollution. when the brahmanical power was at its zenith, such acts as deceiving, robbing and even killing this wretch were encouraged, as he was beyond the pale of the laws. now, at all events, he is free from the latter danger, but still, even now, if he happens to die before he is forgiven and received back into his caste, his body may not be burned, and no purifying mantrams will be chanted for him; he will be thrown into the water, or left to rot under the bushes like a dead cat. this is a passive force, and its passiveness only makes it more formidable. western education and english influence can do nothing to change it. there exists only one course of action for the excommunicated; he must show signs of repentance and submit to all kinds of humiliations, often to the total loss of all his worldly possessions. personally, i know several young brahmans, who, having brilliantly passed the university examinations in england, have had to submit to the most repulsive conditions of purification on their return home; these purifications consisting chiefly in shaving off half their moustaches and eyebrows, crawling in the dust round pagodas, clinging during long hours to the tail of a sacred cow, and, finally, swallowing the excrements of this cow. the latter ceremony is called "pancha-gavya," literally, the five products of the cow: milk, curds, butter, etc. the voyage over kalapani, the black water, that is to say the sea, is considered the worst of all the sins. a man who commits it is considered as polluting himself continually, from the first moment of his going on board the bellati (foreign) ship. only a few days ago a friend of ours, who is an ll.d., had to undergo this "purgation," and it nearly cost him his reason. when we remonstrated with him, pointing out that in his case it was simply foolish to submit, he being a materialist by conviction and not caring a straw for brahmanism, he replied that he was bound to do so for the following reasons: "i have two daughters," he explained, "one five, the other six years old. if i do not find a husband for the eldest of them in the course of the coming year, she will grow too old to get married, nobody will think of espousing her. suppose i suffer my caste to excommunicate me, both my girls will be dishonored and miserable for the rest of their lives. then, again, i must take into consideration the superstitions of my old mother. if such a misfortune befell me, it would simply kill her....." but why should he not free himself from every bond to brahmanism and caste? why not join, once for all, the ever-growing community of men who are guilty of the same offence? why not ask all his family to form a colony and join the civilization of the europeans? all these are very natural questions, but unfortunately there is no difficulty in finding reasons for answering them in the negative. there were thirty-two reasons given why one of napoleon's marshals refused to besiege a certain fortress, but the first of these reasons was the absence of gunpowder, and so it excluded the necessity of discussing the remaining thirty-one. similarly the first reason why a hindu cannot be europeanized is quite sufficient, and does not call for any additional ones. this reason is that by doing so a hindu would not improve his position. were he such an adept of science as to rival tyndall, were he such a clever politician as to eclipse the genius of disraeli and bismarck, as soon as he actually had given up his caste and kinsmen, he would indubitably find himself in the position of mahomet's coffin; metaphorically speaking, he would hang half-way between the earth and the sky. it would be an utter injustice to suppose that this state of things is the result of the policy of the english government; that the said government is afraid of giving a chance to natives who may be suspected of being hostile to the british rule. in reality, the government has little or nothing to do with it. this state of things must be attributed entirely to the social ostracism, to the contempt felt by a "superior" for an "inferior" race, a contempt deeply rooted in some members of the anglo-indian society and displayed at the least provocation. this question of racial "superiority" and "inferiority" plays a more important part than is generally believed, even in england. nevertheless, the natives (mussulmans included) do not deserve contempt, and so the gulf between the rulers and the ruled widens with every year, and long centuries would not suffice to fill it up. i have to dwell upon all this to give my readers a clear idea on the subject. and so it is no wonder the ill-fated hindus prefer temporary humiliations and the physical and moral sufferings of the "purification," to the prospect of general contempt until death. these were the questions we discussed with the brahmans during the two hours before dinner. dining with foreigners and people belonging to different castes is, no doubt, a dangerous breach of manu's sacred precepts. but this time, for once, it was easily explained. first, the stout patel, our host, was the head of his caste, and so was beyond the dread of excommunication; secondly, he had already taken all the prescribed and advisable precautions against being polluted by our presence. he was a free-thinker in his own way, and a friend of gulab-lal-sing, and so he rejoiced at the idea of showing us how much skillful sophistry and strategical circumspection can be used by adroit brahmans to avoid the law in some circumstances, while adhering at the same time to its dead letter. besides, our good-natured, well-favored host evidently desired to obtain a diploma from our society, being well aware that the collector of his district was enrolled amongst our members. these, at any rate, were the explanations of our babu when we expressed our astonishment; so it was our concern to make the most of our chance, and to thank providence for this rare opportunity. and this we accordingly did. hindus take their food only twice a day, at ten o'clock in the morning and at nine in the evening. both meals are accompanied by complicated rites and ceremonies. even very young children are not allowed to eat at odd times, eating without the prescribed performance of certain exorcisms being considered a sin. thousands of educated hindus have long ceased to believe in all these superstitious customs, but, nevertheless, they are daily practised. sham rao bahunathji, our host, belonged to the ancient caste of patarah prabhus, and was very proud of his origin. prabhu means lord, and this caste descends from the kshatriyas. the first of them was ashvapati ( b.c.), a lineal descendant of rama and prithu, who, as is stated in the local chronology, governed india in the dvapara and treta yugas, which is a good while ago! the patarah prabhus are the only caste within which brahmans have to perform certain purely vedic rites, known under the name of the "kshatriya rites." but this does not prevent their being patans, instead of patars, patan meaning the fallen one. this is the fault of king ashvapati. once, when distributing gifts to holy anchorites, he inadvertently forgot to give his due to the great bhrigu. the offended prophet and seer declared to him that his reign was drawing near its end, and that all his posterity would perish. the king, throwing himself on the ground, implored the prophet's pardon. but his curse had worked its fulfilment already. all that he could do to stop the mischief consisted in a solemn promise not to let the king's descendants disappear completely from the earth. however, the patars soon lost their throne and their power. since then they have had to "live by their pens," in the employment of many successive governments, to exchange their name of patars for patans, and to lead a humbler life than many of their late subjects. happily for our talkative amphitryon, his forefathers became brahmans, that is to say "went through the golden cow." the expression "to live by their pens" alludes, as we learned later on, to the fact of the patans occupying all the small government posts in the bombay presidency, and so being dangerous rivals of the bengali babus since the time of british rule. in bombay the patan clerks reach the considerable figure of five thousand. their complexion is darker than the complexion of konkan brahmans, but they are handsomer and brighter. as to the mysterious expression, "went through the golden cow," it illustrates a very curious custom. the kshatriyas, and even the much-despised shudras, may become a sort of left-hand brahmans. this metamorphosis depends on the will of the real brahmans, who may, if they like, sell this right for several hundreds or thousands of cows. when the gift is accomplished, a model cow, made of pure gold, is erected and made sacred by the performance of some mystical ceremonies. the candidate must now crawl through her hollow body three times, and thus is transformed into a brahman. the present maharaja of travankor, and even the great raja of benares, who died recently, were both shudras who acquired their rights in this manner. we received all this information and a notion of the legendary patar chronicle from our obliging host. having announced that we must now get ready for dinner, he disappeared in the company of all the gentlemen of our party. being left to ourselves, miss x---- and i decided to have a good look at the house whilst it was empty. the babu, being a downright, modern bengali, had no respect for the religious preparations for dinner, and chose to accompany us, proposing to explain to us all that we should otherwise fail to understand. the prabhu brothers always live together, but every married couple have separate rooms and servants of their own. the habitation of our host was very spacious. there were small several bungalows, occupied by his brothers, and a chief building containing rooms for visitors, the general dining-room, a lying-in ward, a small chapel with any number of idols, and so on. the ground floor, of course, was surrounded by a verandah pierced with arches leading to a huge hall. all round this hall were wooden pillars adorned with exquisite carving. for some reason or other, it struck me that these pillars once belonged to some palace of the "dead town." on close examination i only grew more convinced that i was right. their style bore no traces of hindu taste; no gods, no fabulous monster animals, only arabesques and elegant leaves and flowers of nonexistent plants. the pillars stood very close to each other, but the carvings prevented them from forming an uninterrupted wall, so that the ventilation was a little too strong. all the time we spent at the dinner table miniature hurricanes whistled from behind every pillar, waking up all our old rheumatisms and toothaches, which had peacefully slumbered since our arrival in india. the front of the house was thickly covered with iron horseshoes--the best precaution against evil spirits and evil eyes. at the foot of a broad, carved staircase we came across a couch or a cradle, hung from the ceiling by iron chains. i saw somebody lying on it, whom, at first sight, i mistook for a sleeping hindu, and was going to retreat discreetly, but, recognizing my old friend hanuman, i grew bold and endeavored to examine him. alas! the poor idol possessed only a head and neck, the rest of his body was a heap of old rags. on the left side of the verandah there were many more lateral rooms, each with a special destination, some of which i have mentioned already. the largest of these rooms was called "vattan," and was used exclusively by the fair sex. brahman women are not bound to spend their lives under veils, like mussulman women, but still they have very little communication with men, and keep aloof. women cook the men's food, but do not dine with them. the elder ladies of the family are often held in great respect, and husbands sometimes show a shy courteousness towards their wives, but still a woman has no right to speak to her husband before strangers, nor even before the nearest relations, such as her sisters and her mother. as to the hindu widows, they really are the most wretched creatures in the whole world. as soon as a woman's husband dies she must have her hair and her eyebrows shaven off. she must part with all her trinkets, her earrings, her nose jewels, her bangles and toe-rings. after this is done she is as good as dead. the lowest outcast would not marry her. a man is polluted by her slightest touch, and must immediately proceed to purify himself. the dirtiest work of the household is her duty, and she must not eat with the married women and the children. the "sati," the burning of the widows, is abolished, but brahmans are clever managers, and the widows often long for the sati. at last, having examined the family chapel, full of idols, flowers, rich vases with burning incense, lamps hanging from its ceiling, and aromatic herbs covering its floor, we decided to get ready for dinner. we carefully washed ourselves, but this was not enough, we were requested to take off our shoes. this was a somewhat disagreeable surprise, but a real brahmanical supper was worth the trouble. however, a truly amazing surprise was still in store for us. on entering the dining-room we stopped short at the entrance--both our european companions were dressed, or rather undressed, exactly like hindus! for the sake of decency they kept on a kind of sleeveless knitted vest, but they were barefooted, wore the snow-white hindu dhutis (a piece of muslin wrapped round to the waist and forming a petticoat), and looked like something between white hindus and constantinople garcons de bains. both were indescribably funny, i never saw anything funnier. to the great discomfiture of the men, and the scandal of the grave ladies of the house, i could not restrain myself, but burst out laughing. miss x----blushed violently and followed my example. a quarter of an hour before the evening meal every hindu, old or young, has to perform a "puja" before the gods. he does not change his clothes, as we do in europe, but takes off the few things he wore during the day. he bathes by the family well and loosens his hair, of which, if he is a mahratti or an inhabitant of the dekkan, he has only one long lock at the top of his shaven head. to cover the body and the head whilst eating would be sinful. wrapping his waist and legs in a white silk dhuti, he goes once more to salute the idols and then sits down to his meal.---- but here i shall allow myself to digress. "silk possesses the property of dismissing the evil spirits who inhabit the magnetic fluids of the atmosphere," says the mantram, book v., verse . and i cannot help wondering whether this apparent superstition may not contain a deeper meaning. it is difficult, i own, to part with our favorite theories about all the customs of ancient heathendom being mere ignorant superstitions. but have not some vague notions of these customs being founded originally on a true knowledge of scientific principles found their way amongst european scientific circles? at first sight the idea seems untenable. but why may we not suppose that the ancients prescribed this observance in the full knowledge that the effect of electricity upon the organs of digestion is truly beneficial? people who have studied the ancient philosophy of india with a firm resolve to penetrate the hidden meaning of its aphorisms have for the most part grown convinced that electricity and its effects were known to a considerable extent to some philosophers, as, for instance, to patanjali. charaka and sushruta had pro-pounded the system of hippocrates long before the time of him who in europe is supposed to be the "father of medicine." the bhadrinath temple of vishnu possesses a stone bearing evident proof of the fact that surya-sidhanta knew and calculated the expansive force of steam many centuries ago. the ancient hindus were the first to determine the velocity of light and the laws of its reflection; and the table of pythagoras and his celebrated theorem of the square of hypotenuse are to be found in the ancient books of jyotisha. all this leads us to suppose that ancient aryans, when instituting the strange custom of wearing silk during meals, had something serious in view, more serious, at all events, than the "dismissing of demons." having entered the "refectory," we immediately noticed what were the hindu precautions against their being polluted by our presence. the stone floor of the hall was divided into two equal parts. this division consisted of a line traced in chalk, with kabalistic signs at either end. one part was destined for the host's party and the guests belonging to the same caste, the other for ourselves. on our side of the hall there was yet a third square to contain hindus of a different caste. the furniture of the two bigger squares was exactly similar. along the two opposite walls there were narrow carpets spread on the floor, covered with cushions and low stools. before every occupant there was an oblong on the bare floor, traced also with chalk, and divided, like a chess board, into small quadrangles which were destined for dishes and plates. both the latter articles were made of the thick strong leaves of the butea frondosa: larger dishes of several leaves pinned together with thorns, plates and saucers of one leaf with its borders turned up. all the courses of the supper were already arranged on each square; we counted forty-eight dishes, containing about a mouthful of forty-eight different dainties. the materials of which they were composed were mostly terra incognita to us, but some of them tasted very nice. all this was vegetarian food. of meat, fowl, eggs and fish there appeared no traces. there were chutneys, fruit and vegetables preserved in vinegar and honey, panchamrits, a mixture of pampello-berries, tamarinds, cocoa milk, treacle and olive oil, and kushmer, made of radishes, honey and flour; there were also burning hot pickles and spices. all this was crowned with a mountain of exquisitely cooked rice and another mountain of chapatis, which are something like brown pancakes. the dishes stood in four rows, each row containing twelve dishes; and between the rows burned three aromatic sticks of the size of a small church taper. our part of the hall was brightly lit with green and red candles. the chandeliers which held these candles were of a very queer shape. they each represented the trunk of a tree with a seven-headed cobra wound round it. from each of the seven mouths rose a red or a green wax candle of spiral form like a corkscrew. draughts blowing from behind every pillar fluttered the yellow flames, filling the roomy refectory with fantastic moving shadows, and causing both our lightly-clad gentlemen to sneeze very frequently. leaving the dark silhouettes of the hindus in comparative obscurity, this unsteady light made the two white figures still more conspicuous, as if making a masquerade of them and laughing at them. the relatives and friends of our host came in one after the other. they were all naked down to the waist, all barefooted, all wore the triple brahmanical thread and white silk dhutis, and their hair hung loose. every sahib was followed by his own servant, who carried his cup, his silver, or even gold, jug filled with water, and his towel. all of them, having saluted the host, greeted us, the palms of their hands pressed together and touching their foreheads, their breasts, and then the floor. they all said to us: "ram-ram" and "namaste" (salutation to thee), and then made straight for their respective seats in perfect silence. their civilities reminded me that the custom of greeting each other with the twice pronounced name of some ancestor was usual in the remotest antiquity. we all sat down, the hindus calm and stately, as if preparing for some mystic celebration, we ourselves feeling awkward and uneasy, fearing to prove guilty of some unpardonable blunder. an invisible choir of women's voices chanted a monotonous hymn, celebrating the glory of the gods. these were half a dozen nautch-girls from a neighboring pagoda. to this accompaniment we began satisfying our appetites. thanks to the babu's instructions, we took great care to eat only with our right hands. this was somewhat difficult, because we were hungry and hasty, but quite necessary. had we only so much as touched the rice with our left hands whole hosts of rakshasas (demons) would have been attracted to take part in the festivity that very moment; which, of course, would send all the hindus out of the room. it is hardly necessary to say that there were no traces of forks, knives or spoons. that i might run no risk of breaking the rule i put my left hand in my pocket and held on to my pocket-handkerchief all the time the dinner lasted. the singing lasted only a few minutes. during the rest of the time a dead silence reigned amongst us. it was monday, a fast day, and so the usual absence of noise at meal times had to be observed still more strictly than on any other day. usually a man who is compelled to break the silence by some emergency or other hastens to plunge into water the middle finger of his left hand, which till then had remained hidden behind his back, and to moisten both his eyelids with it. but a really pious man would not be content with this simple formula of purification; having spoken, he must leave the dining-room, wash thoroughly, and then abstain from food for the remainder of the day. thanks to this solemn silence, i was at liberty to notice everything that was going on with great attention. now and again, whenever i caught sight of the colonel or mr. y----, i had all the difficulty in the world to preserve my gravity. fits of foolish laughter would take possession of me when i observed them sitting erect with such comical solemnity and working so awkwardly with their elbows and hands. the long beard of the one was white with grains of rice, as if silvered with hoar-frost, the chin of the other was yellow with liquid saffron. but unsatisfied curiosity happily came to my rescue, and i went on watching the quaint proceedings of the hindus. each of them, having sat down with his legs twisted under him, poured some water with his left hand out of the jug brought by the servant, first into his cup, then into the palm of his right hand. then he slowly and carefully sprinkled the water round a dish with all kinds of dainties, which stood by itself, and was destined, as we learned afterwards, for the gods. during this procedure each hindu repeated a vedic mantram. filling his right hand with rice, he pronounced a new series of couplets, then, having stored five pinches of rice on the right side of his own plate, he once more washed his hands to avert the evil eye, sprinkled more water, and pouring a few drops of it into his right palm, slowly drank it. after this he swallowed six pinches of rice, one after the other, murmuring prayers all the while, and wetted both his eyes with the middle finger of his left hand. all this done, he finally hid his left hand behind his back, and began eating with the right hand. all this took only a few minutes, but was performed very solemnly. the hindus ate with their bodies bent over the food, throwing it up and catching it in their mouths so dexterously that not a grain of rice was lost, not a drop of the various liquids spilt. zealous to show his consideration for his host, the colonel tried to imitate all these movements. he contrived to bend over his food almost horizontally, but, alas! he could not remain long in this position. the natural weight of his powerful limbs overcame him, he lost his balance and nearly tumbled head foremost, dropping his spectacles into a dish of sour milk and garlic. after this unsuccessful experience the brave american gave up all further attempts to become "hinduized," and sat very quietly. the supper was concluded with rice mixed with sugar, powdered peas, olive oil, garlic and grains of pomegranate, as usual. this last dainty is consumed hurriedly. everyone nervously glances askance at his neighbor, and is mortally afraid of being the last to finish, because this is considered a very bad sign. to conclude, they all take some water into their mouths, murmuring prayers the while, and this time they must swallow it in one gulp. woe to the one who chokes! 'tis a clear sign that a bhuta has taken possession of his throat. the unfortunate man must run for his life and get purified before the altar. the poor hindus are very much troubled by these wicked bhutas, the souls of the people who have died with ungratified desires and earthly passions. hindu spirits, if i am to believe the unanimous assertions of one and all, are always swarming round the living, always ready to satisfy their hunger with other people's mouths and gratify their impure desires with the help of organs temporarily stolen from the living. they are feared and cursed all over india. no means to get rid of them are despised. the notions and conclusions of the hindus on this point categorically contradict the aspirations and hopes of western spiritualists. "a good and pure spirit, they are confident, will not let his soul revisit the earth, if this soul is equally pure. he is glad to die and unite himself to brahma, to live an eternal life in svarga (heaven) and enjoy the society of the beautiful gandharvas or singing angels. he is glad to slumber whole eternities, listening to their songs, whilst his soul is purified by a new incarnation in a body, which is more perfect than the one the soul abandoned previously." the hindus believe that the spirit or atma, a particle of the great all, which is parabrahm, cannot be punished for sins in which it never participated. it is manas, the animal intelligence, and the animal soul or jiva, both half material illusions, that sin and suffer and transmigrate from one body into the other till they purify themselves. the spirit merely overshadows their earthly transmigrations. when the ego has reached the final state of purity, it will be one with the atma, and gradually will merge and disappear in parabrahm. but this is not what awaits the wicked souls. the soul that does not succeed in getting rid of earthly cares and desires before the death of the body is weighed down by its sins, and, instead of reincarnating in some new form, according to the laws of metempsychosis, it will remain bodiless, doomed to wander on earth. it will become a bhuta, and by its own sufferings will cause unutterable sufferings to its kinsmen. that is why the hindu fears above all things to remain bodiless after his death. "it is better for one to enter the body of a tiger, of a dog, even of a yellow-legged falcon, after death, than to become a bhuta!" an old hindu said to me on one occasion. "every animal possesses a body of his own and a right to make an honest use of it. whereas the bhutas are doomed dakoits, brigands and thieves, they are ever watching for an opportunity to use what does not belong to them. this is a horrible state--a horror indescribable. this is the true hell. what is this spiritualism they talk so much of in the west? is it possible the intelligent english and americans are so mad as this?" and all our remonstrances notwithstanding, he refused to believe that there are actually people who are fond of bhutas, who would do much to attract them into their homes. after supper the men went again to the family well to wash, and then dressed themselves. usually at this hour of the night the hindus put on clean malmalas, a kind of tight shirt, white turbans, and wooden sandals with knobs pressed between the toes. these curious shoes are left at the door whilst their owners return to the hall and sit down along the walls on carpets and cushions to chew betel, smoke hookahs and cheroots, to listen to sacred reading, and to witness the dances of the nautches. but this evening, probably in our honor, all the hindus dressed magnificently. some of them wore darias of rich striped satin, no end of gold bangles, necklaces mounted with diamonds and emeralds, gold watches and chains, and transparent brahmanical scarfs with gold embroidery. the fat fingers and the right ear of our host were simply blazing with diamonds. the women, who waited on us during the meal, disappeared afterwards for a considerable time. when they came back they also were luxuriously overdressed and were introduced to us formally as the ladies of the house. they were five: the wife of the host, a woman of twenty-six or twenty-seven years of age, then two others looking somewhat younger, one of whom carried a baby, and, to our great astonishment, was introduced as the married daughter of the hostess; then the old mother of the host and a little girl of seven, the wife of one of his brothers. so that our hostess turned out to be a grandmother, and her sister-in-law, who was to enter finally into matrimony in from two to three years, might have become a mother before she was twelve. they were all barefooted, with rings on each of their toes, and all, with the exception of the old woman, wore garlands of natural flowers round their necks and in their jet black hair. their tight bodices, covered with embroidery, were so short that between them and the sari there was a good quarter of a yard of bare skin. the dark, bronze-coloured waists of these well-shaped women were boldly presented to any one's examination and reflected the lights of the room. their beautiful arms and their ankles were covered with bracelets. at the least of their movements they all set up a tinkling silvery sound, and the little sister-in-law, who might easily be mistaken for an automaton doll, could hardly move under her load of ornaments. the young grandmother, our hostess, had a ring in her left nostril, which reached to the lower part of the chin. her nose was considerably disfigured by the weight of the gold, and we noticed how unusually handsome she was only when she took it off to enable herself to drink her tea with some comfort. the dances of the nautch girls began. two of them were very pretty. their dancing consisted chiefly in more or less expressive movements of their eyes, their heads, and even their ears, in fact, of the whole upper part of their bodies. as to their legs, they either did not move at all or moved with such a swiftness as to appear in a cloud of mist. after this eventful day i slept the sleep of the just. after many nights spent in a tent, it is more than agreeable to sleep in a regular bed, even if it is only a hanging one. the pleasure would, no doubt, have been considerably increased had i but known i was resting on the couch of a god. but this latter circumstance was revealed to me only in the morning, when descending the staircase i suddenly discovered the poor general en chef, hanuman, deprived of his cradle and unceremoniously stowed away under the stairs. decidedly, the hindus of the nineteenth century are a degenerate and blaspheming race! in the course of the morning we learned that this swinging throne of his, and an ancient sofa, were the only pieces of furniture in the whole house that could be transformed into beds. neither of our gentlemen had spent a comfortable night. they slept in an empty tower that was once the altar of a decayed pagoda and was situated behind the main building. in assigning to them this strange resting place, the host was guided by the praiseworthy intention of protecting them from the jackals, which freely penetrate into all the rooms of the ground floor, as they are pierced by numberless arches and have no door and no window frames. the jackals, however, did not trouble the gentlemen much that night, except by giving their nightly concert. but both mr. y---- and the colonel had to fight all the night long with a vampire, which, besides being a flying fox of an unusual size, happened to be a spirit, as we learned too late, to our great misfortune. this is how it happened. noiselessly hovering about the tower, the vampire from time to time alighted on the sleepers, making them shudder under the disgusting touch of his cold sticky wings. his intention clearly was to get a nice suck of european blood. they were wakened by his manipulations at least ten times, and each time frightened him away. but, as soon as they were dozing again, the wretched bat was sure to return and perch on their shoulders, heads, or legs. at last mr. y----, losing patience, had recourse to strong measures; he caught him and broke his neck. feeling perfectly innocent, the gentlemen mentioned the tragic end of the troublesome flying fox to their host, and instantly drew down on their heads all the thunder-clouds of heaven. the yard was crowded with people. all the inhabitants of the house stood sorrowfully drooping their heads, at the entrance of the tower. our host's old mother tore her hair in despair, and shrieked lamentations in all the languages of india. what was the matter with them all? we were at our wits' end. but when we learned the cause of all this, there was no limit to our confusion. by certain mysterious signs, known only to the family brahman, it had been decided ten years ago that the soul of our host's elder brother had incarnated in this blood-thirsty vampire-bat. this fact was stated as being beyond any doubt. for nine years the late patarah prabhu existed under this new shape, carrying out the laws of metempsychosis. he spent the hours between sunrise and the sunset in an old pipal-tree before the tower, hanging with his head downwards. but at night he visited the old tower and gave fierce chase to the insects that sought rest in this out-of-the-way corner. and so nine years were spent in this happy existence, divided between sleep, food, and the gradual redemption of old sins committed in the shape of a patarah prabhu. and now? now his listless body lay in the dust at the entrance of his favorite tower, and his wings were half devoured by the rats. the poor old woman, his mother, was mad with sorrow, and cast, through her tears, reproachful, angry looks at mr. y----, who, in his new capacity of a heartless murderer, looked disgustingly composed. but the affair was growing serious. the comical side of it disappeared before the sincerity and the intensity of her lamentations. her descendants, grouped around her, were too polite to reproach us openly, but the expression of their faces was far from reassuring. the family priest and astrologer stood by the old lady, shastras in hand, ready to begin the ceremony of purification. he solemnly covered the corpse with a piece of new linen, and so hid from our eyes the sad remains on which ants were literally swarming. mr. y---- did his best to look unconcerned, but still, when the tactless miss x---- came to him, expressing her loud indignation at all these superstitions of an inferior race, he at least seemed to remember that our host knew english perfectly, and he did not encourage her farther expressions of sympathy. he made no answer, but smiled contemptuously. our host approached the colonel with respectful salaams and invited us to follow him. "no doubt he is going to ask us to leave his house immediately!" was my uncomfortable impression. but my apprehension was not justified. at this epoch of my indian pilgrimage i was far, as yet, from having fathomed the metaphysical depth of a hindu heart. sham rao began by delivering a very far-fetched, eloquent preface. he reminded us that he, personally, was an enlightened man, a man who possessed all the advantages of a western education. he said that, owing to this, he was not quite sure that the body of the vampire was actually inhabited by his late brother. darwin, of course, and some other great naturalists of the west, seemed to believe in the transmigration of souls, but, as far as he understood, they believed in it in an inverse sense; that is to say, if a baby had been born to his mother exactly at the moment of the vampire's death, this baby would indubitably have had a great likeness to a vampire, owing to the decaying atoms of the vampire being so close to her. "is not this an exact interpretation of the darwinian school?" he asked. we modestly answered that, having traveled almost incessantly during the last year, we could not help being a bit behindhand in the questions of modern science, and that we were not able to follow its latest conclusions. "but i have followed them!" rejoined the good-natured sham rao, with a touch of pomposity. "and so i hope i may be allowed to say that i have understood and duly appreciated their most recent developments. i have just finished studying the magnificent anthropogenesis of haeckel, and have carefully discussed in my own mind his logical, scientific explanations of the origin of man from inferior animal forms through transformation. and what is this transformation, pray, if not the transmigration of the ancient and modern hindus, and the metempsychosis of the greeks?" we had nothing to say against the identity, and even ventured to observe that, according to haeckel, it does look like it. "exactly!" exclaimed he joyfully. "this shows that our conceptions are neither silly nor superstitious, as is maintained by some opponents of manu. the great manu, anticipated darwin and haeckel. judge for yourself; the latter derives the genesis of man from a group of plastides, from the jelly-like moneron; this moneron, through the ameoba, the ascidian, the brainless and heartless amphioxus, and so on, transmigrates in the eighth remove into the lamprey, is transformed, at last, into a vertebrate amniote, into a premammalian, into a marsupial animal.... the vampire, in its turn, belongs to the species of vertebrates. you, being well read people all of you, cannot contradict this statement." he was right in his supposition; we did not contradict it. "in this case, do me the honor to follow my argument...." we did follow his argument with the greatest attention, but were at a loss to foresee whither it tended to lead us. "darwin," continued sham rao, "in his origin of species, re-established almost word for word the palin-genetic teachings of our manu. of this i am perfectly convinced, and, if you like, i can prove it to you book in hand. our ancient law-giver, amongst other sayings, speaks as follows: 'the great parabrahm commanded man to appear in the universe, after traversing all the grades of the animal kingdom, and springing primarily from the worm of the deep sea mud.' the worm be-came a snake, the snake a fish, the fish a mammal, and so on. is not this very idea at the bottom of darwin's theory, when he maintains that the organic forms have their origin in more simple species, and says that the structureless protoplasm born in the mud of the laurentian and silurian periods--the manu's 'mud of the seas,' i dare say--gradually transformed itself into the anthropoid ape, and then finally into the human being?" we said it looked very like it. "but, in spite of all my respect for darwin and his eminent follower haeckel, i cannot agree with their final conclusions, especially with the conclusions of the latter," continued sham rao. "this hasty and bilious german is perfectly accurate in copying the embryology of manu and all the metamorphoses of our ancestors, but he forgets the evolution of the human soul, which, as it is stated by manu, goes hand in hand with the evolution of matter. the son of swayambhuva, the self becoming, speaks as follows: 'everything created in a new cycle, in addition to the qualities of its preceding transmigrations, acquires new qualities, and the nearer it approaches to man, the highest type of the earth, the brighter becomes its divine spark; but, once it has become a brahma, it will enter the cycle of conscious transmigrations.' do you realize what that means? it means that from this moment, its transformations depend no longer on the blind laws of gradual evolution, but on the least of a man's actions, which brings either a reward or a punishment. now you see that it depends on the man's will whether, on the one hand, he will start on the way to moksha, the eternal bliss, passing from one loka to another till he reaches brahmaloka, or, on the other, owing to his sins, will be thrown back. you know that the average soul, once freed from earthly reincarnations, has to ascend from one loka to another, always in the human shape, though this shape will grow and perfect itself with every loka. some of our sects understood these lokas to mean certain stars. these spirits, freed from earthly matter, are what we mean by pitris and devas, whom we worship. and did not your kabalists of the middle ages designate these pitris under the expression planetary spirits? but, in the case of a very sinful man, he will have to begin once more with the animal forms which he had already traversed unconsciously. both darwin and haeckel lose sight of this, so to speak, second volume of their incomplete theory, but still neither of them advances any argument to prove it false. is it not so?" "neither of them does anything of the sort, most assuredly." "why, in this case," exclaimed he, suddenly changing his colloquial tone for an aggressive one, "why am i, i who have studied the most modern ideas of western science, i who believe in its representatives--why am i suspected, pray, by miss x---- of belonging to the tribe of the ignorant and superstitious hindus? why does she think that our perfected scientific theories are superstitions, and we ourselves a fallen inferior race?" sham rao stood before us with tears in his eyes. we were at a loss what to answer him, being confused to the last degree by this outburst. "mind you, i do not proclaim our popular beliefs to be infallible dogmas. i consider them as mere theories, and try to the best of my ability to reconcile the ancient and the modern science. i formulate hypotheses just like darwin and haeckel. besides, if i understood rightly, miss x---- is a spiritualist, so she believes in bhutas. and, believing that a bhuta is capable of penetrating the body of a medium, how can she deny that a bhuta, and more so a less sinful soul, may enter the body of a vampire-bat?" i own, this logic was a little too condensed for us, and so, avoiding a direct answer to a metaphysical question of such delicacy, we tried to apologize and excuse miss x----'s rudeness as well as we could. "she did not mean to offend you," we said, "she only repeated a calumny, familiar to every european. besides, if she had taken the trouble to think it over, she probably would not have said it...." little by little we succeeded in pacifying our host. he recovered his usual cheerfulness, but could not resist the temptation of adding a few words to his long argumentation. he had just begun to reveal to us certain peculiarities of his late brother's character, which induced him to be prepared, judging by the laws of atavism, to see their repetition in the propensities of a vampire bat, when mr. y----suddenly dashed in on our small group and spoiled all the results of our conciliatory words by screaming at the top of his voice: "the old woman has gone demented! she keeps on cursing us and says that the murder of this wretched bat is only the forerunner of a whole series of misfortunes brought on her house by you, sham rao," said he, hastily addressing the bewildered follower of haackel. "she says you have polluted your brahmanical holiness by inviting us. colonel, you had better send for the elephants. in another moment all this crowd will be on us..." "for goodness' sake!" exclaimed poor sham rao, "have some consideration for my feelings. she is an old woman, she has some superstitions, but she is my mother. you are educated people, learned people... advise me, show me a way out of all these difficulties. what should you do in my place?" "what should i do, sir?" exclaimed mr. y----, completely put out of temper by the utter ludicrousness of our awkward predicament. "what should i do? were i a man in your position and a believer in all you are brought up to believe, i should take my revolver, and in the first place, shoot all the vampire bats in the neighborhood, if only to rid all your late relations from the abject bodies of these creatures, and, in the second place, i should endeavor to smash the head of the conceited fraud in the shape of a brahman who invented all this stupid story. that is what i should do, sir!" but this advice did not content the miserable descendant of rama. no doubt he would have remained a long time undecided as to what course of action to adopt, torn as he was between the sacred feelings of hospitality, the innate fear of the brahman-priest, and his own superstitions, if our ingenious babu had not come to our rescue. learning that we all felt more or less indignant at all this row, and that we were preparing to leave the house as quickly as possible, he persuaded us to stay, if only for an hour, saying that our hasty departure would be a terrible outrage upon our host, whom, in any case, we could not find fault with. as to the stupid old woman, the babu promised us to pacify her speedily enough: he had his own plans and views. in the meantime, he said, we had better go and examine the ruins of an old fortress close by. we obeyed very reluctantly, feeling an acute interest in his "plans." we proceeded slowly. our gentlemen were visibly out of temper. miss x---- tried to calm herself by talking more than usual, and narayan, as phlegmatic as usual, indolently and good-naturedly chaffed her about her beloved "spirits." glancing back we saw the babu accompanied by the family priest. judging by their gestures they were engaged in some warm discussion. the shaven head of the brahman nodded right and left, his yellow garment flapped in the wind, and his arms rose towards the sky, as if in an appeal to the gods to come down and testify to the truth of his words. "i'll bet you a thousand dollars, no plans of our babu's will be of any avail with this fanatic!" confidently remarked the colonel as he lit his pipe. but we had hardly walked a hundred steps after this remark when we saw the babu running after us and signaling us to stop. "everything ended first-rate!" screamed he, as soon as we could hear. "you are to be thanked... you happen to be the true saviours and benefactors of the deceased bhuta... you..." our babu sank on the ground holding his narrow, panting breast with both his hands, and laughed, laughed till we all burst into laughter too, before learning any-thing at all. "think of it," began the babu, and stopped short, prevented from going on by his exuberant hilarity. "just think of it! the whole transaction is to cost me only ten rupees.... i offered five at first... but he would not.... he said this was a sacred matter..... but ten he could not resist! ho, ho, ho...." at last we learned the story. all the metempsychoses depend on the imagination of the family gurus, who receive for their kind offices from one hundred to one hundred and fifty rupees a year. every rite is accompanied by a more or less considerable addition to the purse of the insatiable family brahman, but the happy events pay better than the sad ones. knowing all this, the babu asked the brahman point-blank to perform a false samadhi, that is to say, to feign an inspiration and to announce to the sorrowing mother that her late son's will had acted consciously in all the circumstances; that he brought about his end in the body of the flying fox, that he was tired of that grade of transmigration, that he longed for death in order to attain a higher position in the animal kingdom, that he is happy, and that he is deeply indebted to the sahib who broke his neck and so freed him from his abject embodiment. besides, the observant eye of our all-knowing babu had not failed to remark that a she-buffalo of the guru's was expecting a calf, and that the guru was yearning to sell it to sham rao. this circumstance was a trump card in the babu's hand. let the guru announce, under the influence of samadhi, that the freed spirit intends to inhabit the body of the future baby-buffalo and the old lady will buy the new incarnation of her first-born as sure as the sun is bright. this announcement will be followed by rejoicings and by new rites. and who will profit by all this if not the family priest? at first the guru had some misgivings, and swore by everything sacred that the vampire bat was veritably inhabited by the brother of sham rao. but the babu knew better than to give in. the guru ended by understanding that his skillful opponent saw through his tricks, and that he was well aware that the shastras exclude the possibility of such a transmigration. growing alarmed, the guru also grew meek, and asked only ten rupees and a promise of silence for the performance of a samadhi. on our way back we were met at the gate by sham rao, who was simply radiant. whether he was afraid of our laughing at him, or was at loss to find an explanation of this new metamorphosis in the positive sciences in general, and haeckel in particular, he did not attempt to explain why the affair had taken such an unexpectedly good turn. he merely mentioned awkwardly enough that his mother, owing to some new mysterious conjectures of hers, had dismissed all sad apprehensions as to the destiny of her elder son, and he then dropped the subject completely.---- in order to wipe away the traces of the morning's perplexities from our minds, sham rao invited us to sit on the verandah, by the wide entrance of his idol room, whilst the family prayers were going on. nothing could suit us better. it was nine o'clock, the usual time of the morning prayers. sham rao went to the well to get ready, and dress himself, as he said, though the process was more like undressing. in a few moments he came back wearing only a dhuti, as during dinner time, and with his head uncovered. he went straight to his idol room. the moment he entered we heard the loud stroke of a bell that hung under the ceiling, and that continued tolling all the time the prayers lasted. the babu explained to us that a little boy was pulling the bell rope from the roof. sham rao stepped in with his right foot and very slowly. then he approached the altar and sat on a little stool with his legs crossed. at the opposite side of the room, on the red velvet shelves of an altar that resembled an etagere in the drawing-room of some fashionable lady, stood many idols. they were made of gold, of silver, of brass and of marble, according to their im-portance and merits. maha-deva or shiva was of gold. gunpati or ganesha of silver, vishnu in the form of a round black stone from the river gandaki in nepal. in this form vishnu is called lakshmi-narayan. there were also many other gods unknown to us, who were worshipped in the shapes of big sea-shells, called chakra. surya, the god of the sun, and the kula-devas, the domestic gods, were placed in the second rank. the altar was sheltered by a cupola of carved sandal-wood. during the night the gods and the offerings were covered by a huge bell glass. on the walls there were many sacred images representing the chief episodes in the biographies of the higher gods. sham rao filled his left hand with ashes, murmuring prayers all the while, covered it for a second with the right one, then put some matter to the ashes, and mixing the two by rubbing his hands together, he traced a line on his face with this mixture by moving the thumb of his right hand from his nose upwards, then from the middle of the forehead to the right temple, then back again to the left temple. having done with his face he proceeded to cover with wet ashes his throat, arms, shoulders, his back, head and ears. in one corner of the room stood a huge bronze font filled with water. sham rao made straight to it and plunged into it three times, dhuti, head, and all, after which he came out looking exactly like a well-favored dripping wet triton. he twisted the only lock of hair on the top of his shaved head and sprinkled it with water. this operation concluded the first act. the second act began with religious meditations and with mantrams, which, by really pious people, must be repeated three times a day--at sunrise, at noon and at sunset. sham rao loudly pronounced the names of twenty-four gods, and each name was accompanied by a stroke of the bell. having finished he first shut his eyes and stuffed his ears with cotton, then pressed his left nostril with two fingers of his left hand, and having filled his lungs with air through the right nostril, pressed the latter also. then he tightly closed his lips, so that breathing became impossible. in this position every pious hindu must mentally repeat a certain verse, which is called the gayatri. these are sacred words which no hindu will dare to pronounce aloud. even in repeating them mentally he must take every precaution not to inhale anything impure. i am bound by my word of honor never to repeat the whole of this prayer, but i may quote a few unconnected sentences: "om... earth... heaven.... let the adored light of.... [here follows a name which must not be pronounced] shelter me. let thy sun, o thou only one, shelter me, the unworthy... i shut my eyes, i shut my ears, i do not breathe... in order to see, hear and breathe thee alone. throw light upon our thoughts [again the secret name]... " it is curious to compare this hindu prayer with the celebrated prayer of descartes' "meditation iii" in his l'existence de dieu. it runs as follows, if i remember rightly: "now i shut my eyes, cover my ears, and dismiss all my five senses, i will dwell on the thought of god alone, i will meditate on his quality and look on the beauty of this wondrous radiancy." after this prayer sham rao read many other prayers, holding with two fingers his sacred brahmanical thread. after a while began the ceremony of "the washing of the gods." taking them down from the altar, one after the other, according to their rank, sham rao first plunged them in the big font, in which he had just bathed himself, and then bathed them in milk in a smaller bronze font by the altar. the milk was mixed up with curds, butter, honey, and sugar, and so it cannot be said that this cleansing served its purpose. no wonder we were glad to see that the gods underwent a second bathing in the first font and then were dried with a clean towel. when the gods were arranged in their respective places, the hindu traced on them the sectarian signs with a ring from his left hand. he used white sandal paint for the lingam and red for gunpati and surya. then he sprinkled them with aromatic oils and covered them with fresh flowers. the long ceremony was finished by "the awakening of the gods." a small bell was repeatedly rung under the noses of the idols, who, as the brahman probably supposed, all went to sleep during this tedious ceremony. having noticed, or fancied, which often amounts to the same thing, that they were wide awake, he began offering them his daily sacrifices, lighting the incense and the lamps, and, to our great astonishment, snapping his fingers from time to time, as if warning the idols to "look out." having filled the room with clouds of incense and fumes of burning camphor, he scattered some more flowers over the altar and sat on the small stool for a while, murmuring the last prayers. he repeatedly held the palms of his hands over the flame of the tapers and rubbed his face with them. then he walked round the altar three times, and, having knelt three times, retreated backwards to the door. a little while before our host had finished his morning prayers the ladies of the house came into the room. they brought each a small stool and sat in a row murmuring prayers and telling the beads of their rosaries. the part played by the rosaries in india is as important as in all buddhist countries. every god has his favorite flower and his favorite material for a rosary. the fakirs are simply covered with rosaries. the rosary is called mala and consists of one hundred and eight beads. very pious hindus are not content to tell the beads when praying; they must hide their hands during this ceremony in a bag called gomukha, which means the cow's mouth. we left the women to their prayers and followed our host to the cow house. the cow symbolizes the "fostering earth," or nature, and is worshipped accordingly. sham rao sat down by the cow and washed her feet, first with her own milk, then with water. he gave her some sugar and rice, covered her forehead with powdered sandal, and adorned her horns and four legs with chains of flowers. he burned some incense under her nostrils and brandished a burning lamp over her head. then he walked three times round her and sat down to rest. some hindus walk round the cow one hundred and eight times, rosary in hand. but our sham rao had a slight tendency to freethinking, as we knew, and besides, he was too much of an admirer of haeckel. having rested himself, he filled a cup with water, put in it the cow's tail for a moment, and then drank it! after this he performed the rite of worshipping the sun and the sacred plant tulsi. unable to bring the god surya from his heavenly altar and wash him in the sacred font, sham rao contented himself by filling his own mouth with water, standing on one leg, and spirting this water towards the sun. needless to say it never reached the orb of day, but, very unexpectedly, sprinkled us instead.---- it is still a mystery to us why the plant tulsi, royal basilicum, is worshipped. however, towards the end of september we yearly witnessed the strange ceremony of the wedding of this plant with the god vishnu, notwithstanding that tulsi bears the title of krishna's bride, probably because of the latter being an incarnation of vishnu. on these occasions pots of this plant are painted and adorned with tinsel. a magical circle is traced in the garden and the plant is put in the middle of it. a brahman brings an idol of vishnu and begins the marriage ceremony, standing before the plant. a married couple hold a shawl between the plant and the god, as if screening them from each other, the brahman utters prayers, and young women, and especially unmarried girls, who are the most ardent worshippers of tulsi, throw rice and saffron over the idol and the plant. when the ceremony is concluded, the brahman is presented with the shawl, the idol is put in the shade of his wife, the hindus clap their hands, rend everyone's ears with the noise of tom-toms, let off fireworks, offer each other pieces of sugar-cane, and rejoice in every conceivable way till the dawn of the next day. a witch's den our kind host sham rao was very gay during the remaining hours of our visit. he did his best to entertain us, and would not hear of our leaving the neighborhood without having seen its greatest celebrity, its most interesting sight. a jadu wala--sorceress--well known in the district, was just at this time under the influence of seven sister-goddesses, who took possession of her by turns, and spoke their oracles through her lips. sham rao said we must not fail to see her, be it only in the interests of science. the evening closes in, and we once more get ready for an excursion. it is only five miles to the cavern of the pythia of hindostan; the road runs through a jungle, but it is level and smooth. besides, the jungle and its ferocious inhabitants have ceased to frighten us. the timid elephants we had in the "dead city" are sent home, and we are to mount new behemoths belonging to a neighboring raja. the pair, that stand before the verandah like two dark hillocks, are steady and trust worthy. many a time these two have hunted the royal tiger, and no wild shrieking or thunderous roaring can frighten them. and so, let us start! the ruddy flames of the torches dazzle our eyes and increase the forest gloom. our surroundings seem so dark, so mysterious. there is something indescribably fascinating, almost solemn, in these night-journeys in the out-of-the-way corners of india. everything is silent and deserted around you, everything is dozing on the earth and overhead. only the heavy, regular tread of the elephants breaks the stillness of the night, like the sound of falling hammers in the underground smithy of vulcan. from time to time uncanny voices and murmurs are heard in the black forest. "the wind sings its strange song amongst the ruins," says one of us, "what a wonderful acoustic phenomenon!" "bhuta, bhuta!" whisper the awestruck torch-bearers. they brandish their torches and swiftly spin on one leg, and snap their fingers to chase away the aggressive spirits. the plaintive murmur is lost in the distance. the forest is once more filled with the cadences of its invisible nocturnal life--the metallic whirr of the crickets, the feeble, monotonous croak of the tree-frog, the rustle of the leaves. from time to time all this suddenly stops short and then begins again, gradually increasing and increasing. heavens! what teeming life, what stores of vital energy are hidden under the smallest leaf, the most imperceptible blades of grass, in this tropical forest! myriads of stars shine in the dark blue of the sky, and myriads of fireflies twinkle at us from every bush, moving sparks, like a pale reflection of the far-away stars. we left the thick forest behind us, and reached a deep glen, on three sides bordered with the thick forest, where even by day the shadows are as dark as by night. we were about two thousand feet above the foot of the vindhya ridge, judging by the ruined wall of mandu, straight above our heads. suddenly a very chilly wind rose that nearly blew our torches out. caught in the labyrinth of bushes and rocks, the wind angrily shook the branches of the blossoming syringas, then, shaking itself free, it turned back along the glen and flew down the valley, howling, whistling and shrieking, as if all the fiends of the forest together were joining in a funeral song. "here we are," said sham rao, dismounting. "here is the village; the elephants cannot go any further." "the village? surely you are mistaken. i don't see anything but trees." "it is too dark to see the village. besides, the huts are so small, and so hidden by the bushes, that even by daytime you could hardly find them. and there is no light in the houses, for fear of the spirits." "and where is your witch? do you mean we are to watch her performance in complete darkness?" sham rao cast a furtive, timid look round him; and his voice, when he answered our questions, was somewhat tremulous. "i implore you not to call her a witch! she may hear you.... it is not far off, it is not more than half a mile. do not allow this short distance to shake your decision. no elephant, and even no horse, could make its way there. we must walk.... but we shall find plenty of light there.... " this was unexpected, and far from agreeable. to walk in this gloomy indian night; to scramble through thickets of cactuses; to venture in a dark forest, full of wild animals--this was too much for miss x----. she declared that she would go no further. she would wait for us in the howdah, on the elephant's back, and perhaps would go to sleep. narayan was against this parti de plaisir from the very beginning, and now, without explaining his reasons, he said she was the only sensible one among us. "you won't lose anything," he remarked, "by staying where you are. and i only wish everyone would follow your example." "what ground have you for saying so, i wonder?" remonstrated sham rao, and a slight note of disappointment rang in his voice, when he saw that the excursion, proposed and organized by himself, threatened to come to nothing. "what harm could be done by it? i won't insist any more that the 'incarnation of gods' is a rare sight, and that the europeans hardly ever have an opportunity of witnessing it; but, besides, the kangalim in question is no ordinary woman. she leads a holy life; she is a prophetess, and her blessing could not prove harmful to any one. i insisted on this excursion out of pure patriotism." "sahib, if your patriotism consists in displaying before foreigners the worst of our plagues, then why did you not order all the lepers of your district to assemble and parade before the eyes of our guests? you are a patel, you have the power to do it." how bitterly narayan's voice sounded to our unaccustomed ears. usually he was so even-tempered, so indifferent to everything belonging to the exterior world. fearing a quarrel between the hindus, the colonel remarked, in a conciliatory tone, that it was too late for us to reconsider our expedition. besides, without being a believer in the "incarnation of gods," he was personally firmly convinced that demoniacs existed even in the west. he was eager to study every psychological phenomenon, wherever he met with it, and whatever shape it might assume. it would have been a striking sight for our european and american friends if they had beheld our procession on that dark night. our way lay along a narrow winding path up the mountain. not more than two people could walk together--and we were thirty, including the torch-bearers. surely some reminiscence of night sallies against the confederate southerners had revived in the colonel's breast, judging by the readiness with which he took upon himself the leadership of our small expedition. he ordered all the rifles and revolvers to be loaded, despatched three torch-bearers to march ahead of us, and arranged us in pairs. under such a skilled chieftain we had nothing to fear from tigers; and so our procession started, and slowly crawled up the winding path. it cannot be said that the inquisitive travelers, who appeared later on, in the den of the prophetess of mandu, shone through the freshness and elegance of their costumes. my gown, as well as the traveling suits of the colonel and of mr. y---- were nearly torn to pieces. the cactuses gathered from us whatever tribute they could, and the babu's disheveled hair swarmed with a whole colony of grasshoppers and fireflies, which, probably, were attracted thither by the smell of cocoa-nut oil. the stout sham rao panted like a steam engine. narayan alone was like his usual self; that is to say, like a bronze hercules, armed with a club. at the last abrupt turn of the path, after having surmounted the difficulty of climbing over huge, scattered stones, we suddenly found ourselves on a perfectly smooth place; our eyes, in spite of our many torches, were dazzled with light; and our ears were struck by a medley of unusual sounds. a new glen opened before us, the entrance of which, from the valley, was well masked by thick trees. we understood how easily we might have wandered round it, without ever suspecting its existence. at the bottom of the glen we discovered the abode of the celebrated kangalim. the den, as it turned out, was situated in the ruin of an old hindu temple in tolerably good preservation. in all probability it was built long before the "dead city," because during the epoch of the latter, the heathen were not allowed to have their own places of worship; and the temple stood quite close to the wall of the town, in fact, right under it. the cupolas of the two smaller lateral pagodas had fallen long ago, and huge bushes grew out of their altars. this evening, their branches were hidden under a mass of bright colored rags, bits of ribbon, little pots, and various other talismans; because, even in them, popular superstition sees something sacred. "and are not these poor people right? did not these bushes grow on sacred ground? is not their sap impregnated with the incense of offerings, and the exhalations of holy anchorites, who once lived and breathed here?" the learned, but superstitious sham rao would only answer our questions by new questions. but the central temple, built of red granite, stood unharmed by time, and, as we learned afterwards, a deep tunnel opened just behind its closely-shut door. what was beyond it no one knew. sham rao assured us that no man of the last three generations had ever stepped over the threshold of this thick iron door; no one had seen the subterranean passage for many years. kangalim lived there in perfect isolation, and, according to the oldest people in the neighborhood, she had always lived there. some people said she was three hundred years old; others alleged that a certain old man on his death-bed had revealed to his son that this old woman was no one else than his own uncle. this fabulous uncle had settled in the cave in the times when the "dead city" still counted several hundreds of inhabitants. the hermit, busy paving his road to moksha, had no intercourse with the rest of the world, and nobody knew how he lived and what he ate. but a good while ago, in the days when the bellati (foreigners) had not yet taken possession of this mountain, the old hermit suddenly was transformed into a hermitess. she continues his pursuits and speaks with his voice, and often in his name; but she receives worshippers, which was not the practice of her predecessor. we had come too early, and the pythia did not at first appear. but the square before the temple was full of people, and a wild, though picturesque, scene it was. an enormous bonfire blazed in the centre, and round it crowded the naked savages like so many black gnomes, adding whole branches of trees sacred to the seven sister-goddesses. slowly and evenly they all jumped from one leg to another to a tune of a single monotonous musical phrase, which they repeated in chorus, accompanied by several local drums and tambourines. the hushed trill of the latter mingled with the forest echoes and the hysterical moans of two little girls, who lay under a heap of leaves by the fire. the poor children were brought here by their mothers, in the hope that the goddesses would take pity upon them and banish the two evil spirits under whose obsession they were. both mothers were quite young, and sat on their heels blankly and sadly staring at the flames. no one paid us the slightest attention when we appeared, and afterwards during all our stay these people acted as if we were invisible. had we worn a cap of darkness they could not have behaved more strangely. "they feel the approach of the gods! the atmosphere is full of their sacred emanations!" mysteriously explained sham rao, contemplating with reverence the natives, whom his beloved haeckel might have easily mistaken for his "missing link," the brood of his " bathybius haeckelii." "they are simply under the influence of toddy and opium!" retorted the irreverent babu. the lookers-on moved as in a dream, as if they all were only half-awakened somnambulists; but the actors were simply victims of st. vitus's dance. one of them, a tall old man, a mere skeleton with a long white beard, left the ring and begun whirling vertiginously, with his arms spread like wings, and loudly grinding his long, wolf-like teeth. he was painful and disgusting to look at. he soon fell down, and was carelessly, almost mechanically, pushed aside by the feet of the others still engaged in their demoniac performance. all this was frightful enough, but many more horrors were in store for us. waiting for the appearance of the prima donna of this forest opera company, we sat down on the trunk of a fallen tree, ready to ask innumerable questions of our condescending host. but i was hardly seated, when a feeling of indescribable astonishment and horror made me shrink back. i beheld the skull of a monstrous animal, the like of which i could not find in my zoological reminiscences. this head was much larger than the head of an elephant skeleton. and still it could not be anything but an elephant, judging by the skillfully restored trunk, which wound down to my feet like a gigantic black leech. but an elephant has no horns, whereas this one had four of them! the front pair stuck from the flat forehead slightly bending forward and then spreading out; and the others had a wide base, like the root of a deer's horn, that gradually decreased almost up to the middle, and bore long branches enough to decorate a dozen ordinary elks. pieces of the transparent amber-yellow rhinoceros skin were strained over the empty eye-holes of the skull, and small lamps burning behind them only added to the horror, the devilish appearance of this head. "what can this be?" was our unanimous question. none of us had ever met anything like it, and even the colonel looked aghast. "it is a sivatherium," said narayan. "is it possible you never came across these fossils in european museums? their remains are common enough in the himalayas, though, of course, in fragments. they were called after shiva." "if the collector of this district ever hears that this antediluvian relic adorns the den of your--ahem!--witch," remarked the babu, "it won't adorn it many days longer." all round the skull, and on the floor of the portico there were heaps of white flowers, which, though not quite antediluvian, were totally unknown to us. they were as large as a big rose; and their white petals were covered with a red powder, the inevitable concomitant of every indian religious ceremony. further on, there were groups of cocoa-nuts, and large brass dishes filled with rice; and each adorned with a red or green taper. in the centre of the portico there stood a queer-shaped censer, surrounded with chandeliers. a little boy, dressed from head to foot in white, threw into it handfuls of aromatic powders. "these people, who assemble here to worship kangalim," said sham rao, "do not actually belong either to her sect or to any other. they are devil-worshippers. they do not believe in hindu gods, but live in small communities; they belong to one of the many indian races, which usually are called the hill-tribes. unlike the shanars of southern travancore, they do not use the blood of sacrificial animals; they do not build separate temples to their bhutas. but they are possessed by the strange fancy that the goddess kali, the wife of shiva, from time immemorial has had a grudge against them, and sends her favorite evil spirits to torture them. save this little difference, they have the same beliefs as the shanars. god does not exist for them; and even shiva is considered by them as an ordinary spirit. their chief worship is offered to the souls of the dead. these souls, however righteous and kind they may be in their lifetime, become after death as wicked as can be; they are happy only when they are torturing living men and cattle. as the opportunities of doing so are the only reward for the virtues they possessed when incarnated, a very wicked man is punished by becoming after his death a very soft-hearted ghost; he loathes his loss of daring, and is altogether miserable. the results of this strange logic are not bad, nevertheless. these savages and devil-worshippers are the kindest and the most truth-loving of all the hill-tribes. they do whatever they can to be worthy of their ultimate reward; because, don't you see, they all long to become the wickedest of devils!...." and put in good humor by his own wittiness, sham rao laughed till his hilarity became offensive, considering the sacredness of the place. "a year ago some business matters sent me to tinevelli," continued he. "staying with a friend of mine, who is a shanar, i was allowed to be present at one of the ceremonies in the honor of devils. no european has as yet witnessed this worship--whatever the missionaries may say; but there are many converts amongst the shanars, who willingly describe them to the padres. my friend is a wealthy man, which is probably the reason why the devils are especially vicious to him. they poison his cattle, spoil his crops and his coffee plants, and persecute his numerous relations, sending them sunstrokes, madness and epilepsy, over which illnesses they especially preside. these wicked demons have settled in every corner of his spacious landed property--in the woods, the ruins, and even in his stables. to avert all this, my friend covered his land with stucco pyramids, and prayed humbly, asking the demons to draw their portraits on each of them, so that he may recognize them and worship each of them separately, as the rightful owner of this, or that, particular pyramid. and what do you think?.... next morning all the pyramids were found covered with drawings. each of them bore an incredibly good likeness of the dead of the neighborhood. my friend had known personally almost all of them. he found also a portrait of his own late father amongst the lot....." "well? and was he satisfied?" "oh, he was very glad, very satisfied. it enabled him to choose the right thing to gratify the personal tastes of each demon, don't you see? he was not vexed at finding his father's portrait. his father was somewhat irascible; once he nearly broke both his son's legs, administering to him fatherly punishment with an iron bar, so that he could not possibly be very dangerous after his death. but another portrait, found on the best and the prettiest of the pyramids, amazed my friend a good deal, and put him in a blue funk. the whole district recognized an english officer, a certain captain pole, who in his lifetime was as kind a gentleman as ever lived." "indeed? but do you mean to say that this strange people worshipped captain pole also?" "of course they did! captain pole was such a worthy man, such an honest officer, that, after his death, he could not help being promoted to the highest rank of shanar devils. the pe-kovil, demon's house, sacred to his memory, stands side by side with the pe-kovil bhadrakali, which was recently conferred on the wife of a certain german missionary, who also was a most charitable lady and so is very dangerous now." "but what are their ceremonies? tell us something about their rites." "their rites consist chiefly of dancing, singing, and killing sacrificial animals. the shanars have no castes, and eat all kinds of meat. the crowd assembles about the pe-kovil, previously designated by the priest; there is a general beating of drums, and slaughtering of fowls, sheep and goats. when captain pole's turn came an ox was killed, as a thoughtful attention to the peculiar tastes of his nation. the priest appeared, covered with bangles, and holding a wand on which tinkled numberless little bells, and wearing garlands of red and white flowers round his neck, and a black mantle, on which were embroidered the ugliest fiends you can imagine. horns were blown and drums rolled incessantly. and oh, i forgot to tell you there was also a kind of fiddle, the secret of which is known only to the shanar priesthood. its bow is ordinary enough, made of bamboo; but it is whispered that the strings are human veins.... when captain pole took possession of the priest's body, the priest leapt high in the air, and then rushed on the ox and killed him. he drank off the hot blood, and then began his dance. but what a fright he was when dancing! you know, i am not superstitious.... am i?..." sham rao looked at us inquiringly, and i, for one, was glad, at this moment, that miss x---- was half a mile off, asleep in the howdah. "he turned, and turned, as if possessed by all the demons of naraka. the enraged crowd hooted and howled when the priest begun to inflict deep wounds all over his body with the bloody sacrificial knife. to see him, with his hair waving in the wind and his mouth covered with foam; to see him bathing in the blood of the sacrificed animal, mixing it with his own, was more than i could bear. i felt as if hallucinated, i fancied i also was spinning round...." sham rao stopped abruptly, struck dumb. kangalim stood before us! her appearance was so unexpected that we all felt embarrassed. carried away by sham rao's description, we had noticed neither how nor whence she came. had she appeared from beneath the earth we could not have been more astonished. narayan stared at her, opening wide his big jet-black eyes; the babu clicked his tongue in utter confusion. imagine a skeleton seven feet high, covered with brown leather, with a dead child's tiny head stuck on its bony shoulders; the eyes set so deep and at the same time flashing such fiendish flames all through your body that you begin to feel your brain stop working, your thoughts become entangled and your blood freeze in your veins. i describe my personal impressions, and no words of mine can do them justice. my description is too weak. mr. y---- and the colonel both grew pale under her stare, and mr. y----made a movement as if about to rise. needless to say that such an impression could not last. as soon as the witch had turned her gleaming eyes to the kneeling crowd, it vanished as swiftly as it had come. but still all our attention was fixed on this remarkable creature. three hundred years old! who can tell? judging by her appearance, we might as well conjecture her to be a thousand. we beheld a genuine living mummy, or rather a mummy endowed with motion. she seemed to have been withering since the creation. neither time, nor the ills of life, nor the elements could ever affect this living statue of death. the all-destroying hand of time had touched her and stopped short. time could do no more, and so had left her. and with all this, not a single grey hair. her long black locks shone with a greenish sheen, and fell in heavy masses down to her knees. to my great shame, i must confess that a disgusting reminiscence flashed into my memory. i thought about the hair and the nails of corpses growing in the graves, and tried to examine the nails of the old woman. meanwhile, she stood motionless as if suddenly transformed into an ugly idol. in one hand she held a dish with a piece of burning camphor, in the other a handful of rice, and she never removed her burning eyes from the crowd. the pale yellow flame of the camphor flickered in the wind, and lit up her deathlike head, almost touching her chin; but she paid no heed to it. her neck, as wrinkled as a mushroom, as thin as a stick, was surrounded by three rows of golden medallions. her head was adorned with a golden snake. her grotesque, hardly human body was covered by a piece of saffron-yellow muslin. the demoniac little girls raised their heads from be-neath the leaves, and set up a prolonged animal-like howl. their example was followed by the old man, who lay exhausted by his frantic dance. the witch tossed her head convulsively, and began her invocations, rising on tiptoe, as if moved by some external force. "the goddess, one of the seven sisters, begins to take possession of her," whispered sham rao, not even thinking of wiping away the big drops of sweat that streamed from his brow. "look, look at her!" this advice was quite superfluous. we were looking at her, and at nothing else. at first, the movements of the witch were slow, unequal, somewhat convulsive; then, gradually, they became less angular; at last, as if catching the cadence of the drums, leaning all her long body forward, and writhing like an eel, she rushed round and round the blazing bonfire. a dry leaf caught in a hurricane could not fly swifter. her bare bony feet trod noiselessly on the rocky ground. the long locks of her hair flew round her like snakes, lashing the spectators, who knelt, stretching their trembling arms towards her, and writhing as if they were alive. whoever was touched by one of this fury's black curls, fell down on the ground, overcome with happiness, shouting thanks to the goddess, and considering himself blessed for ever. it was not human hair that touched the happy elect, it was the goddess herself, one of the seven. swifter and swifter fly her decrepit legs; the young, vigorous hands of the drummer can hardly follow her. but she does not think of catching the measure of his music; she rushes, she flies forward. staring with her expressionless, motionless orbs at something before her, at something that is not visible to our mortal eyes, she hardly glances at her worshippers; then her look becomes full of fire; and whoever she looks at feels burned through to the marrow of his bones. at every glance she throws a few grains of rice. the small handful seems inexhaustible, as if the wrinkled palm contained the bottomless bag of prince fortunatus. suddenly she stops as if thunderstruck. the mad race round the bonfire had lasted twelve minutes, but we looked in vain for a trace of fatigue on the deathlike face of the witch. she stopped only for a moment, just the necessary time for the goddess to release her. as soon as she felt free, by a single effort she jumped over the fire and plunged into the deep tank by the portico. this time, she plunged only once; and whilst she stayed under the water, the second sister-goddess entered her body. the little boy in white produced another dish, with a new piece of burning camphor, just in time for the witch to take it up, and to rush again on her headlong way. the colonel sat with his watch in his hand. during the second obsession the witch ran, leaped, and raced for exactly fourteen minutes. after this, she plunged twice in the tank, in honor of the second sister; and with every new obsession the number of her plunges increased, till it became six. it was already an hour and a half since the race began. all this time the witch never rested, stopping only for a few seconds, to disappear under the water. "she is a fiend, she cannot be a woman!" exclaimed the colonel, seeing the head of the witch immersed for the sixth time in the water. "hang me if i know!" grumbled mr. y----, nervously pulling his beard. "the only thing i know is that a grain of her cursed rice entered my throat, and i can't get it out!" "hush, hush! please, do be quiet!" implored sham rao. "by talking you will spoil the whole business!" i glanced at narayan and lost myself in conjectures. his features, which usually were so calm and serene, were quite altered at this moment, by a deep shadow of suffering. his lips trembled, and the pupils of his eyes were dilated, as if by a dose of belladonna. his eyes were lifted over the heads of the crowd, as if in his disgust he tried not to see what was before him, and at the same time could not see it, engaged in a deep reverie, which carried him away from us, and from the whole performance. "what is the matter with him?" was my thought, but i had no time to ask him, because the witch was again in full swing, chasing her own shadow. but with the seventh goddess the programme was slightly changed. the running of the old woman changed to leaping. sometimes bending down to the ground, like a black panther, she leaped up to some worshipper, and halting before him touched his forehead with her finger, while her long, thin body shook with inaudible laughter. then, again, as if shrinking back playfully from her shadow, and chased by it, in some uncanny game, the witch appeared to us like a horrid caricature of dinorah, dancing her mad dance. suddenly she straightened herself to her full height, darted to the portico and crouched before the smoking censer, beating her forehead against the granite steps. another jump, and she was quite close to us, before the head of the monstrous sivatherium. she knelt down again and bowed her head to the ground several times, with the sound of an empty barrel knocked against something hard. we had hardly the time to spring to our feet and shrink back when she appeared on the top of the sivatherium's head, standing there amongst the horns. narayan alone did not stir, and fearlessly looked straight in the eyes of the frightful sorceress. but what was this? who spoke in those deep manly tones? her lips were moving, from her breast were issuing those quick, abrupt phrases, but the voice sounded hollow as if coming from beneath the ground. "hush, hush!" whispered sham rao, his whole body trembling. "she is going to prophesy!.... " "she?" incredulously inquired mr. y----. "this a woman's voice? i don't believe it for a moment. someone's uncle must be stowed away somewhere about the place. not the fabulous uncle she inherited from, but a real live one!..." sham rao winced under the irony of this supposition, and cast an imploring look at the speaker. "woe to you! woe to you!" echoed the voice. "woe to you, children of the impure jaya and vijaya! of the mocking, unbelieving lingerers round great shiva's door! ye, who are cursed by eighty thousand sages! woe to you who believe not in the goddess kali, and you who deny us, her seven divine sisters! flesh-eating, yellow-legged vultures! friends of the oppressors of our land! dogs who are not ashamed to eat from the same trough with the bellati!" (foreigners). "it seems to me that your prophetess only foretells the past," said mr. y----, philosophically putting his hands in his pockets. "i should say that she is hinting at you, my dear sham rao." "yes! and at us also," murmured the colonel, who was evidently beginning to feel uneasy. as to the unlucky sham rao, he broke out in a cold sweat, and tried to assure us that we were mistaken, that we did not fully understand her language. "it is not about you, it is not about you! it is of me she speaks, because i am in government service. oh, she is inexorable!" "rakshasas! asuras!" thundered the voice. "how dare you appear before us? how dare you to stand on this holy ground in boots made of a cow's sacred skin? be cursed for etern----" but her curse was not destined to be finished. in an instant the hercules-like narayan had fallen on the sivatherium, and upset the whole pile, the skull, the horns and the demoniac pythia included. a second more, and we thought we saw the witch flying in the air towards the portico. a confused vision of a stout, shaven brahman, suddenly emerging from under the sivatherium and instantly disappearing in the hollow beneath it, flashed before my dilated eyes. but, alas! after the third second had passed, we all came to the embarrassing conclusion that, judging from the loud clang of the door of the cave, the representative of the seven sisters had ignominiously fled. the moment she had disappeared from our inquisitive eyes to her subterranean domain, we all realized that the unearthly hollow voice we had heard had nothing supernatural about it and belonged to the brahman hidden under the sivatherium--to someone's live uncle, as mr. y---- had rightly supposed. oh, narayan! how carelessly.... how disorderly the worlds rotate around us.... i begin to seriously doubt their reality. from this moment i shall earnestly believe that all things in the universe are nothing but illusion, a mere maya. i am becoming a vedantin.... i doubt that in the whole universe there may be found anything more objective than a hindu witch flying up the spout.---- miss x---- woke up, and asked what was the meaning of all this noise. the noise of many voices and the sounds of the many retreating footsteps, the general rush of the crowd, had frightened her. she listened to us with a condescending smile, and a few yawns, and went to sleep again. next morning, at daybreak, we very reluctantly, it must be owned, bade good-bye to the kind-hearted, good-natured sham rao. the confoundingly easy victory of narayan hung heavily on his mind. his faith in the holy hermitess and the seven goddesses was a good deal shaken by the shameful capitulation of the sisters, who had surrendered at the first blow from a mere mortal. but during the dark hours of the night he had had time to think it over, and to shake off the uneasy feeling of having unwillingly misled and disappointed his european friends. sham rao still looked confused when he shook hands with us at parting, and expressed to us the best wishes of his family and himself. as to the heroes of this truthful narrative, they mounted their elephants once more, and directed their heavy steps towards the high road and jubbulpore. god's warrior the direction of our pilgrimage of self-improvement lay towards the north-west, as was previously decided. we were very impatient to see these status in statu of anglo-india, but.... do what you may, there always will be a but. we left the jubbulpore line several miles from nassik; and, to return to it, we had to go back to akbarpur, then travel by doubtful local-board roads to the station vanevad and take the train of holkar's line, which joins the great indian peninsular railway. meanwhile, the bagh caves were quite close to us, not more than fifty miles off, to the east from mandu. we were undecided whether to leave them alone or go back to the nerbudda. in the country situated on the other side of kandesh, our babu had some "chums," as everywhere else in india; the omnipresent bengali babus, who are always glad to be of some service to you, are scattered all over hindostan, like the jews in russia. besides, our party was joined by a new member. the day before we had received a letter from swami dayanand, carried to us by a traveling sannyasi. dayanand informed us that the cholera was increasing every day in hardwar, and that we must postpone making his acquaintance personally till the end of may, either in dehra-dun, at the foot of himalaya, or in saharanpur, which attracts every tourist by its charming situation. the sannyasi brought us also a nosegay from the swami, a nosegay of the most extraordinary flowers, which are totally unknown in europe. they grow only in certain himalayan valleys; they possess the wonderful capacity of changing their color after midday, and do not look dead even when faded. the latin name of this charming plant is hibiscus mutabilis. at night they are nothing but a large knot of pressed green leaves, but from dawn till ten o'clock the flowers open and look like large snow-white roses; then, towards twelve o'clock, they begin to redden, and later in the afternoon they look as crimson as a peony. these flowers are sacred to the asuras, a kind of fallen angels in hindu mythology, and to the sun-god surya. the latter deity fell in love with an asuri at the beginning of creation, and since then is constantly caught whispering words of fiery love to the flower that shelters her. but the asura is a virgin; she gives herself entirely to the service of the goddess chastity, who is the patroness of all the ascetic brotherhoods. the love of surya is vain, asura will not listen to him. but under the flaming arrows of the enamoured god she blushes and in appearance loses her purity. the natives call this plant lajjalu, the modest one. we were spending the night by a brook, under a shadowy fig-tree. the sannyasi, who had made a wide circuit to fulfil dayanand's request, made friends with us; and we sat up late in the night, listening whilst he talked about his travels, the wonders of his native country, once so great, and about the heroic deeds of old runjit-sing, the lion of the punjab. strange, mysterious beings are found sometimes amongst these traveling monks. some of them are very learned; read and talk sanskrit; know all about modern science and politics; and, nevertheless, remain faithful to their ancient philosophical conceptions. generally they do not wear any clothes, except a piece of muslin round the loins, which is insisted upon by the police of the towns inhabited by europeans. they wander from the age of fifteen, all their lives, and die generally very aged. they live never giving a thought to the morrow, like the birds of heaven, and the lilies of the field. they never touch money, and are contented with a handful of rice. all their worldly possessions consist of a small dry pumpkin to carry water, a rosary, a brass cup and a walking stick. the sannyasis and the swamis are usually sikhs from the punjab, and monotheists. they despise idol-worshipers, and have nothing to do with them, though the latter very often call themselves by their names. our new friend was a native of amritsar, in the punjab, and had been brought up in the "golden temple," on the banks of amrita-saras, the "lake of immortality." the head guru, or instructor, of sikhs resides there. he never crosses the boundaries of the temple. his chief occupation is the study of the book called adigrantha, which belongs to the sacred literature of this strange bellicose sect. the sikhs respect him as much as the tibetans respect their dalai-lama. the lamas in general consider the latter to be the incarnation of buddha, the sikhs think that the maha-guru of amritsar is the incarnation of nanak, the founder of their sect. nevertheless, no true sikh will ever say that nanak was a deity; they look on him as a prophet, inspired by the spirit of the only god. this shows that our sannyasi was not one of the naked travelling monks, but a true akali; one of the six hundred warrior-priests attached to the golden temple, for the purpose of serving god and protecting the temple from the destructive mussulmans. his name was ram-runjit-das; and his personal appearance was in perfect accordance with his title of "god's warrior." his exterior was very remarkable and typical; and he looked like a muscular centurion of ancient roman legions, rather than a peaceable servant of the altar. ram-runjit-das appeared to us mounted on a magnificent horse, and accompanied by another sikh, who respectfully walked some distance behind him, and was evidently passing through his noviciate. our hindu companions had discerned that he was an akali, when he was still in the distance. he wore a bright blue tunic without sleeves, exactly like that we see on the statues of roman warriors. broad steel bracelets protected his strong arms, and a shield protruded from behind his back. a blue, conical turban covered his head, and round his waist were many steel circlets. the enemies of the sikhs assert that these sacred sectarian belts become more dangerous in the hand of an experienced "god's warrior," than any other weapon. the sikhs are the bravest and the most warlike sect of the whole punjab. the word sikh means disciple. founded in the fifteenth century by the wealthy and noble brahman nanak, the new teaching spread so successfully amongst the northern soldiers, that in a.d., when the founder died, it counted one hundred thousand followers. at the present time, this sect, harmonizing closely with the fiery natural mysticism, and the warlike tendencies of the natives, is the reigning creed of the whole punjab. it is based on the principles of theocratic rule; but its dogmas are almost totally unknown to europeans; the teachings, the religious conceptions, and the rites of the sikhs, are kept secret. the following details are known generally: the sikhs are ardent monotheists, they refuse to recognize caste; have no restrictions in diet, like europeans; and bury their dead, which, except among mussulmans, is a rare exception in india. the second volume of the adigrantha teaches them "to adore the only true god; to avoid superstitions; to help the dead, that they may lead a righteous life; and to earn one's living, sword in hand." govinda, one of the great gurus of the sikhs, ordered them never to shave their beards and moustaches, and not to cut their hair--in order that they may not be mistaken for mussulmans or any other native of india. many a desperate battle the sikhs fought and won, against the mussulmans, and against the hindus. their leader, the celebrated runjit-sing, after having been acknowledged the autocrat of the upper punjab, concluded a treaty with lord auckland, at the beginning of this century, in which his country was proclaimed an independent state. but after the death of the "old lion," his throne became the cause of the most dreadful civil wars and disorders. his son, maharaja dhulip-sing, proved quite unfit for the high post he inherited from his father, and, under him, the sikhs became an ill-disciplined restless mob. their attempt to conquer the whole of hindostan proved disastrous. persecuted by his own soldiers, dhulip-sing sought the help of englishmen, and was sent away to scotland. and some time after this, the sikhs took their place amongst the rest of britain's indian subjects. but still there remains a strong body of the great sikh sect of old. the kuks represent the most dangerous underground current of the popular hatred. this new sect was founded about thirty years ago [written in ] by balaka-rama, and, at first, formed a bulk of people near attok, in the punjab, on the east bank of the indus, exactly on the spot where the latter becomes navigable. balaka-rama had a double aim; to restore the religion of the sikhs to its pristine purity, and to organize a secret political body, which must be ready for everything, at a moment's notice. this brotherhood consists of sixty thousand members, who pledged themselves never to reveal their secrets, and never to disobey any order of their leaders. in attok they are few, for the town is small. but we were assured that the kuks live everywhere in india. their community is so perfectly organized that it is impossible to find them out, or to learn the names of their leaders. in the course of the evening our akali presented us with a little crystal bottle, filled with water from the "lake of immortality." he said that a drop of it would cure all diseases of the eye. there are numbers of fresh springs at the bottom of this lake, and so its water is wonderfully pure and transparent, in spite of hundreds of people daily bathing in it. when, later on, we visited it, we had the opportunity to verify the fact that the smallest stone at the bottom is seen perfectly distinctly, all over the one hundred and fifty square yards of the lake. amrita-saran is the most charming of all the sights of northern india. the reflection of the golden temple in its crystal waters makes a picture that is simply feerique. we had still seven weeks at our disposal. we were undecided between exploring the bombay presidency, the north-west provinces and the rajistan. which were we to choose? where were we to go? how best to employ our time? before such a variety of interesting places we became irresolute. hyderabad, which is said to transport the tourists into the scenery of the arabian nights, seemed so attractive that we seriously thought of turning our elephants back to the territory of the nizam. we grew fond of the idea of visiting this "city of the lion," which was built in by the magnificent mohamed-kuli-kuth-shah, who was so used to luxuries of every kind as to grow weary even of golkonda, with all its fairyland castles and bright gardens. some buildings of hyderabad, mere remnants of the past glory, are still known to renown. mir-abu-talib, the keeper of the royal treasury, states that mohamed-kuli-shah spent the fabulous sum of l , , sterling on the embellishment of the town, at the beginning of his reign; though the labor of the workmen did not cost him anything at all. save these few memorials of greatness, the town looks like a heap of rubbish nowadays. but all tourists are unanimous on one point, namely, that the british residency of hyderabad still deserves its title of the versailles of india. the title the british residency bears, and everything it may contain at the present time, are mere trifles compared with the past. i remember reading a chapter of the history of hyderabad, by an english author, which contained something to the following effect: whilst the resident entertained the gentlemen, his wife was similarly employed receiving the ladies a few yards off, in a separate palace, which was as sumptuous, and bore the name of rang-mahal. both palaces were built by colonel kirkpatrick, the late minister at the nizam's court. having married a native princess, he constructed this charming abode for her personal use. its garden is surrounded by a high wall, as is customary in the orient, and the centre of the garden is adorned with a large marble fountain, covered with scenes from the ramayana, and mosaics, pavilions, galleries and terraces--everything in this garden is loaded with adornments of the most costly oriental style, that is to say, with abundance of inlaid designs, paintings, gilding, ivory and marble. the great attraction of mrs. kirkpatrick's receptions were the nautches, magnificently dressed, thanks to the generosity of the resident. some of them wore a cargo of jewels worth l , , and literally shone from head to foot with diamonds and other precious stones. the glorious times of the east india company are beyond recall, and no residents, and even no native princes, could now afford to be so "generous." india, this "most precious diamond of the british crown," is utterly exhausted, like a pile of gold in the hands of an alchemist, who thriftlessly spent it in the hope of finding the philosopher's stone. besides ruining themselves and the country, the anglo-indians commit the greatest blunders, at least in two points of their present government system. these two points are: first, the western education they give to the higher classes; and, secondly, the protection and maintenance of the rights of idol worship. neither of these systems is wise. by means of the first they successfully replace the religious feelings of old india, which, however false, had the great advantage of being sincere, by a positive atheism amongst the young generation of the brahmans; and by the means of the second they flatter only the ignorant masses, from whom nothing is to be feared under any circumstances. if the patriotic feelings of the bulk of the population could possibly be roused, the english would have been slaughtered long ago. the rural populace is unarmed, it is true, but a crowd seeking revenge could use the brass and stone idols, sent to india by thousands from birmingham, with as great success as if they were so many swords. but, as it is, the masses of india are indifferent and harmless; so that the only existing danger comes from the side of the educated classes. and the english fail to see that the better the education they give them, the more careful they must be to avoid reopening the old wounds, always alive to new injury, in the heart of every true hindu. the hindus are proud of the past of their country, dreams of past glories are their only compensation for the bitter present. the english education they receive only enables them to learn that europe was plunged in the darkness of the stone age, when india was in the full growth of her splendid civilization. and so the comparison of their past with their present is only the more sad. this consideration never hinders the anglo-indians from hurting the feelings of the hindus. for instance, in the unanimous opinion of travelers and antiquarians, the most interesting building of hyderabad is chahar-minar, a college that was built by mohamed-kuli-khan on the ruins of a still more ancient college. it is built at the crossing of four streets, on four arches, which are so high that loaded camels and elephants with their turrets pass through freely. over these arches rise the several stories of the college. each story once was destined for a separate branch of learning. alas! the times when india studied philosophy and astronomy at the feet of her great sages are gone, and the english have transformed the college itself into a warehouse. the hall, which served for the study of astronomy, and was filled with quaint, medieval apparatus, is now used for a depot of opium; and the hall of philosophy contains huge boxes of liqueurs, rum and champagne, which are prohibited by the koran, as well as by the brahmans. we were so enchanted by what we heard about hyderabad, that we resolved to start thither the very next morning, when our ciceroni and companions destroyed all our plans by a single word. this word was: heat. during the hot season in hyderabad the thermometer reaches ninety-eight degrees fahrenheit in the shade, and the temperature of the water in the indus is the temperature of the blood. as to upper sindh, where the dryness of the air, and the extreme aridity of the sandy soil reproduce the sahara in miniature, the usual shade temperature is one hundred and thirty degrees fahrenheit. no wonder the missionaries have no chance there. the most eloquent of dante's descriptions of hell could hardly produce anything but a cooling effect on a populace who live perfectly contented under these circumstances. calculating that there was no obstacle to our going to the bagh caves, and that going to sindh was a perfect impossibility, we recovered our equanimity. then the general council decided that we had better abandon all ideas of a predetermined plan, and travel as fancy led us. we dismissed our elephants, and next day, a little before sunset, arrived at the spot where the vagrey and girna join. these are two little rivers, quite famous in the annals of the indian mythology, and which are generally conspicuous by their absence, especially in summer. at the opposite side of the river, there lay the illustrious bagh caves, with their four openings blinking in the thick evening mist. we thought of crossing to them immediately, by the help of a ferry boat, but our hindu friends and the boat-men interposed. the former said that visiting these caves is dangerous even by daytime; because all the neighborhood is full of beasts of prey and of tigers, who, i concluded, are like the bengali babus, to be met with everywhere in india. before venturing into these caves, you must send a reconnoitring party of torch-bearers and armed shikaris. as to the boatmen, they protested on different grounds, but protested strongly. they said that no hindu would dare to approach these caves after the sun set. no one but a bellati would fancy that vagrey and girna are ordinary rivers, for every hindu knows they are divine spouses, the god shiva and his wife parvati. this, in the first instance; and in the second, the bagh tigers are no ordinary tigers either. the sahibs are totally mistaken. these tigers are the servants of the sadhus, of the holy miracle-workers, who have haunted the caves now for many centuries, and who deign sometimes to take the shape of a tiger. and neither the gods, nor the sadhus, nor the glamour, nor the true tigers are fond of being disturbed in their nightly rest. what could we say against all this? we cast one more sorrowful look at the caves, and returned to our antediluvian carriages. the babu and narayan said we must spend the night at the house of a certain "chum" of the babu, who resided in a small town, three miles further on, and bearing the same name as the caves; and we unwillingly acquiesced. many things in india are wonderful and unintelligible, but one of the most wonderful and the most unintelligible, is the geographical and the topographical disposition of the numberless territories of this country. political conjunctures in india seem to be everlastingly playing the french game casse-tete, changing the pattern, diminishing one part and adding to another. the land that only yesterday belonged to this raja or that takur, is sure to be found today in the hands of quite a different set of people. for instance, we were in the raj of amjir in malva, and we were going to the little city of bagh, which also belongs to malva and is included in the amjir raj. in the documents, malva is included in the independent possessions of holkar; and nevertheless the amjir raj does not belong to tukuji-rao-holkar, but to the son of the independent raja of amjir, who was hanged, "by inadvertence" as we were assured, in . the city, and the caves of bagh, very oddly belong to the maharaja sindya of gwalior, who, besides, does not own them personally, having made a kind of present of them, and their nine thousand rupees of revenue, to some poor relation. this poor relation, in his turn, does not enjoy the property in the least, because a certain rajput takur stole it from him, and will not consent to give it back. bagh is situated on the road from gujerat to malva, in the defile of oodeypur, which is owned accordingly by the maharana of oodeypur. bagh itself is built on the top of a woody hillock, and being disputed property does not belong to any one in particular, properly speaking; but a small fortress, and a bazaar in the centre of it are the private possessions of a certain dhani; who, besides being the chieftain of the bhimalah tribe, was the personal "chum" of our babu, and a "great thief and highway robber," according to the assertions of the said babu. "but why do you intend taking us to the place of a man whom you consider as a thief and a robber?" objected one of us timidly. "he is a thief and a brigand," coolly answered the bengali, "but only in the political sense. otherwise he is an excellent man, and the truest of friends. besides, if he does not help us, we shall starve; the bazaar and everything in the shops belong to him." these explanations of the babu notwithstanding, we were glad to learn that the "chum" in question was absent, and we were received by a relation of his. the garden was put at our disposal, and before our tents were pitched, we saw people coming from every side of the garden, bringing us provisions. having deposited what he had brought, each of them, on leaving the tent, threw over his shoulder a pinch of betel and soft sugar, an offering to the "foreign bhutas," which were supposed to accompany us wherever we went. the hindus of our party asked us, very seriously, not to laugh at this performance, saying it would be dangerous in this out-of-the-way place. no doubt they were right. we were in central india, the very nest of all kinds of superstitions, and were surrounded by bhils. all along the vindya ridge, from yama, on the west of the "dead city," the country is thickly populated by this most daring, restless and superstitious of all the half-savage tribes of india. the orientalists think that the naive bhils comes from the sanskrit root bhid, which means to separate. sir j. malcolm supposes accordingly that the bhils are sectarians, who separated from the brahmanical creed, and were excommunicated. all this looks very probable, but their tribal traditions say something different. of course, in this case, as in every other, their history is strongly entangled with mythology; and one has to go through a thick shrubbery of fancy before reaching the tribe's genealogical tree. the relation of the absent dhani, who spent the evening with us, told us the following: the bhils are the descendants of one of the sons of mahadeva, or shiva, and of a fair woman, with blue eyes and a white face, whom he met in some forest on the other side of the kalapani, "black waters," or ocean. this pair had several sons, one of whom, as handsome as he was vicious, killed the favorite ox of his grandfather maha-deva, and was banished by his father to the jodpur desert. banished to its remotest southern corner, he married; and soon his descendants filled the whole country. they scattered along the vindya ridge, on the western frontier of malva and kandesh; and, later, in the woody wilderness, on the shores of the rivers maha, narmada and tapti. and all of them, inheriting the beauty of their forefather, his blue eyes and fair complexion, inherited also his turbulent disposition and his vice. "we are thieves and robbers," naively explained the relative of the babu's "chum," "but we can't help it, because this is the decree of our mighty forefather, the great maha-deva-shiva. sending his grandson to repent his sins in the desert, he said to him: 'go, wretched murderer of my son and your brother, the ox nardi; go and live the life of an exile and a brigand, to be an everlasting warning to your brethren!... ' these are the very words of the great god. now, do you think we could disobey his orders? the least of our actions is always regulated by our bhamyas--chieftains--who are the direct descendants of nadir-sing, the first bhil, the child of our exiled ancestor, and being this, it is only natural that the great god speaks to us through him." is not it strange that apis, the sacred ox of the egyptians, is honored by the followers of zoroaster, as well as by the hindus? the ox nardi, the emblem of life in nature, is the son of the creating father, or rather his life-giving breath. ammianus marcellinus mentions, in one of his works, that there exists a book which gives the exact age of apis, the clue to the mystery of creation and the cyclic calculations. the brahmans also explain the allegory of the ox nardi by the continuation of life on our globe. the "mediators" between shiva and the bhils possess such unrestricted authority that the most awful crimes are accomplished at their lightest word. the tribe have thought it necessary to decrease their power to a certain extent by instituting a kind of council in every village. this council is called tarvi, and tries to cool down the hot-headed fancies of the dhanis, their brigand lords. however, the word of the bhils is sacred, and their hospitality is boundless. the history and the annals of the princes of jodpur and oodeypur confirm the legend of the bhil emigration from their primitive desert, but how they happened to be there nobody knows. colonel tod is positive that the bhils, together with the merases and the goands, are the aborigines of india, as well as the tribes who inhabit the nerbuda forests. but why the bhils should be almost fair and blue-eyed, whereas the rest of the hill-tribes are almost african in type, is a question that is not answered by this statement. the fact that all these aborigines call themselves bhumaputra and vanaputra, sons of the earth and sons of the forest, when the rajputs, their first conquerors, call themselves surya-vansa and the brahmans indu-putras, descendants of the sun and the moon, does not prove everything. it seems to me, that in the present case, their appearance, which confirms their legends, is of much greater value than philology. dr. clark, the author of travels in scandinavia, is very logical in saying that, "by directing our attention on the traces of the ancient superstitions of a tribe, we shall find out who were its primitive forefathers much more easily than by scientific examination of their tongue; the superstitions are grafted on the very root, whereas the tongue is subjected to all kinds of changes." but, unfortunately, everything we know about the history of the bhils is reduced to the above-mentioned tradition, and to a few ancient songs of their bards. these bards or bhattas live in rajistan, but visit the bhils yearly, in order not to lose the leading thread of the achievements of their countrymen. their songs are history, because the bhattas have existed from time immemorial, composing their lays for future generations, for this is their hereditary duty. and the songs of the remotest antiquity point to the lands over the kalapani as the place whence the bhils came; that is to say, some place in europe. some orientalists, especially colonel tod, seek to prove that the rajputs, who conquered the bhils, were newcomers of scythian origin, and that the bhils are the true aborigines. to prove this, they put forward some features common to both peoples, rajput and scythian, for instance ( ) the worship of the sword, the lance, the shield and the horse; ( ) the worship of, and the sacrifice to, the sun (which, as far as i know, never was worshiped by the scythians); ( ) the passion of gambling (which again is as strong amongst the chinese and the japanese); ( ) the custom of drinking blood out of the skull of an enemy (which is also practised by some aborigines of america), etc., etc. i do not intend entering here on a scientific ethnological discussion; and, besides, i am sure no one fails to see that the reasoning of scientists sometimes takes a very strange turn when they set to prove some favorite theory of theirs. it is enough to remember how entangled and obscure is the history of the ancient scythians to abstain from drawing any positive conclusions whatsoever from it. the tribes that go under one general denomination of scythians were many, and still it is impossible to deny that there is a good deal of similitude between the customs of the old scandinavians, worshipers of odin, whose land indeed was occupied by the scythians more than five hundred years b.c. and the customs of the rajputs. but this similitude gives as much right to the rajputs to say that we are a colony of surya-vansas settled in the west as to us to maintain that the rajputs are the descendants of scythians who emigrated to the east. the scythians of herodotus and the scythians of ptolemy, and some other classical writers, are two perfectly distinct nationalities. under scythia, herodotus means the extension of land from the mouth of danube to the sea of azoff, according to niebuhr; and to the mouth of don, according to rawlinson; whereas the scythia of ptolemy is a country strictly asiatic, including the whole space between the river volga and serika, or china. besides this, scythia was divided by the western himalayas, which the roman writers call imaus, into scythia intra imaum, and scythia extra imaum. given this lack of precision, the rajputs may be called the scythians of asia, and the scythians the rajputs of europe, with the same degree of likelihood. pinkerton's opinion is that european contempt for the tartars would not be half so strong if the european public learned how closely we are related to them; that our forefathers came from northern asia, and that our primitive customs, laws and mode of living were the same as theirs; in a word, that we are nothing but a tartar colony... cimbri, kelts and gauls, who conquered the northern part of europe, are different names of the same tribe, whose origin is tartary. who were the goths, the swedes, the vandals, the huns and the franks, if not separate swarms of the same beehive? the annals of sweden point to kashgar as the fatherland of the swedes. the likeness between the languages of the saxons and the kipchak-tartars is striking; and the keltic, which still exists in brittany and in wales, is the best proof that their inhabitants are descendants of the tartar nation. whatever pinkerton and others may say, the modern rajput warriors do not answer in the least the description hippocrates gives us of the scythians. the "father of medicine" says: "the bodily structure of these men is thick, coarse and stunted; their joints are weak and flabby; they have almost no hair, and each of them resembles the other." no man, who has seen the handsome, gigantic warriors of rajistan, with their abundant hair and beards, will ever recognize this portrait drawn by hippocrates as theirs. besides, the scythians, whoever they may be, buried their dead, which the rajputs never did, judging by the records of their most ancient mss. the scythians were a wandering nation, and are described by hesiod as "living in covered carts and feeding on mare's milk." and the rajputs have been a sedentary people from time immemorial, inhabiting towns, and having their history at least several hundred years before christ--that is to say, earlier than the epoch of herodotus. they do celebrate the ashvamedha, the horse sacrifice; but will not touch mare's milk, and despise all mongolians. herodotus says that the scythians, who called themselves skoloti, hated foreigners, and never let any stranger in their country; and the rajputs are one of the most hospitable peoples of the world. in the epoch of the wars of darius, b.c., the scythians were still in their own district, about the mouth of the danube. and at the same epoch the rajputs were already known in india and had their own kingdom. as to the ashvamedha, which colonel tod thinks to be the chief illustration of his theory, the custom of killing horses in honor of the sun is mentioned in the rig-veda, as well as in the aitareya-brahmana. martin haug states that the latter has probably been in existence since - b.c.---- but it strikes me that the digression from the babu's chum to the scythians and the rajputs of the antediluvian epoch threatens to become too long, so i beg the reader's pardon and resume the thread of my narrative. the banns of marriage next day, early in the morning, the local shikaris went under the leadership of the warlike akali, to hunt glamoured and real tigers in the caves. it took them longer than we expected. the old bhil, who represented to us the absent dhani, proposed that in the meanwhile we should witness a brahmanical wedding ceremony. needless to say, we jumped at this. the ceremonies of betrothal and marriage have not changed in india during the last two millenniums at least. they are performed according to the directions of manu, and the old theme has no new variations. india's religious rites have crystallized long ago. whoever has seen a hindu wedding in , saw it as it was celebrated in ancient aryavarta many centuries ago.---- a few days before we left bombay we read in a small local newspaper two announcements of marriages: the first the marriage of a brahman heiress, the second of a daughter of the fire-worshipers. the first announcement was something to the following effect: "the family of bimbay mavlankar, etc., etc., are preparing for a happy event. this respectable member of our community, unlike the rest of the less fortunate brahmans of his caste, has found a husband for his grand-daughter in a rich gujerat family of the same caste. the little rama-bai is already five, her future husband is seven. the wedding is to take place in two months and promises to be brilliant." the second announcement referred to an accomplished fact. it appeared in a parsi paper, which strongly insists on the necessity of giving up "disgusting superannuated customs," and especially the early marriage. it justly ridiculed a certain gujerati newspaper, which had just described in very pompous expressions a recent wedding ceremony in poona. the bridegroom, who had just entered his sixth year "pressed to his heart a blushing bride of two and a half!" the usual answers of this couple entering into matrimony proved so indistinct that the mobed had to address the questions to their parents: "are you willing to have him for your lawful husband, o daughter of zaratushta?" and "are you willing to be her husband, o son of zoroaster?" "everything went as well as it could be expected," continued the newspaper; "the bridegroom was led out of the room by the hand, and the bride, who was carried away in arms, greeted the guests, not with smiles, but with a tremendous howl, which made her forget the existence of such a thing as a pocket-handkerchief, and remember only her feeding-bottle; for the latter article she asked repeatedly, half choked with sobs, and throttled with the weight of the family diamonds. taking it all in all, it was a parsi marriage, which shows the progress of our speedily developing nation with the exactitude of a weather glass," added the satirical newspaper. having read this we laughed heartily, though we did not give full credit to this description, and thought it a good deal exaggerated. we knew parsi and brahman families in which were husbands of ten years of age; but had never heard as yet of a bride who was a baby in arms.---- it is not without reason that the brahmans are fervent upholders of the ancient law which prohibits to everyone, except the officiating brahmans, the study of sanskrit and the reading of the vedas. the shudras and even the high-born vaishyas were in olden times to be executed for such an offence. the secret of this rigour lies in the fact that the vedas do not permit matrimony for women under fifteen to twenty years of age, and for men under twenty-five, or even thirty. eager above all that every religious ceremony should fill their pockets, the brahmans never stopped at disfiguring their ancient sacred literature; and not to be caught, they pronounced its study accursed. amongst other "criminal inventions," to use the expression of swami dayanand, there is a text in the brahmanical books, which contradicts everything that is to be found in the vedas on this particular matter: i speak of the kudva kunbis, the wedding season of all the agricultural classes of central asia. this season is to be celebrated once in every twelve years, but it appears to be a field from which messieurs les brahmans gathered the most abundant harvest. at this epoch, all the mothers have to seek audiences from the goddess mata, the great mother--of course through her rightful oracles the brahmans. mata is the special patroness of all the four kinds of marriages practised in india: the marriages of adults, of children, of babies, and of specimens of humanity that are as yet to be born. the latter is the queerest of all, because the feelings it excites are so very like gambling. in this case, the marriage ceremony is celebrated between the mothers of the future children. many a curious incident is the result of these matrimonial parodies. but a true brahman will never allow the derision of fate to shake his dignity, and the docile population never will doubt the infallibility of these "elect of the gods." an open antagonism to the brahmanical institutions is more than rare; the feelings of reverence and dread the masses show to the brahmans are so blind and so sincere, that an outsider cannot help smiling at them and respecting them at the same time. if both the mothers have children of the same sex, it will not upset the brahman in the least; he will say this was the will of the goddess mata, it shows that she desires the new-born babies to be two loving brothers, or two loving sisters, as the case may be, in future. and if the children grow up, they will be acknowledged heirs to the properties of both mothers. in this case, the brahman breaks the bonds of the marriage by the order of the goddess, is paid for doing so, and the whole affair is dropped altogether. but if the children are of different sexes these bonds cannot be broken, even if they are born cripples or idiots. while i am dealing with the family life of india, i had better mention some other features, not to return to them any more. no hindu has the right to remain single. the only exceptions are, in case the child is destined to monastic life from the first days of his existence, and in case the child is consecrated to the service of one of the gods of the trimurti even before he is born. religion insists on matrimony for the sake of having a son, whose duty it will be to perform every prescribed rite, in order that his departed father may enter swarga, or paradise. even the caste of brahmacharyas, who take vows of chastity, but take a part and interest in worldly life--and so are the unique lay-celibates of india--are bound to adopt sons. the rest of the hindus must remain in matrimony till the age of forty; after which they earn the right to leave the world, and to seek salvation, leading an ascetic life in some jungle. if a member of some hindu family happens to be afflicted from birth with some organic defect, this will not be an impediment to his marrying, on the condition that his wife should be also a cripple, if she belongs to the same caste. the defects of husband and wife must be different: if he is blind, she must be hump-backed or lame, and vice versa. but if the young man in question is prejudiced, and wants a healthy wife, he must condescend to make a mesalliance; he must stoop to choose a wife in a caste that is exactly one degree lower than his own. but in this case his kinsmen and associates will not acknowledge her; the parvenue will not be received on any conditions whatever. besides, all these exceptional instances depend entirely on the family guru--on the priest who is inspired by the gods. all the above holds good as far as the men are concerned; but with the women it is quite different. only the nautches--dancing girls consecrated to gods, and living in temples--can be said to be free and happy. their occupation is hereditary, but they are vestals and daughters of vestals, however strange this may sound to a european ear. but the notions of the hindus, especially on questions of morality, are quite independent, and even anti-western, if i may use this expression. no one is more severe and exacting in the questions of feminine honor and chastity; but the brahmans proved to be more cunning than even the roman augurs. rhea sylvia, for instance, the mother of romulus and remus, was buried alive by the ancient romans, in spite of the god mars taking an active part in her faux pas. numa and tiberius took exceedingly good care that the good morals of their priestesses should not become merely nominal. but the vestals on the banks of the ganges and the indus understand the question differently from those on the banks of the tiber. the intimacy of the nautch-girls with the gods, which is generally accepted, cleanses them from every sin and makes them in every one's eyes irreproachable and infallible. a nautcha cannot sin, in spite of the crowd of the "celestial musicians" who swarm in every pagoda, in the form of baby-vestals and their little brothers. no virtuous roman matron was ever so respected as the pretty little nautcha. this great reverence for the happy "brides of the gods" is especially striking in the purely native towns of central india, where the population has preserved intact their blind faith in the brahmans. every nautcha can read, and receives the highest hindu education. they all read and write in sanskrit, and study the best literature of ancient india, and her six chief philosophies, but especially music, singing and dancing. besides these "godborn" priestesses of the pagodas, there are also public nautches, who, like the egyptian almeas, are within the reach of ordinary mortals, not only of gods; they also are in most cases women of a certain culture. but the fate of an honest woman of hindostan is quite different; and a bitter and incredibly unjust fate it is. the life of a thoroughly good woman, especially if she happens to possess warm faith and unshaken piety, is simply a long chain of fatal misfortunes. and the higher her family and social position, the more wretched is her life. married women are so afraid of resembling the professional dancing girls, that they cannot be persuaded to learn anything the latter are taught. if a brahman woman is rich her life is spent in demoralizing idleness; if she is poor, so much the worse, her earthly existence is concentrated in monotonous performances of mechanical rites. there is no past, and no future for her; only a tedious present, from which there is no possible escape. and this only if everything be well, if her family be not visited by sad losses. needless to say that, amongst brahman women, marriage is not a question of free choice, and still less of affection. her choice of a husband is restricted by the caste to which her father and mother happen to belong; and so, to find a suitable match for a girl is a matter of great difficulty, as well as of great expense. in india, the high-caste woman is not bought, but she has to buy the right to get married. accordingly, the birth of a girl is not a joy, but a sorrow, especially if her parents are not rich. she must be married not later than when she is seven or eight; a little girl of ten is an old maid in india, she is a discredit to her parents and is the miser-able butt of all her more fortunate contemporaries. one of the few noble achievements of englishmen in india which have succeeded is the decrease of infanticide, which some time ago was a daily practice, and still is not quite got rid of. little girls were killed by their parents everywhere in india; but this dreadful custom was especially common amongst the tribes of jadej, once so powerful in sindh, and now reduced to petty brigandage. probably these tribes were the first to spread this heartless practice. obligatory marriage for little girls is a comparatively recent invention, and it alone is responsible for the parents' decision rather to see them dead than unmarried. the ancient aryans knew nothing of it. even the ancient brahmanical literature shows that, amongst the pure aryans, woman enjoyed the same privileges as man. her voice was listened to by the statesmen; she was free either to choose a husband, or to remain single. many a woman's name plays an important part in the chronicles of the ancient aryan land; many women have come down to posterity as eminent poets, astronomers, philosophers, and even sages and lawyers. but with the invasion of the persians, in the seventh century, and later on of the fanatical, all-destroying mussulmans, all this changed. woman became enslaved, and the brahmans did everything to humiliate her. in towns, the position of the hindu woman is still worse than amongst agricultural classes. the wedding ceremonies are very complicated and numerous. they are divided into three groups: the rites before the wedding; the rites during the ceremony; and the rites after the celebration has taken place. the first group consists of eleven ceremonies: the asking in marriage; the comparison of the two horoscopes; the sacrifice of a goat; the fixing of a propitious day; the building of the altar; the purchase of the sacred pots for household use; the invitation of guests; the sacrifices to the household gods; mutual presents and so on. all this must be accomplished as a religious duty, and is full of entangled rites. as soon as a little girl in some hindu family is four years old, her father and mother send for the family guru, give him her horoscope, drawn up previously by the astrologer of their caste (a very important post), and send the guru to this or that inhabitant of the place who is known to have a son of appropriate age. the father of the little boy has to put the horoscope on the altar before the family gods and to answer: "i am well disposed towards the panigrhana; let rudra help us." the guru must ask when the union is to take place, after which he is bowed out. a few days later the father of the little boy takes the horoscope of his son as well as of the little girl to the chief astrologer. if the latter finds them propitious to the intended marriage, it will take place; if not, his decision is immediately sent to the father of the little girl, and the whole affair is dropped. if the astrologer's opinion is favorable, however, the bargain is concluded on the spot. the astrologer offers a cocoa-nut and a handful of sugar to the father, after which nothing can be altered; otherwise a hindu vendetta will be handed down from generation to generation. after the obligatory goat-sacrifice, the couple are irrevocably betrothed, and the astrologer fixes the day of the wedding. the sacrifice of the goat is very interesting, so i am going to describe it in detail. a child of the male sex is sent to invite several married ladies, old women of twenty or twenty-five, to witness the worship of the lares and penates. each family has a household goddess of its own--which is not impossible, since the hindu gods number thirty-three crores. on the eve of the sacrificial day, a kid is brought into the house, and all the family sleep round him. next morning, the reception hall in the lower story is made ready for the ceremony. the floor is thickly covered with cow-dung, and, right in the middle of the room a square is traced with white chalk, in which is placed a high pedestal, with the statue of the goddess. the patriarch of the family brings the goat, and, holding him by the horns, lowers his head to salute the goddess. after this, the "old" and young women sing marriage hymns, tie the legs of the goat, cover his head with red powder, and make a lamp smoke under his nose, to banish the evil spirits from round him. when all this is done, the female element puts itself out of the way, and the patriarch comes again upon the stage. he treacherously puts a ration of rice before the goat, and as soon as the victim becomes innocently absorbed in gratifying his appetite, the old man chops his head off with a single stroke of his sword, and bathes the goddess in the smoking blood coming from the head of the animal, which he holds in his right arm, over the idol. the women sing in chorus, and the ceremony of betrothal is over. the ceremonies with the astrologers, and the exchange of presents, are too long to be described. i shall mention only, that in all these ceremonies the astrologer plays the double part of an augur and a family lawyer. after a general invocation to the elephant-headed god ganesha, the marriage contract is written on the reverse of the horoscopes and sealed, and a general blessing is pronounced over the assembly. needless to say that all these ceremonies had been accomplished long ago in the family to whose marriage party we were invited in bagh. all these rites are sacred, and most probably we, being mere strangers, would not have been allowed to witness them. we saw them all later on in benares--thanks to the intercession of our babu. when we arrived on the spot, where the bagh cere-mony was celebrated, the festivity was at its height. the bridegroom was not more than fourteen years old, while the bride was only ten. her small nose was adorned with a huge golden ring with some very brilliant stone, which dragged her nostril down. her face looked comically piteous, and sometimes she cast furtive glances at us. the bridegroom, a stout, healthy-looking boy, attired in cloth of gold and wearing the many storied indra hat, was on horseback, surrounded by a whole crowd of male relations. the altar, especially erected for this occasion, presented a queer sight. its regulation height is three times the length of the bride's arm from the shoulder down to the middle finger. its materials are bricks and white-washed clay. forty-six earthen pots painted with red, yellow and green stripes--the colors of the trimurti--rose in two pyramids on both sides of the "god of marriages" on the altar, and all round it a crowd of little married girls were busy grinding ginger. when it was reduced to powder the whole crowd rushed on the bridegroom, dragged him from his horse, and, having undressed him, began rubbing him with wet ginger. as soon as the sun dried him he was dressed again by some of the little ladies, whilst one part of them sang and the other sprinkled his head with water from lotus leaves twisted into tubes. we understood that this was a delicate attention to the water gods. we were also told that the whole of the previous night had been given up to the worship of various spirits. the last rites, begun weeks ago, were hurriedly brought to an end during this last night. invocations to ganesha, to the god of marriages; to the gods of the elements, water, fire, air and earth; to the goddess of the smallpox and other illnesses; to the spirits of ancestors and planetary spirits, to the evil spirits, good spirits, family spirits, and so on, and so on. suddenly our ears were struck by strains of music.... good heavens! what a dreadful symphony it was! the ear-splitting sounds of indian tom-toms, tibetan drunis, singalese pipes, chinese trumpets, and burmese gongs deafened us on all sides, awakening in our souls hatred for humanity and humanity's inventions. "de tous les bruits du monde celui de la musique est le plus desagreable!" was my ever-recurring thought. happily, this agony did not last long, and was replaced by the choral singing of brahmans and nautches, which was very original, but perfectly bearable. the wedding was a rich one, and so the "vestals" appeared in state. a moment of silence, of restrained whispering, and one of them, a tall, handsome girl with eyes literally filling half her forehead, began approaching one guest after the other in perfect silence, and rubbing their faces with her hand, leaving traces of sandal and saffron powders. she glided towards us also, noiselessly moving over the dusty road with her bare feet; and before we realized what she was doing she had daubed me as well as the colonel and miss x----, which made the latter sneeze and wipe her face for at least ten minutes, with loud but vain utterances of indignation. the babu and mulji offered their faces to the little hand, full of saffron, with smiles of condescending generosity. but the indomitable narayan shrank from the vestal so unexpectedly at the precise moment when, with fiery glances at him, she stood on tiptoe to reach his face, that she quite lost countenance and sent a full dose of powder over his shoulder, whilst he turned away from her with knitted brow. her forehead also showed several threatening lines, but in a moment she overcame her anger and glided towards ram-runjit-das, sparkling with engaging smiles. but here she met with still less luck; offended at once in his monotheism and his chastity, the "god's warrior" pushed the vestal so unceremoniously that she nearly upset the elaborate pot-decoration of the altar. a dissatisfied murmur ran through the crowd, and we were preparing to be condemned to shameful banishment for the sins of the warlike sikh, when the drums sounded again and the procession moved on. in front of everyone drove the trumpeters and the drummers in a car gilded from top to bottom, and dragged by bullocks loaded with garlands of flowers; next after them walked a whole detachment of pipers, and then a third body of musicians on horseback, who frantically hammered huge gongs. after them proceeded the cortege of the bridegroom's and the bride's relations on horses adorned with rich harness, feathers and flowers; they went in pairs. they were followed by a regiment of bhils in full disarmour--because no weapons but bows and arrows had been left to them by the english government. all these bhils looked as if they had tooth-ache, because of the odd way they have of arranging the ends of their white pagris. after them walked clerical brahmans, with aromatic tapers in their hands and surrounded by the flitting battalion of nautches, who amused themselves all the way by graceful glissades and pas. they were followed by the lay brahmans--the "twice born." the bridegroom rode on a handsome horse; on both sides walked two couples of warriors, armed with yaks' tails to wave the flies away. they were accompanied by two more men on each side with silver fans. the bridegroom's group was wound up by a naked brahman, perched on a donkey and holding over the head of the boy a huge red silk umbrella. after him a car loaded with a thousand cocoa-nuts and a hundred bamboo baskets, tied together by a red rope. the god who looks after marriages drove in melancholy isolation on the vast back of an elephant, whose mahout led him by a chain of flowers. our humble party modestly advanced just behind the elephant's tail. the performance of rites on the way seemed endless. we had to stop before every tree, every pagoda, every sacred tank and bush, and at last before a sacred cow. when we came back to the house of the bride it was four in the afternoon, and we had started a little after six in the morning. we all were utterly exhausted, and miss x---- literally threatened to fall asleep on her feet. the indignant sikh had left us long ago, and had persuaded mr. y---- and mulji--whom the colonel had nicknamed the "mute general"--to keep him company. our respected president was bathed in his own perspiration, and even narayan the unchangeable yawned and sought consolation in a fan. but the babu was simply astonishing. after a nine hours' walk under the sun, with his head unprotected, he looked fresher than ever, without a drop of sweat on his dark satin-like forehead. he showed his white teeth in an eternal smile, and chaffed us all, reciting the "diamond wedding" of steadman. we struggled against our fatigue in our desire to wit-ness the last ceremony, after which the woman is forever cut off from the external world. it was just going to begin; and we kept our eyes and ears wide open. the bridegroom and the bride were placed before the altar. the officiating brahman tied their hands with some kus-kus grass, and led them three times round the altar. then their hands were untied, and the brahman mumbled a mantram. when he had finished, the boy husband lifted his diminutive bride and carried her three times round the altar in his arms, then again three turns round the altar, but the boy preceding the girl, and she following him like an obedient slave. when this was over, the bridegroom was placed on a high chair by the entrance door, and the bride brought a basin of water, took off his shoes, and, having washed his feet, wiped them with her long hair. we learned that this was a very ancient custom. on the right side of the bridegroom sat his mother. the bride knelt before her also, and, having performed the same operation over her feet, she retired to the house. then her mother came out of the crowd and repeated the same ceremony, but without using her hair as a towel. the young couple were married. the drums and the tom-toms rolled once more; and half-deaf we started for home.---- in the tent we found the akali in the middle of a sermon, delivered for the edification of the "mute general" and mr. y----. he was explaining to them the advantages of the sikh religion, and comparing it with the faith of the "devil-worshipers," as he called the brahmans. it was too late to go to the caves, and, besides, we had had enough sights for one day. so we sat down to rest, and to listen to the words of wisdom falling from the lips of the "god's warrior." in my humble opinion, he was right in more than one thing; in his most imaginative moments satan himself could not have invented anything more unjust and more refinedly cruel than what was invented by these "twice-born" egotists in their relation to the weaker sex. an unconditioned civil death awaits her in case of widowhood--even if this sad fate befalls her when she is two or three years old. it is of no importance for the brahmans if the marriage never actually took place; the goat sacrifice, at which the personal presence of the little girl is not even required--she being represented by the wretched victim--is considered binding for her. as for the man, not only is he permitted to have several lawful wives at a time, but he is even required by the law to marry again if his wife dies. not to be unjust, i must mention that, with the exception of some vicious and depraved rajas, we never heard of a hindu availing himself of this privilege, and having more than one wife. at the present time, the whole of orthodox india is shaken by the struggle in favor of the remarriage of widows. this agitation was begun in bombay, by a few reformers, and opponents of brahmans. it is already ten years since mulji-taker-sing and others raised this question; but we know only of three or four men who have dared as yet to marry widows. this struggle is carried on in silence and secrecy, but nevertheless it is fierce and obstinate. in the meanwhile, the fate of the widow is what the brahmans wish it to be. as soon as the corpse of her husband is burned the widow must shave her head, and never let it grow again as long as she lives. her bangles, necklaces and rings are broken to pieces and burned, together with her hair and her husband's remains. during the rest of her life she must wear nothing but white if she was less than twenty-five at her husband's death, and red if she was older. temples, religious ceremonies, society, are closed to her for ever. she has no right to speak to any of her relations, and no right to eat with them. she sleeps, eats and works separately; her touch is considered impure for seven years. if a man, going out on business, meets a widow, he goes home again, abandoning every pursuit, because to see a widow is accounted an evil omen. in the past all this was seldom practised, and concerned only the rich widows, who refused to be burned; but now, since the brahmans have been caught in the false interpretation of the vedas, with the criminal intention of appropriating the widows' wealth, they insist on the fulfilment of this cruel precept, and make what once was the exception the rule. they are powerless against british law, and so they revenge themselves on the innocent and helpless women, whom fate has deprived of their natural protectors. professor wilson's demonstration of the means by which the brahmans distorted the sense of the vedas, in order to justify the practice of widow-burning, is well worth mentioning. during the many centuries that this terrible practice prevailed, the brahmans had appealed to a certain vedic text for their justification, and had claimed to be rigidly fulfilling the institutes of manu, which contain for them the interpretation of vedic law. when the east india company's government first turned its attention to the suppression of suttee, the whole country, from cape comorin to the himalayas, rose in protest, under the influence of the brahmans. "the english promised not to interfere in our religious affairs, and they must keep their word!" was the general outcry. never was india so near revolution as in those days. the english saw the danger and gave up the task. but professor wilson, the best sanskritist of the time, did not consider the battle lost. he applied himself to the study of the most ancient mss., and gradually became convinced that the alleged precept did not exist in the vedas; though in the laws of manu it was quite distinct, and had been translated accordingly by t. colebrooke and other orientalists. an attempt to prove to the fanatic population that manu's interpretation was wrong would have been equivalent to an attempt to reduce water to powder. so wilson set himself to study manu, and to compare the text of the vedas with the text of this law-giver. this was the result of his labors: the rig veda orders the brahman to place the widow side by side with the corpse, and then, after the performance of certain rites, to lead her down from the funeral pyre and to sing the following verse from grhya sutra: arise, o woman! return to the world of the living! having gone to sleep by the dead, awake again! long enough thou hast been a faithful wife to the one who made thee mother of his children. then those present at the burning were to rub their eyes with collyrium, and the brahman to address to them the following verse: approach, you married women, not widows, with your husbands bring ghi and butter. let the mothers go up to the womb first, dressed in festive garments and costly adornments. the line before the last was misinterpreted by the brahmans in the most skillful way. in sanskrit it reads as follows: arohantu janayo yonim agre..... yonina agre literally means to the womb first. having changed only one letter of the last word agre, "first," in sanskrit [script], the brahmans wrote instead agneh, "fire's," in sanskrit [script], and so acquired the right to send the wretched widows yonina agneh--to the womb of fire. it is difficult to find on the face of the world another such fiendish deception. the vedas never permitted the burning of the widows, and there is a place in taittiriya-aranyaka, of the yajur veda, where the brother of the deceased, or his disciple, or even a trusted friend, is recommended to say to the widow, whilst the pyre is set on fire: "arise, o woman! do not lie down any more beside the lifeless corpse; return to the world of the living, and become the wife of the one who holds you by the hand, and is willing to be your husband." this verse shows that during the vedic period the remarriage of widows was allowed. besides, in several places in the ancient books, pointed out to us by swami dayanand, we found orders to the widows "to keep the ashes of the husband for several months after his death and to perform over them certain final rituals." however, in spite of the scandal created by professor wilson's discovery, and of the fact that the brahmans were put to shame before the double authority of the vedas and of manu, the custom of centuries proved so strong that some pious hindu women still burn themselves whenever they can. not more than two years ago the four widows of yung-bahadur, the chief minister of nepal, insisted upon being burned. nepal is not under the british rule, and so the anglo-indian government had no right to interfere. the caves of bagh at four o'clock in the morning we crossed the vagrey and girna, or rather, comme coloris local, shiva and parvati. probably, following the bad example of the average mortal husband and wife, this divine couple were engaged in a quarrel, even at this early hour of the day. they were frightfully rough, and our ferry, striking on something at the bottom, nearly upset us into the cold embrace of the god and his irate better half. like all the cave temples of india, the bagh caverns are dug out in the middle of a vertical rock--with the intention, as it seems to me, of testing the limits of human patience. taking into consideration that such a height does not prevent either glamour or tigers reaching the caves, i cannot help thinking that the sole aim of the ascetic builders was to tempt weak mortals into the sin of irritation by the inaccessibility of their airy abodes. seventy-two steps, cut out in the rock, and covered with thorny weeds and moss, are the beginning of the ascent to the bagh caves. footmarks worn in the stone through centuries spoke of the numberless pilgrims who had come here before us. the roughness of the steps, with deep holes here and there, and thorns, added attractions to this ascent; join to this a number of mountain springs exuding through the pores of the stone, and no one will be astonished if i say that we simply felt faint under the weight of life and our archeological difficulties. the babu, who, taking off his slippers, scampered over the thorns as unconcernedly as if he had hoofs instead of vulnerable human heels, laughed at the "helplessness of europeans," and only made us feel worse. but on reaching the top of the mountain we stopped grumbling, realizing at the first glance that we should receive our reward. we saw a whole enfilade of dark caves, through regular square openings, six feet wide. we felt awestruck with the gloomy majesty of this deserted temple. there was a curious ceiling over the square platform that once served as a verandah; there was also a portico with broken pillars hanging over our heads; and two rooms on each side, one with a broken image of some flat-nosed goddess, the other containing a ganesha; but we did not stop to examine all this in detail. ordering the torches to be lit, we stepped into the first hall. a damp breath as of the tomb met us. at our first word we all shivered: a hollow, prolonged echoing howl, dying away in the distance, shook the ancient vaults and made us all lower our voices to a whisper. the torch-bearers shrieked "devi!... devi!..." and, kneeling in the dust, performed a fervent puja in honor of the voice of the invisible goddess of the caves, in spite of the angry protestations of narayan and of the "god's warrior." the only light of the temple came from the entrance, and so two-thirds of it looked still gloomier by contrast. this hall, or the central temple, is very spacious, eighty--four feet square, and sixteen feet high. twenty-four massive pillars form a square, six pillars at each side, including the corner ones, and four in the middle to prop up the centre of the ceiling; otherwise it could not be kept from falling, as the mass of the mountain which presses on it from the top is much greater than in karli or elephanta. there are at least three different styles in the architecture of these pillars. some of them are grooved in spirals, gradually and imperceptibly changing from round to sixteen sided, then octagonal and square. others, plain for the first third of their height, gradually finished under the ceiling by a most elaborate display of ornamentation, which reminds one of the corinthian style. the third with a square plinth and semi-circular friezes. taking it all in all, they made a most original and graceful picture. mr. y----, an architect by profession, assured us that he never saw anything more striking. he said he could not imagine by the aid of what instruments the ancient builders could accomplish such wonders. the construction of the bagh caves, as well as of all the cave temples of india, whose history is lost in the darkness of time, is ascribed by the european archeologists to the buddhists, and by the native tradition to the pandu brothers. indian paleography protests in every one of its new discoveries against the hasty conclusions of the orientalists. and much may be said against the intervention of buddhists in this particular case. but i shall indicate only one particular. the theory which declares that all the cave temples of india are of buddhist origin is wrong. the orientalists may insist as much as they choose on the hypothesis that the buddhists became again idol-worshipers; it will explain nothing, and contradicts the history of both buddhists and brahmans. the brahmans began persecuting and banishing the buddhists precisely because they had begun a crusade against idol-worship. the few buddhist communities who remained in india and deserted the pure, though, maybe--for a shallow observer--somewhat atheistic teachings of gautama siddhartha, never joined brahmanism, but coalesced with the jainas, and gradually became absorbed in them. then why not suppose that if, amongst hundreds of brahmanical gods, we find one statue of buddha, it only shows that the masses of half-converts to buddhism added this new god to the ancient brahmanical temple. this would be much more sensible than to think that the buddhists of the two centuries before and after the beginning of the christian era dared to fill their temples with idols, in defiance of the spirit of the reformer gau-tama. the figures of buddha are easily discerned in the swarm of heathen gods; their position is always the same, and the palm of its right hand is always turned upwards, blessing the worshipers with two fingers. we examined almost every remarkable vihara of the so-called buddhist temples, and never met with one statue of buddha which could not have been added in a later epoch than the construction of the temple; it does not matter whether it was a year or a thousand years later. not being perfectly self-confident in this matter, we always took the opinion of mr. y----, who, as i said before, was an experienced architect; and he invariably came to the conclusion that the brahmanical idols formed a harmonic and genuine part of the whole, pillars, decorations, and the general style of the temple; whereas the statue of buddha was an additional and discordant patch. out of thirty or forty caves of ellora, all filled with idols, there is only one, the one called the temple of the tri-lokas, which contains nothing but statues of buddha, and of ananda, his favourite disciple. of course, in this case it would be perfectly right to think it is a buddhist vihara. most probably, some of the russian archeologists will protest against the opinions i maintain, that is to say, the opinions of the hindu archeologists, and will treat me as an ignoramus, outraging science. in self-defence, and in order to show how unstable a ground to base one's opinions upon are the conclusions even of such a great authority as mr. fergusson, i must mention the following instance. this great architect, but very mediocre archeologist, proclaimed at the very beginning of his scientific career that "all the cave temples of kanara, without exception, were built between the fifth and the tenth centuries." this theory became generally accepted, when suddenly dr. bird found a brass plate in a certain kanara monument, called a tope. the plate announced in pure and distinct sanskrit that this tope was erected as a homage to the old temple, at the beginning of of the hindu astronomical (samvat) era. according to prinsep and dr. stevenson, this date coincides with a.d., and so it clearly settles the question of when the tope was built. but the question of the antiquity of the temple itself still remains open, though the inscription states that it was an old temple in a.d., and contradicts the above-quoted opinion of fergusson. however, this important discovery failed to shake fergusson's equanimity. for him, ancient inscriptions are of no importance, because, as he says, "the antiquity of ruins must not be fixed on the basis of inscriptions, but on the basis of certain architectural canons and rules," discovered by mr. fergusson in person. fiat hypothesis, ruat coelum! and now i shall return to my narrative. straight before the entrance a door leads to another hall, which is oblong, with hexagonal pillars and niches, containing statues in a tolerable state of preservation; goddesses ten feet and gods nine feet high. after this hall there is a room with an altar, which is a regular hexagon, having sides each three feet long, and protected by a cupola cut in the rock. nobody was admitted here, except the initiates of the mysteries of the adytum. all round this room there are about twenty priests' cells. absorbed in the examination of the altar, we did not notice the absence of the colonel, till we heard his loud voice in the distance calling to us: "i have found a secret passage.... come along, let us find where it leads to!" torch in hand, the colonel was far ahead of us, and very eager to proceed; but each of us had a little plan of his own, and so we were reluctant to obey his summons. the babu took upon himself to answer for the whole party: "take care, colonel. this passage leads to the den of the glamour.... mind the tigers!" but once fairly started on the way to discoveries, our president was not to be stopped. nolens volens we followed him. he was right; he had made a discovery; and on entering the cell we saw a most unexpected tableau. by the opposite wall stood two torch-bearers with their flaming torches, as motionless as if they were transformed into stone caryatides; and from the wall, about five feet above the ground, protruded two legs clad in white trousers. there was no body to them; the body had disappeared, and but that the legs were shaken by a convulsive effort to move on, we might have thought that the wicked goddess of this place had cut the colonel into two halves, and having caused the upper half instantly to evaporate, had stuck the lower half to the wall, as a kind of trophy. "what is become of you, mr. president? where are you?" were our alarmed questions. instead of an answer, the legs were convulsed still more violently, and soon disappeared completely, after which we heard the voice of the colonel, as if coming through a long tube: "a room... a secret cell.... be quick! i see a whole row of rooms.... confound it! my torch is out! bring some matches and another torch!" but this was easier said than done. the torch-bearers refused to go on; as it was, they were already frightened out of their wits. miss x---- glanced with apprehension at the wall thickly covered with soot and then at her pretty gown. mr. y---- sat down on a broken pillar and said he would go no farther, preferring to have a quiet smoke in the company of the timid torch-bearers. there were several vertical steps cut in the wall; and on the floor we saw a large stone of such a curiously irregular shape that it struck me that it could not be natural. the quick-eyed babu was not long in discovering its peculiarities, and said he was sure "it was the stopper of the secret passage." we all hurried to examine the stone most minutely, and discovered that, though it imitated as closely as possible the irregularity of the rock, its under surface bore evident traces of workmanship and had a kind of hinge to be easily moved. the hole was about three feet high, but not more than two feet wide. the muscular "god's warrior" was the first to follow the colonel. he was so tall that when he stood on a broken pillar the opening came down to the middle of his breast, and so he had no difficulty in transporting himself to the upper story. the slender babu joined him with a single monkey-like jump. then, with the akali pulling from above and narayan pushing from below, i safely made the passage, though the narrowness of the hole proved most disagreeable, and the roughness of the rock left considerable traces on my hands. however trying archeological explorations may be for a person afflicted by an unusually fine presence, i felt perfectly confident that with two such hercules-like helpers as narayan and ram-runjit-das the ascent of the himalayas would be perfectly possible for me. miss x---- came next, under the escort of mulji, but mr. y---- stayed behind. the secret cell was a room of twelve feet square. straight above the black hole in the floor there was another in the ceiling, but this time we did not discover any "stopper." the cell was perfectly empty with the exception of black spiders as big as crabs. our apparition, and especially the bright light of the torches, maddened them; panic-stricken they ran in hundreds over the walls, rushed down, and tumbled on our heads, tearing their thin ropes in their inconsiderate haste. the first movement of miss x---- was to kill as many as she could. but the four hindus protested strongly and unanimously. the old lady remonstrated in an offended voice: "i thought that at least you, mulji, were a reformer, but you are as superstitious as any idol-worshiper." "above everything i am a hindu," answered the "mute general." "and the hindus, as you know, consider it sinful before nature and before their own consciences to kill an animal put to flight by the strength of man, be it even poisonous. as to the spiders, in spite of their ugliness, they are perfectly harmless." "i am sure all this is because you think you will transmigrate into a black spider!" she replied, her nostrils trembling with anger. "i cannot say i do," retorted mulji; "but if all the english ladies are as unkind as you i should rather be a spider than an englishman." this lively answer coming from the usually taciturn mulji was so unexpected that we could not help laugh-ing. but to our great discomfiture miss x---- was seriously angry, and, under pretext of giddiness, said she would rejoin mr. y---- below. her constant bad spirits were becoming trying for our cosmopolitan little party, and so we did not press her to stay. as to us we climbed through the second opening, but this time under the leadership of narayan. he disclosed to us that this place was not new to him; he had been here before, and confided to us that similar rooms, one on the top of the other, go up to the summit of the mountain. then, he said, they take a sudden turn, and descend gradually to a whole underground palace, which is sometimes temporarily inhabited. wishing to leave the world for a while and to spend a few days in isolation, the raj-yogis find perfect solitude in this underground abode. our president looked askance at narayan through his spectacles, but did not find anything to say. the hindus also received this information in perfect silence. the second cell was exactly like the first one; we easily discovered the hole in its ceiling, and reached the third cell. there we sat down for a while. i felt that breathing was becoming difficult to me, but i thought i was simply out of breath and tired, and so did not mention to my companions that anything was wrong. the passage to the fourth cell was almost stopped by earth mixed with little stones, and the gentlemen of the party were busy clearing it out for about twenty minutes. then we reached the fourth cell. narayan was right, the cells were one straight over the other, and the floor of the one formed the ceiling of the other. the fourth cell was in ruins. two broken pillars lying one on the other presented a very convenient stepping-stone to the fifth story. but the colonel stopped our zeal by saying that now was the time to smoke "the pipe of deliberation" after the fashion of red indians. "if narayan is not mistaken," he said, "this going up and up may continue till tomorrow morning." "i am not mistaken," said narayan almost solemnly. but since my visit here i have heard that some of these passages were filled with earth, so that every communication is stopped; and, if i remember rightly, we cannot go further than the next story." "in that case there is no use trying to go any further. if the ruins are so shaky as to stop the passages, it would be dangerous for us." "i never said the passages were stopped by the hand of time.... they did it on purpose...." "who they? do you mean glamour?..." "colonel!" said the hindu with an effort. "don't laugh at what i say. ... i speak seriously." "my dear fellow, i assure you my intention is neither to offend you nor to ridicule a serious matter. i simply do not realize whom you mean when you say they." "i mean the brotherhood.... the raj-yogis. some of them live quite close to here." by the dim light of the half-extinguished torches we saw that narayan's lips trembled and that his face grew pale as he spoke. the colonel coughed, rearranged his spectacles and remained silent for a while. "my dear narayan," at last said the colonel, "i do not want to believe that your intention is to make fun of our credulity. but i can't believe either, that you seriously mean to assure us that any living creature, be it an animal or an ascetic, could exist in a place where there is no air. i paid special attention to the fact, and so i am perfectly sure i am not mistaken: there is not a single bat in these cells, which shows that there is a lack of air. and just look at our torches! you see how dim they are growing. i am sure, that on climbing two or three more rooms like this, we should be suffocated!" "and in spite of all these facts, i speak the truth," repeated narayan. "the caves further on are inhabited by them. and i have seen them with my own eyes." the colonel grew thoughtful, and stood glancing at the ceiling in a perplexed and undecided way. we all kept silent, breathing heavily. "let us go back!" suddenly shouted the akali. "my nose is bleeding." at this very moment i felt a strange and unexpected sensation, and i sank heavily on the ground. in a second i felt an indescribably delicious, heavenly sense of rest, in spite of a dull pain beating in my temples. i vaguely realized that i had really fainted, and that i should die if not taken out into the open air. i could not lift my finger; i could not utter a sound; and, in spite of it, there was no fear in my soul--nothing but an apathetic, but indescribably sweet feeling of rest, and a complete inactivity of all the senses except hearing. a moment came when even this sense forsook me, because i remember that i listened with imbecile intentness to the dead silence around me. is this death? was my indistinct wondering thought. then i felt as if mighty wings were fanning me. "kind wings, caressing, kind wings!" were the recurring words in my brain, like the regular movements of a pendulum, and interiorily under an unreasoning impulse, i laughed at these words. then i experienced a new sensation: i rather knew than felt that i was lifted from the floor, and fell down and down some unknown precipice, amongst the hollow rollings of a distant thunder-storm. suddenly a loud voice resounded near me. and this time i think i did not hear, but felt it. there was something palpable in this voice, something that instantly stopped my helpless descent, and kept me from falling any further. this was a voice i knew well, but whose voice it was i could not in my weakness remember. in what way i was dragged through all these narrow holes will remain an eternal mystery for me. i came to myself on the verandah below, fanned by fresh breezes, and as suddenly as i had fainted above in the impure air of the cell. when i recovered completely the first thing i saw was a powerful figure clad in white, with a raven black rajput beard, anxiously leaning over me. as soon as i recognized the owner of this beard, i could not abstain from expressing my feelings by a joyful exclamation: "where do you come from?" it was our friend takur gulab-lal-sing, who, having promised to join us in the north-west provinces, now appeared to us in bagh, as if falling from the sky or coming out of the ground. but my unfortunate accident, and the pitiable state of the rest of the daring explorers, were enough to stop any further questions and expressions of astonishment. on one side of me the frightened miss x----, using my nose as a cork for her sal-volatile bottle; on the other the "god's warrior" covered with blood as if returning from a battle with the afghans; further on, poor mulji with a dreadful headache. narayan and the colonel, happily for our party, did not experience anything worse than a slight vertigo. as to the babu, no carbonic acid gas could inconvenience his wonderful bengali nature. he said he was safe and comfortable enough, but awfully hungry. at last the outpour of entangled exclamations and unintelligible explanations stopped, and i collected my thoughts and tried to understand what had happened to me in the cave. narayan was the first to notice that i had fainted, and hastened to drag me back to the passage. and this very moment they all heard the voice of gulab-sing coming from the upper cell: "tum-hare iha aneka kya kam tha?" "what on earth brought you here?" even before they recovered from their astonishment he ran quickly past them, and descending to the cell beneath called to them to "pass him down the bai" (sister). this "passing down" of such a solid object as my body, and the picture of the proceeding, vividly imagined, made me laugh heartily, and i felt sorry i had not been able to witness it. handing him over their half-dead load, they hastened to join the takur; but he contrived to do without their help, though how he did it they were at a loss to understand. by the time they succeeded in getting through one passage gulab-sing was already at the next one, in spite of the heavy burden he carried; and they never were in time to be of any assistance to him. the colonel, whose main feature is the tendency to go into the details of everything, could not conceive by what proceedings the takur had managed to pass my almost lifeless body so rapidly through all these narrow holes. "he could not have thrown her down the passage before going in himself, for every single bone of her body would have been broken," mused the colonel. "and it is still less possible to suppose that, descending first himself, he dragged her down afterwards. it is simply incomprehensible!" these questions harassed him for a long time afterwards, until they became something like the puzzle: which was created first, the egg or the bird? as to the takur, when closely questioned, he shrugged his shoulders, and answered that he really did not remember. he said that he simply did whatever he could to get me out into the open air; that all our traveling companions were there to watch his proceedings; he was under their eyes all the time, and that in circumstances when every second is precious people do not think, but act. but all these questions arose only in the course of the day. as to the time directly after i was laid down on the verandah, there were other things to puzzle all our party; no one could understand how the takur happened to be on the spot exactly when his help was most needed, nor where he came from--and everyone was anxious to know. on the verandah they found me lying on a carpet, with the takur busy restoring me to my senses, and miss x---- with her eyes wide open at the takur, whom she decidedly believed to be a materialized ghost. however, the explanations our friend gave us seemed perfectly satisfactory, and at first did not strike us as unnatural. he was in hardwar when swami dayanand sent us the letter which postponed our going to him. on arriving at kandua by the indore railway, he had visited holkar; and, learning that we were so near, he decided to join us sooner than he had expected. he had come to bagh yesterday evening, but knowing that we were to start for the caves early in the morning he went there before us, and simply was waiting for us in the caves. "there is the whole mystery for you," said he. "the whole mystery?" exclaimed the colonel. "did you know, then, beforehand that we would discover the cells, or what?" "no, i did not. i simply went there myself because it is a long time since i saw them last. examining them took me longer than i expected, and so i was too late to meet you at the entrance." "probably the takur-sahib was enjoying the freshness of the air in the cells," suggested the mischievous babu, showing all his white teeth in a broad grin. our president uttered an energetic exclamation. "exactly! how on earth did i not think of that before?... you could not possibly have any breathing air in the cells above the one you found us in.... and, besides,... how did you reach the fifth cell, when the entrance of the fourth was nearly stopped and we had to dig it out?" "there are other passages leading to them. i know all the turns and corridors of these caves, and everyone is free to choose his way," answered gulab-sing; and i thought i saw a look of intelligence pass between him and narayan, who simply cowered under his fiery eyes. "however, let us go to the cave where breakfast is ready for us. fresh air will do all of you good." on our way we met with another cave, twenty or thirty steps south from the verandah, but the takur did not let us go in, fearing new accidents for us. so we descended the stone steps i have already mentioned, and after descending about two hundred steps towards the foot of the mountain, made a short reascent again and entered the "dining-room," as the babu denominated it. in my role of "interesting invalid," i was carried to it, sitting in my folding chair, which never left me in all my travels. this temple is much the less gloomy of the two, in spite of considerable signs of decay. the frescoes of the ceiling are better preserved than in the first temple. the walls, the tumbled down pillars, the ceiling, and even the interior rooms, which were lighted by ventilators cut through the rock, were once covered by a varnished stucco, the secret of which is now known only to the madrasis, and which gives the rock the appearance of pure marble. we were met by the takur's four servants, whom we remembered since our stay in karli, and who bowed down in the dust to greet us. the carpets were spread, and the breakfast ready. every trace of carbonic acid had left our brains, and we sat down to our meal in the best of spirits. our conversation soon turned to the hardwar mela, which our unexpectedly-recovered friend had left exactly five days ago. all the information we got from gulab-lal-sing was so interesting that i wrote it down at the first opportunity. after a few weeks we visited hardwar ourselves, and since i saw it, my memory has never grown tired of recalling the charming picture of its lovely situation. it is as near a primitive picture of earthly paradise as anything that can be imagined. every twelfth year, which the hindus call kumbha, the planet jupiter enters the constellation of aquarius, and this event is considered very propitious for the beginning of the religious fair; for which this day is accordingly fixed by the astrologers of the pagodas. this gathering attracts the representatives of all sects, as i said before, from princes and maharajas down to the last fakir. the former come for the sake of religious discussions, the latter, simply to plunge into the waters of ganges at its very source, which must be done at a certain propitious hour, fixed also by the position of the stars. ganges is a name invented in europe. the natives always say ganga, and consider this river to belong strictly to the feminine sex. ganges is sacred in the eyes of the hindus, because she is the most important of all the fostering goddesses of the country, and a daughter of the old himavat (himalaya), from whose heart she springs for the salvation of the people. that is why she is worshiped, and why the city of hardwar, built at her very source, is so sacred. hardwar is written hari-avara, the doorway of the sun-god, or krishna, and is also often called gangadvara, the doorway of ganga; there is still a third name of the same town, which is the name of a certain ascetic kapela, or rather kapila, who once sought salvation on this spot, and left many miraculous traditions. the town is situated in a charming flowery valley, at the foot of the southern slope of the sivalik ridge, between two mountain chains. in this valley, raised , feet above the sea-level, the northern nature of the himalayas struggles with the tropical growth of the plains; and, in their efforts to excel each other, they have created the most delightful of all the delightful corners of india. the town itself is a quaint collection of castle-like turrets of the most fantastical architecture; of ancient viharas; of wooden fortresses, so gaily painted that they look like toys; of pagodas, with loopholes and overhanging curved little balconies; and all this over-grown by such abundance of roses, dahlias, aloes and blossoming cactuses, that it is hardly possible to tell a door from a window. the granite foundations of many houses are laid almost in the bed of the river, and so, during four months of the year, they are half covered with water. and behind this handful of scattered houses, higher up the mountain slope, crowd snow-white, stately temples. some of them are low, with thick walls, wide wings and gilded cupolas; others rise in majestical many-storied towers; others again with shapely pointed roofs, which look like the spires of a bell tower. strange and capricious is the architecture of these temples, the like of which is not to be seen anywhere else. they look as if they had suddenly dropped from the snowy abodes of the mountain spirits above, standing there in the shelter of the mother mountain, and timidly peeping over the head of the small town below at their own images reflected in the pure, untroubled waters of the sacred river. here the ganges is not yet polluted by the dirt and the sins of her many million adorers. releasing her worshipers, cleansed from her icy embrace, the pure maiden of the mountains carries her transparent waves through the burning plains of hindostan; and only three hundred and forty-eight miles lower down, on passing through cawnpore, do her waters begin to grow thicker and darker, while, on reaching benares, they transform themselves into a kind of peppery pea soup. once, while talking to an old hindu, who tried to convince us that his compatriots are the cleanest nation in the world, we asked him: "why is it then that, in the less populous places, the ganges is pure and transparent, whilst in benares, especially towards evening, it looks like a mass of liquid mud?" "o sahibs!" answered he mournfully, "it is not the dirt of our bodies, as you think, it is not even the blackness of our sins, that the devi (goddess) washes away... her waves are black with the sorrow and shame of her children. her feelings are sad and sorrowful; hidden suffering, burning pain and humiliation, despair and shame at her own helplessness, have been her lot for many past centuries. she has suffered all this till her waters have become waves of black bile. her waters are poisoned and black, but not from physical causes. she is our mother, and how could she help resenting the degradation we have brought ourselves to in this dark age." this sorrowful, poetical allegory made us feel very keenly for the poor old man; but, however great our sympathy, we could not but suppose that probably the woes of the maiden ganga do not affect her sources. in hardwar the color of ganges is crystal aqua marina, and the waters run gaily murmuring to the shore-reeds about the wonders they saw on their way from the himalayas. the beautiful river is the greatest and the purest of goddesses, in the eyes of the hindus; and many are the honors given to her in hardwar. besides the mela celebrated once every twelve years, there is a month in every year when the pilgrims flock together to the harika-paira, stairs of vishnu. whosoever succeeds in throwing himself first into the river, at the appointed day, hour and moment, will not only expiate all his sins, but also have all bodily sufferings removed. this zeal to be first is so great that, owing to a badly-constructed and narrow stair leading to the water, it used to cost many lives yearly, until, in , the east india company, taking pity upon the pilgrims, ordered this ancient relic to be removed, and a new stairway, one hundred feet wide, and consisting of sixty steps, to be constructed. the month when the waters of the ganges are most salutary, falls, according to the brahmanical computation, between march th and april th, and is called chaitra. the worst of it is that the waters are at their best only at the first moment of a certain propitious hour, indicated by the brahmans, and which sometimes happens to be midnight. you can fancy what it must be when this moment comes, in the midst of a crowd which exceeds two millions. in more than four hundred people were crushed to death. but even after the new stairs were constructed, the goddess ganga has carried away on her virgin bosom many a disfigured corpse of her worshipers. nobody pitied the drowned, on the contrary, they were envied. whoever happens to be killed during this purification by bathing, is sure to go straight to swarga (heaven). in , the two rival brotherhoods of sannyasis and bairagis had a regular battle amongst them on the sacred day of purbi, the last day of the religious fair. the bairagis were conquered, and there were eighteen thousand people slaughtered. "and in ," proudly narrated our warlike friend the akali, "the pilgrims from punjab, all of them sikhs, desiring to punish the insolence of the hossains, killed here about five hundred of these heathens. my own grandfather took part in the fight!" later on we verified this in the gazetteer of india, and the "god's warrior" was cleared of every suspicion of exaggeration and boasting. in , however, no one was drowned, or crushed to death, but a dreadful epidemic of cholera broke out. we were disgusted at this impediment; but had to keep at a distance in spite of our impatience to see hardwar. and unable to behold distant summits of old himavat ourselves, we had in the meanwhile to be contented with what we could hear about him from other people. so we talked long after our breakfast under the cave vault was finished. but our talk was not so gay as it might have been, because we had to part with ram-runjit-das, who was going to bombay. the worthy sikh shook hands with us in the european way, and then raising his right hand gave us his blessing, after the fashion of all the followers of nanaka. but when he approached the takur to take leave of him, his countenance suddenly changed. this change was so evident that we all noted it. the takur was sitting on the ground leaning on a saddle, which served him as a cushion. the akali did not attempt either to give him his blessing or to shake hands with him. the proud expression of his face also changed, and showed confusion and anxious humility instead of the usual self-respect and self-sufficiency. the brave sikh knelt down before the takur, and instead of the ordinary "namaste!"--"salutation to you," whispered reverently, as if addressing the guru of the golden lake: "i am your servant, sadhu-sahib! give me your blessing!" without any apparent reason or cause, we all felt self-conscious and ill at ease, as if guilty of some indiscretion. but the face of the mysterious rajput remained as calm and as dispassionate as ever. he was looking at the river before this scene took place, and slowly moved his eyes to the akali, who lay prostrated before him. then he touched the head of the sikh with his index finger, and rose with the remark that we also had better start at once, because it was getting late. we drove in our carriage, moving very slowly because of the deep sand which covers all this locality, and the takur followed us on horseback all the way. he told us the epic legends of hardwar and rajistan, of the great deeds of the hari-kulas, the heroic princes of the solar race. hari means sun, and kula family. some of the rajput princes belong to this family, and the maharanas of oodeypur are especially proud of their astronomical origin. the name of hari-kula gives to some orientalists ground to suppose that a member of this family emigrated to egypt in the remote epoch of the first pharaonic dynasties, and that the ancient greeks, borrowing the name as well as the traditions, thus formed their legends about the mythological hercules. it is believed that the ancient egyptians adored the sphinx under the name of hari-mukh, or the "sun on the horizon." on the mountain chain which fringes kashmir on the north, thirteen thousand feet above the sea, there is a huge summit, which is exactly like a head, and which bears the name of harimukh. this name is also met with in the most ancient of the puranas. besides, popular tradition considers this himalayan stone head to be the image of the setting sun. is it possible, then, that all these coincidences are only accidental? and why is it that the orientalists will not give it more serious attention? it seems to me that this is a rich soil for future research, and that it is no more to be explained by mere chance than the fact that both egypt and india held the cow sacred, and that the ancient egyptians had the same religious horror of killing certain animals, as the modern hindus. an isle of mystery when evening began to draw on, we were driving beneath the trees of a wild jungle; arriving soon after at a large lake, we left the carriages. the shores were overgrown with reeds--not the reeds that answer our european notions, but rather such as gulliver was likely to meet with in his travels to brobdingnag. the place was perfectly deserted, but we saw a boat fastened close to the land. we had still about an hour and a half of daylight before us, and so we quietly sat down on some ruins and enjoyed the splendid view, whilst the servants of the takur transported our bags, boxes and bundles of rugs from the carriages to the ferry boat. mr. y---- was preparing to paint the picture before us, which indeed was charming. "don't be in a hurry to take down this view," said gulab-sing. "in half an hour we shall be on the islet, where the view is still lovelier. we may spend there the night and tomorrow morning as well." "i am afraid it will be too dark in an hour," said mr. y----, opening his color box. "and as for tomorrow, we shall probably have to start very early." "oh, no! there is not the slightest need to start early. we may even stay here part of the afternoon. from here to the railway station it is only three hours, and the train only leaves for j ubbulpore at eight in the evening. and do you know," added the takur, smiling in his usual mysterious way, "i am going to treat you to a concert. tonight you shall be witness of a very interesting natural phenomenon connected with this island." we all pricked up our ears with curiosity. "do you mean that island there? and do you really think we must go?" asked the colonel. "why should not we spend the night here, where we are so deliciously cool, and where..." "where the forest swarms with playful leopards, and the reeds shelter snug family parties of the serpent race, were you going to say, colonel?" interrupted the babu, with a broad grin. "don't you admire this merry gathering, for instance? look at them! there is the father and the mother, uncles, aunts, and children.... i am sure i could point out even a mother-in-law." miss x---- looked in the direction he indicated and shrieked, till all the echoes of the forest groaned in answer. not farther than three steps from her there were at least forty grown up serpents and baby snakes. they amused themselves by practising somersaults, coiled up, then straightened again and interlaced their tails, presenting to our dilated eyes a picture of perfect innocence and primitive contentment. miss x---- could not stand it any longer and fled to the carriage, whence she showed us a pale, horrified face. the takur, who had arranged himself comfortably beside mr. y---- in order to watch the progress of his paint-ing, left his seat and looked attentively at the dangerous group, quietly smoking his gargari--rajput narghile--the while. "if you do not stop screaming you will attract all the wild animals of the forest in another ten minutes," said he. "none of you have anything to fear. if you do not excite an animal he is almost sure to leave you alone, and most probably will run away from you." with these words he lightly waved his pipe in the direction of the serpentine family-party. a thunderbolt falling in their midst could not have been more effectual. the whole living mass looked stunned for a moment, and then rapidly disappeared among the reeds with loud hissing and rustling. "now this is pure mesmerism, i declare," said the colonel, on whom not a gesture of the takur was lost. "how did you do it, gulab-sing? where did you learn this science?" "they were simply frightened away by the sudden movement of my chibook, and there was no science and no mesmerism about it. probably by this fashionable modern word you mean what we hindus call vashi-karana vidya--that is to say, the science of charming people and animals by the force of will. however, as i have already said, this has nothing to do with what i did." "but you do not deny, do you, that you have studied this science and possess this gift?" "of course i don't. every hindu of my sect is bound to study the mysteries of physiology and psychology amongst other secrets left to us by our ancestors. but what of that? i am very much afraid, my dear colonel," said the takur with a quiet smile, "that you are rather inclined to view the simplest of my acts through a mystical prism. narayan has been telling you all kinds of things about me behind my back.... now, is it not so?" and he looked at narayan, who sat at his feet, with an indescribable mixture of fondness and reproof. the dekkan colossus dropped his eyes and remained silent. "you have guessed rightly," absently answered mr. y----, busy over his drawing apparatus. "narayan sees in you something like his late deity shiva; something just a little less than parabrahm. would you believe it? he seriously assured us--in nassik it was--that the raj-yogis, and amongst them yourself--though i must own i still fail to understand what a raj-yogi is, precisely--can force any one to see, not what is before his eyes at the given moment, but what is only in the imagination of the raj-yogi. if i remember rightly he called it maya.... now, this seemed to me going a little too far!" "well! you did not believe, of course, and laughed at narayan?" asked the takur, fathoming with his eyes the dark green deeps of the lake. "not precisely... though, i dare say, i did just a little bit," went on mr. y----, absently, being fully engrossed by the view, and trying to fix his eyes on the most effective part of it. "i dare say i am too scep-tical on this kind of question." "and knowing mr. y---- as i do," said the colonel, i can add, for my part, that even were any of these phenomena to happen to himself personally, he, like dr. carpenter, would doubt his own eyes rather than believe." "what you say is a little bit exaggerated, but there is some truth in it. maybe i would not trust myself in such an occurrence; and i tell you why. if i saw something that does not exist, or rather exists only for me, logic would interfere. however objective my vision may be, before believing in the materiality of a hallucination, i feel i am bound to doubt my own senses and sanity.... besides, what bosh all this is! as if i ever will allow myself to believe in the reality of a thing that i alone saw; which belief implies also the admission of somebody else governing and dominating, for the time being, my optical nerves, as well as my brains." "however, there are any number of people, who do not doubt, because they have had proof that this phenomenon really occurs," remarked the takur, in a careless tone, which showed he had not the slightest desire to insist upon this topic. however, this remark only increased mr. y----'s excitement. "no doubt there are!" he exclaimed. "but what does that prove? besides them, there are equal numbers of people who believe in the materialization of spirits. but do me the kindness of not including me among them!" "don't you believe in animal magnetism?" "to a certain extent, i do. if a person suffering from some contagious illness can influence a person in good health, and make him ill, in his turn, i suppose somebody else's overflow of health can also affect the sick person, and, perhaps cure him. but between physiological contagion and mesmeric influence there is a great gulf, and i don't feel inclined to cross this gulf on the grounds of blind faith. it is perfectly possible that there are instances of thought-transference in cases of somnambulism, epilepsy, trance. i do not positively deny it, though i am very doubtful. mediums and clairvoyants are a sickly lot, as a rule. but i bet you anything, a healthy man in perfectly normal conditions is not to be influenced by the tricks of mesmerists. i should like to see a magnetizer, or even a raj-yogi, inducing me to obey his will." "now, my dear fellow, you really ought not to speak so rashly," said the colonel, who, till then, had not taken any part in the discussion. "ought i not? don't take it into your head that it is mere boastfulness on my part. i guarantee failure in my case, simply because every renowned european mesmerist has tried his luck with me, without any result; and that is why i defy the whole lot of them to try again, and feel perfectly safe about it. and why a hindu raj-yogi should succeed where the strongest of european mesmerists failed, i do not quite see...." mr. y---- was growing altogether too excited, and the takur dropped the subject, and talked of something else. for my part, i also feel inclined to deviate once more from my subject, and give some necessary explanations. miss x---- excepted, none of our party had ever been numbered amongst the spiritualists, least of all mr. y----. we theosophists did not believe in the playfulness of departed souls, though we admitted the possibility of some mediumistic phenomena, while totally disagreeing with the spiritualists as to the cause and point of view. refusing to believe in the interference, and even presence of the spirits, in the so-called spiritualistic phenomena, we nevertheless believe in the living spirit of man; we believe in the omnipotence of this spirit, and in its natural, though benumbed capacities. we also believe that, when incarnated, this spirit, this divine spark, may be apparently quenched, if it is not guarded, and if the life the man leads is unfavorable to its expansion, as it generally is; but, on the other hand, our conviction is that human beings can develop their potential spiritual powers; that, if they do, no phenomenon will be impossible for their liberated wills, and that they will perform what, in the eyes of the uninitiated, will be much more wondrous than the materialized forms of the spiritualists. if proper training can render the muscular strength ten times greater, as in the cases of renowned athletes, i do not see why proper training should fail in the case of moral capacities. we have also good grounds to believe that the secret of this proper training--though unknown to, and denied by, european physiologists and even psychologists--is known in some places in india, where its knowledge is hereditary, and entrusted to few. mr. y---- was a novice in our society and looked with distrust even on such phenomena as can be pro-duced by mesmerism. he had been trained in the royal institute of british architects, which he left with a gold medal, and with a fund of scepticism that caused him to distrust everything, en dehors des mathematiques pures. so that no wonder he lost his temper when people tried to convince him that there existed things which he was inclined to treat as "mere bosh and fables." now i return to my narrative. the babu and mulji left us to help the servants to transport our luggage to the ferry boat. the remainder of the party had grown very quiet and silent. miss x---- dozed peacefully in the carriage, forgetting her recent fright. the colonel, stretched on the sand, amused himself by throwing stones into the water. narayan sat motionless, with his hands round his knees, plunged as usual in the mute contemplation of gulab lal-sing. mr. y---- sketched hurriedly and diligently, only raising his head from time to time to glance at the opposite shore, and knitting his brow in a preoccupied way. the takur went on smoking, and as for me, i sat on my folding chair, looking lazily at everything round me, till my eyes rested on gulab-sing, and were fixed, as if by a spell. "who and what is this mysterious hindu?" i wondered in my uncertain thoughts. "who is this man, who unites in himself two such distinct personalities: the one exterior, kept up for strangers, for the orld in general, the other interior, moral and spiritual, shown only to a few intimate friends? but even these intimate friends do they know much beyond what is generally known? and what do they know? they see in him a hindu who differs very little from the rest of educated natives, perhaps only in his perfect contempt for the social conventions of india and the demands of western civilization.... and that is all--unless i add that he is known in central india as a sufficiently wealthy man, and a takur, a feudal chieftain of a raj, one of the hundreds of similar rajes. besides, he is a true friend of ours, who offered us his protection in our travels and volunteered to play the mediator between us and the suspicious, uncommunicative hindus. beyond all this, we know absolutely nothing about him. it is true, though, that i know a little more than the others; but i have promised silence, and silent i shall be. but the little i know is so strange, so unusual, that it is more like a dream than a reality." a good while ago, more than twenty-seven years, i met him in the house of a stranger in england, whither he came in the company of a certain dethroned indian prince. then our acquaintance was limited to two conversations; their unexpectedness, their gravity, and even severity, produced a strong impression on me then; but, in the course of time, like many other things, they sank into oblivion and lethe. about seven years ago he wrote to me to america, reminding me of our conversation and of a certain promise i had made. now we saw each other once more in india, his own country, and i failed to see any change wrought in his appearance by all these long years. i was, and looked, quite young, when i first saw him; but the passage of years had not failed to change me into an old woman. as to him, he appeared to me twenty-seven years ago a man of about thirty, and still looked no older, as if time were powerless against him. in england, his striking beauty, especially his extraordinary height and stature, together with his eccentric refusal to be presented to the queen--an honour many a high-born hindu has sought, coming over on purpose--excited the public notice and the attention of the newspapers. the newspapermen of those days, when the influence of byron was still great, discussed the "wild rajput" with untiring pens, calling him "raja-misanthrope" and " prince jalma-samson," and in-venting fables about him all the time he stayed in england. all this taken together was well calculated to fill me with consuming curiosity, and to absorb my thoughts till i forgot every exterior circumstance, sitting and staring at him in no wise less intensely than narayan. i gazed at the remarkable face of gulab-lal-sing with a mixed feeling of indescribable fear and enthusiastic admiration; recalling the mysterious death of the karli tiger, my own miraculous escape a few hours ago in bagh, and many other incidents too many to relate. it was only a few hours since he appeared to us in the morning, and yet what a number of strange ideas, of puzzling occurrences, how many enigmas his presence stirred in our minds! the magic circle of my revolving thought grew too much for me. "what does all this mean!" i exclaimed to myself, trying to shake off my torpor, and struggling to find words for my meditation. "who is this being whom i saw so many years ago, jubilant with manhood and life, and now see again, as young and as full of life, only still more austere, still more incomprehensible. after all, maybe it is his brother, or even his son?" thought i, trying to calm myself, but with no result. "no! there is no use doubting; it is he himself, it is the same face, the same little scar on the left temple. but, as a quarter of a century ago, so now: no wrinkles on those beautiful classic features; not a white hair in this thick jet-black mane; and, in moments of silence, the same expression of perfect rest on that face, calm as a statue of living bronze. what a strange expression, and what a wonderful sphinx-like face!" "not a very brilliant comparison, my old friend!" suddenly spoke the takur, and a good-natured laughing note rung in his voice, whilst i shuddered and grew red like a naughty schoolgirl. "this comparison is so inaccurate that it decidedly sins against history in two important points. primo, the sphinx is a lion; so am i, as indicates the word sing in my name; but the sphinx is winged, and i am not. secondo, the sphinx is a woman as well as a winged lion, but the rajput sinhas never had anything effeminate in their characters. besides, the sphinx is the daughter of chimera, or echidna, who were neither beautiful nor good; and so you might have chosen a more flattering and a less inaccurate comparison!" i simply gasped in my utter confusion, and he gave vent to his merriment, which by no means relieved me. "shall i give you some good advice?" continued gulab-sing, changing his tone for a more serious one. "don't trouble your head with such vain speculations. the day when this riddle yields its solution, the rajput sphinx will not seek destruction in the waves of the sea; but, believe me, it won't bring any profit to the russian oedipus either. you already know every detail you ever will learn. so leave the rest to our respective fates." and he rose because the babu and mulji had informed us that the ferry boat was ready to start, and were shouting and making signs to us to hasten. "just let me finish," said mr. y----, "i have nearly done. just an additional touch or two." "let us see your work. hand it round!" insisted the colonel and miss x----, who had just left her haven of refuge in the carriage, and joined us still half asleep. mr. y---- hurriedly added a few more touches to his drawing and rose to collect his brushes and pencils. we glanced at his fresh wet picture and opened our eyes in astonishment. there was no lake on it, no woody shores, and no velvety evening mists that covered the distant island at this moment. instead of all this we saw a charming sea view; thick clusters of shapely palm-trees scattered over the chalky cliffs of the littoral; a fortress-like bungalow with balconies and a flat roof, an elephant standing at its entrance, and a native boat on the crest of a foaming billow. "now what is this view, sir?" wondered the colonel. "as if it was worth your while to sit in the sun, and detain us all, to draw fancy pictures out of your own head!" "what on earth are you talking about?" exclaimed mr. y----. "do you mean to say you do not recognize the lake?" "listen to him--the lake! where is the lake, if you please? were you asleep, or what?" by this time all our party gathered round the colonel, who held the drawing. narayan uttered an exclamation, and stood still, the very image of bewilderment past description. "i know the place!" said he, at last. "this is dayri--bol, the country house of the takur-sahib. i know it. last year during the famine i lived there for two months." i was the first to grasp the meaning of it all, but something prevented me from speaking at once. at last mr. y---- finished arranging and packing his things, and approached us in his usual lazy, careless way, but his face showed traces of vexation. he was evidently bored by our persistency in seeing a sea, where there was nothing but the corner of a lake. but, at the first sight of his unlucky sketch, his countenance suddenly changed. he grew so pale, and the expression of his face became so piteously distraught that it was painful to see. he turned and returned the piece of bristol board, then rushed like a madman to his drawing portfolio and turned the whole contents out, ransacking and scattering over the sand hundreds of sketches and of loose papers. evidently failing to find what he was looking for, he glanced again at his sea-view, and suddenly covering his face with his hands totally collapsed. we all remained silent, exchanging glances of wonder and pity, and heedless of the takur, who stood on the ferry boat, vainly calling to us to join him. "look here, y----!" timidly spoke the kind-hearted colonel, as if addressing a sick child. "are you sure you remember drawing this view?" mr. y---- did not give any answer, as if gathering strength and thinking it over. after a few moments he answered in hoarse and tremulous tones: "yes, i do remember. of course i made this sketch, but i made it from nature. i painted only what i saw. and it is that very certainty that upsets me so." "but why should you be upset, my dear fellow? collect yourself! what happened to you is neither shameful nor dreadful. it is only the result of the temporary influence of one dominant will over another, less powerful. you simply acted under 'biological influence,' to use the expression of dr. carpenter." "that is exactly what i am most afraid of.... i remember everything now. i have been busy over this view more than an hour. i saw it directly i chose the spot, and seeing it all the while on the opposite shore i could not suspect anything uncanny. i was perfectly conscious... or, shall i say, i fancied i was conscious of putting down on paper what everyone of you had before your eyes. i had lost every notion of the place as i saw it before i began my sketch, and as i see it now.... but how do you account for it? good gracious! am i to believe that these confounded hindus really possess the mystery of this trick? i tell you, colonel, i shall go mad if i don't understand it all!" "no fear of that, mr. y----," said narayan, with a triumphant twinkle in his eyes. "you will simply lose the right to deny yoga-vidya, the great ancient science of my country." mr. y---- did not answer him. he made an effort to calm his feelings, and bravely stepped on the ferry boat with firm foot. then he sat down, apart from us all, obstinately looking at the large surface of water round us, and struggling to seem his usual self. miss x---- was the first to interrupt the silence. "ma chere!" said she to me in a subdued, but triumphant voice. "ma chere, monsieur y---- devient vraiment un medium de premiere force!" in moments of great excitement she always addressed me in french. but i also was too excited to control my feelings, and so i answered rather unkindly: "please stop this nonsense, miss x----. you know i don't believe in spiritualism. poor mr. y----, was not he upset?" receiving this rebuke and no sympathy from me, she could not think of anything better than drawing out the babu, who, for a wonder, had managed to keep quiet till then. "what do you say to all this? i for one am perfectly confident that no one but the disembodied soul of a great artist could have painted that lovely view. who else is capable of such a wonderful achievement?" "why? the old gentleman in person. confess that at the bottom of your soul you firmly believe that the hindus worship devils. to be sure it is some deity of ours of this kind that had his august paw in the matter." "il est positivement malhonnete, ce negre-la!" angrily muttered miss x----, hurriedly withdrawing from him. the island was a tiny one, and so overgrown with tall reeds that, from a distance, it looked like a pyramidal basket of verdure. with the exception of a colony of monkeys, who bustled away to a few mango trees at our approach, the place seemed uninhabited. in this virgin forest of thick grass there was no trace of human life. seeing the word grass the reader must not forget that it is not the grass of europe i mean; the grass under which we stood, like insects under a rhubarb leaf, waved its feathery many-colored plumes much above the head of gulab-sing (who stood six feet and a half in his stockings), and of narayan, who measured hardly an inch less. from a distance it looked like a waving sea of black, yellow, blue, and especially of rose and green. on landing, we discovered that it consisted of separate thickets of bamboos, mixed up with the gigantic sirka reeds, which rose as high as the tops of the mangos. it is impossible to imagine anything prettier and more graceful than the bamboos and sirka. the isolated tufts of bamboos show, in spite of their size, that they are nothing but grass, because the least gush of wind shakes them, and their green crests begin to nod like heads adorned with long ostrich plumes. there were some bamboos there fifty or sixty feet high. from time to time we heard a light metallic rustle in the reeds, but none of us paid much attention to it. whilst our coolies and servants were busy clearing a place for our tents, pitching them and preparing the supper, we went to pay our respects to the monkeys, the true hosts of the place. without exaggeration there were at least two hundred. while preparing for their nightly rest the monkeys behaved like decorous and well-behaved people; every family chose a separate branch and defended it from the intrusion of strangers lodging on the same tree, but this defence never passed the limits of good manners, and generally took the shape of threatening grimaces. there were many mothers with babies in arms amongst them; some of them treated the children tenderly, and lifted them cautiously, with a perfectly human care; others, less thoughtful, ran up and down, heedless of the child hanging at their breasts, preoccupied with something, discussing something, and stopping every moment to quarrel with other monkey ladies--a true picture of chatty old gossips on a market day, repeated in the animal kingdom. the bachelors kept apart, absorbed in their athletic exercises, performed for the most part with the ends of their tails. one of them, especially, attracted our attention by dividing his amusement between sauts perilleux and teasing a respectable looking grandfather, who sat under a tree hugging two little monkeys. swinging backward and forward from the branch, the bachelor jumped at him, bit his ear playfully and made faces at him, chattering all the time. we cautiously passed from one tree to another, afraid of frightening them away; but evidently the years spent by them with the fakirs, who left the island only a year ago, had accustomed them to human society. they were sacred monkeys, as we learned, and so they had nothing to fear from men. they showed no signs of alarm at our approach, and, having received our greeting, and some of them a piece of sugar-cane, they calmly stayed on their branch-thrones, crossing their arms, and looking at us with a good deal of dignified contempt in their intelligent hazel eyes. the sun had set, and we were told that the supper was ready. we all turned "homewards," except the babu. the main feature of his character, in the eyes of orthodox hindus, being a tendency to blasphemy, he could never resist the temptation to justify their opinion of him. climbing up a high branch he crouched there, imitating every gesture of the monkeys and answering their threatening grimaces by still uglier ones, to the unconcealed disgust of our pious coolies. as the last golden ray disappeared on the horizon, a gauze-like veil of pale lilac fell over the world. but as every moment decreased the transparency of this tropical twilight, the tint gradually lost its softness and became darker and darker. it looked as if an invisible painter, unceasingly moving his gigantic brush, swiftly laid one coat of paint over the other, ever changing the exquisite background of our islet. the phosphoric candles of the fireflies began to twinkle here and there, shining brightly against the black trunks of the trees, and lost again on the silvery background of opalescent evening sky. but in a few minutes more thousands of these living sparks, precursors of queen night, played round us, pouring like a golden cascade over the trees, and dancing in the air above the grass and the dark lake. and behold! here is the queen in person. noiselessly descending upon earth, she reassumes her rights. with her approach, rest and peace spread over us; her cool breath calms the activities of day. like a fond mother, she sings a lullaby to nature, lovingly wrapping her in her soft black mantle; and, when everything is asleep, she watches over nature's dozing powers till the first streaks of dawn. nature sleeps; but man is awake, to be witness to the beauties of this solemn evening hour. sitting round the fire we talked, lowering our voices as if afraid of awaking night. we were only six; the colonel, the four hindus and myself, because mr. y---- and miss x---- could not resist the fatigue of the day and had gone to sleep directly after supper. snugly sheltered by the high "grass," we had not the heart to spend this magnificent night in prosaic sleeping. besides, we were waiting for the "concert" which the takur had promised us. "be patient," said he, "the musicians will not appear before the moon rises." the fickle goddess was late; she kept us waiting till after ten o'clock. just before her arrival, when the horizon began to grow perceptibly brighter, and the opposite shore to assume a milky, silvery tint, a sudden wind rose. the waves, that had gone quietly to sleep at the feet of gigantic reeds, awoke and tossed uneasily, till the reeds swayed their feathery heads and murmured to each other as if taking counsel together about some thing that was going to happen.... suddenly, in the general stillness and silence, we heard again the same musical notes, which we had passed unheeded, when we first reached the island, as if a whole orchestra were trying their musical instruments before playing some great composition. all round us, and over our heads, vibrated strings of violins, and thrilled the separate notes of a flute. in a few moments came another gust of wind tearing through the reeds, and the whole island resounded with the strains of hundreds of aeolian harps. and suddenly there began a wild unceasing symphony. it swelled in the surrounding woods, filling the air with an indescribable melody. sad and solemn were its prolonged strains; they resounded like the arpeggios of some funeral march, then, changing into a trembling thrill, they shook the air like the song of a nightingale, and died away in a long sigh. they did not quite cease, but grew louder again, ringing like hundreds of silver bells, changing from the heartrending howl of a wolf, deprived of her young, to the precipitate rhythm of a gay tarantella, forgetful of every earthly sorrow; from the articulate song of a human voice, to the vague majestic accords of a violoncello, from merry child's laughter to angry sobbing. and all this was repeated in every direction by mocking echo, as if hundreds of fabulous forest maidens, disturbed in their green abodes, answered the appeal of the wild musical saturnalia. the colonel and i glanced at each other in our great astonishment. "how delightful! what witchcraft is this?" we exclaimed at the same time. the hindus smiled, but did not answer us. the takur smoked his gargari as peacefully as if he was deaf. there was a short interval, after which the invisible orchestra started again with renewed energy. the sounds poured and rolled in unrestrainable, overwhelming waves. we had never heard anything like this inconceivable wonder. listen! a storm in the open sea, the wind tearing through the rigging, the swish of the maddened waves rushing over each other, or the whirling snow wreaths on the silent steppes. suddenly the vision is changed; now it is a stately cathedral and the thundering strains of an organ rising under its vaults. the powerful notes now rush together, now spread out through space, break off, intermingle, and become entangled, like the fantastic melody of a delirious fever, some musical phantasy born of the howling and whistling of the wind. alas! the charm of these sounds is soon exhausted, and you begin to feel that they cut like knives through your brain. a horrid fancy haunts our bewildered heads; we imagine that the invisible artists strain our own veins, and not the strings of imaginary violins; their cold breath freezes us, blowing their imaginary trumpets, shaking our nerves and impeding our breathing. "for god's sake stop this, takur! this is really too much," shouted the colonel, at the end of his patience, and covering his ears with his hands. "gulab-sing, i tell you you must stop this." the three hindus burst out laughing; and even the grave face of the takur lit up with a merry smile. "upon my word," said he, "do you really take me for the great parabrahm? do you think it is in my power to stop the wind, as if i were marut, the lord of the storms, in person. ask for something easier than the instantaneous uprooting of all these bamboos." "i beg your pardon; i thought these strange sounds also were some kind of psychologic influence." "so sorry to disappoint you, my dear colonel; but you really must think less of psychology and electrobiology. this develops into a mania with you. don't you see that this wild music is a natural acoustic phenomenon? each of the reeds around us--and there are thousands on this island--contains a natural musical instrument; and the musician, wind, comes here daily to try his art after nightfall--especially during the last quarter of the moon." "the wind!" murmured the colonel. "oh, yes! but this music begins to change into a dreadful roar. is there no way out of it?" "i at least cannot help it. but keep up your patience, you will soon get accustomed to it. besides, there will be intervals when the wind falls." we were told that there are many such natural orchestras in india. the brahmans know well their wonderful properties, and calling this kind of reed vina-devi, the lute of the gods, keep up the popular superstition and say the sounds are divine oracles. the sirka grass and the bamboos always shelter a number of tiny beetles, which make considerable holes in the hollow reeds. the fakirs of the idol-worshipping sects add art to this natural beginning and work the plants into musical instruments. the islet we visited bore one of the most celebrated vina-devis, and so, of course, was proclaimed sacred. "tomorrow morning," said the takur, "you will see what deep knowledge of all the laws of acoustics was in the possession of the fakirs. they enlarged the holes made by the beetle according to the size of the reed, sometimes shaping it into a circle, sometimes into an oval. these reeds in their present state can be justly considered as the finest illustration of mechanism applied to acoustics. however, this is not to be wondered at, because some of the most ancient sanskrit books about music minutely describe these laws, and mention many musical instruments which are not only forgotten, but totally incomprehensible in our days." all this was very interesting, but still, disturbed by the din, we could not listen attentively. "don't worry yourselves," said the takur, who soon understood our uneasiness, in spite of our attempts at composure. "after midnight the wind will fall, and you will sleep undisturbed. however, if the too close neighborhood of this musical grass is too much for you, we may as well go nearer to the shore. there is a spot from which you can see the sacred bonfires on the opposite shore." we followed him, but while walking through the thickets of reeds we did not leave off our conversation. "how is it that the brahmans manage to keep up such an evident cheat?" asked the colonel. "the stupidest man cannot fail to see in the long run who made the holes in the reeds, and how they come to give forth music." "in america stupid men may be as clever as that; i don't know," answered the takur, with a smile; "but not in india. if you took the trouble to show, to describe, and to explain how all this is done to any hindu, be he even comparatively educated, he will still see nothing. he will tell you that he knows as well as yourself that the holes are made by the beetles and enlarged by the fakirs. but what of that? the beetle in his eyes is no ordinary beetle, but one of the gods incarnated in the insect for this special purpose; and the fakir is a holy ascetic, who has acted in this case by the order of the same god. that will be all you will ever get out of him. fanaticism and superstition took centuries to develop in the masses, and now they are as strong as a necessary physiological function. kill these two and the crowd will have its eyes opened, and will see truth, but not before. as to the brahmans, india would have been very fortunate if everything they have done were as harmless. let the crowds adore the muse and the spirit of harmony. this adoration is not so very wicked, after all." the babu told us that in dehra-dun this kind of reed is planted on both sides of the central street, which is more than a mile long. the buildings prevent the free action of the wind, and so the sounds are heard only in time of east wind, which is very rare. a year ago swami dayanand happened to camp off dehra-dun. crowds of people gathered round him every evening. one day he delivered a very powerful sermon against superstition. tired out by this long, energetic speech, and, besides, being a little unwell, the swami sat down on his carpet and shut his eyes to rest as soon as the sermon was finished. but the crowd, seeing him so unusually quiet and silent, all at once imagined that his soul, abandoning him in this prostration, entered the reeds--that had just begun to sing their fantastical rhapsody--and was now conversing with the gods through the bamboos. many a pious man in this gathering, anxious to show the teacher in what fulness they grasped his teaching and how deep was their respect for him personally, knelt down before the singing reeds and performed a most ardent puja. "what did the swami say to that?" "he did not say anything.... your question shows that you don't know our swami yet," laughed the babu. "he simply jumped to his feet, and, uprooting the first sacred reed on his way, gave such a lively european bakshish (thrashing) to the pious puja-makers, that they instantly took to their heels. the swami ran after them for a whole mile, giving it hot to everyone in his way. he is wonderfully strong is our swami, and no friend to useless talk, i can tell you." "but it seems to me," said the colonel, "that that is not the right way to convert crowds. dispersing and frightening is not converting." "not a bit of it. the masses of our nation require peculiar treatment.... let me tell you the end of this story. disappointed with the effect of his teachings on the inhabitants of dehra-dun, dayanand saraswati went to patna, some thirty-five or forty miles from there. and before he had even rested from the fatigues of his journey, he had to receive a deputation from dehra-dun, who on their knees entreated him to come back. the leaders of this deputation had their backs covered with bruises, made by the bamboo of the swami! they brought him back with no end of pomp, mounting him on an elephant and spreading flowers all along the road. once in dehra-dun, he immediately proceeded to found a samaj, a society as you would say, and the dehra-dun arya-samaj now counts at least two hundred members, who have renounced idol-worship and superstition for ever." "i was present," said mulji, "two years ago in benares, when dayanand broke to pieces about a hundred idols in the bazaar, and the same stick served him to beat a brahman with. he caught the latter in the hollow idol of a huge shiva. the brahman was quietly sitting there talking to the devotees in the name, and so to speak, with the voice of shiva, and asking money for a new suit of clothes the idol wanted." "is it possible the swami had not to pay for this new achievement of his?" "oh, yes. the brahman dragged him into a law court, but the judge had to pronounce the swami in the right, because of the crowd of sympathizers and defenders who followed the swami. but still he had to pay for all the idols he had broken. so far so good; but the brahman died of cholera that very night, and of course, the opposers of the reform said his death was brought on by the sorcery of dayanand saraswati. this vexed us all a good deal." "now, narayan, it is your turn," said i. have you no story to tell us about the swami? and do you not look up to him as to your guru?" "i have only one guru and only one god on earth, as in heaven," answered narayan; and i saw that he was very unwilling to speak. "and while i live, i shall not desert them." "i know who is his guru and his god!" thoughtlessly exclaimed the quick-tongued babu. "it is the takur--sahib. in his person both coincide in the eyes of narayan." "you ought to be ashamed to talk such nonsense, babu," coldly remarked gulab-sing. "i do not think myself worthy of being anybody's guru. as to my being a god, the mere words are a blasphemy, and i must ask you not to repeat them... here we are!" added he more cheerfully, pointing to the carpets spread by the servants on the shore, and evidently desirous of changing the topic. "let us sit down!" we arrived at a small glade some distance from the bamboo forest. the sounds of the magic orchestra reached us still, but considerably weakened, and only from time to time. we sat to the windward of the reeds, and so the harmonic rustle we heard was exactly like the low tones of an aeolian harp, and had nothing disagreeable in it. on the contrary, the distant murmur only added to the beauty of the whole scene around us. we sat down, and only then i realized how tired and sleepy i was--and no wonder, after being on foot since four in the morning, and after all that had happened to me on this memorable day. the gentlemen went on talking, and i soon became so absorbed in my thoughts that their conversation reached me only in fragments. "wake up, wake up!" repeated the colonel, shaking me by the hand. "the takur says that sleeping in the moonlight will do you harm." i was not asleep; i was simply thinking, though ex-hausted and sleepy. but wholly under the charm of this enchanting night, i could not shake off my drowsiness, and did not answer the colonel. "wake up, for god's sake! think of what you are risking!" continued the colonel. "wake up and look at the landscape before us, at this wonderful moon. have you ever seen anything to equal this magnificent panorama?" i looked up, and the familiar lines of pushkin about the golden moon of spain flashed into my mind. and indeed this was a golden moon. at this moment she radiated rivers of golden light, poured forth liquid gold into the tossing lake at our feet, and sprinkled with golden dust every blade of grass, every pebble, as far as the eye could reach, all round us. her disk of silvery yellow swiftly glided upward amongst the big stars, on their dark blue ground. many a moonlit night have i seen in india, but every time the impression was new and unexpected. it is no use trying to describe these feerique pictures, they cannot be represented either in words or in colors on canvas, they can only be felt--so fugitive is their grandeur and beauty! in europe, even in the south, the full moon eclipses the largest and most brilliant of the stars, so that hardly any can be seen for a considerable distance round her. in india it is quite the contrary; she looks like a huge pearl surrounded by diamonds, rolling on a blue velvet ground. her light is so intense that one can read a letter written in small handwriting; one even can perceive the different greens of the trees and bushes--a thing unheard of in europe. the effect of the moon is especially charming on tall palm trees. from the first moment of her appearance her rays glide over the tree downwards, beginning with the feathery crests, then lighting up the scales of the trunk, and descending lower and lower till the whole palm is literally bathing in a sea of light. without any metaphor the surface of the leaves seems to tremble in liquid silver all the night long, whereas their under surfaces seem blacker and softer than black velvet. but woe to the thoughtless novice, woe to the mortal who gazes at the indian moon with his head uncovered. it is very dangerous not only to sleep under, but even to gaze at the chaste indian diana. fits of epilepsy, madness and death are the punishments wrought by her treacherous arrows on the modern acteon who dares to contemplate the cruel daughter of latona in her full beauty. the hindus never go out in the moonlight without their turbans or pagris. even our invulnerable babu always wore a kind of white cap during the night. as soon as the reeds concert reaches its height and the inhabitants of the neighborhood hear the distant "voices of the gods," whole villages flock together to the bank of the lake, light bonfires, and perform their pujas. the fires lit up one after the other, and the black silhouettes of the worshippers moved about on the opposite shore. their sacred songs and loud exclamations, "hari, hari, maha-deva!" resounded with a strange loudness and a wild emphasis in the pure air of the night. and the reeds, shaken in the wind, answered them with tender musical phrases. the whole stirred a vague feeling of uneasiness in my soul, a strange intoxication crept gradually over me, and in this enchanting place the idol-worship of these passionate, poetical souls, sunk in dark ignorance, seemed more intelligible and less repulsive. a hindu is a born mystic, and the luxuriant nature of his country has made of him a zealous pantheist. sounds of alguja, a kind of pandean pipe with seven openings, struck our attention; their music was wafted by the wind quite distinctly from somewhere in the wood. they also startled a whole family of monkeys in the branches of a tree over our heads. two or three monkeys carefully slipped down, and looked round as if waiting for something. "what is this new orpheus, to whose voice these monkeys answer?" asked i laughingly. "some fakir probably. the alguja is generally used to invite the sacred monkeys to their meals. the community of fakirs, who once inhabited this island, have removed to an old pagoda in the forest. their new resting-place brings them more profit, because there are many passers by, whereas the island is perfectly isolated." "probably they were compelled to desert this dreadful place because they were threatened by chronic deafness," miss x---- expressed her opinion. she could not help being out of temper at being prevented from enjoying her quiet slumber, our tents being right in the middle of the orchestra. "a propos of orpheus," asked the takur, "do you know that the lyre of this greek demigod was not the first to cast spells over people, animals and even rivers? kui, a certain chinese musical artist, as they are called, expresses something to this effect: 'when i play my kyng the wild animals hasten to me, and range themselves into rows, spellbound by my melody.' this kui lived one thousand years before the supposed era of orpheus." "what a funny coincidence!" exclaimed i. "kui is the name of one of our best artists in st. petersburg. where did you read this?" "oh, this is not a very rare piece of information. some of your western orientalists have it in their books. but i personally found it in an ancient sanskrit book, translated from the chinese in the second century before your era. but the original is to be found in a very ancient work, named the preserver of the five chief virtues. it is a kind of chronicle or treatise on the development of music in china. it was written by the order of emperor hoang-tee many hundred years before your era." "do you think, then, that the chinese ever understood anything about music?" said the colonel, with an incredulous smile. "in california and other places i heard some traveling artists of the celestial empire. well, i think, that kind of musical entertainment would drive any one mad." "that is exactly the opinion of many of your western musicians on the subject of our ancient aryan, as well as of modern hindu, music. but, in the first instance, the idea of melody is perfectly arbitrary; and, in the second, there is a good deal of difference between the technical knowledge of music, and the creation of melodies fit to please the educated, as well as the uneducated, ear. according to technical theory, a musical piece may be perfect, but the melody, nevertheless, may be above the understanding of an untrained taste, or simply unpleasant. your most renowned operas sound for us like a wild chaos, like a rush of strident, entangled sounds, in which we do not see any meaning at all, and which give us headaches. i have visited the london and the paris opera; i have heard rossini and meyer-beer; i was resolved to render myself an account of my impressions, and listened with the greatest attention. but i own i prefer the simplest of our native melodies to the productions of the best european composers. our popular songs speak to me, whereas they fail to produce any emotion in you. but leaving the tunes and songs out of question, i can assure you that our ancestors, as well as the ancestors of the chinese, were far from inferior to the modern europeans, if not in technical instrumentation, at least in their abstract notions of music." "the aryan nations of antiquity, perhaps; but i hardly believe this in the case of the turanian chinese!" said our president doubtfully. "but the music of nature has been everywhere the first step to the music of art. this is a universal rule. but there are different ways of following it. our musical system is the greatest art, if--pardon me this seeming paradox--avoiding all artificiality is art. we do not allow in our melodies any sounds that cannot be classified amongst the living voices of nature; whereas the modern chinese tendencies are quite different. the chinese system comprises eight chief tones, which serve as a tuning-fork to all derivatives; which are accordingly classified under the names of their generators. these eight sounds are: the notes metal, stone, silk, bamboo, pumpkin, earthenware, leather and wood. so that they have metallic sounds, wooden sounds, silk sounds, and so on. of course, under these conditions they cannot produce any melody; their music consists of an entangled series of separate notes. their imperial hymn, for instance, is a series of endless unisons. but we hindus owe our music only to living nature, and in nowise to inanimate objects. in a higher sense of the word, we are pantheists, and so our music is, so to speak, pantheistic; but, at the same time, it is highly scientific. coming from the cradle of humanity, the aryan races, who were the first to attain manhood, listened to the voice of nature, and concluded that melody as well as harmony are both contained in our great common mother. nature has no false and no artificial notes; and man, the crown of creation, felt desirous of imitating her sounds. in their multiplicity, all these sounds--according to the opinion of some of your western physicists--make only one tone, which we all can hear, if we know how to listen, in the eternal rustle of the foliage of big forests, in the murmur of water, in the roar of the storming ocean, and even in the distant roll of a great city. this tone is the middle f, the fundamental tone of nature. in our melodies it serves as the starting point, which we embody in the key-note, and around which are grouped all the other sounds. having noticed that every musical note has its typical representative in the animal kingdom, our ancestors found out that the seven chief tones correspond to the cries of the goat, the peacock, the ox, the parrot, the frog, the tiger, and the elephant. so the octave was discovered and founded. as to its subdivisions and measure, they also found their basis in the complicated sounds of the same animals." "i am no judge of your ancient music," said the colonel, "nor do i know whether your ancestors did, or did not, work out any musical theories, so i cannot contradict you; but i must own that, listening to the songs of the modern hindus, i could not give them any credit for musical knowledge." "no doubt it is so, because you have never heard a professional singer. when you have visited poona, and have listened to the gayan samaj, we shall resume our present conversation. the gayan samaj is a society whose aim is to restore the ancient national music." gulab-lal-sing spoke in his usual calm voice, but the babu was evidently burning to break forth for his country's honor, and at the same time, he was afraid of offending his seniors by interrupting their conversation. at last he lost patience. "you are unjust, colonel!" he exclaimed. "the music of the ancient aryans is an antediluvian plant, no doubt, but nevertheless it is well worth studying, and deserves every consideration. this is perfectly proved now by a compatriot of mine, the raja surendronath tagor.... he is a mus. d., he has lots of decorations from all kinds of kings and emperors of europe for his book about the music of aryans.... and, well, this man has proved, as clear as daylight, that ancient india has every right to be called the mother of music. even the best musical critics of england say so!... every school, whether italian, german or aryan, saw the light at a certain period, developed in a certain climate and in perfectly different circumstances. every school has its characteristics, and its peculiar charm, at least for its followers; and our school is no exception. you europeans are trained in the melodies of the west, and acquainted with western schools of music; but our musical system, like many other things in india, is totally unknown to you. so you must forgive my boldness, colonel, when i say that you have no right to judge!" "don't get so excited, babu," said the takur. "every one has the right, if not to discuss, then to ask questions about a new subject. otherwise no one would ever get any information. if hindu music belonged to an epoch as little distant from us as the european--which you seem to suggest, babu, in your hot haste; and if, besides, it included all the virtues of all the previous musical systems, which the european music assimilates; then no doubt it would have been better understood, and better appreciated than it is. but our music belongs to prehistoric times. in one of the sarcophagi at thebes, bruce found a harp with twenty strings, and, judging by this instrument, we may safely say that the ancient inhabitants of egypt were well acquainted with the mysteries of harmony. but, except the egyptians, we were the only people possessing this art, in the remote epochs, when the rest of mankind were still struggling with the elements for bare existence. we possess hundreds of sanskrit mss. about music, which have never been translated, even into modern indian dialects. some of them are four thousand and eight thousand years old. whatever your orientalists may say to the contrary, we will persist in believing in their antiquity, because we have read and studied them, while the european scientists have never yet set their eyes on them. there are many of these musical treatises, and they have been written at different epochs; but they all, without exception, show that in india music was known and systematized in times when the modern civilized nations of europe still lived like savages. however true, all this does not give us the right to grow indignant when europeans say they do not like our music, as long as their ears are not accustomed to it, and their minds cannot understand its spirit.... to a certain extent we can explain to you its technical character, and give you a right idea of it as a science. but nobody can create in you, in a moment, what the aryans used to call rakti; the capacity of the human soul to receive and be moved by the combinations of the various sounds of nature. this capacity is the alpha and omega of our musical system, but you do not possess it, as we do not possess the possibility to fall into raptures over bellini." "but why should it be so? what are these mysterious virtues of your music, that can be understood only by yourselves? our skins are of different colors, but our organic mechanism is the same. in other words, the physiological combination of bones, blood, nerves, veins and muscles, which forms a hindu, has as many parts, combined exactly after the same model as the living mechanism known under the name of an american, englishman, or any other european. they come into the world from the same workshop of nature; they have the same beginning and the same end. from a physiological point of view we are duplicates of each other." "physiologically yes. and it would be as true psychologically, if education did not interfere, which, after all is said and done, could not but influence the mental and the moral direction taken by a human being. sometimes it extinguishes the divine spark; at other times it only increases it, transforming it into a lighthouse which becomes man's lodestar for life." "no doubt this is so. but the influence it has over the physiology of the ear cannot be so overpowering after all." "quite the contrary. only remember what a strong influence climatic conditions, food and everyday surroundings have on the complexion, vitality, capacity for reproduction, and so on, and you will see that you are mistaken. apply this same law of gradual modification to the purely psychic element in man, and the results will be the same. change the education and you will change the capacities of a human being.... for instance, you believe in the powers of gymnastics, you believe that special exercise can almost transform the human body. we go one step higher. the experience of centuries shows that gymnastics exist for the soul as well as for the body. but what the soul's gymnastics are is our secret. what is it that gives to the sailor the sight of an eagle, that endows the acrobat with the skill of a monkey, and the wrestler with muscles of iron? practice and habit. then why should not we suppose the same possibilities in the soul of the man as well as in his body? perhaps on the grounds of modern science--which either dispenses with the soul altogether, or does not acknowledge in it a life distinct from the life of the body...." "please do not speak in this way, takur. you, at least, ought to know that i believe in the soul and in its immortality!" "we believe in the immortality of spirit, not of soul, following the triple division of body, soul and spirit. however, this has nothing to do with the present discussion.... and so you agree to the proposition that every dormant possibility of the soul may be led to perfected strength and activity by practice, and also that if not properly used it may grow numb and even disappear altogether. nature is so zealous that all her gifts should be used properly, that it is in our power to develop or to kill in our descendants any physical or mental gift. a systematic training or a total disregard will accomplish both in the lifetime of a few generations." "perfectly true; but that does not explain to me the secret charm of your melodies...." "these are details and particulars. why should i dwell on them when you must see for yourself that my reasoning gives you the clue, which will solve many similar problems? centuries have accustomed the ear of a hindu to be receptive only of certain combinations of atmospheric vibrations; whereas the ear of a european is used to perfectly different combinations. hence the soul of the former will be enraptured where the soul of the latter will be perfectly indifferent. i hope my explanation has been simple and clear, and i might have ended it here were it not that i am anxious to give you something better than the feeling of satisfied curiosity. as yet i have solved only the physiological aspect of the secret, which is as easily admitted as the fact that we hindus eat by the handful spices which would give you inflammation of the intestines if you happened to swallow a single grain. our aural nerves, which, at the beginning, were identical with yours, have been changed through different training, and became as distinct from yours as our complexion and our stomachs. add to this that the eyes of the kashmir weavers, men and women, are able to distinguish three hundred shades more than the eye of a european.... the force of habit, the law of atavism, if you like. but things of this kind practically solve the apparent difficulty. you have come all the way from america to study the hindus and their religion; but you will never understand the latter if you do not realize how closely all our sciences are related, not to the modern ignorant brahmanism, of course, but to the philosophy of our primitive vedic religion." "i see. you mean that your music has something to do with the vedas?" "exactly. it has a good deal--almost everything--to do with the vedas. all the sounds of nature, and, in consequence, of music, are directly allied to astronomy and mathematics; that is to say, to the planets, the signs of the zodiac, the sun and moon, and to rotation and numbers. above all, they depend on the akasha, the ether of space, of the existence of which your scientists have not made perfectly sure as yet. this was the teaching of the ancient chinese and egyptians, as well as of ancient aryans. the doctrine of the 'music of the spheres' first saw the light here in india, and not in greece or italy, whither it was brought by pythagoras after he had studied under the indian gymnosophists. and most certainly this great philosopher--who revealed to the world the heliocentric system before copernicus and galileo--knew better than anyone else how dependent are the least sounds in nature on akasha and its interrelations. one of the four vedas, namely, the sama-veda, entirely consists of hymns. this is a collection of mantrams sung during the sacrifices to the gods, that is to say, to the elements. our ancient priests were hardly acquainted with the modern methods of chemistry and physics; but, to make up for it, they knew a good deal which has not as yet been thought of by modern scientists. so it is not to be wondered at that, sometimes, our priests, so perfectly acquainted with natural sciences as they were, forced the elementary gods, or rather the blind forces of nature, to answer their prayers by various portents. every sound of these mantrams has its meaning, its importance, and stands exactly where it ought to stand; and, having a raison d'etre, it does not fail to produce its effect. remember professor leslie, who says that the science of sound is the most subtle, the most unseizable and the most complicated of all the series of physical sciences. and if ever this teaching was worked out to perfection it was in the times of the rishis, our philosophers and saints, who left to us the vedas." "now, i think i begin to understand the origin of all the mythological fables of the greek antiquity," thoughtfully said the colonel; "the syrinx of pan, his pipe of seven reeds, the fauns, the satyrs, and the lyre of orpheus himself. the ancient greeks knew little about harmony; and the rhythmical declamations of their dramas, which probably never reached the pathos of the simplest of modern recitals, could hardly suggest to them the idea of the magic lyre of orpheus. i feel strongly inclined to believe what was written by some of our great philologists: orpheus must be an emigrant from india; his very name [greek script], or [greek script], shows that, even amongst the tawny greeks, he was remarkably dark. this was the opinion of lempriere and others." "some day this opinion may become a certainty. there is not the slightest doubt that the purest and the highest of all the musical forms of antiquity belongs to india. all our legends ascribe magic powers to music; it is a gift and a science coming straight from the gods. as a rule, we ascribe all our arts to divine revelation, but music stands at the head of everything else. the invention of the vina, a kind of lute, belongs to narada, the son of brahma. you will probably laugh at me if i tell you that our ancient priests, whose duty it was to sing during the sacrifices, were able to produce phenomena that could not but be considered by the ignorant as signs from supernatural powers; and this, remember, without a shadow of trickery, but simply with the help of their perfect knowledge of nature and certain combinations well known to them. the phenomena produced by the priests and the raj-yogis are perfectly natural for the initiate--however miraculous they may seem to the masses." "but do you really mean that you have no faith what-ever in the spirits of the dead?" timidly asked miss x----, who was always ill at ease in the presence of the takur. "with your permission, i have none." "and... and have you no regard for mediums?" "still less than for the spirits, my dear lady. i do believe in the existence of many psychic diseases, and, amongst their number, in mediumism, for which we have got a queer sounding name from time immemorial. we call it bhuta-dak, literally a bhuta-hostelry. i sincerely pity the real mediums, and do whatever is in my power to help them. as to the charlatans, i despise them, and never lose an opportunity of unmasking them." the witch's den near the "dead city" suddenly flashed into my mind; the fat brahman, who played the oracle in the head of the sivatherium, caught and rolling down the hole; the witch herself suddenly taking to her heels. and with this recollection also occurred to me what i had never thought of before: narayan had acted under the orders of the takur--doing his best to expose the witch and her ally. "the unknown power which possesses the mediums (which the spiritualists believe to be spirits of the dead, while the superstitious see in it the devil, and the sceptics deceit and infamous tricks), true men of science suspect to be a natural force, which has not as yet been discovered. it is, in reality, a terrible power. those possessed by it are generally weak people, often women and children. your beloved spiritualists, miss x----, only help the growth of dreadful psychic diseases, but people who know better seek to save them from this force you know nothing whatever about, and it is no use discussing this matter now. i shall only add one word: the real living spirit of a human being is as free as brahma; and even more than this for us, for, according to our religion and our philosophy, our spirit is brahma himself, higher than whom there is only the unknowable, the all-pervading, the omnipotent essence of parabrahm. the living spirit of man cannot be ordered about like the spirits of the spiritualists, it cannot be made a slave of... however, it is getting so late that we had better go to bed. let us say good-bye for tonight." gulab-lal-sing would not talk any more that night, but i have gathered from our previous conversations many a point without which the above conversation would remain obscure. the vedantins and the followers of shankaracharya's philosophy, in talking of themselves, often avoid using the pronoun i, and say, "this body went," "this hand took," and so on, in everything concerning the automatic actions of man. the personal pronouns are only used concerning mental and moral processes, such as, "i thought," "he desired." the body in their eyes is not the man, but only a covering to the real man. the real interior man possesses many bodies; each of them more subtle and more pure than the preceding; and each of them bears a different name and is independent of the material body. after death, when the earthly vital principle disintegrates, together with the material body, all these interior bodies join together, and either advance on the way to moksha, and are called deva (divine), though it still has to pass many stadia before the final liberation, or is left on earth, to wander and to suffer in the invisible world, and, in this case, is called bhuta. but a deva has no tangible intercourse with the living. its only link with the earth is its posthumous affection for those it loved in its lifetime, and the power of protecting and influencing them. love outlives every earthly feeling, and a deva can appear to the beloved ones only in their dreams--unless it be as an illusion, which cannot last, because the body of a deva undergoes a series of gradual changes from the moment it is freed from its earthly bonds; and, with every change, it grows more intangible, losing every time something of its objective nature. it is reborn; it lives and dies in new lokas or spheres, which gradually become purer and more subjective. at last, having got rid of every shadow of earthly thoughts and desires, it becomes nothing from a material point of view. it is extinguished like a flame, and, having become one with parabrahm, it lives the life of spirit, of which neither our material conception nor our language can give any idea. but the eternity of parabrahm is not the eternity of the soul. the latter, according to a vedanta expression, is an eternity in eternity. however holy, the life of a soul had its beginning and its end, and, consequently, no sins and no good actions can be punished or rewarded in the eternity of parabrahm. this would be contrary to justice, disproportionate, to use an expression of vedanta philosophy. spirit alone lives in eternity, and has neither beginning nor end, neither limits nor central point. the deva lives in parabrahm, as a drop lives in the ocean, till the next regeneration of the universe from pralaya; a periodical chaos, a disappearance of the worlds from the region of objectivity. with every new maha-yuga (great cycle) the deva separates from that which is eternal, attracted by existence in objective worlds, like a drop of water first drawn up by the sun, then starting again downwards, passing from one region to another, and returning at last to the dirt of our planet. then, having dwelt there whilst a small cycle lasted, it proceeds again upwards on the other side of the circle. so it gravitates in the eternity of parabrahm, passing from one minor eternity to another. each of these "human," that is to say conceivable, eternities consists of , , , years of objective life and of as many years of subjective life in parabrahm, altogether , , , years, which are enough, in the eyes of the vedantins, to redeem any mortal sin, and also to reap the fruit of any good actions performed in such a short period as human life. the individuality of the soul, teaches the vedanta, is not lost when plunged in parabrahm, as is supposed by some of the european orientalists. only the souls of bhutas--when the last spark of repentance and of tendency to improvement are extinguished in them--will evaporate for ever. then their divine spirit, the undying part of them, separates from the soul and returns to its primitive source; the soul is reduced to its primordial atoms, and the monad plunges into the darkness of eternal unconsciousness. this is the only case of total destruction of personality. such is the vedanta teaching concerning the spiritual man. and this is why no true hindu believes in the disembodied souls voluntarily returning to earth, except in the case of bhutas. jubblepore leaving malva and indore, the quasi-independent country of holkar, we found ourselves once more on strictly british territory. we were going to jubblepore by railway. this town is situated in the district of saugor and nerbudda; once it belonged to the mahrattis, but, in , the english army took possession of it. we stopped in the town only for a short time, being anxious to see the celebrated marble rocks. as it would have been a pity to lose a whole day, we hired a boat and started at a.m., which gave us the double advantage of avoiding the heat, and enjoying a splendid bit of the river ten miles from the town. the neighborhood of jubblepore is charming; and besides, both a geologist and a mineralogist would find here the richest field for scientific researches. the geological formation of the rocks offers an infinite variety of granites; and the long chains of mountains might keep a hundred of cuviers busy for life. the limestone caves of jubblepore are a true ossuary of antediluvian india; they are full of skeletons of monstrous animals, now disappeared for ever. at a considerable distance from the rest of the mountain ridges, and perfectly separate, stand the marble rocks, a most wonderful natural phenomenon, not very rare, though, in india. on the flattish banks of the nerbudda, overgrown with thick bushes, you suddenly perceive a long row of strangely-shaped white cliffs. they are there without any apparent reason, as if they were a wart on the smooth cheek of mother nature. white and pure, they are heaped up on each other as if after some plan, and look exactly like a huge paperweight from the writing-table of a titan. we saw them when we were half-way from the town. they appeared and disappeared with the sudden capricious turnings of the river; trembling in the early morning mist like a distant, deceitful mirage of the desert. then we lost sight of them altogether. but just before sunrise they stood out once more before our charmed eyes, floating above their reflected image in the water. as if called forth by the wand of a sorcerer, they stood there on the green bank of the nerbudda, mirroring their virgin beauty on the calm surface of the lazy stream, and promising us a cool and welcome shelter.... and as to the preciousness of every moment of the cool hours before sunrise, it can be appreciated only by those who have lived and traveled in this fiery land. alas! in spite of all our precautions, and our unusually early start, our enjoyment of this cool retreat was very short-lived. our project was to have prosaic tea amid these poetic surroundings; but as soon as we landed, the sun leaped above the horizon, and began shooting his fiery arrows at the boat, and at our unfortunate heads. persecuting us from one place to another, he banished us, at last, even from under a huge rock hanging over the water. there was literally no place where we could seek salvation. the snow-white marble beauties became golden red, pouring fire-sparks into the river, heating the sand and blinding our eyes. no wonder that legend supposes in them something between the abode and the incarnation of kali, the fiercest of all the goddesses of the hindu pantheon. for many yugas this goddess has been engaged in a desperate contest with her lawful husband shiva, who, in his shape of trikutishvara, a three-headed lingam, has dishonestly claimed the rocks and the river for his own--the very rocks and the very river over which kali presides in person. and this is why people hear dreadful moaning, coming from under the ground, every time that the hand of an irresponsible coolie, working by government orders in government quarries, breaks a stone from the white bosom of the goddess. the unhappy stone-breaker hears the cry and trembles, and his heart is torn between the expectations of a dreadful punishment from the bloodthirsty goddess and the fear of his implacably exacting inspector in case he disobeys his orders. kali is the owner of the marble rocks, but she is the patroness of the ex-thugs as well. many a lonely traveler has shuddered on hearing this name; many a bloodless sacrifice has been offered on the marble altar of kali. the country is full of horrible tales about the achievements of the thugs, accomplished in the honor of this goddess. these tales are too recent and too fresh in the popular memory to become as yet mere highly-colored legends. they are mostly true, and many of them are proved by official documents of the law courts and inquest commissions. if england ever leaves india, the perfect suppression of thugism will be one of the good memories that will linger in the country long after her departure. under this name was practised in india during two long centuries the craftiest and the worst kind of homicide. only after was it discovered that its aim was simply robbery and brigandage. the falsely interpreted symbolical meaning of kali was nothing but a pretext, otherwise there would not have been so many mussulmans amongst her devotees. when they were caught at last, and had to answer before justice, most of these knights of the rumal--the handkerchief with which the operation of strangling was performed--proved to be mussulmans. the most illustrious of their leaders were not hindus, but followers of the prophet, the celebrated ahmed, for instance. out of thirty-seven thugs caught by the police there were twenty-two mahometans. this proves perfectly clearly that their religion, having nothing in common with the hindu gods, had nothing to do with their cruel profession; the reason and cause was robbery. it is true though that the final initiation rite was performed in some deserted forest before an idol of bhavani, or kali, wearing a necklace of human skulls. before this final initiation the candidates had to undergo a course of schooling, the most difficult part of which was a certain trick of throwing the rumal on the neck of the unsuspecting victim and strangling him, so that death might be instantaneous. in the initiation the part of the goddess was made manifest in the use of certain symbols, which are in common use amongst the freemasons--for instance, an unsheathed dagger, a human skull, and the corpse of hiram-abiff, "son of the widow," brought back to life by the grand master of the lodge. kali was nothing but the pretext for an imposing scenarium. freemasonry and thugism had many points of resemblance. the members of both recognized each other by certain signs, both had a pass-word and a jargon that no outsider could understand. the freemason lodges receive among their members both christians and atheists; the thugs used to receive the thieves and robbers of every nation without any distinction; and it is reported that amongst them there were some portuguese and even englishmen. the difference between the two is that the thugs certainly were a criminal organization, whereas the freemasons of our days do no harm, except to their own pockets. poor shiva, wretched bhavani! what a mean interpretation popular ignorance has invented for these two poetical types, so deeply philosophical and so full of knowledge of the laws of nature. shiva, in his primitive meaning is "happy god"; then the all-destroying, as well as the all-regenerating force of nature. the hindu trinity is, amongst other things, an allegorical representation of the three chief elements: fire, earth and water. brahma, vishnu and shiva all represent these elements by turns, in their different phases; but shiva is much more the god of the fire than either brahma or vishnu: he burns and purifies; at the same time creating out of the ashes new forms, full of fresh life. shiva-sankarin is the destroyer or rather the scatterer; shiva-rakshaka is the preserver, the regenerator. he is represented with flames on his left palm, and with the wand of death and resurrection in his right hand. his worshippers wear on their foreheads his sign traced with wet ashes, the ashes being called vibhuti, or purified substance, and the sign consisting of three horizontal parallel lines between the eyebrows. the color of shiva's skin is rosy-yellow, gradually changing into a flaming red. his neck, head and arms are covered with snakes, emblems of eternity and eternal regeneration. "as a serpent, abandoning his old slough, reappears in new skin, so man after death reappears in a younger and a purer body," say the puranas. in her turn, shiva's wife kali is the allegory of earth, fructified by the flames of the sun. her educated worshippers say they allow themselves to believe their goddess is fond of human sacrifices, only on the strength of the fact that earth is fond of organical decomposition, which fertilizes her, and helps her to call forth new forces from the ashes of the dead. the shivaites, when burning their dead, put an idol of shiva at the head of the corpse; but when beginning to scatter the ashes in the elements, they invoke bhavani, in order that the goddess may receive the purified remains, and develop in them germs of new life. but what truth could bear the coarse touch of superstitious ignorance without being disfigured! the murdering thugs laid their hands on this great philosophic emblem, and, having understood that the goddess loves human sacrifice, but hates useless blood-shed, they resolved to please her doubly: to kill, but never to soil their hands by the blood of their victims. the result of it was the knighthood of the rumal. one day we visited a very aged ex-thug. in his young days he was transported to the andaman islands, but, owing to his sincere repentance, and to some services he had rendered to the government, he was afterwards pardoned. having returned to his native village, he settled down to earn his living by weaving ropes, a profession probably suggested to him by some sweet reminiscences of the achievements of his youth. he initiated us first into the mysteries of theoretic thugism, and then extended his hospitality by a ready offer to show us the practical side of it, if we agreed to pay for a sheep. he said he would gladly show us how easy it was to send a living being ad patres in less than three seconds; the whole secret consisting in some skillful and swift movements of the righthand finger joints. we refused to buy the sheep for this old brigand, but we gave him some money. to show his gratitude he offered to demonstrate all the preliminary sensation of the rumal on any english or american neck that was willing. of course, he said he would omit the final twist. but still none of us were willing; and the gratitude of the repentant criminal found issue in great volubility. the owl is sacred to bhavani kali, and as soon as a band of thugs, awaiting their victims, had been signalled by the conventional hooting, each of the travelers, let them be twenty and more, had a thug behind his shoulders. one second more, and the rumal was on the neck of the victim, the well-trained iron fingers of the thug tightly holding the ends of the sacred handkerchief; another second, the joints of the fingers performed their artistic twist, pressing the larynx, and the victim fell down lifeless. not a sound, not a shriek! the thugs worked, as swiftly as lightning. the strangled man was immediately carried to a grave prepared in some thick forest, usually under the bed of some brook or rivulet in their periodical state of drought. every vestige of the victim disappeared. who cared to know about him, except his own family and his very intimate friends? the inquests were especially difficult, if not impossible, thirty years ago [ ], when there were no regular railway communications, and no regular government system. besides, the country is full of tigers, whose sad fate it is to be responsible for every one else's sins as well as for their own. whoever it was who happened to disappear, be it hindu or mussulman, the answer was invariably the same: tigers! the thugs possessed a wonderfully good organization. trained accomplices used to tramp all over india, stopping at the bazaars, those true clubs of eastern nations, gathering information, scaring their listeners to death with tales of the thugs, and then advising them to join this or that travelling party, who of course were thugs playing the part of rich merchants or pilgrims. having ensnared these wretches, they sent word to the thugs, and got paid for the commission in proportion to the total profit. during many long years these invisible bands, scattered all over the country, and working in parties of from ten to sixty men, enjoyed perfect freedom, but at last they were caught. the inquiries unveiled horrid and repulsive secrets: rich bankers, officiating brahmans, rajas on the brink of poverty, and a few english officials, all had to be brought before justice. this deed of the east india company truly deserves the popular gratitude which it receives.---- on our way back from the marble rocks we saw muddun-mahal, another mysterious curio; it is a house built--no one knows by whom, or with what purpose--on a huge boulder. this stone is probably some kind of relative to the cromlechs of the celtic druids. it shakes at the least touch, together with the house and the people who feel curious to see inside it. of course we had this curiosity, and our noses remained safe only thanks to the babu, narayan and the takur, who took as great care of us as if they had been nurses, and we their babies. natives of india are truly a wonderful people. however unsteady the thing may be, they are sure to walk on it, and sit on it, with the greatest comfort. they think nothing of sitting whole hours on the top of a post--maybe a little thicker than an ordinary telegraph post. they also feel perfectly safe with their toes twisted round a thin branch and their bodies resting on nothing, as if they were crows perched on a telegraph wire. "salam, sahib!" said i once to an ancient, naked hindu of a low caste, seated in the above described fashion. "are you comfortable, uncle? and are you not afraid of falling down?" "why should i fall?" seriously answered the "uncle," expectorating a red fountain--an unavoidable result of betel-chewing. "i do not breathe, mam-sahib!" "what do you mean? a man cannot do without breathing!" exclaimed i, a good deal astonished by this wonderful bit of information. "oh yes, he can. i do not breathe just now, and so i am perfectly safe. but soon i shall have to fill up my breast again with fresh air, and then i will hold on to the post, otherwise i should fall." after this astounding physiological information, we parted. he would not talk any more, evidently fearing to endanger his comfort. at that time, we did not receive any more explanations on the subject, but this incident was enough to disturb the scientific equanimity of our minds. till then, we were so naive as to fancy that only sturgeons and similar aquatic acrobats were clever enough to learn how to fill up their insides with air in order to become lighter, and to rise to the surface of the water. what is possible to a sturgeon is impossible to man, speculated we in our ignorance. so we agreed to look upon the revelation of the above described "uncle" in the light of a brag, having no other aim but to chaff the "white sahibs." in those days, we were still inexperienced, and inclined to resent this kind of information, as coming very near to mockery. but, later on, we learned that his description of the process necessary to keep up this birdlike posture was perfectly accurate. in jubblepore we saw much greater wonders. strolling along the river bank, we reached the so-called fakirs' avenue; and the takur invited us to visit the courtyard of the pagoda. this is a sacred place, and neither europeans nor mussulmans are admitted inside. but gulab-sing said something to the chief brahman, and we entered without hindrance. the yard was full of devotees, and of ascetics. but our attention was especially attracted by three ancient, perfectly naked fakirs. as wrinkled as baked mushrooms, as thin as skeletons, crowned with twisted masses of white hair, they sat or rather stood in the most impossible postures, as we thought. one of them, literally leaning only on the palm of his right hand, was poised with his head downwards and his legs upwards; his body was as motionless as if he were the dry branch of a tree. just a little above the ground his head rose in the most unnatural position, and his eyes were fixed on the glaring sun. i cannot guarantee the truthfulness of some talkative inhabitants of the town, who had joined our party, and who assured us that this fakir daily spends in this posture all the hours between noon and the sunset. but i can guarantee that not a muscle of his body moved during the hour and twenty minutes we spent amongst the fakirs. another fakir stood on a "sacred stone of shiva," a small stone about five inches in diameter. one of his legs was curled up under him, and the whole of his body was bent backwards into an arc; his eyes also were fixed on the sun. the palms of his hands were pressed together as if in prayer. he seemed glued to his stone. we were at a loss to imagine by what means this man came to be master of such equilibration. the third of these wonderful people sat crossing his legs under him; but how he could sit was more than we could understand, because the thing on which he sat was a stone lingam, not higher than an ordinary street post and little wider than the "stone of shiva," that is to say, hardly more than five or seven inches in diameter. his arms were crossed behind his back, and his nails had grown into the flesh of his shoulders. "this one never changes his position," said one of our companions. "at least, he has not changed for the last seven years." his usual food, or rather drink, is milk, which is brought to him once in every forty-eight hours and poured into his throat with the aid of a bamboo. every ascetic has willing servants, who are also future fakirs, whose duty it is to attend on them; and so the disciples of this living mummy take him off his pedestal, wash him in the tank, and put him back like an inanimate object, because he can no longer stretch his limbs. "and what if i were to push one of these fakirs?" asked i. "i daresay the least touch would upset them." "try!" laughingly advised the takur. "in this state of religious trance it is easier to break a man to pieces than to remove him from his place." to touch an ascetic in the state of trance is a sacrilege in the eyes of the hindus; but evidently the takur was well aware that, under certain circumstances, there may be exceptions to every brahmanical rule. he had another aside with the chief brahman, who followed us, darker than a thundercloud; the consultation did not last long, and after it was over gulab-sing declared to us that none of us was allowed to touch the fakirs, but that he personally had obtained this permission, and so was going to show us something still more astonishing. he approached the fakir on the little stone, and, carefully holding him by his protruding ribs, he lifted him and put him on the ground. the ascetic remained as statuesque as before. then gulab-sing took the stone in his hands and showed it to us, asking us, however, not to touch it for fear of offending the crowd. the stone was round, flattish, with rather an uneven surface. when laid on the ground it shook at the least touch. "now, you see that this pedestal is far from being steady. and also you have seen that, under the weight of the fakir, it is as immovable as if it were planted in the ground." when the fakir was put back on the stone, he and it at once resumed their appearance, as of one single body, solidly joined to the ground, and not a line of the fakir's body had changed. by all appearance, his bending body and his head thrown backward sought to bring him down; but for this fakir there was evidently no such thing as the law of gravity. what i have described is a fact, but i do not take upon myself to explain it. at the gates of the pagoda we found our shoes, which we had been told to take off before going in. we put them on again, and left this "holy of holies" of the secular mysteries, with our minds still more perplexed than before. in the fakirs' avenue we found narayan, mulji and the babu, who were waiting for us. the chief brahman would not hear of their entering the pagoda. all the three had long before released themselves from the iron claws of caste; they openly ate and drank with us, and for this offence they were regarded as excommunicated, and despised by their compatriots much more than the europeans themselves. their presence in the pagoda would have polluted it for ever, whereas the pollution brought by us was only temporary; it would evaporate in the smoke of cow-dung--the usual brahmanical incense of purification--like a drop of muddy water in the rays of the sun. india is the country for originalities and everything unexpected and unconventional. from the point of view of an ordinary european observer every feature of indian life is contrary to what could be expected. shaking the head from one shoulder to another means no in every other country, but in india it means an emphatic yes. if you ask a hindu how his wife is, even if you are well acquainted with her, or how many children he has, or whether he has any sisters, he will feel offended in nine cases out of ten. so long as the host does not point to the door, having previously sprinkled the guest with rose-water, the latter would not think of leaving. he would stay the whole day without tasting any food, and lose his time, rather than offend his host by an unauthorized departure. everything contradicts our western ideas. the hindus are strange and original, but their religion is still more original. it has its dark points, of course. the rites of some sects are truly repulsive; the officiating brahmans are far from being without reproach. but these are only superficialities. in spite of them the hindu religion possesses something so deeply and mysteriously irresistible that it attracts and subdues even unimaginative englishmen. the following incident is a curious instance of this fascination: n.c. paul, g.b.m.c., wrote a small, but very interesting and very scientific pamphlet. he was only a regimental surgeon in benares, but his name was well known amongst his compatriots as a very learned specialist in physiology. the pamphlet was called a treatise on the yoga philosophy, and produced a sensation amongst the representatives of medicine in india, and a lively polemic between the anglo-indian and native journalists. dr. paul spent thirty-five years in studying the extraordinary facts of yogism, the existence of which was, for him, beyond all doubt. he not only described them, but explained some of the most extraordinary phenomena, for instance, levitation, the seeming evidence to the contrary of some laws of nature, notwithstanding. with perfect sincerity, and evident regret, dr. paul says he could never learn anything from the raj-yogis. his experience was almost wholly limited to the facts that fakirs and hatha-yogis would consent to give him. it was his great friendship with captain seymour chiefly which helped him to penetrate some mysteries, which, till then, were supposed to be impenetrable. the history of this english gentleman is truly incredible, and produced, about twenty-five years ago, an unprecedented scandal in the records of the british army in india. captain seymour, a wealthy and well-educated officer, accepted the brahmanical creed and became a yogi. of course he was proclaimed mad, and, having been caught, was sent back to england. seymour escaped, and returned to india in the dress of a sannyasi. he was caught again, and shut up in some lunatic asylum in london. three days after, in spite of the bolts and the watchmen, he disappeared from the establishment. later on his acquaintances saw him in benares, and the governor-general received a letter from him from the himalayas. in this letter he declared that he never was mad, in spite of his being put into a hospital; he advised the governor-general not to interfere with what was strictly his own private concern, and announced his firm resolve never to return to civilized society. "i am a yogi," wrote he, "and i hope to obtain before i die what is the aim of my life--to become a raj-yogi." after this letter he was left alone, and no european ever saw him except dr. paul, who, as it is reported, was in constant correspondence with him, and even went twice to see him in the himalayas under the pretext of botanic excursions. i was told that the pamphlet of dr. paul was ordered to be burned "as being offensive to the science of physiology and pathology." at the time i visited india copies of it were very great rarities. out of a few copies still extant, one is to be found in the library of the maharaja of benares, and another was given to me by the takur. this evening we dined at the refreshment rooms of the railway station. our arrival caused an evident sensation. our party occupied the whole end of a table, at which were dining many first-class passengers, who all stared at us with undisguised astonishment. europeans on an equal footing with hindus! hindus who condescended to dine with europeans! these two were rare and wonderful sights indeed. the subdued whispers grew into loud exclamations. two officers who happened to know the takur took him aside, and, having shaken hands with him, began a very animated conversation, as if discussing some matter of business; but, as we learned afterwards, they simply wanted to gratify their curiosity about us. here we learned, for the first time, that we were under police supervision, the police being represented by an individual clad in a suit of white clothes, and possessing a very fresh complexion, and a pair of long moustaches. he was an agent of the secret police, and had followed us from bombay. on learning this flattering piece of news, the colonel burst into a loud laugh; which only made us still more suspicious in the eyes of all these anglo-indians, enjoying a quiet and dignified meal. as to me, i was very disagreeably impressed by this bit of news, i must confess, and wished this unpleasant dinner was over. the train for allahabad was to leave at eight p.m., and we were to spend the night in the railway carriage. we had ten reserved seats in a first-class carriage, and had made sure that no strange passengers would enter it, but, nevertheless, there were many reasons which made me think i could not sleep this night. so i obtained a provision of candles for my reading lamp, and making myself comfortable on my couch, began reading the pamphlet of dr. paul, which interested me greatly. amongst many other interesting things, dr. paul explains very fully and learnedly the mystery of the periodical suspension of breathing, and some other seemingly impossible phenomena, practised by the yogis. here is his theory in brief. the yogis have discovered the reason of the wondrous capacity of the chameleon to assume the appearance of plumpness or of leanness. this animal looks enormous when his lungs are filled with air, but in his normal condition he is quite insignificant. many other reptiles as well acquire the possibility of swimming across large rivers quite easily by the same process. and the air that remains in their lungs, after the blood has been fully oxygenated, makes them extraordinarily lively on dry land and in the water. the capacity of storing up an extraordinary provision of air is a characteristic feature of all the animals that are subjected to hibernation. the hindu yogis studied this capacity, and perfected and developed it in themselves. the means by which they acquire it--known under the name of bhastrika kumbhala--consist of the following: the yogi isolates himself in an underground cave, where the atmosphere is more uniform and more damp than on the surface of the earth: this causes the appetite to grow less. man's appetite is proportionate to the quantity of carbonic acid he exhales in a certain period of time. the yogis never use salt, and live entirely on milk, which they take only during the night. they move very slowly in order not to breathe too often. movement increases the exhaled carbonic acid, and so the yoga practice prescribes avoidance of movement. the quantity of exhaled carbonic acid is also increased by loud and lively talking: so the yogis are taught to talk slowly and in subdued tones, and are even advised to take the vows of silence. physical labor is propitious to the increase of carbonic acid, and mental to its decrease; accordingly the yogi spends his life in contemplation and deep meditation. padmasana and siddhasana are the two methods by which a person is taught to breathe as little as possible. suka-devi, a well-known miracle-monger of the second century b.c. says: "place the left foot upon the right thigh, and the right foot upon the left thigh; straighten the neck and back; make the palms of the hands rest upon the knees; shut the mouth; and expire forcibly through both nostrils. next, inspire and expire quickly until you are fatigued. then inspire through the right nostril, fill the abdomen with the inspired air, suspend the breath, and fix the sight on the tip of the nose. then expire through the left nostril, and next, inspiring through the left nostril, suspend the breath..." and so on. "when a yogi, by practice, is enabled to maintain himself in one of the above-mentioned postures for the period of three hours, and to live upon a quantity of food proportional to the reduced condition of circulation and respiration, without inconvenience, he proceeds to the practice of pranayama," writes dr. paul. "it is the fourth stage or division of yoga." the pranayama consists of three parts. the first excites the secretion of sweat, the second is attended by convulsive movements of the features, the third gives to the yogi a feeling of extraordinary lightness in his body. after this, the yogi practises pratyahara, a kind of voluntary trance, which is recognizable by the full suspension of all the senses. after this stage the yogis study the process of dharana; this not only stops the activity of physical senses, but also causes the mental capacities to be plunged into a deep torpor. this stage brings abundant suffering; it requires a good deal of firmness and resolution on the part of a yogi, but it leads him to dhayana, a state of perfect, indescribable bliss. according to their own description, in this state they swim in the ocean of eternal light, in akasha, or ananta jyoti, which they call the "soul of the universe." reaching the stage of dhyana, the yogi becomes a seer. the dhyana of the yogis is the same thing as turiya avastha of the vedantins, in the number of whom are the raj-yogis. "samadhi is the last stage of self-trance," says dr. paul. "in this state the yogis, like the bat, the hedge-hog, the marmot, the hamster and the dormouse, acquire the power of supporting the abstraction of atmospheric air, and the privation of food and drink. of samadhi or human hibernation there have been three cases within the last twenty-five years. the first case occurred in calcutta, the second in jesselmere, and the third in the punjab. i was an eyewitness of the first case. the jesselmere, the punjab, and the calcutta yogis assumed a death-like condition by swallowing the tongue. how the punjabi fakir (witnessed by dr. mcgregor), by suspending his breath, lived forty days without food and drink, is a question which has puzzled a great many learned men of europe.... it is on the principle of laghima and garima (a diminution of one's specific gravity by swallowing large draughts of air) that the brahman of madras maintained himself in an aerial posture..." however, all these are physical phenomena produced by hatha-yogis. each of them ought to be investigated by physical science, but they are much less interesting than the phenomena of the region of psychology. but dr. paul has next to nothing to say on this subject. during the thirty-five years of his indian career, he met only three raj-yogis; but in spite of the friendliness they showed to the english doctor, none of them consented to initiate him into the mysteries of nature, a knowledge of which is ascribed to them. one of them simply denied that he had any power at all; the other did not deny, and even showed dr. paul some very wonderful things, but refused to give any explanations whatever; the third said he would explain a few things on the condition that dr. paul must pledge himself never to repeat anything he learned from him. in acquiring this kind of information, dr. paul had only one aim--to give these secrets publicity, and to enlighten the public ignorance, and so he declined the honor. however, the gifts of the true raj-yogis are much more interesting, and a great deal more important for the world, than the phenomena of the lay hatha-yogis. these gifts are purely psychic: to the knowledge of the hatha-yogis the raj-yogis add the whole scale of mental phenomena. sacred books ascribe to them the following gifts: foreseeing future events; understanding of all languages; the healing of all diseases; the art of reading other people's thoughts; witnessing at will everything that happens thousands of miles from them; understanding the language of animals and birds; prakamya, or the power of keeping up youthful appearance during incredible periods of time; the power of abandoning their own bodies and entering other people's frames; vashitva, or the gift to kill, and to tame wild animals with their eyes; and, lastly, the mesmeric power to subjugate any one, and to force any one to obey the unexpressed orders of the raj-yogi. dr. paul has witnessed the few phenomena of hatha-yoga already described; there are many others about which he has heard, and which he neither believes nor disbelieves. but he guarantees that a yogi can suspend his breath for forty-three minutes and twelve seconds. nevertheless, european scientific authorities maintain that no one can suspend the breath for more than two minutes. o science! is it possible then that thy name is also vanitas vanitatum, like the other things of this world? we are forced to suppose that, in europe, nothing is known about the means which enabled the philosophers of india, from times immemorial, gradually to transform their human frames. here are a few deep words of professor boutleroff, a russian scientist whom i, in common with all russians, greatly respect: "....all this belongs to knowledge; the increase of the mass of knowledge will only enrich and not abolish science. this must be accomplished on the strength of serious observation, of study, of experience, and under the guidance of positive scientific methods, by which people are taught to acknowledge every other phenomenon of nature. we do not call you blindly to accept hypotheses, after the example of bygone years, but to seek after knowledge; we do not invite you to give up science, but to enlarge her regions..." this was said about spiritualist phenomena. as to the rest of our learned physiologists, this is, approximately, what they have the right to say: "we know well certain phenomena of nature which we have personally studied and investigated, under certain conditions, which we call normal or abnormal, and we guarantee the accuracy of our conclusions." however, it would be very well if they added: "but having no pretensions to assure the world that we are acquainted with all the forces of nature, known and unknown, we do not claim the right to hold back other people from bold investigations in regions which we have not reached as yet, owing to our great cautiousness and also to our moral timidity. not being able to maintain that the human organism is utterly incapable of developing certain transcendental powers, which are rare, and observable only under certain conditions, unknown to science, we by no means wish to keep other explorers within the limits of our own scientific discoveries." by pronouncing this noble, and, at the same time, modest speech, our physiologists would doubtless gain the undying gratitude of posterity. after this speech there would be no fear of mockery, no danger of losing one's reputation for veracity and sound reason; and the learned colleagues of these broad-minded physiologists would investigate every phenomenon of nature seriously and openly. the phenomena of spiritualism would then transmigrate from the region of materialized "mothers-in-law" and half-witted fortune-telling to the regions of the psycho-physiological sciences. the celebrated "spirits" would probably evaporate, but in their stead the living spirit, which "belongeth not to this world," would become better known and better realized by humanity, because humanity will comprehend the harmony of the whole only after learning how closely the visible world is bound to the world invisible. after this speech, haeckel at the head of the evolutionists, and alfred russel wallace at the head of the spiritualists, would be relieved from many anxieties, and would shake hands in brotherhood. seriously speaking, what is there to prevent humanity from acknowledging two active forces within itself; one purely animal, the other purely divine? it does not behove even the greatest amongst scientists to try to "bind the sweet influences of the pleiades," even if they have chosen "arcturus with his sons" for their guides. did it never occur to them to apply to their own intellectual pride the questions the "voice out of the whirlwind" once asked of long-suffering job: "where were they when were laid the foundations of the earth? and have the gates of death been opened unto them?" if so, only then have they the right to maintain that here and not there is the abode of eternal light. the end bahaism and its claims _by_ samuel g. wilson, m.a., d.d. _bahaism and its claims._ a study of the religions promulgated by baha ullah and abdul baha. vo, cloth, net $ . . bahaism is a revolt from the fold of islam which in recent years has been bidding vigorously for the support of occidental minds. many of its principles are culled from the christian religion which it insidiously seeks to supplant. what this oriental cult is, what it stands for, and what it aims at, is told in a volume which forms a notable addition to the history of comparative religions. _persian life and customs._ with incidents of residence and travel in the land of the lion and the sun. with a map and other illustrations, and an index. vo, cloth, net, $ . . "not only a valuable contribution to the missionary literature of modern times, but is, in addition, a volume rich in the facts it contains in regard to that historic country. the american people generally should read this book, and thereby acquire much needed information about the persians."--_religious telescope._ bahaism and its claims _a study of the religion promulgated by baha ullah and abdul baha_ by samuel graham wilson, d. d. _thirty-two years resident in persia author of "persian life and customs," etc._ new york chicago toronto fleming h. revell company london and edinburgh copyright, , by fleming h. revell company new york: fifth avenue chicago: north wabash ave. toronto: richmond street, w. london: paternoster square edinburgh: princes street _to my wife_ _whose love and appreciation are a constant inspiration in our far-away home_ contents introduction i. historical sketch the east productive of religions--imamat--shiahism, its sects--sheikhiism--the bab-subh i azal--baha ullah--his policy--his haram--abdul baha--journey to occident--education--number of bahais. ii. the general claims of bahaism (i) new religion needed--(ii) bahaism that new religion--to supersede christianity--doctrines--baha god--his revelation--the akdas--conditions of discipleship--position of abdul baha--(iii) claims superiority to former religions--in founder, books and doctrines--not superlative--(iv) to be a universal religion--defects in rites, regulations, calendar, civil government--house of justice--alphabet--universal language. iii. its specific claims unification of mankind--divisions in persia--of bahais--compulsory uniformity--one language--peace movement--history of--abdul baha on war--bahaism dogmatic and boastful. iv. bahaism and christianity antagonistic--makes christianity one among many--abrogates it--dethrones christ--presumes to be christ's second coming--and the fulfillment of prophecy--bahai meeting in chicago--method of interpretation--the "ikan"--dishonours and belittles the historic christ. v. bahaism and christianity (_continued_) immortality and sin--faith in baha--bahai scriptures--its worship--hierarchy--substitutes for baptism and lord's supper--christ's words imitated--rites--ablution--fast--prayer--pilgrimage--acca shrines--festivals--era--propaganda anti-christian. vi. bahaism and the state babism political mahdiism--hostile to shah--insurrections--bahaism opportunism--sought reconciliation--tolerated--indifferent to constitutional struggle--aided reactionary shah--rewarded by him its political scheme--houses of justice--dangerous to liberty. vii. bahaism and woman abdul baha teaches equality of sexes--baha does not--education of girls neglected--marriage enjoined--bigamyallowed--and practiced--polygamy of baha--his family--loose divorce--intermarriage of races--aims at amelioration of woman--moslem efforts--babi kurrat ul ayn--no successor to--baha's haram--men only to be rulers--women secluded. viii. its record as to morals claim superior conduct--falsification of religious history--suppression of facts--changing sacred writings--surat ul maluk--lawh i basharat--forging quotations--perversion of political history--of shahs--of plot to assassinate--false claim to martyrs--double view of abdul hamid--fact about imprisonment of baha--_tagiya_--dissimulation--orient occident unity--pretense regarding azal's succession--maskin kalam. ix. its record as to morals (_continued_) boast of love--hatred for shiahs--for persecutors--for mullahs--abusive language--vindictiveness--addiction to alcohol and opium--testimonies. x. religious assassination strife between baha and azal in bagdad--baha goes to kurdistan--dissension at adrianople--testimony of an eye-witness--attempted assassinations--plots and counter plots--bahais assassinate azalis at acca--other assassinations--in bagdad, in persia--attitude towards taking of life--suicide commended--psychological attestation--traditional custom--assassination practiced in islam--testimonies--azali hatred. xi. the quarrel over the succession claim to love refuted--death of baha--titles of sons--quarrel over will--abbas assumes pontiffship--brothers protest--bitter schism--boycott, anathema--appeal to turkish government--results in restriction of liberty--quarrel and schism in persia--in america. xii. bahaism in america first notices of--kheiralla--his converts--writings--an american azali--pilgrims to acca--quarrel and schism--abdul karim--abul fazl--methods of propaganda--publications--orient occident unity--abdul baha visits america--press agents--photographs, movies--addresses--attitude of public--communion service of bahais--bahai temple, mashrak ul azkar--memorial vase--influence in america--chicago congregation--number in u. s. a. exaggerated--statistics of other religious fads--christian liberalism excessive. bibliography index introduction among movements in the mohammedan world in modern times babi-bahaism is one of the most interesting. it is a definite revolt from islam within its own fold. it has won its way in persia amid considerable persecution to a position as a separate religion. it has added another to the permanent sects of the near east. there christian missions, inspired to long-postponed effort to convert mohammedanism, have come face to face with bahaism as a new and aggressive force. it has laid out a program as a universal religion, has crossed the seas and aspires to convert christendom. interest in it has been increased by this propaganda in the west and by the visits to europe for this purpose of its present head, abdul baha abbas, in and . besides those who are interested in bahaism as students of history and comparative religions, there are several classes who have shown marked favour to bahaism. ( ) one class are simply bent on seeking some novelty. they are well described by the _egyptian gazette_, of alexandria, in speaking of the reception of abdul baha in london: "about the london meetings there was a certain air of gush and self-advertisement on the part of baha's friends, which was quite patent to all who are familiar with that kind of religion which will listen to anything so long as it is unorthodox, new, and sensational."[ ] ( ) another class are believers in the truth of all great religions, and, with a vague pantheistic notion, recognize all great men as god-inspired. they are willing to put baha ullah and abdul baha on the list of true religious leaders. such is rev. r.j. campbell, who, in receiving abdul baha in london, spoke of the "diverse religious faiths that are all aspects of the one religion," and of the services as "a wonderful manifestation of the spirit of god." he said to the congregation: "we as followers of the lord jesus christ, who is to us and always will be the light of the world, give greeting to abdul baha." mr. campbell gives opportunity to the bahai propaganda in the _christian commonwealth_, and has enlisted abdul baha as a contributor. ( ) another class look on bahaism as an ethical system, and baha and abdul baha as world teachers. their relation to christ has been only that of a disciple to a teacher of morals. they recognize in baha a new schoolmaster. being bahais to them consists in admiration of certain principles on which abdul baha is in the habit of dilating. but these are not bahaism any more than romans xii.-xv. are pauline christianity. paul's gospel is romans i.-viii. in its moral precepts and social principles, bahaism is a borrower from christ's teaching, and sometimes from mohammed. however, bahaism is a religion, not a system of morals. ( ) some adherents regard bahaism as christianity continued or renewed by the second coming of christ, whom they recognize in abdul baha. most american bahais are of this class, with faith in baha ullah as god the father. how can i classify the late prof. t. k. cheyne of oxford? this widely known critic in his last work ( ), "the reconciliation of races and religions," bewilders me by his credulity. it is only charitable to excuse it as the product of his dotage. how otherwise could an oxford scholar take pride in adopting the "new name" and titles given to him by abdul baha, sign his preface "ruhani," spiritual, and have pleasure in being called the "divine philosopher," "priest of the prince of peace (baha)," and being compared to st. paul as a herald of the kingdom, and write himself a "member of the bahai community." at the same time doctor cheyne wrote himself down as a "member of the nava vidhan, lahore" (brahma-samaj). at present there are bahai congregations in sixteen of the united states, in canada, hawaii, south africa, england, germany and russia, as well as in india and burmah. the future of its propaganda in christendom lacks promise. yet its measure of success makes it desirable to examine its claims and the facts regarding them. fortunately besides the older babi books, there is an abundance of bahai literature. there are ( ) treatises of baha ullah, ( ) tablets (letters) and addresses of abdul baha, ( ) persian narratives, ( ) evidential books and tracts by its propagators, ( ) narratives of pilgrimages to acca. from an independent point of view, little has been written. nearly all of the many articles which have appeared in periodical literature have been from the pens of bahais, though often not so ostensibly. prof. e. g. browne of cambridge university, england, has translated and edited important babi-bahai works. his introductions, notes and appendices to these books are storehouses of erudition and enable the reader to correct the biased information of the text. they pertain for the most part to the babi period. so do the able contributions of mr. a. l. m. nicolas, the consul of france, with whom, as my neighbour at tabriz, i have had the pleasure of valuable conversations on this subject on which he is such an authority. i have had as sources of information also a manuscript "life of baha ullah" by mohammed javad kasvini, the "kitab-ul-akdas," most holy book, translated by dr. i. g. kheiralla, in manuscript, and various unpublished letters and documents. besides all this, i have been in personal contact with bahais in persia for a generation. my language teachers were bahais, one of them a convert to christianity. i have found their journal, the _star of the west_, a prolific source of information. i may claim not to be of the class referred to by abdul baha when he says, "baha ullah will be assailed by those who are not informed of his principles." after sketching, in brief, the history of bahaism i will examine its religious, moral, political and social doctrine and life. in doing this i shall quote for the most part from the words of the "revelation" and its adherents, in order to insure fairness and justice. in the course of the investigation, the history and character of the founders will be considered. finally i shall describe its propaganda in the occident. bahais declare that babism is abrogated and superseded. in reality it is dead and i do not treat of it, except as it throws light on the history or doctrines of bahaism. to all intents and purposes, the bab is as much an obsolete prophet as mani or babak. i am to deal with bahaism in its latest phases. the term babi is not appropriate to the religion of baha nor to his followers. of the "revelation," it may be said as jacob said of his wages, they "have changed them ten times." the bab altered his declarations regarding himself and his statements of doctrine. subh-i-azal made further changes. baha's standpoint in the "ikan," at bagdad, differs greatly from that in the "kitab-ul-akdas," at acca. abbas gave the kaleidoscope another whirl and added his interpretations and emendations. besides all these, it has been given a western aspect for christians. the rev. h. h. jessup, d. d., compares it very aptly to the town clock in beirut, which has two kinds of dial plates. the face turned towards the moslem quarter has the hands set to tell the hour according to oriental reckoning; the face towards the christian quarter, according to the european day. it is the face towards the christians that i shall look at specially in the present investigation. however historical facts are the same and the main doctrines taught in the west have no essential difference from those of persian bahaism. acknowledgment and thanks are hereby tendered to _the bibliotheca sacra_, _the bible magazine_, _the east and the west_, _the church missionary review_, _the missionary review of the world_, _the moslem world_, _the union seminary review_, and the _princeton theological review_ for the use of materials which i have previously published in their pages. footnotes: [ ] nov. , , quoted in _star of the west_, dec. , . i historical sketch does it often happen that the earliest records of a religious movement...pass, within a short time after their completion, into the hands of strangers who, while interested in their preservation, have no desire to alter them for better or worse. so far as my knowledge goes, it has never happened save in the case of the babi religion.--_"the new history of the bab," p. xi, by e. g. browne._ persia is, and always has been, a very hotbed of systems from the time of manes and mazdak in the old sassanian days, down to the present age, which has brought into being the babis and the sheikhis.--_"a year among the persians," p. ._ outside of a certain mixture of occidental science and philanthropy, introduced largely for foreign consumption and in order to give an up-to-date stamp or colouring to the movement, there is scarcely anything that distinguishes babism from its predecessors. the materials are inextricably interwoven with the whole course of persian history in all its departments, political, religious, social, and philosophical. time has pronounced its verdict again and again in the most unmistakable manner. so deep a hold have the ideas, which lie at the foundation of babism and similar sects, taken of the minds and hearts of the people, that it may be said that as every american is a possible president, so every persian is a possible murshid. for every sect that makes its appearance on the page of history, there are hundreds of embryo sects, of whose existence no one knows outside of a very limited circle.--_p. z. easton, quoted in speer's "missions and modern history," vol. i, p. ._ for the bahais, the bab became a sort of john the baptist, sent to announce to the world the coming of mirza husain ali, baha ullah, and perhaps of abbas effendi--a pitiable result of martyrdom. this thesis is essentially false. reading of the book (the "bayan") will convince every one of this.--_a. l. m. nicolas, "béyan persan," vol. i, p. ._ the soil of the east has been fertile of religions. montanus, manes, mazdak, babak, mukanna--familiarized in lalla rookh as the veiled prophet of khorasan,--hasan sabah chief of the assassins, hakim the cruel god of the druses, each of these propagated his doctrines, exerted a wide influence, and left his mark on the people of the orient. saad-i-doulah the jew, argoon khan the mongol, ala-i-din al khalig, king of delhi, and many others attempted to found new religions. in our own day the mahdi of the sudan, ahmad quadiani of india and sheikh ali nur-i-din of tunis entered the lists. in the west, too, in america a land unbridled by traditions, mormonism, dowieism and christian science have flourished. to all these must be added babism and bahaism. as an introduction to a discussion of bahaism and its claims, i will sketch briefly and simply its origin and history. bahaism is derived from babism. babism has its roots in shiahism, a soil impregnated with the doctrines of the imamate and mahdiism. the atmosphere is filled with millennial hopes and dreamy mysticism, with sufi philosophies and allegorical fancies of its poets. this soil has been fruitful of many sects. the shiahism of persia is called the "religion of the twelve" because its fundamental doctrine is that the twelve imams, the lineal descendants of ali and fatima, the daughter of mohammed, were the rightful caliphs of islam, in succession to mohammed. in the tenth century ( a. h. or a. d.) the twelfth imam disappeared into a well, and still lives in jabulka or jabulsa whence he is expected to reappear as the mahdi or kaim. after his concealment, four persons in succession were channels of communication between him and the faithful. the title given to these was bab or the gate. among the sects which sprang up among the shiahs or were related to them were the ismielis, carmathians, druses, hurufis, ali-allahis or nusairiyeh, assassins, batinis and many others. a group of these were called ghulat, because they rendered excessive honour to the imams, believing them to be incarnations of the attributes or essence of god. those holding this view anticipated that the imam mahdi would be a divine manifestation.[ ] at the beginning of the nineteenth century, a sect arose in persia, called sheikhis. it received its name from its founder, sheikh ahmad of ahsa, - . he taught that there was always in the world a "perfect shiah," who held communication with the absent imam and revealed his will. sheikh ahmad was that "perfect one." he was favoured by the kajar shahs and had a considerable following. his successor, haji kazim of resht, near the time of his death, announced to his disciples at kerbela that the manifestation was at hand. one of his disciples was mirza ali mohammed of shiraz. when twenty-four years of age in , he laid claim to be the "promised one." he took the title of "bab," the gate or door of communication of the knowledge of god. his followers were called babis. he soon advanced his station and claimed to be the kaim or mahdi. still advancing he took the title of _nukta_ or point of divine unity and announced his "revelation" or "bayan" as the abrogation of islam and the koran. from shiraz he went to mecca and proclaimed his manifestation. on his return he was imprisoned. many of the sheikhis became his zealous followers and by their active propaganda caused great agitation throughout persia. the bab was transferred to the extreme northwest of persia and confined in prison at maku and chirik. his sectaries, oppressed and persecuted, rose in arms against mohammed shah, anticipating victory through divine interposition. the bab was executed at tabriz in . the insurrections were put down and many of the brave captives were treacherously slaughtered. a few babis, seeking revenge, attempted to assassinate the new shah, nasr-ud-din. this led to cruel reprisals. four score babis were executed at teheran. others fled into exile, especially to bagdad. among these was mirza yahya whom the bab had appointed his successor. his title was subh-i-azal, the dawn of the eternal, or his holiness the eternal. a special point of the bab's teaching was the announcement of the coming of "him whom god should manifest." after his death a number of the babis claimed to be the promised incarnation. there was a "chaos of divine manifestations," including hazret zahib, janab-i-azim, nabil and others. among these claimants was mirza husain ali, a son of mirza abbas, surnamed buzurk, and his concubine. the father was steward or "vizier" of the household of imam werdi mirza, governor of teheran. he was half brother to mirza yahya and thirteen years his senior. his title was baha ullah, the splendour or glory of god. for many years baha acted in bagdad ( - ) as factotum for azal, and acknowledged him as supreme. then he announced that he himself was "he whom god should manifest," and took active measures to supplant azal. about this time the turkish government transferred them to adrianople. here developed bitter jealousies, quarrels and foul play. the sultan intervened and sent subh-i-azal to famagusta, cyprus, and baha ullah to acca[ ] (acre), syria, august . both were granted pensions and kept under police surveillance as parties dangerous to religion and the state. azal continued to be the head of the babis, called henceforth also azalis. baha attracted most of the babis to himself, and they became known as bahais. baha relegated the bab to the position of a forerunner, and declared the "bayan" and other books of the bab to be superseded by his own "revelations." he changed in a measure the doctrines and laws of babism, liberalizing its provisions. he put himself forward as the lord of a new dispensation, the founder of a new religion. during the next quarter of a century bahaism made little stir in persia. its advancement was by no means as rapid as during the earlier years of the bab. the zeal and devotion of the followers sensibly slackened. _tagiya_ (dissimulation regarding one's religion) was allowed and practiced. the fierce warriors turned to professing the doctrines of expediency, condemning as unwise zealots the fighting babis of the previous generation. during these years they escaped bloody persecutions except in rare instances. they tried to make their peace with the shah, constantly emphasizing their loyalty, expurgating their books to suppress condemnation of the dynasty, and inducing the sadr-azam, the prime minister of nasr-i-din shah, to tolerate and befriend them. in acca, too, baha soon acquired considerable freedom, built a palace, called bahja, in a delightful garden and freely received the pilgrims. he sent out many tablets, composed his books of revelation and had them published in bombay. he died at acca in may, , in his seventy-fifth year. his temple tomb is near the bahja. baha's haram consisted of two wives and a concubine. after his death, the sons of the different wives quarrelled regarding the succession. abbas effendi, the only son of the oldest wife, proclaimed himself the successor, the interpreter, the centre of the covenant, the source of authority. mohammed ali and his brothers strenuously opposed abbas and intense animosity was engendered which divided the followers in acca and persia. abbas drew the greater number with him. he assumed the title of abdul baha (servant of baha). he has the ambition to make the faith a world religion and has inaugurated a propaganda in the west. after the proclamation of constitutional liberty in turkey, he resided in egypt. later he made several journeys to europe and one to north america. his visit to the occident brought him into the lime-light. he was given good opportunity to present his cause. the addresses of this "infallible interpreter" of the cult did not reveal clearly the real doctrines and aim of the movement. abdul baha confined himself mainly to the utterance of popular platitudes such as are stock-in-trade for a multitude of social and religious reformers, and most of which are original and accepted principles and precepts of christianity. the real claims of bahaism are set forth in the books and tablets (epistles) of baha ullah and abdul baha, and in a considerable literature by persian and american bahais. abdul baha is an intelligent, well informed man, of fair sagacity. he was educated at home after the custom of persia. he says of himself, "i have studied arabic profoundly and know the arabic better than the arabians themselves. i have studied the persian and turkish in my native land, besides other languages of the east. but when i visit the west i need an interpreter."[ ] he said to doctor jessup, "yes, i know your beirut press and your books." his references to ancient and modern philosophers, to historical events and to european writers, quoting from the same, show some familiarity with literature.[ ] he repudiates the claims of some of his disciples that he has no literary culture, as that of abul fazl[ ] or of m. a. lucas who says:[ ] "he has had no access to books, yet his knowledge is unbounded." on this point professor cheyne remarks:[ ] "his public addresses prove that through this and that channel he has imbibed something of humanistic and even scientific culture. he must have had some one to guide him in the tracks of modern inquiry. i venture to hope that his expounding may not, in the future, extend to philosophic, philological, scientific, and exegetical details. abdul baha may fall into error on secular problems, among which it is obvious to include biblical and koranic exegesis." "i am bound to say that baha ullah has made mistakes and the almost equally venerated abdul baha has made many slips."[ ] a word should be said about the number of bahais. i have many data on this point, but can here give only a summary. regarding their numbers, the bahais have indulged in gross exaggeration. "millions" is the usual figure used by american bahais. thus phelps[ ] speaks of "the millions of bahais in persia." macnutt, in "unity through love," declares that "his followers number millions from all the religious systems of the world." kheiralla[ ] says: "abdul karim, , assured me that the believers in baha were fifty millions. i wrote to syria to ask. sayid mohammed, secretary of abbas effendi, said that the number was fifty-five million souls." kheiralla afterwards denounces it as a gross deceit. as to persia, they place the proportion at one-third or one-half. dreyfus writes,[ ] "probably half the population of persia is bahai." some judicious non-bahai writers allow them half a million or less in persia on a basis of ten millions of population. american missionaries, as jordan at teheran, frame at resht and shedd at urumia, calculate that the number in persia does not exceed , to , . after careful inquiry i agree with this estimate. as to other races and countries, let us see. abul fazl claims[ ] that "jews, zoroastrians, and nusaireyah by thousands" are bahais. m. haidar ali[ ] says: "the majority of zoroastrians are recognized as bahais in all sincerity." on the contrary professor browne writes:[ ] "i had been informed that zoroastrians were accepting bahaism. however after much intercourse with the zoroastrians of yezd and kerman for the space of three and a half months, i came to the conclusion that few, if any, had adopted the bahai creed." in india the proportion of parsee-bahais is very small. as to jews:--remey says: "in hamadan there is a large israelitish following of baha." a census made by a european jew showed exactly parents and with their children persons out of a population of , jews. as to the united states, i give some particulars in the closing chapter. the census of reported , bahais, which may have increased to two or three thousand. in the turkish empire they are few, for sunni moslems are utterly indifferent to bahaism. the egyptian _gazette_ says of egypt where abdul baha resided for two years, "the new religion has made little perceptible progress; islam remained indifferent, and the christian community was ignorant of his presence." of syria, mr. phelps wrote:[ ] "all the bahais in acca are persians. no other nationalities are among them." the inference is plain that no native of acca had become bahai through forty years of contact with baha and his seventy followers. bahais outside of persia are probably all told not more than , and one-third of these are persians in russia. abdul baha gave the impression that many of the christians of persia are converts to baha. dr. j. h. shedd wrote, , "i have heard of no case of a christian conversion to bahaism." dr. g. w. holmes wrote, , "i do not know of a single christian in persia, who has been converted to bahaism. some bahais who made a profession of christianity turned back to baha." rev. j. w. hawkes declares that in his observation none of the members of the syrian (nestorian) or armenian churches in persia have become bahais.[ ] i have known of one armenian family in resht and two men in maraga, one of whom was a notorious ne'er-do-well, who kept up his opium using as before. footnotes: [ ] prof. e. g. browne says ("a literary history of persia," p. ), "the resemblance between these numerous sects, whose history can be traced through the last eleven centuries and a half, is most remarkable and extends even to the minute details of terminology." "the doctrines appear to be endemic in persia, and in our own days appeared again in the babi movement." [ ] at that very time the chief of the vashratis, who held that sheikh ali nur-i-din, of tunis, was a manifestation of mohammed, and his essence divine, was in exile in acca. he was in friendly relations with baha. [ ] _star of the west_, april , , p. . [ ] phelps' "life of abbas effendi," p. . [ ] "bahai proofs," pp. , . [ ] "my visit to acca." [ ] "the reconciliation of races and religions," pp. , . [ ] "the reconciliation of races and religions," p. . [ ] "life of abbas effendi," p. . [ ] "three questions," p. . [ ] page . [ ] page . [ ] "martyrdoms in ." [ ] _jour. roy. as. soc._, p. , . [ ] page . [ ] r. e. speer's "missions and modern hist.," pp. , . ii the general claims of bahaism the conception on which bahaism bases its claim is false. truth does not grow old, nor is it possible to change the religion with the growth of the race. a universal religion must present truth in a form that will reach men in every stage of civilization, for the reason that in every period of the world since the dawn of history there have been simultaneously men in every stage of intellectual development.--_w. a. shedd in "miss. review of the world."_ it (bahaism) has not enough assurance of personal immortality to satisfy such western minds as are repelled by the barren and jejune ethical systems of agnostics, positivists, and humanitarians who would give us rules to regulate a life which they have rendered meaningless.--_professor browne in phelps' "life of abbas effendi," p. xviii._ the essence of being a bahai is a boundless devotion to the person of the manifestation and a profound belief that he is divine and of a different order from all other beings.--_professor browne, art. "bab" in ency. of religion and ethics._ the claims of bahaism are many and varied. they cover a wide range. i will first consider its general claims and of these the most significant. i. first of all, bahais claim that a new religion is needed. all the great religions, they say, were true in their day; not only moses, christ, and mohammed, but zoroaster, confucius, and buddha were divine manifestations, and revealed god's truth. but now the old religions are dead. abdul baha[ ] says: "the spirit has passed away from the bodies of the old religions. while the forms of their doctrines remain, the spirit has fled." "the principles of the religion[ ] of christ have been forgotten. it is then clear and evident that in the passage of time religions become entirely changed. therefore they are renewed." "there is to-day[ ] nothing more than traditions to feed upon.... the world of humanity is in the dark." one chapter in thornton chase's "the bahai revelation" is headed "the bahai revelation is needed." this he argues, stating ( ) that christianity is condemned because after years it has not been accepted by all people; ( ) because it refuses to reject miracles and the blood atonement and will not confine itself to the "principles of jesus," as the brahma samaj; ( ) because it tends to separate peoples, holding itself to be the only religion authorized by god; ( ) because people are dwelling in bondage and are no longer satisfied. tares are many and baha ullah must come and uproot them.[ ] "the old order of things is passing away," says sprague;[ ] "people are being tossed about with every wind of doctrine." "true religion is forgotten," says phelps,[ ] "or has become a hollow name; faith has waned, men are wandering in the dark." this decay, they teach, is inevitable and in accord with divine arrangement. they deny the belief of christians that christianity is the permanent religion of humanity; and that of moslems, that mohammed was the "seal of the prophets," and hold that christianity was succeeded by islam, islam by babism, and babism by bahaism. abdul baha says: "time changes all things. transmutation and change are requirements of life. all religions of god are subject to the same law. they are founded in order to blossom out and develop and fulfill their mission. they reach their zenith and then decline and come to an end." "a new cycle must begin, for the world needs a new luminary." it is not necessary to refute the fundamental fallacy of this first claim, for it is patent that christianity is alive and growing. its manifold spiritual activities, its varied and progressive efforts for righteousness and peace among men, for social and moral reforms, its zeal for missions and their marvellous success, show that christianity is neither stagnant nor dead. it has a forward triumphant movement. the church renews its strength from its divine head; he, alive forevermore, is its light and its life. ii. bahaism claims to be the divine revelation in this new cycle--a new dispensation or covenant. it disclaims being a new religion, affirming rather that it is a renewal of religion or religion renewed. one writes: "the revelation is not a new religion, but the very essence of god's word as taught by christ (and moses and mohammed), but not perceived by christians at large" (nor by jews nor mohammedans). baha ullah[ ] says: "of the utterances of the prophets of the past we have taken the essence, and in the garment of brevity clothed it." abdul baha says: "the same basis, which was laid by christ and later on forgotten, has been renewed by baha ullah." "all that is true in all religions will stand; by the new dispensation, new spirit is infused into these teachings."[ ] phelps[ ] says: "the body of doctrine which bahaism teaches is not put forward in any sense or particular as new, but as a unification and synthesis of all other religions." of its system of morals the same is true. it is a restatement in unsystematic form of common ethics. it reiterates the second table of the mosaic law, and the new testament principles of brotherly love and unity. yet in some of his addresses abdul baha names certain principles as new in the bahai faith, such as universal peace, the unity of humanity, arbitration, compulsory education of both sexes, the harmony of science and religion, the evil of prejudice and fanaticism, need of investigating the truth, etc. not one of these is new; not one owes its position in the world of thought or activity to the bahai propaganda. but whether bahaism claims to be new in its principles or disclaims it, in fact it is a new religion. the disavowals are, no doubt, made for the sake of obtaining easier access to the followers of the old religions, and are only a temporary expediency. in this they are simply following the example of mohammed, who proclaimed his message to the people of arabia as the religion of abraham, and as the same as that of the law and the gospels. but it is evident that bahaism is inconsistent with christianity, as indeed with islam. bahais' claims, if admitted, would lead to the superseding of christianity. this will appear when i state its doctrines. the present attitude of bahais in maintaining connection with christian churches and at the same time worshipping baha and propagating bahaism is one of intellectual stultification or of moral blindness. in the same way, in moslem lands, bahais conform to the externals of islam. in the case of the latter the cause of this is often moral obliquity or fear; with deceived christian brethren it is probably ignorance; by the bahai propagandist it is allowed from astute policy. it is an intellectual impossibility for one to accept the teachings of baha ullah and to be his disciple and at the same time to be an intelligent disciple of our lord jesus christ. the one excludes the other. bahaism is a distinct religion. it is not even a sect of islam. it abrogates and annuls it. professor browne says: "as christianity is a different religion from judaism, and as islam is distinct from christianity, so bahaism is a separate religion, distinct from christianity or islam." it even superseded and abrogated babism. the bab has been relegated to the background, and put into the position of a john the baptist. his book, the "bayan," is long ago neglected to such an extent that professor browne had difficulty in obtaining a copy in persia. remey[ ] says: "babism fulfilled its purpose, and when this was accomplished in the appearance of baha ullah, it, as such, ceased to exist." mirza abul fazl[ ] says: babism "is not the same religion or creed as bahaism." a statement of the fundamental doctrines of bahaism will suffice to show that it is a distinct religion. ( ) the fundamental assertion of bahaism is that baha ullah is the manifestation or incarnation of god the father. baha ullah says of himself in his letter to the pope: "o pope! this is indeed the father of whom isaiah gave you tidings and the comforter whom christ promised." abdul baha affirms: "the father, foretold by christ, has come amongst us." "the father of christ is come among you."[ ] "the manifested god himself has come."[ ] he is called the "lord of hosts," "the lord god almighty," "creator of whomsoever is in the world," also "the ruler." abdul baha cabled back to america after his voyage: "thanks to baha ullah, we arrived safely at liverpool."[ ] instead of beginning a book, as the moslems do, "in the name of god," the bahais begin, "in the name of our lord el baha." the persian bahais accept this teaching. one of them in tabriz declared to me: "baha is very god of very god." m. abdul karim delivered the doctrine in this form to the disciples in america[ ] and said: "upon the day, when god almighty, in the form of man known as baha ullah declared himself and said, 'i am god and there is no god but me,' the old heavens and old earth passed away, all things became new." so it continues to be preached. mr. remey[ ] says in the bahai monthly (the capitals are his): "this one is the father himself, the manifested god _himself_ bahaullah." ( ) the revelation of baha is contained in his books and tablets (epistles). some of these are the "ikan," the "surat ul-haykal," the "hidden words," the "seven valleys," and the "kitab-ul-akdas." remey[ ] pronounces them "the latest and greatest of god's revelations to the world." "they contain knowledge which was sealed and closed up by the prophets of bygone cycles, so that the minds of the wisest of men were unable to comprehend it." thornton chase, exceeding the others in his extravagant language, declares that "were all the books of former days lost and forgotten, the whole of true religious teaching could be found in the 'bahai revelation.'" the "kitab-ul-akdas," "the most holy book," is called by m. abul fazl the "greatest" and "most important." it consists of pages of manuscript, about , words. it was written at acca in persian and arabic. it has been translated into russian, and a synopsis of it is given by professor browne,[ ] of cambridge university, in the _journal of the royal asiatic society_, , of which i make use. the "kitab-ul-akdas" warns the learned against criticizing it, and in imitation of mohammed challenges them to produce the like of it. it is similar in its teachings to the "bayan" of the bab, though less fantastic and mystical. its contents are confused and unsystematic. it has laws--ceremonial, moral, civil, criminal--mingled with rhapsodies, exhortations, addresses, and various digressions. after an introduction and some laws, follow addresses to the emperor of germany and to the sultan of turkey, to the cities of teheran and kirman, and to the province of khorasan. after more laws there is a digression about revelation; then more laws and a digression about the bab; again sundry laws, followed by a denunciation of subh-i-azal, and this by various civil laws, ending with a command to select a universal language. the book is a medley, and bears internal evidence of the truth of the tradition that it was written piecemeal in answer to various questions from believers. the fragments were jumbled together without order. the learned are reminded by baha that he never studied the sciences, and there is too abundant evidence in the book itself to confirm the statement. it ranks far below deuteronomy as a system of laws or a literary composition. the opening words of the book of akdas state the conditions of entrance into the religion of baha: ( ) "verily the first thing which god hath ordained unto his servants is the knowledge of the dawning-place of the revelation [_i. e._, of baha]. whosoever hath attained thereunto hath attained unto all good; and he who is deprived thereof is indeed of the people of error--even though he bringeth all good actions." ( ) "it behoveth every one to follow that whereunto he is commanded. these two things are inseparable." acceptance of baha as the manifestation of god and following him in obedience are the two conditions of discipleship. ( ) a third condition has been added since the death of baha--namely, adherence to abdul baha abbas as supreme head, "the centre of the covenant." this assumption of authority by abbas caused a bitter and angry schism at acca. remey[ ] says: "he [baha] has pointed to the one who should be looked upon as authority by all, and has closed the doors to outside interpretation. therefore obedience and submission must be shown completely to him." mirza asad ullah[ ] says: "whosoever turns away from abdul baha is one of the companions of the left hand [a goat], and one of the letters of hell-fire." the rejectors of abdul baha are termed nakazeen--"the violators." they are "cut off," are "no longer of the kingdom." they are "spiritual corpses," from them "goes forth a poisonous infection," "they have a vile odour," says abdul baha,[ ] the preacher of brotherly love and unity. in this way they fulfill their boast of consorting with all men in "harmony and fragrance." the minority seem to have the best of the argument,[ ] but abbas has established himself as supreme pontiff. his most honoured agents call him by titles which imply his divinity. american pilgrims worship him as "christ, the master."[ ] sprague[ ] declares him to be "the third of the great trinity of revelators." m. abul karim[ ] writes: "god appeared in the bab as the holy ghost, in baha as the father, in abbas as his son." mrs. grundy[ ] says: "within abdul baha is the inexhaustible fountain of knowledge." remey[ ] says: "through abdul baha and through him only can believers receive the spiritual power and sustenance necessary for their growth." among abbas's titles are the "greatest branch of god," the "mystery of god."[ ] these are a few of the salient points of the "new revelation." iii. another claim of bahaism is that of superiority to former religions. (_a_) its founder is declared to be superior in his personality, in his divine knowledge, in his power of revealing. in what has already been quoted, this is evident. the great cycle which began in adam is said to have reached its culmination in baha ullah. "the manifestations are ended by the appearance of this, which is the greatest of all manifestations," which "manifests itself only once in , years." "he is exalted above all those who are upon earth and in the heaven." abdul baha[ ] says: "consider the time of jesus. this is greater than that for as much as it is the calling of the lord of hosts." "all the great prophets were perfect mirrors of god--manifestations of the 'primal will' of god--and sinless, but in baha[ ] in some sense the divine essence is manifested." phelps[ ] says: "he is greater than his predecessors." "baha," says kheiralla,[ ] "is the everlasting father, who spoke in abraham, moses, and jesus christ, who were his ministers, and at these latter days he came himself in the flesh to judge the quick and the dead." abbas said to mrs. grundy: "baha is the consummation of all degrees. he is the revelation of all truth and light." "christ is the vine, baha is the husbandman--the lord of the vineyard." a poem says of baha: by his life-fostering lip live a hundred such as jesus; by the sinai of his aspect sit a thousand such as moses; thou, on the night of ascent, didst entertain the prophet as thy guest. refrain:-- the temple of god's glory is none other than baha; if one seeks god, let him seek him in baha. thou art the king of the realm of the everlasting, thou art the manifestation of the essence of the lord of glory, the creator of creation. such are some of the "great swelling words" with which his followers exalt baha. yet when we examine his life we find nothing to justify such extravagance. he was simply a man of like passions as others. it may seem invidious to refer to scandalous stories of baha's youth in teheran. but does not truth demand that it be stated that his reputation in persia is sullied by definite accusations of vice and immorality? i have heard such narratives with statements of the time, place, and associates who were partakers of his guilt. his family in riper years exhibits no higher example than a bigamous household. according to the narrative of abdul baha in the "traveller's narrative,"[ ] he planned in duplicity to reach the headship of the babis; for while purposing all the while to set forth a claim for himself, he put forward his half-brother, subh-i-azal, as the successor of the bab--to protect himself and to insure his own safety during times of danger. he outwardly supported azal for many years, while secretly planning to supplant him. while acting as azal's trusted minister, he was drawing the people to himself. we pass over the attempts of these brothers to poison each other. each accuses[ ] the other, and, as the persians say, "god knows" whether both speak the truth. we pass over, at present, the definite accusations against the bahais of assassinating the azalis.[ ] in the notorious case where azalis were foully murdered[ ] by bahais at acca, and the latter were brought to trial before the turkish authorities, they were defended and kept in favour by baha. he had near subh-i-azal a spy named maskin kalam,[ ] who by guile and deceit kept away any who wished to visit azal. he received this disciple to his intimate circle after years of such active deception. azal, who is called by bahais "the point of satan," and is likened to cain and judas, has a character gentler, more lovable, and more sincere than baha as the two are depicted in the writings of professor browne; albeit, baha is abler, more astute, more a leader of men. professor browne, in his interviews at famagusta and at acca, did obeisance to each of them. his bow to azal may have been one of respect for his character or disposition; his bow to baha must rather have been out of regard for his influence and leadership. but after all we need not wonder so much at the delusion of the bahais in exalting baha, for we are familiar with dowie and zion city, and with joseph smith and the mormons. and we are surely led to expect the appearance of such a deceiver who "as god sitteth in the temple of god, showing himself that he is god." bahais certainly, in the words of the apostle,[ ] "have strong delusion, that they should believe a lie." (_b_) the bahais claim superiority for the books and writings of baha ullah. ( ) as to the rapidity of their composition, their style, and their quantity. one of the proofs of the bab was the rapidity with which he composed verses,[ ] "with amazing rapidity, without any reflection." sayid yahya of darab, one of his first converts,[ ] was gained by such a "sign," implying, as was supposed, divine inspiration. he propounded certain questions. the messenger brought the answer, of which he says: "i beheld a marvel a hundred thousandfold beyond what i sought for. over two thousand verses and illustrations of eloquence and beauty of style revealed and written down during five or six hours." so also in ispahan, in answer to the imam-juma[ ]: "the bab began to write, and in three hours wrote , verses. then the imam-juma was convinced that such power was from god, being beyond the capacity of man." in his trial at tabriz[ ] the bab cited as a proof of his divine mission: "i can write in one day , verses. who else can do this?" in like manner the claim was made for baha ullah that he could compose with miraculous rapidity. "the maximum speed of baha's revelation is said to be , verses in one hour." these were "written without premeditation or reflection,"[ ] and often dictated to his amanuensis. to baha is attributed the marvellous feat of composing and writing the "ikan" in a single night. this book in its english translation consists of printed pages. the translator, mirza ali kuli khan, persian chargé des affaires at washington, a zealous bahai, says in his preface:[ ] "according to the prevailing opinion of bahais, the 'ikan' was written in one night by the supreme pen." he argues (faint-heartedly apparently) for the truth of the statement, and cites abul fazl as corroborating the tradition. it is altogether probable that baha prepared the "ikan" during his retirement for two years to kurdistan, in the region of suleimaniyeh. it is curious to note how the bahais have outdone mohammed. he made his verses (ayat = signs), and their eloquence and beauty the signs of his mission. but babis and bahais add rapidity of composition as an additional sign or miracle. the quantity of the writings is also emphasized as proving their divine source and power. it was a matter of boasting that the bab's writings were from , to , verses, and he was executed at twenty-five years of age. of baha's abdul baha says: "the books of his holiness number more than ; each one sufficient for mankind." abul fazl[ ] writes: "his holy tablets exceed in quantity the heavenly books and divine writings possessed by all the different nations of the earth." the number of these tablets is stated to be over , . by way of contrast, christ's teachings are said by abdul baha to consist of only a dozen pages scattered in the gospels. when they speak of the style, the eloquence, the enlightening power of baha's writings, it is with similar superlative adjectives of high-flown persian rhetoric. it is hardly necessary to call attention to the fact that this so-called proof is simply a matter of assertion and opinion. as to rapidity, we could wish baha had taken more time and made such books as the "kitab-ul-akdas" more systematic, for, as we have pointed out, it is sadly lacking in plan. the veriest tyro could improve on it by rewriting. if quantity were an argument, the product of baha's pen has been exceeded by many christian and moslem divines. besides, what advantage is it for a religion to be set forth in volumes? will god be heard for his much speaking any more than man would be? the story of redemption and god's revelation through , years makes but one goodly volume. as to style, the persians would scorn to have the beauty of their great poets or of such writings as the "masnavi" put into comparison with the "ikan" or "akdas." the bab's writings were not even grammatical. baha's are more intelligible than the bab's, but lack his originality and depth. baha's style is rhetorical, verbose, prolix, but with a certain strength. but mirza abul fazl holds a more forceful and sagacious pen. in some things baha's writings remind one of the church fathers in contrast to the gospel narratives. the quantity of his writings, his system of quotations from former holy books, his allegorical interpretations, recall irenæus or origen. as to "verses" in general, and their rhetorical quality as a proof of divine inspiration and revelation, it would be well for bahais to remember that the bab recognized divine quality in the verses of subh-i-azal, which the bahais reject with disdain. when the "verses" of azal came to the bab, he "rejoiced exceedingly,"[ ] nominated him as his successor, and left to him the completion of the "bayan." was he mistaken in so important a matter? however that may be, the bahais contradict him and pronounce the "verses" of azal good for nothing. m. ahmad zohrab,[ ] the interpreter of abdul baha, avers that "the writings of azal are most childish. they are jumbled, confused, meaningless composition." another bahai, nabil the poet, at one time wrote "revealed verses," and azal approved of them and sealed their inspiration. afterwards nabil repudiated his own "divinity." evidently, then, the "proof from verses" is a very uncertain and unreliable one. ( ) they claim superiority for the contents of the revelation. in describing the substance and variety of it, their "great swelling words" know no bounds. abdul baha says: "they are universal, covering every subject. he has revealed scientific explanations ranging throughout all the realms of human inquiry--astronomy, biology, medicine, etc. he wrote lengthy tablets upon civilization, sociology, and government." "one book of the blessed perfection is more comprehensive than fifty volumes of the world's greatest wisdom." empty boasting! professor browne[ ] says: "the countless tablets are for the most part rhapsodies interspersed with ethical maxims." let us give a few of baha's "revelations" on morals, philosophy, and science. his ethics permit bigamy and _tagiya_, dissimulation regarding one's faith; his law punishes habitual theft by branding, and arson by burning, and compounds adultery with a small fine; his philosophy affirms the eternity of matter and the emanation theory of divine manifestations; his science decides the purity of water by three points--"colour, taste, and smell"--but knows nothing of analysis, and affirms that "the food of the future will be fruits and grains"; it abolished the weeks and months and substitutes nineteen months of nineteen days each, and a system of nineteen units for the decimal or metric system; it creates a new alphabet to bother childhood; its ritual for prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage somewhat resembles the moslem, with times and places changed. these are samples of its new and superior (?) laws and precepts, which are mingled with a mass of ordinary moral teaching. there is far too much of it for a religious system, but it is entirely inadequate as a judicial and criminal code. abul fazl[ ] grossly exaggerates when he writes that "baha has enacted laws and regulations concerning every point or subject." as a system bahaism is not superlative. "it is," says professor browne,[ ] "at most a new synthesis of old ideas; ideas with which the eastern mind has for centuries been familiar, and which have ere now been more clearly and more logically systematized by older schools of thought, though perhaps they were without a certain tincture of modern western terminology which is perceptible in bahaism." "of the doctrines of the bab"--and the same is true of bahaism--"taken separately, there was hardly one of which he could claim to be the author, and not many which did not remount to a remote antiquity."[ ] "the theories of symbolism,[ ] incarnation, and other doctrines differ in no essential particular from those held by the ismielis." if desirable, the doctrines and laws could be traced severally, as has been done by doctor tisdall in his "yanab-ul-islam" regarding the koran, and the source of each shown. borrowing so much from the shiah sects, its fundamental basis in philosophic thought is inferior even to islam. but because it borrows so much from the enlightened principles and practices of advanced christian peoples, its moral system is an advance on islam. christianity may boldly assert its unique superiority to this "half-cooked" system, to use a persian idiom. professor browne[ ] vetoes its claim to superiority, saying: "i do not admit that the bahai or any other religion can supply a rule of life higher than that which christ has given us." discussing with the bahais in shiraz,[ ] he said: "the religion of mohammed was certainly not a higher development of the religion of christ. it is impossible for any one who has understood the teachings of christ to prefer the teachings of mohammed. as you say each manifestation must be fuller, completer, and more perfect than the last, you must prove that the doctrines taught by baha are superior to those of christ--a thing that i confess seems to be almost impossible, for i cannot imagine a doctrine purer and more elevated than that of christ." iv. bahaism claims to be the universal religion. dreyfus called his book on bahaism "the universal religion." remey[ ] says: "the universal religion is what the bahai movement offers to the world." phelps[ ] says: "it is divinely inspired world-religion in its first youth. baha ullah is a world-teacher in a broader sense than they"--_i. e._, the founders of other religions. this claim is not only that it is intended "for all people, under all conditions," and is adapted to all, but that it is so all-inclusive and latitudinarian that it can[ ] "unite all those now following many systems into one universal faith," and that "each religious sect[ ] will hear in the words of baha its own oft-repeated message, which has been dulled and distorted." the latter phase of this claim we may dismiss in a word. it is simply a gloss. it is an imagination of enthusiastic bahais. neither christians, moslems, nor others will be thus included, except some few before they understand bahaism. the only inclusion it offers is by accepting the divine character and mission of baha and abbas;[ ] in other words, by becoming bahais. when they address the hindu, saying, "we are one with you," "we teach the original hinduism of your fathers," it is simply to add: "baha is the fulfillment of your books, follow him." when they allow the jewish bahai of hamadan still to consort with the jews as a jew, and to be baptized and pass as a christian at the same time, it is an inclusiveness which is unjustifiable and deceitful. it is teaching _tagiya_ or religious dissimulation to other races after the manner of the persian shiahs. it is, at most, merely a temporary subterfuge. let such double-faced bahais read remey's article in the _star of the west_,[ ] entitled "let the new follow the new," and they will see how untenable is their position. he says: "the bahai cause is not merely one of many phases of universal truth (as some say), but is the only living truth to-day; the only source of divine knowledge to mankind. the revelation of jesus was for his own dispensation--that of 'the son.' now it is no longer the point of guidance to the world. we are in total darkness if we are refusing the revelation of the present dispensation. bahais must be severed from all and everything that is past--things both good and bad--everything. now all is changed. all the teachings of the past are past. abdul baha is now supplying all the world." we read this, with amazement at such pretensions, such groundless assumptions, yet are pleased with the ring of sincerity. we, too, say, "let a bahai stand for bahaism." even so, let a christian stand for christianity, and not stultify his intellect by professing to hold to both religions. but such teachings as remey's absolutely negative the claim of bahaism to be able to include the professors of all religions. in conclusion, bahaism aims at being universal just as every other "ism," even as mormonism, by persuading the world to forsake its old faiths and adopt its new dogmas. baha[ ] states in a tablet: "blessed is the brave one, who, with a firm step, walks out of the corridors of intimacy [the old religious restrictions] and takes a place in the ranks." is bahaism fitted to be a universal religion? it has copied much from christianity and islam; it would not be strange if it has caught something of the same impetus towards universality. this is specially to be looked for in bahaism, since it is historically a revision of babism--revised with an aim to broadening it. babism was notoriously unfitted to be universal. dreyfus[ ] confesses: "looking at the bab's work, we cannot fail to notice in it a certain sectarian particularism which would have confined to shiah islam its benefits." similarly professor browne pronounced it[ ] "utterly unfitted for the bulk of mankind," and refers to[ ] "the useless, impractical, and irksome regulations and restrictions" which baha abolished in order to make it more capable of becoming what he intended it to be--"a universal system suitable to all mankind." the question arises, where was the bab's power of supernatural revelation if he promulgated a system and regulations of such inferiority and destined to be superseded in less than a score of years? among these regulations[ ] were the prohibition of the learning of foreign languages, logic, philosophy, and jurisprudence, discouraging foreign travel, enjoining the expulsion of all unbelievers from the five chief provinces of persia, together with the confiscation of their property, the destruction of all books more than years old, etc. baha, like a tailor trying to change a misfitting garment, ripped up the seams, cut a piece out here and there, added some patches imported from christian civilization, until he had a coat of many colours, which he advertised as the latest style of religion, fitted to humanity in general. but he should have heeded the precept not to put new cloth on an old garment. no wonder they have never yet published the "kitab-ul-akdas" in english. it would tax their ingenuity to adapt all its regulations and laws to the world-life. again i return to the question, "is bahaism specially adapted to be universal?" by no means. it is unfitted in the most essential particular. it is a religion of laws, not of principles. mirza abul fazl, in "the brilliant proof,"[ ] emphasizes the fact that bahaism enjoins, commands, has imperative ordinances, laws, and enactments. but the gospels enunciate principles. these principles of the new testament are conscience-educating and life-directing. they are applicable to all conditions the world over, and to every stage of human development. christianity implants in the heart great ruling motives. its laws and regulations are few. hence it does not find itself butting against a wall of unforeseen circumstances. bahaism, on the contrary, is full of the "beggarly elements." it has regulations, as we have noticed, in regard to personal habits, hygiene, sociology, languages, the calendar, civil government, penology, etc. it is like an omnibus with its top overloaded with all sorts of baggage, which will delay and finally wreck the vehicle. it has made itself a "judge and divider of inheritances."[ ] it gives directions as to the barber and the undertaker; how you must bathe and wash your face, and what prayers you shall say during each process. it directs as to the use of knives and forks, of chairs, of perfumes. it graciously permits one to shave his beard, but "the hair must not be allowed to grow below the level of the ear." it tells us that "the nails are to be cut at least once a week," that "every one should wash his feet daily in summer, and at least every three days in winter." and alas! for antique furniture and old persian rugs! for house furnishings must be changed every nineteen years. in obedience to this command my old teacher in persia got rid of his rugs, whose sheen was polished and colours were mellowed with age, and refurnished his house with gaudy modern rugs. in prescribing the moslem fast and namaz (prayer-rite), with some modifications, bahaism limits the spirit of liberty, which is the essence of universality. copying from the bab, baha has seen fit to regulate the calendar. following the zoroastrian custom, baha ordains that the year begin at the vernal equinox--march --because that is the spring-time, the time of the renewal of vegetable life. good! but in australia it is the time of death--of the approach of winter. the reason assigned is not universal, and is not adapted to all climes. as has been said above, the months are ordained to be nineteen of nineteen days each, with four or five intercalary days in march. the week is abolished, that primitive division of time which has such a definite place in nature, in the phases of the moon, and is established in the three great monotheistic religions with their weekly sabbaths. instead of the latter is substituted the nineteenth day unity feast. how do such changes aid universality or unification? coinage, fines, taxes, and tithes are arranged on the number . remey's book has nineteen chapters, as the "bayan" has. _the star of the west_, a magazine of the american bahais, is published every nineteen days, and bears the bahai calendar on its editorial page. instances might be indefinitely extended. but later the number nine, the number of baha, has come more into use. abbas has set apart the ninth day of the month as well as the nineteenth for certain religious purposes. the bahai era is sometimes dated from the declaration of the bab in , and sometimes from the birth of baha in . are these innovations more an aid to universality than adherence to the established calendar and era, or than the decimal system or the metric system which the civilized world has been striving to extend? professor browne says: "what could be more impractical than the adoption of the number nineteen as the basis of measures or calculations?" it bears the mark of oriental fancy rather than of divine revelation. another illustration of this point--namely, that bahaism enjoins and regulates specifically, and does not, like christianity, inculcate guiding principles, is seen in the law regarding civil government. in "glad tidings"[ ] baha teaches, as from god, that "although a republican form of government profits, yet the majesty of kingship is one of the signs of god. we do not wish that the countries of the world should be deprived thereof." "statesmen should combine the two," and[ ] "at present the form of government followed by the british nation seems good, for that nation is illuminated both with the light of kingship and consultation--_i. e._, parliament." "in the principal laws [of bahaism] affairs have been placed in the hands of just kings and chiefs, and the house of justice." as a matter of opinion, i can join with baha in expressing my admiration for the british constitution, but prescribing it as a law of revelation is a different matter. a "universal religion" should be adapted to all conditions. it is a fact of history that when the tablet "glad tidings" was sent to russia, section was omitted. the bahais suppressed this portion from expediency, and it appears thus mutilated in baron rosen's translation.[ ] is not this a high-handed way to deal with god's word, as they profess to regard it? is it not also conceivable that republics might take offense against bahaism because it maintains monarchy, even as autocracies because it approves of parliamentary government? had not a "universal religion" better let politics alone? christianity could adapt itself even to the government of a nero. another institution of bahaism, ill-adapted to all races and conditions, and certain to bring the very conflict and strife against which it is supposed to guard, is the house of justice. this is a religious court, with civil and political functions, to be set up in every town and country. it is to be composed of nine or more bahai men. "they are divine agents, representatives of god." much is said of this house of justice in the books of revelation.[ ] dreyfus devotes a chapter to it.[ ] it is to have legislative, judicial, and administrative functions. it will regulate estates, taxes, tithes, fines, capital and labour, marriage, divorce, inheritances, minors, servants, charities, reforms, houses of correction, schools, besides all matters of religion and morals. they will rule "absolutely," and be "infallible," "guided by god." it is the old dream of theocratic rule. i must leave it to the imagination of the student of history to picture the dire confusion which would ensue if this politico-religious hierarchy should begin its sway. those who are familiar with the perpetual conflict between the urfi and the shari, the civil and the religious law in persia, know how this proposed organization would work confusion worse confounded. similar to these invasions of the province of science and cæsar is the attempt to improve philology by "revelation." following the bab again, baha ullah promulgated a new alphabet. the babi alphabet, unlike the arabic and persian, was written from left to right. "each letter consists of thick, oblique straight lines, parallel and equidistant from each other, running down to the left, to which thin hooks and curves are appended to make separate letters." it is called the khatti-badi. there were nineteen kinds of it; one kind was called the khatti-baha. it was intended for the time when babism would be prevalent. it appears that bahais have a new alphabet, different from that of the babis. in the akdas and in the sixth ishrak[ ] it is commanded that the "house of justice" must select one tongue out of the present languages, or a new language, to teach the children in the schools of the world. let us suppose they decide on persian or arabic. the anglo-saxon children must all begin to learn arabic. suppose they decide on english. then germans, french, and russians will have an additional reason for opposing the religion. suppose that abdul baha decides on esperanto, as he seems inclined to do, then will it be heresy for some one to invent a language as much superior to esperanto as it is to volapuk? had not a "universal religion" better let linguistics alone? the spirit of christianity gives a free field to all tongues--this is the essence of liberty, of universality. after this brief review of some of the provisions of the "new revelation," we can deny the claim that "its statutes meet the necessity of every land," and that they can serve the world well for , years. footnotes: [ ] phelps' "life of abbas effendi," p. . [ ] "some answered questions," by barney, p. . [ ] _star of the west_, may , , p. . abbreviated hereafter as _s. w._ [ ] page f. [ ] "story of the bahai movement," p. . [ ] phelps, _ibid._, p. . [ ] phelps, "jewels of wisdom," p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] "the bahai movement," p. . [ ] "bahai proofs," p. . [ ] chase, "the bahai revelation," p. . [ ] _s. w._, march , , p. . [ ] see _s. w._ [ ] addresses in new york and chicago, . [ ] _s. w._, p. , march , . [ ] _s. w._, , p. . [ ] prof. e. g. browne has translated various books of the bahais; among them are "the episode of the bab," or the "traveller's narrative," and the "new history." his investigations and comments have given offense to the bahais, while his praises of them often wound the christian reader. i have been kindly permitted by doctor kheiralla to examine his english translation of the "kitab-ul-akdas" in manuscript. [ ] _s. w._, july, . see chapter x. [ ] see "sacred mysteries," p. . [ ] _s. w._, sept. , , pp. - . [ ] see "facts for behaists." [ ] dr. h. h. jessup in n. y. _outlook_, june, . [ ] "a year in india and burmah," p. . compare the trinities of the nusaireyah, as given in "the asian mystery," p. . the first is abel, adam and gabriel: after others, comes simon peter, jesus and rozabah; ali, mohammed and salman the persian. the first of each group, for example peter and ali, is the supreme manifestation, the _maana_, meaning or essence of god; the second of each group, mohammed and jesus represent the _ism-azim_, the greatest name: while the third, that is, salman is termed the bab. baha is the greatest name. the place of peter remains for abbas. [ ] "facts for behaists." [ ] "ten days in the light of acca," p. . [ ] _s. w._, nov. , , p. . [ ] see chapter iv. [ ] "tablets of abdul baha," vol. i, p. . [ ] "some answered questions," pp. - . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] "beha' ullah," by kheiralla. [ ] "trav.'s narr.," pp. xlv, - . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," pp. , - . [ ] see _ibid._, index word "assassination"; "new hist.," pp. xxiii.-iv. [ ] _ibid._, pp. , ; "trav.'s narr.," pp. , . [ ] _jour. roy. as. soc._, , p. ; , pp. - . [ ] thess. ii. and . [ ] "bahai proofs," by abul fazl, p. . [ ] "new hist.," p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] "bahai proofs," pp. - , . [ ] "ighan," chicago edition, pp. vii-viii. [ ] "proofs," pp. - . [ ] "new hist.," p. ; "trav.'s narr.," pp. - . [ ] _s. w._, nov. , , p. . [ ] "life of abbas," by phelps, p. xxii. [ ] "bahai proofs," p. . [ ] phelps, p. xvii. [ ] "new hist.," p. xiii. [ ] _ibid._ [ ] phelps, p. xviii. [ ] "a year among the persians," p. . [ ] "bahai movement," p. . [ ] "life of abbas," p. . [ ] remey, _ibid._, p. . [ ] phelps' "abbas," p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. xxi. [ ] december , . [ ] _s. w._, jan. , , p. . [ ] "the universal religion," p. . [ ] "new hist.," p. xiii. [ ] _ibid._, p. xxv. [ ] _ibid._, p. xxvi. [ ] pages - . [ ] luke xii. . [ ] section , p. , chicago edition. [ ] "tablet of the world," p. . [ ] "new hist.," p. xxv. [ ] see "glad tidings," pp. , ; "words of paradise," p. ; "tablet of the world," p. ; "israket," p. ; and "kitab-ul-akdas." [ ] "universal religion," pp. - . [ ] "ishrakat," p. . iii its specific claims bahaism is a persian delusion, whose headman baha ullah in acre claimed to be an incarnation of god. abbas effendi succeeded him and is running the "incarnation" fraud for all it is worth, and it is worth a good deal, as pilgrims constantly come from persia and bring their offerings in money with great liberality. such men ... as the babites of persia turn up now and then in the east, "go up like a rocket and down like a stick."--_h. h. jessup, "fifty-three tears in syria," p. ._ i cannot understand how a christian can possibly exchange the clear consistent plan of salvation through christ for the misty and mystical platitudes of bahaism.--_ibid., p. ._ bahaism makes various claims of a practical nature. some of these will require detailed treatment. several of them i will group in this chapter. additional light is thrown on the question of their validity by facts subsequently brought forward, for many facts have a bearing on several subjects. among the specific claims put forth by bahaism is that of being _specially adapted to promote the unification of mankind_, and of accomplishing that end. bahaism reiterates the christian ideas that god hath made of one blood all nations and that all shall be united in god's spiritual kingdom. it repeats as a slogan, "the brotherhood of man." c. m. remey[ ] says: "the bahai cause stands for the unity of all religions, political unity of nations, the social unity of all classes, peoples and races." "its aim," says harold johnson, "is to knit all the faiths and all the peoples into one."[ ] "the essential principle of the teachings of bahaism is the unification of the religious systems of the world," says macnutt.[ ] this is a high ideal, which interpreted in their several ways is the aim of christianity, islam, socialism, etc. and bahai writers mean what all the other systems have meant, namely, unity by all accepting their beliefs, for remey[ ] says: "baha ullah's mission is to unite those now following many systems into one brotherhood and one universal faith.... may god speed the day when all of us may become true _bahais_." but the claim of bahaism is presented in another form. it asserts that it is actually bringing about this unification. "abdul baha is harmonizing christians, jews, mohammedans, zoroastrians, buddhists, hindus in the one and true faith."[ ] dreyfus says: "it is uniting all men in the great universal religion of the future." at oakland, cal.,[ ] abdul baha said, "the revelation of baha ullah is the cause of the oneness of the world of humanity. it is a unity which welds together all the races." in illustration of this alleged result, the pilgrims to acca express their gratification and amazement that at acca several races meet together in love and unity. so in rangoon, says mr. sprague,[ ] "i attended a bahai meeting at which six of the great world religions were represented united in the wonderful bond of friendship and unity." in like manner mr. harold johnson says, "what christianity has failed to accomplish, bahaism has accomplished in uniting men of different races and religions." if these assertions mean external association, it may be said that christians have had their parliaments of religions and congresses of all faiths, examples of polite toleration and laboratories of the science of religion. if it means that christianity refuses to put itself on a level with other religions and consort with them as equals, this is true, for christianity is an exclusive religion. it has entered the world, as it entered the roman empire, to displace all others. it refuses to have christ occupy a niche in the pantheon. but bahai writers mean rather that bahaism is to be the bond of unity by all races and religions accepting baha. in this sense their claim is based on very meagre premises. a few thousand only, outside of persia, have embraced bahaism. harold johnson says: "the non-mohammedans do not number probably very many thousands." but do we not see myriads gathering into the christian brotherhood out of every race and religion of asia, including even thousands from islam. thirty thousand moslems have become christians in malayasia in abdul baha's lifetime. in asia how many races and religions, forgetting their former antagonisms, are united in the faith and baptism of the lord jesus christ. as an example of the living power of the christian faith to unite the races of men, take the conference of the international christian students' federation, held at lake mohonk, n. y. there hindus and british, japanese and koreans, russians and chinese, greeks and armenians, french and germans, canadians and brazilians, americans and mexicans represented the wide world. mutual esteem, love and spiritual fellowship united members of the various protestant churches with representatives of the oriental churches. the unity in bahai assemblies is on so small a scale as to be not worthy of mention. how little abdul baha knows of or appreciates the reality and power of christian spiritual fellowship is shown in his remarks at west englewood, n. y.[ ] "this gathering (of bahais) has no peer or likeness upon the surface of the earth, for all other gatherings and assemblages are due to some physical basis or material interests. bahai meetings are mirrors of the kingdom." when abdul baha speaks about the results of bahaism in bringing about unification in persia, his claims seem utterly extravagant. to one who knows that country from long residence they are explicable only on the supposition that he has been misinformed or deceived by his own followers, for it must be borne in mind that abdul baha left persia when a child of six or eight and has never returned. hear these words which abdul baha addressed to rev. j. t. bixley, who was writing on the sect in the _north american review_: "the fundamental question is the unification of religious belief. in persia, during the last fifty years[ ] ... the various religionists have united in the utmost love and fellowship. no traces of discord or difference remain: the utmost love, kindness and unity are apparent. they live together like a single family in harmony and accord. discord and strife have passed away. love and fellowship now prevail instead. whether they be moslems, jews, christians, zoroastrians, buddhists, nestorians, shiites, sunnis or others--no discord exists among them." in an address at new york,[ ] he said: "in the orient different races were at constant warfare until about sixty years ago baha ullah appeared and caused love and unity to exist among these various peoples. their former animosities have passed away entirely. it was a dark world, it became radiant.... you now see the same people who were formerly at enmity and strife in far-off persia, people of various religions and denominations living in the utmost peace." "his highness, baha ullah, established such unity and peace between the various communities." what does such language mean? at their face value these words are erroneous in a high degree. all know indeed that in persia bigotry and religious and racial hatred have been modified. in bringing this result about, bahaism has had a share along with western civilization and education, the nationalist movement, medical missions, and even pan-islamism, for the latter has tended to bring shiahs and sunnis nearer to each other. but it is notorious how great the enmity and hatred is yet; how the kurds have raided the shiahs and massacred or plundered the nestorians and the armenians: how the moslems oppress the armenians in karadagh: how sheikhis have suffered from mutasharis; and ali allahis continued the practice of tagiya for fear of them both. if parsees enjoy more ease, it is through the efforts of their co-religionists in india; if christians are safer, it is through the favour of the shahs and the power of christian governments: in neither case is it due to bahaism. the union with the bahais of possibly a dozen armenians, a few score zoroastrians and several hundred jews cannot be the basis for such extravagance of language: neither can the rejection by baha of the shiah notion that other religions are "unclean," for sunnis all along held the "peoples of the book" to be "clean" and christians of old learned to "call no man common or unclean." as to unification, how is it? babis were divided off from sheikhis, and bahais from babis, and behais from bahais and the flames of hate and vindictiveness burn hotter between them than between the older sects and races, while the shiahs curse and at times persecute babis and bahais. instead of unity the babi-bahais have brought a greater division of sects: instead of love renewed fires of animosity and fanatical hate. in view of these conditions, how unreasonable for abdul baha to say that "through the power of baha ullah, such affection and love is produced among the various religions of persia that they now associate[ ] with each other in the utmost love and concord." passing now to another phase of this subject, let us inquire what means are prescribed for religious unification. the chief means seems to be the forbidding of the right of private interpretation or opinion. abdul baha writes[ ] that he is "the interpreter of all the works and books of the blessed perfection. were this not the case, every one would give an interpretation according to his own inclination--this would lead to great differences." this point is more plainly stated by m. abul fazl:[ ] "one of the explicit commands of baha ullah is the ordinance abrogating differences which separate men.... if those having two points of view, engage in strife in expressing their views, both will be delivered to the fire.... bahai law prohibits the interpretation of god's word and exposition of personal opinion ... lest different sects arise." "you must ask him (abdul baha) regarding the meaning of the texts of the verses. whatsoever he says is correct. without his will, not a word shall any one utter."[ ] baha ullah "made provision against all kinds of differences, so that no man shall be able to create a new sect ... indicating the interpreter so that no man should be able to say that he explains a certain teaching in this way and thus create a new sect."[ ] after abdul baha whenever the house of justice is organized, it will ward off differences. but though the right of private judgment was denied, yet a new sect arose and bitter disunion occurred over the question of the infallible interpreter. another bahai scheme to promote unity is the adoption of one language to be a universal language; another is the amalgamation of all the races by the marriage of blacks and whites, and all indiscriminately; another is the discouragement of patriotism or any special love for one's country or people, teaching an internationalism in the words, "let not him glory who loves his country, but let him glory who loves his kind." these points need not detain us, nor need we stop to enlarge on the fact that the new calendar, feasts, rites, laws, weights and measures, etc., tend to disunion. _the claims of bahaism in regard to its relation to the movement for peace and arbitration_ require consideration. abdul baha at boston[ ] said: "baha ullah spread the teaching of universal peace sixty years ago, when it was _not even thought of_ by the people. he sent tablets to kings advising this." he wrote to mr. smiley of lake mohonk, "the matter of international peace was instituted by his highness, baha ullah, sixty years ago in persia." dreyfus[ ] says: "long before these ideas, i. e., peace, brotherhood and arbitration, had taken form among us, at a time when the bab himself had sometimes excused the use of arms for the propagation of religion, baha ullah had made these high principles the one basis of his religion." remey[ ] states this claim yet more strongly, saying: "peace, arbitration, in fact universal civilization _were unthought of_, when over half a century ago these teachers (baha ullah and abdul baha) announced their message." again, "christ states that his dispensation is to be a militant one, which would be followed by another of peace. baha ullah has now brought that peace to the world. he is the prince of peace who has established the foundations of peace on earth."[ ] now as to the facts. bahaism certainly does advocate peace and arbitration, in common with tolstoism, socialism and many schools of thought. baha said to professor browne at acca, in : "this fruitless strife, these ruinous wars shall pass away and the most great peace shall come. these strifes and this bloodshed and discord must cease and all men be as one kindred and one family." in accordance with this, abdul baha declares[ ] universal peace and an international court of arbitration to be fundamental principles of bahaism. the court will be called the house of justice and will be composed entirely of bahais. "disputes will find a final sentence of absolute justice ... before the bahai house of justice. war will be suppressed."[ ] it is good to have such a programme approved by one raised in a moslem environment. yet it is evident that the claim to priority and originality regarding it, constitute a grave anachronism and betray ignorance of or perversion of history. both the ideals and the programme were in existence and in partial operation long before the time of baha ullah. in the first place, bahai teachings on peace are but an echo of christian hopes and doctrines of "peace on earth: good will to men." baha has but thrown on the screen again the vision of the seers of israel who foretold the age when "men shall learn war no more." the hopes of the prophets, the longings of saints, the anthems of the worshipping church found voice through the christian centuries, with a faith never dimmed, a desire never quenched, anticipating that "then shall wars and tumults cease, then be banished grief and pain, righteousness and joy and peace undisturbed shall ever reign." baha's teaching, though growing up in islam, is transplanted from christian soil. he repudiates the teaching of mohammed regarding "holy wars." "the first glad tidings is the abolition of religious warfare from the book," _i. e._, the koran. what bahais would do in case of provocation, accompanied by reasonable opportunity of success, is not evident. the babis were fierce warriors ( - ) and the bab expected that wars would continue. in the "bayan" he makes provision for the distribution of the spoils.[ ] baha, together with azal, started for and tried to join the army at tabarsi,[ ] and was absent from participation in its sanguinary conflict, solely because his arrest by the persian authorities at amul prevented him from reaching the fort. after his release he fell under suspicion because[ ] he "not improbably harboured designs of setting up a standard of revolt on his own account." he was, therefore, rearrested and sent to the capital. but during his exile in turkey, he tried to be reconciled to the shah of persia. following this change of policy, he was able to claim later[ ] that "for nigh upon thirty-five years no action opposed to the government or prejudicial to the nation has emanated from this sect." the bahais did not join in the effort to establish constitutional government in - .[ ] they have never had an even chance to fight for their own cause and it remains to be seen what they would do in such a case. there is no assurance that they would act like quakers or dukhobors, for even abdul baha at times identifies himself and his cause with the fighting babis and appropriates their martial glory. he said to mr. anton hadad:[ ] "when in persia we were very few but owing to animosity we stood before our numerous enemies, fought and defeated them and gained the victory." he wrote a prayer on behalf of the american army for the use of bahais: "o god! strengthen its soldiers and its flag."[ ] in his teachings, he leaves several pretexts for the prosecution of war. he says:[ ] "war is sometimes the foundation of peace. if, for example, a sovereign should wage war against a threatening foe or for the unification of the people, this war may be attuned to peace: this fury is kindness; this war is a source of reconciliation." in his scheme for arbitration, one is reminded of the old saw, "we must have peace even if we have to fight for it." for he says: "if any nation dares to refuse to abide by the decision of the international court, all the other nations must arise and put down this rebellion, ... they must rise up and _destroy it_, ... band together and _exterminate it_."[ ] as to the claim that baha _originated_ the movement for universal peace and international arbitration, it only deserves consideration because it is apparently put forth in sincerity. it absolutely contradicts history. in fact the movement for "peace on earth" has long been an active one in christian lands, and arbitration has long been recognized and employed as a method for promoting peace." "under the influence of religious and feudal ideas," says professor moore,[ ] "arbitrations were very frequent in the middle ages, which offered the remarkable spectacle of conciliation and peace making way." treaties were made which provided for arbitration. in italy there were one hundred arbitrations in the thirteenth century. in the following centuries they were frequent in europe. sometimes a king acted as arbitrator between kings or between king and people. at other times a city, as for example the republic of hamburg, or a great juristconsult or a professor of a university acted in this capacity. more often "the predominance of the popes constituted them natural judges of international cases." projects for universal peace were put forward. one of the most celebrated was formed by sully, the minister of henry iv. the abbe de st. pierre in published a scheme for the federation of christian states, with a central council to decide all disputes. grotius strongly advocated arbitration as a means of avoiding war and the placing of nations under obligations to settle disputes peaceably. bentham in the eighteenth century proposed a plan for a common tribunal to maintain universal and permanent peace.[ ] fox, penn and the quakers, from christian principles, strenuously opposed war. there were nine principal arbitrations between the united states and great britain, france and spain from to . in , before baha's day, the massachusetts peace society was formed and in the following year the american peace society "to promote universal permanent peace through arbitration and disarmament."[ ] for this purpose world congresses were held at london , brussels , paris , frankfort , london , etc., and with great enthusiasm. men like elihu burritt, victor hugo, richard cobden, john bright and charles sumner led in advocacy of the cause. tennyson, too, saw the vision of peace, "in the parliament of men, the federation of the world," and the scottish bard declared, "it's coming yet for a' that when man to man, the world o'er, shall brothers be and a' that." we can easily conceive how these ideas would penetrate the near east and how baha ullah in turkey caught an echo of them and was happily influenced to become himself an advocate of peace. but what becomes of the claims of abdul baha and other bahais, mentioned above, that baha, in - , "_instituted_ the movement for peace and arbitration" that he advised it to kings "when it had not even been thought of," "before the attention of western thinkers had to any degree been directed towards universal peace." they are like so many claims made by bahaists, utterly groundless. such statements, when made by abdul baha, we may attribute to ignorance of the history of the occident, but this does not excuse american advocates of bahaism for endorsing such errors. i need not discuss the assertion of bahais that the millennium began in [ ] or at latest in , nor the announcement that the most great peace will be inaugurated in , which they declare to be the end of the days of dan. xii. .[ ] _another claim made for bahaism is that it is a rational and undogmatic religion._ remey[ ] says: "it does not put forth doctrine or dogma.... it is a religion free from dogma." it is "logical and reasonable." dreyfus denounces "dogmatic religions," and claims that bahaism has paved the way for the harmony of religion with free thought."[ ] with these accord the words of abdul baha to pastor monnier in paris.[ ] "our aim is to free religion from dogmas. dogmas are the cause of strife. we must give up dogmas." now it is evident that bahaism has not a fixed body of doctrines: that it has not a definite and clear system of theology. but it is very dogmatic in the common usages of that word. webster defines it as ( ) positive, authoritative, and ( ) as asserting or disposed to assert with authority or with overbearing and arrogance. is not bahaism a mass of assertions? for example, baha declares that "the universe hath neither beginning nor ending." abdul baha adds the comment:[ ] "_by this simple statement_ he has set aside elaborate theories and exhaustive labours of scientists and philosophers." similarly he is said to have settled by a single word all discussions about divine sovereignty and free agency. abdul baha might be called the lord of dogmas, for from his dicta none must vary by a hair's breadth. remey himself dogmatizes as follows: "the religion of baha is the cause of god, outside of which there is no truth in the world." much in bahaism must be taken on faith, without logical proof. professor browne[ ] puts it mildly when he says: "the system appears to me to contain enough of the mysterious and the transcendental to make its intellectual acceptance at least as difficult as the theology of most christian churches to the sceptic." elsewhere he says:[ ] "it must be clearly understood that babism (or bahaism) is in no sense latitudinarian or eclectic, and stands therefore in the sharpest antagonism to sufism. however vague babi doctrine may be on certain points, it is essentially _dogmatic_, and every utterance or command uttered by the manifestation of the period, _i. e._, bab or baha ullah or abbas effendi must be accepted without reserve."[ ] similarly dr. g. w. holmes[ ] writes: "baha's appeal is only to his own word and to his own arbitrary and forced interpretation of the word of god, which interpretations, as he states, find their sanction solely in his own authority." there are other claims of bahaism of a specific nature which might be considered. they would be found equally assertive and equally groundless. bahaism reminds me of a horse which was offered for sale in persia. it appeared like a fat and well fed animal. but the would-be purchaser was warned that its skin had been puffed up with air which would soon leak out, and he would have on his hands a lean, lank, bony _yabi_ scrub. bahaism does not even stop short of claiming that the civilization of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is due to it. its braggart attitude may be fittingly symbolized by rostand's "chanticler," standing in the barnyard, flapping its wings in vain exultation, imagining that it, by its crowing, has caused the sun to rise. footnotes: [ ] "the bahai movement," p. . [ ] _contemporary review_, march, . [ ] in "unity through love." [ ] "the bahai movement," p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] _s. w._, oct. , p. . [ ] "story of the bahai movement," p. . [ ] june , . [ ] _s. w._, sept. , . [ ] _s. w._, sept. , . [ ] professor browne, in the ency. of ethics and religion, article "bab," writes: "the bahais are strongly antagonistic alike to the sufis and the mohammedans, but for quite different reasons. in the case of the sufis they object to their latitudinarianism, their pantheism, their individualism and their doctrine of the inner light. with the mohammedan they resent the persecutions they have suffered. the bahais detest the azalis, the followers of abbas effendi dislike and despise the followers of his brother mehemet ali." [ ] _s. w._, aug. , . [ ] "brilliant proof," pp. - . [ ] _s. w._, nov. , , p. . [ ] _s. w._, april , . [ ] _s. w._, july , , p. . [ ] "the universal religion." [ ] "bahai movement," p. . [ ] page . in dealy's "dawn of knowledge," the chapter on baha ullah is entitled "prince of peace." [ ] _s. w._, vol. iv, pp. , and . [ ] "answered questions," p. ; "tablet of the world," p. . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] "new hist.," pp. , . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," pp. - . [ ] see chapter vi. [ ] "a message from acca," p. . [ ] tablet " ," p. , published by the new york bahai council. [ ] "principles of the bahai movement," pp. , , washington, . [ ] _ibid._, pp. , . [ ] "international arbitrations," pp. - . [ ] new international ency., art. "arbitration," p. . [ ] _atlantic monthly_, vol. xciv, p. . [ ] _s. w._, march , , p. . [ ] dealy's "dawn of knowledge," p. ; kheiralla's "beha ullah," pp. , . [ ] tract "peace," pp. and ; "bahai movement," p. . [ ] "the universal religion," pp. , . [ ] _s. w._, april , , p. . [ ] _s. w._, june , , p. . [ ] phelps, p. xviii. [ ] ency. of religion and ethics, art. "bab." [ ] see also his "literary history of persia," p. . [ ] "missions and modern history," by robert e. speer, p. . iv bahaism and christianity the whole bahai movement is in fact, whatever it may have been in the mind of its originator the bab, a counterfeit of the messiahship of christ. at least this is the side of it that is turned towards both christians and jews. all that relates to the second coming of christ in the old testament or the new is bodily appropriated by baha to himself and everything in them relating to god is boldly applied to himself.... it will bring a few of the persians nearer to christ. by far the greater number of its adherents will be brought into more active antagonism to christianity than before.--_g. w. holmes, m. d., in speer's "missions and modern history," vol. i, p. ._ can bahaism make good its claim to be the fulfillment of and substitute for christianity? it has no place for christ except as one of a series, one, moreover, whose brief day of authority closed when mohammed began to preach in mecca.... if the claim be admitted that bahaism is a republication of christianity, the whole interpretation of the death of christ contained in the epistles must first be rejected.--_w. a. shedd, in "miss. rev. of world," ._ abdul baha says: "some say abdul baha is antichrist. they are not informed of bahai principles. baha ullah[ ] established christ in the east. he has praised christ, honoured christ, exalted him, called him the word of god, the spirit of god, and spread his mention."[ ] these words could be written with the name mohammed substituted for baha ullah. but in the case of both of them it is the kiss of betrayal. judas also made known jesus. both mohammed and baha write "ex" before his title "king of kings." to accept baha and abdul baha is to deny and forsake christ. i hear some christian say: "of course. what you say is self-evident. bahaism is a new religion whose aim is to supplant christianity." this is true. yet _the claim_ is put forth by bahais, and, more strangely, it is accepted by some christians, _that the two religions are not antagonistic, and may be held at one time by the same person_. to an esteemed christian lady i expressed my regret that a certain doctor, forsaking christ, had gone as a bahai missionary to persia. the reply startled me: "doctor----is very much a christian." yet why was i startled? it was simply hearing an idea with which i was familiar in the writings of the bahais. sydney sprague says: "the true bahai is also the truest christian."[ ] charles m. remey says: "to be a real christian in spirit is to be a bahai, and to be a real bahai is to be a christian," for "bahai teaching is only the perfection of christianity."[ ] a report of an interview of rev. r. j. campbell, of city temple, london, with abdul baha, states the claim of bahaism as follows: "it does not seek to proselyte. one can be a bahai without ceasing to be a christian, a jew, or a mohammedan."[ ] in accordance with this idea, thornton chase and some bahais in america continued to worship and teach in christian churches, and to have their dead buried by pastors. some in london, in connection with the city temple and st. john's church (canon wilberforce's), profess both christianity and bahaism. of southern india, dr. a. l. wylie said: "it is said that there are thirty-five bahais in our city [ratnagiri]. some of these are christian converts. they continue to be christians, saying that they can remain such and are instructed to do so." such an erroneous idea, when not due to the misrepresentations of the leaders and oriental _tagiya_ ("dissimulation"), must arise from ignorance of or dislike to true christianity or ignorance of what bahaism is. i. bahaism assigns christianity a place as but one among the true religions. bahaism indorses and accepts in the same category with judaism and christianity, as true and divinely revealed religions, zoroastrianism, confucianism, brahmanism, buddhism, mohammedanism, babism, and bahaism. abdul baha says: "the reality of the religions is one, the difference is one of imitation."[ ] remey says: "bahais consider all religions to be, from a spiritual standpoint, one religion."[ ] "every religion has had its birth in the advent of its divine founder."[ ] "the founders of the world religions have been seers as well as channels of truth to the people."[ ] it tries to build on all the other religions by professing to be the fulfillment of each one. "the bahai propaganda in india," says sprague, "has not the difficulty that besets a christian missionary, that of pulling down: his duty is only to build on what is already there. he sees the hindu, buddhist, and mohammedan with the same eye, acknowledges their truth and shows that a further revelation has come through baha ullah."[ ] it says to each one, baha fulfills your traditions and prophecies.[ ] but this liberality is only apparent. only original buddhism, christianity, etc., was god-given and true. now all are corrupted. "the key-note of bahai teaching is identical with the christian, but in christianity it was so forgotten that it came almost as a fresh, new illumination from baha."[ ] christianity refuses to be classed with the ethnic religions. in its nature it is exclusive. it admits that there is a measure of truth in all religions, but christ's gospel is the truth "once for all" delivered to men. ii. bahaism claims to abrogate and supersede christianity. bahaism in its origin is a mohammedan sect. it declares that islam is from god. christianity was a divine revelation, but islam was a better one. in the "ikan," baha maintains the validity of islam, testifies to its truth, defends mohammed's prophetic mission as the fulfillment of the new testament prophecies, and the koran as the book of god.[ ] abdul baha exalts mohammed, and declares that he "gave more spiritual education than any of the others,"[ ] _i. e._, than moses or jesus. he justifies mohammed's life and conduct, and defends his laws and doctrines."[ ] he declares that "whatever european and american historians have written regarding his highness mohammed, the messenger of god, is mostly falsehood.... the narrators are either ignorant or antagonistic."[ ] christians have therefore been in the wrong for thirteen centuries. they have sinned against god, and were a stiff-necked and perverse people in rejecting mohammed, as the jews were in rejecting jesus the christ. "if those who have accepted a revelation refuse to believe a subsequent revelation, their faith becomes null and void." similarly babism abrogated islam. at the badasht (shahrud) conference ( ) the law of the koran was formally declared to be annulled. baha abrogated babism in the rizwan at bagdad in . bahaism is the new covenant, "which confirms and completes all religious teaching which has gone before."[ ] christianity is, according to this, a system of the distant past. it was effective in its day, for "the christian teaching _was_ illumined by the sun of truth: the christian civilization _was_ the best,"[ ] concedes abdul baha. but now, says remey, "bahaism is not one of many phases of universal truth, but _the truth_, the only living truth to-day, ... the only source of divine knowledge to mankind.... abdul baha's word is the truth.... there are those who will say, 'have we not jesus? we want no other.' the revelation of jesus is no longer the point of guidance to the world. we are in total blindness if we refuse this new revelation which is the end of the revelations of the past.... all the teachings of the past are past.... only that which is revealed by the supreme pen, baha ullah, and that which issues from the centre of the covenant, abdul baha, is spiritual food."[ ] bahaism in proclaiming thus the abrogation of christianity is emphatically antichristian. iii. bahaism casts christ from his throne as the unique manifestation of god. bahaism recognizes two classes of prophets: ( ) the independent prophets, who were lawgivers and founders of new cycles. of this class were abraham, moses, christ, mohammed, the bab, and baha. ( ) the others are dependent prophets, who are as "branches." such were isaiah and daniel. all the greater prophets, of the first class, were manifestations of god.[ ] so bahaism continues to honour christ as the incarnate word, the spirit of god, god manifest in the flesh. at the same time it exalts baha to supreme and unique dignity and glory above christ and all prophets. in order to understand this essential, fundamental doctrine of bahaism, we must know its doctrine concerning god and his manifestation. the teaching of bahaism regarding god is hard to grasp, because it oscillates between theism and pantheism. myron phelps' exposition of it is certainly pantheistic.[ ] baha ullah in many places bears out his interpretation, as, for example, "god alone is the one power which animates and dominates all things, which are but manifestations of its energy."[ ] in subsequent expositions, as in "answered questions," abdul baha repudiates pantheism, and so does m. abul fazl in "the brilliant proof." kheiralla, while maintaining that baha taught theism, accused abdul baha of pantheism. in "the epistle to the shah" baha simulates a monotheism almost as rigid as islam: "we bear witness that there is no god but him. he is independent of the worlds. no one hath known him.... god singly and alone abideth in his own place which is holy, above space or time, mention and utterance, sign, description, definition, height and depth.... the way is closed and seeking is forbidden." a favourite text is that of the koran, in which god says: "i was a hid treasure, i desired to be known, therefore i created the world." in this process "the first thing which emanated from god [eternally] was that universal reality which the ancient philosophers termed the 'first mind,' and which the people of baha call the 'primal will.' this is without beginning or end, essentially but not temporally contingent, and without power to become an associate with god."[ ] the primal will, holy essence, word, spirit, is manifested in perfect men, who are the great prophets. they are supreme, holy, sinless souls, godlike in their attributes. they show the perfections of god.[ ] this reality does not change, but the garment in which it is clothed is different. one day it is the garment of abraham, who is zoroaster, then moses, buddha, krishna, christ, mohammed, the bab, and baha ullah.[ ] abul fazl says: "all the prophets are respectively the manifestations of the single reality and one essence."[ ] the "ikan" says: "all are one, as the sun of yesterday and to-day are one. the sun is one, the dawning-points of the sun are numerous. one light, many lanterns."[ ] "baha is the same light in a new lamp."[ ] yet there are differences in degree. of the bab, baha says: "his rank is greater than all the prophets, and his mission loftier and higher."[ ] but he is merely as a forerunner in comparison with baha. baha is superior to all, greater, more glorious.[ ] he is infallible, absolute, universal. "all the prophets were perfect mirrors of god, but _in baha_, _in some sense_, _the divine essence is manifested_."[ ] "all preceding ones are inferior to him: all subsequent ones are to be under his shadow."[ ] but even the latter are not to come for a "thousand or thousands of years," and perhaps not then, for the "kitab-ul-akdas" says: "o pen, write and inform mankind that the manifestations are ended by this luminous and effulgent theophany." the manifestation has two stations: "one is the station of oneness and the rank of absolute deity, the second station is one of temporal conditions and servitude. if the manifestation says, 'verily i am only a man like you,' or 'verily, i am god,' each is true and without doubt." the "tajallayat" quotes the bab as saying concerning "him whom god shall manifest"; "verily he shall utter, 'i am god. there is no god but me, the lord of all things, and all besides is created by me! o ye, my creatures, ye are to worship me.'"[ ] in bahai literature such words as the following are not uncommon: "baha ullah is the lord of hosts, the heavenly father, the prince of peace, the glory of god."[ ] "he is the framer of the whole universe, the cause of the life of the world, and of the unity and harmony of the creatures."[ ] "no one of the manifestations had such great power of influence as was with el-baha."[ ] in passing, it may be noticed how little ground for such boasting they have. how great in comparison was the influence of moses as leader of israel, emancipator, lawgiver, and prophet! how great even was mohammed's success and influence, compared with what baha has accomplished! how evidently antichristian is bahaism in denying that christ's name and glory are above all, and that to him every knee should bow! iv. bahaism wrongly assumes that its leader is christ come again. there is confusion about this claim, for some bahais represent baha to be christ, and others make abdul baha abbas to be christ come the second time. confusion also arises from the fact that baha is set forth as the manifestation of all the "promised ones." he is set forth as the messiah for the jews, god the father, the word, and the spirit for the christians, aurora or shah bahram for the zoroastrians, the fifth buddha for buddhists, reincarnated krishna for brahmans, the mahdi or the twelfth imam or husain for the moslems.[ ] "all are realized in the coming of baha ullah."[ ] in accord with this, baha declared in his "epistle to the pope": "consider those who turned away from the spirit [christ] when he came to them. verily he hath come from heaven as he came the first time. beware lest ye oppose him as the pharisees opposed him. verily the spirit of truth has come to guide you into all truth. he hath come from the heaven of preëxistence." "baha," says the editor of the _star of the west_, "is the fulfillment of the promise of the 'second coming' _with a new name_ (rev. iii. - )."[ ] it must be remembered that bahaism, chameleon-like, takes on a different aspect according to the environment of its adherents. in persia its creed is different from that of america in regard to the "return." for the most part american bahais regard baha as god the father, and abdul baha abbas as the son of god, jesus christ. after the quarrel and schism following the death of baha ( ), abbas became very wary of assuming titles and dignities, lest he give a handle to his opponents to accuse him of claiming to be a "manifestation." so he assumed the title abd-ul-baha, the "servant of baha," which his followers translate "servant of god." he also calls himself the "centre of the covenant." baha had entitled him the "greatest branch of god" (zech. vi. ) and the "mystery of god" ( tim. iii. ). he was commonly called "agha," an equivalent in persia of effendi or mister, but his followers translate it "master," and put into it the full new testament significance. undoubtedly western bahais worship abdul baha as jesus christ the master come again. in spite of all disavowals and beclouding by words, their faith is plain. getsinger, a leader and missionary, says: "abbas is heir and master of the kingdom: he was on earth , years ago as the nazarene." mrs. corinne true says: "if this is not the resurrection of the pure spirit of the nazarene of , years ago, then we need not look elsewhere."[ ] mr. anton hadad says: "the master, abbas effendi, the lord of the kingdom, is the one who was to renew and drink the cup with his disciples in the kingdom of the father, the one who taught the world to pray, 'thy kingdom come,'" _i. e._, jesus christ.[ ] chase says: "he has come again in the kingdom of his father."[ ] mrs. brittingham, on pilgrimage to acca, writes: "i have seen the king in his beauty, the master is here and we need not look for another. this is the return of the lion of the tribe of judah, of the lamb that once was slain;--the glory of god and the glory of the lamb."[ ] emphasizing the side of his divinity, we have such declarations as these: m. haydar ali taught mrs. goodall, "god is not realized except through his manifestations. now you have recognized him and have come to see him,"[ ] _i. e._, abdul baha ( ). m. asad ullah gave instructions ( ): "this world has an owner, and abdul baha owns the world and all that is in it."[ ] "he is the son of god"[ ]--the only door, "the lord of mankind."[ ] a supplication from persia, given out for publication, says: "o! abdul baha! forgiver of sins, merciful, bountiful, compassionate! how can a sinner like me reach thee? thou art through all the forgiver of sins."[ ] but there is an interpretation to all this for "those of understanding." bahais reject metempsychosis, but they have a doctrine of "return," which must be borne in mind. this principle is expressed by phelps as follows: "when a character with which we are familiar as possessed by some individual of the past, reappears in another individual of the present, we say that the former has returned."[ ] baha states it thus: "in every succeeding manifestation those souls who exceed all in faith, assurance, and self-denial can be declared to be the return of the former persons who attained to these states in the preceding manifestation. for that which appeared from the former servants became manifest in the subsequent ones."[ ] their classic illustration of this is john the baptist. abdul baha says: "christ said that john the baptist was elijah. the same perfections which were in elijah existed in john, and were exactly realized in him. not the essence but the qualities are regarded. as the flower of last year has returned, so this person, john, was a manifestation of the bounty, perfections, the character, the qualities, and the virtues of elias. john said, 'i am not elias'--not his substance and individuality."[ ] remey clearly states the idea: "the return of a prophet does not refer to the return to this world of a personality. it refers to the return in another personality of the impersonal spirit, the word or spirit of god, which spoke through the prophets in the past.... people are mistakenly looking for the personal _individual_ return of their own special prophet."[ ] in accordance with this theory of the "return," abdul baha wrote to the bahai council of new york: "i am not christ; i am not eternal."[ ] to mrs. grundy he said: "some call me christ; it is imagination."[ ] yet the final word of his missionary, mr. remey, is: "the same christ which was in jesus is again manifest in the bahai revelation. the real christians are those who recognize the new covenant to be the return of the same christ,--the word of god."[ ] in like manner this usurper of christ's name is proclaimed to be "the expected one," the "desire of all nations" under other names to the various religions. v. bahaism deals with the prophecies of the bible in a manner derogatory to the glory of the lord jesus christ and his kingdom. bahaism asserts that "the promises and prophecies given in the holy scriptures have been fulfilled by the appearance of the prince of the universe, the great baha ullah and of abdul baha."[ ] a volume would be necessary to review their treatment of the prophecies. they quote a multitude of verses without proof that their applications are valid. the "messenger" and "elijah" of the book of malachi are declared to be the bab.[ ] he is also the angel with the sound of the trumpet (rev. iv. ) and his cycle is the "first resurrection." baha is declared to be the fulfillment of isaiah's prophecies. of chapter ix. - , "unto us a child is born, ... the prince of peace." dealy says: "many misguided people have referred this to jesus christ."[ ] in verse , "galilee of the nations," land of zebulun and naphtali, is made to mean acca (acre in syria) where baha lived in exile, and not the region of christ's ministry, contradicting matthew iv. - . by a great stretch of imagination acca[ ] becomes jerusalem, "the city of the great king" (ps. xlviii. ), and mount carmel becomes mount zion, and isaiah ii. refers to them, "for out of zion shall go forth the law and the word of the lord from jerusalem." even "the root out of jesse"[ ] and the millennial peace are only partially referred to christ. they find the real fulfillment in baha ullah, whom they imagine to be descended from abraham, through an imaginary descendant of his named jesse.[ ] the new covenant and the law written on the heart is again the bahai dispensation, contrary to hebrews viii. , , . when baha as a prisoner in chains rode into acca seated on an ass, he fulfilled zechariah ix. .[ ] i attended a bahai meeting in the masonic temple in chicago. the leader read the following verses as all fulfilled in bahaism.[ ] the "son of man" (dan. vii.) was abdul baha, and the "ancient of days," baha. the question of proverbs xxx. , "what is his name and what his son's name?" was answered, baha and abdul baha; similarly in psalms lxxii. and ii., "the king" and the "king's son." the "branch" (zech. vi. - ) who shall build the temple was again abdul baha, and the latter is specially urgent that the bahai temple in chicago should be built in his day, so that the prophecy may appear to be fulfilled. the dates in daniel are juggled with. for example, abdul baha explains daniel viii. by taking the _solar_ year. he calculates[ ] that the , days were completed at the bab's manifestation in . in daniel xii. the _lunar_[ ] year is resorted to, and the forty-two months ( , years) are dated from the hegira of mohammed, but daniel xii. does not come exactly right, so the _terminus a quo_ is made to be the proclamation of the prophethood of mohammed, three years after his mission, which was ten years before the hegira. by this means the date of baha's manifestation ( ) is reached. in connection with daniel xii. and revelation xi. we have the startling information, so contradictory to history, that "in the beginning of the seventh century after christ, when jerusalem was conquered, the holy of holies was outwardly preserved, that is to say, the house which solomon built. the holy of holies was preserved, guarded, and respected."[ ] on this alleged fact abdul baha founds an argument.[ ] prophecies referring to the glory of god or of the father are applied to baha, because his title means "glory of god." the bab, according to the custom in persia, gave many high-sounding titles. baha's rival was called "the dawn of the eternal." voliva, the successor of dowie, might assume some fitting title and claim to fulfill the prophecies. he has a good foundation for interpretation, he does really live in zion city (illinois). our bahais further tell us that the "new jerusalem," the new heaven and the new earth, mean the new dispensation, the new laws of baha. this is now "the day of god," "the day of judgment," "the kingdom of god," "the second resurrection."[ ] the parable of the vineyard is a favourite proof text. it says that the lord of the vineyard will come _himself_ and will utterly destroy the wicked husbandmen. this, they say, is a real coming of the father, even as the son came. in that case the destroying must be real, and we should expect that baha would have destroyed the religious leaders of mecca or kerbela, jerusalem or rome. "no," says the bahai, "the destroying is figurative, and means simply the abrogation of their authority." well, if he escapes to a figurative interpretation, we too can interpret the coming of the lord of the vineyard as his visitation on jerusalem in the time of titus. baha ullah's method of interpretation and adaptation of prophecies is best seen in his "ikan." in it he interprets at length matthew xxiv.[ ] in brief it is as follows: "after the tribulation of those days" means times of difficulty in understanding god's word and attaining divine knowledge; "the sun shall be darkened and the moon cease to give light," that is the teachings and the ordinances of the preceding dispensation shall lose their influence and efficiency. "the stars shall fall," etc., means the divines shall fall from the knowledge of religion, and the powers of science and religion shall be shaken. because of the absence of the son of divine beauty, the moon of knowledge, and the stars of intuitive wisdom, "all the tribes of the earth shall mourn." "they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven," that is baha ullah shall appear from the heaven of the supreme will, outwardly from his mother's womb. "in the clouds" means in doubts which are caused by the human limitations of the manifestation, eating, drinking, marrying, etc. "and he shall send his angels," the spiritual believers sent as preachers of baha. the separation of the sheep from the goats, as we learn subsequently, means the schism at the death of baha, when the violators, the brothers of abdul baha and their adherents, were exscinded.[ ] even granting an allegorical interpretation of christ's words, only a stretch of imagination can find any reference to baha. it should be borne in mind that oriental bahai writers have read keith on prophecy in persian and the publications of the mission press at beirut. abdul baha said to dr. h. h. jessup, "i am familiar with the books of your press."[ ] m. abul fazl refers to and quotes them. writers in english (as kheiralla, remey, dealy, and brittingham) refer to miller, cummings, seiss, guinness, and others. yet with all their familiarity with apocalyptic literature, they make an exceedingly weak presentation. their claims are so baseless as to require no refutation. they are a mass of unfounded assertions and assumptions,--vain, bold, and brazen. we may admit the declarations of baha and abul fazl, which are but trite principles of hermeneutics, that figurative and allegorical language abounds in the scriptures, that many meanings are "sealed" till after their fulfillment, that the prophecies of the old testament were only partially fulfilled at christ's first coming. but their inference does not follow. there is nothing to prove the assertions that the prophecies were fulfilled in the bab and baha. they furnish no scintilla of evidence. for example, "the government shall be upon his shoulders." was this fulfilled in baha? he came and went; the nations and their rulers from to were neither literally nor figuratively under his sway. he did not nor does he rule over the nations. he did not reign in mount zion nor in jerusalem. jerusalem did not cease to be trodden down of the gentiles. abundance of peace did not attend him, but great wars. the signs of christ's second advent have not been fulfilled in baha, either actually or metaphorically.[ ] as well may ahmad quadiani or dowie assert their pretensions. baha's claim is antichristian. the day of christ's power through the holy spirit has not passed. it is still his day. the knowledge of christ is yet more covering the earth. men of diverse races and religions in asia, africa, and the isles of the seas are being joined in the common faith and fellowship of jesus christ as saviour of men. there are more christians in korea than bahais in persia. more jews have become christian since baha was born than have become bahais from all races and religions outside of persia. christ still goes forth conquering and to conquer. vi. bahaism, in its treatment of jesus christ as a man in his earthly life, belittles him by both its denials and its affirmations. of his temptation it says, "the devil signifies the human nature of christ, through which he was tempted." his miracles of healing are denied.[ ] baha and abul fazl admit the possibility of miracles, but deny their evidential value,[ ] but abdul baha denies their reality. he says: "the miracles of christ were spiritual teachings, not literal deeds."[ ] the raising of the dead means that the dead (in sin) are blessed with spiritual life.[ ] by blindness (john ix.) is meant ignorance and error; by sight, knowledge and guidance.[ ] the spittle coming from christ was the meaning of his words, the clay was the expression he used in accordance with their understanding.[ ] at the crucifixion darkness did not prevail, nor the earthquake, nor was the vail of the temple rent in twain.[ ] the crucifixion was not an atoning sacrifice; christ quaffed the cup of martyrdom "to cultivate and educate us."[ ] the washing away of sins by christ was not by his blood, but was by the practice of his teachings."[ ] christ did not rise from the dead. "resurrection of the body is an unintelligible matter contrary to natural laws."[ ] the body, which signifies his word, arose when faith in his cause revived in the minds of the disciples after three days.[ ] christ's real resurrection was the coming of mohammed. "christ by saying that he would be three days in the heart of the earth meant that he would appear in the third cycle. the christian was one, the mohammedan the second, and that of baha the third." "the ascension of christ with an elemental body is contrary to science." he ascended in the same sense as baha ascended, viz., departed to the other world. thus bahaism denies the miracles,[ ] atonement, resurrection, and ascension of christ. a section of the "tarikh-i-jadid"[ ] is devoted to the denial and refutation of miracles. a blind man in teheran sent to baha praying that his eyes might be opened. he received answer that it was for the glory of god that he remain blind. the bab, at his examination in tabriz, was asked to restore the sick mohammed shah to health. he replied: "it is not in my power, but i can write two thousand verses a day. who else can do that?" he thus appealed not simply to the quality of his poetry but to its quantity as a proof of his manifestation. in like manner, manes, in old times, painted pictures in his "revelations" and appealed to them as proof of his inspiration. while denying miracles, bahais lay much stress, as we have seen, on minute fulfillments of prophecies. bahaism belittles the life and work of jesus in instituting comparisons between christ and baha derogatory to the former. baha says: "it is not meet ... to repeat the error of seeking help of ... the son jesus. let thy satisfaction be in myself." abdul baha says: "the difference between baha and christ is that between the sun and moon. the light of the sun [baha] subsists in itself while the moon gets light from the sun." "all the teachings of christ will not exceed ten pages.[ ] those of the blessed perfection exceed sixty or seventy volumes. christ's instructions refer to individuals. those of the blessed perfection are for all nations, although they apply as well to all individuals. the instructions of christ were heard by but few persons; there were eleven who believed, although christians say there were one hundred and twenty. the teachings of the blessed perfection were spread throughout the world during his lifetime. the reputation of christ did not extend from nazareth to acca [ miles]; the reputation of the blessed perfection extended throughout the world. jesus christ did not send a letter even to a village chief; the blessed perfection sent letters to all the kings of the earth."[ ] notice how he repeats _ad nauseam_ the title for baha, but uses no title for the lord jesus christ, though the moslems invariably do use a title in speaking of the latter. there is an evident effort on the part of kheiralla and abul fazl to minimize the proofs regarding christ from prophecy, miracles, and history, with the idea thereby of magnifying the proof for baha in contrast. for example, "the gospels contain only a few pages of the true words of god. christ's teachings were not written in the original language nor written in his day, his power was slow in proving effective, and many even denied his existence."[ ] "even peter denied him, but baha ullah has educated thousands of souls, faithful under the menace of the sword."[ ] in explaining the progress of bahaism among the jews and zoroastrians, abul fazl says: "christians could not convert even one jew or zoroastrian except by force or compulsion." he ignores the fact that millions of persians had been converted to christ from zoroaster before the sword of islam smote persia. this belittling of christ--his life and work and influence--shows that a spirit antagonistic to christ really animates the bahai leaders, in spite of their professions to the contrary. footnotes: [ ] in an interview with rev. j. t. bixby, who wrote on bahaism in the _north american review_, june, , abdul baha says: "baha ullah has upraised the standard of christ in the east in countries and among peoples where there was formerly no mention of christ's name." not true. christ was known in moslem lands, in india and burmah. [ ] _s. w._, sept. , , p. . [ ] sprague, "story of the bahai movement," p. . [ ] remey, "the bahai movement," p. . [ ] _the christian commonwealth_ (london), sept. , , p. . [ ] "wisdom talks," p. . [ ] remey, "the bahai movement," p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] "the story of the bahai movement," p. . [ ] so of persia, _s. w._, april , , p. . [ ] c. e. maud, _fortnightly review_, april, . [ ] pages - . [ ] "table talks with abdul baha," dec. , . [ ] "answered questions," pp. - . [ ] _s. w._, dec. , , p. . [ ] remey, "tract on the bahai movement," p. . [ ] "talks in paris," p. . [ ] remey, _s. w._, dec. , , pp. - . [ ] in thus regarding the prophets as divine, bahais are not setters forth of strange doctrine in persia, for the ali allahis (nusaireyeh), who number, possibly, twice as many as the bahais in persia, have the same doctrine, and, in addition, regard the imam ali and others as divine incarnations. [ ] phelps, "life of abbas effendi." [ ] baha's "words of wisdom," p. . notwithstanding these repudiations of pantheism, nearly every investigator finds it at the basis of bahai teaching. [ ] "answered questions," p. . [ ] abdul baha in mrs. grundy's "ten days in acca." [ ] _ibid._, p. : "the blessed perfection said in his tablets that once he was abraham, once moses, once jesus, once mohammed and once the bab. baha ullah is all the prophets, no matter by what name he chooses to call himself." [ ] "bahai proofs," p. . [ ] pages - . [ ] "answered questions," pp. - . mr. sprague says: "the bahai faith teaches that the universal spirit, which is god, has manifested itself to every race at some time or other, and that it comes again and again, like the spring, to make all things new" ("a year in india," p. viii). [ ] "ikan," p. . [ ] "bahai proofs," pp. - . at the time of azal there was a whole "galaxy" of manifestations. baha wishes to stop the claimants, so he declares that none is to be expected "for a thousand or thousands of years." persia has had numerous incarnations, so-called. they were found among the ismielis, assassins, ali-allahis and all the _ghulat_. the veiled prophet mukanna, babak and many pretenders have proclaimed themselves god. in truth persia never lacks for an incarnation or two. one of these, of the ali-allahi sect, arrived in tabriz some years ago, and made an appointment to visit me at three o'clock p. m. my somavar was set to boiling and i awaited his arrival. but he failed to keep his engagement because the governor-general, the amir-i-nizam, heard of his presence in the city, and this god fled, forgetting to send me word not to expect him. [ ] "answered questions," pp. - , - . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] "ikan," pp. - . [ ] asad ullah, "the school of the prophets," p. . [ ] mrs. brittingham, "the revelation of baha ullah," p. . [ ] _s. w._, jan. , , p. . [ ] "the revelation of baha ullah," p. . similarly gulam ahmad quadiani of india claimed to be christ come again as well as mohammed and the mahdi and also, for the hindus, a new avatar or incarnation. [ ] c. m. remey's tract, "the covenant," pp. - ; kheiralla's "baha ullah," p. , and "lawh-ul-akdas," translated in _s. w._, vol. iv, p. . [ ] _s. w._, march , , p. . [ ] "notes at acca," p. . [ ] "a message from acca." [ ] "before abraham was, i am," p. . [ ] "the revelation," etc., p. . [ ] "daily lessons," p. . [ ] "flowers from rose garden," p. ; also, dealy, "dawn of knowledge," chap. iv. [ ] asad ullah, "sacred mysteries," pp. , . [ ] "bahai proofs," p. ; _s. w._, jan. , , p. . [ ] "a heavenly vista," p. . [ ] "life of abbas effendi," p. . [ ] "ikan," p. . [ ] "answered questions," p. . [ ] "the bahai movement," p. . [ ] phelps, p. . [ ] "ten days in the light of acca." [ ] _s. w._, dec. , , p. . [ ] m. asad ullah in m. h. dreyfus's "universal religion," p. . [ ] mal. iii. ; iv. - . see dealy, "the dawn of knowledge," pp. - . [ ] _ibid._, pp. , . [ ] dealy says: "to quote all the passages of scripture referring to acca would necessitate reading a great portion of the bible. they identify accho with acca (acre). even if this were so, accho was not in the land of naphtali and zebulun, but in asher. napoleon's siege of acre is called 'the abomination of desolation, standing in the holy place'" (p. ). [ ] isa. xi. - . [ ] "answered questions," pp. - . [ ] kheiralla, p. . [ ] dealy, pp. - , . [ ] "answered questions," pp. - . [ ] kheiralla (pp. , - ) also skips from lunar to solar year and back, to make the dates tally. [ ] "answered questions," pp. - . see milman's "gibbon," vol. ii, p. . "the emperor hadrian's plowshare levelled the temple area." [ ] "answered questions," pp. - . [ ] "bahai proofs," p. . "all in their graves arose spiritually at his call, for service in his cause." [ ] pages - . [ ] doctor potter of teheran says ("missions and modern hist.," by r. e. speer, p. ): "their fanciful interpretations of plain scripture declarations renders it difficult to make any impression on them with proof texts from the bible. they reply, 'yes, but we must break open the word and extract its meaning.'" this, says doctor holmes, "is often directly at variance with its apparent meaning, but this only displays more clearly the divine insight of their teacher, that he is able to recognize words no one else can understand." [ ] _the outlook_ (new york), , june, p. . [ ] in one particular, no doubt, baha has fulfilled prophecy. at least the azalis say that he came "as a thief" and stole the succession from azal. [ ] "new hist.," p. . [ ] "bahai proofs," pp. , - . [ ] mrs. grundy, p. . [ ] "answered questions," pp. - . [ ] "bahai proofs," p. . [ ] m. l. lucas, "my visit to acca," p. . [ ] "answered questions," p. . [ ] _s. w._, april , , p. . [ ] ibn abhar. thornton chase says: "christianity stands condemned because it refuses to reject miracles and the blood atonement and will not confine itself to the precepts of jesus" ("bahai revelation," p. ). [ ] "bahai proofs," p. . [ ] "tablets of abdul baha," vol. i, p. ; "answered questions," pp. - . [ ] yet baha informs us that "copper in seventy years becomes gold in its mine if it be protected from a superabundance of moisture" ("ikan," p. ). [ ] "new hist." [ ] "winterburn's table talks," pp. - . [ ] "bahai proofs," p. . [ ] "answered questions," p. . [ ] "bahai proofs," p. . v bahaism and christianity (_continued_) mrs. goodall:--"is it necessary to arise to say the midnight prayers and to make ablution before them?" abdul baha:--"ablution is only for obligatory prayers three times a day."--"_daily lessons_," p. . abdul baha restores man to his state a little lower than the angels.... on this occasion we newcomers were presented with a bahai stone marked with baha ullah's name. such objects contain a spiritual influence ... actually retain and set free something of the holy man's personality.... at my request, abdul baha graciously took back the stone i had received and returned it with a blessing for my baby girl, who thus, as it were, accompanied us on our pilgrimage and received its benefit.--_horace holley at thonon. his "the modern social religion," p. ._ vii. bahaism teaches another way of salvation. man's origin and destiny were formerly points of doubt in bahai teaching, but the muddy mixture has settled enough to give us a clearer view, at least as regards western bahaism, though pantheistic notions still prevail. abdul baha teaches that matter is eternal, self-existent, and fills all space.[ ] "god always had a creation; the universe has neither beginning nor end."[ ] "creation out of nothing is unthinkable. separate entities come into being through the operation of god--are the perceptible manifestations of him." "there are four degrees of spirit concerned with evolutionary growth: the mineral spirit, the vegetable, the animal, and the human. the mineral spirit contains the latent principle of life."[ ] yet man's origin is not from the animals.[ ] "species is fixed; man was developed gradually as a distinct species."[ ] the spirit of man emanates from god as an action from an actor, a writing from a writer--a manifestation of the divine but not a division from it. sin arises from the physical qualities, from the physical nature which we derive from adam. evil is really non-existent; it is simply lack of good qualities. there is no satan.[ ] the "genii" (jins) of the koran are evil passions in man; demons are the spirits of bad men. as to the doctrine of personal immortality, there has been much confusion of thought. some have understood the doctrine of "rijat" or "return" as teaching transmigration of souls. others have understood their allegorizing about heaven as a rejection of the future life. others, as phelps,[ ] affirm the absorption of the soul in the infinite. my language teacher in persia, a fervent behai, said: "we believe in a future state so unthinkably ecstatic that if its joys were now revealed to men, they would commit suicide to hasten their entrance into it." baha ullah wrote a "tablet of the spiritual world," of which it is said:[ ] "all who read it are filled with an anxious desire to leave this world and enter the next condition, so wonderful are the glories of the spiritual kingdom. in persia one man who read the tablet killed himself. he could not wait for the happiness it promised him. another, a youth of ispahan, could not stand it and lost his reason." mrs. grundy[ ] and mr. phelps[ ] understood abdul baha to teach the annihilation of the wicked, but he denied this[ ] and affirms their conscious existence.[ ] heaven and hell are affirmed in some places, denied in others. sin is little dwelt upon in bahai literature, and the word repentance is seldom used. in the "new history" and "traveller's narrative" sin, transgression, forgiveness, expiation and such words find no place in the indexes. the moslem appeal for mercy is rarely made. in the chapter on prayer, in the "sacred mysteries," there are no directions for the confession of sins, no petition like, "forgive us our trespasses," no cry of the prodigal--"father, i have sinned." there is no atonement. the daily sacrifice of the book of numbers is explained to mean "divine bounty." "the blood of christ cleanses us" is interpreted "his spiritual teaching and love which saved his disciples from the ruin of ignorance and heedlessness." the stages of travel to god, the "seven valleys," are ( ) research, ( ) love, ( ) knowledge, ( ) union, ( ) content, ( ) perplexity or astonishment, ( ) poverty and annihilation. there is no mention of hatred of sin, turning from it and apprehending the mercy of god. the plan of salvation has neither the christian idea of atonement by a mediator, nor the mohammedan one of expiation by works of merit or an equivalent. its plan of salvation is simple, viz., to believe in and follow mirza husain ali, baha ullah, as the supreme and final manifestation in this universal cycle which began in adam and culminated in baha ullah, who was god the father in the flesh. later bahais put abdul baha in the place of christ as son of god and divine mediator. remey's chapter on eternal life[ ] is orthodoxy with baha as "word of god." the doctrines of faith, regeneration, and sanctification are christian with the historic christ eliminated. error has clothed itself as in garments of light. antichrist would steal the livery of heaven and lead christians to forget that there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (acts iv. ), and that if abdul baha or an angel from heaven pervert the gospel of christ or preach any other gospel, he is to be rejected (gal. i. - ). viii. bahaism abrogates the new testament. it is indeed honoured, but as the revelation of a past dispensation. abdul baha wrote in the bible in the city temple, london: "this book is the holy book of god, of celestial inspiration. it is the bible of salvation, the noble gospel. it is the mystery of the kingdom of god and its light. it is the divine bounty, sign of the guidance of god." but harold johnson, a friend of bahaism, wrote, with true discernment:[ ] "in the same spirit he would have written the same words upon the _koran_ or the _vedas_." baha certifies the _koran_ times without number in the "ikan." he wrote:[ ] "whoso hath not acknowledged the _koran_ hath not in reality accepted the books which preceded it." by the same reasoning, whoso does not acknowledge baha's writings as "revealed" rejects the former books also. bahais, even persian bahais, are familiar with the bible. they quote largely from the prophets, the gospels, and the book of revelation. they use them for apologetic purposes, to dispute with christians and to find proofs for their perverted teachings. as the real scriptures for the present age, they present the writings of baha ullah and abdul baha. these are read at their meetings and in their devotions and are chanted at their shrines. these _only_ are to be read in the _mashrak-ul-azhar_, the bahai temples.[ ] the authority of all other scriptures is abrogated, even the "bayan" of the bab.[ ] the "kitab-ul-akdas," the most holy book, consists of laws, exhortations, and warnings. the "ikan," written by baha before he set up his own claim, is an attempt to show from previous books the truth of the bab's claims. the "hidden words," "surat al haykal" (the human temple), the "seven valleys," the "effulgences," the "glad tidings," etc., contain principles, precepts, and rhapsodies. there are also the epistles to the kings and numerous tablets (letters) to individual believers. besides all these, the discourses and letters of abdul baha, containing interpretations and commands, are regarded as revealed and inspired words of god. these are collected in "tablets of abdul baha," "addresses in paris," "addresses in london," "some answered questions," and in the _star of the west_, newspaper. ix. bahaism abolishes the christian institutions--the church, its sacraments, and its polity. the church must soon cease to have any meaning for those who look for grace and strength to another than "the head, even christ" (eph. iv. ). bahais in america have already organized separate meetings for worship in all places where they have a score or more members. in chicago, which is the chief seat of the sect in america, they have or more members. i attended their regular sunday service, in a room which they have rented in the masonic temple. about sixty were present, one-half of whom were visitors like myself. the service was modelled somewhat after the protestant week-day meeting, but without any prayer. several hymns were sung in praise and worship of baha, from a book specially written for his adoration. the leader, a woman, read selections from the "tablets of abdul baha" and gave an exposition of bahai teachings and an invitation to faith in baha and abdul baha, as specially the fulfillment of the prophecies of the bible. another woman read from the "hidden words." the editor of the _star_, one of six bahai men present, gave the announcements and said that the meetings during the summer would be on the ground, at wilmette, where they expect to build the temple (_mashrak-ul-azkar_). this temple is a darling project of abdul baha. he dedicated the ground when he was in america and urges all believers to build it quickly. he says: "the temple is the greatest matter today for the upbuilding of the cause."[ ] it will fulfill prophecy! the government of bahaism is to be by "houses of justice." each will be composed of nine or more bahai men elected by the people. bahaism will be the state religion. kings will exist, but the politico-religious hierarchy will perform many of the functions of the state, even to settling international disputes. churches, assemblies, and conferences, bishops and popes--all will be dispensed with. the bahai "houses" will conduct and control religion for the world. the first universal vicegerent of god is abdul baha. after him the supreme power will be vested in the "house." already signs of bahai tyranny are manifest. abdul baha declared that no believer "must vary one hair's breadth from his word." no bahai may publish anything on religion without first submitting it to him for censorship. such a command is made applicable to all bahais.[ ] in the good time coming there will be a graduated hierarchy--local, national, universal--who will bring "all secular affairs under spiritual guidance." with the church and its ministry the "new revelation" abolishes also the sacraments. baptism is no longer necessary, for "baptism by water," says abdul baha, "was a symbol of repentance and of seeking forgiveness of sins. in the cycle of baha there is no longer need of this symbol, for its reality, which is to be baptized with the spirit and love of god, is established."[ ] yet a substitute is at hand:[ ] "thou hast asked regarding the naming of children. prepare a meeting, chant verses, supplicate guidance for the babe; then give the name and enjoy beverages and sweetmeats. this is spiritual baptism." so remey did. "i will make mention of a bahai christening [?] in ferouzay [persia]. we were asked to name the baby. on the fifth day after the child's birth a feast was spread. the baby was brought out. mr. sprague gave the name ruhullah; prayers, tablets, and a hymn in praise of baha ullah were chanted."[ ] such is the substitute for baptism in the name of the father, son, and holy spirit. the lord's supper as a remembrance of the sacrifice of christ is abolished. instead of it there is introduced an imitation, called the unity feast, with traces of the lord's supper and of the _agape_. of it abdul baha[ ] says: "it must be inaugurated in such a way as to resurrect the feast of the ancients, namely, the lord's supper." we have descriptions of it as celebrated by abdul baha in america and at acca.[ ] sprague says: "the master [at acca] did not sit down with us, but served us, going from one to another, heaping rice on our plates, bringing home to us the words: 'let him that is greatest among you be your servant.' the orientals could hardly bear that their master should wait on them. they felt as peter did when christ washed his feet. after the supper a tablet of baha was chanted in persian. the supper was truly the lord's supper in all its spiritual significance." abdul baha said that the prophecy was fulfilled which said, "they shall come from the east and the west and sit down in the kingdom of god." in america abdul baha celebrated the supper with each group of his followers. in his absence a vacant seat is left at the head of the table for the "master" and passages from the "hidden words" are read as food is passed. other imitations of christ's works and words are repeated to keep up the pretense that he is the saviour. in chicago and other places "the children were on hand to receive the spiritual blessing of abdul baha. he called each child to him and took him in his lap. he blessed them all, laying his hand in blessing on each little head." at a unity feast he said: "abdul baha is standing and waiting upon you." what is this but a copying of the words: "i am among you as one that doth serve." palpable imitations of christ's words abound in the so-called revelations. in the "lawh-ul-akdas "there is a series of beatitudes as: "blessed is the lowly one who holds to the rope of my might. blessed is the hungry one who hastens away from desire. blessed is the thirsty one who seeks the nectar of my benediction. blessed is the spirit who was stirred by my breath. blessed is he who has suffered tribulation for my name's sake," etc. baha ullah doubles the number of christ's beatitudes! in the "kitab-ul-akdas," written many years before his death, baha imitates the parting words of christ: christ in the gospel says: baha ullah says: "let not your hearts be "be not troubled." troubled." "let not your heart be "let not your trouble take troubled; neither let possession of you." it be afraid." "i am with you always." "we are with you under all conditions." "if any man love me, he "whoso knoweth me, will will keep my words." rise up to serve me." "it is expedient for you "verily there is in my occulation that i go away." a reason." "i will see you again." "we shall see you." what palpable imitations of words so dear to the christian heart! words which were in the mouth of christ jesus the expression of deep and sincere emotion are used for effect! x. bahaism is antichristian in its rites and ceremonies. these regulations are, for the most part, copied from the moslem law and are prescribed in the "kitab-ul-akdas." ablution is commanded as a religious rite, to be followed by sitting with one's face towards the _kibla_ (acca) and repeating _alla hu abha_ ninety-five times ( Ã� ). as a fast, bahaism substitutes the last month of their year, named ala for ramazan. as christians have carnival week before lent, followed by easter rejoicings, and as moslems have the oruj bayram, so bahais have five days of feasting before the fast. this extends through a bahai month of nineteen days, march - , and is followed by the noruz or vernal equinox. noruz is consecrated and its ceremonies prescribed with religious sanctions as among the nusaireyah. the ordinance of fasting says: "thus ordaineth the lord of men; abstain from eating and drinking from dawn to sundown." this abstinence includes smoking as among moslems. the same exceptions are made as in the koran--that the traveller, the sick, and pregnant and nursing women are excused. fasting is obligatory after the age of fifteen. the bab put the age limit at forty-two, but baha enjoined it as long as strength permits.[ ] the question naturally arises if obligatory fasting is good, why reduce the time from thirty to nineteen days: if reform is the watchword, why not have the liberty of the gospel? as in fasting, so in prayer bahaism follows the moslem ceremonial law. baha laid down a ritual on the same lines. there are modifications, but no essential difference, from islam. in islam devotion is a strong point, formalism is its weakness. bahaism lessens the amount of devotion, without getting rid of the prescribed formalism. ablutions are a necessary preliminary to the obligatory prayers, at least three times a day, but if one wishes to make other prayers at night, he need not get out of bed to perform the ablutions.[ ] "he who doth not find water, must say five times, 'in the name of god,'" etc. ("akdas"). during the ablutions certain petitions are prescribed as "while washing the hands, say," etc.; "while washing the face, say," etc. then the worshipper must "stand facing the holy place" (acca) and say a portion of the prayers; then "bowing down with hands on knees," say another portion; then "standing with hands outstretched forward and upward," another; then "sitting down," another portion. each prayer has three prostrations (_rika_). prayer times are morning, afternoon, and evening. congregational prayer or at funerals was abolished by baha, but abdul baha permits it for americans.[ ] prayer is directed to baha ullah. when the terms "god," "lord," "thy greatest name" are used, mirza husain ali is intended: "he, baha," says abdul baha[ ] "is the dawning place of divinity and the manifestation of divinity. he is the ultimate goal, the adored one of all, and the worshipped one of all." the editors add (the capitals are theirs): "_further than this_ man has no other point for concentration. he (baha) is god, _the worshipped one of all_." prayer, therefore, is no longer to be in the name nor for the sake of jesus christ but in the "greatest name," _i. e._, baha ullah's, "at the mention of which the people before the houris fall down," "the name of him who is ruler over what was and is."[ ] this name is graven on the breastpins of bahais, and as a monogram on rings, with two stars alongside it, one of which represents the bab and the other abdul baha. this charm is to be buried with the body. a rosary of ninety-five beads is used daily by the worshipper in saying the "greatest name" Ã� times. allahu abha is also to be said at the beginning of a meal or of any business, or as a greeting, just as the moslems say, "bism ullah" (in the name of god) or "peace be to you." the figure , the sum of the letters of baha, is also a talisman. pilgrimage is considered meritorious and has been popular among american as well as persian bahais, though baha says:[ ] "visiting the tombs of the dead is not necessary, it is better to give the money to the house of justice." the chief shrine is the tomb of baha ullah and of the bab[ ] at acca. there have been published accounts of a score of american women and of some men who have obtained permission and entered, as it were, through "the gate of heaven" and "paid their vows unto the most high." but not the least attraction was abdul baha, "the king in his beauty." the pilgrim first does obeisance to him. this is an ecstatic, hysteric event. mrs. true, "perfectly intoxicated with the realization," kissed his hand.[ ] another lady sat at his feet with her head on his knee. another, when she entered his presence, held out her arms, crying: "my lord, my lord,"[ ] and rushing forward, fell on her knees, sobbing.[ ] another narrative says[ ] that abbas greeted them, "clasped each one in a loving embrace," anointed each one with the attar of roses. "some of the believers kissed his hand." of her good-bye this lady says, "i held his hand a long time." even mr. horace holley, author of "the modern social religion," writes,[ ] "this was he. my whole body underwent a shock. my heart leaped, my knees weakened, a thrill of acute receptive feeling flowed from head to foot.... from sheer happiness i wanted to cry." another man, l. g. gregory, a negro, writes: "my knee bent reverently before him." when abdul baha says: "i am glad to see you," the pilgrims thrill at such wondrous words! "his heavenly smile" gives them happiness! his trite platitudes are written down beside the midnight lamp, for the delectation of similar dupes. next the pilgrims visit the palace of bahja and the beautiful pleasure grounds where baha resided during most of his confinement at acca, enjoying much freedom and even luxury as a "prisoner." the tomb of the bab draws them, but more sacred do they deem the tomb of baha ullah, "the culmination of our pilgrimage." this shrine is in the garden of bahja. its outer court is adorned with beautiful rugs, vases, chandeliers, and flowers. here they chant verses from the tablets. each pilgrim, taking off his shoes, enters the "holy precincts" alone. in this "holy of holies," "the heavenly silence of that centre of peace," he "kneels and prays at the throne of grace for pardon and help," "remembering the friends far away before the presence." he counts it a "glorious experience at once solemn and joyful." coming out he is "served with tea and given some beautiful roses which are carefully preserved." mrs. grundy says that "they remained all night at the tomb, chanting and praying without intermission, and standing throughout the ceremonies ... communing with the glorified spirit of baha ullah." under the arbour was a chair where baha ullah used to sit. no one sits in it any longer. she knelt at the foot of the chair whilst one of the daughters of baha chanted a prayer.[ ] a shrine, deemed even more sacred, yet remains. the pilgrims are conducted to it in an inner room of the residence of abdul baha. here are the images "of the glorious ones of god." "we were all impelled to remove our shoes before crossing the threshold. approaching in reverent awe, we were anointed with a fragrant perfume, and as we knelt before the majestic likeness[ ] of the blessed perfection, baha ullah and that of the bab, we were unable to speak."[ ] "here is seen the expression of gentleness, meekness, wisdom, light, love, majesty, power, holiness, in short, every attribute of god."[ ] how far from the christian position the bahais have wandered is seen in the narratives of these pilgrims who take little interest in those holy fields, over whose acres walked those blessed feet which, nineteen hundred years ago, were nail'd for our advantage to the blessed cross. to them not jerusalem but acca is the holy city. not nazareth and the sea of galilee, but haifa and its bay, not the garden of gethsemane but the rizwan, not calvary but the turkish prison barracks, not mount olivet but mount carmel, attract their interest and engage their love. xi. bahaism in its festivals abandons the christian year. in the "akdas," besides _noruz_, new year, there are two sacred days: ( ) the anniversary of the declaration of the bab, may , ; and ( ) the birthday of baha ullah, november , . to these have been added: ( ) the feast of _rizwan_, april -may , commemorating the declaration of baha ullah in bagdad; ( ) the death of baha ullah, may , , at acca; and still later ( ) the birthday of abdul baha, may , ; and ( ) his appointment as "centre of the covenant," november . the four or five intercalary days, february -march , corresponding in a measure to carnival, are a feasting time before the annual fast. the weekly holy days of the three monotheistic religions are abolished. instead of a sabbath, every nineteenth day, the first of each month, is a sacred day; even the week is abolished. the ninth day of each month has been made sacred by abdul baha. the era is also changed. the world and its events are to be reckoned from the bahai cycle. just what this is seems to be doubtful, for some date from the declaration of the bab and write as the year . the _star of the west_ is so dated. some date from the birth of baha ullah and count this as the year , as on the title page of "the bahai movement," by remey. even the year of abdul baha's accession ( ) is used as a date.[ ] thus bahaism has no christian era, no christian sabbath, no easter, no christmas, no trinitarian formula in benediction, doxology, or sacrament, no symbol of the cross, no hymns to christ, no apostles' creed, no lord's prayer. yet it claims to be christian! xii. in conclusion, bahaism is antichristian in its aim and propaganda. whenever it comes in contact with christian missions, in persia, syria, egypt, india, or burmah, it is the opposer of the messenger of christ and his gospel. a hope cherished thirty years ago, by some missionaries and others, that it might be a stepping stone for moslems to christ has not been fulfilled; albeit some of the best converts from islam have first sought the broken cisterns of bahaism.[ ] bahaism is plainly antichristian. it is a new and a different, an inferior and a false religion. its claims are contradictory to the claims of christ. it would draw men's allegiance to another person, to other scriptures, to a system of doctrine and way of salvation inconsistent with the gospel, to forms of worship, ceremonies, and festivals at variance with those of christianity. it declares that christianity is abrogated and superseded. its erroneous dictum is that "the revelation of jesus is no longer the point of guidance for the world." why cannot christian people see that its claims annul faith and loyalty to christ? surely giving bahaism countenance, assistance, and encouragement or opportunity for its propaganda is to wound christ in the house of his friends. footnotes: [ ] phelps' "life of abbas effendi," p. . [ ] "answered questions," pp. , , ; _s. w._, june , , p. . [ ] phelps, p. . [ ] "answered questions," p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] phelps, p. . [ ] page . [ ] mrs. grundy, p. . [ ] "ten days in the light of acca," p. . [ ] pages - , . [ ] "tablets of abdul baha," vol. i, p. iv. [ ] _s. w._, march , , p. . [ ] "the bahai movement," p. . [ ] _contemporary review_, march, . [ ] page , chicago edition. [ ] goodall, "daily lessons," p. . [ ] dreyfus, "the bahai revelation," p. . [ ] "table talks," by true, p. ; "tablets of abdul baha," vol. i, p. . [ ] _star_, july , , p. ; "tablets of abdul baha," vol. i, pp. , . [ ] "answered questions," p. . [ ] "tablets of abdul baha," vol. i, pp. , . [ ] "observations of a bahai traveller," p. . [ ] "tablets," p. . [ ] "daily lessons," goodall, p. ; sprague's "a year among bahais," p. ; _star_, , pp. , , . [ ] _star_, feb. , , p. . [ ] "daily lessons," goodall, p. . [ ] "tablets," vol. i, p. . [ ] _star_, feb. , , p. . [ ] _star_, feb. , , p. . [ ] "glad tidings," tablets, p. . [ ] the bab's body, at the time of his martyrdom at tabriz, was thrown to the dogs. it was rescued, taken to teheran and interred. after many years it was secretly transferred to acca. the bab's house in shiraz was first of all a shrine, and pilgrimage to it is enjoined in the "akdas." another is the mausoleum over the grave of the martyrs at teheran. similarly at ispahan ("a year among the persians," p. ). abdul baha seems to desire to increase reverence for shrines and inculcates such honour for the martyrs as will soon develop into superstition. in the "visiting tablets for martyrs," he says (pp. - ): "blessed is the one who attains to visit thy grave. blessed is the forehead that is set against thy tomb. blessed is the person who lights a lamp at thy resting-place." "i beg god to make thy sepulchre a mine of mercy, a depository of gifts, and to encompass it with manifold signs." a chant for the pilgrim begins: "o peerless martyr! verily i salute thy pure dust and thy holy blessed tomb. the everlasting abode is for such as visit thy tomb." [ ] "table talks," pp. , . [ ] rev. h. h. jessup, d. d., refers to this incident as published in the _literary digest_ (_outlook, ibid._, and "fifty-three years in syria," p. ). he said to abbas effendi, "an american woman has stated that she came to haifa and when she entered your room she felt that she was in the presence of the very son of god, the christ, and that she held out her arms, crying, 'my lord, my lord,' and rushed to you, kneeling at your blessed feet sobbing like a child. can this be right to accept worship?" "i left abbas effendi with the painful feeling that he was accepting divine honour from simple-minded women from america and receiving their gifts of gold without protest or rebuke." [ ] new york _outlook_, june, , pp. , . [ ] mrs. grundy, _ibid._, p. . [ ] page . [ ] see "ten days in the light at acca," pp. - ; "my visit to acca," p. ; "in galilee," p. ; "heavenly vista," p. ; "daily lessons," p. ; "flowers from acca," p. ; "table talks," p. . [ ] baha, in the "akdas," forbids women from going on pilgrimage, the adoration of pictures and the kissing of hands. why does abdul baha encourage them? ignorant devotion has so soon degenerated into superstition and iconolatry. others are trading on the superstitious. abdul baha writes: "i have received news that some one in persia has imitated the picture of the manifestation and sold it for $ to a believer. the real picture is not in the possession of any one but me." [ ] "flowers from acca," p. . [ ] "a heavenly vista," p. ; and above references. [ ] _star_, march , , p. . [ ] doctor jessup, _outlook, ibid._, says, "an old persian sheikh, in , came to the american press in beirut, with a large sheet of paste board on which was written the motto 'ya baha ul abha' and wished to have a map mounted on the face of it. in reply to inquiry why he thus would use it, he said: 'i have had it hanging on my wall for twelve years and prayed to it, and found it to be vanity and worthless. i now prefer to read the bible.'" vi bahaism and the state bahaism certainly does contemplate an earthly dominion which shall eventually subvert all existing governments.--_doctor holmes in speer's "missions and modern history," vol. i, p. ._ the supreme manifestation of social morality is always government and in formulating a politic, baha ullah most clearly earned our reverence as the prophet of modern society.... democracy alone tends to vulgarize personal values, as the united states proves. by uniting the aristocratic spirit with the democratic form of government, he insured a politic at once equable and effective.--_h. holley, "the modern social religion" p. ._ in calling babi-bahaism a worse cult than mormonism, i do so deliberately.--_s. k. vatralsky in "amer. jour. of theology," , p. ._ there can be little doubt from the intolerance they show to those who recant, that should they gain power enough they would be as ready to persecute christians as was mohammed to put to death the jews of medina.--_dr. g. w. holmes in speer's ibid., p. ._ bahaism, as a new religion bidding for popular favour, should be considered in its relation to the state, for this is an important factor in forming our judgment of it. as it historically sprang from babism, it is well to review, first of all, the political relations of babism. i. babism in persia was a form of mahdiism. mirza ali mohammed, the bab, claimed to be the mahdi, the kaim, the twelfth imam returned. according to shiah doctrine, the rulership of the state by divine law belongs to the imam. the kajar shahs had the right to kingship only in the absence of the imam. their authority would cease with his appearance. this is so universally recognized that the constitution of persia drawn up by the parliament in - contains in the preamble the provision that it shall continue only till the manifestation of the imam. in accordance with this principle the babis looked upon mohammed shah and nasr-ud-din shah as no longer the rightful rulers. they were, _ipso facto_, supplanted by the bab, the sahib-i-zaman or lord of the age. the kajars were called by them "unlawful kings." hazrat-kuddus says,[ ] "we are the rightful rulers; know that nasr-ud-din is no true king and that such as support him shall be tormented in hell-fire." disloyalty was an essential corollary of babism and not a consequence of the repression and persecution which it met. the measures of the persian government were caused by this knowledge. the rebellions of the babis were justified in their eyes by self-preservation as well as by the desire to remove, if possible, the shah and make way for the reign of the bab. professor browne's opinion on these points is conclusive. he says:[ ]-- "the babis looked for their immediate triumph over all existing powers, culminating in the universal establishment of the true faith and the reign of god's saints on earth.... they intended to inherit the earth; they held those who rejected the bab as unclean and worthy of death, and they held the kajar shahs in a detestation which they were at no pains to hide.... they did not make any profession of loyalty to or love for the reigning dynasty.... unbelievers were flouted with scorn because they supposed that the promised deliverer would confirm the authority of the shahs." the "bayan," the chief book of the bab, anticipates the time when the shah's government shall be superseded by a babi state, which shall prevail in persia. it gives the laws for this babi state as well as regulations for the distribution of the spoils of war and for the jahad,[ ] showing that the bab anticipated religious wars. the kings of the bayanic dispensation are directed what they should do. in the five chief provinces of persia, no unbelievers are to be allowed to live, except some foreign christian merchants. they are not to be killed, but to be driven out and their property confiscated.[ ] directions are given as to the use of their property. the strongly intolerant doctrine is set forth[ ] that "unbelievers have no right to anything, not even to a believing wife. all that thou seest in the hands of unbelievers is not theirs by right. if the manifestation has power, he would even forbid their breathing." babism, therefore, was a political as well as a religious movement. as such it fought and with some prospect of success, for, as browne says, "it seemed at one time to menace the supremacy alike of the kajar dynasty and of the mohammedan faith in persia."[ ] the bab was executed in . the babi insurrections were suppressed. terrible reprisals followed the attempt on the life of nasr-ud-din shah. the leaders fled into exile to turkey. babism, repressed and forced into concealment, entered upon a new phase. it emerged somewhat changed as bahaism ( ). ii. bahaism should be considered in its political aspects in relation to the government of persia. (a) in persia, the issue of the sword had declared against the babis. baha ullah adopted a policy aptly called "political opportunism."[ ] he proclaimed the loyalty of himself and his followers to the shah, denounced the attempted assassinations, wrote prayers to be said for the shah,[ ] and pleaded for the toleration of the sect as one without political aspirations. bahai apologists condemned the bab and the conduct of the babis, declaring it contrary to the principles of the bab.[ ] mirza abul fazl, on trial before the persian government, repudiated the babis, denounced their actions as unseemly and bad,[ ] and declared with emphasis that bahaism was an entirely different religion. he pronounced the shah free from blame regarding the death of the bab[ ] and the persecutions of the babis, casting the responsibility and reproach on the mullahs and the ministers of state.[ ] he even made a show of blaming the attendants for the death of badi, the messenger who bore baha's epistle to the shah, and made as though the shah regretted it. the "new history" and the "traveller's narrative" are both tendency writings, following out the same purpose, glossing over the facts as given in the contemporary narrative of mirza jani, putting the odium on the mullahs and asserting "that no particular blame attaches to his most sacred majesty the shah";[ ] though other writings of baha show a spirit of hostility to the shah.[ ] following the policy of conciliation the bahais made petition to the shah stating that[ ] "this sect has no worldly object nor any concern with political matters, it has nothing to do with affairs of government neither has it any concern with the powers of the throne." they stated that[ ] "they have made no disturbance, or rebellions, or any sign of sedition." so baha[ ] enjoined that "in every country they must behave towards the government with faithfulness, trustfulness, and truthfulness." the persian government responded to this policy and ceased to persecute as before. during the past fifty years the bahais have not been much molested. their persecutions have been few and generally due to local causes. the number of bahais who have lost their lives in the course of their history (after they cease to be babis) is probably not more than , more than half of whom were killed in riots at ispahan and yezd in . the bahai historian[ ] states that "on rare occasions certain ulema, for their own personal and private advantage, molest one or two individuals of the sect." but the shah's government has tolerated them.[ ] not counting the present holy war against the christians, more have been killed in persia in the half century than bahais.[ ] the government has shown liberality towards bahais by allowing them to occupy positions in the civil service, as clerks in the post, telegraph, customs, courts, and consulates, and has not discriminated against them. (_b_) coming to the period of the agitation for a constitution and the revolution, it is plain that the bahais had little to do with the struggle. neither they nor their teachings were the cause of it. the causes were the same, in general, as those which influenced turkey and china towards constitutional reform. the occasions in local circumstances and politics had nothing to do with bahaism. the leaders were enlightened moslems, and even mullahs of the shiahs. they were not bahais. these held aloof from the propaganda and the struggle for popular liberties, took little part in the elections or in parliament, and joined neither the army of the constitutionalists nor that of the reactionaries. they displayed no love of country by striving for the cause of the people, nor any real love or loyalty to the autocratic shah. yet the influence of abdul-baha abbas was thrown in favour of mohammed ali shah, and after he had scattered parliament at the cannon's mouth and annulled the constitution, bahais were granted appointments in the civil service and rejoiced in the reactionary régime. a tablet of abdul baha was circulated prophesying a long and prosperous reign for mohammed ali shah, who before many months was driven from his throne into exile. my personal knowledge of these circumstances is supported by abundant printed evidence. first of all there is abdul baha's own statement. he said in america,[ ] "in persia the bahais have no part in the movements which have terminated in corruption. they must have nothing to do with seditious movements." excerpts from his letters[ ] show that they were constantly enjoined "from the very beginning of the revolution to stand aside from the struggle and war." to the same effect are the words of the bahai remey,[ ] "the bahais had remained neutral in the struggle for constitutional liberty and the renewal of persia." so dreyfus, another bahai,[ ] "he (abdul baha) dissuaded them from mixing themselves up in the political struggle. this explains the apparently passive rôle played by the bahais in contemporary events in persia." because of this attitude, professor browne accuses them of lack of patriotism and laments their inaction. but this attitude of neutrality was only maintained by them as far as taking up arms and public action were concerned. their secret influence was on the side of the reactionary party. it is plain that the constitutionalists regarded the bahais as their opponents, and mohammed ali shah counted them as his supporters. abdul baha said in new york,[ ] "the bahais have taken no part whatever in political questions and disturbances. their clamorous persecutors were the revolutionists. these discontents wanted constitutional rights and privileges. they were politicians, not religionists." certainly the hostile animus of these words is unmistakable. there is indubitable proof, too, that abdul baha carried on correspondence with mohammed ali shah. m. h. ford, a bahai writer,[ ] states the fact in detail. its purport was such that, when the constitutionalists knew it, abdul baha feared violence. this was commonly reported in persia. in chicago the first bahai missionary to america confirmed this fact which he had heard from acca. he said, "the authorities intercepted abbas's letter intriguing with mohammed ali shah, and therefore the revolutionists threatened him." remey shows the affiliation of the bahais with the shah, and his satisfaction with them. he arrived at teheran just when the shah had scattered the parliament and hanged the editors. he says, "we found the bahais in the utmost peace and happiness. they were in good esteem and respect of the [reactionary] government, and were now enjoying _unusual_ privileges.... several of the bahais had been appointed to high governmental positions." in accord with all these facts is the statement of j. d. frame, m. d., of resht: "the political influence of the bahais has been grossly exaggerated. they were forbidden to accept seats in the first parliament and professed to maintain strict neutrality, but in the spring of a 'tablet' was circulated among them, promising that mohammed ali shah would rule for the remainder of his life; and the writer possesses a copy of another 'tablet' promising him speedy peace and prosperity. the subsequent forced abdication of the king cost the bahais considerable prestige and some followers."[ ] we thus see a double failure on the part of this movement. as babism it failed in - in its rebellion and wars against the kajars; as bahaism it failed to enter into and assist the modern movement, which, aiming at reform and progress, inaugurated a constitution. the cause of the latter is not far to seek; bahaism has a political scheme of its own. we will now consider it. iii. bahaism has set forth a system of civil government. claiming to be a revelation from god, it has enunciated the laws and regulations of the future state. it approves of constitutional monarchy as the best form of government, and permits republics.[ ] but this monarchy will be limited not so much by its constitution as by the law of bahaism and its hierarchy. baha, in the "kitab-ul-akdas," the book of laws, directs that bet-adl, houses of justice, be established in every place, with nine or more members, all bahai men, who shall be trustees of the merciful, administrators for god. in the thirteenth of the "glad tidings"[ ] he says: "the affairs of the people are placed in charge of the men of the house of justice. they are daysprings of command (divine agents, representatives of god). they may execute what they deem advisable. it is incumbent upon all to obey them. their souls will be inspired with divine aspiration. god will inspire them with what he willeth." with them will lie the interpretation of points of doctrine. they must decree and judge according to bahai revelation. "they must gaze day and night towards that which hath been revealed from the horizon of the supreme pen." they shall rule by divine right. their authority shall be absolute. abdul baha restates the words of baha:[ ] "the house of justice must be obeyed in all things." "it is the centre of true government." "the law of god will be invested in them, and they will render decisions." "all judgment will be from the standpoint of god's laws." "its decisions and commands will be guarded from mistake. it will have conferred upon it infallibility." the house of justice will have local councils, national ones, and an international one.[ ] of the latter, abdul baha said in an address in new york: "a universal or world house of justice shall be organized. that which it orders shall be the truth in explaining the commands of baha ullah and shall be obeyed by all. _all men shall be under its supervision._"[ ] its functions are not confined to matters of faith, for abdul baha continues: "the house of justice is endowed with a political as well as a religious aspect. it embodies both aspects, and is protected by the preserving power of baha ullah himself." _in the political aspect it will be supreme._ "the separation of the religion and the state can only be temporary," says dreyfus,[ ] "a momentary stage. for the present the two spheres are separate. when bahaism triumphs they will be united." "the house of justice[ ] will have under its control almost the whole administration, and naturally will take the place of our municipal councils. such has been baha ullah's intention. further he clearly aims not only at a municipal house of justice, but also at a legislative one, sitting as a national parliament and as an international tribunal." remember that all the members are to be bahais. so remey says, "there will be a union of religion and the state--the governments of the nations. the material laws of men will be founded and enforced according to bahaism."[ ] in this politico-religious régime, the political will be subject to the religious. "the kings and rulers of the world," says abdul baha,[ ] "will find their true authority under the rulings of the house of justice. it will decide between kings and kings." baha addressed letters[ ] to kings with arrogant assumption of authority to control the civil powers. the houses of justice will have _large financial powers_. they shall inherit all property of those dying without heirs, and one-third of that of those dying childless.[ ] one-third of all fines for crimes shall go to them. for example, in case of murder, two-thirds of the blood money shall go to the family of the murdered and one-third to the house of justice. a tithe of nineteen-hundredths shall be given into their hands. they shall act as trustees for minors and incapables, and as a poor board. they shall have _civil_ jurisdiction, "to settle material difficulties between believers,"[ ] for the protection of men, for the preservation of human honour.[ ] "if any man refuses to educate his children, the house of justice shall do it at his expense," and "shall order all the negligent to pay" and use police powers to enforce it. they must also interpret and administer _criminal_ law, for baha has "revealed" a code of laws and regulations concerning material as well as spiritual things.[ ] abdul baha says, "the revelations of baha ullah contain all the great laws of social government." "the laws cover all points and questions of national administration."[ ] for example, in the "kitab-ul-akdas," the punishment for theft is prescribed: for the first offense, exile; for the second, imprisonment; for the third, branding "thief" on the forehead, "lest other countries accept him." for adultery a fine is to be paid to the house of justice, and for the second offense, double of the fine. arson is made punishable by burning, etc. this fiat legislation of baha ullah is to be imposed upon the parliaments of all nations. "all legislative and administrative functions," says dreyfus,[ ] "shall assume a sacred character" under the control of the bahai house of justice. in brief, bahaism would set up in each town, in every country, ruling councils, and a central one universal in its sway, composed entirely of bahais, clothed with supreme authority, because god-given, over kings, parliaments, and peoples; councils infallible and absolute, superior to appeal or protest; deciding and exacting obedience in every department of the life of humanity--religious, domestic, social, educational, financial, judicial, and political. it would be not an _imperium in imperio_, but an empire over all. it would be a priestcraft[ ] such as the world has not yet seen--a religious-political régime in which kings and presidents will go not to canossa but to acca, and alike hold the stirrups of bahai justices, and laws of parliaments will be subject to revision and veto by the bahai house. in it is the certainty of priestly oppression when fallible men set up their judgment as god's. the bahais claim to have no priests and no _hierarchy_. it is a question of names. their system and laws contain the real thing, full-fledged, men mediating god's will. we may call it a _bahaiarchy_, if they prefer. abdul baha, recognizing the objections that will be made to the political functions of the bahai justices, and foreseeing difficulty with governments, has, for the time being, directed that in america and europe the name "house of spirituality" or "house of consultation" be used.[ ] but change of name does not alter the reality or change the "revelation" of baha. the house of justice (central) is to be set up when abdul baha dies, and it will assume its functions gradually as opportunity and expediency demand. already orders have gone forth prohibiting the interpretation of the words of baha or personal expositions of them.[ ] already the fiat has interdicted the publication, by a bahai, of a tract, book, or translation on the bahai religion without submitting it to the censor at acca.[ ] the effect of the working of the bahai system may be realized by imagining it as set up in persia. suppose, for example, that the small minority of bahais now in persia should become a majority, with a bahai shah, bahaism would become the established religion. "houses of justice" would come into operation. what of those who remain moslems and christians? fortunately baha has abolished the law of the bab that required their expulsion from the chief provinces of persia and the confiscation of their property. but either the other religions must be judged by bahai courts, or separate courts must be set up for them. this would perpetuate the double system of courts, the _urfi_ or civil and the _shari_ or religio-civil courts. the latter would be entirely bahai and either lording it over or in conflict with the civil administration. this would be a continuation of the present confusion of persian conditions, only with the bahais in control. what might the minority expect? the oppressions and anathemas received by the old bahais from the followers of abdul baha abbas give the answer.[ ] fortunately for the world, the universal reign of bahaism is not to be realized, neither is the prophecy of abdul baha to be fulfilled which says[ ] "that the flag of baha ullah will overcome every other flag and all rulers will do homage to it." footnotes: [ ] "new hist.," p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. xvi. [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] "bayan," vi, . [ ] "beyan persan," vol. iv, p. . [ ] browne, "new hist.," p. vii. [ ] browne, "new hist.," p. vii. [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] "bahai proofs," pp. , , . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] "new hist.," pp. , . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] see "surat-ul-muluk," and _s. w._, sept. , , pp. , . see chap. viii, p. , . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] "words of paradise." [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] browne, "a year among the persians," p. . m. a. ford in "the oriental rose," p. , says, "for many years before the death of baha ullah, there was no persecution of the friends." [ ] see "missions and modern history," r. e. speer, p. , note . [ ] _s. w._, july , . [ ] browne's "persian revolution," pp. - . [ ] "observations of a bahai traveller," p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] _s. w._, august , . [ ] "the oriental rose," pp. - , . [ ] _the moslem world_, , p. . [ ] "glad tidings," p. . [ ] chicago edition, p. . [ ] grundy's "ten days in acca." [ ] "answered questions," by abdul baha, barney, pp. - . [ ] _s. w._, dec. , ; april , , p. . [ ] "the bahai revelation," p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] "bahai movement," p. . [ ] grundy, _ibid._ [ ] mohammed wrote to the rulers of constantinople, persia, egypt, and syria. that which was a bold and striking act on the part of mohammed is a weak imitation on the part of baha. [ ] they become what they accused the shiah mullahs of being; "dead men's heirs, consumers of endowments, and collectors of tithes and 'thirds.'" [ ] dreyfus, p. . [ ] "ishrakat," p. . [ ] remey, p. . [ ] kheiralla, p. . [ ] "the bahai revelation," p. . [ ] the word "priest" is used loosely for an officer of religion. bahais use no special term. abdul baha says ("universal principles," p. ): "the making of specific laws is apportioned to the house of justice. the members will not form laws and statutes according to their own opinions and thoughts, but by the power of inspiration." [ ] "tablets," vol. i, pp. and . [ ] "brilliant proof," p. . [ ] _s. w._, july , , p. . [ ] abdul baha justified mohammed's use of the sword, saying, "mohammed commanded his followers to carry the religion of god by the sword. it is right to inflict injury to save a man's life," therefore to save his soul by force. [ ] "daily lessons at acca" (goodall and cooper), p. . vii bahaism and woman baha ullah in a letter to one of his wives:--this writing is to the exalted leaf, who hath tasted my most holy and wonderful saliva. we have given thee to drink from my sweetest mouth, o thou blessed and sparkling leaf. we have bestowed upon thee such a station as no woman had who preceded thee.--_in prayers, tablets and instructions, ._ there is a touch of oriental luxury of admiration in some estimates of kurrat-ul-ayn, who in important moral characteristics did not rise above the level of her time and place. and in its results babism has not exalted woman.--_r. e. speer, "missions and modern history" vol. i, p. ._ abdul baha while in europe and america had much to say about the relation of man and woman. in new york city, after referring the audience to various books of the bahai religion, he said: "similarly all the other tablets of baha ullah contain _new_ teachings, which have not been revealed in any books of the past prophets. the sixth new teaching is the equality between men and women. this is peculiar to the teachings of baha ullah, for all other religions placed men above women."[ ] in the exposition of bahai teachings at clifton, england, he declared: "his highness, baha ullah, established certain precepts or principles."[ ] "the sixth principle of baha ullah regards the equality of the sexes. god has created the man and the woman equal. in the animal kingdom the male and the female enjoy suffrage [laughter]; in the vegetable kingdom the plants all enjoy equal suffrage [laughter and applause]. the male and the female of the human kingdom are equal before god. divine justice demands that men and women have equal rights." my first thought on reading these statements was one of surprise, for they contradict my observations during thirty years' residence in persia, in close touch with bahais. i decided to make a thorough investigation of the teachings and practice of baha ullah bearing on the relation of the sexes, to determine definitely whether these claims of the "inspired interpreter" were valid or not. a considerable body of bahai literature and "revelation" is accessible. examination of the chief books, the "kitab-ul-akdas," the "ikan" and the "surat-ul-haykal" disclose no such teaching. neither the paragraphs of the "hidden words," nor the "seven valleys" have any such delectable thoughts for oriental women. neither the six "ornaments"[ ] of the faith nor the four "rays,"[ ] nor the nine "effulgences,"[ ] nor the eleven "leaves of the words of paradise," nor the nine precepts of the "tablet of the world," nor the fifteen "glad tidings"--though they announce many blessings, from freedom to cut the beard as you please to constitutional monarchy as the best form of government--give the teaching of the equality of woman with man. neither mirza abul fazl in his "bahai proofs," representing the new bahais of abdul baha, nor doctor kheiralla in his ponderous volume on beha ullah, representing the old behais, in this bitter and rancorous schism; nor myron phelps in his "life of abbas effendi," nor professor browne of cambridge university in his learned and impartial investigations regarding the religion makes the statement that baha ullah teaches the equality of man and woman. on the contrary, investigation confirmed my previous conviction that the position of woman under bahai laws and customs is inferior to that she holds in western lands and that her lot is far less desirable and less blest than in christian civilization. i reached the conclusion that this doctrine as enunciated by the "interpreter" is a late addition to bahaism, intended to attract the attention and tickle the ears of audiences in europe and america. of the two or three thousand americans who are following the cult of bahaism, most are women. concerning this abdul baha says in a tablet: "today the women of the west lead the men in the service of the cause (bahaism) and loosen their tongues in eloquent lectures."[ ] the editor adds, "nine-tenths of the active workers in the cause are women."[ ] hence it is timely to consider the teaching and practice of baha ullah with regard to women. i. i will first take up the _subject of education_, for in regard to it the law of bahaism justifies, theoretically, their boast of maintaining the equality of the sexes. in this it is, however, simply imitating the law of enlightened christian lands, nor does their practice at all keep pace with their precepts. in the seventh ishrak (effulgence) it is "enjoined upon all to instruct and educate their children."[ ] the "kitab-ul-akdas" decrees "that every father must educate his sons and daughters in learning and in writing" and also in the bahai religion. education is to be compulsory and if neglected by the parents must be attended to by the "house of justice." but, notwithstanding this law, most persian bahais have allowed their girls to grow up in ignorance, while educating many of their boys. even at acca,[ ] syria, the headquarters of the sect, where baha had a school for boys, no like opportunity was furnished to the girls for an education. the fact that modern schools for girls could not be opened in persia is no adequate excuse, for private tutors could have been employed, as is the custom in many persian shiah families, or the fathers could at least have taught their daughters to read. lately american bahais have begun to stir them up. they have organized the persian-american or orient-occident educational society. it raises funds in america for bahai schools and hospitals. with exceeding lack of candour, it poses as simply a philanthropic enterprise and conceals its primary and ulterior object, which is the propagation of bahaism. its missionaries make their reports of their work in the _bahai news_ or _star of the west_, of chicago. they have one or more schools for girls in persia and several scores of girls in attendance. the american bahai missionaries are residing in teheran and tabriz,[ ] directing the propaganda and working for the elevation of the girls and women through the bahai religion. ii. i pass to the consideration of _the civil and domestic rights of woman under bahaism_, and will review the customs and regulations regarding marriage--so fundamental in the constitution of human society. (_a_) marriage seems to be obligatory, according to the "kitab-ul-akdas." it says: "a solitary life does not meet god's approval; adhere unto what the trustworthy counsellor commands. deprive not yourselves of that which is created for you."[ ] monks and nuns are called upon to marry that they may have children "to celebrate the praise of god." a tablet says: "nor must they refrain from marriage which causes procreation and multiplication of the servants of god."[ ] mirza abul fazl, the learned philosopher of the dispensation, interprets the law to mean: "he has enjoined upon the people of baha abstinence from monkhood as well as from ascetic discipline. he has commanded them to marry."[ ] professor browne says: "marriage is enjoined upon all." in like manner the "bayan" of the bab previously made marriage obligatory, but unlawful with an unbeliever. (_b_) marriage is declared to be conditioned on the consent of both parties and of the parents. but in practice the matter of consent is still one-sided. take, for example, an incident in the life of abbas effendi.[ ] the mother and sister were very desirous that he should marry and looked about and found a girl of whom they approved. the sister narrates that "without consulting my brother, i invited the girl to visit us. after a wearisome journey, she and her brother reached haifa. we commenced quietly to make preparations for the marriage without making known to my brother the arrival of the girl. my brother saw that there was something unusual afoot, so he demanded of us with considerable energy, 'what is this? what are all the people smiling about? are you again planning to get me a wife? if you are, give it up; i will not marry.' we pleaded and reasoned with him. at length we said, 'she has come, what shall we do?' he hesitated and finally said: 'well, since you have brought her here, she belongs to me, and i will give her in marriage to some one else.' at length my brother brought about her marriage to a husband of his own selection." the "consent" of the girl in this case seems to have been considered about as much as in ordinary oriental usage. (_c_) baha ullah advised against child-marriages, yet, strange to say, seems to have tolerated child-betrothals. among persians it is a common custom to betroth children. abbas was after this manner betrothed to his cousin in infancy. when the household of baha thought the time had come for the marriage, abbas thought differently and refused to agree to it. this incident[ ] occurred before the one narrated above and is concerning a different girl. curiously it was a girl named moneera, who had been betrothed to another in infancy who finally became the wife of abbas effendi. she had been promised to her cousin mohammed tagi, and after she had reached the age of maturity, the youth urged on the marriage. the wedding was celebrated and the bride brought to the groom's house. then, so the story goes, the husband refused to see his bride and continued in stubborn neglect and denial of marital rights till his death--six months afterwards. later baha ullah persuaded abbas to take the "sweet and amiable" virgin-widow for his wife and he is said to have attained to "a warm affection and regard" for the woman he was asked to marry.[ ] did i wish to assume the rôle of higher critic, i might suggest that the latter incident, like that in "when knighthood was in flower," is apocryphal, and intended to create a legend of her virginity up to the time she became the "leaf" of the "greatest branch of god." another account i have gathered from a syrian disciple of baha. he reports that abbas effendi would not marry the girl his parents had betrothed him to, because he had a love affair with moneera, the wife of mohammed tagi. the speedy demise of the husband was attributed to poison administered by his wife, who thereupon became the wife of abbas effendi. her title among bahais is "holy mother." (_d_) another part of the marriage law gives directions as to the number of wives a man may take. the "kitab-ul-akdas" says: "god hath decreed you to marry. beware of marrying more than two, and whosoever is content with one, attaineth peace for himself and her."[ ] mr. phelps[ ] calls attention to this fact that the book of laws permits of taking two wives. this limitation of the man to bigamy is deemed an improvement on the law of islam allowing polygamy. but bahai law does not permit a wife to have two husbands. this absolutely invalidates the claim and declaration of bahaism concerning the equality of the sexes. it proclaims the woman the inferior, not the equal. no equality can exist in a household under such a license. where is the boast of progress and superiority, when the most essential unit of human society is nullified? "twain shall be one," says the gospel of christ. can we believe that the "incarnated father of all" has revealed a new "most holy book" in which bigamy is permitted? _akstag fur allah!_ god forbid! i will now give some details from the history of the babi and bahai "manifestations" to show their practice in regard to marriage. after the execution of the bab, , the rival claimants to prophethood were mirza yahya, surnamed subh-i-azal, and mirza husain ali, surnamed baha ullah. they were sons of mirza abbas of nur,[ ] called mirza buzurk. he had a wife and a concubine. yahya was the son of the wife and husain ali of the concubine. this was under the law of islam. the subsequent enmity of the half-brothers exhibits one of the evil results of polygamy. subh-i-azal was the "lord of two wives," whose names and condition are recorded in the pension records[ ] of the turkish and british governments in cyprus. the first was named fatima and her companion wife was rukayya. they had fourteen children. besides the two, who were with azal in cyprus, it seems there were two others. of the third wife he says[ ] in his personal narrative: "my wife, who was taken captive and was released, has now grown old in persia without an interview being possible." the fourth quarrelled with her lord and accompanied the bahais to acca.[ ] after several of the azalis, with whom she was living, were murdered by the bahais,[ ] she was sent on to constantinople with a surviving azali.[ ] baha ullah, like mohammed, surpassed his own law. he had three wives, or two wives and a concubine. bahai writers generally omit this information in describing his life and character. kheiralla has a chapter on his household and gives the names and titles of his children, twelve in all, but fails to mention the fact that he had two wives, though he says: "like abraham, by establishing his household, baha ullah perfected the laws of man, and fulfilled the prophecies of scripture."[ ] c. m. remey passes over the subject with the remark: "as a man he lived a life in harmony with his oriental environment."[ ] abbas effendi in his "traveller's narrative," abul fazl, dreyfus, sprague, thornton and others fail to inform their readers of the truth and this omission is evidently with definite purpose. phelps is more candid. he says that "baha ullah had two wives; that the book of laws permits it."[ ] professor browne refers to the three, giving the honorary titles conferred upon two of them. he makes a quotation[ ] from hasht behasht which reads: "among the titles conferred by baha ullah are the following:--on his wives, madh-i-ulya, 'the supreme cradle,' and varaka-i-ulya, 'the supreme leaf.'" and in the "new history," he says: "the title of varaka-i-ulya was conferred by baha ullah on one of his wives."[ ] the name of the first wife was aseyeh or nowab. she was the mother of abbas effendi and six other children.[ ] according to subh-i-azal's narrative[ ] she was a niece of the shah's vizier. she survived baha and suffered much from the children of the other wife, according to abbas effendi.[ ] the first marriage was in teheran in . he took a "companion for her" in . her title was madh-ulya. she was the mother of mirza mohammed ali, mirza badi ullah and other sons and daughters. the manuscript, "life of baha ullah," continues: "in the last year at bagdad ( - ) before the exiling of our lord to constantinople, the sister of mirza mahdi of kashan was honoured to be his wife." it appears that she was sent by a rich believer from persia to be a maid-servant in baha's household. the persian consul in bagdad, mirza buzurk khan kasvini[ ] desired to take her as his wife or concubine. baha himself took her as a concubine. because he was thwarted, the consul showed special enmity to baha and his followers. the only child of this wife, a girl, was born at acca in . the three wives survived baha. after his death one of them suffered gross indignities at the hands of abbas effendi, being furiously attacked by him in his own house, so that she fled precipitately. this, at least, is the report of khadim ullah, the lifelong amanuensis of baha ullah.[ ] it should be noted that all of baha's wives[ ] had children, and that the first wife had a living son (abbas) when he took the second wife, so that the usual excuses cannot be pleaded in palliation. for it is common for bahais in persia to quote their law, in speaking to a christian, as meaning that a man may take an additional wife if the first one is childless. mr. phelps pleads[ ] in extenuation for baha ullah that "his second marriage occurred early in his life and under peculiar circumstances, the exact nature of which i do not know." such an excuse might be accepted for a man like mullah mohammed ali, the babi leader of the zenjan insurrection, for, as far as is known, he entered upon his polygamous life while he was a mohammedan. two of his wives[ ] were shot by a cannon ball and were buried with him in a room of his house, while his third wife, with children, escaped and lived at shiraz. but for baha ullah the excuse of mr. phelps is inadmissible, for he was no longer a moslem when he took the second wife, and was thirty-three years old, and he was fifty when he took the third wife in bagdad, having been born in . at that time baha had been for many years a leader in the babi religion, had written the "ikan," and announced his mission. nor was this polygamous union a passing phase of his life, but one continued through thirty or forty years. it would have concerned us little to know the private life of baha ullah so long as the religion presented itself merely as aiming at a reformation of islam, for it may readily be admitted that it is somewhat less of an evil to have two wives and one concubine than the four wives and unlimited concubines that the koran allows, or the nine to thirteen wives that mohammed took, and that if bahaism should cut off the temporary concubines, which disgrace islam, it would be doing a good thing--so far forth--but when the "interpreter, the centre of the covenant," abdul baha, comes and stands in christian churches in london and new york and proclaims bahaism as a new and superior gospel, it is expedient that baha's real life should be made known to the women of christian lands. it is well to note the sentiment of oriental bahais with regard to plural marriage. the opinion of those at acca can be understood from mr. phelps' narrative.[ ] abbas effendi (abdul baha) had two sons and six daughters. the sons died. after this, as his sister behiah khanum narrates, "many influences and those of the very strongest character have been brought to induce my brother (abdul baha) to take another wife. believers have urged it strongly for several reasons. _very many of them wish to take a second wife_ themselves. then there is a general wish that the master might have a son to succeed him. the pressure brought to bear upon him has been very great, greater than you can imagine." baha desired that abbas should take a second wife, but he refused to do so unless baha should command it. there is deep pathos in the words of abbas[ ] welling from his sorrow-stricken heart. "if it had been god's will that i should have a son, the two that were born to me would not have been taken away." albeit he was forgetful of his theology which proclaims baha as "god the father incarnate." why did not baha preserve alive one of the sons rather than wish him to marry a companion-wife in order to have another? mr. phelps[ ] attributes abbas effendi's refusal to adopt polygamy, notwithstanding these "very powerful influences which have urged him to do so" to "his appreciation of the sufferings and discontent which it causes among women."[ ] certainly the animosity and bitter quarrellings between the wives of baha and their respective children, resulting in a permanent split in the family and a schism[ ] in the bahai community, were sufficient to impress abbas and his followers with the evil effects of plural marriage. the narrative shows, however, that public sentiment among the believers at acca strongly favoured taking more than one wife. they evidently had no desire to give up the license granted to them by the "kitab-ul-akdas." they inclined to follow it and the example of baha ullah rather than the example of abdul baha. in conclusion, it is evident that the law and example of baha ullah both sanction polygamy. by this the social _inequality_ of the sexes is fixed. any claim that bahaism teaches and establishes equal rights for man and woman is vain and groundless boasting. iii. _the regulation of divorce_ is another matter that vitally affects the relation of man and woman. the divorce law of baha, as prescribed in the "kitab-ul-akdas," is a loose one. i again quote from professor browne's translation.[ ] it will be noticed that the conditions of the law are set forth from the standpoint of the man. "if quarrels arise between a man and his wife, he may put her away. he may not give her absolute divorce at once, but must wait a year that perhaps he may become reconciled to her. at the end of this period, if he still wishes to put her away, he is at liberty to do so. even after this he may take her back at the end of any month so long as she has not become the wife of another man." "the practice of requiring a divorced woman to cohabit with another man before her former husband can take her back is prohibited." (this abolishes one of the vile laws of mohammedanism.) "if a man is travelling with his wife and they quarrel, he must give her a sufficient sum of money to take her back to the place they started from and send her with a trustworthy escort." from these quotations it is evident that the wife is dependent on the good pleasure and whim[ ] of the man. he may put away; he may take back. the law says nothing of her right to divorce him. it does not appear that she has the right to divorce her husband even in case he is guilty of adultery. the penalty for adultery is slight. a fine of nineteen miscals of gold, equal to fifty to sixty dollars, is imposed for the first offense and this is doubled for the second offense. the fines are to be paid to the "house of justice." according to the "bayan" of the bab the husband must pay the divorced wife a dowry of ninety-five miscals of gold ($ ) if they are city folks, and ninety-five miscals of silver ($ ) if they are villagers. these are paltry sums even on the basis of persian poverty. i may say, in passing, that the laws of inheritance give to the father a greater portion than to a mother, to a brother greater than to a sister, and gives the family residence to a male heir. freedom from the marriage bond is made easy by desertion. "married men who travel must fix a definite time for their return and endeavour to return at that time. if their wives have no news from them for nine months, after the fixed period, they can go to another husband. but if they are patient it is better, since god _loves those_ who are patient." how the husband who is away from his wife can act, we may judge by the example of a celebrated bahai,[ ] maskin kalam, who was agent for baha to watch over and spy upon azal and the azalis in cyprus. his wife was in persia; he simply took another in cyprus. the ease with which desertion may be practiced under bahai law is seen in the conduct of doctor kheiralla, one of the first apostles of bahaism to america, and founder of the chicago assembly. dr. h. h. jessup wrote: "a cousin of doctor kheiralla, who is clerk in the american press in beirut, gave me the following statement: 'doctor kheiralla, after the death of his first wife in egypt, in , married first a coptic widow in el fayum, whom he abandoned, and then married a greek girl, whom he also abandoned, and who was still living in in cairo. he then married an english wife, who abandoned him when his matrimonial relations became known to her.'"[ ] according to the claims of bahais these loose and imperfect divorce and marriage laws are to be accepted and administered universally under the future kingdom of baha in its world-wide triumph! it may be remarked in passing that bahaism encourages the mixture of races by marriage. already several american bahais have married persian women, and persian men american women. one american bahai woman has married a japanese. abdul baha illustrates the relation of the races by a reference to animals. "consider the kingdom of the animals. a pigeon of white plumage would not shun one of black or brown." in a tablet sent to america, he directs: "gather together these two races, black and white, into one assembly and put such love into their hearts that they shall even _intermarry_."[ ] again he says:[ ] "the coloured people must attend all the unity meetings. there must be no distinctions. all are equal. if you have any influence to get the races to intermarry, it will be very valuable. such unions will beget very strong and beautiful children." mr. gregory, an american negro, followed this advice by marrying an english woman, miss l. a. m. mathew. iv. _the social position of women under bahaism._ professor browne says: "their (the bahais) efforts to improve the social position of women have been much exaggerated."[ ] it may be added that the success of their efforts has been small. it is plain that the bab recognized the deplorable condition of women under islam and desired to improve it. his laws gave woman some liberties. she was permitted to put off the veil. the bab interpreted the prohibition of the koran to mean that "only the wives of the prophet had received the order to hide the face,"[ ] so "he relieved believers from the painful restraint of the veil." women might appear in society, hold conversation with men,[ ] and go to the mosques at night. baha renewed these rules of the bab. still he seems to have some distrust, for the "kitab-ul-akdas" says that "men are forbidden to enter any man's house without his permission or in his absence." thus bahai precepts tend in some degree to the liberation of woman, though they fall much behind high christian ideals and customs. there is observable a wide-spread and influential movement among moslems for the amelioration of the condition of woman. this movement does not have its source and inspiration in, nor is it peculiar to nor confined to bahaism. on the contrary, an oriental writer in a review of this remarkable tendency says: "its birth in moslem lands undoubtedly is due to the impact of the occident upon the orient, the missionary influence playing a large part in it."[ ] the new moslems of india, under the leadership of justice sayid ali, as well as the young turks, egyptians and others, advocate freedom and education for women and have gone much beyond the bahais in practice. the turkish women in constantinople, who aided in the establishment of the constitution and are aspiring to enlarged liberty under its ægis, know bahaism, if at all, simply as a persian heretical sect. the persian women, described so graphically by mr. shuster in "the strangling of persia,"[ ] who formed clubs and took such an active and heroic part in the constitutional agitation, were not bahai women. the bahai women, as well as the men, were forbidden by abdul baha to take part in the struggle for constitutional liberty.[ ] professor browne laments the lack of patriotism shown in their conduct. still the bahais deserve some credit for the movement for the uplift of persian womanhood. they might have done much more, notwithstanding the limitations to their liberty of action, had they followed out the first ideals of the bab. these were exemplified in the celebrated kurrat-ul-ayn. this beautiful woman of genius--poet, scholar and theologian, was a pupil at kerbela, of haji kazim, the chief of the sheikhis. on his death she accepted the bab, so that though a product of the sheikhi sect, her fame accrues to the honour of the babis. at kerbela, she gave lectures on theology to the people from behind a curtain, and at times, borne away by her enthusiasm and eloquence, would allow her veil to slip off in the presence of men. her preaching and freedom of conduct was objected to even by babis, but the bab answered them, commending her and giving her the title of janab-i-tahira, "her excellency the pure," and made her one of his nineteen "letters of the living," or apostles. she is said to have claimed to be a remanifestation of fatima, the daughter of mohammed. the turkish government at bagdad began prosecution against her. she returned to persia and taught babism even from the pulpit, at kasvin, and also by means of poetry. what were the social results of her breaking through the restrictions of islam? her husband was mullah mohammed of kasvin, who was opposed to the bab. on account of this she refused to live with him. "in reply to all proposals of reconciliation, she answered: 'he, in that he rejects god's religion is unclean, while i am 'pure'; between us there can be nothing in common.' so she refused to be reconciled to her husband,"[ ] and regarded herself as divorced.[ ] afterwards "she set out secretly to join herself to hazret-i-kuddus (lord, the most holy)," that is, mullah mohammed ali of barfurush. together they attended, with baha ullah also, the celebrated conference at badasht, at which "the abrogation of the laws of the previous dispensation was announced." there a sermon was preached by hazret-i-kuddus, which, says professor browne, lends some colour to the accusation that the babis advocated communism and community of wives."[ ] this learned investigator further says: "the extraordinary proceedings at badasht seem to have scandalized not only the mohammedans but even a section of the babis."[ ] mirza jani, their first historian and a martyr, avers that not all "have understood the secret of what passed between hazret-i-kuddus and kurrat-ul-ayn at badasht, and their real nature and what they meant."[ ] the mohammedan historians openly accuse them of immorality. the sheikh of kum, a bahai, told professor browne, "after the bab had declared the law of islam abrogated and before he had promulgated new ordinances, there ensued a period of transition which we call _fitrat_ (the interval), during which all things were lawful. so long as this continued, kurrat-ul-ayn may very possibly have consorted, for example, with hazret-i-kuddus, as though he had been her husband."[ ] it may be that the scandals that followed kurrat-ul-ayn's venture into public life and her tragic death in the cruel reprisals that followed the attempt of several babis to assassinate the shah, gave a backset to the efforts to liberate women in persia. certain it is that during the sixty years succeeding she has had no imitator or successor. bahai women have continued to wear the veil and have remained secluded from the society of men, not only in persia but at acca, the headquarters of bahaism. the force of the new faith was not strong enough to free the women. rather they have compromised with their environment. only in the caucasus and trans-caspia under russian protection, have they partly unveiled. not even their women of the second and third generation have been trained to act up to their precepts, but in acca, as in persia, they are secluded from the society of even brethren in the faith. they are more backward than some other sects and races of moslems. i have been entertained in the households of kurds and ali allahis and have dined and conversed with the host and his wife. i have, of course, conversed with the families of christian converts from islam, but the wife of a bahai has never been introduced to me, even though i have known the husband intimately and visited him in his home a score of times in the course of as many years. in a few instances i have heard of bahai women, in company of their husbands, receiving gentleman visitors, but these wives had resided in russia. an osmanli official, at times, receives and makes visits in company with his wife.[ ] but the ladies of the household of baha ullah and abdul baha at acca do not receive gentlemen as visitors even when they are faithful and honoured american believers. mr. myron phelps, when preparing materials for his "life of abbas effendi," spent a month at acca. he wished to embody in his book the interesting narrative of bahiah khanum, the sister of abbas. she, though more than half a century had passed over her head, did not grant him personal interviews.[ ] instead she told her narrative in installments day by day to madame canavarro, who then came out and repeated what she had heard to mr. phelps, who recorded it. he says: "social custom prevented me from meeting this lady," and again, "social custom prevented me from meeting the women."[ ] now that the way is opened by the revolution and by the constitutionalists (who were not bahais), liberal-minded men of all sects in persia, sufis, sheikhis, arifs, and even mutasharis, as well as bahais, are showing considerable zeal for the elevation of women, and for female education. v. what does bahaism teach as to the _political equality of man and woman_? the future bahai state and community is to be under the administration of boards--called houses of justice, local, national, and universal. these are to be "divine agents," "representatives of god." they are to have absolute authority and to be infallible in their decisions. they will adjudicate questions of property, tithes, inheritance, divorce, and of war and peace. they will have charge of schools and of wives, children and servants as well as of religion. the number of members in each board is to be at least nine, "according to the number of baha."[ ] the members are to be all _men_. no women are to be admitted to these boards or "houses of justice." this law evidently did not suit the notion of some of the american bahai sisters, so they made bold to inquire about it. the "infallible interpreter," abdul baha, laid down the law plainly--which cannot be altered for , years at least. "from a _spiritual_ point of view, there is no difference between women and men. the house of justice, however, according to the positive commandments of the doctrine of god, has been specialized to the _men_ for a specific reason or exercise of wisdom on the part of god."[ ] "as to you other maid-servants, give up your will and choose that of god." "the maid-servants of the merciful should not interfere with the affairs which have regard to the board of consultation, or house of justice."[ ] to sum up, it has been demonstrated that bahaism does not, by its laws, give woman equality with the man, either in the family or the state, either as to domestic rights or political rights; that in the matter of education it has not tried to give equal opportunities to girls; that it conforms to the social life of its environment without transforming it; that the claims of abdul baha before his audiences in europe and america were without foundation, disproved both by the teaching and by the practice by baha ullah. footnotes: [ ] _s. w._ (bahai), dec. , , p. . [ ] _s. w._ (bahai), march , , p. . [ ] tablet of tarazat. [ ] tablet of tajalliyat. [ ] ishrakat. [ ] _bahai news_, aug. , . [ ] mr. remey writes: "in most places the work is carried on by the women almost entirely. there is an absence of many men.... men are most in need of being reached.... to-day i had a letter from a good maid-servant, saying that the only man in _her_ assembly had refused to come to meetings, because he was the only man present. i mention this because it is typical of most assemblies in america.... in most places the men are doing but little." (_bahai news_, aug. , , p. ). [ ] "tablet of ishrakat," p. . [ ] phelps, pp. , . [ ] afterwards withdrawn from tabriz. [ ] "principles of the bahai movement," p. . [ ] mirza abul fazl's "bahai proofs," p. . [ ] _ibid._, pp. - . [ ] phelps, _ibid._, pp. - . [ ] phelps, _ibid._, p. . [ ] _ibid._, pp. - . [ ] see also professor browne in the _jour. roy. as. soc._, . [ ] "life of abbas effendi," p. . [ ] "new hist.," pp. - . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] "new hist.," p. . [ ] phelps, p. . [ ] "new hist.," p. xxiii; "trav.'s narr.," p. . compare "a year among the persians." [ ] phelps, p. . [ ] "baha ullah," by kheiralla, pp. - . [ ] "the bahai movement," by c. m. remey, p. . [ ] phelps, p. . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] "new hist.," p. , note . [ ] "tablets of abdul baha," vol. i, pp. , . [ ] "new hist.," p. and note . [ ] "tablets," vol. i, p. . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] "facts for behaists," p. . [ ] _the family of baha ullah ( - )_ first wife, named nawab, or aseyeh, entitled veraka-ulya, "the supreme leaf," married at teheran, a. h., _i. e._, a. d. her children, ( ) aga mirza sadik, born at teheran, died at years. ( ) abbas effendi, born at teheran, . ( ) bahiah khanum, born at teheran, . n. b.: some reverse the order of ( ) and ( ). ( ) ali mohammed, born at teheran, died at years. ( ) aga mahdi, born at teheran, died at acca, . ( ) ali mohammed, born at bagdad, died at years. companion wife, ayesha, title mahd ulya, "the supreme cradle," married a. h. , a. d. her children, ( ) mohammed ali, born at bagdad, . ( ) samadiah, bagdad, , died acca, . ( ) ali mohammed, bagdad, died at years. ( ) saz-habbieh, bagdad, died constantinople. ( ) zia ullah, adrianople, , haifa, . ( ) badi ullah, adrianople. concubine, a sister of mirza mahdi kashani, taken at bagdad. her child, ( ) one daughter, born , at acca, name shuruk. the wives and concubine of baha ullah all survived him. [ ] phelps, p. . [ ] "new hist.," pp. - , . [ ] "life of abbas effendi," p. . [ ] phelps, p. . [ ] phelps, p. . [ ] a chicago bahai told me that baha took several wives, that his experience of the evils of polygamy, the quarrels of his wives and children might be a warning to us not to follow his example! [ ] see professor browne's introduction to mirza jani's "history." also abul fazl's "bahai proofs," pp. - , and kheiralla's "facts for behaists." [ ] _jour. roy. as. soc._, . [ ] "the wife is still in a helpless state; her fate remains entirely in the power of her husband's caprice "(vatralsky in _amer. jour. of theology_, , p. ). [ ] "trav.'s narr.," pp. - . [ ] _outlook_, of new york, quoted in _the missionary review_, october, , p. . [ ] "a heavenly vista," by l. g. gregory, p. . [ ] page . [ ] "encyc. britt.," article, "babism." [ ] dreyfus, _ibid._, p. . [ ] but if they limit themselves to twenty-eight words, it was better for them, says the "bayan." [ ] _american rev. of rev._, , p. . [ ] pages - . [ ] "observations of a bahai traveller," by remey, pp. , ; also dreyfus, _ibid._, p. . [ ] "new hist.," pp. , . [ ] her spirit of intolerance is condemned by professor browne. [ ] "new hist.," p. . [ ] mirza jani's "history," introduction, p. xlii. [ ] "new hist.," p. . [ ] "a year among the persians," p. . [ ] "mohammedan young men will no longer consent to marry girls they have not seen, but now in beirut visit them and drive out with them on the public highways with the mothers as chaperones" (jessup's "fifty-three years in syria," p. ). [ ] phelps, p. xxxix. [ ] _ibid._, p. ; chase, "in galilee," p. ; goodall, "daily lessons," p. . abdul baha did not break through oriental custom nor serve the lady guests before himself. the lady pilgrim writes, "the first day at lunch, after baha had partaken of the honey, he passed it to us" ("daily lessons," p. ). like the ordinary moslem he was well pleased to sit down to eat with the foreign ladies but never arranged that the american bahai men should sit down to meals with his ladies. mr. c. m. remey tells, in "observations of a bahai traveller," of meeting persian bahai women but rarely in persia (pp. - ). in kasvin, in the garden of kurrat-ul-ayn, one woman partly raised her veil and gave him a greeting of welcome. in teheran a lady, unveiled, and her husband entertained the bahais. the husband and wife received the twenty men in one room and the wife received the dozen women in another room. they were separated by a curtain, through which sprague and remey spoke, telling of the liberty of women in the west. the lady of the house used her best persuasion to induce the other women to mix with the men. finally "the women arose and drawing aside their veils with one accord entered the room. the men made place for the ladies by retreating to the other side of the room, while the newcomers found seats. when the women had arisen to the situation, they were quite equal to it. then it was the men who were ill at ease. in fact their embarrassment was contagious, for even i began to be uneasy and scarcely dared to take a look at the faces opposite. sherbets and other refreshments were served and chanting continued. bit by bit the men gained their ease, but, as their embarrassment passed, the women seemed to lose courage. little by little the veils were drawn over their faces. then one moved as if to leave, where upon all arose and like a flock of affrighted birds fluttered from the room." this incident shows how little change has been affected in the social habits of bahai women in sixty years after kurrat-ul-ayn. [ ] b = , a = , h = , a = , total in persian abjad counting. [ ] "tablets of abdul baha," vol. i, p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . viii its record as to morals the bahais are ignorant of the dogmas of babism and of its history and its book. the "traveller's narrative," a work of abbas effendi, is a bad romance, composed solely for the purpose of proving that the bab is simply a precursor and announcer of baha ullah. with extreme bias, he misconceives in every instance the true history, and the author has not even searched, as i have, in the immense works of the bab for the autobiographical notes which are so plentiful. he is satisfied with the legends which fall in best with the end he is pursuing. it is regrettable that a man like abbas effendi should show himself ignorant of the life of the bab.--_"beyan persan," a. l. m. nicolas, vol. i, p. xvi._ to represent him (the bab) as simply the forerunner of baha is an historic falsehood. it is another to pretend that the religion of the bab was universalized by baha ullah.--_ibid., vol. iii, p. v._ the bab did not consider himself as the herald or forerunner of another dispensation, as a john the baptist to christ. this is devoid of historic foundation. in his own eyes as in those of his followers, m. ali mohammed inaugurated a new prophetic cycle and brought a new revelation which abrogated the koran. he declared that he is not the last manifestation. there would be a greater, whom he calls "him whom god would manifest," but the bab expected that the next manifestation would be separated from his own by an interval such as had separated previous dispensations. possibly the "bayan" indicates or years as the interval.--_professor browne, "introduction to mirza jani's history."_ the moral conduct of the founders of a religion, especially one that requires trust in the person of its author, is a necessary subject of investigation. the conduct of the immediate followers is not to the same degree a subject of criticism. from one point of view it is no argument against the truth of bahaism that bahais fail to live up to its precepts and principles, for this can be said of all religions. but the claims of bahai writers make it necessary to consider their conduct. they boast of superior exemplary character and make this a proof of bahaism. hence it is necessary to show the groundlessness of their assertions. in the following review, which covers several chapters, the conduct of baha, abdul baha and their early followers is treated together. the claim made for the founders is nothing short of blessed perfection. for the disciples, it is one of superlative excellence. myron phelps says:[ ] "this faith does not expend itself on beautiful and unfruitful theories, but has a vital and effective power to mould life towards the very highest ideals of human character--as exemplified in the life of abbas and the salient characteristics of his followers." the bahai historians say:[ ] "they are remarkable only for their charity, kindliness, purity, godliness, rectitude, sincerity, integrity, generosity, chastity and strict avoidance of all forbidden things." "in their conduct, action, morality and demeanour was no place for objection.... people have confidence in their trustworthiness, faithfulness and godliness." abul fazl[ ] speaks of the supernatural character and morals of the followers of baha, who became universally celebrated for their just characters, good conduct and excellent morals. so remey:[ ] "the effect of this cause upon the lives of the peoples of every race and religion leaves no doubt as to the divine source of its teachings." mirza jani, speaking of the proofs the babis gave to the moslems, says:[ ] "we say, 'we have witnessed miracles on the part of this man.' they retort, 'he is a sorcerer.' we say, 'come, let us invoke god's curse on whomsoever is in error, leaving to him the decision.' they reply, 'this is not permitted by our law.' we say, 'let us kindle a fire and enter into the midst together.' they answer, 'you are mad.' we further say, 'consider the godliness, piety and self-renunciation of those who believe.' they return us no answer." i propose to return the answer. . one characteristic of the bahai leaders is _dishonesty in dealing with their history_. this sometimes takes the form of the suppression and concealment of documents, sometimes of the omission or perversion of essential facts or their presentation in such a way as to falsify history. in the writing of political history and in scheming for the triumph of a political party, we may expect crookedness in dealing with facts, but in the propagating of a new religion designed to supersede christianity and islam, and purporting to be an improvement on them, we do not expect to find dishonesty and misrepresentation. yet this is exactly what we find, namely, "a readiness to ignore or suppress facts, writings or views (undoubtedly historical), which they regard as useless or hurtful to their aims."[ ] when mirza husain ali (baha ullah) started out as a "manifestation," it was necessary to get rid of certain facts and beliefs held by babis. he must reduce the bab from his position as the point of divinity--the lord of a new dispensation, as well as supplant and supersede the bab's successor, subh-i-azal.[ ] thoroughly to accomplish this object (after the babis leaders had been put out of the way), the history was rewritten. while claiming that the bab gave testimony to baha and taking to themselves the glory of babi heroism and martyrdoms, the bahais relegated the "bayan" and other "revelations" of the bab, not yet a score of years old, to dust-covered oblivion.[ ] subh-i-azal avers that they wilfully destroyed them. he writes[ ] that thirty or more bound books of the bab were given in trust by him to his relatives (baha and his family) as trustees. "they carried off the trust," and "making strenuous efforts, got into their hands such of the books of the point as were obtainable, with the idea of destroying them and rendering their own works attractive." professor browne[ ] informs us that it was very difficult to obtain a babi book from persian bahais and next to impossible to get a glimpse of one at acca, where the bahais had them concealed. the "holy, divine books" were shelved from motives of policy. a primitive babi work of first importance was the "history," by mirza jani. this was an original narrative of events, at first hand, prepared in sincerity by one who shortly suffered martyrdom for the cause ( ). but its facts did not suit the bahais. so it was superseded, first by the "new history"[ ] ( ), and secondly by the "traveller's narrative" ( ). both these histories purport to be written by european travellers. we might excuse their being anonymous, to avoid possible persecution, but to make pretense that the authors are travellers who have come from afar ostensibly to investigate, and into whose mouths are put praises of the religion, is but part of the insincerity noticeable in other things.[ ] mirza jani's "history" passed out of sight, and it was only because a copy had been deposited by count gobineau in the bibliothèque nationale at paris that it has reached our hands.[ ] of the "new history" little need be said, except that it perverted the history and "carefully omitted every fact, doctrine and expression,"[ ] not in accord with the policy of baha. let us examine somewhat in detail how abbas abdul baha treats facts in his "traveller's narrative." he is undoubtedly the principal author of this work.[ ] the persian bahai, who sent professor browne the lithographed (bombay) copy of it, wrote, "it contains the observations of his holiness, the lord, mystery of god (may my personality be his sacrifice)." professor browne was also presented with a copy of it at acca, which he published in persian with an english translation. of it he says,[ ] "it was written to discredit the perfectly legitimate claims and to disparage the blameless character of his less successful rival" (azal). "there is good ground for suspecting a _deliberate misstatement_[ ] of facts and dates." he specifies[ ] various points in which abbas effendi perverted the facts. undoubtedly one of the aims of abbas was to eliminate azal. the latter had been regularly appointed by the bab as his successor,[ ] but he refused to make way for baha. the bahais tried to get rid of the question by suppressing all mention of him, even of his name, and "of all documents tending to prove the position which he undoubtedly held."[ ] they would have consigned him to oblivion.[ ] the "new history" makes but one doubtful reference to azal.[ ] professor browne says, "abbas effendi,[ ] in order to curtail the duration and extent of subh-i-azal's authority and to give colour to their assertion that it was but temporary and nominal, _deliberately and purposely antedated_ the manifestation of baha." and he continues to the present to misrepresent the facts. in "answered questions"[ ] baha is presented as the chief influence in persia immediately after the bab. other bahai writers repeat this error.[ ] . another practice of the founders of bahaism is _falsifying and changing the documents and texts of their sacred writings_, namely, those of the bab and baha, according to the exigency of circumstances. subh-i-azal made the accusation "that the bahais had tampered with the bab's writings to give colour to their own doctrines and views."[ ] i pass this by, to notice how they have tampered with their own "revelations." for example, take baha's "epistle to the shah of persia." its original text was published by baron rosen.[ ] it is embodied by abbas effendi in the "traveller's narrative."[ ] the two do not agree. "very considerable alterations and suppressions were made in the text by the author of 'traveller's narrative.'"[ ] "the text has evidently been toned down to suit a wider audience and to avoid giving offense to non-believers."[ ] there is also another "epistle to the shah" which is contained in the "surat-ul-maluk." its tone is strikingly different. the first is a careful diplomatic document which acknowledges the faults of the babis, pleads pardon for the past and for religious toleration. it is monotheistic, representing baha as a humble suffering servant, with no pretense to divinity. the other "adopts a tone of fierce recrimination towards the shah, and upbraids him for the bab's death, saying, 'would you had slain him as men slay one another, but ye slew him in such a way as the eyes of men have not seen the like thereof and heaven wept over him, and by god, the eye of existence hath not beheld the like of you; you slay the son of your prophet and then are of those who are joyful.'" he excuses the attempt on the life of the shah, and threatens vengeance[ ] on him. these two epistles to the shah have been a puzzle to the critics. this threatening, fierce letter seems so contrary to the policy of baha. an adequate and not improbable explanation[ ] would be that one letter was prepared for the perusal of his majesty and the other for the bahais, to impress them with the boldness of their prophet. another example of this is seen in the suppression[ ] of part of the "lawh-i-basharat" ("glad tidings"). its fifteenth section commands constitutional government. when the tablet was sent to russia, this section was suppressed by bahais. the tablet was published in its mutilated form by baron rosen. expediency, which rules bahai practice, required that an incomplete "divine revelation" should reach russia. playing fast and loose with the "revelations" prevailed still more at the time of the bitter quarrel and schism on the death of baha. though baha's tablets are regarded as "holy books" in the highest sense, yet the bahais commit the grave offense of changing them so as to misrepresent facts. mirza mohammed ali and badi ullah, younger sons of baha, in refuting the claim of abbas effendi to be baha's successor, say, "has abbas dared to change the texts uttered by baha ullah? most certainly, yes. we have in our possession _many_ texts of baha ullah which have been changed[ ] by abbas effendi." further, "he and his party have stolen the first paragraph of a sacred tablet and have perverted its meaning, with deception." khadim-ullah,[ ] the lifelong amanuensis of baha, asserts that abbas actually rejected a "sacred tablet," written in the handwriting of baha ullah. other tablets are repudiated. for in "hidden words"[ ] baha ullah refers to the "fifth tablet of paradise" and the "ruby tablet." abbas effendi warns against accepting any such tablets if they should be brought to light. what other reason for this can we imagine than fear that their contents would be against his claim. enough has been said to show the truth of the charge that the bahais deal dishonestly with the documents of their alleged revelation. a peculiar instance of forgery occurs in the writings of baha ullah. in his epistle to the shah baha quotes certain verses as from the "hidden book of fatima." this book, the shiahs believe, was revealed by gabriel to fatima, the daughter of mohammed, disappeared with the twelfth imam, and will be brought back by the mahdi at his coming. professor browne[ ] wrote to acca making inquiry about this "book of fatima" and the quotations from it. the authoritative reply which he received was, "that naught is known of such a book but the name, but baha ullah mentioned it in this manner to make known the appearance of the kaim" (mahdi). in other words, baha was making a false pretense of quoting from the "book of fatima," as if he, as mahdi, had brought it with him. . bahais make _false representation of facts in political history_. the "traveller's narrative" perverts the truth for "political opportunism."[ ] contrary to the contemporary historian, mirza jani, and the european chroniclers, the shah is represented as ignorant and innocent of and averse to the repressive measures taken by his government against the babis. let me give specific proofs of this. at the first trial of the bab, at tabriz, according to mirza jani,[ ] nasr-ud-din, then crown prince, whom he dubs "bastard," treated the bab disrespectfully by rolling a globe towards him and taunting him with ignorance of it and by ordering him to be bastinadoed. the "traveller's narrative,"[ ] per contra, says, "the heavenly-cradled crown prince pronounced no sentence with regard to the bab, but the mullahs ordered a bastinado." the former history states that the prime minister consulted, about the execution of the bab, with the shah,[ ] who gave him full authority to act in the matter," and that he then communicated with prince hamza mirza, governor of azerbaijan, who proceeded to make plans for it. abbas' narrative[ ] states that "the minister, without the royal command and without his cognizance and entirely on his own authority, issued commands to put the bab to death"; "that prince hamza utterly refused to have part in the trial and execution." gobineau[ ] confirms the original account, and states that prince hamza "took a leading part in the condemnation of the bab." it is certain that contemporary babis[ ] held the shah responsible for their persecution and were bitter against him. mirza jani records the death of mohammed shah, by saying that "he went to hell"; the "new history" affirms "that he passed to the mansions of paradise." nasr-ud-din was no puppet king, he was fully cognizant of the affairs of state. regarding the imprisonment of baha, the "traveller's narrative"[ ] says, "his majesty, moved by his own kindly spirit, ordered investigation and the release of baha ullah." he had just ordered the execution of twenty-eight babis, with horrid cruelties, after the attempt on his life. regarding the torture and execution of badi, who bore the epistle to the shah, it says:[ ] "it was contrary to the desire of the shah, and he manifested regret for it." this and much in that epistle is written with the idea of conciliating the shah and obtaining toleration. it is a sensible attitude, did they not maintain it with so much misrepresentation and hypocrisy. the real spirit of bahais towards nasr-ud-din is seen in baha's "surat-ul-maluk," and is one of "fierce recrimination." confirmation of this comes from conversations with bahais. another misrepresentation of history, which is universal among bahais, is in belittling the plot to assassinate nasr-ud-din shah in . abbas effendi says,[ ] "it was done by a certain babi, by sheer madness, one other person being his accomplice." his sister, bahiah khanum, says,[ ] it was "by a young babi who had lost his reason." kheiralla,[ ] says, it was "by a weak-minded, insane believer." similarly all their writers propagate a tradition that one irresponsible man made the attempt. it is permitted to doubt the shiah historian, who gives a circumstantial account of how twelve babis, including one high leader, laid the plot. but count gobineau[ ] is entitled to credence when he says that there were a number of babis in the plot and three took part in the attempt. a nephew of one of the accomplices told professor browne[ ] that there were seven in the plot and three of them went out to commit the act. why will not bahai writers give the facts straight? another misrepresentation fostered by them is that of calling the babi martyrs bahais. thus abdul baha says,[ ] "when they brought kurrat-ul-ayn the terrible news of the martyrdom of the bahais, she did not waver." again he says,[ ] "thousands of his (_i. e._, baha ullah's) followers have given their lives, and while under the sword shedding their blood they have proclaimed, 'ya baha-ul-abha.'" he said[ ] in doctor cadman's church, "the king of persia killed , bahais." again,[ ] "in all parts of persia his enemies rose against baha ullah, imprisoning and killing _his_ converts, razing thousands of dwellings." these are gross misstatements. in kurrat-ul-ayn's time there were no bahais, only babis. no such efforts as those described were ever made to crush bahaism. the thousands who gave their lives were babis. perhaps some one remarks, "what's the difference?" foreign writers may not know the difference, and an american audience certainly does not. but abdul baha, from whom i have quoted, makes a great difference. it arouses one's indignation to read bahai literature, in which they claim credit for all that is noble in babi annals, such as the martyrdoms, and yet they disparage and deny the babis. read abul fazl's "bahai proofs." he said[ ] to prince naibus-sultaneh, "the unseemly actions of the babis cannot be denied nor excused, but to arrest bahais for them is oppression, for these unfortunates have _no connection with the babis_, who took up arms, _nor are they of the same religion or creed_." in another place he writes[ ] repudiating the wars and disorders of the babis, and affirming that they were guilty of many censurable actions, such as taking men's property and pillaging the dead, and engaging in conflict and bloodshed. if then the bahais repudiate them, they must not appropriate their glory, for the old babis, with all their faults, were at least heroic. bahaism has, on the contrary, the spirit of _tagiya_. i pass on to consider abdul baha's representations regarding sultan abdul hamid. i present two quotations from tablets addressed to american believers. the first says,[ ] "here one witnesses the fairness and impartiality of h. i. majesty the padishah of the ottomans, who has dealt with the utmost justice and equity. in reality to-day, in the asiatic world, the padishah of the ottoman empire and the shah of persia, muzaffar-ud-din, are peerless and have no equals. these two kings have treated us with mildness--both are just. therefore, pray ye and beseech for their confirmation in the threshold of the almighty, especially for abdul hamid, who has dealt at all times in justice with these exiled ones." abdul hamid--a peerless, just one! surely this would have remained among the _hidden things_ had not one "servant of god" (abd-ul-baha) revealed it to us about that other "servant of god" (abd-ul-hamid). this "revelation" is dated . after abdul hamid was deposed, abdul baha speaks[ ] of "his oppression and tyranny," for the sultan sent "an oppressive, august commission, that with all kinds of wiles, simulations, slander and fabrication of false stories, they might fasten guilt upon abdul baha. but soon fetters and manacles were placed around the _unblessed_ neck of abdul hamid." did the "infallible pen" err in the former character sketch? no, but abdul baha's oppression[ ] of his brothers, in retaining their patrimony, resulted in a bitter quarrel and complaints, followed by an investigating commission and abdul baha's imprisonment. on this account the whitewash scaled off from abdul hamid. another form of misstatement is their habitual way of speaking of the imprisonment of baha and abdul baha. abdul baha says of baha,[ ] "his blessed days ended in the cruel prison and _dark dungeon_." "he passed his days in the most great prison."[ ] abdul baha continually speaks of himself in such words as the following, "forty years i was a prisoner; i was young when i was put in prison, and my hair was white when the prison doors opened."[ ] "after all these long years of prison life." "my body can endure anything; my body has endured forty years of imprisonment."[ ] now, what are the facts? in phelps' life, bahiah khanum[ ] says, "we were imprisoned in the barracks at acca two years ( - )." then[ ] "we were given a comfortable house[ ] with three rooms and a court." after nine years of such restriction baha ullah moved to a beautiful garden outside the city and built there a palace, called bahja. he had the freedom of the surrounding country, visited mount carmel, and later spent a part of each year at haifa.[ ] baha ullah died in this palace, not in a _dungeon_.[ ] as to abbas effendi, during the first brief period only he was restricted to the barracks. he was even temporarily put in chains in the dungeon[ ] when accused of participation in the assassination of the azalis. after that, for a period of _thirty years_, "he was permitted to go about at his pleasure, beyond the walls of acca."[ ] he built a fine residence[ ] at haifa, which i have seen. he journeyed to tiberias and as far as beirut. only after his quarrel with his brothers and on their accusation was he ordered back to acca, and even then he had the freedom of the city ( ).[ ] such are the facts about abbas effendi, whom canon wilberforce introduced in his church as "for forty years _a prisoner for_ the cause of _brotherhood and love_." in truth it was the quarrelling of the brothers, azal and baha, that led to the banishment from adrianople to acca, the murder of azalis by bahais increased its severity, the bitter hatred of the younger generation against each other brought back the restraint. . another immoral practice of bahais is _tagiya_ or _ketman_, religious dissimulation. this is taught and practiced by shiah moslems,[ ] and it is continued with all its offensiveness against good morals by bahais. in it concealment, denial or misrepresentation by word or act is allowed for self-protection or for the good of the faith. it was formally permitted by baha ullah. in accordance with this practice abdul baha and his followers at acca keep the fast of ramazan[ ] in addition to the bahai fast at noruz. dr. h. h. jessup[ ] wrote, "he is now acting what seems to be a double part--a moslem in the mosque, and a christ in his own house. he prays with the moslems, 'there is no god but god,' and expounds the gospels as the incarnate son of god." mirza abul fazl, a bahai missionary, lately died in egypt. at his public funeral[ ] the moslem _taziah_, with reading of the koran, was held, though he was a strenuous worker for the abrogation of islam. most bahais in persia live in habitual _tagiya_. fear of persecution is some palliation for this, but it is a great defect. very far from the truth is the statement of lord curzon[ ] that "no babi (or bahai) has ever recanted under pressure." mr. nicolas,[ ] the french consul at tabriz, shows from the bab's own writings that he himself denied his manifestation at his examination at shiraz and signed a recantation. at the execution[ ] of the bab in tabriz ( ) two of his intimate disciples denied the faith. the explanation of the fact is remarkable and instructive. they were enjoined to do so by the bab in order that they might convey certain documents to a safe place. in other words, they were to lie for the faith, by divine injunction. in another notable instance,[ ] seven babis stood firm and were executed at teheran, while thirty recanted, being told by their leader to judge whether they were justified by family ties, etc., in renouncing the faith. "they determined to adopt a course of concealment, _tagiya_." some years ago a bahai was called before the governor of tabriz and questioned, "are you a bahai?" "i am a mussulman." "will you curse baha?" "it is written in the koran not to curse, i am not a bahai." by payment of a peshkesk this answer was made acceptable. and no offense was recognized in conscience, for baha had said, "if your heart is right with me, nothing matters." it were scarcely necessary to note that some babis and bahais have denied their faith, except to correct the mistake of travellers, but the fact that denial is permitted and approved is important. for _tagiya_ is a deeply-rooted seed which bears evil fruits in their characters and conduct. even their propaganda is carried on in the same deceitful spirit. the bahai conceals from the one he approaches his status and beliefs, insinuates himself into his confidence, suits the substance of his message to the preconceptions and prejudices of his hearer and leads him on, perhaps omitting to mention the real essentials of bahaism.[ ] one of their methods is to worm themselves into the employ of christian missions and clandestinely carry on their propaganda while they undermine the work of the mission. perhaps the mission wishes a language teacher or a mirza. a bahai presents himself. he talks well. in the course of conversation the missionary inquires his religious views. he appears liberal minded. direct inquiry is made, "are you a bahai?" he replies, "no, _i am not_, but i am tired of islam; i am a truth-seeker." the missionary employs him. after a time, maybe, he professes to be a christian, and is baptized. such were a certain mirza hasan and a mirza husain, who deceived the swedish mission and received salaries as christian evangelists, but had been and continued to be bahais and propagandists. i have heard that in a certain station (not american) bahais, without revealing their faith, accepted positions as cook, language-teacher, financial agent, etc., and so surrounded the new mission that it was a bahai more than a christian establishment. doctor shedd[ ] tells of an assistant he had with him in school work--a persian, with whom he discussed religious topics freely. for years the man disavowed belief in bahaism, but finally threw off the mask and became an active propagandist. after his dismissal he instigated the persian pupils, whom he had previously secretly beguiled, and they complained to the persian government that "they, as good (?) mohammedans, were offended by having to study the christian scriptures." great is _tagiya_! what else can we expect, since abdul baha instructs his disciples in pretense. a certain madame canavarro,[ ] staying at acca, expressed her desire to assist in spreading bahaism among the buddhists, and spoke of the difficulty of introducing it as a new religion. abdul baha replied, "at first teach it as truths of their own religion, afterwards tell them of me." she replied that she herself was imbued with the spirit of buddhism. he answered, "what you call yourself is of no consequence." to a certain american lady who was afraid her friends would be repelled by the idea of a new religion, abdul baha advised, "remain in the church and teach bahaism as the true teaching of christ." a striking instance of this religious dissimulation is seen in hamadan.[ ] there about two-and-a-half per cent. of the jews have accepted baha as the messiah. but many of these continue in the outward forms and associations of the jews.[ ] others professed to be christians, and were protected as such by the shah's government. after a decade or two it became evident that they were hypocrites, cloaking their bahaism under the christian name. this oriental dissimulation takes on a different phase in western bahaism. the principle of the latter is stated thus, "adhere to any religious faith with which you are associated."[ ] "no religious relation[ ] should be severed, but these relations should become as avenues for giving forth the message of the bahai faith." this idea is delusive; it is self-deception, ignorance, or worse. no christian can give allegiance to baha as incarnate god and accept, as he then must, islam,[ ] babism and bahaism as successively true, and as higher revelations abrogating christianity, and still be loyal to christ. bahaism is not a philosophy like tolstoism, nor a theory of economics like the "single tax"; it is a religion as much as mormonism is. a plain example of bahai _tagiya_ is in connection with the organization known as the "persian-american educational society." this was organized at washington, d. c., under the patronage of mirza ali kuli khan, persian chargé d' affaires. its organizing body, committee to draft its constitution, its executive, are bahais, yet its circular sets forth seventeen purposes for its existence without naming the propagation of bahaism as one of them. it appealed for funds on general philanthropic and educational grounds, never mentioning its religious motive. it introduced the names of president taft, secretary root, and other prominent men in such a way as to lead the public to understand that the movement had their intelligent endorsement. to its real purpose, viz.: aiding existing and establishing new bahai schools in persia and the orient,[ ] i am making no objection. it is the _concealment_ of this purpose which is objectionable when contributions are asked from the general public. it claims to be _unsectarian_, because its schools take in pupils of all sects and religions. so do the schools of christian missions, but they are none the less christian schools, and the "orient-occident" schools are distinctively bahai. they _disclaim proselytizing_. the claim is simply false. bahai schools are hotbeds of proselytizing, and must be so by their nature. their law[ ] says, "schools must first train the children in the principles of the religion." dreyfus[ ] adds, "there is no fear of a prescription, emanating from such authority, ever being disregarded." the bahai school in teheran worked under cover for some years. remey says,[ ] "this institution is not generally known as a bahai school. however, it is in the hands of the bahais. from the directors down through the teachers and students, the majority were of our faith." similarly in bombay,[ ] the bahai teacher concealed his faith. "the zoroastrian parents of his pupils suspected him of bahaism and so took their children out." but to find the supreme example of bahai _tagiya_ we have to go to the fountainhead. abdul baha himself, oblivious to its moral obliquity, lays bare the fact in his "traveller's narrative."[ ] we have seen that subh-i-azal, the half-brother of baha ullah, was appointed by the bab as his successor. according to abdul baha, this appointment was a dishonest subterfuge on the part of baha, arranged by him through secret correspondence with the bab, in order that baha might be relieved of danger and persecution and be protected from interference. so "out of regard for certain considerations and as a matter of expediency, azal's name was made notorious on the tongues of friends and foes even to jeopardizing his life, while baha remained safe and secure, and no one fathomed the matter." abul fazl[ ] states the position of the "traveller's narrative" as follows, "the bab and baha ullah, after consulting together, made azal _appear_ as the bab's successor. in this manner they preserved baha ullah from interference." this account shows the low ideas of honour and truthfulness in the minds of baha and abdul baha. and although their explanation is not true (but an invention of their _tagiya_--_corrupted_ minds), it shows to what straits[ ] they were put to explain away the succession of azal, the legitimacy of which azal still, in his ripe old age, maintains. abdul baha published to the world baha's deceitfulness, but only made the matter worse for him. of a piece with this was the action of baha's trusted agent, maskin kalam, in cyprus. this bahai was sent by the turkish government with azal. "he set up a coffee-house at the port where travellers must arrive, and when he saw a persian land he would invite him in, give him tea or coffee and a pipe, and gradually worm out of him the business that had brought him there. if his object were to see subh-i-azal, off went maskin kalam[ ] to the authorities, and the pilgrim soon found himself packed out of the island." this account is given by a faithful bahai. afterwards maskin kalam retired to acca and spent his old age as an honoured guest of baha. footnotes: [ ] "life of abbas effendi," p. xxxvii. [ ] "new hist.," p. ; "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] "bahai proofs," pp. , . [ ] "the bahai religion," p. . [ ] quoted in "new hist.," p. ; comp. p. . [ ] professor browne's introduction to phelps, p. xxi. [ ] "new hist.," p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. xxvii. [ ] "trav.'s narr.," pp. - . [ ] browne's "a year among the persians," p. . "if, instead of talking in this violent and unreasonable manner, you would produce the 'bayan,' of which ever since i came to persia i have been vainly endeavouring to obtain a copy." [ ] its authors were mirza husain of hamadan, m. abul fazl, and manakji. [ ] numerous magazine articles, and even the "life of abbas effendi" have been written by bahais, as if they were outsiders making observations. [ ] in his introduction (pp. xxxii.-v.) to mirza jani, which he has had printed in persian, professor browne says, "but for count gobineau it would have perished utterly. this fact is very instructive, that so important a work could be successfully suppressed," and "that the adherents of a religion could connive at such an act of suppression and falsification of evidence." "this fact is established by the clearest evidence." [ ] "new hist.," p. xxix. [ ] _ibid._, pp. xiv., xxxi. [ ] _ibid._, p. xiv. [ ] "encyc. brit.," article, babism. [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. xlv. it ( ) belittles the bab and glorifies baha--making the former simply a forerunner; ( ) belittles the sufferings and deeds of babis, passing over remarkable events almost unnoticed and magnifies inferior deeds of bahais; ( ) debases azal, disregards his position as successor, disparages and scorns him as lacking in courage and wisdom; ( ) tries to curry the favour of the shah of persia and excuses his persecutions, putting the blame on mullahs and viziers, deprecating the resistance and wars of the early babis. [ ] count gobineau (p. ) says, "there was some little hesitation about the successor of the bab, but finally he was recognized as divinely designated, a young man of sixteen, named m. yahya (azal). the election was recognized by all the babis." [ ] "mirza jani," p. xxxii. [ ] _ibid._, p. xxxv. professor browne says, "when i was in persia in - , the babis (bahais) whom i met _feigned_ complete ignorance of the very name and existence of subh-i-azal." [ ] page , note. [ ] "abbas effendi _suppressed_ all incidents and expressions not in accordance with later bahai sentiment." "of this i am certain that the more the bahai doctrine spreads, especially outside of persia, the more the true history is obscured and distorted" (professor browne in his introduction to "mirza jani," p. xxxvi.). [ ] pages - . [ ] one need not be surprised at this falsifying of claims and historical facts, for it is the testimony of the bahai historian himself ("new hist.," p. ) that "the principal vice of the persians is falsehood--so universal and customary and so familiar that truthfulness is entirely abandoned and ignored." "in matters relating to religion the mullahs have shown themselves to be ready liars and shameless forgers." the degree of reliability of this history may be judged from the following sentence, "when the people of italy had proved the extent of the pope's hypocrisy, guile and deceit, they so effectually deposed him and his children and his grandchildren that naught remained of him but the appearance" (referring to - ). i have received a pamphlet by a. j. stenstrand, of chicago, called "third call to behaists." he writes (p. ), "the babi history as well as their sacred scriptures prove that a terrible corruption, changing and transposing of its meanings, has been going on in the hands of the behaists." again (p. ), "we have plenty of proofs that there has been continual corruption, interpolation, changing, transposing and stealing away the sacred scriptures of the babi religion in the hands of the bahais." [ ] cf. _jour. roy. as. soc._, , p. . [ ] "the alwah-i-salatin," in collections scientifiques, st. petersburg, . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," pp. - . [ ] _jour. roy. as. soc._, , p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] _s. w._, sept. , , pp. , , "if thou dost not obey god, the foundations of thy government shall be razed, and thou shalt become evanescent--become as nothing. if no attention is paid to this book, thou shalt become non-existent." [ ] the same explanation will account for the opposite narratives of the trial of baha before the turkish court at acca. mr. laurence oliphant reports that the court put the question to baha, "will you tell the court who and what you are?" "i will begin," he replied, "by telling you who i am not. i am not a camel-driver (alluding to mohammed), nor am i a carpenter." [ ] "new hist.," p. xxv. [ ] "facts for behaists," p. . we mention a few of the important ones. ( ) the so-called tablet of beirut, which confirmed the claim of abbas, and was said to be transcribed by khadim ullah. the latter declared it to be a forgery by abbas effendi. ( ) abbas omitted the middle part of the "tablet of command" to make it certify his claims. a complete copy in baha's own handwriting showed the subterfuge. ( ) he combined parts of two different tablets, called it the "treasure tablet," and claimed that it certified his succession. the two tablets were produced and proved the falsity of the claim. [ ] "facts for behaists," p. . afterwards badi ullah, who had accused the party of abbas of making additions to the writings, with a purpose changed sides in the quarrel and accused mohammed ali of the same things--"interpolating," "erasing," "transposing," "replacing," "clipping and joining fragments," of the tablets of baha ullah, besides issuing "a false writing in his name." mohammed ali is also accused of "carrying away by way of the window" two trunks full of the "blessed writings." see "epistle to the bahai world," by mirza badi ullah, pp. , , - . [ ] "hidden words," numbers , , . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] "new hist.," p. vii. [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] "new hist.," p. . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," pp. , . abul fazl also is apologetic for the shah, and says ("bahai proofs," p. ), "without seeking permission from the shah, the minister issued the order for his death." [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] in "new hist.," p. xvii., professor browne says, "the babis made no profession of loyalty, nor did they attempt to exonerate the shah from the responsibility of the persecutions. to the shahs, such terms as tyrant, scoundrel, unrightful king, are freely applied. the battle cry, 'ya nasr-ud-din shah,' is described as 'a foul watchword.'" [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] _ibid._, pp. - . [ ] _ibid._, pp. , . [ ] phelps, p. . [ ] "beha ullah," p. . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] _s. w._, oct. , , p. . [ ] _ibid._, july , , p. . [ ] _ibid._, sept. , . [ ] "some answered questions," p. . [ ] pages , . [ ] page . [ ] "tablets of abdul baha," vol. i, p. . [ ] _s. w._, may , , p. . [ ] mrs. templeton (previously mrs. laurence oliphant), in "facts for behaists," tells of the unrighteousness of abbas effendi (abdul baha) in keeping from his brothers and stepmothers the pension money of the turkish government and the revenue of baha's villages, and of his ostentatious charity in giving away part of these funds by distributing coins to a mixed crowd of beggars every friday. [ ] _s. w._, may , , p. . [ ] "tablets of abdul baha," vol. i, p. . [ ] _s. w._, _ibid._, p. . [ ] _ibid._, sept. , , p. . [ ] phelps, p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] this house was purchased by an american bahai lady, that it might remain in bahai hands. [ ] "bahai proofs," by abul fazl, p. . remey, p. . [ ] mrs. grundy, p. ff., "ten days," etc., speaks of the palace of joy as a very large white mansion. professor browne was received here ( ). he was conducted through a spacious hall, paved with a mosaic of marble, into a great antechamber, and entered through a lifted curtain into a large audience room. of the garden of baha, sprague ("a year in india," etc., p. ) says, "it is a veritable garden of eden, with luxuriant foliage and every fruit. baha ullah used to sit under the large spreading tree and teach his disciples." mrs. grundy says, "the rizwan is filled with palm trees, oranges, lemons and wonderful flowers. a river, the nahr naaman, runs through it, in two streams, on which ducks and other fowls swim. on an island is an arbour under two large mulberry trees. a fountain plays in the midst. under the arbour is a chair where baha used to sit. no one sits in it any more. (mrs. grundy knelt at the foot of the chair.) the garden has a cottage, where baha spent his summers." a palace and a luxurious summer place were baha's "most great prison" during most of his years at acca. compare laurence oliphant's "haifa," etc., p. , for a fine description of his "pleasure ground." how unfounded are such statements as bernard temple's (_s. w._, p. , april , ). "all this while the founders were behind prison walls." [ ] phelps, p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] dr. h. h. jessup, who visited him in , writes (new york _outlook_, june, ), "abbas effendi has two houses in haifa, one for his family, in which he entertains the american lady pilgrims, and one down town where his persian followers meet him." [ ] abbas effendi in acca at this time visited mr. remey ("bahai movement," p. ). he received american pilgrims. mrs. goodall ("daily lessons," p. ) speaks of "his bountifully spread table," the laughter and good cheer, and (p. ) remarks, "one would never realize he was visiting a turkish prison." [ ] doctor shedd says, "concealment of religious faith is a common practice in persia, and it is approved and recommended by bahais." [ ] phelps, p. . [ ] new york _outlook_. [ ] _s. w._, march , . [ ] phelps, p. xxxi. [ ] "le béyan persan" (paris), introduction xvi.-xxiv., by a. l. m. nicolas. [ ] "new hist.," p. . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] s. m. jordan, of teheran, says ("the mohammedan world," cairo, p. ), "we are honestly open in our methods, while they are the reverse." doctor shedd says, "christian mission work is openly christian, that of persian bahais is professedly mohammedan." "bahaism, as offered to a jew, a christian or a mohammedan, varies greatly." [ ] _missionary review_, october, . [ ] phelps, p. . [ ] miss a. montgomery, in _woman's work_, , p. , says of these bahais, "this sect of moslems, thirty years ago, were afraid to appear to be what they really were, they exercised the privilege of falsehood their deceitful faith grants them, and called themselves christians." [ ] a european jew reports as follows ( ), "the jewish bahais in hamadan are few in number (exactly fifty-nine besides children). they have not yet broken with judaism. they go to the synagogue and follow outwardly our religious practices. they deny _in public_ that they are bahais from fear of the mussulmans, who detest the new religion. but the continual attacks of the bahais against the jews will exasperate our co-religionists, who will cast them out finally. at present the practical result is hatred and disdain, and bitter dissensions between fathers and sons, sisters and brothers, husband and wife." [ ] phelps, p. . the report of the bahais to the united states census board says, "one may be a bahai and still retain active membership in another religious body." [ ] remey's "the bahai movement," p. . [ ] bahaism says, "christians who do not believe in the koran have not believed christ." [ ] the name of the society has been changed to the "orient occident unity," and a commercial department added. its contributions are acknowledged, and its work reported through the _star of the west_ as bahai work. an american, who imported a machine flour-mill to persia, under its auspices, told the consul that the object of his coming was not the mill but propagating bahaism. in the _jam-i-jamsied_, calcutta, march , , dr. e. c. getsinger boasts to the parsees, "the american bahais have established schools in persia, and have sent american teachers to those schools." [ ] "words of paradise," p. . [ ] "the universal religion," p. . [ ] "observations of a bahai traveller," , p. . [ ] sprague's "a year in india," p. . [ ] pages , , , . [ ] "bahai proofs," p. . see also browne's "mirza jani's history," pp. xxxiii.-vi. [ ] the bahais are impaled on the other horn of the dilemma also, for, as professor browne says ("mirza jani," p. xxxiii.), "the difficulty lies in the fact that subh-i-azal consistently refused to recognize baha's claim, so that the bahai is driven to make the assumption that the bab, who is acknowledged to be divinely inspired and gifted with divine knowledge and prescience, deliberately chose to succeed him one who was destined to be the 'point of darkness,' or chief opponent, of 'him whom god should manifest.'" [ ] "a year among the persians," p. . ix its record as to morals (_continued_) in their teachings they speak constantly of knowing the truth, but never of speaking the truth. in his book kheiralla never mentions veracity among the virtues nor lying among the vices. religious duplicity, _tagiya_, is a persian peculiarity and some mohammedan sects among which are our "truth-knowing" bahais have raised _tagiya_ to a pious privilege. baha, the crafty chief, requires policy in consideration of expediency, often at the expense of good faith. until the final triumph of the religion he has sanctioned feigned conformity. they have divine authority for duplicity. this is to them a pious means to a pious end. since baha's influence has become paramount, they have adopted the plan of secret propaganda which does not hesitate, in case of need, at denying their faith under oath. among mohammedans they are primitive islamites, among christians they claim to be primitive christians. if i had not taken their "private lessons," the supposition of such astounding duplicity would have appeared incredible or beyond even the oriental proverbial duplicity.--_s. k. vatralsky, "amer. jour. of theology," , pp. , , ._ bahais particularly boast of love as one of their characteristics. they often quote the words of baha "to consort with all religions with spirituality and fragrance." phelps claims for them[ ] "a peculiar spirit, which marks them off from other men,--whose essence is expressed in one word, love. these men are lovers; lovers of god, of their master and teachers, of all mankind." dreyfus, with a forgetfulness or ignoring of facts that is astounding, says, "their conduct is so perfect, their harmony so complete that although they have been there at acca for forty years, no judge had yet to intervene for them in any dispute." chase says "bahaism removes religious rancour."[ ] let facts speak. let me array them first by showing the relation of the bahais to the moslems, and then to the azalis (see chapter on "religious assassination") and finally to each other (see chapter on "the quarrel over the succession"). the babis and bahais show great hatred and animosity against the shiahs of persia, abuse and revile them and heap maledictions and curses upon them. these evil feelings are shown specially against the mullahs and the rulers. the babi and bahai historians indulge so much in diatribes and maledictions that professor browne wearies of translating them and omits pages of abuse.[ ] more than enough is at hand to show the rancorous spirit of the new religion. first take a short backward glance at the babis. professor browne says:[ ] "the babis entertained for the kajar rulers a hatred equal to that for the mullahs." mohammed shah and nasr-ud-din shah are called "bastard" and "scoundrel" and mohammed shah is consigned to hell at his death. the shiahs are called "foul guebres" and the mullahs heaped with abuse. "they hated the mohammedan clergy with an intense and bitter hatred" and anticipated the fulfillment of the prophecy "when the kaim or mahdi should behead , mullahs like dogs." the bab called haji kazim khan, chief of the sheikhis, "the quintessence of hell fire and the infernal tree of zakkum." he even at times emphasized his words with blows.[ ] "when a prisoner in the household of anti-christ--that accursed one (_i. e._, the shah), the mullah of maku showed him some discourtesy, whereupon the ocean of divine wrath was stirred and he (the bab) brought down his staff with such vigour on the unclean form of that foul creature that the august staff broke in two. he then ordered aga sayid hasan (his scribe) to drive out that dog from the room, though the accursed fellow was a person of great consideration." "the bab took leave of his jailer, ali khan, with the words, 'ay maalun' ('accursed one')."[ ] it is unnecessary further to enlarge on the feelings of the babis towards the shiahs, for the sanguinary wars and persecutions explain them and they made no secret of their feelings of hatred. i pass on to the bahais, whom abul fazl claims were reformed and transformed by baha. baha himself it is, who in the "ikan" calls the shiahs "a foul, erring sect," who said of his turkish guards, "shame upon them! god shall consume their livers with fire, and verily he is the fiercest of avengers" (lawh-i-rais) and who exultingly celebrated, in a hymn of triumph, the death of fuad pasha,[ ] the vizier who had exiled him, and consigned him to hell "where the heart boils and the tormenting angel melts him." baha's winsome words about the mullahs are, in the "ikan," " years have passed and all these worthless wretches have read the koran every morning and have not yet attained to a single letter of the purport of it." the spirit of _love_ (?) is shown by mirza abul fazl, the preacher and apologist for bahaism, in his discussion ( ) as recorded in the "new history."[ ] his abusive language runs on page after page. the mullahs of persia are called mischief-makers, dolts, a pack of scoundrels, tyrants, fools, plunderers of men's properties and wives, sectarian zealots steeped in prejudice and thinly disguising their greed of worldly lucre under a veil of sanctity, sprung from the rustic population and the scum of the towns, ignorant of the decencies of society and neglectful of good breeding, with wickedness, worldliness, rapacity and selfishness which are incurable and folly that exceeds all bounds and surpasses all conception, with stupidity, overweening arrogance and presumption absolutely unparallelled, hiding the truth in falsehood, circulating false reports, possessing malignant hatred, malice, spite and great injustice, and notoriously eager to shed blood, yet with cowardice like a timid girl. he avers further that they are lacking in patriotism, nullify sovereign authority, encroach upon and usurp the power of kings, dismiss viziers, invite the people to rebel, cause national decay, set their feet upon the necks of all mankind, menace the order and well-being of the government, devour public wealth and substitute treason for service. "perish their homes of folly whose learning is all pretense, their colleges which never yielded a man of sense." this is a condensation of the bahai philosopher's amiable (!) description of the chiefs of his national religion. the author of the "new history" almost surpasses him in abuse.[ ] he compares the mullahs to a "host of foul reptiles who befoul and pollute the pure water of life so that it waxeth loathsome and abominable.... they are fraudulent and sophistical hypocrites ... inwardly reprobate and outwardly devout, clothing themselves in the garb of spurious asceticism and simulated piety: fabricators of 'authentic' traditions." later haji m. haidar ali,[ ] writing by command of abdul baha, says of persia, "the old religious sects ... degenerated into ferocious wolves and mad dogs, even surpassing the ravenous man-eating beasts." apropos of the martyrdom of aga sayid jafar of abargoo, "our great lord and master abdul baha revealed the following in a visiting tablet" to be _chanted at the tomb_: "hell is for such as rejected thee, fire for such as sentenced thee to death, infernal flame for such as betrayed thee, and the hellish gulf for such as shed thy blood."[ ] these quotations show the vindictive spirit of the bahai leaders. any one who is acquainted with bahais in persia knows that this is the spirit that animates them, that they revile the mutasharis and sheikhis and especially their mullahs. they are brotherly and helpful to their own particular sect of bahais, vindictive to all who have opposed them. doctor frame quotes a persian as saying this of the attitude of abdul baha, "he is very kind towards his friends and bitter towards his enemies." in view of all that has been brought forward, how can mr. phelps aver "that they have no trace of bitterness or resentment for their sufferings." the habit of bahais in denying that they have animosity against other religions reminds me of one of their own stories. a certain mullah said to his friend, "if you notice in me any objectionable habit please inform me." "i perceive no fault in you," answered his friend, "save a habit of using abusive language." "abusive language!" cried the mullah. "what rascally knave calls me abusive? what shameless ruffian have i abused that he should dare accuse me?" in the statements of bahais which i quoted above, they laid claim to superior chastity and sobriety. in the chapter on "bahaism and woman" i have noticed their defects in regard to the treatment of women. in regard to sexual immorality, they are neither better nor worse than persians of the middle class to which they mostly belong. bahai law follows the moslem law in prohibiting the use of alcohol as a beverage, as did the law of the bab. the bab prohibited opium and tobacco. azal follows the bab in these restrictions, while baha exempts tobacco from the prohibition. a good many moslems, especially of the cities and upper classes, are addicted to alcohol, and have been through the centuries of islam. my observation leads me to believe that bahais are more addicted to the use of intoxicants than moslems are. regarding the relation of bahais to wine and opium, we have an impartial witness who writes his experience without prejudice or motive. professor browne, in his "a year among the persians," tells of his social intercourse with the babis, azalis and bahais. his prolonged stay in kirman was largely spent among the bahais. he became so intimate with them as to be considered one of them by many in the city. he joined in their convivialities and he gives us a simple narrative of everyday events and experiences. read the volume from page to and see how many of the bahais lived in the habitual use of wine and opium. it is shocking and shows what goes on behind their doors. no other one has had opportunity to see and reveal their hidden life. one and another and another of the bahais is referred to by name and occupation as addicted to intoxicants.[ ] sheikh ibrahim "is a drunkard and a libertine"; usta akbar, the pea-parcher, "returned in a state of boastful intoxication, talking blasphemous nonsense"; the son of the bahai postmaster "wants money to get drunk and play the libertine"; haji shirazi is "a drinker and a libertine" and a reviler; another is a victim of copious libations of beer; another a drunkard and blasphemous in his cups. regarding the use of opium they appear to be worse. it seems to be a common habit among them. see pages , , , , , , . of certain dinners professor browne says, "all present were babis (bahais) and we sat sipping our tea and whiffing opium." "we sat talking late and smoking opium." "the wildest ascriptions of deity to baha were made when intoxicated with wine and opium: then they praised the 'beloved.'" "the poor lad, the son of the telegrapher whom i had seen smoking opium, was dead." "a bahai dervish was engaged in smoking an opium pipe." the prince secretary, an azali babi, "was a confirmed opium smoker." browne even joined the bahais in the use of opium and almost became a victim of the habit. on one occasion[ ] they secretly filled his pipe with hashish (bhang). he recognized the taste and refused it. why did they do so? would they possibly have shown him visions with the hope of persuading him of the truth of bahaism? maybe some such incidents are the basis of the moslem accusations against the bahais of using hashish on neophytes. the point of the above citations is plain. bahaism does not exercise the transforming power that is claimed for it. the persian bahais are yet in the bonds of iniquity. the boasts of bahais are ungrounded. what of abul fazl's question,[ ] "have you ever heard of a bahai accused[ ] of drinking wine?[ ] none are accused of evil deeds or bad morals." again sprague says, "the conditions of the millennium are already visible among these people," and thornton chase declares, "it brings men to a higher conception of duty and life than has been the heritage of the churches." how blind to facts is such faith! footnotes: [ ] page . [ ] yet phelps, p. , and chase themselves inveigh against orthodox christianity with bitterness and scorn. [ ] "new hist.," pp. f, , . [ ] "_ibid._, pp. xvii. and . [ ] "mirza jani," pp. - . [ ] "new hist.," p. . [ ] _jour. roy. as. soc._, , p. . [ ] pages - . [ ] pages - , written . [ ] "martyrs of ," p. . [ ] "visiting tablets," p. , n. y. bahai board of counsel. [ ] pages , , , . [ ] pages - . [ ] "bahai proofs," p. . [ ] the testimony of mr. getsinger that he saw the son of baha ullah under the influence of liquor is given in chapter xi. the testimony of professor browne as to their habits is borne out, in a general way, without his personal experience, by others who have had long residence in persia. rev. w. a. shedd, d. d., of urumia writes, "does the religion bring about a change of life and character? the reports given by bahai travellers are glowing, but long residents in persia have no such a tale to tell. the bahais are not noticeably more honest, more truthful, more sober nor more reliable than others" (_missionary review_, oct. ). j. d. frame, m. d., of resht says (_moslem world_, july, ), "the real test of a religion is its influence upon life. repeatedly we have challenged the bahais, 'show us from your personal lives a power to regenerate the lives of men.'" rev. s. m. jordan of teheran writes ("the mohammedan world," p. ), "by neither moslems, jews, nor christians are they considered morally superior to the moslems, while in some respects they rightly are judged less so." the rev. j. h. shedd, d. d., writes, "the bahai freedom runs to license, and hence as a reform leaves men worse rather than better. mr. browne found himself in the meshes of the opium habit in kirman by yielding too freely to their influence. there is undoubtedly a generous fellowship in the bahai community, but there is no moral principle.... there are no high and strong characters developed to lead the world in true reform, no high motives to virtue are developed. the seeds of its own destruction are in the system and the best argument against it will soon be its fruits" (r. e. speer's "missions and modern history," p. ). [ ] "bahai proofs," p. . x religious assassination the religion now entered upon the phase of intestinal dissensions, bitter animosities, schisms, and internecine strife. the pages of its history are henceforth filled with tales of dissension and disruption; of anathemas and accusations; of heresy and apostacy reiterated and reciprocated with increasing bitterness; of fratricidal assassinations and persecutions.--_professor browne in "new history," p. x._ subh-i-azal is the khalifa of the bab and the bahais are in bad faith when they deny it.--_nicolas, p. ._ when inspiration and revelation failed, baha did not disdain to benefit by the pointed argument of the dagger and the subtle persuasion of poison.--_vatralsky in "amer. jour. of theology."_ we cannot tolerate iniquity in god nor in one claiming to be god and we cannot conceive of god incarnate subject to the limitations of racial moral ideals.--_r. e. speer, p. ._ in general bahais claim that they and their leaders have been exemplars of love and harmony. specific declarations of their excellence in this regard have been quoted. m. abul fazl[ ] writes: "during the long years from the arrival of baha ullah in bagdad to the present day they have not committed that which would disturb a single soul. they have been killed but they have killed no one." mr. horace holley[ ] says: "for forty years no judge has had to settle a dispute between them." it behooves us to inquire how the conduct of baha and his adherents shows up in this regard during the first period of their exile. it is evident that in persia baha had no sincere love for his brother azal, for he planned to secure safety for himself by putting azal's life in jeopardy. (see chapter viii.) it is further plain that early in the exile jealousy, envy and hate manifested themselves, even while baha was outwardly obedient to azal. in bagdad, says bahiah khanum, "disharmony and misunderstanding arose among the believers--discord--strife--contention."[ ] therefore baha went off to kurdistan. he refers in the "ikan" to the dissensions,[ ] "such an odour of jealousy was diffused, banners of discord hoisted, enemies endeavoured to destroy this servant,--hardships, calamities and sufferings inflicted by moslems were as nothing compared with what hath been inflicted by the believers." his opponents say that he wished to introduce innovations, relax the law and put forward on his own account a claim to be a manifestation and being resisted in this, he "got angry."[ ] after they were removed to adrianople the quarrel waxed hotter. abul fazl describes it as one of "interior fires of dissension and jealousy between the rival leaders, far exceeding the jealousy of outsiders.[ ] mohammed jawad kasvini says[ ] there were "all manner of intrigues, falsehoods and untruths." i have received from a moslem convert to christianity an interesting account of conditions then and there. he was at that time a _peesh-khidmat_ to the persian minister at constantinople. he was at samsun when azal and baha and their parties embarked and was introduced to them by haji rajab ali khan, brother-in-law of my informant. he saw them day by day and became a serious inquirer. afterwards he went to adrianople bearing presents to baha. he found baha and azal living in separate rooms of the same house under guards. the two brothers were in dispute over the supremacy, and the _murids_ had been won over by baha. he narrates, "i entered one day. i heard words of angry disputation and revilings. yahya said, "ay! husain ali, you are vile! do you not remember your sodomies? you are defiled. your wife is a bad one!" husain ali answered, "ay, cursed one! your son nur ullah is not your son but son of sayid----. you yourself are a sodomite, an adulterer." such like revilings they hurled at each other. i called maskin kalam and said to him, "what are these words and doings? if baha is true why does he talk so? why do these brothers revile each other? what a fool i am to come so many miles to hear such revilings from a divinity!" we then went to the room of ishan. my companion said to ishan, "why do they curse so?" i said, "i wish to ask a question." he said, "what is it?" i said, "you say they do not work miracles, but must there not be personal power and influence in words?""[ ] the condition at adrianople culminated in a series of crimes, which now come before us for examination. charges have been made, in detail, against the companions of baha ullah of assassinating the azalis, the followers of his rival subh-i-azal. most of the information regarding the matter is to be found in the books and translations of professor browne, the great authority on bahaism in the anglo-saxon world. i wish to present and weigh the evidence in hand regarding these accusations. . the first charge is _that baha ullah attempted to poison subh-i-azal, his half-brother_ and predecessor. this charge is found in the "hasht behesht," a history of babism, by aga sayid javad,[ ] a prominent mullah of kirman and a leading disciple of the bab. the occurrence took place when azal and baha were both at adrianople under surveillance of the turkish authorities. baha, so it narrates,[ ] ordered that there should be placed before him and "azal a dish of plain food, with one side of which he had mixed some poison, intending to poison azal. for hitherto the apportioned breakfast and supper had been from the house of mirza husain ali (baha ullah). when that poisoned dish was placed before them, baha pressed azal to take of it. by a fortunate chance, the smell of onions was perceptible in the food, and azal, being averse to onions, refused to taste it. though urgently pressed, he refused, saying: 'it smells of onions.' baha, supposing his evil design was suspected, and to disguise the truth, ate a little from the other (unpoisoned) side in order that azal's suspicions might be dispelled and that he might eat of the poisoned side. now, inasmuch as the poison had to some extent diffused itself to the other side, it produced some slight effect on baha, causing him sickness and vomiting, so that he summoned his physician." this account was confirmed by mirza abdul ali, the son of subh-i-azal, to professor browne, when he visited him in cyprus in .[ ] the daughter of baha, bahiah khanum, gives a contradictory account of the same affair.[ ] she says that the feast was at azal's house and that rice for both was served on the same plate, having been prepared in azal's house. "the portion of rice intended for my father was flavoured with onions, of which he was very fond. the servant, by direction of azal, placed this portion towards my father. he ate some of it, but fortunately not very much. he preferred the rice prepared for azal, and ate of it. soon after eating he became ill. the physician declared that he had been poisoned. he was so desperately ill for twenty-two days that the physician said he could not live." mirza abul fazl, a bahai writer, says,[ ] "azal sought to poison baha ullah, and attempted to do so twice, but failed to accomplish his design." "he repeatedly planned to murder baha." baha himself alludes to these events in the "sura-i-haykal."[ ] "my brother warred with me. he desired to drink my blood. he took counsel with one of my attendants tempting him unto this. we went out from among them and dwelt in another house. neither did we see him afterwards." thus we have brother against brother, each accusing the other of attempting fratricide. how shall we settle the question of veracity? mr. phelps makes a plea for baha, but his words lack foundation. he says that azal's story "is a _transparent_ fabrication because it assumes an impossible ignorance on the part of baha ullah that azal disliked onions, as well as the impossible hypothesis that baha ullah would knowingly partake of food in which poison had been placed." but neither of these "impossible" things are a part of the story. the first objection can only be taken, if at all, to professor browne's abridged account in the "traveller's narrative," and not to the original in "hasht behesht," which distinctly states that onions had communicated their flavour to the other side of the platter, contrary to intention; and, secondly, baha supposed when he ate (according to the "hasht behesht" account) that the poison had not communicated itself to his side of the platter of rice. those familiar with persian _pillau_, or boiled rice, in which each grain is separate and dry, will see that it would ordinarily be quite possible to put onions and poison on opposite sides of the platter without either reaching the other side. each man would help himself, according to persian custom, from the side of the dish next to him. moreover, it was customary to prepare the food for azal in the kitchen of baha.'[ ] up to the time of the incident they had both continued to live in the same house. this is evident from baha's words in the "sura-i-haykal," where he says, "we went out, dwelt in _another house, neither did we see him afterwards_." this agrees with the "hasht behesht." in this and several other particulars the narrative of bahiah khanum is defective or misleading. mr. phelps' plea, on account of the character of the bahais, begs the question. this charge and subsequent ones to be discussed, involve the integrity of baha's character and that of his immediate disciples. the history shows no more reason to believe baha than to believe azal, but rather less. . the next charge of the azalis is as follows:[ ] "shortly after this, another plot was laid against subh-i-azal's life, and it was arranged that _mohammed ali, the barber, should cut his (azal's) throat while_ shaving him in the bath. on the approach of the barber, however, subh-i-azal divined his design, refused to allow him to come near, and, on leaving the bath, instantly took another lodging, and separated himself entirely from mirza husain ali and his followers." on the bahai side, bahiah khanum says,[ ] "one day in the bath azal asked the servant (of baha) 'whether it would not be easy for an attendant who was not faithful to baha to make away with him while shaving him.' the servant replied that this was certainly the case. azal then asked whether, if god should lay upon him the command to do this, he would obey it? the servant understood this to be the suggestion of such a command, and was so terrified by it that he rushed screaming from the room. this occurrence was ignored by my father, and our relations with azal continued to be cordial." here we have two stories in direct contradiction to each other. it may be observed that the attendant or barber, who was that day serving azal in the bath, as is agreed by both parties, was a partisan of baha,[ ] without doubt the same barber, mohammed ali, who subsequently murdered the azalis,[ ] and who was decorated by baha with the title dallak-i-hakikat,[ ] "the barber of the truth." it was much more natural that azal should be suspicious of him than try to tempt him to kill baha. in either case, what do we see? behold, these two "manifestations of god" accusing each other of attempting assassination. they were brothers, both eminent disciples of the bab, the "point of divinity" of the "new revelation," both "revealers of inspired verses." the heart of each was full of hatred and envy and of desire to overreach the other. neither is worthy of credence, both being steeped in persian deception from childhood. possibly, at that time, each was ready to compass the death of the other. the subsequent history, however, casts back its reflection upon the murder-plots at adrianople, and in its lurid light the character of the bahais grows darker. as a consequence, the charges of the azalis against the bahais become probable and are easily accepted. . the _proved assassination of azalis by bahais at acca_. the quarrels and plots at adrianople led to complaints of each party against the other before the osmanli government. for the sake of peace and safety they were separated. azal was sent as a prisoner-pensioner to famagusta, cyprus. baha was removed to acca, syria. the "hasht behesht" says:[ ] "with the latter were his family, about eighty of his adherents, and four of subh-i-azal's followers, to wit, haji sayid mohammed of ispahan, aga jan bey, mirza riza kuli of tafrish, and his brother aga mirza nasrullah." these azalis were murdered by the bahais in acca. of this crime there are many who give testimony, (_a_) the "hasht behesht" says:[ ] "before the transfer was actually effected, however, mirza nasrullah was poisoned by baha, at adrianople. the other azalis were assassinated shortly after their arrival at acca, in a house which they occupied near the barracks, the assassins being abdul karim, mohammed the barber, husain the water-carrier, and mohammed javad of kasvin" (all attachés of baha). (_b_) subh-i-azal independently confirmed this account in conversation with professor browne.[ ] (_c_) bahai testimony also confirms it. professor browne heard the story at kirman from sheikh ibrahim, a bahai, who had suffered imprisonment and torture for the faith, and who had seen some of the perpetrators while on a pilgrimage to acca. he said,[ ] "the babis were divided into two factions. so high did feeling run that the matter ended in open strife, and two azalis and one bahai were killed" at adrianople. "the turkish government sent seven[ ] azalis to acca with baha. they--aga jan, called kaj-kulah, haji sayid mohammed of ispahan, one of the original companions of the bab, mirza riza, a nephew of the last, mirza haydar ali of ardistan, haji sayid husain of kashan, and two others whose names i forget--lived all together in a house situated near the gate of the city. well, one night about a month after their arrival at acca, twelve bahais (nine of whom were still living when i was at acca) determined to kill them and so prevent them from doing any mischief. so they went at night, armed with swords and daggers, to the house where the azalis lodged, and knocked at the door. aga jan came down to open to them, and was stabbed before he could cry out or offer the least resistance. then they entered the house and killed the other six." in consequence, "the turks imprisoned baha and all his family and followers in the caravanserai, but the twelve assassins came forward and surrendered themselves, saying, 'we killed them without the knowledge of our master or of any of the brethren. punish us, not them.' so they were imprisoned for a while; but afterwards, at the intercession of abbas effendi (abdul baha), were suffered to be at large, on condition of remaining at acca and wearing still fetters on their ankles for a time." (_d_) mr. laurence oliphant gives an account of the bahais at acca in his "haifa, or life in modern palestine."[ ] he substantiates the account of the assassinations, and narrates how baha ullah was called before the osmanli court to answer on the charge of complicity in them. he further states that after one session, baha "purchased an exemption from further attendance at court _with an enormous bribe_." (_e_) the defense, unable to escape the force of the damaging testimony or to deny the facts against such testimony, can only offer some excuses in extenuation. bahiah khanum[ ] reduces the number of bahais who made the attack on the azalis to three, asserts that their intention was to threaten death and frighten but not to kill them, that but two azalis were killed and also one of the bahais, that the provocation was that the azalis had slandered baha ullah, forged letters in his name, which incited the government against him and were threatening to kill him, and further that baha was not cognizant of their intention. but professor browne shows that baha regarded the murder with some complacency at least,[ ] and refers to it in the "kitab-ul-akdas," saying, "god hath taken away him who led you astray," viz.: haji sayid mohammed, one of the murdered men, who was azal's chief supporter. he also confirms the fact that abbas effendi interceded for the murderers and secured their freedom from adequate punishment. just as brigham young[ ] condoned and secured immunity from punishment, if he did not justify or instigate the crimes of his sect. bahiah khanum herself shows us that the murderers acted for the religion, and not from any private or personal motives; in other words, committed "religious assassination," after the traditional oriental custom. the same is shown and more facts brought out in the defense made by mohammed jawad gasvini.[ ] he writes that the three persons mentioned above published tracts which were calculated to excite the populace against baha and his adherents. one, nasir abbas of bagdad, came from beirut to kill them but was enjoined by baha not to do so. then "some believers organized a secret meeting to put an end to these evil doers. the author was among them and was of their opinion." baha again restrained them, so the author avers. but, he continues, "the following seven persons secretly determined to put out of the way the aforesaid intriguers" (here follow their names and occupations). "these seven began to consort with the intriguers very cordially, pretending that they were in accord with them and with their belief, and continued to do so for some time. but one afternoon they entered their residence, which was situated opposite the residence of the governor of the city of acca, and there they killed the said sayid mohammed, and aga jan, and mirza riza kuli. this took place in the year a. h., _i. e._, a. d. when the government heard of the tragedy it arrested the said seven and arrested all the followers of baha ullah who were in acca." all, including baha ullah, abbas effendi and the other brothers were imprisoned. baha was released after three days, after being interrogated by the court. sixteen of the bahais were confined in prison for six months and the seven for terms of seven to fifteen years, afterwards reduced by one-third. thus twenty-three out of about forty male believers were found guilty of the assassinations or of complicity in the plot. . various and _sundry other assassinations for the faith_. according to the azali historian, these murders were followed by many others. certain disciples separated themselves from baha. of these some fled from acca,[ ] "but the khayyat bashi (chief tailor) and haji ibrahim were assassinated in the caravanserai of the corn-sellers and buried in quicklime under the platform. another, haji jaffar, importunately pressed his claim for a debt of , pounds which baha owed him. (i wonder whether it was incurred to meet the 'enormous bribe.') thereupon baha's amanuensis, mirza aga jan kashani, instructed a disciple, ali of kasvin, to slay the old man and throw his body out of the window of the upper room which he occupied in the caravanserai." it was then reported "that he had cast himself out and died, yielding up his life to the beloved." "all the prominent supporters of subh-i-azal, who withstood baha, were marked out for death,[ ] and in bagdad, mullah rajab ali kahir and his brother haji mirza ahmad, haji mirza mohammed riza and several others fell one by one by the knife or the bullet of the assassin." the following others are specified with the place and name of the assassin,[ ] "aga sayid ali the arab, one of the original 'letters of the living,' was killed in tabriz by mirza mustapha of nirak; and aga ali mohammed by abdul karim; haji aga of tabriz met a like fate, as did haji mirza ahmad, the brother of the historian haji mirza jani.[ ] another, whose faith had grown cold, was aga mohammed ali of ispahan, who was residing at constantinople.[ ] mirza abul kasim was sent from acca with instructions to "bleed that block of heedlessness whose blood is in excess." he robbed his victim of £ , with part of which he bought and sent goods to acca. another instance was mirza asad ullah "deyyan," who claimed to be a "manifestation."[ ] "mirza husain ali (baha), after a protracted discussion with him, instructed his servant, mirza mohammed of mezanderan, to slay him, which was accordingly done." count gobineau confirms this account.[ ] concerning these crimes we have also the independent testimony of subh-i-azal, who mentioned most of these instances by name and added several others. azal said to captain young, a british officer in cyprus,[ ] "about twenty of my followers were killed by the bahais." he confirmed it in an autograph letter to professor browne, saying, "they (_i. e._, the bahais) unsheathed the sword of hatred and wrought what they would. they cruelly put to death the remnant of my friends who stood firm." in the "new history"[ ] professor browne names over the list of those assassinated, and adds, "of the more prominent azalis, sayid javad, of kerbela (or kirman), seems to have been almost the only one who long survived what the azalis call 'the direful disorder.'" in kirman, professor browne said to the bahais,[ ] "from a statement of one of your own party, it appears that your friends at acca, who complain so much of the bigotry, intolerance and ferocious antagonism of the mohammedans, and who are always talking about 'consorting with men of every faith with spirituality and fragrance,' could find no better argument than the dagger of the assassin wherewith to convince the unfortunate azalis." . the conduct of the primitive babis and their leaders, and _their attitude towards the taking of life_,[ ] has a bearing on the question of the conduct of the bahais, for up to the time of the residence at adrianople they were identical. the history of the babis is a bloody one. the "first bloodshed which took place in persia (in connection with the babi movement) was the murder of a shiah mujtihid by one or more babis." it was a "religious assassination." the circumstances were as follows,[ ] when the bab, as captive, passed through kasvin, _en route_ for maku, he wrote a letter asking succour from haji mohammed taki, an orthodox mujtihid, who was the father-in-law of the celebrated kurrat-ul-ayn. "the haji tore the letter into fragments, and made some unseemly remarks." when this was reported to the bab, he said, "was there no one to smite him on the mouth?" the bahai historian ( ) continues, "wherefore the lord brought it to pass that he was smitten in the mouth with a spear head that he might no more speak insolently." shortly afterwards a certain babi,[ ] named salih, hearing the mujtihid curse and revile sheikh ahmad, the teacher of the bab, entered the mosque and slew him at the pulpit. the bahai historian continues, "this was the consequence of the haji's conduct to the bab, and agreeable to the tradition of the imams, 'whosoever curseth us ... is an infidel,' and so he deemed it incumbent on himself to slay him." a variation of this story is found in a work by an american bahai, mary h. ford, called "the oriental rose."[ ] she narrates that kurrat-ul-ayn heard the mujtihid cursing the bab, and gazing upon him she exclaimed, "how unfortunate you are! for i see your mouth filled with blood!" "the following morning, as he was crossing the threshold of the mosque, he was struck upon the mouth by the lance of a hidden assailant. the attack was followed up by five or six other assassins, who beat the life out of his mangled body." "the strange insight of kurrat-ul-ayn had foreseen it." "the assassination removed a serious obstacle from her pathway." from these narratives, both from the pens of "friends," it is evident that the bab and kurrat-ul-ayn each spoke words which were direct instigations and incitements to their fanatical followers to commit murder. the chief murderer fled and "joined himself to the people of god" at sheikh tabarsi. disregarding his crime, they welcomed him to their ranks as a "follower of god, and he attained to martyrdom."[ ] we can admire the courage and devotion of the babis, but certainly their hatred and fanaticism carry them on to retaliation and revenge which are far from pure religion. witness their deeds! farrukh khan, a prisoner of war, was first skinned alive and then roasted,[ ] and twenty-two prisoners of war were put to death at the same time, at zanjan. at sheikh tabarsi, by order of janab-i-kuddus, his excellency the holy, the enemies slain in battle were decapitated and their heads set on posts around the ramparts.[ ] the attempt to assassinate nasr-i-din shah ( ) shows also the murderous spirit of the babis. from seven to twelve[ ] babis were engaged in the plot, and four of them started out to take part in the assault. it was not, as is commonly represented by bahais, the act of an unbalanced, weak-minded individual, but the revengeful plot of a number. the spirit of vengeance was very strong within them. of this we have a witness from a very unexpected quarter, namely, the celebrated bahai apologist, mirza abul fazl. he writes,[ ] "numerous historical and tangible evidences can be furnished to prove that it was the pen of baha ullah which protected from death his own enemies, such as subh-i-azal, nasr-i-din shah and certain great doctors and divines. otherwise the babis _would not have allowed a single one of these people to have escaped alive_." he certainly must include bahais, for the babis would not have desired to kill subh-i-azal. but the assertion of m. abul fazl, that baha was as the "prince of peace" among a lot of untrained, untamed disciples, will not stand investigation. for baha's history shows the contrary. . _baha also commends suicide for his sake._ it is narrated by abdul baha[ ] that rather than be separated in exile from baha, "haji jafar was moved to lamentation, and with his own hand cut his throat." baha, in the lawh-i-raiz, alluded to this event, saying, "one from amongst the friends sacrificed himself for myself and _cut his throat with his own hand for the love of god_. this is such that we have not heard from former ages. this is that which god hath set apart for this dispensation." another disciple attempted suicide about the same time.[ ] this "old and faithful follower seized a knife and exclaiming, 'if i must be separated from my lord, i will go and join my god,' cut his throat. with the aid of a physician, his life was saved. again when the ship bearing the exiles reached haifa, abdul ghaffar, finding himself to be separated from his lord, determined to sacrifice his life, and threw himself into the sea from the steamer, exclaiming, 'o baha! o baha!'" the sailors rescued him.[ ] this tendency to suicide reveals an astonishing degree of fanaticism among the bahais. but suicide is so rare among the persian shiahs that these reports arouse suspicion and call for further investigation. i was informed of one person whom the bahais at acca reported as a suicide, but who in reality had been murdered by them. of another, named haji mirza riza, who would have written a history favourable to azal, the latter wrote to professor browne that "they (the bahais) sought to slay him, and at length gave out that, on the first night of his imprisonment, he had bound a cord about his throat and destroyed himself and so became a martyr."[ ] the celebrated nabil, bahai poet and historian, is reported to have committed suicide by throwing himself into the sea, shortly after the death of baha ullah. "he could stay on earth no longer--he loved and yearned so for baha ullah."[ ] as this same nabil had himself claimed to be the manifestation,[ ] it was very convenient that he should make away with himself at that time, instead of renewing his pretensions. these instances of suicide are cited as proofs of the truth of the religion by m. mohammed husain shirazi, who says,[ ] "more faithful and devoted (than the early christians), some martyrs of our day have killed themselves with their own hands out of devotion to their lord baha." again baha sent badi, the messenger, to the shah, with the "epistle" from acca, assuring him beforehand that he was going to death.[ ] the letter could easily have been sent through one of the foreign consulates without sacrifice of life. doctor jessup says:[ ] "they teach unscrupulous persecution of those obnoxious to them. i had a friend, a learned mohammedan of bagdad, called ibrahim effendi, of scholarly bearing, refined and courteous--a brother of the wife of abbas effendi. his father, a wealthy man, died when he was young and his uncle determined to bring him up as a babite (bahai). but the boy refused to accept it. his uncle then robbed him of his property," and threatened him. he fled and came to beirut. he professed christianity and was baptized at alexandria, egypt. while at beirut, "he went down to acca to visit. one night he found that his life was in great danger if he stayed through the night and he escaped to beirut in great terror."[ ] . _psychological attestation of the accusation_ against the bahais, of assassination, is seen in their doctrine of the power and prerogative of the "manifestation," and the inference made by the bahais from that doctrine. this is set forth in the tablet of ishrakat,[ ] "verily he (baha) hath come from the heaven of the unseen, and with him the standard of 'he doeth whatsoever he willeth,' and the hosts of power and authority. as to all else save him: it is incumbent upon them to cling unto that which he hath commanded." "woe unto those who denied and turned away from him." "the most great infallibility" is applied only to one (the manifestation), whose station is sanctified above commands or prohibitions. he is proof against error. verily if he declares heaven to be earth, right to be left, or south to be north, it is true, and there is no doubt of it." "no one has a right to oppose him, or to say, 'why or wherefore'; and he who disputes him is verily of the opposers." "he doeth whatsoever he willeth, and commandeth whatsoever he desireth." in like manner abdul baha states the authority of the manifestation,[ ] "he is not under the shadow of the former laws. whatever he performs is an upright action. no believer has any right to criticize." "if some people do not understand the hidden secret of one of his commands or actions, they ought not to oppose it." these principles are boldly interpreted and applied by the bahais to the subject under discussion. sayid kamil, a bahai of shiraz, said to professor browne[ ] with a look of supreme surprise, "you surely cannot pretend to deny that a prophet, who is an incarnation of the universal intelligence, has a right to inflict death, openly or _secretly_, on those who stubbornly opposed him. a prophet is no more to be blamed for removing an obdurate opponent that a surgeon for an amputation of a gangrenous limb." this opinion prevailed among the bahais. at yezd they said,[ ] "a divine messenger has as much right to kill and compel as a surgeon to amputate." the bahai missionaries maintained[ ] that, "a prophet has a right to slay if he knows it necessary; if he sees that the slaughter of a few will prevent many from going astray, he is justified in commanding such slaughter. no one can question his right to destroy the bodies of a few that the souls of many may live." a bahai acquaintance of doctor frame, of resht, told him[ ] "without any appearance of shame, that he paid so much to have a persecutor removed." . in connection with all the above facts, it must be kept in mind that "_religious assassination has been freely practiced since the beginning of islam_, and that the prophet mohammed gave it the sanction of his example on numerous occasions." professor browne,[ ] who thus emphasizes this fact, and gives instances from the moslem biographies of mohammed, points out its bearing on our judgment regarding the assassinations alleged against the bahais, and concludes, "in asia a different standard of morality prevails in this matter." certain facts regarding the imams revealed in the dark annals of islam show what historical precedents the babis and bahais had back of them. consider the deaths of the twelve imams. ali was[ ] assassinated with a dagger, husain killed after battle, nine other imams were _poisoned_, and the last one mysteriously disappeared. to sum up. our investigation has led to the conclusion that the bahais were guilty of these assassinations as charged. the evidence is both direct and circumstantial, with names and places. some of the witnesses are still living. some have given their testimony in writing, some in conversation with europeans, who have reported it accurately to the world. the environment in which they lived, and the historical and theological traditions on which they fed, strengthen the direct proofs. the answer to these charges by mirza abul fazl in his "brilliant proof"[ ] is, that we should hear both sides, and that it is not right to accept the witness of enemies against the bahais, which is as that of protestants against the catholics and _vice-versa_. our reply is, that both sides have been heard, and examined, and that some of the most damaging testimony is from bahais themselves. it should be noted that the testimony is altogether from the followers of the bab, of various kinds and not from moslem writers. mr. phelps, like many bahai writers, would ignore the charges. he says,[ ] "i do not think that it would be time well employed to advert to them in detail." he pronounces them "incredible" and "flatly in contradiction to the spirit, lives and teachings of baha ullah and his successor," and destined "quickly to fade away and be forgotten, if left to themselves." no indeed! lovers of truth will not overlook and forget such a record. they will judge bahais by their deeds, not by their professions. the conclusions of professor browne, who was undoubtedly a favourably-inclined judge, who investigated impartially and heard the testimony on both sides, has the greatest weight in determining the judgment of the world.[ ] in the "traveller's narrative," his first volume on babism and bahaism, he states that it is only with great reluctance and solely in the interest of truth, that he sets down these grave accusations against the bahais, and adds,[ ] "if they are true, of what use are the noblest and most humane utterances, if they are associated with such deeds? if they are false, further investigation will, without doubt, conclusively prove their falsity." in the "new history," which was published two years later, after further investigation and calm deliberation, he wrote,[ ] "at first not a few prominent babis,[ ] including even several 'letters of the living' and personal friends of the bab, adhered faithfully to subh-i-azal. one by one these disappeared, most of them as, i fear, _cannot be doubted, by foul play on the part of too zealous bahais_." footnotes: [ ] "bahai proofs," p. . [ ] "the modern social religion," p. . [ ] phelps, pp. - . [ ] pages - . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," pp. - . [ ] "bahai proofs," p. . [ ] manuscript "life of beha ullah," p. . [ ] professor browne, afterwards in persia, found the attitude of the bahais towards the azalis "unjust and intolerant" and reprimanded them for "their violence and unfairness." they cursed and reviled in the presence of professor browne ("a year among the persians," pp. - ). [ ] "new hist.," p. , note . [ ] _jour. roy. as. soc._, , p. , by professor browne. also "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] phelps, "life of abbas effendi," pp. - . [ ] "brilliant proof," p. . [ ] chicago edition, pp. - ; and "trav.'s narr.," pp. , . [ ] phelps, _ibid._, p. . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] phelps, p. . [ ] phelps, p. . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p, . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] "a year among the persians," pp. - . [ ] possibly he counts those who afterwards left their allegiance to baha. [ ] "haifa, etc.," p. ; "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] phelps, p. . [ ] _jour. roy. as. soc._, , p. ; "trav.'s narr.," pp. , . [ ] "brigham young," by cannon, p. . "brigham failed to punish or even condemn those criminals who served him too well." [ ] manuscript, pp. - . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. ; _jour. roy. as. soc._, , p. ; , pp. - . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . also "new hist.," p. . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] _ibid._, pp. , . [ ] "religions et philosophies dans l'asie centrale," pp. - . [ ] _jour. roy. as. soc._, , p. . [ ] page xxiii. [ ] "a year among the persians," p. . [ ] the bab asked his fellow prisoner to kill him ("mirza jani," p. xlvii.). [ ] "new hist.," pp. , ; "trav.'s narr.," pp. , , . [ ] the "kasas-ul-ulema," the shiah history, says, "certain babis, stung by his words, fell upon him early one morning as he was praying in the mosque, and with knives and daggers inflicted on him eight wounds from which he died two days later" ("trav.'s narr.," p. ). [ ] pages , . [ ] "new hist.," pp. , . [ ] "new hist.," p. and note, p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. ; "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] "the brilliant proof," p. . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," pp. - . [ ] phelps, p. . [ ] manuscript life, p. . [ ] compare "history by mirza jani," p. xvi. [ ] "notes taken at acca," by mrs. c. true, p. . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," pp. - . [ ] "facts for behaists," p. . [ ] "oriental rose," p. . [ ] "fifty-three years in syria," pp. , . [ ] doctor kheiralla believes that assassination is to be feared at the present time. he told me that a prominent follower of m. mohammed ali had been poisoned at jiddah. doctor pease said to me, "until now doctor kheiralla is afraid of assassination. a bahai told me, 'we want only one thing from kheiralla, _i. e._, the translation of the "kitab-ul-akdas," then we will get rid of him.'" when hasan khorasani came to chicago, kheiralla was warned from syria to beware of him and he put himself under special police protection. [ ] chicago edition, , pp. - . [ ] "answered questions," by barney, pp. - . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. ; "a year in persia," p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] "a year in persia," p. . [ ] _moslem world_, , p. . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," pp. - . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] a reply to rev. p. z. easton's article in the _evangelical christendom_. [ ] "life of abbas effendi," p. . [ ] mr. a. j. stenstrand, of chicago, was convinced by the facts. he wrote, "when i studied the babi history and read about the terrible cruelty and assassinations which the followers of beha perpetrated upon subh-i-azal's supporters which made no resistance, this broke the backbone of my behai faith." in conversation he told me that doctor kheiralla had informed the chicago assembly that the account of the assassinations as narrated by professor browne was true and that the manifestation had a right to slay them." [ ] page . [ ] "new hist.," p. xxiii. [ ] one of these was the author of "hasht behesht." if the bahais had the longer dagger, the azalis did not lack the bitter pen. professor browne translates from this work as follows, "the misleadings of black darkness brought me into the city of blood (acca). i met abbas effendi, the whisperer of evil thoughts, one of the manifestations of infidelity. afterwards i saw the rest of the wicked one's followers. their words and arguments consist of a farrago of names, baseless stories, calumnies, falsehoods and lies, and not one of them had any knowledge of the first principles of the religion of the 'bayan.' they are all devoid of knowledge, ignorant, short-sighted, of common capacity, hoodwinked, people of darkness, spurned of nature, hypocrites, corrupters of texts, blind imitators. god hath taken away from them his light and hath left them in the darkness of the wicked one and hath destroyed them in the abysses of vain imaginings." he was admitted to audience with baha and narrates, "when i came there and looked upon the arch-idol, that greatest talisman, that personified revolt, that rebellious lucifer, the envious iblis, i saw a form upon the throne and heard the lowing of the calf (baha--golden calf). then did i see how the light of the most great name shone on ahriman the accursed, and how the fingers of the demon wore the ring. (alluding to the theft of solomon's ring by the demon.) for they had written the name baha-ul-abha on divers writings and called it 'the most great name.' thereat there came to my mind the verse of hafiz: efficient is the name divine: be of good cheer, o heart! the div becomes not solomon by guile and cunning art." xi the quarrel over the succession the confusion, the reaction, and the spiritual division usually attendant upon a prophet's death were in this case happily averted (!?).--_holley, a bahai, "the modern social religion," p. ._ the last schism and the bitterness to which it gave rise lead me to inquire, where is the compelling and constraining power which they regard as the essential and incontrovertible sign of the divine word as in the text, "associate with all religions with spirituality and fragrance," when they can show such bitter animosity against those of their own household.--_professor browne._ whosoever claimeth a mission before the completion of a full thousand years from this manifestation is a lying impostor; whosoever interpreteth or explaineth this text different from what is obviously revealed, is bereft of the spirit of god and his mercy.--"_kitab-ul-akdas._" the claims of bahais in regard to the conduct of abdul baha must be further considered. mr. phelps describes him as a man "who proves that self can be utterly forgotten: that all-embracing love can be substituted for egotism: the recorded love of buddha and christ may indeed be realized." m. asad ullah writes: "he sees the moslem, the christian and the bahai, all with one eye,--he is equally kind to all." mr. sprague affirms: "abdul baha manifests universal love in every word and act." mr. chase says: "bahaism does bring men into loving unity with each other." abdul baha said in his address at denver, col., "all other nations ... inquire as to the character of this love. what love exists among the bahais! what unity obtains among these bahais! what agreement there is among these bahais! all envy it."[ ] again let the light of history shine forth and these claims be justified or refuted by the facts. baha ullah died at acca in may, , in his seventy-fifth year. the death of the father was the signal for a bitter quarrel among his sons. the occasion was the succession to the leadership. the cause, no doubt, lay partly in that jealousy which results from a polygamous household. this polygamy was the occasion of misfortune even at the time, for the persian consul at bagdad, named mirza buzurk khan kasvini, had desired to wed one of the women and vented his disappointment on the bahai community by making accusation against them before the persian and turkish governments.[ ] baha ullah had twelve children. the four sons who grew to manhood received "great swelling" titles. abbas was entitled "the greatest (azam) branch of god" and regarded as the "return" of jesus; mohammed ali, "the mightiest (akbar) branch of god" and the "return" of mohammed; ziah ullah, "the purest branch and as abraham" (died ); badi ullah, "the most luminous branch and as moses." abbas effendi was the son of aseyeh. the other three were sons of ayesha or madh ulya. abbas effendi claimed the succession, basing his right and title on the will of baha, called the kitab-il-ahd and on previous declarations. his right was disputed by the other brothers. i have a manuscript by a lifelong bahai which gives the following account: "nine days after the 'ascension' of baha, abbas effendi desired nine of the chief men to come to the house of mohammed ali effendi. he opened the will. it was in baha's own handwriting and two pages long. the nine men saw it. on the second page, over a part of the writing, abbas had put a blue paper that it might not be read, and he refused to have it read. on the same day, the whole congregation (men) gathered to the palace of baha. mirza majd-i-din (abbas' sister's son) rose and read the will up to the blue paper. later the women were called to the kasr bahja and the will was again read, but the concealed portion was not made known. it was evident that it was for his own selfish purposes that abbas concealed it, because the future authority did not pertain to him. from persia and india many wrote, saying: 'show the last portion; it is the writing of his holiness.' he refused. to this day it is concealed." abbas assumed authority as the supreme ruler of the new dispensation, the centre of the covenant, and the infallible interpreter of its teachings. his claim is clearly set forth in a tablet[ ] wherein, speaking in the third person, he declares: "all bahais must obey the centre of the covenant and must not _deviate one hair's breadth_ from obedience to him." "he should be looked upon as authority by all." "obedience and submission must be shown him and the face turned to him completely." he was given such titles as[ ] "his holiness the master," "our lord," "the centre of the cause of god," "dawning place of the divine light," "dayspring of the light of the covenant." indeed his first apostles to persia bore the message, "i am the manifestation of god. my paps are full of the milk of godhead. whosoever will, let him come and suck freely." his claims to headship were strenuously opposed by his brothers and some of the nearest disciples. a bitter quarrel began as a consequence and has raged to the present time. letters were sent by each party to the persian bahais, involving them in the quarrel. mohammed ali composed a book, called the "ityan-i-dallil," presenting proofs of the invalidity of abbas' claims, from the writings of baha. they charge[ ] abbas with concealing and annulling baha's will, perverting his teachings, changing the writings of baha, publishing expurgated and interpolated editions of them, and attempting to suppress the authorized bombay editions. specifically they accuse him of publishing a lawh-i-beirut, a tablet in which abbas is greatly exalted, and attributing it to baha, though it is spurious; that he has inserted verses into letters written in the hand of baha's amanuensis and published them as genuine; has omitted verses from the "tablet of command"; made up the "treasure tablet" from parts of several others; appropriated to himself tablets pertaining to mirza mohammed ali; and commanded to destroy all tablets of baha which have not his (abbas') seal upon them.[ ] per contra the party of abbas accused his brothers of intemperance and profligacy[ ] and of heresy, covenant-breaking and fraud. mr. hadad reported m. mohammed ali and badi ullah as "being profligate and wanton, frequenting wine shops and being spendthrifts." mr. getsinger said he had seen badi ullah in the street intoxicated and being helped home by two servants, that he and his brother had taken and pawned the effects of baha, rugs, hand-bags, etc., and a pearl rosary belonging to baha which was valued at $ , (!) and had squandered the money." abbas said to mrs. grundy,[ ] "mohammed ali has appropriated many papers and tablets written by the blessed perfection (baha). it is possible for these writings to be altered, as the meanings in persian are greatly changed by a single dot here and there. before his ascension, the blessed perfection said to me, 'i have given you all the papers.' he put them in two satchels and sent them to me. after his ascension, mohammed ali said, 'you had better give me the two satchels to take care of.' he took them away and never returned them." he said that mohammed ali deceives, "for the will was also written by mohammed ali's own hand from dictation of the blessed perfection. by violating the covenant (will) he has become a _fallen_ branch. all the beautiful blossoms upon the tree of life were destroyed by mohammed ali." abbas proceeded to the use of boycott and anathema. he[ ] ordered that no one of the acca community should send any letters anywhere without first showing them to him, and commanded the bahais in persia not to receive any letters that were not sealed by him, but to send them back to him, and that in writing to acca they should send their letters open. these restrictions on freedom gave great offense. abbas also prohibited his followers from associating with his brothers and their followers, strictly ordering them "not to sit, meet, speak or correspond with them, not even to trade or associate with them in any profession."[ ] khadim reports that "once in his own house, abbas rose up and furiously attacked" his stepmother, who, in return, reviled him and fled from the house, wailing. "at the sacred tomb he used cruelly to treat the brothers and sisters."[ ] "on one occasion he repeatedly struck his youngest (half) sister in the presence of her little ones and many believers," scolding her "with a loud voice, uttering many harsh words."[ ] on another occasion he "insulted and beat khadim (mirza aga jan, baha's amanuensis) at the sacred place" and afterwards "ordered his followers to imprison and cruelly beat him, which they did."[ ] he sent adrift abdul gaffar ispahani, called abdullah, one of the first believers on baha, in such destitute condition that he died of hunger and was buried in a potter's field at damascus.[ ] "alas! alas!" exclaims mirza aga jan, "abbas effendi has caused his followers to display such vehemence of hatred and rancour, the like of which has never been shown by barbarous nations, and even by the most ignorant tribes."[ ] of abbas, mrs. templeton[ ] writes: "his pride, alas, is great.... he seems to be blinded.... with regard to business matters abbas effendi has not been just to his brothers, who have suffered a good deal in consequence."[ ] abbas effendi cut off the living of his stepmothers, brothers and their dependents. baha ullah and his household had a stipend from the turkish government, as azal and the babis in cyprus had, and it was not an ungenerous allowance.[ ] "the family had an income from the government, as well as a revenue from three villages."[ ] "these funds abbas effendi appropriated and with these made his charitable gifts (?) leaving the forty dependents of the younger brothers to live as best they could."[ ] this excluding the protesters from their share of the income and offerings embittered the strife, at the same time weakening their ability to propagate their contention. bitterness and enmity increased; recriminations and accusations inflamed the passions of both sides. mirza abul fazl, the philosopher of the movement, gives, as a partisan of abbas effendi, an account of these times in his "bahai proofs."[ ] he describes the "ruinous discords and divisions," "the world-consuming flame of jealousy and hatred of the people of error," "the hard hearts of the men of hostility," "the animosity and groundless pride," "the senseless hatred, degradation and shame of the violators of the covenant." he gives the opprobrious title of _nakhazeen_ to mohammed ali's party. he continues, "the evil intrigues, calumnies, false pamphlets and accusations, evil tongues and cursings of the nakhazeen divided the community and filled it with foul odours." several outside parties tried to act as mediators and bring about a reconciliation. among these were the british consul at haifa and mrs. templeton. the younger brothers agreed to the terms. abbas effendi was formally requested to show the will before impartial witnesses and all were to abide by its word. "this he resolutely refused to do and he must stand condemned for this before all impartial men."[ ] after the failure of these efforts at reconciliation, the anger and bitterness waxed hotter. to quote abul fazl again: "the nakhazeen cursed and insulted the visitors to the tomb of the blessed perfection," so that there was danger of its desecration. "consequently abbas effendi asked the local (turkish) government to supply a guard to accompany and protect" his party. abbas also went to tiberias and made complaint to the government there.[ ] as a result of all these conditions, "the people of hostility and violation," says abul fazl, "availed themselves of political machinations," in other words, mohammed ali's party, "those dwellers in hellfire,"[ ] appealed to the "fanatical men of those lands," _i.e._, those same turkish authorities. mohammed ali formally complained to the governor of damascus, nazim pasha, sending mirza majd-ud-din as his special messenger.[ ] they accused abbas of retaining their stipends, of confiscating their patrimony, including the father's gold watch which had been donated to mohammed ali. above all, according to the interesting narrative of abbas' sister, bahiah khanum,[ ] they made accusation that the shrine which was being erected on mount carmel "was intended as a fort, in which abbas and his followers would intrench themselves, defy the government, and endeavour to gain possession of this part of syria." to use the words of abbas, they said that "he had hoisted the banner of independence; upon that he had inscribed 'ya baha-ul abha': that he had summoned all to assemble that he might found a new monarchy." therefore "an inquisitorial body (a commission) was appointed by the government. to them the copartners of my brothers confirmed them (the reports) and added to them."[ ] after the report of the commission and in consequence of these charges and counter-charges of the "greatest branch of god" and the "mightiest branch of god," a telegram was received from the sultan to the governor "issuing a firman, decreeing the original order, by which baha's family were confined within the walls of acca." after _nine_ years of quarrelling (_nine_ being the sacred number of bahais) this order was put in force, a.d. they were still confined to acca in when i visited haifa. i saw the shrine and the fine residence of baha at haifa, just beside the english mission. it deserves to be emphasized that the _cause of the bahai leaders being restricted to acca_ was not religious persecution by moslems but _their own quarrellings_. so completely had the suspicions of abdul hamid's government been aroused by their accusations against each other that the death sentence was feared. pilgrimages were stopped and terror rested on the followers.[ ] abdul baha wrote to his american disciples of these conditions in the following hyperbolic words: "verily, by god, i would not change this prison for the throne nor for all the gardens of the earth. verily i hope to be suspended in the air, and that my breast may become the target to be pierced by thousands of bullets: or that i may be cast into the bottomless seas or thrown into the wilderness.... if i could taste the cup of the great martyrdom, my greatest desire would be fulfilled. this is my utmost aim, the animation of my spirit, the healing of my bosom, the sight of my eyes." but when the establishment of the constitution in turkey gave him freedom, he was quick to take advantage of it. he went to egypt and took up his residence there.[ ] the history i have narrated above refutes these various pretensions of bahaism, its claims, its "great swelling words" more forcibly than logic or the judgments and opinions of myself and others. the conduct of abdul baha and his followers towards the brothers and their followers, as well as that of bahais to the azalis, contradicts their fine professions of toleration and love to all religions and all men. well may we exclaim with professor browne: "where is the restraining power, when they can show such _bitter animosity_ against those of their own household!" the numbers of bahais living at acca then was about ninety,[ ] and of them thirty[ ] or forty[ ] were of the opponents of abbas. in persia, where bahais number a hundred thousand, a small, but influential minority rejected the authority of abbas effendi. these were placed under the ban, anathematized, and ostracized. for example, one of them, mirza jalil of khoi, was driven out of his house, which was destroyed by shiahs, instigated by new bahais. another adherent of mohammed ali, mirza khalil of tabriz, was completely ostracized, according to command received from acca. his daughter, who was married to a new bahai, was allowed to visit her parents only once a year, though living in the same city, and when she died they did not give them word till six days after the funeral. another bahai libelled this man to his employers in hope of injuring him. another result in persia was the permanent estrangement of a considerable number of bahais who lapsed into scepticism. abbas effendi, influenced by the opposition, put a veil over his high claims and instructed his followers to speak of him as simply abdul baha, "the servant of baha," which is usually translated by them "the servant of god." the protesters replied, "rather let the title be abdul-hawa, 'the servant of air,'" _i.e._, windy and bombastic. but notwithstanding his disavowals abdul baha allows himself to be assigned a position both inconsistent with his own words and with the teachings of baha. mr. phelps, his disciple and biographer, says,[ ] "abdul baha, styled 'our lord,' 'our master,' is regarded with a love and a _veneration_ second only, _if indeed second_, to that which they bestow upon baha ullah. he is classed as the third or last of the divine messengers of the present dispensation." the bab, baha and abbas constitute, as it were, the bahai trinity. abdul baha commended and approved for publication an ode written by thornton chase in which he is glorified with the following epithets among many others. "o thou enlightener of the spirits of men! thou heart of the world! "thou physician of souls! thou prince of peace! "thou right arm of the almighty! thou lord of the sabbath of ages! "thou mystery of god!" another disciple, mrs. grundy,[ ] writes, "abdul baha is the bazaar of god, where everything humanity needs may be found without money and without price." mr. remey (a bahai) writes,[ ] "the divine spirit is manifested in abdul baha--_the branch_. he is the unique channel through which the power of god is conveyed to each individual believer. he is the intermediary. the spiritual well-being of every bahai depends on his connection with abdul baha." the outcome of this quarrel in america is told in the following chapter. an interesting sequel is the recantation of mirza badi ullah. doubtless helped thereto by poverty, he made his submission to abdul baha, and published a confession, called "an epistle to the bahai world." concerning it doctor pease told me that badi ullah is not the author of the whole of that which is published in english under his name. the epistle says, i badi ullah "turn my face to the appointed station, abdul baha--may the life of all existent beings be a sacrifice to him." against m. mohammed ali, with whom he had associated himself for a decade, he makes accusation of untrustworthiness, of purloining the papers and books of baha and interpolating and falsifying them, of cursing and execrating abdul baha through jealousy. he turns on his former supporters and says, "they (the nakhazeen) have no god save passion, no object save personal interest."[ ] doctor jessup says:[ ] "badi not long ago was threatening to kill abbas, and assassination is an old fashion of persian fanatics.... he has become reconciled but i would not guarantee that his main object is not to gain his share of the money." better had badi stuck to his former plan when he petitioned the governor of damascus and the sultan to be sent as a prisoner to rhodes. doubtless then he would have had an independent pension. footnotes: [ ] _s. w._, nov. , , p. ; phelps, pp. , . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. , note . [ ] _s. w._, july , . [ ] abul fazl's "bahai proofs," pp. - . [ ] see "facts for behaists." [ ] we can well believe that these accusations are true, in view of what we know from professor browne of the way abbas effendi perverted facts of the history of the bab and subh-i-azal, in the "traveller's narrative" of which he was the author ("new hist.," pp. xiv., xxxi.). [ ] "facts for behaists," pp. , . [ ] "ten days in the light at acca," p. . [ ] persian manuscript. [ ] "facts, etc.," p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] persian manuscript. [ ] "facts," p. . [ ] mrs. templeton was mrs. laurence oliphant and had resided at acca and in intimate relations with the family of baha for ten years. [ ] "facts," pp. - . [ ] "trav.'s narr.," p. . [ ] mrs. templeton's letter to doctor pease in "facts," p. . [ ] mrs. templeton, p. . [ ] pages - . [ ] mrs. templeton. [ ] see "facts, etc.," khadim's letter. [ ] page . [ ] "an epistle to the bahai world," by m. badi ullah, p. , and mr. howard macnutt's interview with badi ullah, _s. w._, july , . [ ] phelps' "life," p. . [ ] "letters to the friends in persia," pp. - . comp. "tablets of abdul baha," vol. i, pp. - . [ ] "daily lessons," by goodall, pp. - and the "bahai movement," pp. - . [ ] "tablets," vol. i, pp. , . [ ] phelps, p. . [ ] abul fazl, p. . [ ] mrs. templeton, "facts, etc.," p. . [ ] page xxxiv. [ ] "ten days at acca," p. . [ ] _star_, sept. , . [ ] page . [ ] "fifty-three years in syria," p. . xii bahaism in america i speak from the point of view of persian bahaism and not from that american fantasy which bears its name.--_nicolas, "béyan persan," vol. i, p. ii._ abbas is an elderly and venerable man, very similar to a score of venerable druse and moslem sheikhs i have met.... the lord deliver them (american christians) from the delirious blasphemies.... the claim that the acca sheikh is god is quite enough to condemn them.--_h. h. jessup, "fifty-three years in syria," p. ._ pray for my return to america and say: o baha ullah! confirm him in the servitude of the east; so that he may not spend all his time in the orient; that he may return to america and occupy his time in the western world.--_prayer of bahais._ it is doubtless this mystical, allegorical character of bahaism which attracts a certain type of mind in america, in the main probably, the same type which follows after spiritualism, esoteric buddhism, swamis from india, theosophy, and other movements which play around the edges of the occult and magical, and help to dull the edge of present realities with the things which are neither present nor real.... indeed it is probably this soft compliance with anything and the absence of the robustness of definite truth and solid principle which makes bahaism attractive to many moral softlings in the west.... it will run a brief course and amount to little in america.... the novelty will soon be over and the people who did not have sufficient discernment to discover the truth that will satisfy them in christianity, will not find it in baha ullah or abbas effendi.--_r. e. speer, "miss. and mod. hist.," vol. i, pp. , - ._ bahaism, as distinguished from babism, was, to a certain extent, introduced to public notice in america by christian missionaries, who reported about it as a movement likely to break the solidarity of shiahism and facilitate the evangelization of persia. with the same thought in mind, professor browne's translations of "the new history" and "the traveller's narrative" attracted attention. in the congress of religions, at the chicago exposition in , the eminent missionary, rev. h. h. jessup, d. d., described baha ullah as "a famous persian sage,--the babi saint, named baha ullah (the glory of god), the head of that vast reform party of persian moslems, who accept the new testament as the word of god and christ as the deliverer of men; who regard all nations as one and all men as brothers."[ ] shortly after the exposition a syrian, named ibrahim g. kheiralla, began a propaganda in favour of bahaism. he was of christian parentage, born in mount lebanon, and educated in beirut college. at cairo, under the tutelage of mirza karim of teheran, he accepted the bahai faith. he was engaged in business, to which he joined faith healing and lecturing. he was given a fake degree of doctor of something by a night school in chicago. this he rightly despised, but considered that he was entitled to the degree because m. mohammed ali had addressed him as doctor! i had several interviews with him. he showed me a trunk full of bahai manuscripts and documents, and allowed me to read his translation into english of the "kitab-ul-akdas." he is a man of strong mind, acute argumentative faculties, fine conversational powers and altogether an interesting personality. he first taught bahaism in secret lessons, as a religion of mysteries, a secret order, a doctrine for truth-seekers only, not for the masses. "the secret teaching gives us the key to the truth."[ ] mr. s. k. vatralsky was among the private pupils at kenosha. he did not become a believer, but learned the esoteric doctrine and published an interesting account of the cult under the title, "mohammedan gnosticism in america."[ ] of the method used he writes, "in their secret lessons they allegorize and explain away; in public by means of mental reservation and the use of words in a double sense, they appear as they wish to appear." doctor kheiralla published in a booklet called "bab-ed-din, the door of the true religion--revelation from the east." it has two parts ( ) on the individuality of god and ( ) a refutation of the christian doctrine of the atonement. later ( ), in conjunction with mr. howard macnutt, he published "beha ullah" in two volumes. it is the theology and apologetics of bahaism. its preface informs us that its purpose is to "demonstrate that the everlasting father, the prince of peace, has appeared in human form and established his kingdom on earth." the propaganda met with considerable success in chicago and its vicinity. in doctor kheiralla went to new york city and in a short time " souls" were persuaded. in this same year two of his pupils were married in his house in chicago, receiving his blessing. these were mr. and mrs. e. c. getsinger. they "taught seekers" in ithaca, n. y., and afterwards in california. there they converted mrs. h----, a woman of great wealth, to the faith. mr. vatralsky narrates that doctor kheiralla converted no less than , americans during the first two years of his labour. of these were living in chicago (doctor kheiralla told me ), between and in wisconsin, about in new york, the rest in boston, etc. in his "beha ullah" doctor kheiralla says, "over seven years ago i began to preach the message. since then thousands of people of this country have believed and accepted the glad tidings of the appearance of the lord of hosts, the incarnation of deity, and the glorious message is rapidly spreading in the united states." speaking of this period mr. vatralsky writes: "it would not have had its success, had it come flying its own native colours. it has succeeded because, like a counterfeit coin, it has passed for what it is not." a curious incident occurred on may , . mr. august j. stenstrand was exscinded from the "first central church of the manifestation," because he rejected baha ullah and accepted subh-i-azal. he was led to this step by investigating the history as recorded in professor browne's translations. he subsequently published three pamphlets, "calls to behaists" ( , , ) setting forth the claims of azal. i had interesting interviews with him in . in the winter of - pilgrimages were organized to visit the shrine and leaders at acca.[ ] one party consisted of mrs. h----, who bore the expenses, doctor and mrs. kheiralla, mr. and mrs. getsinger, mr. hadad and others. the pilgrimage turned out unfortunately. they found the "holy household" divided. they saw only abbas effendi and one sister. they were kept from even a sight of the others. doctor kheiralla was bold enough to dispute with abbas effendi and he told me that for this reason the latter conceived a grudge against him. of this dr. f. o. pease writes: "doctor kheiralla had some discussion with abbas in the presence of native guests and teachers at which abbas took umbrage."[ ] the getsingers accused kheiralla of immoral conduct and abbas effendi reported these stories to mrs. kheiralla and her daughter, with the result that they repudiated kheiralla. certain financial irregularities of the party further disgusted mrs. h---- and chilled her faith. so animosity and dissension sprang up. mr. getsinger, on his return to america, announced that he was to be the representative of abbas effendi, because doctor kheiralla's teachings were erroneous and his conduct immoral. doctor kheiralla responded with counter charges against his accuser, of a private and personal nature, and declared him qualified for the ananias club by his accounts of himself in california. the chicago and kenosha assemblies were rent asunder. in the correspondence, some of which i have in my possession, they hurl at each other such terms as falsehood, lie, malevolence, injustice, maliciousness, deluding, laying traps, etc. thornton chase was accused of dishonesty in money matters. doctor n----, the treasurer of the "assembly" in chicago, was denounced for embezzling its funds. mirza abdul karim arrived from acca to quiet matters but he poured oil on the flames. kheiralla was first informed that if he would submit and coöperate, "he would never want anything." he writes:[ ] "abdul karim promised me plenty of money, and when i refused, he denounced me and prohibited believers from buying or reading my book." he ordered a social and business boycott against him and his party. stenstrand says,[ ] "they have ousted, given bad names, and thrown mud at each other both in their sermons and in print worse than any christian or heathen religions have done." the spirit of abdul karim may be seen from one of his addresses: "o nakhiz (violator), thou spotted snake, thou shalt be seized with a great torture and punishment and thou, o sister serpent, who art wagging thy sinuous way and trailing thy deceitful slime over another region, know thy fate." he declared that he would call to god for vengeance against kheiralla. hasan khorasani, too, threatened him, saying, "he would be smitten of god in two weeks," and "a sword shall cleave the sky and cut his neck." he was greatly frightened. doctor pease said to him, "do not be afraid, you have nothing to fear." kheiralla answered him, "i know these orientals better than you do. i know what they did to the azalis." before they came to the next discussion, he had policemen concealed in his house for his protection. the upshot of the whole matter was that protesters repudiated abbas effendi, after a conference in chicago on may , , finding "increasing evidence of falsity and double dealing in him." indeed, says doctor pease, "why should we not inquire whether abbas is not _a_ son, if not _the_ son of perdition." they entered into correspondence and became one with the party of m. mohammed ali. after this the controversy took on a doctrinal aspect and all questions of abbas' supremacy and misconduct were thrashed out between the american behaists and bahais. this controversy from the side of the behaists is contained in "the three questions" and "facts for behaists" (chicago, ); from the other side in "letters of abdul baha abbas to the friends in persia" and "an epistle to the bahai world," by m. badi ullah, after his recantation. the details of the schism have been given already. to heal the schism different leaders were sent to america successively by abbas effendi. following m. abdul karim, came m. asad ullah, . he published, in new york, "the sacred mysteries" in which he anathematizes the behaists. he organized a "house of justice" in chicago, a step which had been previously taken by the other party. next came the learned mirza abul fazl, - . but their efforts were unavailing though each was willing to acknowledge the faults of his predecessor. the quarrel gave a great setback to the cause. doctor pease wrote in :[ ] "about , have left us because of the dissension and false teaching, and because they would not engage in religious scandal. the whole number in the country is now or . of these are behaists; the others are abbasites of one sect or another, holding belief that abbas is lord and master." doctor kheiralla says, "many grew cold, few remained." with this agrees the word of thornton chase:[ ] "we have seen too many, when the first winds of testing blew, show faith of shallow depth." abdul baha says:[ ] "chicago, in comparison with the cities of america, was in advance and numerically contained more bahais, but when the stench or vile odour of the nakhazeen was spread in that city there was stagnation." in chicago bahaism never recovered from these quarrels. in mr. f. a. slack, "spiritual guide of the behaist assembly of kenosha," wrote to me "of the bitter invectives and false accusations and persecutions we are subjected to" by the followers of abbas effendi. the behaists had dwindled to , according to their own report to the u. s. census in , while the bahais reported , in u. s. a. of whom were in illinois, in two assemblies in new york state, in new jersey, in pennsylvania. one of the largest assemblies was in washington, d. c., with members, white and coloured. these organized local "spiritual assemblies" were in , a very small increase.[ ] there are also "assemblies of teaching" for the women. there are annual conventions with delegates from the different groups. these conventions are "unique and peerless among the assemblies of mankind," in the mind of their imaginative reporter, "because of the divine favour of baha ullah which gathers them together.... all other meetings in the world are for worldly or selfish purposes. these alone are spiritual."[ ] they also hold a summer conference at eliot, maine. the bahai propaganda is carried on by means of these assemblies, by parlour meetings, by personal intercourse and by letters (tablets) from abdul baha. their publicity bureau is most active and supplies many articles to magazines and newspapers. they make use of the chautauquas, peace congresses, etc., to promulgate their peculiar tenets. their press at chicago publishes the _star of the west_, formerly the _bahai news_. it is issued monthly, that is, every nineteen days, according to the bahai calendar. for example, the issue of september , , is dated masheyat , year . it is printed in english and persian, the latter being lithographed. it is confined to bahai subjects, giving many of abdul baha's "revelations." their literature, so far issued, is ( ) the works of baha ullah, in six or more books. ( ) the tablets and addresses of abdul baha. ( ) the apologetics of bahai writers, american or translations from the persian. ( ) journals of pilgrims to acca. ( ) tracts and reports. of his own tablets, abdul baha says:[ ] "in course of time, the light of these tablets will dawn, the greatness, the importance will be known. the truth i say unto thee, that each leaflet will be a wide-spread book, nay rather a glistening gem on the glorious crown. know then its value and hold great its station." these tablets are, for the most part, letters to individuals. besides the bahai publishing society, another agency is the orient-occident unity,--first organized in as the persian american educational society. it has a commercial side, but its main object is to promote bahaism by assisting or opening schools and hospitals in persia and other oriental countries. it has started mission work in teheran, tabriz, meshed and other points in persia and in burmah. they seek to strengthen bahaism in persia where it is small and weak in comparison with other sects. the work of the american bahais there is of little importance. "but the presence of american bahais in persia or the value of an american newspaper is not their direct influence, but the impression they give that america has largely accepted bahaism."[ ] in the united states this unity poses as philanthropical, not revealing in its constitution, circulars and appeals for funds its bahai connection. this concealment is inexcusable and cannot be too strongly condemned. christians and jews should not be asked to contribute to any cause under false pretenses, nor should prominent statesmen, educators and philanthropists be thus led to give their quasi endorsement to the society.[ ] in abdul baha abbas, after a sojourn in france and england, visited america, arriving april and departing december . america has not lacked its own prophetic product, as witness joseph smith, mary eddy, john dowie, crowdy and indian medicine men. but abdul baha, except for hindu swamis, was the first asiatic revelator america has received. its hospitality showed up well. the public and press neither stoned the "prophet" nor caricatured him but looked with kindly eye upon the grave old man, in flowing oriental robes and white turban, with waving hoary hair and long white beard.[ ] his visit was noticed, as has been the case with many distinguished foreigners, but did not create any special sensation. his own press agents were active and aggressive, furnishing many articles for newspapers and magazines. the reporters took the exaggerated statements of the bahais without sifting. he performed his part fairly well and allowed himself to be interviewed and photographed with the patience of an actress. he posed for the "movies" man and spoke for the phonograph records. he sat for an oil painting and approved of his bust in marble.[ ] abdul baha's tour comprised a number of the chief cities of the northeast, followed by a rest at green acre conference, eliot, maine, and then a trip to canada and california. his meetings and addresses were of two kinds: for the public and for the bahais. he spoke to the churches, liberal and evangelical,[ ] socialists, theosophists, etc.; to woman's clubs, suffragists, colleges, historical societies, peace societies and at the conference on international arbitration, at lake mohonk. abdul baha's principle in his public addresses was "to talk about things upon which we agree and say nothing about things upon which we differ."[ ] thus he spoke much of the fatherhood of god, but failed to mention that he regarded baha ullah as "the manifestation of the father." he spoke of brotherly love extensively yet never about the violent quarrels that abound in bahai annals. he said much of religious unity[ ] but did not state how the movement had increased the number of sects in persia and in america. he spoke much on "universal peace," though babi history, which they boast of, has some of the cruelest and bloodiest conflicts of arms recorded in history. he dwelt much on the principle of arbitration, though he had refused to arbitrate his dispute with mohammed ali. even while he was in america, a grandson of baha ullah, who lives near chicago, sent a request for an interview to lead to a reconciliation. abdul baha ignored the request. he discoursed at length on woman's rights and equality, but omitted to inform the public that baha ullah had three wives and carefully concealed his women in an oriental haram. besides all these, he erroneously attributed to baha ullah the origination of teachings which have been the age-long possession of christendom. the meetings with the believers were of a different character. to them his message was: "teach bahaism; work for the cause; spread the faith; build the temple." with them he celebrated the unity feast. this has some of the features of the _agape_ of the ancient church and some of the lord's supper. often a variety of food is partaken, persian pilau being a favourite. when all were seated abdul passed through the rooms, speaking:[ ] "abdul baha is now walking among you commemorating baha ullah. blessed are ye who are the servants of baha ullah. in the utmost of love i greet each and all of you. this is like the lord's supper. material food is prepared for you. the manna from heaven is present for you. may your hearts be exhilarated in the kingdom of abha. the labours of baha ullah have not been in vain." after the feast, he raised his hands and pronounced his blessing upon them. this is called the th day unity feast and is celebrated at the beginning of every bahai month. when abdul baha is not present the tablets are read and praises to baha, as to god, are chanted. one incident was the establishment of the day of thornton chase as a memorial anniversary. chase is the first american bahai to be canonized. abdul baha visited his grave at los angeles, and ordained a saint's day in the bahai calendar, october th. he said:[ ] "this revered personage was the first bahai believer in america. he served the cause faithfully and his services will be ever remembered throughout ages and cycles."[ ] "he was of the blessed souls.... he witnessed the light of the kingdom of abha and wrote proofs and evidences of the manifestation." thornton chase certainly had a surprising faith in abdul baha. a special event was the dedication of the grounds of the bahai temple, the mashrak-ul-azkar (the dawning-place of praises). this took place in the midst of the rizwan feast, on may , , in the presence of the bahai temple unity composed of delegates from all the "spiritual assemblies" in america, convened in its fourth annual convention. a site of five acres has been purchased in the village of willmette, a suburb of chicago. abdul baha, using a golden trowel, broke ground and others of the different races, who were present, used picks and shovels and prepared a place into which abdul baha put a stone. he said: "the mystery of this building is great. it cannot be unveiled yet, but its erection is the most important undertaking of this day. this temple of god in chicago will be to the spiritual body of the world what the inrush of the spirit is to the physical body of man, quickening it to its utmost parts and infusing a new light and power.... its results and fruits are endless." of the structure he said: "the mashrak-ul-azkar will be like a beautiful bouquet. the central lofty edifice will have nine sides, surrounded by nine avenues interlacing nine gardens where nine fountains will play. there will be nine gateways and columns, with nine arches and nine arched windows and nine caissons nine feet in diameter. nine will also be carried out in the galleries and dome. further, its meetings are to be held on the ninth of each month."[ ] thus the bahai sacred number will be exhibited everywhere. "behold!" exclaims the bahai reporter. "what a priceless piece of ground is this site, dedicated by the hands of the orb of the covenant and blessed by his holy feet."[ ] but in another place abdul baha urges them to hasten the completion of the building, complaining[ ] "america has not been working enough for it." "money comes slowly," says the treasurer; "pledges were tremendous--as big as our eyes saw at the time and afterwards we could collect[ ] only a small proportion." after six years of strenuous pleading and effort, they have paid for the ground. the ladies evidently preferred to spend their money in jaunts to acca, with paris and cairo en route, rather than to put up an extravagant temple in chicago for people who are scattered in that city--a temple in which the believers in new york and los angeles may never worship. the cause for haste is "to fulfill a great prophecy, that in the day of the branch shall the temple of the lord be built" (zech. vi. ). and abdul baha is already more than seventy. when finished, "it will have an effect on the whole world." "it will be dedicated to the worship of baha ullah and his words only are to be read in it."[ ] after a sojourn of about eight months, abdul baha returned to england, whence he telegraphed: "thanks to baha ullah, i arrived safely." as a souvenir of the visit, the american bahais presented a silver vase to the shrine of abdul baha ullah at acca, "the holy city." of this mr. remey writes: "the holy tomb in which this vase is to repose (we ardently hope) for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years already contains precious offerings, vases and many wonderful things placed there by people from all over the world. among this ever-growing collection at the threshold of the remains of the earthly tabernacle of him who manifested forth to a dying world the very fatherhood of the eternal of him, who for us is the sublime king of kings, must stand this silent token, as a measure of the response from the hearts made glad by this ineffable sacrifice of him who, giving up all thoughts of self, came to us (_i. e._, to u. s. a.) in our need, the centre of the covenant, his holiness abdul baha." the visit of abdul baha did not leave any great impression. his personality had no deep influence. he appeared conspicuous neither for intellectuality nor spirituality. many a distinguished traveller has got hold of the public ear and heart to a greater extent. i was in baltimore when he was there. he caused scarcely a ripple on the surface. his addresses were tame and full of platitudes. it was told me that his visit led to doubt and coldness on the part of some adherents. he was, as canon wilberforce said, "not an orator, nor even a preacher," practiced in public address. one of the distinguished clergymen whose pulpit he occupied said to me, "the man has no special message. he is a faker." another liberal thinker, who has given publicity to this doctrine, after an interview, pronounced him a fraud. some of the american disciples, especially the ladies, idolized him, even to the extent of bringing down upon them the reprobation of some english disciples. one of the latter wrote:[ ] "there seems to be a tendency in america and elsewhere to focus too great attention on abdul baha rather than upon the manifistation." what of the progress of bahaism in america? it is making no marked progress. in some sections it seems to have gone forward, as on the pacific coast and around new york and washington. it has decreased in the south and in the headquarters of the movement, chicago. the organization at atlanta has disappeared from the list. the south will not take kindly to the advocacy by abdul baha of the miscegenation of the races. he recommends that efforts be made towards the intermarriage of the coloured and white races as the ideal panacea for the present estrangement.[ ] i understand that a washington negro has married an english bahai woman, the courtship having occurred when both were pilgrims, and under the encouragement of abdul baha. of the condition of the cause in chicago i can speak from personal investigation. i attended the regular sunday service in st. john's room, eighteenth floor of the masonic hall. it was a pleasant may day. about sixty were present--twenty men and forty women. i questioned the men and found that six of them were bahais and fourteen, like me, were visitors. the man next to me on the right was a member of an ethical culture society that meets on the twelfth floor. i asked the man on my left to what organization he belonged. he replied, "to the kingdom of god." i inquired what was his opinion of abbas effendi. he pulled from his pocket a much used new testament and pointed to the verse in revelation which refers to the beast and said, "that is he." i conversed with several of the bahai ladies, two of whom acted as instructors of the meeting. the sunday-school held at an earlier hour, i learned, was a class in esperanto. to my question as to the number of bahais in chicago, she replied "that baha ullah has told us that there must be a falling away before the triumph," from which i inferred that conditions were not prosperous. the next man, a bahai, told me the number was about one hundred and fifty. the leader, mrs. c. true, told me about three hundred. one of the opposing sect told me there are only sixty, while his sect has lost all organization and numbers only forty in the whole country. but if we take the number at the highest estimate given, the number is less than fifteen years ago. i go into particulars regarding this point, because there is a false impression abroad, in europe and asia, an impression that is carefully fostered. take this incident. in persia a bahai affirmed before the crowd that one-half of chicago was bahai. a bible colporteur disputed the statement and proposed to telegraph to the mayor of chicago and inquire, and whichever side was wrong should pay for the telegram. the bahai declined. in distant india a similar impression is created for effect. mr. getsinger wrote in the _jam-i-jamseed_ of bombay:[ ] "the bahai faith has spread in america by leaps and bounds, _the number being beyond computation_." strange exaggeration, if you give it no worse name! some such a one was no doubt interviewed by the "wayfarer" of the continent and told him that there were one million in the united states.[ ] but that well-informed reporter put the number at , . _the star of the west_ (feb. , ) says: "there are several thousand bahais in the united states." my own conclusion is that there are , in twenty-seven organizations. in they reported to the census , members in twenty-four organizations. most of the members are women. (see chap. vii.) that the bahai propaganda has nothing special to boast of in the united states is evident when we compare its results with those of other religious fads. the dowieites of zion city (followers of john dowie who claimed to be the prophet elijah) report seventeen organizations in ten states with , members; the crowdyites (crowdy was a negro cook who in claimed to be a prophet) report forty-eight organizations and , members; theosophists eighty-five and , members; vedantists (swamiists) four and members; spiritualists with , members; christian scientists and , members. well may the egyptian _gazette_ say: "if bahaism has found favour in the united states, it cannot be forgotten that countless other 'religions' have become popular there which would not have been taken seriously in any other country in the world." yet, aside from the mormons, how few they number altogether. is it not marvellous that clergy of various protestant churches, even of the church of england, have given the use of their edifices for its anti-christian proselytism? roman catholic churches have not been open to it. and this happened not only when abdul baha was a guest among our people but is continued since. surely such latitudinarianism must grieve the heart of christ even as it shocks his faithful followers and gives boldness to those who would hurl him from his mediatorial throne. it is unnecessary now to catalogue the various protestant pulpits and platforms in great britain, and in america where, with readings from the bahai "revelations" and flattering introductions, place was given to the "false christ." but the disloyalty still continues. lately a missionary was a speaker at a woman's foreign missions society and was preceded by a lady advocating bahaism. in a late number of the _star of the west_ (april , ) is a picture of the st. mark's-in-the-bowerie episcopal church, new york, with a notice that an audience room had been granted in the parish house for bahai meetings every sunday. this was followed by a letter from abdul baha rejoicing in this opportunity "to promulgate the principles of baha ullah," and by a request for the prayers of all bahais that "through this opened door many hearts may be turned to the 'branch,'" _i. e._, abdul baha. another issue contains an announcement[ ] of the marriage at montreal of the editor, doctor bagdadi, to zeenat khanum, both persian bahais of mohammedan antecedents. the narrative declares: "the minister who officiated astonished all [even the bahais] by reading from the bahai writings!" the bahais still continue to proselyte through ethical culture and theosophic societies and on the platform of peace congresses. is it not full time that christian people and churches should cease to give countenance to this system which is an enemy of the cross of christ, and which has already deceived several thousands of our fellow christians? footnotes: [ ] "parliament of religions," p. ; i. g. kheiralla, "beha ullah," p. ix. [ ] "bab-ed-din," by i. g. kheiralla, pp. , , . [ ] _american journal of theology_, . [ ] "bahai movement," p. ; _s. w._, p. , . [ ] an open letter to the abbab in america, by doctor pease. [ ] "the three questions," p. . [ ] "third call to behais," p. . [ ] letter to m. badi ullah. [ ] "before abraham was i am," p. . [ ] _s. w._, sept. , , p. . [ ] _s. w._, sept. , , p. . [ ] _s. w._, may , , pp. - . [ ] "tablets," vol. i, p. ii. [ ] j. d. frame, m. d., _moslem world_, , p. . [ ] sec.'s report, june, ; october bulletin, ; _s. w._, may , , july , , nov. , , march and june, . [ ] the "kitab-ul-akdas" commands that the hair should not be allowed to grow below the level of the ear: why does not abdul baha keep this law? [ ] myron phelps states (p. ) that abbas effendi wishes no photographs of himself taken. this is certainly a mistake as years ago they were circulated in persia and purchasable in the bazaar. the account of his posing for the motion pictures is amusing. when requested to pass before the camera, he at once replied, "khaili khob" (very good). the bahais present were very much upset and protested that his picture would be scattered all over the country in the movies. he replied, "busiar khob" (still better). later, in june, an extended motion picture was taken. the scenes were somewhat spoiled by abdul baha not remaining in focus and disarranging the scenario. these films, with words, are being used in the sunday services of the bahais and are to be used in the orient in connection with the voice record on the edison talking machine. [ ] mr. remey said to him: "we expected an attitude of hostility towards you from the clergy and theologians. we did not expect the churches and religious societies would open their doors" (_s. w._, march , , p. ). doctor cadman of brooklyn explained his inviting abdul baha to preach in his pulpit by saying, "christian people can afford to be absolutely free and catholic in their extension of liberty and courtesy to other people." yet most christians were grieved and consider it disloyalty to christ. [ ] _s. w._, march, , p. . [ ] the striking lack of unity among the bahais is evident from a tablet of abdul baha written shortly before his visit to america (_s. w._, may , ). "in view of the differences among the friends and the lack of unity among the maid servants of the merciful, how can abdul baha hasten to those parts? is it possible? no, by god!" "your worthless imaginations, backbiting, and faultfinding enable the nakhazeen to spread a noose for you." the americans could reply, "physician, heal thyself," for the worst anger and discord have been between the brothers at acca. and he himself continues to cry out, "hold aloof from the violators." [ ] _s. w._, oct. , , p. . [ ] _s. w._, sept. , , p. . [ ] similar phrases addressed to his living disciples sound like flattery and appeals to their vanity, such as, "your names will go down through the ages." "kings and queens will never be talked of as you will be" (_s. w._, dec. , , p. , etc.). [ ] _s. w._, june , . [ ] _s. w._, dec. , , p. . [ ] _s. w._, aug. , , p. - . [ ] "the oriental rose," p. , says that $ , have been sent from the orient for the temple. [ ] "daily lessons," p. . [ ] _s. w._, dec. , . [ ] l. g. gregory, "the heavenly vista," pp. , , , . [ ] _s. w._, april , . [ ] the _s. w._ of march , , reported one organization in montreal, one in hawaii, one in england, two in germany, viz., stuttgart and zuffenhausen, and one in cape town. [ ] _star_, may , , p. . bibliography _consulted by the author_ (_ _) _non-bahai writers_ e. g. browne: "the babis of persia," _jour. roy. as. soc._, july, oct., . "babi manuscripts," _jour. roy. as. soc._, april, july, oct., . art. "babism" in "encyclo. brit.," "enc. of religion and ethics," and "enc. of islam." introductions and appendices to translations of babi-bahai books. "a year among the persians." "literary history of persia." a. l. m. nicolas: "sayyid ali mohammed dit le bab" (biography). r. e. speer in "missions and modern history," vol. i, chap. iii, pp. - , "the religion of the bab." "haifa or modern life in palestine," by oliphant. canon sell "babism" (tract ), "bahaism" (tract ). critical magazine articles. _american journal of theology_, jan., , "mohammedan gnosticism in america," s. k. vatralsky. _north amer. rev._, june, , j. t. bixby; april, , prof. e. d. ross. _outlook_, june, , dr. h. h. jessup. _open court_, june and july, and , dr. p. carus. _moslem world_, july, , dr. j. d. frame. _mission. rev. of world_, oct., , dr. w. a. shedd. _oxford magazine_, may, . (_ _) _babi or bahai writers_ by the bab: "béyan persan" (fr.), vols, trans. by a. nicolas. by baha ullah: "akdas," ms. trans., by i. g. kheiralla. "ikan," "the seven valleys," "the hidden words," "surat-ul-hykl," "words of paradise," "glad tidings," tablets--of the world, of ishrakat, tarazat, tajallayat (chicago). by abdul baha: "the episode of the bab or the traveller's narrative" (trans. by browne). "tablets of abdul baha," vol. i; addresses in paris, london and america; "some answered questions," recorded by l. c. barney; letter to the friends in persia, etc.; the covenant or will of baha ullah. by persian believers: "kitab-ul-nuktatul kaf," by mirza jani, with introductions by browne. "new hist. of the bab," trans. by browne. "the sacred mysteries," asadullah. "school of the prophets," asadullah. "bahai proofs," abul fazl. "the brilliant proof," abul fazl. "martyrdoms in persia in ," haider ali. "epistle to the bahai world," badi ullah. by western believers: "the universal religion," m. h. dreyfus. "the bahai revelation," thornton chase. "before abraham was, i am," thornton chase. "the bahai movement," c. m. remey. "universal principles of the bahai movement," and "peace," and "the covenant," c. m. remey. "observations of a bahai traveller," c. m. remey. "a year among the bahais of india and burmah," and "story of the bahai movement," sydney sprague. "dawn of knowledge and the most great peace," p. k. dealy. "the revelation of baha ullah," mrs. s. d. brittingham. "god's heroes," barney-dreyfus. "abbas effendi; his life and teaching," m. phelps. "the oriental rose," m. h. ford. "the modern social religion," horace holley. "bahaism, the religion of brotherhood," f. k. skrine. "the reconciliation of races and religions," t. k. cheyne. "bahaism in its social-economic aspects," h. campbell. "prayers and communes," and "songs of prayer and praise." narratives of pilgrims to acca: "in galilee," t. chase. "unity through love," h. macnutt. "the heavenly vista," l. g. gregory. "ten days in the light of acca," mrs. grundy. "daily lessons received at acca," mrs. cooper. "my visit to abbas effendi," mrs. peeke. "table talks with abdul baha," g. t. winterburn. "my visit to acca," mrs. lucas. "flowers from the rose garden of acca," mrs. finch. "notes at acca," mrs. true. periodicals: _the bahai news_, and _the star of the west_, from to reports and bulletins of the persian-american educational society. by behaists: "beha ullah," vols, i. g. kheiralla. "bab-ed-din," "the three questions," and "facts for behaists," i. g. kheiralla. "life of baha ullah," ms., mohammed javad kasvini. by azalis: "call to behaists" (nos. i, ii and iii), stenstrand. index abbas effendi (see abdul baha) abdul baha, , , , , , , , , , , , ; history of, , , , , , , - and note , - ; blesses charms, ; charities criticized, ; censorship, , ; education, , ; imprisonment, , , ; intercedes for assassins, , ; justifies mohammed, , note ; marriage, - , ; position, , , , , , , , , ; titles, , , , , , ; photographs, ; quarrel with brothers, , , , - , , - ; receives pilgrims, , (see pilgrims); characterized, , , , , , ; dogmatic, ; suppresses facts, and note ; changes documents, , , ; perverts facts, , ; acts double part, ; unjust to brothers, note , ; instructs in pretense, ; uses boycott, ; accused of sedition, ; threatened with death, ; covets martyrdom, ; asks government for guard, ; honoured as christ, , , , , ; as god, , , , , ; vacant seat left for, ; teachings, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; advocates peace, ; allows war, ; favours mohammed ali shah, - ; refuses arbitration, , ; visits egypt, ; reception in london, , , , ; contributor to _christian commonwealth_, ; in europe and america, , , , , , , , ; reception in u. s. a., ; addresses, - ; canonizes chase, ; dedicates temple, - ; memorial vase, ; impression made, ; aided by christians, ; writings, , , , , , , , abdul karim, , , ; visits america, , ablutions, , , abraham, , , , abul fazl, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; tried, ; repudiates babism, , ; abuses mullahs, ; visits america, ; writings, acca (acre), , , , , , , , and note , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - adam, , adrianople, , , , , ahmad ahsai, sheikh, , , ahmad qadiani (see gulam ahmad) ahmad zohrab, akdas (see kitab-ul-akdas) alcohol, prohibited to babis and bahais, ; used, ali allahis, , note , , , note, ali kuli khan, , ali mohammed (see bab) american bahais (see bahais) american prophets, , annihilation, arbitration, , , - armenians, , , asad ullah, , ; delegate to america, ; writings, , assassins, sect of, , note assassinations, practiced in islam, - assassinations, by bahais, , , , , - , note , , and note , , ; were for the faith, , ; so justified, , azal (see subh-i-azal) azalis, , , note, , , , , , , , , , , bab, the title, bab, the, , , , , , , , , , , - , , ; his history, , , , , , , - , , , , , ; tomb, , ; proof in verses, , ; taught war, ; not forerunner of baha, ; expected his dispensation to be long, ; books (see bayan); concealed by bahais, , ; tampered with, babis, character, ; wars, , , ; persecuted, , ; martyrs, , ; deny faith, ; attempt to assassinate shah, , , ; executed, , ; at bagdad, , - ; murderous spirit, , , ; sects of, babism, history of, , , , , , ; abrogated islam, , , ; laws, , , , ; make marriage obligatory, ; practiced polygamy, , ; gave some liberty to women, ; accused of communism, ; fast, ; shrine, ; records, ; relation to sheikhism, - , ; relation to christians, ; a political movement, ; disloyal, , , and note ; intolerant, , ; sectarian, - ; dogmatic, ; superseded, , badasht, , badi, , , badi ullah, , , , , , , , bagdad, , , , , , , baha ullah, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; history of, , , , , , , , , , , , - , , and note , , , , , , ; family, , ; haram, , ; polygamy, , - , ; wealth, , ; prison, ; palace, , and note ; picture of, and note ; quarrels with azal, - ; supplants him, , , , ; deceitfulness regarding, , ; alleged attempts to kill, , ; exults over death of enemy, ; complacency about murder, ; trial and bribe-giving, ; death, , , , , ; will of, , , ; tomb, , ; will be assailed, , ; exhorts to love, ; writings: , ; their character, , , ; rapidity in composition, ; quantity, , , , ; style of, , , (see epistle to the kings, ikan, kitab-ul-akdas, seven valleys, glad tidings, ishrak, epistle to shah); professor browne on, ; abdul baha on, , , ; his beatitudes, ; teachings: on inspiration, ; on peace, - ; influenced by peace movement, ; on fulfillment of prophecies, - ; on "return," ; enjoined loyalty, ; commends suicide, - ; on civil government, (see house of justice); name used as charm, ; claims: to be god, , , , , , , , , ; superior to christ, ; a world teacher, , , ; all the prophets, ; infallible, ; prince of peace, , , , , ; is worshipped, ; claim for, ; character, , , , , , , , , _bahai news_ (see _star of the west_) bahais in acca (see acca), , , ; in adrianople (see adrianople); in persia (see persia), , , , , , , , ; familiar with bible, ; persecutions, and note ; martyrs few, , ; tolerated, , ; pretend to be christians, , , ; converted to christianity, ; intolerant, , , , ; not patriotic, ; not supporters of constitution, , , - ; characterized by love of each other, ; hatred of others, note; lack of candour, , , ; boasting, , , , , , , , , ; foul play, ; crimes against azalis (see assassinations), - , , ; suicides of, , ; favour education, , ; to be judged by deeds, ; quarrel over succession in acca, - ; in persia, , - ; in america, - , ; numbers of, , , , , , , , ; census, , - bahais, american, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; american pilgrims, , , , - and note , , , ; narrative of, bahaism, history of, - , ; literature of, , , , , ; a patchwork, ; changed, ; relation to babism, , , , , , , , , , ; relation to mohammedanism, , , , , , , - , ; borrowed from shiahism, ; from former religions, ; relation to christianity, , , , , , , , - , note ; classes interested in, - ; conditions of discipleship, , , , ; doctrines: of god, - , , , ; of the manifestation, , , , , , ; its trinity, and note , ; eternity of matter, , ; pantheistic, ; of metempsychosis (see "return"); its moral system, ; denied miracles, ; resurrection, ; laws: , , , , ; civil, , ; criminal, , ; unalterable for , years; about woman (see woman); equality of races, ; its science, , , , , note , ; cycles, ; era, ; calendar, , , , ; new alphabet, ; advocates universal language, ; favours education (see education); its institutions, - ; its ceremonies, , - ; substitute for baptism, ; for lord's supper (see feasts; see also fast, pilgrimage, prayer, shrines, charms, funerals, rosary); claims: that a new religion is needed, ; to be a new dispensation, ; to supersede all religions, ; and christianity, , ; to be universal, , ; contrary shown, - ; claims superiority in personality, - ; in writings, - ; in substance of revelation, - ; disproved, - , - ; to unify mankind, - ; means prescribed for, - ; to promote peace, , ; fallacy of claim, - ; echo of christianity, ; to be undogmatic, ; to be consistent with christianity, ; to be christ's second coming, , ; refuted, - ; to be the state religion, , , - ; to set forth a new government, - ; to regulate politics, , ; professed loyalty, ; pleads for toleration, ; is intolerant, , , ; wishes political power, , , ; claim as to morals, - , ; like persians, ; testimony as to morals, note ; pervert history, , - , note , note , - , ; falsify sacred writings, and note , - ; forgery, ; religious dissimulation (see tagiya); addiction to alcohol, - ; opium, - and note ; claim to love, , ; refuted: animosity to shiahs, ; abuse of, - ; enmity to azalis, , ; murdering of (see assassinations and bahais--quarrels); sects in, ; sects forbidden, ; private interpretation forbidden, ; methods of interpretation, , note; exclusive, ; a delusion, bahaism, american, , , , , , - ; census of, , , , , ; condition of, - ; delegates from acca, ; literature of, ; meetings, , , - ; propaganda, , - ; mission to persia, , , , , , - ; quarrel and schism, - , ; visit of abdul baha (see abdul baha); press agents, bahai proofs (see abul fazl) bahai temple (see temple) bahiah khanum, , , , , , , , , , batinis, bayan, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , beatitudes of baha, behais, behaists, , notes, , , ; number in america, , (see mirza mohammed ali) beha ullah, so spelt by behais, , beirut press, , , bibliography, - bixley, j. t., , note boycott, , brahma samaj, brittingham, mrs., , browne, prof. e. g., , , , , , , , , note , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , ; writings of, , , , , - ; in persia, , - , note, , ; in acca, , , , , note ; in cyprus, , buddha, , , buddhist, , , , , burial (see funerals) burmah, , , , campbell, r. j., , carmel, mt., , , celibacy disapproved, changing documents, , - charms, , chase, thornton, , , , , , , , , ; canonized, cheyne, t. k., chicago, , , , , , , , , , christ, jesus, his teaching superior, ; on peace, ; bahais concerning him, , , , , , , , , - , , , , - , note , , , , , christians, attitude of to bahaism, , , , ; in persia, ; in egypt, ; in india, ; in occident, - , - , - , - christianity exclusive, ; triumphant, , , , _christian commonwealth_, , claims of bahaism (see baha ullah and bahaism) constantinople, , , , constitutional movement, , - , , , cyprus, , , , , , , , daniel, , , dealy, p. k., note , divorce (see woman) dowie, alexander, , , , dreyfus, m. h., , , , , , , , , , , , , easton, p. z., education to be compulsory, , ; of girls, , ; bahai schools, , , ; educational society (see persian-american) egypt, bahaism in, , ; abdul baha in, , _egyptian gazette_ on bahaism, , , elijah, , emanations, , episode of the bab (see traveller's narrative) epistle to kings, , , and note , - epistle to shah, , , , , ; tampered with, epistle to the bahai world, note , , , era--bahai, esperanto, , family (see woman) fast, , , fatima, book of, feasts, , , , ; unity feast or lord's supper, , , , (see rizwan) ford, m. h., , , frame, j. d., , , , funerals, - germany, emperor of, addressed, getsinger, e. c., , , , , , , glad tidings, , , , , , , gobineau, count, and note , , , goodall, mrs., , gregory, l. g., , , grundy, mrs., , , , , , , gulam, ahmad, , note, hadad, anton, , , , haidar, ali, , , haifa, , , , , , , hasht behesht, , , , , , hawkes, j. w., hidden words, , , , , , hindus, , , holley, horace, , , , , holmes, g. w., , , , note, houris, house of justice, , , - , , , - ; supreme, ; infallible, ; inspired, ; has political power, , ; financial, , house of spirituality, ikan, , , , , , , , , , imams, , , , , , , immortality, , incarnations, , note, note india, bahaism in, , , , note, , , , , inheritance, law of, intolerance of shiahs, , (see martyrs); of babis, ; of bahais, (see tolerance) isaiah, , ishrak-ishrakat ("effulgences"), , , , islam (see mohammedanism) ismielis, , note jani, mirza, , , note ; his "history," , , jerusalem, , , , , jessup, h. h., , , , , , , note , , , , , jewish bahais, , , , , and notes jews, , , , , , , , , ; in hamadan, john baptist, , , , johnson, h., , , , jordan, s. m., , , judaism, , , , kazim, haji, , khadim, ullah (mirza aga jan), , , , kheiralla, , , , , , , , , , , , note; history of, , , kirman, , kitab-ul-akdas, , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , koran, , , , , , , , , , , krishna, , kurrat-ul ayn, , - , , , laws (see babism and bahaism) "letters," lucas, m. a., , macnutt, h., , mahdi, , , , , , mahdiism, maku, , , manifestation (see baha ullah--claims; bahaisms--doctrines) marriage obligatory, (see woman) martyrs, note , , , , , mashrak-ul-askar (see temple) maskin kalam, , , , metempsychosis, millennium, , , missions, christian, , , , , , ; converts from islam, , , mohammed, , , , , , , , , , , , , , mohammedans, , , , , , , , , , , - , , , ; sunnis indifferent to bahaism, ; converted to christianity, , , mohammedanism, , , , , , mohammed ali, mirza, son of baha, , note, , - , , , - , ; adherents of, , (see behais) mohammed ali shah, - ; rewarded bahais, mohammed ali, mullah, of zenjan, mohammed ali, mullah, of barfurush, , mohammed javad kasvini, , , , mohammed shah, , , (see shah) mohammed taki, haji, , mohonk, lake, conference, , morals (see bahaism--claims), - mormons, , moses, , , , , mullahs, , , note , , - , nabil, , , nakhazeen (violators), , , , , nasr-ud-din shah, , , , - , (see shah); attempt to assassinate, , , (see epistle to shah) negro bahais, , (see gregory) nestorians, , new history, , , , , , , , , , , , new testament, , , , , , ; declared abrogated, nicolas, a. l. m., , , , , noruz, , , number of bahais (see bahais) numbers, sacred, nineteen, , , , ; nine, , , , , , note, , , nur-i-din, sheikh, nusairiyah (see ali allahi) oliphant, laurence, note , , note, opium, use prohibited, ; used by bahais, orient-occident educational society (see persian-american educational society) pantheism (in bahaism), , note parsees (see zoroastrians) peace, , - , , (see baha ullah--claims, peace) persia, babism in, , , , , , (see constitutional movement); customs of, , , , , note ; religions of, , , , note, , ; religious law of, ; mullahs, ; baha ullah in, , , , , ; bahais in, , , , , note, , , , , , note , , , , , , , - , - , , , persian-american educational society, , , phelps, myron, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; "life of abbas effendi," , , pilgrimage, - (see shrines and bahai-american-pilgrims) polygamy (see woman, babism, bahaism) pope, epistle to, , , note potter, j. l., note prayer, , , , , primal will, , prophecies, , , , , prophets, , , , , , quarrel over succession, - religious assassinations, - (see assassinations) remey, c. m., , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , "return," _rijat_, , , rizwan, , , rosary, , rosen, baron, , , russia, , , satan denied, schools (see education) schuster, morgan, sects, moslem, , , note, (see persia--religions of); oriental in america, , seven valleys, , , , shahs of persia, , , , , , , , (see under names) shedd, j. h., , shedd, w. a., , , , , , , sheikhis, , , , , , shiahs, , , , , , , , , , , , , (see sects) shrines, and note , , , sprague, sydney, , , , , , , , , , , speer, r. e., "missions and modern history," , , , , , , , , , _star of the west_, , , , , , , , , , , state, bahaism and the, - stenstrand, a. j., note , note , , subh-i-azal, , , , , , , , ; history of, , , , , , , - ; polygamy, ; attempt to poison, ; attempt to murder, ; witness to murder of azalis, , ; successor to bab, , , , , and note , , ; writings, sufis, note, , suicide, , , sultan of turkey, , , - , , surat-ul-haykal, , , surat-ul-muluk, , tabriz, , , note, , , , , , , , tagiya (dissimulation), , , , , , - , tajallayat, teheran, , , , , , , , , temples, bahai, , , , , - templeton, mrs., , note , tisdall, w. stc., toleration, , , ; lack of, , , , , , , , , (see intolerance) traveller's narrative, , , , , , note , , , , , ; its author abdul baha, , , , , trinities, note , true, c., , , , turkey, bahais in, , , (see bagdad, adrianople, acca) universal language, , universal religion, , - vatralsky, s. k., , , , , wars of babis, , , , ; baha starts to war, ; condemns war, , , ; abdul baha on war, wilberforce, canon, , , woman, in bahaism, - ; education of, (see education); equality with man taught, , ; not taught by baha, ; position inferior under bahaism, , , , , note , ; woman bahais in america, , , , ; civil rights of, - ; inheritance unequal, ; marriage: enjoined, ; with consent, ; child betrothals, ; bigamy allowed and practiced, , note ; wives of baha, - ; bahais favour plural marriage, , , ; intermarriage with negroes, ; divorce: loose law, ; causes of, - ; alimony small, ; desertion, ; social rights, ; continues veiled, ; not receive men visitors, , and note ; no political equality, - ; no women in government, ; movement to ameliorate among moslems, - , and note (see kurrat-ul-ayn) writing of, - (see bab--books, bayan, baha ullah) wylie, a. l., yahya, mirza (see subh-i-azal) yahya, sayid, zoroaster, , zoroastrians, , , , , , , , , , printed in the united states of america concerning foreign lands _edward warren capen, ph.d._ _organizing secretary of the hartford school of missions_ sociological progress in mission lands vo, cloth, net $ . . the material for this able sociological survey dr. capen gathered during a visitation of the missionary fields of the world. dr. james dennis says: "dr. capen's grasp of a very large and complex subject is adequate and well balanced." _jeremiah zimmerman, d.d._ the god juggernaut and hinduism in india illustrated, vo, cloth, net $ . . "a careful study of the religious rites and gods of hinduism, based on its observation during a , mile journey in the east, dr. zimmerman writes entertainingly and instructively of the life of these millions of our fellow human-beings of whom we have known so little"--_syracuse herald._ _rena l. hogg_ a master builder on the nile being the record of the life and labors of john hogg, d.d. illustrated, vo, cloth, net $ . . dr. samuel m. zwemer says: "it is bound to interest people as fully as the life story of any missionary published in recent years." _carl leroy howland, ph.b._ manual of missions introduction by bishop w. t. hogue, cloth, net c. "an authoritative statement of just what those interested in world-wide evangelization desire to know regarding the occupied and unoccupied fields of missionary enterprise. the writer knows of no other work which presents so many and such varied facts regarding foreign missionary work within so small a compass."--_bishop wilson t. hogue._ _j. j. mullowney, d.d. and his chinese friend_ a revelation of the chinese revolution mo, cloth, net c. an authentic and intimate record of the chinese revolution. the author's data, inspired by men behind the scenes, shows how the extravagance and inefficiency of the manchus brought about the ruin of their dynasty, and ushered in the first republic of the east. there is, in addition, a closely-written and illuminating review of the social and political conditions which now obtain in the flowery kingdom. foreign missions _m. wilma stubbs_ how europe was won for christianity illustrated. mo, cloth, net $ . . the story of the first seventeen centuries of christianity is here told in the lives of the great missionaries of the church beginning with st. paul. so far as we are aware no single volume containing so complete a collection of the lives of these pioneers in missionary work has before been published. miss stubbs has done a very real and important service to the cause of missions in making the lives of these great men live for the inspiration of younger generations of to-day. _r. fletcher moorshead, m.b., f.r.c.s._ the appeal of medical missions mo, cloth, net $ . . the author is secretary of the medical mission auxiliary of the british baptist mission society and baptist zenana mission. he gives a general survey of the main considerations upon which the medical mission enterprise is based, presenting a true conception of the need, value and importance of this great work in the spread of the gospel. dr. moorshead knows his subject well and he gives a wealth of interesting facts regarding the character and purpose of medical missions--the origin and authority, justification, need, value--the practice of medical missions, woman's sphere in them, training for, home base, failure, appeal, etc. _james s. dennis, d. d._ the modern call of missions: studies in some of the larger aspects of a great enterprise. vo, cloth, net $ . . "this is a magnificent presentation of the call of missions, showing their great and sweeping influence on human life and social progress. it is a logical and searching study of the power of the gospel as it goes into other lands and there meets the facts and elements that make up the life of the people. dr. dennis has had the personal experiences and knowledge which enable him to speak with authority. an exceedingly valuable contribution to the missionary literature of the day."--_herald and presbyter._ _archibald mclean_ epoch makers of modern missions illustrated, mo, cloth, net $ . . the author of "where the book speaks," has given in these "college of missions lectures" a series of sketches of modern missionary leaders which for clearness, brevity, directness of style and inspirational value, have rarely been surpassed. each characterization is truly "much in little," and the book is a distinct and most acceptable addition to missionary biography. _robert e. speer the cole lectures for ._ some great leaders in the world movement mo, cloth, net $ . . mr. speer in his characteristic inspiring way has presented the key note of the lives of six of the world's greatest missionaries: raymond lull, the crusading spirit in missions; william carey, the problems of the pioneer; alexander duff, missions and education; george bowen, the ascetic ideal in missions; john lawrence, politics and missions; and charles g. gordon, modern missionary knight-errancy. _s. m. zwemer, f.r.g.s., and others_ islam and missions mo, cloth, net $ . . this volume presents the papers read at the second conference on missions to moslems, recently held in lucknow, india. the contributors are all experts of large experience in such mission effort. _van sommer, annie, and others_ daylight in the harem a new era for moslem women. _in press._ woman's work for woman is nowhere more needed than on the part of christian women for their sisters of islam. it is a most difficult field of service, but this volume by authors long and practically interested in this important christian ministry, demonstrates how effectually this work has opened and is being carried forward with promising results. _robert a. hume, d. d._ an interpretation of india's religious history _introduction by president king, ll.d. of oberlin college_ mo, cloth, net $ . . the author of this careful, though popular, study, is eminently qualified to deal with the subject of his thoughtful volume. equipped for this purpose through long residence in india and intimate study of india's religious history, what he says will be accepted as the estimate and interpretation of an authority. _margaret e. burton_ the education of women in china illustrated, mo, cloth, net $ . . the author of this scholarly study of the chinese woman and education is the daughter of prof. ernest e. burton, of the university of chicago.... the work is probably the most thorough study of an important phase of the economic development of the world's most populous country that has appeared. _george f. herrick, d.d._ _fifty years missionary of the american board in turkey_ christian and mohammedan a plea for bridging the chasm. illustrated, net $ . . "dr. herrick has given his life to missionary work among the mohammedans. opinions from leading missionaries to mohammedans, in all parts of the world have been brought together in the book for the elucidation of essential points of the problem and form an immensely practical feature of the discussion."--_henry otis dwight, ll.d._ _james l. barton, d. d._ human progress through missions mo, cloth, net c. by the foreign secretary of the american board. the book is a notable addition to the apologetics of missions and will carry a message of conviction to many a reader who may not be fully persuaded of the value and necessity of christian work in foreign lands. _alice m. guernsey_ a queen esther round robin decorated paper, in envelope, net c. "it was a pretty conceit to have a disbanding mission circle keep up their mutual connection by writing a "round robin." it is just the thing for girls' mission bands."--_s. s. times._ _s. m. zwemer, f.r.g.s._ arabia: the cradle of islam studies in the geography, people and politics of the peninsula; with an account of islam and missionary work. _new edition._ illustrated. vo, cloth, net $ . . _anstice abbott_ the stolen bridegroom and other east indian idylls illustrated, mo, cloth, net c. the author has vividly portrayed some of the ways in which christ enters the hindu heart; just the book to read in the auxiliary society or to bring into the reading club."--_mission studies._ children's missionary series cloth, decorated, each, net c. _new volumes._ children of persia. mrs. napier malcolm. children of borneo. edwin h. gomes. each volume is written by an authority on the countries represented as well as by a writer who knows how to tell a story that will both entertain and instruct children. missionary _james s. dennis, d.d._ the modern call of missions: studies in some of the larger aspects of a great enterprise. vo, cloth, net $ . . doctor dennis has brought together in this, his latest volume on foreign missions, eighteen very suggestive and informing studies. the author might very properly be called the dean of the school of the philosophy of modern missions. he is both keenly analytical as well as broad in his outlook. this intensity and assurance can hardly fail to deeply impress and influence the reader. it is preeminently a dynamic book. _miss minna g. cowan_ the education of the women of india illustrated, mo, cloth, net $ . . the subject is treated historically, philosophically and suggestively. the contributions made by the government, the east indians themselves and the missionaries, to solving the educational problems of the country are clearly shown. the book is an important and suggestive addition to the literature of education in foreign lands, being a worthy companion volume to miss burton's "the education of women in china." _archibald mclean_ epoch makers of modern missions illustrated, mo, cloth, net $ . . the author of "where the book speaks," has given in these "college of missions lectures" a series of sketches of modern missionary leaders which for clearness, brevity, directness of style and inspirational value, have rarely been surpassed. each characterization is truly "much in little," and the book is a distinct and most acceptable addition to missionary biography. _rev. w. munn_ three men on a chinese houseboat the story of a river voyage told for young folks. illustrated, mo, cloth, net c. the story of an actual trip up the yang-tse river taken by three missionaries on the way to their stations. in breezy, easy-flowing narrative one of the three tells the very interesting story of their fifteen hundred mile journey. the book should be a very acceptable addition to missionary stories and side-light reading. _robert e. speer_ christianity and the nations the duff lectures for . vo, cloth, net $ . . among the many notable volumes that have resulted from the well-known duff foundation lectureship this new work embodying the series given by mr. robert e. speer in edinburgh, glasgow and aberdeen, will rank among the most important. the general theme, "the reflex influence of missions upon the nations," suggests a large, important, and most interesting work. the name of the lecturer is sufficient guarantee of the method of treatment. _henry h. jessup_ fifty-three years in syria introduction by james s. dennis. two volumes, illustrated, vo, cloth, boxed, net $ . . this autobiographical record of half a century's experience in the mission field of syria, is rich in color, narrative and insight. it is also incidentally a history of the mission work for the period but told with a personal touch and from the innermost standpoint. it is a pioneer's story, and as such never lacks in interest. _julius richter_ a history of protestant missions in the near east vo, cloth, net $ . . a companion volume to "a history of missions in india" by this great authority. the progress of the gospel is traced in asia minor, persia, arabia, syria and egypt. non-sectarian in spirit and thoroughly comprehensive in scope. "it is truly a notable work and can be endorsed in unqualified terms."--_john r. mott._ _william edward gardner_ winners of the world during twenty centuries adapted for boys and girls. a story and a study of missionary effort from the time of paul to the present day. cloth, net c; paper, net c. brief sketches of great missionaries in chronological order, extending down through augustine and boniface the apostles to england and germany, xavier in japan, and brainerd among the indians, to carey, moffat and livingstone and missionaries of our own day. intensely stimulating and suggestive. transcriber's notes: italics indicated by underscores _like this_ bold and small caps indicated by upper-case like this minor punction errors corrected without notice p. "baba" changed to "baha" p . "percursor" changed to "precursor" (this file was produced from images generously made available by case western reserve university preservation department digital library) [illustration: docteur pascal] reincarnation a study in human evolution the resurrection of the body and the reincarnation of the soul by dr. th. pascal translated by fred rothwell "were an asiatic to ask me for a definition of europe, i should be forced to answer him:--it is that part of the world which is haunted by the incredible delusion that man was created out of nothing, and that his present birth is his first entrance into life."--schopenhauer. (_parerga and paralipomena_, vol. , chap. ) london the theosophical publishing society new bond street, w. * * * * * contents chap. sketch of the author's life author's preface i. the soul and the bodies ii. reincarnation and the moral law iii. reincarnation and science iv. reincarnation and the religious and philosophical consensus of the ages conclusion * * * * * sketch of the author's life. théophile pascal was born on the th of may, , at villecroze, a village in the south of france. his childhood was spent amid the pleasant surroundings of a country life. shortly after his sixteenth birthday, a relative of his, a catholic priest ministering in toulon, seeing that the youth showed considerable ability, sent for him and presided over his studies in this large maritime centre. before many years elapsed, he entered the naval medical school of the town, which he left at the age of twenty-two, with first-class honours. in his professional capacity, he took several trips on vessels belonging to the mediterranean squadron. four years afterwards he married, resigned active naval service, and devoted himself to building up a practice on land, becoming a homoeopathic physician in the great seaport itself. it was about this time that the young doctor became interested in theosophy, owing to the kindly services of a former patient, commander courmes. the closest friendship and sympathetic interest in theosophic thought thus began, and continued during their common labours subsequently in paris, dr. pascal entered the theosophical society in , and during the course of the following year wrote a series of articles for the _revue théosophique française_. these were continued year after year, and dealt with the most varied subjects: psychic powers; the fall of the angels; kâma-manasic elementals; thought forms; christianity, prehistoric races, and many others. the young doctor had previously made a deep study of human magnetism, which proved a most fertile ground for the sowing of the seed of the ancient wisdom. in attacks of serious nervous depression became frequent, forcing him to cease work of every kind. mrs. besant persuaded him to accompany her to india, where his general health was gradually restored, and he was enabled to return to france in the following year. he decided to leave toulon, where he had built up a considerable practice, and to settle in paris, hoping to provide for the needs of himself and his family--his wife and only daughter--by the exercise of his profession, and at the same time to fight the good fight for theosophy in the capital itself. the french section of the theosophical society was founded in , and dr. pascal was elected general secretary. throughout the next two years a number of thoughtful articles and publications appeared from his pen. the incessant labour and attention, however, which he bestowed on the spreading of theosophic instruction began to have its effect on a naturally delicate constitution, and in july, , when attending the meetings of the british convention in london, he was prostrated by an attack of congestion of the brain. the most devoted care was lavished on him, both in london and in paris, the result being that a rapid, though only temporary, recovery took place. had he relaxed his efforts somewhat, the cure might have been a permanent one, but dr. pascal, with the penetrating vision of the mystic, saw how pressing were the needs of the age, and how few the pioneers of this new presentation of the truth, so that, at whatever cost of personal sacrifice, he plunged once more into the midst of his arduous toil. in a series of very fine articles on the laws of destiny appeared in the _revue théosophique_, to be followed immediately by publication in volume form. two years afterwards appeared the present volume--reincarnation: a study in human evolution; a work considered the most complete of any that have so far appeared in france on this subject, and the most popular of dr. pascal's publications. in some of the nerve centres controlling the organs of speech became affected, but not sufficiently to compel him to remain absent from the international theosophical congress held that year in paris under the presidency of colonel olcott. it was on this occasion that dr. pascal received from the hands of the president-founder the subba rao medal, awarded to members of the society whose literary labours in the promulgation of the truths of theosophy have proved eminently useful. twelve months afterwards he attended the congress at munich, under the presidency of mrs. besant, but was obliged to leave before the termination of the meetings. this may be regarded as dr. pascal's last public appearance as an active theosophist, for his subsequent prolonged stay in the south of france effected no radical improvement in the state of his health. returning to paris in march, , and realising how impossible it was for him to fulfil the duties incumbent on a general secretary, he decided to resign his post. his colleagues, however, insisted on his continuing as honorary general secretary. from this time onward his health became gradually worse, and his physical life terminated on the th of april, , his body being cremated three days afterwards at the cemetery of père lachaise. what was most striking about dr. pascal, in both public and private life, was his intense earnestness--the index of a well-grounded habit of concentration--and the calm strength of his convictions. it was impossible to be in his presence for any length of time without feeling the power that emanated from him, and recognising that here was a mighty soul struggling for expression. other characteristics were his extreme modesty, and his continual endeavour to accord praise and merit to those working for the cause so dear to his own heart. when questioned on many of the intricate points raised in a lecture or in conversation on some abstruse theosophical subject, he made no pretence at knowledge he did not possess; on such occasions his confession of ignorance would be charming, even touching in its _naïveté_. but the qualities he seemed to feel it his special object to awaken in the minds of others--as will be acknowledged, i think, by those who knew him best--may be inferred from his continual insistence on the double duty, incumbent on students of theosophy, of practising on all occasions the utmost tolerance, refusing not only to condemn but even to judge harshly the opinions or actions of others, and of seizing every opportunity to help another because of the recognition of the one life throughout the world, may we who read the following pages catch somewhat of the deep earnestness and enthusiastic spirit breathing through them, and may the joy of service dissipate all meaner, motives, taking as our watchword also the only key to true growth, the very heart of altruism, that exhortation he never wearied of repeating: _aidez! aidez toujours!_ f. r. author's preface it will soon be: years since the decision of the council of a.d.[ ] condemned to oblivion sublime teachings which ought to have been carefully preserved and handed down to future generations as a beacon amid social reefs; teachings that would have uprooted that frightful egoism which threatens to annihilate the world, and instilled patience into the hearts of such as were being crushed beneath the wheel of the cosmic law, by showing them the scales of justice inclining to the side filled with their iniquities of bygone times; teachings which would have been welcomed by the masses, and the understanding of which would not have called for any lofty intellectual culture. it was one of the greatest misfortunes that could have befallen the races of the west, more especially the european, that they were thus deprived for centuries of this indispensable knowledge. we look upon it as a duty, following on so many others, to offer it anew, this time in the clear, logical, illuminating form presented in theosophic teachings. the necessity thereof is all the more imperative when we consider the growth of scepticism and materialism amongst the more intellectual classes, whilst the mass of the people have forsaken their blind faith only to succumb to religious indifference. to every awakened soul the question comes: why does evil exist? so long as the enigma remains unsolved, suffering remains a threatening sphinx, opposing god and ready to devour mankind. the key to the secret lies in evolution, which can be accomplished only by means of the continual return of souls to earth. when once man learns that suffering is the necessary result of divine manifestation; that inequalities of conditions are due to the different stages which beings have reached and the changeable action of their will; that the painful phase lasts only a moment in eternity, and that we have it in our power to hasten its disappearance; that though slaves of the past, we are masters of the future; that, finally, the same glorious goal awaits all beings--then, despair will be at an end; hatred, envy, and rebellion will have fled away, and peace will reign over a humanity made wise by knowledge. were this modest work to hasten forward this time by a few years, we should feel sufficiently rewarded. the subject will be divided into four chapters: ( ) the soul and the bodies. ( ) reincarnation and the moral law. ( ) reincarnation and science. ( ) reincarnation and the religious and philosophical concensus of the ages. footnotes: [footnote : this council came to the following decision:--_whosoever shall teach the pre-existence of the soul and the strange opinion of its returns to earth, let him be anathema!_] reincarnation a study in human evolution chapter i. the soul and the bodies. in a book dealing with the resurrection of bodies and the reincarnations of the soul, a chapter must be devoted to the fundamental elements of the question. we will give the name of _soul_ to abstract being, to the unknown, that unmanifested principle which cannot be defined, for it is above all definition. it is the absolute of western philosophers, the _parabrahm_ of the hindus, the _tao_ of the ancient sages of china, the causeless cause of all that has been or ever will be manifested in concrete time and space. some feeble idea of it may perhaps be obtained by comparing it with electricity, which, though the cause of various phenomena: heat, movement, chemical action, light, is not, _per se_, any one of these phenomena, undergoes no modification from their existence, and survives them when the apparatus through which they manifest disappears. we shall set up no distinction between this soul, which may be called the universal soul, and the individual soul, which has often been defined as a ray, a particle of the total soul, for logically one cannot imply parts to the absolute; it is illusion, limitation on our part, which shows us souls in the soul. _bodies_ are "aspects" of the soul, results of its activity--if, indeed, the infinite can be said to be either active or passive; words fail when we attempt to express the inexpressible. these bodies, or, more precisely, the varied forms assumed by force-matter[ ] are aspects of the soul, just as light or chemical action are aspects of electricity, for one cannot suppose anything outside of infinite being, nor can anything be imagined which is not a manifestation of the abstract whole. let us also define _consciousness_. taken absolutely, it is being, the soul, god; the uncaused cause of all the states which, in beings, we call states of consciousness. this limited consciousness may be defined as the faculty a "centre of life" possesses of receiving vibrations from its surroundings. when, in the course of evolution, a being is sufficiently developed to become conscious of a separation between its "i" and the object which sends it vibrations, consciousness becomes self-consciousness. this _self_-consciousness constitutes the _human_ stage; it appears in the higher animals, but as it descends the scale of being, gradually disappears in non-individualised consciousness. in a word, absolute consciousness is one, though, as in the above example, it is manifested differently, according to the differences in the vehicles which express it in the concrete world in which we live. the soul, _per se_, is beyond the reach of beings who have not finished the pilgrimage of evolution. to know it, one must have attained to the eternal centre, the unmanifested logos. up to that point, one can only, in proportion as one ascends, feel it in oneself, or acknowledge it by means of the logic which perceives it through all its manifestations as the universal mover of forms, the cause of all things, the unity that produces diversity by means of the various vehicles which serve it as methods of expression. science says that intelligence, or, to be more generic, consciousness, results from the action of matter. this is a mistake. consciousness does not change in proportion as the cells of the body are renewed; rather it increases with physical unconsciousness, as in somnambulism. thought is not the fruit of the brain; it offers itself to the latter, ready made, so to speak; the loftiest intellectual or artistic inspirations are flashes which strike down into the awaiting brain, when maintaining that passive expectant attitude which is the condition in which a higher message may be received. the senses are not the thinking-principle. they need to be controlled by consciousness; thus, people blind from birth, when suddenly made to see, cannot judge either distance or perspective; like animals and primitive men, they see nothing but colours on a surface. science says also: the organ is created for the function it has to perform; again a mistake. the eyes of the foetus are constructed in the darkness of the womb. the human germ, notwithstanding its unconsciousness and its simplicity of structure, develops a body that is complex and capable of a considerable degree of consciousness; though itself unintelligent, it produces prodigies of intelligence in this body; here, consequently, the effect would be greatly superior to the cause, which is absurd. outside of the body and the germ is a supreme intelligence which creates the models of forms and carries out their construction. this intelligence is the soul of the world. if consciousness _per se_, or the soul, is above all direct proof at the present stage of human evolution, the vehicles through which it functions are more or less apparent to us provided they are capable of affecting the brain. at the present stage of human evolution, this is the case only with the astral body; the other bodies are too fine to manifest through the nervous system such characteristics as are calculated to furnish scientists with a proof of their existence; they can only be felt and proved in and by _yoga_.[ ] it is not without importance, however, to set forth the proofs of the existence of a vehicle of consciousness immediately above the physical, for it affords us a wider horizon and throws far more light on the rest of the subject. proofs of the astral body. certain normal and abnormal or morbid phenomena in man have proved the existence of this vehicle, which we will call the _higher_ consciousness, for it is far greater than normal, waking consciousness, that of the brain. in the somewhat rare cases in which this consciousness is expressed in the physical world, it is forced to make use of the brain. now, in the majority of men, the latter is still incapable of vibrating harmoniously with the matter which forms the astral vehicle; this is because the density of the atoms of the brain cells which preside over thought is incapable of reproducing the rapid vibrations of the finer matter belonging to the body immediately above it. by special training (the _yoga_ of the hindus), by a particular constitution of body (_sensitiveness_), by certain special methods (_hypnotism_), or in certain maladies (_somnambulism_), the brain may become receptive to these vibrations, and receive from them an impression, though always an imperfect one. the rarity of this impression, its imperfection, and especially the necessity for the vibration of the physical brain that it may be manifested in our environment; all these have made it very difficult to prove the existence of this higher vehicle; still, there are certain considerations which show that it exists, and that it alone is capable of explaining the most characteristic phenomena of the higher consciousness. let us first define these two states of consciousness rather more completely, and fix their limits. normal consciousness is that which functions during waking hours, when the brain is in full physiological activity, freely and completely related to the outer physical world. this consciousness is more or less developed according to the individual, but its component parts--sensation, emotion, sentiment, reason, intelligence, will, intuition--do not exceed known limits; for instance, we do not find clairvoyance, the prophetic faculty, and certain other abnormal faculties, which we shall class under the higher consciousness. the higher consciousness works in the astral body, whether externalised or not; it seldom manifests itself, and then incompletely; it is accompanied by the more or less complete inhibition of the senses, and by a kind of sleep in which the relations of the subject with the physical world are wholly or partially suspended. the characteristics of this state are greater keenness of the normal faculties, and the appearance of new ones, which are often inexplicable and extraordinary and the more remarkable in proportion as sleep is more profound, the brain calmer, or the physiological state more abnormal. how can we explain the paradox that faculties shown by a brain in a state of inactivity cover an extent of ground which the brain in a state of activity cannot approach? the reason is that the brain, in this case, is not an instrument moved directly by the cause of consciousness, _the soul_, but a simple recipient, which the soul, then centred in the astral body, impresses _on returning to the physical body_ (if it has been far away) or impresses directly when, whilst acting in the finer vehicle, the latter has not left the body.[ ] in other words, the brain, by reason of its functional inactivity, vibrates little or not at all in its higher centres; it plays the part of a sounding-board at rest, capable of vibrating sympathetically under the influence of a similar board placed by its side. the necessity of cerebral quiet, if the higher consciousness is to make an impression, is now easy to understand; the finer vibration of the astral body cannot be impressed upon the brain when the latter is already strongly vibrating under the action of normal consciousness. for this reason also, the deeper the sleep of the physical body the better the higher consciousness manifests itself. in ordinary man, organic quiet is scarcely ever complete during sleep; the brain, as we shall see shortly, automatically repeats the vibrations which normal consciousness has called forth during the waking state; this, together with an habitual density of the nervous elements, too great to respond to the higher vibration, explains the rarity and the confused state of the impression of astral consciousness on the brain. the facts relating to the higher consciousness are as numerous as they are varied. we shall not enter into full details, but choose only a few phenomena quoted in well-known works. manifestations of the higher consciousness during the different kinds of sleep. _normal dream._ during normal sleep there exists a special consciousness which must not be confounded either with waking consciousness or with that of the astral body. it is due to the automatic, cerebral vibration which continues during sleep, and which the soul examines on its return to the body--when awake. this dream is generally an absurd one, and the reason the dreamer notices it only on awaking is that he is absent from the visible body during sleep. the proof of the departure of the astral body during sleep has been ascertained by a certain number of seers, but the absurdity of the commonplace dream is a rational proof thereof, one which must here be mentioned. as another rational proof of the existence of a second vehicle of consciousness, we must also notice the regular registering of the commonplace dream, because it takes place in the brain, and the habitual non-registering of the true dream experience, because this latter takes place in the externalised astral body. why does the astral body leave the physical during sleep? this question is beyond our power to answer, though a few considerations on this point may be advanced. sleep is characterised by the transfer of consciousness from the physical to the astral body; this transfer seems to take place normally under the influence of bodily fatigue. after the day's activity, the senses no longer afford keen sensations, and as it is the energy of these sensations that keeps the consciousness "centred" in the brain[ ]; this consciousness, when the senses are lulled to sleep, centres in the finer body, which then leaves the physical body with a slight shock. it is, however, of the real dream--which is at times so intelligent that it has been called lucid, and at all events is reasonable, logical, and co-ordinate--that we wish to speak. in most cases this dream consists of a series of thoughts due to the soul in action in the astral body; it is sometimes the result of seeing mental pictures of the future[ ] or else it represents quite another form of animistic activity, as circumstances and the degree of the dreamer's development permit. it is in the lucid dream--whether belonging to normal or to abnormal sleep--that occur those numerous and well-known cases of visions past or future to be found in so many of the books dealing with this special subject. to these same states of higher consciousness are due such productions as walter scott's _ivanhoe_. the author, suffering from fever, wrote this work whilst in a kind of delirious condition; _ivanhoe_ was printed before the recovery of the author, who, on reading it at a later date, had not the slightest recollection that it was his own production. (ribot's _maladies de la mémoire_, p. .) walter scott remembered nothing, because _ivanhoe_ was the fruit of the astral consciousness impressed upon a brain which fever had rendered temporarily receptive to the higher vibrations. there are certain peculiarities of the real dream which prove almost mathematically the superior nature of the vehicle which gives expression to it. this dream, for instance, is never of a fatiguing nature, however long it may appear to last, because it is only an instantaneous impression made upon the brain by the astral body, when the latter returns to the physical body, on awaking. on the other hand, the cerebral ideation of the waking state is fatiguing if intense or prolonged, or if the nervous system of the thinker is deprived of its normal power of resistance (_in neurasthenia_); the commonplace (_brain_) dream is also fatiguing if prolonged or at all vivid. another peculiarity is that a dream--the real dream--which would require several years of life on earth for its realisation, can take place in a second. the dream of maury (_le sommeil et le rève_, p. ), who in half a second lived through three years of the french revolution, and many other dreams of the same nature, are instances of this. now, fechner has proved, in his _elemente der psychophysik_, first, that a fraction of a second is needed for the sensorial contact to cause the brain to vibrate--this prevents our perceiving the growth of a plant and enables us to see a circle of fire when a piece of glowing coal is rapidly whirled round; secondly, that another fraction of a second is needed for the cerebral vibration to be transformed into sensation. we might add that a third fraction of a second is needed for sensation to be transformed into ideation, proving that in these special dreams there can have been no more than an instantaneous, mass impression of all the elements of the dream upon the brain,[ ] and that the dream itself has been produced by the imaginative action of the soul in the astral body, an extremely subtle one, whose vibratory power is such as to transform altogether our ordinary notions of time and space. _the death-bed dream._ in dying people, the bodily senses gradually lose their vitality, and by degrees the soul concentrates itself within the finer vehicle. from that time signs of the higher consciousness appear, time is inordinately prolonged, visions present themselves, the prophetic faculty is sometimes manifested, and verified cases are related of removal to a distance, like that of the alsatian woman dying on board ship. during the final coma she went to rio de janeiro and commended her child to the keeping of a fellow-countryman. (d'assier's _l'humanité posthume_, p. ) similar instances are found in _the night side of nature_, by c. crowe, as well as in other works of the same kind. _the dream of intoxication._ under the influence of soporifics the same transfer of consciousness is produced, and we meet with more or less remarkable phenomena due to the higher consciousness. opium smokers and eaters of hashish are able to form ideas with such rapidity that minutes seem to them to be years, and a few moments in dreamland delude them into the idea that they have lived through a whole life. (hervey's _les rêves et les moyens de les diriger_.) _the dream of asphyxia._ during asphyxia by submersion the higher consciousness enters into a minute study of the life now running to its close. in a few moments it sees the whole of it again in its smallest details. carl du prel (_philos. der mystik_) gives several instances of this; haddock (_somnolism and psychism_, p. ) quotes, among other cases, that of admiral beaufort. during two minutes' loss of consciousness in a drowning condition, he saw again every detail of his life, all his actions, including their causes, collateral circumstances, their effects, and the reflections of the victim on the good and evil that had resulted therefrom. perty's account (_die mystischen erscheinungen der menschlichen natur_) of catherine emmerich, the somnambulist nun, who, when dying, saw again the whole of her past life, would incline one to think that this strange phenomenon, which traditional catholicism appears to have called the "private judgment," and which theosophy defines with greater preciseness, is not limited to asphyxia by submersion, but is the regular accompaniment of life's ending. manifestation of the higher consciousness in various cases of mental faculties lost to normal consciousness. a rather large number of people born blind have images in dreams, and can see with the higher consciousness, when placed in a state of somnambulism. this proves that the higher consciousness possesses the power of vision on its own plane, and can impress images thereof on the brain. that this impression may be translated into the language of the physical plane,[ ] it must evidently take place in one of the physical centres of vision which make possible three-dimensional sight; these centres may be intact even when the external visual apparatus does not exist or is incapable of functioning. a deaf and dumb idiot became intelligent and spoke during spontaneous somnambulism (steinbach's _der dichter ein seher_). this is a case which appears to us difficult to explain fully; indeed, if the impression of the higher vibration on that portion of the brain which presides over intelligence and thought can be understood, it is not easy to see how tongue and lips could suddenly utter precise sounds which they had never produced before. another factor must have intervened here, as was the case with the child prophets of the camisards. (v. figuier's _hist. du merveilleux_, _etc._) young hébert, who had gone mad as the result of a wound, regained full consciousness, the higher consciousness, during somnambulism. (puysegur's _journal du traitement du jeune hébert_.) dr. teste (_manuel pratiq. du magnét. anim._) came across madmen who became sane just before death, _i.e._, when consciousness was passing into the astral body. he also mentions a servant girl, quite uneducated and of ordinary intelligence, who nevertheless became a veritable philosopher during mesmeric somnambulism and delivered learned discourses on lofty problems dealing with cosmogony. this proves that the vibratory scale of the finer vehicle extends far beyond that of the physical, and that the soul cannot impress on this latter vehicle all that it knows when functioning in the former. by this we do not mean that it is omniscient as soon as it has left the visible body; this opinion, a current one, is contrary to the law of evolution, and will not bear examination. manifestations of the higher consciousness under the form of memory. the memory that is lost by the brain is preserved in its entirety by the finer vehicle. a musician, a friend of hervey's, once heard a remarkable piece of music; he remembered it on awaking, and wrote it down, regarding it as his own inspiration. many years afterwards, he found it in an old parcel of music where he knew it had been long before; he had totally forgotten it in his normal consciousness. (hervey's _dreams_.) coleridge tells of a servant girl who, when in a state of delirium, would recite long passages of hebrew which she had formerly heard from the lips of a priest in whose service she had been. in the same way, she would repeat passages from latin and greek theological books, which she had heard under the same circumstances; in her normal state, she had no recollection whatever of all this. (dr. carpenter's _mental physiology_, p. , edition.) ricard (_physiol. et hygiène du magnét._, p. ) relates the case of a young man, possessed of an ordinary memory, but who, in somnambulism, could repeat almost word for word a sermon he had heard or a book he had read. mayo, the physiologist, states that an ignorant young girl, in a state of somnambulism, wrote whole pages of a treatise on astronomy, including figures and calculations, which she had probably read in the _encyclopædia britannica_, for the treatise was afterwards found in that work. (_truths in popular superstitions._) ladame (_la névrose hypnotique_, p. ) mentions a woman who, having only on one occasion been to the theatre, was able, during somnambulism, to sing the whole of the second act of meyerbeer's _l'africaine_, an opera of which she knew nothing whatever in her waking state. during experiments with the inhaling of protoxyde of azote, h. davy said that normal consciousness disappeared, and was followed by a wonderful power of recalling past events. (hibbert's _philosophy of apparitions_, p. .) manifestations of the higher consciousness in phenomena of double consciousness. the "strata of memory" met with in many cases also prove the existence of the second vehicle of consciousness which we are trying to demonstrate. certain dreams continue night after night, beginning again just where they stopped the previous night; this is noticed in the case of those who talk in their sleep and in spontaneous or forced somnambulism. the memory of one intoxicated, or in a state of fever delirium is lost when consciousness returns from the astral to the physical body; it comes back on the return of the delirium or the intoxication. the same thing takes place in madness; at the termination of a crisis, the patients take up the past just where they left it. (wienholt's _heilkraft_.) kerner relates that one of these unfortunate persons, after an illness lasting several years, remembered the last thing he did before the crisis happened, his first question being whether the tools with which he had been cutting up wood had been put away. during the whole of the interval he had been living in his higher consciousness. ribot (_maladies de la mémoire_ p. ) has noted the fact that the same thing happens with those who fall into a state of coma after having received a hurt or wound. manifestations of the higher consciousness, indicating not only that it extends farther than normal consciousness, but dominates, and is separated from it, recognising that its vehicle--the body--is nothing more than an instrument. the soul functioning in the finer body sees the physical body in a state of coma. dr. abercrombie relates the case of a child aged four, who was trepanned as the result of fracture of the skull, and whilst in a stale of coma. he never knew what happened. at the age of fifteen, during an attack of fever, the higher consciousness impressed itself upon the brain, and he remembered every detail of the accident; he described to his mother where he had felt the pain, the operation, the people present, their number, functions, the clothes they wore, the instruments used, etc. (kerner, _magikon_, vol. , p. .) the soul, in the finer body, during somnambulism, is separated both from the physical body and from normal consciousness, it calmly foresees the illness or the death of the denser body on which it sometimes imposes serious operations. such facts were numerous in the case of magnetisers in olden days. deleuze (_hist. crit. du magn. animal_, vol. , p. ) had a patient who, in a state of somnambulism, held moral, philosophical, and religious opinions quite contrary to those of his waking state. charpignon (_physiol., médecine et métaphys. du magnétisme_, p. ) tells of a patient who, when awake, wished to go to the theatre, but during somnambulism refused to do so, saying: "_she_ wants to go, but _i_ don't want." on charpignon recommending that she should try to turn _her_ aside from her purpose, she replied: "what can i do? _she_ is mad!" deleuze (_inst. pratiq. s. le magét. anim._, p. ) says that many somnambulists look into their body when the latter is ill; that they are often indifferent to its sufferings, and sometimes are not even willing to prescribe remedies to cure it. chardel (_esquisse de la nat. humaine expliq. p. le magn. anim._, p. ) relates that many somnambulists are unwilling to be awakened so as not to return to a body which is a hindrance to them. there are many madmen who speak of their body in the third person. (ladame, _la névrose_, p. ). they function in the non-externalised finer vehicle. some explain their use of the third person as follows:--"_it_ is the body; it is _i_ who am the spirit." manifestation of the higher consciousness in the phenomena of possession and materialisation. in these strange phenomena, not only manifestations of the higher consciousness, analogous with or similar to those just cited, have been noted, but also a number of facts which prove, to some extent, the casual presence in a normal human body or in materialised abnormal forms, of beings other than that which constitutes the personality of the one possessed, or of the medium who conditions these materialisations. on this point, we would mention the well-known investigations of sir w. crookes (_katie king_), those of colonel de rochas (vincent, _un cas de changement de personnalité, lotus bleu_ ), and similar experiments of other savants. "incarnation mediums" have often lent their physical bodies to disincarnated human entities, whose account of what happened or whose identity it has been possible to verify. here i will mention only one case amongst several others, i heard it from my friend, d. a. courmes, a retired naval captain, a man who is well-informed in these matters, thoroughly sincere, and of unquestioned veracity. in , he happened to be off algiers, on a training vessel. a boat had sunk in the harbour, and a man was drowned. his body had not been recovered. on the evening of the accident, my friend, accompanied by a doctor, a professor, and the vice-president of the court of algiers, attended a spiritualistic meeting in the town. one of these "incarnation mediums" happened to be present. m. courmes suggested that the drowned man should be called up. the latter answered to the call, entered the medium, whose voice and attitude immediately changed. he gave the following account of what had taken place: "when the boat sank, i was on the ladder. i was hurled down, my right leg passed between two bars, occasioning fracture of the leg, and preventing me from releasing myself. my body will be found caught in the ladder when the boat is brought to the surface. it is useless to seek elsewhere." this account was shortly afterwards confirmed. these phenomena are more frequent than one would imagine; a sufficient number might be given to show that, judging from the theory of probabilities, serious consideration should be given to them. manifestations of the higher consciousness in apparitions. a final group of phenomena to which i wish to call attention is the one which goes under the name of apparitions. a considerable number of these are to be found; we will confine ourselves, however, to referring the reader to a volume entitled _phantasms of the living_, due to the patient investigations of a distinguished body of foreign savants. here we find, first of all, proof of the transmission of thought to a distance. an examination into the conditions under which most of these cases took place has convinced several students of the existence of the finer body which we are here endeavouring to demonstrate, as well as of the possibility of its instantaneous transference to a great distance. as the proofs afforded by apparitions are not mathematical, _i.e._, indisputable, and as they give room for a variety of opinions, we will make no attempt to detail them, preferring to pass on to a final proof--the least important, perhaps, from a general point of view, since it is limited to the individual possessing it; the only absolute and mathematical one, however, to the man who has obtained it:--the personal proof. there are persons--few in number, true--who, under divers influences, have been able to leave the physical body and see it sleeping on a couch. they have freely moved in an environment--the astral world--similar to our physical one in some respects, though different in many others, and have returned again to the body, bringing back the memory of their wanderings. these accounts have been given by persons deserving of credence and not subject to hallucinations. there are other individuals, though not so numerous--of whom we have the pleasure of knowing some personally--who are able to leave their physical bodies and return at will. they travel to great distances with the utmost rapidity and bring back a complete memory of their journeyings. d'assier gives a typical case in his work. (_l'humanité posthume_, p. .) such is the proof we look upon as irrefutable, as complete and perfect. the man who can thus travel freely in his finer body knows that the physical body is only a vehicle adapted to the physical world and necessary for life in this world; he knows that consciousness does not cease to function, and that the universe by no means provides the conditions for a state of nothingness, once this body of flesh is laid aside. at this stage of his evolution man can, in addition, make use of his astral body at will, and obtain on the astral plane, first by reason and intuition, afterwards by personal experience, proof of another vehicle of consciousness--the mental body. at a further stage he obtains the certainty of possession of the causal body, then of higher bodies, and from that time he can no longer doubt the teachings of the elder brothers, those who have entered the higher evolution, the worlds that are divine. he knows, beyond all possibility of doubt, that what the ordinary man expresses in such childish language regarding these lofty problems, what he calls the absolute and the manifested, god and the universe, the soul and the body, are more vitally true than he imagined; he sees that these words are dense veils that conceal the supreme, ineffable, infinite being, of whom manifested beings are illusory "aspects," facets of the divine jewel.[ ] with this introduction, we will plunge at once into the heart of the subject. footnotes: [footnote : which is nothing but an unknown "aspect" of abstract divinity.] [footnote : present-day man possesses four bodies of increasing fineness, the elements of which interpenetrate. proceeding from the most dense, these are: the physical, the astral, the mental, and the causal body. in certain conditions they are capable of dissociation, and they last for a longer or a shorter time. the astral body, also called the body of desire, animal soul (kâmarûpa, in sanskrit) is the seat of sensation. evolution has in store for us higher bodies stilt--the buddhic body, the atmic body, &c.... but these need only be mentioned at this point. _yoga_--sanskrit, _union_--is a training of the different bodies of man by the will; its object is to make of those bodies complete and perfect instruments, capable of responding to the vibrations of the outer universe as well as to those of the individual soul. when this process is accomplished, man can receive, consciously and at will, in any one of his bodies, vibrations received by the soul primarily in one of the others; for instance, he may feel in the physical brain the direct action of his astral or higher bodies; he may also leave the physical, and feel directly in his astral body the action of the mental body, and so on. _yoga_ can be practised only under the guidance of a master, _i.e._, a highly developed being, capable of guiding the student safely through the dangers incidental to this training.] [footnote : when the astral body is externalised, the subject cannot speak; he must await its return; when only partially externalised or not at all, and consciousness is centred in it, the subject can speak and relate what he sees afar off, for astral vision is possible at enormous distances. such cases as these are frequently met with.] [footnote : in , in a leipzic hospital, there was a patient possessed of neither sensibility nor muscular sense. he had only sight in the right eye and hearing in the left ear. if this eye and ear were closed, the patient immediately fell asleep. neither by being touched nor shaken could he be awakened; to effect this, it was necessary to open his eye and unstop his ear. (_archiv. für die ges. physiologie_, vol. , p. ).] [footnote : these pictures are often visible in the astral world; they explain the prophetic faculty of ordinary seers.] [footnote : in such cases, by association of ideas or any other influence, the soul dramatises the physical impression which calls forth the dream, and creates the long phantasmagoria of this dream in so short a time as to be scarcely appreciable. between the sleeping physical body and the externalised astral body there is so close a degree of sympathy that the latter is conscious of everything that takes place in the former. this explains why the astral body returns so rapidly to the physical when a noise, light, or any other sensation impresses this latter.] [footnote : we say "language of the physical plane" because the soul, in the astral body, sees in four dimensions, _i.e._, all the parts of an object at once, as though these parts were spread out on a two-dimensional plane. consequently, the higher vision needs interpretation in order to be expressed on the physical plane.] [footnote : there are other proofs of the existence of the causal body, the reincarnating vehicle; the principal one is given in the middle of chapter . it is there shown that the physical germs explain only a very small portion of heredity, and that logic imperiously demands the existence of an invisible, durable body, capable of gathering up the germs which preserve the moral and intellectual qualities of man.] chapter ii. reincarnation and the moral law. the goodness, justice, and omnipotence of god are the guarantees of providence. it is absolutely impossible that the faintest breath of injustice should ever disturb the universe. every time the law appears to be violated, every time justice seems outraged, we may be certain that it is our ignorance alone that is at work, and that a deeper knowledge of the net-work of evolution and of the lines of action created by human free will, sooner or later, will dissipate our error. for all that, the whole universe appears to be the very incarnation of injustice. the constellations as they come into manifestation shatter the heavens with their titanic combats; it is the vampirism of the greatest among them that creates the suns, thus inaugurating egoism from the very beginning. everywhere on earth is heard the cry of pain, a never-ending struggle; sacrifice is everywhere, whether voluntary or forced, offered freely or taken unwillingly. the law of the strongest is the universal tyranny. the vegetable kingdom feeds upon the mineral, and in its turn forms nourishment for the animal; the giants of the forests spread ruin in every direction, beneath their destructive influence the spent, exhausted soil can nourish nothing but weeds and shrubs of no importance. in the animal kingdom a war to the death is ever being waged, a terrible destruction in which those best armed for the fray pitilessly devour the weak and defenceless. man piles up every kind and method of destruction, cruelty and barbarity of every sort; he tears away gold from the bowels of the earth, mutilates the mighty forests, exhausts the soil by intensive culture, harasses and tortures animals when unable to utilise their muscular strength, and, in addition, kills them when their flesh is eatable; his most careful calculations are the auxiliaries of his insatiable egoism, and, by might or cunning, he crushes everything that hinders or inconveniences him. finally, from time to time, the elements mingle their awful voice in this concert of pain and despair, and we find hurricanes and floods, fires and earthquakes pile up colossal wreck and ruin in a few hours, on which scenes of destruction the morrow's calm and glorious sun sheds his impassive beams. and so, before reaching individual evil and apparent injustice, there rises up before us at the very outset the threatening spectre of universal evil and injustice. this problem is so closely bound up with our subject that we are compelled to spend a short time in considering it. why does pain exist? to admit, as do certain ignorant fatalists, that the universe was created by the stroke of some magic wand, and that each planet, kingdom, and being is condemned, so to speak, to a definite crystallisation in the state in which it has pleased god to fix it; to admit that the mineral will remain a mineral throughout eternity, that the vegetable will ever reproduce the same types, that the animal will definitely be confined to his instincts and impulses, without the hope, some day, of developing the superior mentality of his torturers in human form; to admit that man will never be anything but man, _i.e._, a being in whom the passions have full play whereas the virtues are scarcely born; to admit that there is no final goal--perfection, the divine state--to crown man's labour; all this is to refuse to recognise evolution, to deny the progress everywhere apparent, to set divine below human justice; blasphemy, in a word. it has been said by unthinking christians that evidently god created human suffering, so that those might gain heaven who, but for this suffering, would have no right to it. to speak thus is to represent the supreme goodness in a very unworthy aspect and to attribute the most gratuitous cruelty to divine justice. when, too, we see that this absurd reasoning explains neither the sufferings of animals, which have no right to enjoy the felicity of heaven, they say, nor the fact[ ] that "there are many called but few chosen," nor the saying that "outside the church there is no salvation," although for ages past god has caused millions of men to be born in countries where the gospel has not been preached, we shall not be astonished to find that those who arrogate to themselves a monopoly of truth bring forward none but arguments of childish folly in support of their claims. generally, however, it is original sin that is advanced as the cause of suffering. the absurdity of this doctrine is so apparent that it has lost all credence by enlightened members of the christian faith. first of all, it does not explain the sufferings of animals, which have had no participation in this sin, nor does it account for the unequal distribution of pain amongst men themselves. this sin being the same for all at birth,[ ] punishment ought to have been equally severe for all, and we ought not to see such frightful disproportions as are to be found in the condition of children who have not attained to the age of reason, _i.e._, of responsibility. saint augustine felt the weight of this consideration; he reflected long on this torturing problem: "when i come to consider the sufferings of children," he says, "believe me, i am in a state of terrible perplexity. i have no wish whatever to speak only of the punishment inflicted on them after this life by eternal damnation to which they are of necessity condemned if they have left their bodies without receiving the sacrament of christ, but of the pains they endure in this present life, under our very eyes. did i wish to examine these sufferings, time would fail me rather than instances thereof; they languish in sickness, are torn by pain, tortured by hunger and thirst, weakened in their organs, deprived of their senses, and sometimes tormented by unclean beings. i should have to show how they can with justice be subjected to such things, at a time when they are yet without sin. it cannot be said that they suffer unknown to god or that god can do nothing against their tormentors, nor that he can create or allow unjust punishment. when men suffer, we say they are being punished for their crimes, but this can be applied only to adults. as children have in them no sin capable of meriting so terrible a punishment, tell me what answer can be given?" the answer, indeed, cannot be made that original sin is capable of explaining this unequal retribution; but then, ought not the very absurdity of the consequences due to such sin to justify one in refusing to examine this argument? what soul could admit that the innocent should be punished for the guilty? does human justice, in spite of its imperfection, punish the offspring of criminals? can the millions of descendants of the mythical adam have been chastised for a crime in which they have had no share? and would this chastisement, multiplied millions of times without the faintest reason, never have stirred the conscience of the church? saint augustine could not make up his mind to accuse god of injustice; so, to avoid disputing the truth of the christian teaching in which he wholly believed, he invented his famous theory of "generation," often called "translation." men suffer because of original sin, he says, but it would not be just of god to punish them for this, had they not shared therein[ ]; this, indeed, they have done, for the soul of a man was not created directly, by god, at the moment of the birth of the body; it is a branch taken from the soul of his father, as the latter's comes from that of his parents; thus, ascending the genealogical chain, we see that all souls issue from that of the common father of mankind: adam.[ ] so that saint augustine preferred to deny the creation of souls and to derive them from the soul of adam, through a successive progeny of human vehicles, rather than to allow god to be charged with injustice. we are not called upon to demonstrate the falsity of his hypothesis, which the church has been forced to condemn, though without replacing it with a better theory; all the same, if human souls suffer from a sin in which they have not individually and consciously participated--and such is the case, for even granting that translation be a fact, these souls existed in adam only potentially, as unconscious, undeveloped germs, when the sin took place--their punishment is none the less arbitrary and revolting. saint augustine believed he was justifying providence; he succeeded only in deceiving his own reason and revolted sense of justice, but he preferred by suggestion to deceive himself to such an extent as to believe in the reality of his desire rather than enrol himself against the church. in order to reconcile divine justice with the injustice of punishing all for the fault of one alone, the theologians also said: "adam sinned, his sin has been distributed over the whole of his race, but god, by sending down his son, instituted baptism; and the waters of the sacrament wash the stains of original sin from the souls of men." this reply is as childish as the former. as a matter of fact, according to the church, about four thousand years intervened between the sin of adam and the coming of the redeemer, and so only after that interval did the souls of the just, who were waiting in the life beyond for the coming of the messiah, enter paradise! would not this delay in itself be an injustice? ought not baptism to have been instituted immediately after the sin, and should it not have been placed within the reach of all? besides, do we not see that even in our days, two thousand years after the coming of the christ, millions of human beings are born and die without ever having heard of the existence of this sacrament. this part of the argument is too puerile to dwell upon at length, but we will spend a few moments on it to show definitely how powerless this theory is to explain evil. before teaching the doctrine of "limbo," the church accepted the idea of the damnation of children who died without being baptised, as we have just seen in the case of saint augustine.[ ] bossuet, with incredible blindness, also accepted it; and, sad to relate, his reason did not feel called upon to furnish an explanation which would justify providence, as was the case with saint augustine. he rejected "translation," and discovered nothing with which to veil the blasphemy. on this point the following is a faithful _résumé_ of his letter to pope innocent xii.: the damnation of children who have died without being baptised must be firmly believed by the church. they are guilty because they are born under the wrath of god and in the power of darkness. children of wrath by nature, objects of hatred and aversion, hurled into hell with the rest of the damned, they will remain there for all eternity punished by the horrible vengeance of the demon. such also are the decisions of the learned denis pétau, the most eminent bellarmin, the councils of lyons, of florence, and of trent; for these things are not decided by human considerations, but by the authority of tradition and of the scriptures. such logic makes one really doubt human reason, and reminds one of the spirit with which the courts of the holy inquisition were inspired. where in nature can there be found such lack of proportion between cause and effect, crime and punishment? have such arguments ever been justified by the voice of conscience? official christianity remains powerless to explain suffering. let us see what we can learn from the philosophies and religions of the past and the greatest of modern philosophers, as well as from the admirable _résumés_ of teachers of theosophy. the problem of suffering is one with that of life, _i.e._, with that of evolution in general. the object of the successive worlds is the creation of millions of centres of consciousness in the germinal state (_souls_) and the transformation of these germs into divinities similar to their father, god. this is the divine multiplication, creating innumerable "gods," in god. to produce divine germs, homogeneous unity must limit its immensity and create within itself the diversity of matter, of form. this can be obtained by the creation of "multiplicity" and by the "limitation" of what might be called a portion of divinity. now, limitation implies imperfection, both general and individual, _i.e._, suffering; and multiplicity implies diversity of needs and interests, forced submission to the general law _i.e._, suffering again. that the divine germs may evolve, their potentialities must be awakened by their surroundings; in other words, by the action of the "opposites," and sensation must come into being; the action of the opposites on sensation is also a cause of pain. outside of the unknown being--which will be known at the end of evolution--nothing can _be_. everything is in him. he is all; the worlds, time and space are "aspects" which he assumes from time to time[ ]; for this reason it has been said that the universe is an illusion, which may be expressed more clearly by saying that it is an illusion to believe that what exists is not one form of divine activity, an "aspect" of god. that anything may exist, or rather that aspects of god may appear, there must be manifested in him a special mode of being, to call forth what we designate as multiplicity. that multiplicity[ ] may be manifest, differences must be produced in unity; these differences in the world are the "pairs of opposites"--the contraries. these contraries are everywhere. matter is the fulcrum of force--both of these terms being "aspects" of god--and without a fulcrum no force can manifest itself; there is no heat without cold, and when it is summer in the northern hemisphere it is winter in the southern. there is no movement that does not depend upon a state of rest, no light without shadow, no pleasure without the faculty of pain, no freedom that is not founded upon necessity, no good that does not betoken an evil. the following are a few examples of duality taken from nature. the current of electricity is polarised into a positive and a negative current. it is the same with the magnet; though you break a bar into a hundred pieces, you bring into being a hundred small magnets, each possessing its positive and negative side; you will not have destroyed the "duality," the opposites. like the magnet, the solar spectrum forms two series, separated by a neutral point, the blue series and the red one, united by the violet.[ ] violet. indigo. yellow. blue. orange. green. red. the terms of the two series are respectively complimentary to each other; the violet dominates the two groups of opposites and is a visible member of the axis formed by the colours that might be called neutral. duality appears in every shape and form. symbolically, we may say with the hindus that the universe begins and ends with two opposite movements: an emanation from brahmâ, it is born when the breast of god sends forth the heavenly outbreathing, it dies, reabsorbed, when the universal inbreathing takes place. these movements produce attraction and repulsion, the aggregation and dissolution to be found everywhere. it is the attraction of a force-centre, the "laya centre" of theosophy, which permits of the atomic condensation that gives it the envelope whose soul it is; when its cycle of activity ends, attraction gives place to repulsion, the envelope is destroyed by the return of its constituent elements to the source from which they were drawn, and the soul is liberated until a future cycle of activity begins. even the rhythm of pulmonary respiration, the contraction and dilation (systole and diastole) of the heart, the ebb and flow of the tides, as also day and night, sleeping and waking, summer and winter, life and death, are all products of that law of contraries which rules creation. these "opposites" are the very essence of cosmic life, the twin pillars of universal equilibrium; they have been represented in solomon's symbolical temple--here, the universe--by jakin and boaz, the white and the black columns; they are also the interlaced triangles of "solomon's seal," the six-pointed star, the two old men of the kabbalah, the white jehovah and the black jehovah; eros and anteros, the serpents of mercury's caduceus, the two sphinxes of the car of osiris, adam and eve, cain and abel, jacob and esau, the chinese "yang" and "yin," the goblet and staff of tarot, man and woman. all these images represent the same law. multiplicity, the fruit of the contraries, makes its appearance in the forms born in infinite, homogeneous being; its goal is the goal of creation; the production, in infinite being, of centres which are developed by evolution and finally become gods in god. these centres, or "souls," these points in the supreme point, are divine in essence, though, so far, they have no share at all in the perfection "manifested" by god; they are all "centres," for god is a sphere, whose centre is everywhere and circumference nowhere, but they have not developed consciousness which is as yet only potential in them. like cuttings of willow which reproduce the mother-tree, these points, veritable portions of god, are capable of germinating, growing up, and becoming "i's," self-conscious beings, intelligent and endowed with will-power, and finally gods, having developed the entire potentialities of the all by their repeated imprisonment in the series of forms that make up the visible and invisible kingdoms of nature. every form, _i.e._ aggregate of substance-force, reflects within itself one of these points of divinity. this point is its monad, its centre of consciousness, or soul; it is the cause which is manifested as qualities in the envelopes, and these give it the illusion of separateness for a certain period,[ ] just as a soap-bubble momentarily acquires a fictitious individuality and appears separate from the atmosphere--of which it forms part--so long as its illusory envelope endures. thus do men imagine themselves separate from one another, when all the time their soul is nothing more than a drop of the divine ocean, hidden momentarily in a perishable body. the "contraries" are the anvil and the hammer which slowly forge souls by producing what might be called sensation in general, and sensation is a fertile cause of suffering each time the vehicles of consciousness receive vibrations that greatly exceed their fundamental capacity of sensation. without sensation however--consequently without suffering--the body could neither walk,[ ] nor see, nor hear, nor show any disturbance brought to bear upon it; there would exist no possible relation between the universe and the "i," between the all and the parts, between bodies and souls; there would be no consciousness, or sensation of being, since no vibration from without would find an echo in the incarnated "centres" of life; no knowledge would be possible; man would be, as it were, in a state of nothingness; and, without suspecting it, his body might at any moment be crushed to the ground by the forces of nature. but these material necessities are not by any means the only ones that demand sensation; without it, one of the principal objects of evolution--the development of "egos"--would be impossible. as an example borrowed from the domain of physical sensation, we need only call to memory a well-known experience in childhood. all who have been at a boarding school know how heavy and fetid is the atmosphere of a dormitory in the early winter morning, when fifty boys have been breathing the same air again and again during the whole of the night. and yet, who suspected this until he had gone out for a few minutes and then returned to the bed-room? it needed the "contrary," the pure outside air, to make known the state of the atmosphere inside. the contrast produced sensation--that nauseous, suffocating impression of foul, mephitic air; suffering[ ] generated knowledge of the vitiated air; as the result of this influence, the "centre of consciousness" felt itself an "i" distinct from its surroundings, and its "self-consciousness" received a slight increase. what might be called passional sensibility--desire, emotion, impulse--is, like physical sensation, another indispensable factor in evolution; it is the special element in the development of the animal kingdom as well as of the less evolved portion of the human kingdom. the young souls of mankind must receive the comparatively simple lessons of sensation, desire, and passion, before beginning the far more complicated study of mentality. but for desire, a host of needs could not be manifested, numberless functions would remain inactive; the body would not feed itself, and would die, were it not for hunger; danger would not be fled from, but for the instinct of self-preservation; nor without this would there be any propagation of the species. none the less is this life of sensation the source of many evils; desire and passion amongst human beings create terrible misery, fill prisons and hospitals, and are at the root of all kinds of moral suffering. in its turn, intelligence--that sensation so characteristic of the human state--is both an indispensable necessity and the most fertile source of evil, so long as it has not experienced a yearning for that inner "divinity," deep in the heart of man, which calls to it. a powerful lever of progress, it might convert this earth into a paradise, whereas it is the weapon which the strong, in their egoism, use to crush the feeble, a terrible weapon which either creates or intensifies all the evils under which the people writhe in despair. once it becomes the instrument of a regenerate humanity, that is to say, when men have become compassionate, loving, and devoted, then the social question will cease to exist, and the old instrument of torture will become a pledge of general happiness. even spiritual sensibility is a cause of suffering to some noble souls who have developed it, for however deep the joy of loving and giving oneself, intense too is the pain of witnessing the cruel drama of life, that fratricidal struggle in which passion strikes without mercy, whilst illusion and ignorance deal blows even more terrible, for into the wounds they make they instil the poison of revolt and despair. the action of multiplicity, and of its creators, the "contraries," engenders still other causes of suffering. every being lives both for others and at their expense. for instance, physical bodies are obliged to replace with food and nourishment those particles which the various functions of life cause them to lose. the vegetable kingdom takes its constituent elements from the mineral kingdom, and itself serves as food for large portions of the animal kingdom; up to this point physical pain has not manifested itself, though there is a momentary arrest of evolution for the animistic essence which represents the individual in the destroyed vegetable. a portion of the animal kingdom feeds on its own members; man, too, extorts from this same kingdom a very heavy tribute; here, the arrested evolution of the victims is all the more important, inasmuch as their stage of evolution is higher, and the existence of a nervous system brings the possibility of suffering, suffering which certain influences[ ] either diminish or suppress altogether, when caused by animal destructiveness, but which may become intense when it is man who is the sacrificer. among the causes of pain, arising from multiplicity there is also the physical, mental, and moral action exercised by the solidarity of all beings. by exchanging, with those that come into contact with us, the products thrown off by our visible and invisible bodies, we are the dispensers of good or ill-health. everyone, for instance, is aware of the far-reaching effects of an evil intellectual and moral example; physical contagion, in spite of the torture it inflicts, is far less to be dreaded than moral contagion. the spiritual qualities alone do not form a leaven of evil; they are not the double-edged instruments we meet with elsewhere. the reason of this is that they belong to the plane of unity. but it is none the less true that, though the presence of a highly developed soul is a help to younger souls within its reach and influence, its powerful vibrations may, from certain points of view, prove fatiguing to those still at the foot of the ladder of evolution. this is one of the many reasons that have given rise to the saying that it is dangerous prematurely to enter the "circle of the ascetics." but the most powerful causes of pain, due to multiplicity, are the ignorance and the will of beings who have reached the human stage. man can employ his mental faculties for good or evil, and so long as he does not know definitely that he is the brother of all beings, _i.e._, until his divine faculties have been developed, and love and the spirit of sacrifice have taken possession of his heart, he remains a terrible egoist, more to be dreaded than the criminal dominated by a momentary burst of passion, for he acts in cold blood, he evades or refuses to recognise the law of humanity, he dominates and destroys. this man is at the stage of ingratitude; he no longer possesses the harmlessness of childhood, nor has he yet acquired the wisdom of advanced age. our western race has reached this critical stage, whereof the menacing demands of the suffering masses are a striking testimony. here, too, god could not do otherwise; he might create bodies blindly obedient to his law, mere automata, but it would be impossible for him to cause divine germs to evolve into "gods" without pulling them through the school of evolution which teaches them, first, of the "ego," the root of all egoism, then knowledge by ignorance, liberty by necessity, good by evil, and the perfect by the imperfect. it may at this point just be mentioned that though human egoism appears to have free play and to be unrestrained in its cruelty, divine law never allows innocence to suffer for the errors of evolving souls, it punishes only the guilty, whether their faults or misdeeds be known or unknown, belonging to the present life or to past ones. such, briefly, is the cause of pain and suffering in evolution; in the following pages we will set forth the causes of the unequal distribution of this suffering. the problem of the inequality of conditions. if suffering in general is the child of necessity--since it is born of multiplicity and the limitation of the infinite, without which the universe could not exist--it would seem that we ought to find it falling upon all beings without distinction, in uniform, regular, and impartial fashion. instead of this, it is every moment losing its character of impersonality; it respects those who are guilty on a large scale; and, without any visible cause, strikes fiercely the most innocent of persons; noble souls are born in the families of criminals, whilst criminals have fathers of the utmost respectability; we find parricides, and brothers hostile to each other; millionaires die of surfeiting alongside of paupers dying of hunger; we find giants by the side of dwarfs; the healthy and well-formed near the crippled or those wasted away by terrible diseases; apollos contrast with quasimodos; men of genius are met with, cheek by jowl with idiots; some children are stillborn, others blind or deaf and dumb from birth. extremely different races people the earth--on the one hand, unintelligent and cannibal negroes; on the other, the proud, handsome, and intelligent, though selfish and cruel white race. again, from a moral standpoint, who can explain congenital tendencies to crime, the vicious by birth, the wicked by nature, the persons with uncontrollable passions? wherefore are thrift and foresight lacking in so many men, who are consequently condemned to lifelong poverty and wretchedness? why this excess of intelligence, used mainly for the exploiting of folly? it is useless to multiply examples, one has only to look around at hospitals and prisons, night-shelters, palaces and garrets; everywhere suffering has taken up its abode. can no reply be given to this terrible charge brought against divinity? is man to remain in a state of dejection and discouragement, as though some irreparable catastrophe had befallen him? according to the church, all this is the work of the soul which god gives at the birth of a man--a soul that is good or bad, prudent or foolish, one which damns or saves itself according as its will can, or cannot, dominate its passions, its intelligence discover the way to heaven or not; according as grace or rejection predestine it to heaven or to hell. is it not the depth of profanity to represent god as watching over conceptions in order to create souls so unfairly endowed, most of whom will never hear the gospel message, and consequently cannot be saved, whilst the rest are destined to animate the bodies of savages and cannibals, devoid of moral consciousness? is it not an act of sacrilege thus to convert god, who is all wisdom and love, into a kind of accomplice of adulterers and lewd persons or the sport of malthusian insults. unconscious blasphemers are they who would offer this dead sea fruit as the true manna of life! there is also another theory, often advanced in certain quarters, on which we must say a few words, for though it contains only a minimum of truth, and consequently cannot withstand serious examination, it has led astray more than one earnest thinker. inequalities of suffering, it has been said, arise from inequalities of social conditions. intelligence, morality, will, in fact all human faculties, develop more or less according to their environment; men are born equal; they become unequal as the result of different environment; pay the same care and attention to all and they will remain equal, and if they are equal, the theory seems to imply, evil will disappear from the face of the earth. this is not so. inequality of suffering does not result from inequality of condition. many a poor tiller of the fields enjoys a degree of peace and happiness that those favoured by birth or fortune would envy. disease visits poor and rich alike; moral suffering is more especially the appanage of the so-called higher classes, and if obscurity and poverty render certain troubles specially severe, wealth and rank play the same _rôle_ in afflictions of another kind; there is a dark side to every picture. more than this, inequality of condition is one of the fundamental factors of social equilibrium; without it, many urgent and even indispensable functions would be neglected, numerous general needs would remain unsatisfied; so-called menial work, which, in a state of society that is still imperfect and consequently selfish, is performed only in the hope of remuneration, would never be done at all; every man would have to provide for the whole of his necessities; no one could find time for self-improvement or for flinging himself entirely into those divers branches of activity which, if personal interest were absent, would make life infinitely better and progress extremely rapid. the partisans of this theory rely on diversity of tastes to fill the diversity of functions that are necessary in social life: another illusion. the inferior, painful, or difficult tasks will never find sufficient workers, whilst easy or honourable posts will always be overcrowded. to believe the contrary would be to shut one's eyes to the present imperfection of men; it would mean the belief that they were noble and lofty beings, eager for self-sacrifice, demanding only to work for the happiness of all, without a single thought of their personal preferences; it would mean seeing, in present-day humanity, that of the future in which each individual has attained to such a degree of perfection that not a single idle, ill-disposed, or stupid person is to be found amongst them, for each one would regard himself as the brother and helper of all, and the universal standard of life would be: each for all and all for each! how ardently we desire that this were so; how eagerly we pray for that future, so far away, when we shall have grown to this nobler stature, and the present fratricidal struggle shall have given place to a lasting peace, the offspring of a higher, spiritual, universal love. anxiously do we await it; like lost travellers, we fix our eyes on the dark horizon to catch the first faint streaks of light, harbingers of the dawn. we greet with joy and gratitude all such as believe in that blessed future and endeavour to hasten its coming, all who impersonally and in sincerity aim at the social unity towards which the heart aspires, and especially those whose aim it is to advance in accordance with that continuous, progressive evolution based on the physical, moral, mental, and spiritual amelioration of men, for it is they who have learned the secret of nature. indeed, evolution shows us that, the more souls grow, the nearer they approach that perfection to which progress destines them, and happiness exists only in perfection. to return to other aspects of the subject. men are born equal, we are told. a single glance at the differences in the moral and intellectual qualities of races and individuals, at the differences between young children, even at the differences in the instincts of infants at the breast, is sufficient to prove the contrary. there are savages in whom no trace whatever of the moral sense can be discovered. charles darwin in one of his works relates a fact, which mrs. besant has quoted, in illustration of this. an english missionary reproached a tasmanian with having killed his wife in order to eat her. in that rudimentary intellect, the reproach aroused an idea quite different from that of a crime; the cannibal thought the missionary imagined that human flesh was of an unpleasant flavour, and so he replied: "but she was very good!" is it possible to attribute to the influence of surroundings alone a degree of moral poverty so profound as this? many a mother has been able to find out that souls are not equal, in other words, that they are of different ages, by the discovery of diametrically opposite qualities and tendencies in two children born under the same conditions; in twins, for instance. every schoolmaster has noticed the same fact in the pupils under his charge. mrs. besant says that amongst the , children who came under her inspection in the london schools she would often find side by side with gentle, affectionate little beings others who showed criminal tendencies from birth. looking at the question from another point of view, are we not continually finding in schools and educational establishments pupils who, for no explicable reason, show a disposition for one branch of instruction only? they shine in this, but are dunces in every other subject. as a final example, do not infant prodigies prove that men are not born equal? young, who discovered the undulatory theory of light, could read with wonderful rapidity at the age of two, whilst at eight he had a thorough knowledge of six languages. sir w. r. hamilton began to learn hebrew when he was three, and knew it perfectly four years later. at the age of thirteen he knew thirteen languages. gauss, of brunswick--the greatest mathematician in europe, according to laplace--solved problems in arithmetic when only three. no, men are not born equal. nor does environment cause the inequalities we find; it favours or checks the development of qualities, but has no part in their creation. still, its influence is sufficiently important for us to give it due consideration. we are linked to one another by the closest bonds of solidarity, whether we wish it and are conscious thereof or not. everything absorbs and throws off, breathes in and breathes out, and this universal exchange, if at times bad, is none the less a powerful factor in evolution. the atom of carbon, on entering into the combinations of the human body, is endowed with a far higher power of combining than the one which has just left the lump of ore; to obtain its new properties, this atom has had to pass through millions of vegetable, animal, and human molecules. animals brought into close contact with man develop mentally to a degree that is sometimes incredible, by reason of the intellectual food with which our thoughts supply them. the man who lives alone is, other things being equal, weaker physically, morally, and mentally than he who lives in a large social environment; it is for this reason that the mind develops far more rapidly in large centres of life than in the country. and what is true of good is, unfortunately, true also of evil qualities. consequently, environment has an undeniable influence, and it is perfectly true to say that the social conditions under which individuals are born favour or impede the development of their faculties. there its influence stops; it can intensify inequality, but does not create it. inequality of condition arises, above all else, from the continuity of what might be called creation. atoms are incessantly being formed in the womb of the virgin mother,[ ] by the might of the divine vortex perceived by seers in ecstatic vision, and which theosophy has named the great breath; ceaselessly are these atoms entering into multitudes of organisms, ceaselessly is the plan of evolution being worked--some ending, others beginning the great pilgrimage. it is the existence of this circuit which creates and keeps complete the hierarchy of beings, brings into existence and perpetuates the known and the unknown kingdoms of nature; souls ascend slowly from one kingdom to another, whilst the places they leave are filled by new-comers, by younger souls. a second cause of human inequality is the difference in effort and deed accomplished by the will of human beings who have reached a certain point in evolution. as soon as this will is guided by intelligence and the moral sense, it hastens or delays individual evolution, makes it easy when it acts in harmony with divine law--by doing what is called "good"--or disturbs evolution by pain, when it opposes this law, by doing "evil." by modifying the direction of the law, the soul engenders beneficent or maleficent forces, which, after having played in the universe within the limit the law has imposed on them, return to their starting point--man. from that time, one understands that the balance of the scales in different individuals becomes unequal. these effects of the will influence to a noticeable degree the life during which they have originated; they are preserved in a latent condition after death, and appear again in future returns to earth. thus are men born laden with the results of their past and in possession of the capacities they have developed in the course of their evolution. those whom the difficulties of life have filled with energy in the past return to existence on earth possessed of that might which the world admires; now it is perseverance or courage; now patient calm or violence, which is the stronger, according to the aspect of the energy developed. others, again, are born feeble and devoid of energy; their former lives have been too easy. men are philosophers or mathematicians, artists or _savants_, from the very cradle. objections have been brought against the doctrine of rebirth by opponents who have looked only on one side of the individual life, and so have been unable to explain apparent anomalies, especially in those cases where it is seen that the effect does not immediately follow the cause. in reality, every force that emerges from a centre of will[ ] describes an ellipse, so to speak, which travels through a net-work of other ellipses generated by thousands of other centres of energy, and is accelerated or retarded in its course, according to the direction and nature of the forces with which it is connected. it is for this reason that certain actions meet with their reward or their punishment almost immediately. then the people say: "it is the finger of god!" in other cases, again, and these are the most numerous, the reaction is postponed; the noble-hearted man, who has made sacrifices the whole of his life, seems to receive in exchange nothing but misfortune and pain, whilst close by the wicked, selfish man prospers and thrives exceedingly. thereupon the ignorant say: "there is no god, for there is no justice." not so! it is impossible to defeat justice; though, in the interests of evolving beings, it may allow the forces around to accelerate or retard its progress. nothing is ever lost; causes that have not fructified remain potential; and, like the grain of corn gathered thousands of years ago, grow and develop as soon as favourable soil and environment are offered them. debts are still recorded, when the perishable sheaths of our physical bodies have been cast off; they come up for future payment, often in the next life. but this next life may not wipe off the whole of the liabilities, so the process is continued for several successive existences, and this has given rise to the saying that the sins of the parents[ ] are visited upon the children[ ] unto the seventh generation.[ ] such is the truth. souls, equal in potentialities whilst dormant as germs in the womb of being, become unequal, as soon as they are born into existence in the manifested universe, for they find predecessors, elder souls in front of them; inequality is intensified when they have reached the human stage, where intelligence and will come into play, for henceforth, inequality in the actions of individuals, variations of what might be called merit and demerit, set up a second factor in the inequality of conditions. evolution treasures up the causes that have not been able to germinate in one existence, and, by successive returns to earth, realises the aims and ends of that justice which governs the universe, the designs of that love which makes for progress and leads to perfection. objection. an apparently serious objection to the doctrine of rebirth is constantly being made. it is unjust and useless, people say, to be punished for misdeeds that are forgotten. as this objection has reference to moral proofs, we must deal with it here. does forgetfulness efface faults or destroy their consequences? could the assassin, who has lost all memory of the crime committed the previous evening, change his deed or its results in the slightest degree? rebirths are nothing more than the morrows of former lives, and though the merciful waters of lethe have effaced their memory, the forces stored up in the soul, during the ages, perform their work all the same in the future. on the other hand, injustice would exist, and that under a very cruel aspect, were memory to continue; for the painful vision of a past always full of weaknesses, even when free from the stain of crime, would be a continual one. and if, too--as our opponents would prefer--man knew why he was punished, _i.e._, if he knew that each of these past errors and faults, ever present before his eyes, would carry with it a particular fruit, and that strict payment would be exacted at every step in his new life, would not the punishment be far greater than the sin? would there not rise from every human heart an outcry of blasphemy against a god who, by means of memory, transformed life into an endless torment, destroying all activity or initiative in the anxiety of expectancy, in a word, stifling the present beneath the heavy nightmare of the past? men, though so unjust and little disposed to pity, have always refused to inflict on a man condemned to death the torture of anticipation; only at the last moment is he informed of the rejection of his appeal for mercy. could divine law be less compassionate than human law? is it not rash for us, in our profound ignorance, to criticise the workings of a boundless wisdom? he who takes only a few steps along the pathway of knowledge, or enters, however slightly, into the secret of the works of god, obtains the proof that providence leaves no part of the cosmos, no being anywhere, deprived of its fatherly care and protection. when, in our blindness, we imagine injustice, a void or an imperfection of any kind, a radiant beam of light shows us the omnipresent life, bestowing love on all its children without distinction, from the slumbering atom to the glorious planetary spirit, whose consciousness is so vast as to enfold the universe. it is more especially after death that the soul, set free from its illusory sheaths, makes an impartial review of its recent incarnation, attentively following its actions and their consequences, noting its errors and failures, along with their motives and causes. in this school it grows in knowledge and power; and when, in a future incarnation, the same difficulties present themselves anew, it is better equipped for the struggle; what has been learned, is retained within the soul; it knows, where formerly it was ignorant, and by the "voice of conscience," tells the personality[ ] what its duty is. this wisdom, sifted from the panorama of a thousand past images, is the best of all memories, for on those numerous occasions when a decision must be arrived at on the spur of the moment it would not be possible to summon forth from the depths of the past such groups of memories as refer to the decision to be reached, to see the events over again, and deduce therefrom a line of conduct. the lesson must have been learnt and thoroughly assimilated during the enlightened peace and calm of the hereafter; then only is the soul ready to respond without delay, and its command is distinct; its judgment, sure; do this, avoid that. when a soul, in the course of evolution, has succeeded in impressing its vibration--its thought--on a brain which it has refined and made responsive by a training which purifies the entire nature of the man, it is able to transmit to the incarnated consciousness the memory of its past lives; but this memory then ceases to be painful or dangerous, for the soul has not only exhausted the greater part of its karma of suffering, it also possesses the strength necessary to sustain its personality, whenever a foreboding of what we call misfortune comes upon it. in the divine work everything comes in its own time, and we recognise the perfection of the creator by the perfect concatenation of all creation. reincarnation is so intimately bound up with the law of causality, and receives from it such powerful support, that this chapter would be left in a very incomplete form were we not to say a few words on karma. the law of causality (karma).[ ] karma is the law of the universe, the expression of divine will. its seemingly essential attributes are justice and love; it neither punishes nor rewards, but adjusts things, restores disturbed balance and harmony, brings back evolving souls to the right path and teaches them law. when a man acts against the law, he is like a swimmer, struggling against the current of a rapid river; his strength fails, and he is borne away. so does god bear away, in spite of all their efforts, those who, whether ignorantly or consciously, fight against the law, for it is his love that wills evolution, _i.e._, the making human beings divine; so he brings them back to the path, in spite of themselves, every time they wander astray. "god is patient because he is eternal," it has been said. the sentence is incomplete and must be changed, since it attributes to divinity a vindictive nature. the law is patient because it is perfect in wisdom, power, and love. this law is the divine will which moves all things and vibrates everywhere; it is the music of the spheres, the song of glory and harmony, which murmurs in the heart like the rippling of a waterfall, the chant of life and joy that eternally triumphs in its never-ending creation of beings, who, after revolving for a moment in the universe, have become perfect. its glorious strains resound in the heart of man, when the soul has found peace in the law, and we are told that, when once heard, its divine accents continue for ever, like an ineffable whisper which brings us back to hope and faith, when we are sunk in the depths of despair. god limited himself in order to become incarnate in the universe: he is the soul of the world. his will is exerted everywhere, it finds its reflection in every creature; and man, a portion of divinity in course of evolution, possesses a germ of will that is infinite in its essence, and consequently capable of limitless development; god respects this will in his creatures, and submits to violence, in order to teach them his will, which is supreme love. like a stone that falls into a tranquil lake, a human action creates, all round, concentric ripples which continue to the very shores or limits of the universe; then the wave is thrown back upon itself, returns to its starting-point, and the man who began the first movement receives a recoil exactly equivalent to the original impetus. reaction is equal to action; obstacles on the way may delay its return or break up its energy, but the time comes when the fractions return to the centre that generates the disturbance, which thus receives from the law a perfectly just retribution. the principal element in actions is thought. every thought is a form in a state of vibration--a ray of intelligence which unites itself with subtle matter[ ] and forms a being, of which this matter is the body, and thought, the soul. this being, often called a "thought-form," possesses form, duration, and strength that bear a strict relation to the energy of the thought that created it; if it embodies a soul of hatred, it will react on the man who harbours this thought, and on all who come into contact with him, as a leaven of destruction, but if it is guided by love it will be, as it were, the incarnation of some beneficent power. in certain cases its action is expressed visibly and rapidly; for instance, a venomous thought may[ ] cause the death of the person against whom it is directed--this is one aspect of the "evil eye"--as also it may[ ] return to its starting-point and kill the one who generated it, by the recoil. every mental projection of a criminal nature, however, by no means necessarily reaches the object aimed at; a sorcerer, for instance, could no more injure one who was positive, consciously and willingly good, than he could cause a grain of corn to sprout on a block of granite; favourable soil is needed to enable the seed of evil to take root in a man's heart; otherwise, the evil recoils with its full force upon the one who sent it forth and who is an irresistible magnet, for he is its very "life-centre." thoughts cling to their creator and attract towards this latter those of a similar nature floating about in the invisible world, for they instinctively come to vitalise and invigorate themselves by contact with him; they radiate around him a contagious atmosphere of good or evil, and when they have left him, hover about, at the caprice of the various currents, impelling those they touch towards the goal to which they are making. they even recoil on the visible form of their generator; it is for this reason that physical is closely connected with moral well-being, and most of our diseases are nothing else than the outer expression of the hidden leaven of passion. when the action of this latter is sudden and powerful, diseases may be the immediate consequence thereof; blinded by materialism, certain doctors seldom acknowledge their real cause; and yet instances of hair turning white in a single night are too numerous to be refuted, congestion of the brain brought on by a fit of anger, jaundice and other grave maladies caused by grief and trouble, are to be met with continually. when the mental forces which disturb the physical organs meet with obstacles which prevent their immediate outlet, they accumulate, like the electric fluid in a condenser, until an unexpected contact produces a discharge; this condensation often persists for a whole life in a latent condition, and is preserved intact for a future incarnation; this is the cause of original vices, which, incorporated in the etheric double, react upon the organic texture of the body. this also explains why each individual possesses an _ensemble_ of pathological predispositions often radically different from those heredity should have bequeathed to him; it is also, to some extent, the key to physiognomy, for every single feature bears either the stamp of our passions or the halo of our virtues. thought creates lasting bonds between human beings; love and hatred enchain certain individuals to one another for a whole series of incarnations; many a victim of the past is to be found again in those unnatural sons who send a thrill of horror through society when it hears of some heinous crime--they have become the torturers of their former oppressors. in other cases, it is love which attracts and unites in renewed affection those who formerly loved one another--they return to earth as brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, husbands or wives. but if we are the slaves of the past, if fate compels us to reap what we have sown, we yet have the future in our hands, for we can tear up the weeds, and in their place sow useful plants. just as, by means of physical hygiene, we can change within a few years the nature of the constituents that make up our bodies, so also, by a process of moral hygiene, we can purify our passions and then turn their strength in the direction of good. according as we will, so do we actually become, good or bad; every man who has taken his evolution in hand notices this rapid transformation of his personality, and sees his successive "egos" rise step by step, so to speak, throughout his whole life. speaking generally, the first part of life is the expression of the distant past--of former lives--the second is a mixture of the past and of the energies of the present incarnation; the end of life is nothing but a sinking into an ever-deepening rut for those who crystallise in only one direction; the force of habit sets up its reign, and man finds himself bound by the chains he himself has forged. this is the reason an old man does not like the present times; he has stopped whilst time has advanced, and he is now being carried along like the flotsam and jetsam of a wreck; the very tastes and habits of his contemporaries violently clashing with his beloved past. speak not to him of progress or evolution, he has brought himself into a state of complete immobility, and he will discover no favourable field of action nor will he acquire real energy until he has drunk of the waters of lethe in a rest-giving hereafter and a new body supplies his will with an instrument having the obedient suppleness of youth. h. p. blavatsky, in the _secret doctrine_, has well described this progressive enmeshing of man in the net he himself is weaving. "those who believe in karma have to believe in destiny, which, from birth to death, every man is weaving, thread by thread, around himself, as a spider his web; and this destiny is guided either by the heavenly voice of the invisible prototype outside of us, or by our more intimate _astral_ or inner man, who is but too often the evil genius of the embodied entity called man. both these lead on the outward man, but one of them must prevail; and from the very beginning of the invisible affray the stern and implacable _law of compensation_ steps in and takes its course, faithfully following the fluctuations of the fight. when the last strand is woven, the man is seemingly enwrapped in the net-work of his own doing, then he finds himself completely under the empire of this _self-made_ destiny...." she adds shortly afterwards: "an occultist or a philosopher will not speak of the goodness or cruelty of providence; but, identifying it with karma-nemesis, he will teach that nevertheless it guards the good and watches over them in this as in future lives; and that it punishes the evil-doer, aye, even to his seventh rebirth, so long, in short, as the effect of his having thrown into perturbation even the smallest atom in the infinite world of harmony, has not been finally readjusted. for the only decree of karma--an eternal and immutable decree--is absolute harmony in the world of matter as it is in the world of spirit. it is not, therefore, karma that rewards or punishes, but it is we who reward or punish ourselves, according to whether we work with, through, and along with nature, abiding by the laws on which that harmony depends, or--break them. "nor would the ways of karma be inscrutable, were men to work in union and harmony instead of disunion and strife. for our ignorance of those ways--which one portion of mankind calls the ways of providence, dark and intricate, while another sees in them the action of blind fatalism, and a third, simple chance, with neither gods nor devils to guide them--would surely disappear, if we would but attribute all these to their correct cause.... "we stand bewildered before the mystery of our own making, and the riddle of life that we will not solve, and then accuse the great sphinx of devouring us. but verily, there is not an accident in our lives, not a mis-shapen day or a misfortune, that could not be traced back to our own doings in this or in another life...." on the same subject, mrs. sinnett says in _the purpose of theosophy_: "every individual is making karma either good or bad in every action and thought of his daily round, and is at the same time working out in this life the karma brought about by the acts and desires of the last. when we see people afflicted by congenital ailments, it may be safely assumed that these ailments are the inevitable results of causes started by the same in a previous birth. it may be argued that, as these afflictions are hereditary, they can have nothing to do with a past incarnation; but it must be remembered that the ego, the real man, the individuality, has no spiritual origin in the parentage by which it is re-embodied, but is drawn by the affinities which its previous mode of life attracted round it into the current that carries it, when the time comes for re-birth, to the home best fitted for the development of those tendencies.... "this doctrine of karma, when properly understood, is well calculated to guide and assist those who realise its truth to a higher and better mode of life; for it must not be forgotten that not only our actions, but our thoughts also, are most assuredly followed by a crowd of circumstances that will influence for good or for evil our own future; and, what is still more important, the future of many of our fellow-creatures. if sins of omission and commission could in any case be only self-regarding, the effect on the sinner's karma would be a matter of minor consequence. the fact that every thought and act through life carries with it, for good or evil, a corresponding influence on the members of the human family renders a strict sense of justice, morality, and unselfishness so necessary to future happiness and progress. a crime once committed, an evil thought sent out from the mind, are past recall--no amount of repentance can wipe out their results on the future.... "repentance, if sincere, will deter a man from repeating errors; it cannot save him or others from the effects of those already produced, which will most unerringly overtake him either in this life or in the next rebirth." we will also quote a few lines from e. d. walker in _reincarnation_: "briefly, the doctrine of karma is that we have made ourselves what we are by former actions, and are building our future eternity by present actions. there is no destiny but what we ourselves determine. there is no salvation or condemnation except what we ourselves bring about.... because it offers no shelter for culpable actions and necessitates a sterling manliness, it is less welcome to weak natures than the easy religious tenets of vicarious atonement, intercessions, forgiveness, and death-bed conversions.... "in the domain of eternal justice, the offence and the punishment are inseparably connected as the same event, because there is no real distinction between the action and its outcome. "it is karma, or our old acts, that bring us back into earthly life. the spirit's abode changes according to its karma, and this karma forbids any long continuance in one condition, because it is always changing. so long as action is governed by material and selfish motives, just so long must the effect of that action be manifested in physical rebirths. only the perfectly selfless man can elude the gravitation of material life. few have attained this, but it is the goal of mankind." the danger of a too brief explanation of the law of causality consists in the possibility of being imperfectly understood, and consequently of favouring the doctrine of fatalism. "why act at all, the objection will be urged, if everything is foreseen by the law? why stretch out a hand to the man who falls into the water before our very eyes? is not the law strong enough to save him, if he is not to die; and if he is, have we any right to interfere?... "such reasoning arises from ignorance and egoism. "yes, the law is powerful enough to prevent the man from drowning, and also to prevent the possibility of his being saved by some passer-by, who has been moved to pity by the sight; to doubt this were to doubt the power of god. in the work of evolution, however, god does more than supply man with means of developing his intelligence; in order to enrich his heart, he offers him opportunities of sacrificing himself. again, the innumerable problems set by duty are far from being solved for us; with difficulty can we distinguish a crime from a noble action; very often we do wrong, thinking we are doing right, and it not unfrequently happens that good results from our evil deeds; this is why god sends us experiences which are to teach us our duty. "the soul learns not only during its incarnations, but even more after leaving the body,[ ] for life after death is largely spent in examining the consequences of deeds performed during life on earth. "whenever, then, an opportunity for action offers itself, let us follow the impulse of the heart, the cry of duty, and not the sophisms of the lower nature, the selfish "ego," the cold brain, which knows neither compassion nor devotion. do your duty, whatever happens, says the law, _i.e._, do not allege, as your excuse for being selfish, that god, if he thinks it best, will help your brother in his trouble; why do you not fling yourself into the fire, with the thought that, if your hour has not yet come, god will prevent the flames from burning you? does not the man, who commits suicide, himself push forward the hand on the dial of life, setting it at the fatal hour? "the threads of karmic action are so wonderfully interwoven, and god, in order to hasten evolution, makes such marvellous use of human forces, both good and bad, that the first few glances cast at the _mêlée_ of events are calculated to trouble the mind rather than reveal to it the marvels of adjustment effected by divine wisdom, but no sooner does one succeed in unravelling some of the entanglements of the karmic forces, and catching a glimpse of the harmony resulting from their surprising co-operation, than the mind is lost in amaze. then, one understands how the murderer is only an instrument whose passions are used by god in carrying out the karmic decree which condemned the victim long before the crime was committed; then, too, one knows that capital punishment is a legal crime of which divine justice makes use--yes, a crime, for none but god can judge; every being has a right to live, and does live, until god condemns him. "but man, by making himself, even ignorantly, the instrument of karma, acts against the universal law, and is preparing for himself that future suffering which results from every attack made on the harmony of the whole."[ ] on the other hand, destiny is not an immutable mass of forces; will can destroy what it has created, that is a question of time or energy; and when these are unable, within a given period, to bring about the total destruction of a barrier belonging to the past, none the less does this barrier lessen day by day, for the "resultant" of this system of opposing forces changes its direction every moment, and the final shock, when it cannot be avoided, is always diminished to a greater or less degree. in the case of those who have attained to a perfect reading of the past, their knowledge of the hostile forces is complete, and the neutralisation of these forces immensely facilitated. they can seek out, in this world or in the next, those they wronged in the past, and thus repair the harm done; they can see the source of those thoughts of hatred that are sent against them, and destroy them by the intervention of love;[ ] they can find out the weak points of their personal armour and strengthen them: it is this that in theosophical language is called the burning of karma in the fire of "wisdom." none the less, there are two points in the law of causality, which appear to favour the idea of fatalism, though in reality, they are merely corollaries of karma. according to the first, every force is fatal, in the sense that, if left to itself, it is indestructible. this is not fatality, for the force can be modified by meeting with forces differing in character, and if no such encounter takes place, it finally unites with the cosmic law, or else is broken to pieces upon it, according as it moves with evolution or against it.[ ] only in one sense, then, is it fatal; it cannot be destroyed save by an opposing force of the same momentum. for instance, in order to annihilate an obstructive force, created in the past, the soul must expend an amount of energy that is equal and opposite to that force; it meanwhile cannot devote itself to any other work, thus causing, in one sense, a useless production of energy; in other words, evolution will suffer delay,[ ] but, we must repeat, that is not fatality. now to the second point. thought, by repetition, gains ever-increasing energy, and when the forces which thoughts accumulate have become as powerful as those of the will of the ego which created them, a final addition of energy--another thought--alone is needed for the will to be overcome and the heavier scale of the balance to incline; then the thought is fatally realised in the action. but so long as dynamic equilibrium has not been reached, the will remains master, although its power is ever diminishing, in proportion as the difference in the forces becomes smaller. when equilibrium is reached, the will is neutralised; it becomes powerless, and feels that a fall is only a question of moments, and, with a fresh call of energy, the thought is fatally realised on the physical plane; the hour of freedom has gone and the fatal moment arrived. like some solution that has reached saturation point, obedient to the last impulse, this thought crystallises into an act. many a criminal thus meets, in a single moment, the fatality he has created in the course of several incarnations; he no longer sees anything, his reason disappears; in a condition of mental darkness his arm is raised, and, impelled by a blind force, he strikes automatically. "what have i done?" he immediately exclaims in horror. "what demon is this that has taken possession of me?" then only is the crime perpetrated, without there being time for the will to be consulted, without the "voice of conscience" having been invited to speak. the whole fatality of automatism is in the deed, which has been carried through without the man suspecting or being conscious of it; his physical machine has been the blind instrument of the force of evil he has himself slowly accumulated throughout the ages. but let there be no mistake; every time a man, who is tempted, has time to think, even in fleeting fashion, of the moral value of the impulse which is driving him onward, he has power to resist; and if he yields to this impulse, the entire responsibility of this final lapse is added on to that incurred by past thoughts. among the victims of these actions that have become fatal are often to be found those who are near the stage of initiation, for before being exposed to the dangers of the bewildering "path," which bridges the abyss--the abyss which separates the worlds of unity from the illusory and transitory regions of the universe--they are submitted to the most careful tests. there may even be found souls that tread this path,[ ] bearing within themselves[ ] some old surviving residue which has not yet been finally thrown into the physical plane, and must consequently appear for the last time before falling away and disappearing for ever.[ ] mankind, incapable of seeing the man--the divine fragment gloriously blossoming forth in these beings--often halts before these dark spots in the vesture of the great soul, these _excreta_ flung off from the "centre," belonging to the refuse of the vehicle, not to the soul, and in its blindness pretends to see, in its folly to judge, loftily condemning the sins of a brother more evolved than itself! the future will bring men greater wisdom, and teach them the greatness of their error.[ ] at the conclusion of this important chapter, let us repeat that karma--divine will in action--is love as well as justice, wisdom as well as power, and no one ought to dread it. if at times it uses us roughly and always brings us back to the strait way when folly leads us astray, it is only measuring its strength against our weakness, its delicate scales balance the load according to our strength, and when, in times of great anguish or terrible crisis, man is on the point of giving way, it suddenly lifts the weight, leaves the soul a moment's respite, and only when it has recovered breath is the burden replaced. the righteous will of god is always upon us, filling our hearts with its might; his love is ever about us, enabling us to grow and expand, even through the suffering he sends, for it is ourselves who have created this suffering. footnotes: [footnote : fortunately, this is a fact only in the imagination of those who are blinded by faith.] [footnote : before men had sinned individually on earth.] [footnote : _de corruptione et gratia_, chap. , no. ; _cont. jul. pelag._, book , chap. , no. , et _de peccat. merit. et remiss._, book , chap. , no. .] [footnote : "omnes illae unus homo fuerunt." _de peccat. merit. et remiss._, book , chap. , no. . theologians pass over st. augustine's adoption of this theory, giving one to understand that he abandoned his error shortly before his death. (_dictionnaire de théol._, by abbé berger; volume viii., article x., "_traduciens._")] [footnote : see also, on this subject, his letter to sixtus, before the latter became pope. chap. vii., no. , and chap. vi., no. .] [footnote : the movements of "creation" and "absorption," which are called in hindu symbolism the outbreathing and the inbreathing of brahmâ.] [footnote : creation.] [footnote : after violet and red there stretches quite another spectrum, invisible to the human eye; it is because violet is at the beginning of our known spectrum, that one might think it was not the neutral point thereof.] [footnote : the soul believes itself distinct from the all, because it is subjected to the illusion engendered by its body.] [footnote : without the aid of the eyes, walking is impossible to those suffering from plantar anæsthesia.] [footnote : pleasure, like every other form of sensation, produces the same results, though perhaps with less force.] [footnote : a magnetic effect or an emotion. all travellers who have escaped from the attacks of wild beasts mention this effect of inhibition, manifested by the absence of fear and pain at the moment of attack.] [footnote : primordial matter which has not yet entered into any combination and is not differentiated.] [footnote : a soul.] [footnote : in these cases, the soul.] [footnote : the personalities or new bodies created by the soul, on each return to earth.] [footnote : that is to say, the seventh incarnation.] [footnote : waking consciousness.] [footnote : see _karma_, by a. besant.] [footnote : those who have studied thought know that it is capable of being incorporated in diverse states of astral and mental matter.] [footnote : if the divine law allows it.] [footnote : if the divine law has not allowed the action to take place.] [footnote : man, after death, loses in succession his astral and mental bodies.] [footnote : _la théosophie en quelques chapitres_, by the author, pages to .] [footnote : "hatred is destroyed only by love," said the buddha. "return good for evil," said jesus.] [footnote : it is this that causes the universal force of opposition--_the enemy_ or _demon_--to become evil only when ignorance or the human will make use of it to oppose evolution: apart from such cases, it is only the second pillar necessary for the support of the temple, the stepping-stone of the good.] [footnote : perhaps this is only an apparent delay, for, on every plane, force is correlative, and knowledge is the fruit of many different kinds of energy. the only real cases in which there is delay of individual evolution are probably those in which _evil is done in return for evil_. of course, we are speaking in relative terms and from a relative standpoint.] [footnote : when human evolution is completed, man passes the "strait gate" leading to superhuman evolution, to the spiritual life, which develops the next higher principle, _buddhi_; this is _the path_. human evolution develops the mental principle, _manas_; super-human evolution develops the spiritual body, _buddhi._] [footnote : here we are dealing with faults of a more or less venial nature.] [footnote : for ever, in this case, for the soul is above these residues, and, so to speak, has given them no vitality for ages past.] [footnote : in completion of this chapter on the law of causality, we refer the reader to a. besant's book: _karma._] chapter iii. reincarnation and science. the secret of the universe lies in observation; it is for man to develop his senses and patiently to search into the hidden things of nature. all science proceeds thus, and the reason that savants have not unearthed the precious object for which they seek with such wonderful perseverance is that the physical senses, even when aided by the most delicate instruments, are able to cognise only a portion of the physical universe--the denser portion. this is proved by the fact that when man has succeeded in directing into a channel some subtle force, he remains as ignorant of its essence as he was before chaining it down, so to speak; he has not the slightest knowledge of it. he can utilise but he cannot dominate it, for he has not discovered its source. this source is not in the physical world, but on the finer planes of being, which will remain unknown to us, so long as our senses are incapable of responding to their vibrations. because physical observation reveals only the bark, the outer crust of the cosmos, man sees nothing but the surface of the world, and remains in ignorance of the heart and vital plexus that give it life; consequently, he calls the disintegration following upon disincarnation by the senseless name of "death." he who has lifted the veil of isis sees divine life everywhere, the life that animates forms, builds them up, uses them, and finally breaks them to pieces when they have ceased to be of use; and this life--god--thus spread about in numberless forms, by means of its many rays, develops in itself centres--souls--which gradually grow and awaken their infinite potentialities[ ] in the course of these successive incarnations. still, though the eye of the god-man alone can penetrate this wonderful mechanism and study it in all its astonishing details, the savant whose mind is unprejudiced can judge of the concealed mechanism by examining its outer manifestations, and it is on this ground we now place ourselves with the object of setting forth another series of proofs of reincarnation. the evolutionary series. if we look attentively at the totality of beings we perceive a progressive series of forms expressing a parallel series of qualities and states of consciousness. the portion of this scale we are able to compass extends from the amorphous state[ ]--which represents the minimum of consciousness--up to those organic complexities which have allowed of a terrestrial expression being given to the soul of the saviours of the world. in this glorious hierarchy each step forms so delicate a transition between the one preceding and the one following that on the borders of the different kingdoms it becomes impossible to trace a line of demarcation between different beings; thus one does not know whether such or such a family should be classed among minerals, or vegetables or animals. it is this that science has called the evolutionary series.[ ] the cyclic process of evolution. another fact strikes the observer: the cyclic march of evolution. after action comes reaction; after activity, rest; after winter, summer; after day, night; after inspiration--the breath of life during which universal movement works in a molecular aggregate and there condenses in the form of vitality--expiration--the breath of death, which causes the individualised life to flow back into the ocean of cosmic energy; after the systole, which drives the blood into every part of the body, comes the diastole, which breathes back the vital liquid into the central reservoir; after the waking state comes sleep; life here and life hereafter; the leaves sprout and fall away periodically, with the rising and descending of the sap; annual plants die at the end of the season, persisting in germinal state within a bulb, a rhizome, or a root before coming again to the light; in "metamorphoses," we find that the germ (_the egg_) becomes a larva (_a worm_), and then dies as a chrysalis, to be reborn as a butterfly. ideas also have their successive cycles of glory and decadence; is not the present theosophical movement the renaissance of the neoplatonic movement which brought the light to greece and egypt fifteen hundred years ago? in h. p. blavatsky restored it to life, whilst its previous birth look place in the time of ammonius saccas, the theosophist, in the schools of alexandria. those who have acquired the power to read the cosmic records[ ] will easily recognise amongst the present pioneers of theosophy many a champion who in a former age struggled and fought in the same sublime cause. races are born and grow up, die and are born again; pass through a state of childhood, of youth, of maturity, and of old age. they flourish in all their splendour when the vital movement which animates them is at its height; when it leaves them and passes to other portions of the globe, they gradually fall into old age; then the more developed egos--those incarnated in these races during their maturity--come down into the advanced nations, living on the continents animated by the "life-wave," whilst the less evolved go to form the so-called degenerate races vegetating in obscure parts of the world. look now at the adolescence of russia, the youth of america, the old age of france, and the decrepitude of turkey. look backwards at the glorious egypt of bygone ages; nothing remains but deserts of sand on which imperishable structures still testify to the greatness of her past; the race that witnessed the majesty of the hierophants and the divine dynasties is now inhabiting other lands. continents submit to the same law; history and science show how they pass through a series of immersions and emersions; after lemuria, which bore the third race, came atlantis, the mother of the fourth; europe and america now hold the various branches of the fifth; and later on, when this old land of ours is again sunk beneath the waters, new lands will have emerged from the ocean depths to bear the future race, the sixth. the very planets, too, come under this law; issuing as nebulæ from the great womb of the universe at the beginning of the evolution of a solar system they are absorbed back again when the hour of their dissolution strikes. finally, the very universes go forth from the breast of brahmâ when he out-breathes, and return to him when he in-breathes again. everything, then, in appearance is born and dies. in reality, each thing springs from its germ, makes an effort--the effort of the divine will incarnated in this germ--develops its potentialities up to a certain step in the ladder of evolution, then garners the acquired qualities and again returns to activity in continuous cycles of life until its full development is reached. progress. the observer of nature makes a third discovery. every fresh cycle of life is characterised by an advance on the preceding cycle; every stage brings the end nearer. this represents progress, and it is seen everywhere; when it does not appear, it is because our limited vision cannot pierce its veil. minerals slowly develop in the bowels of the earth, and miners well know when the ore is more or less "ripe,"[ ] and that certain portions, now in a transition stage, will in a certain number of centuries have become pure gold; experiments[ ] have proved that metals are liable to "fatigue" from excessive tension; and that, after a rest, they acquire greater power of resistance than before; magnets "are fed," _i.e._, they increase their power of attraction, by exercise; cultivation improves and sometimes altogether transforms certain species of vegetables; the rapid mental development of domestic animals by contact with man is a striking instance of the heights to which progress may attain when it is aided, whilst the influence of teaching and education on the development of individuals as well as of races is even more striking.[ ] the goal of evolution. _the formation of centres of consciousness that become "egos."_ through innumerable wanderings this general progress traces a clear, unwavering line. those capable of following evolution on the planes of finer matter at once perceive, as it were, wide-spreading centres forming in the sea of divine essence, which is projected by the logos into the universe. as the ages pass, these centres are sub-divided into more restricted centres, into clearer and clearer "blocks" in which consciousness, that is, the faculty of receiving vibrations from without, is gradually developed, and when this consciousness within them reaches its limit, they begin to differentiate from their surroundings, to feel the idea of the "i" spring up within them. from that time, there is added to the power of receiving vibrations consciously, that of generating them voluntarily; no longer are they passive centres, but rather beings that have become capable of receiving and giving freely, individualities recognising and affirming themselves more day by day; "i's," who henceforth regard themselves as separated from the rest of the universe; this stage is that of the heresy of separateness. regarding this heresy, however, one may well say: _felix culpa._ fortunate error, indeed, for it is the condition, _sine quâ non_ of future divinity, of salvation. it is self-consciousness; man is born; man, the centre of evolution, set midway between the divine fragment which is beginning and that which is ending its unfoldment, at the turning point of the arc which leads the most elementary of the various kingdoms of nature to the most divine of hierarchies. this stage is a terrible one, because it is that which represents egoism, _i.e._ combat, the cause of every evil that afflicts the world, but it is a necessary evil, for there can be no _individual_ wisdom, power, and immortality without the formation of an "i." this ego is nothing but the first shoot, or bud, of the individual soul; it is only one of its first faculties; the finest show themselves subsequently. this bud is to blossom into a sweet-smelling flower; love and compassion, devotion, and self-sacrifice will come into manifestation, and the "centre of consciousness," after passing through the primitive stages--often called the elemental kingdoms--after being sheathed in mineral, vegetable, and animal forms, after having thought, reasoned, and willed in human forms and looked upon itself as separated from its fellow-creatures, comes finally to understand that it is only a breath of the spirit, momentarily clad in a frail garment of matter, recognises its oneness with all and everything, passes into the angelic state, is born as christ and so ends as a finished, perfected soul--a world-saviour. such is the goal of life, the wherefore of the universes, the explanation of these startling evolutions of souls in the various worlds, the solution of the problem regarding the diversity in the development of beings, the justification of providence before the blasphemy of the inequality of conditions. a few deductions. _the germ._ from the facts established in the course of this comprehensive view of the universe, we are enabled to draw important deductions. for instance, as the basis of every "cycle of life" is found the egg or germ, that strange microcosm which appears to contain within itself the entire organism from which it proceeds and which seems capable of manifesting it in its entirety. the first embryologic discovery we make as the result of this study--a discovery of the utmost importance--is that germs are one in essence, and are all endowed with the same possibilities and potentialities. the only difference that can be found in them is that the more evolved have acquired the power of developing, in the same cycle, a greater number of links, so to speak, in the chain of forms that proceeds from the atom to the sheath, or envelope, of the gods-men. thus, the highest germ which the microscope enables us to follow--the human ovule--is first a kind of mineral represented by the nucleus (the point, unity) of its germinal cell; then it takes the vegetable form--a radicle, crowned by two cotyledons (duality); afterwards it becomes a fish (multiplicity), which is successively transformed into a batrachian, then a bird, afterwards assuming more and more complex animal forms, until, about the third month of foetal life, it appears in the human form. the process of transformation is more rapid when nature has repeated it a certain number of times; it then represents a more extensive portion of the ladder of evolution, but, be it noted, the process is the same for all, and for all the ladder is composed of the same number of steps; beings start from the same point, follow the same path and halt at the same stages; nothing but their age causes their inequalities. they are more than brothers, they are all representatives of the one, that which is at the root of the universe, divinity, supreme being. we also see that progress, the result of the conservation of qualities, offers us repeated instances of these stages in the reappearance, at each step of the ladder, of the forms preceding it in the natural series. in the course of its evolution, the germ of an animal passes through the mineral and vegetable forms; if the animal is a bird, its final embryological form will be preceded by the animal forms, which, in the evolutionary series, make their appearance before the avian type; if we are dealing with a mammifer, the animal will be the summit of all the lower types; when it is the human germ that we are following in its development, we see that it also has contained within itself and is successively reproducing the potentialities of the whole preceding series. the microscope is able to show only clearly marked stages and the most characteristic types, for evolution runs through its initial stages with a rapidity defying the closest physical observation. if only nature would slacken her pace in order to humour our incapacity, we should see in an even more striking fashion that she preserves everything she has attained and develops the power of reconstruction with ever-increasing rapidity and perfection. true, each cycle of incarnation realises only an infinitesimal fraction of the total progress made, each being advances only one step at a time along this interminable series; but then, are not these minor "cycles" in the course of which brings grow and advance towards the final goal, the visible, material expression, the tangible and indisputable proof of the strict, the inexorable law of rebirths? _what the germ contains._ now let us examine a little more carefully this process of physical germination and attempt to discover an important secret from it; let us see whether the material germ contains the whole being, or whether, as the ancient wisdom teaches, the vehicles of the divine spark in evolution are as numerous as the germs which respectively effect their development and preservation. although here, too, the doctrine of the christian churches is inadequate, we cannot altogether pass it by in silence. we will, therefore, state it, recommending the reader to compare it with the theory of science and the teachings of theosophy. the churches deny evolution. they say: one single body, one single state of development for each human being. for the lower kingdoms a state of nothingness before birth and after death, whatever may have been the fate of these beings during the short life imposed upon them; for man a single body for which god creates a single soul and to which he gives a single incarnation on a single planet,[ ] the earth. it is our ardent wish that the signs of the growing acceptance of the idea of evolution now manifesting themselves in christian teaching may increase, and that the church, whatever be the influence that induces her to take the step, will in the end loyally hold out her hand to science. instead of remaining hostile, the two will then help each other to mount the ladder of truth; and divine life, the light of all sciences, philosophies, and religions, will illumine the dark path they are treading, and guide their steps towards that one truth which is both without and within them. scientific materialism says: yes, everything is born again from its germ--thus is progress made, but that is the limit of my concessions. everything is matter; the soul has no existence. there is evolution of matter, for matter, and by matter. when a form is destroyed, its qualities, like its power of rebirth, are stored away in a latent condition, within the germs it has produced during its period of activity. along with the disappearance of matter, everything disappears--qualities, thoughts, "ego"--and passes into a latent slate within the germ; along with the return of the form, qualities and attributes gradually reappear without any hypothetical soul whatever having any concern in the matter. so long as the form is in its germ stage, the being is nothing more than a mass of potentialities; when fully developed its faculties reappear, but they remain strictly attached to the form, and if the latter changes, the faculties echo the change, so to speak, with the utmost fidelity. matter is the parent of intelligence, the brain manufactures thought, and the heart distills love, just as the liver secretes bile; such is the language of present-day science. this theory accepts the idea of universal injustice in its entirety; we shall shortly prove that, notwithstanding its apparent logic, it explains only one side of evolution, and that if matter is the condition _sine quâ non_ of the manifestation of spirit, it is at least curious that the latter acts so powerfully upon it, and is, beyond the possibility of a doubt, its real master.[ ] modern theosophy, as well as the wisdom of old, says in its turn: spirit is the all, the one being, the only being that exists. force-matter[ ] is nothing but the product of the spirit's activity; in it we find many and divers properties--density, weight, temperature, volume, elasticity, cohesion, &c., because we judge it from our sense perceptions; but in reality, we know it so little, that the greatest thinkers have called it "a state of consciousness," _i.e._, an impression produced by it within ourselves.[ ] it is the result of the will of the supreme spirit, which creates "differences" (forms) in unfathomable homogeneous unity, which is incarnated in them and produces the modifications necessary for the development of its powers, in other words, for the accomplishment of their evolution. as this evolution takes place in the finite--for the infinite can effect its "sacrifice," _i.e._ its incarnation,[ ] only by limiting itself--it is progressive, proceeding from the simple to the complex. each incarnate, divine "fragment"[ ] at first develops the simpler qualities and acquires the higher ones only by degrees; these qualities can appear only by means of a vehicle of matter, just as the colour-producing properties of a ray of light only become manifest with the aid of a prism. form plays the part of the revealer of the qualities latent in the divine germ (the soul); the more complex this form becomes, the more atomic divisions it has in a state of activity; the greater the number of senses it has awake, the greater the number of qualities it expresses. in this process, we see at work, three main factors; _spirit_,[ ] awakening within itself _vibrations_,[ ] which assume _divers appearances_.[ ] these three factors are one; force-matter and form cannot exist without the all-powerful, divine will (spirit), for this is the supreme being, who, by his will, creates force matter, by his intelligence gives it a form, and animates it with his love. force-matter is the blind giant, who, in the sankhya philosophy, carries on his shoulders the lame man who can see--a giant, for it is activity itself; and blind, because this activity is directed only by the intelligent will of the spirit. the latter is lame, because when it has not at its disposal an instrument of form-matter, it cannot act, it cannot appear, it is no longer manifested, having disappeared with the great periodical dissolution of things which the poetical east calls the inbreathing of brahmâ. form--all form--creates a germ which reproduces it. the germ is an aggregate containing, in a very high state of vitalisation, all the atomic types that will enter into the tissues of the form it has to build up. these types serve as centres of attraction for the atoms which are to collect round them when, under the influence of the "vital fire,"[ ] creative activity has been roused in the germ. each atomic type now attracts from the immediate surroundings the atoms that resemble it, the process of segmentation which constitutes germination begins, and the particular tissues represented by the different atomic types are formed; in this way the fibrous, osseous, muscular, nervous, epithelial, and other tissues are reproduced. the creative activity that builds up tissues, if left to itself, could create nothing but formless masses; it must have the help of the intelligence to organise the atoms into molecules, the molecules into tissues, and these again into organs capable of a corporate life as a single organism, supplied with centres of sensation and action. this intelligence cannot proceed from the mind bodies of the various beings, for the latter manifest their qualities only when they possess a fully-developed form--which is not the case with the germs; moreover, the lower kingdoms show nothing but instinct, and even the superior animals possess only a rudimentary form of mentality. the most skilful human anatomist knows nothing more than the eye can teach him regarding the forms he dissects, though even if he were acquainted with their whole structure, he would none the less be quite incapable of creating the simplest sense organ. the form is the expression of cosmic intelligence, of god incarnated in the universe, the soul of the world, which, after creating matter, aggregates it into divers types, to which it assigns a certain duration. the type of the form varies with the stage of development of the being (_the soul_) incarnated therein, for the instrument must be adapted to the artist's capacity; the latter could not use an instrument either too imperfect or too perfect for his degree of skill. what could the rudimentary musician of a savage tribe do if seated before the complex organ of one of our cathedrals; whilst, on the other hand, what kind of harmony could a wagner produce from a shepherd's pipe? the cosmic intelligence would appear to have created a single, radical form-type, which gradually develops and at each step produces an apparently new form, until its series has reached the finished type of evolution. it stops the evolutionary process of each germ at the requisite point in the scale; in the case of the most rudimentary souls it allows a single step to be taken, thus supplying an instrument that possesses the requisite simplicity; the process is continued longer for the more advanced souls, but stops just when the form has become a suitable instrument. when it does not furnish the fecundated germ with the "model" which is to serve as a ground-plan for atomic deposits, segmentation takes place in a formless mass, and in this the tissues are shown without organisation; it is then a môle, a false conception. it is the same cosmic intelligence that derides the period during which the form shall remain in a state of activity in the world. until a soul has learnt the lesson that incarnation in a form must teach it, this form is necessary, and is given to it again and again until the soul has assimilated the experience that form had to supply; when it has nothing more to learn from the form, on returning to incarnation it passes into one that is more complex. the soul learns only by degrees, beginning with the letters of the alphabet of wisdom, and gradually passing to more complex matter; thus the stages of evolution are innumerable and the transition from one to the other imperceptible; modern science states this fact, though without explaining it, when she says that "nature makes no leaps." the building up of forms is effected by numerous beings, forming an uninterrupted chain that descends from the mighty architect, god, to the humblest, tiniest, least conscious of the "builders."[ ] god, the universal spirit, directs evolution, and could accomplish every detail of it directly; but it is necessary, for their own development, that the souls, whatever stage they have reached, should work in the whole of creation, and therein play the part, whether consciously or unconsciously, that they are fitted to play. consequently they are employed at every stage; and, in order to avoid mistakes, their activity is guided by more advanced souls, themselves the agents of higher cosmic entities, right on up to god, the sovereign controller of the hierarchies. consequently there are no mistakes--if, indeed, there are any real ones at all--in nature, except those that are compatible with evolution and of which the results are necessary for the instruction of souls; but the law is continually correcting them in order to restore the balance. such, in general outline, is the reason for the intervention of beings in the evolutionary process. so far as man is concerned, the highest of these beings supply the ideal type of the form which is to give the soul, when reincarnated, the best means of expression; others take charge of these models and entrust them to entities whose sole mission is to keep them before their mental eyes and guide the thousands of "builders" who build round them the atoms which are to form the tabernacle of flesh in its minutest details; these liliputian builders may be seen at work by the inner eye; they are as real as the workmen who construct material edifices in accordance with an architect's plans. that everything may be faithfully reproduced in form the entity that controls the building must not lose sight of the model for a single moment. nor does it do so, generally speaking, for one may say that this being is, as it were, the soul of the model, being one with it and conscious only of the work it has to perform. in many cases, however, it receives certain impressions before birth from the mother's thoughts: an influence capable either of forwarding or hindering its work. the ancient greeks were well acquainted with this fact when they assisted nature to create beautiful forms by placing in the mother's room statues of rare plastic perfection, and removing from her sight every suggestion of ugliness. more than this; certain intense emotions of the pregnant woman are capable of momentarily effacing the image of the model which the builder has to reproduce, and replacing certain of its details with images arising from the mother's imagination. if these images are sufficiently vivid, the being follows them; and if they endure for a certain length of time they are definitely incorporated in the building of the body. in this fashion, many birth marks (_naevi materni_) are produced; strawberries or other fruit, eagerly desired at times when they cannot be procured, have appeared on the child's skin; divers objects that have left a vivid impression on the imagination may have the same effect. the clearness and perfection of the impression depend on the intensity and continuance of the mental image; the part where it is to appear depends on the sense impressions of the mother coinciding with the desire which forms the image--for instance, a spot on the body touched rather sharply at the moment. this has given rise to the idea that the "longing" is impressed on that part of the body which the mother is touching during her desire. when the image is particularly strong and persistent considerable modifications of the body have been obtained; in such cases, children are born with animal-like heads, and treatises on teratology relate the case of a foetus born with the head detached from the trunk, because the mother, after witnessing an execution, had been horribly impressed by the sight of the separated heads of the victims. malebranche, in his _recherche de la vérité_, tells of a child that was born with broken limbs because his mother had seen the torture of the wheel. in this case, the image must have been of enormous vibratory power and of considerable persistence.[ ] a general or even a local arrest of development is almost always due to the phenomenon of mental inhibition experienced by the same being; it definitely ceases to see the plan, evolution stops, and the embryo, expelled before the time takes on the form of the evolutionary stage it had reached at that moment; if it ceases to deal with a single detail only that detail remains in _statu quo_, and is often embedded in portions of the organism quite away from the point where it would have been found had it continued to evolve; certain cysts belong to this class. the third factor, the spirit, the soul--or, to be more exact, the incarnated divine ray--follows a line of evolution parallel to that of the matter which constitutes its form, its instrument; this parallelism is so complete that it has deceived observers insufficiently acquainted with the wonders of evolution. it is thus that scientific materialism has taken root. we will endeavour to set forth the mistake that has been made, and call to mind the correctness of the vedantin symbol, which represents the soul as lame, incapable of acting without the giant, force-matter; though the latter, without the guidance of the former, could not advance along the path of evolution. this soul is a "no-thing," which, in reality, is everything; a ray of the spiritual sun (_god_), a divine spark incarnated in the vibration (_matter_) produced by the supreme being, it is a "centre," capable of all its father's potentialities. these potentialities, which may be grouped together under three general heads--power, love, and wisdom--we may sum up in the one word: consciousness. it is, indeed, a "centre of consciousness" in the germinal state, that is about to blossom forth, realising all its possibilities and becoming a being fully aware of its unity with the being from which it comes and which it will then have become. in this development the vibrations of outer matter play the part of the steel, which, on striking flint, causes the life latent within the latter to dart forth. each vibration which strikes the soul arouses therein a dormant faculty, and when all the vibrations of the universe have touched it, this soul will have developed as many faculties as that universe admits of, until, in the course of successive worlds, it becomes increasingly divine in the one divine being. in order that all the vibrations of which a universe is capable may reach the soul the latter must surround itself with all the different types of atoms that exist in the world, for every vibration is an atomic movement, and the nature of the vibration depends on the quality of the atoms in motion. now, the first part of evolution consists in condensing round vital centres[ ] (_souls_) atoms aggregated in combinations of a progressively increasing density, on to those that make up the physical plane; when the soul has thus clothed itself with the elements of all the planes, the resulting form is called a "microcosm"--a small cosmos--for it contains, in reality, all the elements contained in the universe. during this progressive development, the soul, which thus effects its "fall" into matter, receives from all the planes through which it passes and from all the forms in which it incarnates, varied vibrations which awake within it correspondingly responsive powers and develop a non-centred, diffused, non-individualised consciousness. in the second phase of evolution, the forms are limited, the vibrations they receive are transmitted by specialised sensorial groups, and the soul, hitherto endowed with a diffused consciousness, begins to feel varieties of vibrations that grow ever more numerous, to be distinguished from the surrounding world, to separate itself, so to speak, from everything around; in a word, to develop self-consciousness. this separation first takes place on the physical plane; it is made easier by hard, violent contacts, and the forms, in their turn, become more complex, varied, and specialised in proportion as the soul is the more perfectly individualised. when it has developed all the self-conscious responsive powers in the physical body, it begins to develop those faculties which have as their organs of transmission the finer bodies, and as planes of vibration the invisible worlds. in our planetary system the number of the invisible planes is seven.[ ] each of them in turn supplies the soul with a form; thus, when evolution--which in its second phase successively dematerialises matter, _i.e._, disassociates the atoms from their combinations, beginning with the denser ones--has dissolved the physical plane, the human soul will utilise, as its normal body, a finer one which it is at present using as a link between the mental and the physical bodies. before this dissolution is effected, however, human beings will have developed, to some extent, several finer bodies, already existing, though hitherto not completely organised. the first of these bodies, the astral--a very inappropriate name, though here used because it is so well known--is a copy, more or less, of the physical form in its general aspect; the resemblance and clearness of the features are pronounced in proportion to the intellectual development of the person, for thought-vibration has great influence over the building up of the centres of force and of sensation in this body.[ ] the second is an even finer aggregate, composed of mental substance and assuming, during incarnation, the form of a smaller or larger ovoid--the causal body--surrounding the physical form.[ ] at its centre, and plunged in the astral body during incarnation, is another kind of ovoid not so large and composed of denser substance--the mental body.[ ] above these states of matter, at the present stage there appears no form to the consciousness of human beings, though perfect seers can perceive, within the causal body, still higher grades of matter, which will only subsequently become centres of self-consciousness. during incarnation, the soul, in the majority of men, is clearly conscious of itself and of its surroundings only when it is functioning through the nervous system (the brain); when it leaves the denser body, during sleep, its consciousness is in the astral body, and there it thinks,[ ] but without being conscious of what is taking place around it. after disincarnation, it generally becomes highly conscious in its astral body, where it passes its purgatorial life; and this latter endures until the soul leaves the astral body. as soon as the latter is thrown off, consciousness centres in the mental body; this is the period of _devachan_ or heaven. when the mental body is put off, paradise is at an end, and the soul, sheathed only in the causal body, finds itself on a very lofty plane, but here, consciousness is vague, when we are dealing with a man of average development. instead of laying aside this garment, as so far it has done with the rest, it recommences, after the lapse of a certain time, another descent into the matter of the lower planes and a new incarnation begins. to the centre of the causal body are drawn atoms from the inner mental plane; these represent a new mental body.[ ] when this latter has been formed, there are attracted to it atoms of the astral plane, and these form a new astral body; the soul, clothed in these two sheaths, if one may so express it, is brought into conscious or unconscious relation, according to its degree of development, with the two corresponding planes, lives there generally for a short time, and is directed to a mother's womb, in which is created the visible body of flesh within the centre of its astral body. this force of atomic attraction has its centre in the causal body, a kind of sensitive plate on which are registered all those vibrations which disturb or affect human vehicles during incarnation. this body is, in effect, the present abode of the soul, it represents the terminal point of human consciousness,[ ] the real centre of man.[ ] it receives all the impressions of the plane on which it finds itself, as well as those which come to it from the lower planes, and responds to them the more readily as it has now attained a fuller development. it possesses the power to attract and to repel; a microcosm, it has its outbreathing and inbreathing, as has the macrocosm; like brahmâ, it creates its bodies and destroys them, although in the vast majority of mankind it exercises this power more or less unconsciously and under the irresistible impulsion of the force of evolution--the divine will. when it attracts, it causes to recur within itself the vibrations it has received and registered--like a phonographic roll--during the past incarnations; these vibrations reverberate in the outer world, and certain of them attract from this world[ ]--in this case the mental world--the atoms capable of responding to them. when they have created the mental body, other vibrations can be transmitted through this body to the astral world and attract atoms which will form the body bearing the same name--the astral--and finally other vibrations, making use of these two bodies as a means of transmission, will affect the physical plane and attract atoms which will assist in the building up of the denser body. everywhere the formative power of vibration is guided by cosmic intelligence, but it is effected far more easily in the reconstruction of the higher bodies, that precedes incarnation properly so-called, than in the creation of the now physical body. indeed, in the astral and mental bodies, nothing is produced but an atomic mass, the many elements of which will be aggregated into complete organisms only during incarnation properly so-called, whilst the construction of the visible body admits of a mass of extremely delicate and important details. it is for this reason that we have seen this work of construction entrusted to special beings who prepare, control and watch over it unceasingly. it is because the causal body registers every vibration the personality[ ] has generated or received in the course of its series of incarnations, that the vices and virtues are preserved, as is the case with the faults or the good qualities of the physical body. the man who has created for himself a coarse astral body by feeding the passions and thoughts which specially vivify the coarser matter of this body will on returning to earth find a new astral body composed of the same elements, though then in a dormant state. he who, by the cultivation of a lofty intellect, has built up a refined mental body, will return to incarnation with a like mental body, whilst the one who, by meditation and the practice of devotion which bring into being the noblest qualities of the heart, has set vibrating the purest portions of the causal body and of the divine essence (Âtmâ-buddhi, as it is named in sanskrit), with which it is filled, will return to birth endowed with those qualities which make apostles and saints, the saviours of the world. in other words: matter has more remote boundaries than science recognises; the numberless grades of atoms of which it consists, their powers of aggregation, the multiplicity and duration of the bodies they form, are not even suspected by materialism. materialism sees nothing but the part played by matter; it denies that intelligence plays any part, and will by no means admit--in spite of evolution and progress--that above man there exists an almost endless chain of higher and higher beings, whilst below him are kingdoms of an increasingly restricted range of consciousness. by refusing to believe in the multiplicity of the vehicles which the human soul uses, it is unable to understand individual survival or to solve the problem of heredity. indeed, evolution is only partially explained by the physical germ; the latter, in order to act alone and of itself in the development of the human embryo should possess a degree of intelligence considerably superior to that of man. this is the opposite of what we find, however, and we are brought face to face with the absurd fact of a cause vastly inferior to its effect. indeed, the intelligence shown by the germ is not its own; it is that of the cosmic mind reflected by mighty beings, its willing servants. besides, this germ contains only the qualities that belong to physical matter, and, as we shall show, the moral, mental, and spiritual qualities are preserved by the finer--the causal--body, which represents the real man at the present time. the problem of human heredity. if materialism were the whole truth, it ought to explain the whole of heredity; instead of that it clashes with almost all the problems of life. physical substance offers for analysis none but physical phenomena: attraction, repulsion, heat, electricity, magnetism, vital movement; the anatomical constitution of the highest--the nerve--tissue, presents only the slightest differences in the animal series, if these differences are compared with the enormous distinctions in the qualities it expresses. differences of form, visible to the microscope, are at times important, we shall be told, and those that affect the atomic activity and groupings[ ] are perhaps even more important. that is true, especially in whatever concerns man. intelligence cannot always be explained by the complexity of the brain--though this complexity is the condition of faculty, as a rule--insects such as ants, bees, and spiders, whose brains are nothing but simple nerve ganglia, display prodigies of foresight, architectural ability and social qualities; whilst along with these dwarfs of the animal kingdom, we see giants that manifest only a rudimentary mind, in spite of their large, convoluted brains. among the higher animals, there is not one that could imitate the beaver--which, all the same, is far from being at the head of the animal series--in building for itself a house in a river and storing provisions therein. there is a vast gulf, in the zoological series, before and after these insects, as there is before and after the beaver; whilst an even wider gulf separates the highest specimens of the animal world from man himself. nor do the weight and volume of the brain afford any better explanation of the difference in intellect than does its structural complexity. the weight relations between the brain and the body of different animals have been estimated as follows by debierre (_la moëlle et l' encéphale_):-- rabbit of brain for of body. cat " " fox " " dog " " horse " " if matter were the only condition _sine quâ non_ of intelligence, we should have to admit that the rabbit was more intelligent than the cat, the fox, the dog, and even than the horse. in the same work the following figures express the average size of the brain in different races of men. pariahs of india cubic centimetres. australians " polynesians " ancient egyptians " merovingians " modern parisians " this would prove that the people who built karnac and the pyramids, who raised to an elevation of about feet blocks of granite, one of which would require fifteen horses to drag it along a level road, who placed these enormous stones side by side without mortar or cement of any kind and with almost invisible joints, who possessed the secret of malleable glass and of painting in colours that have not faded even after the lapse of centuries ... that such a race of men were inferior to the rude, uncultured merovingians, and scarcely the equals of the polynesians! science also tells us that in a child five years of age the human brain weighs, on an average, grammes--this, too, would bear no relation whatever with the intellectual and moral development of a child of that age and that of an adult man. though cuvier's brain weighed grammes, and cromwell's , that of tiedemann, the great anatomist, when placed on the scales, weighed no more than , and that of gambetta only . the physical body of itself can give no reason for a host of psychological phenomena on which, however, a flood of light is shed if one recognises the existence of other vehicles of consciousness possessing more far-reaching vibrations, and consequently capable of expressing higher faculties. during sleep, for instance, which is characterised by the ego having left his physical body, reason is absent, and what we call dreams are generally nothing but a tissue of nonsense, at which the dreamer feels astonishment only when returning to his body on awaking. on the other hand, as we have seen in chapter i., when the ego succeeds in imprinting on the brain the vibrations of the higher consciousness, it is able to regain the memory of facts long forgotten and to solve problems that could not be solved during the waking state. there are madmen who have ceased to be mad during somnambulism; persons of rudimentary intelligence have proved themselves to be profound thinkers during the mesmeric trance; when under somnambulism vision is possible to those born blind and certain people can see things that are happening a great distance away, and their reports have been proved correct; certain phenomena of double-consciousness cannot be explained without the plurality--the duality, at all events--of the vehicles of consciousness. to return to the _rôle_ played by the germ in the question of heredity, we repeat that the physical germ, of itself alone, explains only a portion of man; it throws light on the physical side of heredity, but leaves in as great darkness as ever the problem of intellectual and moral faculty. if it represented the whole man, one would expect to find in any individual the qualities manifested in his progenitors or parents--never any other; these qualities could not exceed the amount possessed by the parents, whereas we find criminals from birth in the most respectable families and saints born to parents who are the very scum of society. you may come across twins, _i.e._, beings born from the same germs, under the same conditions of time and environment, one of whom is an angel and the other a demon, though their physical forms closely resemble each other. child prodigies are sufficiently numerous to frequently trouble the thinker with the problem of heredity. whence came that irresistible impulse towards poetry in ovid which showed itself from his earliest youth and in the end overcame the vigorous opposition of his parents? pascal in his youth met with keen opposition from his parents, who forbade him to think of mathematics and geometry. he besought his father to tell him, at all events, "what was that science of which he was forbidden to think, and what it treated of." the answer was given to him that "it is the method of making correct figures and finding out the proportions they bear to each other." with nothing more than this information and the aid of reflection, he discovered for himself the first thirty-two propositions of euclid by means of "circles and lines" traced in secret. mozart, at the age of three, learnt the clavecin by watching his sister play; a year afterwards he composed admirably, at the age of seven he played the violin at first sight without having had any teacher, and proved himself a composer of genius before he reached his twelfth birthday. pepito ariola, the little spaniard, was only three years of age when, about ten years ago, he filled with astonishment the court of madrid by his wonderful playing on the piano. in the lineage of these prodigies has there been found a single ancestor capable of explaining these faculties, as astonishing as they are premature? if to the absence of a cause in their progenitors is added the fact that genius is not hereditary, that mozarts, beethovens, and dantes have left no children stamped from birth as prodigies of genius, we shall be forced to the conclusion that, within the limits it has taken up, materialism is unable to explain heredity. a few more words must be said on physical heredity to explain why moral qualities in men of average development are often on a par with the same in their parents. in reality, the physical germs only multiply the organic elements of the ovule, and as this latter contains the cell-types of all the tissues, it follows that these cell-types will possess the qualities of the tissues that exist in the parents. for instance, germs of sufferers from arterio-sclerosis will supply a vascular apparatus predisposed to arterio-sclerosis; tuberculous subjects will supply germs in which the vital vibrations and cellular solidity will be below the normal, and bring about those degenerate tendencies which characterise the tuberculous subject; those of sanguine constitution will transmit a faculty for vital assimilation and considerable corpuscular production, and so on.[ ] in this transmission there are two main factors: the male and the female germs. the former represents force, it imprints on the ovule the initial vital vibration which is to be that of each of the cells of the organism in course of construction. the function of this germ may be studied more easily in animals, because their heredity is not complicated by the individual differences due to the mental vehicle. the stallion supplies the vital qualities--the blood, _i.e._, the vivacity, _brio_, pace; physical resistance comes from the mare. to sum up, the modalities of matter are supplied by the feminine germ. peculiarities of form proceed from several causes. phrenology and physiognomy are sciences, though the studies hitherto known by these names are almost valueless because they have not been carried on with the necessary scientific precision. doubtless gall and lavater possessed the gift of penetrating both mind and heart, as was also the case with mlle. lenormand desbarolles and the genuine graphologists; but this gift was not the result of mathematical deduction, but rather a psychometric or prophetic faculty; for this reason neither they nor their books have produced pupils worthy of the name. the main features and lines only of the human form have a known meaning--and not always a very precise one--for every physical, passional, mental, or spiritual force possesses an organ of expression in the visible body, and the varieties of form of this organ enable one to judge of the degrees of force they express on the earth plane. on this basis, peculiarities of form mainly stand; and the intensity of certain defects or qualities is at times expressed so strongly that it completely modifies the tendencies it would seem that heredity ought to pass on. the similarity of form between parent and child is not exact, because it proceeds from the peculiarities of the individual in incarnation far more than from the collective tendencies of the embryonic cells in process of proliferation. the being charged with building the body can, in turn, considerably modify its form, copying specially striking features found in the mother's thought; certain characteristic family traits, the bourbon nose, for instance; those belonging to strangers in continual relationship with the mother, and those that a babe, fed and brought up away from home, takes from his nurse or from the surroundings amid which he lives; all these probably leave their impress in the same way. in this case, indeed, the "builder"--who, it must be added, ceases the work of construction only when it is on its way to completion, which happens about the age of seven--is influenced by the forms of the new surroundings, and at times copies them, more or less, and we may ask ourselves if the unexplained fact of negro children being born to a white woman--the widow of a negro--remarried to a white man is in no way connected with the reproduction of a mental image of the coloured children of a former marriage. another fact: observers have noticed that almost all great men have had as their mother a woman of lofty character. this preponderance of the maternal influence will be understood if we remember that the cellular mass that composes the child's body belongs to the mother, not only because this mass originates from the proliferation of the ovule, and, consequently, is only the multiplication of the maternal substance, but also because the materials that have formed it and have been transmuted into flesh have been supplied by her; indeed, everything comes from this cellular mass, the elements drawn from the amniotic fluid and the blood, the milk, which, after birth, continues for long months to build up the child's body and the magnetic fluid, the "atoms of life," which are continually escaping from it and which the babe absorbs whilst receiving incessant attention from his mother. this exchange of atoms is of the utmost importance, for these ultra-microscopic particles are charged with our mental and moral tendencies as well as with the physical qualities; personally, i have had many direct proofs of this, but the most striking came at a critical period of my life. one day, when nervous exhaustion, steadily increased by overwork, had reached an extreme stage, a great being--not a mahatma, but a soul at a very lofty stage of evolution--sent to me by destiny at the time, poured into my shattered body a portion of his physical life. shortly afterwards a real transformation took place, far more of a moral than of a physical nature, and for a few hours i felt myself the "copy" or counterpart of that great soul, and the divine influence lasted twenty-four hours before it gradually died away. i then understood, better than by any other demonstration, the influence of the physical upon the moral nature and the method of the subtle contagion often effected by mesmerism. _a man is known by the friends he keeps_ is an old proverb. if atoms of life can have so marked an influence upon a man nearly forty years of age, _i.e._, at a period when he is in full possession of himself, how much more powerful is this influence when exercised upon the child--a delicate, sensitive body, almost entirely lacking the control of the soul? this is the reason hired nurses often transmit to the child their own physical features and countless moral tendencies which last some time after weaning; orphans, too, morally, often resemble the strangers who have brought them up. like physical tendencies these moral propensities disappear only by degrees, according to change of environment, and especially to the degree in which the body is controlled by the reincarnated soul.[ ] the most important, however, of the moral influences at work on the being again brought into touch with earth-life is connected with the emotions, the passions and thoughts of those around. the child--and under this name must be included the embryo and the foetus--possesses bodies the subtle elements of which are in a dormant state; his mental and sense organisms are scarcely more than masses of substance that have not yet been vitalised--a sort of collection of germs of good or of evil, which will yield fruit when they awake. the passional and mental vibrations of the parents play on the matter capable of responding to them in the invisible bodies of the child; they vivify it, attract atoms of the same nature taken from the finer atmosphere around, and awake in it passional and mental centres which, but for them, might have remained latent, or, at all events, would only have developed at a later stage, when the ego, master of its vehicles, would be in a position to struggle against the outer evil influences and not permit them to have effect save within the limits imposed by will. in this way, it is possible to bring to birth evil instincts in a child, and intensify them to a considerable extent, before a single virtue has succeeded in expressing itself on the new instrument in course of development. this mental action is so strong that it colours vividly, if not altogether, the morality of the little ones living beneath its influence, and even older children are still so sensitive to it that whole classes are seen to reflect the moral character of the teacher who has charge of them. this influence, too, does not cease with childhood, it weighs--though far less heavily--on the man during the whole of his life; and families, nations, nay, even races, each see through the prism of their own special atmosphere. mighty and subtle is this illusion which man, in the course of his pilgrimage towards divine unity, must succeed in piercing and finally entirely dissipating. our responsibility towards children is all the more serious in that, to the deep impression which thought makes on the subtle, plastic, and defenceless mental bodies of the little ones, is added the fact that, could one prevent the development of the germs of evil in the course of one incarnation, these germs, not having fructified, would transmit nothing to the _causal body_ after death, and would disappear[ ] with the disintegration of the matter of which they were composed. consequently, with regard to children especially, we should cultivate none but noble emotions and lofty thoughts, so as to create centres of pure and worthy activity within their vehicles in course of reconstruction, and to turn their early impulses in the direction of good, their first actions towards duty and their first aspirations towards the lofty and luminous heights of spirituality. one may see from this rapid sketch how numerous and important are the influences added to and blended with those of physical heredity. this group of influences, some maleficent, some beneficent, is chosen by the beings who control destiny and give to each ego, on reincarnation, the body and environment it has merited, or rather that are needed, for the harmonious development of its faculties. a young soul[ ] still at the mercy of the animal impulses--necessary impulses at the outset of human development--of its kâmic, _i.e._, desire, vehicle, is sent to parents who will be able to supply its body with material elements of a particular density without which these impulses could not manifest themselves. an ego that is approaching maturity will be drawn to a family that is physically and morally pure, in which it will receive both the finer physical vehicle it needs and that lofty environment which, when it enters upon earth life, will develop the centres of expression for its nobler faculties. those who are named in the mystic phraseology of the east, the "lords of karma," in their choice of the race, the family, and the environment in which the reincarnated soul is to appear, seek to give this latter the most favourable conditions for its evolution. an ego whose artistic side needs to be developed will often be born in a family which will supply it with a nervous system accustomed to the kind of vibrations required, and an environment favourable to the early development of the physical centres of these faculties; to assist a being whose scientific, mystical, or metaphysical side needs to be developed, other environment and parentage will be chosen, and it is this relative parallelism existing between the moral qualities of the parents and those of the children which has deceived observers insufficiently instructed in the mystery of heredity, and made them believe in the influence of the physical germ alone. it is an easy matter to supply an ego of average development with a vehicle; an ordinary body is all that is needed. there may be extreme difficulty, however, when a new instrument has to be found for a lofty soul, and when we think that, in pressing instances when the fortune of humanity is at stake and the hour of destiny has struck, certain great souls accept very imperfect bodies for want of better ones, we shall no longer be astonished at finding that any particular messenger, in his compassion for the humanity he has to enlighten and to direct to the ancient, eternal source of truth, has clothed himself with a body of flesh the ancestry of which was far from being adapted to the expression of his lofty faculties; courageous souls are well able to put on the robe of pain and to submit to slander and calumny when the world's salvation can only be achieved at such a cost. we know scarcely anything of the conditions that control the return to earth of the avataras, the "sons of god," except that sometimes great initiates, after purifying their bodies, voluntarily hand them over to the "gods," who come down to earth--a sublime sacrifice which, like that of the saviours who consent to come amongst us, shows forth that supreme characteristic of divinity; the gift of oneself. nor is heredity always realised; many a physical characteristic is not reproduced; in families tainted with dangerous physiological defects, many children escape the evil, and the diseased tendencies of the tissues remain latent in them, although they often afflict their descendants. on the other hand, as already stated, extremely divergent mental types are often met with in the same family, and many a virtuous parent is torn with grief on seeing the vicious tendencies of his child. here, as elsewhere, the hand of providence, as christianity calls it--the intelligence that brings about evolution, the justice that controls and the love that animates it--the hand of god or of those who, having become divine, collaborate in the divine plan, comes to make up for the imperfection of the vehicles, and they permit only what is necessary to come to each one--only what he has deserved, as is generally said: this hand can create a physical or a psychic malady even where heredity and environment could not supply it, just as it can preserve a pure soul from the moral infection of the surroundings into which it is thrown.[ ] this is the reason we find that heredity and environment either fail to fulfil their promise or else give what was not their's to give. objection. reincarnation is not necessary, it has been alleged; the soul's evolution is continued after death in the invisible worlds in finer bodies; consequently it is needless to return to the denser bodies of earth. in our opinion, the trials of life, so exhausting to the will, must have given rise to this theory, for not only have those who advance it never given the slightest proof of its truth, but it is utterly opposed to the law of evolution. in a world which prefers the flights of imagination to logical reasoning we are too accustomed to regard man as a being apart in nature; we are only too prone to make exceptions on his behalf. the patient scientific researches of all ages have laid down this universally accepted axiom: _nature does not proceed by leaps_. it has not so far entered anyone's mind--we think not at all events--to teach that the development of the mineral, the vegetable, and even of the animal kingdom, comes to a sudden halt on this planet, once the forms in these kingdoms are dispersed, to be completed in finer worlds; but regarding man other thoughts have prevailed, as though his intelligence and his heart had learnt all the lessons this earth is capable of teaching! from the most undeveloped of savages up to those glorious spirits that have been the manu, the buddha, and the christ, we find every step occupied on the long ladder of humanity. in the lower kingdoms all the stages exist also and are utilised, each link receiving something from its neighbours and giving them something in return, thus expressing on the visible plane that gracious unity which is divine love: love that is instinctive and imperative in beings of a low degree of evolution; obeyed by those who, without loving it, understand its good services, and actually lived by such souls as have entered upon the path of sacrifice--souls that comprehend the unity of beings. if this earth has been capable of teaching the saviours of the world, why should divine wisdom send thereon only for one short life this mass of imperfect men, to hurl them afterwards on to other worlds, like careless butterflies flitting from flower to flower? can the evolutionary effort be so easy and simple; is divine energy of such slight value that it can thus be squandered to no purpose; is the process of creation the sport of an infant god; is the logos, sacrificing himself in order to give life to the universe, a prodigal, working without rhyme or reason, sending forth his intelligence and might in aimless sport and leaving evolution at the mercy of his caprice; did not brahmâ, by means of meditation, which, as the oriental scriptures tell us, preceded creation, practise the gentlest, the most rapid, and the easiest method of guiding beings to the goal? is it not sheer blasphemy to attribute such folly to the soul of the world? does not the study of nature, at each step, belie this insensate waste, of which no human being would be guilty? everywhere with the minimum of force, nature produces the maximum of effect; everywhere energy is consolidated with one end in view; and yet, amid the general order around, is the evolution of man to form a solitary, an incomprehensible exception? no, we cannot believe it for a moment. american spiritists,[ ] however--for it is they who have given out this hypothesis--are not in agreement with the school of allan kardec on this fundamental point, and this fact is by no means calculated to strengthen, the authority for this doctrine. did we not know that disincarnate beings are as ignorant in the life beyond as they were on earth; that they tend to group themselves, as they did here below, with those who think as they do, whilst remaining aloof from such as profess hostile opinions; that the hindu remains a hindu, the christian a christian, and the mussulman a mussulman; that sceptics are still sceptics; and atheists, atheists; we should think that spirit "communications" with their incessant contradictions were unparalleled nonsense, since the "spirits" are by no means agreed on the very things regarding which they pretend to pronounce a judgment from which there is no appeal. fortunately, there is a reason for these divergences. death neither lifts the veil of isis nor brings the soul into the presence of omniscient light; man remains what he was, with all his former beliefs, opinions, passions, qualities, sympathies, and antipathies. true, he knows a little more than he did upon earth; no more has he doubts as to the after-life, he regains a precise memory of the whole of his life here, and the recollection of many a forgotten fact comes back to him; he understands better, for his intelligence is being served by a much finer body--but that is all. therefore "spirits" reflect both the morality and the mentality of the nation to which they belonged on earth, and in the other life are to be found friends and enemies, believers and unbelievers, reincarnationists and non-reincarnationists. rebirths can be established only by personal proof, by memory; now, the soul that has entered the life beyond, after disincarnation, has not reached the end of its pilgrimage; it is learning that it must, by self-purification, pass from world to world until it attains to a state of supreme and final rest; but when this latter has been reached, it has lost its lower sheaths and the memory they gave it, and when the law brings it back to earth, it puts on new bodies, which, having had no participation in preceding events, are ignorant of the past. remembrance, we shall see later on, is preserved in the cosmic memory, but until the soul has readied a sufficient development, it cannot summon it forth, and even could it do so, it would succeed in leaving its impress on the brain only when the physical, the astral, and the mental bodies have submitted to a process of purification which harmonises[ ] them and binds them closely together. then only does man know that reincarnation is true, and takes place on earth until this latter passes into a slate of obscuration,[ ] or, at all events, until the development of the soul enables it to utilise for its evolution some environment on the planet, other than the physical one.[ ] we shall be told that we are now proving what we before denied. no, we are simply stating an exception which happens in very few cases and only then to the pioneers of the race--an exception which is nothing but an apparent one and finds its place in the progressive order which unifies all the beings in the planetary chain to which we belong. footnotes: [footnote : each part possesses in a potential state the properties of the whole.] [footnote : the kingdoms that are invisible to physical sight are as interesting as those we see, but we have no occasion to speak of them here. logic compels us to acknowledge them until the time comes when human development enables them to be discovered and affords direct proof of their existence.] [footnote : we do not mean to affirm that evolutionists have not committed serious errors in their theory of development. but the law they have set prominently forth is one of the fundamental expressions of the working of god in the universe.] [footnote : the vibratory impressions that constitute the memory of the universe. see in chapter , the final _objection._] [footnote : see _l'or et la transmutation des métaux_, by tiffereau.] [footnote : such as the one with the magnet which, if too great a weight is suspended to its armature, loses strength, and this it only regains by degrees when "fed" with successively stronger charges. a steel spring that has borne too great a weight loses strength, and may break if subjected anew to the same weight that "fatigued" it. pieces of iron break after being "fatigued" by a weight they easily carried before. professor kennedy made very useful experiments regarding the "fatigue" of metals at the time when metallic bridges were continually breaking, thus causing great perplexity in the engineering world.] [footnote : there has been much discussion as to the causes of evolution. in his _progress and poverty_, henry george endeavours to show that evolution is in no way brought about by individual or collective heredity. he says that the factors of progress are: first, the mind, which causes the advance of civilisation when not exercised solely in the "struggle for life," or in frequent conflicts between nation and nation; second, association or combination, which ensures all the benefits to be derived from division of work; third, justice, which harmonises the units of the social body, and without which civilisation decays and dies. h. george saw only these elements in evolution; consequently, he could neither solve the problem of progress nor explain the rise and fall of empires. indeed, egoism and war are in no way, as he says they are, the sole causes of the fall of races: the soil cannot feed a great nation for an indefinite period even if the country is prevented by emigration from becoming over-populated; the very nature itself of the civilisation of the time prevents it from continuing for ever. modern western races, for instance, have for centuries past been developing energy and intelligence; a limit must be fixed to that particular line of progress, under penalty of destroying equilibrium both in the individual and the race. if, indeed, man is to learn strength and intelligence, he must also develop love, or he will fail. the elder brothers behind evolution control the advance of the races in accordance with the plan of god, whose servants they are. the real cause of evolution does not lie in environment, as h. george and his school would have it: it is in the divine will, incarnate in the universe. it is god who creates the world, god who fills it with life, guides it and permits its development. all the laws of nature are the expression of the supreme intelligence; all progress is nothing but the realisation of the possibilities of the divine will. the evolutionary edifice is based on solidarity, and here environment is undoubtedly an indispensable factor in development; still, it only acts as the field or soil, and soil without seed remains barren. the mind is also a powerful lever in evolution, but it affects only one side of the matter. association or co-operation facilitates only the growth of certain faculties whilst checking the development of others. justice calls forth only certain individual and social forces, and leaves many of them in a state of stagnation. in a word, h. george forgets that there is no useless force in the whole of nature; that they all collaborate in the general task, and finally that there would be no progress, were it not for the existence of opposing forces. if, _e.g._, egoism were non-existent, those still incapable of working without the hope of personal gain would lack a powerful incentive to action. true is the saying that evil is the stepping-stone to good. were the law of rebirths known, it would prove to be an explanation of the problems of evolution.] [footnote : a few theologians have feebly affirmed the possibility of human life on other planets than the earth, but their voices have either been stifled or have met with no echo. at the congress of fribourg, in switzerland, august, , evolution was adopted by an assembly of eminent catholics--laymen and clergy. dr. zahn said that _although creation is possible a priori, it is a posteriori so very improbable that it ought to be rejected; that those who believe in this creation rely upon the literal interpretation of genesis, whilst the contemporary students of the bible affirm that the book is allegorical, that god, in the beginning created the elements and gave them power to evolve in all the forms that characterise the organic and inorganic worlds_. one voice alone was raised in protest, but it was drowned beneath the refutations of the rest. the question, however, might be asked: how is the transition made from one kingdom to another? what is the missing link? who is to interpret the bible if it is an allegorical book? is it the church which has always imposed _the letter_ of the bible and condemned all who have attempted to set forth _its spirit_?] [footnote : in hypnosis, indeed, the thought suggested is strong enough to modify organic life and bring about hematic extravasion (stigmata), burnings, vomiting, etc.... in certain ecstatic cases, fixity of thought produces analogous effects. no one who has studied these questions can have the slightest doubt that mind dominates matter.] [footnote : we say force-matter, for there is no force without matter, they are the two poles of the same thing. moreover, what is considered force in relation to dense matter plays the _rôle_ of matter to subtler forces; electricity, _e.g._, is force-matter, probably capable of serving as a vehicle for subtler force-matter, just as it plays the _rôle_ of force in relation to its conductors. force is born and dies with matter and _vice versâ_; both alike arise from the activity of god.] [footnote : the sensations it calls forth vary with the forms. that which burns us, gives life to other beings; water, which suffocates us, enables fishes to live; whilst air suffocates creatures that live in the water, etc.] [footnote : all this must be taken figuratively. god does not incarnate himself. he is the all. to our limited conceptions, he seems to limit himself, in order to be the life of a universe.] [footnote : here, too, we are speaking relatively; in reality, there are no fragments of the absolute. we describe the process as it seems to us in the world of illusion.] [footnote : being: divinity.] [footnote : force-matter.] [footnote : forms.] [footnote : the movement given to the germ by the union of its positive and negative forces.] [footnote : the "builders" are inferior beings utilised by nature in every process of germination and development. to certain readers, this will perhaps appear to be an aberration of the theosophic imagination, in which case we recommend them to supply us with a better theory and to believe in that, until the time comes when the functioning of the "inner senses" takes place in them, and enables them to perceive these beings in action.] [footnote : teratological phenomena attributable to the imagination of the mother are so numerous that they cannot be refuted. the case mentioned here is taken from van helmont's _de injectis materialibus_. the woman in question had been present at the decapitation of thirteen soldiers, condemned to death by the duc d'alva. in the same work are two other instances which occurred under similar circumstances: in the first, the foetus at birth was lacking a hand; and in the second, it was the whole arm that was missing; whilst, what is perhaps even stranger than this, neither arm, nor hand, nor head were found, they had been absorbed by the body of the mother.] [footnote : to be strictly logical, one should say round the only centre, the one being, but looked upon from the side of manifestation, evolution appears as stated.] [footnote : hellenbach, in his book, _magie der zahlen_, says regarding the number seven. "_the law governing the phenomena on which our knowledge is based decrees that the vibrations of sound and light regularly increase in number, that they are grouped in seven columns, and that the vibratory elements of each column have so close a relation to one another that not only can it be expressed in figures, but it is even confirmed by practice in music and chemistry._ "_the fact that this variation and periodicity are governed by the number seven cannot be disputed; it is not a matter of chance: there is a cause and we ought to discover it._" in his table of the elements grouped according to atomic weight, mendelejef also acknowledges that the number seven controls what he calls the _law of periodical function_. he reaches conclusions similar to those of hellenbach. dr. laycock, in his articles on the _periodicity of vital phenomena_ (_lancet_) , sums up as follows:-- "_it is, i think, impossible to come to any less general conclusion than this, that, in animals, changes occur every - / , , , or days, or at some definite period of weeks._"] [footnote : see _man and his bodies_, by a. besant.] [footnote : the size of the causal body varies according to its development. it has been named _causal_, because it contains within itself the causes or germs of all the other bodies, with the exception of the denser part of the physical. we say denser because the physical body is double: its etheric part belongs to the causal body, its visible part comes from the parents.] [footnote : the mental body, which is, as it were, an ephemeral flower of the causal, is born and developed in each incarnation, disintegrating after the _devachanic_ (heavenly) life.] [footnote : it moves more or less freely on the astral plane, according to the development of the astral body. in men of low development, this body cannot be separated from the physical, under penalty of a nightmare which brings about a waking condition.] [footnote : the atoms interpenetrate in consequence of their differences of tenuity.] [footnote : later on, the centre of consciousness passes from the human to the superhuman state and ascends unceasingly until it reaches the centre of the divinity incarnate in the world.] [footnote : when this centre is fixed in one of the higher bodies, the buddhic for instance, the man has passed into the superhuman stage.] [footnote : as sand, placed on a plate in a state of vibration, assumes varying forms.] [footnote : the soul acting in the mental, the astral, and more especially--in the average man--the physical body. the individuality is the soul acting in the causal body.] [footnote : see the diagram in the chapter on the atom in _the ancient wisdom_, by a. besant.] [footnote : we have seen that the organs formed by these tissues are the special work of a particular being controlled by lofty intelligences.] [footnote : as the building of the body is reaching completion, the ego (the soul) begins to make use of the new instrument. it is at about the age of seven years that the development of the nerve centres becomes sufficiently advanced to allow of the brain receiving the vibrations of the soul; up to this point, the real man has scarcely had any influence upon the body, although the mental projection (the mental body) which he has formed can express itself to a certain extent much earlier, from the seventh month of foetal life; up to this time, the instinctive energies of the astral body alone affect the embryo.] [footnote : in kâmaloka (purgatory). the desires, in purgatory, cannot be satisfied, because there is no physical body to express them, and this causes a state of suffering which has been compared to a burning fire. this fire burns up the passions and leaves behind only the "germs," which the causal body takes up and bequeaths to the future astral body. but for this providential burning away, the passions would exist from early childhood in the future incarnation, _i.e._, at a time when the ego has no hold whatever upon the new personality, and when the latter would be terribly affected by this influx of the forces of evil.] [footnote : souls are of different ages: the savage is not so old as the civilised man, while the latter is the younger brother of those strong and wise souls who compose the vanguard of humanity.] [footnote : it is impossible for heredity and environment to supply _all_ the conditions that a soul's evolution calls for, and _nothing but these conditions_; that is the reason providence intervenes in the interests of justice.] [footnote : it is in this great body, with which we are in sympathy, though we claim the right to dispute their theories when we regard them as erroneous, that this hypothesis is met with more especially. true, certain schools of lower occultism teach it also, but they form a minority, and are of no importance.] [footnote : harmony is established when there is vibratory synchronism of all the states of matter of the different bodies _i.e._, when each slate of matter in a body vibrates in unison with the analogous states of matter of all the other bodies.] [footnote : when the "life wave" has ended its cycle on this earth, it passes in succession over the other planets of our chain and leaves the earth in a state of slumber. this slumber ceases with the return of the "life wave"; it becomes death when the evolution of the chain is accomplished. see a. p. sinnett's _esoteric buddhism._] [footnote : at a certain stage on the _path_, return to earth is no longer obligatory.] chapter iv. reincarnation and the religious and philosophic consensus of the ages. in the rapid review we are now about to make of the religion and philosophy of the past, we shall find that, under many and divers names and veils, the doctrine of rebirths has been taught from the farthest antiquity right up to the present time. there is not a nation that has not preserved clear traces of this doctrine; not a religion that has not taught it, either openly or in secret, or, at all events, retained the germ of the teaching; and if we count only those peoples of whose national religion it forms part, _i.e._, hindus and buddhists, the number of believers in reincarnation may be summed up in round figures at millions of the present population of millions throughout the world. the greatest of philosophers, both ancient and modern, have regarded palingenesis as the basis of life, but whereas in the past the pledge of initiation prevented its details from being promulgated, in our days, along with the flood of light which this cycle has brought us, the veil of secrecy has been partially lifted, and theosophy has been privileged to set forth this glorious teaching in its main outlines and its most important details. india. northern india was the cradle of the present race--the fifth--the eden of our humanity, our physical, moral, mental, and spiritual mother.[ ] from her womb issued the emigrant hordes that peopled europe after spreading over egypt, asia minor, and siberia; it was her code of ethics that civilised chaldæa, greece, rome, and the whole of the east; our own code is full of traces of the laws of manu, whilst both the old and new testament are, in many respects, an abridged and often almost a literal copy of the sacred books of ancient aryavarta. the presence of the doctrine of reincarnation in the vedic hymns has been disputed; this proves nothing more than the present fragmentary condition of the vedas. nothing, indeed, could be more absurd than to find that the sacred scriptures of india had maintained silence on a doctrine which, along with that of karma, form the two main columns of the hindu temple; for the brâhman as well as for the buddhist--who is only a member of a powerful offshoot of hinduism--these two laws rule throughout the whole universe, from the primordial kingdoms up to the gods, including man; and the principal, nay, the only goal of human life is moksha--salvation, in christian terminology--liberation from the chain of rebirths. in this land, in which, along with strict obedience to the rules of conduct set forth by its great teachers, there existed the most complete freedom of opinion, and where the most divergent and numerous philosophic sects consequently developed, there has always been perfect unanimity regarding the doctrine of rebirth, and in that inextricable forest of metaphysical speculations two giant trees have always overtopped the rest: the tree of karma and the tree of reincarnation. in spite of the intentional obscurity in which we are left as to the teachings regarding rebirth from the time of the decadence of india, it is no difficult matter, with the aid of theosophy, to discover its main points. thus we find in them the return of the "life-atoms"[ ] and animal souls[ ] to existence in new physical bodies; the rebirths of the human egos are indicated in their main phases; but here, the deliberate omission of certain points which had long to remain incomprehensible--and consequently dangerous--to the masses, makes obscure, and at times absurd, certain aspects of transmigration. i have heard a great teacher clearly explain these points to some of the most enlightened of the hindu members of the theosophical society, but i do not feel authorised to repeat these explanations, and so will leave this portion of the subject under a veil, which the reader will, with the aid of intuition, be able to lift after reflecting on the following pages. the sages of ancient india, then, teach three distinct phases in the return-to-birth process: resurrection, transmigration or metempsychosis and reincarnation properly so-called. resurrection. the human body is a species of polyp colony, a kind of coral island like those that emerge above the waves of the pacific, by reason of the collective efforts of lower organisms. the most numerous of the compounds of the human aggregate are known to physiology as microbes, bacteria, and bacilli; but amongst them our microscopes discover only comparative monsters, "those that are to the ordinary infinitesimal organisms as the elephant is to the invisible infusorium."[ ] each cell is a complete being; its soul is a vital ray of the general life of our planet; its body consists of molecules that are attracted and then repelled, whilst the cellular soul remains immutable in the ceaseless fluctuations of its corporeal elements. the molecules, too, are animated by a vital soul, connected with the cellular soul, which, in turn, is subordinate to a higher[ ] unit of the collective life of the human body. the most infinitesimal of these beings--often called "lives"--penetrate the body freely; they circulate in the aura[ ] and in each plexus of the organism; there they are subjected to the incessant impact of the moral, menial, and spiritual forces, and become impregnated with a spirit of good or of evil, as the case may be. they enter the cells and leave them with intense rapidity, for their cycles of activity as well as of passivity are being incessantly repeated. we are all the time emanating millions of "lives," which are at once drawn into the different kingdoms of nature to which they carry the energies they have gathered in us; they impress on their new organisms the tendencies we have given them, and in this way become ferments of regeneration or of decay; they aid or retard, pollute or purify, and it is for this reason that it is not a matter of indifference whether one lives in town or country, with men or animals, the temperate or the intemperate, the wicked or the good. the animal gains from association with human beings, man loses from association with animals; the disciples of the great schools of initiation, at a certain stage of their discipline, are carefully isolated from any inferior contact. it is these subtle forces that are at play in the physical accomplishment of an action.[ ] "for material sins," says manu, "one[ ] passes into mineral and vegetable forms." when, at death, the outer sheath of man disintegrates, these "life atoms" are thrown back into the general surroundings of the earth, where they are subjected to the magnetic currents around; these currents either attract or repel them, and thus bring about that wise selection, which directs them to organisms in affinity with them. the doctrine of metempsychosis[ ] is true only for the atoms or emanations sent out by man after death or during the whole course of life. the hidden meaning of the passage from manu, where we read that "he who slays a brâhman enters into the body of a dog, a bear, an ass, a camel, &c.," does not apply to the human ego, but only to the atoms of his body, _i.e._, to the lower triad[ ] and its fluidic emanations, as h. p. blavatsky says, and she adds: "the hîna-yana, the lowest form of transmigration of the buddhist, is as little comprehended as the mahâ-yâna, its highest form, and, because sâkya muni--the buddha--is shown to have once remarked to his bhikkus--buddhist monks--while pointing out to them a broom, that it had formerly been a novice who neglected to sweep out the council room, hence was reborn as a broom,(!) therefore the wisest of all the world's sages stands accused of idiotic superstition. why not try and understand the true meaning of the figurative statement before criticising? is or is not that which is called magnetic effluvia a something, a stuff or a substance, invisible and imponderable though it be?... the mesmeric or magnetic fluid which emanates from man to man, or even from man to what is termed an inanimate object, is far greater. indeed, it is 'life atoms' that a man in a blind passion throws off unconsciously. let any man give way to any intense feeling such as anger, grief, &c., under or near a tree, or in direct contact with a stone, and many thousands of years after that any tolerable psychometrist will see the man and sense his feelings from one single fragment of that tree or stone that he has touched. why then should not a broom, made of a shrub, which grew most likely in the vicinity of the building where the lazy novice lived--a shrub, perhaps, repeatedly touched by him while in a state of anger, provoked by his laziness and distaste of his duty--why should not a quantity of his life atoms have passed into the materials of the future broom, and therein have been recognised by buddha owing to his superhuman (not supernatural) powers?"[ ] such is the meaning of the resurrection of the body, taught in the christian church in a form that is repellent to reason, for it kills the spirit of the doctrine and leaves this latter like a corpse from which the life has gone. metempsychosis. after the disintegration of the body, the kâmic[ ] elements continue for some time, us a "shade"[ ] or a "phantom,"[ ] in the finer and invisible atmosphere;[ ] then they, in turn, become disintegrated by the various forces of this environment,[ ] and are lost in the strata of matter from which they have been taken. like the physical elements (_life-atoms_), they whirl about in their environment and there submit to the same law of attraction and repulsion as that which controls universal selection; they are drawn towards the kâmic elements of men and animals, and it is here that we ought to place the list of those misdeeds, by reason of which these elements pass into bodies of animals or men of inferior development. "a drunken priest becomes a worm," says manu, "a stealer of corn, a rat; the murderer of a brâhman, a dog, a tiger, or a serpent"--and this means that those elements which, in man, serve as a basis for the passions, at death, pass over into the bodies of animals that possess the same passions or experience the same needs. the transmigration of human souls into the bodies of animals is still generally accepted amongst the less intelligent hindus; it has contributed, perhaps more than anything else, to that wonderful respect for life one meets with all over india. the thought that some ancestor or other might happen to be in the body of an animal prevents its destruction; even the sacrifice of his life offered by a man to one of his brothers in the animal world is regarded as a sublime virtue, and legend tells us of the buddha, the lord of compassion, giving himself up as food for a famishing tigress, that she and her cubs might not perish of hunger. reincarnation. the process of disintegration[ ] which, after disincarnation, destroys the physical, astral, and mental bodies of the man leaves the soul--or, to be more exact, the causal body, for the soul is not the causal body any more than it is any of the other human vehicles--intact. indeed, the causal body is at present the only vehicle that resists the cyclic dissolution of the human compound; this it will be subjected to only when the divine spark which constitutes the soul--an eternal spark in its essence, since it is a fragment of god, and immortal as an "ego," once it has attained to individualisation, the goal of evolution--has formed for itself a new and superior body with the substance of the finer planes above the mental; but ages will pass before the masses of mankind reach this point. after thus throwing off, one after the other, all its sheaths, the ego finds that it has ended a "life-cycle," and is preparing to put on new bodies, to return to reincarnation on earth. on reincarnation properly so called, the hindu scriptures are so precise and complete, so generally accepted, than it is unnecessary to quote from them in detail. a few extracts will suffice. these we will take from the _bhagavad gîtâ_, that glorious episode in the mighty civil war which shattered india, and left her defenceless against the successive invaders who were to complete her fall. this great epic poem introduces to us arjuna, a noble prince, about to take part in the strife. the two armies, arrayed for battle, are on the point of engaging, arrows have already begun to pierce the air. in the opposing ranks arjuna sees cherished relatives, dear friends, and revered teachers, whom destiny has placed in hostile array, thus giving to the battle all the horrors of parricide and fratricide. overwhelmed with grief and pity, his heart moved to its inmost depths, arjuna drops his bow on the ground and thus addresses his teacher, the divine krishna: "seeing these my kinsmen arrayed, o krishna, eager to fight, "my limbs fail and my mouth is parched, my body quivers and my hair stands on end. "gândîva (arjuna's bow) slips from my hand, and my skin burns all over; i am not able to stand, and my mind is whirling. "and i see adverse omens, o keshava (hairy one). nor do i foresee advantage by slaying kinsmen in battle. "for i desire not victory, o krishna, nor kingship nor pleasures; what is kingship to us, o govinda (thou who knowest all that is done by our senses and organs), what enjoyment or even life? "those for whose sake we desire kingship, enjoyments, and pleasures, they stand here in battle, abandoning life and riches. "teachers, fathers, sons, as well as grandfathers, mothers' brothers, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law, and other relatives. "these i do not wish to kill, though (myself) slain, o madhusûdana (slayer of madhu, a demon), even for the sake of the kingship of the three worlds (the habitations of men, gods, and semi-divine beings); how then for earth? ... "i will not do battle." the divine krishna then smiled upon his well-beloved disciple, and said to him: "thou grievest for those that should not be grieved for, and speakest words of wisdom (words that sound wise but miss the deeper sense of wisdom). the wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead. "nor at any time verily was i not, nor thou, nor these princes of men, nor verily shall we ever cease to be hereafter. "as the dweller in the body seeketh in the body childhood, youth, and old age, so passeth he on to another body; the well-balanced grieve not thereat.... "these bodies of the embodied one, who is eternal, indestructible, and boundless, are known as finite. therefore fight, o bhârata. "he who regardeth this (the dweller in the body) as a slayer, and he who thinketh it is slain, both of them are ignorant. it slayeth not, nor is it slain.... "who knoweth it indestructible, perpetual, unborn, undiminishing; how can that man slay, o pârtha, or cause to be slain? "as a man casting off worn-out garments, taketh new ones, so the dweller in the body, casting off worn-out bodies, entereth into others that are new. "weapons cleave it not, nor fire burneth it, nor waters wet it, nor wind drieth it away.... "further, looking upon thine own dharma,[ ] thou shouldst not tremble, for there is nothing more welcome to a kshattriya than righteous war." here are other extracts of this wonderful teaching: "many births have been left behind by me and by thee, o arjuna. i know them all, but thou knowest not thine, parantapa." "he who thus knoweth my divine birth and action, in its essence, is not born again, having abandoned the body, but he cometh unto me, o arjuna." "having attained to the worlds of the pure-doing, and having dwelt there for eternal years, he who fell from yoga is reborn in a pure and blessed house.... there he obtaineth the complete yogic wisdom belonging to his former body, and then again laboureth for perfection, o joy of the kurus!" "but the yogî, verily, labouring with assiduity, purified from sin, fully perfected through manifold births, he treadeth the supreme path.... he who cometh unto me, o kaunteya, verily he knoweth birth no more." the daily life of hindu and buddhist is so entirely based on reincarnation and on its foundation, the law of causality, that this faith gives them patience in the present and hope for the future; for it teaches that man, every moment he lives, is subject to the circumstances he has created, and that, though bound by the past, he is yet master of the future. why cannot we, in this troubled europe of ours, accept this belief as the solution of the distressing problem of the inequality of conditions, for to the weak in rebellion against oppression it would come as a soothing balm, whilst the strong would find in it a stimulus to devoted pity such as wealth owes to poverty and happiness to misfortune? herein lies the solution of the whole social problem. egypt. if we pass from india to egypt, the land of mystery, we again find the world-wide doctrine of palingenesis hidden beneath the same veil. according to egyptian teaching, the theory of the "fall of the angels" was accepted; the fallen angels were human souls[ ] who had to become reincarnated till they reached a state of purification; fallen into the flesh, subjected to its vicissitudes and passions, these souls had to evolve, in successive rebirths, until they had developed all their faculties, obtained complete control over the lower nature, and won back their original purity; then this latter would no longer be the unconscious purity of youthful innocence, but the conscious purity of mature age, _i.e._, of the soul that has known both good and evil in the course of its experiences, has overcome the serpent of matter, the tempter, and voluntarily chosen the life of virtue. the "judgment" of the after-life is determined by the degree of purity that has been attained; if insufficient, the soul returns to earth, there to inhabit a human, an animal, or a vegetable form, in accordance with its merits or demerits. these lines prove that egyptian teaching has come down to us, covered with gross dross and slag, as it were, which must be subjected to careful sifting; when this is done, we see that it also sets forth the transmigrations to which the elements of the various vehicles are subjected,[ ] the physical ternary[ ] rises from the dead, the animal man[ ] transmigrates; and man, properly so-called,[ ] reincarnates, but the details of these processes have been so confused in such fragments of egyptian palingenesis as we possess that it is no easy matter to find the traces of this classification. for instance. herodotus tells us: "the egyptians were the first to hold the opinion that the soul of man is immortal and that when the body dies it enters into the form of an animal which is born at the moment, thence, passing on from one animal into another until it has circled through the forms of all the creatures which tenant the earth, the water, and the air, after which it enters again into a human form and is born anew. the whole period of the transmigration is (they say) three thousand years."[ ] this passage evidently refers to the resurrection of the "life atoms." h. p. blavatsky, in the _theosophist_, vol. , pages , , confirms this in the following words: "we are taught that for years, at least, the 'mummy,' notwithstanding all the chemical preparations, goes on throwing off to the last invisible atoms, which, from the hour of death, re-entering the various vortices of being, go indeed 'through every variety of organised life forms.' but it is not the soul, the fifth,[ ] least of all, the sixth[ ] principle, but the life atoms of the jiva,[ ] the second principle. at the end of the three thousand years, sometimes more, sometimes less, after endless transmigrations, all these atoms are once more drawn together, and are made to form the new outer clothing or the body of the same monad (the real soul) which they had already been clothed with two or three thousands of years before. even in the worst case, that of the annihilation of the conscious personal principle,[ ] the monad, or individual soul,[ ] is ever the same, as are also the atoms of the lower principles,[ ] which, regenerated and renewed in this ever-flowing river of being, are magnetically drawn together owing to their affinity and are once more reincarnated together...." certain authors have stated that belief in resurrection was the origin of embalming, because it was thought that after three thousand years the soul returned to the same body, that it immediately rose again, when the body had been preserved, whereas if such had not been the case, it entered wherever it could, sometimes even into the body of a lower creature. herodotus, however, says that after the cycle of three thousand years the soul enters a new body, not the mummified one,[ ] and this would lead one to imagine that there were other reasons for the process of embalming. indeed, it became general only during the decline of egypt; at the beginning, it was reserved for the hierophants alone, with the object of allowing their physical molecular elements to pass into the still coarse bodies of the masses and help forward ordinary souls by the powerful influence of the magnetic potency with which they were charged. it is also for this reason that the body of a yogî, in india, is interred, whilst in the case of other men cremation is the rule. on the other hand, among the multitude of beliefs left in egypt by degenerate traditions, there were found some which hinted, more or less clearly, at occult truths, and which might have perpetuated or generalised this practice. it was supposed, according to servius, that the transmigrations[ ] began only when the magnetic bond between the soul and its remains had been broken by the complete disintegration of the corpse; consequently they did all in their power to preserve this latter. this belief may readily be connected with theosophic teaching which says that the affinity existing between the visible corpse and the soul clad in its kâmic (astral) body, the animal soul in kâmaloka (purgatory), is capable, in certain cases, of detaining this soul on earth, after its disincarnation, and thus delaying, for a longer or shorter period, the disintegration of the elements of the passional body. it is these elements, not the soul, that pass over into animal bodies, and, contrary to the opinions set forth in egyptian exotericism, it is to the interest of the soul to free itself from terrestrial attraction and from its kâmic (astral) vehicle, and not to remain bound down to earth. consequently, embalming was a mistaken action, the result of an error of doctrine, or at all events of teachings that were incomplete, imperfectly transmitted, and misunderstood. egypt multiplied her symbols of palingenesis. resurrection--in the sense of re-birth in general--was symbolised by the toad which then became the goddess hiquet. this animal was chosen because it lives in air and in water,[ ] because it can remain imprisoned a very great number of years without either air or food[ ] and afterwards come back to life. g. maspero, in his _guide du visiteur au musée de boulac_, tells us that the early christians in egypt had adopted this symbolism, and that the lamps in their churches were formed in the shape of a toad, and bore the inscription, "i am the resurrection," in the greek language. this goddess-toad may still be seen in the museum of boulac. the scarabeus, or beetle,[ ] symbolised the "personality," the expansion of the mental substance, projected, so to speak, by the higher mental body, at each incarnation, into the new kâmic (astral) body; a certain number of them were always deposited with the mummies, and the beetle was represented standing on an ear of corn, a symbol of the attainments acquired during the past earth life. indeed, the development of the ego is effected by that of the personality it sends on to the earth each incarnation; it is the new mental body which controls the new astral and physical bodies of each incarnation, and which is, in very truth, the flower and the fruit of the labour of life. sacred egyptology tells us that the scarabeus requires to be "osirified," united to its "living soul," or ego, which sent it forth. i will now give the reason for this emanation. when, after disincarnation, the purgatorial life begins, the ego endeavours to throw off the kâmic (astral) body, to pass into the higher world--the mental plane--which is its home, there to enjoy the delights of heaven. thereupon a veritable battle begins. on the one hand, the ego endeavours to withdraw the mental body, which, at the beginning of the incarnation, it sent into the kâmic body, and to take it to itself; on the other hand, the passional body[ ]--which instinctively feels its life bound to that of the mental element, which gives it its strength, vital activity, and personal characteristics--tries to keep back this centre of individual life, and generally succeeds in doing so up to a certain point. when desire, during incarnation, has regularly gained the victory over the will, the passional body, or kâma, maintains the supremacy beyond the grave, and the ego, in endeavouring to rescue its mental projection from the kâmic bonds, yields up a more or less considerable fragment thereof, and this fragment is restored to liberty only when the passional body of the deceased has become disintegrated by the forces of the astral world. this has been called the _fire_ of purgatory. on the other hand, when the ego, during life, has always refused the appeals of the lower nature, it easily withdraws, after death, from the net of passion, the substance it has infused therein, and passes with this substance into that part of the mental plane which is called "heaven." such is the struggle that egypt committed to her annals when she inscribed upon papyrus or engraved upon stone the journeyings of the soul into the world of shades. the soul--the mental personality--which demands "osirification," and invokes the ego, its god and projector, beseeching him to draw it to himself that it may live with him, is the lower "i." this "i" has not exhausted the "desire to live" on earth; its desire is impressed on the germs it has left in the causal body, and brings the ego back to incarnation; this is the reason it prays and desires the resurrection[ ] of its "living soul," the ego. denon, in his _journeyings in egypt_, has made known to us the sha-en (the book of metamorphoses), written in hieratic signs and republished in berlin, by brugsch, in the year . explicit mention is here made of reincarnations, and it is stated that they are very numerous. the third part of the _book of the dead_ sets forth a detailed account of the resurrection of an osiris; the identification of the departed one with osiris, god of light, and his sharing in the life, deeds, and power of the god; in a word, it is the final reintegration of the human soul with god. the loftiest and most suggestive of egyptian palingenetic symbols is unquestionably that of the egg. the deceased is "resplendent in the egg in the land of mysteries." in kircher's _oedipus egyptiacus_[ ] we have an egg--the ego freed from its vehicles--floating over the mummy; this is the symbol of hope and the promise of a new birth to the soul, after gestation in the egg of immortality.[ ] the "winged globe," so widely known in egypt, is egg-shaped, and has the same meaning; its wings indicate its divine nature and prevent it from being confused with the physical germ. "easter eggs" which are offered in spring, at the rebirth of nature, commemorate this ancient symbol of eternal life in its successive phases of disincarnation and rebirth. chaldÆa. it is said that the magi taught the immortality of the soul and its reincarnations, but that they considerably limited the number of these latter, in the belief that purification was effected after a restricted number of existences on the soul returning to its heavenly abode. unfortunately we know nothing definite on this special point in chaldæan teaching, for some of the most important sources of information were destroyed when the library of persepolis was burnt by the macedonian vandal, alexander the great, whilst eusebius--whom bunsen criticises so harshly[ ]--made such great alterations in the manuscripts of berosus, that we have nothing to proceed upon beyond a few disfigured fragments.[ ] and yet chaldæism comprises a great mass of teachings; he whom we know as "the divine zoroaster" had been preceded by twelve others, and esoteric doctrine was as well known in chaldæa as in egypt. the descendants of the chaldæans--fire-worshippers, mazdeans, magi, parsees--according to the names they received at different periods--have preserved the main points of palingenetic instruction up to the present, and, from time to time, have set them forth in the most charming style of oriental poetry. book of the great persian poem, _masnavi i ma'navi_, deals with evolution and its corollary, reincarnation, stating that there is one way of remembering past existences, and that is by attaining to spiritual illumination, which is the crown of human evolution and brings the soul to the threshold of divinity. "if your purified soul succeeds in escaping from the sea of ignorance, it will see, with eyes now opened, 'the beginning' and 'the end.' man first appeared in the order of inorganic things; next, he passed therefrom into that of plants, for years he lived as one of the plants, remembering naught of his inorganic state, so different from this, and when he passed from the vegetable to the animal state he had no remembrance of his state as a plant.... again the great creator, as you know, drew man out of the animal into the human state. thus man passed from one order of nature to another, till he became wise and intelligent and strong as he is now. of his first soul he has now no remembrance, and he will be again changed from his present soul. in order to escape from his present soul, full of lusts, he must rise to a thousand higher degrees of intelligence. "though man fell asleep and forgot his previous states, yet god will not leave him in this self-forgetfulness; and then he will laugh at his own former state, saying: 'what mattered my experiences when asleep, when i had forgotten the real state of things, and knew not that the grief and ills i experienced were the effect of sleep and illusion and fancy?'" these lines are concise, but they sum up the whole of evolution, and render it unnecessary to quote at greater length from chaldæan tradition on this point. still, those who desire other passages relating to the same doctrine may find them in the "desatir."[ ] the celts. sacerdotal india--and perhaps also atlantis--in early times sent pioneers into the west to spread religious teachings amongst their energetic inhabitants; those who settled in gaul and the british isles were the druids. "i am a serpent, a druid," they said. this sentence proves that they were priests, and also the atlantæan or indian origin of their doctrines; for the serpent was the symbol of initiation in the sacred mysteries of india, as also on the continent of atlantis. we know little of their teaching, which was entirely oral, though it covered so much ground that, according to cæsar, not less than thirty years of study were needed to become a druid. the roman conquest dispersed them by degrees; then it was that their disciples, the bards, committed to writing more or less imperfect and mutilated fragments of the teachings of their masters. their "triads"[ ] are undoubtedly akin to hindu teachings; evolution results from the manifestation of the absolute, it culminates in man, who possesses a maximum of individualisation, and terminates in the personal, conscious union of the beings thus created with the ineffable all. the absolute is "ceugant"; manifestation, or the universe, is "abred"; the divine state of freed souls is in "gwynvyd"; these are in the three circles.[ ] in "ceugant" there is only the unknowable, the rootless root. souls are born and develop in "abred," passing into the different kingdoms; "amwn" is the state through which beings pass only once, which means that the "i," when once gained, continues for ever. "gwynvyd" is the world of perfect and liberated souls, eternal heaven, great nirvâna. during this long pilgrimage, the monad--the divine fragment in a state of incarnation--undergoes an endless number of rebirths, in myriads of bodies. "i have been a viper in the lake," said taliesin, the bard[ ]; "a spotted adder on the mountain, a star, a priest. this was long, long ago; since then, i have slept in a hundred worlds, revolved in a hundred circles." it was their faith in rebirth that gave the gauls their indomitable courage and extraordinary contempt of death: "one of their principal teachings," said cæsar,[ ] "is that the soul does not die, but passes at death into another body--and this they regard as very favourable for the encouragement of valour and for inculcating scorn of death." up to a few years ago, belief in the return of the soul to earth was still prevalent in those parts of brittany in which civilisation had not yet exercised its sceptical, materialising influence; there even existed druids--probably degenerate ones--in great britain and france; in the saône-et-loire district, they seem to have been called the "adepts of the white religion"[ ]; both in them and in their ancestors, belief in rebirth remained unshakable. ancient greece (_magna græcia_). in greece, the doctrine of rebirths is met with in the orphic tradition, continued by pythagoras and plato. up to the present time, this tradition has probably found its best interpreter in mr. g. r. s. mead, an eminent theosophist and a scholar of the first rank. we recommend our readers to study his _orpheus_, if they desire a detailed account of this tradition. its origins are lost in antiquity, only a few obscure shreds remaining; pherecydes, however,[ ] when speaking of the immortality of the soul, refers to the doctrine of rebirths; it is also presented very clearly by both pythagoras and plato. according to the pythagorean teaching, the human soul emanates from the soul of the world, thus affirming, at the outset, the divine nature of the former. it teaches subsequently that this soul assumes successive bodies until it has fully evolved and completed the "cycle of necessity."[ ] pythagoras, according to diogenes of laertius,[ ] was the first in greece to teach the doctrine of the return of souls to earth. he gave his disciples various details of his past lives; he appears to have been the initiate oethalides, in the times of the argonauts; then, almost immediately afterwards, euphorbus, who was slain by menelaus at the siege of troy; again he was hermotimus of clazomenæ, who, in the temple of juno at argos,[ ] recognised the shield he was carrying when his body was slain as euphorbus, and which menelaus had given as an offering to the goddess[ ]; at a later date he was pyrrhus, a fisherman of delos, and, finally, pythagoras. in all likelihood this genealogy is not correct in every detail, it comes to us from the disciples of the sage of samos, who were not very trustworthy in their reports. empedocles, one of the early disciples of pythagoras, said that he inhabited a female body in his preceding existence. saint clement of alexandria quotes a few lines of his, in which we find the philosopher of agrigentum teaching the general evolution of forms. "i, too, have been a boy, a maiden, a star, a bird, a mute fish in the depths of the sea." iarchas, the brâhman chieftain, said to the great apollonius: "in bygone ages thou wert ganga, the famous monarch, and, at a later date, captain of an egyptian vessel."[ ] the emperor julian said that he had been alexander the great.[ ] proclus affirmed that he had been nichomachus the pythagorean.[ ] the works of plato are full of the idea of rebirth, and if the scattered fragments of the teaching are gathered together and illumined with the torch of theosophy, a very satisfactory _ensemble_ will be the result. souls are older than bodies, he says in _phædo_; they are ever being born again from _hades_ and returning to life on earth; each man has his daimon,[ ] who follows him throughout his existences, and at death takes him to the lower world[ ] for judgment.[ ] many souls enter acheron,[ ] and, after a longer or shorter period, return to earth to be incarnated in new bodies. unpardonable sins fling the soul into tartarus.[ ] "know that if you become worse you will go to the worse souls, or if better to the better, and in every succession of life and death you will do and suffer what like may fitly suffer at the hands of like...."[ ] according to plato, the period between two incarnations is about a thousand years.[ ] man has reminiscences of his past lives that are more or less distinct; they are manifested rather by an intuitive impression than by a definite memory, but they form part of the individual,[ ] and at times influence him strongly. "innate ideas" are only one aspect of memory, often it is impossible to explain them by heredity, education, or environment; they are attainments of the past, the store which the soul takes with it through its incarnations, which it adds to during each sojourn in heaven. there can be no doubt that plato would appear to have taught metempsychosis, _i.e._, the possibility of a human soul passing into the body of an animal: "men who have followed after gluttony and wantonness and drunkenness, and have had no thought of avoiding them, would pass into asses and animals of that sort. and those who have chosen the portion of injustice and tyranny and violence will pass into wolves or hawks or kites, and there is no difficulty in assigning to all of them places according to their several natures and propensities."[ ] under the heading of _neoplatonism_, we shall show that, beneath these coarse symbols, plato concealed truths which it was then necessary to keep profoundly secret; which, even nowadays, it is not permitted to reveal to all. old testament. h. p. blavatsky tells us that the _old testament_ is not a homogeneous composition; that _genesis_ alone is of immense antiquity; that it is prior to the time when the libra of the zodiac was invented by the greeks, for it has been noticed that the chapters containing the genealogies have been touched up so as to adapt them to the new zodiac, and this is the reason that the rabbis who compiled them twice repeated the names of enoch and lamech in the cain list. the other parts seem to be of a comparatively recent date and to have been completed about b.c. the first part of the _book of god_--as the scriptures were then called--was written by hilkiah, jointly with the prophetess huldah; this disappeared at a later date, and ezra had to begin a new one which was finished by judas maccabæus. this was recopied some time after, with the object of changing the pointed letters into square ones, and in this way was quite disfigured. the masoretes ended by mutilating it completely. the result is that the text we now possess is one not more than nine hundred years old, bristling with premeditated omissions, interpolations, and perverted interpretations.[ ] by the side of this initial difficulty we find another, quite as important. almost every page of the _old testament_ contains veiled meanings and allegories, as is frankly confessed by the rabbis themselves. "we ought not to take literally that which is written in the story of the creation, nor entertain the same ideas of it as are held by the vulgar. if it were otherwise, our ancient sages would not have taken so much pains to conceal the sense, and to keep before the eyes of the uninstructed the veil of allegory which conceals the truth it contains...."[ ] does not saint paul, speaking of the hidden meaning of the bible, say that agar is mount sinai?[ ] origen and saint augustine are of the opinion that the _old testament_ must be regarded as symbolical, as otherwise it would be immoral; the jewish law forbade anyone to read it who had not attained the age of thirty years; fénelon would have liked it to be thrust away in the recesses of the most secret libraries; the cardinal de noailles says that origen, so full of zeal on behalf of the holy scriptures, would not allow anyone to read the _old testament_, unless he were firmly anchored in the practice of a virtuous life; he affirms too that saint basilius, in a letter to chilon, the monk, stated that the reading of it often had a harmful influence; for the same reasons, the _index expurgatorius_ forbids the publication of the bible in the vulgar tongue, and orders that no one be allowed to read it without the written permission of his confessor.[ ] a third difficulty arises from the fact that the old testament--its dead "letter" and its commandments, at all events--is no longer suitable to our own race. it was intended for a nation that was composed of young souls, at a low stage of evolution, for whom nothing more than the rudiments of instruction were necessary, and on whom stern rules of morality, suitable for advanced souls, ought not to be imposed. this is why divorce,[ ] polygamy,[ ] slavery,[ ] retaliation, _lex talionis_,[ ] the blood of sacrifice[ ] are instituted; it is the reason god is represented as a being to be dreaded, punishing those who do not obey him, wicked, jealous, bloodthirsty.[ ] bossuet understood all this when he said that the primitive hebrew race was not sufficiently advanced to have the immortality of the soul taught to it. this, too, is the only explanation we can find for the sensual materialism of _ecclesiastes_.[ ] consequently one need not be astonished to find that the old testament nowhere deals--directly, at all events--with the doctrine of rebirth. all the same, here and there we come across a few passages that point in this direction. for instance, we read in _genesis_, chapter , regarding the birth of jacob and esau: "and the children (of rebecca) struggled together within her. "and the lord said unto her: two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels, and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. "and when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold there were twins in her womb." this passage has been the occasion of lengthy commentaries on the part of certain fathers of the church--more especially of origen. indeed, either we must acknowledge divine injustice, creating, without any cause, two hostile brothers, one of whom must submit to the rule of the other, and who begin to strive together even before birth, or we must hark back to the pre-existence of the human soul and to a past karma which had created inequality in condition. david begins the ninetieth _psalm_ with a verse which only a belief in reincarnation can explain: "lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations...." the dwelling-place of the soul, at death, is in heaven, whence it returns to earth when the hour of rebirth has struck; thus, in all generations, that is, from life to life, "the lord is our dwelling-place." in chapter of the _book of wisdom_, solomon says in more explicit language: "for i was a witty child, and had a good spirit, yea, rather, being good, i came into a body undefiled." this clearly points to the pre-existence of the soul and the close relation that exists between the conditions of its rebirth and the merits or demerits of its past. verse of the first chapter of _jeremiah_ is similar to verse of the twenty-fifth chapter of _genesis_: "before i formed thee in the belly i knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb i sanctified thee, and i ordained thee a prophet unto the nations...." it is the deeds done in the past lives of jeremiah that accompany him on his return to earth; god could not, in an arbitrary fashion, have conferred on him the gift of prophecy had he not acquired it by his efforts in a past life; unless, here too, we altogether abandon reason and go back to a capricious or unjust--consequently altogether impossible--god. the kabala. contact with the babylonians, during the captivity, brought about a rapid development in the hebrews, who were at that time far more advanced souls than those that animated the bodies of their fathers,[ ] and taught them many important details of religious instruction. it was then that they learned the doctrine of rebirth and that the kabala came into being.[ ] in it the cycle of rebirths is called gil'gool'em[ ] or the "revolving of the incorporeal" in search of the "promised land." this promised land, the christian paradise, or buddhist nirvâna, was symbolised by palestine; the soul in its pilgrimage was brought to this abode of bliss,[ ] and, according to the allegory, "the bodies of hebrews buried in a foreign land contained an animistic principle which only found rest when, by the 'revolving of the incorporeal,' the immortal fragment had returned to the promised land."[ ] there are other aspects from which this "revolution of souls" may be regarded. certain kabalists speak of it as a kind of purgatory in which, by means of this "revolving," the purging of the soul is brought about before it enters paradise. in this connection, h. p. blavatsky states that in the language of the initiates the words "soul" (_âme_) and "atom" were synonyms, and were frequently used for each other. she says that the "revolution of souls" was in reality only the revolving of the atoms of the bodies which are continually transmigrating from one body to another throughout the various kingdoms of nature. from this point of view, it would seem that "gil'gool'em" is more especially the cycle of atomic transmigration: _resurrection_. the doctrine of the reincarnation of the human soul, however, is clearly set forth in the _zohar_: "all souls are subjected to the tests of transmigration; men know not the designs of the most high with regard to them; they know not how they are being at all times judged, both before coming into this world and when they leave it; they have no knowledge of the mysterious transformations and sufferings they must undergo, or how numerous are the spirits who coming; into this world never return to the palace of their divine king; they are ignorant of the revolutions to which they are subjected, revolutions similar to those of a stone when it is being hurled from a sling. and now the time has come when the veil shall be removed from all these mysteries.... souls must in the end be plunged back into the substance from which they came. but before this happens, they must have developed all the perfections the germs of which are implanted within them; if these conditions are not realised in one existence, they must be born again until they reach the stage that makes possible their absorption in god."[ ] according to the kabala, incarnations take place at long intervals; souls completely forget their past, and, far from being a punishment, rebirth is a blessing which enables men to develop and to attain to their final goal. the essenes taught reincarnation and the immortality of the soul. ernst von bunsen,[ ] speaking of this sect, says: "another marked peculiarity of the doctrine of the essenes was the doctrine concerning the pre-existence of souls. they exist originally in the purest ether, which is their celestial home. by a natural attraction they are drawn towards the earth and are enclosed in human bodies, as in a prison. the death of the body causes the return of the soul to its heavenly abode. the essenes can, therefore, not have believed in the resurrection of the body, but of the soul only, or, as paul says, of the 'spiritual body.' this is positively asserted by josephus."[ ] rome. although rome, above all else, was a warlike republic, and religion principally a state cult, that allowed but slight opportunity for the outer expression of spirituality, none the less did it inherit the beliefs of egypt, greece, and persia; the bacchic mysteries, previous to their degradation, were a copy of the orphic and eleusinian mysteries. in the reign of pompey, mithraism, a cult borrowed from persia, was spread throughout the empire. consequently, we need not be surprised at finding the doctrine of rebirth mentioned by the great latin writers. we will quote only from virgil and ovid. in the speech addressed by anchises to Æneas, his son, the trojan prince deals with the life beyond death, the tortures endured by souls in expiation of their misdeeds, their purification, their passing into tartarus,[ ] into the elysian fields,[ ] then their return to earth after having drunk of the river of forgetfulness. in book vi. of the _Æneid_, we find Æneas visiting the lower regions: "after having for a thousand years turned the wheel (of existence), these souls come forth in a mighty troop to the lethean stream to which god calls them that they may lose the memory of the past, see the higher regions,[ ] and begin to wish to return into bodies." ovid, in his _metamorphoses_ also deals with the teaching of pythagoras, his master, on the subject of palingenesis: "then death, so-called, is but old matter drest in some new figure, and a varied vest; thus all things are but alter'd, nothing dies, and here and there th' embodied spirit flies, by time, or force, or sickness dispossest, and lodges, when it lights, in man or beast. th' immortal soul flies out in empty space to seek her fortune in some other place." new testament. the _new testament_ is far more explicit than the _old_, even though we find the teachings of reincarnation indicated in only a vague, indirect fashion. all the same, it must not be forgotten that the canonical gospels have suffered numerous suppressions and interpolations. on the other hand, there can be no doubt that the early fathers of the church made use of gospels that are now either lost or have become apocryphal.[ ] it has been proved that neither jesus nor his disciples wrote a single word, and that no version of the gospels appeared earlier than the second century.[ ] it was at that time that religious quarrels gave birth to hundreds of gospels, the writers of which signed them with the name of an apostle or even with that of jesus, after forging them in more or less intelligent fashion. celsus, jortin, gibbons, and others have shown that christianity is directly descended from paganism; it was by combining the doctrines of egypt, persia, and greece with the teachings of jesus that the christian doctrine was built up. celsus silenced all the christian doctors of his time by supplying evidence of this plagiarism; origen, the most learned doctor of the age, was his opponent, but he was no more fortunate than the rest, and celsus came off victorious. thereupon recourse was had to the methods usual in those days; his books were burnt. and yet it is evident that the author of the _revelation_ was a kabalist; and the writer of the _gospel of saint john_ a gnostic or a neoplatonist. the _gospel of nicodemus_ is scarcely more than a copy of the _descent of hercules into the infernal regions_; the _epistle to the corinthians_ is a distinct reminiscence of the initiatory mysteries of eleusis; and the roman ritual, according to h. p. blavatsky, is the reproduction of the kabalistic ritual. one gospel only was authentic, the secret or hebrew _gospel of matthew_, which was used by the nazareans, and at a later date by saint justin and the ebionites. it contained the esoterism of the one-religion, and saint jerome, who found this gospel in the library of cæsarea about the end of the fourth century, says that he "received permission to translate it from the nazareans of beroea." these considerations prove that interested and narrow-minded writers selected from the mass of existing traditions whatever seemed to them of a nature to support their spiritual views as well as their material interests, and that they constructed therefrom not only what has come down to us as the four canonical gospels, but also the whole edifice of christian dogma. consequently, we need not be surprised to find in the _new testament_ only unimportant fragments dealing with reincarnation; but even these are not to be despised, for they prove that the doctrine was, to a certain extent at all events, known and accepted in palestine. _reincarnation in the gospels._ _saint mark_, chapter . v. . and king herod heard of him; and he said, that john the baptist was risen from the dead.... v. . others said, that it is elias; and others said, that it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets. v. . but when herod heard thereof, he said, it is john whom i beheaded; he is risen from the dead. _saint matthew_, chapter . v. . at that time, herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of jesus. v. . and said unto his servants, this is john the baptist; he is risen from the dead.... _saint luke_, chapter . v. . now herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him; and he was perplexed because it was said of some that john was risen from the dead. v. . and of some, that elias had appeared; and of others, that one of the old prophets was risen again. v. . but herod said, john have i beheaded; but who is this of whom i hear such things? the account here given proves that the people as well as herod believed in reincarnation, and that it applied, at all events, "to the prophets" and to those like them. _saint matthew_, chapter . v. . when jesus came into the coasts of cæsarea philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, whom do men say that i, the son of man, am? v. . and they said, some say that thou art john the baptist; some, elias; and others, jeremias, or one of the prophets. the same account is given in _saint luke_, chapter , verses , . _saint matthew_, chapter . v. . but i say unto you, that elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. likewise shall also the son of man suffer of them. v. . then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of john the baptist. he continued in _saint matthew_, chapter . v. . jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning john, what went ye out into the wilderness to see? a reed shaken with the wind? v. . but what went ye out for to see? a man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. v. . but what went ye out for to see? a prophet? yea, i say unto you, and more than a prophet. v. . and if ye will receive it, this is elias which was for to come. here we have a distinct declaration: reincarnation is a fact; john is the rebirth of elias.[ ] judging from these texts, one might be tempted to think that reincarnation was confined to the prophets or to people of importance, but saint john shows us that the jews, though perhaps ignorant that it was a law of universal application, recognised, at any rate, that it might happen in the case of any man. _saint john_, chapter . v. . and as jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. v. . and his disciples asked him, saying: master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? v. . jesus answered, neither hath this man sinned nor his parents; but that the works of god should be made manifest in him. here we are dealing with a man _blind from birth_, and the jews ask jesus if he was blind because he sinned; this clearly indicates that they were referring to sins committed in the course of a former existence[ ]; the thought is, therefore, quite a natural, straightforward one, referring to something well known to everyone and needing no explanation. as one well acquainted with this doctrine of rebirth, without combating it as an error or as something doubtful which his disciples ought not to believe, jesus simply replies: "neither hath this man sinned nor his parents; but that the works of god should be made manifest in him." and yet it appears as though this answer must have been distorted, as so many others have been, otherwise it would mean that the only reason for this man's blindness was the caprice of the deity. _reincarnation in the apocalypse._ the _apocalypse_, an esoteric book _par excellence_, confirms the doctrine of reincarnation, and throws considerable light on it: "him that overcometh will i make a pillar in the temple of my god, and he shall go no more out...."[ ] in another verse it is stated that to him who overcometh "i will give the morning star."[ ] in the language of theosophy, this means: he who has overcome the animal soul, shall, by mystic communion, be united to the divine soul, which, in the _apocalypse_, is the symbol of the christ: "i, jesus, am the bright and morning star."[ ] another verse clearly characterises the nature and the cost of victory: "to him that overcometh will i give to eat of the hidden manna, and i will give him a _white stone_, and in the stone a new _name_ written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it."[ ] the hidden manna is the ambrosia of the greeks, the _kyteon_ of the mysteries of eleusis, the _soma_ of the hindus, the eucharist of the christians, the sacred drink offered to the disciples at initiation, which had the moon as its symbol, conferred the gift of divine clairvoyance and separated the soul from the body. the "white stone" is none other than the _alba petra_, the white cornelian, the chalcedony, or stone of initiation. it was given to the candidate who had successfully passed through all the preliminary tests.[ ] the "word" written on the stone is the _sacred word_, the "lost word" which swedenborg said was to be sought for amongst the hierophants of tartary and tibet, whom theosophists call the masters. "he who overcometh" is, therefore, the disciple ready for initiation; it is of him that "a pillar in the temple of god" will be made. in esoteric language, the column signifies man redeemed, made divine and free, who is no longer to revolve on the wheel of rebirths, who "shall no more go out," as the _apocalypse_ says, _i.e._, shall not again leave heaven. if we examine the text of both _old_ and _new testament_ by the light of esoteric teaching, the dead letter, often absurd and at tunes repellent and immoral, would receive unexpected illumination, and would fully justify the words of the great rabbi, maimonides, quoted a few pages back.[ ] origen, the most learned of the fathers of the church, adds in his turn: "if we had to limit ourselves to the letter, and understand after the fashion of the jews or the people, what is written in the law, i should be ashamed to proclaim aloud that it was god who gave us such laws; i should find more dignity and reason in human laws, as, for instance, in those of athens, rome, or sparta...." (_homil . in levit._) saint jerome, in his _epistle to paulinus_, continues in similar fashion: "listen, brother, learn the path you must follow in studying the holy scriptures. everything you read in the divine books is shining and light-giving without, but far sweeter is the heart thereof. he who would eat the nut must first break the shell." it is because they have lost the spirit of their scriptures that the christians--ever since their separation from the gnostics--have offered the world nothing more than the outer shell of the world religion. neoplatonism. the great philosophic body that formed a bridge, as it were, between the old world and the new was the famous school of alexandria, founded about the second century of our era by ammonius saccas and closed in the year a.d. through the intolerance of justinian. theosophical in its origin, this school had received from plato the esoteric teaching of egypt and the east, and the dogma of rebirth was secretly taught in its entirety, though its meaning may have been travestied by the ignorance of the masses to whom only the grosser aspects of the teaching were given. "it is a dogma recognised throughout antiquity," says plotinus,[ ] "that the soul expiates its sins in the darkness of the infernal regions, and that afterwards it passes into new bodies, there to undergo new trials." "when we have gone astray in multiplicity,[ ] we are first punished by our wandering away from the path, and afterwards by less favourable conditions, when we take on new bodies."[ ] "the gods are ever looking down upon us in this world, no reproach we bring against them can be justifiable, for their providence is never-ending; they allot to each individual his appropriate destiny, one that is in harmony with his past conduct, in conformity with his successive existences."[ ] the following is a quotation from the same philosopher, dealing with metempsychosis, and which, when compared with the foregoing sentences, appears strangely absurd. we make no comment here, as this obscure question will be dealt with a few pages farther on. "those who have exercised human faculties are reborn as men; those who have lived only the life of the senses pass into animals' bodies, especially into the bodies of wild beasts if they have given way to excesses of anger ... those who have sought only to satisfy their lust and gluttony, pass into the bodies of lascivious and gluttonous animals ... those who have allowed their senses to become atrophied, are sent to vegetate in trees ... those who have reigned tyranically become eagles, if they have no other vice."[ ] porphyry says: "the souls that are not destined for the tortures of hell (_tartarus_), and those that have passed through this expiation, are born again, and divine justice gives them a new body, in accordance with their merits and demerits."[ ] the following remarkable lines are from iamblichus: "what appears to us to be an accurate definition of justice does not also appear to be so to the gods. for we, looking at that which is most brief, direct our attention to things present, and to this momentary life, and the manner in which it subsists. but the powers that are superior to us know the whole life of the soul, and all its former lives; and, in consequence of this, if they inflict a certain punishment in obedience to the entreaties of those that invoke them, they do not inflict it without justice, but looking at the offences committed by souls in former lives: which men, not perceiving, think that they unjustly fall into the calamities which they suffer."[ ] proclus gave out the same teaching; he affirmed that he had been incarnated in nichomachus, the pythagorean. in his commentary on the _golden verses of pythagoras_, hierocles expresses himself thus: "the ways of the lord can be justified only by metempsychosis."[ ] damascius and hermias, as also their masters, proclaimed their belief in rebirth. here a short explanation must be given of what has been said regarding transmigration or metempsychosis, in order that all misunderstanding may be removed. neither pythagoras nor plotinus nor any of the great teachers of the past believed in metempsychosis, as it has been described; all their disciples have affirmed if, and these affirmations, set over against a line of teaching which seems to contradict them, because it is incomplete and intended for the less intelligent portion of society at that time, ought to have reminded its opponents that there might be hidden reasons capable of explaining the paradox. we must first remember that a veil of strictest secrecy was flung over the noblest and most sublime spiritual teachings of the day. according to bossuet, the teaching of the immortality of the soul seems not to have been deemed suitable for the hebrew race, and, indeed, it is easy to understand that no double-edged truth should be taught except under conditions that would safeguard it. ptolemy philadelphus exiled hegesias,[ ] whose eloquent fanaticism had caused some of his disciples to commit suicide, at cyrene, after a lesson on immortality. ptolemy ordered those schools of philosophy to be closed which continued teaching this doctrine, for in the case of a people insufficiently developed, the instinct which binds to physical life, and the dread of the torture that awaits guilty souls in the hereafter, are preferable to doctrines of immortality deprived of the safeguards with which they should be surrounded. the doctrine of rebirths called for even stricter secrecy than that of immortality, and this secrecy was accorded it in ancient times; after the coming of the christ, it grew less rigorous, and the neoplatonists, though obliged to keep the esoteric teaching to themselves, were permitted to throw light on certain points. timæus of locris, one of the masters of plotinus, hinted at the existence of a more profound doctrine in the following words: "just as by the threat of punishment imperfectly evolved souls are prevented from sinning, so the transmigration of the souls of murderers into the bodies of wild beasts, and of the souls of unchaste persons into the bodies of swine, was taught; and the previous punishment of these souls in the infernal regions was entrusted to nemesis (karma)." certain modern commentators--though imperfectly instructed in the teachings of palingenesis--have also seen that the masters of philosophy in the past could not possibly have made a mistake which less far-seeing minds would have avoided. dacier[ ] says: "a sure token that pythagoras never held the opinion attributed to him lies in the fact that there is not the faintest trace of it in the symbols we have left of him, or in the precepts his disciple, lysis, collected together and handed down as a summary of the master's teachings." jules simon also speaks as follows regarding plotinus:[ ] "here we have the doctrine of metempsychosis which plotinus found all around, among the egyptians, the jews, the neoplatonists, his predecessors, and finally in plato himself. does plato take metempsychosis seriously, as one would be tempted to believe after reading the _republic_? did he mention it only to ridicule the superstitions of his contemporaries, as seems evident from the _timæus_?[ ] "however important plato may have considered metempsychosis, it can scarcely be imagined that plotinus took it seriously.... even granting that this doctrine were literally accepted by plotinus, the question would still have to be asked whether the human soul really does dwell in the body of an animal, or simply enters a human body, which, in its passions and vices, recalls the nature of that particular animal." the reasons mentioned by dacier and jules simon form only a trifling portion of the whole explanation, but if they are added to the constant protests raised by the disciples of the masters of the pythagorean and platonic traditions, against those who said that their instructors taught metempsychosis in all its crudeness, they assume considerable importance, and show that, although the restrictions of esoteric teaching travestied by the ignorance of the masses may have caused it to be believed that the contrary was the case, none the less the initiates, from the very beginning, denied that human transmigration into the bodies of animals ever took place. on this question many of them have frequently said that it is the soul which, in such cases, changes its nature, and assumes the passions of animals into which, as is said exoterically, it transmigrates, though it does not enter into their bodies. "he who believes that he transmigrates, after death, into the body of a beast or a plant," says hierocles,[ ] "is grossly mistaken; he is ignorant of the fact that the essential form of the soul cannot change, that it is and it remains human, and only, metaphorically speaking, does virtue make of it a god, and vice an animal." "a human soul," adds hermes, "cannot go back into the body of an animal; it is preserved from such pollution, for all time, by the will of the gods."[ ] mrs. besant says as follows in a letter dealing with theosophy and reincarnation (_the theosophist_, april, ): "even with the wealth of detail given in the hindu shâstras, thousands of facts of the invisible world are omitted, because their statement would hopelessly bewilder the public mind. "if all the details are given, ere the main principles are grasped, hopeless confusion is caused to the beginner. "when an ego, a human soul, by vicious appetite or otherwise, forms a very strong link of attachment to any type of animal, the astral body (kâmarûpa) of such a person shows the corresponding animal characteristics, and in the astral world, where thoughts and passions are visible as forms, may take the animal shapes; thus, after death, in _pretaloka_, the soul would be embodied in an animal vesture, resembling or approximating to the animal whose qualities had been encouraged during earth-life. either at this stage, or when the soul is returning towards reincarnation, and is again in the astral world, it may, in extreme cases, be linked by magnetic affinity to the astral body of the animal it has approached in character, and will then, through the animal's astral body, be chained as a prisoner to that animal's physical body. thus chained, it cannot go onwards to _svarga_, if the tie be set up while it is a _preta_; nor go onwards to human birth, if it be descending towards physical life. it is truly undergoing penal servitude, chained to an animal; it is conscious in the astral world, has its human faculties, but it cannot control the brute body with which it is connected, nor express itself through that body on the physical plane. the animal organisation does not possess the mechanism needed by the human ego for self-expression; it can serve as a jailor, not as a vehicle. further, the "animal soul" is not ejected, but is the proper tenant and controller of its own body. s'rî shankarâchârya hints very clearly at the difference between this penal imprisonment and becoming a stone, a tree, or an animal. such an imprisonment is not "reincarnation," ... the human ego "cannot reincarnate as an animal," cannot "become an animal." "in cases where the ego is not degraded enough for absolute imprisonment, but in which the astral body has become very animal, it may pass on normally to human re-birth, but the animal characteristic will be largely reproduced in the physical body--as witness the "monsters" who in face are sometimes repulsively animal, pig-faced, dog-faced, &c. men, by yielding to the most bestial vices, entail on themselves penalties more terrible than they, for the most part, realise; for nature's laws work on unbrokenly and bring to every man the harvest of the seed he sows. the suffering entailed on the conscious human entity, thus cut off from progress and from self-expression, is very great, and is, of course, reformatory in its action; it is somewhat similar to that endured by other egos, who are linked to bodies human in form, but without normal brains--those we call idiots, lunatics, &c. idiocy and lunacy are the results of vices different in kind from those that bring about the animal servitude above explained, but the ego in these cases also is attached to a form through which he cannot express himself." "true reason," says proclus,[ ] "affirms that the human soul may at times find lodgment in brutes, but that it is possible for it to live its own life and rise above the lower nature whilst bound to it by the similarity of its tendencies and desires. we have never meant anything else, as has often been proved by the reasoning in our commentaries on _phædrus_." there is a note in the _vâhan_[ ] on a passage from _phædrus_ which sheds all the light that can be shed on the question of metempsychosis; in the space of a few lines everything is said that may be publicly revealed, without trespassing on forbidden ground. after stating that, on returning from the internal regions, the soul passes into the "life" of a beast, and that if it were human previously, it afterwards goes into another human body, the note continues: "we must not understand by this that the soul of a man becomes the soul of a brute, but that by way of punishment it is bound to the soul of a brute, or carried in it, just as dæmons used to reside in our souls. hence all the energies of the rational soul are absolutely impeded, and its intellectual eye beholds nothing but the dark and tumultuous phantasms of a brutal life."[ ] this passage contains the explanation of what might be called the metempsychosis of certain human souls at the present time; we once heard a great teacher fully reveal this mystery to a chosen group of hindus, but it must for some time to come remain a mystery to the western world. all that can be said on the matter is that it has nothing to do with the incarnation of a human soul in the body of an animal, but rather with a certain temporary karmic bond, in the life hereafter, between a human soul and an animal one, a bond intended to teach many a hard lesson to the one who has brought upon himself so unpleasant an experience. metempsychosis included many other facts in human evolution, facts that were plainly taught to the disciples in the "inner circles" of the ancient schools and passed out to the confused medley of public teaching. the astral body, for instance, of a man of an exceedingly passionate nature, when the soul leaves the physical body, sometimes assumes forms resembling those of the animals which represent these passions on the physical plane, and so the disincarnate soul of an assassin has been said to pass into the body of a wild beast. metempsychosis, properly so-called, that is to say, the passing of a human soul into the body of a brute, did however exist during the infancy of the human race, when highly developed animal souls were becoming fit to enter the human kingdom. the bodies of these newly-born human souls were coarse and rudimentary in their nature, showing scarcely any difference in form and organic function from the bodies of the higher animals of that period, for these instruments were very similar to one another. the improvements subsequently effected by human bodies did not then exist; the difference, or distinction, which has now widened into a gulf, was scarcely perceptible, and in the early incarnations of these rudimentary human souls back-slidings and falls were so frequent that some of them, thus enfeebled, might find it to their advantage[ ] to become incarnate, at times, in highly-developed animal bodies. but that was always an exception, and the exception has long ago become an impossibility. we think these explanations, along with those given in other portions of this work, will throw as much light as is permitted publicly on the subject of metempsychosis--a subject frequently discussed and one that has hitherto been so obscure. such illumination as is here given is due to the teachings of theosophy. the early christian church. the documents to which we have access, dealing with the philosophical and religious history of christianity in the first few centuries of our era, are so questionable, that we can place but faint reliance upon them, if we would really become acquainted with the thought of that period. we have already seen that the number of spurious or counterfeit productions was so great that a strange kind of sorting out, or selection, took place at the first council of nicæa, resulting in the choice of four so-called canonical gospels. it is evident, too, that the copyists, compilers, and translators of the period were anxious, above all else, to make facts and opinions agree with their preconceived ideas and personal sympathies or likings. each author worked _pro domo sua_, emphasising whatever fitted in with his personal views and carefully concealing what was calculated to weaken them; so that at the present time the only clues we have to guide us out of the labyrinth consist of the brief opinions expressed by a few historians, here and there, on whose honesty reliance may be placed. in the present chapter, for instance, it is no easy matter to unravel the truth from out of these tangled threads of personal opinions. some believe that the early christians and the fathers of the church were reincarnationists; others say they were not; the texts, we are in possession of, contradict one another. thus, whereas saint jerome brings against origen the reproach of having in his book _de principiis_ taught that, in certain cases, the transmigration of human souls into the bodies of animals, was possible--as, indeed, seems to be the case--certain writers deny that he ever said anything on the subject. these contradictory affirmations are easy to explain, once we know that ruffinus, when translating into latin the greek text of _de principiis_, omitted all that referred to this question, that the conspiracy of silence might be preserved on the matter of origenian transmigration. at the close of his article "_origen on reincarnation_," in the _theosophical review_, february, , g. r. s. mead says: "it therefore follows that those who have claimed origen as a believer in reincarnation--and many have done so, confounding reincarnation with pre-existence--have been mistaken. origen himself answers in no uncertain tones, and stigmatises the belief as a false doctrine, utterly opposed to scripture and the teaching of the church." others affirm that saint justin martyr believed in rebirths and even in the transmigration of human souls into animal bodies. in his book _against heresies_, volume , chapter , the _absurdity of the doctrine of the transmigration of souls_ is dealt with; and in the following chapter, the pre-existence of the soul is denied! is this another instance, like the one just mentioned, of tampering with the writings of this father of the church?[ ] at times an author gives two contradictory opinions on the same subject. in tertullian's _apology for the christians_, for instance, we find the following: "if you can find it reasonable to believe the transmigration of human souls from body to body, why should you think it incredible for the soul to return to the substance it first inhabited?[ ] for this is our notion of a resurrection, to be that again after death which we were before, for according to the pythagorean doctrine these souls now are not the same they were, because they cannot be what they were not without ceasing to be what they were.... i think it of more consequence to establish this doctrine of the resurrection; and we propose it as more consonant with reason and the dignity of human nature to believe that man will be remade man, each person the person he was, a human being a human being; in other words, that the soul shall be habited with the same qualities it was invested with in its former union, though the man may receive some alteration in his form.... the light which daily departs rises again with its original splendour, and darkness succeeds by equal turns; the stars which leave the world, revive; the seasons, when they have finished their course, renew it again; the fruits are consumed and bloom afresh; and that which we sow is not quickened except it die, and by that dissolution rises more fruitful. thus you see how all things are renewed by corruption and reformed by dying.... how, then, could you imagine that man, the lord of all these dying and reviving things, should himself die for ever?" after such a clear and noble profession of faith, we may well wonder if it were the same man who, in _de anima_, could have both refuted and pitilessly ridiculed the idea of rebirth, and denied the separation of the soul from the body as well as the influence of the former upon the latter. we prefer to believe that we are dealing with two writers, or else that some literary forger, anxious to create a diversion, deliberately made tertullian responsible for this strange contradiction. another reason for the difficulty in unravelling the tangled skein of the religious and philosophical teachings prevalent in the early centuries of christianity is the lack of precision in the language of the writers, the loss of the key to the special vocabulary they used, and the veils which writers who possessed some degree of initiation, deliberately threw over teachings which could only be given to the masses in general terms. there is one very important point to consider; and this is that in the earlier centuries, outside the circles of initiation, there was not that precision which the present-day teaching of theosophy has given to the doctrine of reincarnation; this latter, in the mind of the people, became confused with the doctrine of pre-existence, which affirms that the soul exists before coming into the present body, and will exist in other bodies after leaving this one. this confusion has continued up to the present time, and we find schools of spiritualism in england and america, as well as in other countries, teaching that existence on earth has been preceded and will be followed by a great number of existences on the invisible planes. in reality, this is the doctrine of rebirths, though there is nothing precise about the teaching. whether the soul has a single physical body, or takes several in succession, it is none the less continually evolving as it passes into material vehicles, however subtle the matter be; the difference is, therefore, insignificant, unless we wish to enter into details of the process involved, as was the case in the west in the early centuries of christianity. did the fathers of the church teach pre-existence? there can be no doubt on this point. in a letter to st. anastasius, rufinus said that "this belief was common amongst the early christian fathers." arnobius[ ] shows his sympathy with this teaching, and adds that st. clement, of alexandria, "wrote wonderful accounts of metempsychosis"; and afterwards, in other passages of the same book, he appears to criticise the idea of the plurality of lives. st. jerome affirms that "the doctrine of transmigration has been secretly taught from ancient times to small numbers of people, as a traditional truth which was not to be divulged."[ ] a. franck quotes this passage on page of his _kabbale_; huet, too, gives it in _origeniana_.[ ] the same father proves himself to be a believer in pre-existence, in his th _letter to avitus_, where he agrees with origen on the subject of the interpretation of a passage from st. paul,[ ] and says that this means "that a divine abode and true repose are to be found in heaven," and "that there dwell creatures endowed with reason in a state of bliss, before coming down to our visible world, before they fall into the grosser bodies of earth...." lactantius, whom st. jerome called the christian cicero, though he opposed pagan doctrines, maintained that the soul was capable of immortality and of bodily survival only on the hypothesis that it existed before the body.[ ] nemesius, bishop of emissa in syria, stoutly affirmed the doctrine of pre-existence, declaring that every greek who believed in immortality believed also in the pre-existence of the soul. st. augustine said: "did i not live in another body, or somewhere else, before entering my mother's womb?"[ ] in his _treatise, on dreams_, synesius states that "philosophy assures us that our past lives are a direct preparation for future lives...." when invited by the citizens of ptolemais to become their bishop, he at once refused, saying that "he cherished certain opinions of which they might not approve, as, after mature reflection, they had struck deep root in his mind. foremost among these, he mentioned the doctrine of pre-existence." dr. henry more, the famous platonist of the seventeenth century, quotes synesius as one of the masters who taught this doctrine,[ ] and beausobre reports a typical phrase of his,[ ] "father, grant that my soul may merge into light and be no more thrust back into the illusion of earth." st. gregory of nysa says it is absolutely necessary that the soul should be healed and purified, and if this does not take place during its life on earth, it must be accomplished in future lives. st. clement of alexandria says that, although man was created after other beings, "the human species is more ancient than all these things."[ ] in his _exhortations to the pagans_, he adds: "we were in being long before the foundation of the world; we existed in the eye of god, for it is our destiny to live in him. we are the reasonable creatures of the divine word; therefore, we have existed from the beginning, for in the beginning was the word.... not for the first time does he show pity on us in out wanderings. he pitied us from the very beginning." he also adds:[ ] "philolaus, the pythagorean, taught that the soul was flung into the body as a punishment for the misdeeds it had committed, and his opinion was confirmed by the most ancient of the prophets." as regards reincarnation, _i.e._, the descent of the human soul into successive physical bodies, and even its temporary association with the physical bodies of animals, more than one christian writer advocated this teaching. chalcidius, quoted by beausobre in the book just mentioned, says: "the souls, that are not able to unite with god, are destined to return to life until they repent of their misdeeds." in the _pistis sophia_, a christian treatise on the mysteries of the divine hierarchies and the evolution of souls in the three worlds, we find the doctrine of rebirth frequently mentioned: "if he is a man who (after passing out of his body)[ ] shall have come to the end of his cycles of transmigrations, without repenting, ... he is cast into outer darkness." a few pages earlier, in the same work, we find: "the disincarnate soul which has not solved the mystery of the breaking of the bonds and of the seals is brought before the virgin of light, who, after judging it, hands it over to her agents (_receivers_), who carry it into a new body." let us now see what origen says on the matter[ ]: "celsus, then, is altogether ignorant of the purpose of our writings, and it is therefore upon his own acceptation of them that he casts discredit and not upon their real meaning; whereas if he had reflected on what is appropriate[ ] to a soul which is to enjoy an everlasting life, and on the idea which we are to form of its essence and principles, he would not so have ridiculed the entrance of the immortal into a mortal body, which took place, not according to the metempsychosis of plato, but agreeably to another and higher order of things." the teaching of origen is not easy to set forth clearly, for he is very reticent about many things, and employs a language to which present-day philosophy cannot always find the key; still, the teaching seems full and complete. it comprises pre-existence and even those special associations of certain human souls with animal souls, which we have just spoken of and which form one of the chief mysteries of metempsychosis. in the following words he explains the existence of souls in previous worlds: "the soul has neither beginning nor end.... "rational creatures existed undoubtedly from the very beginning in those (ages) which are invisible and eternal. and if this is so, then there has been a descent from a higher to a lower condition on the part not only of those souls who have deserved the change, by the variety of their movements, but also on that of those who, in order to serve the whole world, were brought down from those higher and invisible spheres to these lower and visible ones, although against their will. 'for the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope' (_rom._, chap. , v. ); so that both sun and moon and stars and angels might discharge their duly to the world, and to those souls who, on account of their excessive mental defects, stood in need of bodies of a grosser and more solid nature; and for the sake of those for whom this arrangement was necessary, this visible world was also called into being. "this arrangement of things, then, which god afterwards appointed not being understood by some, who failed to perceive that it was owing to preceding causes originating in free will, that this variety of arrangement had been instituted by god, they have concluded that all things in this world are directed either by fortuitous movements or by a necessary fate, and that nothing is in the power of our own will."[ ] "is it not rational that souls should be introduced into bodies, in accordance with their merits and previous deeds, and that those who have used their bodies in doing the utmost possible good should have a right to bodies endowed with qualities superior to the bodies of others?"[ ] all souls will arrive at the same goal;[ ] it is the will of souls that makes of them angels, men or demons, and their fall can be of such a nature that they may be chained down to the bodies of animals.[ ] certain souls, on attaining to perfect peace, return to new worlds; some remain faithful, others degenerate to such a degree that they become demons.[ ] concerning bodies, he says: "the soul, which is immaterial and invisible in its nature, exists in no material place, without having a body suited to the nature of that place; accordingly, it at one time puts off one body which was necessary before, but which is no longer adequate in its changed state, and it exchanges it for a second."[ ] although _metensomatosis_ (re-embodiment of the soul), _i.e._, the true teaching of origen, was not clearly expounded, it considerably influenced the early christian philosophers, and was favourably received up to the time of its condemnation by the synod of constantinople. it appeared in most of the sects of that time and in those of the following centuries: simonians, basilidians, valentinians, marcionites, gnostics, manichæans, priscillianites, cathari, patarins, albigenses, bogomiles, &c.... chivalry, too, in these ages of darkness and persecution, was an instrument for the dissemination of esoteric doctrines, including reincarnation. the heart of this noble institution consisted of students of divine wisdom, pure devoted souls who communicated with one another by means of passwords. the troubadours were their messengers of the sacred teaching, which they skilfully concealed in their songs, carrying it from group to group, from sect to sect, in their wanderings. "sons of the teachings of the albigenses and of the manichæan-marcion tradition"[ ] they kept alive belief in the rebirths of the soul, "izarn the monk," in his book _historie d' un hérétique_,[ ] apostrophised an albigensian bishop in the following terms: "tell me what school it was in which you learnt that the spirit of man, after losing his body, passes into an ox, an ass, a sheep, or a fowl, and transmigrates from one animal to another, until a new human body is born for it?" izarn was acquainted with only so much of the teachings of the troubadours as had got abroad and been distorted and misrepresented by ignorant or evil-minded persons; still, his criticism plainly shows traces of the teachings of palingenesis in the darkest and most blood-stained periods of the middle ages. the inquisition put an end to the troubadours, though certain of them, dante and st. francis of assisi, for instance, by reason of their popularity or the special circumstances of the case, were left in peace. in europe the secret teaching was continued by the rosicrucians; the _roman de la rose_ is pure hermetic esotericism. the struggle of official christianity--that of the letter--against those who represented the spirit of the scriptures, raged ever more bitterly, and the idea of rebirth disappeared more and more from the church; its sole representatives during the middle ages were st. francis of assisi, the learned irish monk, johannes scotus erigena, and st. bonaventura, "the seraphic doctor." at the present time there remains nothing more than a disfigured and misunderstood fragment of this idea: the dogma of the _resurrection of the body_. islamism.[ ] it has been said that the arabs believed in reincarnation before mohammed forbade it. some, however, think that the koran was written only after the death of the prophet, and that the latter committed nothing to writing, but taught by word of mouth. besides, it is clear that mohammedanism is an offshoot of zoroastrianism and christianity. like these, it teaches the unity of the whole, the divine presence in all creatures and things (_ubiquity_), predestination, which is only one form of _karma_, and resurrection, which expresses one phase of palingenesis. mohammed, like all great mystics, had discovered or learnt many of the truths of esotericism. the verses of the koran that refer to the "companions of the cave"[ ] indicate that he knew more than he taught in public, and that there may be some ground for certain asiatic nations holding the exaggerated belief that he was an avâtâr,[ ] the tenth incarnation of the _aum_--the amed, the nations' desire.[ ] he was a disciple. had there not been in the heart of islamism a strong germ of esoteric teaching, sufism could never have sprung from it. the sufis are the saints of mohammedanism, they are those who aspire after the union of the individual "i" with the cosmic "i," of man with god; they are frequently endowed with wonderful powers, and their chiefs have almost always been thaumaturgists. the _new koran_, a modern exposition of part of the secret doctrine of islam, shows the correctness of this view. in it we find the following passages on the subject of palingenesis: "and when his body falleth off altogether, as an old fish-shell, his soul doeth welt by the releasing, and formeth a new one instead. "the disembodied spirits of man and beast return as the clouds to renew the young streamlets of infancy.... "when a man dieth or leaveth his body, he wendeth through the gate of oblivion and goeth to god, and when he is born again he cometh from god and in a new body maketh his dwelling; hence is this saying: "the body to the tomb and the spirit to the womb.... "this doctrine is none other than what god hath taught openly from the very beginning.... "for truly the soul of a man goeth not to the body of a beast, as some say.... "but the soul of the lower beast goeth to the body of the higher, and the soul of the higher beast to the body of the savage, and the soul of the savage to the man.... "and so a man shall be immortal in one body and one garment that neither can fade nor decay. "ye who now lament to go out of this body, wept also when ye were born into it...."[ ] "the person of man is only a mask which the soul putteth on for a season; it weareth its proper time and then is cast off, and another is worn in its stead.... "i tell you, of a truth, that the spirits which now have affinity shall be kindred together, although they all meet in new persons and names."[ ] in _asiatic researches_, colebrooke states that the present mohammedan sect of the _bohrahs_ believes in metempsychosis, as do the hindus, and, like the latter, abstains from flesh, for the same reason. thus we find the doctrine of reincarnation at the heart of all the great religions of antiquity. the reason it has remained in a germinal state in recent religions--christianity and islamism--is that in the latter mohammed did not attain to the degree of a hierophant, and in all likelihood the race to which he brought light did not greatly need to become acquainted with the law relating to the return to earth life; whereas in the former the real teachings of the christ were lost when the gnostics were exterminated, and eusebius and irenæus, the founders of exoteric christianity, unable to grasp the _spirit_, imposed the _letter_ throughout the religion. the doctrine of rebirth in modern philosophy. in antiquity, science and philosophy were scarcely anything else than parts of religion[ ]; the most eminent scientists and the greatest philosophers alike were all supporters of the established form of religion, whenever they did not happen to be its priests, for the temples were the common cradle of science and philosophy. no wonder, then, that we find these three great aspects of truth always hand in hand, never opposed to or in conflict with one another through the whole of antiquity. science was for the body, philosophy for the intellect, and religion for that divine spark which is destined to flash forth and finally become a "god" in the bosom of the world soul. every intelligent man knew that on this tripod lay the life of the individual, the life of society, and the life of the world. divorce between these took place only at a later date, when the divine teachers had disappeared, and mutilated traditions handed down to the nations nothing but disfigured and incomplete teachings buried beneath the ruins of temples that had been crumbling away ever since spiritual life had left them. then followed the era of separation; science and philosophy became debased and went their own ways, whilst a degenerate religion reflected nothing higher than the narrow mentality of fallen ministers. as this degradation continued, there sprang into being religious wars, monstrosities that were unknown in those times when divinity shed illumination and guidance on the nations by means of those mighty souls, the adept-kings: gods, demi-gods, and heroes. nevertheless, truth never remained without her guardians, and when apostleship had been destroyed by persecutions the sacred treasure which was to be handed down from age to age was secretly entrusted by the sages to faithful disciples. thus did esoterism pass through fire and bloodshed, and one of its greatest teachings, the doctrine of palingenesis, has left a stream of light in its wake. now we will give a rapid sketch of it in modern times, examining the philosophical teachings of the greatest of recent thinkers. we will borrow mainly from walker's work on this subject, quoting only the writers most deserving of mention, and making only short extracts, for all that is needed is to plant a few sign-posts to guide the student along the path. in the th verse of _lalla rookh_, thomas moore speaks of rebirths: "stranger, though new the frame thy soul inhabits now, i've traced its flame for many an age, in every chance and change of that existence, through whose varied range,-- as through a torch-race, where, from hand to hand the flying youths transmit their shining brand,-- from frame to frame the unextinguished soul rapidly passes, till it reach the goal!" paracelsus, like every initiate, was acquainted with it, and jacob böhme, the "nursling of the nirmânakâyas,"[ ] knew that it was a law of nature. giordano bruno--also a great soul--quotes from ovid's _metamorphoses_, book , line , &c., as follows: "o mortals! chilled by dreams of icy death, whom air-blown bubbles of a poet's breath, darkness and styx in error's gulph have hurl'd, with fabled terrors of a fabled world; think not, whene'er material forms expire, consumed by wasting age or funeral fire, aught else can die: souls, spurning death's decay, freed from their old, new tenements of clay forthwith assume, and wake to life again. ... all is change, nought perishes" ... _orger's translation_[ ] campanella, the dominican monk, was sent into exile on account of his belief in the successive returns of the soul to earth. the younger helmont, in his turn, was attacked by the inquisition for leaching this doctrine in his _de revolutione animarum_, in which he brings forward, in two hundred problems, all the arguments; that make reincarnation necessary. cudworth and dr. henry more, the platonists of cambridge, were faithful believers in palingenesis; whilst joseph glanvill, in _lux orientalis_, finds that there are "seven pillars" on which pre-existence rests. dr. edward beecher, in _the conflict of ages_ and _the concord of ages_, as well as julius muller, the well-known german theologian, in _the christian doctrine of sin_, warmly uphold it. schelling acknowledges it in his _dissertation on metempsychosis_. leibnitz, in his _monadology_, and more especially his _theodicy_, witnessed to his belief in this doctrine. had he dared to speak out his thoughts openly, he would more effectively have advocated his "optimism," by the teachings of evolution and rebirths, than by all the other arguments he advanced. chevalier ramsey, in _the philosophical principles of natural and revealed religion_, writes: "the holy oracles always represent paradise as our native country, and our present life as an exile. how can we be said to have been banished from a place in which we never were? this argument alone would suffice to convince us of pre-existence, if the prejudice of infancy inspired by the schoolmen had not accustomed us to look upon these expressions as metaphorical, and to believe, contrary to scripture and reason, that we were exiled from a happy state, only for the fault and personal disobedience of our first parents.... "our saviour seems to approve the doctrine of pre-existence in his answer to the disciples, when they interrogate him thus about the man born blind,[ ] 'master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' it is clear that this question would have been ridiculous and impertinent if the disciples had not believed that the man born blind had sinned before his corporal birth, and consequently that he had existed in another state long ere he was born on earth. our saviour's answer is remarkable, 'neither hath this man sinned nor his parents, but that the works of god might be manifested in him.' jesus christ could not mean that neither this man nor his parents had ever committed any sin, for this can be said of no mortal; but the meaning is that it was neither for the sins committed by this man in a state of pre-existence, nor for those of his parents, that he was born blind; but that he was deprived of sight from his birth, by a particular dispensation of providence, in order to manifest, one day, the power of god in our saviour. our lord, therefore, far from blaming and redressing this error in his disciples, as he did those concerning his temporal kingdom, answers in a way that seems to suppose with them, and confirm them in the doctrine of pre-existence. if he had looked upon this opinion as a capital error, would it have been consonant or compatible with his eternal wisdom to have passed it over so lightly and thus tacitly authorised it by such silence? on the contrary, does not his silence manifestly indicate that he looked upon this doctrine, which was a received maxim of the jewish church, as the true explanation of original sin? "since god says that he loved jacob and detested esau ere they were born, and before they had done good or evil in this mortal life, since god's love and hatred depend upon the moral dispositions of the creature, ... it follows clearly that if god hated esau, type of the reprobate, and loved jacob, type of the elect, before their natural birth, they must have pre-existed in another state. "if it be said that all these texts are obscure, that pre-existence is largely drawn from them by induction, and that this belief is not revealed in scripture by express words, i answer that the doctrines of the immortality of the soul are nowhere revealed, least of all in the oracles of the _old_ and _new testament_. we may say the same of pre-existence. this doctrine is nowhere expressly revealed as an article of faith, but it is evidently implied in the _wisdom of solomon_, by the author of _ecclesiasticus_, by our saviour's silence, by st. paul's comparisons, and by the sacred doctrine of original sin, which becomes not only inexplicable, but absurd, repugnant, and impossible, if that of pre-existence be not true.... the fifth general council held at constantinople pronounces anathema against all those who maintain the fabulous doctrine of pre-existence in the origenian sense. it was not then the simple doctrine of pre-existence that was condemned by the council, but the fictitious mixtures and erroneous disguises by which this ancient tradition had been adulterated by the origenites." soame jenyns writes: "that mankind had existed in some state previous to the present was the opinion of the wisest sages of the most remote antiquity. it was held by the gymnosophists of egypt, the brâhmans of india, the magi of persia, and the greatest philosophers of greece and rome; it was likewise adopted by the _fathers of the christian church, and frequently enforced by her early writers_; why it has been so little noticed, so much overlooked rather than rejected, by the divines and metaphysicians of latter ages, i am at a loss to account for, as it is undoubtedly confirmed by reason, by all the appearances of nature and the doctrines of revelation. "in the first place, then, it is confirmed by reason, which teaches us that it is impossible that the conjunction of a male and female can create an immortal soul; they may prepare a material habitation for it; but there cannot be an immortal, pre-existent inhabitant ready to take possession. reason assures us that an immortal soul, which will exist eternally after the dissolution of the body, must have eternally existed before the formation of it; _for whatever has no end can never have had any beginning_.... "reason likewise tells us that an omnipotent and benevolent creator would never have formed such a world as this, and filled it with such inhabitants if the present was the only, or even the first, state of their existence; for this state which, if unconnected with the past and the future, would seem calculated for no purpose intelligible to our understanding, neither of good or evil, of happiness or misery, of virtue or vice, of reward or punishment; but a confused jumble of them all together, proceeding from no visible cause and tending to no end.... "pre-existence, although perhaps it is nowhere in the _new testament_ explicitly enforced, yet throughout the whole tenour of these writings is everywhere implied; in them, mankind is constantly represented as coming into the world under a load of guilt; as condemned criminals, the children of wrath and objects of divine indignation; placed in it for a time by the mercies of god to give them an opportunity of expiating this guilt by sufferings, and regaining, by a pious and virtuous conduct, their lost state of happiness and innocence.... "now if by all this a pre-existent state is not constantly supposed, that is, that mankind has existed in some state previous to the present, in which this guilt was incurred, and this depravity contracted, there can be no meaning at all or such a meaning as contradicts every principle of common sense, that guilt can be contracted without acting, or that we can act without existing...." the following is a quotation from hume, the great positivist philosopher: "reasoning from the common course of nature, what is incorruptible must also be ingenerable. the soul, therefore, if immortal, existed before our birth, and if the former existence in noway concerned us, neither will the latter.... metempsychosis is, therefore, the only system of this kind that philosophy can hearken to." (_the immortality of the soul_.) young, in his _night thoughts_ (night the sixth), has the following lines: "look nature through, 'tis revolution all; all change, no death. day follows night; and night the dying day; stars rise, and set, and rise; earth takes th' example ... ... all, to reflourish, fades; as in a wheel, all sinks, to re-ascend. emblems of man, who passes, not expires." "it is not more surprising to be born twice than once; everything in nature is resurrection," said voltaire. delormel, descartes, and lavater were struck with the tremendous importance of the doctrine of palingenesis. _the philosophy of the universe_, of dupont de nemours, is full of the idea of successive lives, as a necessary corollary of the law of progress; whilst fontenelle strongly advocates it in his _entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes_. it is needless to state that these ideas formed part of the esoteric teachings of martinez pasqualis, claude saint-martin, and their followers. saint-martin lived in times that were too troubled for him to speak freely. in his works, however, not a few passages are found in which there can be no doubt that reincarnation is hinted at, to anyone able to read between the lines. (_tableau nat._, vol. i, p. ; _l'homme de désir_, p. .) in his _oeuvres posthumes_ (vol. i, p. ) appears this remarkable passage: "death ought to be looked upon only as one stage in our journey. we reach this stage with tired, worn-out horses, and we start again with horses that are fresh and able to take us farther on our road; all the same, we must pay what we owe for the portion of the journey that has been traversed, and until the account is settled, we are not allowed to continue our way." goethe writes as follows to his friend madame von stein: "tell me what destiny has in store for us? wherefore has it bound us so closely to each other? ah! in bygone times, thou must have been my sister or my wife ... and there remains, from the whole of those past ages, only one memory, hovering like a doubt above my heart, a memory of that truth of old that is ever present in me." ballanche, an orthodox christian mystic, says: "each one of us is a reincarnating being, ignorant both of his present and of his former transformations." (_pal. sociale_, book iii., p. .) "man is brought to perfection only by becoming a more perfect order of things, and even then he does nothing more than bring back, as plato said, a confused memory of the state that preceded his fall." (_essai sur les instit. sociales_, vol. ii., p. .) "this life we spend on earth, shut in between an apparent birth and an equally apparent death, is, in reality, only a portion of our existence, one manifestation of man in time." (_orphée_, vol. iv., p. .) "our former lives belong to astronomical cycles lost in the mighty bosom of previous ages; not yet has it been given to us to know them." (_orphée_, vol. iv., p. .) balzac's _seraphita_ abounds with references to the idea of successive lives: "all human beings spend their first life in the sphere of instincts, in which they endeavour to discover how useless are the treasures of earth." ".... how often we live in this first world...." "then we have other existences to wear out before we reach the path on which the light shines. death is one stage on this journey." constant savy[ ] describes as follows the conditions of immortality and a succession of lives by means of reincarnation: "in proportion as its soul is developed by successive lives, the body to which it is to be united will necessarily be superior to those it has worn out; otherwise there would be no harmony between these two elements of human existence; the means given to the soul would bear no relation to the development of its power. this body, gifted with more perfect and numerous senses, could not have an equal value for all.... "besides, these natural inequalities are also advantageous for individual progress in another way; the errors resulting therefrom cause truths to be discovered; vices laid bare almost form a reason for the practice of virtue by all men, or at all events they protect one from vice by reason of the horror they inspire; the ignorance of some arouses the love of science in others; the very idleness which dishonours some men inspires others with a love for work. "so that these inequalities, inevitable because they are necessary, are present in the successive lives we pass through. there is nothing in them contrary to universal harmony; rather, they are a means for effecting this harmony, and are the inevitable result of the difference in value that bodies possess. besides, no man remains stationary; all advance at a more or less rapid rate of progress.... "when faith is born, it is an illumination. since man's immortality is one progressive advance, and, to effect this, he prepares the life he enters by the life he is leaving; since, in short, there are necessarily two worlds, one material, the other intellectual, these two worlds, which make up the life to come, must be in harmonious relationship with our own. "man's work will, therefore, be a continuation of his past work.... "i would never believe that our intelligence, which begins to develop in this life, comes to a halt after such an imperfect growth, and is not exercised or perfected after death.... "... nature always advances, always labours, because god is life and he is eternal, and life is the progressive movement in the direction of the supreme good, which is god himself. could man alone in the whole of nature, man so imperfect and full of faults, stop in his onward course, either to be annihilated, or suddenly, without participating in it, though he was created free, find that he was as perfect as he could possibly be? this is more than i can understand. "no, when the time comes, man will not find that his life has been useless, a thing for mere contemplation; he will not find that he is improved without personal participation therein, without effort and toil on his part; above all, he will not be reduced to a state of nothingness. he will again have a life of toil; he will participate, to the extent god has permitted him, in the endless creations produced by divine omnipotence; he will again love, he will never cease to love; he will continue his eternal progress, because the distance between himself and god is infinite." pierre leroux says: "if god, after creating the world and all creation, were then to abandon them, instead of guiding them from life to life, from one state of progress to another, to a goal of real happiness, he would be an unjust god. it is unnecessary for st. paul to say; 'shall the thing formed say to him that formed it. why hast thou made me thus?' (_romans_, chap, , v. .) there is an inner voice, doubtless coming to us from god himself, which tells us that god cannot bring about evil, or create in order to cause suffering. now this is what would certainly happen were god to abandon his creatures after an imperfect, a truly unhappy life. "on the other hand, if we regard the world as a series of successive lives for each creature, we see very well how it comes about that god, to whom there is neither time nor space, and who perceives the final goal of all things, permits evil and suffering as being necessary phases through which creatures must pass, in order to reach a state of happiness which the creature does not see, and, consequently, cannot enjoy in so far as it is a creature, but which god sees, and which, therefore, the creature virtually enjoys in him, for the time will come when it will partake of that happiness."[ ] in fourier we find the following lines[ ]: "where is there an old man who would not like to feel certain that he would be born again and bring back into another life the experience he has gained in the present one? to affirm that this desire cannot be realised is to confess that god is capable of deceiving us. we must, therefore, recognise that we have already lived before being what we now are, and that many another life awaits us, some in this world, and the rest in a higher sphere, with a finer body and more delicate senses...." alphonse esquiros expresses himself as follows[ ]: "the question may well be asked whether the talents, the good and the evil tendencies man brings with him at birth may not be the fruit of acquired intelligence, of qualities and vices gained in one or many former existences. is there a previous life the elements of which have prepared the conditions of the life now being lived by each of us? people in ancient times thought so. inborn dispositions, so different in children, caused them to believe in impressions left by previous existences in the imperishable germ of man. from the time when intelligence begins to show itself in children we faintly discern a general attitude towards things, which is very like a memory thereof. it would appear that, according to this system, no one is unconnected with the elements he introduces into life at each birth. "all the same, rebirth in humanity constitutes no more than an initial circle of tests. when, after one or several incarnations, man has attained to the degree of perfection necessary to cause a change, he passes to another life, and, in another sphere, begins an existence of which we know nothing, though it is possible for us to regard it as linked to the present life by the closest of bonds.... "the limit to the progress man must have attained to, before entering upon another circle of tests in another sphere, is at present unknown to us; science and philosophy will doubtless succeed in determining this limit later on. "they alone are reborn to earthly flesh who have in no way raised the immortal principle of their nature to a degree of perfection that will enable them to be reborn in glory.... "i affirm the perpetual union of the soul to organic bodies; these bodies succeed each other, being born from one another, and fitting themselves for the constitutive forms of the worlds traversed by the immortal ego in its successive existences. the principle of life, extended to divers evolutions of rebirth, is ever for the creator nothing more than a continuation of one and the same state. god does not regard the duration of a being as limited to the interval between birth and death; he includes all possible segments of existence, the succession of which, after many interruptions and renewals, forms the real unity of life. must souls, when they leave our globe, put on, from sphere to sphere, an existence hidden from us, whose organic elements would continually be fitting themselves for the characters and natures of the different worlds? reason can come to no decision on this point. only let us not forget that the soul always carries off a material germ from one existence to the next, making itself anew, so to speak, several times, in that endless ascent of lives through the worlds, wherein it attains, heaven after heaven, a degree of perfection increasingly linked with the eternal elements of our growing personality. "it may be seen, from what is here stated, how vain is the hypothesis of perfect bliss following on the death of the righteous. "it is useless for the christian to soar beyond time, beyond some limit that separates him from infinite good; he cannot do this by a single effort. god proportions his intervention and aid to the totality of the states man must pass through in the course of an indefinitely long series of existences...." m. d'orient, an orthodox catholic, writes as follows[ ]: "in this doctrine, so evidently based on reason, everything is linked and held together: the foreknowledge of god and the agreement thereof with man's free-will. this problem, hitherto impossible to solve, no longer offers any difficulty, if by it is meant that god, knowing before birth, by reason of his previous deeds, what there is in the heart of man, brings man to life and removes him from it in circumstances that best fit in with the accomplishment of his purposes.... "we see in this way how it is that god is the controller of all the main events that take place in the world, for the knowledge he has of souls in former lives, and his power to dispose of each and all in the way he pleases, enable him to foresee events in his infinite knowledge and arrange the whole sequence of things in conformity with his plans, somewhat as an ingenious, skilful workman, by the aid of various colours, conceives of and arranges the life-like reproduction of a mosaic, a picture, or a piece of inlaid work. we understand all his forecasts of the future, how it was that daniel foretold so exactly the greatness of alexander and his conquests; how isaiah called cyrus by name many centuries before these mighty conquerors appeared to spread confusion and terror over the world; how god, in order to show forth his might before the nations and spread abroad the glory of his name, is said to have hardened pharaoh's heart and roused his obstinate will; for all that was needed in order to bring to pass these various results was for god to call back into existence certain souls he knew to be naturally suited to his purpose. this is distinctly pointed out in the passage from the apostle st. jude, which, if we accept the meaning that first offers itself to the mind, would seem positively to imply that certain souls had undergone a sentence of eternal reprobation: 'for there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, turning the grace of our god into lasciviousness....' "and so there falls away and disappears the greatest difficulty in the doctrine of grace, which consisted in explaining how it came about that god made some men pitiful and others hard-hearted, without there being in him either justice or acceptance of persons; showing pity, says st. augustine, only by grace that was unmerited, and hardening hearts only by judgment that was always just; since evidently according to this theory it is not (as origen has already said) apart from previous merit that some are formed for vessels of honour, and others for vessels of shame and wrath. that harsh sentence pronounced upon judas by the bishop of hippon, which so grievously scandalised most of the catholic theologians, although only the confirmation of the quotation from st. jude, viz., that the wretched man had been predestined to shed the saviour's blood, will seem to be a very just one in the sense that god causes that already lost soul to be born again, that demon, as jesus christ called him, for the very purpose of perpetrating the hateful crime. "consequently the most sublime mysteries of religion, the most wonderful facts regarding the destiny of the soul, find their natural explanation in a clear understanding of this doctrine of metempsychosis, however strange and extraordinary it may at first appear. what more striking proof can be asked for, what stronger and more convincing reason than such agreement, concerning matter wherein all positive proof will always, humanly speaking, be impossible? a doctrine which meets all the facts of the case so accurately, which explains, without difficulty, all the phenomena of our existence in this world, can, of necessity, be nothing else than true." jean reynaud expresses himself in these terms in _terre el ciel_: "how glorious the light that would be cast on the present order of things on earth by a knowledge of our former existences! and yet, not only is our memory helpless regarding the times that preceded birth, it is not even conscious of the whole of the intervening period, often playing us false in the course of a lifetime. it retains absolutely nothing of the period immediately preceding birth, and scarcely any trace of our education as children; we might even be altogether ignorant of the fact that we were children once, were there not around us witnesses of that time. on every hand we are wrapped in a veil of ignorance, as with a pall of darkness, we no more distinguish the light beyond the cradle than that beyond the tomb. so far as memory is concerned, it would seem that we might be compared with a rocket such as we sometimes see flashing through the sky in the night-time, leaving behind it a line of light, this light never shows anything more than a limited portion of the way. of like nature is memory, a trail of light left behind on our journey; we die, and everything is dark around us; we are born again, and the light begins to appear, like a star through the mist; we live, and it develops and grows, suddenly disappears again and reappears once more; from one eclipse to another we continue our way, and this way, interrupted by periods of darkness, is a continuous one, whose elements, only apparently separated, are linked to each other by the closest of bonds; we always bear within ourselves the principle of what we shall be later on, we are always rising higher. question us on our past, and, like the rocket, we reply that we are going forward, but that our path is illumined only in our immediate neighbourhood, and that the rest of the road is lost in the blackness of night; we no more know from where we came than we know our destination, but we do know that we came from below and are rising higher, and that is all that is necessary to interest us in ourselves and make us conscious of what we are. and who knows but what our soul, in the unknown secret of its essence, has power some day to throw light on its successive journeyings, like those streaks of flame to which we are comparing it? there are strong reasons for thinking that such is the case, since the entire restoration of memory appears, with good reason, to be one of the main conditions of our future happiness.... "in like manner the soul, passing from one abode to another, and leaving its first body for a new one, ever changing its appearance and its dwelling, guided by the creator's beams, from transmigration to transmigration, from metamorphosis to metamorphosis, pursues the palingenesic course of its eternal destiny.... "... let us, then, add the teachings of metempsychosis to those of the gospel, and place pythagoras by the side of jesus...." andré pezzani concludes in the following words his remarkable book on _the plurality of the soul's lives_: "apart from the belief in previous lives, nothing can be explained, neither the coming of a new soul into this evil world, the often incurable bodily infirmities, the disproportionate division of wealth, nor the inequality in intelligence and morality. the justice of god lies behind the monstrous phantom of chance. we understand neither what man is, whence he comes, nor whither he goes; original sin does not account for the particular fate of individuals, as it is the same for all. roughly speaking, it clears up no difficulties, but rather adds to them the most revolting injustice. once accept the theory of pre-existence, and a glorious light is thrown on the dogma of sin, for it becomes the result of personal faults from which the guilty soul must be purified. "pre-existence, once admitted as regards the past, logically implies a succession of future existences for all souls that have not yet attained to the goal and that have imperfections and defilements from which to be cleansed. in order to enter _the circle of happiness_ and leave _the circle of wanderings_, one must be pure. "we have opposed error, and proclaimed truth, and we firmly believe that the dogmas of pre-existence and the plurality of lives are true." thomas browne, in _religio medici_, section , hints at reincarnation: "heresies perish not with their authors, but, like the river arethusa, though they lose their currents in one place, they rise up again in another ... revolution of time will restore it, when it will flourish till it be condemned again. for as though there were a metempsychosis, and the soul of one man passed into another, opinions do find, after certain revolutions, men and minds like those that first begat them.... each man is not only himself, there hath been many diogenes and as many timons, though but few of that name; men are lived over again, the world is now as it was in ages past; there was none then but there hath been someone since that parallels him, and is, as it were, his revived self." lessing, in _the divine education of the human race_, vigorously opposes a lutheran divine who rejects reincarnation: "the very same way by which the race reaches its perfection must every individual man--one sooner, another later--have travelled over. have travelled over in one and the same life? can he have been in one and the self-same life a sensual jew and a spiritual christian? "surely not that! but why should not every individual man have existed more than once in this world? "is this hypothesis so laughable merely because it is the oldest? because the human understanding, before the sophistries of the schools had disciplined and debilitated it, lighted upon it at once? why may not even i have already performed those steps of my perfecting which bring to men only temporal punishments and rewards? and once more, why not another time all those steps, to perform which the views of eternal rewards so powerfully assist us? why should i not come back as often as i am capable of acquiring fresh knowledge, fresh expertness? do i bring away so much from once that there is nothing to repay the trouble of coming back? "is this a reason against it? or because i forget that i have been here already? happy is it for me that i do forget. the recollection of my former condition would permit me to make only a bad use of the present. and that which even i must forget _now_, is that necessarily forgotten for ever?" schlosser gives expression to similar thoughts in a fine work of his: _Über die seelenwanderung_. lichtemberg says in his _seibstcharacteristik_: "i cannot get rid of the thought that i died before i was born, and that by this death i was led to this rebirth. i feel so many things that, were i to write them down, the world would regard me as a madman. consequently, i prefer to hold my peace." charles bonnet is the author of a splendid work, full of noble and lofty thoughts, on this subject. it is entitled _philosophic palingenesis_. emmanuel kant believes that our souls start imperfect from the sun, and travel through planetary stages farther and farther away to a paradise in the coldest and remotest star in our system. (_general history of nature_.) in _the destiny of man_, j. g. fichte says: "these two systems, the purely spiritual and the sensuous--which last may consist of an immeasurable series of particular lives--exist in me from the moment when my active reason is developed and pursue their parallel course.... "all death in nature is birth.... there is no death-bringing principle in nature, for nature is only life throughout.... even because nature puts me to death, she must quicken me anew...." herder, in his _dialogues on metempsychosis_, deals with this subject more fully: "do you not know great and rare men who cannot have been what they are in a single human existence; who must have often existed before in order to have attained that purity of feeling, that instinctive impulse for all that is true, beautiful, and good?... have you never had remembrances of a former state?... pythagoras, iarchas, apollonius, and others remembered distinctly what and how many times they had been in the world before. if we are blind or can see but two steps before our noses, ought we, therefore, to deny that others may see a hundred or a thousand degrees farther, even to the bottom of time ...?" "he who has not become ripe in one form of humanity is put into the experience again, and, some time or other, must be perfected." "i am not ashamed of my half-brothers the brutes; on the contrary, so far as i am concerned, i am a great advocate of metempsychosis. i believe for a certainty that they will ascend to a higher grade of being, and am unable to understand how anyone can object to this hypothesis, which seems to have the analogy of the whole creation in its favour." sir walter scott had such vivid memories of his past lives that they compelled a belief in pre-existence. instances of this belief may be found in _the life of scott_, by lockhart (vol. , p. , first edition). according to schlegel: "nature is nothing less than the ladder of resurrection, which, step by step, leads upward, or rather is carried from the abyss of eternal death up to the apex of life." (_Æsthetic and miscellaneous works_; and, _the philosophy of history_.) shelley held a firm belief in reincarnation: "it is not the less certain, notwithstanding the cunning attempts to conceal the truth, that all knowledge is reminiscence. the doctrine is far more ancient than the times of plato," (dowden's _life of shelley_, vol. , p. .) schopenhauer adopted the idea of reincarnation which he had found in the _upanishads_; regarding this portion of his teaching, his contemporaries and followers set up a kind of conspiracy of silence. in _parerga and paralipomena_, vol. , chap. , _essay on religions_, he says: "i have said that the combination of the _old testament_ with the _new_ gives rise to absurdities. as an example, i may cite the christian doctrine of predestination and grace as formulated by augustine and adopted from him by luther, according to which one man is endowed with grace and another is not. grace thus comes to be a privilege received at birth and brought ready into the world.... what is obnoxious and absurd in this doctrine may be traced to the idea contained in the _old testament_, that man is the creation of an external will which called him into existence out of nothing. it is quite true that genuine moral excellence is really innate; but the meaning of the christian doctrine is expressed in another and more rational way by the theory of metempsychosis, common to brâhmans and buddhists. according to this theory, the qualities which distinguish one man from another are received at birth, _i.e._, are brought from another world and a former life; these qualities are not an external gift of grace, but are the fruits of the acts committed in that other world.... "what is absurd and revolting in this dogma is, in the main, as i said, the simple outcome of jewish theism with its 'creation out of nothing,' and the really foolish and paradoxical denial of the doctrine of metempsychosis which is involved in that idea, a doctrine which is natural to a certain extent, self-evident, and, with the exception of the jews, accepted by nearly the whole human race at all times.... were an asiatic to ask me for a definition of europe, i should be forced to answer him: it is that part of the world which is haunted by the incredible delusion that man was created out of nothing, and that his present birth is his first entrance into life." in _the world as will and idea_, he also says: "what sleep is for the individual, death is for the will (character). "it flings off memory and individuality, and this is lethe; and through this sleep of death it reappears refreshed and fitted out with another intellect, as a new being." in _parerga and paralipomena_, vol. , chap. , he adds: "did we clearly understand the real nature of our inmost being, we should see how absurd it is to desire that individuality should exist eternally. this wish implies that we confuse real being with one of its innumerable manifestations. the individuality disappears at death, but we lose nothing thereby, for it is only the manifestation of quite a different being--a being ignorant of time, and, consequently, knowing neither life nor death. the loss of intellect is the lethe, but for which the will would remember the various manifestations it has caused. when we die, we throw off our individuality, like a worn-out garment, and rejoice because we are about to receive a new and a better one." edgar allen poe, speaking of the dim memories of bygone lives, says: "we walk about, amid the destinies of our world-existence, encompassed by divine but ever present memories of a destiny more vast--very distant in the bygone time and infinitely awful. "we live out a youth peculiarly haunted by such dreams, yet never mistaking them for dreams. as memories we _know_ them. during our _youth_ the distinction is too clear to deceive us even for a moment. "but now comes the period at which a conventional world-reason awakens us from the truth of our dream ... a mis-shapen day or a misfortune that could not be traced back to our own doings in this or in another life...." (_eureka._) georges sand, in _consuelo_, sets forth the logic of reincarnation; and g. flammarion expounds this doctrine in most of his works: _uranie_; _les mondes imaginaires et les mondes réels_; _la pluralité des mondes habités_, etc. professor william knight wrote in the _fortnightly review_ for september, : "it seems surprising that in the discussions of contemporary philosophy on the origin and destiny of the soul there has been no explicit revival of the doctrines of pre-existence and metempsychosis.... they offer quite a remarkable solution of the mystery of creation, translation, and extinction.... "stripped of all extravagances and expressed in the modest terms of probability, the theory has immense speculative interest and great ethical value. it is much to have the puzzle of the origin of evil thrown back for an indefinite number of cycles of lives and to have a workable explanation of nemesis...." professor w. a. butler, in his _lectures on the history of ancient philosophy_, says: "there is internally no greater improbability that the present may be the result of a former state now almost wholly forgotten than that the present should be followed by a future form of existence in which, perhaps, or in some departments of which, the oblivion may be as complete." the rev. william r. alger, a unitarian minister, adds: "our present lack of recollection of past lives is no disproof of their actuality.... the most striking fact about the doctrine of the repeated incarnations of the soul ... is the constant reappearance of that faith in all parts of the world and its permanent hold on certain great nations.... "the advocates of the resurrection should not confine their attention to the repellent or ludicrous aspects of metempsychosis, ... but do justice to its claim and charm." (_a critical history of the doctrine of a future life_.) professor francis bowen, of harvard university, writes in the _princetown review_ for may, , when dealing with the subject of _christian metempsychosis_: "our life upon earth is rightly held to be a discipline and a preparation for a higher and eternal life hereafter. but if limited to the duration of a single mortal body, it is so brief as to seem hardly sufficient for so great a purpose.... why may not the probation of the soul be continued or repeated through a long series of successive generations, the same personality animating, one after another, an indefinite number of tenements of flesh, and carrying forward into each the training it has received, the character it has formed, the temper and dispositions it has indulged, in the stage of existence immediately preceding?... "every human being thus dwells successively in many bodies, even during one short life.[ ] if every birth were an act of absolute creation, the introduction to life of an entirely new creature, we might reasonably ask why different souls are so variously constituted at the outset.... one child seems a perverse goblin, while another has the early promise of a cowley or a pascal.... the birthplace of one is in central africa, and of another in the heart of civilised and christian europe. where lingers eternal justice then? how can such frightful inequalities be made to appear consistent with the infinite wisdom and goodness of god?... "if metempsychosis is included in the scheme of the divine government of the world, this difficulty disappears altogether. considered from this point of view, everyone is born into the state which he has fairly earned by his own previous history.... we submit with enforced resignation to the stern decree; ... that the iniquities of the fathers shall be visited upon the children even to the third and fourth generation. but no one can complain of the dispositions and endowments which he has inherited, so to speak, from himself, that is, from his former self in a previous stage of existence. "and it matters not, so far as the justice of the sentence is concerned, whether the former self from whom we receive this heritage bore the same name with our present self, or bore a different name...." professor f. h. hedge, in _ways of the spirit, and other essays_, p. , maintains that: "whatever had a beginning in time, it should seem, must end in time. the eternal destination which faith ascribes to the soul presupposes an eternal origin.... an obvious objection, and one often urged against this hypothesis, is the absence of any recollection of a previous life.... the new organisation with its new entries must necessarily efface the record of the old. for memory depends on continuity of association. when the thread of that continuity is broken, the knowledge of the past is gone.... "and a happy thing, if the soul pre-existed, it is for us that we remember nothing of its former life.... of all the theories respecting the origin of the soul this seems to me the most plausible, and therefore the one most likely to throw light on the question of a life to come." the spiritualists of europe--those belonging to the school of allan kardec, at all events--place reincarnation in the very forefront of their teaching. we may add that those of america do not acknowledge that the soul has more than one existence on earth, driven, however, by the logic of things, which insists on progress, they state that there are a series of lives passed in subtler bodies on invisible planets and worlds. all true philosophers have been attracted by the mystery of palingenesis, and have found that its acceptance has thrown a flood of light on the questions that perplexed them. in asia there are millions of believers in reincarnation, including the chinese, tartars, thibetans, hindus, siamese, mongolians, burmese, cambodians, koreans, and the people of japan. tradition has handed down this teaching even to the most savage tribes. in madagascar, when a man is on the point of death, a hole is made in the roof of his straw hut, through which his soul may pass out and enter the body of a woman in labour. this may be looked upon as a stupid superstition, still it is one which, in spite of its degenerate form, sets forth the doctrine of the return of souls back to evolution through earthly experiences. the sontals, somalis, and zulus, the dyaks of borneo and sumatra, and the powhatans of mexico have similar traditions. in central africa, slaves who are hunchbacked or maimed forestall the hour of death by voluntary self-immolation, in the hope of being reborn in the bodies of men who will be free and perfectly formed. to sum up: all tradition, whether popular, philosophical, or religious, is instinct with the teaching of rebirth. objection. _reincarnation and forgetfulness of the past._ sceptics are ever bringing forward against reincarnation the absence of all memory of past lives, convinced that there can be no answer to this argument. they do not reflect that human ignorance is a bottomless abyss, whilst the possibilities of life are endless. the schools of the future will smile at the claims made by those of the present, just as the latter doubtless regard with pitying indulgence that school which, only a few years ago, in the person of one of its most famous members, dr. bouillaud, mercilessly condemned the exponent of edison's invention, because the _savant_, listening to a phonograph for the first time, could not believe that it was anything else than ventriloquism! instances of this kind are sufficiently numerous and recent not to be forgotten, in spite of the shortness of human memory. in the present instance, there are many men of science who have not yet been made sufficiently wise by experience to see that the very mystery of memory itself might furnish an explanation of that general absence of all power of recollection, which now seems to them altogether incompatible with the doctrine of rebirth. so as not to appear to be running away from this objection, by dealing with it only on the surface, we will endeavour to develop the question somewhat, for we shall have to set forth to readers unacquainted with theosophical teachings--which alone, up to the present, have thrown light on these difficult subjects--certain doctrines which will be well understood by none but theosophists, since they are incapable of proof by a simple statement thereof, but form part, of a long chain of teachings. we will offer them simply as theories--though they are facts to us--theories that contain many an error, it may be, and are imperfectly stated, though capable of widening the horizon of thought and shedding a brilliant light upon many an obscure question. earnest seekers after truth, it is hoped, will not be disheartened by the difficulties of the subject, but will endeavour to grasp the meaning of the following pages, by reading them over again, if need be. first, a few words must be said on memory in general, next we will give a rapid sketch of what constitutes memory in atoms and molecules, in the varied forms of the many kingdoms of nature and in human forms; finally, we will speak of cosmic memory, that veritable _judgment book_ which takes account of all the vibrations of the universe. amongst beings capable of memory, a distinction must be made between those which have not reached the stage of self-consciousness, and those which have done so, for memory, properly so-called, takes for granted an "i." that which has not an "i" can only have a memory of which it is not conscious[ ]; the atom, for instance, of whose memory we shall speak later on; that which has only a rudimentary "i" possesses only a rudimentary memory from the point of view of its bearing on the individual--such is that possessed by the souls of the lower kingdoms, that which constitutes instinct; to the perfect "i" alone belongs an individual memory--the human memory, and that of beings who have attained to the superhuman stage. this memory may be defined as the faculty possessed by an individualised "centre of consciousness" voluntarily to reproduce the vibrations it has received or generated. a "centre of consciousness" is a form that serves, for the time being, as the instrument of an individualised ray of that indefinable principle called the soul. but for the presence of this individual soul in a form, this latter would remain inactive as a centre of consciousness--although active in its constituent parts[ ]--and could it not then, consciously, either generate or receive vibrations on the plane from which the soul is momentarily absent--it could only transmit them; for instance, when a man is in a brown study, he is not conscious in his brain, of what is taking place on the physical plane.[ ] the vehicles of consciousness are often numerous in a being, and the more numerous in proportion to the degree this latter has attained in the scale of evolution. the present day man possesses four bodies: the visible, the astral, the mental, and the causal. they are not all equally developed, and therefore not equally conscious, for the clearness and intensity of consciousness depend on the decree of perfection of its vehicles, just as the beauty of electric light depends on the perfection of the apparatus producing it. the ego--the man--is the consciousness that is called forth by the soul in the causal body. this consciousness varies in power with the development of the body that gives birth to it. at first it is dim and uncertain,[ ] and acquires some degree of intensity only when it receives, through the mental and astral vehicles, the simple and intense vibrations of the physical body.[ ] in savage races, for instance, man possesses a definite consciousness only in his waking condition; as soon as the soul is attached to the astral body, externalised by sleep, it experiences only a dim consciousness in this undeveloped vehicle. in advanced races, the astral body, being far more developed, brings about distinct consciousness during sleep. as man evolves, consciousness begins to function in the mental and the astral bodies, without the assistance of the vibrations of the lower vehicles, and when all the grades[ ] of matter which compose the human constitution are thus vitalised, man has become perfect; he knows the universe because he feels it within himself--he echoes it, so to speak, and possesses all its powers.[ ] in ordinary man, the memory of events that have taken place in his waking state can be brought back by that special effort of will which sets in motion the cerebral molecules that have previously been put into vibration by these events. sometimes the will, of itself, is powerless to recall this vibration, either because the brain is tired or in some unfavourable condition or other; it is then aided by bringing its automatism into play, by endeavouring, for instance, to call back one constituent element of the fact desired, a place, sound, scent, person, &c, and often in this way is brought about the vibration of the molecules that constituted the rest of the circuit, and the fact sought for presents itself; association of ideas is a phenomenon based on this mechanical process. a third method--a far more difficult one--is also used; the bringing of every mental effort, to a standstill. the suppression of thought, when sufficiently complete, brings the brain into a state of calm, allows of the soul concentrating on the astral body whose memory is keen and only slightly subject to obstruction, and then it often happens that the vibration of the astral memory repercusses on to the physical apparatus which suddenly remembers the thing desired. on the death of the physical, the soul acts in the astral body; there it retains a complete memory of life on earth, but the vibrations of the physical plane no longer reach it,[ ] these memories soon cease to occupy its attention, and it gives itself up wholly to the impressions received from the new world into which it has entered. in this first stage of the after-life, then, there is a kind of darkening of the memory of the past earth life--darkening, not oblivion. when the purgatorial life is at an end and the astral body disintegrates in its turn, the soul functions in the mental body, in the mental world.[ ] on this new plane, the memory of the worlds left behind continues, though far less clearly than the memory of the physical existed in the astral world; this is owing to the fact that, in ordinary man, the mental body is not sufficiently developed to constitute a complete vehicle of consciousness, capable of registering all the vibrations that come to it; everything in the past that has been _purely_ the work of the astral or the physical plane then disappears from his memory; there remain only memories that have been caused either by the mental qualities or qualities superior to these, all the highest elements concerned with affection, intelligence, or art. the mental world, generally speaking, is seen only to a small extent or not at all, because of the incomplete development of the mental body. besides, recollections assume a new character[ ]; every thought takes a concrete form--that of a friend, for instance, appears as the friend himself, speaking and thinking, more vivid than on the earth plane[ ]; everything is dramatised in marvellous fashion, and life is intense throughout the realms of paradise. the mental body, after exhausting the forces that make it up, also dies, and the soul is "centred" in the only vehicle it has left, the causal body, a body that is immortal, one may say, up to a certain point, since the soul retains it until the time comes when it can function in a still higher and more lasting vehicle,[ ] and this happens only after millions of years.[ ] here, another diminution of memory takes place, because the soul loses a large portion of its consciousness when it comes into contact with none but the vibrations of this body, which is even more incompletely developed than the former ones, though holding within itself all the germs of these latter. the ego then remains apparently sunk in sleep for a varying period, though never for very long; then the germs in the causal body become active, build up a new series of bodies in succession--the mental, the astral, and finally the physical--and the soul returns once more to incarnation. it will now be understood how it comes about that a soul of average development--on entering a new cycle, with the memory of the last cycle considerably obliterated by the loss of the physical, astral, and mental bodies, sheathed in new bodies on these planes, bodies that have nothing in common with the life of the past--is unable to impress its dim memories on to the brain; but it will also be seen that, with the progress of evolution, the soul acquires ever clearer consciousness in the causal body, in which it finally preserves the memory of the various life-cycles. since, at this stage, it has become capable of projecting its vibrations, voluntarily, through the lower bodies, it is able to transmit this memory first to the mental body, then to the astral, and lastly to the physical body; when this is possible, man, in waking consciousness, remembers his former lives. this transmission requires a purificatory process in the vehicles and a special training of the will. the matter of all the bodies--that of the brain in particular--must be refined, its constituent elements must be subtler, and its atoms must be fully awakened to activity[ ]; whereupon the cerebral cell becomes capable of responding to the thought of the ego, _i.e._, of vibrating in harmony with the higher matter. the second condition of the brain's receptivity is that this organ be brought into a state of complete rest. so long as the waking consciousness is active, the brain vibrates powerfully, and if, at this time, the soul sends the brain its thought, this latter can no more make an impression on the existing cerebral activity than a faint note could be heard amid the clash of an orchestra. consequently, man, by the training of his will, must have acquired the power to stop the thinking activity in the waking state, and to "centre" his attention on the causal body, the only vehicle in which he can know the facts of his past incarnations; this done he is able, at will, to project on to his brain the scenes of his former lives and to imprint them thereon with greater distinctness, in proportion to his development and training. in order to avoid continued explanations, we will deal with another side of the question, however incomprehensible it be to such as have not studied theosophy. a vehicle of consciousness is both a registering apparatus[ ] and a conductor of vibrations.[ ] the kinds of matter of which forms are made up are perfectly graduated; the finest atom of the physical body is built up of the densest atoms of the astral plane, the finest atom of the astral body is made of the densest atoms of the mental plane, and so on. each atom is linked to the one that precedes and to the one that follows it in that immense chain which stretches from the densest to the subtlest plane of the cosmos. every vibration follows this path, passes in all directions--in the seven[ ] dimensions of space-and terminates in the very centre of consciousness, the logos, god incarnate in the world. it is then comprehensible, even logical, that god should be both conscious, on his receptive side, of everything that takes place in the world (_omniscient_), and should produce, on his active side, all the forces of the world (_omnipotent_). it is likewise admissible that the human soul, when fully developed, should find in the causal body the memory of the facts that have echoed therein, from the time when it could function consciously in it. but, it will be asked, how could it find, in the causal body, memories of existences it has not been able to register individually, of which it has not been conscious, those, for instance, that form the early stages of its evolution at a time when it was conscious only in the lower vehicles? memory possesses many store-houses. the vibrations of which it is composed affect the whole universe, there is not a single local shock that is not felt throughout all the worlds. the eternal registering of things takes place in the great centre of consciousness, god, or rather, it exists in him, for to him there is neither future nor past, only one eternal present; evolution is unceasingly accomplished[ ]; but if we look upon ourselves as finite beings, living in the illusion of time and space, we find that vibrating matter preserves for a longer or a shorter period the movement imparted to it. the denser the substance, which forms the medium in which vibration takes place, the feebler the vibration; that is why it speedily ceases on the physical plane; it continues long, however, in the higher conditions of matter, and it is there we must look for it,[ ] if we would recall certain events at which we have not been present. when anything exciting, a murder, a battle, for instance, has happened anywhere, the subtler atoms of the surrounding objects receive a powerful shock and continue to vibrate for centuries. those who have developed their inner senses can thus witness the scene which is continually repeating itself, or rather, is happening all the time.[ ] thus, psychometrists,[ ] in presence of a portion of a fossil, are enabled to bring back scenes that this fragment has witnessed millions of years ago.[ ] in these cases, the memory of the facts is connected with that of the atoms which register it; this memory can only be recalled by coming into contact with these atoms.[ ] there is also another memory, midway between the unconscious memory of atoms and the conscious memory of the human soul; that of the forms of the various sub-human kingdoms. it is only slightly conscious, for it is not individualised; all the same, it is precise in its nature. it dwells in the vital essence of the form, an essence taken from a collective "block" which supplies a portion of its substance to the individuals of the same species; this incarnate portion of essence, when the form disintegrates at death, returns to the parent "block," to which it communicates the result of its experiences, and when the latter sends out a portion of itself, into a new form, this tentacle, which is, so to speak, the soul of the form, is in possession of the whole of the experiences of the "block."[ ] this explains how it is that the individual members of certain hostile species know one another from birth--the chicken, for instance, which, immediately it has left the egg, trembles before the hawk hovering above in the air; such is also the reason why a duckling plunges into water as soon as it comes to a pond, and the same instinct impels a bird to leave its nest and trust itself to the air when fully fledged. in these collective souls, belonging to the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, there can be recovered the past to which they bore witness, when the atoms of their bodies have been dispersed and entered into new combinations. when the elemental essence[ ] has definitely split up, and the "blocks" have become separate, individualised, human fragments,[ ] each of these fragments is a causal body, a definite, immortal _centre_ in the total centre. consequently there are in man three kinds of memory: atomic memory, that of the atoms of his bodies; instinctive memory of the special elemental essences which are the collective souls of his various vehicles; and finally, the individual memory of the centre,[ ] which is one with the total centre from which it comes. this element of unity, this human "i" in the divine "i," when sufficiently developed, is able to evoke the memory of all the events in which it has participated in the causal body, and also the memory of those it has witnessed as a collective soul (elemental "block") in bygone ages when active in various mineral, vegetable, and animal species. as a centre in the great centre, it can also call forth the memory of everything in the universe that its consciousness can grasp.[ ] and when, in this long pilgrimage, it has developed to the farthest limits of the universe it knows all that has been, is now, and is to be in this universe, consequently it knows both what it has and what it has not participated in, for everything in the universe has then become part of itself. thus it is seen that the memory of the past is everywhere registered, and that the difficulty a man has in bringing it back is caused by nothing more than his imperfect development. once he has entered the "strait gate,"[ ] and his consciousness is awake on the first plane of unity,[ ] he becomes able to read the great book of nature, in which all vibrations are kept in potentiality; he can revive them by an effort of will, similar to that he makes in a waking state, when he wishes to bring back past impressions to his brain. the difference lies in the fact that, in the latter case, being in the physical body, he calls up the memory retained in the astral body; whilst in the former case, being in the causal body, he brings memory within the influence of the buddhic body, or even at times of higher bodies still. the more the being grows, and becomes able to fix his consciousness on the higher planes, the wider extends his sphere of influence, approaching that of divine consciousness. it is ignorance that brings forward this objection regarding loss of memory, ignorance of life and of death, ignorance of the phenomena that follow the last breath of a dying man, as well as of those preceding the first faint cry of a new-born child. sceptics, however, might have shown a little more indulgence, for, as they are well aware, ordinary memory _is_ even now so unreliable that a man has great difficulty in recalling the whole of the thoughts that have entered his brain during the last few minutes; he has forgotten the details of the various events of the week; the facts of the past year have mostly vanished from his mind, and when he comes to the end of the journey, mere fragments of the story of his life are all that is left. for all that, he has all the time retained the notion of the identity of his "i"; he has the same body, the same senses, and the same brain; his environment is the same; everything is there to bring about association of ideas, to awaken memory. on the other hand, centuries have elapsed before rebirth takes place; the human being has undergone the most radical changes and modifications; everything in him that was perishable has disappeared, and is preserved only in a germinal state. the visible bodily sheath has had its atoms scattered to the four elements; the etheric body[ ] has become separated from the physical molecules whose vital support it formed; the body of passions and desires (_astral body_) has lived for a few years in what catholics call _purgatory_, greeks, _hades_, and hindus, _kâmaloka_; after which, only germs have been left behind; then the intelligence (_mental body_) has been dispersed in turn and endures only in a germinal state. almost everything that made up the man of bygone times has disappeared, and is now concentrated in a complex germ hidden away in the causal body and destined to develop a new personality later on,[ ] heir to the former one, though it will not be capable of remembering events in which it took no part. this is the explanation of the myth of lethe. the soul, in the causal body, drinks of the river of life, and from its sleep-giving draught forms the sheaths of the new incarnation, the new bodies that altogether blot out the memory of the past; it is, in very truth, a new-born babe who appears on earth. the root-being,[ ] however, survives the successive wrecks of fleeting personalities, remaining in the new man as a guide, as the "voice of conscience." he is the watcher who strings, as on a thread, the numberless pearls (_personalities_) which form the inevitable cycle of human evolution, and is able, when fully developed, to summon up the distant panorama of past lives. for him, nothing is lost. the pioneers of the race have obtained direct proof of successive incarnations, but apart from these rare and special instances, ordinary individuals frequently have reminiscences and distinct memories which are not investigated, either because they are fragmentary in their nature or are related by children. in india, where the natives believe in reincarnation, such cases are regarded without astonishment, and efforts are made to prove their truth by serious investigation, whenever possible. and such proof is often possible. when a child dies in infancy, before he is able to use his body intelligently and of his own free will--before being able to generate karma--the higher sheaths (_the astral and mental bodies_) are not separated into their component parts. return to earth quickly takes place, the memory of the past life exists in the astral body--which has not changed--and, more especially during the first few years of life, can be impressed on the new brain with tolerable ease, if this latter is at all delicately constituted. then if reincarnation takes place in the same country and in the neighbourhood of the past incarnation, it can be proved to be true. such instances do exist; the reason they are not mentioned here is that they would add nothing to the general proofs on which stress has been laid in this work. these proofs form part of universal law; they cannot be separated therefrom. footnotes: [footnote : the fifth, or aryan race, in theosophic nomenclature; the fourth was that of atlantis; the third lived on the great southern continent, lemuria; the two preceding ones were, so to speak, only the embryologic preparation for the following races.] [footnote : the "life-atoms," infinitesimal particles which by aggregation form the human body. certain of these atoms are preserved, on the death of the body, as germs which will facilitate the reconstruction of the physical body at the next rebirth.] [footnote : the divine essence which animates animals, and so, in another sense the astral bodies of men and animals, bodies whose particles _transmigrate_ as do the physical atoms.] [footnote : h. p. blavatsky, _secret doctrine._] [footnote : these words are relative; they express differences in the evolution of souls.] [footnote : the atmosphere of subtle physical elements radiating round the human body and acting in a defensive _rôle_ by preventing the penetration of unhealthy elements from the immediate surroundings.] [footnote : the "material sin" of manu.] [footnote : one, here means the "life atoms" of a man's body.] [footnote : the word is here used in a generic sense; in the present work, it would be more precise to replace it by the word resurrection.] [footnote : this "triad" comprises the visible matter of the body, the etheric substance, and the life (prâna) which the human ether absorbs and specialises for the vitalising of the body. see _man and his bodies_, by a. besant.] [footnote : h. p. blavatsky, _the theosophist_, vol. , pages , .] [footnote : the finer elements invisible to physical eye. their function is sensation, and by their association with the human mental body incarnated in them, they give birth to the emotions and passions, in a word, to the animal in man.] [footnote : the _umbra_ of the latin races.] [footnote : the _kâma rûpa_ of the hindus.] [footnote : the purgatory of christians, the astral plane of theosophists, and the _kâmaloka_ of hindus.] [footnote : by the _fire_ of purgatory, says the catholic metaphor.] [footnote : see a. besant's masterly work on _reincarnation._] [footnote : dharma is a wide word, primarily meaning the essential nature of a thing; hence the laws of its being, its duty; and it includes religious rites, appropriate to those laws. this definition, as also the extracts quoted, are taken from a. besant's translation of the _bhagavad gîtâ._] [footnote : human souls, not all of them, but only the pious ones, are daimonic and divine. once separated from the body, and after the struggle to acquire piety, which consists in knowing god and injuring none, such a soul becomes all intelligence. the impious soul, however, remains in its own essence and punishes itself by seeking a human body to enter into, for no other body can receive a human soul, it cannot enter the body of an animal devoid of reason: divine law preserves the human soul from such infamy. hermes trismegistus, book i, _laclé_: hermes to his son tat.] [footnote : bodies.] [footnote : the physical body with its etheric "double," and life (_prâna_).] [footnote : the kâmic body.] [footnote : the causal body.] [footnote : _history_. book , chap. .] [footnote : the causal body.] [footnote : the buddhic body, which, in ordinary man, is only in an embryonic stage.] [footnote : generally called _prâna_, in man. _jiva_ is the solar life which, on being transmuted by the physical body, becomes _prâna_, the human physical life. both _jiva_ and _prâna_ differ from each other in nature and in vibration.] [footnote : the mental body.] [footnote : the causal body. in annihilation--what has been called the loss of the soul--the kâmic principle (astral body) in the course of a rather long succession of lives, does not allow the mental body to become separated from it in purgatory; it keeps it imprisoned up to the time of its disintegration; the causal body reaps nothing from the incarnations, at each re-birth it loses the forces it is putting forth in order to form the new mental body. it gradually atrophies until the time comes when it is no longer fit to make use of the ordinary bodies of the race to which it belongs. then it remains at rest, whilst the mental body gradually disintegrates; afterwards it takes up once again its series of incarnations in the imperfectly evolved bodies of primitive races. this will be understood only by those who have studied theosophy.] [footnote : in this passage, h. p. blavatsky alludes to the few etheric, astral, and mental atoms which, at each disincarnation, are incorporated in the causal body and form the nuclei of the future bodies corresponding to them.] [footnote : _history._ vol. , book , chap. (already quoted).] [footnote : of the elements of the personality--of the astral body, in all probability.] [footnote : the ego (soul) also lives in the air (the symbol of heaven) and on the earth (whose symbol is water, dense matter)--in heaven, after disincarnation; on earth, during incarnation.] [footnote : the soul is immortal and needs no food.] [footnote : its name, khopiroo, comes from the root koproo, to become, to be born again (h. p. blavatsky). hartley says: "at the centre of the solar disk appears the scarabeus as the symbol of the soul re-uniting itself with the body. the scarabeus is called by pierret the synthesis of the egyptian religion--type of resurrection--of self-existence--of self-engendering like the gods. as tori, or chepi, the sun is the scarabeus, or self-engenderer, and the mystery of god."] [footnote : also called kâmic body, astral body, body of desire, etc.] [footnote : reincarnation.] [footnote : vol. , p. .] [footnote : the causal body illumined by the divine essence, which theosophy names Âtmâ-buddhi.] [footnote : he calls him "the prince of lying fathers and dishonest writers." (_egypt_, vol. , p. ).] [footnote : eusebius even confesses this himself: "i have set forth whatever is calculated to enhance the glory of our religion, and kept back everything likely to cast a stain upon it." (_proeparatio evangelica._ book , chap. ).] [footnote : _namae-sat vakhshûr-i-mahabad_, also in the fourth "journey" in chap. of _jam-i-kaikhoshru_ (see _the theosophist_, p. , vol. ).] [footnote : see _bardic triads_, by e. williams. translated from the original welsh.] [footnote : "'abred' is the circle of the migrations through which every animated being proceeds from death: man has passed through it." _triad_ . "transmigration is in 'abred.'" _triad_ . "there are three primitive calamities in 'abred': the necessity of evolution (of rebirths), the absence of memory (of past incarnations) and death (followed by rebirth)." _triad_ (the words in parentheses are our own). "by reason of three things man is subjected to 'abred' (or transmigration): by the absence of the effort to attain knowledge, by non-attachment to good, and by attachment to evil. as the result of these, he descends into 'abred,' to the stage corresponding to his development, and begins his transmigrations anew." _triad_ . "the three foundations of science are: complete transmigration through every state of being, the memory of the details of each transmigration, the power to pass again at will through any state, to acquire experience and judgment, (_a_) this comes to pass in the circle of gwynvyd." _triad_ . (_a_) the liberated being has power to call up the past, to tune his consciousness with that of every being, to feel everything that being feels, to be that being.] [footnote : in the poem _cad-godden_, quoted by pezzani in _la pluralité des existences de l'Âme_, p. . taliesin is a generic name indicating a function rather than the name of an individual.] [footnote : _gallic war_ (book , chap. ). valerius maximus relates that these nations lent one another money which was to be paid back in the other world, and that at marseilles a sweet-tasted poison was given to anyone who, wishing to commit suicide, offered the judges satisfactory reasons for leaving his body.] [footnote : _the mystery of the ages_, by the duchesse de pomar.] [footnote : in _theologia_ or the _seven adyta._] [footnote : the "cycle of necessity" extends from the time when the soul begins to evolve to the moment when it attains to liberation.] [footnote : _life of pythagoras._ book , chap. .] [footnote : ovid's _metamorphoses_. book .] [footnote : all that remained of the shield was the carved ivory ornamentation, the iron had been eaten away by rust.] [footnote : philostratus, _life of apollonius of tyana._] [footnote : philostratus, _life of apollonius of tyana._] [footnote : marinas, _vita procli._] [footnote : the ego, the human soul properly so-called, what egypt named the liberated intelligence which resumes its sheath of light, and again becomes a "daimon" (_maspero_). in antiquity the name of daimon was given to the human soul or to higher intelligences.] [footnote : _hades_; the purgatory of catholics; the _kâmalôka_ of hindus.] [footnote : allusion to the struggle which separates the mental from the astral body in purgatory.] [footnote : _kâmalôka_; purgatory.] [footnote : the subterranean hell, the lowest world in purgatory.] [footnote : plato's _laws_, book .] [footnote : plato's _republic_, book .] [footnote : they are in the causal body.] [footnote : _phædo._] [footnote : these considerations are taken from the writings of h. p. blavatsky, and are also confirmed by modern criticism of biblical texts.] [footnote : maimonides. quoted in _the perfect way_, by a. kingsford and e. maitland.] [footnote : _galatians_, chap. , verses , .] [footnote : _starli_, part , p. .] [footnote : _deuteronomy_, chap. , verses to .] [footnote : _deuteronomy_, chap. , verse .] [footnote : _exodus_, chap. , verses to .] [footnote : _exodus_, chap. , verses , , .] [footnote : _genesis_, chap. , verses , ; also _leviticus_, chap. .] [footnote : _exodus_, chapters , , , , ,] [footnote : _ecclesiastes_, chap. , verses , , , .] [footnote : the souls of a race in its maturity are of a more advanced type than those of its infancy or old age.] [footnote : the kabala is the secret teaching of the jews; in it lie hidden doctrines that are too profound to be taught in public.] [footnote : _zohar_, , , quoted in myer's _qabbalah_, p. .] [footnote : evolution develops the soul, enabling it to reach its goal: the divine state.] [footnote : the force of evolution comes from god and ceases only when the soul is fully developed, and has reached the "promised land" at the end of its pilgrimage: the divine state.] [footnote : franck, _la kabbale_, p. , etc.] [footnote : _the hidden wisdom of christ_, , vol. , p. .] [footnote : _de bell. jud._ , .] [footnote : one of the lowest sub-planes of _kâmaloka_ (purgatory).] [footnote : the christian heaven (_devachan_ of theosophy).] [footnote : the earth, which is above when compared with tartarus, but not so in relation to the elysian fields; versification imposes such strict limits on expression, that it must have the benefit of poetic licence.] [footnote : fréret, _examen crit. des apologistes de la relig. chrét._, pages and , paris, .] [footnote : faustus.] [footnote : and yet the _gospel of saint john_ denies this (chap. , v. ). the contradictions in the gospels are so numerous that they alone have created thousands of infidels.] [footnote : stolberg expresses himself as follows on this matter: "this question was evidently based on the opinion that the disciples of jesus had formed, that this man, whose punishment dated from his very birth, had sinned in a previous life." (_histoire de n. s. jésus-christ et de son siècle_, book , chap. ).] [footnote : _revelation_, chap. , v. .] [footnote : _revelation_, chap. , v. .] [footnote : _revelation_, chap. , v. .] [footnote : _revelation_, chap. , v. .] [footnote : h. p. blavatsky.] [footnote : "taken literally, the book of the creation gives us the most absurd and extravagant ideas of divinity."] [footnote : first _ennead_, chap. i.] [footnote : the universe, which can exist only through _multiplicity._] [footnote : second _ennead_, chap. .] [footnote : second _ennead_, chap. .] [footnote : third _ennead_, chap. .] [footnote : _concerning abstinence_; book .] [footnote : _egyptian mysteries_, book , chap. .] [footnote : here, _reincarnation_ is meant.] [footnote : this philosopher was surnamed _peisithanatos_ (the death-persuader).] [footnote : _vie de pythagore_, vol. i, p. .] [footnote : _hist. de l'ec. a'alex._, vol. i, p .] [footnote : in this work, he says: "the winged tribe, that has feathers instead of hair, is formed of innocent but superficial human beings, pompous and frivolous in speech, who, in their simplicity, imagine that the sense of vision is the best judge of the existence of things. those who take no interest whatever in philosophy become four-footed animals and wild beasts...."] [footnote : _commentaries on the golden verses of pythagoras._] [footnote : hermes, _commentaries of chalcidius on the timæus._] [footnote : _procli diadochi in platonis timæum commentaria._] [footnote : september, , p. .] [footnote : the life of the animal to which it is bound.] [footnote : the instrument must be suited to the development of the artist; too highly developed a body would be bad for a man very low down in the scale of humanity. this will, in some measure, explain the paradoxical word here used; the _advantage_ there may sometimes be in putting on a rudimentary body.] [footnote : g. r. s. mead tells us that justin believed in reincarnation only whilst he was a platonist; he opposed this teaching after his conversion to christianity (see _theosophical review_, april, ).] [footnote : does this obscure passage refer to the resurrection of the body?] [footnote : _adversus gentes_. "we die many times, and as often do we rise again from the dead."] [footnote : hyeronim., _epistola ad demetr...._] [footnote : book , quest. , no. .] [footnote : _ephesians_, ch. , v. ... he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.] [footnote : _instit. divin._, , .] [footnote : _confessions_, i, ch. .] [footnote : _on the immortality of the soul_, chap. .] [footnote : _hist. de manichée et du manichéisme_, vol. , p. .] [footnote : _stromata._, vol. , p. . edition des bénédictins.] [footnote : the words in parenthesis are by the author.] [footnote : _cont. cels._ book , chap. .] [footnote : [greek: ti akolouthei].] [footnote : _de principiis_, book , chap. .] [footnote : _contra celsum_, book .] [footnote : _contra celsum_, book , chap. .] [footnote : _de principiis_, book , chap. .] [footnote : _de principiis_, book , chap. .] [footnote : _contra celsum_, book , chap. .] [footnote : e. aroux. _les mystères de la chevalerie._] [footnote : quoted by i. cooper oakley in _traces of a hidden tradition in masonry and mediæval mysticism_, a very interesting work on the sects which connect the early centuries with modern times.] [footnote : see _l'islamisme et son enseignement Ésotérique_, by ed. bailly. _publications théosophiques_, paris, .] [footnote : chapter .] [footnote : islam is now awaiting the coming of the mahdi, its last prophet; prophecy says that he will be the reincarnation of mohammed (_borderland_, april, ).] [footnote : this is the reason afghans still undertake pilgrimages to mecca.] [footnote : chap. , verses , , , , , , , . quoted by lady caithness in _old truths in a new light._] [footnote : chap. , verses , , , etc.] [footnote : by religion is here understood the devotional aspect and the scientific side of the teaching of truth, _i.e._, the science of the divine soul.] [footnote : _nirmânakâyas_ are beings who have become perfect, and who, instead of entering the nirvâna their efforts have won, renounce peace and bliss in order to help forward their human brothers in their evolution.] [footnote : o! genus attonitum gelidæ formidine mortis, quid styga, quid tenebras, quid nomina vana timetis, materiam vatum, falsique piacula mundi? corpora sive rogus flammâ, seu tabe vetustas abstulerit, mala posse pati non ulla putetis morte carent animæ: semperque priore relictâ sede, novis domibus habitant vivuntque receptæ . . . . . . . . . omnia mutantur, nihil interit ... ] [footnote : _s. john's gospel_, chap. , verse .] [footnote : the following passages are taken from three of c. savy's works: _comment. du sermon sur la montagne_ ( ); _pensées et méditations_ ( ); _dieu et l'homme en cette vie et audelà_ ( ).] [footnote : _de l'humanité_, vol. ., p. .] [footnote : _théorie de l'unité universelle_, vol. , p. - .] [footnote : _vie future au point de vue socialiste_, and _confession d'un curé de village._] [footnote : _destinées de l'Âme._] [footnote : alluding to the complete renewing of the material molecules of the body, every seven years.] [footnote : whose consciousness, however (along with memory), is at the summit of the hierarchy which is its origin.] [footnote : molecules and atoms have a particular consciousness of their own which does not cease to function when, on the departure of the individual soul, the body, as such, ceases to function.] [footnote : if sufficiently developed, however, he can be made conscious of this in a higher vehicle.] [footnote : when man has barely entered the human stage--in primitive man.] [footnote : consciousness begins in the physical body, its simplest instrument.] [footnote : there are other vehicles above the causal body.] [footnote : all the powers of the universe are in the divine germ, as the tree is in its seed.] [footnote : because it no longer has a dense physical body. there are exceptions to this rule, but there is no necessity to mention them here.] [footnote : the christian heaven, the _devachan_ of theosophy.] [footnote : this character has already appeared on the astral plane, though not in so striking a fashion.] [footnote : unity exists on the plane of the ego, and the latter sends his thought into the forms made out of his vehicles; this will be understood only by the few, but an explanation cannot be given at this point, without writing a volume on the whole of theosophy.] [footnote : we are still dealing with the ordinary man.] [footnote : when liberation is attained. this can be effected rapidly by those who _will_ to attain it.] [footnote : only four of the seven atomic _spirillæ_ are active in this our fourth planetary round (one for each round). they can be rapidly vitalised by the will.] [footnote : when the soul is "centred" in it.] [footnote : the vibrations, whether registered as they pass or not registered, continue their course through the substance of the universe.] [footnote : science even now recognises four of these dimensions.] [footnote : this is said in order to satisfy such as are of a metaphysical turn of mind, and frequently prone to criticism.] [footnote : when the inner senses are developed.] [footnote : a question will doubtless at once rise to the minds of many readers; how can the same atoms produce, at once and almost eternally, millions of different facts? we will reply briefly. science has been able to conceive of an explanation of a fact apparently quite as absurd--the phenomenon of the balls of russian platinum mentioned by zöllner (_transcendental physics_, ch. ) which pass through hermetically sealed glass tubes, and that of the german copper coins dropping through the bottom of a sealed box on to a slate--by accepting a fourth dimension of space. who would affirm that the dimensions of space are limited to four? or that the science of the immediate future will not be brought face to face with facts, and find, in a fifth or sixth dimension of space, a possible explanation of the phenomenon here mentioned, one which initiated seers can test whenever they please, because it is a real fact? still, as these seers say, the coarsest atoms generally register only one image, others register fresh images, so that in many cases there is quite a superposition of images which must be carefully examined to avoid errors.] [footnote : a psychometrist is a person endowed with a very fine nervous system, capable of repeating the delicate vibrations which act upon the inmost atoms of a body. in this way, by placing himself in presence of an object that has been in contact with some individual, he can clearly describe the latter's physical, moral, and mental characteristics. hitherto, buchanan and professor denton have been the most remarkable psychometrists; the experiments related in their works have been made before witnesses and permit of no doubt whatever as to the reality of this strange faculty.] [footnote : instances of this are numerous in professor denton's _the soul of things._] [footnote : this memory is preserved in the first "life-wave."] [footnote : this is _instinct_, _i.e._, a semi-conscious memory, located in the "life-wave" of the second logos.] [footnote : the divine essence incarnated in the matter of the lower planes of the universe.] [footnote : when the "essence," after the destruction of the form to which it gives life, no more returns to the parent-block from which it came, it has become individualised, ready to enter into the _human kingdom._] [footnote : the memory of the third life-wave, of the first logos.] [footnote : everything, for instance, that concerns the planes of the planetary system, on which it has finished its evolution.] [footnote : the passing of consciousness from the causal body to the nascent buddhic body.] [footnote : the buddhic plane (the one immediately above the mental) is one in which the forms are so subtle that they no longer _limit_ the life (_the soul of the world_) animating them. this life comes directly into contact with the life which causes all forms to live; it then sees unity: it sees itself everywhere and in everything, the joys and sorrows of forms other than its own are its joys and sorrows, for it is universal life.] [footnote : this body is composed of physical matter, and therefore belongs to the physical plane. it has been given a special name, not only because it is made of ether, but because it can be separated from the physical body.] [footnote : the whole of the bodies: mental, astral, and physical.] [footnote : the ego (soul) in the causal body.] conclusion. we have now come to the end of our study: a task to which we have certainly not been equal, so far is it beyond our powers. as, however, we have drawn inspiration from our predecessors, so have we also, in our turn, endeavoured to shed a few more rays of light on certain points of this important subject, and indicate fresh paths that may be followed by such as enter upon this line of investigation in the future. it is our most ardent desire to see this fertile soil well tilled, for it will yield an abundant harvest. mankind is dying in strife and despair; the torrent of human activity is everywhere seething and foaming. here ignorance buries its victims in a noisome den of slime and filth; there, the strong and ruthless, veritable vampires, batten on the labour and drain away the very life of the weak and helpless; farther away, science stumbles against the wall of the unknown; philosophy takes up its stand on the cold barren glacier of intellectualism; religions are stifled and struggle for existence beneath the age-long accumulations of the "letter that killeth." more now than ever before do we need to find a reason for morality, a guide for science, an ariadne's thread for philosophy, a torch to throw light on religion, and love over all, for if mankind continues to devote the whole of its strength to the pursuit of material benefits, if its most glorious conquests become instruments to advance selfishness, if its progress merely increases physical wretchedness and makes moral decadence more terrible than before, if the head continues to silence the appeals of the heart, then divine compassion will have no alternative but to destroy beneath the waters of another flood this cruel, implacable civilisation, which has transformed earth into an inferno. amongst the most pressing and urgent truths, the most fruitful teachings, the most illuminating doctrines, the most comforting promises, we have no hesitation in placing the law of rebirths in the very front. it is supported by ethics, by reason, and by science; it offers an explanation of the enigma of life, it alone solves almost all the problems that have harassed the mind of man throughout the ages; and so we hope that, in spite of its many imperfections, this work of ours will induce many a reader to say: _reincarnation must be true, if could not be otherwise!_ the end * * * * *